#game won’t let me progress cause it keeps crashing on the only mission I can do :(

[wickedghxst]

I like how cyberpunk fails so much at being an rpg that it just feels like an inferior version of saints row 2

[turqrambles]

The Five Worst Things About Digimon World

I did it.

It took 20 years but I did it.

I finally beat Digimon World for the Playstation 1, a game that has haunted me for most of my lifetime, and I did it with a Phoenixmon, the reason why I use “Turquoisephoenix” as a handle!

This is who I used to beat the game, named after an obscure Ratchet and Clank character because that’s just how I roll. The final boss battle involved a lot of Prominence Beam spamming and med recovery floppy spamming but I did it fair and square. 

Before I get into what I thought about this game as a whole - and I do have a lot of good things to say about this game since I obviously enjoyed it enough to get to the end - I gotta talk about my least favorite things about this game. In a concise, Buzzfeed-esque list because I like writing things in easy to digest chunks.

Because, like most charming yet difficult games of the late 90′s, this game is very flawed and the flaws are pretty annoying!

1. Care Mistakes

The three emojis - Smile, Cool, and Poop.

Okay. This one - my least favorite part in the game - is going to take a bit of explanation.

First off, I don’t actually hate care mistakes existing as a mechanic. I think it’s a cute, virtual pet-y way to add a different wrinkle to evolution requirements, even if I think it’s a bit counter-intuitive to have to suddenly abuse my little companion once they reach Champion just because I want them to evolve into a floating metallic ball with a chainsaw.

My problem with care mistakes is that there’s literally no way of telling many care mistakes you have on your given Digimon. 

Literally everything else in this game is concisely recorded and easily displayed on your Digimon’s stats screen. You can see how much your Digimon weighs. You can see their Happiness, their Discipline. How much Life they have left. Their Age. Even how many poops they need to make before they digivolve into a sentient pile of feces.

But Care Mistakes? Naaaaw, you just gotta remember every single thing that you did to your Digimon from the moment it evolves in your fallible human brain. What’s that? A good portion of this game involves grinding in the Green Gym and it’s really easy to make a Care Mistake there without knowing you did so because you mashed A too fast like the stat-grinding numskull that you are? Well, that’s just too fucking bad for you, then! Enjoy not getting some of the best evolutions, you piece of shit. You stooge. You moron!

This game, multiple times: You know who I hate? The player.

Care Mistakes are such an invisible mechanic that, to this day, there are many guides with misleading info about what counts as a Care Mistake and what doesn’t, which...really stinks for a game such as this where you will be using a guide pretty extensively to get the Digimon you deserve. And you know why that is? Because we don’t get any indication as to whether or not some random event counts against you when raising your Digimon.

And honestly, having one of your main mechanics of the game being entirely invisible to the player is a terrible idea. Just put a little number in my profile that says “Care Mistakes: 0″ in there. Let me know this information without guessing.

2. The Glitches

Pictured: Something that will CRASH YOUR GAME if you try it on a physical copy.

Let me start with a disclaimer that most of the glitches I’m going to complain about were added into the game when Digimon World was localized and therefore aren’t the original intent of the developers. There are certain versions of Digimon World that are more stable than others (The English PAL version is the best version to play because of this) and, if you play this game via “certain methods”, there are patches to circumvent some of the bigger problems.

That being said! Boy! Isn’t it ironic that a game where I’m exploring the digital world is plagued with so many annoying, game-ruining glitches? Especially if I’m playing this game on a physical 20-year old copy like a dunce?

“Ohhhh...so Agumon thinks that they can block the Digimon game with their big fat Digimon-blocking head, do they?!”

The NTSC version of this game has a jukebox that will crash the game if you try to use it, keeping you from ever using a bonus feature meant to be a fun little reward for completing a certain dungeon, but that’s not as heinous as the Spanish, French, German, and Italian PAL versions of this game locking a good portion of the game to players because they forgot to make the Agumon in front of Ogremon’s Fortress an object you can interact with.

So that means, if you happened to get this game in one of four lucky countries, you can’t complete the Ogremon mission, you can’t recruit Whamon, you can’t recruit Shellmon, you can’t recruit anything tied to Shellmon’s bulletin board (which means no Vademon or Skullgreymon), and you can’t go to Factorial Town and recruit Giromon, Andromon, or Numemon. Ogremon is a key part of the Digimon World storyline and causes so many different things in the game to change, meaning that it should’ve been imperative to make sure this part of the game works!

But no. Instead this one little bastard Agumon keeps most players from finishing the game, because it starves players of those PAL regions of a bunch of Prosperity points, the main source of progression in this game. That means that Mt. Infinity and the final boss is just that much harder to unlock. It’s doable, but it’s more grueling process.

This really is a problem with the translators and really highlights a lack of general care with testing this game. Why this game was allowed to be shipped with such glaring bugs is anyone’s guess, especially in an era where you couldn’t release any patches over the Internet to fix retail versions.

3. The Monochromon’s Shop Minigame

Ohhhh....this one was so close to getting the top spot. When I first wrote this draft, this was the top spot.

Monochromon was only spared of my true ire on account of the fact that it really only exists for one part of the game (rather than being a constant problem like the Care Mistakes and the Glitches are) and you can easily cheese it by sleeping in front of the store so that you can save scum your way to victory. Like a true Digital Champion!

At one point in the game, you gotta help a entrepreneur dinosaur rhino man make a profit, because he was stupid and put his convenience store in the middle of a giant canyon next to a gaping chasm. So you play a little game of haggling, where you try to ruthlessly oversell a bunch of random items to customers until you make enough of a profit that this talking dinosaur tells you that you passed his secret test of character, abandons his store, and moves into File City.

There’s just one problem with this minigame - everything is decided by RNG.

“Get the hell out of my shop”

This minigame hates you. It wants nothing but to see you fail and to waste your time. The difference in profit margins of the three items (Meat sells for 50g, Portable Potties sell for 300g, and Medicine sells for 1000g) are so stark that, if you get too many customers asking for Meat, you might as well just reset the game and start over because it will be literally impossible to meet the requirement even if you busted the customer’s proverbial balls and squeezed every last bit out of their cutesy penguin faces.

Oh! It’s also RNG as to whether or not your customers will take your asking price or storm out of the store without buying anything!

It’s all the fun of working at retail! In a video game!

4. Three on One Battles

What you see before you is a battle system that is really fun when it’s one vs. one, manageable at two vs. one, and downright unbearable at three vs. one.

The battle system works for the most part. You don’t have full control of your Digimon (and yes, you only have one Digimon with you at one time, so you can never stack the numbers in your favor) so you shout commands at it, commands that the Digimon’s AI are pretty good at following, and hope for the best as you chuck healing items at it.

It’s not the best battle system, but it’s fun. And it definitely reinforces the whole “this is a pet you’re taking care of with its own thoughts and feelings” atmosphere that this game is going for.

However, nothing can protect your Digimon from enemy fire concentrated on them, especially if you did the thing that most players do and equipped your Digimon with the most powerful attacks that also happen to have slower cast times than the faster, weaker attacks.

What then happens is your Digimon’s Health is slowly whittled away as you are powerless to stop it, watching as your digital friend is straight up bullied by enemy Digimon as they keep falling to the ground over and over and over and over again.

The one saving grace is that Friendly Fire exists in this game so that oftentimes the enemy Digimon will damage each other in their mad dash to ruin your day, but that seems more like a band-aid than an actual fix to this system.

5. Fishing Seadramon

“Hi, kid. Let me guess - you also thought you had to talk to the Tankmon in Factorial Town in order to unlock me, huh.”

This one is a lot less of a pain than the other four and it’s only a little annoying but boy...getting Seadramon kinda sucks in this game.

It took me almost a goddamn hour to catch Seadramon. One hour of gameplay devoted to catching one fish. Just like real fishing!

I will say, besides Seadramon, the fishing minigame in this game is pretty competent. It’s just that Seadramon is very elusive, showing up at only two hours in a 24 hour day, and is a very finicky fish that won’t take your bait even if you literally placed it in front of his dumb fish face.

Don’t be fooled by this screenshot. The heart just means you have the right bait. The heart means that you didn’t actually get within range of hooking him.

IT’S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!!!

Seadramon is also subject to almost as many gaming myths as the Care Mistakes are, due to how elusive he is, but that’s less to do with poor communication (the game does at least explain multiple times in multiple places how to find him) and more to do with the fact that catching him is just such a goddamn chore to do that players of this game always assume they’re doing something wrong.

When in reality, Seadramon is just a picky little bitch.

Next time I discuss Digimon World, I’ll talk about things I liked, don’t worry. I just had to get all of this negativity out before discussing the full game proper.

[kazhewbrekker]

vilify me - chapter 3

tumblr is now officially caught up with ao3 !! chapter 4 is being edited currently, and it will be the last chapter before i start college. so look forward to that.

(AO3 Link) (Chapter 1) (Chapter 2)

“What’s your name, soldier?”

I had considered Sector 45 a second home for a long time, and by extension I knew where all the best spots in the base were. I knew which seats were the most comfortable and which one’s cushions hadn’t been changed out since before I was born. So, I’d taken my new faux-bodyguard to one of the sectioned off rooms, chambers that had colored themes and a lack of decor. And also no cameras. That was the most important part, I would sit us right in the blindspot.

“Kenji Kishimoto,” he paused awkwardly, “sir.”

“Call me Ella, I don’t have a formal military title.” That was a lie, technically. “And I don’t take myself that seriously.”

Kishimoto-- Kenji snorted, he had a sense of humor.

“Where are you from?”

“Sector 43,” he paused to frown at me. “Where are you from?”

“Oceania Sector 124.”

It was an automatic response, replying with section numbers instead of places. No one from Sector 45 would know anything about the continent of Oceania. I doubted any of them had ever been on the other side of the world.

“New Zealand.” I amended.

Kenji’s mouth opened in an ah-ha moment, before promptly closing and leaving an awkward silence between the both of us. I was hesitant to close it, this soldier had been given a job and it wasn’t to make nice conversation and be my friend.

“Who are you then?” Kenji spoke before I did.

“What do you mean?”

He rolled his eyes, “If you’re getting your own personal guard you’ve gotta be someone worth protecting. So, who are you? Should I know?”

“I don’t know,” I blinked. “It’s probably better that you don’t already know who I am.”

Kenji seemed to consider this, and after another moment, sat down on the other chair facing my own. It was progress at least. He didn’t seem comfortable in the slightest. Though, I couldn’t exactly blame him for that could I?

“You already know what I can do.”

“News spreads fast here,” he shifted in his seat.

I nodded grimly. He’d been tipped off not to make direct contact with my skin or, at the very least, he’d seen me take down a man twice my size without a weapon. That would be enough evidence to convince most people. But Kenji didn’t look scared of me, he still showed the same level of discomfort as he had in Warner’s presence. It was possible he just had a problem with authority.

“Well, there’s nothing to worry about as long as you don’t touch me.”

“Why am I protecting you then?”

I bit my lip. He wasn’t an idiot, I couldn’t just lie and say I needed protection from the soldiers. Kenji had seen me practically bulldoze a man twice my size.

“Maybe it’s less about protecting everyone else from me--”

“--and about protecting everyone else from you. So, I’m on babysitting duty?”

