MADMAN APOCALYPSE

Liam Johnson was knelt on the cavern floor in front of me, his head lolling and muttered gibberish leaving his lips, which dribbled a foamy violet spittle. His entire body had turned purple, even the whites of his eyes, his irises, tongue, teeth, nails, and hair. The blood that ran from the corners of his eyes, from within his ear canals, and from his nostrils, all of it was purple as well.

I had finally realized what Brock’s curse did. It inflicted insanity. In hindsight it was an obvious thing, but I hadn’t noticed since it didn’t have an effect on me, as I was already past the upper limit. Although, due to my excessive use of the Conspiracy Whistle, I was now at 160% insanity. I had half a mind to use it four more times just to see what would happen, but that would be for later.

Thirty yards away in front of us was the nearest entrance to the Broadcast Department nest that Liam and his gang had claimed as their own. It was in the middle of burning to the ground, as the rampant Insanity Boss Monsters I’d caused to manifest had within their ranks a few fire-breathing types.

“Look at your little kingdom,” I said to him. “Soon it will be nothing but ashes.”

“Do you really have time to be all melodramatic?” asked Panda. “Just kill him already.”

The balloon gauntlet on my hand was bloated with air and just a single finger-flick would devastate his body. But I had other plans than that.

“You’re insignificant…” Liam muttered. “You and all your ilk. You were like stones in the road towards greatness… of course I’d toss you aside. All I did, I did for my city. You’re a nobody. The world doesn’t belong to people like you, with your twisted minds, drug-addled bodies, and disregard for the order of things.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” I said. “This is no longer the world you know. This new world belongs to those who can look madness in the eyes and walk away unscathed. If you’d believed in your own bullshit, you wouldn’t have tried so hard to hide away down here, while surrounding yourself with meat shields to defend you. If you’d given a shit about your city, you would have helped defend its people. You’re nothing but a self-centered asshole who got too drunk on power.”

A wordless yell came from the right, and I turned my head to take in the person who’d called out.

“Right on cue,” I said, turning Liam’s head in the same directions so he could see Isabella. I had no clue where she’d landed after my attack phased her through the cocoon building, but it hadn’t been a good landing, as she was limping and using her greatsword as a crutch.

“She too could have been a force for good,” I added. “But now she will die with the rest of your empire.”

“No!” Liam screamed, trying to stop me with his feeble hands as I walked towards her. I easily shook myself out of his grip.

Isabella paused, then gritted her teeth and lifted the greatsword off the ground. Her riot gear was tattered in places and the chest portion was caved-in from where I’d hit her, but she was somehow still alive, which was impressive. She wouldn’t last for much longer though.

She lifted a hand and something like a grenade appeared in it, but, before she could even think to throw it, I pointed at her with the index of my gauntlet.

“.interrupt( ).”

The grenade vanished and she looked at her own hand in confusion. I loped forward with long rapid strides, and, before she had the chance to react, I was within reach and sent an uppercut straight for her chin. The force would be enough to pop her head off her shoulders.

Her body shimmered and she suddenly zoomed into me, pushing me aside and making my strike whiff. She continued towards where Liam knelt, while my fist hit the air and released a massive burst of wind, the entire gauntlet deflating as ‘Pump It!’ was released to empower the ‘Air Blast’.

I quickly reoriented myself, then pointed to Isabella who was only ten yards from Liam and said, “Gotcha!”

gasm.org Activated!

Ability Stolen: Defensive Charge

Original Player: Isabella

I followed it up with the words, “Catch it!” and my body immediately started shimmering with energy. I shot towards Isabella, my feet skating across the ground while a sense of invulnerability flowed through me. She had collapsed in front of Liam, unable to react fast enough to her ability suddenly cutting off.

Only a few seconds later I was right in front of her and already my fist was shooting down towards her exposed back. This time she had no defense and caught my strike square-on. Her entire body flattened into the ground and a loud crunch emitted from her spine, before the static electricity that’d build up in Brock pulsed through her. She spasmed and contorted briefly, then went still.

The purple stain quickly spread along her body from where I’d struck, and I wondered if she’d somehow survived despite it all, so I took a step forward, while Liam was bawling and crying out her name, then said, “This is for Samantha.”

