Chapter 1: Cyber City Square
In the early rays of the suns light, Marcus rose from his bed, his messy hair sticking up every which way. Dressing in his black slacks, white undershirt, and his white jacket rimmed with yellow, he walked out his backdoor. Slipping on his white boots, the gold buckles gleaming in the sunlight, he walked with sleep heavy eyes out into the warm light and toward the sidewalk. Once on the sidewalk, he turned to the right and walked until he got to the large shop with a bright, metallic blue front.
The sign on the building, always lit, shone black and white letters rimmed with spiked neon lights forming a comic book-like explosion behind the words. The words read: "CyBeR fUn CeNtEr!" With a small smile on his face, Marcus walked into the building after looking at the sign. He walked into the back and clocked in, ready for another day's work. Walking into the cyber room, the room he was stationed in, he saw his oversuit waiting for him.
The oversuit, a large, machine-like suit of armor, was what he had to wear when kids came in to play at the Center. He was "the Mysterious Projector" in that suit, projecting Umoidmade energy creatures. The other workers cast their normal Linax element cards, but he couldn't. He didn't have one. The owner bought this suit especially for him, so that Marcus could work at the Center.
Sliding into the armor, he pressed the glass rectangle on his chest and the inside of his visor lit up, allowing him to see. He grinned, loving the suit more than the kids did when they saw it. Walking forward, he stood in place for his first "opponent" of the day. Shortly thereafter, a teenager ran in. Marcus recognized the girl as Rena, one of his co-workers. She ran in and started going crazy about some city.
"Woah, slow down. I'm not catching all this. What's going on?" Marcus asked her.
Rena huffed and responded with, "You never listen, do you? You know Cyber City, the place we get all of our equipment from? They are having a Cyber Knight competition and Jimmy entered your name in the competition. Guess what though? Your name was drawn! You are one of the fourty competitors!"
Marcus stood shocked. Had he heard right? Was he really chosen for this competition? He asked Rena again to make sure he heard right and she laughed, shaking her head. Marcus smiled and ran outside, heading toward the train to buy a ticket to the Cyber City Railyard. Once aboard the train, Marcus listened closely to the radio, listening to all the 'Cyber Knight competition' news.
Marcus stood, dumbstruck. He couldn't believe his ears. He, a non-Linax Cyber Knight, had made it into the famous Cyber City Tournament that takes place on Cyber City Square itself. Marcus' head reeled as he tried to grasp this. Then, when he had finally wrapped his head around it, he punched the air and shouted merrily. With joy, he ran up to Rena, hugged her tight and planted a kiss on her cheek.
"Hey! Just because you are happy doesn't mean you can go and do stuff like that!" Rena said heatedly though her face was beet red. Marcus laughed and replied with, "Sorry. Got carried away there. I think you should come with me. I will need help modifying my suit and I'll need the head engineer's help for that." He nudged her a little, giving her a not-so-subtle hint.
Rena sighed and shook her head. "Fine. I'll do it, but only because I want that Cyber suit looking top notch when it is presented in Cyber City."
With that, the two headed out of the store and made their way through town over to the train station. Upon arrival, their manager Jimmy was waiting for them, an envelope in hand. He walked up to Marcus and Rena, greeting them in turn.
"I knew you would make it, Marcus. I'm glad you brought Rena as your plus one. She'll be useful." Jimmy says, handing Marcus the envelope. "In there are two Volt-train tickets, two Cyber City Tourney Badges, a set of gold cards for money purposes, and a paper explaining the rules and regulations and such. Marcus, make me proud. I want to see you win this thing." With a handshake for each of them, Jimmy left the train station. Without waiting any further, the two deposited the 'going' half of their tickets into the machine and stepped onto the Volt-train.
The Volt-train was special for both of them, and for all Umoids. The only reason you ride on the Volt train, the train powered by a small fragment of the Elemenstone, was if you had something very important that you were doing. The Volt-train, running on what we would think of as electric tracks, ran smoothly and was the only train on all of Earth II. For these two small town kids especially, the train was like stepping into a new world.
A ladies' voice came over the intercom announcing the train's departure and asked for all passengers to please get to their rooms immediately. Rena and Marcus did as instructed and looked around until they found the room numbers that matched up with their ticket numbers. Marcus stepped up to room number 204, Rena going to room 207. With a smile and wave, the two stepped into their separate rooms and were alone.
