Three rings appear next to the Mac Anu Chaos Gate. As they descend, Mayko's figure can slowly be seen. She blinks twice before stepping away from the gate. She was finally going to learn about the Gelsen post. She was so excited she almost forgot to flashmail her friends to come. Almost.

FLASHMAIL-DUDE911666
You're coming with System Slayer, Asura, and I to Delta: Hidden Voluptuous Remnant, right? If you are meet me at Mac Anu. I'll be sitting on the stairs by the Chaos Gate. Meet me there ASAP!

Sending that, she sent another one to System Slayer:

FLASHMAIL- System Slayer
I'm waiting for you and the others to meet me at Mac Anu so we can go to Delta: Hidden Voluptuous Remnant. You are coming, right? I'm right by the stairs, you can' t miss me!

Finally, she sent her last one to Asura:

FLASHMAIL-Asura
Hey! Thanks for going on that dungeon quest with me on such short notice! Anyway, now that we're at higher levels, you, the others, and myself should go to Delta: Hidden Voluptuous Remnant. I'll be on the stairs, see you then!

After sending the final flashmail, she sat on the top step and listened to the bustling town of Mac Anu as well as the calming sounds of the river, closing her eyes to let herself get some last minute sleep before the special quest.

Yellow rings of light suddenly appear next to the Chaos Gate, spreading their gentle yellow light around the nearby area. The light slowly fades away as Asura's character skin phases into existence, sword in its sheath as usual, most of the skin hidden by a dark grey cloak. He starts to walk over to Mayko, the fringes of his cloak blowing in the gentle wind. Seeing that she seems to be asleep, he instead leans against one of the walls next to the Chaos Gate.

Asura stares at the slowly spinning gate, letting his mind drift to what he remembers of the Gelsen post. He mentally prepares himself for what may lie ahead, readying himself for whatever may happen. He loses himself in his thoughts, trying to keep a careful watch on what is happening around him for when the rest of the party members arrive. Until then, he just stands next to the Chaos Gate, losing himself to his thoughts and the sounds of Mac Anu.

Occasionally opening an eye to see if anyone showed, Mayko eventually saw that Asura had arrived.

"Congratulations," Mayko said sleepily "You're the first one to arrive."

"Huh?!" Asura jumped a little, half because his thoughts were disturbed, half because he thought Mayko was asleep.

"I said you're the first one here." She repeated before closing her eyes again.

"Oh," Asura said "Oh, yeah."

"Lost in thought?" Mayko guessed

"How'd you know?" Asura asked

"This town does it to you..." Mayko responded "It's nice, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Asura nodded

"I'll leave you to your thoughts," Mayko said "I need to be at my fullest going to that field."

"I agree." Asura agreed

Mayko nodded off again, and Asura went back to his thoughts.

DUDE broods in his chambers in the ARMY OF DARKNESS guild house. Members leave, Xander begins his assault on other members, and Ryu continues to be stalked by SPIDER. The only saving graces were Tokki's battle with he and Kame, and the Tounament to take place. He sat on his bed, dreaming of better days for the ARMY when a FLASH MAIL appeared in front of his face.

FLASHMAIL-DUDE911666
You're coming with System Slayer, Asura, and I to Delta: Hidden Voluptuous Remnant, right? If you are meet me at Mac Anu. I'll be sitting on the stairs by the Chaos Gate. Meet me there ASAP!

Hmmmm....to fight, or to stay and try to rebuild the scarred ARMY...it was a choice not to be made by a lowly level 9 Twin Blade. Their leader disappears, and their second in command is tortured to near death by a maniacal virus. Now was not a time to leave the clan leaderless.

At that time, Terror walked into DUDE's chambers.

Sir, welcome back. Heard about your new level, congrats...why so blue?

I don't know what to do...I need some help. Please, sit.

DUDE explains the whole situation to Terror.

Well, we're actually ok. Your a great leader and all, but we can handle our own. Besides, she sounds rather excited. Now get going! I'd hate to take over because you refused a quest, haha!

Careful, I'd hate to demote you, DUDE chuckled, But your right. I'll go.

DUDE gathers his belongings, heads out the door, and reaches the Chaos Gate. There, he greets Mayko with a friendly handshake and hello.

Well, shall we get started?

OOC: That was me

Materializing next to the spinning Chaos Gate, System Slayer comes here as invited by Mayko. He seeks answers to the puzzling posts within the BBs which were written in German. Though the original message was lost to a flood of imposters and a wave of deletion destroying all German content, he kept a copy of it with him. Having deciphered its meaning with the help of Asura and Mayko, it's author sent them one last message. He asked to have them go to a field which they knew nothing about. It could very well be a trap, yet they were all curious as to what was happening. Slayer catches sight of Mayko, DUDE, and Asura, grabing Mayko should and sitting next to the two.

"Hey guys! I can't wait to be out of here," he says.

"Indeed," says Asura.

While Asura's thoughts drift around the Chaos Gate, Slayer wonder about another rumor he's heard. Friendly contacts had told him about a rumor. It indicated that the players going out on this quest were supposedly receiving armor upgrades before departing. Slayer decides to stare into town, awaiting any signs of they suggested gifts.

"I wonder what we'll get from that upgrade I mentioned. Remember DUDE, we were instructed to wait a moment," he says.

Asura yawns a bit, still leaning against the wall next to the Chaos Gate. Suddenly a thought sparks in his head that he had forgotten that the Grunty shop was open today. Checking his meager GP left, he decides to go off and buy a Grunty real quick.

"Excuse me for a minute everyone! I'll be back in a few! I'm gonna go get a Grunty real quick!" He then proceeds to run down the stairs and into the streets of Mac Anu looking for the Grunty store. He quickly disappears in the shifting crowds of people, out of sight from everyone at the Chaos Gate.

In a few minutes, he returns to the Chaos Gate, his bag of money under his cloak now noticibly lighter. Returning to where he leaned next to the Gate, he returns to gazing at the Gate while waiting, losing himself in his own thoughts.

[OOC: Take this as a normal field, that is glitchy and has numbers floating in random spots. Once you enter the dungeon let me know, ill leave you hints on what the rooms will look like. If it'll be hacked or just a normal dungeon. So for now, just warp to the field and head for the dungeon]

A flashmail alert violently tears apart the thought trains of the bored party, making them collide into a smoking pile. Everyone stares at SLayer, the recipient of the message. They anxiously await news on their upgrade.

"It says... to put some equipment in a pile," says Slayer.

"What equipment," asks DUDE.

"Mayko gives up Phantom Blades. Asura must hand in Sandals and Leather Coat. DUDE must hand in Bandana, Wrist Band, and Sandals. I must hand in Leather Coat, Bandana, and Adventurer," reads Slayer from the mail.

"No way! This is a hoax! I'm NOT leaving my blades," says Mayko.

"Yeah! How do we know this isn't a joke," asks Asura.

"We don't. But somehow, I feel it can't be," says Slayer.

It takes a bit of convincing from Slayer to bring the scepticism and fear down. Still, they haven't put down their equipment as asked. Only Slayer does so, holding it in his arms for safety.

"I can hold it for you, if you want," offers Slayer.

DUDE looks at System.

Ok, I trust you...but if your wrong, I'm gonna put that equipment somewhere VERY uncomfortable on you.

He freely hands over his Bandana, Wrist Band, and Sandals to System Slayer.

Asura yawns a bit, seeing that its late at night where he is. His mind continues to wander as he looks around Mac Anu from the Chaos Gate.

"Well... might as well try this out. Hopefully good stuff will come from giving away these old items!" Asura says, leaning back against his usual spot. Asura then hands the items over to System Slayer as well. However Asura keeps an eye on the goods, worried that it might be a scam and they'll wind up without good items for the actual quest.

"Fine, fine..." Mayko sighed "But if this is a hoax System Slayer... mark my words I'll be the first PKer in 'The World' history!"

Mayko took her phantom blades and placed them into the pile

"I swear..." Mayko started again

"Don't repeat yourself," System told her "You'll only sound stupid.."

Mayko growled and went back to her original spot.

Slayer's gaze is broken by the sound of people muttering. He turns and looks into town, noticing players running away and moving out of the way of an incoming body. As it crosses a nearby bridge, the loud clatter of metal against metal can be heard throughout the area. The approaching body begins to take shape in Slayer's mind, but he still cannot figure out just what it is. It seems to struggle to carry its own weight, dragging it along at a slow pace. The sound also grab DUDE's and Asura's attention. Slayer squints, trying to identify the upcoming entity. In a few moments, it all becomes clear. With a jump, he stands up and surprises the party. Slayer seems ecstatic at the sight of whatever he's watching.

"What is it," Mayko asks anxiously.

"A big bag," says Slayer.

"Huh," says Asura.

An NPC stops just a few feet from Slayer, carrying a large red bag. He sets it down between them. A few players around them cover their ears from the clatter of something within the bag.

"Ho ho ho. I am delivery NPC Sophos. I've been asked to deliver items, take items, and deliver a message by a player named Kiwi," says the NPC.

"OK Santa Claus, this better not be a prank. Don't tell me that's a dead player in there," says Slayer, grinning back.

"I will now play the messages meant for you," says Sophos.

The party waits while it seems to freeze up for a moment, then runs a program within itself.

