Dark Wraith waited at the Black City Sanctuary shortly after sending Kisa her message. There was some activity here, mostly just players respawning and getting ready to head back out to battle. There were the occasional few players trying to form parties are hawk their services to would-be parties, even a couple trying to peddle their wares. Business as usual. Dark Wraith wasn't a stranger to Sanctuary Merchants, and she herself once sold herself as a common mercenary-for-hire at one point. But that was in the past. Now... She was here to hire.

Kisa eventually approached Dark Wraith, who was sitting at some pews. The Sanctuary was vaguely church like, with NPC priests to provide quick healing, and for those willing to shell out the EXP for it, a minor buff. The meeting was a bit earlier than an hour, but that didn't bother Dark Wraith. The sooner the better. Not wanting to mince words or try to sound convoluted, Dark Wraith went straight to the point.

"I want to hire you for an extended period of time. I will assign you missions personally. Additionally, while you are working for me you will not be taking any other contracts until I no longer need your service. You'll be compensated for this. You'll be paid in weapon mods and items based on the tasks you've been assigned and their outcomes. There are some other details which I'll go over with you, but this is the jist of it."

Other details including things like not taking orders from other members of the Ebon Strykers, not even the likes of the Black King or Dark Wraith's fellow Erasers. Not that she suspects that Kisa would do as they say, at least not without Dark Wraith's permission. Additionally Dark Wraith expects Kisa to keep their deal a secret of sort; if anyone asks why Kisa is doing what she does, Dark Wraith doesn't want Kisa to answer. Of course that's also assuming Kisa is interested in being Dark Wraith's personal minion. Just to sweeten the deal, Dark Wraith sent a trade request to Kisa. If she bothers to look at what Dark Wraith was offering, she'd see that Dark Wraith was offering weapon parts. Since EXP couldn't be freely traded between players (To prevent higher level players from simply giving EXP to lower level ones), player-to-player trading involved bartering with weapons and parts. Things that could be obtained through defeating Dissolution or on the market. The parts that Dark Wraith was added up to about 500 EXP on the current market, though the fact that they were also modifications for a light blade may also appeal to Kisa.

@Kitsune

Kira was rather surprised by how the girl kept it together when she came early, a common tactic to shake up newby buyers as they always thought they may have done something wrong. Though this girl kept a cool head, she liked that too but it just meant she was not about to get a easy ride and tons out of the deal. Still a fair deal was nice as well and more so when she would be working long term with someone, which it seemed like this was just that kind of case. Of course she took pause to think it over, and to check to see if anyone had messenged her about any other jobs... Just so she could cancel them.

"Hm I understand your terms You need someone to stand by your side who is not bound by rules in a way? Interesting."

Working for the Ebon Strykers, even if she couldn't tell anyone, was still a big deal and she was not about to let some small time jobs get in the way of it. It was by this point, when she was checking out the trade window, that she took note of the girls avatar as she always did with her clients. A person in real life couldn't customize their look as well as a in game avatar and sometimes it spoke about the person using it...

"Everything seems in order, but I will need a guarantee in payment whenever I take a task. At least at first you understand, I would say for the first ten jobs or so? Half at the start and half when it finishes. As for speaking to anyone, don't worry. If I told everyone what I was doing at the time I would never get any work. That being said this doesn't work the same way around, heh, if you tell your friends about me after, if ever, the job finishes I would be oh so thankful."

From her past records she was reliable, a professional at least in game terms that is but that was just fine for her, she looked forward to this little adventure. Though that posed a very important question that would seal their deal;

"So, now that is sorted and the payment has been decided tell me... What is my first mission oh master?"

"Fine then, follow me, the entrance isn't very far from here." Eclipse Princess said to those who agreed on joining her, extending a party invitation to them, before turning on her heels and going to the dungeon's location, slowing down her pace so that the others couldn't get a glimpse of her skills just yet. However, when the healer named Nies Hellum called for her, Eclipse Princess came to a halt with an amused smile on her face.

"Ho? Why is the Sun chasing for the moon, when it's the Eclipse itself that it should be looking for?" Princess replied. Sure, there was no way that she would run into Cassandra's avatar so conveniently, yet it seems that "probability is useless when it comes to Cassandra O'Shera. I really can never get the best of her." Eris thought before turning around and sizing up Nies Hellum, while also allowing the other girl to get a good look of her own avatar. Even on Deep Ground, no especially here, Cassandra kept on being taller than Eris.

Anyway, they had a quest to do, so Eclipse Princess turned back to her path and walked away, while saying "Did you know, Nies Hellum, that the Ancient Egyptians believed that an eclipse happened when the Snake of Underworld, a primordial being called Appep, or Apophis, escaped from its prison momentarily and attempted to devour the Sun? Perhaps you should take care as well, lest I swallow up all your light."







Soon enough they would arrive at the dungeon Eclipse Princess turned to Jukebox once they were about to step inside the portal, to answer his previous question "If that's a problem, we can always set the loot distribution to random. Everyone gets whatever fate decrees."

That said, Eclipse Princess addressed everyone and explained the quest they were about to do, "The objective of the quest is quite simple, we have to destroy four generators located on opposite corners of the facility to unlock the electromagnetic door to the Boss' room, once that's done all we have to do is fell the beast. As for enemies, expect a large force of mechanical dissolutions, with high defense and damage, but most of them are slow, use that to your advantage. One last warning before we move out, though, once a generator is destroyed, the quadrant it powers will be shrouded in darkness, just mind that." With that said, Eclipse princess was the first to enter the portal and thread the dungeon's metallic corridors.

The entrance chamber was as expected large and devoid of any dissolutions, but further ahead it possible to hear the footfalls of patrolling guards; all that Eclipse Princess did was draw her sword and wait for the others.




Yuuno on the other hand, had just about woke up. Indeed, it was Saturday and, after yesterday, she needed a little extra rest; waking up at 10:00 am when you don't have anything else to do can't be bad, right?

