[Kitsumi]

Twylla -- Magi -- Rory
Level 0 -- Level 0 -- Level 0

"You guys had better be fucking grateful," the young woman declared as she plopped down into a seat between her brother and cousin. "I was able to get three copies of the game, but I had to punch a guy in the face for that last copy. They tried calling security on me, but I had paid and was out the door before anyone even made it over to where I was." She smirked, obviously not the slightest bit ashamed of her actions. "It was crazy in there."

Her brother rolled his eyes. "Did you seriously punch someone?"

"Yeah," she answered. "But it was his fault. I already had my hands on the game, and then he tore it from my grasp. Said something about me already having two copies, and how girls should stay in the kitchen anyways. Can you believe that?"

Their cousin sighed. "People can be so cruel sometimes." He studied the back of the game, smiling. "Can we log on? I want to get my character created before they actually launch. How long until launch time, anyways?"

The female who had purchased the games looked over her shoulder at the clock. "Uhh, like an hour. Yeah, we should probably get started. I hear their character setup is super in-depth."

//Yay for a seriously crappy start? I figured we'd kinda introduce the characters first...

[Kitsumi]

As the three young adults were setting up their gaming devices, they began discussing their plans for the game.

"I was reading a ton of information online," Rory said excitedly. "I plan on specializing in Summoning magic. You can call familiars to your aid, and even summon demons to fight for you if you're strong enough! And I'm definitely planning on choosing a Kuhna for my beast-form." He suddenly frowned. "Beast-form...that's such a weird thing to call it."

The female laughed. "Well, it's certainly fitting. Because I'm a beast."

"I was thinking of choosing the Kuhna too," her brother ignored her. "I thought they were really cool-looking. Also, felines can be really mysterious, which I think would work well for character whose strength is in Illusion."

His sister scoffed. "You guys are both nerds. I'm totally making my character one of those badass dragon things!"

[Kitsumi]

Once everything was set up, the three began preparing for the dive into the game. "See ya on the other side!" the female said, before activating her device.

The character creation process was a rather extensive one. She chose traits to add to her character that would increase their Melee damage, and chose a two-handed starting weapon. "That's kind of cool that they let you pick what kind of weapon to start out with," she murmured. "Most games just start everyone off with the same weapon, and you have to purchase the kind you really want to use."

When it came to choosing her beast-form, she began joking around. "Hmm, do I want to pick an awesome, fire-breathing dragon," she circled around the 'Paragon' option, before moving to the option labelled 'Kuhna'. "Or I could be a wimpy little kitty. Hmm, decisions, decisions...oh, shit!" Without meaning to, she chose the 'Kuhna' option. "Where's the option to go back?" she said, desperately. "You've got to be kidding me. I'M STUCK AS A MOTHERFUCKING KUHNA?!"

[Kitsumi]

There was no way to go back. After trying and trying, the female finally sighed. "Whatever, it's just a game. I can always create a different character later, right?"

She pressed on, until she came to the point where she would choose a username. "Hmm..." she tentatively typed in a few keys, and then backspaced what she had typed. "Ugh, I hate coming up with a username." After several more failed attempts, she finally came up with something she liked. "Twylla. That sounds kind of cool. It works for now...I'll just trash this character later anyways. There's no way that I'm going to stay a Kuhna!"

With her character completion finished, she chose to 'Accept.' A loading screen appeared before her eyes, but it only lasted a few moments. Then, she found herself in an enormous square room, full of people milling about as they waited for the actual game to launch.

[Kitsumi]

"Crap," Twylla said. "I have no idea how to tell which of these people are my brother and cousin. I wonder if they're even finished creating their characters."

Luckily, she didn't have to look very far for them. One user, whose name showed up above them as 'Rory' stood out. "I didn't think you'd use your actual name," Twylla said to her cousin. "Have you seen my brother?"

"Right here," the user beside Rory spoke up. His name showed up as Magi. "What kind of a name is Twylla? At least the name Magi kind of fits with my character." He just barely avoided her punch, laughing. "Don't bother, Twylla. You can't bring someone's health down in this lounge."

Rory was too happy to get caught up in his cousin's slight spat. "Guys," he said quietly, leaning in so only they could hear. "I'm actually in the body of a male. I don't have to wear a binder, or anything!" Having been born female, this was probably the first time that Rory had ever felt comfortable in his own body. Even if the body was simply a virtual one...it certainly felt realistic to him.

