Azga merely smiled at Crimson Streak and folded his arm, as small hmph under his breath. Before he could respond, the Green King made his appearance, causing the blonde avatar to tilt his head into his direction.

A small chuckle lulled in his throat.

"What a remarkably catty thing to say,"

Azga flicked out his arm, glitching into his hand a familiar, trademark pair thick eyeglasses which he pushes over his eyes whilst tilting his tall form down just a little, his hand on his hip and a smirk on his face.

"Could it be that... you're jealous? Eheheh..."

The mage winked at the Green King, merely teasing, his deep voice full of depth and saccharine. He straightens, flicking his hand up with it. As he does so, the glasses on his face also are tossed upward despite him not touching them and vanish, glitching into air.

"If this is the best you can do... you've something of a rude awakening coming to you, Verdant Grin."

With a grunt, Azga kicked himself over behind Crimson Streak. He brings his mage staff up, tossing it into the air. Glitching in the air, Azga moves his arms back, the staff switching over to two arm braces with grenade launchers landing elegantly along them. He pumps his arms back to charge them, then aims them, fingers spread, over Streak's shoulders. Six rounds go off at once aiming for Verdant Grin.

When Burning Blossom finally lost her balance and fell from the wall, Reothadh couldn’t help but laugh. It was always satisfying to see such a confident enemy lose their snark when they started tripping over themselves. The sudden expression change as the once high and mighty can’t even walk straight is more than enough to put a smile on one’s face. However, he had to give her props for somehow surviving the fall with such low defense. ”You’ve put up a good fight, lass. But it’s time I extinguish your fla-” A bolt of lightning from the downed mage cut the warrior off as he watched it fly past him and strike the side of the wall.

His first instinct as he saw the wall coming down was to run, but a quick glance at his partner made him realize the real danger. Tiger was still stunned. If he ran she would die and he couldn’t win this fight alone. Without a second thought he dove onto Golden Tiger in an attempt to shield her from the debris. Hopefully his armor would be enough to protect them both.

When the last bit of rubble had fallen, the brief pause in action was broken by the frozen knight breaching the surface and emerging from the rubble and pulling Golden Tiger out with him. Between that and the earlier lightning, Reothadh’s health was now in the critical red. A sneeze from the enemy could fall him. To make matters worse, Burning Blossom was nowhere in sight. Either she fled the scene, or was somewhere waiting in ambush.

”Well, this fight has certainly taken it’s turns.” He said to Tiger assuming she was still kicking. ”Don’t suppose you have any healing items on you?”

@KoL

Bel read the rest of Thomas’s sent messages and sighed. Things sure were getting crazy, weren’t they? She couldn’t remember what had been happening to her the last couple of days, but whatever it was it left her feeling pleasantly unhealthy. Even now she felt just tinged nauseous and had to sit down, resting her back against the wall while Alex did his thing.

So when Yuuno finally arrived on the scene, it was a nice change of pace for Bel. She grinned at the other girl, accepting the coat without question. “Ah, you really do care for me Yuuno :3 Still, it’s nothing to be worried about. Anyway, don’t worry about them. They helped me out when I needed it,” she said, referring to Alex and Thomas. Best to keep from pointing fingers; there was enough dividing people as is already.

Still, she didn’t protest when Yuuno hoisted her up, wobbling towards the Student Council room. Despite her smile, it was evident some things were on Bel’s mind. “So what’s happening in Deep Ground? And did you get a hold of your cousin yet? Not that she’d talk to me considering I…maybe we should just wait till we’re in the room,” she said unevenly.

Within Deep Ground, the individual battles were starting culminate and wrap up with mixed results. The siege at the Blue Guild was pretty much over, most of the blue players calling for a full-scale retreat. With wavering ends all around it was hardly worth defending the territory anymore. The only battlefront left was the Red Guild, and that held more optimism than anything else.

The White and Green Guilds were slowly being pushed back, much to Grin’s downright annoyance. Except for him and CC ready to skin a cat alive, they were the only big named Avatars still putting up a fight. But even Grin knew when it was time to flee. “Sorry bitches, but I gotta run. Don’t feel like wasting my life over idiots like you-”

Explosions all around interrupted his monologuing. “Oh come on!” he said, the grenades launched all over where his Avatar stood. The onslaught rocked the ground and sent him flying about, health deteriorating. Had Azaga continued his attack, he might have been able to finish off the Green King altogether. But fate had other ideas in store for the glitching player and before he could do any more, Azga was forcibly frozen in place as if put under paralysis.

“Huh. Neat,” said Grin before turning it right back around and hightailing it out of there. Like hell he was going to question it. “Hey idiots, make a full retreat! Intel says the Blue Guild is down so we accomplished our goal. Three against two means the odds are in our favor baby!” Grin announced to every Green and White Guild member in the area.

Streak might have gone after him had his concern not been directed at Azga. It was as if invisible limbs were forcing Azga down and into place, yet only he would be able to feel the sensation. Whoever or whatever was doing it, it was clear by the malice in its actions that it was not pleased with what had just occurred. “Azga, are you alright?” Streak asked, searching for an item in his inventory that could deal with paralysis.

---

Nies Hellum continued to do what she was made for, and that was to heal, and bring back the dead, trying to help in any little way she could, Nies worked hard, constantly studying heath bars, approaching people to see if they needed any form of healing, and generally being aa fabulous support, although she kept a close hand to her dagger, and did try to maintain her scrutiny of the surrounding area, to ensure that she didn’t get snuck up on. A dead healer after all was no healer. She knew that she was vulnerable, a weak link in the team, and thus she would do all she could to make sure she didn’t become a burden to the group she was healing. She might not know what was going on, at least to its full extent, but she could damn well tread water and make sure she wasn’t pulled along unwillingly.

For a moment, Nies couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched, and yet, glancing about, she couldn’t see anything. getting a little paranoid… she thought to herself, shaking her head and turning her attention back towards what she was doing, hoping that this was taking her closer, and not two steps back, to Eclipse. There was so much she needed to say, to ask of her. A she was going over things that she already had. Sighing, She brought her thoughts back to what she was doing.

She once more continued to heal, focusing her attention on her allies, and continuing to keep herself alive, as she found the best ways of healing people, and finding cover for herself, not wanting to be used against her allies, nor die. Holding ehr staff, she cast spell after spell, shifting to new ones while others cooled down, ensuring she was near enough for the effects to work, to a wide group of people, instead of just one or two. This did mean that at times she was exposed, yet she did try to watch everything around her when this was so.

@Scarifar@Lord of Evil@Lonewolf685

On one hand, Smitten Kitten was glad this was a game. On the other hand, the little girl could feel the sheer malice coming from Corpse Collector when she turned the corner. Something about these Augmented Reality games really made everything more personal. Ever sound, every touch, every sight, it all feels real up until you log out. Even then there were times were Hibiki once dreamed she really was Smitten Kitten, and had no idea what this "reality" was. DGO was some people's life, and it certainly did a good job pretending to be. So when Corpse Collector arrived spewing death and threats Kitten was truly afraid. Even though she had planned for this, just seeing that mad woman charging right at her made Kitten weak in the knees and want to cry. But there was no time for tears. Now it was time for action.

"Devil Cat Ghost!"

Seconds before CC would have ran her over Smitten kitten turned ghostly and vanished. Instead of the satisfying sound of her body getting mangled underneath Corpse Collector's wheels, she would get a face-full of brickwall. And that wasn't even the worse of it: assuming that the full speed crash alone didn't kill Corpse Collector, Smitten Kitten materialized a safe distance away and detonated the explosives. Three high powered bombs went off right were Corpse Collector was. The explosions damaged the area greatly and caused all sorts of debris to go flying as deadly shrapnel, forcing Kitten to take cover behind another building. But even with that Kitten knew it may take more to deal with Corpse Collector: she was a hacker and no doubt had some way of surviving all of this. But with or without hacks, Smitten Kitten had one more trick up her sleeve: close-quarters combat.

Corpse Collector was far too reliant on her cheats and guns to win in a fight so if Kitten could keep her pinned than she could at least prevent Corpse Collector for taking another shot. This was never an option for Kitten before because she didn't know how to fight but after playing with Rampaging Tiger, Kitten learned a few tricks. So while the smoke was still thick Kitten dashed through looking for Corpse Collector. Once Kitten finds her, she'd knock away whatever weapons are near by and try pin her arms to the ground. She'd dig one of her knees right in the middle of Corpse Collector's upper arm, and use her other foot to step on Corpse Collector's other arm. With a claw at her throat, Smitten Kitten would be in a good position to finish off Corpse Collector. But first, Kitten had some questions to ask.

As Stinging Butterfly waited and watched, the more he realized that he would not get his chance. The healer was constantly healing up injured comrades, leaving little opportunity to find her isolated. To make matters worse, the Blue Guild was all but destroyed now; everything at this point was pretty much just clean up. As a Cobalt Bruiser member himself, he was in quite the dangerous place right now. If he waited any longer, it would only be a matter of time until he was discovered. I guess I'll go back to farming, Butterfly thought to himself. Maybe I'll even change Guilds if I have to. The Scarlet Harleys had seemed most promising to him, and was his second choice after the Bruisers when he had first decided which to join. Time to make myself scarce, he thought as he created a [Bouncer] square to propel himself away, moving as fast as he could while trying not to make himself known. Perhaps the next event would be more fun.

@Caits

Quite frankly, there were a lot of things happening all at once and they all happened so fast that CC didn't really know how to react. She was sure there was a swear word placed in the middle there, but after that? Nothing but explosions and one long ass concussion. One moment she was hellbent in turning Kitten into road mush and the next she was hurting all over, groaning beneath the weight that was her former prey. Much like Kitten had predicted, the Hacker survived but she was in no condition to fight back. Not when her weapon was cast aside and her bike was totaled; a dull ache of anger resonated through her at that last fact. With bleary eyes and a heated stare, she looked up at Kitten and met her eye for eye. "Well? You gonna do something or just keep me like a fucking party toy all day? Or maybe you get your kicks off pinning girls down? And they call me the goddamn psycho. Fucking piss bitch."

Kitten placed her claws against Corpse Collector's throat, ready to kill her with just a flick of her wrist. But first she had some questions to ask. "Don't worry, I will kill you. But first I have some questions, and I know you have answers. Today at Purple Crown, things went completely bonkers. There was fights going on at the school, White Sun declares war even during the festival, and now you're back, despite all the live reports of your hacking exploits. Complete and total chaos, and I definitely know that the Ebony Strykers are hurting from this. What I want to know who is planned it. I've been with you long enough to know you don't have the patience or smarts to pull off something this big. So someone else is pulling your strings. Now tell me, or dying will be the least of your worries." Kitten said with a harsh tone as she pressed her claws against Corpse Collector's neck. It's only been a few days, but Kitten wasn't the same as when she first started. She's not afraid to bloody her hands anymore.

"Grhnn!" CC gagged as the claw was placed very delicately over her throat. More hatred gleamed in her eyes and she gritted her shark teeth tightly, grinding them with irritation. Yet she was stuck in this position, forced to listen to whatever Kitten demanded. And certainly, she had some lofty demands. "Kind of hard to answer when I'm choking here dumbass," she hissed, waiting for the claw to move before swiftly retorting. "First off, fuck you. Second, why the hell would I tell you anything? Ooh, what, you gonna torture me or something? We're in a video game you dump shit. Like anything you say can scare me. Besides, even if I did know all the dirty details, like ass I'm telling you. I just like to shoot people."

