[IC] Deep Ground Online: War of Strangers

[drewccapp]

Solitary Watcher raised his eyebrows at the newcomer. There was a lot of energy in this one, and she certainly didn't beat around the bush. Watcher knew exactly what this was: a war recruitment. All sides needed bodies to fight for them. The passion coming from Stuffed Rabbit though was quite entrancing though. "I dunno." He spoke hesitantly. "I'm not sure if the Harleys are right for me."

The new kings put in a lot of variables that Watcher wasn't entirely comfortable with. Then again, he still wasn't entirely comfortable with his personal goal of joining a guild. Playing solo was something he knew; something he understood. Could he be a team player? He sighed. "Sorry, that was rude. Things have changed. I'm too used to solo play." Now he felt like he was just making excuses.

He scratched the back of his head. "Well, I guess I am at that point where I really should join a guild. I don't think I'll get much farther solo." He had done fantastically taking out aggressive npcs and outsmarting player killers all by himself, but a lot of that was due to his skill kit and his range. He knew how to use it effectively though. He gave her a serious look. "So, what makes your guild stick out from all the others?" He wasn't going to just jump into any old guild on a whim. His decision would be made based off of knowledge and how well they could 'sell' their guild.

[Damiann47]

Richard Ryner

Richard was running at full speed down the hallways frantically trying to remember where the auditorium is. He had no idea how it happened but his alarm didn't go off that morning, no matter how advanced technology has gotten there was always the human error of somehow literately sleeping through an alarm. By the time he got to the auditorium it was already empty, save maybe for a few students still hanging around. Richard least to say was disappointment, the announcement should have been pretty interesting, partly since he heard it had to do with the kings' deaths. He walked up to one of the remaining people left in the room, Richard had no idea who he was for all he knew the guy was just some background character.

Richard wanted to know what happened so he asked, "Hey there, so uh kinda missed the news, could you maybe tell me what happened?"

The other guy just looked at Richard as if he lives under a rock, which made sense since he did miss some of what could have been earth shattering news. "The Black King declared war on everyone else, I mean the Ebony Strikers have even allied with the Sweepers. Don't know about you but that's some pretty bad news." With a shake of his head the guy pushed past Richard. Well earth shattering was right, he didn't expect everything to escalate this quickly where full out war was declared. Maybe more then ever it was important to find a guild, Richard had a feeling that even solo players were going to be affected by all this. He had no reason to stay in the auditorium, seems the trip was wasted effort, with a sigh Richard decided to go home. He opened the door into his room, as usual he didn't have anything planned so a quick jump into DGO seemed nice.

Enduring Survivor

Survivor shook his body around, it always felt weird when first logging in, he wasn't sure if this was a common problem or just him. He pulled his rifle over from his shoulder, the weight felt familiar after all he has been using this one gun for a while now had plenty of sentimental value to it, although while Survivor didn't want to admit that he had to replace it soon the rifle was just becoming too outdated. Survivor shouldered the gun bringing the strap over his head, he took a quick look around trying to get his bearings. After a few moments Survivor started to make his way to one of his favorite spots, typically it didn't have too many people which make it a great place for some practice. As he got closer to the spot he noticed that unlike usual there seemed to be a few people here, a level 1, a level 5 and a level 9 surprisingly enough. The meeting just seemed odd with the difference in level between the players, but Survivor decided to ignore them for now it wasn't really his business to get involved after all.

He jumped down to an alley nearby, he found this place quite sometime ago back in his first year playing. The alley was filled with rubble making it quite difficult to navigate but also made a great improvised firing range with all the targets scattered around. Survivor took his rifle in hand and crouched down giving him a stable firing position, he as done this so many times that it seemed like second nature at this point. One could also point out that this exercise was a waste of time, but Survivor like to at least practice once a week, he had to rely on his marksman skills more then other gunners or even armsmen so he liked to keep them sharp. After taking a few seconds to line up his first target, a small rock balancing on a pillar, he took his shot firing a short controlled burst. He then switched targets after knocking the rock off, again he fired a short burst. This continued for a while, Survivor was focusing on both speed and accuracy, so far doing pretty well and hasn't missed once yet.

[MaskedHeroZ]

Richie Barret
Rage.

Rage was the best possible term to describe how Richie felt as he left the auditorium. The gall of that woman, she really declared not only an alliance, but an outright war. All during a eulogy for the dead to boot. It just made his blood boil, which wasn't uncommon for him, but it usually wasn't at this magnitude. As he stalked the halls back to his dorm room, a thought struck him. His guild, his people, were in more danger now than when this was just a battle over turf.

As he locked himself away in his small room, he decided he would need to get the word out, higher level members were to help safe guard the more inexperienced. He wasn't going to let the Black King stop their pursuit of a better future, even if she had those damn Sweepers on her side. He would crush them as well, especially after what was done to the Ivory Masks in their leaderless state.

As he started to write out the message, he noticed he had been invited into a kings only message. An apparent truce between them all to take down Moon Rider. Of course he joined, while not exactly his friends, no one deserved to be besieged by a power hungry King. When that was all said and done, he made sure to announce the guard-watch system that was to be put in place by all White Guild members. Stay in packs of three or more, make sure there was always someone above level five within hearing distance, and never go near her territory.

He knew they would follow it to the letter and they had more than enough experience between them all to take care of themselves, yet he couldn't help but feel uneasy. He had just joined into an alliance with the other Kings, that meant, well that meant he should probably help protect them too. They were after all part of a team now.

Making sure his door was locked and it was going to stay that way, Richie took a deep breath before diving into DGO.

Stalwart Bruiser-White King

He exhaled as he found himself in the White Guild Hall, clenching his fists as he was wont to do. It was different here for him, instead of bones cracking, armor and plating gnashed with each movement. The few members who had logged on stared at him, as if expecting him to say something. He only gave a nod of his head, the usual signal for them to go about their business.

As he made his way over to the guild entrance, he did give them a shout. "Make sure you stay in groups! I'll beat you down myself if you try to go Rambo on me!"

With that complete, he started to figure out which of his new comrades to check on first. Obviously Blue and Orange would be last, as they seemed the stablest out of the others, Red probably had matters taken care of, being the first to propose the alliance. That left Yellow and Green to start with. And seeing as he was already going that way, Tender Fern was about to see how the Ivory Masks take care of their teammates.

[Arrayah]

Tender Fern had called a meeting for the 30 odd members of the Fanged Rangers. Not all had arrived yet, but she couldn't wait any longer. It was time.

"As you all have heard, the Black King has declared war on all of us, not just the Rangers, and even has the Sweepers on her side. We need to be careful, even more so than we have been these past few weeks. Do not go anywhere alone. Try to stay in our territory and defend it as best you can. Don't be afraid to ask others for help.

"But more importantly, do not try to fight any other colored guilds. You should already know better than to do that, but as of today it has been decided that all of us: Red, Blue, Yellow, Orange, White, and Green will ally against Black to insure our mutual survival. More importantly, it will allow us to defeat Moon Rider for good!"

Here there was a cheer throughout the hall. The Fanged Rangers didn't want to fight, but they also didn't like the way the Strykers were taking advantage of the Sweepers to ultimately cause chaos in D.G.O. Taking her down would mean the safety of the Green territory as well as the end of her so-called control over the game. It didn't help that some of the Rangers had defected to Black leaving the guild members wanting revenge.

Just as Fern was about to continue, another young panicked guild member burst through the large doors. This was becoming a regular thing, apparently.

"They're coming!" She screamed, obviously terrified.

Another, older boy, ran in behind her, his voice just as loud as hers. "They have some kind of crazy war truck! They're headed right for us!"

Now, Fern didn't know exactly what was happening, and these two hadn't described much, but there was one thing she was certain of: Someone was coming to destroy the guild. It didn't much matter who it was, more how many, which thankfully, the girl answered next.

"There's too many. I don't think we can defend against them!"

Okay. Okay. Fern needed to get a hold of the Rangers and quickly before they all started to panic. Quietly, thinking, she pulled her scarf tighter around her face. It was a good thing that she was practically covered head to toe. Otherwise, her own terror could have been seen. They didn't have enough guild members to defend against a full blown attack, but what else could she do? Let whoever was coming just take her territory? Her guild hall? That would be just like giving up, and that was something she just couldn't do. She loved this place too much.

"There are never too many!" The dull roar that was getting louder by the second quieted when she began to speak again. "We are a family, and this is our home! Are we going to allow these people to take it from us?"

Silence followed for a moment before the young girl who had brought the news first said, "But -"

Tender Fern cut her off. "No buts. Now, are we going to allow these people to take our home from us?!"

Finally, she got the answer she wanted. A loud, "No!" echoed throughout the hall, and she smiled, despite the fact that she may or may not be leading them into an impossible battle.

"That's right! We aren't! And why aren't we? Because we're-"

"THE FANGED RANGERS!"

And then they were charging towards the army of vehicles, Tender Fern following with her staff.

[Lucius Cypher]

Donny Kain / Arms Slave

"Ah, here they come! Good! Saves us the trouble of having to find them!"

Arms Slave speak over the radio. His Mayhem Riders hollered at the notion that the Fanged Rangers, who were massively outnumbered by the Mayhem Rider's Vehicles alone not including the groups being carried inside, would come to meet them directly. Arms Slave even saw their guild leader leading the charge! "Alright lads, we're about to get some crunchies coming! Watch out for any of their tanks or heavy hitters, no doubt they have some plans to intercept out charge. With the prez announcing total war, I got no doubts that we might see some other colors while we're here. Otherwise, give them hell!" Arms Slave laughed manically as he disengaged from the front of the charge, firing shots from his main cannon at the bulk of the Fanged Rangers who came out to meet them. The other Mayhem Riders did the same, sending a wall of explosives, bullets, magical energy, and any other long ranged ordinance at the Fanged Rangers. Gunns sat outside or used gun ports to fire their weapons at whatever wasn't an Ebon Styker, and even vehicles that lacked much range options out weighted most of their occupants, turning them into an unstoppable ballistic missile. These hard-hitting, fast moving war machines than took the lead. They would run over any ground force first while the artillery soften up the Fanged Rangers.

"Kill Dozer, Iron Maiden, with me! We're taking their guild hall while the main forces is busy at the front! Sky Eye, Lightning Bruiser, Ebony Golem, watch the perimeter and keep us an eye out for reinforcements! Respond ASAP as soon as you see anyone that ain't black or green! 'ERE WE GO 'ERE WE GO 'ERE WE GO!" Arms Slave and two other war machines, driven by Kill Dozer and Iron Maiden while also carrying at least ten other players (With Arms Slaves own max of ten, making a total of thirty players), charged for the Fanged Rangers Guild Hall. They began to fire their weapons indiscriminately even if they did not have any visual on the enemy. But that wasn't the only thing he did. Arms Slave than opened up communications to the Fanged Rangers.

"FANGED RANGERS! This is Arms Slave, leader of the Mayhem Riders and a war boss for the Ebon Stykers! This isn't even a fraction of what the Ebon Stykers are capable of! I know that your guild is weak, and that it won't be a problem for us to crush you right here, right now. You can hide behind your walls or pray for the other guilds to save you, but the only ones who can save your from the Ebon Stykers is ME! So listen up Tender Fern! I'm coming to your guild hall with a reasonable offer; merge with the Ebon Stykers or will kill you all. You have until I get there to decide! Muwa ha ha ha ha!"

[Scarifar]

Michelle - Shooting Star-Yellow King
Michelle sighed. That was certainly an interesting chat. Now that the alliance against Black King was set, Michelle decided to log into DGP and see how her guild was doing. She closed her eyes, then felt herself logging in.

Welcome, Shooting Star-Yellow King

She found herself back in the Yellow Guild Hall, noting that her three advisers were already there. "Good afternoon, gentlemen," Shooting Star greeted them. "Before I make any announcements, I would like to know if we have any news."

"Nothing of significance," the level 7 Wizard, Arcane Force, said. "aside from the Black King claiming to have an alliance with the Sweepers, but I believe you already knew that."

"And that kind of news is absolutely terrible!" the level 8 Shinobi, Silent Enigma, exclaimed. "Who knows what kind of havoc such a duo could cause! We may have held our territory well enough, but-"

"I thought we told you to stop yelling. Jesus," the level 7 Tank, Stone Brick, interrupted.

Enigma turned and glared at Brick, replying, "I am aware of that, but clearly my 'yelling' is well founded. The Sweepers possess plenty of power, and we have only held our territory by close calls. Even that was only without the Black King herself walking up to us."

"We've heard this so many times now, it's starting to get dull," Brick muttered. Enigma glared at him more fiercely and said, "With due cause! I-"

"Are we here to deliver news, or are we here to argue?" Shooting Star said, adding an edge to her tone of voice to imply that she meant business.

Enigma flushed red and lowered his head. "My apologies," he said shamefully.

"Other than the aforementioned alliance, there is nothing to report today, as usual," Force said dismissively.

"Very well," Shooting Star said, nodding. "Now, I'd like to make one announcement. I have spoken with the other Kings, and-"

"You did what???!!" Enigma exclaimed, lifting his head and showing his expression of shock. Michelle cleared her throat in annoyance, glaring at Enigma, who lowered his head back down. "I apologize. Please continue," he said.

