"I'm back, and ready to write!"

"And I'm also back, and ready to annoy!"

"… Random Annoying Person…"

"Yes?"

"…I've come up with a name for you…"

"Really? Wow! What is it?"

"…Miriam…"

"Oh… hey! That's a girl's name!"

"Exactly. Now, shut up, and let me answer the reviews."

From Shadow Minamoto:

Hahahaha! Nice job with this boss battle. I LOVE Cenn, he's the snarky, intelligent one of the group.

So... I sense Midna making an appearance to help them get past the Twilight? Hee, I can't wait till the next chapter. Wonder how Faron Woods will turn out...

My Reply:

Thanks. I was worried that the boss battle was a tad short, but it's great that you liked it.

I originally wanted Cenn to be a really pious kind of guy, you know, "thou so calm, thou so sacred", but since that would be a major stereotype for a White Mage, I kind of decided that a more "Idiots, idiots, I'm surrounded by idiots" approach might be a bit more interesting. I'm also planning for a few interesting battles later on, which will show Cenn in a new light.

Yes, Midna will be making an appearance. Gee, I don't know who is going to be the more arrogant: Midna or Cenn…

Thank you for your review.

From GigaNerd17:

Great chapter! Maybe I should write a SSB MMORPG! XD

Well, at least the summary makes sense now.

I REALLY like the idea of Journey Points. Where'd you come up with it?

My Reply:

Thanks. You can write one if you want. I'd have no qualms about it.

Yeah, I really should have changed the summary until the game really began. Until now, it hasn't really meant all that much.

The closest thing to Journey Points would have to be Quest Points, from Runescape. In order to start some quests in Runescape, you need to have acquired Quest Points by, yes; you guessed it, completing other quests. But then again, Journey and Quest Points are still fairly different, so I guess I can really say that it was kind of an original idea.

Thank you for your review.

From Jolteon Master:

Hmm, now who in the world could Link be talking about? Anyway, good job yet again. The plot thickens. Please remember Bryonel and the bunny. The game taking a life of it's own is very interesting and a good twist that you introduced rather subtly, good job. Keep Writing!!

My Reply:

Okay, to start, I don't know if Bryonel really should be a rabbit. But this is meant to be a humourous fic, so I guess it stands…

Rule One of writing about strange, complex video games… they always either start to develop a mind of their own, or start to change for the sheer necessity of endangering the players. See the books Space Demons, Skymaze, and, most importantly, Shinkei (may or may not be correctly spelt). Seriously, those three books practically sparked the whole "living game" story format. They also make for a great read.

Thank you for your review.

Last Game Standing

Chapter Ten: Into the Twilight

They walked. They wandered. They continued to walk. They continued to wander.

In all, they were continuing one of the longest traditions for RPGs: the annoying, seemingly never-ending walk from one area to another.

Finally Ryan asked that one revered question, asked anytime on any journey from five minutes in, to five minutes away from the chosen destination.

"Are we there yet?"

Bryonel scowled. Cenn groaned. Link… said nothing, because they weren't in the middle of a cutscene.

Unable to get a verbal response, Ryan tried again.

"Are we there yet?"

This time, there was a reply. "No, Ryan, we are not there yet. Now, be quiet, or I won't cast Cure on you at the next Boss Battle."

Ryan groaned. "Come on, Cenn! You know that this is boring!"

"Yes, and I question the makers of this game's wisdom and drive to make everything as far apart as possible. Despite that, we still have to keep moving."

And so there was silence. For about two minutes…

"Are we there yet?"

"Ryan, I asked you not to say that. For your incompetence, you can forget about getting free healing from me. You'll have to deal with health problems yourself until you redeem yourself."

"Err… but I can use Cure. Freelancers have access to basic magic, and Cure qualifies."

"So? Last time I checked, you usually use up all of your meager amounts of mana casting Blizzard or Fire before even thinking that you're in danger of being taken out!"

"At least I can use both offensive and defensive magic, and attack properly! Better than some White Mage!"

"…Ryan?"

"…Yes?"

"AERO!"

So while Ryan was blasted by sharp winds conjured up by an annoyed White Mage, Bryonel watched on. Would he remind them that quarrelling and violence wasn't the key? That they should make up and be friends again? That they should possibly log off the game, and have a rest?

Nope, no way.

Instead he did possibly the stupidest thing he could. He ran towards the arguing duo, and asked politely: "That looks like fun! …can I try?"

Cenn smirked. "Be my guest."

While Ryan and Bryonel were surrounded by the sharp winds summoned by Aero, a quiet voice resounded in Bryonel's head.

"You know," said the voice, "you should probably stop mucking around."

"Who cares?" Bryonel replied. "This is too much fun!"

"You are brain-dead, aren't you…?" The voice trailed off.

The winds from Aero were steadily sapping Cenn's mana reserves, so he halted his spell. The sudden shock sent Ryan and Bryonel soaring through the air, before they landed right in front of Faron Woods.

