It was another weekend in the Omega Arcade Station Richard, Alice and Frederick came out of the movies as they saw "House of Dolls".
"Well, that was good!!" Richard stretches very happy to have watched a horror movie.
"Yeah, it was but." Frederick agreed with him before he looked toward Alice who is as white as a ghost. "I think we should've reconsidered."
"D-D-Dolls, E-Everywhere." Alice stammered in fear while trembling in the process. She hated horror movies but Richard said it would help her have courage so she decided to give it a try. She regrets it now as the movie was with something that she fears the most.
"Oh, come on Alice is just a movie; you know that dolls can't walk on their own," Richard assured her.
"I-I know it-it just that, too many dolls in a house." Alice trembled.
"I think it was a bad idea to bring her," Frederick whispered to Richard, which tilted his head in confusion.
"Huh? What are you talking about? If we're going to watch a premiere we might as well watch it together." Richard answered cluelessly.
"Yeah but..." Frederick looks at the scared and trembling red-haired Japanese girl. "Even some people have limits." Richard thought that Frederick had a point rapidly spoke.
"Um, well say how about we go to Omega that way you will get better and have fun!!" Richard smile at Alice and puts a hand on her shoulder.
"Um...Y-yeah, okay," Alice said unsure, I mean Richard was right there was no way that dolls could walk on their own, the problem was that this phobia started because when she was a child she visited a mansion of an old friend of her mother. She then went to a room full of dolls and she started to become scared because of the way the dolls were aligned. She felt as if the dolls were looking at her very soul. Hence why she never goes near dolls made of wax or any other dolls that are human-like. She still goes near cute animal dolls but human-like ones? That's out of the question!
"Alright then let's go!!!" Richard eagerly runs to the Arcade section. Frederick sighed, how can someone like him have no fear over horror movies, Frederick got startled in some parts but Richard...he doesn't tremble, startle, or even flinch nothing he just sees it as someone that is reading a light novel or a story on the internet and can't wait for the next issue or chapter to be finished and published. Some nerves of steel his friend has.
()
Meanwhile, outside the Omega Arcade Station, a white-haired girl and her butler were walking toward the entrance.
"Is been a while since I enter this place." she smiled though no one could tell if it was out of happiness considering that her emotionless doll-like eyes never show her real emotions. "Of course that's what I would have said if I was older." She and her butler entered The Arcade Station.
Richard, Frederick, and Alice are inside Icicle World and they are almost done with their opponents.
"Haaaa!!" Richard screamed as he swung his Kris dagger sword to slash a boy with a sword that had a curved angle and the boy dissipates into fireflies.
"Team Sendai's scout has been eliminated."
"You're wide open!!" Another boy said from behind the brown-haired boy. As he was about to hit Richard with a hammer he's snared by Alice's chain.
"So did you!!" Alice screams and slammed the last boy down thus ending the game.
"Team Sendai's core has been defeated. Team Sendai's been eliminated...Game Over. Results: Team Omega wins!"
"That was a reliever now I feel better about my doll issues." Alice stretches and smiles as they are all engulfed by a blue light sending them back to the real world.
"That was fun!!" Richard said more excited than before.
"Yeah." Frederick agreed.
"So Alice how do you feel? I'm really sorry if I drag you to see the movie." Richard asked her before apologizing.
"Eh? Oh No! Is, is okay Richard I-I would have been bored for the next two and a half hours if you didn't." Alice said while blushing.
"Listen how about next time you choose the next movie, okay?" Richard suggested and she nods with a smile.
"Okay!!"
"What kinds of movies can a loser as you could possibly choose? Oh let me guess something like romance or drama I presume." said someone they knew and hated. They turn to see the arrogant three times Omega World Champion Harry Kishima with his usual smirk.
"Harry."
"What do you want?" The red-haired dark skin female of the group asked the arrogant former 3 times champ.
