Like a dead fish, Patty lay down on the floor motionless. In the face of a threat that was standing three times taller than him, with the face of a nightmare, and teeth like that of claws, instead of trying to run away, Patty decided to do the exact opposite; he stayed behind. Nobody could understand what was going on in his head; did he want to be swallowed alive by the beast? Why else would he do that?
"Hey kid! What are you doing?!"
The arcade owner couldn't help but shout at him. He was trying not to attract any attention to himself for fear that he would be targeted by the Fiend, but he just couldn't help but burst out in anger when he saw Patty do that. If he wanted to die, then he should have died elsewhere, not in his arcade!
Unfortunately for everyone, the Fiend finally got its hooves out from under the soil. It took one furious look at Patty and raised its feet even higher than before. It wanted to restore its pride. It simply couldn't believe how an ant like him could dodge his attack. It had killed bigger and stronger enemies in the wild before, so why couldn't it kill this little worm?
Patty, like the lazy bum that he was, decided that standing while dodging was a bit too overkill and wastes too much of his energy. Since the Muscava Cyclo automatically buzzed and warned him everytime that his life was in danger, he could see the Fiend's stomping from a mile away. He could dodge the attacks just as well laying down than staying upright and wasting energy.
Just as he thought about that, the Fiend's furious front leg crashed down on Patty's body at speeds even greater than the first one. The impact felt like a mini earthquake that made some people trip and fall to the ground, further worsening the stampede out of the arcade tent.
And as the cloud of dust settled down, the Fiend's jet black eyes searched through the soil to find that sweet red blood from his prey. Unfortunately, there was none. It didn't even feel the satisfying squish of flesh and the crack of bones that it usually experienced when it killed a prey using its arms. How could that be?
Patty was still laying down, but this time, he was on his side. One of his arms was on his waist, and the other was propping up his head. The urgency and threat of the situation was lost on him. His pose looked like he was just relaxing and sunbathing on a windy beach. His expression had absolutely no worries displayed on it.
The first dodge could have been attributed to luck, but this second one couldn't be. After all, he was already laying down prone on the ground. He should be easy pickings! There was no excuse for the Fiend to be missing these kinds of shots. Some people even began to doubt the danger and peril of standing face to face with this monster. Because of Patty, people began to think that if they were also in front of the Fiend, they could easily survive like he did.
But, as if to establish its dominance and regain its terrifying perception, the Fiend screeched and raised its front legs once again to try and flatten this bug once and for all.
Unfortunately, Patty simply rolled over again. He was still laying on his side with a carefree pose, but this time he was facing the other side.
It was at this point that the Fiend realized it was facing an opponent that was as evasive as some of the agile worms that it fought back in the day. These kinds of prey were slippery and used their speed to avoid capture from bigger predators. The Fiend always loved these kinds of food. Once he caught these slimy prey, they would usually give its stomach a very good feeling. The small stick animal under it shouldn't be any different.
It learned from experience that hunting a prey like that needed speed and finesse. It raised its left arm and tried to strike Patty. He was somehow able to dodge that. It raised its right arm and stomped towards where he rolled. He evaded that too. But the Fiend was relentless too. If its left leg missed, then it wouldn't miss a beat and use its right leg to try and finish the job.
DUGSH DUGSH DUGSH
Continuous mini earthquakes reverberated through the arcade, creating one big earthquake that shook the whole foundation of the tent itself. Unsupported metal beams rained down from the ceiling of the tent, further creating chaos and madness. Unfortunately for the crowd still inside the tent due to the stampede, one railing used in the arcade performances fell down and blocked anyone from entering or exiting the arcade. As you can imagine, screams of despair and desperation rang out and accompanied by flesh and bone banging against steel.
Help! Help! We're stuck in here!
Oh Supremes! I don't want to die!
At this point, the chaos from the Fiend spread out the arcade. People outside tried to help evacuate people, but after the blockage, they couldn't do anything.
"Hang in there! Atlas security will come soon!"
