Hyde sauntered along the path, swinging his Morningstar as he went. He passed through the market, not daring to make eye contact with anybody. One wrong look at an Outlaw would probably result in Hyde's defeat. And dying in DGO wasn't his most favourite thing. Or anybody's. The loss of EXP was what really irked him. But Hyde was in a small market town, outside the Guild cities, and the risk of being attacked by a band of Outlaws was relatively low, but the threat was there, nonetheless. From what he had seen, the Outlaws liked to work in areas that were more likely to have better profit, and the poor community Hyde was in didn't seem that type.

Hyde opened up his messages to see if anybody had contacted him while he was offline. He wasn't expecting anything, and, obviously, nothing was there. He was about to close it until, suddenly, a message popped up. Hyde smiled underneath his armour, wondering who the mystery sender was. He opened up the message and listened to it...

"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."

Hyde was taken aback by the message. The Black King's Guild had almost been unheard from for a long time. For the Black King to open his, or her, Guild wasn't normal, especially out of the blue. Hyde was in two minds about whether to discard the message and write it off as a hacker or spam, or to investigate the message. But asking about the Black Guild in any one of the Guild cities, or even in a small community that he was in now, was bound to attract unwanted attention.

But he decided he would find out. And with this new frame of mind, Hyde set off towards the Guild cities.

Newt realized there was absolutely no way her attack could be successful. Between the Lancer flying at her and the arms of death spinning below her, she had to escape. Luckily her portal was back up. She opened up a portal beneath her, falling through. Unfortunately there was no way to land on her feet. The exit to the portal opened vertically next to the Black King. Newt sprawled onto the ground, quickly getting up. She listened to the King's orders, but the odds of survival for the new Black Guild were lowering. With only three members against the army of bandits, and the room now filling with poisonous smoke rapidly lowering visibility.

"If I might suggest, perhaps retreat is the best option for now? At least until we get some responses to the all-call you sent out. We won't be able to fight long with this smoke stuff filling the room. It's getting hard to see, and we're greatly outnumbered... unless of course you had some way of dealing with this..." As Newt spoke to the King she worked on helping Flan clear the bandits charging the king. She sent a flaming sword flying into the head of one nearby, not giving him time to react. She sent out the rest of her imps, three in total, to provide a small distraction for the chargers. She knew they wouldn't last long.

As Static and the others walked to their destination, they found themselves encountering some Dissolutions, although Static was sure they had been there a moment ago. Oh well, that just meant more exp for them. Static accessed her inventory and brought out her weapon, named "War Reaver". A moment later, her trusty naginata materialized in her hand. Following the others, Static began slicing through the Dissolutions that came at them, slashing through one after the other. Thankfully, they were all Level 1, so most died within 1-2 hits, which was a good thing. What was not such a good thing was that more of them just kept coming. Static could have sworn that there weren't as many as there were now, as if they were coming from another location. Static soon realized that they were getting overwhelmed with their sheer numbers, and they either needed to kill more of them more quickly, or run away.

Then 2 groups of Dissolutions started doing things differently, particularly Havoc's group, which had apparently decided to all merge together to form a giant Level 2 Dissolution. The other group of Dissolutions decided to merely attack Faust together. Static had to make a split second decision on who to assist. There was no time to think. With not a moment to lose, Static ran towards Havoc and the giant Level 2 Dissolution. Faust was doing fine and probably wouldn't need help from her, but Havoc was now facing a more powerful enemy, which had now launched itself into the air to strike Havoc with its own body. Static did her best to hurry up and push her out of the way. By the time Static reached Havoc, the Dissolution was already descending, and it wouldn't be long before the monster flattened them. Static, having had no time to think things through, raised her left fist and yelled, "Havoc!", then attempted to punch Havoc out of the 10-foot blast radius of the Dissolution attack. There would be no time for Static herself to escape, but she would worry about that later.

Fatal Accelaration ceased as his target slipped out of existence and moved next to the Black King. Then suddenly, a heavy weight landed on his back and another heavy weight landed on his lance, both of them pinning him to the ground.

"Oh come on!" He shouted, pounding his fist on the ground in annoyance.

Things were definitely looking bad. He'd opted to ignore all of the random guys in the room earlier but now they were pretty much swarming in. A whole bunch of warriors and rogues, the far more popular classes in Deep Ground. There wasn't anything he was going to be able to do even if he got up.

He pulled up his inventory screen while still on the ground and equipped a dagger instead of his lance.

"See you on the other side, Yuuki!" He shouted to her as he plunged the knife into his throat.

His health bar finally reached zero and his avatar faded into grey light.

The Silver Streaker, after smashing the dissolution into its other buddies, looked over to the rest of the girl group and found that the massive dissolution did something he didn't expect, that is, jump up and try to land on the greatsword girl. On the hill, he'd made a split second decision to either fight multiple attackers or fight the one big one. A split second decision that he'd done wrongly, perhaps.

Another split second had now occured. Save the girl about to become a pancake or save the one about to be attacked? Well, he could probably do both, though not without damage, but it was obvious which he should do first.

"Sorry about this, but hold on for a second please!" He yelled to the girl he'd been about to help, before speeding towards the giant dissolution.

He saw a flicker and the third girl, the one with the halberd, sped in and pushed the girl away and stood facing the looming threat. But that was just replacing a problem with another problem, and things didn't look good. The Silver Streaker did some quick calculation in his head.

About... 20 meters out? He measured. Make it two dashes for good measure.

The Silver Streaker stopped, readying his arm in a hook aimed for the glaive-girl's torso. She wouldn't like this very much, but she would likely appreciate it more than being squashed. He would've appreciated it if he could grab the girl mid-dash, but it was too fast. He would either miss or do something worse. With that said, trading damage for less damage was the best solution, so he hoped the girl wouldn't mind a lariat past the speed of sound.

Activating Silver Dash, the world elongated for a moment and the Silver Streaker felt himself rushing forward at ridiculous speed. Zooming under the dissolution, he felt his arm connect. When he stopped, the girl was in his arm, though having lost a sizeable chunk of health. He grabbed her before she could fall and gently set her down as the dissolution crashed to the floor.

"Sorry about that, all I could do!" He said, taking a ready stance in front of the large dissolution. "But it looks like we got bigger fish to fry."

"Oh shit!"

Arms Slave shouted as he collided in the air with.. Something. Some guy named Rocket Lancer and a rogue outlaw. Rocket Lancer suicide, granting the outlaw 6 exp for killing a player two level's lower then him. Both ended up getting nailed by Midnight Soloist's flailing arms, knocking them away from each other. Arms Slave was mostly fine though, a little over 75% health thanks to his armor. The rogue outlaw wasn't looking too pretty, but he was still standing. But not for long.

"Aye robo girl! Think fast!" Arms Slave fired off a Chain Catch at the rogue character, pulling him towards Arms Slave. Arms Slave then moved himself in such a way that the chains were being pulled near Midnight Soloist, putting the rogue in her path. Arms Slave could kill the guy himself, but this seemed like it would be more fun.

