REAL LIFE:

Gui:

That idiot Ling Bin. I could have gone through life perfectly happy without ever meeting him. One unfortunate run-in with him as I walked Xiao Lan home and everything had fallen apart. She'd sent me on my merry way and went chasing after him. I was fuming as I walked home, despising every inch on Zhuo Ling Bin. Why should Xiao Lan care about him? Still, I thought lightly touching my lips, shouldn't I be happy that I—not Ling Bin—was the one she was kissing?

IN-GAME:

Gui:

"Guiliastes, you scum!"

That was the first thing I heard upon entering Second Life.

Then, I was punched. Right in the middle of Infinite City's square.

I stumbled back away from Wicked, rubbing the spot of my jaw where he had punched me. He must have been waiting for me to log on, I realized.

"Please, Wicked. Take this like a man. Don't throw a tantrum," I said scornfully, though I probably would have been the same way if I was in his spot. "I'm in love with Xiao-Lan, and she accepts my love."

Wicked, who had already been looking like he wanted me dead, looked about five times at scary at this point. He grabbed me by the collar of my bard robes and lifted his fist. I wriggled and squirmed, cursing my weakness as a bard. "How dare you call her Xiao-Lan! Don't address her so familiarly!"

"She told me to call her that," I said, tensing in anticipation of the punch. I got beat up be Prince so often, it shouldn't matter that Wicked hit me. I had still won our love-rivalry after all.

Though it was still early in the night, there were still a handful of people in the square who were watching Wicked's outburst and murmuring among themselves.

"Xiao Lan? Who's that? I thought they liked Prince?"

"Did they finally stop liking boys?"

"I hope so, it's such a waste for Bishies like them!"

"Why are they fighting over the same girl, though? Are they just destined to be love rivals?"

Wicked dropped his fist and leaned in closer to me. "I am going to rip you apart. I'm going to kill you until you his level one. And after that, I'll pull you limb from limb slowly before killing you again." His gaze was venomous. He probably meant it, and to tell the truth, I wasn't looking forward to the pain.

Then, I had a stupid idea. I reached down and grabbed Wicked's sword, pulling it out of its sheath. Wicked was startled, loosening his hold on me, and I was able to get out of his grasp. I held the sword up, doing my best to look calm and like I knew what the heck I was doing. Truth was, I was realizing just how stupid my idea had really been. I couldn't fight as a warrior; I was a bard with no physical strength to speak of. My agility was low, as well. The only high stats I had were intelligence, wisdom, and charisma; which were all completely useless in this situation.

"Don't make me kill you, Wicked." I did my best to exude confidence, but it was obvious that my charade was being seen right through.

"You couldn't kill a level one slime!" Wicked retorted, pulling one of his older swords out of his inventory and pointing it at me. With lightning speed, Wicked stuck at me. I barely parried and was forced back. I was only able to evade a few attacks, but I was able to push any vital attacks far enough away that they hit the less important parts of me. My arms were so beaten up that I was hardly able to hold the sword aloft anymore. It didn't help that it weighed about ten pounds. No wonder warriors had such high strength, their weapons weighed a ton.

I made a desperate slash at Wicked's neck, but in the moment where I was unable to protect myself, Wicked stabbed me through the abdomen. Even though pain was only 30% in the game, I was still in agony.

"Don't you dare touch Xiao Lan again," Wicked hissed at me as he yanked his sword from my body and kicked me to the ground. I fell without resistance and lay dying in the dirt.

Just then, as Wicked was picking up his sword and walking away, something cool was pressed into my hand. I looked over to see Prince handing me a heath potion and staring coolly at Wicked.

Prince:

I log in one measly hour after Gui and he goes and picks a fight with Wicked? He was more of an idiot than I had thought. I had only logged on in time to see the end of the match and was much too far away from them to stop Wicked's sword from cutting right through Gui. I rushed over as fast as I could, grabbing one of my spare heath potions. I kneeled at Gui's side, pressing the potion into his hand as he lay bleeding, thanking Buddah/Allah/God/whoever that he hadn't turned into white light yet. I looked up icily at Wicked, I didn't care that he was like a brother; he had gone too far with this stupid love rivalry.

"The only one allowed to beat up Gui is me, Wicked." I stood tall, my face and attitude that of the Blood Elf, but this time it wasn't just for show. I was pretty much furious and had been around just long enough to hear some people in the crowd asking each other who the heck Xiao Lan was. They'd made it all about me as Xiao Lan to a point where I, as Prince, couldn't give them a good beating about fighting over me.

I was teaching him a lesson, Xiao Lan. I heard Wicked over the PM channel. PMs annoyed me, I preferred to yell at people for real and in person, but in this case it was necessary.

For what? I demanded, unsheathing my sword. It was true that death and pain in-game meant nothing in real life, but I was going to give Wicked the beating of his virtual life if he didn't have a damn good reason for slaughtering Gui.

For kissing you! That dirty pervert is going to pay!

I later felt horrible for what I said after that, but I was so ticked off at that point that I was able to break his heart and still be prepared to give him a thrashing without any sign of mercy.

I. Kissed. Him.

I launched my attack at him, thrusting at his heart. He parried halfheartedly, not willing to attack me back. I continued to attack and he blocked and retreated, showing no signs of taking the offensive. He wasn't giving his all, making me even more furious. I swiped at him, stabbed at him, and even managed to punch him right in the eye. Still, he didn't attack. With a roar I knocked him to the ground, sword poised over his neck, foot firmly holding him on the ground; prepared to kill.

"Do you hate me?" Wicked asked in defeat, his voice no louder than a whisper. "All I wanted was for you to be safe. I love you."

Now what he had just said there, that was a really unfair attack. The words felt like arrows being shot into my stomach. "Wicked…" I couldn't say anything more than his name before a lump rose in my throat and tears blurred my vision. My anger melted away, I couldn't bear to see the pain in his eyes.

I just can't love you like that. I couldn't say it out loud, but I could manage a PM without busting into sobs.

Wicked nodded and looked away. That's okay.

I sheathed my sword, tearing my eyes away from Wicked and walking over to Gui, who had healed himself up enough to be able to stand. Satisfied that he was alive, I brushed past him and continued to Yun and Jing's house. That was the only place I could hide and not be bothered by the rest of the Odd Squad or my lordly duties. I just needed my best friends.


Please forgive this poor procastinator's soul for taking so long to update. Better late then never, though. :P
Anyway, I'm thinking one or two more chapters to wrap our lovely little drama up. I'll try to finish writing the next chapter and post it within a few days.

~Ninja