RPG .hack//WORLD(pg)

[natchan]

Xia knelt down next to Kia rumaging through her equipment to find a health drink. She still couldn't believe what she had just seen Kia do, It was absolutely amazing, yet frightening as well.

"You think she'll be alright?" Grim asked looking over her shoulder as Xia gave Kia the drink.

"I hope so." Xia replied her voice was quiet. She still saw the image of Shadow jumping infront of her and flashing grey, it almost ached to see it happen.

"You think the others are alright?" Her voice straining to speak about the subject.

"They should be fine... hopefully they just logged off for the day." Grim replied standing up to glance at their surroundings. "I can't believe whats happening."

"I know what you mean..." Xia's voice trailed off as a chill ran down her spine, the cold floor she could feel it again as seh kenlt beside Kia. "You think we'll see those two morons again?"

"Unfortunately I do, thats twice now." Grim replied keeping his voice down as if those he spoke of could here him.

[Nothing]

OOC: Kenrin, if you want to join, you'll have to find the thread titled .hack//world in the adventure inn, and then follow the instructions there. I'd advise you to read the rules while your there.

"Well, perhaps you won't see them again, actually." Grim added. "What do you mean?" Xia asked, unkorking the health drink. Grim held out his hand, to stop her from administering the potion. He knelt down beside Kia, meticulously examining the wound.

Xia administered the drink anyway, and the wound started to heal up. Grim smirked, lost in whatever he was thinking. "Anyway, I think we should get Kia to the root town." She added. "Can't." replied Grim. "Those guys set up a barrier field before they attacked, meaning we can't gate out from the dungeon." He stood up, and paced towards the wall, still smirking. "Well, then I guess we walk out." Said Xia, a little creeped out by Grim. "No, the field will disperse shortly." He said. He was really starting to creep Xia out with the way he was talking.

Then, to seemingly nobody, he spoke again. "You can come in now." He said. "It's definately her; the illegal character." Suddenly the room filled with Crimson Guards, surrounding Xia and the wounded Kia, who was starting to become concious. "What's going on?" Xia shouted in suprise. Grim was smirking. "Kia, you are in possession of an illegal character, and therefore your account will be frozen, along with all players assissting her in anyway." Said a guard. Kia rolled on her side, trying to get up. "Grim...you!" She said weakly. Grim just smirked. Xia shot him a deadly look, and Grim took the chance to mouth out two words: "Field's Open." A look of suprise washed over her face.

"You will accompany us to the Administrator, who will thereby freeze your accounts. Uncooperation is not advised." Said the guard.

"Go!" Grim mouthed urgently. Xia took hold of Kia's hand, and gated out, leaving a dumbfounded crowd of Crimson Knights behind.Grim laughed to himself, and turned away from the crowd.

Summary:

Grim supposedly betrayed Kia to the Crimson Knights, who want her for having an "illegal character" but she and Xia escaped.

[natchan]

Xia was more confused than she had ever been. First she thought Grim was giving her and Kia over to the crimson knights, and then he was letting them go and risking himself to the knights. She held Kia up on her sholder, and took her down a dark ally way.

"Where are we going?" Kia asked quietly, painfully.

"We're going to my secret cache. Hopefully you can recooperate ther in peace." Xia replied opening the hidden door, then leading Kia into the room.

"Why, are you helping me... you heard what those knights said, anyone that helps me gets frozen as well." Kia's voice was full of confusion. Xia set Kia down to rest on the cusioned floor, normally it wouldn't matter players couldn't feel it anyway but she knew Kia could.

"This isn't the first time I've heard of your unique view of 'The World'. This may be a low level noobie character, but this is not the first time I've played. I have heard of you before, a year ago... when you became a permanent player." She sat down across from Kia, and placed her staff nest to her. "Besides, friends help eachother no matter what the situation is." She stated happily smiling at Kia.

[0ber0n the Neko]

OOC: I'm sorry for not posting for awhile... school is HELL! :animestun

IC: (Listening to Idiotech by Radiohead, and Piano Black by Yoko Kanno)

[i]Damn![/i] thought Shadow as the bats came careening down the hallway at Xia. He had a split second to think, and didn't use it. He instead tried to avert the bats from their original target.

:ORANGE_SHADOW is hit for 89965 damage!:
:ORANGE_SHADOW has-

Shadow felt a strange sensation go through his body.

[i]What is this?[/i] he wondered. His character was dead... but it wasn't returning to his Home Point. He was still standing in place, unable or unwilling to move. He heard a another noise. It was soothing, but it brought him away from the scene. He was now surrounded on all sides by blackness.

A strange figure appeared. It constantly changed through sharp blends of color, like a glitch. It extended a multicolored hand to him.

:##%#$$^%@%#$%#%$%#$%#$%@##@$!@#@%^^%&^%$^%&*&^:

A message appeared, but it was nonsense.

:W|$% Y0v 43|\\\9 M3?:

Shadow looked closer. The message was nonsense, but it left an impression in his head.

[i]Will you help me?[/i]

The sound was definite.

"Who is it I am helping?" Shadow asked, tensing up.

A smile.

[i]Me.[/i]

Shadow heard the voice, and it was that of a little girl.

He nodded. "What do you need?"

[i]Touch-... Hand-...[/i] The message blurred into nonsense yet again.

Shadow felt his body regain movement. He moved closer to the amorphous bit of programming. He touched its hand, and the message screen was suddenly filled with nonsensical program bits.

