To Further Lands Chapter 2
*Akihabara Battleground*
"What is this place, Daisuke?," Chiharu whispered. Her avatar was clinging to Daisuke's arm, prompting her to notice the fact that the both of them were covered in fur. "And what am I wearing?!"
Daisuke turned his head towards her, a toothy maw spread in a wide grin. "I decided our school avatars would be a little to conspicuous for this. So, I made us a couple of new ones. Don't you like it?"
Chiharu took a moment to take in her new appearance, pink and purple fur wrapping her from head to toe. It took a moment to sink in but it finally dawned on her. "Am I the old Cheshire from Alice in Wonderland?!," she whispered in a hiss.
By this time, Daisuke was nearly doubled over with laughter. "I think you're cute like this. Don't worry, you're not alone. Can't you tell I'm the Bandersnatch?"
"When did you even have time to do this?"
"I was working on them while I was waiting for you in the library. We needed new avatars for here, one of the only Neutral Area outside the Unlimited Neutral Zone," he informed her, taking her hand and dragging her into the dimly lit bar area.
'Unlimited Neutral Zone?,' she questioned herself. 'Great, another thing that I don't know.'
Various avatars sat at the tables spread across the rooms, many of which had a drink sitting in front of them. Suspended from the ceiling was a scoreboard listing off which duel avatars were currently fighting. "Here, Burst Linkers can come to battle in the Yellow Legion territory without fear of the Yellow King breathing down their neck. Also helps that you could win some money off of it," Daisuke called back over his shoulder, still dragging her towards the bartender.
"It's not more than a student's lunch money, but that's not the only reason people do this son," a gravelly voice came from across the counter. The bartender was an older looking avatar, with a great beard and horned helmet.
"Gamemaker, don't you recognize me? It's Marigold Sleight," Daisuke chuckled merrily as he sat at the bar.
"Sleight? Why'd you have to go and change your avatar on me, and I was all ready to do my spiel,' complained the Gamemaker.
Daisuke laughed, reaching across the bar to clap a hand, or paw in his case, on the Gamemaker's shoulder. "I brought somebody new to play, could you set a tag team match up for her? We're taking all challengers."
"Did you finally choose a Child? I'm glad to hear it, you and Magnetite Jackal have been making my other guests edgy. No one wants to go against you when you're together."
Daisuke gestured over to the nervous Chiharu, sitting ramrod straight on her stool. "This is my Child. I want to welcome to Brain Burst, Osmium Cheshire."
Chiharu's throat felt tight, but she was able to rasp out, "Pleasure to meet you."
"Osmium, huh? Another troublesome metal color, anywho, let's get you set up." The Gamemaker turned away from the duo, typing on an interface. Suddenly the scoreboard changed to display, Vermilion Salvo lvl. 2 and Osmium Cheshire lvl. 1 are now accepting all challenges.
"And now we wait," Daisuke spoke comfortably, settling into his stool. Chiharu was just starting to relax and enjoy the atmosphere of the place, leaning heavily against the bar. Her nerves ratcheted up a notch when she realized his name wasn't on the scoreboard with her.
"Wait! You're not going to battle with me?!" she hissed at Daisuke, snatching him up by his fur.
He placatingly patted her hands, chuckling at her antics. "I'm a level 7, no one would want to fight against us if our levels were so different. Don't worry, I called in an old friend who just hasn't leveled up yet. He said he would partner with you until we are able to fight together. Now calm down, you don't want to go into your first fight anxious."
Across the bar, two dark avatars dressed as scuba divers were talking amongst themselves. "Two low leveled players, this should be easy pickings," said the one on the left.
"But, Kraken, that Salvo was a problem for everyone else," whined the one on the right.
"Can it, Crustacean. They're just a level 1 and 2, we're level 3 and 4. I need these extra points, you understand?," growled Kraken.
"Fine, but Kraken, I don't have a good feeling about this," complained Crustacean. His hand came up to manipulate an unseen menu before the world changed to the world of blue all Burst Linkers know.
…...
The world reconstructed itself around Chiharu, towering trees reached up to cover the sky sending the ground into shadows and gloom. "The Prehistoric Forest Stage, we got lucky," called a new avatar from his perch in a tree. Chiharu who was gripping her bow tightly in both hands, started at the new voice. Her head whipped around, eyes taking in the appearance of the new player. Perched in the tree was what could simply be described as a mobster. A dark red suit clad the player, the skin just a lighter shade of his clothes. Dangling loosely from his fingers sat a Tommy gun, his off hand tapping the barrel lightly.
"Um, are you Salvo? Is this my first duel?"
