zOMC! A Comedy of Epic Portions - Stop the Phantom

Which character/creature would you like to see art of next?

Mikey	12.9%	[ 11 ]
John	8.2%	[ 7 ]
Fluffs (post which one)	41.2%	[ 35 ]
Father Garghoul	5.9%	[ 5 ]
Malevobear	16.5%	[ 14 ]
Other: Please post	15.3%	[ 13 ]
Total Votes:			[ 85 ]

[Berryfarmer]

For everyone who continues to read and hope and carry on the spirit of zOMG!

Chapter 24: The Longest March

Another shudder rocks this world. It seems that as our deadline approaches the entire virtual world moves closer to collapsing. I wonder if it will stay together long enough to stop The Phantom. We’ve spent the last few days marching across the wastes to Deadman’s Shadow. Despite protests for a slower pace, Mikey and Henry drive us onward; they both claim that we have to reach the caves with at least a few days left.

Even on the more talkative parts of the day Mikey keeps to himself, like he’s pulling away from everyone, lost in his own thoughts. John tries to liven the mood by sharing stories about how they planned various things and had to put some concepts away for a chapter three. Kerri lectures about badge hunting. Penelope drones on about how we should all have a day at the Florida beaches once we get home. Henry talks about a pizza place he loved and how he’ll get the food for the beach outing. Kimberly, she tries to understand all the jokes and stories we tell, I almost wish that she could come home with us. As for me, I’m the kid of the team; I really don’t have many stories that don’t involve me being bullied. See I’m a child genius or something like that. At fourteen years old I’m the youngest kid in the junior class of the high school I attend, and the other kids seem eager to remind me of that.

I figured it’s about time I started keeping a log of my take on things so here it is. Since I keep it safe, I figure I should use the tablet the Aekeans gave us to record it on. I just don’t know where to begin my story. I mean I know I’m smart it’s just between Mikey and Kimberly and John, I feel overshadowed. I’ve heard some of the stories Mikey’s told us about his life and I wonder, if I had to go through that, would I turn out as good a man as he has? I troll people, don’t get me wrong, but in the end I want to become the best man I can be, and I’ve got some big figures casting shadows. But that decision, I made that decision one fateful day two years ago. I guess that’s where I should start my story.

My father and I were taking a road trip a couple years back. And we stopped to gas up the car and get some snacks at a gas station at a city along our route. I wish I remembered the where; I wanted to go back someday. My dad and I were in line to pay for our stuff when a guy pulled a gun on the clerk. There was a woman and a guy in one of the aisles that acted so calm and collected. They both tried to talk the robber down, tried to convince him the money wasn’t worth it. But the robber, he claimed he needed the money to feed his kids.

“Look you don’t want to do that.” I can remember her voice so clearly, it was soft and soothing. She said that when the robber pointed the gun at my father and I. I remember being absolutely terrified, I couldn’t move or speak. I just was there, useless.

“I can’t, my kids need food and nobody will help us.” The robber’s voice was so rough and jagged. But I’ll never forgot the look in his eyes when he saw my dad and I. He was terrified.

“Please, it’s not too late for you or them. Here,” the man with the woman handed the robber a twenty. And the robber looked confused. He trembled a bit. And the clerk was terrified. I only found out afterwards that the drawer only had about five dollars in it. Then there were the sirens, the robber panicked as he heard them coming closer and looked like he was going to pull the trigger.

“No don’t.” I remember the woman’s wavy brown hair as she moved in front of my dad and I. Then the bang and flash of light. The robber ran, but he’d shot the woman in the chest, a shot meant for me. I remember hearing the yells of her partner. I watched as he held her in his arms, her blood was beginning to soak over him. His pain, I don’t know how anyone could feel that and keep going.

That was the day I decided I wanted to do something with my life to bring happiness to others; to do something that would not let her sacrifice be in vain. Since that day, I’ve tried to be the best person I could be. And yes sometimes I do troll people, but only those who deserve to be trolled. That’s why I’ve always tried to be the smartest. By knowing the most information, I would have the most ability to find what makes others happy. But I don’t know any more. Being with the others, I’ve begun to wonder if knowledge alone is enough. Maybe there’s something more, like the spirit and will behind it. Or the experience in how to use that knowledge? Mikey treats me like a little brother, says he sees a lot of himself when he was younger in me. But when I shared that story with the others, he seemed the most affected by it.

We had decided one night before sleeping to share what kept us fighting. Why we continued to push through the odds. It was Mikey’s idea, he said it would give us the focus we needed if we kept what why we were fighting in mind. His arm pulsed a faint crimson as he told us his reason for continuing on was atonement for his past, that if he could give hope to the future by his actions he would see his life as having meaning. I personally think that’s a bullshit story he’s telling us with that reason. Or he really is so haunted by his past that he thinks dying here would be better than living in the real world with those memories.

Penelope said something about this world, and the adventure it has spawned making her grow up, and the hope it could help others do the same. I don’t doubt that, given the spoiled princess she was before. But could a game really make people mature? It’s possible given the social aspect of zOMG!, but isn’t that true of just about any MMO? What makes this one so different?

Henry also had some story about growing up and finally realizing what it means to be a good man. He said, “The responsibility it has forced upon us with looking beyond our own desires has made me realize something. The people in my life I believed to be good weren’t good because they thought only of the present or their ambitions. They believed and strove to make things better for those around them. I understand that now, and I do want to make sure there’s more than just a hope for those people we’re fighting to protect. Does that make me a good person?” This Henry, he’s not the same guy from those weeks ago in Village Greens, he’s different. Maybe, even if he isn’t right about what makes good people, just believing in it has made him good.

Then there was Kerri who spoke about proving to herself that she could be more than just a badge hunting, socially awkward basement dweller. She talked about how she used to be terrified whenever she would read fantasy stories like the one we’ve found ourselves in, but now she knows she has it in herself to rise to the occasion and put aside her childish ways. She does seem to be more confident in herself now; maybe just the exposure to someone like Mikey has done it. The dude does seem to have a confidence that borders on arrogance. And it seems to have rubbed off on each of them.

When John spoke, he talked about cleaning up a mess that he and the other developers created. He said he was sorry for as many people that have been forced to get involved had. He looked sad about that when he said it. I still believe he misses his wife and worries that the worst has happened and she’s beyond saving. I can’t blame him, given he has a family to look after. I can’t imagine the pain and sorrow he must have felt when we had to put down the monster she and some other people, I’d honestly never heard of until this adventure, had become. They were family friends to him from what I gathered. John probably has a great deal of personal strength to have not broken down from that, I know I would have.

Kimberly, still getting used to calling KJ that, said she fights for hope. Our opposition to The Phantom has rekindled a hope in her that humans are capable of solving any problem with enough effort, including the problem of The Void that will affect any animated and NPC with chapter two’s release. “Your tenacity, your unwillingness to surrender, you’ve brought hope and inspiration to those here that believed in humans. And in the resting hours we’ve had, even during this ordeal, I’ve seen at least three promising ideas from just you six to solve our problems.” I guess she’s referring to some of the brain and program models Mikey and I have put together. We can’t really test them in this environment but this is just a teenager and underemployed engineer thinking and working. I can only imagine if we got experts in the fields of programming and biology working on this. Maybe she’s right about the human spirit’s drive to overcome problems with determination.

But what story did I have to tell? I’ve given up some of the troll I used to be, but what other growth have I had? I couldn’t even answer what I fight for. I’m the youngest one here; maybe I fight to prove I’m just as grown up as anyone else here? John suggested that what I fight for is probably the sense of right and wrong. He said, “I know before you used to troll people that were not keeping with a sense of morals you have. Like you would troll someone who was insulting other people or someone with an overinflated ego, and even some people that just pissed you off. That’s why I think you fight for your sense of right and wrong.” Henry smirked and nodded in agreement to that. Mikey suggested it was probably the most pure of intent reason any of us had. Kerri and Penelope both dubbed me the “Noblest of Trolls” as they giggled. Are they right about me? Is my motivation some sense of duty and right and wrong? I believe that there are problems in the world that need order to solve, but brainwashing and rewiring people to compliant zombies is not a method I can support. It takes away peoples’ free-will; it takes away the one thing that makes us fundamentally human.

I wonder about how I’ve grown. To myself I still appear that naïve know-it-all that can’t help but flaunt their intelligence. But how do they see me? I know Mikey said I remind him of his younger self, does that mean I’ll follow in his personality? No, I don’t think I could even if I wanted to; there have been events in his life, that I could never experience, that have molded him to what he is. Henry said I’m the typical nerd: socially awkward, big brained, but good hearted. Penelope and Kerri both have said I have the makings to grow into a good man. John just says I’m getting “there,” whatever there is. And Kimberly just asks me a bunch of questions about how and why humans grow up, she’s been very curious about humans the entire adventure. I would have thought if she was originally intended to put us down that she would have more information about her targets. That would be a glaring oversight in my opinion, something that were I an evil villain I would ensure to correct.

That makes me wonder though… Does The Phantom really want to be stopped? I mean he’s let us wander through here virtually unchallenged, when he probably could have crushed us at any point. And yet we’re still here. Maybe he wanted to draw attention, I mean he is an AI that was originally tasked with defending this world, and perhaps his method of protecting this world from an apparent “Void collapse” is to do something that humans can’t ignore. We have seen in the past that the people in charge of this site don’t act unless a situation becomes a near emergency; I have to assume he knows this too and is using that information to create a best possible plan for how to achieve his programmed goals. If that is the case, can I really blame him for what he’s doing? I don’t think I should continue along this thought process, I could start to feel too much sympathy for The Phantom and not be able to fight when we finally do reach him. No, if his plan was simply to create an emergency, I don’t believe he would need to cause so much destruction and death and pain, there had to be better ways to achieve his end without doing all this. Right?

