"Right, j- -ime - -c. ------uip -thing -ha-. - --aigh- - - eyes."

----------------------------------
----------------------------------
----------------------------------

"EH? What.... Its completely dark. .... I can't even see myself." Flan furiously tried to do anything; access the menu? No response. No menu, no abilities, stats, or even the ability to power off. She was stuck, alone, in a giant black void inside the game. No sense of time was present, she merely existed. At first she tried to comfort herself, giving plausible reasons as to what happened, and how the Academy staff were doing everything they could to fix whatever situation she was in. Surely she wasn't the only one this happened to, right? Right!? Next she tried passing the eternity by singing to her self any and all songs she could think of. Songs she hasn't heard in ages, blending into other songs changing the tune into that of an entirely different song. She was tired, but couldn't sleep and no light to guide her out of this place. She merely existed in the void; unmoving, unthinking. Alive in this virtual limbo.

----------------------------------
----------------------------------
----------------------------------

---

---

Hmm? A message? Flan couldn't quite comprehend what was happening at the moment. The contrast between the message and the void in the background hurt her eyes too much for her to focus, only giving her a headache when she tried. Quickly the world spun around her as a familiar place became to take shape. The Black Throne room. She didn't know why she was there, or what just happened. How long was she out of the game? Was her real body ok? She wasn't dead, she thought, otherwise she wouldn't be here now, right? But she was exhausted so she just laid there in the middle of the floor, not bothering to try to log out for fear as to what she'd find, or rather what she might not find at all.

Was rather silent while making her way towards the meeting place where Dark Wraith was located, though not out of trying to be cool and stoic but more out of respect for the one she was traveling with. Sure there was a lot that she desired to ask her, such as how she became so strong and what it felt like to be on top of it all, but now was not the time. She had a job to accomplish and she had the feeling that time was of the essence right now, and the longer that they waited around the longer the Corpse Collector had...

When they finally arrived at her current employer she stepped to the side to allow the pair to talk, though she still listened intently to what was being said. All the information that she had not been privy too before was all a little too much for her to take in, other than this would be pretty much DEADLY in game terms.

Turning to face Dark Wraith as she was addressed she raised a brow rather confused by what was being offered to her, a level three of all things. To fight side by side with the black king against a enemy of the entire game would likely go down in history, yet her other choice was a safer and more piratical task of getting other players... "No, I shall aid Moon Rider in facing the Corpse Collector and support them. To face such a foe would be amazing, not to mention I am interested in this reward that you offer." She would either fall forever or come out on top of it all with the others, and now it was just waiting to see what would happen! She had made her choice and by this point there was no way that she was going to miss out on this even if Moon Rider tried to deny her! "We can just send a message to everyone, unsure if I would be able to do it while in combat." She mentioned in a off handed way.

Turning around she started to follow after Dark Wraith though she decided that it would prudent to mention something, after all she knew Moon Rider had something to ride... hence the name. "I would be faster on foot, if you had some kind of transport to use. Or shared with someone...." Looking back she waited to see what the black king would say to this, after all with her speed skill she was fine.

@Lucius Cypher@TheWindel

Well, things had definitely escalated quickly. Although he knew that the EXP rewarded for killing Outlaws was tempting, he didn’t foresee this many people joining in on the whole shebang. At this rate, they probably weren’t ever gonna confront CC, but based upon the entire hubbub in the city, the aforementioned hacker was already knee deep in troubles. But now was not the time to worry about that, for getting out of this shitstorm alive took priority. ”Maintain fire on the cloud giant! Jet Rhino, get ready to switch with our squad to heal!” Moon held his hands at the sides of his mouth and called out to his comrades before him, all the while bullets rained in every direction. The scene had drastically changed over the course of the battle. The players under Moon’s and Slave’s command had now completely surrounded the remaining enemy forces, which were currently seeking refuge next to the dissolution. They had their backs against the wall without anywhere to go. The mage-heavy squads still continued their assault on the boss, but with the lack of Cerulean Knight’s presence, it didn’t look like they were going to down the damn thing in time. With his main focus on the men and women he was commanding over, he also kept tabs on the wild type variables in this situation. To his left, holding down the gate was who he presumed to be Eclipse Princess, accompanied by a fellow with a skull as an accessory. Speaking of the latter, Moon and Sky Knight watched as the guy turned an Outlaw into a four course meal. The two stared, mouths agape, complete awestruck by the spectacle.

”Holy crap, that was totally wicked!”

”Right? He was like, SHINK, KSSH, RAAAAA”

”And then he was all like CRACK! CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK!”

”I think I’ve found my role model. Dude, before I go to class tomorrow I’m going to submit a new club form!”

During this casual exchange of words, the dissolution began to vibrantly glow. Yet the two were completely oblivious to this pertinent detail. ”Oh, really? And what do you plan to christen this club?”

Sky Knight rubbed his chin and mulled deeply. With a snap of his fingers, a spark went off inside of that brain of his. ”I got it! The Whatever-That-Skull-Guy’s-Name-Is-Fan-Club-Club. Preeeeeeetty catchy, right? Rolls right off the tongue.” Moon gave an affirming applause to the brilliant player. Only a genius could craft such a spectacular title.

Just then, a cannonball whizzed past their heads and exploded a few meters past them. After almost receiving more than just a haircut, the two dropped back behind the cover where Strawberry Baby was currently scrolling through her inventory. ”What happened? Seemed like you two were hitting it off pretty well. Such a shame that ordinance intruded on your little moment. I was about to start a Fanfic starring you two~.” She remarked whimsically, meanwhile Moon looked over the edge of the wall and watched as Arms Slave took care of the cannon that just fired on them. ”Well, you know. When people come up with revolutionary ideas, there are always those who want to obstruct ingenuity…” Moon’s voice trailed off as he finally came to acknowledge the recent development. ”Well that looks like an uh-oh.” Sky Knight had a similar reaction and nodded.

”Mages aren’t going to make it in time, and it’s heavily defending its crit point. Hmmm…”

Strawberry Baby patted down her skirt and stood up from the ground, ”Well looks like you’re in luck, champ. Just cooked something up that’ll make your little pea-shooter there actually touch the thing.” Moon’s hopes instantly skyrocketed, ”Oh, really?! Well lay it on m-”

”But it’s gonna cost ya.”

Moon clicked his tongue and pouted at the same time. He sighed and tilted his head, silently asking the mage to name her price. ”Your IRL ID. Or, at least a hint. Just depends on how good of a hint it is.” Strawberry Baby chirped as she poked at her UI, getting the spell ready. The rogue finally caved and jerked a thumb at his face with a smirk, ”Just look for this ugly mug roaming the halls of the academy, yeah? Oh, plus an eyepatch. ”

The other party of the deal suddenly broke out into laughter, unable to believe that Moon’s avatar was an exact replica of his real self. In a game where people were not bound by the constrictions of reality, Moon merely strove for normalcy. ”Kay, I admit it, you’ve managed to amaze me. Give me your carbine, I’ll buff it for you.”

”Wait.” Sky Knight, who had not spoken a word throughout the entire covenant finally cut in. He released his sidearm from his belt and handed it to Strawberry. The mage took the single barreled sawed-off shotgun in her hands and grinned. So now things had turned into a hit or miss situation. The boy had one shot, otherwise all was for naught. The mage casted a buff spell on the weapon, then shoved it into the rogue’s grip. ”Don’t miss.” Moon solemnly nodded and began to make his way for the city gate, but abruptly stopped within a matter of seconds. He glanced back at the two while the conflict continued to rage on. ”Say, Strawberry… That stealth spell recharged yet?”

---

Eclipse, Nyx, and the girl Moon hadn't spotted earlier would have most likely picked up on the sound of quickened footsteps racing towards and past them, yet there was no visible source. In a matter of minutes he had reached the top of the wall and was now running along its rim towards the battlefield. Moon wished he had Slave’s chains so bad right now. He staved off the urge to rest and continued his cursory sprint, taking the chance to ready his weapon. ”This better work…” The boy gulped as he took a quick look over the edge. Nobody would be willing enough to catch him. Maybe Drauni. Probably not. He leaned forward as he closed the gap between himself and the leap of fate he was doomed, or destined, to make. The storm giant was entirely focused on his comrades, even though it had ceased any attacks and was putting all of its energy towards going nuclear, he’d rather not be spotted by the boss.

And just like that, metal was replaced with thin air. The kinetic energy generated from Moon’s charge was the only thing propelling him towards his target. While he soared through the air, the stealth spell wore off, displaying the rogue to the entire audience. He cocked the shotgun and with no regrets shouted out to in the midst of the chaos, ”FOR STRAWBERRY SMOOTHIEEEEEES” He squeezed down on the trigger when he was within range of the dissolution’s head. The buckshot completely encompassed its face, decimating the sliver of HP remaining.

