VR Hyper Fighters Turbo 01: Tense Tryouts

Part 01 - Tense Tryouts

12:50 PM, Saturday

A girl busts through the front entrance of her local mall, startling the afternoon crowd as the doors slam open. She makes a mad dash up the escalator, twisting and dodging through the people already on it and apologizing throughout. Zooming past the food court, she sees her destination: Nick's Arcade. In awe of the flashing lights and attract mode videos, she clutches her bag of quarters and walks inside.

"Oh hey," one of the employees says. "You've been coming by every weekend for a while now, what're you playing today?" She sort of mumbles out a greeting, but is too enamored by the arcade cabinets and crane games to pay attention. "We just got in a new zombie game," the guy brags nonchalantly. "Ratings board said the gore was too much, but we snuck it in anyway."

He notices she’s headed toward a specific group of cabinets in the back and completely blocking him out, so he tries again. "You like platformers? This kid playing Plumber's Quest has no idea what he's doing. Should be free soon." Still nothing. Dejected, the employee shuffles away. Then she sees it.

"VR Hyper Fighters Turboooo..." she whispers, her voice hanging on that last OOoooo as if it were echoing throughout a stadium hall. The game was a double sided widescreen monitor with 2 converted Dance Revolution Dance pads on either side. Players used headsets to view the game in first person, so the monitors were mostly there for spectators.

It wasn't a particularly new game, the metal they used in the mats were a bit creaky, and the cabinet could use a dusting. But she couldn't stop coming back weekend after weekend. Taking a headset out of her backpack, she finds an open mat next to 3 other people already in the game and pops her quarter in. Her headset connects with the cabinet, purring and clicking to life. In an instant, she’s zapped into the game.

Arena: Woodland Forest

When her eyes adjusted to the light, the girl saw she was in the Woodland Forest arena. Sunlight filtered in through the trees, and the CPU was working overtime in the background to simulate a cool summer breeze. Birds flocked and sang. Of all the arenas, this was her favorite.

Looking down, she admired her avatar. In the game, she was a Mage, and her blazing red robes indicated her archetype. But Mage took an unconventional specialization in close combat, and this was reflected in a set of Shotgauntlets adorned on both hands. These devices allowed her to channel magic through her fists in whatever way she wanted.

“Hey are you here for tryouts?!” someone called out. Looking up through her visor, Mage saw someone in the distance. It was Hacker, a girl in her class who had an affinity for insects. She was propped up on four metal legs and all four of her visor pieces eyed her curiously. Calling again, Hacker shouted “Well, are ya?”

“Oh, Yeah!” Mage shouted, snapping out of a reverie long enough to remember why she was here in the first place. With a bit of concentration, she begins to hover off the ground and floats over to where Hacker and two other people are standing. Puffing out her chest to look impressive, Mage says, “I saw your post about trying out for Brain Gains and I think I’d be a good fit for the team!”

“A good fit...” Hacker begins to comb through data on her headset. Win/Loss records, Combat Points, family history... wait a second. Something absolutely exceptional catches her eye, but like a good predator, she doesn’t give it away with a tell. “Maybe so. But these two also showed up, so I guess it’s time for tryouts.”

Mage looks at the two other people standing next to her, a tall wiry kid in a blue ninja getup and a guy buried somewhere underneath a ton of green armor. The armor guy was shouldering a hammer that must have been as big as she was, with the business ends made up of huge tree stumps, but he held it like it was nothing.

“Ok guys, remember this is just an audition. No need to go overkill,” Hacker reminds everyone as she scampers up a tree to get a good spot for the action. The three fighters size each other up while giving each other space, a triangle the size of a soccer field forming among them. Mage and the blue guy look at the Knight and then nod to each other. Igniting her shotgauntlets, Mage’s fists become engulfed in fire. The ninja-looking guy twirls his hands around and a pair of kunai appear out of nowhere. Hacker pops her head out of the trees to say, “And remember, have fun!”

On some unspoken cue, Mage and Ninja sprint toward the big guy, running as fast as possible. Due to the loose coding of the game, normal human limits on top speed had no bearing here, so the Knight could only look on at what had become twin red and blue streaks of light charging directly toward him. Pulling out his hammer, Knight slams the pommel onto the ground sending forth gnarled roots and vines in a wave all around him.

