[IC] Deep Ground Online: War of Strangers

[McFazzer]

It was still dark when Alex arrived at school and the doors were still locked. In the year since he logged in to Deep Ground Online there seemed to be a lot more hours in the day that needed to be filled. Alex mostly took up a new hobby every month or so. This month it was origami. So Alex sat down and took out a ream of paper. By the time the teacher first arrived he had a regular zoo of little paper animals surrounding him. Slowly picking them all up he followed the teacher in and placed the little animals on top of the doors. Horses, giraffes, swans, monkeys, elephants, penguins, dogs and cats. They were just everywhere. Bookshelves were the easiest place to put them.

Soon students started filing in and talk was of some catastrophe in Deep Ground and how there was student assembly later that day. Alex usually didn't go to assembly's, but he still liked to pretend he still played Deep Ground. If anyone found out he was the Unrelenting Jukebox he would probably die from embarrassment. From what he'd heard a lot of the newer players believed the Unrelenting Jukebox was an old event character built by the Devs, which suited Alex fine. No one looks in the real world for an event character. Alex finally arrived at the auditorium and settled in, making a little paper tiger to pass the time.

Sitting quietly Alex saw the student body president approach the podium. Sitting in a position that looked like attention, Alex continued to make his paper tiger. He only shot up to attention when he heard about the death of four of the Kings.

What. Four are dead? Green? That's what I'm a part of. What's going on!

His left eye twitching and he payed complete and utter attention to what the president said. Then the speech went to the subject of war and Alex felt for the first time anger. Not annoyance or frustration, Anger. Sure it made strategic sense for the Black King to attack now and Alex couldn't fault them for that. It was the Sweepers that were supposed to be neutral that angered Alex. For the first time in over a year Alex felt like going back into Deep Ground Online. He was only a mid-level player, but he had to know what was going on.

It was a while later when Alex realized that he was now alone in the auditorium. Standing slowly he made his way to the dorms and found his bed. Locking the door and lying down and then he entered Deep Ground.

[WELCOME BACK UNRELENTING JUKEBOX, YOU'VE BEEN MISSED]

The "You've been missed" confused Alex, now jukebox, but as soon as he spawned in a building just outside the Green Section his ability activated. It didn't normally do it on his login, but being away for over a year must have made it a 'significant event' and so as he walked through upwards through the building in the a song played resounding throughout the area to let everyone know that he was there. Alex thought that whoever decided the music for his ability must have a sense of humor.



Jukebox did admit the song put a smile on his face and a spring in his step. While it played Jukebox checked his equip screen. It had his old bowie knife... thing. It was somewhere between a bowie knife and a short sword, that was what was important. He also had his favorite pistol, the Walther PPK. He liked it mainly because it had a fun effect with his music ability. Checking that the grenades were equipped, Jukebox made it to the roof and two low level 2 Sweepers were there.

They looked so confused, there was music playing and this guy was walking towards them with hand outstretched like wanting a hug. It had to be a rare event or something right? and just like that the Unrelenting Jukebox pulled the pin on the closest Sweeper's grenade and Sparta kicked him off the edge of the building. The explosion of fireworks surprised the other Sweeper and for a second too long didn't aim their gun at Jukebox. Long enough for Jukebox to tackle them to the ground and make good use of his knife... thing.

When Jukebox could catch his breath and look around he was shocked. The Green Section was gone.
"Well this might be the worst thing ever."



"You said it disembodied music. War sucks."

Jukebox couldn't see any Fanged Rangers, but the sound certainly got the attention of the Dissolutions milling about and they certainly weren't happy. Sitting on the edge of the building, legs dangling over the edge, Jukebox started dropping grenades down to the Dissolutions and admiring the firework colours and explosions, wondering what to do with himself. I came here to figure out what is going on. Why attack the Fanged Rangers? They're Switzerland! A neutral party!

Standing up and dropping one more grenade of firework-y goodness Jukebox decided to pretend he was a rare event character like he'd heard that the younger characters thought he was. Hopefully information will come to me and with that he stood up and jogged along the rooftop border of the former green section.

[Psyker Landshark]

Gleeful Jackal - Blue King

The instant that his foes appeared, Gleeful Jackal whirled around, yanking his knives out of his latest victim with a grin as he counted their numbers. Three Assassins. Level six, holding pistol/knife combos. Definitely Hitmen. They had to go first. Two Brawler spec Tanks, both level five. Completely ignorable. Just because they could take hits didn't mean that they were a threat. Hell, he'd be surprised if they even managed to scratch him. One Healer in Ethereal Form. Smart. Three more not in Ethereal Form. Not smart. Free kills, once he got past the Assassins.

Bullet Time.

The Assassins fired their pistols, and the Blue King sidestepped the bullets with ease, his already-considerable reflexes and speed doubled. Ten seconds left on Bullet Time. Ten seconds left on the Healer's Ethereal Form. It was go time. Smiling at the Brawler tanks that charged at him, Gleeful Jackal activated Shadowrun, blinking right past them and right into the face of one of the Assassins. The small boy in blue leapt at the surprised Assassin, forcing him to the ground as he planted a knife in the Hitman's jugular.

One Assassin down. Nine seconds on Bullet Time and Ethereal, five seconds on Shadowrun. The non-Ethereal Healers were already starting to cast rezzing spells. Those took at least ten seconds to cast, so he had to end them before time was up. Unfortunately, the other two Assassins reacted quickly enough that they were already firing at him while charging at him faster than they had before. Damn. Both of them just popped Grim Stride. Now they were quick enough to intercept him if he tried to go for the healers. At least, they would be if the Blue King didn't pop his own Grim Stride.

The Assassins' Grim Stride helped them catch up to the Blue King's absurd Shinobi speed, but Gleeful Jackal's buff only widened the gap between them again. As such, it was child's play to parry their knife strikes with one hand each before delivering a roundhouse kick to one Hitman's chest while hurling a Taser Knife into the other's arm, knocking the first Hitman to the ground while stunning the other. Nine seconds left on Grim Stride, seven on Bullet Time and Ethereal, three seconds on Shadowrun's cooldown. And now both Tanks were activating charge skills to rush him down. Well, that was an easily solved problem. With a bit of sleight-of-hand, the knife in the Blue King's left hand was gone and replaced with a metallic sphere that he hurled to the ground, releasing a flash of light that blinded the Tanks, causing them to lose control of their charges as the Blue King leapt out of the way without a scratch, leaving the Brawlers to crash into each other rather than the Shinobi they targeted. Gleeful Jackal took a moment to hurl a brace of knives at the prone forms of both disabled Assassins, finishing them off before he brandished two more daggers and rushed the Tanks down. With the massive speed boost that his buffs gave him, alongside the stacks of poison that each of his autoattacks dealt, even durable Tanks such as these fell in a manner of seconds.

As the Tanks collapsed to the ground in a heap of cut-up flesh and blood, Gleeful Jackal spent an entire second turning around and smiling menacingly at the now-sweating Healers, two of which canceled their resurrection spells and turned to flee. But with the insane speed granted to him by both Bullet Time and Grim Stride, the Blue King crossed the short distance between them in almost an instant, cutting them down with his knives before hurling three more at the other Healer, sending all three squishy medics to their deaths. And just then, the final Healer's Ethereal Form ended.

"Ohshitohshitohshit-" He gulped, staring down the Blue King, who turned towards him and...disappeared.

"Hey." A hand clapped his shoulder from behind. At this point, the Healer didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. "How's it going?"

"Shitshitshitshitshit-" Was all that came out of the Healer's mouth.

"Relax, pal. Out of the goodness of my heart, I'm gonna let you live."

"...Really?"

A glint of steel flashed.

"Nah." The Blue King drawled lazily as he kicked the fresh corpse to the side, turning back towards the battle only to see...a horde of Dissolutions tearing apart the Fanged Rangers? "...Oh what the fuck."

"WAR!" The unmistakeable voice of Edwin Starr rang out from a nearby rooftop, causing Gleeful Jackal to tilt his head up. "WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?" A single person sat atop the rooftop, hurling grenades down at the Dissolutions from his vantage point. "ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!" Wait...he recognized that player.

The Blue King latched onto the rooftop with a grappling hook and reeled himself in, flipping up and landing in front of Unrelenting Jukebox. "Ho-lee shit." He gave a shit-eating grin. "Aren't you that Assassin that always has music playing whenever he does anything? I haven't seen you in like, a year! Where the hell have you been?"

[drewccapp]

Madness. This war was utter madness. Watcher hated the brutality displayed by the Strykers and Sweepers present. He had to relocate as the building he was hiding in had been assaulted by dozens of Strykers. He took out two level threes that had carelessly passed by the mine he had set at the entrance, but as soon as the mine blew up and he saw the swarm of Strykers he knew he had to vacate the premises. He leaped out of the window and landed gracefully on the ground. It didn't take long before he heard shouts as the second mine went off and the room he escaped from lost all its windows from the blast. Whoever was hit by that mine hadn't been taken out as he saw no reward on his visor for defeating players.

He hustled off on foot before the risk of being found became serious. Even though his active camouflage made him nearly impossible to see, if someone was looking seriously it would be inevitable that he would be found. He did the smart thing that any good sniper did: remained on the move. Outlaws had begun to take advantage of the chaos just to cause even more of it. Solitary Watcher glared at a group of them partying on a pile that once was a building. He didn't waste any time looking at their player status as he had come for a different reason and engaging them would be suicide. The only standing building was the guild house, and that didn't seem like it would last long either. As well at the Rangers fought they just had too little in numbers to handle this. Their allies were scattered and hadn't sent even half of their forces. There was no tactics or strategy here, it simply was beat on each other until someone falls over. Some of the Kings were even fighting against vehicles solo, something they could do, but something Watcher thought they probably shouldn't do.

The only guild that seemed to have a legitimate plan was the Strykers. They had far greater organization than all of the others present on the battlefield combined. To declare something as insane as war against all other guilds, the Black King must have a serious plan in action. As much as he hated it, Watcher kind of admired such tactics. This battle wasn't one of kill them all... it was salting the fields. They started with the weakest guild to destroy their morale. They knew what to hit and where to hit it. Countless resources would be spent to rebuild which would only leave the Rangers in a worse position. The Black King certainly had an understanding of war.

