Game Boy

10 - PvP

The full-blooded NPC's face barely changed from his original nasty scowl as Kenneth reeled back from him. The pain in his face wasn't real, he knew that. There was no actual pain because the game couldn't hurt him. This was phantom pain. He felt his mother's knuckles sting his skin, leaving behind black bruises as he stumbled back and gasped raggedly. His chest clenched painfully, slowing him down as he sank down. 

"Kenneth, you need to run!" Byrd yelled faintly to the side. 

His eyes blurred a little and he fought down air. It's a game, it's a game. They can't hurt me. They can't hurt me...tears tried to well up in his eyes, the only signal of pain his avatar had. He pressed a hand to his throbbing cheek, shivering as he gripped the cold cobblestone ground with his free hand. Passing out felt like the best option. His lungs were already onboard with the plan. 

Someone grabbed the collar of his jacket and hauled him up, though. Recoiling, he curled in on himself, yelling. Cold flushed through his body and he squeezed his eyes shut on instinct.

"Kenneth, hit him and run!" Byrd grunted, sounding like she was fighting. Kenneth didn't have the energy to look her way. 

Trembling, he shook his head. He couldn't hit the man. He couldn't run. He could barely breathe. Everything hurt from his face to his chest as he pressed one hand to his heaving avatar's chest. It's a game, it's a game...the repeated mantra wasn't helping as the NPC laughed and dragged him back, throwing him to the wall. Kenneth hiccupped painfully and curled up. "Stop..." he whispered, panting. 

Someone growled and grunted beside him, another figure smacking the wall. He flinched but slowly looked over to see Byrd sink back with her chest heaving. She flashed a snarl at the NPC's, whom he realized now were all full-blooded humans and holding guns trained on them. The lack of grafter technology should've been obvious, but had escaped his first glance. Now he saw it plainly as he shrank away from their mocking glares. the NPC on the left, the one who'd hit him, spit out a toothpick onto the ground and pointed down the road. "Go get the truck. We're taking these two back with us."

"What's he talking about?" Byrd murmured, her hands curling into firm fists as she recovered and sat up. Her eyes were narrowed into slits as she glared right back at their assailants.

Keeping himself protectively against the wall, Kenneth shrugged and hunched his shoulders up to his ears. "I...I don't know..." he wheezed out. His chest hurt badly, his heartbeat pounding in his ears. That was likely a bad sign since he shouldn't have been hyper-aware of his own vitals in-game. He gulped down a large breath in hopes of counteracting it. Passing out a third time while in-game would only freak out Byrd, again, and land him right back in the one place he needed to escape from. 

His eyes trailed after the two NPC's that broke off, though, watching them lumber into the shaded alleyway. Fear crawled over his skin and he pulled his knees to his chest. Is this really any kind of escape, though? he thought. His fingers trailed to his cheek, still faintly throbbing with pain from years past. He grit his teeth and swallowed. 

"Kenneth, you okay?" 

Turning, he saw Byrd staring at him. Her brow was furrowed deep in concern, her hands relaxed. He swallowed and waited for his ragged breathing to even out before he answered her.

"Shaken, that's all," he lied. 

Lips compressing, she nodded and leaned back again, shooting a dark look at the NPC guarding them. There weren't any others and Kenneth wondered why she wasn't running. He frowned a little and looked down, then blinked. Duh, this is the quest. We're supposed to sit this part out. If we were meant to take them down they'd have health bars. His eyes trailed back up. None of the NPCs had the telltale red line over their head showing health points. This was how they got to the quest. He rubbed his cheek. Maybe we need to seek out less violent quests next time. Maybe not go with the shady NPC's in the alleyway, he thought.