Authors Note: Sorry that the next chapter took a while, procrastination gets the best of us. Speaking of, I intended to have this story be done as one post and not be separated in chapters, but it'd probably be better to read like this. Hope you enjoy.
As the newly formed trio make their way to the mall, they are greeted with the familiar cool blue. In front of them laid a shop counter and piles of storage boxes, and behind the counter was a merchant who donned a mask heavily resembling the face of a frog. He bore unkempt hair and had a t-shirt with the design of a heart embedded in it. As The Batter approached the counter, the shopkeeper welcomed him with an apparent accent.
"Buenos días, dear Player. What better place to shop at than a shopping mall?" the man spoke with an apparent accent.
Confused about who the stranger could be referring to, Liam spoke up.
"Player? Uh, who's that?"
Startled by the new voices behind The Batter, the merchant glanced at the side of the counter, with The Batter stepping aside to let the two objects' presence be known.
"Would you look at this? You two must be the third-party guests of the hour! Or are we the guests?" the man chuckled at his proposed dilemma of the century.
"I don't…understand what you mean."
"Fair enough. I am Zacharie, your traditional video game merchant. But you two don't look like you're from around here."
Bryce's head started spinning with these newfound discoveries. 'Why are things so complicated here?' he questioned himself. Wanting to get a straight answer, he interrupted.
"Are you saying that we're in a…video game? Is that who 'Player' is?"
"Eh…to keep it simple, yes. This world is a video game, my dear amigo. Although it is very much real."
The Batter had always been confused by these comments from the merchant but has yet to question them. Adding onto Zacharie's claim, The Batter chimed in, "Player guides my steps. They can't speak to us. However, they can see and hear everything."
"Right…like that's comforting." Bryce frowned upon the aspect of having his privacy violated. It theoretically negated the secrecy of his private conversation with Liam, and he didn't like how similar Player sounds to Airy.
"However," Zacharie adds, wanting to lighten up the mood, "because you two are from another medium, you're free to act as you wish here. Pretty convenient, eh?"
Astounded by this discovery, Liam grew very curious about what was possible in this world.
"So, if we're in a video game…does that mean we could use whatever you have in store?" asked Liam, wondering if Zacharie kept anything 'cool' or otherwise helpful.
"Eh he he, well I'm glad you asked compadre! Sure, I have plenty of equipment for you two, if," Zacharie paused, raising his finger to highlight the importance of the upcoming transaction. "…you have some credits to spare?" he finishes, laying out his palm.
"Oh, umm, I'm afraid I don't have any cash on hand." Liam regretfully adds.
"Credits? I have like $50 if you accept that." Bryce asked, pulling out his wallet.
"Unfortunately, I can't accept foreign currency." Zacharie shrugs. Having both eyes closed, he opened one of them to aim directly at The Batter, signifying an indirect request of generosity. "...Unless my friend here is feeling generous?"
The purifier responded with discontent; his lips slightly pursed, and he let out a low "hmph." He then looked at the two objects and, with an almost demanding tone, he asked them, "What do you want?"
A little startled by the sudden expression of emotion from the usually poker-faced individual, Bryce responded by asking Zacharie what exactly he had in store.
"Well, I have some healing items, weapons, and armor for you two. I can't give you everything yet as we're still in the middle of the game." replied Zacharie.
"That makes sense, I guess." said Liam. As he browsed, he saw that the only weapons were different varieties of baseball bats, and was confused.
"I'm sorry, do you really expect us to fight ghosts with bats?" concerned Bryce, questioning their effectiveness.
"I just play by the rules, amigo. Besides, it's worked wonders for my client."
While still uncertain if to trust the merchant's words, Liam and Bryce knew that anything they could get to fend themselves from the dangers ahead would be appreciated. If these specters were as bad as this world has made them out to be, they need to be ready. And although they had yet to see what The Batter was capable of, the purifier was at least familiar with this world and likely knew how to deal with threats here. That enough was some reassurance.
Bryce armed himself with an Emmanuel Bat and Aura of Justice, a pale blue badge bearing the image of a sword. Meanwhile, Liam equipped the Masashi Bat and David Tunic, which altered its size to fit the backpack. Before heading off into the depths of the mall, The Batter made sure to stock up on tickets and jokers.
