Arc I: Corpse Collector

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Deep Ground Online

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"Shit...Shit....Shit!"

The sound of energy bolts, bullets, and really whatever else was decided to been launched away rang in the air as a girl ran through the streets of the eternally darkened Faded City. She full well knew the risks when she decided to steal from nor one, but all the Colored Guilds. Granted, her pursuers didn't know who or what they were shooting at either but the Avatar currently titled U.N. Owen Was Her didn't want to stick around to find out. Clutching her hat over her head with one hand, she twisted around and fired off more shots with her pistol into the darkness.

They wouldn't be able to see her, for her Player Status was kept concealed from prying eyes. All her pursuers saw was an invisible mark in constant motion across their vision and the status input on their own interfaces showing that a treasure had been stolen each from of the Colored Kingdoms vault.

Well, not exactly everyone. The Black Guild seemed to be lacking in the girl's stash of goodies. And who could blame her? The Ebony Strykers were a joke, if not pure legend at this point. It might have been a powerful and influential force in the world of Deep Ground Online at one point, but all that had changed when the former Black King had been caught in some internet scandal. Shame and stigmas were brought up against the Dark Guild until only one member remained as a true Player of the Ebony Strykers.

The enigmatic Moon Rider, the current Black King, and the one who had sealed off her Guild's gates from the world forever.

"Not for long though," Corpse Collector mused to herself. "Just a few more things to cross off my list before I can take out the moon bitch myself. Heh, wow, I must really be a badass if I can outrun the Colored King's finest! Kicking Moon Rider's ass is going to be piss poor easy!"

With a final grin of victory, U.N. Owen Was Her showered another volley of shots back to her attackers before outright disappearing completely. The shimmering motion of invisibility was no more and the chasing scouts from White Kingdom finally took pause. By they realized what just happened, the mysterious Player was already logged out of Deep Ground Online.

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“Attention all players. I, the Black King, ruler of the Ebony Strykers, am allowing any and all to join my Guild. This will be the first time I have done so in the entirety of Deep Ground’s launch. Please, choose your allies wisely.”

That message had been relayed all over Deep Ground in the last day or so, and those curious enough to venture into the matter further would no doubt be replaying those exact words through their links all around the world. The world…it had changed so much….how did it become like this? When did the future become entirely reliant on some video game? And yet, that was how it always was. And that was how it would always be.

Now and forever more.

These thoughts swirled and bickered in the mind of a certain individual; the one who had sent that very same message in fact. Any and all people to freely join her Guild….what was she thinking? Did countless years of tradition and experience not teach her anything? Not a single thing? Were the words of her leader, the one granted title of the former Black King, wasted on her?

Yes…and no. Things had changed. Times had changed.

There was no doubt in her mind that the adults of their society cared little for her endeavourers; and indeed, most people past the age of nineteen had deleted her calling card from their own links, grumbling about the damned game and going about their own predetermined lives. But the Payers…they were what really mattered to her. A game without Players was no game at all. It was only a mindless sport.

Knowing she was well secured in her hidden location, she closed her eyes to concentrate. The afternoon sun had begun to wane slightly, and school had just let out the youth of tomorrow into the end of a radiant Thursday. People both online and in real life would either be gathering to formulate new plans and strategies, or test their hand against fate and play alone.

Purple Crown Academy usually had massive centers within the building for these gatherings, although she preferred to stay away from the rest. It really was better this way. Realizing that she had stalled long enough, the girl willed herself to give into the global link that connected everyone’s brains to the World Interface. It wouldn’t be long now and….







She opened her eyes to see a darkened city surrounded by a low mist around her, encompassing all within her view. A place that remained enigmatic in the massive map of Faded City ever since the program’s initial launch. A flashing screen that only she could see appeared over her head for a few brief seconds.

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The Black King. Yes, the full gravity of her earlier actions now weighed heavily on her. Players from far and wide would finally gain the chance to join the elusive Black King and her Ebony Stryker Guild. Having followed the rulings of the previous Colored King, she had never allowed any player to join, cutting them down if they ever dared.

But now….things were different.

A Player calling themselves the U.N. Owen Was Her was running rampant all across Deep Ground Online. Someone that had actually managed to steal from all of the other Colored Kingdoms and was so far unobtainable...well, it was flat out impossible. Every Colored King was a Level 9 Player and had rightfully earned their title and power. To steal from them was to enact a death wish upon themselves from fronts.

Rumors abounded, some accusing that this was the first signs of the Black Guild's dreaded return. Who else would do something like this, to intentionally invoke the ire of the Guilds? Surely it had to be the Black King, Moon Rider herself? Except...no one knew Moon Rider's true identity, let alone her Avatar considering she had cut herself off from the other Guilds. To see people blame her so easily and readily...it was disgusting. Obviously it was just a ploy by U.N. Owen to draw her out into the public again.

The Colored Kings were smarter of course, but that didn't stop them from pinning the blame on Deep Ground's Ghost. And so they bought into it, turning a blind eye at the true culprit. That was what had been the second reason Moon Rider made her proclamation just a day before. Her first and foremost reason was something only known to her.

Snapping back to reality, the Black King turned around to find a lone throne that was so dark, it almost glimmered in the low light. Her District. Always cold and empty. No one dared to hunt or dual in the city with pristine black glass on the buildings, reflecting all things. Perhaps that would change?

Yes…perhaps it would.

Placing herself on her throne, she crossed her legs and rested her cheek onto her pale knuckles. Dressed in a long coat that was as black as her long hair, the girl’s tinged purple eyes narrowed. A deactivated Beam Saber-a Legendary Armament in itself-hung on the side of her waist, as if the weapon itself was lazy. Now she would wait. Now she would bide her time and welcome anyone, regardless of rank or Guild, with open arms.

And then…then the Black King would begin the journey towards her ambitions.

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After a long school day of pretending to ignore old friends, and being as bitter as possible, Alica had bused home in a huff, unlocked the door and stomped up to her room. Mom was still at work, so luckily she had the house to herself, and she could preserve her properly upset mood.

Although some of that melted away when she opened her eyes. And ahead of her lay the city plaza she had logged off in. It was beginning to gill more and more with people logging on and going about their business. She took in a long breath and fluttered her eyes open and closed a few times. She was back again.

Tilting her head to each side a few times and shaking out some stiff joints she noticed again the lack of weight on her head. Trading in her usual long hair for her shorter cut here. She looked down to her hands and saw the bandages wrapping around them. Clenching her fists tightly she felt the strength in her. A faint smile formed on her lips, as she went through her usual login warm-up. She enjoyed this world, sometimes a lot more then her real one. She sighed and looked around the area once more, taking in random faces and familiar buildings. An armor shop here, a weapon shop there. A few stalls were situated at random points on the outskirts of the plaza, selling odds and ends. Accessories, potions, fruit and books. Her small smile faded back to a neutral position, as she remembered again she was alone. No longer did she have a party to tackle battles with, and that was a problem. While she was no where near useless alone, she held a better strength with allies, and at this second she had none. Stamping her fist into her opposite palm, she made a mental note. That was her goal for now then, make some new friends. After a few long seconds of this pose she let her arms drop. Everything about that was lame and she knew it.