---

Meanwhile the Dissolutions were only getting more and more angry. Also growing in number. The five Dissolutions almost tear Faustian a new orifice if the Silver Streaker had not disrupted their path. Only one actually took damage, but the others were knocked out of the way. They fell to the floor but quickly got onto their nonexistent feet, looking at the new threat. They were about to lunge and attack the Silver Streaker when he dashed off. This confused the Dissolutions for a moment, before they simply settled to attack Faustian shift once more, since she was closest. They lunged at her again, this time a bit more spread out so that not all of them would be knocked away if Silver Streaker came in flying again.

Speaking of the other Dissolutions, the level 2 giant slime collided into the ground, creating a deep crater. But while toher giant creatures might have been stuck, the slime was flexible enough to move out without any difficulty. It noticed the new enemy, the Silver Streaker and Static. However it hasn't forgotten about Havoc either. The Dissolution knew no fear, even outnumbered as it was. Six giant claws sprouted from it's body, one claw as big as Havoc's own sword. The creature jumped into the air once more, spreading ti's body wide to crush everyone it could, it's claws extended so that it could try to grab or claw anyone it misses.

All the while even more Dissolutions started to spawn. Too many in fact. They came out from the ground like daisies, hungry for the digital fluids of the players. Some where charging straight at them with reckless abandonment, others took the time to fuse together into a larger level 2 form. Regardless, it seemed like more were being made by the minute. There wasn't even a way to retreat; the Dissolutions were spawning behind the players as well.

The scene was not much better elsewhere. The White Convoy did not expect the Dissolutions to spawn so suddenly, and many were wiped out upon the first wave. More then half of the players were killed, and the others were struggling to fend off the Dissolutions. Jukebox, Kitten, and Hellum were not safe as the Dissolutions lunged onto their ride as well, fighting to get inside. They clung onto the back, landed on top, or hanging on underneath. They slashed and stabbed their bone-like claws against the metal, doing small but noticeable damage with each strike. They screeched and screamed, as if they were trying to drown the players in sound. One managed to get inside.

Shadow Shot seemed to have no trouble during his ride. It was going to be a bit of a long trip between the Blue City and the Black City, but aside from that it was uneventful. At least until he got off the main road and towards the black city itself. There were so many dissolutions that it would not be hard for Shadow Shot to see them from a distance. But what he perhaps did not expect was for more to be spawned as he rode by. These creepers, like the slimes, simply spawned from the ground and were immediately ready to attack. They ran after Shadow Shot, at first a few, but within five minutes he was being chased by a veritable horde. And worse still, more were starting to spawn in front of him, allowing them to get closer, and closer, and closer, until a few could actually lunge out and try to pull him off his bike.

While the Black King liked her fair amount of mayhem and chaos, this was just getting ridiculous. She noted the bullets whizzing by her, tearing apart her throne room. Granted, she could always repair it but that was already a hassle given the Guild's funds. Oh well. She would just have to teach these fools their place when storming into her territory.

Moon Rider gave a tiny nod to Newt, thankful that the new member could at least point out the obvious. Sighing, she stood up from her throne and scanned the area, now being filled with a dark mist. She could tell the other Players’ health bars were decreasing but she wasn't bothered by that given that she was a Level 9. Gripping the small case of metal at her hip, she unhooked the weapon and hovered her thumb over a button.

Rumors had proclaimed that each Colored King had in their possession one Legendary ranked weapon. The enigmatic Moon Rider had one such tool as well, crouching into a stance before launching herself into the mist. A flick of the weapon's trigger called forth a low hissing sound and a blade of pure, purple energy erupted from the weapon's hilt. Soon enough, the cry of a blinded Berserker mixed in with the sounds of battle. In mere moments, the enemy was dead, their Avatar shattering as Moon Rider moved onto the next enemy.

Despite having no skills to navigate through the thick mist, she was able to pick out the unlucky few unaware to her quick rampage. After all, the Ebony Strykers were the Dark Guild for a reason. The shadows were their ally and Moon Rider was quite adjusted to spotting her enemy even in this cover with little problem.

Within the mist, Dark Wraith wasted no time draining the health of the rogues and turning them into her thralls. She knew that she'd have to deal with Outlaws coming into the Black City, and frankly she was surprised at how weak they all were. For people who attacked other Players for a living, one would imagine a high amount of strong Players. No matter. Dark Wraith cracked the head of one last Rogue as the dead thralls gunned down the last of their ally.

Dark Wraith was about to move the fog when she noticed someone enter. She turned quickly, raising her staff to defend herself. Her other hand was ready to activate her Dark Hand when she noticed she was now face-to-face with the Black King, Moon Rider herself.

"Enjoying the mayhem, Black King?"

Moon Rider regarded the newcomer calmly, only stopping her blade when the other girl had responded to her. Well then, if she had come to kill her, she wouldn't be idly chatting now would she?

"Perhaps just a little," the Black King answered with the ghost of smirk, eyes darting towards one of the remaining Beserkers. His own vision was impaired to the point where he didn't care who he shot, as long as he killed Moon Rider. And so he began to shoot blindly, sending bullets flying everywhere. Moon Rider was by the newcomer's side in an instant, twirling her beam saber as she deflected the incoming shots casually.

"You're different then the others," she said mid-block. "Your Avatar says you're called Dark Wraith. With a name like that, it's only fitting you'd want to join my Guild."

The other Berserkers, surprised at the Black King's mobility, charged right into the black smog. They took damage for being within which they ignored for the most part, swinging madly in the hopes of knicking the Black King. Dark Wraith simply had her dead thralls occupy their time. She soon moved herself behind Moon Rider so that the bullets wouldn't end up hitting her on the off chance the shooter was lucky.

"It's fitting, but that's not the reason why I'm here."

"If you're not here to join, then leave. I don't have time to waste on people who can't pick a side. If you've simply come here to enjoy the chaos like some of the others, you're my enemy simply for diverting my attention from more pressing matters."

Moon Rider glanced back, waiting for a reaction or response. She wouldn't lie, something about this girl felt different from all the rest. Still, she had to be prepared if this Dark Wraith was simply another Player wanting to crush the Ebony Strykers before they were even reborn.

"I want to know if the Black King is going to try her plan from last time, and if you really think you can pull it off with just yourself and new recruits." The Sweepers were obscure for a reason, but the Erasers were more so. If the Cleaners commanded the Sweepers, then the Erasers commanded the Cleaners. Dark Wraith wanted to know how much Moon Rider knew about them, and what her thoughts on the organization were.

"Someone like you wouldn't be so boisterous as to announce open doors if you didn't have something or someone to back you up. You see it here and now. Barely a day has passed and you're being attacked by Outlaws, with two Guilds coming in quick to crush you. A third ready to pick at the bones. And maybe you can stop the first wave. Protect yourself even. But you're only one Player. It takes more then you to hold down an entire city. So maybe that's why you opened your doors... But do you really think these... Recruits would be enough?"

Soon enough the enemies within the black smog were dead. If not because of the actions of Moon Rider, then because the smog itself. "Enough sophistry." Dark Wraith manipulated the smog so that it surrounded herself and Moon Rider, but left a clearing so that they could see one another.

"You're going to need my help. So tell me what you intend to do."