Shooting Star sighed, then continued on. "As I was saying, all the Kings, excluding Black, have decided to form an alliance against our new threat. The other guilds are to be treated as friends, not as enemies."

Her three advisors all looked at her in shock, then looked thoughtful. Before they could say anything, though, a messenger came bursting through the door Shooting Star and her advisers were in. "I have urgent news! A group of players from the Ebony Strykers have begun to launch an assault on the Green Kingdom!" the messenger announced. "Judging from the size of the attack, the Green Guild may not survive!"

Michelle was quick to react. She stood up from her chair and said, "I'm going. Advisers, I leave the guild to you." Before they could respond, she zoomed out of the Guild Hall and towards the Green Kingdom. With her Shukuchi skill, she would get there in very little time, but only time would tell whether or not she would get there in time at all.

[Psyker Landshark]

Sam Jensen: Gleeful Jackal - Blue King

"Well," Sam muttered under his breath as he left the auditorium alongside the rest of his peers. "That happened."

In hindsight, he should have seen this coming. Considering how much the Ebon Strykers were pressuring all of the other colored guilds, including his own, it would make sense for Moon Rider to outright declare war against them all. Considering his guild was one of the few to actually hold back the Ebon Strykers with minimal losses over the past month, he wouldn't even have been concerned. That is, if it weren't for the fact that apparently Black was allied with the Sweepers now. How the hell did she even get a bunch of guildless, tryhard solo players to ally with her? If anything else, this at least effectively doubled the Ebon Strykers' fighting strength, given how many people actually called themselves Sweepers.

Honestly, this would be a terrible situation for the Cobalt Bruisers if it weren't for the fact that most of the other guilds were faring worse, due to the fact that they'd spent a month fighting amongst each other to appoint new Kings. Hell, despite the Bruisers' relative lack of casualties, they'd still had a hell of a time pushing the Strykers back. And it wasn't like either of their respective Kings could even the odds, either. Gleeful Jackal had spent the entire duration of the invasion fighting Moon Rider toe-to-toe. They'd both been evenly matched, but neither had revealed much of their skills to each other, relying mainly on autoattacks. In the end, only the servers going down for scheduled maintenance had managed to separate the two Kings from their duel. Thankfully, Sam had remembered to record the battle, like he did whenever he went up against anyone notable. The footage had gone up on Youtube, and the Bruisers came away looking all the better with it, being one of the only guilds capable of holding back both the Strykers and Moon Rider herself.

When Sam returned to his dorm, the first thing he noticed was that he'd gotten a private message from the Red King. Hoping that this one wasn't as psychotic as Ariel had been, Sam opened the message, and was pleasantly surprised. An alliance between all six of the colored guilds against the Black King and the Sweepers? Absolutely fucking based. With this, they should probably have enough manpower to hold Moon Rider and her lackeys back, weak as most of the guilds were at the moment. Grinning, Sam sent his agreement to the alliance and proceeded to log into Deep Ground right after. Closing his eyes, he proceeded to link into Deep Ground.

DeepGround.exe LOADED
Welcome: Gleeful Jackal - Blue King.

Gleeful Jackal spawned slouching back in the Blue King's throne, bringing the guild hall to a halt when they saw their leader arrive. Standing up, the Blue King spread his hands out, grinning.

"Alright, so I take it we've all heard the news? Blackie's allied her guild with the Sweepers. Yeah, those edgy assholes. What are we going to do, you ask? Well, problem's already solved. All six remaining guilds are entering an alliance to kick the Ebon Strykers' shit in. So as of this moment, attacking members of any other colored guild is banned until either the alliance falls through or we take down Moon Rider and her little white knights. Anyways, the plan stays the same." Gleeful Jackal started walking towards the entrance of the guild hall, grinning maliciously. "From this moment, it's total war against the Strykers. All squads group up, gear up, and get ready to move out into Black's territory. The plan's still in effect. Guerilla teams, you know what targets to hit. Get in, steal everything that's not nailed down, explode what you can't steal, and get out. Combat squads, you're going headhunting. If they're Strykers, waste them. If they're unaligned, they're probably Sweepers. Teabag their corpses after you're done with them. If they're a colored guild, link up and start killing shit together. Just remember you've only got an hour before you get the hell out and get back here. Any longer and you'll probably get boxed into enemy territory. Now get out there and start killing shit, guys." He finished to cheers from the Bruisers. Finally, they could take the offensive back against the Strykers. If the Cobalt Strykers loved anything, it was a good scrap, and all-out war was even sweeter. The various guild members began to disperse, leaving the Blue King to walk out of the guild hall on his lonesome.

"Boss!" A Cobalt Sniper serving as a scout came rushing towards him atop a pegasus mount, leaping off as soon as she was in range of her King. "The Strykers are massing near the Rangers' guild hall! There's too god damn many of them, and they brought a shitton of artillery and vehicles too!"

"...Welp. The Rangers are weak enough as it is. Probably going to need help holding back a full-scale assault." Gleeful Jackal frowned. "And I just sent out all our guys to hit Black. We can't miss the opening that gives us either. Alright, here's what's we'll do. You get to your squad, and I'll go deal with this myself. Good work, pal." As the Sniper nodded and ran off, the Blue King drew his grappling hooks and took off for the Green King's territory.

___

Ten minutes later, Gleeful Jackal crouched atop a building overlooking the battlefield that was the Fanged Rangers' guild hall. Jackal whistled at the carnage of the scene before him, even though the battle had just begun. The Ebon Strykers had gone all out and brought quite a large portion of the previous White King's stolen arsenal with them. With that amount of firepower behind them, the Rangers wouldn't last long. Time to even the odds a bit.

Drawing his knives, Gleeful Jackal descended upon the Strykers' artillery like a wraith, efficiently getting stealth kill after stealth kill on the whooping, overexcited artillerymen in the back line. Momentary flickers of blue flashed across portions of the Ebon Strykers' artillery line before each section went silent in turn, ceasing to fire entirely.

The Blue King had come to play.

[RoflsMazoy]

Reiko, Princess Rainbow

This is long, + Taro

Reiko sped through the faded city. Her ability was handy for this, it allowed her to run up walls and over water at a very high speed. There was also the rainbow trail. She loved rainbows. She liked how her avatar was a beautiful rainbow colour, and she wished she could make her room in real life rainbow as well, but her parents probably wouldn’t approve.

Anyhow, she was looking for Taro now. She was sure he was somewhere around, she had found a player that had been shooting at him and promptly ran him through with her magic rainbow unicorn horn before losing sight of him as he ran away. She had to wait for her skill to cooldown before she could chase him though.

She scanned the nearby surroundings for any sign of Taro, before hearing a small explosion in the distance. It sounded like a fairly low level mine, but Taro was also a really low-level player. She quickly activated her Rainbow Rush and sped towards the sound of the explosion.

She rounded the corner of a building and found…

A large scorch mark but no sign of Taro. She deactivated her ability to let it recharge faster.

Phew. She thought, relieved. He didn’t die from that. But where is he?

She decided to look in the immediate vicinity, when she started to hear someone talking. She quickly reactivated her ability and dashed around another corner to find…

An exceptionally cute sniper girl which she would remember for later, some other random sniper guy and most importantly of all, Taro, about 100 meters away.

“There you are!” She shouted, running towards him. “I finally found you!”

---

“Hey.” Sten said, surprising Taro.

“Huh?!” Taro said, whipping around, his arms coming out from under him due to the sudden activity.

Support gone, he fell to the ground, head smacking on a rock inconveniently placed behind his head. Taro had wondered some time ago, whether or not you could stub your toe or something like that in deep ground, and whether it hurt or not. And boy did it hurt.

It didn’t do much health damage, maybe 1, but it was like the mother of all toe stubbings. On his head.

“Ow!” He said, grabbing his head in pain. He sat up and whipped his head around, looking at the speaker’s stats.

His quick look revealed a level 5 sniper named Solitary Watcher, leaning onto a wall.

“Rough day, huh.” He said.

Taro was immediately embarrassed. What kind of player took damage from his head falling onto a rock? Taro swore that the developers gave him magnified damage or something.

Damage aside, Taro was also suspicious. What was a level 5 sniper doing talking to him? He probably wasn’t planning to kill him because if he was, he could have just sniped him. And furthermore, he was a higher level than he had ever seen. To a level 1 who was bad at the game like Taro, a level 5 player was like an unreachable and unsurmountable wall, a far off dream for people to aspire to. Though he could guess why Solitary Watcher had called out to him.

One of the unfortunate side effects of having no deaths (and by extension, no kills), was that Taro was unexpectedly popular. This popularity usually took the form of people trying to hunt him down. Sometimes, though, sometimes people just talked to him out of the blue. That said, he wasn’t good at conversations.

“Um…” Taro said awkwardly.

Truth be told, he hadn’t had friends since his childhood friend left during the middle of primary school. He was too cowardly to make any friends and barely anyone had talked to him. He was elated when he finally made a friend early during his transfer. That said, he had no idea who she was in game, or if she had the game, and he would probably appreciate her help playing the game.

“Hello there!” A foreign voice called out. Taro whirled around towards the direction of the voice. His eyes revealed someone who was… well, the only word for it was moe. A small girl, with bouncy red hair and big eyes who was unbelievably adorable. That said, a massive sniper rifle adorned her back. And Taro wasn’t exactly any taller and he was suspicious of strangers.

“Nice bounce there, rookie.” She giggled. Taro was embarrassed. The sudden entrance took him by surprise, but judging by the way she talked, she must have been a serious player. He took a look at her character info and was shocked at what he saw. Level 9?!?! If level 5 was a distant dream, Level 9 was beyond his wildest dreams. Stuffed Rabbit, Level 9 sniper and… Red King?!!? What was the red king doing talking with someone like Taro?

Taro had been a little out of loop because of his sudden transfer 2 weeks ago. Looks like something big happened a month ago, the deaths of the 4 kings in real life. That’d been enough to scare off a lot of people, but it hadn’t deterred Taro. That said, the situation in Deep ground wasn’t the best for noobs and it was all he could do to avoid big groups and being killed. The end of the president’s speech earlier today just made it sound worse. With tensions running high, what did the red king want with Taro? A level 1 with no kills? This question was quickly answered.

“I couldn’t help but notice that you don’t have a guild… that’s a shame. But! Lucky for you, there’s one recruiting right now! The crimson Harleys! There’s no better place for you in the days ahead, it’s going to be full-blown war soon, so you might as well join now and we can get you up and swinging in no time! Hehe!” She said, getting to the point.

That surprised Taro more than anything. Pretty much everyone knew that he was almost the newest player. He’d picked up the game 2 weeks ago and spent the majority of the week running from every fight. This much he was pretty sure they also knew, it’d been spread around and a lot of people wanted to kill him just to kill the hardest-to-kill level 1 ever. And the red guild wanted to recruit him? Taro should’ve accepted her offer right there and then. But something held him back. Maybe it was the fact that not many had shown kindness to him and her words were a little hard to believe. As a 13 year old, he was still wary of strangers and the offer seemed to be too good to be true. But even if it was true, he wasn’t sure he wanted it.

If anything, Taro was confused as to why she wanted to recruit him, and why he was reluctant to accept.

“So, How about it?” The Red King said, holding her hand out and snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Uh…” He said, confused.

The red guild was fairly noob friendly, he’d heard, mostly due to their leader. But he didn’t know what he wanted. It’d be best to join a guild, but he didn’t know if the Scarlet Harleys were the right guild. And he didn’t even know he wanted to. He wasn’t sure why. His indecision was one of his worst vices and it gripped him firmly. There was only one way to fix it and it was coming. Coming fast. In rainbow colours.

---

“Finally!” She exclaimed, skidding to a halt in front of him. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

---

"What?" Taro said, turning around and becoming even more confused. A rain bow coloured unicorn princess appeared. Though her voice sounded familiar.

---

He looked slightly scorched, probably from the explosion earlier, and he looked very confused. There was also some other random sniper guy and a very cute girl who was also there. She was really small, just the right size for hugging but she had more pressing matters to attend to.

“You’re hurt,” She noted, “Let me fix that.”

Her second skill was mainly a healing skill, a very good healing skill in fact but it was a little strange and she hadn’t shown it to Taro yet but there was always a first time for everything. She started to cast her second skill.

Liquid welled up from inside her throat, but it felt surprisingly pleasant. Pressure building up in her mouth, she opened it slightly and directed it towards Taro.

”RAAAAAAIIIIIINBOOOOOOW” An unknown deep voice said. A jet of glowing, rejuvenating liquid jetted out like a fire hose from her mouth directly onto Taro’s face. The liquid quickly pooled at his feet and Taro started to glow in rainbow colours as the healing started to take effect.

She didn’t really know why that random voice always said the skill’s name whenever she used it, it always came out of nowhere and had no discernible source.

"Ah! What the heck?!" Taro said in surprise as the rainbow hit his body.

Random voice aside, she turned her attention back onto Taro. He was now back onto full health, and even more confused than before.

“C’mon,” She said to him, ignoring the other two. “We’ve got an appointment with the Green King!”

