AN: This is an intro chapter and as such, there is major world building and character development. All the gameplay will start next chapter. Please give it a read and see if it’s to your liking, and don’t forget to share any suggestions or criticism you may have.
A soft blue glow shone throughout the room followed by a soft hiss of air. In the corner a pod like structure opened upwards and a young man climbed out. As he stood up, the pod closed behind him and with it, all vestiges of light. The man tip-toed across the floor as if deathly afraid of causing even the slightest of sounds. His hands were in front, groping in the darkness as he tried to make his way across the room. As he moved, the man suddenly hissed. The young man had stubbed his toe on what appeared to be a table leg. “Sh*t!” He hissed through his teeth.
“Excuse you, language!” came a stern voice from behind him as light fluttered into the room.
“Sorry Mom, I didn’t mean to.” The young man replied.
Suddenly as if struck by lightning, the young man stiffened up and slowly turned his head. As he saw what came from behind him his face lost all color. Staring back at him was a smiling face with lidded eyes. But rather than comforting the man, the smile only seemed to unnerve him even more. As if afraid to trigger a response, the man stood still and tried to stay absolutely silent. His heart beated, louder and louder.
Calm down! He thought.
As he tried to get his heart to slow down, the woman slowly moved forward while closing the door behind her. The man watched as she slowly locked the door. As the lock clicked shut, the man flinched at the sudden noise, and at that moment he knew, that he had screwed up.
“So John. Jay. Jenkins. Do you have anything to say for yourself before I punish you?” The woman’s voice was eerily calm as she questioned her son.
Her only response was the sound of beads of sweat dropping from the man’s face to the ground.
“I see. I’ll make this a little easier for not trying to resist dear.” The woman said this with a sickening sweet smile, that did little to hide the persona of death before her as she continued advancing towards her son. The man slowly moved backwards only to trip over his own feet. The smile grew larger as she advanced on the man’s prone form. The man tried to crawl backwards but he had reached a corner. The woman had also reached him. She raised her arm, lifting an object into the air. It stayed there for a moment, taunting the man. Time froze for that one second, only for it all to come crashing down as the woman slammed the object down creating a crisp slapping sound. What followed was a series of apologies that were only rewarded with the sound of more slaps. And all through the night, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse, as if in fear of attracting the ire of the woman before them.
--
John Jenkins had it bad. He had stayed up late playing King’s Tower and his mother had found out. He cursed whatever god decided to grant his mom her unnaturally keen hearing. How the hell did she hear him from the downstairs bedroom? He was sure he had been quiet. Hell, he didn’t even scream when he stubbed his toe. And yet the better question was, why was she even awake? And now he had to sit through six mind-numbing hours of prison all with a sore bottom.
Life’s great. John thought. Ah, sarcasm. One of the many joys in life. Shame John didn’t appreciate the fine art. Alas, he was too tired to even care about anything. He risked a glance at the clock on the wall and groaned as he put his head down. 1 minute down. 5 hours 59 minutes to go. School never felt so torturous. At least school had delayed his mom’s wrath. Each tick of the clock reminded him of his impending doom as he was forced to sit through mind-numbing lectures all while being forced to think of the horror his mom would put him through when he got through.
Another glance at the clock garnered another groan. Left to his own thoughts, John tried to think of a way out of his punishment.
Think. What would dad do? As if hearing the thoughts, the image of a man appeared in John’s head. Clad in what appeared to be a cosplayer’s armor, with a stern face covered by a gray beard and mustache, was his father. As if to give a piece of heavenly advice his father cleared his throat and took a deep breath.
Son. Remember a man must always move forward. He must never stop even when the odds are against him. And if you’re still feeling scared remember, screaming your name always helps. Let me demonstrate.
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The image of his father took a deep breath and began to scream.
LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-
John shuddered and tried to clear his mind. But it was too late. He had triggered his father, and when his father went off… He WENT OFF even if it was just a figment of his imagination.
-ROYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY JENKINSSSS!
John mentally winced. Why did his dad need to do that every single time, even in his daydreams? He sighed.
Just another thing to add on to why life is just so goddamn great. John muttered as he let his head drop down on the table. Of course things, don’t usually go the way you want them to in life. John had let his head drop down a little too hard onto the table.
“F*CK!”
John instantly knew something was wrong. He chanced a look around him and staring back at him were the many pairs of eyes belonging to his fellow prison--, students. They were students who actually wanted to learn. He was the real prisoner here. He looked at his teacher. He was a portly man with thinning grey hair that he tried to cover with a small toupe.
His slightly creaking voice rang out. “John Jenkins! This is your first and last warning. I do not tolerate foul language in my classroom. One more screw up and that’s a detention. Am I clear?”
“Yes sir! Sorry sir! Won’t happen again sir!” John replied all while saluting. He had figured out early on, appealing to one’s sense of importance was always an easy way out of trouble. And judging by the slight smirk on his teacher’s face it worked. As his teacher turned back around, John glanced at what was on the board and began to curse in his mind.
Gravity. Who freaking cares about gravity? Jeez, he’s fat enough to have his own gravity, piece of sh*t.
“John Jenkins! What did you just say!?” His teacher had turned around again, purple in the face and had begun shouting.
“Nothing sir! I promise sir.” John fired off as he tried to defuse the bomb. His teacher sneered at him. He spoke with a voice filled with seething anger.
“So I didn’t just hear about how I’m fat enough to have my own gravity!’
John’s brain shut down. It turns out that he didn’t curse in his mind as he had thought. He barely registered the pink slip of paper on his desk. Neither did he register the ringing of the bell representing the freedom he so desired. Rather only one thought ran through his mind.
Mom’s going to kill me.
--
John laid down on his bed. His detention had ended just a little while ago and he had headed home. As expected his mom was waiting for him. And after tearing into him, he had been sent to his room. John sighed. One of these days he was going to make it big, and then all of his struggles would be gone and life would really be good. Yes he would make thousands of dollars and then his parents would finally get off his back. He’d be able to drop out of school and wouldn’t have to suffer anymore. Ah that’s the dream. Before he got too drawn into his daydream, he heard a small tapping noise against his window. Looking over and seeing nothing, John dismissed it as his imagination. That was until he heard it again.
This time he got up and moved towards his window. Opening his window, John stuck his head outside. Just as he stuck his head outside, a small pebble struck him between the brow. Looking down, his eyebrow twitched. Standing on the sidewalk were his 3 close friends.
“Dude! Get your board, we’re headed to the VRcade. There’s something big going down there. We got to go dude. C’mon.” They called out.
“I can’t guys. My mom’s mad at me. She’d destroy me if I left right now.” John replied.
“Trust us, you don’t want to miss this. It’s big. Like really big. Like rare materials big.”
John hesitated. On one hand his mom would be even angrier if he left. On the other hand his friends had never let him down in the past. To leave or not to leave. Filled with internal struggle, John slowly came to a decision. He decided to…
AN: Cliffy sort of. I promise there’ll be gameplay next chapter. Anyways how is the story so far. Please let me know in the reviews. This is my first fic so I don’t expect it to be absolutely amazing. Anyways, the next chapter should be out in a couple of days. I look forward to seeing you all then.