Mushrooms

The doors began to rumble and people started to enter. Tatsu was the first to go in as his team followed him. Then, Souta, Violet, and Naoki all went in at the same time. Astro gave Welpen a little push of confidence as he entered the transparent door as well. The mushroom eyes stared down at him, which concerned him, but he walked in ready to go. Following behind him were the 18 other people in his group.

Some fellow faces followed suit along with Izumi, Ryoko, Octavius, and unfortunately, Ryukoko. Welpen didn’t want to pick her, but the other monsters looked even scarier than her, which was a surprise. He thought they all looked like they would slice him into pieces even worse than she would.

He entered the door as everyone followed into a brand new world completely different than anything he had seen. It reminded him of back home though and the way the barriers connected to other realms. However, this was different. Welpen could tell he was in a simulation. It wasn’t a real world. It was more like a game created with a fake world.

Before them was a land of water. Buildings were half submerged beneath and boats floated across. Long bridges stemmed for miles that connected different pathways. Floating lanterns lit up the boats and buildings of all different sizes. Mainly, a tall and large clock tower stood above everything else that they could see. The water was shallow enough to where you could see small animals in the water hiding beneath the coverage of seaweed, but it seemed the further you went, the deeper it got. On some of the buildings, they were surrounded and locked with large chains. Just from the viewpoint they were at, they could also see chains around door knobs that locked the entry to many places.

It began to rain down with cloudiness in the dark sky. A timer appeared in the sky with 3 minutes on it. People immediately began to try and kill others, but their weapons wouldn’t pierce. The timer was to ensure this.

Astro and Welpen along with the others noticed that alongside their own weapons, they were also given a small dagger at their sides and a bow and arrow on their back. It was magically enchanted with unlimited arrows.

The timer ticked down and people now began to spread out and bolt away from the group. Some took boats, others walked in the water, and some chose to stay where they were to follow others.

Welpen: “What do we do Astro?”

Astro: “We gotta get high ground on others. If we’re too low, then we are screwed. We are landlocked with all this stupid water. We’ll take a boat. I don’t want to get up on that tower just yet though.”

Welpen: “I got it! Let’s just keep sailing to the deeper end of the water. Nobody can get us out there.”

Astro: “No. We’re not doing that. Come on. We have to move. Let’s go Izumi.”

They grabbed the nearest boat in the water and started off. They went left of the clock tower to start in the shallows of the water. Astro thought this was the easiest way to avoid conflict and escape if needed. Although in his mind, he wavered. He needed more death tokens for the upcoming tournament, but on the other hand he wanted to protect this boy from any conflict. The thoughts flickered endlessly, but for now he continued to play this game strategically. They were all already teamed and it marked it above their heads for everyone to see.

Astro tried to activate his immortality in this game, but he couldn’t. In fact, he was completely powerless just like in the other rounds. All that was available to him was his scythe, the dagger given to him, and the bow and arrow.

He looked into the water and tossed the dagger and bow away.

Welpen: “Huh? Astro, why would you do that?”

Astro: “There’s no need for that. I already have a weapon that will aid me…Look ahead. We will stop up here.”

Ahead of them lay a small grey shack. It had 2 untouched doors in the middle with chains all across them. Rusted fishing poles covered the deck and a single stairway led to the small roof. Astro climbed to the roof and instructed Izumi and Welpen to sit in front of the doors while he watched from above. They were somewhat safe underneath the small roof from at least three different directions. Astro specifically looked out their way in case anyone decided to sail in or was hiding in the nearby buildings.

He looked up to the clocktower where silence filled the air.

‘Yeah right. You’re not fooling anyone up there,’ he thought.

Welpen: “Astro?”

Astro: “What kid?”

Welpen: “What’s that big timer in the sky? It’s like the one before, but it’s all red.”

Astro: “I don’t know yet. I guess we’ll find out soon.”

Before they had even noticed that, the time was already at 30 seconds. They awaited as it ticked down to 0. The water rippled immensely and the buildings shook. Welpen and Izumi climbed to the top to see what was going on.

In the deeper end of the water, something emerged that was beyond any physical human being. A mushroom the size of a mountain shook the area. Its singular eye in the middle was big enough to crush anyone here. Seaweed covered the top of its dark red cap and white spots. It blinked once and just from that, an intense shockwave sent them flying back into the shallow water.

Before any of them could make it back to the shack, strange looking creatures grabbed at their legs, dragging them through the water. They looked like girls with long white hair, but they weren’t. They wore dark black capes with a black mushroom cap on their heads with yellow mold eating away at it. Their eyes lit up a dark yellow as they smiled evilly.

Welpen tried to shake the creature, but couldn’t. He thrashed around to escape before he decided to scream at the monster. To no shock, this didn’t work. As quickly as possible, he pulled his sword to chop at her arm, but the water affected his swing too much.

Welpen: “Ahhh! Get owf meh!”

He screamed and screamed underneath the water, but nobody could hear him. Then, he remembered something. Something extremely important. His father’s dagger. He reached down to his shoe where he had been hiding it since the beginning of these games.

Luck was on his side.

It was on the opposite foot of what the creature was hiding. He unsheathed it from its small case and stabbed the creature’s arm. She squealed out in pain as Welpen swam away. She chased after him and grabbed onto his whole body.

Welpen: “Gwet Woff!!!”

Instinctively, he swung as hard as possible and pierced her head. He didn’t mean to with such force, but he was able to just enough to kill the monster. He normally would’ve felt bad about the situation, but he could only think of getting back to the shack and to the surface as he was running out of air.

