"Watashi...hontou baka. I should have never been selfish. I should have stick to the mission. I failed, Charlie-kun. I failed to save my brother and I got everyone killed. That is why they call me Subarashī Baka, the Great Idiot, a name I deserve."
"I'm sorry, Haru…"
Charlie was happy to lend his ear to Haru, but he never knew it was this bad. He was no stranger to failures and fuck-ups, but this experience, where so many lives were lost, was different. To be honest, the American geek contemplated how he should even react – how he should empathize. He didn't know who to side with. Everyone who was affected had a reason to be angry. What Haru did was something that would be hard to forget, and a simple plea for forgiveness would not suffice.
Yet, Charlie acknowledged that this was unintentional. Haru was a kind person but she had her faults and lackings in life. She couldn't possibly help it if she wanted to save her brother first. However, this did not make her decision right. Charlie just wished wisdom was available to everybody. That life was better than this, God was fairer, and fate wasn't an asshole. The world was so cruel to roll her existence on a pavement of suffering and mistakes.
"I-I knew of Ryūji. We met each other three years ago when this place first got out of control. I didn't expect him to go back to this place and get himself in trouble again. I'm sorry this happened, Haru. God, why is life so horrible…"
"It seems life is filled with bad decisions, Charlie-kun. It seems my brother and the captain weren't immune to it too. But I know… I fucking know… nobody fucks up everything worse than me."
The eyes of the American geek couldn't hold it any longer. Teardrops finally fell and his breathing became difficult. Haru smiled since, for the first time, her story was met with sympathy, not anger.
"Charlie-kun, go back to Amp and Cal. They need you now. Leave me here. I don't want to cause trouble anymore."
The objective of talk therapy was to create an atmosphere where the victim could release all of her ills, emotions, and problems. Combined with unconditional positive regard from a good listener, such therapies could heal those who suffered through a tragedy. Charlie, however, believed this talk made everything worse. Now he's torn whether it was a good idea to have initiated such counseling.
The American geek couldn't remember saying goodbye. His memories of the following days were murky as well. Hanging out with Cal and the other geeks in Otaku Academy didn't help either. Nothing but loneliness was in the air. No talks, no jokes, no banters, and fun times. The trauma of their battle with DudeAssassin still hung on their heads. Amp himself was nowhere to be found; probably still distraught over Catherine's death. God knows if he was still even alive.
As Charlie sat in the gym, surrounded by melancholia, he could see how decimated their numbers were. How long would they try to hold on before every one of them got slaughtered? He was there to save these people but now he was sitting there doing nothing.
A week later, Amp finally resurfaced. He walked into the academy, face still stricken, but compared to them, he looked more alive. Charlie didn't know how Amp did it, but it was obvious he had succeeded in moving on. Besides being an FBI agent, mental fortitude was probably another reason why he was the leader.
Everyone was summoned to the baseball field, and a roll call was given. Amp scanned his remaining army, eyed Charlie specifically, before giving a stoic nod.
"We should be celebrating right now, you know?" Amp said to the crowd. "Three of the bosses are dead, right? We worked hard on killing them too."
But the crowd said nothing; they just gave back Amp's glimpses without any excitement or care.
"Wake up, everyone!" continued Amp. "We're almost there, remember? Just hang in there! We'll get through this. In fact, I think we've grieved long enough."
Tough words from a guy who killed many of them with his hands. But Charlie did notice Amp's elation and he knew what was up. Amp had a new scheme concocted for them.
"I know I've been gone for days, and most of it was indeed wasted due to depression. Forgive me if I left but I got tired of being depressed. It dawned on me that I should do something so the sacrifices of our friends would not be in vain. We only have one boss left to kill, the boss of Stan City, who calls himself the Rebooter. For days, I've been doing recon on Stan City, taking notes of everything I see. I know where the Rebooter is. I know we can kill him."
The other geeks retained their demeanor even as Amp tried to rally them. It would take more than that to jumpstart their motivation. Results – not speeches – were the only thing that would make them happy. Nonetheless, they did what Amp said, and prepared themselves for another bloody crusade.
"Here we go again. Guess it's showtime," Cal said to Charlie.
"Fuckin' hell," replied Charlie unenthusiastically.
"Do you think this is a good idea?"
"Good idea? I can't say but I feel Amp's being hasty again."
"Well, it's not just his fault. The Great Idiot had a hand in it too. I too fucked up on that mission."