"The BBS is all in a ruckuss, thanks to Mayko and the rest of you. There aren't many souls who won't be interested in what's happening to you once you leave town this time. Realizing you'd need some help, I decided I'd bring some holiday cheer to you," says Sophos with Kiwi's voice.

"That made no sense at all. C'mon! I wanna go to the field already," says Asura.

As Asura is about to pick up his equipment from Slayer's arms, Sophos bluntly brings out an empty blue bag and spills the equipment into it. Slayer doesn't know how to react and Asura is gravely irritated.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!? That's our stuff you're taking," shouts Asura.

"Now the gifts," says Sophos, still using Kiwi's voice.

Asura and DUDE would readily knock Sophos unconscious with a nearby bench if it wasn't for a slight curiosity of what he was about to do. He places the blue bag beside him and lifts the red bag. With one hand inside the bag, he goes up to Asura.

"For the Asura, Brigandine and Used Greaves," Sophos says.

He pulls out the items from his bag and hands them to Asura. Stepping up to DUDE, he his hand scours the bag.

"For you... we have a pair of Silver Gloves. Oh, and a pair of Safety Shoes and a Guard Cap," he says.

DUDE takes his new equipment with a smile. The next to be visited by Santa is System Slayer.

"You will have... a Leather Armor, a Nomad's Hood, and an Earth Sword," says Kiwi.

The remaining person, Mayko, hops in expectancy. Sophos goes up to her, hand in bag, and looks right at her.

"Hmm... you've been a naughty player. I've know you tie up and hit the poor lil' Sargeth. For that, you get a lump of coal," he says with a seriously look.

After a moment of deafening silence and what would seem like a frown from Mayko, Sophos finally gives in and laughs. Mayko knew Kiwi programmed that as part of all of this and is quite tempted to whack the NPC with his own bag, but chooses to remain civil. He pulls his hand out of the bag, handing Mayko her very own Assasin. Backing away with an empty red bag, he looks at the group.

"It took quite the effort to get all this stuff. I didn't do it alone, either. Various people traded with me, lent me money and helped me find equipment. Hence, you must go out there and make us sure it was worth the toil. This is the only way I could manage to help you, since I cannot follow you. As for Mayko, I told you you'd be happy whenever I chose to meet you. I have kept my word. If this NPC is speaking to you, then it means I may have suffered an accident while on a quest. Mayko, I'm sorry that one gift I had for you is therefore not here. All my extra equipment for you guys was being kept apart for delivery on this day, in case I didn't make it. But there is one thign I took with me; I'm probably wearing a Time Sash that was meant for Mayko. Since I may not make it back in time to meet you, I can give it to you when you return. Also, your weapon has DEATH effect. I will give Asura an Executioner sword when he comes back with the level needed to use it," Sophos says.

The group waits a moment as Sophos seems to freeze up again. He takes the red bag and stuffs it into a pocket. Then he picks up the blue bag and slings it over his shoulder.

"End of program. You may leave a message for our client ," says Sophos with his normal NPC voice.

MESSAGE

Hey Kame! There's always a place for you in the ARMY! Hahahahaha

Anyway, thank you. From the bottom of my heart, you are a true friend...though we hardly know each other.

END MESSAGE

For the first time in what seemed forever, Mayko genuinely smiled.

"Thanks Kiwi..." She chuckled, then turned her attention to System Slayer "You knew it was him, didn't you?"

"Kinda.." He admitted "But I thought it also might have been your friend Lyra.."

"Well that explains why he was looking for all those strange weapons he couldn't use..." Asura thought aloud

"Tell me about it." Dude responded

"Well, lets get going then!" Mayko said, not wanting to stand in Mac Anu any longer than she had to "Before Kleines Mädchen, or whoever's waiting for us leaves."

"Good idea." They said simultaneously

The group walked over to the Chaos Gate with their new weapons in hand. "Delta: Hidden Voluptuous Remnant!" They said at the same time, and with that, teleportation rings took them to their new field.

The group traveled through the golden portal only to feel the twisting and turning that was not normal for CHAOS travel. The password was not normal for CHAOS GATE travel, but the Gate continued to send the travelers on their voyage. Finally, after grueling minutes of being twisted and turned inside of non-space, the golden rings descended and released the group from the harsh travel.

The first to rise to her feet was Mayko. She looked around and saw the strangest sight. The field was covered in moonlight, but that was not the only light. Flashes of floating 0's and 1's floated around. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only thing floating around. A large floating ball floated towards the dazed group.

What's...........oh god....... DUDE yelled aloud. Everyone! Watch out! It's an Ectoplasm!

Mayko and Asura charged the floating ball and began to slash away. It did little good as the Ectoplasm flashed and shot out a large ball of Darkness at Mayko. She took the ANI DON full force and flew backwards. DUDE and System Slayer jumped into the fight and helped Asura fight the floating nightmare. Asura continued to pummel the floating ball when System joined in. DUDE ran next to System, continually slashing the ball, and watching System.

The Ectoplasm turned to face System Slayer and began to summon a huge ANI DON, when DUDE jumped in front of System Slayer. The large ball of dark energy slamemd into DUDE, sending him back a few feet. Mayko rejoined the fighting group and began to slash with her newly aquired Assassin Blades. The group wore the Ectoplasm out, and it dropped to the cold ground and dispersed into data.

Everyone looked at each other with odd expressions.

System sparked up. What was that?!

It as an Ectoplasm. DUDE spoke. Guys, we're in trouble. This person is either in REAL trouble, or is setting us up. This is a level 6 field! This is no joke...we either stick together, or die individually. System, sorry, but you may have to act as a medic...being in a level 6 field will kill you in an instant.

Wait...how do YOU know this is a level 6 field? Asura shot back, obviously stunned by this horrid news.

An Ectoplasm is a level 6 monster. Being a leader of a clan, I tend to read up on what my members will cross swords with. True, it could be a lower level, but in worst case scenarios, it could be higher. We still have to band together, people.

The group was stunned as DUDE spoke. A level 6 field? It was not expected, but the consequences went from annoying to major.

"Well..." Mayko sighed "At least you're a level 9 Twin Blade, and I'm a level 5 Twin Blade... And I'm pretty sure Asura can hold his own... right?"

"Right" Asura nodded

"I guess I could hang back and heal for now.." System Slayer said

"Alright then..." DUDE said "Let's head to the dungeon. Normally we'd scope the field for monster portals, but this isn't an ordinary field.."

"I'd agree.." System Slayer told him "But in the dungeons, theres more confined space... And I couldn't be just out of reach for the monsters... The last thing you want now is one less player..."

"Good point..." DUDE replied "I guess we'll scope out a few monster portals on the way, alright? Maybe you'll level up in the process."

"Alright, so we got our field plan..." Mayko said impatiently "Let's go!"

DUDE and Mayko both checked their overview field maps to see how many monster portals were on the way to the dungeon. There were 4 that were either in their direct path or close enough to their direct path that they'd take on. The closest one was about 10 feet away.

"Alright, we got 4 portals on the way." Mayko told them "Because we're not going out of our way to get to the dungeon..."

"Right." The others agreed

They took off towards the first portal, their boots hitting one of the only sounds heard, and the moon, the decayed data, and the flashing numbers one of the few things that could be seen. Just as the monster portal came into the group's field of vision, they heard something unexpected that made a few of them jump.

"MANDRAGORA!" something cried

"Oh," Mayko sighed after realizing what it was "It's just one of those grunty food items... Hey! Maybe I should take this for my grunty Ookami, I'm sure he'd like it..."

Mayko walked over to the Mandragora and put it into her Key Items section. Then, they continued to run towards the portal, not wanting to waste any more time.

Turning to their neighboring unfriendly portal, the players form a line in the front and let Slayer stay behind them so as to avoid him being annihilated. The fast spinning emblem of light bursts upon their approach, and gives birth to nightmarish creations. The ground shakes with the pounding footsteps of an evil Headhunter, followed by a hovering Fiend Menhir.

"We'll concentrate on killing the Headhunter first," says Mayko.

With a nod, Asura agrees with her plan and they both charge at the monster.

"Stop," shouts DUDE.

Mayko and Asura stop at DUDE's call, only to see a giant sword heading right at them horizontally. Mayko jumps and succeeds in catching a ride on the monster's sword, continuing her attack by running up its arm and dragging her blades across its armor as she moves. Asura attempts to dodge the sword by jumping onto it as well, tripping in the grass and fortunately falling right under its path. The Fiend Menhir spins slowly and hover by the

"Why'd you tell us to stop," shouts Asura.

"The Fiend Menhir has higher priority! It'll revive the Headhunter if you kill it," explains DUDE.

The Fiend Menhir heads towards a vulnerable Asura to crush him with its own body. DUDE, watching the monster chug along, races into the brawl and takes a great opportunity.

"Tiger Claws," he shouts.

Spinning between both enemies he tears at them with his blades. The Fiend Menhir's target switches from Asura to DUDE. It slowly floats towards DUDE, intent in bashing him to a pulp. The Headhunter lazily turns with a growl of discontent. Its sword swings up and threatens to crush DUDE while the hovering statue corners him. Asura rolls over in the grass and rushes to his feet, sword shinning. At the same time, Slayer runs in from the side of the Headhunter. Mayko runs down the Headhunter's shoulder towards its skeletal head. Noticing her friends are charging at the foe she stands on, she spins her blades and digs them into the monster's armor.

"Calamity," shouts Slayer.

"Revolver," shouts Asura.