Another sigh and she ruffled her raven hair. This was an off week...

"Now Rebecca, just remember whatever happens in there, we love you, now go get'em girl!"
Rebecca rolled her eyes as her fathers grandstanding finally came to an end.
"And don't think I didn't see that young lady! You might be a teenager now but I can still ground you!"
She stuck her tongue out at him and a wide grin plastered itself on his face. Now it was her mothers turn, less of the pep talk with her mum, they hugged it out for a moment in which she leaned in to whisper in Rebecca's ear.
"Good luck hun, you'll do us proud"
Uncharacteristically her mother had a few tears in her eyes. Rebecca, taken in by the atmosphere gave her mum a final squeeze and let go.
"I'll be top of the leaderboards with in a year! Don't worry about me!"
She grabbed the package that had arrived in the post and ran upstairs. Her parents watched in silence, once the surprisingly loud sound of their daughter running upstairs had ceased they gave each other a worried glance.

Rebecca lay on the bed in her tiny pocket room, the room was small but the space was all hers, which more than made up for its size. She took a deep breath and mentally prepared herself, this would be her first time into DGO, if she could do well, if she could break records then she'd have everything, money, a career, whatever she wanted! She could see the world outside the estate! She followed that daydream for a while, imagining all the new and crazy places she would visit. Eventually she came back to reality and tense with expectation she closed her eyes and focused trying to find the network that would take her into DGO. At first she couldnt sense anything, everything felt normal and normal up until now didn't involve DGO, as the first feelings of doubt began to creep into her mind she felt it.


She opened her eyes, spread out before her was a city the like of which she had never seen before, a thick mist filled every street and people armed with swords and staffs, axes and hammers strolled casually by. She might have stood there gawking for hours had not a message appeared in the air above her head.

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A huge grin gripped her face as she took in the name... her name. 'Havoc' What a name! After she'd calmed down she remembered the interface, if she remembered correctly you just had to... yep there we go. A small panel opened up by her hand and she scrolled down it looking at all the menus. The first tab she opened was simply labelled 'Havoc', in-front of her a hologram of a darkhaired woman with some crazy cape and a huge sword appeared.
"This is..."
She reached behind her and felt the fluttering cape. She almost jumped on the spot, so excited was she.
"I'm a bad-ass!"
She immediately regretted her outburst as several people turned to look at her, her cheeks went red and she stared at the floor until she was sure they'd moved on.
Next she looked at the 'Skills' Menu, after examining it and discovering that she was a Warrior class she expanded a sub-tab named 'Abilities' and discovered her first ability.
Refraction(Passive): 11% of damage dealt to Havoc is dealt to all enemies engaged with Havoc. i.e Havoc takes 100 Damage, an AoE 11 damage nuke is applied around Havoc.
She nodded along as she read.
"alright.."
She was distracted from her musings as a small ping sounded and a tab named 'Inbox' flashed yellow. She clicked onto it and discovered she had a new message! She wondered who would be sending her a message so soon as she opened the message.

The Black king recruiting... did she dare join such a notorious guild? She sat down and leaned on her elbows, again she drew odd looks from the passing crowd but this time she didn't take notice, so deep in thought was she. She couldn't just be a member of the herd, she had to stand out, had to win but how could she do that? The Black king recruiting.. surely this was the beginning of grand events and where else to stand out than at such events? But which side to choose? In the end her decision was made not by her own decisions but by her parents, they had joined the 'normal' guilds and it had gotten them nowhere, time to take a risk, who dares wins and all that. With a movement so sudden it belayed the thought put into it she pressed reply.

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Level: 1
EXP: 0
Next Level EXP: 10,000

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Several hours ago


Philosophy was one of the less popular classes offered at Purple Crown Academy to say the least, but one that Emma Roche embraced with great interest. The thought of discussing the very fundamental ideas of life and existence to reach a deeper understanding of humanity had a unique appeal to her. The professor, Mr. Meissner, read the passage aloud, and then opened it up for discussion. The class was considered 'Advanced', so while some classes might turn quiet when presented with discussion, the Philosophy class instead had many hands shoot up, including Emma. Emma wasn't called first. Or second. Or, in fact, even third. This went on for some time, but she was used to it. She was what could be described as a 'Serial Hand-Raiser'. She was smart, and always looked to add some sort of insight to discussions, and as such she was always called last. Of course the professor preferred to let the unfamiliar voices go first. When her turn finally came she stood up, eager to add her two cents.

"I think that that's incredibly stupid, Mr. Meissner." The class was a slight taken aback by Emma's uncharacteristic deceleration, and even the Mr. Meissner gave her a somewhat incredulous look. "Sorry, that came out wrong, let me rephrase that. I think Schopenhauer's opinions on human relationships presented in the text reflect a cynical view that may have been colored by his personal faults and the many meaningless relationships he entered into. I think... I think that the viewpoint presented is a depressing way to look at life. I'd like to believe that people can truly understand each other, and that with the desire to we can get close to people without 'pricking' them."

A kind smile filled Emma's face as she sat back down as the class let out a collective groan. She heard someone in the back whisper, "What a sappy viewpoint." Emma didn't care, and the small smile remained on her face.

Present Time
Emma's walk home was, as always, completely uneventful. She skipped down the street excitedly, looking forward to getting to getting home and playing DGO. As she arrived she found herself, as usual, home alone. Mom and Dad are both out working late again... I hope they don't overwork themselves... She hurried up the stairs, practically galloping up the steps. As she rounded the corner she flung the door of her room opened and practically leaped into her bed. Alright! Today I'm going to win a match, for sure! She thought to herself, a steely look forming on her face. She closed her fist and pumped her arm downwards, a gesture of sorts to show her determination. All she had to do was let her mind slip and give in, and the connection was established. Let's do this!

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Newt... I picked it because it fit my fighting style... I've have to be slippery, use the mobility to my advantage, and corner my opponent for the finishing blow. She reminded herself in her head. She didn't have the raw physicality needed for a straight up duel. She'd need to be creative to win. But, first, she had another matter to attend to. She wanted to look into something. The Ebony Strikers announce that they're recruiting for the first time in ages, and at the same time a major theft occurs involving from all Guilds except the Black... if I found out more than all the colored Guilds will recognize my usefulness... but that's not my only motive for approaching the Black King... Emma found a bus. It wouldn't take her to the Black City, but it would get her close enough to walk. She payed the fare and took a seat, planning in her head. The Crimson Harleys have been helpful, but when it comes to such a large guild it's hard to get the help I need from a high-ranking member, let alone a King. But if she approached the now slowly growing Ebony Strikers it wouldn't be hard to come face-to-face with the Black King... and I could ask her for help. Not just for help, but... I'll... I'll ask to be her apprentice.