He finally found a ruined building that would be serviceable. By serviceable it had two standing walls and a bit of roof that was sturdy enough to hold a body. Watcher set up a mine at each far end of the wall so that anyone sneaking around to gank him would be blown up. Then he grappling hooked his way up to the rooftop. He went prone and continued to observe. Part of him felt really sorry for the Fern Rangers and the Green King, but he couldn't get involved in this stupidly. They would either continue to exist or merge into one of the other guilds that were in the game.

The Solitary Watcher began to try to put this puzzle together. The Sweepers allying with the Ebony Strykers. The War. The tamed dissolusions that suddenly entered the fray and ignored Ebony Strykers. The building he observed from shook as a low level dissolusion came too close to his proximity mine and blew up. He received his measly reward and sighed. The mines would simply serve as a beacon to players that were paying attention. He decided to move again to another vantage point. The temptation to vacate the area completely crossed his mind, but he needed information and this was the best way to find out what he wanted. He jumped to the pile of rubble that was the heart of the building and made his way to another pile of rubble a few hundred feet away. Here he simply laid prone while watching from his safe distance.

[Erasmus]

Alex sat in his wheel chair leaning out an open window. His head supported by his arm, that rested upon the window sill. A slight breeze caressing his face, blowing his black hair back. The sun was high in the sky, rays of light warm his cold body. With a deep breathe he closed his eyes and sighed. He always enjoyed the hot summer air when he was young. Without realizing it groups of students were walking passed him. Giving a quick glance, wondering what he was doing. Lee gave them a slight smile and greeting as they passed by. As the groups continued to walk passed him, they all would immediately start gossiping about the recent events in Deep Ground Online. Talking and wondering what the student body president would say during the assembly. To be honest, Lee did not care for this student assembly, but he would humor the president. As real students were killed last month. Leaning back in his chair, he rolled down the hall looking for the nearest elevator.

Soon, he would arrive in the auditorium, the stands were nearly full with all matters of students. There was hardly any room for any one else, but lucky or in Lee's case unluckily. He already has a seat reserved for himself. He parked his wheel chair by the side of the stands, in the corner where the first row started. The chattering of all the students could be heard, as Lee sat there. He glanced up at the stands, examining the different types of students. Observing the stands there were many girls gossiping and sharing something that they recently found or boys just laughing and roughing each other up a little. Soon, the assembly would start, the lights dimmed slightly. Light shined upon the stage, in particular three spotlights focused the podium in the middle of the stage. The student body president walked upon the stage, and began to give her speech.

As the president talked, Lee got a little bored. Taking out a paper book out of a bag on the side of his wheel chair. He began to read, as the speech continued. Moments would pass and Lee would realize he was alone in the auditorium. He was too focused on his book. Looking around, there were a few stragglers. He packed his book, and rolled off, out of the auditorium towards his dorm, he swiftly made it back. He took care of his daily needs, and soon he would log-on to Deep Ground Online.

The sensation of logging on would hit him. The feelings in his legs came back. His eyes closed, he smiled as the log-in completed.

Welcome, Melancholy Smile.

Lee never understood why he got that name, but it never bothered him. Looking around, he found himself alone in the Colbat Bruiser's house. Taking this in for a moment, he was wondering what was going on. Going outside, he would immediately stand there.

Sensory Overload

Vibrations started entering his head. The movements of a mouse was a few feet away. The smells that were carried by the breeze entered his nose. Concentrating he could hear a slight sound coming from Green Territory, "War what is it good for." Is what he would hear before the effect ran out. He was curious, so he began to run towards the sound.

Stand Dance

Lee increased his agility and ran toward Green Territory with great haste.

[Lord Santa]

'Why hello there... Albus Phantom.'

Blood was flying. Bullets wizzing by, the allied forces of the coloured kings versus the Ebony Strykers. Guns blazing, bodies flying. Tyres screeching. Albus could see the new white King flinging Ebony Strykers like playing cards, and also an excessively bladed vehicle heading his way. The massive war machine driven by this particular strike force's leader, parked near the green guild hall. A wave of seemingly Stryker-Allied dissolutions rolled in, possibly to destroy whatever was left of the Fang Rangers. A hitman walked by, music radiating from his near vicinity. And while Albus himself would've enjoyed participating in the Mayhem, but he was on a rooftop, summoned by a mysterious masked man.

Albus stood reservedly, studying the masked man. An analysis of his player statistics had revealed very little. No name, no class, no level, just a title not to be trusted, flickering between Player NPC, enemy NPC and enemy Boss. And if he really was an enemy boss, things had become very interesting indeed. That being said, Albus was on full alert.

Just moments ago, Albus was walking down the street, about to join the fun and then 2 avatars turned the corner walking towards him. Their unreservedness and their casually upholstered weapons were clearly stating the obvious. Obviously, the cannon fodder he'd killed had sent out a message back to his superiors and this was the welcoming party. Albus would have fun killing them. Or he would have, if he wasn't suddenly teleported onto a rooftop in front of an eenigmatic masked man who's title read Enemy Boss.

Albus studied the masked man before him, though there wasn't much to study. The only thing Albus could figure out was that this guy was probably a hacker. Afterall, that was the only way to hide he could've hid his entire status and hacking was probably how Albus ended up on the rooftop. That would also explain how he knew his name, which he never revealed to other people. But he had no idea what the masked man wanted with him. What did a hacker want with Albus? Barely anyone knew his in game identity. It's not that he kept it secret, it was just that no one asked. If the hacker showed up looking for a fight, then he would have to be incredibly confident to announce his presence to his prey. Or just stupid. But on the off chance that he wasn't a hacker...

Thinking wasn't getting Albus anywhere so he decided to start the conversation. He paced over to the edge of the building and looked out at the tapestry of destruction unfolding before him.
'Pleasant day, isn't it?' He said. 'The perfect day for a war, and if you don't have anything else to say to me, I'd like to be on my way.'

[RoflsMazoy]

Keith, Eclipsed Tower

Damn it all. Keith thought as he sailed through the air. Landing hard, he quickly rolled to a crouching position and sprang forward just in time to dodge a torrent of fire which incinerated the ground he’d been on just a second ago. His Vigilance ability was on cooldown, and most of his other abilities also. He was in pretty bad shape, he was on half health; with a horde of low level dissolutions, a team of high level outlaws and a high-level dragon dissolution all trying to take his life.

The outlaws came first, a team of level 8s who had for some reason decided he was a better target than the guild they were besieging. Besides the fact that they were all two levels higher than he was, they were all also driving heavily armed hummers which if modified correctly could be harder to take down than most tank spec brawlers.

They showered the area around him with gunfire and started to throw some chain weapons at his feet, clearly trying to trip him. He’d activated Vigilance V and jumped into the air before looking up and realizing that hordes of dissolutions now dominated the battlefield. The Fanged Rangers had no hope anymore, even if all of the coloured kings and their guilds came to help, he wasn’t sure if it would make a difference.

His thoughts were interrupted by a spectacular roar, quite close to him. He looked in the direction of the noise and found its source. A level 9 dissolution dragon had set its sights on him, and he was already swooping, trying to bite him out of the air.

Without a moment to lose, Keith activated his Meteor Slam ability and quickly plunged downwards; the dragon’s mouth snapping shut above his head. He quickly plunged downwards, his speed accelerated by gravity, him and his shield head directly for one of the outlaw hummers.

He crashed straight through the front half of the hummer, a player instantly dissolving under the momentum of his fall, the back half of the hummer flipped over his head and crashed with the sound of twisting metal a requiem for its descent. He looked up briefly to see the outlaws turning their vehicles round to face him; the dragon now circling back, a jet of fire spilling from its mouth and a new horde of lesser dissolutions joining the hunt for the Eclipsed Tower.

Time to run. He thought. His Vigilance ability still active, he darted around the rubble of what used to be the Green Sector of the Faded City. Bullets hounded his every step but he was five times faster than he was before, and none of them found their mark. But he could only run for so long, they would catch up with him sooner or later. He was close to levelling up, and a new ability could help him out of this situation but that was doubtful. If his next ability was useless for his situation, the time would’ve been better spent the best way to take as many people with him as he could.

He was going to die here, but there was no way he was going alone. They were all coming with him.

[Scarifar]

Michelle - Shooting Star-Yellow King

Shooting Star ran as fast as she could, zooming past buildings and streets as if they were nothing. Still, it was a number of minutes until she finally arrived, skidding along the ground until she reached a complete stop. She could tell that she wasn't the only King to offer support to the Fanged Rangers. Before she could feel relieved that she wouldn't be alone to lend her aid, a gigantic mob of Dissolutions swarmed the area. I'm too late, Shooting Star thought in dismay as she watched them.

She pulled herself out of her dismay, then charged right into the group, taking out one weak Dissolution with one X-Slash, then sliced through another with her reverse X-Slash. A large number of the Dissolutions turned toward her and lunged at her, but Michelle then performed her Tornado skill, spinning around in place and causing the Dissolutions to get sucked in. Many of them died in the ten-second period in which her skill was active, and several others were badly injured. A quick Gyro Strike put an end to those wounded Dissolutions, though.

One large golem-like Dissolution stomped it's way toward Shooting Star and tried to pummel her into the ground, but Michelle easily dodged it's punch and went behind it, striking its left leg with a Piercing Barrage. Its leg could no longer support it, causing the golem to crouch to the ground. It continued to try to fight, but in its weakened state, it was quickly slain and dissolved into a puddle of black sludge.

Shooting Star felt like she was wasting time trying to fight all these Dissolutions. She needed to find the Green King, or perhaps the mastermind behind the assault. She zoomed her way through the mob, forging her own path through the Dissolutions if she had to. As she weaved her way through, she noticed that the Dissolutions were ignoring some players while ruthlessly annihilating others. She quickly realized that only the Ebony Strykers were being ignored while everyone else was was either fleeing or dying. She took into account this new information as she made her way towards the Green Guild Hall. Maybe the Green King would be there.

[Lucius Cypher]

Donny Kain / Arms Slave

The Green Guild hall was no more.

Where anyone to come by where it once stood, all they would find would be it's ruined remains, and Arms Slave. A single Fanged Ranger, the last defender of the HQ, cursed with his final breath as Arms Slave pulled his axe from his chest, dispersing into experience crystals. Arms Slave leveled up, and underneath his ghastly visage he smiled. He looked around and could only see the Mayhem Riders cleaning up what was left of the Green City. No buildings to cover the sky. Only a scant few resistance from the other guilds. From his count, he lost a little over twenty players already, but that was expected. They were being killed off by the kings, but they were only few in number. He had started with around three hundred players, and they've accomplished only barely destroying a fifth of his forces. Where has he had laid waste to the entire Green City, and stalled long enough to bring Dissolutions to occupy the barren lands. Arms Slave returned to his war machine and got behind the wheel. He was going to head back to the Black City seeing that Dark Wraith had arrived, and may have orders for him. But he didn't leave without one more taunt to the kings gathered here today.

