Yah! More reviews! Thanks, thanks, thanks and again! I'd say that my
story's around half over though. ( ( ( :_(. Thanks for sticking with it!
Cliff
Kenshi stared at the patch of clouds in front of him. He'd found them inside an abandoned outdoor café. He wondered what they were for. At one point the blademaster considered standing on them, but then thought against it.
"Knowing my luck, they wouldn't be solid," Kenshi sighed to himself. He was about to get up, to walk around for an exit, when wind started whipping his face. He shielded his eyes, and when he opened them, saw Sharie and who he guessed was Subaru.
"Sharie!" exclaimed Kenshi, "and Subaru! It's so good to see you guys!"
"Hey, nice to see you too!" said Sharie. There was a mix of emotions on her face. Kenshi could read them like a book. She was happy to see that another friend was okay, but disappointed that she hadn't met him in somewhere like Mac Anu.
"Yes, it is nice to see that you are not hurt," Subaru said calmly.
Sharie looked at her surroundings. They were on a rocky cliff near an ocean shore. It was around eight feet off the ground. "Hey...where are we?"
"I really don't know," Kenshi admitted. "I wish I did know, though. Then I'd know where to go for an exit." He smiled. His friends hadn't left him. They were right there. He had good friends now. No longer would he be alone.
Cheetra. he thought. We have to find her.
He stood up from one of the café's tables. "We'd better get started in looking for an exit!" With that, he walked out of the arrangement of tables, and Sharie and Subaru hastily followed.
* * *
Varuchio warped into his office. A broad grin on his face at what he had done. He had warped Macha's hat. Now it controlled his thoughts, and told him to do what he wanted.
"Let's see how the brats are faring." He grinned even wider as he thought of how Crystal Innis must have emotionally ripped the angel girl apart. But as soon as he saw the screens, his grin quickly disappeared.
The screen that had Sharie and the other girl, 'Subaru', as the others said it, was blackened out. They defeated phase two.
"NO!" growled Varuchio. "They won't destroy my creation! Not now!" Then he calmed down, and smiled. They only defeated two faces. He really should have expected them to make it this far. They wouldn't go any farther though. He laughed to himself, and threw the switch to activate phase three.
In the capsule behind him, there was a sound. One that Varuchio didn't notice. A short gasp, almost as a plead. Tsukasa stirred in the container, and was then perfectly still again.
* * *
Sharie walked along the rocky path of the cliff. It was kind of near the edge, and she figured that that was why Kenshi kept his distance.
"Why is Kenshi walking so far away from us? Is there something wrong?" asked Subaru. She looked from Kenshi, to Sharie, and then looked down at herself.
"No, it's not us. The kid's just afraid of heights." Even as the words slipped from her mouth, Sharie knew what Kenshi's phase would be. He was afraid of heights, and phase three was going to pry on that.
* * *
"Hey! Look ahead! The cliff is starting to slope up!" cried Sharie.
"Finally, we're getting somewhere!" moaned Kenshi.
"Yes, let us hurry," agreed Subaru.
Kenshi walked up the cliff carelessly, keeping close to the center so as not to be near either side. Subaru noticed this as he lagged behind them.
"Sharie? May I ask you a question?" asked Subaru.
"Well, ya just did so I guess that one more won't hurt," teased Sharie.
"Oh, okay." The girl was silent after that.
"I didn't mean that you couldn't!" explained Sharie, as she noticed that her idle was depressed. Subaru lightened up at her words.
"Oh, I apologize for not understanding," Subaru said.
"Hey, you want to know something?" asked Sharie.
"What is it?" Subaru had no idea what the girl was talking about.
"That," she said flatly.
"This?" asked a puzzled Subaru.
"Yeah, that. The way you talk is way to formal. Try to dull it down a bit."
"Dull it down?"
"Yeah. Just try it."
"I shall try."
"No! Not like that at all! Try being more casual. Like, instead of saying 'I shall try,' try something like 'alright'."
"I sha-... Alright. It actually sounds a little weird." Subaru scrunched her face at the new answer she gave her new friend.
"Well. If you don't like it, then you can pretend I didn't say anything at all," said Sharie giving up.
"I think I will."
They walked for a little while. The land didn't seem to level out for a little while still.
"Hey, Subaru?" asked Sharie.
"Yes?" Subaru responded.
