"Dibs on the broom!" Ysran exclaimed, hopping onto the flying broom with Cherry. The broom visibly lowered for a moment as it adjusted to his weight. He then turned to his summon, Chuckles. He doubted Rockin' would be able to carry both Rawk and Chuckles. That, and Chuckles probably wouldn't know how to stay on. "Sorry buddy, looks like I'm gonna have to send you home for a while. Buh bye!" Chuckles made no reaction. He simply stood in place with the same soulless look. With a flick of the wrist, Chuckles dissappeared in a puff of thick black smoke. "We ready?" Ysran thought for a moment. Was there anything he was missing? They found the piece. There was the whole bullet problem, but there was doubtlessly more on his person somewhere. And then there were the guys still at the beginning. Eh. They should probably do something about that."So should we check on those other guys or nah? I vote nah."

Rawk looked over at Rockin' as he landed, and he introduced himself to Cherry. "Yeah, looks like we have a new person that go called here. Except she doesn't appear to have seen your video. You might have to explain the whole 'Crucible' thing and why it's so important when we have time." Rawk stated, as a pop up window appeared in his face.

Mission Complete: Regrouping
Goal: Regroup with Rockin' and find out your next course of action [O]
Additional Goal: Introduce Rockin' and Cherrywitch [X]
You have gained 50 XP and 500 dollars.

Rawk then glanced over at Rockin'. "I guess I'm getting the lift. You sure it's the Crucible piece, and not a Chaos Emerald?
Also, doesn't this seem almost too easy anyway?" Rawk questioned, positioning himself on Rockin' so as not to fall off while not hindering the pony's flight.

Rockin' nodded at the others. "I'll take y'all to the piece," he said, spreading his wings to allow Rawk to climb on. This is strange. Rockin' thought as he took flight.

If Cherry paid attention, she would notice the turquoise glow around his horn and wings. as he spread them and then again when he took flight.

It didn't take long for him to fly them back to the sign, eyeing the piece. "Does that look like a chaos emerald?" he asked, levitating it in his magic. "I have a feeling this will take us to the room most of us started in," he said, setting it in his hoof.

-----

Back in the black room, Code stood at the head of the table, watching the characters flash in with a green glow. "Welcome back, Rockin', Rawk, and Ysran. Welcome, Cherry. I see you've collected the first piece."

He stepped towards them, through the table. "I know you have quite a few questions. What is the crucible? What happened to make it shatter? Why were you chosen to fix it? All will come in time."

He sat on the edge of the table, the green glow of his eyes peeking out from under his hood.

"What I can tell you is the crucible was created in a lab with, if I remember correctly, nearly a thousand scientists. Upon its completion, the Crucible created 5 mentalities. I am Code. If you have ever seen Star Trek, think of me as something similar to the Vulcans. Anomaly, whom you've already met, is more akin to the Klingon. There is also Birth, who despises fighting and often has to heal us afterward. The two not working with us have chosen the names God and Death."

He sighed and looked around. "I hope you do not have to meet them."

Focusing back on the piece, he smirked. "Everyone, touch the piece."

-----

Rockin eyed the piece, only half-listening to Code's explanation. He had touched the piece and brought everyone back to the room. He knew he had gotten stronger but had yet to discern how. He held out the piece, letting everyone else have a chance to touch it.

-----

Once everyone had touched the piece, Code continued. "The hole in the middle of the table works as a pocket dimension. The pieces will be able to rest there and repair themselves while you are out collecting the others."

He took the piece from Rockin' and dropped it in the hole, causing a green, glowing ripple to appear.

The Witch squeaked in surprise as Broomy buckled under her, she glancing back at Ysran with an annoyed look. Poor Broomy! Cherry patted the broomstick like a dog to comfort it. When no one answered the elf, the bubblegum pink haired girl just shrugged at him. "Theyll catch up, I guess?"

