Limbo

Demetri frowned as Don jumped right on into the Gate he created. This kid wasn't big on brains was he?

"Well, your friend certainly had no issues did he? So, what about you three?" Dreads asked, tapping his foot against the glass impatiently. Joel stepped forward next, a solemn expression on his face. "Ah?" Demetri exclaimed, wondering what the boy was going to do.

"I'll go. We can't let those nine and their Master have their way right?" Joel clinched his fist, looking cautiously at the Gate behind the tall man. Dreads had a chilling look in his eyes as Joel spoke, which managed to shake him just a bit. The red eyed student turned to Naydelle, concerned for her sake. "Naydelle...you don't have to come if you don't want to. J-Just leave it to us." He grinned, hoping that she would smile, if even just a bit.

"I'm worried about Don....I think if we leave him there too long he'll break something." He was joking of course, but still, the thought of that kid alone in a new dimension was....unsettling. After a moment of peering into the Gate, Demetri attention shifted back to the students. "So? What will it be? You three coming? I doubt your friend can last long, even against those small fry." With his thumb he pointed back to the Gate, he had to be quick about it, because by the looks of things above, school had ended.

I just hope Alistair does his job right...

* * *

In the collesium, the boy stood in the dead center of the sandy arena. Indeed, it's size was grand. Three...no, four entire football fields could fit inside it's grandeur, and perhaps still that wasn't an accurate enough way to describe it's size. In the stands, thousands upon thousands of people, thirsting for a bloody sight screamed numerous curses the newcomer's way. At the head of the circular complex high above even the crowd, was a box, decked toe to toe with red velvet. It had a throne their, waiting for it's empty spot to be filled.

Floating around near the base of the colliseum where Don was, was a curious looking fellow on a cloud. He wasn't elderly, but he sported a shiny bald cut, and his clothing was only described as very 'turtly', even his skin was an odd tint of yellow. In his right hand he gripped tightly a white microphone, adorned with tacky looking gold wings. This was the arena commentator Icarus.

"What do we have here? A new contender? What strange lands does this contenstant hail from? What is his story? How can such a young face hope to survive in the Games?" An electirc anticipation shot through the crowd at Icarus' words; not because they thought Don stood a chance, but because they were finally able to see some blood, and by the appearance of this contender, lots of it.

The gates for the beasts, which was located in the front of the arena, underneath the velvet box, rose open, revealing seemingly hundreds of fearsome looking red eyes.

"And it looks like the contender's first opponents are...ooh...that's no fun! Just the wolves! Oh well. Fight!" At Icarus' words, dozens of gray wolves, salivating at the thought of a meal, were sent charging at Don.

* * *

Atari High, Lobby


"Whoa..." To Xavier's surprise, Aemyle was able to sing the Cudi tune he was thinking of word for word, picking up at the same spot he left off of. That was no coincidence.

"Somewhere...over the rainbow..." Jayx's eyes widened as Aemyle picked up on Odd's song, she though he was the only one that knew it. But the surprises didn't end there, back inside her mind, Odd was still in the middle of his concert-- but with one huge difference this time from his other shows: the tune was no longer looped.

If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow
Why, ooooooooooooooh whyyyyyyyyyyy can't IIIIIIIIIIIIII?!!!!!

Simply from the shock of it all, Jayx leapt into the air. "He sung the whole thing!" She hollered over and over. Never in all of her sixteen years had Odd ever sang the entire song. It was....baffling (sp?).

She ran over to Aemyle and grabbed her hands waving them around in celebration. "You're amazing! Howdja do it?!" Her green and brown eyes were sparkling with joy.

Xavier was doubling over with laughter at the sight. "Aemyle, you're a hit!" He teased, laughing deep and heartily. After the fit died down, he slowly wiped the tears from his brown eyes, looking around hard for the sight of Jack.

"Man...where is that guy...?"

"Hey, Xavier didja hear?" One of the girls from class came strolling by, aparently she had club today, or else she wouldn't be caught dead here. The girl paused, seeing the singer among his group.

"Nah, what's up?" When she didn't respond, he waved his large hand in front of her face, snapping her back into reality.

"Sorry...oh yeah! There's like, a tiger or something not to far from the school! It's totally clogged up traffic, my mom called me freaking out!" The girl's gaze shifted back to the green haired girl, "Hey..."

"A tiger..." Xavier's eyes narrowed, "Wasn't Charlotte...." He grimmaced, "Shit...guys we gotta go!" He relayed, quickly putting two and two together. Xavier prayed that it wasn't what he thought...but knowing their luck, he was probably dead on. The senior waved for them to follow before taking of towards the front exit by himself.

