Rat Tale

You are a rat, a tiny grey furball, with only a few fleas. You sit in your cozy den as the sun begins to set, it is almost time for you to venture out into the night in search of food. You straighten your whiskers and scurry out of your little den under the old tree. From the tree, on the hill, there are two paths, one leading to the quiet country side, a slow breeze shaking the trees and tall grasses, the other leads towards the city, just starting to glow with artificial light. Which way do you go? [[Country]] [[City]]

You scurry down the hill towards the country, the twilight sky casting long shadows over the fields, and the wind blows softly, rustling the grass and the leaves. The grass on the field slowly changes hue from greens and golds to cool blues in the night light, next to the field in the distance you see a lovely craftsman style country house, bright yellow light streaming from the windows and a small column of smoke rising up from the chimney. Which way do you go? [[The field]] [[The house]]

You scurry down the hill towards the lights of the bustling city. As you aproach the light fades from the silver moonlight to the orange glow of the street lamps. The city's mainstreet stretches out in front of you, cars wizz by and people walk the foggy sidewalks. To your left you can see a storm drain, steam rising up from the enterence like smoke from a chimmeny. To your right you can see a dark alleyway framed in graffiti. Which way do you go? [[Walk down mainstreet]] [[Jump down the storm drain]] [[Dart down the alleyway]]

What a lovely stretch of pavement, you can see all colors of lights flashing, hear all kinds of sounds clammering, and smell something delightful. The bright lights almost stun you as you make your way down the strip. Do you [[Waltz down the middle of the road]] [[Creep along the curb]]

You swooce your way into the storm drain and find yourself instantly swept away by a current of water, say goodbye to the outside world, because you're on your way to the sewers! [[The Sewers]]

You scurry down the alley and out of nowhere a powerful smell hits your little rat nose, its like something you've never smelled before, sweet, sour, rank, all irresistible to a rat. Follow your nose! [[Continue down the alley]]

You hear a tire squeel, a horn honk, and then nothing. You are now a rat-pancake in the middle of mainstreet, I hope the cleanup crew comes soon. Go back? [[Start]]

As you creap along the sidewalk that smell you smelled before gets stronger, it's the smell of fine cooking and dining. You find yourself infront of a 5 star French restaurant. [[Sneak inside the Restaurant]]

You slip through and open door and somehow keep out of sight of any staff or patron. This place is fancy, paintings on the walls, gold accents, French accents, real fine dining. And you can smell the most amazing smells coming from the back of the building, in the kitchen. You run along the wall, jump between tablecloths, and ride the desert trolley back into the kitchen where the smells of delicious food almost drive you insane. You almost lose it and jump out without looking, but you snap back to your senses and make sure the coast is clear before heading for the motherload. [[Sneak into the walk-in]]

You waddle down the alleyway until you reach the origin of the smell, or smells. As you near the end of the alley you realize that the smell was actually 3, a delicious rotten smell coming from a dumpster, a rancid rank smell wafting up from the ajar manhole cover, and sweet buttery smell drifting out of a restaurant's back door. do you [[Jump in the dumpster]] [[scurry down the manhole]] [[Sneak inside the Restaurant]]

Yes! The trash, the trash is where you belong! You excitedly run and leap into the dumpster, bumping your little rat noggin on the lid, causing it to close over you. You’re in pitch dark, but are surrounded by garbage, so at least you feel comfortable. Your frolicing in trash is cut short, however, by violent tremors which shake everything around you. You feel as if the whole world is moving and it takes a few minutes before you stop feeling sick. After a while longer you finally come to a stop, and again, the whole world turns, this time forward and you are dumped out into a massive landfill, moon just cresting over a massive Trash Pile. [[The Landfill]]

You decide fine dining isn't for you, and garbage is just too good, what you need is some real filth. You dive head first down the manhole and plop down with a wet splash, welcome to the sewers, feels like home in a way. [[The Sewers]]

Ayy its the SEWERS - a garden of Eden to rats. The dark corredores stretch on into the inky blackness. Between two footpaths runs putrid, dirty water which flows like a river with a tiny pipe in front of you which steadily drips water into the running stream. Do you... [[Squeeze into the small pipe]] [[Scurry along the foot path]] [[Jump in the water]]

