Chapter 1: Waking Up
Chapter 2: Intelligence
Chapter 3: Mano-a-Mano
Chapter 4: Nightcrashers
Chapter 5: Mysteries
Chapter 6: Kids
Chapter 7 and Beyond...
Prologue
It didn’t take long for many to notice that there was a new building under construction; Kim was the first to notice.
The sun shined over Runouw.com. Niklaw’s Tavern was packed today, crowded with people running around happy and jolly. Singing, dancing, drinking and falling on the ground seemed to be the main events there on that day. There reason for celebrating was because it was the one-year anniversary since the new Runouw forums had been made.
The door bursts open as a new person arrives. He quickly walks in, unnoticed by most of the revelers. Briskly, he goes to the counter where Brando and Microphone are laughing.
"Guys!" Kim says in an urgent tone. He grabs onto Brando’s shoulder to get his attention.
"Nani?" Brando asks with a big grin on his face. Kim doesn’t understand, but he continues on.
"I got big news to tell everyone! Another building is under construction!" The entire room went silent. All eyes looked at Kim, and it took a moment for Kim to realize that nobody was speaking.
Then suddenly, everyone started bolting for the door, screaming for others to get out of their way. A few even threw a chair through the window and hopped out. In the span of one minute, the entire Tavern was empty, leaving Kim standing in the middle of a completely destroyed bar.
The building was enormous. There was no other word to describe it. Even though only the foundations were set, the building was larger then 25 football fields. The entire building area was fenced in, and people were running around crowding the fence to try to get a glimpse of what was happening.
MoY, Blablob, and Chau were standing near the extremely large fence gates. They saw Suyo was speaking with a construction worker, and hollered out his name.
"Hey guys, noticed our works eh?" He said with a grin.
"Works? Nah, we didn’t see anything. We came to ask about your beautiful fence you put up." Blablob said with a grin back. Suyo laughs and then looks at the extremely large building foundations.
"I’m excited for this. It’s gonna be a great game." He says, giving a thumbs-up. It was obvious that the building was going to be for a game, being next to the other gaming buildings.
"What is it?!" MoY says excitedly. Of course he knew that Suyo would probably not give much detail.
Suyo winked at them and then said, "It’s a secret. But I’ll tell you this much. Runouw has been developing this for years. More then years!" He says it as if he’s preaching to kids, for the other three just stared at him, clinging on to every word he said. "He was working on this while he was working on Super Mario 63. While he was working on GT. And now, he finally has it down, and, with hard work, we’re going to finalize it in two weeks."
Two weeks. After this was told, everyone could not hold in their excitement. Everyday, people would crowd around the fence and watch the rapidly developing building grew.
Nin10mode sat at a table in Niklaw’s Tavern, playing with an empty cup that held coffee. Kimonio was repairing one of the broken windows, grumbling to himself. Everyone in the Tavern was quiet. Everyone was tense. The game would be released tomorrow, yet nobody knows anything about what the game was about.
Nin10mode spoke up, breaking the long silence. "What do you think it’s going to be about?" Everyone knew what he was talking about, nobody needed clarification.
Buff pops up from under the counter and hops over it. "I heard that it was going to be a Super Mario 63 the second."
"Super Mario 126?" Zebtrestalala scoffed. Everyone laughed and discarded that idea.
"What about one of his unfinished projects? Perhaps he created an entire Starfox game?" Nin10mode chimed in.
"Yeah, yeah!" Buff said, starting to pace up and down. "That could work! That would explain why the building would have to be so big!"
"Well whatever it is…" Zeb said, leaning back on his chair, "It’s gonna be intense. He’s been working on this thing forever. Did you see how much room there is in the building? It doesn’t even look like there will be separate rooms! It’s just going to be one giant room!"
They all nodded. They were getting extremely excited from all this talk. Whenever a game was announced, everyone would become extremely excited, but the fact that there was literally no information and that this had been planned for years just gets them even giddier.
The Next day…
Selections. 16 people would be chosen for the game. They would be the first ones to play the game, and nobody else would be able to play it until they had finished. Names were chosen in accordance:
24murph
Alucardx60
Avolerator
Ayrayen
Aznchau4ever
Blablob
Brandobrawl
Buffooner
Kimonio
Megamario126
MessengerOfYahweh
Nero The Demonslayer
Nin10mode
TheBetterGamer
Zebtrestalala
Zunar
Each one was greeted a letter from Runouw himself.
Runouw wrote: Greetings,
You have been chosen to participate in the very first ever, Vorpal Annihilations Games. These games will test all your skills, reflexes, and abilities to the limit. Meet at the entrance of the New VAG building and bring this letter as proof that you allowed inside. Inside, you will be briefed what will happen to you in the next few weeks. Be prepared, once you enter the VAGs, you will not leave until they are over.
Chapter 1: Waking Up
"The preparations are ready?"
"Yes. It’s gonna be pretty exciting!"
"I’d prefer if you acted a little more dignified."
"Sorry, guess I can’t contain myself."
"You never have been able to. That’s why you were chosen."
"Heheh, I feel so flattered right now."
-----------------------------
Brandobrawl awoke with a start. He immediately tried to get up, but groaned as he knocked his head on glass dome. He laid back down massaging the bump on his head, and sat there, examining his surroundings. He was lying diagonally in what seemed like an egg, with a glass dome top. He could see outside, which was a small, dark room with no light except for what was coming from a few computers and the egg which he was encased in.
