Sorry about the not-updating thing. My computer crashed and I don't have word any more, so it's taking a while to update. Thanks for reviewing.
Distraction
The girl laid on the soft grass, he chest lightly rising and falling as she breathed in deep sleep. Ryuoku and the group sat around her.
"So," started Cheetra. "She was created by Varuchio,"
"And has the power to spread the virus," added Sharie.
"And the power to stop it," finished Ryuoku.
"So, what do we do?" asked Tsukazi. They all sat in silence occasionally exchanging glances.
"You bring the girl to destruction server, and place her in the capsule of the person she was born from."
The voice was so sudden that Ryuoku jumped at the sound of it.
"Helba!" said a startled Subaru as the hacker walked into view.
"What do you mean?" asked Ryuoku, focusing on the topic.
"The girl was created from Tsukasa," Helba said calmly.
"What?!" Subaru exclaimed.
"Allow me to explain," Helba started. "When Tsukasa was trapped in the world, a data file of what kept him here was stored onto him. Varuchio knew of this. He staged a fake complaint to get you and Tsukasa over to where he could grab him, and extract the file to make a new virus.
Subaru stood silently with a look of horror on her face. Ryuoku knew what was going through her mind. She was probably thinking about how Tsukasa would survive something like that.
"We should hurry to Destruction server then!" Cheetra said.
"Alright, let's go," Ryuoku said, and then stared at Helba. "How did you know that?"
"I'm a hacker, how else?" She looked calm and collected, but Ryuoku could tell there was something wrong with her. Shrugging off as just his mind after what had happened, he led the group to the chaos gate, and they warped to the field included in Subaru's e-mail.
Helba smiled at the group as they left. It was too easy, he thought, as the disguise melted off his body, and Varuchio was standing where Helba had been. The real Helba hadn't been logged on for a while.
Sure he had released some valuable information, but he needed the group to go to Destruction server for his plan to be carried out. They would be annihilated. He would win the game, and soon, the entire earth.
Aura sat quietly in the field where she was born. The virus storm had totaled it, but that didn't matter. She knew what Varuchio had done. Both of the things. He had lied to Ryuoku by pretending to be Helba to get him to go to Destruction server, and he had sent out an e-mail using a special system to all of the people who haven't been infected by the virus yet.
Ryuoku had to stop him. The mail he had sent had told all players of the world to be logged into the world between the hours of five p.m. to five the next day. If they did, they would receive a special status item. At that time Aura knew what Varuchio would do.
Ryuoku had to hurry. He had to beat the World Wide Virus Storm.
There was no field, or at least, only the leftovers of one. Basically, everything Ryuoku could see was plain white. A few scrapes of the field remained here and there, but the only thing visible was the entrance to a dungeon. Ryuoku motioned with his hand, and the group followed him hastily away from the empty field.
With each step Ryuoku took, he wished that mom had never purchased the game for him. He whished that his mom didn't work for CC Corp., and he whished that Subaru had never agreed to let Tsukasa come with her to that field.
He remembered when he had first found the axe, and saw the virus for the first time.
FLASHBACK
The tower was small on the outside, and on the inside, the walls were just as plain as the floor and ceiling. Ryuoku was in the middle of a battle.
"Hyaaaa!" cried Ryuoku as he delivered the finishing blow. The monster faded away, and didn't leave enough Exp. for a level up, but he did leave a blue treasure chest. Ryuoku reached for the lid.
"Wait," he thought, "aren't the blue boxes traps? Better use a fortune wire on it just in case." He pulled an ever-changing color piece of wire out of his item inventory. He gently placed the wire on the blue box, and it began to glow multiple colors, and then, as if making up its mind, it suddenly stopped on yellow. He reached for the lid, but that too began to glow colors. It stopped on red.
"A red chest? That doesn't make sense!" he said to no one. He kicked open the lid, and something blue splashed out. It landed on the floor, and just faded away like a defeated monster. In the bottom of the box was a shining, golden axe.
"Is this some high level weapon?" he asked himself. Confused, he equipped it and started hiking up the stairs.
PRESENT
Ryuoku was forced out of his thoughts by Sharie's scream.
"What is it?!" he asked, worried that it was the virus.
