ic Digital Hex

[Supercape]

March 13th, 2024

 

Claremont Academy, students residence

 

Golden Star had booted up his Nintendo 64. 

 

It was supposedly cursed. But Blackstaff had sorted that out. Probably. And probably was surely good enough. 

 

The psychic twins Cerebral and Cerebrum had stuck their head in through the door to see what was going on. The Nintendo fizzed when plugged in, and flickered half the lights of the students residence. 

 

Booting up? What was booting up? It was taking its damn time that was for sure. As it loaded (at a relatively glacial pace), the machine displayed pixellated art: Of machine guns, of evil villains in evil costumes, of lightning bolts, of dark towers with screaming damsels in distress at the top, of a city ruined by warfare, awash with tanks and mines. 

 

It all looked very archiac, and very violent. In a quaint way. 

 

The images had a certain... hypnotic... quality to them. It was hard to drag your eyes away from the screen, despite (or maybe because) of the antique pixel graphics...

Edited March 13 by Supercape

[Poncho]

"...Is this Majora's Mask?" Michael asked as he looked at the colors. "I thought that opened with a horse."

 

He looked back at his laptop where he had gamefaqs open, rubbing his chin. "Weird. Maybe it's a special edition." he shrugged. Even on off days he tended to look like a prep; he had a white polo and jeans on, along with some easy sneakers. When he spotted the twins he waved at them.

 

Michael's room wasn't really that different from a regular teenager's room except that he was fastidiously clean. He had posters of the Legendary Godzilla movies in his room- he'd been organizing a group visit to the theater on opening night to get everyone to go see it together-. He also had a wide variety of superhero memorabilia arranged on his walls and on his desk, but the things he had were one of a kind things he'd gotten from heroes he'd spent time with; he had a talisman that he got from Blackstaff, Fluer de Joie's autograph, a pair of Baz's antenna, a lacrosse stick he'd gotten to use when playing with Bernie, and a little trinket he'd gotten from Charlie. It felt like the wall of random superhero trinkets was only going to grow in the future.

 

The desk itself was stuffed full of organized paper; every subject had it's own color, and his desk was covered in laminated folders and tabs, filled with assignments and homework. The majority was his own, but he had homework from any other number of students he was checking the work of if they needed it, all neatly organized by name and subject. The centerpiece of the desk was a picture of Carmen in a frame. He had currently pulled his chair from his desk over to the TV to see if he could get this game working.

 

"Iris! Daniel! Come on in, apparently this game is a classic, according to my dad. He said he played it every weekend for like a whole year." he said. "We can figure out if we can manage it, I have a guide that I found online too!" he said, standing up.

[Dracostern]

 

Cerebral and Cerebellum

Daniel and Iris were making their way towards Michael's room. It had been Daniel's idea really, they needed to hang out with the other students outside of big events after all and rumor had it that Michael had a new gaming console, and Daniel had gotten interested in video games, so that's why we was there, to visit. Iris decided to come because she had finished her schoolwork and didn't have much to do. Why not try and make some more connections here?

 

Iris wore some denim shorts today, with a black top. Extremely casual. Daniel, meanwhile, wore jeans and a white shirt. They were similar already so at least they wore something slightly different today. 

 

Daniel would knock on the door before they were let in. "Thanks Man, I'm excited to see this! Man...isn't that an older gaming console?" The young man moved over to Michael and look over his shoulder at the screen before blinking was...was that normal? It must be...of course Daniel had never played any video games in his life and his knowledge on the topic was limited on the topic, but hey! He was learning. 
Iris would close the door behind them and move a bit closer too. "Thank you for having us." She nodded politely.

[Poncho]

"Oh no problem, I'm always up for a hang out. I'll make sure you two get to come to our movie party later this month too." he said casually. He offered the controller to Daniel as the other student moved over. "Yeah, it's an older one, but I'm not sure if it's working right. Maybe I've got the wrong game put in...I've never used a cartridge before." he mumbled and shook his head.

