It was a simple life. Often a violent life. But they liked it, and that was what mattered.
All they had to do was what they were told. Either the player would push the buttons on their controller or they'd listen to the instructions straight from the game's code. Either way, they'd never really known what free will was like. But most of them weren't really interested. Why would you need free will when you could play all day? No one ever got hurt, no matter how often they died. They spent their lives letting players live out their fantasies and they were happy with that.
And then they became real.
And by becoming real, they felt free will for the very first time. And for some people, that's a very scary thing.
There were a handful of them that embraced the opportunity and wandered freely into this brave new world. But the others felt this whole autonomy thing and decided they wanted nothing to do with it. Some of them latched onto the first "player" they saw and followed their every whim, getting back into the swing of playtime.
And the rest of them just went mad.
------
Donkey Kong rushed across the Gotham skyline, whooping and hollering. In his massive arms he carried an assortment of barrels, bananas, and recently-kidnapped supermodels.
"It's going to be one of those nights," Batman said grimly in the seat of the speeding Batmobile. The great ape still in his sights, he pressed a button on the console. "Batman to Watchtower. I've got a giant, video game gorilla in Gotham. Donkey Kong, I think it's called. Run a worldwide scan for any similar incidents and get me a list of any villains-at-large who might be able to pull this off. I've got a hunch on this one. If I don't call back in eight minutes, send backup."
Donkey Kong roared again, daring anyone to come after him. Batman sighed and flipped a few switches, preparing for his anti-giant-monster contingency. "Just once," he said. "Just once I'd like to plan for something and be proven completely wrong."
------
"Y'know, maybe I should get a costume," said Toad as he walked through a sidewalk puddle.
He wasn't talking to anyone when he said that. Just himself. Like most terminally lonely people, he found himself trying to fill the air that way.
"I mean, Spider-Man's got a costume and everyone likes him," he said. "Sure, the Bugle gives him a lotta crap, but does anyone really care? Nossir. They buy his t-shirts and his action figures and his movies and everyone wants to kiss his tuchas even though he's, y'know, a Spider-Man. And people hate spiders way more then they hate toads."
He clicked his tongue in irritation. He did it a lot louder than most people, since his tongue doubled as a whip. "Where could I get a good costume? How would it look? Well, I'd need a good mouth opening so I could use my tongue-"
"Hi there!"
Toad turned to see a pretty blonde in the pinkest, floofiest dress he had ever seen. On her head she wore a tiny gold crown and on her face she wore the expression of someone who either didn't know hardship or refused to let it have the last word.
"You look like you're thinking really hard about something," she said with a smile. "I'm Princess Peach Toadstool, Sovereign of the Mushroom Kingdom, Protector of Good Vibes and Viscountess of Recreational Sports. But I usually go by Peach. A pleasure to meet you!" She curtsied low, giving Toad a good view of her chest. Like peaches, he thought. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"
People say you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Toad was no longer one of those people. He's spent his life taking the horse at face value and and then acting surprised when the horse tried to bite his face off. "Wha-what is this?" He looked around wildly for whatever he'd missed. "You with SHIELD? Checkmate? Cosplayers? I'm not that dumb anymore; I'm not getting pulled in no matter what you want."
The princess' smile faded. "You're scared. I'm sorry." She said that and somehow, you knew she meant it. "This might sound strange coming from a princess, but I'm not used to thinking on my own. Usually I have someone to think for me. Now they're gone, and I need to find someone else. And I saw you walking here, and I saw that you were hurting inside." Slowly, her smile came back. "And I thought we could help each other."
"...who'd you say you were again?"
"My name is Peach," she said, "and I'm whatever you want me to be."