[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/W2b84ZQ.png[/img][/center][@TheNoCoKid]

[color=FFBB33]"What the fuck?!"[/color]

Ellen stared, open-mouthed, at the livestream. At her yell, her cats Yuna and Lulu jolted awake, jumping off of her lap and glaring daggers at her for disturbing their sleep.

[color=FFBB33]"Sorry girls. It's just, seriously? What the hell is Masada thinking?"[/color] Rift Warriors, the mega-popular franchise, was over? And there'd only be five copies of the latest instalment in the entire world? Masada had to be messing with everyone. Pulling something like that for real would be a terrible business move. The series that had helped her mental health recovery years ago wasn't really dead... was it?

Either way, there was only one thing to do. [color=FFBB33]"Alright, Sitra and I had better conquer the Rift while we still can."[/color]

Over the next few months, she put her all into Rift Warriors IX, livestreaming as ClawsOfTheLioness, ascending the ranks. Victories had started feeling hollow long ago as she struggled to prove her point about gaming and gamers, but this rekindled her enthusiasm. If she pulled this off, she'd finally have something to show for her efforts. 

Especially as it looked more and more like this truly was the last Rift Warriors version. During her shifts at Good Game, the air buzzed with talk about it, and many people new to the series began buying Rift Warriors IX in the hope of winning such an elusive product. One customer theorised that Masada wanted to end the series while it was still good, so he didn't run out of ideas like so many devs did.

So this was his business strategy, Ellen thought, watching sales of version IX skyrocket anew. Saddening as it was, it pushed her to redouble her battling efforts. Another upside was that the competitive frenzy put her back into contact with someone she'd befriended during a tournament, who'd returned from his hiatus. Thomas Clarke, aka HellfireRider.

Once again, they competed frantically against each other, and against the other hopefuls. The hype grew to a fever pitch throughout October, and when it died down, Ellen had secured second place worldwide. The first day of November, her prize arrived, a small parcel at the door.

A fresh spike of adrenaline coursed through her as she rushed inside with the parcel and tore it open. Heart thudding, she pulled out and opened the box. Rift Warriors X was finally hers. She read over the letter inside, eyebrows furrowing. She wasn't to share it with anyone until she'd beaten the campaign? That was weird, and she'd planned on sharing it with her sister. Still, she grabbed her phone, eager to tell Eva the good news.

The conversation went nothing like she'd expected.

[color=FFBB33]"I'm not going to enjoy it? Really?"[/color] she muttered fifteen minutes later, setting down the phone and looking over at the cats, who sniffed around the empty parcel. [color=FFBB33]"Why does she think that? If she's jealous, she'll still get to play, no matter what this letter says."[/color] She shook her head. She wasn't going to let anyone bring her down from the high she was riding on. 

Popping the cartridge into the console, she watched awestruck as the intro played. A battle raging between all the playable characters, accompanied by epic music. As soon as the main menu loaded, she clicked the button on the pop-up that asked for her Rift Warriors IX data, and opened up fighter selection. [color=FFBB33]"Huh?"[/color] The screen showed only one character option - Princess Sitra - and a blank slot. She'd gone all out to get her hands on this game, only for it to be glitched?

The next second, the screen glowed white, light flaring through the room and enveloping Ellen. A sense of dizziness washed over her. When her surroundings faded into view, they were entirely different - yet familiar. The Hall of the Messenger. 

[color=FFBB33]"Oh god, this has gone beyond weird."[/color] She stared around at the towering walls and pillars. Something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She examined her hair, which instead of being short and blonde, was now long and dark, tied into elaborate bunches. Like a certain cosplay wig she'd worn before, only real. Looking down, she saw her Good Game uniform had turned into draping, gold-trimmed ancient Egyptian garments, and she bore an iconic lion face emblazoned shield strapped to her left forearm. She could feel the weight of javelins on her back. [color=FFBB33]"I'm... Sitra?"[/color]

She wasn't the only Rift Warriors character here. A short distance away stood Jesse the Ravager, looking just as confused. If she was Sitra, she had a good guess who Jesse had to be. [color=FFBB33]"Thomas? Is that you?"[/color]