drunkenpandaren (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
drunkenpandaren) wrote2009-08-26 12:08 pm
drunkenpandaren) wrote2009-08-26 12:08 pm
Entry tags:
Chaotic W.I.T.C.H.
Chapter 1. Oi vey.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” inquired Susan Vandom as she pulled up to the front gates of Sheffield Institute.
Her red haired daughter blew an irritated gust of air. “Mom,” she whined, “I’m not a kid anymore! I’ll be fine, really!”
“Well I just worry, being that we just moved here,” replied Susan. “Now get. And call me if it’s too ugly to walk home.”
Thunder crashed overhead and Will groaned as she pushed the door open, popped an umbrella and walked out. “I’ll give you a call anyhow.”
Making her way into the school, the younger Vandom sighed as she rooted around in her backpack for the directions to her first class. Kids and young teenagers bustled past her in an attempt to get to the first class of the day. “Two days in and I’m still horribly lost,” muttered Will as she examined the map of the school. “Now if I’m here I should be—hey!”
Spinning around to glare at the source of her tormentors who had plucked the map out of her hands, Uriah Dunn and his gang snickered at her. “Give that back,” she demanded.
“Suuure,” drawled Uriah. “We’ll give it back. Won’t we boys?”
Will lunged for the paper and Uriah sidestepped. “Whatsa matter? New girl can’t even defend a piece of paper?”
With a low growl in her throat, Will made to step on Uriah’s foot and her shoes met the mark. The bully howled in pain as he dropped the paper, and Will snatched it up and scampered off. “Yeah you’d better run!” howled Uriah.
Rounding the corner, Will exhaled as she slumped against a row of lockers. “So not the way I wanted to start my first day here.”
“Tough round,” remarked a feminine voice from the side and Will jumped, and so did the owner. “Oh! Sorry.”
The owner of the voice was a dark skinned girl who adjusted round glasses. “You’re the new girl, right? Will Vandom?”
“That’s me,” replied Will, a little irritably. “Dunno why that goon and his thugs want to mess with me.”
“Uriah picks on everyone,” replied the girl, holding out a hand. “I’m Taranee Cook.”
“Nice to meet you.” Shaking hands, Will added, “Do you know how to get to 201?”
“Oh right, that’s a tricky one. Got lost myself repeatedly on my first day here. C’mon: it’s my first class of the day.”
With that pronouncement, the bell rang and Taranee paled. Seizing Will’s hand, she bolted down the hallway. “We’re going to be late!”
Chaotic W.I.T.C.H.
Written by Shaun Garin
W.I.T.C.H. is owned and trademark Disney and Chaotic is copyright Chaotic USA Entertainment Group. Title provided by Herc.
“Sorry we’re late!” proclaimed Will as she and Taranee burst into the room while the teacher at the front was taking role call. “Sorry! This is a new school for me and--!”
“It’s quite alright,” soothed the man at the front. “I’m new here too. Almost got lost myself. Have a seat you two.”
Gratefully the pair sank into chairs as their teacher handed out a course schedule. “I’m your new History teacher Dean Collins. Mr. Collins while we’re in the classroom of course. Since your last history teacher is on Maternity Leave, I’ve been called in to fill for the rest of your school year.”
“About time,” muttered a redhead who was sitting in front of Will quietly. “The last teacher was a witch.”
Will had to stifle a snicker as Dean swept by, placing the course outline on the desk. “Forgive me if this seems a little more like college than Junior High: I was a professor in Fadden Hills Community College in their history department.” He then paused at Will and blinked. “Miss Vandom?”
“Er… hi?” said Will, completely surprised that the man knew her. “Do you know me?”
Dean smiled. “By reputation mostly; I was a colleague of your fathers. We’ll talk later.”
Placing down whatever remained of his materials, Dean cleared his throat and said, “All right. Who can tell me anything about the Aztecs?”
“I’ll see you at lunch,” said Taranee reassuringly. “Do you have class next?”
“Free period,” replied Will. “And then three before and after lunch.”
“All right. I’ll swing by your next class to show you around. Sound good?”
Will nodded and Taranee headed off, leaving herself and Dean in the room. “So um, you wanted to talk Mr. Collins?” inquired Will curiously.