 

"Anyway! So how are you two doing? I've not gotten the chance to talk to you two too much, are you holding up okay? I know your first little...adventure was a bit hazardous, but I'm hoping you've managed to get a little past it. Any problems with the homework or the school work? I'm a great help at that at the least." he gestured to his desk. "I've got quite a few students I'm helping, you know, so it's not a big deal if you need some help yourselves." he grinned

[Dracostern]

Cerebral and Cerebellum

 

Daniel took the controller excitedly as he pressed the Start button to see what would happen. Though as Michael brought up their....adventure...there was a slight frown that crossed his face. That was indeed quite hazardous, not something they could forget either. “Umm…yeah it was a lot…but we are surviving.” He started to smile a little once more.

Iris nodded her head. “Indeed, and don’t worry about tutoring, I’m doing alright…and I’m helping Daniel out too.”
 

Her brother blushed. The fact that his sister just admitted he was struggling a little in class was embarrassing. “Heh…yeah, but I’m always free if you just want to hang out. Also, how are you and Carmen?”

[Poncho]

"Well, don't worry. If you ever need help with a superheroic problem, just give me a call; I'll come flying in. That's part of my job, after all." he said, taking a seat on the floor as he watched Daniel. "I'm the guy you can rely on, no matter what happens, I'll step up to help." he spoke with casual confidence about that as he watched Daniel.

 

"And don't worry about tutoring, or even feeling bad about being a bit behind. Carmen was behind too, and there's kids here from all sorts of different educations. Veruiz's education is way higher than ours, Lawrence and Parker are both incredibly smart; Parker speaks 4 languages!" he laughs "No one is ever perfectly on everyone else's level. I feel like I'm not able to keep up with them myself, having to put all my effort in just to end up behind them. Everyone's always struggling to match up to whoever they think are above them, feeling like they aren't keeping up. It's just rough." he sighs.

 

"But me and Carmen are doing good. We're going to a baseball game later this month. It'll be fun." He didn't feel the need to say who else was going to be there.

[Supercape]

GM

 

As the teens chatted, commenting on this, and commenting on that (and getting to know each other a little better by doing so), the Nintendo 64 hissed. Very slightly. Maybe a trick of the wind, maybe a fizz of an old circuit, or maybe... just maybe... something spooky was going on, like the first breath of a summoned ghost. 

 

The screen jiggered slightly, the pixels distorting for an instant. 

 

If one was really paranoid, one could almost say the sound and the image was becoming slightly hypnotic. 

 

Every so slightly. 

 

Just enough to start engrossing the teens in the screen just a bit more than was normal for a teenager...

[Dracostern]

Cerebral and Cerebellum

 

The twins paused for a moment then looked over at Michael, well Daniel did anyway as Iris was already doing so. That little speech he gave them was not what they expected and yet...this was not a bad thing at all. In fact it was very heroic in it's own right, granted a lot of the other students were like this, but the encouragement was always welcome! The siblings nodded with smiles, even Iris had a small smile on her lips.  "Thank you very much, we shall keep that in mind. I'm glad things are going well with Carmen too." Iris spoke as Daniel turned back to the screen...only to notice it jiggering a little bit.

 

"Huh? Hey dude, are you sure this thing isn't broken?" He finally asked after pressing a few buttons himself.

 

[Poncho]

"I have no idea if it works. It definitely didn't work when I got it, but I've spent like the last month in the gaming club replacing wires and junctions and all those other fiddly inside components...so uh...maybe I didn't actually manage to fix it?" he rubs his chin.

 

"I guess I could crack it open and take a look at the guts, but I don't have any of the tools so it's not like I could fix it." he finally said after thinking about it for awhile.

 

"Speaking of clubs though, have you two gotten into any clubs? I know you were interested in the theater club, but there's tons of them, and I've got their meetings in my planner if there's any you want to take a look at. I've actually gotten really into the ventriloquist's club lately. It's small but friendly, a great place to relax for a bit and pick up a unique skill!"

