DK's POV: The first thing I register is the retro 80's music. So old. I've heard it before, but I don't know where. I slowly open my eyes, but the sun makes me want to shut them. But it's not a sun. It's an ultra-violet light.
Something isn't right. I sit up, fast. I'm wearing a jumpsuit, and a pack that people only wear in Laser-Tag. Strapped to the pack is what seems to be a pistol. A light pistol. On my feet are some lightweight shoes. On my head, a helmet that resembles a motorcycle helmet. The only difference is the holographic goggles. It displays a 3-D model of me, and they say things like ARMOUR DURABILITY, HEALTH. Those I know. But then they start saying random stats I don't understand. PLAYER NUMBER, COORIDNATES, NEAREST PLAYER, POINTS, PLAYER LIST, CURRENT GAME. I don't read them yet. All of my gear is purple.
I stand up, and display my surroundings. I'm in a dark neon holographic maze with walls 5 blocks high. The outlines of paths and edges are glowing red. On the ground are some white cubes, one appearing every 6 steps.
I begin to read some of the text that is displaying on my headset, to see if it gives me any clues on what to do. Some are useful, others not.
PLAYER NUMBER: 4. I still don't understand the concept of 'player'
COORDINATES, NEAREST PLAYER, PLAYER LIST and CURRENT GAME are all displaying the same message. 'LAUNCH MAP'
But HOW, helmet, HOW? How do you launch the map?
POINTS: Currently zero.
Ok, most are not useful. I'm pondering about what to do. Suddenly, a deep voice blares out through the speakers inside my helmet. Dude, stop hurting my eardrums!
"Greetings, Players. This is a recorded tutorial. Welcome to Arcade. This will give you a quick guide to what you are about to do" Darn. I nearly remove my helmet and throw it. The speaker is Hack. "Let's start positive. If you what an edge in this game, then put your finger up to the button on the left side of your helmet. It should be the round one. Push it. I know you want to! Because you have to! Haha! Anyway, just do it or you'll die"
I press the button. MAP LAUNCHED, are the words on my screen.
The map resembles a maze. That explains all the tunnels in this strange place. The maze is awfully familiar, just like the faint background music. I am the purple arrow. The other ones are green, yellow, and blue. All spread out in random positions. The blue one is closest to me.
"To see the options on players, just say Player Options" Hack speaks through the recording.
"Player Options" I decide to try it out.
The map shrinks and positions itself to the left of my screen. Instead, a list of all the players appear.
The player nearest to me has their name in blue. Alexandra. Ok, at least I now know she is with me. I decide to catch up with her. On my screen as I run, the purple arrow is getting closer to the blue one.
After turning a corner, I spot another person. Wearing the exact clothes I am, just blue. Wondering around, confused.
"Alex!" I shout, and pick up the pace. "It's me!"
She turns, and when she sees me she hesitates. But after a bit of talking and explaining, she understands.
"Dude, we're gonna be fine, lets just stick together" I tell Alex.
"DK has earned an achievement! Half-Done Manual, rewarded 5 extra points" A voice, not Hack's, speaks.
A leaderboard on part of my screen appears. I am at the top. The others are at the bottom.
I survey the other two players on the screen. One is almost completely cheese, and wears a crown. He must be a Cheese King; that makes sense because his name is Cheese. The other almost looks like a dude version of me, except his player pic keeps updating between ender and creeper. His name is Creep.
"To be able to communicate through radio, press the button on the RIGHT side of your helmet. Just like walkie-talkies"
I slowly click the button and hold it.
"Hello? Hello? Does anyone copy? Over" I say.
"Yup! It's Cheese!" Someone replies, who must be that cheese king.
Alex and the other guy connect.
"Where should we all meet?" Alex asks.
"Why not where you are?" The ender creeper hybrid replies. "I'm Creep, by the way"
"Ok then, DK over and out" I turn off the speaker.
A few moments later, Cheese and Creep come towards us. Cheese is in yellow, and Creep in green.
"Ok, since we are all here, let's speak normally until we get separated" Creep announces.
"Yup" I agree.
"All player get new achievement! Meet-up, rewarded ten points" The female voice states.
The scoreboard changes. I'm still in the lead.
"To shoot plasma balls with your gun, just do the normal stuff. Pull the trigger. You won't get injured by your own teammates' guns until we say so. All enemies will be vulnerable, except bosses. They have to be killed in specific ways" Hack says.
Enemies and bosses?
"This is almost like a game" Cheese thinks aloud.
As if brought on by words, Hack the recording speaks.
"Now you know all the controls, I will explain why you are here. You are in what we call the Arcade. You are doing this for the entire audience watching this live. This show goes on every Tuesday. But let's get to the point. You must work together to collect resources that are littered around this arena. You will need them. There are two things we haven't covered yet. Who are you facing? You will be finding upgraded mobs with the same armour you wear, just red. But each 'game' will have a boss"
I have a bad feeling about this.
"You see how you are in a huge maze? Pellets on the ground? Can you guess what in Minecraft will be your challenge for this episode?"
"Oh, Notch" I whisper.
"What?" Everyone asks.
"We're fighting Pac-Man"
And guess what? A huge Pac-Man generates just 20 blocks away. No one has ever seen this. Put the Wither effect on Game. He made PACMAN.
"Split up!" Cheese yells out, as Pacman stares at us with his gigantic pixelated eyes.
"No! Remember the movie Pixels? We are the ghosts! We have to literally HIT him!" I stop them. "We can't be too cocky, though. There will be power pellets and then the tables turn for ten seconds!"
Pacman turns and floats away.
"After him!" Creep says.
