Chapter 1
Naruto's House
Naruto yawned as he sat on the bed in his room in a cross legged position. The young teen was enjoying his final week of summer vacation before school by playing some video games. The young boy wasn't a delinquent or anything like that, but he wasn't a dedicated scholar that studied like he wanted to find the cure for cancer. So he decided a good way to spend his second to last weekend was by putting on a game on his new console.
They called it a PlayStation Classic and it was some console that allowed him to play 20 classic titles from the original PlayStation console. Naruto liked some of the games and even recognized a few he didn't have the chance to play due to the generation he was born in. However, he wasn't too fond of the ones he barely knew or didn't recognize.
"Still, I gotta thank Jiraiya-oji for letting me work at his store." Naruto said.
Jiraiya is a close family friend and is kind of a father figure to Naruto's own father, Minato. Jiraiya owned a small business that did well, but he mostly gained his small fortune from perverted novels that could only be sold to adults. Luckily it wasn't the bookstore where Naruto worked, but rather at helping in some small tasks in some other places Jiraiya owned.
However, Naruto was still 15 and his home state prevented him from being hired. Still, Jiraiya gave Naruto some money for helping him out with the small tasks. Despite being irresponsible himself, the old man thought Naruto needed to understand the value of money which Naruto's mother already drilled into him. Although she's not a fan of Naruto sometimes uses the money to buy games.
"I swear, I'm gonna get buyer's remorse." Naruto said as looked at the PS classic's game library. "I'll do Metal Gear Solid. Maybe I'll figure out the plot." He said.
A few minutes after booting up the game, Naruto had to adjust himself to the outdated game. From the graphics, frame rate and most importantly, the controls.
"O? Not X? Okay, this is going to be hectic." Naruto said as he watched the initial cutscene.
A few minutes after working around the controls and navigating around some soldiers. Naruto made his way to the elevator and was presented with the game's title card.
Tactical Espionage Action
Metal Gear Solid
"I get the title card in less than three hours? Why didn't Assassin's Creed III do that?" Naruto asked, remembering his experience with a different stealth and combat game.
A few minutes later, after being given an explanation of the game's stealth system and his next objective. Naruto received a text from someone he knows in real life. The blond boy decided to be hilarious and thought of the perfect response.
Naruto: Colonel, can you hear me?
Crimson: Are you seriously using memes?
Naruto: Of course not.
Crimson: *annoyed emoji*
Naruto: My PS Classic is finally here. You wanna guess what game I'm playing first?
Crimson: *raised eyebrow emoji*
Naruto: The game looks solid. No puns, I swear.
Crimson: I heard Japan's PS Classics have better games but I haven't heard the list yet.
Naruto: I think there's like 6 or 7 that are worthwhile. They got that Persona game you mentioned.
Crimson: Nice.
Naruto looked away from his phone as he heard his mother, Kushina, knock on his door.
"Naruto, are you in there?" Kushina asked.
"Yes mom, you need something?" Naruto asked.
"Uh… there's a change in plans regarding school." Kushina said.
"Mom, I know I don't like school but I like working in the coal mines even less." Naruto said as his mother entered his room.
"No, we're not that desperate. Just listen to me and don't get mad." Kushina said as she sat by his bed. Naruto paused the game and quietly listened to his mother speak, "Naruto, I want to be straight with you." She said bluntly.
The funny thing about Kushina is that she was a bit of a tomboy as a child and this is something Naruto inherited. Naruto may look like his dad and lacks his talents, but their skills and intelligence aren't that far when the boy is forced to try hard. Still, Naruto seems to do his best to reach average or just above average. However, Kushina knew times were tough today compared to twenty plus years ago.
"I managed to pull some strings and get you accepted into an academy." Kushina said as Naruto looked like he had swallowed something sour. "It's not a boarding school and it's not run by some crazy World War II general. It's just a fancy school with a strict uniform code." She said.
Naruto stared at his mom like he was in pain, "Mom, did I get expelled?" He asked.
"No, your pranks aren't that bad and there are people with worse grades than you." Kushina answered. "Besides, this is good for you. Mito-oba actually got me into this school when I was young and I even made a good friend there." She said.
"And why do I have to go? We know college is rigged to make us spend a lot of money. Seriously, they literally taught us about "half-life" last year. Why do I need that?" Naruto asked.
Unless used in the context of studying substances, Naruto is not going to need the half life formula. Unless he suddenly decides to be a pretentious person that uses the scientific name of basic objects everyday. Funny enough, Naruto had a friend who once slammed some college students with the facts regarding sodium chloride when the student was referring to table salt.
"Naruto, don't argue with me. It's just a great opportunity, moreso it might help you get into a good college." Kushina said as she knew how stingy the good colleges are. "Please, for me?" She asked.
"I have no choice in the matter, therefore I cannot protest this." Naruto said, making Kushina frown. "But that's not stopping me from hanging onto the floor for dear life as you drag me to school." He said as he picked up his controller.
Kushina sighed, "We'll be going to the school on monday so you can attend their orientation and so your father and I can fill out the proper paperwork." She said before exiting. Only to stick her head back in, "And don't be so attached to those video games. The academy is difficult, so don't distract yourself with those things." She said before leaving.
"Whatever mom." Naruto said as he unpaused the game. "Damn, I shouldn't have picked a stealth game. Now I gotta worry about a dumb school." He said before hearing another text.
Crimson: You left me hanging.
Naruto sighed as he continued talking with Crimson.
Naruto: Mom dropped a bombshell. She wants me to go to some preppy school with uniforms and crap.
Crimson: …I was gonna tell you the same.
Naruto: ?
Crimson: My parents want me to attend some preppy academy. They want me to "find my real self".
Naruto: You're Crimson, you can't be any less real.
Crimson: I know, my parents can't read me. Also, what school is your mom sending you to?
Naruto: I didn't ask.
Naruto sighed, he could only wonder what kind of insane place his mother is sending him too. With any luck, he might still see Crimson at school since she's one of his few friends. However, he wonders how Crimson will handle changing schools if she's separated from her boyfriend, Ennui.
"Maybe Solid Snake can teach me ways to sneak out or find secrets to get me transferred back to the old dump." Naruto said as he continued playing his game.
The following Monday
Naruto did as he told Kushina, he would latch himself to the ground as they drag him to the academy. Minato could only feel embarrassed as he dragged his son into the academy.
"Son, you're making a scene. Please be reasonable." Minato said.
"Then please stop being unreasonable." Naruto countered.
"Look, this place isn't even bad. Your mother was a part of the middle school program so she spent seven years here." Minato said.
"And it's a miracle that mom hasn't gone insane yet." Naruto replied.
"It's not that bad, I mean so long as you focus on your studies, you will excel. In fact, my good grades earned me a scholarship here and this is where I met your mother." Minato said as he dragged Naruto through the main building..
"No! I don't wanna be a wimp like my dad!" Naruto cried out.
Kushina stifled a laugh, 'Minato was quite wimpy and I could barely stand him during the first month.' She thought. "Naruto, get off the ground and clean yourself up. We're finally here." She said.
Naruto suddenly felt like he was in an old Elder Scrolls game as his health bar was becoming low, his stamina had already become empty and his magic was non-existent. At the same time, the students who looked like spoiled brats from rich families already gave Naruto the same bad feeling like he was about to be attacked by wild animals. Followed by the peaceful background playing for the sake of appearances, Naruto was already filled with great pain.
"What kind of place is this?" Naruto said, sounding like his throat had dried out.
"Welcome to Ashford Academy!" Minato said with a lot of enthusiasm.
Naruto wanted to cry, "This is my punishment, isn't it? I ignored my parents and died while playing Skyrim until late last friday night." He said with a sad face. "I failed to achieve CHIM." He said.
"That's not how CHIM works." Said some preppy looking girl.
Naruto looked towards the sound of the voice and saw some pretty girl with a light tan, blue eyes and ginger hair tied into a nice little bun. Naruto wanted to assume this was some stuck up preppy girl but he could see she had the expression of someone who wants to reject life as it currently is.
"Crimson, what did they do to you?" Naruto asked and saw the girl nod. "They disfigured students here?" He asked.
"Naruto, calm down. Besides, your friend is here too and she looks nice." Minato said.
Crimson still looked dejected, "I'm in lots of pain." She said.
That's when a member of the faculty came forward, "Ah, these two must be Na-Ru-To… and Cerise." They said.
"That's your real name?" Naruto asked his friend.
