Punch, Brother, Punch Ch. 1

AN: Hello everyone! So I know the title is a bit odd, but just for some context: Mark Twain once wrote a story called Punch, Brother, Punch which was about a song that would get stuck in someone's head and couldn't be forgotten until they pushed it on to someone else. Between Aqua Current's memory dump power and Zack's desire to be remembered, I felt it was a fitting title. This is my first Accelworld story, but I had fun writing it. I'll continue when I can. Thank you so much for your support. Don't hesitate to review. -Kiba

"So...what are we doing here again?" I asked, looking down at the small furry otter that sat passively on the bench beside me. Reaching up with one hand, she silently readjusted her glasses before lowering it once more, her nose giving a slight twitch. "Akira?"

"Do not use my name," she stated in her typical monotone fashion. I frowned, but even still I nodded my head to show I understood her request.

"What should I call you then?"

"Whatever you like, just not my name."

"That doesn't help at all," I complained. Running my own 'paw' through my virtual fur, I peered through my avatar's eyes, trying to locate some sort of person who stood out. She'd told me earlier we were waiting for someone here, but I'd be damned if I knew who it was. A sudden thought occurred to me: were we waiting for a secret lover?

My head turned to regard my classmate. The two of us had been close friends for some time. She was, for lack of a better word, convenient. She was quiet, smart, and most importantly, relatively unsocial. "Why are you staring at me like that?" she asked, not even moving her head.

"If I told you, would you care?"

"Probably not," she replied.

"Then not much point in it."

"I suppose not. It was simply for curiosity's sake."

The truth was, since having moved to Japan after my parents had to relocate for business, she was the only one who spoke a decent enough amount of English to hold a conversation with. Or at least, when we had conversation. I was picking it up quickly though. "You know, if you're waiting for a boy, it'd be better to not have me here," I pointed out.

She shifted her glasses once more before shooting me a glare. "This is a business exchange. I brought you along for company. You can leave, if you so choose." I shuddered under her cold gaze.

"Nah. Someone's gotta be here to protect you."

That made her smile. There wasn't many times she showed emotion, but when she did it was always heart-melting. The first time I told her she was much cuter when she smiled, was the last time. She was not a fan of being commented on and she generally tried to keep the subject on someone other than herself. I blamed her shyness.

It was then that this guy showed up. His avatar was a strange one. It was some sort of robot. "Are...are you the one they call Aqua?" He asked me.

Just as I went to speak, Akira cut in. "That would be me," she explained briefly. "Also, it is foolish to use a replica of your duel avatar as your social one."

He began bowing fervently to her. "Please, please, please...I need your help. Two bullies at my school have been targeting me and I'm almost out of points. I heard you were the best bodyguard around. Please, you have to help me."

Bodyguard? I regarded my companion in shock. Was she going to other schools and beating up bullies? Considering her soft frame in the real world, I somehow doubted it. And what was he talking about with points? "What level are you?"

A game? "I'm level 4. Please, you have to help me."

She took a deep breath. "No," she stated.

"You have to!"

"She said, 'no'," I repeated for her, until she shot me another harsh look that shut me up quick. "Sorry," I murmured.

"You were misinformed," she explained to the weird robot man. "I only assist those beneath level 2. You will have to find someone else."

That's when the guy snapped. "Now you listen to me, you bitch! I came all the way to this po' dunk part of town to sit at some stupid cafe because I was told you'd help me get more points! Not to have you turn me away because…"

"Stop talking, Kon Eito." Immediately, the man shut up. Did she know him? He wouldn't be able to see it like I could, but in her eyes there was a confidant smirk. "Or should I say, Chocolate Recluse?"

"How…?"

"You were dumb enough to use your duel avatar. Your full name is also registered to your social account. It wasn't difficult to access both and put the two together. Unless you'd like to have your identity leaked to say...the Red King...you'd better leave."

"You wouldn't…"

"Try me."

The air around us was incredibly tense as the robot guy debated on what to do. Eventually, he nodded his head. "Fine," he growled. "But be warned, if I get out of this, I'm coming for you, Aqua Current." With that, he turned on his heels and stormed off, leaving the two of us alone again.