At the bottom was

:ORANGE_SHADOW recieves skill PURIFY:

"What?" Shadow said to himself. He looked at his map, and he was nowhere. The map simply said:

YOU ARE HERE.

Shadow felt his intuition flare.

He was suddenly thrust into the middle of the hallway where he had previously been. There was a Crimson Knight there.

"Ah, back from the dead, I see?" He said, eying Shadow cautiously.

"Yes." Shadow said, and walked off.

The Crimson Knight felt inclined to suspend him, just in case, but Shadow seemed confident. He bowed his head and walked the opposite way.

-----

Back in Mac Anu, Shadow looked around. He sat on the bridge, pondering his new ability.

When he highlighted it, it said "YOU ARE HERE."

Then he recieved a message.

:You have recieved a message from XIA:
:Will you accept?:

"Yes."

All it said was:

Storage house, immediately!

He ran to the storage house, to find a Crimson Knight at the door of Xia's room. He tried something drastic.

"Umm... Can I ask your help for a moment? I can't get into my storage room." He remembered his friend's password. His storage room was in another server, but could be accessed from anywhere in Mac Anu.

"What is the password?" the Crimson Knight asked.

"I'll send it through mail."

The Crimson knight said "Yes."

A brief flash of light sent him to another server, where he would have to spend the next hour trying to get out. The room had a glitch. Shadow cheered.

He typed in Xia's password, and was transported instantly into the storage room. "No more Crimson Knight!" He announced triumphantly.

OOC: I'm thinking "Purify" is a Data Drain-type technique, but it keeps the enemy at the same level. Good idea? I won't use it until I get your okay, Retro.

[natchan]

Without a moments thought Xia leapt up and gave shadow the tightest hug she had ever given anyone. There was an awkward pause as Shadow stood in shock and silence, Kia rolled her eyes and Xia didn't let go.

"Ahem..." Kia interupted. Xia jumped back an emberassed look crossed her face, and once again Shadows face turned a shade pink.

"I'm sorry... I guess I'm just really happy to see that your alright." She paused a moment then spoke up again. "What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't... that would be why I ended up dead, but hey I'm back so everythings cool right? Where is Loki and Grim?"

"Grim is the reason we escaped from the Crimson Knights, and Loki died just after you and hasn't showed back up yet." Kia stated.

OOC: Sorry its so short I've really got to go to bed. :(

[0ber0n the Neko]

:Listening to Gravity by A Perfect Circle:
"So... Loki and Grim have disappeared..." Shadow said, glumly. "That means we're just that much more vulnerable..."

A spiral of rings appeared, signifying the appearance of another player. Shadow drew his sword, and was ready to attack until Loki stepped through, brightly smiling. "Hey, guy-"

He noticed Shadow with his raised weapon. "Gah!" Loki's pupils dilated.

"Oh, hey." Shadow said, lowering the blade. He felt paranoid. Loki calmed significantly.

"I ran here as soon as I got your message! We're in some deep trouble with the Crims this time, and I think they mean business. I got word that Crim's account might get nuked!"

Shadow looked about the room, balling his fist tightly, a grimace spread across his face. He looked into the corner, and saw a familiar but unwelcome sight.

"You KEPT THAT!?" Shadow exclaimed, pointing at the illegal emerald.

Xia smiled innocently. "Well... you never know! It could be valuable!"

Shadow narrowed his eyes. "It freezes the AI program... You wouldn't be able to sell it!"

Xia looked at him protestingly. "Come on! It was a once-in-a-lifetime item!"

Shadow sighed, shaking his head. "Okay, nevermind then." He looked thoughtful. "We need a plan to get Grim out of there!"

The group grew silent. "You aren't... suggesting we go try to defy the Crims, do you?" Kia asked.

Shadow lost his vigor. "You're right... But we can't just leave him there..." He looked broken but determined.

Xia walked over to him and put her arm around his shoulder, attempting camaraderie. "It's better one than five of us are deleted. We still have to find out why we can feel these things in here. It's too weird not to explore..."

Shadow nodded, but was distracted. He had joined The World to have fun, and he was not having fun. He tried to make friends, but they were all going to be deleted soon. He was now a suspect. Nothing made any sense.

"I'm going to log off for a second..." He said. "I'll be back... I have to think outside of my computer."

:Log off?:
"Yes."

-----

Max removed his headset, realizing that the hour was late in the real world. He sighed, and kicked a pillow from his floor onto the wall. He was angry.

"God, why do these things always happen to me?" He asked, accusingly.

[Brooklyn]

[COLOR=DarkSlateBlue][SIZE=3][FONT=Book Antiqua]OOC: sorry but my computer demanded to be reformatted. I promise I?ll try not to, (please excuse grammar) not post in this thread again.

? So we raid the Crims and we pray we ?don?t get deleted? said Loki in a sarcastic tone
? Well we are screwed?

?But Grim betrayed us, how can we help him now, what is he dose not need help? questioned Xia

?But he did help use escape, did he not? asked Kia

? Well we should wait till Orange_ Shadow gets back, he?ll have a plan? Xia said triumphantly as she plopped down one a muti-colored beanbag and began looking at her collection.