"I know, I don't like it." Crimson answered.
"Anyways, I would like you both to please follow me to the auditorium while my colleagues speak to your parents." The faculty member said.
Naruto sighed, "So this is an academy then?" He asked.
"I think I need a bath after this." Crimson said.
Later that night
Naruto fell face first into his bed and let out a groan, "I hate that place." He said before getting a text.
B: I heard you guys are going to Ashford. What's up with that?
Naruto: Mom wants me to get an education and Crimson's parents want to torture her.
B: I heard Ashford is a rich kid school. Is Crimson even allowed on the school grounds?
Naruto: They made her take off her wig and makeup.
B: ****, they really did torture her?
Naruto: And she can't be called Crimson, she's "Cerise".
B: That sounds way too elegant.
Naruto: I know.
B: Sucks for both of you guys.
Naruto: Are you gonna be fine without us?
B: I should ask you guys the same thing.
Naruto sighed as he shook his head, "It's not like he's not seeing us again." he said before sending B another text.
Naruto: You wanna hit up the mall on our last weekend before jail?
B: Yeah, you guys should see my dad's store. We got a new thing to show off.
Naruto: Sweet.
Naruto ended the text and booted up his PS Classic, "I swear, B could just speedrun through Ashford. The teachers have got to be super unreasonable in order to make him fail." he said.
Among him and his two friends, B is the genius of the group and can figure things out in the most unorthodox of ways. In fact, B is the one who taught Naruto about the table salt thing.
"Whatever, I thought three more years of high school was going to be a pain. Now it's going to feel like 10 years of college." Naruto complained as he scrolled through his game library. "I'll probably do Persona. Crimson said it's nothing like modern Persona, but whatever." he said as he chose his game.
Revelations: Persona
Naruto instantly looked confused by the setting, "Damn, am I in a freaking box in another dimension? I thought the backgrounds for Resident Evil and Final Fantasy VII were weird." he said before getting deep into the game. "And these "American" designs are pretty weird too. On second thought, just let me go into the void." he said as he interacted with the side characters.
Ironically for Naruto, the concept of little worlds or pockets of small spaces would be important to him. Not in terms of defining the world he lives in or the concept of level designing in an old period of gaming.
Next Saturday, The Mall
Naruto yawned as he made his way to the mall and made his way towards the store that B's father owns. When he arrived, he already saw Crimson speaking to B over the counter.
"I swear, I never asked to be disfigured. Do you know how many girls tried asking me to join their clubs?" Crimson asked B with stress in her voice.
B is a tall young man and quite a big guy in terms of physique. He is also quiet and doesn't speak much outside of texting or writing. B doesn't have some form of social anxiety or a condition that makes him mute. It's just part of his personality, but his friends are able to understand him with ease.
Because B started nodding and made a couple of gestures with his hands but those gestures weren't sign language. Which made it difficult for other people besides Naruto, Crimson and B's family to understand him.
"Okay, maybe I should go to the homecoming dance in my makeup." Crimson said with a nod. Then she saw B make another gesture, "Improve my outfit? You think?" he asked.
"What did B suggest?" Naruto asked, making his presence known. B explained his idea to Naruto through his gestures, "Seriously? I would be tempted to rig the votes just so Crimson would win." he said.
"That would be a good prank, but then again I don't want these preppies to focus on me all night." Crimson said as she shivered. "I'm so glad clubs are just "recommended" and not mandatory." she said.
Naruto nodded, "Yeah, my mom told me about her friend's son in the Student Council. She even tried motivating me so I would do the same." he said.
B shook his head and went on to explain the whole concept of Student Councils. 90% of it was accurate for all schools and it involved how students have no authority for anything unless they get permission from the faculty. In those cases, it's for events like festivals and pep rallies and even talent shows. At the end of the day, it's just a bunch of kids requiring high grades, lots of pointless meetings and more homework.
"B, you're only reminding me of the nightmare that is Ashford." Naruto said with a sad face. "Can we move on from that? Didn't you say your dad had a cool thing to present?" he asked.
B nodded as he bent down from under the counter and pulled out a remote. From behind B, came a mechanical podium with a device that was obscured by several lights.
"If it's a piece of wood with a smiley face drawn on it, I'm not laughing." Crimson said.
B shook his head at Crimson as he remembered that she can't take a joke. However, the device did appear silly as B presented a mini refrigerator with a touch screen device on it. This was something new and kind of cool, but not entirely unheard of. Although now the two were just curious about the fridge.
"Dude, don't tell me we're gonna play Skyrim with a fridge." Naruto said.
B looked contemplative, almost as if he was trying to say that they can't despite that being a possibility. However, B gestured a document to his friends to show that this was the prototype model of another product that his father is going to sell. It had the capability to play games among other things. To be fair, the group wanted to say this is silly but the whole world drastically changed in a span of a century.
"The fact that humanity recreated a cool storage device that connects to the internet is not completely ridiculous but merely showing what we're capable of and how little we care for the opinions of others." Crimson said.
"Damn, was that some emotional speech you had written down?" Naruto asked.
Crimson shook her head, "There are things in life you can't stand. So you learn to accept they exist or ignore them." She answered.
B gave a thumbs up and showed some features on the prototype model. Along with the date of the official sale of the smart refrigerator to the public. As B continued to speak with his friends, his father came over and saw the prototype sticking out.
"Son, you better not be thinking about connecting that device to play Doom." B's father said.
B raised up his hands in defense of himself and his own capabilities. His father just laughed as he could see how curious his son's friends were.
"I take it that you all feel some excitement towards the smart fridge?" B's father asked.
"I wanna see how far we can take it." Naruto answered.
"That you do, I bet." B's father said with a chuckle. "Anyways, I heard you and Crimson are going to Ashford Academy." He said.
Crimson let out a groan, "Please don't remind me, sir. In fact, let me crawl into that fridge. I'll spend the rest of my high school days there." She said.
"I doubt you fit." B's father said as he sweat dropped. "Oh that reminds me, besides that little beauty. I got a little gift from Sony as part of a small partnership we have." He said.
"You're business partners with Sony?" Naruto asked with wide eyes.
"No Naruto, it's one of those distributor deals you. It's some complicated business stuff, B's dad makes the commission and there's some other expenses that are paid in the background." Crimson explained with B nodding.
B's father nodded as well, "That's the short and simple version of it, but yes. Sony and other brands go through their deals with business owners like me and I make a percentage of the sales." He explained. "But as part of the deal, I was surprised by what they gave me." He said as he revealed a big box in hand.
B's father opened the box and revealed little mini keychains and other little objects of some strange purple head. The heads looked like they were from some kind of 3D art style but B seemed to recognize the heads. In fact, he busted out some pamphlets that he kept in his jacket for some reason. From there, he showed the picture of a mascot that looked exactly like the head.
"Polygon Man? This is a Sony product?" Naruto asked.
B nodded and let his friends read the pamphlet. From what they understood, the head is an old mascot that advertised PlayStation back in 1995, years before it was released. However, B made some mention that the mascot was scrapped and became long forgotten to this day.
"I guess Sony dug up something from the past." Crimson said as she grabbed a keychain of Polygon Man.
"Well, it's official. I'm gonna be a hoarder for Sony merchandise." Naruto said as he looked at the keychains.
"Feel free to take one, it's the least I can do for the two of you." B's father said, feeling generous. "You two are probably the only other people that can understand my son." He said.
B made a gesture that said that his father is embarrassing him. His father argued that it's a parent's duty to love and embarrass their child. Naruto and Crimson thanked B's father as he let them both take a keychain before tossing one to B.
"I'll leave you three to your personal business then." B's father said as he left to put away the box Polygon Man merchandise.
"I have no idea how this is a good promotion, but it's still sweet." Naruto said as he pocketed his keychain.
"I'll probably leave this next to Loki. He's been looking for some decor for his cage." Crimson said, confusing the boys. "You guys remember the rabbit that wouldn't leave Ennui alone? He had this dark look in his eyes and we knew that we had to adopt him." He said.
"Crimson is excited over a rabbit, the end is near!" Naruto said dramatically as B nodded.
Crimson sighed, "You guys don't understand. Loki is not just a rabbit, he's beyond fluffy furry creatures." She said.
"If he's bunking with you, it's probably not a normal rabbit at all." Naruto pointed out and Crimson seemed fine with that opinion.