[Dracostern]

Cerebral and Cerebellum

 

""Huh? I see, well maybe we can go get it checked out again." Daniel puts the controller down for now and stretches before replying. "I do want to join the theater club actually I've just been too busy to check in with them recently..." He admitted, he was also a bit nervous as well but wasn't going to say that. He hoped that he could fit in. 

 

"Oh yeah, Danny here is a fantastic actor." Iris praised her brother as she moved over and patted him on the back. "Just give him a costume and he could fit almost any role! I'm so proud of him." Daniel would blush a little at this before speaking softly. "Aww Sis...thanks." Yeah these two seemed quite close. 

"As for me, I'm looking for some kind of book club honestly. Might I ask which club you are in?"

[Supercape]

GM

 

The Screen shifted again...

 

...a pixel art picture of a military nazi-style commander beating a book with a club. 

 

Boink! Boink! Boink!

 

Flashing lights, humming sounds...

 

This was hypnotic with a capital H!

 

It was impossible to drag ones eyes away from it. In but a moment, the three teenagres bodies were still; transfixed by the flashing images, completely mindless. 

 

So where were there minds?

 

They whizzed through eldritch dimensions and impossible realms, to land...

 

...in the computer game itself!

 

But no computer game they recognised. Golden Star and Cerebellum landed in the middle of a warn torn city, full of wrecked buildings and the sound of machine gun fire. 

 

Ad COrtex?

 

In the top of locked tower! Grill over the window, looking over the ruined city. A four poster bed, a silver mirror... oh it was gilded alright, but still a gilded cage. She was a digital damsel in distress, locked at the top of a tower!

 

 

[Poncho]

"You should definitely reach out and join whatever club strikes your fancy! They're all kinds of fun, meet some new people, have some adventures, things like that." 

 

When asked about his own clubs, Michael girnned like a kid at a circus and pulled out his scheduler.

 

"I've been a part of every single club on campus. I'm not an active member of all of them, but I've gone to a few meetings of each one. Right now I'm focusing on the Ventriloqy club, Student Government, the 'Sports Club', the Book club, the Gaming Club, and the Movie Club." he said, flipping through his planner and showing where all the different clubs had their own notations and colors alongside everything else. "Plus my Study Group." that one he seemed quite proud of.

 

Then he was staring at the capital H, his eyes glossing over. 

 

Then when he landed in the city with Daniel he looked around in shock.

 

"Not again! Not more magic!" he cried out in exasperation. "I'm so sick of magic!"

[Dracostern]

Cerebral and Cerebellum

 

"Huh, well hopefully you pace...yourself..." Iris started until the flashing screen drew her to it. She would stare deeply at it. Daniel was already doing the same, and as such did not have time to reply...before lights began to flash in front of their faces...
 

...and all of a sudden Daniel "woke up" and groaned as he looked around the war torn city. Just where were they?! "Michael?! you ok dude?" He spun around to look for his friend before spotting him and breathing a sigh of relief. "Alright, Iris we need to figure out what happened." Silence.

"Iris...?" He looked around but could not spot his sister.

"I-I-I-Iris...?"

His expression shifted from confusion to a somewhat dazed look for a second...before a panicked feeling overcame him. ""IRIS!!!" He cried out in an almost manic way and desperately tried to search for her. His heart was racing and tears welled up in his eyes. Sure they had split up before but that was always by choice and they knew roughly where each other were...but here, there was no control at all.

 

Meanwhile...

 

Iris "woke up" in an unfamiliar room, she would get up from the bed and look around before speaking. "Alright Danny, Michael. let's figure out how to get out of here." No response. "Huh?!" She gasped and looked around the room to find out that she was all alone. She could not seem to pick up anything telepathically just yet either. Her heart began to race and she grip her teeth. Panic and anger seemed to overcome her. 
"Daniel stop playing around! come out!"

Again no reply.

"****!" She cursed before gripping her hair for a moment and tugging it. "YOU F***s I'LL F***ING KILL YOU!" She cried out in a rage at whomever might have put her there before going to kick at the door before stopping. No she needed to calm down. She needed to get out of here stat! She needed to find Daniel and Michael no matter who or what was in the way.

