The Blue Tango wakes up for the second time by the bonfire. Sitting up, he realizes again that he feels fine and the memory of his gruesome death seems like nothing more than a dream. He gets up, takes a deep breath, then heads back up the stairs out of the cave. When he gets outside, he figures it's best to avoid anything flying that could kill him, so he stays low and out of sight and decides to take the path alongside the edge of the mountain. As he carefully watches his footing on the cliffside, he hears the sound of his killer through the air. Freezing in his position, Tango closes his eyes and holds his breath. The buzzing gets louder and then fades away.

"Phew."

The second he opens his eyes he sees a deer running towards him up the path.

"Hey! HEY! STOP!"

The deer does not stop and plows into our hero knocking him off the cliff to another death.





The Blue Tango wakes up by the fire again and shoots up to his feet. He rushes out of the cave and within moments he's killed again and returns. He leaves again and, again, returns in a short amount of time.

“WHAT THE HECK?!!?”

You lasted a lot longer that time.

The familiar voice of the stranger from before echoes softly through the cave. Tango recognizes it, but still asks.

"Who's there?"

He walks over to the dark corner the stranger occupies and confirms it's the same hooded fellow as before.

"Hey! Bruh! What is going on?! What is this place! I keep dying and it HURTS, but I keep coming back just to DIE SOME MORE!"


The stranger chuckles under his hood.

"It's not funny, dude!"

”Oh, you’re fine, aren't you?”

Tango pats his chest and his bottom.

“Well, yeah… But that’s not the point! I got warped to this place with NO explanation and NO warning! Doesn't GG know that we have War Games to prepare for?!"

An emotional Calypso starts to seep out through the mask, muddy tears, and a squeaky voice. The stranger lowers himself down to the ground and sits. The shadows around him poof away like smoke and disappear into the air like a lifting fog. He sits quietly for a moment then pulls back his hood.





"Who are you, dude?"

Just a friend…

The stranger was old and looked…. dusty. He was also missing an eye and there was a dark void in its place.

"A friend? If that's the case, can you tell me what's going on here? Am I dead? (whispers) Am I in hell? Am I forced to keep dying over and over again?!"

Hehe. Not exactly. Again, you look just fine to me. I will say, If you plan on making it the whole way to Mount Final Boss, you'd better get used to all this.

“What? Dying?!”

Painful deaths. Confusion. No explanations. The world outside this cave may look beautiful and enchanting, Tango, but it's merciless.

A doomed feeling sinks into Tango and he ponders on it.

“Wait… How’d you know my name?? And how do you know I’m going to Mount Final Boss?!”

After an awkward silence, the old man lights a cigar with nothing more than a flip from his thumb. After taking a drag, like a dragon he releases a plume of smoke that fills the top of the cave. Images begin taking shape within it and display a beautiful landscape. Rolling, grassy plains that stretch for miles. A city in the distance, a perfect circle around, looking as busy as ever. The perspective moves through the sky closer to the city.

Words on the street claim that a certain little blue haired heroine brought in a trio of out worldly heroes of her own to take down the most recent threat to this land… General Big Bad!

A shadow emerges and blocks out the sun! As it's touched by the shadow, all of plant life quickly withers up and dies. The shadow stretches as far as the city and overtakes it. Chatter and laughter turn to screams of fright as an image of a dark, cloaked being comes into the picture. The only thing visible on them is the iron fist that extends out of their sleeve.

The General has already made his presence known, my friend. And perhaps your little friend has already hit the panic button and will do whatever it takes to stop him from going any further… So, to answer your question, with you stumbling around this place like some kind of tourist, I did the math as to who you are and where you're heading.

The Blue Tango stands dumbfounded staring up at the cloud-picture in the ceiling. A dark army now floods the land and marches toward the city. General Big Bad, with their iron fist, towers over it all and watches the decimation. Tango feels unsettled and looks over to the stranger.

“Is this LIVE?”

Nope, made it up. BUT! It will happen, unless you do something about it.

The smoke and picture above fades away.

“Shyeah. What the crap, excuse my French, can I DO about THAT?”

Honestly, nothing in the state that you're in. I'm not sure what your blue haired friend was thinking, but this is, what, your fourth time through this cave?

Tango counts on one hand…

"Five, I think."

I'd suggest you get better at this stuff real quick.

"I was killed by a BUG! Bruh! I don't think I'm going anywhere! Especially if I'm expected to fight an army with some huge dude looming in the background! Big BAD or whatever ya'll are calling him. Screw that! Screw this! We've got War Games to worry about! This is my first year as a captain and I'm not missing it! I have responsibilities as a leader, bruh!"

Tango throws his arms up in a rage!

