My Shellshock shield takes the hit. I hear the Killshot ricochet away. Hear him scream when I crash into him like a charging bull.
My fist hits his face. The other fist joins in. Again. Again.
I crack his jaw. Knock him off-balance. Hit him again. Grab the weapon from his belt. Don’t know what it is. Don’t care. Turn it on him. Blast him in the guts. Fire. Noise. Blood. Again. Again.
He stumbles back. Falls on the ground. Bleeding, he screams something at me. I can’t hear the words. He does something with his inventory. His Health snaps back to full. More tricks.
I flick the M1 into my fist. Take aim. Shoot him. Again. Again. Again.
He heals up and tries to escape. I grab him. He turns the Killshot on me. I yank it away. Now he runs. Jumps to one of the floating islands. Screams something I can’t understand. Don’t want to. I raise the Killshot to my shoulder. Pull the trigger. The white beam goes straight into his chest.
Invulnerability Sphere
Consumable (1/2 remain)
Mockquaman shimmers under a globe of protection with rainbow sparkles. He grabs his chest like he thinks he’s dead. Probably forgot he bought the damn thing. I fire the Killshot again. Klik.
Empty.
I see the terrified look on Mockquaman’s face. Smaller and smaller. Escaping into the gold-flow stream. This time I hear him. “Kill that son of a bi§ch!”
I’m hit from behind.
I don’t know how many times I get nailed, but I drop to 13%. I spin and get my Shellshock up. Pop a California Roll. Pop another. Fire the M1.
There are three of them, the last of Team Vektor. Their fire ricochets off my shield. I put one down with the M1. I move in, they back up. As they shoot, I loot their buddy’s corpse. Legendary LootBox. I yank it open to find a weapon, some kind of sword.
I grab it. The thing latches onto my wrist. My entire arm below the elbow transforms into a curved four-foot scimitar that hums digital power
Deathloop
Killstreak Feedback Blade +10 (consumable). Alert: A Stamina of 18 is required to wield this weapon.
? This is the kill that doesn’t end… It just kills on and on, my friends. You know you started killing them a long time ago. And you’ll just keep on killing them because the more you kill you know, this is the kill that doesn’t end… ?
I bury the blade in a Vektor. His buddy shoots at me, but can’t get past my shield. More RiftElites come through the ring gate behind him. They skid to a stop on their Hyperboards and watch as I skewer the last Vektor with Deathloop. Sparks pop from the digital blade.
Deathoop X2
The RiftElites pause, unsure what to do. Downriver, Mockquaman makes up their minds for them. He ups the bounty on my head. Red danger text flashes on my HUD.
New Bounty! [DDD] 10M Gold
I start killing them before they can think more. My Killstreak climbs and the blade gets more powerful. A trail of red tracer-light blooms from Deathloop. More RiftElite come. I keep hitting. More. The blade gets heavier with power. My Stamina is too high to quit.
Deathloop X10
Double damage. This is the kill that doesn’t end…
Deathloop slaughters the next dozen through the door. More RiftElites than I can manage. They’re not the ones I want anyway. He’s getting away downriver.
I fire Yeetlejuice and take off into the air after Mockquaman.
RiftElite fliers follow me. Jetpacks. Antigrav boots. Dronecycles. Flying unicorns.
Doesn’t matter. I’ve spent more time with Yeetlejuice than they’ve spent in-game. I ruin the first RiftElite that gets too close and keep my Killstreak going. Deathloop’s pitch rises, feeding on my fury. I decapitate the next Rifter and reach the top of my Yeetline arc. I let go and hang in the air a moment, looking over the golden valley.
Time stops.
I see Mockquaman, paddling with a rifle down the river on his gold island. Ahead of him, Pep and Hank look up at me. He’s holding one shoulder, still bleeding. The penguin stares at me with something close to awe.
Her eyes go neon pink. Her Meme Queen triggers, and the world goes video-ready.
Lightning ripples, golden clouds burn with fire. Music thunders, a brass announcement like gladiator music. A bullfighter entrance.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
But ten times more badass.
? “Narco” — Blasterjaxx & Timmy Trumpet (2017) ?
I hang in the air as bullfighter trumpets announce my intent. Blap Blap screens appear all over the golden cliffs. “OOOHHH!! RiftElite VERSUS LivingLegend!” Blap Blap screams at himself. “Who’s! It! Gonna! BEEE!!”
Time starts.
RiftTok Vid: “Enter the DDDragon” (Narco)
#RebelRaid #DeleteTheElite #Don’tDieDave +?250,000↑
I murder my way through the RiftElites as I swing through the air. Deathloop passes 20X, surging with power. Every time I gut a player, colorful blasts highlight the deathstroke. Afterimages. Stutter-frames. Dynamite highlights.
EmpathyEngine?: Stop Killing Clients!
Please refrain from murdering RiftEli—
+?300,000↑
I keep swinging, keep killing. Don’t want to stop.
