3
Looking at his hands, Rick saw the copper sheen of his avatar's armor, streaked with reds, greens, and ruddy browns. True to his avatar's name, his copper was very tarnished.
From his hands, his eyes took in the random stage they had been given. The trees of Central Park that had surrounded them only moments ago had been replaced with large poles that periodically emitted jolts of electricity. The goose fountain had transformed into a node that shot blasts of lighting to the poles. A Power Plant stage.
"Crap," he muttered. "I hate this stage."
"Downside to being metallic," Lisa's voice said to the side of him. He turned and saw Indigo Viper standing relaxed, one hand on her hip, the other adjusting the scarf that obscured the lower half of her face. Her eyes were covered by goggles, as per usual. She pointed to two small avatars in front of them. "What do you make of that?"
Rick followed her finger and nearly did a double-take! The avatars were nearly identical! He'd never seen that before. Both were a dulled blue and stood at the height of a little girl. Each wore a wide brimmed bonnet, though one was obviously bigger, and they wore old-timey gingham dresses, complete with frilly underdresses poking out at their feet. They also each carried a small basket in the crook of their right arms. In fact, if Rick had to guess, they both looked just like...
"Dorothy!?" Lisa blurted. "From the Wizard of Oz?"
Both girls let out a sigh.
"I've never seen avatars so close in appearance," Rick said. "You're almost identical."
"Almost," the one with the wider-brimmed sunbonnet said, stepping forward. "As you can probably tell, I'm Bluebell Bonnet, and my hat's a little bigger than my sister's. Plus, I'm a tiny bit brighter in color and you can't see my hair."
Both Rick and Lisa looked at the other avatar and, sure enough, two pigtails poked out from under her bonnet.
"Growing up," Periwinkle Pigtail explained, "We loved the story of Oz, and our mom read all the stories to us, just like her mother before and so on. So, when I downloaded the game, I guess Brain Burst picked up my unfulfilled desire from childhood to be Dorothy. Then, I let Jayne download it and I discovered she had the same issue."
"We both really wanted to live in Oz," Bluebell Bonnet said.
"Who wouldn't" Viper asked. "Hanging out with Dorothy and Ozma? Riding the sawhorse and visiting the Tinman and Wogglebug? That would've been awesome! Plus, no aging or getting older unless you want to! Every kid's dream."
Rick had read one or two of those books a few years ago, but nothing about them really stuck with him. He'd seen the movie though! "Are either of you wearing ruby slippers?"
All three girls turned and glared at him, which was pretty impressive since technically, none of the avatars had visible eyes, though dull yellow glows came from the two new avatars faces where their eyes would've been.
"In the books," Periwinkle Pigtail explained, "They were silver slippers. And they were actual slippers, not stiletto heels designed to make Judy Garland's calves look good."
Rick decided to keep his mouth closed for a while.
"We should probably get this show on the road," Viper said casually. "Time's running out and we got an audience." She mentioned off to the side where both Mauve Dictionary and Crystal Seraph stood, watching their conversation. Nobody else was there, leading Rick to believe that Lisa had set her options so that only her Legion could watch this match. Since she had initiated the fight, her options were the only ones that mattered for the two of them.
But where was the Gallery for the two new girls?
"Cmon," Lisa continued. "We got a Governor to impress."
Periwinkle Pigtail and Blubell Bonnet didn't move or speak though. Both stood transfixed at the sight of Sam's avatar, the crystalline angle Crystal Seraph.
Rick could understand their awe. The beauty of the Governor could rival any fairytale princess or real-life beauty queen. Her entire body looked as if carved out of a single geode of finest quartz, the "skin" areas as transparent as glass, her "gown" a translucent pink that reached her feet, which wore high-heels. Her long hair reached the small of her back and appeared to be spun from purest silver. Three pairs of wings spread from her shoulders and back, fanning out impressively.
The overall effect still took Rick's breath away.
Yet, for all of her beauty, Crystal Seraph was considered an outcast because in all of the Accelerated World, she was neither a color nor metal. Because of this, several others, including Silver Lupus, didn't think she should be allowed to establish her own Legion.
