Chapter Text
Saturday…
…a day where there is no School…
…a time for fun…
…a time for friends…
…a time for family…
…it's good to have fun.
~
One Saturday, in Salem, Michigan. It was raining.
And when it comes to rain, many people hate it when it happens on a Saturday, since it completely ruins their plans to go outside. Others like the rain on Saturdays, since it can be fun to jump in puddles or curl up inside and do stuff like watch a movie or do some art.
And this Saturday, happens to be what people call 'Board Game Night', for one small middle-schooler with a skull for a face by the name of DJ…
…the Son of the Grim Reaper.
~
“I'm so glad you guys could make it!” DJ said as he greeted five people who came to the front door.
“Well DJ, we wouldn't miss it, we always come to your house for Board Game Night!” Said a goth girl with black hair and a purple dress.
That girl was known as Pandora Boxley, DJ's best friend. She tends to have a habit of opening boxes, no matter how large a sign tells her not to. And she can't blame herself, she has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD for short, she is having therapy for it, but it can't be helped if a box has a lock on it.
“Indeed, we brought in a scoreboard for how many points we're going to get during the day.” Said a boy who's conjoined on the right.
“I agree my brother.” Said the boy who's conjoined on the left. “And remember the deal we made after school? The player with the least amount of points has to pay the tab at Majestic Burger.” He asked.
“Yeah, yeah, I remember.” DJ replied as he let the two in.
Those two were known as Smith & Weston, two twin boys who are conjoined by the head. And despite that ordering, Smith is the one on the right who's book smart, while Weston is the one on the left who's street smart. The two are conjoined by the brain, believing that they are the smartest and talented inventors. (Which they are by the way.) They are also responsible for creating weapons… which will be brought up later.
“Hey can you guys get a move on, we're going to get soaking wet… well, most of us!” Said a kid who's an amputee in a jar.
That kid was Seep, a foul-mouthed and limbless kid who floats inside a jar filled with weird liquid inside. The fact that DJ is friends with him is a wonder.
“Seep, relax, it's just rain.” A blonde girl with holes in her hands said.
The last of the guests, was Stigmartha 'Marty' Rosenthal. A girl who has holes in her hands that bleed whenever she gets nervous. She is the most diligent and caring of DJ's friends, and considers herself as an honor's roll student.
“And that's everybody!” DJ said as he closed the door.
And last is DJ, or Death Jr. as his full name. He's your average kid, despite his appearance and that his father is well… Death (who was on a business trip today.). He's a really nice kid. He dreams of being a great reaper like his father, of course… he does have a habit of unknowingly causing trouble, and of course he get grounded for it. But the punishment is only little.
Of course, like any day for DJ… he's going to go on another adventure.
~
“So guys, are you ready for tonight?” DJ asked.
“Yep! I brought in some drinks!” Pandora said as she opened a box filled with juice boxes.
“We brought the scoreboard.” Smith said as he showed the scoreboard which had everyone's name on it.
“I brought some food.” Stigmartha said she pulled out some snacks, which were chips, pretzel sticks, fruit gummies, carrot sticks, and marshmallows.
“And I brought the music!” Seep said proudly right before he farted.
“Seep!” DJ and his friends said in disgust. To which Seep chuckled at.
“Well, we got what we need.” DJ said as he grabbed five board games.
He looked at each everyone of them, Dining Dinosaurs, Dr. Frankenstein's Doctor's Office, Game of Survival, Murder at Boxx Manor, and Terminal Industries: the Game.
“So, which one are we going to play?” Stigmartha asked.
“How about Dining Dinosaurs?” Seep asked. “That's a fun game.” He commented.
“It's a good game, but I feel bad on hitting the dinosaurs' heads… and beside, you don't even play this game… or any other game.” Stigmartha answered. “Why is this your favorite?” She asked.
“Because of the concept. Duh! Those dinos don't just eat food, they also fight! Plus, you can change them!” Seep explained.
“How about we play it… later. I feel guilty when the dinosaurs have to attack each other to get food.” Stigmartha said as she placed the board game behind her.
“Alright fine.” Seep softly complained. He turned to DJ. “Got any ideas?” he asked.
“Well… how about 'Dr. Frankenstein's Doctor's Office'?” DJ asked.
“Excellent choice DJ!” Smith commented.