"Hey, wait a min-"

With that, she picked him up off of the ground, threw him over her shoulder, activated her Rainbow Rush and ran straight up the next building and went off to the Fanged Rangers.

[Lord Santa]

Albus was tired. Not physically tired, mentally. So goddamn tired. He got into his dorm room, went in and shut the door, locking it behind him.

When his parents had called him back overseas for a little while, he didn’t think they’d keep him busy enough to not go on deep ground. Hell, was it busy. There was barely enough time to eat, schedules packed with meetings and parties. Meeting new people, signing more business deals, doing his father’s job when his father was perfectly capable of doing it himself. Some family crisis. He’d transferred to purple crown academy just to get out of that lifestyle and he was forced back into again. Even worse, without enough time to blow off steam, his frustration had built up.
He never showed it publically, though. One must keep up appearances. That was the reason he came back, after all. On the surface, he was attending the speech and memorial service for the 4 dead kings. If one looked deeper into it, one would believe he was there to investigate the cause of their deaths. And of course he would do it. Maybe. If it was interesting. Because if one looked into his reasons for coming back far too deeply, they would find the truth. Albus Phantom, son of the president of Millionaire Phantom industries, was sick of that shit. Again.
Every day a new annoyance and he’d been forced to make friends with people that annoyed him more than anything. And now he was back. The truth was, Albus was a genius in the business world, and that was boring. The business world was boring. Deep Ground was fun; that was why he played. And if the president’s speech was to be trusted, it was about to get a whole lot funner.
The school president, after finishing a generic condolence speech, had announced the black king’s intentions to achieve supremacy, detailing an alliance between the sweepers and the Ebony Strykers and promising death to all those who stood in their path. At that point in the speech, even though Albus appeared attentive, his mind was fixed fishing in the forums for credibility. What he found shocked him somewhat.

It had all begun when the black king announced free recruiting for the Ebony Strykers. This alone caused a massive stir, but dissolutions appeared in 3 separate guild halls and the DGP went down for a day. The morning afterwards, the 4 kings died. This was looking to be a whole lot funner than he thought it would be.

During the speech, he was studying the President. To the casual observer, she was calm and composed. Her announcement for the black king seemed to be on a note of victory, a death threat. However, Albus saw through that. He’d been long taught by his father how to detect signs of weakness. Her eyes were strong and her body language betrayed nothing, but he could see that the strength in her eyes was a defence, to hide what hid beneath. He also detected minute trembling in her hands when she spoke of the deaths of the kings. She seemed to be feeling a lot more pain than she showed and her job as the school president would’ve made the incident hit harder. Not that Albus cared at all.

He didn’t care about the president’s feelings, or anyone’s feelings for that matter. All he wanted to do was have fun. He didn’t care that his father’s business was losing money because of the incident. He had enough kills to ensure an extremely comfortable life. He didn’t care that players left deep ground because of the murders. He didn’t care about the power vacuum left by the kings only to be filled by fresh ‘kings’. He was Albus Phantom and he was back on Deep Ground.

Welcome, Carnage Liberated

The falling sensation of logging in, the cool rush of air as his body transformed. The familiar weight of his massive great swords and the air temperature change as his sense switched from real life to in game. He opened his eyes and beheld the partially ruined Faded city, pulse excited. He took a deep breath of virtual air, closing his eyes and settling his beating heart. His eyes suddenly snapped open and he let out a yell of enthusiasm, a war cry. His muscles were aching with action.

The massive cry drew the attention of a group of people coming out from the direction of what Albus remembered as the Fang Ranger’s base. Albus scanned them quickly. 2 level 6’s and a level 7. A tank, a warlock and a sniper. The perfect cannon fodder. Albus walked slowly towards them, drawing a great sword from his back and letting it rest nonchalantly on his shoulder. His pose, his steps, his mask – everything balanced to dare his opponents to attack him. The victims talked amongst themselves, debating whether or not to attack. His eyes danced with fun. He was putting pressure on them. The group disbanded, they had made a decision. They split off, the tank running towards Albus, the Sniper jumping to the side to find an opportune sniping spot and the warlock jumped back, no doubt preparing spells to bombard him. Albus stopped walking and smirked behind the mask. Perfect.

The fight began. The tank charged towards him, shield braced and sword in his other hand. The tank activated a charge, buckler racing to smash against Albus. Simple people were the ones he loved to kill. A well placed crippling throw shot out from Albus’s hands and lodged straight into the tank’s neck for a critical hit. The tank off balance, Albus activated his Extreme speed, closing the distance between them and launching a mighty chop towards the sword lodged in the tank’s neck. His sword slammed into his other sword’s hilt and the great sword went through the unfortunate player’s neck, severing his head and killing him instantly.

Albus grabbed his other sword, activating power up at the same time to power up his next attack. The warlock, shocked by the death of his friend, quickly began to power up one of his spells. Albus wouldn’t give him the time of day. Power up finished, he activated his leap smash and his double up abilities. Focused as he was, the warlock didn’t see Albus coming until it was too late. The last thing the warlock saw was Albus bringing his swords down on his face. Albus’s great swords tore through the warlock’s body, one hitting the warlock with 330% of Albus’s damage and leaving a bloody mess. He’d definitely feel that.

The last one was the level 7 sniper by the name Sky Eye, already taking a shot at Albus. He obviously thought that he had a range advantage. Albus loved it when they thought like that. Albus dodged the first shot, behind some rubble. He ran from behind it, dodging another shot. Shooting someone running straight towards you is a daunting experience, but the sniper was experienced. He readied his rifle for a headshot, staying calm in the daunting situation and preparing to kill. He fired for the head, a shot that would’ve killed any player. But Albus wasn’t just any player. Albus Activated extreme speed at the last second, dodging the eagle eye shot the sniper had used. He used the momentum to do another crippling throw, taking out the sniper’s legs. As the sniper cried out in pain, Albus leapt towards him and cut off one of his arms. It was over. Sky Eye fell back, backing up feebly to a wall.
‘This… This isn’t over.’ He coughed. ‘We’re the Ebony Strykers! We’ll get back to you one day, and we’ll tear your goddamn throat out!’
‘Then take a message back to your King, or whoever you suck up to.’ Albus said, mockingly. ‘I don’t care if you want to take over all the guilds or whatever, I don’t care if you kill all who oppose you. I’m not joining your guild and I don’t care if I'm in your way. If you want to kill me, though….’ Albus said, pacing around the downed sniper, picking up one of his great swords.
‘Come and get me.’ He said, slashing horizontally, neatly severing his head from his neck. The blood spilled onto his coat as he picked stood there, feeling refreshed. He let out an almost insane laugh, revelling in his regained freedom.

Gone from the business world, the dreary world full of backstabbing and double dealing. Gone from his duties and responsibilities. Gone from the façade he took as Albus Phantom, genius son of Phantom Corporation. In game, he was no longer Albus Phantom. He was Carnage. Carnage Liberated. And Carnage was back, ready to take on a new kind of business.

The sounds of battle drifted to Albus’s location. The distinct noise of gunfire, battlecries and various magics was a symphony to Albus.
‘Sounds like something fun is going on.’ Albus said to no one in particular, grinning. ‘Time to get to party.’

[Ryonara]

There was much more to Deep Ground than just a game, Smitten Kitten knew this much. And whatever it was, she also knew that Moon Rider had something to do with it. She didn't have any evidence of course, but she was there when the Ebon Stykers opened up. First the elusive guild begins to accept membership, than the game crashes, than there was that Corpse Collector character with her game-breaking abilities, the death of the Four Kings, and the sudden rise of power for the Ebon Stykers. This was all just too convenient to be coincidental. And to top it off, the Ebon Stykers were allied with not another colored guild, but the Sweepers. A loosely organized group of vigilantes, but Smitten Kitten thinks they're something much more sinister than that. Rumor had it that the Sweepers were actually a faction full of hackers who caused the shutdown of Deep Ground when the Black Guild first opened up. They also think that Corpse Collector was a renegade Sweeper that tried to take out Moon Rider one too many times. A lot of people think that the Sweepers killed the Guild Leaders and put their own people in power.

All of this was rumors of course, but nothing that Smitten Kitten dismissed. Any other player might have not cared, but this was just wrong. She felt that the Ebon Stykers were being way too aggressive to be doing this simply because it's a game. There was a bigger conspiracy involved, and Smitten Kitten was going to find out the truth. To that end, she began to pursue rumors of a strange phenomenon. A masked Avatar who possessed the ability to change his status from Player to Enemy NPC with presumably little to no effort. Apparently this person showed up during the battle with Corpse Collector, and even fought against a king, but again these were just rumors with very little evidence beyond word of mouth. But it was something that Smitten Kitten could look into, and she was. She didn't know where the masked avatar could be at, but she knew where to start; the last place she battled Corpse Collector.

The Black City was full of Ebon Styker Goons. Even after she saw a whole army of them drive out from their territory, she there was still enough around that she couldn't go walking through the streets without getting picked off. So she made good use of her Warp Runes to move her to positions she felt that no one would see her at until she reached the location where she last saw Corpse Collector, on the roof of some building. She remembered the ocean of Dissolutions that were here, Corpse Collector's crazy power, and how bizarre the entire situation was. "I have to find something fast before the Ebon guys find me here." Smitten Kitten began to look around the area for something that may tip her off to this mysterious masked avatar.

---

"Ug. I so don't want to fight against that blowhard."

White Death complained as she was lounging in the Ivory Mask HQ. It wasn't quite as lively after the coup, but at least they managed to get the old HQ back instead of having to make a new one. The news of the Black King allying with the Sweepers didn't really matter to White Death. "So a bunch of wannabe heroes decide to work with the bad guys. With all the guilds gunning for the Ebon Stykers, it doesn't matter what exclusive club joins them. They're as good as dead now." Other Ivory Masks members may have been getting ready to go fight the Ebon Stykers, but White Death had no personal quarrel with them, at least not one that would justify why she'd want to go find them and kill them. Sure it was a huge battle, but she didn't like big fights between armies. Too chaotic and they end too quickly once one side get's a good foothold. She'd prefer skirmishes between small raiding parties and sentries, where things are much more one-on-one. You could get killed by a random explosion in a big battle, but when it's 5 v 5 you know exactly what could kill you.

That being said, the White Death wanted to do something. She figured that if everyone was going to go fight over at the Green Guild's turf, she'd made her way over to the Black City to stir up trouble of her own. Besides that, there was some rumors she wanted to look into. Apparently that Corpse Collector incident started there and the Black City had a bunch of glitches that could reveal the secret of Deep Ground. It sounds like a load of crap, but it was certainly more interesting than "Fight the Ebon Stykers until they get bored and die". So off she went; on her motorbike White Death went towards the Black City. With any luck all that commotion over at the Green Guild will keep the EBon Stykers distracted from seeing her sneak into their city.

[MasterOfCheese]

