Dungeon Crawl

By: Aviantei

A Megatokyo One Shot

[Twelve Shots of Summer 11/12]

In video games, caves tend to host dungeons. There are treasures and monsters, and the occasional trap, too. Depending on the difficulty of the game, it's very possible to get lost in a cave, sometimes with dire consequences.

The Cave of Evil is exactly like that, even if it isn't as complex, Miho decides. People are everywhere, sometimes treasures worth seeking out, sometimes monsters. It's dark, too, and only the light the DJ decides to provide will make it to the dance floor. Drinks line the bar on the side. The big difference between this cave and the ones in games is just how loud it is, from the music, the dancing, the chatter.

Of course, with so many people around, holding different viewpoints and thoughts, it's just as easy to get lost.

And that's why it's perfect. There's a small room she can use when it's too risky to try and head back to her apartment, and the staff seems willing enough to help her out. Best of all, with all the perspective interference that the Cave of Evil gives off, it will be impossible for the horde to find her without a decisive lead.

It's only a little bit, but Miho feels like she can relax.

The first one to take a pointed interest in her affairs is Waltah, which Miho guesses makes sense. He is the eldest member on staff at the Cave of Evil, and the others mention that he does happen to have sort of a mother hen streak. There isn't a member of the Cave crew that hasn't been sat down at the bar for a talk on a moderately busy night, so Miho's ready for any sort of patronization that's going to get shoved her way.

Except she just sits there for nearly fifteen minutes as Waltah cleans some glasses, the bass pounding in her ears, and the indescribable growing paranoia that if her back is turned to the dance floor for too long, someone will sneak up behind her and that will be the end of it.

A measly two weeks of working the only job that seems like it will help. Pathetic.

"You seem tense," Waltah comments, speaking at just the right volume so that Miho can hear him, but no one else. Of course, the words just make her tense up more, which was the last thing she wanted to do. Miho makes a mental note that Waltah's age certainly equals wisdom, and not to let her guard down again. "I won't overstep any boundaries, since that won't get anywhere, but you can say whatever you like." He sits a glass down on the bar, and Miho's about to mention that she isn't old enough to drink before she realizes it's just juice. "You are also free to keep your silence."

Miho idly drags a finger around the rim of the glass, not drinking it, not speaking.

Waltah nods, then goes back to taking stock of the bar. It's one of those nights in the Cave, where the floor has enough people on it for a profit, but not enough to make enough human heat to demand high drink business. As such the bar stays relatively empty, and even when another customer takes a seat at the opposite end and orders a drink, Waltah is still perfectly in earshot.

Miho grimaces, her mouth suddenly feeling dry. With no other option, she takes a drink.

Grape juice.

Miho waits until the customer returns to the dance floor and Waltah's clearing off the bar, but that's about as far as her self-control can take her. Her fingers press up against the glass, feeling like it's about to shatter. "You don't have to pity me," she snaps, and Waltah looks up. "That's not what I came here for."

Waltah opens his mouth, but Miho stands up. She sets her glass down, hard enough to make an audible enough sound through the blaring music, not enough to break it. "I'm going home," she states. It's not the end of her shift, but Miho doesn't care.

And before Waltah even gets the chance to think about protesting, she's gone.

Miho steps through the main entrance of the Cave of Evil, even though she doesn't have to. Anyone on her story path would take the employee entrance because it's supposed to be safer, which is exactly why it's more dangerous. Kenji nods and steps aside so she can get through.

Out of all the people at the Cave, Kenji is probably Miho's favorite. Not out of any sense of particular attraction, but just because he's so indifferent. They hardly speak, but he acknowledges her without pity. The bouncer is neutral, and Miho can respect that.

Now if only the same could be said for the other workers.

Miho's job is minimal—mostly watching, mixing with the crowd, making sure things don't get out of hand. The occasional errand. Still, it's a nightclub in Harajuku and the hours run all night, so it pays well and Waltah's willing to give her cash instead of checks, so Miho won't complain about that. And if things go bad, she just needs to get one of the bouncers. And if things go really bad—well, Miho's always been good at slipping through the cracks.

