Chapter Text
LIKE MOST PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD,
..you were relatively average. you lived at home, had a decently sized friend group (that mostly consisted of online friends, socializing is hard), got average grades that were just enough to pass you to the next level without holding you back, and had a sleep schedule that was barely holding itself together.
your family always tried to convince you to go outside more, but you were perfectly fine with staying indoors. chatting with your friends or playing video games were your usual go-to agenda of every day and week. you were currently on a long vacation that allowed you free roam to do whatever you wanted without the underlying stress of upcoming essays or assignments ready to pounce at you with their deadlines just when your back was turned.
despite every now and then hitting bumps in the road, life was still rather smooth for you. you took decent care of yourself, had a.. somewhat solid plan for the future (that could use a few tweaks), and days constantly passed by where you often hadn't much care in the world. it wasn't perfect by any means, you often hit roadblocks or stressful situations that took a while for you to get back up on solid footing, but despite life's many unexpected twists and turns, you always managed to come out victorious and keep yourself up.
yeah, everything was great.
that is.. until your pc decided to suddenly bluescreen on you in the middle of a game.
emphasis on the was.
it was a saturday. you were casually on some voice call with your friends, the group of you hanging out and playing some party game one of your friends suggested.
your pc suddenly bluescreening out of nowhere was cause for slight concern. your pc wasn't anything top-notch, but it never had issues with crashing, freezing, or bluescreening out of all things.
the annoyingly bright screen, followed by white text explaining how 'your pc has run into an error!' made you let out a groan of annoyance.
total buzzkill.
you whipped out your phone, sending a quick message in the text channel, explaining how your pc just bluescreened, and it may take you a minute until you can rejoin. your friends gave you responses of 'all good!' and 'don't worry about it', as you casually placed your phone back in your pocket.
examining your computer with a frown, you reached for the power button, holding it down and watching as the screen faded to darkness. you hovered your index finger above the button, allowing the computer a few seconds to reboot itself.
counting down approximately ten seconds in your head, you pushed your finger back down onto the button, silently waiting for your screen to boot up.
oddly enough, however, the screen didn't flicker to life.
you began to worry slightly now. did your pc just.. magically break out of thin air?
you did not have the funds for a new one. that's for sure.
"dammit, work with me, would you?" you mumbled quietly to yourself, biting softly on the inside of your cheek as you let go of the button, then pressed down once more.
after a few seconds of hopelessness, a small sliver of white appeared in the very center of your monitor.
you raised an eyebrow. that's.. odd.
you let go of the power button for good this time, watching the screen intently, silently praying that this was a sign that your computer was still breathing.
...
and you waited.
you glanced to the side, then back at your monitor screen.
nothing was happening.
the small sliver of white was still in the center of your screen, but that was it. your entire computer wouldn't turn on.
"oh you have got to be kidding me--" you grumbled to yourself with annoyance.
maybe something was unplugged?? you weren't by any means a computer expert. what was wrong with your computer was a mystery to you.
you really hoped something wasn't actually broken. you had no way of actually affording any kind of replacement or fixes -- computers were always ridiculously expensive everywhere. and you already knew that asking your family for assistance was completely out of the question.
with a sigh, you reached for the monitor, grabbing onto the sides of it, trying to pull it forward so that you could catch a glance of the many cables plugged into it and connecting to your main pc box.
emphasis on tried.
your monitor, as if suddenly super glued to your desk, refused to move.
and, was it just you, but did the monitor screen not feel like a solid surface anymore?
...
wait.
your eyes darted towards your hands, where you were holding the screen.
your thumbs weren't on the screen. they were inside the screen.
you could feel your phone vibrating in your pocket as you blinked numerous times, sitting there in complete silence.
were you hallucinating? no, you couldn't have been.
was this some kind of illusion or trick that your eyes were pulling on you, deceiving you??
you tried to pry your hands off the monitor.
now it felt like your hands were glued down.
now you were freaking out, panicking.
