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Cheddar -> Endgame (7/17/2008 3:34:08)
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Hearts Project: The Deathscythe Chronicles - Endgame
Written and Narrated by Cheddar; Some Concepts by Darcken and Others
Prologue Chapter: Hearts Project the Game
Adam Seifer, a seventeen year-old boy, was heading to the local Biohazardous Games Center of England to play the newly released virtual reality game, Hearts Project. He would meet with his cousin and girlfriend there to enter the virtual reality machines together. Adam was a friendly fellow who liked gaming very much. He heard rumors that Hearts Project would be the most realistic game ever created, so he decided to check it out. As he drove his car to the Center, he grabbed his cellphone to call Samantha, his girlfriend, to make sure she was already there. As he listened to the upbeat ringback, Adam felt the cool breeze blow through his wavy, brown hair and long, pointed ears, wanting to close his eyes and become lost in the moment. "Adam! How are you doing?" Samantha had picked up the phone and the ringing had stopped.
"Quite fine, thank you. Have you and Rouge arrived at the center?" he asked.
"Yeah, she's with me now," answered Samantha.
Adam heard Rouge speak in the background. "Why do I have to wait for Adam, again?" she asked. "I'd rather go in without my bratty younger cousin and his annoying girlfriend following me around."
"You're only a year older than me, Rouge. And we are going together because it is always a good idea to stay in a group in video games. Anyway, I should be arriving in a few minutes. See you there."
"Ciao," said Samantha. They both hung up.
When Adam arrived at the center, Samantha greeted him with a warm hug and a soft kiss on the cheek. Samantha Edmund had curly, blond hair that smelled of fresh fruit, brown eyes, liked to wear expensive designer clothes, and only acted friendly toward Adam. She and Adam had known each other since they were children. They began to get into a more close relationship during their freshmen year in high school. Adam was less interested in romance than Samantha, though, who was always flirting with him.
"Time to go, it seems," said Rouge. Rouge Seifer was a tall, slender, woman with soft, tan skin, long, brown, silky hair, and navy blue eyes. She was not so much into gaming, but more into meeting new people from all around the world. However, she was also looking forward to the adventure of the game, as she herself was a bit of an explorer. Rouge stood up and began walking to the door.
"Indeed!" exclaimed Adam. He and Samantha followed close behind Rouge.
As they entered, they saw many familiar and unfamiliar faces from their town. "Wow. There are so many people in such a small building," said Samantha. "Everybody from our school must be here."
"We should hurry up before all the machines are taken," said Rouge, who walked ahead.
They each found a machine, Samantha making sure she had one next to Adam's, and occupied them. The machines were large, narrow capsules made of cold, polished steel that could fit exactly one person. Rouge easily settled into hers. As Samantha and Adam entered theirs, Samantha told Adam, "see you on the other side." After the doors slid closed, the capsules lit up, revealing an oversized, red button. They each pressed it to activate the process of digitalization. A bright, white light went from the top of the tube to the bottom and a few seconds later the doors mechanically opened to the side to a whole different building. When they stepped out, they were greeted by Non-Player Characters, or NPCs. "Greetings. We bid you welcome to the Planet Hearts. We hope you enjoy your stay." The NPCs were short, hairy Dwarves wearing red uniforms with a logo that combined the letters H and P, standing for Hearts Project, on the right breast. They were led to locker rooms with locker upon locker all crowded together. They were each given their own combo and safe and told that there was a device called an Inventory Cube, a cube which converts matter into energy and back for nearly infinite storage, waiting in each for them. After grabbing their Inventory Cubes, they locked their safes tight and all met together in the lobby.
"So where to now," asked Samantha, hugging Adam's arm.
"I think the information booths sound like a good location. They don't seem to be too crowded," responded Adam.
They headed over to the Information Booths and inside the one they went to, they were greeted by a male NPC with short, blond hair. He wore a red uniform similar to the Dwarf NPCs.
"Excuse me," said Adam. "Could you suggest where to go from here?"
"Of course. This building is right on the border between the Kingdoms of Swe and Daern. Swe is the more friendly Kingdom, populated by mostly Humans, Dwarves, variations of Elves, and the occasional Gnome and Giant. Daern is populated by nasty Orcs, Goblins, Trolls, Ogres, and Imps. I highly suggest going to Swe Kingdom first. There is a long road that a train will take you across to get to the capital city of Swe, where the Castle is. You will find the train entry directly north of this building."
"Oh. Also, how do we use these Inventory Cubes?" Samantha held up the pale blue, metal cube to the booth window.
