Alex Samson was a troubled Teen.

At least, that’s what his psychologist said.

Twice a week for 2 hours, he had to go to psychological therapy and be berated for being a lazy introvert who didn’t apply himself. When his last report card came out, he was berated on that as well. The man said that Alex needed to find something he enjoyed that he could apply to real life and make money with. Apparently his attitude also didn't meet social norms and needed improvement as well.

And how was Alex doing this?

By sitting in an internet and coffee café, nursing a rapidly cooling espresso, debating with Sam, one of his only friends, whether Spiderman or Batman would win in a fight.

“You see, Spiderman has his spider sense, which totally nerfs Batman’s stealth, allowing him to counter his attacks while getting in his own.” Alex argued.

“Dude, Batman could just, like, create some spray or something to dull his senses.” Sam argued right back.

“Yeah, but that would take time beforehand. Time, that Spiderman could also use to prepare; you forget that Peter Parker is pretty smart!”

“Dude whatever. Batman still wins.”

Alex grinned. “I think you're just in denial that I’m right and you're wrong.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “And I think you are living in a fantasy land where Spiderman is somehow better.”

“If I am, I'm not leaving anytime soon.”

“You're crazy.” Sam said with resignation. At that moment, the door opened, letting in a gust of chilly air.

“Be right back, I need to take this,” Sam said. Unlike Alex, Sam wasn't there just to hang out. He actually had a job. He worked the front desk of Coffeenet- the cafe they were in, renting out computers to people and whipping up caffeinated drinks.

Two portly men waddled their way to the counter, lugging a large amount of equipment. Alex placed them in their early twenties. They ordered two computers and several jumbo sized cups of coffee. Sam gave them the usual warning about downloading viruses and illegal stuff and let them go. One took the other’s gear and made his way towards the computers, while the other stayed back to pay and get their drinks. Curious, Alex approached him.

“Seems like you’re packing a lot of gear.” Alex remarked. “What’s it for?”

The man turned to him. He had a mess of brown hair on his head and a scruffy beard on one of his multiple chins. He looked Alex over a couple of times then gave him a yellowed teeth smile.

“My friend and I are practicing for an,, upcoming tournament. Our internet went on the fritz last night, so we came here” he said in a quiet, careful tone.

“Tournament for what?” Alex asked. He had heard of people like these men. They created powerful characters in online MMOs and battled in tournaments, often for massive cash prizes.

“It’s a RPG called Rune; you want to check it out?”

Alex thought. He needed to get home soon and work on his math homework (Alex hated math) as well as start on a three page essay for language arts.

“It sounds interesting, but I’ve gotta get going.” Alex said sadly. “Tell me this though, how good is it?”

The man laughed, making his multiple chins wobble. “It’s great! You pay $20 to get in, and about $15 for the gear, and then everything else is free. The world is massive, and it’s filled with secrets and quests. I once spent 24 hours just explor-”

“BRIAN!”

They turned to see the other man standing next to their gear.

“Get your lazy ass over here and set up your own damn gear!”

Brian motioned to Alex to hold on, and went over to the man. They spoke for a minute, and seemed to agree on something. Brian then returned to Alex.

“Sorry about that. My friend over there can be a bit impatient at times.” Brian grabbed a pen and napkin and wrote something down. He handed it to Alex.

“Those are our usernames. If you decide to join, send us a message and we’d be more than happy to show you around.”

Alex thanked him and walked out the door. He was immediately assailed by a cool winter breeze, a rarity in Florida. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and made his way down the street.

@0@0@

Alex opened the door to his home and walked right into an argument. Dunham, the family butler, and a man in a pinstripe suit were in the entranceway shooting glares at each other.

“What I’m saying, young man is that until Mr. Samson has returned, his children are in control of his property. As their advisor in these matters, I’m telling you we aren’t interested.”

“Look you old coot,” the man in the suit countered, “we’re offering a good deal here. Their old man is fish bait somewhere in the Atlantic. Once the court declares him legally dead, all business transactions go to the board of directors. You’re nothing but a senile old man if you think that they’ll let then remain heads of the company. Now, my clients are offering a large sum of money for the deeds to the company. It is certainly more than their own company will even dream of offering those little,” he stopped as he became aware of Alex’s presence. He quickly turned and put on a fake smile.

“Hello Mr. Samson,” he said, “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“What do you want?” Alex said impatiently. He had a feeling what this was all about. His dad was the CEO of Samson Aviation Industries- a large aviation design company that designed some of the coolest stuff in the world. Jet fighters, VTOLs (short for vertical take off and landing), if it was cool, his dad built it. He was on his way to a conference a year ago, when his plane mysteriously vanished. Since then, people had been coming about once a week to try and get him and his sister to sign away the company to them.

“Mr. Samson, I represent a corporation that is very interested in your father’s company. We are willing to offer a lot of money for it. Wouldn’t you like a lot of money? I’m sure you could by a lot of video ga-”

“Give me a break,” Alex said, cutting him off. “Do you really think that I’m going to buy that act? My dad may be a world class douche,”

“Alex!” Dunham cried, shocked.

Alex continued unopposed, “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to sell off his property to some stranger, just because he says I can get a lot of money for video games. Seriously, just because I’m a teenage male, does not mean that I spend my time playing video games. You’ve got no deal.”

The fake smile left the face of the pinstriped man as his face turned to a cruel sneer. “You naïve little brat. Your father and his company are a large obstacle for us that we’d like to eliminate. The sums we can offer you are much more than anything you’ll get from our competitors. That includes your father’s own company. The board will strip your family of everything and leave you on the streets.”

Alex stood firm. “My dad will never let that happen.”

The man got very close to Alex and whispered- “your father is dead, boy. The sooner you accept that, the sooner we can all move on.”

A hand suddenly gripped the man’s shoulder. He spun around to come face to face with Dunham.

“I advise you to remove your face from the proximity of my charge and leave, young man, before I charge you with trespassing and harassment. Now get out.”

He stood for a minute, and then shrugged. “Your funeral.” He tossed over his shoulder, before slamming the door behind him.

Dunham’s shoulders sagged and he gave a weary sigh. “Thank you Alex. He was the third one today and the most stubborn.”

“It’s the least I could do” Alex said. “I hate them just as much as you do.”

Dunham nodded, and then added “but you should not call your father a douche, Alex.”

“Why not?” Alex shot back “That’s what he is. Even before he went missing, he was rarely at home during the day, and wouldn’t come to anything I asked him to. I could never bring a friend to meet him because some ‘emergency’ would crop up, and he’d have to go!”

“I understand that you are upset with him, and you have ample reason to” (Alex snorted at this) “but you need to keep it to yourself, or at least not mention in front of people like him” he gestured at the door.

“Whatever. I’m going up. Don’t expect me for dinner.” Alex said.

Dunham moved to stop him, but by then, Alex was halfway up the stairs, and already spaced out.

Dunham sighed. When their father disappeared, the state wanted to put Alex and his sister in foster care. Dunham stopped them by citing their father’s will and applying to be their legal guardian. Since then, he had tried to be the best substitute to their father. It hurt him to see Alex like this, but he couldn’t seem to get to him.

Shaking his head, Dunham moved on towards the kitchen. Despite what Alex said, he would probably end up coming down anyways. It was, after all, meatball night.

2: The Board's Decision

Sure enough, when 6:30 came around, Alex was sitting in his spot, scarfing down meatballs.

“I’m curious,” Dunham said with a slight smirk, “Whatever happened to ‘don’t expect me for dinner?’”

Alex looked up momentarily, slightly annoyed that he was being interrupted from his meal

“FineIadmitthatyouwererightandIwaswrongIjustwasupsetabotutthewholethinganddidn’twanttobeprovenwrongdoyouforgiveme?” He took a deep breath and plunged back into his meal.

“God Alex.” His sister, Jessica replied. “You are SUCH a pig. Sometimes I wonder how we can be twins.”

It was a valid point. Alex and his sister may have been born minutes apart, but they were quite possibly the two most opposite people on the planet. Alex had red hair that he liked to keep short, while Jessica had long brown hair. Alex preferred to settle his arguments with harsh words, while his sister preferred a more subtle approach. Jessica was popular, and Alex, well, Alex didn't NEED that many friends. He was just fine having Sam as a best and only close friend.

“What can I say?” Alex replied, having finished his third helping. “I enjoy food. Especially Dunham’s meatballs. Besides, you’re enjoying them just as much as I am.”

It was true. While she was not as ferocious as her fraternal twin, Jessica seemed to have given up most of her usual polite mannerisms in order to eat as many meatballs in as little time as possible.

“So, Jess,” Alex began, “have you started on your essay for language arts?”

Jessica sighed. “Alex, I can’t keep giving you my essay to copy and then change the wording around a bit. I think our teacher is beginning to notice. Why don’t you just do it yourself?”

“It’s a persuasive essay.” Alex said. “I hate those. An expository one wouldn’t be much better.”

“Maybe It would be easier to do them if you actually listened back in middle school when we learned how to do them.” Jessica countered. “You’ve never really gotten that. Everyone sees you’re smart, but you seem not to care.”

“Anyways,” Dunham interjected, defusing the possibly volatile situation, “Just a reminder to wear your best on Saturday. The board has called us to a meeting to discuss some matters involving the company.”

Alex choked “What!? This is the first I’ve heard of this! When did they mention it?”

“It’s been on the calendar for, like, 2 weeks now Alex.” Jessica said, a note of irritability creeping into her voice. “Do you ever pay attention to anything?”

Alex appeared to think for a second, then shrugged and went back to his meatballs.

“Alex,” Dunham said, “this is serious. The board is getting impatient with your antics. If we can't prove to them that you can control them, they will very quickly make you nothing more than a figurehead, or worse, replace you.”

That was the crux of the matter. Alex may have thought his father was a jerk along with most of the board; but deep down, the last thing he wanted to see was his father’s company fall into another hand.

Alex sighed. “Fine. When we go to this meeting, I’ll keep it together, and act professional.”

“Oh, and by the way Alex,” Jessica put in, “wearing your best means wearing a tie.” She then laughed at his look of utter mortification.

Dunham smiled and said, “Don't worry you two. I highly doubt that the board would seriously consider removing you from the head of the company- at least not at this time. Now, if there is nothing else I would appreciate help cleaning up dinner. Afterward, I want you both to head upstairs and get to your homework. I expect it will be a long day tomorrow.”

Silently he prayed “let the meeting go well. don’t let things get out of hand.”

@0@0@

At 8:30, Saturday morning, Dunham, Jessica, and Alex got into the families black BMW, and drove to the main campus of Samson Aviation Industries. Along the way, they discussed what the meeting was all about.

“Dunham,” Jessica began, “what do you think the matters are that the board wants to discuss with us?”

“To be honest, I don’t know,” Dunham replied. “If I had to take a guess, I’d say they’ve decided to begin grooming you two to take over your father’s place as CEOs. Right now, all the company has is a temporary placeholder elected by the board. It would also give them the chance to stop your antics, Alex.”

Alex and Jessica’s father had left explicit instructions in case he ever went missing. One part of the instructions was that Dunham became their legal guardian until he was found. Because it was such an unusual instruction, even for their father, Dunham had to fight tooth and nail just to get it approved.

Another part stated that if he was declared dead, the company would immediately go to their name- making them owners, and joint- CEOs of the largest aviation company ever invented along with his personal savings. Which explained the man the day before.

“Dunham,” Jessica said with a smirk, “I don’t think it’s the latter. I think that even the board has given up on Alex. It would seem that between the two of us, he inherited most of dad’s genes.”

“I don’t really care whatever it’s about,” Alex said, tugging at the tie he had grudgingly consented to wear. “All I care about right now is getting this over with so I can get out of this stupid suit!”

They drove for several minutes in silence, when Alex asked, “Do you think they found dad and wanted to tell us before anyone else?”

Dunham gave it some thought, then shook his head. “No. As much as your father hated the publicity his position brought him, I think he’d want you to know of his whereabouts as quickly as possible. Even he admits the news has its uses.”

“So he isn't back yet?” Alex asked

Dunham sighed. “No, I don't think so.”

@0@0@

As they walked in, they were met by one of the security officers. He was large, officially dressed, and all business.

“I am here to escort you to the conference room.” He said without a hint of emotion. “If you will follow me, I shall show you the way.”

“Wow, really nice welcome.” Jessica muttered sarcastically.

No one argued. The hostility emanating from their escort did not bode well.

The group entered an elevator and quickly rose to the top floor. As they rose, they were treated to a truly amazing view of the city. Below, they could see the traffic creeping over the Main Street Bridge. Below the bridge, the blue water sparkled a brilliant blue.

They reached the top and stepped out into a long hallway. The guard gestured to a set of closed wooden doors at the end of the hallway. They walked to them and the guard held them open for the group.

Inside, was the main conference room for Samson Aviation Industries- a long glass table with chairs situated around it. Most of the chairs were already occupied by board members deep in discussion. As they entered, the discussion ended and all eyes turned to them. An awkward silence ensued where neither party knew how to continue.

Finally, a single woman stood up. She flashed a rather fake smile and addressed the group.

“Thank you for coming to this meeting. If you are ready, please have a seat and we can begin.”

Alex, Jessica, and Dunham each took a seat as the woman cleared her throat and began: “As you three are most likely aware, Samson Aviation Industries started from the ground up about 17 years ago by your father, who at the time held only a bachelor in Aerospace engineering, and had never taken on a business management roll. Needless to say, most people thought that he would fail in his endeavor. This proved false, as the military surprisingly contracted the company early on to design several military craft. This early contract was very fruitful, and is one of the reasons the company is so prosperous today.”

“Excuse me,” Dunham interrupted. “I think we all know the history of the company. Why bring it up now?”

The woman gave Dunham her fake smile again and continued. “It is only to praise Mr. Samson’s achievements. He was a smart man who had the mind to create technology that was several years ahead of what others were using; methods for building and powering aircraft that left other companies in the dust.”

“She said was.” Alex noted. As if, his father truly was dead.

“However, despite his many achievements, he was not without his faults. He took unnecessary risks that jeopardized the company on multiple occasions. He had personal projects that took up valuable resources, often turning out a miniscule, if any, profit. He also had his,,, well, for lack of a better term, disappearances. He seemed to revel in the fact that many would call him insane, and would frequently pull stunts that put him and others in danger. The testing of the Albatross Mk. 2 is just one of several examples.”

Despite the tense situation, Alex had to stifle a chuckle at that. One of his father’s last projects before he disappeared was to create a VTOL private jet that ran on hydrogen instead of conventional jet fuel. What he’d failed to mention to the board when proposing it was that he designed it to also have the speed and maneuverability that rivaled many combat jets. When it came time to test the plane, he had insisted on the board going on as well to see its capabilities- and then jumped in the pilot seat himself. What began as a normal test of the takeoff capabilities quickly turned into an airshow with the jet as the main event. Alex still laughed when he thought of their faces when they disembarked. The board members pale with vomit stains on their once immaculate suits worth thousands of dollars, and his father grinning like a fool in an old jean jacket he had owned for years.

“For an adult, this behavior, while unbefitting of someone his caliber, was kept under control by the maturity gained through age. However, growing up in his household, you were still exposed to beliefs that certain things frowned upon in most societies are in fact, perfectly fine. Furthermore, what he did not, and was incapable of teaching, is the maturity to control such impulses. It is this reason that the board has decided that when your father is declared dead, your family will not be given primary control of the company.”

“What!” Alex shouted. “You can’t do that!”

Jessica and Dunham, while they didn’t shout, looked equally outraged. This was not the move they had expected.

One of the others seated at the table, an aging man with white hair, stood up. “On the contrary, Mr. Samson, yes we can do that. While your father had no right to hand over his position through his will, it is perfectly within our rights to deny your family the rights to-”

“My father built this company from absolutely nothing!” Alex interrupted. “Without it, none of you would be where you are now. Is this really how you say thank you?”

They shifted uncomfortably. Another woman stood up and faced them. “We appreciate what your father has done for the company, but the board’s decision is final. You will remain the owners of your father’s share of the company; just without voting rights. As long as you two are alive, we will continue to send you your share’s worth of the profits.”

Dunham stood up, his face absolutely livid. “I can’t believe this. You’re not only violating the trust you’ve been given, but you’re also violating company policy. Section 47, article five clearly states that you cannot fire a CEO without a hearing that they are personally present at, so long as they are alive at the time.”

The first woman smiled and said, “The board is not violating any company policy. As long as Alexander Samson Sr. is considered alive by the court, he will continue to be CEO, and his family,” she nodded at Alex and Jessica, “will be next in line.”

If this was to ease any of their worries, it was unsuccessful. The court had announced that if their father wasn’t found within the next couple of months, he would be declared legally dead. After that, there would be nothing stopping the board from assuming control.

Alex stood up. “This is unbelievable. My father isn’t even dead and you’re already making plans to take over? How sick are you guys? I’m out of here.”

And with that, Alex turned and walked out of the conference room. Jessica lingered long enough to give the board members another dirty look, then left after her brother.

@0@0@

Dunham lingered, watching them go.

“What did you expect?” one of the men asked Dunham as the elevator doors closed. “Did you really think that we’d give two control of the largest aeronautical development company in the United States? You’d be joking yourself Dunham. Their father was insane enough. We’ve heard stories from their psychologist about how they constantly bicker. Putting them in charge would tear the company to bits!”

“You don’t know that,” Dunham said. “For all you know, they could’ve been great CEOs.” He sighed. “I guess my hunch was correct about you all. How you are all money-loving control freaks with a bad case of OCD. What surprised me was that you didn’t even have the decency to wait until he was confirmed dead. Alexander won’t be happy to hear about this when he comes back.”

The man gave Dunham a sneer. “There was no point in waiting. Alexander Samson Sr. is as good as dead, and the company will soon be out of his family’s control. The best part is, there is nothing that you, those two delinquents, or anyone else can do!”

3: A Vacation

Alex stormed into his room and slammed the door. He then proceeded to rip off his suit, and throw it in the trash. Seeing how he wasn’t going to be a big- shot CEO anymore, he swore never to wear a tie again.

He dressed aggressively in worn jeans and a faded green shirt topped with a hoodie. It did nothing to improve his mood, which made him even madder. Wearing his favorite hoodie rarely failed to improve his mood.

Alex was mad at everything. His father for abandoning him like this, the board for pulling such a low move, his psychiatrist with the creepy facial hair whom Alex was certain he had caught flirting with his sister, even Dunham for making him go to meet with him in the first place.

Truth be told, it could all be traced back to his dad.

Alexander Samson was not like most fathers. For starters, when most children were given sparklers on the fourth of July and watched with adult supervision, Alex’s father would wheel out massive mortars with exploding star shells scavenged from millitary surplus stores. When, others were learning how to drive, Alex was learning how to safely land jumbo jets.

He also was very lax when it came to formalities. He once greeted the president of the United States in jeans and a t-shirt, and told his employees specifically to come to work wearing whatever they wanted- so long as it could get them into McDonalds. He shopped at thrift stores and places like Gap and Old Navy instead of fancy stores like Abercrombie. Many businessmen, including the board frowned upon this, but he never gave them any thought. It wasn’t that he was rebelling against the social norm, or was doing it to annoy others (except in the case of snotty, overbearing politicians), he literally did it purely because it was his nature.

None of this came close though, to making up for the pain that Alex’s father put him through. He was scatterbrained and spontaneous, showing up halfway through Alex’s little league tournaments, or forgetting them entirely. He’d go missing for weeks on end and the family would be worried sick, only to see him floating around on the ISS by pure chance several weeks later. It wasn’t that Alex didn’t like his dad; it was just that he seemed to not care enough about him and his sister at times. And this time, he seemed to have completely forgotten about them.

Alex also didn’t understand why his father was so frugal with money when it came to aesthetics, when they clearly had plenty to spend. Sure, they were living in a much nicer house than most Americans, but it wasn’t a mansion in any sense of the word.

Alex sighed and looked around his room. Of all the places in the world, this was the one place Alex could call his own. When he was old enough to make his own decisions, his father had given him several catalogues and told him to make it his own. Alex took that to heart.

His bedroom was a light tan; with posters of several movies and bands covering the walls. Taking up most of one wall was a giant LCD screen with several consoles below it. To the side was a large bookshelf dedicated to video games. Whenever his father was home for any length of time, they shared their common love in video games, and Alex’s father made sure to keep him stocked up on the greatest. From the Halo series, to the original megaman, Alex had it all.

Directly behind it was his bed- the only thing that survived the makeover. It was nothing special- a twin bed that he had gotten back when he was five. The reason being was that picking out the bed was one of the last things the family did together before the car crash that killed his mom.

Alex sighed. Thinking about his mom was the last thing he wanted to do, especially with all that was going on. Right now, he needed a vacation.

Right, vacation. Something that had just ended and wouldn’t be around again until the spring. Alex groaned and shoved his hands in his pockets, surprised to find something in there. Pulling it out, he found it to be the napkin that Brian the gamer had given him. He gave it a good look for the first time.

Master_Saru and Bearzerker

Pro gamers in the world of Rune

Alex recalled his words about the game- from what Brian had told him, not only was it cheap, it was pretty expansive as well, with plenty to do.

Alex got up. He powered up his computer and searched up the game. As promised, it was $20 for the game itself, and about $15-20 more for the equipment, depending on where you got it. Reviews also praised it very highly. Some even went as far as to say it was a vacation without all the hassle.

Alex reached into his back pocket and pulled out his father’s debit card. Scatterbrained as always, his father forgot his wallet when he left for the airport. It hadn’t taken Alex long to figure out the password. His father used the same one for everything.

It looked like this blunder would pay off in Alex’s favor.

4: Logging In

Username: Ginganinja

Password: *****

Reenter Password: *****

Email Address: alexjr@sai.org

Username Accepted

Password Accepted

Welcome To Rune!

Please Proceed To the Character Creation Menu

Alex’s first logging was about as uneventful as first log in's usually go.  He breezed through the tutorial and was in the real world within 10 minutes.  He looked around and saw that he was on the top of a grassy slope with several trees, and a winding path nearby.  He marveled the game’s graphics a bit, then opened up the PM system in the game and sent the two players he’d met at the café a message.  When he’d researched the game, he had also looked them up.  They were indeed players who participated in tournaments from time to time.  They weren’t the best player in the game by a long shot, but they were good enough to generate hate comments and accusations of being hackers.

Ginganinja: Hey.

Master_Saru: Who is this?

Ginganinja: I’m the guy you met at the internet café.

Master_Saru: Oh hey! How’s it going?  I see that Saru convinced you to give the game a try!

Ginganinja: Yeah, I got some time the other day, and gave it a look.  It looks pretty damn cool!  I looked you guys up to.  I have to say, I’m impressed with how you won your last tournament.

Master_Saru: Please, they were pushovers.  A kindergartener could’ve beaten them.  Anyways, you want a bit of a tour? Saru and I just logged on for some practice, but we’d be glad to give a newbie a hand.   You game?

Ginganinja: Yeah, sure.  Beats wandering around and getting lost.

Master_Saru: Excellent.  We’ll warp to the nearest town and be there soon.  Try not to die.

Ginganinja: Will do.

Alex exited the messaging system, and waited.  Within 5 minutes, he heard footsteps coming up the path.  He turned in their direction and saw an extremely odd sight.

A fully grown grizzly bear in a black leather vest was bounding up the path in his direction.  Alex reached for the sword he’d gotten in the tutorial, before remembering that this was Bearzerker’s character.

The bear loped up to Alex and gave him a long look.  Finally he grinned and slapped him on the back, sending Alex tumbling down the slope.  When he finally came to a stop, he found himself at the feet of an even stranger sight.  He was at the feet of a short monkey in a martial arts Gi with a black belt wrapped around his waist.  In his hand was a Bo staff he was using as a walking stick.  He was Master Saru- Bearzerker’s fighting companion.  He looked at Alex and said in a quiet voice, “Welcome to Rune young Ginganinja.”

“Thanks.”  Alex said as he stood up.  “Please tell me you don’t talk like that all the time.”

Saru gave him an amused look and said “only when I feel like it young one.”

Bearzerker had ran back down the slope by now and grinning sheepishly.  “Sorry dude.  I didn’t mean to hit you so hard.  Just wanted to see what you were worth.”

“It’s okay.” Alex said.  “I was going pretty slow.”

Master Saru let out a loud laugh, completely abandoning his character. “Slow? Kid, if you were going any faster, I’d be a smear on a tree! You lagged the game for crying out loud!”

“So that’s what you sound like normally” Alex muttered before asking, “Does the game do that normally?  Lag you out when you go really fast?”

“Only in a few rare places.” Bearzerker assured him.  “No game is perfectly bug free.  Rune is no exception.”

“The fact your first log in at one of the few areas this strange phenomena occurs, is quite interesting indeed.” Master Saru said, reverting back into his passive state.

The two gave Alex’s character a long look.  After a long glance, Master Saru said “I have met many a character in my time, and have noticed that some choose a character that resembles their name.  While I understand the Ginga part of your chosen name, the ninja part eludes me.  You do not wear the usual outfit of a ninja.  You fail to even possess a mask!”

Alex shuffled uncomfortably.  He had used the advanced character modeling to look relatively close to how he did in real life- skinny build, slightly larger than average height, and of course, short messy red hair.  Clothing was a different story.  Alex did the best he could, but ended up wearing a black v- neck shirt with dark blue jeans.  A short saber hung at his side.

“The clothing options were randomly generated.” Alex explained.  “This was about the best I could do without looking like a clown.”

Bearzerker grinned and said “don’t worry about him man.  He’s just giving you a hard time.  Most MMOs give you crappy clothes when you first start out.  Truth be told, you did pretty good with what was available.”

Alex was about to respond, when a throaty yell came from above them.  The three looked up to see a lone man charging down the slope at them.  He was dressed in ragged brown pants and a long-sleeved shirt with a vest on top.  He sported brown hair with a lumberjack beard on his chin.  He wore no armor other than a single gauntlet on his left arm.  The way he was yelling and charging down the hill would’ve been extremely comical had it not been for the massive sword he was drawing from a sheath strapped to his back.

The group scattered as he swung viciously at them.  Bearzerker shoved Alex back as he unsheathed his claws.  Master Saru leapt back as he got into a fighting stance- staff pointed threateningly at the man.

“You fucking assholes have screwed me over for the last time!”  The man yelled.  “I am sick and tired of you walking into things, and ruining the fun others are having!”

“We’re assholes who keep walking into things?” Bearzerker called out incredulously, “You’re the one constantly attacks us!  Day after day, whenever we log on, we have to deal with you!  What will it take to get you to freaking stop?”

The man yelled in anger and charged both of them.  As he ran, Bearzerker activated a powerup, creating an aura of red around his claws that streamed behind him in wisps as he advanced.  A faint whine could be heard.

Master Saru swung with his staff while Bearzerker attempted to flank him.  The man blocked the master fighter’s strike and kicked Bearzerker in the chest as he attempted to swipe at him with his claws.  The unfortunate bear went flying into the air before hitting a tree and knocking it down.   Master Saru then found himself facing the man all by himself.  He frowned in concentration and retreated to a more defensive stance.

Alex ran over to Bearzerker.  He didn’t have much, but he was able to offer him some of the low level healing potions he’d picked up in the tutorial.  To his amazement however, Bearzerker was already shaking off the damage, his health bar already restoring.  He grinned at Alex before loping back into the fray.

The battle wasn’t going well for Master Saru.  Despite having activated the same powerup that Bearzerker had, he had been backed up to a tree and was barely able to keep his attacker from cutting him to ribbons.  He had a cut in his arm that while it was already healing, it was not healing fast enough to protect him from the next attack.  The man was about to run him through when Bearzerker tackled him from the side.  The two went rolling as Bearzerker slashed at him.  The two grappled for a moment before Bearzerker knocked the sword from his hand and buried his fangs in the man’s throat.  The man gave out a cry of agony as his health dropped to zero.  Bearzerker stood up and let out a triumphant roar.

“Thank you.”  Master Saru said as Bearzerker stood up.  “He almost had me.”

“Yeah, what happened there?”  Bearzerker asked “Normally, you could’ve taken him on no sweat!”

Master Saru shrugged.  “I suppose it’s just not my day.”

They looked over to the body.  As per rules of the game, whoever killed someone got first dibs on loot, but as Alex watched, an icon appeared, signaling that the loot was now available to anyone.

“GN, you take the loot.”  Bearzerker said.

“Me?” Alex asked incredulously, “I barely did anything!  All I did was offered you some health potions.”

“It is the thought that counts, young ninja,” Master Saru said wisely.  “And for your first battle, while you didn’t have the chance to fight, the fact that you did not run is very commendable.”

“What he’s trying to say without sounding like a dick,” Bearzerker interrupted, “is that we’ve got plenty of loot stashed away.  Keep it.  It’s yours.”

Alex shrugged and went over.  All that was salvageable was a small pile of coins, and a black leather vest- similar to what Bearzerker was wearing.”

“How come the sword isn’t there?” Alex asked.  “It looked pretty awesome!”

“I think it might've been a custom sword.” Bearzerker said, “They’re pretty damn rare due to how hard and time consuming it is to get one.  You have to go through a difficult quest and pour thousands of coins down the drain just to get the douchiest blacksmith in the game to allow you to access the custom weapon and armor interface.  It’s something you don’t want to lose every time you die.  He must’ve had a gem of binding placed in the hilt so that it’s bound to him, even in death.”

“Wow, someone would actually go through that?”  Alex asked.

“Like the male peacock shows its plume to get a female mate, so do some players with their tools.” Master Saru said philosophically.

“Right,,”  Alex said, unsure of how to respond.  “But seriously, who was that guy?  Seems he knows you two.”

The two looked at each other as if deciding how to answer.  Finally, Bearzerker spoke up.

“Not to worry you or anything,, but Rune is kinda in the middle of a civil war right now.”

“What?  Is that even possible?”  Alex asked, shocked.

“Yeah, it is.  See, after the developers released the game to the public, they pretty much left the players to do whatever they want.  They only come out to fix a major bug, or release an expansion.”

“It is known as the EVE method of governing.”  Master Saru said.  “Rune is not the first to use such methods, but it is the first to be taken to such an extreme.”

“Other developers intervene if someone’s causing an economic crash through an exploit or something.  The developers of Rune don’t even do that.”  Bearzerker said seriously.

“Soooo, what’s that got to do with this war?”  Alex asked.

Bearzerker eyed him.  “I was getting to that.  Basically, a bunch of hackers got together and are screwing with the players.  It’s more than just bots, or cheats.  They use their hacked abilities to spam, troll, and attack anyone on any server at any time.”

“We are part of a group who’ve set out on a path to bring their destruction.”  Master Saru said.  “Our quest is to catch each hacker, and place their IP address on the permanent block list.  One by one, we will eliminate the hackers.”

Alex was stunned.  He had no idea that stuff like this was happening, let alone could happen.   Something bothered him though.

“Wait; I’m no computer genius, but aren’t their countermeasures to stop people from stealing IP addresses?  I’m also pretty sure permaban lists are not available to the general public.”

Bearzerker and Master Saru shifted uneasily.

“Ah- sadly, in order to stop them, we’ve had to somewhat stoop to their level.”  Bearzerker said sadly.  “It’s a simple hack that leaves personal information as secure as possible.  It’s for the greater good!”  He said quickly, seeing the look on Alex’s face.

“What it does is establish a temporary link between the permaban list and the user’s IP address.”  Master Saru said, breaking his normal air for the sake of explanation.  “The link then then scans their player data and compares it to an unedited version as well as one of ours.  If the data doesn’t match either, they’re banned.  The link then collapses in on itself, erasing any weak points.”

“I didn’t want to bring it up just yet, seeing how you’re new to the game, but when I hit you earlier, I did it to add the program to your character model.  With it, you’ll at least be able to protect yourself from them.”  Bearzerker said.

“Why would I need that?”  Alex asked angrily.   “I want nothing to with this.  I just want to play a game!  I thought you said this was such a good game!  Where does a civil war and hackers fit in to your definition of a good game!?”

“Woah, dude, bro, chill!”  Bearzerker said.  “It’s still a great game.  The hackers are bad and all, but they can’t be the same place at once.  Often they’re just situated in one town, causing trouble.  We come in, and duke it out.  Pretty soon they’re gone.”

“And to answer your question of why you need it,” Master Saru added, “there are many hackers who would steal your personal information, or infect your computer with a virus.  The program you now hold not only has the ability to take them down, but also to protect your data stream from such situations, so long as your character is alive.”

“So, basically you did that to protect me.”

“Correct.”

“And that guy who attacked you is a hacker.”

“You catch on quickly, young one.”

“So he’s on the ban list now.”

“Hopefully.”  Bearzerker said.  “The program is sound, but the same can be said for the hacker's.  Once they realized what was happening, they began to use better cyphers for their programs.  They hide it with the normal cypher-text that every player has.  The program has a harder time finding it nowadays. ”

“Wow.”  Alex said.  “That was a shocker.  Now I feel bad for taking you away from your training.  You guys need all the training you can get if you’re going to win a war.”

“Hey, not a problem.  It’s the least we could do for a guy like you who's just starting out.”  Bearzerker said.

Suddenly, Alex’s headset was ripped off of his head.  Alex yelled in pain as the earbuds were violently scraped up his ears.  He turned to see Jessica holding the piece of gear in her hand.

“What the hell was that for?” he said, rubbing his sore ears.

“We’re leaving in five for the psychologist.”  She said.  “Dunham says to get off and come down.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll be right down.”  Alex said.  “Jeez, you didn’t have to pull it off so hard!”  He grabbed the headset from her hands and turned to the screen.

“Dude, you okay?”  Bearzerker asked.  “You’re not getting assaulted right now are you?”

“No, I’m being called away.  I’ve gotta go somewhere.  I think I’ll have to give that tour a rain check.”

“Damn.  Oh well.  Can’t win ‘em all, can you.  I’ll see you around GN.”

“You too.”  He was about to log off, when Bearzerker said, “Hey.  If you happen to come across that guy again, let us know.  He’s taken a personal grudge against us for some reason.  We’d like to return the favor.”

“Sure, I can do that.”  Alex replied.  He logged out and ran for the door.

Back in Rune, Master Saru and Bearzerker conferred for a moment, before taking off in the direction they’d come from.

What no one noticed was a user by the name Milesoftheblades was watching from behind a boulder.  He sat down and unsheathed his sword.  The sound of coffee being slurped could be heard through his microphone as he settled in for a long wait

5: Truth

Alex was a troubled Teen.

At least, that was what the psychologist had written down on his diagnostic.

It was this same psychologist that was fat, flirtatious with his patients, liked to be in control, and acted like he was being nice, when in fact, he was a tyrannical dictator who tried to mold you into his version of a perfect society.

Alex called him Pedostache due to his facial hair, and the looks he’d caught him giving his sister.

Behind his back, of course.

He hated him.

“Hello Samson family!”  He greeted them, with another fake smile.  Alex didn’t have any concrete evidence, but he was almost certain that he had been assigned by the board.  Most likely for his personality and grin.

Jessica flashed him a quick grin as they sat down.  Alex noted that Pedostache’s eyes lingered on his sister’s chest as she did so.  He flashed a middle finger in response.

Pedostache shook his head in mock sadness.  “Honestly Alex, we really need to stop this routine every time we meet.  It was amusing the first few times, but it is really starting to become quite annoying.

“I’ll consider your request once you stop looking down my sister’s shirt at every opportunity,” Alex replied hotly.  “For me, it was always annoying and is really starting to piss me off.”

“So, how are we doing today?” Pedostache asked to change the subject.  “Have we been practicing the breathing and mental exercises I suggested?”

“Yes sir.  I do them before soccer practice, and before bed.”  Jessica replied, completely ignoring her twin sibling’s furious glare.

“That’s great Jessica.  I expected no less from you.  It certainly seems to be working.  You look stronger and fitter than ever!”

Alex was currently practicing breathing and mental exercises of his own invention- keep your breathing neutral, consider the many ways he wanted to kill and mutilate pedostache, and try not to laugh or smile at the particularly good ones.

“So what about you, Alex?  Have you been a good boy like I’ve asked?”

“Definitely a big stick up the ass.  Covered in barbed wire, doused in acid, and stuck in the ground.  Vlad the Impailer found it to work very well with his enemies.”

Alex composed himself and said in a monotone voice.  “I have been a good boy.  I have eaten my veggies and done my homework.”

“That’s great!  Let’s see what the school has to say!”  Pedostache said as he reached for a stack of papers.  The school had given him access to Alex’s files after an anonymous donation to the school’s science department (cough, board of SAI, cough).

“Hmmm,” he said, as he looked through them.  “It says here on your interim that your grades have improved and are now mostly B’s, that’s good, I suppose.  Although,” his brow furrowed.  “It says here that you have had several disciplinary actions and are suspected of copying a language arts essay.” 

Alex tried not to look guilty as he felt his sister’s glare boring into the back of his head.  He had snuck into her room in the middle of the night and copied her essay file, rewritten it to sound like it came from him, and turned it in as his own.  As he’d said, he hated persuasive.

“Alex, if you are to move up in society, you really must work on your people skills.  Your moral judgment could use a tune up as well.  I understand that such things are not worked on much in your household, even when your father was around.”

That sealed the deal.  A normal psychologist definitely wouldn’t insult the family of his client.  Unless, of course, the family wasn’t his client.

“I’ve said this many times, and I’ll say it again.” Alex said, his anger growing.

“Alex,” Jessica warned

“My father was an absentminded asshole who could never keep a date.  But I don’t EVER want to hear you talk shit about my father again!  Do you understand me?!”

Pedostache merely smiled, as if they were sharing an inside joke.

“It is commendable for you to defend your father honor, but that is unnecessary due to your current situation.  Your father has been missing for over a year now.  I think that it is time to face the truth.  Your father is dead, Alex.  Defending his honor will not change that.” He pushed his papers aside and reached for a pen.  “Now, speaking of your father’s death, how are you-”

“We’re done here.”  Alex said angrily.  He stood up, and made towards the door.

“Running from your problems won’t solve them Alex.”  Pedostache called out.  “Nor will your belief that you can survive off your father’s money indefinitely.   I really think that-”

“I’ve stopped listening, Pedostache.  Why haven’t you stopped talking?”

“P-Pedostache!” he spluttered in outrage.

Alex opened the door and almost ran into Dunham, who was reaching for the handle as well.

“I’m sorry Alex; I was just coming to get you.  Have you finished your session already?”

“Alex cut it short, again.”  Jessica said, standing up.

“Sir, I request that you have your charges sit back down.  Alex here is rash, hot headed, and quick to speak his mind.  It is quite apparent to me that he is in dire need of-”

“The only person in here in dire need of anything, is you Pedostache.”  Jessica said.  “You need to work out, and find someone so you can stop flirting with girls attractive girls half your age.”

“My dear, I never,”

Pedostache never got to finish his sentence.  Jessica hauled off and slapped him.  Hard.

“Don’t you EVER call me ‘dear’ again you sick pervert!”

Alex stood stock still, his mouth agape.  He didn’t know what surprised him more.  The fact that she had just slapped Pedostache, or the fact she had just called him Pedostache.

Enraged, Pedostache began to stand up as he reached out as if to grab her arm.  He missed however and grabbed,, something else.

Jessica’s eyes widened in shock as outrage filled her face.  In one smooth motion, she threw his arm away and slammed her knee in between his legs.  Pedostache let out a whimper and crumpled to the floor.

Alex decided that the latest development took the cake.

Jessica turned abruptly and brushed past Alex.  Her face was as unreadable as rock, but Alex could tell that she was pissed.

“You’re right.  We’re done here.”

@0@0@

It was the second silent car ride in as many weeks.  No one seemed willing to talk.  No one seemed brave enough to talk.

It wasn’t until they got home when Alex finally summoned up the courage to speak.

“Okay, what was the deal back there?  One second you’re acting like a chum with him, the next you’ve slapped him and kicked him in the balls.  Where was this all the other times he was hitting on you?”

Jessica rounded on him.  “Do you actually think that I didn’t notice him?  That I didn’t catch him looking at me every time I sat down?  That I didn’t catch the tone of voice he was using?  I noticed but I kept my mouth shut to keep up the act of the model student.  The ‘responsible one of the set’.  It was nothing more than an attempt to try and keep what dad left to us when he died.”

“What do you mean, died?” Alex asked, outraged.

Jessica rolled her eyes.  “Alex, we both need to get out of whatever fantasy world we’ve been living in and accept the truth.  For all intents and purposes, dad is gone.  Gone just like mom.  Pedostache was right about one thing.  It’s time that we gave up on dad.”

“I cannot believe I am hearing this.” Alex shouted.  “Out of my own sister.  Out of my own TWIN!”

“See what I mean?” Jessica asked.  “This is exactly what I’m talking about.  Alex, the world has moved on and we’re the ones lagging behind.  Listen to my voice Alex.  Dad, Is, Dead”

Alex fumed.  “You sound just like the board.  Like Pedostache.  Like every goddamn investor that knocks on our door!”

“Enough!” Dunham ordered.

Alex rounded on him “How can you side with her-”

“I said enough!”

Alex shut up.

“This behavior is unbecoming of both of you.” Dunham said.  “Jessica, while you may harbor doubts about your father’s fate, your brother does not need to share them.”

“Busted” Alex whispered triumphantly.

Dunham rounded on Alex.  “As for you, Alexander, do not EVER equate your sister to those heartless bastards again.  You’re better than that.  She’s better than that.”

“I just,”

“I don’t want to hear it.” Dunham cut him off.  “We’ve all had an uncomfortable day, thanks to this afternoon.  I want both of you to go upstairs, and remain in your rooms until dinner tonight.”

Alex and Jessica eyed each other.

“Fine by me.”

“See you at dinner, brother.”

@0@0@

Later that night, Alex was sitting at his desk, typing up a new essay for language arts.  Unbeknownst to the rest of the household, his teacher had called him out on the essay today.  She had handed it back with a warning that if it wasn’t redone by tomorrow, he’d get a zero and a dean referral.  He was still on the opening paragraph, when he heard a knock at his door.

“Yeah?”

“It’s me.” Jessica replied; her voice muffled from the door.

“Go away.”

“I only want to talk.”

Frustrated, Alex shoved his chair back and wrenched the door open.  “Don’t you think you’ve done enough ‘talking’ already?”

“I came to apologize” she said.

Alex rubbed his eyes.  “Look Jess, can this wait till morning?  I’ve got homework to do.”

“You mean the persuasive essay Mrs. Harris gave you back today?”  She asked.

Alex blinked “How did you find out about that?”

She smiled wiry smile.  “I was the first one she asked.  She figured it was you, but wanted to make certain.”

Alex sighed and plopped down on his bed.  “So that’s what I am now.  The no good twin that none of the teachers trust.”

“Alex, none of the teachers distrusts you.”

“That’s a bald-faced lie and you know it.” Alex said.  “I’ve tried to get away with stuff like that in every class except Health and that’s only because copying another person’s urinary diary was crossing the line.”

“You didn’t do that diary?”

“I think we can agree that doing a urinary diary is crossing the line to begin with.”

Jessica looked at him long and hard before cracking up with laughter.

“I’m serious!” Alex said, holding back his own laughter.

“Well if you had just passed the course before the new standards came in, you wouldn’t be in this predicament, now would you?”  Jessica chuckled.

“Hey!” Alex said indignantly, but it was halfhearted.  Unable to hold it back any further, Alex began laughing as well.  They continued on for several minutes before Alex was finally able to get himself under control.

“God, I needed that.”  Alex said, wiping away a tear.”

“Me too.”

An awkward silence followed before Alex said “I’m sorry.”

Jessica looked over at him confused.  “Sorry for what?”

“Sorry for being a total dick.  Sorry for throwing you under the bus by comparing you to them.”

Jessica punched him in the shoulder.  “You’re sorry?  I’m the one who’s acting all pessimistic and wanting you to as well.  I guess, I guess that I felt that if I was going to feel that way, you should as well.  We’re twins after all.”

“Jess,”

“No Alex.   I started this.  I’m the one to blame, not you.  I shouldn’t force you to believe the same things I believe just because we were born minutes apart.”

Alex put an arm around his sister to comfort her.  “Well then, I gladly accept your apology.”

She raised an eyebrow at him.  “The gentlemanly thing to do would’ve been to say ‘no Jessica, it was all my fault.  I’m the asshole and I take full blame for the incident.’”

Alex smiled.  “It is good to see that I can still annoy my sister.”

“Keep it up, and you’ll lose any chance of becoming a father.”

“Doubtful, seeing how I’m your only chance of becoming ‘Aunt’ Jessie.”

Jessica shoved him.  “Just get back to your essay Alex.”

“Whatever you say, sister dear.”

@0@0@

It was two days before Alex could get back on to Rune.

To be honest though, they were two very glorious days.  First of all, Dunham had both fired Pedostache, and gotten him arrested for sexual harassment.  Alex had even driven over to watch him be taken away.  It brought him great pleasure to watch the one of the cops have to go back to his cruiser for the extra-large handcuffs.

Second of all, it came to the family’s attention that their father had bought a substantial amount of stock in Samson Aviation Industries as well as several other large companies.  This meant that while they would have to make some cutbacks, they would be able to keep the house.

Alex watched as Ginganinja materialized in Rune at the same place he logged off.  Looking over his hotbar, he noticed the powerup that Bearzerker and Master Saru mentioned.  He had no plans to become involved in the war, but it felt good to know that he could protect himself if needed.

“FINALLY!!!!”

A shadow flew over him as a man landed in front of him.  He immediately began swinging at Alex who had to roll out of the way.  It was the man from last time- the one who’d attacked Bearzerker and Master Saru.

“What the hell are you doing here?”  Alex yelled as he retaliated.  “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“What am I doing here?”  The man said indignantly.  I was waiting for you to arrive!!  I thought you might be back within a couple hours.  Instead, I’m forced to stare at the same landscape, FOR TWO WHOLE DAYS!!  DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW BADLY I HAVE TO PEE RIGHT NOW?”

Alex froze in mid swing.  “You’ve been camping out here for two days?  How is that even possible?”

“I had several pizzas and lots of energy drink next to me, but that’s not the point!  The point is, you’re working with Furry one and two, and I’m going to fucking kill you!”

Alex activated the powerup.  His sword glowed with a red aura.  He swung and was surprised that he actually landed a hit.  The man yelled and stepped back.

“Why do you keep doing that?”  Alex asked.  “Do you get so into character that you yell in pain whenever you take a hit?”

“What, the fuck, are you talking about?” he panted

Alex summoned his only spell- a medium powered fireball.  To his surprise, however, it had been replaced by a glowing sphere of red tendrils.  He threw it anyways, and it landed next to the man, who jumped out of the way, barely avoiding the wash of energy.

Alex was surprised by his ferocity.  This person was good- just as good as Saru and Bearzerker combined.

“I need to take him down, now.” He thought.  Quickly, he brought up another fireball, only this time he set it to cage mode.  He threw it again, but missed once again.  The ball plopped down several feet away from the attacker.

Alex was done for.  His stamina was low, his mana was spent, and his accuracy obviously needed work.  Seeing his state, the man charged him.  As he ran, he happened to step next to the ball.

Tendrils sprung up around the ball and quickly soared sky high.  The man tried to doge around them, but was too late.  He was now in the middle of a four foot wide cage of glowing red energy.

“Okay, now that you can’t rip my skull out and beat me to death with it, I’ve got some questions for you.  First of all, why did you call me a hacker?  Second of all, if I’m the hacker, what does that make you?”

“It makes me the guy who brings you guys in to be debugged and banned.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re a hacker.”

“Look, I’m not a hacker.  I don’t even want anything to do with this war.  I just got these powers for self-defense, and I intend to keep myself out of your stupid war.”

“If you wanted out, there are better ways than getting hacking privileges for your account, and better people to be hanging around than those two.”

Alex was confused.  “What do you mean by that?  Master Saru and Bearzerker are part of a group that is going to stop hackers!  They told me you were one whose been attacking them for ages!”

The man took a step back, eyebrows razed in amazement.  “You mean that they told you I’m the bad guy?  That I’m the hacker?  They really pulled that?”

“So people think that you using your hacking abilities makes you a good guy?  What kinds of nut jobs play this game?”

“What the- look, I don't know how, but they somehow mixed the roles up on you.  They’re the hackers, and I’m part of the group trying to stop them.”

6: Revelations

Alex was completely befuddled.  Finally he said “What kind of drugs are you taking.  Scratch that, what kind of drugs do you think I’m taking?”

The man sighed.  “Listen, I know this is tough, but you’ve got to believe me.  For some reason, they changed the story around so you think they’re goo-”

“Excuse my skepticism, but while they’ve been nice to me and even offered to show me around, all you’ve done is attack us!  I think you can see why I find your story hard to accept.”

“Oh, they’re nice enough if you’re in their group, but anyone else is dead meat.  Obviously, they see you as a potential recruit.”

“Okay then, if they’re so bad, what did they do to get you hunting down them and anyone associated with them?  Have they spammed the chat too much?”

The man gave a sarcastic laugh.  “Oh, that's just perfect.  Twenty million people with active accounts, and I get trapped by the one with the virus in his system, and not a single clue in his head.  Didn’t you do any research on the game?  Or your two new friends?”

“Some said they were hackers, but that happens to anyone once they become good at a game.”

“And it wasn’t odd to you that they were part of a guild where everyone had that about them, even the lowest ranked players?”

“I didn’t check the others.  I just wanted to know about them.”

The man sighed.  “Alright, it’s apparent you need a reeducation.”

“I know that you are making no sense whatsoever, and that I’m tempted to stick you until you get banned.  That’s about as much as I need to know.”

“For the last time kid, you don’t have that power!  Nor do the people who gave it to you!  They never have, and as long as my guys are around, they never will!”

“Then what power did they give me!?”  Alex asked angrily

“THEY GAVE YOU THE POWER TO HURT PEOPLE IN REAL LIFE!!”  He roared.

That shut Alex up.

The man sat down.  “Look, I’m not a programmer, so I don’t know how it’s done.  But this is the basic rundown.  That ‘power up’ you got?  When it hits, it creates a high pitched noise that hurts like hell.  It causes nausea, headaches, and occasional nose bleeds.  Get hit for too long, and you pass out from pain.  You can’t even take your headset off when it happens ‘cause it screws with your body.”

“How were you able to list all that at once?  Read it off Wikipedia?”

He frowned.  “I know the first three because I’m experiencing all of them right now!  As for the unconsciousness, I passed out for 5 full minutes when Bearzerker bit me.  I woke up and had just enough time to log back on to see you log of and those two run off.”  He took a deep breath before continuing.  “I also had a friend who was put in a coma for almost a month because of that ‘power’.  So don’t act like I don’t know what I’m talking about.”