The radiance emanating from the giant changed hues, and within the span of a second, burst into a snowfall of blinding polygons. The explosion shined vibrantly, until it was slowly engulfed by the darkness that embodied the region’s atmosphere, as if the boss never existed. For a moment, all was silent. ”So this is what tranquility sounds li- AND THIS IS WHAT FALLING THROUGH THE AIR FEELS LIKE OH SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT.”

Although Moon usually had an out, this wasn’t one of those times. The rogue flailed his arms as he plummeted to the ground, only to be whisked away by one of the few dragons left. The Outlaw steering the mount looked at the Sweeper utterly perplexed. Meanwhile, the boy gave the player a warm smile, ”My hero!” From there, he promptly kicked him off and hijacked the mount.

To: Arms Slave, Jet Rhino, Junkyard Dog, Ash Roller, Strawberry Baby
From: Paper Moon
Subject: Glad I wore my brown pa- wait I didn’t. Shit.

“Alright, let’s wrap up the remaining Outlaws and figure out how we’ll spend our EXP. We’ll secure the drops once everything’s been said and done. Arms Slave and I will handle divvying them up to everybody. Good work out there everybody.”

It wasn't long before the fighting continued, but for the most part, everyone had just been assigned to cleanup detail.
@Lucius Cypher@KoL@Caits@Mega Birb

---

---

Stark Zealot, the mysterious Ivory Mask, operative continued to scuttle around the Black City, carrying on his mission with utmost precision and efficiency, after securing a chance for Corpse Collector’s escape (so that the Outlaw could try to finish the mess she began), now the silent cyborg’s next objective was to use the Outlaw distraction to his main objective. But first, like White Sun ordered him, ”Be as much of a trouble as you possibly can… I don’t care what it is, just ruin their lives...” Zealot positioned himself atop another roof, aiming a shot at no one other than the indecisive form of Nies Helum, who didn’t knew what course of action to take.

The bow was drawn, the energy projectile nocked, and the target set… released, set flight and… easy kill for Zealot were it not for…



”Nies, watch it!” Eclipse Princess shouted as she took one glance behind of her to look at one more Outlaw Nix shot down only to notice Stark Zealot as he was about to fire at Cassandra, but as too late to avert her. The speed with which Eclipse Princess moved to intercepted the attack must probably have broken a couple of the system’s limitations, since it practically looked like she had teleported behind Nies tanking the arrow aimed at the Healer with her left hand, suffering some damage more out of the nature of the action than from Zealot’s attack. The only thing she could do for Nix was pat him in the back, in a symbolic baton pass, ”It’s on you now. You’ve earned it.” Eclipse Princess’ gaze seemed to say to the masked rogue who suddenly earned a lot of her respect, despite being a technical foe.

Yet, Eclipse Princess took the energy projectile off her hand with her teeth, snarling at Nies Helum, but not daring to take her eyes off Ztark Zealot, who was beginning to retreat even now. ”Go help your friend, staying in the open like this will only turn you into a target for someone else.” Eclipse Princess said before she run after Zealot, quickly climbing the side of the building with powerful kicks. Since she needed to pass the message in a way that Cassandra would get, Eris turned on her back just as she reached the roof and yelled between bared teeth that looked much like the fangs of a wild animal, ”Don’t try to follow me. I’ll kill this one on my own!”

As she said so, Eclipse Princess set on the pursuit if Stark Zealot, all the time the Ivory Mask soldier remained calm, almost to an unnatural degree, making sure that his main target of this mission, Eclipse Princess herself, wouldn’t lose the sight of him… ”Tsc! Do you think I’m an idiot? I can see it’s a trap, you are leading me to,” Princess thought to herself, as Zealot got to the place he was apparently trying to lead Eclipse to this whole time, the ruins of an abandoned mall, deep on the Neutral territory between the lands of the guilds. Now… this was starting to get interesting, Eclipse Princess smile was all the words she needed to communicate her intention of not backing down, still, the Black Swordswoman yelled as she shot down through the glass panels of the mall’s roof.

”Unless it’s your King waiting me in person, I don’t think your ploy will be successful! Come out, White Rats, it’s time to die!”



Just as Eclipse Princess landed in the dark mall, she sent out one last reply for Arms Slave before setting her status as busy, so that the damn piece of scum would stop bothering her with his hormonal induced problems… The classic need for men to declare themselves as the ‘alpha’ of everywhere they stepped.

To: Arms Slave

From: Eclipse Princess

Subject: Re: Re: -

Why don’t you go use those extra arms of yours to tend to your band of “merry men”? While at it, show them that a true leader can use his mouth too. I have more important things to do, sucker, go learn how to play before trying to challenge me.

- PS: My previous statement is still in effect. If I see you, you can count that I’ll do it, I. Don’t. Joke.

---

As he was patted on the back, Nyx looked back at Eclipse Princess and nodded, as if to say 'Good luck.' So he turned his head back around just in time to see the sword of a Duelist whizz by where it had been five seconds ago. In no time at all, a dagger was pulled across the chest and stabbed into the neck of the melee fighter, once again putting another Outlaw on a lengthy respawn time. "I've got things locked down. Nies, stay behind me and look out for Archers."

Within a few seconds he heard two sets of footsteps rush past, one from what appeared to a Necromancer dressed in white and orange and another from an invisible second party. Decidedly taking a stab at the one he could see, he cursed as the blade just barely clipped the mage's coat and he kept running. Without even stopping, he turned and taunted the Assassin, then pulled a couple of corpses along with him. "Fucking mages..." The invisible one would be left to run.

His next move was to hand his pistol to Nies without taking his eyes off the battlefield. "You can shoot a gun, right?" It went without saying that he hoped for a firm yes. He needed someone to help him if the gate ended up being swarmed.
@Caits@Jedly

---

Phantom Regality

Phantom Regality ended Necrotic Bond as the last of the cannoneers died, smiling as three of them swiftly rose from the dead and gathered around the Necromancer. He immediately checked their stats and exited his cover with a knowing smirk. "A tank and two duelists, all level 2... whoever put you three on the cannons is a real moron. Would've been better off with an archer on them." Deciding to stop talking to himself and make his way to the battlefield proper, he drew a well-kept steel sword from its sheath on his hip and directed his thralls towards the giant dissolution...

And promptly called them back as it died in a fiery explosion. "Well you people are no fun..." Electing to take a seat on a decrepit yet well-placed bench, the Mage examined the situation. The Dissolutions were effectively dealt with, and the Outlaws outside the city were being torn through like tissue paper by Eclipse Princess and the suited figure defending the gate. He took a moment to check his equipment and sort his inventory before something caught his attention. Well, rather the lack of something caught his attention. Eclipse Princess was nowhere to be found at this point. All that was left was the assassin in the golden mask, who seemed to be relatively distracted at the moment.

Seizing the opportunity, Phantom Regality took off for the gate, his thralls lagging behind. Not wasting a moment, he dispelled the three and slipped right past the rogue, who was holding a gun out to a healer. He turned around and blew a raspberry at the gate's defender and activated Grave Digger, reanimating the corpses of two Outlaws that had gotten slightly past the entrance way. A Berserker and an Archer, both Level 3, joined the Necromancer in his mad dash into the city. He stopped after a fair distance to reply to Arms Slave's message.

To: Arms Slave

From: Phantom Regality

Subject: Eclipse and the Gate

Alright, I got into the city, and Eclipse Princess is missing. I think she might be going after CC. Watch out for the Assassin guarding the gate, only got by because he was busy with a duelist. Barely got by, even then.

The moment Eclipse Princess had finished sending out her message, three orange bolts of energy came flying at her from her right flank. The motions were fluid and smooth, obvious indication that Stark had been waiting for here this entire time. Even so, why had he chosen now to commence his attack? Seems the "white rat" had some semblance of honor, the cyborg moving out of the shadows silently with three more arrows nocked and ready to fly, all of them pointed at the Stryker.

"Hmm? Do you think I'll be so easy to take down?" Eclipse Princess said as she first three bolts flew toward her, dodging the first two by rolling to the side and taking some scratch damage on her right leg from the third. It seemed she had underestimated not only Stark Zealot's skill, but also his honor. "Mmm? Ho~" Princess couldn't help but chuckle inwardly as Zealot revealed himself, and to the fact that he had no additional allies to try and defeat Eclipse Princess with numbers. Still, a duel is a duel, Eclipse Princess could as the questions she needed after she had brought Stark Zealot under submission.

With that thought, Princess eliminated any distractions from her mind, focused only on swinging her sword and winning. "Ahhh!" Princess shouted as she charged, using all the momentum from her movement to try to slash at Zealot's midsection, with a wide horizontal swing that could as well finish the battle before it began if Stark Zealot didn't got the cue from this obviously telegraphed strike and dodged.