Their attacks hit synchronously. Slayer's sword runs through the Headhunter's skull, then turns back and strikes violently again. Asura repeatedly stabs the monster's cranium, making cracks in it. In response, the monster can only stumble back in simulated pain caused by the team assault. It thrashes about with its sword, missing all the players it considers pests. Dude however, concentrates his effort solely on the Fiend Menhir. He delivers blow after blow against it and carefully avoids being squashed by it.

"Guys, forget the Headhunter! Destroy the other one first," shouts DUDE.

The rest of the party listens to his request, only to watch the Headhunter smack him hard with its sword. The blow sends him flying a few feet with a resounding impact.

"Don't touch him you creep! Saber Dance," yells Mayko.

She dances and spins, tearing off pieces from the monster's skull. With her final blow, the word "DEATH" hovers in the air and dictates the abrupt end of the Headhunter's life. It crashes back onto the floor, ceasing all movement. The party stares anxiously at the corpse, awaiting its reanimation. It fades completely, bringing relief to the party.

"It's... dead," blurts DUDE in disbelief.

"Repth," says Slayer.

DUDE's HP is replenished by the assigned healer of the party. They all turn to the Fiend Menhir, which glows with a dark aura and spins as if it has lost its mind. A white light appears, followed by a gentle breeze. DUDE's eyes widen at the sight of angelic feathers flying through the air. Particles of gray and white dust collect in a mass, forming a figure that should be dead. The deceased Headhunter is rebuilt by the Fiend Menhir's Rip Maen spell, returning it the spark of life. With a second chance at battle, the green zombie returns to its feet and scouts for targets.

"Staccatto," DUDE yells at the floating statue.

The angry player jabs and slashes at the demonic resurrector, carving cracks and blowing holes into its body. Mayko works on maintaining the Headhunter busy by dodging its blows and slashing it whenever she has a chance. Slayer keeps a prudent distance from the battle to heal his friends and Asura manages to sneak up on the menhir.

"Revolver," yells Asura.

Repetitive blows from Asura's sword puncture holes into the Fiend Menhir. Suddenly, one of the holes becomes a large crack that extends across its body. In a matter of seconds, the monster stops levitating completely and smashes into the floor, shattering itself into thousands of pieces. Asura and DUDE immediately turn to the Headhunter, alerted by a scream from Mayko.

"Repth," shouts Slayer.

The Headhunter managed to slash Mayko across the body, knocking her down and leaving her with critical HP levels. Luckily, Slayer still had enough SP to heal her. The raging giant takes another swipe at her, only to hit nothing but grass and earth. DUDE rushed by and pulled her away from the attack. The team surrounds the monster, preparing to dish out some serious pain for the trouble it's caused.

"Revolver," shouts Asura.

"Saber Dance," shouts Mayko.

"Staccatto," shouts DUDE.

The Headhunter finds itself overwhelmed by the three fighters attacking it. Stabs and slashes are given out in generous quantities to the creature, which can only thrash about in response. The players simply back away and avoid its mad attempt at survival. Taking a risk, Slayer dives into the battle while the others prepare to attack again.

"Calamity," he yells.

Running up to the creature's stomach, he runs his sword left. Leaving a gruesome wound, he turns it right and runs it along the monster's body again. The monster seems to screech in pain, scarring the party.

"I've never heard that sound before," says Slayer in awe.

The whole party joins in a massive effort to bring the giant down. The clanging of swords and blades can be heard in the distance as the players smash the Headhunter's armor. Finally, the giant topples back and fades. And this time, it stays dead.

The party continued it's adventure towards the dungeon. DUDE asserted himself leader of the group, and led the way down the moonlit field. Along the trek, DUDE thought to himself. He wondered mainly about this quest. Why was he on it, who made the odd post, and why warp these members into such a dangerous field? Whoever made the post had a lot of explaining to do, and they were on their way to get answers.

While thinking of his role, another thought popped into his mind. What was waiting for them? An odd field that shouldn't even exist, it has been hacked, and a strange being wants these four specific warriors to help it. Something was not right, but DUDE couldn't figure it out.

Before DUDE could ponder more, a portal activated. Out pounced a Hell Doberman and a Fiend Menhir. Remembering the last battle, Asura, Mayko, and System attacked the Menhir while DUDE held the Doberman at bay. The Menhir would slam into either Mayko or Asura, but System would stand in the back and cast REPTH when needed. DUDE fought off the flaming dog so as to keep his friends alive. Mayko finally climbed the floating statue and rocked it till it fell down. Asura and Slayer, then, moved in for the kill. They chipped away at it's rock-hard body until there was nothing left.

Mayko and Asura joined DUDE's side in facing the Doberman while Slayer casted REPTH to heal DUDE. The three warriors then charged the beast and slaughtered it with extreme prejudice. Every enemy vaporized into data, so no beast would capitalize of the Menhir's RIP MAEN.

Suddenly, the world blurred and blinked. It was as if someone tossed a rock into a pond, but the pond was the field. Eventually the wavering stopped, and something was different. The dark field was the same. The moon was the same. The one thing different was the glowing monster behind the party. The dead Hell Doberman stood large as life and twice as ugly. It then grabbed System Slayer in it's mouth and, without even a second thought, bit him in half! System's upper half bounced in front of Mayko, whereas his bottom landed on the feet of Asura.

DUDE went insane and charged the monster, but it hit him with it's paw and knocked him senseless. Asura and Mayko charged it from both sides, distracting it. Each got many shots in, but also were hit hard as well. DUDE got back up and jumped into the face of the Doberman. He shoves his Edges into the mouth of the beast, and cuts it's throat up. Suddenly, a huge object appeared above the three attackers, and burried itself right through the stomach of the Doberman.

The beast dispersed into data, and the object that killed it was none other than System Slayer! When DUDE was hit back, his item bag dropped a RESURRECT. It dropped, and bounced onto the chest of the dead System Slayer at which time his bottom half began to scoot and shiver it's way to the top half and join together. The skin melded together and Slayer sat up as if he simply slipped!

DUDE, thanks for saving me. System said. And you were right about me being a healer in the back. From now on, I'll watch out for everything.

DUDE appologized. No, your dying was my fault. I didn't notice what happened brought back that Hell Doberman. I should have been more aware. I'm sorry.

How about we keep going, and I'll call it even.

"Well, this is fun..." Mayko sighed as they continued along on their journey to the dungeon. "Thank God there's only two portals left..."

The others nod in agreement as the 3rd monster portal comes into view. System slows his pace as the others quicken theirs, the others anxious to get this over with, System anxious to not be killed again. Asura stuck out his Mizuchi to activate the portal, and the golden beacon faded, and three monsters came out. Two were small, and didn't look like monsters at all. Their bodies consisted of a sword whose point faced the ground, and hovering in the air around them was a small sword (the point faced at their opponents) and a shield. The third monster was much larger than the two, and also much uglier. It was a giant mushroom with arms and legs, two eyes planted on the orange umbrella top, and a large mouth directly under it.

The Sword of Chaos' went after Asura and Mayko, leaving DUDE to deal with the Mushroom King. Mayko couldn't help but chuckle over the size of her opponent, but knew, as this was a level 6 field, that it shouldn't be taken lightly. She brought her assassin blades close to her body before lunging at the Sword of Chaos; pushing her assassin blades out as she lunged. The Sword of Chaos was caught off-balance by the attack, and fell over, dropping it's little sword. Mayko pinned it down with one hand, and brought the other one up for the kill. Just then, rather unexpectedly, the Sword of Chaos' little sword stabbed her in the back. She cried out and uses her free hand to pull out the little sword. System Slayer cast "Repth!" on Mayko as she brought her hand up swiftly, and bringing it crashing down upon the Sword of Chaos just as swiftly. As it turned it's ashen hue, she got up and went to help DUDE with the Mushroom King.

Asura wasn't nearly as fast as Mayko due to his class, to he depended on brute force to kill off his opponent. Swinging his Mizuchi at the Sword of Chaos, it held up its red shield to protect itself. Asura moved in closer to kill it, but the Sword of Chaos backed up as Asura approached. Annoyed, Asura finally went to cast "Revolver," when the Sword of Chaos suddenly attacked Asura. Caught off guard, the Sword of Chaos hit him in the cheek. Asura felt his cheek to see what damage occurred, and could feel his blood ooze onto his hand. Calling out to System Slayer for help, the Sword of Chaos noticed System Slayer, and decided to attack him instead. As System Slayer cast "Repth" on Asura, the Sword of Chaos drew closer to his weaker foe.

"You're battling me!" Asura cried as he slashed the Sword of Chaos in two. It had its back to Asura and didn't see his attack coming. The two sides fell with a clang, and the second Sword of Chaos faded away into nothingness. Asura quickly went over to help with the Mushroom King.

At the beginning of the battle, when DUDE was all alone, he'd be dancing around to avoid the attacks thrown at him, and to keep the Mushroom Kings attention on him and not on his other friends. Occasionally stabbing it in it's beige sides, DUDE kept the Mushroom King preoccupied. However, with each blow and dodge DUDE made, the Mushroom King grew madder and madder. When Mayko joined the fray, she too displayed a similar action of dodges and blows. The Mushroom King grew furious. It lashed out with it's black pincer-like arms and grabbed both Mayko and DUDE and brought them close to it's huge mouth.

"Sorry, but being eaten by an ugly Mushroom monster is NOT on my to-do list!" Mayko cried as she dug one of her assassin blades through one of the Mushroom Kings fangs.