Anyway, Yuuno was feeling bad, and didn't remembered what happened after the commotion of yesterday's night broke out, or even how she came back home. However, she tried not to mind it very much, she was the one in the wrong, after all, for being so trusting of people she barely knew. There was no way she could push the blame on others when she was the one that began everything by inviting almost everyone to that gathering.

Yuuno really, really tried to not mind it very much as she went through her morning, having a bowl of cereal and a glass of strawberry milk for breakfast, taking a quick shower and as usual for Saturday soaking her last change of clothes, forcing Yuuno to use her gym clothes. It was about that time that Yuuno received Asahi's message, but she decided to reply in the simplest way possible, not wanting to avoid him completely, but also not wanting to get involved with him at all.

"It's ok, Asahi, the faul was mine anyway, so don't blame yourself. Even so, I don't think I'll be able to answer your invitation, Titania-sama has a special mission for me, you see. Anyway... see ya later, bye."

With that done, Yuuno dropped on her bed and took a deep breath, before diving into the world of Deep Ground.








"Well, it's time to forget about the problems of my other self, for I, Absinthe Blue, am bound to become the shiniest star of Deep Ground." Absinthe said to herself in a hammy boast, scaring some of the other players in the Cobalt Bruisers Sanctuary, before going on to meet Mercury Titania.

Even if the part about a mission had been a lie before, after she gets one it won't be anymore, right?

---

@Mega Birb@Caits@McFazzer@Lucius Cypher

Nyx

Nyx couldn't help but chuckle beneath his mask at Jukebox's response to his praise... well, not really praise, but that was the best word for it at the time. "I go by Nyx, although I'll keep Sir Skull in the back of my head for a good laugh later." In all reality, his mind was hard at work formulating a plan to use him as a meat shield if the need arose.

His thoughts we interrupted as a fourth party entered the group, offering a dungeon dive of a higher level. Sure, he was a Crimson Harley, but free EXP was hard to turn down... in the end, invisibility is a great skill to have. "I'd love to, as long as I don't end up tanking. Don't want another full day of respawning." With a bit of humor at his own expense, he shoved his dagger into his sleeve one final time and accepted the quest, following Eclipse's stride at a distance. Yet again, he formulated another meat shield plan.

As they arrived to the portal, Nyx stopped briefly and checked his equipment one final time... then cursed again. No matter how much he hoped they would, his bullets didn't magically replace themselves. He decidedly became the second to step though the mortal, listened to Eclipse's description of the task at hand, and nodded in response. "I need to make a request for loot, however. If we find any bullets or pistols, I'd like them." He crossed his arms and waited, watching the portal for the remaining two to cross over.

Cassandra could almost hear the process going on writhing Eris's mind, as she quickly tried to access the situation, always trying to show she was in control. Even in Deep Ground, Eris couldn't not be surprised. Well, that she showed anyway. Nies smiled, and replied "Perhaps the sun got tired of waiting for the eclipse, and instead chose to follow the moon"

Taking the chance to study Eclipse Princess, Nies couldn't help but think that it suited Eris, and that perhaps she could have figured out it was Eris, without the little hint. Still, it was oddly satisfying to have found her, so quickly. And that she could engage with both Eris, and Jukebox.

"a fair warning, but one, as you know, I won't take. This Ancient being never devoured the sun, but perhaps each time it failed, gave the sun the strength to continue to glow brightly, thus never destroying the sun but making it a harder thing to devour" she replied, choosing her words carefully, not because she was afraid the others in their group would figure out who she was, but rather to give justice to this philosophy.

As they continued on to the quest location, it was easy enough to trust Eclipse and follow her into the portal, without a moments hesitation. Nies was more then sure her equipment was adequate, and knew she wouldn't be an embarrassment to the group, not with someone she valued highly there to see.

Hibiki had woken up late that morning. She had been spending some time on Deep Ground trying to get EXP, mostly from farming Dissolutions. For a while she thought she was getting a steady amount, but after a while she ended up getting no more EXP from the mobs she killed. She could have killed a hundred more, but they wouldn't have dropped anymore. She wasn't even 1/10 of the way there, forcing her to find new enemies. She kept fighting Dissolutions, trying to learn their patterns, before eventually calling it a night. When she logged off she went to go feed the cat she had found at school. Because her parents weren't around very often, Hibiki could get away with having pets. Apparently, the cat was called "Train".

After waking up sometime before noon, Hibiki went downstairs to watch the television. She missed most of her Saturday morning animes, but she liked the ones closer to noon anyways. The ones in the morning were sappy. As she watched TV, she ate microwaved pizza with the cat. She gave Train catfood, though he tried to eat her pizza too, which she stopped him from doing. "No, bad kitty! This is my pizza!" In the middle of her anime, she received a message from Corpse Collector. Apparently it was time. Hibiki gulped. Things have moved very quickly. One moment she was just a wannabe kingslayer, but now she is part of a bigger, darker conspiracy to kill the king. But this is what she wanted, wasn't it? People who also wanted to topple the black king and remove her from rule? At least that's how Hibiki saw it.

Hibiki saw the Black King as a dangerous wild card to the delicate balance in Deep Ground. Before the guilds never really "Fought" each other and just sorta had competitions. It was peaceful, and Smitten Kitten could use all the guilds to help her in Deep Ground. But ever since the Ebon Strykers came back, things have felt tense in Deep Ground. The Guilds aren't so friendly anymore. After their treasures have been stolen, Smitten Kitten has heard word that they are going to go to war. It was going to be a future of PvP, and Smitten Kitten didn't want to get caught in that. Low level players like her will only end up taking the worse of it as higher level players kill everyone indiscriminately. But if they took out the Black King before that could happen, than a full on war won't happen... Right?

"Go play outside, kitty. I'm going to lay down for a bit." Hibiki went to grab her favorite blanket, tossing it over her as she logged into Deep Ground.