"There's a mouse!" Sharie cried. Ryuoku smiled in amusement. "Who puts a mouse in a game? I mean, really. Do..."
She continued to ramble as they walked, and Ryuoku thought back.
FLASHBACK
As Kite and Ryuoku began to leave the room, a blue pile of 1's and 0's started to form.
"Hey! That thing crawled out of the treasure chest that this axe came from!"
"Are you sure? That's a computer virus.. But still," Now he bellowed at the top of his lungs, "DATA DRAIN!" His bracelet began to glow, but that's about it.
"Damn!"
"What's wrong?"
"My data drain didn't work!"
"Come again?"
"This bracelet," he flashed around his legendary bracelet, " is supposed to drain all virus', but it didn't effect this one!"
The blue mess was starting to change during Kite's explanation. It grew in to something horrible, a disturbing monster swimming with blue mass. Kite took a swing at it, but nothing happened. It merely grunted.
Kite backed off to the wall, and tried the data drain once again. No effect.
Ryuoku started to worry, he started flailing his axe. " We need some type of Virus Drain or something!"
At the words of Virus Drain, the axe started to glow. Blue wires came out of the axe, and grabbed the creature. Slowly, the information of the virus and creature began to get absorbed by the axe. No matter how much it struggled, it shortly perished.
PRESENT
"What's the point of everything Varuchio's done?" he asked himself quietly.
Subaru and Tsukasa sat in a park. It was full of trees and flowers. Insects hummed happily in the fields as children laughed and played together. Tsukasa suddenly broke out in laughter. He didn't know at what. All he could think about was how much fun he was having.
He was about to stop laughing, and he felt slightly embarrassed until he heard the familiar chime of Subaru's laughter join his. They laughed together in joy.
When Tsukasa finally stopped laughing, he realized something was wrong. Subaru realized it too. The light slowly faded from the fields, and the children stopped playing. Tsukasa looked over at them, and the children all faced him at once.
Their faces were warped and deformed. When they opened their mouths, a low growling sound came out, and their eyes changed to sharp yellow. Their pupils became tiny slits. They faded away, and Subaru faded too.
"Subaru!" he screamed, but it went unanswered in the eternal darkness that now surrounded him. He was balancing on a small ledge, and saw only darkness below. The ledge rumbled. His eyes widened as he saw the source of the vibration. A giant clawed, purple hand that in one swing, swept him into the darkness. He screamed, but it echoed away into the darkness.
REALITY
Tsukasa sat inside the still-life chamber. A few bubbles leaked out from his nose, and Varuchio stared at him from his chair. He soon went back to his work when he realized that it was only a few bubbles.
Sharie was the first to walk into the final room. It was empty except for a flickering green Chaos gate in the center.
"You think that that's the way to Destruction server?" Sharie asked sarcastically.
"No, maybe we should keep looking," Ryuoku responded, smiling at her.
Sharie and Ryuoku walked up to the gate. "You ready?" he asked.
"Whenever you are," Sharie responded. The two of them warped to the field, leaving the others behind.
"Do you think they forgot about us?" Tsukazi asked, scratching his head.
"Naw," said Cheetra. "They're just anxious."
"Well," began Kenshi. "Are we just gonna sit here?"
"Do you think we came all this way for nothing?" asked Cheetra, not expecting an answer.
"Alright then," Tsukazi said, raising his staff. "Let's go," He warped out of the dungeon. Subaru warped next. Cheetra quickly followed them.
"Why do I have the feeling that something isn't right?" Kenshi asked himself, before joining the others.
The girl stared at the gate. The others had just left her. Was this abandonment? No, she had felt that before. So what was this feeling that she hadn't been programmed with? She stared at nothing for a while.
Did they have intentions of leaving her their? No, that didn't seem logical. They needed her to stop the virus. So why had they left her? Did they plan on finding another way of stopping this virus?
Again, there was no logic in her theory. So why did they let her stay? Or did they expect her to follow? But what was to stop her from just walking away? She didn't want to, but this still led back to the feeling she didn't know. What was this?
She sat in thought for a few minutes, before her lips parted and let her voice escape with a word.
"Trust..." she whispered, before going to the gate and following the others.