I narrowed my eyes at him, “I tell you I’m not military and you’re already interrupting me. You don’t waste any time do you?”

Kenji seemed to resist a grin, “Sorry, Princess.”

-

Around Kenji, I refused to be unprofessional in case he saw it as a weakness in which he could exploit. Even after spending a day with him trailing my every move I couldn’t figure out a reason for Warner to assign him to watch me. If anything he seemed like more of a troublemaker than I was. Perhaps I was missing something, that hurt my pride.

Warner was in his office, at the desk with folders stacked before him, by the time I returned to the bedroom. I was unimpressed, and that much could have been easily picked up on, but I pulled a chair up to his desk and sat crossed legged. He paused when I entered the room and hadn’t moved since, but after I was settled he returned to the work before him without comment. Two could play at this game, I opened a book.

It was a long while before Warner spoke, “Do you want to know why?”

“I’d rather you not hide things from me to begin with,” I flipped the page, “but I suppose that’s asking too much, isn’t it?”

I could feel my heartbeat pick up pace, the tension that always wrapped around us seemed to be tightening into a stranglehold. The only thing that held me together, that kept me from giving in, was the fact that it would never ruin us. Fighting was just an aspect of our relationship, we disagreed on nearly everything but it made life interesting. I wouldn’t lose him over this and he had to know that he would never lose me either.

“Kenji Kishimoto has only been here for two months,” Warner began. “Kishimoto has been a nuisance, causing problems among the sector’s ranks and becoming a very frequent headache of mine.”

“And now he’s my problem?”

I finally looked up to meet his eyes, shards of glass that I could feel cut into my heart. He must have finally sensed that I wasn’t nearly as upset with him as I had made it sound, because his shoulders relaxed just a fraction before he continued, “There’s something suspicious about the timing and that’s not all.”

“No?” He placed a folder in front of me.

“I can’t tell if he’s lying.”

I raised an eyebrow and flipped open the file, Kenji Kishimoto was the first profile in the pile. I turned the page and found another soldier, and another, and another. “What is this?”

Warner didn’t speak as I kept looking through the files. I couldn’t see the connection with all of these people, some weren’t even from Sector 45 but from the other side of the continent. There was something so familiar about it that I had the urge to look away, insist that Warner answer my question. But then I didn’t need him to, a soldier appeared before me and I recognized the face.

Just barely, because it wasn’t in agonizing pain.

“Aaron.”

“North America’s files on double agents, people regents have been led to believe are members of the rebellion. You know we’re told to keep track of any soldiers that peak interest.” He paused, quiet. “You have a copy too.”

I dropped the papers unceremoniously and put my head in my hands. I knew, deep inside, that everyone who worked in the Reestablishment had some version of my kill-list sat in a box somewhere within their desk. That was how my work operated. Someone reported a citizen, or a soldier, or anyone of being suspicious and rowdy and then they called in me. The Reestablishment didn’t care if they got things wrong, if there was nothing to learn from the person they took in, and they had me kill them anyways. They were never let go after being taken in. Anderson thought it was good for me.

“You reported him?”

“Not yet.”

I looked up to meet his eyes, “What am I supposed to do?”

Maybe it was the fragile way my voice shook, my control slipping, or maybe it was the pain I could feel rolling off my mind in waves. I knew they were crashing into him, I watched as he took each with practiced ease and still managed not to break under their weight. He was so strong, my anchor, and now he was giving me a choice.

“I’ve never done an investigation before,” I strained out a laugh.

“You’re restless,”

“I’m tired, Aaron. I sleep all day--”

“You’re restless and it’s hurting you more than it’s helping you.” Warner reached out a hand towards me, pushing away from his desk enough that I easily slipped off my chair and came to sit on his lap. I ducked my head beneath his chin, taking in the warmth of him, the comfort as he brushed his fingers through the short strands of my hair. “I didn’t do this to hurt you, I’m not--”

“You’re nothing like him.” I pressed a kiss to his neck, “And you didn’t hurt me.”

“It felt like I did.”

“You told me the truth, that’s a good thing. Even if it took me by surprise.” I pursed my lips and laid out the options in front of me. Warner suspected Kenji to be a member of the rebellion and he very well might be, but he hadn’t been reported. It’s not my job to handle him unless he gets officially reported by a sector regent, theoretically I could leave it alone. But, if I was to dissuade any possible suspicion around Kenji, then I wouldn’t have to kill him. “You’ve given me quite a decision.”

“At least you’re not bored.”

“If Anderson found out--”

Warner frowned, “He won’t.”

We sat in silence with me curled up against him like we were children again. There had been a point in time where Warner wanted as far away from the work his father had be do then anything else, it was a testament to the strengthening of our bond that he shared this with me. And I was so, so proud of him.

“You don’t have to listen to him,” his voice was soft, I almost missed it just swimming through the contents of my own thoughts. He was watching me, gauging my reactions while pushing my hair behind my ear. “I hate watching you tear yourself apart.”

“I know.”

His lips kissed down my temple to the corner of my mouth and I tilted my face higher to give him more access. I would never get tired of my feeling of him against him. With him I would never feel alone.

“I love you.”

I smiled into his kiss as he repeated the words again and again and again. I was drowning and it was just fine, everything would be fine, I could handle this tiny mission. It was a means to an end anyways. And I could do anything, especially here, in North America with my best friend, the love of my life.

“I know.”

-

“Miss Sommers.” Delalieu greeted as I walked off the plane, my legs felt like gelatin and my heart was in my throat, constricting the airflow with each beat. It was easy to see Delalieu’s surprise at my visit. I fought back my own disgust with him.

“Lieutenant,” I nodded, “I assume Supreme Commander Anderson has already returned to the capital?”

Delalieu didn’t need to nod. My assumption was correct.

“Good, send the usual supplies to Regent Warner’s chambers. Don’t tell the Supreme Commander I’m here and don’t let anyone follow me up. Or else you’re dead.”

The way to Warner’s bedroom was far too familiar even after the months we’d spent apart for each other. Despite my mood, there was no way I could ignore today without guilt consuming my every waking moment. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I did. It was pleasing to watch as I made my way through the halls, soldiers new and old jumping out of my path.

Alone in the elevator, my nerves began slicing me in two. The door chimed and opened to a scene that was far more eerie then I had assumed it might be. Little was changed about the room; the red duvet on the bed had been stripped and crumpled to the floor, the closet door was left opened with the lights off. There was a knock on the far-wall bedroom door, I sped towards it and opened it only to find the hallway empty and outside sat the cart I had told Delalieu to send up.

It was filled with objects that felt more like memories. Medicine and antiseptic that forced my mind to think of laboratories and having my hair tied back in tight braids. I shivered. After setting the cart down on the table within the bedroom and locking the door behind me, I finally decided to look for the inhabitant, and quell the nervous energy in my stomach.

“Aaron, where are you?”

There was no response throughout the room.

I took inventory again and noticed the light to the bathroom was on. It was so stark against the objectively dark bedroom that I was shocked that I hadn’t noticed before. I crept closer to the slightly ajar door before pulling it open quietly, like the heroine in a horror movie. “Aaron?”

He was bent over the toilet with his back bared to me. Scars from previous years were crosshatched with fresh, welting cuts that now bled openly across his skin. Blood didn’t scare me, not anymore, but seeing him bleed was enough to bring tears to my eyes. It was an image of cruelty, true cruelty brought about by his own father. I would kill that man some day.

I retreated back into the bedroom to grab antiseptic, bandages, something to soothe the wounds, I went through the motions that his mother had taught me when I was five and then again when I was six, and then again and again until I was the only one that could clear up after Anderson when he paid his son a visit on his birthday. I’d been doing it so long that it felt like second nature, and that though made my skin crawl.

“Ella?”

Warner’s voice was barely above a whisper as I returned to the bathroom with supplies in hand, I settled on my knees beside him and brushed my fingers against the back of his neck, feeling the heat of his skin and calming my nerves.

“It’s me. I’m going to take care of you, okay?”

He groaned, dry-heaving into the toilet again. I pulled my fingers through his hair once more before bringing a towel to the cuts and beginning my work. I had forgotten, in the past months, that without Warner I couldn’t really touch anyone. Not like I could touch him. He was the only person I could be safe around, vulnerable without losing a part of myself, the only person I could be normal around. I switched towels, cringing at the choice of white fabric. Maybe not completely normal.

“Before I forget,” I wanted him to talk to me. Keep distracted. “Happy birthday. I would have gotten you something, but I figured that getting to see me again while I’m pissed at you was enough of a gift.”

He laughed weakly and rolled his head to the side to face her. I was struck with how truly awful he looked. Pale and sickly, sweat clung to his forehead and deep bruises sat beneath his eyes. I used the hand that was still grasped at the back of his neck to push the hair from his face. The blond strands I’d spent years in awe of now hung limp in the fluorescent light of the bathroom.

“How are you?”

“Better.” Warner’s lip twitched, “Now anyways.”

I narrowed my eyes at him before getting up to put the bloodied towels in the sink. That’s when I noticed the pill bottle on the floor near him. I didn’t need to pick it up to know what the bottle contained, but I prayed that Warner was smart enough not to have overdosed.

“No wonder you’re so slow,” I clicked my tongue. “How many did you take?”

Warner didn’t respond even as I got back down on the bathroom floor with him. He just stared at me with eyes glazed and confused. I touched his cheek, why this had to be the first moment we see each other after everything that had happened with Lena, with us. My own realization. Suddenly it felt dangerous to be alone with him in this state. I stood up once again, ever indecisive, I could change the sheets on the bed while I reigned myself in.

Warner’s hand shot out, loosely grasping my wrist and trying his best to draw me back down to him. Knowing that Warner’s usual strength could easily accomplish this task hurt all the more now that he couldn’t even pull hard enough for me to budge.

“Aaron,” my voice was gentle without planning to, “I need to change the bed. I’m not leaving, I promise.”

“Ella, I’m--”

“I know.” I smiled at him, and he let go.

-

Kenji Kishimoto was not going to make this easy for me. Everyday he would be forced to follow me as I walked in circles around the base. And it felt like the proper punishment for me. I think it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship, or maybe just the beginning of my investigation, whichever made me sound less soulless.

“What’s your favorite thing to do?”

Kenji gave me a deadpan expression, “I don’t know, Princess. I have to work all hours of the day.”

“You could humor me, y’know.” There was a pause as we continued walking and I thought up another question, “What’s your favorite color?”

“Grey.”

I threw my hands up in mock annoyance.

“Fine, what do you want to talk about?”

Kenji shrugged. He had been trying to keep a straight face for the majority of our limited conversations, but I’d grown very used to seeing beyond people’s masks. I could tell he was hiding a smile and maybe even some curiosity. I could use that, I knew I could.

“Come on, you’ve got to have questions.” I waited for him to respond, but he didn’t. “And I don’t plan on leaving Sector 45 anytime soon.”

He sighed and after another moment of mindless walking he said, “Fine.”

I clapped my hands together in glee before turning on my heel and heading towards another room similar to the one I had taken him to before. Sector 45 had a lot of unused rooms, especially on the upper floors, and I had never really registered why. The skyscraper hadn’t been built to house military, that much was certain, but it left a great many rooms easy to access and free of the hidden camera that made my skin itch beneath my clothes.

