"...aaaand done!" He said, throwing himself back in his chair.

A hard afternoon's work for a hard set of questions. He was at least four chapters ahead of his class by now. He wasn't born a genius but his parents and himself had taken many measures to ensure that he would excel in academics if nothing else, but it sort of looked that might ended up being the case. A fair way into the year and the only achievement he'd had was getting ahead in his classes, and frankly, that didn't even really matter in the end. Who cared if you were ahead? The only sure-fire 100% guarantee of getting a job after 18 was Deep Ground Online. Sure, keeping that job was a different story but climbing up was also another challenge which could at least have some lowered difficulty.

For one, he really wished he'd been a part of the recent events surrounding the 'Corpse Collector'. He'd given the Black City a wide berth when the Black Guild had opened its arms. Partially because he wanted to make it as a solo player but mostly because he knew he probably wouldn't have survived the trip. His one ability was really finicky to use and just plain risky in combat. But from what he'd heard... he'd really missed out on what would probably have been the event of most of the people involved's lives.

I'll get the next one... He promised himself.

He knew he wasn't strong enough now but maybe if he had enough will, enough guts, maybe he could find something major to be a part of. A reason for being that would make him special. He had faith in 'Star Child', that one day it'd make him finally live up to his name.

"I Better get started then!" He said.

He grabbed his books and dashed off towards his room. Who knew what was waiting for him in Deep Ground?

Asahi's head suddenly rose as he was awoken from his nap. He had dozed off in the middle of his break while eating a rice cake. It had been a long two days since Corpse Collector was killed. Sufficient to say, a lot has happened. Mostly drama, but stuff nonetheless. Stretching out, he was starting to reflect on those eventful activities...



In the midst of dismantling and directing the salvage from the battle, Phantom Regality came up to Arms Slave asking about the history between himself and Eclipse Princess. He scoffed at the notion. "History? I just met her today. I guess she has a grudge or something against me. I mean, whatever, business as usual. I got a lot of enemies in Deep Ground. If she wants to be one of them, fine with me. That message there is my way of saying that the feeling is mutual. If she wants to hurt me and my friends, I can play that game too." With work here almost finished, Arms Slave wanted to catch up to the others before they scattered.

After Arms Slave had finally managed to reach the others after savaging the parts from Wheel Cannons, he joined the celebrations. Most if not all of the players who participated in the battle was here, talking about future battles, plans upon leveling up, regrets, and reminders of what happened. Arms Slave of course made it a point to get everyone's attention and make a speech about their future.

"Listen up everyone!" Arms Slave paused for a moment. Did his voice seem more... Colorful? Normally he only spoke in bold inflation... He put those thoughts aside and continued. "I won't say we didn't do a good job! Sucks that we couldn't get a swipe at CC, but at least we put her mooks on the run. Now those outlaws know not to mess with us! Hell, with CC gone and us winning round two against those scum, I doubt anyone is going to be running Outlaws for a while. Not while the Ebony Strykers are in their golden age!" A small cheer erupted from the group. Arms Slave let them holler, but quieten them down so he can continue. "I'm not one for big speeches, so I got two things to say. First is for the Sweepers: Don't forget your roots. I know most of us have joined the Ebony Strykers now, but remember that our duty is to take on these Outlaws first and foremost. It doesn't matter who they are; if they're just punks on the street or even members of the other guilds. Hell, even if they're members of the Ebony Strykers. Ones we get a target, it's our obligation to take them down. No one else in Deep Ground does that but us; sure a player might have a vendetta against some thug, but we Sweepers are the ones who seek out and bring down Outlaws." Arms Slave still intended to do Sweeper work during the Ebony Stryker's lulls, though considering how eventful things have been, he doubts that he'll be bored for long.

"Next is addressed to all of you. Now I know not all Ebony Strykers are Sweepers. Some of you joined up for your own reasons. I'm sure some of you don't even like the Sweepers, and that's fine. But we're all on the same side now. The first Ebony Strykers fell apart because of in-fighting, but that's not going to happen this time! Nah, while the likes of Moon Rider and her posse might not always be here to help, that's why we got to rely on each other. If you got problems, find me, or find anyone with a lick of sense, and ask for help. This whole lone wolf thing might be cool and edgy, but all that'll do is get you fucking killed. Teamwork OP, as they say. And you better get used to that; because we're not done fighting."

Arms Slave sent everyone present a message, more of a memo really, of the earlier announcement Moon Rider made for CC's bounty. "Corpse Collector may be dead and some lucky bastard just hit level 9, but there's still something for us. CC stole a whole bunch of shit from the other guild and I doubt her death means they get it back. That means somewhere out there is all the guild's most valuable, most powerful items. I don't even know what we're looking for, but that's where you all come in. With CC's death that treasure is up for grabs, and we got to grab it before the other guilds do! The Ebony Stryker's got the best and most powerful players in all of Deep Ground, but we're just the tip of the iceberg. We're going to get that loot, get even stronger, and make sure all of Deep Ground is under Ebony Stryker control! So you know what that means right?"

Drawing out his weapons in all four arms, Arms Slave raised them into the air. "That means we're going treasure hunting! So get your levels, get your weapons, our war ain't over, but we're winning anyways."

A short but loud cheer erupted from the group as Arms Slave left the podium to go about his own business. He was strong enough to level up now, though at level four he'd just get a feat. Nothing too impressive, and right now he was kinda tired. Yawning, he was about to head out when he received another message from Paper Moon. The title made Arms Slave smirk, and before he logged off he made sure to respond to him.

To: Paper Moon
From: Arms Slave
Subject: Re: Eeeeeeeeyyy gurl, can I have yo digits?
Yo...

Lol jk. Fo sho, we can meet up and shit. It's gun be sum busy few days tho. Gunna get the crew to find that loot CC stole, still got newbs to take care of, the whole shebang. If you want to tag along I'm game for that. Bring friends.

If you ever want to chill, just look for the only fat kid at school. I'm hard to miss. Anywhoozies, heading off for the nyte, ciao.

After sending that message, Arms Slave logged off.



Asahi was rather surprised he didn't get any information about Corpse Collector's real identity yet. Normally someone that high-profile would have a hit on them ASAP. Asahi asked a few of his usual contacts if they knew anything, but they weren't given much info either. It seemed as if everyone just sort of forgot about Corpse Collector and was now putting their attention onto other businesses. Fine with Asahi, he supposed. But ever since the Sweepers merged with the Ebony Stryker's, he hasn't gotten any jobs from the Erasers.

Which meant Asahi had plenty of lazy days afterschool. He heard that, sometime after he logged off, Eclipse Princess had sent multiple Sweepers some sort of threatening letting because of the name Arms Slave had plastered onto the walls of the Black City. The reaction was... Humorous. When Asahi read it the first thing that came to mind was the very old copypasta meme of someone who claims to have been in the Navy Seals. Aside from that, the e-mail also gave Asahi Eclipse Princess's full name and her supposed ties to a mercenary company of some sort. It also marked Cassandra as someone very important to Eris, which only means it was one of her weaknesses.

Asahi didn't have any intentions of actually fighting Eris or hurting Cassandra, but he couldn't let this opportunity pass up. So he had one of his friends copy the e-mail and paste it onto as many forums, imageboards, chans, boorus, and whatever he could find. Asahi wanted the e-mail to become a meme. Next, he encouraged any Sweeper he meant in Deep Ground to message Eris, not Eclipse Princess but the player herself, and rely with a similarly worded and emotionally charged letter. And possible dick pics, if they wanted to. Next Asahi simply planted some rumors about Eris and Cassandra at school, bolstered by the e-mails, and let the gossip carry the message through Purple Crown. He has no idea how that'll turn out, but it'd be fun to watch. Lastly, and somewhat more seriously, Asahi contacted a few of his fellow Cleaners to do some information gathering on Eris. Asahi could guess that she was going to become a thorn in his side later on once she actually starts making friends instead of enemies, and on the off chance that she wasn't full of shit when she said she was part of some military company. Either way, Asahi didn't have to lift a finger against Eris or her friends. All he needed to do was spread lies and slander, and let the social environment of a highschool setting do it's work.

Asahi didn't even care if this reflected badly on the Sweepers, because this was something that Sweepers had been doing long before he even joined up. There was always rumors and sayings that Sweepers killed people, as if they were some sort of Illuminate group. Which they technically were, but considering that most of the Sweepers consisted of highschoolers on an MOBA game, they were taken about as seriously by actual authorities as much as they cared about Social Justice Warriors and Anonymous. What Asahi did was, at worse, online bullying. And unlike Eris he didn't even mention what he was going to do to Cassandra; he simply wrote her name in corpses and let the reputation of the Sweepers speak for itself.

