Chapter Text
The player can remember it quite vividly. One final strike from their blade, and the Cruel king was keeled over. He had murmured something about a voice, right before quite abstractly turning into bones. Right before Terry, the helpful and tedious penguin he was to listen to, had brought the somber moment to a stop and had directed them back to roblox hq. Relieving the player of dwelling on how haunting an image that was.
Even with learning how to use the ice dagger, the player had quickly forgotten their condolences to the poor King and had gotten a little caught up in backtracking back to the town they managed to get themselves into on their first day in these lands. That. And recovering from the various injuries they had sustained in their fight with the Cruel king in Roadtown. Consumables could only heal slashes and borderline frostbite as they've so painstakingly learned this week.
Needless. It'd been about a week or so. Recently the player was attempting to not get too rusty when fighting their foes. The memory of a SINGULAR helmet noob sending them back to the nearest save point a few days ago was awfully embarrassing.
Thankfully, with figuring out the shrink tool properly and discovering the pits, that wasn't too difficult… or so they thought. As they delved deeper in, getting past the enemies in level five quite quickly. They sat down for a second, taking a quick inventory check in their backpack. They found the brownie they wanted to snack on, breaking it in half before bagging up the other piece… as their eyes drifted over to the one thing they've managed to forget about.
The ice dagger. And the memories that came with acquiring the cold blade. The player frowned, feeling a sense of sorrow. Soberly thinking about what they had done. Defeating enemies was one thing. Usually they'd back down and flee, or end up docile… The player was reminded of the bones they had seen. A sober realization washing over them.
They had actually killed someone this time. With nothing but a wooden sword and some knick knacks… and dynamite but that's just salt in the mental wound right now. Did anyone even know? The castle was locked up like Fort Knox, even the main doors to the throne room being locked, the key practically hidden in the treasury.
Was it just a casual day for them? Or did they notice? Did- did he even get buried? The player's mind swarmed with questions. News didn't travel that quickly throughout these lands. Especially even from the quant place of Roadtown.
They picked up the ice dagger, holding it into their hands as the blade restored their mana. It was cold to the touch against their warm hands. Only wondering how cold that king must have felt. They sighed heavily. Sheathing the dagger once more and zipping up their backpack.
As the player went through the next few floors. Once they cleared out floor eight, letting out a heave of a breath as they checked their inventory of what little consumables they had, taking the chance on a forbidden drink. Sipping it slowly in caution as they felt their health bar increase ever so slowly. As the player finished the drink, they could briefly hear the commotion from the floor below them.
They wouldn't consider themselves an eavesdropper, but figuring out what enemies might be below would definitely be to their advantage. As they placed their ear to the opening in the floor to where all of the floors in the pit connected. The player's eyes widen as they recognize the voices coming from below.
They had really only registered the three's names after battling them for what felt like ages ago. Red Noob, Blue noob, and Noobador. Why they were here was initially none of their business, mostly until they heard what little conversation they had.
“T-these pits are deep… a-are you guys sure we're able to get back to the surface once we're done?” They had heard. That one was definitely Blue noob. The stutter really gave it away. The player could barely distinguish it before, as the two smaller noobs had near similar voices due to their youth. Assumedly they thought they were friends, siblings…?
The player's train of thought was broken as they heard the response from who was definitely Red noob, “Don't worry about it blue!! We'll get to the surface after we train up! And once we do we'll beat that dummy up!!” They had heard the red noob exclaim, Dummy. Most definitely Dummy referring to them.
They have a name, they know- it's- it's– frankly they kind of don't remember. Legally it's probably just the word player, but all of those headbutts at the head from helmet noobs most definitely caused some form of memory loss.
“let's take 5 for a moment before we continue. you're not looking too great, red.” They could hear Noobador say. They had a frankly very blunt, calm voice. The player could only assume that if they were to jump down, that trio would be at full health, and most definitely prepared for a fight…
As they were planning to leave the pits, they had bent down a little too far, and ended up having their ball falling down into the opening in the floor and into floor nine. Alerting the trio. The player let out a hiss in agitation. If it were a consumable, they'd probably ditch the item and leave, but that ball was vital to their fighting style. And it's not easy to obtain another… especially with the lack of tix they have right now.
With a deep sigh they entered the ninth floor. Grabbing their ball as they entered. They could most easily see the 3 sets of eyes immediately lock onto them with recognition. And if the player wasn't already annoyed that fate brought them into this fight, they'd most definitely feel awkward.
“Hey Blue!! I guess we have one less thing to do on the surface!!” Red Noob said to Blue Noob, who's face was most definitely shocked, but turned to a more vexed expression. The player grabbed their wooden sword and readied it for a fight, looking at the three with a grimace. They could only see Noobador's expression get more stern as the other two noobs had drawn out their swords.