“Please. Have a seat Will.” As Will did so, Dean sat on his desk, looking like a teenager as he did so. Most teachers didn’t sit on their desks but behind it in a somewhat imposing manner. “I knew your father, Tony Vandom, or rather a contemporary of what he does for a living.”
“You mean research into various fields?” inquired Will curiously.
“In a manner of speaking,” smiled Dean. “You may know that your father was the one who first brought the game Chaotic to our world as it were. He was always talking about Meridian, and all of its delights.”
“I… see.” Will’s expression turned a little inward. It was her fathers obsession with Meridian that had eventually driven a wedge between himself and her mother Susan, and Dean seemed to pick up on it.
“For what its worth, he was a great man, and a fine researcher too. He also wanted me to give you this, in case he couldn’t do it himself.”
Popping the suitcase open, he pulled out a red and black device. “It’s the newest model of the CodeScanners for the Chaotic Game.”
Hesitantly Will took the machine and it lit up, displaying her favourite monster on the front – Maxxor. “He said it was loaded already with your deck, and you could hook it to the computer at any time. Though I must admit, it’s a surprise that I managed to see you in this place.”
“Believe me, it wasn’t my first choice,” grumbled Will.
“He also wanted me to give you this as well.” Holding out a plain trading card for the Chaotic CCG, it sported only a gibberish line of numbers and letters. “He said to put it into your CodeScanner as soon as possible.”
“T-Thanks. Am I free to go now?”
Dean nodded. “Of course. Have a good free period Will.”
Will nodded, scooped up her bag and hustled out. As she headed into the hallways towards the library, she weighed the device in her hands. As a kid, she always wanted a CodeScanner and now she had one.
“Where are you now dad?” wondered Will outloud as she headed into the library.
“I thought this day would never end,” sighed Will as Taranee packed her books into her already overflowing backpack. “And how do you manage to remember all of this stuff?”
“I study all the time,” replied Taranee with a little smile. “By the way, you know Mr. Collins right? What’d he want?”
Will pulled out the CodeScanner and showed it to Taranee. “Said he wanted to give me this. It was from my dad apparently.”
Taranee blinked rapidly. “You play Chaotic too?”
“Too?” echoed Will. “You mean you play as well?”
Taranee nodded and she pulled out a CodeScanner, the red metal device lovingly taken care of. “My brother gave his stuff to me and I just picked up on the game like it’s water. Though it can be a little intimidating at times.”
“Huh… didn’t realize more people played this game.” Mused Will.
“Is it preloaded?” inquired Taranee and Will blinked. “With a deck I mean. There’s a small section in the computer lab that we can hook up to if needed.”
“Er, no, I mean yes, I mean –“ stammered Will.
“What WILMA means is that she hasn’t played in years,” sneered Uriah, having snuck up with his goons. Laurent and Kurt hovered behind their leader and to the back, Nigel looked a little uncomfortable with the harassment. “Didn’t you know? She was the Regional Champion for Fadden Hills!”
“You’re not serious. Will?” inquired Taranee, half in disbelief. Will looked like she wanted to sink into the ground.
“Yeah, until she choked in the finals,” smirked Uriah. “Didn’t even show up for her match! She coulda gone onto the Worlds if she didn’t freak out and run!”
“I DID NOT FREAK OUT AND RUN!” yelled Will, finally at her breaking point. “I had something else that needed to be done!”
“Is that so? Then show your skills off in Chaotic if you’re too chicken. I challenge you as soon as you port in.” said Uriah.
Will blinked. “Wot?”
Lawrent sniggered. “Dude, she doesn’t even know about Chaotic!”
“Leave her alone you guys,” snapped Taranee. “She’s done nothing to you.”
“I think it’s best if we leave guys,” urged Nigel, glancing down the hall where Principal Knickerbocker was striding down. “Knickerbocker is coming.”
Uriah snorted and muttered, “You got off easy. I want that match though.” And he and his boys headed off. Nigel shot the pair a sympathetic glance before he hurried up to catch up with them.
“Jerks,” sighed Taranee. Turning to Will, she laid a hand on the girls shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay. You don’t need to rise up to them or their words.”
“I know…” Will struck the side of the lockers. “I just want to show them that I’m not a dead last. And what’s this Chaotic thing about anyhow?”