For a goth, it's not about liking dark things or just having a negative personality. It's generally the antithesis to the beliefs of present day conformists. Still, that doesn't mean goths can't participate in certain events, at the very least they join society in their own unique way. Loki's The Rabbit seems to be special if Crimson wanted to adopt him, but not for the typical reasons that a teenage girl would want a pet.
"Anyways, are we all up for one last session tomorrow night?" Naruto asked.
B and Crimson nodded before deciding what game they should play on the night before the new high school year.
The next night
Naruto groaned as if he had suddenly come down with an illness. The stress of changing schools and the anxiety that comes with a new setting already filled his mind. Since Ashford is a well respected academy, it only meant a lot more pressure and work on his academic career. This made Naruto feel like there was a stack of bricks lying on top of his stomach as he slept.
'Hopefully some of those preppies aren't as bad as I think.' Naruto thought as he stirred around in bed. 'A real nightmare would be watching Crimson turn into a cheerleader.' He thought before finally losing consciousness.
In Greek Mythology, it's said that the primordial goddess, Nyx, embodied the night. That when under her cloak of darkness, this allowed creatures from other realms to prey upon humans. To protect humans, they would be allowed to travel through unknown realms that exist within them as they sleep. Hypnos and Morpheus are said to be the guides of humans during their slumber.
Modern day humans would attribute such ideals to be fake and likely bring up the concept of dreams as part of the psyche. However, they would also say that outside forces would often be the reason for the dreams.
Unknown space
Naruto let out a yip as he stood up, feeling a lot of back pain. For some reason, he felt like his bed transformed into cold solid rock.
"Ah! Did mom do that or did one of my stupid siblings hide rocks under my mattress again?" Naruto asked, sounding very grumpy.
Then he realized that he wasn't in his room anymore, but in some leaky underground sewer. Technically, they would be called catacombs but that's not exactly any better. Naruto felt annoyed as he felt like someone dumped him down here.
"Just, why?" Naruto asked as he looked around before being scared by a talking gargoyle head.
"Why, what? Lost? Confused?" Asked the gargoyle head.
"Angry, stranded and disturbed, the young ruffian should not be here. Neither does he want to be here." Said a gargoyle head that was across from the first one.
"What the heck kind of Halloween decorations are you?" Naruto asked them.
"Hallows Eve, it is not! For it will rise again!" The first gargoyle head said.
Naruto suddenly heard a loud stone drop and watched as a skeleton came out from it's tomb. However, Naruto's fears instantly disappeared as he saw how goofy the undead creature was. The skull was oddly shaped, it had a single eye, the armor looked rusty and there were this goofy set of teeth sticking out in a sort of smile.
"What the heck is that?" Naruto asked.
"'Tis Sir Daniel Fortesque, the Hero of Gallowmere! He lead the charge against Zarrock but was the first to fall from an arrow to the head!" The first gargoyle answered in a mocking tone.
Naruto could hear the skeleton's try and speak but it sounded garbled and almost like he was wearing a bucket on his head. The only words Naruto could make out is "Not funny" or something similar.
"Wait, who is this guy again?" Naruto asked.
"It is impossible to tell if the boy is an ignorant fool or if Sir Fortesque is that irrelevant in the present day." The second gargoyle said.
The skeleton let out an annoyed sound as he walked down the corridor, "Let's go kid." He said.
"You want to find your lower jaw first?" Naruto asked.
"No time." Dan said as he gestured to Naruto to follow him.
Naruto looked around and didn't see anything better to do. So he decided to follow the skeleton, but something about this experience felt too natural. Almost like he's Dan somewhere before but he's clearly never met or seen a moving skeleton. Dan's name sounded unique but he couldn't help but feel ignorant.
"Hey kid, open the box." Dan said as he pointed to a treasure chest.
Naruto looked at the treasure chest and found it locked and impossible to open with his natural strength. Seeing as he was in some abandoned catacombs, Naruto relied on brute force and ended up shattering the lid. Inside, Naruto found a few throwing knives.
"I'm guessing there's dangerous stuff outside?" Naruto asked.
Dan nodded, "Probably." He said before grabbing a bronze shield and a sword.
After a few moments gathering their bearings and finding a rune that will unlock a door. Naruto followed Dan out of the catacombs and into a cemetary. It didn't take too long for the teen to realize that the undead would populate the area because zombies started rising from the ground. Luckily, they were just silly green skinned zombies but they weren't any less dangerous looking as they rushed at Naruto.
Dan ran in front of Naruto and quickly cut down the first zombie. That's when an hourglass appeared above Dan's head.
"3%? What does that mean?" Naruto asked.
"Watch out!" Dan said as two more zombies ran towards him.
Naruto quickly, but clumsily, threw several knives at the incoming zombies. The undead monsters fell down and died with ease. Then the hourglass appears again and raises its percentage to nine, signifying that it's going to fill as more monsters are defeated.
A few minutes later
Naruto got used to his fighting skills and managed to keep up with Dan. That's when the two came across a book that mentioned something about the gaze of an angel. Naruto assumed it had something to do with the literal angel statue that was up the road in front of them. There was also the fact that it appeared to be emanating some kind of light.
Naruto ran up ahead but stopped when he heard someone crying out.
"Help! Someone!"
"Hey Dan, we're not alone!" Naruto said as he ran ahead.
Dan and Naruto followed the voice and found some teenager leaning against the angel statue. Obviously he was being cornered by the incoming zombies. However, Naruto felt like this teen was out of place but that didn't stop him from helping him.
"Hang on!" Naruto yelled as he threw several knives at the surrounding zombies.
Dan then came running in and slashed at the incoming group, clearing up the remaining zombies in the area. Naruto spotted the hourglass again and saw its percentage rising up to eighty one percent.
"Are you okay?" Dan asked the boy.
The teen let out a scared yelp, "AH! Stay away from me!" He yelled.
"Hey, don't worry. Dan is not like those other undead." Naruto said, calming the teen down.
"What?" The teen asked. "Where am I?" He asked.
"Uh…"
"Gallowmere." Dan answered.
"Yeah, Gallowmere. Some European kingdom I think. Medieval era I think." Naruto said, sounding unsure.
"How are you okay with this!?" The teen asked frantically.
Naruto shrugged, "I don't know. I'm just dealing with it." He said. "I guess I just know Dan has a good heart… or used to." He said.
Dan actually began to check to see if he still had his heart or something equivalent. It was tricky to check with his armor still attached but he confirmed that nothing was there.
"Anyways, my name is Naruto. I woke up inside of the crypt where Dan was." Naruto said.
The teen took a minute to compose himself, "I'm Rivalz, I just woke up on the grass and got chased around by those things." He said as he lied against the angel statue. Rivalz accidentally made the statue by doing this, "Woah!" He said, noticing what he did.
"Hey, I think this is a part of a puzzle." Naruto said as he pushed on the angel a few times before opening some gates. "That must be the way out." He said.
"Let's go!" Dan said as he led the way.
"You heard him." Naruto said as Rivalz followed him. "By the way, are you armed?" He asked.
"I found this sword, but I'm not too good with it." Rivalz said, revealing some injuries.
"Maybe you should take cover." Naruto suggested.
Naruto then made Rivalz give him the sword so he could be better equipped too. It looked unfair to strip some guy of his weapon but Rivalz didn't look too brave or strong. All he could do was defend the poor guy until they found the way out.
Naruto was pretty open minded about escort quests as they were either a hit or a miss. He's played the Dead Rising Remastered collection and remembered how hectic those idiotic survivors can be. Luckily Rivalz knew more than just standing around and screaming for help as they cleared a whole area of zombies. Which was kind of pointless as all they found was some extra gold and a healing spot for Dan to refill his health and vials.
There also seemed to me enough energy in the spot for Rivalz to heal up as well. By the time the area was clear of zombies, Naruto noticed that the hourglass was at one hundred percent despite an extra few zombies appearing.
"I guess the gate was just a detour." Naruto said as he led his party back.
"Seriously? How are you not tired?" Rivalz asked as they made their way back to the angel statue.
"I guess I'm just more fit." Naruto said before Dan spoke up.
"Look!" Dan said, pointing at a chalice behind some locked gates.
"I see it, maybe the angel can open it." Naruto suggested.
"Let's try." Dan said as he pushed the angel statue until its light was over the gates.
Naruto approached the grail and couldn't help but feel mesmerized by how bright and shiny it was. However, he decided to step back and let Dan take it. He couldn't help but feel like the undead knight deserved it more for some reason.