"That's because if there's one thing I've learned these past few days, it's that DGO can turn people into monsters. It makes good people do things that only a demon would do. And I'm no angel, CC. People like you, you need DGO. It's the only place where you can feel 'alive'. But I can take that away from you. You think you're uncomfortable right now, just think how it'll be like if you're stuck like this for hours. Days, Forever. Every time you log in, you're trapped. And you wouldn't be alone either. On no, there will be people watching you. Using you however they please while all you can do is lay there like a piece of meat. They wouldn't kill you, not while they can have fun. You know exactly what I'm talking about CC. Now answer my questions, and then we can go back to our regular business." Kitten spoke with a stone faced demeanor. Her time with Rampaging Tiger had been a very dark but eye-opening one. It was the side of DGO- No, the side of humanity that Hibiki says she'd fight, but she never really knew what she was up against. It wasn't like the cartoons were the villains just wanted to destroy or take over the world. It was much worse. But now that she knows what exactly is on the other side in that dark abyss, Kitten has accepted that it's a part of her life that needs to be stopped but it can also be used. Maybe it wasn't the heroic thing to do, but Kitten at least knew where it was now. So now she can use it, and one day, destroy it.

Alright, she could admit. Kitten was definitely different than their last meeting. Ignoring the blatant obvious that she had been able to trick her-wait, no. That happened last time too....even so, CC maintained her glare, used to this kind of talk. "You're fucking bluffing. You have to be. There's no fucking way you can ensure a Hacker like me can be kept here forever," she said with growing confidence and a sneer. "Face it Kitty. All you have are empty threats and those don't even fucking scare me!"

Kitten's eyes narrowed as she starred directly into Corpse Collector. Trying to get a read on her, trying to figure out if Corpse Collector was trying to call Kitten out because she knows Kitten is lying, or because she hopes Kitten is lying. "Haven't you wondered why I'm not level 9? Even though Moon Rider herself said that anyone who killed you would be? That's because I got something better then that. A few friends, I think you might recognize them: Sweepers." Just saying the name made Kitten's mouth bitter, but she wasn't going to show it. Just like CC, Kitten was sure that the Sweepers used hackers and they were certainly a depraved bunch. She was half-surprised that the Ebony Stryker's performance wasn't lewd or full of debauchery. "The only reason I was able to kill you that day was because one of their hackers shut down your cheats. They could easily keep you imprisoned. You should really thank me. If I didn't kill you that day, they would have captured you themselves. And if you think they're bad enough when they pick on innocent players, just think how bad they'll be once they get their hands on someone they hate. The best thing I can do for you is to kill you. You don't want to know what would happen if I didn't. So answer my questions, fast. They're already on their way."

Well now, she was in quite the predicament. On one hand, Corpse Collector knew Kitten was lying; at least concerning the Sweepers being nearby. If that were the case, she would have picked them up already. And yet....their prowess manipulating the game's coding and flat out hacking was on par with her own. It wouldn't surprise her at all if they were using some method to block her cheat, just like before. And that was another thing; CC widened her eyes in disbelief to hear that a Sweeper of all people was the one responsible for her miserable defeat. Suddenly she was grinding her teeth not in annoyance, but nervousness. She knew damn well the Sweepers had the capacity to keep her restrained and if the cat wasn't talking out of her ass...

"Fine, fine, fucking fine! For fuck's sake...gahh, motherfuck!" CC snarled, spouting venom at the fact that she had been played by Smitten Kitten by yet again. "Isn't it obvious? You said yourself that it was White Sun who up and declared war on the other Guilds. So why the hell are you asking me if she's responsible?!? What, you think there's some kind of conspiracy going on kitty cat?" she asked, struggling just a little harder to escape Kitten's clawed grip.

Smitten Kitten placed her talons just right above Corpse Collector's eyes, ready to rip them out if she keeps trying to struggle. "Yes. You, a notorious hacker who was seen blatantly cheating, is still around. You certainly aren't on the Sweeper's side if they were so quick to take you out, so someone else has to be helping you. White Sun seems like the obvious choice, but she's too crazy for someone like you. Plus with all the people on her side, she wouldn't need to be so underhanded as to hire a known hacker. Definitely not you. Yet I can also see how, between you and her, you both benefit from the chaos going on right now, but you two aren't allies. I bet White Sun doesn't even know you. So there has to be someone else. Someone else who not only is using the guild for themselves, but also bailed you out when you should have been banned a long time ago." Smitten Kitten slid her claws right over Corpse Collector's eye lobes, her small fingers right above Corpse Collector's sockets. All she needed to do was pull. "I don't have time for your bullshit Corpse Collector. If you don't tell me what I want to know, I will rip out your eyes so every Sweeper can skull fuck all three holes in your face."

"Pfft, wow, great, real fucking deductive of you Kitty Cat," CC said, eyes darting about and staring at Kitten's claws. Despite her bold words, her gaze exposed how fearful she was. "Geez, when the hell did you become so edgy? You're half right you half baked bitch. Yeah, I know White Sun but we don't exactly get along if that wasn't so fucking obvious. As for what's really going on and who's pulling strings...remember back to our first conversations you asshat. Who the fuck do you think gave me these hacker privelages in the first place," she snickered. "There, that's your lead. Now piss off."

"I need a name you dumb bitch! Don't try to play me like a fool" If Kitten wasn't certain that it would kill her she would have taken one of Corpse Collector's eyes. Though truthfully, Smitten Kitten simply doesn't remember that far: it's been a long time and a lot of information was lost between then and now. "I know you didn't just go after the black king for a personal grudge. We're pass that point. I want names you stupid bitch, not more riddles." Kitten pressed her fingers against Corpse Collector's eyeballs, just lightly squeezing them. But even if it was lightly, most people aren't use to having their eyes touched at all, certainly not from above.

"Look for fuck's sake kitty, you think my employer just goes around dropping their names! All I know is that he goes by Silver something." CC met Kitten's anger with her own, getting pissed off at the demands being made. The touch against her pupils was enough to make her flinch though and she kicked from underneath Kitten more rapidly. "You're right, I didn't do it because I hate the that edgy bitch. I did it because my employer hates her and, oh wait, yeah, I do hate that stuck up ass hat! So go search for people who hate Moon Rider instead of hounding me fuck face!"

"Thank you." With a swift jerk and a swipe, Smitten Kitten tore Corpse Collector's eyes out and slashed her throat. Kitten may not have the assassination perk, but even she was certain this would have killed Corpse Collector. And if not, then it would be a good time to leave anyways. Kitten had to continue the conversation just a bit longer until her Devil Cat Ghost ability was off cool down. Expecting Corpse Collector's possible retaliation, and for someone to come by to investigate the explosion, Smitten Kitten left the scene as fast as she could, looking for a safe place to hide out at. While she didn't get all the answers she was hoping for Kitten had a lead for now. She knew for certain that someone was manipulating White Sun, someone who was a hacker like Corpse Collector or even better. Someone who doesn't like Moon Rider and calls himself Silver something. If this person, whoever he or she is, is manipulating things behind the scenes then Kitten had a lot of work to do. This was going to be a big scoop, and not only that, but if Kitten could figure out who's doing all of this then maybe she could change things for the better. Even if she has blood on her hands she will make sure that things turn out alright in the end.

First things first however, she needed to go investigate. This battle in DGO was important, but not as important as what's happening in real life. As soon as Kitten got to a sanctuary she logged out of DGO, grabbed some of her things, and went back to school. There had to be some clues left there. It was late but Hibiki was still high off the excitement from DGO. Train tagged along, jumping into her bag as she went back to investigate the festival.

---

Eris was just about to arrive at Chiyo's house when she read some reports about the Ebony Strykers, or more likely, their Sweeper Wing using widespread hacks on the Blue City. Even so, nothing seemed to call for her interference at the moment. If she really needed to, Eris would come back, but as far as she knew, their mission had been fulfilled already. There was no point in logging on just to wipe a few lone stragglers.

Putting these thoughts aside, Eris focused on her current task, which was to make sure of Chiyo's wellfare and, if possible, of Yoshino's as well. Supposedly there was no better place to do so than the White King's house, given that their shady mother (which Eris knew that was her own mother's employer) had been seen on the academy during the festival. The likelyhood of Chiyo and Yoshino's mother being here was high.

"Either way, the only thing that I can do is knock and see what will happen. Probably," Eris thought as she knocked the door. "Is this the residence of Chiyo Kuroke of the Purple Corwn Academy? I would like to talk to her if possible," Eris called, before waiting to see what would happen.

There was a small moment of wait before the door was slowly opened and out came the woman seen on Purple Crown's campus earlier. Boss raised an eye as she saw only Eris standing before her before she leaned on the door with crossed arms. "You're Hildr's daughter aren't you? From my understanding, you've also been close to my little girls quite recently."

"Ah," Eris said almost unconsciously after the door swug open revealing the very woman she was thinking of. Such an open display of surprise would make Eris look either simpleminded or far too earnest on most people's eyes, causing the young German to lightly bite her lips in frustration, after letting her guard down from the get go.

It was only after Boss spoke that Eris regained her composure, looking the older woman in the eyes as she replied, "You are right, Miss—" the platinum-haired girl came to a sudden halt when she realized that she didn't knew the name of Chiyo and Yoshino's mother. Nevertheless, Eris continued, trying to not do anymore blunders, "Well, I'm in fact the youngest of Hildr Reinhardt's daughters and I have the pleasure of being acquainted to yours as well. Eris, it's a pleasure finally meeting you." Eris didn't dare extend her hand to someone as imposing as Boss, instead she finished her small introduction with a small bow as is the tradition of the (likely) Japanese woman before her.

Boss took a moment to observe Eris' composure and form before saying, "You came here to see Chiyo, correct? You can't have come for Yoshino since she lives on campus. To what business do you owe my daughter if you don't mind me asking." Boss continued to lean against the door, curious as to what Eris would say next.

Eris gasped lightly when she heard Boss. "So, you did not know? While I came to see Chiyo, without a doubt, I also thought about asking if you knew about Yoshino's whereabouts. There's been sometime since she moved from her apartment and, after the events of this afternoon, I fear she may need assistance. I was going to visit her once I was done here, in fact. At the very least, I believe she should go to the hospital and have a check up, after..." Eris trailed out a bit. She didn't have any conclusive proof that Yoshino was in fact Moon Rider, but that has been a hunch she worked with for quite some time. And, after what happened to Moon Rider earlier today, checking on Yoshino seemd the most prudent thing to do. Yet, if even their mother couldn't help Eris, she had to wonder how to locate the Student Council President.

"As for Chiyo," Eris added, "I came to talk to her about Deep Ground and to... apologize for something that happened earlier today." Eris finished her statement taking a sideways glance at the hand that slapped Chiyo across the face a few hours ago.

Boss nodded, able to put two and two together. So that would explain the red mark on Chiyo's cheek when she had stumbled home in a muttering daze. Though she held no ill will towards Eris considering how difficult Chiyo could be to manage; she probably deserved it. "From my understanding, Yoshino is staying with a friend of hers. Retsu Goroshi, if the name bears any meaning for you," Boss said before stepping aside to allow Eris passage into her home. "First door on the left upstairs. Maybe you can do something for her since she refuses to talk to me," the older woman said, a small flash of pain in her tone.

"Thank you, Miss. I'll try to not take much time, I really don't mean to impose, especially when mom has always talks about you being such a busy woman," Eris bowed once more and made her way to Chiyo's room. On the way she couldn't help but think about the name Boss spoke, "Retsu Goroshi, huh? How could I, being a Reinhardt, not know anything about the local mafia? I really think there's something fishy on this, though."


Eris was so lost in thought that, when she realized it, she was almost bumping her face against the door of Chiyo's bedroom. Needless to say, that wouldn't be a good way to begin a conversation, though maybe, it could bring a laugh to the troubled mind of Chiyo Kuroke? Who knows. Either way, once Eris stopped to think, she noticed that the door wasn't even locked, "That's strange," Eris thought as she pushed it open lowly.