He heard a door open and close shut. A figure silhouetted by the light approached his glass egg.
"You’re awake are you?" A familiar voice said in a light and happy tone.
"Suyo?" Brando tried to adjust his head to get a good view, but he couldn’t see Suyo.
"Don’t worry, this is part of the game…" Suyo said and walked over to a computer. Brando watched intently as he pressed a few buttons. ‘Why am I trapped here?’ He thought, but didn’t voice his thoughts. He couldn’t remember much that happened. All he remembered was showing the guards at the gate his letter which he had been extremely excited to receive, and then walking in with the 15 others that came.
What happened in that time? What made him trapped in an egg? If this is part of the game, is the same thing happening to the others? Suyo finished typing, and a strange breeze started to go into the egg. Brando tried to keep his eyes on Suyo, but he realized how heavy they were getting. How sleepy he was. Well… He did have a long day, perhaps he could take a nap for a few hours, what’s the worse that could happen?
"Sweet dreams, and let the games begin."
--------------------------
The VAGs building was a magnificent building. 5000 feet long and wide, and 4000 feet tall, the building dominated Runouw city. People who walked by would look at it in jealousy, but they didn’t know what was happening inside…
Inside was a vast empty room. Suddenly rocks started to form, as if it were being drawn by a computer. Cliffs, grass, animals, were being drawn by lines that moved by themselves. Soon, the room was a large grassy plain with a shining sun moving slowly above it.
Another figure was drawn at the bottom of a small crevice. He wore a thick green bullet proof vest with a camouflage shirt and pants. He stood there, eyes closed for a few minutes, unmoving. Finally he opened them and he looked around wildly.
"Where am I?" Brandobrawl said to himself, as he looked at the vast plains that were in front of him.
"You are in the VAGs." A woman’s voice answered Brando’s question. Brando turned around as he heard the voice come from the left, but nothing was there.
"Show yourself!" He said and put up his fists in protection. Brando knew a little bit about hand to hand combat and was confident he could fend off anybody in this strange place.
"Calm yourself. I am inside you."
"W-what?" Brando says, still trying to look for the source of the talking.
"I am the Intelligence Providing System. The IPS for short. You are in the Plains of Tranquility right now, as are the other 15 players."
"Wait a minute, so you said that this place is the VAGs?"
"The Plains of Tranquility is an Arena. There are several different Arenas which you will be fighting in."
"Fighting?"
"All will make sense in time." Brando sighed and walked out of the crevice. He saw hills and about waist high grass, but no other person.
"Where’s everyone else?"
"The arena is expanding every day. You are not alone. Now activating the Ocular Guidance Earpiece." A small device was suddenly drawn onto Brando’s ear. It seemed to be attached to his ear and covered one eye with a clear lens. Text appeared onto the lens.
TEAM: ENERGY KNIGHTS
GAME: TEAM DEATHMATCH
SETTING: PLAINS OF TRANQUILITY
OBJECTIVE: ELIMINATE THE OTHER TEAMS
"Teams? Energy Knights?" Brando looked at the words curiously as they disappeared from the OGE.
"You are part of a team called the Energy Knights, with three other people. They will be wearing the same outfits and using the same weapons as you. There are four teams in the VAGs." IPS spoke very plainly. Brando smiled as he listened.
"Weapons? This sounds like a dangerous game." He smiled and then looked around again. The OGE seemed to be targeting something that was extremely far away, and was labeled, BUFFOONER. "Aha! I’m guessing Buffooner is part of the Energy Knights?"
"Correct. Although it may be dangerous to travel across the plains unarmed, as it sounds like you are planning to do. Every EK is equipped with a Sword and a Semi-Auto Rifle. To pull either out, one must simply have a palm open and concentrate on the weapon needed."
Brando rolled his eyes and looked skeptical. He was curious though, and decided to try it. He stuck out his hand and thought of the rifle in his head. Light outlined around his arm, and a gun seemed to form in his hand. A brief flash, and suddenly Brando was holding a large rifle. Stunned, he looked at the gun for a moment, then he looked back at the plains. "IPS…" He said in an awed voice. "What is this?"
"A semi-automatic rifle." Brando grinned in spite of himself.
"Well I knew that, but… How did it magically just appear in my hand?"
"Simple really. The VAGs is made completely in Virtual Reality."
Chapter 2: Intelligence
"It’s interesting how they do not question the works."
"As long as there is a plate of food in front of a starving child, their first question would not be ‘where the food came from.’"
"But a child with a full belly would ask why there was such an odd selection of food in front of them."
"The food is not odd. It’s quite well cooked."
"Hah. Since when have you become such a philosopher?"
"Since the day we’ve met."
"In the ten years we’ve known each other; I do not remember you being so talkative."
"In the ten years we’ve known each other; We have only talked but thrice."
Branches and twigs were crushed under the heavy dark orange armor that MoY was wearing. On the back of his thick armor was the Destructors Insignia of an orange axe. He stormed through the thick forest, holding with both hands an extremely bulky gun that had a huge barrel. Hiding behind a tree, he breathed heavily and took a peek around the tree.
"Enemy Motion Detected."
"IPS…" MoY took a moment to reload his Energy Blaster. "Switch me to thermal vision."
"Switching to thermal vision."