"Didn't you have something to ask me earlier?" Sharie asked.
"Yes I did," Subaru said. She had actually forgotten all about that.
"Well," wondered Sharie, "what was it?"
"It's about Kenshi and phase three." Sharie felt her stomach lurch at the mention of phase three.
"What about?" asked Sharie.
"Well it's...it's just that.... Don't you think Kenshi might be desperately afraid of heights?"
"Oh. That. Well, I guess so. Yeah."
"Do you think that phase three might play off of his greatest fear like yours and mine?"
Sharie glanced uneasily at the stumbling boy behind them, and then at Subaru. "We'll just have to keep a close eye on him, and make sure he doesn't wander off alone. We should also stay in front of him to clear the path of anything unpleasant."
"Alright. Let's go."
* * *
Kenshi knew that Sharie and Subaru were talking about him. He really didn't care though. He was to busy thinking about the angry red letters that flashed at him. The letters that spelled something he wished they didn't. Phase Three: Shocker Magus: The Misery of Heights.
He thought they had something to do with high places, but he wasn't that scared. The others probably saw it too and paid no mind to it. So he shouldn't care either.
As he walked, he saw that the path grew skinnier as he climbed. This made him a little nervous. By time he reached the top, there was nothing but a narrow strip of land about four feet in width connecting the one he was on to what looked like a circular piece of land just as high up with a staircase leading down.
Sharie and Subaru had already crossed the piece of land when they saw that Kenshi had stopped at the beginning of the land.
"What's wrong?" called Sharie.
"I'm afraid of heights!" Kenshi called back.
"Just don't look down and cross slowly!" she shot back. "It's the only way to leave!"
"Al-alright," stammered Kenshi. He breathed in, and was about to take his first step, when the land changed.
No longer was it just a strip of land. The edges had fallen away, and only a crystal path of cubes stacked together in a horizontal line connected the lands.
"What the hell is going on!?" cried Sharie as she caught glance of the path. The sky turned to a musky orange, and steam burst up from both sides of the half-foot cubes. A steam blast pushed itself through the center of the path, and clouded Kenshi's vision.
Then Sharie's eyes grew wide with horror. "Kenshi! Did you see red letters that formed Phase Three?"
"Yeah! I thought they were pointless, so I ignored them. I'm sorry..." he gasped.
"Don't be! But, just tell me one thing!"
"What's that?" asked Kenshi with sorrow in his voice.
"What did they say?"
"Phase three, Shocking Magus, the misery of heights!"
"Oh no," Sharie choked as a burst of steam hit her in the face.
"Kenshi! Listen to me! The only way to survive this is to cross that path!" cried Subaru, her face drown in a veil of Steam.
"I, I can't!" hollered Kenshi.
"If you need motivation," Sharie blurted through steam clouds, "then look behind you!"
Kenshi glanced over his shoulder, and saw what looked like sparks of electricity flying at him. They formed what looked like a leaf. It had around twelve leaves, and a twig like center supporting them. On the end, heading right for him, was a large stone sphere.
Kenshi gasped at the creature, and had no choice but to stumble onto the path. He walked slowly, and took it one step at a time.
"Just don't look down!" cried Sharie, which of course made Kenshi look down. He was half way there, but looking down slowed him down. The steam blast hit him in the face.
The stinging gas filled his nostrils, and made them burn. It hit his eyes, and made them water. He sniffed a little, and when his eyes cleared, he was falling. Falling from reality, and his friends. He was going to die, and the enemy will have won, but there was nothing he could do about it.
* * *
Kenshi opened his eyes. He was in a dull classroom. A teacher's dull voice droned on and on about a lesson he couldn't care less about. It was mid- spring, and a gentle breeze wave through his hair.
Was...was it all just a dream? he thought. Did I just imagine falling? Dream up the virus? And was Cheetra ever existent?
He was home. He was at his own high school. His familiar standard issue pencil glowed bright in the sunlight.
Kenshi really thought he was home. He finally got a good look at the girl sitting next to him. It was Cheetra.
"Cheetra? What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I'm your friend, why wouldn't I be here when you needed me to?" she responded.
"Yeah, where are we supposed to be, at home?"
Sharie's sarcastic voice snapped his attention to the left of him.
"We'll always be there to help you out, man," supported Ryuoku. The first true friend he made in "The World" was sitting right in front of him.
