Chapter 2:

Author's Note:

I would like to first thank all the like four people who read chapter one and wanted this story to continue. I'm glad you like Astrid as much as me and wanted to see her story continue.

Sorry for the randomness of this update(I'm writing this before the chapter is done), I'm working on completely changing the plot and timeline of a twenty-odd chapter book, so small projects like this are sporadic.

Had no major plan for this one, so you'll be the judge of whether it's good or not.

Follow me on my socials: Twitter (hephaestusbuild), Instagram (hephaestusbuilds).


Chapter 2

Astrid came to an easy realization: she loved this place.

Chaotic was her favorite game, hobby and pastime of all time, and Chaotic was what this place was all about.

The food was not only free and delicious, but Astrid had been told by a passing girl her age that the food didn't make you gain any weight. It was a triple win.

And the people, for the most part, were nice. Astrid hadn't spoken to many of them in her three days of being here, but the ones she had talked to were always willing to give her directions or instruction. Well, Astrid had run into a gang of stuck up prudes called the 'ChaotiKings'— and screw those asswipes— but everyone else was cool.

But the reason Astrid loved being at Chaotic most of all was the simple fact that no one here knew she was trans. Unlike her family, friends and classmates back on earth, no one here in Chaotic would suspect her, as long as she kept up all the work to remain passable.

Astrid realized she was fortunate in that regard, certainly more fortunate than a lot of trans people when it came to passing. She had never been very 'masculine', even as a boy. She had thinner shoulders, fair skin, a softer face, and smaller hands and feet than almost all the boys her height. She had always been tall, very tall, actually, and she realized that she wasn't exactly inconspicuous when she was a full head or a head and a half taller than most of the girls her age, but she couldn't exactly help that. It was her Swedish blood that both betrayed her, and gave her such amazing— in her personal opinion— and tedious hair. She had always loved her hair growing up, and wanted it long and flowing, but never had the courage to grow it out, as long hair was considered 'girly'.

'Girly' suited Astrid just fine. Her long blonde hair now reached her waist, but as always was kept up out of the way in an elegant braid her dad had taught her a year ago. When he and her mom had been married, he had braided her hair. Astrid liked to think that her dad had always secretly hoped for a girl so he could braid her hair. And now, he had one, he just had to wait a few more years longer than expected.

Here, she wasn't 'the trans girl', 'the boy who's now a girl', or worse, 'the freak'. Here, she was just Astrid.

The only thing she ever wanted to be.

So what if she missed school? What if she missed the spring musical? What if she didn't see her parents or friends for a while? She had been told by one of those sarcastic hovering robots that there was a perfect copy of her on earth living her everyday life for her.

It wasn't like she was running away or abandoning them, just taking some time for herself in a place that, up till now, accepted her for who she was. She would go home at least once a week, she decided, to stay connected to her parents and few close friends, but would never tell them about Chaotic. She learned her first day that Chaotic was a secret, and Astrid had no intention of spilling the beans and letting her tormentors at school find her safe haven.

So, all in all, Chaotic was perfect.

"Alright," Astrid said to herself as she had the bad habit of doing— hey, you grow up with no friends—, as she left Battledrome Imthor and towards the Transport Center. She had just beaten a smug, brawny guy by the name of Tank, and was feeling pretty good about herself. In her three days in Chaotic so far, she had had five battles, including her first one, and hadn't lost yet.

Her full six-on-six battles had been a lot more challenging than her battle with the smarmy guy named Klay when she first arrived, but just that more fun. For the time being, while she hadn't lost yet, she still only had five wins under her belt, and wasn't ranked high enough to battle against anyone that good. Those she had battled were either new like her, or just that bad at the game. Astrid wasn't exactly sure how the ranking systems worked, and the snarky robots wouldn't say, but she was determined to do whatever it took to make it out on top.

Which is how she found herself in her current predicament: trudging through a trash-filled alley in Kiru City.

When Astrid first learned that Perim was a real place and she could port to it, the first place she had ported to was the Forest of Life to see its beauty for herself outside of a Drome.