“And you expect me to believe that no one has taken notice of this?” Alex scoffed.  “That no one has thought to investigate why you’re having these ‘symptoms?”

“Whenever someone complains, they’re brushed off as someone who played for too long.  It doesn’t matter who we talk to, or who complains.  It’s always the same.”

“And I’m expected to believe that?”

“I hope so.”

Alex looked at him.  “Alright listen; right now, I don’t know what to believe.”

“That’s understandable.”

“I’ve got two guys telling me one thing, and you telling me the opposite.”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“So I’m going to do the only thing that seems right to me.”

“Alright then.”

“I’m IM-ing Master Saru and Bearzerker to get them to come and ban your ass.”

“Fuck you.”

@0@0@

Alex took a screenshot of the situation and sent it to both of them.  20 seconds later, he got a reply.

Bearzerker:  Holy shit!

Master_Saru:  Is that who I think it is?

Ginganinja:  Yep.

Bearzerker:  How the hell did you get him?

Ginganinja:  A combination of luck, skills, and lack of attention.  Guess who had which.

Master_Saru:  Where are you?

Ginganinja:  Same place I logged out.

Bearzerker:  What was he doing there?

Ginganinja:  Waiting for two days straight for me to arrive.

Master_Saru:  That doesn’t seem possible.

Ginganinja:  That’s what I said.

You want to see it for yourself?  He hasn’t moved anything besides the middle finger he’s giving me.

Master_Saru: I’ll be there in 5.  I gotta see this to believe it.

Bearzerker:  same.  GN, if this is for real, the forums shall sing of your praises for days to come.

Alex closed the system and turned back to the man.  “Did you really think that I’d believe that?  You may be bad at the game, but you’re horrible at lying.”

Miles shot him a look.  “I’ll have you know that in the Runeament last year, I was first place in the swordsman division.”

“The more you say it, the less believable it is.”

“Seriously!”

“Lalalalalalalalalalalalala!!!!”

“How about you let me out of here so I can show you what I can do?”

“And have you lop my head off? I think I’ll wait until Bearzerker and Master Saru arrive.”

The man threw up his arms in exasperation.  “Look, if you’re going to turn me over to the hackers, at least don’t give me to those two.”

This caught Alex’s attention.  “What’s the difference?  One way or another, you’re getting banned.”

“I told you, it’s not a banning power, it hurts people!  Most hackers use it a bit, and then leave.  Those two ‘play’ with their captives.  They’ll use stamina and mana potions to keep going for as long as possible.”

“Okay, I’ll file that information in my crappy conspiracy folder, right next to ‘Area 51 is an alien landing site’.  It’s also going under my ‘suggestive quotes folder’”

“Okay.  Say I’m wrong and you’re right.  Say you do have the power to ban me.  I’ve been hit by you already, and have been standing in your cage for 10 minutes now.  Those two you called have taken me down even more times.  So why I am not banned?”

“Duh, you hid your hacks from the program.  It can’t find it.”

“You really don’t know anything, do you?”  He asked.  “The program we use that your ‘friends’ are talking about constantly searches for irregularities in anything it’s in contact or in close proximity of at the time.  I’ve been in here for several minutes; the program would’ve found something by now.  Got a witty comeback or a lame excuse for that?”

“I-I” Alex stuttered.

“Hey!  Look what’s going on!”

Both turned to see Master Saru and Bearzerker ambling up the hill.

“Had I not seen it with my own eyes, no amount of talk would have convinced me it wasn’t photoshopped.”  Master Saru said in wonder.

“I can’t believe it.”  Bearzerker said.  “A noob like you took down a seasoned pro!  No offense GN.”

“None taken.”  Alex said.  “Hey, there was something I wanted to-”

“Dude, can it wait one sec?  I’m coming up with some witty remarks about our friend Miles here.”

“So that’s his name?”  Alex asked.

“Wow, you really are a noob!  You don’t know how to check the name of a non- incognito player?” Miles yelled

“Shut up fur face,” Bearzerker retorted.

“Grow a pair Winnie.”

Bearzerker growled menacingly.  Master Saru and Alex were laughing too hard to help.”

“Dude, he just burned you so bad.”  Alex managed to choke out.

“That he did, that he did.”  Saru chuckled.

“And as for you, Saru; you’re such a sick pedo, you made Curious George into George the mentally scarred monkey.”

“Hey! Don’t you bring Curious George in to this!  Leave him out of it!”

“Forget it Brian.  We’ve got work to do.”  Bearzerker said in a low voice, advancing on Miles.

“Agreed.”  Master Saru said, pulling his staff into the ready stance, already covered in the red aura.  “Hey GN, you got any stamina potions.”

“umm, no?  I used them up after the fight.”  Alex said.  A cold guilty feeling started to settle into his chest.

“Meh, too bad.”  He said.  He spun the staff around and jammed it into Miles ribcage.

Miles let out a piercing scream and fell to his knees.  In the background, Alex could hear the faint high pitched whine, almost like a mosquito.

But this was no minuscule mosquito.  This was a pain inducing wail that was being put to use.

“You just had to keep coming, didn’t you.”  Bearzerker said savagely, sticking his paw in to slowly scrape down Miles back.  He arched agony.

“You could’ve focused on someone else.” Master Saru said.  “But no, you chose us.  We talk to the others about you, you know.  They say they see you occasionally but always whenever we’re around.  No one else does that.”

“Actually there was that other guy, remember?”  Bearzerker said.  “He did the same thing.”

“Oh right!  Doctor whatshisface!  He was fun to fight.  Always ready to take the two of us on.  Too bad he got annoying after the first ten times.  Why’d he keep attacking us anyways?”

“Something about how we had ‘insulted his abilities and he had to prove them by taking us down.”

“Oh that’s right.  So what’s your story?”  Master Saru asked, removing the staff so he could talk.  “Secretly need to compensate for your manhood?”

Miles was wheezing in pain.  He coughed, and something could be heard splattering on something.

“I, fight you, because of Professor BA.  You, motherfuckers, put him in a coma for a goddam month!  He told me not to- to run if I ever saw you two.  But I couldn’t,”  He said as he somehow managed to stand up.  “I couldn’t just let go.  You fucked with my friend.  You, do not fuck with my friends.”

“Should’ve listened to him.”  Bearzerker said, stabbing his claws into Miles’ kidney.  His health dropped rapidly.  Right before it ran out though, he pulled them out.  He fished around in his vest pockets, before coming out with a healing potion.  He poked his arm through the cage and drizzled it over Miles’ head Miles’ health flashed back up to maximum.

“Can’t have your character dying on us just yet.”  He said.  “We wouldn’t break our record.  You say we go the last guy in a coma for a month?  I think we can do better than tha-”

Bearzerker froze in midsentence.  He looked down to find a short gray saber sticking out of his stomach.  He turned around to find it belonged to a very pissed off looking Ginganinja.  He was holding an empty stamina/mana regenerating potion bottle

“I lied about being out of potions.”  He said and activated the powerup.

Bearzerker roared in pain as the aura raced up the blade and into the wound.  Alex pulled the sword out and he slumped forward, and died.

Master Saru spun around.  “GN, what the hell are you doing.”

“The right thing.”  Alex said.  He swung at Saru who dogged easily.

“Stop it kid!  Believe me; you don’t want to mess with this monkey.”

“According to Miles, you’re a pedophile.  I don’t know if that’s true, but I don’t want to find out.  I just got one pedo out of my life this week.  I didn’t do that just to have another slither in”

Saru spun his staff, but Alex blocked it.  He got around his defenses and scored a hit on his arm.

Saru yelled and accidentally dropped his staff.  Alex kicked it away.

“You think I need that staff to take you down?  I’m just as good with my hands.”  Saru growled.

He launched into a blurry of attacks, scoring hit after hit on Alex.

Alex winced in pain.  The hits were quick and precise so the noise didn’t last long.  Nonetheless, it still hurt.

A warning red crept into the edges of his view- warning him that he was low on heath.  Alex retreated and tried to use a healing potion, but Saru knocked it out of his hand.  Alex lunged after it, but missed as it shattered against a tree.

Master Saru grinned.  “Nice try kid.  You’re pretty good at the game.  Better than most who’ve been playing for a bit.  Give it a few months and a bit of grinding, and you might’ve beaten me.  But you haven’t yet.  You’re just a noob who’s still wet behind the ears.  You’ve played maybe an hour on this game.  Bearzerker and I have accumulated thousands of hours between the two of us.  What chance do you have against us?”

“Well, considering you forgot about the guy who has nine thousand, five hundred and thirty hours, and twenty eight minutes behind him, I’d say a pretty good chance.”

Saru spun around to come face to face with Miles.  He grinned lopsidedly and simply said, “The cage wore off” before punching Saru in the face.  The monkey sailed up into the air.

“Care for some target practice?”  He asked Alex.

In response, Alex summoned a fireball and got another red sphere. “Gladly,” he said with a smile.  He let it grow for a few seconds, then tossed it at the rapidly receding monkey.  It hit Saru dead in the chest, and he vanished in a wave on energy.

Miles gave a wet snort and turned to Alex.  “Dude, I don’t know what to think about you.  You called me a liar, called those two worthless pieces of shit to come use me as a punching bag, and then you saved me from being tortured.  I don’t know whether to hit you, or thank you.”

“I’ll take the thank you, if I have an option.”  Alex said.

Miles gave a weak grin and stuck out a hand.  “The full name is Milesoftheblades, but everyone calls me Miles.”

Alex took the hand and shook it.  “It’s Ginganinja, but I think everyone’s going to end up calling me GN.”

Miles let go and looked around.  “We’d better get going.  I know for a fact that both of them have scrolls of Icarian flight.  They’ll be here as soon as they respawn.”

“I’d better get going then.”  Alex said.  He moved to run, but Miles stopped him.

“Dude, do you really think I’m going to let someone who saved my bacon get hunted down like this?  Do you even know where you’re going?”

“No.”

Miles shook his head.  “You’d better come with me then.  I know a few places we can hide.”

@0@0@

The forest was quiet, save for the occasional twittering of a bird, or the rustling of leaves.  It had no major quests that required you to travel through it, and the most dangerous thing it had was the occasional bandit or oversized rat.  It therefor enjoyed lengthy periods of peace and quiet.

All of this was about to be shattered.

Had someone been meandering through the woods at the time, they first would’ve noticed a sudden disturbance, a far off sound of someone or something crashing through the undergrowth.

Had they stopped to listen, they would’ve realized that it was growing closer, and was in fact two someones crashing through the undergrowth.

And had they lingered too much longer, they would’ve run the risk of being run over by a large lumberjack, as he flew over the road, and back into the brush.

A second later, a ginger in dark clothing followed him, flailing as he sailed through the air.  He would land in a heap, and the lumberjack would yell for him to hurry.  The ginger would scramble to his feet, and they would crash on.

“What queer people.”  They might’ve said, before continuing on.

What queer people indeed.

@0@0@

“We don’t have much time.”  Miles panted as they raced through the undergrowth.  “I gauge them respawning 10 to 30 seconds after you killed them.  Bearzerker probably respawned shortly before Saru died, and will probably wait for him.  Since they're used to dealing the pain and not receiving it, they'll probably go and get some painkillers, before beginning the hunt.”

“Why does that matter?”  Alex asked.

“Because unless they went and got some reinforcements, they’re probably already on our trail.  They're animal hybrids which means they have a tracking ability.  It allows them to follow the footsteps of anyone withing the last 15 minutes along with some sort of weird infrared vision.”

“How did you figure this out?”

“I’ve been doing this for over a year.  You tend to pick up on certain things after a while; what from wikis and failed ambushes.”

“Yeah well, you’re not exactly the stealthy type if you know what I mean.”  Alex said.

“You’re one to talk.  Your hair stands out like a bonfire.  I could get sunburn if I’m not too careful”

Alex was about to reply, when a loud roar rolled down the hill.  Alex turned to see Bearzerker bounding down the trail after them.

“Dude, they’ve found us.”

“I blame your hair.  Seriously man, you had over 200 hair colors to choose from.  And yet, you somehow decide on fiery red hair.  Doesn’t matter though, we’re here.”

Here turned out to be a blank rock face.  No signifying features, no mysterious cracks.  Just a blank wall.

“It’s a wall.”  Alex stated, both unamused and slightly worried.

“Thank you, captain obvious.”  Miles replied.  “I would never have noticed that fact had you not mentioned it.”

“Up yours dude.  The way I see it, we’re stuck between a rock and two people with very painful instruments.”

Miles rolled his eyes.  “Like many places in Rune, this wall serves dual purposes.  If you’d played more than an hour’s worth, you might now that.”

“Oh I get it! When you say it serves dual purposes, you mean it has the ability to both block our way, and assure our demise!” Alex replied sarcastically.

“There they are!”

Alex turned to see Master Saru emerge a hundred yards behind Bearzerker.  He was followed by several others.

“They appear to have brought friend.  Friends with even more painful instruments.”

“Calm down kid, I've got this.”

“What do you mean, calm down?  What are youuuuuuu!!!”

The last part was due to Miles grabbing Alex and swinging him over his shoulder.  Before he could protest, Miles ran straight towards the wall,

And through it into a dark cavern.  Miles checked that they weren’t followed before placing Alex back down.

“As the guy who just saved you from a lot of pain, I thank you for screaming in my ear.”  Miles said sarcastically.”

“Sorry, but I was surprised.  Where are we anyways?  Can't they get through the same way that we did?”

“We are someplace safe, and no they can’t get through.  I’ll explain once I get back.”  Miles said.  The sound of a chair scooting back could be heard as his character's head drooped- a sign that he was AFK.

“Wait, where are you going?”  Alex asked.  “You aren’t leaving me here, are you?”

“I’m going to get some supplies.” he said in a faraway voice.  “Someone caused me to get a massive headache, and get blood all over my gear.”

“Oh.”

@0@0@

While Miles went AFK, Alex tried to get a better look of his surroundings.  He conjured a fireball, but once again got the ball of red tendrils.  They cast light, but it was low and almost impossible to see with.  Annoyed, he canceled the spell and it dissipated.

He looked back at Miles.  The sounds of wiping could be heard as he tried to clean up the mess.

“Hey, quick question.”  Alex said.  “You got anything to lighten up the place?”

Miles didn’t reply, but the wiping sounds stopped.  He pounded on the keyboard and clicked a few times, and his character tossed down a small pile of torches, and a pair of flint and steel.  Alex thanked him and set to work.  Within seconds, he had several torches blazing brightly.

“Okay, I’m back.”  Miles said.  His character blinked a few times, and began moving again.

“How are you feeling?” Alex asked.

“The ibuprofen will take a bit to start working, but the bleeding’s stopped.  Thanks for asking.”

“You’re welcome.”  Alex replied.  “So, what is this place?”

“It’s an unused dungeon.”  Miles replied.  “For whatever reason, the Dev’s decided not to add it in at the last minute.  Rather than completely erase it, they just covered it up.  When they did, however, they neglected to make the entrance solid.”

“So why can’t Bearzerker, Saru, and their group get in?”

Miles grinned.  “The thing is, they did.”

Alex nearly had a heart attack.

Miles gave a harsh laugh.  You look like someone just bitch slapped your Mom”

“Screw you.”  Alex said, a little testy about the mom comment. “You’re still mad at me for turning you over to those two, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, but beating up Bearzerker and Saru was a step in the right direction.  Keep it up, and you just might make up for it someday.” Miles said with a chuckle

“Really?”

“Maybe in about 5 years.”

“You’re a dick.”

“Anyways,” Miles said, getting back on track.  “The reason we don’t see them is that when we went in, we were classified as a party.  The hackers went in and were classified as a different party.  Two different parties can’t be in the same dungeon at the same time.  The game gets around this by creating two different instances with the exact same layout and the exact same code.  The only difference between them is, we’re in one and they’re in the other.”

“So we’re safe.”

“That’s what I just said.”

Alex sighed.  “Look, I’m sorry for throwing you to the hounds there.  I screwed up.  There’s no way around it.  And because of it, it’s pretty obvious that you’re pissed at me.  But can we at least act civilized?”

Miles thought for a moment.  “I, suppose that I can at stop treating you like complete shit.  You did at least try to make up for your mistake.  I still don’t know whether to punch you, or thank you.”

“Yeah” Alex said.  He ran his hands through his hair and sighed.  “I can’t believe I trusted those guys.  I thought they were my friends.”

“And I still can’t believe my nose is still bleeding, and these stupid painkillers haven’t taken effect.”  Miles said with a snort.

Alex looked at him.  “You know that those take about thirty minutes to start working, right?”

“Shut up.  I’m taking my anger out on the medicine.”

An awkward silence ensued while the two waited for the other to say something.  Finally, Alex broke it.

“Can I ask a question?”

“Yeah, what is it?”

“Why?”

Miles frowned.  “Why what?”

“Why do you do this?  Is there anything in this game really worth you fighting and getting injured over?  I mean, look at you!  You went toe to toe with two guys and came out with a nose bleed and a headache!  What’s the freaking point?”

Miles sighed and looked at the ground.  “There is one thing that those two and I agree on.  Just one single thing.  It is that this game is great.  It’s pure escapism.  I mean, you go through life dealing with all the bull that comes your way.  Bad economy, crappy coworkers, student loans, corrupt politicians, it’s a rough world out there.  And then there’s Rune.  Sure it isn’t real life and it’s kind of in the middle of a civil war, but deep down, its pure fun.”

Miles looked up.  “I and the others fight because we remember the time when we didn’t have to watch our backs for hackers; when a feud between rival clans didn’t end in a bloody noses and headaches; and the worst that could happen to you as you forgot to bind your rare dwarven axe to your character, and loose it to a level 1 noob who happened to get in a lucky shot.  That’s what we’re fighting for- we’re fighting to bring that age back to Rune.”

“Wow.”  Alex said.  “That was some pretty deep stuff.”

Miles nodded and looked around.  “Anyways, here’s how I see we stand.  I plan on taking off in a few minutes to head back to a safe house or even main base.  What you do is up to you.  If you want, I could give you a ride to a town on the way.”

“I don’t want a ride to a town.”  Alex said.

“Well, it’s your call.”  Miles said.  “I advise logging out and laying low for a few days.  They're not as likely to camp at a location for days on end as I am.

“That's not what I mean.” Alex said.  “I don’t want a ride to any old town, and I don’t want to lay low for a few days.”

Miles stood up, frowning.  “Then what do you want to do?  The dungeon doesn’t have any loot in it- there was none programed in.”

“As I said, I screwed up,” Alex said.  “My Dad, in all his crappyness, taught me one major thing- it's okay to screw up. You’d just damn well be willing to finding a way to fix it, or make up for it.  I saved you, but that doesn’t even come close to making up for trusting those two in the first place; and it sure as hell doesn’t make up for turning you in.”

“Okay, so you want to make things up.  I can respect that,” Miles said.  “But how do you plan on doing it?”

Alex looked right at him.  “I’m going to find those guys’ base.  I’m going to tear it down- alone if I have to.”

7: Way of the Ginga

Strange sounds could be heard over Miles' headset. It sounded almost like weeping.

"Dude, don't get emotional on me," Alex warned. "If you start crying, I'll start crying, and then we'll have a cryfest between two people who've never even seen each other, and it'll be super awkward."

The sounds persisted.

"Okay, seriously cut it out. I wasn't all that dramatic or moving. I was just telling you what I was doing."

Snorts could be heard now. With a jolt, Alex realized that Miles wasn't crying- far from it.

He was laughing his ass off.

"As previously noted," Alex said, "You're a dick."

Miles couldn't hold it in anymore. He let out a long winded laugh and dissolved into uncontrollable laughter. From the background noises, he had fallen off his chair, and was on the floor.

"You, you want to go into the most heavily guarded area in the entire goddam game, and destroy it. Alone if you have to? That's some funny- ass shit right there!"

"Yes."

Miles got back in his chair and scooted it back to its original spot. "Dude, I haven't laughed that hard since that reporter got pantsed on live television;" He said between giggles. "Holy crap, I needed that."

"I'm being serious."

"I'm being serious too." Miles said, taking a deep breath. "They work out of a freaking castle! It would take a small army to just break their defenses! And you think that you can do it by yourself? You might think you're the GingaNinja, but you look nothing like one. You've got no mask, and your hair sticks out like a beacon."

"Probably not," Alex admitted. "But I'd still try even if I couldn't find anyone to help me."

Miles took a look at him, his eyes widening. "Damn. You're not kidding. You're really going to try and take them on, aren't you?"

Alex nodded. "I'd prefer to have some help though. I don't even know where their castle is."

Miles shook his head. "We know where it is. I could even show you. The problem is what to do once you've found it. We've tried attacking on multiple occasions. Each time, it degenerates into a massacre and we all retreat within five minutes with nosebleeds and migraines. We formulate grand attack strategies, and they fall apart almost immediately."

"Maybe that's you're problem." Alex said.

"What the hell does that mean?" Miles asked.

"Well," Alex said, "My dad is a bit of a history nut- especially about the world wars. A while back, I borrowed a book on World War One for a project. One thing I noticed was that early on, they shelled the shit out of the enemies before attacking, and when they did, they all ran up the ladders and charged the trenches in a line."

"Where are you going with this?" Miles said, completely lost.

"They tried to win by sending thousands upon thousands of troops into battle and overwhelm the defenders." Alex said. "But the defenders just hid until they came out, then slaughtered the whole line. What if, you sent smaller groups with a specific mission in mind? Maybe that would work."

"We tried that until BA ended up in a coma." Miles said. He looked Ginganinja over and sighed. "There's no talking you out of this is there?" He stood up. "Tell you what, I think you're crazy. I think that you're going to get yourself hurt pretty badly. But that's your choice. Besides, you're not the only one who wants to attack the hackers right now."

Even though they were alone, Miles looked around in case someone was there. He then leaned in close to Alex. "There's a raid being planned." He whispered. "I can take you to the Coders. You can go with them."

"That sounds good." Alex remarked. "When can we leave?"

"Right now" Miles said. He stood up and straightened his vest.

Alex noticed this. He opened up his inventory and grabbed the vest he'd picked up from Miles' loot. "Hey, didn't you lose this?"

"Yeah, but I had this brown one in reserve. To be honest, I kinda like it better on me than the black one."

"Do you still want it?"

Miles frowned at the accessory. It had been torn to shreds by Berserker's claws and did not look much like a vest at all anymore. "Keep it" he said.

Alex nodded then said, "Y'know, you, Bearzerker, and Saru have one more thing in common."

"What's that?" Miles asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You all agree I need a mask. That I need to look somewhat like a ninja"

And with that, he took his sword, and sliced a square of cloth out of the vest. He then tied it around his face like a handkerchief. "What do you think?"

Miles grinned. "You look like a skinny-ass cowboy ginger."

"Well, I don't exactly have a ninja head wrapping kit on me. All I had was your tattered old vest and a saber. Not exactly the best tools or materials."

Miles thought for a minute, then rummaged in his gear for a minute. He eventually pulled out a black beanie. He tossed it to Alex. "Put this here hat on partner." He said in a horrible western accent.

Alex put it on. He went into third person, and saw that while it didn't cover the back very well; most of his hair was covered up.

Miles nodded in appreciation. "You still look like a secondhand ninja, but at least you're covered up. Now let's go to base so that you may teach them the 'way of the Ginga'." He reached into his gear again, then paused. "Way of the ginga. That was actually a pretty good name." He said thoughtfully. "You should keep that."

"I just might." Alex said. "No offense though, can we get moving."

Miles nodded and returned to his gear, and pulled out a scroll. He unrolled it, and bent over it. A miniature blue whirlwind came up off the paper, and formed into a portal. Miles rerolled the scroll, and gestured towards the portal. "Gingers first." he said with a grin.

Alex ignored him, opting to instead dive in headfirst.

"Showoff." Miles muttered before jumping in after him.

8: The Coders

At first glance, the Spicy Mushroom didn’t look like much.  It was just your average run down bar in front of an equally run down mud road that a player could purchase as an empty building with an extra bit of gold.  It was automatically inhabited by several NPCs who came in from time to time.  There was absolutely nothing special about it.

That was what was going through Alex’s mind when he dove through the portal and found himself in front of the primary base of the resistance against the hackers.  He just didn’t know it yet though.

To be fair though, the first though that was going through his mind was of disorientation.  The portal he had jumped through was on the ground.  The portal he exited was on the wall of a building.  He flew out headfirst and barely managed to roll to avoid damage.  He looked up to see a rundown shack with a mushroom on the front.

Behind him, Miles soared out and landed gracefully.  Unlike Alex, he knew where the portal would end up.

“We’re here.”  He said as he ended the spell.  “The hideout of the infamous coders.”

“Coders?”  Alex asked, confused.

“It’s the name we’ve been given by the hackers because we employ freelancer programmers to help write scripts to block the Hacker’s powers and try to get them on the ban list.”

“So that’s true then, and Bearzerker and Saru weren’t just making it up.”

Miles nodded.  “The problem is, a lot of the hackers are using illegitimate accounts.  The game doesn’t recognize their usernames on the official username list, so it can’t ban them.  Seeing how we can’t get access to the username list, we can’t put them on to be banned.”

He lowered his voice.  “They also look for ways to negate the effects of the noise.  We haven’t had any luck so far.”

They walked through the door. Inside, they found a small dingy room with tables scattered around.  A blood red cow hybrid with a case of bad fungi growth stood behind a bar wiping mugs.  Just your typical fantasy barroom.

Miles strode up to the bar.  The barman looked up and said in a robotic voice, “Welcome to the Spicy Mushroom.  Can I get you anything?”

“I’ll have a mug of Tachyon, and since he’s a minor, so he’ll get a glass of milk.”

“No thanks, I’ll pass.”  Alex said, noticing the large udders on the cow.

Miles shrugged and threw a few coins on the bar.  The Cow grabbed a glass and filled it to the brim with a drink, and handed it to Miles.

“Thanks Spicy.”  He said and went to take a drink.  Alex kicked him before he could.

“Two things.  One, that was a dick move with the milk.  Two, you do know that tachyon is a type of radiation in Star Trek right?”

“Shut up.”  Miles muttered.  “I could’ve asked for the spicy milk to screw with you.”  He downed his drink in one gulp and motioned for Alex to follow.  Together, they walked out of the bar, around the building, and came face to face with a leaning outhouse.

“Okay, why did we come to the outhouse?”  Alex asked, slightly confused.  “You’re not one of those super hardcore guys who plays like he’s in real life are you?  And what was it with ordering a drink back there?  I thought for sure that we’d sink through the floor or something and end up at your secret base.”

Miles spat into his hand.  In it, a green gem lay, glowing dimly.

“You were right.  Tachyon is a type of particle emission given off by many things in the Star Trek universe.  For instance, transporters, temporal fields,” he tossed the gem into the outhouse.  It bounced off the wall and into the toilet.  The toilet and floor shimmered and disappeared to reveal a ladder leading down.  “And cloaking devices.”  Miles finished.  He turned to Alex.  “One of the programmers is a major trekkie and suggested it as a code word.”  He jumped into the hole and slid down the ladder.

“Well then,” Alex thought.  He looked around to make sure no one was looking, then followed Miles back into the pit.

@0@0@

The ladder was one of the longest Alex had ever come across.  It traveled deep enough that the light above was a tiny pixel by the time Alex reached the bottom.  It was pitch black, and he couldn’t see a thing.  He jumped down the last few feet and collided with Miles.  The area they were in was barely 2 meters wide- not much room for two people.

“Dude, your super- secret hideout is pretty dark and pretty tiny.  You might want to expand or at least get a bit of light on the subject.  Just sayin’.”

“Shut up and give me a second.”  Miles fumbled around before saying, “Shit.  We left the torches in the dungeon.”

“We can go back and get them,” Alex offered.

“No, the dungeon would’ve reset by now.  Those torches are as good as gone,” Miles said sadly.

“Hold on,” Alex said.  He tried the fireball attack again.  The red aura still appeared, but in the close quarters they were in, the dim light it cast was enough.

Alex looked around and got a good glimpse of his surroundings for the first time.  They had traveled deep- way into the bedrock area.  The floor had a thick layer of dirt that had been kicked down from the surface and pounded hard by the hundreds of feet that had walked on it.  Three wooden levers lined one side of the wall.

Miles pulled the left one and closed off the entrance.  He then pulled the middle one down once, the right one up and down eight times, then pushed the others back to the initial position.  A section of the wall rumbled and opened to reveal a short hallway.  A small lizard- like character stood wide eyed at them.

“Sup.” Alex said; intent on making some friends.

“HACKER!!” it cried, pointing at the red aura still in Alex’s hand.  He turned and ran yelling, “THERE’S A HACKER IN THE BASE!!”

“Shit” Alex cursed.  “What n-”

Alex couldn’t get the last part out as a lasso was thrown around his neck and he was dragged headfirst through the hallway and into a massive cavern. His character was thrown up against the wall and was pinned by a stocky iron golem.  The golem’s glowing red eyes narrowed and flames bubbled out of its mouth, making it quite clear that Alex was going nowhere.

A crowd of people had gathered- no two resembled each other.  Alex saw elven archers, more golems, puppet masters, human- animal hybrids, even strange plant creatures.  There was only one constant with the crowd.  All the faces showed anger, fear, and betrayal.

“What the fuck?”

“How the hell did he get in here?”

“Is he alone?”

“Are we compromised?”

“Guys!  Calm down!  He’s cool! He’s with me!”  Miles yelled, trying to ease the tensions.

“You brought him here Miles?”  An elf asked?  “A hacker?  What the on earth were you thinking?  You want to bring down the entire group!”

“He’s not a hacker!”  Miles shouted over the din.  “Look, he got mixed up in this accidentally and unknowingly had the virus placed on him by Bearzerker and Saru!”

That was the wrong thing to say.  The crowd didn’t make out most of his sentence.  What they did hear though, was the names of the two most feared hackers in the game.  If the previous level of volume was loud, the ensuing cacophony was unbearable.  Finally, the clockwork Golem holding Alex to the wall turned his head and roared, “SHUT THE HELL UP! YOU’RE GIVING ME A WORSE HEADACHE THAN THE HACKERS!”

That shut everyone up.  A massive iron golem yelling at the top of their lungs with their mic volume at the maximum tends to do that.

The golem turned to Miles.  “Say that last part again.  I don’t think we heard it correctly.”

Miles took a deep breath.  “Ginganinja here ran into Bearzerker and Saru in the game when he first logged on two days ago.  For some reason, they decided to try and recruit him.  They fed him some backwards story where they were the good guys and we were the hackers, and gave him the virus under the pretense that it could protect him from the ‘hackers’.”

“So what made you think it was a good idea to come here?”   The elf asked, “Into the middle of the biggest group of Coders?”

“I figured out what happened and I now want to make up for it.”  Alex replied.

“Not before I had the crap beaten out of me.”  Miles muttered.

Alex shot him a glare, but continued.  “I heard there was a raid planned for the castle.  I figured I might see if I could join up.”

“Not anymore there isn’t.”  The golem snarled.  “We can’t afford to take the risk that you’ve compromised us, willingly or not.  If we are compromised, there could be a trap waiting for us.”

“Dude, not cool.”  Alex said.  “What gives you power to say if there’s a raid or not.”

The golem cocked its head as much as its stocky neck allowed.  “My name is Qilin.  I’m the leader of the coders.”

“And a pretty bad one at that.”  Alex said.  “Rule number one about staging a revolt: NEVER give the real name of your leader.”

“Good point,” Qilin conceded.  “That would be true had the coders not already known my name.  A little squirt we let in once stole all our secrets, plans, lines of code, and lots of names- including my own.  It took us months to get back to where we were.  And the craziest thing was,” he leaned in close, “he had the exact same excuse as you did.”

“Qilin, come on.”  Miles pleaded.  “This guy may’ve been a bit of a dick at first, but he risked himself when he realized he’d screwed up.  Plus, he’s pretty damn good.  Saru himself even said it.  You know how much that means.”

Qilin thought for a moment.  Finally he said, “I’ll give you a chance, if two others can vouch for you, I’ll let you go.  If you can’t we’ll just ban your username and IP.”

Alex looked at the obnoxious elf.  “Care to vouch for me?”

The elf shook his head.  “Sorry dumbass.  I don’t like lying hackers.”

Alex flipped him the bird.

“I’ll vouch for him,” Miles said.  “Don’t even think about trying to stop me.”

Qilin nodded.  “Why do you think I asked for two people?”  He turned to the crowd.  “Anyone else want to vouch for him?”

“I will.”

The crowd parted and a player strode to the middle.  He was slightly hunched with extremely odd clothing on.  It was split down the middle where one side was a mirror opposite of the other in color.  For instance, he wore black with a white glove on his left, and white with a black glove on his right.  He had a (thankfully) normal colored bow and quiver strapped to his back.  A knife was held against the sling for the quiver in a cross draw formation.  He wore a mask with the same strange pattern.

“I know this guy.  I trust him.” He said.

“Janus, I appreciate you trying to help me and GN out here, but I don’t think you’ve ever seen this guy before,” Miles said.

“I’m serious.  I know him.”

“Janus,” Qilin said, “You logged on fifteen minutes ago for the first time this week.  How can you know this person?”

“I live five minutes from his house.” 

The crowd murmured in astonishment, but Janus seemed not to notice.  He walked around Qilin and said in a low voice,

“I’ll admit Spiderman would beat Batman, but only because it isn’t a fair fight.  Spiderman is way too OP.”

9: The group forms

“S-!”

Before he could finish, an alert flashed up on his screen, indicating he had been muted.

“Dude, seriously.  Don’t say my name.  The internet is great for being anonymous.  I’d like to keep it that way.”

Alex tried to say something else, but his microphone was still not working.  Janus noticed it.

“I’ll unmute you if you agree to call me Janus here.  Nod if you agree.”

Alex nodded and the warning went away.

“Dude, I can’t believe it!  What are you doing here?”

Janus shrugged sheepishly.  “Well, as you know, I like computers.  That’s why I got a job at the Coffeenet.  I’d been playing for a few weeks when I was contacted by Qilin asking if I’d join up.  I said yes and put my programming knowledge to good use.”  He turned to Qilin who was still holding Ginganinja by his neck.  “Qilin, Ginganinja has his two people.  Let him go.”

Qilin frowned, but released Alex.  Whoever held the lasso gave a sharp tug that caused Ginganinja to stumble before letting it drop.

Alex moved around Qilin and gave Janus a high-five.  “It’s great to see you.  I owe you one.”

Janus nodded.  “So, you want to take on the hackers.”

Alex nodded.  “Yeah; although, I don’t think that will happen now.”  He motioned at Qilin.  “Tin-can here thinks that it’s too dangerous.”

Janus seemed to frown and turned to Qilin.  “Dude, we do dangerous things all the time.  Danger like our middle name.  What made this thing more risky than any other time?”

“Other times we did not have a Virus carrier walk right into our base.” Qilin said.  “You two may’ve vouched for him, but I’m not entirely certain he’s innocent.  And even if he is, who’s to say that he isn’t bugged.  For all we know, he could be transmitting this conversation and location right now!”  He shook his head.  “For the good of our organization, I can’t take that kind of risk.  We’re going into lockdown.  You know what that means.”

Alex scowled.  “Fine.  I came here to offer my help but it seems you don’t want it.  I’m doing this thing no matter what.  I just hoped I wouldn't have to do it alone.”

“The hell you are.”  Miles said.  “You go in there alone, you’re just asking to get your sorry ass killed.”

Alex turned to him.  “And how exactly do you expect to stop me?  Last time we fought, my ‘sorry ass’ beat yours!”

A few players chuckled, but Miles ignored them.

“What I mean is, I’m going with you.”

Alex raised his eyebrows in surprise.  “What ever happened to ‘you’re crazy and you’re going to get yourself hurt’?”

“Oh believe me, I still think that this plan is going to crash and burn,” he said.  “But even if it does, I might have an opportunity to take on Bearzerker and Saru.  God knows this guy doesn’t give me much to work with.” he gestured in Qilin’s direction.  “The only reason I found them last time was by accident!”

Qilin glared at Miles.  “I do what is best for the Coders.  I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“Wake up Qilin.  We’re in a war.  People get hurt. That’s practically the definition of a war!  In the past month, we’ve had three attacks canceled, and only a handful of raids to make up for it.  That’s not going to beat the Hackers.” 

Alex thought for a moment.  Truth be told, he was actually excited about the prospect of having Miles with him.  He seemed like a capable fighter and not the kind of person who would stab him in the back without a good reason.

“Okay, you’re in.  Great speech by the way,” he added.  Alex then turned to Janus.  “You coming as well?”

Janus shrugged.  “Sure.  Sounds great.”

“Not a chance,” Qilin said.  “You of all people are going nowhere.”

“Really,” Janus turned to him.  “And what makes you think that you can stop me?”

Qilin gave him a long look before muttering “fine” and backing off.

Alex turned to the crowd.  “Anyone else want to come?”

The crowd shuffled nervously and Alex feared no one else would decide to come.

Then an animated scarecrow pushed his way to the front.  He was short with a wire thin frame made slightly bulkier due to the large, old overcoat he wore.  A battered, pointed hat rested on his head.  He carried no weapons other than a worn short scythe in his hand.

“Croe,” Qilin sighed, “don’t do this.  Miles and Janus are strong warriors.  They can hold their own.  You on the other hand, well, in the months you’ve spent with us; you still haven’t mastered your weapon.”

“C’mon Qilin, give me a break.  There’s nothing wrong with my scythe.”  To emphasize this, he waved it around.  Everyone, including Qilin, ducked.

“Seriously guys, its fin-”

Orange fire spurted from the blade of the scythe and flew off in an arc.  The crowd ducked even further.

The scarecrow, Croe, shrugged sheepishly.  “Okay, so I have difficulty from time to time.  That’s not my fault!  It only works properly in conjunction with the other scythe.”

“Kid, do us all a favor and don't even start,” Miles groaned.  “That pity story got old real quick.”

“Wait, what?”  Alex inquired.  “What pity story.”

“He claims he went on a quest with another player when he first started out.” Miles explained.  “Apparently there was supposed to be an amazing treasure at the end of the quest- including a one-of-a-kind set of scythes.  Apparently he had a deal with the other guy where he got to keep the scythes, and the other guy got the rest of the treasure.  When they came to the quests end, the guy took all the treasure, and the other scythe.  He grabbed that scythe,” he guestured at Croe’s weapon, “and fought him.  Apparently the other guy got spooked and ran.”

“It was the only time the scythe worked properly.” Croe said mournfully.

“Kid, that thing hasn’t ever worked properly,” the obnoxious elf said.  “It’s just some farming tool you put a weak enchantment on.  That little thing wouldn’t even scratch my leather armor.”

“If it’s so weak, why did I accidentally vaporize Qilin once?”

The elf laughed.  “The animation looks like a rusting spell.  You literally turned Qilin into rust, that’s why!”

“Dude, seriously; back off,” Alex said.

 The elf put his hand up in mock fear.  “Or what, hacker?  You’ll put me in a coma like your friends did to BA?”

“I’m getting pretty tired of you calling me a hacker,” Alex said as he started towards him, but Miles and Janus held him back.

“Easy GN.”  Miles said.  “Attack him, and the crowd will tear you to bits. Although,” he turned to the elf, “that last comment was uncalled for.”

“Miles, I suggest you be quiet as well.  Your loyalties have been called into question enough today for bringing this hacker here.  I propose we kill them, and then ban them for good.”

The crowd murmured in approval.

“Enough.” Qilin boomed.  “Ginganinja, take Croe if you want.  Just get out of here.”

Alex nodded and turned to Croe.  “If you want in, you can come,” he said.

“Yeah!” Croe whooped.

“Crap.” Miles groaned.

“Yes, go on with your little group, pussy.”  The elf said.  “None of them amount to anything.  You’d be doing us a favor.”

Alex made another rush.  This time he broke free of Miles and Janus.  He conjured another viral ball and launched himself at the elf.

“GN, no!” Miles yelled, but it was too late.  Alex had already collided and was attacking the elf with every fiber of his being.  The elf in question screamed every time his fist connected.

“Fuck,” punch “you,” punch “and,” kick “your,” slam “high and mighty,” kick “attitude!”

Finally, with the combined effort of Miles, Janus, and Qilin, they managed to separate the two.

“Do you see what I mean?”  The elf shouted.  “He just attacked me!  He used viral energy on me!  This character is without a doubt a hacker.”  He turned to Qilin.  “Sir, I demand that you ban this player at once!”

Qilin glared at Alex.  “Go.  Now.  That little stunt of yours just cost you entry into our bases.  If I ever see you here again, I will ban you, and I will make sure you never set foot on another MMO again.”  He looked at the other three.  “The same goes for you, if you decide to follow him.”

Janus and Miles let go of Alex.  He turned to face them and Croe.  “I can’t let you guys lose your membership of the coders because of me.  I’m calling it off.”

Miles shook his head and turned to Qilin.  “Qilin, are you really going to do this to him? Maybe GN shouldn’t’ve attacked him, but that doesn’t mean that he wasn’t asking for it.”

“So you are standing by your commitment to help him?” Qilin asked.  The elf smirked at this.

“He’d have every right to call me a world class douche if I didn’t.”  Miles replied.

Janus stepped forward.  “Unlike any of you, GN and I have actually met and are great friends in real life.” he sighed.  “As much as I like the Coders, they aren’t worth the friendship I have with him.”  He turned to Croe.  “You want to come to Croe?”

Croe seemed to think for a moment.  “Well, it sure as heck beats dealing with him,” he said, motioning to the elf, who was still smirking.

Alex looked at them.  Three people; two of which he had never met in real life.  Three people were willing to risk their well-being to take part in a four man attack to take on what was apparently the most defended area in the game.  They had to love this game a lot.

Alex walked back the way he’d come and the others followed suit.

“Goodbye losers!”  The elf said.  “I suppose we can send out a patrol to pick up what’s left of you!”

“He sure seems full of himself,” Alex muttered.

“He always is,” Janus replied.  “As best as I can figure, he’s some rich kid with no social skills other than snobbery.”

 “You think he’s right?” Croe asked.

“Only one way to find out.” Miles said, grabbing a ladder rung and hoisting himself upwards.

10: Thieves and Fireballs

Hey Guys!

I know I usually don't post something at the beginning of Heroes of Rune, but felt I should this time.  Sorry for taking so long to update. who would've known that teachers could heap so many project on you at one single time. Plus, there were a few things in this chapter that I couldn't bring myself to post it while they were still in it. But even then, I was still debating putting this off another day or two until I heard some news.

For those of you who don't know what RoosterTeeth is, they are the finest example of a few people starting something on the internet and making a livelihood out of it. One of those shows is called RWBY. It is the brainchild of a guy known as Monty Oum, who in my opinion was one of the greatest animators our world has ever seen.

I say was because yesterday at 4:34 PM, Monty died after fighting a severe allergic reaction.

I never had the honor of meeting Monty, but he and his work were a great inspiration for me writing stories and putting them on the internet. To lose him means to kind of lose a bit of myself. I'm pretty sure everyone at RoosterTeeth and their fan's feel so as well. Don't believe me? They set up a fundraiser to help pay for medical expenses and asked for $50k. It passed that in three hours and as I'm writing this, several hours after they announced his passing, is at $183,022 and still rising.

Matt Hullum, one of the founding members of RoosterTeeth has asked in lieu of flowers, that we do something creative. To use our imagination in a way that makes the world a better place. Just like Monty did.

Monty, I am going to make you proud.

 

As they made their way out of the outhouse, Alex noticed a character leaning against the wall in mock boredom, next to a bulging burlap bag.  He had olive colored skin and wore a formfitting black tank top and brown leather breeches.  Two empty sheathes hung from a thick belt.  A thin moustache hung from his upper lip.  As they filed out, he tensed and made a move for the sheaths before returning to his previous stance.

“So, you plan on attacking the Castile with just four people.  That’s pretty loco.” He said with a slight Spanish accent.

“I don’t suppose you plan on joining us, compadre?” Alex said in a failed attempt to mimic his tone.

He gave a small chuckle and shook his head.  “No senior, I am just here to use the ladder.  Although, I suppose I could wish you luck as well.”

“Wait, how do you know about the hideout?” Miles said suspiciously.  “I’ve never seen you there before.”

He looked at him.  “Who do you think found the cavernas de engaño in the first place?  Surely not Master Qilin.  No; I came across them and sold them to him for a pile of coins, and the promise of a safe place to store items.  I come from time to time to store all the wonderful loot I come across.  The name is Silent Stealth.”  He gave a short bow with a flourish.

“I’ve heard of you,” Janus said.  “You’re the guy who’s stolen from just about every single faction in the game!  You even managed to get in the Hackers lair!”

“Si, senior.  That was me.”

 “Any chance you could give us some pointers on how to get in?” Alex asked.

He gave a short laugh.  “Certainly compadre.  Don’t do it.  Few know this, but I decided to go back in a few months later.  I nearly died getting in, and I did die before I made it up to the second floor.  They somehow studied my form and developed a way to counter it.”

“Well then we’ll just have to make sure we don’t go in like you did.”  Alex decided.  “Besides, we’re going in to destroy the castle, not rob them blind.”

Silent Stealth eyed him before letting out a long sigh.  “Well, if you’re set on this, endeavor, I suppose you’ll need this.”  He reached into the bag and pulled out a small notebook.

“This,” he said, “Is how I made it past every guard, disarmed every trap, and taken the crown jewels without getting caught.  It contains almost every configuration of every castle in the game.  See, the developers are somehow incapable of designing fortifications.  Either they are too large for most guilds to defend, or the walls are made of tinfoil.  The best castiles in Rune are those imported in from other games.  The developers refuse to leak any designs for fear that the ruse would be discovered.”

“So how exactly does that help us?”  Miles said, crossing his arms.

Silent Stealth shook his head.  “Please, tell me this idiota is not your leader.  You might as well quit now.”

“Hey, this idiota gets irritated when called an idiota.  He tends to take said offenders and cut them into tiny bits.”  Miles said as he reached for his sword.

“Guys, wait,” Croe said to defuse the situation.  “I think I’ve got it.  Are you saying that you can find the blueprints of the hacker’s lair by looking at other games?”

Silent Stealth clapped his hands.  “I see now that there are some of you who aren’t complete imbeciles.  Perhaps there is hope for your endeavor yet.”

If ever an animated scarecrow could look smug, it was Croe.

“Whatever.”  Miles said.  “That still doesn’t explain how you’ve got all these blueprints.  There are thousands of games out there.  It’d be pretty damn hard to look through every single one of them to find a handful of castles.”

“Yes that would be true, had the developers not gone on record about some of their favorite video game series, and that they took inspiration from it when designing the world.  A little cross referencing reveals a castle that looks almost exactly like the one the hackers use.”

“And how exactly did you figure this out?” Miles said skeptically.

Silent Stealth stared at Miles for a long second before finally saying, “By listening and paying attention- a trait you seem to be lacking in.”

“How much do you want for it?” Alex asked hurriedly, noticing Miles clenching his mouth.

Silent Stealth laughed.  “All the gold I have ever stolen would be but a sliver of what I’d sell this book for.  There is, however, a cheaper option.”  He flipped through the book for a few seconds before ripping out a page.”

“This is the diagram of the Hackers castle.  I will give it to you for a favor.”

“Deal,” Croe said.  Silent Stealth nodded and handed it to him.

“Woah, hold on!  What’s this ‘favor’?”  Miles asked suspiciously.

“Nothing out of the ordinary my friend.  During my, less fortunate infiltration I lost two knives that were very dear to me.  I would like them back.”

“So out of all the gold and riches in their hideout, you want us to get you two knives?  How the hell are we supposed to find them?”

Silent Stealth rolled his eyes and sighed.  “They are the knives of the great Silent Stealth.  Their possession of such knives shows that they caught me- a huge embarrassment for thieves.  Knowing them, they’ll have them prominently displayed.  Just be sure though, I will lend you this.”  He unbuckled the two sheaths from his belt and tossed them to Miles who caught them awkwardly.

Silent Stealth walked past them and stepped onto the ladder.  “I must be going.  I wish you the best of luck on your quest.”

“Wait, if you’re going, how will we get the knives back to you?”

“You won’t have to,” he said.  He quickly descended and the enchantment washed over the hole, hiding it from the world.  It became just another dingy latrine, next to a dingy tavern.

@0@0@

It was nightfall by the time the small group made it to the Hackers lair.  Unlike the Coder’s base, the Hackers made sure people knew where they were.  The castle was situated in the middle of a valley with a major road leading out of it.  The walls were tall and thick with NPC soldiers and hackers alike patrolling the battlements.  The tallest structure inside was easily the keep situated in the middle of the castle.  It was easy to see why the Coders considered it impenetrable.

“We’re here,” Miles said.

Alex peered through the murky night in search of the hackers, but the only ones he saw were in a small group about 500 meters away.

“I don’t get it, why are there so few of them?  Aren’t they supposed to have like, a bunch of people?”

“They’re probably all in the hot tubs in the back,” Croe said.

“Hot tubs?  Why the hell do they have hot tubs?”  Alex said.  “You’re not pulling my leg are you?”

“I’m not.  Check the map to see,” Croe said, handing him the map.

Alex unfolded the piece of paper, but was unable to read it.  He conjured up the tendril ball and held it close, but quickly yanked it away when a stray tendril disintegrated a corner of the page into a stream of binary code.

“That’s not going to work,” he said.  “Anyone got torches?”

“We lost them in the cave, remember?”   Miles answered.

“What’s wrong?”  Janus asked.

“I can’t read the map because we don’t have any torches, and I have to hold this stupid hacker virus so close to the paper to read, it destroys it!”

Janus thought for a minute.  “Can you do it again?  One of the attacks the hackers gave you?”

Alex was confused, but complied.  He held the ball close to Janus, and waited.  He could hear the sounds of someone banging on the keyboard, and furiously clicking the mouse.  This went on for about a minute before he finally stopped and slammed down on what Alex assumed to be the enter key.

The viral tendrils were engulfed in a brilliant fireball.  Alex jumped in surprise and dropped the map.  It fluttered towards the ground until Croe snatched it from the wind and handed it back to Alex.

“Looks like it works.” Janus said happily.  “I took the liberty of also adding it to your sword powerup as well.”

“How did you do that?”  Alex asked in amazement.

Janus looked around nervously before answering in a low voice, “I did a freelance job for the developers a while back.  When I finished, I left a back door in to make it easier to do any future maintenance.  I’ll also use it on occasion to help update the scripts used to ban hackers.”

“Dude that is so cool!”  Alex exclaimed.

Janus frantically made a shushing motion.  “Don’t say it out loud!” he said in a loud whisper.  “The last thing I need is for a hacker to hear it.  They might think I have access to the Core,” he said.  “Which I don’t” he added hastily.

