Game On

Chapter 1

World of the Game

Worlds, dimensions, realities, they all exist side by side, each growing and expanding in their own way, but some were more unique than others. Enter Hub City, a world made up of bits and bytes, data and pixels, that came together in what most would think of as a world sized video game. No, it's not trapped inside a plastic box, but instead exists just as Earth does. But who inhabits this crazy world? At first glance, they may look human, being like the world around them, these beings are made up of data, code, and pixels, that have come together to make each unique, whether it be in stats or visual appearance, they're called Avatars, and this is their world.

It began as any other day for the citizens of Hub City, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and everyone had their own job to do. Making it big wasn't easy, but most managed with what they had, but where'd they get the money? From the Trade Office of course, there, they could trade in objects from other worlds to sustain themselves. Whether it be ten Bit Coins or ten hundred, every bit helped, and it was no different for one Dex Haman, a young but enthusiastic Avatar. He'd taken up the job of mining for diamonds down in the mines, surely that would fetch him a pretty penny.

"Got that helmet on my head, figure out what that zombie said. Lava all over the room, half a heart left, am I doomed? Don't have any iron bars, my pick just broke into some shards. A scary noise what should I do, left or right I'll have to choose." he sung, while hacking away at the gold block.

Mining in a different world was pretty fun, but it also came with its own risks. Zombies, skeletons, big, green exploding beasts, and more wouldn't stop only he was dead. But at least he made it this far, and with two pieces of diamond too. With some luck he'd find a fair amount of Bit coins waiting for him. After grabbing the piece of gold, an inventory appeared in front of him, showing off all his supplies and resources.

"Hah, and they said I would get the job done. Two pieces of diamond and some gold, maybe I'll make a gold sword too, just to rub it in their face." he told himself, while moving things around.

But while organizing everything according to rarity, a soft ringing began going off in his ears, before a phone icon appeared to the right of the inventory. With one little tap, he answered whoever had called him.

"Hit me." he said, after answering.

"I'll hit you alright." he heard from the other side.

"Jade? What's going on mamma?"

"You know exactly what's going on. Where are you? Daniel's already got us signed up." he complained.

"Relax, I'm just finishing stuff up here." he said.

"You'd better. We've been training for weeks and I won't let your greed stop us."

"Greedy? That's pushing it a bit. Hold on, I think I hear something."

That soft hissing, it couldn't be one thing. While looking around the corner, a pair of black, soulless eyes met his, as it began moving towards him. In a panic, he let out the girliest scream he could, before dashing for a nearby corner.

"Dex, what's going on?" she asked.

"Creeper!" he cried out, while blocking himself off.

"Really? You didn't think to make a bow?"

"I didn't think it would be useful down here. Please help me!" he cried.

"Sorry, you're on your own." she said, before hanging up.

"Jade no please!"

What had he done to deserve such a fate? Worry ran rampant through his mind, as he destroyed one block to use as a peak hole. Maybe if he dug up towards the surface, but what if he was under a lake? Plus, his poor pick had very little durability left, and without enough iron to make anything, he was out of luck.

"Screw it, gonna have to book it." he told himself, while destroying the remaining three.

With his iron sword at the ready, slowly he tiptoed out, in hope of not attracting anymore deadly creatures. So far so good, he thought, while quietly moving through the mine shaft. Thankfully he'd laid down a trail of torches, just in case, which also helped decrease the amount of spawning enemies. With a calm breath, he climbed up a ledge, only to find the menace waiting for him at the edge.

"Wait!" he called out, while hearing its sinister hiss.

To his surprise, it actually stopped.

"Um...want some chicken?" he asked, having not thought that far ahead.

Apparently not. In a single loud explosion, he lost everything he'd worked the last three hours to get, as his code flew through the data stream. After a few seconds, he reformed at spawn, with a sense of disappointment.

"Dang it, but maybe I could...Just forget it. Two hundred coins, gone to waste!" he exclaimed in frustration, before leaping through the World Gate.

What a waste of time. He'd been hoping to use those to grab a new desk for his house, or maybe some new pieces of gear. Such a waste, he thought, while arriving back in Hub City. Unlike other worlds, Hub City used special portals to connect them all. If someone wanted to kick back in a different and less crowded world, they could, and vice versa for their inhabitants.

"Whew. Alright, where'd she say to meet? Um...oh wait." he pondered, before coming to a realization.

