A/N: I have completely revamped The Game, and that is why it deserves a separate story.

This is not my main project and as such I will probably not upload more than a few chapters. If you end up liking this story, I apologize in advance.

In any case, I hope you enjoy!

000

Episode I: Indicative

real time [Tuesday, September 27] (15:34)

Crap.

Yep… that one word pretty much describes my situation. Actually, more profane words would better describe my situation right now, but I digress because, well, a knife is being held to my throat.

"So," the raven haired girl holding the knife says, "you're the Gamer around these parts." At this point, my brain is given ample time to process the sight before me. She is about as tall as me, so about five-eight, though it's hard to tell exactly since I am pressed against the wall of the alley she forced me into. Plus she's on her tiptoes, leaning on and looming over me. Her face is barely centimeters away from my own, close enough for a few stands of her relatively short straight hair to tickle my face, and she's wearing this creepy slasher smile. Fortunately for me, I am used to having my personal space invaded so this doesn't make me very uncomfortable.

The girl's malicious gaze bores into my eyes and I return the favor to stare her down. "And you're the Gamer around not these parts I see," I return as nonchalantly as a not-so-normal person who has a knife to their throat can. I don't think I need to explain why I am not-so-normal.

Refocusing on her eyes, I realize my first impression of her gaze was wrong. There is no malice in her grey eyes, rather, they're devoid of any emotion. I suppose that unnerves me even more than if her eyes had an unhinged or malicious glint, since, you know, nothing is scarier…

I am snapped out of my thoughts when the girl speaks again. "Do you fear death?" She begins to stroke my neck with the blade of her knife. "Do you fear the dark abyss?"

Holy crap the feel of the cold steel against my skin is unnerving. Okay, keep cool, keep cool, Aaron. I can tell this girl will get a kick out of things if I start to freak and I won't have that. So, keeping my nonchalant tone from before, I reply, "Nope, can't say I do." Wait a sec, I think I've heard her line before…

"Oh really? So you don't mind dying?" The blade presses into my neck with a dangerous amount of force. Any more and it will slice my skin.

I would shake my head, but for obvious reasons that wouldn't be a good idea right now. "Well, who wants to live forever, right? It'd get boring after a while." Damn, I don't think I'll be able to get out of this wonderful situation. She'll kill me as soon as I try anything.

"Then…" She takes the knife off my neck and presses the tip of the blade to right corner of my mouth. "Do you fear living?" I'm just noticing it now, but the girl is left-handed. It's these little distractions that help keep my head together in times like this. "Do you fear persisting through life, unable to escape from the agony that awaits you?" She's wearing a pretty nice black leather jacket too, unzipped, with a black formfitting shirt underneath.

"Nah, bro. I like living, pain and all." That… sounded somewhat masochistic. "Besides, there's no reason to fear the reaper. It's probably a wimp anyways."

There's a slight shift in the girl's facial expression. I can't quite put my finger on what exactly changed, maybe her creepy ear-to-ear grin shrunk just a bit or something, but something did change. I think she's a bit disappointed by my lack of reaction. If so, then I am doing a good job of invoking bathos. "All that's missing from your optimistic outlook is a smile," she says after a moment. "How about you allow me t—"

"I've always wanted to look like the Joker!" Oh, yes, I know exactly where she's going with that.

In an instant, the girl's smile vanishes and her face becomes impassive, which is ironically the most frightening thing she's done so far. Because that means crap is about to hit the fan. My stomach just churned right now.

"I can tell you won't be amusing." She lightly pushes off of me and stands flat on her feet, taking the knife off the side of my mouth. "Pity. You could have lived a few minutes longer. I like your defiance, though." She once again presses the blade of her knife to my throat.

Oh shi—

[insert opening credits and opening theme here]

Good Luck, Have Fun, Good Game

real time (15:37)

Oh shi—

Cold metal painfully slices through my neck with a sickening sound. I didn't even have time enough for my life to flash before my eyes. Oddly enough, that didn't hurt as much as I had imagined. I expect my body to suddenly feel weak or go limp, but I feel no different that before. The pain is gone too, almost just as fast as it came. And I hear music.

Wait what?

With a brief flash of light in the distance, memory of yesterday double slaps me in the face in the form of a Heads Up Display. Right! The Game is supposed to sort of be like a video game apparently. Hold on, why am I just standing here like an idiot?