“Ask away,” I told him as I moved to the back of the room. There was a bookcase on the far left that held cookbooks on the second tallest shelf. I pulled one on Indian cuisine down.

“All right,” he didn’t waste time to consider. “Why are you here? In North America, I mean.”

“I work for the Reestablishment.”

“There isn’t anywhere in the world better then here?”

I smiled at him, “I wouldn’t go that far.”

The couches in the room were a toffee brown color that clashed with the walls and the woods. They had no taste for interior design in any of these rooms. It curled my lip, but I sat on the cushion and set the book beside me, gesturing for Kenji to sit on the other couch across from me. We were going to have a conversation and it was only polite to be on equal footing.

“For me,” I continued, “I suppose this is the best place in the world.”

He raised an eyebrow, or tried too anyways, but I could tell he didn’t believe me. Now I was weighing my options; If I confided in him then maybe he would see it equal to confide in me as well. But on the other hand then I’d had to tell him something honestly about myself. I wasn’t sure what information I could divulge easily. Kenji made a motion with his hand as if for me to keep talking, a quiet why sat in the air around us.

“Honestly?”

He nodded.

“Regent Warner.”

Whatever he’d been expecting me to say; the sun, which was now perpetually blocked out by clouds, the beaches that were filled with litter, or the oceans that were so polluted you could get sick from just standing near them. California was an unfortunate caricature of its former self, or so I remembered.

But Warner was the easiest thing for me to talk about, as cheesy as it sounded. I couldn’t help but have him in the back of my mind in every waking moment. Because we were partners, a pair, always together except when we weren’t. And this was the juiciest gossip I could give him without revealing myself as the Reestablishment favorite assault rifle.

“It did seem weird for you to walk out of his bedroom like that.” Kenji observed me with a new level of suspicion, “Wait, I thought you couldn’t touch anyone?”

“I can’t.”

“Then-- wait-- how?” He made an exasperated motion with his hands as I sat there smiling at him. It took him a minute to compose himself, “So, you’re here for him?”

“More or less. I’m on vacation.”

“The Reestablishment gives out vacation days?”

I laughed, “No, unfortunately. I’m a special case.”

Kenji finally leaned back in his seat, getting more comfortable as he continued to question me and I answered without difficulty. He gave me an incredulous look, “You don’t work for the military, but you do work for the Reestablishment. And you take time off even though you’re not supposed to. What are you, a diplomat?”

“No.” I shook my head, “Definitely not. My sister is far better versed in policies then I am.”

“You have a sister?”

I pursed my lips. If Emmaline were here she could sort through the contents of his head and deliver the truth to me on a silver platter. But Emmaline wasn’t here, I was, and I didn’t have abilities over the mind. I wondered if I cursed her loud enough, if she could hear me from the other side of the world.

“Am I going to learn anything about you beyond your favorite color?”

“Sure, Princess.” He grinned like he’d beaten me at something.

I waited. I couldn’t ask him another silly question, like what was his favorite animal, it was better to let the truth come to light naturally but that didn’t mean you shouldn’t help it along. Once again, I wished I were Emmaline, that I could so easily read people instead of harm them.

“Why are you a soldier?”

Kenji’s smile fell slowly until he was staring blankly back at me. I hadn’t thought it would be a hard question to answer, I figured he would brush it off and say he was simply bored and it offered a bit of excitement. That would be in character.

“Kenji?”

“Why do you think?” He spoke up, “Everyone has to eat, has a family they need to protect, that’s why everyone chooses to be mindless drones for a government that doesn’t give a shit about us.”

I sat patiently while he caught his breath and continued.

“Hell, it’s not even really a choice at this point. You either work for them or you work for them, there’s no in between for any of us. But you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you, Princess?”

Strong resentment for the Reestablishment. Unwilling to share details of personal life. Hostility evoked from questioning. Distracting demeanor, draws attention to himself, but through mischief instead of malice. It was a strong cover, if it was a cover. I couldn’t be too hasty in my decision. For once I could actually save someone from my chopping block rather than lowering the axe.

I hummed softly to myself before standing, the cookbook left on the seat. Decisions, decisions. When I moved towards the door with the intent to leave, Kenji got to his feet and his regret over his own words was written clearly on his face. I turned and smiled back at him, I wasn’t hurt by his opinion of the Reestablishment, I’d heard far worse.

“You’re dismissed for the rest of today, I think I’m going to take a nap.” He opened his mouth to speak up, but I raised a hand and silenced him. “Not to make light of your own difficulties, but it doesn’t matter high up you are. The Reestablishment takes away everyone’s freedom, even mine.”

-

I had never seen this room before.

It felt a little bit like Mum and Dad’s office. Cold and quiet. I wrapped my arms around myself as Mum and the other people in white coats moved around the room. They were talking quietly, but I was so far away from them I couldn’t make out any of the words. And then Dad kneeled down next to me.

He didn’t hold my hand anymore, even though Mum made me wear gloves. But he still smiled at me like he always did, that’s how I knew he loved me. “Hey there, little bird.”

I smiled shyly back at him. There was a creaking of metal across the room and I almost reached up to cover my ears it was so loud. I wished Emmaline was there, she always knew what to do. Or Warner. If Warner was there he could hold my hand while I waited for Mum to do my check up, this was probably another kind of check up. Dad moved into my line of sight, cutting off my vision of Mum.

“Ella, you’re five now and that means you’re a big girl.”

I nodded. Emmaline was six and she was already so much more grownup. I was determined to catch up to her.

“I need you to do something for me, little bird. You’re going to take your gloves off--”

“Mum said I wasn’t allowed to take them off.”

“I know,” he smiled, “but Mum needs you to take them off right now. Just for a little while, I promise.”

I glanced down at the pink cotton gloves that came all the way up to my shirt sleeves. It had been a couple months since I’d had to start wearing them and they weren’t itchy at all anymore. My hands honestly scared me a little bit. It had been a really sudden thing, I didn’t want to take a bath and the nanny watching Emmaline and I had had to chase me around the living room. When she finally caught me, she started screaming like I had kicked her. Mum had come then, she’d done a check up, and then she told me to wear the gloves and not take them off.

And she told me not to touch anyone.

Emmaline thought I was dumb, but I could understand that somehow I could hurt someone if I touched them. Like when you got too much static from rubbing your socks on the carpet and you shock someone. Except it seemed like it hurt a lot more. I didn’t want to accidentally touch Mum, or Dad, or Emmaline. Or Warner. So, I never took the gloves off just like I was told.

“Please, for me?” Dad asked.

I gave in. Pulling the cotton back to reveal my pale arms and then my hands. They looked just like normal hands. I imagined a current of electricity running through them, but nothing changed. Emmaline said that when she used her powers , she visualized everything.

“Alright, Ella, follow me.”

Dad led me across the room to where Mum and the other white coats had finally settled. Some sat in front of monitors and others stood around watching me, waiting for something. I wanted to hide behind Dad’s legs, but I wasn’t allowed to touch him. Mum came closer with a smile on her bright red lips.

“There’s my brave little girl.” My face soured at being called little. “Are you ready for your check up?”

“Yes, Mum.”

Mum’s hands and arms were covered as she lifted me into a high seat, it reminded me of the bar stools we had in the kitchen. In front of me, on a table, there was a rabbit in a cage. It’s nose was twitching in all directions as it sat, still and calm. Mum opened the top of the cage.

“Ella,”

“Yes?” My voice was shaking as Mum picked up the rabbit.

“I want you to hold this bunny for me. That’s not hard is it?”

“But--”

“Hold it and don’t drop it no matter what, okay? This is very important.”

Dad came around from the side and stuck things that felt like suction cups to my head, I was use to those. I didn’t want to hurt the rabbit. I didn’t want Mum to give me the rabbit, it was so much smaller than the nanny, what if the electric shock really hurt it?

“Mummy--”

“Ella,” my mother’s tone was suddenly sharper. “Be a good girl and do this for me. It’s very important that you hold this rabbit and not let it go, no matter what, is this clear?”

“Y-Yes.”

Mum lowered the rabbit in my arms and then pulled them tightly around it. I noticed then that the rabbit was also hooked up to multiple machines, I could see it’s heart rate monitor out of the corner of my eyes. I saw it spike. The second the rabbit was in my hands it began thrashing like crazy, I could feel it try to bite me or claw me, anything to get loose. But it didn’t hurt, nothing touched me. And then the rabbit stopped moving.

I watched everything. I couldn’t close my eyes as the soft rabbit with pure white fur lay limp in my arms. It’s heartbeat gone silent. I looked up at Mum, her hand held over her mouth and I wondered if she’s scream and me or cry. I had hurt the rabbit, I really hadn’t meant to. But her hand lowered and behind it was a smile.

“Interesting,” she said. “Very interesting.”

[pepperonijem]

In the Ashes || Bucky Barnes

masterlist

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader

Warnings: major angst and INFINITY WAR SPOILERS

Word count: 2.6k

Summary: “What’s left to do with these broken pieces on the floor? I’m losing my voice calling on you.”

A/N: This was originally sent in as a drabble request, but I felt I couldn’t do it proper justice in less than 500 words, so here we are. (I put the request under the cut, to avoid spoilers) Grab some tissues y’all, it’s about to get angsty

A/N pt 2: “can i request bucky and the reader during the fight at wakanda where thanos uses the reality stone to make bucky believe the reader is thanos and he kills her on accident and he only realizes it’s her when she begins to fade away, he doesn’t even get to say goodbye (sorry it’s dark, ilysm❤️) maybe even inspired by Ashes- Céline Dion” from @awyglenxkbskcbs 

“You gonna be okay?” Steve asked as he sat down beside you. After telling Sam to fly the quinjet towards what appeared to just be a mountain range, Steve noticed you had the jitters and wanted to check on you. “I know you haven’t seen him in a while, but I also know he’s excited to see you.” You smiled softly and nodded, but your gaze fell to the floor.

A soft sigh escaped your lips as you fidgeted with the straps on your gloves. “I know, it’s just… I wish the circumstances were better.” You finally turned your head up to look at Steve. “I wish I was at home, watching The Office reruns with Bucky, instead of trying to fight against the apocalypse.”  

Steve didn’t respond, instead wrapping an arm around your shoulder as you leaned your head against him. You looked up to Steve, not just as a captain or a hero, but as a friend. He knew what it was like to be separated from the one you love, and he was always there to lean on and you were thankful for him.  

You continued to rest against Steve until Sam called out from the pilot seat of the jet. “Cap, I think we’re here.” You looked out of the windshield to see Wakanda for the first time and the sight had you breathless. The city was beautiful and modern, the epitome for technological progress, the literal definition of a hidden gem. Steve pat Sam on the back as he directed him towards where to land, and you stood up along with Natasha and the rest of your group. As the jet approached the landing site you noticed a group of people gathering around, including T’Challa and Okoye, whom you’d met before. You heard Bruce whisper to Rhodey behind you, asking if he should bow, and let out a small laugh when Rhodey answered yes. Wanda and Vision stood behind them, also snickering at Bruce’s question, knowing he took it too seriously.

When the quinjet finally landed, you walked out beside Steve and Natasha. You scanned through the small crowd in front of you as Steve greeted T’Challa until your eyes found a familiar pair of worn blue ones. You reflexively smiled at him and when he returned it, your heartbeat went crazy. It wasn’t until Natasha nudged you in the side that you looked back over to T’Challa who was smiling at you warmly.