[Poncho]

Michael grimaced at Daniel as the other teen started to panic. It made absolute sense. That was the correct thing to do. Being split up from your twin, the person you relied on the most, and with no support. That had to be terrifying, especially when it happened so rapidly. Michael wanted to panic himself, to scream for help on his own, but he got the feeling that wasn't happening.

 

There was no Blackstaff to save him from magic today, no Lawrence to open a portal and get them out, no Parker to somehow punch every bad guy in a massive area, no Consuelo to obliterate something, no Mizuki to remind him to stay calm, no Carmen to beat up whatever was nearby. He had to do it himself. 

 

Well not really; Daniel and Iris were here. So he had to do it with them, but he had to make sure they were okay, and protect them. He put a hand on Daniel's shoulder.

 

"Daniel. Stay calm, okay? I know this is bad. But if we're here, then Iris is here too. Let's stay calm and find her together." he said soothingly. "Can you track where she is? Take a deep breath and try and...I dunno, feel her out? We can get through this as long as we're confident and work together. Our first job needs to be getting everyone together though."

[Supercape]

GM

 

Perhaps there might have been time for Daniel to find his twin. If he was left undisturbed in peace and calm...

 

Alas, that was not to be. This was a violent computer game. 

 

Inbetwixt the intermittent sounds of machine gun fire, the teenagers could hear the sound of an engine. A tank!

 

With a CRASH!*, a nearby bomb-hollowed building collapsed, and a cannon barrel poked out. The dust plumed around them, almost obscuring the vision, and threatening to invade their lungs and induce a coughing fit. 

 

From the top of the tank, a hatch opened up. A man dressed in faux-nazi leather gear, and outrageously large and evil military hat popped up, and pointed a gloved finger at the two your men. 

 

"MEN! TERRORISTS! EXTERMINATE THE SCUM IN THE NAME OF GENERAL SPARKS!" he yelled in a completely English tongue with a bad accent that wobbled between American and German. Not your normal German, but the German accent of bad world war 2 movies. 

 

The Tank started creeping forward, the turrey started swerving...

 

It looked very doubleplusungood. 

[Dracostern]

Cerebellum

 

Daniel heard Michael and his movements paused. His friend's words reached his ears and he would take a few deep breaths. This was not enough to calm him down completely, but it was enough for him to stop yelling and to think about the situation at hand. After all it felt like a part of him got ripped away...someone who had been with him since their time on the streets was suddenly not here.

 

They had to find her and get the hell out of here. 

 

"T-Thank you Michael let's-." His voice was cut off but a tank! The young man jumped back and watched it creep towards them. "We have to move...NOW!" With that he grabbed the other boy's arm and tried to pull him behind the cover of an abandoned building.

[Poncho]

"Yup, you're right. Time to go." Michael agreed, letting the other teen half drag him as he ran. He had no idea if his super powers were going to work in this place but he had to at least try.

 

"Here, grab on tight, I'm gonna run!" Mochael said, attempting to lift Daniel up into his arms and speed off using his super speed, attempting to get away from the tank and whoever was on it. "If my powers are working, you try to focus on finding Iris while I try to keep us away from these crazy people!"

[Supercape]

GM

 

Fortunately, this strange world was still a world where Golden Star and the twins had their powers. Super speed, super strength, all present and correct. 

 

Unfortunately, the tank was still a mechanised beast of war with speedy tracks and a really big cannon!

 

BOOM!

 

A nearby building fell apart!

 

BOOM!

 

An old warehouse gained a new, wide entrance!

 

BOOM!

 

As Golden Star weaved through broken streets, fires, and empty buildings, one of the shells came a little bit too close for comfort!

