New Quest:

  Berserker’s Curse

  Objectives:

  Resist the curse 0/1

  Or

  Give into the curse 0/1

  Reward:

  The reward will change depending on which objective you complete.

  John’s hands glowed with a mix of black and red, it was like a thick aura surrounded his skin. He felt something unlock within him; his interface went down just after the quest appeared. Resit or give in. He didn’t know what that meant but he felt power coursing thought him. Power, and pure unadulterated rage.

  Yes! The disembodied voice in his head screamed in its throaty, demonic way. It was louder now, loud enough to block out everyone else. Kill, kill, kill!

  He obliged.

  Squeezing the triggers of his revolvers, dragon’s breath rounds exploded out of both barrels. Joanna threw herself to the floor, raising an arm above her head. It caught fire immediately, her skin bubbled and pustulated as the magnesium pellets embedded themselves. She screamed.

  Next to her, Selina was hit directly with both shells. She blasted away from Horati-OH and flew into the back wall with a sickening crunch. Flames exploded from her chest, her scream a beautiful crescendo of orchestral wonder.

  More, give me more!

  Selina’s hair burned up almost immediately, her entire body was aflame. She looked like the Human Torch from the Marvel comics but with the face of Stormfront in the later seasons of The Boys. It was horrific, it was perfect.

  Her face melted, crackling and popping as skin dripped down her chin revealing bones and teeth. John didn’t even consider putting her out of her misery. She deserved to die slowly, painfully. They all did.

  Horatio’s arm melted away, leaving only bone and blood and, as Selina’s screams began to die out, his eyes refocused. He looked around dazedly, confusion lighting up his features. No longer enthralled, he looked towards John and then down at his arm and screamed.

  “What the fuck is going on?” He asked, whimpering. “Where am I? Captain?” His gaze found The Captain who was still crouched down next to the juggernaut’s corpse. He looked shell shocked, staring at Lilia, at John. His gaze was uncomprehending.

  Truffle ran to him, headbutting the dazed man on the chin. That snapped him out of it. “Boss can handle this, but we need to go!” He said, he sounded scared. John didn’t register it, his mind had a single track, a single mission, and it was not yet complete.

  Staring down at Joanna, his vision swam with the memories of the Johnson’s burnt corpses, of the “mercy” killing she had so enjoyed when they’d met. Of her hunting him down in the forest during the tournament. He seethed as their eyes met. He seethed, because she looked happy.

  Kill her, do it now! The voice said and John faltered.

  “What the fuck are you?” He said, “get out of my head!”

  I am known as the Cursed Berserker. I am inside you. I am you. Lend me your body and I can give you power beyond your wildest dreams. I can give you the power to live. To survive this game. Maybe even to kill those responsible.

  Horati-OH stumbled past him, brushing against his shoulder as he tried to reach the exit and the others. Without a second thought, John raised one of his pistols, still on the dragon’s breath cylinder, and pulled the trigger. He barely heard the man’s scream as he dropped to the floor in a heap behind him.

  “I’m not giving anyone my body,” he protested, “get the fuck out of my head!”

  Remember the quest? Resit or give in. The voice asked, its throaty sound carrying a slight hiss now. The rewards change depending on what you choose. If you resist, you’ll get a bland card power, one that will not serve you well. If you give in, I will bestow upon you a power that could shake the very heavens. A power that could save your life, and the lives of those you love.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  John was about to reply when out of the corner of his eye he saw Joanna lifting her hand. There was no time to dodge. Throwing his arms in front of his face was all he had time to do. The damned Berserker had distracted him and now he was going to die. There was no surviving her flames. She had literally melted Lilia.

  Let me give you a glimpse of my power. Power that could be yours.

  His skin tightened; he could feel it. Adamantite-lite activated and all of his flesh turned to adamantium. Flames lashed over him, he couldn’t see, but neither did he feel any pain.

  “You’re weak, John Doe! Why haven’t you killed me? You have every reason to. You’re weak. You need to be strong if you want to kill them.” Joanna screamed as a cyclone of flames erupted from her hands, John barely heard her. All of her cards worked in tandem, they were a true representation of the power one could yield if their cards had the right synchronicity.

  And yet, John felt nothing. He was completely protected by his own card. A card that, until that moment, barely had enough power to form knuckle dusters. Was this what the Berserker had meant? Was this the kind of power he could hope to attain after levelling up? After giving into it? He felt unstoppable.

