Distortion Drift Prologue

The very first thing he came to was the sound of a gun's safety being removed.

Behind the rifle's cannon pointing straight at his face stood uptight a thin purple-coloured robot whose only remarkable characteristic were the reptilian features of its head, resembling a horned lizard gave the overall impression of its main function being that of combat. At first, one would think its controller was some sort of NPC, but the way the finger gripping the trigger trembled ever so slightly as well as the awkward posture it held with legs spread wide open and shaking made him assume that it had to be controlled by a human.

Think. There has to be a way to get out of this.

-"Um, is there something you-"

-"AAAAAAAH! DON'T MOVE OR I'LL DRILL A HOLE ON YOUR CROTCH YOU BASTARD! GUYS, QUICK, HE'S AWAKE!"

As the type of person who had to deal in a daily basis with an increasingly large amount of people, he soon knew that attempting to initiate any negotiation with the guy at that point would be useless, due to how anxious he was. In fact, any other word would probably make his finger slip, so...

He soon noticed the sound of grass being crushed underneath boots; some made light sounds, others were heavier. However, they all had something in common.

They definitely could not be classified as 'Good News'.

-"So you're finally awake, bastard. Start talking. If you tell us who sent you here and for what reason, we might let you go."

-"I say we kill 'im already. Jack, shoot the fucker already!"

There seemed to be some sort of debate about wether they would kill him or not. The light green robot they called Panzer seemed to not want any problems. However, a third guy, known as Pierce, who wore a light red armor, seemed to not want him dead for some reason, but wanted to ask him a few things first.

The more time passed, the more Panzer's argument started to sink into the minds of his peers, which was to just kill him off and get away as fast as possible. But why?

He was just some defenceless guy who did not have any... Wait.

There was a way out of the situation, albeit momentary.

There were five of them, and they were all armed. However, the purple guy, Jackson, did obviously not know his ways around a firearm. He didn't dare make any guesses about if a gun would be much of a threat to robots, but if they carried them around he supposed it'd have some effect. Then, he filled his lungs with air, and...

Yelled as hard as humanly possible.

-"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!"

His plan had a better effect than expected. As soon as he began yelling, all attention was diverted from the lone man lying on the floor towards the potential rescue party sent to save him.

Which was exactly what he needed.

A swift punch to the gut of the purple guy, a light pull and his rifle transferred hands, Stepping back as fast as he could, he realized that he had no idea how to use one, but adrenaline and desperation helped him gain some decision and attempt to hold it towards his enemies' direction menacingly.

-"I... I don't want to harm anybody, okay? Just leave, and I promise I won't discuss this with anyone!"

The three men in high tech suits looked at each other before shrugging comically.

-"Ooooh. So it's a newbie then."

-"Should've guessed sooner."

-"Yeah. We could've gone straight for the killin'. Jack?"

Somehow, having a high caliber gun pointed at them did not have the results he expected.

As he'd learned the hard way, if you are going to shoot, shoot. But don't point a gun at someone without the intention to fire it, because if they see through your bluff, it's over.

The purple robot opened its mouth, and before he had time to react something sticky shot out of it, yanking the rifle out of his hands. At the same time, the man in green ran towards him and before he had time to dodge, punched him in the face with enough force to break his nose, sending him face down to the grassy soil.

-"This is for wasting our time, newbie. Let's not go too hard on him, guys. Let's kill 'im one time each to show who's boss around here, then we leave. Right, Pierce?

... Pierce?"

Instead of the sound of the voice of his friend, what was heard was the sound of a fist satisfyingly snapping the jaw of the red coloured Drifter out of its place, before a blue coloured boot crushed his sniper rifle's cannon, making it useless until he spent some Drifter Points on repairing it.

Good. With the long range avatar out of the way, the other two would be easier to deal with. One close-range green shaded avatar, carrying no weaponry besides his two fists and his tank-like armor, and a weak mid-range purple avatar whose primary weapon has his prehensile tongue, not unlike a chameleon's.

At the left corner of his sight, his own Health gauge and Special Gauge were displayed in a HUD like manner.

-Damn, only 60% left? –He whispered, more to himself than to the enemies in front of him-

He knew he should not have taken on that giant anteater so far away from a Rest Area, but that didn't matter.

After all, he'd managed to sneak up and take down the true long range fighter while they were busy drooling over their "prey".

Two fists covered in deep blue armor crashed against each other, letting out sparks and flashy SFX.

It was time to show them what the close quarters combat specialist, Cove Fighter, was capable of-!

-"Y-you bastard! Jackson, let's show this guy what we're capable of! Uoooooooh!"

