Virtuo: Gaming Evolved
By Imikid
01: A New Game Plan
Bright and sunny days: that's the typical weather in Nevada – implying you can call Nevada weather "typical". Thus, it's a perfect day for Sparks High School's Railroaders football team to practice for the upcoming season. Sparks High is one of the oldest schools still standing in the Reno/Sparks area; of course, not without good reason. One of those reasons is the newest generation of enthusiastic and determined athletes that hadn't been seen in years. Of these youths is junior-year up and coming quarterback Sebastian Graves.
"HUT!"
The African-American boy is immediately given the ball as the two lines collide into each other with thirsty ferocity. Sebastian side-steps an incoming linebacker before throwing the ball towards his intended target. The small player down field leaps into the air – barely missing a blow from another player – and catches the ball tightly before taking off for the end zone. Before Sebastian can even holler at his receiver, however, he receives a hard tackle from the flank. Both players hit the ground and the air is knocked out of Sebastian.
"Nice throw 'Bastian!" the junior chuckled. "Too bad I can't compliment you and Sherry!" Sebastian glares at him until the whistle from the coach catches their attention.
"All right boys, nice work. Let's try keeping that attitude up! And Tory, don't let me catch you pulling that crap again!" the coach roars. "Line 'em up, right at the end zone!" Tory simply walks away; another player had to help Sebastian back to his feet. The players took to the exact positions as before only this time, the line that separated the two teams is the very same that separates the end zone from the rest of the field. Glancing up, Sebastian locks onto Tory, standing at the ready with his toothy grin glimmering through his helmet.
Months ago, Tory started dating a cute sweetheart by the name of Sherry. She's a sweet girl, dark-skinned, and she was also dating Sebastian at the same time. It was Tory who told him in the first place, and also rubbed it in his face on a constant basis after the fact. Nothing would please Sebastian more to get back at him somehow...
"Down!" Sebastian called out. "SET...HUT!"
The ball is tossed to him but Sebastian never lets his eyes off of Tory. The blonde charges up the middle and instead of backing up; Sebastian charges forward as well and jumps with all his might over the linebackers. His flying shoulder impacts with Tory and both hit the ground hard, but with the ball still underneath Sebastian. His team erupts with small hoots and hollers as he climbs to his feet and walks toward Tory to stand over him.
"Touchdown, bitch," Sebastian heatedly mutters. Enraged, Tory rips off his helmet and scurries to his feet as Sebastian turns to leave. Thankfully, some of their fellow players see what's coming and they all get between both Tory and Sebastian.
"Alright, alright, alright!" the coach approaches the team. "Knock it off with that attitude and go get changed! Practice is over." Tory is the first to grab his helmet and storm off in the direction of the locker room as the rest of the team follows in a crowd.
There is small chit-chatting in the locker room – a lot of it about Sebastian – the typical banter at the end of a day of practice. Little by little the locker room empties out as students now head home to do whatever they do until Sebastian is the last one to get dressed and head for the door.
"'Bastian," the coach calls him. Immediately reacting, Sebastian pokes his head into the coach's office.
"Yes, sir?"
"I saw what was going on between you and Tory out there today," the coach explains. "And quite frankly, I'm disappointed in you."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean you shouldn't let a delinquent like Tory get the better of you like that," the coach snaps. "If you were any of the other players then I wouldn't make this an issue, but you're the best quarterback this school has seen in quite a while – I should know. And as such you need to have your head on straight if we're gonna make a dent in the football season coming up. In other words: you better get it together over spring break. You get me?"
"Yes, sir," Sebastian answers hesitantly after a tense, silent moment.
"Good," the coach nods his head. "And I want you to start by getting a decent amount of rest. Now get outta here, and have a good break."
"Thank you, sir," Sebastian breathed a small smile as he left the confines of the locker room. Before Sebastian could set a foot off campus, though, he caught sight of Tory and Sherry making out behind the school, no doubt doing it out in the open on purpose...