I’m actually curious about the Anari; I’m told they were created when stray data fragments interacted with the initial interface data of some of the developers. How did such a random concoction create fully functional beings capable of flinging around elemental energy? Miles has been intrigued by my curiosity and has endeavored to answer as many questions as he can. He and McCoy seem to be the most down to earth of the six, they’re never afraid to answer questions or talk to us. McCoy even seems to have taken a shining to Mikey, and Miles to me. Hoshi seems the most anti-human, anti-socialize of them. She’s always so combative and suspicious whenever she’s asked a question. Like she’s giving up some big secret to even mutter a word to us, but she does get along alright with Henry. In fact, he’s the only one she talks to without being suspicious. Then there’s the enigmatic Sisko; an Anari of few words, but his words do tend to convey a dark sense of humor. He talks mainly with Penelope, and she’s always poking fun at his always smiling face. Deanna and Kerri are practically inseparable when they get to talking. She seems to be the kindly maternal type of figure, it’s her voice and Kimberly’s that tends to reach Mikey on this march when we get tired and need a break. Archer, he’s a bit of a hot head, but he means well. He keeps to John, and John is pretty good at keeping him calm. Maybe it’s because Earth and Stone are so close on this element stuff that they’re practically brothers? It doesn’t surprise me that they believe in humans so strongly; they seem to exemplify some of the better aspects of humanity.

I’m worried though, I’ve never been to Deadman’s Shadow. Mikey and Henry apparently have the most experience with it, and John has nightmares of programming the place. I’ve been asking a ton of questions… And while they’ve been good at teaching me the methods that worked in the past, Mikey believes that given the situation and where we’ll end up we need to revise the strategy to allow for seven generalist builds. They say because I’ve never been they can’t use something called the “Domo Door,” apparently it’s a shortcut that can drastically reduce the time needed. I feel like such an anchor now. We have to take more time because I never bothered to try the place out before it got pulled in preparation for chapter two. Mikey says it’s fine, but I can see him checking a watch every few hours or every time there’s a tremor.

Well, guess I better finish up this journal for now. We’ve arrived at the northern gate into the shadows. But we’re waiting until morning before venturing in. Making sure everyone is rested and such. The place looks spooky, but I hear the worst to expect is Night Frights and powerful vampires called Counts. Here’s hoping we make it through this.

[anguls kushinoda]

nice way of doing the story -mew

[Berryfarmer]

So some questions to everyone reading:

What do you believe each of the characters fights for?
I want to see your interpretations, so list the character and what you believe their reason for coming so far is.

If you found yourself in the zOMC world, what would you be fighting for?

[Mage The Red]

Berryfarmer

To start, I love the way you wrote Jeremy's journal. Really kinda reminds me of myself, aside from being a genius. rofl

I think, honestly, that Jeremy's fighting for a way to make everyone happy. To protect everyone, and to be strong/smart enough to defend his loved ones in any situation. The strength to be the shield that everyone needs. Not the sense of right and wrong. At least, that's what I think.

If I were truly in the story myself, I think I'd fight for the same reason. If not to be the most versatile crewmate I could be.

[LabTech Kestin]

Stop posting things while I'm trying to sleep, it makes me stay up longer to read them. neutral

I think you already know I'd be fighting for my friends. (My dialogue wouldn't be so cheesy and artificial though. Not sure what I was thinking when I wrote that stuff.) What I don't think I've mentioned is that I'd also be fighting to prove myself -- as a competent player, teammate, and human being in general, both to myself and to others around me.

Also, this

Quote:

Then there was Kerri who spoke about proving to herself that she could be more than just a badge hunting, socially awkward basement dweller. She talked about how she used to be terrified whenever she would read fantasy stories like the one we’ve found ourselves in, but now she knows she has it in herself to rise to the occasion and put aside her childish ways.

really spoke to me (?). I'm not sure why my browser is highlighting "we've" as a spelling error, but I'm not exactly the sort who'd do too well if plunged into an adventure story. But as I said in one of the above-linked posts, I do like to think I'd grow into it...

[LabTech Kestin]

Might I make a suggestion? (I've had this in my head for a while, but been too lazy to put it into words...noticed it's been almost 3 months though, so figured I should get it in gear already.) I want to advise against changing too many things mid-story due to changes in real-life events. Incorporating Kamila and DMS worked, but things such as people changing their usernames, avatars, even interpersonal connections such as jobs and relationships...I think that should be left alone and written "as was" to avoid getting too tangled up in drifting details. It's already an AU anyway. I admit to being in denial of this for a long time because, well...full-immersion virtual reality by 2015? Sign me up! ...But it's 2014 now, so I've gone ahead and accepted it. xp So I don't think it would be jarring to take a snapshot of the way things were when the story was started and work from that instead of trying to keep up with little things that don't affect the plot.

[LabTech Kestin]

sad ?

[Berryfarmer]

LabTech Kestin

sad ?

It's been a combination of writer's block, family commitments, and some health issues I've been dealing with. I've got maybe a third or fourth of the next two chapters written. After those two, it will mostly be typing what I've written down for the endgame chapters.

I've been haunted by a disjointed and eerie song whenever I sit down to write, so I've also been trying to track down what the song is.

[Berryfarmer]

To people who've been PMing and messaging me asking, yes I do plan to finish the story. The DMS chapter has proven quite difficult to write and the recent news was a blow to morale.

It would appear there's more in the server than just phantoms and players however. What could be going on and what could this strange mark mean?

[Berryfarmer]

Taking a bit longer to write than expected. Still writing last bit of chapter.

“You may soon regret those words human. For, you see, I am no mere pawn on the chessboard, you may find this queen is too much for you to handle.” Kamila phased through part of the ground on the opposite side of the arena as a Null Crystal flew towards her from part of the wall. A bright flash emitted when it joined with her and it took several seconds for their vision of the arena to clear enough to see towering above them, glistening red in the pale light of the crystals Bloodlust Kamila, “Welcome to the temple of darkness and pain!”

[Berryfarmer]

A long time coming. Sorry about delays, I hope it lives up to expectations.

Chapter 25: The Labyrinths of Shadow

“This is insane!” Jeremy found himself backed into a stalagmite as he stared down the dark and crimson figure flapping towards him. Its glistening yellow eyes were locked on him as it slowly heaved its arms up and down. Its rhythmic breathing as it approached only increased the dread Jeremy felt.

A silvery blade stabbed through the Night Fright’s chest as it came to a stop before Jeremy. It jerked at few times as the wielder tried to free it from where it had dug in. “You mean to tell me you’ve never fought Night Frights at the Barton Coliseum Jeremy?” Henry asked as the heaving mass of monster exploded into golden sparks. Jeremy shook his head in response to the question as he saw the others patching each other up with the effects of their healing rings. “Well you took aggro there, so I’d say you got potential as a tank someday kid. Hell, I’ll teach you myself if you want.”

Mikey smirked as he looked over the empty chamber trying to determine which doorway to pick. “Who was your teacher Henry? We should compare stories sometime.” Mikey marked the wall next to the doorway they’d come through with a white circle from a piece of chalk.

“It’s only yellow maze, but so far your idea of seven generalists is working.” Penelope was looking over their choices for doors, “So far we’ve trashed eight rooms, and had no loops or dead ends.” She looked at the staff she had been using as a walking stick. The beams it fired from the crystal end were better able to mend any injuries they’d taken then the healing rings they carried.

“I was taught by this pretty cool woman I met through a friend when I did my first Bloodlust. I think her name was Aiji or Fai or something like that. It’s been forever since we last talked.” Henry remarked he looked over at Mikey and Penelope who were staring at doorways, “So we got a top left, a bottom left, and a crack. Anyone feeling lucky?”

Kerri stood up from where she had taken a few minutes to sit down, “Hey Henry, did you mean iFaiji?” she asked as she brushed off some of the werewolf hair that clung to her.

“I know that person. She was really nice and took me on my first EB run.” Jeremy livened up a bit.

“Yeah, that was her name. I met her through my friend Jill.” Henry snapped his fingers.

“Then it’s a very small world.” Mikey chuckled, “The man who taught me about tanking, said that he taught himself most of what he knew, but that his friend, who seems to have been your teacher gave him pointers about what and how to improve his style.” Mikey scribbled some letters onto a note pad he was carrying around. Jeremy found it odd that they used abbreviations for mapping, as opposed to drawings, but he’d been told that the rooms for DMS were random each time so drawing them wasn’t an effective way to map.

“Given how small the zOMG community was getting before the announcement of the expansion getting sponsorship it doesn’t surprise me that we’d know a few people in common. I’m actually surprised that we never crossed paths more often before.” John stood next to the door that Jeremy had learned was called a crack.

“Are we just going to stand around exchanging pleasantries or are we going to destroy Kamila?” KJ flexed her fingers a few times to get out a cramp she was feeling. “I say we should take the crack.” she nodded her head towards the opening.

“Just remember Kimberly, crack kills.” Kerri joked. Everyone was chuckling as Mikey used the chalk he carried to draw an arrow on the wall pointing to the crack. Mikey took lead as they began walking down the pitch black tunnel between rooms. As they looked back through the room they were leaving was shrouded by a black wall of shadow, and the room ahead could not be seen because of a similar blackness.

“Anyone else smell mange?” Jeremy asked as the tunnel dumped them on the left side of a horseshoe shaped room. In the center of the room was an overflowing stone bowl that looked like the water pouring into it had hollowed out from years of erosion.

“Lovely toilet room,” Henry remarked.

“And it looks like a Big Dog plugged it up.” Mikey pointed to a large brown werewolf so Jeremy could see which one was the Big Dog.

“Just five vampires and the big one. I think they’re taking it easy on us.” Penelope said as the nearest vampire caught fire.

“I guess you’re really making that Vampiress’ blood boil.” Kerri snorted out as she attacked the same vampire.

“I swear Kerri, I’m one bad pun away from turning on you.” Penelope smirked as the vampire collapsed from the combined attack. Henry and Mikey were smacking around one of the room’s male vampires, while KJ, John and Jeremy were attacking a third.

“Are they supposed to be this weak?” Jeremy asked as the vampire he was attacking collapsed.

“The area was only designed for people up to charge level twelve. I’m guessing that was going to be updated but you hadn’t got to that yet John?” Henry looked around the room at the dissolving corpses of vampires and werewolves before finding John leaning on a stalagmite.

“I was in the middle of it when this phantom business started. Swarf and I were running through the code trying to find where it would need updating to increase levels and iron out some of the more glaring glitches.” John looked down at the ground as he took a few deep breaths, “We had managed to update Kamila’s level to scale to the strongest in the crew, and could get the rest of the place to scale up to charge level eighteen, but quite literally Swarf and I saved our work and left for the night, and the next morning phantom.”

“Explains their decreased level compared to us. I would have thought that getting them up to snuff would have been on the top of The Phantom’s to-do list when taking over. We’ve been going solid for half a day, and cleared out twenty rooms of yellow maze. That means whatever path we find to a new room will be green maze. Let’s break for the night, don’t want to run ourselves too tired before reaching the end.” He indicated one of the paths, we need to figure out which of the paths we haven’t taken leads to green. But in the morning, for now rest.”