"Alright, I think that's everything we can afford," Liam commented. "Is there anything else we should worry about?"
"Besides puzzles? No, my friend. I'll be seeing you all later on." replied Zacharie, who was now leaning against the wall. "¡Tengan cuidado!"
Venturing further into the mall, the group finds themselves in the Gomez Gallery, a maze littered with advertisements plastered onto the walls and cardboard boxes piled in corners. The posters were often dismissive—offering commodities such as meat, clothing, and flooring—but some were bizarre, such as bottles of smoke for a minor bargain. All of which places heavy emphasis on safety. By this point, Liam and Bryce had not observed a sign of anything natural. Despite the locals hardly working in any positions, Bismark manufactured and imported commodities. If the advertisements weren't enough, then it would have been evident by this point: Zone 2 was consumerism central. And yet, the consumers were in a state of paranoia.
Liam was still making sense of this world when a pair of ghouls suddenly ambushed him. Until this point, the objects had been lucky not to have encountered any specters so feared by the Elsens, but it was inevitable to go face-to-face with one. The Batter remained undeterred.
"What the hell are they?!" shouted Bryce, still shaken by the encounter but preparing to strike at it. He was expecting ghosts, but instead, he was in front of creatures with physical forms.
Responding, The Batter readied Wide Angle, allowing him to glimpse into the target's identity. "Gilles de Rais and Massu, wicked ghouls…" he muttered. The beasts had an almost mammalian appearance, the latter of which greatly resembles a heavy rodent.
The Batter and his Add-Ons dealt the first blows, bashing and slicing through the hides of the grotesque monsters. The purifier opted to land only physical attacks to allow him to see what the duo were capable of, to know if they would be a burden or, at the very least, an extra punch. Liam fearfully rushed headfirst to the Gilles de Rais—whose stature was most formidable—garnering all he could into one blow with the Masashi Bat. As great of an impact it was for a first-timer, it was not enough. The Massu had set its sight on the green backpack intending to hit him with Heavy Silence, when a white blur dashed in front of Liam. He was momentarily confused when he saw The Batter knock out the beast with a swing of his bat, blood spitting out of its maw as it lay defeated on the floor, disintegrating into a fine substance. It was quick, but he caught a glimpse of the man giving him a fierce side-eye.
All that stood now was the Gilles de Rais. With all that time between then and now, Bryce had been focusing; taking a deep breath, he remembered his time on his middle school's baseball team. They all went by quickly: his shaky start, first homerun, all while being cheered on by Stella, his elder sister. 'I just wish…' thought Bryce, before snapping out of it. It had been years since he last played, but swinging a baseball bat had been second nature, so the resulting force was enough to defeat the monster. And while he was grateful that the threat was eliminated for the time being, he couldn't help but think about all this. The fact that he had within him the strength to destroy. Granted, it was done with the help of an anti-spectral weapon. But it was a lot to digest.
Meanwhile, Liam knew that while this was a life-threatening situation, he did not have it in him to finish something living. He had always taken a more compassionate approach to self-defense when available. Swinging a weapon at anything was not who he was, but he would be forced to make such a choice reasonably often.
"Adversaries purified." proclaimed the purifier. "Let's move on…" Catching their breath, Bryce asked Liam if he was ok.
"I'm still kind of spooked, but yeah, I'm fine. You seemed like you knew what to do, though."
"Oh, that. Yeah, I used to play baseball when I was younger for a bit. I guess it came in handy here, huh?"
Standing between the two, The Batter interrupted. "You, backpack." Hearing that name from a primarily neutral voice triggered a flashback from Liam, as that was what a soulless host had insisted upon not only Liam but all of the contestants.
"You fight poorly. I don't like that. You best improve soon…" said The Batter, glaring at the backpack with displeasure. Not liking how the inhuman was approaching Liam, Bryce went in front of The Batter to have a few words.
"Listen, I know we just got here, but that doesn't give you the right to decide we're not good enough."
Chiming in, Liam replied. "This is my first fight ever. At least give me some time!"