Broomy took off after Rockin on a sort of auto pilot, just following the pony through the skies. Still, Cherry held on in case any sudden turns were needed, since Broomy couldn't quite make quick decisions like a human could.

They slowly were lowered so they could get off by the crucible piece, Cherry hopping off quickly and landing on the ground with a little "hup!"

Curiously, the witch examined the piece from a distance. Eh, it was weird looking, wasn't it...? Certainly not a chaos emerald, as Rawk had suggested. Though it did seem a bit too easy, this was only the first piece, right? It'll get harder further into the levels, she was sure.

As a green glow flashed around them, Cherry rubbed at her eyes childishly. "Eh? What? What was that?" She quickly took note of her surroundings, paling at the sight. "Scary..." And who was that guy who knew her name? Weirdo. What was he even babbling about?

The piece was held out to her, the Witch frowning worriedly. Should she really touch that? She won't be cursed or something? Hesitantly, Cherry lightly poked the piece and felt... stronger? The Witch seemed confused, but didn't question it. She watched the piece be placed in the hole by the weird hooded guy, pouting.

Flying behind Rockin' on the broom, a large, tall flagpole came into view. Landing, Rockin' showed them a strange green glowing stone. So that's what the pieces looked like. Good to know.

Back at the first room, Code stood by a table, and congratulated everyone on their success. Code said the usual "Mysterious Good Guy" stuff. Your questions will be answered in time, What I can tell you, yada yada. Much of the same. Ysran stood with his hand on his hip, waiting for his little speech to end, when Code said to touch the Crucible piece. Eh, what's the worst that could happen? Reaching out, as his finger touched the stone, visions flooded his mind. Images of Horrid creatures raced through his mind. He'd been exposed to the Eldritch before, but even then, it was quite the mental attack to him.

Squeezing his eyes closed, he began to mentally fight off the monsters. He knew they weren't real. They posed no threat to him. They were just there to instill fear. He thought back to earlier times. These creatures were nothing compared to what he had faced. He opened his eyes. The room was silent. He had won. Setting his hand back down, he could feel the fear becoming a part of him. Just like his other spells. Was this the power of the Crucible? Armed with a new spell, he listened intently to what Code had to say. Something about a pocket dimension. Isn't that how Bags of Holding work? Huh. He'd have to look into that. "Right. So, where to next? Are we going through another portal? And do you have anything we could use? Like potions, or Medicines of sorts? Perhaps a way to restore mana?"

Rawk managed to hold onto Rockin' as he flew toward the end of the Act. There, sure enough, was a strange green rock. Rawk stared at it. "Definitely not a Chaos Emerald..." he noted, only to be startled by the sudden teleportation as the Crucible worked its magic. Soon enough, they were in front of a hooded figure with green glowing eyes.

<Code, Lv. ???>
<Behind the Scenes>

'Well, this must be Code. That means he's working with that Anomaly guy...' Rawk surmised. He didn't care too much for Code's little spiel, if he was honest. As a gamer, he was used to following vague goals until otherwise told. However, the origins of the Crucible did interest him. When it was his turn to touch the Crucible Piece, Rawk got another pop-up window, which he was used to by this point.

You have gained 200 EXP!
Congratulations, your level has increased by 1!
Your HP has risen by 5!
Your MP has risen by 4!
Your Luck has risen by 2!
You have gained 4 Attribute Points!
For finding a piece of the Crucible, you have learned a new skill!

Mana Arrow has been learned. This skill allows you to compress your mana into an arrow and fire it at will. Costs 15 MP per arrow. Rawk then glanced around at his companions as the Crucible was set into a table.

<Rockin' Strings, Lv. 6>
<Life's Element of Sound>

<Ysran Stormreach, Lv. 6>
<Eldritch Mage>

<Sakuranomajo, Lv. 6>
<The Cherry Witch>

'Looks like we all leveled up. I might be the only one who gets that numerical representation, though...' Rawk thought to himself. "Status." Rawk looked over his status, but decided to hold off on allocating his new points until they reached the next world.

