Chapter .2
After dinner Vincent went straight to bed, after he fell asleep Vincent awoke to find himself tied to pole on top of a pyre. Looking around he saw people from his school, his fencing team and his own family laying siege to a castle.
"You always thought you were the best, you didn't make captain, you're nothing no matter how hard you try!" The fencing team sneered as the castle walls were crumbling.
"You're just a disappointment." Vincent's mother lit a touch, handing it to Elizabeth. "Why couldn't you be like your sister, a child I'm proud of."
Next to the pyre Catherine grinned at Vincent. "I'll always be better then you." Catherine held up her touch. "Come! Let's burn this failure!"
"You bastards." Vincent's body was shaking, he raised his head to look at everyone. "I did everything to please you parasites! I'm the best fencer but I was still denied. Elizabeth wouldn't have gotten anything if I wasn't there to hold her hand! And you..." Vincent glared at Catherine. "I know you cheated some how and I will find out how!"
Vincent took a deep breath before he continued. "You're all parasites! Lazy, greedy, glutton, parasites! I'll burn this world down then you'll see who you're fucking with!" The mob set the pyre on fire as everything faded to black.
...
Vincent shot up in a cold sweat, breathing hard. He raised his hand to his head, trying to remember what the dream was. Vincent got up to get dressed, putting on a tan shirt and jeans with brown boots. As Vincent finished he remembered his meeting with Catherine. Vincent had half a mind to just not go but with this new program on his linker he needed to know.
Going down stairs he grabbed two peaches and left. Stepping outside Vincent ate one of the peaches as he walked down the street. Half way to his school Vincent stopped as flames appeared his front of him forming into words to spell out a sentence.
Here comes a new challenger!
The world broke apart around Vincent and reshaped into a empty desert. Vincent felt his body change as well. Looking down he saw his body was covered in purple armor with a sword at his side, a cape of a darker purple on his back, and a mounted cannon on his right arm. "What? At the top of his field of view was a timer ticking down with a blue gauge on both sides under the gauges were a name. Under the right it read Aero Spear-man. On the left it read Eminence Tyrant.
"Hello there!" A person in light blue armor with a spear ran towards Vincent. "Judging by how you're looking around, this is your first fight?" The blue armored spear-man held out their hand.
Vincent nods and reaches out to shack his hand when the person plunges his spear into Vincent's chest. The blue gauge on the left went down by a third. "Purple avatars really can't take a hit." The opponent laughed. "First rule pal. Don't trust your opponent Rookie!" Vincent grabbed the person's wrist over the spear and squeezed. "Hey let go!" They tried to punch but Vincent caught their fist.
"There are two types of people that I hate. Bullies and cheaters." Vincent squeezes ever harder. "And from what you've just done. You're both."
The blue armored person let go of the spear from the pain and Vincent punched them in the face plate as they fell down Vincent pulled the spear out of him and ran it though the downed person's hand as he stomped on their other arm. He kneels down and punches them into face repeatedly.
The Aero Spear-man kicked Vincent in the back to get him off then try to pull the spear out of their hand. Vincent planted his foot on his opponent's back and grabbed on to the sides of their head, trying to to pulling it off.
"Stop, stop! Please no!" Vincent ignored them and ripped their head clean off to see their blue gauge empty.
"Next time, play fair. Dick." Vincent threw the head down and a message appeared in front of him.
Burst Points 99 - 119.
The world broke down again and returned to normal. Vincent looked around to find that everything was as it was before it changed. Vincent ran to the school, hoping Catherine would have answers.
...
Standing outside the school Catherine waited for almost ten minutes when she saw Vincent run towards her. "There you are! It's not nice to keep a lady waiting."
"What is this thing you gave me?"
Catherine placed her hands on her hips as she grinned. "So you had a fight on the way here, did you? I told you to turn off your linker off." Catherine patted Vincent on the cheek. "Well getting your ass kicked should teach you."
"I won."
"What?!"
"Now, tell me what this is."
"Alright. Burst link!" The world broke down again and reconstructed itself into a prehistoric forest. Vincent was back in his purple armor. "Eminence Tyrant, very interesting." Standing before Vincent Catherine was in a teal armor with daggers around her waist.
Vincent saw her name under the right blue gauge. "Teal Assassin?"
"That's my avatar name. Welcome to Brain Burst!"
"What is this?"
"Brain Burst is a fighting game as you must know now."
"A fighting game, so what are we fighting for?"
"Burst points, or BP which we use to accelerate." Vincent just tilted his head. "Brain Burst is more then just a fighting game. It's a program that allows users to "accelerate" their brain waves to make time appear to stand still. The times a person can accelerate depend on the number of Burst Points you have. When a Burst Linker, us, accelerates for the first time, they start with a total of 99 BP. Each time the Burst Linker accelerates, they use 1 Point. However, there are other abilities that are obtained by the Burst Linker as they level up their Duel Avatar with each of the abilities varying in cost. Burst Points are mainly earned by fighting and defeating other Burst Linkers in the program's online multiplayer fighting game, You see where I'm going with this?"
"By speeding up our thoughts we can slow the world around us and plan out what the best course of action would be."
"Now you get it! By winning fights you gain more points. With this power you can ace tests, win bets, or even be a better fencer in your case."
"In other words, cheat."
Catherine laughed lightly. "If you wish to call it that then yes, you can cheat your way to the top with this power. Think about it, you now have an easy button for life, and all you have to do is fight in this world. Now doesn't that sound wonderful?"
Vincent stepped closer to Catherine, pointing at her. "I knew you cheated!"
Catherine just wave her hand. "Yeah, yeah. I cheated, so what? And you now what? It was you I cheated off of." Vincent clinched his fists. "Oh don't be like that."
"Why did you give this game to me?"
"I, or we need your help."
"We?"
"There's a war going on and we need fighters. Burst Linkers can join groups to fight of territory."
"You mean like a clan?"
"We can them legions but same thing."
"Why should I help you?"
"It's for you're own good as well. When a Linker is with a legion they can deny a fight when they're in their territory. Without a legion you'll be attacked over and over, it'll wear you down and as you keep losing you'll lose you're BP. With all your BP gone, Brain Burst will uninstall forever with all of your memories of it."
"I don't see a down side then. I didn't ask for any of this."
"Did you just forget what I said! An easy button for the real world!"
"So I can end up like you? No. Keep your easy button, I'm not so weak that I need that." Vincent turned to walk away.
"But don't you want to know who you are?!"
Vincent stopped and turned back to Catherine. "What?"
"You had a nightmare, right? That was Brain Burst reading your fears, insecurities, and desires to create your avatar. Purple avatars tend to be more... complex. Besides, isn't your life boring? Trying to climb a ladder that the world itself is trying to keep you down?" Vincent fully spun to face Catherine and took a few steps towards her. "When the timer is done you'll have two choices. You can get rid of the game and forget all about it, returning to your normal life. Or you can stay and see how far you can go. Maybe you'll last a week, maybe a month or so. Maybe you'll me great and take down a legion or two. Hell, shoot for the stars and maybe you'll start you're own legion!"
"Fine. I'll fight, but I fight for me. Not for you, not for some legion, not for anyone."
Catherine nods. "As long as you fight. Now, drew your sword! We need to know what your avatar can do!"
! #$%^&*()_+}"?{
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