Sten remembered that all the guys in his class were in the same building, which meant he wouldn't have to go far to find Michael. He even suspected some students that read the message would know where he was, which would make things easier to find him, but if he dawdled too long who knows what might happen. There were a few students on his floor already talking about the message, but he didn't bother to listen in too much. Then he heard. "Isn't that his room right there?" He saw someone pointing at the door of a room not far from where he stood.
Two men, rather, boys. Students. Stood on either side of the door, unbeknowst to Sten they were both Sweepers tasked with protecting Michael from would-be assassins.
Sten stepped up to the door and knocked three times loudly. "Michael! Wake up! It's Sten. Let me in we gotta talk."
Michael laid in bed and groaned loudly when he heard the noise at his door, "...hrgh, one moment."
Michael rolled out of bed and teased his hair to make himself a little more presentable. He shuffled his way to the door and pulled back the lock and swung the door open. He yawned and looked at Sten, "Oh, hi... uh..."
He was drawing a blank. Why was Sten here so early? Was Sten on laundry duty as some kind of punishment? What was going on?
"...are you here for my laundry?"
Sten groaned. "No... No I'm here to tell you some serious crap is going down." That damned yawn caused Sten's eyes to reflexively become heavier. All-nighters were awful, but once his mind got going sleep was never an option. "You may not have gotten the message..." He looked around. His shouting had woken the neighbors up. "Can I come in so we can talk this out without the entire hall listening in?"
"Ah... yeah."
Michael stepped back and let Sten in before shutting the door behind him. He logged into his Interface
"Goodmorning, Michael. You are -1h -34m -21s late for your alarm this morning."
Michael motioned in the air to swipe the alarm clock out of his HUD. He noticed the pulsing envelope and pressed it, must be that message Sten mentioned and some Color King correspondance. Michael opened up the message from the Silver Jester and sighed.
"Right... uh..."
Sten waited patiently for Michael to open up and read the message. He might have found some humor in Michael's dull sleepiness, but his own lack of sleep severely hindered his sense of humor. His response was pretty dull, Sten imagined Michael was not a morning person if such serious news impacted him so little.
Sten found a seat in a chair that clearly was set up for visitors since it was somewhat out of the way. He crossed his arms and gave Michael a serious look. "I doubt you're the Black King, but I also spent the last night trying to figure things out. I doubt most students have the same theories and information that I have, and I bet this is going to stir up quite the hornets nest. Some serious... stuff is going down and I plan on getting to the bottom of it. I want to help you though, this whole scandal is going to screw things up big time." Sten had a hard time not swearing while tired, and an even harder time keeping his thoughts to himself.
"The question is... how the hell do you think you're gonna get out of this?"
Michael walked over to his bed and laid down on it while Sten was talking. How was he supposed to get out of this? Michael groaned audibly at the question.
"Can I phone a friend..? I want to phone the Black King."
Michael lifted a lazy arm up to swipe in the air, bringing up his contacts and shuffling through it to find Yoshino's contact info. He brought it up and opened a private call, ring, ring, ring.
Sten sighed and leaned back in the chair... it was comfortable. He hadn't expected him to make a call to the Black King herself, but this just helped solidify his case. "Sure."
Back in Deep Ground Online, Moon Rider's callobrated mindset was suddenly interrupted by a small beeping noise. It took her all of five seconds to realize that someone was trying to contact her from the real world. Being the recluse she was for all these years, the sudden realization that this was happening to her of all people was...suprising to say the least.
With an annoyed glare to Dark Wraith, Moon Rider turned away to answer the call. More suprises awaited her as she read the caller out to be Michael Faye. The Red King. Stuffed Rabbit. Activating her Avatar interface, Moon Rider placed the call on speaker phone; after all, she did just promise Retsu a night before that she would no longer conceal any secrets.
"Michael?"
The moment she said those words aloud, she could feel the sheer negativity raditating off of her second-in-command. The Black King stifled a sigh; the Jester would have to wait a little longer.
Not that he was going anywhere.
"Ah, yeah, hey... guess who's the new Black King," Michael said lazily. He yawned loudly and the sound carried over the chat channel.
Sten sighed. This wasn't going to help his position any. Why did he come here in the first place? Sten was beginning to realize that he was letting his fatigue affect his actions and mindset.
Moon Rider frowned.
"I'd appreciate less of the snappy one-liners Red King," she said seriously. "Your life is in danger...and did you just wake up or something? You sound dead."
Before Michael could respond Dark Wraith - Retsu - butted in.
"Michael!?"
Dark Wraith's voice broke though the quiet. She had to reign in her anger before she let it rage too far, but her voice still held an inferno.
"Michael, you have exactly three minutes to explain your part in today's message, or you'll find someone at your door with an axe, ready to stuff your corpse into a wood chipper."
As Dark Wraith said that, a car pulled up at the boy's dormatory.
"Right uh.... first off I just woke up. Like five minutes ago..."
This time Moon Rider did sigh.
"... Seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven...." Retsu began counting to 180 it would seem.