“Indeed. Where we are Dr. Frankenstein's assistants, and we remove old organisms of Dr. Frankenstein's monster and replace them.” Weston explained.
“It is a fun game, but that buzzer is real loud. It scared Eight once and—”
“And he ended up becoming Nine.” Pandora finished.
“Yeah… and besides maybe we can work on the buzzer's noise to lower the volume.” Smith suggested.
“But not too low, we don't want people to be cheating at this game.” Weston said as he placed Dr. Frankenstein's Doctor's Office on top of Dining Dinosaurs. “We could play that game later.” He commented.
“Sounds like a good idea, brother.” Smith replied. “So what shall we play instead?” He asked. That is when Stigmartha grabbed a board game by the name of Ggame of Survival.
“We could play this game, I really enjoy playing this!” Stigmartha said. “What do you think?” She asked.
And the responses… well, they were a bunch of massive 'NO!'s.
“Stigmartha, are you crazy? What is wrong with you!” Seep asked.
“Why? What's wrong with this game?” Stigmartha asked.
“Marty, this game nearly caused chaos, and I opened a box containing DJ's uncle.” Pandora explained.
“Well, I don't think it causes chaos, it's basically a game where players travel around the board collecting money, and buying property.” Stigmartha explained.
“Yeah, and you take the game way too seriously!” DJ replied.
“Yeah… I kinda do…” Stigmartha replied as she looked in embarrassment. “But I was close to winning the game.” She said.
“Marty, I was on a jail space, you landed on one of my properties, you ahd to pay up with 500 dollars, you refused because you're 'giving money to a criminal', you nearly sued me for extortion, and you took it to court!” DJ explained.
“I… yeah, I did do that.” Stigmartha replied sheepishly.
“And not only that, but after that. My dad kept asking me things like 'Did Stigmartha hurt you?' or 'What did Stigmartha do this time?'. I haven't played that board game ever since.” DJ explained. “And I don't want a repeat of what happened.” He said as he placed the board game on top of Dr. Frankenstein's Doctor's Office.
“So what are going to play instead of that?” Seep asked as he pointed to Game of Survival.
“How about Murder at Boxx Manor?” Pandora asked.
“Oh yeah, that one. It's your favorite, right Pan?” DJ asked.
“You bet! Solving the murder mystery of Cleat Boxx, and that one of the suspects are the people who were the closest to him. It's a really fun game!” Pandora explained.
“Yeah, to you!” Seep dryly commented. “Whenever your not the Lead Detective. You easily know one of three things. Who was responsible, what weapon did they use, and where did they go!” He explained.
“True, but don't blame me! It's my OCD, you know that!” Pandora replied.
“Yeah, and nearly got us in trouble!” Seep argued back.
“Why don't we play a different game instead…” DJ suggest as he placed Murder at Boxx Manor on top of Game of Survival. That is when he looked at the board game Terminal Industries: the Game. “How about this one instead?” DJ asked.
“Oh yeah, Terminal Industries: the Game. That game your dad gave us after we left that awful Summer Camp!” Seep said.
“Yeah, that's the one!” DJ replied. Terminal Industries: the Game was DJ's favorite. The game was that the players were Reapers-In-Training or RITs for short. Who reach to the top of Terminal Industries by gathering souls. It was a game that Death gave to DJ and his friends right after freeing them from Happy Trails Summer Camp, which was unlike the name of the camp.
“That's a fun game, but you always play it last.” Pandora commented.
“But if you like the game so much, why not play it first?” Weston asked.
“Well… it's because that I really get excited when we play the game, I enjoy playing the game last because it's worth the wait.” DJ explained. “Playing the game early is kinda… well, it's kinda bad. Because I want the games of my close friends to be played first rather than mine.” He said as he placed Terminal Industries: the Game on top of Murder at Boxx Manor.
“DJ, that's really sweet of you.” Pandora commented. She then looked at the pile of board games. “But now we have no idea what to play.” She said.
“So… now what?” Seep asked.
“Well… I do know a board game that my dad has.” DJ answered. Which caused his friends to look at him.
“You do?” They all asked.
“I do, but my dad told me that the board game is 'forbidden'.” DJ said.
“Oh… is it though.” Seep said as he raised an eyebrow. “Any ideas where it could be?” He asked.
“I think it's in my dad's study.” DJ said.
“I see.” Seep said as he raised an eyebrow again.
“Seep, what are you planning?” DJ asked with suspicion.