"Now that everyone's ready, I'll open the portal to the next world." he said, nodding towards a blank doorway. "This next world is very different than where you just were." he smiled.

-----

Rockin' eyed the portal with a smirk. "Alright! Let's find that next piece!" He figured Code was going to have another speech for them, he loved to hear his own voice, but the unicorn pony didn't have the patience. He ran through the portal as soon as it opened.

-----

"This next world should be relatively calm compared to most of the worlds you will visit, though not compared to the world you were just in. What I can tell you about this world is the piece has disguised itself as a green, glowing amahagane. If you don't know what that is, you'll find out soon." Code said this, ignoring the fact Rockin' rushed ahead.

-----

When Rockin' landed on the other side of the portal, he stood atop a mountain. He had arrived just in time to see someone jump over the edge, leaving him surrounded by 8 samurai who didn't look all too friendly. "I'm not guessing any of you would be willing to help an off-worlder with a simple quest?"

They attacked, forcing Rockin' to put up his shield until the others arrived.

As Code began to explain the next area, Ysran noticed Rockin' run through the portal. Ysran became increasingly worried as the seconds ticked by, and he ran through the portal after Rockin'.

Stepping through, Rockin' was already under attack. A group of what looked like Samurai were slashing at Rockin's magic shield. Ysran had an idea. "Oi! Over here! Come get some!" the group turned towards Ysran, losing interest in the seemingly invincible pony. Charging at him. Ysran Closed his eyes. Thought back to the horrors he had seen in that vision just a moment ago.

Ysran opened his eyes and gave an evil grin. Shoving his hands forward he shouted:"Hoxmarch!" A large black shadow flew forth from Ysran's hands. As it engulfed the area in front of him, there was a rapid succession of Clang! as the Samurai all dropped their weapons and ran off in different directions, seemingly shoving each other out of the way, trying to run from the shadows. All but one. Although he quickly realized the situation, and ran off with the others. Looking around, Ysran seemed to be on a mountain, or plateau of sorts. Somewhere rocky. "Well, that was fun. Maybe wait next time though. I don't want you dying on me. If you are going to run ahead, at least take Chuckles with you. When I decide to re-summon him, of course."

The Witch stared blankly at Code, seeming unimpressed. He likes to talk a lot, don't he? Cherry's eyebrow twitches in slight annoyance, she already tuning him out so that he sounded like an adult from Charlie Brown. The pink haired girl noticed the pony leap through the portal Code had pointed out. I didn't know we could just leave!! The Witch bolted into the portal, Ysran preceding her by a few seconds. Stupid tiny legs!!!

As she made it through, Cherry stumbled a bit and had to catch her balance. By the time she had regained that, she looked around to see they were on a mountain, and a stampede of samurai running for their lives from... a shadow.

The Witch glanced to her comrades, before frowning. Where was Broomy? He must have returned a while ago... Cherry went to the edge and looked down, eyes wide and curious. "Are... we in Japan?" Cherry smiled bright with excitement. "Its, where I'm from! Well, not me, but my character! I've always wanted to see it myself!!" The pink haired Witch seemed ecstatic, spinning around so her skirt flew around her legs. "Cmon, lets go, lets go!! I can't wait!!"

Rockin' smiled as he saw Ysran come through. At least he wouldn't have to fight alone. Or at all, apparently... Then Cherry jumped through after them. Rockin' smiled and nodded. "I recognize this place. We're in Feudal era Japan. I remember that from my human memories." He turned to look over the cliff. "It seems those weren't the only samurai that were chasing after the hero of this world. My memories of this game are hazy at best and blank at worst. All I remember is we have to follow them. It's probably best if we have the one who looks most human approach them while the rest of us follow from a distance." He looked back, seeing if everyone was through.

