Author's Notes: The eighth chapter of Log On! Is here! I'm so happy! That I am!

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Chapter 8 – Testing, One, Two, Three

"Crap this SUCKS!" Ryoko screamed as she, Mai, Ayumi, Souchirou, and Hiromi all sat in the school library, tucked away in a corner with their textbooks. "I can't believe it! A gigantic exam! How the heck are we supposed to pass this thing?"

"I don't know, studying?" Hiromi suggested.

"But I suck at school…" Ryoko whined. "I always fail tests and crap like that…"

"Then study extra hard this time!" Mai commanded.

"Oh yeah! Easy coming from you, Miss Straight A's!"

"Look, what's the answer to this equation?" Mai asked, pointing to one in Ryoko's math book.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Ryoko asked. "C'mon, I'm tired of studying, let's go get burgers!"

"Ryoko…" Souchirou adjusted his glasses. "We've only been studying for ten minutes."

"Ack!" Ryoko fell over. "It seems like ten hours!"

"C'mon," Ayumi gave her an encouraging smile. "I know you can do it!"

"I take it back, you can't do it," Ayumi said grimly as she, Mai, and the others all looked at Ryoko's test paper which had a large 23 circled. "Ryoko! What the heck is with this score?"

"Yeah, you said you studied a lot last night!" Mai told her. "When we were all playing together?"

"I did…" Ryoko pouted. "I studied my computer screen, my CD's and my manga books."

"Watanabe-san!" The five all jumped five feet as their wizened old teacher, Furuoka-sensei, called to Ryoko. Her gray hair, strung tightly up in a bun, matched her tight expression. "That grade is a monstrosity. Your grades are already poor as it is."

"I know, I know!" Ryoko whined.

"That's why I'm sending home a grade printout. I want it signed by your parents," Furuoka-sensei gave Ryoko the printout, and Ryoko's face drained of all colored. "If not, I'll have to schedule a parent teacher conference."

"Uh…okay…" Ryoko nodded, still pale.

"Something wrong Ryoko?" Mai asked and Ryoko turned to her.

"Oh, nothing! Nothing at all!"

"Something's wrong, isn't it?" Iam asked that night as they all got ready to go and level up at a dungeon. With only about 500 experience points to go until the Theta server, they were all pumped to get leveling. But Gabriella was looking extremely put-out.

"My Mom saw the grade printout," Gabriella sighed. "She says that if I don't get an A on the make-up test then I can't play "The World" anymore."

"HUH?" All four asked simultaneously. "You're kidding, right!"

"No…I tried to tell her that I have to play, but she didn't change her mind… And no playing until the make-up test either," Gabriella sighed. "It's not like I can tell her I have to save the planet or something."

"Don't worry Gabriella!" Chikoro smiled. "The test is in three days! We'll help you study!"

"Re-really?" Gabriella smiled. "All right! Let's meet at my house tomorrow after school! It can't be that hard!"

"It's that hard…" the next day, Friday, the five met at Ryoko's house to help her study, but things weren't going well. "I can't do this!" Ryoko whined.

"You've got to!" Mai insisted."Now, this one, x2 (this is squared, FF net won't let me do it) + 19x + 18 is equal to0. Factor it!"

"When the heck am I going to have to use that in real life!" Ryoko asked incredulously. "Any of this Algebra crap!"

"That's not the point!" Hiromi insisted. "The point is that you've got to get an A on the next test!"

"Ladies, gentlemen, you're approaching this all wrong," Souchirou smirked behind his shiny glasses. "Let me take over the tutoring. I'm a Master."

"R-really Souchirou?" Ayumi asked, slightly flabbergasted.

"Of course! Everyone I've tutored has gotten excellent grades!"

"Woah! C'mon Four eyes, teach me!" Ryoko insisted. Souchirou didn't respond to the four eyes comment as he took out two pencils and two pads of paper.

"Okay, let's start with the basics…" Souchirou smiled. "Let's see if you can handle this one…" He wrote on the pad and showed it to her. "2+2."

WHAM.

Souchirou went flying out of Ryoko's window and into the sky due to Ryoko's fist. "Oh yeah right! He thinks I can't handle that! It's obviously…" she paused and the remaining three looked at her skeptically. "Four!"

