Just to make clear, that I took somewhat heavy inspiration, but also that the work here is very much my own, and that I plan to do more with it. Also, after reading my chapter, give the original story a read, it's a fun, short thing.
Anyway, here is my story.
Chapter 1
It was a cloudy Saturday. Fall. The days had become shorter, and, while I didn't need a jacket, I liked to wear a scarf outside. Green and brown, fitting for the season. Well, my sister thought so. She had knitted it for me.
Everything not only looked, but felt gray. The sky was a sea of clouds, the same tone of color everywhere. Not a single spot of blue, or even a shade of black, to be seen. Brown leaves covered the ground, delighting me with their crunchy sounds.
The wind was fresh, but not in a chilling way, just there to remind you that Summer was finally over. I relished in the light coolness of the day, it was a refreshing change.
When you think of Fall, this is the day that comes to mind. It's the picture that you get, when you look for the word in the dictionary. Slow, lazy, empty, colorless, relaxing. During Spring, I was full of newborn energy. In Summer, that energy was gone, and I lazed around, burning up in the heat. But in Fall, I felt kind of like in stasis, waiting for a change, a new cycle. Weekends were just there, to go by, without breaking up my zen-like state of being.
Normally, these are lazy walks, where I just fill myself up with the essence of Fall. Nothing is happening around my neighborhood, so there is no reason for me to not ignore the rest of the world.
But this time, it was different. At the end of the street, there was a yard sale. The people here weren't known to me, complete strangers. But looking at stuff that wasn't needed anymore was always interesting.
I had liked video games for as long as I can remember. And as of late, I had started to collect retro games, and even consoles. Realism and open worlds were nice, but I often craved the simplicity of pixels and linearity. It offered me a greater focus, and I had more appreciation for the simpler art, both graphical and gameplaywise.
Most tables had nothing interesting to offer. There were old, cheesy drawings, a collection of high-heeled shoes and all kinds of backpacks. It was a weird mix of things, seemingly unrelated to each other. And, while there were people here, not much interaction took place. The sellers didn't seem to be too interested in getting people to actually buy anything.
Only at the very back did I find something of interest. While I had never seen a machine like this before, it was obviously a gaming console. It had to be old, on top was something that looked like a slot for a cartridge. Elsewise, the thing was mainly skyblue, with a few red thunderbolts. In front, there were two controller ports, with one of them having a controller attached to it. That was the main cue, that told me about this being a console. No matter how gamepads looked, you knew one if you saw one. The d-pad on the left, buttons on the right, and two more in the middle. It also had shoulder buttons, which made me assume that it was from the early nineties.
I had never seen this thing, though, which surprised me. I had thought, that I knew all more or less well-known consoles that had come out, but I had never seen this design. Weirdly enough, the strange color combination suggested that it was a special version. Regularly, consoles were mainly in simply black or gray.
That strange console alone already made it into an eye-catcher. But what really got me interested, was the cartridge next to it. If I bought it, I would also get a game on top. I might see a really rare game, that only a handful of people had played. It made me very excited.
Not that I had heard of the game, either. “The Last Quest – Deluxe Edition”.
“Are you interested in this, young man?” I took off my eyes, for the first time realizing that there was an old man, standing behind the table. His face fit the day perfectly. Not friendly, but also not uninviting.
“Yeah, I'd like to buy this console and the game.” I didn't want to ask the name, as that would have made the guy aware that I didn't know how much it was actually worth. “How much do you want for both, plus the controller? How about...20 bucks?”
A slim smile appeared on the old face. I had offered too much, dammit!
“Sounds good, young man. A fair price. If you wait for a second, I will get you a plastic bag.”
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The lazy day had suddenly become one of excitement. A gaming console I had never heard of, plus a new game! I couldn't wait to get home! Good or bad, it didn't matter (well, not too much). I just was excited to get a game, that I knew absolutely nothing about. No idea, how long it has been since I got to experience something like this. It was basically impossible, to play something without watching a trailer, or getting some kind of information about it, today. But this was completely unknown to me.