"All you have to do is press the button on the top to open it, which will suck up any Item in front of it. To release Items, use the keys on the back to type in the number of the last Item inserted. The numbers depend on which order you put them in. It gets easier to memorize after using it for a while."
"Also, what is the currency in this game?" asked Adam.
"It is called Hartas. It is spelled H-a-r-t-a-s, with a capital H. You will notice that many words in this game are capitalized, due to significance and language variations between Earth and Hearts. By pressing the zero key on your Inventory Cube, you should find one thousand complementary Hartas."
"Alright, thank you," said Adam.
They began to head to the train boarding sites. As they stepped outside, they felt several times lighter and every step they took gave them a bit of a bounce into the air. "This feels strange..." mumbled Rouge.
"All aboard!" yelled the engineer of the train. Adam, Samantha, and Rouge all boarded the train. The train's engines started working, then the wheels began to turn. The train started moving and as soon as they knew it, they were outside the boarding station and in a Giant Field full of grassy plains and short hills. Strange animals which loosely resembled Earth animals could be observed grazing and hunting as far as the eye could see. On the mostly flat plains, several cities and towns, geographical features, and structures could be seen in the distance. The most obvious one was Swe City, where the train was heading to. To the west of that was a small village, near the base of a mountain range that seemed to go on forever. To the East of Swe City, a grove could be seen, ending at the beach, where the ocean seemed to expand out into infinity. Far beyond Swe City, a small desert could be seen, where the grass began to whither and sand took over the landscape. It seemed similarly flat to Giant Field. Beyond that, it was hard to make out any features, but a few small shapes could be made out, nothing recognizable, though.
On the trip to Swe City, many passengers, including Rouge, Adam, and Samantha saw four lights shoot out of the sky and into different locations in Giant Field. One of them landed relatively close to Swe City.
"What was that?" said one passenger.
"They were like shooting stars or something," said another.
"They all landed in different places."
"I want to go find those things and see what they are."
"Please refrain from going near the landing spots of those lights." Came the voice of a Cabin Assistant. "Our Abnormality Obligation Officers will be inspecting this soon enough."
Rouge gazed at the general area of the landing spot of the light near Swe City. Something about that light... she thought. It feels...strange...like those lights have something to do with me. Especially that one that landed near Swe City. Rouge was a believer is superstition and a common belief was that some Humans could sense when their destinies are linked to something or someone.
"Something wrong, Rouge?" asked Adam.
"No. Nothing." Rouge gazed at it for a second longer, then turned away.
After under ten minutes of waiting, the train arrived in Swe City. It was a huge, medieval-esque town, filled with wooden and stone houses and buildings, many shops and merchant tents, and a large castle placed in the center, facing south, to the Starting Point Building where the train had departed from. Shortly after stepping off the train, a huge blimp flew by town. On it, a huge television-type screen was mounted. It flashed white, and the image of Rexwell Haek, the founder of Biohazardous Games, appeared. "Greetings, current residents of the City of Swe. I, Rexwell Haek, who is to be addressed as The Hacker throughout this game, would like to declare a war. This war is not for the sake of violence or power, but to introduce the game in a fun way. There will be two sides. A Good Side and an Evil Side. I already called dibs on the Evil Side, so unless you can defeat me, which you can't, you have to be a soldier for me if you wish to join the Evil Side. As for signing up, come to the Grand Arena to join my ranks. The Good Side's leader has not been decided yet. Those of you in Swe City who want the spot will have to duke it out to find one. Now, I bid you adieu." The screen flashed white again then went back, the blimp went on flying away from Swe City.
"I definitely want to be the leader of the Good Side," said Adam. "I am most certainly more Good than anyone else in this town. Heck, I help grannies across the street, I get kittens out of trees, I give food to orphans. You don't know me. I may just go and save a baby from a burning building." Adam went on to himself.
"God...why does he have to act like such a dork?" asked Rouge to herself. "Anyway, you are by no means in proper clothing to fight your way through the ranks to Leader. None of us are in proper attire to fight." Samantha and Adam looked at their clothes. Adam wore a baggy, black T-shirt and blue jeans while Samantha wore a decorative white shirt and a lovely red skirt. Rouge wore a black spaghetti strap tank top and black skinny jeans. "Do you see what I mean?"
"So what do you suggest we do, then?" asked Samantha.
"Simple!" said Adam. "A gamer like me knows that nearly every town in an Action Role Playing Game has at least one armory per major town. We just have to find it." Adam put his hand to his forehead and scouted the area with his cunning eyes. He ran down a road leading to another street.
"Adam, wait for me," said Samantha, running after him. Rouge followed behind them, walking with her hands behind her head.
