Let's retry this...

One
Two
Three

Let's get Chaotic.

Story

Restarto.

"Tom? Y-Your move, man." A smile quirked up his lips at hearing the stutter and hesitation in his opponents voice. It had gotten worse and worse as their match had worn on, and by now a crowd had been drawn, a few lingering very closely to him but keeping back respectfully.

After all, beyond being blind, Thomas Majors was one of the BEST Chaotic players in this entire school. And one was wise not to screw with the best of the best.

The electronic voice in his ears spoke, and by now the keyboard's bumps and dashes were a second English to him. Glazed blue eyes narrowed with a smirk taking over the smile. "Rock Wave!" A crackling boom, the sound effect of the game on the school's computer, and the opponent groaned in defeat and slumped in his chair, detectable only by the scraping of the chair. Cheering erupted around them for Tom's victory, and suddenly warm hands pulled Tom from his chair, an energized voice buzzing like a firecracker lit and thrown as Tom was pulled into a tight victory hug.

"Man Tom, you're so good at this! You're like, the Overworld spokes-champion or something!" Tom's best friend of who knows how long, Kazdan Kalinkas, was vibrating in excitement as he clung to Tom to keep the crowd from overwhelming him. What little Tom could remember of his friend's visage was orange fiery hair that had earned him the nickname 'Gremlin' as a child, and warm brown eyes that got sparkly when he was excited about something. Kaz was an excellent strategist, and Tom had relied on him for many years in both life and Chaotic. "A few more wins and you might even get a code to port to Chaotic!"

While several in the crowd groaned, Tom just smiled; he was so used to Kaz's extreme love of the game and the redhead's belief that he could transport himself into the game itself. The Asian boy didn't have the heart to tell Kaz he didn't believe, not when he'd put up with it for so many years, but he knew somehow Kaz would always know what was on his mind.

"Tom you have the 'Kaz-is-crazy' look on your face. Again." Case in point. Tom shook his head and held onto Kaz's arm as the redhead led him through the hall from the cafeteria to the science wing, the hallway smelling of cleaner and chemicals.

The Asian boy stretched his back, feeling a bit stiff from having played an entire ten round match. "Kazzy, even if they wanted to give me a code, I'm blind and my bio confirms that. It'd be useless." Kaz stopped with a jolt and Tom frowned, reaching for his friend's face to make Kaz look at him. "It's not that I don't want a code, Kaz. Or that I don't want to believe in this place being real. But I...I'd be kinda useless, and Chaotic's something I don't wanna ruin for ya."

"You wouldn't ruin it!" Kaz almost exploded, startling Tom. "It'd be even BETTER if you were there with me! Which is why I'm so mad that they haven't sent it to you yet! Ugh!" And Tom was squeezed tightly, Kaz hiding his face in his friend's shoulder."I want to play with you, it's not fair..."

Tom just held Kaz tightly back, until the redhead let go so they could walk to Tom's house together.

Chaotic, for the very few who don't know, is a card game in which creatures from a world called Perim battle each other. Abilities made possible by a power called 'mujic' can be played to have advantages, and battlegear cards can be equipped to give an extra edge over one's opponents. Each of the four tribes have their followings and fans, and each one exists for a different purpose; Overworlders, who rule the high mountains and skies; Underworlders, who have reign over the lava pits and valleys between; Mipedians, the desert scouring lizard folks; and Danians, the bug armies.

Supposedly, Perim is a very real place. As is Chaotic, the /true/ Chaotic. But for Tom, it was just a silly game he played with Kaz to whittle off time he'd otherwise spend moping about school.

At least, it /was/ just a game until the code arrived.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

It had been an hour since Tom had gotten home, greeted enthusiastically by his mother's bear hug hello. His room was messy, like any teenager's, but he could navigate it barring a few trips to and from bed. He threw himself onto the mattress, curling up for a few moments and sighing before drifting into a daydream.

