I’d been at Matt’s place for a little longer than I’d intended, and it was getting a bit late out. It was late enough that the sun had set and there were few cars on the road. I preferred it this way, because I didn’t have to deal with nearly as many jackass drivers.

My tiny apartment was only about ten minutes away from Matt’s place, so it was normally a pretty short trip. However, my fuel gauge was getting a bit low and I decided to stop for gas, which would probably add another ten minutes to my trip. There was enough in the tank that I could make it home without any problem, but then, I’d just have to gas up on the way to work tomorrow, and stopping now was more convenient.

The gas station looked like nearly every other one that I’d ever seen, with a couple rows of pumps and a small convenience store where you could pick up some snacks or something to drink. I’d been to this particular gas station a few times before, and knew that this one had a small frozen yogurt machine near the register.

At the moment, there was only one other vehicle at the pumps, a nice looking motorcycle. It was one of those crotch rocket types, though I couldn’t tell anything more than that. Motorcycles weren’t my thing, but this one looked pretty damn fast.

With a shrug, I went on inside to pay for my gas and pick up a couple snacks for work. That, and stock up on some energy drinks, since I’d need the boost for my early morning workout tomorrow.

I had nearly reached the door when a girl came out, immediately catching my attention. She was a hot looking blonde, about nineteen or twenty, which was around my own age, and she was wearing a black leather jacket.

The girl was busy unwrapping a pack of cigarettes so didn’t seem to notice me at first, but when she did, she exclaimed, “Jerry?”

At that moment, I suddenly realized who this girl was. I should have recognized my former girlfriend sooner, but the last time I’d seen her had been more than a year ago, and she’d had a different hairstyle.

“Nadine,” I responded in surprise.

Nadine Fairlan stared at me with a gleam in her eyes and a faint sneer on her lips. She took a cigarette and lit it, not taking her eyes off me in the process. Only after taking a deep drag, then blowing the smoke out in my direction, did she speak.

“Well, this is a surprise,” she said.

“Yes,” I agreed, not sure what to say next. ‘It’s nice to see you again,’ would have been a lie.

“You look even more buff than you used to,” Nadine said, giving me an appreciative look, before abruptly asking, “You using steroids now?”

“No,” I answered evenly. “Not my thing.”

I didn’t bother to admit that there were many times when I’d been tempted, especially when I’d been trying to get the attention of some scouts so I could earn a scholarship. Maybe if I’d been willing to take that risk, I would have played well enough. Or maybe, I could have really messed up my body and life. There was no knowing what could have been, nor any reason to dwell on it.

Just then, Nadine’s cell phone began to ring. She took it out of her jacket pocket and backed away from me before answering.

“Yeah,” answered, still moving away from me. “You found them? Great. Where?” There was a pause before she said, “I’m about half a mile away. I’ll be there in just a minute.”

Nadine hung up the phone, smirking as she did so. It was an expression that meant that she was about to make someone very unhappy, and I was just grateful that it wasn’t me.

“See you around, Jerry,” Nadine said in a tone that could have been a promise or a threat. Then, Nadine went and climbed onto the motorcycle, giving me one more look before she took off, nearly racing out of the gas station.

“And there goes a whole crap ton of crazy,” I muttered with a shake of my head, before I continued with my business.

Ten minutes later, I left the gas station with a full tank and a couple snacks for later. By this time, I was even more eager to get home, and looked forward to getting a little more XP for Karock before bed.

I hadn’t gone very far when I saw a sudden burst of fire, like some kind of explosion from an action movie. It was off to the side, in a large empty lot that looked like there had once been a building there. A ball of fire, about ten feet wide, appeared out of nowhere and then vanished a moment later.

“What the hell?” I blurted out in surprise.

No matter the cause, explosions in town weren’t good news. The smart thing would have been to just call 911 while driving away as fast as I could. However, as Matt liked to joke, I was just a dumb jock, so I slammed on the brakes instead.

Jumping out of my car, I yelled, “Hey, what’s going on?”

Even as I said this, I knew I was being stupid. My curiosity was getting the better of my common sense, but I was too stubborn to change my mind now.

For a couple seconds, I just stood there, looking over the lot. There were several people there and it looked like they were fighting, but it was dark enough that I couldn’t make out many details. I might have changed my mind and hopped back into my car, if it wasn’t for the fact that I saw a motorcycle laying on it’s side. It was the same motorcycle that I’d seen at the gas station a short time ago.

“Crap,” I grumbled, remembering the brief conversation I’d overheard Nadine having.

Whatever was going on here, Nadine was involved. That gave me another reason to turn around and go the other way. However, I wasn’t the type of person to just up and run away. So instead, I did what I always did when in doubt, I charged forward and counted on my own strength and determination to get me through.

I walked into the lot, tensing up as I got ready to fight. I didn’t know if I’d have to, but I wanted to be ready, just in case. From this new position, I had a much better look at what was going on, but it didn’t make a lot of sense.

The first person that my eyes went to was Nadine, who for some reason, was wearing what looked like some kind of lightweight red and black armor. I was pretty sure that there hadn’t been enough time between the gas station and now, for her to change into this cosplay getup. But as surprising as her outfit was, that was nothing compared to the fact that she actually had a ball of fire in her hand.

