Hi again! I'm not going to usually update this quickly, school's coming up this Thursday.
It gets worse before it gets better
It.
Wasn't.
Possible.
There was no way in hell that the one-eyed blue and yellow freak, the same M'arrillian that had brainwashed H'earring and Kaz, nearly getting the Underworlder and player killed, was floating in the middle of their battle drome. That's not how the drome worked! There were only two creatures at a time, the only time you could get more is in the beta drome, the eighth drome that was designed for when players wanted to shake up the rules. Even then, you still needed the same number of players, and they weren't in the beta drome in the first place!
It couldn't be a part of the location; creatures didn't register in location scans! Kaz tried to explain it to him, but it basically came down to way too many variables for the system to handle. The only time a creature not piloted by a human player appeared hadn't even been an actual creature, it'd been a virus that infected the location Prexxor Chasm. And, granted, Milla'iin and the M'arrillians as a whole could be compared to the same destructive force as that virus had been, but they were still creatures!
By all logic, Milla'iin should not be here, and yet he was, clear as day.
And he was heading straight for them, an attack with their names on it charging in one of his limbs.
"RUN!" Both players screamed, match discarded in favor of running for their lives.
The former chieftain wasted no time in attacking them, the psychic attack shattering the ice just in front of where they stood. The only reason Tom didn't fall into the water when it happened was because Roxanne seized the back of Maxxor's tunic and yanked him away. Surprisingly as soon as her hands made contact with him, his footing stabilized and he was able to keep up with her.
"How are you-?" He impulsively began,
"No time, don't let go!" Roxanne instructed, and he immediately grasped her wrist.
"POWER PULSE!" He shouted, using his one free hand to fire his attack.
"PARAL-EYES!" His opponent also cried out, light shooting from her eyes and heading straight for the M'arrillian.
Both of their attacks hit Milla'inn straight on…but did absolutely nothing to stop him.
"What the-?!" Both teens began, only to leap away from each other as Milla'iin dived at them with another shriek.
Tom barely caught onto a rock before he slid into a thin patch, but Maxxor's heel broke through the ice and into the water. He nearly leapt out of his skin with a loud curse.
"Holy shit, that is cold!" He exclaimed, Roxanne racing by him seconds later and seizing his wrist to haul him to his feet.
"No shit Sherlock!" She snapped, before reaching into the sleeve of Hinya's dress. Tom heard an audible ripping noise just before she shoved something small and round Maxxor's fist.
A crystal…?
Roxanne practically slapped Hinya's hands over his when he tried to open his palm to look at what she gave him.
"Keep that in your hand and don't tell anybody when this is over!" She practically snarled in his face through gritted teeth, giving him a look that even made Maxxor take a step back.
Tom felt Maxxor grit his own teeth in response, his eyes narrowing at being ordered around by a complete stranger who wasn't even a member of his tribe! It took everything in him to keep from snarling back before Roxanne pointed towards the pillar.
"We'll be safe in there, come on!"
They had to duck to avoid another attack from Milla'iin, Maxxor's usual impulse to protest retreat dying in his throat. Carefully avoiding the hazardous thin patches, the two players made their way towards the pillar, Milla'iin just behind them with his inhuman shriek ringing through their ears.
"Up there!" Roxanne exclaimed, gesturing wildly towards the edge of one of the paths Tom had seen earlier. It was just a bit taller than they were so they were able to climb up without too much trouble.
Milla'iin was getting ever closer with every second.
"Pebble Storm!" He tried, the barrage of stones hitting Milla'iin but barely making him flinch.
"Flash kick!" Roxanne tried, spinning around in a kick to send the attack flying. It also hit the M'arrillian squarely but once again didn't even faze him.
"Why aren't our attacks working?!" Tom asked, confused and panicking.
"I don't know, but we need to run. This way!" Roxanne bolted up the pillar wall like she knew where she was going, so Tom quickly followed.
"In here, in here, in here!" She exclaimed gesturing towards an opening that could just fit them.
