Reality Strike

 

It was only an Internet site, honest! Well that was what I thought…

 

“Hmmmm,” Lactose thought as she looked for a good site. ‘Make your own final fantasy IX character’ that sounds interesting. CLICK!  The computer started humming as it processed the information on the page to put on the screen. After what seemed to be an age the web site came up. There were several questions on the page and straight away she typed the answers in the boxes next to the questions. ‘Name and age’ was the first question. ‘Lactose - 16’ she typed. ‘Three favourite characters in order’ was the next one ‘Blank, Betrix and Zidane.’ And she eventually finished all of the questions. She got down to the bottom of the page and there was a little button that said ‘make character’ and she clicked on it. The screen disappeared and the computer started humming loudly, although processing something bigger than it could handle. Finally the page started to become clearer. And after what felt like an age, she could see her character. She had thick, bouncy, golden hair just up to her shoulders. She had a silver metal band across her eyes and her skin was a light tan. She was quite skinny and she was wearing a tan singlet top with two belts strapped diagonally across each shoulder with a loose one around her waist that carried a bow and arrow. She was wearing short shorts that were black, and had brown boots that were up to her knees. And to top it off she had black fingerless gloves that went up to her wrists. “Awesome.” She murmured and a second later the screen went black. All of a sudden words just started typing themselves across the screen. WELCOME LACTOSE. WELCOME TO OUR WORLD. And Lactose was no longer sitting in the computer chair.

 

I shocked. All I had remembered was the computer screen typing words, then I felt like I was being torn apart in a hurricane. And here I am, without even a scratch. But I could not feel my heavy hair on my back, and as I looked at the black short shorts I was wearing and the knee high brown boots, I understood what was happening. I had somehow been transported somewhere, and by the looks of it, I thought as I looked at the play ‘I want to be your canary,’ in the final fantasy game! And to top it off, I am the character that I created on the computer! I looked around and a slight pang of fright hit me. I was on a high balcony with a very good view of the play, and that only meant one thing: I was sitting on the balcony right in front of Queen Bhrane and Princess Garnet. No sooner did I think it I heard a booming voice scream “SEIZE HER!!” I spun around as I saw Queen Bhrane’s face go purple. (Not that it isn’t purple enough) My instincts took over. “Late appointment. Got to go!” and I dived off the balcony doing a few somersaults in the air. If I had not been doing gymnastics for twelve years that move could have been fatal! As I lightly hit the ground I paused for a few seconds thinking of the look on Garnets face as I jumped off. It must have been hope, or I cannot read facial expressions. I wondered about it for a couple of seconds and then quickly pressed myself against the wall, so if the guards where looking over expecting to see me they wouldn’t. When I thought the coast was clear I started to make my way through the crowd so I could get to the part where Zidane met Garnet. Just as I got there something struck me. If Garnet was trying to escape, I would look exactly like the type to be able to escape. My thoughts were confirmed right as she ran past in the direction I came from without even glancing at me. And at the same moment I saw to guards (undoubtedly Zidane and Blank) challenging me to a fight because I was in their way of getting Garnet. A plan formed in my head as they had the first strike. Oow! That really hurt! I fumbled around for the bow and arrow that I had seen in the picture, and my fingers went over the bow, but where were the arrows? I was to slow and they hit me again. I finally found my arrows; they were on the back of one of my belts where all arrows normally go. How could I have been so thick! I quickly grabbed an arrow and stuck it in the bow. Aim… and fire! The arrow cut through the air hitting Zidane. Now it was time to take my plan into action as we battled on (mostly missing each other) I started moving backwards making them move too. I finally reached where Garnet was looking for me and broke away from the battle. I grabbed her wrist and flew past them, teasing them to follow.

 

 

Zidane and Blank had just got some armour on when an interfering girl blocked their way. So they had no other choice than to fight her. She looked easy, although she dodged their attacks quite easily. Zidane was really starting to get pissed off, but when she grabbed a pretty girl’s wrist and started dragging her away, he blew his top. He fell for the bait and ran after her, Blank running behind trying to stop his rampage.

                     

 

I ran as fast as she could so Zidane would not catch up. I made sure he could still see me. I ran into the room where Garnet bumps into Ruby. I flung Garnet at Ruby, and as she collided with her, I ran to a place where they could not see me. Zidane ran into the room just as Steiner turned up and demanded Blank to be at his so-called duties and he had to walk away. Good. Everything should turn out like it did in the game. And I walked off to see the rest of the play and wait for them to come out of the floor.

The rest of the play was marvellous, although I did not like the storyline. And right on time Zidane and the rest came out of the floor and finished the act with Vivi running away from the guards. I waited ‘till they were battling a guard and tried to make a grand entrance to the scene. I worked out this really useful attack where you shoot three arrows at once and they go all sparkly and zoom into the target, so of course I used that attack, and much to my disappointment the attack made them run away. (I wanted to have a go too!) “Remember me?” I smartly commented to Blank and Zidane, as they stared at me, “No time for idol chit-chat, I think we have company. Lets give them a good welcome to remember us by!” and by the look on their faces it looked like they liked me already.