'If I could see...Does Kaz still look the same? Prolly not. I don't even known what my favorite Creatures look like. Or Perim. The location cards...Would it really be better for me to be there with him?' Tom tucked his arm under his head, eyes shut since opening them was useless anyway. A sudden beeping made him flinch, and his other arm dropped to the floor to search for his laptop, sliding it out and opening it to let it power on. The electronic monotone voice announced that MajorTom, his screen name in Chaotic, had one new Chaotic mail.

Which was impossible, because the game didn't have mail. Tom frowned and hesitated before opening the mail. 'D-G-A-F-E-C-B' read the monotonous voice, making his frown deepen. His Scanner suddenly began to alarm, and Tom reached for it as it identified the caller as Kaz. "Tom! You won't believe the Scan I just got from-"

"Kaz I just got this weird email that's just a bunch of letters jumbled together. The system isn't bugged right now is it?" The astonished, then quite GLEEFUL squeal that was Kaz's reaction gave Tom a sense of foreboding.

"Tom that's no junk mail! It's a code! You can port to Chaotic now!"

Tom's frown became a scowl and he squeezed his Scanner. "Kaz this isn't the time to be funny! What if this gives my computer a virus?!"

"Tom, just trust me on this, please! I'll be there for you, I always am!" With that, the Scanner beeped and went silent, meaning Kaz had ended the call. Tom hesitated for a very long moment, weighing the options; either Kaz was crazy, and he'd be mad at his best friend while his laptop got fixed for whatever virus this was...Or...

He slowly entered the code with trembling hands, feeling on edge. He had to take a steadying breath to calm himself enough, hesitating once more before pressing enter. He jolted as a shock ran through his body, leaving him tingling for a second before it faded off. Then...

Nothing?

Tom tapped his Scanner key and blinked when no noise emanated from it. He then tried his computer, which alerted him to the fact that his deck was locked down and couldn't be accessed. And attempting to redial Kaz proved useless as he didn't respond. "FuuuuUUUUUUCK! Kazdan! You so owe me a new computer!" Tom yelled, throwing his Scanner under his bed in anger.

But Tom in his room, rolling on his bed, had no idea what had truly just happened. As his Scanner lay on the floor, black screen and unresponsive, it betrayed nothing of the truth that was taking place even as Tom ate dinner, messed around, and finally showered to go to bed.

However, the other him certainly knew.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

The feeling of being flung through what felt like an electrically charged tunnel was NOT a sensation Tom enjoyed, especially given that it had been completely out of the blue. Being blind made it worse, because he couldn't tell what was happening, and he made a mental note to strangle Kaz if he got out of this alive.

Then his feet hit the ground(Was it the ground? It felt so hard and foreign like metal, not carpeted wood in his nice safe home) and he crumpled into a ball, shaken and terrified. A shout managed to get out as he breathed, but it was short-lived as the instinct to bawl took hold. A moment after he started to cry, Tom was aware of people, gathering around him.

PeytonicMaster, a rather friendly player, had just ported in when he noticed that a crowd was nearby, gathered around what had to be a newbie crying in fear or shock; it tended to be the general reaction with first-time porting. The poor boy had long black hair and tanned skin, and he was curled into a ball like he was trying to protect himself. As Peyton approached by slipping between the crowd, he mustered up as much good vibes as he could to try and put the poor guy at ease. "Hey there, bro! M'names Peyton, welcome ta Chaotic ma friend!"

It worked a little; the boy stopped in his crying long enough to lower his hands, face tinged red and shiny. Peyton knelt down and placed his hand on the boy's shoulder in a reassuring gesture. "Hey now, c'mon dude. What's yer name?"

"T-Tom. I'm...I'm MajorTom..." Tom sniffled and shivered, and Peyton frowned at just how /blue/ Tom's eyes were. "I-I have n-no idea what's g-going on..." Peyton waved his hand in front of Tom's face, eyes widening when Tom's didn't even seem to register the movement. "H-Hello? Are you still th-there?" Tom put his hands out, groping the air as he turned his head both ways.

"You're blind?" Peyton's question started up murmurs in the crowd, who he quickly decided was not going to help Tom. He picked the poor guy up and helped him to a table nearby, setting Tom down carefully in the seat. "How'd you get a code to port dude?!"

