A/N: I PASSED! I PASSED MY EXAMS! I'm so happy right now! My school even sent me a big purple flag with their logo and the line "Geslaagd!" (Dutch for "Passed!") that's now hanging just below my window. Now everyone can see that I'm officially a Graphical Designer. W00t! Anyway, that's enough bragging for now. Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 4: Not just a glitch
Amy gulped, she knew that voice all too well. Slowly, she turned around and faced the creature.
"Uh oh," she mumbled, still not quite believing what she was seeing.
"You seem surprised to see me," it said mockingly.
"That's the third malfunction this week!" Amy exclaimed annoyed.
"Who are you talking to…?" Cell asked annoyed, but Amy kept going.
"First Jake pops up in the middle of my single-player Challenge, then Brolly decides to join the party," she threw her hands up in frustration, "and now characters from other saga's suddenly decide to drop by and say hello as well! Ooh, when this is over, I'm going to send in a bug report the size of a book!" she stopped ranting and grinned at the unintended pun. "BUG report… heeheehee!"
"Trust me, my dear," Cell rasped, "game glitches are the least of your concern"
Something's not right, Amy frowned. How did the android know what a glitch was?
"Oh, that's not all I know," he continued, as if reading her thoughts, "I recently learned that all of this is nothing but a little virtual playground, created for those who wish to temporarily escape their pitiful lives with the push of a button"
Whoa! Stop! Rewind! Amy thought to herself. Virtual or not, that thing is seriously starting to freak me out!
"Computer, log out!" she shouted, and closed her eyes. To her horror, nothing happened. When she opened her eyes again, she wasn't greeted by the familiar sight of her messy bedroom, and Cell was still watching her with a malicious grin on his face.
"Computer, log out!" she cried again, while staggering backwards in an attempt to put more space between her and the android.
"What's wrong, Amy?" he taunted. "You don't want to play anymore?"
Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
"How the hell do you know my name!" she exclaimed. "characters aren't supposed to remember players… Or anything for that matter!"
She stumbled further away from the monster. She had a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach that this was more than just a glitch. This…this creature… was acting… sentient!
"I assure you that my memory is functioning perfectly," he smirked.
"But… but I haven't ran into you before!" she panicked. "I never even made it past this saga!"
"It seems that you are the one with the failing memory," it snickered. "Don't tell me that after a few weeks, you have already forgotten all about our little cat-and-mouse games?"
Amy froze when the pieces of the puzzle finally fell in place.
"Challenge Mode…" she whispered. Her voice was shaky and she felt like she was going to pass out from sheer panic. How had he escaped? Why did it remember her? Why couldn't she log out? Amy sighed and took a few slow, deep breaths. When she felt like she had calmed down enough, she faced the monster and smirked.
"Look buddy, I don't know how the hell you got here, but you don't scare me that easily because you're still nothing more than a bunch of ones and zeroes! Go ahead, attack me! I'll just wake up at the nearest Check-In Station and reset my game!"
The android closed his eyes and chuckled.
"As you wish, my dear"
Amy wanted to roll her eyes at his mock politeness, but suddenly found herself being flung into the air like a rag doll. Before she even realised what was going on, Cell appeared above her and slammed her back into the floor. She jumped to her feet and saw the android firing a Kamehameha wave. Her instincts took over and she dived behind Frieza's chair, barely dodging the blast. She took a moment to inspect her armour. It had protected Amy when the android had send her flying, but it was damaged beyond repair. It made absolutely no sense! According to the players manual, "Challenge Mode Cell" was still in a relatively weak state, since he had only absorbed a few towns. The android was stronger than Frieza, but he still shouldn't have been able to get through her upgraded armour that easy!
"By the way," the monster purred. "Did I mention that the safety protocols are off-line?"
"That's impossible and you know it!" Amy yelled from behind the chair.
"No!" a familiar voice shouted. "Amy, he's not bluffing!"
She turned her head in the direction of the sound. There, in the doorway, stood a tall man. He wore the same black undershirt as normal players, but his gi was yellow instead of white. A moderator! And not just any …"
"Dad!" she called out. "What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to monitor the Buu Saga!"
"Quick Amy, get out of there!" he shouted. Worry was clearly visible on his face. Instantly realising that the situation was serious, she made a mad dash for her father. Unfortunately, Cell wasn't about to let his prey escape so easily.
"Special… Beam… CANNON!"
Amy tripped and fell to the floor, making the beam graze her left cheek. To her horror, it burned like hell! She gritted her teeth and fought back the tears that started to form in her eyes. This wasn't fun anymore! She wanted to log out, and she wanted to log out now!
"Dad, help me!" she cried in panic, reaching out for him. She was so scared and confused, that she had no idea what to do or how to even get up. Her limbs simple seemed to ignore any signals her brain send them. Amy was literally paralyzed with fear.
"I'm coming honey!" he yelled and glared murderously at the android. "FINAL FLASH!"
With an ear deafening explosion, Cell was sent crashing through the walls. The mod hurried over to his daughter and held her tight.
"Computer! Terminate current game session, authorisation code MOD3XY omega!"
A/N: Amy's dad is a mod! Bet you didn't see that one coming, did you? Will they log out in time? How did Cell manage to escape Challenge Mode? And what does he want with Amy? Keep checking back to find out, and don't forget to review!
