The Final Level (PG-16)

[King_Lucario]

"I'm done, Michael," Cario said as he stood up for the first time in what seemed like days.

"Okay. I'm going to go scope the place," Michael said as he walked over to a building.

"You do that. I'm going to go above the buildings," Cario said. Cario looked up and the grey sky and noticed clouds everywhere. He also noticed that the roads seemed to always be changing. Cario, using the combined power of aura and strength, jumped to the roof of the tallest bulding. He looked down and noticed there were many people running around. There are more players, Cario thought. Cario turned around and was staring down the barrel of a large gun. What is this? Cario thought. He noticed that the gun was attached to a large floating robot. Cario began to walk and noticed more robots began to congregate around him. So this is what they mean by death, Cario thought. Cario jumped and the guns were focused on him. They followed him.

"No, no, Cario. That is a bad idea," a voice boomed overhead. "I told you no going above building level!"

But I didn't go above building level yet..., Cario thought. I should test the game. Cario jumped as high as he could. Five seconds above bulding level, eh? Let's see what you'll do. Cario floated high in the air.

"Sorry Cario. You have to die now," the voice said again. "5---4---3---2---1---DIE!!!" Hundreds of floating robots began whizzing towards Cario, guns ablaze. Cario could barely dodge the infinite barrage of bullets. Cario quickly used Extremespeed to lower himself down to ground level. He ran towards Michael to tell him the news.

"I think going above building level is a bad idea," Cario explained.

 

[Lusankya]

(OOC: In the future, King_Lucario, please avoid "personalizing" the big voice in the sky, it's not supposed to talk to each player individually. In fact, it's better if nobody makes the big voice talk at all besides me.)

Michael watched in amazement at Cario simply jumped onto the rooftop of a building. About five seconds later, he rushed back to the ground, using what appeared to be Extremespeed. The ratta-tattas of machine gun fire echoed eerily through the street.


"I think going above building level is a bad idea," Cario explained when he had reached the ground.

Michael shook his head. "If you keep testing the limits of the game like that, I don't think you'll live much longer." He started walking down the street. For what seemed like hours, that was all they did, walking along the twisting turns of the city, always heading away from the tower. Yet they didn't seem to be making any progress, for the tower wasn't any smaller. Eventually, with sore feet and aching legs, Michael decided they should stop and rest. Pointing out an alleyway between two identical buildings, he said, "Okay, I'm tired. Let's take a break there for a while," and started walking towards it. The alley was spotless, but had a pair of dumpsters and a garbage truck frozen in middle of the act of lifting one of the dumpsters up and removing the contents into the back of it. The scene was somewhat eerie, but it seemed safe enough, so Michael sat down against one of the walls of the buildings.

(OOC: Alright, nobody make something attack right now, cause I'm planning something.)

 

[King_Lucario]

((OoC: In this, the spiders aren't attacking. It's a filler post so that you can do your thing, Lusankya.))


Cario and Michael continued walking away from the tower. Michael turned to Cario and started to laugh.

"Continue testing the limits of the game and you won't live long," he laughed. Cario began to blush.

"Shutup," he snapped back. The two continued walking away from the tower for what seemed like hours. However, when Cario turned to look back, it appeared that they had made no progress at all. The roads continued to twist and turn and change. Cario's aura sensing was screwy on this level, so Cario was no help at all. Cario stopped to rub his feet when he noticed a small creature following him. Upon examination, Cario noticed it was a spider. "Hello little creature," Cario said as he reached down. The spider jumped and Cario smiled. Nice to have a biological creature that doesn't kill you, Cario thought to himself. Cario then looked behind the spider. There were four more following it. Cario turned around and could no longer see Michael.

Cario continued walking and noticed that the spiders were following him. Cario turned around and there were over 100 spiders behind him. Cario began to run, but could not escape; the number of the spiders continued to increase. Cario tried to run on top of a building, but the spiders followed him. "Go away!" Cario screamed as he fired a Vacuum Wave. The spiders disperesed for a moment, but quickly came back together, this time in a larger number; over one million spiders. Cario jumped off of the building and began using Extremespeed, but the spiders were right on Cario's tail. Cario, in a last ditch effort to eliminate the pest, gathered all of his aura in one spot. The spiders began crawling all over Cario, which was exactly what he wanted. Cario unleashed the stored up aura and completely destroyed the tiny pests. Cario, exhausted, then ran away. Minutes later, Cario found Michael standing in an alley. Michael turned around and looked at Cario.