Moon Rider watched as one by one, the Avatars who had invaded her District were dwindled down into oblivion. All the same, she listened to Dark Wraith's words carefully, turning around to face her once the dark mist engulfed them. Without another moment lost on them, she pointed her purple saber right at the other Player.

"Now why would I reveal my intentions so carelessly to someone I've met just a few minutes ago? What's more, I don't even know you. Why should you care about the goals of the Ebony Strykers given that you yourself belong to no Guild?"

Dark Wraith stood unflinching, even with the blade turned on her. Moon Rider was not her enemy per say, but even so Dark Wraith was far from defenseless even in a melee. "My mistake. Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Dark Wraith, a former Eraser. I'm interested in the Ebony Strykers because of the scrutiny of their reputation. It mirrors that of the Sweepers, and curiously, I wish to know if it still is. Because right now you're ill prepared, and after last time, you will have little chance to begin to build a new. I know you are alone in the Guild. Even these new recruits are hardly formal members. Not to mention they lack the... expertise you'd need. And you need more then just bodies to fill these halls."

The Black King listened closely with a stoic expression but she eventually put her blade down and deactivated it. She crossed her arms before saying, "So you're really the Dark Wraith I've been hearing rumors about then. Then it's true what people say about the Eraser and how you're as divided as ever."

Moon Rider glanced back to the moving shapes through the mist's barrier before turning back to Dark Wraith. They had only just started out so she felt it was bit unfair for the Eraser to judge the material of her Guild. Even so, this girl displayed an intelligence unlike the others so far. She wanted to know what Dark Wraith really wanted with her Guild.

"If you really want to discuss the future of my Guild...then speak to my spokesperson offline. I'm sure you know of her, yes? She'll no doubt know who you are once you approach her. After all, she has a gift for memorizing names."

The cloud was slowly starting to dissipate, and something was wrong. Suddenly, there was lag on the server. That was unimaginable; only overhauls would make lag start to show up, and hardly anyone is logged on during those. A quick look at the server data and Dark Wraith noticed that it's getting clogged by Dissolutions. That is to say, there is way too many being made that the server can't handle all of them. "What is this... Some sort of DoS attack of all things?"

"This isn't one of your doings, is it?" Moon Rider asked with suspicion in her voice, noting the delay in her motions and words alone.

---

---

The black glass of Moon Rider’s fortress of solitude suddenly became stained with blaring red lights as large warning text began to flash over all regions of Faded City. All Players, regardless of level or location, were now being forced out of the game.

Dismissing the fog, Dark Wraith noticed that other players were starting to lag now too. It wouldn't be long before everyone would be forced to log out. She barely caught Moon Rider's question as the lag was affected how quickly she could speak and how quickl Dark Wraith could hear it. Knowing that her words and actions were limited, Dark Wraith simply shook her head and said one last thing. "Five six four." Soon Dark Wraith's figure stood stiff and rigid, before being enveloped in a bright light, a sign that she had logged off.

Moon Rider nodded, figuring that it was more than just random numbers Dark Wraith was spouting out before she too began to fade away. As all of Deep Ground Online began to be purged of all Players, one in particular grinned in happy amusement. Okay, so maybe things weren't going down the way she had wanted to, and it was true that she wouldn't be able to put a bullet up the Black King's ass right now, but Corpse Collector was happy nonetheless.

Every Player was fading away...except for her. The growing number of Dissolution units were making the system short circuit, forcing everyone to log out. And not just in the Black Guild, but in all Guilds. They multiplied, spasming into a blob that would soon consume everything.

Corpse Collector knew this to be true and she doubted her fellow "partner in crime" was still with her. Yes, things had definitely blown out of proportion. But hey, it was worth it in the end, right?

---

It was precisely one hour since every Player in the world had been kicked out of Deep Ground Online. The entire school, or at least those who chose to actually stay in class to play the online game, were either annoyed at the inconvenience, depressed at the lack of any real hobby to practice, or just plain confused at the whole thing. But then, that was to be expected.

These thoughts passed through the head of a rushed student half-walking, half-dashing towards the school’s mainframe. With long black hair, a pair of prim glasses, and an expression that had no time for slackers, the School President of Purple Crown Academy had little time to put the entire population of youth at ease.

How utterly annoying….why the hell did this have to happen now? She sighed while closing her eyes, having memorized her path to the Student Council Office many times over by now and so it was no problem for her even this late in the evening. As she passed by the hallways, several students that had stayed for after-school activities turned to stare at her. Ignoring them, she eventually made it to the closed off space and entered without hesitation.

To be fair, they had good reason to stare at their School President. Aside from the fact that the girl excelled in academics-not to mention that she was actually quite the looker-the famed Yoshino Tsgumi was also reported to be the only student in the entire Academy to have direct contact with Black King herself in the real world.

Rumor soon turned into truth, and since then many have pondered and attempted to guess the relationship between the two. It was no secret that Yoshino served as a public representative in the outside world for Black King, but was it that simple? Some said she was really the Black King's long lost sister. Others claimed that she was the Black King’s personal servant. And still, there were some well deserved nut jobs out there that swore that Yoshino Tsgumi was actually Black King herself in plain view.

Of course, that was just ridiculous; everyone knew that the School President absolutely hated video games. Regardless, it had been quite some time since she had to represent her client publicly like this. Sitting in her own personal head chair, Yoshino released another weary sigh as she connected to the World Interface and mentally prepared herself for the message she was to deliver.

Very soon….there. Her voice and image would now connect to everyone who had ever linked to Deep Ground Online still eligible to play. Not bad for someone who could barely play a simple game of Go-Fish.

"Attention all students of Purple Crown Academy and of the World Interface. Please, do not be alarmed by the sudden technical difficulties we are enduring right now. Our team is investigating the matter thoroughly and it appears that it was only a massive lag caused by an influx of enemy NPCs. Deep Ground Online will be functional again in the following afternoon. However, it would seem that any Players who died in DGO before the crash are still able to log on to the system.”

Well that caused some relief, if only for that fact that DGO wasn't gone forever. Still, a whole day without access online? The horror was too great for some to bear.

“And now, a message from the Black King. She deeply apologizes for the missed opportunity for the majority of you in meeting her. However, she states that for all of those who pledge allegiance to the Ebony Strykers, the next Guild meeting shall be tomorrow within the Black Kingdom, the same as today. And….the Black King has made her first orders to her new Guild. She desires for all of her followers to hunt down any stray Outlaws still remaining in the Black District as soon as possible. That is all. Thank you for your time and patience. Oh…and welcome to the Ebony Strykers.”

Without a moment of pause, Tsugmi’s message promptly ended.

The King ran off quickly, hardly regarding Newt. Damn, I'm really getting the feeling she doesn't like me. I'm going to have to work on that. The King might be able to survive in the mist, but Emma knew she couldn't. She began searching for escape, but began to notice something peculiar. Lag. Lag in DGO? That's almost unheard of, except when there's a scheduled maintenance. No use in sticking around here, we must be going down. Emma opened her player menu, punching the log out button as the world began to fade away.

