The Final Choose Your Own Terror
about 4 years ago
– Thu, Feb 20, 2020 at 12:33:41 AM
You guys have been incredibly patient for this. (Actually, for the last couple of parts.) But, as promised, it's finally here. This is it: the last part of our Choose Your Own Terror story. I think some of you will be surprised by how it turns out. But, most of all, I hope it will come close to living up to what some of you were hoping for, and that you enjoy it.
This one is longer than previous installments. I had a few different ideas for how it could go, and then I ended up putting all of them in here. LOL! Plus, I figured that, as invested as some of you have been in this, and as long as you've had to wait, it was only fair. I could go on, but why? Let's get right into the story!
It has been a very long time since our last little outing, so, if you'd like to brush up on what's come before, you can find part one here, part two here, part three here, part four here, part five here, part six here, and part seven here. If you just want a quick refresher, though, here you go: The story began when you were separated from your wife, Cynthia, and then heroically saved a woman named Diane from the clutches of a thrashing tentacle monster. You and she were both hurt in the struggle (Diane severely so), and so you and your friend, Thomas, started hauling Diane toward the nearest med bay. Along the way you were joined by your wife's acquaintance, Persephone. Thomas split off not long after that, and was promptly blown up when something awful happened in the security block where he went to get weapons. You got Diane to the med-bay, where the doctors began to patch her up. But then the med-bay was devoured, and when you and Persephone searched for Diane you found that she had changed into something that was now far from human. The two of you fled, the Diane thing in hot pursuit, until at last you encountered a security detail who gunned Diane down. The guards then detained the two of you, and Persephone created a distraction so that you could get away and find Cynthia. At the end Persephone was being beaten to a pulp by the guards, with Dr. William West and Station Commander Terrence Wade both on their way. At Persephone's urging, though, you left her, setting out to find Cynthia. And at last you did, in one of Kadath's labs. Gathering a group of her colleagues who wanted to escape with her, you set out for the shuttle terminal. Things did not go well. The guard would not let you in, and several of you died on the trip there. Furthermore, to make matters worse, you could hear the pursuing monsters closing in behind you.
At the end of our last installment, we discovered we could rush the guard and try to gain access to the shuttle station, we could find someplace to hide from the oncoming swarm of gooey nasties, or we could try to find the evac submersible bay. In the end, we decided to find the evac bay. Let's see how it goes.
Part Eight: Option B
You can hear the cacophonous horde of clamoring nightmares from just out of sight down the corridor. You look back, then forward to the guard again. He isn’t budging. You make a snap decision.
“We have to go,” you say. “Now.”
Turning, you take off down the corridor, Cynthia, Caleb and Jennifer right behind you. You hear the hatch to the shuttle bay cycling closed – followed almost immediately by a shriek of metal. The guard squeals, and something else emits a guttural mewl. Then there are the sounds of ripping and chewing. You do not look back again.
“Do we hide?” Cynthia cries.
“It’s too late!” you reply. “They’ll catch us! Our only hope is to run!” Then you glance at the others. “Does anyone know how to get to the submersible bay?”
“Turn left at the end of the corridor!” Caleb says. “I think it’s that way!”
You don’t have time to debate. “Think” is about as good as you’re going to get now. They’re right behind you, after all, a writhing mass of limbs and death and madness. You hear your pursuers gurgling and bleating and snarling. They smell of rotting meat and brine and copper.
The door to your left erupts outward like it was punctured tinfoil, and a creature that looks closest to a fungal growth with scythes bursts into the hall like a jack-in-the-box. Cynthia screams, clutching at you, as the monstrosity’s long, sharp appendages impale Caleb. Then the rubbery abomination rebounds back into the room it came from. Caleb looks at you with wide, surprised eyes, not quite yet comprehending what has happened to him. And then he is gone – along with the only hints of where the evac bay lies.
“Keep running!” you cry. “Don’t stop – just keep going!”
You reach the “T” in the corridor, and vaguely catch the shape of something large and fluctuating hunching toward you from the right. Letting out a strangled moan, you turn left, jerking Cynthia along with you. You can feel the horde closing the distance behind you.
