Act 1: The Note Isolation Plays
Chapter 4: Complications
So! I'm back with a new chapter! This has a lot of Hiro. I know this is supposed to be a ROTGXHTTYD fanfic mainly but all this focus on Hiro will last only through Act 1, as I intend to use him and Rapunzel to introduce the concept of Sburb. After that, perspectives will change.
I guess I should warn you this chapter will have gendered slurs so if that bothers you, beware.
And enjoy!
[9: 07 AM]
Message notifications reaching his phone made Hiccup's pocket ring in a cacophony that didn't help him concentrate as he tried to sit upright, an action that was proving difficult as he was tied up. Still, even though his phone was proving to be quite a distraction, the little Viking had an idea on his mind to get out of this predicament.
With a grunt, the freckled teen managed to right himself up, standing up with shaky steps. Trying to not trip and ruin everything, the little Viking made its way towards a rock wall with particularly sharp-looking jagged edges. Once in position, Hiccup started to rub the rope that was binding him against the sharp rock in hopes that it would liberate him. It took the auburn-haired youth some minutes of excruciating effort for the rocks to do the job, but he sighed with relief once the rope gave away.
With a sigh, the freckled teen adjusted his glasses and rolled his shoulders. What a fine mess... he was dirty with mud and now he was sore and he was game-less as he was in the morning. Of course, that was partly his fault for not coming up with a better plan... but being tied up by the cove all this time gave him a better idea.
Walking to the cove's lake shore, Hiccup sat on a stone outcropping and psyched himself up. If he couldn't get near the Night Fury himself, he would lure the Night Fury to him. He just needed the proper bait...
[9:08 AM]
"GG: Um, Hiro? What do I do?"
Rapunzel's message snaps Hiro from his nervous train of thought. The appearance of that timer had sent him on a mental tangent but he needed to get a hold of himself. Tadashi's actions were worrisome, but there were some pressing matters in front of him right now. He had to get this game going, even if it wasn't going like he planned. With slightly hesitating fingers, the Japanese kid types away in Sburb's start up screen and joins the game as Rapunzel's client player.
"CT: This is what we'll do rapunzel. We'll start the game just the two of us at first. You'll be the server and ill be the client while we wait for the others to connect."
"GG: Oh... OK. What's a server supposed to do?"
Right... it was time for all those dreams of his to be of use. Hiro ransacked his brain for the answer and before long-
"CT: As a server player, you have to help the client progress through the game. So whenever i am in a pinch, you help out, ok?"""
That was the best way he could explain it, with the info he had.
"GG: Wait, so only you will get the chance to play? :o"
"CT: No! I mean... that will be your role for now... we actually need to both act as both server and client at the same time if we want to proceed through this game, but i think its better if we start simple, so you can get used to the game. Once more people join, you'll be the client of someone and so on!"
Hiro didn't know if he was getting through to the blonde girl, but there was no way he could explain it in a simpler way. For now, the Japanese kid had to progress through the game, and to do so, he needed Rapunzel's help.
"GG: Ok... I'll believe you! But... are you sure you're OK? You don't look well."
At that, Hiro made a confused noise. "Look"? What an odd way of phrasing it...
"CT: I-I'm just fine, really! Why would you think otherwise?"
"GG: Hmm... It's just... you look extremely nervous and fidgety. Is everything alright?"
"CT: Rapunzel how do you even know what I'm doing?"
It made no sense to the Japanese kid. Sure, even though it pained him to admit so, he was kind of freaking out a little. His brother was acting up, and things weren't going as planned, so he naturally had started to sweat a bit, but how did his friend know that? The next IM thankfully shed some light into this question.
"GG: Oh! That! Riiight... Ever since you connected to my session, my start-up screen changed and now I cankindaseeintoyourroomandseeyou :X"
...
"CT: Oh."
