Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2004 02:00:35 +1000
From: BM
Subject: .Hack//Escape Chapter 4

.Hack//Escape
Chapter 4: Salvation
13th January 2004

The characters and plot in this story are copyrighted by the author.
However the concept of 'The World' is not. I take no credit for this;
the credit belongs to Bandai Entertainment who used the concept in
the animation series .Hack//Sign, .Hack//Dusk and .Hack//Liminality.
(Pronounced Dot Hack)

For those of you who have never watched any of Dot Hack before I
suggest you read the excerpt about it from the official site that I
included with chapter 1.



It was him, the boy who had invaded my dreams with his beauty, the
boy who I loved. And now, it looked like he was in serious trouble
with absolutely no way to escape. His perfect brown locks of hair
covered his mystic blue eyes as he looked at the ground in front of his
tormentor and began to cry, his tears mixing with the blood on his
face. Dave was looking at Peter and I with that familiar wide grin on
his face,

"You two made it just in time, we found this little fag sitting on the
edge of the platform and we decided to have a little fun with him."

I looked at Peter, he wasn't smiling,

"Come on Dave, just leave him alone. He hasn't done anything to us,
lets go clear a dungeon instead," he pleaded.

"Fuck up Peter, stop being such a fucking pansy, I'll 'play' with him a
bit more and then we'll go", Dave replied.

"Dave... please..." Michael sobbed.

The grin on Dave's face disappeared and was replaced by a look of
rage, he spun around and ran towards Michael,

"Shut up you little faggot! You deserve no pity!" he yelled as he
delivered another kick to Michael's ribs. I heard a sickening crack as
Michael let out another cry of pain and the red flashing around his
body began to quicken. I'd read about this in the manual, it means
he's getting closer to death. Dave lifted Michael up so their faces were
nearly touching; he glared into his eyes for a few moments and then
spat in his face. I lowered my eyes to the ground, not wanting to
witness this sickening act anymore. The look that I saw on Dave's
face scared the hell out of me; there must be some reason why he
hates homosexuals so much. This treatment goes beyond the normal
bullying of homosexuals just for the fact that they are gay.

Why? Why are homosexuals hated and bullied so much? We're no
different from anybody else, we never go out of our way to
deliberately hurt people, so why are we treated like criminals or
deviates? Since I was 12 I've known I was gay and no matter how
hard I tried, I couldn't control the feelings that were pouring out of by
body for other boys. I watched heterosexual porn but it didn't
stimulate me all that much. In fact, catching small glimpses at boys in
the locker room before and after gym class stimulated me more than
watching a porn flick did. Every night I would cry myself to sleep and
wonder why God made me the way I was. And when I finally found
another person who's just like me, who could finally make me happy,
he's taken from me, and I'm brutally punished for a year (and
counting) afterwards for acting on the feelings that we felt for each
other. To this day I still can't comprehend why my Dad and the rest of
the world hates me so much, how could something that feels so right,
be despised so much by everybody else?

I was trying to hide my discomfort at the current situation from the
rest of the group for the fear of being found out but I mustn't have
been doing a very good job because as I looked up I saw the rest of
the group looking at me.

"What's wrong? You do know he's a fag don't you?" John, one of the
identical twins asked while glaring at me.

"Yeah, yeah I know", I answered.

"Well then what the fuck are you looking so sad about, he's a fag, it's
what he deserves", Adam said while looking at Michael with a look of
disgust in his eyes.

I was surprised at the hatred I had heard in Adams voice and was
sickened by the look that he gave Michael. It was like he believed
himself to be far more superior to Michael, all because of Michael's
sexuality. I was angry at him for a moment before I realized that it
isn't really his fault, he was programmed just like all the others in our
generation by his parents and his role models to hate homosexuals.
It's a vicious cycle; every generation grows up and in turn programs
their hatred of those who are different into the next generation. I had
entered this world in the hope that I could escape all of the hatred
towards my kind but I now realized that this isn't possible, where ever
there are humans, there is hatred towards those who are different. I
was jolted from my thoughts by Dave, who now had lost his look of
rage and had replaced it with a sadistic smile,

"Hey, Articus, since you're new to the group I'll do you a favor, I'll
let you finish off this little shit, you'll get experience from the kill.
Am I a good friend or what?" He said with a laugh.

