.hack//RE:Boot

The Admin Permitted PC's walk around the individual groups while scanning their PC Data. For the most part, it is a quiet and calm process. The only real sound in the area is the music playing for the Lost Ground which is somewhat of a dramatic yet gentle tune. While the PC scan the groups, the leader of them -- Hitomi, turned back to Arsenic. She held out a hand and a light panel appeared. As the Admin began to press upon it, character data for Arsenic became viewable.

"You shouldn't have come." Hitomi spoke with a somewhat annoyed tone. "I won't bail you out of these situations. That's why I try to tell you not to get into them in the first place." The process of being scanned is a simple one. Once the scan begins, virtual lines appear over the scanned player character. This begins at their feet and slowly works its way up toward their head. As it rises, it shows more data on the character such as the original format used, the class, the weapons, combat history, chat logs, and even private messages. Every bit of data that becomes revealed is meant to uncover if the PC has had any modifications -- changes in the original design or even messages from others indicating such things.

A few cases occur. Two in the group with True Blade, three in the group with Raven, and one in the group with AppleJuice and Rhyme. The cases are not spoken up about and do not turn on an alarm though it can be seen in the reactions of the Admin PC. Afterward, the PC instruct the other players to continue standing still and cooperating as they return to consult their leader on what action to take.

Hitomi completes her scan of Arsenic. She nodded, "You're clean, but that was expected." The Admin turned to face her subordinates. "Show them to me." She said, as if knowing that there were cheaters there, even without seeing them. As the A.P. PC's informed Hitomi, something was stirring in the crowds.

"We need to get out of here." One of the PC whispered to another. "That's the Light of Judgment! She's merciless, she doesn't care if we're hackers or not, she'll delete us all!" Another one said in a frightful excitement. The PC throw messages between each other, as if trying to gather for a plan. The plan translates to everyone as...

"Hey, this woman is crazy! She's a mad Cheat Slayer! If we don't get out of here, she'll delete us all-- even the ones of us who aren't cheaters! We're going to fight back, are you in?"

The message is passed to everyone, save the Admin or her lackeys.

Kisaragi donned his visor again, returning to The World. As he did so, Jester lit back up, that calm grin crossing his face again. He turned to the Adept Rogue they'd been speaking with, nodding his acknowledgement. "Well, if you plan on taking them on, I'd hope so. And certainly, I wish you the best of luck with it. In the meantime, if you're ever in need of gear, Miss TESMEI here has the best selection in Mac Anu. I can personally vouch for it." He extended a hand to the Rogue, stepping only slightly forward, as though he almost preferred to remain leaned against the stall, but could not bring himself to do so, due to formality. "I'm Jester, by the way. Item... Purveyor, as it were."

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Arsenic nodded to Hitomi's words as she completed her scan, sitting back down when she had finished. "I don't expect you to bail me out, Hitomi. I wouldn't ask you to put your job as an admin in danger simply to help me. I'll be alright." He smiled a bit, looking about the room as he began noticing whispers in the crowd. Unable to make out what they were saying just yet, he shook his head, turning back to Hitomi. "And I'd hope I'm clean. If not, I was going to have to do more than hunt--- Hang on, got a message. Let me check that, and I'll finish that thought." As the message appeared on his screen, he immediately opened it, half wondering if it was a lead as to Scythe's whereabouts. He couldn't have been more wrong.

He scrolled through the text quickly, a look crossed between concern and irritation crossing his face as the PC rose to his feet yet again, instantly closing the message screen. "Hitomi... I need you to do something for me... And I need you not to question me on this." He closed his eyes for a moment, turning to face away from the crowd so that they could not see his reaction, nor hear his newfound idea.

