For a moment, silence enveloped the dungeon room. The Heavy Blade took a seat on a pillar and watched Shenmock with a steady gaze as he, too, took a seat opposite from him. They were only taking a few seconds to regain their thoughts and then they were going to move on again. He suspected that the room held one of the final confrontations, one that he hoped to survive. With his friend at his side, he felt that he could do anything at this point. He was always by his side, his blade hefted over his shoulders and his eyes steady even in the darkest of times. Some people chose to be calm in games. It was just a game, after all, and already, the former Long Arm had endured so much. His thoughts wandered for a second, but then stopped as Mikoto pushed himself off his seat and motioned for him to come.

The boy stopped for a second and eyed him. He was so calm all the time…it crept him out just to see him threatened and then just…stand there. He frowned and looked to the dungeon ceiling, watching as a rock tumbled out of a crack and hit the ground with a crack. His emerald eyes locked onto the form of the heavy blade that was slowly moving away with each passing millisecond. He started after him, his strides long and light as he went. He was proud to have this guy at his side; proud to be able to have gotten so far…and yet he knew it would end soon.

”You okay?” Mikoto whispered as the Fist Fighter came up to his side, walking without a shudder, trying to act brave even when the occasion didn’t call for him.

He gave him a half-smile. ”Not really,” he answered in a calm tone. His character was sweating, maybe from the humidity, but maybe because he was scared as to what the outcome would be once they walked in, never to come back into this dungeon room in their gaming lives.

The man hefted his blade and motioned for him to stop as they approached the door. His eyes twinkled for a second and then he moved. ”There’s a point in time when this happens. Calm down, don’t worry…I’m here for you, Shenny.” He winced at the name that so many people had grown to call him. He didn’t enjoy being called that, but it was obviously easier than Shenmock or something. He heard the slightest bit of sarcasm in his voice and scratched his head awkwardly. He acted as if he was his mentor, as if he’d be going on him for the rest of his life in ‘The World’. He wondered why he got that feeling, the feeling where he thought his fate was intertwined with Mikoto’s. Not in the love kind of way, but…the friend kind of way. He might’ve seemed older than him, he might’ve felt stronger than him, but that didn’t change that fact.

The Heavy Blade walked into the doorway first, followed by the Fist Fighter who had his hands stuffed in his pockets as he went. He wanted to act all sorts of casual, even if it was a monster portal. He knew it wasn’t, though. The loading screen came up for a split second, one that lasted a minute for him. That minute made his heart skip a few beats and then, there he was, standing beside the heavy blade as they faced the backs of three men. They were about as strong as Mikoto, around level twenty five, but stronger than him. There was no way they’d win this fight, even if he was the most skilled player in ‘The World’. Facing off against your fears was something the former long arm didn’t tend to enjoy, but he, Shenmock, was going to-

”Go to the right. Now,” Mikoto demanded, pulling his sword forward and letting it hit the ground with a might crash! The boy stared at him for a second, confused. There was no sarcasm in his voice, only demand. It was the truth; this guy wanted him to go on alone. He glared at him and held a palm up, as if to ignore him. Mikoto batted it away and grabbed his collar with one hand. ”Now. Learn to respect those who want to live,” he said through gritted teeth. He threw him to the side and looked to the group ahead of him.

The Fist Fighter rolled back and got up. He shook his head slowly. ”You’re dead if you stay here,” he growled, putting his hands on his hips and giving him his biggest frown. Mikoto returned it with his best smile. He gave a wave to him, as if he hadn’t heard anything the Fist Fighter had just tried to tell him. It was common sense and yet he…ignored it.

”Doesn’t matter if I live or die. I think there’s one person ahead of you. Tackle the guy, win your prize, and all that stuff. Hopefully you’ll pass…” His sentence lay unfinished there, hanging as a blademaster charged at him. ”Go, now!” the man barked, pulling his sword up and sending the man back into his other party member with a huge swing.

Shenmock stayed put for a second and then, he gave a wave of despair. This guy was dead, no matter what anyone said, no matter what he was fighting for. There was a small percent chance, the smallest he could win, but right now, he doubted that the man would survive any longer. Then, the Fist Fighter dashed off through the door and into the darkness. There was a loading screen, a very brief loading screen, and then, there was the Gott Statue in front of him, right there, gleaming in the darkness.

A lone figure sat on the treasure chest, watching him with a careful eye.

”We meet again. It’s been a while,” the man said, folding his legs and giving him a grin, an evil grin at that. The man wore a long cloak around him, obviously two sizes too big for him. It shrouded his character in black, except for his face. He had two blood red eyes and messy crimson hair, yet it really didn’t gleam as much as the Gott Statue did. He wore a long-sleeved shirt with black gloves. The only thing that you could really see was the face and the hair. He had a scar running up his right cheek up across the edge of his eye and up onto his forehead, where it was covered up by a clump of hair.

The voice was something that he recognized from way back. He remembered faintly that he had been a level ten Long Arm at the time, Kei by his side. They were fighting this guy, one that they thought was a hacker. The voice was something that he recognized, yet he wasn’t too enthralled to hear it again. It was that mocking tone that he didn’t like, that one tone that annoyed him out of the rest. Baron’s treasure hunter-like tone was the only tone he enjoyed less than that, but maybe, this one was worse than the rest. He had had a partner with him, someone that he had let Kei handle, but this time, it seemed that no one was here. It was going to be a one-on-one match between him and his old friend…

…Komi.

”Trying to amuse me with that moronic tone?” the boy retorted, crossing his arms and staring at him with an intense glare. The man didn’t move, but rather frowned at how he reacted to his entrance. He probably though that the Fist Fighter was going to gasp in response, but he wasn’t like that anymore; no, he was not the same person anymore. The boy ran a finger through his blue hair and started forward, being careful to wrap his cloak tightly around him. Komi, meanwhile, uncrossed his legs and crossed them again, this time on the other side. He didn’t respond to his question yet, as he was just taking in the new Shenmock. He wasn’t a Wavemaster, he wasn’t a Long Arm, but rather a newborn Fist Fighter, one that had gone through a lot more than most would’ve.

Komi shrugged and chuckled at how he glared at him. ”No, merely trying to make this…a dramatic entrance is all,” he shot back. He winked at Shenmock and then jumped off the treasure chest. He pulled a blade from behind the golden chest and started to move to the left, down the stairs, still watching him with a close eye. ”Really, I wasn’t expecting you here. You look quite…spiffy.” He laughed again and hefted his blade up, stopping where he was and watching as the boy moved off so they were opposite each other.

”Who were you expecting?” the boy asked, rolling his eyes and throwing his arms up into the air, managing to reveal some of his spiffy new outfit. He looked to Komi from where he was. He had changed since their last meeting. He had obviously decided to change his outfit from the kind a new player would wear to someone of high priorities. ”But really,” he muttered, ”you can’t argue now that I’m here.” He continued to watch him, still wondering what would happen once he moved. He was a hacker, after all; he had to be careful, less he’d have his character deleted.

Komi raised a brow and laughed again. ”Who was I expecting?” he questioned with a chuckle, moving to the left a bit more. Shenmock copied what he was doing, but went in the right direction instead. They were circling each other. ”I’m guessing he sent you out here. He must’ve been feeling pretty confident,” he mused, looking up at the ceiling and stopping where he was.

Curiosity took hold of Shenmock and he immediately threw a question at Komi. He hated how people spoke in riddles, but really, this wasn’t a riddle. He must’ve thought he already knew something that he didn’t! ”Who’s he?” the boy questioned, throwing another glare at Komi. He hated not knowing things that he should’ve, but the word ‘he’ could’ve applied to anyone in the field…and he hadn’t been sent by…anyone.

Komi shook a finger at him, frowning. ”You know who I’m talking about, Shenny. I’m talking about the person who came with you and threw you into this mess.” He didn’t throw any sarcasm into his words, but rather threw a bit of seriousness into his statement. He couldn’t be serious? He didn’t really know who this person was…maybe he did…but he wasn’t sure. He was silent for a second, giving him a glare instead of some half-smile saying ‘I lied’ or something like that. He would’ve, but this time he was actually stating the truth and nothing else. Komi frowned and tilted his head a little.

”You don’t mean to tell me that you…,” he started, but rather, he ended it at that and stuffed his hands into his pockets. ”Well, he must’ve really felt like being…sneaky with this. He, meaning Zen, heavy blade, about your height; you obviously met him, as you…alone? You would’ve died a long time ago.” The boy shook his head at the name. ”He must’ve thrown in another name for sneakiness,” Komi muttered, his eyes narrowing.

”Yes, I traveled with a heavy blade here. So what? He was just helping me, nothing more. We encountered a few people, but…they were just people who were here looking for that, that thing!” He had so many questions to ask and yet he just had to wait for Komi to actually speak instead of adding in riddles. ”His name was Mikoto; yes, he was a heavy blade and he was pretty strong at that, but…he was just like any other ordinary player!” the boy yelled. He put his hands on his hips and looked to Komi, who was leaning against the wall.

”Still, you wouldn’t have gotten here without the help of that guy. If he could easily take down that many people with you…well, you obviously don’t know who this guy really is. Ha! His name probably isn’t Mikoto; methinks it’s Zen. Zen’s the only person I know of that’s strong enough to get through these people. I can’t believe he participated in his own…whatever.” Komi looked up to the boy and let off a laugh.

