Chapter 3: Training Montage
Bergen Trail Entrance
"Ha! A brave fight you put up, but you have a long way to go Spheromancer!" Declared dramatically a man with flaming green hair and a flowing red scarf, pointing his hand victoriously at a Lea who was groaning on the ground and eating dirt.
Emilie, a red-head Pentafist, gave Lea a 'what can you do?' smile as she leaned down and offered the defeated Spheromancer a hand. "Good fight, Lea. Don't feel too bad."
The sting of loss too recent, Lea pouted and poked her horns, and then-
[ Crawling ]
"Crawling in my skin!
These wounds, they will not heal!"
The song played out of her horns.
Emilie rolled her eyes, "oh don't be a drama-queen." She caught Lea's hand and pulled her up, smirking, "just show grasshead who's boss next time, d'accord?"
Grasshead, or Apollo, stared in wonder as the song played out of Lea, "Spheromancer, how did you become a jukebox?"
Lea hugged herself and shivered, thinking of the frightened suspense she was in wondering what Sergey was cooking up. Her horns becoming a music system was the last thing she expected. She made a face, touching them and still feeling awkward that she was running around with them. Lea sighed. Well, at least now they had a purpose.
Apollo's eyes then widened as if he realised something horrifying, "w-wait, don't tell me… you're a pay-to-win player!" He glared at her with disappointment, "you really are dragging the Spheromancer class through the mud!"
Lea looked at him. She stared for a while. And then gave him a gentle smile.
While crossing her thumb over her neck.
Oh you are so going down for that!
Apollo smirked back, "challenge accepted, Spheromancer. Beat me in our next duel and I take those words back." Lea blinked and paled, realising that she just fell for his trap. "Farewell! I shall eagerly await our rematch!" And with a flourish, Apollo took off towards Bergen Village.
Emilie whistled as he left, "and there goes your rival." She chuckled at the groaning Lea, "not sure if I'm jealous or sorry for you."
Lea sniffed and poked her horn,
[ Highway to Hell ]
"I'm on the highway, to hell!
On the highway, to hell!"
Emilie grinned, "hey, I like this one! Let it play as we clear the trail!"
Lea hmmph'd and whipped her head away from the girl who thought her misery was funny, but still let the song play as they marched into the Bergen Trail.
As the song rang out her horns, her mind mulled over how to get better at combat.
She could grind for hours to increase her stats and farm money to buy better gear but…
Her face fell.
That sounded so tedious!
If only there was a more efficient way to get better. Like having a known kickass fighter teach you their secrets…
Like…
Like a Cardboard Box!
Lea grinned and punched the air.
Heck yeah! Box's moves weren't that of an amateur! If she learned his techniques then she'd beat her opponents in no time!
And look cool to boot!
Dare she say it…
As cool as a box!
With a smile she opened her party list… Only for her jaw to drop in horror as she saw its contents and realised something fatal.
I-I forgot to friend Box! W-What if I never find him again!
And with a yelp she immediately stopped her ascent up the trail's mountain and about turned.
Emilie blinked as the music became more and more distant, before looking back and seeing Lea jumping down the ledges in a panic. "H-Huh?! Lea! Where are you going!"
Lea poked her horn in a hurry-
[ Open your Heart ]
"Thunder, rain and lightning!
Danger, water rising!
Clamour, sirens wailing!"
Emilie scratched her head, and shouted back, "I don't get it!"
Lea impatiently poked her head again, skipping some lines -
"Can't hold on much longer!
But I will never let go!
I know it's a one way track!
Tell me now how long this'll last!"
The realisation hit Emilie like a sledgehammer and she called back in a hurry, "chérie! Don't hold it in! We can hike tomorrow!" Lea blinked and whipped her head back, finding the choice of words odd. Emilie gave her an understanding smile and a thumbs-up, "nature calls when it calls! Can't help it! See you tomorrow then, Lea!"
Bzzt.
And Emilie disappeared.
And Lea kept staring robotically where she'd been.
Does… Does she think I mean… A-Aaaaah!
Lea screamed in embarrassment and jumped off the rest of the mountain. The wind rushing past her flaming face. O-Oh god, what the heck!
She started furiously punching the air as she dropped altitude.
This is all Box's fault!
Beep!
"Hi-whoa! We're falling?! W-What happened?!"
Lea studiously ignored Sergey who'd popped up.
"Lea, what's wrong! Talk to me! Lea? LEAAAAA!"
Aaaah, you'd think she was dying with the way he panicked in her ear.
Lea scowled as the ground neared.
Oh she was going to give that Box an earful for this.
Rookie Harbor - West Exit
"Bro… You did contact the mods right?"