Startled, the Mushroom King dropped both Mayko and DUDE and backed up a little. At this time Asura had joined them. With Asura in the middle and DUDE and Mayko on either side, they charged at the Mushroom King.

"SABRE DANCE!" Mayko cried

"REVOLVER!" Asura cried

"STACCATO!" DUDE cried

Each of them performed their physical attacks relentlessly on the furious Mushroom King. As much as it wanted to fight back, it couldn't. Their blades were everywhere and it couldn't avoid them. When their attacked finally subsided, the Mushroom King went to attack... Only to slump over and turn ashen, dead. Sighing, System Slayer returned to the others and they continued along on their journey.

"Well one more portal directly in our way it seems..." Asura mutters under his breath as the party trudge forward through the tall grass, it gently blowing in the wind as they force their way towards the dungeon and the last monster portal. The glistening streams of data are completely visible as what originally kept them in place seems broken, sending the glistening strands of numbers through the air, shining with light that spreads around the nearby area. The party prepares themselves, drawing forth their weapons as they see a shining yellow light faintly glowing in the distance, a portal eternally spinning until a player comes to release what it holds.

Asura decides to be the first into battle this time, walking forward, pointing Mizuchi towards the portal as he draws near. The portal slowly stops its revolution, fading away into the data stream as the party draws near. As it fades away, it releases one Fiend Menhir and two Mushroom Kings. The Fiend Menhir raises its body up, smashing into the ground as it moves towards the party, crushing the grass underneath it and leaving small craters. The Mushroom King's follow behind it in a V formation, waving their two vine-like appendages menacingly as they draw near.

"Get the Fiend Menhir first. We don't want it reviving anything. But those Mushroom King's also need to be taken care of so they don't heal anything as well!" DUDE yells to the party as he runs to distract the Mushroom Kings so the rest of the party could defeat the Fiend Menhir.

Asura and Mayko dash at the Fiend Mehir, both ready with their respective weapons as they draw near. "REVOLVER!" Asura yells out as he comes close, spinning with his blade into the monster. Bits of rock and clouds of dust is sent into the air as the blade digs into the Fiend Menhir, ripping a small gash into its stone body. The Fiend Menhir then lifts its entire body into the air, hoping to crush Asura with its monsterous size. He instead dives to the side in an attempt to escape, only to have that giant stone abomination crush into his leg before it moves out of the way as well.

"REPTH!" is heard from Slayer from where he sits outside the battle as he points his Earth Sword at Asura, silver sparks leaping from its blade onto Asura's crushed leg. The sparkles seep into the skin, repairing the crushed bones with amazing speed, healing all the damage that had been dealt by the Fiend Menhir. Seeing the healer, the Fiend Menhir starts moving towards Slayer, creating craters as it slowly moves forward. Mayko follows behind it, chipping away at its health with her Assassins in an attempt to draw it away. Bits of poison from the Assassins seep into the Fiend Menhir, dropping it to the ground before it ever reaches Slayer.

"Well that was lucky..." Asura mutters, grinning a bit. "Well now time to just get rid of those Mushroom Kings..." He says this as he charges forward, drawing back his Mizuchi for a strike to help out DUDE in his struggle against the constantly healing Mushroom Kings.

As he draws near, "GALE OF SWORDS!" is heard and DUDE lleaps into the air, blades slicing into the two Mushroom Heads as they attempt to heal themselves. Sparkles of light travel upwards from both, ready to heal them, right as DUDE finishes his technique, both enemies turning an ashen grey and falling to the ground. The sparkles of light drift harmlessly onto the ground as the two Mushroom Kings crumble into dust and fade away.

"Well guess ya didn't need any help at all..." Asura says as the party reassembles, ready to go find the dungeon and to get to the truth of the Gelsen posts.

In front of the group stood a tall fortress. All around it the 0001 1010 1100 0011passed in and out of it as if the structure was not even real. The gates were shut, not allowing any travellers or monsters into it's hallowed halls.

Well what do we do now, DUDE? System asked.

Well...ever seen BRAVEHEART where the Scot's invade York?

yea...they got covered in oil and set on fire while moving a huge........ram..........good idea.

DUDE took a ferw steps forward to get a feel for the thickness of the wall they were to break down, when it happened again. The field, with all it's darkness, grassy knoles, windmills, monsters, and random numbers, began to swirl. The world twisted, turned, streched out to form a new field, but the same field. It was the same darkened grassy area, but now the fortress was open!

DUDE and Asura jumped back in disbelief while Mayko and System ran inside. Asura wondered why they ran like that, turned around, and understood. He raced into the castle as well.

Everyone screamed. DUDE!!! BEHIND YOU!!!!

DUDE turned around and looked on in horror. Not only did the gate open, but a horde of Mushroom Kings, Fiend Menhirs, Ectoplasms, etc. appeared and began to charge the castle. Thousands of monsters rushed the stronghold with an attempt to conquer. DUDE immediately ran for his life under the gate, and began to help the three try to close the massive iron wall.

While the group was desperately trying to close the gate, the world shifted again. It twisted and turned as only a hacked field could do. The wall was shut as quickly as it had opened.

Wow...now THAT was scarry. Mayko tossed in. I had no idea so many baddies could fit on one field.

At that moment, a thunderous crash was made by the gate and all the beasts outside crashing together. The gate closed, but the monsters did not disappear! Whatever was manipulating the level, wanted the group INSIDE the castle gates, and it got what it wanted.

The group entered the castle, and suddenly felt a large glitch flow pass their screen. They held up their weapons above their head in a sort of protection sort of way, the glitch faded and they lowered their weapons. Suddenly the floor of the castle that they were on turned black. A figure of white appeared in front of them, but it was unclear. It had glitches all over it and slowly flowed in front of them and then it paused. The figure moved closer and the group moved back unsteadily, it spoke.
“If…. If you are the ones the ones.. that… received, received my message.. then then you are the one the ones.. I will will…………… I must go go now now!” The voice echoed and then it shot to the wall to the right of them.
“What, was that?” Asura said, he steadied himself as did the other members. They looked around and saw that the dungeon faded back into sight.
[OOC: Ok this is what your looking at! This is a 4 level hacked Castle! The first level, but before that you will face a long hall with a yellow portal, in that will be 2 Sky Fish and 1 Cadet Valkyrie one you leave that hall you have a fork; a path pointing to the right and a path pointing to the left. If you take the right passage PM me, it could either be a sudden death , a hacked area, a trap area (Traps: All diseases, Back to Level 1, Death) or just a hacked area. If you take the left passage PM me, It is the same thing with the right path! Have fun guys!]

The party walks down the carefully crafted stone walls of the castle-like dungeon, looking at the blue engravings that show up even through the revealed streams of data covering the entire length of the hallway. Pushing the door up ahead open, a bright light shines upon the party, the light of a glowing monster portal. As soon as they enter, they notice that this monster portal is not the normal color, but instead a glowing red. The portal opens before they draw near enough to trigger it normally, and two Sky Fish and one Cadet Valkyrie emerge, both glowing with the spells Rip Gaem and Rip Saem surrounding them.

"Hey! Wait a second! Sky Fish aren't supposed to have Rip Gaem or Rip Saem on them!" Asura yells as he hastily pulls the Mizuchi from its sheath at his side, the sound of metal on metal echoing through the narrow hallway. The enemies start charing at the party, seeming to move with an ungodly speed that is incapable of normal enemies. They seem to flicker in and out of the false reality of the World as they draw near, only a faint, faded form remaining as they draw close.

Asura quickly brings his Mizuchi up at one of the approaching Sky Fish, hoping to cleave the weaker monster in half with a single strike. To his surprise, the enemy suddenly moves to the side, dodging his attack with minimal effort. The monster then rams into his side, poisonous barbs on its fins digging into his flesh as he is sent flying back against a wall.

"They're not supposed to be that strong either!" Asura yells out, ignoring the poison that is now seeping through hiis veins. He swings his blade horizontally at the Sky Fish as it comes at him again, slicing a deep gash across its side before it can move to the side. The monster screeches in pain before ramming into Asura again, smashing him further into the wall. Asura looks on in pain and fear as he realizes that the Sky Fish's wounds taken from the slash had already started to heal up.

"This... might be hard..." he mutters as he trys prying himself free from the wall.

The group ran to the back of the hallway and began to strategize. All enemies had Rip Saem and Rip Geam, so attacking individually would be a waste of time. As soon as one would attack, the damage would be healed. How could the four warriors beat an enemy that can heal itself?

Hey DUDE, System spoke up, How about you go attack 'em all and we hang back and heal ya?

Bad plan System. There's no way I can take on three baddies all together. I may be a high level, but I'm not invincible. If they attack hard enough, not even all the REPTH's you can muster would help me. DUDE said. But you may be onto something...Mayko, your the strongest of you three. I want you and I to concentrate on one baddie. Then, while we're fighting, Asura and System can heal us. Those monsters DO have Rip Saem on them, but it can't heal after EVERY attack. Let's get to work people.