[Jedi]

Inferno
Level 0

"Damn," Seth said as he held his jaw. "That bitch may be smaller than me, but she sure can punch." Though that copy had slipped his grasp, he did eventually find another copy, though he had been there quite a bit longer than he would've liked to. He glared over the case and he plopped down on his sofa. His little brother was playing the GTA V on his XBOX when he told him to leave. "And how many times have I told you not to touch my stuff!?" Seth set the case aside, then unplugged the XBOX cord, hiding it under the sofa cushions. That was when he set up the new game he'd just bought.

---

Ackerley -- Aditi
Level 0 -- Level 0

She pondered over the internet, looking for different usernames to choose from. "What about that one?" her boyfriend pointed to. "NO!" she burst out as loud as she could. "Do you know how overused Lilith is? I need a unique demon name for my necromancer." He just went back to setting up the consoles, muttering "I'm just trying to help." The woman ignored him, browsing through several different sites for the perfect name. Name after name, she dismissed them. "Too obvious. Too short. Eh, too long." She continued scrolling through them until she finally found the name for her. "Got it! I'll be Aditi." Her boyfriend came over and looked at the description. "This is for a genie." The girl shrugged him off, "It doesn't matter. It's my name now." "What about my name?" She simply let out a huff of frustration. She went back to Google and typed in boy name meaning one with nature. Upon clicking on the first website, she declared his new name. "There, you'll be Acke." Her boyfriend didn't like the sound of it. "Acke? That sounds disgusting. Like hack or something." Another huff from the girl. "Fine, here's the longer version. Ackerley." "That's better," he said.

[Jedi]

It didn't take long for Seth to set up the system. He'd bought many different gaming consoles before, so he could generally figure out what goes where. And luck for him, this was a virtual reality system, which meant all the items were in the box. That also meant he didn't have to plug it into the TV. In as little as five minutes, he had the console set up and ready for him to play. Just to make sure his brother didn't bother him while he played, Seth locked the door to his room. He figured that would dissuade anyone from barging in unannounced. He then grabbed the gaming helmet and placed it upon his head. "Evelon, here I come!" He pushed the power button, bring the system to life.

---

"Do you have those things set up yet?" she barked at him. "Almost," he answered. "Well you're taking too long. I want to hurry up and create my character." He sighed and tried to quicken his pace, but it didn't lessen her complaints. Finally after a few minutes, he was finished setting up the first set. "There you go." She snatched it from his hand. "Took you long enough. Don't forget to choose the Lucain. That's what I'm choosing. And remember to pick green colors. I want us to match." Though he was getting a little irate, he let it go. "Don't worry, I will." She put it on, then ordered him to "Hurry up and switch me on." With the push of a button, her helmet lit up.

Now that he had figured out how to put the first one together, it didn't take him long to set the second one up. He placed it on his head and pushed his own power button. His screen came to life in an instant.

[Jedi]

The first steps of Character Creation were set up as picking stats. Seth was a bit surprised to find an MMORPG that had statistics and skills decisions before appearance modifications. But he didn't question it. It wasn't at all unheard of by him. He set up his characters stats so that he'd be able to kill first and ask questions later. In games like this, he usually liked to spam the noobs by killing their characters when they entered PVP areas. "And I definitely gotta have Pyro abilities." Fire was usually his signature. He even gave himself the name Inferno in many other games, which is what he was planning to do this time around.

As for his weapons, he chose twin Katana blades. He figured he'd probably find a fire spell to engulf the blades in flames, increasing their damage. It was a bit far fetched, but worth a look.

---

Aditi knew exactly what she wanted. She always played a necromancer type character, while she always had her boyfriend playing a knight or barbarian to keep her from getting attacked. But she always yelled at him whenever she would get damaged or knocked out. And so she added Necromancy to her skills, but also added Summoning, figuring it would be very similar. Lastly, she added taming, thinking she'd be able to command animals to defend her as well. "Weapons?" she said aloud, not caring if her boyfriend could hear her. "What do I need weapons for?" She scrolled through them, finding them all too big for her, until she came upon a small dagger. She read the description, learning that it was a poisonous blade. "There we go. I'll just take that."