“Oh nothing just… maybewecanplaythatboardgame?”
“Seep! Are you crazy?” DJ responded with shock. “You know I'm not allowed to enter my dad's office.” He said.
“I know, but your dad's on a business trip. So maybe you can ask your mom to see if you can play that board game?” Seep asked.
“My mom's currently doing a 336-hour shift at Terminal Industries.” DJ answered.
“…What.” They all asked.
“Yeah, my dad's on a business trip and my mom's on a 336-hour shift.” DJ said.
“So, you're home alone?” Pandora asked.
“Yeah, my dad was ok with that.” DJ said. “Mainly because that a week ago, I heard someone knocking on the door at night… I think. I was sleeping, but whoever was at the front door, was knocking really loud. The next day, my dad told me that he spilled some drink when I was getting ready for the bus.” DJ explained.
“So it's just you and your dad until your mom gets off of work?” Seep asked.
“Apparently so…” DJ said.
~
Elsewhere, at Terminal Industries. DJ's mother was digging a hole.
“Uhm… Mrs. D, are you sure that the hole isn't deep enough?” An intern asked.
“No, it must be deeper…” Mrs. D said.
“But Mrs. D, it has been ten days since you left home, your husband is worried about you—”
“I know, but this man was responsible for breaking into three homes, and I want his home to be the last one he breaks in.” She said.
~
Back with DJ and his friends.
“Look, the point is… I can't let my dad know that I entered his office to play a board game I'm not allowed to play, I could get grounded for that!” DJ said.
“I agree with DJ, we could get in trouble.” Stigmartha answered.
“Look, we'll just look around, and if it isn't there, we could check out another room.” Seep explained. “So what do you say?” He asked.
“…Fine.” DJ said. “But only a quick look.” He added.
~
When DJ and his friends arrived at the literal study of Death, they took a look around the room.
The study was basically what Seep, Stigmartha, Smith, and Weston were thinking of. A big chair with red cushioning, a desk that has 'MEMENTO-MORI' carved, a a display case for Death's scythe that doesn't have the scythe in it but has a piece of paper that reads 'Don't touch, especially you Pandora Boxley', a grandfather clock on the right, and a bunch of cabinets possibly filled with people who were close to death.
“So this is the office.” Seep commented.
“It's so… big.” Stigmartha commented.
“Indeed. Quite fitting that your father has 'Remember that you'll die.' engraved on the desk.” Smith commented.
DJ looked at the desk, and back at the two conjoined twins.
“It says 'Memento Mori'.” DJ replied.
“That's what it means.” Weston responded.
“Oh…” DJ said in realization. “I really need to work on my spanish.” He muttered under his breath.
“It's actually latin.” Weston said.
“Oh.” DJ said in realization again.
“Anyways, are we going look around or are we going to just stand here?” Seep asked.
“Alright, we're going.” DJ said as he and the others looked around.
Smith & Weston looked inside one of the cabinets. And saw some files of some people. Such as Ben Dover, Paul Tergeist, and Pearl Egates. No sign of a board game.
Stigmartha looked inside the grandfather clock, and found nothing. Which was expected. But no sign of a board game there.
Seep looked inside a trash can. And all what he found was really trashy horror movies. Such as one which took place at a popular theme park, one had terrible 3D animation that was supposed to be 'comedic' but it was a snuff film, and there were three movies that involved people being sewn together by some german lunatic. Clearly that board game that was 'forbidden', would possibly in the trash, but it wasn't.
And last but not least, DJ and Pandora who searched in the desk. With DJ searching in the drawers, only to find nothing. And as for Pandora, she came across a safe that was installed inside the desk. She noticed that the safe has a lock on it, and tried entering it… to no luck.
“Hey DJ, what's the password to this… this lock?” Pandora asked.
“It's 0-8-1-6.” DJ said.
Pandora entered the combination, causing the safe to open… revealing to be nothing inside.
“Seriously? Why does your dad have a safe if it doesn't have anything inside?” Pandora asked with slight anger and confusion.
“Beats me.” DJ said as he closed the safe. “And to lock it. The key is 1-0-3-1.” DJ said as he entered the code. The two leave the desk and come to the others.
“Welp, we didn't find the 'forbidden' game here.” Seep disappointedly said. “Any ideas?” He asked DJ.
“Well, we can check my parents' room.” DJ said.