Tom's face crumpled again, and suddenly Peyton felt like a bucket of ooze for upsetting him. "I don't know! I don't know anything!"

"Easy there bro! It's alright! I'll take care o' ya!" Peyton pulled Tom into a friendly bear hug. Tom registered that Peyton smelled musty, like dirt and mud and sweat from running around a lot. He waved over a robot. "A box of tissues and a Junda Juice, please?" As the robot hurried off to obtain the request, Peyton patted Tom's back gently. "No worries, dude. First time porting's always the hardest. Especially for newbies."

"M-My friend Kazzy said he'd be here for m-me. When I, uh..." Tom made a gesture, and Peyton nodded, before mentally smacking himself and patted Tom on the back. "I only got my code a few minutes ago, actually..."

When Kaz finally located Tom, he was surprised to see him laughing with another Chaotic Player. He ran over, dodging a Player who tried to trip him, and crashed into the table with a sound 'THUD!' "TOMMY!" Tom had an owlish look of surprise, clutching a smoothie, while the other player was just smiling; most knew KidKhaor was a bit of an oddball, so they were used to him he supposed. "Tommy! Oh thank god you're alright!" He attempted to hug Tom, but felt his head go back as he was blocked with his bestie's hand.

"No thanks to you, ya jerk! What happened to 'I'll be there for you'?!"

Kaz squawked, flailing his hands as he tried to attach them around Tom's head. "You ported into the other terminal! I had to run the whole PortCourt to get to you!"

"Well you ran for no reason. I'm dumping you." Tom gestured to the player next to him. "Peyton is my new best friend."

Kaz gaped, even while Peyton started giggling. "W-WH-WHAT?!"

A few minutes of absolute angry silence from Tom, before he smirked and narrowly opened an eye. "Just kidding." He squawked in laughter as Kaz put him in a headlock, easily breaking out of it a moment later.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

A short time later, Tom was clinging to Kaz's arms, uneasy as they stood on a moving platform. It rumbled beneath his feet, making him jumpy, but Kaz had warned Tom that if he jumped off he'd have to find his way back on. The blind boy frowned, clinging harder as it shuddered a little, tugging on Kaz's shirt. "Kazzy, c'mooon! Where are we going?!"

"We're heading to the BattleDrome for your first match!" Came the excited response from his best friend. A sputter from Peyton prompted Kaz moving, and from the choking noise Tom surmised that Kaz had rammed his elbow into Peyton's stomach. Poor guy.

Didn't stop him from trying to speak, though. "Bu-BUT DUDE! How can he-?!"

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Kazzy, I really do, but there's a problem I think needs to be addressed, just a little one. See there's the first fact that I've never battled here, so not a lot of know-how, and the second part if it's possibly skipped your attention this past decade we spent together I'm kind of BLIND AS A BAT YOU DINGUS." Tom's voice rose comically as he stomped his foot.

Oh good lord, he could FEEL Kaz's smirk. "And that's where genius me comes into play." It was too good an opening, and Tom couldn't resist.

"Oh, so we've been with idiot you this entire time? That explains everything." The platform shuddered as Peyton fell on his side cackling.

Tom was still snickering to himself as his best friend recovered. "Har, har. No, Tom, I'm serious. I went through hell and high water to get this for you." The next moment Tom heard Kaz rummaging through his backpack, before the redhead made a noise of triumph.

"Dude, is that?" Peyton's awed voice gave way to a suspicious feeling, and it tripled in Tom as his face was suddenly yanked forward. Even with how often people touched his face while thinking they could getaway with it, it always startled him, and it was only thanks to years of knowing the feel of Kaz's light touches that Tom kept from throwing his friend over his shoulder.

"KAZDAN! You know how much I hate that!" The blind boy growled, Kaz ignoring the noise as he slid something heavy onto Tom's face. It sat on the top curves of his ears like a mask, but as Kaz pulled the left side lower, it registered that it was actually a pair of goggles. The eye pieces were ringed with something soft, like memory foam, and the sharp scent of metal caught Tom's interest.