"Chiyo, are you here? I would like to talk to you. Please, answer me," Eris called, without trespassing into Chiyo's privacy, yet.

"What do you want?" came the hissing voice of Chiyo, the White King herself sprawled along her bed as if she was ill. Her head was pounding, mind throbbing with pain no matter how many painkillers she had taken. By the look in her eyes, she was incredibly irritated and probably liable to physically lash out at Eris if need be. And given that she looked like she was getting little sleep, it was very possible she'd do soon. In other words, Eris was lucky or perhaps blessed to see Chiyo in such a weakened state, an image almost no one else would ever be treated to.

Perhaps some would consider it lucky, but for Eris, to see Chiyo in such an state of weakness and dejection was actually a source of pain. How could something like this happen to someone Eris admired so much exactly for always being such a powerful person? This question tormented the young German, but the guilt of her own actions did even so even more.

"I... came to see if you were well," Eris said after choosing her words as careflly as she could. "Also, I wanted to apologize for what I did. I think I went a bit too far. I'm sorry." Eris lowered her head as she said, not daring to stare at Chiyo for a moment.

"....why?" Chiyo asked, staring blankly at Eris now. "Obviously it was a natural reaction. Like everyone else, you hate me so I wouldn't have expected anything else," she continued as if it was the most objective thing ever. "I mean, I'd slap someone I hate too. I do it all the time."

"You are wrong," Eris said, takng a step closer to Chiyo's bed, "I don't hate you, I never did. I— I did that because," she stopped a moment to consider her words, but really there wasn't a better way to say what she was thinking than being direct. "I did that because you weren't, no you aren't acting like yourself these days. What happened to the girl who is the leader of the biggest and most important of all of Deep Ground's guilds?"

"She's still here. Standing right in front you," Chiyo hissed with venom, fixing her expression into a dark glare. "Or did you think that just because I'm acting weird that I've suddenly lost my mind, huh? I haven't lost my mind! You sound just like my mother and my sister. Just the same thing over and over again," she said, sitting up to face Eris better.

"Admit it. You don't care at all! You just want to make sure White Sun is alright, right? That the White King hasn't lost her head. Well how about I off of yours!" Chiyo snarled. With a start she grabbed Eris' arm and yanked her onto the bed, shifting about until she was the one on top. With a look of fury and just overall anger, Chiyo glared down at Eris with seething malice. "You just think you know everything about me, don't you?!? You don't know shit."

"No, I don't—" before Eris could even say that she didn't cared for White Sun more than she cared for Chiyo's well being, she was surprised by a sudden yank, when the white-haired girl noticed it she was pinned bellow Chiyo's snarling face, with her uniform and hair completely disheveled. "You may be right, I don't know as much about you as I'd like to, but the White King, no Chiyo... you were supposed to be better. I chose to follow you and even went as far as bringing down the rest of Deep Ground, just because I trust you. Isn't it enough?"

Despite the akwardness and discomfort of the situation, Eris couldn't help but feel her pulse race like maybe never before. The young German didn't understood why, but being exposed like this felt more exhilarating than anything she ever experienced, even the most intense battle on DGO, or that time when Eris kissed Cassandra didn't feel this... visceral.

"...you are a pathetic creature. Judging from the increase in heart rate, it's almost as if you're experiencing feelings for this girl. That's very amusing coming from you Eris Reinhardt," Chiyo said slowly. Her expression was curling into a smile and something sounded off about her voice. As if there was a change in pitch, but one so low that it served more as an audible irrtiation than a major change. But still, it was there.

Eris wouldn't notice it, but at some point one of Chiyo's eyes looked like it had swelled up from infection. No, that wasn't it...it looked like the pupil had been a diluted shade of red. Chiyo's grip became tighter, forcing Eris further into the bed and clenching hard to cause pain. "You have a tendency to put your nose in things that don't involve you."

"Huh? What—" Eris was surprised not only by the sudden change of subject and Chiyo's mannerisms, but also by the unnatural increase on the grip strength, to a point that someone of Chiyo's constitution should never be able to so. However, the accusations of the source of Eris' increased pulse being that she was actually enjoying this twisted predicament in some way, along with the declaration about Eris getting involved in things that didn't belong to her, clicked something on her mind, a memory Eris dismissed as a random incident, at least until up to now.

"Moon Rider!? Or better, the Faker," Eris said, certain that only one individual she ever met could used the words that came out of Chiyo's mouth. "What do you even want?" Eris asked drily, letting a tinge of genuine hate perceptible on her voice.

"Moon Rider? Faker? These are names I haven't been called in a while. What I want is for you to stay out of my way," Chiyo said, smile fading and a neutral frown taking its place. "You've already made yourself a nuisance by trying to help this girl. Forget it. You can't help her; no one can. Oh...but prior experience also tells me that you're stubborn too. Maybe a little more persuasion is needed to keep you silent."

Removing one hand, Chiyo gently curled her fingers among the back side of her own hair. With deathly seriousness, she looked down at Eris. "I'm sure you know how your chips work, yes? Ripping them out directly won't kill her...probably. But I know very well that it will hurt very, very much. Now you can play the role you were given or I can make your White King more broken than she already is Eris Reinhardt."

"You, monster," Eris said at a loss of anything else, "What do you gain by hurting Chiyo, or Yoshino, do you think I'm not aware that she may as well be the true Moon Rider? Even if I do as you say, what would you get out of it? It's nothing but chaos and hurting one another over and over again. What's the point?"

Maybe, Eris words sounded a bit, well, a lot ironic when she willingly caused so much chaos on her own, but as the saying goes 'a human being must first take a journey through hell, before learning to appreciate life'. Eris had done so, both parts of it, with her own hands. Why couldn't she at least try to help someone like Chiyo and Yoshino. What was the point of such tragedy? "They are sisters, they aren't supposed to try to kill one another. They should be the most important person that there's to one another," Eris forced herself to say, thinking of her own family, especially Eins, who should still be playing right about now.

"Your words hold no sway towards me. Quite simply, there are a threat for me. That is more than enough reason and justification to threaten them before they threaten me," Chiyo said, clenching her fingers tighter to where her chip was located deep among her hair.

"As an individual ruled by extremes and logic, surely you understand Eris Reinhardt. I am simply doing what I see fit in defending myself. Yes, that's it. This is simply one big case of self-defense. I'm only doing it preemptively. Can you fault me for that?"

Eris' eyes widened as Chiyo's hand was every inch closer to doing as the Fake Moon Rider said and pulling out her chip. That was something that Eris couldn't allow, at this point, being the White King was the only thing Chiyo had, if that was taken from her, what would happen? Moreover, what kind of damage pulling that chip out by force could do to a person's brain?

"It's alright," Eris said with a low voice, tuning her face to the side, "I'll do anything you say, just don't hurt Chiyo, Yoshino, or anyone else. I don't want to see anymore suffering because of that game. As long as you keep your word, you can do anything you want of me, but don't touch my sister, Eins suffered more than enough because of my idiocy, already," she said between clenched teeth. The look of rage and indignation was evident on Eris's face, as she did so.

"Very good. I'll do what I must to preserve myself. But for now I can see you'll continue to be a very valuable asset Eris Reinhardt," Chiyo said, slowly moving her hand away. "You will continue to become the weapon of the White Guild. If you do not crush the Strykers with full force, then you know what happens," were her last words. And then Chiyo dropped like a stone, the presence seeming to dissipate from thin air. She collapsed against Eris, now unconscious.


After taking a few moments to process all that happened, Eris finally noticed the kind of situation she was in. If Chiyo's mother were to come in, things could get complicated for them. With haste she got back up and set Chiyo porperly on her bed, before fixing her own clothes. Even so, Eris forgot noticed that she lost one button of her shirt, leaving small part of her bra exposed, thought that shouldn't be a problem if she didn't moved too much on her way out.

When Eris was sure that everything was ok and that Chiyo was safe, she left. She had to be hasty, given that she still had to find Yoshino and be sure that everything was alright with the Student Council President. At least Chiyo's mother gave a good clue of where to look first, even if she did stare at her when she left the house. "Retsu Goroshi, huh? I guess I'm really bound to attract problematic individuals." Eris said to herself as she instructed her driver about their next destination.

---

It didn't took long for Eris' chauffeur to find his way to the address given by Chiyo and Yoshino's mother. It was a half-city drive, but with all the chaos going about on Deep Ground, the streets were tranquil. In less than an hour, she was in front of the building where Retsu Goroshi was supposed to live, along with Yoshino. The sight of the building made Eris frown. The place reeked of a rotten smell and she was sure that most of those who lived there were as rotten as the stench their home exhaled. Then again, what to expect of a building made to house the daughters of low-life criminals?

"Oh, I almost forgot," Eris said to herself as she stepped out of her car, taking the time to undo the top most button of her shirt, exposing far more of her bust, including the than she usually was confortable with, but at least managing to not look like she was walking with a damaged shirt, before going to knock at the door.

The ride back home took a bit longer than it should have, if only because Retsu needed time to deal with things in DGO. Her uncle was mostly understanding, though his attendant was insistant on knowing just what was going on. Retsu wasn't going to bother explaining things to her however, knowing that there was very little she could do even if Retsu did explain. The last thing she wanted was useless induviduals trying to get involved in affairs they have no knowledge of.

Of course, things in DGO wasn't going to be easy to fix over night. One of the Blue Cities was lost and the alliance with between the Ebony Strykers and the Cobalt Bruisers was jepordized. Sweeper agents loyal to Retsu was far and few, and one of the only ones who responded to her calls was someone from the Scarlet Harleys and simply told her that the agent hasn't received any specific orders in weeks. So either the Scarlet Harley eraser was AWOL or dead. So not much help there either.

Eventually they arrived back to the apartment complex. Yoshino was still out, so one of her uncle's bodyguards offered to carry her back to their room. What Retsu hoped was a quiet trip back to her home took yet another unexpected turn when none other than Eris Reinhardt was at her front door. This surely wasn't a coinisidence: even if Eris was just looking for Yoshino, Retsu took careful measures to ensure that Yoshino moving in with Retsu was kept a secret. The red-head made a note to herself that there may be yet another traitor among her people.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. One thing after another, and somehow you're always involved in it. Here to finish the job?"

The disdain on Retsu's glare was expected, obviously, yet this wasn't why Eris was here. She had only one objective, as long as it was fulfilled, Eris didn't had a reason to argue with Retsu. Taking a moment to breath and look as little offensive as she could, Eris said, "I cannot imagine what you mean, Retsu Goroshi. Contrary to what you believe, I'm not here for any sort of conflict. I came because Chiyo and Yoshino's mother told me that I could find her here."

"The only thing I want is to know if she's well. I mean, I'm sure she should go to a hospital after what happened this morning," Eris said with a legitimate look of worry in her eyes. "Can I at least talk to her? I'm fine with waiting here, or in my car, if you don't want me inside your house." As befits Eris, she didn't look like she was lying, in fact the aprehension was visible in her face.

"Do you know what happened to her?" Retsu was genuinly curious. Eris was a pain in the ass, but she wasn't the type to go out of her way to do something underhanded like attack people. Con them maybe, atagonize them into attacking her possibly, but somehow Eris convincing Bel to choke out Yoshino seemed...out of character for her. That being said, Retsu also wanted to know if Eris even knew or if she was just being used too. In fact, Retsu didn't exactly make Yoshino's injuries public. She made sure to escort Yoshino out after everyone else left (Leaving Alex to deal with Bel alone back at the backrooms). So how exactly Eris knew about this put a lot of red flags up to Retsu.

