So… Uh… Another new story!... And cue the crickets…
Honestly, I have too much of a wild imagination. Once I start thinking of something it doesn't stop for a good while. It's a problem I know and I'll try to keep it from popping back up again.
Now I know that I now have three stories on my plate. One of which hasn't been updated in a while. I'm still working on that. But this is just to ease my mind. I figured I'd upload it just so that people could see how my writing is going. I'll also more than likely continue this because my mind has already thought up far too many events.
Anyhow, this is a semi self-insert into one of my favorite games. Take that as you might.
It's rated T because I can't keep myself from swearing like a sailor. Oh and violence. Can't forget the violence.
Name: Matthew Fox
Age: 18
Appearance: Has medium length brown hair.
Eye color is blue.
Wears a white shirt with a white and black flannel shirt over it. His pants are dark blue and his shoes are black. Has a black bandana wrapped around his left wrist. The bandana has a white dragon on it. The bandana commonly goes unseen while he is wearing a flannel as it is underneath the sleeves of it, but it can sometimes be seen hanging out.
Height: 5' 10"
My name is Matthew Fox and I'm a college student. Currently, I was driving down to a client's house to do some work. Most of my days are spent going to college and doing any homework the professors might assign. My free time is mostly spent working odd jobs for people across town to earn a little extra cash. On the off chance that I'm not working for a client, I'll spend my free time playing video games or hanging out with the few friends that I have.
Today was going to be one of my lucky days that I had to myself but, a new client called me up with a request that I do some work. Usually, I don't take up offers on the spot, but this guy said he would more than quadruple my rates that I advertise and that was huge to me. The guy didn't tell me what he wanted me to do but, at the moment I bolted out of my apartment that didn't matter to me.
Shortly after leaving my apartment, I arrived at the guy's house.
It was huge! The guy owned a freaking mansion!
My eyes kept darting back and forth between the address on the wall in front of the mansion and the address I had written down.
Was this always so close to my apartment? It was such a short drive here, and I don't remember any mansions ever being around here. Then again it is a mansion. The owner most likely had the land cleared out and erected this mansion in maybe little under a month with the amount of money he probably has.
This couldn't be the guy's house! I must've gotten a number wrong or something. His house must be further down the road. As I was about to get back in my car and pull away from the gate, a butler walked out and greeted me.
"Are you Matthew Fox?"
This butler was about as proper as they come! He looked like he lived and breathed in a gentleman atmosphere!
"Y-Yes. That's me."
The butler bowed in front of me.
"My master has been awaiting your arrival. Please follow me. Do not worry about your car. A valet will take care of it."
The butler rose and walked towards the house. At the same time a young man dressed like a valet appeared next to me! Where did he come from!? It's funny hearing me say that but I'm serious right now! He was not there a second ago!
The valet simply stood in front of me with his hand open in front of him. Right, right. You want my keys. I handed the valet my keys and stepped out of his way as he got in my car and drove it up the driveway.
"Are you coming Matthew?"
The butler from earlier had turned around to look if I was following him. Which at the moment of course I wasn't. My brain can't comprehend what's going on right now. Me, a college student that does odd jobs and plays video games, is going to do work for some millionaire!? When was I going to be told this!?
Even though I was still boggled by what was happening, I followed the butler into the mansion. This place is definitely legit. The interior just screams "My owner is richer than you could ever hope to be!" to me. Everything in it looked of high quality. All the way from the carpet all the way to the paintings hung on the walls.
The butler continued to lead me as we headed up the stairs and down a corridor to our right. This place didn't look nearly this big from the front! We continued down this corridor that seemed to stretch for miles until we reached a door at the end of it.
"My master is waiting in here."
The butler presented the door to me and then carefully opened it like any butler would do.
In the room was a large flat screen TV and an expensive looking sofa with a tiger's pelt at the front of it. This guy is one rich son of a-
"Welcome Matt! Please have a seat!"
A man that I didn't notice at first was standing in front of the sofa and looking at me. Was he always there? Looking around me I soon realized that the butler that was near me is gone as well! Did he duck into one of the rooms? It's the only possible explanation. If he had walked back the way we came down that corridor, I'd be able to see him.
"Is something the matter, Matt?"
The man in the room seemed worried about my panicked state. He was an older blonde man but, to be honest he looked like he was only in his early thirties at the most. He was wearing a kind of bachelor's clothing I guess. His red jacket looked like it was made of some kind of fine fur while his white dress pants looked soft to the eyes. He held in one of his hands some kind of alcoholic beverage I'd presume.
"N-Nothing's the matter. Are you the one that called for me to do some work?"
The man looked overjoyed by my words and shot his arms up almost spilling whatever drink he was holding.
"Great! Indeed I am the one who asked for your assistance."
"So, what is it you want me to do?"
