Race Against the Clock

✧₊⁺

“Seriously, Cowboy, you’re ruining my immersion here. Has anyone ever taught you gamer’s etiquette?”

‘Cowboy’, is that me? And does she think this is a game or something?

“I signed up for this open beta so I could be my true self, an honest-to-goodness magical girl.” The pink-haired girl beamed and did a dramatic twirl, the child still in her arms.

“Huh?”

“I believe an introduction is in order...” She cleared her throat. “Here to smite the darkness hiding in this digital world, and protect the smiles of all who call this place home. To preserve the fires of Memoria as the torch bearer of a brighter tomorrow. To beat the bejeezus out of evildoers, near and far until they repent for their dastardly ways. Kururu Ururaka-chan, at your service.”

She said the last phrase in pretty broken English. From what I could tell she was a bit of an eccentric, to put it lightly.

And who says ‘bejeezus’ in this day and age?

She jumped just as a tentacle tried to take out her feet, and she landed gracefully beside me.

“It looks like I got here just in the nick of time, too, or this kid would have been a pancake. I spent so much time changing my appearance data that I missed most of my patrol shift, oopsie!” She looked like she’d have slapped her forehead if her hands weren’t occupied, and the yapping continued. “I mean, I know that full-dive AR gaming has been a thing for a while, but nothing beats the graphics here. I mean look at that 16K display, and I can practically feel the leotard riding up my—”

“Ooookay, Kuru… ru…ru? Magical girl-san, that is our hunt mark.” I sighed, pointing at the Wendigo. “She’s trying to… eat everyone, and we need to take her out before—“

“HUNTER PROTOCOL HAS BEEN INITIATED. ALL HUNTERS WILL BE RETURNED TO THE LAUNCH BAY FOR PROVISIONING IN T-MINUS FIVE MINUTES…”

“We need to clean up lickety-split before we get booted from the server. That sounds about right, Cowboy?” Kururu asked, following the most recent announcement from the crystal spire as I nodded. “But what do I do with the kid? He seized up all of a sudden and started staring at the sky after I picked him up. I hope touching the NPCs doesn’t mess with their code…”

“First of all, my name is Jiro, not Cowboy. And second, he’s probably experiencing an ad break. And it would help if you didn’t think of these people as NPCs, they’re more like… well… I’m not quite sure myself. Just set him down somewhere safe, this could get messy.”

It’s best if I save the philosophizing about things until later. Until I know what the real stakes are within the Digiscape, it’s not like I can take that bastard Barnes’ word at face value.

“You got it, Cowboy.”

She hopped away, ignoring my request to use my real name, something that even Archie could do. Speaking of…

“Archie, go with her and make sure the kid stays put, please,” I asked. “We need to weaken this thing enough until backup arrives, and can’t afford to get distracted.”

“Your wish is my command, Jiro. When you require my presence, call my name and I shall return. Just try to avoid putting too much stress on your microchip...”

“I’ll bear that in mind.”

Archie flew away, meanwhile I faced forward toward the monster, reloading my revolvers with the spare moment I had been afforded. The ammo in my bandolier seemed to regenerate on its own.

“Are you morsels quite finished debating on the method of your demise?”

“Yeah, thanks for waiting!” I fired the first two rounds, and the fighting started.

The overworld music changed into an action piece with the same motif as the non-combat theme. My shots hit the monster directly in the chest, but it didn’t seem to do much of anything as it charged me. My class was ill-suited for close combat, and so I had to keep some distance between us at all costs.

We moved in a dance of death in a semi-circle around the mayor’s mansion. I would fire off a couple rounds, and dodge out of harm's way before I could get grabbed again. It was hardly an effective strategy, but thankfully I now had help…

“Oh, no you don’t!” Kururu leaped—quite literally—into action from behind me, dealing a blow to the face of the beast with surprising force and accuracy with her staff as it nearly caught me.

She seemed better suited to front-line combat, or at least much more so than I was. Even so…

“Futile creatures.”

A tentacle to the chest knocked the magical girl back in my direction. She slid along the dusty road, waving her arms as she managed to stay on her feet.

I fired another couple of rounds, but one only grazed the waist of the Wendigo and the other was a total miss. However, the bullet hit the bell in the small tower at the top of the mayor’s mansion, making an unpleasant clanging sound. The monster screeched, holding its ears. I could have also sworn I saw its skin ripple on the surface.

“Supporter, what’s the current danger level?” Kururu posed this question to the wristwatch she was wearing, curiously. Both of us dodged some debris that the Wendigo decided to launch in our direction.

“The threat level is 12, Hunter. Fighting in a hunting party of four or more members is advised.”