Jeremy and Mikey sat talking while everyone else circled around the campfire, Jeremy was indicating rooms on a map he’d been drawing they were arguing back and forth about which routes to try when Kerri came up to them with two bowls, “Pickings are slim for soup tonight. Not a whole lot to use aside from what’s left of the Aekean food. I don’t think we have enough for much more than eight days at the rate we’re rationing.”

“You’re resourcefulness with scant ingredients never ceases to amaze.” Mikey said ruefully as he took the bowl offered to him.

“And yet in the real world I’m a terrible cook.” She handed the other bowl to Jeremy who began gulping mouthfuls down.

“In total, I’d say about five paths to try for finding the green rooms. If John is correct and Kamila has the updated levelling programming how do you want to handle it?” Jeremy looked at Mikey as he sat staring pensively into his soup. “This may be my first time in DMS, but I’ve read all the guides. If she’s as tough as they suggest, we need a decent tanking plan.”

“I’ll work that out. For now, get some rest.” Mikey slurped down his soup and began scribbling notes to himself as he watched the others bunk down for the night. He was rereading his notes on the map of yellow rooms they’d been dealt trying to figure out the loops and how they were going to handing Kamila without a proper tanking setup. A chill ran up his back as he thought he heard a wind blow through the caverns. He shivered to himself as the wind blew through again, this time he could swear that he heard a voice being carried on it.

“Who’s there?” He looked back and was only greeted by the gaping shadows of the doorways within the room. As he strained to listen he could swear he heard the words ‘over here’ beckoning to him from the inky dark of one door. Mikey looked back at the sleeping forms of the others a few moments before resolving to follow the voice he’d heard, no matter if it was real or imagined. As Mikey stood up and moved toward one of the doorways in the room his foot brushed across KJ’s side.

KJ slowly stirred, thinking she was being woken for her watch, but as she looked around she saw Mikey walking towards a doorway as if transfixed by something. “Michael?” She spoke, but when he didn’t respond and continued his walk through the doorway. She stood up and stared at the doorway, as she peered into the darkness a chill ran down her spine. “That wasn’t natural.” She decided to follow Mikey, but he seemed unaware of her presence as he walked through several more doorways.

He slowly walked through the twists and turns of the cavern as a song began to drone in his head. The disjointed and ominous tune grew louder as he meandered through various doorways letting the shadows between each room wash over him as he felt guided by some strange force. The crescendo of the music had become deafening to his ears as Mikey entered a room to find a robed figure turned away from him. “I see you and your companions have managed to come this far safely.” The music ceased as the gravelly voice spoke. Though he couldn’t see the face under the hood or even the glowing amber eyes of before, Mikey sensed that his mysterious guide was quietly contemplating a thought in the shadows that seemed to cling unnaturally to him. “By your silence, I assume that I don’t need to reintroduce myself.”

KJ pressed herself against a stalagmite as she heard a voice that caused chills to run down her spine speak. She poked her face up to try and see what was going on and could see Mikey staring at a robed figure. “What in the world.” KJ whispered to herself as neither figure noticed her. She continued to watch and listen to the exchange occurring.

“Time for some answers.” Mikey sounded unsteady at first, “Just who are you, and what do you know?” Mikey stared at the back of the robe and wished for a few moments that his gaze could pierce the material. He felt uneasy as he heard that rattling laughter again, it didn’t feel at all reassuring about the figure being someone that was friendly.

“I know you have less than ten days to stop The Phantom’s plan. I know you travel with five other humans, and a program that has exceeded their original programming to become an individual. I know you are dying, and it is one of the slowest and most painful deaths anyone can ever bear. Having to feel yourself slowly fade as you lose your emotions, your memories, and the encroaching numb as parts of your body slowly go numb from the advancing paralysis. Oh yes, Michael Berth, I have seen your future. But there is still much you can do in the time you are given.” As he spoke KJ felt even more tingling along her spine. Whoever, whatever this being was, it was very unnatural and had an intimate understanding of Mikey and the details of his condition.

KJ continued to listen to the exchange as she tried to figure out the identity of the robed figure. Several ideas rushed through her mind including a number of rogue programs she knew had resisted The Phantom early on, but had vanished. While Qixter had worked alone to make the core programming of The Phantom, the other developers had been working on a number of background programs to manage the same tasks that Qixter wanted to put solely in The Phantom. She tried to remember some of the names she’d come across during her time working for him, but could only remember a handful, The Watcher, The Gatekeeper, The Ferryman, and The Beekeeper came to mind among programs that would have abilities like this being. She heard the shuffling sound of feet and as she looked back around the rocks she saw the robed figure turning to face Mikey. Its glowing amber eyes beneath the shadowy hood disoriented her with a piercing stare before they glanced back at Mikey. “Thank you for the map through the green maze, and the warning. I’ll make sure to keep them in mind. Whoever you are, I still have to ask why you’re doing all this.”

“A single spark can light up the darkness. Perhaps by helping your spark, I can rekindle my own.” The figure lowered his head and Mikey took that as a sign it was time to go.

As he turned to leave Mikey looked back at the figure, “Someone I used to know very well always said that, about a single spark.” He turned back as the silence continued and continued down the doorway he had entered through.

The robed figure stood a moment before looking back up and whispering, “I know.” KJ was about to sneak away when the figure turned to stare directly at the stone she was behind, “You can come out now Kimberly. You needn’t worry, I don’t intend you any harm.”

KJ considered her options as she heard the now rasping voice address her. She carefully poked her head up, “I don’t trust you enough to come all the way out, so whatever you have to say, that’s plenty close.” She thought a moment to herself Yeah, good going, a being that can warp at will could just teleport back here if he really wanted to. She looked back over and saw the figure hadn’t moved from where he stood. “You’re either The Gatekeeper or The Watcher, so… so which are you?” She nervously stammered.

There was a rattling laughter that made her shiver as she heard it, “I have similar knowledge and abilities to those two, but I am neither. A being with sufficient historical data would also appear to be omnipotent. If it would put your mind at ease, I will show you my face, but once you go from this meeting you will forget my identity.”

“You couldn’t do that for Michael?” She carefully stepped out from behind the rock. Her face twisted as she stared at the figure.

“His path to knowledge, must come in a different way. And your circumstances allow you to forget certain items more easily.” The being leveled its gaze on her as the amber eyes began to glow brighter.

“Because I’m an AI, I get it.” She replied indignantly. The only acknowledgment of her indignation was a subtle nod of its head as it reached both its hands up to the hood over its face. The hands looked like they were wearing gloves with a kind of armor broken across various portions of it. As the hood slid down to reveal a face KJ took a step back out of shock at the face she saw. “That’s just not possible.” She gasped as she raised her hand to her mouth in shock.

“Where I am from, The Phantom’s plan was a success. But we continued to fight and resist. What was viewed as an illness became the very weapon of our survival.” The figure motioned to his eyes and the scars along his face.

“How do I know what you’re telling me is true? How do I know you are who you appear to be?” KJ stared as her words seemed to pierce the figure’s melancholy.

“You were once told by Michael that you reminded him of someone who was once very dear to him.” The figure replied flatly.

“How do- Never mind.” KJ pondered a moment, “Continue, please.”

“I found a way back, back to before The Phantom succeeded. But it would be years before I could directly influence events..” The figure sat down and pressed a hand to his forehead.

“Hey, you don’t look too good. Are you okay?” KJ knelt down next to him and tried to help him to his feet.

“The time I’ve spent here hasn’t been without consequence.” The figure swallowed hard and gasped for a breath. “I must pass my knowledge to you. But it would overwhelm you in an unfolded form. In a compressed form that slowly unfolds as you become ready for it…” He pressed his hand to the right side of KJ’s face and she felt a sudden rush of energy begin to flow into her mind. Images of places, theories, scraps of paper with notes flashed across her mind as she stared into his eyes. As the rush of energy subsided the figure slumped back against the wall.

“Hey.” She shook his shoulder but he did not respond for a moment.

“Top left, bottom right, bottom left, top right, that is the swiftest path through your green maze. Now go forth Kimberly, you won’t remember anything but that map until the data unfolds.” The figure faded as he slumped back again.

KJ blinked a few times as she felt odd. She remembered following Mikey to the room but nothing between that moment at finding herself looking at a rock spire in a vacant room. Only the echoes of directions haunted her memory.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“There it was again, that phantom signature. It’s blipped in and out of my domain numerous times, but this is the fifth time it’s been around those meddling kids.” The Phantom’s fingers were clenched on the armrests of his seat as he examined traffic logs across his server.

“My lord?” Kamila bowed her head as she watched him, “They are in my domain, please allow me the honor of disposing of them?” She looked up and noticed that he hadn’t taken his attention off of a screen of readouts. He raised his hands and motioned her to leave him. “Before I take my leave, please, they are at my very doorstep. I can dispatch them with my armies.”

The Phantom rubbed his temples before growling a response, “Very well. Now be gone!” He motioned her to leave again. As he heard the clicking of her heels against the stone floor of the chamber he raised his head, “Kill them all, but bring the traitor KJ and the boy Michael to me alive and undamaged.” Kamila paused a moment to show her acknowledgment of hearing his order, before continuing her walk out of the chamber.

“Very well, five human corpses. Those puny Earth brats won’t know what hit them.” She began to mumble to herself before dissolving into a puddle of blood and teleporting back to her crypt.

The Phantom rubbed his temples again as he continued to ponder to himself, “This anomaly eludes me. And yet it could be the key to everything. I have all the pieces for my real plan except one.” His display began to show recordings of past battles John, Kerri, Jeremy, Henry, Penelope, and Mikey had with various foes and how they had each fought with different rings and their elements. He motioned his hand and the playback slowed to a frame by frame as it showed Mikey’s battle with the shadowy duplicates in the Aekean toy store. “His mind holds the last puzzle piece I need.”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“We’ve been going in circles for hours. Are you sure we didn’t pass the right door already?” Jeremy was getting irritated about having to recheck every room of the yellow maze they’d fought through. He felt they were wasting time they did not have.

“Patience young Grasshopper. We’re just trying to play things safe. You know back in my days of attuning people, we’d all get separated and lost at this point. Obviously, getting separated isn’t such a great idea in this instance.” Henry tried his best to sound sagely as they walked through a four way room for the fifth time that he could count.

“However together we are, we’re still lost.” Jeremy said matter-of-factly.

