A/N: My third fic on this website! Don't worry, I won't abandon the others. I just felt like starting something new. If the plot looks a little bit familiar, please read the AN at the bottom of the page. It explains everything, but it also contains spoilers for this chapter so I put it at the end.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Challenge Mode

"Come on, come on… work with me here!"

With a frustrated growl, the girl desperately tried to get the car working. The owner had conveniently left the keys in the lock, but that wasn't going to do her much good if the engine refused to cooperate. She could almost hear the rusted contraption laughing at her as realised that her great plan for a quick getaway, was not really that great at all.

Wasting no further time, the girl jumped out of the vehicle and rushed inside an ally. Crouching down behind a dumpster, she tapped a small button on her scouter and opened a comlink to her team mate.

"Jake," she whispered while continuing to watch for any suspicious movements.

"Jake…. Jake, answer me you idiot!"

She tried several more times to contact him, but the only response she got was static.

"Dammit… that thing must've gotten him already," she sighed annoyed, as she closed the connection. "Guess it's up to me to find that last Dragonball."

Smirking, she looked at the small capsule case that was fastened with a strap on her upper left arm. It contained her entire inventory, allowing the girl to move around freely. Not that she had much on her, though, but she didn't have time restock now. Not with that creature hot on her tail, when she was this close to finally completing her mission! She and Jake had already found three Dragonballs each, so there was only one more left to go!

A warning message briefly appeared on her visor, alerting her to the fact that the scouter's power supply was running dangerously low. There was only enough energy left for one last ki-sweep.

"I knew I shouldn't have used that thing so much back at the airport," she muttered under her breath as she glanced at the small dragonradar, that was strapped on her wrist. It looked like a watch, but with a slightly larger display. A flashing green dot marked the approximate position of the starred balls that she needed to find quickly before the monster could track her down!

She bit her lip. The Dragonball was somewhere in a building not to far from her current position. However, she could not continue her stealth strategy of clinging to the walls, staying in the shadows and running from house to house. If she wanted to get there, she would eventually have to cross the street.

The girl sighed and used up the last of the scouter's power, for one final ki-sweep. Almost immediately, the results appeared on her visor. There were no other life forms present within a 200 meter radius. Sure, she could've saved power by scanning the area manually for a specific ki, but depending on the creature's whereabouts, that could've taken up to as much as twelve extra seconds. Considering the speed of that thing, even the blink of an eye felt like an eternity for those not blessed with a seven figure powerlevel.

She took a deep breath and made a mad dash for an abandoned school bus that was parked at the middle of the road. Hunched down behind one of the wheels, she glanced down the street to make sure the coast was still clear. The girl got up again and continued running from car to car, exposing herself as little as possible. About 15 seconds later, she had finally made it to the other side without being detected, but for some reason it didn't feel right. When she had tried to escape with that one car earlier, the creature had been closing in on her a few meters at a time. 130 meters…120 meters…110 meters… She clearly remembered the countdown flashing on her visor before she fled into the ally. Perhaps it had just been a coincidence, or maybe that thing had found a new prey to chase after, since it was not exactly known for its long attention span.

She quickly made her way over to the building and took another look at her wrist. The small dragonradar did not show her the exact position of the Dragonball, and to make matters worse, it only displayed two dimensions. It was not able to display height, which meant that she would literally have to search the building from top to bottom. Oh no… this was going to take her way too much time!

"Well, I've never gotten this far before, so I'm not going to back out now," she mumbled as she headed for the elevator. She decided that she was going to start at the top floor and then work her way down to the basement.

She stepped inside the cabin and felt the elevator ascending. Nervously tapping with her foot, she waited for the doors to open again, but when they did, she wished she had just taken the stairs instead.

With a startled yelp, she jumped back as the creature ripped the heavy metal doors out with his bare hands.

"Going somewhere?" It rasped, a smile creeping across his orange beak.

"Out of my way, bugboy!" the girl yelled as she quickly powered up an Masenko. With a loud cry, she threw the attack at his face but he easily dodged it. Fortunately, he was distracted for a few seconds, just enough time for her to dive underneath his arms and make a run for it.

"You don't seriously think you can get away from me, hmm?" the monster laughed as it suddenly whizzed past her and blocked her escape route.

"We'll see about that!" she retorted as she tried to deliver a flying kick to it's neck.

"Oh, please…" it mocked as it effortlessly grabbed her ankle in mid-air so fast that she didn't even realize what was happening until she was already dangling upside down.

"Game over, my dear," the creature purred as it's tail lashed out and the razor sharp tip plunged into her stomach…

"AAAAAAAAAAAARGH! I WAS SO CLOSE!"

Amy threw her VR-helmet against the wall and let out a disappointed yell as the words "Game Over" continued to flash on the computer screen. This was the eight time she had been absorbed by Cell and failed to complete the challenge. She had already saved Goku from Chi Chi's frying pan, finished repairing Vegeta's GR before sunset, baked thirty cakes for Majin Buu and even defeated the Ginyu force in an all-out posing contest. Yet, she just couldn't win the Stealth challenge and it annoyed her to no end.

Growling, she grabbed the phone and dialled the number of her team-mate.

"Jake, you moron! why didn't you answer my distress call!" she shouted angrily at her team-mate and lifelong friend. They had known each other since kindergarten, but for some reason that didn't seem so important right now. He was going to die!

"Sorry Amy," he answered meekly, "but Cell snuck up on me when I was finished recharging my scouter at a Sanctuary… weird huh?"

"He attacked you at a Sanctuary?" she asked in disbelieve, her anger turning into surprise. When you played DBV in Challenge Mode, all the main areas (like the HFIL, Kami's Lookout and most of the larger cities on Earth) had at least one secret Sanctuary guarded by Dende. It was always hidden very well, but if you did manage to find it, he would automatically recharge the player's scouter and restore him or her back to full health. Villains could not enter a Sanctuary and would simply walk away to find another unfortunate player to attack. It was very unusual for a Villain to simply sit down and wait for his target to exit!

"Yeah! He was hiding inside a tree and jumped me the minute I stepped outside!" he continued, with a hint of excitement in his voice.

"You sound happy," Amy remarked sarcastically.

"Well, don't you think it's awesome? It's about time the developers finally listen to the players and try to make DBV more realistic!"

"I suppose that's true," Amy agreed. She was still pissed because of her lost game, but she had to admit that more realism did sound appealing. She still remembered running from Dodoria the last time she played DBV in Saga Mode. The guy had followed her for exactly five minutes until she entered a Namekian village and hid in an empty hut. She was sure that 'Fatty' had seen her go inside, but the minute she had disappeared from his view, he had suddenly lost interest in her and went back to Frieza. The game itself was awesome, but the AI of some of the characters could indeed use work.

"Hey, why don't you come over to my place?" Jake interrupted her musing, "I have some old DVD's of the Cell Saga laying around here somewhere, maybe they'll give us an idea on how to beat that thing?"

"You get the android, I'll get the popcorn!" Amy grinned as she flipped the off switch on her computer and grabbed her jacket, never noticing the soft chuckle that came from her speakers and the piercing pink eyes that flashed on the screen for a split second before she closed the door…

A/N: Well, what do you guys think so far? Liked it? Hated it? Let me know!

P.S. I was inspired to write this story after reading "Pokemon Online" by CrmsnLupine. My story will be nothing like his, except for the concept of an Anime turned into a virtual world people can actually visit. Still, I thought it would be nice to mention his story because it did spark this idea in my head.