As Emma began to awaken from the coma-like trance the game placed you in she flew to her computer to confirm what she suspect. She punched in the address 'downforeveryoneorjustme.com'. Her suspicions were confirmed. DGO was down. DGO down, the Ebony Strykers opening, the theft from the King's... there's something going on in DGO, and I think my new King knows more than she's letting on. I'm going to need to get into her good graces if I want to get to the bottom of this... what could shut DGO down so unexpectedly? There was a lot of commotion going on at the Black City, maybe a hacker thought to shut it down? Someone DDoSing the server? Emma shook her head. The conspiracy theories can wait until I know more from the King and what happened to the server.

With DGO down Emma found herself without much to do. She was on top of her studies. She could always study more, or work on homework, but that was no fun. The sun was already down and there wasn't a whole lot to do. Going back to Purple Crown was out of the question, so it was onto the mundane drudgery of mindlessly browsing the internet and texting.

---

An Hour Later
The time passed quickly. Soon enough there was an update on the situation of DGO, from the ever mysterious Yoshino Tsgumi. For being so popular and being the School President of Purple Crown Academy she had a suspectly small number of friends. Not only that, but her life was completely consumed by her position. It was surprise enough Emma never ran into her, being one of the more popular students at DGO. The President was also, strangely enough, the public spokesperson for Emma's new King. With her proclamation came some assurance for the server's, and Newt's new orders. As far as she knew she was one of only three Ebony Stryker members, but a guild meeting was a valuable opportunity to learn the information she wanted and try to get into the King's good graces. I'm thinking like a goddamn kissass, Emma sulked to herself.

Almost everyone has that crazy conviction they hang onto no matter what. I suppose I do too: Yoshino Tsgumi is the Black King. At least I think so. Publicly she displays little to no gaming skill, but it was hard to think someone as powerful and smart as her would just give up on a game as important as DGO. Not to mention she's supposedly the only person to talk to Moon Rider. Too convenient. They're also quite alike: Aloof and good at being above others. It just makes a little too much sense.

Emma had her orders, but with the servers shot and the call of the bed reaching out to her, sleeping seemed to be the best recourse. I've got to maintain a good sleep schedule if I want to stay on top of things. I should by studying too, I'm ahead but if I continue at this pace I won't be for long... Emma undressed, changing into pajamas. She drifted off to sleep. Tomorrow I'm going to work on the King. No asskissing either...

Erika blinked awake from the Deep Ground System. One minute she was Azga, the cool Witch Doctor on his way to help take down the Black King with a companion, the next she was back to being herself. She knew she would probably die anyways and would only be a hindrance to the woman she had said she'd help, though she didn't feel like she would in Deep Ground Online. She felt strong and like she could do anything. And here, she was weak and completely ...worthless. Worthless unless she made a name for herself and her family in a system she couldn't access for what would be the rest of the day. She sat up in bed as she wiped her misty eyes dry with a sleeve, pushing her glasses off her face in the process. Now she'd be back to being harassed by all the guilds in real life, and her family.

Down the hall she could hear her brother running the shower, meaning he hadn't been in DGO for the past while. Good, he wouldn't bother her. She rested her forehead against her knees and waited for the lump in her throat to pass. Once she had finished feeling sorry for herself--something she acknowledged with great spite--she peered at her nightstand where her classic flip phone laid. She exhaled and reached out, grabbing the phone and dialing Yuuki's number. As she punched it in her small phone charm of a magician's hat swayed back and forth. She hit the send call button and pressed the phone to her ear.

She had to get out of here.

@Ashifili

Unable to see what exactly was going on about her, the Midnight Soloist could only register in the back of her mind that something had been struck by her Land Demolisher whilst she was somersaulting, and that her ally, Rocket Lancer, had died. Her flight cut short by that impact, the strawberry blonde girl crashed into the ground as a dark miasma rose in the throne room of the Black King. It stung and burned, eating away at her HP as she rose up slowly, trying to figure out if she had hit her mark or not.

She hadn’t.

That mage was still fine, chatting away with her King as if nothing had happened at all, while Moon Rider herself offered an invitation to the Ebony Strykers for all those within the room.

Yuuki grit her teeth, baring them as she disregarded the message sent to her. As a rogue flew past, sent by whomever, a Heavy Arms swung downwards and flattened the rogue, before grinding their pixelated body into dust as it transformed while the stealthy bastard’s head was still in its grasp. Forming the remaining two Heavy Arms into Land Demolishers, she narrowed her eyes, brought her body down low, and smiled.

Her win condition still hasn’t been met, and with her HP decaying at such a fast rate…well, this was going to be the final one then.

Two hammers drove themselves into her feet, a violent shock passing through her body as she launched herself forwards again, trails of black smoke clinging to her stubbornly. At this point, her HP was too low to realistically expect a victory if she gets so much as punched by the mage, but…that’s what made it fun! Challenging! Entertaining! It was a proper deadline to have, turning Newt into lizard paste before she died!

Drawing back her real fist, Yuuki couldn’t help but roar out dramatically as she swung for Newt’s face.

Then, she froze in mid-air, pixels falling off her virtual flesh arm. It twitched sprodiacally as she stayed there, suspended, not moving as Yuuki wanted it to. But a moment later, red lights blared all about the Black King’s Castle, before the killing blow was delivered in the form a warning.

There was a glitch in the system, and that error cost the Midnight Soloist her what could have been a victory. As the world darkened around her immobilized form, as her arbitrarily decided goal vanished along with it, that smile became a frown.
~
Yuuki opened her eyes, back to the wilted gardens and the cold grass. Autumn was cold, and, upon touching her face, she realized just how cold it was. Slowly, she brought her hands over her face and breathed in and out slowly. Her breath warmed her hands, and her hands warmed her face, before she could staple on a small smile once more.

The brunette stood up, patted herself off, and then realized that she needed to breathe again. And again and again and again, until she could properly calm herself down. It was frustrating, how short it had been. It was upsetting, how it had ended. But, in the end, there was nothing she could do about it. Just smile and carrying on.

“Come on,” Yuuki said, looking outwards to the afternoon sky, “Smile.”

That mage’s name was Newt. She was part of the Ebony Strykers. The next time they met, Yuuki would have to make sure that she turned that Avatar into paste.

Actually, wait, why decide?

Her coin was brought out once more, and, with that same passive smile on, the plain-faced girl declared, “Hatred or forgiveness?”
~
Some time later, her cellphone rang, and, flicking it out of her pockets, Yuuki smiled at the time, spun her phone in her hands, and answered in a chirpy tone.

“Good afternoon, Erika~”

@ReaptheMusic

Havoc stopped her advance on the crippled Dissolution as others approached, she prepared for them to attack but they seemed to hesitate by their fallen comrade, a moment later she found out why as they somehow merged together, their black mass flowing into one and a much bigger dissolution was formed, there was a moment of inaction as Havoc and the dissolution sized each other up and then the thing lept at her. Havoc's choice of action was taken from her as a fist slammed into her from behind.
"WHAT THE FRIIIIIIIIICK!"
The momentum from the punch threw her past the big dissolution and into a large group of smaller dissolutions, further worsening her situation shed left her sword behind when she'd made her daring aerial escape from the big dissolution. She hit the ground, rolled over once and ended up on her back. Her hp dropped a truly minuscule amount from the punch and her passive activated, doing probably the tiniest amount of damage ever recorded to every dissolution in the mob.
Havoc sighed, there wasnt much point getting up, without her sword she didn't stand a chance. Lying on her back staring at the sky Havoc didn't notice as the dissolution's movements lost their smooth flow and began the sharp jerks of a lagspike.
What did finally gain her attention was the MASSIVE message in big red bold writing that appeared in her face.