"What you've seen here is just a sample of what the Ebony Stykers are going to do to Deep Ground. All that work you've made so far? Trying to scrap back what you lost from the deaths of your kings? Meaningless. Your guilds died when your kings died. We're bringing a new age! An age of destruction. Of death and mayhem, to bring a madness to powerful it chases you even into reality! And even you kings... What kind of kings are you? You're nothing more than glorified PvPers. You don't have a goal, just a title that you plan to keep for shits and giggles. But whatever. Play your games, fight to your hearts content! Fight all you want, it'll certainly make this more interesting. But for now, you've done your part. You can go ahead and die now. Mayhem Riders! Back to the Black City!"

Arms Slave kicked his war machine into high gear. In celebration of the annihilation of the Black City, they continued to fire their guns at anything moving, now that there was no buildings to serve as cover. They left the area as quickly as they came, leaving nothing but Dissolutions to keep the wasteland. The only Stykers left behind were the ones who were already currently engaged in battle. But there was a reason why they were leaving. They were getting out of the danger zone.

The Dosh King looked over to Dark Wraith. "Alright darky, if what you're saying is right, than I think this ought to flatten what's left of the green city, and anyone in that area." The Black City was covered in a giant shadow. The shadow of a giant golden coin, with Dosh King's face on it. It was his Level 9 Avatar Ability; Root of all Evil. Normally it would be a ten-foot diameter coin, but with the combined buffs of all the healers present at the Black City, Dosh King's anti-building coin was sized up into a anti-city coin. It was a shame that he could only do this once a day, but with most of the Green City gone, all he needed to do was get rid of the survivors. Once his ten minute charging time was up, the Dosh King flung the city-sized coin over to where the Green City once stood. Everything inside would be crushed underneath. Players, Dissolution, even the buildings would be reduced form their already smoldering remains into a flatten, coin shaped crater.

As Arms Slave drove away from the resulting explosion, and the few who didn't got turned over, Crimson Bolt and Shining Ray were driving towards the Green City as they saw the destruction from Root of all Evil, and they had a column of Dissolution in tow. They were initiating part two of the Salt the Earth strategy, however they were starting to get strange reports of Dissolution already being present at the remains of the Green City. "Wait, what? But Dark Wraith sent us to bring in the Dissolutions! What do you mean that they just 'showed up' in the Green City? And they aren't hostile to the Ebony Stykers? That's a load of bullshit! Dissolutions are always the enemy! What the fuck is going on?"

A question that Arms Slave wanted answered. What happened with the Dissolutions, that wasn't natural. That was some fairly blatant hacking right there. And he knew that it would be within the abilities of the Sweepers to do something like that, but it was a sloppy job. And he had something to say about sloppy jobs. But even Dark Wraith had no idea what just happened.

Retsu Goroshi / Dark Wraith

"That can't be right. Crimson Bolt and Shinging Ray didn't even arrive yet."

Dark Wraith was trying to process this information. She had sent Crimson Bolt and Shining Ray to attract Dissolutions towards the Green City. They would do that after they see Dosh King's Root of all Evil attack go off, killing off all the players in the area and leaving Dissolutions in their place to ensure that the Green City wouldn't be rebuilt. It would only be than that she would reprogram the Dissolution's programming to change their respawn location to the Green City, that way even if the other guilds came in later, they would have to deal with constantly respawning Dissolutions.

What Dark Wraith was trying to figure out however, was why the Dissolutions started showing up before the Dosh King's attack or the arrival of Crimson Bolt and Shining Ray. And more importantly, why those same Dissolutions weren't attacking the Ebony Stykers. Because as useful as that is, Dissolutions are everyone's enemy, and Dark Wraith would have no hand in giving the Ebony Stykers such a blatant advantage. Allying with the Sweepers were one thing, but to ally with Dissolutions would be like saying that you have befriended bullets and thus are not able to be harmed by them. Blatant cheating, and no amount of clout would deny that. So Dark Wraith was worried about how to fix this before the other guilds start accusing the Ebony Strykers of hacking Deep Ground. She had no intention of following through with her initial plan seeing that there was already an ample population of Dissolutions at the remains of the Green City now (Assuming they would respond after the Dosh King's attack), but now she had a new problem.

Finding who was trying to frame the Ebony Strykers of this blatant form of hacking.

"Ebony Stykers, return to the Black City immediately. The Green City will be occupied by the Dissolutions. You will remain in the Black City until further orders."

Dark Wraith had to get to the bottom of this. Whoever made this hack wasn't trying to be subtle, but they must have quite a grip on the Deep Ground system. Worse still, they were enemies of the Ebony Strykers. Dark Wraith imagined that who ever did this plans to frame Ebony Stykers of hacking, and while the Erasers are deeply connected to the system of Deep Ground, they were smart enough not to do something his blatantly cheap. Whoever did this was just as skilled as Dark Wraith was, but was intentionally making novice mistakes in order to pin the blame on them. At least, that's what Dark Wraith thought. Because she had nothing to do with the Dissolutions this time. But before she could leave the guild hall, someone shouted at her.

"Oi! What the hell were you thinking?!"

It was Arms Slave.

[RoflsMazoy]

Reiko, Princess Rainbow

After the coin toss

Alright! She thought. We’ve finally made it! It had taken far longer than expected to get to the Green sector of the Faded City. She hadn’t accounted for the extra weight that Taro made up even though it wasn’t much, and had misjudged a lot of jumps on the way to their destination. Taro had fainted when she first missed a jump so that was fortunate for him because she had missed a whole lot more than the first one.

She was revelling in her achievement when she realized that something was wrong. Somehow she hadn’t noticed it before but there was a whole lot of noise coming from the direction of the Fanged Ranger’s guild hall. Still hoisting Taro, she reactivated her Rainbow Rush to climb a building and see what had happened. What she saw was shocking.

The entire guild hall was gone. Heck, the entire sector of the city was gone. There was some kind of humungous crater where it had been, which was now filled with dissolutions.

”What the hell happened here?”

Keith, Eclipsed Tower

Some time before the coin toss

Alright. Keith thought, perfecting his plan in his mind. His health had regenerated back to about ¾ of his maximum and most of his abilities had recharged. Trifold Eclipse still had 10 minutes left but he didn’t need to use that. Time to go.

While he ran from the horde that chased after him, he had been formulating a plan. The plan was completely suicidal and ordinarily out of the question. However, he was going to die here and no amount of skill was really going to change that. With that in mind he formulated a tactic, a tactic with his survival as unnecessary. Now was the time to carry it out.

Vigilance II. He activated his ability and dashed out of his cover. The dissolutions and the team of Outlaws noticed him immediately and started to give chase. The reason he was using Vigilance II was to bait the crowd. He ran just fast enough so that they could almost reach him, but not close enough to catch him. The outlaws began to fire their weapons, bullets again peppering the ground around him. He raised his shield to block the worst of it and kept going. Bullets narrowly missing him, he ran as he heard the Dragon's roar.

Now comes the hard part. He thought grimly, as the Dragon rounded a corner. The Dragon was a serious problem, and also the key to his plan. The Dissolution was about as strong as a level 9, but his intelligence wasn’t even close to a normal player’s. The Dragon charged straight at Keith, jaws open, ready to snap. Vigilance V.
Speed multiplying again, he jumped up over the Dragon’s mouth, the jaws snapping shut below him, and as the bulk of the dragon’s body quickly rushed by, he grabbed onto its tail and held on tight. The Dragon felt it, of course, though it didn’t do much damage it would still hurt the beast and that was what he wanted. His horde of pursuers also chased after him still, although he was on the tail of the Dragon.

The Dragon thrashed his tail, trying in vain to dislodge the enemy holding onto his tail. Keith wouldn’t give, and the Dragon continued to thrash in vain. The dragon, realizing its efforts were fruitless decided to instead try to dislodge the player by ramming his tail against a nearby building. The tail swung at high speed, but Keith managed to block most of the damage from the impact of hitting the building by blocking it with his shield, still managing to hold onto the Dragon’s tail.

Clearly frustrated, the Dragon tried a final ploy at destroying the puny parasite stuck on his tail. In an impossible feat of aerial manoeuvrability, it twisted its body so that its underside faced the sky, then flicked its tail upwards with all of its strength. The Dragon was pleased to find that the annoying creature flew upwards. The Dragon, seizing the opportunity, started to breathe a column of fire straight at the apparently helpless player… which is exactly what he wanted.

Meteor Slam. Keith activated his ability aiming it slightly to the left of the Dragon’s head. He rushed quickly towards the Dragon’s neck, cancelling the ability mid-air and grasping the exposed neck. The rough scales provided a perfect hand-hold and he used the momentum of his fall to swing the other side of his body under the Dragon’s neck and using his other arm to hold on to the other side. He then swung his legs up and hooked them into some chinks in the Dragon’s scales. With his feet now stable, he begin to bend himself backwards, redirecting the Dragon’s head to point downwards, though the rest of its body was not.

The breath of fire meant to destroy the supposedly helpless player was now directed downwards, a relentless torrent of flame incinerating the horde of low-level dissolutions and the Outlaw team. The fire was however, also damaging Keith. Though he was not directly hit, the heat was enough to rapidly drain his health. He craned his neck downwards, and saw that all of his pursuers were destroyed. The Dragon still somehow managed to stay afloat, its beating wings actually taking it higher somehow. Good. He thought. And now, to finish this.

Bending backwards even more, he applied more and more pressure onto the unfortunate Dragon’s neck. The Dragon's neck was clearly never supposed to bend that way, and he could feel the bones inside it starting to splinter and fracture under the strain. His health was still decreasing rapidly, 30% left and fading fast. He was burning from the fire-breath but the Dragon's neck still had a few seconds to go. He didn't know if his health would hold out.

25%, 20%, 15%, 10%. His health kept going down, but he could feel the Dragon was almost down, just a little more!

5%, and...

The Dragon's neck snapped backwards with an almighty crack, 1% of his health remaining and the Dragon Dissolution was dead.