"I had to go through a lot of missions, so the CodeMasters would agree to make you these." Kaz fiddled with something, and went reeling as a static shock zapped Tom's face, making his fist fly out in reaction. "Holy crap Tom! It isn't gonna kill you!"

"GodDAMN that HURT! KAZDAN, I'M GONNA KILL- you?" Tom's raised arm slowly fell back down with his jaw, wide baby blues blinking in confusion and disbelief. Not because Kazdan was a prize to look at (as though Tom'd ever admit something like THAT) but because...he was actually LOOKING at Kaz.

He had longer hair than what Tom remembered, dark orange with bright orange-yellow streaks and spiked up like he'd been electrocuted. His eyes were cocoa brown and even lighter behind pink tinted glasses, and the dark green shirt with a tan vest over it with even darker green pants made him look like a reversed carrot in Tom's opinion. Oh, and his entire outfit was covered in pockets (which did explain how up to this point Kaz somehow ALWAYS had everything Tom had ever needed, be it pencils, snacks, or even extra eyedrops).

"Hey, don'cha' want to see the guy who rescued you from bein' trampled back there?" Peyton's voice startled the no-longer blind boy, who turned with a jump upon remembering that he was with them.

Peyton had short dusty brown hair, and friendly big green eyes that made Tom think of a big puppy, especially with those chubby cheeks and giant friendly grin. He wore a yellow shirt under a green jacket trimmed in white and blue, and his dark grey trousers had streaks of dirt on them like Peyton had been running around someplace muddy. Which seemed out of place, giving how the boy looked rather heavy-set.

"How-How is this possible? Any of this?" Tom stuttered out, turning back to Kaz who shrugged with a grin.

"How do they get the cream into cupcakes? Don't over-think things, Tommy."

Tom's mouth opened and shut a few times, before- "Dude."

"I know." Kaz was grinning even with Peyton's look of confusion.

"DUDE."

"I KNOW."

"DUDE!"

Kaz was full out grinning now. "Tom you don't even say 'dude'!"

"I KNOW!" His friend flailed, almost smacking a robot in the face.

"MajorTom, you have a match in fifteen minutes, you don't have time for hysterical antics."

Tom gaped as it flew away, muttering a stunned 'Dude' as Kaz dragged him off the platform towards another one as Peyton waved them goodbye.

"So, how exactly is this going to work? I mean, my deck's locked." Tom asked as he studied himself in the restroom mirror. Preening had never been a concern of his, given that it was a useless endeavor without sight. His hair was long and black and shiny, and it somewhat stuck to his tawny colored face in bangs and odd spikes here and there.

"Oh no, I'm not telling you what to expect. You get a really funny look on your face when you're surprised." Kaz grinned as he watched his friend's actions; long had Tom been center of attention with his looks, but Kaz had never really known him to be an attention-hog. The Asian boy was careful with the hair-tie another player had given him after brushing out his hair. A little mousy brunette with big oval glasses, ChaoticCailey had been more than happy to help the two when they spotted her alone at a table.

"So, it's not anything like the actual game?" Tom asked, pulling his hair back into a ponytail. His attire was the same as always, a grey shirt with some odd four tipped circle in white, underneath which lay a black long sleeve. His jeans were light blue, faded from being out in the sun (unseeing didn't mean the sun wasn't warm on his face, that it didn't smell like heat and life when it had just rained). The goggles he could finally see, copper colored with a blue band. He adjusted the right one, watching in fascination as data staticked across the lens where his fingertip touched, his brightly blue eyes wide behind the goggles.

"These... really are cool. Thanks Kazzy-" Tom started to say, halting as Kaz suddenly had his arms around the other in a death-hold. Even though they were both seventeen, Tom was the taller of them both by two inches, allowing Kaz to be the one to bury his face in Tom's shoulder.

"I'm just glad that for once I didn't screw up." Tom immediately frowned and smacked his friend sharply on the back of the head. The redhead let out a cuss, 'Kazdan do you kiss your mother like that!', and stuck his middle finger up as he rubbed the sore spot.