Taranee wore this expression on her face as she debated something. Finally, she said, “You’d better sit down for this one.”
“Trust me, I don’t think I could,” replied Will. “What’s this Chaotic and battle and what now?”
“Chaotic… is a…” Taranee fumbled for words before finally stating, “It’s a place where you can battle. For real.”
“… say what?”
“Yeah. Sometimes people get invites to Chaotic, usually on a 24 hour time expiration. Accept or don’t, and you find yourself in a place where you can fight for real, battle for real… I know it sounds weird but…”
Will considered the words. Taranee looked serious, if not mostly sincere. So far, she hadn’t dealt a blow like her old friends and the girl seemed a little incapable of deceit so… “This… Chaotic. Where do I get one of these codes?”
Taranee blinked. “You believe me?”
“What, were you lying?” asked Will, immediately defensive.
“No! No, no, I wasn’t lying at all. But you just can’t get a code out of nowhere. The invites are totally random. They look like random card input codes on the bottom of the cards.”
A code… Will pulled out the card and held it up. “Like this?”
Taranee’s eyes went wide with surprise. “That’s an invite! How’d you get one of those and in physical form too? They’re usually totally random transmissions to our CodeScanners!”
“Mr. Collins gave it to me; said it was from my dad,” said Will.
“Will, listen to me very carefully,” said Taranee, serious. “I want you to go home, hook your CodeScanner to your computer and upload that code to the virtual online website. Trust me on this. Do it before midnight cause that’s when invites usually end.”
“Uh, okay?” said Will.
“And whatever you do, remember that it is NOT broken.”
“Mom I’m home!” proclaimed Will, kicking her shoes off at the door.
“Welcome home Will,” called out Susan. “I thought you wanted me to pick you up?”
“Yeah well I had some things to think about right now,” replied Will as she set her backpack down and started to root through the boxes still unpacked. “Mom, where’s my laptop?”
“In the big box labelled electronics,” replied Susan, walking out as she towelled her hands off from the kitchen. “What are you up to?”
“Oh, well I thought I’d check something out online,” replied Will. “Did the guy come and set up our internet?”
“Yes, its working now.”
“Great. See you mom.” Will scampered up to her room and Susan called out, “Dinner will be ready in a half hour!”
Plopping down on her bed, Will pulled out her CodeScanner and her computer. As the computer warmed up, she flipped through the CodeScanner itself, looking at the monsters. “Everything’s here,” she mused, flipping to Mugic and Locations. “Its like my old deck.”
Sighing as she flopped backwards, the computer dinged and announced a connection to the CodeScanner. Will frowned a little. “Are they supposed to hook up automatically?” she wondered as she popped the web browser open.
As she searched the website, Will quickly found the Code Input box and quickly she input the code word for word. Pressing enter, a loading bar popped up on her screen.
It was then that the CodeScanner started to beep rapidly. Will picked it up as it beeped, flipping through the cards at a rapid-fire pace before it completely shut down. Startled, Will thumbed the machine a couple of times. “Okay, don’t panic. Taranee said it looks like it shut down but didn’t.”
After a minute or so, the CodeScanner booted up and Will sighed in relief. “There we go.”
Picking up the CodeScanner, she read the front of it. “Do you wish to Port to Chaotic Yes/No?”
I’ll want that match – in Chaotic!
“Well? What do I have to lose?”
Hitting Yes, the machine emitted a light and Will had a moment to yelp before a spiral of blue light and code flared up.
With a snap-crackle of energy, Will materialized on a platform and nearly stumbled. “Whoa, what a rush,” she muttered.
Then when she looked up, her jaw nearly dropped to the floor.
A grand majestic hall stood before her, filled to the brim with people who were chatting and playing. Large screens depicted battles everywhere in snowy locations, large brambles and mountain ranges. Robots, ROBOTS were puttering around the place, serving up drink and food to people around tables.
A dull thrum of energy alerted Will and she jumped to the side as Taranee ported in in a crackle of blue light. She looked up and her expression lit up. “Will! You made it!”
“Er yeah, I made it, whoopee,” replied Will lamely. “Taranee WHAT is going on here?!”
“Relax,” soothed Taranee. “Welcome to CHAOTIC. Here, you can battle for real using the BattleDomes. See those screens?”
