The sixth chapter focuses on Matt Willis. It will guest star Hayden Christensen, my original character Dominic and the Pokémon they have used for the Pokémon Adventures story . Make sure you keep an eye out weekly for each chapters.
Hi, I’m Matt Willis, the bass player from Busted, who happened to join forces with my friends from McFly as our awesome super group, McBusted, and I'm having a blast. Though as much as I am having fun, I have been working on bettering myself after years of addiction. I’ve gone through ups and downs, including relapses, but no matter the road, I know that I will continue to strive to improve myself, with my loved ones believing in me while I remain a big kid at heart, even as I tour or spend time with my bandmates.
On that note, I’ve just finished recording my latest On the Mend episode (my podcast which involves interviewing celebrities who has hit rock bottom as a way for me to understand others going through a similar journey to mine) when I noticed the time and realised that I’m going to be late for the bus that’ll take me to the arena for my latest McBusted tour so I made a mad dash out the house. By the time I arrived at the bus stop, the bus had just left, with me being exactly one minute late. Bah! If only I were faster or if the bus waited for just a minute!
I went after the bus, desperately calling out, “Hey, wait!” I sprinted as fast as I could. I actually managed to get close to the bus. I thought I could make it and hop on...only for me to suddenly stop moving and fly up instead. I then realised that I was being abducted by a U.F.O. shaped like an arcade machine. “Noooooo!!!!” I cried before I blanked out.
Once I woke up, I looked at my surroundings, which appeared to be some kind of escape room full of spaceships. “Hey, is there anyone there?” I asked. Just as my questions have been answered, the screen monitor lit up, which revealed a shady Roman soldier looking character, saying, “It’s Gaming Time! Welcome, Ladies, Gentlemen and Non-Binary Pals to Escape The Gaming Room! I am your host, Pluto! Tonight we have some very special guests taking part; it’s the boys from the best-loved boy bands McFly and Busted, who have formed together as McBusted!”
“Is this some kind of joke? We have a show to attend! We can’t afford to play this game of yours!” I protested. “I assure you that it’s no joke, and if you want to get to your show that badly, then you’ll have to make your way out of The Gaming Room, where you’re part of the game just like virtual reality; only this time it is reality!” said Pluto. Now I admit that it does sound cool. Still, it doesn’t look like there’s a way out of this, so I have to comply.
“Very well, what do I do to beat that challenge of yours?” I asked. “For starters, feast your eyes on your very own arsenal; The Paint Ball Zapper!” said Pluto as a fancy-looking gun that looks like a kid’s toy appeared on the podium. I picked it up. I must say that it reminded me of when we had those T-shirt gun launchers that we used during our McBusted MEAT arena.
“It’s what you need to play Star Splatters. Now, I shall tell you your objective, which is to take down the enemy’s base. It won’t be easy with those enemies lurking around every corner, which you’ll have to splatter with your Paint Ball Zapper and other weapons. But that’s not all, filling the area with your coloured paint will earn you enough points to give you access to vehicles that you must ride in to destroy the enemy’s base,” explained Pluto. I noticed the vehicles which resembled planes and tanks. Playing Star Splatters does sound exciting! “Good luck!” said Pluto as I was ready to blast my way out of here!
Use this theme for Star Splatters
As soon as I entered the enemy’s base, I was already confronted by incoming Roman soldier-like enemies that fired their Paint Ball Zappers towards me. But two can play that game as I fired my Paint Ball Zapper at them, spraying them with my colour, which is orange. Take this and that! I was getting wild as I sprayed the surrounding area to rank up points for the vehicles, starting with the spaceship. I can’t wait to test that baby out!
But for now, I gotta make my way into the enemy’s base. I got into the corridors and found that there were several enemies patrolling every corner. Actually, I happened to take a step at the right corner, and the enemies were aggressively shooting their Paint Ball Zappers at me. I think someone laid bombs, which caused the paintball to splat at a wide radius while knocking me over. So I gotta play it smart and hide for a while until they stop attacking. “Beware, there’s danger in every corner!” said Pluto. Yeah, that’s one way to put it.
