That morning, that day, the old Lucius Veren died, and a new one was born. Everything that had made me who I was. Every insult, every taunt, they were my weapons. My fear, my cowardice, became my armor. They gave me my edge, my confidence, even my new life. Let's go back a bit; to that day, the one when it all changed.
I sat down in the subway, sliding into the plastic seat. The world seemed to slow down. Glowing blue, as it came to a halt. White light engulfed my vision as life itself shattered around me.
My eyes snapped open to an unfamiliar place, my body feeling lighter and faster. This new world was ruined and decayed. All the people who hustled into the now empty subway car, were gone. I launched myself out of the stationary vehicle and caught a shimmer of gold in my reflection. I turned just to stop dead. A rounded golden helmet and glowing purple eyes stared back at me. "This is just a dream right? This can't be real… I must have dozed off on the train…" After smacking myself with my sharp, metallic fingers. I realized that this face was certainly my own. Golden armor coated my body. My limbs were thinner that normal but seemed denser than any normal human being's. Knife-like extensions emerged from beneath my forearms and ended a foot from my hands. Blades almost like ice skates were attached to the bottom of my feet. Above me, I saw two blue bars with a and a timer counting down from 1800. The bar on the right had the words, "Golden Edge"; and the equivalent said, "Navy Smash".
"What the hell is going on?" I asked the ruined world around me. A rather high voice answered, "This is a duel… silly boy," he chuckled softly, "I'm gonna need to kill you now. No hard feelings." I didn't have anymore time to ask questions, as, I was currently being attacked by a navy blue robot with gigantic hammer. His large weapon slammed down next to me. I spun out of control and fell, I'd forgotten that I had new skate things on my feet. The hammer swung at me and I tried to roll out of the way; but, unfortunately, not fast enough. I let out a scream as my arm was abruptly forced from its safety in my shoulder socket. The pain quickly faded; however, there was no time to register that, as hammer flattened my skull… Naturally, putting me out of my misery.
The world reverted back to normal speed as I whimpered. My head was ringing like someone used it as a bell.
"What the hell was that?" I muttered. Then it hit me. Yesterday, the white haired kid, the one who offered me that "life changing" program. He installed some kind of malware garbage. Time to give him a piece of my mind.
"What did you do?" I snarled. The white haired kid just laughed.
"Lost a duel, then, I take it? Nevermind, I'll explain. Just say these words, okay?"
"Fine..."
"Burst Link."
I rolled my eyes and went with it. "Burst Link."
The world slowly came to a halt as everything glowed blue. I turned around, and I was face to face with myself. My body was glowing blue like everything else. I whipped back around to see that the white haired kid was smiling, standing next to a replica of sorts. "This is the Accelerated World. Right now we're standing in a 3D hologram generated by the cameras everywhere around the world, the probably illegal and morally questionable 'Brain Burst' program, and the neurolinker sitting around your neck. Right now we are currently thinking one thousand times faster than the real world so one second out there is about 16.67 minutes in here you can use this to plan out your actions, do late assignments, heck you can even take naps in here. Each time you say those words you use up one Burst Point. Once your points hit zero, Brain Burst and any related memories will vanish. Any questions?"
"Let me get this straight. An illegal and morally questionable program speeds up our brainwaves. Then, sends us to a hacked 3D rendering of our surroundings, to do whatever we want when we say two words; but, if we do this too much Brain Burst and all memories concerning it disappear forever? What does this have to do with this morning, that 'duel'?"
"You took that surprisingly well. Most people, me included, panicked for a solid 20 minutes. But, I'll show you what duels are."
He seemingly opened a tab on his neurolinker, then white light engulfed me as everything shattered, once again.
The world reformed into a thick forest. I looked at the bars above me. One said my name, Golden Edge, the other, "Winter Renegade".