I felt a giant lump form in my throat as I saw the whole group turn to
me, probably expecting me to thank Dave for the chance. Could I kill
the boy of my dreams just for a chance to have friends for the first
time in ages? I looked over to Peter who was still standing beside me,
his face was covered by the shadow of his hood as he stared at the
ground, and I could have sworn I heard a faint sniffle coming from
him as I began to walk forward towards Dave and Michael. As I
walked my mind was turning over and over trying to find a way out of
this. I fought the urge to cry as I saw Michael cower before Dave, I
felt his pain, I really did. This situation was all too familiar for me, I
had only experienced it a couple of hours before as I left school.

What could I do? I knew for a fact that if Michael died he could just
log back into the world, the only thing he would loose would be any
items or experience he had gathered today. But if I did kill him, then
I'm sure he'd never want to even look at me let alone talk to me ever
again. Shit, what can I do to get myself out of this mess? Is my
friendship with Dave and the others worth sacrificing any chance I
have of being with Michael? I stopped in front of him and raised my
staff, maybe I could just kill him now and find him later and
apologize, but I'd doubt he would want to listen. As I was thinking
Michael raised his head and looked into my eyes. God, he was so
perfect, I was hypnotized by the sheer beauty of him,

"Please, help me", he whispered.

As I looked into his eyes it all made sense, I knew what I had to do, I
was going to save him. But the problem was, how? As I looked over
at the group my mind was trying to come up with a plan, I only had a
small mana pool so using Ice Blast against them would do no good
and I couldn't fight with my staff because most of them have swords
and I would get slaughtered.  Wait, what was that other spell I learned
today? Arctic Wall, yes, that's it! Now what did Peter say about it
again? He said it was a defensive spell that can give you an
opportunity to replenish or run away during a battle. Yes! I need to do
both those things so I'll use that spell, however it's risky because I've
never used it before but, it's worth a try. Anything is worth it just for a
chance to be with Michael.

"Hey man, I've got other stuff to do so if you don't mind, could you
just finish him off and quit stalling?" Dave asked.

I turned and looked at Dave; his evil grin was once again plastered on
his face. Fuck him, he's another potential Angelo in my life if he ever
found out about me and I sure as hell don't need another bully to add
to my list. Besides, I don't like him anyway, he's violent and rude and
from the events I've seen today, I believe he's mentally unstable as
well. I'll take my chances with Michael thank you very much!

"Well? Are you going to do it or not?" He asked still grinning.

His grin faltered for a few seconds as I smiled at him, it was time to
act and save Michael, I aimed my staff at the ground between us and
the group,

"Arctic Wall!" I screamed, a massive blue stream shot out of my staff
and hit where I aimed, a massive wall of ice began to grow from the
ground. I reached into my belt and pulled out a health potion, I handed
it to Michael; he looked at me in shock,

"Quick, use it!" I yelled.

"Use potion", he said, at a tone barely above a whisper. I watched in
wonder as his body began to heal and the red flashing around him
stopped, his beautiful face was once again returned to flawless
perfection and the blood all over him and his robes disappeared. He
got up and picked up his staff and smiled at me,

"Thank you", he whispered.

His smile made my knees so weak I could hardly move; I was
snapped from my trance by a very angry Dave,

"What the fuck are you doing man?"

I turned around to look at him and was shocked to see the size of the
wall that had formed. It was massive, a least 20 feet tall and about
four times that long, I could just barely see Dave through it but I could
still hear him, and he sounded really pissed. He drew his sword from
his sheath and began to hack at the wall in a frenzy, the other
members of the group followed his lead and all began to chop away at
the wall. The wall was massive but under the current pressure from
the other side I wasn't sure of how long it would last, we needed to
leave now.

"Quickly, lets go", I yelled.

Michael looked at me and nodded his head, he grabbed my hand and
we began to run.

"We have to get to the chaos gate", I puffed.

But wait... Shit! I miscalculated one part in my plan; the way to the
gate was on the other side of the wall. What could we do now? The
path ahead led to a huge wall of rock and there was no way to pass or
climb it, we were trapped. As I ran I frantically looked for an alternate
route, a place to hide, anything... But it was no good, we were
finished. We both reached the wall huffing and puffing,

"What are we going to do?" I cried.

"Just relax, I have a plan", Michael answered.