Well, at least my assailant seemed to have been just as surprised as me with what the heck just happened. She has this perplexed look on her face and her focus falters. Lucky me. I punch her hard in the face and sprint out of the alley.

And am immediately greeted by an unusual sight. Sol Ra Park is devoid of any living thing except for trees, but even those are unmoving. The sky is softly pulsating a mauve color as if a dome of energy had formed over us. An empty, unmoving world… if not for the actually really catchy background music, this would be very creepy. Especially since a sinister girl is out to kill me with a knife. A quick look over my shoulder confirms that the girl is running after me, tanto-style knife in hand, wearing an impassive face.

I really need to get out of here and away from this crazy. Perhaps if I can reach the boundary of this closed space, things will return to normal. Considering how many video games have those impossible to pass invisible-or-not walls, maybe not. I'll just see when I get to it, which will be in a few minutes it seems. I am breathing heavily, as expected with someone who is sprinting, but I am not short of breath nor are my legs getting tired. Video game physics for the win! Gosh how I wish I could run forever in real life. I'm more of a sprinter rather than a marathoner, very fast in short bursts and pretty agile but lacking in the endurance department. That's why my best mile time is only something like 6:20, give or take a few seconds. Except when it came to arm endurance; I'm good for both bursts of strength and endurance. As expected from a rock climber. You want to get buff without boring yourself lifting weights and get a thrill out of it at the same time? Rock climbing.

Great, I'm on a tangent, distracting me from the task at hand. Which is not dying. I turn left into another alley and everything fades to black. Before my brain has any time to even process what the heck is going on, the walls of the room light up, revealing a massive armory housing what seems to be every conceivable weapon of war man has ever produced from throughout history. This whole sequence was as if I was watching TV and the show cut to another scene. Except, you know, I'm part of the show.

Wait… walls? Room? Where the heck am I? Huh, guess my brain has caught up now. Well, really, it's pretty obvious that this is an armory so the better question is… actually, now that I think about it, I have answered my own questions. Now I just need—

"Confirmation?" A familiar female voice, hypnotic, melodic, and haunting all at the same time, calls out to me from seemingly all directions to finish my thoughts. Yeah, again, don't ask me how. "I am indeed the one who brought you to 'a massive armory housing what seems to be every conceivable weapon of war man has ever produced from throughout history.' Well, mostly." Well then, everything is confirmed. Wait a second, is she reading my mind?

Whatever, time to take a look at my HUD. There's the life bar at the top middle of my vision, which reads 9000/10000 HP, experience bar at the bottom right, mini-map with a compass at the top left, and minimized boxes where useful information will go at random places. They're all clear to see in my vision yet at the same time does not obscure it. It's reminiscent of a first person shooter's HUD, actually. Nice. Good thing I am well versed in the world of gaming, so I should be able to learn the basics pretty quickly.

"Now, Aaron Skotos, you have three Power Points to use. You may spend them on Weapons, Support Items, and Abilities. Weapons are the main method of dealing damage. Damage has been balanced such that any weapon of choice is viable to use. Support Items typically deal no damage but have various effects that will aid its user. Abilities are similar to Support Items but only require thought to activate. All Gamers are allowed a weak back up knife. It should be noted that nearly anything goes, so be creative."

So… guess now I am left to myself to choose what weapon I will want to use for The Game. Better choose well considering that whatever I choose will probably persist with me throughout the entirety of The Game. Hmm… decisions, decisions. What shall I choose?

Aw man, I'm so dumbstruck with the stuff here. If a weapons enthusiast were to die and go to heaven, this would be the place where he or she would go. Everything from ancient stone knives to the latest military hardware is stored here in this very armory. And… and even some more fantastical things were here too. Now, I wouldn't call myself a weapons enthusiast, but I certainly do like weapons. While I don't like real life violence, I do respect and am awed by the power of weapons as well as everything that goes into them. Anyways…

First, a weapon. A sword perhaps? Those always seem to be great weapons in many various games and other media, often beating out guns and slicing through armor like a SABOT round through aluminum foil. And when I mean armor, I mean tanks, APC's IFV, et cetera. But, eh, maybe not. Truth be told, I am more of a hit and run kind of guy; I don't like getting into direct engagements if I don't have to. A gun will do then. It is quick to use and has range, so I can hit my enemy from afar and keep enough distance to retreat when needed. So the question is, what gun should I use?

