Darkness. It was the first thing Serena noticed after she opened her eyes.
The full moon was hanging above her, casting a faint white light that
pushed its way through the canopy of the surrounding forest. The smell was
remarkable; how easily it was for her to believe that she wasn't in a
virtual world just from the pine smell alone.
As she took her first few steps and felt the twigs snap beneath he feet she revelled in the sensations her virtual body gave her. She could feel the differences and was aware of how it was different then her normal body, but at the same time she still had full range of motion and motor control just as if she was still in her physical body.
She panned her surroundings but literally couldn't see the forest for the trees. Shades of brown and green were mostly all she could see as the shadows danced about the forest from the swaying of the overhanging tree limbs. She noticed a small path heading between two rows of trees and was about to head down it when she heard a twig snap behind her. She whipped around to see a monster emerging from the shadows.
"I almost didn't recognize you," Beezy said in the Sword Hunter's body as the moonlight revealed him to Serena.
"Same here," she replied. "I almost attacked you."
"At least you had an idea of that I was going to look like," the the wry reply. "You never did tell me what avatar you were going to take." Beezy looked up and down her form. "It's nice."
Serena gave him a dissapproving look. "Aren't you a little young to be looking at me like that?"
Beezy smiled. "I'm not that young. But I will admit that I am a bit confused. You avatar is a male monster but---"
"But obviously I'm not," Serena finished for him, running her hands up the curves of her body. "It's a default in the program. There are specific monsters that have a predetermined gender like the Injection Fairy Lily or the Karate Man, but there are others that have two models available to them; one for male and one for female to reflect different users."
"So the monster reshaped to fit your body."
"And the White Dragon Paladin gets a virtual makeover."
"I expected you to use the Blue Eyes White Dragon as your persona. You Kaiba's do seem to have an affinity for that monster. Or can only humanoid monsters be chosen?"
"Not at all," Serena explained. "Any monster in the game can be chosen, not just humanoid shaped ones. I did use my Blue Eyes White Dragon in the early trial runs of the system but I found it to be an awkward body to move around in and to interact with the environment. Plus with this monster's special abil---" She was cut off by an eerie howl echoing through the forest all around her and Beezy.
"What was that?" Beezy asked as he surveyed the area, trying futily to peer through the thick blackness, his swords drawn and ready to strike.
"I don't know," she replied earnestly. She had her own sword ready and stood back to back with Beezy. The howl pierced the air once more, louder and clearer than it had been before. It was closer. "Be on your guard. Remember that we logged into the same server where the last virus attack happened, and that was only a few hours ago. The chances are really good that whatever errant program attacked and killed those two kids is still in this area." The howl resonated through the trees once again as if to verify Serena's theory.
"That direction," Beezy shouted using his sword to point to a direction through the trees. He broke off in a run, leaving Serena standing where she was.
"Beezy wait!" she tried to warn him but it was too late and he was gone. Seeing no other alternative she took off after him, following the path that he had carved through the tree branches with his twin swords. Just ahead she could see moonlight casting down onto an open stretch of land, a grassy field just through the trees ahead of her. Reaching the edge of the forest she borke into the clearing and stayed close to the protection the forest might offer if something did attack.
"Kaiba," a raspy voice called out through the dark from her left. Whipping her head to try and see the source she locked eyes with a fierce monster. Beezy was pinned to the ground underneath its massive claw. She immediately recognized the monster as a Gazelle the Mythical King of Beasts as it roared at her. It opened it's jaws, gleaming with teeth, once more. "Took you long enough to get here."
"Let him go," Serena said sternly.
"I don't think so," the beast barked at her.
"Now." She brought up her sword to bear on the monster.
"Make a move," replied the Gazelle, taunting her. "And I'll crush his neck." For emphasis it dug it's claws into Beezy further, illiciting a painful cry out of the young man. "I wonder what effect it would have on his fragile ody in the real world."
As the monster spoke the shock was obvious on Serena's face. "You....You're not...?"
"A program? Actually I am. But different then the mindless NPCs you programmed for your little game."