Cal was right and Charlie should have known better. Amp had a lot of weaknesses, but none of it were reasons for distrust and disunity. Charlie remembered Haru's sharing. Canceling Amp for his failure was a disrespect to her and what she'd been through.
Charlie could still reminisce the land of comic books back when he was still a superhero in the Escapist Dream. Of all the districts of this virtual reality world, none was as beautiful and majestic as Stan City. As the name suggested, it was named after the great Stan Lee, and everything about it was inspired by the modern mythology of masked crime fighters.
Charlie thought about the first time he laid eyes on it. The tall skyscrapers seemingly reaching towards the heavens, each having weird designs, from the common rectangular buildings to the artistically shaped spiral, triangular, and cylindrical buildings. There were city blocks that housed the suburbs, hovering in the air on their anti-gravity base. There were many kinds of vehicles, from the old cars and trucks cruising on roads, to flying ones that zipped across the cityscape.
While the environment appeared futuristic and awesome, the real beauty laid in its inhabitants. Both guests and AIs were dressed in superhero garbs. There were those flying in the air wearing their capes and tights, some swinging on web-shooters or grappling guns, and others dressed in animal costumes driving their high-tech mobiles. There were also the magicians in their long coats and armored superheroes rocketing to the sky. Of course, there were villains too. The cunning super-powered criminals dressed as clowns, red Nazis, alien invaders from galaxies far far away, eldritch abominations and powerful sorcerers from past eons, and petty criminals and muggers in the streets.
However, the moment they arrived at the current Stan City, what greeted Charlie was emptiness. The skyscrapers were there though they appeared dilapidated, cracked, with debris falling off, signalling some were about to collapse. The roads and airways were silent, with vehicles parked haphazardly all around. Grass and weeds had overtaken every inch of the city, and the color it once had, now disconsolate and lifeless.
Gone was the Stan City that Charlie used to love. Still, the memories lingered on in his mind. The good times he had back then with his friends.
Hey Jim! God, you won't believe what I just fuckin' did.
Tell us about it, lad. What did you do?
So like there was this asshole who thought it was a good idea to choose a power that allows him to summon and control shit. Crapkinesis. And that genius thought he was invincible since no one would like to fight him since he's made of shit. But his power didn't save him from me. I stepped up and fought him.
How did you defeat him? And please, God, I bloody hope you cleaned yourself afterwards.
That's the thing! I defeated him with the funniest thing ever! I just like went to the grocery store, bought every bleach I could carry, and sprinkled them all unto him! It was fuckin' hilarious, Jim!
Mate, please. If you ever find yourself in such situations, don't go out there by yourself.
Awe… someone's bein' a mom!
I'm serious, lad! Don't go in there on your own. Call me if you find something interesting because I want to have fun too!
Amp was now extra careful compared to their time in Gamer's Den. Although the city laid in front of them, he didn't order any full-frontal assaults. He did form five teams of geeks to attack several areas he knew would be teeming with enemies. There was no guarantee they would be able to destroy every grunt in this city. But these groups were essential in keeping them busy so the boss would not have any backup or support.
"Am I an asshole if I say that I have a bad feelin' about this?" Charlie said as they finally march to where Amp said the boss was located.
"Negative," replied Amp.
"I feel shitty too," Cal added. "How many people are we going to lose now?"
"Let's not think of any defeatism, Cal and Charlie."
When Amp's group finally arrived at the city park, a boy was sitting on a bench overlooking an artificial lake. The boy appeared as a typical comic book nerd, complete with a t-shirt bearing the picture of World War Hulk, thick spectacles taped in the center, and tough steel braces. However, he had that white cross on his head.
The kid was peacefully reading a comic book when Amp and the others arrived.
"Hi there," Amp greeted.
"Welcome to Stan City," the boy said as he continued reading his comics. "So I'm the last of the bosses. You know what that means?"
"Don't know, don't care," Amp replied. "I'm on a deadline right now, and I really want to get home."
To the surprise of Charlie, Amp drew his hand cannon and blew up the head of the young boy. Charlie shut his eyes and recoiled. Even if that kid was the boss, it's never easy to stomach a young child getting murdered.
"Is it over?" Cal asked.
Before a reply was given, the young boy's corpse began to twitch violently. His skin turned purple and metallic plates magically emerged, covering his body. The body itself rose and grew quickly, making the geeks run away from the park.
The boy had turned into a 200-foot-tall monster with a bell-curved head, large yellow eyes, and teeth grinning menacingly. He was covered in blue armor, with green decaying skin and yellow lines running all around his waist and limbs.