"And why would Chiyo know where I live?" Of course given that it was Chiyo, it wouldn't be hard for someone like her to know through the grapevine of her family's business. They were the worse type of criminals; they were politicians. Oh sure they did do smuggling and such before, but that was just a stepping stone to legally screw people over, much like what DGO is. But that wasn't important right now. "Forgive me if I seem paranoid, but this past hour hasn't exactly been great. And frankly with all the drama you've caused just this past week, you seem to be a magnet for trouble."

"You seem to have misunderstood me again," Eris said as Retsu questioned her about how she found out about Yoshino's whereabouts, shaking her head when she noticed that she was going off-track. "Never mind, how I found about here isn't important. The answer for you other question is simple, really. After I saw what happened with Moon Rider it was obvious that Yoshino wasn't well, there's very few things that can cause someone's avatar to collapse like that and none of them are good ones." Eris made a brief pause to let her words register on Retsu's mind before continuing, "I know that my behavior wasn't the best, and I'll not try to produce any excuses. I'm sincerely just worried about Yoshino's well-being— after the talk I had with her the other day, I feel... I feel that we got a bit closer and I wouldn't like to jeopardize it because of a game."

"You don't even need to let me see her, Retsu Goroshi, I know you aren't the trusting type and, sincerely speaking, you don't have any reason to trust me," This was very much likely going to be Eris' last appeal, she made sure to measure her words well, before finishing it, "Just take her to the hospital. For that to happen, she must be at some risk of brain damage. The last thing I want to see is someone like her falling into a coma she wouldn't wake from ever again, or something even worse. That's all I'm asking of you, Retsu Goroshi, as a human being, not an extension of my online persona."

"Do you know. What happened. To Yoshino?" This was the important question that Retsu wanted to know. Eris made her thoughts clear about the Sweeper's methods and like Eris, Retsu wasn't going to defend it. But it was certainly hypocritical for her to critize the Sweeper's actions if she is willing to overlook what happened to Yoshino, which Retsu honestly thinks Chiyo and Eris had something to do with. Retsu was in no real position to really accuse her of this, but it did annoy her how much Eris says she has the moral high ground, but still has to go out of her way to validate her humanity. At least Retsu doesn't attempt to hide her cruelty; she just keeps it low key. "And if you do, then know that it's only going to get worse from here on out. And if you don't, consider this a warning then and make your decisions carefully."

"If you are asking if I know the specifics of what happened to Yoshino, then the answer is no," Eris replied. "What I know is that she's the only person within that auditorium that could be Moon Rider. If it was you, you wouldn't be standing here, talking to me. It's not from today that I suspect this, really, but I'll leave the explanation of my deductions for a more timely opportunity. Like I said, there's only a handful of things that can cause an avatar to behave like that, everyone who plays Deep Ground knows that."

"I'm just worried, you don't need to threaten me, I don't even plan to hold her secret against neither of you. Blackmail is far bellow my standards," the platinum-haired girl added. "If you excuse me, I need to go back home. My sister is waiting for me and I don't want to leve her alone. All I ask of you is that you tell me when you take Yoshino to the hospital. I want to visit and, if possible, make good of a promise I made to her."

Retsu narrowed her eyes at Eris. Honestly, Retsu didn't plan on taking Yoshino to a hospital and planned on bringing the family physician to oversee Yoshino's recovery at Retsu's home. After today's attack Retsu just couldn't feel safe leaving Yoshino anywhere outside an area she couldn't control. There wasn't any hospital that wasn't already shady, or somewhere she couldn't defend. But now she was put in a spot. Retsu wanted to keep Yoshino's injuries secret, but since Eris knew she'd be watching. And now that she's watching Yoshino, and knows where she lives, and knows that she lives with Retsu, Retsu has now found herself in an unwanted position: noticed.

She couldn't keep Yoshino's condition a secret, especially not with someone as volitile as Eris taking a personal interest. Sighing Retsu sent a message back to her uncle that they'll need to make another visit. But before Eris left, Retsu had one final thing to say to her. "Maribel tried to choke out Yoshino. The alliances between the Cobalt Bruisers and Ebony Strykers are effectively shattered after what she did. Chiyo seems to know nothing about it, but it's very convinent that this happened for her. If you want to know what happened to her, I suggest you find the Blue King. I have questions myself." Retsu walked away from Eris to go inside her room. She and Yoshino were going to need a change of clothes for the next few days. That, and she'd need to sort out some personal matters. Maribel, the Erasers, White Sun, and so much more. Times like this Retsu wished she actually had friends.

@KoL@TheWindel

He'd been so pleased to see Verdant go down so quickly, and with so much of his life drained. He didn't even notice at first when he attempted to go in for the next blow, that his limbs refused to move.

It took Azga a moment.

His heart slowly sank into his stomach as his eyes shifted down to his arms, a blue, translucent hand wrapping its length around his wrists... as well as his entire body. His pupils shrank in recognition as a bead of sweat trickled, digitally, down the side of his jaw. The impact of the sudden force that brought him to his knees was tremendous, his head hanging downward with his jaw clenched tightly.

He could barely hear the question Streak has asked him. It only barely registered what he said a moment after he'd spoken. A nervous, hesitant chuckle welled up from Azga's throat as his head heavilly lifted, his eyes tight with a certain dread.

"It looks like we won't be getting that spar, afterall."

He grinned, his body visibly trembling under strain.

"It's my fault. I'm sorry." His head lowered once more, the hands were hurting him. "Get out of here, Red King."

[color=red["What?"[/color] the Red King asked, not sure what Azga meant. "The enemy is retreating and there's no one else near our location. Azga, tell me what's wrong." He leaned down now in the effort to see if something was holding the other Player down. Unfortunately he couldn't see anything and briefly wondered if this was the work of something illegal. "Is it a hack holding you down?"

Could Azga really say? He swallowed, his throat felt tight but not from a hand. His blue eyes peer over to look at the Red King as best as he could from his position.

He hesitated.

"It's a program," He practically spat the words out. "Forget hackers... it's completely legal. It's the game, Streak... The program, he's behind everything. He doesn't like what I've done. You need to get out of here...!"

The game? What was Azga talking about? Not understanding himself, he did as he was told and zipped about in a mad dash. Azga seemed pretty on edge but he couldn't just leave him there like that. The Red King would instead seek help from someone who knew the game. It had to be a hack. What else could affect the game in such a way? As he departed, a force much harsher than ever before gripped Azga's throat, rearing back and slamming his face into the ground. Whatever it was that was causing this, it was seemingly very unhappy with the results.

Azga gasped loudly, gritting his teeth. The pain was intense, the suffocation felt too real--but it seemed his health bar refused to go down, dying would probably be a mercy for what was in store. Azga's teeth gritted as he glared at the hands that would be invisible to the other avatars, his jewelry jingling innocently as he struggled against the intense force around his neck. He swallowed around the hands on his throat.

"What's wrong?" Azga gasped around the pressure on his windpipe, "Don't tell me you're intimidated by something so minor..."

"Eheh, not that it's a minor kid. More of a major really. A major turnout for you trying to blow my cover here," said a taunting voice. One blink and the grinning form of Blue Joker stood before Azga, a tilt of his head and a wink of his eyes serving as a greeting. "Pleasure to meet you Erika Mitsuki. Don't believe we've ever met proper now have we, eheh."

"Chaaaarmed! So very charmed! Hh," Azga swallowed painfully again around the tight grip of his throat and the sting of the rocks against his face. "Of course I know who you are... I don't think it gets much more intimate than... hh.... being broken..." Azga couldn't complete what he was trying to say, grunting against trying to escape or at the very least, loosening the grip of the several hands that seemed to be all over him. His blue eyes, so similar to her own in the real world, glared up at him. "A pleasure." It was all he could manage, his heart beating out of his chest barely hidden, though fairly obvious to the larger being, by stark sarcasm.

"Eheh, it doesn't sound like it's a real pleasure for you kid. How'd you end up on the ground sucking dirt like that?" Blue Joker said casually. His grin present all the way, he walked around Azga's form without much cause or reason. "Ehhh, let's just cut to the chase kid. You trying to blow my cover and all that. In fact, you've been making things pretty hard for me lately too. How's about you turn back to your senses and come work for me again, eh? Or does the Red King really got your heart in a flutter? Eheh, you know kid, you're supposed to be playing for the winning team. Or maybe I need to remind you about that, eheh?"

Azga panted against the hands on his body, on his throat. Memories of being ripped apart countless times, of being trapped in an abyss of lines of code and being those lines of code and losing and regaining so many pieces of what came to be a fractured mind... Azga's fist clenched, the knuckles white.

"What do you want?" He couldn't do it. He couldn't do it again. No more, he didn't want to return to that hell but he realized, slowly, that he just pissed off the only thing that could bring him back to that. Digital tears pricked at his eyes as his jaw clenched tighter. Fear bloomed in his chest and reddened his cheeks.

"Eheh, yeah that's right. You're remembering all your hours spent in that place. Savor it," Blue Joker said, pausing in his step. "What I want? Frankly kid, what don't I want? My plan's been going smooth sailing for a while now and I'm at the top of my peak. All it takes is for one player with a big mouth to screw all that up," he continued, snapping his finger and pointing down at Azga. "Ehhh, that big mouth's gotta be you buddy! But don't fret. I can overlook your behavior so far if you start working for my friend the White King. Gonna need all sorts of help to finish this bad boy out, am I right? So what do you say kid, buddy, pal?"

Azga opened his mouth to respond, but then paused, a thought occurring to him. He shifts against the ground, his face dirty from being shoved there, peering up at the Blue Joker.

"Why does it matter... to you... which king I spend my time with? You're a program... so why should my human matters... or... whatever... involve you? Why did you choose the White King...?"

"Eheh, that's information for me to know and for you to never, ever find out pal. But maybe it has something to do with her....personality. Guess you could say I'm a sucker for the crazy chicks, eheh," said Blue Joker. "What's it to you? I got my reasons; same as you with the Red King. Bet he'd be real pleased to find out what's really going on. I'd have to do something about that in the nastiest way possible-oh, but we wouldn't want that, would we friend?"

"Don't you touch him!" Azga spat the words out, louder and sharper than he'd intended to, his eyes fill up with their own malice as his head briefly jerks up from the grip of the hands on his body. Every fiber of his being wanted to attack the Joker right that moment, but the rest of him refused to move. "Don't you touch him." Azga said again, softer this time but with the same anger in his blue gaze.

"Then you better report to the White King as soon as possible then," the Blue Joker said, his happy tone suddenly shifting. "Like I said kid, we're so close to letting our goals be reality. I'm not gonna let some bleating school girl ruin it all for me...eheh, why the long face? Cheer up pal! This way, you be on the happy side when the war's over." With that said, he turned away, the Avatar slowly fading from sight. As he did so, so too did the invisible hands holding Azga down. "Catch you on the flip side Azga," were his last words before departing.

There was a very sour taste in the back of Azga's throat. A dark shadow fell over the eyes of the usually spunky avatar. Even after the hands had faded, the avatar slowly clenched the dirt in the palms of his hands, pressing the rocks into his palms until they bled.

-1 Damage.

Somehow, that was the most satisfying thing he'd seen all day. The witch doctor slowly sat up, sitting on his legs with his head down towards the ground in a lethargic, defeated posture. The truth was though that his blue eyes were burning with a steadily growing rage that took root in his abdomen until it flowered into his chest and made him raise his head. He wanted to scream. He couldn't say anything. He couldn't think anything. Because he would be there.

The sting of humiliation made him want to vomit. The blonde avatar picked himself up from the dirt, grasping at his staff on the ground nearby as he surveyed the now empty former battle zone. A blank stare on his face was all he could compose as he lifted his hand, opening his message board to send a message to the Red King.