I was in fact an odd job worker but I do have standards. If this guy asks me to do anything weird I'm booking it the hell out of here.
"What I want you to do is simple! Simply hang out with me!"
Just hang out with him? I've had some weird requests before but this sounds like the weirdest. The guy's a millionaire and has loads of servants I bet! Why does he want me to hang out with him when he could probably just get one of his servants too?
"Just hang out with you? That's what you'll quadruple my rates for?" I shot the man a suspicious glare but he paid it no mind as he continued to look over ecstatic by my presence.
"You betcha! Come on over and have a seat!"
This guy… seems too weird… Damnit, I know I said I would book it if he tries anything weird but this doesn't seem too weird yet. I'll just amuse him for now. It would help if the guy gave me the money now though.
"So where's the money for my work?"
The guy looked a little upset that I would ask for my money now. It's not something that I usually do for regular clients but this guy's a new one so I'm pretty sketchy about him. Even if he happens to be rich.
"The money's over there. On that table."
The man pointed towards a table in the corner to my right. Walking over to it, I grabbed the money off of it and counted it. This is!... No way!... He took my rates and paid me ten times over that! This amount of money is ridiculous! I could pay my rent for a half a year plus food!
"That'll do for the day correct? Or do you need more?"
Do I need more!?
"N-No s-sir. This'll be more than enough!"
Damn you morals! I could be draining this guy dry of his money right now if it weren't for you!
The guy was pleased and sat down on the sofa while patting a cushion on it.
"Come on and have a seat!"
Please don't be some weird freak… Please…
Reluctantly, I sat down next to the blonde man on the sofa. On a table next to the sofa on his side was a large bottle of wine and another glass. The guy poured some into his glass and drank some of it before pouring me a glass and handing it to me.
I may be underage but that won't stop me from taking a drink with this guy after how much he paid me.
In a quick swig, I drank the wine. Not bad… In fact, this stuff is amazing! Of course I don't have anything to compare it to but even for a newb to alcohol like me I could tell this was high grade stuff. How is it that rich people get all the best stuff in life!?
"Good isn't it? That wine has been aging for over a decade now."
A decade's worth of time went into this wine that I'm drinking! Who would've thought that I would be able to drink such a high valued existence!?
"Would you like to play a game? Right there in front of the TV is a game console. Go ahead and pick something."
This guy plays video games too?! Sounds like my kind of rich guy! After I got up from the sofa, I went over to the TV. On the entertainment center underneath the large TV was a rack of old Psone games and a Psone with one controller. Kind of wasn't expecting him to only have a Psone. What are all these games though? I've played my fair share of Psone games but there isn't a single one that I recognize. Hold on! This guy has Final Fantasy VII! It's not something you play with others let alone when you're hanging out with someone, but it's the only one I know out of these games so it'll have to do.
Popping the game into the Psone, I started it up and sat back down on the sofa with the controller. The game started and I began playing it.
"So Matt, what do you think about Earth?"
Eh? What kind of question is that? That's not the kind of question you ask someone when you're hanging out with them.
"I think… That it's alright. I mean, it's pretty boring for me but there are others out there that love it to death so it's alright I suppose."
"Do you think that there are other planets with life on them in our universe?"
What's with the serious questions? He seemed like one of those I get drunk and have a ton of fun kind of guys. Not one of those deep philosophical ones.
"Of course I do. I highly doubt that we're the only ones in the entire universe."
It's an obvious answer for me. Who's to say that we're the only ones? Why would there be so many different planets in our universe if only ours has life on it? What would be the point of that? The creation of all those other planets would be pointless.
"Then surely you must believe that there must be multiple universes."
"I wouldn't doubt it. Anything is a possibility."
What's this guy's deal?
I was playing the game but it was pretty easy to look back at the guy from time to time considering it was Final Fantasy VII after all. The blonde man leaned back on the sofa with a wide smile on his face.
"That's good to hear. It does a great thing to an old man's heart when he hears a youth like you."
Old man? How old are you!?
The man came back forward from leaning back and held his hand out in front of me.
"Mind if I play?"
"It's your game so no. Not at all. Go right ahead."
I handed the man the controller and he took it. Having just gotten out of the first Mako reactor with Barret, I was still pretty early in the game. Except, he didn't continue from where I left off. No, instead he reset the Psone. Why would he do that? The beginning isn't something that's crucial for you to play yourself. In fact, he watched me play it so he should understand what's going on even if he never played it before.
He was on the main menu of New Game and Continue for a good minute as he continuously looked up at the TV and back down to the controller.
"I don't get it. Which one selects it? Can you help me?"
The man turned to me and gave a smile to me as he held the controller in front of himself.
Has he never played this game before? It's understandable then that he doesn't know which button would select something. Most people would think it's X but in reality it's circle.