"What happened to you?" he asked.

"I hate spiders," Cario said as he sat down.

 

[Raibutai]

Pika stretched out, yawning contentedly. Ah... Finally, no random attacks or valcanoes. I can actually sit down and rest up...

"I'm done, Michael." Cario hopped to his feet, having been finished with healing his legs.

So much for sitting down, I guess. Oh well, at least I'm not tired anymore.

"Okay. I'm going to go scope the place," Michael announced as he strode over to a building.

Wait a second, scope what?.. Eh? What's he doing?

"You do that. I'm going to go above the buildings," Cario said, and hopped up on top of the building opposite of Michael's.

"Wait! Don't you remember what they said? You'll die if you go up there..." Pika attempted to talk Cario into coming back. But he was too far away...

He can handle himself. He's a legendary, and he can dodge things pretty easily too.

Pika lounged around a deserted street, waiting for the two to come back and report their findings. Oddly enough, they arrived at the same time.

"I think going above building level is a bad idea," Cario stated.

Hah, I told you so!

Michael shook his head grimly. "Continue testing the limits of the game and you won't live long," he responded, and immediately began walking ahead.

Pika decided to follow them; he needed to stay with the crowd.

They walked, and walked for what seemed like years, until Michael slumped against a wall wearily. "Okay, I'm tired. Let's take a break there for a while," he said.

Pika happily obliged, and plopped down on the ground without a word.

I wonder what's going to happen next, and if we can get out of here safely...

 

[Lusankya]

Michael looked around and noticed that Cario was gone. Pika on the other hand, was very much around, and had plopped himself down on the asphalt next to him. Radcliffe had disappeared in the transition between levels; Christopher hoped he was alright. For several seconds, he looked around the alley and across the street. Just when he was about to start getting really worried, Cario appeared around the corner of the building and walked towards him.

"What happened to you?" Michael asked him.

"I hate spiders," Cario replied, sitting down across from him. An odd answer, but Michael decided not to inquire further.

For a couple of minutes, they sat there and rested. Strangely, unlike Level 2, nothing had attacked them at all (Cario jumping up a building didn't count, that was deliberately jumping into danger). Michael wondered if there weren't any threats on this level, and all they had to do was keep walking. No, wondered wasn't the right word, he was hoping that nothing would attack them. Hey, you can't blame a guy for wishing.

Sighing, he got up onto his feet again and walked towards the frozen garbage truck, Cario and Pika looking at him as he did so. It seemed just an ordinary garbage truck, frozen in mid-act. Creepy indeed. The entire city seemed completely dead. What had killed it?

No, that wasn't the right way of thinking. None of this was real, the Game could generate any level without any kind of backstory at all. And yet...

Most games, especially the good ones, had a good plot. Michael knew that well, he was an avid gamer. Did each Level have its own plot?

Reaching out, he touched the garbage truck and jumped back. It had shocked him. Not anything major, just a shock from too much static electricity build-up, probably from him rubbing against the wall or something. He walked back towards Cario and Pika to sit down again. Just when he was about to plop himself back on the ground, something stopped him: A tiny whirring sound, echoeing within the alley.

He looked up and around, but there was nothing. He walked out into the street. No movement. What was going on?

A series of bigger sound, slams, grinds, the noise of machinery, sounded behind him, and he turned around. His jaw hit the floor as he watched the garbage truck stand up and transform in a gigantic bipedal robot. Its front wheels had attached themselves to the arms and transformed into spinning blades of death, and the cab had become the robot's head.

"Oh crap..." Michael moaned. "Killer garbage truck, killer garbage truck, killer garbage truck!"

So what now? a tiny voice in his head asked.

Run, that's what.

"Let's move!" Michael shouted, and turned around and started sprinting down the street.

 

[Raibutai]

Pika looked around; Michael seemed to be looing for Cario, and Radcliffe... He wasn't there.

