Chapter 8: Explanations and Exploring
== Be Jaalas.
You don't care if they're staring. You don't fucking carebecause your mom's alive and you think you're going to have a mental breakdown or cry and hug her to her second death, though you rather prefer the former because you don't want her dead again. Oh god, you feel over whelmed.
"HEHEHE, calm down Jaalas, I wasn't dead that long wasn't I?" You almost forgot how easily she loses track of time. "Mom, you have been dead for five sweeps!" She giggles, rubbing her cheek in mock embarrassment. "That long? I must have slept a lot in the glow caves then." You… are a little confused. "Glow caves?" She gives an excited flip, blushing an odd fuchsia. "Oh Jaalas, the afterlife is wonderful! You'd love the Pudding River!"
Your eyes widen. "They have pudding?!" She wags her tail in that 'tsk'ing motion she had the habit of doing, as if the question was foolish. "Of course Jaalas! It's the afterlife! It's like what those silly humans depicted it, except much, much better!" She turns to the Xiaolin Brats, tilting her head down in apology. "No offence." They shrugged it off, with Raimundo actually shrugging in response. "I don't really believe in all that religion crap, so I don't really care."
"Anyways…" Chase seemed to be skeptical, though you don't exactly know why. "Why did you call this–" he points to your spritelion-mom, though mostly with curiosity. "Mom?" You burst out laughing, feeling Eridan join you as he trembles on your back. Huh, you're still holding him. You wonder when he'll ask to be put down…
"Just because I called her 'Mom' doesn't mean we're blood related (though I sort of wish we were). It just means she raised me since I was small until, well, you know. It's pretty much the same concept as an adoptive parent, except with more attachment." Your mom sniffles, making you give her a concerned look. "T-that was touching, J-Jaalas." …You almost forgot she was emotional as well. She then darts next to you, examining Eridan. "Hmmm." She circles him like a vulture, eyeing him critically as if she was estimating the size of a piece of meat –and you definitely remember her taking meat seriously, as you have followed her example with your precious pudding-.
She suddenly grins, snickering. "My, my Jaalas. I see you've got a keeper. Since when did you have a matesprit?" You feel your face heat up, and you're very sure that Eridan is in the same state. "I-It's not like that Mom! We're just friends! Friends I tell you!" Eridan joins in, his accent predictably thick with embarrassment. "Wwe aren't like that, at all! Like Jaal said, wwe're just friends!"
Your mom pouts. "Aww, that's too bad. I really wanted to see my little grub all grown up! Oh well, I can always meddle. Maybe if I can get my hands on some Viagra–" "Mom!" Your voice cracked at your high pitched outburst, and you're sure your blush has spread to your ears. God, why did your mom have to be so perverted?! Just, why?
Eridan buries his head into your shoulder, probably in an attempt to hide his purple blush.
Yeah, you forgot that parents are always so embarrassing.
== Jaalas, be the confused cheeseball.
You are now the confused cheeseball, and you are, well, confused. As Jaalas talked with her Mom, they kept on using terms that you're not familiar with. Just why was she only referring you and your friends as humans, and not Jaalas? What is a matesprit? And what in the world is a Viagra? Maybe your friends know…
You tug on Kimiko's sleeve, having her turn and look down to meet your eyes. "What's a Viagra?"
== Omi, be Kimiko.
You're now Kimiko, and you're panicking. Dammit, why did Jaalas' mom have to be a pervert? If only she kept her mouth shut…
Deciding you don't want to go there you do your best, but most cliché response. "I'll tell you when you're older." "But, Kimiko! I am old enough to save the world, yet not old enough to learn what it is?!" Dammit he's persisting, what should you say?! Luckily, or you hope so, Jaalas steps in. "Omi, you have to be at least fifteen or female to know that stuff!"