Steadying herself against this information sher realized that her questions would have to wait until Beezy wassafe. "I said let him go," she repeated. "I will destroy you."
"You think you could make it before your friend was dead?" The two stared each other down as the wind blew through the field around them, the grass rippling like waes of an ocean. Thoughts rushed through Serena's head. "Do you risk it?" Gazelle asked, breaking the silence. "That's what you're thinking right? Do you risk the boy's life to try and attack me? There's a more important question you should be asking yourself?"
"What would that be?"
"Can you beat both of us?" Before Serena could respond she was slammed into full force from behind, sending her flying into a nearby tree outlining the field. As she tried to rise to her feet a massive claw seized around her neck pressing her against the tree. Because of the shadows cast by the massive branches she couldn't make out her attackers visage, but out the corner of her eye she could still see the Gazelle lording over Beezy's form so she knew that whatever held her now was a different monster.
A sudden gust of wind blew harshly across the plain forcing the branches of the trees to creak and sway, allowing beams of moonlight to cast down upon the second attacker's face and Serena was stuck with a grim realization. She coughed as she tried to form words around her oppressor's claws.
"Let her speak," the Gazelle told his partner.
"Y-You..." Serena coughed again as the pressure on her throat lessened, even though she was still being held against the tree. It was amazing that she felt such pain, even in this simulation. "You're them, aren't you?"
"Who?"
"Brandon and Adam. The last two people who were attacked by the virus program. I remember their profiles. The monster avatars they assumed. But you can't be. Their avatars were removed from the program when they...." Her voice trailed off.
"Died?" the King of Mythical Beasts finished for her with a snorting laugh. "Your game was more then they could handle. As we spread we infect more of your pathetic characters."
"The virus," she said. "You attack and kill user characters and then infect their avatars after their brain activity is stopped." The claws around her throat tightened once again cutting offher speech once again. She tried to bring her sword up to strike her attacker but it was knocked from her hand to the ground. Her vison began to go black.
"That's right. And soon we will add the Kaiba avatar to our database."
Beezy coughed as the Gazelle's claw still crushed his chest, his two swords just out of reach. "Ri...Ri..." He choked out. "Riryoku!" He managed to get out. All of a sudden Beezy and the Gazelle began to glow eerily. With a surge of power Beezy kifted the claw off his chest and using his legs as leverage threw the Gazelle off him. Leaping to his feet he grabbed his swords from where they lay and rushed to attack the beast that held Serena, slashing it across the back.
The beast cried out in pain and released its grip on Serena, she fell to her knees on the ground. It whirled around and struck Beezy in the chest, knocking him backwards. It lumbered forward into hte light of the full moon to expose its muscular features and black wings. It roared and lunged at Beezy who deflected the raining blows and claw clashed with his swords. As the beast swiped at him with its claws Beezy ducked under them and cut the monster in it's chest, drawing blood and another cry of pain. The battle continued for a few more minutes with Beezy make quick light strikes against his opponent but the monsters mass and size gave it an advantage over the young Sword Hunter.
"That was a nice move," Gazelle said as it picked itself off the ground and assumed a flanking position on hte side of Beezy opposite its partner. "You activated your support card to cut my power in half and increase your own. But your little burst of strength is gone and you still have to face us both yourself"
"Not by himself," Serena shouted from shere she had been dropped to the ground. With an uncanny swiftness she threw her sword and it flew across the field slicing one of the Mythical Beast Kings foreams as it ducked out of the way as he tried to dodge. Remarkably the sword arced across the field and flew back to her hand just as she was stepping forward.
Beezy used the moment of confusion to roll under the sweeping claws of the other monster and take a position beside Serena. "Two on two now," he said. "We're even, it's a fair fight now."
"Hardly," came the reply. "This is not even. You're not the only one who can activate support cards. My partner the Berfomet and I have access to the same abilites that our former hosts programmed into us." The two monsters closed in so that they were standing closer together. "Polymerization!" Gazelle shouted out. the air began to swirl and draw together, the two monsters drawing in themselves to the swirling mass, combining their power. There was a surge of energy and a flash of light. When it was done Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts and Berfomet were gone, and a new monster stood in it's place. "Now we've become, Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast!"
