Guns n' roses
As he fell, he waited for the release that was his character dying. Sure enough, a few seconds later, his HP bar at an empty zero triggered his body to fall to the ground, lifeless, and then explode in a flurry of red crystals. The man standing in front of LLENN was gone.
The pink girl holding the smoking P90 stared in awe. She had killed multiple people in Gun Gale Online before, but every time, she had felt the same addictive rush course through her VR veins. She used to ignore this feeling, a weird break from the normally kind and collected Karen she had built up IRL, because it seemed dangerous to like this sort of thing, but meeting Pitohui, that poisonous bird, changed that.
Now she reveled in it. PK-ing gave her a sense of power she never had. A way to combat all of those stares she got because of her height. It was a way to dominate, a way to control. It...felt like she was a better person because of it. Not that she thought murder was a good way to relieve stress, but she felt like it allowed her to breathe. Everyone here came here to kill and be killed. People here talked in the language of bullets. A language that LLENN was pretty adapt at, apparently. She met new people, from M to team SHINC.
On top of that, she managed to save someone by killing them.
Pitohui.
Elsa Kanzaki.
Her hero.
The one she saved.
As her train of thought went into space again, she couldn't feel the buzz from her com.
It buzzed once.
Twice.
It wasn't until the third time that she answered. At the moment she picked it up, Pito's voice blared through the speaker. "LLENN! I've been waiting at this restaurant for a while now! I know you were shooting hell up in the way only you could do, and I love that about you, but come on! You wanted this date!"
Oh yes. There was one more title LLENN forgot to add to the elegant Pito.
Her girlfriend.
LLENN blushed as she answered. "O-oh! I...I didn't forget... J-just lost myself there for a moment." She spoke meekly.
The Pink Devil could almost hear the smirk from the other end. "Ooh..letting out our primal side, are we, my sweet? Well, tonight, I would like to see that...at my place, love."
Oh God. Pitohui did not just say that. She did not just say that. LLENN's cheeks were turning the same color of her outfit, now.
"You and your one-liners." LLENN scolded. "I'll be there in a few." Checking to confirm she had no teleportation crystals, she set off into the world of guns to make it to her date.
Her first obstacle was a group of snipers. She couldn't see where they were, but those 5 bullet lines aimed to the clearing where she was was certainly an indication. At least they were snipers. Snipers she could handle. With her terrifying speed and agility, she could weave her way through it before they even got a shot.
It was just annoying.
Okay, breathe. Get a visual. The clearing was shaped like a dome, and from the way it was devoid of life, she assumed she was in a crater. That was the optimal situation for her abilities, but snipers also had the advantage here.
But again, she was the Pink Devil.
And she had a date to get to.
Shoulder. Moving out of the way in time, she nimbly dodged the bullet that would have removed her left arm for three minutes. Okay, they want to get aggressive? I'll show them aggressive.
Two more bullets flew towards her back. Their mistake. Using her legs, she sprung like the rabbit people often compared to her, flipping over with the gymnastics team SHINC had taught Karen IRL. The bullets raced under her as she jumped, harmlessly putting holes into the side of the crater.
New visual. The snipers had re-aimed themselves to her, and she was standing slanted on the rim of the crater. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the snipers. It was a young, dark haired male was hiding in a cliff above.
A P90 was never meant for long range combat. It was supposed to be used as a close-quarters weapon, one that rained a true bullet hell.
What LLENN was about to use P-chan for went against all of that.
Aiming her gun at the sniper, she fired once without waiting for the bullet circle to appear.
His neck splattered open in a crystal red wave. He was on the ground before he saw anything. There was no bullet line. He saw and expected nothing. And then he was dead.
This obviously surprised the other snipers, as their bullet lines flickered out for a moment. Luckily, a moment was all LLENN needed.
Planting her feet, she activated the speed she was known for. She ran around the edge of the crater, creating a huge dirt tornado. The perfect cover.
By the time the dirt cleared, the snipers had nobody to shoot. LLENN was gone.
Far away from the crater, LLENN's phone buzzed.
Breathing once, the small girl answered it.
"Come onn...LLENN, It's been like five minutes! Why you gotta leave a girl hanging?"
Five minutes? LLENN swore it was only like two. Whatever. That only meant she's have to hustle. "O-oh! S-sorry, just ran into some sniper trouble is all." She said into the mic. "I'll be there soon—"
"Ooh! Snipers? Did you kill them all?" Pito's excited voice interrupted.
LLENN blinked. Of course she would be interested in something like that. "I did one-hit one of them, but I ran from the rest."
Pito let out a disappointed sigh. "Aww...you should have killed them. I would have, because they were messing with you."
LLENN blushed. "W-well, I had to run to get to you, you know."
