Monstercat: Origins (Part 1)

Chapter 15: Overworld

Dr. Raven brought a plate of the strange meat over to Camon. He set the plate down and said, "Don't worry, I've done lot's of research on this. Most places call this meat ham and it comes from swine." Swine were very putrid creatures, always making a mess and ruining things. However, this 'ham' looked pretty good, so Camon took a slice and slid it onto his plate. The meat was juicy and sweet. It was certainly the tastiest thing he'd ever eaten. Dr. Raven sat down and started explaining, "Alright Camon, I finished Megaboy early this morning. I programmed him to only shut down by removing his big back panel and cutting a golden wire. I have a pair of wire cutters for you. To remove the back panel you have to hit a latch sealed with a demon core with a shot from your savantium. Now be careful, his arms are very flexible so watch out for those. It'll be easier to get him on his stomach before you open the back panel. I wish you good luck, I have to load Megaboy to the deployment bay. I will drop you off from there after 10 minutes, so finish your breakfast up and gather your courage." He stood up from the table and stepped into a vine hand. Camon looked down at his ham and thought about his dreams. He was scared his father would find him if he saved Overworld from his destruction. He pulled the bandanna out of his pocket and examined it. It was a mystical purple, a purple he had become very familiar with, ravenwood purple. The color almost illuminated from the bandanna, seemingly glowing. Camon finished his ham with the bandanna in his lap. When he finished, he stood up and tied it on his face. He walked over to the sink to put his dish away and looked into the dishwater at his reflection... with a few food bits here and there. He looked like a completely different person with the bandanna on. That was it then, that was what protected his identity. He walked out of the kitchen and onto a vine hand. It wrapped around him and carried him down to where Dr. Raven went. A huge purple and yellow ball thing with stubby legs and long arms stood dormant. Dr. Raven said, "This would be him, Megaboy, your first enemy." He pulled a lever and sunlight poured through a slowly lowering launch bay. They were hovering over the surface of a cute little Terran planet covered with abstract buildings in bright, vivid colors. Then came a rumbling from Megaboy. The robot's eyes lit up and it started to slide down the ramp. It kept sliding until it hit the bottom and rolled. The robot hurdled toward the ground, rolling and rolling. When he landed he made a huge crater in the ground, crushing a building... and possibly some citizens. Camon watched the poor city crumble before the robot, long purple and yellow arms crashing through buildings with such force. He stood there with Dr. Raven for 9 minutes, watching a small city being destroyed. The ship moved with Megaboy towards a much larger city. Camon saw some Mangles falling off other parts of the ship as well, landing on the planet, doing the same as Megaboy. Camon pulled out his crystal and pointed it at the Mangles, evaporating a few. Dr. Raven turned to walk away from the bay and said, "Now's your time Camon, I'll pick you up here when the job is done. I'm going to be with your father for this, I'll update you on what he figures out... Good luck." He disappeared with a vine hand going up to the laboratory exit. Camon turned towards the loading bay, staring down at the city below. He walked over to the wall and grabbed a parachute. He stood at the end of the ramp, the wind ruffling his black clothes and bandanna. He put the parachute on his back and leaned forward. His heart rate jumped as he slipped off the ramp, falling towards the city. He got closer and closer to the surface, until he had to start dodging tall buildings. He pulled the string behind him and the small clear parachute opened up behind him. It was so clear he knew his father couldn't see it. He finally landed on the ground and dragged the parachute behind a bush. He looked up at The Cult and the loading bay closed. He was on his own now. He walked down the street to an intersection. There were colorful cars sitting out in the middle of the road abandoned, some of the engines still humming with doors opened. The inhabitants had probably hid somewhere after hearing Megaboy was wrecking their planet. Camon walked through the maze of cars, listening carefully for a disturbance. He noticed that he couldn't hear himself walking. He looked down at his feet and realized that he was sneaking, something he learned to do in the book he read about dexterity. A banging came from behind him, followed by a choir of high pitched screams. He turned towards the sound and saw flying debris around the corner of a street in the intersection he had just walked through. He started running, less quietly, towards the street. When he got to the intersection he saw him, Megaboy. He hid behind a purple building on the corner as Megaboy turned onto the road, smashing all the buildings he walked past. A small group of colorful blob people ran down the street, shrieking a terribly high pitched tone. Camon watched as Megaboy inched closer. He turned to flee down the street and noticed a purple and yellow striped arm smashing through the side if a building in that direction. He decided that wasn't the safest route, but neither was any other one. Camon looked up to see the building. He decided the one way out is up. He grabbed a first-floor windowsill and hoisted himseld onto it. He jumped up to the second story, then the third. Not that far down the buildings was one of those metal staircase/ladder contraptions. He started to inch down the windowsill when suddenly one of Megaboy's arms punched through the contraption. It started swinging towards Camon. Camon quickly jumped and grabbed a ledge on the 4th story. The arm retracted back through the building