Chapter 1

In the year 2042 technology went to a whole new level, from cellphones, to the latest game systems, tech ruled the world. But by the year 2050 the world was swallowed into chaos, war broke out and it seemed never ending. With every dispute, every disagreement that struck the world started another war and left many homeless, jobless, fear ruled over all things. Weapons advanced as well, handheld weapons and tanks were replaced with mech suits that stood as high as eight feet tall and what seemed like endless power.

With hope to one day find a world of peace, six teens decided to set off and find a portal, a gate to new lands, full of fantasy and adventure. Art, the nerdy scrapper, with chocolate caramel tone, green eyes and a messy, un-kept fro of hair that fell to about the middle of his ear. Meekle was the tough love type, he cared by showed it through jokes, his once pale skin now tanned from days out in the hot sun and a gelled duckbill hair style. Vixen was tough but kind, her fair white skin and long black hair always pulled back. Fenix always burned so quickly in the sun, his sandy blond hair, messy and falling over his blue eyes. Razah's skin was equally as rich as Art's skin, she had a warm smile and a give them hell attitude and her hair was always nicely braided, falling down to her shoulders and last but definitely not least, Tophuu, she could come off as odd, but she was just playful and loved animals of all types, even bugs and spiders. She would find ways to give herself an under cut, her hair always very stylish, as she would talk them all into helping her raid stores for hair dye. All of them were between sixteen and eighteen years of age, there life was normal at one point and they have stuck close together through the war that engulfed the world.

Their destination was a large city, once known as Los Angeles, but now is referred to as the War Zone. When the wars broke out they hit the bigger cities first, more people meant more fight, more power and to this day battles are waged there, mechs walking the streets of this once towering land that has fell to ruin. To be more precise, their target point was actually a virtual arcade, not far off the coast, on a street known as Santa Monica Boulevard. The arcade had many names but most knew it as Game Haven, where they had the latest and greatest systems known for virtual reality, making games not to far off from reality.

Outside of larger cities there wasn't much, most small towns were left with a few buildings, if you could even call them that. Housed there were those who were young, injured or wanted no more part of war. This made it much easier for our group to travel outside of cities, finding a car that they could fill up and take to the outskirts of the city.

"Come on Art, we need to get going. Are you done filling up that bottle with gas?" Meekle threw his arms up at him and let out an exhausted breath, "Dude, stop daydreaming and let's go."

"Sorry, I am just really excited. We have been talking about going for years and now we are finally doing it." A jump in Arts step as he rushed back over with an old dirty water bottle filled with gasoline and tossing it to Meekle with a big smile on his face and his hair bouncing around. The others sitting in the bed of a truck shaking their head and laughing, Art was often the most lively of the group, though they all joked around and had fun, he was the one who always had so much hope. Meekle would never admit it but it's what kept him alive all this time, seeing him so hopeful made him want to try.

The drive through the waist land wasn't filled with too much adventure, they avoided the large towns and steered clear of any type of battle that was going on, though it was harder to avoid skirmishes, no one knew when or where those would happen. It was like rival gangs running into each other, never a fun sight to see but that was the reality of the world they lived in for now. Thankfully most were too busy fighting to notice them driving by, though they did take some fire a few times, thankfully there was no chase after them. Unless you got in the way of the fight, they usually would leave you alone, other than in the War Zones.

It took a little over a days drive to finally reach the outer city limits, once upon a time, this area would have an amazing view of the city, bright lights everywhere filling the night sky. Now it was just red warning lights and the streets lit with mechs firing, some nights were quiet, which made the rundown L.A. seem even creepier, knotting the stomach, just waiting for something to happen. They thought it best to wait till morning to enter the city, though there were more soldiers the town was lit and they would be able to move around them without fear of being spotted and blindsided by a mech.

Day break came quicker than they all imagined, their stomachs turned as they thought of what they were going to try and accomplish. They patted each other on the back and shared a few hugs, the fear of not making it ran through them but there was no reason to turn back, no reason left to stay in this world as they charged onward. It didn't take long for them to hit the gates that wrapped around the whole city, warning signs hung every 20 feet and they followed along the fence till they found a somewhat hidden area, out of site from onlookers. Each one carried a bag, mostly full of food but Vixen pulled out a pair of bolt cutters to cut through the fence with. With each snapping wire they looked around, watching to make sure no one heard them, that they weren't spotted before even getting inside.