I waited until they had their backs turned, walking further down the corridor so I could creep up on them slowly, hold my trusty Paint Ball Zapper, and bang! Right in the kisser! I kept on stealthily sneaking up on them throughout the corridors while filling the area with my colour along the way. I also stole one of the enemies’ bombs, known as a Paint Ball Bomb, and used it myself to cover more floors and walls.
There was one time when I nearly forgot that I had laid a Paint Bomb nearby when I was occupied firing my Paint Ball Zapper at an enemy, and the Paint Ball Bomb exploded, which made me jump. I almost got blasted by it! “Careful, you don’t want to get hoisted by your own arsenal!” laughed Pluto. That’s telling me. On the flip side, there was a persistent enemy who kept on dodging my shots, covering my coloured paint! But I laid a Paint Ball Bomb right next to them while they were in a corner, trapping them. Ha! That’ll show them!
Once I got out of the corridor, Pluto said, “I have good news for you. By covering a lot of the area orange, you have earned enough points to board the Spray Wing”, said Pluto, and the miniature plane-like vehicle had appeared in front of me. I couldn’t wait to get on it! As I flew the Spray Wing towards the enemy base, there were other enemies piloting their Spray Wings, shooting paintball missiles at me. My Spray Wing has taken a couple of hits, but I shoot them down right back! I aren’t going down first!
However, reinforcements were heading my way along with some cannons that fired from the ground or from the poles. I took some down, but my Spray Wing was taking a lot of damage, so I spun the Spray Wing 360 degrees to dodge the incoming shots. I felt dizzy, but it was worth it to evade the shots that gave me momentum to shoot them all down. “It looks like he has done a barrel roll!” said Pluto. You can say that again! I landed the Spray Wing onto the next area (and to give some time to repair the damage it has taken).
As soon as I arrived, snipers fired paintballs from above. I tried to shoot back with my Paint Ball Zapper or throw Paint Ball Bombs, but they were too high and out of range. To make things worse, the floor was covered in their paint. “Looks like he’s in a tough spot!” said Pluto. Ugh, I can’t do this alone! If only the other McBusted boys were here as my teammates.
Use this theme for Almighty Man
Just then, laser beams shot at the snipers. A voice followed: "As long as I'm here, you have nothing to fear! For it is I, AlmightyMan!" The shout came from the local superhero, Almighty Man, also called Dane. "Alright! I sure could use some help!" I cheered, thanking him. "Glad to help. I've been helping your bandmates whenever someone teleports me all over The Gaming Room," said Dane.
It’s a relief to hear that he’s been watching my other bandmates. For now, I went over to the two snipers that the enemies had dropped, thanks to Dane, and passed one to him. “Here, let’s spark some fireworks together!” I said. “As you wish, my comrade!” said Dane, who fired his sniper at the surrounding area to fill our coloured paint, which helped to gain us some points, while I used the Paint Ball Sniper to take down the enemies from a far distance. Once the area was cleared, with more of our coloured paint filling the surroundings, I made my way forward towards the maze-like area with Dane by my side.
As we navigated through the maze towards the base, Dane took the lead role, which helped to serve as my eyes and ears, considering how impulsive I am, as he carefully watched the enemies’ movements in every corner for us to take them down with our weapons. That’s not to say that he’s perfect, as there are a few enemies who managed to sneak up on him, like when he was firing his Paint Ball Zapper (that he has obtained after defeating an enemy that used one) at an enemy who dodged my Paint Ball Bomb, a sniper shot him from behind. But I helped him out by sniping them. “Thanks, we've got to have each other’s back, protecting each other”, said Dane. I nodded with agreement.
Use this theme again for Star Splatters
Just then, we were ambushed by some large paintballs that splattered us from behind. It came from paintball cannons that fired large paintballs, as fired by some punks! We’ll show them! I fired my sniper at the enemies, but they countered the sniper shots with their Paint Ball Zapper shots, just before more Paint Ball Cannon balls were fired at us. They are certainly not making it easy! As Dane was helping me out, he noticed that the paintball cannons take time to fire paintballs. He told me that I should take them out before they fire.