“(y/n), nice to see you again,” he greeted before taking your hand in a firm handshake. “I see you’ve already found Mr. Barnes.” T’Challa laughed before looking towards Bucky and gesturing for him to come forward.

Steve greeted Bucky with a quick hug and a pat on the back, and even though Steve was here only two weeks ago to see him, they made it seem like it had been months. Bucky then turned to you, and you felt your stomach drop to your knees when you realized he was close enough for you to smell the ever-familiar scent of his cologne. The smile on his face was unlike the ones he used to show before he left for Wakanda. Back then, his smiles were forced and restrained, like he was afraid of his happiness being snatched away. But this smile, this smile spread all the way to his eyes, and if you weren’t so lost in the moment, you would have noticed the almost literal twinkle in them when he looked at you. He quickly pulled you into a tight embrace and you buried your head in his neck, savoring the feeling of being in his arms. For the last two years you had been on the run moving from run-down hut to another, never quite being able to settle down, but here in Bucky’s arms, you were home, and even when he pulled away you were stuck on cloud 9.

“Hi,” he finally said. You let out a small chuckle playfully pushed him.

“Hi yourself,” you smiled. You and Bucky continued to look at each other, just appreciating the other’s presence with a comfortable silence resting between you, until Sam broke it.

“Just kiss already,” he teased. “We know you’re just trying to not make it awkward for us, but trust me, this weird staring game is more awkward.” Natasha laughed in agreement and you matched the blush that was creeping onto Bucky’s cheeks. The rest of the group began walking towards the inside of the palace, leaving you and Bucky to yourselves. He shyly bit his lip, before pulling you in for a sweet and long overdue kiss. His lips felt soft and relaxed on yours, much opposed to the rough and tired kisses he gave you before going back under.

After remembering your human need to breathe, the two of you broke apart and Bucky took your hand and the two of you went off to find the rest of the group. The halls echoed with your laughter as Bucky caught you up with his new life in Wakanda, he told you about the goats he named after you and Steve, how you just have to see them because he knows you’ll love them, about the new arm Shuri had made for him, and about the new coconut oil he was using to keep his hair healthy. You brought him up to date with your life as well, about how you haven’t slept on a good bed in so long, but you’ve learned 3 more languages, and that you have a newfound love of German food.

But your happy nostalgia came to an abrupt halt when you entered the room. “They’re on their way, and we don’t have much time left,” Bruce said. “They know the soul stone is in Vision, and they won’t stop until it’s out of Vision.”  You and Bucky looked at each other with concern, before turning to Wanda who had tears spilling out of her eyes, knowing that she would have to be the one to destroy Vision and the stone if it came to that. T’Challa’s younger sister Shuri spoke next.

“Then why don’t we take it out of him first?” She suggested. She and Bruce began to discuss with Wanda and Vision the scientific possibilities of removing the stone and destroying it without harming Vision while Steve pulled you, Bucky, Sam, and Natasha off to the side.

He explained that no matter what happened, the mission was to not let the Black Order near this room. “This is what we’re here to do, and really, it might be the last thing we do,” Steve explained. “But we’re soldiers today. We’re not just fighting for one people today, but the whole universe. So think of the people around you, those you love and those who love you.” You and Bucky kept your eyes ahead, but his metal digits found yours and gave you a small squeeze. “Those are the people looking up to us, so whatever it takes, we’re not gonna let them down. Not today, not ever.”

The sound of a crash ended Steve’s speech and the group flocked to the window to see the first aircraft land and crash. They were here. The team flocked out, leaving behind Wanda, Vision and Shuri but before you could leave, Bucky grabbed you by the arm. “Listen, doll, if anything… if anything happens--” but you cut him off with a kiss before he could finish his sentence. You grazed his cheek with your palm and he softened his grip on your arm.

“No, Buck,” you countered. “Tonight, after all this shit is over, and we’ve done our job, we’re gonna take a long shower, make some hot chocolate, and then lay in your bed and we’re gonna watch The Office until we fall asleep, while your goats bleat around us, okay? Because I love you, and you love me, and we’re not going to let each other down.” You kept a smile on your face but you could see the worry still etched in the wrinkles around Bucky’s eyes. “So let’s do this the way we’re gonna do the rest of our lives -- together.” His face finally softened and he leaned in to kiss you on the forehead with a whispered “I love you” before you sped out to meet with the group.

The battle was shifting in your favor for a while. By opening the small section, you and the other avengers were able to streamline the creatures summoned by the black order. You fought alongside Natasha, the two of you teaming up to maim and kill the alien demons. But eventually you realized that no matter how many you killed, there were another 10 to replace it and you began to grow tired, but you continued to fight, feeling all the more hopeless by the day. It wasn’t until Thor arrived that you once again had hope for the battle. But when Vision came down and Thanos arrived, you and the other Avengers rushed over to try to defend the stone. Thanos was powerful, but so were you and your friends.

While Steve had Thanos distracted you made an effort to immobilize the glove, as Bruce had mentioned that’s where his power was concentrated. Steve was throwing jabs left and right, and Sam covered for you as you attempted to plant a grenade in the palm of the gauntlet, hoping to at least make a dent in it. But before you could reach the palm of his hand, he shut his fist, causing the gauntlet to glow, and smacked you away from him. The magnitude of his attack sent you flying against a bed of rocks and you rolled off and onto your back, almost unable to move. You slowly stood up, leaning against a tree for support. Every bone in your body felt stretched and brittle and you sucked in a breath at the sharp pain. The world around you seemed to sink low and you felt heavy, as if your center of gravity shifted. Your vision was still hazy from the impact, but you could see that Thanos was nowhere to be found, your bet was that he used the stone to disappear to another part of the dense forest, and you were thankful because right now you couldn’t fight. There was no energy left for you to. You watched as your friends rushed over to where Vision was, trying to create a wall of defense around him in case Thanos showed back up, and you made an effort to shuffle over. But your legs wouldn’t budge, and every effort felt like fire in your bones. You continued to try until you saw Bucky and Natasha leave the group and run over towards you and a smile spread on your face at the sight. You extended your arm to them, but then you let out a gasp once you saw it.

That wasn’t your arm.

As Bucky and Nat got closer, you saw that the looks on their faces were not of concern, but of anger. Bucky, full of fury, let out a battle cry before swinging his metal arm against you. You had no time to react, as every movement brought you more pain, so instead you allowed yourself to be knocked down. You tried to speak, to call out to Bucky to let him know that it was you, but the only thing you could let out was a pained gasp as Bucky took a jab at your chest.

“Where the hell is she?!” he demanded, not relenting on his hits. Natasha watched as he continued, and tried to call out to him and pull him back, but Bucky resisted. He heard nothing but the sounds of his own sobs and the thuds of his metal fist against the broken purple body in front of him. “What did you do with her? Bring her back!” He moved his fists to your jaw and although your arm reached up to try to block the hits, you were too distracted by the pain in Bucky’s voice to push him away from you. Time seemed to move slower and the world slowly got darker, and you couldn’t help the guilt that made its way into your stomach when you thought about how you were going to be letting down a lot of people today.

It wasn’t until Bucky heard the pained shouts of Wanda from the group that he finally stopped attacking you and allowed Natasha to pull him away. “Jesus Christ, Bucky, something’s wrong,” she chastised him. He turned around to where Nat was looking to see two beams of red energy streaming in both directions -- one towards the stone in Vision’s head, and the other towards…

Bucky was finally hit with the realization and he fell down to his knees. He gave out a gradual crescendo of “No”s until he was screaming it with every ounce of oxygen in his body. Bucky couldn’t even keep his eyes open, feeling too guilty to even face the bloodied body in front of him, the body that was destroyed at his hands. At his cries, the real Thanos once again shut his fist and you returned to normal. “Buck,” you called to him, your voice now hoarse and laced with pain -- pain that he caused -- and he finally opened his eyes to look at you. He crawled over to you and lifted your head and laid it on his lap, still chanting “no, no, no,” like it was a prayer. He tried to stroke your hair, and you felt his hands tremble against your scalp. You forced out a smile, not wanting to Bucky to see your pain. “Don’t forget to add the cinnamon on my cocoa,” you whispered softly. Even over the sound of Wanda screaming in the distance, and Thanos ripping the stone out of Vision’s head, and the sound of Thor’s battlecry approaching, Bucky only heard your voice. You felt that you were allowed to be selfish, just this once, to want this moment to be only about you and the love of your life, since it would be the last one you shared.

He let out a sad chuckle in between his sobs, and began to speak. “How can I forget, doll? You’re always remindin’ me.” he rested his hand on your cheek, getting colder by the second. He bent down to press a kiss against your lips, barely feeling yours move under his. He pulled away and rested his forehead on yours, cradling your body in his arms and consumed by the ever familiar feeling of guilt. Even with HYDRA’s brainwashing out of his system, he managed to hurt someone else he loved, and although you would deny it, the guilt would forever haunt him. “I love you.” he whispered with a sad smile.

But before you could return his feelings, the echo of a snap hit your ear drums and you watched Bucky’s eyes widen in terror. You looked down at your hands to see yourself fading into ash. “Make it stop,” you cried, your breathing now erratic. “Bucky, I don’t want to be alone,” you sobbed as your body faded away into nothingness. Bucky tried in vain to grab the pieces as they flew away, hoping he could piece you back into the beautiful light you were out of the scattered ashes, but he every time he got close to a piece of you, it drifted away. He couldn’t even tell what was you anymore, as the pieces of you got lost with the ashes of the others who were ripped away. Thanos didn’t just destroy half of the universe, he wiped away all of Bucky’s heart. Now all that was left was a ghost of him, merely an echo of the man he was with you.

He looked around, seeing others in positions just like his: kneeling against spaces where bodies of their loved ones once lay, and the cries of guilt rose up in his chest as the sound of your last words echoed in his mind. Why were you the one paying the price for his mistakes? You didn’t deserve the ending you got, and he didn’t want to be here. He didn’t want to be alive. Not without you. Not alone.

[righthererightzao]

Zaoka Reviews: Rayman

Platform: PSX Release Date: September 1995 Developed By: UbiSoft Published By:  UbiSoft Screenshot Source: https://raymanpc.com/wiki/en/Main_Page

Hey folks, I thought I’d try something a bit new with my blog, alongside my usual content of screenshots, RP write-ups and Asks, and so I’m starting a little review series on the side where I’ll be looking at games both old and new (or in between in the case of the recent remakes that have been coming out!). Figured I’d start with one of my favourites! It’s safe to say that Rayman on the Sony Playstation holds a very special place in my heart, it’s one of the first games I owned on the console next to Crash Bandicoot, and it’s one of the few games next to Final Fantasy IX, Aliens Versus Predator 2 and Alien: Isolation (We’ll get to those soon) that I could happily play each year and not get bored of it. Mind you, it is hard to be bored of something when over time you find yourself being slowly consumed by a fury that knows no bound threatening to rend the controller you hold in your very hands in two when it reaches critical mass! We’ll save that for later though!