Shenmock stepped forward, as if to warn him. ”I’ve got all the time in ‘The World’. If you say that the person who accompanied me is named Zen…wait, how do you even know this guy?” he questioned, jabbing a finger at Komi, only to get a moronic laugh in return to his question. ”Seriously, Komi,” he said, frowning and crossing his arms. Why in the world did it have to be this guy explaining things to him? He always ended his sentences short so he wouldn’t get anything. It frustrated him so much!

”I’ve had encounters with this guy, but why he would be encountering a hacker is none of your business. If he believes in you so much as to take the test of trying to beat me, then it’s his decision. If he has trust…” The man pulled his blade up and prepared it for battle. ”Talk is cheap. Once you get to him, you may, but right now, you are here to fight me and gain your reward. It’s not a rare item, if you were looking for one, and if you really want to know, it’s just a simple cheap weapon that no one would want. Anyways! Let’s see how much your skills have grown in the last few months!” he barked at the Fist Fighter, laughing as he moved forward.

The battle had begun.

He hated fighting people stronger than him. Especially those that were annoying.

Shenmock had fought so many people that were higher than him and the outcome had always come the same: he had lost horribly to them in the match. He could only hope this occasion didn’t apply like the rest of them. He’d have to apply what he’d learned from his previous duels into his own duel with Komi. The heavy blade was already giving approaching him with a slow jog, his blade hefted on his shoulder as he went. The only thing that he could manage to do was bring it down on his head, so it would be easy enough to dodge. Of course, this was Komi; he had to expect anything.

Amazingly enough, he brought the blade down and let it grind into the floor, where Shenmock had been not milliseconds before. The heavy blade frowned and looked to the left, where the Fist Fighter stood, watching patiently with his arms crossed. It wasn’t good enough to go in…yet. The Heavy Blade gripped it with both hands and pulled it around his body. He spun around once, slowly bringing it up, and then, on his second spin, he sprang, propelling his blade into the boy’s left arm with a hard spin. The blue-haired boy had managed to absorb the damage into his gauntlet, but otherwise, it was a hard-packed hit.

Komi flashed him a grin. ”My simplest attack and you’re already struggling? Even when you were a Long Arm you could do better than this.” The man laughed and pulled his heavy blade away. He dug his feet into the ground and slid easily on the floor, pulling his blade back the other way. Whoosh! The Fist Fighter hit the ground as the blade whizzed over his head. It didn’t graze over his head like most would think; it missed completely.

The Fist Fighter lurched forward, calling, ”Winter’s Touch!” His ice-blue gauntlets were enveloped with an icy coating as he pulled it forward to the crimson-haired heavy blade in front of him. His leg slid forward on the ground, his other leg stretching back as his knuckles connected with the man’s cheek, all in a clean stroke. People would’ve probably thought that he would’ve been sent flying back into the treasure chest, dazed from the attack, but instead, he stumbled back and grunted, wiping the blood and frost that bit at his cheek.

”You pack a hard punch,” he said, flashing him yet another grin of his. He pulled his blade back so the edge was pointed to the candles that hung to his left, Shenmock’s right. It was like performing a forehand in tennis, but he was pulling it back a little too far.

Seeing someone slowly move toward you wasn’t something that you’d see very often. Of course, someone who was scared to see the outcome would come forward and aim a few quick hits at him. A smarter person would wait for the blade to come and counter it with a simple combo. If it was something hard to dodge like a skill thrown at him, someone would merely block and do his best to try and get in a punch now and then. Which one was he?

The boy took a step forward and took a deep breath. If he could just land one hit… That was what he was aiming for, but he couldn’t get too carried away as to leave himself open. The boy threw off a Gan Zot instead of coming forward head-on and revealing himself. He had learned that much from fighting Baron, as every time the Twin Blade had anticipated his move and countered it with one of his own nifty combos. The earth pillars rose into the air right in front of Shenmock, throwing off rocks and dirt to make his skin color a bit duller than seconds before.

He crouched down and pressed his palm against the ground before leaping off onto one of the pillars. He gave a quick jump to land onto the next and then, he propelled himself off it, doing his best to go far and high. To some, it was a stupid move that could be easily dodged, but if he could aim himself just right, he could bring Komi into a no-win situation. He had kind of stolen the idea from Centrus, but no one was watching, right? He pulled his fist back and came forward; fist first, then his whole body weight to bring him down.

His fist connected with the man’s upraised blade, bringing out a ring around the Gott Statue and making his fist shake from how much he had put in and how much had been sent back up his arm. He let out a yelp and hit the ground. The boy stumbled back and leaned against the wall, only yards from where Komi stood, shaking his hand and then grabbing his sword from the ground again and pointing it, giving off a third grin. ”You think you have hopes of beating me? I could kill you right now, but right now, I’m not sure why he sent you here.” He flipped his blade around in one hand and looked at him. ”Give up,” he said dryly.

Shenmock glared at him. It had been a minute, maybe more, and Komi was already telling him to give up? Like hell! Shenmock’s eyes flared for a moment. ”I haven’t thrown everything at you, yet, my friend,” he murmured as he walked forward and knocked the blade aside with a glare. The boy came forward until he was head-to-head with Komi, his nose literally inches away from Komi’s own.

”Get serious,” Komi said with a snort. ”You don’t have any hope to win, Shenny boy. You might be an inch taller than me, but that doesn’t say anything. I’m a hacker, you’re a player; it’s obvious as to what’s going to happen next.” Komi slid the blade across the floor and around him, so if he threw a punch at him, he could lash out with a powerful strike to counterattack.

”Get serious,” the boy murmured with a grin. His fingers curled around until the nails dug into his palms. He looked down at the man’s feet and then at the man in front of him. Then, he started to move as a Fist Fighter would, dancing back to a position a few yards from where Komi stood. He was ready to sprint, ready to engage battle with his friend like last time; no interferences, just something of an epic battle between them. It might not turn out good, there might not be any hope, but he had his dreams. Everyone did.

Shenmock sprinted forward and slid across the smooth stone surface, coming under the blade that was coming in the direction of his head. His foot came and connected with the man’s leg. Seeing that he didn’t fall, he rolled across the stone surface and grabbed it, leaving him with only one leg to move around with. He gripped it tight despite how Komi thrashed about and then, he spun around, pulling it back in a quick spin and sending the heavy blade spinning into the wall.

His attack might’ve been successful, but it wasn’t enough to finish off that tough cookie. Komi rolled to the side and got up, grunting like it had been something that he had wanted to happen. He grabbed his blade from where it had clattered to the ground and sprinted forward. Shenmock observed that he was moving forward purely by pressing hard against the stone surface, obviously not going for speed but for power. The heavy blade, instead of pulling his blade forward in a thrust like the boy thought, jumped and brought his blade down on the boy’s head. Since it had hardly been a jump and the fist fighter had hardly been expecting him to go to that low, his head was smashed and he crumbled down in a heap.

The word break dancing hardly applied to what he was about to do. It could serve as tripping somebody or trying to impress someone with your ‘complicated’ way of getting up from the ground. Shenmock pressed his palms to the ground and performed a kind of spin. He didn’t use his head, but did his best with his palm to spin around on the ground and try to knock Komi off of his feet. The heavy blade wasn’t that stupid and easily jumped back and brought his blade onto one of his legs, making him let out an agonized scream. His whole ‘complicated’ way of getting up was an ‘easy’ way of getting hit.

Komi let out a roar of laughter as the boy rolled to the side and got up, his fists prepared. Shenmock let out a long sigh and charged forward, lashing out with a simple kick from the foot that wasn’t injured. It connected with his shoulder like it was supposed to and was then followed up with a sideways spin kick (I really don’t know how to describe that kind of move, sorry). This one, though, was caught like it was not supposed to, but the former Long Arm knew how to handle this one. He twisted around and brought his other foot around, his hands grabbing onto the ground for leverage. The foot connected with Komi’s cheek and sent him staggering back, leaving both legs and arms open for battle once more.

”You’re not fast and furious like I’d thought you’d be…more one for tactics. Hmm, I wonder why?” he asked himself with a smirk.

The Fist Fighter didn’t answer, but rather pulled out his Kaze Nunchaku and flipped them around in his hands, doing his best not to get them tangled in his wrists while also trying to make it look…cool? The boy charged forward and pulled the nunchuks up to graze off Komi’s cheeks before twisting around and kneeing him in the chest. The nunchuks were obviously used as a distraction in order to give him something to hit; another plan had been successful, kind of.

The boy switched out to his Ice Dragon Fist and started a continuous string of punches, kicks, and knees to the man’s open chest. Komi let out a low groan of disapproval, but he could also hear the slightest hint of sarcasm in it. THAT propelled him all the more. ”Ebbing Tides!” he roared, pulling his fist back and letting it come forward. It sunk into his chest, letting the water flow around his arm and then run up his wrist and into the gauntlet, where it was then propelled to the man in front of him. He couldn’t help but smile at the man’s reaction as he was sent staggering back.

”Ready to stop, Komi?” he challenged through gritted teeth as he danced forward on light feet. The blade, this time, came quicker than usual and sliced into his knee, managing to break it in the process. His character could still move, but the impact made him let out a scream of pain. Komi chuckled, making him grimace and then move back as he pointed the blade at his neck.