In response, Stark Zealot made a small twitch of his head before moving to the left easily. So it was like that? An eye for an eye? There was no way Princess would allow such an easily telegraphed move to commence if she was fighting seriously; and that only made the White Guild member more determined in his goal.

With the sword swing dodged, he twisted around to fire his three arrows at Princess' back point blank. He made no motion to follow through with another strike though. His actions show a certain curiosity about them. What would the Berserker do now?

Zealot had, as expected, dodged the attack, still it wasn't enough for Princess to determine his weaknesses and strengths, or even why he was here in first place. Even so, Eclipse Princess grinned. "Why is it? Why is this feeling burning on my chest again, just when I thought no one but a King could get me this way..." The Berserker noticed the Archer's ploy and, without a doubt she let the sword that was on her left hand go, grabbing it with her right and crossing it behind herself, to block the shots. A sideways glance over her shoulder revealed Zealot cocking his head, which Eclipse Princess replied with a smirk.

"Yet, you had to come and fire me up. You'd better take responsibility, hear me?" Eclipse Princess yelled, extending her hand toward Stark Zealot, if the Archer paid attention before he would know that Eclipse Princess had just used her Spatial Collapse ability, but why had it not hit him? She wasn't blind, was she? The answer would come soon as a whole section of the glass covering the roof plummeted above Zealot, after Eclipse Princess had destroyed a support column. The smile on her lips taunting him, "Dodge this", it seemed to say.

But if the warrior was aiming to make her opponent react and panic, she would be greeted by something else in its place. Stark straightened up, calmly walking after the Princess with barely a beat in his stride. As the glass came plummeting down, the shards would each pass right through him, smashing against the floor. He lunged out in the small frame of Princess' bewilderment.

With bow still in hand, the weapon collapsed into two blades of blue energy and he slashed about at the other Player. His motions were cold, calculated, reflecting the robotic Avatar DGO had chosen for him. Only when all of the glass had settled did his hand move faster, aiming to kill.

"Huh? What the!?" This time Eclipse Princess had to admit that she was really surprised. She could never expect an ability such as this, but, the fact that he had to use it, meant that it was on cooldown, an opportunity that Eclipse Princess couldn't squander.

Eclipse Princess met Zealot's charge with one of her own, but instead of countering immediately, Princess would dodge under Stark Zealot's attacks in order to reach a piece of standing rubble behind him, running up its side him a powerful kick, before back flipping to try and hit the Archer with an Icarus attack from the biggest natural blind spot anyone had, that is, right overhead.

In response to this, the Ivory Mask player thrust his fist back before lurching forward. His punch made contact with Princess' kick, meeting it in equal force thanks to his metallic Avatar giving him a boost in strength. Even so, Princess countered with a diving Icarus, ready to slam him into the ground.

Of course, most players would waste precious time looking around before the kick would end their lives...but seeing as Princess was gone from all directions, the only logical choice was above. Rolling forward to avoid the crushing blow, Stark reformed his bow while in motion. By the time he landed back on his feet, three arrows were nocked and ready, firing each to Princess' shoulders and chest plate. The arrows stuck before immediately exploding.

Well, it looked like Eclipse Princess had met an opponent that could not only match her skill, but also outwit her in a straight up fight. If Princess had to say, this was becoming a nice fight but Zealot was clearly above her level, if not literally, at least in skill, on the present situation. A challenge worth it, but an unavoidable defeat if she dragged this for too long. It was a matter of ending this duel on the next move, or not ending it at all, for Eclipse Princess.

Just as two the arrows were about to hit her, Eclipse Princess dropped to the side, unable to do any other move thanks to the fall, but at least a piece of rubble absorbed part of the shock from the explosions, even if Princess was penetrated by blades of glass on her right shoulder and left thigh. But contrary to all expectations, Eclipse Princess, kicked the floor, jumping head first on the third arrow and using her sword to knock it of the air just as it was about to connect, though Princess suffered the full damage of the explosion right in her face, the... Berserker-like maneuver got her right into Zealot's face, "It was a nice fight, but... playtime's over!" Eclipse Princess shouted as she swung her blade in a slash with all of her strength, though her target was Stark Zealot, but the bow on his hands, a hit from her ability and it's over.

That was all Eclipse Princess could hope for after sacrificing that much for one single opening. If this last move failed she was done for.

Stark Zealot blinked...or would have had his Avatar had eyes. Even so, he was caught off guard as Princess merely tanked the blow to deliver one final strike towards his weapons. But she seemed to have forgotten something...and the White Guild member merely walked through Princess' entire body as the cooldown to his ability ran up.

No sooner did he do that did he strike, twirling an arrow in hand before stabbing it into her back, electrical sparks seeping through her armor and towards her. Damage would be dealt, health would drop...but Stark would not take a killing blow. Seeing Princess on her knees was good enough, the Avatar silent in his doings.

Reaching down to his waist, he produced a small oval-like object before tossing it down to Princess. As it made contact with the floor, a hologram would shine up. Even now, Stark was vague, both in responses and his actions because all that showed up on the hologram was the symbol of the Ivory Masks. His task done, he leapt back into the shadows with nary a sound made.

Her chance lost, her life spared only because fulfilling whatever dark mission Stark Zealot had come to do was higher on his list of priorities than off Eclipse Princess. "Stark Zealot, huh? That was a fight I won't forget in a good time, but what about this thing? Does the White Bitch want something with me, or was it just a demonstration of power?" Eclipse Princess was defeated, but not her pride, now she and Stark Zealot were on even ground when it comes to knowledge of the other's tactics and skills.

"The next time, things won't end like this, that.. I swear. Hahaha!" Eris thought as Eclipse Princess rested her back against a wall and pocketed the hologram disk. Without anything else to do, Eclipse Princess logged off Deep Ground, she was just too wounded and too tired to care to go back to the Black City now, the battle was all but over anyway. The Friendship Squad could at least scrape the floor and clean the rest by their own... Eris just wanted a rest, for now.

"Eh? You know where the Moon Fucker is?" Corpse Collector asked, a sneering grin curling up on her face. "Yeah, yeah, just show me the way already before anyone else can...oh you've got to be fucking kidding me..."

Before she could so much as take a step, someone completely new suddenly showed up asking for directions. Corpse Collector stared at this Devilish Hellflame with a perplexed look and was about to answer with a stinging retort...only for a second individual to arrive. Now there was someone named Stab~Stabberson...really?

Thankfully, the Dissolutions that had been chasing her at that moment arrived, something sharp thudding into their backs before they turned their sights on the two newbies. Not one to question it, Corpse Collector grabbed Kitten's hand and led her away, forgetting that the other Player was supposed to be doing that.

"Suck it you fucking losers," she called out haughtily. She was not going to be distracted any further from her end goal.

More people showed up, which made Kitten sigh. This wasn't going to be any easier if more players got involved, even if they were on their side. Corpse Collector swiftly took Kitten's hand and ran off, even though Corpse Collector was taking CC in a completely opposite direction from where they needed to go. As they got a bit further away from the others, Kitten noticed a somewhat large sewer grate. She could slide in easily, though CC might be a tight fit. Still, it was one way to lose the others. Follow me!"

Kitten ran ahead of CC and slide right into the sewer grate. She landed on solid cement and, aside from the smell, it wasn't that bad down here. Kinda small though. Regardless Kitten figured she could navigate through here and find Moon Rider. Once CC was following Kitten led her deeper into the sewers and into the Black City's underground.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fucking coming already," Corpse Collector said before chuckling to herself. She let Kitten lead the way while she glanced back at the crowding Dissolutions along with Hellflame. Frowning, she turned to the sewer grate before a stroke of flame caught her skidding. Glaring, she looked to see it came from Hellflame.

Hellflame gave his best 'evil-but-friendly' grin, although they were soon interrupted by the restless Dissolutions. Hellflame saw the arrows landing on some of the Dissolutions, which somehow caused them to target him and the other one that had just appeared nearby. Hellflame looked at the direction from which the arrows were fired, seeing a small silhouette quickly moving away from a ledge. Hellflame was slightly annoyed by that, and was even more annoyed when the two girls he had bothered to help suddenly ran away.

"Oi! Get back here!" Hellflame yelled as he flew off to catch up to them, leaving Stab to take care of the four Dissolutions while the other three sped off past Stab to go after Corpse Collector and Smitten Kitten. Quickly spotting the two runaways, Hellflame sped up and fired his last two fireballs, directing them to strike the entrance of the sewer entrance they were trying to escape in, attempting to at least slow down Corpse Collector. Quickly gliding over to move in front of her, Hellflame casted his <Hellflame> Ability again, recreating his six fireballs. "Running away from people trying to help you is just insulting," Hellflame said at Corpse Collector, pointing his staff at her.