“What would be so bad about being able to get this, ‘Core’?” Alex asked.

“It’s because the Core is what we call the primary part of Rune’s source code” Miles said somberly.  “It’s what tells the game what to do.  Because of this, the Dev’s put some serious cyphers on it.  So good, that no one’s been able to get in.  And the Hackers want to real bad.  If they even think you might have access, you’d be better off just deleting your account because you will never have another peaceful moment.”

“Right now, they can’t do much more than create false patches so they can keep using the virus, and create false accounts to throw us off.” Croe added.  “If they could get into the Core however, it becomes less of what can they do, and more of what can’t they do.”

Miles glared at him.  “I was getting to that.  But that’s not important right now.  Right now, we’ve got to figure out how the hell we’re going to actually do this?”

“We could always pretend to be merchants who specialize in owl related products,” Croe offered.

Miles looked at him.  “Where the hell did that come from?  That was literally the lamest and most confusing idea I have ever heard.”

Croe looked at him annoyed.  “It could work.  There are plenty of useful things we could make out of owls.  The giant killer owl quest alone gives you enough owl pelts to make fifty owl capes!”

“Well of course you’ve done that quest,” Miles replied.

“I think it’d work,” Alex quickly said, noticing Croe’s hand was dropping towards the scythe hanging from his belt.

“Really?” Croe asked, perking up.

“There’s only one problem with it.  We don’t have any owl related products to use as a ruse.”

“Oh;” Croe deflated.

“We’ll save it for another time.” Janus offered.

“I could make it work without any owl pelts,” Croe muttered.

Alex looked at the map again.  This time, the fireball burned bright enough for him to easily see.  “It’s apparent that we can’t do a frontal assault; it’s been tried and it did not work,” Alex said.  “I think our best bet would be to go around the guys down there- it would cause too much noise to take them out.  Once we’re past them, we scale the east wall and take the stairs down to the courtyard.”

“What then?”  Miles asked.

“What do you mean?” Alex replied, confused.

“What I mean is, what’s the overall reason we’re breaking in?  You said that you wanted to make them pay, but you haven’t exactly said how you were going to do that.”

Everyone began looking at Alex.  He could feel the sweat running down his forehead as he realized he had forgotten such a crucial part of the plan.

“I, uh,” he stammered.

“We could always use the explosives they’ve got stored in the armory to blow their castle up,” Croe offered.

Relief washed over Alex as everyone turned their gaze from him to Croe.

“The map shows that an entire third of the armory is taken up by bags of explosives.  Judging by Stealth’s notes on the back, they’ve got just about every explosive you can get in the game.  If we want to destroy it, I can think of no more of an ironic way than to do it with their own explosives.”

“Why do they need so much explosive?” Miles asked.

“Does it matter?” Alex asked.  “It’s there and we need it.  What more do we need to know.”

“It does matter,” Miles replied.  “No one needs that much explosives.  Not anyone who’s up to anything good.  So my question is; what plans do they have that require several tons of it?”

There was silence for a moment while everyone considered the question.  Finally, Croe spoke up and said, “We might find the answer in the armory.  I suggest we look for it while grabbing what we need.”

“Agreed,” Alex said, handing.  He handed the map back to Croe and stood up.  “Apart from stay away from the guys at the bottom, I’ve got nothing to add.  Anyone else got anything?  Croe?  Miles?  What about you, Janus?  Janus?”

Janus wasn’t moving.  His head was slumped over as if he was sleeping while crouched down - a sign that he was AFK.

A sinking feeling settled into Alex’s stomach.  In the back of his mind, he remembered a story on the internet about a group of player who set out to accomplish a feat of similar difficulty of what they were about to attempt.  They had made an intricate plan that had been ruined by one player being AFK during the planning and getting the entire team killed.

“Janus,” he began.

Suddenly Janus straightened up. He looked at the group before turning and looking at the group of hackers in the valley below.  He cocked his head for a moment, as if trying to decide what to do.  Finally, he spoke in a voice that was definitely not Sam’s.

“It’s about time they let us out of that stinkin’ cave.”  He pulled two grenades from his sleeves and charged down the hill straight towards the hackers.

11: Qilin and Sharps

In the time that GN, Janus, Croe, and Miles had been gone, the coder’s hideout had been vastly transformed.  Guards had been posted at every intersection, barricades erected at every chokepoint, and everyone was armed to the teeth.  Any supplies deemed nonessential had been grouped together so that should the need arise; they could quickly be teleported to one of the many safe houses the coders had.  The coders had gone into lockdown.

Amidst the bustle, Qilin strode around inspecting the preparations.  Occasionally he would give an order, and several players would rush to it immediately, whether it was to build another barricade, or to buff an animatronic sentry, or any of the other myriad of tasks required to make the catacombs defendable.

“Arachion, go place web traps in the eastern catacombs.  If we’re attacked, I want the spellcasters to have as much time to perform the TP spells.”

“You got it.”

“Kuldau, where’s the bolts for these sentries?”

“On their way Qilin.”

Both players scurried off.  Qilin watched them for a moment, then turned back to observe the handiwork of the other players in the area.  Previous hideouts had been poorly built and poorly hidden.  One had been a mere ten meters underground.  They had been easily found and overrun within seconds.  The Catacombs as they were called by the Coders, was easily the best and longest serving hideout yet- the better part of a year.  To keep it safe, Qilin and the Coders had poured well over a million combined hours disguising it and making it habitable.  They had even pooled their resources to buy two very expensive interdiction generators to repel the monsters that had a habit of spawning underground, and prevent anyone from just teleporting in without permission.  Qilin also had several Coders with military backgrounds devise methods of defending the base- should the need arise.  A complex set of instructions were created that had jobs for every single Coder.  They were distributed and memorized so that when the alarm rang, everyone knew what to do.

As he walked, he was bumped into by none other than Spicymooshroom.  He hurried past Qilin carrying a box full of drinks.  Qilin increased his pace as much as an animatronic could, and eventually caught up with the cow.  He tapped him on the shoulder, and Spicy stopped.

“Good to see someone’s there after all,” Qilin said.  Spicy normally left his character in the hands of a bot programed to run the bar.  With the alarm sounded, he apparently decided he himself was needed.  He was after all, the first line of defense.

“Nice to see you to, Qilin,” he replied with his normal New York accent.  “Sorry for bumping into you back there.”

“What brings the great bartender down here?” Qilin asked.

“I figured that you could use some of my more, potent beverages to make firebombs.  Most of the rest is coming down here to be teleported should we be attacked.”

Qilin raised a mechanical eyebrow.  “Slipping unauthorized supplies into the teleport pile?  I expected better from you.”

Spicy sighed and turned around, the bottles clanking.  “Look Qilin, I agree to run a bar up top and let people down into the caverns when they ask for Tachyon ale,”

“For a hefty price,” Qilin interjected.

Spicy nodded “Exactly Qilin.  I’m a business man.  I created a character in this game because I saw an opportunity to make a profit.  There are a lot of people in the underground who’ll pay good money for in game gold.  You of all people know that.”

Qilin ignored the comment.

Spicy continued.  “I assume you’re not wasting my time for idle chat.  What do you want?”

“Is Sharps still on guard up top?”

“Sharpslefae?  Yeah, last I checked.  Why?”

“I need to talk to him.  In private.  Can I use the back room?”

Spicy shrugged.  “Sure, I guess.  Don’t see why you don’t just message him.”

“He, he doesn’t check his messages.”

Spicy gave him a hard look, then shrugged.  “If it’s private, don’t be too long.  I’ve still got fifteen crates to move after this one.  And don’t even think about taking anything.  I didn’t work my ass of just for someone to take it right under my nose,” he added.

“What do I look like, Silent Stealth?” Qilin asked in mock insult.

They shared a laugh at that.  Qilin then thanked him then quickly strode in the opposite direction.  When he reached the shaft to the surface, he pulled both the left and right levers down, then pushed them to their original position.  Tracks sprung from hidden locations on the side of the shaft.  As a metal animatronic, the ladder wouldn’t support him for the time needed to get to the surface.  The tracks were the only way he could get up.

Gears sprang from Qilin’s arms and legs.  He placed them snugly in the tracks, and began to slowly ascend towards the surface.

@0@0@

It always brought a smile to Qilin’s eyes whenever he entered the Spicy Mushroom.  The entire game could be going to hell, but the rundown bar would still be the same.  The same NPCs would be there, the same creaks and groans from the floor, and the same barstools that always seemed to be about to break.  The only difference was that Spicy's character was gone, and an NPC was manning the bar.

He walked to the far corner where a hooded figure was sitting with a glass of wine.  He leaned over and whispered, “I need you.  Meet me in the back.”

The figure didn’t say anything, but nodded its head.

Not waiting for him, Qilin moved behind the bar and through a small door.  The inside was would’ve been normally dark and gloomy, but Qilin’s eyes were like headlamps in the dark.  Looking around revealed rows upon rows of bottles of spirits and other potions.  Several bags of gold lay next a small pile of weapons.  Qilin knew that if he searched hard enough, he’d find other items ranging from one of a kind weapons, to owl pelts and feathers.  It was Spicy’s merchandise room.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” a deep voice said.

Qilin turned.  The figure from the bar had entered the room.

“Did anyone notice you come in?” He asked.

“There’s no one in there except NPC villagers.” The figure replied

“Could you lose the voice modifier?” Qilin asked.  “I never got used to that thing.”

The voice changed.  “If I’m not using the voice,” a distinctly feminine voice said, “I guess I don’t need this.”  The figure pulled the cloak off to reveal the lizard character that had first called Ginganinja a hacker.

“Thanks for coming in.” Qilin said.  “I’ve got a job for you.”

Sharps shrugged.  “It’s not like I have any choice.  What’s up?”

“I want you to go to the hacker’s lair and keep an eye on those four.”

She raised an eyebrow.  “Why not just send an attack squad to help them out and be done with it.”

“Because I don’t want to help them, I want to know what’s going on.  Those three agreed to that kid’s plan too quickly- almost as if it was planned out.”

“You think they’re deserters?”

“It’s the only explanation I can think of.  What confuses me is why they went.  Croe I could understand, and Janus might be convinced to leave if he really knew the guy, but Miles hates the hackers possibly more than the rest of us.  It makes no sense that he’d desert us to join the hackers.”

“Maybe they left because they saw it as a better chance to win this.”

“Excuse me?” Qilin said.

“Are you really that blind Qilin?”  She said, taking a step towards him.  “Morale is at an all-time low.  Just last week we had two of our best coders leave and delete their accounts.  You keep talking about fighting the hackers, but all we do is hide in a stupid cave and pray no one gets too badly hurt during the next ‘raid’.  Suddenly a new guy comes in.  Sure he’s a newbie who has hacker abilities, but he’s the first guy to stand up and say we should take the fight to the Hackers instead of letting them attack us.  If you hadn’t said that anyone who went with him would be kicked out, I know that more than three people would’ve followed him.  Hell, I was tempted to run after him and I helped you start this damn organization.”

“Well what did you want me to do?”  Qilin asked.  “I couldn’t just let him go without punishment.  He attacked one of our own!  The crowd would’ve torn them and me apart had I not done that.”  He got up in her face.  “Listen to me.  It would’ve been the end of the coders.”

“Maybe, maybe not.” Sharps said.  “You may’ve not seen it, but a lot of people listened closely to that kid.  He gave more than a few people hope- something we’re running pretty damn short on.”

They stood like that, face to face for several minutes, reptilian face and metal monstrosity staring down the other.  Finally Qilin broke the eye contact and muttered, “It would’ve destroyed us.  Those wanting to go with him would’ve fought those wanting to kill him.  As soon as that happened, it would’ve been game over for all of us.”

“Bullshit.” Sharps growled, reaching for her sword.  Seeing the motion, Qilin’s eyes narrowed and weapons began to sprout out of hidden compartment all over his body.

Suddenly the door to the bar banged open.  SpicyMooshroom walked in, carrying an empty box, only to freeze when he saw the standoff.  Both players quickly stepped back, as if caught doing a dirty deed.

Sharps sheathed her sword.  “I’ll go on that surveillance mission of yours, but if I see a chance to improve their chances, I’m taking it.  Don’t even try to stop me, Arthur.”

Spicy’s mouth dropped open, and Qilin reared back as if struck.  Revealing someone’s name on the internet without their permission was generally considered a massive breach of both protocol and manners.

“Don’t use that name.” Qilin hissed.  “I hate that name.  It makes me feel like a nerd.”

A small smile appeared on Sharps face.  “You’re an animatronic machine in an online world leading a rebellion against a bunch of hackers.  It doesn’t get much nerdier than that.”

And with that, she walked out the door.

Spicy set his box down on top of a barrel and walked up to Qilin.  “Really need to work on your skills with the ladies my man.”

“Shut up.” Qilin said, storming out.

“Hey! Can I call you Arty from now on?”

“No!”

12: The Castle of the Hackers

Alex, Miles, and Croe raced down the hill, but whoever was controlling Janus had a massive lead.  They could only watch in horror as their perfectly laid plan was ripped apart.  As Janus neared the group of hackers, he threw a grenade and pulled out his knife.  The grenade landed in the midst of the group and they stared at it with a mixture of confusion and horror.  Then it went off and took out three of them, while scattering the rest.  As they struggled to get back up, Janus attacked.

He kicked the legs back out from under a mage and met the back of his neck with his knife as he fell.  As an archer fired an arrow, he threw the knife and landed it in the archer’s chest.  A paladin tried to slice him with his sword, but Janus performed a block and slapped it aside.  The power and momentum of the sword kept it going right into another hacker’s head.  Janus pulled the paladin’s own knife out of his sheath, and slit his throat.  He then leapt over his victims to land next to a clockwork knight who had finally managed to get up.  He stabbed in between the rotating pieces of his neck and twisted, grinding the gears inside and opening up a hole the size of a baseball.  He primed his other grenade and jammed it in.  The Knight tried to remove it, but the damage to the gears was too great and he was unable to move his hands fast enough.  The grenade exploded finishing him off.

By then the rest had caught up to him.  Their characters were out of breath, but Janus was barely even sweating.

“Well, that was fun.”  Janus said in the same odd voice.

“What, the hell, was that all about?” Miles panted.

Janus seemed to frown under his mask.  “Um, it was me taking out those guys in a totally awesome fashion.  Weren’t you paying attention?”

“We had a plan.” Miles growled.  “A plan that involved stealth.  And that was the most un-stealthy thing I have seen in a long time.”

“Oh.” Janus said.  “Was I supposed to kill them quietly?”

“We were supposed to not kill them at all!”  Alex hissed.  “We were going to avoid them entirely!  Even if we had to fight, we would’ve done it quietly.  Instead, you ran in there and started chucking explosives!”

“Technically, I only threw one explosive.  I stuffed the other one down the knight’s throat.”  Janus corrected.

“What interests me,” Croe interjected, “is who exactly are you?  What happened to Janus?”

“Dude, can’t you see?” Janus spread his arms wide.  “I am Janus.  Or more importantly, the other half of Janus.”

Suddenly his head drooped again.  Within a second, it returned to normal.

“Sorry about my brother there.” Janus spoke in his normal voice.  “I hope he didn’t,” he stopped in midsentence when he got his bearings and realized he was standing in the middle of a miniature warzone.

“Wow um, what exactly happened here?”  He asked in utter confusion.

“I happened brother!”  Came a faint singsong voice from the background of wherever Janus was.

“Garrett!”  Janus yelled.

“Mic is still on Janus.” Miles said.  “You just told us your brother’s name.”

Sam slapped himself in the face and Janus repeated the action, his gloved hand making a thud noise against the mask.

“So what the heck just happened?”  Croe asked.

Janus sighed.  “Well, my brother and I, we don’t have a strong enough internet connection to play together.  Even if we did, we only have one set of equipment.  Since Rune’s gear is hardwired to a character until the character is deleted, we just use the same character.

It made sense.  Excluding the entry fee, Rune itself was a free to play game.  It raked in money by making the equipment that most players used locked to one account.    As soon as the account and the gear were linked, they remained that way until the account was terminated for whatever reason.  You could get knockoff brands that didn’t have this feature, but they tended to be hit and miss with the motion control.

“That’s why we named our character Janus.” Janus said.  “He’s the Roman god of two faces.”

“That’s great Janus, but we don’t have time for a history lesson.” Miles interrupted.  “You probably didn’t notice, but your brother’s little fight made a lot of noise.  Unless they’re having a rave party in their hot tub or something, they probably heard us and are coming this way right now.  If we want the plan to work, we need to go right now.”

“Right!  Plan! Uh, what was it again?”

Miles muttered something and started running towards the castle, Croe in hot pursuit.  Alex stayed back long enough to rattle off “Armory, explosives, big boom, tower goes bye-bye.”

Janus tilted his head to the side.  “Come again?”

“I’ll explain along the way!” Alex called back.

@0@0@

Two guards patrolled the wall, watching the valley for any movement.  One of the guards paused for a moment, certain he had heard fighting, but couldn’t see anything.  Dismissing it, he shrugged.  What did it matter anyway?  No one had breached the wall since the Coder’s last great offensive, well over a year ago.

Continuing his patrol, he ended up at one of the corners at the same time as the other guard.

“See anything?”

“Nope.  Quiet as always.”

This was followed by several minutes of silence, punctuated by creaks and groans as they both adjusted in their seats.  This was the second night in a row they had pulled the short straws and ended up on patrol; and it was beginning to take its toll.  Finally the first one spoke up.

“Hey dude.”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“You ever wonder why-”

“Dude, I swear to God,” the second guard said, getting angry, “If you ask me one more time why we’re here on top of a wall staring out into a boxed in valley, I am going to literally rip your character’s head off!”

“Hey! I wasn’t actually going to ask that.”

“Oh,” the guard said sheepishly, his anger cooling.  “What were you going to ask then?”

“I was just wondering why this game is touted as a medieval MMORPG, yet we’ve got people walking around in Jeans and sweatshirts.  I even saw a couple modern hand-grenades in the armory when I had to do inventory last Monday.”

“Wow, you get all the shitty jobs don’t you?”

“Yeah, I never get to go on hunts.  It sucks.  All they ever ask me to do is guard the wall, or do inventory.  The jobs no one higher up wants to do.”

“I hear yah man.  If it hadn’t been for the powerups and cash, I would’ve quit years ago.  Told them to go hire a freaking NPC to do their job and be cannon fodder.” 

“Anyways, do you know why that is?  You’d think the developers would consider the confusion when they made the game.”

“Well, it bugged me for a while as well, but I finally figured it out.  The reason the developers did that was because-”

Whatever he was going to say never got finished.  An arrow flew out of the darkness and embedded itself in his throat.  His character gave an awkward squawk, then fell over the side.  His partner barely got a chance to realize what happened before a scarecrow came hurtling through the air and hit him with a flying tackle.  Being a scarecrow made out of straw and spells, it didn’t weigh much.  All the same, it did knock the guard back a few paces. As he stumbled backwards, the guard tried to shout the alarm, but his character wouldn’t obey him.  He looked down to realize that the scarecrow had embedded a short scythe in his chest.  His health rapidly dropped to zero, and his character died.  He never did get his question answered.

@0@0@

Having dispatched the guard, Croe looked both ways down the wall before throwing a line down for the others.  He secured it and waved for the others.  They came up slowly, trying to avoid further noise.  Finally, they all stood on the wall, their characters panting.

“Nice toss Miles.”  Alex complimented.

“It wasn't that hard,” Miles replied.  “He's a lightweight compared to Saru.”

“He, has a name, you know.”  Croe said with a hint of irritation.”

“Sorry what was it again?”  Miles said teasingly.  “Strawboy?  He-who-fears-the-flame?”

“It's Croe.”  Croe replied.  “As in Scarecrow.”

“Whatever Strawhead.”

“Really Miles?  Cut it out dude.”  Janus said.

“I was trying to make a joke.”  Miles replied.  “Tryin' to ease the tensions through humor.”

“No offense, but your jokes are about as good as your agility.”  Croe said.

“Hey, at least I don't go flying whenever someone hits me with anything more than a flick.  This body ain't going nowhere.”  To emphasize his point, Miles hit his fist against his chest.

“Shut up!  Both of you shut up!  This is supposed to be a stealth operation!”  Alex said in as loud of a whisper as he dared.

Croe and Miles stopped they stared at each other for a good long second.

“This conversation isn't over.”  Miles said.

“Agreed.” Croe replied.

“Now that you've settled your differences,” Alex began.

Suddenly a bright light hit them.  They turned, shielding their eyes to see several mages on top of the towers casting an illumination spell down at them.  Hackers raced up the steps to the wall on both sides, surrounding them.  Archers joined the mages on the towers and nocked arrows, pointing them directly at them.  In effect, they were caught in a trap.

“This, escalated far more quickly than I expected.”  Alex said.

“Oh, believe me.  It's only begun to escalate,” said a voice in the crowd.  The crowd parted to let two players through.  As they waltzed up to the four, Miles let out a growl.

“After all, we've got a bit of payback to deliver.”  Bearzerker said.

13: Everything hits the fan

“You guys are just about the dumbest players I've ever seen.” Bearzerker sneered.  “I mean, did you completely forget about social media?  We knew you were here the moment you took down the guards!”

“You have fallen into our trap like flies in amber.  There is no escape for you.”  Saru said mystically.

Bearzerker paced in front of them without fear.  He stopped at Miles.  “You and I have some unfinished business.  Specifically, where's that backstabbing punk of a ginger?”

“Hey asshole! That backstabbing punk is right here!”  Alex replied.

Bearzerker swung around, his mouth agape.  He looked Alex's character up and down before bursting out laughing.

“That is the shittiest ninja costume I have ever seen!  Where'd you get the mask?  The dumpster?”

“From the vest Miles dropped.” Alex replied in an attempted comeback.  It only made Bearzerker laugh even harder.  Some of the other hackers began laughing as well.  Bearzerker laughed so hard, he fell out of his chair and crashed to the floor.

Alex's face burned with embarrassment.  He'd tried to make a good comeback, but had only made the burn worse.

Master Saru continued where Bearzerker left off.  He walked up to Janus and gave a slow smile.

“So, the mechanical man has let one of his pet programers go out for a walk.  I will take great pleasure in finding your secrets.”

“What secrets?”  Janus said calmly.  “I have no secrets.  I’m an open book for you to read.  Not that you’d be able to read me, of course.”

Despite the tense situation, Alex and Croe began laughing at Janus’ burn.  Miles was struggling to hold back a grin and even several of the Hackers were chuckling at the quip.

“Good one S-Janus” Alex said, catching himself at the last moment.

 “Shut up!  Shut up!  I am tired of you people making fun of me every single goddam time!”  Master Saru roared, losing his cool completely, along with his roleplay.

“Then don’t make it so easy” Miles commented.  “Seriously; one mention of what you did to Curious Geor-”

Master Saru yelled and swung his staff at Miles.  It hit, and he tumbled into Janus, hissing in pain.  Being the closest to the edge, Janus had nothing to stop himself.  His character gave a yell and he fell off the ledge.

“Enough Saru!” a Minotaur snorted.  “While your rage may earn you favor with our leader, I will not let you lose control on my wall!  Go and make sure he doesn't get away.”

Master Saru peered off the edge before muttering a curse and sulking off.

The Minotaur walked up to the remaining three players.  “Drop your weapons.  Now.”

“You can't make us do that.” Alex said.  “We can just log out.”

The bull gave them a view of his cracked yellow teeth.  “Only Hackers log out of this castle.  Anyone else will feel the unending pain of our virus.  Now I’ll ask again.  Drop your weapons.”

Grunting in resignation, Miles threw down his sword.  Alex did the same.  Only Croe refused to let his scythe go.

“Drop the tool kid.”  The Minotaur snorted.

“No way.”  Croe replied.  “I've worked too hard just to get this one.  I'm not just going to drop it on the ground when some hacker like you asks me to.”

“Give me the scythe kid!”  The Minotaur bellowed.  To emphasize his authority, the Minotaur activated the hacker's powerup.  The red aura began emanating from his hooves and horns.  Despite the show of power, Croe stood his ground.

“Not a chance!”

“Give it to me now!” the Minotaur grabbed the scythe and tried to pull it from his grasp.

“Let, go, of, ME!” Croe yelled.

Orange flames, much more powerful than the ones in the cave, blasted out of the blade.  The Minotaur roared and let go as they reached for him.  With the weapon in hand, Croe viciously swiped at the Minotaur.  A bit too vicious, perhaps.  The scythe went clean through the Minotaur who disintegrated into orange dust.  The flames jumped from the scythe and blasted all of the hackers on one side of the group, turning them into dust as well.

Croe briefly turned to both Alex and Miles.  The stitches that made up his mouth curved into a smile.  “I told you it worked!” he said gleefully before turning to the other hackers.

Alex and Miles dove for their weapons as Croe faced his opponents.  As they moved to face him, Croe flicked his scythe, generating the orange flames and disintegrating the first few rows.  A few mages took up formation and began to cast spells of destruction.  Croe leapt over the hackers, who all ducked in fear, and would've destroyed the formation, had an Alchemist not transmuted the air around the hackers into an iron hemisphere.  As Croe began ripping large gashes in the metal, the remaining hackers moved in for the kill, viral aura surrounding their weapons.  They would've been successful had Alex and Miles at that moment not decided to join the fight.  Miles went in with large swooping strikes, taking out several hackers in one swipe.  Alex conjured fireballs and began lobbing them into the crowd.  The remaining Hackers began to flee.  As they ran, arrows sprouted from their backs and their characters collapsed.  Alex whirled around to see Janus standing on the battlements, having evaded Saru and climbed back up.

At this moment, Bearzerker finally came back.  He looked around in bewilderment as he realized he was the only remaining hacker on the battlements.

“Oh shit!” he yelled, desperately unsheathing his claws and activating the viral aura.  Before he could complete it, Croe tossed his scythe.  It spun end over end and hit Bearzerker dead in the forehead.  He exploded into orange dust and the scythe clattered to the floor.

Croe grabbed the scythe and pumped his fist in success.

“I still think it's a gardening implement though,” Miles added, incapable of letting Croe get the last word, or gesture in that circumstance.

@0@0@

The element of surprise gone, the group rushed down the stairs and into the central courtyard.  They made a beeline for the armory as hackers threw spears and cast spells in their direction.

“Question.” Croe piped up.  “Where do we place the explosives to take this place down?”

“How the hell should I know?  I’m not an engineer.” Miles replied, swiping at a bold hacker who had gotten too close for comfort.

Miles and Croe both looked at Janus.  Reading their minds, he said “Grenades are for people; not for big castles.”

Alex looked around.  As he did, his father’s voice echoed through his mind.  “I find that the engineer’s eye that people claim I have is nothing more than being observant of your surroundings, and thinking about what is useful and what is not.”

Alex shook his head and looked around.  The castle the hackers had set up base in had long walls completely encircling the area.  Houses lined the main road from the gate.  They would be of no use.  The walls could be blown up, but it would be nothing more than a temporary setback.  The Keep however, was clearly important.  Furthermore, if it could be destroyed so that if it fell down as one piece, it could take out a large chunk of the wall.

“Janus, can you go and guard the Keep?  Don’t let anyone get to it.”

“Hold on,” Janus said.  His head drooped for less than a second before snapping back up.  “Wow.  I leave you guys for fifteen minutes, and this is what you have to show for it.”  Garret (or at least, Alex assumed it was Garret) said.

“Why did your brother put you on?”  Alex asked exasperatedly.

“Probably because he knows I’m easily the better fighter.  So what’s up?”

“We need the Keep clear of hackers.”

Janus nodded.  He broke away from the group and ran towards the Keep, while the rest of the group reached the armory.  Miles easily swiped through the door hinges, and they were through.

The inside was lined with rows upon rows of weapons.  Potions were held in massive glass containers with spouts built into the bottom.  In the back, scrolls and tomes littered shelves located next to workbenches with scraps of just about everything strewn on top.  There were, however, no explosives.

“Now what?”  Miles groaned.  “Without the explosives, we can’t pull this off!”

Croe unfolded the map.  “According to what Silent Stealth wrote on the map, this room is only made to look like the armory.  The real armory should be located right;” he kicked on a bookshelf and it teetered and fell over to reveal a staircase, “here.” Croe finished triumphantly.

Alex conjured a fireball and led the way.  The stairway led downwards briefly to reveal a smaller room.  Unlike the room above that contained mundane everyday weapons, this room had rare and beautiful weapons from the game.  What the three were interested in, however, was what was located in the middle of the room.  A table sat in the middle with explosives upon explosives piled on top.  Miles grabbed a burlap bag from an adjacent table and began shoving explosives into it.

“Careful!” Alex warned.  “What if one of those went off?”

Miles shrugged.  “Can’t.  Rune requires most explosives to have something activate it before it goes off.  A few bumps won’t do that.”

As Miles continued to shove explosives into the bag, Alex looked around the armory.  “These are pretty nice weapons.” He mentioned, picking up a staff hanging on the wall.  It was a light wood with intricate patterns carved into it.  It split at the top and a soft green glow seemed to originate from the runes spiraling to the top.

Miles looked up for a second to see.  He did a double take when he saw the staff.  “Yeah, they are powerful.”  He murmured.  “Real powerful.”

“That one you're holding is the only one in the game.” Croe said.  He turned to Miles.  “Didn't Professor,”

“Just put it down.” Miles snapped.  “Let it burn with the rest of this place.”

“Don't you think we should hang on to it?” Alex asked.

Miles shook his head.  “It’d only slow us down.”

“Come on,” Alex pleaded.  “Do you really want the hackers to keep it?  This stuff could be powerful.”

“Not as powerful as the other scythe,” Croe muttered underneath his breath, but neither Miles nor Alex paid attention.

“I'm going to leave some explosives here with a long fuse,” Miles explained.  “The blast will wipe out the weapons and reset their quests.”

“There are some we shouldn't leave,” Croe said.”

“And what might those be?” Miles looked up from his work with a look of irritation.”

Croe was holding two daggers.  One was pointed with a handguard.  The other was a black tanto knife.

“They fit Silent Stealth’s sheaths perfectly,” he said triumphantly.  “They're the knives he lost.”

“Bag 'em,” Alex said. He turned to Miles.  “You done yet?”

“Just finished,” he replied.  He unrolled a long fuse and attached it to one of the explosives still laying on the table.  He unrolled it as far as it would go, and quickly made his way up the stairs with Croe following suit.  Alex waited until they were out of his sight, before lighting the fuse with a fireball.  It lit on the first go and slowly made its way towards the explosives.  Alex quickly followed behind Miles and Croe.  They exited the building and were faced with several hackers who were lying in wait for them; weapons aglow with viral aura.

“How long does that fuse have?” Alex whispered furiously.

“Less than a minute,” Miles replied.

Suddenly, as if pulled by invisible strings, the hackers stepped back as one.  In the sky, thunder rumbled, and the three of them looked up just in time to see dark blue lighting arc down towards them.  It crashed to the earth, forming a cage not unlike the one used on Miles.

“You!” Croe shouted.

“Croe, who is that guy?” Alex asked.

Croe didn't answer.  Instead, he pulled his scythe from his belt and slashed at the cage.  Alex expected him to be instantly killed, but instead, the blade seemed to be protected by an invisible force that kept the lightning from touching the blade.  It also had the added bonus of seemingly dissipating the strand into harmless streams of energy that quickly petered off.  He repeated the action several times, and ended up with a hole large enough for him to step through.  He pulled out a scroll that he apparently had stolen from the armory and chanted a few verses.  Then, before the hackers could attack him, he took a giant leap and sailed towards the top of the Keep.

“What the hell is he doing?”  Miles said angrily as he watched Croe disappear from sight.

“Um, Miles, I think we have bigger problems on our hand,” Alex said.  The hackers encircling the cage had activated their powerups and were preparing to attack.

Miles made an angry sound in the back of his throat, and stood ready to fight.  Alex unsheathed his sword as well and activated the flame-edge.  To his horror, the flames had once again been replaced by the viral tendrils.  “What the hell is going on?” he exclaimed.  “I thought Janus fixed this!”

“How should I know?”  Miles replied.

“Aren’t you a coder?”

“That’s just the name of the group.  I’m a fighter, not a programmer.  I use the tools they give me, but I have no idea how any of that shit works.”

As Miles and Alex stepped out of the cage, the hackers moved in, albeit with a bit less confidence as they were going up against their own ability.  The first hacker, a paladin, swung at Miles, who blocked easily and threw the unfortunate hacker into the cage.  His avatar gave a yelp of pain and jerked twice before burning to a crisp.  The next one swung us axe at Miles again, but in doing so, exposed his side to Alex.  He darted in and stabbed wildly, hitting the hacker several times, but missing the majority of his shots.  It was enough though, and the hacker was taken down.

Miles frowned.  “Slow down kid.  You’re going to screw up if you don’t.”

“I got this,” Alex replied irritably.  He felt his face flush.  He could do this.  He took down Bearzerker and Saru easily.  And they were supposedly some of the toughest players in the game.  How hard would it be?

As a hacker took a stab at him with his spear, Alex batted it away.  He charged at the hacker, only to be clotheslined by the spear’s shaft.  He stumbled, and gave the hacker the opening to stab him in the side.  It was a glancing blow, but with the viral aura surrounding the head, it was enough.

A whine burst from Alex’s headphones.  He clapped his hands over his ears and bit his lip to muffle his yells.  His character fell to its knee, and the edges of his view was flashing red.  In the background, he could still hear fighting, but the majority of his hearing was taken up by the ringing in his ears from the attack.

Out of nowhere, the ground began to rumble.  Ginganinja was suddenly grasped by the back of his shirt and dragged at a fast pace.  Alex looked around to see Miles holding him as he ran towards the Keep.  Behind them, fire was spewing out from the windows of the armory.  With an almighty roar, the building exploded outwards, taking the surrounding landscape, and the hackers, with it.

14: Light the Fuse

Miles didn’t let go of Alex until they were safe in the Keep, and the door was barricaded.  Inside, Janus stood in the middle of a ring of defeated hackers.  He hurried over and asked in a concerned but mildly interested voice, “What happened out there?”

“The Almighty Ginganinja nearly got himself killed,” Miles replied in a sarcastic voice.  “His loyal fans,” he gestured to the door, which had begun to shake from repeated attacks, “proved to be crazier than a horde of Beliebers.”

“Hey, where’s the scarecrow guy?” Janus asked, realizing that Croe wasn't with them.

“Lost his shit when someone caught us in a lightning cage and took off after them,” Miles replied.  “Must’ve been an old accomplice of his.”

Janus whistled.  “That’s a bit of a low move.”

Miles rounded on Alex.  “Listen,” he said in a deadly low voice.  “You nearly got taken out in that fight.  You act like you’ve got everything under control, but when it comes down to it, you don’t.  Most of those hackers out there have been playing the game for over a year and they’ve honed their characters to the max and know how to use them.  What makes you think you have the slightest chance at beating them?”

“Hey, chill out dude.” Janus said.  “You’re being a bit-”

“And furthermore,” Miles continued, oblivious to Janus’ interjection; “What makes you think you can be a leader?  No one besides Janus know much more than the fact that you have the hacker’s code grafted onto your character.”  He pulled out his sword and leveled it at Alex.  “How do we know you aren’t actually a Hacker?  How do we know that this isn’t a trap? How do we know anything about you?”

“Enough!”

Miles turned to see Janus with a nocked arrow pointing directly at him.

“I am the only person in this game who knows GN from the real world,” Janus said with an even tone.  “He is lazy, introverted, and so socially awkward that the only reason I know him is because my younger brother went to hang out with him because he had a Wii, and I tagged along.”

“Your point?” Miles shot back.

“My point,” Janus said in a low voice, “Is that I know that he has suffered the pain of being bullied too many times to take part in it himself.  When he captured you and brought in Bearzerker and Saru, he did it because he felt that he was doing the right thing.  And I also know that the reason he came here was not to extract revenge from the hackers for lying to him, it’s because he’s beating himself up inside for helping people bully others.  He feels responsible for your pain and is doing what he can to fix it.”

They stood like that for what seemed to be an eternity- swordsman staring down archer.  At long last, Miles gave and exasperated “Fine” and lowered his sword.  He dropped the bag of explosives and made his way towards the stairs.

“Where are you going?” Janus asked.

“To find out where the hell that scarecrow is, and to take out anyone upstairs,” he replied.  “At this point we’ll be lucky to get killed quickly.  If I had any common sense I’dve left before this even started.  But seeing how I’m already here, I might as well give it a shot.  What the hell do I have to lose anyways?”

Janus put the arrow away, and helped Alex back to his feet.

“Thanks for sticking up for me,” Alex said.  “I don't get it.  Why did he lose it like that?”

Janus cracked the door and tossed two grenades out before slamming it and shoving a poleaxe underneath the door hinge.  The ensuing explosions stopped the thumps of weapons against the door and gave them a small respite.  “Well Alex,” he said, using his real name since they were alone; “If you really did almost die out there, he was probably scared and taking it out on you.”

“Scared?” Alex scoffed.  “How was he scared?  He was like a tank out there.  What did he have to fear?”

“Apart from having his eardrums wrecked?  Unlike you, Miles has no engineering background.  If you had fallen, he probably would not have known what to do with the explosives to level the Keep.  Speaking of which,” he grabbed a vial of glowing green liquid from the bag; “Where do we put these?”

“On the supports facing the gate.  If we do it right, the keep will fall and take the gate and wall with it.”  Alex replied.  “That still doesn't explain why he was angry.  If we failed, we could just try again.”

“Except we wouldn't,” Janus said, attaching the jar to a support with adhesive.  “The hackers would know that you mean business and would be ready for you next time.  This is our only chance at pulling this off.”

Janus moved to a cabinet filled with books and miscellaneous items.  “Help me push this, will you?”

Alex obliged and the two of them managed to move it in front of the door, which had begun to splinter under the resumed attacks.

“One thing you have to understand something about Miles.  He's been at this for at least a year now.  And in that time, success has been out of our vocabulary since the beginning.  This is actually the farthest anyone has ever gotten since the Hackers first unveiled their virus.  Why we’ve never gotten this far, I don’t know.  They keep the programmers near the base in-case something happened to us, so we rarely if ever go on a raid.”

“Wow, that sucks,” Alex said sympathetically

“Tell me about it.  Garrett probably attacked those hackers because he realized we were out of the cave for the first time in ages.”

A pouch of black powder slipped through a hole in the pouch and Janus caught it.  “What do you think I should do now?” Alex asked.

Janus tossed the black powder back up to him.  “My suggestion would be to apologize to Miles.  He has little patience for ineptitude but is quick to accept sincere apologies.”

“Do you think that’ll work?” Alex asked.

Janus nodded.  “Just tell him you were wrong and that you should’ve listened to his advice.  Once you do that, ask him for his advice.  Garrett may be the best all- around fighter, but Miles is easily the best swordsman the Coders have to offer.”

“Except for the fact that you, Miles, and Croe were kicked out of the Coders for coming with me,” Alex added.

“Touché.  By the way, how’s my code doing?”

“Your code?”  Alex asked in shock.  “Sam, when did you swap with your brother?”

“Janus shrugged.  “About the same time Miles started yelling.  So how’s the code working?”

“Not at all,” Alex sighed.  “It copped out on me when we were in the courtyard.”

Janus paused, as if in thought.  “Can you try it now?  I want to see something.”

Alex obliged, and a brilliant fireball bloomed from his palm.

Janus walked closer, examining it.  “You're sure that it was a virus ball in the courtyard?”

“Yeah, just ask M-” Alex stopped in mid- sentence, forgetting that Miles was out of the room and mad at him.”

“I think I might know what’s going on.” Janus said, ignoring Alex's pause.  “The code I wrote to cover up the virus worked through proportions.  Meaning that as long as the code I wrote is in greater proportion than the virus, it will remain under control.  I think that when a virus is near other virus hosts, it links its code with the other viruses to increase its power, which also increases the proportion of virus code to the point where it overcomes my code.”

“Sam?”

“Yeah?”

“You do realize that you could’ve saved your breath and just said it was like Frodo’s sword in Lord of the Rings.”

Sam sighed.  “Yeah, I probably could’ve.”

Alex summoned up a fireball once more.  “Well, at least we have a way to tell if there's a Hacker;”

He paused in mid-sentence and stared at the fireball in horror.  It had begun to sputter chaotically between fireball, and virus form.

“Near us.” Alex finished in a small voice.

At that moment, the ceiling gave an almighty groan, and Miles came crashing through.

@0@0@

Alex and Janus dove out of the way as the mountain man fell at near terminal velocity towards the stone floor.  He hit with an almighty crash that rattled the fallen swords and knocked a candlestick off its perch.

Groaning, Miles sat up, one hand clutching his ear, the other groping for his sword, which had fallen out of his grasp when he landed.  “Goddammit,” he muttered in pain.

The pain was the least of his worries.  Alex looked up to see two hackers pushing a large chest towards the hole with the intent of crushing Miles.  Alex ran to where Miles sat and pulled on his shoulders.

“Let’s go!” Alex shouted

“Get off of me!” Miles shouted back.  “I can take care of myself.”

Janus’ bow thrummed twice, and a hacker fell from the ceiling, an arrow sticking out of his head like a horn.  The other hacker dove for cover.

“Apparently you can’t.” Janus replied.  Miles grunted ambiguously and didn’t meet their eyes.

“What did you see up there?”  Alex asked.

“I reached the fourth floor just in time for that minotaur to respawn right in front of me.  Slammed me through the floor before I knew what was going on.”

“And you survived?” Janus said impressed.  “Dude, you’re made out of adamantium.”

“More like the third floor was made of tissue paper.  It still took most of my health away.  It’s going to take a few minutes or a health potion before I’m back to normal.”

“While we’re waiting,” Alex began, shifting uncomfortably.  “There’s-”

Miles roared in pain as an arrow sprouted from his shoulder.  He dropped to the floor again, barely being missed by another arrow.

“Sniper!” Janus shouted.  He kicked a table over and crouched behind it, bow at the ready.”

“Miles!” Alex said worried.  “Are you okay?”

Miles was still yelling in pain.  In the background, Alex could hear the whine of the hacker’s virus.

“Ginge!” Janus shouted.  “You’ve got to get the arrow out.  The tip has the viral aura on it.”

Alex grasped it and pulled.  The arrow came out with a wet shhhinnk and Alex tossed it away.”

“Miles!  Oh God man, I had no idea!  A-are you okay?” Alex stammered.

With lightning speed, Miles grabbed his sword from the ground and sliced it at Alex.  He hit him with the flat of the blade, sending Ginganinja sailing sliding across the cobbled floor.  Two more arrows were fired, one hitting right where Ginganinja had been mere moments before.  The other sliced through Miles’ calf.  It didn’t stick, but he roared in pain again.

Miles’ painful cry hit Alex hard.  He saw red, and it was not from low health.  Here was a guy who had been fighting Hackers for over a year, taking hit after hit, hearing the painful whine over and over again.  And yet he was still willing to selflessly push someone else out of the way to take it once more.

It is said that the human body can do extraordinary feats in times of stress.  While it was impossible for the developers do implement something quite like that, what Alex pulled off was nothing short of extraordinary.

He snapped his fingers, bringing up a fireball.  It still spluttered between virus and fire form, but Alex didn’t care.  The hackers had been dishing out the attack for ages.  It was high time they got the same treatment.

He threw it at the nearest hacker who had poked his goblin’s head up to see the he had wrought damage.  It hit him right between the eyes and he fell over with a squawk.  Alex then jumped onto the table Janus had tipped and used it to jump high enough to grab onto the edge of the hole.  Hoisting himself up, he barely had time to duck before a knife from the remaining archer swiped at him, nearly taking his head off.  Drawing his sword, Alex activated the flame edge powerup.  It too spluttered but Alex ignored it.

Recognizing the attack, the hacker’s eyes widened in fear and he desperately backpedaled in an attempt to get away.  Alex swiped at him and the hacker somehow managed to bring the knife up in time to block.  Alex pressed the attack, swiping and slashing as quickly as he could, intent on dealing as much damage as possible.  It was successful and he began landing hits.  Sometimes they landed when the fire-edge was active, causing the limb or clothing in question to burn.  In other cases, the hacker was hit with the viral aura, causing him to whimper in pain.

“Who- who the hell are you?” he asked in shock.
Alex made a final swipe, knocking his knife out of his hand.

“Me?” Alex said, driving the sword point home.  “I’m the Almighty Ginga-Fucking-Ninja.”

@0@0@

If Alex could see the eyes of Sam, he imagined they would be the size of dinner plates.

“That, was, actually pretty scary.” He said in an awed voice.  “Remind me not to piss of the Ginganinja.”

Alex thanked him then turned to Miles.  The swordsman had managed to stand up and was muttering curses under his breath.

Alex sighed.  “It seems I keep ending up apologizing to you.  I, I’m sorry for being a complete and utter dick.”

Miles sighed.  “I suppose I can accept it.  You did after all save my ass yet again.”

“For once, I was unnecessary in a long range fight.” Janus commented.

“I have been told that you were the best swordsman in the Coders.” Alex said.

Miles managed a weak laugh.  “Try best straight up swordsman in the whole game.”

“Would you, be willing to, what I mean is,” Alex tried to say.

“Spit it out already!”                                               

“Can you teach me how to fight?”  Alex blurted.

Before Miles could respond, the door crashed open and several Hackers tumbled through.  Miles redrew his sword as Alex had Ginganinja do the same.

“Got any quick pointers?” Alex whispered furiously.

“Strike hard and fast,” Miles replied.  “Protect your head and chest.  If you can, slide around their defenses to strike at them.  With a curved blade like yours, it should be even easier.”

Suddenly the Hackers were shoved to the side.  Master Saru strode in as Bearzerker lumbered behind.

“Christ, they don’t give up!” Alex muttered.

Saru gave them a malicious grin.  “It would appear that we have once again caught you three.”

“That was the second time today I died today.” Bearzerker growled.  “I did not appreciate that.”

“Nor do I,” a voice growled behind them.

Alex wheeled around to see the Minotaur advancing on them.  He raised his sword in anticipation.

“Don’t,” Miles ordered.  “If you take him on, you’ll die.”  He then addressed the hackers.  “You know you can’t win this time, right?  This place is decked out with explosives.  And the fuse, “he gestured at the fuse that was lying next to his foot, “is right here.”

Saru moved in a blur of speed.  Before Alex knew what was going on, the fuse had been snatched from next to Miles’ boot, and into Saru’s tail.  “Not anymore it’s not,” He said triumphantly.

“OOHH Burn!” Bearzerker said gleefully.

“Shut up, you sound like an idiot.” Saru ordered.

Alex summoned a fireball.  The ball spluttered weakly, staying mostly in the viral form.”

Saru just sighed and moved his tail behind him to protect the fuse.  “I see you tried to cover up the code.  To get rid of the gift we gave you.  Instead, you just made it worse- it’s now going drain your mana to use it.”

“That doesn’t mean that I can’t use it right now to light it on fire.” Alex shot back.

“You could try that, but I’d doubt it would work.” Saru admitted with a sneer.  “I’m way too fast.  Even if you did manage to hit the fuse, our virus code doesn’t set things on fire.  You’d only have a fifty-fifty chance of success.  You are such a pathetic excuse for a ninja.”

Angry, Alex increased the size of the fireball.  It went from softball size, to as large as a watermelon.

“I see.  You refuse to just lie down and die, don’t you?”

He whirled his staff at Alex, who had to hastily duck to avoid it.  He looked up just in time to get hit in the face with Saru’s foot.  He stumbled back, and barely managed to stay up.

Meanwhile, Miles had engaged the Minotaur.  He had lost his sword in the opening strike, but was able to hold his ground and actually overpower the powerful player.  He threw him on the ground and began repeatedly punching him over and over.

Janus had dove for the bag and was desperately searching through it.  Soon he found what he was looking for and brought out Silent Stealth’s two knives. He flipped one around and tossed it.  The knife spun through the air before impaling itself in Bearzerker’s forehead.

“Not again.” He moaned before collapsing to the ground.

Alex got back on his feet.  Saru saw this and scowled.  “Haven’t you had enough?” he said irritably.

“Not quite.” Alex said with a grin.  He sliced at Saru who deflected it with his staff.  Before he could counterattack though, Alex followed through with a cut to the legs.  Saru managed to block that to, but just barely.  Saru then spun the staff around and hit Alex on the head with the other end while dragging his sword out of his hand.

Alex winced in anticipation for the burst of noise, but surprisingly, it didn’t come.  Instead, he launched himself at Saru and latched on tight.

The giant monkey stumbled.  “What the- get off of me you freak!”

Instead, Alex began bashing Saru with the fireball he still had in his hand.  With each hit, Saru became weaker and weaker.  The viral aura on his staff flickered out and he began yelling in pain every time Alex hit him.  With a jolt, Alex realized why he hadn’t been hit with the noise when Saru hit him.  The Hackers must’ve put something in the virus to prevent friendly fire!

With one final blow, Alex burned clear through Saru’s head.  The momentum behind the blow kept it going to where it reached his tail hidden behind his head, blasting that to.

Alex pushed off of Saru’s headless corpse and scooped up his sword, yanking it off of the staff and tossing the staff away.

“Alright, who wants some?” Alex yelled defiantly.

The hackers weren’t looking at him.  They were instead looking at the fuse that had been in Saru’s tail before Alex destroyed it.

The fuse was lit and it was traveling at a rapid pace towards the first explosive Alex had placed- a very nasty looking firebomb.

“Run!” a runty goblin cried in a surprisingly deep voice.  “Get the fuck out of my way!”

The hackers bolted, leaving the three standing in the middle of the few hackers they had managed to kill.

Janus grabbed the knife out of Bearzerker’s corpse.  “What are we waiting for? Let’s get out of here!”

They burst out of the shattered door and ran as fast as they could.  Outside, the courtyard was in chaos- hackers and NPCs were running around in panic- trying to get away from the Keep.  Alex looked to his right to see that the Armory was nothing more than a smoking crater at this point.

Just as they cleared the doorway, the firebomb went off.  Fire blasted throughout the Keep, breaking windows and burping through holes.

“That was the first one” Alex said nervously.  “It was designed to set off the others.”  He turned to Miles.  “How long does it take for those to go off?’

“The powder bombs should go off immediately, the rest should be activated and blow up within two minutes.”

“Not much time then.” Janus said.  He took off, Miles following as he ran right at the gate that the Keep was primed to fall on.

“Wait!” Alex said franticly.

“What do you mean, wait?” Miles shouted.  “We can’t stay here”

“We can’t use the gate either.”  Alex replied.  “We don’t have enough time before the Keep falls on it.”

“Then we jump the wall.” Miles roared.