His hand trembled over the keyboard, then with a loud, frustrated grunt, he waved his staff through the pop up control panel, dispelling it. He paced for several moments back and forth, trying to let off some steam before pressing his hands to his face. There's nothing he could do. All he could attempt right now was to somehow find the White King, as the Joker had said.

That is, until a small idea crossed his mind. It wasn't a good idea. It was all he had. The Amazing magician signed out of DGO, his avatar dissipating in shimmer of light.

---

When Erika's eyes opened, her cheeks were covered in tears she hadn't even been aware of were there. She sat up from the pods the school provided for going into Deep Ground Online and wiped her face with the sleeve of her sweater. Her chest heaved as she got her bearings and looked over at where Michael had chosen his own pod for joining the Deep Ground world. He looked so peaceful like that, it made her heart flutter, and then made her stomach drop when she thought of what he would need to do.

Climbing out of her own pod, Erika stared down at Michael, a blush on her face. Her hand slowly lifted to the fun, high ponytail she'd put her hair in for the event and slowly pulled out the red scrunchie she'd used to tie it up. Her dark curls dropped from the soft hair ornament and bounced around her face and shoulders in lively unison in stark contrast to the suddenly grim look on her face.

A deep desire to protect the red head in front of her was overwhelmingly powerful. It looked like she was going to need to play ball if she didn't want him to suffer for it. That meant she was going to need to do something she would very much regret. A whimper caught in her throat, she pressed the red scrunchie into Michael's hand and closed his fingers around it.

"I won't let anyone dethrone you."

She said it barely above a whisper, but her eyes filled with tears and her chest swelled with pride.

"As your knight... I'll protect you. My King."

Erika leaned down, her soft lips pressing against his as he remained comatose. Then she tore herself away from him, running down the halls of the school with a fire in her eyes. She opened up her message board, to be sent to the White King.

To: Chiyo Kuroke
From: Erika Mitsuki

The Joker has declared me to be in your audience. Meet me in the park.

Erika

Thomas had just entered his house and was taking off his shoes when the message came.

From: Finn Bluegale
To: Thomas Green

Why am I in a closet?

Thomas had a few flimsy reasons. He didn't exactly want to carry Finn somewhere else, considering Finn was quite a bit heavier than Thomas and Thomas wasn't exactly confident with his arm strength. In reality though, it was probably because had had wanted to be alone for a while. He'd done a lot of things today that he needed to think about. He found out information regarding a mysterious entity, potentially screwed up a friend's future and there was also the write up for the festival to consider. If Thomas was being honest, he just wanted to go back to sleep and wake up and let it all happen without him, but he couldn't exactly do that.

With that said, he did need to tell Finn what happened. Finn had been there with him and seen what happened, he needed to be given something. Part of him desperately wanted to offload the problem onto someone else but he knew he couldn't do that. But he could at least tell them a little of what transpired.

From: Thomas Green
To: Finn Bluegale

Laziness.

Maribel's fine now.

That wasn't the whole truth but he couldn't help it. He wasn't entirely sure what he could or couldn't tell people right now. He, Alex and the blue king were privy to rather sensitive information that could potentially jeopardize Maribel's situation even more. The more people who knew the more that could help - people like Hibiki could be very helpful. But the more that knew, the higher the risk. He'd have to play this carefully.

With that being said, he had other stuff to do. The aforementioned festival write up was a particularly large obstacle, as was Maribel's request. The report could be taken care of later; the whole club would need to come and crunch the data tomorrow. As for Maribel's request... Finn was back in the real world, so assuming he'd been in the conflict at all, it was safe to assume that they'd either won a swift victory or he'd died suddenly. Considering the fact that the blue king had been out of commission since before the fighting started, it was likely the latter, which meant that the defense had likely gone badly. Thomas couldn't really check; his avatar had been quite a while away from blue guild territory. He could just ask Finn tomorrow. Or Maribel could ask Finn tomorrow. And speaking of tomorrow, Thomas would have to plan.

Thomas tried to remember what the being had told him and Alex. He remembered that the being had mentioned the student council president, but he'd also remembered another name - Retsu Goroshi. He remembered the red haired girl that had run through the hallway with the president in her arms. That was probably her, it would've been strange for the being to mention her otherwise. Thomas did want to talk to the president about what happened, but considering the nature of what had occurred, maybe it would be better if he didn't. But he should at least let her know that something was out to kill them, and he'd have to talk to someone, so he decided to send a message to Retsu. Maybe she could pass it on.

To: Retsu Goroshi
From: Thomas Green
Subject: We should talk

I have happened on information that indicates a threat to the student council president's life, and since I've been led to believe that you have some link to the president, I would like to request some time to discuss today's events with you.

That may have been a bit too formal, but he didn't know her so he wanted to at least be respectful. Whether she accepted his proposal or not, the reply would come tomorrow. He had a lot of work ahead of him.
@Lucius Cypher

Alex was literally stunned. The world passed before his eyes in a blur, aware of the passing time but almost as if he was on the other side of a glass wall... somehow detached from it. Bel saying that she couldn’t log in and how that thing that was in her taunted as it… left. Could I have done more? Should I have made Thomas word his demand better? Devils always try to monkey’s paw their way into making what you want gross and bad… should he have seen it coming? What about now? What should he do? These thoughts plagued Alex, dragging him further and further away from reality.

He was still trapped in his own little world of doubt and pity when Bel’s assistant came and started taking Bel away. Shocked from his stupor, Alex was more ashamed than anything else. He left Bel wet and in the hall while he did nothing. Not even offering a jacket or something clichéd like that! Scrambling to his feet, Alex started to take off after Bel and Yuuno, but not before his luck made him trip over the still half full bucket. Now splayed on the floor in a puddle of water, Alex pushed himself up and ran after the rapidly receding pair of girls.

“W-wait! I know I-I’m not the most proactive person ever, I know… but I don’t want to be fucking useless forever!” ignoring his soaked pants and the wet footprints that he left in his wake, Alex caught up with the pair and took off his jacket and handed it to Bel, the wet footprints slowly drying the further he walked.

“I… you don’t have to like me miss. And honestly, you may think of me as a villain if you want… especially given the scene you just saw before. But I’m going to help Bel. I’m not exactly sure how at the moment, but she’s worth helping.” With a squaring of his jaw, Alex looked to Yuuno and then at Bel before quietly putting an arm out and helping to stabilise Bel’s shaking steps.

@KoL @TheWindel

"I spent all that I had while I was fighting on my own here," was Tiger's reply to Reodath as she was freed of the stun, with a Health Bar so far down the red that it might as well be negative at this point. At least the wall crashing put out the flames that would have killed her for certain, so it as not a total loss.

Shaking her ample golden locks, Tiger looked around, narrowing her gaze. She was clearly searching for Blossom who had, somehow disappeared in the middle of the battlefield's chaos. "We gotta find Shortcake before she finishes us. Like hell I'm gonna lose to her. What da—" before Tiger could finish her statement, a thick cloud of noxious red smoke rose up, blinding the duo of Fanged Rangers.

"Haha! Suck that green beans," Blossom taunted as she got out of her cover, after throwing a tear gas grenade at Tiger and Reodath, meanwhile running to another cover, behind a windowsill at the second floor of a building across the street, with her Lightning Bolts ready to snipe them as soon as they stepped out of the choking smoke.


After Faust's confirmation that she couldn't find anything suspect in the nearby area, making it even more evident that hacking was involved in this bombarding issue, Argent Maiden let out a sigh, both of relief and frustration, before relaying the following message to all the Ivory Masks yet on the Blue City, "Good work, everyone. Thanks to all of your effort we did the first successful siege of a major guild in years. Today's objectives have been fulfilled, you are free to do as you wish until our King calls on you once again."

"You as well, guys, thank you. I guess we will see each other tomorrow, right? Try not to have too much fun without me!" Maiden added, to her teammates, before requesting a vehicle and going back to the White City, so that she could log out and wait for her younger sister in the real world.


Yuuno spent most of the short trip to the Council Room thinking about what was happening. In fact, she didn't held anything against any of the two boys, except that they were truly examples of brute oafs who couldn't help a girl safeguard her dignity until someone else appeared. That said, this kind of behavior was normal these days, it was nothing to be really alarmed about.

When they arrived there, the first thing Yuuno did was go in along with Maribel, "Wait here for a moment, please. Bel-sama need to change to some dry clothes," Yuuno said to Alex before going in with the Blue King.

Once Bel was done changing, Yuuno called Alex in, setting a cup of freshly brewed tea on the Council Room's meeting table, before each of them, along with a pack of rice crackers. "Well, things seem to have gone all kinds of wrong, haven't they?" Yuuno asked, rhetorically, before continuing, "Let me tell you what I have to say first, I think it may have to do with your explanation, Bel-sama."

Yuuno didn't even touched crackers, even though she took a long gulp of her tea, before finally deciding what to say, "I'm sorry to say this, Bel-sama, but the Blue City was taken by the Ivory Masks. I did my best to defend it, but almost no one answered the call for help. I'm sorry that, because I couldn't be a better leader, we took such a loss," she said apologetically. "Either way, that's was all that I had to say. What about you, Bel-sama and, hmm...?" Yuuno's question trailed off when she noticed that she didn't even knew he name of the boy who followed them, despite having seen him beside Maribel more than once before.


And so it was over, the sieges at both the Blue and the Red Cities were all but done as the day was coming to an end and the shadows of the night threatened to once again engulf both Deep Ground and the real world. If anyone else was still involved in any remaining skirmishes, they would be done soon either of their own choice or not, given that as soon as the night came DGO's servers were shut down temporarily, under the excuse of a 'routine maintenance'.

How much truth those words held and what would happen when DGO was rebooted were things yet to be seen. For the time being, it seemed that all but the most battle addicted players had their fill. A break would be more than welcome.

---

The battle for the Blue City was done, and while there were still a few skirmishes blazing within the city, they were dying out and soon the once proud citadel of industry would be without defenders. It was a bit of a depressing site for Broker of Fortune, who had called this place a welcome hub when she'd awoken that day. Yet this didn't stop her from engaging in the age old tradition of looting and pillaging. After all, this was an MMO, and much like in the days of old, the spoils one hauled off the battlefield were often better then the meager stipend they were afforded for their service.

And Broker being a very recent Bruiser meant she knew were the very best things were to loot. The King Tiger barreled through the destroyed gates and raced into the city, hungry to strip it bare of all the EXP and stockpiled equipment she could find.

"And if I do recall, Titania had a spare weapon in the bank..."

---

---

Many hours later, and both DGO and the real world were plunged into the darkness of the night, and the former had gone offline for poorly timed maintenance. Kanbaru was satisfied with her haul, and by the time the servers went down she was really just scrounging the bottom of the barrel, though she'd need every little bit of EXP helps. Now, however, there was nothing left to be done except face the world. The clock was telling her it was about midnight but as exhausting as the day was, she didn't have it in her to just pass out in bed.

So she took to the streets, her feet drawn every which way for no other reason then her own restlessness. There was a chill to the air, but the season was still favorable and the bluenette didn't mind it as she went. So it was with a bit of surprise she found her winding path terminated in the local mall, an incandescent lightbulb shining through the night. She considered moving on and slipping back into the streets when a rumble in her abdomen settled the matter for her.

"Eh, guess I could see if there is a Cinnabon still open." Kanbaru said, unconsciously licking her lips at the prospect of a warm, gooey snack settling in her stomach. It was enough to put a bounce in her step as she entered, finding the place more lively then expected, but certainly no where near the day time activity. Vaguely, she recognized some as students from Purple Crown and figured that insomnia wasn't uncommon tonight.