Charlie felt the coldness of dread for he recognized this monster. Every comic book geek worth his or her salt knew who this was. He was the original harbinger of world destruction. The one who brought a crisis upon so many earths. The celestial god that not even the powerhouses could beat without a sweat. The one who gave birth to so many event comics, and became a way for comic book companies to restart and retcon their stories.
"Oh fuck," Charlie muttered. "It's the fuckin' Anti-Monitor."
"Anti-Monitor? Ha!" the Rebooter said. "I merely took this form because it is the most iconic when it comes to rebooting everything!"
The time for cautiousness was over. With the enemy now present, Amp gave the signal to attack. "Be careful, all of you!" Amp added. "Be prepared to fall back if he does something!"
The geeks then complied, but Amp stopped Charlie and Cal from joining. "I want you guys to stay here," Amp told the two. "Let's observe that son of a bitch first."
A group of teenage heroes came forward, led by a fair-skinned boy wearing a black domino mask and cape, red vest with the letter "R", green gloves and pants. With him was a tall and large cybernetic black kid with a blue robotic body and a red right eye; a green-skinned boy with purple and black spandex who could transform into animals; an orange-skinned red-haired young vixen wearing a purple tank top, skirt, and thigh-high boots; and a short-haired goth girl wearing a black leotard, navy blue hood and cape, and a red diamond accessory on her forehead.
"Titans, go!" the domino-masked boy yelled, before chucking bird-shaped boomerangs at the Rebooter. The others followed suit, with the cybernetic kid transforming his arm into a cannon that fired a concussive blue energy beam, the orange-skinned girl firing green energy balls, and the green-skinned kid turning into a green grizzly bear before charging.
The Rebooter laughed at their cute attempt, as nothing they threw affected him. He smashed his left palm at the grizzly bear, splattering him like a mosquito, much to the horror of the other teens.
"Azarath…" the goth girl chanted, "metrion zinthos!"
Black glossy shadows covered several abandoned cars and pick-up trucks on the road. The vehicles were then lifted from the ground and hurled at the Rebooter. But the Rebooter vaporized those using reddish-purple rays of energy.
"You guys really want to play with me?!" the Rebooter said. "Well then, let's dance!"
The teenage superheroes then started to convulse, making them panic and scream for help. Their bodies were painfully warped and shrunk, causing a change in their appearance. Instead of sassy young super teens, they now appeared as grotesque cartoonish freaks with large eyes and even larger heads balancing on three-foot-tall bodies. The weight of their heads was too much and they crashed head-first to the ground, sobbing. "Holy shit! What have you done?!" the boy with the red vest cried.
"You guys like playing as the Teen Titans from 2003? How about playing as their newer Teen Titans Go! version?"
"Nooooooooooo!" the group yelled in unison, as they continued to flail on the ground.
"Oh my fuckin' lord," Charlie muttered in terror. So that was why he was called the Rebooter; he had the powers to literally reboot whatever character the geeks were cosplaying as, into these… abominable things. Not only that, but he could nullify their powers as well.
"Be patient," whispered Amp. "Observe only. Let's find out how we can defeat this bastard."
Instead of being scared, the horror the group witnessed only drove the others to attack. Nobody there liked reboots. For them, everything was already perfect, so why was there a need to go back to square one and retell everything again?
A group of four male paranormal investigators, wearing beige exterminator uniforms with proton packs attached to their backs, fired orange and blue streams of charged ions at the Rebooter. But their attack again did nothing as the Rebooter retaliated. Like the teenage superheroes before them, the men's appearance also changed. The Rebooter had turned them into middle-aged women who were unfunny, obnoxious, and addicted to wonton. One of them was a spectacled plump idiot whom the Rebooter personally squashed. The rest then frantically escaped.
A vigilante wearing a blue coat, tie, pants, and a fedora, charged at the Rebooter. His face was… blank… consisting only of a piece of skin on a head with no eyes, nose, or mouth. Using telekinesis, the Rebooter picked him up and toyed with him with his rebooting powers.
"Let's see," the Rebooter said, laughing devilishly. "You're dressed up as the Question, right? The faceless vigilante created by Steve Ditko? Let's try to reboot that character, shall we? Let's turn his objectivist personality into that of a kung fu zen master spouting Eastern esoteric bullshit! Or maybe you'd like to have the personality of a crazy conspiracy theorist! Or let's turn you into something that's not even human!"