MoY took another peek around the tree. Still no sign of it. Suddenly he heard a twig break and immediately turned to the source of the sound, his hands at his trigger and aiming the gun directly at Alucardx60.
"Whoa! Watch where you point that thing!" Alucard wore the same heavy Destructor armor, but he held a large battle axe. MoY immediately grabbed Alucard and pulled him behind the tree, then looked around it.
"Sorry," He said quietly, still watching around the tree. "But I still can’t see where they are. It’s really getting me jumpy."
"Right." Alucard said, and held his Battle axe more tightly. "IPS, Thermal Vision please."
"Alucard!" MoY said, and he jumped out of the trees and pulled the trigger. The Energy Blaster instantly launched a blue ball through the air, humming loudly until it met the dark fur of a large and ominous looking beast. As soon as the Energy Ball made contact, a small explosion created too much smoke to see what happened to the beast.
"Enemy Terminated"
As the smoke cleared, Alucard walked slowly forward with his axe ready. "Regular Vision please." He spoke aloud, and his OGE’s thermal turned off. He saw the beast lying on the ground, dead. Alucard’s was slightly surprised when his OGE started targeting the dead beast, showing "ANALYZING" was shown over the target.
NAME: DREAD BEAR
POWERS: POWERFUL HIDE. ARMOR PIERCING CLAWS.
WEAKNESS: BELLY
"IPS…" MoY said, hands trembling. "What… What just happened?"
"You have eliminated the Dread Bear. A powerful creature. Analysis was obtained when the OGE was able to get close enough and stay locked on the beast for a long enough time."
Alucard looked at MoY, eyebrows raised. "Want to explain to me how you managed to startle a bear when I had my back turned?"
"I just wanted some honey…" He said grinning. "But, now that I have time to think… I was wondering… IPS, what happened if… We were shot?" MoY saw how devastating the blast that had hit the Dread Bear was, and if he were going against other teams, he didn’t want to experience what had just happened.
"Shields are displayed on the OGE. When not under direct fire, the shield will recharge. All factions have different amounts of shielding."
MoY sighed as the IPS said, ‘all factions.’ This had not been the first time they had asked for information about the other teams, and the IPS had generalized its answer. He pressed a button on his blaster, and his OGE stated, "RELOADING…" at the bottom of the lens.
"So… What happens when our shield is… Broken?" Alucard asks nervously.
"If a player is stricken down, or dead, they will be recreated and respawned if the game rules allow it. If not, the player is able to view the battle through another person’s eyes."
Alucard thought for a minute, then understood. "How… How did Runouw do this?" His question was directed towards nobody, seeing as he doubted the IPS would know or tell him.
MoY looked at Alucard, and then shook his head. "He has been working on this for a while now right?" He said, ending the conversation as he patted Alucard on the back and walked away. Alucard nodded, knowing it was not the time or place to be thinking about this.
"Where are we headed?" MoY looked up and behind him. From an opening in the trees, mountains could be seen behind him.
"We spawned in the general area of the Mountains. We’ll head away from them, there has to be a clearing somewhere… IPS?"
"Affirmative. The Mountains were the borderline of the arena. The forest is just a small section within the Plains of Tranquility."
"Right. I saw grasslands after the forests. They can’t be too far." MoY said as he walked away. Alucard ran up to catch up to him, the battle axe disappearing as he took out his Blaster.
A shot was heard, and Alucard yelled out in pain. MoY instantly turned around to see his friend clutching his arm in pain. "Alucard!" He yelled and took Alucard and hid behind the tree in the direction that Alucard’s injured arm has been facing. He looked around wildly. "Thermal!" He yelled out, still trying to find the source of the shot. "IPS! What was that?!"
"The noise seems to have come from a gun." MoY couldn’t help himself. He facepalmed and looked back at Alucard, who was still wincing in pain. Was he really in pain or was that just the program making him not as responsive?
"Alucard!" He yelled out again, and this time Alucard seemed to hear MoY, for looked up at MoY, his face still in pain, but his eyes bright and alert. "We have no cover here! I don’t know where the shot came from, but we have to find it!" Alucard nodded and instantly ran to another tree, so that they were facing each other with a tree behind their backs.
For a few minutes, they stood and watched, their senses rose from the adrenaline rush. Any unusual sound, any unusual movement, they scanned the area slowly, looking for any sudden movements. After another five minutes, they realized whoever shot at them was not going to try again now with the two of them alert. Alucard nodded and both him and MoY started to continue walking away from the mountains, this time making sure they never leave a flank unwatched for more then a few seconds.
"It sounded like something powerful. "Alucard said slowly, still looking around.
"Definitely not our blasters, and the IPS is no help…"
"My best guess is it’s some sort of sniper." He said, nodding. MoY agreed.
"That would explain why we weren’t able to see him. He’s probably long gone now…" Even though MoY had said that, he was still alert. There was still a possibility that whoever was shooting could be watching and waiting for one of them to be off guard. Something still bugged MoY though. "What did it feel like?"
Alucard stopped walking and stood there, still scanning the area. "Pain. Odd thing was, it wasn’t even that painful. Like getting hit with a baseball. Just hard enough to hurt, but not to bruise… But when I felt it, my feelings just froze up. I guess that’s how they make it realistic."
