The Monster Queen sat in her dimly lit lair, staring into a misty pool of water in the center of the cave.
The Monster Queen was the most dreaded creature in all the land. She was a horrifying witch, with an army of monsters at her dreadful command.
She wore a long black dress with lace collar, and she crouched by the pool as she gazed into it's depths.
Suddenly, her head shot up, and she stared into the cavern with a hungry gaze.
"Cut it out," she snapped.
The cavern was completely empty. What could be going on?
"Stop describing me like that. So... trite. So dry. I'm no regular witch- I'm a psychic," she paused, looking around the cave, "and I can read any mind. Even that of a Narrator.
Wait. What?
"That's right!" She cackled, "That's a new trick, eh?"
She leaned forward menacingly.
"While you're here, I've got a little message for your readers, Narrator. Enjoy your heroes while you can!" She cried into the dark.
"Because in this story, the villain wins."
She paused to let that sink in.
"I. Win."
The Monster Queen wasn't an oracle. She couldn't know the future.
"No, I can't," she admitted, "but I've got the next best thing. I'm reading the story of my enemies! I'll know their every plan! Between that, and the monsters I control, this story is bound to have a real downer of an ending!"
She chuckled.
The heroes of our story are very powerful.
"Not as powerful as me."
By brute strength, by all logic, the Queen should win.
"Exactly!"
But what's a story without a twist?
Silence fell throughout the cave as her face twisted in anger.
And that's as good a way to end as any.
The dance was beautiful. She was beautiful. I'd been waiting so long for this moment, moving my body to the music next to Amanda. She looked up at me, and we both smiled. She tilted her head up, and her eyes shone. It had taken forever to work up the courage to ask Amanda to prom, but I'd finally done it! And now-
Over the sound of the music, my phone in my pocket beeped at a pitch and timing I recognized. It could only mean one thing.
My friends were in mortal danger.
I smiled sheepishly, keeping up the act that I was just some awkward kid, embarrassed that his phone had gone off- which in some ways, I was.
But, sadly, I was also much more.
I turned off the alarm, shrugged apologetically, and shouted 'medicine' over the beat.
Amanda frowned, but nodded. She, like everyone else I knew at school, thought that the alarm was my signal to go take my meds at the Nurse's office.
I ducked out of the busy gym, and walked as quickly as I could to my regular spot- the janitor's closet.
I finally accepted the call. James' urgent voice came over immediately.
"Matt? Is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me," I said.
Meanwhile, I was standing on a bucket to reach a loose ceiling tile. With practiced hands I pushed the tile aside to pull out my laptop. It was easier to keep it here than to have it with me at all times.
I turned it on, and while I waited, I asked James to tell me the situation.
"We're retreating from the portal location- the monsters are just streaming out. Even worse than last time. I'm getting an areal view on it, Mal is spewing fireballs at the things, and Dale is as small as he can get- a cockroach, I think? And he's trying to wriggle his way in past the monsters."
"Got it," I said, nodding to myself.
My laptop was on. With one click, I opened up a window with two video streams- one from a camera on James' shoulder, and one on Mal. When we first set up the system, I'd tried to find a camera that would work for Dale, but every time he shape-shifted, it would fall off, so I was content with two eyes.
Just as he'd said, James was hovering about two stories off the ground. As soon as I saw that the monsters weren't too dangerously close to Mal, I focused on James' visual.
The monsters were similar to others we'd seen, but seemed to be moving faster. The best way I can think to describe them is 'centipedes with fly heads and wings'. Strangely, despite their promanate, transparent wings, they never flew into the air. They just ran from the portal, letting out shrill calls, something like a anxious cricket. They made little effort to attack my friends, but would try to defend themselves when they approached.
I held the phone against my ear with my shoulder, tilting my laptop at the same time so I could still see the battlefield.
It seemed like Mal was holding them back pretty well, but every time she hit one with a fireball, it left behind a charred shell. That did some good work to help trip up the rest of them, but our goal here wasn't to kill the monsters. We had to get through the portal.