DUDE and Mayko jumped out front, blades drawn, and System and Asura followed in rear as support. Mayko and DUDE rushed the oncoming SkyFish and Valkyrie. Mayko! We attack the Sky Fishes first! Mayko nodded in agreement and the two Twin Blades began hacking away at the Sky Fishes. While the two cut at one of the enemies, the other Sky Fish casted Duk Lei on DUDE while the Cadet slashed Mayko's back. While DUDE and Mayko were being biten and gouged to death by the enemies, System and Asura hung back and healed their comrades. Every time DUDE droped to his knees in near death, System would use REPTH to fill his life half way. The dying Sky Fish's life lowered considerably, but rose due to it's healing spell, but that did not deter from DUDE and Mayko's ferosious assault. The Twin Blades slashed the Sky Fish into little bits before it burst into data.

With one of the mutated enemies deleted, DUDE and Mayko turned their attention to the other Sky Fish, in hopes of killing it before anyone else got poisoned. DUDE's life continued to drop due to the poison, but Mayko was going strong. She began to attack the flying monster with no remourse. The Cadet Valkyrie cut into Mayko's back but did little damage as Asura quickly healed her. System casted REPTH one final time, as his SP ran out, on DUDE. He then fell back and waited for his SP to refill. DUDE continued his onslaught on the Sky Fish, when it fell to the ground and dispursed into data. Mayko turned her attention to the last enemy while DUDE had to drop back from the fight. Asura saw that he could not fight anymore, so he picked up his Mizuchi and took DUDE's place.

DUDE casted REPTH on himself, filling his life enough where he would survive, and watched as the pair attacked the last enemy in hopes of crushing it quickly. The Cadet brought it's sword to bear across Asura's chest, slicing his armor and skin wide open. DUDE casted REPTH quickly and Asura's armor and body healed itself quickly. Mayko thrusted her Assassin's into the head of the beast, thus distributing it's poison, and causing automatic death, which it creatures Rip Saem could not cure. Mayko quickly turned around and casted her own REPTH on DUDE. Now the full attention was on DUDE and his poisoning.

For a good half hour, the group watched over DUDE and his flailing around. The poison was leaving his system, but not without causing massive pain. Everyone had their turn casting the healing spell on DUDE, and letting the rest regain their SP, but DUDE continued to kick around in agony. Another half hour later and the poison was out of DUDE's body. he got up, and thanked everyone for their watching over him.

Thank you guys. There was no way I could have lived without y'all. DUDE said.

Mayko walked to the end of the hall and noticed there was a fork in the road.

Hey!!! We're in trouble!!! There's two ways to go people...

Then, a voice as omnious as the voice of GOD spoke, One way holds the correct way, the other leads to danger. Choose wisely.

At the same time, DUDE and Mayko spoke.

Let's go right.
Let's go left.

Mayko was stunned. Left? But right is always right! Nothing good comes from going left!

But this is a hacked field. We have to expect the unexpected. That's why left is the way to go. DUDE tried to reason.

DUDE, you've been a great leader, but I'm not going left.

Asura and System spoke up. Look, it'd be a good idea to split up, so we three will go right, and you'll go left. Sound good?

DUDE calmly stated. Fine, but listen to me. If you get the clean room, I want you find me and take me the safe way. I'll do the same if my way is the correct way. Agreed?

Everyone agreed, parted ways, and, hesitantly, walked through their respective doors.

[OOC:Members Who went to the right Don't read this part read the second below]
-DUDE Walks into the left passage and creeps slowly in the dungeon uneasily, the room was pitch black and he couldn't see anything, then a row of numbers sat in the air they slowly flowed to the center of the room and exploded into a white ball of white light, it swirled in the air and then got close to DUDE, he staggered a bit uneasily and slowly put his hand closer and closer untill it touched, it exploded with white glowing numbers flying everywhere and touching the walls, the numbers lit the room and showed that it was clear. Up the long hall way was a door-
[OOC: DUDE Don't Read this Part!]
-Meanwhile the group turned and entered the right room, it was dark so they stayed close together. Then a figure of white like on the first floor appeared and spoke in mixed up voices, from older men - to a a girl- to a woman- to a squeaky kind of voice it said "Ihr Freund ist in der Gefahr" the figure slowly faded away from site, a yellow portal appeared that was holding Stehoney and a Cadet Valkeryie-

"Your friend is in the danger" Mayko muttered, remembering some basic German

"What?" Asura asked

"That's what that... thing said" Mayko told them "Ihr Freund ist in der Gefahr... It literally means ' Your friend is in the danger.' Meaning DUDE went the wrong way... I knew this was the right way..."

"Well we need to defeat these monsters first, so let's do it!" Asura said

"Let's see..." Mayko looked around at the two opponents "That one's Stehoney... One of the Goblin's you can play 'Tag' with... I have no idea why it's in a monster portal... The second one you both should know, it's..."

"A Cadet Valkyrie," System Slayer interrupted "I'm aware."

"Alright then, you and Asura take on that, it has less HP." Mayko told him

"Alright." The other two replied

"Wait!" Mayko stopped them

"What?" Asura asked

"Don't die System..." Mayko said with a smirk before she turned her attention to Stehoney, and muttered to herself "Time to play 'tag,' I'm it..."

While System looked insulted at Mayko's statement, he knew she was right. He tried to stay as far away from the battle as possible, but due to the confined space of the corridor, there wasn't much he could do. He turned his attention to Asura and his fight against the Cadet Valkyrie.

Meanwhile, Mayko chased Stephoney around a while, figuring out its technique. Finally, she moved in to strike. Getting in a few slashes here and there, she was beginning to have a good time fighting the golden goblin. She occasionally glanced back at System just standing there and healing Asura when he needed help, and couldn't help but feel bad for him. He'd been doing nothing interesting this entire dungeon. Knowing that Stehoney wouldn't attack, she called System Slayer over.

"You can finish it..." Mayko told him

"What?" System Slayer said in disbelief

"Well, it won't attack you..." Mayko said "And I got rid of a good portion of it's HP... so have fun and stop being a wavemaster... It doesn't suit a heavy blade..."

System Slayer chuckled and took Mayko's place fighting Stehoney, while Mayko regained her composure and watched the two battles making sure neither side needed help or healing.

Asura leaps back from a swing of the large tip of the lance, its blade scraping across the ground in front of him sending sparks into the air. The Cadet Valkyrie then thrusts forward with its lance again, cutting into Asura's cloak as it trails behind him as he leaps to the side to avoid it again. Asura charges forward with his Mizuchi, hoping to attack the Cadet Valkyrie while its lance was out, only to mutter a curse as the lance swings back around, pole smashing into his ribcage. He stumbles forward, turning around before he loses his balance to face the Cadet Valkyrie. Leaping forward to try to make another strike, he is presented with the tip of the lance slicing across his arm as he tries to adjust so he doesn't impale himself upon it.

Asura lunges forward as he falls towards the Cadet Valkyrie, hoping to kill it in a single blow. His sword clashes against its red armor, piercing through it and into the monster's side. He then looks up at the Valkyrie, hoping to see its last breath. However, the battle was not over yet and the beast brings its knee up into Asura's chest, sending the sword out of its wound and flying free from Asura's grip and onto the floor with a loud crash. Asura himself spirals into the floor, rolling a bit before coming to a halt again facing the enemy from the ground.

Asura quickly scrambles for the Mizuchi, occassionally rolling to dodge the lance wielded by the monster. Each time the lance barely misses, sending a small shower of sparks into the air as it slices across the ground. Asura finally reaches the Mizuchi, snatching it into his hands and spinning around to face the Cadet Valkyrie again. He, however, loses his grip on the Mizuchi as he spins, the sword freeing itself from his grasp. However, the momentum of his spin sends the sword flying at the enemy, spearing it through the visor. The beat falls backwards with a thud as it hits the ground, turning a dark, ashen grey. It fades into the stream of data.

Asura simply lies there for a bit, propping himself up to look with only his arms for a second, blinking his eyes in disbelief. He then pushes himself back to his feet and walks back towards the Mizuchi where it now rests in the ground. At one point his boot catches into a crack and he stumbles forward, nearly tripping onto the Mizuchi. Asura turns around and glares menacingly at the crack before turning around to scoop up the Mizuchi from where its resting.

"Well that was incredibly lucky..." he mutters, then yells out "REPTH!", raising his sword into the air above him. Silver sparks of light shower down from the sword onto his wounds, mending where ribs had cracked from the last encounter. Asura glances over towards System, his now slightly more tattered cloak floating gently around him as he faces the fight between System and Stehoney.

[OOC: This Post is For Dude, who is probobally standing around wondering what do next]

-Dude looked around and the room and began to head down the hall, he glanced around as he saw a number on a wall, glitch-

"I guess, I went the safe way" Dude said smiling, and telling himself that he knew he was write in the first place, he beamed down the hallway then stopped. The numbers on the walls ar ound him began to glitch more, and then they stayed that way. Glitching and glitch, Dude looked at them uneasily and one of them peeled of the wall and glided towrads Dude, "Eh..?" The number turned purple a bit, then slapped itself on Dudes face. He had a quizzical look on his face and then sulked.

~*Poisoned!*~

"Poisoned!?" Dude yelled out, and then saw the other numbers lift from the walls around, they began to glow yellow, purple, and a lime green. He quickly ran down the hall and slammed right into the dead end, he felt the sudden pulse of the posion strike at him. He then dashed back to the entrance of the path, "Maybe I was wrong! Affterr aaaaaallll!" The numbers zoomed after him as he ran.