---

Smitten Kitten looked around in Deep Ground. She was near the Faded City, where she was hunting down some Dissolutions. She heard fighting in the distance and assumed that it was other players doing their own hunting. Not wanting to get into trouble with outlaws or Sweepers, Smitten Kitten stuck to the shadows and sneaked out of the city. She needed to head to the Black Guild and get ready for whatever it was the Corpse Collector had planned there.

@TheWindel

Eris almost doubled over in laugh at Cassandra's reply to her commentary, there really was no winning against that girl. However, instead of risking to blow her identity to more people than it had already been disclosed, Eris decided to send a PM to Nies. "Really, there's no winning against you, Cassandra O'Shera. There's only one person that would reply to such a random commentary in the way that you did. I'm sorry for not being able to join you earlier, but certain circumstances required my attention in the real world. By the way, this is the address of my current residence", Eris gave the address of her hotel room to Cassandra, before continuing, "Don't go to my old address unless I tell you it's safe, this is important, so listen to me at least this once, right? Anyway, I can only say that your avatar fits you very well, I would be baffled if it turned to be an assassin or berserker, but a healer is really what you should be. Furthermore, you really are the Sun... you don't know how hard it was for me to not laugh when I saw that. That difference in our looks, though..." Eclipse Princess cast a glare at Nies, visibly annoyed by the difference in their heights and, well... bust size.

As soon as the others crossed the threshold inside the dungeon, Eclipse Princess said, "If you are worried about this dungeon, I assure you, it's not half as hard as it looks like. In fact, I have solo'ed it countless time on the past... if you don't believe my words, just keep in mind that this set required four levels worth of experience points and several rare dungeon drops to craft. In a way, it can be considered as unique as the Colored Kings praised arms. In this same vein, I really don't require any treasure from this place, only a key that the Boss might drop, since it gives access to the next dungeon I want to challenge."

With that said, Eclipse Princess turned on her heels and went into the dungeon, waiting until the nearest guard came to patrol the entrance and charging at him with an diagonally upwards slash cleaving half of its health bar in a single strike.

"Tsc", Eclipse Princess clicked her tongue, "Only one half? I'm used to trashing at least four of these things per slash, then again, I'm at less than half my top shape, but..." Princess spun, using the leftover momentum of the charge to power up a second strike, this time putting all her strength behind it, and cutting the foe in half on the waist line, sending sparks flying everywhere a moment before the dissolution shattered and disappeared as if it never had existed in first place.

"What one attack can't accomplish, another will." Eclipse Princess finished her previous line, still talking to herself, before turning around to look at the approaching reinforcements, three more of the same <<Mech Centurion>> that she had just defeated. Resting her sword over her shoulder, Eclipse Princess turned to her party members and said, "So, are any of you waiting an invitation? If you don't want any fun, I'll take them all on my own."

One had to wonder if the battle crazed smile on Eclipse Princess lips was even now being equated by her real counterpart? Anyone who knew Eris wouldn't have a hard time to guess the answer to this question, though.




"Well, that was disarming", Absinthe joked to herself as she flew over the Faded City following a random direction, after she found out that Mercury Titania still hadn't logged in that day. "On the the weekends, usually Titania-sama logs in as soon as she wakes up. What was she doing yesterday night, to not be awake now?" Yuuno wondered, as a blush came to Absinthe's face. One had to wonder what she pictured in that head of hers, but one thing is sure, Alex was involved on it.

"A- a- anyway, it's not my business to pry on Titania-sama's life. Even if her eyes will never sway to me, I, Absinthe Blue, will remain loyal to the Blue King, forever and ever! Hohoho!" Absinthe said to herself, in quite hammy tone. It really seemed that talking to herself in as loud a voice as possible was a habit of Yuuno on this side. And she wondered why it was so hard for her to find a party...

Either way, soon enough Absinthe was bored to hell and back, and, if it wasn't for the small feline looking avatar that she just had spotted, Absinthe would be forced to challenge random dissolutions in search of something to do.

"Fufufu..." a Cheshire cat-like grin crossed Absinthe Blue's lips as she devised a plan to draw some fun from the poor kitty. A moment later, Smitten Kitten would find an azure tail hanging in from of her like a cat teaser, just a bit too far of her reach (or so Yuuno presumed), "Come, kitty kitten! Come, come!" Absinthe eventually spoke, trying to incite Smitten Kitten to pounce at her tail.

Independent of the feline's actions, Absinthe would say, "Hi there, Smitten Kitten, I'm the Star of Ill Omen, Messenger of all Doom to Come, the one and only, Absinthe Blue. I ask of you, what are you doing so far from the inhabited zones? This is an area that only Outlaws dare to thread... anyway, if it's not too much of a bother, would you like play for some time? I'm so bored that I was thinking of counting the pixels on door of the guild hall."

---

@Mega Birb@Caits@McFazzer@Ryonara

Mercury Titania

It had been a rough morning for Maribel, more so than intended. Waking up much later than she was used to on a Saturday, she spent a good half of the morning just staring up at the ceiling and letting the night’s events process through her head. Yoshino acting weird, the appearance of those goons, Asahi being a general ass…it somehow all felt off. Like something big was going to happen really soon at any moment…maybe.

“Well I guess I should go ahead and do something today, huh,” she spoke to herself before a wide grin lit up her face. “Moping isn’t going to do anything. Besides, I can’t keep my adoring fans on hiatus like that anymore!”

Seriously…who was she talking to? The rest of Maribel’s morning went about as any other Saturday for her; trying to record all the cartoons, noting the list of chores that she had to do-and never doing them-occasionally remember to call up her older sister. Oh, and log onto DGO. That was a big one and she got right to it after throwing on a random t-shirt and some shorts.

---

---

“Ah, thanks! You’re pretty sharp too,” she said aloud with a wink, already mounting up her big blue war tank to just goof around in the game. “Anyway, I wonder what Jukey’s doing. I should probably apologize since I kind of made him abandon ship yesterday….but then again it was for Yoshino…eh. If he doesn’t accept my apology I’ll just duct tape his hands to his crotch.”