"Aqua Current?" I asked. "Now I'm the curious one."

"Just a nickname for a game is all."

"Wasn't aware you were much of a gamer."

"Just the one, really," she explained. "Give him a few minutes to leave. I have my webcam synched to watch."

"Wait, that jerk is here? What if he tries to hurt you?"

"It's the price of business, I'm afraid. It is why I choose a public place to meet. Also, why I brought you along." Her paw moved in a blur in front of her face as she began to traverse the menu until at last, her avatar winked out of existence. I followed suit, turning to look around the bustling cafe, only to find that no one around was going too crazy. "He's gone," she stated, reaching down to sip her tea.

"Do you want me to get you a fresh cup? I'm sure they wouldn't mind reheating it for you."

"No, that's quite alright. I rather enjoy lukewarm tea."

Picking up my own iced coffee, I took a sip from it before looking back at her. Just like her social avatar, she wore glasses in real life that she adjusted regularly. Though, to be honest, I think she liked to adjust them, even when she didn't have to. Maybe she thought it made her look dignified.

"Well?"

"Well...what?"

"Are you not going to ask about the game?" I denoted a tone of hope in her voice, but I quickly wrote it off as a trick of the ears. Another benefit of having Akira as a friend was that she wasn't the sort to shove her hobbies in my face. There was no 'Oh! Look at this show!' or 'Read this book!' Rather, she was content with just spending time together, even if it was silent and boring. That's what made her question incredibly odd.

"Something must be really special about it if you're prompting me to ask," I replied.

"Not prompting. Just surprised. I figured that curiosity would have gotten the better of you. Then again, you never were one for the pursuit of knowledge, I suppose."

"That's because I know everything already," I teased, but I could see that she was not amused. In fact, she almost seemed...disappointed. "Fine," I groaned, "I'll bite. What game was this guy talking about? What are points? What's a duel avatar?"

She smiled softly, fishing around inside of her pack beside her to find a link cable. Plugging it into her neuro-linker, she offered me the other end.

"You're...kidding, right?"

"You plug it into the side of your neuro-linker."

"Yeah, I'm aware. I meant, isn't that a little...you know...intimate?"

"Does it matter?" she asked. Her eyes were sparkling beneath her glasses. She was really excited about this prospect. Now she really had piqued my curiosity. Whatever could make her show this much emotion was a big deal.

I took the small block and plugged it into my neuro-linker with a sigh of surrender. "So now what? Do we make out or something?" Her eyes had left mine however, and she was now rapidly pushing buttons in front of her.

"I'll give you a condensed guide. This game is like no game you've ever played before. It's kind of a fighting game, but with a few real world ramifications." Suddenly, a request to share a file appeared on my screen.

"Brain burst?"

"Yes. The game is an enigma. You can only share it with one person. Failure to install is not completely unheard of, so selection of who gets the program is something players must consider seriously. If you click 'No', I don't lose my share, but if you click 'Yes'...well, life isn't going to be the same for you."

Now she was starting to spook me. "So...this is a fighting game only certain people can play. You are giving it to me, because…"

"You are my friend."

My heart pulsed and I almost let out a 'daww'. Akira was not one to often show a sign of affection, and calling me her friend was something that I'd never heard her say before. When she introduced me, which was hardly ever, I was a classmate or an associate. "Well, with a reason like that, how can I refuse?" I asked, reaching out to push 'Yes'. She quickly extended her arm stopping my wrist.

"This isn't something to choose lightly," she whispered ominously. "This isn't a game."

"I thought it was…"

"Well it is and it isn't," she muttered, trying to think of how to explain. As she racked her brain, I smirked, quickly reaching out with my left hand and accepting the invitation, causing her to look up at me in genuine shock. "Hughes-kun!"

"Kun?"

She turned a bright red, realizing her slip up. "Not important. I told you to think about it!"

"I did. If this is something that has you this worked up, it must be important. I guess I'll just have to be careful when we play together." I paused for a moment before adding, "And call me Zack. It's still odd being called by my last name."