”I will hand it to you; you’re better than I thought. But…I’d still like to see that neck off by the end of these next five minutes. I’ll make a bet with you on that. I’ll start…now.” The man let off a smile that made a chill run down the back of the boy’s spine. He was dead serious about that. He wanted him dead quick enough that he wouldn’t have anybody to revive him…or something else. All these thoughts, so little time to ask questions…he held his head for a moment and looked to the man who was moving forward, his blade pulled behind his back and prepared for a horizontal slash.

”Wake up,” he murmured to himself as he bent down and let his two long legs stretch out. It was a split, one that was full of cracks and a face of disgust at what he had just done. There was something he’d never do in his life.

The thing was, it was quite hard to get out of the position unless you had seriously practiced doing splits dozens of times and you could easily flip around and bop someone on the head with your foot while looking cool. Then again, you’d still get bruised in the process, but still, he had left himself wide open for an attack. He frowned and looked to the blade that was already being pulled back. He shook his head violently and barked, ”Gan Zot!” He wasn’t aiming to hit Komi though; he was propelling himself.

There was a rumble and Komi stopped his stroke. He stepped back a few paces with a dull look in his eye. His blood red eyes locked onto the pillar that was coming up. The boy closed his eyes and watched as a chunk of his hit points was taken away and he was sent high into the air. It would’ve been an enjoyable experience if it hadn’t hurt his hit points, but…getting hit was getting hit. The boy flew up into the air a few feet before gravity brought him down. He lifted one foot, which had on it a hard iron weapon. The weapon had been called the ‘Iron Step’ for a reason.

It was something like a TV show as he brought his foot down on his opponent’s head. His emerald eyes flared as Komi hit the ground a second later, slightly dazed from the attack that the boy had just dealt.

There wasn’t much left to do but take a few steps back so he could give the guy some space. Laughter echoed around the wall’s of the Gott room. He heard the clang of swords in the other room and a cry, not from…Mikota, but from another man. He could only wonder what was going on in there at the moment, yet he was sure that Mikoto would have perished sooner than that. The blue-haired fist fighter looked to Komi, who was now walking forward, taking light steps across the room so he couldn’t hear any click-clacks from the boots. The boy grimaced at the sight of his expression, a grim smile that showed that Shenmock was truly going to die in the next minute or two.

”About a minute or two left, Shenny my boy. Get ready.”

With that, the heavy blade charged at him, flames roaring around his character data as he went. The man brought the first strike in an uppercut that connected with the boy’s chin. Unluckily enough, he still had his Rue armor on, so it was going to do a hefty amount of damage. The man followed up by pulling his blade back and giving a baseball swing to knock him into a pedestal at the side of the treasure chest. It gave a creak and fell over, shattering into thousands of pieces that would never be put together again. The boy coughed and looked up at the man who was now approaching him. The boy pushed himself off the ground, winced, and sprinted forward, pulling his fist back.

The man murmured a spell, one that he recognized as a ‘Vak Don’. He had it on his own armor, but right now, that didn’t matter quite so much as countering it with one of his own. He countered with a ‘Rue Kruz’ and watched as the ice converged around the boulder, stopping it before it could reach him and making it dematerialize. The man grinned at him and took a few steps forward, slowly inching in the direction of the fist fighter. He pulled his blade back again.

”Would you like some more?” he questioned as he pulled his blade back and looked to the Fist Fighter. He was just about dead; a single Vak skill would do it. He was too lazy to switch out his armor in the middle of the fight, and even if he tried to, Komi would likely kill him before he got the chance to touch a button on the menu screen. The boy grunted and aimed a kick at the man’s gut, only to get it twisted around. This time, he couldn’t lash out with his other foot, due to the fact that he just…twisted around, giving his leg no other chance to come out and kick him in the face. He could hope that would happen, but hoping wasn’t enough.

”Spare me the theatrics and finish it off, will you?” he said with a dull glare. He knew it was over at this point, as he had caught his leg and could use his other hand to tear him apart limb by limb. He was shoved forward in the direction of the treasure chest. He hit the ground in front of it and stumbled back, looking for something to protect him. He found the treasure chest, but nothing more. Too bad there wasn’t an action to pick it up and throw it, less he’d have a projectile to throw at him: some treasure.

The blade lay on his shoulder, the edge slowly cutting at his neck and making blood drip down his neck and stain his black cloak. He didn’t exactly enjoy slow deaths…it was always so torturous to watch. The man grinned and pressed a bit harder against it, making even more drips of blood flow down to stain his cloak further more. If he so much as breathed, he pressed it harder against him and made his hit points whittle down a little bit more. He bit his lip and let his character gulp down the blood. ”As you wish, my boy.” That was all Komi said before lifting his blade and pulling it behind his back in that same baseball swing he had used not a minute before. ”This is the second time! Wow, I love this job.” He let out a laugh, but then, he stopped and groaned.

”I didn’t think I should’ve disturbed you in the middle of your…drama play, but I guess I just had to. It wasn’t that much fun just listening.” Mikoto put his hands on his hips and stared at Komi with a chuckle. His blade was on his back and blood stained his cheeks. He had multiple cuts and bruises from his tangle with the other men, but other than that, he looked…completely okay. He had fought three men on his own and yet he had survived without too much damage. It was either the tags told him wrong or he had some cheat codes. Either way, it didn’t seem possible for someone like that to take on…three people?!

The boy took this time to push himself up and lean against the treasure chest. He murmured a quick ‘Repth’ to himself. He had disbanded his party with Mikoto; another one was pointless. He couldn’t say he was glad to see him, but then again, it was better than dying at the hand of Komi, the idiot of…whatever. The boy moved silently to the side, inching around Komi as the two exchanged into a conversation. It wasn’t much of one though, as they were just throwing jokes at each other. Meager jokes. If there had been a key name or key word in it, Shenmock would’ve caught it, but there was nothing that he could hear from his point of view.

Mikoto charged forward after a mere minute and clashed blades with Komi. The blades ground against each other for a second before each of them let go and spun in the other direction, clashing again at a different angle. It was hard to describe, but he could tell that these two were experts at this stuff and knew what the other was going to do. They weren’t at it for long though; it was clear that Mikoto was the stronger of the two and yet Komi was still grinning all the way while Mikoto had that determined look on his face. He watched in grim satisfaction as Mikoto knocked the blade out of his hand and knocked him to the side, near where Shenmock stood.

”Hmm, a program…ah, this. You’re completely useless now,” he barked at Mikoto. Out of nowhere, his blade dematerialized and he was left helpless as Komi came forward with his own blade. He was completely helpless! He had to do something…but what? That was the age-old question that superheroes got when they were stuck in a tight situation. Sure, he wasn’t a super hero, but it was the main question. What was he supposed to do, just go ahead and barge in their and block the attack, or was he going to act and fight? The boy frowned and shook his head at the thought. If this didn’t work, Mikoto was as good as dead. There was no time to waste!

”OrMeAni Kruz!” Shenmock barked, holding his hand up. Darkness wrapped itself around him, making his eyes bulge for a second as bats whizzed past him, screeching as they did so. A dark pit seemed to surround him and he watched as the level three spell took effect. The boy watched with quiet satisfaction as the bats tackled Komi from the side. He gave him a glare as he was hit away from the bats, a chunk of his hit points being depleted at the third level spell. The heavy blade pulled his blade up and pointed it at him.

”Don’t you dare come after me, Shenny,” he said, glaring at him.

The boy shook his head. ”Like I’ll listen! Rue Rom!” the boy yelled as he sprinted forward headlong. His hands were already clasped together, wind bursting forth out of the small areas of space left open for it to seep out of. One hand slid slowly away and the other acted the same, but the other had something in it: an orb of wind. The boy charged forward and ducked under the man’s blade. The wind burst forth and cut at his hand, but he ignored it. He pulled it forward and dug it into Komi’s chest with a scream, more of rage and curiosity than terror.

There was a burst of wind as the orb of ice dug into his chest. The spell might’ve not been all that great, but with the Kagayuzen, it was an instant hit and all the more powerful with his Rue-aligned armor on. The man let out a yell of pain and slid back on the stone ground until he slid near the edge. It didn’t allow him to fall off, but it was good enough. The man crumbled to the ground as the wind died down and hit it, groaning as he did so. The boy watched him with a pitiful eye before turning away and digging his hands into his pockets. He looked to Mikoto, who was watching the character dematerialize. His weapon materialized in his hand, but he paid no mind to it. He only stared at it, watching as the last bits of the man’s boots faded into the darkness.

He looked to him and bit his tongue at the sight of the expression on his face. ”I’ll explain later,” he said, looking down at the ground and cursing under his breath. Shenmock took a seat in front of him and stared at the man.

”You’ll explain now…Zen. I’ve got time, you’ve got time, and I want to know what you’re trying to do to me.” The boy watched with an eager eye, staring with no regret at him. He wasn’t just going to stand down and…

”Come to the Mac Anu alleys in an hour. Try not to come earlier, less you’ll run into trouble.” With that, he disappeared behind the three golden rings, leaving the boy to stare at the blank wall.

The boy groaned. ”Why me?” he asked, falling back before disappearing behind the golden rings and then gating out of the field that he had been in all too long.