"I'd rather not die today if I can help it," Michael rolled over and buried his head in his pillow. He groaned before sitting up, "I don't have anything to do with the message..."
Sten glanced over at Michael. An incredulous expression on his face. "Just how seriously are you taking this? You have everything to do with that message whether you want to or not." Sten's tone was quite irritable.
Moon Rider had to wonder the same thing...wait, who was that?
"Michael, is there someone with you? You're not cheating on me already, are you?
Why did she say that? Partly to lighten the mood...and she was curious on how much he was willing to save his own ass.
Michael let out a tired laugh at the President's dry humor, "It would seem. But uh... yeah, Sten from our class is here. He woke me up and told me about the message."
"Twenty one, twenty two, twenty three, twenty four, twenty five..." Outside the sound of a chainsaw being revved up could be heard by those outside the dormitory. Either a chainsaw or something else that tore apart wood. When Moon Rider jokingly mentioned that Michael might be cheating on her, Dark Wraith decided to only give him two minutes.
Seeing Dark Wraith's silent numerical mantra of madness, the Black King decided that it was time to get to business.
"It's pretty obvious that this Silver Jester wanted to use you Michael. The fact that he spoke to you only yesterday followed by...the other events, all leading up to today? That's too much of a coincidence to overlook. We've already taken precautions of sending people to protect you in case the rest of the student populace believes these lies.
All I can say now is to keep hidden. Skip school if you have to. Logging into Deep Ground might ensure you some time of safety since you are Stuffed Rabbit, but I can't insure anything absolute. Do you understand?"
Despite the President's harsh and objective tone, there was a small voice of concern heard in her words.
Sten was beginning to wonder, just what kind of relationship did Michael have with the Black King. He couldn't imagine her wanting to talk for overly long unless there was something going on between them. His expression settled to a more curious one than anything else.
"Yeah, I dont want to log in until I'm sure that the mafia isn't after me." He let out a sigh and stood up, walking around the room to try and shake off the drowsiness, "Can you help me out a little?"
Michael crossed by the door and pulled the locks shut then over to his window and unlocked it so he could bail when shit hits the fan. "Please?"
Sten watched as Michael asked for help, quite politely in fact. He could conclude that they must at least be friendly with each other if he's asking for favors. Just who was Michael though, Sten wondered.
"You can help by telling me just what this 'Masked Man' told you. And tell Solitary Watcher to stand outside. He'll have to deal with my associate."
The Black King closed her eyes and breathed calmly, trying to ignore the fact that she very much felt like the center of some demented lover's quarral right now. Still, the diplomat within her felt it was best to let Dark Wraith handle the conversation now. Her own feelings were still a liable factor; one that she was all too aware of.
Michael looked over to Sten, "Go on, shoo." Michael walked over to the door, unlocked it, and shepherded Sten out, locking the door behind him.
Sten grumbled. "Fine. Fine." As he was shepherded out the door. He had done his service and now it was time for him to be on his way. He brushed himself off as he left the room and mumbled to himself. "I need some coffee."
On his way out, someone who looked like a janitor was walking towards Michael's room. He seemed to be pushing a large laundry cart that was already filled with bags. Of wood chips.
"Seventy-eight, seventy-nine, eighty..."
Michael sighed, "Yeah, well, all the Jester told me was that the Black King was trying to take down the DGP and that I should join her because it'd be 'interesting.' So I met up with the King and she explained why she was doing what she was doing so I decided to do it."
Of course, that wasn't all that had occured in that short time frame. But details were details, right?
Sten observed the janitor-like person pushing the cart of... wood chips. What? Why? Something wasn't right about this. He wearily paced away while keeping the janitor in he corner of his eyes. He didn't want to go far, not if something interesting was about to go down.
Dark Wraith stopped counting. She rubbed her eyes and looked around. She glaced at Moon Rider briefly with a questioning look before speaking. "Have you told any of the other colored kings that you've joined with the Ebony Strykers?"
"Nope, I went to sleep after getting back from the meeting and just woke up like ten minutes ago."
"Alright. First, there's a janitor at your door. Tell him that you're a Sweeper. If he asks for proof, which I doubt he'll do anyways, tell him that 'The numbers don't lie'. If that doesn't work, I'd suggest you fall out your window. The fall will kill you before he does."
And just then, the janitor stopped in front of Michael's door. He knocked once.
"Open the door Michael, and do exactly as I told you."
Michael sighed, who the hell was this girl? Was her dad the Godfather? Christ.
Michael walked over to the door and pulled the lock back and peeked his head around, "Yeah, I'm a Sweeper."
The janitor looked at Michael questioningly. His hands were thick and calloused. The edge of his hand bebind the pinky in particular. Or at least, what was left of his pinky. He simply grunted and went on his way. Outside some wood was getting pulped.