He may not have remembered, but maybe he wouldn't have to, thanks to his special goggles. With these, he could see everyone's stats, including level, strength, speed, charm, all the good stuff, and thankfully he'd upgraded them with tracker functionality. Thanks to this, finding them would be a walk in the park.

"Alright magic goggles, do you thing." he thought, while lowering them.

Once locked on, searching for them became a thing of the past. Using his contact list, all it took was a single command, and bingo, they were linked. With two red lines slithering across the ground, he followed them only a few feet, before running into a large crowd.

"Uh no." he said with a smirk, before using his High Jump ability.

And thus he chased after the glowing lines, while jumping from roof to roof of the different venues lining the walkways. One by one he jumped, even though some didn't care for his reckless behavior, it just felt good jumping all over the place. Coming from the Resource District, he made his way towards the main plaza, where many others were waiting. Waiting for what? For the weekly challenge.

"Where oh where could they be?" he asked, after landing on a food vendor, just inside the plaza.

His efforts paid off though, when he saw a head of red hair, pulled back into a little ponytail, much like his own. And beside her, Daniel, a good friend with a knack for engineering. When he wasn't seeking out tougher challenges, one could find him working at his own tool shop.

"Christ, where is he?" Jade asked impatiently, while tapping her foot against the ground.

"Dead probably."

"Psh, the Synaps would have a hell of a time taking him." she replied, while looking around at the festival around them.

Only five minutes left. If he didn't show up, she swore she'd kill him ten times over, and then some. They hadn't worked their butts off training in multiple worlds for nothing.

"You up for lunch afterwards?" asked Daniel.

"No." she answered sternly.

Only three minutes left, and still no Dex. While standing around though, two hands grabbed her waist, as a seductive voice whispered in her ear.

"Pizza~."

"Pasta~." she whispered back.

"Ribs~."

"Get your butt front and sent~"

"Why~?"

"Cause I'll code you if you don't~."

"Fair enough."

That's the last thing he needed after being blown to high heavens.

"What's going on man? Got anything good?" asked Daniel, while giving him a fist bump.

"I did..."

"Creeper?"

"Creeper."

"Well, glad you could make it." she said kindly.

"Am I late?"

"Just in time actually. We should probably get over to the stage." he suggested.

Being the most active part of the city, there were tons of people walking around, some heading home and some heading towards the other World Gates surrounding the area. But what made it stick out the most was the atmosphere, it looked and felt like an ongoing festival 24/7. When other Avatars weren't busy working, most were found hanging out around the plaza. With plenty of food, games, and arenas to fight in, there was no shortage of fun.

"Excuse us. Pardon me." Jade grunted, while wiggling towards the stage.

"You know, there's a much simpler way of doing this. Watch and learn." he boasted, before jumping above the crowd.

With a high enough view, he waited to land, before kicking off the ground once more time. Flying through the air always felt great, the cool breeze flowing through his hair and the rush that came with it. But while his mind wandered, he lost focus on what was going on, and instead crashed into a few people in the front; shaving off some of their HP in the process, as well as some of his own thanks to the harsh landing.

"Augh okay, not my best idea." he groaned, while laying on the marble floor.

While pushing himself up though, things only got more uncomfortable, as a large hand grabbed him by the head, before lifting him up. He hadn't expected this, a chrome dome staring him down, as his grip grew tighter.

"Whatcha doing pal?" the gruff man asked.

"Just hanging out, but it would be even better if you could put me down." he pleaded.

Telling him what to do only made him more mad, as his grip tightened even more; Dex's HP slowly draining.

"That's a nice vice grip bud" he grunted.

"That name's Eon, and these two are my partners, Una and Tyrone."

"Oh, hello." he said with a slight smile, while waving to them.

"Enough. Have you no manners?" he asked, before slamming him down.

"Ack! Well yeah, but I just,."

"No 'buts', apologize or I'll code you right here and now."

"One sec."

With his foot raised, the hulking brute was so ready to crush his skull, but while bringing it down, something grabbed hold of his ankle.

"That's not very nice." Daniel said, while gripping it tightly.

"You little, you wanna join in?"

"Not really, but maybe this'll teach you a thing or two. Jade!"

While he couldnt push him away, he didn't need to, she could do it for him. While running up, her own special ability activated, Pulse Modulation. Depending on the intensity, it could wipe out more than half of Eon's health, but being her, she'd only take a quarter.

"Daniel, drop it." she demanded.

"As you wish." he replied, before gently pushing the foot back.

