TATE! TATAKAE!

A few minutes before Himari squealed:

Just about 3 miles away from Himari's location, 2 characters suddenly appeared near an acacia tree.

They were clothed in hoodies, camouflage combat pants (or trousers, depending on what it's called where you come from... sheesh) and combat boots. Their hoodies were white and had the dark-green letters 'AOTL' embroidered on the chest area. One had the appearance of an adolescent male human standing at 5'9", while other towered over him at 12 feet tall. The giant had the head, mane and fur of a lion with an extremely muscular humanoid body. He also had two gigantic cutlasses fitted behind him in a crossed fashion. Both warriors bore marks of a recent battle. But the young man's body gave off steam as his complexion gradually changed from bright red to a Caucasian skin tone.

"I am smoking hot. See what I did there?" He asked the lion.

The lion who clearly wasn't listening, kept twitching his head in several directions and sniffing.

"Bro. This is a waste of time. She specifically told us not to interrupt her."

The lion swiftly turned to the young man.

"HMMPH! LISTEN, FAYABOI..." He started with his booming voice

"I keep telling you, THAT'S NOT MY NAME, BRO! Also, was that all it took to get your attention?" Fayaboi interrupted while covering his ears.

"...BRO IS NOT MY NAME EITHER, FAYABOI! AND I AM HER BODY GUARD!" the lion continued even louder. So loud that tree shook, causing the birds nesting in it to fly away.

"Fine. Do what you want, self-appointed bodyguard. And would you please put those things away?" Fayaboi requested, pointing to the cutlasses the lion was now wielding.

"OH SORRY! FORCE OF HABIT." The lion responded as he put them back in place behind him. He had no sheaths, but rather a magnetic plate fitted to his back that held cutlasses in place.

Just then, the lion's ear twitched.

"HM? FAYABOI! DID YOU HEAR THAT?" The lion asked.

"Hear what, bro?" Fayaboi asked in return.

The lion pointed in a particular direction.

"Eagle eyes." Fayaboi called out as he gazed in the direction the lion was pointing to.

A blue panoramic screen suddenly appeared in front of his eyes, showing him a closer view from 3 miles away. He noticed earth spikes covering a wide area of the horizon, impaling several rock-bison.

"It's her!" He said, wide-eyed.

"OF COURSE, IT'S HER!" The lion responded while striking his cutlasses against each other.

"Bro, you just put ba... nevermind." said Fayaboi.

"AND IT LOOKS LIKE SHE'S GETTING US SOME PORK FOR LUNCH!!" The lion continued, striking cutlasses again.

Fayaboi burried his face in his palm.

"Zion, this is all your fault." He muttered to himself.

"Hold on. Did you say pork?" He asked the lion.

"I SAID PORK! PORK! GOT A PROBLEM WITH YOUR HEARING?!" The lion responded.

"That actually wouldn't be surprising. I've been paired with you after all. And that is Rock-Bison territory. There aren't any pigs there." Fayaboi answered.

"WELL, COME SEE FOR YOURSELF THEN! CUS I KNOW WHAT I HEARD!" The lion boomed again.

"Nah-uh" responded Fayaboi. "I'm staying put till she's done."

"HMPH! WELL THEN! SUIT YASELF, CHICKEEEEEEENNNNNN!! I 'M GONNA GET ME SOME PIG MEAT TADAAAAAAAYYY" The lion yelled as he zoomed off into the horizon.

"Suit yaself, chickeennnnnnnnn " Fayaboi repeated in a childish tone.

"This is Abs we're talking about. Abs." He continued to himself.

The present - Himari's location, just after she squealed:

"What was that sound?" Abs, the 'statue lady' asked, as she looked around.

"Was that you? My hearing must be off. But wow! Is that the sound you make when you're scared?" Abs asked Himari.

Himari who had backed up about 10 feet away, had both hands over her mouth.

"It was really... the ranker?" Himari whispered to herself.

"Aye aye, captain obvious." DD's voice responded

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?" Himari yelled with her hands still over her mouth.

"Really? Really, Fartan?" DD responded.

Himari quivered as she noticed the gold crown encircling the blue crystal that suspended above Abs' head . It had '#1' inscribed on it. She also noticed Ab's full health bar.