She did it anyway, making many enemies.
"We have to try and impress her!?" Bluebell Bonnet exclaimed, breaking Rick's train of thought.
"Naw," Viper drawled. "We just gotta show off a bit, is all. Show us what you got!"
"Plus, we aren't fighting to the finish." Ris added. "Just until Sam says so. We'll end in a draw."
"Really?" Periwinkle Pigtail asked. "That's so different from the Guard. Even in training, we had to have a winner and loser. We were arranged in squads, and our squad leader would report to our battalion lord, who tallied winners and losers. You know, to see who was good and who was dead weight and needed extra sessions."
"Kinda takes the whole game aspect out of the whole Brain Burst experience, don't you think?" Viper asked, pulling her ninja dagger out from behind her.
"Uh," Periwinkle Pigtail stammered, "that's a – uh – nice dagger. I mean, it looks sharp."
"Oh, it, is," Viper grinned. Or at least it sounded like she was grinning to Rick,
The color of a Brain Burst avatar was important; it was what determined what your avatar specialized in. Red excelled at long range combat, while blue meant close combat was your forte. Green suggested higher than normal defense while purple and yellow had amazing special attacks. Any mix in colors gave the avatar a combination of abilities.
Metallics like Rick though, had their own bar. Sadly, for Rick, copper was pretty close to the center. As a metallic, he had slightly higher than normal defense against piercing damage – though not quite as high as green – and his position on the Metal Chart gave him a slight boost in defense against special attacks, but that was it. Everything else had to be achieved by the person who controlled the avatar.
The difference between colors and metallics, not to mention a metallic's rarity, added to the whole mystique, which was why the four major Legions made them their leaders. Sam being colorless broke a lot of the established rules.
Periwinkle Pigtail let out a sigh. "We may as well get started. We're running out of time."
Rick looked at the digital clock running down. What had started at 1800 seconds at the beginning of the duel had dropped to 1245 or so.
"Let's go, Bell." she continued.
Bluebell Bonnet let out a groan. "Geez! Put some oomph into it! Just yell 'attack' or something!" She suddenly sprinted forward and neatly shoulder checked Rick in the gut. He let out an audible 'OOMPH'!
"Like that!" she said cheerfully, looking over her shoulder. Her sister was trying to hold off a furious assault from Indigo Viper, using her dagger with rapid strokes and thrusts. Apparently, she'd taken Blubell Bonnet's actions as the start of the fight.
"Okay, yeah," Rick groaned, getting up. "that's on me. I should've had my guard up. But you didn't follow up; why not?" He held out his arm, palm open in her direction.
"Tarnished Arrow!" A small arrow – a dart with fletching really – shot out, hitting his opponent in the shoulder and plinking onto the ground after bouncing off. Because she had already attacked him, their health gauges were visible to each other, and he could see a small pixel of her health vanish.
"Wow," she said, drearily, "two whole hit points. Better run for the hills."
"Hey!" Rick said indignantly. "It adds up after a while." He grinned. What she couldn't know was that his Tarnished Arrow always dealt two points of damage, even if she blocked it. As long as she was touching the object, she lost the points.
He watched as she slowly moved towards him. She was clearly watching his hands, ensuring he didn't fire off another arrow, but also looking for an opening. Rick had to be careful with her, he knew. As a blue avatar, she would excel at close combat; hand to hand fighting. He, himself, only had his arrows for ranged attacks, so he relied on punches and kicks most of the time.
Luckily, it was unlikely that she had any mid-to-long range attacks, so he figured he could probably close the distance between them worry free. He took a few tentative steps towards Blubell Bonnet, arms up, eyes forward.
He watched Bluebell Bonnet step her right leg back, wind up her right arm, and suddenly hurl her small basket, the one that was in the crook of her arm, overhand directly at his face. Rick was so surprised that the forgot about his guard and ducked out of the way.
As he rose, he took a sudden punch to the jaw, followed by a quick uppercut under his chin. IN the real, he had no idea how physically strong Jayne was, but as Bluebell Bonnet, her avatar had strength in plenty! Those punches hurt!