Shotguns are not going to be particularly helpful with my strategy if they're anything like they are in video games…

"They are not short-ranged shotguns." Xya's voice resonates throughout the armory again. Okay, she's definitely reading my mind. "Yes I am." Confirmed. I'll deal with this topic later. "Shotguns have as much range as most other guns, but of course have differing properties."

Still, shotguns are, again, not the best choice. I've never fired a real gun before so I'm sure my marksmanship is pretty terrible, so snipers are out of the question. Light machine guns and squad automatic weapons are too large and cumbersome for my mobile tactics. I want something more versatile than marksman-slash-battle rifles, pistols, and machine pistols. Assault rifles, carbines, and SMG's sound like a good choice. I'll need something with light recoil and a fast rate of fire so I can unleash a good volume of fire on target and then retreat. That's most SMG's and smaller caliber rifles such as the M16 and its variants. Sorry AK47, your stopping power is nice and all, but your recoil is too great for me right now. Your offspring, the AK74, is a contender though. Now, I need something light and small so I can retain maneuverability…

Oh I know: the Fabrique Nationale d'Herstal P90 personal defense weapon. High capacity, low recoil, light, small, and ergonomic—the weapon of choice for most SGC personnel and various armed forces around the world. And it looks damn cool too.

"Xya," I call out to my Moderator, "I have chosen the FN P90 as my weapon of choice."

"As you wish, Aaron Skotos."

A P90 materializes before me, starting with a wireframe of the weapon before having all the details filled in. It had been a nice looking gun in pictures, but it looks far cooler in person now that I see it with my own eyes. Once it's finished materializing, it simply floats in front of me, as if beckoning me to wield it. If that's the case, then I don't keep it waiting. I take it in my hands and test its weight and handling, running through the various gun safety rules that I have read on the Internet as I do so. It feels both awesome and terrifying to be wielding this weapon.

An outline image of a P90 appears in the top left corner of my HUD along with an ammo counter reading 50 and two rows of rectangles graphically showing my ammo. Well this will come in handy.

"Basic knowledge of how to properly operate the weapon, including aiming and reloading, has been implanted into your brain. However, it is ultimately up to your own personal skill how well you use it. Any personal experience with this weapon in The Game is not indicative of how it is like in real life. In addition, any implanted knowledge will only be available during events of The Game and will not carry over into real life, only gained knowledge."

"Got it." I aim down the built-in reflex sight of the weapon a couple of times to get used to its look. Honestly, I don't like it very much, so I'll probably want to change out the sight later. "How much damage does this weapon do per bullet?" Just need to remember, aim for center mass as heads are much smaller targets. Target center, pull trigger. Target center, pull trigger. Target center, pull trigger.

"It deals 150 points of damage." That's… a rather arbitrary number. I don't voice my thoughts however, not that that matters since Xya can read my mind. The gun tugs against my grip and I offer no resistance, letting it float back in front of me.

I already know what I am going to spend my next Power Point on. Claymore mines will cover my back and help me set up traps. "I would like Claymore mines as well." Two of the explosive weapons and a trigger with several buttons materialize before me.

"Claymore mines deal 10500 points of damage spread across seven hundred projectiles in a sixty-degree arc. However, maximum damage is capped at 1000. They are remote detonated, with each activated by a different button on the trigger. Do keep in mind that only one primary weapon may be wielded at any given time, with one of the weapons disappearing, unless upgraded to be usable with other weapons."

Which means I will need to play things tactically if I am going to use both of my weapons effectively. Either or, for right now.

One last Power Point to use, then. The ability to get away from enemies is key for my strategy. Speed is nice, but verticality is better. People just have a hard time with the third dimension. Hmm… she did say anything goes.

"I would like to double jump."

"Then it shall be. You may jump in midair for 75% of your normal jump height. Normal jump height is two meters, so this will be for one and a half meters."

Hell yeah, jump physics! Time to bunny hop like there's no tomorrow.

"So long as you have not already jumped in midair before, you may jump while falling, thereby canceling all downward momentum and rising one and a half meters from the jump point. Now for your back up knife of choice."

"KA-BAR." And the combat knife appears before me.

"All your gear will be stored in a Gaming Pouch." Needless to say, the object also appears. The pouch is about eight inches in length and five inches in height. "You may grab anything of yours from this pouch at almost any time. Some restrictions apply."

The pouch opens and the P90 and claymores disappear inside without affecting the size of the pouch at all. Holy crap, hammer space in real life. I feel like that will take some getting used to. The hammer space Gaming Pouch floats towards me, attaching itself to my hip somehow. And I say somehow since there is no hook or Velcro or adhesive or whatever—it just is stuck to my hip.