 When we start of the game we’re given an animated cut-scene in which we are greeted by one of the side characters known as “The Magician” who fills us in on the backstory. We’re told how everything is hunky dory in the world of Rayman thanks to something known as The Great Protoon which keeps everything in balance. Alas this peace is not to last as the main villain of the game, Mr Dark up and steels the Protoon causing a bunch of small folks called the Electoons to scatter across the corners of the world where they are kidnapped by Mr Dark’s minions, and more distressingly, we’re never told what became of the Neutoon. Declaring the need for a hero, we’re then introduced to the titular character as he lazes on a hammock and giving us a casual thumb up!

With our mission clear we can start the game and find ourselves being drawn in by the visuals of the game. The levels are beautifully designed, with each stage baring all kinds of neat little details, such as the dancing flowers and the little mushrooms that pile on top of each other (only to fall down shortly after) in the forest of dreams. Not only that, there is the music, which I think is one of the best parts of the game itself. The music is unforgettable, with a wide range of tones from upbeat and adventurous tunes in the earlier stages which slowly becomes more sombre as you near the end of your adventure, and then there’s the track used in the “Chase” segments of certain levels that used to cause a younger me to panic as soon as I heard the crash of the gong that heralded the impending that was slowly drawing nearer. Then we get to the final stage, the candy chateau, ready for our final showdown with Mr. Dark, and clown music happens.

Moving onto the game play, Rayman is a 2D side scrolling platformer where you traverse a wide variety of levels rescuing tiny little critters called Electoons from captivity while combating a host of freakish enemies under the employ of Mr. Dark, the games main antagonist. When you start off you only have the ability to walk at a brisk pace, jump, climb and make silly faces to scare away these lanky green safari hunter looking dudes. As you progress through the game you are given new abilities by Betilla the Fairy, ranging from a punching attack to launch your enemies into orbit or clear obstacles, to a sprint ability.

As well as rescuing Electoons, you find 1up trophies that grant an extra life and these little blue sparkling gems called ‘Tings’ which each play a musical tune when you pick them up, making it all the more satisfying to pick them up in rapid succession in order to play out their own little melody. Not only that, but collecting 100 tings grants you an extra life, and if you have a certain amount of tings when going through a level you can pay the Magician to take you to a bonus level where you can earn an extra life upon completion.

Alongside various types of enemies, the levels also contain a boat load of hazards to avoid, many of which can result in instant death in the form of rivers (both good old fashioned H20 and in Picture city, Ink), bottomless pits and spike traps. Not only that but walking over certain parts of a level can trigger a “surprise” often signalled by a small twinkling sound. These surprises can be beneficial as a 1up trophy or an Electoon cage. Most of the time it’s a bunch of dudes about to ruin your day.

Raymans movements are also a bit on the slow side, and jumping can be a little bit floaty, with some instances requiring some precision jumping from the player when it comes to how fast some of the platforms can move over the aforementioned instant death traps. Not only that, but is Rayman is hurt by anything he yelps and is pushed back a space which can make any platform over an instant death pit a soul crushing experience when you accidentally clip an enemy, or an environmental hazard only for Rayman to go plummeting to his death. This experience isn’t helped by the track that plays upon any death, which can only be described as the loosing horn from hell and they would have achieved a similar effect by recording Michel Ancel screaming“Y’DONE MESSED UP SON”.

With that I move onto the next point and this tends to be the largest criticism of the game, the difficulty curve, ye gods, the difficulty curve. The difficulty curve can only be summed up thus; The first zone in the game ‘The Dream Forest’ moves at relatively decent pace, with the difficulty increasing steadily but always in a fair way as the game tests the skills you’ve picked up so far, leading you to the first boss of the game, Moskito. Once beaten, you get the ability to swing and also grab faraway objects like 1up trophies from a distance and that allows you to replay the previous levels to get any of the missing Electoons, completing the zone with each level bearing a giant purple smiley face. You feel good! You’re making progress, you’re going to move onto a whole new zone now! Then Band Land happens, and the difficulty curve decides it want’s to explore neighbouring star systems and takes you along for the ride. 

With the introduction of slippery slopes and the “surprise” ambushes the game suddenly turns into an obstacle course of outlandish proportions, and can feel unfair at times as it begins to feel more like going through trial and error than anything else, and as both health and the number of continues are limited, this can make each subsequent death all the more frustrating. On top of that the Electoons become increasingly harder to find and every missed Electoon cage means you have to replay the stage til you get all of them otherwise you won’t be able to complete the game, as the final level is gated off until you get every single Electoon Cage. I actually have vivid memories of playing this as a kid and there was one Electoon cage that I just could not find and it almost drove me to tears, and then... I found the cage!... Completely by accident! only to die on my last life and my very last continue. To say I was upset was an understatement, as at the time we couldn’t afford a memory card and had to save my progress through writing down passwords on a diary, said passwords only registering 100% completion on any given level.. so if you miss an Electoon on one level, as soon as you continue via password you have to get every. Single. Electoon cage in that level all over again.

Despite all that, though I never felt like the game was impossible, with each failure I just pushed myself to do better, I wanted to see what new places it would take me to, go up against the new challenges they presented to me, and ultimately it all paid off. I finally got through to the Candy Chateau, and while the fight with Mr. Dark wasn’t what I’d hoped it was for all the effort I had to go through, seeing the end credits with the little “Where are they now” style pictures going by made it worth it. To this day I still think Rayman on the PSX is a great game, despite it’s flaws. Even with Raymans ponderous movement speed, there’s an oddly satisfying flow to the game, and it was really cool seeing how Michel Ancel would then go on to build upon and improved how each level flowed in Rayman: Origins and Rayman: Legends.

I had lost my copy of the game a while ago, but thankfully the game is up on the PS Store under PSOne-Classics going for £3.99 and can be played on the PSP and the PS Vita!

Thanks for reading folks! Hope this will be helpful in some way and folks enjoy it! Is this something you think I should continue doing? Are there any games you’d like me take a look at in future, or maybe share your own thoughts on the game itself, please let me know! Til next time, have fun n’ take care!

[abunchadorks]

Chapter Four: Gard's Tomb

Part ten: Gard

It was mutually agreed that they ought to rest before doing anything at all, even trying to leave. In the real world it had only been a few minutes since they’d started down the steps at all, but they were all as tired as if it had been days. It was not a physical exhaustion, but an emotional one, born of the strain on the spirit that can only come with wrestling a very personal demon. Sigrid and Mya sat on the floor leaning back to back, Sigrid falling asleep in moments as Mya focused her breathing and went into the half-trance that elves call sleep. Elyserin and Phlirp played hand-slap, neither of them wanting to think too hard about anything, taking turns attempting to outwit the other and deliver a whack on the wrist. Manatar couldn’t sit still at all, and paced about the chamber like a large dog in a small kennel, only stopping when Phlirp snapped at him for letting his loincloth drag over their game. He stopped pacing then, but didn’t slow down; he got fifty-six pushups in before they made him stop that too.

They almost felt better when it was time to get back to the issue at hand. Almost.

The sarcophagous had nothing but Gard’s name carved into it. They checked it and the floor and the ceiling, then double-checked it for traps and anything else that might make things go poorly. There was magic on the coffin lid, but nothing nearly as complex as the fear vision. In fact, it was to change the nature of the stone itself.

“Yeah but change it to what? Acid?”

“I don’t know, you think I’ve memorized every spell ever written?”

“What about the bug, it’s probably got most of the way?” Elyserin pulled the black scorpion out of her shirt and held it to the coffin. It didn’t speak or move, but then, no scorpion does either if it can choose not to.

“Steve says it’s not dangerous.”

“Yeah well Steve is an otherworldly being in a form that can go without food or water for a year. Does danger really mean the same thing?”

“Oh for Cuthbert’s sake.” Mya put both hands directly on the coffin. Nothing happened. She removed her hands and snorted. “The bug is right. I really object to desecrating a grave, though. It’s super not allowed.”

“If you want to argue semantics, we’re un-desecrating it. Removing an evil object that causes plagues of fear for miles around is probably the best thing we can do for our dear departed Gard,” Phlirp said. Mya shrugged at that, but still stood with her back to them  as Sigrid and Manatar strained to move the coffin lid. The spell, it turned out, had to do with making the lid heavier. It seemed that Gard had had a sense of humor, as much as any paladain can be said to have; she required someone to be strong of muscle as well as spirit if they were to get anywhere.

The lid fell with a terrific crash that echoed in the small chamber, and then there was nothing between them and the object of their quest. The Artifact was clutched in between the dusty bones of Gard’s hands. It shone in the weak light, a pale porcelain buffed to a mirror finish, the same strange runes the only thing marring their reflections as they looked down on it. 

It wasn’t quite the same as in the arena. The thing held them with its own hypnotic power, but instead of being an all-consuming fascination, it was closer to the terror that freezes you to the spot and makes your blood stop moving. A sort of breeze came from the coffin, bringing with it wave after wave of fear so intense it felt nearly solid, like the breath of a rabid dog or the wind from a canyon too deep to see the bottom. It was every nightmare you’ve ever had, every helpless moment. It was a strangling darkness.

And then it was over, and Mya’s cloak covered it. “This feels awfully familiar, wouldn’t you say?” she snapped, as they recovered. Taking care not to touch the porcelain, she wrapped the cloak more tightly around the Artifact and tried to lift it out of the sarcophagus.

“Don’t,” came a voice from the corner of the room.

She was a tall woman, close-cropped hair and a face that one could describe as handsome, but not beautiful. Though the armor she wore had to weight a hundred pounds she wore it as though she didn’t notice that it did, which might have been because she was used to it, or because that was a problem only living people had. And she was certainly dead; they could see straight through her to the other side, and her feet did not quite touch the floor. Her attention was focused entirely on Mya, one hand resting on the hilt of a broadsword at her hip.

“I don’t know what you are doing or what you think you are doing, but you must cease immediately, priest. Although I followed Sarenrae in life, I respect Pharasma enough to give you this warning. There will not be a second.”

“We already know what this thing is,” Mya said, keeping her eye on the ghost. “We would not take such a great risk unless a greater one outweighed it. The power holding the evil on the other side of the gate the Artifact forms is weakening. If we can’t repair it, your sacrifice will have been in vain.”

Gard narrowed her eyes, suspicion flickering over her features. “You believe that. You really do,” she said. “Whoever has been lying to you has done it well.”

“Quin?” said Elyserin.

“I knew it!” Phlirp burst out. “That wizarding weasel!”

"This seems like a pretty straightforward solution," said Sigrid. "We leave the thing here, patch up the cracks on our way out, say we couldn't find it. Easy peasy lemon squeezy." Mya nodded to this and replaced the Artifact back in Gard's bones. But when she looked back at the ghost, it wasn't where they had left it.

Gard did at the chamber entrance, sword drawn. "Your intentions are noble, so I will give you what mercy there might be allowed. A quick death, and the memory of each of you held in me forever with honor. But I cannot allow you to leave this place and risk you telling what you know. The mission must not fail, and I will not fail it." With that she lunged at Elyserin, who was nearest. The witch hissed in pain and jerked back, a red outline of the ghost's handprint standing out livid on one cheek like a burn. She staggered a little, steadying herself on the stone coffin with one hand. With the other, she flicked a gesture at Gard, and a buzz of hex thrummed through the air.

Manatar swung his own sword at Gard, but it was met by the ghostly blade, blue sparks bursting to life as surely as if it were made of real steel. Both of them roared and clashed again.