Lord Santa said
Albus was tired. Not physically tired, mentally. So goddamn tired. He got into his dorm room, went in and shut the door, locking it behind him. When his parents had called him back overseas for a little while, he didn’t think they’d keep him busy enough to not go on deep ground. Hell, was it busy. There was barely enough time to eat, schedules packed with meetings and parties. Meeting new people, signing more business deals, doing his father’s job when his father was perfectly capable of doing it himself. Some family crisis. He’d transferred to purple crown academy just to get out of that lifestyle and he was forced back into again. Even worse, without enough time to blow off steam, his frustration had built up.He never showed it publically, though. One must keep up appearances. That was the reason he came back, after all. On the surface, he was attending the speech and memorial service for the 4 dead kings. If one looked deeper into it, one would believe he was there to investigate the cause of their deaths. And of course he would do it. Maybe. If it was interesting. Because if one looked into his reasons for coming back far too deeply, they would find the truth. Albus Phantom, son of the president of Millionaire Phantom industries, was sick of that shit. Again.Every day a new annoyance and he’d been forced to make friends with people that annoyed him more than anything. And now he was back. The truth was, Albus was a genius in the business world, and that was boring. The business world was boring. Deep Ground was fun; that was why he played. And if the president’s speech was to be trusted, it was about to get a whole lot funner.The school president, after finishing a generic condolence speech, had announced the black king’s intentions to achieve supremacy, detailing an alliance between the sweepers and the Ebony Strykers and promising death to all those who stood in their path. At that point in the speech, even though Albus appeared attentive, his mind was fixed fishing in the forums for credibility. What he found shocked him somewhat.It had all begun when the black king announced free recruiting for the Ebony Strykers. This alone caused a massive stir, but dissolutions appeared in 3 separate guild halls and the DGP went down for a day. The morning afterwards, the 4 kings died. This was looking to be a whole lot funner than he thought it would be.During the speech, he was studying the President. To the casual observer, she was calm and composed. Her announcement for the black king seemed to be on a note of victory, a death threat. However, Albus saw through that. He’d been long taught by his father how to detect signs of weakness. Her eyes were strong and her body language betrayed nothing, but he could see that the strength in her eyes was a defence, to hide what hid beneath. He also detected minute trembling in her hands when she spoke of the deaths of the kings. She seemed to be feeling a lot more pain than she showed and her job as the school president would’ve made the incident hit harder. Not that Albus cared at all.He didn’t care about the president’s feelings, or anyone’s feelings for that matter. All he wanted to do was have fun. He didn’t care that his father’s business was losing money because of the incident. He had enough kills to ensure an extremely comfortable life. He didn’t care that players left deep ground because of the murders. He didn’t care about the power vacuum left by the kings only to be filled by fresh ‘kings’. He was Albus Phantom and he was back on Deep Ground.The falling sensation of logging in, the cool rush of air as his body transformed. The familiar weight of his massive great swords and the air temperature change as his sense switched from real life to in game. He opened his eyes and beheld the partially ruined Faded city, pulse excited. He took a deep breath of virtual air, closing his eyes and settling his beating heart. His eyes suddenly snapped open and he let out a yell of enthusiasm, a war cry. His muscles were aching with action.The massive cry drew the attention of a group of people coming out from the direction of what Albus remembered as the Fang Ranger’s base. Albus scanned them quickly. 2 level 6’s and a level 7. A tank, a warlock and a sniper. The perfect cannon fodder. Albus walked slowly towards them, drawing a great sword from his back and letting it rest nonchalantly on his shoulder. His pose, his steps, his mask – everything balanced to dare his opponents to attack him. The victims talked amongst themselves, debating whether or not to attack. His eyes danced with fun. He was putting pressure on them. The group disbanded, they had made a decision. They split off, the tank running towards Albus, the Sniper jumping to the side to find an opportune sniping spot and the warlock jumped back, no doubt preparing spells to bombard him. Albus stopped walking and smirked behind the mask. Perfect.The fight began. The tank charged towards him, shield braced and sword in his other hand. The tank activated a charge, buckler racing to smash against Albus. Simple people were the ones he loved to kill. A well placed crippling throw shot out from Albus’s hands and lodged straight into the tank’s neck for a critical hit. The tank off balance, Albus activated his Extreme speed, closing the distance between them and launching a mighty chop towards the sword lodged in the tank’s neck. His sword slammed into his other sword’s hilt and the great sword went through the unfortunate player’s neck, severing his head and killing him instantly. Albus grabbed his other sword, activating power up at the same time to power up his next attack. The warlock, shocked by the death of his friend, quickly began to power up one of his spells. Albus wouldn’t give him the time of day. Power up finished, he activated his leap smash and his double up abilities. Focused as he was, the warlock didn’t see Albus coming until it was too late. The last thing the warlock saw was Albus bringing his swords down on his face. Albus’s great swords tore through the warlock’s body, one hitting the warlock with 330% of Albus’s damage and leaving a bloody mess. He’d definitely feel that. The last one was the level 7 sniper by the name , already taking a shot at Albus. He obviously thought that he had a range advantage. Albus loved it when they thought like that. Albus dodged the first shot, behind some rubble. He ran from behind it, dodging another shot. Shooting someone running straight towards you is a daunting experience, but the sniper was experienced. He readied his rifle for a headshot, staying calm in the daunting situation and preparing to kill. He fired for the head, a shot that would’ve killed any player. But Albus wasn’t just any player. Albus Activated extreme speed at the last second, dodging the eagle eye shot the sniper had used. He used the momentum to do another crippling throw, taking out the sniper’s legs. As the sniper cried out in pain, Albus leapt towards him and cut off one of his arms. It was over. Sky Eye fell back, backing up feebly to a wall.‘This… This isn’t over.’ He coughed. ‘We’re the Ebony Strykers! We’ll get back to you one day, and we’ll tear your goddamn throat out!’‘Then take a message back to your King, or whoever you suck up to.’ Albus said, mockingly. ‘I don’t care if you want to take over all the guilds or whatever, I don’t care if you kill all who oppose you. I’m not joining your guild and I don’t care if I'm in your way. If you want to kill me, though….’ Albus said, pacing around the downed sniper, picking up one of his great swords. ‘Come and get me.’ He said, slashing horizontally, neatly severing his head from his neck. The blood spilled onto his coat as he picked stood there, feeling refreshed. He let out an almost insane laugh, revelling in his regained freedom.Gone from the business world, the dreary world full of backstabbing and double dealing. Gone from his duties and responsibilities. Gone from the façade he took as Albus Phantom, genius son of Phantom Corporation. In game, he was no longer Albus Phantom. He was Carnage. Carnage Liberated. And Carnage was back, ready to take on a new kind of business.The sounds of battle drifted to Albus’s location. The distinct noise of gunfire, battlecries and various magics was a symphony to Albus.‘Sounds like something fun is going on.’ Albus said to no one in particular, grinning. ‘Time to party.’

[RoflsMazoy]

Keith, Eclipsed Tower

This is long

”Who do you answer to?” Keith demanded. He loosened his grip around the unfortunate player’s neck slightly so he could talk. ”Speak.” He said.

He was on top of a building in a part of the Green sector in the Faded City. He was well aware of the massive battle raging behind him in the distance, but first, he needed some answers.

”The Green King is doomed!” Ebony Golem said, ”You might’ve beaten me, but the Fanged Rangers will die today!”

He punched Ebony Golem in the gut with his other hand, a solid punch that lowered his already miniscule health.

”That’s not what I was asking for.” Keith said.

”We belong to the Mayhem Riders!” Ebony Golem answered.

”Why are you here?” Keith asked.

”We were told to guard the perimeter, and watch for reinforcements.” Ebony Golem answered. ”If anyone were to come to back up the Fanged Rangers, we were to tell Arms Slave so he could deal with them.”

Keith hesitated for a second, processing the information.

”Good enough.” Keith said finally.

He lifted his fist again and delivered a final punch straight through Ebony Golem’s chest. Ebony Golem dissolved into experience crystals, which Keith absorbed.

”That was tedious.” Keith said turning as he did so.

The roof behind him was a scene of destruction, there were several craters in the roof, many pillars had collapsed and there was also a large man-shaped hole where Ebony Golem had been, a by-product of his recent fight.

---

Minutes earlier…

A battle. Keith thought. He had seen a large convoy on its way to the Fanged Rangers, and now he could hear the distant sounds of large scale warfare. Of course, he had gone to find out the reason. Large scale battle never happened in Deep Ground, unless there really was a war happening. But there was now.

The Black King had officially declared war; perhaps that was the Black King’s forces assaulting the Fanged Rangers.

He was ascending a nearby building to gain a vantage point and to see the battle only to find some other players had as well, or maybe they were scouts of some description. He quickly scanned their levels, noting 2 level 4 sorcerers, a level 4 priest and a level 5 tank. The tank looked to be the strongest among them, a hulk of what looked like polished obsidian, it was obvious that he would be a challenge.

”It’s only one player!” Ebony Tower said, ”Crush him!”

With that, the brute charged, breaking several pillars with his massive girth.

”Vigilance III” Keith said as he activated his ability. Time slowed as his speed rose. He saw Ebony Golem, crushing the concrete under his feet with his massive steps, both sorcerers preparing their spells, and the priest standing by; preparing their healing magic. The priest would have to go first.

Dodging Ebony Golem’s rapid charge, he leapt upwards over his head, landing on his shoulders. Out of the corners of his eyes, he saw that one of the sorcerers was casting the first of many spells to come.

Not today. As Keith leapt off of Ebony Golem towards the priest, he used one of his signature abilities. Shield Throw. The flying buckler sailed through the air, guided by the game system and hit the sorcerer precisely in the head, the stun symbol appearing above their head with a 10 next to it and stopping the sorcerer’s casting.

The shield returned into his hand just in time as the other sorcerer had shot a fireball in his direction as he was sailing through the air. He raised his shield just in time to block it and then he extended his foot outwards and caught the priest directly in the head with a flying kick.

As Keith and the priest fell, Keith raised his fist and swung downwards, timing his punch with the precise moment the priest’s head hit the ground. His fist smashed straight through the priest’s head, the force of it cracking the ground on the other side and the priest instantly dissolved into experience crystals.

The first sorcerer was still stunned but the second had had time to cast again, and now a lightning bolt from above threatened to strike as Ebony Golem; now recovered, attempted to charge at him again.

Vigilance IV.

Keith, now even faster than before, quickly sidestepped the lightning bolt which left a crater where he had stood and dodged Ebony Golem again before using another of his many skills. Meteor Rush. Raising his shield, Keith quickly closing the distance between him and the second sorcerer, hitting him with the full force of his ability before finishing him off with a well-timed uppercut. The second sorcerer much like the priest dissolved into experience crystals. He absorbed them and turned his attention to the remaining two players.

The stunned sorcerer had now regained movement and was already casting another spell before Keith’s Shield Slam ability disrupted him yet again. Keith then grabbed the unlucky sorcerer by the throat and threw him in the way of Ebony Golem’s third attempt to charge the Eclipsed Tower.

Ebony Golem attempted to stop himself from destroying his fellow teammate, but he couldn’t stop in time and he charged straight into the unfortunate sorcerer, instantly dissolving him into experience crystals which were absorbed by the Golem.

”You, you just-“ Ebony Golem started, clearly speechless at the speed in which his teammates were destroyed.

”Come.” Keith demanded, interrupting Ebony Golem. Ebony Golem bellowed a frustrated war cry, before running towards Keith, his charge ability now on cooldown. He raised his arms in the air with the intention of crushing his enemy player, before he was promptly cut off by Keith’s strongest attack.

”Trifold Eclipse.” Keith said as he viciously punched the vulnerable player before him, interrupting his attack. He punched three times, each one so fast that it looked like he’d only punched once; instantly draining Ebony Golem’s health bar to half, before pulling his shield backwards, and viciously slamming him in the torso to finish his combo.

Ebony Golem sailed through the air, flying backwards 20 feet before colliding with a wall so hard, that he became embedded in it. He let out a cry of pain as he hit, the force of his collision also cracking the ceiling and floor.

”Now, it’s time to answer some questions.” Keith said as he approached the helpless player.

---

It will be bad if the power balance is tipped. He thought to himself. "The reason that wars don't occur is because the power of the kings is balanced. If that balance is upset, the Black King will probably win this war. He stood still for some time, to recharge his abilities.

He looked to where the fighting had begun, a stark reminder that the war of the kings was truly happening. From what he could see, the Fanged Rangers really wouldn’t survive this unless nothing short of a divine intervention took place.

Maybe if I kill Arms Slave, it would stop his army. He thought.

Not all armies stop when the general dies, but it was the only other way for a solo player like him to stop an invasion. The only reason he wanted to do so was to make sure the balance of power wouldn't tip in favour of the Black King and make life harder for all of the players of Deep Ground. It would be the first time he'd ever done something for anyone but himself in Deep Ground, a personal first.

Vigilance V. He activated his ability and ran off to join the battle.

[Lord Santa]

Just ignore cheese's post. It's mine, I'm just kind of all over the place today

[OverconfidentMagi]

Aaron Carther | Conquest Pantheon – Orange King

The moment Yoshino Tsugumi stopped speaking, the vast majority of the student body rushed to their rooms to log into Deep Ground Online. Aaron didn’t return to his room. Instead he slowly made his way to the school’s library. The librarian knew their most frequent visit well, and they already had the book that he would request reserved for when he showed up. It was a thick hardcover, just a light read.

He waited ten more minutes sitting in the library, during which time he was contacted by the Red King and agreed to add the Silent marauders’ support to an allegiance against the Ebony Strykers. He didn’t particularly care about the other guilds; to him the alliance was about gaining freedom to move through territory controlled by the other guilds, and more importantly, shared information, as little as there was, about the Black King and various other things that all mattered more to Aaron than the survival of his rival guilds.

He took notice of the fact that a force of Ebony Strykers was attacking the Fanged Rangers’ guild, but he took no action to lend support. It was a different message that Aaron was waiting on, and when it did come, he left the library and made the short walk to the Student President’s office.

The door to the room adjacent to Tsugumi’s office was slightly open, and Aaron’s eyes caught sight of two familiar people sitting together discussing something likely unimportant. A girl by the name of April and a muscular boy called Darius. Aaron knew them better by their in-game names though: Bellowed Mist and Zealous Calm, the left and right hands of the Orange King. Neither looked up as he passed, continuing to discuss whatever it was they were pretending to discuss. Aaron deleted the message from Bellowed Mist from his history before knocking on the Student President’s office door.

[YandereNoodle]

"What makes your guild stick out from all the others?"

Stick out? She had never really given it any thought. Does her guild stick out at all? Maybe that's reason why everyone flocked to the Ebony Strykers when they first opened up. The first time that guild had been open in the entire history of the program, that of course made it stand out from the rag-tag groups like the Crimson Harleys. What about about her guild made it special..?

"Well..."

She paused for a moment then held her thumb up, "We're the first guild to find you."

She nodded mentally, a solid first reason. It helped build her pathos in the least. Though, that seemed to be the only thing her campaign was running on. There's no factual evidence she could throw out there to prove that they're the best in a field. If anything, the Red Guild, is hardly better than mediocre, but she couldn't let him know that.

"I think you have great potential and we need all the potential we can get. I have a nose for this sort of thing." She raised her finger to her nose to emphasize this point, "We'll call it Kingly intuition."

A weak ethos, but at least it's out there. All in all, the argument was very weak. Rabbit beat herself up over it inside, rushing out into the field without preparing any kind of recruitment slogan or anything. Recruiting seemed to be a much different animal than she thought it would be. She laughed nervously and closed her eyes, holding a toothy smile directed at Watcher.