All the while Asahi was getting down to some actual shady business. He had come to a warehouse market called "Little Asia", not the most creative name, but it explained itself well enough. Basically it was a bunch of market stalls in multiple warehouses that catered asian goods. Food, clothing, medicine, produce, etc. But it had it's own black market too. Everything under the table and so unknown that even neighbors are unaware of what was happening (Usually on purpose). Here was just one of the locations were the Goroshi family did their business; laundering. Many crime families deal in various forms of smuggling, whether it was from bringing in guns, drugs, or even slaves. But the Goroshi family didn't dabble too much in that sort of thing; too many competitors, and even if they made it big they'd only make themselves into a target. Instead, they offered a service to these type of people, as well as anyone else. They took illegally gained wealth and merchandise and legitimized it. Everything involving tax evasion or sheltering was what the Goroshi family did, and they made a good amount of wealth for it thanks to the demand of such things. Mostly because many of the things they laundered weren't for other criminals, but official organizations. More often then not what the Goroshi family dealt with wasn't weapons or animal bones, but simply trade goods like electronics or maybe medicine, but off the grid to avoid taxes and other laws. They've been doing it for years, and surviving only because they're the best at it, not the most famous.

In one of the shops they operated in, it was a meager looking antique shop. Asahi stopped by to check up on one of his father's men, an old timer who was in the business before even his own father took charge of the business. Asahi was just here to chat and maybe listen to some gossip, but his real intentions was to know where the old man's son was. Eventually the old man got to the point and told Asahi that his son was at the arcade. Thanking the old man, Asahi left to the arcade. Of course, Asahi was going in the exact opposite of the actual "Arcade" in the market, which was actually a cheap computer cafe and called such. No, the arcade was a different place where different games were played.

A fighting game.

Walking into the storage areas Asahi went to one of the colder parts of the warehouses, in the basement level. A few turns here, a lock-and-key there, and Asahi was in the Arcade. Or better described, fight pit. Here boys and girls of every age can get together and brawl, in real life that is. Not the same sort of fighting that happened in Deep Ground with super powers or legendary weapons. Just anything from bare-knuckle boxing, wrestling, or for the braver sort, live weapons. Asahi was no strange to the Arcade and liked to think he's something of a vet, but in truth he couldn't even enter ranks. Mostly because just about everyone here at the Arcade was a better fighter than him, either due to talents, drugs, or experience. Here, Asahi didn't fight highschoolers who talk a big game. There were actual martial artists, former military, or just plain violent psychopaths, most who were adults who had size and strength advantages against him. He fought a few and lost to all of them, but he still came back for more, and on the off-chance he might win, he may even get good money for it. One thing that kept any young thug from just jumping into the pits (Aside from everyone who'd beat his ass for breaking the rules of the ring) was that you had to pay to fight. Also sign a waver that basically amounts to "I'm joining this martial arts club and am aware of the possibly harm that may come to me", though it was mostly just a formality to avoid trouble during the rare chances people died in the ring.

Asahi looked for his friend, a tall and lanky guy who Asahi calls "Ladder" because of how tall and bony he was. If he put on some muscles he might be a good fighter, but he looked too thin and frail to take a punch. But he sure doesn't mind taking bets. "Yo Ladder!" Calling out to the big guy, Ladder turned around just as the fight ended in his lost. He had to pay up 700 for his bet, which he did with some sullen hesitation. Asahi didn't care though and the two stepped out for somewhere more quiet.

"Long time no see Asahi. Where've you been man? I haven't seen you in the arcade in ages. Haven't been able to make any money from betting against you." Asahi smirked and playfully punched Ladder in the ribs, who blocked his fist with his elbow. "I've been busy with Deep Ground, dickface. That's why I'm here too." ladder nodded his head, and the two walked back to the shop. Once at the shop Ladder looked through his bag and produced some sort of mechanical collar to Asahi. "Yeah, here it is; The Alt Collar. I think I managed to make a breakthrough with it." Asahi looked at Ladder curiously, uncertain if he could believe him. "A breakthrough huh? Does that mean you can play Deep Ground now?"

Ladder nodded his head excitedly. Ladder was 20 years old; two years ago Deep Ground was uninstalled from his brain chip, as it always was for anyone who reached the age 18. But Ladder wanted to get back into the game, where he was at his strongest. So he had been working for two years to figure out how to get back into Deep Ground despite the age restrictions, and managed to find a solution using this device/ "Yeah, you put the collar on and it will be able to sorta... 'Trick' Deep Ground into thinking your chip is younger than it really is. I couldn't do it before, but when the new patches were going out I managed to sneak this in before it was done." Asahi looked at the collar and noted a slot of some sort on it. "What's this?"

Ladder took a small chip from his bag; it was a brain chip. "The collar can let me go back into Deep Ground despite being over 18, but it can also let you, uh, well... Play as a whole new avatar too. But the only caveat is that it's only one avatar per brainchip. I didn't want to use my old avatar because I didn't want authorities noticing that I'm suppose to be retired. So if you use a new brain chip, putting it in here, then you can play Deep Ground with a whole new character." Asahi nodded his head. This was good; this is what he paid Ladder to do. "Good job mate. Is this the only one you have?" Ladder nodded his head. It was something of the final beta; there was always going to be a need to upgrade it so that it could bypass whatever new patches the Deep Ground updates with. Returning the collar to Ladder, Asahi started walking out. "I'll be back in a few days. I want you to make one for me too. That's looking a bit too small for my neck."



Asahi was back to reality. Between Deep Ground, using his new Alt, and real life stuff, Asahi was just tired. It was hard to believe he was getting so worked up for a video game. But then again, Deep Ground was more than that. It was a way of life, the means that one decides how they live in the world. Right now Asahi had a pretty good score; his KDR was in the positives, and he had three more years to make it even better. He had a solid group of friends he could work with if things start looking bad, and even then he could always pick up the family business if his adult job wasn't working out. Asahi had a lot to be thankful for and really, his life was pretty damn good. But Asahi knows all too well how one's good fortunes can be gone in an instance. All it takes is one person with the desire to see you hurt. Someone who's goal isn't to make it by, but to make sure that you don't make it. Someone who's hateful, spiteful, and petty. Someone like Asahi really.

Finishing up his rice cakes Asahi got an E-mail from Phantom Regality. It seems like he wanted figure out what to do with himself. Well, today was an important day: After two days of searching, some of the Ebony Strykers found a pretty solid lead to where one of the guild treasures were. So Asahi was going to log into Deep Ground, rally the troops, and have them look for it. So opening up the e-mail Asahi responded to Phantom.

To: Phantom Regality, Paper Moon
From: Arms Slave
Subject: Re:Deep Ground Plans
Actually, I do have some plans. I hear that some of the troops found a lead to where one of the missing Guild Treasures is, so I'm going to try to get a gang together and find it. We'll need as much help as we can get to secure it from the other guilds or any scavver. After school let's rally at the guild hall and we can figure out what to do from there.

Sending the message, Asahi was about ready to resume his nap when an alarm went off in his head. It was his cat; it had been missing for these past few days and Asahi was wondering where he went. It wasn't unusual for Train to run off on his own, but Asahi had missed his kitten and wanted to find it. Now that it was near by Asahi got out of his seat and went to go look for Train.

---

These past few days have been a pain in the ass for Retsu. CC's death was just the tip of the ice berg; the cause of her death, the motives for her attack, and her true origins have been on Retsu's mind all day. She didn't care for Smitten Kitten; she wasn't the real reason CC died. No, it was that mysterious hand that Retsu couldn't get a read on. It had the same blocks as Corpse Collector did, but as soon as it stabbed CC her own firewalls fell. And when Retsu used Cherry Hunter to look into Corpse Collector's information... She found nothing. No walls, no ID, no GPS location. Just... Nothing. It was as if Retsu had just used the Cherry Hunter on a dissolution; all it would give was game information, stats, and other miscellaneous info that had nothing to do with actually finding Corpse Collector's player. Retsu didn't know if this was another wall CC had to protect her identity, or something bigger than that.