"Humph, is not what I want is what you'll get, you see I just heard that someone wanted competition just like you so I decided, hey why not arrange a match between you and this opponent?" Harry simply said but the group wasn't buying any of it. The son of the owner of Omega Corps. Will never forgive the people that defeated them. He will try and find a way to humiliate them this shouldn't be an exception.
"Don't give us that we know you wouldn't do something unless it is for your very own benefits." Answered Alice.
"Heh, your run will run out sooner or later losers, and when that happens I will be there sitting on a first-row seat."
"Oh." Harry heard the voice. He turns around only to be greeted by the sight of the white-haired girl and her butler...of course who should forget about her third companion.
"D-D-D-Doll!" Alice hides behind Richard.
"Ah, Miss Emuna Chariot. It seems you accepted the invitation that my father sent you." Harry greeted her. Emuna Chariot and The Kishima's more specifically Harry's little sister hung out and played with the white-haired girl all the time. It has been 5 years since then so to see the white-haired girl again the sole young owner of the Chariot State here was a rare occasion indeed.
"It is nice to see you have rarely change Harry Kishima. Hmm, has your sister been well?"
"Yes, as we speak she is being taught by the best teachers that our family can afford. Alas, she will not be free until late this summer probably the second month."
"Hmm, I see...Hmm?" Emuna said before leaning toward her doll. The doll had a white Lolita outfit and long blonde hime cut hair and fading blue eyes. Her porcelain face had a neutral frown with black heels to match its beauty. However, Alice Pediophobia prevented her from even locking eyes toward the mysterious white-haired girl. "Really? I am sure she must have a reason to hide."
"Er, excuse me but..."
"Ah, my apologies I should introduce myself. My name is Emuna Chariot I am the owner of Chariot State."
"Chariot State? Oh yeah, I heard of that, that's the mansion that creates millions of dolls. It is said that people will pay a lot of money for them to get the best porcelain dolls in France." Frederick has heard of the state. So she is the owner, she seems way too young for owning such a huge mansion.
"Fufu, Yes. Although it is true right now as we speak I am in my week off."
"Milady."
"Ah yes I must apologize again Irogan, this is my butler..." The white-haired said introducing her butler who put his right hand on his chest and slightly bowed his head.
"It is an honor to meet you all, I am Irogan Horloge."
"Is nice meeting you."
"Likewise."
"Hmm, do you want to say something Regalia?" The white-haired girl puts the doll on her ear before nodding. "Oh, you're right. Harry, Regalia wanted to be sure that your father knows about our arrival and the arranged match." Harry looked at her bewildered when he just asked that, thinking that this girl was somewhat delusional. He wonders how his little sister became friends with such a strange girl.
"Er, sure."
"Good. By the way..." Her attention went to the hiding teenage girl. "It seems that we have a Pediophobic person."
"Ep!"
"Fufu, do not worry Regalia is harmless, at least in the real world she is. In any case, I have heard of you being the new upcoming team. Team Omega I presume?"
"Yep, that's us!" Richard answered. Emuna noticed that Alice had a black necklace that hung a fake ruby stone the size of a small pearl.
(Is that...Hmm, interesting so this is why you're gathering everyone, Leos.) "Well, then shall we not waste any more time?"
"You're the opponent Harry was talking about?!" Frederick asked the white-haired girl.
"Yes, I may not seem like it but I am a very experienced Omega player."
"Really? Awesome, let's go! I really like seeing and facing new opponents!" Charismatically exclaimed the brown-haired leader of Team Omega.
"Fufufu, very well. Irogan if you must." The white-haired girl handed Regalia over to her butler."
"Of course, Milady."
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As they walk away toward the game, Alice kept her distance away from the doll until she was sure it was far away for her to be comfortable.
()
Meanwhile on Omega Corp. Leos was just enjoying his lunch along with his coffee. He was very comfortable...maybe more comfortable than he should be because a light cough caught his attention. He turns around to see the bespectacled blonde secretary Inès with a scowl on her face.