"You take it Dan, you're the legendary knight." Naruto said, making Dan sort of smile.
"Both of us are legendary." Dan said as he grabbed the grail.
Then they heard a girl scream in the distance. Naruto quickly raised up his sword and ran towards the screams with Dan and Rivalz in tow. When they arrived, they saw some girl raising a bronze shield over her head as zombies were trying to hit her. Not too long after they arrived did the zombies shatter the shield.
"No, stay away!" The girl pleaded.
"Hang on!" Dan yelled as he swung his sword at the zombies.
"Rivalz, behind you!" Naruto yelled, as more zombies came.
Rivalz moved out of the way just in time for Naruto to throw several knives into their bodies. With the zombies cleared out, Rivalz ran up to the girl as if he recognized her.
"Shirley! Is that you?" Rivalz asked.
"R-Rivalz? What are you doing here?" Shirley asked.
"Heck if I know. I was surrounded by the undead until this guy and his skeleton friend saved me." Rivalz answered as Naruto and Dan waved at Shirley.
"Thank you, both of you." Shirley said gratefully. "Do any of you know how we can leave this place? It's really scary." She said as she looked terrified.
"That's the exit." Dan said as he pointed at the gate with a skull.
"Is it?" Shirley asked.
Dan walked up to the door and it opened, "It sure is, let's go." He said but then a barrier appeared behind Dan.
"It won't let us through." Rivalz said as he tried pushing through.
Before anyone panicked, a set of three blue doorways appeared next to the exit. Naruto was the first to react and saw that the doors led back to three different bedrooms. Naruto recognized his bedroom right away and his new companions recognized the other two.
"Sweet, we can go home!" Rivalz said excitedly.
"What a relief." Shirley said with a sigh.
Before Naruto went through his own doorway, he saw a golden one behind him. He then saw another grail floating right above the golden door. Naruto approached the door and saw a flash of light appear as it opened up.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Rivalz asked.
"Sorry guys, I think I'm heading this way. You two should head home." Naruto said.
"Uh… okay, see you later." Rivalz said as he returned home.
"Thank you again for the rescue. Please stay safe!" Shirley said as she also left.
Naruto briefly looked back and saw Dan with an anxious expression, "Don't worry about me Dan. Gallowmere needs you." He said as Dan raised his head. "This was actually kind of fun. I hope we meet again somehow." He said as Dan smiled.
"Goodbye friend." Dan said as he waved at Naruto who entered the golden doorway.
Once inside, Naruto saw a rectangular object float towards him. Naruto caught the object and saw it transform into an old memory card. Then suddenly, he received a visual message.
-Data Saved-
"Eh?" Naruto asked before being blinded again.
Naruto's Room
Naruto suddenly felt a lot of earache as he heard his alarm go off. He let out an annoyed groan as he turned it off and got out of bed.
"Damn, school starts today." Naruto said he stretched his body. He then walked up to his closet before noticing his uniform, "Stupid school for preppies." He muttered.
"Naruto! Hurry up or else you're going to miss the first day of school!" Kushina yelled.
"I'm coming!" Naruto yelled.
"And you better have that uniform on!" Kushina commanded.
Naruto let out another groan, "I know, just give me a minute." He said as he started to change. He sighed as he grabbed the plastic that held his new uniform, "I swear, I thought I was done with this in middle school." He said.
Unlike in Japan, most schools in America typically have their students wear uniforms up until high school. It really depends on the school's laws but this is the typical norm. Still, this is a prestigious academy so these uniforms aren't cheap and staff might penalize students who wear it wrong or get it stained.
"I hope it doesn't cut off my blood flow." Naruto said as he put it on. Then he let out a loud yawn, "Oh man, that dream was so trippy. Maybe I should keep the console off for tonight." He said, thinking his gaming has gone too far.
With his uniform now on, Naruto went downstairs to prepare for his first day of school.
Later, Ashford Academy
Naruto sighed as he raised his backpack over his shoulders. He looked at the intimidating size of the school courtyard and saw the sea of students making their way into the central building. As Naruto followed them, he saw several posters asking for new and transfering students to join their clubs. Naruto snorted as he can imagine that Crimson's mind is being overloaded by all these advertisements.
Ironically, he could hear someone being pestered by one of the sports teams.
"Hey you there, you look athletic. Have you ever played any sports?" Asked a random athlete.
"Yes but I don't like the audience." A student answered.
Then someone from the drama club came swooping in, "Ah come on! With that look and build, you would be a star in our upcoming show!" They said.
"No, I hate fake drama." The same student replied.
"Hey, stay back! This guy could be our kicker!" Said the sports team member.
"No, this guy could be our new Macbeth!" The drama club member said.
Naruto could see the poor guy run away from both sides. As he could see, the student had a nice tan and perky features. If anything, that guy looked like he should be on the cover of some magazine advertising overpriced watches and necklaces.
"I'm lucky that I'm not that good looking." Naruto said as he made his way to his assigned homeroom class.
Homeroom, end of period
Naruto covered his mouth as he let out another yawn, 'Only 7 hours left.' He thought as the teacher finished their speech.
"And with that, homeroom is over. Everyone please turn to page 15 of your world history textbook." The teacher said before a staff member entered the room.
Naruto did as he was told and turned to the page where it gave a basic introduction to the textbook and general overview of the contents. As he waited for more instructions, he saw that his teacher received a note from the staff member.
"Excuse me class, there's an important errand that I must run. Please read the introductory pages and then work on the syllabus for this course until I am back." The instructor said before abruptly leaving the class
Naruto shrugged his shoulders and did as he was told as it's like he could do anything else. As he read the mundane introduction that attempted to excite Naruto with the idea of the historical facts of other countries. He was interrupted by a gentle sounding voice.
Naruto looked to the side and felt surprised to see a familiar face.
"Excuse me, have we met somewhere before?" Asked a ginger haired girl.
Naruto's eyes flashed as he remembered this girl from his dream. After collecting the grail from behind the locked gate. There was a girl crying out for help and she was identified by a boy who Naruto found earlier. Naruto thought it was a mere coincidence and shook his head.
"I'm sorry, I don't think so. What was your name again?" Naruto asked.
"I'm Shirley, sorry if this feels like a weird question but I swear I've seen you before." Shirley said.
This felt too coincidental indeed, but Naruto decided to deny it. So he tried to think of a way to drop the matter.
"Were you on stage during orientation?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, I was representing the student council." Shirley answered.
"Oh then you probably saw me around the front row. I was sitting pretty close to the stage and my spiky hair makes me stand out." Naruto explained,
Shirley blushed, "Oh right, that must be it. Sorry about that." She said before returning to her book.
Naruto felt better now that he ended that exchange and it gave him some peace of mind. Perhaps Naruto's vague memory of Shirley is what made him appear in his dream. Perhaps Rivalz is also a student council member or just someone else that was on stage. He didn't want to think about it, he just wanted to deal with the rest of the day.
Lunch period
Naruto met up with "Cerise" at one of the tables in the lunch hall. As they started eating, they were joined by some guy wearing a paper bag over his head. Naruto felt a bit anxious about the stranger just sitting down next to them as if this was natural.
"Um, do we know you?" Naruto asked.
"You wouldn't recognize me without the mask, Naruto." Said the bag headed man.
"Ennui?" Naruto asked, recognizing the low pitch of the man's voice.
"Yeah, but during school hours, I have to be Hank." Ennui said.
Naruto looked at Crimson who patted Ennui's shoulder, "Now the world has to see the face he hides." She said.
Naruto narrowed his eyes at Ennui, "Ennui, are you the guy who got harassed by those two clubs?" He asked.
Ennui shivered, "It's like my disfigured look makes me a target of so many clubs where there's a crowd." He said.
"You know, I just realized the worst thing about you guys and your predicament." Naruto said, imagining the worst situation for the goths. "Since you two are good looking, they're probably going to make you both Homecoming King and Queen, Prom King and Queen, the Ultimate Couple and everyone is going to follow your social lives because they have no lives of their own." He explained.
As far-fetched as that sounds, modern teenagers have over complicated things and think basic socialization is outdated and too difficult. Technology has made them lazy and focus on all sorts of things surrounding them. With that, the idiots are gonna follow around the two most good looking people like they're famous celebrities.
"Babe, this place is scary." Ennui said.
"I'd rather be in Silent Hill again." Crimson said with a sad face.
"You were playing Silent Hill last night?" Naruto asked.
"No, I actually had this weird dream last night. Like I was at Silent Hill and Harry was there too." Crimson said.
