The Prison

[Sage]

Waking up to a gigantic, angry sun was hardly Sage’s idea of starting off on the right foot. Her head throbbed from a combination of dehydration, withdrawal, and getting punched in the head by one of the most powerful people in the galaxy. What the hell was that about, anyway? What kind of sick bastard would set her up in a fight against her mom? And what was the point in it?

She groaned, propping herself up on her elbows. There was no way she could have beaten her mother, anyway. Even if she somehow matched her in her normal form, Bra was an ascended super saiyan. A strong one.

“God dammit!!” she uncharacteristically growled as the realization that she was sitting in a desert slowly dawned on her. Her unstable disposition probably didn’t help matters much. “What the fuck was the point in putting me in a fight if I’m only going to get thrown to some other place?! And why a desert??”

“Well, your cursing’s gotten a little better,” a familiar voice responded. Sage’s eyes lit up as she threw her head over her shoulder to see her sister brushing herself off. “I’ve been waiting for you to get up,” Xenia continued. It was a lie; she had awakened only moments before Sage did. “Come on,” she extended a hand and helped her sibling to her feet.

“I didn’t mean to,” Sage murmured. “I just... my head hurts...”

It wasn’t just a desert she was stuck in. Inside the desert was a shanty town, literally built from junk. Ramshackle homes made from corrugated metal and sheet steel were strewn about haphazardly on the sand, and pitiful little metal walls made from - as far as Sage could tell - that thin, wobbly metal that sounds like a thunderstorm when you shake it were erected around the camp, in some vain attempt to keep out intruders. Or, perhaps, it was just a way to mark borders. Sage couldn’t imagine they’d be very good for anything else.

“Well, isn’t this pleasant,” Xenia scoffed. She swept her eyes over the barren wasteland, whose rusted roofs glinted under the sun, revealing a fairly impressive, squalid sprawl. Her eyes narrowed. Dead center of the town - if it could be called that - was a section walled off with ornate stone and glossy black gates. Within them was acre upon acre of pristine grass and forest. “Let’s go find out who’s lord among the serfs, huh?”

Sage didn’t really have an opportunity to respond by the time Xenia made it to the gate. With little more than a frown, ‘big sis’ obliterated the metal structure designed to keep her out with an enormous burst of ki. It wasn’t a concussive blast, as Sage figured it would be, but just a big, bright, incredibly hot flare of ki that melted the metal away. “Heh,” Xenia smirked at Sage’s bug-eyes. “You could’ve done pretty much the same thing. Freeze the bars and smash ‘em. Come on, let’s go.”

The cryomancer didn’t even have the presence of mind to question the sanity of such a mission, struck dumb by the compliment paid to her by her psychokinetic sibling. Instead, she simply tailed Xenia into the compound, following her as she made her way to the massive, elegant mansion that loomed in the clearing in the center, surrounded on all sides by lush, thick vegetation.

Deer flitted through the woods as the Vegeta sisters passed by, and birds called overhead - a stark contrast to the dreary serfdom beyond. Sage suddenly felt bad, realizing that she had completely ignored those poverty-stricken people in favor of the mansion creeping up toward her. If she could figure out what was going on from whoever lived in the luxury building, maybe she could somehow help the town.

Xenia tried the front door, to find it locked. With a frown, she flexed a fist, and made to bust the door from its hinges, but a fair skinned hand grasped her at the wrist.

“W-Wait!!” Sage suddenly cried out, to the bewildered surprise of her sister. “Maybe... maybe if we’re polite... they can be reasoned with.”

“Okay,” Xenia replied with a smirk. “We’ll try it your way.”

The blonde rapped against the door, which clearly smelled of rich mahogany, and then waited, exchanging glances with Sage. A few moments passed, and finally, the door opened with not even a creak.

A ridiculous-looking machine gazed up at the girls with a chilling grin on its face. “May I help you, madame?”

That looks just like the machine that kidnapped me, Sage projected, deliberately, for a change. Xenia glanced at her, and then back to the robot.

“Yeah, I’m... looking for whoever’s in charge here,”

“In charge?” the butler inquired. “In charge of what?”

“The house,” Xenia retorted, quickly losing her pleasant facade. “Or, how about the town around it?”

“Well, the person in charge of both of those things cannot be reached-” the robot butler literally shouted ‘gasp’ as it was thrown to the floor, with the sole of a shoe pressing down on its head. Xenia glared at him, and in her free hand, she formed a ball of ki, lording it above the poor house servant.

“I would seriously consider making that person reachable,”

“I can... not!” the panicked butler protested. “He... is... not here!”

Xenia snarled, taking her foot off her victim. “Then, we’ll wait for him.”

“I’m afraid that’s an unlikely scenario,” the robot explained. Sage noticed that it didn’t talk like the one that had kidnapped her. Thank God, she decided.

“And why is that?” the blonde hybrid demanded.

“Lord Gamer has not been here for a reasonably long time,” the butler explained, rubbing his throat gingerly. “I would be hesitant to expect him to arrive unless he absolutely needed to.”

“Lord Gamer?” Xenia incredulously demanded.

“It’s... just Gamer,” came a feminine voice. Further inside the mansion, into the grandiose lobby, two sets of stairs wound up to the second floor, where a young, blonde woman stood, her hands clasped in front of her.

Xenia stepped over the robot, while Sage picked her way around it. The girl made her way down the stairs to meet the newcomers at the bottom. She kept her distance, biting her lip as she watched without speaking for a moment.

“Feel free to tell us what’s going on,” Xenia quipped. “Anytime now would be nice.”

“I’m sorry; it’s not often you get visitors when you’re trapped inside a prison in a virtual reality,” the girl explained.

“What?” the more outspoken hybrid demanded, before grabbing her host by her shirt. “What do you mean?!” the poor girl winced for a moment, before Xenia shook her. “You better start talking!”

“Stop! Please!!” she pleaded.

“Xena,” Sage breathed. Her sister tilted her head to look at the blue haired girl. She ground her teeth for a moment, before returning her attention to the quivering girl in her grip.

“Sage would like me to be nicer about figuring out what’s happening. So, please, go on,” Xenia sarcastically requested.

“Gamer... stupid name. His real name’s Keith. He’s my brother. He made this world you’re standing in. He built a computer program called-”

“Like Dante’s Abyss,” Sage interrupted.

“Yes, it’s... like that, I suppose,” the girl agreed. “You’ve been collected to participate in a game; a series of challenges. The fact that you’ve been brought here means you lost one.”

“So what happens now??” Xenia demanded.

“Honestly, I don’t know, just that you’re stuck here like me,” the girl explained. “Until Gamer decides otherwise, anyway.”

“Until Gamer decides?! What if I just kill you right now?”

“Xena!”

“Shut up, Sage!”

“K-Killing me will get you killed!” Xenia's hostage stammered. “Gamer controls the world, remember?!”

With a grumble, Xenia let go of the girl, who gently brushed herself off. “I... understand your... frustration. I'll try to answer some questions, if I can,” she offered. “My name's Julia. But I have to be called Yuffith, here.”

“Why?” Sage managed, catching only the edge of a glare from her sister.

“It's... complicated,” Yuffith managed.