A/N: as the description states, this isnt really a fic. its a trollpasta (an intentionally bad/funny creepypasta). this is specifically based on stories i read on the trollpasta wiki. this is also my first attempt at writing this kind of thing, so its not perfect.
My name is Owen Slawbunny. I'm unemployed and loving it. I have 24 diseases. I spend my days in my room playing games. Especially rhythm games. When I’m not playing rhythm games, I’m lurking forums and obscure sites for more games to try.
One day, I started up a thread on a forum asking for any good rhythm games. I said I wanted something fresh, as my hours in Stepmania were reaching the hundreds. I had received the usual games you’d get recommended; stuff I’ve played already, games I can’t play because they’re only in arcades in Japan, and stuff that didn’t catch my eye.
That was, until a person with a skull profile picture recommended a game called Mad Rat Dead. I heard the game was good, as I recognised some of the composers from other rhythm games. On top of that, I had a Switch. So I was lucky.
After a bit of back and forth with the person on the game’s general content and where to get it, I opened up Ebay and looked for listings of the game. I cursed myself for checking Ebay, as all the listings were way too expensive for a game that takes like 5 hours to beat!
I sorted by lowest price (with shipping). After skimming through unrelated products that somehow showed up, I came across a reasonably priced listing. The only issue was that the case was completely blank and white, with the game’s name written in sharpie with a crude drawing of Mad Rat and Heart.
I had my concerns, but I shrugged it off because the seller said the case was badly damaged and had to replace it. I ordered the game on a whim and spun on my worn, old work chair. Congratulating myself on my purchase.
After a week, the game came in. The awful case was completely intact! However, when I opened the case, I saw something unusual.. The game was a disc instead of a Switch cartridge. It was blank and said “MAD RAT DEAD”. Alongside that, a slip of paper was inside too. That’s weird, usually Switch games don’t have cool manuals inside like the old days. But this wasn’t a manual.
It was a postcard that read: “dont pplay this gaame!!!!! yyou will scrreamm and cry and siht and thhrow u pand die!!!! doont sayy i,,; ddidnt awwr,,n you........”
I was a little worried. But I decided to try it out on my computer. I put the disk in and connected my bluetooth controller. Much to my surprise, it worked after about a bit of loading.
The title screen was much different than I thought it would look. The music sounded like it was slowed and in reverse. There were no logos for the companies that worked on the game. When it showed the menu, the game’s title was “MAD RAT 666”. Mad Rat, instead of dancing to the music, looked terrified. He was surrounded by blood and rat skeletons in his cage. I was very confused, but I started up a new file. Wondering if maybe I could get to the bottom of this.
I answered all the questions in the intro cutscene. I noticed, however, that the squeaky music sounded less like fake rat squeaks and more like.. Screaming. I quickly opened my screen recorder and recorded the audio. Just so I could verify later that I was not going insane.
When I got to the tutorial world it was full of blood clots rather than cheese. And the screams had become distorted. My timbers were beyond shivered. They were rattling. Despite my fears, I followed Rat God’s instructions. Which was in a horrifying Zalgo text.
After finishing the tutorial, I started up the first level. As I traversed the lab, I saw the rat skeletons and blood from earlier. Only.. They looked a lot more mangled. I was starting to get really, really concerned. Is this some weird hack? No way someone could make something like this for a game that came out like, two years ago..
I cleared the stage, and It got to the bit where we first meet Heart. But before Heart could reveal himself, the screen briefly went static before showing that Heart… Was a literal heart! If that wasn’t scary enough, he spoke in distorted text that was a mix of the Greek alphabet and Latin symbols.
At that point, I couldn't take it. I closed the game and took a moment to breathe. This definitely wasn’t the real game. This had to be some weird prank.-
I put the recorded music through a spectrogram and saw a picture of Mad Rat. Except he was a realistic rat, with black eyes and red pupils. Alongside that, there was text that read “WELCOME TO PURGATORY”.
I got so spooked that I closed the software and laid back into my chair. I suddenly started seeing rats crawling around my computer. I tried to carry one to calmly take it away, but it turned monstrous and its brains popped. Pink and yellow blood spilled everywhere.
I couldn’t tell if this was real or not. Was I in some kind of messed up dream?? As I questioned my own sanity, I drifted to sleep.
In my dream, I walked down an alley. I stopped when I saw the realistic Mad Rat from the spectrogram. He looked at me with an evil grin, as if he was ready to attack.
I ran away from the rat, but he chased after me. Summoning an army of rats that I previously hallucinated. My speed just couldn’t pick up, and I felt my weight pull me down. Until I fell and gave up. Letting the rats eat at my body.
I woke up in a cold sweat. Looking around, I noticed my body in fact wasn’t eaten. And I was in my bed rather than an alley.
I received a sudden phone call. I pick up the phone, I was a little suspicious as it wasn’t one of my contacts. But picked up nonetheless.
“Y’ellow?” I ask.
“It’s your father.” the voice indeed sounded like my father. But this had to be some kind of sick prank.
“Huh?.. My father is dead..” I responded. I wanted to hang up, but at the same time, I was curious. I had to know who was phone!
“Do you want to know how I died?”
“Yes..” I hesitated.
“It all started when I walked home, I got cornered by a bunch of rats..” The voice began.
I felt a chill. No.. There’s no way.. Did my dad face the same fate I did in my dream? To be fair, my dad died a few days after Mad Rat Dead came out.. It was very likely..
“Hey, look behind you.” he suddenly says.
“What?” I got confused. Why this all of a sudden?
“I’m home.” his voice became serious.
I didn’t want to have to argue with a man impersonating my dad. So I looked back.
And..
Then..
A skeleton popped out.