Parallel: Rev. 2

[Ethereal]

Seven o'clock in the morning. Kyo had been awake for an hour now and yet he still felt lethargic. He was in a new room ever since he moved out of the college dorm. It has been a while and yet not even half of his stuff was unpacked - a total mess for a room. Raising his right hand before his face, Kyo recalled the events that night while staring blankly into his palm. It was real. It was beyond doubt that Brian, his roommate was killed in a fire that he caused that night. Still unable to wrap a finger around that fateful night, Kyo continued his search for answers within the game... but he always came up empty.

How was it possible that he now has the traits that Hiryuu, his Parallel character has in himself? Every time he gained a level in Parallel, Kyo could feel himself becoming stronger, as if a direct link between him and his online character has been established. Every night he would try to find an answer using Hiryuu in the game and yet, every morning he would still ask the same questions to himself, like he was trapped in an endless cycle with no clear goal. Frustrated, Kyo sat up from bed and looked at the clock, another twenty minutes had gone by. He knew he was late.

Morning routines aside, Kyo was just about ready to leave for school when he stopped by his bedside drawer. Inside was his PAD that got burnt that night. It was a memoir of guilt that he now has blood on his hands. Gritting his teeth and clenching his right hand into a fist, Kyo made a silent vow to see things through to the end. It was the least he could do for closure. After making sure he had his new PAD in possession, Kyo hurried out of his room and headed for the university.

Not a single soul knew of his secret, at least not that he knows of. He had been eagerly watching the news for any abnormal developments from the game and yet there doesn't seem to be any. Kyo was close to believing that only he experienced such a thing from Parallel. Even so, he was still out looking for answers. He could not stop, he did not have that luxury. The real world may be oblivious to the dangers of the game such as what Kyo experienced, but that does not entirely mean that the game is safe to play.

"Come and experience Parallel! A world you couldn't possibly leave behind!"

The promotional video of Parallel played back over and over on top of the large billboard that was on his way to the university. Somehow, the eager look that Kyo had from before the game was launched had been replaced by hate and almost disgust for the game. Mirage Soft had released a new version of the PAD, a more trendy approach to appeal to the younger generation. So far, it was a good move for the market. Players had risen exponentially and just within a few months, they were suddenly one of the largest online gaming communities out there.

Reminiscing the times he was in the game, Kyo recalled a character he had paired up with once for a quest. Fiere, a Rogue Shape-Shifter and a very strong one at that. She was mysterious and seemed to be a dedicated player. Kyo also recalled that she had a higher level than him and deduced that she had explored more of the game than he had. Somehow, Kyo had his hopes up that Fiere would have answers for him regarding the PCP and had plans about telling the user about it. But then it hit him, like a rock thrown to the back of his head. He forgot that he agreed to meet with Fiere's user today! Looking at his wristwatch with haste, Kyo found out that he was already thirty-five minutes late for their appointment. College could wait but a lady couldn't, or so he thought.

Not wanting to keep his online friend waiting any longer, Kyo immediately bolted off into a dash. The meeting place was supposed to be Cafe la Foam, a semi-high end coffee shop just three blocks away from Kyo's new place. Weaving through the traffic of people in the streets, Kyo ran as fast as he could to get there, and some ten minutes later, he arrived. There were already patrons in the coffee shop having their morning dose and it was quite hard to tell which one was Fiere's user. Deciding that it was not going to help just standing outside the joint, Kyo took one step forward and reached out for the door's handlebar when a sudden screech of tires followed by a crashing sound made it to his ears.

Turning his head quickly to the right, Kyo's eyes widened in surprise as he saw the cause of the crash. A large bull-like beast that was not there before now stood mightily in the middle of the intersection roaring fiercely. The beast's back was lined with razor-sharp bones that extended to the tip of its tail, its head had three demonic horns that twisted to form a deadly looking trident, the body coated by crimson fur that had a shade of black near the tip, then the eyes and hooves, along with its breath were burning with blue fire. There was no mistaking it! It was the Carrion Bull! A mini boss from Parallel!

"What the--!? How the hell did that thing get here?!" Kyo yelled in surprise.

It was then and there that Kyo found out that it wasn't only by a mere one-in-a-million chance did he get to experience something strange from the game. Something was definitely going on! But there was no time to panic! If this was really the Carrion Bull from Parallel, then the people are in grave danger! There was no time and he knew what needs to be done. Pulling out a handkerchief from his pocket, Kyo used it to cover most of his face and when he was done, he started releasing a mild fire aura around his fists. Just before heading out to fight the beast, Kyo looked inside Cafe la Foam in hopes that Fiere's user was still there.