"Right." It was all MoY said. They continued walking and silence left MoY thinking. He saw how Alucard reacted and how Alucard winced. Feelings froze up? Guess it’s just part of the game. He looked up in front and saw that the trees were starting to thin out. "I think we’re near the end of the forest…" Sure enough, they got closer and closer to the tree line, and suddenly they were left under a brilliant light with no more shading of the trees. The forest had been on top of a small cliff, and now Alucard and MoY could see the vast size of the plains. Though it wasn’t the beautiful view that they were watching, it was the Energy blasts and explosions that were at the bottom of the cliffs.
Chapter 3: Mano-a-Mano
"It’s funny how friends can turn enemies so easily."
"Hysterical. You can see the tears rolling out of my eyes from laughing so hard."
"Sarcasm is not needed here, Colonel."
"I would almost be complimented if not for the bitter distaste I can feel from those few words. I’ve never been any good with wordplay."
"Well now is not a time to start practicing."
"Ah, whatever you say. How is everyone else doing?"
"Nin10mode hasn’t stopped running since the game had started… What is he thinking?"
"Probably to get out of your horrible game."
"Ha ha. First sarcasm, then a joke. When will this end?"
"Give me a hand!" Buffooner yelled out and pulled the trigger of his rifle. It let out a spray of bullets that charged forth to the direction of Zebtrestalala, who dodged all of the bullets by diving to the left and then shot out a ball of energy at Buffooner. Buffooner ducked and the ball lobbed over his head, exploding a few yards behind him.
Brando crossed the distance between him and Zeb in a few seconds, his sword out and ready. Zeb met the vicious sword swipe with clawed gauntlets. The sound of steel scratching steel made them both wince and they broke off the connection. Zeb grinned as they circled each other, looking for an opening.
"Enemy targeted. Analyzing…" No doubt Zeb’s IPS was doing the same thing. Brando held his sword up and smiled back at Zeb.
"Buffooner, I got this." He said aloud and Buffooner looked incredulously at him. "How bout it Zeb? Mano-a-mano?" Zeb laughed and clenched his claws into a fist.
"You think you can beat me in close combat?" He said. He wore purple studded leather armor, and had an insignia on the back outlining a fist. Brando had not noticed the insignias until he had seen Buff with a sword picture on his back. His OGE brought him back to the fight.
"Enemy Analyzed."
NAME: ZEBTRESTALALA – BURST BERSERKER
POWERS: ENERGY SHOTS. POWERFUL CLOSE RANGE CLAWS. FAST.
WEAKNESS: ???
Brando growled as he saw the information. Unknown weakness? Does this mean he simply doesn’t have a weakness? No… No doubt it would be too unfair if people instantly knew other people’s weaknesses.
Zeb took that moment to charge at Brando. He raised his right arm up and murderously swiped down at Brando’s shoulder, but Brando jumped back and countered with a side cut to Zeb’s ribs, but Zeb was too quick and he grabbed the sword mid swing with both his hands. Pushing it away, Zeb took that moment to slash Brando’s exposed stomach and then follow with a powerful punch. Brando groaned as he was lifted off the ground and thrown several feet back by that punch.
He looked at his stomach, which seems to not have been cut by the claws, but he still felt the pain from it. Buff ran help, but Brando gestured him to stay where he is. Zeb walked up to him and held out a hand. "Again." He simply said, and pulled Brando back up. They kept a longer distance from each other as they circle this time. Zeb initiated the battle again, holding his palm open and sending an energy ball towards Brando.
Brando rolled away from the blast, his sword disappearing. He kneeled and pointed his rifle right at Zeb. "Bye." He said, and fired away. Zeb had no time to react, and was struck with 8 out of the 20 bullets fired. Collapsing to the ground, Zeb breathed heavily.
"Enemy’s Health is low." Brando stood up and walked to Zeb, who didn’t even notice that Brando stood in front of him. He pointed his gun at Zeb’s head, but his hands couldn’t fire.
"Brando!" Suddenly, Brando turned and saw two energy orb launched towards both Brando and Zeb. Brando dived out of the way as an explosion ensued. He ran back a bit but couldn’t see who had fired through the smoke. Buff stood beside Brando and they both pointed at the direction the blast was fired as the smoke dispersed.
"Shee-oot… Enemy terminated? Didn’t mean too…" Brando and Zeb recognized that voice.
"MoY?!" Brando said, and gripped his gun tighter. They could faintly see MoY and Alucard through the smoke now, standing where Zeb was. Except Zeb wasn’t there anymore. Not even his corpse.
The smoke was finally dispersed, Buff and Brando had their guns pointed straight at MoY and Alucard, who were also pointing their blasters back. Suddenly, a cannon shot went off and the sound were heard all over the room.
"ZEBTRESTALALA TERMINATED"
Chapter 4: Nightcrashers
"It’s only the first game."
"Let’s not drop in on them yet. They still haven’t learned the ropes."
"Niklaw, you are too soft on them. They should know enough by now."
"Most of them have not even found each other yet."
"They will soon enough. The first stage was designed to bring them all together."
"No doubt it’s only physically. Emotionally they are breaking apart."
"It’s just a game."
"I’ve heard that lot’s of times, yet it seems the more I hear it, the less I think that it’s ‘just a game’"
"Whatever. I’m just itching to get onto the field."
"Aren’t we all?"
