Chapter 2: Learning The Ropes…The Hard Way, That Is

"...He sure is taking his sweet time."

Those were the words to wake me up. A female, young by the sounds of it, so maybe a high school or young college girl, talking in a sarcastic and rude voice. The worst part about it would be the fact that I knew for sure that she was talking about me.

Slowly, and with a groan, I opened my eyes. The sky was bright, but not so bright that I couldn't bear looking at it. From what I could see in the first few seconds, I am in an alley, that one's for sure. That also means I am probably nowhere near home. Another thing I gathered is that I was right about the person speaker. I can see them looking down at me with disdain. 

They are very pretty, with a bit pale tan skin, dark blue, nearly black eyes, smooth skin, and long straight black hair. She is also wearing a black or dark grey trench coat from what I could tell.

"...Done ogling?" She snapped, causing me to return to my senses.

"I-I Wasn't-" I began, sitting upright and turning my head to face her, but stopped when I saw the stranger in full. 

She was wearing grey sweat pants that were a bit on the dark side, and black heavy-looking boots, but that was not the reason why I was staring at her.

Her arms were giant and made out of metal, or at least encased in it. The metal was silver in color and was dotted with studs, making it resemble...at least for me, an instrument. There were no studs on her large fists, which were smooth and shined in the little sunlight coming into the alley. And, no, I am not a creep for seeing this, but the sides of her outfit where her armpits would be are torn, revealing more metal that almost seems to be moving...no, it is moving. There are many different shades of silver squares moving back and fourth like some kind of clockwork device, only without the cogs.

"...You done staring now?" The stranger asked, once again causing me to break out of my little trance.

"Yes, sorry. I-I just..." What are the right words to say? "Never seen anything like you before."

"Well, as far as I'm aware, I'm human."

I instantly caught my mistake and tried to correct it, but before I could, she burst out chuckling, an amused look in her eyes. Her laugh was just like her voice, a bit rough. Or is gruff the better word to use here?

"I'm only joking with ya. I'm not really human, at least not anymore and strictly anyway," She pointed out, her expression changing to one of anger before quickly going back to her annoyed-default expression.

"Now then, I take it you understand briefly what is happening here?"

"Aside from getting beaten up by my brother...or I guess my sister really, I know nothing" 

"Huh. Well, that's what happens when you mess with Maltarius's most notorious girl," She replied, crossing her arms and taking a couple of steps back, giving me room to stand up.

"Wait, what do you mean Maltarius's notorious girl, and how do you know he's transgender?" I asked while getting up, frowning.

"Well, your sister has been here for much longer than you have," She raised an oversized finger before she continued, "Also, one doesn't rule a gang that rules a massive portion of this country and not be known."

"I'm sorry...what?" I heard what she said, but such a bomb cannot just be simple dropped.

"Yeah. She's been here for around two years," She calmly told me as if what she is saying isn't impossible.

"But he-she was...no, I just saw her yesterday!" 

Could it be...that this March isn't mine? It sounds bizarre, like straight-up fantasy, but I saw this March create weapons out of a magical black liquid, and I too conjured up a real bat out of nowhere earlier. Being in some kind of alternate universe, especially since I haven't heard of Maltarius before, makes much more sense than any other explanation, even the 'it's all a dream' excuse.

Unfortunately, the stranger shot down my explanation before I could think about it more.

"And no, she's not some alternate version. You are her brother. You two were taken from the same world yet at two different times. I don't know fully how it works. Either you are missing two years worth of memories, or when your sister came here, two years passed while only short amount of time passed in your world."

"And how would you know?" I snapped, somehow feeling insulted by what she said, and afterwards feeling more insulted that I was insulted by an explanation.

"Meh, I've been here for a good while," She admits with a half-hearted shrug, "Definitely much longer than your sister has been here. You two aren't the first case I've seen like this...though I guess yours is a bit special because of your whole memory gap thing."

That...sorta, kinda, makes sense. Not gonna lie, I did recognize March the moment she faced me. That's also not to mention the fact that she clearly recognized me. In fact, I would say she was waiting for me. Then, there was the hate in his-her eyes. She definitely has some kind of strong grudge against me, and it was strong enough to beat me to probably an inch of death. Actually, how did I recover so quickly?

"Well, now that you're up, we can finally get down to talking for real."

"We...we weren't?" I was beginning to think she was a bit of an airhead.

"Before, during, or maybe even after she beat you up, she did mention The Big One, right?"

"Y-yeah, yeah...She did ment-"

"Give up your dreams of ever getting it." 

I was taken back. Her tone was sharp, to the point, and left no room for arguments. 

"You're too weak, hopelessly stupid, an arrogant fool, and have the world's weirdest taste in luck."

She spay out each word with some disdain, but mostly like they were simply facts. 

"Li-listen!" I quickly shout before she could go on, "I d-don't have Any idea what you or Match are talking about!"

That did stop her, but I don't know if the raised eyebrow look she gave me didn't make me feel any better.

"Really now?" She asked, taking a step forward.

"Yes, really! Why wou-" I began, but never finished. Her oversized hand suddenly grabbed me by the neck and slammed me into the wall, no doubt causing a crater. Not only was her strength unreal, but her metal hand was so large it covered almost to my eyes and a good length below my neck too.

"I don't like liars, and you better know that I often kill liars, especially since I am so good at seeing through them," She warned, a challenging look in her cold, hard eyes. 

"I-I'm not l-lying!" I sputtered, but she didn't listen. Instead, she tossed me against the opposite wall and proceeded to slam my head in further.

"Are you now?" She asked, grinning. While it didn't seem important, and I know it isn't, what came to my mind when I saw that grin was 'Am I a natural magnet towards psychopaths?'

"I-I'm n-n-not lying!" 