"Damn it! It's a mini boss but it's going to be tough if I have to do this alone! Oh well... whatever!"

[Ana Kingsley]

Back and forth once more she looked for Kyo, the user of Hiryuu and one of the better players she had seen in the game. Sure, he was lower leveled than she was but that didn’t mean he wasn’t just as good as she was. His pyrokentic abilities truly came in handy when they had paired up in the game. She had been in the coffee shop for nearly fourty-five minutes now. How long did it take for him to get here? All Taylor really knew was that he went to the nearby college that she had planned on attending until Parallel came out. As she sat there, sipping on a chai latte that really wasn’t that great, she thought back to the day it happened.

Taylor had just hit level 750 when she had been dragged out of Parallel by her real life best friend, Katie. The two of them usually played together but since Katie had gotten with a guy, she hardly ever logged on. While Taylor didn’t want to admit it, she was jealous. It had always been her and Katie running around, leveling up with one another while also competing to see who could hit the thousand level maximum first. Katie had pulled her out of an amazing group battle that had a huge prize at the end.

“Would get off that stupid thing?” Katie asked, hand on her pushed out hip. Taylor only glared her friend down with near hatred in her eyes. The stupid brunette had just ruined her only shot at getting the new staff weapon she had ben questing for since the game first launched.

“No I won’t get off this stupid thing.” Taylor retorted as she slammed her PAD down on her bed. “Whats happened to you Katie? You used to play Parallel with me all the time. Is this boy really that more important than me?”

“Yes. He is Taylor. He brought me back to the real world. You know that place where you have more responsibility and there is more to do than just sit and play some dumb game. I mean, look at you Taylor. You’ve lost so much weight since this game came out. You haven’t been out in weeks and that guy that was interested in you has moved on. You need to grow up.” Katie ranted, hardly noticing the change in Taylor’s appearance.

It was the deep growl that resonated deep from within Taylor that grabbed Katie’s attention. She let out a shriek loud enough to wake the dead when she saw the huge wolf standing before her. Its fur was stained to crimson and its eyes were icy blue. Its eyes pierced her own, as if the creature before her could see into her soul and the snarl it wore made her entire body quake with pure terror. “Tay-Taylor?” No, this thing was no longer Taylor. She had seen it before but only in-game. It was Fiere in her demonic wolf form. The wolf, Taylor, no Fiere, snapped its jaws at Katie. The female shrieked once more and took off running. If she hadn’t of slammed the door behind her, the wolf would have gotten her and tore her to shreds.

Taylor had woken up two hours later, completely naked and laying on the floor of her bedroom. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she noticed that everything looked sharper, like someone had used a photo editor and turned the sharpness up way too high. The scent of fear still lingered in her room and it burned her nose. No amount of air freshener could get rid of it. The disgusting thing was, part of her liked the scent. It had been the next day when she had met up with Hiryuu in the game and they took out a mini boss together. Ever since then, Taylor had realized she had all of Fiere’s abilities in the real world and she had been using them to her advantage.

Just as she was about the leave the café, a loud screeching caught her attention. She clamped her hands over her ears to block out the noise. That was the only set back to her new self; everything was way too loud. Once the noise had ceased, Taylor shot from her seat and used her new found agility to fluidly snake her way through the crowd. What she saw outside made her crimson hues go wide. “What the hell?” She whispered. It was then she spotted a single male facing down the Carrion Bull. “What is that guy thinking?” As she watched fire form on his hands, she instantly knew who it was.

With a grin on her face, she let out a howl and ran right into the battle. Fiere had her speed just about maxed out when the PCP happened and because of this, Taylor was nearly just as fast. She was a blur of red and black as she sped right by Kyo and leaped into the air. People around where screaming and staring in awe as a bright light flashed above the creature. From that light came the large crimson furred wolf, its claws tearing into the side of the Carrion Bull, causing the creature to cry out in agony and lash about.

Her icy blue eyes met Kyo’s as she hit the ground. She gave him a wolf-ish grin before dodging a swipe of the creature’s tail. She attacked it a few more times, landing a few good hits. It was when the Carrion Bull slammed her back towards Kyo that she shifted back to her human form. “You’ve got to be Kyo. I’m Taylor. Nice to meet you.” She kept the grin on her face as she pulled something from her pocket. It was an extending staff from the game. It was a basic weapon but it was all that had manifested a few days ago in her room. “Shall we?” She asked as she stood up and dusted her outfit off. With one more look at Kyo, she once again lunged at the beast before them.