Ah the field, the cool breeze, the soft grass. It feels nice to bout here, in the wild. You’re an animal aren’t you? Why don’t you come out here more often? Just as you finish that thought something feels. It’s quiet, way too quiet, you turn and look up just in time to see a massive owl, wings spread like a shadow covering the twilight tinged sky, gliding silently towards you with talons stretched out, gleaming in the fresh moonlight. You need to do something, in front of you is the grassy field - maybe you can run for it and hide in the tall grass, or the is a spooky hole in the dirt, it’s small but you might fit. Do you... [[Run for it]] [[Dive down the hole]]

It’s a little cold out, and that house looks so cozy and warm, you hurry down the path towards the house. Lucky for you, as you approach the side of the house you notice a small crack in their foundation, just big enough for you to squeeze into. You sneak into the house like a ninja, a tiny flea bitten ninja, but badass nonetheless. You crawl through the walls until you find another crack, this time leading out into a hallway with a cracked open door to your left. Which way do you go? [[Hall]] [[Door]]

As you bounce your way down the hall something feels off, like someone, or something is watching you. You slow your pace and try to creep more carefully but your blood turns to ice when you feel a warm breath against your back - Oh no! A CAT! RUN! [[Cat]]

You slip through the open door and find yourself in the bathroom, the toilet shining a brilliant white. You feel your rat heart swell with the thought of jumping into that porcelain portal. You run and jump into the toilet bowl, like an Olympic diver and quickly wiggle and swim your way down the toilet. [[Down the toilet]]

The cat is right behind you, you may have a head start, but it is faster and gaining on you. [[DART LEFT]] [[DART RIGHT]] [[FULL SPEED FORWARD]]

You swirl around the bowl and go over the S bend and find your way into the plumbing. The water pushing you further along [[Pipes]]

You continue to work your way through the maze of pipes until you find that the pipe you’re in comes to a split, feeding into a small pipe, and a bigger pipe. There is a constant trickle coming from the small pipe, and a slight rumbling sound can be heard from the big one. Which one do you go through? [[Small pipe]] [[Large pipe]]

You dash into the open walk-in fridge and are astounded by all the fresh food you find in there. Fruit, meat, mushrooms, and lots of cheese! Oh it all looks so good! You jump up on one of the shelves and weave your way past ingredients. You almost knock over a big white chef’s hat on your way over to a big hunk of swis cheese, but before you can start munching and crunching you hear the footsteps and someone pulling open the walk-in’s door. [[Hide behind the cheese]] [[Hide in the chef hat]]

You quickly jump over the cheese you were about to bite into and hide. Peaking through one of the many holes you see a young chef walk in, looking around at all the food, much like you were just moments ago. He grabs his hat without look and puts it back upon his head, his hand is dangerously close to you, you can feel your little rat heart beating in your chest, but he puts his hand down and starts to walk away, but just as you think you’re safe he spins back around, as if he remembered something and reaches right for the block of cheese you’re hiding behind. He lets out a shriek when he discovers you, quickly snatching you up in a bowl and quickly flushing you down the toilet, as to save the restaurant’s image. [[Down the toilet]]

You quickly jump under and into the hat that was sitting on the shelf. The young chef walks in and picks up the hat you’re in, quickly you latch onto the side, being picked up with it and lowered onto his head. Before leaving the chef whips around and grabs the block of cheese you were about to stuff down your face. You decide to stay put on the chef’s head and watch him cook, somehow though, over the course of the night you discover that by pulling on the chef’s hair you’re able to control him and direct his cooking. How convenient! [[Cook the food real good]]

You and the chef share a wacky adventure involing cooking and understanding one's potential. You become a famous Rat-Chef and an animated movie is made based on you and your chef bud's amazing story. Chef Victory!