?What?s with that tone?? asked Kia propping up against a blue pillow

?I just don?t get it, why is CC corp. trying to stop a player from helping them?? Loki picked up a lamp that looked very rare and valuable and blew the dust off and set it back down before continuing ? if, for instance, I solved what the freak was going on the I told the Crims about it then they stopped it you think that I?d win a year free subscription or something?

? CC corp. always covers it up instead of fixing it? said Kia in a spacey voice ?That?s how they deal with things?

?Yes but when I did research on the Twilight Incident they did try to shut down the system, but Morgana?.OMG? Loki began to laugh uncontrollably ? I so dumb, I got to go but I?ll flash mail you when I get the chance, I don?t believe I didn?t see this before? he said as the all to familiar yellow rings of light engulfed him as he logger out.

OOC: I?m not sure what else to make happen, don?t want to ruin any plans or any thing.
[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[0ber0n the Neko]

(Listening to: Sugar by System of a Down)
He had been thinking about it all night. He had a few plans, having printed out a few graphical plots for the Crimson Knight area. He had attained them illegally, of course, but these sorts of things happen. He looked over the plans once more, placing the helmet over his troubled head.

:WELCOME TO 'THE WORLD'!:

:Login-Orange_Shadow:
:Pass-******:

The rings engulfed Shadow, as he was transported into Xia's storage room. It was empty except for a sleeping Kia, and he decided to scan some of his plans into the World.

:Please place information on the scanner...:

He put all maps of the Crimson Knights area into his scanner, which quickly buzzed them through. While his helmet was off, Xia logged into the room.

"Hey, Shadow! Got any plans?" she asked cheerily.
"..."

:The avatar you have attempted to reach is currently running an outside operation... the remaining time for this operation is approxamately 1.5 minutes...:

Xia frowned. "I'll wait, then..."

"Xia?" Shadow replied. "How's it going?"

Xia brightened. "Hi! We were worried about you! I just logged off to get a soda! Got anything?"

Shadow grinned. He held up the plans, and he opened the file.

A map appeared on the far wall of the hideout. It was the plans.

Xia was impressed. "So, that's it? It looks a bit complicated... How did you get this info?"
Shadow smiled. "A friend. He's an insider of sorts." He looked to Xia. "So, where's that Loki guy?"
"He left."
"Ah. Too bad!"
"So... how do we wake Kia, exactly?"
Shadow looked puzzled. "I don't really know... I guess she'll wake on her own... So, what do we do while they're out?"
Xia smiled. "I dunno. Whatever you want to do! It may be just waiting..." she looked helplessly at Shadow.
"I'm down with that."

And so they waited. Shadow could've sworn Xia was looking at him strangely much of the time, but he figured it must have been a result of him being the only "live" thing in the room.

Loki logged in, and they discussed plans.

OOC: Hey, whoever wants to get all strategic may, but this kinda seems like the kind of thing that gets explained later. ^_^ seeya!

[natchan]

Xia scratched her head a moment as she looked over the plans, mumbling to herslef as she did.

"Well maybe we could... no that wouldn't work, or perhaps if we... that wouldn't do it either." She stopped and looked up at Shadow and Loki, who were both starring at her eyebrows risen.

"I don't think we can do this, but that doesn't mean I'm not willing to try. I mean we're already in trouble and you know what they say... If you're gonna get weet you mine as well go swimming." She paused a shocked look ran across her face and she pointed to a spot on the map.

"Why didn't I think of that before?" She asked herself.

"What, what did you think of?" Shadow asked quickly.

"Swimming... here see there is a river that enters into their dungeons. We can go in through there." Xia explained a glinting smile on her face.

"Whats that look for?" Loki wonered outloud. Xia ran across the room nearly tripping over Kia who was still resting on the pile of pillows. She opened a box and began to dig, moments later she appeared with items of clothing her hand.

"I've had these Items forever and I've just been waiting for a reason to use them." She replied happily holding up to female bathing suits and two pairrs of swim trunks.

[0ber0n the Neko]

Listening to: Hardcore Radio Channel on iTunes (DJ SILVER LIVE IN TOKYO)

IC:

Shadow looked at the swimming trunks he had been given. The second they were handed to him, they had an attatchment.

:WHAT COLOR?:

"Black." he said simply.

Loki had a pained look on his face. "Um..." He whispered a color, but Shadow couldn't pick it up.

Kia's turned instantly bright green. She didn't even have to say the color.

He looked at Xia, whose swimsuit was an unidentifiable color. It was an obvious custom job. "Good idea, Xia."

Xia blushed. "Thanks..."

Shadow smiled, and said "Alright. We save putting these on until we get to the river, okay?"

The group assented, and they left the warehouse, wearing beginner's tunics for disguise. They reached the warpgate, and Shadow looked at the portable map.

It did not say the warp key.

"Oh... damn..." Shadow said, shaking his head. "We can't make it in if we don't know the password!"

Kia stepped forward, blades pointed at the warpgate. She muttered a few words under her breath, and the warpgate was ripped open. They were engulfed by rings, and were suddenly gone.

-----
AREA: UNKOWN
-----

The Crimson Knight area was small, but eminated a sense of gigantic proportion that overwhemed the party. "Wow..." was all Xia could get out before she was silenced by Shadow. They ran to a hidden area, where Shadow removed his hand from Xia's mouth.

"You must be more quiet, Xia..." he said, smiling. He failed to notice the akwardness of his situation until about three moments later. Shadow blushed intensely, "Good Lord, sorry. Shouldn't shush you up like that." he smiled, still bright red. He turned to go, and Xia held his hand.