A short distance away from Nadine was another person in a strange costume, though I couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman, because he or she was wearing some kind of green and black robes, with a hood that shadowed the face. This person was holding a nasty looking scythe, which glowed with a purple aura.

Both Nadine and this robed figure seemed to be attacking the two other people who were present. One of them was a large and muscular guy, who held a massive sledge hammer. No, as a gamer, I should have recognized a war hammer sooner. He looked almost like he’d stepped right out of one of my games.

The last person was a girl with long red hair, who was standing back behind the guy with the hammer. She was wearing an odd white and red dress, and was holding a golden staff. If the hammer guy looked like a warrior from my game, she looked like a caster of some kind.

“What the hell is going on here?” I demanded.

Nadine was the only one who seemed to notice me, as she alone turned to look in my direction. Her eyes widened in surprise. “I didn’t expect to see you again so soon, and especially not like this…”

At the same time, the robed figure leapt at the man with the hammer, swinging the scythe. Suddenly, a black clad ninja appeared right behind Robe, trying to stab him from behind with a katana. However, Robe reacted in an instant, snapping and slicing the ninja in half.

The girl cried out in horror and Hammer charged at Robe. Their weapons met with a loud clang. Nadine snapped her attention away from me and threw the ball of fire at the girl, who was no longer able to hide behind Hammer. The ball of fire hit a glowing transparent wall, which appeared in front of the girl.

I was shocked, horrified, and completely confused by what was going on, and by Nadine’s involvement in it. A man had just been murdered in front of me, and it seemed that everyone else was trying to do the same thing to each other…with balls of fire and monster scythes.

“Get back here and protect me,” the redhead yelled to Hammer.

Nadine smirked as both of her hands burst into flame, right before she charged straight at the redhead. The girl shrieked and scrambled backwards, swinging her staff and creating another glowing wall of light in front of her. Nadine hit this wall and was knocked back a little, but only for a moment. From that look in her eyes, I knew she wasn’t going to give up that easily.

I didn’t know who this girl was or what Nadine had against her, but I knew my one-time girlfriend, so I was siding with the redhead. With barely a conscious thought, I ran forward and tackled Nadine. Normally, I don’t like hitting chicks, but in this case, I was making an exception.

As soon as Nadine hit the ground, she twisted around and hit me, knocking me off her with a surprising ease. Then, she scrambled back to her feet and sneered down at me with that familiar look of contempt.

“You should have minded your own damn business,” Nadine exclaimed.

“Yeah, but you know me,” I responded with a chuckle.

Nadine sneered. “Yes, I do. You’ve always been an idiot.”

“I was smart enough to dump your ass,” I reminded her.

Without saying another word, Nadine abruptly came at me. She grabbed the front of my jacket, and to my shock and confusion, she lifted me up off the ground…with one hand.

“What the hell?” I blurted out in stunned disbelief. But considering everything else I’d already seen, I probably shouldn’t have been surprised at one more crazy thing.

“You know, I’m glad you’re here,” Nadine announced with a malicious gleam in her eyes. “It gives me the chance to do this…”

A ball of fire suddenly appeared in Nadine’s hand, and before I could get free of her grasp, she slammed it into my stomach. An instant later, a burning, searing pain, tore through my stomach and insides. Before I could even get the scream out of my threat, the agony spread over my entire body.

“Oh yes,” Nadine moaned, sounding like she was having an orgasm. Then, she dropped me to the ground. “Thanks for the boost, Jerry…”

I screamed in agony while smelling a horrible stench, which a voice in the back of my head identified as my own burning flesh. I was on fire. I was being burned alive. Terror and desperation join with the pain, but I couldn’t do anything about it.

Somehow, I remained aware of my surroundings enough to see Nadine throw a blast of fire at Hammer, hitting him from behind and covering his entire body in flames. Robe immediately ran around him and swung his scythe at the redhead. He hit another wall of light, then his scythe cut right through it.

“NO,” the girl cried out in desperation, swinging her staff. She caught his scythe and knocked it aside. “Even if you beat me, I’ll beat you when I come back…”

“No, you won’t,” a man’s voice responded.

Robe punched at the redhead with his free hand, which was glowing with an eerie purple aura, similar to what had surrounded the scythe. He struck her in the solar plexus, and suddenly, the purple glow spread to her entire body, covering her with what looked like purple flames.

“You got her?” Nadine asked with a sadistic glee.

“Yes,” Robe answered in a cold tone. “I’ve removed her from the game…”

The redhead had already collapsed to the ground, but that didn’t seem to be enough for Robe, who then swung his scythe at the motionless body. From my position, I couldn’t see what kind of damage he’d done, but he seemed satisfied, as did Nadine, who laughed.

By this point, I was no longer screaming, though that wasn’t because the pain had stopped. It was simply because my body no longer seemed capable of screaming. In spite of the burning agony, I was still alive, though I knew it wouldn’t be for long. And truthfully, I hoped…prayed for it all to end. At that moment, all I wanted was for it to end.

Then, my silent prayers finally seemed to have been answered because I sank into a cold, soothing darkness. At least, until I saw the light.