You dart to the left, but the cat is quickly on your trail. [[LEFT AGAIN]] [[DART RIGHT]]

You dart to the right but the cat is fast approaching you. [[RIGHT AGAIN]] [[DART LEFT]]

You feel the adreniline start to pump as your little rat legs kick as hard as they can to rocket you down the hall, the hallway is coming to an end, but you can see the door you first saw when you entered the house. [[DART LEFT]] [[DART RIGHT]] [[Door]]

Oh no the cat is hearding you towards a corner... [[QUICK RIGHT]] [[SPIN AND RUN THE OTHER WAY]]

Oops, you boop into a wall and find yourself in the corner. [[The Cat catches you]]

The cat eats you, what did you expect? Something out of Tom and Jerry? [[Start]]

You juke the cat and run full spead back down the hallway, the door you saw on your way in looks like the only salvation. [[Door]]

You stand you ground, spin around, and dash right at the cat, trying to intimidate it, but it simply leans down and catches you. [[The Cat catches you]]

The pipe is narrow, and it seems like it's narrowing even more, but you keep pushing yourself forward, the slight current of the water helping you ever so slightly squeeze through until you feel you head pop out of the pipe, opening up into the greater sewer system [[The Sewers]]

You jump down the pipe like its a water slide, and the gentle slope and rushing water help with that comparison. It’s a fun ride, but before you know it the water starts to speed up as more gets poured into your pipe. The water now sweeps you away, this is no longer fun, it is terrifying, dark, and unpredictable. You are tossed back and forth by the water into the sides of the pipe, almost knocking you out before it spits you out into the night air, before you are plunged back into water. [[The Ocean]]

You’re submerged in freezing cold, salty water. You fight off shock as you are pulled deeper by currents and eddies into the endless sea. You need to act quick! [[Swim up]] [[Swim down]] [[Give up]]

There’s gotta be something up with this pipe, right? It’s just there, dripping, like it’s mocking you, are you gonna take that? No! You take things into your tiny rat hand and dive head first into the tiny pipe, barely squeezing your butt into it’s opening. [[Pipes]]

You decide to take it safe and scurry along the wall down the footpath. The cold, grimey bricks feel welcoming to your little rat feet. As you trot along your way you notice a narrow passageway, lit eerily with wall-mounted torches. Your rat curiosity gets the better of you and you excitedly run down the spooky passageway. [[The Dungeon]]

You cannonball into the dark, dirty water and relax on your back, ready to ride this lazy river wherever it leads. As you drift down the river you notice it begin to narrow, and darken, just as the current around you starts to speed up - before you know it you’ve been shot out a pipe into the stark night air, and just as quickly you are submerged in the freezing cold waters of the Ocean. [[The Ocean]]

As you enter into the next room, a heavy gate comes slamming down over the door you came in through, no going back. The stone floor and walls looked ancient, chains hang from walls and unspeakable smells wafted up from every corner, yup, this is a dungeon. [[Deeper into the Dungeon]]

Ah the fresh smell of garbage, it really overpowers everything else. Trash and refuse stretch on seemingly endlessly as far as your rat eyes can see. In the middle of the landfill is a big mountain of garbage, with what looks like a rat-gang of 4 members chilling on its peak. Beyond the Trash Pile, just barely visible past all the rubbish, is the calm, grassy field. Which way do you go? [[Trash Pile]] [[The field]]

You approach the giant Trash Pile, and before you can reach the base, three rats come sliding down towards you, one of them very large, easily 3 or 4 times your size. The fat rat looks at you and speaks. “Hello there, welcome to the Trash Pile, I am the Giant Rat, the rule maker, I make all the rules around here, so don’t get any wise ideas. You look like a worthy rat, but if you wanna hang around here you’re gonna have to challenge us to a fight, who knows, maybe we’ll let you join our gang hahaha!” [[Challenge the Pile]]

You accept their challenge and prepare yourself for a fight. The Giant Rat laughs and waves his hand, one of his goons, the smaller of the two, dashes at you, claws swinging. [[Bite their face]] [[Go for a grab]]

You open your mouth and bare your teeth like a vicious animal, the other rat does not back down so you spring off your feet to try and get your huge teeth to make contact with his stupid face, but you find that it is your stupid face getting hit, and with just that one hit you are knocked out of the fight. [[Keep training]]

You plant your feet and raise up, putting your arms up at either side of you. You stand your ground and look deep into the first rat’s eyes, they are full of rage. He runs at you full speed but just as he’s about to deliver a devastating blow, you grab him firmly with both hands and flip him Judo style. First rat defeated, but before you have time to relish your victory the second rat is upon you. This one stands on his hind legs and puts his hand up like a boxer, quickly jabbing back and forth in the air, you can see how fast he is. [[Tail attack]] [[Throw sand in their eyes]] [[Do a backflip]]

