The Player Blackout Read online

  “Ohhh …” Dillo groaned, rubbing his head. “Ouch. I’m going to feel that in the morning.”

  “Hey, you,” I said, pointing at Dillo, “what’s your deal? You nearly broke my spine when you fell on me.”

  Dillo suddenly looked up at me as if he just noticed I was there. “I did? Sorry. I didn’t realize you were there. I was shoved off the building by someone and didn’t have any time to react, so I activated Curl to protect myself from fall damage.”

  “Did it work?” I asked.

  Dillo shrugged. “I didn’t lose any Health, but the fall was still pretty jarring. Sorry.”

  I frowned. Dillo did not seem like a bad guy, but at the same time, I was still pissed at almost getting crushed to death on my first day in-game. “You said someone shoved you. Who—”

  A wild whooping sound came from above and Cy and I looked up in time to see three ninjas jump off the rooftop of a nearby building and land in front of us. The ninjas immediately struck a pose, allowing me to look at them closely before they attacked.

  The three ninjas were practically identical in appearance, aside from their cheesy ninja getups, which were all different colors: Yellow, red, and blue. The ninjas all wore generic ninja garb, complete with scythes, throwing stars, and even a katana in the case of the red one, which seemed to be the leader based on what I could tell. Above their heads, the tags [NINJA ASSASSIN] floated, which told me exactly what they were. Not that I couldn’t have guessed that myself, of course.

  A new notification appeared in my vision all of a sudden:

  New Skill unlocked: Scan Level 1. You can now Scan enemies and items and find out basic information about them. Level up this Skill further to find out more detailed information about the world around you, including information about your fellow Heroes and Villains.

  As interesting as this new Skill was, I really didn’t need this notification right now. I swiped it away and then immediately Scanned the red ninja:

  Ninja Assassin

  Level: 3

  Alignment: Villain

  Class: Assassin

  Belonging to the Ninja Guild, Ninja Assassins are willing to kill anyone for the right price. Though not particularly durable, Ninja Assassins make up for their weak defenses with precise, powerful strikes and very high critical hit ratios. They are particularly feared for exploiting the Backstab Power, which is something to watch out for if you happen to be unlucky enough to run into these guys.

  It would have been nice if the Scan had explained what Backstab was, but I could guess it had something to do with taking out someone when their back was turned. In any case, I doubted it would apply now when I could see all three Ninja Assassins right in front of me, although that didn’t mean this would be an easy fight.

  “Oh, geez,” said Dillo as he scrambled to his feet. He was shaking in fear, causing his armor to shake with him. “Guess they must have come to finish the job. Oh, man. This is not good.”

  I glanced at Dillo. “I take it they are after you?”

  “Sort of,” said Dillo, scratching the back of his head. “I was doing a mission where I was acting as the bodyguard of this rich guy, who was targeted by the Ninja Guild for some reason. I managed to draw aggro and distract them long enough for the rich guy to escape, but they’re a lot faster than me and I am pretty sure the only reason I’m not dead is because of my armor.”

  I nodded, never taking my eyes off the Ninja Assassins. “Where’s your Sidekick? Do you have one?”

  Dillo stifled a soft sob. “That’s how the Ninja Assassins announced themselves. Killed her with a well-placed Backstab when we weren’t looking. She’s probably back in my Base, but I still can’t get over how I let her die. I should have saved her.”

  “Don’t worry about it, bro,” said Cy, patting Dillo on the back. “Your Sidekick knew what she was getting into when she died. Plus, look on the bright side.”

  “Bright side?” said Dillo, looking at Cy in confusion. “What bright side?”

  “You got to meet us!” said Cy with a beaming smile.

  Dillo just stared at Cy with even more confusion. “Are you joking or—?”

  Suddenly, the Ninja Assassins darted toward us and I shouted, “Ninjas incoming!”

  I thrust my hands forward, expecting to see a beam of pure ice explode from my hands, but nothing happened.

  “What the—?” I said, but at that moment the red Ninja Assassin got close enough to swing his sword at my face, forcing me to jump back to avoid getting my head taken off my shoulders.