Finally. Keith thought, as the Dragon in his hands dissolved into experience crystals, all rushing into the slayer of its host. This was the end of his battle today, there would be nothing after this. The guilds would have to resolve their wars without him. Even though he wasn't exactly an important person, he still wanted to do something big, become someone important. He realised it now, but that was the first time he'd ever wanted something other than to do well in this game. It was a new experience for him, one of many that had occurred today.

He closed his eyes, wearily contented as his avatar burned to death, still yet to reach the ground.

[YandereNoodle]

Stuffed Rabbit (Red King)

Rabbit had been pulled out of the fray before Arms Slave's 'war machine' could splatter her across the battlefield. She looked out across the fray as the guild hall was pelted and broken, as the dissolutions spawned en masse cutting down anyone who wasn't a Stryker, the incomparable Edwin Starr and up at the giant golden coin that fell over it abruptly silencing it all.

You Died
Disconnecting in 5 sec(s)

4...
3...
2...
1...

Michael Faye

Michael opened his eyes and sat up. He rolled his neck around, it cracked several times. He rubbed the nape of his neck and sighed. It's been ages since he last died, a full 24 hour wait-time before he can dive back in. He picked up his alarm clock and read it, "Nine seventeen..." He groaned and rocked back and forth to his feet, holding his arms out to balance.

He walked over to his closet and picked up a plastic bin, he held it under his arm and walked around his room and scooped up the clothing as he went by, getting them ready for laundry day. He sighed and set the bin down next to his door. He thought about the Jester's words - "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."

He pulled out his phone and began to type out an invitation to Moon Rider:

---

From: Stuffed Rabbit
To: Moon Rider
Subject: Coffee?

Hey, I have something I want to talk to you about. Can we talk over coffee tomorrow? I'm on death cooldown. There's a coffee shop by the aquatic center - think we could meet up there at like 17:00?

---

He was sure she wouldn't agree to it - but it was worth a shot, wasn't it? It was the only way he'd feel safe talking about the Jester, in the real world, where the Jester couldn't read his thoughts or listen to his conversations.

[Scarifar]

Michelle - Shooting Star-Yellow King

Shooting Star hacked and slashed her way through to the Green Guild Hall, or rather, what was left of it. The Green Guild was utterly destroyed. All that was there were the bodies of the Green Guild members, and a heavily armored vehicle. It drove away, and she followed it. After all, what else was she gonna do? She certainly couldn't just leave, especially seeing how badly the battle went.

The vehicle began firing at anything that moved, including her. It took a lot of her skill, including her Prediction skill, to dodge the incoming projectiles. It was made even harder by the Dissolutions, who kept getting in the way. Fortunately they also helped draw away fire and served as meat shields at times, so it was also a bit easier. At last they got out of the city, and a giant coin completely crushed it, killing all those who remained inside.

Shooting Star had never seen an ability like that before. An ability powerful enough to destroy an entire city... no, that was ridiculous. No one person would have enough power to do that. Whoever did it obviously had support in powering the ability up. Regardless, she continued following the vehicle, and realized why it looked so familiar. She remembered the day the Ebony Strykers first decided to open up the guild for recruitment, and she had zoomed by an armored vehicle. This one looked somewhat different, definitely more powerful, but she was sure it was the same one.

[drewccapp]

Solitary Watcher finally decided to leave. This battle was over. The Green King's guild had fallen. Their allies were scattered. Dissolutions were scattered all over the ruins of the city attacking everyone not within the Ebony Strykers. Watcher would have been attacked by one by now if he hadn't been in stealth the entire time. The biggest question was how did the Strykers tame dissolutions? Dissolutions were everyone's enemy.

Watcher made his way out of the city and found an unoccupied building to sort things out privately. He toggled off his camouflage when he felt the location was safe. He pulled up Deep Ground's notepad program and began to take notes.

1. Ebony Strykers at war with all guilds, must have some serious plan


2. Dissolutions tamed. How? Excellent tactic nonetheless


3. Fang Rangers crippled. Possibly unrecoverable. Black King definitely sending a message there.


4. Strykers x Sweepers alliance. How did Black King get an alliance with a moderator group that is supposed to deal with bandits?


5. Thing to Find Out: Reason for Black King's declaration of war.


6. Thing to Find Out: How were the dissolutions tamed.


7. Thing to Do: Join a Guild. Possible options I like: Red Guild. Probable Best Option: Black.

Solitary Watcher frowned as he looked at the end of his list. That was a difficult decision to make. The Red King seemed like a team player and Watcher liked that. However, the Black King's strategy appealed strongly to him, she used the game's environment spectacularly, and as vicious as her guild mates were they knew how to wage war. He didn't like how bloodthirsty the group he saw were. Watcher liked to fight other players, but he picked his fights carefully and certainly didn't fight just for the sake of fighting.

He closed up the app and finally had come to a decision. He left the building and grappled up to the top of the building. He checked the map to orient himself properly and closed it as he dashed from building to building to the Black City. Part of him wondered if this was the right choice, but that doubt wasn't enough to stop him. The guards at the entrance were wary of him, but relaxed when the noticed his unguilded status.

"You here to join?" One of them asked. He was a level six armsman with a rugged look with the name Rusty Nail.

Watcher nodded once. "Where do I sign up? Never been in a guild before, so I'm not familiar with the process of joining one."

[OverconfidentMagi]

Aaron was calm and collected as he knocked on the door to April’s room. Darius opened the door to let him in, since April was already fully in the game lying on her bed.

“So how did it go?” Darius returned the chair he’d been sitting in to be in front of the door and sat down in it. The Orange King had poked the beast today, so they were taking precautions. While not all of the Marauders were particularly fond of their fresh king, none of them wanted to go through a repeat of Garth’s death.

Aaron set the book he’d gotten from the library on the desk before taking a seat on the bed, or more accurately on the very corner of the bed not occupied by an unresponsive April. The first thing he’d done after securing his own position as the Marauders’ king was declare that if what happened to Garth ever happened to him, that the role of king would immediately and unquestionably pass to Bellowed Mist.

“It went well,” was all he said before he fell backwards onto the bed.

Darius winced as he watched his king’s skull collide with April’s knee. Aaron would feel that one when he logged back out. The large young man let out a heavy sigh. For once, he wasn’t feeling excited to enter the game. His body merely slouched forward a bit as he changed into the wizard Zealous Calm.

In the game’s world, there was no sign of the other two being anywhere near where Zealous Calm appeared, likely because they weren’t anywhere near where he was. The wizard turned to face the entire gathered forces of the Silent Marauders.

---

Conquest Pantheon was in position. He would have been ready sooner, but he’d had to carry Bellowed Mist most of the way. The female assassin sat only inches from where Pantheons stood, a necessity as the platform upon which they were consisted of nothing more than one of Pantheon’s spears stabbed into the fabric of the sky.

The assassin broke the stubborn silence, but what she had to say didn’t lighten the mood at all. The Green Guild was gone, it was suspected that some of the Kings that had been present had fallen, and to make matters worse, dissolutions were spawning out of control all over the Green Guild’s territory. The day was a total loss for the allied Kings.

The blanket of clouds far below finally decided to part, revealing the obsidian spires of the Black Guild far below. Conquest Pantheon raised his spear over his head and charged up his most powerful ability. He had his sights set on the highest part of the Black Guild, where his spear would do maximum damage.

A second later, a massive column of lightning tore through the roof of the Guild.

As soon as Stream Lightning returned his spear to him, Bellowed Mist grabbed Pantheon’s arm, and the two of them disappeared. The spear they had been perched upon vanished exactly thirty seconds later. The spearman and assassin had already rejoined the rest of the Marauders by that time though as they marched together towards the Black King’s territory. Word was that the Cobalt Bruisers were already taking on the Ebony Strykers on their home turf. If anyone was still standing, the Silent Marauders would join them to fight.

[Arrayah]

It was gone. All of it. Everything she had spent her entirety in DGO working for, destroyed. Tender Fern stood on a building just past the border of Green Territory and stared at the crater that held nothing but dissolutions. She'd tried so hard to defend the hall, to protect her guild members, but when the shadow of a huge coin covered the city, Fern had fled. She could have stayed, continued to fight, and died like the rest, but what if there was some reason she needed to get back into the game before probation was up? She couldn't risk it. So instead, she'd run, barely making it out of the zone in time. For a few minutes, she'd just stared, unable to comprehend.

And then the grief hit her. Despite all efforts, the Mayhem Riders had won. Even with the other Kings, the Rangers had not had enough strength to protect their home and now it was gone. Rebuilding it was possible, but would take all of their efforts to do. Was it worth it? How could she justify the repairs when they were in the middle of war and woefully unprepared? More importantly why had the Strykers done it? This wasn't something that was done. Sure, the guilds attacked each other, but it was mostly pvp, they tended not to care about buildings. Why had Moon Rider wanted to destroy the Green City so badly? And how had she controlled the dissolutions that now populated it? Dropping to her knees, Fern wished that the Kings had not been killed, wished that things could go back to the way they were, and wished that she had not inherited the responsibility of the Rangers.

One breath, and then another. Tender Fern stood once more, a look of determination on her covered face. She'd meant what she said. The Fanged Rangers would not be defeated so easily. They may not have their home any longer, but they still had each other. More so, they had the alliance and a duty to take down the Black King and her Strykers. For today, they were out of the fight, but they would be back tomorrow, and Moon Rider would see just what a mistake she had made for they no longer had anything to lose.

Goodbye, Tender Fern - Green King

Lucy awoke in her bed and for a few moments she forgot where she was. It was always like that upon leaving D.G.O. She'd never once gotten used to the sensation of waking up in a different world. Almost as if she'd been living a dream. It didn't last, though, and soon she was up, changing her clothing, and slamming the door to her room behind her. The Rangers would want revenge, but that wasn't Lucy's goal. No. What she wanted was for it to end, to be able to rebuild her city without fear of another attack, to go on helping players without interference of some war to stop her. It was time that everyone learned just who the Rangers were, who she was, and that they would not stay down for long. It was time that they saw just how hard it was to break the Green King. It was time that the Fanged Rangers be known for strength and willpower more than neutrality.

Instead of the typical uniform that she always wore on campus, Lucy stomped down the halls in a forest green dress, her blond hair tied up with a jade bow, a kelly green scarf around her neck. She'd grabbed the only things she had in the color knowing that none of it matched. It didn't matter because it just wasn't the point. Instead, it was to make a statement. It was dangerous, stupid even, to let people know her identity, but it needed to be done. She could hear the whisper, the speculations s as she passed students in the hall on her way to where she suspected her guild members would be.

