103By Storm Demon
Chapter 1: The Gathering
Is this all worth it? Is there something were going to get out of all of this? ~Usagi Tsukino 'The Knight of God'
~*~
Usagi smiled happily as she entered the brand new beta testing area. Usagi was now twenty two years old, her long sliverish blond hair was cut to about her waist but her cerulean eyes remained unchanged. After going to college Usagi had entered the Video Game Testing industry where Usagi would test out new game systems and ideas. She greeted the receptionist and walked into the main testing room. It was huge, and was surrounded by computers and wires. In the center was a group of pods, virtual reality systems. They had been tested several times but always ended up with bugs. Today Usagi hoped it would work.
"G' Morning Miss. Tsukino!" A tall dark haired guy said waving from pod three.
"Good Morning Goten, excited to test out the virtual reality machine?" She asked her co-worker smiling.
"I'm as excited as I was the first time, and the eighteen other times after that!" The fifteen year old said.
Usagi continued walking towards the pods to be greeted by the systems main engineer Ami Mizuno. Then she walked to pod number one, sat in the cushioned chair and was handed head gear. She put it over her head and a transparent green display visor sat perfectly over Usagi's eyes. She began to connect several wires to the control box above her head. Then she saw the volunteers walk in, they were randomly selected to participate in the project's 20th attempt. The first one was most definitely Chinese, he had a certain aura that gave it away besides his obvious traits, his eyes were pools of darkness but not evil, just something hidden from view. He was lead to pod eight. There was a young girl next to him she was about fourteen years old, Usagi took a moment to look at her then immediately recognized her.
"Ru-chan!?" Usagi cried.
"Usa-hime!" Hotaru ran up to Usagi and hugged her, "I didn't know you would be here!"
"Well I am!" Usagi smiled happily, "Your in pod four so ask for someone to help you and we'll get started really soon" "Okay Usa-hime!" Hotaru then left and got help from a lab worker.
Usagi then looked at the other three who walked in, the first guy seemed handsome his dark brown hair and eyes were laid back he was pretty tall about Goten's age maybe alittle older. Then girl next to him was way to bubbly, it reminded Usagi of herself when she was younger. The girl's red hair was tied back into a braid and her red eyes flared with excitement. Finally the other boy with blond hair was standing next to the brunette. He was very short and wore a strange pendant around his next.
"Alright must be Honda Taylor. Your in pod two you'll get assistance from a lab worker." Ami said to Honda, "Duo Maxwell, your in pod five, Trunks Briefs your in pod six, and Yugi Motuo your in pod seven"
They were all assembled into there pods, and everything was set. Ami and the other lab workers were standing by there respective computers and then Ami flipped the switch and the pods slowly closed. But one thing went unnoticed, an unusual purple wire connected to the main computer which lead to another small room.
~*~
"Stupid idiots, this is like taking candy from a baby!" A female voice cackled as she swiftly typed away on her laptop computer.
The room was pitch black, except for the faint glowing of the computer screen. The woman then picked up a disk and inserted it into the CD drive. She then began to type some more.
"This is so plan is working!"
~*~
Usagi opened her eyes and she was no longer in the testing room, but a field of wild flowers. She saw the others as well.
"Hello I'm Usagi Tsukino I'm the head tester here. Why don't we all introduce ourselves." She suggested.
"I'm Goten Son, I'm fifteen and yes my father did fight in the Cell games." He said trying to avoid questions.
" 's cool. I'm Honda Taylor, I'm seventeen years old." He said, with a grin.
"I'm Yugi Motuo, I'm also seventeen years old." Yugi said looking at the ground.
"YOUR SEVENTEEN!?" Duo cried, "You're a disgrace to your generation! My Lord I thought you were a sixth grader!"
"Shut up!" Honda yelled, "Yugi is a lot more mature then you I bet!"
"It's alright Honda he probably didn't mean it." Yugi said quietly.
"Your lucky buddy or I would've kicked your ass"
" the silent one over here is Wufei. He's twenty-two. He thinks all women are weak, though he has been proven wrong many times he still believes it anyway. And I'm Duo and I'm also twenty two, and I am at your service" He said kissing Usagi's hand.
"Grow up you weak baka!" Wufei said smacking Duo in the back of the head.
"Well I'm Trunks Briefs and I'm twenty five.I feel so old." Trunks sighed.
"Well now that we know each other we should try this system Ami?" Usagi said into her communicator, but there was nothing but static.
~*~
Ami was struggling with the system, there was something dreadfully wrong. They were in the wrong simulation, it was suppose to be a simple one leveled game but instead it was a complex system of levels. Something had been sabotaged. And there was no way to get them out, for if they pulled the plug the minds of the eight participants would be lost with the system. There had to be a way to get them just had to.
~*~
"AMI?! AMI DO YOU COPY?!" Usagi literally screamed into the communicator but there was still static, "This is bad."
Suddenly a golden light blinded the eight people, once the light left there was a little girl standing there.
"Welcome to the world of Terra, here you must find the eight mythical items which will grant you the ability to log off and return to your world. To the ones you love. But you must gain certain skills through battle where you risk your lives. If you die here you will be erased. No one knows what happens to those erased for it is like death in your world, no one knows much about it." The girl began, "I will grant you abilities to get you started soon, but you must build upon them on your own. The gathering had end is near" With that the girl disappeared.