As the emotions once more faded from her face, she let out a short sigh. "I suppose I should have anticipated that. Tomorrow is Saturday. We should meet in the morning. Turn off your connection to the world web until then."

"Fine," I surrendered, doing as she instructed. Suddenly a window popped up that crackled with virtual fire. "Welcome to the Accelerated World?" I chuckled. "This is so cheesy."

"You think so now," she replied ominously. Soon the window faded.

"So, what's the big deal about this game, hmm?"

"Say 'Burst Link'."

"Like...out loud?"

"Duh."

"Fine. Burst Link." There was a moment where time stopped, the entire world being washed in blue as my social avatar was evicted out from my table. Standing beside me was Akira's Otter as well. "Whoa," I muttered, looking around.

"Impressive, no?"

Now she was really smiling. I couldn't believe her mouth even could stretch that far across her face. "What is this?" I asked, looking around in awe.

"This," she explained, "is the Accelerated World. Right now, your brain's neurons are firing a thousand times faster than normal. It may seem like time has stopped, but in reality, it is just moving very, very slowly. Specifically, in about sixteen minutes, you'll be removed and only a second will have gone by."

I began looking around myself, curiously examining everyone in the shop. "And no one can see or hear us like this?"

"No."

"Did you seriously just give me a video game that gave me superpowers?" I asked in awe, before realizing something. "Erm...Akira...you may want to look behind you."

She turned around in surprise to see a boy about our age, a bat in his hands, swinging towards the window, right behind where her head was. "Oh my God," she murmured. "I knew this would be bad but..." Her words dropped off as she just stared at him, stunned.

"Umm, yeah. That guy is about to bash your skull in. Good thing we can see it coming. So what now? Do we turn the tables and ninja this guy into oblivion?"

"No," she stated. "We avoid the attack and allow the typical ramifications to occur."

I frowned. "Akira...that's really dangerous. What if you're seriously hurt?"

"Do not worry about me," she replied assuringly. It did little to help my concern. "I can react faster than you think. How else do you think I know when you get to class?"

"You have super powers, and you're using them to mess with me by knowing when to look up just as the door opens?"I shook my head. "Seriously! There's a guy with a bat, and look at you getting me off subject!"

"Well, my plan, unlike yours, will actually work," she scoffed. "Don't forget, he also has Brain Burst. That means he can accelerate, just like you and I can. Now, to exit, focus on leaving the game and say 'Burst Out'. Got it?"

"Yeah...I still don't like this."

"We'll be fine. Burst out." In a blink, she vanished.

I rolled my eyes. I think I preferred it when Akira didn't say much. "Burst out." Color returned to the world as the window behind her shattered, eliciting surprised cries from the other patrons of the cafe. True to her word, she'd managed to dodge it just as the boy dropped his bat and began to run off. "Hey, wait!" I shouted, going to run after him, but Akira snagged me, pulling me back.

"Leave him," she commented. "I've already contacted the police and given them his personal information. Anonymously, of course." She went to sip her tea again, before pausing to fish out a small shard of glass that was in it. I couldn't understand how she could be so calm about all of this. A guy had just tried to kill her. Noting my expression, her pink lips curled slightly once more. "I'll explain everything in the morning. Speaking of which, don't you have a video call to make, soon? It's nearly seven o'clock."

"Shit!" I called out, standing up quickly. Thankfully, my swearing went under the radar in comparison to the broken glass. I quickly dropped five hundred yen on to the table before snatching up my backpack and rushing home.

Akira, however, just waved passively to my leaving, electing to finish her tea as a crowd amassed to investigate the damage.

My friends back in the states had a twelve hour gap between us. Meaning that while it was afternoon here, it was early morning there. Tearing into my room, I quickly dialed into my neuro-linker. Thanks to the harsh school schedule here in comparison to there, I almost never had time to talk to them anymore, but I still managed to find a way to contact them on their birthday.

"Hello?" my friend Jess' voice came through clearly, albeit sleepily. "Who's speaking?"