---

Ackerley browsed through the stats, finding different skills that would help him as a knight or other swordsman. Halfway through looking, he came upon more intriguing skills. "Mending? Herbalism? Alchemy?" He read the skill descriptions, liking what he found and before long, he started creating a character he'd never played as before. It didn't occur to him that he wasn't thinking of what she would tell him to choose. Before long, he found himself choosing a staff as well, instead of the usual broadsword. In a little while, he ended up at the species selection. That was when he realized he'd created a completely different character than what his girlfriend would tell him to make. He knew he was in trouble with her.

[Jedi]

Seth was now faced with the choice of species. There were five to choose from. "Not the bunny, that's for damn sure. Not the bird either." It seemed to him like the pickings were slim. "The only one worth picking is the Par- Parag-" He wasn't quite sure how to pronounce it yet. "Well I'm goin' with the dragon." The first attempt at making it look all fiery just ended up looking like Charizard. So he started again, but it was far too flashy. So he dulled down the fire theme and made it look more like cracked magma. "There we go. What a beaut'." Next, he put in his username, which to no surprise was his standard Inferno title. And so he clicked on the finish button, waited through the loading screen and entered the lobby.

---

Almost immediately, she clicked on the Lucain. Browsing through the different markings and colors, she picked out a good arrangement to represent her necromancer. Her black and white coat brought out the vibrant green of the reaper marking. Upon finishing up, she looked in wonder at her luminescent lucain. She entered Aditi, then clicked on the finish button. It didn't take long for her to wait through the loading screen.

---

He knew he would be in trouble as soon as she saw him. But he had to at least try to make things right. Maybe she'd forgive him for his mistake. He wanted to believe that, but couldn't quite convince himself, so he went on to create his avatar. He chose the Lucain, which looked to him like a wolf with blades protruding from it's back. There also seemed to be an extra tail. He decorated it to the best of his ability in an mossy green color. Then when he was finished, he entered the name he had been given just minutes earlier. Ackerley. He clicked finish, then waited for it to load.

[Kitsumi]

The two siblings momentarily forgot their little argument as they turned to really take a good look at their cousin. "Wow," Twylla spoke first, looking the avatar up and down. "You look hot."

"Eep! don't say that!" Rory blushed about fifteen shades of red as he tried to cover as much of himself with his hands as possible. "Did I make myself look too attractive? Oh god, I don't look like one of those guys who is just trying to get attention, do I? Maybe I should log out and start ov-"

Before Rory could even finish his sentence, Magi was quieting him with a comforting arm around his shoulders. "Don't worry, Rory. You look fine, I promise. Besides, there's no time to go back now. Look," he pointed to a large timer in the center of the room, giant red numbers counting down. "We only have about ten minutes before the game launches!"

[Jedi]

A bright flash came upon Inferno's eyes, fading away into the game lobby. This was most likely where he'd be waiting until the launch time. If he wasn't mistaken, there was roughly ten minutes left until the game started. So he started walking around, looking at his competition. It was quite crowded and easy to get lost in, but he knew that he could move through the herds of people easily. There seemed to be quite a lot more lucain than anything else in the lobby, which didn't bother him too much. He was roughly twice the size of any of them. Not to mention that he was roughly five times the size of the Kuhna and ten times the size of the diosol. The only ones close to his size were other paragon, and the soveris. There were plenty of paragon, but not too many of the griffin-like-players.

---

The bright flash was too quick for her to register in her mind. Aditi found herself amidst a thick gathering of players of all different species, colors and sizes. She couldn't see anything over the crowd of players. "Ackerley! Where are you?" There was no response, other than the mumbled sound of chatter among the bystanders. "Ackerley?" It was no use looking for him in this mess. She'd just have to wait until the game launched. Surely she'd be able to find him then.

---

"Wait! How do I go back!" It was too late for him to change anything now. He was now standing in the game lobby, waiting for the countdown to end. "Oh man, she's gonna kill me when-" He heard his name being called out. Oh no! he thought to himself. He walked away from the direction her voice was coming from.

[Kitsumi]

//Wheee, introducing all the characters! Jk, I totally have a couple more already >.>


Hotaru aka "Firefly"
Level 0

The game designers obviously hadn't put much thought into this lounge. There were enough benches, chairs and couches for a couple of hundred people, but the room was crowded with at least five or six hundred. Having avoided a squabble between two alpha-male type players for a seat on a couch next to a rather well-endowed female, Hotaru was now leaning against a wall, as far away from everyone as she could get. It wasn't that she couldn't handle crowds...the woman just wanted to clear her mind and get focused. She planned on becoming a top player within the first few weeks of playing. There was little time to socialize.