Creep and Cheese head for instant offence. Alex turns to see if she can find a path to cut them off. I check my map. Ok, Pac is heading towards the middle. I quickly calculate my best path. And sprint.
I encounter a few zombies, but I pick them off easily without stopping. We're doing good. Creep and Cheese are driving Pac in a straight line. Alex can cut him off, and if I'm quick I can block Pac's only way of escape. And I am quick enough. Right on time to see the huge Pac. Pac tries to turn left, but standing there is Alex who is brushing off the last zombie. He turns behind him to see Creep and Cheese right at his trail. I step out, blocking his path. Without hesitation, I charge right into him. Millions of yellow pixels fly. It would have been an incredible sight if we didn't know we just killed Pacman. Immediently, my score increases by 10. I have 25, everyone else has 10.
We are all cheering and celebrating.
"That was easy!" Alex says, and we all agree.
Talk about speaking too soon. Another voice pipes through into our speakers. It's not Hack. Crash.
"Nice job! But Pacman has regenerated. You have to kill him two more times. It won't be as easy, his AI has increased".
Party pooper! A dozen more enemies spawn, but we manage to take them down with a couple shots from each of our guns. But that's when I hear an unlucky sound. And our suits quickly become dark blue.
"What's going on?" Asks Alex, her voice lacing with worry.
"Pacman ate a noobish power pellet! We're vulnerable for ten seconds!" I reply.
Then I hear a Yelp of pain. I quickly turn 180 degrees (In angles, not temperature). Pacman has managed to grab hold of Creep.
"Nope!" I yell in defiance, and run towards him. "You aren't eating him!"
"What are you doing?!" Cheese yells, but I ignore him.
Creep is now in Pacman's mouth. I can hear is muffled groans from the inside. Pacman is eating him, disintegrating him, and if I don't do anything soon he will be gone.
"What if our abilities still work?" I think aloud.
I concentrate for a while. And I'm inside the mouth. I already feel the stings of pain as my body begins to disintegrate. I grab Creep's wrist. I teleport again. We are back again, next to Creep and Alex. The disintegrated parts of our bodies quickly regenerate.
"Phew! Thanks!" Creep quickly thanks me. "I was in panic I forgot I could change"
The power pellet has now worn off. Our suits are normal colour again. Pacman is confused on how we escaped from his mouth. And while he is stunned, Creep raises his fist.
"Revenge!" He declares as he smashes Pacman and causes yet another short yellow light show.
The score is tied between me and Creep with 25 points, until I get another five points for saving my teammate.
Cheese and Alex hand us some items. "We found some supplies".
"Thanks" I say. "But Pacman has spawned again. And he's probably both really angry and really tactical"
"Is it just me or did more power pellets spawn?" Creep adds.
Some of the pellets on the ground HAVE increased size and have been tinted a shade of blue. This will make it more likely for Pacman to eat us.
One of the items I have received was an upgrade to my gun. Now it's slightly more powerful. I shoot a plasma at a whole swarm of Pacman spiders. They all vanish at once.
"Woah" I grin.
But everyone is running. Because our suits are navy blue once again. And Pacman is coming. I gulp, then teleport to catch up with the others.
"We need to split! Creep and Alex, you go one way! DK and I will take another!" Cheese cries out.
We agree with the plan. Pacman follows Creep and Alex. Cheese and I keep running, even if we out of danger for now.
"So, what's Phase 2? We split up, so now what?" Cheese asks me, blasting away at incoming waves of zombies. Some little cheese creatures, cheeslings, are helping him.
"We wait until the power pellet runs out. But he might pick up another one, we have to be cautious".
This theory is correct, because our suits turn back to normal. But then the navy takes over before our original colours can fill our suits.
A spider leaps at my face. I struggle with it, until I shove it off and stab it many times. A laser beam nearly burns my shoulder, and I shoot one back at my attacking skeleton holding a laser gun.
Me and Cheese turn around into yet another long tunnel. And I know that Game must have added another feature to make things more deadly.
We're just in time to see Pacman shoot multiple projectiles at Creep and Alex. The projectiles are those ropes that hit you then tie you up as you fall. Pacman advances slowly towards them. Creep transforms into Ender form, but can't teleport out. It's slowly tightening, suffocating them.
Without thinking, Cheese and I charge. Pacman opens his mighty mouth. Good news: he doesn't eat Creep and Alex. Bad news: He shoots the projectiles at me and Cheese. Now all of us are vulnerable.
Pacman plays a little jingle, like taunting us. I don't know what death I prefer, hugged to death or eaten by a video game character. Pacman eats another power pellet to prevent us becoming normal again. His mouth opens and shuts, making ear-busting chomping noises. As he advances, he opens his mouth wide, exposing the black emptiness. He will eat us in these power-stopping chains of squishing doom. Now his mouth is so wide it can fit two hybrids, a default and a King. We brace ourselves for what is to be a strange unique death.
But it never comes. The chains stop hurting. Pacman is just frozen, unmoving. After a while, he explodes. The maze switches all lights off, it becomes dark, and our helmets turn off. The power must have gone out. Our once painful power-decreasing chains have become so slack we can shake them off (players gonna play, haters gonna hate) easily.
For at least half a minute, we are blinded. The darkness surrounds us, attempting to make us feel fear. It doesn't work. But that's when there is so much light that I'm pretty sure I've become colourblind. But I can see the silhouette of a figure. I stare at it. It holds a block. And make the motion of throwing something on the ground. I pass out from intense light before I can see what happens.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
And that was a chapter that was quite early! Making up for Exhibition! Anyway, since I'm typing this quite late and my parents will kill me if they find out I am on, I must make this note quick. Seeya!