This story is part 2 of The Final Level, an 8 part series that started in Mushroom Kingdom.
Mark Lopez blinked. He rubbed his eyes and blinked again, but nothing changed. There was no mistaking what he saw before him. The brightly colored tropical setting was familiar, as were the golden rings scattered over the landscape. Somehow, someway, he was in his favorite video game of all time.
It was Green Hill Zone from Sonic The Hedgehog.
Act One if he wasn’t mistaken. He had no idea how he got there. The last thing he remembered was walking out of the theater with Jill. They had been at the movies. The Spiderfall Chronicles. Good movie. Not as good as the books, but still good. Of course they had to cram six books and several months of story into a two-hour movie, so there was a lot of stuff they had to cut out, but in the end, it was good.
As hey walked down the street to a near by coffee shop, the conversation changed to their friend Peter Davidson. Jill was concerned about him. Since Helen’s death he had spent all his time working on that game he was making. She wondered why he didn’t grieve for her like the rest of her friends had. Mark just laughed. He had known Peter for a long time and knew that this is how he deals with things. He buries himself in his work for a while, even the death of his girlfriend. In a week or two he would go through the grieving process just like they all had.
And so they walked in silence for a bit. He remembered walking own the street, seeing people walk by, cars pass, avoiding the piece of gum on the sidewalk. Then he blinked and the next thing he saw was the Green Hill Zone. Mark looked around, wondering where all the enemies were. He remembered there being plenty of Badniks, even in the early levels of the game when it was relatively easy, but he didn’t see anything.
Shrugging, Mark began walking, hoping he could find out what was going on. As he went, he realized he was going faster and faster. Soon he was running faster then he ever had before. He hadn’t made a conscious effort to run, he just was.
The landscape flew by around him, his feet a blur. As he flew through the level, Mark marveled at the speed he was traveling at. He figured he was running at about 150 miles per hour and accelerating. He remembered reading that Sonic’s top speed was over 750 miles per hour and wondered if he would go that fast.
Mark jumped over a pit and continued to run, his feet a blur beneath him. He looked up in time to see the wall and his eyes grew wide with fear as he saw the razor sharp spikes. He didn’t remember anything like that in this level. He tried to slow down but he couldn’t. The spikes grew bigger as the sped closer. They were to high to jump over and no matter what he tried, he couldn’t stop. He once again wondered how he got here as he felt the spikes pierce his skin.
Jill screamed as Mark fell to the ground, several wounds opening up, staining the sidewalk red with blood. Some onlookers stared, others ran for help. If any had tired to help, they would have seen something odd on his forehead. Something that had terrified Pine Creek for over a year. Something carved into his skin.
The Ullrich family crest.