Nin10mode was lying on the soft grass. He wore light, dark blue clothes that were very flexible and easy to run in. On the back was an insignia of a target. He held a long sniper rifle in one hand, but he was completely lax.
What had happened? He had thought that the very idea of shooting another was barbaric, yet once he had seen Alucard and MoY, he held no hesitation and had instantly aimed and shot. He had realized what he had done and ran away after that, but he felt a sense of excitement in him. This wasn’t all real… So that means that he’s not really shooting them.
He stood up quietly and looked around. He had not even noticed where he was, but really there was nothing to see. There were grassy plains, as far as the eye could see. He saw a cliff line with trees to the south west, a small lake to the south east, but the rest was all green, surrounded by inexplicably tall mountains.
Nin10mode was about to move when something caught his eye on his OGE. From a slightly far-off distance, there was a target being marked. BLABLOB. An ally. Nin10mode started to run forth and greet Blablob, when he realized that Blablob was also running. He could see in the distance, someone in orange was chasing after Blablob with an axe. Orange… A Destructor. Too far to tell who it was, Nin10mode started sprinting.
He got within close enough range to see that Megamario126 was the one that was after Blablob. Kneeling down he used his Sniper and started following the chase. At closer range, all Nin10mode would do is cause a distraction. He followed the battle as Blob tries slowing MM down with a few shots of his pistol. All the shots bounced off MM, his heavy armor absorbing all the impact.
"IPS, is there any sort of headset communicator in the OGE?"
"Affirmative. Factions may speak to each other, but only one at a time, and the name of the receiver must be known."
"Hook me up with Blablob."
"Connection made."
"Blablob!" Nin10mode yelled. There was a slight pause and Nin10mode watched as he barely dodged a murderous axe swing.
"Nin10mode? Where are you?"
"I’m watching you run for your life! Get him to stay still, I can take him down!"
"Easy for you to say…" Blablob jumped out of the way of a deadly vertical swing. He took a few shots at MM but the shield was too strong and Megamario didn’t even notice them. He even laughed a little bit and took another swing at Blablob, this time brushing Blablobs shoulder. That small brush shot down Blablob’s shield, and he staggered back and fell to the ground. His face showed surprise at how winding that small brush was.
Suddenly a cannon shot went off.
"ZEBTRESTALALA TERMINATED."
Everyone looked up to see where the voice came from, but Nin10mode didn’t. He quickly aimed his rifle directly at Megamario, aiming straight for his head. The shot was heard, Megamario fell to the ground, and another cannon shot went off.
"MEGAMARIO TERMINATED."
’Just one shot?’ Nin10mode’s heart was racing. Blablob got up and watched as Megamario’s body started to dissolve into the air slowly. When Nin10mode had reached him, the body had completely dissipated. "Head shot?" Nin10mode says, tilting his head.
"Definitely." Blablob says, and then looks at the vast empty plains. "So have you seen any other Nightcrasher?" Nin10mode shook his head, scanning the plains for any person.
"Did you? It’s hard to find anyone in this tall grass."
"I did. I saw Azn marked on my target, but then I got ambushed by MM and had to run. I don’t know where he is now." They started walking aimlessly when they heard another cannon shot.
"ALUCARD TERMINATED."
"Alucard? Whose team was he on?" Nin10mode asked, but Blablob just shrugged and kept walking on. As they continued walking, they heard the cannon two more times. One announced Zunar, and one announced Ayrayen. Nin10mode stopped and then realized how many people were "dying." That’s five down… And we don’t even know whose team they are on."
Blablob didn’t say anything. He was too tired to speak. Nin10mode watched as Blablob dragged one foot in front of another, bored out of his wits. "Want to stop and rest?" Nin10mode suggested. At these words, Blablob fell flat on the soft grass and just grumbled something. They were both tired. After all that had happened, they just wanted to relax for a few minutes.
"Now what?" Nin10mode says, setting himself down next to Blablob. He looked out at the empty plains. They had encountered nothing in the hour they had been walking except the sounds of the cannon.
"Dunno. Guess there’s no use in running around anymore." Blablob rolled over to face the blue sky. "Might as well hang in one place and see if we can take down anyone… We just need a clear shot at the head and the person goes down instantly."
"Easier said then done." Nin10mode said, marveling at the sniper rifle he had in his hands. "There are so many factors that can change a shot. I was lucky to get Megamario with just one." Blablob chuckled, then grinned at Nin10mode’s quizzical look.
"Then by luck we shall defeat the enemies!" He said in a heroic tone, standing up with his hands at his sides, posing. Nin10mode rolled his eyes and pushed Blablob over, and then they both wrestled around laughing. Suddenly the OGE alerted them, and they suddenly both became quiet.
"Enemy Motion Detected."
Nin10mode and Blablob both sank into the ground and kneeled with their guns out. The grass was tall enough that, at kneeled position, they’re heads were barely visible from anyone at a distance. "I don’t see anyone…" Blablob whispered, barely loud enough to hear in the soft wind. Nin10mode didn’t reply, but kept scanning the area.
In the blink of an eye, Nin10mode sees someone pop out from the grass, apparently they had been lying there. Without any time to react, Nin10mode yelled out to Blablob and then ran to the right, barely avoiding an energy shot that zoomed straight into Blablob.
Chapter 5: Mysteries
"Nero is quite the assassin. Zunar, Ayrayen, and now Blablob."