Sebastian is a good student; he doesn't slack off in any of his subjects and always gives it his best. His parents would tell you that he gives it his all at everything he does regardless of what it is – even video games – and upon meeting Sebastian, you'd be inclined to believe them. But Sebastian is also good at something else: never letting any of that praise go to his head, unlike some people. Ironically enough, Tory has an uncanny ability to always get under his skin, even before Sherry cheated with him. Sebastian never had the patience to deal with people like Tory: arrogant, thick-headed, moronic people with god complexes. The fact that he took Sherry from him is just more icing on the cake as far as Tory is concerned. Sebastian himself is a well-built athlete; not too bulky while also not lacking in muscles either. He is right there in the middle, right where he figures a quarterback should be. He has black hair – arranged in no particular style other than the kind that hugs the shape his head – and blue eyes, possibly a bit lighter blue but who's really noticing?
Every day after school Sebastian jogs home and takes about fifteen minutes to get there. Questions are constantly asked: Why do you jog? Why not call your folks for a ride? The answer is also constant: Because exercise is good for you. That, and Sebastian enjoys jogging alone, it gives him time to think about the day's events, even if some aren't easy to think about. His house is two stories, but that's only thanks to the fact that he hardly ever sees his father. He is a great father, and Sebastian won't let anybody say otherwise, but with his father's job comes business trips and long hours at work. Holidays and birthdays are the only guarantees that Sebastian will see his father; every other day is played by the ear. His mother, on the other hand, is always there; her job is not as busy, though she gets home about a half-hour after he does. Believe it or not, it was actually thanks to his mother that he became interested in playing football. She would always show him games between big-name football teams and Sebastian would be instantly glued to the TV and by the time he was eight he had already been titled as "The Most Winning-est Backyard Quarterback".
He unlocks the front door with his key and heads inside, making a beeline for the kitchen sink to get himself a cup of water. He downs half the glass then refills the cup before heading upstairs to his room. Like most football fans, Sebastian's room is filled with football fandom pieces and memorabilia. Unlike most fans, Sebastian doesn't have a favorite team, only favorite players. In his mind, it's the player that needs to stand out, a hero that needs to win. He swings his backpack into his open closet and slides his Nike's right off as he sets down the cup of water and takes off his black jacket. He takes the cup in hand again and plops down on the bed before reaching for a small headset and putting it on, flipping a switch to activate it.
"Seven-twenty, run," he commands into the headphone. Instantly a black box over on his dresser is highlighted by green neon and quickly the room lights up with the same color. Sebastian waits patiently sipping his cup of water as the iconic green "X" appears along with the name "Virtuo" telling him that the virtual dashboard is loading. After mere moments, squares appear advertising the different operations and apps available on his gaming console. And not too long after the dashboard is loaded, a notification pops up.
"SpawnofWeapons2023 is online..." Sebastian reads the notification to himself just as another user-name pops up. "BushidoBabe01...huh...Greg and Suki are online. View profile." The pop up expands into a full page of information on BushidoBabe01 and Sebastian immediately notices that both his friends are currently in a chat party. "Join party."
After a few seconds, two video screens enlarge to show a boy and a girl casually chatting. The boy is Gregory Barnes, someone that Sebastian has known since elementary school. He's a slightly chubby fellow with medium-length brown hair and brown eyes sometimes out shined by the glare of his glasses. Meanwhile, the girl is Suki Saegusa, a girl Sebastian met only last year when she arrived from Final Frontier Island. She has long, silky, black hair that reaches past her shoulders and she has a pair of hazel eyes.
"Hey, 'Bastian!" Suki greets immediately with a wide smile.
"Oh, hey, what's up 'Bastian?" Gregory greets with a small nod of his head. "How'd practice go?"
"Pretty good, looking forward to the season," Sebastian shrugs with a small smile as he takes another sip of water.
"But...?" Suki asks with a smug grin and raised brow. Gregory puts his chin in his hand and shakes his head.
"Seriously, how can you just know when something's bothering someone?" Gregory demands.
"Comes with kendo practice," Suki sharply answers and practically pierces Sebastian's screen with her eyes. Sebastian hangs his head with a sigh and rubs the back of his neck.
"Just Tory again, nothing big," Sebastian finally answers, looking back at the screen with another shrug.
"Ugh…Tory. It's always Tory," Suki complains while falling backwards and disappearing off screen.
"What happened this time?" Gregory asks with a slight tone of irritation.
"We just got into a...well...I guess a "subtle" scuffle and now the coach wants me to "get my head on straight" before spring break is over."
"Sounds serious," Gregory comments as Suki reappears on screen.