---

---

She opened her eyes and found herself back in her room, back to being Rebecca it seems. She sat up and looked about, the room was full of half packed bags and her things were strewn across the small floor area. She'd be moving into the dorms at the Academy tomorrow, it would be the first time she'd ever lived away from home. She sat for a while thinking about it. A while later, deciding that moping about wouldn't accomplish anything she rolled off her bed and continued her packing.

"Oh come on!" The Silver Streaker yelled.

He was aware that the massive slime had been jumping before, but now it practically covered the sky and spawned claws straight out of nowhere. He'd been aware that it was probably made up of a lot of dissolutions, but this was just dumb. He was pretty sure it was at least boss class now. Maybe it was level two, but even he would have trouble against a level 2 boss, and he'd never fought this kind of dissolution before. And besides, there were other people now.

Tim glanced at the group, practically staring death in the face. The dissolutions kept coming, and things didn't look fun. It was probably a glitch in the systems. It was probably just some coding error or an infinite loop or something, but it was clear that they weren't getting out of here alive.

"If we're not making it out of here..." The Streaker said.

The Silver Streaker crouched low, tensing his legs before releasing a mighty leap, into the path of the falling dissolution.

"Then I'm going out with a bang!" He yelled defiantly.

If the dissolution was going to land on them, then the only solution was to kill it before it landed. As he shot upwards, he prepared to release a flurry of blows, hoping to decrease its HP enough to at least be killed by the others when it reached the ground. Just before he unleashed his fury, a red message appeared on his interface.

"OH COME ON!" The Streaker yelled.

His body began disappearing, before fully vanishing just before he would have contacted the slime.

---

---

Tim opened his eyes and sighed. Getting up, he noticed that the sun was setting. He rubbed his eyes and stretched before getting a cup of water. Drinking it down, he checked his schedule on his interface.

"Hm, looks like I got training soon." He mused. "Today's Tae Kwon do. Tomorrow I've got karate, and then Judo..."

A busy schedule, but it was fine for Tim.

"Needed to work on my kicks anyway." Tim said.

He began packing his sports bag, putting in a drink bottle and his uniform, before shrugging on socks, shoes and a track suit jacket and started heading out for the Tae kwon do dojo. If anything, he needed to work on his reflexes and actual battle experience, but that would come in time.

Tim breathed in the fresh evening air and stretched out, enjoying the atmosphere. At least he'd managed to help the squad who'd been in trouble, mostly due to the Silver Streaker. The Silver Streaker was amazing, and his body had helped Tim through situations he never would in real life. However, an avatar was like a car. If it didn't have a good driver, it wouldn't go anywhere. This was probably more true of the Silver Streaker than a lot of other avatars, because its unique properties limit his effective range to punching distance. There was only so much leeway avatar abilities could afford, and doing real life martial arts might give him an edge over his own limits.

Still need to build those reflexes. Tim thought as he walked down the street. I think there might be an ability for that...

Tim walked towards the dojo, determined to become stronger.

---

Vargus got out of his car angrily. What in the nine was this? Dissolutions never spawned in these numbers and certainly not on the roads. His flesh golem hurled itself at the front lines the angry ball of meat biting and slashing anything nearby. He threw a hellbolt at one of their anchoring it to the ground and another he struck down with mage blast. The cursed things were everywhere. Dieing wasn't good for getting points and he lost waaay to much exp from it. As one of them leaped at him he summoned his fleshling back to him blocking the blow and bashing it in the face with his staff. His golem was eventually devoured by the endless hordes and it turned into armor protecting him. His guildmates fell around him as he attempted to blast his way out with magic and bash them out of his way with his staff. But there were too many and as his spells went on CD and the monsters overwhelmed him he was forced to wait the last of HPs leave. Oh the irony of the Ivory Masks being overrun by Dissolutions.

Whatever he would just earn his exp back as soon as he got back on. At least that's what he angrily thought to himself as his body was pixilated and he was given the death screen. He sat back on his bed for a moment to clear his head, before going back in. Look at all this EXP he would have to make up. He was about to log back in when he heard an announcement. At least he was still able to log in, though he still couldn't get any exp yet. Whats more when everyone could log in in the afternoon his EXP would still be disabled for several more hours. Buuuut if he could log in and complete some quests, then turn them in after his EXP lock was removed it should work. Grinning cunningly he logged back and began searching for some quests to acquire. Esh getting more than 5000 exp back was still a daunting task. He ignored the second announcement as he didn't care much for anything involving the black king, seemed like to much hype over not that much.

"Yuuki,

Erika was relieved to hear her friends voice on the other end of the line and closed her eyes tightly, exhaling deeply as the feelings of bitterness began to subside. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand, noting the time. It was a bit late but they'd snuck out later before.

"Can we meet up? I ... seriously need to be out of my house right now."

"I'm already outside," Yuuki replied airily, "Got a particular place you want to meet at? The coffee house down Kingsway? The fountain at Purple Crown Park?"

"Coffee for sure," She was already out of bed and grabbing her house keys from the nightstand. As she held the phone in the crook of her shoulder to her ear, she shuffled through her bookbag to find her notes for the day in order to exchange some with her friend and shoved it into her purse. She looked around for a sweater to put over her school uniform. "You're already out in the town? So you weren't playing Deep Ground?"

"Oh no," the girl replied as she started walking out of the school gardens, "Just found myself a nice atmospheric spot at school to do the gaming. Thought it'd be worth logging in today because of the Black King, but then...yeah..."

"The servers went pop and nothing was ended."

"The game is stupid anyways. I'd rather spend my time with my face in a book." Even as she said the words and pulled a neutral colored sweater over her torso after taking off her school's uniform top, she couldn't decide if she was lying through her teeth or not. "Anyways, I'm headed there now. See you."

"Not going to chat on the way, huh? Later." With that, Yuuki ended the call, before looking back at the coin in her hand. Welp, no point in complaining about it now. Before she dwelled any further, the girl broke out into a jog, past the gates, down the stairs, and into the city that held the Purple Crown at its heart.
~

Erika finally pushed her way into the cafe and let the door swing behind her. She rested, panting softly with her hands on her knees and her curly hair in a mess from the breeze that had pushed her tiny frame around outside. Once her breath was caught she looked around for Yuuki, having expected her friend to arrive before her as she went up and ordered a coffee. It wasn't long before the drink was made and brought out to her as well as Yuuki's usual. She took a seat near the windows in the emptiest section of the cafe and waited, gazing forlornly out the window and sipping on her white chocolate peppermint mocha with soy milk, whipped cream and cinnamon. She liked her drinks complicated.

She had snuck out of her house by rushing out before her mother could ask her where she was off to. She felt bad having to do so, but prefferred it over talking to her. It seemed like every conversation with her family always turned to Deep Ground no matter how innocent the topic was at first. Erika had sprinted the whole way to the cafe out of fear that the Fanged Rangers might come back and, much to her delight, they hadn't.