Subaru stared at her familiar surroundings. The server was designed after Net Slum, but also like a town. It looked sort of like the Relic City Lia Fail that Helba had booted up a while back, only strangely deserted.
"This place gives me the creeps," Sharie said quietly.
"Yeah," agreed Kenshi. "But why is the root town so big?" Ryuoku looked around, and saw that the boy was right. The town was huge. A good thousand feet were between each of the shops, not to mention the vast center of the town. It looked sort of like an arena.
REAL WORLD
Ryu practically jumped out of his chair when he heard the ping of new mail.
"What's this?" he asked no one.
Sender: VaruchioSubject: It's about time.
It's about time you made it to Destruction server! Why don't we end this with a final fight? You and me, one on one. Actually, bring all of your friends. It'd be fun to kill you all at once. Keywords are Hopeless, Mysterious, Waste.
Ryu glared at the screen. Did he really think that this was going to work? Ryu formed a plan quickly in his head, and clicked back to the game.
GAME
"That self absorbed-," Ryuoku began. He turned to Sharie and Tsukazi. "We're going to stop Varuchio's trap. I want you four," he pointed to Cheetra, Kenshi, Subaru, and the girl. "I want you to stay here, out of danger."
"Done!" said Kenshi, smiling. He was probably relieved that he didn't have to fight the virus again. Cheetra, however, looked thoroughly depressed. Missing all that experience was probably killing her.
Ryuoku thought for a second before leading the party off to the chaos gate.
FLASHBACK
Sender: KiteSubject: Sorry.
Sorry Ryuoku, but I can't make it. I have something at home that I have to do, and although this seems like a trivial reason not to be saving the world, I still have to do this. Besides, with my bracelet being useless, I'm sure you can handle this on your own. Sorry about this, later!
Ryu closed the mail. It was all right. Kite had already risked himself to save "The World" once. He'd done his part. All the team had to do now was end this.
PRESENT
"What a strange person," Ryuoku muttered to himself before entering the key words, and disappearing from view.
Cheetra stared at the team leave. Was the final enemy really this easy? How could it end just like this? And what made Ryuoku leave so suddenly, and to another field besides the one they had originally planned?
Cheetra was so lost in thought; she didn't realize the ball of light falling from the sky.
"Too easy," said Varuchio, and laughed as he pulled the switch to trigger the virus monster hiding in the room that Ryuoku just warped to. He didn't bring the girl, but it didn't matter. The other trap would get her back.
"What is that thing?!" exclaimed Sharie. The room they had warped to was empty, and Ryuoku thought that Varuchio had done this just to be annoying; but when the virus monster appeared in the center of the room, he changed his tone.
"Alright," Ryuoku began. "Stand back," He raised his axe-
Arrroooooo! The demons cry echoed through the cave.
-and watched his life deplete to zero when he was hit with one swing. He crashed into the rocky wall, and watched, as he became a ghost.
"Okay," Ryuoku said as a ghost. "Sharie, you distract the monster with attacks. Tsukazi, you revive me so I can Virus Drain it. Ready? Go!"
"Alright," Sharie said uneasily, before hacking at the enemy.
Light sparkled over Ryuoku, and he saw himself slowly regain strength.
"Okay," Ryuoku started. "Let's go! Virus Drain!"
The blue strands shot out of the axe, and the creature was gone.
"Well done," said a voice covered in static.
"Varuchio," Ryuoku said through gritted teeth.
"I hope you enjoyed my little surprise."
"That's not funny," Sharie said in rage.
"Yeah!" Tsukazi agreed. "We could've been killed!"
"Now what made you think I wanted that?" Varuchio asked in a false caring voice. "And by the way, your friends have a little problem of their own." Ryuoku's eyes widened. "While you were having fun, I activated phase six. And I've slowed the server, so it'll take a while for you to gate out. Hope your friends don't die too quickly."
"No!" cried Ryuoku, but he knew it was useless. The only thing he could do was pray that his friends would make it out.
The light was a hat, and as the group stared, the blue hat grew ears, and was suddenly attached to a cat's body. Only the cat looked like-
"Macha!" Subaru exclaimed, recognizing the cat instantly. What was she doing here?
