[center][h2][colour=SlateGray]Yoshiki Kaibara[/colour][/h2][/center]

The world darkened around him as the link into the virtual world opened. Some of the files that were downloaded were interesting - enemy models, weapon models, fighting styles difficulty, and two strange files; one named "Yoshiki" and the other, "Shizuka". Was Shizuka the name of the other player Keiko has mentioned, or was it just the name of a weapon or something? Whatever the game was that she had been working on, it was clearly some kind of fighting game, the only question was how would it play. That, and what kind of fighting game was it. Thoughts passed through Yoshiki's mind as he transformed into his [url=http://data.whicdn.com/images/184477720/superthumb.jpg]avatar[/url], a character with his same features, same height, same everything, besides a crimson streak through his hair and cat ears. It was a bit off an odd design, but it seemed fine at the time, so he stuck with it.

As everything generated, Yoshiki was met with a bland, white room in the shape of a large cube, the walls shiny and reflective like glass, and no light to be found despite the room being completely lit up. On the other side of the room to him stood a character, its body completely white and reflective, with its head the same but matte. To its right a sword stood embedded in the ground, ready to be lifted for combat. He looked around a bit more, finding, on the far right wall, a series of different weapons spread all across it. Staffs, spears, swords, glaives, knives, bows, pikes, tridents, crossbows, javelins, hammers, etcetera. However, all but one weapon was greyed out, as if they weren't there. The only one that remained was a sword, still it is scabbard, directly opposite Yoshiki, like that was the weapon he was supposed to choose. 

So that was the one he chose, a clean edged blade that made a resounding noise as it was drawn. Giving it a few practice swings, he determined that the weapon was almost exactly right for him; great balance, good weight, strong metal. So, finally, he walked to an interface in the middle of the room, or near middle. On it there were three different options - name, difficulty, begin. Yoshiki typed his name into the keyboard provided by the name section, and them turned to the difficulty. He scrolled across it, looking at the different ones. [i]Beginner, Easy, Intermediate, Medium, Expert, Hard, Insane, More[/i] he thought, before realising that there was the odd one out - more. So he tapped it, and immediately the difficulty screen vanished, instead replaced by two options directly next to each other, "Yoshiki" and "Shizuka". However, as much as he was confused about the second name, he instinctively chose the option bearing his name. The screen disappeared, and all that was left was the begin button, which he proceeded to press. In the instant, the robot opposite Yoshiki powered up, standing straight and reaching for the blade in the ground. When the AI was in a fighting stance, ready to begin, a countdown started. 

[b]10, 9, 8, 7, 6...[/b]

[hr]

[center][h1][colour=Crimson]Keiko Inata[/colour][/h1][/center]

Keiko exited the bathroom, brushing her hair back slightly as she received a message - from Shizuka. [i]I've been waiting for this, Black King.I doubt you'll be able to worm your way out of Brain Burst now[/i] she thought, looking over to her left at a camera feed from inside the virtual world, where Yoshiki had already commenced the battle. Opening the message, a smile spread across her face at the answer her old friend has given her. To make sure Shizuka didn't get cut to pieces upon entering, she opened up a small command window. She browsed through the different assets she already had loaded, and produced a small balcony from within her Neuro-Linker's data storage. Keiko then sat down, and proceeded to place the balcony into the virtual world, on the wall that Yoshiki had his back to. Then, she changed the player spawn point, so that anyone else who joined would spawn on the balcony, and not the battlefield. Saving it, she wrote a reply to Shizuka.

[b]"Good, good. I hope I'll be able to see you partaking, unless you change your mind upon arrival. In either case, please pay attention to the player there already, because I think he will do well."[/b]

[center][i]Message sent[/i][/center]

[center][@Akayaofthemoon][/center]