The curly haired girl pushed her glasses up and stirred her drink, thinking of the girl she'd met in Deep Ground. Corpse Collector... She'd tried her best to make a good impression but it seemed the blonde avatar didn't even bother with her. Maybe she should just call it quits on the black guild and her new "companion" entirely. But then, that message from earlier had said she needed to go... Her thoughts became muddy with emotion and she held her face in her hands, sighing deeply.

Cafe Nowhere was a quiet little coffee house, tucked inbetwen Kingsway and South 23rd Avenue. A pleasant surprise that Yuuki had stumbled upon during one of her trips to the city when she was still in middle school, it had soon became a favoured place of hers. There was a nice, rustic ambiance in the whole place, much removed from the Starbucks a few blocks away that was filled with fluorescent lights and kiddos plugged into Deep Ground. Maybe it's because most of the customers were already graduated, but there was a pleasantly refined air to the place, an aroma of maturity and finely ground coffee.

Of course, Yuuki didn't really drink coffee and so, when she sat down at the same mahogany table as her friend, ordered hot chocolate instead. Noticing the sigh and the lost gaze, the girl snapped her fingers in front of the curly-haired student's face, before asking, "Feeling blue today?"

There was jazz and blues playing in the background. Hopefully Erika was in the mood for a little pun.

"Ah!" Erikas eye's widened and she straightened up, blushing in embarassment at the fact she'd drifted off so much. Her thick glasses slid down her nose slightly as she reacted, and it took a moment for the joke to soak in. When it did, she laughed a little and scratched her cheek. "More than a little," She admitted, glad to see her friend there. "I nearly broke my ankle getting away from the fanged rangers this afternoon. They seem to be after me more than usual lately..."

Ah, right, the whole guild-stalking thing. Guess having an illustrious history was pretty bad as well, huh? Yuuki took a careful sip of her mug of hot chocolate, only to wince as her tongue was burned by the boiling liquid. Setting it aside for the time being, she nodded in understanding. "Gives you a reason to bitch at them, if nothing else," the girl said, "But hm...could always just lie and say you joined the Black guild now. With such an enigmatic pedigree, I'm pretty sure no one can confirm or deny that..."

It was definitely getting irritating though, all the hounding from classmates. If the teachers could do anything about it, that'd be great...but it's not like teachers would get fired for being terrible teachers anyways, seeing how Deep Ground locked everyone into pre-determined positions...

Subconsciously, Yuuki began to roll a coin over her knuckles, mulling over a problem that she couldn't just solve with a coin toss.

Erika opened her mouth to respond to what Yuuki said when the message from the Student Counsel President came out to address all the members of the new guild. The message caused her heart to sink again when she remembered the Corpse Collector and how she'd been so easily brushed off. Then she considered what Yuuki said, choosing to disregard the message from the President entirely.

"Even If I did, my parents would definetly hear about it and they'd ream me for weeks. 'Glory to the Ivory Masks,' and..." She stopped and sipped her drink, watching Yuuki play with the coin. She sighed once again. The conversation was frequently about her and what was going on with her in her avoidance of the world of Deep Ground. Honestly she was already starting to feel selfish. She looked at Yuuki. "What do you think of the Black Guild?"

"Black Guild...I think that Moon Rider is a chuunibyo, and she's sorta cute that way. Like a kid dressed up as Darth Vader or something."

Yuuki giggled at that mental imagery, before continuing, "My impressions so far though? Not much. Never got to chat with Moon Rider, and her two lackeys were sorta...meh. They were alright. Interested in joining?"

"Ugh, no," Erika responded as she rubbed the side of her coffee cup nervously. "I hear they're nothing but trouble. If anything, it only means more guilds will be after me to join them..." There she goes again, making it about her. She swallowed and pushed her glasses up her nose before looking at Yuuki once more, a small, genuine smile on her face. "Even if I were to pick one guild, you know... its not like I'd ever make anybody happy with my deicision or do something spectacular anyways. It doesn't matter." She closed her eyes contently at the last moment as she silently reminded herself, I don't matter. Erika opened her eyes again and started fishing for the class notes out of her bag, beginning to change the subject to their classwork.

"Nothing but trouble, huh?" Yuuki held her mug in both hands, looking down at the reflectionless surface, before reciprocating Erika's smile. After all, smiling was important, regardless of the situation. With that in mind, she drank down the hot chocolate in a single gulp, searing the insides of her throat with the burning liquid, before wiping her slightly swollen lips with a paper napkin. As the bespectacled girl started changing the subject, Yuuki set aside the mug and took a look at her coin once more.

"Say," she began, almost absentmindedly, "Feel like sleeping over tonight? You said you wanted to get out of your house, right?"

"Yes."

The response had come so fast that it immediately followed up the last syllable of Yuuki's question. Erika looked at Yuuki and stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder after downing the last of her complicated coffee. She grabbed her hand and looked her in the eyes.

"Let's go." The ebony haired girl was genuinely happy for the chance to not go back to her house, even if there would be school tomorrow. The last thing she wanted was to be left alone with her thoughts. Without waiting for a response, Erika, rather uncharacteristically energetic about this, dragged Yuuki with her out of the coffee shop. Since she ran ahead of her friend slightly, it would be unlikely that Yuuki would see the dark shadow over Erika's eyes.

Morgan Hazelnut - Flan

Flan was just about to kill the first of the four rogues that staggered out of the fog, when the Black King rushed past with her beam sword. Flan was, in a word, stunned. The elegant beauty that was the Black King slicing her way through any and all resistance as she single-handedly took out the invaders. Flan actually was too captivated and momentarily forgot that there was a battle going on. The surrounding rogues each took aim at Flan, pulling the trigger and obliterating the health bar. Rather than clicking on respawn, Morgan figured that was enough for the day. There wasn't much point in fighting in a battle you were careless enough to die in.

Morgan regained consciousness, barely hanging on to the bed, in the same collapsed position as before entering the game. A sharp pain then hit poor kid's stomach. There was no telling how long it was since lunch and the bladder felt like it was about to burst. Quickly running off to the lavatory, Morgan returned later with just enough energy to look for food, wherever that may be. Shopping was a bit of a pain, as most just saw another 13 year old wasting their time, so there usually wasn't any food around. Fortunately, the Academy was still open. Even if there wasn't any open restaurants nearby, there was food in the Arena. Locking the door, Morgan left the apartment to grab some grub.

"Attention all students of Purple Crown Academy and of the World Interface." Huh? did someone just say something? "Please, do not be alarmed by the sudden technical difficulties we are enduring right now. Our team is investigating the matter thoroughly and it appears that it was only a massive lag caused by an influx of enemy NPCs. Deep Ground Online will be functional again in the following afternoon. However, it would seem that any Players who died in DGO before the crash are still able to log on to the system.”

Oh..... It was obvious now that thanks to the chip, the student president was making a public announcement. Morgan continued walking towards the Arena as everything Flan missed was now told.