The ride was short and not very exciting. She found herself on the outskirts of the sprawling Black City, the Black King's fortress not far away. She started towards it. This place is so ominous... it's like a ghost town, emptier than any other place I've seen in DGO. It seemed that few had jumped at the King's invitation. That played into Emma's plan perfectly.

Soon enough Emma found herself in front of the building that held the Black Throne. The King must be here. She knew, at the very least, the geography of the world, the twisting city streets burned into her mind. This was it. She pushed open the door, cautiously entering the building, searching for what she hoped to soon be her teacher.

It didn't take long to find the throne. Sat upon it was an unmistakable presence. Moon Rider, the Black King herself. Emma was surprised to just find her outright. She almost chickened out, but she steeled herself, approaching the throne cautiously. Should I kneel? I've never stood in front of a King before... no, I should stand, show her I'm not scared. Emma cleared her throat. She smiled warmly. "Hello... you are Moon Rider, the Black King, right? I want to... well, you're strong, and I want to learn from you and join your guild... I was hoping... I was, uh, hoping you'd take me as your apprentice!" Emma rubbed the back of her head with her hand, now grinning widely.

After school had ended for the day, Michelle immediately ran back to her dorm room, where she would be able to enjoy her time in Deep Ground in peace. Normally, Michelle wouldn't be so energetic about it, but there was the incredible news about the Black King of the Ebony Strykers recruiting. Such a thing was unheard of, and Michelle wanted to check it out. If she wasn't already in a guild, Michelle would have applied herself. Nonetheless, she wanted to see the Black King herself. Making her way through the halls and into her room, Michelle flopped into bed and readied herself to dive into the game. A moment of peace and quiet came and went, then the message came up:

Michelle opened her eyes. She was now in Deep Ground, in a neutral city. She remembered meeting some friends and then saying their farewells as they all logged off. Well, the past was the past; now it was the time to think about the present. She opened the interface and opened up a map, then ran off along a path, her passive Shukuchi skill making her much faster than most Players her level, if not all of them.

Michelle kept running along the path, following the map to the best of her ability. After Michelle turned a corner, she nearly bumped into someone, but was able to just move out of the way to avoid a collision. Michelle decided that it would be best to move the map into a corner of her perspective, rather than have it block her view like that. After doing so, though, she noticed another person on her interface, unfortunately in Michelle's path. "Incoming!" Michelle yelled as she tried to skid to a halt, even going so far as to take out her naginata and plunge the button of her weapon into the ground.

Morgan Hazelnut - Flan

It was just another day of the week in academia, but hopefully today would be different within the realm of Deep Ground Online. Ever since walking through the entrance of Purple Crown Academy and catching wind of the black knight's legacy, Morgan was infatuated with the rumors surrounding the Black King of old. Did the king really get caught in some sort of hacking scandal? Or did just graduate and move on, leaving none as the in-game heir. Some rumors suggested it was a member of the staff, or even the Student President. Morgan didn't know exactly what life would be like at PCA, but these rumors burned a passion inside that would never go away until the truth was made clear.

Then a day ago:

“Attention all players. I, the Black King, ruler of the Ebony Strykers, am allowing any and all to join my Guild. This will be the first time I have done so in the entirety of Deep Ground’s launch. Please, choose your allies wisely.”

Morgan's time had come. Until now, it has been only a dream to meet the Black King, but the gates were finally open and that needed to be done was ask. Morgan ran straight to the apartment as soon the day was dismissed. There were no job or clubs to attend to, ever. Even when living with Papa, Morgan was always alone. All chores, messes, and cooking was done alone, but as father of the household, he worked to make enough money for whatever their necessities. Even now, Morgan receives money in the mail every month, from dear old dad, to pay for food and housing in the on campus complex as there would be no other way to get to school.

There, Morgan quickly logged on into DGO, the anxiety almost getting too strong to deal with. 3....2....1....... It only took three gruesome seconds to actually get inside, but today was the day that the Black King's message actually made it to the one person who cared most.

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Flan; A name regretted every time those words popped up on screen, but one that no one would be able to take away. As soon as the banner completely disappeared, Morgan quickly went through the menus trying to find the original announcement, and, sure enough, there it was. Not wanting miss this chance, a reply was sent to the Black King as a courtesy note of Flan's intended arrival to his kingdom.

Although too short on currency to hire a ride, the walk there wasn't bad. Or rather the jump there, as that was the preferred method of travel thanks to the Jumping Bean ability. Morgan soon arrived at the black fortress but had just noticed someone walking inside. It was decided that it would be better to wait until their business was finished, instead of barging in and making a bad impression. Using a stake, Morgan claimed a spot as next in line by the entrance, should someone else come, before jumping up a tree and waiting.

In a nondescript dorm room...

A shiver went through his body even under two layers of blanket.

"Ugh, it's cold..." He said, "And it's only autumn too..."

Oh the cruel coldness, it was truly his bane. He had poor circulation and he was tall, a double threat! His hands and feet were constantly cold! Whenever the day ended he went straight to his dorm room and turned the heater on.

"Ugh, winter is going to be terrible." He said.

He drew his knees up to his chest and tried in vain to warm his hands. He sort of had to do homework now, but he reeeaally didn't want to.

"Wait a minute, I hate that guy! I don't have to do shit!" He yelled triumphantly. "Deep Ground it is!"

He threw himself back into his bed and started the load into Deep Ground Online. He wasn't going to pretend he didn't hate someone. That went against his principles and he really didn't like hypocrites. Light faded and he was in.

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Light pierced his eyelids and he opened them to see a city that looked like it was made of black. Towers of twisted steel reached the skies, many buildings looked to be in a state of disrepair. Even from where he was he could see it would be difficult to tell where you were going from above. None of it was the same but it was all samey, the outskirts had become a refuge for outlaws but none of them tried to go deeper. Until now, that is.

The announcement was a surprise, obviously it was. Regardless, many outlaws seeking power in a group had wanted to join the legendary Ebony Strykers, unfortunately for some of them they had been on his Sweeper List.

"Well, let's see if we've got anything new today." He pulled up his messaging interface. No new messages.

He knew the sweepers were officially disbanded but by way of courier he'd been invited. A flying ability was rare in Deep Ground and it gave a unique advantage when it came to hunting Outlaws.

"If I've got nothing else to do, maybe I'll go ahead and see what the the Black King's up to." He said.