Ok, you're not sure where she's directing this, but you see a glint of understanding pass through Raimundo's eyes as he pats Omi's head. "Yeah little dude, didn't you know? Boys aren't allowed to know that stuff until fifteen. It's simply a rule that must be known and respected!" Eridan seemed to have caught on as he leaned his head on her shoulder. "Evven I knoww that."
Omi, though, didn't seem to be placated. "But then, why did you start blushing?" You inwardly panic, knowing he had a great point. He didn't even look older than Omi, and his reaction had definitely shown that he knew. Thankfully, he played it off in a hurried fashion.
"A course I wwas blushin'! They wwere talkin' about somethin' that us four aren't supposed to knoww!" "Oohhhh…" Finally, he was sated. Thank the frickin' god.
== Kimiko, be Jaalas.
You are Jaalas, and you think you have just done them a favor. Meh, a twelve year old shouldn't know about that kind of stuff anyway, especially one like Omi's case. God, how in the world is he so sheltered?
Now that the situation is handled you turn to Chase. "Anyways what did you mean by 'you again'?" He sighed, pinching his nose. "Because your mother was the one who warned us in the first place about those creatures." Ah, that explains it. "So that's why you were all gathered up? I thought you guys were going to do your own thing after I left." He gives you a look. "We would if you haven't been knocked over the cliff by a hunk of metal that should have killed you. Not to mention you were nowhere in sight when we actually went to look for you."
You giggle. "Aw, Chasey-Wasey cared about me? How sweet." "I was dragged along for your information. My consent was dubious and, therefore, not intentional." He snipped back quickly. You laugh at him, tickled fuchsia at the defensive look he expressed.
After calming down, you notice that your mom had disappeared, making you blink in surprise. It's weird that she hasn't gained any patience at all since she died. "Same old mom all right…" You crane your neck back, catching Eridan's eyes. "Ready to go back?" "A course! The cookies should havve cooled by noww!" You grin as you punch in the coordinates. "Ok, back to the LOWAA!" "LOWWAA?"
You giggled at his confused expression. "Land of Wrath and Angels. The scaly assholes were very angry." He chuckles. "True that." You turn to the Xiaolins and Chase. "Well goodbye! I'll probably come back, though I still say you should explore this place! Who knows, you might get some useful information from the locals!"
The scene flashed back to the kitchen, the cookies and empty cups right where you left them. Placing Eridan down, you dash to the fridge, yank out the milk, and pour some in each cup. Giving Eridan one of the cups, you grin at him. "Let the consumption of cookies commence!"
== A delicious batch later…
You and Eridan were leaning against each other in content, sleepy from the full stomachs of warm cookies. God, they were so good! Though, as you yawn, you noticed that Eridan had fallen asleep. You smile and, with a stroke of sentimentality, tuck a misplaced bang behind his fins. He's so cute when he's asleep, it just makes you want to squeal. Though you refrain from doing so because you really don't want to wake him.
Carefully, you shift him in your arms and piggyback him again, carrying Eridan to his respiteblock and gently settle him in his recuperacoon –not without taking off his cape, scarf, and shoes of course–. You wish you could snuggle up with him, but you rather not risk hurting him because of a shitty bad dream. Oh well, you can try to figure out where exactly all of you had transported to. Maybe the game guide will know.
== Jaalas, read Section 3.
Opening up your laptop and clicking on the saved book mark, you begin to read.
Section 3: Kernelprites, Consorts, and Lands
Now, you're probably wondering what the hell I'm talking about here, but you'll need to know this as you progress through this game.
Kernelsprites: Kernelsprites are basically the floating balls of black and blue that are released from the Cruxtruder after you open it. They eventually would become regular Sprites by being prototyped twice. Yes, twice. By combining the kernelsprites with inanimate objects or living/formerly living beings, the objects or beings become the sprite, who are given knowledge about Sburb and your personal quest. After the first prototyping, the sprites simply appear as sparking, floating heads. However, after the second prototyping (also called hatching, special prototyping, etc.) they gain a ghostly form possessing a tail. Despite their name, appearance, and abilities, they have been confirmed to be corporeal, meaning they are considered alive. Sprites are pretty much your undead guide, but they can't accompany you as you go through The Seven Gates until you have unlocked the ability to do so. You will know you have unlocked said ability once the sprite gives you a pendant to which you can use to summon it. Apparently, they are drawn to the Battlefield at a certain point for unknown reasons, but make sure they have served their purpose, that of which you'll figure out later.