As she took her first few steps and felt the twigs snap beneath he feet she revelled in the sensations her virtual body gave her. She could feel the differences and was aware of how it was different then her normal body, but at the same time she still had full range of motion and motor control just as if she was still in her physical body.
She panned her surroundings but literally couldn't see the forest for the trees. Shades of brown and green were mostly all she could see as the shadows danced about the forest from the swaying of the overhanging tree limbs. She noticed a small path heading between two rows of trees and was about to head down it when she heard a twig snap behind her. She whipped around to see a monster emerging from the shadows.
"I almost didn't recognize you," Beezy said in the Sword Hunter's body as the moonlight revealed him to Serena.
"Same here," she replied. "I almost attacked you."
"At least you had an idea of that I was going to look like," the the wry reply. "You never did tell me what avatar you were going to take." Beezy looked up and down her form. "It's nice."
Serena gave him a dissapproving look. "Aren't you a little young to be looking at me like that?"
Beezy smiled. "I'm not that young. But I will admit that I am a bit confused. You avatar is a male monster but---"
"But obviously I'm not," Serena finished for him, running her hands up the curves of her body. "It's a default in the program. There are specific monsters that have a predetermined gender like the Injection Fairy Lily or the Karate Man, but there are others that have two models available to them; one for male and one for female to reflect different users."
"So the monster reshaped to fit your body."
"And the White Dragon Paladin gets a virtual makeover."
"I expected you to use the Blue Eyes White Dragon as your persona. You Kaiba's do seem to have an affinity for that monster. Or can only humanoid monsters be chosen?"
"Not at all," Serena explained. "Any monster in the game can be chosen, not just humanoid shaped ones. I did use my Blue Eyes White Dragon in the early trial runs of the system but I found it to be an awkward body to move around in and to interact with the environment. Plus with this monster's special abil---" She was cut off by an eerie howl echoing through the forest all around her and Beezy.
"What was that?" Beezy asked as he surveyed the area, trying futily to peer through the thick blackness, his swords drawn and ready to strike.
"I don't know," she replied earnestly. She had her own sword ready and stood back to back with Beezy. The howl pierced the air once more, louder and clearer than it had been before. It was closer. "Be on your guard. Remember that we logged into the same server where the last virus attack happened, and that was only a few hours ago. The chances are really good that whatever errant program attacked and killed those two kids is still in this area." The howl resonated through the trees once again as if to verify Serena's theory.
"That direction," Beezy shouted using his sword to point to a direction through the trees. He broke off in a run, leaving Serena standing where she was.
"Beezy wait!" she tried to warn him but it was too late and he was gone. Seeing no other alternative she took off after him, following the path that he had carved through the tree branches with his twin swords. Just ahead she could see moonlight casting down onto an open stretch of land, a grassy field just through the trees ahead of her. Reaching the edge of the forest she borke into the clearing and stayed close to the protection the forest might offer if something did attack.
"Kaiba," a raspy voice called out through the dark from her left. Whipping her head to try and see the source she locked eyes with a fierce monster. Beezy was pinned to the ground underneath its massive claw. She immediately recognized the monster as a Gazelle the Mythical King of Beasts as it roared at her. It opened it's jaws, gleaming with teeth, once more. "Took you long enough to get here."
"Let him go," Serena said sternly.
"I don't think so," the beast barked at her.
"Now." She brought up her sword to bear on the monster.
"Make a move," replied the Gazelle, taunting her. "And I'll crush his neck." For emphasis it dug it's claws into Beezy further, illiciting a painful cry out of the young man. "I wonder what effect it would have on his fragile ody in the real world."
As the monster spoke the shock was obvious on Serena's face. "You....You're not...?"
"A program? Actually I am. But different then the mindless NPCs you programmed for your little game."
Steadying herself against this information sher realized that her questions would have to wait until Beezy wassafe. "I said let him go," she repeated. "I will destroy you."