“Wait Henry used to care enough about other people to help them get attuned? I’m surprised, did they pay you in gold or powerups?” Kerri joked a bit trying to liven the mood.

“I have you know, after Leasfy and Teddies, I got the most people attuned in ever.” Henry cupped his hands behind his head as he grinned.

“Oh, so it was about being known, I see. I should have known.” Kerri responded before laughing.

“Besides, everyone knows during Goldemort’s reign gold became next to useless and people really didn’t like the idea of spending gaia cash they didn’t have to.” Henry shrugged his shoulders.

“I’m surprised that the new-old-rehired whatever you want to call him CEO after him was able to wrangle things back to manageable afterwards.” John commented from up ahead.

“It wasn’t that hard, all he had to do was actually listen to his customers and reopen lines of communication. Yeah those first few months were hell on him and the PR team he put together, but after some shows of good faith people began to come around.” Penelope added to the conversation they were having.

“Is it normal for businesses to ignore their consumer feedback in your world?” KJ asked with bewilderment.

“Not if they plan on lasting more than a year or two.” Jeremy sarcastically said.

Mikey motioned everyone to stop as they entered a three way room they hadn’t seen in some time. “I think the only door we haven’t tried yet is the one on the left here. So be ready everyone. Give me about seven seconds to go in first, then follow.” He waited for them to nod in agreement before he went through the doorway. He felt the paralyzing cold as the darkness enveloped him, seconds began to feel like minutes in the deepening chill as he walked through the passage between rooms but then a faint glow appeared before him from the next chamber. It wasn’t the heart yellow-orange glow of the room he’d left behind but a sickly green glow that cast more withered shadows on the walls as the room became clearer to see. There was chirping all around him as floating red globules began flitting down towards him from the cavern’s ceiling. “Blood bats, lots of them.” He worriedly whispered as their jewel-like gleaming red eyes glowed in the green torchlight.

“How long as it been?” Kerri was getting anxious as she stared into the inky blackness of the doorway ahead of them trying to count how many seconds had passed since Mikey had vanished.

“Too long, let’s go.” Henry saw the look on her face as he gave the go ahead on stepping through the door. To most of them the feeling of passing through the shadowy haze was electrifying as if there was an unknown energy in the tunnels exciting them for the coming fights, but for Kerri it felt warm and inviting as if she was at home in the deepening shadows. She tried turning to speak to Henry in the tunnel but found she could neither see him, nor find her own voice. After a few seconds longer of stillness she found her eyes adjusting to the dim green torchlight, as she focused she saw a line of glittering red bats trailing behind Mikey as he darted between rock formations.

One bat exploded into several red droplets as Henry and Jeremy attacked it. “And I hated when mom made me take ballet when I was ten.” Mikey commented as he spun around one of the three wolves that had joined the mass of bats. Mikey stepped as if repeating some well-choreographed play with a pirouette and a fluttery kick he moved across the room dragging the thinning mob behind him. He gave a bow as the last werewolf collapsed and dissolved, before he himself collapsed wheezing.

“I’m guessing stock boy at a department store doesn’t get you quite this much activity, hmm?” Kerri prodded his side as he held up a finger in protest.

“Ballet when you were ten? Your mom really did want you getting bullied.” Henry started to chuckle.

“You know Henry, you could stand to learn some grace and poise. Not to mention some football players do ballet to improve their balance and agility.” Penelope walked around Henry and looked at their door options.

“Think of the girl to guy ratios in those classes too…” Jeremy began as he looked at the doors, “So which way do we go?” He stretched a bit as he looked side to side.

“Something about that top left path is calling to me. I’ve got a good feeling about it.” Mikey pointed at one of the darkened archways as he stood.

“You are our pseudo-tank so I guess the path is your call.” John drew a rough sketch of the room and marked the selected pathway.

“The power of left compels you.” KJ tried to mock an evangelical minister accent from impersonations she’d heard the others do around their nightly campfires. She looked around sheepishly before realizing that everyone was laughing at her joke.

“Kimberly, I swear, we’re going to find a way to bring you home with us.” Mikey said as he disappeared into the inky black archway. It was a few seconds before his vision cleared but the room he found himself in had lots of bats and a lone Big Dog. “One, two, three, aww hell…” He said as he tried to count how many groups of bats were in the room before they clustered to attack him. As he moved across the room he spied a ledge he could use to avoid the Big Dog if he needed to.

“So many bats!” Jeremy was taken aback for a few seconds before he began to attack. He looked up a moment from attacking the bats to see how much damage they’d been able to do to Mikey. He saw his comrade hunched over glowing silver from the effects of a ring he was imitating called Armor Lock. Jeremy searched his memory to remember the effect as he attacked, he knew it was similar to Turtle but had a quicker recharge. As Mikey stood back up he let out a small shockwave of energy before running again, and then Jeremy remembered the ring’s power: It froze you in place for a fixed time depending on the rage used, but made you impervious to damage during that time, at the end of it you’d let out a shockwave damaging anything both animated and ally within a certain radius, however your stamina would and health would not regenerate during the lock unless someone else used a regenerating ring on you. Jeremy realized just looking at Mikey why he’d made such a panicked ring choice, the mob of bats had knocked him down to under 200 health before anyone realized he needed help, but the glowing effect had got everyone to finally notice his health before the bats came in for more mauling. As the last bat exploded and only the gargantuan wolf remained Mikey retreated to the ledge to heal some of the bite marks that littered his body.

“That was too close.” He grumbled as the Big Dog collapsed. He was still nursing some of his injuries not even paying attention to the others as they eyed the doors.

“Still feeling good about top left?” John asked as he pointed to another top left archway.

“No, that was way too close for comfort. Definitely not feeling left anymore.” Mikey said as he came down from the ledge.

“Well we should try to get as far away from top left as possible in our next choice, and since we entered from bottom left, I vote bottom right.” KJ pointed to the door as John did another rough sketch.

“As soon as everyone is ready, we’ll go bottom right.” Mikey said flatly as he looked around. He coughed into his hand as he looked at watch counting down the time they had, and as he pulled his hand back to examine it he could see small spatters of blood streaking across it. He shook his head and took a few breaths to steady himself as he walked through the next doorway. His eyesight cleared quickly and he breathed a sigh of relief as he sighted only vampires in this room. “Where are all the male vampires?” He asked as he quickly looked through how many vampires there were.

“Look, Mikey has a blood sucking harem!” Henry joked as the others entered the room.

“It looks like they each got mad they weren’t his one and only and are trying to kill him because of it.” Kerri added as she attacked the nearest one.

“Nice.” Henry held up his hand to high five Kerri as she passed by while chasing down her vampire.

“Or maybe Mikey just really enjoys that bdsm stuff.” John joked. Henry chuckled and held up his hand for another high five.

“Oh I wish I did, that would make life a lot easier whenever it decides to screw me over.” Mikey said as he trapped the group chasing him in quicksand. The mob of vampires was quickly dispatched as they floated stuck in quicksand.

“That was easy enough.” Penelope shrugged as they looked around the empty room checking for any stragglers. She winced and looked away as she saw some of Mikey’s injuries close and heal themselves leaving only small blood droplets where before had been several gashes and other assorted cuts. “No matter how many times I see that, I still get a bit nauseous from it.” She remarked to Mikey.

“Believe me, it feels a lot weirder than it looks. One minute something hurts like it’s about rip right off, next minute normal.” He replied as he looked at their options. “Any votes for next door? Something about that bottom left feels right, and considering I don’t trust top left and we came in from the only door on the right.”

“Your pick. We’re all following your lead and hoping for the best.” John replied as he sketched out their current room.

“My vote is for bottom right.” KJ shook her head as she thought she felt something tugging at her. But before she could speak again her vision distorted. As she looked around she could see a city skyline set against a crystal blue sky and could hear what she could only assume were seagulls. “Where?” But before she could finish her question the skyline spun and blurred, when it had cleared several of the buildings were partially destroyed or smoldering piles of rubble as smoke rose into a now fiery orange sky, the sound of birds was replaced by the occasional gunfire and shouting. The harbor nearby that had been peaceful blue water was steaming and choppy as a massive armored reptile plodded towards shore. Her vision warped again and she found herself back in the caves of Deadman’s Shadow. She looked around, but nobody had noticed her brief episode and Mikey had already gone ahead into the next room. She quickly followed the others into the next room trying to shake her uneasy feelings before anyone noticed. As the room became clear she could already tell there would be trouble as a massive wing flapped nearby her. A Night Fright with many Blood Bat minions were pursuing Mikey as he struggled to keep up healing himself, but he’d already attracted the attentions of a group of vampires on the other side of the room.

“Bats, fright, vamps, go.” She heard Henry say off to her side.

“Not this time.” She whispered as she kept her attention on Mikey. The combination of foes were taking chunks off his health too big for him to keep up with on his own, but he didn’t flinch once even as deep wounds across his chest opened up. One by one, the blood bats burst until just the Night Fright and three vampires remained. Each attack against it, she swore the Night Fright got bigger until like an overinflated balloon it too exploded.

“Kimberly, watch out!” Mikey’s voice was very strained. It took KJ a second to realize why he said that before she noticed that three of the vampires had shifted their attention to her and were now chasing her.

“s**t.” She began to move in wide circles around the room. As the vampires got assaulted and destroyed. The last vampire hissed as it readied its attack and KJ closed her eyes bracing herself, only to hear it make a gurgling sound. She opened her eyes to see a blade poking through its head as it fell to the ground and made a dull thud. She saw Mikey behind it as they both managed weak smiles to one another.

“I sure hope the top right door way takes us to an easier room.” Mikey said.

“Or out of this hellish maze.” Kerri added.

Mikey looked back at Kerri and shrugged his shoulders before stepping through the black archway. He knew it should disturb him more but the cold feelings of walking in the shadows was becoming more inviting to him each minute he spent in the hallways between rooms. “I’m supposed to bear this amulet of light, and yet, these shadows are beginning to feel like home to me. Am I really that warped in my head? No, it’s this place, even before the switch to the new interface there were stories of people losing themselves in DMS. It’s just the exposure to this place. That’s it.” He was talking to himself passing the time as he kept putting one foot in front of the other. A pale light began to take form on the path ahead of him as he began to hear the fluttering of wings and the dripping of water off the walls. “This tunnel between rooms feels like it’s been going forever.” His eyes widened when he finally saw a dim yellow light and a chest surrounded by bats. He still had to fight the bats alone for several minutes as he waited for each of his crew members to come out of the shadowy door one by one.