With a snicker, she drove off to go around sight-seeing. Because really, it wasn’t like anything important ever happened in DGO on a Saturday. Right? She was interrupted in these thoughts by a low beeping coming from her tank’s radar. A quick check revealed that it was picking up one of her own subjects, Absinthe Blue. Well, messing with her should be fun.

Speeding off, it took her little time to converge upon Absinthe’s location. Seeing a couple of rocks in the way, the Blue King grinned before speeding up and hitting the boulders head on. At the last second she veered back, sending herself airborne before freefalling right behind Absinthe, no doubt giving her the jump scare of her life. The ground shook and shuddered as the tank came to a standstill, Titania popping open the lid and standing on the hull of her Blue Bomber.

“Hiya Blue! Who’s your next cat friend? You’re not looking to replace little old me already, are you~?”

---

Dashing between rocks and rubble, Smitten Kitten thought no one had noticed her. She needed to work on her stealth though, because as she was still trying to escape the city, a blue tail appeared in front of her. Smitten Kitten took a swipe at it but missed. She lunged forward, overshooting and landing a few feet ahead of her surprised guest. It was a strange girl calling herself Absynthe Blue. She didn't have an Outlaw Declaration active, so Smitten Kitten wasn't worried about fighting her. But she could be a distraction. After Absynthe's lengthy introduction, Smitten Kitten looked around for any possible snipers. She didn't like the idea of being out in the open like this.

"I'm sorry, I can't. I have to go right now."

Smitten Kitten was going to make a run for it when she heard a low rumbling sound. She recognized it; it was the sound of a tank. Did someone bring a tank here? Before Smitten Kitten could react, one of the boulders near her blew up, and a giant blue tank showed up. The force was enough to knock Smitten Kitten to the ground, though it didn't help that she jumped in surprise. When she looked up she saw a massive tank and out of all the avatars she could have ran into, Smitten Kitten was looking at Mercury Titania, the Guild Master of the Cobalt Bruisers. Where they just picking on her now?

"This is nuts... Sorry, but I got to go!"

Smitten Kitten ran off as fast as she could, retreating back into the city. Just to ensure that they couldn't keep chasing after her, Smitten Kitten took a detour through the narrow alleys in the city district. Being fairly small herself Smitten Kitten had no issues running through them, though more adult sized avatars may end up rubbing shoulders against the wall, and surely Titania's tank can't fit through the alley. Or so she hopes. If they do give chase, then Smitten Kitten was going to need to use even more evasive actions. Fortunately, she knows one area she could try to lose them in; Blast Alley. A nickname for a part of the Faded City were avatars would lay traps for each other. Smitten Kitten avoids that place for obvious reasons, but she watches them lay down their traps, knows were most of them are at. If she needs to she could lose them there, though she'll be very late to Corpse Collector's meeting if she can't lose them now.

@TheWindel@KoL

Following Eclipse to the Dungeon, Jukebox was casually meandering after the group, not meaning to eavesdrop, but when your in a group and two people are talking, it’s hard to not overhear some things. Judging by the back and forth, Nies and Eclipse were friends and believed they were in a spy film of some sort, speaking in riddles. Probably for the best, internet security and all that.

“The black dove crows thrice upon the blue moon, crescent shape waning~” amusing himself, Jukebox paid particular attention to the details of the dungeon. Oh? Heavily armoured? I guess it pays to keep some jokes around! equipping the gun based on the film Blade Runner Alas, I lack night vision, still, they probably have glowing bits to shoot at

Watching Eclipse make short work of the enemies, Jukebox smiled and wondered why she brought them along? Regardless, he didn’t want to be someone who didn’t pull his own weight, so twirling the gun in his hands, he pulled back the hammer and fired at the group of <<Mech Centurion>>, fanning the hammer, the armour piercing rounds ignoring a portion of their armour and shredding their health directly, one going down while the other two were lightly wounded comparatively.

“Sorry about that Miss Eclipse” watching the spend rounds fall from the revolver like chamber before reloading “It was such a pleasure watching you work that I forgot I was even here. I’m glad to see you enjoying yourself, regardless~” smiling on the outside, Jukebox was rather disconcerted at this dungeon and its gimmick, but was glad that he was with a veteran of the tricks and claimed to solo it, a rare feat, so obviously has some trick with either ability or equipment to help her out.

“So we blow the generators, putting us in the dark, kill all machine monsters and enter the Boss chamber... how do we deal with it?” chuckling as he continued shooting "My normal M.O. is to run it over with a vehicle, not an option here. Or drop something heavy form on high and Bosses rarely have that option~" half hoping any of those options were viable, but resolved to make the best of the situation regardless.

@KoL @Caits @Mega Birb

"Hmm..." Absinthe seemed lost in thought as she heard Smitten Kitten's reply. If she wasn't here looking for someone to play with, what was she doing here? This was way too far away from the common hunting grounds for low level avatars and all that dwelled here were ne'er-do-wells, like Absinthe, who's always on the lookout for stretches of unclaimed land to clean up and resell, like the 10000 EXP Land Claim that she was meant to sell to Moon Rider yesterday but never was able to.

Anyway, so distracted was Absinthe in her thoughts that she never ever noticed the rumbling of the earth and the roar of the blue juggernaut that came ever so closer until...

BLAM!!!

Titania's tank smashed through a nearby pile of rubble with a thunderous blast, causing Absinthe to jump away while squealing a cute "Kya!" In fact, were Absinthe with her feet on the ground like any other peasant, she would have fallen on her small rump.

Nevertheless, "Hi, Titania-sama~" Absinthe yelled as soon as the Blue King spoke to her, "I- I was worried you had spent the night doing... things and wasn't going to get online before late. So I went around to try and find something to do, maybe a building or two to demolish. You know... things." The blue mage said with a tinge of red painting her face in clear demonstration that she was thinking about that.