It was different than the other fights they'd had. It wasn't so much that they couldn't hit her, it was that when they did manage to get a hit in, it felt wrong, unclean, like hitting a work of art or a friend. But they had all agreed a long time ago: we choose life.

Mya had brought Gard to one knee with a well-aimed rebuke of undeath. The ghost leaned heavily on her sword with the point in the ground, apparently beaten. There was still fire in her eyes as she snarled, "I will not fail!"

In the space between one instant and the next, she was gone. Manatar's sword clanged against the stone floor right where her neck would have been, but recovered himself with a line of cursing.

"Where did she go?" Phlirp cried, not allowing her guard to drop just yet. "This isn't over, I know it."

Elyserin stood watching her casting hand as it flexed open and shut. She gave it a little shake and said to Phlirp, "Yes. It is."

She pointed at Manatar, and he crumpled to the ground in that same magical slumber they had come to know so well.

"Elyserin? What--"

"No. Not at the moment. Stop there," she said, this to Mya who had opened her mouth. Gard in Elyserin's body snatched up the knife at her belt and held the tip of it against her own throat. "Not a word. I said I would not fail and I meant it. If that means you killing each other as I take you over by one, that's what it must be."

"Yeah, we're not going to do that," Phlirp snapped. "Put down the knife."

"You won't kill her. I've seen what you all mean to each other." She dug the point of it into the soft skin of Elyserin's pale throat, and a bright drop of blood appeared. Phlirp stopped. Gard glanced at Sigrid with Elyserin's eyes. "You. Hold the gnome." Sigrid hesitated, and the knife dug a little deeper. 

A column of steel suddenly and silently burst from Elyserin's chest. The knife fell to the floor, and she fell after it, blood pooling fast under her as she lay facedown on the stone. Mya stood above her, face tear-streaked and hands shaking as she drew out the sword.

"Forgive me," she whispered. On the other side of the chamber, Manatar was getting to his feet, face dark.

"Did you just kill my wife?" he rumbled. In response, Elyserin gave a wet cough. Mya dropped the sword and flung herself over the sylph's body, eyes held tightly shut, praying hard. Lily scent filled the tomb, and the pool of blood halted its progress. Elyserin sighed, and Mya gasped out, "Rope, now."

"You stabbed her in the back!"

"There's no time! Rope!"

Rope was produced, and the possessed witch tied fast just as her eyes went from groggy to clear.

"That was a stupid idea," Phlirp said as they gathered around their friend. "You couldn't have known she'd survive long enough to do this."

"Yes, I did," Mya said. She brought up the sword to show them. It was the same sword she had pulled from the treasure trove in Seaside, the one that had been so baffling in the nature of what it was cursed with. She pointed to a series of scratches they had all thought was just damage from age. "See here? I figured out what it says. It's an old Tengu word for mercy. This sword will never kill anyone. It can come close though."

"Too close," said Manatar. Mya didn't say anything to that, but nodded grimly.

"How sure are we Gard won't just jump out of Elyserin's body into one of us next?"

"Very sure. She only got in because of that touch earlier. Now is a good time to ask questions."

"Hear that, ghostie?" Phlirp said, kicking Elyserin's boot. "Tell us a story."

Gard spat the last of the blood out of her mouth. "Fine. Maybe if you know what's at stake, you'll understand. Then maybe I won't have to kill you all."

[ecotone99]

[SF] Something something immortal guy. Working title

Hey guys. Wrote this while bored at work. Feel free to shit all over it lol. Go for the classic criticism sandwich. Yes my formatting is HOT garbage. Hope you enjoy.

The last thing you think of when you become immortal is the end. In your newfound perspective the end ceases to be a consideration. When people think about being immortal they tend to only think ahead to around the time they would have naturally died. The end you never think of is the end of the world. I gained my immortality in 1944. Now here I am 374 years later floating amongst the remains of earth. Our home. Obliterated by a planetoid larger than our moon. You couldn't imagine the chaos. The fear. Our people with all our technology, and power thought ourselves the rulers of all creation. Yet even with all that we were no more powerful than the dinosaurs before us to prevent our destruction. Even as an immortal I wasn't immune to the fear. The worst part was how long we knew it was coming. A long range satellite telescope caught a random glimpse of it moving through the stars. The first few weeks after its discovery were a mad dash by governments to keep it quiet while they tried to stop it. Every attempt failed, and then they went public two weeks before impact. There was a lot of rioting. Some people just didn't do anything. They just shut down. I didn't know if I'd survive or not, so I did my best to try to comfort those around me. A few days before impact we could all see it coming. Looming over all of us in the sky getting closer by the minute. In a last ditch effort the nations of the world came together and launched every nuclear missile we had at our disposal. What we watched that day in the skies above the earth I doubt will ever be replicated on any world. When that failed to even slow it down everything stopped. People stopped rioting, looting, and fighting. It seemed almost at once that entire world resigned itself to its fate, and gave up. Then it was just over. It made ground just off Chicago in Lake Michigan. I was standing on navy pier watching it. There were a few people who had come as well. Beyond us few the city was deserted. It flash vaporized all the water in the lake. The old couple and young man with me were both killed instantly. After that I don't know what happened. There was the most deafening noise is ever heard, and a wall of ash and fire. Then blackness. While unconscious the impact had shattered the earth. It was over when I woke up. I wondered if anyone else had survived, but quickly abandoned that thought. It's an terribly numbing sensation to realize that you are the last of your kind. It's a crushing loneliness that cannot be described. I curled into a ball and floated for a while. After a long while I decided I had to go somewhere. Over the course of my long life I had studied the stars intently. I can't even tell you how long it took me to find it, but I decided to head towards Proxima Centauri. The closest star to ours. I figured it was my best bet. So I found a piece of debris, and crouched on it then pushed off with all my might. At first I thought I was making good progress then I realized it takes a very long time for light to get from there to earth. Luckily I had spare time. As I floated farther and farther I found myself looking at where I was coming from and not where I was going. Was I being homesick, or just realizing everything I had ever known was back there? I'll tell you sometime if I ever figure it out. What I can tell you about is the view. Looking back on our solar system was a sight to behold. To steal a quote from the hitch hikers guide to the Galaxy. (Cause lets be honest. Who's gonna sue me for plagiarism.) Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind bogglingly big it is. I realized that Proxima Centauri was a long ways off so I thought I should check out our solar system first, but quickly abandoned the thought. Once I very painfully made landfall on one of the 9 planets in our solar system. (I love you Pluto) I wouldn't be able to leave. Cause I'm no Matt Damon. So I'd either have to get very lucky, and find some crazy alien stuff, or wait for the planet I was on to explode in some way. Both those options weren't appealing, so I opted to keep on trucking to Proxima. I'm gonna go ahead and skip all the boring parts or you'll be reading this for the next few millions years. A few interesting things of note did happen. Seeing a comet in the night sky is always very pretty. Seeing one pass you by, by only a few dozen meters is awe inspiring/terrifying. The other discovery I made very quickly. Space for those of you readers who've not spent time in it. Is cold. Really, really, Fucking. Cold. At least the solar winds are nice and toasty. Rich with skin searing radiation. So let's run down the list of things I have. Ruined clothes Melted phone Body so cold my balls are snuggled up next to my heart. A very long trip ahead of me. One sock. Could be worse.

Let's jump ahead to me leaving the solar system. After blowing a kiss to Pluto. I continued on my trip to Proxima. Now. Let's do some math, Proxima is 4.2 light years away. Earth to the solar rim is about 9 billion miles. One light year is 5.879 x 10 to the power of 12, miles. So I'm about 4.1998 light years away. Only took me about 250 years I think. So I should be there just in time to watch the star die and collapse into a black hole. Wonder if that would actually kill me...You can kiss my ass Steven Hawking you dead genius prick. Busting holes in my very well laid out plans. I gotta think of a way to pick up speed.

I came up with a risky strategy. If I keep pumping my arms straight ahead of me in my current trajectory I should increase in speed little by little. The risk is that I could alter my angle by a few degrees, and that could mess up my approach vector for Proxima. It doesn't sound like much, but a few degrees of difference in angle across a span of light years can result in me missing by billions of miles. Well after thinking for a few days on the pros and cons of my new plan I decided to give it a shot. With very calculated pumps in slow succession I made sure to keep my eyes on my target. With nothing to use as a reference I really didn't know if my plan was working. I'll just say it did. Kinda. I eventually worked myself up to the speed that voyager was moving at. Which is pretty damn fast. Again, kinda. It would still take millions of years to get to Proxima. My only hope was to get picked up by something or crash on some rock with intelligent life on it.

Turns out the scientists back in the 20teens were right. There was in fact a 10th planet in the solar system. It was just a lot lot farther out than they thought. I immediately changed course and aimed for this planet. I'll be honest. In all the science fiction movies, video games, and books I've seen in my life I gotta tell you this was the most foreboding planet I've ever seen. It was black. But it was an unnatural black. The kind of black you put on something you don't want to be found. I glided in silence towards the planet lost in thought. What would I find there? Life? Ruins? Would they be friendly aliens? I know that since it's their planet I'm technically the alien but shut up its my story. As I moved towards it it dawned on me how immense the planet was. By 2120 civilian space flights were pretty common, so I've seen the earth from space. This planet was massive. Dozens if not hundreds of times the size of earth. Finally after what felt like forever I could feel myself being pulled towards the planet. It didn't occur to me until about ten seconds before I hit it that this planet might have an atmosphere. Then I hit it. Hard. All my possessions burned off. My phone, shirt, pants, even my precious sock. Falling out of the sky stark naked at terminal velocity. Not as fun as it sounds. Once I cleared the black skies I was blown away by the amount of lights, and buildings I was seeing. I was so happy. Finally I'd be able to come into contact with someone, or something. That something turned out to be the ground. One splitting headache, and quick climb out of my crater later, I took the time to look around. I walked around for a bit and didn't see anyone. The buildings were pretty pristine. Was everyone on a lunch break? Maybe I can get them to come to me? I yelled as loud as I could a couple of times, but nothing. It was unsettling to say the least. All the buildings stretched way into the sky, so maybe no one lived on the ground anymore? I think there was a cartoon like that a long time ago. Anyway. I picked a building at random and went inside. The doors wouldn't open at first. It took me some time to wiggle them open. As soon as a crack opened a gust of air blew out whipping the doors open and knocking me on my ass. Swearing as I picked myself up I took a step inside. And no it's not what you were thinking. No dead bodies that have been in there for years and years. It was empty. And clean as a whistle. I walked around looking for anything familiar when I found a trio of doors next to each other with tubes rising above them into the ceiling. Raising my hopes thinking they would work I hit a button. To my great delight stuff happened! So that's a win for me today. It took about 15 minutes for it to arrive but there it was. An elevator. The buttons looked familiar enough so I pushed the one that I guessed would be the penthouse. The elevator rose quickly, but I knew it would be a while so for the first time in a few hundred years I sat down. And god damn did it feel good. I realized as I sat down that i was still naked. Kinda forgot about that. New mission. Find, or make clothes. Don't want humanities first contact to go south due to errant dick.

