Major Rager (With Artwork)

Part 1

Alone, Rosemary sat in her living room with only the glare of the staticky TV to give her light— unaware of the encroaching shadow that drew itself from the dark depths of the hallway. The shadow crept along the ceiling like a spider after a fly. Burning, soulless eyes pierced through the darkness, locked onto Rosie.

Through the television’s beaming light, the shadow morphed into the form of a red-skinned demonic child with pointy ears, a messy patch of spiky, black hair, and a long, pointy serpentine tail. He also wore clothing that was in every way human from his blue jeans and his red-orange shirt.

The demonic figure dropped from the ceiling he pounced on the couch behind the girl. Rosemary turned and locked eyes with the ominous, smiling creature. She did not flinch nor jump, but she smiled and greeted. “Hey, Dominic. You bring your stuff?”

“Yup,” the little demon boy responded. He pulled out a couple items out of his pockets, “I got my wireless controller, headset, and a bag of chips right here.”

“Awesome. Let’s get started.”

The kids plopped on the couch and activated Rosie’s Versus System. A text then appeared on the screen:

Warning: This game contains graphic violence, blood and gore, adult language, gratuitous nudity, sexual content, alcohol and tobacco use, inappropriate references, mayhem, explosions, genocide, blasphemy, kitten kicking, and t-bagging!

The television then spoke in a gravelly voice, “In the future, scientists tried to speed travel times by inventing teleportation devices. But then things go to hell when they opened a portal to a nightmarish realm, the Inter-DEAD-Mension, home to the most volatile mutant monsters imaginable. They break through to our world, killing everyone except one. Amidst the chaos, these mutant freaks made one mistake: they woke him from his nap. Now’s ticked and out for blood. Lock and load, soldier, because some poor suckers about to feel the rage! He is a mutant’s worst nightmare. He is the original lean, mean, ultimate killing machine. He is….” The game’s title flashed on the screen in a colorful aura of blood and explosions. Rosie and Dominic ecstatically joined the announcer, screaming aloud, “MAJOR RAGER!”

Part 2

Their gamer tags—DarkDawter11 and HLboy966—appeared inside the hub screen. Two other tags—BigBillionz and Eziekel2517—were already waiting for the duo. 

“Hey bestie!” BigBillionz’s voice called from her mic. “I see you brought Dominic with you. So cool!”

“Sup Krystal,” Rosie answered. “How goes it, Josh?”

“Hey guys!” Eziekel2517 (Joshua) called out. “Just to clarify, my mom thinks I’m at Krystal’s doing homework. So don’t tell her about this.”

The imp Dominic replied, “Secret’s safe with us.” 

Then a fifth gamer tag appeared onscreen. This one was named MLPwny1123. Another girl’s voice echoed through the headphones, “Hey everyone.”

“Hey Kayleigh. You made it.” Dominic said.

“Wouldn’t miss this for the world!” everyone heard Kayleigh cheer.

Finally a sixth tag popped into the party. Recognizing the gamer’s tag Boomstick92, Rosemary gleefully said. “Hey, Ashley’s here too. Hold on a sec!” Rosemary attached a small keyboard to her controller and typed out a message to her friend.

HEY ASH! she typed, READY?

After waiting a few seconds, a message popped in the chat room. RED-E 2 GO!

“Alright everyone,” Rosemary announced, “This is it. We are about to enter the Major Rager Shoot ’Em Up Tournament. If we win, we’re gonna receive the best armor, the best weapons, and the best loot that will carry on into the next Major Rager game. We are gonna kick both inter-dimensional monster and noob ass.”

“YEAH!” Her friends all cheered. Without hesitation the pressed start on their controllers. The next screen that appeared was the class selection, where the players could choose and customize their avatars that best represents them.

To start out, Rosemary selected the Combat Commando, a soldier class specializing in machine guns, shotguns, and dual wielding weapons. Kayleigh chose the Boom Blaster. This tank class was an expert in heavy weapons and explosives, a feat that Kayleigh always enjoyed in these games. Joshua chose the Engin-Fear, which specialized in hacking computer consoles and enemy robotic units. Ashley picked the class everyone agree suited her the most, the Silencer. Feats in stealth, sniper, and swordsman made this one of the deadliest of the classes. Dominic selected the Psycko, a spellbinder class, as his avatar. Dominic liked this one because of how much he and the game character had in common with dark magic and spells. And for Krystal, the Chem Fatale, specializing in chemical weapons such as acid bombs, poison gas, and napalm mines.