Did she lose my number? "Jess, it's me, Zack. I just wanted to say happy…"

"Sorry, I don't know anyone by that name. Bye." With a click it ended the call abruptly. I sank into my chair before cursing again. This had become a recent trend over the last year or so. My closest friends were moving farther apart from me, and often I found myself further and further away from them. With a disgusted grunt, I deleted her number from my neuro-linker.

That night, I threw myself into bed, resting my head on my pillow and staring at the small picture I kept on my desk. It was of my old preparatory academy, with me surrounded by my five closest friends. Two of them had been scratched out in a fit of frustration. Now, I was tempted to scratch out a third.

My eyes felt heavy as they closed and it wasn't long before I wished they hadn't. I found myself standing on the commons of my old school. I don't know how, but I knew in my head that I'd moved back from Japan. There were my friends, laughing and joking with one another at the table as I tried to approach.

"Hey everyone, I'm back." I called to them, waving. They all stopped, staring at me in confusion.

"Do we know you?" Kyle asked, causing me to frown. Now he'd forgotten me, too?

"What a weirdo," Jess muttered. "He doesn't have any friends, so he's trying to pretend like he's ours? Talk about social problems."

"But...we are friends," I murmured. "Remember when we snuck into Kyle's Dad's Orchard and replaced all the apple baskets with oranges? He was so pissed off, he made Kyle do schoolwork from home for a week!"

"Great, now he's a stalker too."

"Dude, just leave us alone. Find your own friends."

"Yeah!"

Shouts of agreement trailed away as I tried to explain to them again, but eventually, they began to move away from me, leaving me in an empty void all alone. As I lay in that void, hurt and confused, I could hear voices outside of my prison. "Such a shame about this kid," one muffled man stated, just as a heavy thud came from on top of me.

"Yep. No friends, his dad's too busy to come see his own son's funeral. Now that's the real crime!"

Funeral? I wasn't dead! I began to hammer at the lid as more and more dirt was piled on to me. "Stop!" I cried. "I'm not dead!" But they just kept shoveling anyway.

"Say, what was I supposed to put on this kid's tombstone?"

"I don't know. His pops said to just put 'loving son'. Apparently, even he'd forgotten his name." The two grave diggers laughed together as one last large patch of dirt fell on top of my coffin.

I sat up with a start, cold sweat running down my forehead as I looked around my room. Seeing I was not, in fact, buried alive, I let out a sigh of relief. My heart was racing in my chest. I was trembling, unable to control my worry. With a blip, a message showed up in my inbox from Akira. "Let me in."

Sheesh. Not even a smiley face or anything? "Hold on," I sent back, standing from my bed, walking to my door and pulling back the deadbolt.

Noting my clammy appearance, she smiled softly. "You had the nightmare," she commented, running her hand through her short hair. I looked at her stunned. "That was Brain Burst reading your subconscious. Your duel avatar is shaped by your fears and dreams," she explained. "I won't ask what your nightmare was about. Mostly because it's not typical that people remember it."

"Good morning to you, too," I groaned, walking to my kitchen. "Tea or Coffee?"

"Must I answer?"

"Fair enough," I replied, working to boil the water for her tea. "Hey...why did you want me to turn off the web anyway?"

"Turn it on," she instructed.

"Turn it off, turn it on...make up your mind," I teased, but I did as she asked. As soon as it connected, I saw her lips move before the world began to transform before my eyes. The high rise we were in began to grow darker and darker, causing my chest to heave. Soon, however, light flared from glowing fungus. In big fiery letters, the words 'A Challenger Approaches' burned into existence, causing me to look around me confused. Above me was a standard looking health bar and timer. On one side, a nameplate read Aqua Current. On the other, it read Phosphorous Punch. "What in the hell?" I muttered, just as a tall, lithe figure slowly approached me.

It was definitely feminine, with narrow hips and small breasts. Despite not having a mouth, two long stalks came from either side of her head, giving the appearance of giant pig tails. The most startling thing about it, however, was that it looked to consist entirely of water, ripples of resonance flowing endlessly through her body. Her glowing blue eyes stared at me intently, and it took me a moment to recall that Aqua Current was what the guy had called Akira yesterday.