The rooms on the train were like small houses. They contained large, luxurious beds and entertainment centers, broadcasting live feeds from Cyber City on the Holoscreen at all times. The bathrooms matched up with the main room, smooth polished stone counters with high arching nozzles and a stone tiled floor so soft that you would have thought you were stepping on silk. Back in the main room, there was a large food port where food could be ordered and would be shipped to the room by express delivery.
As far as Marcus could tell, there was only one thing wrong with his room. There was a girl sitting in his room, resting on the edge of the bed. Only, this girl was like nothing he had ever seen, and not necessarily in a good way. Her hair cascaded down her shoulders and onto her chest, the dark purple color shining in the light. Her clothes, all pieces of which either way too tight or so loose they seemed like they would fall off, were all blues and purples and blacks. And her face was the oddest part… She was beautiful, no doubt about that, but there was almost a deceitfulness about her.
She smiled when she saw him. Rolling off the bed and onto the floor, she sprung up and spun around him a few times before finally stopping. Marcus didn't know what to do or say, so he simply stood there until the girl snapped, "A girl in your room and you aren't even going to ask for her name? How rude. Anyway, I'm Uvee. I'll be seeing you again soon. Don't forget me, or you will regret it." She smiled and then shot out of the room.
This day just seemed full of surprises for Marcus. But, he tried to ignore this fact and enjoy the luxury that he would only have for a limited amount of time. Tossing his jacket off, he rummaged around for a towel and found one almost immediately. He went into the bathroom after undressing in the bedroom and took a shower in the spacious marble bathtub, the glass doors heavily fogged as he stepped out.
When he went to get his clothes, they were gone and had been replaced with a set of clothes, all neatly folded and put in a stack on his bed. He dressed himself in the new attire and admired the clothing. Now dressed in a pair of steel gray cargo pants, a black t-shirt, a leather jacket with a place to put the Tourney badge the right breast, and a pair of leather boots, he knew he was ready to eat a little dinner and await his arrival in Cyber City. Marcus ordered food and ate slowly, enjoying every moment of luxury that he could get.
Feeling drained for some reason, Marcus slumped over on the bed and fell fast asleep. When he awoke, he was in the bed completely, fully covered by blankets. He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, when the woman's voice sounds out inside his room saying, "Cyber City fast approaching. Thirty minutes. Please exit your rooms and meet in the lobby with your accompaniments." Exiting his room, he had no trouble getting to the lobby and finding Rena. Her clothes had mysteriously disappeared too and had been replaced with clothes identical to Marcus's.
The thirty minutes went by fast, and before they knew it, the Volt-train was in Cyber City, sitting in it's deposit center. Stepping out onto the platform, Marcus was directed into a small black car that would take him and Rena to the square. The driver smiled and asked how they were doing, trying to be overly nice about things. This didn't matter to Marcus, though. He opened the sunroof above them and pushed his body up and out of it. He felt Rena grab his waist to help steady him and mentally he thanked her, because he wanted to see Cyber City for himself.
Cyber City was everything Marcus expected and more. Everything shined with a certain elegance. All the plants and flora glowed radiantly in the sunlight. All the people in Cyber City dressed like they were kings or queens, wearing big pompous outfits that seemed to be the style. Even the children of Cyber City seemed happier than normal children, having fancy clothing and high maintenance energy focusers that produced fake enemies for their Linax to fight. And finally, off in the distance, he could see it.
Cyber City Square was a huge, spacious square of paved land, with four separate fountains, one in each corner of the square. In the center, constructed for the tournament, stood a large metallic stage gleaming in the rays of the sun. Huge crowds gathered around the stage, a roar audible even from hear coming from them that Marcus was almost afraid he'd go deaf. And then, Marcus saw the competitors standing on stage. Only about half had made it so far, but the melting pot already looked like it would be difficult.
Having seen what he had wanted to, Marcus sat back down in the car and let Rena look through the sunroof, grabbing her waist to support her like she had done for him. He laughed as he heard her ooh's and ah's and wondered to himself if he had made any of those noises while looking in wonderment at all of Cyber City's glory. Shortly after Rena plopped back down into her seat, the car pulled to a stop and the driver buzzed, "Cyber City Square, home of the Cyber City Linax Tournament Battles."
Stepping out into the sunlight, Marcus squinted to see and walked around the car to open Rena's door for her. After she was out, they stepped onto the sidewalk and walked through the crowd and up onto the stage. Rena stood behind him with the other plus ones and Marcus took his place in the line of contestants. With a smile on his face and a flame in his eyes, he thought to himself, "Let's see what you've got, Cyber City. Let's see what you've got!"