Racing to the Finish Line

"Why did you help me?" Ath3na asked uncertainly.

They were standing barely a foot apart from each other as the platform they were on had very little room for social distancing.

Cyborg Ninja scratched the back of his head.

"I'm a fan of your streams," he said sheepishly. "I thought I'd help you now so you'll remember to call next time you need party members…"

Ath3na couldn't help raise an eyebrow at his explanation. Then she laughed, the first real laughed she'd had in the past few days.

Afterward, when the laughter had died out in her throat, she said, "Networking while in the middle of a competition… I like the go-getter attitude."

"We should go," he said as he pointed at Ath3na's back. "Others have arrived."

Ath3na cast a glance behind her and saw the bright glow of several torches racing out of the many entrances on the wall at the other side of the chasm.

"Let's go," she agreed.

Together, they jumped off the final platform and ran for the exit at the end of the short stretch of road they landed on.

"There's only one path," Ath3na noticed.

"It's a straight line to the finish line," Cyborg Ninja agreed.

They plunged into the darkness beyond, all while listening in for the voices of the commentators who continued to give a blow-by-blow account at what was happening to everyone else.

"Wow, that must have hurt," Maestro commented. "I don't think Narukami's getting up from that one…"

"I expect it'll be the poison that does him in," Donatella added.

The word 'poison' made Ath3na's brow furrow for several types of poisonous traps flitted across the surface of her mind while she ran.

"Lyghtning's leg got caught in the web," Donatella reported. "I don't believe she'll be able to get out of that one before Don Coyote — Oh, he's been ensnared as well."

"A little dumb of him to look back just to taunt her," Maestro added.

The thought of Don Coyote getting entangled in whatever the last obstacle was sounded like music to Ath3na's ears. In fact, it actually helped to lighten her steps as her feet crunched against the rough stone floor along the narrow passage that was indeed a straight shot to whatever final challenge was up next.

"Oh, wow!" Donatella exclaimed, and her voice was quickly drowned out by thousands of wild cheering.

Ath3na's heart skipped a beat. Had someone finally reached finish line, she wondered. Fortunately, that wasn't the case.

"Bully the Kid is showing off some amazing acrobatic skills as he trampoline's from one platform to the next," Donatella reported.

"I'm more amazed that he can fire off arrows while he's doing all that tumbling around," Maestro added.

Ath3na's feet were beginning to protest under the strain of her mad rush forward. But she was starting to feel desperate as it was clear from the streaks of light winking behind her that she and Cyborg Ninja were about to get company.

"And as Wunderkid and Wundergurl begin their duet, several of the players around them are dropping like flies, lulled by the lullaby of their combined tune," Donatella explained.

"A Blood Bard and a Beguiling Sorceress working together is a deadly and enchanting combo," Maestro agreed.

A chant of, "Wonder twins! Wonder Twins!" began among the audience.

Ath3na could see the light at the end of the tunnel. It was just a few yards away now.

"Excuse me! Coming through," someone yelled from behind her.

Ath3na just managed to duck in time as a figure dove past her.

It was a girl in a black coat whose skin and long hair was formed of a mucous-like substance that now made her seem more monster than human. Even stranger, the evolved player's bare feet slid across the ceiling while spewing water from behind her heels, giving Ath3na the impression that she was surfing on the walls.

"Morphling," Cyborg Ninja whispered from beside Ath3na.

"And Iceheart races past Ath3na and Cyborg Ninja, placing her up in fourth place," Donatella announced.

"Impressive, considering she was number eighteen only five minutes ago," Maestro added.

Ath3na raced to catch up with the morphling, but the slime girl was just too fast, and so she could only watch helplessly as Iceheart crossed through the opening into the final challenge first. Then Ath3na heard her scream.

"Wow!" Donatella yelled. "Talk about a sudden twist… I don't think Iceheart expected to get ambushed right out of the gate."

Ath3na slowed her pace. At the same time, she pulled out Red Death from its strap behind her back.

"You think we're about to be attacked?" Cyborg Ninja asked while he too drew his katana from its sheath at his side.

"Best to be prepared," she whispered while in her mind, the words 'poison' and 'ensnare' had taken on a whole new meaning.

"Lyghtning's free! Narukami's free! Oh, Lord of Death, even Don Coyote managed to extricate himself from the webs," Donatella reported.

"It's a neck and neck battle now," Maestro agreed.

Ath3na sped out of the gate with red death at the ready, and just as expected, was greeted by a giant, hairy, and spindly eight-legged creature whose four pairs of beady black eyes were staring right back at her.

A chill ran up her spine for she really didn't like this type of enemy, especially when it was jumping out at her from the shadows.