That's right, she thought. You know exactly who I am.

The girl who'd always been invisible was no longer.

[Lucius Cypher]

Donny Kain / Arms Slave

Arms Slave tried to argue with Dark Wraith about the Dissolution situation over the guild chat, however she was proving to be more and more defensive as he continued to try to figure out answers. To make things worse, Arms Slave was being tailed by none other than the Yellow King, who was likely looking to pick a fight with him since he attacked the Green City. Frankly, Arms Slave was rather disappointed at his lack of king-kills, so for the moment she cut off communications with Dark Wraith. Instead he switched channels to talk to what remained of his Mayhem Riders, or at least the ones who were near his war machines. "Looks like the king in yellow wants to have a word with us! Let's greet him!"

Arms Slave switched his cameras to behind the war machine, seeing the Yellow King dodging shots behind him. "Hold your fire and hang on tight!" When the Yellow King was right behind Arms Slave, he stopped right in his tracks. Given how fast he was going in his war machine, the Yellow King must be going at least 70 mph or so. But like his war machine, he doubt that the yellow king had the shear weight to stop right in her tracks just as Arms Slave did, so he planned to let her run right into the back of the War Machine. Answering his call, a few other of the Mayhem Riders also rode towards Arms Slave and his war machine, driving in battlewagons meant to drop off players quickly and/or clearing out groups of enemies by running them over. Three of them showed up, each packed with players as they jumped out to attack the Yellow King. At least twenty players of different classes immediately pounced on the Yellow King, firing off whatever damage-dealing ability they had ready at the moment, but it a storm of bullets, a powerful slash, or a single magical missile. And to ensure that the Mayhem Riders could fight to their full efficiency, one of the battlewargon leaders, Iron Maiden, activated a buff for the Ebony Stykers: Friendly Fire Off. Now they could attack with impunity, with no fear that their allies would be harmed or get in the way of their attacks.

Arms Slave himself deployed his troops and entered the battle himself, launching himself to the top of his machine. He expected that the king in yellow, in a split moment decision to try to avoid crashing into the back of his war machine, would have jumped into the air. So Arms Slave kept an eye above him, ready to ensnare the king in yellow with chains if she happened to have jumped up.

Retsu Goroshi / Dark Wraith

Dark Wraith was trying her best to ignore Arms Slave constant questioning over the guild chat. He demanded answers to the same questions she wanted to know, and it was getting repetitive. To top it off, the Cherry Hunter program alerted her to the arrival of the Orange King, who was dropping in from above the Black City. No doubt he planned to try a "Shock and awe" on the black guild, but she was one step ahead. Dark Wraith looked towards three players, one Warlock and two healers, both level eight. "Operation Thunder Rod, go!"

On the roof tops, they could see the Orange King fall towards them. They had a general idea of his Avatar Ability, thanks to intel gathered by the Sweepers. So they knew that he planned to use his Heaven Torn Asunder, or a similar technique, and given that he was attacking them directly, they could guess that he had buffed himself prior to do the most damage they could. While they still had time, the warlock summoned his demon; a winged creature capable of flight. Then the two healers sacrificed their health to put two Reflection barriers onto the demon, to create 100% damage reflected. After that? They had the demon fly strait towards the Orange King's attack, taking the hit and reflecting the damage done back to the source. Even if he was teleported away, he would feel the damage of his attack hit him.

Within the Black Castle, the attack did certainly shake up their building, but they stood sturdy nonetheless. "It looks like they intend for a mutually assured destruction as well. So be it. Dosh King! I know you cannot use your Root of all Evil attack today, but I want you to use your Forgery ability to start multiplying our armory. Do whatever it takes." Dark Wraith changed channels to speak with Crimson Bolt and Shining Ray, who was still leading Dissolution in the Green City. They were quite surprised that some of the Dissolutions weren't attacking them, and the only ones that were would be the ones that they had attracted elsewhere. "You two, bring those Dissolutions to the White Kingdom. No doubt that their king wants a battle with us, but while they have their forces at our door we will hit them at home. Don't engage in the battle yourself; I need you alive for now."

And there was one final order she had to give. She went out of the Black Castle and addressed the army of Ebony Stykers before her. They were not like Arms Slave Mayhem Riders, and army of rag tag misfits. This was a proper army of true Sweepers, actual Agents of the Erasers, lead by Erasers. And most importantly; not Ebony Stykers. They were Sweepers allied to the Ebony Stykers, but they themselves either independent players or even members of other guilds. But their connection as Sweepers is what allowed them to stand here right then. While smaller in numbers than the Mayhem Riders, they were much more effective outside of open warfare. Special Operations. "The Green City lies barren now. That is our message to the guilds; no amount of neutrality or innocence will protect you. They had their choice to surrender, and now they can die alongside their foolish pride. You are Sweepers. Unaligned to any faction but your own. Even to the Ebony Stykers, you fight for us because that is your choice. I would not make you do anything that I would not do myself. So with your decision made, you will infiltrate the other guilds, and subvert their operations from within. When we meet on the field of battles, we may fight as enemies. But in the end, you know where your loyalty lies. You know your tasks. Dismissed!"

The Sweepers dispersed from the Black City. They all went their separate ways to do their mission. A few may even betray the Black Guild in hopes that they could usurp power from the upstarts warlords. But their true purpose were the bugs that Dark Wraith had planted onto them, through alterations made to their character data. They would, unknowingly, record all interactions around them, feeding that information back to her. So whether or not they actually do as told and disrupt operations within the opposing guilds did not matter to her. All they needed to do was simply get in. And as unaligned Sweeper Agents, with war on the horizon, she doubt many guilds could afford not to take in whoever they could.

[TheWendil]

Deep Ground Online

Corpse Collector
The mismatched Player rolled her eyes in response to Smitten Kitten’s oh so threatening words. Still, a twitch of annoyance did betray her emotions as the other Player mentioned her defeat so blatantly.

“Yeah, I actually don’t remember anything after that. Strange isn’t it? Just woke up one day back here with a brand new outfit! For all I know, I could be in some serious coma…and that would be terrible….nah!”

Corpse Collector leapt from the rubble and took a threatening step forward, twirling her wide umbrella playfully as she did so. Upon hearing Smitten Kitten’s concerns over the Black King, the Hacker giggled madly.

“Oh re-fucking-lax already! Look, I don’t know much either. Frankly, I don’t care. I’m done trying to kill that shitty King. In fact, my new goal is really simple! Here, take a look.”

Corpse Collector revealed a silver gun with two long, silenced barrels and some runes carved into the side in a delicate manner.

“Like it? It’s Death Penalty II. It’s…actually kinda meh. It can’t shoot out Dissolutions like the old baby, so that’s what I’m gonna do now. Find the guy who beat me-Arms Slave was it?-and then take my gun back. And then rip all his arms off, kyayahaha! And you…”

The Hacker Player grinned wildly, clicking a small button located on the side of her umbrella. At once, the parasol became a whirlwind of spinning, bladed, death.

“I kinda wanna kick your ass too Kitty. After all, you were standing right fucking there when I got booted out the game. That makes you double guilty!”

---

Silver Jester the Masked Man
“Pleasant day, isn't it? The perfect day for a war, and if you don't have anything else to say to me, I'd like to be on my way.”
“Not just war…but conflict. Strife. Antagonistic actions that define the core of living things…yes. It’s a beautiful day for paradox’s and shifts to occur.

The Masked Man tilted his head.

“A boy who seeks to find truth in death, reasoning in sacrifice. That is the kind of person you are Albus. Very fascinating…tell me. What can you tell me about a Player named Corpse Collector? Would you like to know more about the self-proclaimed Hacker Player?”

The Real World

Student President Yoshino Tsugumi
Yoshino blinked her eyes open at the sudden intrusion within the Student Office. A few hours had passed since her conversation with Retsu, and she could only assume that the efforts inside Deep Ground were a success, given as her second in command had not replied back. No, she was more than just that now. She was a friend. Still, she had expected the small ringing to be from her.

Bringing up her frontal interface, the Student President widened her eyes once more at the message delivered to her. Since her original declaration of opening up the Ebony Stryker's gates, she had taken the risk to add her name to the forums if anyone actually had the guts to contact her.

Of course, no one really did, and it was more of a display of power than an actual method to converse with any other Player. She usually did that through Retsu or giving direct commands herself in-game. So just who was this lucky person that wanted to, of all things, talk?

Yoshino took one glance at the sender's name before narrowing her eyes. The Red King. And just exactly what did they want from her? Coffee was a liable excuse and Yoshino was just too paranoid to think it was something to gloss over.

With a frown, she first sent a message to Dark Wraith in-game to detail her next plan of action. If this was some sort of vulgar trap to corner her in the real world, then she would not hesitate to make the others pay hell for it.

"I've been contacted by the Red King to meet up later. Since this is in the real world, I can only assume our attacks were enough to win the battle. Don't worry about me; I'm confident that this new Red King is less of an ass than her brighter counterpart. I'll send you another message later when I'm done."

Smirking at her own little quip towards the Orange King, Yoshino swiftly replied back before getting up to grab her coat. If the Red King truly did want to discuss matters, than it would be on her own terms.

---

From: Student President
To: Stuffed Rabbit
Subject: Fine

Yes I know of the place. My client has deemed the circumstances safe enough, although I will be appearing in her place. I want this quick, simple, and today. You have less than an hour to get there before I change my mind.

---

By the time she had sent the message, Yoshino was already locking the office doors on her way out.

Michael was on his back when the message came back - not returned by the King herself, but through the Student President... One hour?! That's ridiculous! It’s a fifteen minute jog at least and with the president no less, Michael had to brush his hair and put on good clothes and - clothes! Laundry was tomorrow, he didn't have anything good to wear... today's uniform maybe, but... it was at the bottom of his hamper. Michael was officially flipping shit with fifty minutes left.

Michael pivoted around, scanning desperately for something to put on - a lightweight jacket that wasn't too badly worn. He threw it on and zipped it up halfway. He stood in front of the full-length mirror on the back of his dorm-room wall and teased his hair with his hand and sighed before slipping into his loafers and swinging the door wide open.

Michael jogged out of the dormitory to the bike rack outside, he fumbled with the lock, twenty minutes had passed and he wasn't even on the way there - knowing Purple Crown the walkways to the place would probably be packed with students. Twenty five minutes and he'd finally got the lock free and was peddling furiously towards the coffee shop.