He froze. "Um..."

Xia pulled him down and kissed him on the cheek. "In case we don't have the opportunity later..." she said.

:animeblus

"Um.. did that just happen?" Shadow said, feeling a pang of elation.

She rolled her eyes and smacked him in the back of the head. "Of course, Shadow! you're so weird sometimes!" she said as she ran off to meet the rest of the group.

Shadow touched his face. "That... I felt it... like it was actually happening..."

-----(Listening to Star Guitar by The Chemical Brothers

The group found the river without much difficulty. They donned their bathing suits, and began to swim...

OOC: Alright, I'm passing on the torch. (Sorry, Natchan if that wasn't a good thingy... O_o seemed inevitable though...)

[Nothing]

Grim sat with his back against a large tree, facing a Crimson Knight. Out of sight in the thick foliage, a dozen or more guards waited, just in case Grim didn't cooperate. "It seems as though you've filled your part of the deal. We thank you for helping us locate the illegal player." Said the Knight. Grim nodded solemly, gazing at the artificial ground. "Which means you have to grant me access to the access records." Replied Grim. The knight smirked. "Unfortunately, we can't do that."

Grim's head snapped up. "What? We had a deal!"

"True." The knight replied. "But I suspect that the illegal character had some help in escaping. There's no way they could have known that that barrier went down when they gated out." Grim froze. They were more clever than Grim had anticipated. "Since the illegal character distorts all video footage, we can't prove that you were involved, however we must take precautions."

"But our deal!" Grim shouted.

"Yes, we did make a deal. I will grant you the information I deem 'safe' for you to have." The knight said in a final tone. Grim sighed. "Fine. I want to know what time Kia-er-the illegal player initially logged in at.

"Classified."

"Will you tell me the place?"

"No."

Grim let out another sigh. He needed that information, but there was no way this knight would give it to him. "In that case, I want the entire Tsukasa file, along with a list of players who were associated with that character."

"Done." Answered the knight. Finally, Grim thought, some progress!

"I also want the access records of players Orange_Shadow, Loki, and Xia."

"Why?"

Grim tensed. He didn't want the knight to know that those players were connected with Kia. "Er...I think they might have had a hand in a pk just recently."

"...fine." The knight evidentally bought it. "Is that it?"

"Information wise, yes. But that's not all I asked for in our deal."

"Don't worry, I have four of my best men taking care of [I]that[/I] ."

The knight smiled, glad to have successfully negotiated. He reached out to Grim, holding a breastplate. "A token of our gratitude." Grim shook his head, standing up. "No, I don't want any offerings from you." The hidden guards in the trees moved in on que. Apparantly, they weren't going to let him go without taking the armor.

Grim tensed, and slowly took the armor. "Equip the armor." Said the knight. Grim did so, and his stats immediately skyrocketed. "Master Shino hoped that this armor might persuade you to join the 'Crimson Elite'."

"Crimson Elite?"

"Crimson Knights are too busy dealing with the everyday problems of the world to be chasing characters like this illegal player 'Kia.' The Crimson Elite are in charge of irregular problems that might threaten the world as a whole."

"You think Kia's a threat to the World?"

"Yes."

Grim frowned. "No thanks. You can keep your stupid ar-" Grim froze. He couldn't unequip the armor. The knight smirked. "For the good of the World, we must insist that you join." Grim looked at the hidden knights, all ready to strike. There was no way out. "I...I accept." He said, admitting defeat.

[natchan]

Xia and the others waited only moments before Kia was ready to go, and the four of them gated to the decided location. The each euiped the swimsuits that Xia had provided. Xia's bikini shimmered an irodescent color under the artifical sun, and she looked over to the river a smile crossing her face. Then without speaking she bloted over to the water and leapt in, stil holding her staff.

OOC: Sorry its so short, I'm real short on time. :animeswea

[0ber0n the Neko]

Listening to "Merkaba/No Quarter" by Tool

IC:
The party swam through the river. Shadow still wore his claymore across his back, in case he should need it. The water was full of invisible walls that made the vacancy of the river an obvious conclusion.

They saw light, and heard no voices. Kia swam up to examine what was at the surface, and they stood just inside the walls to the Crim Castle. There appeared to be some sort of ceremony going on. Shadow looked, and caught a sense of sacrelige in the processions. The masses carried an unwilling member towards the front of the ceremony, and there were loud laughs, not of joy, but of haughtiness.

They ran to the nearest area of concealment they could find, and dressed in their normal clothes. Shadow and Loki peered beyond their barrier, and got a clear view of the man being carried.

It was Grim. He was in Crim armor that seemed much more foreboding than the rest. Grim looked helpless, and Shadow supposed that he had gone to the other side. He shook his head and looked back at the group.

"He's... with the Crims..." Shadow said.

Kia looked impassive. She stood, and caught a glimpse of the armor herself.

She smiled. "He's okay. He's just got binding armor on. I'm sure we can find a way to get him out."

Shadow looked concerned. "He's not with them? You're sure?"

Kia shook her head. "For some reason, I recognize that software as well as I do Grim."

Xia looked relieved. "Alright. How are we going to do this?"

Kia smiled. "Simple..." she said.

OOC: Alrighty, Kia. Amaze us with a nifty plan-thing!