"Oh god, are you guys on the video games thing again?" Ennui asked, sounding slightly annoyed.
"Yeah, I think I need a break or something. My dream was so surreal." Crimson said.
Naruto snickered, "The parts where you're in a town full of monsters from hell or because you have to deal with Harry ignoring everything to ask about his daughter?" He asked.
"Both." Crimson asked.
"What's wrong with a guy looking for his daughter?" Ennui asked.
"It was the very first Silent Hill game and it's outdated so the voice acting is bad. In the game, Harry is looking for his daughter but he sounds so emotionless whenever someone explains the situation in Silent Hill." Crimson explained but Ennui already looked bored.
Naruto decided to be funny, "Harry would be like, "Understood, you were mauled by a lion. Have you seen a little girl named Cheryl?" And then ignore the original subject." He said.
"Okay, that kind of is funny." Ennui admitted before noticing something was wrong. "Where did I leave my mayo packet?" He asked.
"Where do you keep it?" Naruto asked.
Ennui felt stupid as he removed the bag on his head. Naruto got a full view of Ennui as he checked his paper bag for his mayonnaise packet. However, it was too late because a bunch of other students showed up and surrounded their table.
"Hey, are you guys a couple!?"
"Sister, you should join the cheerleading squad!"
"Hey bro, the track team could use someone like you!
"I think we have our new high school sweethearts!"
Naruto's prophecy has come true! The blond teen quickly stood up and worked around the large crowd.
"Back away animals! Privacy is an American and human right!" Naruto yelled as he swung his backpack around like a weapon. "I'm gonna go easy on all of you because I don't wanna be expelled for using one of you like a nunchuk!" He yelled.
"Naruto, there's too many of them!" Crimson yelled.
"Don't worry about me Crimson. Just grab Ennui and get out while I deal with the horde!" Naruto said.
Crimson let out a sigh as she grabbed Ennui's hand and led him out of the cafeteria. Naruto blocked the doorway to buy more time for his friends to get away from the jocks, socialites, preppies and also the mascot. Wait, the mascot too? Regardless, Naruto didn't seem to have a good chance at hold back the horde as he got flashbacks to all of his nights of playing Left 4 Dead.
'Damn it, mom said that if I get into a situation like this. I need a folding chair.' Naruto thought before realizing that there was no folding chair. 'Mom what do I do when there's no folding chair!?' He thought as the horde ran him over.
Naruto let out a pain filled grunt as he lay on the floor of the cafeteria. Ennui and Crimson may not be athletic, but those two were long gone and probably looking for ways to cover their heads. Naruto could barely move and felt like he was losing consciousness.
"Revive me…" Naruto muttered as his vision literally became blurry.
Being trampled by a crowd wasn't as funny as it was on television. Naruto actually felt a concussion come up and was all alone in the cafeteria. With a few minutes left until the next period begins, Naruto was about to pass out. That is until someone opened the door and Naruto heard loud footsteps moving towards him. The next thing Naruto knew, the footsteps reached him and he heard some glass touching the floor.
"Take this." The individual said as they pointed at the bottle.
Despite having poor vision, Naruto could see that the figure left him a glass soda bottle with a blue liquid. Not even mentally strong enough to consider the dangers of accepting a strange beverage. Naruto grabbed the drink and chugged it as if he were stranded in the desert for days. As Naruto finished the drink, the figure left him alone in the cafeteria.
By the time Naruto had finished his drink, he felt refreshed but had this bitter taste in his mouth. Naruto gagged as he tried to clear his throat.
"What is wrong with me? There could have been spit or something worse in that!" Naruto said to himself before realizing he felt better. "Or just bitter medicine. Wait, medicine in a soda? I'm leaving!" He said as he threw away the bottle.
Not noticing the label of the bottle said, Quick Revive.
Later that night
Naruto sighed as he sat in his bed while looking at his phone. He looked over the texts that B had sent him after he got home. Naruto was just glad to have literally survived the first day of school, but now he was dealing with some weird stuff. Apparently B had a dream similar to him and Crimson.
'Actually, I don't think I told Crimson yet.' Naruto thought as he never told her about Dan Fortesque.
Naruto looked up that name despite having initial trouble with spelling the last name. When he did, he found the same skeleton mascot for an old video game. Including some news articles and review videos covering the remake of a video game called Medievil.
'Really? Maybe my mind suppressed the news of this game.' Naruto thought as he believed this all to be mere coincidence. Naruto shook his head and put away his phone, 'That's enough gaming thoughts. I'm gonna be swamped with homework this week, I just know it.' He thought as he drifted off to sleep.
Most likely bridging the gap between realms again.
Elsewhere
Naruto groaned as he felt like his back was in pain again. He stirred awake as he heard some loud metal clunking by his head. Naruto opened his eyes and felt frightened by the sight of the same toothy one eyed skeleton.
"Hey kid, wake up." Dan said.
"Holy crap, that wasn't a dream." Naruto said as he sat up. "Am I really in Medievil?" He asked.
Dan looked confused, "No, in the Hall of Heroes." He said as he gestured to several bronze statues.
"Sir Dan, who is that? A new companion of yours?" Asked a statue.
Dan nodded as Naruto adjusted to understanding his situation. As he stood up, he came face to face with Canny Tim who looked jovial and friendly.
"Interesting, I suppose you will have to accompany Sir Dan from now on. My name is Canny Tim, I avenged sir Dan by taking out Zarok's champion with a single arrow over 1000 meters in distance." Canny Tim explained.
"Okay, that sounds awesome." Naruto replied.
"Anyhow, all I can offer for now is encouragement and my trusty crossbow for now. I wish you good luck, young squire." Canny Tim said before giving his crossbow to Dan.
Then suddenly, another crossbow manifested on the table at the center of the hall. Naruto quickly took it and some arrows that were placed next to it. The boy let out a sigh as he strapped the weapon to his back and looked for the exit.
"Well, I'm here again. Are you ready to fight this Zarok guy?" Naruto asked.
Dan nodded as he led Naruto to the exit.
"By the way, I don't think I told you my name. I'm Naruto by the way." Naruto said, remembering that he didn't properly introduce himself.
"Naruto." Dan said, trying to pronounce the exotic name.
"My family originates from Japan. An eastern country." Naruto said, trying to explain himself.
It was the medieval era to Dan so he probably didn't know geography that well. He's also been dead for some time so America didn't exist in his lifetime.
Outside, Necropolis
Naruto and Dan appeared in another graveyard with a large mountain up the road. As they looked up, a man that looked like an evil wizard had come out from a mausoleum and saw them.
"Not even the shackles of death can hold you, my old foe? I see you've brought a new sidekick too. No matter, you will never escape the necropolis alive! HAHAHA!" The man said before bringing two gargoyle statues to life.
The man entered his mausoleum as the gargoyles vomited large boulders. The boulders then rolled down from the massive hill at the center of the graveyard. Naruto had a good idea of where he went but wondered about the evil wizard man.
"Who was the creepy guy?" Naruto asked.
"Zarok!" Dan answered.
"Oh so that's the big bad? We can take him. Assuming we don't get flattened." Naruto said as he saw an infinite amount of boulders fall. Then the zombies came out, "Or get killed by the undead. Well in your case, be killed a second time." He told Dan.
With that said, Dan and Naruto got to work on clearing out the zombies. After dealing with over a dozen of undead, the hourglass appeared and stated that it was about forty percent completed. By this point, Naruto knew it was a measure of how many enemies were needed for a grail to spawn and not how many enemies were defeated in total.
Regardless, Naruto wanted to be thorough before following Dan up the hill. That is, until he got hit by a boulder and rolled off the hill. Dan panicked and saw Naruto hit the ground behind a locked part of the graveyard.
"That really hurt." Naruto groaned before noticing a floating club. "What's this? A new weapon?" He asked before picking it up.
Then three zombies were raised from the dead. Naruto instinctively attacked them with the club and ended up destroying two boulders that were blocking his path.
"I guess this giant piece of wood is useful after all." Naruto said before Dan arrived.
"Are you okay?" Dan asked.
"I think so, but now I got this club which is kind of overpowered. Look at what I did to those boulders." Naruto said as he pointed at the opened path.
Dan scratched his skull before thinking of something, "Follow me!" He said as he ran to another direction.
"Dan, I thought we were supposed to follow Zarok." Naruto said.
"Adventurers must explore and be thorough." Dan said as he led Naruto to another boulder that was blocking a cave.
