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Demo Disc (Prologue): The Final Battle
"You cannot defeat me!" boomed the voice of the Evil Sorcerer, "I am invincible!" The heroes gripped their weapons and prepared for the battle that was now at hand.
"Your reign of terror ends tonight," stated Hero, the party's leader. He held his sword proudly before him, "I will not rest until peace returns to our fair land!"
"Nor will I," said Dame, the archer.
"You can count on me!" added Thif the Thief, brandishing a dagger. With that, the raging battle began. Into the night the heroes fought on bravely against the evil sorcerer, fighting him with powerful weaponry and magicks. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, it seemed the enemy had been defeated. The sorcerer's body lay before the victorious heroes.
"And that's that," said Hero, gulping down a Health Potion. Suddenly, laughter began to erupt from the fallen sorcerer.
"You have seen nothing yet, fools!" shouted the sorcerer as his body transformed into that of a dragon. "Behold, my True Form!" The weary heroes engaged the dragon in another vicious battle. The enemy was clearly much more powerful than before. Dame even died at one point, and had to be brought back with a Life Potion. All through the night the heroes fought. By the time the great Dragon lay dead before them, the sun had begun to rise into the sky. Hero wiped the sweat from his brow.
"We've done it," he said, relieved.
"Not quite yet, mortals!" the evil voice of the dragon echoed, "Behold my Real True Form!" The dragon began to morph, growing spikes and becoming larger. It eventually became a much larger and deadlier dragon than they had fought before.
"How many true forms does this guy have, anyway?" thought Hero as he once again raised his sword. And the great battle continued…
Disc One: Call to Arms
"You named your thief Thif??" asked sixteen-year-old Greg.
"Hey, gimme a break," answered his friend Robert, "There's a four-character limit for names in this game!"
"At least it's better than Last Quest I," Greg pointed out, "Remember the two-character limit in that game?" Robert shuddered.
"Don't remind me. I just couldn't get into the game with a main character named Ax."
"Arrrghh!" yelled the on-screen Thif as his character died for a fiftieth time that day.
"Now look what you've done!" yelled Robert, "You broke my concentration! I only have a few hundred Life Potions left! I can't afford these types of mistakes!" Greg rolled his eyes.
"It's not like you're going to win, anyway," he said as he paged through his strategy guide, "It says right here that the game company designed this particular boss to be impossible. Something to do with the programmers being too lazy to add an ending sequence."
"I heard of a guy in Utah who beat it once," said Robert as he mashed down the buttons on the controller mercilessly, "There was a news report on it and everything."
"Well, yeah there was a news report - but that's only because the guy died shortly afterward due to dehydration. He had been playing for a week straight and couldn't leave the screen to get a drink or anything." Greg reminded him.
"That's what you're here for," explained Robert, "As long as we keep switching off, we won't have to stop for anything!" A sudden knock sounded on Robert's door.
"Boys! It's time for dinner!" announced Robert's mother as she opened the door.
"Mom, I can't! I only have to beat twenty more True Forms of this guy before I can go on to the real final boss!"
"You've been playing that silly game all day," scolded Robert's mom, "You can finish it after we've had a nice family dinner."
"But I can't! There's no pause feature in this game!" yelled Robert frantically.
"Well, that's rather silly," pointed out his mother, "But I'm sure you could get the game to stop by cutting off the power supply, right?" As Robert and Greg watched in horror, she quickly yanked the cord out of the wall. The video game system's power light winked out. The TV screen went blue.
"What have you done??" screeched Robert, "You just erased an entire day's worth of work!"
"Perhaps you should get a real job, then," retorted his mother as she used a pair of scissors to cut the cord in half.
"What the hell are you doing now??" screamed Robert as his mother proceeded to snip the cable into smaller and smaller pieces.
"I have to make sure that this thing doesn't turn back on by itself," she answered, "And don't swear." With that, she yanked the disc out of the system and smashed it against the wall.
"That CD was broken anyway," she pointed out, "The sound is all distorted."
"That was the game!!" yelled an infuriated Robert, thinking in that moment to snatch up his memory card so that all of his progress wouldn't be erased by his insane mother.