Once everyone was through, whether at that point or afterward, Rockin' would nod to them and look over the cliff edge. "The fast way is down this way. The safe way is the path to my right." He pointed to his right, as he was facing away from the group. "I'll meet you down there. Be ready to fight at a moment's notice." With that, Rockin' leaped off the cliff and spread his wings, spiraling down until he landed, following the trail of dead bodies.

Rawk was probably the only one that actually sat through Code's explanation, though he didn't mind. He was a man who believed in gathering intel first. However, he didn't even need to bother, as all he learned was.... well, he knew where they were going now. True, he hadn't played very far into the games, but still...

As Rawk meandered through the portal, he saw Ysran scare off the samurai. Rawk then walked up behind Cherry, hearing her question. "Yes, we are in Japan. It's the only place I know that has samurai. We should find the protagonist, like Rockin' said. I have a slightly better memory of these games. The Crucible should appear as one of the key items." Rawk said.

Story Quest: Working Forward
Goal: Meet up with the Protagonist
Rewards: 25 XP, 100 Dollars, 1 Crafting Item
Time: 4 hours

Do you accept?
Yes No

Rawk causually clicked 'Yes' and then looked around, noticing the path Rockin' pointed out. "Well, I guess we might wanna split up. Since Ysran and I can't fly, I guess that leaves us to the foot path. Cherry, I'd recommend going with Rockin'. If we split up this way, we can back each other up." Rawk then turned to Ysran. "I'm ready when you are. Just need to do one thing real quick. Status." He quickly allocated his status points, then looked over to Ysran. "Okay, ready to when you are."

Ysran nodded at Rawk's statement. But before that... Ysran walked over to where the Samurai were. Bending down, he picked up one of several Katanas that had been dropped. Standing up, he examined the sword. It was definitely sharp. And seemed sturdy enough. Well, as sturdy as a Katana could be. Ysran held the blade over his shoulder. "Hey Rawk, want one of these? A bladed weapon could be handy." He walked past Rawk and looked down, off the mountains. It was a long way down. He stepped towards the path down. It was pretty steep. A good few minutes had gone by without any problems, and remarkable progress down the mountain was made. But Ysran thought to himself, what game was this? Samurai, and feudal Japan. Well they certainly belonged together. But there were several games like that, so what could it be? Ninja Giaden? No, not enough platforming. Maybe... some low budget Naruto game? It was possible. Ysran was clueless. Guess he'd have to wait and see.

Cherry tilted her head back to look at Rawk. It was a good idea, but Broomy already returned to her spirit. Summoning him again was a hassle, or at least it would be after he returned on his own. Why'd he do that, anyway? Well she didn't really have much of a choice.

With a click of her fingers, the golden glimmer sparkled up again, but quicker than usual. The Witch turned to her broom curiously, eyes widening in awe. "Whoa! Broomy, did you get an upgrade?" The broom was noticeably smoother and with a heavier, stronger wood as its base. Even the band holding the bristles together seemed tougher and more classy, a small cherry blossom print on one corner. "No wonder you popped out that quickly! Let's go for a test drive, huh buddy?" Broomy seemed just as excited as his master as she hopped on, it lifting higher off the ground and zooming off besides Rockin' at a faster average speed than before.

"Woohoo, alright!! Hahaha!" Cherry shook her head in the wind, pigtails cutely flowing back behind her as they soared in the sky. Something felt off, though. She felt safer on Broomy, but, less powerful somehow? Well, it didn't matter now! This was awesome!

Rockin looked back at Cherry as he continued his gallop. "Keep your eyes open. We never know when the bad guys can jump out at us." Just as he finished saying that, though, 4 samurai jumped from the trees, ignoring their slain comrades, and attacked the stallion. Rockin' was quick to teleport into the air and spread his metal wings, allowing him to fly out of their reach. "Guess I should take my own advice," he chuckled, looking at Cherry. "Ready to fight?"