"Are you ready to be returned to the fight?"

I give a nod. Even though I can only hear Xya, she can probably see me just fine. "Asses will be kicked and bubble gum chewed."

"May your endeavors be fruitful." With that farewell, which I think I have heard before, everything fades once again to black. Just as fast as things went black, the world returns to my vision. Okay, that whole sequence is pretty trippy. It's definitely an experience.

Where was I again? Ah right, I am running, chased by a creepy knife wielding girl and had just turned the corner.

Trap time. I stop, reaching into my pouch to pull out a claymore and the trigger. Whoa, that's weird; I just closed my hand and the thing I wanted just appeared in it. As soon as I set the claymore up, a small cylindrical device comes tumbling towards me from around the corner and lands a few feet to my left. A black, metal cylinder with circular cut outs—fudge! I immediately avert my eyes…

Gah, my ears! I stumble backwards, disoriented, but I face the way the grenade came from. The crazy girl comes tearing around the corner right into the sights of the claymore. Boom. A press of a button sends seven hundred supersonic deformed ball bearings her way. Perfect, it staggered her… except she is staggering full speed right at me. All I can do is brace for impact.

The girl's arm swings forward and impacts me in the side. A sharp stabbing pain comes from within me, and a sizable chunk of my remaining HP goes from green to red. Then I eat a fist before I can react to getting stabbed. I jump back to create space, drawing my emergency knife. The girl closes the distance before I can regain my balance. I take a stab at her, but she sidesteps and catches my arm, yanking me forward. I feel another stabbing pain in my lower back while my arm is twisted behind my back.

Damn it, this is not a good position. I was only going to play this card in an emergency, but it looks like I'm already in an emergency. Going vertical. I jump forward and as high as I can. The iron grip of the girl jerks me and I go tumbling through the air, but at least I freed myself from her grasp. Some how I manage to land on my feet when I touch down. I feel barely any impact too. The girl has a look of mild surprise on her face. Ha ha! Weren't expecting that were you!

Ow—what the? I still have a pain in my back? Reaching to the source of the pain, my fingers wrap around the handle of a knife. Her knife. Wait, what happened to my… oh. I must have dropped my knife when I jumped. Well, in any case, the girl picks up my knife and I pull hers out of me. We square off, taking fighting stances. Except I have no idea how to fight, so my stance is just light on my feet.

So the obligatory stand off is now happening. Now that I actually have time to concentrate on the figure of my assailant, I now notice she has ditched her jacket and that her shirt is actually a tanktop. She looks Asian, though I can't put my hand on an ethnicity, and has tan skin. Her arms are powerfully built: well toned and muscular. There are only a handful of other girls I know—scratch that. I know a lot of girls who have powerfully built arms such as hers, but none at school. I digress. All I need to know is that she's probably just as strong if not stronger than I am, arm strength wise. What's rather striking is the collection of blotchy scars that spans her right arm. That must have been one bad accident. As for her legs, I have no idea. She's wearing cargo pants that are colored with grey digital camouflage. Her shoes… well, I think I now know the source of her muscular arms.

"Nice approach shoes," I say. "Five Tens, right?" They look a bit worn, but they're still sharp looking shoes. Black and dark grey with the familiar red logo, it's a nice color scheme.

The girl freezes. "Correct. Warhawks." I almost physically feel the shift in atmosphere. "Climber?"

I give a nod. "Indeed I am. And I'm pretty serious about it too. Flash level is around V6 indoors. At least at the place I go to."

The girl relaxes, lowering her arms and standing straight up. Her expression changes from impassive to, well, a softer impassive expression. "Indoor is V9 on average. Eight years climbing." Geez. Her ability to change personas is really sort of disconcerting. She went from sadistic to impassive to now sort of affable.

"Going on five." I decide to relax a little too, lowering my own arms. I'll take any breather moment I can. "Where do you climb?"

"Here and there; where ever I desire. You?"

"A sweet little rock gym in Mountainvale that goes by the name of Warp Orb. It's great." I just realized, I've been rather calm and collected throughout the entire sequence so far, even when being attacked. Weird…

"Pleasure to meet a fellow climber outside of climbing. Kaya Suguitan." She steps forward and extends her left hand for a handshake.