“And now, a message from the Black King." ! "She deeply apologizes for the missed opportunity for the majority of you in meeting her. However, she states that for all of those who pledge allegiance to the Ebony Strykers, the next Guild meeting shall be tomorrow within the Black Kingdom, the same as today. And….the Black King has made her first orders to her new Guild. She desires for all of her followers to hunt down any stray Outlaws still remaining in the Black District as soon as possible. That is all. Thank you for your time and patience. Oh…and welcome to the Ebony Strykers.”

Well, that wasn't the black king directly. ....or was it? A few of the rumors did lead to the president being the black king. I doubt she'd tell me if I just walked up and asked her. Surely there's someone who knows. Well, the president knows. I wonder if she actually has an avatar that she uses. It would make sense for the black king to show up randomly, if in real life she was busy doing important, maybe administrative stuff. And adults can't actually be allowed in, right? Really for either of the famous females would be nice to find their counterpart. Morgan looked around to see how close the Arena was, but found to be by the Records and Administration office. ... Well, that's a place that would know. Doesn't look like anyone's there this late... Morgan now stood by the front entrance, peering in. For the king?

Morgan headed home, hunger forgotten, as the next leg of the journey to know the Black King lied within that office. It was time to prepare. Though, first thing was to rest and get through school in the morning. After that, the whole weekend was free for any sort of snooping a goodie-two-shoes might do.

Jukebox laughed to himself at Nies’ exaggerated panic “First, we are going anywhere that’s not here. Second, we don’t want to stop! What we want is to get away! Pardon me, kitty” putting Smitten Kitten in the front passenger seat Jukebox looked out the back window, hoping they somehow managed to get away.

What Jukebox saw frankly scared him. The mass of Dissolutions seemed to grow with a few clinging to the car as it sped away from the gelatinous mass. One made it in, pushing Jukebox to the car floor trying to stab at him. The only plus to this situation is that I haven’t seen this type before. I should be able to get some EXP from them.
Rolling to the right, Jukebox got out from under the Dissolution as they all screeched as loud as they could. “Don’t do that you idiots! Soundtrack of Life will take it as a challenge!” as if on cue the power activated and blared as loud as it could manage, just edging out the screams in sheer volume.



“Just. SHUT. UP! You stupid power!” yelling at the music and taking out the PPK, Jukebox held the Dissolution down and shot it until it exploded into 30 EXP. Just then a bone claw burst through the car floor and his left hand. “Son of a-” Jukebox stopped himself from cursing in front of the kitten in the front seat and emptied the rest of his clip into the floor in anger.

Dragging himself so he was looking out the back window, Jukebox changed his weapon and equipped the LAPD 2019 Blaster. A joke weapon based on Rick Deckards gun from Blade Runner it had extremely low damage for the level 3 requirement, but fired rifle rounds instead of pistol rounds resulting in a better armour piercing. Jukebox liked it, it was comfortable and when it was dropped while grinding the rest of the Fanged Rangers were happy for him to add it to his ‘joke’ collection.

Seeing the Dissolution clinging to the trunk, Jukebox leaned out and shot where the hinges holding the trunk to the car were, causing the Dissolution’s weight to tear it off and fall away. As it tumbled into the distance the Dissolution seemed to skip a few frames. That can’t be good climbing onto the roof of the car Jukebox tried to drag the next Dissolution off. Having no luck he threw a grenade forwards and as the car accelerated the grenade ended up exploding just above the Dissolution. Fireworks activated changing the explosion into a bright blue firework, stunning the creature.

Just then the lag hit Jukebox again, and after the skip he was in the air falling off the car. Grabbing the tow bar as he fell, Jukebox managed to hold on, but found him staring face to face with the last Dissolution. This Dissolution didn’t wait at all and continuously stabbed at Jukebox’s hand causing his grip to become weak and he couldn’t hold on anymore. As he fell away Jukebox took one last shot at the Dissolution and missed wildly, hitting the car’s rear light.
As he tumbled away Jukebox saw his health bar dwindle each time he hit the ground. Finally coming to a stop Jukebox stood up and saw the car still rocketing along. As he turned to face the Dissolution wave a bright red message flashed in his vision.

---

---

As he was forcibly logged out Jukebox saw the wave of Dissolutions about to crash down on him...

And then Alex’s eyes snapped open. He was in his dorm room, just as he left it. Sitting up, Alex rubbed his eyes and got a drink of water, trying to process what happened Well, I guess that there were too many Dissolutions for DGO to handle...

As he thought this the ‘intercom’ part of his implant activated, President Tsugumi had something to say.
"Attention all students of Purple Crown Academy and of the World Interface. Please, do not be alarmed by the sudden technical difficulties we are enduring right now. Our team is investigating the matter thoroughly and it appears that it was only a massive lag caused by an influx of enemy NPCs. Deep Ground Online will be functional again in the following afternoon. However, it would seem that any Players who died in DGO before the crash are still able to log on to the system.”

Well I lasted four months without logging in once. One day is nothing

“And now, a message from the Black King. She deeply apologizes for the missed opportunity for the majority of you in meeting her. However, she states that for all of those who pledge allegiance to the Ebony Strykers, the next Guild meeting shall be tomorrow within the Black Kingdom, the same as today. And….the Black King has made her first orders to her new Guild. She desires for all of her followers to hunt down any stray Outlaws still remaining in the Black District as soon as possible. That is all. Thank you for your time and patience. Oh… and welcome to the Ebony Strykers.”

Welcome to the Ebony Strikers? I guess she was serious about letting anyone and everyone in. Better let Verdant Grin about the ‘intel’

-------
To: Verdant Grin
From: Unrelenting Jukebox
Subject: The “Intel”
-------
Hi, King

Never made it to Black City before the “massive lag caused by an influx of enemy NPCs” hit me and Nies (The healer girl).

There were enough Dissolutions to drown an Ivory Masks convoy. Worst part was that I only got 30 EXP out of it.

Anyway, that’s all I could see.

Cheers,
Unrelenting Jukebox
-------

With the message sent Alex wondered what to do. Resigned to not getting much sleep for a while, he grabbed his music player and wandered down to the school auditorium, hoping to get some practice in.

Static wasn't sure just what she was going to do about the giant falling Dissolution, but it seemed that the answer appeared in the form of an arm wrapping itself around her and pulling her away from the imminent threat before it could flatten her. Confused, Static looked behind her to see what had saved her, and was even more confused by what had saved her. Some odd silver man-like thing, which was also apparently naked, had managed to move faster than even Static herself and save her. Apparently, the weird silver man was a player, judging from the fact that it spoke to her.

"Umm, no, uh, no problem," Static said, getting back on her feet. She still couldn't get over how weird this "Silver Streaker" looked. Remembering the situation they were still in, Static made an effort to move past the silver man thing and concentrate on the Dissolutions that were trying to kill them. Readying her weapon, Static charged at the giant Level 2 Dissolution and struck a side using her Smash Slash skill. Although that did bring a small portion of its HP down, it seemed to merely look more annoyed. That didn't deter Static's efforts, however, as she kept hacking and slashing at it while trying to, somewhat unsuccessfully, avoid getting hit too much by the other Dissolutions.

Not too long after, though, everything stated to... lag? The Dissolutions started to freeze and stutter in movement every now and again. How was that even possible? It was incredibly rare for DGO to lag for anyone, yet here it was. More importantly, why was it lagging now, when she was going to destroy the giant Dissolution and get some EXP? That answer came in the form of a flashing red warning message on her interface, and getting forcefully logged out shortly afterward.