"I'll expect you down for dinner in five minutes," she said as she walked out of the room.
"Dude, she just smashed disc 88 of Last Quest II," observed Greg.
"Yeah… I noticed that," said Robert.
"I'll burn you a copy of my disc 88 so you can fight the final boss," offered Greg.
"Thanks," said Robert, "Sure will be a pain to get a new power cord, though." The two of them got up to leave the room, when a voice came from within the broken shards of the disc.
"Fools! I am not defeated yet! I shall now reveal my true form!" Robert stopped.
"Did you hear that?" he asked.
"Hear what?" asked Greg.
"That voice!"
"Oh, that loud, booming one that called us fools?" Robert nodded. The two of them turned toward the disc shards. Nothing was there. Except for an evil sorcerer, that is.
"You!" the sorcerer pointed at Robert, "You're the one who keeps sending these infernal heroes after me! It is time for you to experience true terror!" Robert stood open-mouthed, staring blankly at the real-life incarnation of the enemy he had been trying to defeat for the past twelve hours. The sorcerer approached the two boys.
"Where are your precious heroes now?" asked the sorcerer.
"Right here," answered Robert, raising his memory card in front of him. Before the sorcerer could react, Robert threw the memory card at him. There was a deafening roar, a bright flash of light, and then nothing but darkness.
Disc Two: The Gathering
The next thing Robert and Greg knew, they were sitting at a table in an inn. Only this inn was of the medieval sort; a gathering of would-be heroes and bandits.
"I get the feeling I've been here before," said Greg. Robert had had that same feeling, and looked at his feet to confirm his suspicions.
"Look," he pointed out, "It's a save point. This is the final area before the last battle!" Greg stared at him blankly. "In the game!" he added.
"Oh, we're in the game…" said Greg in some kind of a trance.
"That lousy sorcerer must've had something to do with this," said Robert as he studied his surroundings, "Hey look! Those are my characters!" He was referring to the party of four sitting at the table next to him. There was Hero the Warrior, Dame the Archer, Thif the Thief, and Mage the Wizard. They were all having some kind of debate. Their argumentative voices became clearer as Robert and Greg approached them.
"No, clearly I have the worst name among us!" Thif was shouting, "Thif isn't even a word!"
"Which is exactly what makes your name the best," argued Hero, "Everyone always assumes that I'm some kind of hero!"
"But you are a hero!" answered Dame, "At least your name makes sense. I don't understand mine at all! What is 'Dame' supposed to imply, anyway? That I'm the girl of the group?" The others nodded. "Then why not just call me 'THE GIRL'??" screamed Dame, furious.
"We do. All the time." said Mage. This didn't seem to help the situation, as Dame's fist soon found its way to his face.
"Hail, adventurers!" called out Robert as the wizard's body crumpled to the floor. Hero turned to face them.
"Hello," he said in a level voice, "And who might you be?"
"This is Greg," said Robert, pointing to his friend, "And my name's Robert." He had no sooner finished speaking when he felt the tip of Hero's sword pressed threateningly against his neck.
"An enemy!" he yelled.
"No, no!" Robert quickly assured him, "I'm here to help you!"
"No innocent could possibly have such a long name as yours!" Robert quickly recalled that the only characters in the game that were able to have more than four characters in their names were enemies.
"Did I say Robert?" he gulped, "That's uh… my full name! Rob Ert!" Hero quickly withdrew his sword.
"I apologize. My nerves have been on edge lately."
"That's because you're about to fight the Evil Sorcerer, right?" asked Robert. Suddenly he felt Hero's blade upon his neck once again.
"Only one of our enemies could have such information!" shouted Hero as he shoved the blade through Robert's neck. His body crumpled to the ground next to the wizard's.
"Robert! Eh… Rob Ert! Why'd you kill him??" asked Greg, finally speaking up.
"Huh? I was just acting on impulse. Wasn't this guy trying to kill you or something?" asked Hero.
"No!" answered Greg, "He's a friend of mine!" Hero's glance fell to the two bodies lying on the ground.
"Uh… what happened to Mage?" he asked.
"The girl killed him," answered Thif.
"All I did was punch him!" protested Dame, "Like this!" she demonstrated the punch on Thif, who reeled from the blow.