It would only be better if she didn't have to work in a team. Depending on the crowd, the number of people varies. Tonight, she's paired up with a name she doesn't recognize, and that's all. The night shouldn't be so bad. Less people means less faces giving her strange looks.

Miho clocks in, turns around to head to the floor, and runs straight into someone else. There's a moment of pause as she backs up, and a precursory glance reveals it's a woman. A second glance makes her ears and tail obvious, a third to understand that the foxlike appendages are real. Miho's goes to apologize—she's seen stranger, after all, and it's the Cave's policy to be polite to guests, even when mingling—only to be cut off.

"So yer the new girlie they brought in while I was away, huh?" the fox woman asks. She leans forward, squinting, like there's five-point font scrawled across Miho's face. Being studied just the makes Miho feel nervous and she tries to take a step back. "Y'dun look like much. Dun get why ev'ryone's got their panties in a bunch over ya."

There's a mocking tone in her voice, and Miho scowls. She'd prefer pity over this. "I don't see what it matters," she retorts, indignation staining her words. "I do my job."

The woman snorts. "Yeah, and cut outter here most of th' time." She stands up straight, and Miho notes that she's taller, even without the extra height from her ears. "I get ya got circumstances, but that dun mean ya get to waltz around like a freak'n princess."

There are several retorts Miho could shoot back, but she stops. While her pride hates this, there's no point in fighting. It could cause a scene. It could cost her her job.

It could attract attention.

"I'm needed on the floor," Miho says, the words polite, but enough of an edge in her voice to show she's not running away. "I still need to meet up with my partner, so if you'll excuse me."

She goes to push past the woman, but is stopped by a hand on her shoulder. "Not s' fast," the woman says. Miho shoots a glare over her shoulder, only to see the fox woman grinning. Her once innocent seeming moe fang now makes her grin more intimidating than it should be. "Yer work'n with me, t'night, Miho-sama." There's a mocking tone in the honorific. "An' I've been do'n this a lot longer than ya have, so ya better list'n up."

A feeling of hatred runs through Miho's veins, powerful and refreshingly her own.

The fox woman's name turns out to be Komugiko, and Komugiko turns out to be one of the Cave's longest working members, putting Waltah aside. The reason Miho hadn't seen her before is because she was finishing off her pregnancy leave, and that's all Miho needs to know. It's stifling enough having almost every shift in the fox's presence.

The taunts don't stop, and it becomes a routine for Miho to have to bicker with Komugiko just to get the woman off her back. So what if she's a runaway high school student? So what if she's not old enough to legally work the Cave? So what if her parents are AWOL, so what so what?

It's almost not worth the trouble, even if this is a safe haven.

After a few weeks their relationship doesn't improve, but Miho falls into a sort of routine. Komugiko would say that her attitude hasn't improved—they still argue, Miho still skips out on work the nights she feels uneasy, Waltah can't get her to say anything—but it still feels like a natural rhythm. Nothing really changes, but Miho thinks she can accept this, so long as the pattern isn't enough to trigger any connection between this story path and the one before it.

Of course, that only holds until Miho's chest starts to hurt in the middle of work and she passes out in the middle of the floor.

Miho wakes up in the Cave's "infirmary," which is really just a room with a bed and a first aid kit. It's meant to be used when guests have an issue that makes being in the middle of music and lights and people a bad idea and they don't have the energy to make it out the door, without the whole mess being enough to need to call an ambulance.

She sits up as slow as possible, then looks around. It's mortifying enough she passed out at all, and even worse that someone else on shift had to take care of her when she's supposed to be working. The only thing that isn't so bad about the whole thing is that it's Kenji sitting in the chair in the room to look out for her, and not anyone else.

"You feelin' alright?" he asks. Miho's first reaction is to scowl at his words, until she realizes he's not caring out of some internal obligation, but because it comes naturally to him. Her reaction causes Kenji to give a wry smile, his lip piercing flashing a bit in the light as it moves. "You know, a face like that makes it hard to tell if you're okay or not."

