Terminal

Chapter 2

By: Glen Galiza

"The current Student Council President is the idol of our school! How dare you taint her with your eyes and hands!" Her hands firmly on my collar, Karin swept my left leg and slammed me on my back.

"What the... Heck!?" I let out in breaths. Damn that hurt! Was this the same shy girl from elementary?

"Sorry about my cousin Guren. Karin joined the judo club in middle school, so now she's one tough cookie!" Miyavi mentioned as she squatted near my face.

"That's not all there is to that is there- Wah! Miyavi! They're showing!" I blurted out, turning my head the opposite way. She was wearing a white pair with a pink ribbon design.

"Whoops! My bad Guren! Also, I'm going to apologize for what's going to happen next! Sorry!" Miyavi replied quickly.

"What do you- OW OW OW OW!"

Karin was sitting on top of my stomach locking and pulling my legs towards my face.

"Taking a peak at my cousin's panties now huh? What are the prez's not good enough for ya?" Karin asked angrily.

"Karin, that's enough now let him go." Lux ordered.

"Yes ma'am!" Karin said happily as she let go of my legs and got off me.

"Sorry about that, it was just too funny to stop." Joked Lux.

"I'm glad you're amused at least." I muttered sarcastically.

"Karin here is the head of our disciplinary committee, as well as the president of my fan club. Not that I mind it or anything. She's also..." Lux couldn't continue her sentence there. Her face looked a bit flushed.

"Karin is also a die hard fan of both yuri and yaoi." Finished Miyavi.

"What's wrong with that? I think love can be expressed equally regardless of gender." Karin added, pushing up her glasses.

I finally sat up, recovering from being thrown and put into submission. I started laughing it all off.

"When Lux warned me about how different you two would be, I wasn't expecting this! Bwahahaha!" I just couldn't stop laughing.

"Umm, excuse me, pardon the interruption of your there's reunion but we do have a meeting to hold now." Said the short girl with red hair.

"I'm sorry, umm what was your name?" I asked politely.

"Umm, I'm Ringo Watanuki, the student council secretary." Replied the girl named Ringo.

"Nice to meet you too. I better get going then, don't want to keep Eden and James waiting." Dusting off my pants I went straight for the door.

"Takamine, hold on." Lux called out. She grabbed my right hand with both of hers, and slipped something into it.

"Thanks for coming!" Lux let go immediately and waved me off. I could see Karin in the back staring daggers at me.

Finally school was over, it wasn't as bad as I thought but still glad it's over

"Hey hey Guren, wanna come with me and James to the Battle Dome?" Eden asked.

"The Battle Dome? Don't tell me you guys are Terminal players?" I asked surprisingly.

"Sure are! You play too?" Asked James.

"Sort of." I replied. Maybe these two know something about the group called Chained Wings, I'll ask them when I get the chance to.

"Hmm? Then today you can watch us play!" Eden added in joyfully.

I remembered the thing Lux snuck into my hands earlier during lunch. I walked away from Eden and James for a bit to check what it was. I hid the thing in my pocket, it was a folded up piece of paper.

"Hey guys I'm gonna head to the bathroom, I'll meet you guys at the school gate." I rushed out and headed straight to the nearest bathroom.

I occupied a stall and opened up the folded piece of paper. It read, "Here's my number, call or text me whenever you head to the Battle Dome. Let me know if you are going with a group and who those people are. Don't forget to include your name if you text me."

There's been way too many coincidences today. But I might as well let her know now. I sent a text stating what was about to happen with Eden and James. A few seconds passed and my phone started ringing.

"Guren speaking."

"YOU'RE GOING WHERE WITH WHO NOW?" Yelled the person on the other side.

"Is this Lux? Why are you yelling? It's in the message I sent! I'm going to the Battle Dome with Eden and James!"

"Oh geez, this is all happening faster than I thought. Ok I'll meet you guys there, but don't let them know I'm coming GOT THAT?

Lux hung up right after that. What the heck is up her butt? Well whatever, just don't let them know she's meeting us there right? I left the bathroom, got my stuff back in the classroom and went down to school gate to meet up with them.

We arrived at the Battle Dome in no time at all, I guess catching up on old times helped out a lot. Once inside we immediately went towards the public area. There was a fight going on in the Virtual Arena and it looked like things were getting a bit intense.

