Game 28: What is Real? What is Fantasy?

Takeshi Ishida had once again found himself inside The Game. As no one other than a Game Master had gone through this return process in such a long time, he had no idea what to make of this situation.

“Welcome back, Takeshi Ishida. Would you like to resume your current game?”

Takeshi, unsure of what to say, simply answered, “Uhh… yeah?”

The next question the sphere asked him was “Would you like to return to your previous location?”

Takeshi wasn't sure how to answer that either. “What was my previous location?”

“Tenth Street, Emerald City.”

“No, I'd rather not go back there.”

“Please select your starting location.” The sphere once again lit up with the map of the Game's world.

Takeshi wanted to ask the sphere where Rita was, but he reasoned that there must have been hundreds of people named Rita in The Game. He needed a more specific name. “Makoto Sato” could have worked, but even then, there could have been anywhere from five to a dozen people with that name.

“Can you give me the current location of Proteus Rhade?” Takeshi finally asked the sphere.

“It is against my programming to give players the locations of other players.”

“Please, I need to know! My friend could be in grave danger!”

“It is against my programming to give players the locations of other players.”

•

Rita in her powered up flying form was putting up a decent fight against the fake Takeshi. Her increased speed and agility made it more difficult for the fake Takeshi to attack her.

“Fire Arrow!”

Rita, however, was only serving as a distraction so that the others could launch their own attacks against the fake Takeshi.

“I'm sorry, Takeshi,” Makoto said, “but this is for your own good. Magic Art: Last Resort!” Makoto had taken two of his own Life points (putting him down to one) into a massive magical explosion which dealt severe damage to the fake Takeshi's Life.

Aisha was busy trying to use her healing magic on the others while also studying the fake Takeshi's fighting style for any possible weaknesses. That's when she realized, “Guys! That's not Takeshi!”

Rita scoffed at the idea. “It sure looks like Takeshi, and he sure fights like Takeshi.”

“It's hard to explain, but I know it for sure!” Aisha insisted her observation was correct. “This Takeshi is just a cheap copy!”

•

Inside the sphere, Takeshi pleaded with the sphere to tell him where his friends were. Each time was met with rejection.

•

Thanks to the gang's improved teamwork, the fake Takeshi was now down to two Life.

“Alright!” “High five!” “Let's go!” “Go team!”

The gang's display of teamwork and respect seemed to only anger the fake Takeshi even more. He got into position for a finishing move.

“Now, you will all die!” The fake Takeshi channeled all of his anger, all of his rage, all of his hatred into this attack.

•

Takeshi continued to beg the sphere to take him to his friends.

“I'm sorry, Takeshi. But I cannot tell you where your friends are. It is against the rules of The Game.”

Takeshi began to cry. “Please… if I can't get to them, they might get hurt… or even worse…”

•

“Final Flame!” The fake Takeshi had charged up his final attack and was ready to release it.

•

Somehow, the sphere responded to his cries, his feelings of terror.

“Your friends are currently located in the village of Innsbruck. They appear to be fighting… you?!”

Takeshi immediately realized something was terribly wrong with that statement. “Take me there, now! None of that sleep stuff. I need to get there as soon as possible!”

“As you wish,” the sphere told him.

And then, all was blank.

•

The fake Takeshi unleashed his attack on the gang. They had absolutely no time to react. They were all certain they were going to die.

All of them except Makoto, who quickly tried to throw out one last Holy Barrier.

The attack was blocked! And just in time, as well, because otherwise, the attack would have fried all five of them immediately.

The fake Takeshi could sense the desperation in the air. Makoto collapsed to the ground due to exhaustion. The others weren't too far away from there. This gave the fake Takeshi ample time to charge up another Final Flame.

But this time, a sword was thrown right at him! The attack knocked him off his feet, but didn't deal any damage to him. The gang turned to see who it was that threw the sword.

Standing next to them was none other than the real Takeshi Ishida.

“Did you miss me?” Takeshi asked them.

•

Elsewhere in The Game, Jun Kitaoka, one of the Game Masters, was busy meeting with a thieves’ guild, discussing a potential contract to get rid of the other Game Masters. It was the same contract he had offered Rita and the gang some days before.

Jun asked the leader of the guild, “So, what's it going to be?”

The leader of the guild revealed himself to be Sejun. Accompanied by his comrades, he was able to reform the thieves’ guild and resume their activities. “You're asking for a pretty tall order, friend. But I think my guild and I are more than capable of pulling this stunt off. When do we begin?”

•

The fight was now down to the real Takeshi and the fake Takeshi. The real Takeshi revealed his white orb and was ready to use it. “Let's rocket!” In no time, he was wearing his Brilliant Angel armor. The fake Takeshi, worn down and beaten up by the earlier fighting, was hardly a match for the real Takeshi. Takeshi was able to defeat his opponent with ease, partly thanks to his power boost, partly thanks to his refreshed state.

The fake Takeshi's body began to fade into nothingness, only for him to start laughing maniacally. As his body faded away, another body stood in his place, that of Lazlo Cardona, leader of the Game Masters, or what was left of them. He was the one who was actually laughing; the fake Takeshi was merely a computer program designed for training.

“Well done, children,” Lazlo told them, “well done. The six of you… six of you…?” He noticed Sora was now among the group members, but paid no mind to it. “The six of you might actually be useful to me, after all.”

“What do you want, Lazlo?” Takeshi asked him.

“I want what anyone else wants,” Lazlo answered, “to win The Game.”

“You helped make The Game,” Takeshi countered. “Why do you need to win The Game?”

“Everyone has a wish they want to come true, Mr. Ishida,” Lazlo explained. “It seems T. C. Set and Eileen Stewart both have big plans for you. Well, so do I. Consider this your official invitation to the Tower of Power, a special competition to be held in exactly twelve days from now.”

“What is this Tower of Power?” Rita asked him.

“If I told you now, that would just ruin the surprise,” Lazlo laughed. “I'll see you around.”

Rita attempted to shoot arrows at him, but he disappeared before those arrows could land.

“Twelve days…” Takeshi realized. “That's when Mr. Set keeps saying his daughter's birthday is. That is, if I counted correctly.”

“The Tower of Power… I don't like the sound of that…” Rita added.

•

In the real world, Eileen was still hard at work freeing people from the grasp of The Game. The process of opening a pod, draining the liquid, and releasing the person inside was an arduous task. And yet, Eileen must have freed at least two hundred people that night. A long way away to go yet, but still, she couldn't help but feel at least a little accomplished.

One person, however, was not pleased.

“Why do you keep running, Miss Stewart?” an icy cold voice asked her.

Eileen turned to stare into the blank face of Mr. Set.

“Miss Stewart, you disappoint me.”

“Set…”

“I need more people to play my game, and yet here you are ripping people away from it, ripping people away from their dreams!”

“This is no dream, Set,” Eileen countered. “For these people, all these months, and even years, it's just been one long nightmare. For some, it's a nightmare they never got to wake up from.”

“If that's really how you feel, Miss Stewart, then I suppose there's only one way to deal with this.”

“You want to fight in The Game,” Eileen realized.

“Tomorrow night, 7pm sharp. Oh, and I'll choose the location,” Mr. Set told her. “That way, we can make it fair and nobody can pull any surprises.”

It was a hard deal to accept, but Eileen had no choice. This could be her one chance to rid The Game of Mr. Set once and for all.