The corridor ends in a hatch up ahead. Racing to it, you jab the controls viciously, watching in breathless suspense as it passes upward. The three of you race through, and then you slam the control again. The hatch closes, closes –
It seals. You hear the wave of hideous malformations crash against it like a flood, hammering on the far side of the door. You stumble backwards from the hatch as it shivers and quakes. “That won’t last long,” you say. “We need to find our way to the subs, and quick.”
The three of you scan over the room. There are several doors set into the different walls, any of which could lead where you need to go. “Is there a terminal to plug into?” you ask.
“Over here!” Cynthia cries, running to the port and its accompanying display. Syncing her node with the terminal, the display comes to life. She swipes her fingers over the display, then points at the far door. “Through there!” she says. You all turn toward the door, which is why you miss the hatch erupt into a wave of shrapnel behind you.
Cynthia yelps as a shard of metal embeds itself in her arm. “Cynthia!” you cry, grabbing her reflexively and pulling her along with you.
“I’m okay!” she says, hissing through gritted teeth at the pain. “Go, go!”
You make it to the far hatch, the one that Cynthia had said would lead to the bay. You open it and – freeze.
The creature is dangling upside-down from the ceiling, its wings unfurling from its round, bulging, almost barrel-shaped body. Its head (is that its head?) is a wriggling mass of tentacles, each one leading down to the orifice at its center lined with teeth like barbed hooks. The thing chirps softly, the multitude of tentacles at its base unfurling from the grating in the ceiling. It drops, then hovers, its wings beating as it seems to appraise you. It is so big.
The three of you have stopped breathing, your hearts hammering in your chest. Looking behind you, you see the other horrors growing closer. Closer. They don’t seem to be in as big of a hurry now. It’s almost as if they know you’ve been caught. They wriggle and squirm, those with mouths flexing their jaws.
Cynthia and Jennifer press tightly against your body, and you squeeze them to you in return. You jerk your gaze back and forth, searching for some way out. Any way. They’re too close.
“I’m sorry, Cynthia,” you say. “I tried. I…”
“I love you,” she replies.
“I don’t want to die here…” Jennifer manages.
“Close your eyes,” you say. “Don’t look…”
Sinking to your knees, you curl up together, trying not to look at the terrifying horde creeping closer to you inch by inch. You realize that you’re all crying, your bodies quaking against each other. This is it. This is really the end.
You don’t see the hole appear in the wall, but you hear what blasts through it – and what it does to one of the monsters looming over you. Then you hear the hatch behind you slam closed of its own accord. Jerking your gaze upward, you see a shimmering rift in the wall, and through it – a man wearing an unusual coat, shooting over and over at the seething aberrations. Then the hatch a few feet away from him opens, and another man encased in a very strange heavy miner suit steps through. The suit’s left hand looks like a spinning saw blade designed to cut through rock. The man in the tin can lets out a battle cry and charges at the mass of terrors, bringing the churning blade down on them.
The man firing through what should be solid metal is yelling, too, as his weapon fires projectile after projectile into the swarm. He keeps doing this until his weapon either jams or runs out of ammunition, and then the hole seals back up as if it had never been there. Seconds later he is in the room, too, an industrial scalpel like the one you have clenched in his hand. He joins his armored friend, cutting and slicing and cleaving, and through your shock you begin to realize that you have a chance. Leaping to your own feet, you take out your scalpel and dive toward the horde of squealing nightmares. Cynthia looks up as you jump up, and she looks over the other two men. She frowns.
“D-Doctor Kane?” she says.
“Hey, Doc!” the heavy miner says as the last monster in the room collapses. “Tear open the hatch!”
The man in the coat – Doctor Kane – turns toward the hatch behind you. Raising his hand, he closes his eyes, concentrating, and the middle part of the hatch vanishes. The heavy miner nods, then hefts the gun he had stowed on his back, aiming through the new rift at the flying tentacle beast on the far side. He fires over and over again, his blasts propelling the beast backward as it squeals in pain.
Doctor Kane helps Cynthia and Jennifer to their feet as the hole in the hatch seals itself. “I’m not sure the thing in the corridor is going to stay dead,” Kane says. “I still see it twitching back there. Do you have some place you can go?”