If it was anything like their first and second fights. This was going to be annoying. Not hard… if anything tedious would be the best way to describe it. Usually they'd be able to dodge their attacks quite easily…
As they took the first turn to focus their sword energy, a habit they were beginning to form in order to get a free dose of health and mana, they had planned to use line bounce in order to be able to get an attack off on all three targets if they timed it correctly…
Their focus on doing so being challenged as Blue noob and Red noob traded blows onto the player with their swords. Shit. They really shouldn't have underestimated this fight when they were getting out of being rusty themselves. The only blow that they managed to avoid with a well-timed dodge was noobador's superball. And that really was only because the player had gotten rather used to the arrows those knights had shot at Blackrock castle-
And one of the poor king's attacks- Ok, no focus. They REALLY need to focus on this battle. As they had managed to get a hit on all 3 with the ball, mentally patting their own back as they managed to do so, they checked their consumables.
The player's face grew troubled as they realized the lack of consumables they had, and soon checked the sheathed blade. It was glowing quite bright even in it's sheath, meaning the player's focus was at maximum. They let out a small sigh of relief as they pulled the dagger out and used it to heal up their hp and mp ever so slightly to get them out of the red. The player’s eyes softened as the pain from the slashes had dulled to the point they could think clearly once more.
However when the player whipped their head back to their targets, they had seen Noobador’s expression be in what looked like shock. Frozen in his place almost. Odd, they weren’t sure if the ice dagger had a passive freezing effect- but they saw little to no ice. This- must be actual emotion- Their thoughts once more focusing as Noobador’s expression turned firm, pointing his finger at the player specifically, and the red and blue noob’s looking at him in a perplexed manner.
“how did you manage to get that ice dagger? As it certainly ain’t yours punk.” Noobador had questioned in an accusatory tone, the player letting out a sigh, gesturing with their hands for Noobador to think for a moment about what the obtaining of that item entails by pointing at their own brain. That was probably not the best thing to do, as Noobador seemingly only got more enraged, his attack going up.
Ah. Balls. The player had dodged noobador’s oncoming elbow drop, countering with a quick punch as they thought out their next move. They could barely focus with what was going on, another pile of questions coming towards their head, mostly wondering if Noobador had some sort of relation, connection to Blackrock or- more or less thinking about it, the Cruel King himself if that was the reaction that stemmed from that interaction.
They bit on the remains of their brownie, getting back to a safe level of health before planning another line bounce with their ball, managing to counter blue’s attack and striking her down with a punch. With blue down, the red noob had only managed to get angrier. Now there was, two angered individuals with heightened attack power. The player grimaced, before sighing and changing their plan of attack. Usually they didn’t really want to resort to attacks with their blade on animals or… those who probably didn’t deserve it, but there were only so many counters and attacks they could do with their ball before the damage started to become inefficient.
… And besides there’s only so much real harm a wooden sword could do, right? Is what the player reasoned before using some of their sp to commence to a power stab onto red noob, striking the noob down. Now it was just Noobador and the player. Last they remembered, Noobador had a pretty ok amount of health, most probably the same as the Player’s now. But they’ve beaten much more tankier foes like that living statue- they. They really need to stop thinking about blackrock castle. They really cannot handle having those memories hinder their skills in battle right now. Especially not those ones. The player let out a shaky sigh.
They managed to block another one of Noobador’s attacks, but just barely. Managing to get them scarily close to red, but not all the way to it. Seems that the attack buff from Noobador’s anger hadn’t worn off yet. Or might not ever, the Player is quite unsure. They chugged a bloxy cola to restore their sp before striking Noobador with another power stab, and Dodging his superball by dipping down quickly, letting out a heave of breath. This should not be this exhausting.
With a few more attacks, Noobador was exhausted enough to stand down. The player panting as the battle ended. Before Noobador and the two noobs could flee with the tail between their legs, the player slowly pulled out the ice dagger. Using it to meagerly heal the trio up before hopping deeper into the pit. For a brief moment, they could see Noobador’s expression soften up ever so slightly before leaving the pits himself with the other two.
As they jumped down to the tenth floor, they were greeted by what was a card. And not an enemy. The card “Daze” appeared to be. Reading its description, The player grimaced in dissatisfaction as they gazed at it. Really wasn’t the best card for their build. As the player sighed and pocketed the card into the rest they didn’t use into their bag, they trekked back up to Bizville in order to recover and buy some much needed consumables.
And most definitely a meal at the iron cafe. That sounded nice. As they climbed their way out of the pits and crawled out of the sewers, trying to ignore the looks of several rats as being eye level to a rat while being shrunk was possibly the most awkward thing to think about, and managed to end up at the cafe. Sitting at a table by themselves, having a moment to sit down and have a burger.
As they had their small lunch break, they sifted through their cards. Looking to see if they could make any altercations to their deck, staring at a red card in their deck with interest. “Resurrect” was its name. They bought it once but never really decided on using it, having overlooked the decrease in attack that the card had brought with its gift of resurrection. The player had a curious wonder about how in depth the card could resurrect. Could it regenerate the dead? Or did it cure the mortally wounded only? The player daydreamed about it for a moment, their thoughts being cut off by Tutorial Terry calling them, mostly to remind them that the next stop they had to go through would be to Plainstown or something of the likes via plane, train, car… Something.