"I'm not like Mastermind… I'm not going to sit back and be delusional about what's ahead. I know it's going to be tough because unlike what he said about moi, I think he drafted a good team. You can't go wrong with Peter Vaughn, right? Heck, I wanted to win the Tag Titles with him a month or so ago! I thought we could've had something going on, man, but all that dude did was judge a book by its record. He saw that I took a few too hard to the chin and bailed out long before that match ever happened. He even expressed it leading up to the thing, but I let it go and thought that a true champion like this guy would pull through in the end and do anything to… ya know… win. Instead, I'm left high and dry. Here's where I'd ask Mastermind, what if he does the same to you? Vaughn was so upset to get thrown into a match at my side that he didn't even bother checking-in let alone checking-out. I think that says more than me losing to him weeks later for a title that I don't think he deserves anymore. I thought pretty highly of the guy once, but he didn't even realize after the fact that he had her dicked in that match. We could've done great things and it was HIS decision alone not to. The problem is he came in like a wrecking ball, but his chain only lasted a couple of weeks before he fell through the floor. Once reality hit and the pond around him turned into a lake, he got gobbled up, so I don't really understand his sense of entitlement and better-than-you attitude right now. Just because he has the Supercontinental TItle doesn't make him Corey Smith. He can't possibly be bored already. Talking about being ready to move on from ME? Nah, bruh. I'm moving on from you.

"About Mastermind and his draft, the chemistry between Vaughn and Dolly is impeccable. They're in tune with each other and are sending off the same exact vibrations, relying on my faults as well as the closest thing to a fault you can find within my team. Mastermind beat Hanari. Dolly beat Game Girl. And Peter beat me. NK is at fault because he lost to Charlie Nickles, like that's some kind of shot? Charlie hasn't had like 4 Uni TItle shots in the last couple years because he sucks? Bruh… So, if those two are so worried about what each of us have done in recent weeks, what about all the other stuff?"

"Whether he wants to admit it or not, I out performed Vaughn in our tag match and lost. So, I hope THAT clears up anything about who the weak link was. I'm gonna ask Dolly if beating HER after losing 70 matches in a row makes me a good wrestler or not. 70 matches. 100 matches. What difference does it make? Your captain has a record that's literally never been over .500 and based on his blubbering from before, there's no chance of him ever catching that. I beat Dolly to FIGHT Vaughn for his title. Yeah, lost to Vaughn, but again, who cares, bruh? I lived to fight another day, didn't I? Same about NK. He lost to the dude that rocked the TV Title Division for 6 months and gave it up to chase his dreams.. NK's been a Tag Team Champ since January and hardly ever loses. Congratulations for finding that one thing on the guy, L-O-L… Game Girl is an ICON, I don't care what anyone else says. And not just a pixelated icon, either. Dolly has no throttle when it comes to this stuff… If she can't set it to cruise then she loses pace with the whole thing and lets no one down but herself. Everyone else just expects it.. I think she learned that self-loathing stuff from Thaddeus Duke, who just happens to be a last minute entry."

"I still can't believe Mastermind had the nerve to say that I drafted poorly… At least MY team is still intact! On paper, I guess the Warmasters look better with their new addition. But Duke showed right from the get-go that he's in it for one thing… Him. It's like he's looking for a 'thanks' from the rest of us for coming out of his XWF retirement and saving War Games. Anyone else could've filled that slot and nothing about this would've changed. But he said it himself, when Dolly gets in over her head, she calls in reinforcements and Thaddeus loves to play the hero. He might tell you he's no hero because of all the atrocities that he's performed in his life, and he's not. I said PLAY the hero. He and Dolly's relationship has it written all over it. Does there always have to be a victim? I think they all spent too much time at Corey's nuthouse and it's made them too reliant on each other. It's weak, bruh."

"Speaking of Corey's nuthouse, Mercy got drafted onto Viewer Desecration Advised and really seems like the only one that's going to advance from that match. She doesn't speak, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have a voice. Madison Dyson, who was dead, is now back and has taken over that role. I wonder if she's gonna want her mansion back? She's gonna hate what they've done to the place L-O-L. Mercy seems to get hit with the same notes everyone else is hitting me with. How irrelevant we are n' stuff. Then Madison turned on the deflector shields and bounced it all on me because, again, my lack of titles and big moments! She's awful judgy after admitting that Mercy hasn't done diddly and just kinda showed up out of nowhere to be UNLEASHED into War Games. Ooh, spooky. You know we all know how to fight, don't ya? I'm sure one of us is going to be able to handle a 6 foot, 180 pound psychopath with a lust for killing."