"Hitomi... I need you to wrap this up as quickly as possible, take your admins, and get the Hell out of here. And I do mean quickly. We're about to have a riot on our hands, and as much as I hate to be the bearer of bad news... You seem to be the central focal point of the confusion that these kids are brewing into their own personal little revolution." He raised his head, his eyes opening once more to view the upper part of the cathedral itself. His rage grew, becoming more and more apparent, and he drew his blades, spinning each intermittently. Anyone who had seen him in a fight more than just once knew that it was a sign that he was about to let loose, barring no holds and distinguishing no difference between enemy nor friend. He restrained himself for the moment, knowing that he couldn't very well go on the assault without being provoked beforehand. His entire reputation within The World had been based upon his being a somewhat controlled player. The Most Chill Player in The World, if he was to be quoted on his own demeanor. However at this very moment, he felt as though the entire room had a giant target painted in the center...

--------------------Real World-----------------------

Perhaps the most irritating thing to Kiryu was the fact that he could not distinguish where the rage came from. Was it because Hitomi was about to be attacked? He knew she could handle a crowd of players easily, so that didn't make sense to him. The fight with Scythe? Sure, they'd had their scraps before, but she'd never directed a stream of hacking toward him, though. Perhaps it was some combination of the two, along with the fact he'd been in a somewhat sour mood for most of the morning, anyway. He shook his head, removing his hand from the controller to grasp a cigarette from within his desk. He had no intention of smoking it, nor did he know why he even had the damnable thing around. Rather, he simply wanted to feel the damn thing, knowing that it would be there, should things hit too damn close to home and he ended up breaking. He replaced it after a moment, taking a deep breath after doing so to attempt to calm himself, then returned his attention to the game.

--------------------The World--------------------

Arsenic stood for a moment in silence, then finally sheathed his blades again. He took a moment to return his gaze toward Hitomi, smirking a bit. "Or not. It's your call either way. But should you need to make an exit, I can control the crowd. It may not be pretty... But it can be done."

-------The World------------------
True Blade blinked as he looked upward. He noticed the message and read it. His eyes widened as he stepped back, he appeared frightened. He had just joined the world, he didn't want to be apart of a riot. He just wanted to play, but he knew that he couldn't just stand there. He had to make a choice.

He collectively ponders on the situation, he didn't know what to do, other than wait. He would wait for the riot to break out, and stand down, or at least that was his first plan. He knew he couldn't, what if he got caught in the crossfire? He had to think of something fast.

Finally, he began to shuffle through the crowd and attempt to step forward. He knew this was foolish, but he had to do something to calm the crowd. He would then turn, once out, and raise his hands up. He then speaks in a loud voice that could be heard across the area.

"People! Relax! This is just standard procedure I am sure! This nice lady will let the lot of us go as soon as they're done with things!" He then paused for a moment, looking around, making sure everyone was paying attention before he would continue. "Now I don't know about you, but I'd like to get on with my business as quickly as possible!"

-----------------In the Real World-------------------------------
True Blade's player would slap himself in the forehead, he couldn't believe he actually did this, but the only thoughts that were going through his head was "I am so.. dead.."

Joanna was pulling her visor back down when his got the message, she quickly read it and bursts into laughter s he had never heard such silly nonsense. The Admins were in place to keep the players in line and were given tools to deal with a bunch of scrubs trying to rise against the "man", they were like legal hackers.

////The World////

Rhyme moved again after being afk for a few minutes, she came back in time to hear the random kids speech, it most likely would make the others want to attack even more then they did before. Rhyme just faded into back, if fighting started breaking out she didn't want to be part of it getting your service suspended didn't sound like fun.

A tone went off as she got a message. She raised a brow, paused her game, and picked up her visor, slipping it back on and taking hold of The World controler. They have to be kidding!

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AppleJuice snapped out of her AFK daze. She had already been scanned and there were a few whispers floating about. She looked to where Rhyme was and backed up with her. This is silly.. They arent going to actually.... She flinched and looked to Rhyme. Deleted us right? We didnt do anything wrong.

Hitomi walked toward the players. As the guard with her moved to aid, her arm lashed out to call him back. The others that came with stood back and watched. Hitomi then smirked and raised her right arm. A surge of power washed through it before a booming chill went down through the PC's backs. A feeling of utter terror or shock. All the PC were locked down, but one was pulled forward -- at random. The PC was a Twin Blade and a hacker.