She had spent an entire day just porting to her favorite OverWorld locations and exploring all she could, and almost forgetting to scan whatever she found.

And aside from the aforementioned forest, she loved Kiru city with its high walls, unique architecture, wonderful and strange array of goods for sale, but most of all she loved all of the unknown— to her— Creatures.

She knew that one of her favorites, Intress, lived in Maxxor's castle, and wanted to get a new scan of her, but it was proving to be incredibly difficult. If not impossible.

If Astrid expected to be able to just waltz her butt into the leader of the Overworld's castle, she was sadly mistaken.

Chaotic players, it turned out, were mostly regarded with indifference in most public places in the Overworld, but they couldn't exactly just walk into any old castle uninvited. Which is why Astrid was now sneaking through a gross alley behind Maxxor's Castle, looking for a way to get in.

It proved to be fruitless, however, as the Castle was impregnable, especially as Astrid had no tools or Battlegear to slice through metal bars or solid walls. She had tried scaling a tower wall to get in, but she wasn't nearly as badass as she hoped, and didn't get a single inch off the ground.

Deciding to not give up entirely, Astrid found a barren rooftop across from the castle's main gate, intending to stake it out until she found and scanned Intress, or died trying. Or got too hungry and had to part back to Chaotic, in all honesty.

It was sometime around sunset when Astrid saw the strangest thing: a Chaotic player walked calmly up to the open front gate, waved in greeting to the burly guards, and was let right in. Just like that.

Just like that?

Who was that guy, Astrid wondered, that he was just let into Maxxor's Castle, where she had been met with Battlegear rifles and threats to never return lest she face the consequences?

He hadn't looked too impressive, she thought. He was pretty tall and fit, but nothing to write home about. He didn't look like he was anyone high up from Chaotic in his jeans and t-shirt. Astrid hadn't seen any CodeMasters walking around, of course, but she assumed they had to at some point. She just doubted that this guy was one of them.

"Well, you're not going to learn anything by just sitting here all day," Astrid told herself. "Or scan Intress. So you better get in there while you can."

As Astrid walked as confidently up to the open front gate as she could, she was hit with the sudden and startling realization that she had no plan whatsoever to actually get in.

Ignoring that, she plowed on. She just focused on the back of the tall guy a hundred feet or so in front of her, like he was a point she had to follow.

The guards, as expected, blocked her entrance with their weapons. "No Chaotic players allowed." One guard gruffed. "No human is allowed to enter the castle uninvited."

Astrid pointed at the guy's retreating back. "He's my boyfriend." She lied quickly, suddenly thankful for all those years of practice growing up with her mother. "He was supposed to wait for me, the jerk, but you know how men are sometimes."

Astrid realized the moment after she said it that her line probably would have worked better if the guards were women, not men.

"You are the human female called Sarah?" He asked, giving his partner a look.

"Yes." Astrid said confidently, despite having no idea who this 'Sarah' was, or this guy who she was claiming to be her boyfriend. She put on her best charismatic smile. "I'm Sarah."

The other guard shrugged to his partner. "All these humans look the same to me, I can never keep them all straight." He gave Astrid a once-over, then spoke to the other guard. "She is a human female with golden hair. Didn't Maxxor mention she had golden hair when he said to let her in too?"

Maxxor, she thought. Just who is this guy that Maxxor of all creatures knows him?

"He did." The first guard agreed, looking to Astrid. She gave him her best winning smile and hoped she didn't look like a lunatic. "I don't get paid enough to remember every human who comes here. Sorry." He didn't sound sorry at all. He and his partner stepped aside. "You may enter."

"Thank you." Astrid said, as calmly as she could. She couldn't believe that actually worked. It took all her willpower to not just make a run for it in case they realized she wasn't who she claimed to be.

Astrid watched the guy who was apparently friends with Maxxor head up an impossibly tall spiral staircase and decided to go a different way. It wouldn't be good if he caught her, after all, she assumed he'd be better about recognizing his girlfriend than some random guards.