Deathloop gets heavier. It feels like new muscles are being grafted into my arm to wield it. I feel my Stamina put to the test, but I’m not about to quit.
I take off the head of a RiftEliter dragonrider and take his dragon. Drive it into my pursuers. It breathes fire on a pack of RiftElites as I crush through them. One jumps onto the back of my dragon. I kill him. RiftElites swarm all over the beast, tearing it apart. I kill as many as I can, then jump off into thin air.
Deathloop X40
Hypercrit damage! Keep going, champ! Don’t stop now!
I yeet a hoverbike. When I destroy it, Deathloop creates a gravity well that pulls more victims to me. Good. The closer they get, the easier they are to kill. I take a laser blast to the shoulder and realize I’m down to my last California Roll. Doesn’t matter. I pop it in my mouth and keep killing. Blap Blap is shouting something to the crowd. I hear hollers, cheers.
Hype: ?525,000↑
I’ve doubled my Hype score in one combat. I don’t care. Only one thing matters.
I close in on Mockquaman.
I kill a RiftElite, another, keep my Killstreak going as I close in on the son of a bitch, bringing it all to him.
I see RiftCred bling as he purchases another Killshot. Raises it at me. I kick off from a RiftElite, and the Killshot aimbot targets him instead. Mockquaman obliterates the guy, wasting his shot. I’m close now. One more swing—
Mockquaman fires at me. I barely get my Shellshock up in time.
I hear the Oolith shield crack.
A sound of shattering glass, like a windshield in a car crash. He’s broken the unbreakable shield.
I land badly, rolling. Mockquaman aims but I’m too close. I nail him with the Deathloop before he pulls the trigger.
Invulnerability Sphere
Consumable (0/2 remain)
Rainbow shielding shatters to the ground around Mockquaman. No more tricks. No more protection. Nowhere to run.
His eyes are wide and panicked. “No, wait, you… listen to me, please, I can pay you—”
I fire Yeetlejuice into his chest. It locks onto his rib cage. Mockquaman flies off his feet as I yank him toward me. I bury Deathloop in his face, down his neck, and into his lungs.
Dead.
A hiss. A pop. The sound of my breath.
His corpse drops into the river.
I drop to my knees, exhausted.
I’m blind and deaf to the sirens and digital explosions that fill the air around me, celebrating my big kill. I’m on every screen in the valley. Blap Blap is screaming. My Hype score has rocketed past ?600,000. Everyone in RiftBorn is watching, cheering.
And I don’t feel anything.
I thought killing him would make me feel better. He was a monster. He killed Broadchurch. He killed Buck. But killing him didn’t change anything. They’re both still dead. And I feel… nothing.
I kneel there, panting, smelling the ozone in the air, listening to the sound of my beating heart, the rasp of my lungs as rage leaks out of me like it found a hole to escape through. I’m left empty. Cold.
Deathloop X66
I said this is the kill that doesn’t end. Get killing or get dying.
I hear the glitching noises, feel the jerking and convulsing in the blade that has become my arm. Deathloop wants me to keep killing. Needs me to.
But I’m done. Exhausted. Too weak to kill a fly.
Even if I could, what’s the point? Mockquaman is just respawning on the outer ring of Xanadome Carousel right now. He’ll be back. And he will never have a clue that he killed two people. To him, it will always be just a game. A game he can pay RiftBorn to win.
Deathloop—Critical Mass
Well… you asked for it. (consumable)
Deathloop detonates my forearm. A white-hot explosion rips through me. I watch my arm disintegrate right before my eyes melt out of my head.
I’m dead.
Dead.
Bloop-blip!
Hydraskin Armor
If your Health drops to 1%, the Hydra Scale Armor will instantly revive you. This armor will remove all debuffs, absorb all remainder damage, and bring your health to 10%. Your Get-Out-Of-Death-Free card. (consumable eliminated from inventory)
I fall on my back and crack my head on the rock as Hydraskin melts off my body. My eyes and flesh grow back, but I’m a smoking wreck. A burned-out husk.
The berserker rage is gone. There’s nothing left but a void.
I feel arms grab me.
“Careful!!” I hear Pepper squeak. “He’s hurt!”
“We have to go,” Hank pants. “They’re coming.” Hank hefts me in his arms. He’s bleeding, but he’s alive.
They carry me through the final ring gate and I hear the now-familiar chime.
Infinity Crown Ring 6: Womb Tomb
PvP Disabled | Difficulty: Ultraviolence
Cold.
Dark.
Silent.
I hear the Night Shift breathing, but can’t see them. I sense the wizards huddling together, ready to blast anything that follows us through the gate.
Nothing does.
“You needn't worry about them.” I hear a friendly voice in the dark. “Each party has its own permutation of the final Ring. This is yours.”
A doorway slides open with a whirr. The sudden light illuminates a black-and-gold spaceship chamber.
In the doorway stands a robot wearing a tuxedo.
“Greetings, Undesirables. Welcome to the Womb.”