Everyone gasped when Macha grinned in an evil way. Her yellow hat changed into a neon blue, and the virus surrounded it. Slowly, the virus surrounded the cat, and it began to grow. Static began to flicker across everyone's screens. The girl backed away into a corner.
Phase 6: Macha: Hell's Temptress.
Subaru was shocked at the red letters. What it meant, Subaru had no clue. All she saw was a giant dress unfolding before them. It was blue, and looked like the hat still perched on her head. The dress was easily ten feet long in every direction, and there was no telling how long it would be if the last crease unfolded. Connected to the top of the dress, was what looked like a woman. She has no pupils, and wore an ever-smiling expression. It scared her.
On top of the head was long blue hair primarily into three sections. Subaru couldn't see how since it was hidden under the hat. One arm protruded from each side, and they both had long silk gloves on. Of course, they too were blue. Pale blue skin was wrapped around the bones of her body.
Subaru took a step back. What is that thing? she thought frantically, could it be phase six? Subaru stopped as a thought flashed through her head.
FLASHBACK
Kite yawned, and stretched back. He was enjoying all of the virtual reality scenes.
"Kite?" asked a timid Subaru. "You were talking about the phases, and how they terrorized "The World"?"
"That's right," said Kite. "One of the hardest was most definitely phase six. 'Macha the Temptress'." He recited. "One of her primary attacks was called 'Suspicious Seduction,'"
"What did that do?" asked Subaru.
"It charmed your entire party so I ended up attacking my friends." Kite sighed. "Of course, the trouble we had with her was nothing compared to that of the final phase."
PRESENT
Subaru stared in horror at the now identified monster. It scared her, and the fact that Ryuoku hadn't returned scared her more.
Cheetra glared at the demon. "A monster in a root town?" she boomed. "What's up with that?"
"I don't know," replied Kenshi, "But we have to do something. It looks like it's going to do something!"
He was right. As soon he finished his words, the monster was surrounded by pink light.
"SUSPICIOUS SEDUCTION!" it boomed, and Cheetra realized that she had lost control of her character. Both her and Subaru were charmed. Kenshi wasn't, though. He was probably equipped with an item that prevented charm. Cheetra and Subaru ran up to each other.
"I'm sorry," panted Subaru as she took a swing at Cheetra. Her life barely moved down.
"Me too," breathed Cheetra, as she killed Subaru in one swing of her high level, limited edition weapon. But Cheetra in the real world froze in terror as she saw her character turn towards Kenshi.
Macha glared at the humans that it was designed to kill. Nothing went through her head except for her programmed thoughts.
KILL, TERMINATE, STOP, SUSPICIOUS SEDUCTION, ATTACK, DESTROY, STOP, ATTACK, STOP, SUSPICIOUS SEDUCTION, ATTACK, DESTROY, KILL, TERMINATE, SUSPICIOUS SEDUCTION, ATTACK, DESTROY, KILL, TERMINATE, STOP, ATTACK, DESTROY, KILL, TERMINATE, STOP, SUSPICIOUS SEDUCTION, ATTACK, DESTROY, TERMINATE, STOP, ATTACK, DESTROY!
But that isn't you.
The thought was foreign in her system, but it was quickly over ridden.
KILL, TERMINATE, STOP, SUSPICIOUS SEDUCTION, ATTACK, DESTROY, STOP, ATTACK, STOP, SUSPICIOUS SEDUCTION, ATTACK, DESTROY, KILL, TERMINATE, SUSPICIOUS SEDUCTION, ATTACK, DESTROY, KILL, TERMINATE, STOP, ATTACK, DESTROY, KILL, TERMINATE, STOP, -
But that isn't the real you!
The thought was more determined, but Macha refused to budge.
Could the real me be buried?
Macha was surprised by the thought, but again, it didn't last long.
KILL, TERMINATE, STOP, SUSPICIOUS SEDUCTION, ATTACK, DESTROY...
Kenshi stared in wide-eyed terror as Cheetra ran towards him. Only logical idea flashed through his head. Run.
He turned and started sprinting away from his attacker, even if it was Cheetra. He ran aimlessly down the twisting corridors of the town. He saw two possible choices. He could run down the ally and circle around, or he could just go in a straight line. Circling around seemed like a better idea, so he went down the ally.