Taking the hits, Rick looked around for the basket she had thrown. It had to be around here somewhere...
Too late, he saw his opponent swing something, crashing it on top of his head with a loud CRASH! He found himself face down in the first ground of the Power Plant stage, the back of his head throbbing.
Looking up from his prone position, he saw the blue little girl avatar standing over him, the basket in the crook of her arm once again. She took a few steps back.
"Looking up my dress, I see."
"Wha! No, I -" Rick stammered, try to rise. "You were standing over me! If anything, you were hoping I'd look up your dress!"
"Cheeky," she replied, twirling her basket in her hands. "Sounds like you need another bonk on the head."
"But wait! How could you hit me with that? You threw it; and I know you didn't pick it up!"
She laughed. "Well, as you can see, I'm a blue, short-range fighter. As such, whenever I get too far away from my little basket armament, it suddenly appears in the crook of my arm. Just like magic!"
Well that's a good distraction, Rick thought, but if she's close enough, it's also a good weapon. He looked at his health bar, seeing that he'd lost about seven percent. With the unpredictability of that basket though, his best chance was to stick close and get in hits when she presented an opening.
"What the crap!?" Viper yelled off to the side. Both Rick and Bluebell Bonnet turned to look at the commotion. Rick blinked a few times, making sure he was seeing this right.
Periwinkle Pigtail's pigtails had grown and wrapped around Indigo Viper's arms and torso, wrapping her up as effectively as any rope. From under the sunbonnet she wore, a third pigtail snaked its way out and began whipping across Viper's face, chest, and torso.
"Wow," Bluebell Bonnet commented to Rick. "She must be strong to build up Peri's special attack gauge so quickly. Wanna watch how this turns out?"
Rick grinned. "Sure do." They approached the other two fighters.
"God, I hate the Japanese!" Viper said angrily as she saw Rick walk up. "Don't get any ideas for new fantasies, Tarn! I know where you live!"
"Ew," Rick blurted. "So not my thing."
"Please stop struggling," Periwinkle Pigtail said calmly. "The more you struggle, the more damage you take. You won't be able to get out until I let you out or my gauge is emptied."
"Wanna bet?" Viper said. "Watch this! Indigo Haze!" Indigo colored smoke sprayed out from around her, cloaking the two fighters from observation. It dissipated quicky, hoever, to reveal not one but four Indigo Vipers.
"Taking bets?" Rick asked Bluebell Bonnet.
"Not after seeing that," she replied.
Suddenly, the Indigo Viper that was tied up vanished, the hair falling limply to the ground. Another took a few steps and held her dagger under the chin of the confused girl.
"I can jump between my clones any time I want," Viper growled. "Care to call the fight?"
"Absolutely." she replied. Her pigtails started to shorten back to normal size. "Besides, I'd like to watch Copper Tarnish and Bluebell Bonnet beat the tar out of each other."
The clones disappeared and Viper holstered her dagger. "I'd like that too." She looked over to where Rick stood. "Hear that? You better put on a good show!"
He sighed. "Guess that's our cue, Blue."
"Call me Bell," she said, sounding fairly happy.
"Sure thing!" he said, sprinting forward suddenly. "Tarnished Arrow!" he called, holding his hand out.
She dodged it, stepping forward and throwing her basket at him again. The overhead throw went at a speed that most major-league pitchers would applaud. Luckily, that's exactly what he figured would happen. At the last second, he ducked under the projectile, rolled forward, and jumped back up to his feet in one smooth motion. Another few steps and he managed to grab both of the girls wrists, just as the basket appeared back on her arm.
He was taller and had longer reach than she did, so he knew she wouldn't be able to kick him, and without her hands, her basket was worthless. He was pretty sure he had her!
He knew he couldn't just hold her though. Plus, she was struggling something fierce! Shifting his legs, a little, he was able to throw Bluebell Bonnet over his head and onto her back. Using the ground and other terrain in a stage was a good strategy, so Rick felt no real guild when he saw her HP bar drop about five percent.
Bell rose, shaking out her arms. "Try that again!" Again, she hurled her basket.
