The First Toy smiled wide, teeth glowing like polished ivory blocks.
"I like your enthusiasm, kiddos. Heck, I'll even throw in free systems for the both of ya."
He tapped his staff—made of tumbling, shuffling alphabet blocks—twice against the floor. CLACK. CLACK.
Instantly, Zeke's 3-D red and blue movie theater glasses lit up with running circuitry, neon lines crawling across the frames. Julie's black-rimmed goth specs sparked with the same strange energy, glowing like little HUDs from a sci-fi console.
"You now have systems installed," the First Toy explained. His voice carried like a carnival barker hyping the main attraction. "They'll track your health, pull up vitals, identify power-up drops from slain enemies… even highlight hidden chests and enemy weaknesses. Consider it my cheat code."
In the darkness of the elevator Zeke blinked rapidly as glowing numbers appeared in the corner of his vision. Health: 100%.
Julie gasped—even in the dark she could see Zeke. When she looked at Zeke, a floating nameplate labeled [Zeke – Human: Normal] shimmered above his head, along with a green health bar.
"You're… you're in my glasses," she whispered, pointing.
"Same here," Zeke muttered, staring at her vitals readout.
But when they both turned their gaze toward the First Toy…
????????
No data. No vitals. Not even a health bar—just a question mark wall of mystery.
The Toy chuckled knowingly. "You're both ready now. But don't think you're going in alone out there. Even I'll be tagging along for this ride."
He lifted his staff high. With a flash, his body splintered into two radiant streaks of light—
SCHWIP!
The first curled into a glowing First Toy Earring, which appeared in Julie's right ear lobe, shimmering with otherworldly fire.
SCHWIP!
The second shrank into a First Toy Keychain, which clipped itself to Zeke's belt loop, dangling like a little mascot charm.
Both pulsed faintly with the same strange aura.
The elevator shuddered, gears grinding. The lights flickered once… twice… then blazed back to life as power returned. Slowly, with a groan of effort, the car rose.
Zeke and Julie stood in tense silence, gripping their new super-soakers, neon readouts flickering across their enhanced vision.
The elevator dinged. Doors slid open.
A cold wind rushed in from the vast, deserted eighth floor of Mega Mall USA. For a moment, the world was eerily quiet—too quiet.
Then the First Toy's voice echoed from both their items, layered like a distorted arcade announcer voice:
"LEVEL ONE: ZOMBIE PANIC."
The elevator doors screeched open.
A system message lit up in Pairs Heads Up Display.
ALERT: WAVE ONE flashed across Zeke and Julie's HUDs in blinding red letters.
The mall's eighth floor stretched before them, silent at first… until a sickly chorus of moans rose up. Shadows staggered from behind shuttered kiosks and overturned strollers, shapes with gray flesh, torn clothes, and hollowed eyes glowing faint green in the dark.
"It's raining Zombies like a bastard out here" Zeke muttered, "Well ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." gripping his neon water rifle. His HUD blinked.
Weapon Equipped: SUPER SOAKER NEO-90
Ammo: 50 / 50.
Julie's system pinged too:
Weapon Equipped: SUPER SOAKER VX-GOTH EDITION.
Ammo: 40 / 40.
The zombies noticed. Heads jerked. Limbs twitched. Then the mob lurched into a run.
The First Toy's voice boomed out of their gear like a warped arcade announcer:
"READY? … FIGHT!"
The first corpse lunged—its jaw snapping wide—only to get blasted across the face by Zeke's Super Soaker. The water didn't splash—it hissed like acid, smoke sizzling from rotting flesh. The zombie convulsed and collapsed, dropping in a pixelated burst of green light.
+10 XP
Ammo Restored!
Julie screamed, then found her courage. She pivoted and sprayed down a pack rushing her from the left. Her soaker stream hit them like a pressure cannon—heads popped back, bodies stumbled into a pile.
MULTI-KILL BONUS!
"Did… did it just say bonus?" Julie panted, swinging her rifle.
"Yeah! It's like a game!" Zeke shouted back. "Keep shooting, don't let them swarm us!"
The zombies came in waves, arms reaching, teeth gnashing. One grabbed Julie's arm—her Health Bar dipped from 100% → 92%. She yelped, then shoved the barrel under its chin and blasted point-blank. The body pixelated into glowing green cubes.
+15 XP
More came from the escalators. One in a shredded food court uniform, another dragging a bloody mop bucket, a child zombie crawling unnaturally fast across the tile.
Zeke leapt onto a kiosk counter for high ground, mowing them down in sprays of shimmering liquid light. Julie ducked behind an overturned table, picking shots with precision, her HUD crosshair auto-locking on heads.
Then came a chime!—a glowing treasure chest shimmered into being in the middle of the food court, left behind by a fallen zombie.
POWER-UP DROPPED!
"Julie! Cover me!" Zeke shouted, vaulting down. He sprinted through the mob, spraying furiously, health dipping from scratches: 100 → 85 → 78%. But he slid the last few feet and smacked his palm against the chest.
It burst open in a flare of golden light.
ITEM ACQUIRED: Bubble Bombs (x3)
Description: Splash Radius Toy Explosive. Guaranteed Crowd Clear.
"Oh heck yeah!" Zeke grinned, hurling one into the mob.
PSSHHH-BWOOM!
The bomb exploded in a rainbow bubble the size of a van—capturing five zombies inside. They floated for a moment, banging on the inside, before the bubble popped and they dissolved into green light!
+50 XP!
Julie's system pinged: LEVEL UP!
Her HUD flickered. Health Restored. New Skill: Ricochet Stream unlocked!
She aimed her soaker, pressed the trigger halfway—and a glowing water shot ping-ponged across three zombies like a pinball before shredding them all. Julie laughed, adrenaline mixing with awe.
"Zeke! This is insane!"
"Yeah!" he shouted, blasting the last straggler. "But I think we're actually winning!"
The final zombie staggered forward, missing an arm, eyes glowing brighter than the rest. Zeke and Julie aimed together.
"Three… two… one—"
Both streams fired at once, crossing into a blinding X. The zombie screeched as it disintegrated into a shower of glowing green pixels.
The mall fell silent. Their HUDs cleared.
WAVE ONE COMPLETE
Bonus Unlocked: Safe Zone Access-5 minutes.
Zeke and Julie collapsed onto a bench, gasping for air. Their glasses pulsed with victory lights.
From the keychain at Zeke's belt, the First Toy chuckled.
"Not bad, kiddos. But don't catch your breath yet."
The mall lights flickered. In the distance, faint music began to play—echoing from the dance club wing of the Mega Mall. A beat. A rhythm. A sound like snapping fingers and ghostly laughter.
Julie's face paled. "That… that sounds like…"
Zeke gulped. "No way. It can't be."
The First Toy's voice dropped to a dramatic whisper:
"Boss Approaching."