"So Guren, what race and class are you running for Terminal? You're definitely a warrior right? You're still into knights and dragons right?" Asked Eden.

I better not leak too much information, I mean what would happen if they found out who I was in Terminal?

"I chose the Norm race, and well I'm actually a Sharpshooter." I replied hastily.

"Oh a Sharpshooter? That's perfect! I'm a Mage myself and Eden himself is a Warrior!" Mentioned James with a big smile.

"Why is that perfect?" I questioned out of curiosity.

"We need a third member, and a Sharpshooter is just what we need to balance out our team!" Exclaimed Eden.

Joining them in a team wouldn't be such a bad idea. The only problem is my Terminal character itself. If Shinigami were to join a team, they'll just keep getting targeted. What's worse is that I'll be the reason why it's happening.

"I'll think about it, maybe after I see you guys in a match?"

"Sounds like a plan to me! Come on James let's go find out where we can register!" Eden and James took off.

Since I was by myself, I thought it'd be best if I sat with the other spectators. Oh I should text Lux and let her know I'm here.

Doing just that, I found an empty seat near the middle of the stands I was closest to. There were people cheering super loud for the battle that was going on right now.

The current match was a 1v1 match between two Warrior classes. One was a Demi-fiend and the other was a Terrafang. The Demi-fiend's health was in the red, the Terrafang however still had a bit over critical levels. This Demi-fiend however was making use of his racial passive by being airborne.

The Demi-fiend race are talented in both magic and strength, the latter still being overshadowed by their magic proficiency. So choosing this race as either a Warrior class or a Mage class could give you some good stability. If that wasn't enough, then the other passive skill is what usually pull most people in.

Demi-fiends unlock their passive "Demi Wings" once they reach level 5. This passive allows them to take flight when they wish, well the process of actually flying isn't that easy. The developers made it so when you think about how you want to fly, the wings (and other flight cards) will correspond. The tricky part, is fighting while flying. Once you lose focus, your flight option disappears and you gotta wait for the cooldown to finish.

Inside the Virtual Arena, the Demi-fiend player was actually holding himself well with his flight. As they say, a true Demi-fiend will be experienced in flight no matter the situation. Looks like the match will be over. The Demi-fiend used a dark sealing magic card called "Chain Hostage" to hold down his foe. That card lowers the user's magic stat while in use, but it keeps the target immobilized and from acting for three seconds. This Demi-fiend then used another magic card called "Charging Lance" which was a thunder based magic card.

It's basically a lance made out of electricity, but it does a lot of damage if you can hit your target. But there was no problems for this user, the battle was over and an announcement for an intermission was pinged.

"Enjoying the show Mr. Shinigami?" Whispered a familiar voice.

Looking to my left Lux was sitting next to me leaning over forward.

"Hey now don't say that name so easily. Did you just get here yourself?"

"What? You don't like it when a girl whispers into your ear? You're weird, not that I mind though, but yeah I just got here. Say you wouldn't happen to have your PTD on you would you?" Lux asked.

"I do, why?"

"Perfect, looks like you might get your fight sooner than you'd hope." Replied Lux, her expression watered down a bit. It looked like something was troubling her, but I decided not to press into it.

"That is perfect!" I agreed. Trying to leave my seat Lux stopped me by pulling on my clothes.

"Hold on a second! Geez so impatient, not that I mind though. They should be playing next, don't you want to watch them first?"

"Then how do I play against them if I don't sign up?"

"I'll take care of that when the time comes."

Lux was serious, I could feel her grip tightening. I sat back down, and focused on the upcoming match.

"We have an announcement to make! We have special guests participating next! It's their first time to make an in-person appearance here at the Battle Dome!"

It was a broadcast the whole Battle Dome could hear.

"To save the best for last, we'll introduce the special guests after. From the west side of the arena, you've probably received their initiation, they're always looking for new players to cough* help. If you guys haven't heard, last night they were offered to the Reaper! Give it up for Team New Hunters!"

Looking towards a bit to my left, I realized the players that were just called were the guys from yesterday. Let's see, the Terrafang's in-game name (ign for short) was Reiji, the two Transcendents were Kyo and Gyo.

"Oh geez they didn't learn their lesson last night?" I joked.

"Hmm? That wouldn't stop players like them. As non-player friendly as that is, some people just enjoy playing that way." Lux replied a bit sadly.

