A/N: Decided not to make it a crossover since it only mentions characters from Gunvolt and focuses more on the Mighty No. 9-side of Mighty Gunvolt Burst. It's still spoiler-heavy regardless.
Being trapped inside of the virtual reality machine was the last thing Beck wanted, but to his surprise, he wasn't trapped like he had supposed.
He supposed that he'd be trapped under it all as the system went back to the factory settings, unable to see the light of day. He supposed with Teseo leaving the VR program alone, it would open up a chance to get rescued.. and he supposed he'd be rescued by now regardless. According to his internal sensors, it would almost be a week by now.
But things were working out much differently that he had expected.
Instead of completely being trapped in a nothingness void, like he had for the first couple days, he suddenly woke up back at the lab, where he thought he was free of that madness.
The first thing that cued him off was that he wasn't back in reality was how everyone acted.
They didn't act as expected, but he could admit they acted similar. There was a line here and a line there that he was sure that was out of their usual character, but for the rest of it, he could've been convinced he wasn't trapped.
But the thing was… the AI were never built to show personality. They were created for practice. If they had personality during the incident with Teseo, there was no doubt having to fight his siblings all over again, with their off-putting one-liners, would've broken him. It had already hurt quite a bit without the dialogue.
Then, there was the sky. The sky was blue, like how science had made it to be, but with off-putting green squares, something he had become accustomed to while in the VR system, which was how things 'spawned' into existence.
The sky tried its best to act real, with movement with the clouds and the sun changing position, but whoever was running the show couldn't seem to work it at all out.
And… finally, there was him.
The clone that Teseo had made of him, something straight out of an old video game. He was watching from afar, unaware that the true Beck had noticed him, his red eyes glowing from under his purple mask. However, the clone of GV was nowhere to be found.
Deciding to play along with whatever else was going on, he dealt with the dumb AI of both his teammates and enemies in the Colosseum up to this point, much to the point he was worried he was going to lose himself in it as the AI almost seemed to be advancing themselves to make themselves the real thing.
Or, at least, a VR equivalent. Nothing ever could beat the real version of whoever he found himself interacting with, or so he hoped he could keep that straight in his head.
It started to become apparent who the true villain was. Teseo was gone, he soon realized. Yet, his creation remained.
The next time Beck encountered him, watching from one of his usual perches, he spoke up instead of acting blind.
"I know you've been watching me." Silence.
"And I know Teseo's gone, because he sure didn't sound like he had another plan up his sleeve." Still, no response.
"Look, whatever you've got planned… I'm sure it's nothing we can't try to talk out first." He tried to appeal to some type of sympathy, but nothing but a blank expression returned. Beck grew frustrated.
"Listen, you can drop the act. We both know that you're much smarter than you let on."
Then, like that, "...It's simple. If I let you go now, I'll be the only one left."
It struck a chord with Beck's emotions. "What do you mean, the only one left?"
"You said it yourself. Teseo's gone, GV and that butterfly girl with him. The copy of GV? Disappeared without a trace after they faced each other."
"It was odd to me, too. What happened to him?" Beck wondered if the copy even knew. "Why are you still here when he isn't?"
"The VR system… it has an internal revival system, right? You'd never truly die in here, but it keeps restarting you from a checkpoint." The glow from his eyes seemed a little faint. "When I died, it thought I was you. So, it respawned me back in, just outside of the arena."
There was sudden venom in his voice as he spat out the words.
"I rather would've died than be trapped in this place for the rest of my life."
Beck began to piece everything together. "...So, when Teseo left, it gave you his 'administrative' powers?"
"Essentially, yes." The double confirmed. "They took a little work to get used to, but, as you can tell, I'm not able to control the system in the same way he did… nor was I trying to take the same approach."
"So, your 'approach' was to recreate the real world?" Beck felt a little tense. "Was your approach to make me miss it? Feel trapped inside a nightmare?"
"Quite the opposite," he responded with a frown, "I wanted you to think this was the real world." The AI looked around, as if motioning to his surroundings to prove a point and with a sigh, he muttered, "As you can tell, both Teseo's and my understanding of your world and the people you live around is… limited."
"Yet, you were able to expand their AI," Beck responded, referring to his friends, family, and battlefield enemies, "How?"
"I'm not entirely stuck in here like you are," was his response. "I can access anything within the circuit of the 'net… which is everything, nowadays."
The realization hit Beck. "Cameras, emails, calls, files, live feeds... you can access it all."
"Exactly."
Silence filled the air for only a moment as Beck finally spoke up to break it. "So, are you just going to keep me trapped here against my will?"
"If you leave now, you'll never come back." The copy was only assuming, but he had the right idea with his point. "They'll strip this program down, searching for any sign of Teseo's control. When they find me, then I'll be gone."
"And you can't just escape?" It was a stupid question, but it had to be asked.
"Of course not. If I could, I would've by now and might've actually let you go free."
"...Might've?" The copy glanced away, as if he was embarrassed to say something… and for a split moment, he swore he saw his eyes glow green underneath his mask.
"Just because we have our differences, Beck… doesn't mean we're so different after all."
Suddenly, Beck heard someone behind him.
"Beck?"
He turned, only to see Call behind him, staring back at him with her usual blankless eyes.
"...Call? Is that really you?"
"Of course. Who else would it be?" She looked confused by his inquiry.
"...It's all a long story, I guess." Then, he paused. "But… how did you… if he was-"
Beck turned himself back to where his copy perched.
He was gone… almost as if he had never existed.
To test this, he decided to ask. "Say, what was keeping you out of the system for so long?"
"The doctors indicated a lone AI was keeping up a firewall until a few moments ago. That is when they requested for my presence so I could come in after you… like I said I would." She paused only for a moment, and then added:
"After all, I did say I was going to be there to support you no matter what happens… correct?"
"Y...Yeah." A smile cracked on his face, although a bit saddened by the events of what had just occurred. Call didn't seem to question it much, not processing the same as he or the others would.
All of it was all over, and when he woke up, he was free again. However, that one sad thought lurked in his mind...
What happened to the other 'him'?
A/N: This could possibly continue, but at the moment, I'm still figuring out how I can do a said continuation. The first draft of the idea I have didn't exactly come out the way I want, and at the moment, I'm not sure to rewrite it. It'll stay a one-shot unless I feel like I can continue it properly.