There was also the matter of the Sweepers. Retsu had only been recently informed about Eclipse Princess's membership. Normally not something Retsu would bother caring about, if Princess didn't PM Moon Rider about her complaints against the Sweepers. It surprised Retsu very little when, upon being informed of the E-mail, she noticed Arms Slave being involved in it. Of course her brother would be doing stupid shit like this. Fortunately Moon Rider felt that this matter was as inconsequential as Retsu did. If Eris and Asahi wanted to have their spat, Retsu would let them. Arms Slave didn't represent the Sweepers anymore than Moon Rider does; he's just a loudmouth who likes picking fights. As long as Eclipse Princess follows Moon Rider's orders, Retsu would be fine making sure Princess doesn't have to cooperate with the Sweepers. The less rogue agents she has to deal with, the better.

More important Sweeper business was the growing conspiracy to disband. Only Retsu was aware of it as it involved her fellow Erasers, who wanted to leave their guild. That's not to say that they wanted to leave the Ebony Strykers; no, most of the other Erasers actually were allied with the other colored guilds, participating in order to have a contact within. However they wanted to leave and join the Ebony Strykers under the guise of bolstering it's power, but Retsu knew the real reason. They wanted to get to Moon Rider and use her for her own ends, or to usurp Retsu's position and claim her power. Paranoia was the name of the game; to pretend that it won't happen means to be unprepared when it does happen. Retsu needed to figure out a way to appease the other Eraser's thirst for power without giving up her own. Because if they chose to disband, that removes a strong contact within the other guilds, not to mention raise suspicion about how deeply involved the Sweepers are in the other guilds. Worse would be if the Erasers simply declare ware against Retsu, or Dark Wraith. A Sweeper Civil war would tear the Ebony Stryker's apart due to a vast majority of them being being Sweepers, and many who have loyalties to the other Erasers rather than Moon Rider or Dark Wraith. The feud between Eclipse Princess and Arms Slave could be safely ignored as long as it was between the two; Arms Slave's gang of Sweepers were just a drop in the bucket of their full forces, and Eclipse Princess was essentially a lone wolf who's only a threat individually. But if another Eraser got involved and bolstered the either side, it may be the spark needed to split the Ebony Strykers in half between Sweeper Loyalist and the Ebony Strykers.

And of course there was the matter of the fight at the pizza parlor and Erika. This concerned Retsu do to the mysterious disappearance of the boy who attacked Yoshino at the pizza parlor; Retsu intended to find and interrogate him, but his existence simply vanished. Even after extracting the information from the other boys who fought at the parlor, they knew nothing about the one who went after Yoshino directly. Additionally, around the same time Corpse Collector died in Deep Ground, Erika Mitsuki, who was in a coma, had awaken. Retsu came to that conclusion when Erika came back to school the day after, and knew that it was no coincidence that she awoke the same time CC died. In addition to the strange nature of CC's identity, Retsu was buried in mystery. This was a bigger case than she had imagined; this was the work of no mere hacker, but of something much bigger. Something that threatens Retsu's plans.

And last but not least, Tsugumi Yoshino. At this point Retsu was certain that she was, in deed, Moon Rider. It was pretty obvious honestly; the only one who will speak on Moon Rider's behalf would, of course, be Moon Rider herself. But Retsu was worried about Yoshino's safety. Eris's message implied that there was someone after Yoshino, and after all the things Retsu had seen in both Deep Ground and the real world, she thinks Eris may have a point. Someone, or something, was targeting Yoshino. Retsu could not keep a close eye on her from where she was at; in order to maintain a low profile Retsu had been keeping her distance from the student president and little-to-no reputation at school. But because of that, Retsu can't keep tabs on Yoshino as closely as she'd like. Fortunately, Retsu's corrupt family had a solution.

To appease the men in his workforce, Retsu's father was funding student housing for Purple Crown, but only for the daughters of the men who worked for him. That was still 20 girls, Retsu included, who would be moving into more homely location; an entire apartment building, thirty rooms in total, was being rented out just for them. Each girl would be getting their own room with better space and accommodations than their current ones granted by Purple Crown would be. Now, normally Retsu wouldn't care for the deal. She may take up the offer, or maybe deny it if it was too much of a bother. But Retsu wasn't going to let this opportunity go to waste; she made sure to reserve two rooms, one for herself and another for Yoshino. It would be on the second floor away from most of the entrance or exits; this way if anyone wanted to hurt Yoshino, they'd have to go through the entire building first. Or somehow drill through the walls or ceiling. But baring extremities like that, the point is that it would keep Yoshino safe. But Retsu needed to convince Yoshino to actually come.

They had spoken about it before and Yoshino seems receptive. However Retsu had already moved most of her belongings to her new dorm, and she hasn't seen Yoshino around. Considering her busy schedule perhaps Yoshino simply hasn't found the time to move her things, which would be understand able. Or maybe Yoshino was lying and doesn't want to move into the new housing. Why she would do that is what worried Retsu the most, if that's what Yoshino was thinking. Her paranoia was acting up again so Retsu had to let out a deep breath and make a call. It was getting a bit too much for Retsu, so today, she wasn't going to worry about this. Today she's going to head into town and party, and she wanted Yoshino to come along.

To: Yoshino Tsugumi
From: Retsu Goroshi
Subject: Busy later?
I'm thinking of heading into town tonight to work some stress off. I wanted to know if you'd like to come along, considering both our duties. Do you want to meet up and talk or just use our E-mails?

After sending her message, Retsu raised her eyebrow. Did her speech get more colorful? Ignoring it, Retsu excused herself from the class. She needed to use the bathroom.

---

Eris didn't stay on school for the second half of today's classes, instead she checked in on the nurse office and went straight for her new apartment (forced on Eris by her father, after the word of the murder attempt reached his ears) in a building whose security was handled by the Black Foxes, since it housed quite a few VIPs who attended Purple Crown. If one were to check the medical leave form Eris submitted to the Student Council, they would notice that the cause for today's absence was listed as severe period cramps aggravated by stress fatigue.

Right now, Eris was laying on her bed, after having eaten whatever little thing she could stomach, ready to log on Deep Ground now that it had finally reopened and settle the score with the Sweepers. Strangely, even though Eris was feeling like trash right now, she was smiling a defiant smile all too characteristic of her, perhaps because Eris was remembering the only good thing that happened on these past couple days, that is, the surprise meeting she had with her mother last Sunday.

Just before diving into the cyberspace, Eris sent a voicemail to Cassandra (given that it was school time Eris supposed Cassandra wouldn't answer the call, anyway):

"Good afternoon, Cassandra O'Shera. I would like it if you could come to my new apartment if you are free after school this afternoon. I'll most likely be on Deep Ground, so you can come in without knocking, just don't forget the keycard I gave you.

We can meet inside of Deep Ground, I plan to stay around the Black City tanning the hides of the Sweepers, it won't be hard to find me. Just be sure to come over, I... hmm, could use some company for dinner. That is, if these cramps even let me eat anything at all. God, why this kind of thing has to happen just because we were born women?"

Now out was time for Eclipse Princess to break some idiots, until the king of fools came to meet her personally.



Yuuno had a rough time this last few days. It looked like the promotion to Maribel's secretary was more like being shanghaied into a pirate's ship and have all the menial labor chucked on her while Maribel enjoying the new found freedom. Then again, it was not like Yuuno would, or wanted to complain, the sight of her beloved Bel-sama was all that Yuuno needed to get the energy to carry on with whatever job was pushed on her, no matter how hard, painful or grueling it was. Also, for Simone who was a secretary as well, Maribel was rather lax... to say the least, Yuuno it was a greatly satisfying talk to organize the life of the one who kept the live of her cousin organized.

The thing is, who would keep the pile of jumble that Yuuno was making of her own things organized? Well, such things could wait, now out was time for one final report and then hitting Deep Ground while the updates were hot. Yuuno could only hope that Absinthe Blue had gained some cool things on this last patch... maybe?

"Bel-sama, Bel-sama~" Yuuno said cheerily as she stalked Maribel, creeping on the blue haired girl with an ease that made one question Yuuno's pastimes. "I've finished the reassignment of the clubs' budgets for the coming month, you just need to bring it to Yoshinon now. Also here's something for Titania-sama..." As she said so, Yuuno handed a report of the inflow of new players on each of the guilds, according to the Cobalt Bruisers' Intelligence Department (The name a group of players who liked to crunch numbers more than Dissolutions gave to themselves). On the paper there was information regarding a 13% increase to the number of recruits to the Blue Guild, no doubt result of the blatantly propaganda Yuuno was spreading around about their guild's feats on the Siege of the Black City, or maybe the fact that said propaganda included a number of posters of Antie Titania posing before a row of tanks, to fish people by the rule of cool.