It was all Hiro could answer. He shouldn't have been surprised. After all, if this game was supposed to help them meet each other in person, and the other person was going to help him progress in the game, then Hiro guessed it was possible for the game to allow another player to see their co-players rooms. Still, there was something embarrassing about the fact that a girl was seeing how messy his room was; he hadn't cleaned up in forever, considering the fact that Tadashi was equally messy and Aunt Cass didn't actually mind the mess. Still, Hiro had bigger concerns right now. He had a session to run.
"CT: N-never mind that! Really! It's normal! So, rapunzel... how about you mess around with the controls and such? To get a feel for it and the game, i mean! While you do that i'm going to think of what to do."
"GG: Sure thing Hiro-chan! Just give me a sec... "
And with that, the IM ceased to come. Hiro didn't mind Rapunzel's inquisitive nature, but he needed to concentrate for a bit. To try to make sense of the confusion addling his brain. He needed to remember all the dreams he had seen in order to figure out a game plan (heh), and for that, he needed peace and quiet-
A buzzing in his shorts made him groan. Great, who wanted to message him just now?! Was it Rapunzel?! No, she couldn't be, she was talking to him on his computer, so who could-?
Hiro gritted his teeth as he saw the username of the idiot who had decided to pester him right now. With an angry jab of his finger, Hiro brought up the chat window, already seething with anger as he read the opening line of the message.
- terrifyingGrima [tG] started pestering combativeTechnologist [CT] at 9:15 AM-
"tG: So... today's the day you guys fuck everything up. Am I right, Zero?"
"So, what does the Hamada boy say?"
Flynn is looking over Rapunzel's shoulder with a disinterested face as the blonde messes around with the game's interface. On the screen, Flynn can see a giant green arrow sliding around according to Rapunzel's mouse movements. On the top of the screen, a tool bar with a bunch of commands (Move, Redesign, Deploy) and tabs (Phernalia Registry, Grist Cache being the only ones he can read from his position) and arrows and zoom-in/out buttons can be seen as well. Flynn was never good at videogames, so the sight of all this game terminology makes him groan mentally; how was Rapunzel capable of making sense of all of this?
"Well, he said I should play around with the game's interface so I can get used to it... so I guess I'll do just that!", answers the blonde, enthusiastically, as she clicks the "Redesign" command.
Flynn smirks. Figures she would have no idea of what she was doing too. The bearded teen honestly thought that not even Hiro had an idea of what to do, but hey, if they wanted to mess around a videogame, who was he to ruin their fun?
Hiccup sighed as the tenth fish in a row eluded his makeshift spear. Fishing without a rod was a hard and tedious task, not to mention unsavory, but this was the only way he would be able to lure Toothless to him. It worked the first time they met, so the auburn-haired kid knew it was going to work this time too.
Wiping away the sweat from his brow, the little Viking decided he needed a break. Taking out his phone, Hiccup browsed through the messages he had neglected to answer and a smile crept on his lips as he read the birthday wishes from every one of his friends. Most of them were offline now, no doubt busy with important stuff, but one of them was still online, and deciding he could strike up a conversation while he rested, he started to type away his answer.
-tinyGlaurung [TG] started pestering tenaciousTomboy [TT] at 9:15 AM-
"TG: Thanks for the birthday wishes, Anna."
"TT: Oh! Hiccup! I didn't expect you to see you online! Hahaha, hello there!"
That bubbly disposition of hers... Hiccup often wondered if Rapunzel and Anna were related in any way... but of course, that was downright impossible. Still, no one could deny the similarities between the two girls; it was often a running gag between them that Anna was Rapunzel 2.0.
"TG: Hello there, Anna. So, are you ready to play this game Hiro has been psyched about?"
"TT: I totally am! But I'm just waiting for Elsa to get her game on! She's seriously putting this thing off a lot, even though she promised to play a long time ago. Say's she busy with "adult stuff" but I think she's making up excuses!"