"You think you could make it before your friend was dead?" The two stared each other down as the wind blew through the field around them, the grass rippling like waes of an ocean. Thoughts rushed through Serena's head. "Do you risk it?" Gazelle asked, breaking the silence. "That's what you're thinking right? Do you risk the boy's life to try and attack me? There's a more important question you should be asking yourself?"
"What would that be?"
"Can you beat both of us?" Before Serena could respond she was slammed into full force from behind, sending her flying into a nearby tree outlining the field. As she tried to rise to her feet a massive claw seized around her neck pressing her against the tree. Because of the shadows cast by the massive branches she couldn't make out her attackers visage, but out the corner of her eye she could still see the Gazelle lording over Beezy's form so she knew that whatever held her now was a different monster.
A sudden gust of wind blew harshly across the plain forcing the branches of the trees to creak and sway, allowing beams of moonlight to cast down upon the second attacker's face and Serena was stuck with a grim realization. She coughed as she tried to form words around her oppressor's claws.
"Let her speak," the Gazelle told his partner.
"Y-You..." Serena coughed again as the pressure on her throat lessened, even though she was still being held against the tree. It was amazing that she felt such pain, even in this simulation. "You're them, aren't you?"
"Who?"
"Brandon and Adam. The last two people who were attacked by the virus program. I remember their profiles. The monster avatars they assumed. But you can't be. Their avatars were removed from the program when they...." Her voice trailed off.
"Died?" the King of Mythical Beasts finished for her with a snorting laugh. "Your game was more then they could handle. As we spread we infect more of your pathetic characters."
"The virus," she said. "You attack and kill user characters and then infect their avatars after their brain activity is stopped." The claws around her throat tightened once again cutting offher speech once again. She tried to bring her sword up to strike her attacker but it was knocked from her hand to the ground. Her vison began to go black.
"That's right. And soon we will add the Kaiba avatar to our database."
Beezy coughed as the Gazelle's claw still crushed his chest, his two swords just out of reach. "Ri...Ri..." He choked out. "Riryoku!" He managed to get out. All of a sudden Beezy and the Gazelle began to glow eerily. With a surge of power Beezy kifted the claw off his chest and using his legs as leverage threw the Gazelle off him. Leaping to his feet he grabbed his swords from where they lay and rushed to attack the beast that held Serena, slashing it across the back.
The beast cried out in pain and released its grip on Serena, she fell to her knees on the ground. It whirled around and struck Beezy in the chest, knocking him backwards. It lumbered forward into hte light of the full moon to expose its muscular features and black wings. It roared and lunged at Beezy who deflected the raining blows and claw clashed with his swords. As the beast swiped at him with its claws Beezy ducked under them and cut the monster in it's chest, drawing blood and another cry of pain. The battle continued for a few more minutes with Beezy make quick light strikes against his opponent but the monsters mass and size gave it an advantage over the young Sword Hunter.
"That was a nice move," Gazelle said as it picked itself off the ground and assumed a flanking position on hte side of Beezy opposite its partner. "You activated your support card to cut my power in half and increase your own. But your little burst of strength is gone and you still have to face us both yourself"
"Not by himself," Serena shouted from shere she had been dropped to the ground. With an uncanny swiftness she threw her sword and it flew across the field slicing one of the Mythical Beast Kings foreams as it ducked out of the way as he tried to dodge. Remarkably the sword arced across the field and flew back to her hand just as she was stepping forward.
Beezy used the moment of confusion to roll under the sweeping claws of the other monster and take a position beside Serena. "Two on two now," he said. "We're even, it's a fair fight now."
"Hardly," came the reply. "This is not even. You're not the only one who can activate support cards. My partner the Berfomet and I have access to the same abilites that our former hosts programmed into us." The two monsters closed in so that they were standing closer together. "Polymerization!" Gazelle shouted out. the air began to swirl and draw together, the two monsters drawing in themselves to the swirling mass, combining their power. There was a surge of energy and a flash of light. When it was done Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts and Berfomet were gone, and a new monster stood in it's place. "Now we've become, Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast!"