Both opponents are caught off guard as Mage trips on a knot of grass and crashes face first into the ground. Ninja is seemingly impaled on an exposed bed of thorns but instead his body just...pops? The shape of a person remains for a second before falling to the ground as a puddle of water. Pulling her head up from the grass, Mage wonders what just happened until she sees a shadowy figure run away in the opposite direction. “A clone,” she mutters under her breath.

Dusting herself off, Mage observes the sheer amount of plant matter that was uprooted. Hell of an attack, she has to admit, before refocusing on the battle. Adopting a composed fighting stance, her shotgauntlets click back to life as she slices forward with a deadly chop that sends a stray tree branch flying. The stump it left behind is covered in smoking embers. Knight squints at her in concern.

Walking slowly at first, Mage calmly strikes out at any root, vine, or twig in her path. She closes the distance with a surprising quickness and the immediate area begins to smell like a forest fire. Tightening the grip on his hammer, Knight readies himself for a big baseball swing. The hammer pulses with green energy and comes crashing down, and...! The attack is blocked by Mage’s forearm! She looks at Knight with a gleeful smile and decks him HARD, sending him soaring over the treeline. Ninja sees him shoot past from his perch on a nearby tree and whistles in admiration.

“Uh guys, what did I say about taking it easy?” Hacker asks, bewildered.

In a brief moment of calm, Mage indulges in a little celebration dance. She’s never landed a hit quite like that before! That team slot is essentially hers. Now where did that Nin-- Her thoughts are cut short by a kunai to the back. She cries out in pain and coughs up water. Even though the dagger splashes down into a harmless puddle, it still felt like a knife took the most direct route through her.

Scanning the forest and catching her breath, she spots another knife hurtling toward her which she deflects at the last second. From a completely different angle, Ninja jumps down and ambushes her with a punch to the kidney, forcing Mage to swing around blindly. When she strikes him, Ninja merely pops into a puddle of water, dousing her shotgauntlets and extinguishing her fire. “Great,” she mutters. Not only did that really hurt, but now she's soaking wet.

A rustling in the undergrowth catches her attention when at least seven identical bodies rush forward and grab Mage before she can get out of the way. A fumbling mass of arm and leg locks ensue until Mage is left a human pretzel and completely immobilized. Ninja, maybe the real Ninja, steps out of the shadows and summons four more clones to finish off Mage. What proceeded could only be described as a quick and efficient dispatching. 1. Punch to Stomach 2. Elbow to Back of Head 3. Knee to Chin 4. Sliding Kick to Diaphragm. The last kick sends Mage rocketing skyward and on Ninja's command, two clones in the trees who slash an X across the sky with their knives. Mage crashes down to earth and cratering on impact. Satisfied that she’s out of commission, Ninja goes off in search of Knight.

After a bit of searching, he sees his lumbering target hunched over in a clearing. Must be licking his wounds. Readying a weapon, Ninja snickers to himself. Too easy. Leaping forward, he plunges his knife into the small Knight’s back, right between the armor plates. But something’s wrong. Ninja’s kunai sinks much farther than expected and keeps going. It feels like his whole hand is getting sucked in too. With the parting of clouds, Ninja sees that it wasn’t Knight at all, but a pretty convincing growth of vines and a bit of moss for coloration.

“I got some tricks too,” Knight states plainly leaning against a tree. As he walks over casually, Ninja attempts to cut his hand out of the vines.

“Why--Are--These--Things--So--Tough?!” Ninja gasps out in between sawing motions.

“Intertwining Vine Knots. Much harder to grow, but they get the job done.” Knight lowers his hammer to Ninja’s head. “Now, try and hold still."

“T-take it easy, big guy,” Ninja stammers.

Paying no heed, Knight lifts the hammer up and readies himself like a kid playing a test your luck carnival game. He's about to swing for the bell at the top when out of nowhere he hears "--WAIT!” Mage propels herself into the middle of things on a jet of fire. Knight stops his hammer mere centimeters from his victim’s head. Ninja lets out a mix of a drawn out sigh and a high pitched sob.

