Barking ripped me from my unintended snooze. Moving my face from its small pool of drool on my desk while sitting up. My clock said it was 5:43. I stared at Sir Henry. "Fine I'll get up." Pushing the padded desk chair back I rose to my feet, hands leaving my half-baked idea turned realized contraption. I begun affixing the pipes beneath my forearms, PVC extending a foot from my hands. Clamps lock into place on my forearms. Handles gripped in sweaty palms. The mock blades were finished. Ready for training. I carefully unclip and set down my creation. "Want to go outside?" The corgi freaked out and sprinted down the hall, faster than you would think a canine of that size could move. Walking out of my room I stopped in the hall. Looking at a family photo hanging on the wall. Two people standing around a small child. A man with thick black hair and dark eyes. A woman with long blonde locks and a grin that would make the Cheshire Cat envious. The child looked a bit like his parents, Brown almost black hair, dark eyes and a sarcastic look on his face. A tiny ball of black fur clutched protectively in his arms.
Times changed though. And I grew up. Henry was now a large ball of fluff, and my parents were gone on some business trip to an obscure city in Asia. I ran my old 'caretaker' out of the house the first chance I had. She couldn't even do her job right.
I quickly remedied that however. Smiling at the fond memory of dye, permanent markers, and sleeping pills… I didn't kill her but she may have felt that way. Let's just say that I gave her a makeover… Snapping a leash onto the seemingly caffeinated doggo, I stepped out into the sunlight.
Walking at a leisurely pace saying hello to a shorter kid walking his cat. Yes, you read right. Walking a feline. What can I say? People are weird. Taking a left at right street, going right along left avenue, following the fork at spoon street. The park gate loomed in front of me. I tugged the gate open to let my 'expresso can' run. He was off like a rocket. Collapsing onto a bench, I opened up an e-book about a fantasy world. Becoming lost to the words forming an entirely new reality. About an hour into the book I come across this passage:
He turned the world slowly into the realm of Avalon, the dimension of true reality. All life twisting and distorting into the manifestation of their soul. X Calibur laughed as everything finally succumbed to their sins and virtues. The world had become a beautiful and horrible place. One full of Light wrapped in Shadow, and Darkness in the wake of the Light. He looked at the world in a whole way. The truth had been revealed. And nothing would ever be the same.
My eyes widened as I look at the book in a new light. Life becoming a representation of their soul. That sounded oddly familiar… Why did that premise sound so awkward… Oh wait, that's my life now. Hahaha, I hate irony. It is the bane of my existence some times. I realized how I must look to the rest of the world. A pale, thin, sleep deprived 15 year old grinning like a madman and laughing to himself. I probably look crazy. With a slightly less unhinged grin, I sprung to my feet. I'd let them stare. What did I care about how they think. Sometimes I wished I could just leave this screwed up world of mine behind. Then it hits me like a hypersonic hammer. "Good enough time for it anyway. I've been wanting to do this for a while. Burst Link," I whispered.
The world slammed to a blue tinged halt. I stared into my own eyes with a smile. A blue glow lightly coated everything like dew in the morning. Before I get too sidetracked in my thoughts I pull myself back into the moment. To why I accelerated. Left slash, diagonal swipe, kick, right slash, decapitate. The motions getting more and more familiar with more practice in the accelerated world. The best part, an hour in here translates to about 4ish seconds out there. All in all, the perfect place to do about anything. I continued my practice. The only downside was that my virtual body lacked the blades of my avatar. But, it didn't matter right now. I had to get better. I needed to…
12 seconds later...
I sighed. "Burst Out." The command sent me to the world, grinding back into normal speed. I had gotten some practice in. My strikes were less sloppy, my rhythm was easier to get into, and I felt better. I let out a long piercing whistle. The black furry bullet rams into my kneecaps. Henry seems to vibrate in place with excitement. I clipped the leash back into place. As we walked back to the apartment I felt a person's gaze burning into my back. Once more, I whispered, "Burst Link," the world, once again; seemed to take a day off.
In the frozen, blue world, I spun around looking for the eyes glaring into my soul. I calmly walked between pedestrians. This program, this Brain Burst thing. What an amazing application. I see my target, A young woman with long dark hair. She was looking straight at my frozen form with the same look of someone staring at an interesting bug they found on the sidewalk. Next to her was a boy barely older than 12, his greyish skin looking a size to small, being pulled tight over his skull. A long thin scar reaching from his right temple to his chin. Both sporting identical unhinged grins. The smiles sent shivers down my spine and reminded me that I can't stay accelerated forever. At some point I would have to be back in normal time. With that thought words pour from my lips. "Burst Out."
Life around me sped up in a riot of sound. However the split second after I slow down, the world shattered around me. Once more, I was in my golden avatar. I looked up at the health bars. Cursed Flush. Who are they, and what do they want with me?
Next chapter promises a fight with this new Cursed Flush person. Who are they? And who were the two people staring at Lucius on the street? Answers next time, and hopefully without the long hiatus.