So, the alleys of Mac Anu; what mysteries lay in there?

Forty-five minutes seemed to Shenmock like forty-five centuries, just waiting there, wondering what lie there. He was anxious to go, his heart pounding in him with every passing second, screaming at him to just go already. He had his fishing rod out, watching with a gentle eye as fish squirmed around it, wondering just what the hook was. They were tempted to eat the bait, but the hook… For a second, he closed his eyes and imagined himself as the fish, just staring at the bait, drooling away (though it would’ve obviously been washed away in the river) at the sight of the worm. He opened his eyes and stared dully down at the hook that was now completely clean. There he was again, wasting all his bait. The boy pulled the hook out and slipped the fishing rod back into his inventory before pushing himself off the ground.

Forty-five minutes had passed and he was still waiting patiently. He said not to come earlier, but why? It wasn’t like he was going to get there and be ambushed by a bunch of player killers? Plus, it was Mac Anu, so there really wasn’t a lot to worry about. The boy sighed and looked at the flash-mail he had received just minutes after he had left the field. It read that he would be going across the bridge and to the last alley on the right. Take a left, take a right, and then just keep moving forward until he heard him. It was simple directions that he could follow, but he really just wanted to…head there now.

He started to walk across the bridge, passing by new players, old players, players like him, and all sorts of groups that were chattering about things that had happened at school or a thing that had happened in a dungeon. For once, he wasn’t interested in going to a dungeon, but rather wanted to just arrive there early. He wouldn’t know that he had arrived there five minutes beforehand; he could just say he had arrived thirty seconds ago or something. Lying wasn’t exactly great for this guy, but look at how many times Mikoto had lied to him? A lot. So he could at least lie once.

He looked at the flash-mail. The last alley on the right; it was in view at the moment, so… The former long arm moved closely to the walls, staying to the shadows as he approached the last alley. He gave a second glance once he was a few paces away, just to check if anyone had decided to follow him out of boredom or curiosity. There was no one there, except for a few players who were talking about some other player…it didn’t matter to him.

The alley wasn’t bright, but nor was it extremely dark. The sun was setting, so there wasn’t a lot of light filtering in, but he could see clearly. It looked like someone had trashed the place, thrown all their belongings to the side, and went into some rage. He stepped over a cardboard box and looked to the right, where someone had engraved something into the stone. It looked like some kind of cuss word, but really, it was faded out enough that he couldn’t see it. It was something like an alley from New York, only it didn’t have any people hanging around in it. Everyone chose to be out in the open, out in the sun where they could laugh and talk. He could only wonder why Mikoto hadn’t just specified the alleys and made him follow him. They would know if anyone was following them…it was so dumb to have the coordinates.

He could faintly remember these alleys, yet they weren’t anything like the ones opposite from these. He could remember everybody gathering there, filing in. He had been the first of the Eventides in, the first to stay silent and be afraid of what the outcome of the field would be. The boy sighed and scratched his head as he moved around the first corner and started down the next. These sure were long alleys.

Shenmock stopped as he inched closer to the end. He slumped down against the wall and buried his arms in his face, wondering silently just what was going to happen once they talked. He thought he had heard a lot from Komi, but now everything felt like a mystery. He didn’t know anything! Ugh! It was so annoying! The boy glared at the wall a few yards in front of him and then looked to the ladder off to the side. It was broken in the middle, hanging off on a whim, barely managing to get its parts to stick together. He sighed. He’d be here in five minutes or so, so he might as well just go and take a seat there.

The boy got up and turned the corner. This alley was especially far, going on for what seemed like a mile, but only just a little ways. He could see the river from there and soft, purple clouds. Yet, he couldn’t go much farther; the alleys had their parameters too. The boy shook his head slowly and started to walk, wondering just what was there. Something stopped him, though. His ear twitched; he could’ve swore he just heard the sound of clicking sandals. He waited a second more, stopped and wondered slightly just what it could be, and then turned around to see the glaring face of a girl, who had her sword lain on her shoulder.

”What are you doing here?” she asked, snarling. Her hair was short, probably going down to her neck and then stopping. It was cherry blonde and probably smelled like flowers just by the looks of it. She wasn’t all too happy with his appearance, but he didn’t care. She looked…yeah. Her eyes were ruby red and looked pretty menacing in his eyes. She just wore a long dress, nothing more. Still, he was really focusing the blade resting on his shoulders.

”Chill, girl, chill. I have business here. You don’t have to go pointing that stick at me.” He pushed it away, but she didn’t seem to let it just be thrown away like it really was a stick. The girl glared at him and then stepped away, folding her arms and looking at him with a frown. He put his hands up. Who was this girl? It wasn’t like he had just killed her dog…

”Lay it off, Sen,” a man murmured. The boy looked to his side, where he noticed a man sitting on a box, leaning lazily back with an axe hefted over his shoulder. He more looked like a farmer than a player with that piece of wheat in his mouth. Well, it was at least better than something else. He looked quite burly, but compared to Shenmock’s, they were kind of close, actually. The man threw him a grin. ”Sorry, she’s just like that, but really, you never answered her question. What are you doing here?”

Shenmock frowned and scratched the back of his head. If he lied about something, they’d obviously throw him out, but if he told the truth, they may or may not just keep him there. It wasn’t like he had a love for the girl over there, but…right now he’d just have to stall. If they were up to no good, they couldn’t know about anything that was going on at the moment. ”I was just wondering around like most players do. Exploring, I guess. Don’t players usually come this way?” he asked with an innocent look in his eye. His hands fidgeted and wound the cloak around him, protecting him just for concealment. If they attacked, he had to be ready for anything, so thus he had to keep his class and other things a secret.

”Not really,” the man answered. He had white hair that was a bit spiky like Shenmock’s, yet it wasn’t quite as long from his own observations. He had light armor on, but nothing more. He looked more like the lightweight kind of heavy class, not the kind that would be trying for extreme power and nothing more. ”Most people are too busy power leveling to actually explore the alleyways. Those that have come usually turn around from here, as there isn’t much but an invisible wall beyond this point.” He jabbed a finger to where he could see the river and the amber clouds hovering about. ”Anyways, you really came here…just to sightsee? I haven’t seen your type of player around before.” He laughed and folded his arms, continuing to suck on the piece of wheat in his mouth.

”Right now, though, I suggest you turn back, as you’re not going to be seeing anything from here. We’re…more the wandering player type. We hang around here, but…yeah, there isn’t really anything other than the two of us...” She tilted her head and forced a smile. From the looks of things, they were telling the truth to him, because it didn’t look like they had much business going around here. The boy was forced to smile. There was nothing left he could do.

”I think I’ll stay a bit longer,” he mused. They looked a tad bit annoyed at him. She was ready to lay that blade on his shoulder again, but the man didn’t look to be doing anything at the moment but trying to doze off. ”The view from here is pretty nice…” He walked around, watching the clouds for a minute or two before turning to the alleyway. He didn’t know where he was! He couldn’t just leave here and let them just push him out of the meeting spot. Ugh. This was horrible!

”You go…do your dungeon thing. Later, boy.” She gave a short wave and half-smile, but he didn’t move. He should’ve been here by now, but why wasn’t he? Was he late, was he watching, or was he just pretending to be funny by leading him in the wrong direction? He didn’t answer, though, but rather stood there, waiting, watching, as if he hadn’t heard a thing she’d just said. He didn’t know what to do! He couldn’t stall any longer…if he didn’t come here in a second…ugh. The girl walked forward and pointed a finger at his forehead. ”Leave,” she said straightly. He was sure that they wanted their own privacy with things, but he couldn’t, so he wouldn’t.

”A little longer?” he asked, forcing a smile and gritting his teeth all the while. She looked pissed. Bad. The man didn’t look all too pleased with his personality either, but he was stubborn and he wasn’t going to just get knocked aside from her. The thought never occurred to him that they could’ve been waiting for someone too. Maybe, but the chances of that happening was slim to none. He frowned. He really should’ve come a little after an hour.

”Now.” she said, pressing her pointer finger into his forehead. He lifted a hand and brushed it off. He heard the shuffle of feet near where he had come. She didn’t look all too pleased. The man at the side chuckled at what she was doing and then came up to her and put a hand in front of her. He nodded to her and gave a quick smile. He had probably just sent a flash-mail or something, but he couldn’t tell. Maybe they were whispering, but he wasn’t listening. The Heavy Blade emerged from the alleyway corner, his cloak billowing behind him as he went, revealing the armor he had worn an hour ago.

”I see you’ve met our guest, Sen. Kai.” He nodded to both of them, who gave a short bow that he didn’t catch and a quick wave. Sen seemed confused, but Kai, the man who still had the wheat in his mouth, seemed perfectly still and calm when he came. He spread one arm in the direction of him. He was confused at this point. Mikoto knew this people? Wait, what? ”His name’s Shenmock, Shen, or whatever you want to call him. I met him while going to that dungeon I told you about, and so I helped him through. He helped me quite a bit, didn’t you?” He gave a smile to the boy. The fist fighter forced a smile and stretched his arms. ”Anything new while I was gone?” he asked, looking to them with a curious eye.