“If it isn't there, we're playing Dining Dinosaurs.” Seep said.
~
When DJ and his friends arrived at the bedroom. They noticed that it was… odd. (Well, DJ's friends thought it was weird, to DJ it was just ordinary, it was just a simple bedroom, the weird thing about was that it had two closets. One that was installed in the floorplan, and one that was an armoire that was basically the closet of Death.) It was a nice homey bedroom, with a comfortable bed, two side-tables, a bookshelf on one of the walls, it was a nice and comfy room.
“Let's find this game.” Pandora said as they searched inside the bedroom.
Stigmartha and Seep came across the armoire and opened it, revealing that there were a bunch of black cloaks.
“Jeez, how many black cloaks does DJ's dad really need?” Seep asked.
“I don't know. And besides, they all look the same.” Stigmartha answered. “And not only that, there's no board game in here.” She said dejectedly.
For DJ and Pandora, they were checking the side tables. For DJ, he found some socks in his dad's side table on the left. For Pandora she came across a box that in the side table on the right. She looked at the box and it read 'Mr. Buzz', and noticed that the box was… complicated to her standards.
“What are you looking at?” DJ asked Pandora.
“Just this box, what's inside it? And why would your mom have this?” Pandora asked.
“It's possibly a toothbrush.” DJ said as he grabbed the box, causing it to play an electric buzzing sound, which made Pandora's face white as a ghost.
“Maybe… we can put this box back.” Pandora said as she grabbed the box, causing the buzzing to stop.
“Why? It's just a toothbrush!” DJ answered. The two turned around, seeing that their friends gave them disturbed stares.
“Uhm… DJ, we found something in the closet.” Weston said.
“You did? Is it the board game?” Pandora asked with a quick change of emotion.
“Well it is. But there's a problem…” Smith said.
“What is it?” DJ asked.
The two twins showed DJ, Pandora, Seep, and Stigmartha where they found the potential board game was located… on the top shelf of the closet, was a mysterious box-like object. The problem? The top sheld was extremely high!
“Ok, how are we going to get to the top?” Pandora asked.
“We need to form a ladder.” Smith said.
“So we gotta assign who's going to get the board game.” Weston said.
“Well, Seep can't get anything, Stigmartha will clearly bleed causing her to drop it, I could get distracted by a much larger box up there, and you two are conjoined by the head that will place lots of pressure on someone's shoulder!” Pandora said. She then turned to DJ.
“So that’s leaves me?” DJ asked.
“Pretty much.” Pandora said.
“All right, I'll do it. But I'm getting my scythe.” DJ said as he ran to his bedroom.
~
When DJ came back, his friends formed into position. From the bottom to the top, it was Seep, Smith and Weston, Stigmartha, and Pandora. DJ got on his parents' bed and climbed on them, reaching to the top shelf, where he saw not one… but two boxes. One of them was brown, and had the worlds 'My College Life' on it. The one in front of it looked like a board game cover. It was black, had a skeletal like top on it, there were five dragon heads on it, and from left to right they were white, blue, red, green, and black. And he looked at what the board game was.
'Tiamat of Tehom'
“DJ! Are you done looking at that board game? Marty's hands are bleeding and I'm about to lose my grip on you!” Pandora.
“Oh, right! Sorry!” DJ apologized as he grabbed Tiamat of Tehom with his scythe and landed down on the floor.
“All right! We got the board game!” Seep said.
“This is it… the forbidden game… Tiamat of Tehom.” DJ said as he showed the board to his friends.
“All right DJ, let's get this game night going!” Weston said as the six left the bedroom.
~
When the six arrived back at the living room. They prepared the board game night. Stigmartha got the snacks out, Pandora prepared the juice boxes, Smith & Weston prepared the scoreboard, and DJ had set up the game.
DJ opened the box up, and placed the board down on the floor.
He looked inside the box and saw two deck of cards. One with gold backs, and one with silver backs.
There were four colored pieces that looked like warriors, a blue piece that was a medieval knight, a red piece that was a gladiator, a green piece that was an amazoness, and a yellow piece that was a valkyrie.
There also five gate like pieces and five dragon heads. That were both colored red, blue, green, white, and black.
There was also some sort of goddess like figure that wore a regal dress, the figure wore a dragon's skull has a crown.
There was also some sort of podium-like object that looks like it connects to the goddess-like figure. On the podium were six panels, three at the top that had green numbers and three green buttons under them, and three on the bottom that had red numbers that had only one red button under them.