"what the actual fu-"
before you could even finish your words, your confusion and terror turned into panic within the span of three seconds as you realized it felt like your hands were being tugged further into the screen.. void thing.
you tried to pull yourself back, but nothing worked. this force, like if hands were grabbing onto yours from the other side, were dragging you in. you could feel yourself slowly being pried off of your chair.
you let out a scream, but what good did that do? you were currently home alone, with your family out on some lunch that you refused to attend.
now you really wish you had, because now you were quite literally being dragged into your computer screen.
the small sliver of white suddenly expanded from the middle of your screen, and before you even knew it, you had been yanked forward, and the entire world around you went dark.
you tried to scream again, but no noise came out.
you were falling. the world around you was a dark void with many pixelated textures. you turned your head back around -- seeing as the light from your room was slowly getting further and further away.
you tried to move yourself back to the light, but the force of gravity was a force that could not be reckoned with. no matter how much you tried to push yourself back, you only fell faster.
turning your head back around to try to decipher where you were falling, you began to notice bright, pink lights beginning to appear near the end.
echoing music surrounded the void as you got closer and closer.
your racing thoughts paused -- as the music you were hearing became clearer and clearer.
hold the fu phucking phone.
was that tix blasterz??
before you could even fully process the fact that you were hearing one of the songs in the phighting soundtrack, the pink light filled your vision, and you were forced to shut your eyes.
all at once, the world around you had become.. well, not a dark void anymore.
quite literally popping out from the grey colored ceiling, you took note of the overwhelming neon lights, many, many voices, and the music of TIX BLASTERZ playing throughout the entire area.
now, you'd normally be going "where the hell am i", if it wasn't for the fact you were about to plummet straight into the floor.
you prepared to shield yourself, moving your hands in front of your face.
...
WHERE ARE YOUR FINGERS.
you blinked at the sight of the lack of fingers you now had. rather, your hands were blocky shaped, and your skin was no longer what it used to be -- but rather, a somewhat pale white.
"what in the holy hell--"
" watch this trick ! "
WHAT.
a sentence you heard in your nightmares.
you didn't even realize it, but before you knew it, you crash-landed right into someone.
you yelped, getting knocked onto the carpet floor, filled to the brim with patterns of different colors and shapes.
the person you fell into also let out a yelp of surprise, getting knocked over just right next to you.
ohhh god you just hit someone.
rubbing the back of your head, you also took note that your hair was missing.
your weave! snatched!!
fantastic.
and you also felt .. hard, solid shaped objects on your head instead.
.....
wait a second.
hold the phone.
you turned to the person you hit, who seemed to be collecting their bearings from the sudden intrusion as well.
you recognized that person -- no, demon, instantly.
the helmet, red horns, knee and shoulder pads, the red tank top --
you looked to the left.
his skateboard had fallen out of his hands, upside down, just beside the two of you, one of its' wheels spinning aggressively from the impact.
two things hit you in that very moment.
1. you just crash landed into skateboard. the skateboard -- from the roblox game PHIGHTING.
2. you were either having an insane lucid dream, or your defunct computer actually just isekai'd you into phighting.
were you even supposed to be worried anymore? holy shit.
you didn't know whether to call this some kind of miracle, blessing in disguise, or a complete nightmare.
nevertheless, the constant voices from the other side of the arcade, following by echoing voices coming from the intercoms and the blasting soundtrack made you realize more over on what was actually going on here.
this was the middle of a phight. probably conquer based on the map.
uhm.
"jeez, good thing i had my helmet on, heh!" skateboard chuckled, rubbing the back of his head, slowly looking up towards you. "you really gotta be more careful, boombo-"
skateboard froze when he finally looked at you.
you nervously smiled.
yeah, you weren't boombox.
nor any of his other teammates.