They both shook their heads. ”Well then, I invited Shenmock here to join us for a bit. We probably won’t be doing anything today, so feel free to do whatever you want.” He gave a cheerful laugh as they stood stock-still and shook their heads. Shenmock, personally, didn’t get a thing that he said, but they seemed to know just what he was talking about. Mikoto turned to him and gestured for them to go into the alley to the right. He sat on a barrel and looked to him. He sat on a crate and looked to him.

”Explain.”

He shrugged and leaned against the wall, laughing quietly before leaning forward and starting to talk. ”My name is Zen, as I’m sure you already know from the likes of Komi. For one thing, there were a lot of rumors about that field. An item, a recruitment, some kind of strange appearance, loads. People explore the place every day, and so I decided to give it a try and see what brilliant minds I came across. So, as you already know, I came across you, the one who fought and brought down a Twin Blade that I had originally paired up. He wasn’t the brightest fellow either; you outsmarted him by far, so I’ll hand it to you that you’re a pretty decent fighter. Anyways, once I paired up with you, I tried to examine your every move. The fights were a bit easy for me, as I’m quite an experienced player, but…yeah. You seemed like a good man, someone that would take pride in what they did and never go back. I was looking for someone determined, someone that would do a lot for something they didn’t know. You proved to me that you really were a good fighter and a good person, overall, as you always fought fair instead of working mercifully. That might bring you down a bit in fights, but…you really did well. Once I was forced to separate with you, I sent you into the next room and luckily enough, you found the room with the Gott Statue. I fought off the men until one ran and the other begged for mercy. Their other partner was dead, so…they really didn’t have much choice, as I overpowered them.

“After my tangle with them and my small tangle with Komi, I realized you were the person for the job, a person who didn’t beg for mercy, but…someone who did well in their work. About fifteen people came and you were the one that I chose out of them. I’m sure that if I looked all around ‘The World’, I might’ve found a better applicant, but really, I’m satisfied with the boy I found. That’s really not what you’re looking for, though…you’re looking for why I did that, aren’t you?

“Sen and Kai are two of five other people who joined my group about a month or two ago. We don’t have a name, for one thing, as it’s really pointless to have one. We’re more mercenaries like some people, but we tend to try and hunt the hackers down in order to defeat them and let them know that what they’re doing isn’t anything good. You proved that you had fought one or two before, so I guessed that I could let you into the group for a while. If you prove to be sub par, I’ll let you stay here with us, but if you’re not, you might as well just leave and go on playing ‘The World’ like nothing happened. Now…happy?”

The explanation had been long, but he understood more or less what was happening. A group of people was looking for one more recruit to join their ranks and he had been chosen out of a bunch of people. It was really just something that…he didn’t know! He just knew that it might be something to do in ‘The World’ other than just wandering around the game wondering what to do and leveling whenever he pleased. It was something that he could do to consume most of his time or something along the lines of that. Well, he might as well give it a try so…

”Yeah, I’m happy. I’m satisfied. I guess…I’ll join.”

Mikoto whore a grin on his face as he took Shenmock’s hand and shook it hardily. ”Welcome then,” he said. It was like he had won a lottery for millions of dollars, but instead, it was merely joining another group of players. He had joined so many groups, the Army of Darkness, the Eventide Crescendo, now the Swordbreakers, and then this group of miscreants who ran around chasing hackers or doing someone’s dirty work for them. Yet it sounded so much better than the dull dungeons that he went through every day. Mikoto went out into the sunlight before turning to another alley that was a few yards in front of them. He waved for him to come, and so he did, nodding and moving forward at a slow pace. What was so strange about this place was that you knew there were people around this area, walking obliviously. They really didn’t know that it existed, they didn’t know they were there welcoming him into the group, and they really didn’t know that there was an end to the dark alleyways.

The boy moved into the dark and shoved his hands into his pockets. He was joining this thing and getting himself tangled into another story. He switched around so much already and now he was going into this? He wondered just what would happen once he got to work on things in this place. Was there a schedule? Would he be forced to skip classes in college or something? It wasn’t like he wanted to go or anything, but seriously, he didn’t want to be flunking a bunch of things just because he had to do a player’s dirty work. Mikoto put a hand on his shoulder, surprising him a little at his sudden appearance. There was a click! and a door creaked open, revealing a small room that had multiple candles sticking out, revealing what looked like an average dungeon room, yet it was a lot cleaner than most would be. A few cobwebs here and there, a few places where rats had obviously dug their holes, but nothing more than that.

”What is this place?” he wondered aloud, staring up at the bare ceiling and then at the bare ground under them with multiple cracks. It wasn’t much and there were merely a few chairs thrown about the room, but other than that, it just looked like a place for meetings and the like. Mikoto ran a finger down his shoulder and moved away to a chair, where he sat and crossed his legs. The girl, Sen, was leaning lazily against the wall and rolling her eyes at Mikoto. Kai took a seat in a stool that looked about ready to break in half. It didn’t, though, and he was left to plop himself into a small chair and stare at them.

”This is more of our headquarters, kid.” He winced at the word and growled at her. ”We really didn’t do much to this room except throw in a chair here and there. Isn’t much of a headquarters, but whoever said our characters needed couches to lounge in all day? Anyways, we have a few dressing rooms and a fitting room. If you’re looking for weapons, we don’t have any for you unless you like to supply your own weapons to a place where no one needs them. Anyways!” She sighed and ran a finger through her hair, spinning it lazily about. ”We just…hang out around here. If there’s ever a mission to be done, we get a small envelope from a man named Vann that slips in through there. He’s pretty much the client that takes all the orders.” She lay a finger on her skirt. ”That’s about it.”

She looked to Mikoto, who was holding it and looking it over. He pulled it over his head and let it rest on the table, where a single scrap of paper was. ”Kai, you can handle the mission. I suspect it’s something simple like taking care of a few players. If they have hacking powers, contact us at once. Good luck.” Kai nodded in response and nodded to him. Shenmock barely nodded back in response as he disappeared through a door. Mikoto turned to Sen, who had her head rested against the wall, looking up at the dull gray ceiling above them. It matched his own dull gray ceiling; it was intimidating, it was gray, and most of all, it was a pain to look at due to the color. He hadn’t even noticed that Kai hadn’t gone through the doorway, but rather had gone into another one that he didn’t recognize. It led to a small room, but that was all he caught, other than maybe a mirror.

”Sen?” Mikoto asked, looking to her. She straightened up and looked to him with intense eyes. ”You’ll take this young man out to the fitting room. He’s taller than I thought, actually, so I think he’ll fit into one of my sizes, probably not Kai’s, though. He’s a big too big.” There was an ‘I heard that!’ that came from behind the room and a laugh from all of them, even the boy who was still nervous as to what was going to happen.

He forced a smile and waited for a second. Sen walked in the direction of the door in the corner of the room. He stared dully at her. ”You don’t mean to say that you devised a crappy uniform for all of this…Zen? Seriously, what I’m wearing is fine. It’s just the right size for me and…” Sen walked over to him and grabbed his arm. She wrenched him back in the direction of the door and literally dragged him through the doorway. He gave a last dull look to Mikoto, who chuckled softly. He was dropped the second she closed and locked the door behind them, as to not attract unwanted perverts. She looked at him from above and frowned at him.

”Get up. Now. I don’t want to have to go through the trouble of knocking you out and getting you changed while you don’t have a say in things.” He frowned in response to that. She glared, but forced a smile in the end. ”We’re going to have to get rid of that frown on your face. It’s so annoying…” She scratched her head as he pushed himself up and examined the room. The walls were tan and the floor was like the other, only it wasn’t gray, but rather a bit of a lighter color and without all those cracks. There was a chair and a small closet with a few racks of clothes that he didn’t bother to look at. He looked into the mirror and then stared at the small chair in front of it. There were a few materials in front of it…ugh. A haircut. Just what he needed!

”Here, put these on,” she said, throwing up some clothes and armor that he managed to catch. She looked to him and he still frowned. ”Go into the closet, less you want me to put them on for you. You wouldn’t want that, would you?” She laughed as he walked in and slammed the door behind him, muttering ‘Stupid girls and their stupid devised plans’. He dropped the clothes on the floor and stared at it. What it looked like was long, black pants. Then, there was a sleeveless black shirt that seemed a bit tight for him. Obviously, they didn’t want loose shirts to worry about in there. It also had a bit of a turtleneck that ran up a few inches up the neck, but not too long. He had gloves of his own that looked alike to those that had been thrown with it, and…that was about it, other than a short, gray suit of armor that he could strap on his shoulders. He pulled his boots and shorts off, pulled on the tight black ones and then tore off his cloak and jeans to replace it with the tight black shirt. He looked a bit like a moron at the moment, but…he could only hope that the suit of armor would help his otherwise ‘gothic’ appearance. He pulled that on over it and stretched his arms. He had grown quite a bit since when he had first become a fist fighter. He liked that. He opened the door and walked casually out. She was already analyzing him even when he hadn’t even come through…that was weird.

She walked forward and looked him over once, a look of concentration on her. ”Lose the boots,” she said quietly, looking at them from where he was. He groaned and slipped them off, revealing his bare feet that had endured so much when he was a long arm. ”Ah, forgot the armguards, did I? Oh, and why didn’t you take the other gloves? Didn’t you see…whatever.” She tore his gloves off without any warning and slipped on new ones that ran up to his shoulder, all the while grumbling as she did so. She took two things that slightly looked like armor and slipped them on, still mumbling to herself about something. She took a step back and looked him over again, his face, his body, his build, everything. ”Mind tinkering with your character design? She tapped his shoulder and then rolled up her sleeve, revealing an X shaped tattoo. ”Just for clarification and the like, nothing more. Hmm, that’s about it.”