[Ethereal]

As if the Carrion Bull appearing out of nowhere was not confusion enough, a werewolf appeared too from out of nowhere and attacked the beast. It's not everyday that one gets to see werewolves in the real world -save for the movies but, this one was indeed very real and Kyo had an idea of who it is. Fiere, the rogue shape-shifter. It was when she got knocked back that his query had been answered.

“You’ve got to be Kyo. I’m Taylor. Nice to meet you. Shall we?”

Did he ever ran out of words to say? Yes, quite a bit of times but this was on a different plane. Taylor, Fiere's user, had complete access to FIere's abilities like he did from the game and she was acting like a pro at using them. Of course, there was no reason she would not be a pro because Fiere, a high level character was hers to begin with. What puzzled Kyo was the part when she manifested a staff that can only be found in the game. Sure replicas could be made but he knew better, now was not the time to be sweating with the details.

"Taylor huh? Alright, let's deal with this beast and talk later."

Even though he said that, Kyo's knees were trembling. This was the first battle using his game powers that he would have to be a part of. The only difference was that their lives were on the line. There would not be any 'respawn in safe zone', only game over should they get killed. Yes, dying was not something he was looking forward to.

A weapon was not something he had handy all the time. In the game, Hiryuu was a pyrokinetic that wielded a sword. Who would have thought that he would be regretting not having a sword around when carrying them in the real world was not really a fashion statement. In any case, Kyo held out his hand and channeled his fire over to his palms. Soon after, Taylor's staff was engulfed in flames. An enchantment to increase the staff's attack power and boost its basic attributes by a few levels. Satisfied that they now have at least a decent weapon against the beast, Kyo began to shroud his whole body with a fiery aura.

"L-let's try not to get killed alright?" he said to Taylor before running towards the beast.

'Alright Kyo, you're a high level pyrokinetic now, try to at least act the part' he pounded the thought over and over again in his mind to boost his confidence which was in a dangerous low. First order of business was to draw the beast's attention to himself. He would be playing the tank role like he normally does in the game to give Taylor freedom to attack. Kyo paid close attention to the beast swinging its menacing tail around along with its frightening three pronged horns on the head. He absolutely did not want to get hit by any of those. Now that he was this close to the beast, he began to wonder just how in the world would he grab the attention of something the size of two and a half commuter buses placed on top of each other?

'Alright, what does Hiryuu have in his arsenal?' As Kyo was trying to recall his character's spells, little did he know that he already had the beast's attention. It swung its tail around at him giving Kyo a small window to react when he realized what was just about to happen. That's when instinct took over. With his left hand, Kyo fired a huge blast of fire to stop the tail in its tracks, it did the trick, the beast was momentarily stunned. Then, using his right hand, Kyo slammed his palm to the ground and summoned a wall of fire around him, Taylor and the beast. In the game, the official name for this skill was Circle of Fire, it will put up a wall of fire that would trap the pyrokinetic, his party members and their opponent inside until either the pyrokinetic dies or the opponent first.

Realizing that he had successfully limited the beast's movement, Kyo was momentarily happy until another realization became clear. They were now engaged in deadly combat inside the Circle of Fire. The only way out was to either die, or win the battle. The first option was a moot point, it was the beast that will bite the dust.

"Shit! I'm sorry Taylor! I think I used the wrong skill!"

Although he knew that what he did was the right thing to save innocent bystanders from harm, Kyo was still contemplating on their own situation. What if this takes a wrong turn? What if something goes wrong? 'Damn it! What am I getting so worked up for?!' If he did not get his act together, they would surely die, Kyo finally realized that and prepared to go all out like how he would play using Hiryuu. First battle or not, he was determined to come out on top with Taylor's help of course. Looking directly at the beast's eyes, Kyo wondered if taunting it could work to their advantage.

"You're not that tough buddy! You're going down!" Kyo yelled.

The taunt was backed up with a barrage of fire balls that exploded upon impact on the Carrion Bull. This should buy Taylor enough time to launch her best attack and put an end to this chaos.

[Ana Kingsley]

The moment her staff burst into flames, she knew exactly what Kyo had done. The enchantment boost would be exactly what she needed to help her defeat the Carrion Bull. She winked at Kyo when he told her not to get killed. What the male didn’t know was that this wasn’t her first real world fight. Not long after her PCP happened, she was attacked by a lower level monster, the ones you see in the very beginning of the game. Sure, it should have been easy but she had been surrounded. Those things had nearly killed her before she shifted into her dragon form. If only that form didn’t take up so much mana and strength, she’d use it now.