THE COBALT BRUISERS WANT YOU!
Join our Cavalry.

These words had weight, after all who would like a shoddy car, or flea ridden mount when they could have tanks? Sometimes, even Yuuno got appalled by her own genius. Hehehe.

"Please excuse me, Bel-sama, but I have to get into Dep Ground soon and see if I can finally sell that Land Claim to Moon Rider-sama. After having her territory wracked twice in a week, I guess she'll be more than willing to negotiate new lands, if for nothing else, at least to have more room for the next conflict. I hardly believe the issue with CC was the last we are gonna see of Moon Rider-sama's trouble. If you need me I'll be on the Black City, also don't forget your appointment, the Harleys will get very frustrated if we don't send that weapons shipment today. Till later, Bel-sama~" Yuuno said, waiting for Maribel's reply.



On the halls of the Purple Crown Academy, a foreigner looking blond girl wearing a lot of patches and bandages all around her body and with a sad look on her eyes that could wrench one's heart like a with the cold grasp of pity, walked alone, eating a jam sandwich she had saved from her lunch with small pained bites, because of a swollen cheek. All in all, it looked like the doll-like girl, who couldn't be older than fourteen, would break in cry at a moment's notice, though, she was fighting to hold whatever was the cause of her tears back, being as brave as she could.

"Mmph!" Itsuko groaned as she stumbled on someone while she walking with her gaze fixed on her feet, instead of looking at what was in front of her. Despite the fact that she had dropped her sandwich (which was being stepped on by one of the boys she bumped on), Itsuko avoided a rough landing with... impossible reflexes for someone who looked so pitiful. If one didn't knew better, it would be easy to think that she was a tiger in human clothing. Nevertheless, the four boys that she bumped on, circled Itsuko, pinning her against the wall, all that she managed to say was "I-I'm sorry... I-I wasn't looking where I was going. Please, don't." as she raised her arms protecting her face and one of of the boys heaved a punch aiming to her stomach.



As Eclipse Princess logged in, she found that she had enough EXP to reach Level 06, she also purchased an Outlaw Declaration, which she used to just before sitting in front of the Black City Gates, breaking the equipment with her Sunder ability (to cause them to lose heavy EXP) before killing any Sweepers that she knew of that dared cross them (which was highly facilitated by the choke point the Sweepers themselves created, by having only one way in or out of the Black City, which was outside of sanctuary territory, because of the weapons they placed on it), no matter how weak they were, but letting other players go, as long as they didn't tried to fight her.

"Listen well, Sweeper Scum! I'll keep killing and breaking the items of anyone of you who dares face me, until that trash named Arms Slave come out here and face me. If you don't want to walk around nude, weaving wooden sticks, with near zero experience points, keep your tails between your legs and hide inside the city doing nothing. I don't have a grudge with anyone else, but any who dares attack me will die as well! That's the rice you pay for messing with my girlf... erm, my friend!" Eclipse Princess yelled for all of the Black City to listen, before planting her sword on the ground and waiting.

---

@Lucius Cypher@Caits@TheWindel

Hibiki was out of class early on since she finished her project early. Where most students dedicated nearly all their time to Deep Ground, Hibiki actually remembers her studies. She had finished all her math home work, written her essay on Charles Darwin, did her project for Astronomy, and even blazed through her Computer Science class. Still, her grades weren't great; she did the work but she didn't always understand it. She's been meaning to meet with tutors for it, but instead of doing that she's been playing with her new pet cat. The little black cat named Train had been her only friend for these past few days ever since she found him at school. A frisky little animal who tried to explore every part of Hibiki's home, and shedding hair the whole time. It was a good thing her parents weren't home and that the house keepers were understanding, or else Hibiki might of had to return him to his owner. Today, Hibiki was going to go play with Train after school in the gardens. He seems to always be at school around this time, so Hibiki was certain that he belonged to one of the students. She kinda hoped that maybe the owner wouldn't mind if she kept Train. He's been so much fun to be with.

To her surprise, Train found Hibiki first. He also seemed to have caught a rat for Hibiki, who smiled, picked the rat's tail with a tissue paper, and tossed it outside. "That's dirty. Don't play with your food, Train." Hibiki picked up Train and walked down the halls to head to the garden. But before she could get there, she heard a small yelp. Curious, Hibiki and the kitten went to investigate and saw something scary. Four boys surrounding a girl, who looked really hurt. She had bandages and everything. She didn't know any of them; she hasn't seen the boys and the girl must be new. But one of the boys raised a fist as if he was going to punch the girl. Hibiki didn't know why he was doing this, but she had to do something. She didn't know what to do, but it had to be something.

So she just ran at them, taking her bag off and let Train go. She had no idea how to fight and compared to the girl, Hibiki was even smaller. But she couldn't just stand by and let this happen. With a cat-like tread Hibiki was able to run right up to the boy who looked like he was about to throw a punch, and she hit him in the head with her book bag, which had all her texbooks, notebooks, lunchbox, and stationary in it. "LEAVE HER ALONE YOU BULLIES!"

Hellflame had made it to the Black Castle and was making his way through it when he heard a string of f-bombs and other angry words originating from somewhere inside. He recognized that voice; it was the same as that Corpse Collector girl he had come across. Whatever had happened, it certainly didn't sound like she was in a good position. Chances were, she had died. Giving another good think about her, he now remembered where he had heard the name before. He had read some news about some Outlaw or something with a huge bounty of making the player who killed her all the way to Level 9. He was outside Deep Ground at the time when he read it, which explained why he didn't recall the information right away. Still, he did wonder about it. If Corpse Collector really did die, then who got the bounty? Hellflame immediately thought about that other girl who was with Corpse Collector, and decided that he wouldn't put it past her to do it. He would have if he had recognized Corpse Collector, and he did hear the word "kitten" among her death throes.

Opening a door ever so slightly and peeking through the crack with one eye, Hellflame found that he was right on the money. There was what was probably the Black King, if he had to judge from the dark clothing, as well as Corpse Collector's companion. No sign of Corpse Collector, which meant that she was really dead. There was another person he didn't recognize, but that was unimportant. What was important, though, was Kitten's speech about taking down the Black King. That little bit of information was quite the catch for Hellflame, and made him greatly interested in the girl. Hellflame then made a mental note of the girl's in game name, Smitten Kitten, and made plans to find her next time.

---

Zachary's alarm rang, and it took him a few halfhearted attempts to finally reach over and shut it off. Getting up and looking at the time for a few seconds, he eventually got up and got ready to go to class. He had woken up a couple hours early, but that was normal for him. If he didn't want up that early, he would never make it to class on time.

Zachary yawned as he slowly walked through the hallway. As he did so, he couldn't help but notice the commotion going on between four punks and a couple of girls. He stopped to stare at the scene for a few seconds, then continued on to move past them. He would much rather prefer to avoid fights and other such conflict, finding them too much time and effort to deal with. As he neared the scene, though, he heard a meow from underneath him. Looking down, he found that a kitten was sitting nearby, watching the fight unfold. Zachary then knelt down and began to stroke the cat for a moment before attempting to pick it up.

In class, despite being a struggle, Cassandra maintained her usual standard of attention. While Cassandra liked school, there were times where she just didn't want to be there, sitting, listening to the teacher or doing school work. Today was one of those days, and she soon found herself just getting a start on the homework already given, listening with half an ear to what was going on around her.

The voice message buzzed through, and Cassie flicked it over to text, reading it in the guise of the class work, smiling slightly. She glanced at the time, and gave a soft sigh. She went back to her work, deciding that it might be a bit obvious if she replied, and figuring she now had a reason to get her homework done then, rather than later.

Cassie didn't go home the normal way, if she had she would have missed the fight, instead she came right across it, as two small girls were being surrounded by four boys. As one girl attacked one of the boys with her book, Cassie knew she couldn't just stand there. Dropping her things, Cassie didn't hesitate to join the girls, "You heard her, get lost! Cowards, attacking a helpless girl! Go on, get!" She wondered about the paths of fate that led to such things, when all she had been thinking of was what she could take to Eris's for dinner.

And now she was involved in a fight. She wished she could say it was the first one she'd been in, but the movies and pizza night the week before was still fresh in her mind.