Will nodded and Taranee continued. “Those are actual people fighting right now in a BattleDome. It uses Holographic technology to make you the monster itself in combat.”
“So… this is like… one big game center?”
“More than that. This place holds the key to entering Meridian, the world of the monsters.”
Will’s breath caught in a hitch. “M-Merdian? But… but that’s made up, there’s no other world out there!”
“There is,” replied Taranee seriously. “I’ve been there many times on ScanQuests. I’ve met people there. And I’ve participated in the last Grand Melee hosted by the prince himself, Prince Phobos.”
“But… but…!” Will was completely shellshocked. Her father was RIGHT if this was true. There was another world out there and he knew about it! He wasn’t crazy and went and…
“THERE you are!” sneered an oh-so familiar voice and Will cringed before turning around. Uriah smirked at her. “So Wil-MA, I want that match!”
“Not yet Uriah,” snapped back Taranee. “she’s new and she hasn’t gotten used to the way we battle in Chaotic.”
Uriah made a pffht sound. “If the FORMER regional champ can’t hold her own… I guess then it’s true: she did run off to daddy when it got bad.”
“Don’t… you… EVER! TALK BAD ABOUT HIM!” yelled Will. “I ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE!”
“Fuck…” muttered Taranee as a signal dinged.
“Okay Will, this is your first battle,” said Taranee as Will set up her deck. “Just stay calm and remember to keep your head clear. This is going to be intense.”
“Please, it’s just a big game right?” replied Will. “I’ll be fine.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you. As soon as you start, I’ll be unable to aid you. Good luck.” Taranee’s face blipped from the screen and Will sighed.
Uriah smirked from across the way. “Ready to lose Wil-MA?”
“I’m ready to WIN, and don’t call me Wilma,” snapped Will. “Lets get Chaotic.”
The buzzer sounded as a device emerged from the floor. “Chaotic Players, Prepare for Battle. DunnRules vs MinaVandom. Players lock your decks.”
Will tabbed the button on the bottom of the scanner, silently wishing she found a better name for her handle in Chaotic. Uriah did the same.
“Since DunnRules has challenged, MinaVandom has first attack. Select your location.”
Will spun the counter as a location was selected.
“The first battle begins!”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” inquired Susan Vandom as she pulled up to the front gates of Sheffield Institute.
Her red haired daughter blew an irritated gust of air. “Mom,” she whined, “I’m not a kid anymore! I’ll be fine, really!”
“Well I just worry, being that we just moved here,” replied Susan. “Now get. And call me if it’s too ugly to walk home.”
Thunder crashed overhead and Will groaned as she pushed the door open, popped an umbrella and walked out. “I’ll give you a call anyhow.”
Making her way into the school, the younger Vandom sighed as she rooted around in her backpack for the directions to her first class. Kids and young teenagers bustled past her in an attempt to get to the first class of the day. “Two days in and I’m still horribly lost,” muttered Will as she examined the map of the school. “Now if I’m here I should be—hey!”
Spinning around to glare at the source of her tormentors who had plucked the map out of her hands, Uriah Dunn and his gang snickered at her. “Give that back,” she demanded.
“Suuure,” drawled Uriah. “We’ll give it back. Won’t we boys?”
Will lunged for the paper and Uriah sidestepped. “Whatsa matter? New girl can’t even defend a piece of paper?”
With a low growl in her throat, Will made to step on Uriah’s foot and her shoes met the mark. The bully howled in pain as he dropped the paper, and Will snatched it up and scampered off. “Yeah you’d better run!” howled Uriah.
Rounding the corner, Will exhaled as she slumped against a row of lockers. “So not the way I wanted to start my first day here.”
“Tough round,” remarked a feminine voice from the side and Will jumped, and so did the owner. “Oh! Sorry.”
The owner of the voice was a dark skinned girl who adjusted round glasses. “You’re the new girl, right? Will Vandom?”
“That’s me,” replied Will, a little irritably. “Dunno why that goon and his thugs want to mess with me.”
“Uriah picks on everyone,” replied the girl, holding out a hand. “I’m Taranee Cook.”
“Nice to meet you.” Shaking hands, Will added, “Do you know how to get to 201?”