The easy part was over, as they all slipped through the gate, Art cut his arm a bit on the cut metal, his eye squinted and he jerked the rest of his body through.

"You have to be more careful." Fenix grabbed his arm and checked it. "Well, it doesn't look that deep." Art rolled his eyes and ripped the bottom of his shirt to make a quick bandage.

"I'll be fine, it was just a scrape. Don't worry so much Fenix." Fenix nudged Art with his shoulder.

"Don't roll your eyes." Fenix shaking his head at him just before Art gave him a little push, at which point they both laughed a bit. They had been friends longer than the rest and often fooled around and teased each other.

Vixen turned, her finger over her mouth as a brush of hair blew past her lips, a glare for both of them. She wasn't against fooling around but not at a time like this, she was focused and had her mind set on their destination and not getting caught while getting there. This wasn't upsetting to anyone, they knew she was right and they all huddled in an ally way.

"We have no idea where the portal is, so we are going to have to search for it. We should split into teams of two--"

"No Vixen, we can't split up, not in a place like this." Razah and Tophuu both said quickly.

"If we split up that gives them three chances to find us and honestly, I don't want to have to think or worry about you all while we try and find the door." Tophuu spoke up, raising her voice just a bit too high before smacking putting her hand over her mouth.

"Tophuu has a point Vixen, let's just stick together this time." Meekle chimed in, patting Tophuu on the shoulder.

"Fine, then let's go, we are going to have to search the streets, let's get up high so we can see when it's clear." Vixen caved to them, not that she was keen on splitting up but it did seem the best course of action to her.

Though there weren't many tall buildings still standing, it didn't take much to find a vantage point. They started up the fire escape on the side of an old building, trying hard to step softly against the metal grated platform. When they got to the top and looked out over the desolate city, they realized just how big it was. With so much ground to cover they worried it would take them much longer than they had expected.

"Well we know its somewhere closer to the ocean at least. So that will give us a better shot, right?" Art said as his eyes showed panic at how much would still be left and his head spun seeing that the beach was covered with soldiers.

After they all got over the shock of what they saw and what they were doing and the things they were trying to achieve, they headed back down towards the street.

"Stay close and stay low. Meekle, you take up the rear so you can watch everyone and make sure we all stay on course." Vixen was the best out of all of them at stealth missions. They rushed through a four-lane street, it was much larger and left them quite exposed as they tried to hide behind rubble and broken down cars. It didn't seem like the edges of the town were as watched as the center was, this made it a bit easier for them to get away with crossing over larger areas. As they get deeper into the city, they will have to stick more towards the shadows.

It felt as though they were walking for hours, up and down the random streets, hiding in allies and even some old buildings when they needed to. That only worked for so long though, as the ground started rumbling under them, they saw soldiers rushing down the street just ahead of them and heard the loud firing of a mech, a sound they all knew too well. They all jumped into a large dumpster that was in the close by, hiding from site as they all squeezed into the small space and closed the lid. All of them covering their own mouth, their hands shaking as some of them squeezed their eyes shut as tight as they could. Meekle and Art watched the lid, waiting to make sure no one was going to find them, you could hear their breath shaking, hoping that they weren't noticed.

The fighting didn't seem to stop any time soon, so they took turns napping while they could, though none of them were really able to sleep. They rested their eyes at the very least and finally morning came, the fighting had stopped a few hours before sunrise, but they didn't dare check to see till sunlight came through the lid of the dumpster. Meekle lifted the can just a bit with his head, eyeing the street where all the fighting happened, then turned checking the street behind them to make sure there were no soldiers wondering around.

They slowly climbed out, hugging the wall closest to them and slowly made their way toward the street. Vixen eyed the street as they got closer to the edge of the ally, making sure they weren't going to be spotted from the front, the slowly tilted her head out, making sure there was no one. It all seemed safe and clear, making them all let out a big breath Razah putting her hand over her chest, as though she was gripping her heart.