"Soul Pulse!" Ath3na yelled, and then the tip of Red Death was alight with a fiery glow that unleashed a barrage of spiritual blasts against the creature.

[WARNING! THIS [FEL ARACHNID] IS IMMUNE TO DAMAGE WHILE IN THIS DUNGEON.]

"Holy f*cking sh*t!" Ath3na managed to scream just as she ducked away from the string of web that streaked out of the Fel Arachnid's mandibles. "The devs are really making this difficult!"

She managed a glance over her shoulder. "Cyborg! Spiders!"

Cyborg Ninja managed a, "Oh my god, I hate spiders!" right before she plunged into the shadows underneath him like a dip into a very dark pool.

"Wow, that's a pretty neat ability… no wonder I couldn't see you running ahead of me earlier!" Ath3na couldn't help but feel impressed. Then she realized something else. "Wait a minute… you're a girl?!"

Cyborg Ninja's head popped out of the shadow beside Ath3na's just so she could say, "Yes, you just noticed that now?"

Ath3na shook her head. The armor Cyborg Ninja wore made it unclear, and until just now, she thought the muffled but slightly high-pitched voice she'd heard underneath the mask just belonged to a boy. It wasn't until she'd heard the very lady-like yell that she put two and two together.

"We can discuss women in gaming later, now run," Cyborg Ninja warned just before she ducked her head back into the shadowy pool.

Ath3na followed her advice and ran. She was just in time too as one of the Fel Arachnid's hairy legs had just made a swipe for the spot she'd just vacated.

"And the Den Mother just dropped down from the ceiling, pinning Lyghtning and Narukami under its weight," Donatella reported.

"That Don Coyote sure is a slippery one," Maestro chuckled. "And he's not even a morphling!"

Ath3na could see them now, a mere twenty yards away. That's how much she and Cyborg Ninja managed to catch up to the front-runners. And Ath3na could see why they'd been having such a hard time with this last obstacle.

The cavern was a series of naturally-formed pillars supporting a low-hanging ceiling. Thick spider webs latched onto walls, pillars, and floors, making the cross through this room quite precarious. Even worse, a dozen or more German-Shepard-sized spiders were creeping out of the many holes that littered the ceiling, flinging even more webs down on the challengers.

"That thing's huge," Cyborg Ninja whispered as her head popped out of Ath3na's shadow once more.

She was referring to the massive spider that lay at the center of the room with Lyghtning and Narukami each pinned to one of its thick, hairy legs.

The sight of it made Ath3na nauseous. Cyborg Ninja wasn't the only one weak to spiders.

"Can you get past it?" Ath3na asked while her eyes zoned in on her struggling friend.

"I can try," Cyborg Ninja said. "But what about you?"

Ath3na gripped tighter on her weapon as another sight made her frown only deepen.

A choice was upon her now. Continue running and avoid the enemies with her spectral cloak, thereby leaving Lyghtning under the mercy of the giant spider and securing herself a second or third place finish. Or, she could do the one thing she'd been itching to do since she heard his name on the announcer's lips. Despite the hardship she'd just undergone and her own desperation to cross the finish line, that choice was surprising not as difficult to make as she'd thought.

"You go ahead," Ath3na instructed. "I'll make sure you finish first…"

"But…" Cyborg Ninja was about to protest when the roaring of the crowd reached their ears.

"Bully the Kid just jumped into the final obstacle with Argonaut and the wonder twins right behind him!" Maestro yelled. "And Iceheart's back up!"

"Bulldog Alfie, Oh!siris, Niku, Anabelle's Dolly, Wotan, Sirius Blue, and Moonpie are right behind them too," Donatella added. "We're in the endgame now!"

"Go, Cyborg!" Ath3na yelled just as she raised her left hand forward and shaped it into a claw.

"Get over here!" she called. "Wraith Chain!"

An ethereal blue chain with a spike at its end exploded out of her palm and zoomed forward, past the giant spider and her captives, reaching that twenty yard distance that separated her from the back of her hated rival.

"Oh, Lord of Death!" Donatella yelled. "Impressive aim!"

The crowd was going wild now, and even in this dank cavern, Ath3na was infected by their excitement.

"What a trick shot!" Maestro added. "And Don Coyote misses that coveted first place by a step!"

Maestro was right. Only a step remained between Don Coyote and the platform that would have teleported him back to the arena and the praises of an excited crowd. But Ath3na had stolen this dream away from him.

As he was being forcefully dragged back and away from glory, he saw the shadow zip past him. He saw the masked figure rising above it. Then he saw that same figure step on the platform, and seconds later, get whisked away. He heard Maestro yell, "Cyborg Ninja jumps to first place!" and it drowned out his own yell of, "Ath3na, you b**ch!"

Behind him, Ath3na was smiling to herself. "So worth it."