Khalyrra
Level 0

After setting up her character and choosing the username Khalyrra, the woman was ready to begin playing the game. She watched the little loading symbol circle for a few seconds, and then she felt an uncomfortable dropping sensation in the pit of her stomach. Before she knew it, she had been spawned into the waiting lounge...practically on top of a male who had already been waiting there.

"Oh! Oh, I'm...s-so sorry!" She stammered, as she stepped back only to be elbowed by somebody behind her. Her momentum changed direction, carrying her forward to slam into the male's chest. "Ah!"

[Jedi]

Before long, Ackerley found himself backing into someone. "Ooh. Sorry. I've got to look where I'm going," he said in a sheepish voice. Within just a second he found her bumping into him again. "I guess that could be considered payback?" He said it as more a way to lighten the mood. He turned around to see her, but felt ashamed at looking at another woman. They were standing far too close together, a side effect of the crowd size. "Maybe I should get-"

"Get away from him!" Aditi stormed up to them. Immediately, she grabbed him by the wrist, pulling him away from the other woman. "How dare you talk to her!" She spat the word out as if it were venom. "You're MINE! No one else can have you. And don't you go forgetting that!" She looked at the woman, scorn burning in her eyes. "And what do you think you're doing? Trying to steal my boyfriend, you bitch?"

---

Inferno walked about, seeking a place to sit. No matter where he looked, there was already someone sitting there. And so he came up to a spot where a Kuhna sat. "You're seat." The Kuhna looked around, then back up at Inferno's face. "What about it?" "I want it," he said before grabbing the small creature, forcing him off the bench. "You're gonna pay for that!" The Kuhna ran off, cursing at Inferno's brute strength.

[Kitsumi]

"Payback?" Khalyrra seemed confused, but then she recognized the joke. "Oh! Uh, yeah, payback. Umm...got you?" She laughed awkwardly. Ugh, she was terrible at this sort of thing. Inwardly, she was cringing at her obvious lack of social skills. "Hey, do you happen to know-"

Before she could say anything else, the man was being yanked away by an obviously over-zealous girlfriend. "I'm not t-trying to steal a-anything!" Khalyrra was barely able to speak, she began shaking so hard. "I d-didn't mean to b-bump into him." Staring from the male to his girlfriend, the embarrassed girl realized that no matter what she said, the jealous woman was going to stay upset. Darting away from them, she tried to get as far away as possible.

On the opposite side of the room, the three Kuhnas had realized how to change their shape. "Cool!" Rory said, twin tails wagging happily. "I didn't realize they came with wings!"

"You know what else comes with wings?" Twylla asked bitterly. "Paragon, that's what! And I bet they're a lot more ferocious too."

"Hush," her brother said. "Get ready! We've just got thirty seconds to go!"

All around them, people were beginning to chant numbers, counting along with the big red numbers. Magi joined in first, and then Rory. As the crowd reached the number ten, Twylla sighed and joined in. When the numbers finally reached zero, an explosion of fireworks rained down upon the hundreds of players. The floor disappeared beneath them, and they were plunged down...

...into the Lands of Evelon.

[Jedi]

As people began counting down until the games launch, Inferno stood up slowly. Quietly, he began counting down silently, but by the time he was at ten, he found himself yelling with the crowd. "Ten! Nine! Eight!" This is it. "Seven! Six Five!" Only a little while longer. "FOUR! THREE! TWO!" This game is going to be amazing. "ONE! ZERO!"

Before he knew it, Inferno was falling. He didn't know what happened. The last thing he saw were the fireworks, and then this. THUD He hit the ground hard, too hard for him to realize what was going on.

---

Ackerley didn't know what to say. Aditi had caught him talking to another woman, which by her mindset was cheating. "I'm sorry, I didn't know what was going on. We just bumped into each other." She huffed. "Bumped into each other? Is that what they're calling it?" His face was beet red, but he stood by his words. "I didn't mean it like that. I just-"

Again, he was interrupted, but not by her. This time, the floor came out from under him. He found himself falling faster than he'd ever fallen. "ADITI? What's happening?"