Mai slapped her hand to her forehead. "You had to think about that?"

"Well! An entire day of my life, wasted!" Mai heaved a great sigh as she and Hiromi walked down the sidewalk that night. "Ryoko's never going to get an A on that test!"

"We can't give up just yet," Hiromi assuaged. "You never know."

"I know one thing. Without Ryoko, we're toast against the Prism Players."

"That's why she's got to get an A on the test!" Hiromi told her. "Even if we have to chain her to a table to make her study!"

"I bet she'd break the chains…" Mai sighed and Hiromi laughed.

"I can imagine Ryoko doing that."

"Yeah! So can I!" Mai giggled, and then turned to Hiromi. "Hey…Hiromi?"

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Do you…think that the Prism Players are really out to hurt people?"

"Are you talking about Moyotu?" Hiromi asked. Mai shook her head.

"No…it's just that…it seemed that…" Mai shook her head again. "Ryuin had his reasons…"

"Don't go with them Ryuin!" Circeca cried. "We've got to follow Moyotu! They're just trying to trick you…have you already forgotten?" She asked and Ryuin's eyes widened.

"N-no…"

"What do you think they meant by "forgotten"?" Mai asked curiously.

"I'm not sure…" Hiromi shook his head. "But something tells me that they have their reasons for doing this. Whatever they may be."

"But whatever reasons they have – what they're doing is wrong!" Mai insisted to Hiromi and he nodded.

"You're right…"

"I'm worried…" Mai murmured and Hiromi flashed her a smile.

"Don't be!" Mai blushed as he grabbed her hand. "Remember? We're in this together! These rings are a symbol of that! No matter what they've got up their sleeves, we're ready, right?"

Mai looked at Hiromi, still flashing that smile of his, and she flashed one back. "Right," she nodded and the two kept walking down the sidewalk.

"All right Ryoko," it was the second day of studying, and the five had once again met at Ryoko's house. "Try this problem."

"I told you! I don't get it!" Ryoko insisted. "Will you stop trying to pound this crap into my brain!"

"It isn't crap!" Mai snapped. "You've got to learn it if you want to keep playing "The World"!"

"I know…I know!" Ryoko whined once more. "But I just don't get it!"

"This isn't working…" Mai whispered to Hiromi. "She's completely uncooperative."

"What are we going to do?" asked Ayumi to the others. "I'm really worried."

"Hmm…" the four turned their heads to see Souchirou taking his arm out of its sling and adjusting his broken glasses. "I have an idea."

"Don't you dare try to push anymore of your bogus tutoring on me," Ryoko snarled threateningly.

"No, no, not at all! I know a good way we can all study," Souchirou smiled, flashing his glasses. "Quickly! To my home!"

"WOAH, SOUCHIROU, YOU'RE LOADED!" Ayumi exclaimed as the five arrived at Souchirou's gigantic mansion on the east side of town. It was at least three stories with angel fountains and elaborate shrubberies in the front garden. Souchirou, now miraculously healed thanks to artistic license, led the way up the cobblestone path.

"You are all very simple," Souchioru sighed. "Except you of course Ayumi-sama. My last name is Hibiki, remember?"

"So?" Hiromi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't you read the newspaper you simpleton?" Souchirou asked indignantly. "My father owns Hibiki Games Industry!"

"Huh?" Ryoko asked. "What's that?"

"I've heard of that!" Hiromi gasped. "My Uncle's always buying stuff at his store from that company! They're big on single player computer games and online board games!"

"Yes," Souchirou nodded. "So, we're quite well off." Ayumi's face flashed with disgust as Souchirou slinked his arm around her shoulder. "If you marry me, Ayumi-sama, then you'll never have to worry about money…"

"GET OFF OF ME!" she gave Souchirou a sharp whack on the head, sending him flying into a nearby shrubbery cut in the shape of a platypus.

"Oh Ayumi-sama, your words do not reveal your true feelings," Souchirou shook his head as he did his best to untangle himself from the shrubbery. "Anyway! Onto the matter at present hand."

"Yeah, why did you bring us to your fancy mansion?" Mai asked, flipping her hair slightly behind her shoulder. "Just to show off for Ayumi?"