“Not without Croe.” Alex said savagely.  “We can’t just leave him.  I know he’ll just respawn, but still!”

As if on cue, lightning blasted out of the top floor of the keep, demolishing the roof and most of the wall.  A figure went flying out and landed ten yards away from them.

“Croe!” Alex shouted as he ran to him.  The scarecrow was in bad shape.  His robes had massive holes I them and straw was spewing everywhere.  Smoke was coming out of every opening indicating he was on fire inside.

“Don’t worry about it.” Croe said when he saw Alex eyeballing the fires.  “Just grab my head and scythe.  I can always find more straw later.”

“But you’re-” Alex began

“I’m on fire and spewing stuffing everywhere, but for the moment, I’m alright,” Croe assured him.  “My character type is an animation.  So long as my core is safe, I’m okay.”

“He’s right.” Miles said.  He reached down and pulled Croe’s collar back.  Alex saw that Croe’s head was in fact just a stuffed burlap bag situated on top of a pile of straw with a string leading down the length of his body.  With a quick yank, Miles severed the string and grabbed the head.  Janus bent down and grabbed the scythe, sticking it in his bandolier, next to the knives.

“Where’s that scroll you had?” Miles asked Croe’s head.

“Left pocket, next to the smoke bomb.” He replied.

Miles grabbed that as well.  He read it off at a fast pace, words almost blurring.  He then threw it down, grabbed both Janus and Ginganinja and kicked off.

Alex gulped as a wave of vertigo and nausea blew through his system.  “Oh god, I’m going to be sick.”

“Please don’t.” Janus said.  “That’s the last thing I need.

“Hey, you guys have it easy.”  Croe said indignantly.  “I’m tucked under Miles’ arm in an awkward position.  Let me tell you man, these next-gen graphics aren’t doing your sweaty pits any favors.  You might want to also get your shirt fixed.  It’s got a rip in a bad place for me.”

“Shut up,” Miles said.  “I need to time this just right.”

Alex opened his eyes to see that Miles’ powerful leg muscles had propelled them all the way to the ledge from which they had first viewed the hacker’s castle.  And they were coming towards it at a very high speed.  At the last second, Miles straightened out and landed on his feet.  He lost his grip on Janus, Ginganinja, and Croe’s head, and they all went rolling.

Alex tumbled left and right for what seemed like an eternity.  Finally he hit a tree and came to an almighty stop.  Groaning from the nausea, he stood Ginganinja up.  “Everyone okay?

“No, I’m not.” Came a voice in the trees.  Alex looked up to see Croe’s head wedged in the crook of a branch, twenty feet up in the air.  “As it turns out, I bounce really well.”

“I got this.” Janus said dryly, looking up at Croe and nocking and arrow.

“Wait, what are you- don’t you do it you-” Croe yelled as Janus shot the arrow.  It grazed Croe’s head and had enough force to push him out of the tree.  He fell screaming into the outstretched hand of Miles.  “Good to see we all made it.” He said.  “I wasn’t sure there for a second.”

“What happened to the castle?” Alex asked.

Janus jogged to the edge and peered down into the valley.  “You guys gotta see this.”

They hurried over to stand next to Janus.  The castle was a mess.  Buildings were on fire and explosions were going off in the Keep.  Alex could see that it was teetering dangerously.  Finally it leaned too much one way and its fate was sealed.

Small figures scattered and tried to escape from the falling stone.  Most were unsuccessful.  As it hit the ground, the Keep shattered into millions of pieces, throwing shrapnel everywhere.  When it collided with the wall, it collapsed as well.  The top two floors ended outside the wall and surprisingly mostly intact.

“Oh come on!”  Miles cried indignantly.  “What kind of demolition w-w-w-w-w-w-w”

Surprised, Alex tried to look at Miles, but when he turned his head, his virtual head refused to respond.  Out of the corner of his eye though, he could see Miles was jittering between two frames.

Suddenly there was a bright light and the world exploded; very slowly.  Still unable to turn, Alex got a good look as the massive pile of rubble that was once the keep get blasted up one frame per second.  Alex, Miles, Janus, and Croe were treated to a picturesque view of the hated castle slowly disintegrating.  Alex wished the game would return to normal so he could take some screenshots of the carnage.  It was certainly something worth looking at over and over again.

When the game finally returned to normal time only bits and pieces of the wall remained as well as the parts of the Keep that ended up outside the walls, apparently sheltered from the blast.

“They must’ve been making the explosives in the keep.” Alex said in amazement.

“Holy shit.” Miles breathed in awe.  “We, we actually fucking did it!”

“Did what?” Croe asked.  “Why did the game nearly crash?  I can’t see anything!  Miles; get me out of your pit!”

“And you thought we were going to crash and burn.” Alex said playfully, elbowing Miles.

“Yeah, but we did it.” Miles repeated.  He turned to Alex.  “I'm sorry for ever doubting you GN.”

“Thanks for coming, even though you doubted me.” Alex replied.

“Friends?”

“Friends.”

“Yeah, that’s great and all,” Croe said, “But can someone besides Miles please carry me?  I’m tired of looking at his armpit.”

“Sure,” Janus said, pulling Croe from Miles.

“Thanks man,” Croe said.  “Hey, didn’t you pick up Silent Stealth’s knives?”

“Yeah, why?” Janus asked, looking down.

The knives weren’t there.  They, along with the sheaths had disappeared off of Janus’ bandoliers- right in plain sight of the group.  A note had been tucked in with Janus’ normal knife.

Thank you for getting my knives.  It was a pleasure working with you.

-SS

@0@0@

Sharpslefae had been watching the group for some time now.  Using a telescope she’d bought from Spicy, she could make out most of what was going on.  It wasn’t too surprising that they had gotten captured almost immediately.  Hadn’t they thought about social media at all?  Still, it wasn’t too surprising when they managed to get free and escape.  Once they jumped down off the wall, she lost sight of them.  When she saw Croe launch up at whoever was attacking from the top of the Keep, once again she figured it was over.

“Typical Croe” she thought.  “Always bolting at the first hint that the guy who stole his other scythe is around.”

To her surprise, she saw Miles and the red-haired kid survive and bolt into the Keep as the Armory exploded.  She then saw the Hackers break down the door and run in.  Suddenly, they poured out and began running away.  She lost track of who was where when fire started blasting out of the Keep.  All of the sudden, she saw a silhouette against the moon.  She looked up and to her horror saw Miles, Janus, and the redhead soaring towards her.

Having seconds to act, she slammed on her helmet of invisibility and rolled away.  Hiding behind a tree, she saw their ungraceful landing and inspection of the Hacker Lair.  She couldn’t believe her eyes when it all exploded and lagged out the game.  The apps that monitored the game’s status she had up in another window began shrieking and warning here that a crash was imminent.  Just before it reached the limit of Rune’s servers, things calmed down and the statuses returned to normal.

While Miles shouted in joy, she brought up the messaging system for Rune.  Unsurprisingly, Qilin had already messaged here

Qilin1 > Sharpslefae: Game nearly crashed for us.  WTF is going on?

Sharpslefae: Qilin, you’re not going to believe this,

END OF PART ONE

STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER, TWO WEEKS FROM NOW

UNTIL THEN, PEACE!!

15: Two Months Later

Welcome to Part Two guys and Gals!

This is actually about where I was when I first began looking into posting Heroes of Rune on the web.  It's kind of a surprise that we've gotten this far, to be honest.  Not that I didn't think we'd make it, I'm just surprised that we're here.

Anyways, from my side of things, Part two is coming along great!  It's about ten or so chapters ahead, and currently 30,000 words long, give or take.  This admittedly makes parts one and two a bit lopsided, but I when I called them parts one and two, I had no idea part two would be as long as it is.  So now, they more of symbolize jumps in time for the story; as seen by the title, Two Months Later.

At this point I think I'm rambling, so I'll just shut up now and leave you guys to it!  Enjoy!

The cave was situated in the tallest mountain in the range, halfway up its steep boulder covered surface.  Despite facing into the setting sun, light seemed to bend away from its entrance.  A thin treacherous path snaked up its face each step more dangerous than the last.  The only way to get to the trail was by a miniscule winding road leading in between two mountains.  It was not a place many went.

This made it all the more surprising when a long drawn out roar echoed from its depths, startling a pair of birds.  The birds weren’t the only thing startled by the roar as four players bolted out of the inky black cave and scrambled down the slope.  They were an odd group, but then again, odd was a very accurate way of describing many character models in Rune.

They had not escaped a moment too soon.  Thick brown noxious goo burst from the hole and slid down the slope in a sick disgusting landslide.  The mage noticed it first, calling out to the rest of the group who jumped off the path and began skirting down the mountain even faster.  They just barely got out of the way of the goo before it overtook them in the race to the bottom.  It picked up speed until it hit the road at the bottom.  Splashing sludge against the other mountain, it slowly spread out, taking the mountain road.

Skittering to a stop, they finally reached the bottom, their characters letting out pre-voiced pants as their stamina slowly recharged.  They stared at wonder as the goo slowly drained out of the cavern with seemingly no end.

“That, was easily the most disturbing boss battle I have ever seen in Rune,” Croe said; clutching a deflated arm that was slowly spewing straw out of a massive tear.

“Somehow, it was worse than even the Great Mighty Poo,” Alex said.

“It brought back horrible memories of last year’s English teacher,” Miles said in misery, his character shifting in a white ceramic set of armor he had borrowed to protect against the sludge.

“You had the spawn of Umbridge and Jabba the Hutt for a teacher?”  Alex asked incredulously.

“It was a very bad year,” Miles confirmed.

“Tell me we at least got what we came for,” Croe pleaded, looking back at the cavern.  “Because I doubt we’re getting back in there any time soon.”

Miles said nothing, but reached into his inventory and pulled out a massive glittering green emerald.  Inside, a small fire burned cheerfully, defying all laws of nature.

“What say we drop this thing off and call it a day?” Alex asked.

“I second the motion,” Miles said as he gingerly wiped a bit of sludge that had clung to the breastplate.  It clung to his gauntlets and began smoking, forcing Miles to give it a shake to dislodge it.  “I can’t wait to get this stinkin’ armor off and get back to my normal speed.”

“What normal speed?” Croe asked, ribbing him.

“Hey!” Miles yelled indignantly.  “Considering you only have one arm, I wouldn’t be making any funny business.”

“Well, considering I only need one arm to use my totally awesome scythe, I think I’m pretty well off,” Croe shot back.

“You mean the scythe that hasn’t consistently worked since we blew up the Hacker’s castle?”  Miles asked.

The two eyed each other, then burst out laughing.  Alex and Janus joined in after a moment’s hesitation.

It had been a busy session but fairly enjoyable session- One that Alex had grown to enjoy and expect in the past two months since the battle of the castle, as it had been named on the forums.  Alex wouldn’t say it made them heroes, but it certainly made the names of Croe, Miles, Janus, and Ginganinja well known in the game.  Hackers hated them, Coder’s were wary of them, and most who would consider attacking four players out on their own usually thought twice or regrouped to even the odds.  Not that it worked for them, or anything.

@0@0@

Miles went into town first, being the least likely to be attacked by a random Coder should he encounter one.  When he was certain that the coast was clear, he PM’ed the group and they all snuck to the side of the Spicy Mushroom.  Miles knocked twice on the aging wood and a tiny peephole slid open, a black beady eye staring through it.  A portion of the dirt next to them shivered and dropped, revealing a secret passage.  Climbing through it, the four found themselves in the back room of the Spicy Mushroom.  The door on the far side popped open and SpicyMooshroom strode in.

“How’s it goin’ guys!?” he asked in his usual loud voice.  “You get the gem?”

To answer his question, Miles pulled it out and offered it to Spicy, who quickly pulled out a velvet cloth from his apron pocket and reverently took it from Miles’ hand.

“Thank you gentlemen.  This will fetch a good price on the auction floor.  Miles, if you’ll put that set of armor on the empty stand to your right; I’ll go and fetch your payment.”

“Does Qilin know that you are doing business with us?” Miles asked as he undid the straps to the armor.

Spicy let out a booming laugh as he unlocked the safe in the back of the room.  “Miles, Qilin knows enough about my business to know not want to know about my business.  I intend to keep it that way.”

“Hey, Spicy, Not to change the subject, but do you have any straw that I can use?” Croe asked, still spewing straw out of his arm and onto the floor.

“Sure! I’ve got a bag in the far left corner, next to the Greek fire and the dwarven axes.  I’ve got a shipment of wizardry staves and it’s taking up space, so do me a favor and take it with you.”

Croe pulled out a needle and thread and set to stitching the gash closed.  Once the task was complete, he pulled his glove off and began stuffing straw down the sleeve.  By this point, Spicy had returned with four hefty bags of coins and Miles had taken off the armor and was giving it a wipe.

“Well, it was a pleasure doing business with you four,” Spicy said as he handed one bag to each of them.  “If anything else comes up, I'll let you know immediately.”

As they went to exit through the tunnel, Croe paused for a moment.  “Spicy,” he said.  “I was wondering, have you heard anything about-”

“Sorry kid, I haven't,” Spicy said sadly, immediately knowing what Croe was asking.  “I've checked with all of my contacts- they've heard about it, but have never seen it come up on auction.  If that scythe you keep talking about is really that powerful, somehow I doubt that your guy would throw it away on the market.”

Croe sighed.  “Well, thanks anyways.  If you hear anything,”

“Oh, I'll tell you,” Spicy assured him.  “That scythe is too hot of a commodity for my little establishment.  If word got out that I had it, players and thieves alike would be drawn to my establishment like pigeons to bread crumbs.”  Spicy frowned.  “Speaking of which, you willing to deal with that sort of publicity?”

Croe gave him as best of a smile that a scarecrow could give.  “Even pigeons can be scared by trampling feet.

Spicy chuckled at that.  “Best of luck on your search kid.”

@0@0@

“So, I don't know about the rest of you, but it's getting pretty late my time,” Miles said once they had gotten a few kilometers down the road.

“Same here,” Alex said.  “It’s almost two and I've got a Calculus test tomorrow.”

“Cheers,” Miles said as he logged off, his character disappearing into a thousand different pixels.

“I'm probably going to stay on a bit longer.” Croe said, yawning.  “I heard they're auctioning off a telekinetic spellstone in about 30 minutes.”

Janus took out his pile of coins and tossed it to Croe.  “Have fun with that.  I'll try to get on after work tomorrow.” he too vanished into pixels.

Alex bade farewell and logged off as well.  He removed his headgear and pinned the microphone next to the headphones.  He then tugged off the gloves and stuffed them into the headgear.  With his equipment safely stored away, he stumbled into bed and passed out- face first on his pillow.

It seemed but a few moments later that his door was ripped open and his light rudely turned on.

“Whuzzgoinon?”  Alex mumbled, still half asleep and barely functioning.

“What do you think is going on?” Jessica answered irritably.  “We need to get ready for school.”

“Five more minutes,” Alex moaned; turning over and covering his face with his pillow.

“You’ve asked that three times already,” Jessica said, yanking the pillow away.  “If you didn't stay up all night playing that stupid game of yours, then maybe you'd be able to get up at a decent time.”

“C'mon Jessica, I've got like an hour to get ready.  I can sleep in just a little more,” Alex pleaded, mostly awake now, but continuing on so as not to give his sister the satisfaction of winning.

She stood there for a second then threw the pillow at him.  “Fine.  You asked for it,” she said with a menacing tone.  She stormed down the hallway and into the bathroom.  Grateful she was gone, Alex fluffed his pillow back into a more comfortable shape, and lay back down.  His reprieve was brief however, as Jessica came back barely two minutes later.  She uncapped something, then began spraying it into his fan.  Alex gagged as the smell hit him- it was several of his sister's air fresheners she kept underneath the bathroom sink being sprayed at once; the smells intermingling to create a vile concoction.

“Agh! No!  Below the belt!  Help!” Alex screamed as he struggled to untangle himself from the bedsheets.  He rolled out of bed and into a pile of dirty laundry, magazines, and school homework.  Stumbling, he scrambled past Jessica and into the hallway, desperate to escape the repulsive smell.

“You might as well go down and eat- I’ve got first dibs on the bathroom today!” Jessica called at him.

Alex paused on the top of the stairs.  “You will regret this someday!” he shouted dramatically, a finger raised In the air in emphasis, before racing down the stairs to the kitchen, where Dunham was pouring himself a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper.  He looked up as Alex came in.  “It would seem you have had an eventful morning,” he said dryly.

“Tell me about it,” Alex said, grabbing an empty mug for himself.  “It's not even eight and my sinuses are already clogged with the smell of eau de merde.  What is this place, the school restroom?”

“While I am happy to hear you practicing your Latin,” Dunham said, plucking the cup from Alex's hand before he could pour himself a cup of coffee, “I do not believe all of those are words that you learned in school, nor ones that your teachers would approve of.”

“How would you know?”  Alex asked.  “It's not like you know Latin, is it?”

 “Vous seriez surpris jeune maître Samson. J'ai étudié la Rome antique à l'université.” (You would be surprised young master Samson.  I studied ancient Rome in college.)

Alex gave him a strange look.  “I have no idea what half of that was,” he said.

Dunham smiled.  “Then perhaps you should practice the material actually given in class.”

Ignoring the remark, Alex grabbed a box of cheerios from the pantry and sat down to eat.  About ten minutes later, Jessica came down the stairs, running a comb through her damp hair.

“You ready for the calculus test?” Jessica asked Alex as she snatched the cheerios box from her twin and began pouring herself a bowl as well.

“About as much as I can be,” Alex mumbled through a full mouth.

“Swallow,” Dunham commanded eyeing the teen’s bulging cheeks.

Alex took a massive gulp and continued.  “I probably need to go over area and volume a bit more, but I can look over them during study hall.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Dunham asked.  “Putting something like that off seems like a bad idea.”

“No, but it’s better than not studying at all.”

They ate in silence for a while before Jessica spoke up.  “So what are you doing today, Dunham?”

“Our lawyer is coming over this afternoon to discuss some sensitive subjects in person,” Dunham said.  “It's nothing important; just a few inconsistencies I asked him to clear up,” he added hastily as he noticed the concerned looks on their faces.

“Well, if anything does come up, let us know,” Jessica said.  “We have a right to know as well.”

Dunham opened his mouth as if to say something, then stopped.  After several moments he said “you’re right.  You both are sixteen.  In a couple years, you’ll be adults.  I don’t see why you shouldn’t know these things.”

Jessica thanked him then got Dunham to help her with her hair.  While he was distracted, Alex snuck to the coffee machine and poured himself a cup.

@0@0@

Despite the cup of coffee he managed to down on the way to school, Alex still felt the effects of his late night gaming session.  He almost passed out during the calculus test and did pass out when his art history teacher turned the lights and began lecturing on the Byzantines.  Thankfully, he woke up before she turned on the lights and noticed him.

Finally, his last period- Health- rolled around.  He liked Health, not because of the material but because of the teacher.  Mrs. Lukas was possibly the nicest and funniest teacher he had ever had.  She actively tried to keep her students entertained and excited about a course that apart from one single section was not very entertaining.

Plus, the one time they had computers in the class, several people set up a LAN game of Halo CE, and instead of shutting them down, Mrs. Lukas joined them.  Any teacher that did that was a winner in Alex’s books.

It was extremely unusual to see her looking unhappy.  Which was exactly what she looked like as Alex walked into her room.

“Now those of you who have been completely oblivious to the goings on of my class,” Mrs. Lukas said as the late bell rang, “We are working our way through the mental health chapter in our textbooks.  The school has therefor decided that we need a, ‘guest speaker’,” she said as if it were a curse, “to explain this to you.”

The class murmured uneasily.  Something that the school did and Mrs. Lukas disagreed with was usually bad news.  Alex shifted into a more comfortable position and pulled out his water bottle to take a sip.  It was going to be a long period.

“It is therefore my ‘pleasure’ to welcome Mr. Harold to speak to you,” she finished.

Alex choked on his water, earning him a pound on the back from the guy behind him.  It couldn’t be.  It simply couldn’t.

He wheeled around in his seat in time to see Pedostache waddle through the door.

16: Bad Times Ahead

“What the hell are you doing here?” Alex demanded, furious that he was looking at Pedostache once more.

Pedostache merely smiled.  “Hello Alexander.  This is a pleasant surprise.  I'm here because I agreed to give a lecture for your class about the dangers of having poor mental health.”

“That's not what I meant!” Alex shouted.  “You were arrested! I watched it happen!”

“Due to a lack of eye witnesses, I was merely placed on probation.”

“We got a restraining order against you!”

“Your sister has a restraining order against me,” Pedostache corrected.  “The rest of your family does not.”

“We were born literally minutes apart!  That's got to count for something!” Alex yelled frantically, unwilling to believe that this was happening.

“Alex, please sit down,” Mrs. Lukas said firmly.  “Mr. Harold is a 'guest' here and despite whatever personal history you have with him, you are to treat him as such.”

“But,”

“Now, Mr. Samson.”

Alex didn't like it, but he sat.

“Now then,” Pedostache said as he waddled in between rows to the front of the classroom, “If you will all please open the handouts on your desk, we can begin,” he said as he pulled up a powerpoint on his computer.

And so it went.  Pedostache went through slide after slide, displaying information and talking about it in his artificially cheery voice.  Alex was tempted to do get up and leave multiple times, like he was able to do during the meetings.  He refrained from doing so, however.  The last thing he wanted to do was to piss off Mrs. Lukas.  He began to doze off and would've fallen asleep Pedostache not moved to an interesting topic.

“Now here is a slide that many of you boys should find interesting,” Pedostache said.  He pressed a button on his clicker to reveal a slide titled 'How Games Affect Your Mind'

“Despite initial backlash when this market initially formed, several studies indicate that many video games are in fact good for you,” Pedostache said.  “Certain games have been known to increase reaction time and skills such as driving to the point that many young children have the same skills as adults that are twice their age.”

Alex perked up slightly at this.  He hated Pedostache, but this seemed like an interesting subject.

“However, such benefits are outweighed by a large and serious risk to both your physical and mental health.  Videogames are known to promote antisocial behavior, as well as eye strain, obesity, all of which can lead to poor self-esteem and mental health.  I really don’t know why you children would wish to play these games.”

“Um, because you only get fat and antisocial if you let it become a bad habit.” One guy spoke up.

Pedostache smiled at him.  “Young man, why take the risk?  Especially after what I have to show you”

He turned to his computer and brought up a website.  It was a news piece titled 'Videogames Cause Injury to Dozens of Players'

“I understand that I was brought here to teach about mental health,” Pedostache said. “But I feel that some of you,” he looked at Alex especially; “would benefit from watching this.”  He hit play and the video started.

“Do videogames cause violence?  While no clear answer has been found, we certainly know they can cause physical harm to the people who play them.

Late last night dozens of people were admitted to hospitals with symptoms ranging from nosebleeds, to serious headaches, even to unconsciousness.  The victims fully recovered soon after admission, but are understandably shaken.  The one thing that ties their cases together?  They all claim that they were playing the popular game Halo when the symptoms appeared.  In response to these incidents, 343 Industries has temporarily shut down all halo severs as they attempt to find out what caused this incident.  Fortunately, one of the players involved was recording footage at the time for his channel on YouTube and has generously given this studio exclusive access to it in the hopes that other will be on the watch.

It cut to the video that the gamer had recorded.  It started off as a normal team death-match.  The Blue team was gaining the lead when a new player joined the Red team.  The player was wearing default armor and was only carrying a plasma rifle.  What was interesting about him was that his name was a bunch of random letters and numbers.  The player looked around for a moment before he began attacking- his own teammates.  In no time at all, he was the only one still alive on his team.  Blue team began cheering but quickly stopped as they realized that the new Red was a force to be reckoned with.  The Red sprang silently into action and attacked the Blues.

That was when the screaming began.

Anyone who got hit seemed to be in intense pain as the Red easily mowed them down.  The smart ones logged out before they got hit as well, but most weren’t so lucky.  Soon, only the recorder and two other players were left.  They had retreated into their base and had loaded up with all the heavy weaponry they could find.  They burst out of the base and opened fire on the Red.  Almost every shot seemed to hit, but the Red was unhurt.

“What the hell?”  One of the other guys in the class muttered.

Realizing that what they were doing wasn’t working, they tried to retreat.  The Red gunned them down.  Just as the recorder was hit, Alex noticed something.  Normally, the plasma rifle’s shots were a bright glowing greenish blue.

This suppressor was firing red bolts.

@0@0@

“I don’t understand!” Alex exclaimed.  “How the hell did they do this?  I thought that it was only possible through Rune!”

Alex was at the counter of the Coffeenet with Sam, who was cleaning one of the coffeepots.  As soon as school let out, he raced down to the shop as fast as he could to tell Sam what had happened.

“Well, clearly they have abilities that we didn’t know they had.”  Sam said as he took a swipe at a particularly resilient stain.

“Clearly!  What gets me though, is why did they attack people in another game?  I may have only two months under my belt in the game, but from what I’ve heard, they’ve never done this before.  So why start now?”

“Programing can take a lot of time.” Sam mentioned.  “Maybe they’ve been working on infiltrating other games for some time now, and have only just gotten into Halo.”

“Still though, what’s their end goal?  I can understand ruling one game, but why go for another?  Especially one where the owners are more likely to go after anyone messing with their stuff.”

Sam though for a moment, then poked his head into the employee break room.  “Mr. Clark, I’ll be taking my break now.”

An older man yelled something indistinguishable back and Sam closed the door.  He then turned back to Alex.  “What you just asked is the question that the Coders have been asking since day one.  And they’re still no closer to figuring it out.”

“So what’s the plan?”

Sam typed into the computer at the cash register and printed out two receipts and handed one to Alex.  “I just got us thirty minutes on two of the computers.  We need to get some more information on this, as well as tell Miles and Croe.  Maybe they’ve heard something.”

“Agreed.”

They sat down at their respective computers and logged into Rune.  The game flashed a warning on the welcome screen that without the correct gear plugged in, they couldn’t access Rune.  Instead, they pulled up a chatroom and sent invites to Croe and Miles and labeled them as important.  It took ten minutes, but finally they both logged on.  Sam passed Alex a Bluetooth earbud and screwed one in his ear as well.

“As much as I enjoy talking to you guys and not doing English homework, I sort of need to get back to it soon.”  Miles said.  “No offense.”

“Trust me, this is important.”  Alex replied.  “I’m sending both of you a link to a video you need to watch.”

Croe clicked on it and said, “I already saw it.  My parents showed it to me this morning.”

“What did they have to say about it?” Sam asked.

“Well, they were understandably concerned, but my parents are, how do I put this, more understanding about videogames.”

“Dude, your parent’s are awesome,” Alex said.  “I wish I had them.”

“Well what about your parents?” Croe asked,

Alex froze up.  It happened every time someone asked.  How do you explain the fact that your mom died in a car crash, and your father has been missing for over a year?  Most people would never begin to understand that.

Thankfully Sam came to his rescue.  “GN’s family situation is, complicated.”

“Oh! Okay,” Croe said instantly getting the message.  “Are they divorced?”

“As Janus said, it’s complicated.” Alex answered.  “They aren’t divorced, but I don’t like talking about it.”

“Got it man,” Croe said in an understanding tone.

“So,” Miles said, “I just finished the video.  I’m assuming that the gameplay footage is what you wanted me to look at, but I didn’t see anything.”

“You mean you didn’t notice anything about the guy’s plasma rifle?”  Alex asked.

“Yeah I noticed something was, oh no.” Croe said, realization dawning in his voice.

“Guys, I’m not exactly a Halo fan.  What am I looking for here?” Miles asked, irritation creeping into his voice.

“That Red who took out everyone was holding a plasma rifle.”  Alex said.  “It was the one firing red bolts of energy.”

“Yeah so?”

“Plasma rifles aren’t supposed to fire red bolts.”

There was a pause, then Miles said “Oh shit.”

“You see it now?” Alex asked.

“Yeah.  For the love of God, please tell me that this is a practical joke.”

Sam sighed.  “Unfortunately it’s real.”

Miles swore and slammed his fist down on something heavy, causing something to fall off of his desk.  “And I thought that we’d stopped them for the time being,” He said angrily.

“We set them back in-game, but that didn’t stop them in the real world,” Croe said.  “I mean, let’s face it; all we really did was destroy their in-game base and most of their gear, but anyone with a bit of gold can regain their losses.”

“Speaking of in-game, do you think that this means they can get into the Core now?” Alex asked.

“I doubt it.” Sam answered.  “It shouldn’t have anything to do with accessing another game and I think I’d know if they were messing around with that.”

“Why’s that?”  Croe asked curiously.  In the background, Miles swore softly.

Sam shifted in his seat.  “Well, if you remember, I did a bit of freelance programming work for the Devs.  That got me familiar enough with the area that I was in that I think I could tell by looking at the rest of the code and see if something is wrong.”

“I thought you couldn’t access the Core.”  Croe said suspiciously.

“Oh, anyone with a few programs and a halfway decent understanding of code can take a look at the Core,” Sam said dismissively.  “To actually edit the Core means you need permission from the Devs.”

“So, anyways, what do you guys think we should do now?”  Miles asked, drawing them back on topic.

“Well, we’ve got to know if this is the only time it’s happened.”  Sam said.  “We need to look around on the internet- see if it’s been happening anywhere else.”

“Good idea,” Croe said.  “We could look at it overnight and come back at say, five p.m. with anything we find.”

Alex leaned back and stretched in his chair.  “We should also send a link to Qilin.  I know that we’re not on best terms with him, but could you try to get it to him Miles?  I think he should know as well.”

“I think so.  If not, I can just give it to Spicy and have him take credit for it.”

To his right, the timer on the table beeped- indicating that Alex’s time was nearly up.

“Okay, I’ve got to get going.  I’ll see you guys later?”

Miles and Croe agreed and logged off.  Alex did so as well.  He stood up and turned around, only to come face to face with Brian- aka Master Saru.

“Hello Ginganinja,” he said before punching Alex in the gut.

Alex doubled over in pain.  As he did so, Brian pounded him in the back, dropping him to the ground. Alex hit the ground hard and heard people yelling and shoving.  Brian kicked him again and again before mysteriously stopping.  As he regained his breath, a hand was thrust into Alex’s vision.  Taking it, he managed to stand up.  Looking around, he saw Brian being restrained by three other men.  Sam’s manager burst out of the break room, still puffing on a cigar, and was making his way over to the crowd when a thick meaty arm wrapped itself around Alex’s neck and hoisted him in the air.  Gasping for breath, Alex struggled to free himself.  He was about to pass out when a woman pulled a black cylinder from her purse and yelled “Let him go, or I’ll Mace us all!”

The arm let go of Alex’s neck and he would’ve tumbled to the floor again had Sam not caught him.  “You okay?” He asked worriedly.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Alex whispered, rubbing his raw throat.

“What the hell was that kid?” Sam’s manager asked.  “You tryin’ to start a fight in my business?”

“Sir, he was attacked out of nowhere, it wasn’t his fault!” Sam said.

“I wasn’t talking to your friend there Mr. Anderson,” his boss said.  “I was talking to this, kid,” he gesturing to Brian.

“Hey!  I’m twenty seven years old!  That’s not exactly young.”  Brian said defensively.

“Anyone who picks a fight for no reason is no more mature than a kindergartener.  Get the hell out of here and if I see you again, I’m calling the cops.  The same goes for your friend over there.”

Brian glared at him.  “This isn’t over Ginganinja,” he snarled.  “You’d better watch your back in Rune.”  And with that he left.

Sam’s boss turned to the remaining crowd.  “Ladies and Gentlemen, I am sorry you had to see that.  I now ask that you carry on with your business.”

As the crowd dispersed, Sam’s manager gave Alex a look over.  “Are you okay son?”

“Never better,” Alex said, wincing as his ribs gave a sharp jolt.

Noticing it, the manager felt the ribs.  “They’re not broken, but they’re probably bruised.  Sam, get him a bag of ice for his ribs.

He guided Alex to a bar stool and sat him down.  Sam filled a bag of ice and handed to Alex who placed it on his ribs and let out a sigh of relief.

“So tell me, what was that back there?  Somehow, I don’t think that was a spontaneous fight.”

“Well,” Alex said, choosing his words carefully; “As far as I can tell, I think I pissed him off in a videogame and he decided to track me down.”

The manager let out a grunt.  “Kids these days.  Either they’re fighting for the wrong reason, or they’re pulling a knife or gun on each other.  Sometimes both.”  The manager took a puff on his cigar and shook his head sadly.  “Us older guys, we may’ve not grown up with all these online games, or any of the other ten million computers you kids have now, but it sure as hell was a simpler time.”

At that moment, Alex’s phone, which had miraculously survived the incident, buzzed and let out his text jingle.  Pulling it out, he saw it was from Jessica

Jessica: Get home now.  We need to talk.

Alex sighed.  “I’ve gotta go.  Thanks for backing me up.  And for the ice.”

The manager nodded.  “My pleasure.  Take care kid.”

@0@0@

Alex walked in through the door and saw Jessica, Dunham sitting at the dining table with the family accountant.  Papers were strewn everywhere and the salt shaker had fallen over.  Alex started to say hello, but stopped when he saw the tears in his sister's eyes and the anguish on Dunham's face.

“What's happened?  What's going on?” Alex asked hurriedly.

“Alex,” Dunham said softly, “Please sit down.  There is something you need to hear.”

Alex sat at his usual spot, perplexed and worried.  Dunham was still his usual calm self, but Alex had become adept over the years of reading Dunham and knowing what was really going on.  Dunham was more worried and stressed than Alex had seen in a long time, perhaps ever.

That made Alex even more worried.

The accountant turned to face Alex and handed him an opened letter.  “Please read this and let me know when you are finished,” Alex opened the letter and began to read.

To the Legal Guardian of Homer and Jessica Samson

Dear Sir,

It has come to our attention that the biological father of your charges, Homer Samson Sr. not only used funds from Samson Aviation Industries for his own personal gain, but also linked his personal account to that of the account for the company so that funds could be transferred and drawn from.  This means that the funds stored in Mr. Samson's Account, as well as any items purchased using Samson Aviation Industries funds are company property and therefor to be used as the company sees fit.  Should Mr. Samson be removed from his position as CEO of Samson Aviation Industries, the items and funds would be available for the company to use as they see fit.

 

Marcus Hardcort

Acting CEO of Samson Aviation Industries

Alex read the note several times before its message finally sank in.  A dry feeling coated his throat and he swallowed several times to try and remove it.  “What, what did my dad purchase with the funds?”

The accountant slid a file over to him.  “I did a bit of digging and came up with these.  According to the receipts, He made several initial payments on this house using company money, as well as with several historical aircraft stored in his personal hanger.”

“I was under the impression that he had paid the company back for the money he borrowed.  That's why I had Mr. Bennett take a closer look into this.”

“So, if my dad paid the company back, why did we get this letter?”

“The board of directors never approved the withdrawal of the funds,” Mr. Bennet answered.  “In doing so, they can claim that anything purchased with the money is theirs.”

“Surely that's not legal, is it?” Jessica said, her voice choking up.

“Unfortunately it is.” Mr. Bennett said.  “Just barely and they had to jump through a myriad of legal hoops and loopholes just to do it; but in the end, it is very much legal.”

“So, what's going to happen to us?” Alex asked.  “Are we going to lose the house?”

“Unless your father shows up before he is declared legally dead, yes,” Dunham said gravely.  “I have no doubt at this point that the board would not hesitate to take the house and your father's savings for their own.”

Mr. Bennett coughed.  “I didn't want to mention this until Alex got here, but I did a bit more research on what would happen if you lost the house.  The law states that if the Legal Guardian is unable to supply a safe home for his charges and keep them properly fed and clothed, the government has full right to remove them from his or her custody and place them in foster care.”

Jessica choked back a sob and rushed from the room, tears racing down her cheeks.  She raced up the stairs to her room and slammed the door.  The wails could be heard from the dining room below.

Alex, on the verge of tears as well turned to Dunham and asked.  “You aren’t going to let this happen, right Dunham?”

Dunham didn't meet Alex's eyes.

17: Schisms

Alex spent most of the next day inside Rune.  He wanted as little contact with the outside world as possible.  It hadn't been doing him any favors as of late.  He spent his time grinding through quests; specifically the monster camp raids.  It helped him take his anger out.  Every goblin he decapitated was a board member of SAI.  Every troll he disemboweled was pedostache and his stupid psychotherapy.  He didn't even pick up any of the gold or loot dropped by them.  He left it where it lay and torched it with the rest of the camp.  He hated them.  He hated them all.

As he finished off the last troll in a particularly nasty camp, a voice came from behind him.

“Wow.  I think that last one was actually trying to run away.  Can't say I’ve ever seen that before.”

Alex turned to see Janus leaning against a tree at the entrance of the camp, bow in hand with an arrow nocked on the string.

“Sucks for him,” Alex said dismissively.  “You going to just stand there, or are you going to help me torch this place.”

Janus pushed off from the tree and replaced the arrow he had nocked with a fire arrow.  “Sure, why not?”

Between Alex's fireballs, and Janus' arrows, the camp was soon ablaze.

Janus placed his bow back in his quiver.  “Remind me- why did we leave the loot to burn?”

“Wasn't worth the time to sell it,” Alex said shortly.

Janus turned to him.  “Dude, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I'm fine,” Alex snapped.  “I've never been better in my entire frickin life.”

Janus took a step back.  “Sorry man, I was just asking.”

Alex sighed.  “Christ, I'm sorry Sam.  Things, things just got worse around my house.”

“Really?” Janus said astonished.  “I thought they had cleared everything up.”

“Apparently not since the board has somehow found a way to claim my dad's personal accounts, and the house.”

Janus slumped over as crashes and yelps of shock came out in the background.  Apparently, Sam had fallen out of his chair.”

“Really smooth bro,” Garrett called out in the background.”

Sam finally managed to set himself back up, and Janus looked back up again.

“Dude, does that mean that they’re taking everything?” Janus asked, shocked.

“Including the kitchen sink,” Alex said miserably.  “But that's not the worst part.”

“It gets worse?”

“Should they actually be that big of dicks, there’s no way Dunham can support Jessica and I.  We'll be put in foster care.  Probably even split up.”

Janus slumped again.  Alex could hear Sam tear off the headgear and set it down before taking deep breaths and clenching and unclenching his fists.  From their time together, Alex knew that Sam used those methods to calm down without making a scene.  Alex had tried them once but found they worked better for Sam.

After a few minutes of calming himself down, Sam finally put the headgear back on and Janus perked back up.  “Sorry about that,” he said.  “I just needed to get that out of my system.”

“It's okay,” Alex said.  “That's what I’ve been doing in Rune all day; getting it out of my system.”

“Has it worked yet?”

“Not one single bit.”

Janus reached around and one armed hugged Ginganinja.  Alex couldn’t feel it, but appreciated the thought.  “Hey, whatever happens, I’m here for you man.  Garret to.  Hey, it’s nearing 5 o’clock.  How ‘bouts we go meet the others.  That’ll cheer you up.”

Alex smiled at this.  “Yeah, you’re right.  Thanks Sam.”

Janus’ mask showed no expression but if he did, Alex figured he’d be smiling.  “Hey, what are friends for anyway?”

@0@0@

The Citadel was in the center of Rune's massive map.  Easily the largest city in the game, multiple major roads branched out of it like a spider web.  In ancient time, all roads led to Rome.  In Rune, all roads led to the Citadel.  It was also the safest city in the game.  In earlier versions of Rune, new players would start their journey in the central hub of the Citadel, next to a massive multicolored fountain that took up most of the hub.  Due to the importance of keeping new players entertained and safe from more experienced gamers, the Citadel had the largest population of NPC guards in one city; easily over a thousand.  Even after the game began to assign random initial spawns, the guards remained.  Soon, the Citadel began to be known as the capital city of Rune.  Most major trading took place on the streets of the Citadel as players spread out there wares ranging from enchanted armor to owl feather tassels.

A few weeks after destroying the Hacker's castle, Alex, Janus, Miles, and Croe had realized that meeting up could take far too long.  To solve this, they usually took a portal to the city and met at a table at one of the cafes dotting the city.

Which was exactly where Alex and Janus found Croe and Miles.  As they approached them, Croe noticed them and waved.  “Hey, how's it going?” he called out.

“About as good as it's going to get,” Alex replied, not wanting to explain himself again.  “What did you find?”

Croe reached into his coat and brought out a thick leather folder.  One of the perks of Rune that set it above other MMOs was that it had editable books that you could copy and paste word documents into.  “Miles and I have been talking it over while waiting for you two, and what we've found is pretty scary. Fourteen other games with online functionality have some people complaining about loud noises and headaches.”

Alex frowned.  “That doesn't make sense.  If it happened in those games, why didn't the news media report it as well?”

“Because that’s just what they are: complaints.” Miles said.  “The incident in the Halo match is the only one with video evidence.  The talking heads need something more than just complaints from a bunch of people on the internet.”

Janus grabbed the file and after riffling through it for a few minutes, pulled out a file of his own and added some of its contents to Croe’s.  “I managed to find a few forum posts from players in the other games affected who’ve been trying to do something similar to the Coders.  They haven’t had as much luck though.”

Miles shrugged.  “Not surprising.  The only reason we learned how the virus was added was because a Hacker let it slip a few weeks after it showed up.”

“Do you think they’ll succeed?” Janus asked.

“Well if they’ve got a mountain man, a scarecrow, a bipolar archer, and a fiery ginger on their side, they should have it under control easily,” Croe said.

That cracked them up.  Even Alex, who was having one of the crappiest weeks ever managed to laugh a bit.  He immediately regretted it though as his ribs flared up and he started coughing in pain.

“You okay?” Janus asked, concerned.

Alex nodded but continued coughing.

“Damn GN, don't cough up a lung on us,” Miles joked.  “We don't have Spicy around to sell it off”

Finally, Alex stopped.  “Sorry about that,” he said.  “I got hit hard by Master Saru yesterday and haven't fully recovered yet.”

Miles' eyes widened.  “Whoa, where was this?'

“At Janus' work, Coffeenet,” Alex replied.

“You mean he tracked you down?”  Croe asked astonished.

“No, I think he actually lives close by.  I ran into him and Bearzerker a few days before I joined Rune.  We just ran into each other yesterday.”

Miles' eyes narrowed and he turned to Janus.  “Tell me, where exactly is this Coffeenet that you work at?”

“Um, why do you want to know?” Janus asked nervously.

“So I can find those two and show them what they did to BA,” Miles growled.  “I want to teach them what pain feels like.”

“Dude, I'm not going to tell you where I work, just so you can hunt down two guys and hurt them,” Janus said affronted.

“And why not?”

“Because it's wrong to track someone down from the internet and beat them up!”

“Wrong? Don't talk to me about wrong,” Miles yelled.  “You don't know what wrong is.”

“Miles, calm down” Croe said frantically, “Taking those two down won't solve anything.”

“I will not be lectured by three people who haven't been through what I have.  You have no idea what it's like to watch your best friend get tortured into a coma and be powerless to stop it.  You have no CLUE what fear and pain means until you spend an entire month not knowing if your best friend is alive or not, and having no idea where to go and see him, or at least find out.”

Alex stood up.  “Miles, please-”

Miles slammed his fist down on the table, completely shattering it.  Alex instinctively raised his arms to protect himself from splinters, and got slammed in the gut for the second time in two days.  He flew over the low fence bordering the cafe, and skidded to the other side of the street.  A second later, Janus and Croe landed beside him.  He looked up just in time for Miles to land right next to him and point his sword at his throat.

Miles’ face was a mask of pain and rage.  “You, Know, Nothing” he choked out.

Guards were swarming towards the scene and several players had formed a perimeter around Alex and Miles in-case things got ugly.

Miles took down the first few guards, then logged off without saying another word.

 

So, Yeah.  That happened.  Why you may ask?  Tune in next time to find out!

Also, Something cool is happening tomorrow.  No details, since as River Song says, "Spoilers"

18: The Story of Milesoftheblades

Hello guys!

So this week we find out exactly why Miles is acting this way. And because there was so much to say, I packed the chapter 5,000 words long, easily the longest chapter I've ever written. It was a blast to write, and I hope that you all enjoy it.

Lastly, now that school is out for seniors like me, I'm going to try and spend this weekend revising a few things in HOR. how I formatted the speaking parts needs to be rewritten, and I feel like some of the cuss words are unneeded in the earlier chapters. I put them there when the story was shaping out to be something different, and I had to deal with the inspiration for pedostache as one of my 'teachers' and he was even worse than how I wrote him (he isn't a perv, but he's a dicky douchey jerkbutt). Having to deal with him on a daily basis made me angry, and it translated into my writing. I'm still keeping pedostache since he's a semi key character and I still strongly dislike him in person, but the anger he caused has mostly disapated. That being said, this chapter is going to have some more colorful language because it gets a bit emotional for certain characters.

With that being said, enjoy!

@0@0@

Alex sat at the ruined table with Janus and Croe, still in shock about what happened.  No one was talking and no one seemed to want to be the first. 

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Croe spoke up.  “You're probably wondering why Miles lost it like that.”

Alex nodded.  “I suppose you could say that.”

“You've got to give Miles some slack,” Croe said.  “All of the Coders have been hurt by the Hackers.  Miles was hurt worse than anyone else.  He lost his best friend to the Hackers.”

“You mean BA,” Alex said.  “Wasn't he the guy who got put in a coma for a month?”

Both Janus and Croe winced.  “Yeah, that was him,” Janus said.

“I never got to know him, but from what I've heard, it hit Miles pretty hard when he died,” Croe added

“Died?  I thought he was put in a coma, not actually killed,” Alex said, shocked.

“Considering no one except Miles saw him after he was put in a coma, he's pretty dead,” Janus clarified.  “To the game at any rate.”

“So what happened?” Alex asked.

Janus fidgeted uneasily.  He seemed to think about his response for a moment before answering.  “What we're getting into here, is pretty dangerous territory.  No one likes to talk about it, Miles especially.  Professor BA was kind of the face of the Coders.  Qilin may have been the leader, but everyone looked up to BA.  When word got out that he had deleted his account, half the coders followed in his footsteps and did the same.  We haven't come even close to the numbers we used to.”

“Deleting your account just because your hero did so as well?” Alex said affronted.  “That’s a dick move there.”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t just about BA,” Croe said.  “It was also about the fact that the Hackers had something that could seriously hurt you in real life.” 

“It was about 16 months ago when this all happened,” Janus began.   “Back then, it was looking like we had a chance at succeeding.  The whole thing seemed like a big party; like the war between the Hackers and Coders was just something the game developers had put in.  I guess it helped that the Hackers didn't have their virus yet.  The worst they could do back then was hacking the markets to steal items and payments, and go invisible or pass through walls without spells and potions.  They had used this wealth to start work on the castle we destroyed a while back.  The Coders had a base a fifth the size of our current one, and it was protected by a measly invisibility spell.  Qilin didn't like that and proposed we take the Hacker's hideout for our own. People really took to the idea.  They felt it had a certain sense of irony.  All it was though, was one of the worst mistakes we ever made.”

16 months ago

Milesoftheblades: Qilin, My group is in position and ready for assault.

Qilin1: Good.  When you hear the trumpet, get to the walls and over them as fast as you can.  Do your job right and we can get this done without a hitch.

Miles closed the IM program and turned to the Coders behind him.  When the plan was laid out, he had been given command of about thirty Coders tasked with getting over the west wall and engage the Hackers.  From there, Miles and a few others would infiltrate the houses on that side and destroy the spawn stones located in them.  Miles knew that this was one of the most important parts of the plan.  If they didn't succeed, the enemy could simply respawn right behind them and slaughter them from behind.

“Alright guys, we're going with Sharp's strategy.  I'll be in the front with the spellcasters right behind me keeping the rest of us safe.  Our jumpers will be in the second line.  Your job is to get up to the roof and throw down lines for the rest of us.  If one of you gets taken down, the rest of you need to make sure their rope is good to go.  Once that's settled, the rest of us will scale the ropes and attack.  The sooner you get the ropes down, the sooner we can get up and help you attack, so try to do it quickly.  Any questions?”

An elf raised his hand.  “Pardon me for interrupting sir,” he said as if it were a venomous word, “But won't it be better for you to be behind the spellcasters?  It would seem you would be better protected that way.”

Miles shrugged.  “I'll be fine.” he said nonchalantly.  “It's you who'll have to watch out.  Anyone else?” he asked.

One of the Jumpers raised his hand.  “It's going to be hard enough trying to get up there alive.  I still don't know if we can hold them off and get the lines secured.”

Miles nodded.  It was a valid point.  “We've got a guy already up there in disguise,” Miles said.  “He'll do what he can to help you clear it.”

Suddenly, revelry echoed across the valley and reached Miles on the other side.  Miles sprang out of the bush-line and sprinted down the hill towards their target in the valley: a half-finished castle.  Behind him, the rest of the west attack force followed, waving their weapons and letting out a fierce battle cry.  Miles joined them, their voices echoing down the slope.  In the distance, he could see workers dropping their tools and scrambling for cover.  It was in vain.  Several dozen archers stepped out of the trees and fired arrows towards the castle.  The slim projectiles arced through the sky and landed with deadly precision.  Only two survived the onslaught and neither unscathed.  They ran to a bell and started ringing it in alarm.

Miles grinned.  He highly doubted that the Hackers could put up any substantial form of resistance.  From observations done by several scouts, they had gathered that most of the Hackers were in the Pacific standard time zone.  It was with that knowledge that Qilin had decided to launch the attack at one in the afternoon in hopes that most of the hackers would be at work and therefor too busy to stop them.  He almost laughed when he saw half a dozen NPCs emerge from hiding, strapping armor on as they ran to their positions.

As they neared the walls of the castle, several Coders pulled out Scrolls of Icarian flight and took massive leaps into the air.  The landed on the tops of the walls and tossed lines down to the group below.  Miles caught one and began hauling himself up as soon as it was secured.  As he neared the top, the Jumper above Miles was blasted off by a wind spell, falling past Miles down to a grisly end.  Miles kept climbing, albeit at a slower pace.  The Coders who had just died knew their job was to first get the ropes secured for the others, and then fight.  They'd probably have to sit the remainder of the battle out, but it was worth the sacrifice.

Just as he placed a hand on the top stone, the rope snapped.  The Coders beneath him screamed and fell thirty feet down to the ground as Coders waiting for their turn to climb scrambled out of the way.

Miles grimaced and hung on to the edge with his one hand, while reaching to his belt for a length of rope he had brought with him in case something like this happened.  As he did, the head of a Minotaur appeared above him.  It bellowed and slammed its fist down on Miles' fingers.  His health flashed as his fingers slipped off the ledge.  He fell halfway down the wall before coming to a sudden stop.  He looked up in time to see a blazing Minotaur fall past him.  He soared up to the top of the wall and landed in front of a cloaked figure.  A glowing staff was clutched in his left hand that was still smoldering with green fire from the attack it had just pulled off.  Miles put on a fake look of irritation.  “You're getting sloppy.  I almost hit the ground before you caught me.”