I looked at him and noticed that he wasn't scared at all. Oh well, if he
had a plan at least that was more than I had, we might get out of this
after all. I saw Dave and the rest of the group closing in on us, I
noticed that Peter wasn't there however; he mustn't have wanted to be
any part of this. They reached us and spread out in a semi circle
blocking all possible ways of escape.

"Well well well Articus, I knew there was something strange about
you, you're a fag aren't you? So that's why you gave your character a
fake name, didn't do you any good though did it? Your fag instincts
have betrayed you." Dave said with a huge smile on his face.

I couldn't say anything back; my secret was out, again. Great, now
everybody in The World will know what I am and punish me for it.
My heart sank as I realized there was no more safe places for me to go
to and be free of abuse and ridicule, I had used up my last chance to
fit in with everybody else. Tears began to form in my eyes, was I ever
going to be free of all this unnecessary hatred? I looked over at
Michael, he didn't look scared at all, he looked at me and smiled.
Suddenly I didn't care that I had messed everything up, if everybody
knowing my secret was the price for me to be with this boy then it
was worth it, and fuck Dave and anybody else if they think that us
being together is wrong. I've had enough of other people telling me
that my feelings for other boys is wrong, from now on they can fuck
off and mind their own business for a change.

"Yes I am Dave; you got a problem with that?" I answered with my
renewed confidence after looking at the boy I loved.

His smile widened, "As a matter of fact I do fairy boy, I hate your
kind and as far as I'm concerned you not only deserve to be killed in
this world, but also in the real world as well."

"I think you need professional mental help personally", I answered.

His smile turned into a scowl and he drew his sword,
"Alright boys, its fag killing time. You can all take Michael but leave
Mr. Smartass here to me."

The rest of the group all took out their weapons and began to move in
on us too. Well, if it's a fight they want, then it's a fight they'll get. I
raised my staff, ready to die with the boy that I loved.

"What the hell is that?" Dave asked, looking at Michael.

I looked over at him and he had an item that looked similar to an
ocarina in his hand. He smiled at Dave, "You'll find out soon enough,
I didn't have a chance to use this item before because I was attacked
from behind and it only works when you are on full health." He
looked over at me, "Take my hand quickly", he ordered.

I did as he said and he looked back at Dave and the rest of the group.
"See you later", he said with a wink. I looked at him in surprise, this
was a completely different Michael from the one that I had been
observing yesterday, he actually looked happy for some reason.

"Lut Kalen", he yelled into the ocarina. We stood there for a few
moments and for a second, I thought that his plan had gone wrong and
we were finished, but suddenly my surroundings spun around me and
a huge gust of wind hit me in the back and forced me onto my knees.
When the spinning and wind stopped I looked up and let out a gasp of
amazement, we were back in the root town, standing next to the chaos
gate. I looked over at Michael who was on his knees next to me with a
big smile on his face.

"Sprite Ocarina", he said as he got up and showed me the item and
then put it back in his belt. "It's a very rare item that I found that
allows you to transport yourself around the world without the use of a
chaos gate."

I smiled at him as I got up, thankful that he had that item, it had saved
both our hides. I suddenly became very nervous as the adrenaline rush
from the run and the confrontation with Dave and the others began to
go down, and I realized that I was actually hanging around and talking
the cutest boy I've ever seen. It seemed that he had trouble continuing
the conversation as well as we both stood there for a few moments in
silence smiling at each other. I decided to break the ice,

"Michael, this may sound weird but I'm going to say it anyway. Well,
you know that I'm gay and well, I want to say..."

Gong! I was interrupted from my speech by the clock tower that was
near the chaos gate, it was signaling that it was 6pm, damn! Right in
the middle of the hardest speech I've ever had to say. Just being
around this boy causes my thought processes to stop and it's a huge
effort just to say a couple of words in front of him because of his
beauty. Wait a minute... 6pm?! Shit! Dad will be home soon and I
don't want him to catch me while I'm logged in the world, I'd better
logout quick.

"Ummm... Michael, I'm sorry but I have to go right now, it's a
emergency, c-c-could we like maybe, you know, meet up tomorrow?"
I managed to stutter, once again hypnotized by his looks as he smiled
at me.

"Sure", he answered. "But not here, I imagine that Dave and the
others will be looking for us, meet me in Midge Village."