Now, all she had to do was somehow find Intress in this labyrinth, scan her, and get out before anyone-

"What are you doing here, human?"

Astrid's heart stopped as she spun on the spot to find, not a guard or vicious-looking warrior, but a short, thin, bald Creature with green skin and a very big head. He was carrying a roll of parchment in one hand and a large, elegant feather ink pen in the other. The Creature narrowed his eyes.

"I do not like to repeat myself, human." It said testily. "This area is strictly out of bounds to your kind. Why, I have half a mind to call the guards-"

"Don't." Astrid said quickly, then realized she should follow it up to keep him busy until she could think of a way out of this. "I uh, I'm here with someone, another human." She lied quickly.

The Creature wore an unbothered expression. "You insult my intelligence. I happen to be privy to very classified Overworld information, and I can say with the utmost certainty that you are not supposed to be here. In fact-."

"Bodal," a male, human voice suddenly said from behind them, filling Astrid with both appreciation and dread. "What are you doing all the way over here? I just got done talking to Maxxor, and he mentioned he was on his way to conduct a surprise inspection in the armory. You better get back before he realizes you left your post."

The Creature, Bodal, it seemed to be called, went pale for a second, before rushing off down a far corridor. "Tom, please alert the guards that we have an intruder. I must be going."

"Sure thing, Bodal old buddy." The guy said as Bodal ran out of earshot.

Astrid let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Hey, thanks for that save-."

"Who are you?" He asked, cutting her off. "How did you get in here? The castle is closed to all Chaotic players."

Astrid's brow scrunched at the question. "If it's closed," she said. "Then how did you get in? I saw you. You just waltzed right in like you own the place."

"I know Maxxor." He said simply. Astrid waited for further explanation, but received none. So she decided to ask a different question and hope for an answer.

"Who are you?"

He gave her a questioning look, like he didn't believe she didn't know who he was. After a second, he must have realized she wasn't joking or being stupid. "You must be new here."

Astrid narrowed her eyes, attempting a glare, but failing spectacularly. "And you're starting to be rude."

"Oh, sorry." He said, sounding actually genuinely sorry. He held out his hand. "I'm Tom, but my screen name is MajorTom." She shook his hand after a second.

"I don't get it."

He frowned. "You must have a boring taste in music." Astrid opened her mouth to reply, but he spoke first. "Anyway, who are you? I don't recognize you."

"Astrid." She said, trying her best to control her voice as best she could as she always did when introducing herself. She found first impressions really mattered when it came to passing. "I go by Valkyrja. And, yeah, I've only been at Chaotic for three days."

"Only three days and you're already breaking into Maxxor's Castle?' Tom grinned. "You better watch out, this is Perim, not a Drome. Things have consequences here." He sounded like he spoke from experience, but Astrid wondered how much he could really have. He looked to be about sixteen or seventeen, a year or two older than her, and she doubted how much he could have gone through in Perim.

"I'm aware of that," she told him. "But what's life without a little risk?"

He chuckled. "You sound like someone I know. She's borderline insane too."

Astrid thought that that girl, whoever she was, sounded fun. "I try."

"Well, what did you break in here for? Because if you broke in here to try to get a Maxxor scan, I'll tell you right now that he doesn't let anyone scan him anymore-"

"I actually came to scan Intress," she told him. "She's probably my second favorite Creature of all time."

Tom nodded approvingly. "Nice choice. Intress is one of the fiercest and most capable Creatures in Perim. But you would have been out of luck anyway."

"Why?" Astrid asked. "Does she not let anyone scan her either?"

Tom shook his head. "No, well, she doesn't actively prevent it like Maxxor or Najarin, but she's hard to track down. Her physical card on earth isn't that rare, but here in Perim her scans are Ultra Rare. Besides," he said. "She's not even here. Maxxor told me she went to the Passage and won't be back for a few days, but no one knows that. So don't mention it around the port court."

Astrid once again wondered how this seemingly ordinary guy was friends with Maxxor and got what had to be secret information out of him.

