[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/b4mXgO7.png[/img] 
[color=#008b45][H2]ASAHI GOROSHI[/H2][/color]
And Others[/center]

Asahi ran over to the arcade as fast as he could. Sure it wasn’t that fast, but he didn’t stop. Eventually he arrived and took a breather and tried to not make himself look like he ran a mile (Doesn’t help that he was still rather out of breath from chasing Train all the way here). He peeked inside and sure enough, he was able to find Shiro pretty easily. And that was despite the fact that he was surrounded by a bunch of shady guys and their dog. There was another there too, some blue-haired boy in a fast food uniform. He must be Phantom. [color=#008b45]”Wait a feck...”[/color] The dog was familiar to Asahi. Namely, he’s seen that dog before. 

That dog didn’t belong the the guy Shiro was talking to. Asahi knew this guy was a Cleaner and that he liked collecting “Trophies” from his mark. Unprofessional and left too many trails that could be lead back to the Cleaner, which is why Asahi never does it. But there was no doubt this guy was good at his job. He was at least as good as Asahi was, with the advantage of looking like a slim athletic pretty boy as oppose to a barrel of meat.

But Asahi also knew this guy wasn’t just a Cleaner. He knew this guy had taken jobs before to target other Cleaners. Mostly silencing loose ends, but even Asahi didn’t touch those jobs. Too much at risk, and he didn’t just mean the possibility of losing a fight. Chasing after a Cleaner required one to do the job quickly, quietly, and without anyone none the wiser. The only reason Asahi even knows about it was because he was offered the job, rejected it, and kept tabs on it. Knowing this, Asahi kept careful watch for the guy, but hasn’t heard much from him for a while. He nearly slipped his mind up until now.

Asahi worried for Shiro. He didn’t know the kid for long, but he was a friend. If this guy was here to take out Shiro for whatever reason… Asahi wasn’t going to accept that. He cursed himself; he didn’t have any weapons on him. Didn’t even have his bag (Left that at school). He couldn’t drag over a chair either without looking too suspicious either. Asahi was fine using just his fists, but he’d need an extra edge if the entire posse decides to get involved. But now wasn’t the time for hesitation or fear. Asahi needed to act now and act fast. Fixing up his clothes Asahi walked over to Shiro and the boys. The only weapon he could take was a cue ball from a pool table. He stuffed that into one of his pockets, hiding its presence by leaving his hand in his pocket as well. He went to one of the games that was within sight of Shiro and the gang as well as within earshot.

When Asahi got close however, he was spotted by the Cleaner. [b]”Ayo, Asahi!”[/b] This nearly made Asahi flinch, but he kept his cool for now. He approached since his cover was blown, causing the Cleaner and smirk. [b]”It’s my lucky day. I was hoping to talk to you too. So… Shiro and Asahi. Paper Moon and Arms Slave. Who are you?”[/b] The cleaner looked at Hiro. He shrugged it off however; didn’t make much of a difference to him. More importantly, hearing his avatar name mentioned immediately put Asahi on edge. Keeping one’s identity a secret was important in Deep Ground, more so for a Sweeper. Their work was dangerous, and secrecy was their armor. It was obvious that the Cleaner wanted something from the both of them to call them by their Avatar names.

[b]”Well, now that you’re all here, I won’t need to beat around the bush. To answer you Shiro, yeah, I know what’s going on in the Black City. Good riddance.”[/b]

The young man stepped off the DDR pad and walked over to Shiro, putting an arm around his shoulder. [b]“There needs to be changes. The Ebony Strykers reopening with the old black king, that’s just going to be history repeating itself. Hell, it’s already happening. In-fighting because no one knows who’s on who’s side. The Black King and her cronies are nowhere to be seen leaving toughs like Eris to rule the streets. Even the Sweepers aren’t as unified as they could be, without any Erasers leading them. So what I say is this. You, me, and Arms Slave here, we leave. We start our own guild, a true Black Guild. I can bet you that we can bring a whole hella lot of Sweepers with us. AIn’t like they like the Ebony Strykers much either.”[/b] 

The boy patted Shiro on the chest and hopped onto the dance pad. He started picking sons and was getting ready when he spoke again. [b]”I wanted to give you that offer, Shiro. And if you think there’s anything left saving from that piss of a guild, then go ahead, hop into Deep Ground and check things out. All you’d find is ruins. And you Asahi… You have way too many enemies right now. You’d do well to make friends while you can.”[/b]

Asahi glared at the stranger. He knew he was at a disadvantage here, more so with Shiro nearby. Although he was also a Sweeper Asahi wasn’t going to put him in harm’s way. [color=#008b45]”Shiro, Phantom, go to Deep Ground and take care of things. I’m not finished here yet.”[/color]

[@Jedly][@Mega Birb]

[hr]

[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/vJxiQ6a.png[/img]
[color=#cd2626][H2]RETSU GOROSHI[/H2][/color][/center]

Alas, Retsu’s work was never done. What she hoped would have been a nice night out with Yoshino turned into a small disaster. Because she wasn’t there to mediate things, now it seemed like the Black City had become a civil war. No doubt the armies were being fought with Sweepers and Strykers. Admittedly, Retsu should have predicted this knowing that there were other Erasers trying to secede from their guilds. They needed to act fast. So Retsu danced into Yoshino, intimately close to her body. But this was just a ruse so Retsu could get close and whisper a message to her. [color=#cd2626]”The black city is under attack. I have to go. I’ll be at Room 564.”[/color] Slipping a key to Yoshino, Retsu took a step away from her and walked away, earning the disappointing boos from onlookers.

