//------------------------------// // Zone 1 - Level 2: Reboot // Story: Vinylquest // by Aiyonbeam //------------------------------// [My head...] I struggle to my feet, scrabbling at the dirt and grass underneath me. Wait. Feet? Once I regain my balance, shaky as it is, I look down. My hind legs are much, much longer than they were in the arcade. They end in flat things, with five smaller appendages at the ends. They're clad in some sort of covering that I immediately recognize as sandals, even though I've never even heard of them before, let alone seen them. I look at my torso. Essentially the same, with some... minor changes. I'm dressed in what looks like a grey business suit, with my cutie mark pinned on the lapels. I examine my new 'arms' and 'hands' - the names leap into my mind as if on springs - and find them to be similar to my legs and feet. [Vinyl?] I ask, looking around me. I'm standing in a rather spacious expanse of flat, brightly verdant grass. Off towards the sunrise, I can see a large group of rather tall trees. Away from the sun, the grass stretches almost farther than I can see, and I just barely make out the shore of a lake. [It's so real! So... here!] This is not at all what I expected a video game to be like. I don't even care how I know I'm inside a video game. I take a deep breath, let it out, and I feel alive! Is this what Vinyl feels every time she plays one of these? It's amazing! I get the sudden urge to sing about this place, with its so many wonders, but even enamored as I am, I decide to side with my better judgment. Instead, I stroll towards the forest, whistling a happy tune. It feels so good; the wind on my face, the grass on my feet, the sun in the sky... Today is going to be a good day. I can feel it! Something hits me in the back, hard, knocking me to the ground. Rolling over, I see a green blob of what looks to be some sort of gelatinous goo lying at my feet. It jiggles for a few seconds, as if weighing its options, before flying into the air and landing squarely on my face. I scream. [Tavi!] I hear Vinyl's voice through the thick mass covering me, and suddenly an arrow slams into the blob, knocking it off of me. I take a few deep, grateful breaths, and sit upright. Vinyl's clad in some sort of wooden armor, a bow held in her hand and a grimace on her face. [Get away from my friend, you monster!] Vinyl fires arrow after arrow at the slime, and soon it explodes into a blue substance that floats a few inches above the ground. She walks over to the blue goo, and it disappears. Vinyl holds out a hand, and I take it, getting to my feet and brushing myself off. I'm then wrapped in a very, very tight hug. [I'm so glad you're safe, Tavi.] Vinyl says. [I don't know what I'd do if you'd died out here.] I hug her back. [I'm glad to see you too, Vinyl.] I say. [And I'm glad you're safe.] Vinyl's face brightens, and she lets go of me and gestures to the nearby forest. [C'mon!] she says cheerily. [I found some people here!] I follow her through the trees until I come to a small area where the trees thin out. In the clearing stands a wooden house, at least three stories high. Doors are set into the house every so often, and stairs lead from the second story to the ground. [I haven't cleared away enough trees to fit the third story staircase yet.] Vinyl explains. [But it fits the three other humans I've found.] As she opens the door to the first floor, another human with messy brown hair pokes his head into the doorway, smiling. [This is the other one, then?] he asks. [Yep!] Vinyl replies, smiling. [Connor, this is Octavia, my Player 2. Tavi, this is Connor. He's our Guide.] [Hello, Octavia!] Connor says, holding his hand out. I shake it, stepping through the door and taking a look around the house. As appearances go, it's pretty spartan. There's only a small table and chair decorating the room, with a single torch providing any and all light. [It's isn't much,] Connor says. [But it's home.] A loud bang emanates from the floor above us, and I hear a gruff, deep voice call out, cutting through the ringing in my ears. [Misfire! Sorry!] the voice says. [Won't happen again! At least, not on accident!] Connor rolls his eyes. [That's Dante.] He says. [He sells guns and ammo.] Another voice, equally gruff yet somehow deeper, yells from upstairs. [You'd better not be firing that stuff at the ceiling!] Connor sighs. [I swear, it's like those two never stop arguing...] [I'll talk to them.] Vinyl says, jumping up through what looked like solid ceiling. I stare. Connor laughs. [Wood platforms.] he says. [You can jump through them and fall through them as well as stand on them.] Soon, I hear Vinyl's voice ring out from upstairs, although I can't make out what exactly she's saying. I hear footsteps, and Vinyl drops down through the ceiling. Just then, an odd, genderless voice rings out through the house. It's so soft you almost can't hear it, yet it's so clear you can't help but do just that. A horrible chill goes down your spine... We all sit in silence for a minute or two. [What was that all about?] I ask. Vinyl grimaces. [What do you remember from after the arcade?] she asks. I try to remember... [It's hazy at best.] I say. [I remember a white flash, then a voice, but I can't remember what it said.] [I do.] Vinyl says. [It told us that we were here to save this world from something it's never seen before. Something from outside the games.] [You might wanna sit down for this one.] Connor says, pulling the chair over to me. Grateful, I take a seat. [They call it the Virus.] Vinyl says. [I'm not sure what it can do, but I know it's out to kill us and take over Terra Firma. And I know something else...] Vinyl takes a deep breath and sighs. [It's got the game itself on its side.] [Then that message earlier...] I say, my mind racing. [It's trying to summon something.] Vinyl says. [It's a giant worm called the 'Eater of Worlds'. It's big, it's nasty, and it wants nothing more than to see us all dead.] I shudder. I've never liked worms. [We have to go into the corruption and kill it, before it gets strong enough to summon it fully.] Vinyl says. [I don't have much armor, but it'll have to do. follow me.] She steps over to what looks like an ordinary wooden floorboard and falls through it. [I can never get used to that.] I say, staring at the space where she used to be. [It operates on belief.] Connor says. [As long as you believe you'll fall through it, you will. But if you believe it'll hold your weight, then it'll do that too.] I step over to the floorboard and visualize myself falling down through it. I take a step forward... And land on hard earth. [Not bad!] Vinyl says, grinning, as I brush myself off. [Here; put this on!]