He looked at the board and saw that there sections for the gates and dragon heads, with the sections of gates seperating the spaces by a hundred. He saw that the board had spaces that were mostly white, gold, and silver. He also noticed that there was a mysterious portal that was designed on the board, with the title of the board game installed.
“So, is everybody ready?” Seep asked.
“Yep!” They all said. Each of the players (with the exception of Seep.) got their game pieces. DJ got the green piece, Pandora got the red piece, Smith & Weston shared the blue piece, and Stigmartha got the yellow piece.
“Now then, to start off the game. I'll read the instructions.” Stigmartha said as she grabbed the instruction booklet.
'Legends tell the story of Tehom. Home to ancient gods. Ruled by the dragon queen herself, Tiamat. And every year underneath a full moon, Tiamat challenges four brave warriors to fight against five gods, ruling the five lands of Tehom. The Burning Desert ruled by the God of War Nergal, the Frozen Ocean ruled by the God of Wisdom Nabu, the Verdant Forest ruled by the God of Fertility Marduk, the Holy Mountains ruled by the Goddess of Love Inanna, and the Deathly Hollows ruled by the God of Darkness Kajamanu. You four warriors are the chosen, and must defeat the gods and Tiamat herself. Traverse the five realms of Tehom, control your fate by cards, only one could win and be the champion of gods!'
'Each player controls a warrior and must venture throughout the land of Tehom. The players use three dice to move around the board. If they land on a gold or silver space, they must pull a fate card either a fortunate fate or unfortunate fate respectively. When traveling in Tehom, each of the five realms are 100 spaces long, and reaching to the end of a realm results in a battle against a god to unlock a dragon gate. Where the player must role a higher number than the number decided on the dragon. When reaching to the end, the player who reaches the end must press the red button to randomly decide the red numbers and must roll the dice to input the green numbers and press each of the buttons to input the rolls. The first player who is able to defeat Tiamat, will win.'
And with that, Stigmartha placed the instructions down.
“Ok then, now how are we going to decide on our turns?” Pandora asked.
“Why not alphabetically? DJ would go first, then you, then me and Weston, and ending on Stigmartha.” Smith said.
“Great idea… I think.” Pandora said.
“All right, here it goes…” DJ said as he prepared to roll the three dice. He got a 1, a 2, and a 3. He moved his piece by 6 spaces, and landed on a gold space. He pulled a fortunate fate card.
“You got a boost! Move 10 spaces forward.” DJ read the card as he moved his piece by 10 spaces and landed on a white space.
Now it was Pandora's turn. She rolled the three dice and got a 2, 5, and 1. She moved her piece by 8 spaces, and landed on a white space.
Then it was Smith & Weston's turn. Smith rolled the three dice and got 3s. Weston moved their piece by 9 spaces, and landed on a silver space. Smith pulled an unfortunate fate card.
“Tornado! Go back to the start.” Smith read as he moved his and Weston's piece back to the start.
“That sucks.” Weston commented.
Now it was Stigmartha's turn. She rolled the dice and got a 4, another 4, and 6. She moved her piece by 14 spaces, and landed on a gold space. She pulled an fortunate card.
“Roll Again! Roll three dice once more.” Stigmartha read as she rolled the dice, this time she got all 1s and landed on a white space.
Now it was back to DJ's turn, he went to grab his piece. Only for him to trip his juice box by accident, causing the title to glow as a bit of juice got on it.
DJ rolled the dice, and got all 6s, which landed on the title-branded portal. Causing it to fully glow.
“Uh… DJ, is the board supposed to uh… do that?” Pandora asked.
“I… have no idea.” DJ answered.
Suddenly, the board game began to float, and so did the other board games, and the pieces, and the cards as well! And soon then… the Tornado sucked the board games in and grabbed Seep!
“Seep!” Stigmartha shouted.
And soon then, Smith & Weston were caught by the tornado too!
“Smith!”
“Weston!”
And then Stigmartha!
And soon then, Pandora was nearly caught by the tornado, but DJ grabbed her hand, trying to save her. But his grip was going loose, until Pandora grabbed DJ's scythe. Resulting them being dragged in by the mysterious tornado…
…trapping them inside Tiamat of Tehom…
…where the Board Game Night…
…became the Board Game Nightmare.