Hopefully it was fun! I could invite Mike. While I only had one controller, we just could switch, like we did years ago, when we were kids. After you lost a live, the other person got the controller. Damn, the nostalgia immediately set in. So many evenings, of staying up all night, playing through a particularly hard game, getting further and further, and having the time of our lives, together.
But first, I needed to test it out. Alone. There was no point in calling Mike over, if the game was just some E.T. level garbage, or didn't work anymore.
I still had an old TV, fitting for my old 90s consoles. And, as expected, the cables worked. I could start the game.
The next wave of nostalgia hit me, as simple colors flew over the screen, to finally form a strange logo. I got flashbacks to turning on my Playstation, hearing the zooming noise while the logo was forming. This really was a 90s console.
Next, the title words “The Last Quest” appeared on screen. I saw a jungle in the background, with an Indiana Jones type of character looking away from me. He used his whip, to get rid of some of the vegetation, just to reveal the words “Deluxe Edition”.
“Press Start” appeared on the bottom of the screen, shining in rainbow colors.
The start button was perfectly responsive. As was the d-pad, and everything else. They had the perfect feel and resistance for a good feeling. The controller as a whole fit amazingly well into my hands, like it had been created just for me.
Pressing start didn't open a menu. Instead, I got a text scroll. Not thinking much about it, I skipped the whole thing, just pressing “YES” at the end. I wasn't here to read. I just wanted to play this new game.
And with that, it started. I found myself, represented by a little Indiana Jones inspired...something, on the left side of the screen.
It was a very simplistic looking game. My character, barely more then a pixel blob, was on a floating platform near the left. Below me, there was a blue line that probably symbolized water. Slowly, a single cloud made it's way from the right to the left. I tried my two buttons. The left made me jump, as expected. Except, that the jumping physics were pretty strange. The character started to rise slowly, got faster the higher he went, and got slower while going down again.
I played around with the jump button, for a bit, while moving left and right, to get a feel for everything. Which was equally bizarre. You started with fast movement, before slowing down to regular speed, getting slower until you just stopped. At this point, you had to wait for a few seconds, before being able to move again.
These controls were really strange. At least the second button, where I shot something that looked like a boomerang and came back after a certain distance, was easy to understand.
Well, I would get the hang of it while playing. No problem.
After getting a feel for the bizarre controls, I decided to just go for it. I positioned my character close to the gap, so he wouldn't lose too much momentum for the jump. As expected, it wasn't too hard. Just a first challenge for the player.
And with that, I made it onto the next few platforms, each being more challenging than the last. Until I reached one that floated from left to right, and back again. Due to the bizarre movement physics, this was quite a challenge. And, for the first time, I failed, letting my character fall into the water.
There was no life count. Actually, nothing was counted on screen. But, instead of losing my life, craziness happened.
Something like a mask appeared out of thin air, enclosing all of my lower face. There were two small holes, allowing me to breath, but elsewise, it was a single piece, perfectly fitting. I tried to scream in shock, as I felt the soft material creating light pressure, but couldn't. Producing sounds was still possible, but opening my mouth wasn't. The material didn't hurt, it wasn't even uncomfortable, but it also wasn't adjustable in any form. My chin was stuck in place.
I started to panic. What was happening? But when I tried to rip the thing off with my hands, I realized that I couldn't detach them from the gamepad. They were stuck in position, with only my thumbs able to move.
Not that it mattered. I still tried to rub the mask off, and that, too, didn't do anything.
My panic got stronger and stronger, not sure what to do next. I got up, trying to move away, but the console was stuck to the ground. No matter how much I tugged on it with my controller, it wouldn't move. I was imprisoned in my room.
Something that sounded like a “Bling” made me look at the screen. A message had appeared.
