Living NightMARE [PiE]

"Psst. Luna. You see this?"

>"I do."

>The two of you lurk behind some bushes as you stare out into the clearing.

>There stands a lone giant carrying a very large bone club.

>The two of you had been adventuring for weeks now and you've each attained quite a bit of experience in your travels.

>You've also been wanting to try out some new skills.

"Do you think we can take it?"

>Luna is definitely the more knowledgable of your group.

>She takes a moment to check the unsuspecting creature up and down.

>Then she smiles and levitates her two hand crossbows up, racking them back.

>"Piece of cake," she says. "Just give me one~ second."

>Out of a satchel on her waist floats two green vials.

>She pops the corks and applies one vial liberally to each crossbow bolt.

"Should I even ask?"

>"The empty vials go back in Luna's satchel.

>She holds up her left crossbow.

>"One for paralysis."

>Then the right.

>"And one regular poison."

"Smart move. That's actually reminds me."

>You set your two-handed battleaxe on the ground and rummage through your pack.

>Snatching up a vial of red liquid, you pop the top and tip it on back.

>An intense warmth courses through your bloodstream.

>You feel invigorated.

>After you stretch your limbs, you grab your axe and ready it for carnage.

 

"The usual plan of attack?"

>"Oh, yeah~," confirmed Luna.

>In a puff of smoke, she faded from view.

>"Wait for my signal," she ordered.

>You follow the sound of her hoofsteps until she was out of earshot.

>Right now, she should be circling around the giant to hit him from the other side.

>Give him the one-two punch.

>You creep as close as you feel comfortable creeping to the beast and lie in wait.

>Just a few more seconds and...

>The unmistakable sound of Luna's bows being released simultaneously is heard followed by the thunderous roar of the giant as both shots hit him square in the chest.

>You bolt from cover and sprint at the disorientated giant with your axe poised to strike.

"YEEAAARGH- Oh, shit!"

>The giant spins around at your war cry with his bone club in full swing.

>Taken by surprise, you barely manage to drop to the ground in a roll to avoid getting your skull caved in.

>Two more crossbow bolts find their way into the giant's back.

>It roars again as it lifts it's foot high over you.

>You roll out of the way once more and stumble when it's foot strikes the ground and shakes the earth.

 

"I thought you said you paralysed him!" you shout at Luna.

>"Just give it a minute!" hollars Luna. "He's a big boy! Whoa!"

>Luna strafes to the right when the beast rushes her.

>She runs counter-clockwise around the clearing, alternating shots between her bows.

>You race towards the distracted giant, axe raised, and take a slice out of his thigh.

>Again you get clear before he can strike you.

"Shoot him in the arm!" you order Luna.

>You can't do anything if you can't get close, and the giant's reach was well beyond your own.

>Luna starts placing shots into it's right arm, slowly but surely crippling it.

>You start taking more chances and continue swinging for it's legs.

>The giant grows weak.

>It's grated legs and porcupined arms coupled with the double poisoning from earlier is too much and it collapses to it's knees.

>Cooly walking up behind it, you hoist your tool of destruction high above your head and bring it down into the giant's back, killing it.

>Luna walks up beside you as you both admire your kill, each breathing heavily.

>"Piece," Luna gasps. "Piece of cake," she grins.

>That was close, but hey, you got it.

"Alrighty then..."

>You heft your axe above your head and cackle maniacally.

"Off with his toes!"

>"You're disgusting," remarked Luna.

>You lower your weapon and raise an eyebrow at her.

"What? This is for your benefit."

>"I can make poisons just fine with out it. Thanks."

"Well then to Hell with you. I'm taking them anyways."

>Luna sighs.

>"Suit yourself."

 

>When you raise your axe again, the earth itself starts quaking violently.

"What the Hell?"

>As you turn around, you come face-to-face with another roaring giant already in the process of bringing his club down on you.

"Oh, God!"

>SMASH!

>The force of the strike is enough to send you blasting off again.

"SHIIIiiitt...!"

>Luna is dumbstruck by what just happened.

>How neither of you saw that coming is unbelievable.

>She comes to when the giant roars again and advances on her.

>Luna starts to back up, shouting quickly, "No, no, no, no, no!"

>She raises her crossbows to fire, but stumbles over the outstretched arm of the previous giant's corpse and falls back.

>Babe Ruth the giant is about to score his second home run of the evening if Luna doesn't act quickly.

>The giant winds up his swing and swipes at her.

>"FUS RO DAH!" shouts Luna.

>The sonic boom from her voice is enough to literally shout the giant to pieces.

>Luna sits there with a stupid look on her face for a minute before she stands victorious.

>"What a day..." she comments. "Right, Anon?"

>No response.

>"Anonymous?"

>Luna looks around but finds nothing.

>A twinkle in the sky is your signal to start plummeting back to Earth with the force to exterminate another age of dinosaurs.

"Luna catch me!" you scream in panic as you fall.

>Luna looks to the sky following your voice, but too late to react.

>You slam into her and force the both of you into the ground.

>The impact causes a shockwave to rival the Tunguska event.

>Your crumpled corpses lie in the crater that was left behind.

 

>And now here you float in Purgatory.

>Luna's here too.

"Son of a bitch!" you shout into the empty white void.

>"You killed me!" accused Luna.

"I was free falling after that fucking giant knocked me into the stratosphere! What did you want me to do, grow wings?"

>"Well while you were screwing around, I managed to kill it."

"So I heard. You fucking cheated."

>"Cheat? How did I cheat!"

"Assassins don't know dragon shouts!"

>"My ass they don't! And how come I never get to have any cool abilities? You always call them over-powered!"

"Dual automatic crossbows firing bolts of fire isn't over-powered to you?"

>"... Okay that one was a bit over-the-top. But then how come you get to use shouts?"

"I've never once used a damn shout. We've never even killed a dragon or learned to do them yet! And yet you just pull that out of your ass?"

>The two of you sit in quiet for a few minutes.

>Damn it, man.

>You've been building your characters for weeks now and in one fell swoop they're fucking dead.

>And you agreed not to revive them illegitimately because that would be too easy.

 

"Well this sucks..." you finally say, breaking the silence.

>"You want to play something else? Or restart?" asked Luna.

>You shake your head.

"Nah. My alarm's about to go off here in a few minutes, anyways."

>"Oh. Alright then. Same time next week?"

"You got it."

>Luna fades into the void, leaving you to float alone.

>Your alarm eventually does go off, rousing you from sleep.

>On with your day you go.

>You try to think of something you can do next Thursday night.

>You could always restart your fantasy adventure together, but perhaps the two of you can throw together some kind of zombie survival scenario.

>You'll run it by her later and see how she takes it.

>Now the real question is...

>How many of your friends have what it takes to join your zombie squad?