---

Michelle sighed, as she was now back in the real world, and didn't even get to see the Black King before all that crazy stuff happened. What was she going to do now? She turned her head to face her desk, then thought, Well, I guess I'll get that homework done. After about an hour of doing homework on-and-off, she received a message from the School President. Lag caused by a huge load of NPC's? That would certainly explain why there were more Dissolutions than Michelle had originally thought during the battle. Small questions began to form in her mind, such as, What could have caused so many to spawn in the first place? and What about that EXP? Those questions, however, were knocked aside by the following news regarding the Black King.

With a sigh, Michelle continued doing what little homework she had left to do. Even without DGO, life would move on. Somehow. And she would have to live with that.

Nies Hellum glared at Jukebox as he laughed at her. "I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DRIVE, DAMN IT!" She shouted at him furiously, as she continued to try and not kill them in a violent vehicle crash. She wasn't really doing much straight driving, swerving here there and everywhere as she drove. "WHAT ABOUT WHEN WE WANT TO STOP?" She was hysterical, and she knew it but she just couldn't stop herself. She gave a sob, just wanting to get to some sort of safety so Jukebox could take the wheel again.

But that didn't seem possible.

Jukebox seemed to be yelling at something, and Nies looked over her shoulder, seeing the Dissolution, she gave a frustrated cry. She was going to get them killed, she knew it, she brought the wheel around bringing the car straight, or at least as straight as she could make it, as he yelled at them. She gritted her teeth as his music blasted about, and he shouted at the ability. Nies would have made a sarcastic comment that yelling at his abilities wouldn't make anything better. He began to shoot the Dissolution, and she let out a scream at the noise from the back from the claw bursting through the floor. She made a violent swerving motion, and was surprised Jukebox managed to stay in the car as he shot at something. And then the lagging started.

She was surprised she didn't crash into anything, and kill them all as seconds just seemed to jump by. As the lag continued, Nies managed to see Jukebox, not in good shape. She couldn't do any of her healing while he was driving, and she didn't know how to stop the damned car. As the message flashed across her vision, she slammed the wheel around, causing the car to twist violently, and spin out of control, hitting something and flipping over. The last thing she saw was Jukebox, surrounded by the Dissolutions. She didn't even know where the Kitten was.

---

Cassandra opened her eyes to her room. She stared at the ceiling for a few moments, unable to comprehend what was happening. Eventually, she got up, rubbing her eyes, horrified to feel tears there. "Oh, damn it damn it damn it. Another chance to team up ruined. What the hell happened?" She spoke to herself, before sighing.

She checked on her siblings, all of whom seemed alright, before leaving a message to her parents that she was going back to the School, to see what she could find out. Chances were, she'd get home before them, but at least by leaving a message they knew where she was without having to find out.

She stopped to listen to the messages, before continuing onto the school. When she got there, she didn't know what she was going to do, and she just stood there starring at it. And then she knew what she wanted. She wanted a dorm room. She wanted to be apart of the place, to be known, to not be taken for granted. Resolved to talk about it with her parents when she got home, Cassandra continued into the school, and just wandered, not sure what she was going to do, or where she was going.

"Oh come on now." Kosuke said.

Literally seconds after he died, Deep Ground crashed meaning if he'd stayed around and complained for a little longer he wouldn't have died in one of the lamest ways possible. The announcement blared straight into his head, spoken by the council pres of course.

Pretty routine I guess, He thought, But why wouldn't it be?

Then the black king's message came. He wanted to file a complaint.

Maybe he could go to the forums for that but they were salty enough as it was. As always, the only exception to that was probably the Off Topic section but even that wasn't immune to salt. Not even his most visited thread, Ground Meme Online.

USER: Le Dark Memer
RE: TFW black king

TFW when student council pres is with black king.

USER: Master8 b8r
RE: RE: TFW black king

WOW GR8 MEME M8 R8 0/8
EVACU8 B4 I GIT IR8 AND BRING THE M88

The forums was already full of posts about the Black Guild, the Black King, the council pres etc. Going down the list just on General Discussion there were already conspiracy theories. He really doubted there was that much conspiracy behind it but it was still likely enough. Maybe if he'd stayed alive up until the crash he would've known. He was kinda pissed because he could've done without the 25% XP reduction.

"Whatever, I'm definitely declining that guild request." He said.

Shadow Shot manoeuvred himself through the mass of Dissolusions with ease. He was good at riding a motorcycle, probably because of the many racing games he played as a child. He sprinted a bit further, and rode towards the edge of a cliff. He knew that he could steer to the side in time with his skills, hoping the dissolusions following him couldn't and would fall towards their dead. Only the thought about it would get a grin on Shadow Shot's face, which was hidden behind his mask. It almost seemed like a joke.

However, the joke was on him.

He shot a few times backwards with his sidearm and killed a few of the Dissolusions to anger the creepers chasing him. He was almost at the edge, and was about to steer to the side when the lagg happened. The motorcycle seemed to be affected by it a lot, and it stopped driving suddenly, throwing Shadow Shot into the air, straight towards the cliff. Of all the times the system could lagg... right now... he thought before falling face-down towards the ground and belly flopped the dirt. It hurt a bit, as there was not much pain in DGO, but he survived it somehow. He looked at his HP. He had about 2% left. Talking about luck at its finest. He started to chuckle a bit, and turned onto his back. That's when he saw the motorcycle coming straight at him. "FUUUUUUUU-" He said, before the motorcycle crashed into him, causing an explosion and Shadow Shot to die.

As it all became black around Shadow Shot, indicating he died, he suddenly saw a pop-up:

---

---

Sam opened his eyes. He was in the 'real world' again, except that he hated to call it that way, as he sometimes found that DGO was more realistic. He looked at the ceiling from his bed. Great, I get a job from the Black King of all persons, and then I not only die, but also get disconnected. Just great... Let's just hope it isn't expired by the time it is up again.

"Attention all students of Purple Crown Academy and of the World Interface." Sam got straight up on his bed, hearing the anouncement through his chip. "Please, do not be alarmed by the sudden technical difficulties we are enduring right now. Our team is investigating the matter thoroughly and it appears that it was only a massive lag caused by an influx of enemy NPCs. Deep Ground Online will be functional again in the following afternoon. However, it would seem that any Players who died in DGO before the crash are still able to log on to the system.” Sam got a smile on his face. Still able to log on, huh? That's convenient.

“And now, a message from the Black King. She deeply apologizes for the missed opportunity for the majority of you in meeting her. However, she states that for all of those who pledge allegiance to the Ebony Strykers, the next Guild meeting shall be tomorrow within the Black Kingdom, the same as today. And….the Black King has made her first orders to her new Guild. She desires for all of her followers to hunt down any stray Outlaws still remaining in the Black District as soon as possible. That is all. Thank you for your time and patience. Oh…and welcome to the Ebony Strykers.”

Hunting down outlaws... I can do that. Sam thought. It was pretty late already, so he would go to sleep for now, but tomorow he would kick some outlaw ass.