“Wait!” Dominic’s voice echoed through the headphones, “How can you pick the Chem Fatale? That’s not one of the class choices?”

“Hellooooo,” Krystal sassed back. “It’s available if you pre-order it from the deluxe edition, which I did.” she listened to all her friends groaning through their microphones. “Well, it’s not my fault I have enough money to purchase all the game expansions.”

Part 3

Level 1.

The tournament began.

Six armored avatars appeared at the center of a small empty room. They cocked their weapons as the metal door opened wide. The fireteam rushed inside to find themselves against a horde of horrendous, pixelated monsters awaiting them. The game’s graphics detailed these beasts with green scaly skin, piercing red eyes, rotten yellow teeth, and large spikes protruding from their heads, spines, and arms. 

The monsters shot fireballs from their mouths. The six players moved their avatars all around the room, dodging their attacks while shooting back. A hailstorm of bullets riddled the monsters, decorating the walls with animated blood and organs. Sometimes the glorious graphics generated the monster deaths to have their blood splatter over the television screens in divine detail. 

Rosie and Dominic twitched their fingers on the game controllers as their video game characters assaulted the creatures. Their eyes focused on the T.V. set. They didn’t blink or flinch when some monsters popped out of hidden corridors only to be gunned down without mercy. Their scores on the upper right corner multiplied with every kill they rallied.

The last monster was then executed by the young gamers. The stage was cleared and then the six friends moved onto Level 2. A similar firefight ensued in their progression, only with more hording monsters than before. The kids gunned them down when suddenly Rosemary and Dominic heard Mrs. Gravely call out, “Rosie, I need you to empty out all the garbage cans in the house.”

“But mom, I’m busy!” Rosemary complained, “My friends and I are playing Major Rager right now. There’s a the big online tournament going on, and the player or team that succeeds in the end gets a treasure trove of prizes.”

“It’ll take less than five minutes.” Her mother hollered back, “Then you can play afterward.”

“I can do it later.”

“No, not later. Now!”

“But mom-”

“ROSEMARY LEE GRAVELY!”

Rosie flinched at the sound of her full name. She knew if she didn’t comply she would be in for it. Dominic swiped her controller with his long, pointed tail and began operating it. “Go ahead.” the demon smiled and said, “I got you covered.” Rosemary thanked him and hurried off to her chores so the tournament can continue.

Part 4

Level 5.

The six gamers made their way down a long corridor, where giant cyclopian glob guarded the entrance to Level 6. The animated monstrosity puked a pool of acid at them, but they managed to dodge out of the way. Their weapons fired rapidly with little affect against the horrid blob. 

Dominic’s Psycko casted a spell, which emitted a screeching sonic sound. The powerful vibrations were too much for the blob as it died in a grotesque explosion of goo all around the corridor. His friends cheered his accomplishment.

“Awesome!” Rosemary said, high-fiving the imp.

“Nice one!” Joshua’s voice called over the microphone.

A message from Ashley appeared in the text box depicting a thumbs up and a smiley face. The team then ventured to the next level, continuously gunning down more monsters that were in their path.

“You know, Dominic,” Kayleigh spoke over her headset, “I’m surprised you play this game. I mean we’re basically killing demons.”

“Technically whether they are demons or other nefarious creatures is up for debate,” the young demon corrected, “Besides this game is like a national sport down below. Everyone plays it.”

Then Krystal’s voice cried, “Incoming!” A rocket fired in their direction. They dodged in time but the impact knocked their avatars off their feet. Another player loaded his weapon up and readied to fire. 

With quick thinking, Ashley commanded her Silencer to pull out her giant sniper rifle, aiming it at the opposing opponent. Taking a deep breath, she fired. The 50 caliber bullet hit directly between the eyes.

Deep in the depths of the Inferno, inside the comforts of a dirty apartment, Ghuul dropped his controller. His jaw hit the floor at the same time.

“How did I die?” he whined, taunted by the “Game Over” text on his TV screen.

“You suck, dude,” his friend Balthazar commented, snatching the game controller away as the level starts again.