  Another notification appeared in my vision, but I ignored it as I backed away from the red Ninja Assassin, who was steadily advancing on me like a panther on the prowl. Meanwhile, the other two Ninja Assassins had ganged up on poor Dillo, who had curled up into a protective ball again that seemed to be protecting him from the worst of their attacks, although for how long, I couldn’t say.

  “Cy, why can’t I use my Ice Beam?” I said, glancing at Cy, who was also backing up with me.

  “Oh, right!” said Cy, slapping his forehead. “I forgot. You need to focus on the Power you want to use in order for you to use it. Sorry I didn’t explain that before.”

  I growled in annoyance, but before I could try again, the Ninja Assassin leaped toward us and slashed his sword. I once again dodged it, finding the movement surprisingly easy, and then lashed out with a kick. But the Ninja Assassin jumped out of my reach before my kick could land, causing me to spin around and almost lose my balance.

  But I managed to land on my feet at the last second and thrust our my hands at the Ninja Assassin again. This time, I focused intensely on Ice Beam and was pleased to see a continuous beam of cold energy explode from my palms and shoot toward the Ninja Assassin. But to my frustration, the Ninja Assassin jumped out of the way, neatly avoiding the Ice Beam.

  “What the—?” I said. “How did he move so fast?”

  “Don’t you know?” said Cy. “Ninjas have really high Evasion and Agility, so they’re pretty hard to hit.”

  I glared at Cy. “Would you stop standing around delivering exposition and actually try to, you know, attack the danged ninja?”

  “Sure thing, boss!” said Cy with a thumbs up. “I was just waiting for you to say that!”

  Cy thrust his hands forward and a huge blast of wind exploded from them. The Ninja Assassin, however, merely leaped into the air high enough to avoid the wind entirely and landed on the wall, which he began running across with his arms out behind him.

  Growling, I thrust my hands at the ninja again, only to get an error notification:

  ERROR! Ice Beam cannot be used due to lack of Energy. Must wait until Energy finishes recharging [1 Energy/per second] before you can use any of your active Powers.

  “Huh?” I said. I looked at my Energy bar—a green bar just below my Health bar—and saw that it was indeed completely empty. “What? No fair. I didn’t know I was out of Energy!”

  I didn’t have time to complain about that any longer, however, because the Ninja Assassin jumped off the wall at me. Again, I tried to dodge, but this time, I was too slow and the Ninja Assassin slammed both of his feet into my chest. The blow sent me staggering backward and took a few points off my Health, but before I could recover, the Ninja Assassin slashed his katana across my chest.

  Blood exploded out of my chest as the Ninja Assassin’s katana cut through my flesh. I screamed out in pain and staggered back against the wall of the alley, clutching my bleeding chest with one hand as a new notification popped up in my vision:

  [Ninja Assassin] cut open your chest! -10 Health!

  Debuff added: Open wound. Lose -1 every three seconds until wound is healed or you run out of Health.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Reading that notification, I muttered under my breath, “Son of a—”

  I didn’t get a chance to finish my sentence because the red Ninja Assassin lowered his blade and charged at me. There was no way I could dodge him now. With my low Health and, I
noticed, increasingly depleted Stamina, I had virtually no energy left to move. I could only stand there and wait for his blade to impale me and end my life.

  But then, without warning, a powerful gust of wind slammed into the Ninja Assassin and sent him flying. The Ninja Assassin went flying through the air uncontrollably but somehow managed to land on his feet at the last possible second anyway. But he didn’t advance on me again. He held his sword before him defensively, eying me suspiciously.

  “It worked!” Cy said, showing up in front of me all of a sudden. “Thanks for distracting him, boss! That chest wound looks really serious.”

  “That’s because it is serious, you idiot,” I hissed. “And if I don’t get it fixed soon, I am going to die.”

  “Wow,” said Cy, looking more closely at my wound. “That is bad. Also, dying would suck.”

  “Yes, I know,” I said. “So unless you have some way to heal me—”

  “Right here!” said Cy, handing me what looked like a plastic soda bottle.

  Puzzled, I took the bottle and glanced at the label, which read HEALTH DRINK: A SYNTH GROUP PRODUCT. “What’s this?”