"Whoa, Akira, is that you? You look…" I was at a loss for words as she simply came closer. Raising her hand, she struck me as hard as she could in the stomach, causing me to double over in pain as a small portion of my health bar disappeared. "Ow, what the hell is your problem?" I coughed.

"You can't let your guard down in this game," she replied. "If you're not careful, you can lose all of your points. When that happens, it will uninstall automatically, taking all memories of the game with it." Her words shook me, and she added as an afterthought, "And thank you for your comment...assuming it was a compliment. Your avatar is not too bad either."

Pressing a few buttons, she materialised an item in her inventory before handing it to me. A mirror? Sure enough, peering into it I found that my face had been replaced with a more robotic one. Mine had intense semi-circle eyes that looked like a pair of dark and angled sunglasses. My head was angled like some kind of animal, though it was hard to recognize it at first. The rest of my body was narrow and moved with little resistance at all. It looked fit, but nothing too excessive.

The entirety of me seemed to be composed of some dark reddish material, almost like a chalky sort of rock. "This is how my fears and anxieties look?" I asked confused. "Wait a moment, are you afraid of water?"

I could sense her frown even without facial features. "It's never something that simple," she explained. "Besides, remember what I told you? Not everyone remembers their nightmare. Most of these fears are the ones we bury so deep that we may not even know what it is that scares us so greatly. Mine is one such fear."

"Sorry." I bowed my head apologetically, only to receive a painful roundhouse that sent me sprawling on to the ground. "God damn it, will you stop hitting me?!" I snapped angrily. "Seriously, that actually hurts!"

"It's only about 50% of the pain you'd feel in real life, thankfully. Don't worry, it'll pass. Now then, would you care for me to explain your avatar?"

"If I say, 'No', are you going to hit me again?"

As she dropped a fierce axe kick on the back of my head, she answered, "Yes."

"Fine," I groaned on the ground. "Tell me."

"Your name is a metal: Phosphorous. This isn't an exceptionally common color to have. Each one represents something in its own way. Blues, like mine, mean overcoming an obstacle through strength. Green means they wish to protect those close to them. And Red wants to reach far away places. Each avatar is completely unique to one another. Finally, there is saturation or purity. The more pure your color, the stronger the traits."

"Pure? How pure is phosphorous?"

"Not very pure at all, I'm afraid. It's one of the more obscure metals."

"Wonderful," I sighed, starting to clamber to my feet. "And the 'Punch'?"

"I imagine it is a reference to the fact that your head looks like that of a kangaroo."

"A kangaroo? Don't those usually kick?" This time, when she went to hit me with a right hook, my arm raised up and deflected it. She swiped at me with a kick, carrying her momentum, but I quickly backed up out of the way.

"Yes, true," she replied, now going into a flurry of attacks that I did my best to avoid. "However, in order to establish dominance, the males often box with punches." Turning her body, she thrust out her leg in a straight kick at my face, but I quickly bent back my head to avoid it. "Which is why they have such flexible necks," she finished, slowly drawing her foot from me. "Now then, what's your special attack?"

"My what?"

"Look at the list."

Opening it up, I saw only one item. "It says, 'Echo'."

"Echo? I wonder what that could mean." Looking up, she saw that my gauge was barely full at all. "Alright, well you'll need to fight me until your gauge is full." She stood proudly, her glowing eyes fiercely meeting mine. "Go ahead."

"Go ahead? You want me to punch you?"

In response, she took another swing at me. I quickly deflected it off my arm again, using the opportunity to jab back. As my fist pressed against her body, it slid inside of her. At first, she gave me a smug look, until a hissing sound filled the air. "What's happening?!" she hissed, quickly detangling from me.

"Are you okay?" I asked, going to check on her, but she held up her hand.

"Don't come closer!" she cried, causing me to pause. Was she afraid of me? "Just...don't hit me again, okay? I wasn't...I wasn't expecting that. Physical attacks don't usually hurt me."