It's half a joke, half a serious statement. Miho let's herself relax a bit, but not too much. Her passing out is only going to make keeping all her secrets safe much more difficult. There will be questions. Even if it's Kenji. "I have—" she starts.

"You're an emotive, right?" Kenji says it like it's nothing, and Miho tenses up, all extremities bunching up to her core. "Or, at least you're something like it. To be honest, I don't remember all the terminology anymore. But I'm right, aren't I?"

"Yeah," Miho admits, because he has her cornered. "Something like that."

Kenji nods. "Gotcha." He's quiet for a few minutes, and Miho wants to run away so badly, to disappear. Kenji wouldn't be able to catch her, and no one would be able to find her. She could vanish, just like she did before. The only thing stopping her is the headache still in her skull, keeping her from even finding a place to slip out from. "Well, since it's a big deal to you, I won't say anything. The less people that know, the better right?"

Miho looks to him, nodding before she can think otherwise. It's probably an effect form the shock. Most people don't react so calmly to someone like her, let alone rationally at all. Yet Kenji's not even acting like it's a big deal. "This isn't your first time," she realizes. "Dealing with something like this."

There's an uneasiness in Miho's stomach that she can't ignore. Being an emotive is dangerous. Interacting with one is even more so. Her whole existence is dangerous. But Kenji just keeps looking up at the ceiling like it's more likely to cave in than Miho is to cause him trouble.

"I won't ask any more questions if you don't," he supplies.

And Miho takes a deep breath before she sinks back into the cheap, scratchy blankets.

She finds Endgames more out of coincidence more than anything else, even though she knows that coincidence doesn't really exist. It's more alive than other games—the hidden emotional statistic, the AI running characters when they log out. But for Miho, it's even more alive than that, a pure connection between her and m0h, real air running through real lungs that someone else would find to be digital.

m0h's heartbeat is just a little bit steadier than hers, too.

It's amazing how much games are able to replicate reality. An avatar built from data still manages to have an innate ability, bolstered by a few self-programmed cheats, and then the world just follows and collapses around him. People break by m0h, and the Void makes its first appearance, letting the world fall into nothingness.

Into a darkness the Coders can't even save it from.

Almost instantly, Komugiko notices the change. "Yer look'n better," she drawls instead of picking a fight. "Ya haven' been skipp'n out on work either. What's th' big deal?"

"You think you'd be better off being grateful than complaining," Miho counters, sounding and feeling sour. Yes, it's true. She's been feeling better lately, more secure. She's not sure what it is, but she won't complain. What she will complain about is the fact that Komugiko can read her that easily. "Or are you disappointed that you can't criticize me anymore?"

"Ya sure gotta sharp tongue," Komugiko remarks. Then she smiles a little bit, ruffles a hand through Miho's hair. "But yer right. I'll take dis over mah partner skipp'n out on me night after night." And just like that, she heads to the dance floor. It's rather strange how easily a fox girl can blend in with the crowd. "Don't stay slack'n too long, Miho-sama."

The once derisive referral doesn't seem to have the same bite to it as it once did anymore.

"Don't take it personally," Waltah comments from the bar, organizing wine bottles. "She does this to everyone she likes."

"I wasn't planning on it," Miho grumbles. She doesn't want to think about it, having someone care for her that much. She doesn't want to admit that she likes it a little, likes the Cave, likes the adventure that she's found there, the party that she's forming. To distract herself, she pushes into the crowd, hoping the presence of other people will sever her threads.

"Make sure to stop by for a drink," Waltah comments behind her.

m0h explores cites like others do dungeons, taking them in slowly, viewing people as monsters to be tamed or defeated. He lowly conquers them, adding people to his undead army, then crumbling them away. The Void grows ever so slowly—slow enough that people can convince themselves it's not happening. But cities and villages fall, and soon it's kingdoms that are under his reign.