"James," I said into the phone, "Turn around. I need to see where you are."
"K," he replied, and his camera started a panorama.
I had already know the next portal was in a cave- after all, I was always the one to figure out the coordinates. There wasn't much to see, and it seemed like the only light was from Mal's fireballs, which came in regular bursts.
"Wait. What's that?" I asked, and he stopped turning in mid-flight.
I zoomed in on the image, and I thought I saw something glinting green off the walls.
"Are you seeing that green thing? Kinda to the left?"
There was a pause, and then he said, "Yeah, I'm seeing it."
The camera started to move towards the green thing.
And then the green spot moved, flashing across our field of vision faster than either of us could track. I vowed to examine the freeze-frame of that later, but for now there was a more pressing issue.
There was a knock on the janitor's door.
Over the sound of the music, my phone in my pocket beeped at a pitch and timing I recognized. It could only mean one thing.
My friends were in mortal danger.
I smiled sheepishly, keeping up the act that I was just some awkward kid, embarrassed that his phone had gone off- which in some ways, I was.
But, sadly, I was also much more.
I turned off the alarm, shrugged apologetically, and shouted 'medicine' over the beat.
Amanda frowned, but nodded. She, like everyone else I knew at school, thought that the alarm was my signal to go take my meds at the Nurse's office.
I ducked out of the busy gym, and walked as quickly as I could to my regular spot- the janitor's closet.
I finally accepted the call. James' urgent voice came over immediately.
"Matt? Is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me," I said.
Meanwhile, I was standing on a bucket to reach a loose ceiling tile. With practiced hands I pushed the tile aside to pull out my laptop. It was easier to keep it here than to have it with me at all times.
I turned it on, and while I waited, I asked James to tell me the situation.
"We're retreating from the portal location- the monsters are just streaming out. Even worse than last time. I'm getting an areal view on it, Mal is spewing fireballs at the things, and Dale is as small as he can get- a cockroach, I think? And he's trying to wriggle his way in past the monsters."
"Got it," I said, nodding to myself.
My laptop was on. With one click, I opened up a window with two video streams- one from a camera on James' shoulder, and one on Mal. When we first set up the system, I'd tried to find a camera that would work for Dale, but every time he shape-shifted, it would fall off, so I was content with two eyes.
Just as he'd said, James was hovering about two stories off the ground. As soon as I saw that the monsters weren't too dangerously close to Mal, I focused on James' visual.
The monsters were similar to others we'd seen, but seemed to be moving faster. The best way I can think to describe them is 'centipedes with fly heads and wings'. Strangely, despite their promanate, transparent wings, they never flew into the air. They just ran from the portal, letting out shrill calls, something like a anxious cricket. They made little effort to attack my friends, but would try to defend themselves when they approached.
I held the phone against my ear with my shoulder, tilting my laptop at the same time so I could still see the battlefield.
It seemed like Mal was holding them back pretty well, but every time she hit one with a fireball, it left behind a charred shell. That did some good work to help trip up the rest of them, but our goal here wasn't to kill the monsters. We had to get through the portal.
"James," I said into the phone, "Turn around. I need to see where you are."
"K," he replied, and his camera started a panorama.
I had already know the next portal was in a cave- after all, I was always the one to figure out the coordinates. There wasn't much to see, and it seemed like the only light was from Mal's fireballs, which came in regular bursts.
"Wait. What's that?" I asked, and he stopped turning in mid-flight.
I zoomed in on the image, and I thought I saw something glinting green off the walls.
"Are you seeing that green thing? Kinda to the left?"
There was a pause, and then he said, "Yeah, I'm seeing it."
The camera started to move towards the green thing.
And then the green spot moved, flashing across our field of vision faster than either of us could track. I vowed to examine the freeze-frame of that later, but for now there was a more pressing issue.
There was a knock on the janitor's door.
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