"The stampede!" Himari thought with a gasp.

She quickly glanced over area around them. Several spikes protruding out of the ground had impaled every single Rock-Bison as far as the eye could see.

"She's a monster! God, please tell me she's the one I'm supposed to meet." Himari prayed in her mind.

Two option tabs suddenly appeared above Himari's head. The first was 'PvP (COMBAT)' and the second was 'ALLIANCE'.

She then stared back at Abs who also had the same options above her head, but was rather staring back intently with narrowed her eyes.

"Hmm...Purple eyes. And white-ish hair. You're the pipsqueak Naa sent over, right? Or should I say Pig-squeak? hehehe "

"Thank God! She's on my side!" Himari thought as she let out a sigh of relief.

"Wait...did she just call me Pig-squeak." Himari asked herself with one eyebrow raised.

"Are gross nicknames a big thing in this game? Well, at least she can get away with it since she's number 1." Himari continued.

Himari gave the Alliance tab a quick jab. But it bounced and suddenly turned red.

"What the...? Are there rules about how to hit the tabs too?" Himari asked out loud.

"An alliance only happens when both players select that option. Otherwise, they'd have to fight."

"What?" Himari asked with a blank expression. Then she gasped as a scary thought immediately crossed her mind.

She quickly looked over at Abs who was now grinning from ear to ear. Abs' PvP option glowed in green, just before both tabs disappeared. Both players' health bars enlarged and connected over them in one sweeping motion, with the letter 'V' separating them. Their names and levels appeared on top of their health bars as well. Abs was at Level 749.

"WHAT THE HECK????" Himari yelled in disbelief.

She sprung up in an attempt to run but slammed into an invisible FYBER wall and hit the floor again.

"How many times do we need to go through this?" DD's voice asked after a sigh.

Himari slammed the floor with her glowing fist, blasting a hole through it.

"That's some fine raw energy you've got there. You should be focusing that on me. The floor isn't your opponent." Abs stated with a gentle smile.

"Fine. Since I have no choice, I'll fight you, you big bully" said Himari as she glared up at Abs.

"Huh? I think you're getting the wrong idea. But oh well..." Abs responed before droppin her hammer.

"I'll make this sort of a handicap match. If you can land 2 blows on me, you win. I'll only attack after you land the first blow. Of course, if you're able to bring me down with your first, you win. But don't get you hopes too high on that." she said, chuckling through her last sentence.

Himari released FYBER all over her body this time. She let it explode at her joints, hands and feet as she assumed a Muay Thai fighting stance once more.

"Not Shabby. Let's see what Naa has been teaching you." Abs commented as beckoned Himari to attack her.

"Your FYBER looks like puke, by the way. You might want to change the color." She taunted.

"IT DOES NOT! PUKE... IS ALL SORTS OF DIFFERENT COLOURS IN THIS GAME!" Himari retorted before unleashing a barrage of kicks and punches. She swung a lot of quick knee and elbow blows as well, but never managed to land a hit.

"Is it now? I've never puked or seen anyone around me puke since I started this game." Abs responded as she neatly dodged every blow with clean dance-like footwork. She had her eyes closed with her chin rested in her fist.

"Oh... You're right! It IS all sorts of colors!" she burst out, snapping her fingers amidst Himari's laborious efforts to hit her.

"But I always thought the rainbow stuff coming out of people's mouths was some kind of special effect that was somehow linked to one of my punches! I even named it the rainbow punch. Well, that's disappointing." she continued.

Himari desperately increased the speed and intensity of her blows.

"She's not even focusing on this! It doesn't even qualify as a fight to her at all!" Himari thought.

As Himari's glowing left knee inched toward Abs' face, Abs suddenly stopped moving.

"Wha..? No! This is my chance!" Himari thought to herself.

"Dodging was never my style anyway." Abs said with a smile as Himari's knee smashed into her face and detonated.

Himari immediately followed that up with a move resembling an attempt to grab the back of Abs' head and shoot her right knee to her face.

"I'm glad you made those rules. It's over now" Himari thought.

But her hands passed right through Abs' head.

"IT'S AN AFTERIMAGE! BEHIND YOU!" DD's voice suddenly announced.

