.hack//LIMINALITY Fan Fiction / .hack//SIGN Fan Fiction ❯ .hack//CHECK ❯ Celebrity ( Chapter 13 )

Chapter 13 // Celebrity

The Twin Blade, Kyle, reached Naomi first, and attacked with an overhead slice. Naomi ducked as she slid underneath and behind the woman approaching her from the front. "Too slow, Cartwright!", she mused. With amazing speed, the woman turned around.

"How many times do I have to tell you!!!", the woman charged forwards, "THE NAME'S CARTMAN!"

Before Naomi knew anything, she was flying backwards. The red numbers 1500 appeared where she was previously standing. She did know one thing. They were all coming after her, and that wasn't good. She used a speed charm as she got up, and followed that with a full heal item.

"Drill Blade!", shouted Kyle as he sprang forwards spinning parallel to the ground with both blades pointed.

"Oh, crap!" Naomi dived out of the way. Kyle continued, and destroyed a nearby tree.

"Ebon Wulf! Come to my aid!" shouted Kenny. A deafening howl was heard throughout the forest, and from nowhere a giant, black wolf skidded in front of Naomi. Its fur was lustrous, but at the same time, had the look of an infinite void, and its fangs were pure white, like the hottest flames. If it wasn't there for the purpose of taking her out, she would think it quite a noble beast.

Crap! I've gotta do something!, she thought.

As it opened its jaws of oblivion, a dark maelstrom began to form. Naomi ducked, and a projectile of dark matter shot from its mouth. The projectile hit a group of some other players about two hundred yards behind Naomi, and cleared a hundred square yards of forest in a dark sphere of destruction.

Naomi darted between the giant wolf's legs and headed straight for Kenny. The wolf skidded into a turn and began to give chase.

"PHOENIX BARRAGE!", she yelled. For one, brief second, nothing could be seen of Naomi but red streak that went right through Kenny. Fifteen blows were heard as Kenny went flying into the air. His ghost hit the ground, and vanished. Just as Naomi appeared behind the vanquished character, the wolf, jaws primed to tear into her, disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

"Holy crap!", yelled Cartman, "She killed Kenny!!!" Just as she was about to charge Naomi again, she became pixilated and disappeared.

"Ouch!", said Naomi, "You've been banninated!" She turned to see Kyle standing right behind her. "SWITCH!", she yelled.

Suddenly, they were back to back. "Huh?", wondered Kyle. Before he could get his bearings, Naomi had spun around, and slashed him five times. His ghost hit the ground, and disappeared.

She, then, began a frantic rush for the clearing.

. . .

The man in a suit had hurriedly fumbled into the control room of the new wing. He placed his microphone on the counter next to the door, and banged his fist onto the terminal. "Just who is that guy!?", he demanded. "No one's been able to put a scratch on him!"

"We don't know.", commented a man reading a print out.

"Well find out!", the man in the suit stormed out of the control room, grabbing his microphone on the way.

"Dispatch the GM teams!", barked a woman at a phone.

. . .

Naomi reasoned that she was about halfway to the clearing. Without warning, a voice boomed:

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, CC CORP. IS PROUD TO PRESENT THE CELEBRITY GUEST PLAYER, PLAYING AT THE SOLID ARCADE IN NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, DANNY CARTER!!"

In the distance, she saw a light that shined for only a moment. Wow. Carter even got a good spawn point. Celebs get all of the breaks.

Five figures rushed past her. They moved like the wind to the position of the light source.

"I've got first dibs!"

"NO WAY!"

"I'll be famous for taking out Carter's character!"

"You'll have to stop me from doing it first!"

"Suckers!"

Then, she heard the five screaming. Naomi, too began to move more quickly to match their speed.

She was almost there. In the distance she could vaguely see a familiar figure, just standing there with his hands in his pockets, a spear tucked under his arm. He was of average height, with auburn hair and blue eyes. On his torso, he wore a kevlar vest. His skin was fair. Hanging from his mouth, was a cigarette. "Yo.", he said.

Naomi stopped. "Stan?"