Note: These beings can die, so try not to drag them in impossibly deadly situations.
Though the ability to convey the information is limited by the intelligence of the sprite, which is also limited to that of its composing parts, they are supposed to be coy about the information, only stating it vaguely, in riddles, or when it's deemed appropriate. But be warned, they can have holes in their knowledge, especially in regards to the Denizens and the Choices they offer.
Note from the author: This is all I can say for now, the subject of this is pretty new to me as well, so excuse me if you find unmentioned parts to this guide. Maybe you can check out it's wiki?..
Okay you should have probably skipped that since you have already read it, but you might as well keep reading since you have already done that anyways.
Consorts: Now consorts are another story. These amphibious/reptilian guys vary dramatically in each player's planet. In each player's session, they each are transported to their customized lands (You can learn more about these after this). The consorts are usually stupid, but they can perform tasks the server player and client player could do. Known consorts include the salamanders, the turtles, the crocodiles, and the iguanas. Each sort of consorts have a created religion that differs from each planet, though they all worship the Genesis Frog, which is evidenced by monuments of frogs and –if they're friendly– their nonsensical chatter.
Beware: The consorts may be easily angered (whether it be from personality or grudges), so please don't bother them to the point they are chasing you down.
Note: If they start alchemizing shit with your grist, it's advised you keep them away/locked out of reach from the Alchemiter.
Lands: Yes, lands. They are the places where pretty much you and your fellow players are transported to. The medium (a whole different universe that exists) holds these lands. Truthfully, each one are actually planets located all around this universe. Each session would have their own mediums (along with their own planets), but they all serve the purpose of helping you to create a new universe (though not in the way you expect) while each planet has something to do with the player's title and personality –well, not always…-. As you fight your customized opponents and receive their provided grist, you must build upward towards the gates above where you have transported, which would give you access to a certain place in your own planet and your fellow player's respective planets. Oddly enough, you can still receive electricity and internet access, maybe with the possibility that the game provides these so there won't be unnecessary handicaps.
Warning: The consorts provided with these lands can be dangerous and/or aggressive, so if they start to attack you, screw it and run from/destroy them.
The lands may be… reality bending, but you must become used to this since you will be residing there for some time unless you get off your ass and actually start trying to progress.
Your Quest Beds are provided here as well to give you the choice to reach God Tier, but it's your choice alone if you want to reach it.
Huh, that actually explains a lot about those weird blue designs. Seeing as this also includes you, you most likely have the same things above the mansion. At least the Xiaolins and Chase will have a way to explore. Though, you wonder when they'll realize that they have to battle those creatures…
Anyways, you can see the sun coming up in the horizon. Soon, Eridan would wake up and you're feeling in the mood to cook. Maybe you can cook some omelets for breakfast…
== Jaalas, be the sleepy fishboy.
You are now the sleepy fishboy, and you smell cooking eggs and that human meat that you think is called bacon. It's a pretty welcome smell, especially since your gastric sac is now making its emptiness known. You really would like to see what Jaalas is making, but you don't want to track sopor slime all over the floor between you and the kitchen. Well, off to the ablution trap you go!
You haul yourself out of the recuperacoon, thankful that the slime slides off rather easily. Jaalas must have settled you in your recuperacoon when she saw you fall asleep. Really, she can act like a lusis sometimes, though you wouldn't ever change anything about her for the world, even her odd quirks.