"Touche. Well, bye, my sweet rabbit love."
LLENN blushed the hardest she had that day; what was with Pito and her compliments today? Not that it was bad or out of character; in fact it was very in character, but it was sure embarrassing.
Wasting time. She reminded herself.
Further into the woods, she found her next challenge.
GGO was not just about guns and PK-ing, no. The other thing that the MMO had to offer was its setting.
A post-apocalyptic wasteland, ravaged by the elements. Humanity had, according to the game's lore, left the world for a few centuries, and returned to find that it wasn't that much improved.
It even held host to many different species of monsters. These monsters were really there to give new players a chance to level up to be on par with more experienced players, but sometimes, there would be a situation where the monster was more than a little challenging.
Staring at the huge, growling beast with its many eyes, claws, and teeth, LLENN confirmed this was one of those times.
Even worse, it appeared that stealthing was not an option. The monster had fixed all of its eyes upon the pink-clad girl.
Options, options, options. LLENN thought as she nimbly dodged the swiping arms. The trees were possible cover, but the beast probably had her scent. The monster was taller than the trees, and its arms could break through them. Next.
She probably couldn't run, even with her speed. While the thing was slow, it would cause enough damage to the earth to ruin her path of escape. When she was running at top speed, one of her weaknesses was being unable to weave through falling debris. Something to work on.
Her last option was to fight. The huge thing had the likeness of a crocodile, at least near its head. That gaping maw, that scaled skin. Yes, those scales covered the rest of its body, making it look invulnerable to bullets. The thing that disillusioned its croc-ness were the many eyes. The many, huge, red eyes.
A weakness. When it came to monsters like these, one had to look to kill it strategically. You had to look for something soft, something weak. And those eyes certainly fit the bill. LLENN counted 10 in all. She had more than enough ammo, but grenades would probably be the optimal weapon in this case.
Interestingly, the game devs had put some thought into its design. The eyes were all on its face, yes, but spread out in a symmetrical way. Four mini-eyes on each side of the face, (about LLENN's head size) and two large ones in the center (about the size of LLENN's body).
Taking out a plasma grenade, she looked for a place to launch it.
There was none.
She would have to get close, somehow.
A large tree poked out from the forest, tantalizingly reaching to the monster's head. Perfect.
LLENN went full speed ahead, rushing for the tree. She didn't stop when she got to the base, choosing to run up into its leafy branches. When she did stop, she was immediately frightened.
At the top of the tree, she stared into one of the monster's eyes from its right side. The eye stared back.
Then the monster roared.
LLENN fell to her knees, terrified. Thinking instinctively, she shot P-chan's bullets into its eye instead. The eye was obliterated, but LLENN lost a magazine. Damnit. She wouldn't make that mistake again.
But now the monster was screaming, thrashing a scaly tail into the forest. LLENN was frozen, unable to think.
Jump onto it, you idiot.
Oh. She should do that, shouldn't she? Taking a literal leap of faith, she jumped from the safety of the tree's branches onto the danger of the beast.
Now here she was. On top of a shaking goliath, unable to focus. It felt like one of those bull rides she'd been to at fairs before. The kind where you pay to sit on top of a rotating and shaking seat designed to look like a bull.
Only much, much worse.
Focus, Focus, Focus. Her mind commanded over the screaming of the monster. She took out 9 plasma bombs, carefully placing them inside some ground clamps that would activate them via remote control. Then she set out towards the other eyes.
Her first stop was the two giant one in the middle of the beast's face, as those seemed like the most important. When she got to the eyes, her next problem was thus:
The head tipped up, and mouth opened. LLENN tried to get a grip with her feet, but she couldn't in time.
"Aghh!" She screamed, falling into the beast's mouth. She was headed right for the gigantic tooth—
Oh, wait. By this time, the mouth was facing the direction of the city where her date was. She could do this, if she planned it carefully.
Tucking her legs in, she rolled in the air to the path where she would fall onto the tongue, then squinting her eyes shut as she hit the wet surface.
The mouth closed, and she was in darkness.
A few seconds later, she shook one of her glow sticks from her bag, bathing the mouth in a green light.
The Croc-monster had not decided to swallow yet, thank god. The mouth was huge, with rows of teeth lining the entrance. The tongue was yellow, weirdly, and the throat traveled farther than she could see. But she wasn't looking for the teeth or the tongue or the throat.
The uvula. The big, hanging thing that could cause a gag reaction should she aggravate it enough. Then she would be out of there.
"Okay." She breathed for a moment. The moment passed.
Taking out P-Chan, she opened fire. As soon as 10 or so bullets slammed into it, the reaction was immediate. The world shook. Saliva frothed up like a tidal wave, and for a moment, she was submerged in it.