As classes came to a close, Ken and Shiro chatted a bit before going their separate ways. The former already acquired a club room, advisor, and thanks to his new friend, a substantial amount of club members. The only thing on the latter’s mind right now was how disconcerted Nyx was going to be when he discovered the club’s existence. Since the guy seemed to have a temper, he could only imagine what the player’s IRL counterpart would do. Shiro fumbled around with his eye patch’s strings while he walked through the hallway. Students passed him by heading wherever. He exchanged passing greetings with those he had acquainted, which were a considerable amount, as expected of a social butterfly. There was no destination in his mind as of yet. For now, he was merely aimlessly waltzing wherever.

His subconscious ended up leading him to the rooftop. He frequented the locus due to the soothing atmosphere it was known for. Luckily he had the area to himself for the time being. The familiar ping notifying him that he had received a message went off. Shiro opened up his messages and rested against the rooftop’s fencing. The boy’s initial response was to raise an eyebrow at the contrastingly unfamiliar name. Upon opening it, he only grew more perplexed. Shiro deduced that this Phantom Regality character was affiliated with Arms in some way.

To: Phantom Regality, Arms Slave
From: Paper Moon
Subject: Re:Re: Deep Ground Plans

“Oh, hey, what’s up! Don’t know if you’re a dude or dudette, so I’ll be sticking to androgynous terminology. Anyways, in answer to your question, how about we enjoy the fresh air and our first day back to school after that whole caboodle? I don’t think I’ll be logging into DGO today, but if you guys want to reveal our 3D forms to each other, that’s totally cool!

I’ll try to gather a few contacts, I’m sure they’ll have similar interests. Lemme check if any death flags pop up in the next couple of hours, and if I’m in the clear, I’ll hop on and lend a helping hand.”

After sending his response, he got up from the spot and began to make his way for the stairwell.
@Mega Birb@Lucius Cypher

Michael Davis

It was no secret now that Erika, the student formerly thought to have ran away to escape the social pressures of DGO, had actually been in a week long coma. It was also no secret that whatever had caused said coma had also caused a rather…blunt personality shift within the once shy girl. And of course, it was by far no secret that she and the Red King had a thing going on.

Michael blinked as someone bumped into him, eyes taking in the image of Erika’s smiling form. So it was true. She really was back…a certain Green King owed him a bet. And with her reappearance came a new sense of belonging, almost a new aura. He could practically see it in her smile and he had to wonder what happened to the meek girl he knew. Not that he was complaining…

“Erika…”

But before he could say anything else, she was already gone, her arm lingering on his. He focused in on that soft sensation, mind reading a number of things. Well then. Perhaps this was for the best. With a growing smile that was hard to read on his face, he turned to give Aaron a knowing glance before carrying on his way.

---

Maribel Harper

“Uh huh…yes, yes…sounds good…good to hear Yuuno!”

Maribel was a bit too cheery in her words, the tell-tale sign that she was only half-paying attention to what Yuuno was actually saying. School had finally let out with the final bell and she was maneuvering through the swarm of students to find her Jukey. Hearing that Yuuno was off to do some Deep Ground work, she waved her off with a thumbs up.

“Yeah, do your best Yuunno! I know one day you’ll find a hot guy for you. Or maybe even…some forbidden love? >:3” she said with a wink before seeming to melt into the sea of students. One had to wonder what was wrong with the Vice President at times…

“Oh! And don’t forget to greet the new Avatars in our guild! Bye Uno~!”

---

Yoshino Tsugumi

To: Retsu Goroshi
From: Yoshino Tsugumi
Subject: Re: Busy later?
We can meet up if you want. Maribel is supposed to be taking care of the office today along with other things. Assuming she’s not spending time with her boy toy. I’m heading out of the Academy right now.

Yoshino sent this message even as she was moving, eager to have something on her mind other than work. Honestly, with the random commotion that had been happening in the last two days, getting a break was few and far between. She could only hope Bel would keep her word and manage the Student Council duties for the day; even she needed some time to relax.

Though it was more due to Retsu’s concern for her health than anything else…and speaking of that, she felt her throat suddenly constrict with the feeling of bile. A familiar but unwanted feeling suddenly overcame Yoshino and she furrowed her eyes behind her glasses at how sudden the sensation had entered her mind. Only one person could make her feel like this and Yoshino saw her walking away off to some random place in the school hallways.

Adjusting her glasses, Yoshino knew that wherever she went, there was bound to be trouble. So she followed, keeping at a distance lest she earn this individual’s wrath. What she saw was a fairly new girl with blonde hair who she recognized as Itsuko Kanzaki along with two others, Cassandra O'Shera and Hibiki Toho.

And the one who had stepped in to join the bullies was none other than Chiyo Kuroke. The White King and the one who had always tried to make Yoshino’s life a living hell. Chiyo sneered as Hibiki and Cassandra’s attempt to be offensive, merely crossing her arms unimpressed.

“And what are you going to do if we don’t feel like moving? Please, tell me each aspect of your pathetic plan so I can laugh at it before kicking it into the dirt. Which will be soon followed with your faces,” Chiyo said with venom, daring either of the three girls to do something about it.

It was a tough situation since everyone knew Chiyo had powerful ties, both in Deep Ground and in reality. So much as laying a finger on her was almost a guarantee to have them shipped out of Purple Crown. Seeing this display, Yoshino silently fumed, more so at Chiyo herself than the actual confrontation.

---

Aaron Fletcher

Aaron was engrossed in his work as Erika came by, reflexively looking up to see what looked like a semi-hostile glance from the Red King himself, and what appeared to be several walking prints of Nyx's former outfit. He shrugged it off the glance and tossed his notebook back into his bag, then briefly returned his attention to the girl that had sat down just across from him. "Hey Erika, I hate to leave so quickly, but I think Eris needs my help." Standing just as abruptly as he ended the attempted conversation with an excuse that could be easily debunked, he slipped his bag onto his back and melded into the crowd.

Soon enough, he had pulled one of the holders of a Nyx-Branded towel to the side. "Hate to bother you, but where'd you get that towel?"

The student was quick to answer, surprisingly. "Someone started up a club for this DGO player, whatever his name is. Guess he's pretty good or something. They don't even know his name." With an innocent giggle, the girl was on her way, and Aaron was rushing back into the school, intent on finding that club room.

It was surprisingly easy to find, given the relatively large flood of people leaving the room. Slipping in, the American soon found himself standing at a desk with a boy on the other side, a successful smirk on his face. "So, I see I have a fanclub now... Aaron Fletcher, nice to meet you." Holding his right hand out faster than the guy could respond, he awaited a handshake. How his old set had become famous overnight was a mystery, although he now knew that crafting replicas of his mask would earn him some sizable amounts of EXP.

@Jedly@TheWindel@ReaptheMusic

---

Jiro Katsurou

As he had patiently waited for a response, Jiro had managed to wander over to the dormitories and find his room, heading inside just in time to hear his phone make the iconic beeping that signified a new message. Checking it as his bag was dropped on the floor, he decided that hopping on Deep Ground before work wouldn't be a bad idea. He intended to do just that after making a sandwich. He took a surprisingly slow walk to the refrigerator as he typed out the response to Asahi.

To: Arms Slave, Paper Moon

From: Phantom Regality

Subject: Re:Re:Deep Ground Plans

I like the sound of Legendary-grade loot! I'm gonna hop on for a minute and update my gear, get ready for a bloodbath, y'know. You can't be the only person that knows where one of the things is.

Now, with a sandwich in hand, rather crammed down his throat, Jiro crashed on his bed and logged into Deep Ground.

---

Phantom Regality

Phantom Regality stretched as he spawned inside of a cleaned-up Guild Hall, free of the wreckage from the party a few days ago. He began to walk and habitually look through his inventory, intent on finding a nearby shop to invest in both a new grimoire and sword. And then it hit him like a brick; he was in the Black City, which was just barely getting off the ground again, and was likely devoid of any weapon depots. "Well, I guess we're going to Redville..." Casually walking down what could be called Main Street, he was fully intent on passing through the city's main gate without being stabbed through the abdomen.

He stopped just in time to notice Eclipse Princess cutting down an unnamed Sweeper with broken armor. Ducking into an alley, he quickly sent a message to Asahi just as she spewed something out about Arms Slave and murder.

To: Arms Slave

From: Phantom Regality

Subject: Eclipse Princess

She's at the gate. She's out for Sweeper blood, there's a wall of corpses behind her.