"wh--"
"I CAN EXPLAIN." you quickly stammered, interrupting the bewildered skateboarder. "uh, i uh-- fell."
skateboard just.. stared at you for a moment, trying to process the situation.
"how-- woah, are you some kind of new phighter?? are you on the other team??" skateboard questioned, blinking at you numerous times. "i didn't see you before.."
you were absolutely not a phighter nor on anyone's team.
"uhh.." you sweatdropped, thinking of how you were supposed to respond to this. "....noooo?"
"then.. how'd you even get in here?" skateboard questioned, skeptical now. "any demons watching the phights aren't supposed to actually be here." skateboard responded with another question, reaching for his skateboard and slowly standing up. "it's a broadcasted event,"
broadcasted??
you mentally scolded yourself. of course this stuff was broadcasted. phighting was just a multiplayer pvp roblox game that had crazy-ass lore in it, but now that you were.. actually here, their world sees the events of the game much differently.
you quickly stood up, nearly tripping over yourself as you were absolutely not adjusted to your blocky features, while skateboard stood up with ease.
you stood there, dumbfounded, trying to think of whatever you could say that could magically get you out of your predicament.
dammit -- if you had to be isekai'd, they could at least throw you in a spot that's not.. oh, i dunno, in the center of the action??
you managed to speak, stumbling with your words slightly.
"..i fell out of the ceiling."
skateboard stared at you.
"OKAY LISTEN." you tried to reason, your blocky hands flapping in front of your face. "it might seem crazy what i'm about to say, but i literally fell from the ceiling. i don't even know how i got here."
skateboard looked up towards the ceiling. there were no signs of forced entry, broken ceiling, or anything that could've logically put you inside.
the skater looked back at you, even more confused than before. "..but how--"
"skateboard, where are you??"
a voice from the other side of the map echoed out through the walls. skateboard flinched, quickly remembering that this was a phight -- asking questions had to come later.
you took a step back. this event was broadcasted, right?? had the cameras caught you yet??
before you even realized it, the skater phighter grabbed your hand (despite both of you lacking fingers), and within seconds you were casually tossed behind one of the arcade machines near the quieter end of the map, away from the action.
"what are you doing--"
"i have to get back out there." skateboard responded, already hopping on his skateboard. "i'll come find you once my team wins, okay? don't go anywhere!"
you noticed how the skater dashed forward on his board, similarly to the Q move that could be used in-game.
watching the phighter do the most insane skateboard tricks in person was completely unreal.
you quickly ducked back behind the arcade machines. skateboard must've hid you in some kind of blind spot, fortunately keeping you away from any of the chaos going on near the center of the map where the point was.
you took a deep breath -- allowing your thoughts to recollect in the moment of peace.
alright. lets recap here.
you got sucked into your.. computer monitor, or something, and fell through a void and landed into phighting.
you happened to land on skateboard during a phight, which was not only extremely embarrassing but also somewhat dangerous. skateboard said these events were broadcasted, but you didn't hear valk or dom make any comment about you magically popping into existence, so you were.. probably fine.
you were not about to be charged for trespassing. it wasn't even your fault!
curse your computer. or whatever sorcery brought you here.
how were you even supposed to get back home?? if this was a dream, you're 99% sure it would've ended by now.
you're not even sure how it happened.
...
WAIT.
you reached for your back pocket, thankful that the clothes you'd been wearing earlier that day still managed to survive your new.. blocky transformation.
you'd have to get used to looking like a roblox character.
you could feel the relief bubbling in your chest as you felt the small device still safely secured inside your pocket.
your phone. you had placed it in your pocket just before trying to fix your computer.
pulling it out, you were surprised to see that your phone still looked.. somewhat like how it did before you were thrown into an entirely new world.
you pushed the power button.
as if some kind of miracle was suddenly blessed upon you, the screen flickered to life. your unread notifications were still there.
the notifications were mostly consisting of your friends asking where you were, since you were taking much longer than expected and you'd must've gone offline.
the bad news was that you had absolutely no signal. no matter how badly you wanted to inform your friends of what was happening, without any kind of signal, that wasn't possible.