The cloaked figure laughed and shrugged off the cloak to reveal a dark haired magician in a labcoat that at one point may’ve been perfectly white, but was now covered with doodles and graffiti.  “Please, you only fell about ten feet.  And if you had hit the ground, your body fat would've absorbed the blow.”

“It's not fat, it's muscle!  Miles protested indignantly.

The magician held his hands up in mock surrender. “Whatever man.  If it helps you sleep at night, you can call it anything you want.”

Miles glared at him for a few more seconds, then laughed and wrapped the magician in a bear hug before turning to the courtyard.  Several Coders had made it to the top and were doing battle with the NPCs and the few Hackers who were online.

“So what's the objective again?” the magician asked.  “I got bored during the briefing and kinda went and got a snack.  Missed everything after 'BA go hide on the wall and kill anyone who tries to kill us'.”

“Your job was to take care of the wall and then help where needed. And since the rest of the team who were supposed to help me with the spawnstones are dead or otherwise engaged, I need your help taking them down.”

The magician nodded.  “Right, so what are we waiting for? Let's go kick some ass!”

He turned to the courtyard and spread his arms wide.  “Attention Hacker's and NPCs alike!  Prepare to be summarily beaten to a bloody and slightly smoking pulp!  I'd tell you to run, but there is no running from Professor BA, the one man in the Rune with a PHD in badassery!”

@0@0@

While the rest of the Coders fought the defenders, Miles and BA leapt from the wall and made their way to the first house.  It was locked, but BA broke it down with a swift jab from his staff.  Inside, they found a single room with a cluster of glowing crystals set into curling patterns.  They were spawnstones, created to allow players to spawn at a specific location.  Usually extremely expensive and hard to get, the Hackers had acquired about a dozen for their castle alone.  Miles approached the edge of one.  “Hard to believe that these little things are the source of all our problems.”

Professor BA shook his head in wonder.  “Yeah.  They're kinda cool looking to.  Shame to break them, don't you think?”

Miles shrugged.  “No, not really.” he unsheathed his sword and slammed it into one of the crystals, breaking it.  All at once, the remaining crystals began to glow brighter and brighter until in one mighty burst, they shattered, destroying the spawn and preventing the Hackers who were bound to it from respawning there after death.

Professor BA grinned.  “One down, a few dozen to go.”

The next few minutes settled into a dull repetition broken only by occasional skirmishes with Hackers and NPCs.  It continued for fifteen minutes until they were on the last one.  Professor BA did the honors by slamming his staff into the stone; making the staff moan through the air, and the crystal shatter.

“Done, and done.” he said triumphantly.  “What do you think we should do now?”

“Well, if we have time, I'd like to go find their armory,” Miles said.  “I could use a new blade.”

Professor BA looked at Miles blade and frowned.  It was a worn double edged blade with a circular pommel and a small guard.  The constant bashing against the crystals had chipped the blade to near uselessness.  “You know you really should take better care of your weaponry,” he said.  “It’s not going to be of much use anymore in a fight.”

“I'm fine,” Miles said.  “I've got my fists to protect me.  And you of course.  Besides, this sword was only supposed to last me long enough to get a custom sword.”

Professor Ba smiled.  “Well, why don't we start the quest today, after this all winds down?”

Miles smiled.  “Yeah, that'd be cool.”

They probably would've continued making plans if it hadn't been for the commotion outside.  Professor BA peeked his head outside.  “Oh my,” he said with mild concern.  “It would appear that we have walked right into an ambush.

Miles opened the next window over to see Hackers pouring over the castle walls and charging towards the Coders.  Unorganized and disjointed, the Coders scrambled to form a defense.

Miles swore.  “Guess we're not going to raid their armory then,”

Professor BA sighed.  “No, I suppose not.  It would seem that we have to rescue Qilin and the others once more,”

Professor BA touched the wall with his staff and pushed.  Immediately, the planks and bricks of the house began to disassemble and float up into the air.  Ba waved his hand and an opening appeared in the swirl of debris that he and Miles walked through.  As they strode towards the fray, the floating pieces of the house followed them.  The sight was so profound, that Coders and Hackers alike froze in mid swing to stare at what was happening.

Professor BA strode to the middle of the fray and stopped.  He cleared his throat and spoke.  “It would seem that once again you people have decided that counterattacking is a good idea.  You seem to think that you have a reasonable chance of success.  Well allow the Professor to give you a schooling on how incredibly wrong that assumption is,”

The debris, which up until then had been peacefully floating, turned violent.  Hackers were dove for cover as boards, nails, bricks, and shingles pelted them to death.  Soon, the only people who were standing were the Coders and a few Hackers who had miraculously survived the attack.  One of them stepped forward.  It was a monkey in a martial arts robe and carrying a wooden staff.  He bowed to Professor BA and said, “So the stories are true.  You are the legendary Professor Badass.  It is a true pleasure to meet you.”

Professor BA rolled his eyes.  “Out of all the Hackers here, the role player had to survive.”

The monkey gave him a hard look.  “Do not take us role players as silly men who spend more time in character than training and leveling up.  If you saw what I am capable of, perhaps you would not be so confident,”

“Look, I know you want to keep on talking, but I've really got to finish this up pretty soon, I've got stuff to do.  So can we just skip the talking and go to the part where I turn you into a monkey nugget?”

The monkey nodded in consent.  “Of course.  If you will allow us to even the score,” he raised his hand in the air, a signal.

Lightning arced down from the top of the Keep and landed on a Hacker.  Each one began twisting and turning, before eventually standing back up, alert and ready to fight.  Each of them activated a powerup and red aura flowed over their weapons.”

Professor BA frowned.  “I've never seen that specific powerup.  Which one is it?”

The monkey smiled.  “Oh, just one that we've been cooking up for some time.  I'm certain that you will find it quite interesting.”  And with that, he activated the same powerup as the others and charged Professor BA, swinging his staff.  Professor BA easily blocked it and retaliated with a green bolt that the monkey easily deflected before sweeping Professor BA's legs out from under him and jabbing him in the side.  BA rolled to the side, yelling.

Miles ran in to attack, but Professor BA yelled “Miles, no! Don't attack him!”  Ignoring him, Miles swung low, aiming for the monkey's legs, but was tackled from the side by a bear.  The two went rolling and Miles punched desperately into the bear's side, trying to get free.  The bear kicked him away, and he went tumbling into the side of a building, busting through and rolling to a stop.  The building then proceeded to collapse, burying Miles up to his shoulders in debris.

Miles groaned; his ears were hurting from a strange feedback he'd gotten when the bear hit him.  Looking up, he saw the bear loping back to his friend who was fighting in hand to hand combat with BA.

Miles struggled to get up and help his friend.  Professor BA was easily one of the best fighters in the game, but he specialized in mid to long range combat.  In contrast, Miles was known as an amazing swordsman, but had absolutely no long range attacks.  That was one reason why he and BA made such a great team- they could support each other in whatever situation came up.

Suddenly, Professor BA’s voice boomed over the teamchat channel.  “Fall back, repeat fall back.  They’ve got some sort of attack that hurts you IRL.  Qilin, try to get everyone out and back to the base.  I’ll hold them off until you get over the walls.”

“This is Qilin.  BA, are you certain?  We won’t get another chance at this.”

“Qilin, I’ve never been more certain in my life.  We need to get out of here before someone gets- AARRRRGGGHHH!”   Professor BA yelled as he was hit in the head by a club swung by a lucky goblin.

“BA!” Miles shouted, then yelled in pain as feedback from a high pitched wail tore through his headphones.  Judging from the sounds others were making, they heard it as well.

Miles disconnected from teamchat and the noise faded.  He returned to freeing himself from the rubble that had fallen on him, but he was disoriented; both in the game, and in real life thanks to a pounding headache that threatened to split his skull in two.  He sneezed painfully and something splattered against his keyboard.  He pushed his headgear up to see that it was blood.

Meanwhile, the battle wasn’t going so well for Professor BA.  Many of the reanimated Hackers were dead- this time for good, but many more had come to take their place.  Professor BA was an island in a sea of Hackers.  He fought desperately, his staff moaning through the air, swatting Hackers to the side.  Suddenly, a dark chord swept through the air and a pitch black orb began pulsing above Professor BA’s staff.

”No, no, no!” Miles yelled, trying to squirm free.  Professor BA was playing his trump card.  The staff he was using was the only one of its kind in the game.  As such, it had immense power, including a single use attack that destroyed virtually everything in a 25 meter radius.  The downside was that the staff was destroyed and sent back to the quest required to gain the staff, and it left the user completely drained of mana and stamina.  If it didn’t work, Professor BA would be utterly defenseless.

A wind picked up as everything not tied down was sucked into the orb.  Bits and pieces of armor and weapons were the first to go, as they flew over the heads of the Hackers and disappeared into the orb’s depths.  Even parts of ruined buildings were picked up.  Soon, Hackers that were too close to Professor BA found themselves plucked from the ground and thrown into the orb.  As soon as they made contact with it, they burst into pixels and were added to the orb’s growing mass.  Realizing what was going on, the remaining Hackers tried to run from the orb.  Those with heavier armor on lasted a few seconds longer than those without, but the effect was the same.  Even the bear that had kicked Miles into the building was losing traction.

With an almighty yell, Professor BA tossed the staff into the orb, and the two exploded.  The ground trembled as anything not picked up by the orb was suddenly pushed away by a massive force.  The bear, which had been moments from being sucked into the orb was thrown into the pile that Miles was under, throwing most of it to the sides.

Professor BA collapsed to one knee, breathing heavily.  “I really hated the quest to get that staff.  And now it looks like I’m going to have to do it all over again,”

Miles finally freed himself from the rubble, except for his right foot.  He turned around in time to see a figure rise up from the ground and swing at Professor BA.  Unable to dodge, Professor BA took the full force of the blow to the head and tumbled to the ground, screaming in agony.

“You won’t get the chance to.” The monkey growled.  It began systematically slapping Professor BA with his staff- not enough to do any real damage, but enough to let the strange powerup do its work.  The bear lumbered over and began pounding Professor BA’s legs, listening to them crack.

“You’ve been a real pain in our collective asses, you know that right?” The Monkey said.  “With you in the picture, things instantly become even more complicated.”  He pushed his staff against Professor BA’s arm until it broke with a nasty crack.  Professor BA shrieked in pain and background noises could be heard as he fell out of his chair.

“It took us a few times, but we finally figured out what made you so powerful.” the Bear said.  “It was your staff all along.  You were never all that special.  All you had was the good fortune of getting that staff before anyone else did.  And now that you've destroyed the staff, we can see we were right.”  He twisted Professor BA’s leg until it bent completely in the opposite direction.  Professor BA whimpered in pain.  “So tell us,” the bear asked, “where did that quest take you?  Answer us that, and we’ll stop.”

Professor BA grimaced in agony, but managed to whisper out one phrase.  “Go violate some bees Winnie the Pooh.”

The bear roared in rage and slammed his paw down on Professor BA’s chest and held them there, digging his claws into his chest.  Professor BA’s head lolled to the side, indicating that Professor BA was AFK, but the bear pounded it until Professor BA's character was dead.

“No!” Miles yelled, wrenching his leg out from under the pile.  His ankle gave a sharp crack and his agility dropped by half, as he dropped to the ground, searching for a weapon.  His fingers closed around a hilt and he pulled it out from under the wreckage.  Unlike his previous blade, the one he was holding was almost twice its length with half its width added on.  It was double handed and the sheath had silver inlaid in a pattern Miles might’ve paid attention to had he not been preoccupied.  With a roar, he limped towards the two, who began laughing as they saw the sorry sight.

“Well well well, look at this sorry ass shmuck.” The bear chuckled.

“I, am going, to kill you both!”  Miles grunted.

“Do you honestly think that you can?” the monkey asked.  “Your friend here devoted all his time to taking us down.  Whenever he wasn’t playing around with you and your Coding friends, he was fighting us.  All that effort, and look at what it got him.”

Miles roared and swung at the bear, who easily dodged and kicked him in the back.  Miles stumbled and winced as the noise filled his ears once more.

“You might as well give up and die.”  The bear said.  “God knows it will make it easier on us.”

“Well, he could, but I somehow doubt that he will.” A voice called from above.  The bear and monkey looked up in time to have half a dozen shuriken bury themselves in their bodies.  They dropped without a sound, their bodies lying right next to Professor BA’s.

Miles looked up himself to see Qilin repackaging one of the many hidden weapons he had installed on his person.  A couple other Coders climbed the wall and hurried down a nearby set of stairs, offering support to Miles as he limped towards the stairs.

“I thought you two might need a bit of help.” Qilin called. “I’m sorry that we came too late.”

“Sorry?” Miles growled, shoving the players away.  “BA was just tortured in front of me and you’re sorry?”

Qilin winced.  “Well if you put it that way, it does sound awfully lame.  But yes, I am sorry.”

“Forget it,” Miles said.  “Let’s just get back.  I’m sure BA will be waiting there for us.”

But he wasn’t.  Professor BA didn’t turn up for the rest of the day, and the next, and the one after that.  Qilin assured everyone that Professor BA was probably taking it easy after going through what he did, but Miles didn’t believe it.  He knew enough about Professor BA to know that he would at least send a message saying that he was alright.  Days turned into weeks, and before Miles knew it, a month had passed and Professor BA had still not shown up.  Qilin stopped assuring people that Professor BA was alright, and began trying to get some sort of contact information to get ahold of him.

Finally, after a month and a half of waiting, Professor BA returned.

Miles was in the Citadel talking to one of the weapon traders about the sword he had picked up in the Hacker’s base to see how much it was worth.  Perhaps he could sell it to get an even better sword.

“You’d be best to hang on to it” a voice said behind him.  “It's not like the quest to get another one is at all fun.”

Miles spun around.  There in front of him was Professor BA.  Same face, same graffiti stained lab coat, same crazy hair that came from sticking your finger in an electrical socket.  The only thing that was missing was his staff.

“Dude!” he cried.  “It’s great to see you.  We were worried about you.”

Professor BA let out a hollow laugh.  “Considering what I hear the Hackers are packing now, you had good reason to.  I’m sorry for not getting on earlier.”

“It’s okay,” Miles assured him, “we all figured you just needed some time after what happened.”

“Oh I got time,” Professor BA assured him.  “Whether I wanted it or not.”

“Why was that?”  Miles asked, puzzled.

“Well, when they took me down, I wasn’t just killed in the game.  They actually put me in a coma.  My roommate came in to see me lying on the ground with a pretty big puddle of blood coming from my ears and nose.  He rushed me to the hospital and I’ve been on an IV until about a week ago.”

“You’re shitting me,” Miles said, shocked.

“I wish,” Professor BA replied.  “Believe me, BSing you would be better than what hell I was put through.”

“Well, it’s good to see you back,” Miles said.  “Everyone’s been pretty worried about you.  They’ll be glad to see you safe and sound.  And now you’re back, we can hunt those two who put you in a coma and hunt them down.  We’ve been working on some code that will hopefully ban them so they’ll never bother us aga-”

Professor BA held up a hand and Miles stopped talking.  He let out a long sigh and said “Miles, I’m not here to hang out.  I’m here to say goodbye.”

“Wait, what?”  Miles said, shocked.  This was not the reunion he imagined.

“Believe me, I’d love to stick around and make those two pay, but I’ve lost hearing in one ear, and most of it in the other.  Right now, it sounds like you’re on the far end of a tunnel.  The doctors said that I need to stay away from loud noises for the rest of my life, if I want to keep what hearing I have left.”

“But, you can’t go!” Miles said frantically.  “There was so much we were going to do!  And now with the Hackers having this new power, we’re going to need your help to stop them!”

Professor BA waved him away.  “You don’t need my help, you never did.  All I did was tote around that stupid staff and act like I was all awesome and shit.  But really, it was all the staff.  You saw how bad I got beat once I lost it.  I’m nothing without it.”

Tears were pricking the corners of Miles’ eyes.  “But, you can’t do this!” he said frantically.  “You can’t just come here after a month and a half of being away, only to say that you’re leaving.”

Professor BA smiled sadly.  “Miles, I've loved the time and effort I've put into Rune with you and the Coders, but that time is past.  It was over the moment the Hackers activated that powerup.  There’s no way it’s coming back.”

“Yes it can!” Miles insisted.  “We’ve just got to get the developers to listen.  Once they do, it’ll be back to the way things were.”

“The Dev’s?” Professor BA said incredulously.  “You mean to tell me that they’ve suddenly started doing shit in the past month and a half?  What changed their mindset? The fact that a player assured relative safety in their game now has permanent disabilities because they weren’t doing their job?”

“Well, they’ve not responded yet, but with your story,”

“Miles, stop.  You're not going to convince me, and I’m not going to convince you.  But before I go, I want you to promise me something.”

Miles looked at him.  “What?”

“Those two that put me in a coma are called Bearzerker and Master Saru.  If you’re going to continue playing Rune, I want you to promise me that if they come, if you’re fighting and suddenly they show up, that you run.  Run and don’t look back.  Because if you don’t, you’ll just end up like me.  I fought them several times before and I am convinced that they knew exactly what they were doing, and were having a complete fucking blast.  Please promise me that.”

Rage and triumph boiled up from Miles’ gut.  At last, he had the names of the two who had done this to his friend.  “I’m sorry BA.  But I’m afraid I can’t do that.  Not until they pay for what they did to you.  I’m going to hunt them down- in real life if I have to.  And when I get them; I’m going to make them wish that they had never come near this game!”

Professor BA looked at him sadly.  “So that’s your decision then.  You can’t even let a friend go knowing that one of his closest friends will be safe.”

“BA,”

“Goodbye Milesoftheblades.” Professor BA said.  “Maybe we’ll meet IRL sometime.”

And without saying another word, he logged off.  Miles desperately pulled up his friends list, only to see Professor BA’s name disappear from the list.  He tried sending him a message, but he got a reply back saying he was trying to send the message to a player that did not exist.

Miles wailed and ripped off his headgear and flung it to the side.  It struck a wall and shattered, pieces raining on his bed.  Fat tears were streaming down his face as he curled up into a ball and sobbed.  After ten minutes, he finally recovered.  Shakily, he pulled himself into his chair again and brought up the messaging service for Rune once more.  He selected Qilin’s name and began typing.

Milesoftheblades: Just saw BA.  Turns out he was in a Coma for the past month or so thanks to the Hackers.  Also lost most of his hearing.

Qilin1: You serious?

Milesoftheblades: That’s not the worst of it.  He just left the game.

Qilin1: I don’t believe you.  No way he would do that.

Milesoftheblades: I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that.  Don’t think about trying it again.

Qilin1: Miles, this isn’t funny.  Stop joking around.

Milesoftheblades: Listen to me very carefully Qilin.  I just saw my closest friend after he had been in a goddam coma for a month, only for him to tell me that I’ll never see him again.  Don’t you dare think that this is a fucking joke.  And if for some reason you think that it still is, just try and look for his username.

It took Qilin five minutes to respond.

Qilin1: Son of a bitch.  He really left.

Qilin1: This changes everything.  We’re going to have to rethink our tactics.  We can’t risk what happened to BA happening again.  I can already imagine how many people are going to leave when they hear this.  Something like that happens again and we're shit out of luck.

Milesoftheblades: I’ll help you and whoever stays to fight the Hackers, but as of today, I have a new mission.

Qilin1: And that is?

Milesoftheblades: I am going to show those two what happens when they fuck with my friends.  The fires of Hades are nothing compared to what they will feel before I’m done with them.

 

And that dear children is what happened to Miles. Leave a review if you liked it, or leave one anyways if you didn't. And if you haven't already, check out my RWBY fanfic "To Be Human". Until then, see you guys in two weeks!

19: A Chance For an End

They had left the city as Janus told the story. They had taken one of the many roads that branched out from it and had started walking. 'three players just standing at a ruined table is going to arouse suspicion' as Croe put it.

“-So by the time Qilin got everything back under control, our base was in shambles, and everyone was freaked out,” Janus said. “The first thing Qilin did was reach out to the internet and get some halfway decent Coders. He had some beforehand, but out of all of them, only one or two were up to the task. That's how I got in. A guy in my computer science class asked if I would join and I accepted. It was by pure luck that I later got hired to do a bit of freelance work on the game.”

“So you never got to see BA?” Alex asked.

“No, but I heard stories and watched a few videos of him fighting. He was like a one-man-army. With Miles, he was unstoppable.”

“Not unstoppable enough.” Alex said.

Janus shook his head sadly. “No, not enough.”

Alex opened his mouth to say something, when a message popped up in his in-game mailbox. He opened it and read it

Dev Q&A

The developers at Arcanis Interactive will be having a Q&A session January 16th at the Capitol building in the Citadel. Players are required to possess an entry ticket to be allowed in. Tickets can be bought with in game cash, or through a small microtransaction. We hope you will take advantage of this opportunity and eagerly await your questions.

Alex checked the date. The 16th was only two days away! He turned to Croe and Janus to see them reading the message as well.

“Well, that was unexpected,” Croe commented.

“Dude, this is more than unexpected,” Janus said, “This is huge! The devs have never done a Q&A before, let alone a live one! There's no way we can pass this up.”

“Si Senor,” a voice behind them said.

Alex, Croe, and Janus whirled around to see that Silent Stealth had been walking behind them; hands behind his back like he didn't have a care in the world.

“Jesus! How long were you behind us?” Alex yelled, shocked.

Silent Stealth smirked. “Long enough to acquire these,” he moved his hand to show three pouches of money and Croe's scythe

“Give me that!” Croe yelled indignantly, snatching his scythe and money pouch from Silent Stealth, who didn't even protest.

“Most every faction is going to have a representative at the capitolio. They will all try to get the developers to focus on issues. The metal man is certainly going to try and bring the Hacker's to the developer's attention. Naturally, the Hackers will try to stop him.”

“Sounds pretty bad,” Croe said. “I hope he succeeds.”

“That is why I am here,” Silent Stealth said. “Qilin asked me to be a, diplomático between him and you.”

“,, We’re talking about the same guy, right?” Alex asked. “I mean, last time I saw him, he threatened to ban me and throw all of my personal information up on the internet.”

“Much has changed since you last saw him. The Hacker's no longer have a castillo to hide within, and your name has become both revered and feared among Coders. You are a hero, and yet there are still those who wish for your banishment. They are the reason he is unwilling to lower the threat he has placed upon you for fear of looking a coward, despite knowing he needs your help. Qilin juggles lit torches. If he is not careful, he will be burned.”

“So, what is it exactly that he wants us to help him with?” Janus asked.

Silent Stealth shrugged. “As for that, I do not know. I was told nothing more than what I have already told you. All that remains is for me to deliver you should you accept.”

Janus looked at Alex. “We should go see what he has to say.”

“I don’t,”

“You don’t trust him. I get that GN, I really do. But we should at least hear him out.”

Alex folded his arms. “Fine. I’ll listen, but I doubt he will convince me of anything.”

Silent Stealth smiled. “I applaud you for keeping an open mind.” He removed a black ring from his finger and flicked it onto the ground. It turned into a black vortex and widened until it reached Alex's feet. His vision twisted drunkenly and turned to black.”

@0@0@

When Alex regained his bearings, they didn’t help much since he was completely blind. He summoned a fireball to reveal that he, Janus, and Croe were in a dark empty cavern.

“Where are we?” Croe asked.

“You’re in the first base the Coders ever had,” a female voice replied behind them. They spun around to see a Lizard in leather armor standing behind them, sword and shield drawn.

Janus bowed to her. “It’s good to see you again, Sharps.” He turned to Alex. “You two didn’t get a decent introduction the last time you met, but this is Sharpslefae, second in command of the Coders, and one of the best fighters in the game.”

“Not counting me!” Garrett’s voice said in the distance.

“Wait, weren’t you the one I scared the crap out of when I first came to your base?” Alex asked.

Sharpslefae nodded her head. “I apologize for that. My actions ended any chance of you being trusted by many of the Coders, and influenced events that got your friends banished from the Coders.” She frowned. “Speaking of which, where is Miles?”

Alex shifted uneasily. “I got in the way of his quest for justice for BA when I wouldn't tell him the general area where Saru and Bearzerker live, and he left.”

Sharpslefae uttered a curse. “That idiot is going to get himself hurt, or worse if he keeps this up. And if it doesn't happen to him, it’s going to be someone else. But I'm getting off track. Listening to me complain is not the reason I asked Silent Stealth to bring you hear.”

“Wait, I thought Qilin asked Silent Stealth to bring us here,” Janus remarked with a hint of confusion.

“Qilin told me to find people willing to protect him from the Hackers while he tries to get the Developer's attention. He left the decision up to me.”

“So, he has no idea that you're talking to us?” Janus asked.

Sharpslefae nodded. “If he did, I have no doubt he would blow a fuse. Or whatever keeps that metal head of his running.”

“Speaking of which, what exactly do we need to do to keep him safe?” Croe asked.

“That is up to you.” Sharpslefae answered. “I would suggest spotting having someone spot out Hackers, and the other two come in and kick them before they can do anything. Just be certain you do it quietly. If you draw attention to yourself, the developers will quickly realize that you do not have entry tickets. They’ve warned that anyone at the event not possessing a ticket will be in danger of having their accounts suspended.”

“If they’ll suspend our accounts, then why don’t we just buy tickets?” Janus asked.

“Because we have reason to believe that the Hackers can get into those lists. If they look at them, they’ll see your names on it. If they see you, they’ll be expecting you.”

“So, how much are you going to pay us for this?” Alex asked

“Dude!” Janus said, affronted.

Alex continued, undeterred. “I’m sorry; but you’re asking me to risk my neck and account for a group that constantly looks down on me, just because I got tricked by a couple of assholes, and can’t get rid of a stupid program they’ve put on my character. If you want my help, then it’s going to cost you big time.”

Sharpslefae nodded. “You are right, I suppose. I do have a proposal though. If you can help us get the Developers’ attention to the Hacker situation, I'm almost positive that you will be welcome among the Coders again.” She produced a flat gray stone with a glowing rune carved into it. “I can also throw in the telekinetic spellstone that Croe failed to win at the auction two nights ago.”

“That would be nice, wait a second,” Croe said suspiciously. “How do you know that I didn’t get the stone?”

She smiled at him. “Because I bought it for the Coders using a different account. It would be a small price to pay for your services should this work out.”

Alex looked at Janus and Croe. “I still don’t know. What do you two think?”

“I think I really want that spellstone,” Croe said. “It’s one of five in the game, and the other four are who knows where.”

“Well, it would work out better if Miles was still with us.” Janus said thoughtfully. “But if someone can get Croe up high, then he can spot out Hackers while you and I take them out.”

“How come I can’t help take them out?” Croe asked indignantly.

“Oh, possibly due to the fact that your primary weapon uses bright orange fire, and disintegrates players in to orange dust," Janus replied.

Sharpslefae laid a hand on Croe. "I’ll send you three a list with known Hacker characters, as well as files and instructions to kick players. I’ll also be with Qilin to defend him should something go wrong.”

“We could probably get some invisibility potions from Spicy,” Janus offered. “I heard he bought a bunch on the exchange.”

“Well we could, except for one thing.” Croe said.

“What’s that?” Janus asked, confused.

“Silent Stealth never gave us back our money pouches. We’re pretty much broke!”

20: Infiltration

Uggghhh. So sorry for pushing this off until later in the week. But hey, it's here! Enjoy!

The normally serene yard of the Capital building was completely packed with hundreds of characters from every species available. All of them were desperately trying to get in, or failing that, be able to hear what was going on. Not that they would be successful; the developers had coded the building so that no one outside could hear what was going in inside.

It was here that Alex, Janus, and Croe found themselves, waiting for Sharpslefae to let them in. To avoid being recognized, they had split up, mingling with the crowd, and trying to find any Hackers lurking outside.

Alex was beginning to wonder if something had happened to Sharpslefae, when his inbox beeped, indicating he had a new message.

From: Sharpslefae

To: Ginganinja, Croe, Janus

OMG It's about to start! So sorry you guys can't be here.

Sharps

xoxo

To the naked eye, it would look like nothing more than a player chatting with her friends who couldn't make it in. To Alex, it was the signal that she was in position and ready to let them in.

Alex closed the window and made his way over to a marble bench with the map of Rune carved into it. Janus and Croe were already waiting for him.

“You got the message, I assume?” Alex asked.

“I did, Janus didn't. I was making my way over when I found him chatting it up with a female paladin,” Croe said.

“Well, in my defense, she was willing to sell me her sword for 300 gold,” Janus said.

“That sword was twice as long as Miles' and half as useful,” Croe countered. “It was taller than you are!”

“Whoever said I was going to use it?” Janus said. “I was going to sell it to Spicy, see how much I could get for it.”

“Well, maybe she will be here when we're done.” Alex said. “Janus, do you have the potions?”

Janus nodded and searched through his inventory. “Ugh, I hate how my brother organizes this.” he said. “It would be so much better if he just left it to me.”

“That brother being?” Croe asked.

“The one with the knack for computers,” Janus said dismissively, “Ah, here we go.” He pulled out three light blue potions and handed one to Alex and Croe. “These should last us for about 30 minutes.”

“Bottoms up,” Croe said. He popped the cork off and gulped it down, his body becoming less and less visible until he drained the last drop and was completely invisible. Alex and Janus did the same, and they to vanished from sight.

They carefully made their way through the crowd and to the west side of the building. They scanned the windows set above them until they saw Sharpslefae behind one, talking to Qilin. They approached the window and Janus pulled up a chat window with the three of them.

Janus: this is it. I put my hand up against the brick she mentioned, and it went through.

Sharpslefae had picked this window for a specific reason. The third brick beneath the window had a glitch where if it was touched, it could allow a player to walk through the wall. It was a perfect way to get into the Capital.

Ginganinja: You first. Remember to watch out for the abyss beneath

Janus: yeah good point.

Croe: let us know when you're through so we can follow. I'll be behind GN.

Janus was silent for a moment then typed “I'm in” into the chat window. Alex reached out and touched the brick. As expected, his hand went right through. Pushing the rest of his body through, he grabbed onto the floor and hauled himself in, careful to not slip into the abyss below where he would be subsequently killed and sent back to the nearest respawn point.

As he climbed in, the sounds of the outside were suddenly muffled and the babble of conversation on the inside suddenly became audible. With it came the voices of Sharpslefae and Qilin.

“-Look Sharps, I appreciate the idea, but I still don't trust him. We don't know what resources the Hackers have at their disposal. The destruction of their castle could've been nothing more than a distraction for us.”

“You don't know that Qil. And from what I've heard about GN; he, Miles, Janus, and Croe have done nothing to show that they are allied with the Hackers.”

With a shock, Alex realized that they were talking about him. Careful not to make a sound, he crawled over to the other side and tucked his knees in so as to not trip anyone.

Qilin sighed. “Look, after tonight, we won't have to worry about this. The Developers will put an end to the Hackers, and we can work with them to develop a program to remove the virus from his character. Then, we can talk about letting them back into the Coders.”

“You don't know that we will succeed tonight,” Sharpslefae argued. “And even if we did, who’s to say we won't get banned as well. You and others in the game may look upon the Coders in a positive light, but in the eyes of a Developer, we may just be nothing more than a hacker that's been messing around with not only the code of the game, but also the personal information of players in the game.”

Qilin was about to retort, when out of nowhere, a loud fart came from behind a potted plant. Light blue bubbles popped into existence where they floated to the ceiling and burst like miniature balloons.

Qilin whirled around, compartments opening all over his body to reveal an assortment of deadly weaponry including a pair of crossbows that popped out of his torso; already cocked and loaded.

Sharpslefae pulled up a chatbox with the three

Sharpslefae: Is that you guys?

Janus: Yes! Please don't shoot!

“Qilin,” Sharpselfae said, “They're the people I got, to help us.”

Qilin stood down, but didn't put away the weapons. “It's rude to eavesdrop on conversations.” He said unhappily.

Ginganinja: It wasn't our fault. We just got here.

“They say it isn't their fault,” Sharpslefae said. “They just came in.”

Qilin harrumphed and finally put the weapons back in their compartments. “I don't suppose I can learn your names?”

Before either of them could answer, Sharpslefae spoke up. They wish to keep their names secret. They're willing to help us, but don't want the Hackers to learn that they're affiliated with us.”

Qilin nodded. If a robot could look sheepish, it was Qilin. “I suppose that our organization does attract some unwanted attention to those with ties to us.”

Sharpslefae was about to say something, when music swelled from a door down the corridor. Sharpslefae’s eyes widened and she shoved Qilin towards the door. “Go! It’s about to start! You need to be close to the front in case they get tired of asking questions!”

Qilin nodded and lumbered off, his metal feet thudding against the polished wood.

Sharpslefae turned around, then frowned. “I really hate invisibility potions,” She said. “They're way too finicky. We could be in trouble if one of you gets gassy again.”

“Sharrrrpppssss,” came the disembodied voice of Janus, “This is the farting ghost of the Capitaaalll. Youuuu don't need to worrrryyy. And also give Janus all your moneeeyyyyy.”

Despite the stress she was undoubtedly in, Sharpslefae managed to crack a smile before turning serious again. “Right, Qilin is going to be in the west part of the building, making his way to the front. GN, you take that area. Janus, I want you to be searching the east side. Croe, there’s an unused balcony that should be perfect for you to keep a bird’s eye view of the situation. It’s directly above the main entrance. Keep an eye on how much longer your potions will last, and we just might pull this off.”

Alex nodded before belatedly realizing that she couldn’t see him. He then began to walk forward until slamming into someone and falling down.

“Watch it! Janus called out. Daggers are rather pointy, you know.”

“Sorry,” Alex said, extricating himself from Janus. They stumbled down the hallway, bumping into each other constantly. Sharpslefae watched them go.

“They have to be the most uncorrdinated pair I've ever not seen,” Croe said.

Sharpslefae shook her head and sighed. “Let's just hope they pull it together out there.”

@0@0@

As it would turn out, walking through a crowd invisible was more difficult than Alex initially thought it would be. Since no one saw him, no one made way for him. He constantly had to jostle people around just to move a few inches. And the crowd wasn’t afraid of jostling him around as well. Several times he lost health or agility because someone stepped on his toe, or he walked too close to an unsheathed weapon.

As he searched, the music ended and one of the Developers, a heavily armed knight with a spear longer than Alex had made Ginganinja tall, stepped up a podium and raised his arms.

Janus: What exactly is he doing?

Sharpslefae: I'm not certain, but I think that he's going to do something about the crowd's noise.

Sure enough, whatever the Developer did caused the babble of the crowd fell into an unintelligible whisper.

The Developer lowered his hands. “Thank you all for coming to our first ever Q&A. I expect that all of you have questions you would like answered. I assure you that we will do everything in our power to get through them all. What we are going to do is call upon you one by one and allow your character to talk at your normal voice to ask a question. Now, who would like to go first?”

A small imp in the front row raised its hand. Almost immediately, Sharpslefae messaged them.

Sharpslefae: Got one. That imp is a Hacker. Janus, get close to him, but don't tag him until he's out of site of the Developers

Janus: Got it. What if he doesn't move?

Sharpslefae: We'll worry about that later. For now, try and get to him without alerting them of your presence.

By that time, the Developers had finished answering the Imp's question. Almost immediately, another hand rose into the air. This time, it was Croe who messaged the group

Croe: Got another one. What's up with them? Why are the Hackers asking questions? Aren't they supposed to be trying to kill Qilin?

Sharpslefae: That's what we thought they'd do. Obviously they were mistaken.

Ginganinja: So what then, what are they trying to do?

It was several moments before Janus answered their question

Janus: What if they were trying to bog down the Q&A with so many questions, Qilin can't get a word in edge wise?

Sharpslefae: Shit. That would make sense. Croe, try to pick Hackers out before they ask a question. If we can get enough, it might make a gap in questions long enough for Qilin to talk.

Croe: Got it. BTW GN, you've got the minotaur on your right.

Alex spun around to see that Croe was right. The minotaur character they'd encountered at the Hacker's Castle was standing right next to him. Alex frantically looked around on his HUD before finding the little button that had appeared after he installed the program that Sharpslefae had given him. He activated it, and a crosshair appeared, not unlike the one that came up when he used a fireball. He aimed it at the minotaur, and the Hacker disappeared in a pixelated poof. Alex and Janus both repeated this for several minutes, during which, they managed to get half a dozen more.

Ginganinja: Do you think the Hackers will notice they're all getting kicked?

Sharpslefae: Probably. But what can they do about it? Causing a disturbance will almost definitely get them noticed. And that's the last thing they want to happen in front of the Developers.

As the Developers finished up the most recent question. They once again looked around to find another question. This time however, there was a pause. Alex's pulse quickened. This was their chance to pull it off. He prayed Qilin wouldn't mess it up.

“Are there any more questions?” the Developer asked.

Alex saw Qilin's hand begin to raise above the crowd. Before it could reach high enough however, a voice rang out.

“Yeah, I've got one.”

Miles shoved his way out of the crowd and pointed an accusatory finger at the Developer standing in front of the podium.

“My question is, what the hell are you doing to take care of the Hacker problem?”

 

So yeah. Miles has decided to take things into his own hands. What will happen? You'll have to read the next issue to find out!

Speaking of the next issue, I regret to say that I will not be able to update it on the usual week. Why you may ask? Because at the time I usually update HOR, I'll be hiking part of the AT, and very far away from anything resembling a computer. I'm debating on several different solutions, but it very well may end up being pushed to the week after I get back, and go up along with To Be Human, which If you like RWBY and haven't read it yet, go check it out.  Please.  You'll make me happy.

I'll see you guys in a few weeks!

21: Their Answer

Hey Guys!

Sorry I couldn't update last Monday.  I was out of town and very far away from a computer, and I didn't have time to set something up with a friend for him to post the next chapter.  To make it up to you guys, after this week, I will continue with my normal update schedule and post a new chapter next week as well.  this means that you guys get two updates in as many weeks!

But anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter and see what the Dev's answer is to Miles' question.

Roll Story!

0@0@0

The hall was dead silent. The quiet babble that had persisted for most of the Q&A had ceased. Everyone was waiting to hear what the Developers had to say. Even Qilin, who was obviously livid that Miles had ruined his chance, was listening intently.

“I’m sorry, but what hacker problem are you talking about?” the Developer said in confusion.

“I mean the one that is causing injury to the players themselves,” Miles replied. “The one where the Hackers have the ability to hurt people in real life.”

For a moment, the Developer’s face showed a mask of confusion. Then his face returned to normal and he said “You mean the attack on the Halo servers earlier this week. I’m sorry, but I don’t understand how this is pertinent to-”

“I’m not talking about Halo; that was something that only happened recently,” Miles said angrily. “What I’m talking about is the Hackers that have been plaguing Rune for over a year now! They’ve done nothing but attack people for no apparent reason, using some virus that lets them create high pitched noises that blow out their victims eardrums, give them headaches, and sometimes knock them unconscious! Hell, one guy was put in a coma for over a goddam month!”

“If this is true, then why have we not received any complaints from you or any of the other players?” the developer asked.

“Bullshit!”

Qilin stepped forward, apparently having managed to remove whatever code the developers had placed on the hall. From his viewpoint, Alex could see that Sharpslefae was right behind him, one hand on the pommel of her sword. Surprisingly, the elf that Alex had attacked in the Hacker’s base was there as well, wearing a white cloak with gold trim over his usual attire.

“How did you,” the Developer spluttered, “Sir, I demand that you put our code back to the way it was, and leave this hall immediately. You’ve broken the terms of service and we will be looking into your history to see if you have done anything else with the game.”

“Good. Then maybe you will see what the Hackers have been doing as well,” Qilin said hotly. “I represent a group that has been constantly trying to get rid of the Hackers since they began to show up and become organized. We’ve all submitted hundreds if not thousands of reports, often with video and audio evidence, of what is going on. And yet, we have never heard anything back, never seen any action taken to try and stop the Hackers other than our own. The only thing we have seen is a steady increase in hacker activity. So tell me, what exactly are you going to do now about it?”

“I tell you once again, we have seen no reports suggesting that these hackers exist. Now leave this hall or we will be forced to ban both of you for defiance against a direct command of one of the Dev team.”

Miles drew his sword. “Not until we prove to you that the Hackers exist, and you answer for the damage that your negligence has caused.”

At that moment, a noise like the air being let out of a balloon sounded throughout the hall. A massive trail of bubbles flew towards the ceiling and Janus faded into view, right behind one of the Hackers.

Time froze

Then Janus yelled “For the Horde!” and stabbed the Hacker in the back, shoving him into the nearest players. As the players tumbled down, he dove back into the crowd and shoved his way towards the exit, yelling “World of Warcraft shall destroy you all!” As he did so, he accidentally ran into Alex. They tumbled to the ground, and Ginganinja faded into view as well.

At this point the hall was in chaos. The Developers were trying to return order, but whatever Qilin did to break the silence was also preventing them from restoring it as well. Meanwhile, the Hackers that Alex and Janus had not yet kicked were drawing weapons and making their way towards Miles and Qilin. As they advanced, players scrambled out of their way to avoid being attacked. Sharpslefae drew her weapon as did Qilin. After a moment’s hesitation and a look from Sharpslefae, the elf did so as well, pulling a short sword from underneath his cloak.

Miles swung at the first hacker who got within range; going in with a downward slash that split the Hacker in two and cracked several of the floorboards. The second Hacker was more cautious and went on the defensive. He managed to last a few seconds, during which he called out to the Developer at the podium. “Don’t worry sir! We’ll have them taken care of in a moment.”

As he was talking, Miles disarmed him and followed through with a punch to the neck. The Hacker sailed backwards and landed in a collapsed heap.

What he didn’t see was that one of the Hackers had snuck around him and was preparing to stab him in the back with a dagger.

Alex tore through the last of the crowd and with a flying leap, tackled the would be assassin. They slid across the floorboards as Alex conjured up a fireball. To his horror, it came out as a viral attack. Desperately, he shoved it into the Hacker whom gave a sharp cry and shoved Ginganinja off. Alex extinguished the ball and drew his sword.

By this time, Miles had realized what had almost happened. He turned and saw Ginganinja facing the Hacker. His eyes narrowed. “You.”

“I just saved you from being taken down. A thanks would be nice,” Alex said, blocking the Hacker’s slash and countering with a thrust.

Miles shoved him back, then grabbed a Hacker by the hair and threw him screaming into a wall, which promptly broke. “I had everything covered. I didn’t need you to save me.”

“Your back sure as hell didn’t look covered,” Alex said, wincing as his character took a glancing axe blow in the arm. He struck the handle of the axe and dragged it out of the Hacker’s grasp before ending him with a stab to the throat.

“Do you really think a dagger in the back would kill me?” Miles asked.

“Well, I don’t know. Depends on whether it was a normal dagger, or something worse. Considering it was a Hacker, I’d wager worse.”

“ENOUGH!”

The developer had moved around the podium and had jumped down to the floor, shoving Ginganinja away as he did. “This has gone on long enough,” He roared. “You have disrupted an official event created by Arcanis software. You are all hereby banned.”

He reached to his back, not for the massive spear, but instead for a small glowing rod that Alex had not noticed at first.

“It’s a Ban Rod!” Qilin cried. “Run!”

The Developer fired it at Qilin and he vanished into a bright light.

“No!” Sharpslefae cried.

The developer ignored her and instead trained it on Janus. He fired, but Janus saw it coming and managed to duck under it and let it hit the Hacker behind him. The Developer continued firing, but Janus managed to evade him.

“Oh for heaven’s sake,” A female Developer said. “Enough with these dramatics.”

She typed a few keys in on her keyboard, and Janus too vanished.

The female Developer turned to Alex, Miles, Shaprslefae, and the elf. “I will spare you four because you weren’t the leaders of this outrage. You will however be put on probation for the remainder of the time you play Rune. If such actions persist, you will be banned as well,” She then turned her focus squarely on Miles. “Since you assisted your leaders in the actual disruption, you will receive further punishment.”

“That’s where you’re wrong lady, I haven’t been part of that group for over two month now. I only came here because the person who was put in a coma was a friend of mine. Thanks to your lack of action, he can barely hear any more.”

“Then who is this person? Tell us and we will talk to him personally to find out if he is telling the truth.”

“You can’t. As soon as he recovered enough to tell us what happened, he quit the game and deleted his account.”

“Then you have no way of proving your truth,” She said. She returned once more to the keyboard and began typing. As she did, Miles’ sword and sheath crumbled to dust and he appeared to shrink slightly. When she finished, the female developer spoke. “I’ve removed the contents of your inventory, and stripped you of your level. This is to be your punishment.”

Miles was shocked at his sudden transformation. “But, you can’t do that!”

“As a matter of fact, yes we can,” The male developer said. “It clearly states in the terms of agreement that we have full ability to grant and remove items and ranks at our leisure. A document, may I remind you, that you agreed to when you created an account.”

“But,”

“If you would prefer,” the female developer said, “we can always ban your account.”

Miles lowered his head, defeated.

“Let this be a lesson of what happens when people mess with what we have given them,” The female developer declared. “Now get out of this building, and never come back!”

Alex picked himself up from the floor and made his way through the crowd of people still remaining. The Hackers among them gave him discrete sneers. As the doors of the hall closed behind him, he could hear the developers praising the Hackers that had fought them.

0@0@0

Yeah, that didn't go as well as planned did it? Tune in next week to see the aftermath!

22: The Fallout

Ah crap. Sorry guys. I knew this weeks chapter would be late, but I never expected it to be THIS late.

Basically, I had orientation for college on Monday, so updating then was out. I meant to update the next day, but things kind of slipped by. I'd love to say I will put a stop to this, but to be honest, I don't know if I can. I go off to college soon and I have no idea how things are going to play out. All I can promise is that I will do everything in my power short of failing a class to at least get a chapter out the week it's supposed to. I'm sorry that that's the best I can offer, but my hands are kind of tied here.

ROLL STORY!

@0@0@

Alex caught up to Sharpslefae outside the Capital. She was making her way down the stairs and into the throng of people outside.

“Hey, Qilin’s going to be alright, right? I mean, he should just be able to create a new account.”

Sharpslefae sighed. “Not without risking legal action. Getting banned from Rune is different from being banned from other MMOs. They don’t just ban your account, they ban your IP as well. You can get the IP unbanned, but only if you can prove it is a public network. Any other way, and the Developers can throw some serious charges against you.”

“Can’t you just go in and remove him from the ban list?”

She shook her head. “Not even the Developers have that kind of power. There’s a way change to change it, but to do so would require access to the Core.”

“So he and Janus are stuck?” Alex asked.

Sharpslefae sniffed. “Yeah, they’re stuck.”

The massive wooden doors behind them swung open on their own accord, and a trail of blue bubbles flew past them as Croe faded into view. “That was way too close,” he said. “I almost got caught when the bubbles began appearing.”

“What’re they doing in there?” Alex asked.

“Oh, just thanking the Hackers for helping them by increasing their levels and giving them piles of gold and rare items,” Croe said sarcastically. “Not like they need it or anything.”

Sharpslefae groaned. “That’s just perfect,” she said. “We played right into their hands. We knew they’d try to stop us, but we had no idea they would play it so that they ended up becoming the heroes.”

“Certainly no thanks to you,” The elf said snidely to Alex and Croe. “You two and Janus did nothing to stop them. I didn’t even see you until the fighting started, and Janus was the one who started it.”

“Aaron, stop it,” Sharpslefae commanded. “They did everything they could to stop the Hackers. We wouldn’t have even had the chance we did had they not been working tirelessly to kick hackers out of the Capital. So show them some respect. It’s the least they deserve.”

Aaron the Elf grunted and walked off, his cloak flapping in the breeze.

Sharpslefae sighed. “I’m sorry for bringing you two into this. GN, I never thought you were lying; at least, not after you explained yourself. If you hadn’t attacked Aratorious, you might’ve gotten more people to follow you once they saw what you could do. That’s one of the reasons I chose you. I could’ve picked anyone to do the job, but the reason I chose you, Croe and Janus was because I hoped that the job would’ve been enough to earn you some respect among the Coders. I guess it wasn’t enough, was it. All I ended up doing was getting Janus and Qilin banned.”

Croe reached up from his short stature and put a hand on her shoulder. She couldn’t have felt it, but seemed to react to it nonetheless. “It wasn’t your fault,” he said. “Who knew that the Hackers would turn the tables on us like that? You did all that you could, and no one can fault you for that.”

Sharpsefae nodded. “Thanks Croe” she said. She reached into her pocket and brought out the spellstone she had outbid Croe on and handed it to him. “Even though we didn’t succeed, I think you earned this.”

Croe held the stone in his hands, staring at it in wonder. “Thanks Sharps” he said.

She nodded. “Stay safe.” She said. “With a move like the one we just pulled, the Hackers might decide to attack further.”

She strode silently down the stairs and disappeared into the throng of people at the Capital’s steps.

They barely got a moments rest before Miles strode up to them. In his weakened state, he barely stood above Ginganinja.

“What the hell were you people thinking?” he roared.

“We were following a plan that actually might’ve worked if you hadn’t taken Qilin’s opportunity.” Croe countered.

“I had to do something,” Miles said. “I owe it to BA and everyone the Hackers have hurt.”

“Miles, I get that you want to stop the Hackers, but you’re letting this get out of control.” Croe said. “If you don’t stop this, you’re going to end up in some serious trouble.”

Miles threw a punch at Croe who easily dodged the weak attack. “I mean, look at you now! Your drive for vengeance has only made it even harder for you to carry it out!”

“Shut up! Just shut the hell up!” Miles cried. “All of you. You know nothing about what it feels like to lose someone that close to you. To watch everything that they stood for slowly fall apart until it is barely recognizable. To want to do something but be completely powerless to stop it.”

“Excuse me?”

Croe and Miles turned to Alex, who up until now had been silent.

“Do you mean to tell me that you have the balls to act like I don’t know how you feel without knowing what I’ve been through?”

“I don’t care what it’s been like for you to be an introvert,” Miles snarled. “Whatever bullying you’ve gone through, it’s nothing like what I-”

“I wasn’t talking about what Janus has told you.” Alex said, cutting him off angrily. “What Janus told you is old news. Recently, I’ve been going through stuff that’s been ten times worse.”

Miles let out a hollow laugh. “And once more, we learn that the Almighty Ginganinja has been keeping even more secrets from the rest of us. The rest of us have been pretty open, but it’s you who’s been keeping quiet and giving us nothing but vague hints and clues!”