"You are always with friends," cooed Subaru's soft voice. She was off to the top right of him.
"Always," Tsukazi said.
"Ryuoku, Cheetra, all of you. Thanks." Kenshi whispered.
"Friends are always there to help," Ryuoku said.
"You aren't all alone anymore. This is a game, and you've made some actual friendships," Sharie added.
"And we will always be there to give you a boost," Subaru started. And then Kenshi was falling again. He was falling down a dark hole that scared him.
"or to give you that extra reach you need," finished Tsukazi, and all of his friends grabbed his wrist, and stopped him from falling.
"So get back up, and walk over to safety!" Cheetra gripped his hand, and clasped it around a solid edge. His friends faded away, and Kenshi was in steam again.
* * *
Subaru had her eyes closed. She had heard screaming, and knew Kenshi was falling.
Is he really gone? Subaru asked herself in her head.
"Subaru! Look!" called Sharie.
Subaru opened her eyes, and saw Kenshi gripping to the edge of a cube. He slowly climbed up, and started stumbling over the last few feet. He collapsed on the side with Sharie and her on it.
"Thanks guys," Kenshi thanked.
Subaru was about to ask 'for what?' when she heard a cry of defeat. Shocking Magus was crumbling into dust, and was defeated.
* * *
Kenshi and the others walked down the marble steps. The orange sky had brightened back into a peaceful day, and everything was as sunny as it was when Kenshi first woke up on the shoreline.
On the beach, they saw a flickering red gate. Sharie and Subaru said it was a way out, and they ran towards it.
* * *
Helba smiled in her personal office.
"Well it looks like my Kite program is no longer necessary after I saw that." She smiled. "Their care for each other can help them out of situations far better then a Kite hologram could."
Helba thought of Varuchio. "It looks like your plan is failing," Helba joked to herself. "Reviving the Phase data to prey on their fears? You should have known they'd escape."
Helba grinned at the screen, and knew that it wouldn't be long now until they were reunited and had taken out Varuchio for good.
**END**
So! There's the latest chapter! Really though, it might end soon.... But thanks for reading so far. Be sure to review before you leave! And I know the whole 'power of friendship' thing was kind of corny, but since Kenshi had no friends in the real world, I thought it'd be nice for that to happen to him. Thanks for reading! Again!
Cliff
Kenshi stared at the patch of clouds in front of him. He'd found them inside an abandoned outdoor café. He wondered what they were for. At one point the blademaster considered standing on them, but then thought against it.
"Knowing my luck, they wouldn't be solid," Kenshi sighed to himself. He was about to get up, to walk around for an exit, when wind started whipping his face. He shielded his eyes, and when he opened them, saw Sharie and who he guessed was Subaru.
"Sharie!" exclaimed Kenshi, "and Subaru! It's so good to see you guys!"
"Hey, nice to see you too!" said Sharie. There was a mix of emotions on her face. Kenshi could read them like a book. She was happy to see that another friend was okay, but disappointed that she hadn't met him in somewhere like Mac Anu.
"Yes, it is nice to see that you are not hurt," Subaru said calmly.
Sharie looked at her surroundings. They were on a rocky cliff near an ocean shore. It was around eight feet off the ground. "Hey...where are we?"
"I really don't know," Kenshi admitted. "I wish I did know, though. Then I'd know where to go for an exit." He smiled. His friends hadn't left him. They were right there. He had good friends now. No longer would he be alone.
Cheetra. he thought. We have to find her.
He stood up from one of the café's tables. "We'd better get started in looking for an exit!" With that, he walked out of the arrangement of tables, and Sharie and Subaru hastily followed.
* * *
Varuchio warped into his office. A broad grin on his face at what he had done. He had warped Macha's hat. Now it controlled his thoughts, and told him to do what he wanted.
"Let's see how the brats are faring." He grinned even wider as he thought of how Crystal Innis must have emotionally ripped the angel girl apart. But as soon as he saw the screens, his grin quickly disappeared.
The screen that had Sharie and the other girl, 'Subaru', as the others said it, was blackened out. They defeated phase two.
"NO!" growled Varuchio. "They won't destroy my creation! Not now!" Then he calmed down, and smiled. They only defeated two faces. He really should have expected them to make it this far. They wouldn't go any farther though. He laughed to himself, and threw the switch to activate phase three.