The appearance and history of the faceless vigilante got distorted as the Rebooter said this, even as the former pleaded for him to stop. The Rebooter's sheer reality-warping power was too much, and the body of the faceless geek exploded.
Other geeks were also preyed upon by the Rebooter. A male geek wearing a mummy disguise inspired by Imhotep from Universal Pictures got turned into a sassy lifeless woman wrapped fetishistically with bandages. Another geek cosplaying as the great and muscular Lion-O, with his trusty Sword of Omens, was transformed into a chibi cartoon with a big head and big eyes, and the goofy intelligence of someone who could never finish first grade.
The ones who got affected by the Rebooter the worst were the ones cosplaying as Warhammer characters. There were people dressed as the horn-headed witch king Malekith, the white-haired vampire Vlad von Carstein, the horse-rider Archaon with his flaming sword, the blue-skinned half-human/half-dinosaur Kroq-Gar, and many others. The Rebooter transformed them into their Age of Sigmar versions, making them lose their powers and history. They then ran away lost and crying.
"Run away, little geeks! Run away!" the Rebooter jested. "Fear me! I am the Rebooter! I have the power all of you have always dreaded. The power of change! The power of turning all your favorite fictions into shit! I can remove and change your powers, costumes, and memories with my mind!"
Charlie had a front-row view of the mayhem. It was the same old routine. Every time they attacked the boss, many would inevitably fall. He shouldn't be surprised since such were the characteristics of war. The pawns would go forward – the young, the brash, and the foolish. They marched forward into danger so others may live, or maybe so their leaders could have oil.
Charlie wished he could do something. It was painful to see them get routed like this.
"Fuck this, Amp!" Charlie roared. "I ain't goin' to stand here any longer. We have to do somethin'!"
"Don't go there yet if you don't know how to beat him," Amp asked sharply.
"I… think I know," stuttered Charlie, his raging voice softened with doubt. "But we can't let him kill us like this!"
Charlie advanced into the meat grinder, mirroring what Haru did during her fight with DudeAssassin. He harnessed all the bravery and courage he had. He must not fall, falter, or fail to do his best for them.
"Cal," Amp whispered to the literary geek. "Can you help him out?"
"Want me to go there too?" answered Cal.
"No, stay where you are. I have a feeling Charlie has this but is there anything you can do to assist him from here?"
"I can try."
Cal took out his notebook from his bag. Wiggling his pen, he began to think, before finally making his pen strike paper. The art hidden in his head, flowed into his hand, before being transported into the paper through the pen. As he wrote, he chanted, "Charlie must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. When fear is gone, what remains will be that boss's carcass with a new ripped asshole…"
Charlie heard Cal's chanting in his head. While his mental barriers protected him from telepathic attacks and mind control, the literary geek's chanting affected his emotions instead. Comfort embraced Charlie and his doubt slightly disappeared. He felt light, like floating in the air, even as danger loomed, even as he faced a giant boss. Walking towards the Rebooter meant nothing to him anymore. He's ready to kick some butt and throw some names.
His fight with DudeAssassin had also increased his level to level 4. And before entering Stan City, the geek decided to unlock a new power based on another one of his favorite comic book superheroes.
As the Rebooter, Amp, and Cal watched, Charlie's right hand fulminated in thunder and lightning. His costume had also slightly changed. A winged silver helmet now wrapped around his head. On his right hand was a rectangular steel hammer, crafted with Viking runes and enchantments, held on a wooden handle and a thong. He had unlocked the powers of Thor himself, the God of Thunder and the mightiest Avenger.
"Make sure to go for the head!" Amp cheered.
"I will!" replied Charlie.
The American geek then started to spin his hammer. After it gained momentum, he then let it fly and drag him into the air towards the Rebooter. Lightning sparked throughout his path as he aimed the hammer at the Rebooter's head.
The Rebooter, however, anticipated him. He put his right palm in front, and using telekinesis, stopped Charlie in midair. He then toyed with his new victim.
"I like your power, bro. I'm an MCU fan myself!" the Rebooter remarked. "But an enemy is an enemy, and I still have to kill you. But it doesn't mean I can't play with you though."
The Rebooter then allowed Charlie's body to drop. The moment he landed on the ground, Charlie's appearance had changed. He was no longer a young man anymore. He was now a slim yet muscular woman, with long hair curling at the ends. To his horror, he experienced the many bodily dilemmas that women went through. He experienced a lifetime's worth of it, and indeed, it made him respect them more at that moment.