"He adapted to the game quite well. He found the Offense Orb and used it quite efficiently."
"But now… What I’m wondering is how young Nin10mode will react…"
"You don’t believe Nero will prevail?"
"As balanced as we have made this, there are always…. Chinks, within the structure."
"Well is it not your job to find such problems?"
"My job? Why, it is their job to find them. I simply am the custodian, cleaning all the trash left behind."
"… For once, I wish you didn’t speak so metaphorically."
"Figurative language and such. I can not help myself."
"I wish someone could."
"BLABLOB TERMINATED"
The explosion made Nin10mode fly several feet back. Smoke covered the area where Blablob was. He heard the cannon sound and he knew there was no helping Blablob, and he had to get up to avoid being shot. ’Come on…’ He thought, still lying on the ground. For some reason, his body was completely frozen. It took every ounce of his strength to get himself up, luckily the smoke gave him good enough cover from whoever had fired.
Nin10mode pulled out his gun and crouched down to hide under the grass. Trying to predict where the shooter would be was impossible, so he figured waiting while circling would be the best option, and he lowered his head further. The minute it took for the smoke to disperse seemed agonizingly long. Seeing a distinct figure, he fired a shot at it instinctively, then hopped out of the lightened smoke and started sprinting to the left of the figure. He instantly heard an explosion just a few steps behind him, and he turned his head to see Nero fire another shot at him.
"Connection from AZNCHAU4EVER requested."
"Yes!" Nin10mode had time to scream as another shot hurled over him. Nin10mode took that moment to switch to pistol and fire a few shots at Nero, but he ducked before any of the shots met.
"Need some help?" The familiar voice came from his OGE. Nin10mode was about to say something but Nero fired another blast that rushed towards Nin10mode
"Just a little." Nin10mode said, and fire a few more shots at Nero. He was too far to get any accurate shots, but Nero still lowered his head slightly just in case. Nin10mode took this moment to completely turn around and start running. He kept his head turned around keeping an eye on Nero, since they were in the plains, he didn’t expect to run into anything.
"Get him to stay still. I’ll take him down." Azn said through the OGE.
’Now where have I heard that before?’ Nin10mode thought, pressing onward the vast plains. He looked around but couldn’t see Azn anywhere. Nin10mode suspected that he was probably hiding, so he turned his head back to see a great blue ball charge at him and land right behind him. Even without a direct hit, the shockwave was enough to send Nin10mode flying forward.
Immediately getting up, he turned around to see that the smoke cloud was blocking his view from Nero. He expected the Destructor to burst his way through the smoke any moment, so he turned around and kept running. Sure enough, Nero came stampeding out of the smoke, firing three shots in succession, this time at a higher angle so they would lob over Nin10mode.
Nin10mode steered right and then back left, snaking around the explosions that would have hit him. Then felt his feet start to slip on the grass, which was growing slightly shorter and wetter. "Crap!" He said and felt himself about to fall. He tried to correct himself with no avail, diving into the ground and rolling before he came to a stop flat on his belly. ’Great… What a great way to die.’
He heard footsteps in front of him, quiet and light. He saw as a pair of dark blue boots appeared in front of his eyes. Not wanting to see the gun pointing at him, he closed his eyes and waited for the "death" which he hoped the simulator would make quick and painless.
BANG! A shot; but not an Energy Blaster dealing its final blow to a Nightcrasher. This was the sound of another Nightcrasher.
"Azn?" He says quietly. A cannon shot went off, and he opened his tightly shut eyes very slightly. He looked up and saw Azn with a hand outstretched.
"NERO TERMINATED."
"He’s down, didn’t I tell you to keep him still?" Nin10mode grabbed the hand and Azn hoisted him up.
"S-sorry…" Nin10mode said, the adrenaline still running through his veins from the chase. Azn rolled his eyes and looked at the mountains far to the east.
"You’re lucky you tripped right by me." Azn said, raising an eyebrow at Nin10mode as he fell onto the soft grass. "Gave me a clear shot as he was coming up to shoot your sorry ♥♥♥."
"Hey man, I said I was sorry." Nin10mode said defiantly. Azn made a gesture of resignation and started walking southwards. "Where you going?" Nin10mode said, sitting back up and watching him walk away.
"Away." Azn simply said. Nin10mode jumped up and ran up to Azn, who sighed.
"Better two in a team then one." Nin10mode grinned and elbowed Azn, who raised his eyebrow again. They didn’t walk for long when Azn stopped abruptly. A cannon shot was heard.
"24MURPH TERMINATED."
Nin10mode frowned as he heard that name. "It’s depressing… Hearing these names… I mean… I know it’s not real but…" Azn held up a hand for silence, then pointed at the mountains which they were facing. At first Nin10mode was confused at what Azn was doing, but then he noticed something with the mountains..
"Did they… Did they get closer?" Nin10mode said, squinting in the sunlight to get a better look. It was hard to tell, but Nin10mode swore that they were a lot larger then they were just a few seconds ago. Azn didn’t say anything, but instead continued to walk forward. "H-hey!" Nin10mode said, realizing that Azn was moving again.
They walked forward until they reached the foot of a mountain, which seemed to change instantly from grassy plains to a mountain, as if the creator decided to plop a giant rock onto a flat plain. The mountain chain stretched on for about a four thousand feet, then turned at a direct right angle and continued on. They stage was a square, surrounded by tall mountains with no way of ascending. The mountains were the border of the arena.