"O-o-okay, I'll see you tomorrow then", I managed to blurt out.

He smiled at me and the next thing he said made my stomach flutter
and my member harden instantly.

"I hope so", he whispered intently and he walked up to the chaos gate,
never breaking eye contact with me. "Midge Village", he yelled and
he disappeared from sight.

I stood there for a few moments, both shocked and highly pleased by
what had just happened. He wants to see me! He actually wants to see
me! I looked down at the spot where he was talking to me and I
blushed with embarrassment when I suddenly realized that my hard-
on from talking with Michael was showing and quickly ran behind a
pillar away from the view of the public. Geez, the idea of any sort of
sexual activity in the world hadn't crossed my mind at all yet, but
judging from the bulge in my pants I knew it was possible! Oh well,
time to logout before Dad gets home. But for once the thought of my
Dad didn't phase me all that much, the cutest boy ever actually talked
to me and said he wants to see me! I smiled to myself as I raised my
staff into the air and yelled "Logout".

I was back in my room, and by the sounds of it my Dad wasn't home
yet, thank God. I took the headset off and decided to try quickly going
and getting something to eat before he came home. I practically
danced to the kitchen while thinking of all of the things that had
happened to me while I was in The World today. I had sacrificed my
potential friendship with Dave and his group to save Michael which I
had no regrets at all about! But I wasn't sure what to make of Peter, he
seemed different from everybody else in that group, he didn't pursue
us with Dave and the others when we made our escape and I'm sure I
heard a sniffle from under his hood when he saw me walk forward to
kill Michael. I wonder if he's... nah, I'd doubt it. And what was the
go with that Romero freak? Apart from nearly choking me to death
with his tongue he also threatened me with a weapon to get my
member address. I sighed as I realized that he will probably be
looking out for me whenever I go back into The World for another
chance to harass me. I was broken from my thoughts by the slamming
of our front door. Shit! I had been thinking for so long that it was now
6:10 and Dad was now home. He walked straight into the kitchen and
glared at me,

"You, in the Dining Room now, we have to talk."

"Yes Dad", I whispered. I panicked and tried to remember if I had
done anything to piss him off recently. My heart sank when I realized
that I had left for school early to avoid a potential beating, maybe
that's why he's so pissed. I walked into the Dining Room and sat
down at the table, I was shaking like a leaf. I hated even being around
my Dad, he was like a bomb that could go off at any minute for no
good reason.

He walked in and sat down opposite me. He sat there for a few
moments glaring at me and then spoke in a very normal tone, which
was a big surprise since he normally only ever talks to me in a angry
or even worse, enraged tone of voice.

"My shifts at work have changed; I will now be working from 4 in the
afternoon to 12 at night, I get more money this way."

My heart leapt with joy, this meant that I could spend heaps more time
on the world without the fear of being interrupted by Dad!

"Now, I don't want you sneaking during this time to see your fucked
up boyfriends so here's what's going to happen, tonight I'm going to
fit a lock on the door of the house, only I can open this door from the
inside or the outside. You will come home from school before I have
to leave for work and I will lock you in the house."

"But what if there's a fire?" I asked.

My answer came strong and fast, a slap to the side of my face. "What
of there's a fire? WHAT IF THERE'S A FIRE? I don't fucking care if
there's a fire so keep your fucking mouth shut you unnatural
abomination!" He got up and ripped me out of the chair,

"Dad, Dad I'm sorry, I didn't mean i...", my words were cut short as
he punched me in the gut.

"Now get the fuck to your room! They'll be no dinner for you for
talking back to me."

I slowly began to walk to my room, I didn't actually talk back but if I
say that to him I'll just get more. I closed my door and fell on my bed,
waiting for the pain in my body to go away. It went away quickly
when I suddenly realized what Dad had said, I could now log onto
The World at 4pm and not get off till 12am, yeah! That's awesome
and the best thing is, it'll give me heaps more time to be with
Michael!

I rolled over onto my back and stared up at the ceiling, as I lay there I
couldn't help but smile. For the first time in ages things were actually
looking good for me. I actually wanted to go to bed and wake up
tomorrow, I can't remember the last time that I had felt like this. As I
began to drift off to sleep the last image that I remember was Michael
smiling at me and whispering "I hope so", tomorrow is going to be
awesome!

End of Chapter 4.

-{BM}-