He started for the door. Yes, now he could-

She grabbed his shoulder and wrenched him back so he fell into the chair across from the mirror. He stared dully at it, just to let her know that she was thoroughly pissing him off with success. She ran a finger through his hair, peaked a bit, and acted like she was analyzing it. ”Well, we’ll have to re dye your hair and…try to change it up a little. Don’t pout or anything, boy, because I’m not going to stand it. With that blue hair in a mission, you’ll stand out like red on rice. Anyways, it’ll wear off by the time the mission’s done and you’re changed back. If not, just use the sink water from here. If it gets splashed in the process of fighting, that’s fine. Don’t ask, because it’s just another one of those…modifications, to say.” The boy let out a long sigh of annoyance.

”Do your worst,” he grumbled, rolling his eyes as she grabbed the comb and what looked like gel. He frowned and closed his eyes, leaning back and starting to think a bit more on what would be happening that day. So, she was redoing his hair for some strange reason and then he was going to be off on some…mission, maybe. Mikoto would probably be there to supervise a bit, but other than that, he knew that was about it for the day. He’d be getting off and getting a good night’s sleep after all of this. Two minutes passed and he opened his eyes. He stared at himself in the mirror, his eye twitching. It was an insanely dark brown, nothing more than that, but he liked that everything was spiked up instead of everything being pointed in different directions. He liked both, but…still, spiked up seemed a bit better on him, for some strange reason. She stepped away and lay the scissors, comb, and gel on the counter. Before she could say anything, he said, ”It’s more brown than black…but other than that, I think it’s decent.” He didn’t smile through it, but rather frowned. He was going to have to get this makeover every time…or maybe she’d tell him to do it himself. It was just a click of the button away, so…it wouldn’t be much. He continued to frown.

She smiled in response, showing off a row of shiny white teeth. ”Still need to get that frown off his face…need to find something appropriate for it.” She walked into the closet, opened a chest, and rummaged through what seemed like plastic stuff. If it was laughing gas, he wouldn’t be amused, but to his information, there was no laughing gas in ‘The World’. ”It might torture him, but it seems the only one his size and the only one…hmm, yeah.” She turned and walked over to him, holding a white mask. She handed it to him and gave a bit of a laugh at his reaction. If you looked at it, it looked merely like a smile, but if you looked at it really close, at the sides, it almost looked like it had two gills. Weird; because his element just happened to be Rue. The boy looked up at her and slipped it into his inventory without another word.

”Go out. I’ll be changing. I’m sure Zen’s already ready for whatever he’s got planned for all of us. Knowing Kai, he’ll be back within ten minutes, and then we’ll get on to…whatever he’s got planned, I guess. No one else is here and some of them haven’t been online as of late, so it could just be the four of us for now.” She nodded to him and so he walked out as she started to pull on her own clothes. The door shut behind him, leaving him alone with Zen in the room. He really had to get used to that name… The boy took a seat in a stool across from them and so he looked to Zen, who already had dressed down in seemingly thirty seconds. Well, this was a game after all and for all he knew, the clothes just could’ve…flashed on.

”You look quite different in that, Shenny, my boy. Sen can get a bit carried away sometimes,” he said with a laugh. He scratched the back of his head and looked at the blank wall. ”Once she’s ready, we’ll be going out to the Theta Server and head out to a field. What we’ll be doing there is a secret for now, but…expect anything, will you?” He flashed him a grin just as the door opened beside him. Sen walked out and stretched his arms, yawning. ”Let’s go. Kai’ll probably be waiting for us there.”

The three of them pulled on black cloaks and started out of the alleyway in a quick walk, hoods on and everything. If he saw anyone that he knew and there, they would probably freak at his weird haircut and then get suspicious. The boy walked by Sen’s side while Zen lead the way to the Chaos Gate, cutting through narrow alleyways and others for quick shortcuts. He decided to try and ask a few questions while they were walking. He was really curious about this whole thing; it just seemed strange that they were the only ones that did it.

”Sen? Are there any…ranks in this?” the boy asked. It wasn’t the one that he would’ve thought he’d ask, but it was clear enough that he was the smallest of the four and he’d have to work his way up so he could become even with the likes of Kai or Sen, probably not…Zen. The heavy blade gave a quick turn to the right, Sen following behind him, and Shenmock following behind her.

She shrugged. ”There aren’t really any ranks in our group. If you’re good, you’re good, if you’re so-so, you’re so-so. You, at the moment, are in the middle; you’re not quite ready for this kind of stuff…yet. But anyways, there are a few people that go directly to Vann and get some missions. There’s only a small fry doing his work for now and eventually, the guy will evolve up to our level, but that’ll take a year or two for that guy, judging that he’s just doing dirty work, nothing more.” She shook her head slowly. ”Most of us started there, but you were lucky enough to make it here, mainly because of Zen. It should be entertaining.” She laughed and so they walked out of the streets of Mac Anu. They more stuck to the shadows and the crowds, as it was troublesome to just walk out in the open and not gain suspicious amongst the people. The boy did his best to keep everything hidden and while he walked, he didn’t recognize anybody. They arrived at the main square, wading through the crowd before going up the steps and teleporting to the Theta Server.

The floating city of Dun Louriug was quiet in the afternoon, only the gentle breeze and the ‘Mon-ami’ of grunties taking flight being heard amongst the small crowds of people. Zen stared at the Chaos Gate and started to go through the menus. He turned his head a bit and looked to him, flashing a smile as he did so. Shenmock could only frown back in response; he hated surprises. The man’s fingers danced across it and so three golden rings enveloped the trio. Another one came not ten seconds after, that indicating Kai, who had raced back here just to arrive in time.

Training time was now. Harsh training time.

Surprisingly enough, they had chosen a snowfield for them, full of snowflakes and crumpled houses, gray clouds and roaring thunder in the distance. The boy pulled the hood off and stared at the sky, a hint of wonder twinkling in his eye as he stared at it. He didn’t bother to turn and realize they were gone from where they had been just seconds before, propelled by an ‘Ap Do’ thrown by Sen. The boy dug his hands into his pockets and kicked a clump of snow before turning around and frowning. Great, now they want to play hide-and-go-seek with me. Not funny. A mist was starting to come down, making things harder to see with every ongoing second. The boy continued to stare at it as it descended in his direction. Were they hoping that he would go through the dungeon and grab the treasure or were they just playing a bad joke on him?

”Not funny, guys,” he yelled into the mist. He started to move forward, his bare feet sinking into the snow with every second. He buried his chin in his cloak as he moved forward, protecting his neck from the winds that were now coming. He heard a rustling and immediately turned around, only to find that it was a tree a few yards away. He started in the direction of a house that had hoarfrost sticking on the edges of the roof tiles. He sprinted and stopped in the middle, listening for any signs of breathing or the slightest hint of a foot moving. He thought he heard something, but only found that it was a bird soaring above the mist in hopes of avoiding the storm.

He slowly turned and stepped forward again. This wasn’t funny…at all. His character flinched as something seemed to wrap around his leg. Was it a bug, was it a piece of grass sticking out of the snow and aiming to tickle his character’s leg. He looked down and found that it wasn’t a plant or anything, but a hand. He yelped as it brought him down into the snow. There was an opening not a millisecond later and he hit hard ice. He scratched his behind and squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened them, he found that Zen was crouching right in front of him, smiling. He did his best glare to get Sen going again, but she didn’t say anything. Kai was the one that pulled him down…wait, where had he come from? Wait a second… The boy pushed himself off the ground and looked around. It looked more like someone had tried to make some kind of ice pit in here, something of a secret hideout.

”If you’re wondering how we got here, we dug into a house and found a small secrete hideaway. It’s not much, as you can hear the clicking from up there, but really, it’s a nice way to surprise players…you were our example.” He laughed and took a seat in front of him. Kai leaned against the ice wall, along with Sen who leaned against the opposite one. ”Now, I’ll tell you why we’re here. You, at the moment, aren’t that of an amazing fighter. You let people fight fair, sure, but those that don’t deserve that shouldn’t have that kind of mercy. So, we’ll be teaching you a lot about that kind of stuff, putting you in situations where you’ll either do that or die. We’ll be able to revive you, sure, but it’s not exactly going to be a pleasant experience.

“Anyways, I’ll give you some meat on the missions that we’ll do. This is serious, so listen hear. Missions will be carried out no matter what they’re to do. We don’t take sides in this one, we just do our job, nothing more. If you choose to try and get into a bigger conflict in that, you’ll get a warning. Another warning and you’ll be in some huge trouble. We won’t kick you out sure, but we’ll sure kick a lesson into that small brain of yours. Just do your job like you’re supposed to, ignore everything else, and…that’s about it.” He pushed himself off the ground and looked up at the snow above them. ”Now, Kai, Sen, and I will be heading outside. Count to sixty and then come out, everything equipped and without your cloak. If we see anyone else come to the field, we’ll note you immediately and get out of this field. Now.”