There was dirt at the bottom of the "mountain", rolled over many times as if pushed. "They are closing us in." Azn said, watching as Nin10mode kicked the hardened dirt roll.
"I guess it makes sense…." Nin10mode said, bored and now attempting to stand on the dirt. "I mean… Once there are fewer people in the arena, it would be a pain to track them down on such a big field…" Azn nodded, looking at the tall mountains again. They definitely weren’t made to be part of the battlefield. Although they were rough and craggy, there were no cliffs or even footholds. The steep mountains would be impossible to climb.
Nin10mode was examining the mountains too, when suddenly Azn hurled himself onto Nin10mode, knocking them both to the ground as a sniper rifle bullet flew right past where Nin10mode’s head just was. Azn recovered first, pointing his gun upward at where the source of the bullet was.
Nin10mode scrambled up and pointed his sniper rifle with Azn upwards. Seemingly defying the laws of gravity, a figure in a black cloak, its face concealed by a hood stood on the mountain as if the extremely steep rock was the grass which Nin10mode stood on. The figure was almost perpendicular to them, holding its gun straight at the two of them.
"A Sniper Rifle? What’s the big idea?! We’re on YOUR side! IPS! Only Nightcrashers use Sniper Rifles right?!" He said, now unsure of the statement. The figure said nothing but stood there, an ominous being whose cloak flowed in the wind.
"Affirmative."
"Well then…" Azn said when Nin10mode repeated IPS’ statement, "who the hell are you?" The cloaked figure said nothing, but the sniper rifle which it was holding disappeared. It dropped its hands and shrugged.
"Not a Nightcrasher, you are not an ally…" Azn said in a quiet voice. "I could put a bullet in you right now you know…" The cloak figure, as if mocking Azn, mimed a laugh, still not making any sound. Azn pulled the trigger and the Sniper Rifle fired straight at the figure.
Instantly, in one fluid motion, a sword appeared from the cloaked figure’s hand, and the bullet hit the sword, deflecting the bullet away from the cloaked figure. Azn and Nin10mode both looked at the figure incredulously, but they didn’t have much time, for the figure bowed and then backed away.
A blue portal appeared out of nowhere and floated behind the figure. Still bowing, the figure backed into the portal which seemed to show nothing but pure white. Azn took one last shot at the figure, but by then it was gone, leaving no evidence that a strange hooded figure ever was standing on the side of the mountain.
Chapter 6: Kids
"Tell me, could this cloaked figure have ANYTHING to do with the security breach that happened recently?!"
"There could be a… Slight possibility…."
"Ugh… I have enough problems to deal with… Find out who broke in and where the intruder is!"
"Well seeing as there is only over a thousand capsule rooms, that shouldn’t be a problem at all."
"Get some bots. Speed up the process."
"You have no authority to issue bots."
"But you do. Use it. I don’t want anything going wrong with this game."
"I though this… Game, was made to give the players a surprise?"
"Surprises that I know about."
"Well that takes away the meaning of ‘surprise’ now doesn’t it?"
"There are plenty of surprises in the world. Not all of them have to be unknown to everyone."
Avolerator woke with a start. ’Where am I?’ Avo was disoriented from the nap that he had. The sun reflected off a large blue lake, making Avo shade his eyes as he looked around. "T-TBG?" He spun in circles as he searched the area for the companion whom he had been traveling with.
"Oi!" A voice came from the lake. Avo turned around and squinted to see TBG, waving his hands as he treaded near the middle of the lake. Avo tilted his head in exasperation as TBG started swimming back to the shore.
The lake was beautiful; just a small one with a waterfall that came from the extremely steep mountains. The lake lied in the southeast corner of the arena, Avo and TBG had stopped there to rest after they had chased after Azn.
"What were you doing?" Avo said in a slightly annoyed tone. TBG grinned at him as he hopped out of the waters. "I don’t think this is the best time to be taking a dip right now."
"Heh, sorry I guess I kind of got carried away…." TBG scratched the bad of his head, and then shook himself like a wet dog. "These bodies… They definitely aren’t ours, I don’t know how they got us into these things, but they are phenomenal!" He stretched his arms and yawned.
"Well… Some advanced technology or another…" He examined his arms, which were definitely much longer and more strong then he normally was. "It’s like… We are improved humans…"
"Come on Avo, let’s go find someone to hunt down eh?" TBG said happily and started to walk off.
"Eh." Avo followed TBG, and they headed westward, getting closer to the cliff so that they didn’t have to worry about their left flank. TBG saw something dark moving along and gestured Avo to stay silent.
"We have ourselves a deer." TBG whispered. He made a motion of cocking a gun, then flexed his claws. TBG turned around and started sprinting at an extreme speed while Avo followed at a slower pace. The figure was walking westwards as well, so he was turned away from the sprinting TBG and Avo.
The OGE apparently notified the person, because Kimonio turned around alarmed when and lifted his battle rifle to start firing at TBG and Avo. From so far away, none of the bullets hit, TBG and Avo split up to circle around Kim.
Drawing his sword, Kimonio was able to block TBG as he pounced right at Kim’s face. TBG smiled as he jumped back, his purple claws shining in the sunlight. Kim watched slowly as TBG started to circle him, not letting his guard down for a second. TBG didn’t have to move though, Avo had already pounced onto Kim’s back and pinned him to the ground.