"Here it's this one."
With my index finger, I pressed circle on his controller selecting New Game. However, what started to happen next was far from what I could've ever have hoped to predict.
Sparks began to shoot off the controller and a small hole in space was expanding in front of me!
"What the fuck's going on!?"
In my panicking state I attempted to get away from the hole in space in front of me. It was as if it was sucking me in! The rich man that had hired me isn't being sucked in at all though! He's practically standing right next to it and it looks like he knew this would happen!
"This, my dear friend, is your new destiny."
My destiny!? What load of bullshit is he spewing out over there!?
My resisting of the portal soon became useless as it completely lifted me off my feet and sucked me face first into it!
This had to be the worst day of my life.
"AHHH!"
Screaming out in fear, I flew through the portal at an incredible speed. It was very brief as I soon emerged from the portal into some new area.
My speed was greatly reduced after exiting the portal, but that didn't stop me from continuing to fly through the air and slam my head into a wall.
THUD
My head crashed into the wall and I fell unconscious.
Sometime Later
"Ow~…. That freaking hurt. What the hell happened?"
Rising from the ground, I rubbed my head and tried to survey my surroundings. It looked like a beat up shanty town by the looks of it. People looked poor and some even looked starved as they wandered around aimlessly. The area was barely lit up by the few neon lights hanging from buildings. The entire sky looked to be blocked out by some giant ceiling.
Where am I?
Before I could start to search for answers on where I was, a girl approached me.
"Are you alright?"
The girl in front of me looked a lot like Aeris from Final Fantasy. Their resemblance was uncanny. The girl was even holding a flower basket like Aeris did in the beginning of the game. She looked at me with a worried face as I held my throbbing head.
"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine! No problem! Hahaha."
That's a lie. My head feels like it was split open and I have a massive headache.
"Oh, well it's just that you don't look alright."
"No, no. I'm perfectly fine."
Although it looks like she doesn't believe me, she looks relieved as she gave me a smile and asked "Would you like to buy a flower? They're only one gil."
One gil? I must've hit my head harder than I thought if I heard her say gil instead of dollar. One dollar is pretty cheap though. I'd feel bad if I gave her only a dollar. I'll give her two dollars. It only seems fair. She's selling herself short by selling them for one dollar.
"Sure, here you go."
The girl handed me a flower in exchanged for the two dollar bills I handed her.
"Do you know where a guy could get a drink?"
Really in need of something for this pain in my head.
The girl looked over the dollar bills I handed her as if she was inspecting them. She then raised her head back up and responded to my question.
"Yeah, head in there. They should have something to drink."
The girl pointed at a building and I thanked her before walking into it.
Entering into the building, quickly I realized that it was indeed a place to get a drink. Thank God. I'm sure that even the hardest drink in the world won't get rid of this pain. Shame that I probably won't be able to trick my way into purchasing that considering I'm only eighteen and all. Maybe a coffee would help out. I highly doubt it though.
Taking a seat on one of the stools, I released my hand from my head and laid the side of my head that had the most pain on the bar.
"A coffee please."
"Coming right up!"
A young girl's voice. Suppose she must be the barkeep.
Why do I have such a huge pain in my head? What happened before that? Trying to collect my memories, I soon remember that I had been sucked into a portal in that rich guy's house.
That's right! I was sent hurling through that portal and I bashed my head on some wall! Exactly what was the deal with that portal? Damn. I could've asked that girl where I was. It could've helped clear up a lot of this entire dilemma.
"Here you go. Would you like any sugar with- Sir! You're bleeding!"
Eh? What's this barkeep talking about?
I lifted my head up off the bar and looked down at it. There was blood all over it! And my hand that I had holding my head before was covered in blood too! I'm going to die from blood loss at this rate!
"Shit!"
There's a ton of my blood on the bar and it was flowing down my face too!
"Please sir hold still."
The barkeeper told me that as she tried to keep me from flipping out. She looked like a twin of Tifa Lockhart's. She placed her hands over my head and a light green aura emitted from them. What's this?! My wound feels like it's closing on my head and the pain is leaving with it! I still have blood on my hand, face, and her bar but the bleeding has stopped!
"How did you-"
"It's my materia Restore."
M-M-M-Materia!? I know my ears didn't deceive me this time! On top of that I witnessed and felt the power of her materia! My pea sized brain can put two and two together now! If what I think is true, then I'm in Final Fantasy VII!
How did I end up here!? Who cares about that right now!? I just bled all over Tifa's bar!
"Sorry about… the mess."
Tifa wore a warm smile as she spoke.
"It's no problem. You're not the first one to bleed on it."
Usually that would sound intimidating to me, but hearing it from Tifa doesn't make me think that at all.
"What a beautiful flower."
Tifa was looking at the flower that I was holding in my non bloodied hand.