"Better count your lucky ninja stars," Knight says to Ninja, before turning to the interloper. "What is it?"

“If we both GG him, maybe we can both get in?” Mage offers. “I’m sure Brain Gains has room for an alternate, we could change places every match or something!”  Knight mulls it over for a little before nodding. Mage ignites her shotgauntlets and Knight’s hammer pulses with green neon energy, but when they both look down at where Ninja was supposed to be, there's just a mess of broken vines.

Looking at each other, Knight and Mage both yell, “TRUCE IS OFF!” The two fighters jump backward to create some space. Mage lifts herself off the ground and fully engulfs her body in fire, while Knight erects a bulwark of tree trunks and roots in front of him, with vines weaving together for structural stability. His hammer starts to hum with impatience, eager to hit something already. Leaping into the air, Mage becomes a burning effigy that rushes forward and dive bombs toward Knight's castle. At that exact moment, a super accelerated stream of water collides with the fortress from behind. Ninja slides down this pressurized stream, charging at Knight holding a katana several times larger than the average man. With a great deal of yelling and bravado, all three fighters collide. A multicolored explosion pops out of the trees and birds from another part of the woods scatter to safety.

-Five Minutes Later-

The three fighters manage to pull themselves out of the giant crater and are left bruised and sweaty. Hacker peeks in to see the damage.

“So who won?!” Mage demands.

“Oh uh, nobody actually," Hacker mumbles. "We found a better fit for the position, so tryouts are closed. Sorry!”

“Hey wait!” Ninja calls out. “Tournament entry opens tomorrow! What are we supposed to do?”

“I, hm. I dunno. Why not make your own team?” Hacker offers before logging off, her avatar digitizing into 1’s and 0’s before vanishing completely. Mage, Knight, and Ninja decide they might as well do the same.

Pulling off her headset, Mage is almost disappointed to come back to the real world. The colors seem less vibrant and everything’s a little more depressing. She sees Hacker making an awkward break for the exit. Next to her are the two people she had been fighting with mere seconds minutes before. The tall wiry boy flashes her a smile while a bigger kid in a green hoodie puts his headset into his back pocket. “Hey, you guys were actually pretty cool back there!” she says. “Knight! Those things you were doing with the roots and the plants and stuff! And Ninja! I could barely keep track of all those clones!” Mage is getting so worked up she's nearly floating off the ground “Absolutely insane! Those water daggers, so clever, AND they really hurt!”

Ninja leans back, basking in the recognition and grins. “That’s the idea, Red. Ninjas are supposed to confuse, distract, and eliminate. That's me."

“Red?” Mage asks puzzled. “Oh! You mean like my hair.” She runs a finger through the freshly dyed red streaks she may or may not have done last night to match her avatar.

Ninja turns to Knight and says, “Hey, not bad over there Smalls. You almost had me with that vine trick.”

Knight shrugs his shoulders and gives a small smile. “Thanks.”

The overworked hamster wheel in Mage’s brain fires up as an idea begins to form. “Waiit a second. If joining Brain Gains is a lost cause, maybe... we could form our own team! To be honest, I never really liked Hacker, I just needed some people to partner up with, and you guys are both really good! The rest of the quarters in my bag should cover the entry fee and you can pay me back whenever, it’s not even a big deal, I get an allowance every week and I’ve been saving up for this since my b-” Ninja laughs and holds up a hand.

“Slow your roll Red! They have speed limits on conversations, you know. I'm okay with partnering up, but I don't know about Smalls over here." He gestures toward Knight. "What do you think buddy?" Ninja puts a too-friendly hand over the other kids shoulders, who shrugs them off and thinks about it for a second. Mage looks over to the quiet kid with her hands clasped pleading with puppy dog eyes.

"Fine, fine."

“YES!” Red cheers, triumphant. Clapping her hands, she's settled the matter. “Now we just need a name and we’re all set for the tourn- Oh I know!” Struck by a flash of what she would call brilliance, Red flips open her phone and taps in their registration info. Shortly after, Ninja and Knight both get notifications. Flipping his phone open, Ninja looks at the screen and just shakes his head in disbelief.

“We're called the Rumbleboys?”

END PART 1