That was a good observation from him, so I fired my Paint Ball Sniper at one of the cannons. And I spotted one nearby that was about to fire, so I inserted the bomb into the cannon, which exploded on it! Ha! That’ll show them! Our paint colour was spread around the area with help from Dane, who sniped at the enemies while I took out the cannons. That earned us enough points to unlock another vehicle, which resembled a tank: The Land Splatter.
“Time to give this baby a try!” I said as I hopped in and drove The Land Splatter, firing paintballs from its cannon while Dane walked beside the tank, helping to defend The Land Splatter (since there was only one seat). There were many enemies that fired their weapons at us, including a few that were hidden, so it was good timing that I obtained The Land Splatter, tanking the hits and firing my paintball shots from my cannon. “My body can serve as a tank too,” claimed Dane as his muscular body helped to deflect bullets from Paint Ball Zappers (though I didn’t think that he would be able to tank that many hits).
It was fun tanking enemies’ attacks and taking them out back. “Watch out for the hole!” called Dane (that was caused by the enemies’ paintball bomb), but I guess I got carried away and wasn’t paying attention, so I accidentally drove into the hole. “What have you done?!!” cried Dane, but he went over and pulled The Land Splatter up with his strength. However, there were some enemies that fired their paintball snipers at him, causing him to drop the Land Splatter.
“Don’t get in the way of my rescuing!” said Dane, firing his All Mighty Beam at them, but there were more reinforcements that showed up. Seeing that I got into this mess, I thought I’d help out by sending out my Flareon. It helped to back up Dane by charging into the enemies, taking them out using Flare Blitz and Super Power. That helped Dane to pull The Land Splatter out of the hole without being distracted. “Thanks for the help there!” said Dane, praising Flareon, who helped to take out the rest of the enemies by slamming into them using All Mighty Charge. I helped out, too, by firing the cannon. Flareon seem to be glad to help and to be praised.
We continued to take out more enemies, with Dane obtaining some paintball cannons that we could use until we reached the exit. “Well, I never would have thought that you would make it this far!” said Pluto, referring to the fact that we are getting closer to the enemy base that I have to destroy. “You bet we did because we’re that awesome!” I bragged. “It’s our teamwork that makes it possible”, added Dane, backing me up (we do make a good team, even if we only just met).
It’s time that I take down the enemy base to get this game over with, as I jumped off The Land Splatter and hopped back onto the Spray Wing (that we summoned and has been fully repaired). Flareon hopped in too. The enemy base that I have to shoot resembles a humanoid face that spits out rectangular projectiles from its mouth. It may look silly, but they were highly explosive and damaged the Spray Wing. I have to spin around to dodge them (or should I say do a barrel roll), though the rectangle projectiles were closing in on the Spray Wing, which makes it difficult. If that wasn’t bad enough, there were more paintball shoots from reinforcements using their Paint Ball Snipers or Paint Ball Cannons or firing their Spray Wings or Land Splatters.
Dane helped to back me up by taking out the rectangular projectiles with his All Mighty Punches, firing his All Mighty Beam at the Spray Wings or laying some Paint Ball Cannons to take out the enemies on the ground while spreading our coloured ink. He also grabbed hold of my Spray Wing when I got hit. “Don’t let up, we got this!” he said encouragingly, which helped to reassure me. “I think not!” said Pluto, who teleported Dane elsewhere.
In the light of this, Dane has helped me to earn enough points to obtain a brand new vehicle, which resembled a huge ship with two pairs of wings on each side, known as The Great Painter. It was durable enough to handle many hits and could fire powerful paintball bombs or sprays if I charged it up from its laser cannon in front of The Great Painter. It’s what I needed!
“Now that's what I call a game breaker, but will that be enough?” said Pluto as he witnessed me firing a huge paintball bomb that splattered at a huge radius, taking out the enemies and obstacles, including those rectangular projectiles (so I didn’t have to dodge or tank them as much) and firing paintball shots at the enemy base.