"Impressive, I've never seen a gold avatar before. Lighter construction, obviously very fast, and skates on your feet?" A voice asks incredulously. Snow-white armor with silver highlights stood in front of me. Glowing blue eyes stared from holes in the white faceplate, silver blades gripped in each hand.
"What in the world is going on? Where are we? Who are you?" I demanded slipping into a fighting position, managing not to fall over this time.
"I completely forgot to introduce myself. I'm Wayne, But in this world I'm Winter Renegade. Right now we're in a duel. Last man standing wins 10 points, you die you lose 10 points. Each arena's look is randomly generated, the actual terrain is biased on your real world location. My job right now is to make sure you can actually fight, en garde, my friend." Wayne said shifting into position, blades at the ready. Silver met gold in a shower of sparks as I brought up my blades to block his strike. I turn and skate out of there. My body reflexively slipping into old motions. White filled my vision as Winter Renegade landed right in front of me. "Why did you leave me!?" He jokingly sobbed. My arm flashed upwards leaving a razor-thin cut across his chest. I lost self-control as I danced around the renegade in a blur of blades. I stop my dance of death and look and my opponent. Thin cuts coat his body, dozens along his armor, dripping sparks.
"Impressive. That 60 hit combo took out about 10% of my health. I knew picked a good one. I'm going to wrap this up and tell you a bit more in the real world." Winter Renegade said as he took his swords to his neck and severed his head from his body.
The world grinded back into normal speed. "That brought back memories. Ah, I remember the day I was brought into the fold. Good times, good times." The white haired kid reminisced "I digress. My name is Wayne Ashton, my avatar is named Winter Renegade. Welcome to the world of the Burst Linker."
"To repeat what I have already said, What in the world is going on?!" Wayne sighed, "Last night, do you remember having a nightmare, one that pulled up every mental scar or wound you have ever had A nightmare that made you almost want to die? That was Brain Burst going through your mind and analyzing you. It found all your fears, insecurities, hopes, and dreams. Then it made your avatar, Golden Edge. Brain Burst has you face yourself by using your problems as weapons."
Something dawned on me, "That's why you said 'morally questionable' to describe it. You weren't talking about the fighting but the program rummaging through you head."
"Correct Edge. That is what I meant."
"Please call me Lucius,"
"Meet me here later today after school," Wayne said showing me an address "See you then, Lucius." He walked off, and for a moment, I could have sworn I didn't see the silhouette of a 14 year old boy; but, the shadow of Winter Renegade fixed to his heels. I checked my watch and panicked. Class started five seconds ago. I cursed my normal body, my avatar was so much faster and cooler. Alas, that's the way the cookie crumbles.
Later That Day
I looked at the address then at the building in front of me. I chuckled to myself and stepped inside. The roller rink was dimly lit. Wayne was standing by the counter two pairs of roller blades in his hands. "Never thought you would show up."
"Seriously, I know how to skate. Why bring me here?"
"Just for practice and fun." I grabbed the smaller pair of skates and strapped them on. Wayne tugged me onto the floor. "Show me what you've got." I rolled away from him. Instinct taking over as I ran through the motions. My body appling more speed. Around and around I went, old tricks and techniques flashing through my head. I added even more speed to my velocity as I flew off the ramp. The backflip starting before I realized it. The skates hit the wood of the rink as I made a textbook landing. Skidding to a halt next to the shocked Wayne I asked, "Was that good enough?" Five minutes later I was spinning in circles around slightly green kid with white hair who had made the mistake of buying me a pair of roller blades. "Thank you Wayne, I owe you how much?" I asked lifting up one of my feet while I balance on the other foot. "Just stop. Please, I'm getting dizzy." I smiled as I remove the wheels from my feet. The world slowed to a blue tinged halt as white light filled my shattering vision.
My avatar's gold armor coated my body and I looked at the name of my opponent. If Navy Smash wanted another challenge, I'd give him one.
It feels wonderful to get this story off my chest. I've been planning this for a while and don't worry, this story is far from over.