Most definitely plane, they believe they saw an airport somewhere in Bizville. With a shrug, they said bye to terry before the penguin hung up on them, finished their burger before leaving the iron cafe. Thankfully they didn’t forget to buy their consumables this time before walking out, feeling confident about having a full bag of food in case of an emergency with an enemy. As they walked towards the western part of the town, they caught their eye on a card shop. Noting it for later as they walked over to the airport. Once they were there and dealt with some blockage with a carefully placed stick of dynamite, their eyes caught onto an open blue door beyond the runway.
Curiosity was most definitely their weak point, The player noted in the back of their mind, as they slowly entered the house, being greeted by an old, meditating man. He had greeted himself as the Guru. They walked up to him, giving a small greeting before the man spoke to him, “Why, Greetings, Young one…” He stated, looking at the player, almost analyzing them as he spoke. The Guru continued, “I sense distress in your soul, so please, come sit with me. And I may be able to help you with inner peace.” He had said, the player, slowly nodding and accepting the other’s offer before sitting down.
They. They really needed this. “I sense you’ve been fighting your inner demons for a while now, so please, tell me young one, what exactly bothers you? How do you feel?” The Guru had asked, The player letting out a slow exhale, before responding rather simply. “I. I feel cold.” they slowly spoke. “Now please, close your eyes, and relax.” The guru calmly instructed, as the player closed their eyes and let their shoulders relax first, before the rest of their body had followed.
For a brief moment, it had felt as if the player became colder with the environment, and they had opened their eyes. Their eyes widened slightly as they registered the difference in their environment. The player’s surroundings looked to almost be a soft pink, nearly airy in a way. They relaxed a bit more, everything felt calm. Peaceful even, besides the noticeable chill in the air. The guru instructed them to fight their demons, lest they haunt them forever. As they nodded, their focus shifted to the other parts of the room. There was a healing pad, and further the room had almost a pink, frozen appearance to it. Their heart sank ever so slightly with a frown, realizing what exact room this was meant to resemble.
The cruel king’s throne room in blackrock castle, it was a lot more frigid than this place. That's for sure, the air felt cold, but not sharply chilling. They sighed, they had a brief concept of what they might be getting into when it came to this specifically. As they scanned the area more, Their eyes locked onto what looked to be the Cruel king on his chair. Albeit, a more, pinkish color like the rest of the room. He appeared to look confused, tired even. And in a near dazed train of thought. The player could sympathize with what that felt like right now. Neither of them were really expecting to be back here. The player silently questioned what exactly this place was. If the Cruel king was here, this was probably some form of afterlife. Considering the odd environment and being able to very much visually see the Cruel king in front of them.
The player stepped forward onto the ice, noting how the frozen floor below them had little to no lack of friction, no risk of falling on the floor due to slipping onto the ice. That was a small, initial silver lining to all of this. As they walked forward, mentally taking inventory of their consumables, they had gotten close to the king. Who he had seemed to snap out of his daze of thought and onto the player. His mumblings ceasing as he did so and glaring at the player.
The player’s expression remained stiff. Nearly nervous honestly. Troubled would be the best word to describe how they felt at this very moment, as the cruel king began to speak with irritation. “...You. I’m sick of hearing that tormenting voice. It’s you who’s driving me mad with the inevitable…” The cruel king growled out, thinking once more and mumbling with hesitation in his tone, “...Is this another of these persistent nightmares…?” He sighed out, looking at anything but the player before letting out a hiss in agitation. “No. This is enough. I don’t care what you’ve prophesied any longer.” The player heard him speak, having a minor revelation that the king was not speaking towards them, but whatever voice that was tormenting the poor man.
For a brief moment, The player felt pity. Before logic clouded their emotions, and the player had tensed up once more, gripping their sword. The cruel king believes he’s dreaming at this very moment, and most DEFINITELY believes the player is a part of this dream, and not real. There’s no convincing him otherwise right now. Their eyes followed as the cruel king got up from his throne, still looking anywhere but the player. At the voice, somewhere. Possibly onto the blade? The player wasn’t sure.
“...The people of the blackrock kingdom deserve to live, I won’t let this sick and twisted future you’ve come up with be brought to our reality. This ends now.” The cruel king had growled out, pulling out what appeared to look like the ice dagger, before glancing at the player. As the battle started. And as if time had moved back once more for them, it felt as if they were back where they once started.
The memory formed quite vividly amongst the room. Feeling cold and afraid resurfacing in their thoughts. The player grimaced. Pulling out their sword. The guru was right, if they didn’t make peace with these thoughts. It might just haunt them for the rest of their days.
En Garde. Cruel King.