In the capsule behind him, there was a sound. One that Varuchio didn't notice. A short gasp, almost as a plead. Tsukasa stirred in the container, and was then perfectly still again.
* * *
Sharie walked along the rocky path of the cliff. It was kind of near the edge, and she figured that that was why Kenshi kept his distance.
"Why is Kenshi walking so far away from us? Is there something wrong?" asked Subaru. She looked from Kenshi, to Sharie, and then looked down at herself.
"No, it's not us. The kid's just afraid of heights." Even as the words slipped from her mouth, Sharie knew what Kenshi's phase would be. He was afraid of heights, and phase three was going to pry on that.
* * *
"Hey! Look ahead! The cliff is starting to slope up!" cried Sharie.
"Finally, we're getting somewhere!" moaned Kenshi.
"Yes, let us hurry," agreed Subaru.
Kenshi walked up the cliff carelessly, keeping close to the center so as not to be near either side. Subaru noticed this as he lagged behind them.
"Sharie? May I ask you a question?" asked Subaru.
"Well, ya just did so I guess that one more won't hurt," teased Sharie.
"Oh, okay." The girl was silent after that.
"I didn't mean that you couldn't!" explained Sharie, as she noticed that her idle was depressed. Subaru lightened up at her words.
"Oh, I apologize for not understanding," Subaru said.
"Hey, you want to know something?" asked Sharie.
"What is it?" Subaru had no idea what the girl was talking about.
"That," she said flatly.
"This?" asked a puzzled Subaru.
"Yeah, that. The way you talk is way to formal. Try to dull it down a bit."
"Dull it down?"
"Yeah. Just try it."
"I shall try."
"No! Not like that at all! Try being more casual. Like, instead of saying 'I shall try,' try something like 'alright'."
"I sha-... Alright. It actually sounds a little weird." Subaru scrunched her face at the new answer she gave her new friend.
"Well. If you don't like it, then you can pretend I didn't say anything at all," said Sharie giving up.
"I think I will."
They walked for a little while. The land didn't seem to level out for a little while still.
"Hey, Subaru?" asked Sharie.
"Yes?" Subaru responded.
"Didn't you have something to ask me earlier?" Sharie asked.
"Yes I did," Subaru said. She had actually forgotten all about that.
"Well," wondered Sharie, "what was it?"
"It's about Kenshi and phase three." Sharie felt her stomach lurch at the mention of phase three.
"What about?" asked Sharie.
"Well it's...it's just that.... Don't you think Kenshi might be desperately afraid of heights?"
"Oh. That. Well, I guess so. Yeah."
"Do you think that phase three might play off of his greatest fear like yours and mine?"
Sharie glanced uneasily at the stumbling boy behind them, and then at Subaru. "We'll just have to keep a close eye on him, and make sure he doesn't wander off alone. We should also stay in front of him to clear the path of anything unpleasant."
"Alright. Let's go."
* * *
Kenshi knew that Sharie and Subaru were talking about him. He really didn't care though. He was to busy thinking about the angry red letters that flashed at him. The letters that spelled something he wished they didn't. Phase Three: Shocker Magus: The Misery of Heights.
He thought they had something to do with high places, but he wasn't that scared. The others probably saw it too and paid no mind to it. So he shouldn't care either.
As he walked, he saw that the path grew skinnier as he climbed. This made him a little nervous. By time he reached the top, there was nothing but a narrow strip of land about four feet in width connecting the one he was on to what looked like a circular piece of land just as high up with a staircase leading down.
Sharie and Subaru had already crossed the piece of land when they saw that Kenshi had stopped at the beginning of the land.
"What's wrong?" called Sharie.
"I'm afraid of heights!" Kenshi called back.
"Just don't look down and cross slowly!" she shot back. "It's the only way to leave!"
"Al-alright," stammered Kenshi. He breathed in, and was about to take his first step, when the land changed.
No longer was it just a strip of land. The edges had fallen away, and only a crystal path of cubes stacked together in a horizontal line connected the lands.
"What the hell is going on!?" cried Sharie as she caught glance of the path. The sky turned to a musky orange, and steam burst up from both sides of the half-foot cubes. A steam blast pushed itself through the center of the path, and clouded Kenshi's vision.
Then Sharie's eyes grew wide with horror. "Kenshi! Did you see red letters that formed Phase Three?"
"Yeah! I thought they were pointless, so I ignored them. I'm sorry..." he gasped.