Truthfully, it wasn't just that he had nothing to do, but he had a feeling. The same feeling he had when he'd first seen Deep Ground, the same feeling as when he'd knew how much he could do. That same feeling was coming now, as he revved his lance. He shivered again but this time not from cold, but anticipation.

He took off into the sky, his destination was the Ebony Strykers.

"Nah, nah... Get the pizza one. They're really good. Get like, hold on... Ten. Cause there are ten guys coming! Mhmm. Yeah. Yeah. Alright, cool, I'll pay ya back when you show up. Thanks brah."

Asahi hung up his phone. After ordering snacks for him and his War Machines he kicked a chair into the river, with someone tied onto it. From the presence of the other youth and thier bloodied knuckles they didn't like the fellow. "Come on guys, it's almost time for the big brawl. Don't want to miss out on that." Asahi's friends murmured in agreement as they headed off to Asahi's place, where they'd be able to play Deep Ground in peace, with the luxury that Asahi could afford.

With the announcement of the Ebon Strykers opening their doors to membership Asahi wanted to be the first one to arrive. Sure he was with the Sweepers for a while, but they were posers for all he cared about. And there were a bunch of wannabe Ebon Strykers hanging out in the ruins of the Black City, but they were no better or even worse then Asahi's own War Machine. No, he was looking for a place to get a real fight from, and the Ebon Strykers were the one. After all it was only going to be a matter of time before all the other guilds get their act together and attack them, and Asahi wanted to be on the front lines when that happened. Make a name for himself on the road of glory.

Back at the base Asahi and his friends got themselves comfortable. Big cushiony chairs, snacks on the table, drinks within arms reach. Asahi helped himself to a sort of calzone. He and his buddies were discussing the battle plan they had in mind, which for once is more complex then simply "stay out of sight and then jump them". "Just remember it's gunna be hell once we get there. We don't have the element of surprise, but we can make use of that chaos. Stir up some trouble and keep it nice and warm."

It was time. After everyone had something to eat, relieved their bowels, and got comfortable, they relaxed and entered the world of Deep Ground. Asahi was particularly excited. This was his chance to grab glory...

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Taking out the last of the trash Retsu looked at the flock of students leaving the academy. Once upon a time she was be amongst them. Retsu was, but no means, a loner. She had some people she called friends... People that she didn't mind hanging out with. People who she could converse with, ask help from, maybe even gotten close to. But that was a fake part of her. One that was still trying to deny the system and world she was placed in. Like a actor playing her role, she would serve her part well, but in the end the show was nothing more then a story. Far from the reality it was trying to escape from. Sighing Retsu let those thoughts stay with the trash. She wasn't a cynic. She wasn't a pessimist. Jaded perhaps, and rough around the edges. But she had hope. Hope that one day... She could break this system. That's all she wanted. To be able to shed the mantles society puts on her, tells her is her "Freedom", and then guide her to her cage. She wanted to be able to carve a place for her with skills, knowledge, and ability. Not some childish MMO.

But as they say: If you want peace, prepare for war. And for what Retsu wants, she'll have to use Deep Ground. Simply ignoring it wasn't an option. It doesn't free her from it's control. She would have to enter it's world and turn it upside down from within. And her first step was with the Black King.

While Retsu was the unseen leader of the Sweepers ever since they were forced to disband they haven't the ability to organize themselves well enough. Most of her Erasers have begun to operate for themselves, and very few Cleaners answers to Retsu anymore. While she may be the best amongst them she was a leader in name only. She could rally them together, bring the Sweepers back to full force, but she needed leverage. Something that told them that she was capable and worthy. She needed to have the Black King's support. Despite their best abilities even the Sweepers know little of the Ebon Strykers. Even the controversy that destroyed their guild was a secret. While many assumed they were punished much for the same reasons the Sweepers were, in truth they knew nothing. Not even former Ebon Strykers knew what happened. So if Retsu could gained Moon Slicer's alliance, that may be just want she needs to get the rest of the Sweepers under her banner once more.

Retsu took her bike back to her dormitory. While she was offered to live at their family home Retsu preferred not to be around them. There was no love amongst them and she'd rather not have to deal with her siblings either. Retsu's dorm was rather plain. Clean in the sense that there was not clothing or trash strewn about, but it was dusty, implying that she rarely does much of anything here. Even her mini-refrigerator indicated that she hardly eats here either. Given her svelte figure, it was fair question to ask if she eats at all. But that didn't matter to Retsu. Putting her bags on the couch she went and washed herself up. She stripped down to her naked body, took a shower, and dressed for bed. It was still early in the afternoon but she knew she wasn't going to go out anytime tonight. Before heading to bed she turned on her stereo. She liked listening to a bit of music before heading into Deep Ground, get into the mood. Once all the preparation was done she laid in her bed and closed her eyes.

“Dandan hyaku naru…”

School was finished for the day, and, like every day, Yuuki felt like she didn’t learn much at all. It probably didn’t help that she had zoned out during most of the classes, and now that she had also gotten kicked out of the Purple Crown Orchestra due to her abysmal grades from last year…well, the plain-faced girl really didn’t have much of anything to do. Her friends were busy with some Deep Ground thing, and she didn’t feel like losing herself to the piano that day. Of course, there was also the option of actually studying and staying ahead of her classes this time...but that involved actually studying, so it clearly wasn’t an option.

Taking in a deep breath of the autumn breeze, tinged with the smell of maple leaves, Yuuki closed her eyes and hummed a happy little tune as she started walking away from the Academy, heading to the city. With a good pace, she should be able to get to the train station in half an hour, and after that, it’d be another hour or two until she could reach the coastline. By then, the sun should be setting, and she’d get a pretty sunset view by the beach. Of course, it brought up the question of what she was going to eat for dinner if she had little to no time to cook after heading back home...but convenience stores are the sliced bread of the modern era, and the brunette was glad for those one-story miracles.

Before she could truly get started on her afternoon excursion, though, a bit of news entered her ears, and, for once, didn’t exit out of her other ear.

The Black King, the Moon Rider of the Ebony Strykers, had finally opened up her territories.

It was news that was spiralling out of control on the interwebs, as tons of players spammed it in their Twitter feed, with proclamations of taking her head or joining her legion or whatever else. For a moment there, with her phone buzzing like mad at all the updates, Yuuki could only watch. Then, she turned off her phone and brought out her trusty Canadian loonie.

“Heads for Black Territory exploration, Tails of Beachside Sunset.”

A flick, a ring, and then a bounce. The whum-whum sound increased in frequency as the coin hopped around on the pavement, before it finally clattered to a stop. Bending downwards to pick it up once more, she sighed at the result. Looked like she would have to find a bench or something to sit down on now.