So her name is Kaya, huh? I take her hand in a firm handshake. "Aaron Skotos." Normally, I would be very suspicious of her actions right now, but there's something about her mannerisms that tells me she won't try anything. Besides, if she does, I can always jump. "By the way, you want to trade knives?"

"Yes." Breaking off the handshake, she lightly tosses my KA-BAR into the air and catches it by the blade, extending its handle towards me.

I just simply turn her knife around and offer it to her. We grab the handles of our respective knives at the same time and take a few steps back.

The girl takes up her previous fighting stance. "Unfortunately, the fight must go on."

Guess she's done being affable. I ready myself for the coming fight as well, weight on the balls of my feet and knife at the ready. "So be it." I have 6875 HP remaining. She certainly has more health than me so I need to be as crafty as can be to push the physics of The Game to the limits. Heh, if only I actually knew what the limits of The Game are. But hey, I'm a gamer! Breaking games is what we do!

"Your move, Aaron Skotos." What's with everyone using my first and last name recently? "I will attack as soon as you do."

I give a nod. More time to think then. I still have not used my P90, nor have I used my double jump. This girl has flashbangs and a knife. I have two surprises and she has one surprise. Actually, there are probably many more surprises in store for both of us, depending on how fast we figure out the physics of The Game. Such as this Gaming Pouch thing. Xya said that I could pull anything of mine out of it at any time I want minus some restrictions.

And what was that she said to me? So you're the Gamer around these parts. Does that mean she is not from around here? If so, then I have the home field advantage. While she is a better climber than me, verticality is my friend too since I have double jump. Sol Ra High is the place to go. It's built partially on the side of a hill, so elevations are constantly shifting, and it's a school campus. Basically all school campuses are mazes for those who have never been to it. Perfect for hit and run tactics and setting up ambushes.

Sol Ra High is directly in front of me. I'll throw my knife and immediately run away from the girl. Then I will pull a claymore out and toss it behind me to slow her down before jumping onto the roof of a house or two and circle back around to Sol Ra High. From there I'll just wing it.

Okay let's do this.

I toss my knife in an underhand throw, which the girl dodges as if she were expecting it. Whatever, I sprint as fast as I can away from her. Claymore out, trigger out, toss behind, hit the ground, detonate—oh geez! So apparently that mine was facing more towards me than her, considering metal ball bearings just whizzed past my ears. Let's try that again. Boom. And again. Boom.

The girl's footsteps sound slightly further away, so I guess my plan is working in creating space between us. I turn a tight left and make a beeline for the nearest house. Most houses here are one story with a normal roof height, so I should be able to jump directly onto the roof, with some bending of the legs. What would be great is if the girl does not realize at first that she can also jump that high. Here it comes. And… jump!

Oh, wow. This sensation is not unlike jumping high off a trampoline. I hike my feet up and pass over the edge of the roof with some room to spare. I leap to the next house and look back. Hey, I was right! The girl's figure pops into view then falls back out of view. She must have been taking a test jump. Actually, change of plans. Stopping to turn around, I pull out my P90 and aim where the girl will jump up. And there she is.

Target center, pull trigger.

Holy crap, I'm actually firing a gun! Sort of. The feel is quite thrilling. Granted, the recoil is certainly not represented accurately, since there isn't much recoil at all, only a vibrating shaking that only slightly throws off my aim. Casings fall from the ventral ejection chute, landing with metallic pings as they bounce and slide off the slanted roof.

And what the heck? These technicolored, GCI shockwaves emanate from around wherever my bullets hit the girl. Actually, it looks like those effects when someone is hit in a fighting video game. How fitting. I must have missed this effect earlier.

Unfortunately for me, the girl's reflexes are pretty damn good. I only rattle off half my ammo at her before she drops off the side of the house to avoid my fire. Delayed her even more, that's—oh not again. I barely manage to turn my head away when another flashbang goes off near me. A glance towards the girl tells me my lead is now lost. Whatever. To Sol Ra High—geez! I nearly loose my footing as I land on the next roof in my slightly dazed state. I don't want to accidentally shoot myself, so I store my weapon away.

Jumping from roof to roof… I feel like Faith, only with a much higher jump height and smaller buildings. Damn it, see how easily my mind gets off topic?

I jump onto the ground, feeling barely any impact on my legs and feet. So little in fact that my pace barely slows only for a moment. Hmm. At sprinting speed I should reach school in about three minutes now. Unless the girl chasing me has anything to say about it—gah, freaking flash bangs! Okay, so this one went off right in front of my face, no time to blink. No matter, I can keep running, even while blinded and deafened. My lead on the girl will buy me time.