When Hiccup first met Anna and Elsa through Merida, he found it hard to believe that they were both royalty. Still, considering the fact that the redhead was also royalty, Hiccup came to terms with the revelation smoothly. More odd than that was the fact that Elsa was the legal guardian of Anna, seeing as both of them were orphans. And though the older sibling, Elsa, exuded royalty and grace even through her messages, Anna was most certainly the friendlier of the two. Still, they made an unique pair, and they fit quite well in the group of mishmashed personalities.
However, Elsa's responsibilites as the queen were quite real, and this was often shown in how absent she was in most of their conversations, almost always away in some Serious Royal Business. Still, Elsa was a woman of her word; the promises she made were always fulfilled and she had promised to play the game, so Hiccup had no reason to worry.
"TG: I'm trying to get my copy of the game, but Toothless is being difficult."
"TT: Oh? More of that famed "hide-and-go-seek" stuff you always talk about?"
"TG: It's "teleport-hide-and-seek", but yeah, that's what I mean. I'm currently in the forest trying to track him down, but as expected, that jerk thinks this is just a game."
"TT: Weeeeell... technically speaking, this IS a game..."
"TT: But you better hurry up, Hiccup! I'm not sure you should be outside right now..."
At that, the auburn-haired teen rose and eyebrow.
"TG: What do you mean by that?"
"TT: Didn't you see the news? Today there's going to be a worldwide meteor storm around the globe! The authorities say that Earth is going to be fine, but they advised to stay indoors just in case some of the meteors do manage to make it pass the atmosphere."
Hiccup found that extremely odd. Sure, he hadn't seen the news today, but there was no mention of any meteor storm in the news yesterday... or all week. And meteor storms don't appear out of nowhere. How could this be...?
"TG: Oh... OK, Gotcha. Don't worry, Anna. I'll be safe. As soon as I get the game back, I'll hurry back home."
"TT: Yeah, I know you'll take care of yourself. You were always a safety nut haha!"
At that, Hiccup scoffed. What, just because he was more cautious than the rest of his friends, that didn't mean he didn't take risks. Who was the one who lived with fire breathing reptiles every day? Right, this fishbone.
"TT: In any case, I'll join the game later. I'll try to hurry Elsa along so you better be there once we join in, OK? See ya later, Hiccup!"
"TG: Right, see ya Anna."
And with that, Hiccup put his phone in sleep mode. He needed to focus on getting a fish, or else he would be late. The thing about the meteor storm was worrying... but if the experts said that they would be OK... then he was going to be OK, right?
No, the moment he started to worry about what-if worst case scenarios, that was the moment he lost. Gripping the makeshit spear on his hand, Hiccup turned to face the lake, weapon at ready...
Various red streaks tint the sky crimson for just a second before they dissipate in middair...
Hiro was so ready to go off against the troll who had decided to bother him today of all times when intense shaking to his right made him turn around. In an instant, where once was a wall in his room now was a big, empty space. Hiro had to rub his eyes; he couldn't believe what he was seeing... his room had gotten bigger, a square, empty space that wasn't there before now, well, existing right there!
The Japanese kid instantly contacted Rapunzel, his fingers frantically typing away.
"CT: Uh... rapunzel what are you doing?"
"GG: Sorry Hiro-chan! You told me to get used to the controls so I kinda wanted to experiment with the "Redesign" command! Apparently, I can rebuild your house with this command! Or build stuff upon it. It costs something called 'Grist', though. :/"
Huh. Hiro found that interesting. So Sburb really was capable of altering reality. Still, if doing so wasted in-game resources, resources he didn't know where to get as he had never heard of this "Grist" stuff, then they should be more careful with their moves. But just as Hiro was about to advice Rapunzel to not mess around too much, the Japanese kid had to duck for cover as his bed was suddenly flung over his head and right through the wall, smashing through it and landing in the street in front of his house.
"CT: Rapunzel, watch what you're doing!"
"GG: Sorry! I didn't think the mouse cursor would be that sensitive :x!"