Thirty full minutes had since passed after that fateful message, and Yoshino found herself sitting at a table near the very edge of the cafe. A small, black coffee-how fitting-steamed from her clenched hand and she glanced at the clock above her.

This place always was such a hotspot for Purple Crown students, Player and diner alike. However, seeing as there was a full-scale war taking place in the game right about now, the cafe was understandably lacking in customers.

She should have known this was another scheme, no doubt to reel in Black King in the real world. A frown slowly creased onto her face as she debated on whether she should spare her guest another five minutes or so.

Michael finally rounded the last corner leading to the shop at thirty-five minutes after. He hopped off the bike as it swerved into the bike rack and fastened the chain around the wheel. He stood up sighing and looked into the window to see the president sitting at the edge of the cafe. He gulped and sighed, "Alright." He made a fist that would make an anime protagonist proud.

Michael stepped up to the door and pushed it open, the bell chimed lightly signaling his arrival. The barista came out from the background, "Welcome! What can I get for you?"

"A uh... caramel macchiato."

"Mhm, three dollars."

Michael fumbled with his wallet and laid the money down on the counter. He folded it up and slid it back in his pants pocket. He smiled to the girl behind the counter and turned around to face the president. He sighed and made strides towards her, sliding into the seat across the table from her. He held his hand up, "Yo."

Yo? Yo...yo. Yo? Yes...yo. Yoshino almost wanted to believe that he was trying to say her first name and just couldn't get it out. As amusing as that thought was, she knew that probably wasn't the case. Instead, she marveled at the fact that the new Red King, Stuffed Rabbit...was a guy.

And not just that, but Michael Faye. That in itself...opened up a new can of questions. Still, he was much easier to handle than that ass Aaron. Yoshino took a calm sip of her coffee and while also adjusting her glasses with the fingers of one hand.

"Do you always greet members of the Student Cabinet with makeshift rap lyrics?"

Scary. Michael's first impression of meeting with the president of the student body. Maybe scary was the wrong word, intimidating more like. He rubbed the back of his head, closed his eyes, and smiled awkwardly, "Ah, sorry..."

The barista arrived at the table and set the drink down in front of Michael, he smiled to her, "Thank you." She nodded and walked back off. Her timing was impeccable and helped alleviate some of the awkwardness that Michael was experiencing at that moment.

He sighed and sat up straight in his chair, "I uh... wish that Moon Rider could've been here. This is kinda something we should talk about one-on-one." He picked up the cup and took a sip from his coffee.

Seeing his flustered state, Yoshino just had to tease the poor boy just a little bit more. It was bad enough that she now knew Stuffed Rabbit was male...what more could she do?

"Oh? So you're criticizing my job now? Are you saying I'm incompetent, and so have little importance when compared with my client? Is that what you're implying to your Student President, Faye-san?"

A light smirk had now replaced the frown.

Michael flushed red, "I- I uh- no- nonononono. I just..."

Was she messing with him? He couldn't tell, she was always so serious all the time, it made it really hard to tell whether or not she actually had a sense of humor. He tried to bury his ramble by pretending to drink from his coffee, averting his eyes from her as much as possible.

"Well now...I can see now why you were declared Red King."

Yoshino took a sip of her own coffee, letting the last joke hang in the air. At once, she directed a look of business towards the other student.

"But I'm afraid I only have time to share more than two laughs with an ally. Seeing as you are an enemy to my client's cause, you won't share such a luxury again. Now then, Stuffed Rabbit. What do you want?"

He set the coffee down on the table, "I uh... had a run-in with the masked man today and he told me the reason that Rider was doing all of this stuff, the war and teaming up with the Sweepers. I uh... wanted to talk to her in-person about it because it isn't really a safe topic to talk about in Deep Ground."

At once, Yoshino's frame tensed up and her eyes narrowed into twin searchlights, reading Michael's expression carefully. The Masked Man...she herself had once encountered the strange supposed Player, though she had only ever made detail of her account to the last White King.

She sighed.

"You should have known better Faye-san. First off, what made you have the slightest assumption that my client would ever reveal herself in public? That being said, you claim to know my client's goals in this whole game. Impossible, as that would imply that you know more about her than me. As for the Masked Man...that thing is not to be trusted. And as for yourself..."

Yoshino fiddled with her glasses.

"You made an incredibly stupid mistake; coming out here and openly revealing your real life identity. I should use this to our advantage...."

A pause.

"But I suppose I can let your first hand experience as a new King be reason enough for this slip-up to be ignored for now. Anything else? Or do you have more theories to share with me?"

Michael was on the verge of tears. Christ. She just tore through everything he had said and then some. He brought cup up about halfway through her rebuttal to try and hide his expression from her. His eyes looked off into the window behind her, trying to keep their eyes from meeting.

At once the Student President's expression softened significantly, as if she had caught herself from going too far. A sympathetic smile was soon followed by a second sigh.

"Apologies Faye-san if I've offended you in any way. I suppose I was...speaking too much on behalf of my client."

Michael sat the cup down on the table and gulped, "Yeah, don't worry about it. I just- I'm sorry for dragging you out here for nothing."

"No it's not fine," Yoshino replied with a serious tone to her voice, as if criticizing herself for being too harsh.

"You came out here to seek the Black King. You came here not knowing what you would find. And while that did take a lot of stupidity to muster...it also took much bravery as well to risk your life to speak with me. Faye-san...the least I can do is hear you out."

She looked down at her coffee cup, staring at the black liquid, lost in thought.

"That is, if I haven't scared you off yet," she tried to offer, looking up with a genuine smile.

Michael returned his gaze to her as she looked down at the coffee, when she looked up at him smiling the two of them made eye contact for the first time in the conversation. She was smiling. It was the first time he'd seen her actually smile. It was kind of cute. He blinked awkwardly and blushed, "I uh..."

He coughed, clearing his throat, into his fist and took a deep breath. He leaned forward and spoke lower than they had been, "Well, the masked man said that Moon Rider's trying to break the program from the inside out by causing all-out war inside the game. So she's either going to recruit everyone or keep throwing everything she's got at the system until the WI has to shut it down."

He sat back and picked up the cup and pressed it to his lips, it was significantly cooler than when he started, but he'd barely made a dent in it. He blushed and looked down at the table, setting the cup down on it, "I was hoping that uh... when I told Moon Rider this she'd explain it a little better."

Yoshino was too little, too late realize that he was staring directly into her eyes. At once, the primal instinct of her phobia threatened to take ahold, and she slowly directed her eyes away, trying to calm her rapid heart. However, Michael's next words didn't help matters at all, and the Student President's eyes snapped back to her fellow student.

"W...What did you say?"

Destroy Deep Ground from the inside out? But that...how did...no one knew that. No one knew, not even Retsu. No, scratch that. Retsu knew to some extent. How was Stuffed Rabbit able to predict this information? The answer was simple, taunting her in the face.

"That masked bastard," she muttered, before staring down Michael once more, a new suspicion growing within her.

"I...I see. Frankly, I'm at a lose for words and so...I guess....no, I suppose...I-I...Heh, and so he told you everything, right? Told you about the Black King's plan....Moon Rider's plan...."

She gave Michael a look that could freeze a heart solid.

"My plan."

"Your... plan?"

Michael took a gulp of his coffee when her words hit him fully. His eyes diluted and he quickly gulped it, "You?!"

Michael realized all-to-late that he'd practically yelled out around the coffee shop, he looked around quickly to see if anyone heard - luckily the ongoing war had all of the cafe's regulars busy and the barista was too busy listening to music in the backroom. He blushed and turned back around, he leaned forward, "I totally called it."

"So- do you think you could elaborate on your plan a little?"

"Oh did you? Do you want an autograph too?"

Yoshino was on the defensive now. And why wouldn't she be? As of now, more than two people knew her true identity, the other being Retsu Goroshi. White Terror had known as well, but unfortunately, she had taken it to the grave. Haruka, as loyal as ever....

"Isn't it obvious?" she asked when questioned about her reasoning. "As a King, I thought...no, let me stop right there. As a King, I know you won't understand. It is for that reason alone why I seek not to share my goals with the other Guilds. None of them will understand."

The Black King leaned forward, her eyes intense and momentarily forgotten of their brandished phobia.

"Why do I want to destroy Deep Ground? It's because it governs our lives like cattle. It controls every aspect of our destiny...and we're expected to just sit by? Play some stupid death game to determine our future? Red King, I ask of you this; does that sound like a fair world at all?"

Michael, still in shock of the Black King's sudden reveal, took a moment to compose himself before replying, "I uh- when you put it like that- no... no, not really."

"Of course it doesn't," she agreed bitterly. "But I'm afraid our fellow Kings and the rest of Deep Ground feel the exact opposite. Deep Ground is so influential within our society that it's become a way of life. Why should I tamper with something that's not broken? But it is broken, and people fail to see that. Even now, the World Interface will be swayed to the sides of those who to keep their fatalistic tradition running because of a selfish ideology."

Yoshino paused to catch her breath, taking the time to adjust her glasses once more.

"Even if that means that I'll become the world's enemy...I'll keep fighting against what I believe to be nothing by a tyrannical doctrine."

If Michael had any doubts now, they were soon crushed under Yoshino's sheer fortitude. Here was Moon Rider, the Black King, in the world of the living.

That passion. His crush on the student president had run dry earlier when she beat him down. But now- that she's in her powerhouse state of hers, it reignited his passion too. He blushed thinking about it, he looked straight into her eyes and opened his mouth the speak and found himself speechless. He took a gulp of his coffee and closed his eyes to compose himself.

"There was one more thing-" Michael cut off to take a drink of his coffee, "The masked man said that I should join you... I uh- think that I should."

Why did he say that? There was absolutely no good reason to join her- except that she made it seem like the right thing to do or whatever. Maybe it was the way that she delivered it with so much passion. It made his heart race, could he really be swayed by simple lust? Perhaps, but another thought crossed his mind.

"But- what'll the other Kings do to me if I up and switch sides? I mean- I was the one who got all of them to agree on banding together."

Yoshino blinked, momentarily caught off guard. He wanted to join her? And this had come from the Masked Man? The Student President mulled over her options with a sip of coffee. While it would definitely add to her forces, she had to wonder why the Masked Player himself sought to assist her Guild, no, her goals. Didn't he just go around watching everyone, not getting involved?