A bobbing mane of bone white caught Kanbaru's attention, and pausing midstride she came to recognize it belonged to an infamous student she owed her present allegiance to.

"Yo, Eris Reinhardt!" Kanbaru greeted with a sudden burst of cheer at having someone to occupy herself. "Fancy seeing you up and about this late. I'm Kanbaru, though you'd probably recognize me as the one whose tank you pulled over earlier. Hey, if your not busy I'd like to thank you for that invite over a cinnamon bun and coffee if you have nothing pressing to do."

@KoL

Masae Kanegawa @Flamelord and Aderyn Finch @Mega Birb

Needless to say, it was some relief for Masae when Aderyn's basically comatose form was laid down on the bed in the nurses office so she could be taken care of. She was even more relieved, however, when a paramedic arrived in response to the emergency call. She didn't want to risk anything when it came down to it, not with her friend.

"So where is she," the paramedic asked, carrying along a bag of medical supplies in the process. Presumably he knew the story of what state she was in, but obviously an on the scene look was better than nothing at all.

"Over here," Masae replied, leading him over to the bed where Aderyn was currently laid out. "She was attacked and has at least a dislocated leg. She also has Vrolik Disease, and she's also jacked into DGO in spite of my best efforts." She was still annoyed by that fact, but there was nothing to do about it now.

The paramedic put down his bag before turning his attention to Aderyn, quickly examining her. "Did you make this splint yourself? Good thinking."

"Thank you," Masae replied gratefully as she stepped back, letting the paramedic do their work as they examined Aderyn to determine whether there were any other injuries, testing other limbs, checking her pupils, and analyzing the connection between her brain and her chip. She didn't think much of the splint, she just wanted to know whether her friend would be alright, as soon as possible. The longer this took the more nervous she got, even if she knew that she shouldn't worry given that she was with adults. No one was going to atack them when they were with members of the school administration.

So she stepped to the side to let the nurse and the paramedic work as they prepared to set the dislocated leg. They were professionals, they knew what they were doing. She was sure that it would be fine.

Meanwhile in Deep Ground, the avatar of Aderyn was in what was frankly an inescapable position. She had a mech bearing down on her from one side of a wall and her spear effectively poked into the stomach of another combatant. "So... how's the weather been?" The nervous laughter right after this was followed by the wall crumbling as the distinct sound of a chaingun locking onto a target, the helmet on Warhawk's head almost looking dejected as she sighed. "Well, GG." Unable to do anything as bullets ripped through her, she gave her enemy a thumbs up for the victory as she exploded into a mass of EXP crystals.

Back in the real world now, Aderyn slowly opened her eyes just as the paramedic was counting down for some reason, with his hands on her dislocated leg. The realization hit just a moment too late. "WAIT WAIT N-"

Aderyn suddenly waking up was unexpected, but by that point it was basically too late to stop what was about to happen. It was unfortunate, sure, but it was something that had to be done if she was to really heal and to prevent further damage. So without any heeding of her cry the countdown ended, and the dislocated leg would be forced back into place with a wince on the part of Masae and a firm touch by the medical duo as they kept her from struggling.

"Sorry about that Miss," the paramedic said as he looked down at Aderyn, once she had had the opportunity to recover from the sudden shock. "How are you feeling? Can you tell me how many fingers I'm hold up?" For the record, the answer was three.

Right as her leg was snapped back into place by something medicine had never bothered to change, the Welsh girl shifted into the secondary tongue she probably hadn't spoken in a full year. "Rydych yn cunt!" Following this, you could almost hear her jaw clamp shut in pain, tuning out the world for a moment while the sensation died down, and she missed the almost automatic sorry from the medic. She did, however, catch the other half of what he said, and spoke through grated teeth. "I would be better with some painkillers, but here we are. And you've got three up, ya cunt..." If nothing else, it was pretty obvious her inner Brit was coming through with the pain.

Suffering verbal abuse at the hands of patients was nothing that new, though the nurse would probably have had cross words with Aderyn for swearing if she hadn't been in such pain at the moment. Drugs would come, but only when they were certain that there was no brain damage or other issues that they did not know about yet. Skewing the results that way would do more harm than good.

With a mental nod the paramedic went on, merely lifting one finger rather than the three he had before. "Alright then. Follow my finger..." Upwards, then downwards, then side to side to make sure that she was clearly seeing it. "Very good. What's your name and address?"

In the meantime Masae rose from her seat, stepping over to take Aderyn's hand in her own, a comforting grip now that she was awake. "Welcome back," she said to her friend with a smile. Things could have been worse, but it seemed as though it was looking up for now.

Aderyn's eyes followed the man's fingers willingly, though there was an amount of hostility in the gaze. When he finished though, he asked her name and address, which she had little choice but to answer. "Aderyn Finch, and I live in the dorms on campus. Room 314, west building." She hoped that the man was done at this point, though she doubted it.

Her tone changed when Masae's hand closed around hers, the blood rushing to her face at this contact. "Oh, uh... thanks... hey, I wanna ask you something, if it's okay." With a meekness unlike her usual self, it was pretty obvious that something was up. Given the history between the two, the fellow female could probably guess what was going on.

Brushing aside the hostility, it seemed that the paramedic was satisfied by the time she was done, as he stepped away. "She seems to be fine. if anything happens later, sudden pain, things like that, make sure to tell someone." With that he would pack up his stuff before heading on his way, moving with the nurse to fill out whatever recquisite forms needed to be completed while she made a promise about finding Aderyn some painkillers now that everything had been checked out.

For her part Masae didn't move, relief obvious now that it was all over. She had some questions of her own, but that could wait in the face of Aderyn's request. "Sure, what is it?" It would be stupid of her to reject it out of hand when she didn't even know what her roommate wanted to ask her.

Realizing exactly what she had in mind, Aderyn suddenly remembered all the planning she had done prior to the White Guild taking over and where all of it had gone since then. With her face somehow reddening more, she shied away from the question she had been meaning to ask for awhile. "Well, now isn't a good time now that I think of it, and I'm not in a good spot to ask it... just, forget about it for now." In the silence that followed, she gave an awkward cough to attempt to remedy the situation.

"Okay then." Masae was puzzled but didn't push on it, figuring that Aderyn would tell her when she was ready. And like she had said, they had bigger concerns at the moment. Focusing on that would be for the best when it came down to it. Even though she did not lighten her hold, she shifted to be on a more equal level with her friend, sitting down next to her. "What happened? You logged into DGO before you could really explain anything to me."

Glad that Masae didn't push it any further, she pursed her lips the moment she asked what happened. "Well, you heard how Chiyo decided to take over the digital world. From there, her crew marched into the Blue City and took it over like they were mice without a cat for miles. And y'know, that's what it was like. Now she's a power-hungry cunt ready to take over the real world too, and we're all gonna get screwed by her." She sighed, practically defeated by how stacked the odds were. "And there's not much we can do but let it happen All the heavy hitters are in her corner at this point." It was quite clear that some sort of mood swing was taking hold because of the subject, though it was something that did need to be talked about at some point. That point was now, apparently.

An eyebrow rose as Aderyn described the events that had taken place in DGO while Masae had been here in the real world. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the White Guild were behind the attack that had injured her friend, and her fists clenched in a growing anger. Fighting in the game was one thing, but deliberately harming people in real life? They were no better than the Sweepers (which was saying a lot, considering her former allegiances)

That did leave her with a confused realization, one she was left trying to figure out on her own. But perhaps Aderyn could help with it, if she was willing to. "But...what happened? Even I knew there was a war coming, and I barely play DGO as it is. How did the Blue Guild let themselves get thrashed in a couple hours max?"

The Welsh girl sighed once again in response, trying to, and failing, to bring her knees up to her chest. Since one had just been relocated, a sharp pain came back briefly before she leveled that leg out again. "Bel, the Blue King, never got online for it. There was no leadership to rally under, and she never even bothered to prepare for something like this. Sure, we had tanks, but the city itself was almost completely vulnerable." She unconsciously squeezed Masae's hand while she spoke, finding some solace in the contact with a close friend.

"I see." The squeeze was returned, even as Masae found her mind working. So that was it then? This failure of leadership at the top of the Guild, this was the reason that her friend had gotten hurt? Even she found it hard to believe that the Guild had ossified to the point where the lack of the Blue King meant that the entire organization was ripe for the picking. But that seemed to be the case, whether she wanted it or not.

With a sigh of her own she leaned closer, fixing Aderyn with a warm look. "Hey, I have a request too. I think...I think you should stop playing DGO. Until all of this is over." She knew she was asking a lot, but it had to be done. "I won a couple tckets at the Computer Club contest before all of this trouble happened. Once you're feeling better we can go there and be away from all of this madness until the War is over. Please?"

It took her a long moment of thought, a few half-started sentences even, but she eventually gave a slow nod in response. "Yeah, maybe you're right. This whole war thing is kinda pointless, whole reason I play is to have fun. But this happens, and it kills it." She looked up at friend and locked eyes with her for a brief moment, her face heating up once again. "And I'd like that, it'll get my mind off of this." For an incredibly brief moment, she started leaning in, though the action was cut short by the door opening and the nurse coming through with a set of crutches.

For an instance Masae would admit that she was worried, but hearing Aderyn agree brought about another surge of relief at the prospect. She knew how fired up Aderyn could get about DGO, so having her actually along with getting out of the line of fire was both surprising and welcome. You had to know when to pick your battles, and in a case like this it seemed like this wasn't one that was worth fighting. Not to the end.

"Great," she replied, patting her roommate on the shoulder. "Well then, don't take too long n getting better. We don't want to miss the good weather." Noticing the arrival of the nurse, she took stock of the crutches before returning to Aderyn. "You think you're ready to try standing up?"

She nodded in response and took the crutches, more than used to having to walk around with them thanks to previous calamities. With nary a word she set the ends of them on the floor and swung out of bed, making sure to put her weight on the one comparatively good leg she had left. She winced only slightly as she stood fully, then smiled and looked up at Masae. "Mind if we stop by the auditorium before we head out? I forgot something in there."

Masae stepped back and released Aderyn's hand so she could rise to her feet with the assistance of the crutches, figuring that she wasn't needed for it. "Sure, I don't mind," Masae reassured her before beginning to head out of the infirmary, moving at the same speed as hr companion. They were both going to the same place after all. Yet as she walked, she couldn't help but shoot Aderyn the occasional look, both to make sure she was doing fine and to assuage her own worries. For all that she had said about getting out of the way, she couldn't help but worry. Something like this, she didn't want it to happen again. Not if she had the power to do something about it.

But for now she tried to keep her mind to the task at hand as they headed to the auditorium. It wasn't that long a walk and the place was practically deserted by the time they got there. Masae followed Aderyn's lead, not sure what they were here for but figuring her friend knew. She could wait however long it took for her to find it.

With the distinct clicking of crutches hitting floor tiles, Aderyn swung straight for the seat she had been in before the show had been interrupted. "Alright, I'm gonna try and ask that question again. The timing isn't ideal, but... here goes." She reached over the back of the chair and pulled up the unharmed stuffed bear she had won for dunking Aaron three consecutive times earlier that day. "I know that they're your tickets and it just lined up perfectly, but... would you wanna go out with me?" Fearing the worst, she held out the bear with one arm for the German to take.

While Masae had had her suspicions with regards to Aderyn's feelings towards her, actually being presented with the request and the gift was a whole other matter entirely. For a moment she would admit that she was not sure how to react, merely stuck processing the fact that the question had been asked in the first place. She had never really considered herself to be interested in girls, to be honest. Not that she had actively avoided it, it had just never come up.