"GG: I'll stop messing around with the stuff in your room... I'm going to check what the deploy command does now..."
"CT: Just don't break more stuff, ok?!"
- glowingGal [GG] ceased pestering combativeTechnologist [CT] at 9:22 AM -
Hiro sighed as he recieved another message from the douchebag. He really didn't want to entertain this annoyance more than he needed to, but the raven-haired kid thought a simple 'fuck off' was warranted; he had stuff to do, after all.
-terrifyingGrima [tG] started pestering combativeTechnologist [CT] at 9:23 AM -
"tG: See? Just like I said. That stupid bitch is already wrecking your home. I can't wait until you idiots start to fuck up even more. It's going to be an amazing show and I have front row tickets for it."
"CT: Oh my god, why are you even talking to us you massive jerk. If you hate us so much why keep bothering us?! We didn't do anything to you and besides i thought i blocked you!"
It was true; this random asshole had started bothering all of them 3 months ago. Out of nowhere, tG was on their contact lists despite the fact that no one had added him, and ever since, he would message them toxic messages without miss. Even though they had blocked and erased him from their contact list, the jerk would always return and pester them some more.
"tG: God, it's just so hard to stop watching, you know? Like, how can I ever stop watching the biggest fucking trainwreck in the universe? It's simply a thing that can't be done, especially since you guys are going to massively screw the entire universe because of your stupid wishy-washy petty desires."
"CT: OK, so you're just going to be your vague bullshit and annoying self as always got it. See ya later jerk, i'm blocking you again."
"tG: Wow. Just wow. Zero, you're really oblivious to the world around you. I mean, really, you're willing to go along with this sketchy as fuck game and you aren't even aware of the damage it's doing to you? Tadashi deserved better than you, but you already knew that, didn't you?"
That comment stung. Hiro was already feeling guilty over the fact that he had made Tadashi freak out, but there was something about the way tG was saying that that caught his attention.
"CT: What are you even talking about? What kind of damage would a game do to me?"
"tG: Look outside of your window you pedantic douchebag."
Hiro reluctantly looked through the hole Rapunzel had made through his wall, and nearly dropped his phone. With shaky steps, the Japanese kid approached the hole, his eyes wide as he took the scene outside.
Fire, wreckage.
Streaks of red balls of fire quickly sailing through the skies, making impact on the outskirts of San Fransokyo, the flames surrounding the falling stars igniting the abandoned buildings and cars and streets surrounding Hiro's house at an alarming rate. Fires that would soon start to attack Hiro's own home.
"tG: Tick Tock, motherfucker. You better get your game on, Zero, or else you're going to burn to a crisp! Hahahaha!"
Panic seized the younger Hamada's heart as he backed away from the wall. Di-did he really cause all of this? All this destruction... was his fault? Was that why Tadashi was so freaked out? Where was he?! Where was Aunt Cass?! As he wondered that, an intense shaking made Hiro lose his balance and he landed on his butt unceremoniously. An IM soon followed.
- glowingGal [GG] started pestering combativeTechnologist [CT] at 9:28 AM -
"GG: OK, I'm going to start deploying stuff around your house :o!"
"GG: There's a lot of cool-looking stuff in this Phernalia Registry, but they're kind of big so I'm going to have to scatter them to fit them all in! Sorry about that!"
No sooner the words were out- err, displayed on Hiro's phone, two more mini-earthquakes followed, no doubt because of the stuff Rapunzel was deploying around the Japanese kid's house.
"GG: I don't know what most of this stuff does, but I'm sure you know what to do with them, Hiro-chan! If you need any help, just ask me!"
...Hiro shook his head. That's right... if this was all because of the game they were playing... if this was Sburb's fault... then the only thing he could do was play along. He doubted he could quit right now. So maybe, maybe this was the first "mission" in the game. If so, then there had to be a way to "win", Hiro figured. There had to be a way to escape this destruction, or avert it. And to do so, he had to concentrate. He had to crack the puzzle that this game was.
