บท 5: Statue
To be honest, even though it was a game, Charlie was slightly startled by the scene unfolding before him. Wasn't this game advertised as PG13?
PG13 is a classification for games, films, and TV shows that indicates content that children under 13 might need to watch with their parents. Generally, it suggests an ordinary level of intensity without any particularly shocking moments. Yet here he was, watching a headless man in the conference room below, holding his own severed head. Charlie couldn't help but feel unsettled.
He now seriously questioned whether the production team had a peculiar understanding of PG13. Imagine a kid eagerly starting a new game during the weekend, dreaming of becoming a superhero, only to be greeted with such a gruesome scene. It wouldn't be surprising if such a jarring introduction turned the child away from future superhero games. What kind of children's game is this?
And it didn't stop there. Edge, the man with the severed head, not only stood firm but also walked forward step by step with his head in his hands. The head he carried dripped blood, leaving a gruesome trail on the floor. Yet, everyone in the conference room seemed indifferent, as if it were perfectly normal for someone to walk around holding their own head.
The crew-cut man stepped aside, revealing a cabinet that moved automatically, sliding apart to unveil a secret door. Behind it stood a black statue. The statue was exquisitely crafted but grotesque in form. It took the shape of an inhuman entity, with numerous arms extending from its skeletal body, twisted and gnarled like deformed tree trunks.
Charlie couldn't recall ever seeing anything quite like it. The statue's disturbing form left him feeling deeply uneasy, embedding itself in his nightmares. Although it was unsettling how Edge approached the statue while still holding his head, what was even more unsettling was that the severed head seemed conscious, displaying a pious, almost blissful expression, which looked particularly eerie.
The headless body raised its hand, holding its head towards the statue, which caused its head to quickly disintegrate into a mist of blood and flesh, being absorbed into the grotesque statue as if drawn by an invisible force. With the head gone, Edge's headless body collapsed to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been abruptly cut.
The eyes of the distorted statue glowed with a sinister red light. The crew-cut man led everyone in the room to perform a reverential bow before the statue. Then, out of nowhere, a whistling sound pierced the air. A pitch-black bat-shaped dart struck the statue with a sharp thud, lodging itself in its chest and abdomen. The crew-cut man was the first to look up in shock, seeing the dart embedded in the statue with a red light flashing dangerously.
Boom! The dart's concentrated explosives detonated, shattering the statue into countless pieces. Debris scattered everywhere. "Who!?" The crew-cut man roared in fury. A low, buzzing sound faintly followed, and the lights in the meeting room and the hallway outside went out. It was a tiny electromagnetic pulse, one of Batman's signature gadgets. Darkness is Batman's ally, and he frequently uses electromagnetic pulses to disable electronic equipment, including surveillance cameras and lights, before making his move.
The advantage of this tactic is that Batman gains the initiative in the dark, instilling fear of the unknown in his enemies, but the downside is that his presence is revealed before he acts. Everyone in the conference room stood up. But before they could identify the intruder, a small spherical flare rolled into the center of the room.
Boom. A bright flashbang erupted, flooding the room with intense light. As everyone's eyes struggled to adjust, Batman dropped from the ventilation duct and landed on the conference room floor. This was not a stealth mission but a quick takedown. Charlie finally let loose, operating the mouse and keyboard with speed. Batman moved like a whirlwind, swiftly knocking out one person and incapacitating two others.
But soon, Charlie noticed something strange about these individuals. For example, when Batman used a joint technique to twist the arm of a chubby bald man instead of incapacitating the man, leaving him writhing in pain on the ground, this man seemed unaffected, dragging his broken arm and continuing to attack without any sign of pain. It then got even stranger.
Charlie used the "quick-fire Batarang" skill, tapping the number key twice to launch a batarang. There was a danger mark on the crew-cut man, who was about to strike. Batman threw a batarang at him, hitting the crew-cut man's raised hand and pinning it to the wall. The crew-cut man, finding the batarang stuck in his hand, simply pulled out a knife with his free hand and, without changing his expression, hacked off his own palm. He remained unperturbed, continuing his assault despite the blood gushing from his severed hand.
Another man, kicked by Batman, who in turn received deformed, dislocated legs, immediately got up and resumed fighting, hopping on one foot as if nothing had happened... Blood and gore splattered across the carpet. The meeting room transformed into a nightmarish battleground, and Charlie could almost smell the foulness through the screen.
This game was intense. This group of death-defying lunatics pushed Charlie's sanity to its limits. For a moment, he wondered if he had inadvertently activated a Cthulhu-themed game instead of a superhero one. Fortunately, despite their madness, they were no match for Batman with his superior combat skills and advanced gadgets. In just a few minutes, most of the madmen in the conference room had fallen.
Only one remained. The crew-cut man struggled to rise from where he had been leaning against the wall. He had a broken left hand, a severe fracture in his right arm, and a dislocated left leg. With three of his limbs severely damaged, he still managed to stand. Charlie had to admire his tenacity. His fierce eyes locked onto Batman with a look of murderous intent.
He hopped forward on one foot, dragging his injured arms. Blood still oozed from the severed palm, making the scene quite horrifying. Charlie didn't lower his guard despite the opponent's injuries. He remained cautious, ready to continue his assault. But before he could act, the remaining man stopped.
Boom. The head of the crew-cut man exploded into a cloud of blood.
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