Except something big and heavy slams into my back with great force. I am thrown forwards off my feet. My face meets asphalt before my momentum throws me head over heels… wait, I'm normally head over heels. I go heels over head. By the time I come to a stop on my back, my vision and hearing returns to me. And the girl mounts me. Great.

I bring my arms up to defend my face just as a fist comes crashing down. Damn it, another bad position. My feeble defenses are barely helping against the rapid onslaught of punches and the occasional elbow. I'm really lucky the punches don't hurt much, she's not using her knife, and that my mind is somehow still calm. You know what? The best defense is a good offense, plus it's my only option right now. Defending with my left arm, I reach down to my right hip to pull out a claymore, setting it up beside us pointing up a little bit. Then I pull out the detonator. Boom.

The explosion blasts the girl sideways off me. I roll sideways in the opposite direction and spring to my feet, pulling another claymore out. The girl already lunges towards me with her knife in hand. Somehow I block her stab with the claymore—fudge! The claymore exploded on its own. Well, I guess that's a good thing since it was facing towards the girl. As a bonus, the force of the explosion shoves her backwards and off balance. I take the opportunity to continue my sprint towards Sol Ra High. This time, I draw my P90 instead of my claymores. Oh hey, it's at full ammo. That's convenient. My accuracy will be terrible, but hopefully my shots will slow the girl down and maybe prevent her from throwing flashbangs in my face.

Point gun behind me, small bursts. Actually, a glance behind me reveals a reasonable percentage of bullets are hitting their target. Not wanting to continue being riddled with bullets, the girl wisely takes cover. She throws a flashbang, albeit off target, so I'm only partially blinded and deafened, and only for a couple seconds. I reload once my ammo count drops to four. Guess Xya's words were truthful about gaining knowledge of using the gun. I repeat this process until I am confident I am out of her throwing distance.

Well, now I can get to my destination unhindered. Okay, so where should I go within the school? High ground is good, especially some place that only double jumping can get to. If there is none or by some chance the girl manages to reach me, I'll need a fall back position. Then perhaps even another. After that I'll just randomly run around until one of us dies.

Oh I know. The clock tower is tall and slightly removed from the other buildings. I don't think it is reachable with just a two-meter jump height from the closest roof. I just hope it is reachable with a two-meter and a one-and-a-half-meter jumps. For a fall back, the Arts Center is ideal. Long hallways, few points of entry, and a somewhat confusing layout make it great for a ranged ambusher. And the main hall is good for a similar reason, though there's more cover and shorter halls.

Let's do this.

Sol Ra High comes into view with its clock tower standing tall in the heart of the school. I leap over the front gate of the school and jump onto the low-lying roof of the nearest building. From there I traverse and ascend from roof to roof to the building adjacent to the clock tower. You know, up close the distance looks a lot bigger. I really hope I gauged this right. Leap of faith…

My right foot steps mere millimeters before the edge of the roof and I push off with all my might. As expected, I barely have the height but will not cover the distance. Time for the… wait, how do I double jump? Uh, uh, jump! Jump! I push down with my feet. They push off something solid. Whoa, that's awesome. The added jump propels me the rest of the distance and I catch the roof's edge with relative ease. I quickly haul myself over the edge. Facing the adjacent building, I draw my P90 and shield my eyes. Also as expected, a flashbang deafens me but fails to distort my vision.

I aim down the sights—whoa! Ha ha! Thought you were sneaky following up with a knife throw, but I dodged—gah! Forgot about the back up; now I have a knife in my face. Actually, I must commend her on her throwing arm and accuracy. As I pull the knife out of my ears, a loud crack reaches my ears. Geez, the girl had just gone supersonic! She had reached the apex of her jump and then shot towards the tower at the speed of sound. Wait… that's probably how she caught up with me when I was running and had been flashbanged. Also explains the impact.

Whatever, I open fire at the girl. I only manage to get off a short burst before she closes the gap. I jump back and as high as I can. There's a good chance my ass would be handed to me if I try to engage in melee combat. The girl seems to know how to fight. Like any sensible gamer, I shoot while in the air, abusing my double jump to stay out of her reach.

And I miss the roof as I fall back down. Ah fudge, please let there be no fall damage. I try to absorb the impact with my legs as best I can, but I fail to do so. Because there is not really much impact in the first place. It felt like I just jumped normally from the ground. That's very convenient.