Thanks to The Great Painter, I was dealing great damage to the enemy base, but it wasn’t over yet, with the enemy base firing large asteroid-like projectiles that not only reflected the paint sprays but also hit The Great Painter, causing the ship to shake as it took damage. They weren’t making it easy for me, but as another asteroid was heading towards me, Flareon bravely leapt out of the window and landed onto the wing. It then used Super Power to shatter the asteroid into pieces.
Well done there, Flareon! This gives me a chance to attack the enemy base, though I can’t let it do all the work with Flareon’s Attack and Defence weakened every time it uses Super Power, so I did my bit by firing a large Paint Ball Bomb at the asteroid, which also shattered it. This was followed by firing another Paint Ball Bomb at the enemy base, which finished it off!
So it seems that I won the game, though I happened to notice a coliseum in the distance. My instincts told me to fly towards it (switching The Great Painter with the Spray Wing to give it a rest). As we flew closer, I saw McFly bass player Dougie, who seemed to be having trouble fighting this dragon. I flew closer to the dragon so that I could fire my Paint Ball Zapper at its face. I then said to Dougie, “Here, Dougie, I thought I’d give you a helping hand.”
Dougie seemed to be chuffed seeing me, and I couldn’t help but smile back. We may be bass players from different bands, but we have a couple of things in common, including how we hit rock bottom with addiction, but have been working on rising back up. We had a lot of fun dissing each other for our Busted Vs McFly tour, specifically singing the McBusted song Hate Your Guts. I’ll be happy to be his bribe anytime.
Anyway, this has helped Dougie’s giant bird to fight the dragon while it was blinded by my paintball. It shakes itself to remove the paintball and proceeds to attack Dougie again, but I got back into my Spray Wing and fired paintball shots towards it, saying, “Nobody picks on my bandmate but me!” Only I have that right after all.
This has helped Dougie capture the dragon after his Glaceon has frozen it. I couldn’t help but cheer him on, saying, “Congrats on this capture, Dougie!” We bass players have to stick together after all. “Now that you have added Negagon to your collection, you may now enter the coliseum where your challenge awaits. And you too, Matt,” said Pluto, who seemed surprised that I’ve entered Dougie’s game after beating mine. Guess I must have broken it, but Pluto is forced to go along with it.
As soon as we stepped into the coliseum, there were two strange-looking Roman soldiers that showed up, serving as our boss that we had to defeat. The one I’m facing is coloured brown, has a bulky appearance and goes by the name Silvanus. It’s time to show him who’s boss!
Use this theme for the boss battle
Silvanus shakes the ground by pounding his beefy fists on the ground, which makes it harder for me to fire my weapons, including the Paint Ball Zapper or the Paint Ball Sniper, as I am unable to keep my balance. So to work around that, I hopped into the Spray Wing and fired the paintball shots at him from above. That way, he won’t be able to get me!...Or so I thought as he could shake the ground hard enough to release rocks that flew straight towards the Spray Wing. That caused me to make a crash landing onto the ground! Jesus! That was a rough landing! “Don’t think staying on air board will give you an advantage!” taunted Pluto.
Silvanus tossed more rocks towards me. Well, two can play that game as I tossed my Paint Ball Bombs at the rocks, which shattered the rocks. That gave me an opening to snipe him with my Paintball Sniper. Silvanus has other tricks up his sleeves, though. He can also summon huge roots that grow from the ground, which he uses as shields to block my weapons. The roots can also lash out their vines towards me, which is like getting whipped!
I got into my Land Splatter to withstand the vines and focus on locking onto Silvanus. His shaking the ground made the Land Splatter wobble, which didn’t help. I might get car sick—or should I say tank sick? “Hold on tight and buckle up!” said Pluto, rubbing it in.
But my Flareon helped me out, who charged towards the roots and burned them down using Flare Blitz, since it’s super effective after all, although Flareon has to be careful not to get hit by the quakes or rocks, as it’s weak against Ground and Rock-type moves.