The man jumped through the way that Shenmock had crashed through, along with Kai and Sen. Sen was the only one who smiled at him as she came up and disappeared. ”Count to sixty. Ugh, and then training.” He stared dully at the wall in front of him and started to count in his head. He stood up at about thirty and pulled his cloak off, letting it fall to the icy ground below him. He stretched and dug the mask out from his inventory. He stared at it for a moment. She really did mean it when she said she was going to ‘wipe that smile off of his face’. He could only hope that he’d be getting a new one later on; he hated smiling. It wasn’t exactly a big hobby of his.

He hit zero and slipped on the mask before doing his best to climb out into the snow. He rolled to the side and looked up into the mist. The boy equipped his Ice Dragon Fist and put his hands on his hips, keeping an eye out for anything that might come. This group focused on speed and power, as he saw it. He didn’t see a Wavemaster around here, but…yeah, he could only guess that he’d be going up against the likes of Zen multiple times. He turned around; they’d be hiding behind the buildings or any of the rocks, likely, so he’d have to watch out for those. They could obviously be just standing in the mist and waiting for him to turn, but it was such a long distance to run in such a short amount of time. He turned again and stepped forward, his eyes darting across. There was a building, sure, but there no signs of movement coming from it. He thought he heard something from it…

Bonk!

He hit the ground instantly, face planting in the snow and groaning. His vision was fuzzy; it was so hard to see. He rolled over and scratched the back of his head, running over a bump multiple times. He rolled his eyes and pushed off the ground, looking about only to find nothing. By the looks of things in his hit points, it had been either Kai or Zen, likely Kai. He didn’t expect that Zen would jump out that early in a fight to smack him across the back of the head. He tilted his head in the direction of where the attack had come from. They were trying to trick him by saying that they were behind that building, but any good fighter would find a different hiding spot and tackle him from there. By the pattern in the snow, he had headed to the left. Ha! He sprinted in that direction and slid to a stop as he moved around the building and sprinted in the direction of another building. He jumped and flew past it, sliding to a stop as the steps curved.

A blade curved around his neck and came to his throat, pressing gently to it. He frowned dully, trying to annoy her but only managing to annoy himself with how idiotic it was. The boy stood stock-still, waiting for her to act, to decapitate him. He had been an idiot to follow those footsteps. It was obvious from the start that he was following them and then they had caught him in the act, turning it against him as a way to trap him. It was so obvious to him and yet he still fell for it like a mouse trying to grab a piece of cheese lain in the middle of a trap. It was a whole minute of standing their in silence. He kept a steady breathing pace so she wouldn’t see him shaking in fear of the blade at his throat. This had happened way too many times before.

”The cat has found the mouse, I see.” Kai’s voice was mocking and his fear turned into annoyance at the voice. The man stepped from behind the building and came up in front of him, his axe hefted on his shoulder. His arms were huge and muscular, much larger than his own by far. It was a bit annoying to find that they were so much stronger than him… He fidgeted a bit, only to get Sen’s sword pressed against his neck a bit harder than before. He noticed that he had a hawk-shaped kind of mask on; he was surely not like a bird in battle, though he was quick to do the job. He walked to him and ran a hand through his newly spiked hair. Sen grumbled. ”You shouldn’t exactly fall for those tricks. If someone finds you following that path like a dog sniffing out a spot to leak in, they’ll immediately take advantage of you and surprise you with their stealth. If they have someone along with them like me, I’ll eliminate them.” He rested the edge of the axe on his head now, pulled it back…and stopped. ”We’ll let you off for now, but be sure to be faster than in the future. Use the mist and your surroundings to help you; you might just be able to pull out with your life. With that, he sprinted off and disappeared in the mist, followed closely by Sen.

He hit the ground a second later and tore off the mask, already staring at the ground and staring at his frostbitten feet. He rubbed at them for a second, frowned, and pulled it back on, getting up from the sheet of white snow. He turned around and stared off in the direction they had disappeared in. He turned and rubbed at the turtleneck. For once he was thankful that he had warm clothes on. So, it was now thinking time. Now, if I look for them, I’ll get caught. If I don’t look for them and just stand here, I’ll get bonked on the head multiple times before dying. So, there’s always running and trying to drag them out into a trap. Sure, there wasn’t much he could do except surprise one of them, maybe jump on their back and tackle them to the ground, but… Okay, think, think, think, Shenny. That seems to be the only thing you can do at the moment: try to throw them off tack. You’re faster, you’re faster, so go.

The boy sprinted off in the other direction, his bare feet gliding off the sheet of snow and his eyes darting about to look for signs of something he could use for cover. He could crawl into a building, but then he didn’t have any projectiles he could throw. He continued to dart, sure that they were already on the move. He could outrun both of them, so it’d give him just a few seconds of time to hide in the mist. There were only those crumpled houses and a few rocks. If there was a tree, it wouldn’t go up high, leaving almost nothing. He was sure they were going to catch up soon once he slowed down…he had to do something. He slid to a stop and turned in the other direction. He didn’t see any portals…they must’ve did their best to try and clear them out while he was running around. It was a level fifteen field, after all.

Instead of doing something like hiding in a building or something else, he sprinted in the direction of a tree that seemed tall enough that you couldn’t see the top without squinting and approaching it a lot. He jumped, grabbed onto a branch, and flipped up, landing on another branch before launching himself up again and again until he found the leafless top. He perched himself on, doing his best not to creak, and leaned against it, hoping to…blend in with it? He didn’t know what he was trying to do, but the snow was far enough below that the mist would mostly conceal him. He put a hand on his forehead and squinted, doing his best to spot the black specks in the distance that he had seen on the way up. They were moving fast, but Sen was obviously forced to slow down due to Kai. By the looks of things, they were headed near the tree. He did his best to turn and let his legs hide behind most of the tree. His hands grabbed onto the bark and tore at it as he did his best to hang on a branch on the other side. It was hard for his character to hold on, but he could only hope that it would hold long enough. He turned his head a bit to see that they were moving slowly past the tree. They were a bit more visible; Sen was traveling on the right, Kai on the left. He did his best to push himself on his previous branch as they moved past. The branch was going to break if he held on any longer.

He watched for a moment as they moved, hoping for a sign of an opening. If he jumped from here, he’d be able to tackle Kai head-on. He wasn’t sure what Sen would do, probably jump before swinging her sword. He could only hope her reaction time was fifteen seconds after he hit the body. He gripped the branches and leaned forward, doing his best to calculate where he’d be going. If he moved at the same pace, he’d have to jump to the left in order to catch him. Think Tarzan, now. If a little eight year old in the jungle could do it, you can too. He leaned harder, bent his legs, and launched himself off, his Ice Dragon Fist equipped. The tree hadn’t made much of a noise when he had left it; only the slightest rustle that wouldn’t be heard down on the ground. It wasn’t a huge drop to the ground, but still, if he missed, he was dead. He braced himself and let his hands spread out. If he didn’t knock him down, he’d wrap his hands around him and do his best to strangle him. It sounded all so weird to him, but it was the only way.

His knees locked as he hit the running body. He immediately pulled his arms around his neck and pulled with all his might. The impact from that still hadn’t been enough to knock him down, even with gravity pulling him down at such a speed. This guy was as tough as nails! Immediately, he yelped and struggled as he staggered back from it. He let out a cough and started to fall back, as if it was too hard to stand up. It wasn’t, though; it was to get him off. The boy made his best attempt to jump off, only to fail and hit the ground. Kai’s full weight hit him, knocking the breath out of him and making his eyes roll for a second. For a second, he was there, the weight making it harder and harder for his character to breathe, and then the weight was lifted and he immediately rolled away as a sword come down. It wasn’t made for a kill, but for a knock out, more like it. He could understand why they didn’t want to waste healing spells on him when he’d keep getting into these situations.

The boy got up and faced the two. Sen pulled the sword in a deadly looking manner. ”How scary,” he said, hoping to get her annoyed at his words. She moved with so much speed that he had trouble seeing it for a second. He staggered back from how hard the blade had been swung. She walked at a brisk pace and lay her blade on his shoulder.

”Try to avoid speaking whenever possible, Shenny. If they recognize it and compare it to those in Mac Anu, they’re likely to hunt you down and make your life miserable. We’re hoping to accomplish that with this lesson, but it doesn’t seem that you’re doing too good with it. When there’s two people around, we can handle anything. If there’s one, maybe you’ll stand a chance with a surprise attack, but something like that…no. Wait and watch is the key; doesn’t matter if it takes a minute or an hour. Just watch…and wait.” She ran the blade through his spiky hair again, making him flinch. ”And please, don’t reveal your emotions. There’s a reason why we have these on.” She pulled the blade back and stepped back. ”That’s strike two. If you get three strikes, you’re going to get a nice little talk with Zen, whether you like it or not.”

Two gruff hands found his shoulders and pressed down a bit. He didn’t flinch this time; he knew to listen to people of higher ranks. ”Now. Hopefully the mouse won’t get trapped again.” With that, the gruff hands were off and when he turned around, he could see the black specks in the distance, sped up by Ap Dos probably thrown by Sen. The boy crouched down and scratched his head.

