We're all in this virtual space together.
Alphikra

You stand tall, and take in your surroundings. Same four walls.Same coding. You look to your left, and see a pathway has opened. You walktowards it, hesitantly at first, but then sprinting. You never seem to getcloser to the pathway, though.

You frown in thought. The shield of the man who used to be yourfriend begins to glow and you hold it in front of you. The room becomesilluminated, though the light seems to be confined to the air touching you, asif it were protecting you. With your new boundary, you step forward andactually feel as though you are closer to the doorway in the coding now. A fewmore steps and you are through it. You look around and see there are threepathways leading off from this room.

What do you do?

Myos found himselfsprawled on the floor, an aching in his cheek as he looked up at the other,towering over him with a sneer on his face and crimson on his fist. The redhead touched his own face lightly, feeling the warm liquid also present there.He was bleeding. Zeke had punched him in the face - a surprising twist foronce.

“You were having anattack or something,” Zeke said simply with a shrug of his shoulders, takingoff his now bloodstained gloves, careful to remove the treasured silver ring beforehand.The ravenette tapped his heel on the solid ground, looking around him to thefour different pathways that were their options. A crimson one that looked tobe textured with what you hoped wasn’t strange viscera that Achernar hadstormed down, a plush pink one that matched the ship’s interior that Razzy hadventured through, and a pale lime one filled to the brim with circuits thatAmaya had slunk down. The only option left was a solid gold path gilded with finery,which just screamed end game to Myos. “So, team leader, what’s the plan?” Zekesneered.

Myos ran his fingersthrough his disheveled bangs, completely ignoring as they flopped against hisblood spattered face. Damn, that smarted. Myos wondered how hard the other manhad hit him, checking by rolling his tongue through his mouth to see if anyteeth were broken or chipped. One tooth seemed lose, but he had no idea if itwas like that before. Zeke cleared his throat with an obvious intonation, andMyos perked his head back up, just remembering he had been asked a question.“We go after them, right?”

Zeke quirked his eyebrowinto a perfect checkmark. “Do we? They left us. Why would they come back,” theman scoffed, and straightened his sleeveless jacket.

“They’re still ourfriends, and our teammates. You don’t leave your party in the middle of araid,” Myos explained, fingers absentmindedly drifting to the star outline onhis neck, as they were so oft prone to do. No matter what, they would be ableto resolve whatever had happened between them. Whatever tricks this labyrinthplayed on all of them, they would get through it. They just needed a leader, a hero;someone to pull them out of their funk like Zeke had done for him.

“They left us, why don’twe return the favor,” Zeke said, still not convinced.

Myos shook his head,catching his large headphones before they fell off. “That’s not how this teamworks. Besides, we don’t know what’s through that hallway. It could be just theEmpress, or it could be a zillion guards. We may need all the help we can getfor what’s to come,” he persuaded. “A general is nothing without his army,” thecopper haired man laughed, flicking the pin on the other’s chest that restedatop the star tattoo. It made him chuckle, such opposing symbols so close toeach other.

“Fine,” Zeke sighed,waving the other’s hand off in good humor, a small smile actually gracing hislips. “Who are we chasing after first?”

Myos looked down all thehallways again, finally moving to stand in front of the green one. It didn’tseem that dangerous, just wires and circuits. “I think Amaya is our best bet,she can help us convince the others.”

“She always did have away of calming everyone down,” Zeke agreed with a sigh, coming to stand besidethe shorter man. “Lead the way, hero,” the stocky man said with a sarcasticbite, to which the other responded by shoving his middle finger in the tallerman’s face.

“Stay close, sidekick,”Myos laughed, stepping into the technology filled unknown.