You need to keep your distance, so as he comes closer you quickly switch your footing and swing around, swiping your tail at him like a quick and powerful club. Unfortunately he grabs your tail and completely takes the impact, not moving an inch as he grips it and uses it to toss you out of the fight. [[Keep training]]

You’re a rat, it’s not time for fighting fair, you reach behind you to grab some sand and throw it in his eyes, but without looking you grabbed a moldy banana peel which just gets gunk all over you and his face, only making him angrier before he decks you in the face. [[Keep training]]

He’s closing the distance, but you let him, wondering if he brute force, or your lightening quick acrobatics will come out on top. As he slides closer, rearing back to deliver a powerful punch, you do a badass backflip, accidentally kicking him in the chin as you do it, but completely knocking him cold, so you land and play it off like you meant to do it, great job! Now you turn to the Giant Rat, it is finally time for you two to fight. He laughs as he slowly walks towards you, “it looks like you bested my goons, but do you think you have what it takes to beat me? The Giant Rat that makes all the rules, just try it!” A devilish smile stretches across his big rat face, showing you his gnarly, mangled, jagged teeth. He turns to a pincushion lodged into the trash heap and pulls a rusty sewing needle from it, then swings it as he turns back to you and thrusts the point at you with speed you’ve never seen before. [[Punch them with your rat-hand]] [[Use Hyperfang]] [[Suplex City]] [[Sweep the legs]]

You narrowly dodge the Giant Rat’s quick attack, letting the needle and his arm glide past you, putting you right next to him, behind his guard. Time feels like it slows as you clench your little rat hand into a fist of rage and punch the big rat as hard as your can in his face. You feel the punch connect and hear a loud cacophony of cracks and crunches, but instead of coming from his face, the sound originated in your hand, which broke in 5 places when you punched his jaw. [[Keep training]]

Sorry we don’t have the copyright to use that move, so the three rats gave you a very long and in depth lecture about copyright law and the fair use clause. It almost bores you to death. [[Keep training]]

Time feels like it slows down as the needle comes close to your fur and flesh, but in this moment of heightened awareness, your instincts take over. He moves fast but you somehow move faster, slipping behind him almost like you teleported. Without thinking you grip his corpulent stomach with both of your hands and shout out “SUPLEX CITY” and with almost super-rat strength you lift the Giant Rat up off the ground and suplex him into the trash. [[Become the Giant Rat]]

Alright you’ve made it this far, can’t let it all go to waste now right? But what can you do against such speed? Right then a voice rang in your head, “sweep the leg.” You have no idea who was talking but you take the advice and go for a low, sweeping kick. Lucky for you, you caught him right in the leg, causing him to stumble and fall, unlucky for you, he fell on top of you, pinning you to the ground. His immense weight almost crushing your bones. [[Keep training]]

After you bested the entire goon squad, all three rats bow to you and proclaim you the new Giant Rat, Rule Maker. You live out the rest of your days on that Trash Pile, defending your title from others, and becoming the biggest rat boss the landfill ever saw. Giant Rat Victory!

You can't give up now, you refuse to let that loss stop you. You go back to your den to train, then meet them back at the pile to try again. [[Challenge the Pile]]

You take a moment and calm yourself in the undertow, getting your bearings before figuring out which way is up, and swimming that direction until you reach the surface. [[Surface]]

You’re all turned around, who knows which way is which. Right now is not the time for thinking, now is the time for action! All that matters is swimming, but in your rush you’ve swam away from the surface, and are now face to face with a huge crab, crouching at the opening of a sewage pipe. It lunges at you with its big, meaty claws. [[Go for the eyes]] [[Go for the claws]]

Well this isn’t so bad is it? Letting the current take you, let the water hold you down. You close your eyes and go limp, but just as you begin to feel yourself drift away into the infinite, you feel something push up against your back. You feel weightless as you are lifted back up to the surface on the back of the Oceancrosser. He has saved you, and you feel that this is your calling, to adventure and travel across the sea with the Oceancrosser. You feel at ease as you and the Creature swim into the rising moon on the horizon. Oceancrosser Victory!