"What is this!?" The Twin Blade questioned. Hitomi raised her sword arm and watched the PC.

"Despite popular belief, I am not an unfair person." Hitomi said with a look of calmness about her. While she spoke and readied herself, the other PC in the group watched on. Try as they might, none of them could move. Their characters were frozen. "So here's your chance. You believe that you can overtake me, so go ahead and try. If you succeed, you're free to play your games. However... If you fail then you forfeit your right to play The World."

The Twin Blade needed no other words then that. His hands shot back behind his waist and with a tearing light, he pulled forth two modded swords that shredded in the air. He launched forward with a loud cry, preparing to strike Hitomi. In comparison of level, he had the advantage. His weapons were also mods, which should also give him the advantage. The Twin Blade brought his arm up and swung down upon Hitomi -- he missed. Hitomi moved into rotation and passed by the blade, without a second thought. Her blade ran the Twin Blade through, but she did not swing it after, she kept him mounted upon her blade. Before them, they could see his PC Data being torn apart and deleted. The words Terminated appeared upon the players headset. Steams of data run down to the floor of the Cathedral until nothing is left. Hitomi swings her blade to the side, as if she were meant to clean it off. She stepped forward and brought her blade behind her back whilst her left hand reached out, palm up. She beckoned for the next challenger, as another was freed. An Edge Punisher this time. He pulled a Broadsword from his back and launched forward-- a battle commenced.
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Meanwhile...

Raven stood in place, not bothering to watch the battle. There was conflict in this whole thing. The others were right, Hitomi was not known for being merciful. She would delete them all, hackers or not. But they were also idiots to plan against the administrators. Their only choice was escape. He took to the crowds, looking over them quickly. Seven, he thought.

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Jasper raised his headset as he pulled out his phone. He opened it and began texting. After sending the message, he slid the cellphone back onto his desktop and waited. Before even a few seconds passed, a response was given in the form of a file.
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Hitomi came to a stop, two other players deleted at her sides. Her eyes quickly took to the crowd. "Someone just received an illegal file! Step forward or face severe consequences!"
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Raven's body began to emit a sequence of complex codes that overwrote the system freezing. His arms spread as he broke free, then his arm swung as if to throw the item -- though no physical object appeared to be thrown, several of the players were cut free; including Rhyme, AppleJuice, and True Blade. Immediately after, the center of the Hulle Granz Cathedral opens into a tear in the data stream. Raven ran toward it quickly and slid next to it, calling out to the unfrozen players.

"You are all innocent, but it is true, Hitomi will delete you if you remain! Come or go, but I suggest you decide quickly!"
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The full weight of the admin comes down upon Raven as the Guard with Hitomi turn their attention toward the Tribal Grappler. Hitomi steps forth as well, "Fool! You cannot escape the judgment of the system!"

AppleJuice stood there, free from the freeze code. Should she run and risk being Deleted? Or stay... and risk being Deleted? Her eyes shifted to the sword upon her back. The weapon she wasnt able to use but still ment something to her. Aww Poopie! She turned and ran with a few others towards the Tear.

Rhyme watched as the players were destroyed and deleted one by one and to be honest she was excitedly waiting for her turn, if she was going to be deleted she wanted to go out with one hell of battle. Suddenly code ran through her freeing her and allowing her to move, she stood still thinking it over for a moment, if she ran there was a good chance that the admins would hunt her down and delete her anyways, on the other hand she could stay and fight Hitomi and get deleted after a fight which kinda excited her.

"Shit," she says agreeing with AJ then ran after the harvest cleric.

True Blade shook his head, free of the code now. He then sighed-- knowing his words would not have any effect-- he didn't know what he just became apart of, but he knew if he stayed, he would surely be deleted. He slipped forward and rushed toward the tear before sliding into it, fading in the process.
-----In the real world------
True Blade's player shook from side to side. The sound of the door opening and closing is heard as his elder brother walked in.
"Food." He said casually, but he stopped and peered at his little brother for a moment. He peered toward his right before he stepped in the room slowly. He dropped a bag on the boy's desk but got no response from him.