“Oh right, that’s a tricky one. Got lost myself repeatedly on my first day here. C’mon: it’s my first class of the day.”
With that pronouncement, the bell rang and Taranee paled. Seizing Will’s hand, she bolted down the hallway. “We’re going to be late!”
Chaotic W.I.T.C.H.
Written by Shaun Garin
W.I.T.C.H. is owned and trademark Disney and Chaotic is copyright Chaotic USA Entertainment Group. Title provided by Herc.
“Sorry we’re late!” proclaimed Will as she and Taranee burst into the room while the teacher at the front was taking role call. “Sorry! This is a new school for me and--!”
“It’s quite alright,” soothed the man at the front. “I’m new here too. Almost got lost myself. Have a seat you two.”
Gratefully the pair sank into chairs as their teacher handed out a course schedule. “I’m your new History teacher Dean Collins. Mr. Collins while we’re in the classroom of course. Since your last history teacher is on Maternity Leave, I’ve been called in to fill for the rest of your school year.”
“About time,” muttered a redhead who was sitting in front of Will quietly. “The last teacher was a witch.”
Will had to stifle a snicker as Dean swept by, placing the course outline on the desk. “Forgive me if this seems a little more like college than Junior High: I was a professor in Fadden Hills Community College in their history department.” He then paused at Will and blinked. “Miss Vandom?”
“Er… hi?” said Will, completely surprised that the man knew her. “Do you know me?”
Dean smiled. “By reputation mostly; I was a colleague of your fathers. We’ll talk later.”
Placing down whatever remained of his materials, Dean cleared his throat and said, “All right. Who can tell me anything about the Aztecs?”
“I’ll see you at lunch,” said Taranee reassuringly. “Do you have class next?”
“Free period,” replied Will. “And then three before and after lunch.”
“All right. I’ll swing by your next class to show you around. Sound good?”
Will nodded and Taranee headed off, leaving herself and Dean in the room. “So um, you wanted to talk Mr. Collins?” inquired Will curiously.
“Please. Have a seat Will.” As Will did so, Dean sat on his desk, looking like a teenager as he did so. Most teachers didn’t sit on their desks but behind it in a somewhat imposing manner. “I knew your father, Tony Vandom, or rather a contemporary of what he does for a living.”
“You mean research into various fields?” inquired Will curiously.
“In a manner of speaking,” smiled Dean. “You may know that your father was the one who first brought the game Chaotic to our world as it were. He was always talking about Meridian, and all of its delights.”
“I… see.” Will’s expression turned a little inward. It was her fathers obsession with Meridian that had eventually driven a wedge between himself and her mother Susan, and Dean seemed to pick up on it.
“For what its worth, he was a great man, and a fine researcher too. He also wanted me to give you this, in case he couldn’t do it himself.”
Popping the suitcase open, he pulled out a red and black device. “It’s the newest model of the CodeScanners for the Chaotic Game.”
Hesitantly Will took the machine and it lit up, displaying her favourite monster on the front – Maxxor. “He said it was loaded already with your deck, and you could hook it to the computer at any time. Though I must admit, it’s a surprise that I managed to see you in this place.”
“Believe me, it wasn’t my first choice,” grumbled Will.
“He also wanted me to give you this as well.” Holding out a plain trading card for the Chaotic CCG, it sported only a gibberish line of numbers and letters. “He said to put it into your CodeScanner as soon as possible.”
“T-Thanks. Am I free to go now?”
Dean nodded. “Of course. Have a good free period Will.”
Will nodded, scooped up her bag and hustled out. As she headed into the hallways towards the library, she weighed the device in her hands. As a kid, she always wanted a CodeScanner and now she had one.
“Where are you now dad?” wondered Will outloud as she headed into the library.
“I thought this day would never end,” sighed Will as Taranee packed her books into her already overflowing backpack. “And how do you manage to remember all of this stuff?”
“I study all the time,” replied Taranee with a little smile. “By the way, you know Mr. Collins right? What’d he want?”
Will pulled out the CodeScanner and showed it to Taranee. “Said he wanted to give me this. It was from my dad apparently.”
Taranee blinked rapidly. “You play Chaotic too?”
“Too?” echoed Will. “You mean you play as well?”
