Prodigies: Virtual Defenders

by Javelin Lightspear

Chapter 9b: Cute Animals, Anonymous Creation

Javelin summoned his pair of white wings and took off. To avoid being seen from the ground, or an aeroplane if one ever flew by, he flew as high as possible and hid within the fluffy clouds.

A day before, Javelin asked Fluttershy for the name and address of the pet shop that she worked at. After school, he went to the school library without his friends’ company to search for a bird’s-eye view of the shop from the satellite maps.

He recalled the coordinates of the pet shop and tried to search for it despite the thick clouds blocking his view. Luckily, he barely found it. He stayed within the clouds, waiting for the right time to land without getting caught.

Back on the ground, Fluttershy was dusting the animal cages of the pet store that was just opened up for business. She shrieked when she heard a loud crash that seemed to be coming from the alley beside the store. She told the store manager about the loud sound and headed for the alley. She saw Javelin lying face down, with trash cans that seemed to be knocked over and garbage all over the place.

“Ugh...” Javelin moaned. Fluttershy went up to check on him, but he got up slowly by himself.

“Oh... my... what happened?” she asked.

“Uh... I was lost and came here running, but I hit the trash cans because I went too fast.” Javelin lied because he would not dare to tell her the embarrassing yet exposing truth.

A few minutes earlier…

“Okay, I’ll land in that alley there as fast as possible so nobody could see me.” Javelin flashbacked to where he was monologuing in the clouds.

“Alright. 3, 2, 1… GO!” Javelin swooped down towards the alley as quick as lightning. However, because of his inexperience with his powers, he went too fast and was unable to slow down.

“Can’t brake! CAN’T BRAKE! Mayday! MAYDAY! Oh, wait. NO ONE COULD HEAR ME FROM UP HERE!” He crash-landed into the trash cans, knocking them over. He was lucky enough that he did not fall into the larger garbage bin besides that was left opened, although it would broke his fall. But then again, he would smell really bad if he fell in there.

“Although… it’s nearly… impossible… to die here… ” he monologued. “I-it… still… hurts a lot… ugh…”

“Oh my, your cheek, it’s bruised,” said Fluttershy.

Javelin ran a hand on his face softly. His left cheek twitched when his fingers ran onto it. He felt the slight pain of what may be the bruise on his face.

“Don’t touch it!” Fluttershy grabbed hold of Javelin’s hand before he had the chance to press on his bruise, torturing himself. “You might make it worse and get an infection. Come on, let’s head inside, I’ll patch it up for you.”

They went on inside the store while Fluttershy still had hold of Javelin’s hand. Javelin could not help but blush a little, because it was his first time a girl ever held his hand besides his mother when his was a child. In addition, when he was back in Bellbright where all the students were boys, Javelin would act weird whenever he was alone with girls. If his friends were with him, he would act more naturally.

That’s what happened if you studied in a boys’ school. Javelin thought. Interacting with boys for too long makes you feel strange when you encounter a girl. It’s kinda like a phobia. Studying in a school filled with the same gender will kinda make some of the students… homo…

Javelin was seated on a stool while Fluttershy went to fetch the first aid kit from the shelf. She came back with the kit and sat beside him, and took out a small piece of cotton with a small bottle filled with yellow ointment.

“Hold still...” She began to clean the wound carefully. After a couple of seconds, she patched some cotton onto his cheek. “There, all better. You should be more careful next time.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks, Fluttershy.” Javelin forced out a smile.

“Glad I could help!” she smiled back, making him blush again.

“Well, now that everything’s settled, I assume you two can start working now?” said the store manager who was sitting at a cashier counter nearby. The two teenagers replied with a nod.

The store was not that big. An hour before noon, Javelin and Fluttershy had fed the pets and cleaned most of the cages there. Business was also quite slow that day, with most of the customers just window shopping like the pet store was just like a mini petting zoo, or just bought a bag of pet food and left the store immediately. This allowed the two students to know more about each other.

“You sure like animals, huh?” Javelin rested his back on the wall, his hands in his pockets.

“Oh, yes. I like almost every one of them here.” Fluttershy sat down a stool beside Javelin and brushed off a crease on her skirt gently.

“I assume you have pets at home too?” Javelin walked towards one of the dog’s cage and knelt down. He slid his finger through a narrow space between the bars of the cage and wiggled his finger. A small white puppy pomeranian in the cage got up from its nap and walked towards his finger, wagging its tail. It took a few sniffs of Javelin’s scent before it licked his finger.

“Yes, I do. Um, to be honest, they’re in my backpack.”

“Uh, what?”