right where Camon just was. "Can't have any more mishaps like that", Camon said to himself, out of breath. He looked up at The Cult, hovering over the chaos like some morbid crow. Camon looked up and saw he had 4 stories to go. He leapt over to the next floor and an arm crashed through the next window up. Camon looked left and decided to move over a window. He jumped from his window to the next, and then to the next story. He jumped two more until he had finally gotten to the top floor. One more jump and he would be on the roof. Camon was surprised he had made it this far, adrenaline, he figured. Once again an arm crashed into the building. Camon could feel the building start to crumble, and he knew it wouldn't be structurally sound for much longer. Camon took the final leap, and he climbed up onto the roof. From there he could see everything, where Megaboy had destroyed, how many casualties lay on the ground, and the terrible robot himself. Megaboy turned towards Camon and began walking onto a new street. Camon felt the building quake for its last time. As the roof cracked and began falling into itself, Camon pulled out his savantium and sprinted. He ran for the edge of the building just as it collapsed and jumped. He fell through the sky, not knowing his death was waiting below. All he knew was complete the mission, so he did. He threw his crystal at the demon core where the latch on Megaboy's back was and watched it light up and blast out a purple laser. It hit the demon core on point and the latch unhooked. Megaboy's back panel flew down surprisingly, catching Camon before he splatted onto the concrete street. He hit the metal backing with a loud thunk that seemed to echo through his bones. He tried to stand up but he couldn't move any body parts. Camon had become a vegetable. He lay on the back panel of Megaboy as his arms flailed through countless buildings and citizens. Camon held onto the last possession of his, his bandanna. He looked down at it and noticed it had been torn. The tear in the bandanna almost looked like a mouth, with 4 sharp awaiting fangs. Camon finally felt a jolt through his body, and he blacked out.
(Dream) Strange booming voice: you know, you don't have to die like this Camon, you could make big changes and do big things in this universe, but you cannot do it alone. You need friends Camon, people who can assist you on your journey. You will live through this, but it will not happen again, so I suggest you find your place before you crush your father. (Fade Out)
(Wake)
Suddenly, everything went white. Camon opened his eyes to the brightness of the real world. Once his vision got used to the light again, he realized that he was standing up. He hadn't stood himself up, he was... dead? Camon didn't know what had happened to him, but it was certainly unnatural. Camon pulled out his wire cutters and walked into the back of Megaboy, who had gotten through half the city and was a block away from the city hall. Camon looked at the wires, trying hard to remember what Dr. Raven said. There were wires everywhere in all different colors. Camon looked directly in front of him to see a thick golden wire, and that's when he remembered. Camon reaced out for the golden wire, but Megaboy trembled and shook him to the ground. Camon forgot that he was supposed to get Megaboy on his stomach first. Camon looked down at the ground from the back panel to see one of Megaboys arms following one specific citizen. The small blue alien blob ran around screaming his head off. He realized the arm had circled him and had turned around. The arm followed. The citizen ran around Megaboys legs, and the arm followed. The citizen looked up and was stricken with an idea, he looped around the legs again. And again. And again. Camon watched as the basic plan was done for him. Megaboy tried to take a step forward with his legs wrapped in himself and tripped, falling stomach-first onto the ground. Camon flew from the panel and slammed into an engine. Thats when Camon realized the stomach-falling wasn't the best idea. The huge back panel flew down and slammed back onto Megaboy. Camon now sat in the dark, trying to search his way toward the wire. He found a thick wire and reached out to cut it. Snip. Camon had done it... He hoped. Then, a little red light lit up and started spinning like a police light. A voice came from somewhere on a loudspeaker saying, "RED WIRE CUT, SELF DESTRUCTING IN 30 SECONDS." Camon looked down to see the wire he cut was indeed red. He ran over to the light and realized that from here he could see the golden one. Camon made his way through the maze of machinery and had made it to the wire. "10", the loudspeaker boomed. Camon reached out and began hacking at the wire with the clippers. "5... 4... 3...", the loudspeaker counted. Snip. Camon now had actually done it! The light went off and the engines stopped. Camon sat in the dark, not knowing what to do to get out. Camon thought he heard footsteps. He listened close, and realized he was hearing many tiny footsteps. "The citizens.", he whispered. A small choir of voices came from above. "Heave, ho, heave, ho.", the little colorful people shouted. A crack of light shined through the latch, and it continued to grow and grow. Camon ran to the edge of the room and looked up the ceiling lifting up slowly. He waited until the crack was just big enough, and crawled through. The light once again flooded Camon's vision, but it didn't matter. He was floating on the hands of dozens of tiny citizens. They carried him, everyone screaming and cheering at him. Camon looked up at the sky, and down came a long, green vine hand. Camon stood up from the citizens hands and said, "Your welcome, citizens of Overworld, it was a pleasure to save your planet, but now I must go. Goodbye, newly made friends!" Camon looked up at the vine hand and jumped into it. It carried him up to the loading bay, where Dr. Raven stood smiling.