They knelt down and slowly made their way across, half of them watching one side of the street while the other half turned to watch the other. It was as if they had all cleared out, leaving little trace that they were there, aside from more damage to the area, dirt and debris filled the air. They didn't let these things slow them down, they seen it their whole life, nothing new to be shocked over, they just kept moving, one foot in front of the other till they made it to the other side. At that point they rushed into a broken down building, it had no front or roof to it but it had a counter on the far end, it looked like an ice cream shop of some sort. They hid their and caught their breath for a moment, wondering where to go from here. Not having the chance to check that street and none of them really having the urge to go back and look around, they decided that it was best to move forward.

At the back of the shop was a door, reading exit on the metal plated sign they decided to go through, figuring it would lead to another back road they could take. The door swung open and a soldier was standing there.

"What the. Who are you." He reached for his weapon but they rushed the door, knocking him over and running for it. Art took the chance to kick him in the face as hard as he could, hoping it would give them even the slightest chance to get away. As they got to the end of the backstreet they could hear heavy clunking footsteps chancing after them, they didn't take time to check as the burst out into the street and started rushing down one of the large streets, the ocean able to be seen in the distance.

They quickly crossed over and went into a building and headed up the stairs, every moment hearing the booted men getting closer. As they turned to reach the next floor the building and stairs were gone, fallen apart into a pile below them. Vixen in front put her arms out so that no one would rush up and fall off, they all came to a full stop and looked behind them.

"No time, we have to jump for it." Tophuu pointed out at a fire escape the was across on the other building. They backed up to make room but Meekle was charged and shoved the soldier back down and followed it up by planting his foot square to the chest of the soldier.

"Go now." His voice high and demanding, his arm aggressively waving them on to jump. They didn't fight him on this as they all started jumping one by one, first Vixen, then Tophuu, Fenix following close after and then Razah but Art wasn't going to just leave Meekle, he rushed in full force to help him fight them off.

The others started their way up the metal ladder, making it shake and creek with every step they took. Fenix stayed calling for Meekle and Art to hurry up, but it was getting tougher to fight them all off, there was at least seven men but thankfully it was a smaller stairway. Just then Meekle felt something crack over his head, blood dripped out from his hair and he fell back, leaving Art to try and fight them off alone. One quickly got past him and rushed to jump the gap but Art was close behind shoving him off as he fell to the ground below. The others came chasing after him, Meekle got up and grabbed the last man shoving him against the wall behind, he then pulled him forward and did it once more, hearing the wall cracking he gave one last forceful kick to the man as he fell through the wall.

"Move." Art shouted as he braced himself on the handrail and jumped, kicking at the men with both feet as hard as he possibly could, sending them flying down the stairs and out the hole in the wall. "Come on, get up Meekle, it won't take them to long to track us back down." He grabbed his friend and bolted up the stairs, launching himself and Meekle over to the fire escape.

They just barely make it as the hinges come off the wall and tilt the fire escape, Art starts to fall and Fenix grabs his hand pulling him back up. They both grab Meekle and rush to the top of the building to meet the others, the whole thing shaking as they make their way up. Thankfully it didn't fall off but this will give the soldiers a chance to catch up they all thought as they looked around, trying to find out where to go next that would hide them away from the soldiers. They only had once choice, they had to jump to the next building over if they wanted to get down off the roof, but the gap was nothing compared to the leap they just made.

They make their way from building to building, hearing soldiers on the streets looking for them, they tried to stay low but they were out in the open. They finally found a way down but it wasn't much help, putting them down close to the soldiers they had to make a run for it. The sun was getting lower, it was already afternoon, they had been running all day long and they hadn't found Virtual Games. The ran with everything they had, heading down the street with soldiers close behind, Fenix and Art still holding Meekle up as they ran, though he insisted he was fine, they didn't want to chance it with everything going on.

A soldier caught up and grabbed at Tophuu, Vixen quickly grabbed at his wrist and twisted it, giving a sharp front kick to his back knee and knocking him down. She whipped around and pushed Tophuu forward.

"Come on we have to get out of here now." She shouted as they made it to the end of the street and turned the corner, they found themselves face to face with a mech. It stepped forward and the ground shook them to the bone. Meekle reached out and grabbed Vixen as Razah grabbed at Tophuu and they pulled them back out of the way as the mech's arm came crashing down right where they were standing.

