Arthur Sterling leaned forward in his gaming chair. His eyes were red from staring at the monitor for six hours straight. His heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird. On the screen, the numbers were grim. 20 HP. One hit from a stray Shotgun would send him back to the lobby.
The circle was shrinking. The blue storm hissed at his back. He heard the faint crunch of footsteps. Without thinking, Arthur swapped to his hunting rifle. He jumped from the wooden ramp and spun his character in a full circle.
The crosshair lined up for a split second. Then he right clicked.
The sharp sound of the rifle echoed through his headset. A gold notification exploded across his screen. Victory Royale.
"Clipped! I actually clipped that!"
He laughed and leaned back. He was still buzzing from the adrenaline. He quickly saved the replay and closed the application. He opened a streaming site to catch up on the show everyone was talking about.
Invincible. Season 4, Episode 4.
Arthur grabbed a bag of chips and started the video. Within minutes, his excitement turned into pure disgust. The screen was a mess of blood and intestines. Conquest was on the screen. He was a monster in human skin. Arthur watched as the villain shoved his hand into Mark's torso.
"Ew, that is so nasty. It's just too much gore."
He cringed and looked away for a second. When he looked back, the intestines were being dragged out. It was visceral. It was sickening. Arthur found himself shouting at the screen.
"Stop holding back, Mark! Just kill him!"
The episode ended on a brutal cliffhanger. The screen went black right as a fatal blow was about to land. Arthur felt a surge of genuine anger. He tossed his empty chip bag at the trash can.
"You have got to be kidding me. Another week of waiting?"
"Just mass release the episodes!"
He was too frustrated to stay awake. He grabbed his remote and switched the TV over to a SpongeBob marathon. The familiar, bubbly music usually helped him zone out. He pulled his blanket up to his chin and closed his eyes.
The laughter of a yellow sponge was the last thing he heard before he drifted off.
The first thing Arthur noticed.
Was that His face was pressed against something cold. It was incredibly hard. It felt like jagged stone mixed with cold metal. He groaned and tried to shift his weight. His muscles felt heavy. It was like he had been hit by a truck in his sleep.
He rubbed his eyes. His vision was a blurry mess of grey and red. He blinked several times. He expected to see his messy bedroom floor. He expected to see his RGB keyboard glowing in the dark.
Instead, he saw blood.
It was smeared across the ground. The floor was made of a dark, volcanic rock. It looked like obsidian but felt much more durable. It was reinforced with some kind of alien alloy. There were cracks spiderwebbing out from under him.
'What the hell?'
He pinched his arm as hard as he could. He felt the sharp sting of pain. Nothing changed. He was still on the hard ground. He looked down at his own body and his heart stopped.
He was dressed in a sleek, form-fitting suit. It was stark white with grey accents. The material felt like a mix of silk and Kevlar. It was incredibly light but felt nearly indestructible.
'This looks like... no way. This is a Viltrumite uniform.'
He let out a nervous, shaky chuckle. It was too absurd. He was a fan of the show, but this was a vivid dream. Maybe he had watched too many episodes.
Then he looked up.
The was a hazy, bruised purple. And it was filled with people. At least several thousand figures were hovering in the air. They were all wearing the same white and grey suits. They were perfectly still. They looked down at him with cold, judgmental eyes.
Arthur felt a cold sweat break out across his forehead. His breath hitched. These people felt dangerous.
"Hey! Where am I?"
He shouted, but his voice sounded small against the vast, open landscape. No one answered. Instead, one figure detached itself from the group. It was a man with a thick mustache and eyes like flint. He moved so fast that Arthur's eyes couldn't track him.
The man arrived in front of him with a sonic boom. Arthur didn't even have time to raise his hands. The Viltrumite used a knife-hand strike. His hand moved like a blade.
It sliced deep into Arthur's waist.
"ARGH!"
Arthur screamed. The pain was unlike anything he had ever felt. He looked down and saw blood gushing out of a deep gash. It soaked his white suit instantly.
'It's real. This is actually real. I'm going to die.'
Tears blurred his vision. He wasn't a warrior. He stumbled back, clutching his side. His hands were quickly covered in warm, sticky blood.
Five more Viltrumites began to descend. Arthur tried to move. Adrenaline forced his legs to jump. He managed to dodge the first two. They crashed into the ground where he had been standing. The impact shattered the volcanic rock like glass.
But he wasn't fast enough for the third. A fist caught him squarely in the face.
His nose shattered with a sickening crunch. His vision exploded into black and yellow sparks. His head snapped back. He felt his eye swell shut immediately. He fell to his knees, gasping for air.
Suddenly, a semi-transparent screen flickered in front of his one good eye.
[Ding! God Tier System Initializing...]
[Warning: Host has taken critical damage.]
[Warning: Host is losing consciousness.]
[Emergency Protocol: Initializing Monster Form.]
Arthur's head hit the ground. Everything went black. He couldn't feel the pain anymore. He couldn't hear the Viltrumites anymore.
Inside his body, something snapped. His bones began to grow at an impossible rate. His skin expanded. His muscles bulged and hardened into thick, leathery plating.
He grew. Ten feet. Twenty feet. Thirty feet.
He was now a massive, hulking beast. He looked like the final, most terrifying version of Monster Girl. His skin was a deep, bruised purple. Six eyes opened on his face, glowing with a demonic light.
The Viltrumite who had punched him stopped. He looked up at the giant monster that had replaced the weak boy.
It let out a roar that shook the very foundations of the planet. It swung a massive, clawed hand. The Viltrumite tried to block, but his arms snapped like twigs. The beast slammed him into the ground with enough force to create a crater the size of a city block.
The other four Viltrumites flew in, screaming battle cries. The monster caught one in mid-air and crushed him in its palm. Blood and organs sprayed across the sky. It was a massacre. The beast moved with a primal, chaotic speed.
It leaped into the air, grabbing two Viltrumites by their heads and slamming them together. Their skulls cracked like eggs.
The sky, which had been full of proud warriors, was now filled with fear. The monster went on a rampage. It tore through the ranks. It bit, it clawed, and it crushed. It was a whirlwind of violence that lasted for what felt like hours.
Eventually, the monster's energy began to fade. The massive body began to steam. It shrank down. The leathery skin softened. The extra eyes closed and vanished.
Arthur woke up with a gasp.
He sat up quickly, expecting to feel the searing pain in his waist. He expected his face to be a swollen mess. He touched his nose. It was straight. He touched his side. The wound was gone. There wasn't even a scar.
He looked around. He was in a dark, narrow alleyway. The walls were made of brick and covered in graffiti. He could hear the distant sound of sirens and city traffic.
He looked down at his hands. They were clean. But he was still wearing that white and grey suit.
He leaned against the brick wall and let out a long, shaky breath. He was alive. He was in a city. But he had no idea where he was or what that System had done to him.