[Neko]

Δ-Crimson Headquarters :PROTECTED AREA: Kia sighed for a moment while she sorted the situation out. They most definitely had the element of surprise on their side, but the opposing numbers of knights would easily overwhelm a small group of newbies and a trapped player. Within seconds, even. Unless... Unless they could be subdued individually when they were separated. Now, in order to get them apart... "What's the plan, Kia?" Xia repeated. "Easy," Kia said. "You guys just need to distract them for a few minutes." "Wha...? Why us? What about you?" Shadow complained, for good reason. Kia grinned sadly, walking up to him. She placed her hand softly on his cheek, looking into his eyes for a moment. "Can you feel that...?" She asked, knowing that somewhere in the real world, a boy was staring into his neuro goggles, stunned, as he felt the echo of a young girl's hand on his cheek. Shadow nodded slowly. Kia laughed cruelly. "I feel everything," she whispered. "I can feel the ground, I can feel the wind, I can even feel your heart beating, as if I was touching you in the real world. If they were to catch me, you know what they'd do to me. And I don't want to go through the pain." "Oookay..." Shadow muttered, "slightly freaky, but I'll buy it. So what are you going to do while we're...'distracting' them?" "I'll sneak in and get Grim out," Kia shrugged, "Simple as that." "Wait a second..." Xia interjected, "We're talking, like, the Crimson Knights, here. Wouldn't they have ways of tracking where Grim was?" Again, Kia smiled sadly. "Leave that part to me." I just hope I won't have to hurt him too bad... Kia thought silently to herself, looking down at the blades she would have to cut the armor off Grim with...

[natchan]

Xia heaved a sigh and looked over at the Crimson Knights, then back to the party shrugging her shoulders shook her head.

"It's better than nothing... lets do it." She replied, a spark could be seen in her golden eyes. Xia tightened the grip on her staff and pulled a charm from her inventory, she smiled at Shadow and Loki as Kia snuck off. She stepped forward and callled out the charm.

"The Moon!" Suddenly one of the Knights shouted that he couldn't move and the others turned in her direction. All they saw was Xia, thanks to Shadow and Loki going off in other directions to create more chaos. Four of the Knights charged Xia, and Xia simply smiled her odd smile, lifting her staff she cried out. [I]I can't believe we're really doing this.[/I] She thought to herself as she cast at the Crimson Knights.

[0ber0n the Neko]

:Listening to Sunny Day (A song I made):

Shadow ran into the fray, using two speed charms simultaneously. It was a fortunate glitch in the system that he was sure the Crims wouldn't utilize. He ran through a crowd of suprised Crims, who couldn't so much as lay a finger on him.

He sped at a Crim, who swung his sword. Shadow dodged it quickly, planting his foot in the Knight's face. He followed the kick with a powerful sword strike. The Crim felt his face, and it bled. :animenose He shrieked.

"Oh my God! I can feel this! This is really happening!" he screamed.

Shadow smiled. Suddenly he was hit by a thought. "If they can feel it... It's like they're not any higher level than we are! We could win this fight!"

He turned to swing at a Crim, who also recieved a hard blow to the head. He bled, and was knocked out.

Shadow stood in the midst of them. "This is more than a game, folks! So don't F+++ with us!" he yelled proudly.

"Like HELL I will!" said a Crim. He squared off with Shadow, who laid him a clean blow to his sword arm.

The sword was dropped, and Shadow picked it up. Nobody moved. All eyes were fixed on Shadow, and those who were attacking Loki and Xia were also shocked to find themselves injured.

"I'll do worse than that to any one of you jerks. Log off, or I'll force you out!" he yelled.

Most of the Crims logged off. The group was no longer vastly outnumbered.

The rest of them fought, while Kia crept quickly to the central podium.

----

"Grim!" Kia whispered urgently.

Grim turned, and said "Kia, I'm not in control of my body. Get yourself out of here!" He said harshly.

She shook her head. "Not till I get you out of that armor!"

Grim sighed, then noticed he was in battle mode.

"Oh, no!" He groaned. "Kia, I'm telling you to run, NOW!" he urged her. "This armor won't stop until you're dead."

She hesitated, then stood her ground. "I told you. I don't care if I die! You're... my friend!" she said, shedding a lone tear, and forcing a confident smile. "And I care about you."

Grim smiled. "Thanks. Good luck! I'll try to stop it from harming you any way I can!" Grim said.

"I will, too..." she replied, determined.

[Neko]