Part 5

After much progression, after battling reptilian monsters, killer robots, mutated experiments, and other online players, they made it to the final round of the tournament, Level 10. It was going to be their greatest challenge yet, but the grand prize that at the end was going to be worth all the hours spent sitting around a television set during the daylight over the weekend.

“This is it, everyone,” Rosemary radioed all her friends, “This is what we’ve been building up to.” Her avatar guided the others toward the doorway. “We’ve won many battles together, and now that grand prize is ours.”

Her friends all agreed as their armored avatars raced down the dark hallway to the locked door. They listened to the mechanized whirly sounds as the gears started unlocking. The door opened its metallic maw and the six entered inside. 

There inside was their greatest challenge. There it stood at the center of a lava chamber: a monster, half demon and half machine. Its muscles fused with tubes and wires, flames blazed from its maddening eyes like ritualistic torches. The lower half of its legs were not normal but a centaurian appearance complete with eight robotic legs that resembled spider limbs. Its hands were replaced by a pair of gatling guns that fired rapidly at the players.

The avatars ducked behind cover from the barrage of animated lasers. They fired their weapons back that the behemoth but it laughed as their feeble attacks took small pieces of its health. A carnage of rockets shot from its guns that hit around the players, dealing some damage to their avatar’s health. All six friends frantically tapped the buttons on their controllers, trying desperately to stay alive and damage the final boss. Their eyes locked heavily on their screens. Their teeth ground tightly with each counterattack and quick dodging. 

“Any ideas, anyone?” Joseph called out.

Ashley had her avatar scan the battlefield. There on the rafters was a glowing orb with an image of a mushroom cloud inside. Her avatar pointed at the distant object and her friends took notice.

“Ash found an F-Bomb!” Rosemary said. “Cover me! I’m making a break for it.”

Her friends continued their assault on the final boss as Rosemary’s avatar ran for the orb. The beast’s guns were now aimed at Rosemary. Dominic’s avatar protected Rosemary with an absorbent shield while the other focused on its head. Their hearts pounded sporadically as they moved closer to the orb. Rosemary made her avatar dive at the shining object. A single touch then made it evaporate into thin air. Suddenly, her avatar pulled out a gigantic bazooka and shot a single pellet, no bigger than a golf ball at the mechanized brute. The small object poke the final boss’ sternum and exploded in a blinding flash. When the light ended a massive mushroom cloud formed. The sole sound it made was an offensive term the kids dared not repeat. The smoke cleared and the flash faded. All that remained of the final boss was a pile of ash, scrap metal, and bloody organs. But hovering above the remains was a golden chest that shined brighter than the gates of Paradise. All six friends gazed at the object with great awe. The vast prizes was just in their reach.

Rosemary and Dominic smiled the largest. But they both felt something odd. Looking down they noticed that their hands were gently clinging together. They flinched away, embarrassed by the compassionate act. Both the human girl and the demon boy tried to keep their eyes on the television, neither one noticing their faces blushing red and small smiles curve their lips after they touched. The six players slowly approached the chest. Their minds raced with all the treasures they would earn. The new armor and armor upgrades, the best weapons, unlimited ammo, and thousands of credits—the game’s currency—was about to belong to them.

Suddenly, they heard a gunshot. Blood and brain bits splattered out of Rosemary’s avatar and it dropped dead. Soon Dominic’s followed beyond with a similar fashion. And then Joshua, then Krystal, then Kayleigh, then Ashley. All avatars were dead. Their prize just short from their reach.

Rosie and Dominic dropped their controllers. Their jaws followed too. “WHAT THE HELL?!?” Rosie angrily screamed.

“THAT’S BULLCRAP!” Dominic also ranted. “WHO KILLED US?!?”

A single armored avatar, with the gamer tag MOTHERMERCY, stepped onscreen, claiming their prize. Inside the privacy of her office at Brimestone Elementary, Mrs. Wordworth, Joshua’s fundamentalist Christian mother and principal of the school, laughed as the in-game riches now belonged to her. “Oh, bless you, Lord,” she gave a fiendish cackle, “Bless you for giving me the strength to pwn these noob suckers! Ahahahaha!”

#sinsofthefather #fiction #fantasy #comedy #horror #videogame #demons #repost #artwork