He watched in a mix of amusement and fear how the deep blue armor guy shrugged off a bullet to the chest, easily lifted over his head the green one and tossed him towards the purple chameleon-like fighter, knocking both of them unconscious for a good while.

-"Aaaand I guess that's it. Yo, newbie. Seems like you've been having a good time."

Unlike the former steps, these ones were of the reassuring kind. When they were close enough, a hand covered in a deep blue metallic glove was extended towards him.

Initially suspicious, he stared at the being who extended his hand. The same as the other three people he'd met instants before, he was also clad in a strange suit of metallic armor. However, unlike the former, there seemed to emanate no malice from his eyes.

Only an honest, sincere desire to help, so he did the only logical thing. Holding firmly into his hand, he stood up.

-"W-who were they?"

-"Oh, these guys? Just your everyday Drifters, trying to get an edge over the rest no matter what. Even if it means attacking a damn fresh newcomer."

There was something nagging him. Something strange, something his brain was having a hard time overlooking... Just what could it-

-"Wait... What the hell is wrong with my hand? A-actually, what's the matter with-"

Despite being able to feel as if his hand was naked, his hand was protected by a clear blue gauntlet. Looking down, he noticed his feet too were clad in reliable metallic boots, and that his thighs, chest, shoulders were so too.

-"Oi, I know, I know, but we gotta get going or those guys will..."

-"Wh-wh-what is going..."

Before he could recover from the shock, the deep blue warrior grabbed him gently but firmly from the collar like a dog would carry its puppy and started dragging him around the terrain, desperately seeking cover.

-"Wait, just what is..."

-"Shhhh! We've gotta get away before the purple bastard has time to aim!"

Soon, the image of a rifle being aimed at them from a slowly increasing distance became clear. Survival instinct making sure that soon became the top priority inside his world, at some point he was no longer being dragged but had turned around and began running on his own two legs, with the sound of the earth right below where his feet had been two seconds ago being pierced by projectiles.

In situations like these, there was no point on thinking. The only thing they could do was...

Run.

For some reason, he did not grow physically tired, no matter how much he ran. Although he could feel other sensations, his body did not give any signs of giving up anytime soon.

A bullet impacted cleanly against his back. Even though he felt terrible amounts of pain, his body stood uptight and did not give in at all.

It was strange. If he had to describe this sensation, it felt like all of a sudden... He had become a hero.

Seconds felt like minutes, and minutes like hours until he noticed that clear structures carved out of the finest marble closed upon them both.

-"This way!"

Passing statues and columns so finely decorated any artist would devote a life to making them like a blur, the two blue figures delved deeper and deeper inside the baroque style city, bathed perpetually by the setting sunshine. Soon, the sound of steps from their pursuers slowly began to sound further and further, until...

-"Shit! W-We left Pierce-kun all the way out there!"

-"D-dammit! We've got no time for this, he's about to respawn! You go on ahead!"

The blue coloured savior sighed in relief as he watched the purple and green coloured robots leave as he placed a hand on his shoulders.

-"Well, that's that. Not half bad, boy. You've got guts at least, which is more than these guys can say. Oh, sorry, guess we haven't introduced ourselves yet.

My name is Cove Fighter. Nice to meet you."

Cove Fighter? What a strange name.

-"My name is Yamaguchi Mamoru. I..."

-"Haaa. Guess you still haven't been able to tell, huh. I suppose the best way is to show you. Let's see... Ah, here. Come, boy!"

Doing as he said, he stood in front of a plain white wall, which reflected the image of his own body.

-"N-no way! What is this? Wh-what the hell is going on here!?"

The man known as Cove Fighter laughed bitterly, before giving him a meaningful pat in the back.

-"This is your Drifter Avatar. Or, I should say, your new body for as long as you are stuck inside the «Distorted World»."

-"Di... Disortion World?"

-"Yeah. Look around you. –Said Fighter, pointing with his gauntlet to the beautiful scenery behind them- See this? For god knows how fucking long, this has been the cage of us, Disortion Drifters.

And now it is yours, as well. Say, boy. Do you notice the bars on the left side of your view?"

Just as he said, there were two strange bars glued to his field of view. Just like if this were some sort of game. Right below it, there was a...

-"Yeah. See, names here mean jack shit. When you arrive here, social status, friends, the past, none of that matters anymore.

The only thing that matters are your own abilities, and how good you are at surviving down here. So, let me ask again, boy. What is your name?"

He clenched his fists, looking again at the figure in the mirror, clad in light blue armor, styled after a knight's. It felt unnecessarily cool. No matter how he looked at it...

It was the exact opposite of what he was. Furthermore, what was up with his name?

-"My name is... Royal Duke."