"Anyway, this one is Smitten Kitten. Hey kitty cat, say hi to Titania-sama, will yo-" Absinthe attempted to address Smitten Kitten only to noticed that the feline rogue had already made a run for it and was just now disappearing on the nearby alleys. "...huh?" Absinthe cocked her head confused before unceremoniously sitting on the barrel of the Blue Bomber's cannon, swinging her legs idly.

"Hey, Titania-sama, I don't know why but I think that you gave her a cat scare." Absinthe giggled, amused with her own lame joke.

"Hmm, compared to someone who just gave out the cutest squeal I've ever heard, I don't think you're one to talk Blue~" the Blue King fired back as she stood on the hull of her tank. "Oh? You were concerned about little old me? Aw, that's so cute of you Blue! Come here, give me a hug~"

In no time, the Blue King had Absinthe in her crushing grip and hoisted her up for the biggest bear hug her subordinate had probably ever experienced. As she did so, she leaned in close and grinned mischievously, eyes darting to Smitten Kitten's escaping form and back to Absinthe.

"So tell me Blue, what did you think I was doing last night? Come on, don't be shy now. You know you can't lie to your King~" she teased.

"Ti- Titania-sama, you're going to..." Absinthe struggled on Titania's grip, she didn't knew if she should feel happy about being dotted upon by her beloved King, or afraid of the fact that her health bar was being chipped away by Titania's bear hug. In the end, Absinthe chose the first option, since the there can be no love without pain and pain coming from her Titania-sama was the greatest source of love on her life.

That said, Absinthe became stiff like a board when Titania whispered on her ear, the unusual stimulus coming from the pointy end of her digital ears rubbing against Titania's face, caused Absinthe's face to turn a bright shade of red as she stuttered, "I... hmm... you know it, Titania-sama..." Without any means of escape, and knowing that Titania would not let her go until she was satisfied with the answer that she very much knew, already, Absinthe blurted, "pla- playing Monopoly? Ye- yeah, Titania-sama must have spent the night playing monopoly with Juke-kun... right?"

"Not tha- that I have anything against it, of course. Mo- Monopoly is pretty healthy, but" Absinthe explained herself further, before turning to face Titania (almost kissing her in the process) and puffing her tiny cheeks as if trying to turn the tables by admonishing the rowdy Blue King, "Titania-sama should not let Juke-kun do what he wants. You have your responsibility as our King as well, if he tries to force you, I'll have to punish him." Indeed, now that Yuuno/Absinthe Blue knew who Alex/Unrelenting Jukebox were and their relationship with Maribel/Mercury Titania, she could barely hold back the urge to PKing Jukebox a couple times just to relieve her stress. A thought which was quit visible on the dark expression on Absinthe's face.

"Oh? And what would you know about Monopoly? Unless, gasp! You play Monopoly too? Blue, I never would have guessed!" Titania said happily, squeezing the other player some more before releasing her so she could catch her breath. "So what piece do you use? The car? The shoe? Oh, but I think you're the dog~ >:3"

The Blue King snickered to herself with that bold assertion before she noted the clear look of jealousy on Blue's face. Ah, so Yuuno was jealous of Alex then? That made sense. Sort of. Titania wasn't quite sure how much Blue was attracted to her but seeing as she was blushing cutely right now....

"Aw, is somebody jealous? Don't be Blue! Besides, the chances of both of you being chained up by me is pretty high anyway >:3" she said casually, waiting for a response to that.

"Ti- Titania-sama, you know that I would never do that with someone that's not you. My heart belongs only to the Blue King... though, Moon Rider-sama isn't bad too. A- anyway, that's not the point here." Absinthe said, using her expertise in misdirection to (not so very discreetly) change the subject, "You should not negate your obligations because of this kind of thing. Don't you remember you had an appointment this morning, to negotiate services with members of the other guilds? Now our income will take a 5% loss. Thankfully, I could salvage the situation and they decided to come back in a more appropriate time," Yuuno said, totally not mentioning the fact that she had indeed convinced the messengers under the argument that Titania was having girl problems, since the identity and gender of the Blue King was well known by all.

"Eh? Well it's their fault for scheduling things so early in the morning," Titania said with a shrug, ignoring the fact that it was at least early afternoon at this point. "But beside the point, what did you say about the Black King? Oh my, and you're dating that Asashi boy too? Maybe I should start calling you Blue Devil you naughty thing, you~! Someone who wears glasses owes me a bet."

Upon the mention of Asahi's name, Absinthe tensed visibly, the events of the previous night were still way too fresh on Yuuno's mind, after all, but Absinthe couldn't let Yuuno's troubles be a problem here on Deep Ground as well. She flipped one of her twin tails with her clawed hand and said, "Hahaha, Titania-sama, you tell the best jokes, Asahi is just someone that I know, there's nothing happening between us. Both mine and that girl on the other side's hearts belong only to you."

"Hmm, sure, whatever you say," Titania replied with a gleam in her eye. She could always pull out her resources to find out the truth and keep tabs. After all, Yuuno's love life was way more interesting than the politics of DGO. But it seemed that they would have to have some semblance of a serious conversation.

"Anyway, Titania-sama", Absinthe said a bit more seriously this time, "What do you think is happening here? That kitty cat, looked like she was really up to no good. Do you think we should follow her?"

"You know I was wondering that myself. I thought she was a new cute friend of yours. You said you were bored right? Why don't you be a good girl and follow her, ok? You know, impress your Blue King," Titania said with a wink.

"That would be a piece of cake Titania-sama", Absinthe said as she set flight once more, "Though I don't think that your tank will find a path so easily without demolishing everything in the way, but depending on what's up we might need more fire power," Absinthe considered, since a Lvl 1 on this area is bound to have stronger allies to watch her back...