Ten more minutes of aimless wandering passed, before she found herself a nice spot in Purple Crown Academy’s botanic gardens, sat herself down amongst the dead trees and the wilted flowers, and closed her eyes.


A familiar weight could be felt on her back, as nigh-inaudible mechanical whirrings pushed the petite girl upright. She found herself in a Player Sanctuary, and nodded. Good. That made sense. The last time she played, she had gotten herself killed by a band of Outlaws. Looked like everything was alright with the world then. Not bothering to check her EXP or anything else, the black-robed girl stretched out her arms, the long sleeves falling down to reveal slender, pale skin and delicate fingers. The fingers of a proper pianist, so unlike the ones she had in real life.

Yuuki smiled softly at this. She always did like her Avatar’s hands, as well as the strawberry blonde hair that was cut at the same length as her own, but was so much more sleek and chic. Another smile. That rhymed. A catchy song popped up in her head once more and, taking nice, bouncing strides, she popped out of the Sanctuary with a happy grin at the rest of the virtual world. Today was going to be a day of exploration! Of discovery! Of going to a place where her Avatar’s color wouldn’t make her stick out like Black Rock Shooter amongst Power Rangers!

And, naturally, she’d have to pay the Moon Rider a visit first, just so she doesn’t get shot down for appearing to be a spy or a snoop. The Heavy Arms crackled and whirred once more, before they pressed themselves against the ground and pushed off, sending her flying through the air, over the heads of all those other land-bound Avatars. With the wind whipping by her face and the sky looking so perfectly unobstructed, Yuuki smiled again, softly.

It’s been some time since she had seen this type of scenery, and it wasn’t that bad at all.

Twenty more minutes of hopping about, and she finally reached the territory of the Black King, a dark land full of tall office buildings made of glass.

Yuuki, unfortunately, didn’t register the meaning of ‘glass’ until one of her Heavy Arms literally broke through the window while she tried to launch herself off it. With a great crash and a greater smash, the little girl with really big arms fell down the side of the building before smashing the ground in a sickening crunch.

It was most likely only due to her body being cradled by her Arms that she hadn’t turned into a pixelated mess, but…as Yuuki looked back up to the ruined windows on the building, she smiled.

“That was fun!”

That ‘fun’ also cost her roughly 35% of her HP, but such details could be ignored for the sake of temporary amusement.

Alex was walking back to his dorm room, wondering whether he should log in to Deep Ground today. The Black King had just opened the flood gates, that meant a whole swarm of newbies who could barely aim straight were going to try make a pilgrimage to the Black City. The problem with happened because of the guild he was a part of, the Fanged Rangers. Focused on leveling up and optimizing builds meant that it was full of new players learning the ropes, something that after becoming an Artificer Alex had decided to stay with the guild and help. Now he had reached a bottleneck, he wasn't tough enough to yet go out with the fours and fives, but too strong to progress while helping the ones and twos.

Alex had expected to have to grind for months, but now? The Black King made their proclamation. A mob of newbies and gawkers going to the Black City? Well this meant that a veritable army of Outlaws would be lingering about, probably just inside Black City gates waiting for the masses. Maybe there would even be some trying to pick off weak enough looking groups along the way!

Convincing himself Alex had a spring in his step as he made it back to his room. Crashing on to his bed Alex booted up Deep Ground Online and waited for that falling feeling...

---

This welcome screen always unnerved Alex, now Jukebox, it always had some extra, snarky, wording. From what he understood everyone else just had 'welcome'.

Jukebox figured it was just some flavor text based on a timer or something. Anyway, once the welcome screen faded from view Jukebox was in the Green Guild's base. There really isn't much to say about it, the Green Guild lives up to it's name. It's green and a guild. I should probably get going before someone tries to talk me down about not being around...

Checking his inventory Unrelenting Jukebox reminded himself of what he had Oh good, I still have those 'joke' weapons, Walther PPK and the LAPD 2019 blaster with two triggers for no discernible reason. Jukebox is of the opinion that no one suspects the guy with the character with joke abilities and weapons to ever win... shows what they know!

As Jukebox entered the garage, just where a whole bunch of vehicles were gathered really, he grabbed bike as as he got a helmet a voice went up behind him "Oi! Jukebox! Where the hell have you been!"
"Um, the real world? Doctor appointments and injuries happen you know?" the lie rolled smoothly off his tongue "Rehab didn't allow access to DGO for the past while. What can ya do, right?"
"Where are you going?"
"A bunch of newbies will be heading to Black City, right? Maybe I can pick up some recruits before they commit to the great unknown guild without knowing which way to point a gun, if not I can at least make sure they don't get ganked by Outlaws on the way there. Why? You wanna come?" the other player obviously wasn't convinced, but couldn't find a legitimate reason to stop him so just sighed and waved Unrelenting Jukebox away.

With a kick and a rev Jukebox gave the player a mock salute and roared off out of the guild and on his way to Black City. As he rode Soundtrack of Life started up
Road Trip!

---

Cassandra opened her eyes to the world. Having rushed home from school, after another day of answering questions and doing her best, she had at once darted to her room, the smallest somewhat darkest room in the house, upstairs directly under the attic, she hadn't even looked through the house to see if her parents were home. The last time they had been home before she was had been on her thirteenth birthday, a little over a year ago now.

She didn't even greet any of her brothers or sisters. They were doing exactly what she was. She smiled to herself as she looked around, excited as she always was. She ran a hand through her hair, pulling it back from her face. This, this place felt more like home then home did. She wondered if that was horrible of her to think so, but then she put it out of her mind.

She drew in a deep breath and started to walk again, pondering what to do today. She should, she knew focus on leaving, but it was hard to do that when you were more of a support role. Perhaps instead she should focus on getting team mates she could trust. She pondered that a moment, not looking where she was going. While she did have some weapons, they were quite basic and meant as a last resort if someone got close enough to harm her. Her spells had so far protected her.

She had returned to the guild, and now she looked about. She frowned, wondering if she should head off somewhere, just as someone came speeding out the garage. She let out a cry, and glanced about, wondering who it had been. She stared, wondering if she had missed something. Was something important happening? She shook her head, figuring she'd find out eventually

Tim staggered out of the school building, weary half smile on his face. Some slightly worried students looked at the hunched, delirious figure with some concern, but they needn't have worried. Tim suddenly straightened up, looking to the sky and letting out a loud yell.

"SCHOOL'S OUT!!!"

The people who went to help the poor person leapt back in surprise as the slumped form reanimated itself to reveal a normal energetic teenager, with normal in the largest quotation marks you could find. Tim stretched his arms up as high as he could, hands curled into fists, shaking with the strain. With a sigh, he released his pent up tension and lowered his arms again. The people around wondered if it was over.

Tim immediately sprinted off, laughing cheerfully as he vaulted over the nearest fence and headed towards the dorms. School was finally over, after all, and that meant one thing. As Tim ran around, he talked to himself, ignorant to the weird looks he must've been getting.