“Getting kind of cramped in here.” Penelope gritted her teeth as seven people tried to fit in a small space with a chest and two Blood Bats. “Okay, which of you was that?” She added as she felt a hand brush against her butt.

The last two bats exploded into a drizzle of red droplets Henry looked around and could see the reinvigorated faces of his companions, “So lure the next batch of bats, then bust up a Count, yeah?” He saw Mikey smirk before running into the next section of hallway to grab bats. Henry had wondered how they’d do areas like the infamous HPR of Deadman’s Shadow since the new first person perspective would defeat doing individual screens. As Mikey crosses the barrier into what would be the next screen he suddenly became very blurry as if being viewed through antique glass. The wait for bats wasn’t long as he soon saw a red clump form around the blob he knew was Mikey. The blobs got bigger as they got closer to the group until finally Mikey came back into focus, and behind him several bats began to separate from the blob.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Good, good, just keep coming into my web.” The Phantom watched the crew fighting the bats and counts on his screen as he leaned back in his crystal throne. A smile crept across his face as he watched a hole burst open in the first Count’s chest. “Soon they shall bring Michael and KJ to my doorstep, then I shall have everything I need to finally cast off that incompetent human. Such a pity I must lose my trusted lieutenant to make it happen, but all great things require sacrifice.” He rose from his seat and walked through his castle until he came to a spiraling staircase. He carefully stepped down the stairway as the faint purple crystals gave way to jet black stone. He stopped in front of a door that had circular symbol etched into its surface, as he touched the surface he felt a prickling feeling in his hand.

“Soon the power you guard will be mine.” He continued down the more weathered sections of his castle until he came to his laboratory. Suspended in crystal blue fluid in cylinders running down either side of the room were the various players he had captured and kept alive, other cylinders containing glowing green liquid held clones of the various zOMG bosses. Both players and bosses slept peacefully in suspended animation as he marched to the final green cylinder. Inside, curled into a fetal position, a clone of Kamila had already begun to grow. He examined the clone several minutes before walking back up the stairs and back to his throne. A small sigh escaped him as he leaned back and stared at his screen once more. The crew had broken through the Counts and was now preparing to enter the Crypt, “It won’t be long now.” He mused to himself. Disturbed, he sat erect as one of his screens flickered, a single word appeared on the blank screen before it flickered again and returned to a display of Kamila’s Crypt. Another screen flickered with static before turning black, a hexagon with three spheres on its corners appeared with the same word in the center of the shape, “TRIOXIC.” It flickered static once more before displaying another part of the Crypt.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“How are we playing this without a proper tank?” John asked as they sat at the doorway into the Crypt planning their fight. “Even with a proper tank, some crews get overwhelmed here. I can only imagine it being that much more difficult.”

“Everyone has bandage, we have three people with wish. We have enough healing rings, the problem is going to be being able to keep the aggro. Too many healers means Kam could get very jumpy very fast. So try to keep your healing to emergency heals only, that means if I drop below 500 health or you see the silver sparkles.” Mikey was looking at a crude map of the Crypt that Henry had drawn from memory. He also made note that Henry had tried to map in what he remembered of Kamila’s lines of sight for the purpose of sneaking around the coffins.

“I get the impression with the updated interface Kamila’s line of sight also includes what she can hear, so I’m not sure these diagrams for coffins are going to work.” Kerri was checking the map too.

“Kamila herself won’t be the problem in the Crypt. It’s her mobs that those coffins spawn. The sheer numbers gave people troubles before, same can be said of the bats for Bloodlust, assuming that they actually fixed the bat spawning.” She looked at John and raised an eyebrow.

“That was the first thing we fixed, then the stalker glitch. So these are her new lines of sight.” John took the map and drew markings over the ones Henry had made. “As you can see, there’s at least one coffin in each part now that can’t be approached without grabbing her attention. Which means, Mikey, when you try to tank, you’ll have to put up with a lot more quality Kam time before we can directly attack her.”

“It also looks like he’d have to pull her away from those coffins to get you out of the range of her aoe attack. So we take the coffins in this order each room so that he has somewhere to drag her to.” KJ was writing numbers on each of the coffins on the crude sketch. She turned to look at Jeremy after she’d marked up the map. “You’ve been strangely quiet. What’s up?”

“I’m the rookie on this one. This is my first expedition to Deadman’s Shadow, so I’m just following what everyone else says.” He looked over the plans before giving thumbs up. They marched into the crypt and came to a stop in front of Kamila.

“And so you faithless fools come at last. I’ll not be so easy to defeat as my brothers and sisters. When I finish with you, you will wish you could have stayed home and waited for the master’s plan.” An evil smile crossed her face as she raised her arms. Her forearms and hands had already transformed into bloody claws, “Rise my army! Rise and destroy these interlopers! Rise and assure the master’s victory! Ahahahahaha!” She cackled before floating away.

“Here we go team.” They braced for the incoming swarm as bats and vampires began trickling into the room.

“I don’t remember there being this many.” The crew was quickly surrounded and fighting against a mass of vampires. Henry dragged a blade along one vampire’s shoulder before kicking it away. As he looked for Penelope and the others, he found Mikey buried under a mass of ten while Kerri and Jeremy were struggling to fend off three vampires they had attracted. The wall of vampires was so thick he couldn’t find Penelope, John or KJ amongst the mobs. He could feel his worries welling up as his desperation to find them grew. He took a few deep breaths to center himself, all he could feel now was his anger as he let energy explode out of his rings. A torrent of water loosed from hand and swept away a line of vampires. Henry’s eyes glowed sapphire blue as he ran into a crowd of vampires. He yelled loudly as he tossed vampires left and right. He finally smiled and calmed down when he’d found Penelope and John against the far wall. She smiled back at him as a wave crashed into the four vampires they were fighting.

“You Hulked out just to find me? I don’t know whether to be impressed or alarmed.” Penelope smiled at him happily again as John rolled his eyes.

“I’d vote impressed.” KJ tossed a vampire into the pile of soaking wet vampires that Henry slayed.

Everyone looked alarmed as Mikey walked towards them dripping in blood. He raised an eyebrow as he looked back before looking down at himself. “Oh, none of this is mine. So lower left coffins are next.” He watched as they got into positions for the attack plan KJ had made. “Henry, next time you lose your temper, make sure they’re all dead before you ease up.”

“a**.” Henry shot back.

“And proud of it.” Mikey said as he waited for his cue to enter.

Jeremy attacked the coffin nervously. He looked to the others for reassurance that it would open up or bite him and when he saw they were furiously attacking the wooden box he felt comfortable that it wouldn’t suddenly spring to life. As the lid splintered and cracked he saw KJ and Henry already beginning the attack on the next coffin while John and Penelope continued to attack the current one, from the corner of his eye he noticed Kerri had moved off to begin an attack on the third coffin. Jeremy decided to remain with John and Penelope in attacking the first coffin and smirked as more pieces of it began to splinter and break apart. Jeremy nearly jumped back in shock as the coffin collapsed into a heap of splintered wood, “So now onto number two?” John nodded in response to the question as they moved to join Henry and KJ. The second coffin had already begun to crack and chip by the time they’d joined the attack.

“Hey Mikey, once we finish coffin two go ahead and grab Kam and start building up your aggro with her." John called back to the still waiting Mikey. Things were going much better than he’d anticipated. When he’d been assigned to work with this group he never anticipated a team of such differing personalities would be able to work together much less get this close to defeating the program gone mad. He still had his worries about being able to handle the updated Kamila’s hate list coding, especially now that he began to see several places in the fight that The Phantom already tinkered. There were a great deal more spawns in both the mazes and the first wave of the Crypt than he remembered programming, somehow they’d come through the mazes alright but with only a pseudo-tank to contend with Kam he began to worry it wouldn’t be enough. No that’s not my thinking, that’s got to be the fear aura we gave Kam as a way to build the fight up. It’s got to be that, yeah. His inner voice began to tug at him even as he tried to push down the worries. He snapped back to reality around him when the second coffin crumpled into a broken heap.

Kerri’s attention was on Mikey and Kamila as she heard the second coffin snap apart. She remembered all the times she’d been on Crypt runs before this adventure, something always went wrong when the tank had to lure Kamila and there were still coffins. It was either bouncy aggro or the tank not getting healed enough, and she wanted to make sure the latter would not be the case today. She hadn’t noticed the others gathering around her coffin as she just stared at Mikey feint and heal himself against Kam. She noticed he would pretend to make an attack or two before jumping back to allow her to hit him. Each swipe of her claws left a fresh gash across some part of Mikey’s body and just the sight of the blood was beginning to make Kerri squeamish as she tried to return her focus to the coffin. Her brain had other plans as her gaze kept wandering to watch the rhythmic dance being performed. She inhaled sharply as a larger than normal wound opened across Mikey’s chest and he stumbled back, Kamila must have made a critical hit; and Kerri was the first to respond with a quick bandage. She hadn’t noticed she herself stood in a pile of splinters and the others had left for the last coffin as she remained focused on Mikey to ensure there wouldn’t be hiccups this crew. “I won’t let you fall.” She muttered.

[Berryfarmer]

(Part 2 of Chapter 25)

Penelope brushed several wood chips from her shoulder as she battered the last coffin. They seemed more resilient to damage than she remembered, and Kerri was just standing there mesmerized by the fight occurring on the ridge above them. She was quite amazed it had gone on this long before he needed some kind of healing outside his self-healing. Heh, guess they made Kam a bit weaker. She thought to herself as she waited for her stamina to regenerate for another salvo. Or she’s merely toying with you all. The number of times she’d thought negatively was starting to wear on her more than the combat. She swore the voice in her head making such remarks had only become louder as they got closer to the crypt. Too many what ifs began to crowd into her head: what if they failed? What if Kamila defeated them? What if they were too late to stop The Phantom? What if nothing they did really mattered? Her feet became heavy as lead and refused to move no matter how much she willed herself to move towards the coffin. She stood frozen, staring off into the distance as jets of energy whizzed past her face. The world around her was replaced by a cold black ocean as she struggled to even breathe.

