Chapter Text
A male about the age of sixteen lies motionless on the floor. His arms sprawled out, left hand up beside his head. The teen has a handsome face, square jaw, thick eyebrows. His short black hair and brown skin tone, contrasting against the white tile flooring. His other hand lays atop his stomach over a dark gray t-shirt with the image of a lighter gray squared spiral on the front. His chest slowly rises, up and down as he soundly sleeps.
However, the moment of peace does not last for long.
With a sudden gasp, the boy awakens, a fading migraine screaming at him to reach for his head, eyes squinted as he grumbles in pain.
Turning his head, he attempts to open his eyes, vision blurry before shortly coming into focus. To his left, he notices-and quickly dismisses-a wooden staff standing in a weapons rack against the wall.
The teen props himself up onto his feet with his arms and stands. However, just as he became fully aright, he shouts, a hand immediately reaching towards his head and face contorting into a pained grimace. He staggers back and falls into the wall behind him, grasping his head within his hands as the migraine continues.
And then, it is over.
Relief washes over the teen as the boy's hands drop to the floor beside him. He closes his eyes, resting a moment before releasing a deep sigh and opening them once again.
Only to be met with an unfamiliar room. With a gasp, the boy presses himself into the wall, eyes darting all around studying the new environment. Deciding there is no immediate threat, the teen pats himself down, searching for injuries, wincing when touching his back. He begins to pull up his shirt to check the would, but his hand pauses over his left pocket. Looking down, he reaches inside and pulls out a crumpled piece of paper.
He unfolds it slowly, revealing a simple name.
~ "Adam" ~
My eyes widen as memories suddenly flood my thoughts, scenes replaying before me that I hadn't realized I had forgotten— my fight with Akuma, the battle against Colrath, Mira, Kai.
"Gyaa!" an intense sharp pain throbs through my entire head as the migraine returns. The memories continue to swarm through my mind. But not all of them do, no — only memories from the past two days, nothing before then.
But those memories aren't the ones that matter right now. Currently, what matters is the memories from the past two days.
Three days. Exactly how long I've been inside the game.
"The game!" Immediately the migraine and grogginess from before disappear as adrenaline opens up my senses, and I become hyperaware. My blood, pumping faster through my veins as fight or flight kicks in.
"Kai, Mira!" I shouted, spinning around. I checked the room once again, fists raised—a 20-by-20 foot room with white walls and an 8-foot ceiling. White-tiled flooring, in the center of the room, a pair of green footprints. On the wall across from the prints appeared to be a timer, ticking down from 00:00:25:26. A suspicious gray square floats at around chin height between the two. To the right side of the room stands a wooden weapons rack and within it.
"The Ishibo!" I rush towards the staff, clutching it to my chest soon after grabbing it.
I try to keep myself rational, "Okay, one less thing to find, now to find Mira. And Kai too.", but inside I'm fuming. 'I thought we finished the game. Why am I still here?'. Since there was nothing else within the room, I turned towards the footprints from before, only to be greeted by a disturbingly familiar face— my own.
He grins devilishly. "Heh, it's about time you woke up."
An identical figure to myself stood at the center of the room, back straight and arms crossed, his posture screaming belligerence as he looked me up and down in a condescending manner. There was a particular malicious hostility to his voice that caused my stomach to churn and my mouth to dry. I grip the Ishibo firmly, before giving it a good spin as I thrust it before me, showing off my proficiency as I activated its power.
I shout, trying my best for a severe and threatening tone, but the dryness of my mouth gets the better of me, "Wh... What are you?"
His eyes, my eyes, widen in surprise as he watches me wield the Ishibo. For a moment, a small feeling of victory wells up inside me for being able to surprise him before he lowers his arms, his grin growing into a short laugh. "I'll be honest. Ahah! I didn't expect you would actually know how to use that thing!"
He glances the Ishibo up and down studiously for a moment before acting as though he suddenly remembered I was there. "I must admit, I'm impressed. You're not as useless as I thought you were."
That's what he says, but his posture, his every word, it all oozes with a condescending attitude. He is mocking me.
My grip tightened more as I took a step forward and thrust the Ishibo towards him once again, "I said, what are you?"
He grins, "Well, I'm certainly not our brother!" he suddenly bellows a hearty laugh, finding his statement rather amusing.
Shocked and confused, my eyes widen as I lower the Ishibo, "Brother? ... W-wait, you still have your memories?!"
The identical male's eyes dart to the side, a strange expression crosses his face, but only for a moment before returning to a look of total confidence. He scoffs, stuffing his hands into his pockets while taking a step to the side and towards me, his eyes not looking at me but instead scanning the room. "Of course, I still have our memories. Unlike you, I never lost them!"
I scrunch my eyebrows, shaking my head and pointing the staff at him once again, "You're not making any sense, what do you mean by 'our' memories?"
He stops in his tracks and turns towards me, a look of complete disdain evident on his face. "I'm you."
My face drops. For a moment, I'm just surprised, before the anger begins to rise within me. The suggestion that the two of us were the same person offended, no, insulted me!
I step towards him aggressively, "No, we're not!"
He thrusts his hands out, stepping forward and getting right up to my face with just as much if not more aggressive energy. "Well, we are! Just one of the many miracles of The Hollow!"
We glare at each other, dead in the eyes for several moments.
I turn away first, dropping my arms and the Ishibo, hesitantly to my sides.
He scoffs, remaining put, slowly looking me up and down.