With her target stumbling back, she took the opportunity to lay her hand upon his chest, before pulling the trigger. From her palm, a strong wave of invisible energy pushed him right back into the crowd.

"Save it for the games moron." she told him, while Daniel helped up their fallen friend.

He wasn't looking too hot. With half his HP gone, he would have been at a serious disadvantage if their opponent decided to go on the attack.

"You alright?" Daniel asked.

"More or less. Lost half my health, but eh." she answered with a shrug.

While dusting off his dark blue jacket though, something new appeared in his inventory, as pointed out by the little 'bing' sound effect that went off. Surprisingly enough, a Full Restore took up a slot, something he didn't have before hand.

"Take it."said Jade.

"You sure? Didn't this cost you an arm and a leg?"

"Yep, that's why I expect something in return."

"Figures. What do you want?" he sighed.

"Let's see. What were you searching for a little while ago?"

"Diamonds...no. No you freaking don't." he answered in horror.

"That's it! I want one diamond."

"B-But the Creepers. Please don't make me go back down there." he pleaded in despair.

"Sorry bud. Oh, and I want it within a weeks time. I've got some new gear coming in and I could really use it to help pay it off."

"Daniel, please."

"Sorry man, I'm pretty swamped this week. Lots of orders to send out."

"Looks like you're on your own." she told him, with a pat on the back.

"With the Creepers..." he groaned.

With things getting underway, there wasn't time to wallow in his own self pity though, they had a game to win, and speaking of which, things were about to kick off. While a large screen rose up from the floor, as did their host, a rather eccentric man by the name of Robbie. For what it was worth, he definitely brought something to the table, even it looked like he soaked his clothes in melted Skittles.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen! As you all are probably aware, I'm very excited to get this week's games underway, as I'm sure you are." he said enthusiastically.

It certainly didn't take much to get the crowd going. Even Eon and his gang had laid to rest their grudge, for the moment at least.

"That's the spirit! So, to start things off today, we're gonna have a little spin of the wheel. Remember, which ever event it lands on is the one we're going with. No re-rolls." he said, as the tip of his staff opened up.

And with a push of the little red button, everything got underway. While watching the screen flash with different courses and events, both Dex and Daniel were both praying for no fire levels, those were the worst. As it began slowing down, everyone went quite, before it came to a stop.

"Ooooo now this is quite interesting, a rare event. Collect the Coins in Kingdom Valley, a stage made from the ruins of a long forgotten castle. But who shall do battle in this perilous stage? Let's give it a whirl!"

"Thank god." they sighed with relief.

With another press of the button, two boxes appeared, each of which contained three I.D images from every competingteam, before they began rolling. With over a hundred people watching, their gracious host may have been hoping for more well known players, to help draw in an even bigger crowd. This was his job after all, at least once a week.

"Pay attention." Jade said.

"Shush, not now, doing important stuff."

Around and around it went, as it began slowing down. Who would it be? They were about to find out, as it began slowing down. After five seconds of nonstop spinning, it came to a complete stop, revealing their two competing teams.

"Looks like we've got some young ones thrown into the mix today. Dex, Daniel, and Jade will be taking on Eon, Una, and Tyrone! This should be interesting."

"Huh, what?" asked Dex.

"We're on silly. Let's get going." Jade said, before dragging him up the stage.

"Hey, watch the hood."

While walking up on stage, everyone gave them a loud, roaring cheer, in appreciation for providing them with some entertainment.

"Wow, big crowd. Hope you don't screw up in front of all these people." Daniel teased, while nudging his side.

"Knock it off. You know how I get in front of people, a hundred people." he said nervously.

"Don't worry yourself, we've got this in the bag." she assured him, while giving his back a pat.

However, their opponents weren't so sure of that statement.

"Tsk you've gotta be kidding me, we're fighting children." Eon scoffed.

"I'll have you know, we're eighteen." Dex rebutted, while stepping forward.

"Like I said, children." he replied back, before flicking his forehead.

"Oh yeah? Would a child have a crowbar for your dumb ass?!" he exclaimed, before reaching for his menu.

"No-no-no, you'll have to settle that on the battlefield. Now then folk, as our participants step up to the transfer pad, we'll give you a birds' eye view." he said, while they did what he said.

Transfer pads were mostly used to accomplish what World Gates couldn't, in that they could beam someone to a specific part of a map. With both teams at the ready, a bright light began swallowing them up from underneath, digitizing them all, before sending them straight to their destination. The game was about to begin.