Now that he got a good look at Corpse Collector's name, though, he couldn't help but feel like he should recognize it from somewhere. It was something important, but what....?

"Insulting? Your fucking face is insulting dipshit! Now screw off because I don't have time for you," Corpse Collector hissed, firing off random shots, not caring if they actually hit or not before diving into the sewer grate. At that moment the sound of gnashing teeth was heard as the Dissolutions made their appearance. But that was no longer Corpse Collector's problem.

"Kitten, you better owe me fucking hard for dealing with this shitty hideout."

Never mind that Stab was quickly abandoned as soon as she arrived. She could hear the lovely conversation between Hellflame and Corpse Collector going on as the Dissolutions surrounded her for a reason she didn’t understand, but it no longer mattered. CC’s choice of words was all she needed to hear to feel inspiration to find her again and get to know her better, but firstly take care of the Dissolutions at hand. For the most part Stab just ignored Hellflame, the whiny Male that just abandoned a 13 year old girl to fight monsters alone, and Smitten Kitten, who seemed to be busy doing whatever with CC.

Stab didn’t actually think that she would be able to win this fight, but she couldn’t remain level one forever. It was now or never to start her way earning experience and hopefully leave the academy with a decent job opportunities available. Stab straightened her tie and readied her sword before charging into the closest Dissolution chasing after CC and hitting it full force, adding another target against Stabberson.

Meanwhile, a white ghost continued to prowl the rooftops of the Black City, jumping between the elevations with a certain ease that almost made it look like child's play were not for the fact that Jumping was determined by one's Strength and these one required quite a lot of it. When Stark Zealot got to the next optimal firing position he noticed that Hellflame had already closed on CC and, drawing his bow in utmost silence, the Ivory Mask operative shot at the entrance of the tunnel Corpse Collector had escaped to along with Smitten Kitten, shooting down the emergency floodgates control and sealing the tunnel with the heavy steel doors.

From Hellflame's perspective, the shot would look like a close miss, since the path travelled by the arrow was a hair's breadth away from his head. After this shot Zealot retreated once again, jumping to the next building and down an unused elevator's shaft, maneuvering deftly to the next sniping spot.

"Tch," Hellflame said as he took a step back to avoid getting hit by the spray'n'pray from CC. Once she made her escape, Hellflame tried to go after her, but the entrance to the sewers quickly closed itself. On top of that, the Dissolutions nearby turned their attention to him. One was nearly upon him, so Hellflame flamethrowered it with his six fireballs as he leapt back, quickly reducing what was left of the creature's HP to zero. As for the other two, Hellflame leapt into the air just as the monsters charged forward.

Now annoyed to have his time wasted, Hellflame fired off everything he had at the last two Dissolutions attacking him. With a <Binding Hellfire> and another recasting of <Hellfire>, another Dissolution soon went down. As for the last one, he left it alone as he shot off towards the Black Castle. Hellflame figured that if the Black King was anywhere, she had to be at the most imposing structure in the City. He even sped past Stab~Stabberton, not bothering to help her deal with the rest of the mobs.

Stabs watched through the corner of her eye as Hellflame took out two Dissolutions before speeding past her, almost taunting her. "Hmpf… Men" Stabs garbled under her breath before continuing her assault on the Dissolution. Her attacks barely did any damage thanks to her own ability, but that also meant that any hit she took would also be extra painful. She quickly whittled down the Dissolution’s HP, blocking its slow swings with attacks of her own, until its HP fell to 0 and disappeared. The remaining Dissolutions each were mid swing at the level one rookie, taking a good chunk of her health before she knew what hit her. She knew she couldn’t stay around anymore or risk dying; so she figured a tactical retreat was in order. She wasn’t sure where Hellflame was headed off to, but it was the best shot she had at finding someone else. It worked so far. She ran past the Dissolutions in the same direction the flaming angel flew off to; though, he was too far gone to track. She was lost and hurt, but with nothing better to do in the moment she mumbled a few words, with pretty good tone, of how she suddenly felt after the events that just transpired. ".... All by myself..... don't wanna be."

"Of course. I'll be sure to give you exactly what you're owed." Kitten said nonchalantly. Things got pretty hectics that moment, but regardless she and Corpse Collector managed to escape unharmed. Kitten had a good idea where she needed to go from here, so she lead CC towards the guild hall. It was dark, but Kitten's cat-like eyes allowed her to see in the dark. At the very least, it was black-and-white. There were so many turns and tight spaces Corpse Collector would have a hard time moving through the same places Kitten went. "Corpse Collector, what exactly is your plan to fight Moon Rider? I don't think just shooting her is going to be enough."

"Eh? Well then I'll just shoot her some more. You underestimate my hacking prowess dumbass," Corpse Collector said with superiority. It was hard to tell if she was just boasting or if she really did have some kind of plan. Either way, she began to load up her guns and reload them each, eyes raising at the sound of a low rumbling coming from outside.

"You hear that?" she asked, unaware that a certain Blue King was rumbling her way with an entire battalion straight towards the Black Guild. It would seem the cavalry had finally arrived, Mercury Titania and Absinthe Blue riding in the front lines.

"Just gun her down and cheat huh? I guess I shouldn't be surprised." Sighing, Kitten led Corpse Collector near the Guild Hall. Once she was certain the coast was clear she led Corpse Collector towards where she last saw Moon Rider. That's when Corpse Collection mentioned hearing something, but aside from the battle in the city Smitten Kitten didn't notice anything off. "Hear what?"

"Aw whatever. Look, let's just get this done before....before....fucking shit," she muttered, seeing a group of Players lying in wait for her in the Black Throne Room. And at the center of it all was Moon Rider herself. Hacker and Hacker Killer met eyes, both of them glaring off.

Kitten held her breath. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised that Moon Rider's minions came to help her. Though she suspected Moon Rider to the type of person who didn't even bother to meet her own allies face-to-face. She was fighting a whole bunch of outlaws alone when Smitten Kitten first saw her. But that's when Kitten saw Dark Wraith. That's when she knew why there were so many players here. Kitten knew, or at least had a feeling, that Dark Wraith had some command over the Sweepers. Kitten has seen her talking to a lot of high level players, more so than Moon Rider, and pegged her as some sort of second-in-command. And while Moon Rider was the Black King, Dark Wraith was the one who gave Moon Rider all the Sweepers.

Knowing that her time was short, Smitten Kitten spoke out. "I'm a bit surprised. I'd thought the Black King would try to fight alone. That or for this entire room to be filled with your flunkies." Kitten looked directly at Dark Wraith when she said this. "This ends now, Black King! The Ebony Strykers... No. It's time for you to pay up." Smitten kitten averted her eyes for a moment before looking back at the others. "And you... Dark Wraith. I don't know who you are or why you're doing this, but the Sweepers will be destroyed! You're not heroes, you're not even well-intentioned. You've corrupted the idea of justice and just use it as an excuse to lie, cheat, and hurt people. There was nothing good about you people in the first place."

Smitten Kitten let her claws out, just thin razors that extended from her fingertips. Not the most intimidating weapon perhaps, but statistically it was as strong as her shortsword (Which still isn't that strong anyways). She got into a wide but low stance, her usual stance for making dashes. There was some cover she could dive for to her left, knowing that if she stayed in the open she'll just get shot up. She needed to sneak closer while Corpse Collector was busy fighting, and then she'll strike.

Dark Wraith took out her scythe, twirling it around before slamming the pommel into the ground. "Your accusations may have merit, but that is irrelevant. It doesn't matter why you want to destroy us. You've chosen to stand against us, and that makes you our enemies." From the tip of her staff Dark Wraith created a cloud of dark fog, her Miasma, sending it to Corpse Collector. Dark Wraith didn't concern herself about the kitten; she wouldn't really be of much threat to them at her level and with her ability. An annoyance at worse. Still, just to ensure Smitten Kitten didn't get in her way, she ordered a few of the players with them to deal with the level 1 player.

In the meantime Dark Wraith focused on Corpse Collector. She would put up a fight for now, but her true intentions were subverting any safeguards Corpse Collector had up as well as getting directly to CC's data. Because Dark Wraith had no time to set up, her methods were crude and brutal; CC would have no problems warding off Dark Wraith, but only if she didn't bother to protect her Avatar body. Which would be a problem for Corpse Collector, since there were players now charging at CC to kill her as she tries to fend off Dark Wraith's two-pronged attack.

But for the most part Corpse Collector was fine. Or at least, she was fending off on her own. Fueled by a massive desire to shoot dead everyone in this fucking room, she did all she could to duck and weave before counterattacking any idiots who wanted to come at her. Especially Dark Wraith, Corpse Collector putting up hacks within hacks to ensure she remained on top.