"~time to go play deep ground!" He said, speeding to his dorm.

---

Tim ran full pelt into his dorm, just managing to stop before smashing into his door. Tim opened the door carefully before dumping his stuff on the chair and changing into something more comfortable. Shirt and track suit pants! A staple for a sloppy guy. Tim crashed on his bed and booted up his Internet, quickly cycling through all the notes. A message to everyone about the king guild acceptance people or something passed his vision and was immediately ignored. Class had left him with a lot of surplus energy, and he was about to use it. Finally past all the notifications, he quickly started deep ground and the countdown began.



Tim lay back onto his bed into a more comfortable position.



Tim found himself of thinkingn where he left off last time.



His face flickered with remembrance. When he left off, he was on a mountain.

Oh yeah, right. That happened... Tim thought, laughing.

---

---

Oh, that sassy intro voice. The mods knew they couldn't do anything about him so they added that little reminder every so often.

"Man, those guys need to do something with their lives." The Streaker said, stretching his limbs.

He was on a mountaintop, overlooking one of the guild halls. He couldn't quite remember which one, but how he got up there'd made for a funny story. A shame he didn't remember everything about it, but he knew it was pretty funny. He was pretty sure, however, that the guild property down there was the white guild's stuff, but he didn't really think it mattered.

The Silver Streaker was nearing the end of his exercises. For the last stretch, he flexed his arms, turning them this way and that. The sun shone on his magnificent muscles, showing off the Streaker's lustrous body (colour). Cracking his neck, he jogged on the spot and shook out all of the remaining tension. Settling down once again, he faced the guild property, raised his arms skyward and bellowed at the top of his voice.

"THE SILVER STREAKER IS BACK!" He yelled, sun reflecting off of his shiny bald head.

His deep voice resonated through the mountain pass, fading off into the distance. Tim had now 'synchronised' with the Silver Streaker. It took a little time to get used to a body taller, more muscular and shinier than you were, but Tim had managed to get used to changing back and forth between Tim and the Silver Streaker. The Silver Streaker turned away from the white guild city and went into a sprinter's starting position. At the sound of an imaginary starting pistol, the Silver Streaker sped off the mountain, looking for adventures to be had.

It didn’t take long until the Black King had received her first visitor on this day. Moon Rider narrowed her eyes as someone new approached her throne room. The very fact that they were standing here before her and had even dared to venture out into her District was proof enough of this girl’s desire to join. Ever since the disbanding of the Ebony Strykers, the borders of her District had been dotted with small groups of Outlaws, ready to take out any who dared to enter her gates.

Of course, none of them were foolish enough to dwell deeper into Moon Rider’s territory. For aside from being the only real member of the Black Guild, Moon Rider was also rumored in all of Deep Ground to be a H.K. A Hacker Killer, a Player who was quite adept in slaying Hacker Players that wanted to mod the game in their own ways, thus encroaching on everyone else’s fun. Needless to say, her reputation made her feared by most, especially to any fraud Players under the guise of her Guild’s namesake. It was that very same reputation that kept the Outlaws away from her Kingdom on this day.

Moon Rider listened to Newt’s rushed explanation before finally speaking with, “You are from the Scarlet Harleys. Now why would someone who already has a Guild want to join up with me?”

It was a simple enough question and Moon Rider’s voice alone carried with it a certain tone of authority only found by Colored Kings. While she waited for Newt’s answer, the Black King studied the Level 3 Avatar, eyes boring with a burning light of ambition.

“Well whatever your cause, I find your presence to be quite admirable. So you are the first to swear allegiance to me? Tell me, why do you want to become the Black King’s apprentice? Why would you want to learn from someone as solitary and enigmatic as myself?”

Once more, the Black King waited patiently for a reply. In that time, she noticed a message from another Player named Flan but paid no mind to it. It was most likely just a request to join her Guild and she knew that whoever held interest in the return of the Ebony Strykers had to visit her personally first. And sure enough, that very same person had arrived shortly after, Moon Rider seeing their Player Status in patience near the throne room entrance.

“You can come on in,” she called out to Flan. “After all, I expect a crowd today so it’ll be easier to speak to you all at the same time.”

Given the large crash that was heard by Moonlight Soloist’s happy spree across the Black District’s buildings, Moon Rider expected that crowd to arrive just as predicted.

On the other side of Deep Ground Online, past the neutral territory of Faded City, lay the Green District, home of the Fanged Rangers. At the Green Guild, Unrelenting Jukebox sped off out of the Guild’s garage sitting atop a motorbike. As he zoomed past the Player known as Nies Hellum, another Avatar slowly walked out. Draped in all green military attire, the Player whistled a happy tune before giving Nies Hellum a small wink, continuing to walk in Jukebox’s speeding direction.

She would recognize him as her superior, Verdant Grin. The Green King. Watching Jukebox head off for just a moment longer, Verdant Grin kept on whistling even as an orb of pure, concentrated wind was gathered into his palm. With a final crescendo to his tune, he launched the flurry of wind blades towards Jukebox’s vehicle, tearing apart the motorbike’s wheels and crippling the vehicle.

Verdant Grin casually walked over to the no doubt crashed vehicle until he stood right beside Jukebox. He paused in his whistling, raising an eye to view the wreckage he himself had caused, before waiting for Jukebox to get up and address his King accordingly.

“Jukebox, buddy, it’s been a while! Don’t tell me real life’s been hanging up on you man? The Rangers haven’t seen you in forever,” he said jovially, wrapping his arm around Jukebox as if the two were best friends or something. “Hey now, you weren’t trying to drive off to the Black Guild were you? Just because old Moonie is finally opening up her gates again doesn’t mean you can skip out on greeting your leader now.”

A Colored King was the DGO equivalent to being a celebrity. In fact, the Colored Kings didn’t even bother to conceal their identity from other Players in their Guild and it was to a point where at least everyone at Purple Crown Academy had some clue as to who their real life identities were. Except of course for the Black King. No one knew that girl both in-game and out of it.

Well, no, that wasn’t entirely true. The Student President knew, given that she was Moon Rider’s public spokesperson in Purple Crown Academy.