"You know that Mage isn't good when it comes to combat," Hero scolded her, "Now bring the two of them back to life before you cause any more trouble."
"But you're the one who killed that other guy!" she began to argue, but a look from Hero silenced her. Sighing, Dame reached into her pouch and withdrew a couple Life Potions. "I've only got seven hundred and eight of these left," she pointed out after doing a quick count in her head.
"How do those all fit in there?" asked Greg, attempting to steal a glance at the inside of the pouch.
"Why shouldn't they?" asked Dame as she revived Robert and Mage.
"Um… the pouch is pretty small, and the potions are kinda big…" Greg began.
"But the pouch is larger than the potions are, so they fit! Don't ask me dumb questions."
"At any rate," interrupted Hero, "The time has indeed come for us to do battle with the Evil Sorcerer. This land trembles beneath his feet, and he must be stopped at all costs."
"Uh… how am I still alive?" asked Robert. The others stopped and gave him strange looks.
"Life Potion," Greg whispered to him. Robert's eyes lit up.
"Oh! Of course! Heh… I don't know what I was thinking…"
"Speaking of the Evil Sorcerer," continued Hero, "Would you two like to join our party?"
"Certainly," piped in Robert.
"Uh… a moment, sir," said Greg as he hastily pulled Robert to the side.
"What's the problem, Greg? This'll be fun!" insisted Robert.
"Robert," began Greg, "I know you have a short memory, but try to remember. This is the Evil Sorcerer. The final boss in the game." Robert still had a blank look on his face. "The one that's unbeatable!!"
"Look," said Robert, "As far as I can tell, we're stuck in the game world. Worse, we're stuck in disc 88. And I'm willing to bet that the only way to get out of this place is to move on to the next disc."
"But… but there is no next disc!" protested Greg.
"Exactly. The only way to go is forward. We must beat the game." said Robert matter-of-factly. Greg sighed.
"I suppose you're right," he finally agreed. At least we have our heroes to help us." The two of them rejoined the party.
"You're with us, then?" asked Hero.
"Count us in," said Robert.
"Good!" said Thif, "I spent the past night coming up with a plan of attack…"
"That would explain the bloodshot eyes," remarked Dame.
"It's elegant in its simplicity," explained Thif, "We'll split into two groups of three. One group will fight the evil sorcerer directly, while the other group cuts through the nearby mountain pass and attempts a rear attack."
"No!" yelled Robert suddenly, "I know what's going to happen. There will be an avalanche and the second group will be held up. It's just a cheap way of forcing the player into using only three characters at a time." The heroes gave him a blank stare.
"But surely we must do something involving groups of three," said Hero.
"No!" argued Robert, "Absolutely not! All six of us attack simultaneously!" Another long spell of silence.
"A novel idea, certainly," said Mage.
"Is such a thing possible?" asked Hero.
"I don't believe anyone else has dared attempt such a feat," said Thif thoughtfully.
"Let's try it!" said Dame enthusiastically, "If our enemies can gang up on us in large groups, why can't we do the same to them?"
"Alright then, it's settled! Now is the time to attack!" announced Hero.
Disc Three: Journey's End
"Now is the time to attack!" announced Hero as he stood at the base of the great mountain.
"Geez, I never realized how frequently he says that," muttered Greg.
"Just about every time we encounter a new obstacle," agreed Robert.
"Hero, just move the rock out of your way," suggested Dame, "You don't need to attack it." Her words fell on deaf ears. Hero had slain the rock with a mighty blow from his sword.
"Great. Wonderful. You killed the Evil Rock. Can we get going now?" asked Dame.
"Actually, that rock was worth five experience points," explained Robert. Dame stared at him blankly.
"Ah… never mind," said Robert as he hurried to catch up with Hero. The six of them made their way up to the summit of the mountain, where a giant cave opening indicated the location of the Evil Sorcerer's lair.
"Alright everyone, be at the ready!" called out Hero. With that, the Evil Sorcerer emerged from his lair with an evil laugh.
"You cannot defeat me!" he shouted confidently, "I am invincible!" The heroes gripped their weapons and prepared for the battle that was now at hand.
