Enter Name: JASON ARGO

A black void. A bright blue sun at the very center with wispy clouds in it's atmosphere. Planets orbiting the blue sun, each with its own color and size. Invisible chains linking these planets and strangling the sun. A giant flaming mass, on a collision course with the blue sun.

These objects had been swirling around in Jason Argo's dreams for nights on end. Whether they were premonitions or a result of an overactive imagination, he had no idea.

One thing was for sure: he was excited for this new game.

Jason pushed the dirty clothes on his bed aside and flopped down on it, heaving a huge sigh. When is it going to get here? He ordered it days ago, but it has yet to come.

Sixteen year old, and he apparently didn't have anything better to do with his life than play online games with friends. Jason had shoulder length, blond hair and orange eyes. He wore his normal attire: a black shirt with the Triforce displayed in gold at the center, long dark jeans and worn converse.

Jason had a huge interest in mainly two things: video games and mythology. They were his life breath. He owned quite a few books telling tales of ancient gods and heroes, right next to a PC ready to run TF2, Bioshock, or many of the other games he found entertaining. Jason liked Anime somewhat since one friend in particular had been trying to get him into it for a while.

He stared at the posters of various video game characters and mythological figures plastered on the walls of his room. He admired Gordon Freeman standing next to the noble Mars, Roman god of war. He loved both of the guys. Samus Aran blasted Metroids to pieces on the same plain where Perseus holds Medusa's head up in triumph from Clash of the Titans. He loved both the original and the remake.

He continued gazing for minutes before he finally decided to get off the bed. He walked with caution, not to step on any of the video game merch spread across the floor. He made a mental note to pick that up later.

He sat down in his favorite spinning chair and moved the piles of unfinished assignments and abandoned art projects to the side to make room for his laptop. He pulled his laptop out of his sylladex and opened it. The screen lit up and he selected Pesterchum from the bar of icons at the bottom of the screen.

Only one of his friends was online. He started to pester him, desperate for a way to escape the boredom of waiting.

immortalSwordsman began pestering sarcasmIncarnate.

IM: What's up, best bro?

IM: You're just as pumped to play Sburb as me, right?

SI: Absolutely, my excitement levels are near overflowing.

IM: Whoa, really?

IM: And here I thought that I was the only one about to punch a whole in the wall.

SI: You really are clueless.

IM: Why?

SI: Take a nice, long look at my handle.

SI: Can you glean any knowledge about my previous statement from it?

IM: You… Were being sarcastic?

SI: Bingo.

SI: You and SH are really the only ones in our group to be this excited about our game session. In fact, I believe TS finds the idea abhorrent.

IS: Well, that's kind of too bad for the both of you.

IS: I mean, we DID make a group agreement to play.

SI: Yes, I realize that.

SI: In retrospect, that was a terrible move on my part. Now I think about all the time I could have spent in a comfortable chair, sipping coffee with a good book in hand. Now I have to play this game, which I imagine will be a total waste of time.

IS: You DO know that SH will force you to play, whether you want to or not?

IS: We need six players, for whatever reason, and we don't have anyone else that can fill your part.

SI: Hm, I guess that makes me quite the important person, huh?

IS: Not sure if you're being sarcastic, but it actually does!

SI: Whatever. I'll be standing by whenever you need me to connect.

IS: Great! All I have to do is get my copy of the game, then we'll be set.

immortalSwordsman ceased pestering sarcasmIncarnate.

Jason looked at the time on his computer display. It was just past noon, meaning the that mail should have run by now. His older brother was responsible for picking it up, so it was possible that he had gotten the package along with everything else. Jason decided that further investigation was necessary.

Jason: Complete Objective

He got up from the desk and put the laptop back into his sylladex. Jason's sylladex worked on an INVENTORY Modus, meaning he could take anything out as long as it was necessary to his quest.

He opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, making sure to close it gently. His sister was sound asleep in the room across from him and he didn't dare wake her up for fear of his personal safety.

He crept down the short hallway on his right into the main living space. Not dignified enough to be called a living room, since their apartment only had one main room. A couch and some other pieces of furniture were pointed at TV and the YBox 180 console standing next to it. A shelf of games stood proudly on the other side containing a huge variety of titles that had been compiled over the years.

A kitchenette off to the left had all the food storage and cooking basics. On a whim, Jason opened the refrigerator and popped a bottle of Orange Faygo open and began to drink with enthusiasm. When the bottle was about half empty, he tore it away from his lips. This stuff never gets old, he thought.

He put the bottle back in the refrigerator and refocused on his objective. He searched the living room and the kitchen for a package marked Sburb, but couldn't find one. He had to assume that Bro had taken it upstairs with him.

Jason shuddered a bit. The thought of intruding on Bro was discontenting, but he remembered the promise he had made to his internet buddies. Nothing would stop him from playing with them. The feeling fortified him somewhat as he began climbing up the stairs to Bro's room. Although there weren't many steps leading to the top, he couldn't shake off a the sense of dread, the kind of feeling a person gets before they engage a powerful boss in combat. It almost reminded him of Ganondorf's Castle.

He opened the door at the top leading into Bro's room. Bookshelves filled with CD's and Bro's favorite novels lined the walls. A desk with a PC sat in the corner nearby his bed. In a surprising contrast to Jason, Bro was very orderly. Jason supposed he needed to be since he had begun working within the past few years.

A skateboard leaned against the wall. It looked as if it hadn't been touched for a while. And unfortunate reminder that Bro hasn't been able to pursue his interest in skating for quite sometime.

Jason scanned Bro's desk. A brown envelope marked Sburb Beta sat ajar next to some other pieces of mail. His face instantly lit up. He forgot about the trinkets scattered around the room and immediately made his way towards the package.

It was just within his grasp… Just a little closer… Just a little closer…

BOOM

The floor collapsed under Jason's feet. The impact of his fall on the lower floor was enough for the floorboards to split and send him plummeting down another story into the room below. Another one of Bro's ingenious traps, explosives buried underneath his footing. It seemed pretty elaborate just to keep his little bro from playing some stupid video game.

While lying in the pile of broken floorboards, Jason had a feeling that this was only the start of his troubles.