"Of course not," Souchirou scoffed. "I'm just as concerned about poor Ryoko's position as you are. After all, I am a ring holder as well."

"Then why did you bring us here?" Hiromi asked once again.

"Quickly!" Souchirou pointed defiantly. "To the Game room!"

"Laptops?" Mai asked incredulously, sitting down in front of a black laptop. On a table, five laptops were set up. Hiromi sat next to her, Chikoro on his right, Souchirou on her right, and Ryoko to Mai's left. "What are these for?"

"Open them," Souchirou opened his laptop and began to type his password and username. "You should all be able to be connected now."

They all opened their laptops up, only to see a desktop labeled "HIBIKI GAMES" and a few icons. Mai moved her touch mouse over the icons and saw that one said "The World". "What's this?"

"We're going to study," Souchirou smiled and took out a cardboard box from under his feet. He opened it up steadily and took out a "The World" headset. After he had fastened his, he passed one to each of his friends.

"Souchirou, you know Ryoko's not allowed to play," Hiromi told him, but put on the headset anyway.

"Yeah, if my mom finds out, I'm dead meat on a stick," Ryoko sighed, placing the headset over her ears.

"But we are going to study," Souchirou explained. "Inside of the game."

"Don't be an idiot Souchirou," Ayumi frowned. "How can we play video games and study at the same time?"

"Just watch Ayumi-sama," Souchirou smiled and double-clicked "The World". "Just watch."

All five materialized in Mac Anu in front of the Chaos Gate. Gabriella looked apprehensive, probably scared that her mother would find out. Zaiten still had his cocky grin, and the others still were confused.

"Zaiten, how are we supposed to study inside of a game?" Chikoro asked angrily.

"Easy Chikoro-sama! First, we need to select an area!" Zaiten went over to the Chaos Gate, and after a few flicks of the keyboard, he settled on an area. "All right, this one. ∆ Waning Eye's Retribution. Level 15! Perfect, we can all level up! Ryoko, you and Chikoro-sama get into a party. The three of us will form another one. We'll get an experience point cut for fighting with two parties but-"

"ARE YOU EVEN THINKING!" Chikoro finally screamed. "If Ryoko gets caught, we'll all be in trouble! And we have to study for the test anyway!"

"Just have faith in me Chikoro-sama," Zaiten assured her. "All right, everyone ready? Let us go!"

With that, all five warped away, still confused and still worried.

"Here we are!" Zaiten smiled as they landed in an area with vast deserts and tall cacti. He looked around and dug into his pack. "Fairy's Orb!" The field's portals showed up on the screen. "Okay! Now…"

"Zaiten, this is dumb!" Gabriella shouted. "If I get caught I am TOAST! And I need to study anyway!"

"There are sixteen portals and five of us." Gabriella stopped and looked at Zaiten. "If group A, Iam, Orizo, and I, take out three-fourths of the portals, how many will be left for your party? If so, how many monsters will you have each?"

Iam looked at Zaiten, a little shocked. He was using the game to help Gabriella study! Ryoko obviously couldn't focus sitting at a table with a book, but perhaps in the game, Gabriella could focus enough. "Umm…well…" Gabriella bit her lip. "There are…sixteen…three-fourths would make it…four…no, twelve! Twelve portals for party A. Party B would have four…that means that if Party B has only two members, then each member gets to defeat two monsters!"

"That's right!" Iam laughed, delighted. "You did it, Gabriella!"

"Of course that was an easy problem," Zaiten scoffed and Gabriella's face fell. "Let's keep on going!"

"Four portals in two rooms – six rooms total – each with the same amount of portals excluding one! Calculate the number of portals, then divide by the number of floors in the dungeon, five!" They had already arrived at the dungeon, Zaiten popping questions at Gabriella every portal.

"Five times two portals, that's ten portals! Divide that by five…and you get 2 portals!"

"Good!" Zaiten nodded. "Now, there are ten portals on one floor, twelve on another, and eight on the last! Calculate the average."

"Easy! Ten portals per floor!"

"Wow, Gabriella," Orizo smiled as he destroyed another monster with a swish of his two blades. "You're doing great! You've answered every question right."

"I am a genius!" Gabriella laughed haughtily. "And all thanks to you four-eyes! I really owe you one!"