Now I really feel bad. I gave Aeris two dollars instead of gil! I practically ripped her off! There will have to be some rectifying of this mistake in the future. Actually, no. First priority is to find a way back home. Apologizing for paying with the wrong currency can come after that.
I don't want to be messing with the characters in this game but this flower isn't going to help me out. Might as well get rid of it.
"This? Here, you can have it. It's the least I can do after you saved me just now."
Tifa took the flower from me and walked behind the counter to place it a vase.
"That's not much of a payment for saving your life but I'll take it. Thank you."
It may be better to get introductions out of the way. She doesn't know me but I know more than I should about her. Plus, if I accidentally use her name without her having given it to me, there could be trouble.
"My name's Matthew Fox. Pleased to meet you."
"Likewise. My name's Tifa Lockhart."
Strangely enough, even though I'm in a world that I've only known of through playing a video game about it, I feel at ease right now.
"Awright! All of you get your dead beat asses out of here!"
A large burly man that looked exactly like Barret came barreling through the door yelling! Crap! If memory serves correctly, then there's a good chance that Barret will chase me out of here.
The few other patrons in the bar quickly ran out knowing what might befall them if they stuck around. All that was left was me.
The man that I'm more than ninety-nine percent certain is Barret, turned his deadly gaze on me.
The game doesn't do Barret justice! He's a freaking grizzly bear! Is he 6'? No, he has to be 6' 1". I'd go for 6' 3" even! He's that freaking tall and he looks like he could go toe to toe with a bull with how big he is!
"Didn't ya hear me? I said to get your damn lazy ass outta here!"
Barret picked me up by the collar on my shirt and carried me to the front door. He kicked it open and tossed me outside.
While I soared through the air briefly, I could see Cloud standing outside. He must still think that he is part of Soldier considering he's in their uniform.
My God! Is that really how big the buster sword is?! It's covering Cloud's entire back! It must be like carrying another person on his back with how large that thing is!
Within a few moments after being tossed out, I crashed into the ground. At least this time I didn't hit a wall. Granted, I'm still covered in blood and now my clothes are covered in dirt.
I lifted myself off the ground and patted myself off to help get some of the dirt off. After doing so, I looked back at what I now knew was the Seventh Heaven. It looked like everybody went inside already.
My gut is telling me not to try to go into the bar again considering Barret's attitude. Knowing him he'll probably knock me out cold for even trying. A punch from his gun arm sent shivers down my spine as I imagined how it would feel.
Ok, ok. Calm down, Matthew. How hard can getting around in this world be? You don't have any of this world's currency, you have no idea how to get back to your own world, and you don't even have a weapon to defend yourself while you're in this world.
Now that I'm thinking about it though, there's been something that felt a little off on my left wrist.
Rolling up my sleeve on my left arm, I looked at my left wrist. What I saw on it was surprising to say the least. Instead of my bandana that I had wrapped around it, there was a bracelet. The bracelet was golden and it looked like it had a couple of chocobos engraved on it. To top it all off there looked like there was a materia in one of the bracelet's four slots for one. It was a red materia. Going by what I understand about the game, it must be a summon materia.
It's not something that all too sure of, but I feel like this is a chocobracelet. This is my best guess considering the available options on what it could be in the game and what this one looks like.
I'm glad that I have something, but the fact that my bandana is gone sends me for a mix of emotions. I feel enraged, sad, and even confused. Not all of these emotions are all just for my missing bandana. Some of them are for the situation I'm in right now. There's nowhere for me to sleep tonight. I have no way of securing a decent meal to eat and… I'm stuck in a video game without any idea of how to get back home.
Today is a grand day for me… really… it is.
End of the line!
Again this is a semi self-insert so Matt is hardly me. Fun fact, I am nothing but sarcasm in real life. Sarcasm gave birth to me and that's how I live.
Some more fun facts, this would have actually been my first fan fic.
Two ideas crossed my mind last year and I tried to write them out. One had my guy joining AVANLANCHE no problem. BORING.
Another had my guy replacing Cloud and starting all the way back in Nibelheim. Replacing Cloud rubbed me the wrong way so you can obviously tell where that idea went.
A few days ago I started to think about more ideas for this fic and I finally decided to go with one of them. This story being that one.
Anyways, back to other things. I gave a little description of Matt's appearance in the beginning because that's how I generally like to do things. Nothing more, nothing less.
Down the line there will probably be a bunch of cuts to other people on Gaia and even some changes to third person view. Just to give you a bit of a taste on the bigger scale.
I'm not really going to set a word prerequisite for this but the chapters will be decently sized.
The next chapter should be ready shortly. Work on this is overtaking my other fics because I can tell that I'll have a lot of fun with it and fun is something that I like.
Please remember to leave a review on what you liked/disliked!