With the message sent, Phantom made the genius idea of coming out of the alley, walking in closer and issuing a challenge to try and stall a little while. "Eclipse Princess! If we're gonna fight, we're doing it the right way! No broken armor, no stealth crap, just a stock duel!" He knew he could hold his own for a little while, but not nearly long enough to open a target on the Berserker before him. He just needed to keep the newbies safe from the girl, and forfeit the moment Arms Slave was there. It was that guys blood she wanted, not the Necromancer's.
@KoL@Lucius Cypher

More messages came in as Asahi was looking for Train. Unfortunately, it seemed like Paper Moon wasn't going to participate tonight. That was a shame, but he supposed that it's not as if Asahi could force the guy to come on. Though he did find it weird that Paper Moon wanted to meet up so badly. Normally that'd be a red flag for Asahi considering his occupation, but he supposed he could trust Paper Moon. And if he couldn't, then he wouldn't be an issue for long.

To: Phantom Regality, Paper Moon
From: Arms Slave
Subject: Re:Re:Re: Deep Ground Plans
You really wanna meet up don't cha? Alright alright. But let's not meet at school; I don't intend to stay for much longer. You know where Little Asia is? I'll be eating at Pho King Best. Or wherever.

Sending the message out Asahi was getting closer to his cat when he instead found Yuuno in the hall instead. After everything that had happened Asahi didn't think he'd ever see her again. Of course, he could understand why she'd avoid him. Getting into a violent gang fight isn't exactly the best impression one could make. Asahi himself had been avoiding Yuuno, and indeed trying to stay out of trouble, so he could try to convince her he wasn't a total thug. Of course now was a bit too soon for that, and all Asahi could really do was stammer. "Oh... Uh, Yuuno. How do you do?"

A message came by from Phantom Regality, but Asahi put it on hold while he was speaking to Yuuno.



Train had been let down gently as his new master had gone off to attack some big people. Train was used to his master getting into fights. Asahi normally kept Train at home, but when he leaves and goes to explore the city sometimes he finds his master and his friends fighting other people. It seemed natural for people to fight; Train fought other cats all the time. Now that he thought about it, it has been quite some time since Train last saw Asahi. His new master, Hibiki, has been quite hospitable to Train. She always fed him, gave him a warm place to sleep, brush him, and doesn't make him have to bath (Train washes himself quite fine). She plays with him too, though sometimes Hibiki plays with Train too much. Still, he likes Hibiki and when he saw her run aftre the bigger people, Train was concerned. Hibiki wasn't as big as Asahi, so Train didn't think Hibiki would win the fight. Of course it's not as if Train was any bigger, but... He didn't want to lose his new master either.

As Train was thinking about what to do, a stranger came up to pet him. Train was used to people doing this and normally he wouldn't care, but right now there was something a bit more important then getting pets. Train moved between the boy's leg as if he was trying to trip him, but in truth he was just trying to get the boy top chase after him as Train ran after Hibiki to help her fight the big people. Though Train was a spoiled house cat, he was still a cat; he kills his own food and can protect himself. He's never fought a person before, but he couldn't let his new master fight alone. So Train jumped high into the air, high enough to reach a boy's face, and scratched him with his claws. Train punctuated his attack with a screech, yelling out "I'll tear out your heart!" in his cat language.

---

Retsu had no trouble on her way to the lady's room. She did her business as quickly and cleanly as she could, but in the midst of her cleansing ritual she got multiple email complaints about outlaw activity. Retsu sighed and looked into it and sighed again when she realized they were all about the same person: Eclipse Princess. "I swear that god fucking dumbass piece of shit..." Retsu was exasperated. Ever since Arms Slave provoked Eclipse Princess she has more or less been terroizing the Ebony Strykers. Sure she says she'd only attack Sweepers... But it doesn't help that a little under 80% of the Ebony Strykers were Sweepers. Normally Retsu wouldn't care about squabbles like this, but it was severely limiting the typical activities of the Ebony Strykers, not to mention catching the eye of other parties. Retsu could already tell that someone, likely the Erasers wishing to abandon their duties, may attempt to capitalize on this opportunity.

Retsu had to debate with herself between doing her job, or trying to get some rest and relaxation. She would have tried to rely on Crimson Outlaw Kisa, but she had resigned her position shortly after the Corpse Collector Incident. And with the current moods in the Sweeper's upper echelons, she also couldn't rely on them to deal with this issue. Indeed, Retsu decided to simply let it go. Based off some statistics Retsu was looking up, Eclipse Princess has already racked up quite an amount of "Friendly Fire". So Retsu simply held onto the information so she can report it to Moon Rider later. She was not going to miss out on her day off just because some egos can't be pleased.

Leaving the bathroom after washing up, Retsu went back down to her classroom. Her class was essentially over and she was just going to get her things when she noticed Michael Davis coming down the hall. She knew he was the Red King, and for the most part kept her distance from him. Though now that she saw him Retsu was reminded that he did try to recruit Erika, the recently awaken-from-her-coma student, into the Scarlet Harley. She didn't think that he had anything to do with her condition, but she did wonder if he knew about it in the first place. Retsu was going to consider an investigation, maybe after she gets everything on her mind organized. Thoughtless, when she walked pass Michael she gave him a simple greeting. "Hello." She didn't stay to converse though, and Retsu went on her way to meet Yoshino.

@TheWindel@Jedly@Scarifar@Ryonara@KoL@Mega Birb

Hibiki didn't have time to analyze the situation or hear what everyone said. All she knew is that one moment she swung her bookbag at one of the bullies, and the next there was a whole lot of people. People who Hibiki never met before. She was almost certain that she knew some of them, but everything was a blur. It actually kind of felt like fighting in Deep Ground; Hibiki's instincts simply guided her actions, and her body followed through. With Cassandra making an appearance and Train of all creatures attacking, Hibiki used the chance to grab the blond, beaten new girl's hand and pulling her out through the opening Hibiki made. She didn't expect the girl to struggle, nor for any one to stop her. Hibiki was moving fast and she wasn't going to stay and fight. Her first priority was to get the girl out of here. She'll worry about everything else later.

"Come with me if you want to live! I'll protect you!"

@KoL

---

Sora slowly awoke from his short lived nap at the sounds of tenuous commotion in the building beside his humble tree. His sleepy features slowly livened up as he rolled onto his stomach atop the branch and happily watched the snarky confrontation. He spotted a familiar face down the hall belonging to the renowned Yoshino Tsugumi, but even better was the somewhat infamous Chiyo Kuroke. Sora observed as a smaller girl began to tug another doll-like girl away, the boys making haste to give chase. Unceremoniously, Sora swung down from the branch he sat on and launched himself towards the open window recklessly. His left foot clipped the trim of the window at full velocity, allowing him ample rotation to completely wipe out across the floor of the hallway with twisting flips, landing inelegantly against the opposite wall to the window on the small of his back, his butt pressed against the wall, and his legs dangling over his head. Additionally, his uniform had been completely disheveled, the bottom of his shirt's buttons completely ripped off and his suit jacket dangling from his shoulders. His tie swung loosely about his neck.

As he stood up, Sora made a pained inhale and exhale followed by a series of "Ouch, ouch, ouch..." as he rolled his shoulder, pushing his jacket back into place. Looking about, he grinned innocently before fixing his gaze on the bullying party and sauntering toward them while running a hand through his long hair.
"Aiyah! Too aggressive, too aggressive! That's no way of chasing tail, my seniors! Leave the physical bit out. Follow my lead!"
Sora flourished as he floated between two of the boys and mischievously snatched Chiyo's hand with an impish smile. He lowered his head as he rose her hand before she could react and touched his lips to her fourth finger's knuckle with practiced movements. His limpid eyes maintained direct eye contact with Chiyo's, but rather than giving off a sense of insanity, his eyes shone with pure wildness, as if he were an untamed animal.
"My name is Sora Naruse, I hope we can get along, White King."

@TheWindel@KoL@Ryonara@Caits

Morgan found her chance; finishing and throwing away her lunch, she got to work on the door as soon as everyone left. Ignoring the BRB sign hung on the door. With a small click, the door unlocked as she made her way into the Records and Administration office. She quickly searched for a terminal, plugging in a small flash drive. The computer was luckily still on and running, all she had to do was copy over a few files before retreating back to her apartment to find out who the Black King really was. After since arriving here, she finally got her answer to her first mystery. Of course, just cause she'd know who they were didn't mean it would tell her what kind of person they were. That was her main goal, but getting to know them in real life would be a lot easier and more efficient. She watched the progress bar slowly fill up. It'd be only a few minutes at this point.