"No problem at all, I assure you," Zaiten laughed. "As long as Chikoro-sama is happy, my duty is done."

"Hey guys! We're almost at the last room!" Iam cheered. "Hey Zaiten, make the next question super hard!"

"All right, factoring!" Zaiten decided and Gabriella's face drained of color.

"I'm horrible at factoring!" she whined.

"C'mon, last room!" Orizo called and the five jumped into the final room, Gabriella still looking sullen about the fact that she had to factor.

Just as they jumped in, purple smoke started to rise from the bottom of the door frame…

"Huh?" Iam asked as the entered the empty room. "There's no monster in here! What a jip!"

"And we were so close to level 15!" Chikoro pouted. "Now we have to find another dungeon!"

"No, no, there's one more monster!" The group gasped as they heard a voice from above them talk in a giddy, exuberant voice. "If you beat it, which you won't, you'll probably get your dumb level."

"Who are you?" Iam asked, drawing her spear. "Show yourself!"

"You're a Prism Player aren't you?" Gabriella spat. "Show yourself coward!"

"Jeez, jeez, you put ants in your pants?" the voice giggled. "You're all so uptight! Everyone is around here! It's all "revenge this" and "CC Corp that"!"

"Revenge?" Orizo asked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Ooops! I've said too much!" the voice laughed. "Time to show myself! After the bad guy confuses the heroes, he always makes his appearance." With a soft "tap" on the ground, a girl with bright orange short cut hair and large brown eyes landed. She had a high collared no sleeve white top on, decorated with orange markings that matched her short white skirt's. Her boots, knee length and also white, were decorated with orange lining. She was a Twin Blade and had two daggers on her belt. She winked at them. "Hey."

"I knew it!" Chikoro snarled. "You're a Prism Player, aren't you?"

"Yep, born and bred! Well, not really, but it sounds cool," the girl laughed. "I'm Yusena, nice to meet you all."

"Well, Yusena, show us your Data Bug," Orizo commanded.

"Yes, so we can destroy it!" Zaiten nodded.

"Man…you're so mean to me…" Yusena started to whimper. "You're the bad guys here, not me! Just look at you! I'm trying to be friendly and you get all defensive!"

"We have every right to be!" Gabriella snapped. "Aren't you going to try and kill us?"

"Well yeah," Yusena shrugged. "But you might as well be polite until I do."

"What do you mean by "revenge"?" Iam asked and the group turned to her. She had lowered her spear and was looking at Yusena darkly. "I need to know."

Yusena frowned. "I would darlin', I really would, but I'm afraid that my superiors would just get mad at me! I'm afraid that's my little secret."

"If you're going to kill us, then what's the problem with telling us?" Iam asked and the other's eyes widened in shock. Iam shrugged. "We'll take it to our graves. I'm pretty sure we can't beat your Data Bug, you look pretty powerful."

"Oh stop, you're embarrassing me!" Yusena giggled, but she had obviously taken the bait. "Okay, I'll let you in on a little bit! The reason that the Prism Players are infecting the areas are for revenge on CC Corp."

"What for?" Iam asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Something to do with Moyotu. We've all got our reasons for joining though," Yusena smiled.

"What's yours?" Chikoro asked, now catching onto the plan.

"I thought that would be obvious!" Yusena laughed, waving her hand at Chikoro. "To have a boatload of fun!"

"Fun?" Orizo asked. "Putting other people in comas is fun?"

"Of course! I get to make my own monsters, customize my stats, jobs, even equipment! It's like a game to me! Putting people in comas is fun too! It's like you have lots of influence on the world," she winked. "But, I've said too much. Now, let's get down to business, shall we?"

In a flash, Yusena had summoned her Data Bug to the field. It had obviously been hiding on the ceiling before she had called it, but when it did land, it made the floor shake with its mighty size.

It was a gigantic walking skeleton, complete with mace and shield. It, of course, was adorned with the usual green flakes and infinite HP. It gave a menacing growl and Yusena smiled widely. "Do you like it? I've heard quality over quantity, but I decided that I'd rather have both! Have fun!" She waved, and quickly gated out.