"Fuck you! Fuck you all to fucking hell you pieces of shit motherfuckers! Die, die, die!" she hissed and snarled, guns blazing with digital coding. She didn't care if she died here because that was most likely the case. No, all that mattered was killing the Black King and-

Corpse Collector's eyes widened as her body became rooted in place. Something seemed to be holding her back and that something caught Moon Rider's attention. The Black King had been calmly inching her way closer towards her prey, cutting down anyone stupid enough to take her...when what appeared to be a gloved hand seemed to have sprouted from Corpse Collector's abdomen, codes and numbers spilling out in a green mix.

Along with that was the shadow of a figure but before the Black King could give context to it, the space was gone. Corpse Collector coughed up more digital spewing before glaring at everyone with hate.

"Fuck...Fuck you...what, that wasn't fucking good enough for you?!?"

Smitten Kitten was doing her best to avoid the others when she noticed something attack Corpse Collector. It wasn't Moon Rider or one of her lackeys as far as Kitten could tell. The only thing she saw was a hand going through Corpse Collector's chest, but then everything vanished. Corpse Collector was gravely wounded somehow and Kitten went to get her. She didn't know if this was the work of the Sweepers or not, but she needed to act now.

"Corpse Collector!"

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Corpse Collector muttered to herself, twitching about as she felt all of her buffs, all of her skills, and most importantly, all of her health glitch out and be tampered. No...No, it wasn't fair. This wasn't supposed to be happening, this wasn't supposed to be...at least she had one lackey left to defend while she could recover-

At that moment, Smitten Kitten's name became red. Activating an Outlaw declaration, she dashed at Corpse Collector and slashed her. Blood, or what passes for it, dripped off Smitten Kitten's fingers. Kitten swung her hand out, swiping the blood off and onto the ground.

"That... Is enough, Corpse Collector."

For her part, the Corpse Collector merely stared with wide and now blank eyes as Kitten did the deed. Because of the interference, the Hacker's health was at a bare minimum. Just enough for Kitten's blow to end her. Mortified and enraged, she saw her body begin to experience the all too familiar process of her death animation.

"No...No! Fuck you Kitten!! Fucking, fuckity...godammnit! You just had to do that, didn't you? We could have done something...we could have done so many things after the Black Shitface was dead! But no, you had to go and....FUCK YOU!"

Rage, fear, and desperation mingled in Corpse Collector's voice as she finally dispersed into fragments of coding. Moon Rider watched this with an unreadable expression and narrowed eyes. That was just a little...too convenient. But it got the job done, the rest of Corpse Collector's Outlaw army being decimated, and even a certain girl in a coma finally able to wake up.

The Hacker's nightmare was finally put to rest.

Slowly, but surely, the outlaws were routed. Most had died, and the only few who were alive had already fled. Arms Slave's forces swept through the city to clear out the Dissolutions within, as well as any surviving Outlaw, and reaped the rewards. A small party was held in celebration to their victory, but Arms Slave was not present. He had remained at the gate to salvage what was left of the Wheel Cannons as well as get the Ebony Stryker's war machines back. Though only lost one, which while a hefty price to replace, things could have been much worse.

But in the back of Arms Slave's mind, there was uncertainty. Normally he wouldn't think much about a siege like this. Wasn't the first time he got involved in the defense (Or offense) of a siege before he joined up with the Ebony Strykers, but this felt different. He knew Corpse Collector was behind it, which was why this didn't feel like a complete victory. It wasn't just the fact that he (Unknowingly) missed killing CC himself, but the fact that in the end he knew this wasn't the end. Outlaws are sure to be in short supply now that the Ebony Strykers have proven once again that they were not going to be easy targets, so massive forces like these were going to be rare. But now Arms Slave knew that any of the other guilds who had watched them knows that the Black Guild had the power to fight back, and weren't going to start faltering now.

War was coming. Arms Slave could taste it. The smell of cannons and the blood on the ground. The outlaw threat was gone but now the other guilds were going to go gunning for the Ebony Strykers. Or maybe they'll ally with them so they could cooperate in the take down of the other guilds. Such a guild war hasn't happened in Arms Slave's entire career in Deep Ground. Now he was going to see the beginning, and god willing, the end. This made the sweeper quite happy.

In the excitement Arms Slave noticed he had new messages. One from Eclipse Princess and another from Phantom Regality. He vaguely remembers Phantom as the mage avatar who helped him get close to the cannons. Arms Slave sent him a friends request as well as reading his e-mail. Phantom mentioned Princess being gone, and sure enough her own e-mail basically told Arms Slave that she was leaving the area. She was very annoying, and Arms Slave would love to just fuck her up.

And then he realized something. He did know who she was. A long time ago, she was one of the targets the Erasers gave him to eliminate. But he went after someone else instead. He went back into his e-mails and looked for the message the Erasers gave him. It was encoded of course, but with just a few minutes he was able to break the code and get a list of names. They were the Avatar names with the real name of the players next to them. No other information was given as it was up to the Cleaners themselves to do more intel gathering, but a name was all he needed.

Calling a few of this friends over he had one more thing to do before he'd log off for the night. He had his buddies gather up the corpses of the dead avatars, at least the ones that haven't vanished yet. They gathered spears and poles, impaling the bodies into the wall of the Black City. A morbid affair perhaps, but it served two purposes: scaring off the outlaws who might try to attack, and sending a message to Eclipse Princess. Once his sordid affair was over Arms Slave went into the city to meet up with his buddies and celebrate. After this last raid, he had just enough EXP to level up.

Meanwhile at the wall, after putting Eclipse Princess on Arms Slave's block-list, the bodies of the outlaws were arranged on the walls in a specific message for her. If she came back from the same gate soon, she would see them before the bodies despawned.

CASSANDRA

---

This was... Unexpected. Dark Wraith was in the midst of breaking through Corpse Collector's walls when something finished the job. Dark Wraith immediately used a different hack to scan the entire city of it's players, both hidden and exposed, trying to find out who among them may be interfering. Names of known Erasers, players outside of the Ebony Strykers, anyone who Dark Wraith could aim suspicion on... But instead she found no one like that. One moment Corpse Collector was at the height of her power, and then it was all gone. Some mysterious force had removed the power from Corpse Collector, making her weak enough for even Smitten Kitten to kill her.

Corpse Collector's body vanished. Normally Avatar bodies don't vanish for the benefits of Necromancers, but Dark Wraith could imagine that the circumstances of her death made things different. Fortunately, before Smitten Kitten landed the final blow, Dark Wraith was able to get more information about who the true identity of Corpse Collector was. She got a lot of information in fact, too much for Dark Wraith to just look over shortly. She'd need at least an hour to read through everything and get the important information from it. But until then, it was over. Corpse Collector was defeated. With her army of Outlaws routed, proving once again the might of the Ebony Strykers, Dark Wraith was certain that no more upstarts intended to challenge them. That only left the other guilds to pose a true threat to Dark Wraith, but she had already started collaborations with other Erasers planted in the other guilds to facilitate a beneficial arrangement.

But a slightly more immediate issue was Smitten Kitten. A lone level 1 outlaw. At her level Dark Wraith would have no trouble defeating the cat on her own, without any dead thralls to back her up. But with other players and Moon Rider at her side, slaying the cat was going to be no trouble. But there was a different problem than even that. "It seems that this little kitten has succeeded in slaying Corpse Collector, right in front of our eyes at that. Was this your plan all along, little cat? Get on Corpse Collector's good side and then kill her when she was at her weakest, just so you can get the coveted award Moon Rider promised?" Truth be told Dark Wraith would have done exactly the same thing. Moon Rider claims that she has her ways to getting someone to level 9 in a short amount of time, but Dark Wraith was uncertain if even the Black King was going to give that offer to someone who's shown her contempt to the Black King.

Flan's exhaustion didn't last long as she found herself in the middle of a battle, her adrenaline pumping as she tried to figure out who was what, where, and why. Apparently no one ever notices her, so she was able to move off into the shadows behind a column without being seen. She recognized a couple of people as she looked around, until she suddenly heard those familiar words of Corpse Collector cuss her way out as she left the virtual world. She knew it wasn't going to be permanent, she'd be back in what, three days? Still, Morgan couldn't help shed a tear as she flashed away, as she looked on at the Black King who was unfazed at what she had done and Smitten Kitten who she could've sworn was on good terms with CC. She didn't really know what to do, not really wanting to face the Black King as after the deed they've done. So not making her face publicly known, she just sat down with a sigh as she began to mull things over; trying to figure out what happened while she was gone, adding this point of reference deep deep down in the back of the Black King's files.

'Wait.... reward from the Black King?' her mind froze at these words she wished she didn't overhear.