"Call me Sal if you'd like. Me and Sleight go way back to his days as a newb. But, yes, this is your first duel and from the sounds of things our challengers are heading here fast."
Rasping echoed through the forest, the sound of branches cracking and splintering following behind. Suddenly a tree fell, a cloud of dust and wood splinters flying into the air. A light purple avatar stood beside a light green avatar. "Mauve Kraken and Persian Crustacean?," pondered Salvo. "Damn it, I've heard of these guys, Cheshi. They're newbie hunters, they think we're easy points."
"What do you mean?," question Cheshire, worry weaving its way into her voice.
"They're both at least level 3 and they hunt down anyone below their level. They figure all of them are newbies, therefore easy points." He turned to her, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Here's the game plan. You stay back and aim for the purple one, I'll take the green one. You'll fair better against Kraken, he's purple meaning that he fights at mid range. Keep your distance and hit him with as many arrows as you can." He dropped his hand and took hers up in his. "If he gets close, you attack him with Hell's fury. You're a metal color, you typically excel in close combat. You've got these claws, I want you to use them. Do you think you got it?"
Cheshire nodded her head, extricating her hand out of his. She took a deep, shuddering breath and raised her bow. Reaching behind her with her left hand, she drew an arrow from her quiver and nocked it against the bow string.
Salvo watched her, nodding with approval. "I'll be off then. Remember, the green one is mine." With that, he jumped from the branch, flipping as he fell through the air. He landed against the ground, the dust and foliage flying into the air around him. "What's the Maritime Duo doing in a place like this? Last thing I heard of you two, you were hunting Linkers in Shibuya. Did Green Grande scare you two off his turf?," Salvo taunted the two.
Mauve Kraken let his tentacles slink across the ground, twitching them in his anger. "Would you just cram it?! I'm not scared of you, neither is my partner. Just give over your points and we'll leave without embarrassing you in front of the Gallery," Kraken called back, gesturing with one hand at the avatars off to the side, watching the fight unfold.
Salvo smirked underneath his hat. "I wouldn't underestimate me or my partner, we'll be taking this fight." He lunged forward, pushing against the ground as quickly as he could. Mauve Kraken stumbled backwards, lashing out with one of his tentacles. Salvo ducked underneath it, taking a slight scrape against his shoulder. He crashed into Persian Crustacean, shoulder checking him. They both rocketed back, their health bars depleting. Mauve Kraken turned to attack Salvo's unprotected back, raising a tentacle into the air.
Cheshire gasped, she didn't expect Salvo to start the fight so quickly. She watched as he charged at their opponents. As their health bars dropped, she saw Kraken turn to attack her partner. "Oh no you don't," she muttered to herself. Taking a deep breath, she drew back the bowstring. A quick sighting and the arrow was soaring through the air. The arrow caught Kraken at the top of his raised tentacle, piercing it and sticking there. Kraken howled in surprise, spinning to find the one who dared to assault him. A flash of blue silver was the only clue he got as another arrow crashed into his chest, pushing him back.
Vermilion Salvo and Persian Crustacean crashed and rolled through the undergrowth. As quickly as he could, Salvo extricated himself from the tangle of limbs and jumped backwards. He shifted his feet a shoulder width apart, his left in front of the other, levelling the tommy gun at his waist. Crustacean slowly raised himself from the ground, groaning. "You got the drop on me there," called over Crustacean, as he lumbered toward Salvo. He raised a pincered hand, swiping out at Vermilion Salvo. Salvo leapt backwards, unleashing a torrent of gunfire from his tommy. He laughed uproariously at the avatar in front of him, his large pincered hand covering as much of his head and torso as it could. "Looks like I keep getting the drop on you, if you thought that billboard of an attack was going to hit me!" he taunted Crustacean, jauntily dancing backwards. 'As long as I keep the distance, he won't be able to catch me,' Salvo thought to himself.
A quick glance at his HUD revealed his remaining ammunition, showing he'd already blown through half of his drum against his opponent. Unfortunately, his opponent still sat comfortably in the green. 'Damn, these Green types are sturdy. Guess this'll take a lot longer than I originally thought,' he thought to himself quickly, eyeing his opponent.
"Did you think that was actually going to do anything against me? That tickled pipsqueak!" taunted Crustacean. He clicked his large pincer menacingly, grinning widely and lunged forward. Salvo tried to strafe to the left, but the pincer crashed together around his waist. He cried out from the pain, his firing arm pinned with his tommy gun against his waist. "Hehehe, got you now. Time I got serious," hissed Crustacean.