"Doesn't Phosphor turn into acid when it gets wet? Maybe that's why it hurt so much. When you hit me, it doesn't break surface tension, but when I break through you, it turns my fist into acid, which burns like hell." I held up my hand to see it starting to droop a little. It was beginning to solidify slowly, and looking up at my health bar, I saw that it too had gone down. Not as much as hers, did from the attack, but enough to show up. "Great. Punching you hurts me too."

"Well," she sighed, pointing up to the bar beneath my health. "Your special move is charged now. Why don't you try it?"

"But what if it hurts you again?" I asked in concern.

"I'll be fine," she assured me, her voice once more becoming calm and tranquil. "If you beat me, whatever. You could use some extra points anyway."

"Alright then," I replied, holding up my fists. Activating my special ability, I felt a tingling in my body, just as a copy of myself rushed forward, driving its fist into her, the exact same spot I'd struck last time. It then vanished away. Experimentally, I went to my friend, and gently slapped her on the cheek before moving away. Sure enough, a moment later, a version of me materialized and slapped her as well. "It replicates my attacks! That's so cool!"

Just as she stood back up, I decided I'd pay her back for all of the punches and kicks she'd landed on me. I rushed towards her, just as she held up a hand. "No, no! Wait, don't…" I cut her off with a swift kick towards her stomach, leaving a hissing foam behind. Confidant, I'd begun lashing out rapidly, every time she tried to block, the acidic nature of my body would pierce through her, followed by my clone's identical attack.

Just as I went to strike her once more, my fist grazed her cheek before my healthbar depleted completely, causing me to vanish and wake up in my living room. Only a second had gone by as she stood up with a groan. "You jerk!" she snapped! "I tried to tell you not to attack me!"

"What's your problem? What happened to 'If you beat me, whatever'?"

"You didn't beat me moron, you lost," she groaned, resting against the counter. "Your acid hurts you too, remember? Since I had already hurt you pretty bad, you took yourself out. Here." She moved her hand, causing a window to appear, offering a trade. "These are your points back."

"Ten points? What are points for?" I accepted her offer anyway, taking the points I'd just lost.

"Every time you use 'Burst Link' it costs a point. When you fight in a match, you either win or lose ten points. Eventually, you'll get enough to level up, but it costs a thousand points. Be careful with that, or else you'll be put in a bad situation."

"I see," I muttered, reaching for the pot and pouring her the now hot water into a teacup. She went to reach for a box in my cabinet, standing on the tip of her toes, but I easily just grasped the one she wanted before handing it to her. "So, let's see if I got this. I fight people to get points that I use for super powers. If I lose all my points, I lose all of my powers and don't remember ever having them in the first place. If I walk outside on the network, people can pull me into a fight. That about cover it?"

She dipped the bag into the water to steep. "That just about covers it. There is one last thing," as she spoke, she suddenly appeared very meek and soft-spoken. "Something regarding me."

"Akira?"

She looked up to me, her normally stoic eyes unsure of how to express her emotions. Silently, she wrapped her arms around me in a hug. I couldn't believe she was even making physical contact with me. In the past twenty four hours, I'd seen more of her feelings than I'd ever seen. "My job is one of a body guard," she explained. "I help low level players who don't have many points stay afloat. That guy yesterday was too high level to help. That's why he became angry. Lately...lately, business has become much more dangerous. I'm only level one, so...the reason I invited you to Brain Burst, the real reason...I need a partner I can trust. Please, do not tell me I misplaced it in you." Clearing her throat, she bashfully pulled her arms away from me. "Sorry. You can do whatever you want. I didn't mean to force you into this."

"I'll help you," I stated. She looked up at me with those big eyes of hers. "I promise, I'll help you. This game looks like it'd be fun, but if this is something that's scaring you...I can't, as your friend, just stand by. Tell me what to do, and I swear," I crossed my heart with my fingers, "I will do everything in my power to help you. Understand?"

She nodded, averting her gaze from me to her teacup. "Okay. Our first mission is a simple one," she replied. Turning back, her eyes gleamed fiercely. "We're going to drain away all of Chocolate Recluse's points."

To be continued...