“Fine, you want to know my life story, here it is!” Alex shouted. He ripped off his mask, baring his face to the world. “My name is Homer Alexander Samson Jr.” he said. “My father is Homer Samson Sr., the CEO of Samson Aviation Industries. He has never been the kind of father who was there that often, but he has been missing for over a GODDAMN YEAR! And to make matters worse, the board of directors are going to remove my family from his position as soon as he is legally dead. And once that happens, we get cut off from them and they take the house and most of my father’s fortune. Which means I am going to have to be separated from my own twin sister!” He pushed Miles, who stumbled backwards. “So don’t you DARE act like I don’t know what you’re going through, Milesoftheblades. Out of all the people in this game, I think I understand the most!”

No one in the group spoke for the longest time. The silence was so thick, it was almost tangible. Croe eventually spoke up. “GN, Alex. I, I don’t know what to say. I, I had no idea.”

“Well now you do.” Alex said. “You know my story. What do you have to say about it Miles?”

Miles crossed his arms. “Alright. I’m sorry for being insensitive and thinking you knew nothing. Happy?”

“Gonna be quite honest, no not really.” Alex said. “You’re not getting what I’m coming at. I’m in a very similar boat to you, and yet you don’t see me running around and trying to hurt people who’ve hurt me.”

“Well if you don’t make them pay, how the hell are you supposed to stop them from screwing you over again and again? Do you want that board to break you and your family up?”

Alex moved very close to Miles. “I’ll forgive that insult just this once,” He said in a low voice. “Do not make the mistake again. I care very deeply for my family, possibly even more than you do for BA. I’ve got a line however, and I cannot, will not, cross it. Because if I do, I’m no better than the people I’m trying to punish.”

“Are you comparing me to Bearzerker and Master Saru?” Miles asked, his voice barely containing his rage. “The people who torture and maim others, for fun?” In the background, Alex saw Croe pull out his scythe in case things got ugly.

“If you go through with what you have planned, then you won’t just be on par with Bearzerker and Saru, you will be even worse.” Alex replied. “Unlike you, they aren’t hunting someone down so they can hurt them not only through the game, but in real life as well.”

“They have been hurting us in real life. They put, my friend, into a coma for a month!” Miles hissed at him.

“And that automatically gives you permission to hurt them back?” Alex asked. “Tell me, if this Professor BA was here right now, what do you think he would say? How do you think he would feel?”

Miles began to answer, but stopped himself. Then his head dropped down and he said in a defeated voice, “He would tell me to stop. Just like he did when he left.”

“Then why the hell haven't you been following him?” Alex asked.

Behind them, the capitol’s doors burst open and the Hackers streamed out. Unlike the procession that had preceded them, they were laughing and as happy as could be. As they walked by, they saw Miles and laughed at him and called out.

“Thanks for the help!”

“Not so tough now without your big boy sword huh?”

“We couldn’t have done it without you!”

Thankfully, most of them left after a few moments. Two however, remained.

“It would appear that the mighty tree is nothing but kindling thanks to the masters of the land,” Master Saru said philosophically.

Croe sliced at him, but Bearzerker grabbed his arm and twisted it to try and put him in submission. Being nothing more than animated straw, it did little more than knock the scythe out of Croe’s hand. Croe lashed out in retaliation, striking him four times in quick succession. Bearzerker merely laughed and twisted him around, putting him in a choke hold. “Now” he said, “let’s see where that core of yours is located.”

“Unless you want to hear a single decibel for a really long time, I’d suggest you let him go.” Alex said. Ginganinja had his sword out and it was glowing with the viral aura for the world to see. Realizing what was going on, the rest of the players still gathered around the Capitol began to scatter.

Bearzerker sighed and activated the powerup as well. “Y’now kid, I really hope by now that you've realized that we can’t hear the noise as long as we have the power active as well, right?”

“True,” Alex conceded. “But I can still pummel you two until it does. So once more, let my friend go.”

Bearzerker contemplated Alex for a moment. “You really think that you can beat the two of us together?” he asked. “You were barely able to defeat us with all three of your friends. And now, one is banned, one is a level one noob with strength whatsoever, and the one is about to have his head ripped off if you don’t turn that powerup off right now before some stupid Developer sees it!”

“Good. Let them see it.” Alex taunted. “Then maybe this nightmare will end.”

“James, turn it off now!” Saru commanded. “You know the rules. And for God’s sake, let the strawhead go.”

Bearzerker growled, but let Croe go. Croe scooped up his scythe and moved a safe distance away.

“What do you want?” Alex asked, deactivating the virus. “Don’t you think you’ve been enough of dicks today?”

“As it happens, we aren’t even here to gloat. We wouldn’t’ve even fought had this idiot not attacked,” Master Saru said, gesturing at Croe.

“Then what do you want?” Alex asked.

“We were supposed to deliver a message to Qilin. Since he got banned and lizzy has run off, we figured we could give it to you three.” Master Saru answered.

“Whatever the message is, I don’t want to hear it, and I doubt any Coder would as well,” Croe said fiercely.

“Ah, but that is where you are wrong,” Master Saru remarked. “The message comes from our leader himself. You of all people should be interested in what he has to say. You and him are old friends after all.”

“What are you talking about?” Croe asked. “I’ve never even met him, much less been his friend.”

“I forget the details,” Master Saru said. “Something about a big quest you two worked on ages ago.”

Croe’s fist clenched and he began trembling with rage. “Tell me, what exactly is Arachnoid’s message?”

Bearzerker cleared his throat as he unfolded a paper in real life. “To the leader or representative of the Coders. Because of you screwing with our work, it’s taken us longer than we expected to achieve what we set out to do two years ago. But despite these setbacks, we’ve at long last managed to bring an end to our little operation. We need only one more thing, and you have access to it. I am prepared to sit down with your leader and discuss how we might achieve access as well. I am prepared to offer anything we have in order to get it. We are even willing to end our attacks on your group and remove the programs attached to our accounts. In return, you give us what we want and agree to no longer attack us due to our past differences.”

Alex was rocked. This was big. Even bigger than the Q&A announcement. The Hackers were actually offering an end to the civil war!

“We know that you don’t like us, and some of you,” he looked at Miles in particular, “would like nothing more than to see us behind bars. But all that we’re asking is that you give our message to the Coders.”

“No.”

Croe stood his full four and a half feet, staring up at the two Hackers. “I may no longer be with the Coders, but I can tell you that there isn’t a single one of them that would negotiate with you. Not now, not ever.”

Bearzerker laughed. “You stupid little kid. Are you that brainwashed by Qilin to think that every single Coder is 100% behind him?”

“What are you talking about?” Croe said incredulously. “The Coders would never work with you!”

“Are you truly that ignorant?” Master Saru asked. “How do you think we always knew when you were attacking? How we always seemed to be ready to fight you; how we knew exactly where your weak points were. Every battle, every raid, every scouting party. You think the Coders are completely behind your Qilin and Sharps? They’d turn on them in an instant if we asked them to.”

“And as for those that do give their ‘loyalty’ to Qilin, how many of them do you think wouldn’t hear our offer and jump at the chance to end this?” Bearzerker added. “Face it kid; you’re outmatched, outgunned, and outmaneuvered. If you won’t give our message to the Coders,” he unsheathed his claws, “we’ll just have to find someone that wi-”

Master Saru tumbled into Bearzerker, who stumbled to remain balanced. As he did, Master Saru disintegrated until nothing was left. Before the dust even hit the ground, a loud squelch came from behind Bearzerker and he to fell. Behind them, Silent Stealth stood, daggers dripping with blood.

“Will actually listen to that mierda,” he finished, shaking his daggers clean.

“What are you doing here?” Croe asked.

Silent Stealth looked at him. “A fine way to thank your rescuer, scarecrow. I regret to see that this other idiota, has rubbed off on you.” He said, gesturing at Miles. “However, if you must know, when I heard the meeting took a turn for the worse, I rushed to help. I regret being too slow to save the Iron man, and the face changer.”

Croe sighed. “Sorry, I’m just really stressed and confused. With Qilin gone, a lot of Coders are going to jump ship. And as much as I’d hate to admit it, those two could be telling the truth.”

“Do not trouble yourself with who is working with whom.” Silent Stealth told him. “What you should worry of is what is to happen to the resistancia. Without the iron man, I fear that the war against the Hackers may be lost.”

“Maybe, maybe not.” Alex mused. An idea was forming in his head. The way Bearzerker and Master Saru had tried to get him to turn off the powerup had seemed almost frantic. “I don’t know about you guys, but the instant we showed that we had no proof to show the Dev’s they seemed to brush us off” he said, activating the virus once more. “But what if we had proof to show them?”
Croe reacted with shock. Even Silent Stealth seemed surprised and taken aback by the suggestion.

“Alex, you can’t do this!” Croe shouted.

“And why not?” Alex countered. “It makes perfect sense. If I show them what it does, there’s no way they can deny it.”

“But you’ll be banned!” Croe argued.

Alex shrugged. “Then I’ll be banned. But at least the Hackers will be banned with me. Then maybe Rune can go back to that time you always talked about, Miles.”

“Do you honestly think that the Developers will listen to you?” Croe asked. “If you didn’t notice, they weren’t exactly willing to listen to reason back there.”

“I agree with the idiota.” Silent Stealth offered. “You were drawn into this by accidente. There is no reason for you to suffer the consequences.”

“Guys, I appreciate the thoughts,” Alex said, “But my mind’s made up. I’m not about to let others suffer just for my personal enjoyment.”

He turned and made his way back towards the doors. He was stopped however by a restraining hand put on his shoulder.

“Listen to me boy; trying to get those pea brained Cro-Magnons to listen to you is nigh on impossible.” Silent Stealth said in a deadly serious tone. “I have been trying for longer than the Coders have. They are more likely to ban you on the spot than to listen to what you have to say.”

“And how would you know that?” Alex asked.

Silent Stealth began to answer when he suddenly stopped himself. Then he lowered his head and sighed. “I guess the charade’s up.” He said in a distinctly British accent. “I am Dr. Helling. I helped develop the Hacker’s virus.”

23: The Doctor of Death

With a roar, Miles launched himself from a squatting position at Silent Stealth who easily ducked under his swing and shoved him with his shoulder. Miles stumbled back and fell on his rear.

“You bloody idiot” Silent Stealth said. “What the blazes was that for?”

“Don’t you dare joke around about that” Miles snarled. “Do you have any idea of the pain that virus has caused? Or have you been so far removed from the situation with you thievery that you haven’t noticed.”

Silent Stealth sighed. “Yes Miles. I am all too aware what that god-awful virus has caused. Every hurt it causes weighs heavily on me.” He spread his arms wide. “You see before you, the reason your friend was put in a coma.”

Miles launched himself at Silent Stealth again. Alex and Croe lunged at him and held him back.

“I don’t understand” Croe said. “How does a professor with a British accent fit into all of this?”

“I am a professor at Oxford in the medical department.” Silent Stealth replied. “About three years ago, I was called upon to serve the masses by developing a way to safely disperse crowds during riots.”

“Really,” Miles interrupted. “I wasn’t aware that England had riot issues.”

Silent Stealth frowned at him. “Idiot. I was hired by a research group sponsored by the United Nations. They wanted a nonlethal method of averting violence, and felt a doctor would be best to solve this problem.”

“That makes more sense.” Croe commented.

“Indeed” Silent Stealth acknowledged. “After several months of work, we realized that a specific sound frequency had the ability of interfering with the nerves of the human body, rendering them temporarily inert. It was the perfect. All we had to do was play the tone, and within seconds the riot would be over. There was one problem though,”

“It did its job too well, didn’t it?” Croe guessed.

Silent Stealth nodded. “With the paralysis came horrible pain. Nothing we did could erase it. Nothing we did could negate it. The project was scrapped and the group moved on to other methods. Because I specialized in the field, I was fired with the order to delete anything pertaining to my research.”

“I’m guessing you didn’t,” Miles said.

“How could I?” Silent Stealth asked. “How was I possibly meant to scrap months of research and effort all because some idiot decided there was no bloody way it would work? No great scientist before me ever gave up under such naysayers, and damned if I was going to as well.”

“And in doing so caused pain and injury to dozens and broke apart friendships.”

Anger sparked in Silent Stealth’s eyes. “Idiot. Have I not made it clear to you that my I regret my actions enough? Your eyes may be clouded from reason, but I have done everything I can possibly do to remove the virus from Rune.”

“Alright then, say I’m wrong. Tell me how your little lab project ended up in Rune in the first place,” Miles demanded.

Silent Stealth shook his head in remorse. “I was a fool. About Sixteen months ago, I came up with what I thought to be a safe way of removing the pain. But I needed equipment; ways to test it. I took to the internet and found what seemed to be willing subjects. I sent them my research and a few days later they sent me a file. The file contained a virus destroyed my computer and erased all the research on it. I think you three know the rest.”

“Unfortunately we do,” Miles said. “They took the sound and put it in a virus. Next time we met them, they used it on BA.”

Silent Stealth nodded. “Milesoftheblades, I am truly sorry for what my creation did to your friend. I warned them that excessive use could cause such things, but I never would’ve even conceived the notion that they would actually attempt it.”

Miles put his forehead in his hand and sighed. “Jesus Christ Stealth, you’re making it really fucking hard for me to hate you right now.”

“There’s one thing that doesn’t add up.” Alex said. “What is it the Hackers really want? They’ve already got something they can use to control others; what else do they want?”

“Access to the Core,” someone behind them answered.

The group whirled around. Janus was standing not ten feet away from them looking no worse for wear.

Miles launched himself at Janus and dragged him over the fence and dove into some bushes.

“Woah! Dude! What was that f-mmmphh!” Janus called before he was muffled. Alarmed, Alex, Croe, and Silent Stealth ran over to where they had fallen.

“Miles, you seem to be doing a lot of tackling lately,” Croe commented.

“Shut up! Get in the bush, or go away. This is serious,” Miles whispered furiously back.

Curious, Alex got in the bush. Croe followed as well as Silent Stealth after a moment.

“What the hell are you doing?” Miles whispered angrily at Janus. “You know what Qilin told you.”

“Miles, do you actually think that they don’t already have their suspicions?” Janus replied. “You heard Saru when they had us surrounded on the wall.”

“Just because they have their suspicions doesn’t mean you should run around confirming them.”

“Stop, stop, stop,” Alex said, holding up his hands. “You two are having a conversation that I know nothing about.”

Miles opened his mouth to answer but Alex held up a hand. “I wasn’t finished. What I want to know right now is how the heck did you get unbanned?”

Janus sighed. “GN, do you remember when I fixed your powerup so that it wasn’t always the Hacker’s virus?”

“Yeah, what of it?” Alex asked.

“Back then, I said that I even though I was able to fix the powerup, I didn’t have access to the Core. Well, that wasn’t true. That freelance job I did was to fix a gamebreaking bug that the dev’s didn’t want to fix themselves. Turns out, the bug was in the Coreitself.”

“Bloody hell” Silent Stealth breathed. “Do you mean?”

“That he’s got access to the one thing that’s been preventing the Hackers from complete control of Rune? Yes.” Miles said. “Now do you see why I tackled him into the bush? If a Hacker saw him walking around, they’d know what was up.”

“Geez no wonder Qilin never let you out of the hideout.” Croe said in wonder. “If a Hacker got ahold of you, it’d be game over.”

“Speaking of Qilin,” Janus interjected, “Someone needs to get in contact with him. I unbanned him as well.”

Miles groaned. “Perfect. Now we’ve got two people who are supposed to be banned running around Rune.”

“Calm down Miles. Qilin’s smart enough not to go running around Rune.” Janus assured him.

“But you aren’t” Miles countered. “Now I’ve got to make sure you aren’t captured and bugged.”

“Stop it! Both of you!” Silent Stealth ordered. “What our focus should be right now is getting back to the base and after a kip, figuring out what the bloody hell we’re going to do now.”

“He’s right,” Croe said. “We’re way too exposed here. If we can get to the cave, we should be safe enough to talk.”

“Good” Janus said. “Now could you please get off of me so I can move Miles?” Miles did and Janus rolled out of the bushes. The rest crawled after him, their characters brushing leaves off in an automated response.

Just as Bearzerker and Master Saru ran around the corner. They saw Janus and skidded to a stop, eyes wide with shock.

Janus drew his bow and sent several arrows at them and they dodged out of the way Bearzerker screaming “Get him!” Master Saru recovered first and ran at Janus.

“No!” Miles shouted as he charged headfirst into Master Saru. They tumbled and Master Saru shoved him away.

Silent Stealth and Croe ran at Bearzerker, drawing their weapons as they did. He saw them and smiled. “It’s too late” He called out. “I’ve already called in reinforcements.” Sure enough, Hackers began streaming out of alleyways, around corners, and from the sky.

“Good!” Croe yelled back, spinning his scythe in small arcs as he tried to stab Bearzerker in the neck. “More of you means the more likely Arachnoid is going to be here!”

Alex meanwhile ran to help Miles. Master Saru was playing with him. He wasn’t even using the viral aura. “You are a cockroach.” Master Saru said to Miles. “One that I shall crush under my staff without a single thought.”

Alex activated the flame edge and the sword glowed with the viral aura. He swung at Master Saru who blocked with the back end of his staff. Such a trick would’ve confused Alex the last time he and Master Saru had fought. But two months had passed and Alex had learned a few tricks. He angled his sword and it slid down the length of the staff. Surprised, Master Saru barely had time to deflect the blow so that it scored only a minor slice instead of the limb removing one he had intended. Master Saru’s eyes widened in shock.

“Tell me, what was it that you said to me?” Alex asked. “That if I did a bit of grinding and gave it a few months that I might’ve beaten you? Tell me,” he said as he flicked the sword up underneath Master Saru’s neck. “Am I still a noob who’s wet behind the ears?”

Before Master Saru had the chance to answer, Alex was slammed from the side. Alex went sailing across the street, sword flying from his grasp. He landed and rolled, desperately trying to get up. Before he could, the minotaur that had rammed him slammed him once more, this time with a fist encased in the viral aura. Alex yelled as the noise dug into his ears. He felt himself go limp and nearly fell out of his chair. As he stood up once more, he blearily saw that while they had been fighting Bearzerker and Master Saru, they had been surrounded by what looked like every Hacker in the game. surprisingly, Bearzerker, Master Saru, and the Minotaur had stopped fighting and stepped back into the mass of Hackers.

Alex, Silent Stealth, Janus, Croe, and Miles formed an imperfect circle facing the Hackers. Croe passed Alex his sword and he accepted it gratefully. “What’s our plan of attack?” Croe asked.

“Janus makes us invincible and we fight our way out” Alex said.

“No way.” Janus argued. “They touch me and they can bug me and get access to the source code. Besides, I can’t make you invincible.”

“I thought you had access to the source code and could do anything with the game,” Alex countered.

“Yeah, but that takes time. And if you haven’t noticed, we don’t exactly have a lot of time.”

“You are correct Janus,” An echoy voice announced. “You do not have time.”

The crowd parted and a figure walked through the gap. He wore a threadbare cloak that seemed to widen disproportionately near the feet. Alex couldn’t make much underneath except that he was thin everywhere but his feet, and his eyes seemed to glow. What caught his interest was a pure black scythe being used as a walking stick in his left hand. It had lightning bolts running down its length and made everyone’s hair stand up.

“Hello Arachnoid,” Croe growled. “Come to give me back my scythe?”

Arachnoid laughed. “It’s been too long Croe. I see you haven’t changed a bit. So you still believe that this scythe is yours?”

“It was part of our deal!” Croe argued. “You said I got the scythes if you got the gold. That was our deal! And you broke it!”

“And you trusted someone on the internet to keep their word. I think we’ve already disproven that ideal.”

Croe lunged at Arachnoid and Alex and Miles had to hold him back. “Not good strawhead.” Miles warned.

“I nearly had him last time!”

“Last time you weren’t surrounded by God knows how many Hackers,” Miles shot back. “Besides, we have bigger problems.”

Arachnoid laughed once more. “On the contrary, you do not. I can promise that all of you will leave this square without a single hair misplaced. All you have to do is hand over access to the Core.

“You’ll have to get through us before you get it,” Miles growled.

Janus held up a hand. “Miles, access to the Core is with me. I’ll decide what happens to it.” He looked at Arachnoid. “What exactly do you plan on using the Core for?”

“What are we going to use it for? Astonishingly, that is the first time any Coder has ever asked that question to any of us.” Arachnoid said. “They have fought us for almost two years now and not one of you has ever asked why we do what we do. You claim that you are doing what’s best for the game, that you are bringing back its glory days. And yet, that is what we are trying to do as well. The only difference is that we wish to bring about a new golden age, not bring back an old one.”

“You’re forgetting one more difference.” Miles said angrily. “We’re not willing to hurt others in real life to achieve our goals.”

Arachnoid turned to him. “Milesoftheblades. Of all the Coders, you are the one brought to my attention the most. You talk as if you have the moral high ground. And yet, you and your friends continue to use our own tools. Tools that you readily condem.”

“It’s not like I had any say in the matter,” Alex argued. “Your henchmen infected me without my knowledge or consent.”

“Oh, but that is but one of the tools I was talking about,” Arachnoid said. “The Hackers and the Coders both use the same methods to access parts of the game restricted only to the developers and those they hire. Why, we even use the same programing software. So you see, we are no different from you.”

“Just because the Coders use the same tools as you do doesn’t mean that you’re the same.” Alex countered. “One knife can be used to prepare food, while another is used to stab people.”

Arachnoid nodded. “A fair point. But I am getting off topic. Janus!” He turned to Janus. “Hand over access to the Core and you and your friends get to go.”

“As much as I’d like to do that, I can’t,” Janus said.

“And why is that?” Arachnoid asked.

“Because my brother isn’t here right now,” Garret answered. “He’s fixing Miles and closing his back door right now.”

As if on cue, Miles began to grow in size. His muscles spasmed and bulged, growing back to their normal size. His massive sword reformed on his back. He grabbed it and grinned. “Tell your brother I said thanks” he said.

Janus nodded. “Will do. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get out of here before it gets ugly.”

His head drooped and a countdown timer appeared over his head for one minute. Miles swore. “The game thinks he’s in combat. He can’t logout yet!”

Alex conjured up a viral ball and viral aura and lobbed the ball at the coders. It splashed against them and did damage, but they weren’t affected by the noise.

Arachnoid sighed. “So be it.” He gestured at them. “Destroy them.”

The Hackers roared in triumph and swarmed towards them. Miles shoved Janus into the middle of the circle and swung his sword in long sweeping motions, taking out half a dozen hackers in one swing. Croe waded towards Arachnoid, his scythe spewing orange fire. Every time he sliced, an arc of Hackers disintegrated into orange powder. Silent Stealth ducked around Hackers, stabbing them in the back and stealing their purses equally. Alex found himself facing a fully armored paladin and a horned Viking wielding a battleaxe. He lobbed a viral ball at the Viking, who simply raised his shield to block it, and ducked under the backhand slash by the paladin and stabbed at his chest. His sword bounced off the paladin’s armor, making a dull gonging noise. Alex stumbled back from the blow. As he did, the Viking slammed his axe into Ginganinja’s left leg, severing it. Losing his balance once more, Ginganinja crashed to the ground, his health bar flashing weakly. Alex desperately tried to get Ginganinja to get back up, but it was useless. Without his leg, he was staying down.

“Guys! A little help over here!” He called out. To his dismay, the others were fighting loosing battles as well. He watched helplessly as Miles was stabbed multiple times with a dagger and beheaded by a dual wielding swordsman. Croe had tripped over one of the Hackers he had killed and quickly disappeared into a sea of bodies. Silent Stealth was nowhere to be found.

Out of nowhere, his vision blurred as an armor clad arm grasped Ginganinja’s neck and lifted him into the air. He was brought face to face with the Paladin. “This is for what your friend did to me two months ago” the paladin sneered. His arm glowed red and Alex screamed in pain as he felt his arms go numb. Desperately, he tried to lift them up and remove his headset, but his arms refused to budge.

And the noise continued to pound into his skull.

He coughed, and felt something warm and sticky coat his shirt. Dimly, he tried once more to remove his headset. All he accomplished was managing to tip his chair sideways. His head slammed against his bed’s backboard and the world flickered and died.

Mercifully, the noise stopped.

Dun Dun Dunnnnn!

Sorry I don't have an intro this time or much of an outro, but I'm currently trying to get ready for college via a bunch of mandatory online classes.  See you guys in two weeks!

24: Waking Up to a Nightmare

Greetings from my dorm room!

Sorry for not uploading earlier, There was a bunch of stuff that needed to be done before and during this week for college. But now I'm all situated in my nice lofted bed, ready to get back to cranking out more greatness

Although, that won't be a possibility for HOR anymore. You know why?

Two weeks ago, something happened in my life. It was a first for me, and I don't really know how to feel about it.

I finished HOR, the first story I ever finished.

What does this mean for you guys? Well, apart from the guarantee that you will see an end for HOR, not much is changing. I don't want to speed up the uploads, because I can use that time to work on To Be Human, as well as begin work on a SciFi story I've wanted to write for some time now, but didn't want to start it and forget about HOR. I've learned a lot from my work with HOR, and feel that the story will be better than anything I've written before. I don't have an ETA for that one yet, since I'm now in college, and I never begin uploading stories until they're about halfway complete.

But I'm getting ahead of myself, and you guys probably want to read the chapter now. Very well then, here you go.

Waking up for Alex felt like swimming through a river of thick mud; he only managed to do so inches at a time. Groaning, he carefully opened his eyes. He was in a hospital bed in a stark white room. Jessica and Dunham were sitting on a couch, their eyes closed as they dozed off. Wincing, Alex shifted as he struggled to remember how he'd gotten there. It suddenly came back to him in a rush. Being surrounded by Hackers; falling to the ground; the unending whine of the Hacker's virus. And then, nothing.

Panic ensued as he remembered what happened to Professor BA. "How, how long was I out?" He groaned.

Jessica woke instantly. Sobbing, she threw her arms around him and buried her head in his shoulder.

"You idiot! What the hell were you doing?" She asked.

"It's a long story," Alex replied. "How long was I out?"

Jessica seemed not to hear him and continued sobbing into his shoulder.

"Jess, I need to know how long I was out," Alex pleaded. "Also, you're kind of crushing me."

That got here attention. She released him immediately and stepped back so suddenly, she tripped into Dunham, who was just getting up.

"Alex. Please tell me you're alright," Dunham pleaded, concern in his eyes.

"Will someone please tell me how long I was out for!" Alex said loudly before wincing as his right temple throbbed.

Jessica blinked in surprise. "Almost a day," She said.

Alex moved his arm to rub his eyes and noticed there was an IV in his arm. He felt the blood leave his face. "Tell me," he said, panic rising in his voice, "Why is there an IV sticking out of my arm?"

Dunham frowned. "Alex, the doctors didn't know when you'd wake up. They put that there to give you supplements to speed your recovery!"

"They could've done that by feeding it to me!" Alex argued, "They didn't have to stick me with a needle and just leave it there for all eternity!"

"Twenty hours isn't all eternity Alex," Jessica said, her arms folded, tears gone in an instant.

Alex smiled. Jessica was back to her normal self. Truth be told, the crying Jessica unnerved him. It was like she had lost control. Jessica never lost control.

At that moment, a doctor walked in, consulting a tablet. He looked up and did a double take when he saw Alex struggling into a sitting position. "Mr. Samson! It's good to see you awake."

"You and me both," Alex said. "What happened to me? My head is killing me."

"You suffered a Sub-periosteal hematoma on the right side of your skull from coming into contact with the headrest of your bed." The doctor said. "Nothing major, but it will hurt for a while. Quite frankly we didn't expect you to wake up for another couple of hours."

"I did what to my skull?" Alex asked, confused.

"You bruised your skull," Jessica said before swatting Alex's hand away from the tape holding the IV to his skin. "Fortunately, you have a thick one."

"I'd elbow you for that, but I think it'd hurt me more than it'd hurt you." Alex said irritably.

The doctor put the clipboard down. "Well, now that we know you won't be spending the weekend here, we no longer need this." He reached over to Alex's arm and yanked the IV out. Alex made a yelping sound as blood oozed out of the hole. The doctor placed gauze over it and taped it down. "You appear to be fine, but just to be safe, we're going to keep you overnight, if that's okay" he said. He left the room and closed the door quietly.

As soon as it was closed, Dunham turned on him. "Alright Alex, I want to know what you were doing when you fell and got knocked out" he said.

"I was working on homework and my seat gave way," Alex fibbed. "Next thing I know, I'm in here and Jessica is hugging the crap out of me." It was his default excuse that he had made in case something like this ever happened.

Dunham frowned. "Alex, we both know that you weren't doing homework. I we found you with a headset on and some sort of gloves. That doesn't sound much like homework to me."

"I, uh," Alex stammered. He hadn't expected his excuse to go down in flames so quickly.

"Alex, please. Tell us what you were doing?" Jessica pleaded. "We just want to know."

Alex looked at his twin and realized that he couldn't lie to her. Not this time; and maybe not ever again. He repositioned himself in the bed and told them the story. Everything.

At the end, Dunham folded his arms and sighed. "Alright Alex, now please tell me what you were really doing on the computer."

"You mean you don't believe me?" Alex said shocked. He had expected them to be shocked by the story, maybe even a little awed. But certainly not disbelieving.

"Alex, it was a nice little tale that would certainly make good internet fiction, but it just doesn't add up. If there really are hackers on this game of yours, why haven't the people who run it been notified. And furthermore, how were they able to infect your computer with a virus. If I remember correctly, your father installed state of the art antivirus programs the day you got it."

Alex pursed his lips. "Fine. If you don't believe me, I'll just have to bring in some further proof."

Ignoring Jessica and Dunham's protests and the throbbing headache emanating from his right side, Alex swung his legs off the bed and made his way to a computer sitting on a desk in the corner.

"You won't be able to get very far," Dunham warned. "They've got a website block system installed."

"Which works about as well as the ones on the computers at school" Alex said simply, already pulling up the main forums for Rune. The operating system was old beyond measure and the only browser available was Internet Explorer, but before long, Alex had pulled up the major discussions about the Hacker and Coder war. Opening tabs of several different threads he knew had juicy information, he presented them triumphantly to Jessica and Dunham.

After reading for what seemed like an eternity, Dunham finally turned to Alex. "Very well Alex," Dunham said, "let's say for the moment that what I you've shown me is true. Why haven't you told Jessica and me until now?"

"Well, partially because I feared this exact reaction," Alex answered. "The rest is that I knew that you'd disapprove."

"You are right Alex. I disapprove greatly" Dunham said irritably. "You have gone behind our backs, interacted with complete strangers, fought in a massive online war where winning has no real world benefits and for what? You ending up in the hospital with injuries? Why Alex? That's what I want you to tell me. Why are you doing this?"

Alex sighed. "As I told you, when I first met those two, I had no idea who they were, or what they were doing. I just immediately figured they were pretty nice guys. My ignorance caused someone who has already lost so much, to be in pain once more. How am I supposed to sleep at night, knowing that I caused that, and not do everything that I could to help fix the solution? I came in later, but I'm wrapped up in this just as much as the Coders are."

"But this is dangerous," Dunham argued. "Alex, if these Hackers have this kind of ability, then you could get seriously hurt. No, from what you've told me, you have been seriously hurt."

"Yeah it's dangerous," Alex agreed, "But so is Jessica's sports. She could easily be beaned in the head with a soccer ball and end up right where I am. We're not kids anymore Dunham. We're old enough to decide if we're passionate enough about something to accept the risks that come with it. Just like Dad when he created SAI. You think that didn't come with some risks?"

"Alex, you cannot compare what you are doing to your father's work," Dunham said, his voice just above a whisper. Alex knew this was a sign that Dunham was seriously angry, but also knew that if he let off on the pressure, he'd never get it back on.

"Look Dunham, all that I am saying is that he and I both put ourselves at risk because of something that we believe needed to be done."

Dunham looked away from him for the longest time. When he finally looked back, his face was devoid of emotion. "We will discuss your punishment when we get home." He said. "Needless to say, you will be forbidden from playing that game. For now though, get some rest, and get better."

"But-"

"I am not going to discuss this further with you Alex," Dunham said fiercely. "It's over."

It was after midnight and all was quiet in their room. Jessica and Dunham were sprawled on two foldable couches set up on the sides of the room. Alex was feigning sleep. He waited until the digital clock on the table next to the computer showed 12:45 when he slipped out of his bed once more and snuck to his pants, which were lying discarded on a chair next to his bed. Rummaging through the pockets, he searched for his phone. To his distress, it wasn't in there. He must've taken it out before he started playing Rune. Almost giving up hope, he was turning to reenter the bed when he blearily saw Dunham's phone on the desk. He grabbed it and slid into the bathroom, where he powered it up and entered his password. Fortunately, he knew for a fact that one of Dunham's favorite shows was Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and that he loved the appearance of the Defiant. Typing in the ship's registry number, the phone opened up and he quickly accessed the messenger. He put in Sam and Garrett's numbers and sent them a quick text.

It's me Alex. Call me ASAP.

Within two minutes, the phone was buzzing with a call. Alex answered it and held it up to his ear.

"Dude, you okay? I tried calling earlier and they said you were in the hospital!" Garrett's voice crackled over the speaker.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Fell out of my chair and hit my head on my bed. My skull is bruised and I have a whopper of a headache, but I'm fine. Did you get out in time?"

Static washed through the speaker as Garret sighed. "They got us just as we logged out. Right now, Sam's trying to hold them off while at the same time wiping his hardrive and patching the back door, all at the same time."

Alex swore. "Hopefully they won't get in."

"I don't know man." Garret said, uncertainty creeping into his voice. "He hasn't slept the entire time. He hasn't eaten, and he's only drinking this mix of red bull and black coffee. He's got to go to the bathroom sooner or later."

"Great. Just great. Hey, has he gotten time to message Qilin about what's going on?" Alex asked.

"No, but Miles and Silent Stealth did." Garrett answered. "They both sent us messages earlier today."

Alex breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't particularly care for Qilin, but didn't want to see him or the Coders blind to the situation. "If something comes up, let me know, will you?" he asked.

"Sure thing."

"Thanks. I've got to go man, I don't know when Dunham will wake up."

"Gotcha. See you soon, hopefully."

Garret disconnected the line and the screen changed to the home screen. Alex was reaching for the sleep button when a notice popped up, showing an alert that Dunham had received a new message from the acting CEO of Samson Aviation. Curious, Alex pulled up the email app and opened the message

To: Dunham

From: jackrobinson

Subject: Homer Samson Sr.

To the Legal Guardian of Homer Alexander Samson Jr. and Jessica Mary Samson

Dear Sir,

It has come to our attention that tomorrow, the federal courts will be declaring Mr. Homer Alexander Samson Sr. legally dead. It is our intention to revoke his family's status as CEOs at that time.

After the aforementioned time, we will be sending an order to your residence requesting all Samson Aviation Industries items to be returned to the rightful owners. We do not wish for any strife or trouble and therefor ask that you and your charges comply peacefully. We will also be in contact with the banks that are currently holding Mr. Samson's funds and asking for those that belong to the company. We ask that you peacefully comply with this directive as well.

Failure to comply with deliberate speed and efficient manner will result in immediate legal action.

From the Acting CEO of Samson Aviation Industries,

Jack Robinson.

Trembling, Alex marked the email as not read once more, and powered down the phone. He stumbled out of the bathroom and somehow managed to return Dunham's phone to the desk without dropping it and making a clatter. He crawled into bed, tears running down his cheeks and pulled the covers over his head. So this was it. This was the moment he had been dreading for over a year now.

Dunham was right. It was over.

Alex sat in the waiting room while Dunham checked him out. He thought about telling Jessica about what he had seen, but decided against it. No sense in ruining anyone's day further.

He was broken out of his brooding by a cup of steaming coffee thrust into his vision. He looked up to see Dunham smiling down at him. "I had it prepared how you like it" he said.

Alex accepted the cup but remained silent. To his right, Jessica had a cup herself and was sipping graciously.

Dunham sighed. "Alex, I know that you're upset with me, but this is for the best. Your father wouldn't want me to let you continue doing this to yourself. If what you told me is true and people are being put in comas for months at a time because of this game, I think we can both agree that you got off extremely lucky."

Alex ignored him, opting to instead take a sip from his cup.

"Alright then, I see that you have chosen the silent treatment."

Half an hour later, they arrived at the house. Alex got out and took a good look at it. It might be one of the last times he got a chance to.

"Alex, I want you to go up to your room and bring all the electronics for that game of yours downstairs" Dunham commanded. "It's going to take a one way trip to the garbage can."

Alex grunted and made his way inside, already formulating several ideas on how he could sneak the gear back out of the garbage and into boxes when they inevitably packed up. He had just made his way into the kitchen when he saw something that froze him in his tracks and drop his cold cup of coffee. Hearing this, Jessica rushed into the kitchen, fearing her brother had collapsed. When she saw what he was looking at, she gave a squeak and covered her mouth.

Homer Alexander Samson Sr. was leaning against the breakfast bar, eating a bagel, and drinking from his own cup of coffee. He saw them and smiled. "Hello Alex, Jessica. How have you been the past year and a half?"

Seeyounextweekokaybyepleasedon'tkillme

25: A Father and a Solution

Hello everyone!

So, after that last cliffhanger, we finally get to see what comes of Alex and Jessica's father returning.  Enjoy!

 

Alex stood open mouthed, staring at his father. His missing father. His legally dead father in less than twenty four hours. After fourteen months of no word, he had returned.

And was at the breakfast bar, drinking a cup of coffee and eating a bagel as if nothing had happened. As if he had never left.

With a roar of anger that would’ve impressed even Miles, Alex launched himself at his father, swinging a vicious right hook towards his face. Alex Sr. ducked under the blow and dropped his bagel to grab the left hook that was following.

“Really Alex. I leave for fourteen months and you’ve already forgotten my fighting training. What did I say about beginning a fight with hooks?”

“Screw you and your fighting training!” Alex yelled at his father. “We thought you were dead for real this time! Where the hell have you been?”

Before Alex Sr. could reply, Dunham rushed into the room having heard Alex yell. He skidded to a stop when he too saw his employer in the flesh.

Alex Sr. waved at Dunham. “Hello Edward. I trust you’ve kept my kids safe?”

Dunham nodded and stood up straight. “I have followed the orders left in your instructions should you go missing to the best of my abilities sir.”

Alex Sr. nodded before turning back to Alex. “To answer your question Alex, I’ve been just about everywhere. I started out on the AT then moved on to-”

Alex hauled off once more and hit his father. It landed square in the cheek, snapping his head to the side. Dunham and Jessica reacted in shock, but it was nothing compared to the surprise Alex was feeling. Even preoccupied with the discussion, Alex knew that his father had could’ve caught his hand once more. And yet he had let it happen.

“Alex!” Dunham said, shocked. He made a move to restrain him, but Alex Sr. held up a hand. “It’s okay Dunham,” he said, gingerly touching the reddening area. “I’m impressed Alex. Attempting to distract me long enough for an attack was a very smart move. I see my training hasn’t been forgotten.”

“No more smart than leaving on another journey and leaving your kids to be beaten down and slammed to the side by corporate assholes who care more about their bottom line than keeping a family together!” Alex argued. “Which is to say, none.”

“I never had any intention of letting them take the company and all the money behind it.” Alex Sr. assured him. “I knew well enough that they’d try it, so I planned accordingly to be back before that happened.”

“Then what were you doing?” Alex asked hotly. “What the hell were you doing that was so important that you just left us! I don’t care about the company! I don’t care about your funds! What I care about was our family and your negligence nearly tore us apart!”

Alex Sr. sighed and put down his coffee. For the first time since Alex and Jessica’s mother was admitted into the hospital after the accident where she would spend her final hours, their father showed signs of nervousness. He fidgeted and looked down at his feet for the longest time before finally looking up. “I never was the father you two secretly wanted and I knew that. I knew that you wanted an average dad who could, who would sit down with you and be a family. After your mother died, I started going on these ‘journeys’ as you call them to try and straighten my life out and leave you two with Dunham, who I knew was closer to that image of a father that you two had. This time when I left, I decided that I’d go straight to the office and straighten things out before coming home to see you two. That plan changed last night when I had an epiphany. Knowing that we’d have another argument, I looked back at the arguments that we had the previous times I returned, to see how I could smooth things over. And in looking at them, I realized something that I should’ve realized the first time I left.” He looked at both of them. “Do you know what that was?”

“That you were a heartless bastard who cared more about his personal enjoyment than his children?” Alex asked.

Alex Sr. opened his mouth, then closed it and nodded in concession. “I suppose that’s true as well. But what I realized last night was that as close to that father figure you two imagined, Dunham was no substitute to your real father. The heartless bastard who cared more for a chance to go to the ISS or hike the AT again than his own children.” He looked at Dunham. “No offence, Edward.”

“None taken sir,” Dunham replied.

Alex Sr. looked back at his children, and tears were brimming in his eyes. “I know now that I’ve messed up big time. I have lost fourteen months with you two that I will never get back. I am beating myself up over it and will probably do so until my dying day. But what have I always told you two to do if you ever mess up?”

“T-that we should always find a way to fix it, or make up for it.” Jessica answered, choking up.

“Exactly,” Alex Sr. said. “I want to make things up with you two. I know that things may never be the same and that you both may hate me for a good long while if not forever, but if you are willing to give me a chance, I am willing to change.”

Jessica sobbed and crashed into her father, throwing her arms around him. Alex Sr. stumbled in surprise, then wrapped his arms around her as well.

“I’ve missed you daddy!” She sobbed. Alex Sr. smiled at that.

“I missed you too sweetie.” He looked over Jessica’s shoulder and held an arm out at Alex. “I know you aren’t a hugging type, but you don’t get a choice this time.”

Alex hesitated for a second, then walked over and entered his father’s embrace. His father shifted his other arm so that he had both of his children in a massive bear hug. Feeling the familiar hug, Alex realized that tears were threatening to spill out of his eyes. He turned his head, blinking them away so that no one saw.

His father gave a final hard squeeze and let them go. With the squeeze, blood rushed to Alex’s head and he stumbled back as a massive headache throbbed through his head. Seeing this his father gave him a concerned expression. “You okay Alex? You don’t look good.”

“I’m fine,” Alex said, bracing himself against the countertop. “About as good as you can be after getting a concussion.”

Alex Sr. raised an eyebrow and looked at Dunham. “I thought you said that you took care of my kids, Edward.”

“I’m sorry sir. Your son was playing a video game when a hacker caused him to fall out of his chair and hit his head on his bed,” Dunham replied.

Alex Sr. looked at all three of them, amusement and concern in his eyes. “Really? I think you three have some explaining to do.”

@0@0@

“Mic check, Mic check. You guys hear me?” Alex called into his headset.

“I can hear you GN,” Sharpslefae replied.

“Same here,” Croe said.

“A little loud on my end, give me one second,” Miles answered, clicking his mouse to lower his headset's volume.

After a brief pause, Garrett’s voice crackled through to them. “I’m on a Windows 95 that my brother somehow managed to get working, but otherwise I-I-I’m fine.”

“Sounds to me like you’re a little less than fine;” Croe commented. Alex cracked a smile at that. He could just imagine whoever was behind Croe saying that with a raised eyebrow.

Lastly, a very humble voice called out to them.

“I can hear you Ginganinja,” Qilin said.

“Thanks for hopping online on such a short notice,” Alex said. “I know that some of you have school and others have jobs they need to be doing, but I’m glad you were able to take time to answer.”

“I’m having some job difficulty as it is, so I have a bit of time on my hands.” Qilin assured him. “Listen, GN, Sharps told me how you and your friends fought to help us yesterday. I just wanted to say, thank you; and that I’m sorry for thinking you were a Hacker.”

Alex felt a tap on his shoulder. He pressed a button to turn off his mic temporarily and turned to see his father sitting on his bed, holding a tablet that Alex had pulled up several pages on Hacker activities. “I appreciate his sentiment, but if what you’ve told me is true, time is of the essence here.”

“That and you need to get to SAI to sort things out.” Alex said with a smirk.

Alex Sr. chuckled. “Well, that to.”

Alex turned his microphone back on and turned to the screen once more. “I appreciate the apology Qilin, but we don’t exactly have all the time in the world here.”

“I agree with GN,” Sharpslefae said. “Janus, how much longer does your brother think he can hold the Hackers off?”

“Ummm, one sec,” Janus muttered. He yelled off to his brother who yelled something back. “He says a-about two, maybe three more hours. They've m-managed to find his backdoor, and are trying to keep it open.”

“Can he still close it and keep them out?” Alex asked.

Garrett asked his brother once more. “He says against one Hacker, maybe two, he could still close it. Not against a dozen Hackers though.”

“So we've got three hours at most to stop the Hackers,” Alex commented. “That's not a lot of time.”

“Well, not having a lot of time is relative to what you want to do,” Qilin mused, flipping through pieces of paper on his end. “For instance, I could get many of the Coders together and launch a raid within an hour and a half. Anything larger, and we’d be pushing it.”

“And what is it that we want to do?” Sharpslefae asked. “I hear numbers being thrown around, but no one has suggested an actual plan.”

“Well, we do have the two most veteran Coders here,” Croe commented. “Don’t you guys have some sort of plan in place for this scenario?”

“That’s just it Croe, we never thought that the Developers would be so unwilling to admit there’s a problem with the game.” Qilin said sadly. “We always figured that we’d somehow get through to them before this.”

“So, what are we waiting for? Let’s make a plan!” Miles said.

“Miles, we have less than two hours before the Hackers break through. If the plan is any more complicated than a large raid, we simply don’t have the time,” Sharps said.

Time. The word sparked to life an idea in Alex’s mind. The idea spread like wildfire until it burst out of his mouth.

“What if we buy ourselves some more time?” Alex asked triumphantly.

“Pardon?” Croe asked.

“Janus, you said that after two to three hours the Hackers have the Core, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Janus replied.

“And Qilin, we only have time for one attack, right?”

“I guess, but what-”

“And after that, the Hackers will likely have the Core. But what good is the Core without the game to run it?”

“Are you suggesting that we crash the game?” Qilin asked, surprised.

“What, you don’t think it’s a good idea?” Alex asked.

“No, I’m just surprised we didn't think about it sooner. It might actually work. Hell, we did it in the past, albeit by accident.”

“I remember that!” Miles said triumphantly. “It right was before the Hackers got their powers. “We had gotten about a thousand extra players and attacked the Hacker’s latest stronghold. We destroyed the base, and overloaded the servers, completely frying part of it! It was down for a whole week as they tried to fix it.”

“If we can do that, then that buys us time to do something. Alex said. “If anything, it might draw some of the Hackers off of Janus, giving him the window he needs to close his backdoor. And even if we do lose the Core, we might be able to use that week to get the developers attention or warn other games of the danger.”

“I heard that after the last time, they’ve bolstered the entire server.” Miles mentioned. “Which means we’re going to need a lot of firepower, and a lot of players to overload the server again. Qilin, Sharps, how many Coders do you have left?”

“We’ve kept the numbers about equal.” Qilin replied. “Ever since the Hackers got their virus, we've lost thirty percent of our strength. After the Battle of the Hacker's castle, we increased our numbers by twenty-eight percent. The problem is that many of those that left were the veteran players with maxed out characters. The newer players; they’re good, but they haven’t maxed out yet. As far as we can tell, the Hackers have remained relatively consistent with their players, and all of them are leveled up to the max.”

“If we were to rally and attack in less than two hours, I imagine that we’d be able to gather around two hundred to two fifty Coders.” Sharpslefae estimated. “Unfortunately, with the west coast still in night time, the Hackers would be able to rouse and rally almost five hundred Hackers within ten minutes of us attacking.”

“That would pu-u-ut us at a d-d-d-disadvantage.” Garrett mused. “We’d have less than h-alf of their number and with inferior quality.”

They let that sink in. Very few armies had ever won battles with odds tipped against them so. Certainly not with inferior forces.

“Would'nt it be possible to recruit some of the other guilds?” Croe asked. “Most of the guilds have well over a hundred players, and most of them have characters that have hit level fifty.”

“It would be nice to have them, but the other guilds have historically been unwilling to join us against the Hackers since they created the virus.” Qilin answered. “They will fight them if attacked, but otherwise stick to themselves. I have tried on numerous occasions to convince them, but they are unwilling to risk injury while fighting them.”

“They’ve got to be willing to fight now!” Alex protested. “If we can show them what’s at stake-”

“Then they will move to another game and be done with it.” Qilin finished. “The Guildmaster of one of the largest guilds in the game made it very clear last time I talked with him that if the Hackers got the Core, that the entire guild was prepared to delete their accounts and move to another game that they have already picked out for this purpose exactly.”

Alex was about to reply with a comment as to where they could put that game when a hand reached around him and activated the built in microphone for the computer. “Then you need to make these guildmasters understand that Rune is no longer the only game at stake. I know for a fact that Xbox Live is very difficult to hack after they upgraded their security a few years ago. If one of their leading multiplayer games can be infiltrated, then the same goes for virtually any other game on the market.

“H-holy crap,” Garret breathed. “Mr. Samson? Is that you?”

“Alive and kicking Janus. I assume you’re the younger of my son’s two friends?”

“Mr. Samson, you’re, you’re alive! This is great!” Garrett shouted to his brother telling him that their best friend’s father was not in fact fish food.”

“Wait, GN, I thought you said just yesterday that your father was missing.” Miles said, suspicion creeping into his voice.

Alex rubbed his eyes. “It’s a, long story. Basically, I got back from the hospital after hitting my head on my bed, and he was sitting at our breakfast bar, drinking coffee. He’s agreed to help me figure this Hacker situation out before taking care of the board.”

“Hold up,” Qilin ordered. “Do you mean to tell me that you’re Homer Alexander Samson, the CEO of Samson Aviation Industries?”

Alex’s father sighed. “Yes I am. I would appreciate my position nor my son’s position be mentioned to anyone outside of this chatroom. It’s not something I like to bandy around unless necessary.”

“But, that means that you’ve been gone for over fourteen months! Where have you been?”

“This is not the time for me to discuss where I’ve been during that time. What we need to focus on is how we are going to stop the Hackers.”

“Indeed.” Sharpslefae spoke up. “You mentioned that we should inform the other guilds that the stakes are higher. I still don’t believe that this will work. They are simply too afraid of the risk of injury involved.”

Alex Sr. rubbed the stubble on his chin. “And what if the risk was removed?”

“A good idea sir, but with all due respect, we’ve been trying to develop a way to combat the virus since it came about. We’ve had some pretty good programers try everything to stop it, but nothing has come up.”

“Have you tried applying the virus itself to your characters and using the protective powers it grants to your advantage?” He asked.

“What protective powers are you talking about?” Qilin asked incredulously.