She got up and reached for her backpack on top of the shelf. Javelin sworn that he saw the bag moved a little as she took the bag down the shelf. She opened the bag, and a rabbit and a cat jumped out of the bag.

“They just get so lonely when I’m working here all day.” Fluttershy cuddled her two animals.

“Oh… kay…”

Fluttershy stuffed her rabbit and cat back into her backpack to avoid being caught by the manager for bringing her own pets to work. She zipped her bag but left a small opening for them to breath inside.

“I could hardly imagine the stench from your backpack,” mocked Javelin.

“Well, at least it’s better than the smell you had when you’re lying near some trash, right?” she countered his mockery while putting her bag back on the top of the shelf. She tiptoed for extra height so she could put her bag easily away.

They both giggled.

During lunch hours, Fluttershy and the manager decided to get some food at a nearby cafe while Javelin stayed back and watch the store.

“What do you what for lunch, Javelin?” asked Fluttershy.

“Anything works for me.” Javelin raised a hand.

“We’ll be back as soon as possible,” said the manager. “Try not to mess things up.”

“Oh, kay, see you later.” Javelin waved and headed back into the store. He sat on the counter.

That Fluttershy… I had never met a girl as shy as her before… so calm, nice, kind… and kinda cute too… her looks… her actions… her voice… but is it possible for me to date a virtual? Well… guess not… The hell I’m thinking? We need to find a way to get home, pronto!

“Love’s in the air, isn’t it?”

“What? Who’s there?” Javelin got up as he heard the anonymous voice. He looked around as his visions slowly turned black until he was standing in an endless room. A person shrouded in black appear before Javelin as he walked for a few steps in the room.

“I assume that you’re the bad guy?” Javelin cocked an eyebrow.

“Very good, Javelin. Now I assume that you know what happens next?” said the person.

“Uh… we fight, or we talk. But I really prefer we talk.”

“Glad to know that we’re on the same page,” the guy chuckled. “Mind if I introduce myself? I am Necromancer, which you ‘gamers’ like to refer to me as the ‘final boss’.”

“Hmm… that’s quite an unusual introduction, most won’t mention who they are so obviously… and you’re gonna tell me what to do here?”

“Indeed I am, very good. I heard your thoughts that you have an interest to a girl here?”

“Perhaps? I guess? Too bad she’s a virtual… just like any other pretty female characters in games… Ooh, how I would like to actually date a cute female character of a game!”

“Do you wanna hear a plot twist? This world is actually real, so your wish may come true.”

“Yeah? What do you know about it? You think this world is real because you’re a virtual character in a virtual world!” Javelin narrowed his eyes.

“Me, a virtual? True. But the world here? It’s real boy.”

“Just what makes you say that?” Javelin folded his arms, raising an eyebrow.

“Your two other friends will have the explanation to your question. I can still tell you this, all your programmings, modifies and creations only made the powers you have... and… me...”

Javelin paused for a moment, then he spoke: “You expect me to believe all this?”

“That choice’s for you to make. I’d best be going now, we both have a lot things to prepare for our upcoming meeting.” Necromancer turned around and walked, blending into the darkness of the pitch black room.

“Wait!” Javelin held up a hand and chased after the fading Necromancer, but instead hit an invisible object, fell and passed out.

…

“Javelin... Javelin? Javelin, are you okay?”

“Ugh… wha?”

Javelin woke up. He realized that he was sitting with his back against the wall. He rubbed his eyes, his visions slowly became clear from blur. He rolled his eyeballs to the left and saw Fluttershy kneeling beside him, holding a bag of ice.

“Oh, you’re awake. You must had hit your head really hard back there.”

“Uh… what happened? ARGH!” Javelin grasped his forehead with a hand as someone hit it with a sledgehammer. He felt a lump on his head.

“Oh, you rammed the wall there and passed out. What were you trying to do? The manager and I were shocked when we saw that.”

“I had really no idea what’s going on...” Javelin lied, moaning. In reality, he knew that Necromancer casted an illusionary spell on him but he forgot and ran into the wall, “Oh, god. It hurts so bad now...”

“Get some rest, Javelin. It’s been a slow day anyways.” Fluttershy put the bag of ice on Javelin’s lump.

“Yeah… guess so...”

It took some time until evening, and Javelin collected his pay and went home. When the coast was clear, he summoned his wings and took off.

“This world is real? Was he just joking, or was he for real? Guess time will tell the answer.” Javelin monologued. Then, he flew back to the house at full speed.

Comments

[zeldawolffang]

IF YOU DIE IN THE GAME YOU DIE FOR REAL!!!!!

[Javelin Lightspear]

5917408 Or respawn

[zeldawolffang]

5919813 or that XD