UltimateHeroEric: Hey sassy pants, what's going to happen after this?
We had spent most of our money buying potions before we left. We'd definitely need it. It's not like this was going to be a walk in the park. We were currently on a boat I rented a boat to take us to the boss.
SakurAssassin: We've got to find the invisible spot. It'll be shiny like when I'm invisible and not in a place that could be the sun's reflection. It's a portal to the island where the boss is. Only we'll be able to see it because we beat all of those regular bosses.
UltimateHeroEric: No, I mean, what are we going to do after we beat the boss?
SakurAssassin: Oh, well, typical game ending stuff. The credits will roll. You'll be directed back to the home screen and be back in the game at the start up point in America. You can do whatever you want after that. Go wherever you want. Beat as many bosses as you want. Unlock different places and countries.
UltimateHeroEric: But...you won't be playing?
I think I was beginning to see what he was getting at.
SakurAssassin: It's not like I'll be gone. I mean, I've got other things to do, but I can still log in occasionally if you want me to. I'll you'd have to do is send me a message.
UltimateHeroEric: But it won't be the same :( Are you sure there's nothing we have to do before we beat the boss? Do we need to train more? That would help, wouldn't it? We could take a few days to train.
SakurAssassin: It wouldn't really help much from here. Other players are getting closer to figuring out how to get to the boss.
SakurAssassin: Eric, it's not like we can play the game forever. We'd run out of stuff to do eventually. Besides, wouldn't you want to play other games? You wanted to guess which games I make, right? I can't make games if I keep playing this one. It'd be like watching the same movie over and over again.
UltimateHeroEric: I just don't like goodbyes, okay?
SakurAssassin: But it's not goodbye. We're going to see each other in a few weeks.
UltimateHeroEric: Huh?
SakurAssassin: The convention. You're still going to the convention, right? The company should be sending you your tickets soon.
UltimateHeroEric: That's right! We're going to the convention! And we're actually going to meet each other!
SakurAssassin: Yep.
UltimateHeroEric: Will I get to know your name? :)
SakurAssassin: You'll find out.
UltimateHeroEric: Ugh, so vague! I want to know!
SakurAssassin: All in good time, but we at least have to beat the game first.
UltimateHeroEric: Fine, fine. Let's do this!
It was hard to navigate on open ocean like this. All I could see was water in every direction. I think it was supposed to be in this general area.
UltimateHeroEric: Over there! There's two shiny spots.
Sure enough, at the corner of the screen were two shiny spots. One was the sun's reflection, one was the portal to the boss.
UltimateHeroEric: How can we tell which one's which?
SakurAssassin: Just wait a bit.
After a few seconds, a whisp of a cloud passed in front of the cloud. The reflection of the sun dulled the slightest bit as the light shone through the cloud.
SakurAssassin: There. The one on the left is the real deal.
UltimateHeroEric: Alright! Let's get to it!
We steered our way over the spot. The light on the screen wavered as we were transported to the world of the boss.
The water was an odd sort of calm. Completely still, not a ripple or wave in sight. The ocean was clear like glass, but there was nothing in the water. You could only stare down into a deeper, deeper blue. It seemed like the whole world ripple as the boat maneuvered to the rocky shore.
This island where the boss was located wasn't at all tropical like the other islands we came across. Harsh rocks stuck up in sharp angles all over the island. It was like you had come to the edge of the world. It was desolate and horrifying. You could tell that nothing good could come next.
The rocks were spaced out enough to make out a thin path weaving across the uneven surface. The end of the path lead to a massive door in the face of a cliff. Carved into the stone was an intricate etching of the world.
SakurAssassin: Okay, this is it. Do you remember the strategy?
UltimateHeroEric: Yeah, but I still don't understand why I can't fight the boss out in the open like you.
SakurAssassin: If we both face him, he'll flee into the tunnels, and it'll be a lot harder to find him let alone fight him. Plus, your bullets might ricochet off of the walls and who knows where they'll end up. Our best bet is for you to get as far away as possible while he has his attention on me and then you shoot with the weapon you got in the beginning to properly lock onto him. Do you remember the order of the portals you need to go through?
UltimateHeroEric: Yeah, I've got it written down.
SakurAssassin: Good. Ready?
UltimateHeroEric: Ready as I'll as I'll ever be.
I put my hand on the door. It took both of our hands before the reaction happened. A small rod stuck out of the map on the map right over where New York was located. The rod cut through the stone like butter as it headed west. Once it hit Roswell, there was a loud crack as the massive rock fractured. The rod headed back to New York, and the world fractured again. The rod picked up speed as it followed our path around the world. The map fractured at every site where we beat a boss. There was a click at the location of the last boss in Japan. The broken fragments moved to the sides and corners of the door. Without another sound, the door opened.
We stepped around the seven inch thick door and headed down the dark tunnel.
SakurAssassin: Don't go too far in yet. I've got to look for something really quick.
UltimateHeroEric: What are you looking for?
SakurAssassin: My ghost walker. I dropped it somewhere around here before the game started. It sort of looks like a rock.
UltimateHeroEric: What kind of item is it? What does it do?
SakurAssassin: It makes it possible to walk through stuff. It's just a little bit of a hack, so I really need to find it back.
UltimateHeroEric: You hacked something?! I'm appalled, sassy pants! How could you?!
SakurAssassin: :P
SakurAssassin: There it is.
I picked it up. I was relieved to have it in my inventory again.
UltimateHeroEric: Are you going to use it to beat the boss?