"Hey, Xavier! Why didn't you tell me you were friends with Aemyle?!" The gossiping girl hollered at him, but the young man was already out the door.
"What's his problem?" She shrugged, strolling away from the lobby and back about her business.

* * *

Outside, near all the commotion, a single figure tried his best to cut through the crowd. Minding his polite words the man slithered on through, 'Excuse me', 'Pardon Me', were all you heard from the short fellow.

The crowd was gathered with horified expressions at the wild animal that looked like it was coming straight for them.

"No, no, no...this won't do at all! Master Maverick will throw a fit!"

The voice was old, but spoke with a hint of vigor. He pulled up beside the tall Mr. Kernow, a walking stick grasped in his hand. He had a long pointed nose, his snow white hair was only in existance on the sides, while his skin was pale white. The strange person dressed finely in a black suit and white and black striped tie, with a pair of black loafers to top it off. The eccentricity of this man was obvious from the curly white moustache he wore, it ruined whatever formality he wanted to convey with his appearance.

"Well, are you going to just stand there? Or are you going to stop her?" The old man turned to Jack, an anxious gleam in his beady golden eyes. Jack gaped at the owner of the voice, not replying though, only letting out a groan. It looked like things were only getting worse.

Charlotte was getting closer, and it looked like she wasn't ready to stop any time soon.

((Uhm, Nightmare train did you click the account button? To send messages that is.))

* * *

Demetri grinned proud of Valor's decision to step on through the Gate. He was sure Don could use some help at this point, even if it was round one of the tourny.

((Sorry for the delay on my part...had to get over the first day of school hangover -_-. Still trying))

Alistair looked at all of them, a flicker in his golden gaze. Hearing each of them agree to follow him, brought a crooked smile to his face. And then, he turned around, facing back to the fog inside the door.

"Perfect, now it all begins." He stepped inside, waving for them all to follow them in. Xavier sighed, he talked big about heading in before, but a big part of him was still hesistant to enter.

"Phew..." The student clapped his hands against both of his cheeks, and proceeded to break into his ritual squats. Preston, seeing this, and remembering the behavior from last night, ran up beside the senior and did a few stretches of his own; he had to admit, they helped shake out the fear. "Alright, time to go." Xavier pounded his fists together, creating yet another involuntary spark of blue and red flame.

He didn't have to look behind him to make sure everyone was with him, something told me none of them would back out on him now. Jayx watched him pass by as the first to go in, she had to admit she was jealous that Xavier got in first, but she was going to be second. Frantically, she charged through the door, almost knocking Preston over in the process.

The freshman took a deep breath before stepping through himself, watching fearfully as the others dissapeared upon the thick blue fog. He gulped, feeling his legs grow heavy. "No...I have to go." Preston assured himself, and without looking back, he charged into the unknown, not giving any time for fear to take over.

The sensation of going through the door was as strange as one would expect. Somewhere between the instant he stepped through the door, and the instant his foot touched down on the inside of the strange foggy place, Xavier could have sworn he lost consciousness. And then, there was a blinding flash of light, and when he opened his eyes next, he was looking at an extremely run down shack in what felt like the middle of nowhere.

Ignoring the rundown complex for now, Xavier's true shock came from the space around him-- this was limbo? He was looking at two scenes, three if you counted where he stood now. The one, over head, a bright, calm looking city-- it's magnitude and features could have only belonged to 8-Bit. But the one below...it was dark, fearsome, supernatural and foreboding. From what he could see through the glass...ground? He stood upon the lower city was completely covered in a thick darkness, otherworldly creatures surrounded the skyscrapers...what was he looking at?

"Xavier...where are we?" Two swirls of light appeared behind him, and as those subsided, they were revealed to hold the forms of Jayx and Preston, their faces were pale, probably from nausea of the experience. Oddly enough, Xavier was feeling nothing of the sort. He figured he was probably going to get it something terrible later.

"Limbo I presume...looks like we're the first ones here..." Xavier answered him, crouching down to get a closer look at the 'dark' version of 8-Bit (at least what he thought it was). His eyes narrowed, trying to look past the thick clouds of darkness. "What the hell?" For just a brief moment, the senior caught just a glmipse of what appeared to be him...looking back at him through the darkness below. "Nah...just a reflection...must be." He rubbed the back of his neck, letting out a deep sigh. But reflections to smile back at you... Xavier thought with a temble.