Annoyed by how adamant the objects were in their decision, The Batter gave them until they reached Japhet. In his mind, the soda bottle was the more competent fighter of the two, and he sensed the hesitation from the backpack in how he held his weapon. Either way, he knew that the two would not last long in this world without his assistance. "...alright. Come."
As the trio traversed through the rest of the Gomez Gallery, encountering other ghoulish fiends, they found an entrance to a corridor where The Judge awaited. The feline was fixated on an advertisement that appeared to be geared toward his kind. Hearing the footsteps of his fellow companions, he remarked, "Is this advertisement not of such effectiveness, defying the basic laws of mainstream marketing?"
Curious about what The Judge was looking at, the three examined the poster; it pictured a cat wearing a gleeful expression with a can of wet food aside from it, the vapor expelling from it. Beneath it was the slogan.
"For silkier fur: the pâté from the fountains of Alma." read The Batter.
"Where's that?" asked Liam.
"It's where meat was produced in Zone 1." The Batter replied.
Turning towards them, The Judge spoke up. "I am glad to have found you three; perhaps you can help me shed light on the mystery fate has placed before me. As it turns out, my brother has lived in Zone 2 for numerous years, although I have yet to cross paths with him."
"Is he in the library? I could have sworn I heard footsteps in the walls," asked Bryce.
"Indeed, he takes residence on the roof of the library. However, the door remained shut, even after rigorous attempts of scratching and meowing." answered The Judge. "I ask that if you happen to pass Valerie around the bend, give him my greetings."
"No problem," said Bryce, giving a thumbs up, while Liam gave a "Sure!" followed by The Batter's "Okay."
Exiting the room, they rewound to where they had entered the Gomez Gallery, with the obstacle disappearing. There was a sign of a stick figure walking with a lever below it. The Batter moved the lever forward, triggering the appearance of a pedalo at the west side of Bismark. However, Liam and Bryce were unaware of what exactly the purifier had done.
They make their way to the location of the pedalo, where a few residents—unsurprisingly—were spooked by the objects but remained still. Upon making their way to the pedalo, the objects realized their problem: there was only enough room for perhaps one or two of them. While weight wouldn't be a significant concern among the two, they scratched their heads, attempting to figure out how all three could fit in the boat. Indeed, it was a bizarre case of placing together the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
Before either of the two could speak about how they would enter the boat, The Batter swooped up Liam, opened one of his zippers, and grabbed Bryce. Much to their dismay, the two objects were being utilized as the very things they were, and they were immediately confused and panicking somewhat. "Hey! What are you doing?!" panicked Bryce while Liam stood there, eyes widened as The Batter shoved Bryce into one of Liam's pockets. Well, as best as possible when the soda bottle is much larger than even the biggest retail sodas. The Batter closed enough of the zipper and carried Liam through his straps, finally taking a seat in the pedalo. While the gap between the two land masses wasn't massive, it would certainly be a fool's move to attempt to throw the two objects over there, risking injury among the two. And when they reached the other side, The Batter placed Liam back onto solid ground, unzipping and grabbing Bryce out of the pocket.
The two were still stunned at the events that had occurred. Still dazed, Bryce spouted at The Batter with some anger. "Please, don't ever do that again!" On the other hand, Liam was horrified that such an incident would ever happen. While Stone opening one of his zippers to hide the sticky notes in him was strange enough, having to contain a whole person was a much different and awkward matter.
Moving forward, the three come upon an amusement park. Liam and Bryce weren't expecting there to be one considering how careful the Elsen were about everything, even going so far as to have fences made of soft rubber. Turns out, not even anything entertainment-related was safe from these overprotective measures. An Elsen explained how the old attraction was closed due to not being finished.
"But why close it? The current 'ride' is just a bunch of chairs." said Bryce. And indeed, the ride in question was a formation of chairs with a few Elsens seated. One was waiting for a specific seat occupied, with the occupant fearing they would vomit on a stationary vehicle. It was confusing to imagine how the current attraction was anywhere near thrilling or "scary."
"W-well, it could hurt the passengers…which w-wouldn't be good."