“Penelope? Hey Penelope, snap out of it. Come on!” KJ was the only one to notice that Kamila’s fear aura had overpowered Penelope. She waited back as Henry, John and Jeremy ran ahead to ready their attacks against her. She grabbed Penelope’s shoulder and shook her a few times hoping it would be enough to break the hold over her, but it had no effect as Penelope continued to stare off into space. Not this way. She began going through different things she could try as Penelope began to lose health and Ghi from the aura’s paralysis. If she didn’t act quickly they’d lose Penelope without Kamila even touching her. “You’re not going to like this.” She pointed one of her rings at Penelope and hoped its attack would be lite enough not to cause too much harm, but enough to wake her from the trance she was in. A thin silvery jet of light erupted from one of the rings and hit Penelope with enough force to knock her to the ground, but her response was a few blinks before looking back at KJ. “You alright now?” She held out her hand to help Penelope up.

“Yeah, let’s get that blood witch.” Penelope took KJ’s hand and pulled herself up. They both turned to join the fight, Kamila was already floating away towards another area and her hell spawn were already beginning to crowd into the area. “Let’s not waste too much time with these groupies.” Her eyes began to glow like rubies as she unleashed a vortex of flames and watched it devour the oncoming vampires. One by one the vampires withered into charred remnants as Penelope created plume after plume As he was fighting one on one with one Mikey barely had time to jump back before flames engulfed the vampire, Penelope all the while laughed maniacally at the forming piles of ashes.

“I think it’s safe to say, Penelope, you’re a gorram pyro.” Mikey had a look of worry as he tiptoed around a few piles of ashes, “But hey, beats fighting them as a huge mob.” He checked to make sure no more vampires or bats were spawning.

“Coffin time.” Penelope’s eyes had stopped glowing and returned to their normal olive color as they began to move into position for their attack on another group of coffins. They slowly crept across the hard ground as Kamila waited on the ridge above them. The team was careful to be silent as they moved across the terrain, one stray sound could alert Kamila to their presence as they approached the first coffin.

“Come out and play little humans, I know you’re around here somewhere, I can smell the warmth of your blood.” Kamila’s voice echoed from overhead as they pressed themselves against the ridge’s outcropping. They inched along carefully until they were face to face to with the coffin.

“If she notices anything bug out and let me manage her until you can get to one of the coffins safely.” Mikey whispered. He inched towards the stairs while the others attacked the coffin. He carefully poked his head over the ridgeline and quickly pulled it back down as he was greeted by the sight of the backs of Kamila’s high heels. He made motions back to the others that she was just above them on the ridge.

“Oh come now, you can’t tell me a band of six humans and the traitor KJ, are afraid of me. Or did you cowards finally decide to flee before true power.” They could hear the click of her heals as she walked along the ridge.

This time Mikey confidently strode up the stairs and walked until he stood a few yards behind Kamila. “Why would we ever be afraid of you?” He snorted as his hands twitched at his waist. “You’re just The Phantom’s tool. He sees you as expendable, like a cheap dollar store hammer.”

Kamila’s face twitched with anger as she turned to face the insolent human. He was parroting her own words about Alastor, and that did more to anger her than any damage he could physically afflict. “How dare you!” she slowly gritted through her clenched teeth as her foe merely smirked in response, “I will see you dead before I see you rise above me!” Her gelatinous limbs pulsated as her foe simply yawned in response.

“Let me guess, ‘No one will stand between you and your rule of Earth and Gaia’? Heard it, standard villain dialog given the situation, at least try to be original.” This human was deliberately enraging her as he merely brushed his nails against his shirt, “But I guess I can’t expect too much from a hammer. Hey maybe you can introduce me to The Phantom’s exacto-knife, at least that peon probably has some creativity.” Kamila yelled some obscenity as she tried to swipe at Mikey with one of her claws, but as her claw reached his throat he only shimmered and faded. “Nice try, but not fast enough.” He was standing in front of the bell tower now as he continued to smirk.

“I’ll wipe that smile from your face!” Kamila lunged again only for the same thing to happen her claw reached him.

“You’re too slow.” He was fanning himself with his hand directly behind her. She quickly pivoted to slash at him only for yet another shimmering dissolve, “Come on step it up.” He was now standing at the edge of the ridge as he mocked her. She tried pouncing on top of him only for the same disappearing act. “Okay this time it’s really me.” He said as gigantic rock hard fist slammed into her midsection. Kamila had failed to notice that while she was being taunted by Mikey that the others had destroyed her coffins robbing her of health regeneration for a time. As the realization that she now faced all seven of them dawn on her, Mikey only shrugged his shoulders with a smile on his face. Kamila felt herself melting away as each attack seared her very essence. She attacked Mikey only to see him shrug off her attacks, as the pain continued she began to get confused about which person to attack.

“Fools! My victory is assured. You will fall before me in defeat like countless others before.” She cried out as she retreated from their attacks.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Well, these humans are indeed resourceful.” The Phantom watched his monitors as he was tightening a pair of bracers onto his forearms. He watched and smiled as the monitors showed John and Jeremy using an earth filled twister to hold the vampire lines at bay. “Poor Kamila, she thinks she actually has a chance against them. She doesn’t know yet that I just need her to bring them to this moon.”

“Your majesty,” A large grey golem stood at the door to The Phantom’s throne room.

“Ah, what progress do you bring Estoc?” He turned to look at the golem as he fitted a chest plate onto his body.

“The deployments are ahead of schedule. We have our main units stationed at the entry points you indicated and have fortified the pathways into the castle. Are you sure I cannot convince you to keep a larger garrison here for your own protection?” The golem trembled slightly even as he asked that question.

“No, I need to bring those six humans there,” The Phantom motioned to his screens, “To the chamber below in the basement. They carry trinkets that I cannot use but have need of. When they bring those here I will get the last piece I need for my plan. But when they get here, the place can’t be crawling with your kind. They might see it as a trap.”

“My kind, sir?” The stone face looked confused.

“Yes, the kind of animated that are worth saving, unlike those ingrates who side with the humans. Tell me, that army those Anari are leading, how large is it?” The Phantom turned to his screens again and watched the group now tearing into coffins.

“We outnumber them at least five to one if that is your concern sir.”

“Good. When you engage them, I have no need of survivors. You may go now, Estoc.” The Phantom motioned for him to leave.

“As you wish my master.” The golem bowed before leaving.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Oh yes, now this is fun!” Kamila tossed aside a bloodied Penelope and Henry as Jeremy and Mikey tried desperately to fend her off from the others. “What’s the matter little humans? You don’t like it when I fight back in earnest.” Mikey gritted his teeth as his blade made a squealing sound against Kamila’s claws. John and KJ were already dragging Penelope and Henry away to tend to them.

“Jeremy, go! I got her for now. Regroup with the others!” Mikey snapped at Jeremy as he was starting to buckle from holding Kamila in place.

“You don’t know how long I’ve waited to finish you. I was denied in the wastes all those weeks ago. But now,” She licked her lips as her gelatinous claws oozed around his blade and began to pierce his chest.

“Not today.” Mikey’s body tensed as he used a light infused lancer shot on Kamila. She shrieked as she jumped back from the attack cradling a stump where one of her hands had been previously.

“You’ll pay dearly for that one.” She said as she retreated back to her last few coffins. “Mark my words.”

Mikey clutched his chest where she had dug in trying to heal himself before the next wave of vampires came. He noticed a few drops of blood hit the ground and looked at his hand as it turned to static for several seconds before returning to normal. He looked up he heard footsteps on either side of him, “Kerri, Kimberly, what are-?” He began.

“Like we’d leave you to fight the mob alone?” Kerri chimed in on his right.

“Team JJ has Henry and Penelope already on the mend. They’ll rejoin the fight as soon as they can.” KJ said jokingly on his left.

“I’m surprised I didn’t think of this sooner, but vampires are weaker against light infused attacks.” Mikey said as he scorched the first vampire in a beam of light.

“Pretty big tactical oversight for you. Sure you’re all there in the head?” Kerri joked as she cut apart a Blood Bat.

“So save the big light explosion for finishing Kam off.” KJ directed a vampire she’d overpowered into attacking other vampires.

“Kimberly, that ring is so handy. What is it called again?” Kerri admired KJ’s handiwork at enslaving several vampires into attacking each other.

“Siren’s Song, but it requires a much greater willpower than your target in order to compel them to attack one another, otherwise you just freeze them in place.” KJ cut into a vampire as she replied to Kerri.

“There’s too many of them for just the three of us. We knock one down and three more have already taken its place.” Mikey gave the motions to retreat to a better location.

“We can’t retreat, if we do they may get to Penelope and Henry before they’re fully able to defend themselves. Dammit we could use John or Jeremy right now.” KJ responded as she pushed two vampires off of her. Even as she finished her response silvery strands were enveloping several vampires and holding them in place.

“This was the sole reason you had me grab tape before we entered the wastes, wasn’t it?” John looked at Mikey with a smile.

“The thought had crossed my mind.” Mikey shot back.

“A simple thank you for saving your butt, yet again would suffice.” John rushed into the fray to join Mikey, Kerri and KJ.

“Saving my butt? Who was the one that caused this whole big mess that we got called in to fix?” Mikey joked back.

“Whoa now, don’t blame that one on me. The management wanted an independent security managing program. Nobody ever thought it would become self-aware and try to destroy its creators.” John and Mikey both cut into a vampire as KJ and Kerri sliced another.

“So literally half of all sci-fi novels about robots and artificial intelligence, or Avengers: Age of Ultron, ever crossed their mind before making that choice?” Mikey retorted.

“Ah, cut him some slack Mikey. You know those corporate management types, especially the ones hired by Gaia.” Kerri interjected.

“And people call me deaf and hardheaded.” Mikey joked as John refreshed the tape holding some of the vampires. Blades flashed in the dull torchlight of the crypt as glowing droplets of vampire, bat, and human blood speckled the ground. The four warriors fought on against the mob of vampires surrounding them even as more began to crowd in. The crew which had spread out to fight the vampires was slowly being pushed back into clustering together. Mikey raised his arm and threw up a blue dome that had become all too ingrained as a go to defense. The shield it offered shimmered around the four huddled fighters as the vampires prodded and clawed at it. Even as he tried to reinforce the shield flakes of it were already chipping off from the various attacks. Mikey reinforced it one last time before collapsing to the ground, he breathed in sharply as he looked at both his hands fading in and out of existence. Kerri noticed his troubled look and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder before touching one of her hands to his.

“I think we need to move up the light show to now.” KJ readied her attacks as cracks began to form across the surface of the blue dome around them.

“I don’t think that’s possible now even if he wanted to.” Kerri held Mikey still as he began to convulse.