...What happened to him?

Pika waited for a while, then Cario emerged from behind a building.

"What happened to you?" Michael asked him.

"I hate spiders," Cario answered.

Huh? What was that?

Pika sat back again, and began to think about things.

Hm... Unlike Level 1 or 2, nothing is attacking us. That's really odd. And I get the feeling that I've seen this kind of city before in... what do they call it? Motion picture? An odd thing indeed. Anyways, I'm suspecting something like a robot is going to come down and attack us...

Pika noticed that Michael had gotten back up, and he moved over to a nearby truck, that was kind of... dead. It looked like time had been stopped. The wheels looked as if they were moving, but not.

Pika watched intently as Michael reached out and touched the truck.

Snap!

Michael pulled his hand back; he had been shocked by static electrcity. He stood there for a while, and he seemed to be thinking about something.

What Pika didn't notice was that the truck was transforming.

Pika looked up, and he was astounded by the odd sight.

Eh? Isn't that... a robot? Holy...

Pika began to run away from the robot: something about a giant robot crushing him didn't appeal to him.

"Let's move!" Michael shouted, and turned around and started sprinting down the street. Pika quickly followed suit, hoping that Cario was close behind him...

 

[King_Lucario]

Cario jumped up as he noticed something odd: it was peculiarly quiet in the vicinity. The whirring and grinding of gears and shrill alarms of cars were no more. Cario turned around and saw Pika and Michael staring down a dark alley.

"What's wrong?" Cario asked as he walked over. Cario looked at Michael's face; the face of fear and disgust. A face Cario knew too well. Cario tried to figure out where Michael was looking and found it out. There was a truck, simply sitting in the dark alley. Suddenly, bright lights turned on and the engine revved, giginv off a demonic roar. The truck lurched forward, suddenly appearing to transform. The chassis of the car became a body. The wheels became arms. The truck was transforming into a robot. Cario looked with fear as the truck, now a robot, gave off a shrill cry that made Cario drop to the ground.

"Oh crap..." Michael moaned. "Killer garbage truck, killer garbage truck, killer garbage truck!" Cario got up and saw that Michael and Pika were running. Pika turned around and motion Cario to follow, which he did. The three had to get away from the killer vehicle.

Or else they would die.

 

[Lusankya]

Michael glanced over his shoulder. The killer garbage truck had stomped out into the street, the asphalt cracking slightly where its legs, formally the back of the truck, met the ground. Pika was sprinting right behind Michael, and Cario behind Pika. The giant robot took two steps into the street behind Cario.

Michael turned around. What he saw caused him to stop cold in his tracks. For the formerly dead street was now suddenly alive with motion and activity. What was seconds ago simply lifeless, motionless cars, was now brimming with life. Or, to be more correct, brimming with death. On both sides of the street, every automobile in sight was undergoing the same transformation, turning into deadly two story tall killing machines.

Me and my curiosity, Michael thought. He swore loudly. How were they going to get out of this one?

A manhole in the center of the street caught his attention, not ten feet from him. That would do. He ran over past the transforming vehicles, and with a grunt, lifted it up. A blast of stench-filled air hit him, and he nearly passed out from the smell. Apokalips City sewers will cause the Apocalypse, he thought.

But between smell and death, he'd take smell. Motioning to Pika and Cario, he jumped down the ladder as fast as he could.

 

[King_Lucario]

Cario, Pika, and Michael ran as fast as they could from the killer garbage truck. Cario's heels were close to the killer vehicle, nipping if you will. Suddenly, Cario stopped when he noticed that Michael had stopped. Pika stopped as well and everyone's face had a look of fear and anguish: what was once a lifeless city, barren and destroyed, was now brimming with activity. The roads were shaking and trembling, vehicles were turning into twenty-foot monsters. Cario turned to Michael who suddenly looked at the ground.

"What are you looking at?" Cario asked. Michael didn't respond. He merely pointed to a sewer that had a disgusting odor coming from beneath it. Pika ran to it and covered his nose, then dove down the ladder to the sewer after Michael. Cario stood there contemplating because strong odors bothered his nose. Michael's head popped up from the sewer hole and he motioned to Cario to follow.