Kyo was playing his role as tank well. While the beast was distracted by him, she shifted to her wolf form once more. Claws dug deep into its side, draining its HP fairly well. What she hadn’t been expecting was its back hoof to come up and land square in her side. That cracked a rib or two and sent her falling to the ground hard just as the Circle of Fire appeared around them. She heard Kyo cry out he had done something wrong and she let out a hoarse laugh. “Don’t worry buddy. You did well! Now the bystanders won’t get hurt.” Taylor slowly got to her feet, barely dodging another blow from the bull’s hoof.

As soon as Kyo launched the barrage of fiery bolts at the Carrion Bull, Taylor had made her decision. She willed herself to calm down enough to shift from her werewolf form to the small (yet large) dragon form she had acquired in-game just months ago. A bright flash of light was followed by a crimson dragon flying above the Circle of Fire. She could see the flashes of cameras taking her picture all around but she ignored them. A ferocious roar escaped her maw before she shot a powerful fire ball right at the Carrion Bull. The mini-boss let out a defeated cry before falling to the ground and disintegrating right before their eyes. The Circle of Fire fell and before anyone could rush in to try and find out what happened, Taylor swooped down and grabbed Kyo up in her claws.

As soon as she knew the two of them were far away enough from the scene, she landed on a rooftop and shifted back to her human form. Taylor hit the rooftop hard, with a ‘oomph’ and a hiss of pain. Yeah, that thing had broken a rib and the pain she felt was all too real. “Too bad we don’t have any health potions in real life huh? Actually, I think a injury kit would be better.” She let out a pained snicker as she slowly sat up. Taylor finally got to her feet and dusted off her jeans and t-shirt, both of which had nearly been torn to shreds. She looked over at Kyo and the poor boy looked completely stunned. “Hey… Are you okay Kyo?” He seriously looked like he was about to pass out. “Maybe you should sit down bro.” Yeah. That might be a good idea.

Taylor helped Kyo sit down and she sat next to him. “I’m guessing that was your first battle? Pretty crazy huh? You didn’t do too badly.” She grinned at him, trying hard to hide the pained expression still on her face. “How long have you had Hiryuu’s powers? I’ve had Fiere’s for a bit now. Its insane huh?” Taylor wondered if his ability had anything to do with that fire that had broken out on campus not too long ago. She had been suspicious about it but never said anything to anyone. Of course, she thought she was the only one that this had happened to. “Well, at least now we both know that we aren’t alone in this.” There was no way either of them could have taken out that Carrion Bull alone.

[Ethereal]

His heart pounded wildly as he continued his barrage of fire balls. He only stopped when Taylor had caught his attention with a shape-shift directly from a werewolf to a dragon. He was always amazed at the sight of that in the game and now was not any different. Taylor was about to launch her best attack as she circled above the Carrion Bull. Kyo knew that it was going to be that awesome sized fireball and all he had to do is to back it up with one of his own. Kicking his fire powers to high gear, Kyo channeled one more attack in his closed fist. The moment the winged dragon fired from its maw, Kyo simultaneously dished out his Fire Spear.

The explosion that followed was contained inside the Circle of Fire leaving charred remains of the Carrion Bull and the city street filled with burning embers. Kyo was relieved to have won the battle and took a deep breath. Sure, that was an awesome fight but knowing that he could die was not something he could swallow easily. The Carrion Bull left a glowing white orb after its spirit dissipated in the air like how it did upon defeat inside the game. Kyo knew that the Circle of Fire would come down so he quickly grabbed the orb before it did.

Now people would be running in eager to find out what the hell just happened. Kyo was now thinking of how to explain such a thing when he was suddenly lifted into the air by giant claws.

"Whoa!"

They flew for quite a bit until they found a comfortable looking spot on one of the city's buildings. He had flown via airplane before but this 'dragon express' was just too much! Kyo was suddenly feeling nauseous when Taylor shifted back to her human form. She was hurt and needed medical attention. She even jested about how not having health potions in real life sucked. True, health potions from the game was something that they really needed right now. It was instant cure and will perk you up in an instant after sustaining damage. If she got her staff with her, then a potion or two might be out there somewhere. They just had to find some... or it means the hospital for Taylor.