"…sure?"
"You've been getting blasted for three days straight now… hurts to watch, man."
"Can't… can't they just let me through? I really need to go to the other side."
"Have you tried getting the key item? If you don't have it won't let you through."
"I tried climbing the walls, going from the waterway, sneaking behind another Seeker, but I get zapped the moment I cross the region's boundary."
"And you're ignoring me… cool." The player sighed and thumped the top of the Cardboard Box. "Look, I gotta go. Just don't get yourself killed okay? This zapping thing ain't normal." And then he disappeared into digital cubes as he waved goodbye to Box.
"Hiii!"
Box turned and saw a blue haired woman running toward it with a very miffed face. Two shining blue chakram in her hands as she stormed towards him with a glare. But that didn't bother Box. What bothered him was that she was coming from the other side of the gate. Happily unimpeded. Box sighed, "what does she want now-?"
And then the woman, Lea as he remembered, poked her head and let out her warcry!
[ Mortal Kombat! ]
"Mortal Kombaaaat!
Dun Dun Dun Dun, Dun-Dun!
Dun Dun Dun Dun, Dun-Dun!"
Box blinked and then smirked, "girl wants to fight, eh? Happy to oblige." And then he roared, provoking her, "bring it on, rookie!"
"Leaaaa!" She jumped and brought down her chakram on top of him-
Snap! Twist!
Her eyes widened as two tapes grabbed hold of her shoulders and twisted her in the air-
Slam!
Her face exploded with pain as Box whirred back and brought her crashing to the ground.
Looking up with a pained grin, Lea pushed herself up and stood ready again as Box's tape receded. She was right!
Box does have the moves!
Keeping her distance, she took aim and-
Blop-Blop-Blop-Blop!
Fired a volley of VRTs at him!
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Box zig-zagged in between the shots, coming closer and closer with each dodge. Lea's eyes hungrily took that in as she tried to translate it to her own spinning dodge.
Snap!
She blinked as the tape caught hold of her leg and-
Yank!
"H-Hii!"
Bam!
She yelped as she fell backwards and slammed her back to the ground. And before she could jump to her feet-
"Yield." Commanded Box. And she gulped and nodded, seeing his sword drawn and pointed at her. And just as quickly he'd drawn it, he sheathed it back into himself. Hopping a few steps away, "hm, good fight," he said as an afterthought, as if he didn't want to hurt her feelings.
Lea scowled and punched the ground lightly. Good fight? She got pwned in seconds! …which is exactly what she was looking for! She looked up and crawled closer to Box with an eager grin and sat beside him.
"Hi!" A horn poke and-
[ Pokemon Theme Song ]
"I wanna be, the very best!
Like no-one ever was!"
Box scrunched in confusion, "huh?"
Lea grinned.
Poke!
"I will battle, every day,
To claim my rightful place!"
"…so, you want to be the best at fighting?" Box tilted sideways, "go for it?"
Poke!
"You teach me and I'll teach you!"
Box leaned back, looking at the sky before looking back at her and shaking his head, "I don't have the time-"
Beep!
"Don't be so hasty, Raiden." Lea saw a floating monitor pop up beside Box, and on the screen was a rugged old-man with white hair and a moustache, his voice gruff. A white stick stuck in his mouth as he stared back at Box with unimpressed eyes, "procure-on-site also means procure allies on site." He leaned back, with his hand pressed behind him as if cracking his back. He smirked at Box, "besides, I want to see you suffer as much as I did when I was teaching you the ropes."
"…don't call me that, Snake," a rough edge to Box's voice before it dissolved into exasperation, "do we really have the time for this?"
"Did I really have time on the Big Shell to babysit you?" Snake took his unlit cigarette out of his mouth and raised a brow, "I made time, Box. Because I needed you to back me up." Snake glanced at Lea, and she immediately straightened up under his attention, "Lea, was it? Look girl, we need to cross that boundary field blocking us from the next area. If you can get us past that, we'll train you up." Lea smiled and nodded. That's what she was planning to do in any case! Snake turned back to Box, "sounds like a deal?"
"Only if she can deliver," said Box, putting the ball in her court. He turned to her in question, "well, can you-?"
Ping!
Lea jumped in surprise as the world around her suddenly paused and became tinted blue, everything and everyone around her seemingly stopping mid-motion. She turned and saw Sergey floating beside her, and realised that he'd done that. Probably to talk to her without anyone overhearing them.
"Hi?" She said, tilting her head at him.
Can we help a box out, Sergey?
He frowned, "I don't know, Lea… Frankly, this lot seems very suspicious." Lea frowned, wondering how. "For one, I think this Box is physically on the moon, he's not a construct. That might explain why he isn't able to interact with the game's systems."