"Guillotine Grasp!" screamed out Persian Crustacean. His claw grew to be triple its size, the inner protrusions taking on a blade like quality. He snapped his claw together tighter against Salvo, the blades digging deeply into his body. Another cry escaped from Salvo, the pain matched by the rate his health bar was dropping. 'I've got to get out of this!' Salvo screamed to himself inside his head.
Crustacean threw Salvo as hard as he could, sending the small avatar crashing through the trees. Broken branches and splinters flew through his wake until he came to a jarring halt against the trunk of a large tree in the area. Vermilion Salvo looked upwards in his HUD, seeing his health bar sitting uncomfortably at 35%. The only up side was his Special Move gauge was finally filled. "You had your fun, crab cake. Now it's my turn." Vermilion Salvo pushed himself to his feet, leveling his tommy gun against his shoulder wearily. "Valentine Massacre!" he screamed, letting his voice tear through the air. In the HUD, his ammunition gauge took on a pulsing red light. With his voice tearing violently through the air, he gripped the trigger with all his strength and held it back without letting up. The light constantly filled his ammunition back to full, never letting the drum run dry.
"You son of a," growled Crustacean, covering as much of his front as he could with his enlarged claw. Bullet after bullet bit into the claw, chips of it flying through the air around him. "I'm not going to go down easily, you little punk!"
Valentine Massacre allowed Salvo to unleash a torrent of rapid gunfire for 30 seconds in his current state. After the time limit runs out, his tommy gun jams for a 2 minute period as payment for the workload put onto the firearm. Salvo has already taken this into account, watching his opponent's health gauge steadily grind down as the small clock in his HUD counted backwards from 15. 'If I'm lucky, I'll be able to finish him off with Jimmy,' Salvo thought to himself, pushing forward in attempt to get Crustacean to give up some ground.
Persian Crustacean threw his arms wide, howling with indignation as he charged the smaller avatar. Salvo ducked beneath the arms and forced the barrel of his tommy gun into the neck of his opponent. Vermilion Salvo screamed out just as he pulled the trigger, a dull click the only answer to the unspoken question. Time was up. He could feel Crustacean grin viciously, just as he felt the blades of the claw latch around his waist again. Persian Crustacean gloatingly brought Vermilion Salvo up to his eye level, a wicked gleam in his eyes. "Any last words runt?" he questioned sadistically.
"Six actually. You need a breath mint," he shot out smugly between grimaces. With the last of his strength, he plunged his hand into his coat and pulled out a Colt 1911A1 and pressed it between his enemy's eyes. "Goodnight," he said mirthlessly as he pulled the trigger. Crustacean's head rocked back, the last of his health depleted. Salvo was dropped to the ground where he laid tiredly. With great effort, he holstered Jimmy and picked up Tommy, the only thought in his mind getting back to Osmium Cheshire and helping her out.
*Osmium Cheshire's point of view, start of the fight*
Cheshire couldn't help but watch as her partner and their opponent tumbled out of view. Quickly, she brought her attention back to the person she had turned into her own target. Mauve Kraken snarled, ripping the arrow out of his chest. "I'm going to enjoy myself when I get my hands on you," Kraken called out to the cat in the tree.
"You're going to have to catch me first," Cheshire cried back. She pulled an arrow from her quiver, nocking and drawing in one motion. A second later, the arrow was spiraling through the air and she spun behind the trunk of the tree. Cheshire couldn't help but laugh to herself when she heard his cry of outrage. She scampered down another branch, leaping through the air. Her clawed hand lashed out, nails digging into a branch as her momentum sent her sliding. Bark peeled away from the tree, her claws shredding whatever they touched. She released herself, dropping to a branch one level down.
Mauve Kraken took advantage of his coloration in comparison to the forest around him. He stepped into the shadows, strafing around the trees as his color blended with his environment. Cheshire scanned the ground, her eyes glowing in the dim environment. "Where did he go?," she questioned aloud. Suddenly the branch underneath her splintered, wood splinters showering the world around her. She went tumbling through the air, gripping her bow tightly in one hand. Her other lashed out, digging her claws into the tree as deeply as she could.
Osmium Cheshire cried out in pain as she felt her arm wrench itself, her momentum stopping suddenly. She let herself drop again, drawing an arrow to lay across her bowstring. Drawing the bow, she watched for any sign of movement she could find. Off to her right, a shadow disengaged itself from the base of a tree. A tentacle shot through the air, heading straight for her yet again. Spinning around, she launched an arrow in the direction the tentacle came from. Another scream of pain and anger was the only response she got.