So, they caught me the first two times and completely killed me. She hinted that when they were alone, he’d strike. I know they’ll be close enough that they could hear each other’s voices or maybe a yelp, but if I’m silent enough, I can pull out with a win up my sleeve. I can only wonder where Zen is…huh, he’s probably watching this very second. So! You’ll have to lie in and wait for them. If I hide somewhere and watch from that spot for a while hiding, I can find when they’re alone and when they’re not… If there’s a window in the building that I can look through, whether it be broken or a small crack, I’ll find them and see if they’re together. He smacked his palm on his fist and sprinted off. If this didn’t work, nothing else would, likely.

He was aware now that they were following him, hoping for some kind of opening. If he stopped, they’d devise a plan and easily kill him, but if he kept on moving and hid with some good timing, he’d be able to do it. The buildings were numerous, but none of them seemed to have an opening. The Fist Fighter, eventually, after searching for five minutes (I know, that’s so long), he found one and cleared out a few bricks before jumping in and making his way through the half-crumbled building. There was a bit of light filing in from the mist, but other than that, he had squeezed himself through quite a narrow space. He could only hope that that narrow space would do him good if they searched through. He started for the window on the left, that held a small crack where wind filed in. Other than that, it was completely manageable to look through. He could only use one eye, but who cared about that?

He peeked through and found nothing but the sight of a dungeon and a few trees. There weren’t any more buildings in sight, surprisingly enough. He turned and looked at the building. This seemed to be the only part of the building that he could even get to. Shenmock crawled over a table and found only a dark pit. It was likely something with a ladder, where if you went down, you’d find a few skeletons here and there. He didn’t exactly like to see skeletons when he was in the middle of a mission. His ear twitched for a moment at the slightest hint of whispering voices on the other side of the building.

”-yeah, he went in here. He’s definitely trapped now. Come on, Kai.”

The boy gave a small gulp and looked around. The dark pit was out of the question; he wouldn’t be able to get back up. He dug around for a second, only to find that it made too much noise. There was feet; he managed to look out the window to find the body of Kai. They were yards away! He turned left and right before looking up at the tiles that stuck out above. He wrenched one out, purely out of desperation, and watched as a clump of snow filed in and hit him, burying him under a nice clean sheet of snow. The thud that went on was buried up with the clump of snow that had come through. He heard someone coming in, likely Kai. He heard footsteps, a dull groan, and fading footsteps. Then, the footsteps faded away, as if they’d never come.

[b]”-look on the north side. I’ll search around these buildings. He’s bound to be around here.”

It was minutes before he heard anything else. What he heard wasn’t exactly welcoming; it was running heavy footsteps. It was likely Kai, who had obviously gone through the rest of them. He was muttering something that he couldn’t hear…dang it, he was hoping to hear something that would help him pull out with a win. He, while they were gone, had crawled out of the snow and taken a place near the window. After hearing the voice, he had snuck to the side, near where the bricks were lain about and the place where everybody squeezed in. He had pulled out his Kaze Nunchaku; it was the closest thing to a choking device, after all. The boy inched closer to it and held his breath as he noticed the nose of his bird mask come out. His body came next and then his legs and feet. He pulled himself in right behind him. He slipped the other one back in and without another word, he swung it around him, grabbed the opposite hold, and pulled while leaning against him so he could absorb most of the kicks that would come back.

There was a small yelp, but it wasn’t anything that Sen would be able to hear, unless she was standing right next to the entrance listening to them. Kai struggled against it for a moment and then his arms started to get a bit limp. He loosened it up a bit at that point and started them forward slowly, moving in the direction of the pit he had found earlier. He pushed them forward until Kai’s feet were just inches from the end. He continued to hold it around him, unmoving and watching the pit inches ahead of him.

”Try to get out and I’ll push you into that pit. If you don’t move, well, I don’t know what will happen to you. Getting stuck there or maybe just dying at the hand of me.” He smiled coldly under the mask and pressed a bit harder against it. It seemed almost fun to have someone’s life in your palms; whether to spare it or to destroy it. It was a hard choice and yet it was almost…fun to hold.

He was silent against his whispered words. He was likely not supposed to talk, but who cared? He could talk and threaten Kai; he wasn’t a player that he was going to have to handle. Bricks were moved together behind him. Immediately, he moved and released it before kicking forward with his foot. Before he could even turn, the blade met his head with a mighty crack! and he hit the ground. An axe met the ground; he was sure that he had escaped somehow, since he wasn’t holding him anymore. He hit the ground with a thud! and continued to listen to a huff and a puff from Kai. Neither said anything, but by the looks of things were sending out a flash-mail to Zen. So, this was the third time, they were sending a flash-mail out to him.

”Ugh, now he gets a lecture from Zen. Come on, Kai. Help me with this; he’s likely to struggle if he knows what torture we’re going to put him through.” She grabbed his arms and pulled them back. She sat on his legs and started to tie a knot with cloth around him. He could tear that crap in half within a second? She really expected him to stick through that. He struggled with his feet and frowned. This time, it was a rope being wrapped around him, probably something they had found in a drawer or something.

”I remember when I went through this,” Kai whispered to Sen. ”I struggle through the whole thing. You’ve actually grown to be less annoying…I’m just happy not to have that blade at my throat every five seconds.” He laughed and turned him over, only to have two feet come up and kick him in the chin. ”Easy, man, unless you like Zen doing this for us. I learned that firsthand; it isn’t pretty.” He turned him over again and sat on his legs. His mask was off and he had a bright smile on his face, one that Shenmock frowned at all he could.

”Oh! Something to make him listen to Zen more! He isn’t going to be doing anything wrong after this.” She giggled and pointed in the direction of the pit. Shenmock rolled his eyes; they weren’t seriously going to-

Kai grabbed him, laughing as he did so and grabbing him. ”Hey, let go! Let go!” Shenmock yelled at them, thrashing about and managing to tear off the bonds. He thrashed about, but only hit hard armor that made his hand bulge. Another rope was wrapped around the other rope and tied tight. His mask slid off as they did so and hit the ground. It was almost stepped on by Sen too. The girl took the blade and stuck it through the tiles. She pulled hard on it, smiled, and gave a thumbs up to Kai, who grabbed the rope and tied it around the hilt. He didn’t exactly feel safe on this thing…

Sen stared at him right in the eye. ”Listen, kid. So much as fidget and we’ll cut that thing. I don’t think you’d like to join the skeletons? No, I didn’t think so. Now, I’m guessing that Zen will give you a long lecture about things…hopefully it’s not too long. Anyways! Just listen and nod. You’ll be smiling the whole way, don’t worry, ha!” She moved back and picked his mask up off the ground, laughed again, and pulled it around his face upside-down. There were a few bricks and so Zen crawled in, the same suit on. He looked even bulkier than Kai…and that was seriously saying something! His mask was a bit like a cat’s, maybe a puma. It had two red crescent moons on each side which curved around the eyes, followed by a few black thorns that shot out from the sides just like Kai’s.

”What entertainment!” he said with a laugh, clapping his hands together and looking to Shenmock, who hung upside down. Kai had managed to bound them again and had his axe out, ready to cut the rope whenever needed. ”Now, now, I know you’re having fun hanging him upside-down and the like, but…stay patient, will you, Kai? Sen?” He nodded to both of them, who had put their masks back on. They both nodded in response, silent as can be. He looked to him this time. Great. The boy could only stare at him with a blank expression. He couldn’t do much at the moment but wait for his oncoming lecture.

”Now Shenmock, I know you might think this is a bit of a game just playing hide-and-go-seek with those two, but you’ll need to take things a lot more seriously. They do their job, they find their prey, and they gave mercy to you twice. They’re still giving mercy to you even now, but for all I know, Kai could just cut the rope. Anyways, I’ll give you a few lessons that you should’ve used before. Kai thinks you did quite a good job in executing that last one, but you didn’t exactly finish it off. You just waited there until someone came. It would’ve served well if you didn’t have your back turned to her. You should know that if you do that, you’ll really just die. Now, your last few acts had been a disaster. For now, we’ll let you do missions with us; the first one’s tomorrow, with Kai. I won’t be going with you this time and neither will Sen. We each have our own things to do that day. Expect lessons from Kai while you’re at it. He’s quite the expert, so listen.

Anyways, your first mission starts tomorrow. Listen to him whether you enjoy it or not.” He looked to Kai. ”If he fails to listen, come back to this field and tie him up like this again. Contact me and we’ll have another talk. If he does excellent, we won’t discuss it, but below that, we’ll try to work on how much better you can get.” He looked to Shenmock and nodded. ”Release him. We’re done today. Just know, Shenmock, though…you did a good job against these two. They’re a good duo, so I can congratulate you on gaining a bit of respect from them.”

With that, he pulled off his mask and disappeared in a trio of golden rings. Sen did the same and so she, too, disappeared without another word. She gave a brief wave as she did so, but nothing more. The sword, too, disappeared, and for a second the boy dropped, but Kai grabbed him in time to bring him back up to the ground. ”Meet me at the headquarters tomorrow with all your stuff. Around nighttime; that’s the best way to go.” The boy nodded in response. ”Later then, Shen. I look forward to seeing your performance tomorrow.” He, like the others, disappeared.

And then, Shenmock disappeared like the rest, gone from sight, sighing as he did so. It had been a long day.

Fin~

Shenmock: +2 Levels, +Ice Flow