"Oh just this? Okay, I can break it open." Naruto said before using his strength to shatter the boulder.
Dan looked through the space where that was blocked off and realized there was a whole area inside. Dan gestured for Naruto to follow after him.
Witches Cove
Naruto and Dan found a small corridor leading to a room which was, of course, filled with zombies. Nothing too bad to deal with and along the way, they found a health vial and some gold along the way. Luckily, the hourglass has filled up all the way during the confrontation with the undead.
"I think I'm having too much fun with this thing." Naruto said as he kept swinging his club.
"Careful." Dan warned.
"I'm fine, I can do no wrong!" Naruto replied before accidentally hitting a bookcase.
"What did I just say?" Dan asked as he facepalmed.
Naruto hid the club behind his back, "In my defense, I had experiences with books being evil. Those things were probably waiting to come to life." He said, having had bad memories of the Harry Potter video game.
However, Naruto's actions weren't that of a reckless fool. He immediately remembered that he was in a video game and the destruction of the bookcase revealed another room. Inside was just a simple room with a fireplace and nothing seemingly important. This didn't stop Naruto from feeling curious as he ended up lighting the club on fire.
"You are reckless." Dan said.
"Says the skeleton who died after leading the charge of battle. Didn't the gargoyles say that you were the first to die?" Naruto asked.
Dan shook his head as he didn't want to be reminded of his shame. He was a great hero but he didn't earn it since the kingdom just wanted a hero to motivate their people. But in all seriousness, it's his helmet's fault and the fault of the blacksmith who made it. Why is it that the gap for the eyes was so big, that an arrow was able to pierce his eye?
As Dan thought about this, Naruto had an idea of what to do with the fire. Seeing as how it was temporary, Naruto quickly lit his club on fire again and started running out of the room and up the stairs. There, he found a pyre that was meant to be lit but this only caused several cages to open and zombies were released on him. Naruto put his club aside and began to cut down the incoming zombies just as Dan arrived.
Before the undead knight could scold him for running around recklessly. He noticed the chalice and some other items including a health vial and a strange pentagram.
"See? I think I did a good job at finding everything." Naruto said as Dan just looked amazed.
"Good job." Dan said as he grabbed the chalice.
Naruto went to grab the other stuff when he saw someone hiding behind a shield. He noticed this individual was somehow behind one of the cages. Yet, it didn't make any sense as they all appeared locked before Naruto arrived with the fire.
"Excuse me, who are you?" Naruto asked.
"S-Stay back! I'm warning you!" The individual said.
"Hey relax, I'm human." Naruto said as the person lowered their shield.
Naruto found himself facing another person from the real world. Another teenager who appeared to be around his age. He could see the girl took a couple of minutes to get her bearings before speaking again.
"Where are we?" She asked.
"You're going to find this crazy, but we're in a video game." Naruto said, surprising the girl.
"What? A video game? That's crazy!" She exclaimed.
"We really are. This is Medievil, it's an old game for the PlayStation 1. It just got a remake for the PlayStation 4." Naruto said, confusing the girl. "In fact, I've been hanging out with the game's protagonist this whole time." He said as he gestured to Dan who waved at her.
The girl did her best to not look scared as Dan tried to look friendly. Naruto soon helped the girl stand up as she tried catching her breath.
"Okay, if this is a dream. I need to stop eating extra snacks before bed." The girl said. She then looked at Naruto, "I'm Milly by the way." He said.
"I'm Naruto and this is Dan Fortesque." Naruto said.
"Hello Milly." Dan greeted.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't understand him." Milly said.
"It's fine, I'll translate. Anyways, we should get out. I think we can leave by finishing this level." Naruto said.
Milly sighed, "This is a bad nightmare." She said.
Naruto snorted, "Milly, this is a silly halloween themed game. If I'm right, a friend of mine is in the Silent Hill video game and that one is nightmare fuel." He said as he led her out.
Milly suddenly looked quizzical, "Silent… Hill…? Didn't he say he woke up there?" She mumbled.
"Hey Milly, try not to fall behind." Naruto said.
"Okay!" Milly said.
Back outside
Naruto and Dan made their way back towards the hill. Milly looked intimidated by all of the rolling boulders. Naruto could see that Milly had doubts about climbing the hill so he had to be chivalrous. Literally, Canny Tim called him a squire and as sexist as it it, he had to be a knight who practiced chivalry.
"Milly, I can carry you if you want. Those boulders are pretty tricky to navigate." Naruto said.
Milly nodded, "Yes please." She said.
Naruto adjusted himself, thinking he would carry Milly on his back. Instead, Milly jumped into his arms and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. Naruto blushed at how close she was to him and tried his best to focus on the current issue.
"Let's go!" Dan said as Naruto followed him.
The path was tricky but luckily there were some staircase-like areas they could climb. Naruto trusted Dan's instincts and avoided falling behind. He also had some difficulty with hopping around as he needed to keep Milly from falling down the hill like he did earlier. Luckily the young boy's tenacity had helped him reach the top where the gargoyle statues had stopped creating boulders.
"We have failed the master!"
"Our lives are forfeit!"
As they said this, the statues exploded and the boulders disappeared. The only thing left was the entrance to the mausoleum where Zarok entered. Dan quickly ran inside and Naruto followed him only to see a barrier blocking his path again.
"Damn." Naruto cursed. "Dan, if you can hear me, I have to stop here! I'm sorry buddy, but I'll try to find you again tomorrow!" He shouted.
"Okay! Don't worry!" Dan replied from inside
Naruto sighed as he put Milly down and just as the girl was about to question him. Two blue doorways appeared and opened up to reveal their individual rooms.
"Hey Naruto, this is the way home!" Milly said but then a golden doorway appeared.
Naruto instantly recognized it, "Sorry Milly, this is my path. You go ahead." He said.
"Wait, where are you going?" Milly asked, sounding worried for her rescuer.
"Look, there's a lot I don't know yet. But I'm taking a different path." Naruto answered. "Just go back to the real world. I'll return when I can." He said.
Milly nodded, "Alright, I don't know you that well but I'll leave things to you." She said before leaning closer. Milly suddenly kissed Naruto on the cheek, "And that's my gratitude for rescuing me down there." She said before returning home.
Naruto held a hand on his cheek as his face flushed red, "Wow… that's something." He said, feeling like an awkward teenager that he is.
Naruto quickly ran through the golden doorway to clear his mind. Once there, the memory card came flying to his hand again with the same message.
-Data Saved-
Naruto nodded, "Okay, that's two levels down. Hopefully I can speed run this in the upcoming nights." He said before being blinded by light.
The next morning
Naruto stirred awake and felt a heavy pain on his side, "Still hurts, but I'm glad it was from falling off of the hill and not being run over by a boulder." He said. He managed to sit up and looked at his uniform, "I don't know what's more dangerous. Zarok or high school?" He asked.
Funny enough, Naruto had just remembered that he was in that accident while trying to help Crimson and Ennui. Somehow being trampled by a crowd was more painful than falling off of that hill.
"Whatever, here comes day 2." Naruto said.
At school, Homeroom
Naruto yawned as he took his seat and awaited his teacher to do morning announcements. Today was going to be unique as he saw B suddenly enter his class with an Ashford Academy uniform.
"Class, please help me welcome our new transfer student, Beverly." The teacher said.
The whole class minus Naruto burst out laughing as B's real name is revealed to the whole class. Naruto glared at his class for being jerks and he could see B was also annoyed. As they laughed, B asked the teacher to refer to him by his nickname. Ironically, B would more than likely be silent the whole school year and this was everyone's only opportunity to hear his voice.
Only they couldn't hear it above the constant laughter.
"Settle down, you are all young adults, not children!" The teacher said, silencing them. "B, you may take your seat in front of Naruto. Naruto please raise your hand." The teacher said.
On the way, Naruto and B bumped their fists together before B took his seat.
Assembly, later that day
B had surprised Naruto and Crimson with the news that he had been given a sudden scholarship to Ashford. Seeing how big it was, his parents couldn't deny the chance. So much to the silent boy's judge chagrin, B is here right now. The only upside is that he's at least around familiar people in such a stuff environment.
"Welcome to jail." Crimson said dryly.
B just sighed while Naruto just shrugged off the little detail. He liked having his friend at school, but even Naruto feels like Ashford is already too much for him. Regardless of their thoughts and opinions, they still had a lot of tasks to include. For now, they all made their way to the auditorium where some announcements were going to be made by the superintendent of all people.