"You....want to join me? I won't lie Michael...I'm actually a bit touched at that," she said softly. "I can only assume that you share the same views towards the Deep Ground Program. I...just want a world where I don't have to fight for my life, where every day is a potential threat to your future."

Hesitating for a moment, Yoshino gave a small shake of her head-directed towards herself-before leaning over and touching Michael's hand.

"Even so...I'd be glad to have you on my side. You...even without your Guild."

Moon Rabbit-Contains Fluff

Student President Yoshino Tsugumi
The moment seemed to last an eternity before Yoshino reeled back and adjusted her glasses.

"Of course, there's the issue of the other Kings. I myself will no longer bother to convince them to my cause, though that doesn't mean you can quit trying. Seeing as you made the alliance in the first place, maybe they'll listen to you. Who knows?"

The Student President leaned forward again, the fire alight in her amber eyes once more.

"But if they choose to repel your words with force, then I will cut each and every last one of them myself," she promised.

He meditated on her words: I'd be glad to have you on my side. That was oddly specific of her - she probably meant it in that he was a well-to-do player... an asset, though he liked the prospect that the president was warming up to him. He almost didn't even notice that she had rested her hand on his. He blushed and looked her straight in the eyes.

What she said next though was... scary, at least to him. Michael appreciated the sentiment but the idea of Moon Rider showing up and cutting people for his sake startled him. He smiled awkwardly, "Thanks, but I don't think they'll listen to us- especially not after what went down in Green City... If it weren't for the masked man I probably wouldn't have heard you out either."

He picked up his cup and looked down at her as she leaned over the table, she was cute - and even though his thoughts by no means matched the gravity of the situation, he couldn't help but wonder if she, perhaps, was a normal girl. He'd like to see that, maybe.

A rare sight happened on that cold night in the cafe. Yoshino did not flinch away automatically when the Red King set his eyes on hers again. A rare moment indeed...but one that was only overcome by the rarity of the red pool forming on the Student President cheeks.

"I-I...I see. Yes," she coughed, trying to ignore the fluttering in her chest. "Yes, it would be troublesome. They're pretty much bred on fighting one another, the lot of them. Hmm...I'm wondering what could happen if we take a different approach though. We can announce your Guild's alliance with mine through a more drastic measure."

"Hm, what did you have in mind?"

What she had in mind was...well, terribly unorthodox.

"Yes...in order to intimidate them further, we need to send them a message. Perfect! If people start seeing us as a couple outside of the game, then that would cause additional pressure to the Kings in the real world! Besides, it's not like that have actual lives outside of Deep Ground anyway."

To be fair, Yoshino Tsugumi was rumored to be the only student in all of Purple Crown Academy...who still read academic texts for fun. Now that more disturbing than any masked freak.

Throughout this all, Yoshino explained the concept in a logical fashion and a calm voice, as if the prospect of dating was nothing out of the ordinary for her.

Michael blushed, "W- wait... are you asking me out?" He glanced around the coffee shop and back to the president, "Like - for real?"

Michael thought about it: there's no way she's doing this out of anything more than necessity, right? A power play. Though, he had his doubts about how concrete her idea was - after all, almost nobody knew who they were in the game... how would them being presented as a couple put pressure on the other guilds? A glimmer of hope. Maybe she was just grasping at straws, trying to cover it up with an intellectual tone. The hope bubbled in his chest and pushed the ends of his mouth up into a smile at the thought.

"Doesn't it make sense?"

Yoshino tilted her head and sipped her coffee.

"The world knows me only as the Black King's voice. With your Guild joining mine, it won't take a genius to figure out who it is that's dating the Student President. Of course...oh...heh, sorry about that! I got carried away again. If you don't want to reveal your identity, I understand. We won't do the dating plan if you don't want to. You're my ally now, so I have to make sure to protect you too," she said warmly.

Heh. Of course.

"Y- yeah... it might be a problem if I uh.... came out, as it were."

He gulped, maybe he could salvage this sinking ship. The prospect of dating - even if it was just for show - wasn't something he was willing to let slip through his fingers. He gripped his pant legs under the table and looked down at it, blushing. He opened his mouth and paused, gripped with hesitation. He closed it again and breathed a deep breath.

"But- uh... what if I uh... if we..."

He gulped, "...can I take you out for coffee again sometime?"

Michael began instantly to beat himself up over it - was that too indirect? What if she didn't understand what he was trying to get across? What if she did get it... and she denied him? A fate worse than death.

Yoshino frowned, and instantly began shaking her head in negation.

"No...no I'm afraid that won't do...no you can't take me out for coffee. That's because next time, you're taking me out for lunch."

Taking a final sip of her coffee, Yoshino smiled teasingly at her new...friend? Perhaps...

"And maybe dinner the next time. And who knows where else after that. That is...if you still think Moon Rider is oh so more interesting than plain old Yoshino Tsugumi?"

No - his heart dropped instantly and shattered into a thousand stinging pieces. Well fuck, it's all over now isn't it? He was so caught up in his self-loathing that he nearly missed her dramatic turn. Lunch, dinner, and beyond? That feeling of hope swelled up again. Michael was tired - what should've been a simple cup of coffee had become an emotional roller coaster of epic proportions.

"I- I uh..." he blushed at being at a loss for words, "I uh... have a confession."

He gulped, "I uh... liked you before I knew... that you were Moon Rider." He looked up at her and smiled awkwardly and back down at the table. "So uh... yeah."

"You liked me?"

So it did go over her head... Michael thought.

Yoshino was actually a little curious now. She had little time to deal with relationships at all given her work, and that was yet another reason why the Black King had sealed herself off from others. Didn't Haruka often tease her about such a thing before? Yoshino fought down the emotions regarding that subject in favor for these more positive.

"If you don't mind, can I ask why? I mean, I know I'm Student Body President, but that's only a job for people who really, really, really have alot of time to spare."

She adjusted her glasses.

"What exactly do you see in me Michael?"

"I- I uh..." he knew the answer, but... was there really a good way to put it? "You... really... command a lot of power - and you're cute. I guess that sounds like a stupid crush, doesn't it..?"

The expression on Yoshino's face was now a frown coupled with a blush.

"Well that first one makes me sound like a bully. I'm not that scary, am I?"

Michael smiled awkwardly and held up two fingers a short ways apart, "Maybe a little- intimidating, kinda... Maybe that was just your business face."

"O-Oh. Well, I hope I don't come across as that all the time," she said shyly, embarrassed at how he must have seen her everyday.

"Still, you're a little cute yourself, you know? I mean, you do go around killing people with a name like Stuffed Rabbit."

"W- well it's not like we get to choose, you know!" He took a drink of his macchiato and looked back up at her.

"No. I suppose we don't. Just another example of how that game controls our lives," she said with a sigh. And that's when she noticed the clock.

"Well look at that. It looks like you cheated Mister Red King. You used an hour and twenty minutes to explain yourself. Didn't I only give you just one hour?" she asked coyly.

"W- well, maybe you could stay a little longer- on personal time?" he smiled shyly at her. He was never much of a romantic, he probably could've phrased that better. But, he tried to keep up this facade as if he knew what he was doing.

"...you're not good at this, are you? Is this your first time Michael?"

With a weary sigh, Yoshino leaned over closely and planted a small kiss on his cheek. With that tiny action done, she sat back and waited patiently for the inevitable fireworks.

"I- I uh..." he blushed as she set her lips on his cheek, genuinely stunned. He blinked awkwardly, "...yeah, it is."

"I uh... had always spent so much time in the City, so... I never really uh..." He sighed, he must seem like such a loser right now - though, perhaps that was part of his charm, he thought. He smiled a little, "I did get catcalled a few times in there though..."

"Really? Did they have the luxury of being a King? Probably not...can you imagine if people found out that I was the Black King? I'm actually afraid of what they'd do to the both of us," she joked.

Michael stared, immersed in the conversation, at his coffee cup. He looked back up, "Actually, now that I think about it... maybe it'd end up like a witch hunt in the old days?"

"You know the one person I'd want to meet in person though? Arms Slave. He's the most insane person I've ever seen - I wonder if he's actually like that."

Yoshino thought back to Retsu's descriptions of the battle-manic Player and how contrasting he was in the real world.

"I...have a rough idea."

"Yeah?" he leaned forward, thoroughly curious.

"Oh you'll have to find out yourself. You've only just joined my cause today Rabbit."

Standing up from her seat, she motioned for Michael to escort her out of the cafe. A fine way to give him some much needed experience.

Michael stood up, carrying the thick paper cup with him and tossing it into the refuse before pushing the door open and holding it for his newfound girl, "I uh... have my bike here. We could ride together- if you wanted to."

Yoshino could only chuckle and shake her head at the sheer lack of foresight into all this. It wasn't like that was going to stop her now.

"Very well then Moon Bunny. Consider that a little nickname for now, unless I come up with a better one. Or would you like the typical Michael-kun?"

Michael blushed, "I uh- I'm okay with either one... really." He crossed over to his bike and unchained it from the bike rack. He pulled it out and straddled it - admitably in one of the dorkiest fashions. On the back wheels little pegs stuck out, a constant reminder of his mom's constant push for him to find a girlfriend.

The Black King, as always, only chuckled in amusement at how hard he was trying. Maybe she did find something special about this boy. Who knew? Taking a seat behind him on the bicycle, she gently wrapped her arms around his waist, but not before making one final adjustment to her glasses.

"Take me away Red King. That's an order from Moon Rider herself."

Michael paused for a moment and laughed, "Yes ma'am."

He started riding off, his heart pounded as he felt her arms around his waist, Tsugumi could feel it through his back as he rode of to wherever it is he was going. He had no clue where he was going. "...so where are we going?"

"Isn't it obvious? It's only natural that you escort a lady back to her house. We need to start teaching you in the ways of refined manners," she noted.

"Ehehe..." he laughed awkwardly, he imagined himself as a refined man-of-the-house and dreaded it. "Right..." He took a turn and another, snaking through the Purple Crown complex towards the girls' dormitories, he tried not to jostle the two of them too much as he peddled so it took twice as long as it would've at his pace to get to the shop. He started to wonder if walking would've been quicker.

They finally pulled up to the front of Tsugumi's dormitory, "This is the place, right?"

"Indeed it is."

Tsugumi dismounted from the bike and took a few steps forward toward her dorm. However, she stopped and turned to swiftly give Michael one more peck on the cheek before running off towards her room.