Without waiting for an answer, Rockin' dropped back down, landing on one enemy before bucking a second in the face. With two temporarily out of the fight, he focused his magic into a harmful beam that decimated one and cut the other in half. He then fell to the ground as the man he stood on awoke and rolled.

Rawk glanced back at Ysran as he picked up one of the swords. Rawk walked over, and examined the fallen equipment. "Observe." Rawk then studied the window that popped up with curiosity.

You do not have the proper skill to perform this action. Level up 'Observe' enough to learn the skill needed.
Rawk shook his head, putting his bat away into his inventory and wielding the katana, strapping the scabbard across his back.

You have equipped a Basic Katana!

Rawk then followed Ysran down the steep path down, keeping an eye out for any enemies that might seek to ambush them. Rawk was still thinking back on the issue he'd experienced with the sword. Did he need some sort of appraisal skill? That could be figured out later. For now... "Which Genji game do you think we're in? I know it's one of those games, since an amahagane stone is usually an important item in those games... I just don't know which one. I hope we get to meet Minamoto Yoshitsune!" Rawk then burst out. Historical battles and military leaders was a bit of a hidden passion of his. He loved strategy and tactics, and those that came up with them.

The Witch turned to face him, a little too late for his warning as she saw the pony be attacked by samurai. Broomy came to an abrupt stop in the air, almost flinging the little pink haired girl off. "Ah? These guys are everywhere!!"

She leaped off of the broomstick just as two samurai were viciously taken out. Geez, for a cute pony he sure was destructive. Remind her never to make him mad.

Cherry gave a cheeky smirk, getting ready as the two left began to stir. "Alright, my turn!" She raised her hand and threw it down towards the samurai, calling out the spell's name "Cherry bomb!"

Out of nowhere, cherry blossom petals flew in on a sudden gust of wind, collecting into tightly packed 'bombs.' In a volley they shot down at the samurai, exploding upon contact. Though it didn't seem as if it would cause much damage, the bombs had quite an impact, and the petals were sharp as shrapnel as they cut at the samurai's armor. Cherry gave a triumphant laugh. "Take that, ya bozos!" The samurai, never seeing bombs of any kind before this, covered their heads to duck for cover as they ran away from the attack.

"Genji Game? I'm afraid I haven't played any of those games, so I don't really know much about this place. Maybe I could Google some stuff?" Ysran lifted up the left side of his robes and revealed his blue jeans. He dug into his pockets. No cell phone. There was a long cylinder in there however. Pulling it out, Ysran produced a large Cuban cigar. "Huh. I don't remember Ysran having any of these left. He didn't develop a smoking habit. Huh." He put the cigar back into his pocket. He checked his other pocket. No cell phone. But there were several pointed objects inside. Pulling one out, it was revealed to be a bullet! "Nice!" He pulled out several more. He pulled his gun out of his holster and gave it a whirl. He quickly reloaded and re-holstered his gun. Only one thing."Wait. Ysran is from the 1970's. He doesn't have a cellphone. Damn." As the path continued, there was a large rock jutting akwardly out of the mountain. Coming closer, Ysran saw something quickly retreating behind it. It was long and thin. Likely one of the Samurai looking for revenge. Or possibly multiple. Ysran stopped dead in his tracks. Raising his right hand, he turned his head to Rawk. "You see that rock up there? I'm pretty sure there's someone or something is hiding behind it. We might want to prepare for a fight." Ysran silently pulled out his Machete and gun. "Get ready."

Rockin' nodded as he saw the samurai retreat. "I have a feeling there are more guys ahead. Since your broom seems to be as fast as I am, if not faster, Maybe you could fly ahead and tell us what you see while I wait here for the others."