"Do I seriously have to?" Cario moaned. Michael stole a strong glance at him and dove back into the hole. Cario sighed, disgustingly, and went into the horrid sewer. He would rather have his nose be bothered than become mincemeat at the hands of a menacing killer vehicle.

 

[Twilight Wolf]

I'm gonna meet up with u all in the sewers. Feel free to bump into me.

The motionless cars on the side of the street seemed to come alive. My natural instinct told me to scat. But there were cars everywhere.

Where would I go?

I glanced quickly around as the cars began to close in on me. I saw a large manhole cover large enough for me to go in.

"God damn it. Gotta go into the water." I complained.

Better than death...

I flicked it open with a ginormous claw and dove in, landing in very shallow water.

"Eeeewwww...." I moaned as I crinkled up my nose at the stagent smell. I stood there, wondering which way the tower was now.

 

[Raibutai]

Pika decided that he didn't really want to look back, because Michael did so, and didn't look too happy.

Um... I don't think that our situation is very good now...

Pika's thoughts were confirmed when Michael swore out loud.

Yep, this is bad... AH! MORE KILLER TRUCKS? Pika had accidentally tilted his head back a little, and saw exactly what he didn't want to.

From then on, Pika just ran, because the robots were closing in on him...

"What are you looking at?" is what came from Cario's mouth next.

Michael merely just pointed at... a manhole. Then he lifted the cover up, and stepped back onto the ladder.

Oh no... Ah well, I'd rather do this than become roadkill at the hands of a bunch of robots.

Pika lowered his headband to cover his nose, and hopped down the ladder.

Bump.

Pika landed directly on his rump. "Owee!" Pika toppled over at the impact.

Ow... What next? It can't get any worse from here...

Pika wandered about, peeking into dark corners and other odd places, since he knew where the others were. Then something odd happened...

Bump.

Huh?

Pika looked up, wondering what had bumped into him. He saw... dirty water, concrete, and... a Charizard.

Wait, what? A Charizard?

"AH! Guys... I think I found another player." Pika sank down to the ground, not knowing what to do next.

 

[Lusankya]

Dammit, Michael thought, pinching his nose shut. All of the sudden he regretted his decision to jump down in the sewer. For a few seconds, he seriously considered death as a preferable alternative to this stinky, smelly, dirty hell.

But only for a few seconds. That survival instinct, buried deep within the recesses of the human mind, from their days when they lived together with Pokemon in harmony with the natural world, running around half-naked with naught but sharp rocks as their only weapons against the considerable might and power but nature, kicked in. A single lifetime of being protected and cuddled in no way could overcome the result of thousands of years of evolutionary process, natural selection, and survival of the fittest. After all, humans hadn't rose to their current position in the world by sheer luck.

He heard the thuds as Cario and Pika landed behind him. "AH! Guys... I think I found another player," he heard Pika say.

Michael turned around and saw an enormous Charizard bearing down on him. It certainly looked very fierce, with its tail providing the only light in the sewer besides that which streamed down from the manhole cover. Ignoring the other players for the moment, Michael looked up through the opening. The killer automobiles didn't seem quite keen to follow them.

Danger lurks around every corner, Michael thought. Nowhere in his wildest dreams could he have imagined that the vehicles would have come alive and tried to kill him. Who in the world designed this crazy game? Once again, he wondered by which cosmic powers this entire thing was possible. The level of technology it must have taken...

But there were more immediate things at hand. If the cars that lined the sides of the road were dangerous, then what evil lurked in the sewers? Were autoturrets going to pop out of the walls and shoot at them? Michael peered in the darkness, lit mostly by the Charizard's tail. Nothing except straight pipes. Wait a minute. Straight? The roads above had twisted and turned unpredicatably. But these sewer pipes were laser straight. Or, at least, they appeared to be. Michael considered that thought. It might be a trick to make them walk around in an extremely long circle for the rest of their possibly short lives. On the other hand, it might be a shortcut out. He murmured to himself and pointed fingers, trying to remember which way the tower had been. When he had decided that the tower had been behind them, and that they should head in the direction that he was currently facing, he turned around.

"Well, hello there," he greeted the Charizard. "Not to be rude, but who are you?"