“We were heading to the evac bay,” you say.
Kane nods. “That’s the best plan I’ve heard all day,” he says. “Get there as fast as you can.”
“Are you coming with us?” you ask.
“No,” Kane says, shaking his head. “Charles and I have some things to finish here. You go ahead.”
“Thank you,” you say, extending your hand. “Doctor Kane, was it?”
“Lucas,” he replies. “Now move!”
Nodding, you turn. Grabbing Cynthia and Jennifer, you race from the room and down the hall, squeezing past the spasming body of the beast lying on the floor. The corridors begin to blur together, merging with each other as you run. Cynthia shouts directions, and you follow them almost mechanically. Then, at last, you reach the evac bay.
A guard is standing in front of the hatch. He opens his mouth to say something, but you punch him in the face before he can get out a single word. He spins to the side, his head smacking into the wall with a thunk, and slides to the ground. You open the door, then pull the guard in after you. There’s no reason for him to get eaten while he’s unconscious.
“I found one!” Jennifer cries. “It’s already primed and ready to launch!”
Closing the hatch, you turn to follow the two women to the sub. The three of you clamber inside – and are startled to find another young woman waiting inside. She can’t be much older than a teenager.
“Hello,” she says with a smile. “Are you trying to leave Kadath?”
“Er, yes,” you say. “I assume you are as well?”
“I don’t think so,” she says. “I don’t know that I’m ready quite yet.”
“Then why are you in the sub?” Cynthia asked.
“I was waiting for you,” she replies, looking directly at you. “You have seemed to be attracting quite a bit of attention today, and I wanted to see why.”
“Attention?” you say. “What do you mean? I’ve just been trying to survive whatever is going on in this place.”
“There are already two of us activated in this reality,” she says. “Perhaps you could be another. Or perhaps you’re just receptive to the sphere. Or, are you really just that unlucky?”
“Who are you?” you ask. “What do you want?”
“My name is Regan,” the girl says, standing. “The Leng Corporation referred to me as the catalyzer or their asset, but that’s not who I truly am. At least, not anymore. Now I am the harbinger. But whether I will bring enlightenment or utter destruction is still unclear to me. I am also uncertain what part Lucas will yet play in the coming awakening.” Softly, calmly, she steps toward you. Reaching out with one hand, she grazes your cheek with her fingers.
“Hey!” Cynthia says. “I don’t like –”
Regan drops her hand. “Receptive, and strong. You have made valiant, selfless choices under great pressure. You will make a fine addition to my multitude.” Then she smiles. “Together we will reshape this world.” Then her mouth opens wider, and wider, and wider. It is impossibly vast now, almost completely eclipsing the girl behind it. Her mammoth tongue wags obscenely, her upper palate wet with saliva. But it is her throat that truly entrances you. You stare in abject terror down her endless gullet, unable to move. Somewhere deep within her, you see a sea of people merging with and separating from each other, fluctuating between solid form and liquid mind. If only you could run. If only you could fight. Why can’t you do something –
From somewhere far away you hear Cynthia and Jennifer screaming, but you can do nothing for them. There is no escape anymore – there is only the mouth, sliding smoothly over you. And then you are falling. Falling downward, or maybe upward, splashing down into that churning, living sea. You feel yourself coming apart and melding into the inner masses, becoming simultaneously both more and less.
“Welcome,” you hear the multitude say. “Your personal journey ends. Now the true work commences. You are us now. I am you.
"This planet will be remade as it comes to an end. We begin."
THE END
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So that's it, guys! At long last, our little adventure draws to a close! What did you think? And did it make you excited for what could be coming up in Shattered Seas? (Or to go play Rise of Dagon to find out what the heck happened to Regan?)
No matter your thoughts on how it all wrapped up, though, I wanted to thank you for sticking with me through this whole story. Thank you for the comments asking when the next installment was coming. Thank you for participating in this. In short, thanks for being a part of Choose Your Own Terror. I have no doubt that I would have dropped this long ago if not for you guys being so excited about it. Support like yours is truly the best gift a writer could ask for. ;)
Talk to you all again soon! Have a great day!