"Sorry Kim…" Avo said, watching as Kim struggled to throw Avo off. With one quick move, Avo pulled his claw out of the back of Kim’s head. No blood, yet he felt as the claws ran through it, which made a chill run up his back. The familiar cannon sound went off, but Avo couldn’t hear it. The sound of his claws running through skin was too much too bear.
TBG pulled him off of Kim, who started to disappear. "Dang man… You got him good!" He said in a surprised tone. All Avo did was nod, breathing heavily as he started to calm down. TBG sat down next to Avo, and they both watched the clouds pass by.
"How do you think they did it?" TBG said after several minutes, tilting his head slightly. Avo looked up at TBG questioningly, and TBG noticed the expression on his face and continued. "The clouds… The sky! I mean… I doubt that they just painted the walls all blue, and the clouds are moving as well. They look so… Real!"
Avo nodded silently, watching the sky as it slowly was absorbed by the seemingly impassable mountains. The movement calmed him; that slow, steady pace in which the clouds moved at. Suddenly, like a dying light bulb, the cloud flickered for half a second. The clear blue skies turned to a black color, and the whole fields became a smooth black ground. Avo gasped in shock as flickering stopped. He looked around as everything seemed exactly as it were before.
"Something wrong?" TBG asked, raising an eyebrow as he took his eyes off of the sky.
"You didn’t just see that?" Avo said, still looking around for any trace of the black color.
"See what?" TBG stood up and started checking alertly for other players. "I don’t see anyone…"
"You didn’t just see… That… That flickering?" Avo said, now unsure of himself. TBG shook his head, looking at Avo oddly. "Huh… Guess it’s probably just my eyes playing a trick on me…"
"Come on man, let’s keep going. We could probably find other people…"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The peaceful clouds moved lazily across the sky. The bright sun shined brilliantly at Brando, who was covered in dirt and bruises from the last conflict. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, the grass dancing wildly under the powerful wind that had picked up.
"Brando… Hey, Brando, wake up!" Brando felt a stinging pain across his left cheek as Buff’s hand made contact with Brando’s face. Instantly his eyes snapped open and the sword materialized from in his hand.
"DIE ZOMBIE DIE!" Brando yelled as he started to brandish his sword, making Buff jump back.
"Hey hey!" Buff looked at Brando in surprise as he realized where they were. "Were you always this jumpy?" He said in an annoyed tone.
"Heh… Sorry, I guess I got carried away?" Buff shook his head and then pointed over to the north.
"Heads up, we got company."
Even from a distance, they could tell that the two figures were running towards them. Not at full speed, but they meant to engage Buff and Brando.
"Let’s see… We have… Azn, Avo, TBG, MoY, and Nin10mode left…" Brando said, ticking off the number of people. "Who do you think it’ll be?"
"Burst Berserkers." Buff said as he checked his rifle to sure it was reloaded. They could see the purple stand out against the grassy landscape. Buff looked around the grassy plains and then cursed under his breath. "Doesn’t look like they are the only ones either…"
Sure enough, Brando saw a glare of orange coming from the southeast. "He’s catching us in the middle of a battle." He gripped his sword tighter and stood his ground. "Damn MoY! He’s just too persistent!"
"Stop complaining! It’s Avo and TBG! Let’s go!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Avo swerved to the left as Buff’s deadly spray of bullets shot past him. TBG was on the right, aiming to pincer the two. With one leap, he went a good few feet up into the air, shot an energy blast at them from the palm of his hands, and then fell into the grass. Not wasting one second, he started to crawl through the grass, making sure that Buff and Brando would not be able to see him. The wind would conceal any movement.
He suddenly stopped and stood low. He heard the heavy set feet charging towards him and rolled upwards so he was facing the sky. Concentrating hard, his hands started to glow the bluish color they always did when he was about to launch an energy shot.
In the span of seconds, an energy ball flew barely inches over Avo, flying towards where Buff and Brando were engaging TBG. The sound of a cannon made Avo wince, but he couldn’t lose any seconds and hopped out of the grass and shot a energy shot towards the source of the killer. MoY took the hit full on, but didn’t fall, the armor absorbing most of the impact. He grinned as he realized he was still alive and then started sprinting away.
Avo was about to start chasing MoY, but turned around when he heard the clash of steel on steel. TBG and Brando fought sword against sword, while Buff was lying on the ground, beginning to disappear like all the other defeated ones did.
The blur of claws against swords was exhilarating. Brando and TBG moved with speed and accuracy as if they had been doing this their entire lives. Brando moved forward against TBG for an uppercut, which was deflected by one of TBG’s claws as the other one lunged towards Brando’s chest for a stab.
Brando knew the lunge was coming and side stepped around the claw, using the momentum to spin around and aim at TBG’s neck in a backhanded swing. TBG ducked and swiped at Brando’s legs, but Brando was able to hop and attempt a murderous two handed overhead vertical cut at TBG.
Grabbing the sword with both hands, TBG and Brando used all their strengths to overcome the other. Finally, Brando pulled away, giving him the chance for another swing at TBG. Avo was about to step in, but then he saw the look on both their faces. Sweating, determined, and smiling; it seemed as if they were having fun dueling, and Avo knew that interfering would just enrage both of them.
Chapter 7 and Beyond...