Miho keeps her own presence hidden, solitary in the Cave or her home. She's nowhere near as out in the open, not after Masamichi's near panic attack that led to the abrupt end of her last story. And that's fine, because Miho wants nothing to do with the outside world.

Not when the Endgames world is crumbling under his influence.

Not when there's nothing that can stop his advance.

Except m0h falls unconscious, his body waking up later under, trapped under the influence of a controller that no longer has a player behind it.

Miho wakes up in the hospital for the first time in a long time, and she feels devastated. Part of her feels panicked—because this is exactly where they would expect to find her and how long has she been here she has to get out—but she calms once she takes a few deep breaths. This is her usual hospital in her usual room, and no one knows how to find her here.

But then how did she get here?

She considers calling a nurse but realizes she doesn't want to talk to anyone. Of course, someone will come by soon enough to check on her, see if she's awake or not, the usual routine. Miho would rather cherish her silence mixed with the white noise of heart monitors and hospital staff in the halls.

Of course that doesn't last long when the door opens.

Miho tenses, not ready for the hospital checkup, realizes it's Waltah at the door, then tenses all over again. She's not ready for this, either, for the inquisition that comes from people who don't really know her, who don't understand that she's a broken girl and the only reason she's still alive is because nobody wants to let her go.

Nobody can ever seem to let her go.

"Don't worry about work," Waltah says. "We have your shifts taken care of until you're well enough again, so you just focus on getting well."

Miho looks up.

What?

What was that?

That couldn't be.

Come back, Miho.

Come back, we need you.

Please come back, don't leave us alone—

Waltah only says, "Is there anything you need? We can bring it to you."

"My laptop," Miho says, almost breathes it without thinking of what she's saying, not knowing what she's really asking for. "Its charger, mouse…if that's not too much to ask."

m0h finds Pirogoeth after all this time, no longer a Domina, but a simple adventurer, Largo in her wake. He joins them, hoping to get under their skin, hoping his eventual betrayal will be enough to turn the tides in his favor.

In the end, Piro is the one getting under Miho's skin.

In the end, m0h is dead, and it's all over.

"Ya cut yer hair, huh? Didn' expect that." Miho shrugs off the comment, not really wanting to talk about it. Komugiko raises an eyebrow, but doesn't say anything else. If there's one thing the fox girl is good at, it's reading what Miho's thinking, and the real thing she's thinking, not the stuff everyone else thinks she should be. "Well, we're glad yer back," Komugiko continues, patting Miho's back. "We were all worried 'bout ya. It was a pretty close one."

"Yes," Miho whispers, drowned out by the thudding of the music, "it was."

Time somehow continues. Miho continues working at the Cave. Somehow, she and Komugiko become friends. It takes a while, but one spring Miho works up the courage to attend school again, and time passes in a strange, indistinguishable blur.

And one day, on the street, he's standing there, exactly the way she had imagined him, looking as unbelievably strong as Pirogoeth did, even in the center of the Void.

New Game Start

Ah, this is long overdue in more ways than one. For one, it should have been written last summer. For two, I meant to post this last week.

Anyway, this one shot was inspired by last years [Twelve Shots of Summer] challenge, the prompt for week eleven being "Maze Navigation." Given how Megatokyo tends to blur the lines between reality and fantasy, I figured this would fit. After all, Miho has plenty of mazes to navigate, doesn't she?

This piece was just really meant to be a theorization to fill in some of the gaps in canon. Of course, in the year since it was conceived, we've learned quite a bit more, at least enough to count this particular adventure as a slightly alternate universe. Still, I think it has its own charm.

I would highly recommend checking out the [Twelve Shots of Summer] C2 and forum for a collection of excellent writers and one shots (oh, I guess I'm there, too). It'll be worth it, I promise. Also, check out [Equinoctial Stars over Seasons] and [Shibuya Operation - Story Storm] if you like what you see. There's some good conversation and writing there, as well.

Thanks for reading!

[POST] 090515