DUDE crawled on hands and knees out of the doorway. The poison seeping through his body was not of normal variety. This was almost a mutated poison. His HP drained away faster than ever, and if this kept up, he'd die in under ten minutes! He knew the risk of going it alone, but if everyone were to get killed together, the quest would end. He took the chance, lost, but is still alive...for now.

The poison attacked DUDE's legs, making it painful to walk. He crawled next to a wall and sat himself up. Next the poison affected was his arms. He sat there, not being able to walk, not being able to lift anything, having the poison eat him from the inside out. While he sat there, paralysed from the neck down, he continuously casted REPTH to keep him from dying and considered his choice. Had he gone right, he would be fine, not poisoned. But on the other hand, someone needed to be sacrificed, so to say, and he was not about to let someone else be the guinea pig.

Half an hour passed and the hacked poison began to wear off. DUDE gained some mobility from his hands and feet. He continued his REPTH until the poison was completely out of his system. DUDE got up and charged the right hand door. He tried to get in, but it was locked! Aparently, there was a fight taking place. To save his friends the worry, DUDE FLASH MAILED Mayko with the news.


FLASH: Mayko - I'm alright. I got hit with uber-poison and that was all. I'm waiting on the other side of the door for you three.

Slayer chases his newly designated prey, listening to it laugh evilly with his approach. As he gets close, it suddenly dashes off to the right and watches his sword dig into the floor. He pulls it out and takes a powerful horizontal swing at the goblin. It cunningly ducks and dodges the blow, infuriating Slayer. In response, he brings his sword down on Stehoney, only to find stand on the blade.

"What the hell," he says to himself.

Although he raises his sword quickly to throw Stehoney off, he finds himself getting a close look at the bottom of the goblin's foot. It taunts him by running across his sword and stepping over his face.

"RAR," Slayer shouts angrily.

A quick spin does nothing except force the goblin off his head. Once it lands, he takes another violent swing downwards. To his annoyance, it simply dashes back. Instead of fighting him, it laughs and runs away.

"You have no honor," he shouts.

The goblin just snickers evilly as a fast paced battle begins. It defiantly turns back to Slayer and jumps between his slashes which become quicker and quicker with each swing. It eventually chooses to end this dance by kicking him in the face and knocking him to the floor.

"Ohh... you asked for it," Slayer says.

He takes his visor off a moment and switches the game music to Feuer Frei, by Rammstein. Returning to the game, the sound of heavy metal reenergizes his mind and body, bringing in a certain confidence in Stehoney's upcoming defeat. He stands and looks around, not sighting the goblin anywhere. His eyes widen as he realizes that there is a low, laughing sound seeping into his music. He feels it from behind, assuming that his target is also there. His hands latch on tightly to his controller as he prepares to deal a perfectly orchestrated blow. Turning around quickly, things seem to move slowly while he anxiously catches sight of his enemy. The sword heads down towards a laughing goblin which tries to dash to the side. Realizing this, Slayer tilts his sword to slash diagonally and cover the goblin's escape route. An annihilating blow sends Stehoney down to the floor with a crunching sound. It tries desperately to dash forward, only to take another blow.

"DIE," shouts Slayer.

A strong glitch ravages through the room, freezing all actions and disturbing all in its path. A loud cracking sound echoes through the room from the spot on the floor that his sword cracks. The shock pushes him back and shakes him around slightly. Somehow, Stehoney had miraculously escaped a gruesome demise. Raising his gaze from the floor, Slayer is amazed to see the goblin standing about 2 meters away. More intimidating is the fact that its health is slowly but surely returning at about 12 HP per second. With no time to waste, Slayer is already charging at the monster when he notices a purple light emerging from its fully open mouth. He stops his charge and steps back, believing it may be too dangerous to attack. A hazardous mass of power accumulates in the monsters mouth and slowly grows bigger.

"Ani Kruz," Slayer says to himself in shock.

The dark mass flies out of the monster's mouth and into the air, breaking apart into smaller projectiles. With few choices left, he runs directly at Stehoney while the spell converges around him and comes ever closer to dealing a mortal blow.

"CALAMITY," Slayer yells.

His sword shines as it flies towards the snickering Stehoney's shoulder.

"Laugh it off, coward. If I day I'm taking you with me," he thinks.

"SABER DANCE," shouts Mayko.

"REVOLVER," shouts Asura.

To his surprise, Slayer's friends have joined in to slay the creature. His sword runs left down its chest, turning back and tearing toward the right. Asura's blade rapidly punches holes into the goblin's back with surgical precision. Mayko spins quickly, slicing and dicing her enemy. The three combined attacks take the creature by surprise, tearing it apart and cutting its laughter short. Slayer trips on the fading Stehoney and hits the floor hard.

"His final taunt. How ironic," Slayer thinks.

His friends can do nothing to stop the speeding projectiles and watch them strike Slayer without mercy. After a deep silence, Slayer stands speechlessly.

"Am I... dead," asks Slayer.

He turns to his friends, who have looks of shock on their faces.

"Impossible," blurts Mayko.

"You are so lucky! The spell's effect went away when you killed him," yells Asura in relief.

"That's gotta be-" Mayko said as DUDE's Flashmail came in

FLASHMAIL - MAYKO
I'm alright. I got hit with uber-poison and that was all. I'm waiting on the other side of the door for you three.

Mayko smirked. He's gonna be in for it now. She'll never let him live it down.

"What's the matter Mayko?" System Slayer asked "Why'd you stop mid-sentence?"

"Oh, it's just that DUDE flashmailed me." Mayko told them

"And?" Asura and System Slayer asked simultaneously

"He went the wrong way," Mayko smirked. "I'll go get him hold on."

Mayko pushed the door aside and saw DUDE sitting there. Staring at the door. And now at her. He obviously didn't expect the door to open, and he jumped a little when she came out.

"Hey, you alright?" Mayko asked, her smirk still evident on her face

"Yeah..." DUDE replied "I'm out of SP for the moment though."

"Had no antidotes?" Mayko asked

"Nope." DUDE sighed

"Well it's a good thing Asura has some." Mayko said "And if we would just STAY TOGETHER, I'm sure he'd be glad use it on you if necessary."

"Yeah yeah," DUDE grumbled "Don't rub it in!"

"Fine.." Mayko said, turning on her heels back towards the way she came "Let's go, the others are waiting!"

"Right!" DUDE said as he followed Mayko back into the corridor where Asura and System Slayer were waiting.

As the group went down the dark corridor, they told DUDE everything that happened to them. Finally, Asura felt the door to the next room and pushed it open, the group cautiously taking a step inside...

-The group found themselves, facing a normal dungeon room, it was large with a few vases here and there. DUDE quickly ran over to break them and with no sucess, recieved nothing. As he was hoping for an anitdote, suddenly the room glitched, and a number supposedly from DUDES room flowed in and glided past the users. It landed on the ground and began to grow very large-

"What is that thing?" Mayko said, preparing herself for battle. The rest of the group did the same. A level 7 Mummy Ripper emerged from the large gloop of white light, "Level 7! This might be a problem!"

"Yeah, especially when I'm poisoned like this!" DUDE Said, preparing himself for battle. The group looked at eachother uneasily then procceded.

[OOC: After you defeat this Mummy Ripper you head into a fork, with another yellow portal only to reveal an item. If you want it to be an antidote then let it be, or you might need a Health Drink by the time your done? Who knows, after this room is another path that has a side path and an upper room. If you take either path let me know, the directions like before]

Asura shuffles back away from the advancing Mummy Ripper, narrowly dodging its metal claws as it cuts across his cloak. Catching his foot on a crack as he shuffles away from the enemy, trying to dodge its deadly attacks, he trips backwards onto the ground, barely keeping his grip on the Mizuchi. The monster sweeps its claw down at Asura, only to have it clash with Asura's Mizuchi as he tries to hold the massive claws back

Mayko and DUDE come from behind the enemy, both striking with their respective weapons towards the Mummy Ripper's now unprotected back. Blades rip into the creatures back, spilling blood upon the weapons and the ground as it stumbles over Asura in an attempt to wrench free its claws from the Mizuchi. Asura brings himself back up to his feet, holding the Mizuchi in front of him as the deadly enemy again begins attacking with its claws.

The steel claws go right by Asura's face as he narrowly dodges the deadly attack. He then mutters a curse as the back of the claws sweeps horizontally at him from where he tried dodging, smashing into the side of his face. Staggering to the side, he tries to keep his balance for a bit, then lunges forward at the Mummy Ripper. The deadly monster steps to the side and swings its weapon at his opponent's chest yet again. The blades rip deep gashes across Asura's body, causing him to stagger back, holding the wound with his free hand.

Asura looks at the blood oozing onto his han and in rage swings the Mizuchi down at the enemy's skull. The Mummy Ripper only skillfully steps to the side of the attack and sweeps its claws out at him again. The claws rip across Asura's face. slicing deep cuts into his cheek and narrowly missing one of his eyes. The Mummy Ripper then jumps back a bit, raising its deadly claws towards Asura. A spray of deadly gases suddenly rises up around him, seeping into the wounds he had taken from the claws. Asura backs away from the Deadly Moth as he feels his strength seeping away from him, trying to keep a careful hold upon the Mizuchi with both hands now.

"Dek Corv... just great." he mutters as he tries to keep his distance from the monster, wincing in pain as his wounds continue to bleed, dripping blood upon the once clean stone floor.

"Repth," shouts Slayer.