"What do you guys think is going to happen?" Naruto asked.
"Probably some speech about behavior or harsh corporal punishment." Crimson answered before noticing the odd stares from her friends. "What?" She asked.
"That face will never match your voice." Naruto said.
"Don't remind me." Crimson said before hearing some voice.
"Cerise, sit with us!" Said a girl who appeared to be popular.
"Hide me." Crimson said as she hid behind B.
The trio took their seats just as the faculty and staff silenced them. After that, Naruto recognized Shirley as one of the people on stage and assumed the rest to be the Student Council. Surprisingly, he could see that Milly was there too.
"Are all of the people I find at this school?" Naruto asked.
"What was that?" Crimson asked.
"Nothing, I'll tell you guys later." Naruto answered before everyone on stage spoke.
"Welcoming our superintendent today is none other than our Student Council President, Milly Ashford." Said one of the council members.
Naruto was surprised to see how important Milly truly is. Not only a student, but a council president and possibly a relative to the people who made this school. Naruto just watched in silence as Milly gave an energetic speech to motivate the entire student before handing things over to the superintendent.
"And now, let us give one big round of applause to the woman who gave us the opportunity to learn. I would like to welcome Lady Integra Hellsing!" Milly said as everyone clapped for the superintendent.
Integra had a rather masculine appearance upon arrival as she wore a three piece green suit and carried a stern face. Integra had long pale blond hair and soft features under her glasses. Still, like any other high ranking member of the board of education, Integra looked stern and spoke like someone who deserved great respect.
"Good afternoon students, for those who don't know or did not pay attention to Miss Ashford's speech, I am Superintendent Hellsing." Integra said as she looked at everyone with serious eyes. "I will not beat around the bush and try to play a motherly or grandmotherly role. I have high expectations of you all." She explained.
Naruto groaned as he adjusted himself in his seat, 'Here we go.' He thought.
"You are all practically adults and while I do not ask you to drop whatever vices you may be. Whether in Ashford or any other location, you are in the halls of knowledge." Integra began to say. "All negativity is to be left at the door, all hostilities are to cease and most importantly, face the reality you are in. However, you are in control of your own choices. Even if unpopular, you will remain in control and be held accountable for them." She said, making a lot of people sigh.
Although a few were thinking deeply on that last part.
The speech continued on with Integra explaining what she wants from the class along with reminding them that they have free will. This is basically a whole speech to remind all of the bad apples that they can be foolish but not without consequences. However, unlike most boring faculty or some nerdy students, Integra finished her speech with something to motivate the student body.
"When the time comes and you walk up the stage for your diplomas. Stop waiting for permission to follow your dreams. Get out there and enthrall a primordial evil and force it to accept you as its master. You are all dismissed." Integra said, earning another round of applause.
Crimson nodded, "She has a point. I'm not letting anyone hold me back." She said with B nodding as well.
"I think that just means we can try to do whatever we want but aren't allowed to complain." Naruto said with a snicker as he stood up. "We have lunch now, right?" He asked.
As the trio made their way out of the auditorium and towards the cafeteria. Naruto was suddenly approached by Shirley again.
"Excuse me, Naruto?" Shirley said as she grabbed his sleeve. "The Student Council President would like a word with you." She said.
Naruto gave Shirley a blank stare, "I do not consent to a search or seizure. It also not a crime if there is no evidence." He said.
Shirley sweat dropped, "I'm not with the police. Why do you sound like I'm trying to arrest you?" She asked.
"My client pleads the fifth." Crimson spoke up.
Shirley sighed, "Please come with me, think of it as an invitation." She said.
"B, start recording today's events. Crimson, call my mom and tell her I'm being drafted." Naruto said before following Shirley.
Crimson and B just looked at each other.
"So, did you have the game dream too?" Crimson asked.
B nodded before whispering into Crimson's ear.
"Five Nights at Freddy's? But you're not a horror type of guy." Crimson said before realizing something. "You were studying the mechanics of those animatronics, weren't you?" She asked.
B nodded and gave Crimson a smirk and thumbs up. Crimson sighed as she only wondered what B was up to in that world. If anything, Crimson assumed that B probably made a portable nuclear reactor and a machine gun turret to deal with the haunted machines.
At the same time, she forgot how sympathetic B is and wouldn't go straight for building his defenses those times.
Student council room
Naruto felt anxious about why he was being taken to the student council room of all places. It's not like these people had any legitimate authority outside of school events and some student inquiries. Except 80% of their tasks needed some academic advisor to sign off on their decisions.
That is unless they're just a bunch of pretentious people who really hate slackers and work like some kind of secret society. Hopefully these other students aren't like those councils in anime and novels.
"And this is our meeting room." Shirley said.
The room was just very big with a desktop computer on the side of the room near one of the entrances. At the center, there was a typical large table meant for meetings.
"So, did your president say why they wanted me?" Naruto asked, already forgetting who the class president is.
Shirley responded with a sheepish smile, "I'm sorry, but as good of a president she is. Milly sometimes enjoys doing things on a whim." She said.
"Sounds like my people. Screw protocol!" Naruto said proudly, making Shirley sigh.
Moments later, Milly came walking in, "Thank you for bringing him Shirley. You should go now before some other girl seduces Lulu." She said.
Shirley blushed, "Milly, please don't say things like that." She said before she left.
Milly giggled, "I'm just trying to motivate you Shirley. " she said before facing Naruto. "We meet again, my fellow blond." She said.
"Yeah, I'm glad you noticed me in the back row. Nice speech by the way." Naruto said, trying to rush the conversation.
Naruto could see that Milly had a glint of mischief but not on his level or his siblings. Naruto would admit that his entire family minus his father are vengeful people who would get even with others. A family of sadists who put wrongdoers in their place. However, Milly looked like the curious type who wanted to see how far she could push it.
He really hopes that Milly doesn't confront him about the dream sequence in Medievil. He was able to trick Shirley and he has noticed that Rivalz is on the council too, but that guy hasn't approached him. Something tells Naruto that Milly won't be tricked so easily.
"I never realized you were a student here." Milly said as if she is well acquainted with Naruto.
"Do random people just enter the school?" Naruto asked, playing ignorance.
Milly sighed, "Look Naruto, I had this dream and distinctly remembered you were in it. There's no denying it." She said.
Naruto looked concerned, "Um, Ms. President, are you coming onto me? On any other day, I would feel flattered that a pretty girl says I'm in her dreams." He said.
Milly slowly moved uncomfortably close to Naruto, "Naruto, I know about the dreams. Shirley told me that she saw you and a skeleton and Rivalz confirmed being in the same dream too." She explained.
"Hey, I already told Shirley that I sat at the front of the auditorium during orientation day." Naruto responded. "Besides, aren't dreams mostly psychological? I mean you council members got like 20 responsibilities, which makes you sleep less and hearing surreal stories would add to your dreams." He explained.
Milly smirked as her chest touched Naruto's, "I only confronted Milly about the dream today." She said making Naruto mentally curse. "Even more, I just looked up the game after a few searches." She said, presenting online results for Medievil.
Naruto looked nervous, but he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. Not even he understood why he kept appearing by Dan's side. In fact, Naruto hasn't even played the original Medievil game and the remake just came out so the price for it would have to be super high. Not that he bothered to watch any gameplay or reviews for it, which probably would have helped cut down on time.
"So you're saying I'm in your dreams about a video game. This is a really desperate method of getting a gamer boyfriend and I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel." Naruto said, trying one last time to escape Milly.
Milly sighed, "Naruto, please just listen to me. I'm not here to blackmail you or anything. I just want answers and last night was too surreal, even for me." She explained.
"Well what do you want from me?" Naruto asked.
Milly took a step back and explained, "Yesterday, Shirley only vaguely mentioned her dream but I only asked her about it today. However, today she didn't have it and neither did Rivalz." She explained. "But my other friend, Kallen, said she was trapped in a haunted city called Silent Hill and she was rescued by a goth girl and some man looking for his daughter." She continued.
Naruto frowned, 'Damn it Harry!' He thought.
"Then there was another one of us, Nina, who said she was trapped in one of those Kids Pizzerias. It was called Franky Fazbet's or something." Milly added.
'Franky Faz… wait, did she mean Freddy Fazbear's? I think B told me he was there.' Naruto thought. 'But seriously, it sounds like one of the council members ran into Crimson. I doubt she would have recognized Crimson today.' He thought.