But with most of the roots cleared away, I was able to aim my Paint Ball Shoots at Silvanus. There was one time when Silvanus happened to be near one of the roots and dodged the Paint Ball Shoot, causing me to hit the root below, which turned out to be its weak point. This means that I can take out the roots myself without having to rely on Flareon (who would be weakened by Flare Blitz’s recoil), so that I can have a clearer shot at Silvanus.
Silvanus, however, shook the ground by pounding his fist. A tremor opened underneath my Land Splatter. I quickly withdrew Flareon and switched to The Great Painter. I attacked Silvanus from above and withstood his attacks, including the large rocks he threw at me.
As I fired Paint Spray shots or bombs from the laser cannon at Silvanus or the rocks, he leapt upwards and spun his body like a drill towards The Great Painter, drilling right through its armour. Bloody hell!! He could drill right through The Great Painter at this rate! I wasn’t having this! I shoot out my Paintball Sniper to repel him and stop him from drilling The Great Painter. As he fell to the ground, I tossed several Paintball Bombs at him, teaching him a lesson for damaging my vehicles! “Now that's what I call a brutal boss fight!” said Pluto.
The battle is about to get even more brutal with Silvanus teaming up with Aquilo. As Silvanus shook the ground, Aquilo froze Dougie solid. His dungarees isn’t ideal to handle the cold, but I rescued him by firing my Paint Ball Shoots from The Great Painter at the ice to break the ice, which freed Dougie (I can also fire the Paint Balls as missiles). “You’re free to go!” I said to Dougie, giving him a thumbs-up, and he responded with a smile. It was good to help him and for us two to understand each other, even if we drive each other crazy.
We tried to attack the two bosses, but Aquilo blocked our attacks with his Icicle Shield while Silvanus slammed his fist on the ground, which also releases pointy stones and roots. But Dougie came up with a great idea of mind-controlling them using Puppet Manipulation to force them to attack each other. It was amusing to watch as I said, “Ha! Ha! That’s smart of you, Dougie!” I then did my bit by using my Mind Explosion, which was followed by our Glaceon and Flareon using Ice Beam and Flare Blitz.
Once Dougie’s mind control had worn off, Silvanus attacked me by once again shaking the ground to release sharp-point stones. I took them out by firing my Paintball, only for Silvanus to summon the huge root that tripped me over, so my guard was dropped. Flareon went over to help me out, using Flare Blitz to take out the root. But Silvanus pounded his fist towards Flareon, trying to stop its tracks. I aren’t letting him harm my Pokémon, so I placed a Paint Ball Bomb next to Silvanus while he was distracted. It exploded on him, so his guard was dropped! I finished him off by firing my paintball sniper at him.
Silvanus’ helmet came off, revealing a former junior champion bodybuilder named Connor Rudelhoff. “What happened? I don’t remember a thing, but I have a feeling that I have fought someone,” said Connor, who sounded dazed. I figured that he was brainwashed, so I explained that he was fighting me as Silvanus. “I did? I’ll get whoever tried to make me hurt you! But if you freed me from my brainwashing, then you must have been a worthy opponent! I have to get stronger to help Dane to protect those who need someone to stand up for them, and we should spar each other for real sometime!” said Connor. “Well then, I shall consider it”, I said, flattered that Connor had deemed me a worthy rival.
For now, I’ve turned to the screen monitor, saying to Pluto, “I bet you’re the mastermind behind all this. What do you have to say for yourself?!” He merely replied, “Congrats on passing your gaming challenge. You may proceed to the next area if you wish to make your way out.” So we all complied and headed our way. I may have won this so-called game of his, but I have a feeling that we won’t be out of the woods just yet.
To be continued
Trivia
- Star Splatters has combined elements of Splatoon and Star Fox, both of which are shooting games (with Splatoon is Nintendo's own twist of the genre) with the weapons and vehicles referencing to these games.
- The Paint Ball Bomb is a reference to Bomberman.
- Other references to Star Fox includes the meme "Do a barrel roll" and the enemy base based on the Andross boss fight.
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