He heals the wounded Asura while from a prudent distance as the battle rages on. DUDE manages to sneak up on the unknowing Mummy Ripper, dealing a heavy blow down the back of its head. To his disgust, his blades catch small pieces of the mummy's wrapping. As the mummy turns towards DUDE to tear his heart out, Mayko comes out behind it and deals another surprise attack.

"Saber Dance," she shouts.

Her spinning blades tear rapidly at the monsters back, opening gaping wounds which glow dark purple. Poison seems to ooze out from the creatures back through the wounds, though not affecting Mayko's assault. Torn up, the creature stumbles forward and seems to pant. The 3 attackers watch it carefully, wondering if it’s about to fade or not. A sudden glitch rips through the room, confusing everyone momentarily. The Mummy Ripper surprises them by standing up with a new, unnaturally granted vitality. The creep raises its head, scouting around and growling slowly. The party raises its guard except for Slayer, who remains at a safe distance. A sudden move from the mummy keeps everyone on their guard uselessly. It spins quickly, arms stretched out, and slashes all the surrounding players. As they fall back, it releases another cloud of toxic gas and lowers both Mayko's and DUDE's strength. Asura stands angrily and takes another shot at it, punching a hole in its head with his sword. After a small pause, the head regenerates as if nothing had happened.

"It has an HP equivalent to... infinity," says Asura in disbelief.

Repeating its past assault, the mummy spins violently while tearing at Asura. Heavily wounded by cuts across the arms and chest, he falls to the ground and remains a limp motionless body. Slayer runs up to Mummy Ripper with a crazy idea.

"Calami-," shouts Slayer.

"Stay back," DUDE yells urgently.

The mummy steps away from Slayer, ready to tear him apart. As it unleashes its deadly spin attack, he ducks under the flying claws and stomps down on a loose wrapping.

"Psych," he shouts with a grin.

In a few seconds, the mummy tears itself apart. All its wrapping comes loose and piles up, leaving its claws and accessories to drop to the floor. With a grin of success, Slayer watches the mummy's remains turn to a gray hue and fade away. For the next few minutes, Mayko and DUDE cast Repth on each other and Asura while Slayer helps Asura up. The effects of Dek Corv wear off on those affected and they move on through the dungeon. Walking down a hallway, they discuss what could be happening in the castle.

"Oh sure, he invited us here. But that doesn't eliminate the possibility that this is a trap," says Slayer.

"Indeed. Yet we have no way of knowing so except by coming here," responds Asura.

Their debate is abruptly paused by a glitch rushing from the end of the hallway towards them, messing with their visors again and making everything change colors momentarily.

"I'm getting tired of the constant special effect," complains DUDE.

The party freezes in its tracks, eyes widening in fear. Random colored numbers stream back and forth along the surfaces of the walls, dancing about but not attacking the group. Before anyone can say anything, they all coincide on one plan. They run down the hallway frantically, a large mass of numbers chasing them. The numbers trade places in massive amounts between the walls, forming a sort of wall that stays hot on their tail.

"Look! A portal," shouts DUDE.

The party runs into this new room, the wall of numbers slamming into a newly risen wall that locks the players into the room. Their new location is shaped curiously like a pentagon, a new portal opening before their eyes. The three main fighters surround the portal in a triangle while Slayer moves to a safe distance for healing. Raising their weapons, the party knows not what to expect from the diabolic signet. A bright light sweeps through the room, falling by the dropping of weapons and a deep silence.

"Is this a joke," asks DUDE.

"Maybe a trap," says Asura.

Slayer moves closer to the party as DUDE opens their newly found chest. He momentarily winces from the poison in his body and pulls the chest open. In it, he finds a delicate card with an inscription upon the top and an image of the moon imprinted in a golden frame. The inscription seems foreign at first but is soon decoded. It says 'The Moon' on the card. They watch the two walls in front of them open up, forming another fork. Behind them, a wall also goes down. To their relief, the numbers are nowhere to be found. Slayer pulls out his Death card and puts it next to DUDE's Moon card.

"I believe it’s an omen," says Slayer.

"Of what," asks an interested Mayko.

"Either that we're sinking into the hopeless directness of the night within this place, or that there is a light at the end of this that offers safety," Slayer explains.

"We'll find out soon enough. Right now, we need to decide where to go," says DUDE.

DUDE pocketed the Moon card and stepped forward, but fell to his knees in pain. The poison should have worn off by now. The hacked poison continued to pulse through his body, causing spasms of pain and loss of HP every minute it stayed in his system. DUDE wanted to save his stock, but, at this point, he didn't care. He pulled an Antidote out of his ARMY fanny pack, and drank the disqusting potion. Immediately, the poison throughout his body was nullified and he was cured.

System looked on in disbelief at DUDE. You......have a FANNY PACK?!?!?!

...What? DUDE asked, Don't you?

Everyone cracked up at DUDE's fanny pack. After the humorous moment subsided, the god-like voice spoke again.

ONE DIRECTION LEADS TO REFUGE. THE OTHER, PAIN.

Mayko led the charge forward. DUDE held his ground and pointed the the left.
Mayko turned and saw DUDE standing. Not again. Look, you got poisoned last time...god forbid you listen to me this time!

Calmly, DUDE made his reasons clear for splitting. What if your way leads to a DEATH trap? Then we'd al lbe dead. I can't accept that, nor can I accept putting any of you at risk. I'll go alone. If I'm wrong, come back for me. Good bye...hopefully I'll see you all again shortly.

DUDE ran through the left door, not wanting to see the disappointment on Mayko's face. Mayko simply turned around and marched through the upper door with Asura and System behind her.

-DUDE headed into the left, with the uneasy feeling of being wrong again, and looked around the lit room, there was a yellow portal twisting in the middle and he ran up to go and activate it, the yellow portal began to spin and spin, and then it bursted in a dome of bright yellow light then it faded, DUDE looked around and saw room up ahead. He figured he could just check it out before, going to tell the others. He went in and saw that it was stairs, he quickly headed back out-

-Meanwhile, the group continued up ahead and looked around, there was a floating number near by and it slowly silted in the around, the room glitched for a while and then went black-

"Eh.."The group said, all together looking around uneasily, there was a roar of something, and it shook the room the group clenched their bodies at the sudden loudness and looked around, the room began to twist and turn. There was a spinning purple vortex in front of them now, they all stared.

"Do we? Do we jump in!?" System Slayer, yelled out holding his sword out in front his face.

"I don't know.. maybe we should wait for--"

"Ahhh!" Asura yelled out, he lost grip on the ground and fell on his rear, he began to slide in, System Slayer held out his sword, and Asura grabbed on holding, his legs lifted in the air and flailed in the vortex. DUDE Barged and then grabbed to the sides of the door, at the sudden thrust of air inwards-

"Mayko! Whats happening!?" He yelled out, as he looked around. Mayko quickly went over to help System Slayer. DUDE also went over, they continued to pull Asura whose legs were still flailing inching closer and closer to the vortex. Then Mayko slipped, her feet were lifted from ground and she slammed at Asura, as she was still holding on the sword. Asura shocked, was suddenly slammed and felt the armor of Mayko, he lost his grip and let go of the sword.=

"No!! Asura!!" System Slayer yelled out, as he watched Asura spin slowly in the fastly spinning vortex, his hands out stretched his mouth wide open, with no sound. System Slayer gave a quick jerk on his sword catching Mayko off guard, who was still looking at the falling Asura, and the spinning vortex she felt the sudden jerk and her hands hit the end of the sword-

"AH!" She yelped out, and let go of the sword, she fell into the vortex and System Slayer suddenly fell forward at the sudden loosening.

"DUDE! We have to go!" System Slayer yelled out, DUDE was just staring and then he nodded the two approached the vortex and then closed their eyes. Without any thought they jumped in the vortex, they suddenly felt the spinning sensation and spun in utter darkness.

"Where...are we?" Mayko said, she looked around and quickly got up. They were in a new place now, it was dark, green,purple and hardly any light. But she managed to notice System Slayer and DUDE who were relatively close. She shook them and they woke up.

"EH? What happened? Where did we go?" System Slayer said as he helped DUDE up. The three looked around,"Wheres Asura?"

"Asura!!" DUDE and Mayko yelled out, they began to search and then saw a figure of bright light. It then became clearer and was in the form of a little girl, she had short white hair and torn white clothes. She held her hand out which was slightly painted purple.

"Whose that?" System Slayer said, the glowing light around the girl grew brighter and they saw Asura. He was hanging on a pole tied to it by strings and was asleep. The group stared and quickly readied themselves, as the girl began to move more. She held her hand out to the group and a yellow portal formed.

"Death." The girl said and glitched out. The yellow portal opened and revealed 2 Sky Fish and 1 Mummy Ripper. A voice rang in the new domain, "Defeat my monsters, and save your friend from.........Death." The voice laughed and faded.

"This could be a problem," says Slayer.

"We should go for one monster at a time, leaving the Mummy Ripper for last," says DUDE.

"No wait! I have an idea. DUDE should attack them all," says Slayer.

Too much in a hurry to plan their battle, the party just nods and tries to deal with the monsters. Slayer remains away from the monsters, fear full that he may be killed once again by a random glitch. In a hazardous move to get in the perfect spot, DUDE jumps in between all of the monsters, his blades ready to tear.

"GALE OF SWORDS," he shouts.