"Incoming!"
The cry, as well as the fast thump of footsteps and the awful scrape of a blade dragged along stone provided sufficient distraction for Havoc to forget all about her message. A persons first instinct is to turn towards someone when they shout and in this case as Havoc whirled around instinct was wrong.
Her eyes widened in surprise as she beheld the oncoming warrior, long pole-arm scraping along the ground in a desperate attempt to slow down, before she could even begin to react Static Flash's knee found her face. Several passersby visibly winced at the meaty thunk this knee to face contact produced. Havoc didn't notice however as she found herself on her back, dazed and confused, staring up into the sky.
"urghhhhhhhh"

---

Level: 1
EXP: 0
Next Level EXP: 10,000

---

Morgan Hazelnut - Flan

Eh! W-was that the black king? Morgan was dumbstruck by the sudden call out behind the doors from such a feminine voice. Sure, I guess king is more of a traditional title, but why not just call yourself queen instead. Either way, I suppose I should get in there, but what do I say? Flan quickly discarded the stake that was previously made, and quietly slipped into the room. "Pardon me...", said just barely under breath when entering the presence of the king. There were two girls ahead, both very stunning. It seemed they were talking about something, but whatever that was, was over now.

The one that sat upon a shining black throne was no doubt the queen, er king... And thus, the object of Morgan's passion. The king didn't look all that evil, perhaps a bit bored or depressed or maybe just tired. In any case, not at all like in the rumors sent Morgan's way. Of course, this was also the first time that it was apparent that the ruler of black was actually a woman. Everyone just called her king. Morgan decided that if it really was the search for the truth that burned a passion within, than it would be best to go ahead and disregard all rumors and take her for who she is. Morgan did notice though the hilt of something tied to the king's waist, though was unclear as to what it actually was.

The other was an obvious magic caster and by the looks of it, the first to arrive. The caster's avatar was beautiful in it's own right, nowhere near as intriguing of the king's overall aura, but honestly just looked like click bait for an online ad. This might have been a bit harsh for the way Morgan perceived the caster, but magic was something that never set well. Although powerful, and fun to wield to just blast everything in the way, it lived on a set of rules different from the real world and came off as more of a convenient plot device or a good excuse for the unrealistic.

Flan walked up and took a spot behind the caster and a little to the right. This was the order that they entered the thrown room, and thus the order that felt most comfortable. Morgan fumbled a bit trying to get out any words that came to mind when addressing the king. "...ah. Thank you for seeing me, your que-kingship... My name is Faln. Sorry, I flubbed..."

A collab between Scarifar and Optio

There was barely any time at all, and the two players unfortunately collided with each other, resulting in a rather unfortunate mess. After the collision, Static found herself on the ground, lying faceup. Shaking her head to get rid of the disorientation, Static groaned, "Uuhhhh, sorry about that. Kinda hard to stop when you're moving so fast." Static slowly got back up, using her naginata as support, then extended a hand to Havoc. "You ok? Well, you're probably not ok, but at least you're still alive. That's something right?" Static said with a smile. "My name's Static Flash. You can probably guess why I'm called that."

Havoc gawked at the strange apparaition that had appeared before her, blocking out the lovely view of the sky, there was a moment of awkward silence as her wits slowly came back to her and she tentativly reached for the outstretched hand of Static Flash.
"No w..worr-"
She coughed clearing her throat and tried again.
"No worries"
She carefully found her feet and dusted off the dirt that had clung to her knees.
"I'm Havoc, This is my first login,"
She gestured round at the street to emphasize her point.
"Where were you off to in such a hurry anyway?"

"Oh, a new player!" Static said excitedly. "I was heading over to go see the Black King. I'm already in a guild, but it sounded so exciting! Did you get the message saying she wanted to recruit whoever came to her place?"

A cheeky smile slid onto Havocs face.
"I was just replying to the message when something interrupted me, actually,"
She gave a pointed look up and down Static Flash.
"Where is her place anyway? Is it far from here?"

Static's smiled took on a guilty appearance as Havoc made her rather unpleasant, but not undeserving, remark. Static looked at her minimap, then said, "Kinda. I tend to just run everywhere, so things don't seem very far to me." Static looked at her naginata, then put it back in her inventory, making it disappear. Static then said, "We could always walk there, but there are some people out there who like to hunt noobs like us. I get to avoid that a bit because of how fast I can be, but you might have less luck there. Static was then silent, trying to come up with a new topic to talk about.

Havoc's smile widened.
"I don't mind a bit of fighting on the way, do you know any other players who could come with us?"

Michelle gave that a moment's thought, then said, "No, not really. Most of my friends are off doing homework or something right now."

Havoc's smile shrunk a little at that and after a little more thought her shoulders slumped.
"And my best friends aren't old enough for DGO yet.."

"There it is!" He shouted above the wind. Below him he could see the Black Fortress, the home base of the Ebony Strykers. It was rather imposing, as expected of the guild. He was high above it riding his lance like a broomstick though and the novelty helped with that.

I'm like the wicked witch of stabbing! He thought.

Still, he wasn't going to see much while he was up here. People were finally starting to come in now but he wanted to be in the throne room to hear what was going on.

Okay, just angle it downwards...

He pushed the point of his lance downwards and his acceleration increased dramatically and he rocketed towards the fortress.

Whoa! Too fast!

At the speed he was going he was definitely going to brain himself if he hit the fortress. His lance would also probably break and that wouldn't be good. He turned off the rocket booster but he didn't slow down any.

Ah, fuck gravity!

The other bane of his existence was probably gravity. Because he was going down gravity acted on him and his momentum wasn't going to decrease. His life flashed before his eyes as he desperately reactivated his rocket booster and pulled up. Gleaming steel spire brushed by him as his momentum changed from downwards to forward. Time seemed to slow down and he became aware that the tip of his lance had pierced glass. It shattered before him and he went straight through.

The lance slipped from his hands and continued forward impaling itself in the wall, while he fell to the floor far below him. His back impacted with the ground, sending a shock through his body but it was dulled. Deep Ground limited pain after all. His health meter went down as time sped up again and he realized where he was, the Black King's throne room.

He only had a minuscule amount of health left now. It hadn't even been high to begin with and fall damage was sort of brutal. He got up into a sitting position rather unsteadily and put on a sheepish smile.

"Hi there Black King." He said.

As Erika got home, she dodged up the stairs as quickly and as quietly as possible to lock herself into her bedroom. Her back pressed against the door, she slid down it with a sigh, her curly ebony locks bunching up around her face and a strand bouncing up in front of her glasses. She promptly blew it to the side and closed her eyes, frowning. Today had been... awful. Not only were the usual suspects of the Ivory Masks trying to convince her to join their guild but she was being hounded by some the Cobalt Bruiser girls in her gym class--in the locker room no less where she couldn't escape. Then during lunch hour, her usual hiding spot with her friend Yuuki was bombarded by some of the Scarlet Harleys.

They had played a more sneaky tactic, threatening to spread rumors about how she had a crush on the Red King, Micheal Davis. She'd blushed so hard she fogged up her glasses. She did think that he was cute, making matters way worse when she could barely stammer for them to leave her alone as politely as possible. She couldn't even walk home with Yuuki due to Fanged Rangers racing home after her. Erika buried her face into her hands. Why did she have to come from a family of 'legendary' Deep Ground players or whatever? She sniffed a little. She hated the attention--thats what she told herself anyways. Nobody even knew she played the game much less if she had a high rank in it or what her avatar looked like. That is, aside from her parents and her older brother.