"I know this sounds crazy, but this is more than a coincidence." Milly said.
Naruto sighed, "Look Milly, even if we're somehow able to enter the world of games. What do you want me to do about it?" He asked.
Milly put on a smile, "I know we just met and there's little to work on but I think…" she stopped mid sentence as her eyes dilated.
Naruto then found himself catching Milly in his arms as she fell. He quickly realized that the older girl had lost consciousness as a dart hit her in the back of the neck. Naruto looked up and saw a blond woman with a blow dart on hand.
"Sorry dearie, there is a real issue but your girlfriend isn't allowed to participate." The woman said in a British accent.
Naruto quickly dragged Milly to cover as the British woman fired another dart and missed. There wasn't a whole lot of cover in the room and Naruto didn't have a way to defend against the British woman as she seemed to be quite agile. However, he did find something that he needed when he was trampled yesterday.
Naruto found the legendary folding chair and took it.
"Oh dear." The woman said as she saw Naruto arm himself.
However, instead of being beaten with it like in a wrestling match. Naruto threw the folding chair at the center of the room. The woman looked around, wondering if the noise was meant to attract anyone or if Naruto's throw is just bad.
Naruto looked confused, "That's not how it's supposed to go." He said.
"What?" The woman asked.
"This is the part where a whole crowd appears and they start a riot." Naruto answered.
"You stole that from the Boondocks." The woman said accusingly.
"No, I learned it from my mom." Naruto said.
"I'm guessing she's the one who watched the Boondocks then." The woman said.
"I don't even know what the Boondocks is." Naruto replied.
The woman gave Naruto a blank stare and shot a dart into his neck. Naruto stiffened as he collapsed onto the floor. He briefly looked to the side and spotted Milly who was still unconscious.
"Milly if we survive… this is all your fault…" Naruto muttered before passing out.
"I guess they weren't dating. Oh well." The woman said as she removed the darts and started dragging Naruto out of the room.
Later, at an office
B and Crimson were surprised when they were told to see the superintendent by some staff member. Luckily it was done discreetly, otherwise they probably would have earned some bad looks and rumors would spread. When they arrived at the office, they were met by the emotionless look of Integra. The same look any adult would have when discussing important business, or in school, talk about misbehavior.
"Hello Ms. Integra, may we ask why we were called?" Crimson asked.
"In a moment, right after your third companion arrives." Integra said as the door opened again.
There, they found the British woman dragging Naruto in and it didn't look too discreet. The British woman seemed to have trouble getting Naruto in as he got stuck and the door was constantly closing.
"Um, just a moment please. Mr. Fish Cake seems to have forgotten how to use a door." The woman said.
After a few sloppy attempts of trying to drag Naruto inside. Integra became impatient and stood up from behind her desk. Where she proceeded to lift Naruto by the arms and drag him inside.
"Seras, may I ask why you did not carry him over the shoulder or in any other more efficient manner?" Integra asked.
"I did not want to look too suspicious, ma'am." Seras replied.
"I am very sure the entire school could see you drag his body." Integra said as her eye twitched.
"That's why I said that I was just taking him to the nurse." Seras said, thinking she had a good excuse.
Integra looked at Seras like she was an idiot, "Seras, perhaps you should wait outside." She said.
"You don't want me to wake him up first?" Seras asked.
"It wouldn't go past me that Mr. Uzumaki is likely going to have a concussion with how you dragged him. I say he may be in a deep sleep for a while." Integra answered.
"Right then." Seras said as she left the office.
Integra sighed as she grabbed a pitcher of water, "Now then, we may begin our meeting. Hopefully after Mr. Uzumaki wakes up." She said, pouring the water on Naruto.
This didn't wake him up and it took a couple of minutes of Crimson repeatedly slapping Naruto while B generated small noise frequencies from his phone. At the same time, Naruto eventually woke up with a searing pain in his head.
"Okay, why do I feel like a brick hit me in the head?" Naruto asked.
"Hello Mr. Uzumaki, by chance did you see Sir Fortesque again?" Integra asked, surprising B and Crimson.
"Yeah, we had to deal with some monster made of glass." Naruto said as his vision adjusted. "Uh… where are we?" He asked.
Integra smiled as she sat down, "Now we may begin the meeting. Tell me now, how have your gaming experiences been? It seems to me that you three are the only good ones in the region?" She asked.
"You know about our dreams?" Crimson asked.
"My dear, those are not just dreams. Rather they are the work of an experiment gone wrong and it seems that it's gotten out of hand." Integra explained before reaching under her desk. "Now then, help me help you by explaining your recent activities. Because it feels like there are so few "true gamers" as you call yourselves." She said.
The trio weren't sure where to begin and wondered what their superintendent was up to if she knew so much.
In The Gameverse
As in most games since the dawn of video games dating back 1970s and 1980s, there was always a villain or endgame goal. Zarok is one of those villains who may not seem as memorable as those such as Bowser, Dracula, Whesker or even Sephiroth. However, MediEvil is still a classic game that just hasn't had a chance to return until recent days.
Now, Zarok finds himself standing before a powerful yet, even less popular figure. One that was abandoned by Sony itself and yet stands before the evil wizard like a godly figure.
"My lord, you have called for me?" Zarok asked as a giant purple crystal shaped head appeared over him.
"I did and I am happy to see that you are one of my few loyal subordinates that understand their place." Said none other than Polygon Man. "You may have noticed strange individuals in your domain." He said.
"The only I suppose is worth mentioning is a young boy who stood by my old foe. He was rescuing other children who fear the weakest of my minions." Zarok explained, trying to keep composure.
"Interesting, because among the many humans who cower or fail to make it far. There are only three I've sensed that have made true progress." Polygon man said.
"And you wish for me to be rid of all of the intruders?" Zarok curiously asked.
Polygon Man contemplated this, "You may try, it may serve well to test these users. I cannot expect much from Samael." He said with an eye roll. "For beings calling themselves gods, they always find some kind of human to defeat them. Oh well, they have learned their place. Do not think your punishment will be light if you wish to betray me like Samael, Zeus and the rest of the lot." He said.
"Yes my lord, all faults will be my own." Zarok said.
"Good, now I will be on my way." Polygon Man said before leaving Zarok alone.
Leaving Daniel Fortesque's enemy to decide on how to take on Dan and Naruto at the same time.
The next night, with B
B let out a yawn as he found himself sitting in the security room of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzaria. The setting of the first Five Nights at Freddy's Game and the place where the famous indie horror game started. Despite being in a dream-like setting, B couldn't help but feel tired. It could be some kind of mental state that went in his head as he was in a simulation of an early morning work shift.
B didn't play his game in the traditional way as he would in reality. The fact that he can see one of the animatronics outside his door proves that. In fact, B just waved for them to come in.
'It looks like Chica needs a repair.' B thought as he could hear loud clinging from Chica's neck. 'I'll get to work on them before I go looking around with the cameras. Last time, there was a crazy hysterical girl, Nina.' He thought.
Like Naruto, B had seen random students enter the games too. Like the others, they seemed to give into fear and get lost while B managed to handle the game's setting. It looked like this would be a full time thing until B completes the game and probably moves onto the sequels.
At least that's what Integra plans for them to do. B's thoughts on his new responsibilities given to him by the superintendent were interrupted by some sounds in the distance. B quickly gestured for Chica to hold on while he checked the security feed.
'Is it someone else from school?' B wondered as he looked through the cameras. Then he heard rapid footsteps coming towards the office, 'It sounds like Foxy wants to give me a scare.' He thought as he didn't look away from the camera footage.
However, instead of hearing the animatronic fox let out a scream just mess with him. B heard a loud thrashing noise hitting the wall next to the security office. B moved away from the footage and saw Foxy's head rolling towards the door and watched as sparks came from the wires attached to the head.
B looked at Chica and gestured for them to turn on the light in the hallway. Chica listened to B as he went to inspect the hallway but found it empty except for Foxy's head and torso.
'Did Foxy fall apart? They never did that before and I doubt the animatronics got into a fight.' B thought as he dragged Foxy's head and torso inside.
Chica locked the door once B was inside as per safety reasons. B decided to get to work on Foxy and see if it was possible to put the animatronic's head back onto their body. Yet, that didn't stop the loud crashing noises in the distance. Which left B feeling suspicious as to what was going on in the establishment.
'Is this a literal glitch?' B wondered as he approached the camera feed again.
TO BE CONTINUED…