  “’A refreshing drink after a long day of Heroing,’” Cy quoted. “That’s what all the Synth Group commercials say, anyway. Try it out. It tastes like cherries.”

  I scowled. I hated cherries, but I popped open the lid and downed the entire thing in one gulp. I winced at the taste of cherries in my mouth, but as soon as I downed the soda, I suddenly felt a thousand times better. My Health bar shot back up to full and my chest wound closed all by itself. Even my Costume’s open hole closed tightly, making my Costume look good as new.

  A notification popped up in the corner of my vision:

  You drank a Health Drink: A Synth Group Product! Your Health has been restored to full and all debuffs have been healed! Delicious!

  My eyes widened when I read the notification. “This Health Drink did all that by itself?”

  “I know, right?” said Cy. “I always carry around at least a few Health Drinks just to be safe. All smart Heroes and Sidekicks do. Hell, even Villains drink it, and they technically can’t buy them, though I suppose Villains probably just steal them or get them from black market dealers. Not that I would know, of course, seeing as I am a Hero Sidekick and not a Villain—”

  “Shut it, Cy,” I said as I pushed myself off the wall. I noticed that my Energy bar had refilled now as well. “We’ve still got to deal with the Ninja Assassins. We can talk later.”

  “Right,” said Cy. “Fight now. Talk later.”

  I nodded and looked over at the red Ninja Assassin, who was still watching us closely. Meanwhile, the other two Ninja Assassins were still ineffectually beating on Dillo’s defensive mode, but I didn’t know how long Dillo’s Curl would last.

  “Cy, I need you to go and help Dillo,” I said, gesturing at the two Ninja Assassins attacking him. “I’ll deal with their red friend here myself.”

  “Sure thing, boss!” said Cy. “But be careful. Those katanas are sharp!”

  With that, Cy zipped away to go help Dillo, while I turned to face the red Ninja Assassin all by myself. His blade was still dripping with my blood, but that didn’t bother me too much. Although Cy’s wind attack didn’t seem to actually inflict any damage on the Ninja Assassin, it still showed that he could be hit. My Ice Beam Power was going to be necessary if I was going to hit him, but I’d need to be smart about using it so I wouldn’t run out of Energy again.

  “Okay, ninja,” I said, taking a fighting stance. “Let’s dance.”

  I rushed toward the Ninja Assassin, already charging ice energy through my fists and making them glow bluish white. As I expected, the Ninja Assassin leaped into the air, flying over my head, but I came to an abrupt stop and wheeled around and fired an Ice Beam. But I didn’t fire it at the Ninja Assassin. I fired it at the ground right where he was going to land.

  A patch of slippery ice appeared on the ground where the Ninja Assassin was about to land. He landed on the patch and immediately began slipping and sliding. He tried to regain his balance, but the ice patch was so slippery that it was all he could do to just stay upright and not fall on his behind.

  Seeing my chance, I rushed over to the Ninja Assassin. I expected to slip as well, but when my feet touched the ice, I ran across it like normal ground. It puzzled me at first until I remembered that the Ice Man Costume allowed its user to walk on ice without issue, a nice bonus I hadn’t even considered. Maybe this Costume was more useful than I first thought.

  In any case, once I got close enough, I slugged the Ninja Assassin in the face with a punch from one of my fists. My fist connected with the side of the Ninja Assassin’s face and he went staggering backward off the ice.

  Direct hit! [Ninja Assassin] -10 Health!

  Debuff added: Dazed. [Ninja Assassin]Agility -10%, Evasion -10%, and Accuracy -15%. Duration: 1 minute(s).

  A wicked grin appeared on my lips as I raised my hands and fired twin beams of ice energy at the Ninja Assassin. The Ninja Assassin tried to dodge, but the Dazed debuff meant all he could do was stumble around aimlessly for a moment before both Ice Beams struck him in the chest. As soon as the Ice Beams struck, the Ninja Assassin became immediately encased in a block of ice, earning me another notification:

  Debuff added: Frozen. [Ninja Assassin] Agility and Evasion -100%.! Duration: 5 minutes.

  Now that was what I was talking about!