As soon as he rounded the corner to the ally, he regretted it. It was a dead end. A large wall made of wood blocked him off. He ran into it full force in hopes of it falling over. It didn't work, and now his hands hurt.
He turned around, and was ready to face what Cheetra was going to do.
She raised her axe high, and swung down-
CHUCK!
-And struck would. Kenshi flinched, and she raised it again, she repositioned her self, and began to swing down.
"Nooooo!" she screeched as the axe came down. It stopped just barely away from his face. The charm wore off.
"I'm so sorry," she choked between sobs. "The pain I could've just caused you," She sank to the ground, and began to cry. "I had no control,"
Kenshi wanted to say something soothing; something to make her feel better, but no sound escaped his pursed lips. He was still frozen with fear. Slowly the color returned to his face, and he turned around.
A one-inch deep slice was in the wood, and Kenshi couldn't have imagined the experience of death he just barely missed.
Kenshi returned to the battlefield, and resurrected Subaru.
"Where's Cheetra?" she asked unknowingly.
"I thought it'd be better if she didn't go through that again." Kenshi said. He thought it'd embarrass her if she knew that Kenshi had told Subaru she was crying on the ground of a dark ally, so he left that part out.
A swirling of color slowly found its way in front of Macha.
"What is that?" asked Subaru.
As if in answer to question, the swirling stopped, and Aura appeared. "The true Macha is being contained inside this hat. Remove it to stop this being! Please, you must save Macha!" Aura pleaded.
Subaru nodded silently, and Aura flew over to the side to watch this fight. Subaru jumped into the air, and planned to bring her axe down on the hat to knock it to the side. Macha effortlessly swept her aside. She quickly scrambled to her feet to attempt the attack again, and was once again blocked.
Is this even possible? Subaru asked herself. How are we supposed to defeat this thing?
An idea struck in her head, and she backed up to Kenshi to tell it to him.
Varuchio stared at the camera screen he set up in Destruction server. He laughed silently to himself as Macha attacked the stupid angel girl over and over again.
He was startled when the first sound happened. A simple blub! from Tsukasa's capsule, and he dismissed the thought of a threat. The second sound was one that scared him beyond rational thought, a cracking noise that came from the capsule.
The capsule was breaking! It was actually failing. Tsukasa was going to get out, and all he could do was watch helplessly as the fluid slowly leaked out of the crack. The glass soon shattered, and liquid spilled over the carpeted room. Tsukasa fell to the ground.
Macha glared at the beings that quietly talked to each other. What were they planning? She didn't like not knowing something, and was about to attack when the angel-girl attacked again.
Macha swept her away without even trying, and then realized all too late that she wasn't the one to be watching. The blademaster was charging at her, and she couldn't move quick enough to stop him. A swing of his sword, and her hat fell off.
Her mind raced, and frantically, she tried to get the hat back before the other side could stop her. She was too late to stop herself from changing back into a cat, but managed to get the hat back on before the other side took complete control over her again.
Macha tried to change back into the Temptress, but couldn't. She was stuck as the cat. Oh well. Only one thing left to do. She raised her right paw, and a giant, barbell-like creature appeared. It was yellow, and in the center was a ring of sorts. The ring was blue, symbolizing that a Data Drain could not defeat it, for it was made up of the new virus.
It was over for them. She had done something horrible, as her other half thought, but she was happy. She had summoned The Guardian.
The girl ran frantically down the streets of Destruction server. She knew what Varuchio had done. He had slowed the warping abilities of Ryuoku, and she had to help him.
She reached the Chaos Gate. She clapped her hands together, and a blue strand came out from behind her. It quickly entered the gate, and the girl fell to her knees. It took a lot out of her to summon the virus, but she had used its immense power to fix the field for Ryuoku.
"My name," she whispered. "My name is Terry. I remember."
Subaru stared in horror at the being standing in front of her. It was her nightmare to see this thing again. The thing that had killed the good-hearted Macha. It was the Guardian, and Subaru felt her legs wanting to give out.