"Don't be! But, just tell me one thing!"
"What's that?" asked Kenshi with sorrow in his voice.
"What did they say?"
"Phase three, Shocking Magus, the misery of heights!"
"Oh no," Sharie choked as a burst of steam hit her in the face.
"Kenshi! Listen to me! The only way to survive this is to cross that path!" cried Subaru, her face drown in a veil of Steam.
"I, I can't!" hollered Kenshi.
"If you need motivation," Sharie blurted through steam clouds, "then look behind you!"
Kenshi glanced over his shoulder, and saw what looked like sparks of electricity flying at him. They formed what looked like a leaf. It had around twelve leaves, and a twig like center supporting them. On the end, heading right for him, was a large stone sphere.
Kenshi gasped at the creature, and had no choice but to stumble onto the path. He walked slowly, and took it one step at a time.
"Just don't look down!" cried Sharie, which of course made Kenshi look down. He was half way there, but looking down slowed him down. The steam blast hit him in the face.
The stinging gas filled his nostrils, and made them burn. It hit his eyes, and made them water. He sniffed a little, and when his eyes cleared, he was falling. Falling from reality, and his friends. He was going to die, and the enemy will have won, but there was nothing he could do about it.
* * *
Kenshi opened his eyes. He was in a dull classroom. A teacher's dull voice droned on and on about a lesson he couldn't care less about. It was mid- spring, and a gentle breeze wave through his hair.
Was...was it all just a dream? he thought. Did I just imagine falling? Dream up the virus? And was Cheetra ever existent?
He was home. He was at his own high school. His familiar standard issue pencil glowed bright in the sunlight.
Kenshi really thought he was home. He finally got a good look at the girl sitting next to him. It was Cheetra.
"Cheetra? What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I'm your friend, why wouldn't I be here when you needed me to?" she responded.
"Yeah, where are we supposed to be, at home?"
Sharie's sarcastic voice snapped his attention to the left of him.
"We'll always be there to help you out, man," supported Ryuoku. The first true friend he made in "The World" was sitting right in front of him.
"You are always with friends," cooed Subaru's soft voice. She was off to the top right of him.
"Always," Tsukazi said.
"Ryuoku, Cheetra, all of you. Thanks." Kenshi whispered.
"Friends are always there to help," Ryuoku said.
"You aren't all alone anymore. This is a game, and you've made some actual friendships," Sharie added.
"And we will always be there to give you a boost," Subaru started. And then Kenshi was falling again. He was falling down a dark hole that scared him.
"or to give you that extra reach you need," finished Tsukazi, and all of his friends grabbed his wrist, and stopped him from falling.
"So get back up, and walk over to safety!" Cheetra gripped his hand, and clasped it around a solid edge. His friends faded away, and Kenshi was in steam again.
* * *
Subaru had her eyes closed. She had heard screaming, and knew Kenshi was falling.
Is he really gone? Subaru asked herself in her head.
"Subaru! Look!" called Sharie.
Subaru opened her eyes, and saw Kenshi gripping to the edge of a cube. He slowly climbed up, and started stumbling over the last few feet. He collapsed on the side with Sharie and her on it.
"Thanks guys," Kenshi thanked.
Subaru was about to ask 'for what?' when she heard a cry of defeat. Shocking Magus was crumbling into dust, and was defeated.
* * *
Kenshi and the others walked down the marble steps. The orange sky had brightened back into a peaceful day, and everything was as sunny as it was when Kenshi first woke up on the shoreline.
On the beach, they saw a flickering red gate. Sharie and Subaru said it was a way out, and they ran towards it.
* * *
Helba smiled in her personal office.
"Well it looks like my Kite program is no longer necessary after I saw that." She smiled. "Their care for each other can help them out of situations far better then a Kite hologram could."
Helba thought of Varuchio. "It looks like your plan is failing," Helba joked to herself. "Reviving the Phase data to prey on their fears? You should have known they'd escape."
Helba grinned at the screen, and knew that it wouldn't be long now until they were reunited and had taken out Varuchio for good.
**END**
So! There's the latest chapter! Really though, it might end soon.... But thanks for reading so far. Be sure to review before you leave! And I know the whole 'power of friendship' thing was kind of corny, but since Kenshi had no friends in the real world, I thought it'd be nice for that to happen to him. Thanks for reading! Again!