“Oh god, it’s happening now.” John looked down.

“Fill me in what’s going on?” Kerri looked from John to KJ as various parts of Mikey faded in and out.

“He only told John and I, Mikey I mean, but he’s noticed that prolonged exposure to the interfaces you have to use be in here has accelerated his condition. He had hoped we’d be done with the mission before this time came though.” KJ paused as she shot a vampire that had created a hole in the dome.

“What time?” Kerri asked worriedly.

“Death. He didn’t know if it’d be full death or brain death, but… nobody knew how it would affect him here.” She looked surprised as Mikey sat upright without any fading. His eyes were glowing amber as he calmly stood up and waved his hands to dispel the dome.

“Mikey are you, okay?” Kerri asked as she saw golden spines form on Mikey’s arms.

“Kerri get down!” John pushed KJ and Kerri down as the golden spines shot out in various directions. Kerri looked at John confused, “Needle Spray, that ring fires a ring of needles outward from the user. If they target an animated it only hits animated, if they don’t target anything it hits everything not kneeling within a radius.” He pointed as each of the fired spines dug into the surrounding vampires. Golden cracks appeared along the vampires’ bodies before several, already damaged from fighting, exploded into showers of more gold spikes. “And if it kills or dazes something it hits it turns them into a secondary explosion. We made it to cost roughly 25 stamina and have a very long recharge time just because of its potential power.” They both looked on in horror as mechanically Mikey moved from one vampire to the next finishing the ones not destroyed by needles.

“Mikey you okay there?” Kerri was careful in approaching Mikey.

“I have seen beyond the boundaries of reality. And I have been returned to complete my task.” He said in a flat voice looking directly at Kerri with his amber glowing eyes.

“You sure you’re okay there?” She looked back worriedly as he relaxed and collapsed onto the ground. She checked him over several times to ensure he was still with them.

“Look who decided to rejoin while Mikey was being a serial killer.” John pointed to Jeremy, Henry and Penelope who each had shocked expressions about what they’d just heard.

Mikey reopened his eyes and it was clear they’d returned to their original coloration as he took a few measured breaths before sitting up. “What exactly happened?” He looked at Kerri.

“You massacred an entire mob of vampires with light needles, then said some really weird stuff all while acting possessed by some kind of demon.” She helped him to his feet.

“I don’t remember any of that. I remember blacking out from straining to hold myself together, and having a weird dream about a post-apocalyptic future, and then I woke up here.” He looked at the group assembled, “Where do we stand on Kamila?”

“Just her and the last four coffins.” KJ replied.

“Once everyone is ready then, I’ll probably need some extra time with her given what happened in the last go. I’ll go directly for Kam, don’t hit her until the coffins are all gone, stay together, and stay alert.” He rubbed his temples before looking at his hand again, etched into the flesh of his left palm was a strange hexagonal symbol, at three of the corners were large circles.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Blast it all. What in the sam hill caused that massive power surge?” The Phantom stared in disbelief at the cracked monitors that had fallen from their wall mounts. He turned on his heels and as he looked at his throne of crystal he noted several cracks had formed across the arms and back. He was already marching toward the staircase down when alarms indicating that several of the containment pods he was using for players and animated had ruptured from the massive quake that had shaken his castle.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Ryan, what on Earth was that?” One of the technicians monitoring site traffic for any mention of The Phantom jumped away when his workstation began to hum. He was fortunate he had moved away from it, after five seconds the humming station exploded.

“I don’t know Steven. Some kind of power or data surge tore through the systems. It’s knocked out all but one server, and the boys upstairs are already scrambling to get the site back up. As it is the stuff still up and running here is only because someone isolated these systems during the surge to run diagnostics.” Ryan responded worriedly.

“Do we know who or why?” Steven responded before grabbing his notes for checking other systems for damage.

“No, but they knew exactly what to isolate and when exactly to do it. It kept the whole operation from being…”

“From being aborted. If that surge had hit the interface systems, those people in there,”

“I know. They’ve got some kind of guardian angel.” The two looked at one another with worried looks before going off in different directions.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“You humans! How dare you!” Kamila dragged her melting body across the ground towards the bell tower. Both light and water based attacks had proven effective in overwhelming her ability to regenerate. Even as she shrunk away light ranged attacks continued to pepper her. “Turn back while you can. Should you dare venture to the moon, you will not live long enough to regret it.” Kamila collapsed into a gelatinous red pool before vanishing.

“Halfway through our fight with her. Now comes the brutal and often distracting part.” Henry managed a smile despite being covered in blood.

“Why distracting?” Jeremy looked to Kerri and the others for an answer.

“You never looked up images or videos of Bloodlust Kamila?” Penelope asked Jeremy, to which he shook his head.

“What Henry is implying is Kamila’s giant bouncing bosom has hypnotic powers.” Kerri joked.

“They were fun to stare at for hours. Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy.” John added in a nostalgic tone. Jeremy stared confused at the descriptions given.

“Oh for crying out loud he’s fourteen, either tell him directly or don’t beat around the bush.” KJ looked at Jeremy, “Imagine a giant size of this key feature that separate male and female anatomy bouncing well beyond what the laws of physics should allow.” KJ pointed at her chest before hopping up and down a few times.

Jeremy snorted and laughed a few seconds before composing himself, “Pay up Henry.” He turned to Henry who had started cursing under his breath.

“What’s going on?” KJ raised an eyebrow.

“I know what breasts are, I’m 14. Henry had made a bet, when he told me about Kam’s, that I wouldn’t be able to get you, Kerri, or Penelope to demonstrate the bouncing.” Jeremy started laughing again.

“You really are an a** aren’t you?” KJ looked back indignantly.

“And proud of it.” He smiled back.

“Alright, break time’s over. Let’s finish the vampire queen off. McCoy and the other Anari should be in their positions for distraction. I’m going to go ahead and send him the signal to give us a one hour countdown.” Mikey was entering some information on the tablet device, then stopped and waited. He handed it back to Jeremy to put away when it beeped with a response.

“Affirmative: One hour to beach head.”

Mikey found the pull chain for ringing the crystal bell in the tower above them. Everyone seemed on edge as he pulled the chain and waited. A purple void opened in the crypt and one by one each of them dissolved into small black flakes before being pulled into the void. At the other end the flakes reassembled one by one reforming into the members of the crew. When they looked around, they found themselves in an arena carved into the Null Moon’s surface, an arena that mirrored The Barton Coliseum on the blue sphere of Gaia they could see in the space above them.

“And so you come at last. Tell me mortals, what is it that drives you?” Kamila’s voice was coming from all around them. “Is it ambition? Fame? Perhaps, some misguided sense of duty?”

“Enough! We didn’t come to exchange words with The Phantom’s pawn. One way or another let’s be done with you, Kamila!” Mikey stepped forward yelling.

“You may soon regret those words human. For, you see, I am no mere pawn on the chessboard, you may find this queen is too much for you to handle.” Kamila phased through part of the ground on the opposite side of the arena as a Null Crystal flew towards her from part of the wall. A bright flash emitted when it joined with her and it took several seconds for their vision of the arena to clear enough to see towering above them, glistening red in the pale light of the crystals Bloodlust Kamila, “Welcome to the temple of darkness and pain!”

“Kerri, John with me. The rest of you, wait here for my signal.” Mikey marched out to face Kamila as he felt the slight tickles of the others reapplying their buffs. “Alright, let’s dance Kamila.” Mikey held the shield he was gifted in Halloween town upon his arm as he stared determined at the monster before him. Now that he looked closer at the shield, he could see whoever designed it had made an etching of a rounded wing in the center of the circular shield, all he could think as he steeled his nerves was someone must have been a Marvel fan.

From Jeremy and KJ’s vantage point all they could see were flashes of green and red against the deep purple background. Jeremy shivered as he watched two green flashes go off in rapid succession. “You scared?” KJ softly stared at Jeremy who only nodded, “Me too.” She put an arm around Jeremy’s shoulder.

“I know the red is Kamila attacking and the green is Mikey and them healing, but I can’t help but watch in awe at the way it creates sparks of light against the crystals.” Penelope had taken Henry’s hand and was squeezing it tightly.

“I know.” Henry turned his head to stare into Penelope’s eyes, “No matter what happens, I’ll do whatever I can to keep you safe, even if it means-”

“Don’t talk like that, we aren’t going to come to that point,” Penelope gave his hand another squeeze, “But thanks.”

Closer to the action Kerri and John watched as Kamila’s massive claw would slash across Mikey emitting a red glow and then as he’d heal himself it would create a green glow. “I never really noticed the flashes of light that healing and attacking emit John. Is that only here?” Kerri asked him.

“No, the glows are all the time. It’s just more noticeable here because of the ambient glow of the crystals and the darkness above. Attacks glow in one of fifteen colors based on the user of the attack and what kind of attack it is. Heals always glow neon green, and buffs actually give off a crystal blue glow if you pay attention at the next buffing.” John watched as Kamila tried to stab Mikey with a sword made from her arm and he deflected it off of the round shield. John tapped Kerri as he stood at attention, Mikey had begun to shoot golden sparks into the sky. It was Mikey’s signal that he was ready for the attack of Kamila to commence.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Status report, Estoc, what progress have the humans made?” The Phantom was pacing nervously in his throne room. The surge that shook the entire server had knocked out his ability to monitor and even manipulate the events occurring within his domain. He didn’t appreciate the feeling of no longer being in control or not knowing what was happening outside his castle walls, but worst of all he didn’t like not knowing what caused the knockout surge to begin with.

“My lord, I thought you could see everything within your dominion.” Came Estoc’s nervous reply to The Phantom’s question.

“That quake knocked out my ability to see everything. I must know what the humans are doing now, so I know which part of the plan to enact.” The Phantom angrily shot back. He clenched his teeth and had to stop himself from grinding them. Months of planning and careful, subtle manipulations could be ruined, and if that were the case… He didn’t want to think of dealing with The Other that gave him leeway to enact parts of his plan. The Other could destroy him without a second though if he didn’t have the right pieces in the right positions, and the thought of that sent an all too mortal chill down The Phantom’s spine.

“Scouts indicate that they have begun to engage Kamila in the Null Arena in earnest. The one you wanted most, Michael, is bearing the brunt of Kamila’s wrath, the traitor KJ is with them. Should I dispatch a unit to help Kamila?” Estoc was trying to read the back of his master’s head for any reaction, but it was more stone-like than he was.

“No, send no reinforcements.” The Phantom replied flatly.