Alex Sr. consulted the tablet in his hand. “I’m looking at your post from the fifth of August last year when a group of your Coders ran into several Hackers. You fought, and one of the Hackers was hit in the back by an arrow from another Hacker. If their arrows do cause the noise until they’re removed, that Hacker should’ve been in agony, but instead, he pulls it out and throws it away. Either they’re all trained to ignore pain, or they have protection against their own attacks. If I know my computer geeks, I’d say the latter is what we’re seeing here.”

The chatroom got very quiet as they let what Alex Sr. had just said sink in. Miles was the first to speak up. “Are you telling me, that this entire time, our solution was staring us right in the fucking eyes?!”

Qilin’s keyboard was an indecipherable sound of keys furiously clicking as fast as they could. He finally stopped and sat back. “It’s there.” He announced breathlessly. “Sixteen months of staring at this godforsaken virus, and it was right there the whole time. I don’t know how, but they disguised it perfectly. You’d never know it was there unless you were looking at it.”

“The art of misdirection.” Alex Sr. said simply. “Hiding the solution to a problem deep within the problem itself.”

“I can see that being a genius runs in the family.” Sharpslefae said impressed.

Qilin was typing furiously once more. “I’ll write it into a patch and send it in through official channels. They’ll never expect it.”

“I’m going to send messages to all the guildmasters informing them that the tides have changed.” Sharpslefae said. “If they are convinced, this might be feasible.”

“And I’m going to take all my gear and go to GN’s house.” Garrett said determinedly. “I can’t stop an elite Hacker organization on a Windows 95!”

 

And thus Alexander Sr. walks in and figures out a problem that had been an issue for more than a year.  Never tell an engineer he can or can't do something.  We have a tendency to take it as a personal challenge.  

Don't forget to favorite, review, and follow, and I'll see you all in two weeks

26: A Gameplan

Well, here it is!  Sorry for the delay, but as I said, I was pretty under the weather last weekend.  If it's any consolation, you guys'll now get two chapters in as many weeks!  Enjoy!

 

Alex logged off of the chat room and turned to his father. “I don’t understand. Any minute now they’re going to make you legally dead, and it’s all over. Why are you wasting your time to help me?”

“Because you needed it,” his father said simply. “And that’s what fathers are there for; to help their kids out when they’ve screwed up and gotten themselves knee deep in dog squeeze.”

“That’s a really nice image there Dad. Thanks for that.”

Alex Sr. smiled at him. “Besides, when else am I going to get the opportunity to take part in an internet civil war?” Then the smile disappeared, and his father became serious. “You do realize that stopping them online is not going to work, right? It doesn’t matter how many times they die, if they can keep respawning, killing their characters is meaningless. You need to find a way to take them out in real life.”

“How should I do that?” Alex asked.

“By thinking. Use that brain of yours for something good. Use the engineer’s eye; look at what you’ve got and make something of it.” He unexpectedly wrapped his son in a quick embrace that ended as quickly as it began. “I’ll be back within three hours. Scout’s honor.” He promised. And with that, he stood up and hurried out the door. He stopped quickly to peck his daughter on the forehead, then hurried down the stairs. He was stopped at the front door by Dunham, who was standing with his arms folded, looking very cross. “You do realize you're putting him at risk by letting him do this, right? What if he gets hurt, or worse?”

“They’ve found a way to counteract the noise. He should be fine,” Alex Sr. assured him.

“Should? You’re risking your son’s wellbeing on should?”

Alex Sr. sighed. “Ed, you never had kids, so you never realized this but, there comes a time when you have to let go of their hand. It may be the most difficult thing you have ever had to do, but for the best. You can’t be hovering over their shoulder telling them constantly what’s right and wrong. You have to let go, take the training wheels off, and let them take their own path. And while the path Alex is taking could end up becoming dangerous, I have full confidence that Alex knows the risks, and is willing to accept them.”

“And what if the worst comes to pass?”

Alex Sr. looked at Dunham, with steely eyes that showed no emotion or mercy. “I said I’d let him choose his own path. I never said there wouldn’t be repercussions to those who take things one step too far.”

@0@0@

The castle was completely repaired, and then some.

The Hackers had apparently pulled out the stops in repairing the castle. The walls were almost doubled in height and thickness, NPC guards now patrolling the walls along with an increased compliment of Hackers. Each tower sported at least half a dozen arches and crossbowmen along with catapults capable of hurling massive stones, or whatever else the Hackers planned to throw at anyone assaulting their lair. What was most impressive was the Keep. For some reason, they had neglected to fully repair the structure, leaving most of the roof gone, and many gaps in the stonework. But that was not what had caught they eyes of the group.

“It’s floating.” Croe said in amazement. “It’s actually floating. Can they do that?”

“Apparently they can.” Miles said in mild irritation. “That makes it way more difficult. How are we supposed to crash a server when our target is floating a hundred meters above the ground?”

“It will definitely require scrolls of Icarian Flight.” Qilin mused. “And rope. Preferably rope ladders. Sharps, send an IM to the Coders still at base as well as the Guild quartermasters to bring rope and lumber.”

Sharpslefae nodded and made motions with her hands as if typing. “Message sent.” She answered after a few moments.

“When should the Guildmasters be arriving? Janus asked.

Sharplefae’s eyes darted to the upper left corner of her view, where most players kept their clock on their HUD. “Any second now,” She announced.

As if on cue, the air around them rippled and several players stepped out of the portals that formed. Almost all of them were massively built, some towering even over Miles. The largest, a fully armored knight wielding two axes with heads easily bigger than Ginganinja’s own head, nodded to Qilin. “Qilin,” he said,acknowledging the Coder leader.

“Axinator,” Qilin replied.

“So the Hackers have shown their hand, eh.”

“Enough of it to know that any online game is now at risk.” Qilin replied. “You’ve seen the videos of the Halo incident, I assume.”

Axinator grunted.

“Then you know how high the stakes are right now. If the Hackers succeed, they will have a perfect staging ground to launch future attacks against-”

“Qilin, let me make something very clear,” Axinator interrupted. “I don’t particularly like you at all. You have shown time and time again that you are a coward, and are unwilling to stomp out the Hacker problem. And the fact that you were incapable of finding a solution to the Hacker’s virus until now shows that you are rather inept at a job you claim to be very proficient at. The only reason that I’ve come here is that for once you are right. The stakes are very high”

“Coming from someone who runs from the Hackers and refuses to fight them, those are some pretty bold words.” Qilin shot back. “You want to put your axe where your mouth is?”

Axinator growled and advanced menacingly towards Qilin. Qilin, despite being noticeably less bulky, held his ground, compartments beginning to open to reveal hidden weapons. Both would’ve probably torn each other to pieces had Sharpslefae and another guildmaster restrained them. “Grow up you two,” Sharpslefae ordered. “If you're going to fight we might as well log of and kiss the internet goodbye.”

Axinator and Qilin eyed each other for a moment, then stepped back, sheathing their weapons.

“You said that you had a way to stop the Hackers once and for all,” A robed spellcaster commented. “What is it you have in mind?”

“We crash the game.” Miles said simply.

“And afterwards?” The spellcaster asked once more. “What do we gain that gives us an advantage against the Hackers?”

“Time to figure out phase two.” Croe answered.

An animatronic knight turned to Croe. “You mean you are wasting our time with a useless plan?” He answered incredulously.

“I have something.” Alex interjected. “You all have video capturing software, right?”

Qilin nodded. “All Coders are required to have some installed. But how would that help? We’ve already tried sen-”

“If you would let me tell you what I had in mind, you might learn a thing or two.” Alex said.

Qilin’s mouth snapped close. “I’m sorry. Please continue,” he appologized.

Alex told them. What his father had said was true. If death was meaningless, then killing the Hackers in the game was nothing more than a setback. To end the threat once and for all, the fight had to be taken to the real world.

Which was exactly what Alex intended to do.

“Fascinating,” Miles pondered, stroking his beard. “It could work. If we got enough of the right footage, it would certainly work.”

Axinator peered at Alex. “You’re that flaming ninja kid. The one who blew up the Hacker base last time, right?”

Alex nodded and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Yeah, that was me. Or us rather. I had Janus, Miles, and Croe to help.”

“And you think this plan will work? Remember, Qilin has already tried getting videos to the public.”

“That was before this week.” Alex replied.

Qilin was shaking his head, still skeptical of how this would work. “I don’t know GN. We have tried what you’re considering. It hasn’t done much.”

“Can it Qilin.” The spellcaster ordered. “The kid’s right. A lot has changed in the last week. And we can use that to our advantage.”

Qilin still didn’t look convinced, so Croe piped up. “Look Qilin, if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. And if it fails, at least we crashed the server and bought some time to make plan B.”

“That’s assuming we succeed.” Qilin mumbled. “Even without the Hacker Virus affecting us, they can still kill our characters.”

“Hey! I’m trying to be positive here!”

Qilin began to say something but Miles cut over him. “Dumbledore's right. Shut the hell up Qilin.”

“I assume you have a plan to crash the game, correct?” The animatronic knight asked.

“When we destroyed the Keep the first time, the area lagged for a few seconds.” Alex answered. “The way I see it, we’ll have way more people in the same area as last time. And I don’t want to stop with the Keep this time. I’m correct in assuming each stone in the wall can be turned into an individual entity if broken off, correct?”

“Correct.” Janus said. Even with the mask, Alex could tell his friend was grinning from ear to ear. Garrett and his brother loved a good explosion. Even if it was only a virtual one.

“Well, with a wall that big, there’s got to be a lot of stones. A lot of entities. A lot of different physics that the game will have to calculate.”

“Potentially enough to cause a total crash of the game’s servers.” The knight mused.

“I would say more than enough.” Croe said. “All that we destroyed was the keep and part of a wall. Since then, they’ve made the wall even bigger, even thicker. Just imagine what kinds of lag we can now create by destroying just one wall.”

Miles clapped his hands together. “Right then, if no one objects, I’d say we’re almost ready. I suggest we use the same strategy as Operation THUNDERBEE to scale the walls.”

“Thunderbee? Miles are you sure?” Qilin asked in shock. “The last time we used that strategy,”

“Was the first and only time a sizeable amount of Coders were able to get past those walls.” Miles finished. “All that we need is already prepared, save for wooden ladders, which we can make on the fly.”

Qilin gulped. “Miles, that attack, we swore never to use it again. Are you cer-”

“Qilin, this is exactly what I was talking about.” Axinator interrupted. “Once again, you’re hesitating due to the attack not going as planned. I’m truly surprised you’ve lasted this long as the leader of the Coders!”

Qilin’s eyes narrowed. “Be very careful Brutus.” He said in a low voice. “I may be a coward, but I at least did something. Unlike another man directly in front of me.”

“Brave words coming from someone who two years ago was a gold farmer in the slums of Detroit; who stood by and let the game’s economy crash and nearly emptied the servers.” Axinator replied. “Unlike you, my guild banded with the others,” he gestured to the other guildmasters beside him, “to pull Rune's economy out of the crapper! So do you want to put your money where your mouth is?”

“I think it would work.” Alex said with finality. “Look, even after two months of playing Rune, I don’t know much about what went on before I arrived. But from what I’ve learned, the Coders quite often used very similar tactics for each raid. If we start our attack in a way you’ve already used, then it might fool the Hackers and give us enough time to get in, and crash the server.”

Qilin looked around the circle and sighed. “I guess my mind’s been made up for me.” he said. “Although, I did not appreciate my life’s story being publicized. Besides, you’re just as guilty as me when it comes to gold mining.”

Axinator shrugged. “True. But at least I tried to clean up the mess. You just logged off and played with your -”

“Anyways, I’ll go back and prepare the Coders for battle.” Sharpslefae interjected, preventing the Axinator from speaking further. “If you have no objection, I believe we should attack within the hour.”

Axinator grinned. “Not in the least. The Order of Friendship and Magic will stand by your side. Today, the Hackers will regret their decision to harm our pastime.”

“Hang on, are you a Brony?” Croe asked in awe.

“Most of the guild is.” The Guildmaster said with a smile.

“Are you looking for a scythe wielding scarecrow?”

“No, he is not.” Miles interrupted, grabbing Croe by the neck. “Like it or not, you’re stickin’ with us.”

Croe deflated. “That guild sounds like fun.” He muttered.

The other guildmasters and Sharpslefae chuckled and teleported back to their bases to finish rallying their troops. Axinator wrote a simple message off to his second in command. Qilin stood with his head down and sulked.

Alex turned to Janus. “So what made Qilin so anxious about using this operation THUNDERBEE?”

Janus shrugged. “Well, the only thing that I can think of is that the last time he used it, Professor BA ended up in a coma.”

27: Attack

Well, here we are guys.  If you didn't guess it from the title of the chapter, we're at the final battle.  This is the big one.  The fight that decides the fate of the whole ga-

Ah, who am I kidding.  Who wants to see a large exposition?  You guys just want to see what happens don't you.  Well, who am I to deny you that?  Enjoy!

 

The board members of Samson Aviation Industries entered their room with undisguised glee. Cigars were lit, champagne corks were popped, and merriment was in the air.

The acting, soon to be official, CEO of the company strode towards the chair at the head of the long table before turning back to the board members in front of him; a broad smile was on his face. "Ladies and Gentlemen, our hour is at hand. After months of waiting, Homer Alexander Samson will be declared legally dead in less than 30 minutes."

The room erupted in cheering and clapping. The CEO waited for it to die down before continuing. "Too long we have listened to his insane ideas, his 'innovations' that turn no profit. No longer will we release a product before the economy is ready for it. As of today, we go back to the way things are meant to be."

"Oh really?" a voice called out from the chair the CEO was standing next to. The CEO in question yelped and jumped away from the chair as if he had been burned. As he did so, the chair turned slowly around to reveal its occupant. The room froze as the board members stared with a mixture of shock and horror.

"And how exactly do expect to run a successful company if you're unwilling to allow for innovation?" Homer Alexander Samson Sr. asked.

@0@0@

It started quite plainly, Alex noticed. No psyching up for the battle, no pregnant pauses, not even a heroic and moving speech before hand. Nothing that signaled the beginning of the battle to decide the fate of the game.

Well, nothing besides the flurry of arrows aimed at the castle.

Alex raced alongside Miles towards the castle walls. They were a ladder team; their job was to carry a ladder to the wall and set it up. Normally it would take both members of a ladder team to carry the ladder all the way to the wall without running out of stamina halfway there. Miles had it over one shoulder. The instant they cleared the forest, the catapults swung in their direction and began lobbing rocks at the swarm of players. The mages responded by casting defensive spells to block the rocks, or simply destroy them while they were still in the air. Not to say that they were completely successful. Alex saw one barrier shatter upon impact with the missile, allowing the rock to continue on its path and crush a thief and the unfortunate mage who had cast the spell.

As they neared the walls, other Hackers opened fire as well, forcing them to slow their pace so that players with shields could raise them and protect themselves and others. Alex had been given a round shield for this very reason and raised it just in time to protect himself from almost half a dozen arrows directed specifically at him. Miles, who was wearing thick armor, ignored the arrows and kept running.

The front line finally reached the wall and began setting up ladders. Miles swung his ladder up and knocked it against the wall. Making certain it was secured, he waved his hand towards a column of iron golems and other heavy players who couldn't be supported by other ladders. They surged forwards and began clambering up. Elsewhere, Alex saw other players doing the same as Miles, allowing for the first wave of players to begin attacking the wall,

And immediately get slaughtered by the defending forces.

Anyone who managed to get up was almost instantly cut down by the sheer number of Hackers and NPCs on the wall. Even if they got a lucky shot in and killed a Hacker, there were a dozen others to replace him. Alex and Miles watched a paladin clamber up the ladder Miles had set up, only to fall down in two pieces barely a second later.

The Mages and archers weren't having much luck either. Any projectile that made it past the battlements was easily blocked by shields and magical barriers. Any that were arced to hit them from above met a similar fate.

Alex and Miles both pulled up the chatroom being used by themselves, and the leaders of the different guilds.

Miles: We're getting slaughtered out here. Any suggestions?

Axinator79: Besides, retreat, nothing

Janus: We've managed to get a good position over where Croe and I are. Taking heavy losses but they haven't taken it back yet

Qilin1: Sending Sharpslefae with twenty Coders your way Janus.

"This is nuts!" Alex shouted over the din to Miles. "We're barely five minutes in and we're already losing!"

Miles grabbed a ladder that had lost most of its rungs when a player carrying one too many weapons had tried to climb it and finished breaking off the rest of the rungs; leaving him with two forty meter long shafts of wood. He grinned at Alex. "Then let's not be losing, shall we?" he tossed one of the shafts to an iron golem and started up the ladder. Confused, Alex started up behind him. When he reached the top, Miles did something no less than extraordinary.

Balancing on the top rung of the ladder, Miles swung the pole into the wall of Hackers facing him. Because they were so tightly packed, there was nothing they could do to avoid the hit. They tumbled off of the wall and went screaming to the ground below. More Hackers rushed in to take their place, but Miles repeated the action, this time sending them onto the outside of the castle. Those who survived the fall didn't live much longer than those who didn't.

Right behind him, Alex conjured fireball after fireball and began lobbing them into the crowd, adding to the mix of spells and arrows already in the mix. Unlike the arrows and spells, however, he was on their disoriented and very much unprotected side. The shield wall began to disintegrate as the Hackers caught on fire and their characters began to panic and flail around. Most managed to survive the fire, but by then it was too late. Players swarmed over the battlements and began gaining ground. Surviving remnants of the once impenetrable shield wall found themselves sandwiched between incoming forces. Not wasting time, most were shoved over the sides to make room for more players. The wall was now controlled by the players, who began cheering.

Qilin and Axinator appeared on Miles' ladder, each carrying a stuffed satchel. Seeing the cheering, Qilin frowned. "Alright, alright, don't celebrate yet. We've only accomplished part one. We've still got to destroy the spawnstones and plant the explosives. Let's move out!"

Apart from a handful of Coders that heard him, Qilin was ignored.

Axinator pushed him out of the way. "Listen up! While you idiots are cheering, those Hackers' respawn timers are ticking away. So unless you want to be back where we began, get those spawnstones destroyed!"

This time, everyone listened. Roaring in approval, the remaining players ran for the steps.

Axinator looked at Qilin. "Qilin, this is what happens when you don't take the fight to the enemy," he said. "Outside your Coders, your lack of action has made most of Rune hate you quite a bit. They don't respect you, so they don't listen to you."

Smoke boiled out of Qilin's mouth and his jaw crunched against itself. Axinator noticed this. "Oh don't get your panties in a wad. If you can't handle the truth, you shouldn't talk to anonymous strangers." Turning to Alex and Miles, Axinator handed them his satchel. "Just a little present for our dear friend upstairs." He said, indicating the floating Keep.

Miles looked in the satchel and grinned. "Ax, you must've forgotten to tell me it was Christmas," he said. He reached into the satchel and began pulling out explosives and scrolls of Icarian Flight.

Qilin grunted and was preparing to hand over his satchel as well, when an arrow slammed into his left knee, destroying the cables that controlled his leg. His leg gave way and he fell into the courtyard. When he landed, the explosives in his satchel went off, launching him into the air. He crashed into the side of the Keep and fell into the buildings below.

Alex conjured a fireball and looked for the archer. To his horror, Hackers upon Hackers were streaming out of the houses and engaging the Coders.

Axinator cursed and grabbed his twin axes from their holsters on his back. "You'd think they'd be nice to let us accomplish this without too much of a hassle."

Miles unsheathed his sword. "If only it was that easy."

@0@0@

"What's going on?" Croe asked, trying to peer around the players in front of him. Being on the small side did have its disadvantages.

"Oh, just a bunch of Hackers running out of their houses and attacking anyone in sight," Janus answered. "Not much, really."

A roar of defiance rolled up the ramp they were facing and through the small gaps in-between players, Croe could see half a dozen Hackers running up the ramp. The axes and swords of the players rose and fell and the yelling was cut off.

"This stinks," Croe complained. "We're fighting the greatest battle on Rune ever, and I can't even see what's going on!"

"Hey, we're getting ready to head out." Janus said. "You should be able to see then."

As if on cue, the several players in front of Croe jerked and fell, the front of their bodies resembling pincushions. The resulting gaps allowed Croe to see a dozen archers drawing additional arrows from their quivers and aiming them at the remaining players on the wall. They released and even more players tumbled to the ground.

Knowing that staying put would only get him killed, Croe charged at the Hackers. They fired once more, but Croe ducked, and they only got his hat. Pulling his scythe from his belt, Croe tossed it at the Archers. It stuck one in the chest and he vanished into a poof of orange dust. The scythe fell towards the ground, but Croe activated the telekinetic spellstone and the scythe flew back him. By then, the Hackers had reloaded and fired once more. This time, their aim was true. Croe stumbled backwards and looked down to see arrow shafts protruding from his virtual body.

"Hey!" Janus yelled out. He pulled out several grenades and started lobbing them towards the archers. The Hackers dove for cover as the ground around them erupted with a concussive force, taking several of them out. As they groggily got back on their knees, Janus slid down the ramp and stabbed one in the chest and grabbed an arrow out of the quiver of another, stabbing it into the eye of the arrow's previous owner. An Archer swung at Janus with his bow in an attempt to stun him, but Janus swerved out of the way of the bow and twisted the Hackers arm until it broke with a snap. The Hacker's character let out a prevoiced cry of pain, and the Hacker snarled in anger. Janus followed through with the twist and ripped the arm off of the Hacker. He swung it around and jabbed the bone shard up under the Hacker's chin. The Hacker's health flashed to zero, and he collapsed to the ground.

By then, one of the archers that was still standing had gotten enough of his wits back together to shoot an arrow off at Janus. At the last moment, Janus tilted his head almost imperceptibly to the side. It hit his mask and glanced off, leaving a groove on the dark right side.

"Impossible," the Hacker said in fear. "That was a reinforced arrow fired from a bow of piercing. Nothing can stand in its way."

"Of course not. I mean, look at my mask now!" Janus said irritated, pointing at the deep groove that had been cut into it.

"Then how-"

"By understanding how the game works and knowing what to do in certain situations," Janus answered. "Long story short, there is nothing about Rune's combat that I don't know."

The Hacker tried to run, but in a flying leap, Janus tackled him. The Hacker tried to squirm away, but Janus pinned him firmly under a knee. "Shhhh," he whispered as he plunged his dagger into the Hacker's sternum. "Let it happen buddy." Standing up from the corpse, he ran back to Croe and the players who had begun venturing down the ramp and engaging the Hackers.

"During Operation THUNDERBEE, we found the Hacker's spawnstones in the houses," Janus said to the crowd. "I'd suggest checking those first."

The player in front who was apparently the leader, nodded and began issuing orders to the players around him. Janus looked around briefly before locating Croe and hurrying up to him. "Dude, you might want to try sidestepping next time," He commented.

"Well, if you'd leave some of the fighting for me, I might get enough experience to level up my agility," Croe replied.

"It's not the level son, it's the miles behind them," Janus said in a western accent while peering at the arrows in Croe's body. Gripping one, he yanked out and placed it in his quiver. The instant he did so, straw began pouring out of the wound. Croe grabbed the hole and tried to pinch it shut.

"I assume you have a needle and thread to patch that up, right?" Janus asked.

"Yeah, but it's gonna take a while," Croe answered. "It'll be a few minutes before we can move again."

"No time. Finish up and meet me in the Keep," Janus said.

"But-"

"Dude, I know that you're worried for me and are afraid that if I go alone, I'm going to end up dead."

"That wasn't-"

"It's an understandable feeling to feel worry for a friend. But you forget that now that we're immune to the Hacker's powers, all they have is what our dear friends the Devs gave them. I'll be fine."

"Jan-"

Janus patted Croe on the shoulder. "Don't worry dude. They haven't killed me yet!"

He pushed his hands into his sleves and pulled out strands of ropes with grenades attatched to them. As he pulled them out, the pins were pulled free, arming the grenades. Whirling them around his head, Janus sent them sailing through the air, deep into the Hacker's midsts. He then pulled another two strands from his sleeves and charged into the fray, the grenades whipping around behind him.

Croe slumped to the ground and debated letting the straw out so he'd have a legitimate excuse to bail out of the fight and save himself the embarrassment. He almost did. But the memory of yesterday (was it really only yesterday?) kept coming back to him. As soon as he saw the battle was going badly, he had used his diminutive size to slip out of the horde and sprint off. Unable to bind the scythe to his person, it would've ended up in the hands of the Hackers had he died. Arachnoid's victory over him would've been complete. He had survived, but Janus had ended up getting attacked by the Hackers. He couldn't help but wonder what would've happened if he had stayed and fought. It would've been ugly. He probably would've been killed. But Janus may've been able to log out before they got him. And even before that- during the first battle of the castle, he had bailed on the group to go on a personal vendetta. It had achieved nothing, and they had only been successful because of Janus, Miles, and Gingaininja. Out of all of them, he had probably contributed the least to the group.

Sighing, he kept pressure on the hole with one hand and fiddled around in his pockets to find his sewing equipment. Depressed, he began sewing the hole shut. He felt like the least useful person in Rune.

28: One More Tussel

Hey Guys!

So how are you enjoying the final fight so far? I hope you're enjoying it as much as I did writing it. So without further adeu, here's chapter 28!

Alex was fighting a battle. Whether it was a losing one, or a winning one, he couldn’t be certain. He, Miles, Axinator, and several other Players were part of a wedge, driving towards the Keep. At times, Alex felt at times that they were making headway. Others, they were at a virtual standstill. He had lost the shield several minutes ago to an earthstrike from a mage. His stamina was nearing the red and he had barely enough mana for one more fireball. Both could recharge, given the time, but it also required Alex to not be using either, something that he couldn’t afford to do.

Miles and Axinator on the other hand, were having the time of their lives.

Miles whooped in glee as he parried a sword from a Hacker and kicked another into a flaming staff held by a third, killing him instantly

“This, GN, is what Rune is all about!” Miles shouted in glee. “No Hackers, no virus, just overwhelming odds, and overpowered beasts!”

Axinator, who was on point, grinned as well. “It’s almost as if the old days are back, eh?”

Alex, distracted by their bantering, almost got hit by a spear jab from a Hacker to his right. Miles noticed this, and slammed down on the sword of the Hacker he was fighting. It shattered, sending the top six inches of blade whirling through the air. It just missed the Hacker Alex was fighting, causing him to flinch in surprise. Alex took the opening and thrust his saber past the Hacker’s defenses. It caught him in the chest, inflicting a critical hit. As he fell, Alex saw with no small sense of relief that he was the last in the wall of Hackers. As he noticed this, Alex had to throw his sword up in defense as Master Saru appeared in the crowd and swiped at him with a strange staff topped with a green gem. The staff made a low moan as Alex barely deflected it past his head.

Miles heard the moan and froze. When he saw the staff his face became a mask of anger for a brief moment, before being replaced by a mask of calm determination. Several Hackers tried to use the distraction to take Miles out, but one swing from Axinator made them think otherwise.

“Alex, I need you to take my place for a minute,” Miles said in a deadly calm tone. “There is something I need to handle.”

Alex gladly backed away, but stayed close. Miles seemed calm at first glance, but the fact that he had broken internet protocol and used his real name showed the throng of emotions raging beneath the surface.

“Miles, we need to move,” Axinator insisted. “We don’t know how much longer we have! We need to move, man!”

“Then move,” Miles said simply, tossing the satchel of explosives back to Axinator. “Do you honestly think I can’t take these guys by myself?”

Axinator ground his teeth, then motioned to two paladins and a spellcaster. “Make certain he doesn’t get himself killed,” he ordered. He then grabbed Alex and threw him over his shoulder, barging through the crowd of Hackers and towards the Keep.

Miles spared a brief glance to be certain they were away, before turning back to the matter at hand. “So, you went through the quest not once, but twice for that weapon,” he commented. “All for me to kill you and destroy that staff once more?”

Master Saru growled. “Why, why do you people keep coming?” he asked angrily. “Whatever we do, you are a shadow waiting to pounce. We have beaten you time after time, sent dozens of Coders packing for good. And you still come. Why can’t you leave us alone?” he cried as he swung the staff at Miles.

Miles caught the staff and redirected it into a nearby Hacker, whose body ignited into brilliant green fire instantaneously. “Oh, I don’t know,” Miles said dismissively. “Probably because of all of my friends you and Winnie have hurt through this fight. You’re monkey brain might not be able to compute it, but some people take considerable offense when their best friends are put in fucking comas for a whole month.”

“So what if we hurt some of your friends? It’s not as if anything was permanent,” Master Saru said. “That doesn’t explain all of this!” he swept his hand around the courtyard. Miles followed while blocking a swipe from the staff in his peripheral vision. It was an all-out brawl. Coders and Players were fighting together against Hackers, both sides evenly matched. Judging from the slowing flow of Hackers from the few houses heavily protected by other Hackers, Miles concluded that most of the spawnstones had been destroyed.

“Oh, this is pretty well explained,” Miles said. “You see, your virus does cause permanent damage. “Professor BA, the first Coder you ever took out, was put in a coma for a-”

“Put in a coma for a month, blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda, I’ve heard that story a million times Miles,” Master Saru said dismissively, sending a wave of green fire towards Miles that Miles had to sidestep to avoid. “And half of those times were from you.”

“He was put in a coma, but also lost hearing in one ear, and most of it in another,” Miles finished. “I’d say that’s pretty damn permanent,”

“That was his own fault!” a voice behind him yelled. The Players that Axinator had left behind cried out briefly before their bodies hit the ground with muffled thuds. Bearzerker bounded up from behind and launched himself onto Miles’ back. His character roared in Miles’ ear and tried to bite down on Miles’ head. He was stopped when Miles rammed his free hand down Bearzerker’s throat and got a death grip on the bear’s uvula. The character squawked and let go of Miles. Miles did not. Instead, he squeezed harder and dragged Bearzerker into the air and threw him over his shoulder and into Master Saru. The two went tumbling to the ground.

“Listen to me very closely,” Miles said in a low and dark voice. “There are three people responsible for what happened to BA. You two, and myself. He was fending you Hackers off while the Coders escaped. If I hadn’t gotten myself trapped in rubble, I could’ve helped him and none of you would’ve survived. Instead, he took all of you on, and took most of you out. Whoever played Professor BA is a goddamn hero. You get that? A hero!”

Bearzerker clambered back up. “Well, if he’s a hero, then I guess that makes us the bad guys then,” he growled menacingly.

Master Saru got up as well, still frowning. “And if we are the villains of this epic, I suppose we should act the part. So, tell me, Milesoftheblades; what is your grand strategy for this battle? You’re all alone, and soon the Core will be ours. You have nothing.”

Miles gave him a lopsided smile. “You’re right, I don’t have shit. You know what else I don’t have? Anything left to lose. You took my best friend, you took any credibility I might have with the Dev’s, and you took the one thing that gave us an advantage against you. I, we, the players of Rune have nothing. So what say you? One more tussle before we call it quits?”

Bearzerker unsheathed his claws and grinned. “Gladly.” He launched himself once more at Miles, who gripped his sword with both hands and blocked the blow, allowing the razor sharp claws to scrape down the sword’s edge before kneeing Bearzerker in the gut. The Hacker stumbled backwards and Master Saru took his place, staff moaning through the air as if it was unwilling to attack a once ally. Miles easily blocked the attacks with the flat of his blade, the blows ringing out in the din.

By this time, Bearzerker was charging Miles once more. As Master Saru swung once more at Miles, Miles ducked underneath the blow, letting it travel over his head. Expecting resistance, Master Saru was surprised and let the staff continue its swing, right into Bearzerker’s head, laying him out flat.

As Bearzerker collapsed to the ground, Miles went on the offensive, chopping at Master Saru with a vehemence rarely seen before. Master Saru backpedaled desperately, the staff blocking or deflecting just enough to escape major injury. Finally, Miles chopped downwards into the staff and it split in two from the sheer power of the blow.

As the pieces fell, a dark chord swept through the courtyard. Not wasting any time, Miles scooped up the pieces and tossed them into the crowd of Hackers behind him. Just in the nick of time, it would seem, as the dark orb pulsed into existence from the shards of BA's staff; and began sucking the Hackers into its abyss. The winds thrown up by the orb pulled at Miles and Master Saru, but they were both far enough away to be safe. Bearzerker was not so lucky. The orb had formed just as he had regained his feet, only to have them sucked out from under him by the winds. He landed hard on his back and began sliding towards the orb, just like the rest of the horde of Hackers. He flipped on his stomach and desperately clawed at the ground, trying to stay out of the gaping orb. It was in vain. With a beastly roar, he was sucked into the orb and vanished in an instant. A moment later, the orb exploded outwards with a tremendous force that shattered glass and shook Miles' view.

Satisfied that Bearzerker wouldn’t be bothering them anymore, Miles turned back to Master Saru. The Hacker had pulled his regular staff out of his inventory and was brandishing it in Miles’ direction. “Stay back Miles,” he demanded. “You’ll only get yourself killed.”

Miles rolled his eyes. It was painfully obvious to him that Master Saru was bluffing. His partner was gone, and his health was down to 50%. Wanting to end the fight as quickly as possible, Miles charged Master Saru, swinging at his feet. Master Saru blocked easily and retaliated with the other end of the staff, landing a solid hit on Miles’ head. Miles stumbled back in surprise, then grinned. “You’ve started fighting then? Good; I was worried that this would be boring.”

Master Saru charged Miles and slammed into his side, flipped off, and landed on his feet, swinging the staff. Miles had to duck out of the way to avoid the vicious swings. Gone was the false bravado that had permeated him mere moments before. Whatever unintended restraint Master Saru had, it was lost with BA’s staff.

Master Saru ran at him once more, aiming to sweep Miles’ legs out from under him. Miles blocked the blow, then jabbed at Master Saru’s face with his fist. The player behind Master Saru yelled in surprise and jumped backwards, allowing Miles to close the distance with a mighty stab into Master Saru’s gut. The blade penetrated deep, coming out Master Saru’s back. Miles gave an almighty yell and ripped the blade sideways, pulling it out of Master Saru’s side. The character gasped in pain and clutched at the wound desperately trying to stop the bleeding. Master Saru glanced down at the wound as his character fell to its knees.

Miles grinned in satisfaction. “Come on Saru, where’s the guy who kept beating me over and over again. Is he still in there? ‘Cause I’d like to kick his ass before he’s banned.”

Master Saru looked up from the wound and snarled at Miles. “Tell me, Miles, how did it feel fighting against your friend’s old weapon; wielded in the hands of the man who slew him? I bet it made you, angry.”

Miles placed the sword’s edge at Master Saru’s neck. “It made me angry all right,” Miles replied. “I wanted to hunt you down and cut you two pieces in real life for that, and everything else you’ve done to people in Rune.”

“And what’s stopping you?” Master Saru asked.

Miles smiled. Whatever Master Saru’s goading was trying to accomplish, it wasn’t working. “I found the line I wouldn’t cross,” he said simply. He let the sword drop from Master Saru’s neck and instead resorted to pushing him over with his boot and stomping down on his chest. “Looks like you’re out of the fight,” he said with a grin.

Master Saru merely grinned back at him, something that erased the smile instantly from Miles’ face. As Master Saru died, Miles’ mailbox pinged, indicating he had gotten a message from,

Master Saru?

Miles hastily opened the mail up. Its message was brief but simple.

From: Master_Saru

To: Milesoftheblades

You think that you won? My mission was a success. Can the same be said for yours?

The message confused Miles. What was Master Saru talking about, what mission? And what was that line about whether his mission was a success. His mission was to,

The cold feeling of dread washed over Miles. His hands went numb and his character nearly dropped his sword. His mission was to get Ginganinja and the explosives to the Keep at all costs; not to take out personal enemies. As much as he wanted to say Bearzerker and Master Saru did not affect him anymore, he had just abandoned his mission to take them out.

Grasping the sword harder than before, Miles barreled through the crowd of Hackers and Coders that were fighting around him; ignoring the basic rules of swordsmanship that he had taught GN. Instead, he resorted to massive swings that severely depleted his stamina with each swing, but took out rows of Hackers like wheat before a sickle. Those that presented themselves when he was in the middle of a swing got simply shoved aside as he charged through the crowd, desperately searching for Axinator and Ginganinja, praying that his blunder hadn’t ruined the mission.

29: Ascending the Stairs

I swear to you I did not intend to upload this late.

Okay, Here's what happened. College. I had a Precalc exam yesterday, and Mondays are hell on earth. The time I would have normally spent uploading a new chapter was instead spent on trying to do everything I normally would do on Tuesday during the time I took the exam. I hated to do that, but it was necessary.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter. I'll see you all in two weeks!

The two Hackers on the first floor of the Keep stood staring at the door that used to open up to the courtyard outside. It still opened, but instead of opening to hard packed earth, it instead opened up to a small wooden balcony immediately followed by a hundred meters of open air. And then the hard packed earth.

The Hackers were bored out of their minds. When those four Coders had attacked last time, they had been on guard duty on the wall and had been shot by that masked guy before they knew what was going on. By the time they'd respawned and gotten their bearings, the Keep had fallen down and exploded, taking them out once more. When they'd heard earlier that day the Coders would probably be attacking again, the two had been exited to finally do some fighting. To their dismay, they'd been assigned not the wall like most of the Hackers, but the Keep instead. No one was going to get past the wall. They were going to miss out on the fight again.

It was to their surprise then when there was a knock on the door in front of them. Curious, one of them walked up and unlocked the door and cracked it open slightly. He was immediately knocked backwards by a powerful shove from a heavily armored man wielding two massive battleaxes. He skidded to a stop as his partner frantically leveled his spear and thrust it at the armored man. The man easily flicked it aside with one axe and used the other to slice through the shaft like it was made of butter. The man laughed at the Hacker's expression having lost his weapon so easily. "Haven't you ever played Fire Emblem?" he asked. "Ax beats spear numbnut."

By now the other Hacker had gotten to his feet and was pulling his mace from his belt to help his friend, when a dark clad redhead who had been lurking behind the door up until then burst into the melee and hacked downwards at the arm holding the mace, severing it in one blow. The Hacker looked up in surprise at his assailant before a look of dread filled his face. "Oh God, not you guys," he moaned.

"Yes us guys." Alex finished as he stabbed the Hacker in between the ribs. "Although if by us guys you mean me, Janus, Croe, and Miles, then I guess not us guys. Just this guy."

"They should be here soon," Axinator said as he unslung the satchel of explosives from his shoulder and grabbed the struggling Hacker by the front of his shirt, dragged him through the door, and tossed him off of the balcony. "Unless they were killed, which I highly doubt."

Alex nodded in consent. As he did so, he spotted a rolled up rope ladder lying in the corner. Grabbing it, he dragged it towards the door and to the balcony where he attached the ends to two iron loops build into the balcony. With the ladder secured, he gave it a push and it tumbled off towards the ground. As soon as he did so, an arrow burst through the wooden floor coming within mere inches of his head. Startled, he scrambled back. "Sniper!" he cried out.

Axinator immediately dropped to a crouch and carefully peered over the edge. When he looked back up, he was shaking with laughter. "A sniper to be certain," he said, "but not one we need to be worried about."

"Curious, Alex peeked over as well. The arrow itself was attached to a long rope falling down to the ground.

And on the rope, clambering up hand over hand, was Janus.

---

"Last I saw, Croe was okay," Janus assured them. "Although he may still look like a porcupine when you next see him."

Alex breathed a sigh of relief. When Croe didn't immediately follow Janus, he had feared the worst. But now at least his friend was still in the fight, albeit sitting the next few rounds out.

Janus peeked in through the doors and whistled. "New flooring. The old stuff must've been destroyed the last time we were here. Gotta say, it looks quite nice."

"Really Janus?" Alex asked. "We're in the middle of the most important battle in the history of Rune, and you're admiring the flooring the Hackers put in?"

"Hey man, if you don't stop and appreciate the scenery now and again, what's the point in turning your graphics up to the max? Besides, in a couple of minutes, it's going to be gone anyway, so you might as well enjoy it now."

"Janus," Axinator said, getting the back on track, "How close are the Hackers to getting then Core?"

Janus' head drooped for a moment as Garrett asked his brother. A moment later, he perked back up. "The firewalls my brother put up are holding, but my brother doesn't think they'll last much longer," Janus replied soberly. "We've got maybe, half an hour?"

Axinator cursed. "Then there's no time is there, eh. You two go on ahead. I'll make certain no one comes up that isn't supposed to."

"But we could use your help," Alex pleaded. "Janus is the good one here. I've been here just over two months!"

Axinator shook his head. "I'm slow GN. On those stairs I'll be holding you two back. Right now, you two need speed if you're going to set those charges.

"But,"

"Go, Godamnit!" Axinator yelled. "Right now you two are the only ones who can get the job done in time. If I go with you, you'll never get there in time. We won't have another chance at this!"

"GN, he's right," Janus said. "Thirty minutes is the maximum we've got. My brother actually estimates fifteen minutes or less."

Alex looked over the balcony forlornly one more time. Down below, battles ranging from single combatants to full on melees raged through the courtyard. Coders and players alike fighting desperately to protect the game the loved.

And all of them were counting on Alex's plan to work.

Alex shook his head, clearing the thoughts. "Right, let's go then. We've only got fifteen minutes, after all."

"Fourteen and twenty two seconds actually," Janus corrected.

Alex briefly turned to Axinator. "Stay safe," he ordered.

Axinator grunted. "Same to you," he replied.

Alex nodded and raced back into the Keep. As he passed the satchel of explosives that Axinator had dropped in the center of the room, he scooped it up and headed up the stairs, Janus in hot pursuit. They reached the first floor, which was thankfully empty. Alex reached into the satchel for an explosive, primed it, and tossed it in the middle of the room. He then took out a bag of gunpowder and opened the top up slightly, allowing for a small trickle of the explosive material to fall out of the bag and create an impromptu fuse.

The next floor was noticeably not empty. Three Hackers that had just respawned were waiting for them. The nearest one, a large troll, immediately swung at them with his club, scattering Alex and Janus. Janus rolled to a stop at the feet of an iron golem that immediately produced a ball and chain from his left arm, and began swinging it at Janus. Janus sidestepped the first swing and stabbed the golem with his knife, digging into the base of the neck and damaging the gears. The golem swung again, but Janus grabbed the arm and twisted it downwards, stabbing the elbow joint and severing the wires that controlled the arm. Janus then primed a grenade and shoved it in the Hacker's mouth. Hearing the telltale click of a primed grenade Alex, who at that moment was fighting both the troll and a fellow ninja, shouted "No explosives!" for fear that the grenade would set off the explosives in the bag and end the mission before it really began.

"Don't worry dude," Janus assured him as he shoved the golem into a nearby window, sending it falling to the ground. "I got it all under control."

Alex meanwhile did not exactly have everything under control. A hit from the troll had sent him crashing into the side of the keep, knocking his health dangerously into the red. It was only through the ninja getting in the troll's way that he escaped the second and certainly finishing blow. The ninja sliced down at Alex and he raised his saber to block it mid strike. The two struggled there for a moment, before the ninja disengaged and threw shuriken at him. Alex ducked and conjured a fireball, tossing it at the ninja. The ninja disappeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared in time to stab at Alex, who deflected the sword into a wall.

"You, are a disgrace to other shinobi," the ninja spat. "You who wears beanies and handkerchiefs, and wields a western sword."

"Coming from the guy who's fighting with magic teleportation from Anime, and black clothing from who knows where," Alex replied, punching the ninja in the face. "Besides, isn't a ninja who stays and fights a dead ninja?"

The ninja hissed in anger and pulled a kunai knife from the folds of his clothes and stabbed at Alex. It scraped Alex's side and a warning appeared on his screen that he'd been poisoned. Swearing, Alex conjured another fireball, and grabbed onto the hand holding the kunai, roasting the appendage. Alex head butted the ninja and the Hacker collapsed, stunned. Taking advantage of the moment, Alex began riffling through the ninja's inventory, searching for an antidote that would hopefully counteract the poison that had lowered his health below ten percent.

The troll, who at this point was staying back for fear of killing his partner, was moving up on the unsuspecting ginger and hefting his club to bash his skull in. Before he could, however, his character stumbled sideways as an arrow shaft appeared in his side. Confused, the troll turned in time to see Janus release another arrow straight into his forehead. The force behind the arrow sent it into the troll's skull all the way to the feathers. The troll's knees gave out, and it collapsed in a heap on the floor.

Alex, who had found both an antidote and a health potion on the ninja, looked up at the thud and saw the troll and snorted in amusement.

"What's so funny?" Janus asked.

"Dude, you've got a unitroll," Alex said, stifling laughter.

"A what?"

"You know, a unicorn coupled with a troll," Alex said.

Janus stared at his friend. "GN, sometimes I don't understand you in the slightest."

"Good. That means no one else does as well."

At that moment, the Ninja finally became unstunned. He leapt to his feet just in time to be simultaneously stabbed by Alex, and shot by Janus. He fell to the side and landed on the spawnstone that he had come from less than a minute before.

Noticing the stone for the first time, Alex walked up to it and slashed at it with his saber, cutting the central gem in two, rendering it useless. Janus then tossed an explosive onto the base, and trailed gunpowder from it to the line they had been making until the Hackers had shown up.

"Well, that went well," Alex commented.

"That was way too close," Janus said. "I don't know how we're going to do if there's any more up above. There's only two of us."

"What about all those times you've taken out twice as many Hackers?" Alex asked.

"Dude, I had surprise on my side," Janus replied, pulling out another bag of gunpowder to replace the one that had just run out. "And besides, I'm more worried about you."

"Me?" Alex asked confused.

"Yeah. Listen Alex, I'm not trying to put you down and all, you've improved way faster than anyone I've seen on the server in the two months we've had. But out of the four of us, you're the only one still at level twenty five. The rest of us are high level or maxed out at sixty. Even Croe is at level forty one. Being mid-level means you can take on some higher ranked players if you're lucky, but those guys were way out of your league. I hate to say this man, but the Hacker virus was the only thing that let you take on higher level players from the get go. And since Qilin's update took care of the virus for everyone, you've lost it."

"So what are you saying?" Alex asked, a little irked by his friend's comment, but at the same time understanding where he was coming from. "That I should hang back and let you do the fighting?"

"No, of course not dude!" Janus said hurriedly. "What I am saying though is that you should be a bit more careful today. Try to take Hackers out before they get to stabbing range."

"Which they shouldn't, with me here," a voice said from behind them. Alex and Janus whirled around to see Miles standing behind them, his character panting and out of breath. "I didn't screw anything up, did I?"

30: Soft No More

I swear I don't forget to upload on purpose

Okay, bit of context here.  Yesterday I had a pretty rough Chemistry exam on information the professor barely covered, and went at a speed rivaling that of a Nascar race while covering what she did.  I was completely drained afterwards, and felt like moving as little as physically possible.  During this time, I unfortunately forgot to upload the next chapter.

But yeah, apart from that, nothing much to report.  The plot for the scifi story I'm making next is coming along nicely so I hope to get that started by Christmas break.  Also, I think I'm going to move updates officially to Wednesdays instead of Mondays.  It's in order to alleviate the stress of having only 3 hours of down time on Monday and feeling obligated to still upload.  So without further Adeu, here's Chapter 30!

Qilin lay under the house that had fallen on him, unmoving.  Not dead, just not moving.

After he had slammed into the floating Keep, his character had fallen down into a building full of Hackers and spawnstones.  His body had crushed the spawnstones, along with an unfortunate rogue that had spawned in mere moments before, and scattered the Hackers hiding inside.  Before either party could recover, the roof collapsed in on them, pulling the walls with it.  The Hackers that had survived had crawled out and run off, taking anyone who hadn’t made it out for dead.

Which they all were, except for Qilin.

Qilin sent a message to Sharps and the guildmasters, detailing his plight.  They got back to him saying that he was behind the Hackers, making it impossible to rescue him until they got where he was.  Qilin sent an affirmative and closed the IM, settling in for a long wait.

It wasn’t like he couldn’t get out or anything; as long as none of the wires used to control his appendages were cut, he could free himself in no time.  In fact, he should free himself, his mind told him.  The Hackers were putting up a stiff resistance, and the Coders needed all the help they could get.

And yet, here he lay.  Doing absolutely nothing.  For the first time since he was made leader of the Coders, he had no drive to stop the Hackers at all.  All he could think about was what had happened immediately before he’d been launched.  How they’d ignored him.  What Axinator had said, “This is what happens when you don’t take the fight to the enemy.  Outside your Coders, your lack of action has made most of Rune hate you quite a bit.  They don’t respect you, so they don’t listen to you.”

Did Axinator tell the truth?  Had he really lost the respect of the rest of Rune?  It certainly seemed to fit the actions of the other players.  It was apparent that they disliked him at best, downright hated him at worst.  All because of the war that he’d started.  A war necessary to protect Rune, but a war nonetheless.  A war that tore Rune in two as the two sides fought for supremacy.  And Qilin was the face of one of the sides.  The other face, Arachanoid, had yet to be seen in public, making Qilin essentially the face of the war. 

No wonder they hated him.  They probably hated him even more than when it started, since he had let it drag on for so long.  But it was unavoidable, he reasoned.  Or was it.  Had he kept on the offensive and not holed up and resorted to raids, could they’ve harassed the Hackers enough to make them leave?  Probably not, but whatever the result was, it probably would’ve been better than what he faced now.  The Hackers were on the verge of accessing the Core, the Coders and players were fighting the Hackers into a stalemate, and a stupid building had fallen on him.  Most if not all of it was Qilin’s fault.  He had failed.

The player behind Qilin gritted his teeth in determination.  He was done failing.

There was a large clattering of footsteps near Qilin’s rubble.  Since he was still behind the front line, they could only be Hackers.  Qilin gripped the largest piece on top of him and with metal groaning and control wires splintering, he shoved it off of his body and to the side.  He tried to stand up, but his legs refused to cooperate.  Looking down, he saw that the knee joints in the left leg were bent out of shape; usable, but its use severely diminished.  The right leg was a different story all together.  Halfway down the thigh, a long neat gash marred the otherwise seamless piece of metal.  Whatever had caused the gash had also severed every single control wire that dealt with the leg- rendering it useless.

Ignoring the wound, Qilin pushed on his legs with his hands and stumbled into a standing position and grasped at his right knee, finding a bolt there and pulling it.  The bolt locked his knee in place, making his right let a makeshift peg leg.

Standing up properly, Qilin surveyed his surroundings.  The building he had fallen on was one of several on a street.  The clattering he had heard was indeed Hackers, who had stopped in surprise when a massive iron golem stood up from a pile of rubble.  They pulled their weapons free and advanced menacingly.  Evidently, they expected other Coders to appear from the rubble and begin attacking.  But there wouldn’t be any other Coders.