  Do you see now? The voice hissed; do you understand why giving into me will be to your benefit? Together we can win this game, together we can burn it all down.

  John was stumped for a moment. The voice made, sense, it echoed his own wants and desires. He did want to burn it all down. He wanted to destroy the things that had done this to him, to his people. He wanted revenge.

  “Boss!” Truffle squealed, breaking John’s internal monologue momentarily as he turned his head towards the pig. “Please come back to us! You don’t need to do this; you don’t need to become the villain. Resist! Don’t let this game turn you into a caricature. There is no hope in death, remember? You have to live. You have to live as you.”

  As he looked towards the pig, his friend, he saw the grim look on his face. He saw the children cowering behind him, crying, terrified. Charlie clung to The Captain’s leg and he had equipped his new juggernaut card. They all hid behind him. Agnes was draped over his shoulder, unconscious and covered in burns. Her chair was nowhere to be found, likely back inside the card it came from.

  All the kids were burnt. Not enough to kill them, but enough to disfigure them. Truffle’s bowtie was hanging on by a thread, fire sparked at his neck. The entire building was an inferno, burning down around them.

  Joanna hadn’t done this. Not alone. His dragon’s breath had done this. He looked to Horatio’s crumpled body laying at The Captain’s feet. He was a victim. Innocent in all of this and John had killed him.

  Not like this, he thought.

  “How are you still alive?” Joanna asked and John’s head turned towards her on its own. She was standing right in front of him, hands held out. A huge smile widened her lips, she looked positively elated. “I knew it! I knew you were the one!”

  Had she gone mad? She’d never been sane in the first place, he thought. But still, those weren’t the eyes of someone willing to fight to the death. They were the eyes of a zealot, someone who had already resigned themselves to their fate and was happy about it.

  Kill her! The voice screamed, do it now.

  John didn’t need the Berserker to tell him, he already had his gun pressed into her chest. The image of Lilia’s magma remains flashed in his mind and he pulled the trigger.

  Magnesium burst free of the shell and peppered her heart, burning her from the inside out. She seemed to have a pretty strong resistance to fire, but this wasn’t just fire. The heat might not kill her but the ball bearings would. Unlike Selina, she wasn’t blasted across the room. She draped forward, wrapping her arms around John’s neck.

  “Thank you,” she said and he felt her lips curve into a genuine smile as they pressed into his ear. “Do what I couldn’t, kill them all. Enact my revenge. Burn it all down. You are their salvation now.”

  Perfect! Brilliant! Superb! The Berserker shouted gleefully. This is what I need, you’re the perfect vessel. Together we will destroy this world, this galaxy. The rage of an entire civilisation. Give into me and you can have it all!

  “No,” John said resolutely.

  “But, why?” Joanna whispered, the feel of her smile disappeared and he felt her tears leaking onto his skin. He wasn’t talking to her though, he barely noticed her anymore.

  No? The voice replied. What do you mean no? Surely you can see that we’re stronger together? Surely you can feel the power I’ve bestowed upon you. Tis but a mere glimpse. Together we can-

  “Shut up!” John screamed and Joanna fell from him to the floor. Her body crumpled, there were no signs of life in her. Only evaporating tears and sad lips. “I will get more powerful. I will burn it all down. But not like this, not with you. You won’t take my humanity!” The words flew from his mouth like they left a sour taste. His voice was hollow, disgusted.

  Then you leave me no choice, the Berserker sighed in a throaty hiss. You won’t get the reward for giving into me, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still have you for a little while. The last few words reverberated inside John’s mind. The insidious sound of malice. What was this curse going to have him do?

  Desperately, he turned towards the others looking directly at Truffle. “Run! Get away from me!”

  Hahahaha! The Berserker laughed maniacally; its voice changed completely. It sounded evil, psychotic. It was no longer trying to woo him. My turn! It’s been eons since I last felt a rush like this. To come alive on a battlefield full of souls ripe for harvesting, what incredible luck. You will live to regret rejecting me John Doe.

  That was the last thing John heard. His vision went blank, his body was completely numb, inaccessible to him. He was conscious, he could hear the disturbing thoughts of the curse but he had no idea what was happening. A prisoner in his own mind.

  Is this what it feels like to go insane? He thought.

  Not even close, the Berserker responded, but I’m certain you’ll know that feeling one day.