"Name?" A voice called out from in front of them. They all looked towards the voice, it belonged to sleek looking man, dressed neatly in a tuxedo very similar to Alistair's. The fellow, who leaned coolly up against the wall of the rundown shack was pale of the skin, with long black hair that reached to his shoulders. His face was clean shavened, with a pair of dull golden eyes and a perpetualy uninterested coutenance. He had his arms crossed, but he still seemed ready to make use of the sheathed katana on his side.

"Name...?" Jayx cocked her head to the side, a bit confused. The man rolled his eyes, annoyed.

"Name. What, is this your first time here?" The bouncer let out a sigh of exhaustion, apparently he didn't enjoy the job.


"How the hell did kids like you make it through the Gate...?"

Styx Appears


"Don't tell me this is your first time here...?" The golden eyed man groaned from his position up against the shack. Realizing the obvious answer, he moved on to simply observing their behavior as each one of them came through the Gate, each in a 'whirlwind' of light. Only one person's Gates had that type of behavior for those whom stepped through it: Alistair. At the revelation, the bouncer grimaced, these must have been the kids Demetri wanted.

He watched as they all exhibited signs of nausea, something even he still had sometimes when stepping through Gates. But when he saw one of the girls pass out from the ordeal, he let out a disappointed sigh. Were these children really the ones Demetri was trusting with the job.

"How did kids like you all make it through the Gate?" He asked, with a hint of anxiety in his voice.

"Who're you..? I'm getting real tired of random golden eyed folks popping up in my life." Xavier shot back; there was no doubt that all three of the mystery men they've run into over the past 48 hours were all related, the eye color couldn't be a coincidence. "You're with Dread's and the Hatter aren't you?" His eyes narrowed in suspicion, a look that amused the bouncer.

"My name's Styx- though I could have sworn I asked you for your name's first...that's rude you know?" He shrugged, "You should check on your friend..." Styx dully pointed with his left bony index finger towards Aemyle, stretched out on the glass ground behind them. Xavier bit his lip upon seeing this, quickly hurrying to her side.

"She's fine, it's probably just a reaction to the Dimensional Dive." Xavier felt some relief at the bouncer Styx's words as he crouched down next to Aemyle, who was still unconscious at this point. "Judging by the looks of it, you all are the nine Demetri-Sama told us all about, then I won't waste any more time-- we could lose this opportunity." Preston was confused by what the tuxedo-wearing man was saying, what opportunity?

"An...opportunity?" Preston frowned.

"Yeah. Are you all aware that those fancy powers you all have aren't exclusive to your group? Demetri-Sama has located four others with the same type of techniques, and he's captured them in another Dimension." Styx smirked, clearly amused by the situation. "They're just students like you all are, but they're in league with a malevolent foe, we think it's the target Demetri-Sama was sent to your city to find and..." Preston gulped, they were going to have to fight? Other students? And they had powers, just like they did. But what if they were much stronger than they were?

"Are they strong?" Preston asked, his voice mighty shaky.

Styx smiled and nodded, a frightful gleam in his golden orbs, "Of course, they're in the middle of The Coliseum right now. They've been alive in there for at least a few hours now...they're bloody tough." His smile built into a toothy grin, which revealed his row of oddly sharp teeth, "Then again, Demetri-Sama wouldn't have given this job to you all if he didn't believe in your ability..." Styx pushed himself off the wall and stepped forward just a bit.


Just like Maverick to push his job on us! He thought furiously. Jayx frowned, she was hoping to see Demi now, but whatever, she thought. They just had to deal with those four kids in the Coliseum thingy right? And then they could probably see him. She smiled peacefully at that conclusion, and began to shift side to side impatiently.

"So we're going through another one of those doors...?" Xavier asked from behind them, a bit concerned for everyone's safety.

"Nah, this one's a bit different-- you can't connect to other Dimensions outside of a system through a simple Gate, you have to use a type of Portal...Rift....ahh...it's all too complicated to go into right now, just head on through this," Styx snapped his fingers, generating a wispy black smoke beside him. It twisted and turned, and wove together to form a circular black 'rip' in the space immediately in front of the shack.

Preston gawked at the hole in space, making out the shape of a large arena on the inside-- the other kids with powers were in there...and they had to defeat them. If they were aligned with this foe, they must have been responsible for what's been going on in 8-Bit...he was ready.

"Know that if you deal with these four in here, you'll help to stabilize your world, and prevent incidents like what happened last night with the chimera from happening again in your city." Styx coolly leaned back against his spot against the shack wall, and shut his eyes, trying his best not to look interested in what they were all going to do.

"Be careful though, once you get in there, the students probably won't be your only foes."


At this, Preston sighed. It was a Coliseum after all, he'd be surprised if their weren't any monsters inside...they had to be ready just going in...but the didn't even have weapons on them-- what the hell could they do against the monsters and students? The blonde freshman inched closer towards the portal, a solemn look on his face.

