Captain Vulcan and Master Chaffe digitized shortly after being struck by Shade's tendrils. Vtron sputtered up blood and began to digitize. She grunted at Shade, "With my dying breath, I just want you to know...you're a cuck, dude."
The maddening void of Shade's new self maniacally cackled. A malicious aura exuded like tentacles around him, his eyes glowed with red evil, and blood poured from their sockets. An eerie, unrelenting grin dominated his face.
"Shade? How did he manage to kill Vtron?" Asterion narrowed his eyes. Something was off about Shade.
"At least we have less competition now," Minnie cheerfully ignored the tormented soul before them.
Gamer rolled his eyes, aimed his Desert Eagle outside the window, and took a headshot on Shade. The black tendrils intercepted and blocked the bullet. Shade's glare gleamed after Gamer's failure. Gamer grimaced, "Damn, he's learned his lesson. This won't be as easy as before."
Sonia opened up a comm link to reach Shade, "Shade, what the hell's going on? What did Mortimer do to you?"
Instead of a response from Shade, she received a garbled mess of electronic noises. Like corrupted sound files. The longer she listened, it sounded dark, darker, yet darker.
Talis drew her attention, "Sonia, something's wrong. Look at your minimap."
Indeed, the spot Shade took up was a strange void of glitched blackness. It spread, and soon her minimap cut out entirely. It latched onto her chat, and soon it devoured those, too. Shade's darkness corrupted her UI.
"It's like a virus..." Talis sent, but did some digital gymnastics to avoid the corruption.
"What the fuck..." Sonia became anxious. That wasn't Shade, "What did Mortimer do to him?"
"Whatever the deal is, you should keep going! Remember, even if Gamer dies, he anteed his high score. It's yours even if Shade kills him!" Talis instructed.
Sonia redirected her attention to the finish line. It was a long stretch of slight, rocky elevations and the beach. Maneater flytraps, giant squids, and potentas playing tennis were obstacles that'd surely slow her down.
"But is this how I really want to win..." Sonia heard Asterion's voice when she said it. From Mr. Khom's doubt, to Shade's condemnation, to the bull's-eye on Gamer's back – everything was a handicap in her favor. It felt way too easy.
"If Shade kills you, you'll lose your dream!" Talis shoved through her apprehension.
It rattled her, and Sonia nodded. She burst forward towards the finish line. She sighed and said, "Don't die to that idiot, Gamer..."
Shade's voice contorted to sound more demonic, "Gamer! At long last, I have returned from the depths of Hell. I am your despair incarnate; the storm that approaches; your death made true! My flesh and identity be damned! I will forgo all humanity to assure your destruction!!"
Gamer, unfamiliar with the language of dumbassery, stepped out of Ego and snorted, "Tch, 'edge'lord is right. This guy loves to verbally masturbate."
"I'd say we should just ignore him, but those eldritch tendrils are new. Plus, he took out one of my favorite gaming icons and all my Vtuber friends. There's no way I'll let that slide," Asterion got serious. He reverted to his original size. He and Minnie joined Gamer's side, "In the end, Marathon is the last obstacle between us and winning."
Along with his aura dampening the colors of the world around them, the clouds above spread like a disease. Thunder rumbled, and lightning flashed within the darkness. Few, but heavy, droplets began to rain down.
"Prepare for negative karma, Gamer! Failure has strengthened my resolve! Death may claim me, but you will never escape my online tantrum rage!" Shade bellowed. His egotistical insanity didn't end there. He didn't advance, but remained stationary. To add salt to the wound, the douche continued his nonsensical word salad.
Gamer declared with a pointed finger and dialogue, "I can bring my own dark cloud over you! If you think you can stop me, that's gonna be your final fantasy beneath this awesome star ocean! Mark my words, under the twilight of the spirits!"
"Stop trying to sound cryptic like him," Asterion chastised.
The audience at the start line jeered and booed. They lambasted Shade for ruining the race, and the livestreams were filled with the same sentiments. Shade glared up at the lackatoe filming him. An aura of disruption caused static that fed through the screens.
"You dare judge me? I? The Ultimate Incarnation of Pro Gaming! The one hope you have to see Gamer split in twine?!" Shade's avatar twisted and mangled on their screens. Tendrils of darkness corrupted everyone's screens. His visage dominated the screens with black void eyes and a maniacal, inhuman grin.
The players screamed out in mental anguish. When a few died and pixelated, the pixels turned into Shade's umbral tendrils. These tentacles lashed out and attacked the attendees. Bedlam erupted at the start, since none of the players were allowed to move from their seats. Sweet Heart caught some of the tendrils before they lashed him in the face. He threw the corruption away and beat his chest for more to come. Noticeably, the darkness never reached or attacked the councilors.
"(ಠ_ಠ) Bro! Homeslice went banana cakes all of a sudden! Shade's changing the behavior of the game. Just like you, but in a whole different way!" Samira informed.
"Eternal gamenation?" Gamer didn't understand.
"No cap, I checked the news during his yapping. Learned he did some atrocious things after you pwned him for a second time. Then, father got his hands on him," Samira sorted out. "My best guess is they turned him into an NPC, and as you've seen with Persica and Marco, your final thoughts and desires are amplified into your coding. I wouldn't be surprised if they manipulated some of the strings – it really is the only way to add to the game legally."
"That explains it. They took his humanity, and turned him into a monster," Gamer hated the idea. He hated his father.
"You will experience endless pain and torment! I will dox your family and friends, SWAT bomb your home, and levy unwarranted, subhuman allegations upon your name!" Shade threatened all who opposed him. "My judgement will reign supreme as the ultimate pro gamer! I am THE sigma, who'll abolish you and all your low-T brethren!"
"You're not edgy..." Gamer caught Shade's attention. "You're just an asshole!"
"I am free! I am the ultimate weapon! May the king reign eternal!" Shade bellowed with more laughter. The storm above reflected the chaos that ravaged the race event.
Minnie hopped into Ego and shot the remaining rockets at Shade. His dark swirls protected him. He belted about degeneracy and deviants, and Minnie shrugged, "I tried."
"I mean, what can we do? He's not approaching, and he's practically impervious," Gamer was stumped, just as Shade yelled about how his broken mind is no longer in control.
"Asshole needs to get laid, or a surefire knockout hit," Asterion said, just as Shade shouted about how his existence is devoid of love.
"Why don't you use your magic touch on him, Gamer? That helps a lot of people," Minnie suggested.
Gamer and Asterion glanced over at Shade, who taunted, "Come unto me, Gamer!"
Gamer and Asterion shook their heads and scrunched their faces, "Naaah, no, nope, he wouldn't want that."
"Whateves you do, bro, make it quick. Based on Sonia's speed, she'll be claiming that W in a matter of minutes! We need to get past Shade!" Samira sent.
Gamer received an epiphany. The words he's heard since he started his digital journey and math formulas floated around in his mind. They crushed together, like candy, and popped out of existence, like candy.
Gamer turned to Asterion, "I might have an idea. Do you have a Super in the chamber?"
Asterion rotated an arm, "Buddy, I haven't used anything since yesterday. I can do you one better..."
Gamer displayed his confidence, "Alright, let's beat Marathon and win this thing! Samira, it's time to boogie down!"