"It's almost dark," he said, checking the time on his scanner. "Chaotic players aren't allowed within the inner wall after dark, and if they find you, well," he hesitated. "You'll be spending the night in the Overworld prison."

"I would just port out." She told him.

"Not if Frafdo takes your scanner." He said simply, before heading down the hall and waving for her to follow. "I'll lead you out of here."

She held up her scanner. "You know I can just port out, right? You don't need to show me to the door."

He nodded. "I know. I'm making sure you get back to Chaotic instead of porting somewhere else and coming back. I'll also tell the guards at the gate not to let you in again." He gave her a curious look. "How did you get in, anyway? Bodal and I closed off all the secret entrances."

Astrid looked a little shameful, "I uh, I might have told the guards I was your girlfriend and walked in right after you."

Tom blinked once, twice, then again. Then he burst out laughing. "Wow, that would do it. Most Creatures barely recognize humans."

"It was easier than I thought."

"Apparently so."

As they walked, Tom pulled out his scanner, tapped on it a few times, then put it away. After a few minutes of walking, they reached a corner, nearly bumping into a Creature, and Astrid's heart stopped.

"Kinnianne!"

The vaguely canine woman startled, nimbly dodged out of the way, and said, "My apologies, friends. I was lost in thought and didn't see you there."

"Oh, hey, Kinnianne." Tom greeted casually. " You're already back from your talks with Prince Mudeenu?"

"Hello, Tom. Yes," she told him, greeting him like an old friend. "I just got back and was on my way to see Maxxor." It was then when she noticed Astrid. "Who is your friend? I do not believe we have had the pleasure of meeting."

"Oh, this is Astrid." He introduced. "She's new to Chaotic and I'm showing her around a little."

Kinnianne smiled and Astrid's heart jumped into her throat. She looked at Astrid. "Well any friend of Tom's is a friend of mine."

"Guh- gah…" Was all Astrid could mumble. She tried to pull her scanner out of her pocket, but found her fingers useless.

Kinnianne gave her a strange look, then looked at Tom. "Is she alright?"

Tom didn't spare her a look, but smiled widely. "Yeah, she's fine. I just think she's a little starstruck." He said, finally looking at Astrid. "She uses you in over 75% of her battles."

Astrid paused. How did he possibly know that? We met ten minutes ago.

Kinnianne looked both surprised and flattered. "Really? Well, I must say I am greatly honored, young lady, that you consider me fit enough to go on your battle team so often."

"Eep." Astrid squeaked, blushing wildly now.

"Hey, Astrid," Tom said casually. "Wouldn't this be a great time to get a scan of Kinnianne?" He looked to the Creature. "As long as you don't mind, of course?"

"Not at all, not at all." Kinnianne stood tall before Astrid. "Scan away, young lady."

It took every ounce of strength Astrid had to not drop her scanner as she scanned one of her favorite Creatures.

After scanning Kinnianne, the Mipedian Ambassador showed them a new Mipedian Mugic she received on her last trip, and let them both scan it. With a wave, Kinnianne left, headed once again to see Maxxor.

As soon as Kinnianne was out of earshot, Astrid turned on Tom. "How in the world do you know Kinnianne?"

Tom smiled as she led them back towards the front gate. "I told you, I know people." He grinned. "And what was back there with Kinnianne? You froze up like you saw a celebrity."

"She's like a celebrity to me." Astrid said a little too loudly. "Kinnianne is like my third favorite Creature."

"If she's your third favorite and you nearly passed out," he joked. "I don't even want to see you around Aivenna. You might just explode."

"Well you-" Astrid paused, remembering. "Wait, how did you know Aivenna was my favorite Creature? I didn't tell you that. And how did you know I used Kinnianne in over 75% of my battle teams?"

Tom grinned mysteriously. "I told you already; I know people." He said, cryptically. "I have my ways."

Astrid knew he wasn't just about to tell her after only knowing her for fifteen minutes, so she said something else. "Thanks for helping me get that Kinnianne scan back there." She said, "I was too overwhelmed to think straight."