 

We finally made it to the ship and we versed the Steiner and the bomb. Even with my persuading skills we couldn’t get Steiner to listen. Finally after what seemed like an hour he saw the bomb and the ship took off damaged. Everybody on the ship would think I was a freak if I told them what was going to happen, so all I did was make a safety harness for Garnet. (Steiner agreed with this a lot.)  Well, it would have been all right if I wasn’t standing in the exact spot where Princess Garnet was standing when the ship crashed.                             

I was jerked off my feet, plunging into the deep mass of a plant-monster.

 

 

“Ohhh” Zidane muttered gingerly as he got up wearily. “Where am I? Better get back to the ship.” And he trotted off. Finally he found the ship. When he got in he looked around, and seeing Blank he asked,

“Where is princess Garnet? Where is Vivi? Where is…”

“Fine, fine they are all fine.” Blank butted in, “Somebody rigged up a safety harness for princess Garnet,” Lactose. Blank thought,

and Vivi hung terrified to the rope when it crashed, otherwise he might have been flung way away from the ship.”

“Well then why didn’t I get flung far away from the ship? It was only a five minute walk!” Zidane commented, trying to prove him right and Blank wrong.

“Well, maybe it has to do with the fact that you jumped off the ship!” Blank smartly replied and he knew that Zidane had no more comebacks. All of a sudden Steiner came in demanding, “RELEASE THE PRINCESS NOW!!!!” and then Blank remembered. Lactose! Where is she! And ran out of the room with two puzzled people looking at him.

 

 

Fine then you piece of over-grown chocobo dung! Leave me here! The least you could do was help me! But nooooo!! “The princess needs me” this, and “the princess needs me” that!!! She isn’t five years old you know! Go boil your rear end in hell Steiner  I thought as I sat in the cage of a plant monster throwing potions at myself (I found them in my pocket) every time the monster got energy from me. I was taken out of my thoughts as Blank ran for the monster with his sword drawn, but all of a sudden there was a bright light and Blank went into trance. He and I both fought the monster. I used arrows, he used his sword, and finally it died. Just before it died it chucked me down the hole behind it. Blank heard my voice echo though the hole, “There’s a monster to your left!” so Blank ran to the left and slashed into nothing, as the spawn seeds spread out right where he used to be standing. That was pretty darn smart. She used my fighting reflexes to move to the side so I didn’t get any seeds on me. And he set off down the hole to get Lactose. Creepy. Blank thought as he moved along where he thought Lactose would be. He jumped at the scene he was seeing. Lactose was facing a gigantic flower like monster. And by the looks of she was winning! There is something weird about her, she just turns up, when she was battling  Zidane and I, she had never fought before and now she is winning against a boss. And no sooner did he say that, the flower hit Lactose with a powerful attack and she was on her knees, sweat trickling down her face and her mouth was screwed up in pain. Blank ran towards her only to get hit by the same attack. They both were on their knees now, and they were all out of potions as well. “Need these?” a voice said as two potions hit them both and they immediately felt better. Zidane, Vivi and Garnet came into the scene, and everything seemed to stop. The peace was broken as Steiner ran in screaming “PRINCESS!!!!!!!!!!!” and the battle started again, well, it wasn’t really a battle because it took two hits to kill it from where Lactose had bashed it up. They had no time to think because it had left some spawn after it died! (Evil munchkins I prefer to call them.) They looked even more freaky when you were actually there!! I ran for it and everybody else did. Garnet was falling behind so Steiner grabbed her and carried her. I was ahead of everyone else. All of a sudden everything went fuzzy. It felt like custard was pumping through my veins. I think Blank saw me. “Darn seed spawn!” he muttered and threw me some kind of drink. I skulled it, and immediately wished I had not drunk it. Blank was right behind me, and that I was glad for. The spawn seeds and the drink were too much for me and I fainted, luckily Blank caught me and he carried me. I started to regain a bit of my conciseness and turned my head up to look at Blank. As he saw me he blushed, and then his face tightened as he saw Zidane trip. He flung himself were Zidane was and pushed him away. An evil munchkin caught Blank, and Blank threw a map as hard as he could before we both turned to stone. I could only see fuzzy, fuzz, fuzz, fuzz. Like a broken television really, although there were no noises that a broken television makes. Wait a sec, I CAN STILL SEE!! Well, maybe not my surroundings, but I can see!!!!!!!! Some lettering came into my vision. It must be my eyepiece.  DO YOU WANT TO GO BACK NOW?  I started panicking. I couldn’t say anything! I was stone!!! The only thing I could try was to think. Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!!!!! I thought, and it felt like another hurricane had caught me. Falling, falling, falling and there I was, sitting in my computer chair as if nothing happened. I looked at myself. I had the same long, thick, light tan hair. The same old battered jeans, the same dirty top and my brown eyes were not covered. The only difference was that I felt something in my hand, and immediately looked at it. I smiled. It was a disk, a disk of my version final fantasy IX.

 

                                                         BY LANY-GUTS