But as she thought on it, she found it harder to argue against it. She had never really thought of it before, but she wasn't actively opposed to it. And she did care for Aderyn, perhaps as more than just a friend. At the very least this was the sort of time in their lives where they could try things out and see what happened. If it didn't work out, then at least they would both have learned something for the future.

"Okay," she said at last, reaching out to take the bear. "I'll go out with you Aderyn." Well, at least she knew now what had been going on before. Now it was just a matter of figuring out how all of this would work. "So, are you planning to sleep in my room now, or will we be sharing the couch," she asked jokingly.

More than anything, Aderyn was shocked that she had agreed on a date, even if it was after a long moment of silent thought. While she relinquished her ownership of the bear, she couldn't help but smile brightly at the joke that had been made. "Well, a bed beats a couch, and I don't mind snuggling." It was like a compressed spring had finally been allowed to release the pressure it was under, and the embarrassment in the room finally left.

"So... what were those tickets to, anyway?"

Now it was Masae's turn to be a little embarrassed, not sure if she was on board with the idea of snuggling as of yet. Fortunately they weren't doing that right now so she could rest easy and think on it, even as she adjusted her grip on her new bear. She wouldn't claim that this had made things easier between them, but it definitely felt like there was a lightness in the air that hadn't been present before. It was nice.

"Oh? Uh..." Quickly she fished around in her pocket, producing the tickets so she could read them again. Understandably she had been in a bit of a hurry at the time, so she didn't exactly remember what they were for. "Right, an all-paid weekend trip to a hot spring inn," she announced. Okay, so maybe it didn't work out perfectly time wise but she was sure that they could finagle it a bit. A weekend was variable, and time was all relative anyways. "I'm sure it'll be wonderful for your muscles."

For the third time in the same hour, the blood rushed to Aderyn's face at the mention of a hot spring. It would be therapeutic for sure, not that she was in desperate need of relaxation, but it was certainly welcome. What made her blush, however, was the image of her date next to naked in a casual manner, though she decided to keep quiet about that thought. "I only wish you got them yesterday, I'd still have two legs. Still, it'll be nice."

The cripple started her way towards the auditorium doors, intent on leaving the building for the day. "Wanna improvise something? I have some money on me, we could go get dinner instead. I know that ramen shop down the street is cleared out by now." She was more than willing to walk that distance, pushing the door open with one crutch while leaning on the other.

Unlike Aderyn, Masae had not even considered the possible awkwardness of being seated next to her new date whilst naked in a hot spring, since that wasn't the sort of image that her mind automatically leapt to. It probably helped not being the one with the crush. Nonetheless she couldn't help but nod in agreement with the voiced sentiment. "Me too. As long as we enjoy ourselves then I won't complain."

Together she followed alongside her roommate as they headed towards the exit, now that their business was done here. She stepped through the opened door before holding it once she was on the other side, to make it easier for Aderyn to move through without opposition. "As much fun as it might be to see how much stuff everyone left behind in the scramble to log on, having an actual dinner sounds better. I have some money left over too, so we should be able to split the cost." With that she headed towards the aforementioned ramen shop with Aderyn beside her, leaving thoughts of DGO behind. They wouldn't have to worry about it until morning came, one way or another.

The trip back home was longer than expected, in no small part because the streets became suddenly crowded with an influx of students, result of the World Government's decision of shutting down Deep Ground for the third time in a month. Seriously, someone should be more sensible when planning those maintenance times. Then again, Eris had an inkling of an idea that this had something to do with all the hacking reports. Indeed, it was only natural when one thought about it.

The second reason for Eris' lateness was in her hands as she made her way to the residents' lobby of the apartment complex which shared its lower floors with Murasaki City's Mall. "I hope that Eins still likes Chinese food," the platinum-haired girl thought as her chest rose and sunk with each breath, causing her mouth to water in anticipation of the delicacies inside the warm paper box she was carrying.

Nevertheless, the call of a voice not totally unknown to her yanked Eris' attention as she was walking by the food court. When she turned to look, it became evident that a blue-haired girl with quite the figure for her apparent age was the one calling. Only after the girl's introduction that Eris connect the her memories to the voice. "You really aren't very different there and here, huh? I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Kanbaru," Eris said, politely avoiding to mention Deep Ground or Kanbaru's online persona as she approached the more endowed girl, holding her takeout box before her. "That's quite a fortunate meeting," Eris complimented, smiling charmingly as she spoke, "I have been meaning to thank you for today's efforts. While I realize others' loss, it really means much to me that I can help Chiyo achieve her objectives."

"Nevertheless, I hope you do not mind but I'll have to— Ahhh!" Eris was just about to turn down Kanbaru's offer, given that she had dinner planned in very short order, when she was suddenly interrupted by a pair of hands covering her eyes from behind. The young transfer student didn't even need to turn to know who was attached to the other end of those appendages, "E—Eins!? What are you doing here?"

"What? Can't I come down to greet my dear sister, or buy something to eat, though I see that you have already taken care of it," Eins said cheerfully, crossing her arms around Eris' shoulders and smiling mischievously to Kanbaru. "Mint talked well about you, Miss Bro— I mean, Kanbaru. Hehe! By the way, I'm Enyo, Eris' older sister, but you can call me Eins, or Argent Maiden, whatever floats your boat." The sight of the two sisters, so unlike and yet complimenting one another perfectly was an exquisite spectacle to most who knew them. It was no wonder that the Reinhardt twins made such a big name for themselves back at their homeland.

"What do you say of ordering some of those buns you mentioned and coming over to our place for dinner?" Eins asked, still clinging to her sister with a vice-like grip, "I may like Chinese food, but I think that Sis bought a bit too much for just the two of us. That is, it's of your taste. What about it, Miss Kan. Ba. Ru?" Eins asked joyfully, while Eris could do little but blush in embarrassment, her face tinged in a crimson as vivid as the eye color shared by both of the Reinhardt Twins.

The bluenette found her greeting reciprocated and was confronted by the infamous Eris Reinhardt. Funny enough, but they only thing surprising in the initial exchange was that she had already secured her own food and was liable to turn Kanbaru down to enjoy a pre-planned meal. Considering their meeting in DGO, she had no reason to think Eris was anything short of amenable and courteous, a belief which was no validated in the real world as well as the game.

"No, no. I really should be the one thanking you. I realized in hindsight I denied you any excitement over the battle, but I am really grateful with how generous you were. No one else would have offered as fair a deal as you had in the situation, and I appreciate it." It was no secret that anyone who bent the knee after the Bruisers were crushed were going to be working as the lowest of the low among the Ivory Masks, so being spared the fate of a new class of canon fodder was a relief off Kanbaru's mind.

"Hmm?" Kanbaru made a curious noise of surprise when she noticed a near identical albino stalk up behind Eris and leap into action, obscuring Eris' eyes in what was apparently sisterly jest. The reddening of Eris' cheeks certainly made for an adorable sight, most likely one that had gone unseen within the Purple Crown campus given her social standing. Perhaps witnessing yet another rare moment of levity in yet another stolid young woman had made this evening well worth the long walk to the mall, or so she thought till Eins propositioned her.

"Wow, you have a real friendly sister there, Eris. Pleasure to meet you too, Eins. Heh, that food does smell good, so who am I to pass up the offer? Just give me a minute to go pick up our dessert." Kanbaru greeted with a smile from ear to ear before taking off at a brisk jog towards the vendor she needed, positively delighted to witness the byplay of the siblings and even more so when they invited her to dine with them. A hot meal, and an in with the Ivory Masks' most renowned officer was an offer too good to pass up.

After nearly hurling her money at the cash register, the bluenette came trotting back with a bag heavy from the weight of three frosted pastries filled with goey cinnamon filling. Perhaps not the best follow up to a hearty Chinese meal, but sometimes you needed to eat outside the norm. Once more before the sisters, she decided to make use of her free hand and swipe the precarious balanced boxes of rice from Eris' arms to lessen her burden. "Well I doubt we'll have room, but I got us each a roll for dessert. What say we take this back to your place now and dig in?"

@KoL

“ZA WARUDO! TOKI WA TOMARE!!”

The ticking of the clock slowed, and then stopped, as the sprite rendition of Bio Drando posed gloriously, both hands splayed to the side, repeatedly taunting an opponent that was frozen in time for the entirety of nine seconds. As an actual super, it was a complete waste of meter, simply due to how a nine second combo couldn’t do nearly as much damage as ‘Road Roller’ or ‘Zero Point Knives’, but on the other hand? When the opponent only had a sliver of health left, it was wonderful.

“Zero.”

A light jab KO’d the red-haired delinquent, before ‘Victory’ flashed up on the screen, prompting a long, deep sigh from Moe. Ah, even with all this pointless trolling and the sweetness of victory, she was just so bored. Her braided ponytail limped as she sagged over the arcade machine, even as everyone else had plentiful fun with their real life boyfriends and their real life dates. Hyperactive dancing games blared out pop synths, while zombies groaned and exploded into gory bits to the delight of the players. The happy click-clacks of the drum-beating game resounded above all else, as a veteran of the game actually danced and spun his drumsticks stylishly. On any other night, the atmosphere of Purple Heart Arcade alone was enough to get Moe in a bright mood, but now?

“Ah…………………………………..sucks to loseeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.”

She flopped onto the machine, face pressed against the buttons. To think that the PvP specialist Guild actually lost to the Ivory Masks and their goons. How frustrating. Even more frustrating that she couldn’t go for salty seconds due to DGO being offline, and most frustrating of all? Moe Yumekawa didn’t even have a friend to bitch about this bullshit with. One of them was on a dinner date, another decided to take the weekend as a chance to go visit their parents, while a third was busy with a part-time job.

And the rest? Pshaw, she wasn’t interested in the comfort of those people.

Bio Drando spazzed out on the screen as she rocked her face back and forth. Maybe she was becoming a DGO addict. She couldn’t wait for the maintenance to end so she could get herself into a real, zero-consequence fight.

“DEFEAT,” screeched the machine, as a headache-inducing scream sounded from the pixelated corpse. Moe clutched her cute little head and groaned in irritation once more.

Soon, her stomach was groaning as well.

Erika had come into her home and was in the kitchen. A shadow over her eyes, she grabbed what she needed and slowly slid drawer shut. She turned to leave her home, tugging at her purse on her shoulder but still otherwise in the same attire she'd been in during the event. She paused. Her brother was there.

"Headed out?"

What he asked was simple but the real questions in his eyes were complex.

Erika looked him in the eyes, but didn't respond.

"What's with that look? I'm not going to give you hell about it. You know I sneak out all the time. Actually, if you want, we can hang out together--"

"No... no. I.... Need to go do something. Alone."

Her brother's eyes narrowed and he stepped towards her.

"You sure came out of that coma sassy. I like it, don't get me wrong, but I'm worried about you, Eri."

Erika's grip on her bag tightened, knowing what she'd just slipped into it. She paused, looking up at her brother who stood just before her. After an unbearable tension in the room grew too high for her comfort, Erika wrapped her arms around him. He returned the hug, albeit surprised.

"Hito... If I did something bad..." She murmured at last. "Would you hate me for it?" Her brother blinked in surprise.

"Okay, Now you've really got me worried. You know you can talk to me. You know you can..." Erika pulled back from the hug, a stressed, sad smile on her lips as she pushed him back as well.

"I need to take care of this."

After a long pause, not unbroken by soft blue puppy dog eyes on Erika's part, Hitoru broke with a loud groan. He patted her head with a scowl.

"Go do what you need to."

Erika smiled up at her brother one more time before rushing out the door, not without Hitoru watching her with the same scowl, and the same concerned eyes.

