Not Heroes

The fires in the village were distant, but the cries of the villagers still echoed through the valley. The girl ran into the field, the dimensional tuner in her arms, bulky and heavy. A roar came from behind her. The Twisted were on her trail. No time to lose. No time to think. She slammed the device into the ground and concentrated what little magic she had into it, green energy flowing from her hands and into the fork at the top of it. She thought hard, focusing on one singular idea.

“Heroes…bring me to heroes…” she whispered.

*

The two boys who would begin their trek across the world of Ekodyne to find the legendary Eastern Treasure did not start their day in a way which would inspire any confidence in their adventure. In fact, it started a world away in a small American town called Oakmont Falls. As the sneering older boy kicked Alex Wright in the stomach for the second time while the smaller boy knelt in front of the dumpster in the alley, Alex felt rather small and pathetic, with no thought whatsoever to the grand fate which awaited him.

“Gonna tell me again how I should feel about you talking to my girl?” Craig asked, his cruel yet handsome features curling into a spiteful grin.

“I’m sorry, I can’t hear you. Some  asshole has been beating the hell out of me. I might have brain damage,” Alex said, bracing himself for another kick. Sure enough, another one landed.

“Stop it! Son of a bitch, if your lackeys weren’t…” Jake Young, Alex’s best friend…only friend, if he thought about it…struggled against the two guys holding him, his boyish good looks twisted into a mask of impotent rage.

“But they are. Because I have friends, and all you two have is each other.” Craig said. “I don’t know which is worse. This piece of garbage who stinks of the cheap beer and cigarettes his broke ass parents use daring to talk to the girl I’m interested in, or you for not knowing better than to hang out with him.” Craig pulled Alex up and spat in his face. “Pathetic.”

“More pathetic than beating someone up over a girl who called you, and I quote, an abusive piece of trash?” Alex said. He screamed at himself. Bad brain, stop annoying the psychopath.

Craig picked Alex up and threw him into the dumpster. Yeah, Alex thought as he landed in the filth, I figured a dumpster dive was coming.

“Alex!” Jake screams out. A confident Craig sauntered over to him.

“You know, I’m only as generous as I am to you because our dads are acquaintances. Maybe one day, when you scrape the trash from your shoes, I’ll let you walk by my side too,” Craig said.

“Be your lackey? Well, I’m flattered by the awesome offer. However, I have my own idea.” Jake lowered his knees and pushed back, slamming the two guys holding him into the brick wall of the alley. Suddenly free, he lunged at Craig…

…only to get a swift punch to the gut, sending him to his knees.

“Maybe this is why our basketball team can never win a title. No guts in our ‘best’ player.” Craig laughed as he and his friends walked away.

Jake slowly stood up and walked over to the dumpster. Alex was laying on some foul smelling bags. “You know, the advantage of getting thrown into a dumpster next to an Italian restaurant is their trash bags are squishy,” Alex said.

Jake offered his hand. Alex took it, slowly crawling out of the dumpster.

“Sorry I couldn’t help,” Jake said.

“Sorry my idiocy caused you more trouble,” Alex said.

“Hey, I’m the one who told you to shoot your shot with his girl,” Jake said.

“And I listened to you,” Alex countered. “So, we’re both sorry. Good. Good for us.”

They slowly walked back to their bikes, parked in a rack nearby. Around them the town of Oakmont Falls kept moving, cars on the street, people moving in and out of shops and restaurants, a world indifferent to the suffering of two kids. Jake groaned as he lifted himself onto the seat. “Come on. Let’s go to my house. We can both get showered and…”

“Internally bleed in peace?” Alex finished. They both laughed.

“You know…some day I’m going to kick Craig’s ass, put him in his place,” Jake said.

Alex shook his head. “Bro, all I want is for Craig to be utterly irrelevant to my life.”

They began to pedal away, heading back to Jake’s home. What Alex couldn’t possibly have known was how close his wish was to coming true. By the end of the evening, Craig and his infantile bullying would be a far distant memory, as they would be fighting against monsters far more bizarre and deadly than a jealous rich kid.

*

The shower water felt good as it sprayed over Jake. It was hot and stinging and relaxing, washing the filth from the alley off of him. Jake had his hands against the wall, leaning towards it, replaying the events from the previous hour in his head over and over again. How had he failed? How had he let them overpower him again?

“Again!” He thumped his fist against the wall, the sound echoing across the tiles on the bathroom wall. Defeat stung. It was a sting he was unfortunately used to.

Alex, meanwhile, sat cross legged in the shower when it came to be his turn . He held his face up to the water, opening his mouth, letting it fill. The water in Jake’s shower tasted cleaner than his. The tub was cleaner too. He always liked being in Jake’s house, with its expensive furniture and big TVs and clean showers. Even his bruises hurt less there. Sure, he knew Jake’s parents hated him being Jake’s friend, hated their kid hanging out with a poor kid…

“But it’s okay. My parents hate me too,” Alex said to nobody in particular. “Man, even the bathroom echoes are better in his house.”

Afterwards, towel around his neck, Alex walked into Jake’s room, filled with expensive electronics and pricey furniture, where he was already deep into the latest Souls-like ultra punishing game. He flopped down onto Jake’s bed, face first into the mattress.

“Even your mattress is better…” Alex mumbled into the covers.

“What?” Jake asked

“Nothing, nevermind. How are you doing?”

“Got my barbarian all set up. He has a big sword. Should be all set.”

Alex pointed at the TV. “Watch out for those archers.”

“What archers?” Jake asked. Arrows immediately shot from off screen, killing his character.

“Those archers,” Alex said.

Jake grumbled, squeezing his controller. “Damn it! How did you know I would be arrowed? Did you watch a walkthrough or some shit?”

Alex sat up, running his hand through his shaggy hair. “No, you big dumb barbarian. Seriously, after so many times playing these games, have you not figured out these developers love killing players with little ambushes at the start?”

“Well…yeah…but…” Jake didn’t know how to finish. “I thought I could kill them all…you know, before the ambush.”

“By running directly through the part where they would ambush you?” Alex clapped him on the back. “Good plan. Excellent plan. Sun Tzu envies you.”

“Bro, shut up and help me not game like a dumbass,” Jake said.

“Love to. What’s in it for me?” Alex asked.

Jake sighed, a smile on his face. “I’ll let you borrow the Playstation once I beat this thing.”

“Jake, you have given me good motivation! Fine, I will once again be the guide for your overpowered but under armored character build.” They did a fist bump, and for the rest of the afternoon, until the sky began to turn  red, they both escaped their crap lives, indulging in a world of adventure and fantasy.

It would be the last time they would relax and play video games like normal teen boys.

*

Across town and deep in the woods surrounding the sleepy Pennsylvania town, a crackling blue portal violently spit a girl into the world. She rested on her hands and knees, breathing heavily for several moments. Moving between worlds had been much more intense than she had anticipated, her whole body feeling like it had been turned inside out. But even though her joints ached and her head was screaming at her, she pulled herself up and ran up the hill before her.

A crash and a roar bellowed out from behind her. The girl ran faster through the trees, branches whipping at her face. She had hoped none of the Twisted would follow her, but as ever, luck was not on her side. Still, it had worked. The dimensional tuner had brought her to a world where heroes waited. Somewhere close by she would find those who could save her village.

“And maybe after…the Eastern Treasure…” she said as she ran, and even though her life was in danger, with unknown horrors chasing her through those strange woods, the girl couldn’t help but smile a bit at such a hopeful thought.