Δ-Crimson Headquarters :PROTECTED AREA: With the others busy distracting the majority of the knights in the area, Kia had managed to sneak into the central podium -where Grim was- with little challenge. She had expected that. She had also suspected that she might have to fight Grim once she got to him; a fight she wasn't sure she would survive. All the more reason to fight. Kia was, needless to say, nearly shaking in fear as Grim walked slowly up to her, his blade gleaming against the sun. Still, she feigned confidence, nonchalantly raising her own blades in defiant challenge, hoping to keep up not only Grim's faith in her to free him, but also her faith in herself. The first attack came so swiftly she was almost dead in one strike, lost in her own thoughts. A last-minute sidestep saved her from being cut in half right there. Grim swung again, but this time, Kia was back in her own head, and easily stepped out of the blades range. "Come on, Kia, hurry up!" Grim shouted as his body made another involuntary attack against her. She jumped out of the way, then moved in again until her face was only an inch away from his. "Do you really want to be free, kid?" she asked, her blades pinning his sword down from behind her back. "It'll be painful. Pain beyond possibly anything you've ever felt before." "I'll take anything over being controlled by some piece of equipment," Grim smiled, even as he threw his strength behind his arm and heaved his blade upward, literally flinging Kia up over his head, sending her spiraling through the air only to land gracefully on her feet some twenty feet behind him. Kia smiled a sad smile. "Very well, then." Let's see if I can pull this off... She dashed in with the speed only a twinblade can boast, and before Grim could even lift his hand to strike, she was behind him again, her blades flashing in the light. Four seconds of utter silence before the blow registered. A thin line appeared in one corner of Grim's armor before he was knocked back with the force of a small truck, one of the corners of the armor literally shattering from the force. The other three edges of the armor, the three parts where the frontal plate was still connected to the back plate, gleamed in Kia's eyes, her three targets. Within the next few moments, another target was shattered. Kia doubled back, getting ready to cut another corner of the binding armor apart, but Grim had learned from the previous two strikes. As she ran with lightning speed towards him, he prepared his counterstrike several seconds in advance. To any observer, it would seem like something straight out of the movies: their weapons both flashed as they struck, Kia glaring with her cold, almost lifeless eyes into Grim's face, Grim, who merely shouted far too late for her to get out of the way. It only lasted a split second, but that moment seemed like an eternity. The two fell from the air roughly thirty feet from each-other, backs turned. Closely following was a violent streak of blood, flung off from one of their blades. Nobody spoke. Nobody moved. For a while, nobody breathed. Then, after a full fifteen seconds, Grim's armor fell to the ground, blood welling up from the shallow slashes Kia had made while cutting the damned thing off of him. Somehwere behind him, Kia gasped, clutching at her chest where a crimson stain was rapidly spreading across her shirt. She fell to the floor. She breathed little...she moved not at all. Grim looked up in horror at his blade, only to find it soaked in the same blood that had fallen from the air behind him...

Yay for cheezy, clichéd action sequences! Oh, and Kia's not dead, by the way, just damn close.

[0ber0n the Neko]

OOC: Oo! My specialty! Ultimate Corny Henshin A-GO-GO!

:Listening to Pyramid Song by Radiohead:

IC:

The crowd stopped.

A sickening sound echoed through the courtyard. It was the sound of death. Death and pain.

Grim's armor fell, along with too much blood to be healthy for him. He smiled, and then groaned as he spat out more blood. He retched.

"This... pain.... It's so REAL!" He managed to gasp out, mouth bleeding from the strain.

Kia clutched her chest, which was also freely bleeding. "You're... welcome, Grim." she said. She looked at her hit points. She was at two.

"Damn lucky..." she said, smiling and wincing from the pain.

Shadow and the rest of the Crims bowed their heads in respect.

Grim shot a look at the crowd. "I'm not dead, you idiots!" he yelled, with some difficulty. "Just... in pain..." he said.

The rest of the Crims slowly blinked out of existence, one by one.

Shadow smiled, looking over at Xia, who had recieved less damage than he had. "Well, Xia. We survived." he said.

She smiled warmly. Shadow felt his pain lifted as he smiled back. They both said nothing, and looked at Grim, who looked angry.

"Well? Are you guys gonna heal me or not!?" he said. He suddenly lurched forward. "AGH! It's like I'm bleeding! Agh!" he yelled.

His character faded. Shadow was stunned.

"He gonna be okay?" he asked mildly.

Kia looked scared. "Um... We need to find him in real life as quickly as we can!" she said. She remembered herself. "Er... you do, anyway. I can't."

Shadow nodded. He got a mail message, along with the group.

:accept mail message?:

OOC: I'm thinking that Grim sends his Address for the people to find in RL?
Sorry for the corniness! I thought we were doing a corny scene!

[natchan]

OOC: I love corny thats what I'm best at!

IC:
"Of Course I accept the mail!" Xia shouted as she read the message. "Oh my... thats just down the street. I'll go if you guys can thats great, but if you can't I understand. See you all later." Xia logged off and removed the head set. She jumped up and grabbed her car keys, then headed down the stairs nearly knocking her father downin the process.

"Hey its nice to see you too Xia, but you don't have to kill me." Her Father stated dodging her as she ran toward the door.

"Can't talk now dad I gotta be somewhere, talk to ya later, my cells on if you need me." She replied closing the door behind her. She slipped on the wet grass, but quickly recovered and climbed into her car. Staring the engine she glanced down the street to make sure she wouldn't hit anyone, then pulled out and headed for Grims address. The 4 minute trip seemed like forever as every slow driver in world pulled in front of her, finally she reached the address, it was a large apartment building. She ran inside and took the elevator to the proper floor and ran down the hall to the correct apt. number. She knocked on the door, waited... no one answered. She knocked again, this time only waiting a moment before she checked the door... unlocked. She opened the door slowly and annouced her presance.

"Hello, is anyone here, my names Xia... Grim, you here?" She walked into the apartment and closed the door walking down the hall and glancing into rooms to find him. She reached the door at the end of the hall, it was opened slightly, she peeked in. She could see a computer desk, and a boy lying on the ground, he was bleeding from intense slash wounds.

OOC: Alrighty here we go!