This time, Rick jumped over the missile, even doing the splits in the air.
"Show off!" he heard Viper yell behind him.
He ignored her and dashed towards Bell again, again managing to grab both wrists just as her basket reappeared.
"Wanna give up?" he asked cheerfully. "I can do this all day."
"Hmmm. How many ways can I say no?" she asked innocently. "Oh, by the way, headbutt."
She said it so calmly, Rick was actually a little startled when the brim of her bonnet started to glow with a white light.
"Huh?"
Bell thrust her head forward with incredible speed, and was able to slam the extra wide brim of her bonnet into the chest of Copper Tarnish. Because of his longer reach, it wasn't much, but it was enough to cause him to lose a decent chunk of health. As she pulled her head back, orange sparks cascaded out of the rounded gash in his chest.
"Gah!" Rick sputtered, letting go of her wrist. Due to the Brain Burst program, he actually felt a small amount of the pain, a percentage of what it might feel like if it had happened in real life. He staggered back several feet, holding his chest, trying to get his breath back. Finally, he backed into a tree.
But then he remembered; it wasn't a tree.
Electricity shot down from the tip of the tower's node, drawn by his metal body, causing even more damage than he'd already taken. Thinking desperately, he collapsed onto the ground and shoved his fingers as deep into the soft dirt as he could, making him a conduit, reducing the damage. He looked at his health gauge and was shocked to see it was nearly half gone! Sure, Bell and her sister were both a level higher than he was, but that didn't explain why that headbutt attack was so devastating! And she'd only hit him with the tip of the brim!
With Periwinkle Pigtail's restraining ability, the two of them must be a great team! He'd bring that up later. Now, he needed to end this fight; the time was down to 530 seconds.
Once the electricity stopped, he scampered away, fingers still in the first, until he was out of the danger zone and stood. He rubbed the slightly crescent shaped gash across his chest. "Nice shot. Ow, by the way."
"Packs a wallop, don't it?" she laughed. "You shoulda saw it coming; it' sin my name! This bonnet ain't just for sun protection!"
Rick's special attack bar was full, but Bell could see that too, so she would be on guard. Plus, while his special attack was ranged, it worked better up close. How to get closer... Well, really, the only way he could think of was to make her so unsettled that she made a mistake.
So, he started to calmly stroll right up to her, no attacking or defensive postures visible in his gait. He even started to whistle.
"H-hey!" Bell called out. "What's the idea? You better guard yourself, or this basket's gonna hurt." She took a few steps back as he continued towards her, not concerned by her warning. She threw her basket at him again, but her aim was way off, due to her nerves this time.
Rick easily dodged it and took a few long strides, getting to her, lifting her up, and slamming her into the ground onto her back. He heard a loud "OOPH" as the wind got knocked out of her.
Then he put his hands onto her child-sized torso, both wrists together, palms open. "Mega Arrow."
Nobody could see the two arrow halves come out of his palms and join together, punching their way through Bell's abdomen, but they could see her HP drop by over fifty percent in that one shot.
"Bell!" her sister called out, running towards them.
Rick got up and brushed off his knees, letting Periwinkle Pigtail help her sister up.
Bell sat up, looking at the hole in her stomach. "That really hurt!"
"Oh, I'll bet," Rick chuckled, hands on his hips. "It's the amount of damage I've taken during the fight, all in one shot."
"That's hardly fair," she said, grinning. Or at least it sounded like she was grinning; without a mouth, it was anyone's guess. "That would explain why you have the reputation of a 'come-back kid.'"
"And that's enough from everyone," Sam's voice called as she and Mauve Dictionary approached. Mauve Dictionary used his small, child's legs to walk but Crystal Seraph approached. Mauve Dictionary used his small child's legs to walk but Crystal Seraph as clearly levitating a few inches off the ground, her six wings vibrating slightly. "That was an excellent fight."
But the two girls were looking at Mauve Dictionary and whispering to each other. "He's even cuter in avatar form," one said. "I've only seen girls have child-type avatars before," the other replied.
"I must say," Crystal Seraph continued, "your attacks are both powerful and somewhat unorthodox."