As he approached, he saw an unlikely sight ahead of him. Astro and Izumi were fighting head on. Izumi’s eyes were lit up the same as the mushroom creatures. Her arms were covered in bite marks. She rushed at Astro in the water faster than before. Almost as fast as the creatures that attacked them.

Welpen: “Astro! Izumi!”

Welpen screamed out loud, but it ultimately did nothing. Astro swung his scythe down and parted the water in front of them to put them on equal footing. He evaded her quick attacks from the small dagger, but she was gaining even more speed as the bite marks began to spread across her body.

She charged at him again along with 2 more mushroom creatures from behind. Astro was pinched in between. He planted his footing in the ground, taken back by the speed of Izumi’s swings, and he bolted himself backwards between the 2 creatures. All 3 of them flew at him as his body headed towards the shack.

‘Crap,’ he thought, but it wasn’t about what was before him. It was about how to turn Izumi back to normal. As his body almost hit the shack, he stuck his scythe in the dock and flung himself upwards onto the roof. One of the creatures flung into the door, but it didn’t break. Instead, she exploded as Izumi and the other mushroom creature continued their chase to Astro.

‘He’s definitely holding back,’ Welpen thought, watching from a distance. Welpen couldn’t do anything. He was helpless as of right now. Something caught his eye in the water though. A sparkling orb like the one he picked up from before. It was the exact same looking object. He reached down in the water and picked it up, not knowing exactly what it was, and stored it away.

By the time he looked up, Astro had killed off both of the mushroom creatures and went head on with Izumi again.

Astro: “Don’t make me hurt you, Izumi. If I have to, I will.”

She didn’t respond. Her body started to become worse and rot like the mushrooms. She went to attack him again, but suddenly stopped and ached in pain. She squealed in agony before her body turned to stone right before them.

Welpen: “IZUMI!”

Welpen rushed over to the stone figure and scrambled to try and get her back. He bent down and listened to her heart, but there was no beating. Astro strolled next to the statue to take a look.

Astro: “She’s dead kid. Give it some time. She will come back. We will hang out here until she does. That giant mushroom is descending back into the ground along with all the leftover creatures.”

Welpen didn’t say anything, but felt much emotion coming over him. For the first time in a while, he wasn’t thinking about Isara or where she was, but only what was going on in this moment.

Astro started to bang at the chains with the end of his scythe, but nothing worked. The chains wouldn’t budge, so they sat there and awaited Izumi’s return.

Welpen: “Hey Astro. What’s it like being older? I’m just a kid so I don’t know, but thinking about it now, Clara would always smile at me no matter what and help me when I needed it.”

Astro: “I don’t know, kid. Everything is different for everyone. I don’t know who or what Clara is to you, but I can say this. Don’t take it for granted. She won’t be there forever for you. Nobody ever sticks around long enough. Everyone just dies before you. And, to be honest, depending on how this trip goes, it might be the other way around. Appreciate that smile everyday, no matter what it may be. She’s fighting for you with everything she has. Isn’t that right, Silvia?”

Welpen: “Huh? Silvia? No, no. Her name is Clara, but…Why didn’t my actual mom treat me the same way.”

Astro: “As far as I know, she is your actual mom. Not the person that thought you weren’t good enough and threw you away.”

Izumi’s stone state began to come back to normal from the top to bottom. Welpen rushed at her through the shallow water and jumped at her as they both fell into the water.

Welpen: “Izumi! You’re back!”

Izumi: “Welpen! I’m all wet now! Ugh!”

Welpen: “Ah, sorry, sorry.”

Izumi: “What did I miss? Anything exciting?”

Welpen: “Uhh, I don’t know how to explain it…Maybe we should just get going. Wait, what’s that number 1 above your head?”

Izumi: “Huh? What is that?! Get it off!”

Welpen: “Come on, Astro is waiting for us. Maybe he will know. Hey! Astro! Can you explain to Izumi what happened and why that number is above her head?”

Astro: “Stop screaming idiot! Just come over here.”

Welpen: “Ahh, sorry, sorry…”

Astro: From the looks of it, you died and came back. That’s probably your score. Your heart was turned to stone I’m pretty sure. My mana is kind of shut off here, but it doesn’t mean I can’t sense it still. All of your mana was drained, meaning you died.”

Izumi: “Well, at least I get a death token then. No harm done.”

Welpen looked at Astro and laughed thinking about the situation that had just occurred.

Izumi: “Come on Astro. We have to go kill people. I need death tokens as much as anyone else here.”

Astro: “Then you can leave or keep dying the way you did.”

Izumi: “Huh? So you just plan to sit here the whole game and do nothing?”

Astro: “Yep.”

Izumi: “Are you insane?! You are going to the tournament in a few days and this is your first time playing. I doubt you have enough death tokens to get anything even remotely good. You two will lose in the first round without even moving an inch.”

Astro: “Don’t care.”

Izumi: “Screw off! Jerk. Idiot.”

Welpen: “Astro. Apologize to Izumi.”

Astro: “No.”

Izumi: “It’s okay Welpen. I don’t need an apology. I will just never speak to him again. Hmph!”

Astro: “Welpen, come sit on the deck. You’re gonna get shot by an arrow. Sit here and I’ll go back onto the roof.”

Welpen listened to him and so did Izumi. She swallowed her pride and hid with Welpen because it was the smartest option. Astro looked to the skies and the surrounding buildings. The timer in the sky continued to count down closely till the zero mark again where their fates would be yet again tested.