After a brief, awkward silence Rabbit’s ears perked up. She turned around and looked at the girl in the distance. Princess Rainbow looked up from the scorch marks and began running towards the group of them gathered in the alleyway, “There you are! I finally found you!”

Rabbit turned to Grim Buccaneer, “Friend of yours..?”

Within a matter of seconds the rainbow princess warrior was upon them and throwing up rainbows left and right before bounding off with Rabbit’s score. It was a little more than a second after she had bounced before the beep beep beeping of a private chat came through Rabbit’s head. Rabbit opened her eyes and held a finger up to her ear, “Hiya.”

“Mmm- oh. Right, gather Dove and Pearl and swing by here to pick me up.”

She turned to look at Watcher and sighed, “Sorry, we’ll have to pick this up again later. Green City’s under siege and it’ll be a massacre unless someone helps.”

She left him no room to respond before bounding up the walls of the alley onto the rooftops, she ran across them in a blur with the speed afforded by her Reposition skill before a dual-rotor transport helicopter soared by beside her with the bay doors pulled back, two level fives held out their arms and helped steady Rabbit as she made the leap into the moving copter. The bay door slid shut and Rabbit gave a sigh once they were inside.

A notice popped up in front of her: Party Invite - Olive Drummer. She reached out her arm and accepted the invite and was instantly transferred the party leader title. She brought up the specs of her party and looked them over:

Stuffed Rabbit (Party Leader)
Crimson Harleys
Gunner Sniper
Lv. 9

Olive Drummer
Crimson Harleys
Healer Surgeon
Lv. 7

Laughing Dove
Crimson Harleys
Healer Priest
Lv. 5

Mediocre Pearl
Crimson Harleys
Healer Priest
Lv. 4

It was no surprise that the rest of her part were healers, she had chosen them after all to help push back the damage being dealt to the defenders of the Guild Hall. She decided to drop Fern a notice before they got there - so they wouldn’t get shot down. She raised her hand to her ears and began talking, “Yo, Fern. It’s Rabbit, heard you’re in a tight spot, Im going to drop in some healers so hang tight, mkay?” She pulled her hand away from her ear and continued to look over her party specs.

Party Buffs
Eagle Eye Implants (Olive Drummer): +50% accuracy, 45mins remaining.
Time Dampeners (Olive Drummer): +50% reaction time. 25 mins remaining.

Olive was a great asset to the Harleys, in particular to its agility-type players. That’s the reason that Rabbit made him Knight Commander. The other two were Priest specs - and while they didn’t deal in buffs they each did fantastic healing work in the past. While Rabbit planned to join the fray as soon as she could, all three of them would stay behind to support the bulk of the defense.

The helicopter hovered over the bulk of the fighting and Rabbit closed out of her screens. She walked over to the door and pulled it back and looked down at the ground. They were about fifty meters off the ground. She tried to get a read on the chaos that was going on below. An unorganized rabble it seemed, she could see a large group of the Stryker’s so-called “war machines” some of them were full-blown tanks, others were salvaged pickup trucks and sedans with sheet metal fixed to them. But still, for anyone in front of them, they were a danger. They seemed unorganized, but there was a solitary tank leading the charge, firing wherever he damn well pleased. It seemed obvious to Rabbit that this armor held the group’s general.

Boom! The helicopter took a direct hit from a shoulder-mounted missile from somewhere in the back of the horde. Its engines caught fire and begun to spin out of control, Rabbit held on to the door frame and looked back, “Parachutes!” The panicked mid-level priests were the first to grab parachutes from the copter’s repertoire and sailed down to the back of the fray. Olive was last and he brought a second parachute to Rabbit.

Rabbit shook her head and held her hand out, “No worries.”

Olive shrugged and leaped out, dropping the parachute behind him as he left. His parachute got struck by a few of the bullets being fired discriminately and took a solid 85% damage from his fall from glory. Rabbit sighed and looked down as the helicopter spun around and around, it neared the ground - 40 meters, 35, 30, 25, 20, 15, 10 - jump. Rabbit leaped out from the helicopter before it exploded into nothing. She fell, fast, and hit the ground with a definite smash[/u]. A small crater formed around her were she fell, cracking the ground all about her. She stood up and look over at the approaching horde. 20-odd meters out Arms Slave’s tank was gaining ground on her and quickly.

Rabbit closed her eyes, smiled, and waved out to the tank as it approached, bullets whizzed by indiscriminately, but she didn’t worry. Moving and gunning didn’t work for most people, let alone without skills. 15 meters, she unslung one of her rifles and held it idly at her side. 10 meters, she checked her nails, immaculate as always. 5 meters, she leaped into action. With the reaction time buff she leaped forward, the world around her slowed down as she pointed the barrel of her rifle into the main cannon of Arms Slave’s tank and activated [i]Reciprocating Barrel to fire three rounds in succession hoping to catch it between reloading and ignite the shell in its barrel and take out the general’s horse, so-to-speak.

[MaskedHeroZ]

Stalwart Bruiser-White King
Bruiser wasn't expecting to happen upon a warzone, not this early into the hostilities at least.

He especially didn't expect to happen upon the Sweepers being the main force on the attack, using his guild's former stock of weaponry. The ones they stole during the weeks of chaos and anarchy. These people called themselves justice? They called themselves heroes? They weren't either of those things, just thugs and villains. Just like Moon Rider, who they chose to align themselves with. He was going to show them how a real hero does things.

Mainly by beating them to death, but it was the reasoning behind it that mattered.

So, he wasn't hesitant to stomp his way into the middle of their fight with the Fanged Rangers, a great roar tearing it's way out his throat as one unlucky Sweeper caught the full brunt of his Atlas Fist perk from behind. Sending the poor Assassin flying over the heads of anyone in the back lines. He didn't mind using it up for now, it was going to reset itself in a minute anyways. Turning his head, he could see Tender Fern in battle, he wasn't good with words, especially not while he in his roaring a rampaging mode, so he let her be.

Nonetheless that Assassin was only the first villain to fall to his heroic rage, as he began to barrel his way through the opposing forces. It was going to be a real Punch Party. No, it was going to be a Punch Festival, and every Sweeper unfortunate enough to be in his line of sight was invited.

The speed boost with each successful hit began to stack up, and his fists became little more than blurs of concrete heading toward the heads and torsos of his enemies. He needed to focus on something bigger though, something that would explode violently when he punched it into oblivion. That's when he noticed their vehicles, and a half-formed plan sneaked it's way into the White King's mind.

He was definitely going to destroy them, or steal them. He wasn't entirely sure, but he'd figure it out when he got to them.

[drewccapp]

Solitary Watcher was not overly surprised by the nervous reaction of the Buccaneer. Considering how many players tried to kill him simply because of his reputation as the hardest to kill level one. He wasn't going to state the obvious by saying that the kid had no reason to worry, that simply would be a waste of both of their time.

Stuffed Rabbit said "Well..."

She paused for a moment then held her thumb up, "We're the first guild to find you."

Solitary Watcher blinked disbelievingly. Did she really say that? He had a hard time resisting laughing. The fact that her response was said so confidently was the thing that nearly got him howling with laughter. He instead maintained the focus to make a simple statement. "Not really." His statement was blunt, but it was truthful. He had been asked to join a few guilds before all the changes happened. He refused for the same reasons every time: he just wasn't ready. He didn't want to make the same excuse this time.

Stuffed Rabbit said "I think you have great potential and we need all the potential we can get. I have a nose for this sort of thing." She raised her finger to her nose to emphasize this point, "We'll call it Kingly intuition."

Watcher smiled at that. That was a more solid reason even if still goofy. He shifted his feet around and looked at the ground. "I'll consider it." He definitely didn't want to give a negative response, but he still wanted to look at his options. He thought about the reputation of the previous Kings and that alone was plenty to make him hesitate, but this Red King certainly was different from the last.

Suddenly, a new person came this this little parade. A colorful entrance as well, rainbows and all. She seemed to know the Buccaneer and grabbed him stating how they had an appointment with the Green King. He then looked over to Stuffed Rabbit. Now they were alone, what was going to happen next? That question was answered quite handily by a private call.

Stuffed Rabbit said She turned to look at Watcher and sighed, “Sorry, we’ll have to pick this up again later. Green City’s under siege and it’ll be a massacre unless someone helps.”

With that she quickly dashed away. Watcher could barely keep up with her movements. Now he was alone he knew what he was going to do next. He wanted to see exactly what was going to happen next with this war. Taking Green City was a smart decision for the Strykers. The Fanged Rangers were considered the weakest of all the guilds. He used his grappling hook to scale the building he had leaned against and began to run to the Green City leaping from one building to the next. He arrived at the city and witnessed the mayhem of a full scale PvP raid.

He saw Stuffed Rabbit hoping out of a helicopter just before it exploded. Watcher was still a good distance outside of the battle, but he felt comfortable setting up here. The tower he stood on had a great vantage point, but then again he knew that if he got caught up here escaping would be nearly impossible. He used his grappling hook to get to the base of the tower. He then entered a building neighboring it and began to set up to snipe. He placed a mine at the entrance to the building and then put another at the entrance to the room he chose. When the third one became available he'd save it for when he was escaping. He pulled up a bit of furniture to set up a platform to get prone and opened the window. He toggled his active camouflage and set up his sniper to watch the battle happen. He saw several guilds were there and it seemed that all the non-Strykers/Sweepers were fighting only Strykers and their Sweeper allies.

He had been tempted to walk around the outskirts of the battlefield while his active camo was up, but he didn't want to risk being seen easily and if he had to he wanted to be in a position where he could defend himself.

[Arrayah]

As soon as she saw the damage coming towards them, Fern cast Focused Shield on as many people as she could, then had to heal herself. It was almost a waste, as she had barely protected anyone, and even then many of her guild were hurting badly. Fern was about to cast another healing skill, hoping to keep them alive longer when she noticed some of the vehicles breaking off and heading towards the hall. It was stupid really, to start taking off after them. She couldn't fight, but how was she supposed to just let them destroy everything?

It was this feeling of desperation that had her voice raised as she called back to this so-called Arms Slave. "WHY? Why are you doing this? What good does this do? To destroy everything? Do you find it fun? Is that why you're working for the Black King? Because you obviously know nothing of loyalty! If you did, you would realize that it doesn't matter what you take from us, the Fanged Rangers will never, NEVER join the Strykers. Even if you destroy us all, we'll bounce back."

"Fun? Yeah, this is pretty damn fun! Don't you think? This is a game of death! People die, we kill, and our ability to do that is what lets us find our place in this world! So what about your, Tender Fern!? Do you think your deaths is any fun? Your struggle? Even if you and all the guilds came to defeat me now, you know what's going to happen? The same thing tommorow! Constant strife and warfare! I know you don't want that, not for your guild members! But even if it's not the Black Guild, it would have been someone else. Outlaws, another guild, everyone would have picked on you! I'm not only cutting to the chase, but I'm also giving you a chance to change things. Join the Ebony Stykers and we'll make sure that you get the power you deserve. But if you keep fighting, we'll just wipe you off the face of Deep Ground!"

Arms Slave was blazing towards the guild hall with Kill Dozer and Iron Maiden in tow. He got a message from the sentries of sighting of Carnage Liberated, a rogue level 9 player, Stalwart Bruiser the White King, Eclipsed Tower a rogue brawler, and a bunch of others. Seemed like the other kings did ally with each other to fight the Black Guild, and in turn, Arms Slave. "Heh, fine with me. Saves me the troubling of finding them! Wait... I think I used this like already. Shit."

It was only going to be a matter of time before they would show up, and even with his Mayhem Riders Arms Slave was going to get overwhelmed by the sheer power of the kings alone. So he had to make sure everything was reduced to rubble soon. He was going to have to force an ultimatum.

"Looks like your fellow kings already made a choice for you! But it's not too late to save your precious city! Fight with my Mayhem Riders, or be buried underneath the ashes of your fallen!"

Tender Fern almost couldn't believe her ears. He thought just because someone else might have attacked them, it was alright to do so? First off, the Fanged Rangers tried very hard to stay out of conflict so that they wouldn't be attacked, and it had worked pretty well so far. This had never happened before. So how on earth could he really use that as his reasoning? And why did Fern have this feeling that even if she decided to join the Strykers, Arms Slave was still going to destroy everything here?

And yet he was right. There was no way that she and the Fanged Rangers could win. If she did not join him, they would all be destroyed. And then she heard a voice speaking to her. The Red King. She was on her way along with healers. There was a streak of blue in the corner of her vision. Another King. White was there too. It seemed that anyone in the area that had seen or heard about the attack had shown up and was wanting to help the Rangers. As a guild that had stayed out of conflict for so long, it was amazing to Fern that they finally had others to help in the fight. The Kings had been true to their word and that meant that she also had to follow their agreement.

It killed her to look around at her city being destroyed, but that did not mean she was going to back down from her earlier words. As she'd said, they could take her city, her guild hall, her home, but that didn't matter because even without it, she still had her Rangers. He could defeat them all, that was true, but they would come back. Every single one of them. Her guild was something he could not destroy no matter how much he thought he could.