Rick nodded, feeling the same way.
"As a tag team, you must be very formidable. I'm having a hard time believing you require protection."
Both girls look at Crystal Seraph speechless, before Bluebell Bonnet stepped forward, her hand son her hips, chest thrust out. "That sounded pretty accusatory. Don't beat around the bush, Governor. If you got something to say, say it."
Mauve Dictionary stepped forward, adjusting the massive tome under his arm for which he was named, and cleared his throat. The goggles over his eyes looked just like his real-life glasses and the armor around his avatars neck flared out along the ends, looking exactly like a sharp bow-tie. Lines running down his shoulders to his waist could only be described as suspenders.
"We have a responsibility to protect our Governor," he said calmly, "and it's no secret that the Lupus Guard has no good feelings in regard to us."
"Out with it," Bell snapped.
"Well, isn't it obvious?" the boy asked. "Clearly, you could be assassins sent by our enemies to break apart our Legion once you've established trust. Then, you pick us off with your old Legion, whom you've never actually left."
"Now wait, buddy," Rick interrupted. He really like Leander, but this was a bit much. "We just rumbled here. I didn't feel any kind of hate or deception in Bell's attacks! She wasn't trying to hurt anyone. If anything, I felt relief in her fighting style."
"The best killers are the ones who can hide in plain sight," he replied clearly. "I realize that, as of now, the odds are low, but once we start going on regular trips into the Unlimited Neutral Field, either of these girls could set up an ambush and take us all out at once."
"What!?" Periwinkle Pigtail cried. "No way! We'd never do something like that! We even outed ourselves in the Real for you! We promise, we want to join the Crystal Conclave and get away from the Lupus Guard!"
Bluebell Bonnet just snorted. "Doesn't matter what we say. This is what they think; probably about anyone who'll up and leave their Legion. Clearly, we aren't wanted or welcomed."
Crystal Seraph held up her hand, silencing everyone. "I said nothing about not trusting or welcoming you." Her voice was calm, but Rick could tell she was upset about the conversation. I'm a good judge of character and I have no doubts in my mind that both of you are being genuine. That said, it is my job to ensure the survival of my Legion and you can't blame me for thinking of reasons you might be joining us, other than what you've told us. Understand?"
Both nodded.
"Now, back to my original question," she said after a breath, "why do you require protection when the two of you make such a formidable tag-team?"
"Because of how Silver Lupus runs things," Periwinkle Pigtail grumbled, looking at her feet. "He has records of everyone in the Guard, from their levels and moves to special attacks and abilities."
"He does it so that if anyone should try to betray him, he knows everything they're capable of," Bell sighed, still sounding slightly miffed.
"That's a little twisted," Viper said, "and very paranoid."
"Oh, he sees enemies and assassins in every shadow and behind every corner," she replied.
"Some people think it's because of his exposure to the Unlimited Neutral Field. He spends months there sometimes," Periwinkle Pigtail said. "His mental age has to be in the hundreds; he's a Gen-Oner, after all."
"Maybe the last Gen-Oner," Seraph said quietly.
Gen-Oner was the catch all term referring to players of Brain Burst who had been one of the initial one-thousand first graders that had been randomly selected to receive the program through unknown circumstances. That had been five years ago, and nobody was quite sure what effects accelerating your mind might have in the long term. It was something Rick had been trying to research, but since Brain Burst 2039 was secret to all except those who played it, this was almost impossible. He'd found a few papers written by neurosurgeons on the theory, but it was tough reading those with a seventh-grader's vocabulary!
"So," Crystal Seraph said, returning to the point, "you don't need protection so much as a random factor on your team so that the Lupus Guard can't use their playbook on how to defeat you."
They nodded.
"Very well. I promise that until you move into Manhattan, we will protect you to the best of our abilities," Sam said regally. "You're moving soon?"
They nodded again.
"And you've left the Lupus Guard officially?"
"Just before we walked over to you," Periwinkle Pigtail said quietly.
Seraph nodded. "Then check your in-game email accounts. Your invites, including Legion rules, have been sent. And let me be the first to welcome you to the Crystal Conclave."