Smitten Kitten stood there quietly as Corpse Collector cursed at her. She couldn't blame CC for hating her, but Kitten wasn't going to say she liked her either. Moon Rider and the Sweepers were Smitten Kitten's enemy, that's true, but Corpse Collector was just a mad person. She was more of an individual threat that someone who was going to put all of Deep Ground on their knees. Smitten Kitten might hate the Ebony Strykers and everyone in it but she wasn't going to ignore smaller threats either. "You can hate me all you want, Corpse Collector. But I had to stop you... I will be the first to kill Moon Rider."

Cleaning her hands of blood Smitten Kitten looked over to Dark Wraith who thought she was only killing Corpse Collector for the reward. "Really? Really? Have you listened to nothing I've said? I will defeat you. Moon Rider, Dark Wraith, all of you!" Smitten Kitten turned and pointed an accusing finger at everyone. It didn't matter to her that she was alone against players and stronger than her. Being outmatched wasn't a reason not to fight against evil people. "And I'll do it with my own power, my way. I'm not going to be like Corpse Collector and cheat. I'm not going to be like you and manipulate others. I don't care about the reward, whatever that is. Give it to someone else, it won't change anything."

Smitten Kitten turned her back on everyone and walked out, still an outlaw. She knew that she essentially painted a target on her back and she wouldn't be surprised if she gets killed before she left the city. But now they knew that Smitten Kitten was going to fight them: she wasn't going to let them hunt her down like an animal anymore. This was her declaration of war. "I know I'm not strong enough to defeat you right now. But the next time we meet Moon Rider, only one of us will walk away alive. I can promise you that."

The final obscenities of Corpse Collector could be heard even on the edge of the Black City, marking the end of the battle and giving the Strykers a definitive victory. At that very moment, Nyx could feel the winds of change blowing as he slit the throat of one last Outlaw as the rest fled. He could tell war was coming, and EXP would change hands faster than it ever had before. As the body of the unfortunate mage hit the ground, the Assassin leaned on the gate he had worked so hard to defend, chuckling slightly. "After that display, I don't think I'd be a welcome sight in the Red City. I just protected an uprising from the one force that would end it before it began..." As he wracked his brain in an attempt to choose one of the paths before him, he noticed something on the bloodied field before him.

Kicking off of the wall and casually walking past the crew of Sweepers impaling bodies, along with an accidental shoulder check to one, he hastened his pace towards the object that had caught his attention. Upon his arrival, he found a set of purely cosmetic armor, probably abandoned by a fleeing Outlaw that was looking to lighten the load. In all reality, it was worth virtually nothing, although there was one thing of note; it looked badass. Given he relied very little on actual armor, he decided the intimidating factor was more useful than a suit that provided barely any protection... which also looked like it had just been put through a washing machine with a can of cherry-flavored Kool-Aid. Picking up the armor, he found it had several separate pieces, including a short sword that looked slightly cooler than the average one. Equipping the entire set, along with a new mask, he moved his old suit to the bottom-most slot in his inventory, intending to sell it at some point. However, a thought raced through his mind. "Would someone pay good EXP for a bloody suit..?"

Knowing this game, probably. Deciding to take a stroll through his inventory, the assassin realized he had gained enough EXP through his massacre at the gate to level up. Without hesitation, he spent the mass of currency, feeling a surge of energy as the options for Level 4 Feats were presented to him. Taking all things into consideration, he was a man of stealth at heart, and went for Grim Stride. His only hope was that it would help in the days to come.

Deciding he'd seen enough bloodshed for one day, he took a seat on a nearby bench, typing out a message before he signed off.

To: Eclipse Princess

From: Nyx

Subject: It's Over

In the event you hadn't seen already, the Outlaw army ran away. If you ever need a hand, do not hesitate to call for me. I appreciate a capable ally, and would gladly work with you again.

Attached to the message was a Friend Request. The remaining effort was all on the berserker's end. With the e-mail sent, he logged off.

@KoL

---

Waking up in the hospital room he'd logged in in, Aaron stood from his seat and stretched, noticing everyone else in the room was out cold in a chair of their own... aside from the girl in the bed. She was awake. "Oh, um... hello, ma'am. Sorry about the, uh... mess, I guess. You kinda, um... brought us here with a glitched dungeon earlier..." Habitually scratching the back of his neck and accidentally pulling his back in from his coat, the hunk of iron that was his crowbar slid out and landed on the floor with a metallic thud. "...I can explain."

The train wreck of a human being really couldn't.

@ReaptheMusic

---

Having barely gotten his minion's hand's dirty just as Corpse Collector's final profanities rang out through the Black City, Phantom Regality cursed under his breath. "Well, there goes the greatest chance for EXP gains of the century..." Having barely managed to fill a tenth of the requirement for Level 4, it was understandable how he would be slightly angered by the missed opportunity. Decidedly leaning on the wall of a decrepit tower, the Necromancer started sorting through his inventory once again. Thankfully, the dissolutions in the city that his thralls were working on were still bringing in small amounts of EXP, rounding out around a half of his goal of the next level.

Out of the blue, he received a Friend Request from none other than Arms Slave. In an instant, he accepted it and released his servants, the two crumbling to dust a few blocks away, then made his way towards the City gate.

He passed through the gate just as the Assassin from earlier left for one reason or another, and arrived just in time to witness the gruesome impaling of the bodies of avatars and NPCs. Electing to simply watch for a moment, he leaned on the wall, somehow enjoying the nauseating scent of death all around. Hey, when your entire character is based on micromanaging the undead, you get used to it.

Soon enough, Arms Slave passed through, and Phantom followed him. "I take it you and that girl have a history?" The Mage asked, pointing back towards the corpse message that had been left as he walked. He patiently waited for an answer, not really paying attention to his surroundings.

@Lucius Cypher

Nies couldn't trying say she knew what was going on. The whole thing seemed to be complete chaos, and she merely struggled to keep out of the way, although that wasn't really possible. What she was hoping for most was to not be a distraction, and for the first time she cursed the choice of healer-it just seemed so useless right then, when her friends didn't even need healing.

As Nix asked if she knew how to use the gun, she could tell he wanted a yes answer, and merely nodded, wondering how hard t could be. She had learned the cars pretty quick. She hoped she wouldn't have to use the gun, as she took it. All she had to do was pretend confidence. She could do that.

And then just as suddenly as everything began, it seemed to end. And then she was alone. She stood there a moment, trying to comprehend everything, but decided it wasn't possible right then. She thought about what awaited her in the real world, and found that...she didn't have the strength to log out.

She was such a fool. While Eris might need her, even if she would never admit it, in the real world, it was clear that Eclipse princess didn't. And how could she continue, when part of Eris didn't need her? Perhaps that was the point, to take happiness where you could get it. She smiled softly, and looked out over the landscape. She had her goal. Goals. She found a safe place to log out, settling herself before doing so.



Waking slowly, Cassandra let herself adjust after the torment of sensations from the game, it seemed abnormal to merely feel the chair beneath her, and heard the silence, except for the people around her.

As Aaron spoke, Cassandra realized the girl was awake. Did that mean she was free, or was this just some trick? She opened her eyes, looking about at the clang of metal, but decided not to comment right then.

---

" . . . ah . . ."

Erika's big blue eyes slowly opened, a shimmer of red, surely a reflection of one of the 'get well' balloons beside her, showing within them. She groans softly, pushing herself up on her hands. She feels weak... as she hasn't used her muscles for a while... She glances at her brother beside her and touches his hair as he remains in his sleep.

Trying to swallow to regain moisture in her mouth, she finds her throat is filled with the medical tube going down into it. She reaches her weak hands up, slipping the mask off and keeping her mouth open to slowly extract the tube from her throat, gagging as she feels it come up. Perhaps she shouldn't remove it, but she can't think of nothing more than getting something to drink. Finally the long tube is out and she puts it on the steel side table, rubbing her throat and grabbing a water bottle from the same table, gulping it down as though she's been through the desert. It didn't stop how sore her throat was from the tube being there at all. She sets the bottle down, panting, finally getting a look around the room.

She blinks in surprise, realizing there are several people in the room with her at the time. As she just noticed them, a boy across from her began to wake up.

"Oh, um... hello, ma'am. Sorry about the, uh... mess, I guess. You kinda, um... brought us here with a glitched dungeon earlier..."

At that moment, a crowbar fell out of his coat.

"...I can explain."

Erika cocked her head to the side... then giggled... until it formed into a full on laugh, her voice a little rough from how sore her throat felt. She found her large, thick glasses on the table and put the on, beaming as she noticed another girl waking up in the room with the others. She didn't know why these people are here, or what that boy was talking about... she was just happy at the idea people had come here because they had cared about her, whatever reason she was here for anyways.

"My name is Erika Mitsuki." She smiled, her black curls falling all around her face. "It's nice to meet you."