"I won't help you! I have a promise to uphold, and that is to destroy you, the Strykers, and the Black King! There isn't anything you could do that will make me help you to destroy the other Kings. Even if I thought you would truly stop this, I wouldn't fight them. You and your army are the ones who need to be stopped, not us! Not them! So do your worst, but don't be surprised when the Rangers come back for revenge."

The words almost had her cringing. Fern never wanted to hurt another even in this game, but things were going too far, and there would be no stopping her and the others from avenging their home.

"Hah! I like that fighting spirit! Well, at least that's one objective complete. Now we know that you are our enemy!"

Just than, the Red King showed up. Against any logic, she decided to stand in front of his war machine, firing high powered rounds point blank into his vehiciles. They packed a bit of a punch... But it barely took off a tenth of the war machine's total health. But now she was about to get steam rolled, and if she had any plans to escape Arms Slave had something to say against that. "Demon Gladiator, take the wheel!"

Arms Slave was launched out of the war machine, standing more or less on the front of the top of the war machine. He fired off two Chain Catches at the Red King, to ensure that she doesn't escape getting crushed underneath the war machine.

---

At the artilary peices, the Blue King's assassinations did not go unnoticed. When they saw a few of the weapons not firing, they sent in counter assassins to smell out the Blue king. three level six assassins quickly used their own anti-stealth measures to find him, and point him out to the other members of the Mayhem Riders. Soon two level five tanks zero in on the Blue King as the assassins fought with a pistol/knife combo, shooting at the blue king with auto attacks while also ready for him to try to stealth his way out. A healer was on standby in his etherial form to get ready to ressurect, and a few more healers showed up to revive the ones the blue king killed.

---

Carnage Liberated was soon intercepted by a couple of low level Scarlet Harley members. Except... They were also Sweepers. They tried to be friendly, stopping him only to ask if he was going to help them. And yet, they had their weapons out and many had their skills ready to be activated. If Carnage Liberated attacked, so would they.

---

Gun shots and explosions peppered the area around Eclipse Tower. A bunch of level 8 outlaws had spotted him running into the Green City, and they figured it would be great fun to get in his way instead of focusing on their mission. They drove in armored and weaponized hummers, firing their machineguns in his path so that he would run into the bullets. A few others had chain-weapons, which they aimed at his legs to trip him up.

---

For the White King, he had a very special guest. A person driving a war machine called "Scythe". The reason why? Because it was a fast moving, heavily armored car with no ranged weapons. Except a lot of hooked blades that took advantage of slashing opponents going a hundred miles per hour. It was zooming strait towards the White King, it's many sickle blades hungry to slash him into ribbons. There were also a few other vehiciles backing up the Scythe, more standard tanks that fired large explosive shells at the White King on the off chance that they could kill him with the twenty-foot blast radius, and additional shrapenal.

---

All the while, even as the Mayhem Riders were slowly losing their numbers, the Fanged Rangers were faring much worse, and eventually the only place that was standing was their guild hall. And than Kill Dozer and Iron Maiden drove up. "Alright, you heard the boss! This place burns down!" twenty players, each at least above level 5, rushed out of the veichiles and began to tear down the guild hall. Kill Dozer and Iron Maiden stayed inside their war machines, using their weapons to punch holes into the guild hall. It'll take them about five minutes or so to raze the place to the ground if they aren't stopped.

---

In the distance, at the Black City, Dark Wraith arrived.

[TheWendil]

The Real World

Student President Yoshino Tsugumi
Yoshino took a mere few steps before being halted by a familiar face. A small smile of confidence formed as she glanced over at Retsu Goroshi. Since the passage of one month, the other student had been seen with the President in public to the point that the majority of Purple Crown had labeled her a sort of deputy for Yoshino. In short, Retsu was to Yoshino what the other girl was to the Black King. Funny how that worked out.

"Right then. Let's get to it."

Yoshino took the easiest and shortest route back towards her office, making sure to direct her gaze away from any watching students. God did she hate their stares...it took some time, but the two girls finally reached the safety and privacy of her Student Office. Yoshino made sure to close the door securely behind her before taking a seat in her familiar chair, hands clasped over each other. Her sorrow had apparently vanished over that short time frame.

"Now then. Anything to report? Or are you here to ask for orders?"

Retsu flipped her hair over her shoulders and had her arms crossed. "Nothing particular surprising. I just received a message that a small conflict has occured in the Fanged Ranger terrority shortly after your speech. It looks like most of the colored kings have converged there, and from the message board, it seems that everyone has allied to wage war against the Ebony Strykers. Just as Moon Rider intended."

Yoshino raised an eyebrow at that. An expression of initial surprise followed shortly by a smirk.

"I see. If all of our lovely friends are gathered in one place, then perhaps we should greet them as so. I want Dark Wraith to tamper with the system and make sure that the Kings all receive a message simultaneously. Tell them that the Black King will withdraw her forces if they surrender now. Of course, regardless of their answer, I want you to send a second battalion and await for command."

Retsu nodded her head, but kept getting updates on the battle. Retsu felt it would be best to ensure the president was getting a clear picture of what was going on. "It would seem that the leader of the attack has already attempted to parley with the guilds... They are not interested." Retsu double checked this fact. While it was clear that it was the Fanged Rangers that the war party attacked, there was so much resistance from the other guild that Retsu figured it would be most likely that an offer of alliance would be refused. "Then again, the Fanged Rangers were the ones who this offered was made towards. Currently the war leader is fighting off other guilds, which will likely cease negotiations if he's to be defeated. Let's see... Ah. It's Arms Slave. Yes, I'd imagine that he is as good as dead. There has been sightings of the Blue King, White King, various Level 9 solo players, the presence of the Green King... Hmm."

Retsu continued to read the the information she was getting, and she was starting to get a clearer picture as well. While Retsu did not like that Arms Slave was so quick to wage war, she could make use of this. "From his battle tactics, the negotiations are either a ruse or a secondary objective. It appears that they aim for total destruction of all the buildings within the Green City. I expect that he plans to force the Green Guild to merge with the Ebony Strykers for save haven, or merge with another guild in order to narrow down the amount of opposing organizations against us. But with the other guilds backing the Fanged Rangers, even if this attacking force succeeds in the total destruction of the Green City, the other guilds may spend their resources reconstructing the damage lost. If I may suggest, I could rely orders to others to... Salt the land."

The President fiddled with her glasses and she began to process the next route of action.

"Is that so? I suppose then we'll continue our war efforts. As for your suggestion, I can tell you that Moon Rider approves of the current course of action. Still, with a fair majority of the Colored Kings having fled to the Fanged Ranger's aid, I think it's safe to assume that some sort of alliance has been formed against us."

"Indeed, they announced it on the forums."

Yoshino narrowed her eyes at the comment. To be fair, when had the Ebony Strykers been known to interact with the...well, the world? Let alone check the forums; simply one more task she would have to assign Retsu, assuming the other girl had already taken that responsibility as well.

"If that's the case, then any notion of diplomacy is gone. Fine then. A good war will do them good. Order Arms Slave to continue his siege and send in that second battalion as well. Either corner the Rangers into joining us or make so it that they can never have their territory again; frankly, it doesn't matter to me how he goes about it. Be sure to also spare enough Players to defend our own Guild. We will not suffer an attack from within or behind," she said with finally.

The subject of battle now over, Yoshino sought to move on to other subjects that needed addressing.

"How's the progress on your search for the King killer? It's bad enough my client is being framed as a mass murderer at all times," she said with annoyance.

Adjusting her glasses Retsu nodded her head at Yoshino's thoughts on the battle and continued on with her report about the Dead Kings, as Retsu categorized it. "Initially I suspected that Corpse Collector had some connection to their deaths, however upon further investigation the player herself had no tangible connection to their deaths. However, Corpse Collector was a highly proficcent hacker, and after aquiring her personal computer, we did find that she had planted software within the Deep Ground systems in order to manipulate it as much as she did. We have since than removed the bug and ensured that her methods will no longer work on the system, but we also learned that the means that she uses to alter the programming of Deep Ground is... Archaic in a sense. Impressive, but it relied on taking advantage of older scripts within Deep Ground, using th bug to ensure that the patches that were applied later would not sever her connection."

Clearing her throat, Retsu had figured that Yoshino might not want to be bored with Retsu's simplified tech talk, so she got to the point. "I'm afraid that the trail is still cold. I do suspect however, that Corpse Collector's hacking ability was not actually her own, and that we may have to deal with more like her in the future, but far better skilled. I have no solid evidence so far, but I have reason to believe that if we can discover where she attained the means to hack into Deep Ground, we may find other trails that could lead us to the king's murderers. It's far too coincidental that four kings of Deep Ground would have been murdered, and tha-"

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Retsu was quiet for a moment before she looked at Yoshino. She nodded, and Retsu went to open the door.

Aaron's passive face took on a sullen tone as the door opened, but the person who opened it was not the person he'd come to see. Instead of the Student President, a red-haired girl stood there. Aaron nodded to her and then to Tsugumi who was also in her office.

"I'm sorry for interrupting," he said. "I didn't know you had company. I can wait outside until you're done."

"No it's quite alright," Yoshino said, beckoning him in further with the utmost confidence.

"You are....Aaron, right? Sorry if I forget your surname," she said with a sigh.

It should be no surprise that she knew him on a first name basis. In fact, she knew pretty much everyone in that manner, as Purple Crown's policy for the Student President demanded that she memorize each student's name, or at least attempt to do so.

Just another display of her sheer fortitude. That, and proof she was the only one crazy enough to willingly accept the position and abide by such rules.

"Now then, do you need something Aaron-san?"

The boy's eyes shifted uncertainly between the two girls in the room. He walked inside, but just barely, not enough to put the red-haired girl behind him.

"Um, I just wanted to speak with you about, um, certain things," he said, his words sounding cautious. His eyes dodged over to the second girl again, making it clear that he hadn't expected to have an audience when he'd come to see the Student President.

Retsu narrowed her eyes at the boy who entered. Aaron Carther, the Orange King. Retsu had no doubts what he wanted; he wanted to know what the Black King's intentions were, or perhaps to rely a message. Retsu did not want to leave Yoshino alone with a King, least of all the one who leads one of the few guilds who have some of their former power still in check.

The smile from before made itself known again on Yoshino's face, and she couldn't help but become amused at his flustered state.

"Alright then. Can you leave us for now Retsu? It seems I have to speak in private for now."

Even as she said this, the look she gave to the red-headed girl was indirect at best, though easy to interpret for one who had worked with the President for so long. Wait by the door. Keep a grip on the handle just in case. Search him if possible and report back immediately. Years of being paranoid and closing off the Black Guild's gates had done her wonders.

Retsu shot Yoshino a quick glance. Perhaps it was simply because Retsu was used to handling these matters herself, but she did not like the idea that Yoshino wanted to speak to Aaron in private. Granted, Retsu would... Get a summary of the conversation somehow, but still, she'd perfer to be present. But this wasn't the time to fight about it. Retsu simply nodded her head and went towards the door. She closed it behind her and stayed near by, noting that another office space new the hall was open and had some people inside. People who, if Retsu remembered correctly, had very little to do in the adminsistrative area of the school. Seems like Retsu wasn't the only one who planted spies.

The Orange King let out a held breath as the girl left. Now his gaze stopped darting around the room like a nervous schoolboy's. He stared right into Yoshino's amber eyes.

"I assume you are able to convey everything I say to the Black King, yes?" He asked her with a confidence that came from a different person than the one he had been playing.

Upon facing direct eye-contact, it took all of Yoshino's will power not to flinch away. Damnit...that was too close.

"Yes," she answered, the kind Student President now having been replaced with the Black King's voice and will.

"Seeing as you are the new Orange King, I can only assume that you want answers concerning the previous one's death? I'm afraid we are both as clueless as you are. Is there anything else you'd like to discuss?"

For good measure, she raised her hand up and fidgeted with her glasses to adjust them slightly.

Aaron's emotionless face might have well have been carved of stone when Yoshino mentioned the previous Orange King. He would have to work on that.

"Yes, I do want those answers, but that's not why I'm here today," he said to her. He then took a few steps towards the window. "The Black King must be enjoying herself right now, wouldn't you say? I bet she's loving this."

Yoshino shrugged in response.

"What my client does is her business," she said flatly. "I simply follow the rules. It's kinda my job here."

"Just think about it though," Aaron was staring at the sky outside instead of at Yoshino. "The Ebony Strykers open up for recruitment and immediately after the biggest threats to the Black King just up and get themselves murdered. Garth, the previous Orange King, would have stirred up too much trouble for ol' Blackie. There was no predicting what that psycho Red King, Ariel, would do, so she had to go. I'm not sure about the Green King, Michael I think was him, but obviously there was some mark against him for reasons I can't even begin to guess at. Oh, and that last one... what was her name?"

Aaron smirked slightly as if a thought had just come to him. "Oh yes, Haruka." The Orange King turned to look at Yoshino again. "I apologize for bringing that up, esecially since the white bitch went and died right there next to you."

"....is there a point to this?"