"So are they really coming up next?" I asked. Lux nodded, gripping her sleeve tightly.

"Now for our special guests! Turning to the east, the unknown players that have stayed at the top of the rankings in Chess City! The duo that's unranked because of the member requirement, CHAINED WINGS!"

Finally! It's them! I wonder what they look like?

Standing in the Arena, the two players were already covered in digital cubes taking in their appearances. The first one was a male Terrafang, lightly tanned, with black hair that spiked down towards the back of his neck. A bit above that was a tuft of hair bound by a hair tie, and he had one long and one short triangular markings on each side of his cheeks. He wore a fit red shirt that exposed his abdominals, brown gloves, long blue and brown pants with flaps hanging from the sides of his thighs. He wore a black belt with a golden rectangle buckle and brown boots.

The second member was a male Demi-fiend with reddish brown skin. His horns weren't visible, but I'm guessing they were hiding underneath his grey fedora. His pupils and sclera were pitch black his irises a rusted yellow. Priestly robes of grey covered his body, white gloves covering his hands.

Judging by their appearances, the common thing to think would be that they're a Warrior/Mage duo. Their names were Redline and Geno, at least according to the monitor and the shell of the dome.

"This is a reply to Shinigami's challenge! Challenge accepted!" Declared the Terrafang from Chained Wings.

"Battlefield Plains, Weather Sunny. Battle start in 3..2..1.. START!" Said a robotic announcer. The area inside the Arena turned into a grassy plain with the wind blowing gently.

This was one of the fields where the fighters would fight on equal terms. Well except for maybe those that use certain terrains to their advantage and play style. Team New Hunters charged in first, one of the Transcendents, the one named Gyo, ran alongside their Terrafang leader Reiji. Both of them were using the same weapon cards from last time. However the one farther behind had a much larger gun this time around.

"Oh? He's using the Black Wasp weapon card to cover the two in front? That's a pretty good strategy."

Black Wasp, was the name of the large gun the Transcendent Kyo was wielding. In other terms you would call that type of gun an LMG, or a Large Machine Gun. Usually the fire rates of these guns are slower, they pack larger bullets and magazines. Although the true nature of the Black Wasp was it's paralysis skill.

"Chained Wings haven't made a move yet! Are they trying to give New Hunters a handicap?" Commented a shout caster.

The Demi-fiend snapped his fingers, both his teammate and himself were shrouded in a white aurora.

"What is that?" I asked out loudly.

"It's Geno's Signature Card. But that's all you'll get out of me. Figure out how it works yourself." Replied Lux.

Returning my attention, both Reiji and Gyo split to the sides leaving an opening for Kyo to unleash his LMG. As the bullet storm unleashed, the two members of Chained Wings just stood there, taking the hits. Taking a look at their HP bars on the monitor, they were even losing that much HP, or rather they were healing more than they were taking damage.

"With a signature card like that, Geno must've been a beta tester too."

"They both were."

I looked at Lux, I can feel my eyes open wide and my lips cracking a smile. Beta testers are the best kind of opponent, their Signature Cards are usually more original and overpowered(OP for short).

Gyo stopped in his tracks and began firing away at Geno. Four walls of earth shot up from the ground surrounding Geno and fending off the gunfire. I noticed the glowing aurora from earlier was starting to fade.

"So that's it, there's a time limit to it."

"Correct, now just continue analyzing." Answered Lux.

Reiji went in for the kill, dashing towards the opposing Terrafang holding his katana overhead. Redline crossed his arms, digital cubes forming in both hands. In each handle the green butt of a sword formed, as it continued to progress into two handles the rest of the cubes formed a giant piece of metal shaped like a tuning fork. The u-bend however was shorter in length, taking up about 1/3 of the metal.

I've never seen that weapon before. Is that his Signature Card? Reiji closed in swinging his katana in a downwards slice. The blade collided with the hunk of metal forcing a vibrating pitch to resonate in and out of game. Just like a tuning fork, but I wonder what other properties that weapon card has.

Reiji's body flinched in reaction to the vibration, it must've been that much stronger up close. Not to mention his katana acted as both the catalyst and the medium. Redline pulled back his weapon and thrusted back into Reiji. The impact sent him flying a few feet away with another reverberating sound.

Strange, where'd the pressure from the Black Wasp go? I didn't realize it before but there was no more rounds coming from that direction. Focusing my attention to where that Kyo guy would be, I was surprised to see him covered up white glowing chains.