"Ohh! So that's it!" Absinthe snapped her fingers and made an 'Eureka' face, after finally figuring what was happening. "She must be some poor kid that an Outlaw band blackmails into being a bait, but when she saw you, she run, 'cause of course, there's no way a bunch of filthy Outlaws can down the Mighty Blue King, the Rowdiest of the Rowdies." Absinthe gave an easily misinterpreted compliment to Titania, before finishing her speech with, “So, what do you say, Titania-sama, maybe if we could kill them and free Kitty, she could join us. You've noticed she had no guild as well, right?"

"Sure I'll help out! Though like you said, I'm not sure how fast I'll be with my tank...but it's all about the style, right?"

Titania was already mounting back atop her tank, closing the hatch and grinning. She figured she might as well help out Blue in getting there. So without warning, she maneuvered the joysticks until the barrel of the tank-which Absinthe was still graciously sitting atop of-in the direction of Smitten Kitten's departure.

"Good luck Blue :3" came the Blue King's voice before slamming her fist on a big red button. At once the tank shot out a massive projectile from its barrel. The shock of it would send Blue arcing forward and Titania was even hoping she'd take the chance to ride the bullet. This way Absinthe could at least catch up to the fleeing Kitten.

As soon as Absinthe noticed the rumbling beneath her, she knew that things weren’t right, sure Titania couldn't be thinking of... "You aren't going to do that, are you-" That was when Absinthe heard Titania's parting words, which only left her with the time to shout a muffed "Titania-samaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa~" before being sent flying through the skies of Faded City.

---

Even though Eris remained as composed as ever, Cassandra noticed the amusement in her manor, watching. When the message came through, Cassandra took the time to read it, smiling as she did so, yet frowning slightly at the mention of a new address and problems in the real world. What had happened? More and more there were things she would have to find out about Eris, but knew the game was not the place to ask. They had already come quite close to blowing their identities, particularly if anyone knew them in real life. It wouldn't be that had to figure the companionable manor they had here to their relationship in the real world.

Still, Cassandra made a note of the address, and posted a brief response to the nessage. you don't need to be sorry, I understand. Perhaps I chose this avatar simply for the hope it can provide, but then the sun is a sort of hope is if not? As is the moon, really. Both are needed for the world to thrive.

You need not be envious of the differences in our avatars. I like yours.

All at once it seemed they were back to being their avatars, as they were all in the dungeon, and Eclipse began to attack the opponents. She made short work of them, and Nies stood back, admiring the way it was done. So it was that Nies nearly didn't cast <<resistance>>, managing to do so seconds after Eclipse began to fight. While it wasn't much, it was something Nies could do.

She would have to be careful that she didn't favor Eclipse too much, that it would neglect the rest of the party, but for this time it seemed that it was only Eclipse that would require the resistance.

While Nies had a dagger, she knew she would be better equipped in this as a healer then a fighter, leaving the others to do the damage while she maintained their health. Otherwise she would be a hinderance. "My fun is ensuring you all come out alive" she replied to eclipse, her tone easy. The dungeon was sure to be an interesting experience

"̱̭͓̩̯.̭̺̪̺.̘͈͚̙͔̲͔̘̭̱̱̘̩̝͈.̞̞̻̹̹̖͈̗̙̥̺̟̜̠m̥̖̭̹̟͕͔̩̱̪̙.̻̪̰̹̳̜̣̘̯̪̞͈̤̖̺͉̭̙͕.͚̳̬̪̼̻͔̫̟͖͇̹͈.̼̰̪͔̮̥̟̗͉̤͔.͆̆̿̒eͧ.̯̮͖͐̅͑́̒̉.̞̺̰̙͑̏̈̃ͭ̔ͥ.̙̬̙̙̬͔͗͛.͎̤͈̫͍̒̏̈̐̅̍̈ͅĩ̟͍͉ͧ̍̀t̹͉̭̝̼̱̯ͧ'͖̳̬̪̥͈͚̞͚̙̺̱̱ͅͅs̖̖ͅ.̞͎̣̫̰͖̼̲̭̯.͚͚̠̞͚̻̦͉̺͉.̱͉̞̻̪͍͚̣͕̞̺͙̳͔ͅ.̺̗̲͇̝̹̼̖m̭̤̠͙.͚̟͚͔̩̪̟͔͙̥̰̯̠̣̞̳͖.ͮ̏ͫͨ̈̚.̆̇.̎͛ͣeͫ̾̌̾̉͑̓.̃͊ͤ͂̔͋ͫ.ͣͫ̿.ͤͧͩ̎.ͪ̂ͯ́"ͫ

The voice sounded too jaded, too jangled, as if audio was forcing itself on each other and harshly scraping against the ears of those unfortunate enough to listen. Distorted and out of pitch, the same phrase repeated itself over and over, clinging to the air surrounding the four Avatars that stood before dungeon entrance.

Before long, color and image began to apply itself to the haunting melody, the image of someone long forgotten flickering in their view. Eclipse Princess, Nies Hellum, Unrelenting Jukebox, and Nyx would all be treated to the appearance of one of their very own students at Purple Crown Academy.

Which in itself was a massive irregularity due to the fact that no Avatar was present. It was none other than the infamous Erika Mitsuki, the girl who had seemingly gone missing from school in the last couple of days. To those unaware, she was Azga the Amazing in the world of Deep Ground. She was known highly from coming from a famous famiily line that had always done exponentially well in Deep Ground, and she'd always been hounded by representatives of all of the colored guilds so that she may bring to them the prosperity that her legacy had before, rendering her pressured and undecided. Even those who had never spoken to her had known who she was, especially since she'd been the topic of so many rumors, like the ones saying she was dating the Red King himself. So why was she here, passing by as if she was nothing more than a ghost in the machine?

She stood there, looking dazed and unfocused. Her body flickered in and out of existence like a hologram, her hair and clothing floating around her as though she stood underwater. Patches of skin, bits of hair, parts of her body all glitching out erratically and separately, as though she, herself, were but a glitch in the system. She continued repeating those lonely, echoeing words.