But help couldn't come any sooner. Panic spread amongst those inside. They were stuck inside a ferocious beast whose sole purpose in life was to feast on its prey; in their minds, they were going to be just another casualty that died in this disaster. Even if the Fiend wasn't even looking at them, they were normal people who never experienced the kind of dread and fear that a Fiend does to a human.
Patty was still composed as he dodged the brutal and unrelenting attacks of the Fiend, but he wasn't as carefree as he was before. He looked at his system and saw that his energy levels were getting low. Although dodging and rolling away wasn't as energy intensive as standing up and running, it was still eating up his energy.
[Energy: 46.23 / 100]
That wasn't all, his trump card, his sole reason for surviving this encounter with the Fiend: the Muscava Cyclo's ability, was starting to deplete. He originally had 9 seconds of time to slow down, but he already used up a couple of seconds during the bet. And even though he only used the ability sparingly and only during times when he absolutely needed it, the amount of times that he had to dodge the Fiend's attack was in the double digits.
[Muscava Cyclo]
[Ability: 4.4 / 9 seconds]
As the intensity of the Fiend's attacks got stronger, so did the accompanying earthquake that it produced. One of the stages used for the games was stored up above the tent using only ropes and knots suddenly came loose from all the shaking underground. It came tumbling down, headed directly for Patty and the Fiend.
The rectangular stage made out of reinforced steel hit the side of the Fiend's head and made it disoriented from the impact. It staggered backwards and fell to its side.
Unfortunately, that was the end. The steel stage fell directly on Patty.
"NO! PATTY!"
Grammo was helpless as he watched Patty get crushed underneath the large rectangular stage. Just as when he thought that Patty would survive the fight against the Fiend because of his amazing dodging skills, the world seemed to throw a literal steel stage on him. How unfair the world was!
GRRAAHHHH
The Fiend's skin was too thick to be damaged from being hit in the face with the thousand tonne steel stage. It groaned as it slowly picked itself back up like a giraffe. The whole tent went silent as the realization and dread dawned on them that they might be the next one in line to be eaten like a pig. The temperature dropped a few degrees and everyone held their breath.
"PATTY! THERE'S NO WAY YOU'RE DEAD!"
Grammo was the only one who dared to shout. He was also the only one who believed that Patty was still alive after getting buried by that stage.
"PATTY!"
By shouting in the middle of a silenced room, Grammo sealed his fate to be the next prey. But he didn't seem to care. Even when his knees almost gave up as he heard the hooves of the Fiend coming closer to him, he still shouted for his friend.
"Patty, you can't die, you asshole! You still need to help me win the music competition!"
"THAT'S WHY YOU DON'T WANT ME TO DIE? I THOUGHT YOU WERE JUST WORRIED FOR YOUR FRIEND!"
Miraculously, Patty defied all the odds and survived being buried alive in steel. He was even well enough to shout back at Grammo. They all saw Patty pop up from the top left hole in the steel stage. Even the Fiend took a second to realize that the persistent bug still wasn't dead.
"As I recall, you were the one who made the bet in the first place! I didn't ask for that. You got me into this mess, so don't die until you help me!"
And as if the Fiend could listen to their conversation, it used its front legs again to try and stop Patty in the hole he was in. Unfortunately for the Fiend, Patty went back inside the steel stage like a mole hiding in his burrow.
"Really? You say that now when a monster is trying to kill me?!" Patty retorted as he suddenly appeared and popped up from the bottom right hole of the stage.
"Is there a better time? You're about to die!"
The Fiend tried to catch Patty again, but he ducked out of the hole before he was hit.
"I thought you wanted me to live?!" Patty went out of the top right hole of the stage, completely ignoring the furious Fiend. He just couldn't believe that his friend would betray him like that.
"I'm debating," Grammo replied.
It turned out that the stage that fell down on Patty was just an ordinary stage, it was one of the structures that the arcade uses for their games. This particular stage was used for a very large game of Whack-a-mole.
The Fiend would never win any prizes given its ability to whack a Patty.