"You'd be surprised what kind of dangerous weapons you could find on the floor of a Coliseum...just saying." Styx mumbled, loud enough for all of them to hear. Preston's eyes widened-- maybe they had a chance then. Just a hair away from the portal, he looked at all of them with a smile, they had to go sometime right?

"We can do this guys..." His face went red, clearly he wasn't prepared to give a speech of any sort. "I mean...heh..." The boy nervously twisted one of his blonde locks around his finger, trying to find something inspiring to say. But before he knew it, Jayx was already headed into the portal, a cheery look on her face.

"Heheh, let's go!" She said, diving head first into the wide rip in space. Styx, and Preston both watched her perform the feat in awe, clearly not used to her Jayx-ness (apparently Styx was more interested in them than he led on to be).

"Well then, that's one way to go about it. Why don't you all follow her? Like I said, we may never have an opportunity like this again." Styx smirked, amused by it all. Preston nodded, a fire was now in his blue eyes, Jayx had inspired him.

"Right...ok. I'm going." He stepped back just a bit, giving himself some room. And then, letting out a breath that held all his inhibitions, charged forward, disappearing into the darkness of the rift.

"Sheesh....those two sure are excited..." He spoke from his position next to the singer, who must have been close to coming around- based on Styx's diagnosis. "But they're right though, we should get moving." Xavier wasn't crazy about the idea of fighting other students, but if they were allied with Dread's target...they had to be dealt with right? Maybe they just had to beat them to a pulp, and let Dread's swoop in and 'rewrite' them like he did Moe? Yeah...that sounds right.

"We'll just rough em' up right?" He didn't ask the question to Styx though, he just recited the words, looking down at Aemyle. The senior sighed, he couldn't worry about it now, it was time to get moving.

* * *

BRAVE!!

"What's this?! A strange flash of light on the floor? Is this some sort of spell from or five fighters...or something else?" The announcer Icarus exclaimed from his resting position on a cloud, just above the arena floor. The crowd busted into a fit of electric excitement upon the reveal of what caused the flashing light, two newcomers, both looked equally unreliable, and full of blood to watch splash on the ground. More gore! More screams! More action! This was going to be a great day to be a spectator.

"Jayx...we're here!" Preston's eyes darted around, oblivious to the conflict going on just in front of him between five bodies and a pack of ravenous wolves. The freckled, space-cadet didn't respond, she seemed to be lost in her mind's world at this point.

Oh no...this setting...it's going to cause him to come up isn't it? He groaned, almost fearful. Somewhere inside Jayx's mind, yet another one of Jayx's imaginary friends were beginning to stir. A tune of extreme adventure and courage played in her mind, the fear of battle only made her heart begin to beat faster and faster. BRAAAAAAAAVE!!! Kid hollered, unlocking the last latch on the door that held the personality back.

Appearing in a mass of dazzling stars and spirals behind her was a tall, athletically built man. He was dressed just like a pirate, an eyepatch on his right eye, striped red vest, complete with no shirt, a pair of baggy striped trousers and black, extremely worn boots-- he even worse a bandana on his head, atop his long, scraggly black mane.

"Jayx! I smelled a fight, and I just had to come on out! Allow me to aid you and bring ye the spoils of victory! It's what us warriors do!" The fighter bellowed, beaming with pride as he stepped beside Jayx. He grabbed hold of the cutlass strapped to his waist and adopted a bloodthirsty gaze in his eyes. "Hawhawhaw! They'll all fall by my blade! Just watch me Jayx!" And with that, the pirate charged off towards the fray, not even knowing what his target was.

"Okay Brave! Have fun!" Jayx waved to her friend as he ran and sunk his blade deep within one of the first beasts he came across. They were all oblivious to the gates in front of them which were slowly rising...it looked like round two was going to start soon. Another impressive display of lights formed behind Jayx, this time, revealing her most common imaginary friend. Him.

He stood tall and lanky, wearing a decent looking white button down shirt and black and white plaid scarf around his neck. His hair was long, which bright white streaks throughout. His eyes were light blue with a relaxing air about him, though the perpetual scowl on his face contradicted this piece of his features. As for his legs, he wore a pair of tight-fitting black trousers and black loafers. Hanging on his side was the black sheath to his broadsword, his hand was already gripped tightly around the silver hilt, ready to strike.

"He's going to be more trouble than help in this fight..." He frowned, stepping beside Jayx while she looked at him with a goofy face. It still feels strange to step onto real ground... The man thought, just a bit cautious about this new place.