"Oh Inès, is there something wrong?" asked the owner.
"Sir...have you been working on the upcoming maintenance?"
"Hmm, oh yes! I just wanted to relax a bit." answered the father of Harry.
"Have you been watching the activities in the Omega Arcade Station?"
"Um...Yes?" Inès sighed.
"Sir I just received a call that the codes that they received for testing the new upgrades for the walls and Magicals were not working. I even message you too."
"Really?!" Said the surprised Leos before getting up from the comfortable new couch that was brought to his office just a few hours ago and went to his computer check his message and behold right there the screen said: Welcome Mr. Kishima you have, 19 unread messages. He clicks and a list appeared and as she said Inès message was the most recent one...from 4 hours ago! "Well, I'll be you are correct. Huh? there's one from 9 hours ago about the next scheduled event from the U.K. too."
"Sir..."
"Yes?"
"Please, take these situations a bit more seriously. Ever since Team Omega has defeated your son and the first Omega Single's champion's team, Team Hunters you have been non-stop been watching their matches."
"But...I am taking my work seriously...I think." Inès let out a sight slightly of frustration toward her boss. He needs to be serious about these types of work. Recently there have been reports of hackers trying to invade the games. Luckily their anti-virus programs that are scattered all over the world have been doing a good job restraining and deleting said viruses. So far they haven't targeted the big ones like the one in America, Japan or even here in France. However, one needs to be sure that they do not leave any openings to hackers especially ones that can bypass the firewalls and can fight off the anti-viruses.
()
Ready to have their match Team Omega and Emuna are getting ready to be transported to the wonderful world of Omega.
"Are both competitors ready?" The bunny girl MC said to them.
"We're ready!" the charismatic leader of Team Omega said.
"You may transport us MC," Emuna said and besides her was her doll looking as lifeless as a doll should be.
"Good luck My lady," Irogan told the white-haired girl.
"Alright, The level for this fight will be...S.K.Y.H.I.G.H. City!" S.K.Y.H.I.G.H. City short for Station of Kross & Heroes, International Gears High City, is the modern stage of Omega and the one that resembles most of the major cities of the world. It is known as "The city that always evolves" as the city looks slightly different every time. It is because of this that this is everyone's favorite Omega stage. "Get ready! Entering Omega...Now!" They got sent to the city. The city's new look as they land; has a giant gear in the center rotating and going up and down from a scale made of silver. Below them, there were speed train rails before said bullet train colored white passed. There was more skyscraper than the last time they saw. There were around 50 the last time they played at this stage now they are around 100 with previous one seeming to have added 10 more floors. About 30% of the skyscrapers were made of solid stone while the rest was a combination of steel and glass. Aside from the giant gear, the city seems to be encased in a bubble as outside there were different pods that were inside of tubes that could be used to enter the city. The outside is remarkable as the scenery of trees was seen from the distance most likely a forest as lights shined on it, this one is most likely where the water source might come from. It also was the night too so the moon and the stars made the scenery more fantastic. While the streets were lighted by the lights from the buildings and poles.
"Is still lives to its quote "the city that always evolves"," Frederick stated.
"So where do you think we should start looking to find our opponent," Richard asked.
"Hmm, I'll say stick together, for now, we still don't know anything about our opponent's ability other than the fact that she is a core. Although didn't you find strange that her butler put the doll that she was carrying the majority of the time with her on one of the teleporters?"
"Oh yeah, I wonder why he did that?" Questioned the brown-haired boy.
"Can we please just get this over? I have a bad feeling about fighting against this girl." Alice said. She had this shaking feeling that the white-haired girl was a strange one especially when she said that her doll was harmless in the real world. Does that mean the reason that creepy doll was sent here was because...
"Okay, I guess we should go then." They proceed to enter the building that was closest to the Gear. Unbeknown to them someone was watching them from one of the crystal buildings stuck in the center window looking intensively with it's cold almost dead blue eyes.