"I think it is," Sebastian sighs. "I need to get my mind off of him somehow..."
"Well, it would've been fine if he hadn't...huh? Oh! B-r-b guys!" Gregory says before launching out of his chair. Sebastian and Suki exchange weird glances before shrugging it off. Within a few moments Gregory was back with a magazine in his hands. "Sorry about that; latest Game Informer."
"Uh-huh..." Sebastian reacts with a smile and shaking head.
"I guess I'll continue with his argument, or at least try, to" Suki makes a face as Gregory buries his own into the magazine. "Things were going great with you until Sherry cheated on you, 'Bastian. Why she would with a loser like Tory is anybody's guess, but I think the problem is not getting your mind off of him; it's getting your mind off of her." Sebastian let out a long sigh as he set his glass down and put his face in his hands. ""There are a lot of fish in the sea" is how it goes, 'Bastian. Sherry isn't the world and you shouldn't be thinking that in the first place, especially nowadays."
"Suki, I was with her for, like, a year and a half," Sebastian argues. "I can't just forget that."
"Why not? She apparently did."
"Don't say that!"
"'Bastian, look at yourself! Your coach is probably going to kick you off the team if you and Tory don't stop reaching for each other's throats! And we all know that there is only one girl that is making the two of you so pissed at each other: Sherry."
"She's an anchor you can't afford to have, 'Bastian," Gregory speaks up from behind the magazine.
"ALL RIGHT! Enough!" Sebastian shouts abruptly. He launches off of his bed and into a pace as he runs his hands over his hair and face trying to calm himself down. After a few heated moments, he takes a deep breath and lets it out and ceases his pacing.
"You're right," Sebastian sighs. "I gotta stop thinking about her. But how the hell can I do that? Once school starts up again after break I'm gonna have to see her every – freaking – day!" Suki starts with a shrug.
"Get a new girlfriend?" Sebastian lands an annoyed leer on her screen. "What?"
"Get a new girlfriend? How?"
Suddenly, Gregory starts to geek out on his screen with an excited but silent laughter as he launches out of his seat and dances around in the background.
"Something you'd like to share, Greg?" Suki asks as Sebastian raises a brow.
"Uh...sorry..." Gregory sits back down with a sigh and lifts his glasses to wipe away a tear. "It says here that the very first Virtual-Reality Halo Tournament – aka 'Virtuo: Gaming Evolved' – will be started three days from now. Teams from around the world are eligible to enter from noobs to pros. All one has to do is take a team of eight players to their local selection areas to participate. Oh! If only I had a team of my own!" Gregory sighs as he returns to his magazine and moments of silent follow. Slowly, a glint begins to show in Suki's eyes as she grows a sneer.
"That's not such a bad idea actually..." she says, leering evilly at Sebastian with a smile. Gregory's eyes peek over his magazine.
"What?" he asks.
"How about we join Virtuo?" Now Sebastian and Gregory begin exchanging worried glances.
"How?" Sebastian asks, crossing his arms. "Sure, we all play Virtual Halo, but I don't think either of us know enough people that do."
"So?" Suki smiles. "There's a website that lists all V-Halo players and where they live, right Greg?" Gregory nods slowly. "Let's find a team there." Sebastian's now-optimistic gaze goes back and forth between Suki and Gregory as a small smile appears.
"You know what? Why not? I gotta get my head straight," Sebastian lets out a small chuckle. "Maybe trying to win a gaming tournament's the way to go."
"R-really?" Gregory asks as a huge grin spreads across his face.
"Greg, if you know the site, then I want a list of all V-Halo players living in the Reno-Sparks area," Sebastian instructs as he slowly paces back and forth. "Preferably, I need the names of players who have bad reviews or prowess in an unexpected category. Anybody who stands out against the typical players."
"Why so specific?" Gregory asks as he tosses his magazine behind him and begins typing away at a virtual keyboard.
"Because the more unique our team is, the more surprised our opponents will be," Suki smiles at Sebastian.
"Coach taught me the same thing: nobody expects a pipsqueak to hold back a linebacker even though he can," Sebastian grins. "I want the nobodies, the losers, hell - noobs, even!"
"All right, I got the list of all V-Halo players in Reno and Sparks," Gregory announces. "Anyone got an idea where to start?"