"Huh, looks like I found a new way to travel." Cenn noted. He thought for a moment, and then decided something. "Why not?" He stated, before casting Aero on himself and Link, causing them to fly all the way to Faron Woods, next to Ryan and Bryonel. Wait, sorry, my mistake, RIGHT ON TOP of Ryan and Bryonel.

And so, after that weird and obscure mini-story plot, they had made it to Faron Woods, which was enshrouded with Twilight, the strange, and mysterious demesion that the legendary Twili resided in.

Took them long enough.

The four heroes looked on at the entrance to the Twilight.

"How do we get in?" Ryan asked.

"Perhaps we have to knock on the entrance?" Bryonel wondered.

Cenn groaned. "Honestly! Anyone would think that you never even played Twilight Princess! Come on, guys! At least do something useful!"

Link, silent as he always was, walked forward, ever confident… and knocked on the entrance.

Ryan and Bryonel stared at Cenn, who sweatdropped. "Well, what do you know?"

And so, after another short, annoying interlude, the entrance to the Twilight rippled. It rippled, and rippled and rippled, and… Meh, you get the idea.

Anyway, Midna, everyone's favourite cursed imp Princess of the Twilight Realm, appeared.

"Huh? Wasn't she meant to have reverted to her original form?" Ryan asked.

"I guess they kept her like that in order to make it look like Twilight Princess." Cenn replied.

Midna cackled. Yes, cackled. I know that it's normally restricted to witches and strange old ladies in funny hats, but this is a game, so it's allowed.

Anyway, Midna cackled. "Do you want to go into the Twilight?" The imp asked.

"Yes." Link said.

"Gee, they really gave Link some massive speaking roles, didn't they?" Ryan sarcastically told Bryonel.

Midna grabbed everyone with her huge, hand-like hair, and pulled them into the mysterious Twilight Realm…

TO BE CONTINUED…

…Right now!

They looked around the Twilight Realm version of Faron Woods.

"So, this is the Twilight Realm, is it?" Bryonel said.

"No, Bryonel. The fact that we've been just pulled into a strange dimension filled with strange black pixels that are flowing upwards doesn't mean that this is the Twilight Realm." Cenn replied.

"Oh. But that means that we've gone to the wrong mysterious portal…"

"…Of course this is the Twilight Realm!" Cenn yelled.

"…But you just said…"

"…How about you just think what you want to think about, okay?"

"Hey guys, since this is the Twilight Realm, don't you think we should have either turned into spirits, wolves, or assorted animals by now?"

"Now that you mention it… Ah!"

They all fell to the ground. There was a moment of nausea, then nothing.

"Is everyone alright?" Ryan asked.

Link had swiftly become a wolf. No surprise there.

He looked at himself. A dog. Possibly a Golden Retriever or something similar. Not too bad, all things considering. For reasons unknown, he had managed to obtain a brown cap.

He looked for the others. "Cenn? Bryonel? What happened to you guys?"

Cenn crawled out. "I'm okay. Became a red fox. Not so bad, really, though I seem to have a white hood for no reason in particular."

"Yeah, I think that it's meant to show our class. Either that or it's just for show.

"Okay. Where's Bryonel?"

"Haven't found him yet."

"Don't look for me!" Bryonel's voice sounded out.

"I think I can smell him." Cenn said, then looked around slowly.

"You can… SMELL him?!" Ryan replied.

"Duh! I'm a fox now, remember? And man, does he stink!"

"Come on, Bryonel," Ryan said. "It can't be too bad."

"It is. Trust me." Bryonel's voice replied.

Cenn's ears edged upwards. "Found him!"

Bryonel's voice picked up. He was panicking now. "No! Please no!"

"What happened?" Ryan asked.

Bryonel whimpered as the Fox-Cenn nudged him out of his hiding place. Ryan saw him and burst out laughing. "You've got to be kidding me! That's hilarious!" the Dog-Ryan barked with mirth.

An embarrassed Rabbit-Bryonel stared at his allies. "You guys have got it easy. I have the most physical job out of all of us, and I still get the wimpy animal-body."

"You've got that right." Ryan cackled (yes, Ryan's allowed to cackle as well!). "Don't cha, little 'Bunnynel'?"

"This is so not funny…" 'Bunnynel' groaned.

"It is to us!" Ryan continued to bark with laughter.

"Hmm… ADVANCE!"

"What the… HEY! CUT IT OUT!"

Bryonel had taken his revenge on Ryan by activating his Advance ability. Despite his diminutive size, he still managed to do some noticeable damage, and his new, light body made it all the easier, too.

"Ouch… Hey, go easy on the abilities, okay?"

"Only if you go easy on the insults!"

"That's enough, children." Cenn replied, easing the dog and the rabbit apart. "Let's just get moving, okay?"

And so, with that, the now-transformed heroes went forth.

TO BE CONTINUED… SERIOUSLY THIS TIME…

Yay! First chapter in ages. But I've hopefully made up for it now!

This is also the first chapter with Aero and Advance. Both of these will be seen often later in the story, so keep an eye out for them! And don't forget to review!

Until next time,

Ultra Blader