Disgust, anger, frustration, all well up inside me. A gross cocktail of emotions I had no outlet for, and no idea of what to do with them. I try not to move, to make a sound. To do anything that would draw his attention to me. He won.
But that doesn't cause him to leave me alone. He is still only inches away from me, with me at the focus of his full undivided attention.
"Weak." The doppelganger finally steps back after what feels like forever, but what was likely only a single minute.
He then spits before turning away from me.
My jaw drops and eyes widen as I quickly raise my left hand to the damp place on the side of my face.
That was my last straw. As his back was still facing me, I took hold of both ends of the Ishibo and rushed him, purple glow emitting from the staff as its power activated before colliding with his back. He cries out in pain as the hit produces an energy blast, throwing him into the opposing wall before finally he slumps into the floor limply.
I take advantage and cross the room, standing over him. He writhes in ache, coughing as I raise the Ishibo, aiming it towards his face. "Stop acting so high and mighty. I'm the one with all the power here. I want to know where I am and what's happening," I pause, letting my tone grow dark, "so talk!"
The doppelganger wheezes a short laugh, "Come on then, do it! I'm weak, defenseless, unarmed, and on the ground. Hit me!"
I hesitate, eyes glancing away from him for a moment. I breathe in and glare at him, dead serious. "I will do it, now start talking!"
Something about my threat causes him to cackle in a fit of laughter, "Haha-aha! Well, that certainly was quick. You're becoming more like me already." a heavy maliciousness hung from his words.
Annoyed, I call up the Ishibo's power, "I am nothing like you, and no matter what you claim, you are most certainly not me! Now tell me what I want to know, or else!"
The duplicate sits up and stares directly into my eyes with an unamused hollowness. "Uhuh, 'I am nothing like you,' says the guy who struck me in the back, as I was walking away."
I growl, "Fine, if that's how you're going to be then I guess we'll just have to do this the hard w-" before I can finish my sentence I suddenly stop cold, dazed as I suddenly remember what caused the pain in my back, my mind flashing to when Reese attacked me with the Ishibo- nearly killing me. How Mira and Kai were so worried that I was going to die, all the things they went through to help me. My knees feel weak, and the staff depowers as my stomach churns, I drop it to the ground. My mouth feels parched as I come to be aware, 'I just did the same thing Reeve did to me.'
The other "me" watches me. Eyes squinted, eyebrows raised as he mumbles something to himself too low for me to hear.
I shake my head, 'Don't let him get to you. Focus, how do I get out of here?'
I try to ignore him, attempting to recollect my composure. I look back to the rest of the room, eyeing the cube and footprints.
I notice the duplicate moving towards me. I step back defensively.
He rolls his eyes and leans forward, picking up the Ishibo. "I'll be holding on to this… Can't exactly say I trust you with it anymore." He swings it over his shoulder, making it a point that I see the sharp glare he is giving me before finally, once again, turning away from me.
It seems I will not be getting the Ishibo back from him anytime soon. A sigh escapes my mouth, unsure how I should feel about that.
"Well, shit!"
My head turns towards him, surprised by his sudden outburst, he is standing over the footprints staring at the wall. He quickly looks in my direction, my back straightens as he makes eye contact, "We got a problem. There's a freaking timer."
My body jolted, I look up at the timer from before.
00:00:21:01
I watch as the number changes from twenty-one to twenty.
My look-alike throws his arms, raging as he stomps on top of the green prints within the floor. He huffs. "Are you finished staring at it yet, or would you like a minute alone with the thing?!"
I blink, staring at it for a moment before ripping my eyes away.
00:00:20:53
A dull pain starts to throb in my head.
'Great, just great, another nuisance to deal with!' I lift a hand to the side of my head, hoping to quell the ache before it gets worse.
I look from the prints to the square, searching for some type of clue. I take note of how the square has height and length, but no width.
I groan, my investigation only leaving me even more confused and head not feeling any better.
"I completely forgot about the timer," I admit, looking at it once again. "And we've wasted maybe, ten minutes!"
Not even a second after, I feel a hand swat the side of my head, hard.
He looks me down with another of his contorted expressions, "I don't care about your weak excuse, nor do I appreciate your stating the obvious! I've actually tried, instead of just staring at it as you have!" He waves his hand as he turns away, pressing his forehead against the staff. "You do something."
My hands ball into fists as I stare at his back, a seething feeling spreading through my being as I try to control my breathing.
My headache hurts like hell now!
I consciously unclench my hands and let out a long breath, repeating 'ignore him' in my head over and over as though a mantra.
The seething feeling burns out after a third breath. I retain my attention back towards the green footprints in front of me. I lift my foot, thinking back to when other me was stomping on the image.
I position myself in front of the square and over the prints, placing both feet precisely atop them.
Immediately, a gentle, low ringing sound emits from the square as it expands quickly. The music attracts the attention of my double, who turns in time to see the square grow to about two feet wide and tall.
Words and a loading icon appear on the square; it seems to be some type of interactive screen.
~"Welcome Player #6"~
He stomps up to the screen, "How did you get it to do that?"
I roll my head and glower at him, "I stood on top of the footprints." I make sure to say it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
He scowls, his knuckles turning white from his grip on the Ishibo tightening. "I tried that. I did it fifteen times!"
A bubbly feeling rises within me, and a pleased smile spreads across my face. "Maybe it just likes me?"
He seethes, but the screen changes before he can get a comment out. But even if it didn't, I would have ignored him. I give all my attention to the interface before me.
~"Player Menu"~
I'm going to get out of here and find Mira and Kai!