She sighed, reflecting on her last log in to DGO and the events that took place. The death of CC made her heart cry out just as much as hearing the Black King being the one who gave the order. CC would at least have re spawned by now, if she could ever find her again. Where as the Black King, well... she didn't know. She was sure she had her reasons for ordering her execution, but she supposed she could look past it so long as that chapter was over and the fight between them was finished. There was also a lot of other people she didn't recognize within the thrown room. Whether it was temporary or permanent she'd have to ask her guild leader what was up. Which reminded her that she probably needed to contact her for other reasons as well. Since she's been gone for so long, so suddenly. Looking back down at the screen, she noticed the files were completely copied. She safely removed external device, before setting everything back the way it was before. Re-locking the door on her way out.

She headed straight for her apartment, flash drive in hand. She entered her room, kicked off her shoes and clothes, and set the flash drive in a special place, only planing on browsing its contents after a word with her leader. She laid in her bed once more, logging in, and arriving back where she left off, the black thrown room. She quickly browsed through the menus before sending her boss a message:

To: Moon Rider
From: Flan
Subject: Sorry for my absence...

Excuse me Black King for disappearing the last few days. I'm not exactly sure what happened to me, but I suppose that doesn't matter anymore. I'm back under your command. Although.... I was hopping we could meet. I'd like a few answers, and I'd prefer them directly from your mouth. As you may recall, my only goal is to know you, the real you; but in return I stated my loyalty to you however you see fit to use me. However, my questions are more of that pertaining to the recently executed Corpse Collector.

Always at your service
~Flan

@TheWindel

"you're nothing, Chiyo. Oh, you think you are something because you have power, but take it away, and what do you have? Nothing" Cassandra said, in a bored sort of voice, not wanting to look at the other two girls, not wanting to draw attention to them as she hoped they made their way out of there. Was she being a bit reckless? Perhaps. Right then, she didn't care. Chiyo was a bully, and Cassandra wouldn't stand by that. The minute you stood up to most bullies, they caved. She wasn't afraid. Why should she be? She was nothing, anyway. The only thing that made her something was Eris.

The distraction of someone else entering the fray, Cassandra used the chance to get out of there herself. "get out of here" she said to the other two girls, making sure they were gone before she high tailed it out of there herself. She would track them down, later to make sure they were okay.

She was late now, but she knew she wouldn't have been able to live with herself if she hadn't stopped to help. She just hoped the girl was okay. She glanced back, to make sure the girls were being followed. Although she suspected it would be her being followed, given what she had said.

Yoshino Tsugumi

Further away from Yoshino, the Red King caught Retsu’s eye. He took a mental note at how the girl was spending a lot of hours near the Student President these last few days. Granted, it was only a small amount of time to be making judgments like that, but given his rather lackluster role so far, he had plenty of leisure to observe. Still, he gave a nod and a grunt to show his greetings back before going on his way. After all, they were walking in different directions.

Back at the confrontation, Chiyo narrowed her eyes into deadly slits at Casandra’s confrontational words. Maybe for anyone else they would have backed down, but not her. Not the White King, a title that this bitch seemed to have forgotten. But before Chiyo could lay a finger on her, Cassandra was already moving away, Hibiki and the blond bimbo in tow.

She crossed her arms to huff, ready to give out a verbal complaint. But before doing so, the voice of an idiot caught her ear and she gasped to feel her prim and perfect fingers being manhandled by some low life lunatic. Chiyo once more glared, this time at Sora. However his words did catch her interest, which was the reason why he wasn’t on the ground in pain at the moment.

No sooner did she have such thoughts did a smile creep on her face. Sora would find his hand latched away from Chiyo’s by an iron grip before being shoved to the side. There was no noise to herald the arrival of the newcomer, a boy who stood by Chiyo’s side.

“I’ll consider your offer little worm,” Chiyo said with equal hints of venom and playfulness, turning on her heels to take her leave. Before she could even do that, another grotesque hand was laid on her shoulder and she scowled. Turning back, she saw it was one of the bullies from before, his face twitching in anger. Chiyo rolled her eyes as she faced yet another monkey.

“Stay out of this Ivory Whore. We had things under control until you just jumped in,” he snarled, his grip tightening. The half-masked boy moved to assist the White King when Chiyo stopped him with a look. Opening her mouth to bring another stinging retort to the table, she sighed in yet more exasperation as a certain Student President finally showed herself, interrupting whatever she had planned to say.

“Picking fights again Chiyo? It’s nice to know you have your bodyguard with you at all times,” Yoshino said bitterly, glaring at the unnamed masked boy.

“I’m glad to see you out of that cave you call an office Yoshino. Though given your pasty complexion, it’s a wonder people don’t think you’re a vampire,” Chiyo hissed back, daggers passing between the two girls.

As for the bully, he stared at the two incredulously before another vein of anger formed on his face at being blatantly ignored. If Mask Boy wasn’t going to do anything and just watch, then he saw no reason not to give both these girls a lesson in pain. So he tightened his grip even further, forcing Chiyo to pay attention to him.

“Look you bitches, I don’t know what kind of mother didn’t teach you to listen when a man speaks, but she must have been a real idiot if you can’t even pay a-attention?”

The bully stumbled on his own words as he was met with two pairs of icy eyes, each glimmering with a desire to maim. Both girls seemed to bristle and at once Chiyo lashed out to grab the boy by his ear, tugging and dragging him away into a dark corner. Yoshino soon followed, look downright murderous and deaf to the boy’s yelps of pain. As for the masked bodyguard? He stood to the side with crossed arms, ensuring no one would interrupt the girls and their bonding session.

A few minutes later, Chiyo and Yoshino walked out of the corner, leaving a very beaten and bruised bully to pass out in his own worthlessness. As each of them calmed down, they turned the same deadly intent on each other. Chiyo stood by her masked bodyguard’s side while Yoshino merely adjusted her glasses, waiting for Retsu to show up.

“Maybe you aren’t completely worthless then.”

“The same can be said for you.”

Away from this drama, in Morgan’s apartment, the flash drive she had used to steal precious school “information” would suddenly implode on itself. The device sparked once, twice, before outright dying. A shame given that Morgan had downloaded not the student identity list, but the next month’s lunch menu. As if to add insult to injury, the smoke from the sparking flash drive would waft up towards the smoke detectors above…until a loud piercing alarm was heard and the sprinklers came down.

---

A warning popped up on Morgan's screen as she was quickly and safely forced logged off. She came to in the middle of her bed, water pooring down everywhere. Great, now she really was going to be sick. Not noticing a fire, she did her best to stop the alarm and the sprinklers before tending to her bedding. She threw everything into the wash after drying herself with a towel, taking out a surprisingly dry quilt from the closest to wrap herself up with. She didn't have any dry clothes anymore, so she just dried the the apartment in her makeshift attire the best she could.

Coming across the flash drive she had just captured the information with, she had no choice but to just throw it away. it looked miraculously busted without rhyme or reason to it. Satisfied with her job drying the place and mopping up, she decided to lay out side in her quilt toga while her clothes and bedding continued to dry. A furry of sneezes attacking her.

"Asa- Goroshi-kun!?" Yuuno yelped was just about to leave when she ran into none other than Asahi, the last person she wanted to see, and quite frankly the one she has been running from this whole time ever since the pizza incident. When faced with Asahi face to face, Yuuno seemed to shrink into a stammering doll, obvious fear written in bold letters on her face. "I-hmmm, I'm, erm... Oh, yes! Bel-sama asked me to buy something, I have to get going before the stores close. See ya later!"

Yuuno waved good bye and tried to run away, mixing with the crowd of students, the memories of the blood on her face threatened to cause her to go in a panic attack.



"Hmm... are you two alright? I-I'm sorry for causing trouble to any of you, i-it was my fault to begin with for not looking where I was going. But I never like it when it's time to go back hom-" Itsuko said before interrupting herself covering her mouth with a hand as if chastising herself for saying too much.

"I'm sorry for being rude, I'm Itsuko Kanzaki. What about you two?" Itsuko asked to Cassandra and Hibiki as soon as they got to somewhere safe, despite all of her wounds and the run they broke, Itsuko didn't looked like she was too tired, but the sadness and self-deprecation where still there, nevertheless.



Eclipse Princess was starting to get bored of her activity,the rage she was stocking dwindled with each Sweeper she wasted her time on, instead of going to grind, do some quests, or better check what Stark Zealot wanted of her by going to the Ivory Masks' land to talk to White Sun face to face. Just as the berserker was about to sheath her sword and turn her back to the Black City, Phantom Regality stepped in and challenged her while laying out some rather contrived terms, an obvious ruse, if Eclipse Princess could say it.