"Maybe the new Uni Champ? Drafted by Jenny Myst (womp, womp.), Raion Kido! I can see him, at the very least, meeting us in the final match. Why wouldn't he be a favorite? He did the impossible! L-O-L. I hope that hasn't gone to his head already. The guy was Chokey McChicken Wing before the Cannabis Cup happened, losing at every opportune match he had to become a champion. He's got no room to bash me for not closing the deal. He asked me how I feel about facing someone that's accomplished something I haven't… Uh? Does he even know who I am?! That's like every week, bruh. That's basically everyone's go-to in this whole thing, too. I've been here longer than almost anybody and I have little to show for it. Anyone can assume what they want about me, but what they need to realize is if I want to turn some heads, I will. Tell me I haven't proved that already! Kido's in for a rude awakening if he keeps this attitude because he's already shown how beatable HE can be. There will be another good example of that WHEN I make EVERYONE eat their words and pin the Universal Champion in the center of the ring to win War Games."

After Tango's rant, the stranger takes another long drag and blows a cloud of smoke above their heads, a bit closer this time. It swirls around like before and several little pictures form within it.



Take two.

Tango leans in to take a closer look then reaches into the smoke.

"Eeesh!!"

He draws back quickly and waves off his hand.

"It's so cold!"

The stranger just looks at him, so he reaches his hand back in and pulls out the longbow. Holding it, Tango feels he already knows everything about it. Like an experienced hunter and a sharpshooter. He throws the weapon over his back and reaches in for the quiver and does the same.

+25 ARROWS!

"Does the longbow and arrows count as two things?"

I'll throw in the throwing knives, as well. Why not?

"Score!"

Tango giddily reaches in and collects the throwing knives.

+10 THROWING KNIVES!

"Thanks, bruh! So, uh, what should I do now?"

Tango checks out his new gear and looks up to the stranger who is now in the process of poofing away in a cloud of smoke and shadow. Disappointed, our hero slouches and looks towards the exit of the cave. Taking a deep breath and knowing what he must do, he heads out.





Tango figured that he would attempt to make it to the crossroads he found before that first giant mosquito that ended his life. THAT life. He finally felt well-equipped with his longbow and confident enough to confront the beast once more and defeat it! He remembers the skills from his chosen class, the ROGUE, and sneaks down the path quietly. He listens closely, trying to hear the buzzsaw sound of his nemesis creeping on him, but hears nothing. Approaching the sign at the crossroads, it reads:

City of Narfinex (to the West) Storm Hills (to the East) Lost Woods (to the South) Mt. Final Boss (to the North)

"North."

Tango remembers seeing the mountain in the distance from his previous viewpoint outside the cave. Suddenly, the buzzsaw in the sky approaches. Tango quickly takes cover behind a large rock and stalks his former predator, current prey. He thinks about how much this situation reminds him of the one he's in with Peter Vaughn. How he was bested once, brutally… But now, he's back! Better prepared and equipped to take down his foe.

The giant bug hovers back and forth across the path at a slow, bumbling speed like it was patrolling the area. Tango pulls an arrow from the quiver and draws back on his bow. As he aims, his vision focuses razor sharp and zooms in on the monster. Tango blinks a few times and pulls away for a second, surprised at his natural skill. He takes aim once again, waits for the bug to make a turn back towards him, and fires! The arrow pierces the arrow at lightning speed and impales the beast midair!

*CRITICAL HIT!* +28 DAMAGE! (sneak attack) +10 DAMAGE!

It squelches and squeals before losing flight and hitting the ground with a thud!

"Eureka! I. AM. VENGEANCE!!!"

Tango's eyes light up in joy and he scurries down the path towards his kill. When he gets there, he examines it as an overwhelming urge, like an instinct, takes over him to pull out the arrow and loot it, which he does.

He found some bug meat, an antenna, 6 runes, and 1 gold piece.

"Neat!"

He shoved all of that stuff in a backpack that seemed like it had unlimited capacity.

"Super neat!"

Tango's eyes light up even brighter as a montage begins of him sneaking through the land, sneaking up on more bugs, undead soldiers roaming around, and random wildlife.





He learned a lot through the montage and after dying several more times and having several successful rests at some bonfires, he grew stronger. The runes he loots from his fallen foes are cashed in at these bonfires for abilities and strength! As he more confidently marches along towards Mount Final Boss, he's stopped when he hears a rustling in the trees. He equips his bow and places an arrow so it's ready to fire.

A loud groan bellows out and from the trees emerges a giant!! Spotting the Blue Tango it charges him without hesitation! Tango dives and somersaults out of the way! The giant lunges past him and lands a punch shattering rock right where he was standing! Our hero somersaults his way around the beast, plants himself, and draws back on his bow! It bellows out another deep growl as Tango takes aim between the monster's eyes!