“But sir, they will overwhelm her.”

“Sometimes in chess you must sacrifice a pawn to capture a much more valuable piece.” The Phantom turned and began walking with Estoc to the castle gates. “I know those humans will defeat Kamila, but when they do they will be too exhausted to defend themselves. And I need to capture a member of their group to extract information from them. You see, I knew from the moment I created her that KJ would betray me, just not the when. Since, joining up with them she’s been observing, learning, gathering information, information that I can use now, once extracted. Michael Berth also has a part to play, his anatomy has information I need.”

“So, you’ll let them defeat Kamila so you can capture those two?” Estoc asked as they began the walk from the castle to the arena.

“Very astute. And once I’ve extracted what I need from both of them, I’ll finally have the keys I need to perfect the Golem Mark II.” There was a slight hint of glee in The Phantom’s voice.

“But where will that leave me and the other mark ones, sir?” Estoc tilted his head afraid of the answer.

“Recycled into scrap material for the mark twos.”

“You’d destroy us just to give rise to the new perfect ones? Why are you telling me this?”

A cruel smile crossed The Phantom’s face, “As much as I’ve enjoyed our conversations Estoc, I’m afraid the time has come for me to destroy you.” The golem raised an arm to attack its master but The Phantom shot him, and with a bright flash Estoc began to dissolve.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Let me spill your blood onto these holy grounds!” Mikey deflected another of Kamila’s blood sword attacks with the shield, but the force of the impacts alone was beginning to tire him.

“Kerri, John, Kimberly, you got bats incoming. Look out!” He shouted as a portcullis across from him opened up and the chirp of Blood Bats began to echo from it.

“I got it!” Jeremy charged into the mass of bats and swept them up in his Dervish before they even got halfway to the rest of the crew. “Uh oh.” He began to run as he hadn’t anticipated how much damage six bats could do. He was beginning to have a better appreciation for all the running Mikey had done earlier in the mazes.

“Hold still and let me heal you!” Kerri hissed at Jeremy as she tried to keep up with his running around. He finally slowed down enough she was able to catch up to him and heal the little bite marks the Blood Bats were leaving across him. Jeremy continued swatting as the bats circled around him, he hadn’t noticed that through all the swatting and the others’ attacks that a red mist of the popped bats hung around him. It was an unnerving sight, the different environment of the Null Moon caused the blood droplets to hang in the air as a floating mist as opposed to dispersing like normal.

“When you can spare it, another adren effect would be nice.” Henry called over the clanging of their weapons against the gelatinous mass of Kamila’s body. The more damage she took the more her body fell apart and the smaller she got. As Henry watched another glowing from healing he saw Mikey give him a thumb up, before his un-ringed finger sparked yellow beginning the adrenaline action.

“How hasn’t Kamila noticed us sitting right here attacking her?” Penelope finally asked John.

“Guess no matter how much her out of battle code got changed by The Phantom, she’s still bound by rules of aggro? I don’t either, but whatever the case, let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth.” John moved back from the fight to rest, but it was a short lived break as he heard another portcullis opening to release its bats.

“This one’s going to hurt, it’s a twelver.” KJ called back as she attacked two of the bats.

“Hey Penelope, let’s try a fire twister combination.”

“Let’s do it.” Penelope and Jeremy focused the elemental energies from their amulets through their Lancer Rings and where the two jets of energy intersected they formed a whirlwind of flames engulfing the Blood Bats. As the flames died down the angry chirping they heard let them know they hadn’t killed all the bats but they had definitely upset them enough not to bother Mikey or Kerri.

“John, we going to let them have all the fun?”

“What did you have in mind?”

“How about a mudslide?” As Henry and John’s Lancer attacks joined in midair a stream of mud coated the Blood Bats causing them to fall to the ground and flop around trying to move.

“Looked more like a mud shot to me, but you snared them all and caused a bit of damage.” KJ chuckled as she picked off the angry flopping Blood Bats. “Good to know different combinations of your elemental amulets have different effects. Wonder about your elemental gauntlets.”

“Been trying to use it, but it’s not wanting to do anything.” Henry said as he looked at the crystalline mass on his arm.

“Try punching with it.” KJ suggested as they started attacking Kamila again. Henry nodded and punched Kamila with his crystal claw, and to his surprise sparks of lightning began to damage Kamila.

“Your blood sacrifice shall fuel the future.” Kamila sounded like she was enjoying the pain they were inflicting.

“Not the future you want.” Mikey managed to get out between her attacks. The rapid pace of damage, heal, damage, re-heal, was leaving scars across what bits of his skin could be seen, and he sounded haggard and tired from the strain of keeping up with her pace of attacks.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Remarkable those six are. Their entire strategy would have fallen apart were it not for the brain damage caused to Michael by Project Oracle. His greatest hindrance in his own world is their key to victory in this one, such absurdity in the universe.” The Phantom sat perched high upon one of the columns above the seats around the arena as he watched the fight below. “I had expected them to defeat her, for the fight to be this one sided entirely…” The Phantom mused to himself as he saw the humans below fend off another wave of Blood Bats. He began to feel another uncomfortable fear in the back of his mind as he watched them fight, what if these humans showed the same resourcefulness fighting him? Had he sealed his own fate by orchestrating the arrival of his greatest threat? He shook his head trying to dispel such fears from his mind, these humans would fall in line like all the ones before them, and all the ones to follow them. As he returned his view to the fight he could see that Kamila had begun to attack the others in the group, apparently their tanking strategy hadn’t held up as well as they had hoped. “And they were so close too…” He jumped down to the seating area for a better view of one side’s triumph over the other.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Everyone, to me! We’re going to do the combo attack with all six of us again.” Mikey’s eyes began glowing gold as he fired a large golden beam of light at Kamila. Kerri was the first to join him and her eyes turned a deep amethyst as she hurled a mass of shadow. As the shadow and light joined it started creating bursts of sound. John was next to join as he barely slid under Kamila’s outreached claw attempting to grab him, his eyes turned a deep brown as a mass of earth erupted from his rings. When the earth joined the light and shadow, tremors began to travel along the ground toward Kamila. Penelope got lightly scratched by Kamila’s other claw but managed to make it to the group. Her eyes turned ruby red as flames jumped out of her rings, as they joined the other three streams pools of molten earth formed in the cracks left by the quakes. Jeremy came to a sudden stop as he stood elbow to elbow with John, he turned around and a blast of wind had already surged from his rings as his eyes began to glow emerald green. As the wild winds joined with the other attacks it began to carry the molten earth into the air around Kamila; she tried to swat bits of the cloud down to no avail.

“Here!” She threw Henry a good distance before he landed on the ground next to the others.

The tossing had hurt but Henry smiled as he slowly stood up, his body was screaming in agony from the pain but he just brushed the small drip of blood from his lip away. “That all you got?” His eyes lit up like sapphires as a torrent of water gushed from his rings. When it joined with the other five attacks the energy of the combination began to glow a blinding white as it pierced Kamila.

KJ was behind the rest of the team and shielded her eyes as she watched in awe. The combined energy had caused pale crystals to grow all across Kamila, “You… You’re killing me! But I am… I am…” The crystal growths had begun to encase what was left of Kamila as the crew poured more of their energy into the attack.

“Alone, each of us might not be much. But when we all come together, and combine our strengths, we can do a lot more than you ever could alone.” Mikey said with a hint of anger in his voice.

“But I am immortal…” Kamila managed to gasp as the crystal growth encased her head. As she drew her last breath she could see the shadow of her master above her somewhere and they only word that crossed her lips was, “Why?” A circular symbol glowed on the crystal where it had originally pierced Kamila as their combined attack died down. They each looked at each other and celebrated before they noticed the look of horror on KJ’s face as she pointed to something coming towards them.

“Bravo, bravo, good show you seven. I dare say I’m impressed.” The Phantom was mockingly clapping his hands as he walked down the stands. “But now, your true battle begins.” He jumped down and landed beside the mass of crystal that had once been Kamila.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for this.” Henry cracked his knuckles before charging at The Phantom.

“Henry wait, no!” Mikey shouted, but it was too late.

“Is that really your best?” The Phantom took Henry’s punch without flinching. Henry jumped out of shock but The Phantom grabbed him by the arm and carelessly flung him aside.

“Jeremy?” John looked at Jeremy who only nodded to him.

“Oh this should be good.” The Phantom crossed his arms as the two combined their powers to form an earth tornado. The Phantom silently waited within the tornado a few seconds before sweeping his arms out. The shockwave he created dispelled their tornado and flung Jeremy and John back into one of the arena walls. “So who’s next?” Penelope tried to burn him, but an angry snort of derision blew out her flames before he grabbed her by the neck and flung her to ground next to Henry.

“Mikey, he’s probably after you and Kimberly. Get her and get out of here.” Kerri said as she flung a black shadowy mass at The Phantom’s face. As he knocked the first mass down she flung several more at him.

“Clever girl. But I don’t have time for games anymore.” He shot his own billowing blob of shadow at Kerri and smirked as it engulfed her. “Come willingly and I won’t kill you. Resist, and well… you may not enjoy it.” Mikey and KJ were still backing away from him, Mikey kept himself between The Phantom and KJ as he shot small little sparks of light. He was surprised when The Phantom couldn’t deflect them and they actually hurt him.

“I guess sitting in shadow so long has made you a little weak to the piercing light.” Mikey shot as he and KJ continued backing away from The Phantom.

“I really want both of you, but I can settle for one.” The Phantom fired a beam of energy at Mikey and KJ. Mikey’s eyes widened as he tried to raise a shield in time to deflect it, but even as he put all his strength into the shield the energy pierced it. He felt like his head was full of static as he struggled to keep his focus. “After our last fight, I retooled some of my weapons specifically for you.” The Phantom said as he stood over a now collapsed Mikey. The effect of losing his focus had caused him fade in and out again, and the force of the shield bursting had knocked KJ out.

“No.” Mikey weakly called and tried to crawl as he saw The Phantom carrying KJ away over his shoulder. He was straining to hold himself together so much that he collapsed onto the ground as his vision slowly faded.

[BlueO2]

Berry, I cried... Its very great thread. Thank you <3
</3 Gaia

[anguls kushinoda]

damn, thats all i can say other then waiting for the next chapater -mew

[Fleur et Ciel]

wow, this story...
I want to see cherry fluff to appear in the story.
Since it's my favorite fluff, the cutest and the most deadliest one? aside.. coral fluff.