Well, to the Arts Center! I'll have to take an indirect route to avoid the girl catching up to me due to her charge ability. Onto more roofs then. No more than a few seconds after I start running do I hear the crack of the sound barrier being broken. I look behind me, but it's what's above me that catches my attention.

Oh crap. I dive to the side to avoid being goomba stomped. The girl's foot comes sweeping fast and high, knocking the gun out of my hands. Yeah, if she can perform that kick with such ease, she certainly knows how to fight. I jump back and draw my knife.

Another stand off, huh? Quick check: my HP is 4000 even. I think the girl's HP is close to mine, though probably a bit higher. Hmm… thinking back to Xya's words: only one primary weapon may be wielded at any given time. My back up knife did not disappear when I drew my P90 the first stand off. So does that mean my back up knife can be used with other weapons? Lets find out.

My hand darts into my Gaming Pouch and my fingers wrap around the ergonomic grip of the personal defense weapon. I whip the barrel towards the girl, knife still in hand. Unfortunately for me, her reaction time is annoyingly fast; she's already lunging at me! She dodges my shot and knocks my arm back with her hand. I force her back with a slice of my knife. A familiar black cylinder drops at my feet.

I jump back and avert my eyes just as the flashbang detonates point blank. At least we will both be deafened by the blast.

Oh—and I receive a flying kick aimed at my face. I manage to block the blow with my arms, but her momentum bowls me over. I roll back and spring to a crouch, raising my hands up just in time to block another kick. Then a kick to the side of the head decks me. She pounces on me and stabs down at my face. It would seem my weapons are oddly good at blocking knives; I manage to catch the strike with my P90. My knife hand still free, I stab at her face. She catches my arm, releases her grip on her own knife, and her now free hand plows right into my face. My gun arm is pinned by her iron grip. The girl forces the knife out of my hand and once again stabs down at me. Aha! Now I'm the one to catch her arm! Except she can put her weight into our struggle.

Aw crap, not this position! I press upwards with all my might, but the tip of the blade is slowly descending towards my chest. My eyes meet the girl's impassive stare… her terrifying stare. I wiggle around, struggling to do something. By some stroke of luck, my arm slips from its pin. With the combined strength of both my specialized grasping appendages, I force the knife blade upwards. Of course, she then uses both of her specialized grasping appendages plus her body weight to force the knife blade back down.

Damn it… the blade is getting really close. Now that I think about it, this is a lot of work for relatively low damage. Wait a second, this is my knife! My left hand shoots to my Pouch and grabs onto the handle of the blade. The knife in the girl's hand instantly disappears and I let her fall on me. I wrap my arm around her neck, holding her close, while I begin to stab her in the back. She struggles to break free from my deadly embrace to little effect. Her hand reaches to the side to hold down my knife arm. A sort of stabbing pain comes from my left ear. S-she's biting it! I feel a sharp tug, hard enough that I'm sure my ear would have been torn off if not for the physics of The Game.

Ah, my eyes! Get your fingers out of my eye sockets! I let go of her neck to force her hand away from my face, receive a head-butt to the nose, and she breaks her wrist free from my grip. I instinctively move my arm to protect my face, though my defense is rendered useless since flesh looses to sharpened steel. Since defense is not working, offense will have to pull through again; got to take a few hits to deal a few hits. While being stabbed repeatedly, I take a claymore out to shield my face.

Just as I am given a WARNING: LOW HEALTH message in bright red letters at the top of my vision, the girl rolls off me, out of the way of the claymore. Lucky, since I didn't even have the trigger out. She spins on the ground to kick the claymore out of my hands. I don't care though; all that matters is that she is off me. Glance at my health: 1875.

We spring to our feet at the same time. As she lunges forward, I jump back and high, and she jumps after me. Crap. She's going to land right on top of me. If I double jump, I'll stay out of reach for a moment more, but once I hit the ground I'm toast. Wait, can I change direction with my second jump? Please be right.

I push off whatever invisible thing that forms under me and spring forward. Hiking up my legs, her hand passes inches below my feet while we pass each other in mid air. Our momentum creates a little distance between us, which she may try to close with her charge ability. As soon as my feet touch the ground I jump again. Nothing. I fall towards the ground and double jump about a meter from the ground. Crack. The girl zooms just below my feet once again.