Taranee nodded and she pulled out a CodeScanner, the red metal device lovingly taken care of. “My brother gave his stuff to me and I just picked up on the game like it’s water. Though it can be a little intimidating at times.”
“Huh… didn’t realize more people played this game.” Mused Will.
“Is it preloaded?” inquired Taranee and Will blinked. “With a deck I mean. There’s a small section in the computer lab that we can hook up to if needed.”
“Er, no, I mean yes, I mean –“ stammered Will.
“What WILMA means is that she hasn’t played in years,” sneered Uriah, having snuck up with his goons. Laurent and Kurt hovered behind their leader and to the back, Nigel looked a little uncomfortable with the harassment. “Didn’t you know? She was the Regional Champion for Fadden Hills!”
“You’re not serious. Will?” inquired Taranee, half in disbelief. Will looked like she wanted to sink into the ground.
“Yeah, until she choked in the finals,” smirked Uriah. “Didn’t even show up for her match! She coulda gone onto the Worlds if she didn’t freak out and run!”
“I DID NOT FREAK OUT AND RUN!” yelled Will, finally at her breaking point. “I had something else that needed to be done!”
“Is that so? Then show your skills off in Chaotic if you’re too chicken. I challenge you as soon as you port in.” said Uriah.
Will blinked. “Wot?”
Lawrent sniggered. “Dude, she doesn’t even know about Chaotic!”
“Leave her alone you guys,” snapped Taranee. “She’s done nothing to you.”
“I think it’s best if we leave guys,” urged Nigel, glancing down the hall where Principal Knickerbocker was striding down. “Knickerbocker is coming.”
Uriah snorted and muttered, “You got off easy. I want that match though.” And he and his boys headed off. Nigel shot the pair a sympathetic glance before he hurried up to catch up with them.
“Jerks,” sighed Taranee. Turning to Will, she laid a hand on the girls shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay. You don’t need to rise up to them or their words.”
“I know…” Will struck the side of the lockers. “I just want to show them that I’m not a dead last. And what’s this Chaotic thing about anyhow?”
Taranee wore this expression on her face as she debated something. Finally, she said, “You’d better sit down for this one.”
“Trust me, I don’t think I could,” replied Will. “What’s this Chaotic and battle and what now?”
“Chaotic… is a…” Taranee fumbled for words before finally stating, “It’s a place where you can battle. For real.”
“… say what?”
“Yeah. Sometimes people get invites to Chaotic, usually on a 24 hour time expiration. Accept or don’t, and you find yourself in a place where you can fight for real, battle for real… I know it sounds weird but…”
Will considered the words. Taranee looked serious, if not mostly sincere. So far, she hadn’t dealt a blow like her old friends and the girl seemed a little incapable of deceit so… “This… Chaotic. Where do I get one of these codes?”
Taranee blinked. “You believe me?”
“What, were you lying?” asked Will, immediately defensive.
“No! No, no, I wasn’t lying at all. But you just can’t get a code out of nowhere. The invites are totally random. They look like random card input codes on the bottom of the cards.”
A code… Will pulled out the card and held it up. “Like this?”
Taranee’s eyes went wide with surprise. “That’s an invite! How’d you get one of those and in physical form too? They’re usually totally random transmissions to our CodeScanners!”
“Mr. Collins gave it to me; said it was from my dad,” said Will.
“Will, listen to me very carefully,” said Taranee, serious. “I want you to go home, hook your CodeScanner to your computer and upload that code to the virtual online website. Trust me on this. Do it before midnight cause that’s when invites usually end.”
“Uh, okay?” said Will.
“And whatever you do, remember that it is NOT broken.”
“Mom I’m home!” proclaimed Will, kicking her shoes off at the door.
“Welcome home Will,” called out Susan. “I thought you wanted me to pick you up?”
“Yeah well I had some things to think about right now,” replied Will as she set her backpack down and started to root through the boxes still unpacked. “Mom, where’s my laptop?”
“In the big box labelled electronics,” replied Susan, walking out as she towelled her hands off from the kitchen. “What are you up to?”
“Oh, well I thought I’d check something out online,” replied Will. “Did the guy come and set up our internet?”
“Yes, its working now.”
“Great. See you mom.” Will scampered up to her room and Susan called out, “Dinner will be ready in a half hour!”