---

Eclipse Princess was, surprisingly, enjoying her run through this dungeon that she had cleared god knows how many times in the past, maybe it was because of the company, maybe it was because of the renewed challenge, or just because of... "Cassandra", Eris thought in passing as Eclipse Princess' eyes took a casual glance of her, erm... girlfriend (How can thinking about one person in these circumstances be so hard?). "Either way, it would be better to avoid this, or people might find out who we are on the real world."

Just as Eclipse Princess was thinking so, their group finally reached the door to the first generator's room. However, before they could enter, the lights began to flicker on and off erratically, and some interference or ghost sound seeped in the ambient BGM. At first, Eclipse Princess wasn't fazed, it was not uncommon to experience glitches on these secret dungeons, very few people ever reached one of them and even less cared to report the errors they found (most likely to exploit them as much as they could).

Eclipse Princess continued on her way until what looked like a wraith of a real person or something out of a sci-fi novel pages materialized before them. "That's not supposed to happen", Eclipse Princess said before taking a step in the apparition's direction, "Two unexplainable events in one single day, what could be happening here?" She though as her hand was stretched towards the being, as a moth is drawn to a flame. Eris' curiosity about the real depths of Deep Ground once again baited her into a situation that could very well be dangerous, but there was no way she would stop.

"Who, or what are you? And... what are you doing here?" Eclipse Princess asked, as she was about to touch the hologram. What will happen when she does it? No one, much less Eclipse Princess herself knows, but one thing is sure, she wasn't going to stop, unless someone or something forced her to.

---

@TheWindel@ReaptheMusic@Caits@McFazzer@Mega Birb

Running, jumping, and sliding through the Faded City was easy and even kinda fun. Smitten Kitten wasn't a stranger to being chased and likes to kite her enemies to following her. But right now she wasn't trying to fight, just flee. She kept running until she went through at least seven alleys and through three tunnels. Surely if she couldn't hear them now, Mercury Titania and Absinthe Blue weren't going to follow her. Taking a moment to get her bearings Smitten Kitten sat down. She had to message Corpse Collector and tell her she was going to be a bit late.

"I won't be able to make it right now, I'm being chased by Mercury Titania and one of her guild members. I promise I'll make it before you're done!"

After sending her message Smitten Kitten heard a loud explosion. She thought that maybe it was just Mercury Titania fighting outlaws, but that's when Kitten noticed something in the skies. It looked like a flare... But upon closer exception Smitten Kitten saw it was actually Absinthe Blue. She must have been as lucky as a black cat, because it also looked like the blue guild mage was going to land right were Smitten Kitten was standing. "You have got to be kidding meow!"

Smitten Kitten was propelled by the explosion, doing a bit of damage to her. The explosion didn't go unnoticed either. Smitten Kitten could hear other players shouting nearby, likely outlaws. She couldn't turn back, not on the off-chance that crazy blue person was still there. But going forward meant risking running face-to-face with outlaws. She looked around and noticed some loose bricks and handholds. She could climb up to the rooftops and try to lose them up there. So Smitten Kitten extended her claws for extra grip strength and started climbing.

@TheWindel@KoL

The dungeon was fun. Usually he was a tag along for the power levelling of the lower level players. Disdain was common, but this? He was enjoying himself with this group. Ghost Rider was amusing, Eclipse knew what she was doing and wasn’t all that mocking about it and Nies made sure no one died on the mission! Sure they weren’t the A-Team, but they were never under any threat in this dungeon.

Arriving in the first generator room, Jukebox was rather looking forward to progress this dungeon. “So do we just shoot the thi-” suddenly a grating sound echoed, it was rather similar to a corrupted sound file, screeching vague words, before mellowing out into a melody and forming into a rather ghostly image of a person.

Did we fulfil the requirements for a hidden quest? It screeched... save me? Was it save me? doubting his conclusion, Jukebox cautiously edged closer to the ghost lady. “Umm... Skeletor...? Nyx...? are you friends with this ghost?” then Soundtrack of Life being the tactful thing it was blared out at that precise moment



“Sorry! Sorry, no control over this! Wish I did. Wish I had a better ability... So what should we do with this ghost in the machine? How do we help? If this is a quest, brilliant, EXP ahoy. If this is... somehow real, then aren’t we obligated to help? Or at least contact a DGO admin?” a bit unsure about what to do, Jukebox looked at everyone else before staring at the ghost before seeing Eclipse going to touch her, leaping forward he grabbed Eclipse's hand and stopped her.

"Are you crazy?! You could hurt either her or yourself. If she's as glitchy as she looks, for all we know she could... cause feedback and make vegetables of us! No offence Miss Ghost. I know you wouldn't do something like that, but accidents happen. And I believe in safety first... also if I was a ghost I wouldn't want people poking around in me." letting go of Eclipse, Jukebox forced a nervous smile with Ghostbusters still blaring in the background somewhat sapping the gravity of the situation

@KoL @Caits @Mega Birb@TheWindel@ReaptheMusic

"Of course. I'll be sure to compensate you whenever I have a task for you." Dark Wraith went ahead and gifted the items to Kisa, out of goodwill and to get rid of some useless stuff Dark Wraith can't make use of. As they spoke, there was talk of a lot of activity going on around Deep Ground. One thing that was on Dark Wraith's mind was that anomaly from yesterday. because she couldn't figure out the cause, she can't be certain it won't happen again. And she didn't like being uncertain. She had very little lead, but she figured that Corpse Collector may know something. "Your first order will be to head to the Faded City and do some information gathering. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that the Corpse Collector is a big target right now. See if you can find any of her lackeys in the Faded City and get them to talk. I don't expect you to get answers immediately, but the sooner the better, yes?"

Dark Wraith stood up and became to walk away, but not before handing Kisa a digital note containing names. "I can't say that everyone on this list is working for the Corpse Collector, but I have my suspicions. Find out whatever you can, and I'll be sure to reward you accordingly." After handing her the note Dark Wraith decided that she'd go out and hunt for information herself. With any luck a lead would practically come and find her. First, she'd head to the stables to get her mount.