[Brooklyn]

[COLOR=MediumTurquoise][SIZE=3][FONT=Book Antiqua]OOC: I am so sorry for not posting in forever

IC: Loki looked down at the bleeding Grim. The pool of crimson blood showed the reflection of Shadow and him self.
? We can?t leave him like this? said Loki lifting up his spear in to the air and brought it down hard on the gravel that covered the ground. At the end of the spear that hit the ground a circle appeared and blue light shoot out.

[b] Repth [/b]

The blue light consumed Grim healing 150 of his life points. The bleeding began to slow a little.

? That?s using your head? Said Orange Shadow ? Repth?

The blue light again wrapped around Grim, the green 150 popped over his head. Healing 150 of his hp. The bleeding subsided a little again.

In the real world


Xia looked down at the boy. His wounds began to slowly heal.

[I] Thank goodness [/I]

Suddenly the power flickered. Without thinking she slipped on Grim? Goggles.

?Guys the?

?What is Xia voice coming out of Grim.? Said Loki in an amazement

THE ?WORLD?

All at once a large amount of crimson knights logged in to there surprise the players were skill logged in to the area.

? You cant leave Grim?s PC who knows what they will do with it? said Kia

? But cant I log out ?ummmm,ummmm,ummmm? Xia looked around for support. But Loki, Kia, and Shadow had raised there weapons.

? Just run with it? said Loki ? the PC? Loki blocked an attack for a Crim ? Dang it Xia get Grim out of here and hurry? Loki?s normally calm and cool voice was dry and rasp.

[I] We are in over our heads now. They kill them and then freeze them and , what of Kia [/I]
All of these thoughts entered Xia? mind. Loki was slammed to the wall by an attack from a Knight.

? Grim is a fighter then if I?m going to play this part of the party right I?ll be one too.? Said Xia( in Grim?s body) as she swung her (grim?s) blade killing a knight who was sneaking up on the quickly wearing out Kia, who was now attacking while suffering from wounds from the PC that she was currently using. There only hope was to run.


OOC: If you didn?t get that, Xia?s wave master is logged out. She is at Grim?s house using Grim?s character. Helping the rest of the party fight the newly summoned drove after drove of Crimson Knight.
[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Neko]

Sorry, guys, but I'm gonna have to overwrite a bit of what you all just posted. Kia can't really be doing much of anything right now, because she's fatally wounded. Think along the lines of getting your chest ripped open by a four-foot bastard sword. Kinda like that. And Grim wasn't hurt that badly from Kia's attacks, just like minor cuts on his shoulders and sides, maybe. Sorry I didn't make all this clearer from the get-go.

Δ-Crimson Headquarters :PROTECTED AREA: Kia was laying weakly on the hard stone floor, slipping slowly in and out of reality, fading somewhere halfway between life and death. Through her blurred vision, she could see the damage Grim's blade had done in the reflection of her crimson pool. She heard the static buzz of the Crimson Knights entering the room, the metallic sound of several swords being unsheathed for battle. No matter. Kia was done. Done with fighting, with life. The battle ensued, raging all around her, oblivious to the small girl nearly drowning in a pool of her own blood. A mere one of the knights suddenly glanced at her, the crimson stain on the floor catching his eye. He walked cautiously over to her. Lost in the confusion of the fight, Kia felt strong arms lifting her off the floor. She struggled faintly to look up at whomever was carrying her. She saw a silver helmet with two big, glowing red eyes glaring down at her. It was the last thing she saw for a while. When she woke up, it took her a moment to regain her vision. Everything was blurry, no detail. She looked down at her chest, where seemingly only moments before she had been gushing out her crimson life, only to find a white bandage wrapped around her chest instead. Apart from this, and another rather conveniently placed white wrapping, she saw that most of her armor and clothing had been taken. As her vision began to clear, she saw her two oversized blades resting against the far wall. She stood up and walked over to it. But after about ten feet, her body stopped. She looked back, her eyes adjusting further to the dim lighting. Her arms and legs were chained to the wall, along with a metal 'leash' around her neck. She looked towards her blades again and now noticed that there was a very sturdy looking set of steel bars between her and the outside room, like some sort of virtual prison. A prison, apparently, designed to accomodate one very special little girl. A knight walked in, grinning evilly at her. He stopped right outside the bars forming her little prison. "You've been asleep for quuite awhile, miss 'Kia'," he laughed, "We were beginning to worry that you might be more than just sleeping." "Where...where am I?" Kia asked, her vioce shaking, sounding like a harsh rasp compared to her usual voice. "In your new home," the Crimson Knight sneered, "We had our programmers design this little place for when we finally caught you." "Where're my clothes?" "We couldn't conduct the examination with them on, so-" "Examination?" Kia cut in, glaring up suddenly. "Yes," the Knight laughed. "We wanted to study you, just in case someone else like you ever comes around again." "You...!" Kia lunged towards the man, ready to slug him right across the face, blades or not. The chains yanked her brutally back down to the ground. The Knight laughed. "I wouldn't try anything stupid, little girl," he smirked, "this is gonna be your new home for...a while. Not ver y smart to anger the people that run this place, eh?" He laughed cruelly as he left the room. Kia began to sob.

[0ber0n the Neko]

OOC: Forgot to mention this, but sorry for the... graphic nature... of my last post...

:Listening to "Super Magnetic" and "Big Funk Blaster" by DJ Dan:

Shadow tensed as the Crims began to form up into organized ranks. Shadow was counting on unorganized attacks. These, however, he was not prepared for. He dodged and weaved, barely getting a swing in at any of the Crims.

