Chapter XXVII
The controversy surrounding the first entry, didn't stop Carmageddon from becoming a decades spanning franchise. Developer Stainless Games stayed independent and eventually founded a planet in an lawless cluster of the OASIS.
The planet was called Carmageddon and shaped like an angry, red-faced, bald head. When Shikara summoned me I materialized in an outdated city near the entrance of the original game's multiplayer mode.
On my way there WinstonYin92 had replied to my message.
"Bug boy," he wrote. "I am no longer in first place, you should know. A woman tricked me and shot me in the back. Trying to come back, but it's hard starting from scratch. Please kill her if you see her, don't let her win."
ShikaraStalker was waiting for me. She wasn't alone.
"Hello Leo," she smiled. "Meet Marquee88 and PoChunNaut. My husband and son insisted on joining our match."
Both avatars were dressed in PvP armor, carrying a wide array of weapons. Ranged and melee. A strange attire for a driving game.
"The more, the merrier," I replied. "In fact, because I barely ever meet up with strangers in perma-death zones, I brought some company too."
Finn and dad materialized right behind me. My brother was wearing a blue Ninjago set and carried a bazooka. My dad just wore a simple black tank top, red headband and bow and arrow.
"Stay behind me, boys," he said.
"You're smarter than I thought," Shikara smiled. "I'm sure you'll be back on max level in no time."
She commanded her henchmen to shoot. Husband and son unleashed a rain of bullets from two machine guns at our party. When the smoke cleared, the three of us were unscratched.
To match the protagonist's survivability odds, dad's Rambo tank top had an evasiveness bonus of +20.
"My turn," he grinned as he drawed two arrows on his bow.
He unleashed arrows with grenade heads on our assailants. They exploded, causing hefty piercing damage.
Dad pulled a survival knife with an impressive blade and ran towards the attackers. Their facial expressions drastically changed.
"You're not hunting him, he's hunting you," Finn yelled.
"Death is coming!" dad roared. "I am your worst nightmare!"
I could hear him screaming from the next room, over his own yelling in the OASIS.
"Rampage!" Finn screamed.
He equipped a strange looking grenade with a cross, like an orb held by a medieval king. He threw it at our foes. When it stopped at their feet, we all heard a choir sing "Hallelujah!" followed by a huge explosion.
Rambo's headband protected my father against explosions, but our three enemies barely had any armor and shield points left.
They grabbed their melee weapons to do damage to our father.
"It ain't about how hard you hit," he screamed. "It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward!"
He slashed his blade around. This time Rambo drew first blood. Shikara's husband only had his regular health points left and dad was about to end him.
Dad was pulled back by Shikara's son just before the fatal strike, which instead got delivered by a bazooka blast from Finn. They were now outnumbered.
Finn grabbed his Ninjago "Nunchucks of Lightning" and charged. 2010's nostalgia was about to join this nineties party.
I stayed back, just to be sure. I equipped a borrowed outfit from my dad, it was the Judge Dredd costume. I held my BFG 9000 in my hands, ready to unleash mayhem if needed.
Dad and Finn were now attacking Shikara's son together. It was a big boy, with giant arms, blue skin and spiked gloves. He swung his fists blindly, but effectively. My relatives were now taking damage too.
Just like my family protected me, Shikara was staying out of the heat of battle too. I kept an eye on her every move, but didn't anticipate what happened next. Her hood back up, she was once again the shadowy black blob. All of a sudden she just poofed away.
Next moment I took damage. A lot of it, despite my Judge Dredd armor. When I turned around, Shikara was about to stab me again with one of the blades she was wielding. Two artifact daggers from World of Warcraft, known as The Kingslayers.
I managed to avoid the second attack and was crawling upside down to try and get away. Finn and dad were still busy with Stalker Junior. I dropped my gun and knew my only objective was to survive for now.
Shikara only had to stab me a bit and make a run for it. She would have a solid lead in the contest. I was a threat. That's why she didn't leave yet.
She came in for a new strike, one that would be hard to avoid. Before she made her move, Shikara took an energy bolt to the chest. Falling to the ground, a Disney princess in a microkini jumped on top of her holding a glowing trident.
Shikara slashed back at the girl that was pinning her down with a single foot. The daggers bounced back as if the target's body was made of diamond. Sara raised the trident up high and aimed for Shikara's eyes, the only body area not covered by her armor.
In the corner of my eye I noticed Finn and dad joining the scene, in time to witness the final blow. Shikara's son was dealt with. But before Sara impaled her face, there was a short poof. Our enemy left the scene.