As Roxanne ducked into the passage, Tom took a moment to take a final look at the oncoming M'arrillian, and noticed that one of its tendrils was wrapped tightly around something he couldn't make out.
With an annoyed growl Roxanne shot back out before yanking him inside, preventing him from figuring out what the M'arrillian had.
As soon as Tom was inside, she began pushing an oddly convenient boulder to close up the opening. He quickly threw Maxxor's weight against the boulder to help, Milla'iin's shrieks getting louder and louder with every second.
They managed to roll the rock in place just before Milla'iin crashed into it at full speed, making the rock violently jerk.
They both stared at the door anxiously before they heard and enraged scream and what sounded like Milla'iin floating away.
"Okay," Tom panted, turning around, "Now-WHOA!"
The inside of what he thought was a cave was much more expansive and the walls much too smooth to be natural. This was added by the fact that some of the passageways leaded into rooms with very simple wooden furniture inside. The walls were lined with much too conveniently placed glowing crystals, making Tom realize that the pillar was in fact a fortress.
"What is this place?" He asked, looking around in awe. Even in a situation like this, he couldn't help but want to explore this new and unfamiliar place. This time he was having trouble telling if this was his own impulse or Maxxor's.
"It's a secret." Roxanne replied before adding in a despairing tone. "Aw man, I'm probably going to get into so much trouble just for showing you this place when Perim's watching. Elder Nik'alis would have my head if I actually gave you context."
It was very odd seeing a fully-grown creature almost nine feet tall acting like a little girl who didn't want to be caught doing something bad. She even looked smaller with the way her shoulders were hunched and her arms close together.
"Can you at least tell me if there are any more entrances we need to worry about?" Tom asked.
"Yes there is actually, but most of them are either too small for Milla'iin or I know where the rest of them are, come on!"
They spent the next ten minutes sealing off the entrances, having a few close calls. By the time they were done the cold wasn't a problem anymore, they were both panting from exertion. Tom even had to wipe a bit of sweat from his brow.
Once their hearts stopped pounding in their throats, they turned to each other with concerned looks.
"The Hell was that about?" Roxanne demanded in a panic. "What's Milla'iin doing here?!"
"Well, there are three possibilities I can think of. One, this is the biggest malfunction Chaotic has ever had, but that doesn't make sense because our attacks should still work on him." Tom listed, lifting one of Maxxor's fingers before lifting another, "Two this is some kind of elaborate prank, in which case I am going to personally hunt the asshole responsible down to kick their ass six ways to Sunday. Or three, and this is the scariest possibility, that's the actual for real Milla'iin and the M'arrillians have gotten into Chaotic."
"Oh dear God I hope it's a prank." Roxanne said hoarsely, Hinya's eyes wide in a horrified expression. "It'll be the unfunniest prank ever and I'd demand a shot at them too, but please let it be a prank. Because if that's the real Milla'iin, we are so totally and utterly beyond screwed."
"Not yet we're not," Tom protested, before reasoning at Roxanne's flat look, "Our attacks may not be working but we've still got a shot. I've currently got the memories and tactics of Maxxor and you're the Glacian who knows this place better than anyone else. Even if neither of us can use our attacks, there has got to be something-!"
Sometimes, Tom seriously wondered if some form of entity controlling fate had it out for him for some reason.
Because right then Maxxor's visage started to glitch out, soon followed by Hinya'iha. Before either Player had a chance to react, familiar but thoroughly unwelcome swirls of white and blue code appeared around them, transforming them back into their true human selves.
So now there they stood, staring at each other in a mixture of horror and shock as the severity of the situation slowly sealed around them like an invisible iron maiden.
"Okay," Tom said in a tight voice. "Now we're screwed."