Plopping down on her bed, Will pulled out her CodeScanner and her computer. As the computer warmed up, she flipped through the CodeScanner itself, looking at the monsters. “Everything’s here,” she mused, flipping to Mugic and Locations. “Its like my old deck.”
Sighing as she flopped backwards, the computer dinged and announced a connection to the CodeScanner. Will frowned a little. “Are they supposed to hook up automatically?” she wondered as she popped the web browser open.
As she searched the website, Will quickly found the Code Input box and quickly she input the code word for word. Pressing enter, a loading bar popped up on her screen.
It was then that the CodeScanner started to beep rapidly. Will picked it up as it beeped, flipping through the cards at a rapid-fire pace before it completely shut down. Startled, Will thumbed the machine a couple of times. “Okay, don’t panic. Taranee said it looks like it shut down but didn’t.”
After a minute or so, the CodeScanner booted up and Will sighed in relief. “There we go.”
Picking up the CodeScanner, she read the front of it. “Do you wish to Port to Chaotic Yes/No?”
I’ll want that match – in Chaotic!
“Well? What do I have to lose?”
Hitting Yes, the machine emitted a light and Will had a moment to yelp before a spiral of blue light and code flared up.
With a snap-crackle of energy, Will materialized on a platform and nearly stumbled. “Whoa, what a rush,” she muttered.
Then when she looked up, her jaw nearly dropped to the floor.
A grand majestic hall stood before her, filled to the brim with people who were chatting and playing. Large screens depicted battles everywhere in snowy locations, large brambles and mountain ranges. Robots, ROBOTS were puttering around the place, serving up drink and food to people around tables.
A dull thrum of energy alerted Will and she jumped to the side as Taranee ported in in a crackle of blue light. She looked up and her expression lit up. “Will! You made it!”
“Er yeah, I made it, whoopee,” replied Will lamely. “Taranee WHAT is going on here?!”
“Relax,” soothed Taranee. “Welcome to CHAOTIC. Here, you can battle for real using the BattleDomes. See those screens?”
Will nodded and Taranee continued. “Those are actual people fighting right now in a BattleDome. It uses Holographic technology to make you the monster itself in combat.”
“So… this is like… one big game center?”
“More than that. This place holds the key to entering Meridian, the world of the monsters.”
Will’s breath caught in a hitch. “M-Merdian? But… but that’s made up, there’s no other world out there!”
“There is,” replied Taranee seriously. “I’ve been there many times on ScanQuests. I’ve met people there. And I’ve participated in the last Grand Melee hosted by the prince himself, Prince Phobos.”
“But… but…!” Will was completely shellshocked. Her father was RIGHT if this was true. There was another world out there and he knew about it! He wasn’t crazy and went and…
“THERE you are!” sneered an oh-so familiar voice and Will cringed before turning around. Uriah smirked at her. “So Wil-MA, I want that match!”
“Not yet Uriah,” snapped back Taranee. “she’s new and she hasn’t gotten used to the way we battle in Chaotic.”
Uriah made a pffht sound. “If the FORMER regional champ can’t hold her own… I guess then it’s true: she did run off to daddy when it got bad.”
“Don’t… you… EVER! TALK BAD ABOUT HIM!” yelled Will. “I ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE!”
“Fuck…” muttered Taranee as a signal dinged.
“Okay Will, this is your first battle,” said Taranee as Will set up her deck. “Just stay calm and remember to keep your head clear. This is going to be intense.”
“Please, it’s just a big game right?” replied Will. “I’ll be fine.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you. As soon as you start, I’ll be unable to aid you. Good luck.” Taranee’s face blipped from the screen and Will sighed.
Uriah smirked from across the way. “Ready to lose Wil-MA?”
“I’m ready to WIN, and don’t call me Wilma,” snapped Will. “Lets get Chaotic.”
The buzzer sounded as a device emerged from the floor. “Chaotic Players, Prepare for Battle. DunnRules vs MinaVandom. Players lock your decks.”
Will tabbed the button on the bottom of the scanner, silently wishing she found a better name for her handle in Chaotic. Uriah did the same.
“Since DunnRules has challenged, MinaVandom has first attack. Select your location.”
Will spun the counter as a location was selected.
“The first battle begins!”