Adam used the low gravity to his advantage by jumping onto a nearby building. He held onto the poorly made wooden sign sticking up off the roof and scanned the area from high up. "I don't see it anywhere."
"Um...Adam..." said Rouge.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"You are standing on top of the armory."
Adam looked at the sign. It had a tower shield and a breast plate painted on it.
"Well, wha'd'ya know?"
They entered the armory and an old, Human blacksmith NPC who was bald, had a long, grey beard, and long, sagging eyebrows was standing at the counter. Behind the counter, a wooden door leading to the back room could be seen, which is where the armor was probably forged and stored.
"Welcome, to Old Man Gray's Defensives. How can I help you?" asked the NPC.
Adam started, "I want really durable armor that can withstand anything, but still has enough flexibility to dodge and let me run."
"And I want something loose-fitting, but still durable," said Samantha.
Rouge was silent. "How 'bout you, missy?"
"I really don't plan to participate in this war. I won't be needing anything."
"Oh, but this world is still full of dangers, and you need some form of defense," said Old Man Gray.
"Fine. I suppose I could use something with maximum flexibility. I don't exactly want metal armor. Something light."
"Alright. I think I have the perfect things for each of you." He went into the back room and came out a minute later with three armors. He gestured at Adam. "This is for you." He held out a large suit of Plate Armor with the joints joined by Padded Armor. The shoulders each had somewhat large Pauldrons, or Shoulder Plates shaped somewhat like a dome.
"Wow! This is great. I think this is just what I wanted."
"And you," he handed Samantha a suit of red leather armor with plates bonded to the forearm, shoulder, stomach up to the mid breast area, and the shins.
"This should do just fine," said Samantha.
"And lastly, you." Gray handed a suit of brown leather armor to Rouge. It ended in a skirt with black, trimmed edges. It had two black, metal shoulder pads, long, dark brown boots, and a pair of bright red gloves.
"Why are the boots so heavy?" asked Rouge.
"That is because they are made to weigh you down to make up for the low gravity. You will also notice two circular lead weights on the backs of your gloves. Though, since you decided not to wear much armor, it does not entirely make up for the lack of gravity, but it will do."
"Is there anywhere we can change into these?" asked Samantha.
"Yes. To your left," Gray pointed to a group of doors, "are some dressing rooms."
"Alright. Thanks," said Adam. They each went to a dressing room and changed into their new armors.
They came out, dressed in their new game clothing. "Wow. It is so much easier to just walk, now," said Adam. Adam suddenly drew a grim look to his face. "How much Hartas does it cost." Adam got ready to pull the Hartas out of his Inventory Cube.
"Hmm..." said Gray. "Well, you know, I like you, so I will let you have it for free."
"Like us?" asked Rouge. "NPCs can't...like...can they?" Rouge had become suspicious.
"Whoops. Heheh. I forgot about that rule. Forget I said anything..." Rouge stared at him for a moment. "Anyway, I know this absolutely great place where you can get some weapons. In fact, I could ask the shopkeeper to give you any weapon you like for free."
"So, where is it?" asked Adam.
"Right through that door to your right," answered Gray. "Oh, by the way. Put all of your non-armor clothes in your Inventory Cube by pressing the button on the top. To release them, press the one key." They did as he instructed. "Also, do not forget. You must never, ever, under any circumstances take any items you obtained on Hearts to your world. When you are ready to log out, you must change into your regular clothes in the locker rooms at the Starting Point Building and put them in your Inventory Cube. Then, put the Inventory Cube in your locker safe."
Adam, Rouge, and Samantha all entered to the next room. This room looked exactly like Old Man Gray's Defensives.
"There's nobody in here," Samantha pointed out.
Suddenly, the door behind the counter opened. "Oh? Customers? Well, welcome to Old Man Gray's Offensives." The same man was standing behind this counter as in the Defensives store.
"You are the same man from the shop next door!" exclaimed Rouge.
"Really? I never noticed. I don't think I recognize you, though."
"Whatever, anyway, you said you'd give us free weapons in the other shop."
Old Man Gray looked them over. "Yes. You look like a friendly bunch. I think I will indeed give you a deal on my weapons. Hmm...come here. To the counter. All of ya..." They huddled close up to Gray as he looked at each of them closely. He raised one of his shaggy eyebrows, revealing a grey eye. "Yes. I think I know the perfect weapons for each of you." He went into the back room once again. He came out moments later with two swords, a spear, two daggers, and a type of handgun in his arms.
He handed a Broadsword which glowed purple to Adam, the two two-sided Daggers and the spear to Samantha, and a Longsword and a Sawed-Off Shotgun to Rouge.