  I rushed toward the Ninja Assassin and swung my fist at the Ninja Assassin. I activated my Super Strength at the last second and my fist smashed the thick block of ice—and the Ninja Assassin within—into a million pieces. As the chunks of frozen ninja meat crashed to the ground around me, another notification appeared in my vision:

  [Ninja Assassin] defeated! +110 EXP!

  Level up! You are now Level 2. You have earned 4 Stat Points and 2 Power Points. Points can be distributed anytime by going to your character sheet in your main menu! EXP to next level: 150.

  Ninja Assassins left: 2/3.

  Oh, dang. In all of the excitement of defeating my first enemy and leveling up for the first time, I had forgotten about poor Dillo and Cy. I looked over in time to see that Cy had successfully drawn the Ninja Assassins away from Dillo, but he wasn’t doing too well himself. He was dancing around, dodging the ninjas’ attacks fairly well, but I saw that his Health was already a quarter gone and he was bleeding in a few places. Meanwhile, the Ninja Assassins were virtually unharmed and attacking him ruthlessly.

  With a sigh, I rushed toward the Ninja Assassins and shouted, “Cy, get down!”

  Luckily, Cy immediately obeyed and fell to the ground. The two Ninja Assassins who tried to attack him missed him completely and lost their balance, which was exactly what I needed.

  I raised my hands and fired two Ice Beams. Both attacks hit the Ninja Assassins head-on, making them cry out in pain as half their Health bars were depleted right off the bat. They didn’t freeze like their leader, but they did stagger backward from the blow.

  Before I could follow up, Cy thrust his hands forward and a blast of wind sent both Ninja Assassins flying. Unlike their leader, they didn’t land on their feet. One of them landed on his head and his skull broke open, which got me a notification telling me that there was just one Ninja Assassin left.

  The last Ninja Assassin—the yellow one—had landed on his back, but he pulled himself to his feet. He was slumped over slightly, clutching his shoulder and glaring at us from the eye holes in his mask, but he didn’t approach us. He had probably realized that there was no way he could defeat us by himself, especially since I bet he was suffering some kind of injury debuff as a result of his less-than-graceful landing.

  Without warning, the Ninja Assassin drew a tiny ball out of his robes and tossed it against the ground. A huge smoke cloud suddenly appeared around him, but Cy blew it away just as quickly with a short gust of wind.

  But when the smoke cloud disappeared, the Ninja Assassin was nowhere t
o be seen.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  As I stood there in confusion, looking around for the Ninja Assassin, a notification suddenly appeared in my vision:

  [Ninja Assassin] used a Smoke Bomb to mask his escape! [Ninja Assassin] has escaped!

  Reputation with Ninja Guild has fallen 100 points. Your reputation with the Ninja Guild has fallen from ‘Neutral’ to ‘Unfriendly.’ This will negatively affect relations with other members of the Ninja Guild going into the future and other unknown effects.

  I grimaced. I wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, but I guess it was punishment for not killing all the Ninja Assassins. It didn’t help that I didn’t get any experience, but I guess that made sense. In most video games, you only got experience if you actually defeated an enemy. If an enemy ran away, you typically didn’t get anything. I remembered the original Capes Online had something like that. I guess some things just don’t change.

  “Uh oh, Winter,” said Cy as he skipped over to me. “You’re on the Ninja Guild’s kill list now.”

  “What does that mean?” I said. “Does that mean they’re going to come after me?”

  Cy shook his head as he stopped in front of me. “Only if you become an Enemy of the Ninja Guild. Right now, your current rep with them means they will refuse to do business with you and some of their members may attack you unprovoked if they see you in the field. It’s not as bad as it sounds, but I would keep an eye on your surroundings anyway just to be safe. Don’t want to get stabbed in the back when you least expect it.”

  I sighed. “Great. First day in-game and I already have one of the game’s factions against me. Just my luck.”

  “Don’t worry,” said Cy cheerfully. “Like I said, it could be worse. You could be an Enemy of the Ninja Guild. Or Arch-nemesis of the Ninja Guild, which would mean that killing you would always take precedence over any other missions Ninja Guild members may be doing if you are in the area!”