Yoshino was much too agitated to let her phobia get in the way now as Aaron began to repeatedly look down upon the lives of the previous Kings. The previous dead Kings. But to insult Haruka...

Yoshino wanted to scream. To rise up and strangle this pompous little brat who knew nothing about his predecessor's lives. Yes they had been her enemies-and perhaps even allies at one point-but Yoshino had always gave them the respect they deserved. This was just filthy.

"There is a reason why my client despises your Guild," she hissed.

She had to keep in control. She knew full well he was baiting her, waiting for her to slip-up and be the first one to strike out.

"The Orange Guild...always instigating and causing needless trouble. While I am still Student President of this Academy, I will not tolerate such insults to the dead. And...don't you ever speak of Haruka in that manner again. If you're quite done Aaron-san, then I suggest you leave. Obviously you seek to only bring more strife with no real purpose. At least next time, find a better excuse to see me; otherwise, don't waste my time or my client's."

Just than the doors opened, with Retsu and a large, brawny girl. Yoshino would recognze her as Noel. The very large, burly girl who would out mass even the manliest of Avatars. She just happened to chance by Retsu to rely some information about what was going in in Deep Ground, but Retsu decided to make good use of Noel's rather ostentatious bulk. "That is not a suggestion. Please leave immediately, or you will be removed physically." Noel than reached behind her and revealed that she had a coil of metal chain, making her intentions rather clear.

Aaron gave the behemoth a good-natured grin and nodded again to the red-haired girl before turning on his heel and speaking to Yoshino again. He spread his arms to either side to frame Noel and Retsu behind him.

"If your client hates me so much, why not just kill me? That didn't seem to be a problem with the last batch." He spun again with a choked laugh and walked between the Student President's two henchmen. "And tell the Black King to not leave her trash where she walks next time, it tends to leave a smell in the room."

Retsu kept her eyes on Noel. Mostly because she knew if she didn't, Noel would have simply lashed out at Aaron. As antagonistic as he was, it wouldn't do them any good attacking him. Not yet. These things required... Preparation. Retsu didn't give Aaraon a pleasure of an answer however and allowed him to leave the room with his questions to himself. Once he was gone, Retsu motioned for Noel to leave, closing the door behind her. She would stand guard outside with the others, and even without Retsu's command when to clear out the other rooms of potential eaves droppers.

Once the two girls were alone again, Retsu simply sighed. She looked at Yoshino to try to get a read on her expression, but she had her "King Face" up. It was a familiar face to Retsu, usually something she see's whenever she steps to close to trying to overrule Yoshino's commands. But it also meant that Yoshino was purposely putting up a facade, which may be what Aaron wanted to see. Retsu allowed a few moments of silence to pass before she spoke.

"He will get what is coming... But now we will have to be careful. He suspects that the Black King will seek vengeance against the Orange Guild immediately, dividing out forces to attack him. But much like Aaron, their power relies that we show our hands prematurely. So far the Orange Guild has not arrived to the battle, likely waiting for the other guilds to weaken our advance forces first before he and his guild will arrive to attack while we are weakened. I have already sent orders to some of the other Erasers to begin to mount their own offensive, however I suspect that this skirmish may be for naught. To that end, I would like your permission to... Take advantage of my talents."

Retsu was not merely speaking about her connection to the Sweepers or her abilities as Dark Wraith. Rather, Retsu wanted Yoshino to know if it would be okay if Retsu used some of her programming skills and her own backdoor into the Deep Ground system to tip the battle in their favor. It wasn't really important enough to warrent the use, but Retsu wanted to know if Yoshino wanted this to happen. After all, she heard everything Aaron said, and Retsu had no compulsion in using her hacks if it made her feel a bit better.

Yoshino pondered Retsu's request, the implications running in her head. A few moments was good enough for her to mentally calm down; she had to if she was to return back to a functioning order.

"Go right ahead," she said, an edge still present in her voice. Aaron's words still buzzed in her mind to a degree.

"I'm already aware of your skills, so I won't ask you make sure to cover your traces. That much should be self-evident. I want this battle ended now. However...do it in a way that sends a clear message to our enemies. I want you to make them fear the game itself," she said ominously, letting Dark Wraith's imagination fill in the gaps.

"As they rightfully should," she added, with a bitter note in her voice.

Retsu simply bowed her head at Yoshino, feeling that there was no need to say anything else. But as she went to the door, Retsu paused. Though she personally had no feelings about the death of the kings, she knew that there was an immense burden on Yoshino, not only as the school president and face of Moon Rider, but due to her personal connections to some of the fallen kings. Retsu may have been the type to disregard such things, but she wasn't so callous to expect Yoshino to do the same. So before she left, Retsu turned around to the school president.

"Prez - No, Tsgumi-San. I can't say I know what you're going through, but know that we're not just members of the same guild. I came to you first because I wanted to help you. And I still do. You do not have to do this alone, so please, rely on me too. For Deep Ground... For here... I will help you with whatever I can, and try anything for what I can't. So... Is there anything you want to talk about?" Retsu stepped away from the door and pulled up a seat at Yoshino's desk. She didn't sit down immediately, but she wanted to show the president that she would be willing to take some time to talk with her.

Yoshino blinked in surprise at the sudden act of understanding. She had fully expected the other girl to leave her be as always, letting her contemplate her thoughts alone and in peace. So it was to her great shock that Retsu not only offered to listen but also took the liberty of pulling up a chair as well.

For a minute or so, Yoshino simply stared at her in disbelief, too startled to worry about her phobia. She had never really allowed herself to interact with the other members of the Student Council, always politely denying hangouts in favor of work or Deep Ground. In fact, the only one who had ever bothered her and forced her out of her office was-

"Haruka," she murmured unconsciously, not caring in the slightest that Retsu was witnessing a rarely shown side of the President. The weak side as Yoshino liked to refer to it.

"Heh...sorry about spacing out like that. It's just...Haruka, I mean, White Terror, used to do just that. She'd just sit down and...listen to me."

Retsu couldn't help but to break a small smile. A feature that was really shown on her face even as a baby, but despite how rare it was, it looked... Fitting. On Retsu's face. It was a small one, but it was still notably unique. "I... I'm sorry for your lost, if that means anything to you. I know it has some meaning to me too. I hate to see you like this, Tsgumi-san. And I don't want to stand idly by and let you suffer in silence. So..."

Retsu awkwardly took a seat. Such a basic act, one that she does often enough, but to sit down to simply chat about things with a stranger, least of all Yoshino, seemed harder than when she saw her simply as the spokesperson of Moon Rider. Somehow while Retsu didn't fear Yoshino's power, she was much more weak against Yoshino's softer side. Once she got herself comfortable Retsu leaned onto the desk so she could better hear Yoshino. "What do you want to talk about, Tsgumi-san?"

"Talk? Yes...that's right...I want to...I suppose...I-I guess..."

The Student President clenched and unclenched her fists, taking shallow breathes to calm herself down. She had been wearing Moon Rider's mask for so long, it was often difficult for her to discard that other identity.

"You've probably figured this out Retsu, but I'm not exactly the friendly type. I mean, power often comes with loneliness, right? And Haruka...well I guess you could say she was my only friend. Sure that Orange bastard ruined things for a while, but we made up. That's...that's why she died in my dorm. We vowed to work together again. She wasn't bluffing when she said she'd merge the Ivory Masks with my Guild. She said she'd help...she promised and...a-and..."

Gritting her teeth, Yoshino glared at the other girl with pools of tears forming in her amber eyes.

"And then she died! Like all the rest Retsu! She didn't die like a hero, or a villain, or even a criminal! She just stopped living one night and that was that! All of them did! She said she'd never leave! And that....i-it hurts....it hurts alot...but this school...this world won't tolerate me being hurt...studious me can't get hurt...so I ignore it. Just like I ignore this stupid phobia I have...it's funny...did you know I have Scopophobia? All this time...and no one even notices...heh, imagine that? Haruka understood...she..."

Yoshino said no more, simply staring at the table now with half-tears trailing her cheeks.

"Do I look weak to you now? Pathetic? Are you surprised that your Black King is only a weak little girl?"

Retsu kept her mouth shut and listened to Yoshino. Quickly Yoshino's mask as the Black King, or even the school president, crumpled to it's base components. She was just a teenage girl who has to make a lot of tough decisions, have lots of enemies, and forced to forfeit luxuries just to look like the epitome of strength. For some, seeing this side of Yoshino was a disgrace. After all, who would want the hardest, most badass player of Deep Ground to just be another emotional girl? But to Retsu, it told her that her leader wasn't just another cog in the machine, or at least, one that, like Retsu, was forced into a position that she didn't like but did well in.

And while the red-haired girl wasn't really much of a consoler, she pulled out a handkerchieffor Yoshino. It was a soft black piece of cloth with Retsu's name written in kanji. She had a few of these that she'd keep just to keep herself clean, and this would be the first time she'd be handing it to someone else. When Yoshino asked what she thought about her now, seeing Yoshino outside of her facade, Retsu thought about her words.

"No... I am not surprised. It... It is almost expected. Everyone has built this image that you... The Black King... Is a heartless monster. Someone who would really consider killing others simply for a game like Deep Ground. They think you are the biggest threat to the world and the game, and have willingly turned you into the enemy to justify their own ends. However... That's how others may think. As for me I'm rather glad to see that their words are just lies. How easy it is for everyone to beleive things are as simply as... Black and White, evil against good. I hate how basic those things are. And I'm glad that there's more to you than that. So... Please. Continue. I want to know more about you. Not about Moon Rider, or the school president. I want to know who Tsgumi-san is."

"About...me? Retsu...I take it back. All of it. You're exactly just like Haruka."

She said this with a small smile, taking the black-clothed handkerchief within her hand. She quickly dabbed her eyes with the cloth before trying to regain her old confidence.

"I see. I...I can't exactly describe how much Haruka meant to me. She was my only friend, and while I appreciate the offer to talk Retsu, I know there are far more important matters to settle here. But..."

A pause.

"I would...I would like to talk later. Sooner if possible. Once the current battle's over, then maybe we can converse? And...one more thing. I...I would like us to become...friends as well. If that's fine with you of course."

Yoshino Tsugumi. Always receding back into her shell. But she had made an effort, didn't she? She would talk when she wanted to, and she knew Retsu respected that.

"I...Haruka and I actually shared the same goals you know? We just went about it different ways. That's another reason why we made up. I...I want to carry on that vision we both had. And...I'd like to share that vision with you too Retsu. Yes...I'd like that alot."

Retsu wanted to keep fighting to keep her emotions in check. She wasn't about to break what she's built up for so long, just for this one moment. She didn't plan to let herself go so easily. Yoshino might be a broken bird, a perfect doll hiding her flaws, but Retsu aimed to make sure she could always keep herself in control. So with that in mind, Retsu stood up and walked over to Yoshino, and hugged her around her shoulders. It was an intended action fueled by her desire to comfort and show Yoshino her care. The next words that came out of Retsu was hard for her to say, full of suttering and pauses.

"I... I don't know if... Um... I can't... Ever compare to Hakura... I don't think I can ever be like her... For you... But I want to be able to be me for you instead."

The Student President gasped at the sudden action of affection but did not struggle against it. Instead, she listened closely to Retsu's words in silence.

Retsu squeeze a little bit tighter before letting go. She began to turn and walk away, but stopped halfway in the office to clarify what she tried to say.

"I don't want to replace Hakura. She's gone and... And I know how much that hurts. I can never replace Hakura in your heart. But maybe, just maybe, I could find my own place. A place with you where I can be... Myself. And... I'd like to - No. I would love to be friends with you... Tsgu... Yoshino-Chan."

"You...Retsu I..."

Yoshino smiled now, the wisdom of being a King now returning to her eyes.

"Yes. I know you will. And you're right. You're not Haruka. You will never amount to Haruka to me....that's because you're Retsu. Retsu Goroshi...and I wouldn't have it any other way."

It would be hard. It would always be hard. Haruka might always haunt her mind...but the White Terror was never one to dwell on the past herself, now was she? No. In fact, she would have told Yoshino to get over it already. The President sighed. That was so like her...and now she would carry on those two wills, hers and Haruka's.

With a knowing smile, she closed her eyes and rested her chin over her hands. Right then. Back to work as always.

Retsu left Yoshino's office with a smile on her face. It was strange, yet soothing for her. Even Noel couldn't make out the feeling she was having seeing her boss so happy, but she felt that it was harmless enough to keep quiet. Retsu, Noel, and a couple of other students, other members of her Sweepers and private enforcers, walked alongside her as she headed home. "Alright everyone, let's hurry. We have a war to win."

---

Welcome, Dark Wraith
Dark Wraith stood in the Black City castle. It was bustling with activity, and when Dark Wraith showed up everyone was at attention. Her smile had faded into a stern expression, knowing what she had to do. "Dosh King!"

Soon a rather flamboyant looking person showed up. A level 9 Wizard, who's powers revolved around items. He was also an Eraser, with all that it implies. "Yeah, wussup Darky?" He spoke casually to Dark Wraith, which she heeded no mind to. "It looks like a group of our mobile armor went to attack the Green Kingdom. From the reports I'm getting, they want to initiate "Salt the Land". I'll need you to clear the area out while I send some operatives to complete phase two." The Dosh King smiled as he headed to the highest point on the Black Castle.