"Farewell for now Mr. Bunny," she called out, waving her hand in departure.

"I look forward to what you'll surprise me with tomorrow!"

And just like that, she was gone, entering into her dorm room to settle for the night. The poor girl was so giddy with excitement, she had completely forgotten to message back Retsu.

Oh well.

Michael watched her until she disappeared behind the dormitory door. He laughed to himself and looked down at the pedals before riding off. He reached his dorm room after a leisurely ride back and immediately plopped onto his bed and rolled around. He fell into a fit of fangirling. Everything was going to be all right.

Somewhere, deep into the inner fabrics of Deep Ground Online...a Masked Man narrowed his eyes.

[Psyker Landshark]

((I'm an idiot, ignore this))

[drewccapp]

Solitary Watcher was brought to a recruiter to join the Strykers. A new chat option became available: guild chat. That was certainly something that excited him. A little message popped up in the chat stating "Solitary Watcher has joined the Ebony Strykers." pretty shortly after he was bombarded by several welcomes and greetings. He actually felt a bit uncomfortable about it. He had never really gotten attention from anyone as he felt more like a background character than someone to be in the spotlight. He spent a few moments thanking the welcoming guild mates before he stated how long a day it had been and he was logging off.

---

Sten logged off of Deep Ground and left his room. He felt like taking his usual relaxing walk and paced the hallways and walkways of the campus. He hardly paid any attention to his surroundings as he spent all his time thinking about his new status as a member of a guild. The guild that had declared war on all the others. He felt kind of like a bad guy for doing it, but it was a decision he made on his own and wouldn't take back carelessly. He was so consumed in thought that he wasn't paying any attention when he rounded the corner in a collision course with Lucy.

[Scarifar]

Michelle - Shooting Star-Yellow King

Shooting Star was not expecting the armored tank to stop, so she made the split second decision to leap into the air. That was a good thing too, since her light of sight was plagued with prediction lines from a large number of other players from other trucks. Their attacks destroyed the patch of land she was on before she jumped, and a new prediction line appeared. This one was coming from a four-armed monster swinging chains at her. Not being able to dodge them in mid-air, she used her Cross Slash skill to deflect the chains, causing them to fly off in different directions.

She landed in front of the vehicles, and then turned around to examine her opponents. There were multiple Level Sevens and Level Eights, and of course there was the four armed monster, who was apparently a Player called Arms Slave. She definitely recognized him as the one who had threw chains at her during the day the Black King announced the opening of her guild. More prediction lines filled her line of sight as the group of players used their weapons and skills, forcing Shooting Star to make the decision to run away. There were too many for even a King like herself, and she knew enough already. She needed to report what she had learned to her advisers and to her Guild. She feared the worst: that a single player had the ability to destroy an entire city, and that hers would be next.

She had eventually arrived back at the Yellow Guild Hall, where her advisers criticizing her yet again. "My lady, we've told you time and time again, stop running away before we can respond!" Enigma complained. The warlock Force interjected, "Granted, it was for a good reason though. The Green Guild was under attack, and you were probably the only one fast enough to get there in time." Ignoring a glare from Enigma, he continued, "Still, Enigma's right, for once in his life. You really should stop this habit of running off." Enigma started to say something, but Shooting Star raised her hand and said, "Look, we can discuss this later, but right now I need to report to you what I've learned from my time there." Brick raised an eyebrow and asked, "Well, what is it?" Michelle sighed, then reported, "It's bad news. All of it. The Green City has been completely destroyed by some giant coin, which was probably the result of a Player ability being enhanced by someone or something else." Enigma, shocked to hear this, exclaimed, "Wait, WHAT???" Michelle ignored him, continuing, "Plus, a huge horde of Dissolutions had come from nowhere, killing everyone that stood before them." She paused for a second to let it sink in, then said, "Everyone except members of the Ebony Strykers."

Shock came from all three advisers, and Enigma was once at a loss for words. "Well, that's.... that's.... wow," Force said, unable to think of a word that could describe how bad it was. "Hackers, it has to be," Brick said. "No way Dissolutions would act like that if it wasn't the result of hackers. I mean, those damn Sweeper bastards are known to be hackers, who's to say they weren't the cause of it?" Force stroked his beard, thoughtful, and said, "Hmm... if we were to accept this as fact, then every Guild- no, every city is at a huge disadvantage. We may be fighting a losing war." Shooting Star lowered her head in sadness, then said, "Even the other Kings couldn't stop them." This further lowered the mood, then the full meaning of her words struck. "Wait, other Kings???" Enigma asked. "Oh crap, crap crap crap...." he trailed on for a while until Force slapped him across the face. "Pull yourself together!" Force shouted at him. "Just because we have this new information doesn't mean we should lose all hope! We're the Golden Wolves! We may still be able to save ourselves from this!" Enigma looked at him with a strong look in his eye, then asked, "And what could possibly save us from this?" Force hesitated, then said, "I'm not, um, sure, but we'll definitely figure something out!" Shooting Star then interrupted, "Please, leave me for now." Her advisers looked at her as she leaned her head on her hands, then quietly left the room.

[McFazzer]

"Aren't you that Assassin that always has music playing whenever he does anything? I haven't seen you in like, a year! Where the hell have you been?"

Jukebox winced internally, the Blue King was around when he was actually active. Spinning on his heel to face the king and sweeping into an elaborate bow with polite smile on his face.

"It's an honor your highness, I'm honestly surprised to be approached by a gentleman of such high stature. I regret to inform you that my absence was due to difficult real world circumstances. I hope I haven't cause too much concern. On the note of concern, I see that the Green Section is now a wasteland. Even though I haven't been on for a long time, I'm still a Fanged Ranger. I'm going to grind for a bit. I need to get all this... annoyance out of my system. Who knows, maybe if I level up I might get a better Ability, one that might have helped... please excuse me."

With a sad smile and another short bow Unrelenting Jukebox wandered the edge of the crater formerly known as the Green Section. Jukebox started making his way towards the nearest city. Maybe 10 minutes later he arrived in the nearest city. Taking out his Walther PPK Jukebox's favourite little tune to 'sneak' by started playing.



This caused a level 5 player Lost Horizon, a Brawler by the looks of it, to stick their head out. Finding his first challenge Unrelenting Jukebox grabbed his last grenade, wound up like a baseball pitcher, activated his Perfect Pitch and let hell loose. The grenade hit the bewildered player square in the nose before it went off, exploding taking off a meager 15% of HP. Mr Lost Horizon is a Tank then... alright Unrelenting Jukebox activated Grim Stride and ran as fast as he could at Lost Horizon, shooting as he ran, taking full advantage of Deadly Aim. By the time the Walther PPK was empty the cumulative critical hits left Lost Horizon with 45% health. Jukebox ran right by him, taking a slash at the poor confused level 4 as he went by and ran into a nearby building, taking the stairs up three at a time.

A shout of "What the hell man! Get the fuck back here!" and Soundtrack of Life decided that a some chase music was needed



Bursting on to the roof, Jukebox saw that there was a level 3 Sniper loitering about. Since there were no traps Juke guessed they were an Assassin. Charging at the Sniper with his knife Jukebox got the poor guy in the chest and momentum took them both over the edge and to smash into the ground. The Sniper burst into experience points and some minor loot, Jukebox was left with 15% of his life left and one more kill away from a level up. "Hey! Asshole! Get back up here!" Perfect, my last piece of experience points appears Aiming straight up and shooting Jukebox caused Mr Lost Horizon to fall, right in front of Jukebox.

"Hey Horizon, suck it!" and with that Jukebox shoved his blade in the Tank's eye.

LEVEL UP!

"Okay, let's see what I've got here. Yep, I want explosions please. Let's see what stupid power I've got this time... Dance Battle? Well at least it does damage..."

Machine gun fire rattled off near Unrelenting Jukebox and since he was all out of options there was no time like the present to give Dance Battle a try. Seeing an Armsman called Faulty Beacon, with just 20% health, trying to shoot him Jukebox targeted him and activated Dance Battle.

"ENGAGING IN DANCE BATTLE! PLAYERS GET READY! PLEASE NOTE: WEAPON AND ABILITY ACCESS WILL BE FORBIDDEN FOR THE DURATION OF THE DANCE OFF!"

A booming voice appeared out of thin air and a holographic screen appeared and Jukebox and Beacon were suddenly standing side by side. With Beacon having a choice of 5 songs, Beacon's flailing in confusion selected a song and then this happened...

"PLAYERS READY? BEGIN!!!"



Jukebox immediately started dancing, not very well mind you, racking up the points, while his opponent continued to try and shoot him and started incurring penalties for his attempts.

"Hey! Beacon! You might want to start dancing! The winner deals the difference between the two scores as damage!"

And with that Beacon was dancing like he'd never danced before, which he evidently hadn't as he was almost better off trying to shoot Jukebox.

And at the end the score was Unrelenting Jukebox on 1000 and Faulty Beacon on... well let's not embarrass the poor guy okay? He basically went bad enough the negative score killed him.

"Well I won on my first try, but Beacon... how did you mess up the Y.M.C.A.? You should of at least made back some points at the chorus." and with that Beacon turned into a burst of experience points. "This has been more exhausting than real life, I've gotta get out of here"

LOGGING OUT

Sitting up on his bed Alex cradled his head in his hands "This has been the worst day and now I have to learn how to dance of all things. Well, no time like the present, I suppose." standing up Alex decided to download some online dancing lessons and went to the library to hire out some instruction books and he picked up his gym clothes of track-pants and a t-shirt. He also purchased an apple, since he skipped lunch.

Carrying all his stuff Alex needed to think of a reason to be practicing Okay if anyone asks why I'm learning to dance... I was killed by me and am learning so I don't lose again... yeah, yeah that's believable right? nearing the auditorium Alex peeked in to see if anyone was still around thankfully it appeared to be empty. Taking his things and getting up onto the stage Alex got changed and laid out all his paraphernalia. Opening up the book and resting it on the podium Alex looked and saw that it was Ballet. Well knowing my ability it would probably come up some time and with a sigh decided to give the stretching a try.

Thankfully Alex was rather flexible and was able to do the sitting down stretches fine, the trouble came when he tried to get his leg vertical above his head This hurts soooo bad! How can anyone put up with this! giving up before his legs snapped Alex decided to do try a pirouette. Surprisingly he was good at it. He was certain that he should be falling over, or breaking his foot, but he was doing it! Okay I can do that. What's next?...