Helmet Heroes Halloween Story: A Glitch and a Splatter of Blood

Tick, tock.

Time is running out. I must get to the train station before it departs. A minute to go until 8: 48 PM, and I’m just at the Blue Shroom Den. If I don’t get there in time...well, I’m dead then.

For some reason, teleporting isn’t working. Maybe because of the lag. Maybe because Payvault has disappeared. Or maybe because of the Glitch.

The Glitch. I shudder at the thought. The Glitch is the thing that has started this all. The Glitch has sent hundreds of players to their doom. It’s collapsed two servers entirely. Server 3 is the only server standing. And now, it’s getting closer by the minute. I check my friend list and check where my friends all are.

This is bad. Itblobboy has fallen to the power of the Glitch. I guess that was predictable though, as he was only armed with a halberd. And wearing noob glasses. It’s remarkable how he survived this long; I have to give him credit for that.

The dead face shows up on top of itblobboy’s image - the universal frowny face with two x’s instead of eyes. It’s the Glitch’s sick idea of a joke. The Glitch is the thing that is causing it all, the thing that has hacked into the Helmet Hero servers and now terrorizing everyone and everything it meets. I’ve never actually seen it, and only heard its terrible shrieking laugh and the screams coming from the everything it’s killing. I’ve heard rumors that it’s ten times the size of proteums, and when it first appeared, it overloaded that server, insta-killing everyone on that server. It was the first time I’ve ever felt sorry for monsters before.

Checking my friends, I see how everyone has already died. Even Miso. And he was actually equipped with the full divine set. I can see now how strong the Glitch is. I cannot take any chances with it. I must stop it. But how?

Tick, tock.

Shut up, clock. But the clock’s telling me I have thirty seconds left. And I’m barely passing by the ATM in Mushroom Village. The lag is horrible. All the beggars, noobs, and spammers are in panic-mode, and all rushing towards the train station. There must be something like a hundred people all gathered at Mushroom Village server 3, all running over each other for the same goal: to get to Proteum Bottom and seek the help of proteums to help protect them.

Unfortunately, there’s too many people. Even the Mush-to-Aqua train has a weight limit. Luckily, someone’s dropped eight yellow spawn balls right in front of the Mushroom Library. Noobs and beggars slam in vain into the wall of sasquatches, reviving back in Mushroom Hotel. I take no damage from these monsters and double jump over the sasquatches, landing swiftly on the steps leading to the portal to Shroom Passage. The crowd has magically disappeared. The sasquatches have done their job well.

Tick, tock.

Damn. I have ten seconds left. Can I make it? Going full dash, I speed up the hills and double jump over the gaps. With five seconds to go, I go through the portal to the train station. I can make it.

But the loading screen isn’t disappearing. The white screen with the loading sign in tiny letters continues to linger, not disappearing, testing my patience to the limits.

Four, three, two…

Finally! I slip through the portal and dash over to the train, which is already overloaded with people. It can still fit one more…

“Wait!” I call out, but my voice is drowned out by hundreds of others. The public chat has been spammed so much that I can see smoke coming out of it. I’m pushed to the side, and bruised and battered, I watch the train slowly embarking. I watch helplessly as the train leaves the station, slowly but surely.

And I watch as the train staggers a little, then tips off the train tracks. Realizing what’s about to happen, I try to shout. But I can’t hear myself. I watch tranquil over the shouts of the passengers as the train, now derailed, slowly falls off, as the passengers inside scream for help. The train crashes into the lake below. Half the passengers are dead from the impact, half are drowned after about a minute. In the end, everyone who boarded the train is dead.

By overloading the train, the passengers had killed themselves. All because of a stupid Glitch. Death by Glitch, death by fear, death by panic. We are killing ourselves.

Weary and tired, I look around. There’s maybe ten people who had been kicked off the train that are in the same state as me. Shocked and immobile.

The Glitch is coming. I can feel its presence getting nearer. The slightest vibrations in the ground, the low rumbling sound coming from the portal. The Glitch is near. And I have nowhere to go.

I lift my head and see one of my guildies, Naruto. In fact, he’s the guild leader, a 500+ level guy, with 5k health. In other words, OP. Except, he looks as tired as me. He’s been running too. A lot.

I manage to muster as much strength as I can and say, “Sup, Naruto.”

He lifts his head, giving a wan smile. He’s about to say something when an ear-splitting shriek slices the air, breaking the tranquility. The others with me next to the train station jerk their heads up, eyes wide with terror. There’s level 2 players to level 600 players, but they all have the same reaction. They know that no one has stats high enough to beat the Glitch.

Tick, tock.

My stupid clock is ticking again. Reminding me of every second that is getting closer to my death. I shoot the clock with a triple arrow shot, and the clock shatters. Taking deep breaths, I maintain control of myself.

Then suddenly, silence. The calm before the storm. The surprise before the attack. The Glitch is preparing to raid this train station. I suddenly lose all courage and abandon my arrows. Fleeing to the train shack, I hide inside the roofed shelter, somehow feeling safer than I had outside.

It’s funny what panic does to your thoughts.

The train shack man is in there with me, and he’s noticed that I’ve entered the shack. He has a murderous look in his eyes, insanity mixed with terror. He looks ready to kill me. He’s shuddering so much that I can’t see him. But I can see the knife that he has in his hand.

So I get out my fishing pole and choke him to death with the wire. Mercy leads to death. Mercy leads to death. I will not die. So the train shack man dies. His eyes roll up, and arms go limp. I release my hold on the fishing pole, not realizing until now that the wire has cut into my hands. But that doesn’t matter. I’m not dead yet.

Then I feel it. The Glitch has entered this room. I enter, “getPings” and end up with a block of text that says, “Room Error.” The sky outside has darkened, and everyone is hiding. I don’t know where Naruto has gone. But I do know that the Glitch hasn’t killed anyone yet, because no one’s screaming. Yet.

The suspense is killing me. I can hear my heartbeat. The Glitch can probably hear it too. But I have faith in the little shack. I had killed someone to take charge of it. And I have faith that it will give me shelter.
With a slight smile, I realize that today is Halloween. The last day to collect Halloween drops, and the day to be dressed up and celebrating. The day to ask others for candy and competing against others to have the best costume. But none of that is possible today. Halloween. Was this just coincidence that this happened today?

But before I can contemplate any longer, the screaming starts. At first, there’s one scream. Then there’s another. Soon, I can’t tell how many people are screaming. The temptation to look out the shack window is immense, but I resist it. My life is worth more than a simple look.

Abruptly, the screaming stops. All at once. Trying to make myself as small as possible, I curl up into a tiny ball and lie there in the corner of the train shack. Just me, my fishing pole, and the dead train shack guy. I never caught his name.

A cackle rips through the air, and I hear guts being pulled apart. I can’t see it, but it’s obvious that’s what’s happening.

“Blood...blood…” A mantra of this word fills my ears, and I cover my ears. But it doesn’t stop. I can’t take it. My head is exploding.

I scream.

The mantra stops. I sit up, confused. Did I survive it?

A round, red object whistles through the small window and lands with a thump on the floor. I squint through the darkness and study the object, and with a jolt of disgust and shock, I realize that it’s someone’s head.

Naruto’s head.

I haven’t survived at all. It’s playing with me. Then, I hear three words whispered to me by the Glitch.

“You are dead.”