If Cherry chose to fly ahead, she would find the path mostly littered with dead bodies until she hit a shallow lake. A lone samurai in white fought off a larger man wielding a spear of some sort and 3 other samurai. Helping the young man in white was a person of indistinguishable gender caught in a battle with 3 more samurai. Despite their smaller sword, they seemed to be doing better with their opponents than the man in white.

As Rawk and Ysran continued along the path, they would see more fallen soldiers as well as a handful of green healing herbs. Upon reaching Rockin', the pony would smile and nod. "We can't split up like that again. It's too dangerous. We may be able to hold our own but if the enemies suddenly get stronger, it's best we stick together."

The pink haired Witch blinked her wide eyes at the pony. Err... most of her powers were support based. If she got trapped, she wasn't sure if Cherry Bomb would cut it. Still, Cherry knew it was the best option, since Broomy was indeed a bit faster than Rockin', and could most likely maneuver a little quicker as well.

Hiding her worry with a cheeky grin from ear to ear, Cherry gave the pony a thumbs up. "You got it, captain!" The Witch hopped back onto the broom, which quickly zipped off further ahead. She was just scouting ahead... Nothing could really go that wrong, could it?

As she flew over the silent dead bodies, Cherry gave a shudder. No... this wasn't how she imagined her home at all! She quickly tried to ignore it, moving faster along the path until she heard fighting up ahead. Slowing down, Cherry and Broomy caught a glimpse of the fight. The man in white seemed in trouble! The girl knew she should probably return and tell the group, but...

"Enhance Defense!"

Under the man in white, a pink glyph would appear with cryptic writing, in the center what appeared to be an image of a shield. The young man would suddenly feel less damaged by the blows landed on him by the samurai, as if he had another layer of protective armor over his skin.

"Enhance Attack!"

Under the androgynous fighter appeared another glowing pink glyph, but in place of a shield their was an image of a sword. The fighter's hits had a heavier impact behind them, ignoring the samurai's armor almost completely. However, the defense upgrade the man in white has seemed to be somewhat weakened, now that half of the power had been allocated to his fighting partner.

When the fight ended, the glyphs would fade into pink sakura petals, that too would vanish into thin air. Cherry would be panting, doubled over to catch her breath. "Ow... too much magic used, echh." The Witch rubbed her temples, blinking open her eyes to look at the two fighters. "Ah, sorry to intrude! You, just, uh, looked like you needed help, heh..." A sweat drop would appear on her forehead as she sheepishly scratched the back of her head. They wouldn't kill her, would they? Maybe she should have gotten help first.

Rawk looked over to where Ysran pointed. There could certainly be something behind the rock. Rawk smirked. If there was something behind that rock, then he had a way to deal with it. Rawk inched forward, until he was on the other side of the rock. "Mana Arrow." he whispered. The arrow appeared near Rawk's right shoulder, who directed it to point down and positioned it on the other side of the rock. He then let it fly, only to hear someone scream out in pain. Rawk smirked, hiding behind the rock and waited for any of their foes to come out of hiding. Eventually, one of the samurai did come out, as did three more. Rawk quickly struck the injured one down with his sword, and then turned to the other one. "You got the other two?" he shouted back to Ysran.

You feel like you're in danger.

Rawk ducked at the moment that pop-up box appeared, and that action kept his head attached to his shoulders. Rawk spun around, going into a spin."Power Strike!" Rawk's blow cut deeply into the samurai, wounding him. He backed away from Rawk, and the Gamer took the opportunity to strike out and finish his foe.

You have defeated the samurai!
You gained 30 XP!
You gained 15 Dollars!
You got 2 Healing Herbs!

After their foes were defeated, Rawk continued down the path, managing to pick up some more herbs along the way, although none of the bodies contained any useful loot. Eventually, Rawk saw Rockin' in the distance. As he approached, Rockin' mentioned that they needed to try and stay together. Rawk nodded. He'd only gotten away from their previous encounter unscathed thanks to his Gamer's Mind and Sense Danger skills.

You have gained 5 Healing Herbs!