-Overzealous Edit-
True Blade shook his head, free of the code now. Many thoughts ran through his head. ("What is going on? Why is this happening?"😉 he thought frantically. He peered around from side to side. A memory quickly lapsed through his mind-- what seemed like minutes in his mind, only occurred within a split second---
----------????------------------------------
The boy and the elder sat in the bush. Things had quieted down, and both stood up. The elder's long beard ran down toward his waist, as his business attire blended into the dark brush. He urged the young boy to continue moving as they quietly moved through.

"Why are they after us?" The young boy asked, a quiver in his voice.

"They aren't after you, they are after me dear boy." The elder responded in a raspy, wise tone. He raised his head as they exited the park, but remained in the brush and heavily forested areas.

"They come, from a desperate time in my life, where I had to make, foolish and risky decisions. The stories that I told you, do you remember them?"

The young boy nodded, but his eyes opened widely as he came to a realization. "Those actually happened?" he quietly exclaimed.

"Yes, to me." The old man replied. "I was a gun for higher. I used the skills passed to me by our ancestors just to earn a quick buck-- and I quickly, quickly learned that they had consequences. But.."

The Old man stopped in his place, and the young boy stumbled at the elder's abrupt halt. The boy tilted his head curiously.

"I never, regretted, a single day of it. Because of what I did, my descendants can now live a good life, even if I cannot. You will be met with decisions that will go against all you know. You may not understand now, but you will when the time comes. You will know what to do, for you are, after-all, my grandson." The Old man smiled, from cheek to cheek before placing his left palm on the boy's head. Radiance fills the scene.
-------------The World---------------------------------
He then sighed-- knowing his words would not have any effect-- he didn't know what he just became apart of, but he knew if he stayed, he would surely be deleted. He clenched his fist a radiant light appearing behind him, a broadsword appearing on his back. He gripped it in his right hand and pulled it off as he slipped forward and rushed toward the tear before sliding into it, fading in the process.
-----In the real world------
True Blade's player shook from side to side. The sound of the door opening and closing is heard as his elder brother walked in.
"Food." He said casually, but he stopped and peered at his little brother for a moment. He peered toward his right before he stepped in the room slowly. He dropped a bag on the boy's desk but got no response from him.

"Weird. Hmm." The elder brother stepped out of the room, and began to ponder. ("From what I saw, he was in the lost grounds, but it has changed a bit. Those beings, weren't normal players. Just what was going on..? Was there a lock down due to hacking? I surely hope he is not in trouble, not like I was. Heh, those days."😉

The brother then sighed and shook his head before stepping down the hallway. ("Maybe it would pay for me to take a swing at this new version of... 'The World'?"😉

Hitomi... Her name rang through Arsenic's head as he stood, watching the onslaught. He had forgotten how much raw power was carried by the one PC, although he never seemed to think of her as an admin, in-game. It was hard to picture it. As more and more PC's fell to her fury, he finally shook off the shock, turning to see if he could get any of the innocent ones out. He took a moment, though was having trouble spotting anyone for sure, considering his lack of scanning capability. He instead ran to Hitomi, trying to reason with her.

"Hitomi! Not everyone here is a guilty party! We have to let some of them go!" He grabbed her arm, staying her blade momentarily as he tried to calm her. "Let me gather the ones that didn't rebel, at the least. There's no reason for them to be punished for the others' actions, and you know it. 'Guilt by association' was never one of your favorite things, as I recall."

He released her arm, stepping back to see what her decision was, although he wasn't sure even he would get out alive. Not entirely, anyway.