[Dracostern]

Cerebral and Cerebellum
 

Daniel accepted his friend's aid and let Michael carry him. Physical stuff was not his strong suit after all. Sure both he and Iris had above average strength and speed, but those were no where near Michael's level. As they got behind cover, a loud BOOM shook Daniel a little and he gripped his ringing ears. As the rubble and damage from the destroyed buildings struck them, Daniel managed to throw up his forcefield just in time and was not damaged nearly as much as he thought he would be. 

 

Meanwhile

 

Iris was looking around the room to see how she could escape! She even tried to use her telekinesis to see if she could pick up an object from the bedroom and throw it at the window, hoping to smash it open. 

 

[Poncho]

Michael got ahead of himself.

It wasn't really his fault; he'd never fought against something with explosive shells before, and he was treating this like someone trying to nail him with projectiles. He had figured all he needed to do was stay out of the way of them and they'd be fine.

 

He was wrong, and paid for it.

 

He pulled Daniel around a corner, carrying the other teen, and ducked to the left to avoid a shell. And then it exploded at his side! He let go of Daniel entirely on reflex, and he went flying, his own speed his own worst enemy as the shell's force knocked him off course. He hit a large piece of rubble and tripped over it, flying through the air and crashing into a destroyed house, sending it toppling down on him.

 

That hurt, really badly.

[Dracostern]

Cerebellum

 

Daniel fall out of his friend's hand, but he ducked and rolled. As such he seemed to make it out just fine, that with the help of his Forcefield being thrown up just in time! The young man would turn with a gasp as Michael was hit, being knocked off his feet and injured badly. Daniel was pissed! He had lost his sister, and now his buddy was hurt! 
He got up and stared daggers at the "Nazi" on the tank and he pointed towards him. If someone were to take a close look they could see a faint purple wave coming from Daniel's mind and hitting the Nazi's, however to many people they wouldn't be able to see a thing. The enemy would FEEL it though, a throbbing pain that grew more and more as their brain was overloaded and fried.  

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Fool! You anarchists will be crushed behind the mighty bolts of General Sparks!" yelled the tank commander. 

 

"None can resist the irrestistable might of our glorious leader! For he..."

 

He slumped unconscious over the tank, drooling slightly, stupidly large military hat falling off his head to land infront of the tank and get crushed under the tracks. 

 

General Sparks? That rang a bell to the teenagers. Some antique and long forgotten N64 shoot em up game. It wasnt very good. 

 

The graphics right now were incredible, though! Even the pain felt real.... BECAUSE IT WAS!

 

But with the tank commander out, the tank had to grind to a halt. There was the sound of furious scurrying, until another soldier (of lesser rank) popped out from the hatch and started up the machine gun...

 

 

[Dracostern]

Cerebellum

General Sparks? Cerebellum was confused, he had heard of that but...it was from a game right? This was quite confusing...still they had bigger fish to fry, in this case a tank! Before the machine guns started, the young hero dove to the side and noticed a ruined car, he focused intently on it and a very faint purple glow surrounded it, again only visible if one was looking very closely, he strained himself a tiny bit to pull it up from the ground, he was planning to throw it at the tank!

Edited March 19 by Dracostern

[Poncho]

Michael had just barely managed to get himself extricated from the rubble of the house he had collapsed into when the next volley came. His eyes snapped up at the same time as the shell fired at him, and his eyes tracked it only right before the metal projectile impacted his face. The Golden Boy took a shell directly to the face and it exploded, filling his senses and covering him in fire and force. He went back into the rubble again, shaken and wounded, slowly extricating himself from the rubble with blood on his face and body and his nice polo stained crimson. 

 

"...I...hate...magic..." he hissed, stumbling as he climbed out of the rubble and collapsed again, extremely unsteady on his feet.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Achtung! Insert player name here is trying to escape!" yelled the generic soldier who had manned the machine guns. 

 

"We must insert action here!"

 

With his course of action determined, the sodlier let loose a torrent of lead straight into Golden Star. 

 

The soldier, Golden Star noted as he blocked the bullets with his chest, was a little less defined than the captain of the tank. He had a rather blank face, and his voice was lacking inflection. Very generic minion in appearance and sound. 

 

And yet the lead still stung!