“Please continue playing. If no button is pressed within 30 seconds, another life will be lost.”
Below the message, there was a timer that counted down. I felt the blood drain from my face. This was horrifying. What was I supposed to do?
I did calm down, before the timer reached 0, though. Maybe the game would release me, after I had beaten one level. That was my only hope, at this point.
My character was at the start of the level, after I pressed a single button. So I probably had to beat the whole thing without dying. Well, the game seemed fair. I hadn't lost due to a mean trick, but because I didn't time my jump right. Not a big deal, I just needed to play better. I could work with that.
This time, I made it onto the moving platform. I breathed out, glad to make it a bit further. The next few challenges weren't too hard, until I reached a fire breathing statue. The fireballs all moved at a different speed, and came in different intervals. Together with the strange physics for moving and jumping, this made me lose my second life.
“Dammit”
I felt light pressure on both of my ankles, and saw a black material enclosing them. Afterwards, they were pressed together, like magnets. Fighting it was completely futile. My feet moved towards each other, no matter how hard I tried to keep them apart. More black material appeared, and soon my ankles were completely stuck next to each other.
“I can do it, I can do it. Focus!”, I thought. Panicking wouldn't help me, I needed to beat this level. It was all just a skill check.
Determined, I tried again, but failed two more times. The first death wrapped my upper body in the black stuff, making my upper arms being stuck on my sides. The second time, my gag produced some material inside my mouth. I began to panic again, starting to get afraid of suffocation, but it just filled everything out. My tongue was stuck and my cheeks were filled out, but breathing was still possible.
I could still play, no problem. But it was clear, that I had only few chances left.
I kept playing, trying not to let the gag and the pressure through my bonds deter me. And this time, I made it over the horrible statue. Finally! Success!
And there, behind it, was a goal post. This had to be the end of the level. I needed to make it, to end this insanity.
But when I jumped off the statue, trying to move forward, a surprise fireball killed me. I was too focused on the goal, to realize that the statue had turned around!
Terrified, I looked at my knees, which were soon stuck together, too. How much had I left? My eyes would mean, that I had lost. My hands, too. Was this my last chance?
No, I would make it through. I knew what was coming. This was the time.
Thankfully, I was now skilled enough to make it onto the statue, again. And this time, there was no surprise. I jumped off, and then only moved forward slowly, always focusing on the fireballs from behind.
Until I finally touched the goal. Some victorious melody started to play, and, as fast as everything had appeared, all my bonds and my gag vanished. It was over.
Now, that I had gotten to a breaking point, I realized that my hands were shaking like crazy, and my heart was pounding like it never had before. Slowly, the controller was put on the ground, and I gladly realized that I could take my hands off of it.
The nightmare was over. I just needed to calm down, turn that horrible thing off, and forget about it.
But before I did any of that, my focus was caught by a few beeps. A message had appeared on the screen.
“Congratulations! You beat the first of 5 levels. Will you keep playing, or do you need a break?”
Below the message, I could choose between “Next Level” and “Break”. I was a bit scared of touching the controller again, but finally decided to choose the latter. My hand was shaking like crazy, but I succeeded.
“Your progress has been saved. See you next time!”
And with that, the screen went black. The console had turned itself off. It was over.
I couldn't move for a long time. I was still scared. The game had attacked me! What would have happened, if I had lost? How was it even possible, that losing inside a game would magically gag me, and tie me up?
After half an hour, when I had finally calmed down, I grabbed a plastic bag, put the console and the controller inside, and put the whole thing away, hidden deep inside my closet. I didn't know what to do with it. But I also didn't want to think of it, for now. There wasn't even a way of talking about this to anyone. Who would believe something crazy, like this?
But this were problems for another day. The thing was turned off. I would just never turn it on, again. For now, I needed to get my thoughts off of it.
“Mike, do you have some time? Let's go for a walk. I was stuck inside my room the whole day, need to get some fresh air. Great, see you there. Bye.”