Her back is to me, and I have gravity on my side. Goomba stomp time. I land on the girl, left foot on her head and right foot on her back. Her body provides uneven footing and I end up falling on her. Actually, my position is perfect. Let's see how you like being on the bottom! I slam her head down, mashing her face into the concrete ground. Gun drawn, I put the barrel to her head and squeeze the trigger. I only get off a short burst before she reaches back, grabbing my gun away from her head. At the same time she blindly stabs at me. As soon as the blade pierces into me, the bright, pulsating, glowing red message WARNING: HEALTH CRITICAL appears at the top of my vision. My HP is 875—oh crap, I'm in triple digits! One more knife and it's goodbye world. I let go of her head to hold her knife arm down and immediately get another head-butt to the nose.

Taking advantage of my shift in weight, the girl pushes upwards and shifts her knees under her. Uh oh. She springs up, throwing me off her. A reverse kick nails me in the face and drops me on my back. I have no time to react, only watch helplessly as a tanto-style knife descends towards my throat. It's like everything is happening in slow motion. I go limp, the way animals sometimes do at the moment of the predator's leap.

This is it, game over. GG. I lost The Game.

The knife comes down in a deadly arc, burying itself to the hilt into… nothing. The blade tip hovers millimeters away from my Adam's apple. Deja vu. And… I'm… not dead? I'm not dead! I stare up into the grey eyes of Kaya Suguitan. Her steely expression is unreadable.

"If you so much as think of escaping, I will kill you."

"H-hey, no problem." I let go of my P90 and push it out of reach. "Escape is highly improbable at this point. But… why?"

"You seem to have a good grasp of the workings of The Game. Even though you have had no training in how to fight, you exploited your knowledge of The Game and your weapon's properties to hold your own against me."

Actually, I have no idea how The Game works specifically. My familiarity with video games is what really pulled through. Kiting melee fighters especially. Though admittedly, I could have done a much better job at things. "I'm guessing you have some reason for praising my ability?"

"Simply put, I want you to be my ally."

So maybe an out to this situation rather than an escape is possible. "I'm in no position to refuse you. I accept your proposal."

"Good." She sheaths her knife, standing up and stepping away from me. When I get to my feet, she extends her right hand. "To a useful alliance."

"Yeah." I firmly shake her hand. One of the info boxes expands and reads New Friend Added, with Kaya Suguitan's name listed below. Though it's too early to call this girl a friend, considering she tried to kill me. I don't hold grudges, but still… . "So I assume I'll teach you about video games and you'll teach me how to fight?"

Kaya nods and breaks off the handshake. "More or less."

"I probably already know the answer, but can I trust you?"

"Yes."

"… To be honest I was expecting a negative response."

"You can trust in my conviction as an ally. You may prove very useful in the future after all. It goes without saying that you can trust my prowess as a fighter."

Fair enough. "Do you trust me?"

"I have proven I can kill you, so I am confident you will not betray me. You have proven you can hold your own in a fight, so I am confident you will not easily die."

"Until I have outlived my usefulness?" Since that is how things usually go.

"Perhaps. However, it may not have to come to that as a total of two Gamers may survive in the end." That is the first I've heard of this. Only two though, huh? "Even if I find another ally, I may keep you around. Like I said, you may prove very useful in the future."

"Okay then." Well this is certainly a quick reversal of things. Something seems off, but who the hell am I to complain? I get to live!

The world quickly fades to black, leaving me slightly surprised. I don't know what Kaya's reaction is since she has also disappeared. In an instant, a wireframe outline of the girl appears right in front of me, with a her arm outstretched and her knife to my throat. Then all the features and colors of her and the world around us fill in all at once. Before I can think about this familiar situation, Kaya retracts her arm, steps away from me, and sheaths her knife. It seems we are back where we started.

One question has been nagging at the back of my brain. "How did you get into this little alley?" The reason I never thought about this place when I was watching out for another Gamer was because it is always blocked by a padlocked fence door. The only thing in here are trash and recycle bins and a side door to the Youth Center.

"Picked the lock." I glance to the fence door and see the lock hanging on a rung. "Wanted to see if I could possibly climb to the roof from here."

"Er, okay then. I'll, uh, leave you to it." I am about to go retrieve my backpack when Kaya lays a hand on my shoulder.

"Tell me more about the 'Warp Orb' place first."

"Um… okay." I turn back to her and clear my throat. "As I had said before, it is located in Mountainvale…"

[insert ending credits and ending theme here]