()
Upon entering the building the group realizes one thing. Since this is a match and not story mode the place looked like an abandoned building. Not a single NPC was in here not to even welcome them in this building. They look at the logo of this building that they know is a company. It has a huge golden dragon with a person clad in silver armor and a sword on his left-hand riding said dragon. The company's name was called "The Dragon Tamer Enterprise"
"Sometimes I forget that in matches they're no NPC in the buildings only inside the bullet trains and below where the homes are," Frederick mentioned.
"Yeah, it is as if we just got transported to a ghost city. Usually, even at night, there will be some people walking in this part of the city and even working on some of them." Richard follows Frederick's words. Alice had a chill down her spine this whole time. She was getting close to the brown-haired boy in a sense of protection. In a sense, some people will see this as pathetic especially to powerhouses who have to have nerves of steel and even uses their pure power to fight even the most intimidating of enemies.
"Hey, Richard can you scout the building quickly to see if there are enemies inside?"
"On it Frederick." With a whoosh sound, the brown-haired boy went ahead and scout the place.
"Hmm? Hey, are you okay Alice?" asked the black-haired boy to the cute red-haired miko.
"Um, er, yeah. It just...I feel like, we're being watched." Alice answered before she felt another chill.
"Hmm..." Frederick looks around even the ceiling but couldn't see anything around them. "Well, I don't see anything around us so..." As soon as Frederick said that the brown-haired boy arrived after his quick exploration of the building.
"Seems is all clear."
"Hmm, well no one said it would be easy to find 1 player in a big city. I guess we better get going." in a matter of seconds while it looks like it was normal speed it was actually Richard's perspective. Someone clad in white lolita dress with blonde hime cut hair and cold blue eyes dragged Frederick off to one of the nearby windows where his body crashed.
"Frederick!"
"Hyaaa!" was the scream of Alice.
"Alice?!"
"D-D-D-DOLLS!!" Trembling the red-haired girl pointed to the ceiling. The brown-haired boy looks to see about 80 dolls with different hair colors from red, blue, purple, black, and orange, different hairstyles: from braids, ponytails, loose, and even hime cut hairstyle. Every doll had a different lolita dress from blue to yellow. However, one doll seems to be different than the others. This doll had short amber hair with red eyes. In her hand, she had a Vel. The point of the Vel was silver while the handle was made of crystal.
"Whoa."
"It is outstanding, isn't it?" The voice of the white-haired girl resonated around the building. As many dolls separated to open a path Emuna descended slowly thanks to the help of the dolls. She looked exactly the same the only change was the fact that she held a sword made of strings. Some of those strings glowed a faint blue.
"Um, Just to be sure, this is you doing it legally, right?" Richard asked. Emuna let out a chuckle.
"Fufu, I can assure you Kurosagi this is all my ability at work. Regalia being put in the teleporter is also legal as she counts as my teammate. In order for her to be at full strength, she must enter the teleporter. Alas, even now Magdalene cannot tap her full potential." Emuna explained.
"Master, they seem to have the same..."
"Ah, yes Magdalene they do, it seems that is just a matter of time before they make their move."
"They?" Richard said a bit confused.
"It is nothing you should be worried about Kurosagi. Now then show me how strong you and your teammates are?" The dolls start to approach the two teens. Alice has already closed her eyes in fear not wanting to see them. Richard, on the other hand, knowing that he wouldn't be able to fight off this many "people" decided to grab Alice and use his speed to retreat to a safe place. "And here I was eager to face the holder of the Dragonite Diamond head-on," Emuna said a tad bit disappointed but at the same time understandable. Only a fool will try to fight an army of heavy weapon dolls and their master without thinking or creating a form of strategy. Even thou, she has seen that the red-haired teen hasn't tapped into the sphere. She can see the problem, to be more specific problems with it: 1. The red-haired girl seems to be more pacifistic than the previous holders who had a bit of a short temper making it easier for them to tap into the Ragging Sphere. 2. Fear, if that girl doesn't overcome this Pediophobia then she won't be able to wake her anger. While rage is a dangerous emotion to control, it is the most needed ingredient in order to gain infinite strength from the sphere.