"That's the Holy Chain magic card! That's pretty rare!" I squealed out, like a fan girl.

"Oh this is new! Never expected that reaction out of you." Laughed Lux, trying to hold it back with her hand.

"Yeah so what? Holy Chain, a spell card that immobilizes and stuns the target for seven seconds with only an MP cost!" I replied, pushing up my invisible glasses.

Returning back to the fight, the player Kyo was now trapped in a bird cage of radiant white. A giant white bird of energy soared through the bird cage, leaving Kyo in the dead state with a bunch of white lights impaled into his body.

"What the heck was that?" I asked Lux.

"It's not surprising you don't know. I'm actually having them advertise a few new cards for the upcoming patch. They're also testing to see if any bugs appear. Speaking of which, give me your PTD I'll give you one too." Taking out my PTD, Lux snatched it away and began fiddling around with it. Should've put a lock on it, I'll remember to do so after.

Redline charged in after Reiji this time, carrying the huge weapon with ease. He swung the flat part of his weapon at Reiji, scooping him up and tossing him towards Gyo. Geno placed his hands on the ground, and as soon as Reiji and Gyo came into contact with one another, the same stone walls surrounding Geno erupted around the two noob hunters.

Lifting his hand in the air, Redline called forth a blue wolf made of lightning. Along with the beast followed black clouds and light rain. The surging blue wolf ran towards the two noob hunters location, pouncing into the pit. A blast of lightning erupted from within the confinement of rocks.

The clouds departed, and the rain came to stop. A strange buzzing noise emitted as a thin ray of light directed itself towards the remaining members of New Hunters. The small Ray expanded in size, a giant surge of energy poured into the ray creating a giant crater. There was another buzzing sound, but this time it was to signal that the match was over.

"They even have the Aura Ray card too? I want to fight them!"

I got up from my seat, Lux returned my PTD, and I headed off towards the side of the stage opposite of Chained Wings.

"THE WINNERS... CHAINED WINGS! Wasn't that exciting for our last signed up battle folks?" Asked the shout caster. The viewers surrounding the arena were screaming and cheering.

There's no way I could wait anymore, I approached the device that takes your PTD. The lights illuminating the arena suddenly turned off.

"WAIT A MINUTE FOLKS! IT SEEMS A NEW CHALLENGER HAS LOCKED INTO THE ARENA- hey what are you doing here? This are you even allowed in here- oh my gosh I'm sorry I'll introduce you to the-" The from what I can tell it seemed like someone else took over the shout casting desk. Whoever turned off the lights timed it really well, now I'm sure nobody will see my face.

"Is everyone enjoying their time tonight?"

Oh no, don't tell me this is her doing...

"For those who don't know who I am, my name is Lux Bright and tonight I'm here to commentate on this last and special battle tonight!"

The crowd cheered even harder, it sounds like she's got quite the fan base.

"For those of you who noticed, Chained Wings were using cards that are coming in the next patch! So aren't you all lucky you got a sneak peak?" Mentioned an enthusiastic Lux.

The crowd went wild again, it doesn't sound like the hype will die out any time soon.

"For this last match, we have another special guest! You may have seen him last night, you may have heard his declaration of challenge! You've heard his declaration returned with acceptance! Chained Wing's next opponent goes by the nickname Reaper! GIVE IT UP FOR SHINIGAMI!" Lux let out.

The sliding door in front of me opened, as I walk in the digital cubes dressed me up in my black uniform and white mask. The battlefield changed from the destroyed grassy plains into the ruins of a city. As I continued walking, I came mask to face with the two members of Chained Wings.

"Open slot window." I commanded as I waved my hand in front of me. A window that only I could see popped up in front of me. I was curious to know what Lux put into my PTD.

"Not only did she add the card, she put it into my sub slots. Well this is an interesting weapon, I guess every Reaper needs his scythe!" I clicked on the new card that was added into my sub slot. The window disappeared and was replaced by a black pole that grew outwards horizontally.

As the end growing to my right halted, two red beams of light erupted from both sides of the tip. They formed curved blades, that resembled a crescent shape. The other end came to a halt as well, so grabbed the weapon and spun it over my head a few times before resting it over my shoulders.

"Now Chained Wings, give this Reaper a damn good fight!" I taunted.