The Mummy Ripper lazily turns to slice DUDE but is too slow to react and receives a stream of slashes. He spins and dances between the monsters, slashing them all rapidly. His higher level leaves two weak Sky Fish to be picked off.

"Saber Dance," shouts Mayko.

"Vak Kruz," shouts Slayer.

As the two Sky Fish prepare to retaliate against DUDE for striking them, they are oblivious to the upcoming onslaught. Slayer hits the weakest one with a burning ball of fire, causing an element hit and cutting its Duk Lei chant short. Mayko comes up by the sides of the remaining one and spins her blades, slicing apart what little health it has left. Both fish, covered in holes from their attackers, fall to the ground and vaporize. Only the Mummy Ripper remains, struggling for supremacy with DUDE at the moment. Mayko takes this chance to sneak up on the mummy. Noticing her approach, the creature performs a somersault and flies back over her, slashing her with a steel claw that tears down her back. She cries out and falls, the mummy behind her crossing its claws and preparing to stab her through the back into the heart. DUDE dashes towards her but knows he can't reach her in time. As the mummy's claw speeds downwards, Mayko desperately tries to get away and another sword cuts diagonally down the creature's back. It growls in rage, forgetting about Mayko and turning to face its attacker.

"Calamity," shouts Slayer.

His sword runs left through the monster's face, turning right and churning down its chest. With little real damaged caused by the attack, it raises its claws and swipes down on Slayer. The blow instantly knocks him out of commission and drains his HP down to 7.

"Lucky number," he mutters.

DUDE gets behind the mummy as it stares down on Slayer and stabs it through the shoulder blades, dragging his knives down its body and pulling them out at the hips. As it turns to face DUDE, it finds itself face to face with two more blades. Mayko gets her revenge, stabbing the creature through the head. The word 'DEATH' appears, followed by the sudden shattering of data into particles of ash. Both DUDE and Mayko kneel down next to Slayer, casting Repth on him. Once he can move, he thanks them by casting Repth on Mayko. The bloody marks on her back fade away, leaving them to untie Asura from the pole. Through the darkness of the cave races a powerful glitch that engulfs everything in its path. All the colors in the room invert, the deep darkness becoming an infernally bright light. The players are blinded by this, unable to realize that they have company. The Mummy Ripper slowly gets on its feet, growling and watching the blinded players stumble around. DUDE takes his hand off his face and looks around, hearing the low growling near him.

"Guys... I think its back," says DUDE.

The stumbling players quit moving around and try to make their eyes adjust to the dark, a breeze moving through the cave. Mayko's eyes widen as a feather flies by. She can do nothing to stop the Mummy Ripper, who casts Rip Maen and brings the two Sky Fish back to life. Two bright lights shine upon the places where data accumulates, recontructing their once dead opponents.

"I don't like this..." Mayko muttered "Well, we have no choice, let's do this!"

"Right!" System Slayer and DUDE agree

Mayko and DUDE quickly examined the situation. They didn't have much time before the enemies struck again, but going without a plan would be even worse. Asura was out for the count, and therefore unable to battle, System Slayer could only stay in the distance and cover them. The two Sky Fishes were rematerializing, and somehow the Mummy Ripper had gained the ability "Rip Maen." And, to top it off, there's a strange girl who's out to kill them all. Realizing all this in about 3 seconds, they got to work.

"Alright, DUDE, take on the Mummy Ripper," Mayko told him "I'll cover you from the Sky Fishes until that thing's dead!"

"Right!" DUDE agreed

"And System," Mayko told him "Back away from the battle, staying close enough only to cure and cast spells!"

"What am I, a wavemaster now?" System Slayer grumbled, but nodded.

System Slayer went to get into position, but tripped on the way into one of the glowing pools of data which would soon reform into a sky fish. Before he could get out of the way, the sky fish reformed onto the horrified System Slayer, and the others (save the unconscious Asura) watched helplessly as System Slayer vanished and a Sky Fish appeared. Mayko went to slice it open to free her friend went suddenly the Sky Fish exploded violently, sending pieces flying everywhere; Mayko and DUDE dove out of the way to avoid being hit by flying guts. A dazed System Slayer stood there, with a meager amount of HP remaining. Mayko quickly ran over to him and cast "REPTH!" several times, running out of SP.

"What happened?!" Mayko asked him

"I..." System Slayer said, snapping out of his daze "I cast Vak Kruz... Seems the Sky Fish is vunerable when your inside it..."

"I see... Well I don't feel like testing that hypothesis, so get out of harms way!" Mayko said as she got back into her battle position.

System Slayer kept a good distance away from the battle as DUDE faced off against the Mummy Ripper. As Mayko SP gauge started to replenish, DUDE sized up his opponents moves against his own. Meanwhile, the remaining Sky Fish (the one System Slayer had blown up was in too many pieces for Rip Maen to bring back) tried to help his fellow monster, but Mayko blocked it with her criss-crossed swords. She anticipated the Sky Fishes attack, and got in such a position that she could easily push out with her blades and send the Sky Fish back. Her rather creative attack got rid of some of the monsters HP, but nothing crucial. She needed her SP back, just enough to do Sabre Dance, but she wasn't going to use her Mage's Soul because DUDE had to first eliminate the Mummy Ripper.

"TIGER CLAWS!" DUDE yelled

DUDE's well planned quick-blade attack slashed the Mummy Ripper all over, dealing a good deal of damage, about 7 HP per hit, and about 5 or 6 good hits... Leaving the Mummy Ripper with about 42 HP. Dude then lunged and slashed the Mummy Ripper's chest with one Spiral Edge and keeping the enraged Mummy Ripper's Wolverine-like claws away from him. DUDE's attention soon turned to the Mummy Ripper's one large eye. DUDE stared at the eye, and the eye stared back. It watched him, unblinking. This drove DUDE crazy. Finally, he drove the Spiral Edge which kept the Mummy Ripper's claws at bay into the eye, it's blood spewing everywhere. This caused the Mummy Ripper to fall over again and turn ashen; dead. Mayko, DUDE, and System Slayer watched it carefully as it disappeared into data, waiting a few moments to see if it was going to reform. Finally, when it didn't, they all breathed out a sigh of relief.

Now it was Mayko's turn to battle. She crouched low, pushing herself into the air, and with a flip in the air, dug her assassin blades into the Sky Fishes back, and, pushing her assassin blades out as fast as she had dug them in, sat on the Sky Fish, right above his head. The confused and frightened Sky Fish flailed, and Mayko slashed at it's sides, causing it to flail more. It's broad fan-tail shook violently, as did the rest of the Sky Fishes body, trying to throw it's unwanted rider off it's back.

And suddenly, just as suddenly as she got on, Mayko kicked off the Sky Fish and landed in front of it. And she smirked. Her diversion tactic was used to gain time. Time which refilled her SP gauge to it's full potential. Not that she needed her SP, she could finish the fish without it. It's HP had already taken a serious nosedive, and the rest of it was soon to follow. With a cry, Mayko charged the Sky Fish digging her assassin blades into the sides of the Sky Fishes head, the tips of the assassin blades coming out on the other sides. In a final shriek of pain, the Sky Fish fell to the side and turned ashen as Mayko pulled her blades out.

System Slayer, sighing after not doing anything yet again, helped Asura down from the pole to which he had been bound and slung him over his shoulder.

"Whoever you are Kleines Mädchen," Mayko cried angrily "If you wanted to make enemies of us, fine, but if not, come out and explain yourself!!"

-The area they were in glitched a little, and a white figure appeared. It slowly faded into a picture of a girl with torn white clothes and short hair on one side of her head and long hair on the other side. She held out her hands in the air and made her fingertips glow red and shoot rays of red light up in the air. It made contact with the darkness above and the earth shook-

"Death, the only way to surpass death is..." The girl said, as her voice echoed. The group held up their weapons in defense and looked around.

"Lets get out of here!" System Slayer yelled out, as he gathered closer with his group. They nodded and looked up at the girl.

"I won't let you escape my death.. " The girl said and lowered her arms, she outstretched them towards the group but was still floating several feet away. Her hands glowed red for a few more moments then glowed with a plasma light, the light turned into a ball and shot it at the group the light engulfed in it. They felt the sudden shocking sensation and gripped their weapons tightly and then it faded.

"We're outta her-'"DUDE said, half finishing his sentence. The golden rings only made it halfway then broke into tiny bits of pixelated golden light. The rest of the group had the same problem. After trying for the second time, nothing came up, "Wha? Why cant we gate out!?"

"Its her..."Mayko said, looking up at the torn girl. She laughed a little and held out her right hand, it began to glow green and blew sort of looking like chemicals.

"No!" Another voice said, it was a little girls. The torn girl looked to the left irritated and continued to charge the strange substance, "Leave here at once!" the voice echoed again, and a white figure flowed in. More elegant, her white clothes weren't ripped and her hair was leveled.

"We've tried she did something!" The fixed girl looked at DUDE who had spoken, and threw him something. It looked like a sprite occarina but different.

"This will take you to the last level of the dungeon! I will hold her off as long as I can!" The girl said and glided infront of the group. The torn girl gave a RARGH in madness and anger and shot the blue and green substace, it hit the fixed girl and she just glew with bright white light, "Hurry, leave now.."

"Right!" Mayko said and gathered the group closer to DUDE. He held up the item and it glowed a yellow light, with numbers flowing along the item the group stared quizically. Then the item bursted and the golden light flowed along the group, it engulfed them and took them to the Gott Room-

END