Maybe in doing so, he could even get to save Tadashi and Aunt Cass... and meet Hiccup and everyone else.
With a renewed resolution, the Japanese kid stood up, just in time to see a red card slowly float down in front of him.
With the appropriate bait in hand, Hiccup made his way out of the cove. It was an unpleasant experience to skewer a fish, but he had to do so. Hiccup had checked out all the other places Toothless liked to hide in whenever they were engaged in their silly one-sided games, but there was one place he hadn't checked out yet.
Mostly in the hopes that Toothless hadn't decided to hide there, for it was one of the most dangerous, complex and reclusive places in the whole isle of Berk.
As luck would have it, however, Hiccup found himself standing at the steps of that place. Since he had already explored the other areas and he hadn't found nary a scale of his friend, this was the only place he could be.
Stone pillars rose from the giant lake, its waters no doubt hiding the rest of the ruins that were as ancient as Berk itself. A temple, tall and foreboding, made out of gray rock stood before the little viking, its frog shaped monument perched at the very top of the structure, giving off an impressive shadow as the teen stood there in awe. He had been here a lot of times before, but it always took its breath away. And it made him wonder, why frogs? Wasn't Berk an island full of dragons? The ancients sure were weird.
Still, Toothless had to be here, so Hiccup took a deep breath and adjusted his hold on the makeshift spear before heading into the ruins, hoping to find the troublemaker dragon fast.
Hiro picked up the red card that had just materialized in front of him, and he couldn't help but to be confused at what he was looking. It was a card filled with holes in various places, a picture of a micro-bot on its surface. This perplexed Hiro. What was a micro-bot doing in Sburb? Hiro had just finished making them yesterday (an invention of his made in spare time) and there was no way Skaianet, the game company that produced Sburb, had learned about it. So... how? How was a micro-bot in this card?
And what was Hiro supposed to do with this red, punched card?
Hoping to get some clues from his server player, Hiro messaged the blonde, only to be faced with...
-glowingGal [GG] is currently offline-
That wasn't good.
"Now what am I supposed to do? I never saw this card in my dreams... at least, I don't think so...". Hiro groaned at the realization that all the bravado he had about his knowledge about the game turned out to be for naught. He was truly at a loss for what to do. Was he even able to progress without his server player...?
Hiro's phone came to life as a message was delivered to him. Opening Pesterchum, the Japanese kid grimaced as he saw that the annoyance was still hounding him.
"tG: See? You guys are already fucking up. Your bitch of a friend has left you and you have no clue what you're doing. Man, this is so rich."
"CT: What the hell is your problem man?! If you're really just interested in seeing us fail then why don't you stop bothering us and leave us alone! We don't need your snide comments you asshole!"
"tG: Ugh, but see... you guys do need my help!"
"tG: I mean, I COULD leave you alone and watch you fuck around uselessly and waste everyone's time, but I've already done that so many times and honestly? It gets boring to see you guys fuck up at this part every damn time. "
"tG: So that's why I'll help you, Zero, at this point. Hopefully I'll see you fail in more spectacular ways in the future... now that will be even more entertaining."
Hiro jumped a little as he heard a loud crash next door. Taking a peek outside the hole in his wall, Hiro panicked when he saw his neighbor's house in flames, a meteorite the size of a small car firmly lodged in the structure. He was running out of time. And he still had no idea what to do, about this situation and about this asshole and his intentions.
Trying to juggle his phone, the red card he picked up, and now Hiccup's gift (there was no way he was letting that out of his sight now, he wouldn't want it to catch fire, as some embers were already billowing inside his room), the Japanese kid sent his response with angry jabs at his phone's touch screen.
"CT: I don't understand you! And I dont need your help!"
"tG: But you're so fucking wrong, Zero. Don't you ever get tired of being wrong? I know I would."
"tG: I mean, you aren't even using your Sylladex at all. Honestly, how did you even graduate from high school at such a young age? You're such an idiot."