Himari blasted herself out of the way of a giant rock fist but was immediately slammed to the floor by another one which exploded on impact.

"I guess you must think I'm the arrogant type. You almost got me." said Abs with at unscratched face, now seated on a rock.

Himari moaned as she got up.

"I surrender..." She said with tears slowly rolling down her cheeks.

"You can't! What are you doing?" DD asked.

"YOU SHUT UP AND STAY OUT OF THIS!!!" Himari yelled.

"IF SHE'S HUMAN, SHE MUST HAVE AT LEAST A DROP OF COMPASSION IN HER! And I'm appealing to that." She continued.

"Wow... surrendering already? But I only hit you once." Abs asked, with raised eyebrows.

"Please... It's obvious you're the one Big Sis sent me here to meet. Why do you want me to fight you?" Himari asked through her sobs.

"Naa has told me a lot about you, and it's clear you've had a rough past. We're only trying to help. " Abs responded.

" BY BEATING THE CRAP OUT OF ME ? IS THIS WHAT YOU CALL HELP?" Himari screamed through tears.

"We're not beating the crap out of you. We're helping you to get stronger. It's a matter of perspective." Abs calmly answered before taking in a deep breath and sighing.

Himari wiped her tears and quieted down, sniffling. Abs stood up, walked up to her and gently embraced her.

"This game is one of the toughest. A lot of people don't even make it this far. Yet here you are. You've been thrown into one of the worst-case scenarios, but you held your own. Against the rock-bison, and even against me. The current rank number one. I AM pampering you a bit by making this a handicap match, though. But you'll have to confront and overcome your fears sooner or later. That's what I taught Naa. And that's what she's doing her best to teach you too." She continued.

"You're her teacher?" Himari asked, looking up at Abs.

"Why, yes!" Abs answered, with a sudden lit-up expression.

"That explains a lot." Himari responded through a sigh.

"Look Pig-squeak...." Abs started.

"THAT'S NOT MY NAME!!" Himari interrupted.

"FINE!! BUT I'LL KEEP CALLING YOU THAT TILL YOU MAN UP AND SEE THIS THROUGH TO THE END!" Abs yelled back.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, MAN UP??!!! I'M A GIRL!!" Himari retorted.

Abs cracked up laughing at that response. A corner of Himari's mouth started twitching as well. Abs bent down and started slapping her knees as the intensity of her laughter increased.

"Don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh, don't give in, DON'T..." Himari willed herself as she tried to regain control of her face muscles. But she cracked up as well.

Abs, who was now slapping her knees and stomping her foot in violent laughter, slapped Himari's shoulder as well and sent her flying a few feet away from her.

"Oooo... bad habit... Forgot you're a level 2" Abs looked at her palm briefly.

"Ow ow ow...WHAT THE HECK??!!! THAT DEALT MORE DAMAGE THAN YOUR ROCK FIST?!!" Himari yelled, as she noticed that her health bar was now half-empty.

"Hey! Why did you turn off your puke-looking-FYBER-body-mine-thingy? You just missed a shot at winning this fight. "

"As if!" Himari pouted.

"She just doesn't realize how much potential she has." Abs thought to herself.

"Look Pig-squeak" Abs decided to ignore Himari's grave frown at the nickname and continued...

"We all have a common enemy in life. He's out to get you whether you like it or not. He's the one responsible for whatever happened in your past, and the fears you're struggling with right now. He's not the kind of person that would just leave you alone if you leave him alone. He will attack you as long as you live. Whether you fight back or not. He's the one beating you down. He's the real bully. What we're doing is getting you in shape to beat the crap out of him. But there's more to all this than sparring and combat training, and even this game, which we will get to, later. So, what is it going to be? Are you going to be a cowardly victim for the rest of your life, or are you going to rise up and take hold of the victory that has been given to us?"

Himari thought for few seconds. Then she answered...

"I-I want victory."

"SHOUT IT OUT LOUD!" Abs yelled.

"I WANT VICTORY!" Himari yelled back.

"Good! Now let's see how much more of these hits you can take, Pig-squeak. You're japanese, right?" Abs asked,

Himari nodded.

"Then I'll say this in your mother-tongue. TATE! TATAKAE!" Abs yelled.

Himari shot up to her feet and assumed her fighting stance.