"Yeah, I think I should probably sit. That last attack I used was one of Hiryuu's best attacks and it eats quite a bit of mana. Never thought Hiryuu would feel like this after using such a spell... haha!" he cracked followed by a mild laugh. When Taylor inquired about the time he had his powers manifest in him, Kyo fell silent for a moment.

"I've had Hiryuu's abilities three months after the game was launched. It's crazy alright..." he said then fell back into silence. "It's been nearly a year now."

Three months after the game's launch and he already killed someone with Hiryuu's powers. That was not something Kyo was ready to talk about. It was one of the reasons why he took a long vacation away from Parallel too. Kyo got scared...

"You look like hell yourself, we should get that looked at since health potions are not something we have in real life like you said."

Kyo looked up into the morning sky. It was somehow refreshing to know that he was not in it alone, their current situation that is. But there were more pressing matters that needed some answers. How did this happen to them? Why did it happen in the first place? If both him and Taylor got their character's powers, then surely the possibility of others experiencing the same thing was out there in the open. Not to mention, they just defeated a mini boss from the game not too long ago. Kyo slapped his palm into his forehead. There was just so much to think about.

"I've been planning to tell you about my situation and ask if you knew others who might have gotten their character traits as well... it seems there's no need for that now huh? Alright, first order of business is to get you to the hospital." Kyo said, stood up and dusted his pants off. He offered a hand to help Taylor up and smiled gently at her.

"Let's try getting to the hospital the conventional way alright? We don't want to freak out the patients with your dragon form you know... although that my be good for a few laughs."

[Ana Kingsley]

She smirked at his facepalm. It seemed he was still trying to grasp all of this. Despite his PCP happening before her own, it seemed that Taylor was more excited about this happening than Kyo was. She figured he might be scared of what he could do. After all, Hiryuu’s powers could be far more dangerous than her own. Sure, she could change into a huge dragon and a demonic-looking werewolf creature, but she couldn’t control fire. Taylor snapped out of her thoughts when he stood up and offered her his hand. “Thanks. Yeah. I don’t think I could change again if I wanted to. Doing that took up more energy than I thought it would.” She gave him a pained grin as she stood up.

“We are only about a block from the hospital. I got us as close as possible. Now listen, if anyone asks I got hit by a car that was speeding to try to beat a red light. It was a hit and run and you happened to be there when it happened.” This obviously wasn’t the first time she had gone to the hospital after using her newfound powers. Taylor showed Kyo where to go to get off the roof and he helped her walk. She really wished he wouldn’t have shown up but then again, Taylor knew her ass would have been grass if she had tried to fight that Carrion Bull on her own. The two finally hit the ground floor of the building and exited as quickly as possible. A few people were outside talking about what they had seen and showing off pictures as well.

Taylor just shook her head. “Too bad we can’t be super heroes huh Kyo?” At least she figured they couldn’t be heroes. After all, once the government and Mirage Soft found out about them, they would be hunted like fugitives. She was sure that they would be forced to do all sorts of tests or become the next big military advantage. That was one thing Taylor did not want. Hell, she hated her brother for joining the military and becoming a dog of war. Slowly but surely, the two made it to the hospital and Taylor was soon taken away from Kyo in a wheelchair so the nurse could take a few x-rays, including a few of her head to make sure she didn’t have a concussion.

Suddenly, a loud crashing sound was heard and Taylor soon appeared in the waiting room. “Run Kyo! RUN!” She screamed at the other red-head. A few large nurses were on her heels as she shot off towards the door. After her x-rays were done, she was taken to a room and given a small bit of pain medication for her broken ribs. What she wasn’t expecting was for the doctor to come in and tell her that her bones were already healed. Not only that, she had extra bones in places she shouldn’t. What surprised them the most were the extra bones at her shoulder blades, the bones that formed her dragon wings when she shifted forms. They began talking about how she was an abnormality and needed to be studied. It was just moments after that she slipped her torn jeans back and shot off out of the room, running for her life.

She slammed into the glass door hard, shattering the glass around her. This caused a few cuts to appear on her exposed skin but that was nothing Taylor couldn’t handle. The female shot off down the road, vanishing around a corner. She managed to pull her phone from her pocket and text Kyo, telling him her location. Hopefully he would find her before anyone else would. This was bad. They shouldn’t have gone to the hospital. They just should have searched the city for health potions. After all, if her staff could be brought here, not to mention Fiere’s powers, why couldn’t health potions? She just needed to find one and then everything would be fine. “Come on Kyo… Where are you?”

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