"They're all guilty!" Hitomi shouted as she began to run toward the tear that was made in the area. She raised her sword and begun swinging, slicing through the PC that still remained as she made her way for those escaping. "Hackers, Aiding Hackers, Associating with Hackers, I will not let the system fail for being too soft! There are no exceptions!" Hitomi shouted when suddenly sheeeek! "..." Hitomi paused, her blade inches from the Tribal Grappler who was leading this 'escape'. But something stopped her, something physical. Her eyes looked down in anger to see the PC she came tracking -- Scythe. The Hacker's Weapon was lodged into Hitomi's gut and her HP was dropping quickly. The admin struck Scythe with a fist to knock her back and then stumbled away, her HP in the single digits. She fell to the ground with her blade pressed to it. Both Scythe and Raven backed away. Scythe let out a chilled smile toward Arsenic, having enjoyed stabbing his new main squeeze, before her and Raven stepped back through the tear. The gate began to pulsate and tremble with unstable balance in data before it finally split apart and disappeared, leaving no trace or code to follow by. Those who ran had successfully escaped -- though to where to, the pursuers did not know. "Damn it!!!!" Hitomi said with such vile anger. She remained crouched with her blade to the floor, only the other Administrative PC and Arsenic remain standing-- the rest are either deleted or ran. This is the second time today, that Scythe beat the system.

"Damn it, Damn it, Damn it!" Hitomi shouted with a vile anger. She stood and began swinging her blade around. Her health was low, due to that fatal blow delivered by the hacker. She did not strike anyone -- but it was still very clear how lustful her rage was.
_________________________________________

Net Slum

The quiet yet erratic nature of Net Slum was a curious one. A place that was like a server, but nothing of the sort. A paradise for the hackers of The World. It had everything it needed to be qualified as a server. A Chaos Gate, an @Home for Guilds, a Market -- sure it was an illegal one run by a hacked (N)PC? but it was a shop none-the-less. The place appeared quite shady, not only that, it was moving. Net Slum was a Hacked Server on the back of a giant monster. One of the great many reasons nobody ever was able to find it, aside from hackers, and even then only some of the best.

Soon, the Chaos Gate lit up as several PC warped in. Scythe, Raven, True Blade, Rhyme, AppleJuice, random PC who nobody cared about. As they appeared, their eyes would open to both a familiar and strange sight. The giant doors, as existed in all Servers. To the left, a shop for miscellaneous items. To the right, an NPC who manged Data. Behind them was the Chaos Gate that as all others floated just a little off the ground. This one however-- was different. Unlike most Chaos Gates, which connect to that servers areas. This Chaos Gate connected to ALL Servers areas -- allowing the PC using it to never have to leave Net Slum. No doubt this feature was useful for those avoiding encounters with the administrators.

Scythe and Raven walked away from the Chaos Gate and toward the doors as they began to chat, leaving the others to do as they wish. They could leave, stay, log out, or just sit there and be trolls. They were saved from the wrath of the Light of Judgment, what they did now... neither Raven nor Scythe cared much for.

AppleJuice fell through the gate, falling onto her face and making a few PCS fall over her. Sorry! Sorry! She scrambled to her feet and looked around the area. This was new! She looked around a bit until she saw Raven and Scythe start walking away. She let out a gasp and ran over to them. Hey! You! Thanks a bunch! I'm AppleJuice!She held out her hand, a big goofy childish smile upon her lips.

Rhyme wrapped in to the Net Slum and she could easily tell that they were somewhere they weren't meant to be. The World wad an interesting place and filled with things that were never meant to be, for example the lost grounds, no one knows how they came to be and admins had no control over them meaning that they can not be deleted.

Rhyme looked as the infamous hacker Scythe walked off with the one who rescued them, she had to admit she was a bit impressed but more ticked off that she got mixed up with the hackers, it was a classic case of wrong place at the wrong time. Rhyme kept her anger to herself and started to explore the slums, it was kinda awesome that there was an unknown city filled with ne'er-do-wells.

Arsenic stood, shaking in rage. He had only barely caught Scythe's taunt, but it remained burned into his vision for a moment as he began to regain his composure. Silent rage filled him as he walked past Hitomi, making his way toward the Chaos Gate. "Release the lockdown. I'm going after her."

He didn't know where it came from. He'd always been one to just let Hitomi do her own thing, as an admin, but now... Something told him that he was the only one that could put an end to Scythe's rampage. He sheathed his blades as he continued to walk toward the Chaos Gate, never once turning back to survey the damage that had been wrought. He no longer cared to see Hulle Granz... Only his old partner brought to justice.

