The Game Cafe in Marvel and DC

46 – The Story Continues

While many of the others playing Bioshock chose to start off with the 'Normal' or 'Easy' difficulty, one man in particular chose the hardest difficulty possible.

[Hell - A difficulty only for the most skilled. Even common enemies can be a threat too dangerous to ignore, with few ever missing and most frequently using their own Plasmids. Ammo and Medicine are sparse and limited, meaning that every bullet must count. You are not unique. In this difficulty, you are but a man, and ordinary men do not survive Rapture, but those that do? They become Legends]

The difficulty's description called out to the man, a man who strived to become better, become strong. So what if it was difficult? That only made the difficulty more attractive for the man.

That man, of course, happened to be none other than Kyle, a man who arrived at the Cafe as but a boy; now, he was a man.

He's lived through decades within the harsh environment of Fallout's Wasteland, having to fight tooth and nail to survive, so much so that he killed enough people to make him the most dangerous man in the Wasteland, but he's reached a... obstacle in his journey.

He was stuck, in other words.

So, he spent some time farming in a quaint town in the middle of Stardew Valley, spending a few years farming and thinking, yet with every idea that he tried, he found that the obstacle before him didn't budge one bit.

Having to face an entire Oil Rig filled with soldiers armed with Power Armor, Laser Rifles, Plasma Rifles, and all sorts of advanced technology, he was easily stomped and crushed, as if he was a bug under a boot.

Frank Horggian alone was a menace, not to mention all of the Turrets, Robots, Soldiers, Scientists, and other personnel that called the Oil Rig home.

Sure, he's tried many different strategies; most didn't make it that far, and some of them proved to be decent distractions, but in the end, he had a time limit before the Enclave started becoming more active and causing more problems across the remains of what was once California.

Sure, he could slow them down through logistics, infestations, or all sorts of other problems, but eventually, they always found him.

So, he decided to try something new, and the owner suggested this game, as it dealt with an underwater city. Not exactly an Oil Rig, but perhaps it would give him some new ideas.

At first, he had to adjust to being in a different body than his own, but to his surprise, it came quite quickly. However, he did not like how he lost control and got put in the backseat whenever cutscenes arose.

Then there was his first encounter with a Splicer, the most common inhabitant of the city of Rapture that he would occasionally run into.

If playing on any other difficulty than Hell, the first splicer the player would encounter is essentially a mob character, cannon fodder that was easily dispatchable, but in the Hell Difficulty, it was a completely different situation.

With nothing but a wrench, Kyle met his very first obstacle in Rapture, a single Splicer, one armed with a rusted pipe and plasmids.

..

"HE DIED FOR YOUR SINS! For YOUR sins!" The Splicer screamed as electricity arced up his arm and launched at Kyle, who quickly evaded by jumping behind a pillar.

Jumping back, the rusted pipe in the Splicer's hand slammed into the concrete pillar, right where Kyle's head was only moments prior.

"HE DIED! For YOUR sins!" The Splicer screamed again, lunging to hit Kyle with his rusty pipe after missing.

Leaning back, dodging the swing by mere centimeters, Kyle suddenly lunged forward, swinging the heavy wrench in his hands toward the Splicer's wrist, and with a sickening crunch, broke it, causing the Splicer to scream and drop the rusty pipe they had in hand.

The Splicer screamed, and before Kyle could capitalize on the Splicer's injury, the Splicer headbutted him before punching him in the gut with his other hand.

Electricity arced across the Splicer's fist, sending painful bursts of electricity straight into Kyle's chest.

Kyle slumped over, groaning, feeling as if he was having the worst heartburn of his life. It was a miracle the electrical discharge didn't stop his heart.

"HE DIED!" The Splicer screamed, stomping on Kyle's stomach before turning to try and grab his rusted pipe.

Coughing, Kyle gripped the wrench in his hands until his knuckles turned white, and with all of his strength, he got up. While the Splicer's back was turned, he raised the wrench high and swung down with all of his strength, bashing the Splicer's head in.

The Splicer's skull broke, and Kyle continued to streak with all of his strength until all that was left of the Splicer's head was a pile of mush.

...

While Kyle continued to journey through Rapture and its story. On ARK's Offical Public Server, where most of the current players were, with only a few playing Single Player, chaos was in full swing as the players were having trouble fighting against the Dinsoaurs that called the Island home.

In fact, some were still having trouble getting off the beach, but two specific individuals were farther along than the others.

A crazy clown and an old-fashioned archer in an age where everyone had powers or guns.

Though little did that archer know, there existed a group of vigilantes who used bows the same as him, though he wouldn't learn of them for a while.

At the moment, the two were settled in a small thatch cottage, a simple shelter that the Implants helped them create, and quite easily at that.

While Harley wasn't that surprised or awed by the technology and usefulness the Implant offered, Hawkeye thought differently and wondered what other kind of technology existed and, if possible, if he could replicate it and get it to Fury.

Then there were the giant Obelisks floating in the sky.

He's been trying to get close to one of them, the one that glowed in a Red light, but every time, they encountered some kind of obstacle.

They even encountered a giant aquatic lizard, a Spinosaurus.

The Spino was a size large enough to crush and tear apart a bus easily, and it moved surprisingly quickly.

He could go along the beach and try to reach the other obelisks, but they were too far, and he had a limited time.

Fury expected a report by the end of the day, and he'd rather try to give Fury some good news. Lord knows he was paranoid enough about this cafe and its owner.

Plus, the faster he got what Fury wanted, the quicker he could return home.

Sighing, he looked off into the corner of the shack, where Harley was leaning over a table with a mortar and pestle, making narcotics from spoiled meat and narco berries.

She cackled like a mad woman as a large flightless bird rubbed against her thigh.

Abruptly, she stopped cackling and turned to the Dodo, cooing like a mother would a baby.

"God...I hate my job," Hawkeye mourned over his fate and the stressful missions his boss always seemed to assign him.