SakurAssassin: It really wouldn't be much use. I need to keep his attention on me, so I really shouldn't walk through walls or be invisible.
UltimateHeroEric: :/
SakurAssassin: What?
UltimateHeroEric: I don't know. I'm still getting a bad feeling about this.
SakurAssassin: Oh, that might be the soundtrack. The really did do a good job with the music in the game.
UltimateHeroEric: Maybe.
UltimateHeroEric: Okay, I'm ready.
I nodded, not that it mattered or that he could see. It was more for my own assurance. Everything would be fine. I had done this before. I invented the boss for goodness sakes.
We stepped into the boss' chamber. It looked like any other dark cave. It had a sort of a dome shape. The ceiling had a wide hole to let in light and the occasional ultra long distance missile. The light hit the lake in the middle of the chamber at just the right angle to cast a perfect reflection of the scene.
As we got closer, the mirror lake started to morph upward. It started to gather in the shape of a figure as it slipped toward the shore.
Eric shot at it. That wasn't part of the plan. It wouldn't make any difference on him right now anyway. The bullets simply passed through the boss.
It got his attention though. His face turned towards Eric character. There was a definite clack echoing through the chamber as the boss' boot hit the stone shore. He was a perfect copy of Eric now. The boss raised his gun towards Eric.
I ran forward with my sword drawn. I swung, but it was blocked by the chamber of the copy gun. The boss looked at me. His figure shrunk down to my size. He took my form and was clothed entirely in black. The gun was now a copy of my katana. His face was covered. All you could see were his eyes. Just like me.
I took a second to look off to the side. Good, Eric was gone. The plan was back on track. I saw a flash of red as my HP was knocked down a notch.
Damn, he was fast. I mean, damn, I was fast. The final boss took on the same stats as the players. Granted, he was smarter than most players. He was programmed by me. He knew how to use the stats to his advantage.
I ducked out of the way before he could swing again. I needed a potion already. Usually when I faced the boss, I'd lure him into the tunnels and use the layout of the tunnels to my advantage. He couldn't quite process where the tunnels would go. I did. I let Eric use that instead.
It was almost a vicious cycle at this point. I'd get hit, use a potion, only to get hit again. I was very, very slowly chipping away at the boss' HP. Much slower than he was at mine, but at least I had potions. I was running out of them quick. I just needed to hold out until Eric was ready.
UltimateHeroEric: Sassy pants, we have a problem. I can't lock onto the boss. It's only letting me lock onto you.
What? Could the gun only lock onto players? This was bad. I don't know how much longer I could hold up...
UltimateHeroEric: You're not doing so hot :( Hold on. I'm coming back to help you.
I don't think I had enough time to win that way. What could I do? I looked at the boss' stats. I looked at my stats. I had an idea. It was crazy, but I didn't have much of a choice.
SakurAssassin: no shoot me
I typed out the command very slowly, not allowing any space for the boss to attack me. I had to dodge practically every letter.
UltimateHeroEric: What?! You can't just give up! We've come so far!
SakurAssassin: trust me
I didn't get a response from Eric for a while. I just hoped he listened to me.
UltimateHeroEric: I really hope you're right. Heads up, sassy pants.
Right. Okay. I wouldn't have much time until the missile found me. I quickly took one last potion and charged the boss. The boss didn't try to run away. This wasn't to my tactical advantage, after all. He aimed for another attack.
I had to keep his attention on me. He couldn't know there was a missile aimed for me. He couldn't turn to look at the tunnels. He couldn't see the missile headed toward me.
The boss had to adjust his aim when he saw I wasn't stopping. He didn't have time to reorient his sword as it hit my shoulder. I saw another flash of red as my HP dropped again.
I drew a knife and plunged it inside the boss as I followed after. Just one final hit until it was all over.
I couldn't see anything when I stood inside the boss. Everything was black. There was the pulsing red flash as I watched my HP plummet. The missile must have hit. I watched it slide further and further down until my HP was nothing.
There was a white flash and then black. I held my breath. Please, please, please don't be my face!
When I heard the music, I knew we did it. The white script of the credits started to roll. Third-person highlights of the critical moments of our fights played behind the long list of names. I exhaled and started laughing. We did it! We finally did it!
My face did come eventually as the game started up again, ready to send me back to New York.
UltimateHeroEric: SASS!
UltimateHeroEric: Y!
UltimateHeroEric: PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANTS!
His character came rushing into view.
UltimateHeroEric: Dude, that was insane! Do you know how close that was? Man, I thought I killed you again!
I grinned.
SakurAssassin: Nope. Luckily, the boss had less HP than me. The missile just happened to kill the boss first before it killed me.
UltimateHeroEric: Still, that was pretty close! I can see why you wouldn't want to do that from the beginning.
SakurAssassin: I wasn't even sure it would work. That gun is unpredictable. It was too late to do anything else. All I knew would be a critical hit for me as well as the boss, so I took a chance
UltimateHeroEric: Man, and I thought I was reckless! But it worked! We did it! We beat the game!
That reminded me of something he said earlier.
SakurAssassin: Are you okay with that?
UltimateHeroEric: Yeah, I'll still get another chance after all.
Another chance?
SakurAssassin: Another chance at what?
UltimateHeroEric: Confidential ;)
I laughed. Oh how the tables have turned. I could let him have his secrets. He had more than understanding with mine.
SakurAssassin: Alright, alright. Fair enough. So, what are you going to do next?
UltimateHeroEric: Only one thing left to do: celebrate! But I can't do it alone. I'm going to need a partner, and I know just the assassin ;)