"Your reign of terror ends tonight," stated Hero, the party's leader. He held his sword proudly before him, "I will not rest until peace returns to our fair land!"
"Nor will I," said Dame, the archer.
"You can count on me!" added Thif the Thief, brandishing a dagger.
"And I, as well!" said Mage, raising his staff into the air.
"Send me back to my world, you freak!" shouted Robert, raising his fists threateningly.
"Hey kid, need a weapon?" asked Thif, tossing a spare dagger. Robert managed to catch it by the blade, screaming with pain as he did so. Meanwhile, Greg was simply staring open-mouthed at the Evil Sorcerer. With that, the battle began. All of the heroes got into their respective fighting stances and waited for the Sorcerer to attack them.
"What are you all waiting for??" shouted Robert, "Attack!"
"We can't!" yelled Hero, "It's not our turn to attack yet!"
"Who says you have to take turns?" asked Robert, "Watch this!" Robert suddenly charged at the sorcerer, much to the surprise of the others. The Evil Sorcerer was caught completely off-guard. Robert plunged the dagger into the heart of the Evil Sorcerer. Before his enemy could react, he repeated the process, stabbing the sorcerer over and over again until his body crumpled to the ground.
"And that's that," said Hero, certain the battle was over. But Robert knew otherwise. No sooner had he defeated the sorcerer, the body of their foe began to move.
"You have seen nothing yet, fools!" began the Evil Sorcerer, but was interrupted when Robert resumed his attacks. Before the sorcerer had a chance to transform, Robert finished him off.
"Woah. You attacked him while he was talking!" said Hero, shocked.
"I've never seen anything of the kind!" said Mage, "Truly this Rob Ert is a hero of unrivaled power!" Suddenly, the sky grew dark.
"Robert! This game has no ending!" Greg reminded him, "We could be in for some serious glitches right about now!" Robert gulped.
"Well, there's nothing we can do about that now…" he pointed out, "Except to hope for the best." Lightning crackled in the sky, and the world around them vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
Disc Four: Strange New World
Robert opened his eyes with a groan. He noticed immediately that he was no longer in the game world. He was back in his own room.
"Greg?" asked Robert as he sat up.
"Huh?" was the response from Greg.
"Are we back?"
"I think so." There was a long silence.
"Back where?" asked Hero. Robert and Greg nearly jumped out of their skin.
"Hero!!" yelled Robert, now standing and backing away slowly, "What are you doing here??"
"I do not know," Hero shrugged, "One moment, you're killing the evil sorcerer, the next, we all get transported here."
"Indeed this is a strange place," pointed out Thif. Robert did a double-take.
"You're all here??" asked Robert incredulously.
"Seems that way," answered Mage, teleporting in.
"Where's Dame?" asked Greg.
"That room over there," said Hero, pointing behind him, "She dashed into it as soon as we got here."
"The bathroom?" asked Robert, "But she's from the medieval ages! How did she even know what that room was?" Hero shrugged.
"How should I know? She just seemed to know from instinct." There was a pause, then he added, "Uh… what do you mean she's from the 'medieval ages'?"
"Er… never mind. I'll explain later." said Robert. A flush sounded from within the bathroom. Robert and Greg exchanged glances, both wondering how Dame had figured that out so fast. Dame soon emerged from the bathroom.
"Ah… I feel much better now," she said, "So, where are we, anyhow?" Before Robert had a chance to respond, a knock sounded on his door.
"Robert!!" yelled his mother as the door flew open, "You were supposed to be downstairs ten minutes ago! I-" she suddenly stopped as she noticed the four well-armed heroes in the room. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but no sound came out. The result was that her mouth simply hung open stupidly. Robert stepped forward to try to explain, but was cut off by Hero.
"Now is the time to attack!" he proclaimed, drawing his sword. Thif and Dame moved to join him.
"No, stop!" shouted Robert frantically, but Hero paid him no heed.
"Your evil deeds shall end today!" announced Hero, readying his weapon. However, he made no move to attack. Robert's mother was still standing with her mouth open. It was doubtful that she was even able to comprehend any of what was happening. After a few minutes of everyone pretty much just standing still, Hero lowered his weapon.