I hit a random button stopping the elevator a few floors short of the top. Again, nobody was there. But there was furniture. I think? It was growing out of the ground like it was molded from the floor. Weird organic shapes. But sitting proved easy enough. The seats were enormous. Way larger than I could ever hope to accommodate. But if there's seats they must have been organic life right? I can't imagine machines lounging around, so my spirits rose. Now if only I could find any of these guys. I hope these guys had curtains or something. I'm getting tired of being naked, and my butts cold. I'm hungry, but at least I don't have to worry about starving. Success! I found clothes. Hopefully. I think it might be some sort of battle suit or something. It's a jet black liquid that was suspended in a clear tube. Every other tube was empty except for this, a very sinister black, and purple one. When I touched the glass it slowly moved towards my hand. I didn't seem evil in its movement. It moved with a sense of want. Like it wanted companionship. Well I hit buttons below the tube till it opened and the black stuff slid onto the floor without a sound. I crouched down, and reached out to touch it. It mirrored my movements exactly. It felt soft. Softer than anything I've encountered. As soon as I touched it ran up my arm, quickly spread over my body. I didn't really panic since it couldn't suffocate me, so I just let it do what it was going to do. It slowly wrapped around my head, and once it had a full seal on me parts of it started to harden and change shape. The shoulders bulged up and out. My legs became almost completely covered in what seemed like armor. It was pretty awesome to watch. The not so awesome part was the pressure I was starting to feel pressing in on my boys. It started to crush me, and when I started to beg the suit to stop while sounding like a soprano singer it relaxed. After everything had settled I decided to test out the suit. It moves with me really well. Like it's not even there. I feel more capable with this thing. Powerful even. I quickly discovered I could run faster, jump higher, and was much stronger. Felt like those PF Flyers I wore as a kid. Now that I had some clothes on I popped back into the elevator and headed to the top. The door opened and there was a barricade. After moving the stuff out of the way I wandered into the room to find no one. Which is confusing the hell out of me. Why barricade the way in to protect no one. And no one before me has made an attempt to get through the barricade. I explored the floor. Mostly one big hallway so far, but I'm not seeing any signs of a struggle. No broken windows. No holes in the walls. Zip. What were these people trying to keep out. I found another much sturdier barricade at the end of the hallway. Took a while to make a hole in it. I'd never be able to without the suit. On the other side there was a massive atrium. It had to be the size of a football stadium. It was completely empty except for something in the middle. After jogging towards it for a few minutes I realized what it was. Bodies. A big pile of bodies. Torn up, gnawed on bodies. Then I realized the barricades weren't about keeping something out. But keeping it in. I started to go back for the entrance when I started hearing thunder. I stopped for an instant when the hud of my suit blasted me with a warning. Before I could finish reading it I found myself flying through the air and slamming into the wall with enough force to be embedded into it. I should remind you that I was close to the center of the ring. I flew a good 300 yards into a wall. I never even saw what hit me. But it was ungodly strong. I pried myself free from the wall just in time to see what hit me.

I'm not a xenobiologist, but I know that this thing wasn't natural. Something seriously deformed this thing. Being immortal pretty much tosses fear out the window. In my entire life I've never known this kind of fear. The creature was tall. At least 12 feet tall. It was horribly deformed. Bones were jutting out of it all over its body. It didn't have eyes. None that I could see. It looked like it grew a couple sizes very quickly and the seams just popped while staying alive. It roared again and again. I know the sound of pain when I hear it. This creature wasn't happy about its current state. Part of me wanted to help the beast, but the very large pile of broken shredded bodies told me that wasn't super likely to happen. I'm gonna have to think about this for a minute.

I'm fucked. That's my breakdown on this situation. Fucked.

I've tried to leave three times only to find myself leaving new me shaped holes in the walls. After that I tried to approach the beast. New hole. Back away to the wall, meet opposite wall. So far the only action that doesn't get me flying lessons is sitting still. I've been here for 2 days, and I gotta say. This planet isn't winning any favors from me. I'm getting annoyed prying myself out of the damn wall. I may be immortal but shit still hurts. The creature hasn't moved an inch since it last hit me. It's currently about 400 yards away glaring at me. I think. No eyes makes it hard to tell. Anyway. I think I'm gonna do what my uncle did when he got drunk. Yell incoherent shit, and hope it pans out. I stood up, and started walking slowly towards the beast. The beast, being the jerk off that it is roared and rushed to reintroduce me to the wall. I kept my pace, and when the creature was 20 meters from me I started yelling. "STOP!!" I bellowed as loud as I could. The creature thundered to a halt right in front of me. Head inches from mine. "That's better. No more hitting you hear me!?" No response. "Well at least you didn't hit me. Ok. What we are going to do now is I'm going to cross this room and find out who that pile of horribleness is. Ok?" Again. No response. I'll take that as an 'yes', so let's get going" I took my first step, and nothing happened. Step two, nothing. I got all the way to step 33 when there was a flash, and I woke up face down a few inches into the floor. "Ok. That's fucking it." I pulled myself upright. Looked over at the creature. It was about 12 yards away. Judging by the groove in the floor it hit me in the back of the head, and I skidded along the ground coming to a halt in my crater for nap time. "Hope you're proud of yourself big guy, because now I'm gonna take it out of your ass." I started sprinting towards the beast. If this thing can die then I'll win. No matter how long it takes I will outlast it. The beast was on me in a matter of seconds. It leapt into the air one arm cocked back, ready to crush me with crazed fervor. I jumped towards it, cannonballing straight into its gut at full speed. I heard the grunt of pain come out of it with satisfaction. Before I could celebrate however it's mighty arms wrapped around me. It turned in mid air, and with all its strength and weight; drove me into the ground. I gasped in pain as the air was forced out of me. It then grabbed my ankle and tossed me like a garbage bag. I slammed into wall hard enough I bounced out of my crater. Picking myself up i could see the creature getting ready to charge. I shouted at my my suit. "Cmon! It's coming! I need a weapon!"

PROCESSING... WEAPONS ACTIVATED... WARNING! AMMUNITION DEPLETED.... WEAPONS RESTRICTED TO SWORD, GLAIVE, SPEAR... "Fine whatever just give me the spear!!!"

-SPEAR ACTIVATED-

Suddenly a spear started forming on my arm. At least a foot long pole did. As soon as I pulled it off of my forearm it extended to the perfect length for me. The tip turned into a wicked point. Even being immortal I wanted no part of that blade touching me. Quickie interruption. In case you're wondering. Over my long life I took up the age old art of "hit stuff really hard." Ive master several disciplines, and many weapons. It's pretty easy when you have multiple lifetimes to work on it. But over that entire time, I gravitated to one weapon above all others. And that my dear readers. Is the spear. I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming. Enjoy the show.

This time with more confidence I charged the beast again. It snarled in rage at my refusal to die like the rest of its visitors. It punched two neat craters into the ground before charging me. As it entered striking distance I pole vaulted over the creature, and swiped a great slash down its back. Bright blue congealed blood oozed out of its wound as it howled in agony. I snapped out my spear sending the blade deep into its shoulder. Twisting the shaft I widened the wound preventing it from closing. The beast was defenseless under my onslaught. The blade danced around me as I cut, stabbed, and slashed countless wounds into the creature. Blood pooled at its feet, but I couldn't deal a killing blow. The bones protruding all over its body prevented my spear hitting its final mark. I'd have to bleed the creature dry. While readying my spear for another thrust, with speed I thought no longer possible its fist came fast and low, crashing into my chest; rocketing me across the room into the wall. I lost my spear as I was flying. Pulling myself from the wall I began frantically searching for it, before spotting it almost midway between the two of us. "Really?.... Seriously. Fuck this planet." "Suit. If you can hear me. I need speed. All you can give me. I have to get to that spear before that thing." -PROCESSING- -SPEED INCREASED TO MAXIMUM ALLOWANCE- The suit changed around me. I could feel it making my legs stronger. Longer. Better suited for high speed. "Oh ho ho. I am never taking this thing off!" As I pressed off with my foot I felt the ground crack, and splinter under the new force of my speed. I was almost passing the spear before I realized where I was. I grabbed the spear, and held it tight. Thinking of a plan. The beast was stunned by my newfound abilities as well, it's head tilted towards one side as it stared at me. It quickly regained its composure, and set off once again to try and kill me. But with my new speed it was no match. If I couldn't cut through its bone I'll have to punch through it. I willed the suits strength into my arm, and threw the spear as hard as I could muster. Spinning as it flew the missile was a blur in the air. It slammed into the beast's chest as it ran at full speed. Combined with the spears speed the bones protecting its chest gave way as if it were tinfoil. The blade pushed out of its back, and with a gurgling growl; the beast slumped to the ground on its side. Lifeless. Panting hard I dropped to my knees and threw my fists into the air in victory. "YES! No more hitting the god dammed wall!!!" I fell back and relaxed for the first time in days. Laying down I took in just how amazing this suit is. I think I might have survived even without being immortal. The impacts definitely hurt, but I know it was much less intense than it should have been. With that moment passed I hauled myself onto my feet, and went to retrieve my weapon. With a quick grunt of effort I pulled the spear free. Placing it against my arm the shaft shortened, and sank back into the black material. "So cool. Alright now. Time to check out this pile of shit that started this mess."

The pile had been there a while. There wasn't much to discern from the bodies. They were all mangled beyond my ability to mentally put them together in any sensible way. What I could figure out is that this species was tall, has 2, or 4 arms. They also unlike the beast sported 2 sunken eyes. Perhaps the creatures mutation spread grew bone over the eyes? They didn't seem to wear any clothes, but then I noticed they are all modified in some ways. Some have hands replaced with mechanical ones designed for combat, while others have they're entire heads replaced with improved optical capabilities, and I'm guessing improved cognitive functions. The biggest one was the most modified. All but it's head had been replaced. It's chest was caved in, but it was easy to tell that it was once very formidable armor. In all honesty this looks like a combat squad. There's about 8 of them. The ring area was not pristine when I got here either. My guess is this creature was lured here, and while this team was trying to kill it whilst others barricaded the hallways out, presumably before moving to the higher floors. That might be what happened here. These creatures arrived, and moved up the buildings driving people higher, and higher as they evacuated. But that didn't make sense. The lobby was utterly unmarked. If I were defending a building, you hold the entrance while the others escape upwards. "Well there's only one way to find out. Back to the elevator." Once back into the elevator I pushed for the top floor. As it started to rise it dawned on me that any survivors running from that beast might not be happy about the elevator going up. "Spear" I said quietly, and the spear unfolded once more from my arm. I stepped to one side of the doors for good measure. The elevator glided to a silent stop, and the doors slid open. Well no gunfire, so that's a plus. But momma didn't raise no fool children. I stuck my hand out, and instantly pulled it back in after a gunshot rang out, a split second later my yelp of pain followed. The armor caught the bullet, but God dammit that hurt! Plus side. At least I'm not alone. Let's hope these trigger happy guys speak English. "Hold your fire!! Friendly!! I'm not that beast!" That's what I said anyway. What came out of the suit was pure gibberish. "Oh god if you're translating, please be translating properly." More gibberish rang out from the hall. Suddenly a voice rang out in my head. "Where is the creature?!" Gotta tell ya. Hearing a voice in your head that doesn't sound like you is trippy. "Dead" I called out. "I fought it for 2 days before spearing it through the heart." I held the spear out into the doorway wiggling it for emphasis. "You lie!" The voice hissed. "Our best warriors fell to the beast." "You mean a few floors down in the big room?" A flurry of voices rose up. "He saw the room, and made it out! He must have killed it!" Said one. "Lies" called the first. "It's more likely this creature saw the beast and fled before it could reach him" I decided to interrupt. The past few hundred years of being utterly alone gnawed at my patience until it was at an all time low. I wanted to talk to someone, and not get thrown into the wall for my troubles. "Listen. I will take you down there. We can both put our weapons down, and see for ourselves. Deal?" The murmuring intensified. "Fine the voice called out, but if you lie, you are dead where you stand." Buddy if only you knew.