And that was that. Everything had been said and done. The remaining Outlaws were in the midst of their retreat. The dissolutions had been bested. CC was most likely cornered and dealt with. The princess had been saved from the final boss, and was whisked away to her castle by the brave knight. ”All’s well ends well, as they say.” Paper Moon took in the silence, feeling the wind gently rush against his face. He didn’t even feel the need to put on his goggles and seized the moment in its fullest. They had won, although they did not accomplish their original goal, they felt content with a victory just as substantial.

The epilogue to the epic consisted of small skirmishes between Arms’ forces and leftover dissolutions and Outlaws. The rogue directed the newbies through the city from his vantage point high in the sky. Seriously, what were those Outlaws thinking, using these mounts for frontal assaults? Moon leaned forward and placed his hands on the neck of the dragon. If it really wanted to, it could perform a barrel roll and fling the boy off in honor of its previous master. But judging from the fact that the beast maintained its form, it held no ties to the Outlaw Moon had kicked off a while ago. The creature’s reptilian eyes glance back and met his for a moment. He was completely engulfed in its detail, an amalgamation of viridescent pigmentation scattered haphazardly surrounding its reptilian pupil. It then returned its focus to their front. He took the time to assign the dragon a name and set its return point, which would be his home in the outer regions of the neutral zone. ”I’ll name you… Fluffy! Yes, you will be my Fluffy, and I will treat you with a mother’s kindness!” The mount only gave an irritated grunt as a response, knowing full well that denying was out of its will. That barrel roll must've seemed pretty alluring right now.

Moon grabbed the reins and steered his mount towards a specific city block designated as everybody’s meeting point. Upon his descent he spotted every single face he could recount, with the exception of the commander himself, Arms Slave. The buildings gave the dragon just a wide enough berth to land. Its wings adjusted themselves to bleat its speed and provide a controlld reconvening with the ground. The boy eased his body over one side and slid down the dragon’s hide. He was almost instantly met with hugs and pats on the back as the Strykers and Sweepers revered him. It was all bittersweet, really. Not because it was the end.

”Because it was only the beginning.”

Paper Moon held his fist high to the sky, a sign that they had met victory’s embrace. Their cheers only increased in intensity, drawing the attention of the city’s denizens residing along that city block. The coordinator managed to calm down his comrades and cleared his throat. Well, that wraps things up. I’m sure you all received adequate EXP for your efforts and are currently having a blast with your new perks. You all did it. You kicked some major ass today!” Before he continued with his address, he opened up his friends list and sent requests to all of the players involved. His friends list almost instantly increased by twenty-eight, with the only pending being Arms Slave. The group of players remained gave him his undivided attention as silence and suspense played the tango. ”If any of you ever need a helping hand with an annoying mission or just somebody to confide in, give me a holler. You defended the city that offered you tranquility and far surpassed what was expected of you. It is known by default that such a feat should be met with equivalent rewards. Dinner’s on me… and Strawberry Baby!”

The players exploded with jubilation once again. ”Wait, what?!” Moon smiled widely as he wrapped his hand around Strawberry Baby and pulled her close, who was currently glaring daggers at the rogue. His face felt like it was about to freeze off, but it was totally worth it. While everybody happily cheered away, he leaned in closer to the mage and dropped his voice to a whisper, ”Notify all Sweepers to report in to their bosses after the party. I’m sure the higher-ups have already taken notice to what transpired here today, and want first hand accounts. Outline any necessary precautions.” She nodded, although she still felt contempt for the boy. ”I’m leaving the place and scene up to you, Strawberry. I gotta bounce for a bit. We’ll split the tab, so your pockets won’t feel that empty.” Moon paged through his UI and held his finger over the logout button. ”Oh, right, I almost forgot.” The girl’s scrunched up expression loosened, leaving him an opening to slip in one last jeer. ”Bet’cha look like a bookworm IRL~. Good luck finding me in school tomorrow. kthxbye.”

”WHAT THE FU-”



Now he remembered. Rather than making the walk upstairs which would have taken a grand total of ten seconds, not even, Shiro instead decided to enter DGO at his doorstep. He could only imagine how his parents would have reacted if they decided to drop by and see him lying right in front of the door. Beams of the morning sun stretched out through the door’s window and grabbed at the boy, ”Just give me another five minutes mom…” Shiro said aloud purely for comical effect as he rubbed his eyes and hair. He rose from the wooden flooring and stretched out, coming to the realization that he hadn’t changed out of his school attire. ”Jeez, how long was I in there?” He attempted to soothe the sores that had developed on his body, but when it appeared that it was pointless to do so, he surrendered and set out for his destination. The door to the empty home quietly shut behind him, and with that the boy departed.

Due to the fact that that it just opened up shop, Shiro had the cafe all to himself. It probably wasn’t her shift yet, but his mind wasn’t focused on that. He set his elbows on the table and support his chin with his palms. On his way to the cafe, he had sent a message to Arms Slave:

To: Arms Slave
From: Paper Moon
Subject: Eeeeeeeeyyy gurl, can I have yo digits?
“Now that was something I didn't expected to get into when I logged in today! Anyways, everybody's off partying. We should meet up at school and stuff. Y'know, enjoy our youth. Go stargazing and tell each other our deepest secrets, the whole enchilada! Just keep an eye out for my awe-inspiring complexion. But in all seriousness... Well, that's all there is to it. I'm at a loss right now. I'll keep you posted about any developments."

Critical thinking and lull. Two things Shiro rarely indulged in, but at the moment, was currently completely engulfed by. Arms Slave probably felt it too, which is why he decided to never show up. The two both worked on the same frequencies, so they had probably came to the realization that things just didn’t add up. An easy victory was usually a flag for an even more challenging hardship in the near future. Mulling wasn’t his gig, but for now it was the only course of action he could take. The only thing he could find respite in was the coolly sweet flavor of strawberry and banana in his mouth.

Smoothies really were the best.
@Lucius Cypher

Eris woke up to find that pretty much everyone around her was already awake, though she had no business with them as of now. Seeing that Cassandra was safe and sound was enough for Eris to feel at ease, though she didn't felt like congregating with most of these persons, thus leaving at once was the best measure, except for one thing.

"Aaron Fletcher, right?" Eris said as she passed by Aaron, throwing a long glace at the crowbar he had hidden on his coat the whole time, before placing a slip of paper with her current address and contact info on his back pocket so that no one else could see. "It seems we have many things in common, not just on Deep Ground, but here as well." Just as Eris walked away, Aaron would see the friend invitation Nix sent to Eclipse Princess being accepted.

"Cassandra O'Shera, it's good to see that you are well. I would never forgive myself if you got hurt. However, I must retire for the evening, the battle left me exhausted. By the way, I lost to Stark Zealot, but it was an awesome battle, I can barely wait for a rematch." Eris said as she exited the hospital room without addressing anyone else, intent on going to her hotel room and get some much needed rest, however, just as she left the hospital and boarded a taxi, a message from her personal informant, a Cobalt Bruiser rogue by the name of Wild Tiger reached Eris, the contents of which were on a pay on delivery setting, for a high price in both EXP and real money. Resources being one of the things Eris never had to worry about, she simply opened the message, to find a screen shot of the walls of the Black city and a report on the Sweepers activities.

”Those damn bastards, Cassandra is absolutely off-limits!” Eris snarled out of the blue, jump scaring the taxi driver, who quickly got back to his job once he noticed nothing out of the order was happening and Eris excused herself. Following that Eris took the time to send a message to all the Sweepers she knew of as well as Moon Rider, who she owed loyalty to, but this was going off the bounds.

[quote]
From: Eris Reinhardt (Eclipse Princess).

To: Arms Slave, Paper Moon, Moon Rider, …., etc.

Subject: You have stepped of your bounds.

Attachment: Screen Shot 001.

You have stepped off your bounds, Sweeper scum, Cassandra O’Shera has nothing to do with my actions, dare touch a strand of her hair and you’ll wish you have never been born. You’ve earned my eternal enmity for that, this is a decision you’ll regret having made. For those who believe your cause is a noble one, there’s still time to reconsider, or are you saying to me that your have the guts to kill a innocent school girl with your own hands and or congregate with her killers?

I’ve sent you this message as well, Moon Rider, so that you can know the kind scum you have admitted on your ranks. These self-appointed “heroes” do illegal actions in game in order to harm innocent people, in real life, for their completely legal, if only tasteless, actions in a game. You should take care of your back as well, I’m sure there must be a threat more dangerous than Corpse Collector’s guns pointed at you right now.

Signed,

Eris Reinhardt, heiress of the Black Foxes Private Security Company.

---

Arc II: War of Strangers

---

Maribel Harper

“Wow that was a close one! I thought those two days would never end. Or we’d get cancelled before getting this far. Oops! I guess I better not jinx it, huh? But man that sure was a long one to get us started.”