Sten saw the janitor stop and knock once on Michael's door. Michael after a few moments opened it and said something he couldn't hear as he was now a fair distance down the hallway. The janitor looked puzzled or confused or something of the like before simply continuing on his way. The lack of anything happening felt a bit odd, but Sten simply decided to completely leave altogether. He needed to stop at the cafe or someplace for some coffee.
Noticing the lack of a gurgling death, Dark Wraith assumed that Michael was still alive. "What a pity. Okay Michael, now here is what I want you to do. Since the other kings likely still think that you're allied with them, I want you to message all of them to meet with you somewhere at school. I don't care what you all talk about, but I want you to stall them. No doubt that they'll want to check up on what's happening in Deep Ground, and I'm sure that one way or another they'll just happen to find Moon Rider like Free Runner has. You keep them off of Deep Ground while me and Moon Rider deal with some matters ourselves. If you really beleive in the Black King's cause as you say you do, don't mess this up. Because next time that janitor won't knock."
Dark Wraith than pointed upwards at Free Runner, so Moon Rider and Free Runner would be aware of each others presence.
Likewise, Moon Rider made a note of Free Runner's presence before turning away. Seeing another Ebony Stryker was a little comforting; at least it was a Player from her own Guild who hopefully didn't buy into these bullshitted accusations.
"Did you get all that Red King? For your sake, I hope so. My partner isn't too keen on repeating herself to dead men."
"Uh... yeah, that sounds a little impossible, but I'll try. Can you send me some Sweepers or something for the meeting? I'd hate to die before your friend kills me."
Michael walked over to his closet and reached in, pulling out his last clean uniform and slipping in to it, he sighed and brought up the interface and typed out a message.
To: Gleeful Jackal, Tender Fern, Shooting Star, Conquest Pantheon, Stalwart Bruiser
From: Michael Faye
Subject: About the Message
If you haven't read the Silver Jester's message, go ahead and do that. So, if you want answers about that I'll be in the old school gym, the one next to that statue of the cats. Attendence is mandatory. I'll be there shortly, see you there.
Moon Rider finally opened her eyes once more and glanced at Dark Wraith. Michael's request did seem a litte much, but given the circumstances, she couldn't overlook it. He was being pinned for murder of four of his fellow peers, and if the World Interface caught wind of this, the consequences would be dire.
"Dark Wraith, I ask you this; can you abide by the Red King's request?" she asked softly, knowing how the other Player felt towards Michael.
Dark Wraith was already on it. She knew just the person to send to protect Michael... And should he prove to be trecherous, the right person to get rid of Michael. Dark Wraith contacted one of her Erasers to find Donny.
"Done. Someone should be at your door. Same thing as before; he'll knock, you'll tell him that you're a sweeper, and to confirm tell him that the numbers don't lie. Also, he will be giving you a bug to put on you. I want to hear everything the kings tell you. If anyone asks about him, tell them that he's in your guild. Now get yourself ready Michael. I had better not hear anything unfortunate from you in the next six hours."
The Black King could breathe easy knowing that, to some extent, Retsu and Michael had gotten along. Of course, there was a very fine line present there, and she hoped the Red King understood that perhaps his affections towards her might just be in vain. Regardless....
"I'm going to end the call now Michael," she said. "Stay out of sight and do whatever the Sweepers tell you. Your life may depend on it soon enough. And also...don't do anything stupid, ok?"
"Mhm, I'll try. Oh- wait, should I tell them that I'm not the Black King or what?"
"As long as you do not tell them who the real Black King is, I don't care what you tell them. I doubt they would beleive you if you told them you were the Black King anyways."
"Just run if things go wrong," Moon Rider added, hoping to be more helpful than her jaded partner. "Run and hide. That's an order."
Michael smirked a little, "Alright, sounds like a plan. If I live will you bring me some cake to my dorm afterwards?"
The Black King didn't have to look in a mirror to see the red tinge to her face at that statement. Seriously, there was alot of blood rushing to people's faces these days. Must be those teenager hormones.
"I'll think about it," she finally answered, already predicting another sharp threat by Dark Wraith. Was this really Micheal Faye? If so...where the hell was all this bravado last night?
"If you live, you'll be eating your cake through a straw. I can promise you that."
"Don't mind her. Bye Michael. Stay safe."
Moon Rider hung up before Michael made any more crapshoot one-liners and before Retsu discovered some way to strangle him through her Interface call. Knowing the Sweeper, it wasn't too impossible to imagine such an outcome.
Michael opened his mouth to reply but heard the tones of the call dropping before he could let out another of his ever-so-witty one-liners. He sighed and walked to the door, opening it up and setting course for the gymnasium.
"So," she began after a few moments. "What do you think of him? You know, besides the obvious urge to shove a knife down his throat?"
"He doesn't seem to be the type who'd panic and do something stupid at least. I'm more worried that stupidity is an innate trait of his. Come on, we have to hurry before he or someone else inevitably makes things harder for us."
Moon Rider nodded, taking the lead and continuing on their mission.
"It almost feels like I'm stuck between someone who's completely Genre Blind...and a Yandere," she mumbled to herself, too quietely for Dark Wraith to hear.
