JDizzle slowly opened his eyes, not registering what was going on for the moment. “Where- where am I?” he thought out loud as he put a hand to his forehead. He noticed he was lying on the side of the street a couple blocks away from his house. “Oh no! I wasn't mugged was I?” he thought, checking for his wallet, keys and cellphone. They were all there, so he tried to piece together what happened. Then he saw a girl lying a few feet away that he didn't recognize, yet was somehow familiar begin to stir. She groaned and rolled over, and as soon as she saw him, she jumped up and yelled “Who the hell are you?” That's when it hit him.
“Rukia? This is really weird... you don't look like you normally do in Bleach.” He said. Then thinking for a bit, he chuckled lightly. “Well I suppose that would be a given though, since this is you in the real world...” She lowered her arms, and stared at JDizzle for a moment confused. Then realization struck and she smiled. “So someone beat the Overseer then? That at least is comforting. By the way... what is your real name? I never got the chance to ask, what with all the commotion.” She walked up to him and held out her hand to shake his.
“JDizzle.” JD said introducing himself formally to the anomaly that somehow stood before him. Shaking her hand, he smiled. “We should probably head to my house. Although I'm not quite sure how I'll explain you to my parents if they decide to visit.”
“You could always say I'm your girlfriend. That would solve a lot of problems really fast.” The girl replied, “Like where I'm supposed to live for instance.”
This made JDizzle begin to sweat. Sure, an anime character that you like reading about and watching said anime living with you sounded like a good thing, but when they were real... really actually in front of you, well... it made him nervous. She didn't have any records, so as far as this world was concerned, she didn't exist. Unfortunately, in the real world, JD was a people pleaser, so he just nodded and began leading her home.
When they got to his apartment, he unlocked the doors and walked inside. Remarkably, everything was exactly the way he left it when he had been pulled into that world of what he would have considered must have been a dream. The problem was, Rukia was right there beside him, so no matter what he told himself, it canceled itself out eventually.
“Look, Rukia, we need to talk.” he said as they sat down in his living room. “This is America.”
"So?" She said, not really understanding what he was trying to get at.
JDizzle sighed. “You can't go by a Japanese name here. Especially one from a well known Anime series.” He finished. She nodded. “I see your point. People would make a connection, or simply laugh and ask if I was Japanese. Hmmmm...” She paused, and thought about it for a minute. “Translating my name wouldn't work, since there really isn't much difference in words and names in Japan... How about Lydia?” she asked. “Sure. Sounds good.” JD answered. “On one condition.” She finished. “When we're alone, you still call me Rukia.”
“I can live with that.” JD said. Then he noticed an envelope that hadn't been on the coffee table before sitting there with a rather fancy letterhead. He picked it up. “To The Players? What in the world?” he slowly opened the letter, and two small blue spheres dropped out of the envelope, as well as a letter. Opening it, JD began to read out loud.
We regret to inform you that a hacker recently got into the systems of our Beta Test. As the testers, you have every right to dispose of these two World Spheres and forget this ever happened. We, however, would like to cordially invite you to the first Fully Transportive Game World. These Spheres give you access to the first “Checkpoint Zone” which will enable you to once again be a character chosen from a variety of worlds and allow you to wield their power as your own. Unfortunately, we had to wipe the program's saved character data, so you will no longer be allowed your old character bodies. For those of you receiving this letter and not knowing what the heck we are explaining, Congratulations! You have been approved as the Beta has finally become stable enough to open to the public!
Again we apologize for any inconveniences and assure you that the latest patch has destroyed the ability to hack The Game. Crush the sphere to begin and then visit an open Checkpoint Zone to log out. When logging out, you will be given a Checkpoint Sphere to return to your last log out position.
Rukia looked at the spheres, and picked on up to examine it. “If what that letter says is true, I won't be Rukia anymore when I crush this thing... Still it would be nice to see the others if we could contact them somehow.”
JDizzle laughed. “If it's a game, then all we need is a friend request sent to them and we can find them that way. I wouldn't mind seeing Vaati or Frahlah again... of course if this letter is anything to go by, they won't be those characters anymore. I think I'd pass if it were HellMaster Phibrizzo, though.”
Jdizzle then picked up the other blue marble like object, and smiled. “I don't see what the harm is if we both crush them. We both go to the Game and have some fun, then return after we have had our fill. Not a bad idea if you ask me.”
Rukia smiled. “On three then?”
“One.” JD started as if to answer her question.
“Two.” Rukia smiled.
~It might be fun to be another person from some other universe.~ She thought
“Three!” they both shouted as they crushed the World Spheres.
The world around them seemed to shatter like glass as they were pulled into a room that seemed to be an upright circular tube of some kind. “Welcome to the Arcomovani Islands.” a voice said out of nowhere. “You have been designated as Beta Players. Starter Packs will be awarded to your accounts immediately following the customization process. Acquiring data... please wait a moment.... acquiring data... please wait a moment.... acquiring complete. Avatars received.”
JDizzle looked at the two images that appeared before Rukia and himself. “Kazuto Kirigaya? He doesn't even have any powers except inside the VR games he plays!”
As if in answer to his question, the voice in the room said, “Uploading Four-in-One Avatar system. Starter Pack Swap Pill removed to compensate. Would you like to customize?” JDizzle thought this over and finally said “Yes. Give me some red on the coat, and for the Plasma Sword: make it green.”
“Affirmative. Removing 700 Gold from your account.”
Rukia was looking up at a picture trying to decide if she was thrilled, or let down. “Android 18?” she read as she looked at the writing below the image. “Would you like to customize?” the same voice asked her.
“Yes. Remove the piercings. And give her a sword.” Rukia said.
“Piercings removed. This is a free option. Other option unavailable.”
Rukia stood there looking mad until JDizzle said. “She's basically got a near infinite supply of energy and attacks that are somewhat similar to kido. Oh, and she can fly and has metal bones.”
“Fine! So what do we do to start?”
Again, as if the room had heard them, it said, “Are you ready?” and a button appeared before them. They pushed it simultaneously, and suddenly were standing next to a large semicircle as Android 18 and Kazuto Kirigaya. JD used his right arm to call up his inventory and found a button that said “Avatar swap.” Scrolling through it, he found the Gun Gale Online avatar, selected it, and sighed.
“Awesomeness at the price of looking like a girl...”