After cleaning up, putting on a new set of clothes and the rest of your accessories that Jaalas put aside on, you make your way to the preperationblock. By the smell of it, you can tell that she had done a great job with the presumed omelets. This thought is hardened when you enter the preperationblock and see her happily eating one of the omelets she set on the counter. Noticing you enter, she smiles. "Good morning Eri. Did you sleep well?"
You smile back as you take a seat next to her, taking the other omelet and retrieving an offered a fork. "Mornin', I slept that long? And yes I did." She giggles as you dig in, happy to discover that she had a mix of bacon, cheese, and tomatoes stuffed inside the fluffy, delicious food. If the humans were stupid enough not to give her a degree on cooking, you would flip them the bird and blast them with your Ahab's Crosshairs. God, this is good.
Once you finish, and finished blushing after she wiped your face from some tomato juice –not a grub damn it- , you two settled down on the couch. "So," you lean forward, resting your head on your hands. "wwhat exactly should wwe do? It's not really progressivve if wwe just sit around like broodin' cluckbeasts." She crosses her legs and mimics you, grinning. "Well, while you were sleeping, I reviewed that Game Guide I told you about. Remember those weird designs we saw above your hive?" You nod, not really seeing any relevance to the subject. Her grin widens. "Turns out those things are portals to the other's worlds or 'lands'. We all are pretty much in a universe called the medium, which of course contains all of us in it." You let out a long whistle. Looks like you might have a lot of exploring to do.
She stands up, taking out her cabinet again, and shifts through the bottom drawer. "A good plan would be to finish this session first, go back in time to the Brats and Chase's location, and then finish my own session. So-" She brings out two sylladex cards that held large guns, rocket launchers you believe. "we are going to have to find the final boss and defeat him, but not before getting everyone together and finding out a few things."
You raise an eyebrow. "But wwhat exactly wwould wwe need to find out? The concept for noww is just beatin' the game, right?" "Well," she gives the card to you and shifts through another drawer. "Yes and no. Yes, it's required to finish the game, but no we have to build another universe to live in. The problem of why we need to look for answers is because (1. I don't exactly know the details on how to accomplish that. (2. The Game Guide had limited information that doesn't explain everything and seeing as my mom's never in one place and your lusis has disappeared, we won't be getting that information anytime soon unless we go look for it. (3. I wanted to find out what that 'God Tier' level is all about. It sounded like something that could help us win this game, but…"
She pauses, looking to the ground in suspicion. "The way that the information was put had hinted either it had a side effect or lasted even after the game or…" She lets the thought hang, making you feel nervous. By how she was acting, this is something to be cautious about and you know this since the subject actually got her on guard.
She captchalogued the cabinet again before laying out the objects that she had gotten out. So far, it was the rocket launcher, a first aid kit, a barrel of pudding –go figure–, some ammo for the rocket launcher, a stretch of rope, and two bottles of water. Huh, this is going to be a quite a journey. "The rocket launcher and ammo is mostly for in case purposes for like, let's say, if we lose our primary weapons and/or one of us is knocked out. In the case we get minor to mild injuries, the kit should have everything we need. The food obviously is supposed to last us until for a few days. And the water is just in case we end up in a very hot place. Any questions?"
You shake your head summoning out your weapon. She grins and captchalogues everything in one card. "Good. Now–" She points off towards the road leading to the town from before. "LET'S GO!"
== Eridan, be Chase.
After considering their options, you and the Xiaolins decided to take Jaalas' advice and investigate exactly where you are. The Xiaolins of course will take Dojo down to the ground in an attempt to find any intelligent locals. Which seems unlikely since the residents, also called consorts, are supposedly stupid. It wouldn't kill them to try though, unless they're hostile. You on the other hand will investigate the gates that the guide had mentioned. You figured you will end up below like the Xiaolins in the first gate, but you are curious about the others. As far as you know, no one else was playing with Jaalas or was her server player –with the possible exception of Eridan of course–.