All he could do was scream, "Xia! Get out of here! We can take it from here!"

He was back to back with Loki now, and Grim's character nodded and fled.

Shadow smiled to himself. "Heya, Loki. How's it shakin?"

Loki smiled an equally inward smile. "Ah... it's been 'shakin' better."

Shadow raised his weapon at the flank formation they were about to deal with. "This could have gone better. Now all we need to do is get Kia out of here, somehow..."

Loki looked to see Kia's body. It wasn't there.

"Uh... Shadow? I think we've been beaten to it..."

Shadow panicked. He looked at the space she had previously occupied. "That... doesn't bode well."

Loki looked firm. "Well, let's kill these bastards one by one, until we can get to her cell."

The Crims were halted. They looked nervously at each other. They broke ranks and charged.

Shadow smiled sardonically. "A chance! Loki! Try a skill!" he whispered.

Loki grinned evilly. "Gladly." He raised his fists, ready to attack.

Shadow adopted a warrior stance he had learned in capoeira class.

"Fist of the Gods!" Loki yelled, as his fist was turned into a gigantic, fiery, meacing thing of doom. He took out about 3/4 of the guards with the gigantic fist.

Shadow took a deep breath. "Warsword!" he yelled. His sword turned red. The Crims couldn't disengage their auto-attack. He heard a lot of panicked blathering, and people trying to disengage.

It was too late.

Shadow ran to the first three, and cut them deeply in the chest. Four more came, and he lopped their arms off.

It continued thusly for another thirty seconds, when a good section of the Crims were beaten down. It was still only a small portion, however.

OOC: Loki'll have to finish this. I have some work to do. ^_^'

[Brooklyn]

[COLOR=MediumTurquoise][SIZE=3][SIZE=3][FONT=Book Antiqua]Loki brought down his spear with very little force against one of the knights who were not Pked by his or Shadows attacks. He was tired form the devastation he hade just caused.
? is that the best ya? got kid? he asked attempting to stab Loki in the head, yet he was cut off by another blade. Loki fell to the floor, turning gray. Standing there was none other than Rentin?s partner Rainer with another man whose name was Clay. Loki remembered them talking about him. It was Clay who stabbed him, with a sword 4 times as big as Shadows own. He was dressed in a black tank top, which was tight enough so you could see the outline of all his muscles. He had long black pants with that crazy symbol that Rentin and Rainer had on their backs. He was about 6?6? and would have weighed about 250-265 lbs. if this were the real world.
? Shadow ru? but his voice was muffled by the sound of static as the big red game over flashed on his screen.
? Now for these fool?s the knights? said Rainer casting a massive lightning spell that killed every one except Orange Shadow, who quickly turned around to face them.
? Hey kid? said Rainer ? where?s the girl who put Rentin in the hospital, Our master wants to see her, where is she?

? I don?t know, and even if I did I doubt I?d tell you scum? said Shadow getting into his stance to kick some a**.
However this scene was short lived Clay was not only strong but fast. Clay rushed him and swung his sword at Shadow. Shadow dogged the attack
? You?ll never hit me with that monster of a sword? said Shadow as he attacked Clay. His Claymore bounced right off his chest.
? My defense is as high or higher than my speed, and I could out run you any day.?

Shadow knew this was true, he did not even see Clay?s body only his sword when he launched his attack. Shadow suddenly felt the rage of a familiar rush of pain from the bats that had killed him the last time they fought these guys. He fell to the floor, Game Over flashed on his screen.

? Now then lets see if we cant find this girl Kia master is so obsessed with? said Rainer as the two walked into the castle that was holding Kia prisoner[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[/SIZE]

[natchan]

Xia had control of Grim and all she could so was run, [I]this is crap[/I], she thought as she went to log him out. She removed the headset and looked down at Grims player, she wasn't sure if his name was Grim or if that was just his username.
He was moving and slowly opened his eyes. Sitting in his computer chair, and looking down at him was a dark haired college girl wearing cargo pants and a babydoll tee, her eyes were almost black and she was pretty cute.

"Who are you?" He managed to say as he sat up.

"I'm Xia." She replied as a smile crossed her face. "It's amazing how close you live."

[Nothing]

Grim smiled timidly. Everything had happened so fast, he couldn't tell whether the others were really helping him or actually opting for revenge. He guessed it all depended on whether or not the group knew how much Grim told the Crimson Knights. "I'm Grim," he said, sitting up. "Sorry this place's a mess..." Stacks upon stacks of paper lay strewn across the floor and buldged from bookcases. The fax was on, printing out more papers.

Xia shook her head and extended her hand to help him up. "It doesn't matter. Are you okay?" Grim nodded, taking her hand and coming to his feet. If nothing else, he was tall. "Er, thank you." He said, sitting down his the bed, suddenly reaware of his injuries. "You didn't bring a first-aid kit with you by any chance?" Xia shook her head. "I forgot to grab one. How bad is it?" She responded. Grim thought for a moment. It didn't seem like he had much choice but to trust that she was indeed there to help him. "It's not too bad. Down the hall on the telephone stand, there's a roll of paper towels, and in the closet to the left of that, there are washcloths and a handmirror. Can you grab those?" He asked. Xia nodded and walked out. While she was gone, Grim went to the fax machine, took the incoming papers, and hid them in a drawer. It was best not to reveal everything just yet.