"You are NOT a screw up. And don't ever say that sort of thing again, got it?" Kaz winced at Tom's tone, but nodded. Tom then stepped back and held Kaz's face in his hands, pulling his friend close to touch their foreheads together. A habit they'd always had, from being children no taller than a tire even before Tom's sight was gone.

"I mean it, Kaz. You're always there for me, but now that I can see, I'll do my best to do everything for you." Tom uttered, letting go of his friend to look at his Scanner. Seeing it made the weight seem to double, and Kaz copied the action with thoughts of his own.

"That day...Tom, I..."

"It's okay."

A car, shiny and white until suddenly it wasn't.

"I...I didn't."

"It's okay."

A little stuffed toy, green maybe? Big for a child, but really so small it could've gone un-noticed.

"I'm happy you kept on being my friend."

"I know."

A loud noise, then nothing.

Tom looked up at him. "Let's go."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

It was too surreal to Tom, being once again on the platform and watching others pass by on more platforms. The whole system was situated on a giant floating island, and the clear water that flowed through the canals underneath the platforms went right over the edges and disappeared into the blanket of fog surrounding Chaotic. It was like some secret place high above Earth, inaccessible unless you had the password.

"Alright, most people have a strong strategy to win in the Dromes, but because you're still getting your feet wet, I'd stick with your strongest cards for now, like Maxxor." He felt the platform jolt, and grabbed onto Kaz in alarm even though he could see.

"Um, what exactly is going to happen?" He grinned and pointed at his mouth. International code for 'I'm-being-an-obnoxious-person-because-it's-funny-to-see-you-flail-around', which Kaz loved to use on his best friend. He pushed Tom in front as they neared the Drome, which looked a lot like a giant blue M&M candy with white skeletal fins on top; an interesting design, in Tom's opinion.

"This is the first Drome, or as we call it, the Crellan Drome. Your match is in here." Tom paled, and tried to shrink back against his best friend. He turned around just as they got to the door, which opened to reveal a bright light.

"Um, Kaz? I'm not so sure-" Tom began, cut off as Kaz raised his hand and waved it sharply.

"We'll talk later, after your match okay? I'll explain everything." Tom blinked, and smiled faintly as Kaz hugged him tightly. The feeling of gratitude disappeared as Kaz then let go and sent Tom tumbling into the Drome with a push.

"Ack! Jerk!" He spat as he rolled from his back onto his front and stood up. The area inside was actually pretty small and dark, a dim amount of light coming from the Chaotic symbol in the floor. He walked forward a bit, to try and see the other side of the room, and jumped at the sound of a loud siren, the Chaotic emblem appearing to rise and float in the middle of the room. It was a bit of a shock, but not as much when it started talking to him.

"WELCOME TO BATTLEDROME CRELLAN, TOM MAJORS, CHAOTIC CODENAME MAJORTOM. PLEASE STEP FORWARD." He hesitated before doing as it asked, and a small podium rose out of the ground.

"DOCK YOUR SCANNER." Tom did so, and jumped as he felt a powerful zap run up his arms. "Ow..." He jumped harder when a giant screen popped up, like the screen when they played online, only bigger and kind of transparent. Oh, and also the size of a movie theater screen.

"Sweet special effects." He gazed over the controls, and realized there were spinners on one side in different colors that spun up and down, and on the other side was a white spinner that went sideways.

It clicked in his head a second after seeing them. "It's like the online game." He murmured, reaching out and brushing the blue spinner. It began to scroll rapidly, and when Tom saw what it displayed he grinned. "There's my deck!" It slowed to a stop, and he put a hand on his hip, sweeping his hair back over his shoulder. "So who am I playing?"

Then the alarm that had sounded earlier rang again. Another boy, with black hair and glasses, stepped forward while the voice announced him. He had on a blue t-shirt with red sleeves and a pair of black pants, and had a bag strapped over his shoulder. He smiled at Tom in an odd way, making a shiver go down Tom's back.

"SAMUEL MURAKAMI, CHAOTIC CODENAME SAMSHADY. PLEASE STEP FORWARD AND DOCK YOUR SCANNER." Somehow, now that Tom was focused, the voice kinda sounded bored. Weird...

