Dragonborn ran with members of the League he had been connected to after graduation from t
he BADGE program. All were new, but well-trained, heroes. The confused people of Neo Utopia were now far more scared than happy. Reality had sunk in for them. This was a fake world. However, there were fewer answers and many questions. To complicate matters, a hoard of identical-faced enemies filled the skies. Millions of Gamer G’s were descending from space.
“Did Justin give us any info?” GeoGal asked Dragonborn as they stopped in the middle of a street.
He looked up and shook his head. “You heard everything, just like me. All we know is that Gamer G is going to try to kill everyone, and we have to stop him.”
“But there are so many!” The Block said as he stopped and transformed his fists into stone blocks.
Just then, a team of black and white gangsters approached them with a short, brawny man in the lead. “Sounds like we got us another catastrophe on our hands. I hate being a good guy, but looks like we gotta work together.”
“Rutkowski?” Dragonborn exclaimed, sure he had learned that this person was classified as a villain.
He cocked his fedora and looked up at Dragonborn. “Don’t look at me like that, kid. I aint a softy, but I don’t like anyone play’n tricks on me. This here world is fake and that fat nerd is com’n to kill me. My boys and I are gonna make him wish he’d stayed in bed.”
Dragonborn said, “Glad for any help, but we don’t have manpower for this. There are literally millions of him.”
“Sheesh,” Steelfist muttered. “I can’t punch that many mugs.”
Peyton approached, his pistol ready, “We’re gonna need help. And I have the right phone number.” He pulled out his BADGE comm unit. “Private Eye Peyton to Justin, come in.”
Justin’s voice came through clearly. “Peyton, we don’t have time for this.”
“We don’t have much time either, bud. We got like ten minutes before Gamer G’s overpower this planet.”
“Tell the citizens they can fight too.”
Rutkowski scoffed, “Seriously!”
“Yes, seriously. This fake world empowers everyone. Every man, woman, and child are capable of super powers right now. USE THEM.”
Rutkowski yanked the comm out of Peyton’s hand. “I don’t like no one yell’n at me. We don’t got 8 billion phone numbers. Get the word out or we all die, capeesh?”
Justin said, “Don’t worry. We have a plan. And, it should go live… now.”
All the screens around the town, from televisions in electronics stores to screens at bus terminals, all went live with Arx’s shining smile. He wore his costume from his recent blockbuster movies.
“Citizens of the world, this is Arx, your favorite superhero. Now, it is time for you to be heroes. This world isn’t real. You know that now. What you do not know is that if we don’t free ourselves, our actual bodies will perish in the real world. We may know this is fake, but we are bound here while Gamer G is still here. His defeat will send us home. This world has enhanced us, mentally and physically. Fight back. Join BADGE, the Ranger Squads, and all local and national militaries. This world will survive. Do not let it fall. Stand and fight!”
“They’re almost here!” Belcher scream as she pointed to the skies.
The heroes and gangsters readied themselves as the approaching villains appeared as a swarm of locust on the winds. Dragonborn smiled while he watched all the civilians around him take up awkward fighting stances. Some held pipes and bars, others were balling up their fists.
Peyton called out, “Citizens, be ready. Let us heroes take the charge, but be ready to fight. There will be plenty of targets.”
“ ‘Us heroes’, you’re just a gumshoe.” Rutkowski snorted at that, always pestering his rival.
Peyton smiled. “And you are just a two-bit gangster. Now, let’s kick some ass.”
With exchanges smiles, they bellowed a battle cry and charged the approaching enemy. Heroes, gangsters, and one bold gumshoe led the civilians of New Utopia into the first unified human army.
Moments before;
Arx looked at Justin through the main monitor of operations. He was currently in his dressing room. “What happened? Where are we?”
Justin said, “It is a long story. Gamer G and Drocha trapped the human race in a virtual world to harvest our brains.”
“Wow, that sounds like a cheesy zombie movie.”
Justin said, “It is terribly real. We need you to do something vitally important.”
“Anything.”
Alex, who was still partially digitized, said, “Gamer G is attacking the human race in a matter of minutes. People are all as strong as a class 3 Strength hero. They can take a lot of hits and can deliver powerful punches.”
“You mean every human is now a super human?”
Justin said, “Precisely. While in this simulation, they are. And they need to be. Billions of Gamer G’s are on their way to kill the human race.”
“What can I do?”
Justin said, “I have the BADGE system set to emit a signal to all screens on earth. You, being a beloved, famous actor, are trustworthy. Tell them to fight. Give them the marching order to save themselves.”
“Me? You are the commander of BADGE. They trust you.”
“No one has more credibility than a popular actor.” Justin said. “We need you to do this. We don’t have time to discuss this. Stay on this line and in a moment, when you see the signal, address the world. Make it short and sweet. Time is running out.”
“I will take care of this.”
Chase said, “We have an incoming signal from the emergency line to Peyton.”
“What does he want?” Justin clicked on his comm.
Alex approached Chase. “We should get down there. They are going to need all the help they can get.”
Chase asked, “Can you enhance us? I’d love to be ten times stronger, faster, and able to throw thousands of ninja stars.”
Alex smiled. “Giving all the humans the same tweak of strength and resilience is easy. Adjusting heroes would take time, which we don’t have.”
They both paused when they heard Arx go live and give his little speech. Once it was over, Chase asked Justin, “How much longer before the attack?”
“Just a moment. We need to get down there.”
Alex summoned a portal and then froze with wide eyes. “What? But this can’t…”
Justin looked at him. “What’s the matter?”
Alex was staring past them. “I can see my wife.”
They looked, but did not perceive the ghostly image of Krystal standing near them. She said, “Alex, my love… Drocha still has our baby… all our babies.”
Alex’s hand shook at the portal evaporated. “No.”
“What is it?” Chase held him.
Alex whispered, “That two percent of mental processing that is still active… it’s the babies. They didn’t wake up.”
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