True Blade fell through the Chaos Gate, stumbling with his arms flailing, his broadsword still unsheathed. He finally fell on his front, his eyes swirling as he groaned at the pain of his descent. After a good 10 seconds, he stood to his feet and peered around, observing his scenery.

He didn't feel comfortable in this place at all. He looked around, attempting to grasp onto a familiar face, but could only latch onto that of Scythe and Raven.

He wanted answers, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to steady himself to ask. Before he knew it, he was following behind Scythe, Raven, and AppleJuice.

He was unsure of what to do next, he was scared, confused, angry, yet... happy at the same time. Perhaps he had found some interesting people to adventure with? Perhaps this is another facet of The World that he would have to learn about and grow accustomed to. He didn't know, but he surely wanted to find out.

His blade faded in light as he followed them, but at a distance. His head was lowered.. lowered at how truly insignificant the whole experience made him feel. Lowered at how cruel both sides of The World could be. Lowered at the bad feeling he had in his gut.. that this wasn't over, and if so, that he could do nothing if anything remotely strong should pursue him. He was, after-all, just an unmodded Adept Rogue. Nothing special about him but the custom weapons he made in the forge with help from other low-level adventurers.

What could he do? What other option did he have?

Scythe and Raven walked together around the entrance to Net Slum. They stopped to discuss something, though they spoke too quiet for anyone to catch.

"They're not firing off at random." Scythe said to Raven. He quickly countered her statement.

"If they're not firing off at random, how do they decide on their targets. And for that matter, how are they inducing comas?" Raven crossed her arms while speaking to Scythe. This gave him a more stoic appearance. He nodded his head once, "If what I remember that you told me, the event from years ago caused comatose due to neural shock. How is that possible?"

"It's better not to question how it happens and more to target how to stop it." Scythe ended the conversation as she turned to the approaching AppleJuice. She raised a hand to Raven to silence him before they both turned their attention toward her and off their conversation.
__________________________________________

"It's no problem," The two players responded almost simultaneously before shooting each other a glared look. They both then smirked and turned back to her. Scythe began talking to the young PC. "You shouldn't stay here. This is a place for Hackers. You can jump servers like usual to return to Mac Anu."

AJ's brow furrows and she gives a mock pout. But it looks neat here. Cant I just stay a bit longer? She then smiled widely and twisted side to the side, her hair flipping with the motion and uncovering the hilt of the sword upon her bacl before her hair covers it again in back motion. I'll be good! I wont touch anything!

The sound of deep breaths, running feet, quickly followed by tumbling rocks. Two girls ran from a massive monster which was high on their tail. The two parted ways and jumped from each other, letting the monster pass them by before turning on the offensive. The first girl, a blonde with azure armor and an Edge-Punisher class, rushed on toward the beast. "AAAAHH!!!" she cried loudly as she charged in. She shot into the air with a fierce cry, before falling toward the beast with her broadsword. Her sword struck and like a thousand blades clashing against each other, tore into the beasts shell. Her blade continued to rotate, tearing at the monster and its protective layer.
The other girl, a black haired Shadow Warlock with blue robes as if to make her look like a wizard, ran further to get a more advantageous position on the creature. "Zan Rom!" she cried as a tornado tore up from the ground beneath the beast.
With a loud roar, the two girls are thrown back from the monster, skipping backward across the ground to gain distance from it and regroup as the monster fell and its hit points hit 0.

Later...

The two girls materialize into the city Mac Anu. The two run in different directions, one toward the item shop and the other toward the memory center. After a few minutes, the two rejoin back at the Chaos Gate but do not go anywhere yet.
"Restocked?" The Edge Punisher questioned.
"I'm down a few on spells, but I got some items to compensate." The Shadow Warlock nodded and they prepared to venture out, but paused as a ring came up on both of their screens. An Instant Message.
"Huh?" They both said as they looked at each other. The two girls looked around with a bit of curiosity, trying to find anyone who might stand out by watching them or in some way be suspicious. They found nobody and decided to shrug and check the message.