"CT: Instead of being a jerk, how about you explain what a Sylladex is? Wow, that would be awesome!"
Hiro could almost visualize the other's eye roll as the answer to his message came.
"tG: OK. Time to get serious. A Sylladex is simply game bullshit mumbo terminology. A game construct of sorts. Ever heard of an inventory? That's what Sburb calls it.
"tG: You basically can now carry stuff with you without necessary holding it. I don't know how it works nor I care; it just fucking does."
"tG: You store stuff by captchaloguing them. The objects you store will be put in cards. You can then call them back to you by simply thinking about them and you do the same to store stuff."
At that, Hiro interrupted.
"CT: Wait, cards? You mean like this one I have? So can I get a microbot out of this pre-punched card? Why does this card even have holes? Do all cards have them?"
"tG: God, don't interrupt me. That card is special and its different from the others so no, you can't get what's inside it. Yet. You can still captchalogue it so it doesn't bother you though."
"CT: Storing a card inside a card? Thats kinda dumb."
"tG: I know."
For some reason, Hiro found that kinda funny. Still, it was a weird concept, thinking about it... but he had no reason to not believe tG. So thought he found it odd, the Japanese kid started to think about this abstract concept.
And then, as if it was natural to him to do so, a clear image appeared in his mind. A folder of sorts was displayed in front of him, and by simply willing it, all the objects he was carrying were assorted into cards and stored inside his Sylladex. It felt weird and it was like magic, seeing the red card and Hiccup's present being transformed into cards.
It really felt like a game.
However, the Japanese kid noticed something weird about this mental folder of his. On the corner of it, Hiro could see a flip-over button. With a little mental effort, the button was pushed and the folder flipped over, the new side of it reading "Strife Deck."
Hiro found it rather surprising how fast he was getting used to this.
"CT: Whats a Strife Deck?"
tG's answer came fast, as if he were expecting it.
"tG: You know how in games all characters have their own weapon they're good at and shit? That's what basically a Strife Deck is.
"tG: In Sburb, weapons are called somethingKind and your Strife Deck is used to manage the weapons you can use."
Hiro hummed at that. He wasn't actually proficient with any kind of weaponry, but Tadashi had taught him some moves...
Before he even knew it, a card had appeared in his Strife Deck out of nowhere, as if it had read its thoughts. It read fistKind. Hiro supposed that it had to with the fact that he was at least good enough with his karate moves. Never in his dreams did he think he would end up being the Monk/Fighter character.
"tG: In any case, you should probably get your ass into gear."
tG's message snapped Hiro from his musings.
"tG: I mean, you're in danger of going up in smoke, so I'd get all the stuff you think is important real fast and then you need to find all the things your bitch of a friend deployed. They're important."
Hiro gritted his teeth at that. He hated how this jerk was always badmouthing his friends, especially Rapunzel since she didn't ever harm anyone, but he had to tolerate this. tG, sadly, knew what he was talking about.
"CT: I dont need you to tell me that. I can do it myself."
"tG: Yeah right, Zero. You don't know shit."
That only made the Japanese kid wonder about the nature of tG more, though. Who was this person? Why did they continue to haunt them? Why did they talk about Hiro and his friends in such a vague, almost-all-knowing way? And how did they know so much about Sburb? Was he also a prophetic dreamer? The questions were endless, but Hiro supposed he wasn't getting any answers to that. Time was of the essence.
Quickening up his pace, Hiro rushed out of his now-in-shambles room and ventured towards Tadashi's room in search of the objects Rapunzel had placed.
He hoped that Tadashi and Rapunzel were OK...
So! New characters, and more trudging along the story!
And more jumping around the points of view! I hope you didn't get lost in all of that and the exposition. I really have to get these concepts out of the way early so that they don't clog the story up later, but if you think I'm being too much, just tell me in a review, along with any comments and criticisms!
See ya in the next chapter.