Meanwhile in the Port Court
Chaotic was in a state of panic. The cacophonous noise seemed to make the very air vibrate. As soon as the M'arrillian had made his unwelcome appearance, the place had burst with the level of noise akin to a bomb. Players frantically contacted their friends to tell them what was going on and to get here to see. Demands of where the Hell the Code Masters were rang through the air. Robots flew all over the place in a state of panic, trying to get everyone to stay in their seats and calm down. Inane questions of 'what's going on' 'how is Milla'iin in the drome' 'is it a mistake' 'is that the real Milla'iin' and other questions that had been asked too many times already were assaulting their table from every side.
It was one of those moments were Kaz wished he had the same power behind his voice that Chaor did. Then he could just yell over the crowd to shut up and it would probably work.
As it was, he could barely hear himself think.
"Any word from the Code Masters?" Sarah asked, eyes glued to the screen with a morbidly silent Peyton. It really proved just how dire a situation was when Peyton had nothing to say. Sarah was shaking like she had a chill, and Kaz was having a hard time keeping his breath in check.
He kept having flashbacks of his dream from about a year ago, of creatures invading Chaotic. Up until a minute ago, the dream itself seemed pretty silly after a while. He and the others had a good laugh about the whole thing and how ridiculous it was, listing off about a dozen reasons why the creatures would have absolutely no reason to want to come to Chaotic or earth.
Now it was an all too terrifying reality. He half expected to look up and find Chaor glaring at him from above, or to find the Danian's breaking down a wall, or Mipedians terrorizing Chaotic-players. Hell, he was half surprised Maxxor wasn't here with some kind of rescue, though he did feel bad when he really thought about it.
He could only imagine the state Perim must be in. They had only just barely recovered from the first time the M'arrillians reared their ugly heads, and now they'd done the one thing that no one thought was possible.
They invaded Chaotic.
Well, that or this was an elaborate prank, and if that was the case, he was going to strangle the idiot responsible.
"No." He replied shortly, pressing the call button over and over to get through.
"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon," He hissed at his scanner, switching between glaring at it and the screen at his best friend trapped inside the drome.
Why weren't the Code Masters picking up!?
"AH!" Both of his friends exclaimed suddenly, Kaz's head whipping up to see what had happened. A curse slipped out as he saw Tom and FrostBlighter change back into humans, but remaining inside of Loc Arta-Halter. Their last defense against the M'arrillian, even if their attacks had been useless, had been stripped away, leaving them virtually defenseless inside a hyper-realistic simulation of Perim's equivalent to the Artic Circle.
He hit the 'call' button on his scanner all the more frantically.
"Come on pick up already dammit!" Kaz snapped.
His screen flashed and suddenly revealed the masked face of Code Master Crellan.
"What is it KidChaor?" He snapped impatiently.
"Code Master Crellan there is a huge emergency going on in the Amzen Drome!" Kaz exclaimed in a panic, "A M'arrillian is-!"
"DON'T YOU THINK WE ALREADY KNOW?!" Crellan suddenly screamed, making Kaz jump in his seat and scramble to catch his scanner. "WE'RE TRYING EVERYTHING TO STOP THE DAMN MATCH BUT IT ISN'T WORKING. WE'VE BEEN LOCKED OUT."
"Wh-What?!" Kaz exclaimed, horrified.
Not a prank.
Definitely not a prank.
Why the Hell would you lock out the Code Masters? If messing with the dromes and inciting a panic in both Chaotic and Perim wasn't enough to get you permanently banned, that surely would. How would you do that anyway? The Code Masters literally invented Chaotic, that's why they were the best of the best, that's why they were Code Masters. When you thought about it, they were the leaders of Chaotic, they were the ones in charge.
Locking the Code Masters out meant this was the real Milla'iin, and he probably intended to do some serious damage to the other two occupants once he found a way inside.
Crellan paused, audibly taking a breath before continuing much more calmly,
"We're trying everything we can to help your friend, and we could use your help. We're trying to reroute the power around the Amzen drome to force the doors open, but all of the screens around us have been taken offline so we can't see what's going on. I'd appreciate it if you'd tell us when something happens."
"Uh yeah, about that." He said, glancing at the screen grimly. "They just turned back into humans."