You furiously rat-paddle your way towards the shore, the fire of survival burning in your stomach being the only thing keeping you from freezing. It feels like forever before you finally make landfall, but when you do, you kiss the sandy ground under your rat feet. That's probably enough water for now, so you make your way away from the shore. In front of you is two paths; one leading up the hill towards the grassy field, and the other following the beach towards the landfill. Which way do you go? [[The Landfill]] [[The field]]

You narrowly dodge the crab’s attempt at removing your tail and retaliate with a flurry attack of your own, spinning your tail like a propeller to shoot forward and gnaw at his beady eyes. You manage to wound the monster enough to make it retreat back into the pipe, giving you the chance to finally swim up to the surface and get a breath. [[Swim up]]

You lunge right back, kicking your legs and propelling yourself right towards his huge, monstrous claw. He was faster... That crab is eating well tonight. [[Start]]

As you try and dart into the tall grass you feel the owl's sharp talons tear into your supple rat flesh. [[Start]]

You lunge and dive forward, the owl’s claws just inches from your behind, but you manage to wiggle your way into the dirt mound before the evil flying dinosaur could catch you. No going back up there. You crawl along relying on your whiskers and incredible night vision to scout deeper into the tunnel, but it looks like it splits, one path leading off to the left, the other plummeting down almost completely vertically, somehow darker and colder than the rest of the tunnel. Which way do you go? [[Follow the left tunnle]] [[Drop down the Spooky Hole]]

Nah not going down the spooky hole. You play it safe and go left, and are almost immediately met with a big snake, who wastes no time in gobbling you up. [[Start]]

You feel something calling to you from the spooky hole, or maybe it’s coming from within you, either way you feel compelled to dive down the spooky hole, to become one with the darkness. You fall and fall down into the cold blackness. As you fall further, the chute you dove down begins to slope to a steep ramp and eventually spits you out into a small, damp room made of big stone bricks with a single arched doorway leading out. [[The Dungeon]]

You walk deeper into the creepy hallway, the masonwork looking noticeably older and finer than anything you’ve seen in the city. The nails on your hands and feet making a quite tick tack noise which echoes into the darkness in both directions. Eventually you make your way down to the end of the spooky passage, which has two doorways on opposite sides of the hall. Looking in you find one room packed full of treasure, gold, jewels, all sorts of riches pouring out of all kinds of containers. The other doorway opens up into a small room with three small chests. Which room do you go in? [[Treasure room]] [[Chest room]]

Oooo shiny! You bound into the gold filled sparkly room, and just as you do a solid stone wall materializes behind you, where the doorway once was. You are trapped there, forever. The ultimate price to pay for your greed, now you get to spend eternity with your treasure, but what would a rat do with a mountain of gold and jewels in the first place? [[Start]]

The other way is for sure a trap right? Best play it safe and check out the room with the chests. All caution to the wind, you bust open all three chests to find that they all contain a small vial of wine each. One with white wine, one with red wine, and one full of rosé. It is obvious what you need to do now… Drink one! [[White wine]] [[Red wine]] [[Rosé wine]]

Why not the white? You pop the cork and take a swig, immediately a sour taste hits your tongue - vinegar - cursed vinegar - you feel the sour taste on your tongue grow, your lips begin to pucker, more and more until your entire body implodes into a tiny vinegary lump. Gross. [[Start]]

Who knows how long those wines have been down here, the others have probably gone bad, but the red, it’s probably only gotten better with age right? You pop it open and take a sip, not bad, in for a dime, in for a dollar, so you chug down the whole thing. As the last drop slips past your lips you feel as serge of energy flow through your body, and a voice boom in your head - “Ah, amazing, I am the wizard Crimby, and you are the first mortal to pass my test. As a reward I shall grant you with my power so you may shape the world with your will.” You can feel your body pulsed with power, and tiny wizard’s hat pops into existence over your head and your are ready to usher in a new age of rat supremacy and rule. Wizard Rat Victory!

Hey it’s pink, how bad can it be? You pop it open and take a gulp, the answer was very bad. The initially sweet taste fades into an intense bitter which makes your mouth feel dry, in face your entire face, no, body feels dry. You dry out into dust and blow away. [[Start]]

Double-cl After a lot of effort you finally breach the surface of the salty sea and take a big, lifesaving breath. After another moment you spot land over the waves and surf. [[Beach]]