"No battle music," he grumbled, "Must not be an enemy."
Disc Five: A Grand Feast
Hero sniffed at the food hungrily.
"This smells good," he commented, "What do you call it?"
"Pizza," answered Robert. The six of them had gone downstairs to the kitchen, leaving Robert's mother standing upstairs in his doorway.
"Hmm…" said Hero thoughtfully as he stabbed a slice of the pizza with his sword. He proceeded to eat the pizza directly off the blade.
"Quite extraordinary," he said, "Really, it is quite good." Dame rolled her eyes.
"Stop trying to act so sophisticated, Hero. It's just a bunch of cheese and sauce stuck on bread." Hero thought about this for a moment.
"Now is the time to attack!" he suddenly yelled as he took another bite. Dame gave up in disgust. It was during that moment that Robert's dad walked through the front door.
"I'm home!" he called out, but of course got no response from his wife, who was pretty much frozen in time upstairs.
"Odd," he said, noticing for the first time that four complete strangers were standing in the kitchen.
"Eh… Robert? Are these friends of yours?" Robert had to think fast.
"Yes," was his well-thought-out response. His dad took a glance at them, noting that one of them was using a sword to eat pizza.
"You certainly are an… interesting group," he said slowly. Then his attention fell to Dame.
"Er… what is that you're wearing, miss?" he asked. Dame narrowed her eyes.
"Leather armor," she said through clenched teeth.
"Odd… it looks more like underwear to me…" Dame was already fitting an arrow into her bow.
"Listen, buddy - whenever I try to wear anything else, I hear a weird buzzing sound and I can't put it on! So back off!!" she shrieked.
"Robert… I don't know much about these other fellows here, but the girl really needs to- urk!" Dame's arrow had found a home in his neck.
"Nobody calls me 'the girl'!" she shouted. Robert screamed.
"You just killed my dad!!"
"He deserved it," said Dame, tossing him a Life Potion, "Anyhow, you should know it's not permanent or anything."
"You… you don't get it, do you?? This is the real world! People don't come back to life here!!" Robert was becoming hysterical. Still, Greg noted that he was taking the death of his father quite well, all things considered.
"What're you talking about?" asked Dame, "Here, I'll do it." With that, she snatched the Life Potion from him and administered it to the corpse of his father. He immediately sprang back to life.
"Wha… what happened?" he asked.
"You died," explained Dame, "Make any more rude comments about me and it'll happen again." Dazed and confused, he wandered out of the room.
"Dude," said Greg, "We have hundreds of Life Potions here in the real world. Do you know what this means?"
"Woah," Robert stopped to think of the possibilities, "We gotta get to the graveyard and have some fun!"
"Great idea!" agreed Greg, "Heroes! Now is the time to attack!" This got Hero's attention, who had been busy attacking the pizza.
"Onward, my companions!" he announced. The four heroes eagerly followed Robert and Greg out of the house.
Disc Six: Villainous Encounter
The six companions traveled eastward, toward the graveyard which held infinite possibilities. It was 9:00 by now, and darkness had fully fallen upon the cemetery by the time they arrived there.
"Er… what are we supposed to be doing here?" asked Thif.
"I just wanna see what's gonna happen," explained Robert hastily, grabbing one of Dame's Life Potions. He approached one of the graves, and proceeded to pour the contents of the Life Potion into the soil. A few seconds later, he could hear a muffled noise below him.
"Sounds like someone banging on the inside of a coffin," observed Greg.
"This is awesome!" exclaimed Robert as he listened until the muffled sounds came to a stop.
"Poor guy must've suffocated," said Greg. Robert grinned.
"I've never had this much fun in my life…" Suddenly, they were interrupted by the sound of a vehicle screeching to a halt outside the cemetery gates. Robert and Greg moved cautiously to rejoin the heroes as several rough-looking individuals jumped out of the back of a pickup truck.
"'ey!" called out one, "We gots us some victims!" There were five thugs altogether, and Hero, Dame, and Thif were already moving forward to engage them.
"Guys!" hissed Robert, "Careful! There aren't like other enemies you've faced!"
"I am Hero and these are my companions!" announced Hero, "Who are you? Are you of the Kingdom of Heroica?" The thugs snickered.
