Galaxy Raider

(Featured on Micro Terrors Podcast)

Li lurches forward, almost smacking into the closed door, as his best friend, Ned, barrels into him.

‘Sorry,’ Ned whispers.

Li shoots him a warning glare, before scanning the deserted school hallway behind him. ‘If you don’t get it together, we’re gonna get caught.’

Ned nods, chewing on his bottom lip. ‘Yeah, I know. It’s just…’ He glances down the dimly lit hall, the shadows casting suspicious shapes along the wall. ‘… I think I heard something.’ 

‘We’ve been through this,’ Li sighs. ‘It’s just a game. Nothing bad can happen from a game, right?’

Ned swallows. ‘I know, but…’ He peers behind him before whispering. ‘I heard it’s so gruesome it’s been banned in five schools already.’

Li grins back. ‘I know. Rad, right?’ With a quiet chuckle, he unlocks the door to the long-abandoned media room. ‘That’s why we’re playing in here.’ He pushes it open, waiting for Ned to walk in.

Ned looks back one last time, certain he heard a noise. But when Li groans in frustration, he quickly slips inside the room.

‘My Mum’s already onto me,’ says Li, shutting the door quietly behind them. ‘She said if she even hears the words ‘Galaxy Raider’ she’s gonna throw my console out!’

‘I mean, that’s kinda my point.’ Ned hesitates in the middle of the room. Chairs are stacked against the far wall, desks pushed haphazardly into corners, while sky high piles of long forgotten school supplies threaten to avalanche at any moment.

‘Ned,’ Li says. ‘Seriously, it’s just a game.’

After a moment, Ned nods. ‘Yeah, I know that. Just a game. You’re right.’ He grabs a couple chairs from the stacks and places them in the middle of the room, while Li pulls his game console from his backpack.

It only takes a minute for Li to hook the console up to the flat screen on the wall, and then it’s time for the unveiling.

Li makes a big show of opening up his backpack. ‘You ready for this?’

Ignoring the goosepimples dimpling his skin, Ned nods.

Li reaches into his bag, then triumphantly pulls out the game. On the cover is a dark silhouette of a creature wearing a large brim hat and a black overcoat – the Galaxy Raider himself. His heads tipped down so there’s nothing but a shadow where his face should be. In one curled appendage, he holds a squirming purple tentacle, green slime dripping from its sliced end, and in another, he holds a black blaster, a yellow laser shooting from its tip. The title Galaxy Raider is written in neon green with drips of slime oozing down the sides. Body parts and flames litter the backdrop of the city while a giant spacecraft hovers menacingly in the sky above.

‘Woah,’ Ned breathes.

‘Told ya,’ Li says, as he takes the disc from the case and slides it into the console. The screen goes black, then a blinking white box appears. Li takes a seat next to Ned, both kids, slack jawed, staring intently ahead.

With a deafening burst of flames and an explosion that lights up the room, a heavy bass surrounds them, and the Galaxy Raider strides into the shot. He pulls out his giant blaster from behind his back, the neon yellow laser shooting out around him, as he coins his tell-tale war cry, ‘No place to hide, your galaxies fried!’ Then he points the laser right at the kids.

Both kids jump as a bright yellow flash takes over the screen, slowly dissolving to pitch black.

Ned shivers. ‘Aliens are creepy.’

‘You gotta loosen up,’ says Li. ‘It’s not real!’

‘You sure about that?’ Ned asks, casting a nervous glance to the doorway where he’s certain he sees a shadow appear below the gap in the door.

‘Please.’ Li sighs, reaching for the controller. ‘Don’t tell me your scared?’

‘Scared?’ Ned snatches the controller first. ‘I didn’t say I was scared.’

‘Alright then,’ Li smirks. ‘You drive.’

Ned straightens up, focusing back on the game, a shiver rolling through his body. ‘No problem.’

Before Li can take another crack at Ned, a mellow drum beat seeps from the speakers, and an alleyway appears on screen. Green ooze drips from the sides of the buildings and chunks of purple flesh are sprayed against the walls.

‘Gross,’ murmurs Ned. He maneuvers his avatar through the alley way, a dark fog creeping through the narrow passage. There’s a squelching squish as the avatar’s foot goes straight into a round slimy glob, a giant detached eyeball sits to the side staring vacantly at the sky. Ned grimaces.

‘Keep going,’ says Li, ignoring the dismembered body parts. ‘You gotta get to the spaceship. The Raider keeps his heart in a jar in his quarters, and unless you destroy that, you can’t destroy him.’

‘Right,’ says Ned, once again peering nervously towards the door.

‘What are you looking for?’ Li laughs. ‘You think an alien’s gonna creep up on us at school?’

‘No,’ Ned says, forcing a laugh. ‘Course not…’

The music picks up, the soft drum beat turning into a deep ominous bass that sends both kids to the edge of their seat.

‘He must be near,’ says Li. ‘I heard when you get to the final level, he pulls you apart like a snack bar and sucks out all your innards.’

Ned shudders. ‘Delicious.’

On screen, Ned’s avatar steps out of the alley, right into the middle of a city in chaos. Cars are upturned throughout the street, flames bursting from their engines. Buildings are crumbling, with chunks of rubble as big as buses falling from their collapsing carcasses. 

‘There!’ Li yells, spotting the silhouette of The Raider in the distance.

‘But what about those?’ Ned points to the dozens of spacecrafts hovering in the sky, bright blue beams projecting from their underbellies as they scan the streets for remaining life forms.

‘Dodge them!’ Li yells. ‘Quick! He’s coming!’ 

The dark shape of the Raider picks up pace and Ned pounds on the controller making his avatar bolt in the opposite direction.

The music quickens, the ominous bass morphing into a thumping techno beat that spikes both kids’ heartrate.

‘The mothership!’ Li yells, pointing to a massive dark craft on the horizon.

Ned’s avatar jumps over three cars, flames licking at his body as he narrowly avoids a flashing yellow laser beam.

‘Aint no where to bail, once the Raider’s on your trail.’ The raider’s voice booms from the speakers, and another flash of yellow lights up the room.

Both kids scream, ducking and weaving, as the Raider’s blaster takes aim.

‘Go, man! Go! Go!’ Li yells as he watches the Raider close the gap. Another yellow shot spins past the avatar.

‘He’s got me!’ yells Ned, as his avatar falls to the ground.

Right as the music crescendos in a chaotic hiss of techno beats and pumping bass, the door to the media room bursts open.

Both kids let out a blood curdling scream.

Standing in the doorway is a giant creature. Its face is swollen, purple tentacles emerging from its globulous form, green slime dripping from its open nostrils. Its body is just a lump of gelatinous mass that quivers as it’s singular eyeball stares down at them.

With a quick flick of a tentacle, it switches the screen off, plunging the room into darkness.

Then it speaks. ‘Mr Li. Mr Ned. What exactly is going on in here?’

Ned lets the controller drop from his tentacles, sheepishly focusing his eyeball to the ground.

Li slides off his seat, his own globular body gliding over to their teacher. With an optimistic grin, he asks, ‘So, what’s the chances you won’t tell my Mum about this?’