He Comes for Me
Another look at evil bosses in arcade games.
I often sit back and marvel at my power. I gaze down upon my castle and all of my minions within it. On occasion, I see a hero come through here and try to bring me down. Usually they are stopped somewhere in the castle by my minions before they can even get to me, but on that rare and wonderful occasion, I get the pleasure of killing them myself. I can see everything in my castle without moving. My eye remains trained on our would-be hero every time I hear the noise. It's a faint noise that I can't identify completely, but my best guess is the sound of a coin dropping into a slot of some sort. When I hear that noise, it's time for some excitement.
Speaking of which, there's the noise now. Time for some action. My eye automatically zooms to an outside view of my next victim. Why do they even try? Don't they know that, even if they are lucky enough to make it past my minions, that the moment they reach my chamber I will crush them flat? I wish honestly that I could preserve the bodies of all those I have killed in the past, those that would challenge my power. I would string them about the castle as a warning to the rest.
Our little friend has enetered my castle and I watch him run left to right, flashing his sword against the easy minions. I prefer to let the smaller ones have a go at him first. It's not as if they die forever. I have seen them killed many times and every time I see the words "GAME OVER" they come right back with no thoughts or regret towards their early failure. I allow them to go first because, well, if I sent the biggest ones first, the smaller ones would never see any experience. They don't seem to learn from it, though. They always try the same approach.
The challenger doesn't always do the same thing, though. He may look the same, and be equipped the same, but it always seems like he has changed his mode of behavior ever so slightly. He always follows the same path through my castle, though.
This one seems persistent. He is cutting his way quickly through my creatures. I am surprised at his guile. It will not be long at this rate before he faces my personal wrath. I look forward to it.
He eventually does reach my chamber. I extend my arm and crush him on the spot. The typical words "GAME OVER" appear above me as they always do upon my victory upon these pitiful souls. I'm not sure what they mean, but they have become strangely satisfying in their context.
The coin-drop sound is immediately heard again. The body disappears. Our would-be hero is ready for another try it seems. It's definitely the same one. They always look the same, but now he is even behaving the same way. He cuts through and reaches me again. Again I extend my arm and attempt to crush him flat. Such a shame that he wasted his life for this moment.
No... he dodges it...
He strikes me with his sword. My body glows red for the most brief of moments, but I felt pain. Real pain. I've never felt pain before. It sears through me like a rushing flame. My initial pride is turned into fear... and anger. If he can avoid my hand, he will not avoid my flame. I contract back and extend my neck as I spew forth a massive belch of fire. I scorched him without trace of him ever being there.
The words "GAME OVER" appear again. This time they are not as satisfying. I am not content. I cannot stop thinking about... the pain... I still hurt. I feel it. For the first time I wonder how I even got here in this castle. It was never a question before! Why am I here? Why must I constantly fend off these warriors, and what have I done to hurt like this?
Another coin drops.
Same warrior again. His movements have become mechanical. His exact route is memorized. He knows how to get here... and he knows how to hurt me. Anger is no longer an issue... I am afraid. This man intends to kill me.
As he reaches my chamber, I make another futile attempt at crushing him beneath my hand. He knows how to dodge that. Why did I even try? I don't know. He strikes me again, and I feel that familiar pain. It hurts... so much...
I spew forth another patch of fiery wrath, but he cowers in the corner and remains unharmed. He charges forward yet again and strikes me. My body glows yet again. The pain is worse now. It is as if I am paying pennance for something. I am suffering for nothing. I did nothing to these men, but yet they hunt me again and again. I took pride in myself, pride in stopping them, but they intended to kill me. I did it to survive. As the rage of his attack raced through me, I thought of how I could possibly live. I'm not supposed to die! Before I could plan something else, I realized my hand was coming out to attempt to crush him again. Why did I do that? He dodged it, of course, and struck me again. The pain has become unbearable. I wanted to scream, beg for him to stop, but I couldn't. He was running to the corner again. I suppose since, beforehand, after I tried to crush him, I would then attempt to scorch him with my fire. Of course I wouldn't do it again, he knows how to dodge it and is already perfectly safe from it.
Yet I did it anyway.
Why can I not control this? Why am I forced to fight in a way that leaves me vulnerable? He knows how to beat this current method. Like none before him, he knows! I couldn't think about it long before he struck me again. The pain did not cease. It grew worse by the minute. It increasingly became more and more excruciating. If only someone would help me. Save me from dying. I felt my own death approaching... what did I ever do besides defend myself... the pain... it's so strong... I want to scream... I want to cry... I can't. My body glowed yet again, but the glow did not cease. Above me, the words "GAME OVER" did not flash as they always have. Instead, the word, "CONGRATULATIONS" appeared. Congratulations? This mystical power that caused me all of this pain and suffering has been trying to reward them? I lay here dying... for what? For his glory? Why won't the pain subside?
Suddenly, I was upright again. I could feel the pain still. It was beyond intense. Even sitting here now, apparently alive, I could still feel it. If someone could just release me and let me die, I could never feel that horrible sensation again. Just let me go... if you're out there... let me go... please.
Another coin drops.