()
Richard knew that they were in a safe place puts Alice down.
"This should be safe." He can feel the trembling of his companion. He never knew how much severe is this fear of dolls that Alice has. Alice has latch out to his arm in an instinctive attempt to feel protected.
"DON'T LET GO!"
"Alice...Hey, everything will be okay. Listen I know that this is difficult for you, but you have to face this fear head-on."
"No..."
"Alice, look at me." The red-haired girl slowly opens her eyes to see the brown-haired boy with a smile. "There's nothing to fear you have me and Frederick to back you up. No matter what we can do everything even overcome our fears. Hey, you want to know something I actually had a fear myself. I was afraid of letting people down. But Dad always said "It is okay son, in your life, you will have times where you will let some people down. Is life and it will always serve as a learning experience to grow up." I think what I am trying to say is that if you can't face them yourself then let others lend you a hand so you can overcome obstacles."
"Richard..." Alice trembling slowly subsided. He was right, right now they need her in order to battle Emuna. If Emuna is the core and considering that she can call upon dolls she can assume that the white-haired girl's main focus is that of a wall. And what has the advantage against walls? Powerhouses. Yeah, scouts have a decent match-up against them but scouts do less damage, therefore, have a very long time taking down the walls by that time either the walls will beat them or the other teams will reach to help them take care of the scouter. Powerhouse, on the other hand, is built to break walls no matter how strong they are and she is one of them. So without her Richard and Frederick will have a difficult time defeating Emuna and her dolls. Alice mustered some courage and simply nodded in understanding.
"Alright, well even if I said that they're still a matter of what to do against Emuna, not to mention we need to find Frederick."
"I...I think if I can manage to make a crack in her wall of dolls you can use your speed to take her. I mean...aren't walls slower than scouters? Even if she seems light as a feather the cons of walls is a slight decrease in speed and attack to up defenses."
"I guess, can you handle it thou?"
"I-I'll manage."
"Okay."
"Richard..."
"Hmm?"
"...Thank you." The charismatic boy smiled at her.
"No problem that's what childhood friends do!"
"Hm."
Emuna has been walking with her dolls behind her. Magdalene beside her tries to talk with her master.
"Master, about the Dragonite Diamond user and The Ragging Sphere user..."
"What about them Magdalene?"
"Are these connected to the story that master was told as a young child?"
"...Yes. The Legend of the 12 heroes was more than a folk story, it is a prophecy that was foretold to everyone that was chosen to get these pieces." She said before taking her coffin piece in her hand. "These pieces the Coffin of the Soulless is the reason why I could hear the voices of millions of dolls. Their loneliness, their sadness, even their happiness, and anger. There is no emotion that I cannot read not only you girls but from every doll, puppet, and even mannequin in this world. It was very difficult at first to shut down everyone's voices until I can listen to the people that I needed to hear."
"I am sorry Master, it must have been difficult to burden you with our needs." Emuna shook her head.
"Do not worry about that, having you girls as my companions have helped me understand a lot. It even helped me in my loneliness."
"Master..." The conversation could've gone a bit longer but Emuna's back up dolls had to block an incoming line. This gives Magdalene time to carry Emuna out of the way before the line crashes to the windows and keeps going.
"That was very rude of you...Kurosagi." from the trajectory that the attack came from was the brown-haired boy and his childhood friend. Alice despite her fear slowly creeping out, she took a deep breath before facing them head-on.
"I kind of don't like playing hide and seek that much. Hiding is kind of boring. Now tag? That's a different story."
"I see. It seems that your friend is trying to overcome her fear. Good, then this fight is not over yet." Emuna said.
"Oh believe me is not over. This is just the beginning!" Richard said as he gets ready to perhaps have one of the greatest fights in his entire Omega career.