Lea scratched her head, before pointing at Box, the gate, and then pinching herself and miming an 'Ouch!'
Sergey pursed his lips, "actual matter shouldn't be impeded by Instant Matter gates. But… During initial tests we did observe that not all electronics are resilient during passage, and then some of them get fried and begin to smoke." Sergey stared at Box with a curious frown, "my best guess is that he has some equipment with him which doesn't agree with the barrier and causes that explosive repulsion."
"…?" Lea goggled at him, understanding completely nothing of the tech-talk.
"But if we can fool the system into thinking he's another avatar…" Sergey began typing, his computer screen being reflected off his glasses, "a coating of Instant Matter derived from an avatar if applied upon the object in question, can lead to false positives and cause the gate to allow unauthorised players… yes, this might work but…" He winced, "this could cost you, Lea." Lea tilted her head. "You… need to give up some Circuit Points and give them to Box. To sync your avatar with him and fool the system into thinking you're the same." Sergey gave her a doubtful look, "are you sure you want to waste CP? We don't know if this Box can teach you anything when he's not an avatar himself."
Lea crossed her hands in thought.
…maybe I should think of Box as another circuit tree. She smiled as that now seemed less of a loss and more of an investment now. Wow, I wonder what p-perks it'll unlock! Will I become a box too? She let out a snicker before shaking her head to focus. She smiled at Sergey and nodded, "hi!" Let's do it!
Sergey sighed, "alright, they're your CP, Lea. Just hold your hand out and I'll do the rest."
Ping!
And the world came back into focus, regaining its colour-
"-hello? Lea?" She blinked as a sword waved before her face. "Cold feet? Fine if we call this off-" Lea rolled her eyes and ignored the grouchy Box, before pointing her hand at him like Sergey said to and-
Bling!
Shining crystals appeared in her hand, her CP materialised, and at the same time she glanced at her stats window and saw that 10 CP had been drained. She crouched and held it out for Box with a smile.
Lea felt like Box gave her a doubtful look before it hopped forward and bumped into her palm, and-
Bling!
Scatter!
The CP crystals floated above the box and shattered above him in a rain of points. Box's whole outline shining a light blue before it faded.
"What… was that?" Muttered Box, to which Lea pointed at him and then pointed at the gate. Seeming doubtful, Box cautiously trudged toward the gate and-!
Ping!
Passed through the gate with no fanfare, just the gate's lights flashing lightly as he crossed the line.
"Hi!" Lea preened as she followed him with a smug face.
"Yeah, yeah, sorry for doubting you" muttered Box, before sighing and hopping towards a clearing in Autumn's Rise. Now the whole field open to him. "Step over here, class is in session."
"…?" A curious look from Lea.
What're we gonna learn, teach?
"We'll begin with the basics of CQC. Close Quarters Combat." An evil gleam roiled out of Box as he chuckled, "I hope you like pain, 'cause this is gonna hurt."
Lea gulped and wondered if she made the right choice.
A-Avatar's couldn't feel pain right?
…R-Right?
"On the ground! Give me fifty push-ups!" Box barked.
Lea pouted. Does she have to?
Snap!
"H-Hi!" She yelped and immediately threw herself on the ground and began her reps, as Box's tape snapped at the ground like a whip.
"Good," said Box in approval, before saying absently, "after that twenty laps around the field, a hundred sit-ups, some crunches, jumping side-ways, and after that warm-up is done-"
Lea paled with an open mouth.
T-That's just the warm-up?!
Box smiled down on her, a twinkle through its slit, "too intense? Feel like giving up and freeing my time?" Lea glared at him. So that's his plan! Box chuckled, "fair warning, I'm like lightning, the rain transformed."
Lea smirked back in challenge and stuck her tongue out,
Oh yeah? And I am-
Poke!
She poked a horn and went back to a push-up-
[ Bury the Light ]
"I am the storm that is APPROACHING!
PROVOOOOOKING!
Black clouds and isolation!"
"…ha ha ha." Box laughed lightly, his smirk evident from the cardboard, "training you will be fun. Get ready to be a force of nature, Lea."
Lea idly wondered if she should begin writing her will, while trying not to shiver at Box's evil chuckles.
And about how she thought he was an angel before?
Nope! He's the devil! Like I opened Pandora's box and got the training of a lifetime in return.
She grumbled as she panted and reached the mid-point of her set, feeling her arms and torso on fire as they burned with effort.
I'm soo gonna kick Apollo's butt for this.
And with that happy thought she cheered herself up and continued the rest of the set with vigour.