"First time?" He had a surprisingly friendly voice, though the un-nerving feeling only strengthened as he stared at Tom. The other Asian boy glanced away first, even though feeling that the action wasn't a smart idea.

"How'd you know?" Sam smirked at Tom's softly voiced question.

"You have this 'lost-puppy-dog' look on your face." That made Tom scowl at him. "But don't worry, I'll help you out." He now had a smile that heavily un-nerved Tom. "What's your tribe?"

Tom began to answer, when a voice like Kaz needled into the forefront of his head. 'Don't let your guard down, and don't tell anyone anything. Loose lips sink ships.' The oldest rules ofany battle or fight, and he shook his head with his lips pressed shut.

"Too bad." He said and began scrolling through his deck. Tom heard a sudden 'psst' and looked down at his scanner, where Kaz's face was displayed. Huh, so that was what a call on a Scanner looked like. The redhead smiled widely as he caught his friend's attention.

"Good job. Sam likes to trick people into giving him their decks." Tom smiled back and shook his head.

"Like I'd be that stupid after everything you taught me? So, what do I have to do?" Kaz craned his neck a little, and Tom's mouth wibbled in mirth as he realized Kaz was trying to do exactly what Sam had tried to.

"First, select your monster." That was an easy enough choice; Tom scrolled until he found his Maxxor card, which depicted a green skinned monster with purple markings up and down his arms and body, wearing a red tunic, with a fire in the background. Now that he could finally see, Tom felt a bitproud of utilizing such a strong Creature.

"Good choice buddy. Listen, cause this is important. Sam is just like me, which means he uses UnderWorld cards." Tom frowned a little; that meant most of his attacks... He gently tapped the scroller bar and moved through the battlegear option.

"Most of his attacks are fire-based. Then, I'll equip an AquaShield." Tom muttered as quietly as possible to Kaz, who nodded.

"Good move. And now, Mugic." The Asian boy closed his eyes, the momentary darkness giving him a chance to clear his head and think properly. Though having a Mujic in the same Element would be useful, strategy always called for using advantageous moves. In which case-

"Fortissimo." Kaz nodded so hard that he looked like a bobblehead as Tom's finger dragged the seven pointed circle icon over to the prep screen.

"Good, now pick your locations. Ten of them." Tom frowned in confusion. Ten? But, it was only one match, right? No matter, he supposed, shrugging as he picked ten from the white spinner. "If you're the attacker, the location comes from your deck, so you'll want to stack it to your advantage." OverWorld locations, then, and Tom had plenty. Finding them was easier than the others as he knew the cards by memory, and he finished by tapping on the glacier card he'd gotten from Kaz, and the screens in front of him and Sam suddenly disappeared. The mechanical voice rang out.

"LOCK YOUR DECKS." Tom muttered a small 'Here goes nothing' and pressed his palm flat against the scanner.

"BATTLEBOARD LOCKED. FIELD OF PLAY, REVEALED." The alarm rang out again, and Kaz spoke from the screen.

"That's my cue. You're on your own, man. Wait til you get to the cool part." Tom froze, then dropped his eyes down to meet Kaz.

"This...isn't the cool part? Kaz? Kaz!" He'd disappeared, the screen one dark.

"MAJORTOM, BECAUSE THIS IS YOUR FIRST TIME HERE, YOU WILL BE THE ATTACKER. SPIN THE LOCATION RANDOMIZER." Tom shifted in nervous excitement and did so, and the cards spun quickly from one to another. Finally, it settled on the ice field he'd put in.

"GLACIER PLANES-" At this, he allowed a small whoop of victory even though the look Sam gave him made Tom's cheeks flush in embarrassment, "-NOW MAJORTOM, CHOOSE YOUR ATTACKING CREATURE, AND YOUR TARGET CREATURE." Only got one choice, he thought sarcastically. He tapped his hand on the screen that had reappeared.

"Maxxor attacks Takinom!"

Hmm...Let's see where things go from here.