---

Her black curls bounced, her chest was heaving but not nearly as bad as it did before she went into her coma. She had the P.E. class to thank for that. She ran, her path lit by moonlight as she barely made it to the train station in time.

Just as the doors to the train slid closed, she thrust herself inside the cabin and fell into herself, her hands on her knees and half bent over with her head down as she caught her breath. This train should take her closer to the park.

Asahi sat near by rubbing his eyes. So much to do, so little time. He had to rally his guys together and get them organized. The Ebony Strykers needed to get their shit together and now the Cobalt Bruisers really needed help. He didn't care about what people said about their alliance; it wasn't over yet. Of course to make matters worse, the Sweepers were on the move too. He's already had a few brush in with cleaners, and one in particular gave him a warning that there was a purge going on. Who initaited it was unknown, but aparently the top dogs of the Sweepers think there is a traitor in their midst. As if things couldn't get any worse.

Right now he was taking this train to his old stomping grounds at the Full Moon Market. If he was going to get ready for war he needed to train. He's been slacking off on it to focus on DGO, but if the Sweepers really are on the move he needed to stay in shape. As he waited he heard someone dash onto the train and glanced at them. Much to his surprise it was Erika. She had earned herself quite a bit of fame recently for the reveal that she's dating the red king. But what was she doing looking so out of breath on this train?

"Late for your date or something?"

"...Huh...?"

Erika looked up slowly, cheeks red from the exertion of running. Then her eyes widened and she straightened her back. She knew who this guy was. It hadn't been difficult to find out who the owner of the infamously badass-looking avatar 'Arms Slave' belonged too. Erika looked away uncomfortably and not without tension in her shoulders.

"Something like that."

Ah, Asahi was familiar with that look. That look of fear. Normally he'd relish it, but now he just felt guilty. No doubt Erika was one of his past victims back when he was just some thug for the Sweepers. Chuckling he looked down at his feet. "I guess my reputation proceeds me... I don't suppose you'd accept 'I was just following orders' as an excuse?" A bit of guilt built up inside of him. He promised to make the Sweepers great again, that he'll change for the better. Looking back up to the girl he decided that trying to make amends with her would be a good step. "I'm Asahi Goroshi. Arms Slave. Ah... If I did anything to you, sorry. I mean...." This was very awkward for him.

"It doesn't really matter now anyways." She spoke with a finality as her gaze was still turned away. Erika had been well known around the school for her bubbler personality that had emerged and that had gained her her popularity. Here, her dark curls framing her face and curving back up to her lips, she looked like a young woman walking to the gullotine.

After looking at him for a pause, Erika decided she did want to sit beside him. She didn't immediately say anything more, choosing to let the rumble of the train speak for her as she stared at something unseeable, something in her mind.

"I guess you already know me as Erika Mitsuki. On Deep Ground, I kept my identity a secret but I can't remember why now. The reason seems stupid and pathetic now that I look back on it." Erika held her bag in her lap. Her hands gripped at it a little tighter. "I should have been more proud of myself, I think. Now it feels like I've wasted a lot of time on..."

Erika paused, her eyes were tight.

"Like I've wasted precious time that I could have spent being amazing instead. Heh..." Erika lowered her head, a thin but wide smile on her face. It could just be the reflection off her glasses onto her eyes, but they looked moist. She turned her head to Asahi, eyes closed in an upright angle with a smile on her face.

"My avatar is Azga the Amazing."

Azga... Azga... That name was familiar. Looking through his e-mails he found the name easily enough. She was one of his targets in the past. Admitidly the details of the battle with her was very faint. He was only certain that he had defeated her at some point. "I see. Yeah, I think I kinda remember that name. Azga the Amazing huh..." It was quiet between the two for a short while. The train went through multiple stops, but neither of them left. Their destination was else where. Breaking the silence Asahi spoke.

"I... If you don't mind me asking, how did you fall into a coma?" Asahi was pretty sure he had only been asked to attack her in DGO. He's never been comissioned to attack Erika herself. Certainly wouldn't do that now.

"I was about to defeat you in Deep Ground. You attacked me and my best friend." Erika had lowered her head and stared at the ground in front of her. "Then, your chain snatched me and pulled me down. Crushed by the environment collapsing." Erika pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

The train rumbled on.

"I didn't wake up."

That was weird. Asahi had made threats about knocking players out in real life, but he's never actually done it. It made him a bit unnerved that happened to her. "That's... What? Did I really do that?" Granted Asahi has killed people before. He wasn't going to cry over that. Frankly he was more surprised that he had somehow knocked Erika into coma, and felt very little guilt about it. He isn't sure what that says about him.

"I'm sorry. I know they're just words, but... Well..." Asahi sighed. "I promised to change. I quit the Sweepers. But things are getting out of hand you know. DGO was suppose to be a game, but lives are at stake now, you know? People's livelihood." The portly boy wasn't sure what he was going with all of this. Surely Erika didn't care about his sob story, her body becoming visibly tenser. "I don't know why I'm telling you this, except that you have the perfect reason to hate me. But I intend to change things in DGO. I'll make the Sweepers clean up their act. No more assassinations. No more cheating. I want them to make the Ebony Strykers into a respectable guild now. I... I want to be better. I guess."

Just hearing himself say all of this made Asahi feel like puking. It was so sappy. He really needed to work on this speech more. "As one of my former victims, feel free to take my words with a grain of salt. If you want payback then you're welcome to come after me. But I intend to change things around here. And... And I'll start by doing right to those I've done wrong too. Yeah, that sounds good."

"I don't hate you."

Erika's whole body language had taken a shift. Her words were sharp, cutting, and she sat upright glaring at the air in front of her with a scowl on her face and a very, very dark shadow over her eyes.

"I don't want an apology, either."

Her hands were gripping her purse so tight, her knuckles were white.

"Nothing you did to me matters, Asahi. None of it was your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault. We were just... we were just playing a game."

Erika's head slowly lowered. Her words became softer and her grip on her purse relaxed a little.

"We were having fun, you know? Trying not to think about the fact that it ruled the rest of our lives. That it would change where we would be and our social status. That, in a few years, those of us who were too lazy to level up would probably never see each other again. We were just fighting for fun. We were just... " Erika's voice choked with emotion. After a moment, she took a deep breath and lifted her head again, her expression stressed. When her eyes opened, they were sharp again. "You can try to change the surface, but here, it's the core that's rotten.

That... is nobody's fault."

The train came to a stop slowly. The doors opened and Erika stood up. This was her destination.

"The only way to stop it from consuming you, from consuming the people you care about... is to cut it out before it can infect anyone else."

Erika stepped off the train and looked back at Asahi, her body only half turned to his. After a moment of her stoic expression gazing at him, she smiled.

"Another time... Another place... Maybe we could have been friends."

The doors closed on Erika and the train began to move away. Erika stood in place, smiling at the departing train with a sadness in her eyes.

"Hey. Fuck that." After the train left, Asahi was on the otherside of the track. His hands were cletched and he seemed angry. "Is that always going to be our option? Cut them off? I'm tired of doing that. Always got to do things in extremes. DGO has problems, for sure, but cutting yourself off from it isn't going to do shit!" Asahi was taking this a bit more personally than Erika may have realized. Mostly because of what she said; that one could change the surface but the core would remain rotten. Asahi couldn't accept that.

"I don't know what you're talking about Erika, but we don't need to run away. We don't need to get rid of DGO! We can take it over! We can call the shots. DGO doesn't need to change us. We can change DGO." Asahi looked at Erika, and then into his hands. He opened and closed them, looking at his bloodied and bruised knuckles. "We don't need to keep dreaming you know. There's nothing stopping us from doing what we want right here, right now. We... We could be friends now you know."

Erika's eyes widened in slight surprise, watching Asahi on the opposite side of the train tracks. Slowly her expressioned softened into a smile. Then she giggled, then the giggled turned into a full on laugh, her hands on her knees until there were tears in her eyes as she leaned over herself. Then, as her legitimately happy laughter came to an end, she straightened up and took a breath, smiling at the boy across the train tracks.

"You mistake me. I'm not cutting myself off from Deep Ground. Far from it. As far as us taking it over..." Erika shifted her eyes to the side, then closed them.

She paused, then opened them again to look at Asahi.

"You're wrong about Deep Ground. It does need to change, just not in the way you think. As it stands, there is absolutely no possibility of us ever calling the shots." Erika raised her chin. Her blue eyes filled with a fire, a defiance that seemed, to Asahi, most likely to come from nowhere.

"You are not the reason I didn't wake up." Her eyes burned into his. Her hand clenched at her bag. It was like... she was trying to tell him something. Something she couldn't say.

A train was approaching, the one bound for downtown. It wouldn't stop here, just passing through. Erika took a step back.

"I really wish... I could be your friend. I do." Erika closed her eyes as the train got closer, a smile on her face. "I can't though. It's time for me to be a Hero. After tonight... You're not going to want to associate with me. Goodbye, Asahi"

Erika opened her eyes. The train rushed through the station at a high velocity, obscuring Erika from view. When the train had finished passing, Erika was gone. She'd already run down the stairs to make her way to the park where she would meet the White King.

Asahi stood there thinking about Erika's words. "A hero huh? A hero... Heh. That's a rocky road you're walking on Erika. I'm sure we'll see each other again." By the time the train left Erika was gone. He has no idea what she was up to but perhaps he wasn't the only one who had some conspiracy going on here. Between the Sweepers, himself, the Kings, and who knows how many others, there were many gambits being piled up here. Things were only going to get more complex from here on out. "I better step up my game."

As everything seemed to comme to a close, as thengame was taken off line for maintaince, quite convient there, Cassandra found herself alone, which seemed to have become an increasing situation these last few days. Had the last few weeks just been...teasing? Just the worlds way of giving her hope that there might be something better out there, for her? Was she going to quietly slip back into the...nothing that she had been? After everything? She sat on her bed, laying back against the pilows, staring at the ceiling. Was she foolish to have thought she could make a differnce? She didn't even know what was truly going on anymore.

Maybe she never had. Maybe all she was, all she had ever been was a pawn in this twisted game of life. Maybe all she was was a pawn to everyone, being moved where she needed to be moved and nothing more. Had she been forgotten about? Maybe all she was destined for was making others great. Everyone else seemed to be advancing, but she wasn't. Or it didn't seem like that to her.

She sighed. Rising, she showered and changed, heading out of her room, Cassandra shoved her hands in her pockets, leaning over slightly as shenwalked, making her small form even smaller, and slightly hunched as she did so. She didn't know where to go from here, and despite the fact she knew that Eris had been busy, both in the game and out of it, she couldn't help but feel a little...neglected. Perhaps she had just been holding on too tightly...but it was wonderful...having someone she could care for. Having...friends. as tears stung her eyes, Cassandra wiped furiously at her eyes, dashing them away, and drawing in a shaky breath.

Sne didn't know where she stood anymore. Her feet took her down a path, perhaps following memory or maybe merely just walking. She walked down along shops, her heart heavy, her mind full. Was she still not good enough? Was she not worth that much, to anyone? She wanted answers, but she didn't know if she'd ever get them. She didn't know if...if Eris still cared. Everything that had happened...it had changed them all, and Cassandra didn't know if they'd ever get back what...they could have potentially had. It seemed like she didn't compare, to everything that was going on these days.

Would anyone notice if she disappeared?

She suddenly stopped walking, her form slowly straighting. No. She wouldn't let herself think like that. She was wallowing. And that wasn't good. She was her own worst enemy. She knew this. Now...she just had to figure out how not to be. Keeping her hands in her pockets, but no longer slouching, cassandra glanced about her, finding that she had walked to a park. Blinking, a little perplexed, Cassandra stopped, wondering how she had got there.