"The crazy ones always come out at night, eh Snake?" asked one.
"Got that right, Cobra," answered another.
"Five-letter names, eh?" asked Hero, drawing his sword, "Now is the time to attack!" The thugs all drew pistols.
"Wouldn't do that if I were you," said Snake, "Serpent here'll put a bullet through yer head." Hero was simply standing there stupidly. Snake's attention drifted to Dame.
"What a pretty girlie ya gots there," he sneered, "When I'm done with ya, mebbe I'll *urrk!*" Dame had launched an arrow, hitting Snake in the arm.
"NOBODY CALLS ME THE- uhh 'girlie??' What the hell?? That's even worse!" she let loose with another arrow, this time striking him in the leg. The angry thug pulled the trigger on his gun, the bullet striking Hero between the eyes. Hero's lifeless body slumped to the ground.
"That fool is going to get himself killed for good one of these days," muttered Mage, moving forward.
"That's what ya get fer makin' me bleed," grunted Snake. The other thugs grinned and snickered. Still the heroes took no direct action. Robert realized what was wrong.
"Battle music!" he explained, "They need battle music!" Greg caught on quickly.
"Let's sing it!" he suggested. Robert nodded.
"Da da dum, ba da da da da dum, ba da-da-da… da da dum, ba da da da, da da da da da-da-da… doo doo, doo doo doo doo doo, doo, doo doo doo da dum…." The heroes quickly got their act together. Dame let loose with another arrow, this time striking Snake squarely in the chest. He slumped over, and the others opened fire with their guns. However, the bullets ricocheted harmlessly off of Thif's Illusion Armor. Dame's high dexterity helped her to deftly dodge the incoming rain of bullets. Mage quickly cast a protective barrier around himself, while Hero's corpse continued to lie motionless.
"Wha? How're these guys still standin'??" asked Cobra.
"A little late to be asking yourself that," said Thif as he effortlessly dashed next to and then away from the hapless thug.
"What in the-? Hey! He stole my stash!" he exclaimed, "You little thief!"
"The name's Thif," Thif corrected him, "And I don't know what you're complaining about. I meant to get your money, not this lame powdery stuff…" Meanwhile, Mage was chanting the words of a powerful spell…
"Est taka… eh… Divine power of the flame, bestow unto me thy might. Become a force of destructive power and administer suffering upon our enemies…" While Mage was occupied with his magic, Dame took advantage of the momentary lapse in gunfire to revive Hero. It wasn't long before the thugs had reloaded their guns, and once again they took their turn to attack.
"Y'know, I never realized how much real-life combat resembles the combat in Last Quest II," Robert remarked, "They're taking turns and everything."
"Just keep singing," muttered Greg.
"...and a great column of flame shall rise up and consume those who oppose us, and the great Fire Demon shall lend unto us his strength with which to consume our enemies with white-hot destruction…" As Mage continued his magical chant, Dame was having a difficult time dodging the multitude of bullets, as the thugs had discovered quickly that she was the main threat. A stray bullet managed to hit Hero between the eyes, and the large man once again fell lifeless to the ground. Thif wasn't as lucky this time around, as one of the bullets managed to find its way through his skull. There wasn't much his Illusion Armor could do to protect him from that. Dame had been grazed by more than one bullet, and by the time the thugs had stopped to reload again, she was bleeding from her left arm and was breathing heavily.
"Y'know, Dame looks pretty sexy when she's battle-crazed," Robert observed. Greg rolled his eyes.
"She's a videogame character, Robert. Keep singing."
"...become a beacon of destruction, and administer burns no less severe than second-degree…. let the flesh of our enemies melt into a liquidy goo, and may their screams of terror equal at least 98 decibels… and should they survive, may they explode in a plume of flame no less than five feet in diameter, and if the gods are truly with us, may the diameter equal twice that of height of the victim…" Mage's magical chant continued in the background as the thugs took cover behind their truck and frantically reloaded their guns.