"They what." Crellan said flatly.
"They're humans again, and they're still in the giant pillar at Loc Arta-halter."
It was hard to tell with the mask, but KidChaor was fairly certain he just made Crellan's already bad day even worse.
"Thank you, that's important to know." Crellan said in a controlled tone, like he was doing everything he could not to blow up at Kaz again. "Keep us updated in case anything else happens."
The screen snapped blank.
Kaz traded timid looks with his friends, about to put his scanner down when it suddenly rang again. He looked down expecting to see Crellan's name but was instead met with the word 'Herculeon.'
"Leon?" Kaz said incredulously. "The Hell does he want?"
He shook his head suddenly snapped, "Screw him, whatever it is, it can wait!"
He hit the ignore button and turned his attention back to the screen.
Back in the Drome
"I don't suppose you have anything useful in that pack of yours." Tom asked lamely, watching the Glacian player pace the room nervously. They were seated around a large table with lots of large crystals lining the walls and lighting the room. It was cold and Tom was shivering, but compared to outside it was more than tolerable. He was pretty sure he really shouldn't try to spend too long in this place. Even if he had the ability to make any and all frostbite vanish without a trace, he'd rather avoid the memory all together.
"Well, a few things actually." Roxanne replied before setting her pack on the table with a mixture of a clatter and a thunk, "I've got my ice skates, my coat, my gloves, an extra pair of gloves-you might want these-"
She tossed a pair of black gloves to Tom before continuing to unpack her bag while listen items off, Tom's expression getting increasingly more dumbfounded,
"Uh, a thermos of hot water, pocket knife, pocket warmers, my Dad's binoculars, extra set of clothes…"
"What don't you have in there?!" Tom suddenly demanded.
"Emergency food that I forgot and the extra coat I usually bring?" She replied with a sheepish grin, before admitting miserably with a hang of her head, "That I purposefully left behind because I wanted to bring my skates, man that was stupid! Necessities over commodities, how many freaking times has Hinya hammered that into my head!?"
She punctuated the word 'freaking' with a stomp her foot, turning her back on Tom as she muttered to herself. It was like watching a child panic about being caught for doing something bad.
…which was probably exactly what he was watching.
"Were you planning on going on a scan quest after our match?" Tom asked a bit hesitantly. He wasn't used to people talking to themselves when he was right in front of them.
"No, I'd just gotten back from Glacier Plains." Roxanne replied, turning her attention back to him. "This is what I normally bring. Well, minus the skates and add the food and extra coat. You gotta come prepared to Glacier Plains. Which, I didn't."
She added with a miserable sigh.
"You seem pretty prepared to me." Tom said.
"The difference between 'pretty' prepared and 'completely' prepared can mean the difference between life and death." Roxanne replied tonelessly, like she had been told something similar many times. She dropped into the seat opposite Tom with a flop. "If we were anywhere else in Glacier Plains we would be in deep trouble without that extra coat. Like legit risk of one of us ending up with severe frostbite, or even freezing to death, deep."
"Really? What's the difference between here and anywhere else?"
"It's the…" Roxanne began, her hand raising in a gesture before squeaking and blurting out, "It's a secret!"
"I'm going to get 'it's a secret' a lot as an answer, aren't I?" Tom asked with a flat look.
"Not unless you become a Glacian player." She said with an awkward grin and wince. "Which, let me be the first to warn you, is not easy."
"No thanks, I like being an Overworld Player." He replied.
"Kind of figured," Roxanne said with a chuckle. "I'd actually be kind of suspicious if you had said otherwise."
"What, why?"
"I've heard a few things about you, namely how loyal you are to the Overworld and Maxxor. Nobody would switch their deck when they're so close to the actual tribe." Roxanne said with a shrug. "If you had said you wanted to be one, I'd figure there was either something serious up or you were trying to be a spy for Maxxor."
"Hey!" Tom exclaimed defensively.