"you're joking," you muttered quietly to yourself.
but, what did you expect? did the phighting universe just magically have cellular data that applied to the same internet connections back in your world?
you frowned, shutting off your phone again and putting it back in your pocket.
without any kind of internet connection, your phone was essentially useless in contacting any of your friends or family.
a not-so-good miracle.
"alright phighters! it's the final minute! give it all you've got!" you heard valk's voice echo through the speakers -- just as energetic as it was through his in-game text.
you could hear the sounds of multiple other phighters yelling amongst each other, using their phinishers, and scrambling to reach the point.
you just hoped none of their attacks would manage to reach you. you doubted it, but with how insane this game tends to get near the final minute, anything was possible.
you didn't think you were mentally prepared to be charged with possible trespassing not even an hour after appearing in this world.
what were you even supposed to do? wait it out until you're magically sent back home one day?
you didn't even know if you were going to ever go back home. it's not like you didn't like phighting and it's universe -- but you did not belong here.
you stuck out like a sore thumb. not because of your appearance, you still looked like your average demon in this world, but what about gears? your name?? as far as you knew, you didn't have a gear that could classify as your name in this universe.
you were also fairly certain you didn't come from any of the four factions. which, to be fair, banhammer isn't apart of any either, but he's windforce's son, so of course he wasn't!
you're just some random person who got thrown into phighting!
and, prior to being thrown into your computer, this was a fictional world. a video game. nothing but pixels on a screen.
you had all this knowledge and information on each of the characters, courtesy of the wiki pages, and now you had to act like you knew none of these people.
which, on paper, doesn't seem too bad, but -
...see, here's the thing. you're not super good about keeping your mouth shut.
how were you supposed to interact with any of these people without bursting in excitement, going on hour long rambles and tangents about them, who they were, and how much of a fan you were??
all of these thoughts swarmed your head, stressing you out even more.
it was phucking amazing to be in phighting. but you had no way of knowing how to actually get out once you were thrown in.
what would your family think?? your friends?? they'd inevitably realize that you'd just vanished out of thin air and start looking for you.
it's not like you can just walk up to any of these characters and say, "oh hello! did you know that i come from another world?"
well, you could, but who's to say anyone would believe you?? people would just look at you like you've lost your marbles.
your racing thoughts were suddenly thrown to a halt when you heard the sound of a massive alarm going off, echoing through the intercoms.
for a moment, you thought someone spotted you, and you felt your heart sink into your stomach.
"and that's the game!" valk's voice cheered. "congratulations, red team!"
"the winning bux will soon be given to the winners. congratulations." dom's voice spoke, a little more quiet than valk's.
oh thank god.
or, uh, thank the deities.
miraculously, you hadn't been spotted. the match finally ended, and you assumed that skateboard's team must've won.
you softly clapped to yourself, because, hey, gotta give kudos to the winners, right?
skateboard told you to stay put and just.. wait until he found you again, so you silently kept still, idly looking down at your new blocky shaped hands whilst waiting for the skater to find you again.
and so you did wait, anticipation bubbling up in your stomach.
you heard most of the voices begin drifting off in the distance. you let out a sigh of relief -- the other phighters must be leaving.
after another minute or so, the entire arcade went completely silent.
you frowned.
you were about to assume that skateboard completely forgot or just outright ditched you -- if not for the small 'psst' you heard from not far away.
you took a deep breath.
slowly, you peeked out from the arcade machine.
and, to your fortune, it was skateboard.
"sorry to keep you waiting," skateboard chuckled, rather sheepishly. "took a whileee to make sure everyone had left the building."
slowly, you stood up from your hiding spot.
frankly, talking to this guy made you somewhat nervous -- but you couldn't leave the guy hanging.