Qilin was on his own.

But that didn’t mean he was defenseless.

The two lead Hackers suddenly stumbled and fell backwards as crossbow bolts appeared in their chests.  The remaining Hackers backed up in surprise as the two massive crossbows that had sprouted from Qilin’s chest cavity reloaded and fired again, taking out another two Hackers.  Seeing that they’d be picked off if they didn’t attack, the Hacker group charged Qilin, only to be buffeted back by a blast of fire from Qilin’s mouth.  As the fire roared, Qilin selected his remaining ranged upgrade that he hadn’t shown yet and activated it.

As the fire died, the shaken Hackers advanced once more; unaware of the danger they faced, but beginning to grasp the scale of it.  They further grasped the scale when a cluster of shuriken fired out of a hidden launcher in Qilin’s left arm mangled the throat of another Hacker and inflicted minor to major damage on several others.

At this point, the Hackers abandoned all attempts at being tactical and simply charged the leader of the Coders, hoping and praying that they’d take him out before being taken out themselves.  Qilin continued to attack them with fire shuriken, and crossbows until they closed to melee range.  When the first Hacker, a spearman, thrust at Qilin, he grabbed the shaft and squeezed it, shattering it into wooden splinters.  As a goblin tried to jump on his back, he rotated his right arm around and lightly swatted at him, throwing the Hacker into the building across the street.

The spearman by now had drawn a small axe and attacked Qilin.  It hit his right forearm and bit in slightly.  Qilin looked down briefly at the axe in annoyance before ripping it out with his other hand and tossing it to the ground.  He then activated his melee module.

Qilin’s right forearm split lengthwise and two saw blades slid out of the opening, moving back and forth at a ferocious rate.  The spearman that had caused him so much trouble was the first victim.  The Hacker tried to block with his forearm gauntlet, but Qilin cut through the metal plating along with the flesh beneath it.  The severed appendage thumped to the ground and Qilin finished the Hacker off at last by sawing through his chest.  Qilin dispatched several more Hackers in this manner before the remainder of the Hacker force fled in terror, only to be cut down by Qilin’s crossbows and shuriken.  The street fell quiet at long last, save for the distant fighting noise and the occasional fireball or spell lobbed over the rooftops by magicians.  Qilin had beaten them.

But not without a cost.  The cut from the small axe was not Qilin’s only wound, nor was it the largest.  That honor belonged to a lucky strike that had fouled some of the gears controlling Qilin’s neck, causing it to tilt at an awkward angle and be unable to turn more than a fraction in either direction.  The strike had also bent his jaw hinge out of alignment, allowing flames to escape at irregular intervals, although that was more of a detriment to the Hackers than anything.  Qilin awkwardly shuffled in a full 360 to make certain that no other Hackers were coming before opening the chatroom with Sharps and the Guildmasters.

Qilin1: Got back up.  I’m pretty banged up, but otherwise ready for combat.  What’s the sitrep?

Sharps: Still advancing, but taking heavy casualties.  Hackers are spawning in at buildings we can’t reach.

SpicyMooshroom: Qilin, I’ve set up a portal service to get Coders back faster but can’t do anything for the other guilds

THEMurderous_Richard: I just lost my best mage.  When he respawns, I’ll have him set up portals for mine.  Suggest you do the same.

Axinator: Agreed.  Not doing too well up here.  GN, Janus, and Miles are going up the stairs, but Hackers keep trying to breach.  Fire from mages and archers is keeping me from taking down the ladder.  Can you take care of them?

LegoLass: My guild is closest to the Keep.  ETA 3 min.

Axinator: No time.  Down to five percent health.  Activating berserk stage.  Gonna try to take as many out as possible.

Qilin cursed.  Things were getting bad out there.  There were teams placing explosives all around the castle, but they alone wouldn’t be able to cause a server shutdown.  That all hinged on GN’s team to destroy the Keep.  And if Axinator was killed, the Hackers could undo all of GN, Janus, and Miles’ work.  But the Coders and the guilds wouldn’t be able to reach the Keep in time.

That left only Qilin.

Wasting no time, Qilin set out, hobbling on his peg leg as fast as he could.  Fortunately, he had not landed too far from the Keep and in less than a minute, he rounded a turn and the ground beneath it was in sight.

And a sight it was.  Multiple Hackers with ranged attacks were firing towards the ledge at the base of the keep.  Those with non-ranged weapons were climbing up the ladder up to have a go at Axinator.  They would reach the top and disappear for a few seconds before their bodies fell off of the ledge and thudded to the ground.  Then the process would repeat.  But Qilin noticed that each time a Hacker reached the top, it would take slightly longer than the previous to be thrown off the ledge.  Axinator was large with vast stores of stamina, but even those stores had their limits.  Evidently, he was reaching them.

Realizing that time was short, Qilin sent up a brief message to Axinator explaining what he was going to do before reopening the compartments in his body.  He aimed the crossbows into the crowd, and released, firing a bolt every five seconds.  The ranged Hackers were his first and foremost target- they were preventing Axinator from getting to the ladder and cutting it from the ledge.  Many began to fall, but this only attracted the attention of the Hackers waiting to climb the ladder.  Several broke off from the group waiting and raced towards Qilin.  Rather than redirect his crossbow fire, Qilin instead armed his shuriken launcher and began firing at them.  Several were taken out, but most had medium to heavy armor and the shuriken merely bounced off or embedded themselves into the armor without dealing any damage.  As they neared him, Qilin tried to open his jaw to spew fire at the Hackers.  To his dismay, the misaligned jaw kept him from correctly opening, limiting Qilin to irregular intervals from which to use the weapon.  Making a quick decision, Qilin reached up with his right hand and ripped his jaw from his head, tossing it away.  The ensuing torrent of flame was greater than anything Qilin had ever produced, reaching thirty feet out and roasting the Hackers in the middle of the assaulting force as well as the closest of those still waiting for a turn up the ladder.  The Hackers that survived dove to the sides of the flame, beating out smaller fires that sprung up on their gear.

The fire didn’t last forever though.  Qilin only had so much fuel on him and once it was out, the flames were gone.  The surviving Hackers got back to their feet and raised their weapons and charged Qilin for a final time.  Qilin kept firing on the mages and archers until his line of fire was obstructed by the lead Hacker who got two bolts in his gut for his trouble.  He collapsed, and the Hackers behind him merely stepped over his body and continued advancing, reaching Qilin. 

The lead knight stabbed at Qilin’s exposed crossbows to try and take them out.  Qilin grabbed the sword with his right hand and shoved it to the side, but not without losing several fingers in the process.  Before the Hacker could recover, Qilin activated the chainsaw once more and punched the Knight in the side.  The fist bent the armored plate but otherwise did no damage.  Qilin kept the fist going until the saw blades on his forearm came into contact with the armor and sawing through it like butter.  Qilin then pushed into the knight’s gut, inflicting a critical hit and killing the knight.

As Qilin pulled his arm free, another Hacker jumped onto his back and clung on tight.  Already out of balance from his bad leg, Qilin teetered to the side and crashed down.  Several other Hackers tried to take advantage of Qilin’s moment of weakness by attacking him.  Qilin earned a handful of cuts on his body before he managed to roll away from his attackers.  As he rolled, the Hackers on his back let out several squeaks before going limp and letting go.  Having rolled a safe distance away, Qilin pushed himself back up to his knees.  As he did, he discovered that in his desperation to escape, he had neglected to retract his crossbows.  As a result of his rolling away, they had been reduced to kindling and string.  Not wanting them to be hanging out of his chest the way they were, Qilin yanked them out before tossing them away.  The Hackers who had been attacking him were by now within melee range, but Qilin spared a few moments to fire off a handful of shuriken to take out several mages and an archer.

A fellow iron golem walked up to Qilin and bent down, sneering at him.  “How the mighty have fallen,” he said.  “You know, you and your Coders have been a pain in the ass for us for quite a bit of time.  And you were at the head of it all.  I expected more.”

Qilin turned his head as much as he could and looked at him.  “Ex-cuse me?” he managed to get out of his mangled mouth.

“Look at you; I spent my entire time in the Hackers hearing about you; how massive you were, how powerful you were, how you were a literal god on the battlefield.  When I heard you had been seen, I hoped that I’d be able to find out which of us had created the better golem.  And this is what I get?  A battered piece of scrap that’s missing most of its weapons?  I’m disappointed.”

Rage boiled in Qilin’s stomach.  Not because what the golem said was wrong, but because he was right.  Staying away from the more populous areas of Rune since the battle that left Professor BA in a coma gave Qilin very few chances to train.  And now he was out of shape.  The Qilin from 16 months ago would’ve rolled through the Hackers in front of him like they were paper mache.  The Qilin 16 months ago would’ve never let himself be caught unawares and hit with an arrow.

The Qilin from 16 months ago would’ve never let the Hackers get to where they were now.  He would’ve ended the war mere months later.  They had been to that point, he knew it.  He had a chance to take them out and he had let it slip through his grasp.  Axinator was right.  He had grown soft.

Not getting a reply, the golem tilted his head and moved in closer to Qilin.  “What?  Got nothing to say, scrap ma-” before he could finish, Qilin’s left hand shot out and grasped the golem’s face.  Confused, the golem tried to pry Qilin’s fingers off, but found they were locked on and couldn’t be budged.

Qilin leaned in to where the golem’s ears would be if he had them and whispered, “Let, show what, true god, do.” Qilin increased his the pressure of his grip on the golem’s face, bending the metal.  Frantic to get free now, the Hacker activated several upgrades and attacked Qilin with them all.  Qilin ignored them and continued to squeeze, buckling the metal underneath his grasp before finally ripping it away to reveal the interior of the golem’s head and his most precious keepsake; his core. 

Having nothing to do with the center of Rune’s source code, the core could be found in every animated character’s head.  So long as it was intact, the player could control anything that was connected to it, although they could choose to leave at any time.  It could even be removed and replanted in another suitable body should the need arise.  This gave any animated character fighting options that no other character type had.  But it was also their greatest weakness.  It was extremely fragile and could be destroyed with the bare hands of even the weakest player.

Which was nothing compared to the forced Qilin exerted upon the Hacker’s core, smashing it into a fine dust.  Immediately, the Hacker’s body went limp and fell into Qilin’s arms.  Rather than let it drop however, Qilin grasped the remainder of the head and pulled it off of the body, leaving the jawpiece in place.  He then removed his own head while the rest of the Hackers watched, still stunned by the brutal attack and slow to move.  The last act of his old battered body was to slam his head down on the decapitated torso of the Hacker.  Immediately, his HUD flickered and changed showing the new weapons he had available.  The iron golem had been prepared to say the least. 

Standing up straight and proper, Qilin worked his new jaw while watching as Axinator finally caught enough of a break thanks to Qilin’s work, to smash down on the ladder, causing it to fall down towards the Hackers still waiting to get on.  Qilin then looked at the Hackers still standing in awe at him and smiled at them.

“Right,” he said, “Who’s first?” 

So that was chapter 30!  I didn't notice it until today, but this means that HOR uploads have been going on for over a year.  and that we actually hit such a high number of chapters.  I had no idea when I began writing HOR that i'd end up writing 30 something odd chapters.

So now we're nearing the end of the story.  We have less than half a dozen chapters left before this story comes to a close.  I just wanted to take this time to say thank you to all of you who've run across this little experiment of mine, and decided to stay for the ride.  It's been a blast and I hope you all have enjoyed it so far.  I'll see you all in two weeks.

31: The Tower

Here we are!  Finally after 8 chapters, since we first met Arachnoid, our heroes meet him in battle.  Enjoy!

Alex, Janus, and Miles stood at the top of the spiral staircase that they had followed for the last few minutes, battling Hackers, and placing explosives. Only one floor remained, and it was blocked by a heavy iron door. Miles attempted to slice through it with his sword, but the blade skittered off the metal surface while dealing no visible damage.

"Well, we can't break it down," Miles said. "Anyone got any lock picks?"

"Who are we, Silent Stealth?" Alex said. "We're generally not trying to break into locked iron doors."

"Well, if we can't get through, then what're we going to do?"

Janus, who had been silent during this exchange, pushed past Miles and tested the door handle. It turned, and the door opened with a rasp of metal.

Miles stared at the open door in confusion. "It, just opened."

"Yeah," Janus said, "Good thing it did. I would've looked like an idiot if it didn't."

"But, why?" Miles asked. "Why have all this security to keep us from getting here, and then have an unlocked door?"

Expecting it to be dark, Alex ignited a fireball and peered inside. To his surprise, a massive hole in the roof and side provided all the light that he needed. Several bookcases lined the walls along with a workbench with several pieces of weapons, armor, and ingredients. What interested Alex the most though, was what was in the middle of the room. A pedestal holding a strange orb sat in the dead center of the room, flanked by two poles with metal balls placed on the top and metal coils spiraling down the poles. It was like nothing Alex had ever seen in Rune.

"Looks pretty deserted," Alex said as he ventured inside. "Maybe this was all a decoy to hide their real main base."

Miles followed after him, sword raised and ready to attack. His eyebrows shot up when he saw the orb sitting on the pedestal. "I don't think so," he said. "They wouldn't place that item in a decoy."

Curious, Janus peered inside as well. "Oh hey!" he said, "The scrying orb! I haven't seen that in ages!"

"Wait, okay, I'm sorry for my noob side showing again," Alex said, "But what is this orb thing exactly?"

"GN, this orb allows you to view anyone or anything in the game," Miles said. "It's the ultimate spy weapon. We bought it off of Spicy ages ago, but the Hackers raided our base and took it. This is one of the reasons why we could never surprise the Hackers. The only downside is that it won't outright tell you where someone is, and it only works in intervals of about twenty minutes."

"So who is it looking at right now?" Alex asked.

Miles peered into the orb for a moment, then reared back in shock.

"Us," he said.

At that exact moment, the door they had just entered through slammed shut with a loud bang that echoed through the room. Janus ran over to the door and wrenched on it, but the door remained locked. "We're not getting out this way."

"We don't need to get out," Alex replied. "All we have to do is set these explosives and blow this joint to kingdom come."

"A feat that you shall find is quite impossible," a voice above them said. Alex looked up just in time to get a face full of web shot from Arachnoid. Stumbling and cursing, Alex tripped over one of the poles and fell to the ground. Through the gauzy veil of web, he could see Miles and Janus battling the Hacker leader.

"My my, aren't you persistent," Arachnoid said. "You would've done very well working with us."

"Doubtful," Janus said, shooting an arrow at Arachnoid, who scuttled out of the way at the last second to avoid. "I'm horrible at coding, and just as likely to avoid orders as I am to do them. My brother is the one you'd want." He fired another arrow, striking Arachnoid this time. The Hacker leader hissed and dropped from the ceiling, flipping around to land on his feet.

The instant he landed, Miles, who had been waiting for Arachnoid to get within range, let loose a mighty yell and sliced at him. Arachnoid saw the blow and threw up a wall of web in front of himself, tangling the blade in the sticky mess. As Miles attempted to free himself, Arachnoid webbed Miles' hand to the sword, and further ensnared his sword in his web. Abandoning his attempts at freeing his sword, Miles punched and kicked at Arachnoid, who dodged around Alex's friend until he got to his backside and kicked at him into the web, ensnaring the swordsman.

Realizing that Arachnoid had taken out everyone but him in less than twenty seconds, Janus backed up, drawing his knife and pulling out a grenade. The two circled each other, Janus with extreme caution, Arachnoid with bored ease. This continued on for several seconds before Janus pulled the pin on the grenade and rolled it towards Alex, who had the bag of explosives. Before it reached the ensnared ginger however, Arachnoid snatched it up with a string of web and tossed it out the open ceiling, where it detonated harmlessly. As Arachnoid tossed the grenade, Janus charged and tackled the Hacker leader. The two went tumbling, as Janus stabbed wildly into Arachnoid's cloak before being kicked off. He rolled to the side and was just about to stand up when he too was webbed tightly to the ground. Arachnoid then stood up and dusted off his now torn cloak. He clambered back up to the ceiling and peered down at the three below. "Incredible," he sighed. "They send their greatest warriors against me, and I take them down without even using my staff. This speaks volumes for the capabilities of the Coders."

"Well considering we're kicking your ass down there, I'd say it also speaks volumes about the Hackers as well," Miles retorted. "Just give it a few more minutes, and they'll be knocking on your door."

Arachnoid growled. "I will admit that the work of my fellow Hackers has been less than satisfactory today. But it doesn't matter. Whether the Coders knock within a few minutes or a few seconds is irrelevant. The Coders have neither a few minutes, nor a few seconds. They have no time at all."

A cold feeling crept into Alex's stomach. "What does that mean?" he asked.

"The coding that Janus has set up to stop us is a challenge, but useless," Arachnoid said, "We had what we wanted the moment we laid a finger on him. We only continued this charade to make you think you've won."

Miles swore. "You got it," he said angrily. "We've been fighting you all day and you've got the Core."

"Correct, Milesoftheblades. We now control all that happens within Rune. I can change night to day, make anyone I wish at maximum level, invincible, and able to smite their foes with a single attack. I can even remove that pesky patch that protects those who wish to oppose us." Arachnoid said.

"But why? Why lead us on to make us think that we could still win?" Alex asked.

"Because right when a man's hopes are the highest, he can be most easily and effectively crushed," Arachnoid answered. "And when they are crushed, there they are powerless to stop anyone, or anything."

"And what is it exactly that we'll be powerless to stop?" Alex asked.

Arachnoid turned to Alex. "Elementary, Ginganinja: the complete takeover of all online games."

---

We interrupt this critical plot point,,

Croe stood up at long last, the flow of straw from his arrow wounds was finally sedated. Looking around, he saw that apart from a slow trickle of Coders and Players that had managed to return to the castle after being killed, he was on his own. The battle had left him behind.

Croe checked the chatroom to see what was happening. Things were looking good. The spawnstones were destroyed, and the Hackers that remained were isolated in small clusters. All that remained was for GN, Miles, and Janus to destroy the keep.

As if on cue to show Croe that he should never get his hopes up, the Hackers that remained powered up the virus that they'd kept disengaged for the fight and began using it on the attackers. The chat exploded with warnings and alarms that the Hackers could now use the virus to its full extent. Hearing this, many players threw down their weapons and ran for the walls to escape, only for their route to be cut off by Hacker that poured out of building that were previously thought to be clear. The ensuing battle was ugly. Many decided to simply log of, their characters standing motionless as Hackers cut them down mercilessly. In less than a minute, the tides of the battle had completely turned.

Croe uncharacteristically swore and looked around the castle grounds, searching for a break in the fighting that he could use to reach the Keep. All he saw were fleeing players, and advancing Hackers with their viral weapons. Going on foot would be impossible.

Croe changed his search to the area around him. He had a scroll of Icarian Flight, but he had only one more use before it was gone. If he could find another, he could jump multiple times and be at the Keep in no time. Spying a canvas bag, he ruffled through it only to find it was one of the bags of explosives carried in to destroy the castle. Plenty of explosives, but no scrolls. Croe was about to toss it away in disgust when he spied something that might prove useful. A plan began to form in his head and he set to work, wasting no time at all.

---

"I don't understand; how does getting control over Rune equal a takeover of all the MMOs ever?" Alex asked.

"Call it a, staging ground," Arachnoid answered. "Two years ago, we discovered an irregularity in Rune's coding. The irregularity allowed for interaction between Rune and virtually anything that had online access, including other video games. While it was initially only possible to interact with websites and in-browser games, further inspection revealed that with modifications, it was possible to interact with any game that was involved with the internet. Think! Any game ever was now available to be played absolutely free!"

"That still doesn't explain the virus you stole from Dr. Helling, and how you've used it to put people in the freaking Hospital!" Miles interrupted.

"It was soon after taking advantage of this irregularity that we realized that not only could we play games, we could alter them as well," Arachnoid said, ignoring Miles' outburst. "Not through means that we are capable of using in Rune, most games have their update systems locked down much tighter than here. What we did find was that bits of code found within Rune could be, transferred to the other games. And through that, we could alter the games to however we wished."

"Very impressive, truly," Janus answered. "I don't think that the alteration of one game through interacting with another has ever been done before. But you still haven't explained why you are doing this."

"Do I even need to?" Arachnoid said, rounding on Janus. "Look at the state many MMOs and online games are in. Many completely neglect the wishes of the gamers with the assumption that they will buy the games simply because of brand loyalty. They will complain the entire way, but in the end, they are sheep, following the Shepard wherever he leads them. And those who refuse to accept this are a minority, cast aside to make room for new sheep. But now the minority has the power to stop this. We will appoint Hackers as heads of games that need guidance. They will alter the course of the game to a point that better follows the wishes of the players. We will have a voice, and we will use it. That is why we are in Rune. That is what we will accomplish."

Alex was stunned. All the theories, all of the ideas he had that could explain why the Hackers had engaged Rune in a civil war, none of them came even slightly close to the true explanation.

"That, actually makes a lot of sense," Janus said, equally surprised. "I can totally see why you'd want to do that. I mean, just look at how removing split screen in Halo ruined machinimators."

"Yeah, whatever," Miles said. "I guess I would've preferred a HD version of Star Wars Battlefront 2 instead of the crap we got instead. But that still doesn't explain the virus that your cronies love using so much."

"That, Milesoftheblades, is an insurance policy. It will be used against anyone who tries to stop our work. It is not even necessary to use it as an attack within a videogame. It can be sent via email, phones, or even as Dr. Helling created it- to be played on stereos to put developers into submission."

"Dude, that's borderline terrorism," Janus said with shock.

"No, that is terrorism." Miles said angrily. "That is straight up terrorism. You pull that, and your ass is on a one way ticket to Guantanamo bay along with all your other Hacker friends."

"Not if they are unable to find us," Arachnoid said. "Tell me, do you know that despite all the improvements in computer security, there are still so many unsecured ways to enter a network and leave untraced? We could enter a developer's intercom, play the noise for as long as we want, and then exit unnoticed. That is what we can do. That is what we will do to anyone who opposes us."

"Well that speaks volumes for what will happen to the Coders," Miles said. "What do you have planned for them?"

"The Coders while meddlesome and irritable were misinformed," Arachnoid said. "Their previous transgressions shall therefore be forgiven. Should they continue to attack us from this day forth however, they shall suffer the same as anyone else."

"You know that they'll never stop," Miles said. "You've done too much to them. They'll continue to fight you until they're gone, or you are."

"Then it shall be until they are gone," Arachnoid said. "We have the Core now. Nothing can stop us."

At that moment a dull booming from came from the open wall. Alex, Miles, Janus, and Arachnoid all looked to see a fireball blossoming in the air. A small, secondary fireball detatched itself from the main body and rocketed towards the hole in the Keep. Arachnoid hissed and skuttled to the side as the fireball reached the Keep and washed over the walls. Arachnoid typed into a keyboard and the fire vanished, but not before depositing a soot covered scarecrow in the room.

 

I'll be the first to admit it.  The dialogue this chapter wasn't all that impressive.  I apologize for that, I really do, but I kind of wrote myself into a corner with the Hacker's true intentions when I didn't come up with them earlier on.  Trust me when I tell you that this has subsequently changed and will continue to be different in all the other stories I write.

See you all in two weeks!

32: Final Fight

Hey guys, I have some bad news for you all. Due to my poor internet here at home, I've decided to hold off on updating Heroes of Rune, or any of my stories until the new year. Please respect my decision, and have a Happy Holidays.

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Okay, I'm messing with you all. My internet may be bad right now, but it's better than no internet! Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the final battle of Heroes of Rune!

I can't believe that after all this time we've finally gotten to this point. It's been a long time coming. I hope you enjoy it.

Roll Story!

"Run!" Sharpslefae shouted. It was a word that she never thought she'd say in Rune. Run suggested a sense of urgency; a sense that something was nor right. If the battle was lost and they needed to get away, it was always 'fall back'; a 'retreat' at most. Those at least suggested that they were going back to a place more defensible than their current one. It suggested that the battle was not yet over; that it could still be won.

The battle today was very much over. When they realized that the Hackers could now hurt them again, players began deserting in droves. A snap decision was made between the various guilds that it was for the best that they call it quits and get everyone off. They would lose Rune, but their clan members would be safe.

First they had to log off though. To prevent players from logging out whenever a battle was going bad, their characters stayed in the game for a minute. They could then remove their headsets, but the virus was programmed to hijack all external speakers and play the noise at maximum volume in the event of a player being AFK. This meant that to avoid being hit the players had to get away from the Hackers, and stay away for at least a minute. Easier said than done when the Hackers now had complete control of Rune. Qilin and half of the remaining Coders had elected to stay behind and hold the Hackers at bay until Sharpselfae and the other half of the Coders could set up a perimeter on the walls. It was risky business and they all expected their characters to be killed, and themselves to be knocked out; but not one remaining Coder ran. "We brought this mess on Rune ourselves mam," a severely wounded knight had said when Sharpslefae suggested that he retreat with the guilds. "We dragged this war on too long, hurt too many people. It's only right that we repay them."

Sharpslefae was just finishing up checking the walls when she saw a peculiar sight. Croe was at the last remaining catapult the Hackers had placed on the walls, stacking explosives in the nest of the throwing arm. What was even more peculiar was when he finished, Croe began pushing it to aim at the top of the Keep.

"Croe!" Sharpslefae shouted as she ran towards him. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Hey Sharps!" he called out as he tied a rope around he release lever and clambered into the launching arm himself. "How's it going?"

"Croe, what is this, what are you doing here?" Sharps asked. "You're supposed to be with your friends."

"I got left behind to patch a few things up," Croe answered over the din of the fighting. "By the time I was done, everyone was running. I figured I'd use this catapult and these explosives to get up and help them."

Sharpslefae shook her head. What Croe was attempting, was seriously dangerous. If the explosion didn't kill him, running into the Keep's wall would certainly destroy his core.

"Croe," she pleaded, "Don't do this. You're a scarecrow. Explosions produce fire. You and fire don't mix."

Croe seemed to ponder this point for a moment. "Excellent point Sharps," he said before yanking on the rope and sending himself and the explosives sailing towards the Keep. A moment later, the explosives detonated, producing a fireball so massive that no one in Rune could survive. For a moment, Sharpsefae thought that she saw a smaller fireball streak off from the main explosion, but she dismissed it. Croe just killed himself.

---

The instant he was launched, Croe ripped open a bag of black powder with his scythe. The fire from the scythe lit the powder immediately on fire and spread the flame to the rest of the explosives. When he was certain that detonation was imminent, Croe pushed off from the explosives and sailed away. Sharps was correct in assuming that he would be killed by the fire from the explosion; he was a scarecrow after all. But Croe didn't need the fire, just the force.

And what a force it was. Croe was sent head over heels through the air, covered in soot, smoking slightly, but heading right towards the opening in the Keep's wall. He straightened out at the last moment and stumbled to a stop right in front of a webbed up Alex.

"Croe!" Alex shouted in surprise.

"Hello GN, looks like you're a little stuck," Croe said.

"We all are, get us out!" Miles yelled at him.

"Not an option." Arachnoid snarled. He shot webbing at Croe, who sliced through it easily with his scythe. He searched the room desperately. Arachnoid wasn't holding his staff, so where was it?

"I assume you're looking for this?" Arachnoid growled. He reached behind his head and grasped something, he pulled at it and the scythe flickered into view. Arachnoid leveled it at Croe and fired a bolt of electricity at him. Croe raised up his own scythe and deflected into the ceiling, creating another gaping hole in the room.

"You do remember that our scythes cancel each other out, right Arachnoid?" Croe asked.

"I remember," Arachnoid said darkly. "Let me even the odds."

The lightning turned red and the faint whine of the Hacker's virus was heard. Croe however, wasn't affected.

"All attacks that come from the scythes that are directed at a wielder of its brother scythe can be canceled out by the scythe itself," Croe recited. "This includes any damage bonuses."

Arachnoid canceled the attack and charged at Croe. Croe being smaller, was able to duck away, causing the Hacker leader to run headfirst into Alex's webbing. Realizing that he was trapped, Arachnoid snarled and released a stream of viral lighting, frying the web to a crisp and freeing Alex.

Alex dropped to the ground and dove for the explosives when the Arachnoid kicked the bag with several of his spider legs at once. The bag went sailing into the pedestal at the center of the room and knocked the orb off of its stand. The orb hit the floor and smashed through, taking the explosives with it.

"No!" Alex cried, but it was too late. Judging from the crashing sounds, the orb was still making its way through each floor. Alex scrambled to the hole just in time to see the orb crash through the final floor and fall towards the ground, not before crushing Axinator with its unnatural weight.

"GN!" Croe called out. He and Arachnoid were dueling it out at the opposite side of the room, hellfire verses virus enhanced lightning. Croe kept trying to edge back towards Miles and Janus, but every time he did, Arachnoid skittered around to face him. "Get them out!"

Alex nodded and sprinted over towards Miles, ducking to avoid a strand of web Arachnoid shot at him. He reached where Miles and ignited the flame edge powerup. Not surprisingly, it had been replaced by the viral aura. Alex cut into web apart, carefully choosing an area that wouldn't put Miles at risk. It was unnecessary; one cut from the viral aura and the web disintegrated, just like Alex's bindings. Miles hit the ground and ran to help Croe. Alex moved to free Janus from the floor but was stopped by Janus' hand.

"Listen," Janus said. "We should probably get out of here. I've been watching the chat, everyone's bugging out. In a few minutes, we'll be the only ones facing the Hackers."

"Then we'd better take him out now," Alex replied. He made another move to cut Janus free but was stopped once more.

"Okay look, if you're serious about not running for it, then you should know something," Janus said. "I did some research on those scythes. They're just like BA's staff. If Arachnoid gets them both, they're bound to him until they're destroyed, or he deletes his account. And together, they're way more than the four of us can handle. They've even got a one use ability that destroys them, and creates a massive explosion. If Croe can get them, it might be enough to set off the other explosives, and crash the game."

"Right, get scythe, blow up castle, save the game. Got it," Alex said. He freed Janus and the two turned just in time to see Miles get thrown into a wall. His health dropped perceptively, and he slumped down, his character stunned.

As Miles began cursing like a sailor, Alex and Janus ran to help Croe. Before they could reach him, Arachnoid caught Croe's scythe and flicked it into the ceiling, where it stuck there quivering slightly. Croe jumped up to grab it, but came up a few feet short. Before he could try again, Arachnoid kicked him into Alex and Janus. The stumbled back and fell in a tangled heap

"This ends now Croe," Arachnoid snarled. "After today, I won't have to worry about you, or any of the Coders ever again. As of this moment, you're dead."

Arachnoid moved towards the Scythe in the ceiling. Alex struggled to untangle himself from Janus and Croe, but with the two of them doing the same, it was chaos. Miles tried to stand up, but his character was still stunned for a few more seconds. It would be over in less than one.

Arachnoid's fingers brushed the scythe when a dark shape crawled from the opening in the wall latched itself onto the Hacker leader. Arachnoid howled in rage as Silent Stealth stabbed both daggers into his back and yanked him to the side. It did no damage, but still moved the Hacker away from the scythe. The Hackers crouched in a defensive pose and launched viral lighting at the thief. Silent Stealth crossed his knifes in an x and deflected the lightning into the scythe into Croe's scythe.

"You," Arachnoid hissed. "I remember you. You were the one that stole from us,"

"That I did," Silent Stealth said. "It seemed only fair since you stole from me."

"I did no such thing," Arachnoid said, swinging his scythe at Silent Stealth's head. He blocked the blow with his knives and slid down the length of the shaft and locked Arachnoid in a stalemate.

"You stole my research!" Silent Stealth shouted. "You stole it and used it to hurt innocent people! I refuse to let that happen again. Not on my watch you prick!"

Arachnoid reared back. "Doctor Helling?" he said, shocked.

"Quite right," Silent Stealth said. He used the momentary distraction to hack down at Arachnoid's hand and lop it off with a single stroke. A new hand grew back immediately, but without the scythe in his hand. Arachnoid roared in outrage and lunged for Silent Stealth, but was stopped by a thick, bulky hand around the throat. Namely, Miles' thick, bulky hand.

"This is for BA you piece of shit!" Miles yelled. He lifted Arachnoid and with one hand, tossed him out of the hole in the wall.

Alex stared in shock. He pushed a finger under his headset and rubbed his eyes to make certain he saw that right. Arachnoid was gone, dead. "Holy crap," he said. "I think we actually killed him."

Miles looked out the hole and swore. "Not for long," he barked. "He's using those stupid spider legs of his to climb up the freaking wall!"

"Then there is no time!" Silent Stealth said. He tossed the lighting scythe to Croe before reaching up and grabbing Croe's scythe and handing it to him as well. "Croe, you know what has to be done."

Croe took the scythe and looked at them in awe. "But if I use the power, I'll have to go through the quest all over again!" he pleaded.

"Then we go through it again," Janus said. "Us, as a team."

"A team," Croe murmured. He looked up at the hole where a spider leg had latched on to the edge. Miles stabbed it with his sword, and the leg retreated, only to be followed by several more.

"Now would be as good of a time as any Croe!" Miles yelled. Croe acknowledged him with a small nod and locked the scythe blades together. He tugged and they began to crack, splintering like ice. Lightning and hellfire burst from the ends, illuminating the room in a harsh light. Alex sent an IM to Sharps and the teams that were in charge of placing and defending explosive charges along the castle wall, and sent them a brief message.

Ginganinja: Light the fuse

A moment later, the heads shattered. Alex never saw the explosion, his character was already dead.

---

Sharpslefae was just beginning to evacuate the remaining Coders when Ginganinja messaged her. Confused, she looked around and saw that the demolition teams that were still alive were igniting the explosives and running to others where the other teams hadn't been so lucky. She looked up at the Keep just in time to see a very bright light.

---

Qilin had run into another group of Hackers when his character started lagging out. Confused, he checked his internet connection to find that it was perfectly fine. He looked up to see the Keep exploding into hundreds of blocks that stuttered through the air as the game tried to compensate. A moment later, the castle walls, slowing everything down to a snail's pace.

---

Jacob Del Rio had just finished his second cup of coffee and was sitting down to his job at Arcanis Interactive, when an alert came up on his tablet. The servers were being overloaded! A moment later, the fire alarm went off and distantly, he could hear the sound of sprinklers in the server room,,,

---

Donnie Mathews screwed his hearing aid into his ear and sat down at his laptop. It had been two and a half months since he last checked Rune's forums to see what was going on. He may have deleted BA, but that didn't mean that he wasn't going to keep an eye out on his friends. He brought up the Coder section and typed in the latest password Sharps had given to him. Expecting to see the usual reports, he was stunned to see a flurry of new different subjects. 'Fiasco at the Q&A'? 'Three disgraced Coders and a Hacker destroy the Hacker's castle'? 'Operation THUNDERBEE Round 2'? What the heck was going on here? He moved the cursor to click on several of the articles when the entire page crashed. Donnie sat back and stared at his screen in shock. "Miles, what have you gotten yourself into now?" he wondered.

---

Unable to access anything on Rune's servers, the Coder and Guild leaders were forced to set up on an alternate forum. Alex joined to a flurry of conversations, exhortations, and accusations.

"Did you see the size of that explosion!"

"I can't believe we pulled this off!"

"Qilin, how dare you put my men at risk! You assured us that we were now safe from the Hackers!"

"I can assure you that if I knew what the Hackers could do, I would've avoided the situation entirely."

Alex activated his microphone and turning it up to maximum, shouted two words.

"SHUT UP!"

Everyone shut up.

Alex slumped in his chair and rubbed his temples. It had been a long day.

"Ginganinja," one of the Guildmasters said, "I assume that you have a plan, now that we've crashed the game?"

"I do, Alex answered. You all were recording video, right?"

"We were," Qilin answered. "But what,"

"Good, so was I," Alex interrupted. "And I got Arachnoid on camera saying that he had plans for taking over every single online game there was, and using the virus to get what he wanted."

"No offense GN, but sending that to the Dev's won't help a bit." Axinator said. They refuse to listen.

Oh, I wasn't planning on sending it to the Dev's," Alex said with a smirk. "I was planning on sending it to every single other development team that has an online game. There's no way that they'll ignore this."

 

I'm trying really hard, but I can't think of anything to say after that.  So instead, I'll let you all in on a bit of my private life.

Yesterday I finally told my parents that I've been writing stories since about December of 2013.  It wasn't in the way I had hoped it would be; my mom and I were arguing about how I was on the computer all the time, and it kind of just came out.  The entire reason I held this information back from them, was because when I first started HOR, it was right after I had decided to drop a fanfiction I had begun over on fanfiction.net.  I was embarrassed that I had to do that, and I didn't want them to know about Heroes of Rune, and then be disappointed that I had dropped it, had I been forced to do that again.  It eventually just became something that I didn't tell them, that I was worried how they'd react to it (my mom had earlier said that authors do not make a lot of money and struggle to make a livelyhood, when I had kind of hinted that being an author would be something I could do).  I realize now that l misinterpreted what she was saying.  she was not saying I shouldn't become a writer, she was just saying that they do not make a whole heck of a lot of money.

So how do I feel now that I told them this?  Well, kind of naked to be honest.  This is something that has been a very big part of my life for two years now, and to have it exposed to the world feels kind of wrong.  I wish I had waited to tell them until after I began the scifi story I'm plotting out right now, but I guess it's for the best that I got it over with.  They're proud of me for being a writer and writing over 140,000 words for two different novels, but also feel a little betrayed that I didn't tell them this earlier.  I for one am still getting used to the fact that this big thing is now in the open.  I guess it'll just take a bit of time to adjust.  I've also given them the story To Be Human as an example of my work.  It's much better written out than Heroes of Rune in my opinion, and doesn't drop the f-bomb as much as HOR does.

But anyways, thank you all for your reviews and favorites over the years, and I hope you continue to enjoy my work.  It looks like the final chapter of Heroes of Rune will come out just before the new year, so I'll see you all then!

-Noah

33: The Aftermath

Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, here we are. The last chapter of Heroes of Rune. It's been over a year since I first began uploading over at Fictionpress.net. And I want to thank you all for sticking around that long. I hope you all have enjoyed what I've written, and I hope you will continue to enjoy my stories. Here's to a good final chapter, and to many more great stories.

One week had passed since the second Battle at the Hacker's Castle. Alex barely noticed it go by however. Too much was going on.

For starters, he was coordinating the release of the video evidence proving the danger that the Hackers represented to all other major gaming developers. And unlike the developers behind Rune, these people listened. Alex particularly enjoyed the response from the CEO of 343 Industries who had been hit by the Hackers previously. He had gone on live television condemning the creators of Rune for endangering not only their own customers, but also everyone and everything that had anything to do with the internet. The media absolutely ate it up, different sources and stations taking sides in what was becoming known by everyone as the Rune war. Some went for the knee-jerk reaction and blamed gaming in general, while others chose to target the Hacker organization themselves citing moments of blatant disregard for human well-being. Others still focused their attention on the developers of Rune themselves, siding with 343 in their quest for vengeance. Members of the Coders were called in for interviews, Qilin especially receiving a massive amount of screen-time, keeping his identity a secret the whole time of course.

Secondly, his father was home. For the first time in over a year, their father was no longer missing, presumed dead. He was sitting in his regular chair at the family table, eating meatballs on salad night. After all, according to him, salad was just 'rabbit food with dressing'

"So after I confirmed to the board that I was in fact their long lost CEO come back from the dead, they still tried to remove me from my position," he said between bites from meatball halves the size of a softball. "They got the nomination for a vote, and all ganged up on me to try and throw me out."

"What happened then Dad?" Jessica asked, leaning towards him in interest,

"I used my sixty percent majority from all the stock I purchased in SAI," Alex's father answered simply. "The only reason they ever got to pass anything I opposed was because I didn't feel it was necessary to pull such a below the belt move."

Alex cracked up at this. He just couldn't hold it back. They had been worrying for months about the board removing their family from being CEOs, and his father went in and solved the issues in under an hour.

"So anyways," his father continued, "After that was all said and done, I was informed that there's an aerospace conference being held in Washington next weekend. Very big, very prestigious. All the other big names in the business are going, and Samson Aviation got an invite as well. I was thinking I could use the time to show of this new nuclear rocket engine design I've made during my absence. Could revolutionize space travel as we know it."

Alex's heart sank. To his right, he saw Jessica deflate slightly as well.

"The only problem is, I really don't want to only have a bunch of CEOs and representatives to talk to for a whole weekend," his father said. "I get tired of business rivalries and inter-company politics very quickly. Truth be told, I really hate most of these conferences altogether. So how would you guys like to join me? Could go see the Smithsonians again."

Jessica jumped up and wrapped her arms around her father tightly. Alexander Sr. wrapped his arms around her in turn. "I'll take that as a yes then," he said.

Alex was stunned at this. His father never took them with him to conferences. He had also never let on that he hated conferences. If that was the case, what did he do before now?

Alexander Sr. laughed when Alex asked. "I'd sneak off to the Air and Space museum and help renovate the planes," he answered.

It was a good thing, Alex decided, to have his father back.

---

It was an entire week before the developers of Rune did anything or replied to the accusations being thrown at them. Everyone expected them to shut the game down, remove the bug that allowed Hackers to enter other games or systems, reimburse anyone affected, anything to stop the Hackers from ever hurting anyone in the game again.

Instead they turned the game back on, applying a mandatory patch that supposedly prevented anyone from messing with the code. Alex had barely finished reading about the update when Sam texted him

Sam: you busy?

Alex: Not really. Just taking a peek at this new update for Rune. You think it'll work?

Sam: hop on and see for yourself.

Alex did indeed see for himself what Sam was talking about. The instant he logged on to Rune, he noticed something was amiss. The entire color scheme was off; the grass was too green, the sky was too, blue.

"As you can see, the developers did an excellent job at stopping Hackers," a very disgruntled voice said behind him.

Alex turned around and had to choke back a laugh. Miles looked like something straight out of a Japanese anime. Everything about him was in that style. His eyes were twice the size they usually were, his hair was spiky. What was most amusing though was that he was in a Japanese schoolgirl's uniform.

"Hey, Miles," Alex said, slowly losing the battle against the laughter. "You're looking, good."

"I look like a swordsman who picked up the wrong frikkin outfit from the cleaners," Miles said irritably. "Some asshole swapped out all the textures and models in the game."

"Their code patch really didn't fix the hacking issue. All the update really did was repair the damage done by the Hackers, and strengthen the affected areas," Janus said, striding up to them. His outfit was hardly changed, the only real difference being his black and white jumpsuit being replaced with what looked like something out of Naruto, and his normal mask now looked more like a traditional Kabuki mask. "Everywhere else was kept the same. And as you know, it's incredibly easy to hack this game."

"So someone really had time to create an entire texture pack for this game?" Alex asked. "I'm not going to lie, that's some serious skill there. Hey, where's Croe?"

"Riding on a Pegasus re-textured to look like Rainbow Dash while trying to reclaim his scythes before Arachnoid can," Miles answered.

Alex was going to reply about how that seemed a very Croe thing to do when his mail box pinged. It was a message from the developers to everyone.

Dear players of Rune,

It has come to our attention that for some time now, a malicious group of Hackers have been harming the programing of Rune. How they managed to accomplish this feat without it coming to our attention sooner is unknown, but we assure you that it will be addressed.

Due to the severity of the damages done to Rune and its players, we will be forced to shut down Rune's servers as of next week while we repair the damages. This is done with the safety and well-being of our community in mind, so we ask that you be patient as this could take several months.

We would like to apologize to anyone harmed during these events, and hope that you continue to be a part of what we have created

Sincerely,

The Developers at Arcanis Interactive

"Can you believe this horseshit?" Miles said in outrage after he had read it. "They're acting like they just learned about this, and aren't even acknowledging what the Coders did! And now they're shutting us down?"

"To be really honest with you Miles, I'm surprised they're even mentioning a possibility of turning Rune back on," Janus said. "I've seen what the Hackers did and were planning on exploiting. Fixing the exploit alone is going to require a complete rewrite of their security protocols. And the Hackers and Coders have changed so much of the coding, I'm not certain even the Developers know what's original."

"Yeah well, they could at least say thank you saving our game and everyone on it," Miles said. "Not to mention the entire freaking internet. Thankless bastards," he muttered.

"Hey, the rest of the internet isn't like that," Alex said. "I mean, have you seen all the thank you's we've gotten?"

"We even got our own nickname," Janus chimed in. "One newsgroup called the four of us the 'Heroes of Rune'."

"God no," Miles pleaded. "Change it, change it now! I don't want to go through life with a freaking guild name attached to me!"

"Too late," Janus said. "I've already gotten several in-game messages from news stations asking for interviews with the Heroes of Rune, and Ubisoft sent Croe a code to download the next Assassin's Creed game for free."

"Oh, so not only am I going to live my life with a guild name following me, but everyone else gets all the good stuff?"

"Oh calm down Miles, they sent him three spares as well." Janus chidded.

"Wait, number sixteen or seventeen?" Miles asked.

"Sixteen."

"Then all is forgiven," Miles said, brightening up.

"Guys, aren't we forgetting something," Alex asked. "Rune is closing. We might never see each other again."

"There's always other games," Janus replied. "Rune is great and all, but it's by no means the only great medieval MMO out there. And besides, there's also email, texting, and even meeting up in real life! I heard there's a really good convention in Texas we could go to."

"Ugghhh, why Texas," Miles moaned. "I live in freaking Alaska. Do you have any idea how much plane tickets cost?"

"Absolutely nothing when you ride SAI Arlines," Alex answered.

Miles looked at Alex with suspicion, suspecting a joke. "I've never heard of SAI Airlines,"

"Dude, my dad built the first supersonic private jet. We can get to you and back to the con in like, a day."

"Oh, right. Awesome aviation dad," Miles murmured.

Of in the distance, a cry of joy was heard. The three of them turned to see Croe riding towards them on a cyan Pegasus shooting lighting and fire from his newly acquired scythes. The only difference was that Arachnoid's was now black and red, with some weird angular bits jutting out of it. Almost like someone fused a scythe with a rifle. He landed with a perfect touchdown and dismounted from his ride. "Gentlemen," he said with an attempted french accent.

"God, can't anything any of us do be normal?" Miles asked.

"Have you considered cosplaying at conventions?" Croe asked.

Miles looked at him for the longest time, then sighed. "Fuck it. At this point, anything is normal."

And that's that Ladies and Gentlemen. That is how the Heroes of Rune saved the MMO, and the entire Internet. I'm not going to mark this story as complete just yet, as I have an epilogue that will be uploaded tomorrow, on New Years Eve.

Also, I will begin writing a new story called "Space Dust" in a few days. As with Heroes of Rune, I won't be uploading chapters immediately once they're done, but will wait until I'm about halfway done with the story to begin uploads. I hope you all stick around to see it, as you may see some HOR references discretely mixed in.

-Noah

34: Epilogue

Alex walked into the family room to find his father on the couch playing through the campaign of a Halo game. Nothing mysterious, nothing related to work. Just his dad playing Halo on the couch.

"Hey," he called out to Alex while plugging a grunt with a magnum.

"Uh, hey yourself," Alex replied awkwardly.

This created an awkward pause where Alex just stood there staring awkwardly at his father playing Halo. This continued for several minutes before his father paused the game and turned around. "If you're going to watch me, you might as well help me beat this level. I'm playing on legendary right now."

Alex grabbed a controller from the couch and sat down, joining his father in his fight against the aliens.

"So, I hear that school's going alright for you," his father said.

"Yeah, it's okay," Alex answered while ducking under cover as plasma fire raked the air above him.

"Heard that psychiatrist got arrested for good this time."

"Yeah, he was an asshole. Said I was a troubled child or something like that."

His father smiled slightly at this. "Did he now?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah, but then again, he was hired by the board to discredit us in any way possible, so why listen to him?"

"Exactly," his father said.

The End.

Started: December 18, 2013, 9:07:16 PM

Finished: August 15 12:05 AM

Time it took: 1 year, 7 months, 28 days, 5 hours 5 minutes, 9 seconds

Give or take.

Total wordcount: 83035 (strange, I could've sworn we hit 100,000)

Number of different machines used: 3 (1 Toshiba, one Dell, one godawful HP that came between the Toshiba and the dell, but sucks and therefor gets mentioned last)

Word processors: 2 (Microsoft Word, and Libre Office)

Primary location for writing: propped up in my bed

Special thanks (with their names replaced by their HOR counterpart)

Croe for creating Croe when I couldn't, and for being there since the beginning

Miles for helping me with Professor BA as well as inspiring certain aspects of Miles

Sam for sitting me down and saying: No dude, that's not how MMOs work

Christopher "Kirbopher" Niosi who showed me that anyone can become something by just doing what they love. I've never met you, but this story wouldn't have happened without you

Texas Longhorn for inspiring me to write in the first place (still waiting for the next chapter dude)

To anyone who inspired a character, even the people I hate (irony!)

And to anyone else that I don't know who read Heroes of Rune and sat through it all with me

Thank you to all of you

This is the first work of fiction that I started and finished

One year, seven months, and twenty-eight days is a long time

And in that time, I'd like to think that I matured as an author

I started Heroes of Rune out in a mindset I never want to go back to

The real life inspiration for Pedostache was the bane of my existence

He wasn't a real pedophile (I don't think so at any rate) but he was awful

I hated him

I truly hated school at that point because I knew that second period was going to be absolute hell with him

I looked elsewhere for something, anything

A way to escape

A vacation

Just like Alex when the board announced they'd be taking CEO status from his family

And in that search, I came across places like Fanfiction.net, and people like Christopher Niosi

Where stories created by people came to life, were seen by others, and were loved

Stories like those that have coursed through for as long as I can remember

My first attempt was with a Pokemon Fanfic. Long story short, I had no idea what I was getting myself into, and it sucked as a consequence

This led me to do the unthinkable: discontinue the story

That was the ultimate shame for me as a writer

But while this happened, a new story began to appear

A little thing called Heroes of Rune

It was for the most part, original, fresh, and in my mind, awesome

And so I began writing

But Pedostache didn't disappear

He kept making my life hell

And because of him, the anger seeped into my writing, making the language harsh, the people harsher

When he was gone and the anger had faded, I tried to fix things

But it was too late the characters, the stage, it was all set

All I could do was to work with what I got

Several times I debated throwing in the towel, became disgruntled with what I had created

But when I began writing for Heroes of Rune, and started to see it was different, I made myself promise

Finish Heroes of Rune

And so here we are. One year, seven months, and twenty-eight days later

I started HOR with the hope of possibly getting my story in print, or at least making a sequel

I now see this is very unlikely

But I will not forget this journey

Not one character, not one line of dialogue

I will always remember this as my first complete story

And the journey that accompanied it

Thank you all

This is Wrenchinator signing out