Seeing as the Imps were the only source of available grist, the Xiaolins had given them a tearful apology and eradicated them quickly. The poor, foolish creatures never knowing exactly what hit them until it was over. On the bright side, you have enough grist to make enough stairs to wind up and around the portals, thus making easy access to anyone who can't jump as high as you or doesn't have the option of flight.
Looking at the gate makes you a little uneasy, but you buck up and decide to enter by jumping in feet first. You just hope you don't appear above lava…
After a few seconds in the air, though, tells you two things.
1. The universe, or at least this one, hates you immensely.
2. Turns out Jaalas had at least one other player who shared the session since you see a blond haired, shade wearing boy currently conversing with an orange feathery version of himself…
After luckily landing on a surfacing gear, you examine the world around you. Of course you had to pick a landless world that's covered with magma that only has these mechanical, probably very hot to the touch, structures that was currently spewing out lava. You notice that the boy had noticed you, or at least you think he did since he stopped talking to the crocodile and started to head towards you.
You wait for him until he stops just a foot away from you, giving you a better look at him as he examines you as well. He was wearing on odd, but somewhat cool suit that consisted of a red, fuzzy shirt and coat that had a broken disk on the right breast pocket, red pants, black dress shoes, and a red bow tie. He was currently holding a broken sword that looked like it was glowing. His face was emotionless, though that may be the effect of the large shades he wore. What an odd one indeed.
"Sup." You blink in confusion. "Hey…?" The orange version of him speaks up. "Is it me or is this dude not supposed to be here, like, not actually supposed to be in the game?" The other boy turned to him, slightly raising his eyebrows. "Oh fuck, don't tell me we're in an offshoot timeline again." "If that's the case, then one of the trolls probably fucked up." "Shit, that sucks like a deprived man in a ball sucking Olympics, and he's all like 'I need to do this man, I need this.' And the judges can't decide if he's disqualified because of how desperate he is."
You have a feeling that you'll have your hands full for a while.
== Chase, be Omi.
You are, to say, stupefied. The world below Jaalas' mansion is very… dreamlike. Glassy, light blue trees and mushrooms brightened the dark gray rock below, which you see is imbedded with many sized tubes. Twitching and walking about are imps of many types and yellow salamanders that were popping bubbles every now and then, though they seemed to keep within their own groups.
Looking back were you left Chase, you can see two long columns of land which was cleared from the clouds. Huh, looked like whoever was that had that car fall on Jaalas was well off. You wonder if they are one of her fellow players….
As Dojo circles around the sky, you see something smoking in the distance, something… not supposed to be smoking. Dojo, probably seeing the smoke, darts towards the location, which soon made your eyes widen. A whole village covered in black sludge and grist was on fire, having the residential salamanders and a boy panic at the sight…. Wait, boy?
You watch as he takes out a large, black and white can –which is oddly shaped like one of those fruit gushers you like- that read 'Barbosel' and throws it at the fire…. Which bursts into bigger flames that covers more of the surrounding area. As a natural reaction, the salamanders and boy panic even more, cowering away from the flames. Wow, who knew that was flammable?
Probably tired of watching a fail of putting out fire, your friend Raimundo sends a gust of wind over the town, immediately extinguishing the flames. You also watch as the salamanders gather into a crowd, pick up the boy, and balance him on top of their heads, bubbling gleefully as they jumped up and down. The boy looked awfully dumbstruck, but you guess he's alright since they seemed to be cheering for him, even though it was Raimundo who saved them.
Then again, the guide did say they were not all that smart, so you guess it's alright.
You and your friends shrug it off, beckoning Dojo to keep on flying, though it doesn't stop you from looking back and seeing the boy pull out a stone slab out of thin air. Huh, maybe the sylladex is exclusive to Sburb players then, but why did Jaalas lie about that? Maybe you can ask her once she appears again.
You continue your survey of the land, wanting to make sure you don't miss a thing about this wondrous world.
Okay, tell me if I have done badly on any part of Dave's appearance so I can correct that soon. I really can't do personalities, especially Dave's, well. So, please be honest with me and comment.