Dark Wraith left the Dosh King to do his business while she went to address other members of Ebony Strykers. She had no intension of wasting players to throw their lives away just to wipe out the Green City. Arms Slave and his Mayhem Riders would be enough for that task. But she did need some players to do a different task. "You two, Crimson Bolt, Shining Ray, come here..."

As Dark Wraith commanded the Black City, they began to rally their forces together in preparation for the inevitable invasion. Taking territory is easy, it's keeping it that would be their real challenge. With all the guilds working against them, Dark Wraith knew that she couldn't really on the enemies of her enemies doing her work for her. So she'll have to rely on a force that was everyone’s enemy. "Are you ready? Send in the Dissolutions."

Deep Ground Online

Deep Ground Online
The sounds of battle and warfare raged on inside the Green Guild's territory. How amusing it all was. To some, this battle would determine and sway the remainder of the war's efforts. To others, this was no different than any ordinary skirmish, albeit on a much larger scale than any seen before. No doubt this would be the first in many struggles for dominance within Deep Ground Online.

And yet to some, this was an opportunity. Machinations that would bear fruit for future goals when the right seeds were planted. Not too far from the battleground, a rupture within Deep Ground's system was visibly seen. It was doubtful that anyone would have paid much mind to the disturbance, as all were focused on the destruction of the enemies before them.

Once more, this proved naught but an amusing spectacle for the Masked Man that calmly stepped out of the disruption. His gleaming eyes shining in fascination, he found himself a viewable spot near the rear of the battlegrounds, his gaze searching for one specific individual.

The Red King. Stuffed Rabbit. Goals needed to be initiated after all.

He found her at the front of the Stryker charge, she stood defiant against the blitzkrieg of the oncoming horde of mechanized death. She seemed to be - taunting the tanks. Trying to provoke them somehow, intentionally or not was up for debate. She seemed calm amidst the chaos, all things considered. Nonchalant, really. It seemed she didn't see this battle as a pivotal moment in the war, nor of any more grandeur than other battles that were commonplace.

The Masked Man watched her from afar as she bounded towards the tank, using her rifle against it - a strange sight. A sniper with an agility build? Dual-wielding even. Not to say it wasn't feasible - or practical - but it just seemed out of place somehow.

If Rabbit had any notions of actually completing her assault on the massive war machine...then today wasn't her day. No, the Masked Man had come for a reason, and he would not leave until he saw his goals, as lofty and mysterious as himself, were carried through.

Focusing on the sprinting form of Stuffed Rabbit, the masked Avatar exuded little to no effort; in fact, it looked as he was standing still. However, the effects of his action, as subtle they were, were still evident. Stuffed Rabbit soon found herself rushing to fight at one moment, only to plop onto the ground and landing in the dirt...right in front of the Masked Man.

Rumors of a powerful Hacker Player were known, yes, but to move another Avatar during a sequential battle action? Unheard of.

Rabbit groaned, "Ow... ow..."

She sat up, rubbing her head as she looked up at the Masked Man, "Huh? Who're you?" She looked him up, a masked avatar? She looked around herself she wasn't on the warpath - or at least directly on it. She had been moved. But how? Who could've moved her? Rumors of a Masked Man had sprung up around the school with mysterious powers and the ability to change the way the world worked. Could this be him?

"Are you the Masked Man everyone's talking about..?"

"Oh? You want to know who I am?"

The Masked Man took a step closer, his eyes showing hidden emotion behind his mask....or was it simply the shine of a mad man? The status above his Avatar read Player Avatar, though it was known by now that he was prone to changing it to Enemy NPC or even Enemy Boss.

"I'm no one," he finally replied. "No one at all; I don't want to be anyone either. I suppose...I simply am. However, you probably need a title to address me, yes? Rumors do carry around, don't they? Let us see...if you are a King, then I am a jester...yes, that sounds about right. I suppose you can call me....Silver Jester then. No more of this Masked Man tale. Wouldn't you agree that the time has come for us to meet face to face....Michael?"

While he was talking, Rabbit set about standing up, she brushed her skirt - more as a force of habit since dirt never seems to bother with her. She perked up at him when she heard her name - Michael.

"How- what? Huh?"

"You seem surprised. People like you always are. However, I'm not here to discuss true identities. We've had enough bloodshed revolving around those....no, I came here to discuss your current alliance with the other Guilds. Don't you find it...interesting?

Just who was he anyway?

She cocked her head, "Interesting..? How so?"

Her head raced with questions, but she decided to bite her tongue. It was obvious that this person held a powerful position and whether or not he was directly related to the murders of the last Kings did not matter now. Perhaps it's best to humor the Jester for now.

"Me murdering the other Kings? Now why would you think that?

What? How had he...but that was impossible. No amount of skill or Perks or Specs or...whatever else could justify this man's uncanny presence. There was no doubt now; this man was an extremely powerful Hacker, one able to bend the system to no limits. As if noting her upcoming disbelief, the Jester titled his masked face to the left.

"I assure you, all things contain within them a logical reasoning, no matter how chaotic the circumstance. I'd suggest you best not dwell on it for now. As for your temporary partnership with the other Colored Kings, I ask you this. Has it ever occurred to you why exactly the Black King has declared war on you all?"

It was a simple enough question, but one that required a specific answer. His voice held no malice or defense or any sort of biased nature; it was simply a neutral tone, one of infinite curiosity.

"Well... no. I never really thought about it."

She felt a bit guilty at distrusting the Jester. But also embarrassed to know that he could read her like a book. It wasn't like her to judge people at first glance but - something seemed off about his presence. Maybe it was his ability to warp the world at his will, a strange power definitely, but not inherently malicious. At any rate she knew she should apologize to him:

"I uh... I'm sorry about all that thinking you were related to the deaths. It was rude. But- no, I still don't have an idea why she declared war on everyone."

Silver Jester narrowed his eyes, the only visible indication that he had reacted at all to her answers.

"You seek apology for accusing me, yet you continue to fight an enemy you've yet to understand? Fascinating...doesn't it seem strange that the Black King hides her true identity so securely within the real world? No...it would be more appropriate to call her Moon Rider in this context. Indeed, someone who cannot muster their own will to fight for a resolve has no place striking down their enemy," he said, referring to the Red King herself.

What was he implying? What was he getting at?

"I suppose what I'm saying...is that I want you to join your forces...with the Ebony Strykers."

A merger with the Strykers..? But why? After all they had declared war first - without provacation. Besides, why would this person want her to join with the Strykers in the first place? She needed answers, otherwise there'd be no compromise.

"Why? Why should I join the Strykers?"

She looked intently at the eyeholes in the Jester's mask, perhaps trying to get a read, or perhaps just being polite and making eye contact.

The Jester was not intimidated by the direct eye contact-in fact, he chuckled at the sudden boldness of the move.

"Do not be mistaken Michael. I hold loyalty to no one. I'm simply...an observer. However, I understand your suspicion upon my words. After all, you people are very interesting...what if I told you the reasoning behind Moon Rider's actions? If you were to speak with her and reveal her own intentions...then I have no doubt that she will be forced to listen to you."

In a flash, the masked man faded away, only to reappear closer to Stuffed Rabbit. His eyes shined brighter than ever with sustained amusement as he leaned his masked face closer.

"Would you like to hear the secret which guards this madness?"

You people. What a peculiar choice of words. A superiority complex, maybe- there I go again. Making rude assumptions in my mind about the one person in the world who can read my thoughts. She sighed. A secret, though. Secrets are great fun.

"Wait. Is there a catch? Cause everything that's been going on lately is really clichéd and that seems like something that'd happen."

Silver Jester paused.

"A superiority complex...yes, I can understand how you would assume such a thing..."

There he goes again.

"Why would there be a catch? I hold loyalty to no one. What purpose would be sought after by myself if I intentionally lied to you? I seek only to...enlighten."

She still didn't fully trust him - but, he already knew her real name, from that where she lived. If she was actually in danger, hearing him out wouldn't be a problem. So, why not?

"Alright... Please tell me then."

"Very well then."

The masked Jester leaned closer once more, bringing his covered face to the Red King's ears. And then he whispered the few words that defined this seemingly pointless war.

Satisfied, he stepped back and watched for her reaction.

Rabbit's eyes widened as he revealed the Black King's master plan to her, "Really?" She stepped back and held a fist over her mouth and nose, contemplating the effects of her plan.

The Jester narrowed his eyes again, pleased by her words.

"I have simply informed you of the method to her madness. If you desire to know why she seeks to do so, I suggest contacting her yourself. I must admit...her reasonings for this war are quite noble indeed. Who knows? You might feel the same way after hearing it from her point of view."

The masked man chuckled a second time as his Player Avatar's body began to slowly shift away.

"Time grows short now Michael. I ask once again to join the Ebony Strykers. Not for Moon Rider's sake or anyone else's. I want my entertainment to be as drawn out as possible, and that means both sides having an equal chance."

The bastard. Who the hell was he to witness this conflict as a leisure pastime? Had it not been for his calm tone, one might mistake his whole speech as akin to a god looking down on mortals.

In this case, perhaps he was. Who could say for sure?

"Farewell for now Red King. I have others to speak with. Do try to make this war all the more amusing for me, yes? After all, the entirety Deep Ground is...so interesting."

And just like that, Silver Jester blinked away from existence.

However, he did not go far. In fact, he blinked in front of yet another player that he had been intrigued by. One that especially sought his attention…in fact, he was almost as interesting as the Black King herself. Almost.

“Why hello there…Albus Phantom.”

Elsewhere, the battle raging on the Fanged Ranger’s territory was about to come to a close. Massive spawn points began to appear all over the battlefield, promptly interrupting some battles here and there. At once, a massive wave of Dissolutions of all shapes and levels poured out from the spawn portals, charging out every which way in a flurry of chaos and pandemonium.

Oddly enough though, they seemed to avoid directly attacking the forces of the Sweepers and the Ebony Strykers. Instead, they attacked any other Player while also making sure to cause any and all extensive damage to the Green Guild.

This battle was over, as the amount of sheer destruction put all in danger of the wild fury let loose upon the fields of war. That is, all except those who fought in the name of the Black King.

Likewise, a massive barricade of Ebony Strykers stood guard at the massive Black Guild. Towering dark spires reached towards the heavens as the waiting players were ready for any and all notions of invasions. Orders from the Black King herself made sure that they stayed put, keeping all enemies who approached at bay.

Elsewhere, a certain solo Player was spending her time digging for clues when a war was happening practically right behind her. The nerve of some people these days. Luckily, there was some divine being out there who would gladly answer her prayers for an answer.

Of course, answers often came in the most unlikely of places.

“Hey there Kitty Cat~ It’s been a while, hmm?”

A familiar, sickeningly sweet voice entered in Smitten Kitten’s ear as a girly Player Avatar sat cross-legged on a piece of rubble. Her outfit was certainly….eccentric. However, that wasn’t what should have been a signal for concern, oh no. What was to be really worried about was the name displayed right above the Player’s status.

Corpse Collector

The mismatched girl smirked widely.

“So I hear you’re looking for answers. Kitty is gonna have to try harder if she wants them~”

[Ryonara]

At the sound of another voice behind her, Smitten Kitten turned around ready to use a Fire Rune. But what she saw, she couldn't believe her eyes. "What!? No you... They said you were gone!" Smitten Kitten never thought that she'd see Corpse Collector, of all people. Well, she was wearing a different outfit, but her name tag read as Corpse Collector. Either way, Smitten Kitten got herself ready for a fight. "What are you doing here, of all places? You're not trying to fight the Black King are you? Because I'm not going to help you! I'll defeat the Black King myself, and I don't need a cheater like you to do it!" Smitten Kitten was very much aware that during her battle with Corpse Collector, she must have been using some sort of hack to do everything she did. Kitten researched it very thoroughly, and there was no weapon, rare or unique, that could summon Dissolutions with just a bullet. Though as she continued to think about it, perhaps this wasn't too bad. Surely Corpse Collector knew something about the four kings murder, considering her defeat came just one day before their deaths.

"But yes... I am looking into the king's murder. I... I'm pretty sure that the black king isn't the one who killed them. But I know she has something to do with it! Opening the Ebony Strykers was an important part of the plan, so I know that somehow, she and her guild has a link in all of this. And I'm sure you do to. So tell me everything you know!" Smitten Kitten demanded from Corpse Collector. Despite her near death experience last time, Smitten Kitten had no fear of dying this time, being much stronger and having more experience.

---

"Ah shucks. Looks like the doors are closed."

White Death slouched over her motorcycle. She was on the side of a mountain over looking the black city, but she knew she couldn't get inside, what with the giant wall of guards standing between her and the city. She'd need her entire guild to back her up, and again, she hated these sort of large scale battles. Sighing in defeat White Death simply decided to take a joy ride through the other guild's territory. Now that they had this alliance thing going on, she figured this would be a great time to do some sight seeing, take some screen caps, and maybe if she's lucky she might run into a few low-level dissolution's on the way just to keep things interesting. She decided to head to the Scarlet Harley territories, since she figured that a guild named after a motorcycle would have the perfect scenery for a rider to cruise through.