While that could be true, the old rollercoaster was a simple down-up; hardly any loops or other modifications were made. All necessary safety precautions would ensure the ride was not dangerous. But the Elsens think otherwise.
"Sure, whatever…" said Bryce with a deadpan expression, tired of how the Elsen behaved around here.
The trio then decided to go to the other room, which held a formation of balloons and some darts in a box on the side of the entrance. In front of them laid a booth where an Elsen stood inside.
"W-welcome. Play, play, play the Balloon Game! If…if you win, you get the grand prize. If you lose, you might be sad. So…uh…be careful."
"Oh, alright. Sounds simple enough." said Liam.
"Okay…here are the rules…" as the Elsen explained the short and simple rules, Bryce started to think this would take much longer than he thought. He hoped this was somehow important and not a waste of time.
The Batter let the two objects try their hand at this game. As they did, The Batter's mind was racing through all possibilities to win the game flawlessly. He drowned out the groans and frustrations from Liam and Bryce, who were struggling to win this deceivingly simple game. After some time, The Batter said, "I'll do it."
A clear victory ensued, leaving Liam and Bryce upset at how this man could complete this game without issue. The Elsen was on the receiving end of having the last balloon and, thus, had lost the game. Expecting a congratulation and to be handed their prize, the objects were surprised to hear him say that he was cheating before accusing them of it. It was a confusing turn of events that followed no logic at all. The Elsen then started to sweat visibly, his breathing turning heavy as though he were panicking. Eyes widened, he shouted, "YOU WANT TO HURT ME!"
And then, it happened. What would have been another easily fearful individual of Bismark was clutching their head when it exploded, erupting out a fountain of black. Their hands also darkened as they grew slightly more prominent, developing claws. Four overlapping rings emerged from the fountain where their head once stood, resembling The Batter's Add-Ons. For the objects, this was one of the more terrifying experiences they've had yet. For The Batter, it was different but all the same. The purification had commenced…
"What happened to him!?" panicked Liam, worried about the well-being of one of the park's employees.
"Valzong-Burnt. Resident of Bismark with inappropriate manners." replied The Batter.
"Inappropriate manners?!" asked Bryce, confused about how this could be perceived as bad behavior and not complete corruption.
The Valzong-Burnt reached out to swipe at Bryce, barely missing. Liam, however, refused to do anything as The Batter hit them with Saturated String accompanied by swipes from his Add-Ons.
"Isn't there a way we can help him? Get him back to normal?" asked Liam, wishing not to be forced to kill a person. He didn't want in his conscience the possibility of him committing murder, even if in self-defense.
"No." was all The Batter said before finishing the Valzong-Burnt, its black substance losing all fluidity and falling into a puddle before it and the body faded away. All Liam and Bryce could do now was stare in horror as it dawned upon them that a person died in the amusement park. This was bound to cause a wave of panic in the park. Reaching into the chest in the booth, all The Batter could recover was a neck-tie. Although confused, he kept hold of it on the off-chance that it would prove helpful.
And sure enough, upon exiting the game room, the trio was greeted with panic all across the lobby; the Elsens were running amok like flies with no sense of direction.
"Uh…I…w-" Liam couldn't form a sentence as his mind raced with thoughts about what had just happened. Bryce was still in shock, and The Batter walked through the crowd as though nothing had happened.
"Let's go." said the purifier.
As they followed him, returning to the dock, Liam and Bryce were starting to doubt whether what they were participating in was right. While there were unfathomable beasts, it was easy to justify it with self-defense. But what happened earlier wasn't a monster. They were the poor victim of some ailment triggered by high stress and anxiety. Perhaps this was the reason for the importance of safety; the citizens didn't want anyone to hurt others inadvertently.
As they approached the pedalo, protested as they might, The Batter still forced Liam to carry Bryce, and strapped Liam onto his back. Having to face this humiliating act again briefly took their mind off what happened, but it still didn't go away. The trio went to the eastern side of Bismark, where the residential area was being held. It was previously held off-limits to non-residents, but apparently, all it took to enter was The Batter equipping the tie to be permitted entrance. While puzzling, all Liam and Bryce could feel now was that something terrible would happen soon. As straightforward as The Batter was, his motives were unclear to them.