A shadow entered the elevator. Quickly followed by a towering figure. Easily 10 feet tall. The man thingy had dark blue skin. Almost black out of the light. It looked down on me. It's deep eyes studying me. It's eyes were spectacular to look at. I found myself staring. They were jet black, but with white light swirling within them. It introduced itself. "I am Forsciun Xelalmos" (For-she-un Ze-lal-mos) of the Shalore people. Who are you?" I steadied myself. "I am Connor Flamewright. A human from the now destroyed planet earth. The third planet of this system. I am the last of my kind." "We know of this planet. We've tried to communicate, but our calls went unanswered. What happened to it?" It was hard to know where to begin. I hadn't thought about it at all in at least 200 years. "It was hit by a planetoid larger than our moon. We tried all measures to stop it, but nothing worked." "And how did you survive where your kin did not?" "An accident long ago left me immortal. Are you familiar with this word? Immortal?" Forsciun nodded. "I take it this was how you killed the beast?" I nodded. "It was very strong, but with my immortality, and this suit I found, I was able to overcome the beast." Forsciun put his hand to his chin thoughtfully. Then he stepped into the elevator, and pressed the button for the floor I just left. "Show me. If you speak the truth we have much to discuss." I twirled the spear, and slid it back into my arm. "Alright then." The elevator descended in silence for what seemed like eternity before Forsciun spoke. "This suit is of our technology. How is it you are able to use it?" I looked down at the suit, and began to wonder that myself. "I found it by itself in a tube. It seemed to like me, or desired to be used, and after drifting through space for close to a thousand years then free falling naked onto your planet. I just wanted to find some clothes."

We stood in silence the remainder of the ride down. I wasn’t sure what Forsciun was thinking, but I’m sure he was working out how to kill me if I was lying. Whatever happened to these people, it had left them with extremely cautious of the unknown. Once we reached the floor the beast was on I led the way through the barricades towards the atrium. Once we reached the opening I pointed out the remains of the beast. Forsciun couldn’t believe it. He sprinted forwards reaching the dead brute quickly. After examining it in silence he began to survey the room, taking in all the holes in the walls and floor that the creature so generously helped me make. “How long were you here with it?” “Just over 3 days.” He nodded thoughtfully. “These creatures are extremely dangerous. They drove us up our towers away from the streets. Once trapped at the top we were cut off from the rest of our people. We don’t know how many of us are left.” “I wandered the streets for some time calling out. I never heard, or saw anyone.” Forsciun shook his head sorrowfully. “That does not bode well. We managed to kill some of these things, but they were so resistant to our weapons. As if designed to be our destruction.” I could feel his pain, and understood his feeling of helplessness. Wanting nothing more than to save your people, but being powerless to do so. I wanted to help him, and his people. “Do you think if we spread the word of how I killed it we could help save the people still living?” “Possibly.” he murmured. “Not all of my people are warriors. The majority of our military is gone. We used to be able to see the fighting from the windows. Explosions in the distance. Fighting in the streets.” He trailed off. “It’s been some time since we’ve seen that. They either retreated, or were wiped out.” I activated my spear and pounded the pommel on the ground. “We’ll find your people. And slaughter these creatures wherever we find them.” Forsciun lifted his head, and stood straighter. “Thank you earther. For too long I have been concerned only with survival. I had long since given up the notion of being able to save my people. We need to go, and gather my men. We will push the next tower!”

As we returned to the elevator I began to ask Xelalmos about this world, and his people. I discovered that Forsciun was in fact not a name but a title. It meant commander. I high ranking member of their military. “We call this world Krionis, but it is not our home world. Our home world Shalore was located in what your people referred to as the Triangulum Galaxy. We spread far and wide across the galaxy. We held sway over the cosmos. We thought ourselves the rulers of all creation.” He shook his head disapprovingly. “The universe as it turns out. Enjoys putting people in its place. We were settling a new world when we encountered a virus. A long hibernating virus. By the time the first people started to die. It had already spread across the galaxy. A quarantine was set around Shalore. No vessel was allowed to enter within 30 light-seconds of the planet. Many tried to escape the virus by returning to our home, but all were destroyed. In the end our leaders decided that all of our kind that lived on Shalore would be put into stasis, and sent out among the stars. To colonize new galaxies. Our ship brought my ancestors here. To the edge of this galaxy. As we left Triangulum we received news that the blockade was broken, and the planet fell. Our ships would be the last of our kind. That was over 200 million years ago. We reached this planet, and quickly adapted it to our needs. But the universe was not through with us. 20 years ago these creatures started falling from the skies. Devouring, and destroying my people. Which brings us full circle.”

The elevator beeped and the doors to the top floor opened. “That’s a hell over a story. I’m sorry to hear the story of your people.” Then it dawned on me. “Wait a minute. How do you know what we call the galaxies?” “As I mentioned earlier. We’ve known of your existence for some time. In our attempts to make contact we learned much of your people. You were a prosperous people. You advance with a pace not often seen in the universe. Given a few thousand years, and your people would have been a power to behold.” My head hung low. “Would have.” I said to myself. The human race was essentially extinct. I would I guess last forever, until something finally wiped me from existence. At least I would be able to tell the stories of my world, and travel the cosmos letting all know of my people. That was a small comfort. Xelalmos put his hand on my shoulder. “Worry not Con Nor. There is battle ahead. We must prepare. Come. Meet my men.” He moved ahead of me, and walked towards his men. The one I would learn to know as Keez glared at me the entire time Xelalmos explained what he saw, and the coming plan. His team consisted of 4 Including himself. Xelalmos would lead, his second in command Niivu welcomed me congratulating me on my kill. If his commander trusted me, that was enough for him. That left their doctor, Marq. When they said his name I assumed they were having fun with me. They didn’t believe me when I said “mark” was an common name on earth. Marq assured me that it was indeed his name. Finally we come to my biggest fan Keez. Keez was what they called an Arcturant. Basically a walking fortress. Covered in thick armor with heavy weapons mounted on his shoulders. Fearless devastating, and a personality to match.

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https://jpkee.com/entrepreneur/3-steps-to-build-the-next-great-app/

3 Steps to Build the Next Great App

Progress bars inching forward ever so slowly. Confusing application layouts. Downloader’s remorse.

These are a few of my least favorite things, and I’m sure your customers share similar sentiments. In our digital-centric world, applications have become the modern storefront for nearly every business. They’re expected to provide convenient services, perfectly and right now. This is especially true for consumers with a mission to accomplish and limited time to get it done — whether “it” is paying bills, ordering fresh groceries or purchasing event tickets. Applications that don’t nail expectations are quickly abandoned.

In fact, consumers take app perfection so seriously, nearly two-thirds of users who responded to our AppDynamics App Attention Index 2017 said they will delete an app or abandon a website altogether due to performance problems after just one attempt due. An overall poor digital experience has led one-third of respondents to take their business elsewhere. And one-quarter of those surveyed said they’d be less likely to use a service in the future.

Clearly, businesses offering digital services have a lot on the line. Poor performance could cost companies billions per year, and a bad UX can forever tarnish relationships with customers.

Related: The Real Costs of Building a Mobile App For iOS and Android

My time in the trenches of app development for the NFL, Google, Tapjoy and AppDynamics has helped me refine three top strategies to escape the fate of app abandonment and built a product users actually like.

1. Climb the user-first design pyramid.

I’ve been asked one question countless times throughout my career: “I have a great idea for an application. Where do I start?” I always start my answer with a drawing that at first glance looks like the standard food pyramid. Instead of layers of grains and vegetables, though, it contains four building blocks: performance, utility, functionality and delight.

Performance is the base of the pyramid. At the end of the day, no one will use an app that doesn’t work. Performance must be a holistic part of your application so you can measure how well each layer above is operating. Unfortunately, performance often is overlooked or taken for granted. To get it right, you have to deploy the proper tools and infrastructure. Otherwise, you run the risk of crashes, bugs and unhappy end-users.

Utility focuses on how useful your application is and whether it maps back to what your intended audience actually wants. For example, I’m a huge football fan, and I always want to know when the Bears play. Based on utility alone, an app that simply lists all my team’s matchups would meet this need. Delivering value to your customers should be the sole reason your application exists. Concentrate on value, avoid unnecessary clutter and allow your users to find exactly what they’re looking for as quickly as possible.

Functionality encompasses features that make your application easier to use, such as filtering, good UX design or streamlined processes. In my Bears schedule example, consider a default view that shows only upcoming Bears matchups and filters out games already played. Good functionality provides a clear and easy path to fulfill the needs that consumers value most highly.

Delight is the cherry on the top. It’s the small things that make your users smile. That might be the added ability to watch game previews, a slick pull-to-refresh interaction or a Bears-themed loading screen. I’ve seen what happens when developers jump straight to this stage without providing utility first. In the best-case scenario, your user will spend a few seconds trying to find value and then abandon the application (maybe forever). 

Related: 3 Ways to Consistently Delight (and Retain) Your Customers

2. Pay attention to retention rates, not customer complaints.

Once your application is off the ground, start paying close attention to metrics that indicate whether users are sticking around. For many mobile applications, the number of daily active users is a good metric to watch. Specifically, at what rate are daily active users converting to monthly active users? This will help establish a standard number or baseline for how sticky your application is.

People often rely on ratings or customer reviews, but be careful: It’s been shown that 96 percent of unhappy customers don’t complain — they’ll simply leave and never come back. Setting key performance indicators (KPIs) that reflect retention can help you keep a good pulse on how your application is performing with your users. Any deviation from your baseline should be a red flag that causes you to dig deeper into what’s happening. It could be a sign of natural user attrition or a clue to bigger performance issues.

Related: Why Social Impact Is the Only KPI That Should Matter For Entrepreneurs

3: Don’t let the tyranny of the urgent take over.

Figure out what defines a great customer experience for your application and use it as a north star to set priorities. Let it guide what you’ll fix or improve first. Floods of bugs or customer complaints might come in on any given day, causing you to play whack-a-mole. Developers need to stay focused on the problems that are most strongly tied to the excellent experience they strive to maintain. In the long run, aligning priorities with customers’ leading values will uncover opportunities to build stronger, lasting relationships.

Related: 4 Ways to Balance Urgency and Innovation in Your Startup

Consumers’ preferences are dynamic and ever-changing, so getting an application right is a continuous process. Building the next great application involves regularly putting yourself in the mindset of your end-users. Test for yourself whether your product’s evolution parallels what users want and how they expect to experience it. An application built on user-first design and guided by the proper metrics has a good chance of standing the test of time and ensuring you stay hyper-focused on building great products your customers won’t ditch.

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