"Come down here and fight, you insolent twerp!," screamed Mauve Kraken, launching a tentacle at a high branch. Osmium Cheshire shouldered her bow and leapt towards another tree. The claws on her hands and feet dug deep furrows in the bark as she came to a stop on another branch. As quickly as she could, she shrugged off her bow and nocked an arrow. A breath later and an arrow was sent flying through the air, joining the others in Kraken's skin. She laughed to herself, noting the resemblance to a pincushion. She looked up at their health bars, hers sat at 70% while his had just dropped to 68%. 'I need to stop taking damage from the environment,' she scolded herself. Everytime he took out one of the branches she was on, she was struck by flying debris. 'Maybe it's time to use my special move,' she thought, calculating how much damage she'd be able to do.
"Down with the Bloody Red Queen!," she called out into the open air. Her Special Move Gauge depleted completely, grinding down the bar. She pulled an arrow from her quiver, all the other arrows following its movement. She nocked the arrow, the arrows hovering behind her straightened and pointed at the direction she was aiming. "Take this, you slimy squid!"
Kraken narrowed his eyes, widening them suddenly as 13 points of silvery light traced through the air towards him. He tried to draw his four tentacles in front of him to work as a shield, but still arrows embedded themselves into his extremities. He watched as his health ground down, 50% remaining. "I'm going to enjoy this!," he screamed. "20,000 Leagues!'
He rocked forwards, all four of his tentacles extending from his back. The tentacles raced through the air, stretching further than they had before. Cheshire gasped, scrambling backwards but it was in vain. The tentacles wrapped themselves around her wrists and ankles, slamming her against the branch as she was yanked forward. Kraken slammed her into the ground before drawing her to hang in front of him. "I've been waiting for this moment," he purred, his voice oozing with vile intentions. He reached up, running the back of his hand down her cheek. He grinned, suddenly extending his arm and slapping her across the face. Her health bar ground down, 52% remaining.
"But how? I'm a metal type, physical attacks don't do much to me," she spat out, her head spinning.
"You may be a metal type, but I'm level 4. That's quite a difference between us," he chuckled to himself. "I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to take my time with this." His arm reared back and struck her across the face again. He grinned, listening to the scream he elicited from her. Suddenly another voice cut through the air, "Don't you dare touch my partner, you freak!"
Kraken spun around, his eyes widening as the butt of Tommy crashed into his face. Kraken was sent crashing through the dirt, losing his grip on Cheshire with all but one tentacle. Salvo stood there panting. He spun around, anger swelling in his chest. "Get your slimy little tentacles off of my partner!," Salvo growled at his downed enemy.
Kraken pushed himself onto one elbow, his three other tentacles working on pushing him back to his feet. "Who do you think you are, interrupting my fun like that?," Kraken questioned icily. Suddenly he rocketed off the ground, his tentacles propelling him forward. Two tentacles struck out at Salvo from the front, causing him to raise his arms in attempt to block the strike. He didn't see the tentacle that came around from the other side. A tentacle wrapped around Salvo's throat, picking him up and slamming him into a tree. "Now you just stay put while I play with the little kitty cat."
Osmium Cheshire eyes widened in surprise and anger. 'I have to do something,' she thought to herself. She brought her hands up, digging her claws into the slimy tentacle wrapped around her throat. Kraken screamed in pain, the tentacle unwrapping and dropping her on the ground heavily. She groped at the ground, looking for her missing bow. Cold metal chilled her palm, the sensation filling her with a sense of hope. Scrambling with her quiver, she brought a shaking hand to her bowstring. The arrow she knocked was her only hope, the only thing to save her partner. She pulled back the bowstring, trying to still her wildly beating heart.
"Put him down!," she screamed, loosing her arrow. The arrow tore through the air, a silvery blue streak before it crashed into Kraken's forehead. His head rocked back, his health bar grinding down to 20%. Osmium Cheshire charged at him, anger causing her to want to tear his throat out with her own claws. He lashed out with a tentacle, Salvo forgotten. She ducked underneath it, lunging to the side before leaping at her prey. Flipping through the air, she tried to bring her heel crashing into the top of his head. Kraken took a step back, letting the foot fly past his face. He smirked momentarily before her tail crashed into the top of his skull. His head dipped down as his health bar ground to zero.
Congratulations blazed into the air in front of the two. Salvo made his way to his feet, rubbing at his throat before placing a hand on Cheshire's shoulder. "You did good, Cheshi. We can take a break for the day if you want."
"What makes you think that? I'm taking all challengers," she shot back, the grin on her face feeling like it was more than just for show.
...
Just some closing words here. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Any comments or critiques are welcome. Remember, flames will be shot down. If you have any ocs you'd like to see in my story, leave them in a comment below with all the necessary information. (avatar name, irl name, abilities, enhanced armaments, special moves) But, please keep them realistic. If you're oc is op it will not be put in.