"Hey Kat." The Shadow Warlock contacted the Punisher via private messaging.
"Delta Lost Timekeepers Old World" The Punisher smiled and nodded, then the two agreed and turned to the Chaos Gate. They accessed it and brought up the keywords. Typing it in.

Delta / Lost / Timekeepers / Old World

The two girls begin to warp as in the background near the door, the sight of a girls feet come into view. The girl at the door smirked...
__________________________________________

A few minutes ago...

TESMEI smiled at Jester as they spoke of gear traded that day and the event coming up. She leaned back as if to sit on her stand and looked at him, but her sight seemed to shift a little. Something had caught her eye. A girl, more specifically a Steam Gunner, one who's picture was all over the forums. "Is that..?" The girl stood up and took a few steps forward, walking past Jester. "Jester, is that the Elite PK S.G. that those people on the forums are talking about?" TESMEI moved to raise a hand to point at the girl, but by the time she does, the girl seems to have vanished. "Hm? I-I guess not.."
__________________________________________

Later, on Delta Lost Timekeepers Old World...

The two players warped onto the field, though something was strange about it. The signal was disrupted and glitches in the coding were obvious. There were pockets of data that appeared to be deteriorating. The two girls looked around as they armed themselves.

"This place is corrupted", the Warlock commented. The two turned and prepared to gate out. As the warp gate scrolled over them, their pc bodies did not warp with them. They blinked as they looked at each other. "Again." They tried to gate out, but the system seemed to fail.
"What the hell?" The Punisher turned as the sound of a creature coming up on them quickly approached. "Look out!" The two players split up and jumped away from each other, just in time to avoid the Reaper creatures scythe. It struck the ground and it seemed to disrupt the area even more. The two turned their attention onto it as they ran at the creature. "ARRGGGH!!!" The Punisher cried as she tore her broadsword toward the reaper monster. Her sword struck and like a thousand blades clashing, it would tear against the creature. At the same time, the mage cried out--
"Vak Don!" A fireball dropped from the sky and landed onto the reaper. Both of the girls were sent flying through the air, landing side by side as they skipped off the ground to gain distance. The sound of the reaper tore into the air again as it's scythe was swung up.
"It's still alive!" Cried out the Warlock.
"It's life... I-It's infinite!" The two backed away and took a shocked look, the reaper approached. Both of the players shouted, "RUN!" The Punisher and Warlock turned, running from the creature. They didn't get far-- the Reaper's scythe was swung and struck the Punisher, sending her to the ground in a spiral. "AAHHHHHHHH!!!" she cried as she hit.
"Kat!" cried the Warlock as she ran to her friend. She took a knee and raised her Grimoire. She used a strong healing item to try and resurrect and heal her friend, but to no avail. The Punishers eyes were wide as data tore bit from bit from the girls PC Body.
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In the real world, a girl laid before her computer with her visor covering her eyes. Her head laid against the keyboard with drool on the desk. The girls desktop read Kitten. The sound, "Kat!" came from her headset, from the Shadow Warlock's voice.
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The body of the Edge-Punisher disappeared completely as its data fragments floated into the air. The Warlock slowly took a stand to look back at the reaper. It approached her slowly. The warlock shook her head twice and closed her eyes. She did not move, but rather seemed to await her end. Her hand moved, as if holding something.
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In the real world, an older dark haired woman sat at her table, unable to stand. Her lips were parted and she appeared to be gasping, as if trying to gain breath. Suddenly, something fell to the floor as she let out a loud scream. A cellphone fell to the floor with the words Message Sent upon it. The girl herself, now laid in the same condition as the last.

AppleJuice sighed and turned to go to the Gate. Hm? Her avatar went blank..

---------------
Katherine pulled her visor off and pulled her cellphone out from her the little pocket on her tight short shorts. She flipped it open. What the...She sent a text back to her friend and waited... Nothing. Oh come on.. She dialed a number and put it to her ear. Pick up your darn phone!