My boot crushed her head like a watermelon.

I AM QUIVERING IN ECSTASY! GOOD BOY.

Liam’s voice turned from a whimper and into a squeal, then took on some unholy note and grew several pitches deeper.

Congratulations! You have unlocked an achievement! x

‘Father of Monstrosity’

Caused a Boss Monstrosity to manifest.

There are some Classes that are truly devastating when turned into Insanity Monsters. Usually, this is proportional to the power inherent in their Classes, such as with Villains, Protagonists, Birthday Boys, and others you’ve yet to encounter. These don’t just become any old cookie-cutter monster when they go insane. No, they turn into something quite special.

Normally, we wouldn’t release this type of monster into the GREAT GAME until after the second EVENT, and it takes a truly astounding amount of heinous mental torture to purposefully manifest one of these, but, congratulations, you’ve just created the first Boss Monstrosity your region has seen!

Oh, and, be warned, these guys don’t give a crap about Safe Zone boundaries.

Good luck! We’ll be recording your death!

Reward: ‘Hooded Stitched-Skin Robe’

Liam’s voice continued to roar and deepen, until it stopped being a voice and became more like a tremble that vibrated the cavern floor and the air. I started backing away as I took in his transformation.

“You really should’ve just killed him,” Panda said.

“I hadn’t expected this,” I replied, “But I’ll finally have a real challenge!”

“What are you, a sadist!?”

“I can’t just have my revenge, if there’s no epic boss battle involved,” I replied, while I continued to back away. I began blowing air into the valve on my wrist, charging up Brock as much as possible, while the former Chief of Police continued to transform.

His body was growing slightly taller, while his hair fell out and his skin melted off in fat droplets. Then hands of every imaginable skin color and size emerged from within his body, crawling over him like strange spiders and beginning to grab onto his legs and arms, where they quickly overlapped. More-and-more of these bizarre hands came out from inside of him, and soon his limbs were four times their original length and many times the girth. Then the hands began to overlap themselves on his torso, bulking it out and enlarging it as well, before eventually moving on to his head, which was turned into a large tower-like thing. All the fingers of the hundreds of overlapping hands began to move in some strange rhythm, making it appear as though waves traveled across his body. A few more hand-spiders crawled across his thick long arms, where they constructed large fingers that began to move with independent life.

“Well, that’s just way too many fingers,” Panda remarked critically.

When its transformation was fully done, the new Boss Monstrosity stood thirty-feet tall and seemed to emit its own pale-red glow, which lit up the surrounding area. Its long head wasn’t too far from scraping along the ceiling of the cavern.

I couldn’t tell how it was able to see, as there were no visible eyes, but the way that it slowly swished its head around made me fairly certain it had some means of discerning its surroundings.

Nearby, a few Players emerged from the burning cocoon buildings, only to spot the enormous monster and quickly turning around and heading back inside the burning structure. There was a palpable pressure being exuded from the Boss Monstrosity, and it reminded me of the Police Siren, but much stronger. I appraised it through my Looking Glass and wondered if perhaps I’d made a mistake after all.

Level 75

‘The Lord of Sinners’

Boss Monstrosity x

The Sinner’s hand is poisoned with guilt,

Its corrupting touch spreads the moral sickness,

Leaving festering malignancy upon the world.

Do you know how Liam Johnson gained his Villain Class? Well, let me tell you. He betrayed those Players who trusted him, again-and-again, all for his own gain. Some of the most insidious Demons took note of this and delighted in his work. They find amusement in the sins of humans, because to them it is not a choice to be vile, it is their nature. For humans it is a decision. One that many of your kind makes without remorse and this delights them so.

This Boss Monstrosity is made from the hands of sinners who have died since the start of the GREAT GAME. There is an uncountable number still left unused. Enough to drown your entire region in corrupting sin.

The servants of the Flesh Sculptor made this Monstrosity especially for Liam Johnson to inhabit, when he accepted his Villain Class. They do not care what havoc it will wreak upon your world, for to them the craft itself is all that matters.

This Boss inflicts a moral curse and insanity on touch, and will seek out the nearest Player, not stopping its march across your Region until everyone is dead.