"There are guns in this game?" asked Rouge. "Wouldn't that mean that the other weapons are obsolete?"
"Absolutely not! Not when you can enchant sword and daggers with ease, but with guns you have to enchant each bullet separately," answered Gray.
"Oh! So that is how they balance the game. I get it," said Adam.
"Game? Oh, yeah. I forgot about that again," said Gray. Rouge stared him down again with suspicion.
"Alright! Rouge, Samantha! It is time for me to join the fight to become leader of the Good Side!" exclaimed Adam.
*****
"Where am I? Who am I?" he looked at his hands and his surroundings. He was in some sort of high tech pod with its door open. "That's right...I am Zare Lewkor." Zare got out of the pod and stood up. He was standing in a vast field, a Giant Field, with some cities and geographic features visible. The most noticeable place was a nearby city with a tall castle in the center. He looked back at the pod he was sitting in. The seat had the words, 'Da Boss', written on them. "I don't recognize those words..." he said. He felt a strange thing hanging off of his belt. A Metal cube, colored red was tied to his waste. It had a strange latch on the front and numbered keys on the back. The hatch on the front was sealed off. "How do I work this thing?" He pressed one of the keys on the back and two traditional Japanese-styled fans popped out. He opened the fans to reveal that they were made of steel and the ends were like blades. "These feel familiar to me." He opened them wide in each hand and crouched down into a fighting position, holding one arm forward and to the ground, the other in the air and behind him. "Yeah. I must be a Fighter of some sort. Hmm..." Zare looked around. "I guess I should go to the city and ask someone where I am. Maybe someone will recognize me." Zare began walking to the city.
Upon his arrival, he found that he was just in time for some sort of an announcement. A blimp was flying by with the image of an Asian-looking man with long, black hair. He was speaking. "Greetings, current residents of the City of Swe. I, Rexwell Haek, who is to be addressed as The Hacker throughout this game, would like to declare a war. This war is not for the sake of violence or power, but to introduce the game in a fun way. There will be two sides. A Good Side and an Evil Side. I already called dibs on the Evil Side, so unless you can defeat me, which you can't, you have to be a soldier for me if you wish to join the Evil Side. As for signing up, come to the Grand Arena to join my ranks. The Good Side's leader has not been decided yet. Those of you in Swe City who want the spot will have to duke it out to find one. Now, I bid you adieu."
"Alright. So, I guess this city is called Swe. And, did he say, 'game?' Is this some sort of virtual reality game? I guess it would make sense, since they are having a for-fun war."
Lewkor felt a breeze pass by, blowing through his long, red, spiked hair. He noticed that his shirt was torn where the sleeves should have been. "Huh...did I do this?" He then looked at his other clothes. He wore black tennis shoes and loose, blue jeans. "I wonder if this is normal attire for around here." He looked at the people wandering around town. Their clothes ranged from full on Plate Armor to leather jackets and jeans to flower shirts and bathing suits. "Huh. Well, I guess there is no such thing as fitting out here."
"Hey, you! What's your name?" came a male's voice from nearby. Zare looked around and spotted a tall, blonde man wearing golden Plate Armor. He had two very large pauldrons on either side of him. His armor's design was intricate yet simplistic.
"Who, me?" asked Zare.
"Yeah. You," answered the man.
"I'm Zare Lewkor," answered Zare.
"Lewkor, huh?" asked the man. "Good name. Kinda pale, but strong looking...You gonna join the war or not?"
"Well, I was thinking..." began Zare.
"Don't think, just do. Listen Lewkor, I like you. I mean in a friendly way. You should try joining the Good Side. I am going to try out to be the leader. If you vow to follow me and support me becoming the leader, I'll train you. You really don't look like much of a Fighter, though."
"Well, sure I guess. If you can teach me to be a better Fighter, then sure I'll be your underling for a short while."
"You're a good guy, Lewkor," said the man.
"You know, you can call me Zare. I don't mind."
"The name, Lewkor, holds much more power than Zare. A first impression can be majorly influenced by your name. By telling the world, 'hi! I'm Lewkor!' you are showing your inner strength."
"I see. Well, then I guess I'll give my name as Lewkor to anyone who I meet from now on. From now on, I am Lewkor!"
"Oh, I forgot to give my name to you. I am Ada. My game nick is Adagamefreak. I plan to fight for the position of leader next week, but I can train you today, tomorrow, after school on weekdays, and then next week is when I'll need your support for becoming the next leader of the Good Side."
"Alright!"
*****
"Father. I have decided on the one that will be my Agent. The one to hold my Deathscythe. He goes by the name...of Zare Lewkor."
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