As she walked Retsu opened up the chat box with Broker. Retsu believed Broker had nothing to do with it, but now the objectives have been changed. Asahi didn’t matter to Retsu anymore, or rather, that grudge was going to have to be put aside. While the Sweepers and Strykers were always a volatile bunch, this blew up way too quickly to just attribute to existing tensions. The Ebony Strykers have only been formed for about a week, if even that. Fortunately Broker did give Retsu some sort of a lead to work with.

>[color=#cd2626]Problem Child: Find Abyss Walker and capture her. I need to speak with her in person. I’ll make it worth your while.[/color]

Retsu flashed her bracelet at the worker managing the private rooms. Locking the door behind her Retsu logged into Deep Ground to try to fight this wild fire. First she needed to stop the Sweepers and the Strykers. Then she’ll figure out who is responsible for this chaos.

[center][h1][color=#cd2626]WELCOME, DARK WRAITH[/color][/h1][/center]

[@TheWindel][@Lonewolf685]

[hr]  

[Center][h3][b]OTHERS [/B][/h3][/center]


The warlock tried to fend off Hellflame the best he could. He was flying too fast, the tentacles couldn’t catch up to him. The warlock didn’t know why Hellflame was closing the distance until he saw his shortsword. “What the fuck!?” The warlock couldn’t make anymore portals and the best he could do was shoot Hellflame point blank, but just as he was about to fire off a magic blast he was engulfed in flames. Being a squishy wizard he was, it wasn’t long before the warlock burnt to ash. However his final act of defiance was getting off his magic blast, and at this range it was going to hit Hellflame if he couldn’t dodge that exact second.

“Little pissant! Quit running away!” The duelist tried to chase after Arkacius to no avail. With no mobility moves that didn’t rely on having both feet on the ground and no weapons he could throw or use at range, it seemed like the two would be stuck in their limbo. The mage, having just spent a round charging his spell, had to resort to regular magic blasts against the lone rogue. But that’s when the second phase of her spellcard activated. In the distance was a shooter star- No. It was a meteorite. And it was flying straight towards the group. It looked like it was going to get there in the next round, and thus everyone needed to move before that meteor got to them.

For Arcadius it seemed like he had no hope. But suddenly, green light glowed from Christopher, restoring his health by a small percentage and removed his stunned status. His cooldowns were reset as well, despite whatever their times were before.

[@RoflsMazoy][@Scarifar]

As the Cobalt Brsuiers rode to battle, a [url=http://i.imgur.com/CXtr1rS.jpg]highly ornate knight[/url] called her over the radio. [b]”Big Berry to Lucky Bloo, I’m seeing a large black orb over in the distance. Would you like us to investigate?”[/b] The knight sent over coordinates of where they were seeing the anomaly. No one in the crew knew exactly what was going on, some were concerned that it might come and attack them from behind.

[@Lonewolf685]

Meanwhile the city was still in chaos. Word of Eris’s arrival came quickly, and most of the smart outlaws knew to stay away from her. They didn't know her exact location aside from her last known position, so most of the Outlaws made sure to clear out. But others, fueled by anger or simply ignorant, choose to seek her out to do battle with her. Most of these people had tanks, hoping to even the odds. 

What they found instead was Rocket Lancer and Cait, though this would be more than enough for the bloodthirsty outlaws. "Die die die die!" The avatar manning the cannon fired at the players before the tank charged forward. He imagined he could crush them within the narrow streets, and failing that there were a few more gunners hanging on top top of the ramshackle tank, ready to gun down anything that got over or past them. More tanks were converging on her position, though there was still plenty of others roaming the city hoping to occupy it long enough for them to rally their forces.

While the tank came charging, a gang of three Outlaws opened fire on Rocket Lancer and Nies Hellum from behind. They opened fire with a hail of bullets, but just as quickly as they came they fled when they saw the tank charging down the lane. Mines were hastily left behind, obvious, but if anyone intended to chase they’d have to be careful to avoid them.

[@RoflsMazoy][@KoL][@Caits]

The Puppet Master's journey seemed an empty one. Nothing but the barren wastelands of the Black City all around. While the ground was rich with minerals, it wasn't known for it's flourishing topside. It was still going to be a long walk when there were shrill screams above the puppet master and his toy. Above him were a flock of [url=http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/dragonsdogma/images/1/1b/Harpy.png/revision/latest?cb=20131030161722]harpies[/url]. These dissolutions had the appearance of a woman's naked body and head, but with a grotesquely long neck and the rest of her features looked more like a hawk. These were level 1 dissolutions, easy enough to kill with a good blow. However they fought from the skies, using their magics to make avatar's fall asleep before dragging them off to their doom. A flock of five flew towards the Puppet Master and started their haunting lullaby, and if he didn't escape soon even he would fall for their enchantment and be at the mercy of the beasts.

[@Lord of Evil]

But to make matters more difficult, the turrets on the walls turned inwards, firing inside the city. Many places players thought were safe on the roof were now killzones as the turrets aimed for anyone on the rooftops, then they tried to shoot whatever they could between the streets. They had little regard for the buildings in the way, and would attempt to shoot through them to get their targets. Fortunately it was only one set of turrets near the gate itself, making it four turrets firing into the city. Notably, this only happened after Abyss Walker had fled the city.

[@VarionusNW][@Kimiyosis]