"Yep, time to go." Fenix showing his agreement as they turned and started running the other way, leading them towards the ocean and away from the exit.

They could feel the ground shaking and hear the loud bursts coming from it but they did not dare look back as they rushed forward.

"There." Art shouted as he changed course, the other confused and unsure but they couldn't just let him run off. He had seen something that grabbed his attention just one street over. He climbed up some rubble of an old building and jumped to the other side, as the others followed some up the rubble, others making their way around the side of the building. They found him holding a door open and using his hand to signal them to go inside, the building was as run down as all the rest but above it a bit of the sign that remained read out "Gam" and he just knew this was the place, it had to be the place.

They all make it in and they can hear the soldiers outside looking for them as they all duck down, peaking out the windows of the store, praying that they don't find them. None of them but Art had noticed all the things around them, games laying around, large, life size statues of game characters and posters covering the walls. His heart felt like it dropped, they had found it, he was sure of it and he wasn't going to stop, he got up and started looking at everything, soon catching the attention of all the others who finally realized and were in awe of what they saw. They wanted to celebrate, they wanted to shout but they couldn't as they simply started moving forward, shocked looks across all their faces.

But they didn't see the portal, the doorway to another world wasn't anywhere to be seen and hearts turned, their eyes watered but not Art, no he kept looking, finding a door at the back end of the large room, down a set of stairs.

"Come on, this has to be it." The whisper echoed a bit, in his excitement he was unable to keep his voice low enough as they all started moving across the room and away from the entrance, constantly watching their backs. Art tried opening the door, but it was locked or wedged, he wasn't sure which as his eyes looked back and met theirs, he mouthed the words, "Sorry." To them as he started kicking and ramming the door with his elbow.

"Art stop." Vixen called out to him, knowing this would definitely bring attention to their whereabouts.

She tried to grab him but with his last shove to the door it broke open and he went tumbling down the stairs and into a smaller room. They all went stumbling down the stairs to check on him.

"Are you okay?" Meekle said with a panic.

"You're not hurt are you." Fenix questioned.

"Are you crazy." Tophuu confusingly asked.

"He is fine." Vixen mumbled

"Oh come on, you know that had to hurt." Razah joked.

They all laughed a bit, even Art as he got up, he took a few steps forward, there it was, the doorway to the other world. But it didn't look like it was on, they all slowly started walking around the room in the dark, as there were no windows for light. Vixen then found the wall close to the stairs and felt around, flipping a switch all the lights came on.

"How did you do that?" Fenix asked curiously, as there shouldn't be any power running through the town.

"My guess is one of the military groups powered up the grid, so they could have electricity in their base." Meekle explained.

"That means we will be able to turn it on." Art started searching for a switch, lever, anything that could possibly turn on the portal.

It seems like it should have been obvious but they couldn't seem to find it, that is till Tophuu moved away from the desk she was leaning against. "Oh, hey I think I found it." A quick chuckle before she hit the switch into the on position. The lights in the room flickered and the ground shook, they weren't sure if it was the portal or a mech above doing it, but soon the room glowed, light the moon filled the room with a blue light and the ramp leading to the Virtual game lit up at the railing. The door was open, a black abyss swirling and crashing about like water as they stepped forward.

"This is it everyone. Are you ready for a new world?" Art said, his eyes shining with excitement, he almost couldn't take the anticipation. In this Virtual dimension they would be able to live, their bodies sustained through a high level of technology that converted what they ate within the game into all the things their bodies would need to live, vitamins, protein and nutrients. It was a living dimension that someone could last in forever if they wanted, which made them impossible to own, as the price was too high, this was one out of the ten made systems and this Game shop happened to be lucky enough to get one, which was a win for them.

Art took no time, he jumped right in, out of fear that it would close before he got in. None of them could stand living in this war world any longer, they followed, leaping in full of joy and excitement, not one of them knew what was going to be on the other side of this gate, a world they couldn't have dreamed of. The portal shot them through, it felt as though they were flying through space, till they came to a stop, each in what seemed to be their own terminal, asking them to enter their names and basic info so that their characters could be made.