I could only gasp now, praying that she can hear me and believe me. It didn't seem like she would, going off the hard stare she is giving me and the sadistic grin on her face.

There was silence, and silence for a long time. I must admit that I am the type that would beg but, something told me doing that was a very bad idea.

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"...Alright. I'll believe you."

With that, she dropped me to the ground and took a couple of steps back, though I doubt it was because she was cautious of me.

"So, tell me what you do know," She asked, as if she didn't just slam me into the wall.

"I-I know no-nothing...and w-why would I t-tell you if I did after what you just did to me!?" I shout, my hand still rubbing my sore throat. I  nearly died right there, or at least was nearly choked out.

"Because I'll do worse if you don't," She simply replied, reminding me that I really should keep what I say in check, as much as I hate it, "But I do believe you, so I might as well explain what's exactly going on here."

She turns her back towards me and starts walking in a somewhat dramatic way, like she is about to tell some sort of tragic backstory. She raised one finger in the air, took a deep breath, and opened her mouth...

....only she didn't say anything. I waited, and I waited, until she finally moved, putting her finger down.

"Do you have a good memory or something to write this down?" She asked, turning her head to look at me, her composure all gone.

"Why? Is this gonna be a while, or on a test?" 

At my words, she snorted before turning around, her hands clasped behind her back.

"No, but it is a infodump."

I tried thinking of some kind of comeback but, when none came to me, I closed my mouth and waited for her to start. Perhaps sensing that, she cleared her throat before beginning.

 

"No one knows how or exactly when it happens, but around a couple of decades, a big event known as the Multiversal Showdown happens. People from across the multiverse come to this world, the Multi-Stream, to duke it out. The prize of the last person standing? (The Big One. I don't know who named it, by the way) During this competition, or really at the end of it, The Big One will change all of reality, including the home worlds or dimensions of the people sent to the Multi-Stream. As such, the people who are sent here have a simple choice; let The Big One or whoever gets it change reality, or get The Big One and choose how reality changes.

"As you might have gander by now, the people participating in this big competition are called Chosen. These Chosen have special powers and abilities in order to help them fight each other, including the unique ability to survive pretty much anything, hence why you survived your wounds. However, there are drawbacks. Whether they want to or not, the Chosen will be drawn to fight each other, and they all have to follow certain unsaid rules when fighting. You may have noticed the Announcer during your "fight" with March, and how she seemed to strike a pose and spoke before the fight even started. In fact, you may have felt the need to do so yourself, right?"

 

I nodded at her words, recalling the urge I had to say something, and how my bro-sister, who hates cringy lines, just calmly said one like she hadn't hated cringy lines before. Then again, it wasn't really much of a cringy line, but it's still the thought that counts.

"Another weakness is the certain way we attack. We can try changing it up a bit, but our combos will be the same more or less, not that one can do much about it. Another one would be a charged attack being non-cancelable by most of the Chosen, with a few exceptions like March, and that almost all of us will move towards our opponents after a few seconds of standing still...and that's not even mentioning the timer."

I took in her words until I finally came to a conclusion.

"Is this a video game?" I asked, disbelief thick in my voice. I couldn't help it though. Everything about this seems like some kind of mobile fighting video game, or just a video game in general.

"Are we fictional characters?" Came the simple and, to be honest, unexpected reply, "If not, then I say we aren't in a video game."

And with that she clapped her oversized hands, making a loud sound that totally took me by surprise.

"Now then...since I believe in people being strong, I'm going to teach you how to fight."

"Fight? I know how to fight," Now just don't mention he-

"You sure as Hell don't know how to fight since you didn't even touch March, let alone block a attack," She pointed out, her words blunt and to the point, "And I doubt you will learn very much by yourself."

"A-and how would You know!? In fact, how did you know I..." Oh shoot. She was watching me, wasn't she?

"If you are wondering if I watched your little "fight", then you are right. Me and my ally was there sitting on the rooftop nearby."

I felt something snap at her words and, before I could fight the urge, I spat out, "Why Didn't You Do Anything!?"

She was silent for a few seconds, before she snorted, amused. I was about to snap back when she slammed her hand against the wall, stunning me into silence.

"Why would we?" She asked, her smug smile growing, "You are a Chosen that we were told was going to try and take The Big One, an unknown variable who managed to get March to the point of tears at the very mention of you, and from what we gathered, sound like a horrible, sniveling, cowardly person. Why would we help you?"

"The...th-then why wo-would you help me now?"

Her smile went away as she seemed to think of an answer. It took a while, and I used the time to calm myself down.

"Like I said before," She finally answered, her words a bit dragged out, "I want to see the strong. You may be a sniveling coward, but you don't deserve to be weak, nor do you deserve to be someone weak. Hence why I dragged your ass from the dumpster that was open and buried in the sea waiting to be filled up with sea water and drown you over and over again until you somehow manage to get out."

"Wait. He we-she went that far?" I knew she hated me, that much was clear, (even though I don't know what I did to make her hate me) but I never thought she would go that far.

"Meehh, no. It was her crazed partner who's also probably the one responsible for her insanity in the first place," She explained, "March just walked off, but Alice couldn't. The minute after March went, Alice stepped out of hiding and, like taking out the trash, picked you up herself, which is already something amazing, and brought ya to the beach."

"In fact, she even so far as to go to the dumpster and mo-" 

"I get it already!" I did not need to listen to her go on and on about some psycho I don't know. My mind is already confused enough.

"Good. Now, like I said, I'm gonna train you, so fight me," And the smug grin is back.

"Alright, but this wo-won't hurt, right?" 

I...know I am a coward at this point. I-I just don't want any more pain.

However, going off the knowing-grin on her face, and the way I could feel a familiar energy gathering within me, I already got my answer.

 

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