Dame took a moment to size up the situation. Four thugs still stood, and two of her comrades lay dead. She couldn't afford to waste a turn healing herself or reviving an ally, so she took careful aim and fired at Serpent. Unfortunately, the arrow hit an actual serpent rather than the thug she had been aiming for. The clicking sound of fresh magazines being loaded into pistols could be heard, and Dame frantically yelled at Mage.
"Dammit, Mage! Finish up that spell already!"
"...eh?" asked Mage, "Oh! The spell! I got side-tracked… est taka nodriela!" the spell was finished at the same time the thugs took their positions for their next attack. A huge fireball erupted from Mage's fingertips, connecting with the truck. It exploded in a spectacular display of fire and burning flesh. By the time the destruction was over with, all four of the remaining thugs had been burned to ashes. Dame breathed a sigh of relief, and quickly brought her fallen comrades back to life.
"Well-done, Dame," Hero congratulated her, "Though I could've gotten the job done just as easily myself." Dame was about to let loose an arrow that would Show Him Who Gets the Job Done Around Here, but her train of thoughr was interrupted when she heard sirens in the distance.
"What's that noise?" asked Thif.
"The police!" exclaimed Robert, "We gotta get out of here! We're going to get arrested for this!"
"Ah, the forces of law!" exclaimed Hero, "Surely there will be a reward for us disposing of these evil mercenaries!"
"It doesn't quite work that way," said a nervous Greg, "Trust us on this one. We should be running."
"Absolutely not!" argued Hero, "I want at least 500 gold pieces as a reward, and I won't leave here until I get it!" The blue and red lights of police cars could suddenly be seen lighting up the graveyard. A battalion of cops had already surrounded the graveyard. There was silence among the heroes as a great booming voice announced:
"Everyone throw down your weapons immediately or you will be fired upon!" Robert and Greg froze in fear. Dame, Thif, and Mage all realized that something was very wrong and they should probably do as the Big Booming Voice ordered them to. Hero just glared stubbornly at the cop holding the megaphone and raised his sword.
"Now is the time to attack!"
Disc Seven: Separation
"No, Hero! This is definitely not the time to attack!" argued Dame, "We've never in our lives fought a group of enemies this large before!" Hero hesitated.
"I want my gold pieces," he insisted, "I will speak with the leader." Dame rolled her eyes.
"Fine," she conceded, "While you're over there getting killed, we'll be running in the opposite direction, alright? Thif-"
"Already gone," answered Thif, blending in with his surroundings in such a way that he was no longer visible. Mage quickly said a word of magic and teleported away. Robert and Greg were already sprinting in the other direction. Dame sighed and followed their example.
"I repeat!" yelled the sergeant, "Drop your weapon or you will be fired upon!" The police force was having a difficult time trying to figure out how to deal with Hero, who was now approaching the sergeant slowly, sword in hand. The sergeant's mind was racing, trying to figure out how to deal with someone armed with only a sword. The nervous officers must have had similar thoughts, because nobody fired a single shot upon Hero, who finally stopped about ten feet away from the sergeant.
"Hear me, forces of law!" announced Hero, "We have defeated the Evil Minions of the Snake Lord! I stand before you, ready to receive whatever valuables you may have!" The sergeant was confused. Was this man attempting to rob the police?
"You are suspected of murder!" yelled the sergeant, "You must throw down your weapon immediately or you will be shot!" Hero laughed heartily, though to the sergeant it sounded more like the villainous laughter you would hear in movies.
"I see you are reluctant to part with the wealth that I deserve to be rewarded with," he said, "I understand. I will take any spare gold pieces you may have!" The confused sergeant could scarcely think of how to react to this.
"I repeat!" he yelled, "Throw down your weapon!" Hero shrugged and sheathed his sword. As soon as this was done, a multitude of police officers swarmed toward him. Hero welcomed them with open arms.
"No, no--thanks are not needed. Your money will be more than enough- arrghh!" a baton across the head sent Hero into the land of unconsciousness.
"Was that legal, sir?" asked an officer of the sergeant.
"I just really wanted to do that to that guy," was the reply.
"Sir? That's not an answer… arrghh!" a baton across the head sent the officer into the land of unconsciousness.
Thif had managed to evade the bulk of the police force, and slowed his pace to catch his breath.