He shrugged like it was no big deal. "No problem. I could tell you really wanted it by how much your hand was shaking trying to reach your scanner."

"Just thanks. I owe you, really."

"Nah, don't worry about it." He said casually. "So, from your battle record I see you use almost all female Creatures. I know a few girls like that, but not many stick to it as religiously as you. " He left it hanging, letting her choose how to reply.

Astrid stopped, moving back side to side awkwardly. She wasn't ashamed of what she was about to say, but she hadn't mentioned it to anyone in Chaotic yet, so she'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little nervous.

"I um, well, I've liked women since I learned boobs were a thing that exist. So when I first started playing Chaotic, I picked the most beautiful and strongest female Creatures." She admitted, looking a little embarrassed. "Whenever I play games with the option, I play as attractive women with big knockers."

Tom went a little red and burst out laughing. "Well, that's certainly a unique method of picking Creatures. But I don't blame you, I like women too for the same reason."

Astrid let out a breath of relief. He hadn't taken what she said the wrong way, nor did it seem like he had any issue with her being a lesbian. She would probably never tell him she was trans unless they became good friends, but people didn't tend to hate lesbians as much as they did trans people.

"Not that I like Creatures like that,'' she said after a second. "I'm not a furry. Would- would they be considered furries here?"

Tom chuckled. "I try not to think about it, honestly. We had to ban someone the other week for turning into female Creatures in a private Beta Drome. He- well, let's just say you don't want to know."

Astrid had a good idea what he meant, and he was right, she didn't want to know. Wait, she thought. We?

"Ew."

"Yup." He agreed, before, "Well, we're here. Hold on, I need to talk to someone."

They reached the front gate, Tom went off a few feet away to speak with the captain of the guards while Astrid stood off to the side, pretending she couldn't see them look over and point at her. Once Tom was done, he rejoined her, and they ported back to Chaotic.

When they got back to Chaotic, Astrid fully intended to part ways with the mysterious guy named Tom and never see him again, and was surprised when he called out to her as she went on her way.

"Hey, Astrid?"

She spun at the sound of his voice, only twenty feet away or so. "Yeah?"

"Do you have a table?" He asked casually.

She pointed in the direction she was heading. "Yeah, I usually sit in area seventeen-."

"All the way over there?" He cut in. "We have a table in area one. We have an extra seat at our table if you want to join us? I'll introduce you to my friends, Kaz and Peyton and my girlfriend, Sarah. You two seem to be a lot alike."

Astrid hesitated. "No, sorry. I have to get home." She lied quickly. "But I'll see you around?"

He shrugged, unbothered. "Yeah, no problem. I understand." He turned to leave, entering a large crowd of passing players. "I'll see you, Valkyrja." And just like that, he disappeared like he ported away, but Astrid knew it was impossible to port from anywhere but the Transport Center.

"What a strangely mysterious dude." Astrid muttered to herself.

Astrid didn't like lying, but she was good at it. He seemed nice enough, but she didn't know his friends, and couldn't risk showing up at their table unannounced, especially not knowing how try felt about trans people.

She hadn't actually planned to go home today, but after telling Tom she was, she didn't want to run the risk of him seeing her and realizing she had lied to him. So, Astrid headed back to the Transport Center, and ported home for the first time after arriving in Chaotic three days ago.

As she hit the button to go home, she already decided to get up early so she could get to the Passage first thing in the morning and hopefully scan Intress.

To be continued?


Author's Note:

I hope y'all liked this chapter. We're still early on, but Astrid met Tom and will be meeting the rest of the gang in the next chapter. I just have to figure out what I'm going to do for that chapter.

Astrid's current team as revealed thus far:

~Aivenna (OverWorld Lieutenant)- Battlegear: Evergreen Tunic

~Intress - Battlegear: Evergreen Tunic / Riverland Star

~Kinnianne - Battlegear: Drilldozer Customized Rig

See all four of you next time.