Her eyes widened in horror as a tentacle slid out of the yellow matter. It curled slightly, and then shot at her-
FLASHBACK
And the cat held out a hand to stop it. She turned to Tsukasa, only to see he had a blank look on his face.
As always, she thought
The cat turned to face Tsukasa, and he uttered only a single word.
"Macha," he said quietly.
So the cat had a name, and Subaru did not doubt that this cat was the one that had caused so many problems.
Macha stared back at the three attackers, and lowered his paw. Immediately, three tentacles shot into Macha, and a triple flash of numbers and lights covered the room. Subaru covered her eyes from the glare. A single, silent scream filled the room. Only Tsukasa heard it.
When she opened them, the monsters were gone, and so was Macha. Macha had sacrificed herself to save them.
PRESENT
But what was going to happen to her now? Macha couldn't help, and all she saw was one swift tentacle soaring towards her.
"It was all a distraction," muttered Sharie feeling utterly defeated.
"All to stop Ryuoku from helping," sighed Tsukazi.
"Warp," said Ryuoku.
"What?" asked Tsukazi and Sharie in unison.
"Warp now," Ryuoku said again. "Something tells me we might be able to help in this fight after all.
Cheetra ran into the way of the tentacle axe first. The stringy substance seemed to bend, and Subaru breathed a sigh of relief.
"Cheetra?" asked Kenshi.
"Yep!" she said, smiling. "Do you honestly think I'd miss a good fight?"
Kenshi smiled back, and they helped Subaru to her feet.
"But," started Subaru. "What do we do now?"
"How about a Virus Drain?!"
They saw the blue strands before they saw the heavyaxeman responsible.
"Ryuoku!" cried Subaru. "You're okay!"
"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked, slightly offended.
They were interrupted by a cry of horror. To Subaru's Surprise, it was Aura. She had forgotten that she was watching.
"No!" she began "Please no! It wasn't your fault!"
Ryuoku looked over to where she was staring, and saw Macha. He began to speak. Apparently, he had triumphed over the hat in the end.
"I'm sorry Aura," she said, "But if my will was bent that easily, then I don't deserve to remain in this world. I'm deleting my data from "The World", permanently."
The warm carpet was soft, and comforting, but being able to feel at all, Tsukasa knew he was in a coma again. He slowly dragged himself to his feet, and looked at his surroundings.
He was in a nice looking office, and cowering in a corner was a face he barely remembered, but still knew that he hated that person. The man had pale white skin, and long, dark matted hair. A trench coat covered the rest of his body. Tsukasa reached into a corner, and grabbed his staff.
"How are you alive?" asked the man in the office. "Once that capsule failed, then you should have died!"
Tsukasa looked behind him, and saw the remains of what would have been a capsule that the man was talking about. "One thing you should know," Tsukasa said as he walked out of the office. "Although I have the worst luck, I still have the best of it sometimes."
He glared at the man. "Follow me and I'll kill you." With that, he ran out of the office and into the hallway, slamming the door shut behind him. He ran out into what looked like a waiting area, complete with a secretary's desk. "Subaru," he whispered as he walked out of the room. "Where are you?"
Macha's image flickered, and pieces of her floated away. "Good-bye Aura. And to you all," said the cat who could finally be heard. "I'm sorry."
More pieces floated away until the cat looked like a half-finished jigsaw puzzle, and then faded away into nothing. Aura looked deeply depressed, but still turned to Ryuoku.
"You have to save "The World,"!" she whispered. "You have to hurry! The World Wide virus storm will happen whenever Varuchio feels like throwing the switch! At that moment, every computer in the world will send the virus into any living organism, and they will all become part of "The World" forever!"
"Who could do that?" asked Sharie. Then she felt like slapping herself. Varuchio would do anything to get what he wanted. But what did he want?
"Please," Aura said. "You must hurry!" She faded away, and Ryuoku stared at nothing.
"What now?" asked Subaru as Terry rejoined them.
"We wait," he whispered. "Wait for Helba, and wait for an answer. If nothing happens in an hour, we go to Lost Eternal Suffering for Tsukasa."
END
Again, sorry about how it took so long. As I said earlier, I don't have Word anymore, so it takes a while to get access to a computer. Well, please read and review! By the way, this is the second to last chapter. Sorry, but it's almost over.