"Just my luck," he muttered, "Thievery was so much easier in the other world. How can such a large mass of enemies coordinate a search so quickly, anyhow?" His train of thought was interrupted by a police car screeching to a halt directly in front of him.
"Freeze!" yelled the police officer as he dove out of his car. Thif quickly reversed directions, with the cop in close pursuit.
"Arrghh… this is impossible!" he yelled as he rounded a corner onto a dimly lit street. Before his pursuer rounded the corner, Thif quickly used his blend in skill to make himself look completely unsuspicious. The confused officer came to a halt.
"Um… excuse me, sir?" he asked of Thif, "Did you see a thief pass through here?"
"Oh yeah, he went that way," said Thif, pointing farther down the street. The officer quickly resumed his chase. Thif breathed a sigh of relief.
"I better find some place to hide…" said Thif to himself as he inspected his surroundings. The street was lined with various buildings, which fascinated Thif. They were like nothing he had ever seen in his world. However, he did experience an odd tingling sensation as he passed one particular building. Feeling an odd bond with this building, he paused to inspect it more fully. It was a large building which had a well-lit entrance. Atop the doorway was the company logo, which was a three dimensional blue cube on a red triangular background. Below the logo was the name of the company and their slogan.
"Cubesoft," read Thif aloud, "Developing the Games of Tomorrow."
Robert and Greg had managed to evade the police, thanks to Hero keeping the bulk of them distracted.
"If we distance ourselves from those RPG characters, we should be able to get out of this alive," panted Robert as the two of them ran toward Robert's house.
"No such luck," groaned Greg as he rounded the corner. Mage and Dame were already standing on Robert's doorstep. Robert sighed.
"Let's just get them inside and hidden," he suggested.
"Took you guys long enough," muttered Dame, "This door won't open, and Mage refuses to use his magic to get us in."
"Unless you want your house to burst into flames, I don't suggest you use my magic for this task," said Mage matter-of-factly. Dame was fuming.
"Arrgh! I hate it when you do that! Now I sound as stupid as Hero does!!"
"Now is the time to attack!" announced Robert as he used his key to open the door. Dame glared at him.
"Sorry, couldn't resist," he said. The four of them quickly made their way into the house, and slammed the door behind them.
"Is that you, Robert?" called out his father from the living room, "Come in here! There's a huge police chase happening on TV!" Robert and Greg exchanged glances, then ran to the other room. A quick glance a the television indicated that the police had been closer to catching them than they had thought. An aerial view of Robert's house was being displayed on the screen.
"So that's where that toy airplane I used to have ended up!" Robert exclaimed.
"You kids better be careful," warned Robert's dad, "It seems the criminals may be hiding in our house." Sirens could be heard outside, and on the television screen, Robert could see counter-terrorist squads parachuting down from helicopters.
"Upstairs!" hissed Robert. Greg, Dame, and Mage all followed him out of the living room, up the stairs, past the Mom Statue, and into Robert's room.
"What're we gonna do?" asked Robert, panicked.
"The Game World! We'll be safe if we return to the game world!" suggested Greg.
"Impossible!" argued Robert, "We finished that game! There's no way to return!" Greg eyed him suspiciously.
"How can you possibly be so sure?" he asked.
"I'm not! But it makes sense, doesn't it?" At that moment, a counter-terrorist parachuted through Robert's window. He quickly took aim with his impossibly-large machine gun.
"Down on the ground!" he yelled, "Do it! Now!" At that moment, another voice sounded from behind the counter-terrorist.
"You shall not escape me this time, FOOLS!" it boomed. The counter-terrorist whirled around and unloaded a full clip of ammo into the Evil Sorcerer's head. The Evil Sorcerer hesitated for a moment.
"24,000 hit points of damage in one turn," said the Evil Sorcerer as blood poured out of a thousand bullet holes in his face, "Well met. But now, you shall behold my TRUE FORM!" the frightened counter-terrorist backed up several steps, noting that without a mouth, it should be physically impossible for the Evil Sorcerer to talk, let alone stay alive. Before the Evil Sorcerer could transform, Robert grabbed the first object he could find and threw it at the Evil Sorcerer. There was a scream, a flash of light, and then… nothingness.
Please Insert Disc Eight
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