The wristwatch spoke back at her in a computerized female voice.

“Damn, this one’s tough…”

I couldn’t help but notice her Supporter was a lot different than mine, and it lacked Archie’s trademark sassiness to boot. Kururu saw me staring at her and furrowed her brow.

“There something on my face, or what, Cowboy?”

“It’s nothing, but if what your Supporter said is true, we don’t have much of a chance to beat this thing without outside help. It’s a war of attrition at best, and a huge waste of our limited time at worst.”

“You’re right. As much as I’d love to beat this thing into submission, it’s not that kind of game. We’ll need some outside-the-box thinking.” Kururu smirked. “That ringing any bells for you?”

Ringing any… bells!

A lightbulb went off in my head.

“Keep her busy for me, will ya? I’ve got an idea, but it ain’t gonna sound too nice.” I said.

“I was always taught not to doubt a man with a plan, but this would be a whole lot easier if we had a tank or healer instead of just two DPS…” Kururu complained. “Just don’t disappoint me, Cowboy!”

The magical girl tapped a couple of buttons on her wristwatch, and some high-tech rollerblades appeared on her feet. She shot towards the Wendigo at blinding speeds, pointing her staff forward like a jouster's lance, and drove the Wendigo into the mayor’s mansion with a huge crash.

When they emerged from the dust and rubble, Kururu was held by the throat by one of the Wendigo’s tentacles as it came creeping out of the building. The faces it stole from the townsfolk all had the same look of rage and indignation.

“I messed up… Cowboy.” Kururu coughed, her airway constricted.

“I’ve grown tired of interference! Leave now, or I will torture the pink-haired one, taking care not to let her feel the release of death.”

Unfortunately for the monster, I was well aware that neither of us had the firepower to stop her, but something from before caught my eye. The Wendigo’s reaction to hearing the bell was no coincidence.

I fired my gun at a 45-degree angle, once again going above the Wendigo’s head by a reasonable margin. Kururu looked at me incredulously.

“That was your big… idea…”

I smiled to myself.

No, THIS is.

There was a crumbling sound from the top of the mayor's mansion. I had pierced the support rope holding the bell at the top of the tower in place, and I watched as it came tumbling—loudly—to the ground, landing right beside the Wendigo.

“AHHHHHHH!”

As the sound of the bell reverberated, shaking the very ground, the creature released its hold on the magical girl and its tentacles flailed wildly as it struggled to stand. I pointed my pistols and kept firing shots at the bell, not giving the Wendigo even a moment to recover.

I noticed that as I kept firing, and with each shot that made contact with the bell, the sound would make some of the creature’s tar-like skin peel away. The many faces it had would warp in agony. However, the most astonishing thing was what was still underneath.

“It’s her!” I shouted. “It’s the boy’s mother, we can still save her!”

“‘Save’ her?” Kururu echoed, puzzled. “What do you mean?”

I could see the woman, clear as day beneath the monster’s hideous outer hide. I was suddenly filled with as much hope as I had experienced in a long time, and I put away my weapons.

“Use your staff to hit the bell as hard as you can, magical girl-san!” I shouted as I broke into a dead sprint towards the Wendigo. “I’ll do the rest!”

“Whatever you say!” Kururu leaped high into the air, doing a flip before plummeting down to earth with her staff, glowing a bright gold color. “Golden magic star of mine, I’ll say the words, and let it shine!”

She gave the bell a good whack, and it let out an ear-piercing noise, and an aura of pure light shone in every direction.

I reached out my hands and pulled as hard as I could. I began to peel the woman away from the virus surrounding her as the reverberation continued. Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked shocked to see me.

“Hunter!? Is that really you?” She exclaimed. “And my son, is he…?”

“He’s… alright.” I continued to struggle against the strength of the monster as it kept its tendrils wrapped around the woman. “But you need to help me break you free, we have to—“

“ACTIVATING HUNTER PROTOCOL. HUNTERS WILL BE RETURNED TO THE LAUNCH BAY IN TEN, NINE, EIGHT, SEVEN…”

Oh no… No, no, not when we’re so close!

“It’s no good, Cowboy! We’re out of time, you need to finish it now!” Kururu shouted, covering her ears from the sound of the bell.

“No, you have to fight against this, Miss! That’s right. What’s your name? You never… did tell me.”

“My name is… Tsubaki.”

Tsubaki…

“Tell Ryo… I’m sorry.”

“FOUR, THREE, TWO…”

“WAIT, MISS—!”

. . .

The last thing I remember hearing before I resuscitated was the sound of my gun firing… but I was not the one holding it.