"Like being gender bendered?" the Rebooter laughed. "In several seconds, your memories will also change into the version I intended them to be."
But Charlie didn't listen; he was too angry to care. With a thought, he easily reverted himself to his original form, complete with the raging testosterone and the big (no really) dong. The ease of which Charlie changed himself back petrified the Rebooter.
But the boss lifted Charlie again using his mind. This time, he changed Charlie's race. He was no white kid anymore; he was now a young black man.
Charlie knew what the Rebooter was doing. Every boss in the Escapist Dream had a theme – a unique personality, and the Rebooter was no different. There was a time in media when changes such as this, was considered a bane, and this was the Rebooter's whole shtick.
A word that used to be thrown around back then was "woke". Diversity was indeed needed, and the voice of the minority should be represented, especially in an age-old medium like comics, where most superheroes were white, straight, and slim. The idea of creating or changing stories to combat social issues was both prevalent and considered noble at that time.
But too much of it caused a backlash. The excessiveness soured many. Of course, companies were allowed to do whatever they want with their characters, but Charlie was not surprised to hear that many of their fans had left them. While comic book nerds loved diverse characters like Miles Morales and Renee Montoya, they didn't like too much politics being waved at their faces. Changes must be introduced smoothly like how comic book legends Stan Lee and Dennis O'Neal did it. But still...
"Heh," Charlie said. "I actually kinda like this. Too bad…"
Charlie again easily changed himself back. He then returned to swinging his hammer as terror filled the Rebooter.
"Why?! Why are my powers not working! You should have been rebooted!" he said.
"Your powers won't work on me because I don't care about reboots," replied Charlie. "I don't give a shit about what other people want, because I know what I enjoy. So feel free to turn me into a woman or a black man."
With a mighty underhand swing, Charlie bashed his hammer on the Rebooter's chin. The Rebooter steadied himself back and fired a red wavy energy beam at Charlie, smashing him back-first into several buildings. The Rebooter then charged at him with fists glowing red with energy.
"If I can't reboot you," he said. "I'll just cancel you!"
But before he could get close, a white-hot lightning bolt struck and fried his face. Charlie flew into the air, raised his hammer, and summoned a lightning storm from the sky. The Rebooter tried to get away, but Charlie used the Force to keep him in his place. Multiple lightning bolts struck the Rebooter several times, shocking and burning the AI boss, damaging him so much that one of his arms fell from his body.
In a final move, Charlie fired his heat vision on his hammer, heating it and turning it bright red. The hammer began to shake violently like it was about to explode. Charlie then dove towards the Rebooter at high speed, while making sure once again to keep him in place.
The climax of the battle ended in a bright Earth-shaking attack that made several skyscrapers crumble and roads split and shattered. A burned-out crater remained of where the Rebooter once stood.
Charlie then landed back to where Amp and Cal were, exhausted and ready to puke. Like an Olympian athlete who took home the gold, Amp and Cal carried Charlie in their arms in celebration. The rest of the geeks were tearing up in joy while others were letting out their loudest and most powerful roars. They couldn't believe they had gotten this far in their journey. It was both unreal and joyful. Like Rocky Balboa, these losers were losers no more. They were winners now.
"We did it!" Amp continued to yell. "We fucking did it! Thank fucking God! Hahahahaha!"
The only person who wasn't celebrating was Charlie, who then asked Cal to put him down. Charlie sat on the gutter and faced the asphalt, his legs now tired of carrying him throughout the battle. Cal noticed Charlie's indifference and asked, "You alright? Homie?"
"This doesn't feel right," Charlie answered.
"Why?"
"That boss was too easy. It's not supposed to be this easy."
"What do you mean?"
"Do you think it's normal that you guys suffered for a whole damn year, and in only several weeks after I arrive, we managed to defeat every boss this quickly?"
Cal paused, thinking deeply about what Charlie said. "I get what you're saying. But what do you want us to do?" he asked.
Charlie didn't reply. He silently apologized for being a bummer while the others celebrated. There was just no victory for him. What were they even going to do next? And were they seriously going to fight the Nihilion now? Was it something they should cheer about? And how would they be sure that the Nihilion would follow on its promise? What would prevent such an all-powerful being from just creating more bosses for them to fight?
There was something off with the people too. The geek could not point his finger at it, but the compassion seemed to have decreased. Charlie worried of a threat more diabolical, for nothing in this event smelled right.