Pr3ss Pl4y

Jack woke up at the crack of dawn, all agog for the for the day ahead of him- it was his best friend’s birthday! He and Ian had been bosom buddies since kindergarten and they’re birthday bashes usually consisted of a sleepover- a day with no boundaries. They could play video games till midnight or gorge themselves with their favourite snacks! To sweeten the pot his birthday was on a weekend! Jack swiftly finished his ablutions and sauntered to Ian’s home with a skip in his step and a cake in his hand.

He knocked on the door, expecting to see his friends beaming face to greet him. The moment the door swung open, he screamed

“Surprise!” 

But when he saw the face at the door his face reddened. There standing at the door was Ian’s mom, who looked rather startled. 

“I’m sorry Mrs. Williams, I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

She laughed and waved it off. She then asked what the matter was. What the matter was!?

Jake thought this was one of Ian’s annoying pranks he told Mrs. Williams.

“Isn’t it Ian’s birthday today and we have sleepovers on our birthdays and-”

Mrs. Williams scoffed.

“Ian? Who’s Ian”

Jacks jaw dropped

“Ian, your son who’s my best frien-”

“Jack dear, I have no idea what you’re talking about. If this is one of your silly jokes, my patience is wearing thin.” 

She then quietly shut the door leaving a speechless jack. Something was very, very wrong. He knocked again to see an exasperated Mrs. Williams at the door. 

“Mrs. Williams, could I please enter and check if Ian is hiding inside? I am pretty sure this is just a joke he’s playing at me.”

She looked at him as though he had lost his marbles, but obliged anyway. Jack darted in to Ian’s bedroom… to see a home office?

Nothing looked like what Ian used to have, files stacked on shelves, a reclining chair a few paintings and a plant near the desk top. The only familiar object was a laptop, on the bed. He saw the screen had the words start game on it. This looked exactly like what Ian would do. He looked at it closely when a weight dropped in his stomach. There in the in-game chat were the words.

[Ian 88]: HELP                                                                                                                                                    [Ian88]: IM STUCK

And there, at the bottom of the screen, was a small figure of Ian stuck in a cage…

Jack jumped back in shock. Was he hallucinating? He turned to get his mother to see her standing right behind him. 

"Mrs. Williams, Ian is stuck in the game!

However, she didn’t speak. She was baring her fangs. Fangs?. Wings sprouted from her back. She began smoking and flames erupted from her body. As the smoke subsided, her transformation was complete. She looked like she was carved from obsidion, A great smile erupting on her face.

Just as she was about to pounce on him, Jack jumped and accidently pressed a key on Ian's laptop. Out of the blue, he felt a sensation, as though he was being sucked into the computer! Jack woke up in a massive chamber. There, at the corner of the chamber, hung a cage. Inside, his best friend looked hopefully at him. Before Ian could speak, a booming voice resounded through the air.

"My lackeys never had a good track record. Let’s see how you match up against me." 

All of a sudden, a wizard with a crooked nose and a crooked smile popped from the ground. With a swish of his wand he conjured 4 fire-breathing gargoyles. At that moment something heavy fell in jacks’ pockets. On fishing them out jack found a gun and a grappling hook! He immediately fired away at the horde and they were reduced to dust in seconds, their dust was replaced by few shimmering coins which Jack gleefully collected. This irked the wizard. Concentrating all his anger, the wizard summoned a disgusting ogre with a massive club.

Jack was done for. But when the giant swung his club, jack moved rapidly, dodging the ogre’s massive swings. Then, using his grappling gun, he climbed up on the ogre’s head and pointed his gun at the giant’s head. 

BLAMF

One shot and the ogre were gone. The wizard was foaming at the mouth. He began spewing spells incessantly at jack. Jack dodged every one of his spells until a fireball grazed his shoulder, in front of him, he saw his health bar reduce continually until he was on half a point. He then remembered who he was fighting for – his best friend! How could he let go of him? The smug wizard came close to deliver the coup de grâce when another gunshot rang through the air. Jack had shot the wizards wand hand! The wizard screamed in pain. 

"You’ve not won yet! I will come to fight you once again!"

But just then jack felt unconscious.

Jack woke up to find himself in Ian’s room. But that was not what caught his attention. Next to him, Ian stood beaming at him. The embraced each other, when Ian’s and Jack’s mom came running in. They looked worried sick. Jack reassured them that everything was fine, when suddenly...

... Jack and Ian felt something heavy in their pockets. Both of them pulled out a gun. But why did they have a gun in the real world? Suddenly, everything clicked into place.

The two mothers smiled broadly; their pearly white fangs thirsty for blood…