"BLARGGGH!"
Then the mouth was open, and she was flying across the map of Gun Gale Online, towards her date. She was covered in monster-spit, but She figured Pito wouldn't care once she got the story.
A few minutes later, LLENN face planted in what felt like a bush. She didn't know where, because the saliva from the other monster got in her eyes as she was falling. For all she knew she could be in some weird trap.
But before her panic instincts kicked in, she stood up, confirming that it was indeed a small bush after wiping her eyes. But it was more than that, too.
She was in a graveyard.
It looked old, like all parts of the non-character-built setting in Gun Gale Online, but it was oddly in good shape. Yes, the vines growing on the worn-down cobblestone said otherwise, but LLENN could still make out some names and words here and there on the gravestones. It was a big graveyard, too. LLENN couldn't see any visible end to it, and the graves were spread out. She supposed it was because of the graveyard's size that she landed in was even more was that each of the gravestones had some original design, which you never saw, even in most VRMMORPGS.
Whoosh.
Reacting faster than thought, LLENN dove down behind the nearest gravestone (marble, cross) before the bullet took off her head.
Who was attacking her now?
"Hiya, lovely!" A clear, chipper voice announced from 50 paces behind her. Pitohui. What was she doing? LLENN voiced this question loudly.
"Well, after you never showed up for 10 minutes, I used a teleportation crystal to your location…"
LLENN awaited the rest of the response, knowing what she was going to say.
"...To kill you!"
Yep.
"Oh, come on, Pitooo! I was going as fast as I could! I didn't have any teleportation crystals, what'd you expect?"
A second passed. "The real Pink Devil would go faster! I'll just have to kill you to make sure you're the real one!"
Ugh, what a whiner. LLENN immediately regretted this thought, wondering how much this date meant to Pito. That was...surprisingly sweet, in a Pito sort of way.
A buzz near her ear reminded her of the threat at hand. A neglected girlfriend. Worse than the snipers and the beast combined.
Thinking quickly, LLENN tossed a plasma grenade she had prepared earlier in the direction of the shot. As soon as it blew up, she dashed for cover, taking shelter in a opened tomb. "Oh, Clever~" Pito's voice rang out. "I'll find you soon, however."
But that wasn't all LLENN had did after she ran from her first spot. She took out the remote control, pressing the red button to detonate the bombs originally meant for the beast.
One explosion went off, then the next, then the one after that. Then she waited.
"Hello, love~" Pito spoke, leaning against the side of the tomb's threshold with one hand, holding a pistol in the other. "I'm going to kill you now." She grinned maniacally.
LLENN had only realized just how fast her heart was beating. She liked this. It wasn't just killing that thrilled LLENN. It was the threat of being killed that did it too. Especially by the hands of her own girlfriend? She loved it.
Maybe Pito was rubbing off on LLENN more than she thought.
Even so, she wasn't giving up just yet. Taking out her knife, she tossed it at the gun in Pito's hand. Pito smiled, knocking it out of the way—but LLENN had already dashed out of the tomb.
"Augh! Smart!" Pito congratulated, switching her weapon to what looked like a shotgun. She sent a barrage at LLENN a little too late. The shorter avatar had managed to drift out of the way just in time, disappearing behind a crumbling gravestone.
Taking out P-chan, LLEEN started her own assault, shooting bullets left to right. But her girlfriend was not to be found.
"Hello, my lovely prey." Pito whispered, holding a red photon sword to LLENN's neck. The smaller girl froze.
"Any last words, LLENN?"
The girl in question grinned. "That date meant this much to you, huh, Elsa?"
Pito's eyes widened, but she became more angry. "Don't call me that! I'm Pito here, remember?" She hissed.
"Yeah, yeah" LLENN conceded. "I just..think it's...sweet."
The sword receded a hair. "Wh-what? I-I..what?" Pito stuttered.
Was this..a bashful side to the legendary Pitohui? Knowledge was power. "I mean, with all your tours, we haven't actually had that much of a chance to hang out. I understand. I'm sorry...I got caught up earlier."
Pito was becoming more unraveled every second. "I-It's fine." The sword was put away. "Y-you're here now, and that's what I want." She spoke softly.
"Good." LLENN flipped around, pinning the taller character to the ground. "That's all I want too. Now, let's go have that date, shall we?"
I put 3 days of work into this thing, spread apart. You better enjoy it. The whole thing is my response to reading the first two LNs, which are great. I focused on action in this one, because I wanted to capture the game side of things, verses IRL. The other thing I wanted to capture was the mild insanity of both characters, which is what makes them such a fun pairing. write more for these two, people of the internet.
As always, DFTBA.