"..thank you for.. uh, hiding me." you spoke, voice much more quiet compared to skateboard's, but still audible.
skateboard shrugged. " 's all good. no biggie! but.. seriously, next time.. if you're gonna be 'falling through ceilings', make sure it's not where a match is going on, okay?"
you sweatdropped.
"thankfully, due to my great skills, you weren't caught. i'm pretty sure the flipside twins would've said something if you had." skateboard grinned.
"..yeah." you replied, rubbing the back of your head. "again, i.. really appreciate you for not just ratting me out. ending up here was not intentional."
skateboard shrugged. "meh. i know i'm a fan favorite. lots of people wanna talk to me! i just didn't expect anyone to go that far to see me.."
"that is.. not why i fell on your head."
skateboard shrugged. "whatever you say!"
the two of you went silent for a moment, awkwardly standing around -- unsure of what to do next.
the skater holstered his skateboard on his back, adjusting his helmet. "wellll, you can definitely head out now. security's probably gonna sweep the inside area soon, so if you don't wanna get caught, you better bounce!"
skateboard turned to leave the arcade himself, giving you a quick wave goodbye.
you froze up slightly. you couldn't just be left alone -- at least not yet! you literally didn't even know where to go from here!
"wait!"
skateboard stopped in his tracks, turning back towards you with an eyebrow raised in confusion.
you fidgeted with your blocky hands, nervously avoiding eye contact.
"i.. uh.." you stammered, because, by deities, this was embarrassing. "i don't exactly.. know where to go?"
"huh?"
shoot -- how were you supposed to word this??
being in a brand new world without any other family members around with you meant that you had to survive alone. and, truth be told, your survival skills weren't the greatest.
you'd need money, a place to rent, so that you wouldn't be sleeping in alleyways every night.
because, who knows how long you were stuck here??
"can i go with you???"
skateboard stared at you.
now you were regretting everything you just said.
you were a stranger to this guy!! he knew nothing about you other than that you were some kind of ridiculous accidental intruder, and now you were asking to follow him??
"sure."
WHAT.
you blinked at the phighter, utterly dumbfounded.
skateboard chuckled, smirking slightly. "i knew you were here just to see me, i get it! i don't mind letting a fan tag along."
"that is not why i'm asking!" you exclaimed, glaring at the phighter, all regret you once felt dissipating instantly.
skateboard shrugged. "i'm just messing with you. we better bounce before security gets mad at both of us."
you huffed, following after the skater.
as the two of you finally made it out of the arcade and opened the doors, you were instantly in awe at the sight of the world around you.
everything looked.. just like how it did in the game. only the world was now expansive, with not just being limited to the crossroads lobby. you could feel the fresh air, many demon pedestrians walking down the sidewalks, driving vehicles, or hanging out at the local stores.
skateboard gestured for you to follow him, and the two of you quickly crossed the street.
"this place is pretty packed.." you muttered offhandedly.
skateboard nodded. "yeah, its because most of these people came here for the match. must've had a big audience this time!"
you hummed, trailing behind the skater, avoiding the many groups of phighters that the two of you occasionally passed.
after walking with skateboard for about five minutes -- you were quick to notice the large, familiar tower in the nearby distance.
you gasped -- seeing it in person was so.. surreal. the large spiral like tower with countless TV screens. the center of crossroads.
"something catch your eye?"
you turned to skateboard. he must've caught your awestruck stare at the tower ahead.
you couldn't just tell him you've never seen this tower in person before. that would make literally no sense.
you chuckled nervously. "sorry, i just.. the tower's really cool."
skateboard smiled. "yeah! it's really big. usually they host phestival announcements and other news stuff."
noted.
"..say, i never got your name."
you were dreading this question. shit.
you and skateboard finally reached a more quieter part of the sidewalk, entering the main area of crossroads -- an exact replica of the lobby in the game.
"you already know who i am, but i'm skateboard." he grinned. "playground."
shoot shoot shoot. how were you supposed to go about this?? say your actual name and just pick a random faction and go with it?
would he even buy that??