"Get it guys!" Iam rushed forward and slashed her spear across the skeleton's leg. It obviously felt the pain, and, in a desperate attempt at counter attacking, swung its mace and hit Iam across the room. "ARRGH!"

"Iam!" Orizo rushed to her side, helping her up. "Is it strong?"

"Really strong," Iam wiped her lip of the blood. "Watch out for the mace guys!"

"JUK KRUZ!" Zaiten cast a spell, dodging the mace as it tried to catch him.

"RAI SMASH!" Gabriella brought her axe down on the monster, inflicting heavy damage, only to have the monster bat her off with his shield. "OW!"

"Gabriella!" Zaiten called. "I've got the last problem for you!"

"You're joking!" Gabriella coughed blood onto the floor from the blow. "A question at a time like this?"

"This one's worth fifty points!" Zaiten yelled, dodging another blow from the skeleton. "If you get it wrong you fail!"

"FINE!" she slashed the monster. "What is it!"

"x2 + y + 179 is equal to0!" he screamed. "Factor it!"

"That's dumb!" Gabriella called. "In Quadratic Equations, there is no "Y"!"

"Y is equal to this thing's HP!" Zaiten explained, giving it a quick slash, only to take a blow.

"Infinite!"

"It's HP after we Data Drain it!"

Gabriella looked at Zaiten, then at Chikoro, then Iam and Orizo and nodded. "C'mon guys, let's go! There's no way I'm failing this test!"

"RUE ZOT!" Orizo screamed.

"VAK WHIRLWIND!" Iam called, slashing the monster.

"RAI DON!" Chikoro called.

"JUK DIVIDER!" Zaiten screamed.

"ANI SMASH!" Gabriella finished the skill chain, and the monster crippled under the effects. Across it the words "PROTECT BREAK" flashed and the five nodded at one another. They held their hands out, their rings out stretched towards the Data Bug. They took a deep breath and screamed:

"RED, BLUE, YELLOW, GREEN, VIOLET DATA DRAIN!" The lights shot from their rings and the monster was rid of its hacking.

"Get it guys!" Gabriella called. With only a few slashes of their weapons, the team destroyed the monster. "Yes! We win!"

"Look!" Iam pointed to the ground where a core with an "O" sat. "A data core!"

Chikoro gently lifted the core, her ring glowing gold. She placed it in pack and smiled at the group. "Hey look, we all leveled up too!"

"I guess we were so excited we didn't notice," Iam laughed. "Hey, after Ryoko passes the make-up test, let's all go to Theta Server!"

"The test!" Gabriella's eyes opened wide. "Of course! That problem…let me see…it's max HP was 180 so…" she bit her lip and thought long and hard. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, she opened them and smiled. "x -179, x -1!"

"That's right! You did it!" Iam threw her arms around Gabriella, and Chikoro joined the dog pile. "You finally figured it out Gabriella!"

"Hey guys, let's get something to eat! I'm starved after that battle!" Gabriella laughed. "I need a full stomach if I want to get an A on that test tomorrow!"

"Ryoko, how'd you do?" Mai, Ayumi, Hiromi, and Souchriou had all stayed outside while Ryoko had taken the make-up test. Finally, she had come out, a paper in her hand. She looked extremely solemn. "Ryoko?" Mai asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

Ryoko looked up at them, her eyes hollow. She then grinned widely, "Can you say 95?"

"OH YEAH!" they all screamed and grabbed Ryoko around the shoulders and waist.

"Everyone, let's go get drinks, my treat!" Ryoko laughed. "For all you guys did for me to help me out."

"What were we supposed to do?" Ayumi giggled. "Let you flounder?"

"We're a team!" Mai insisted. "Team-mates don't leave each other behind!"

Ryoko looked at all four of them, and then smiled wide, giggling slightly. "I guess you're right! Team-mates don't leave each other behind, do they?"

"C'mon!" Mai laughed, patting Ryoko on the back. "Let's go get those drinks! We're going to hold you to your promise!"

And as the five walked off, Ryoko's test paper tucked safely into her pocket, they smiled and laughed with one another. Their team had become all the more united.

Yay! Finished Chapter 8! I hope you all enjoyed it! The ending sounded kind of weird though. Oo

Anyway, don't forget to review now!