@Kitsune

Nyx recoiled slightly at the digital ghost's appearance. The HUD held inside his mask was scrambled and his vision became blurred as electricity began jumping from the cracks in the skull... and I firearm was drawn from inside the boy's coat. He pointed the barrel at the glitching mass in front of him and held it there, a finger frozen on the trigger. "No, I have no idea who or wha-"

The rogue jumped as Ghostbusters, of all things Ghostbusters, started blaring and shot the ceiling, then glared at Jukebox. "You owe me a bullet. Anyway, I have no idea what's going on. I'm connected, but this..?" The avatar shrugged, starting to consider another plan to use the joker beside him as a shield if the need arose.

From what he could make out, even though his reliance on technology was making it nearly impossible to see anything, it appeared to be the ghost of a legend before him. But... why here? And why now? This all seemed a little off to Nyx. But then again, he was in a dungeon he really shouldn't be in at his level. Was it a normal thing for this to happen?

@McFazzer @KoL @TheWindel @ReaptheMusic

---

As the three most interactive before the glitch went about their business, Erika's chant slowly died into something much, much quieter until it stopped altogether. Her eyes having been glued to the air above the crew before the twitching remnants of a human being now slowly dropped to look dead at them and remain silent as very dated 80's music played in the background.

....

....

....

Suddenly a text prompt appeared over Erika's head. The same kind you might see when you're building a game.

freew1LL.exe running

As soon as the prompt appeared over Erika's head, her blue eyes widened within the game. Though she continued to glitch like mad, a gurgling sound came from the depths of her throat. Shaking, she slowly lifted her hands up in front of her face. The entire time she did so, her neck doing an unnaturally tick. She turned her hands over slowly, the gurgling sound graduating to a small hiccup-like whimper. Then she looked up at the players before her, going still.

ERROR:No Walking Animation Implemented

She appeared directly before Nyx, gripping his digital collar hard and dragging him closer. Panting hard, she leans in close to his ear and is only able to get out a whisper.

"...ro....he...want....be...do...do you...want to...be a....hero?"

Had Nyx chosen to turn at this very moment, he would see the image of Erika smiling in glee. It was nothing psychotic and it almost seemed like the girl was genuinely happy, as if she had been promised something grand. But the dips in the tone of her voice coupled with the flicker of her appearance made the scene all the more...disturbing. As if they were watching a reel of Erika's last moments before something, anything, happened to her.

And judging by the fact that the girl, as far as they knew, was still missing in the real world, they probably were.

"...Yes...."

The whimpering response beckoned for digital tears to slide down Nyx's jacket. She outstretched her arms and went to wrap them around him, as though she were embracing an old friend.... or a lover rather than a strange avatar.

freew1LL.exe has stopped running

Suddenly, Erika glitched back into place where she was before, her real-world style avatar slumped over with her hair down and covering her face. The music was forced to stop playing in a fritz of static before the Unrelenting Jukebox's music player was erased from existence altogether, glitching like mad before disappearing from his side. The screens inside Nyx's mask all went blank and staticky. Nies Hellum's staff was suddenly placed on fire, and unable to be used. Last of which, Eclipse Princess's sword became entirely too heavy and fell to the ground from its holster. Then, like an unreliable Elder Scrolls game, began glitching erratically, swinging around and partially into the floor, then the wall, and all the way back out of the cave.

"Do you want to be a hero?"

The line was spoken again, coming from Erika's own mouth. But something was off. Something was different. As Erika's image began to flicker out more and more, Jukebox's music player suddenly clicked back in place. But almost as if it was haunted or possessed, it began to play a softer, more somber tune that was beyond his control. No matter how much he tried he would not be able to shut the thing off.

This wasn't the end of the strange occurrences. Erika's form now began to fade, certain parts of her body blending in with the static...before a shape emerged. A tall figure draped in dark cloaking, a hood raised over their head to conceal their features. But what could be made out were twin points of red eyes that seemed to beat with apathy and disregard.

"Do you want to be a hero?" it asked again, this time flickering between the robed figure and what looked like Erika's form. Only this time she was no longer smiling. Due to the glitching images, it almost appeared as if she was screaming, her mouth disjointed and stretching beyond what was humanly possible. Simple prowess of editing...but it still came across as unnerving with the lack of Erika's audio.

Then, with those final images.... The dungeon began to crumble. Not in the typical way... but in a sense that cause the game to glitch like mad. The generator disappeared and reappeared in various places, some of it through the avatar's bodies without the consequence of pain. The forest area's background music began to play instead of the sturdy drone of the dungeon's BGM. And then it cut in several places, switching back and forth until the background tones were nothing but a dull screech.

Beneath the dark tones of Unrelenting Jukebox's music player, a voice was screaming out. But the noise was distorted, like someone had spoken directly into the microphone. Erika's disjointed voice.

The very same thing she screamed against the Jukebox's music player was displayed across the formerly black screens inside Nyx's mask in glaring, running red letters that refused to shut off, filling the player with an excess of information.

Nies Hellum would experience several status ailments that would flicker across her screen, each one of them affecting her to some degree. From burning, poison, cutting, and freeze...it was perhaps thankfully that the effects were moving at a mile a minute lest she be stuck with an unbearable amount of pain. She would at least survive this experience.
Eclipse's messaging system was going mad, receiving letter after letter after letter until the number rose to the thousands. Messages were being received constantly, all with the same subject title.

"It's Me."
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
All the players present were forcibly logged off with a screeching static noise that only ended when they opened their eyes once more in the real world. They would find though, that they are still able to log right back on shortly after.

All those messages Eclipse had received. All the screaming Unrelenting Jukebox had heard. All the words Nyx had seen displayed on his masks' screens said the same thing.

"1722 Wallan Street. 529"

---