"i.. uh." you stammered, frantically trying to find your words.
phuck it. you're just gonna go with your actual name.
you said your name. "...thieves' den."
the thieves' den part was total bullshit. but whatever -- go with the flow.
skateboard hummed, repeating your name. "huh. i've never heard a gear with a name like that before.. neat!"
you forced a nervous smile. "yeah..! i don't use it very often."
skateboard shrugged. "i could tell. i don't see your gear anywhere on you.."
you mentally shattered into pieces like chunks of glass.
"eh.. it's not really used for.. phighting." you forced an 'explanation' out. "you get the idea."
"no worries! it's alllll good." skateboard smiled. "it's nice to meet you!"
you softly smiled -- a real, genuine smile, this time.
"..yeah."
the two of you continued walking, with skateboard unholstering his board and quickly jumping on it, speeding alongside you.
you watched in quiet awe as the skateboarder did numerous tricks off the ledges of the sidewalk, just like in the crossroads in-game lobby.
it felt so.. unreal. but it was real, happening right in front of you.
"impressed, right?" skateboard chuckled, noticing your stare. "i know, i know, i'm kinda the best skateboarder around crossroads."
"are you now?" you smirked. "i do see how you enjoy showing off."
"hey! i show off with style." skateboard huffed. "my skills are unmatched!"
you felt most of your bubbling worries begin to dissipate as the two of you chatted amongst each other -- talking like good friends who'd known each other for years.
you were starting to feel a lot more comfortable conversing with the phighter.
despite the awkward and insane first encounter the two of you had, skateboard was actually.. really friendly. a bit cocky, but he had a good heart.
"..say, where are we headed, exactly?" you finally asked, looking around.
skateboard leaped off of his board with a flip, kicking his gear up into the air and grabbing it with one hand.
"to go see my good friend slingshot! he's probably back at his cafe already," skateboard grinned. "we made a small bet. since my team won the match, he's gotta make me a free drink!"
slingshot. slingshot was one of your friends' main choice of characters whenever you all played this game together.
hearing that skateboard was taking you to slingshot's cafe meant you'd be seeing more characters from the game.
you felt that twinge of nervousness begin to reform in your stomach. not nearly as intense as it was when you first interacted with skateboard, but the feeling was still there.
you took a deep breath.
you'll be fine!
"..it's cool that i'm tagging along, right?" you questioned.
skateboard was quick to wipe your worries away. "don't worry! sling's always cool with new people. if you're friends with me, you're friends with slingshot."
the two of you walked down the sidewalk and over towards one of the side areas -- where, low and behold, just like in the game, slingshot's cafe was there. a bright blue, pastel colored building with a few windows in front and small tables with umbrellas sitting outside.
the windows inside showed that the place was .. mostly empty, but squinting your eyes made the sight of slingshot behind the counter all the more clear. you also took note of both shuriken and vine staff inside the building, with vine staff helping clean down a few of the tables and shuriken watching slingshot count off the tips earned in the tip jar.
right. you nearly forgot -- vine staff and shuriken technically worked at this cafe. going in there meant meeting not just slingshot, but vine staff and shuriken.
skateboard walked ahead happily, gesturing you to follow.
you took another deep breath. you can do this! just.. go in there, and meet even more characters that were once nothing more than fictional video game characters to you not even hours prior.
meeting so many of the main cast within the span of a few hours was.. a lot. exciting, sure, but also extremely nerve-wracking.
but with not knowing how long your stay in this universe would last, sooner or later, you'd probably end up meeting everyone. it was really only a matter of time.
no use backing out of this hangout now.
you quickly followed after skateboard as the phighter opened the doors to the cafe, a quiet jingle emitting from the doors, making you and skateboard known to the three employees inside the cafe.
yeah. something tells you that this little 'isekai' trip you were forced into was only just beginning.