Two days had passed since the now viral Corpse Collector incident. Talk of the matter was running rampant all over Purple Crown and no doubt the numerous other academic centers across the globe. If it wasn’t about the now exposed Hacker, it was about the newly reformed Ebony Strykers and their enigmatic leader. While the majority of the DGO’s populace were outright amazed by the battle that had taken place, some were thinking more provoking ideas.

How was Corpse Collector able to commit such advanced hacks? Why was she hellbent on destroying the Black King? The rumors seemed to indicate that she was an agent sent by a rival Guild to destroy the Strykers before they could rise to power but even that wasn’t entirely viable.

But aside from the proportions of these recent events, life had returned to a relative state of normalacy. Student President Yoshino Tsugumi was back in getting things down at Purple Crown with Maribel Harper at her heels. The Blue King was patrolling the halls even now for vigilance and making sure no one skipped the last few minutes of the school day for early access to Deep Ground. Though in truth, she was doing exactly that.

Apparently the issue with Corpse Collector had gotten to the point where the World Government had to get involved. Yet the most they were willing to do was update all of Deep Ground Online’s servers, apparently putting in place new patches and updates to the game as a whole. But as for the matter of Corpse Collector herself? They treated it as simply the rivalries of this present generation, something for the youth to handle on their own.

“Seems like adults really are useless, huh? Guess that’s why you know who is doing you know what,” Bel said with a grin and a wink to…actually, who was she even talking to? That answer wouldn’t be answered because soon enough the Blue King received a PM from her Guild notifications. And what she read made her frown briefly.

“Two new players joining the Cobalt Bruisers? And the return of a certain tiger? Well this can’t be good. And I bet it’s gonna take us another ten months to solve this mystery! That’s not too bad though. Just more time for me to spend with my Jukey and build some nice character development,” she said, anticipating what the future would bring. “Looks like a certain someone is making their move….”

Seriously…who was she talking to?

---

Aaron Fletcher

Over the past couple of days, Aaron had been busy finding any information he could on Corpse Collector. Unfortunately, the only thing he found was bone-dry news articles about the battle from two days ago, and speculation as to how she was able to hack the game on such a scale. All in all, around a day had been wasted on this task with no result. On the bright side, a new update for Deep Ground had rolled out during that time, although little was added, excepting some needed bug patches.

At the current moment, however, he was seated in the middle of an Algebra class and taking a nap. For one reason or another, lectures on the Quadratic Formula did an amazing job of putting people to sleep, and the American was capitalizing on that fact. He was just barely closing in on a very restful half-hour when the bell that signaled the end of the day went off and jarred him awake. "Motherf..." Decidedly cutting himself off, the boy stood up and stretched, dumping the contents of his desk into his backpack and heading out of the room in the process. He stopped in the doorway as the oncoming horde of students rushing for the main entrance came by, and slipped into a small gap and started moving with the crowd. As always, it smelled like several people had forgotten to wear deodorant that day.

After a long few moments of being jostled around a sea of humanity, Aaron was outside the front of the large brick building, taking in how massive Purple Crown Academy really was. "Well, that was nice. Now, who's doing what?" In a moment his phone was in his hand and he was checking his email... nothing as usual. So, he took a seat under a tree and opened up his school bag, and pulled out a notebook, laden with numbers and formulas. Even on the other side of the world, homework existed.

And it was still a bitch.

---

Jiro Katsurou

With a hefty sigh, Jiro Katsurou pulled a pair of tweezers out of the underside of a simple robot, setting it down on its wheels once again. He'd been working on this thing with a small group for the last month or so, getting ready for an upcoming Robotics competition. The only problem was that the others had all but abandoned the hunk of metal and rubber, leaving the blue-haired boy to finish building and coding the thing. Sure, coding wasn't an issue, but building was another story. At the moment, it was a metal box with wheels. Style points would not be won with this thing, that's for sure.

Then, out of nowhere, a loud ringing was heard and Jiro looked up at the clock. It was finally time to leave the building, and he did just that, rushing out with his bag before the throng got to his room. He was outside in less than a minute, already messaging a few of his friends.

To: Arms Slave, Paper Moon, etc.

From: Phantom Regality

Subject: Deep Ground Plans

Alright, so CC is dead, Eclipse Princess hasn't shown hide nor hair of herself, and we've got nothing to do except grind for EXP. Anyone have a better way to kill time?

With the message to the other Sweepers sent, Jiro took a seat on a bench and watched the crowds move. Some stopping under trees, some getting into waiting cars, and others going for the dormitories. He himself was content to watch the world go by for a little while, slowing down for any length of time for the first time that day.
@Lucius Cypher@Jedly

Her first day back had been magnificent, in a sense.

She'd been given a large welcome, many students coming to her to ask her how she was and to give her cards they'd made while she was in the hospital. Before, Erika had been popular in name only. Now it seemed every fanged ranger or cobalt bruiser that had chased her down the street or ivory mask that had harassed her had an apology and wanted to get to know her as a person. At first it was overwhelming, and yet she took it better than she thought she would. She'd never been popular like this before, with people genuinely asking her about things she likes or her opinions on ideas. All teachers seemed to be welcome to her as well... but that didn't make up for the fact she'd missed about a weeks worth of tests and homework.

More than a little worn down, she walked out of the school speaking with her best friend Yuuki. The two laughed at something the other had said, causing Erika's gentle curls to bounce up and down and her thick, hipster-esque glasses to slide halfway down her nose. At that moment, she happened to bump into a familiar red head.

Looking up, her large, pale blue eyes blinked when they saw the item of her crush before she'd slipped into a coma. Michael, aka the red king. She blushed, but instead of acting bashful as she usually did, her back straightened. She bowed her head to him as she felt her heart rate increase.

"Red king..."

She smiled as she looked back up at him, seeming to instantly catch his eyes again. He made her swoon just by him standing there... but she didn't want to give him trouble. She placed a hand on his arm, letting it slowly slip off of him as she passed, her black hair being tossed in the wind from being outside. She glanced back at him, smiling, before hurrying along.

Today was amazing, indeed.

At that moment she noticed the boy from before, Aaron, sitting under a tree and pulling out work. She could probably use some help herself, now that she thought about it. She ran up to him ecstatically.

"Aaron! Hey!"

She slid down in the grass in front of him, her pale eyes wide. In the last day they'd met up, they'd gotten into a small dialogue back in the hospital and were starting to become friends. She glanced at his homework and pulled her own out.

"It's impossible," She sighed, putting her bookbag aside and waving goodbye to Yuuki who continued her way down the hill. "You'd think being in a coma would excuse you from homework. I'd ask my brother for help but he's busy off somewhere pouting. Think you can help me instead?"

Morgan eventually logged out only to find her still in her room, half starved but alive. After a full meal, hot bath, and a look out the door for some fresh air she looked to see what the time and day was. It surprisingly wasn't all that long since she jacked in, but way longer than she should and would normally. Apparently they were doing some system maintenance, so hopefully whatever she experienced wouldn't happen again; but if the so called maintenance was just regular updates, that would mean she'd be free to try once more to access reccords. She didn't return to school for whatever reason feeling if they didn't noticed she was missing she could get away for a few more days. Though, still able to pull off the sick angle, both by acting and her current state of attire, if she had to. Her mind still felt funny on the days prior, but only the most embarrassing incidents coming crystal clear. She did at least know who/why/how she was where she was. She'd unfortunately have to wait for that coffee date with CC, but that just made time for her to look more into who the Black King was.

She pulled on some sweat pants and sweat shirt along and took another box lunch and set of lock-picks as she made her way down to the Records and Administration office, trying to stay out of sight as she waited for her chance.

---

Sora stretched out with a contented smirk as he thought over his recent progress in DGO. He had been a growing presence in the arena as he constantly fought continuously in both 1v1 and team battle settings. Although he most enjoyed duels, he quickly found his character was most geared towards duels and in a simple match with only one opponent there rarely was a skill set as specific as his in fighting a singular enemy and he would often transcend levels. Thus, he began prevailing more in team battles where he could hone his skills more aptly while maintaining an intensive degree of challenge, often embedding himself in outnumbered fights. Whenever he wasn't fighting in the arena, he was diligently farming dissolutions. Eventually, he had leveled up and attained his second ability, causing no small amount of elation.

Following his level, he continued to practice in the arena and farm dissolutions until he was promptly kicked off following the events that transpired around the Corpse Collector's defeat. As pleased as he was with his current standing, however, he currently had nothing to do. His apartment recently had repairs and had reached livable conditions while his income was finally back on track with a part-time job. Without any sense of urgency, it had felt as if Sora's days had slowed to a crawl. Thus, Sora trudged out from his class and into the sun. Eventually, he made his way to a fairly large tree to which he propped himself up against and fell asleep with his backpack at his side.