"Aww, what's got you down kiddo?" Speak of the devil. Wait... Erika slowly looked up, her eyes slightly teary and she balked as she realized her brother was sitting cross-legged on her bed with her diary in his lap. Rather than answer him she deflated a little and looked down. Her brother crossed his arms and pursed his lips as he tried to size up the situation. "They're harassing you to join the guilds again aren't they?" A deep sigh and a nod told him all he needed to know. He looked back down at the diary he was reading and flipped a page. "I don't see why you don't just pick one already, they'll leave you alone after that probably." Erika puffed her cheeks up at that, ignoring his words to focus on the present matter.

"Why are you in my room?"

"Oh, you know, making sure you're not on drugs, nobody giving you shit that I can't stalk them in DG and kill them over. You think Micheal Davis is cute?" He scrunched up his nose at the last word and looked at her. Erika puffed up her cheeks again, turning red. She got up and marched over to her brother to snatch her diary out of his hands and pointed toward the door.

"Out. You've lost your over protective older brother privileges." She huffed. Her brother chuckled, patted her hair in a way that said 'you'll never get rid of me' and went on his merry way. With a sigh, she flopped onto her bed and buried her face into the pillow. She stayed like that for a moment when the message from the Black King came. She opened her eyes, startled... but then her eyes half closed. Great. Another Guild to come and harass the prodigal Mitsuki family. Her face buried itself even deeper into the pillow. She could practically hear the mobs of people forming to tell her to join.

"No, no no nooooooooooooo...." She half moaned, half groaned and mostly faux cried as she rolled around in her bed. She wound up face up staring at the ceiling with her wild hair spread out all around her and her glasses half off the bridge of her nose. Then, a determined look spread over her face and she bit her lip, thinking about what her brother said. She sat up, grinding her teeth. Screw it. Nobody knew what she looked like (and sounded like) as an avatar. No one knew Erika Mitsuki was the face behind Azga the Amazing and it's not like he was widely popular anyways. What did it matter what she did in Deep Ground Online? It wasn't like she was her stupid plain-jane self. Oddly enough, playing Deep Ground Online was way better than living in the real world, where all everyone talked about was DGO, her family especially. "If I'm lucky..." She murmured as she laid back down on the pillow again, the game starting its countdown in her head. "Some hacker will just delete my existence anyways."



As he formed in Deep Ground Online, Azga stretched and moaned in pleasure. It felt so good to be him. So powerful, so cool, so ... well, sexy. He adjusted his glasses with a chuckle before cracking his fingers and opening his eyes with a grin. Now, where was this meeting? He was already late and eager to make a hell of an entrance. Pulling up his menu he was able to find the location of the Black King's meeting place and began to run towards it, his colorful robes trailing majestically behind him and the little bells on his coat jingling with every step. Time to shock and amaze, as he did best.

Just as he was about to change gear, Jukebox’s Soundtrack of Life cut out like a record scratch. That’s not good! only half knowing what to expect Jukebox unconsciously braced for an impact. What followed was bizarre, the wheels seemingly shredded of their own volition and the bike started to come to pieces out from under its rider.

As the pieces fell away they continued forward, crashing into a tree some 100 meters ahead. Left standing where the initial cuts left him, Jukebox was still holding the handlebars with the front light hanging by a single wire.
With a sigh he put the handlebars in his inventory to sell later. As he turned around to see what happened he had to laugh, more at the heavens sense of humour than the fact the King himself had decided to stop him.

“Jukebox, buddy, it’s been a while! Don’t tell me real life’s been hanging up on you man? The Rangers haven’t seen you in forever,” a resigned grin made its way onto Jukebox’s face as the King’s arm wrapped around his shoulders.
“Hey now, you weren’t trying to drive off to the Black Guild were you? Just because old Moonie is finally opening up her gates again doesn’t mean you can skip out on greeting your leader now.”

Matching the Kings arm wrap Jukebox decided that excuses won’t do, explanations work better “First of all, ‘my liege’, I would never try to avoid you, it’s just that whenever I try to get in contact you are either off doing Kingly duties or some other bigwig says ‘The King has no time for a joke like you Lunchbox!’ then I want to shoot them, but they are usually about Level... 7-ish?” One exaggerated sigh and a slow disentangling form the Green King later Jukebox continued.
“They are a bit out of my ball park. So if you wanted to see me so bad, you need to talk to those under you! Or let me go out and do some Outlaw hunting. I gobble up those walking bags of EXP, which that honey-trap of Black City is perfect bait for, I get stronger and then those bigwigs of yours can’t just stonewall these lovely meetings!”

As soon as Jukebox started talking about getting stronger Soundtrack of Life came back with a vengeance, if Jukebox was a cynical person he would suspect that it didn't like being interrupted earlier and took offense at Verdant Grin's actions. The volume was far louder than earlier and it seemed to echo throughout the area.



Well... I thought it had a sense of humor, but this joke is a bit dangerous! Jukebox was stunned, the songs were generally not that direct. If this was the real world Alex would have fainted in either fear or embarrassment, instead Jukebox could only laugh. The only consolation in his mind was that it wasn't "Be Prepared"!

Just as "Faust" (as she had come to be called online) turned to find some new people to speak with, two faces popped out of the crowd, by smashing into each other. A wince at the impact and the red eyed girl just watched. The two shambled back up to standing positions and exchanged some words. During this trade she had inched closer and overheard the tail-end of their conversation. She made her way through the crowd, her curiosity drawing her in towards them. She got a good vibe from the two of them, though perhaps she was just grasping at straws? She didn't like to think so. The two seemed interesting to say the least.

"I don't mind a bit of fighting on the way, do you know any other players who could come with us?"

And that was all she needed to hear. Letting them finish she then made a bold step forward. While she wasn't exactly a social butterfly, in the game world Alica was a tad more bold. She cleared her throat in an exaggerated manner and gave a small wave to the both of them. She wasn't sure exactly how friendly she looked with her avatar but there had to be a few scarier faces nearby.

"Excuse me? Sorry to interrupt but did I overhear you two talking about partying up?"

It was a fairly direct and honest approach, but then again this situation was pretty simple. Teaming up with random people, at least for a test run, wasn't uncommon. With luck maybe these three could become a strong party in the future.

"Uh, i'm a healer? If that helps?"

It seemed healers weren't the most popular class. A lot of people enjoyed getting their hands dirty or causing their own damage. Though Alica was the same, she always liked being able to stay standing. That and her friends needed a healer... But that's old history. Healers are god and useful, and Alica was going to prove it, with her own brand of "support"