"Ho? And why should I fight you without using one of my abilities? Even if I do, I can still drop you in one hit, so what's the point, unless... you are here to buy time for the Sweepers." Eclipse Princess said, drawing her sword again and pointing it to Phantom Regality, "Very well, then, I'll take on. Just don't disappoint me and die too fast, will you?" Eclipse Princess said as she accepted the duel request, carefully waiting the time run out in a neutral stance, to not give up the thoughts she had in mind for her fist move.

---

Arkadian walked along until suddenly, the noise of a fire alarm reached his ears. It sounded like it was coming from one of the rooms nearby. He homed in on the sound until he was outside of the room, and then it abruptly stopped.

"Ummm..." He said sheepishly, to no one in particular.

Well, this could probably backfire on him, but he was doing it anyway. He put his ear up to the door to see if he could hear anything. He heard the occasional dripping, someone walking around in a hurry, and then rapid light sneezing approaching the doorway.

Oh wait a minute... Arkadian thought.

He started backwards but he wasn't fast enough and the door slammed into his face.

"Owwww!" He shouted.

He stumbled backwards clutching his nose. Who knew doors hurt so much? What he saw next replaced his pain with embarassment however. He looked up to see a dripping wet girl(?), maybe the same age as he was, wearing nothing but a quilt. And he'd been randomly standing outside her(?) room...

(O_O)...

"Ummmm..." He stammered out, "Do you... want help with anything?"

@Unlucky0013

Although he had far transcended the boundaries of ordinary members with his rank, he had to act the part in official matters. The student let out a sigh as he sent the message. Jeez, somebody was in a pissy mood. Yet he couldn't say that he was in high spirits himself.

@KoL@TheWindel@Lucius Cypher



”Um… Did you say ‘“I”?” Ken questioned while he tilted his head utterly perplexed. The student’s eyes seemed to pierce into his soul, as if they were trying to forcefully evoke the answer they desired. He meekly met the stares of his clubmates who were just as baffled as he was. His gaze dwelled on the outstretched hand, waiting to meet its counterpart. But why was he hesitating? Here was the very icon of his newfound club, yet all he could manage was a weak smile. He decided to chalk down his innate timidness as the root of the issue.

The boy firmly grasped Aaron’s hand and promptly shook it. ”Pleased to meet you, Aaron! My name’s Ken Fujita, erm, my username's Sky Knight.” Although he didn’t really look like much of a knight. Many people, including his own mother, have teased him about his lack of distinguishing characteristics. His appearance, disposition, mentality, all of the above were as mundane as humanly possible. So when faced with a person so passively intimidating as Aaron, he wasn’t entirely sure what to do except play it by the book. He released the hand and shifted in his seat. ”I’m sure you have a few questions pertaining to this club’s existence and how it came about, but I ask that you do not stomp on it while it is still in its infancy. Although it is without a doubt a fan club, my additional directive was to create a gathering for students to just relax and chat about their experiences in DGO. Most of the people you see here were involved in the defense of the Black City, so we witnessed your exhibition at the gate.” He gulped and pulled at his collar with a finger, ”We’re newbs, so we’re constantly trying to learn from our seni-”

His voice suddenly dropped short when a message notification went off. Ken quickly navigated his way to his inbox and began to digest the lines of text.

To: Sky Knight, Paper Moon
From: Drauni
Subject: MAYDAY
Attached File: Image 054

”Guys, we’ve got a problem! Eclipse Princess has gone batshit crazy and is slaughtering any Sweeper that gets close to her! Phantom Regality has confronted her, but I don’t know how long he can hold out for. What should our course of action be?”

Ken’s eyes widened at the attached picture. Drauni must have taken it from on top of the city wall given the perspective, but he was already risking enough being in the general vicinity. The notification of another message shortly followed.

To: Sky Knight, Drauni
From: Paper Moon
Subject Re: MAYDAY

”Drauni, find any Strykers from our raid group and set up a blockade two blocks from the gate. You must restrict all access to the entire area, not to prevent any more Sweeper casualties, it’s that I don’t want to see any collateral regardless of faction. I don’t want any of you being accused of mutiny, so pledge that you came to this action of your own accord. Sky Knight, I’m heading over to your club room now. Best of luck, Drauni.”

Ken closed the message chain and got up from his seat, ”Aaron, a friend of mine will be here momentarily. Our discussion may concern Eclipse Princess, so stay if you’d like.”

Within a matter of minutes the doorway flew open. In its frame stood the orange-haired boy in the midst of catching his breath. ”Ke-” Before he could start, a war cry rang out from the other end of the hall.

”FOUND YOUUUUUUUUUU!!!” It was as if a bullet train had hit Shiro’s side. A bullet train with twin tails of brilliant crimson that is. The boy completely disappeared from sight, and in his place stood a girl striking an omnipotent stance. She flicked one of her streams of hair and narrowed her gaze at the floor. ”HOLY SHIT! KEN, IT’S A WILD TSUNDERE! QUICKLY, DETAIN IT!” As the aforementioned boy began to cry for help, the girl began to raise her foot. ”KEN! KEN! KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!” Unfortunately Shiro’s shrieks for a savior fell on deaf ears as the girl brutishly brought down her shoe, heel first into wherever she was aiming.

”Ugh… I think I see the light…” Shiro was completely sprawled out on Ken’s desk, who the latter had given up to atone for his sin. Ken awkwardly glanced between his physically obliterated friend and the girl, who was now reclining with her legs crossed over a desk and arms behind her head. ”A-anyways Aaron, meet Shiro Kawabata and Akane Himura.”

”Yo.”

”Kill me…”

Could the atmosphere get any worse. All of a sudden Shiro sprung up, seeming to have regained his lifeforce and composure. ”So, Ken, I want you and the rest of the Strykers gathered here to remain out of game. We don’t need any unnecessary deaths.” Akane raised an eyebrow at the order, she guessed she was out of the loop or something. ”Deaths? What’s happening IG?”

”Eclipse is making a ruckus. Diatribe and moody remarks included. This is highly uncharacteristic of me, but we shouldn’t try and exacerbate the current situation. If need be Strawberry, you and I will head in and see what we can do. For now, we’ll keep up to date with Drauni.” His lone eye then focused on Aaron, who must have felt left out of the whole event, ”You don’t have a club sash, so I’m going to go off on a limb here and guess that you’re not a member of it.”

”Oh, he’s actually the idol of this club!”

Shiro let out an understanding “oooooh” at the explanation. He had a few connections identify him as a rogue named Nyx, but to keep the kindle in Ken’s heart afire, he decided to keep that information to himself. ”Well, pleased to meet your acquaintance champ. I don't know how buddy-buddy you are with Eclipse, but I'd advise that you remain here as well. No point in being caught in the fray. I’ve got a letter to write, if you’ll excuse me.” The boy retook his seat and began to type out a message intended for Eclipse Princess.

To: Eris Reinhardt
From: Shiro Kawabata
Subject: Chat?

”Alright, this may seem out of place for me, but we need to talk. Person to person. Princess to peon. Wouldn’t blame you for turning me down, but I think we can learn a thing or two from- dare I say it... talking things out.”

@Mega Birb

Cassandra knew that she had perhaps made a deadly enemy then, but she couldn't honestly bring up the effort to care. She stopped when the other girls stopped, giving a small smile, and said "you did nothing wrong. Pleasure to meet you, Itsuku. I'm Cassandra. I hope you are okay, but I'm running late to meet someone. You can message me, new friends are always nice" Cassandra gave the girl her details, and then apologized for having to go, "I'm sorry, really, to just run off after that, but I seem to have ticked off the white king, and I don't want to bring trouble to you, and I said I'd meet someone, they're probably wondering if I'll turn up, but I'll find you later!"

She smiled again, and wanted to give the girl a hug, but was afraid she'd hurt her, with all those bandages. "see you!" and then she started off, in the direction of a market to begin with.

Despite everything, it didn't take Cassie long to get to Eris's place, a take out bag in one hand, held steady as she found the keycard, accessing the apartment. Glancing about the apartment, Cassie didn't let herself get distracted, finding the kitchen, she placed the soup on the counter, figuring that would be something light for Eris.

Finding Eris, Cassie made herself comfortable, and logged in.





Rather then the usual welcome message, Nies was greeted with the welcome news that she had leveled up. Pleased, she took a moment to assure herself that she was safe where she was, before bringing up what she knew of the black city, before just deciding to seek Eclipse out, as likely she would hear the other girls activities before she saw her.