"I don't mean that as an insult!" Roxanne exclaimed quickly before adding as she scratched the back of her neck, "I'm sorry, when you hang around the Glacians as much as I do, you get mildly paranoid whether you like it or not."
"We're getting off track," Tom huffed, flopping back into his seat a bit childishly. He glanced around before sitting back up and picking the binoculars with a thoughtful look. "Hey can I borrow these?"
"What for?"
"There was something Milla'iin was carrying before, and I want to find out what it was. I noticed it when we first ran in here but couldn't see what it was." Tom explained.
"Oh, if that's the case I know a great spot we can get a good look from!" Roxanne exclaimed eagerly, leaping to her feet as she gestured towards a flight of stairs in the other room. "C'mon!"
Meanwhile in the Port Court
Chaotic was still very loud, but at least Kaz's ears were no longer ringing. People were still coming in from both Perim and Chaotic in a frenzy; over half of every Chaotic-Player that had their own code must've been crowding the place by now. Some of the robots had taken to shepherding newer arrivals into less densely populated parts of Chaotic. He was glad H'earring wasn't around, or else the poor guy would've ended up with the mother of all headaches by now.
Actually he was pretty sure he'd have the mother of all headaches by the time this was over.
Kaz's scanner rang and he answered it when Code Master Crellan's name came up.
"Any update?"
"They're okay, Frostblighter has a bunch of stuff they can use to survive. Tom thinks Milla'iin's got something and they're trying to figure out what it is." Kaz reported, before asking nervously, "What about your end?"
"No good," Crellan replied shortly before ending the call abruptly.
"Anything?" Sarah asked, Kaz shaking his head grimly.
His scanner rang again, and he barely glanced at it before frowning.
"Leon. Again? Go away!" He snapped before ignoring the call.
Back in the Drome
Tom and Roxanne had clambered up to a small enclave with a tiny opening that served for a window. The Overworld-Player was on his knees and had the binoculars pressed to his eyes, following the movements of the blue and yellow M'arrillian. The Glacian-Player was right behind him, fidgeting in a mixture of impatience and anxiety. He was having trouble focusing on the coiled tentacle and what was inside as the chieftain moved, trying to find another pathway that wasn't there.
"Well?" Roxanne asked impatiently, tapping her boot against the floor as she folded her arms.
"I can't tell...yet..." Tom snapped back testily. "He's moving too much! Wait a second!"
Milla'iin suddenly paused to consider the pillar with his one eye, giving Tom the chance he needed to focus on the object the M'arrillian carried.
"It's..." He began before trailing off, his jaw dropping slightly, "No way..."
"What?" Roxanne asked anxiously,
"It can't be..." He dismissed, twisting the settings to get a closer look. He visibly blanched with a gasp, "Oh my-! It is!"
"What?!" Roxanne repeated crossly.
"It's a scanner!"
"WHAT?!" Roxanne shrieked, prompting Tom to cover the ear nearest her and give her a look. "I'm sorry, but are you serious?!"
"Look!" He said, giving her the binoculars. She fell into his place as he moved to give her a chance to look. "It's hard to tell because it's a Mipedian scanner so it blends in but..."
He was cut off by Roxanne's own gasp.
"IT IS!" She confirmed in a mixture of confusion and shock. "What the heck is he doing with a scanner?! Wait… You don't think that's how he got in do you?"
"What else? I mean he hacked the Drome, maybe he hacked the scanner!" Tom said.
"That's really scary to think about," Roxanne shuddered. "Because if they can hack the one scanner…"
"They could hack more." Tom finished, looking equally horrified.
Meanwhile in the Port Court
The Players outside of the dromes heard the two's theory and the noise level skyrocketed once more.
Kaz wasted no time in contacting Code Master Crellan.
"Milla'iin has a scanner!" He immediately blurted at the Code Master before the elder had a chance to react.
"What?"
"Milla'iin has a scanner and Tom thinks that's how he got into Chaotic!" Kaz explained quickly.
"What?!" Crellan repeated incredulously. "That's impossible, a scanner wouldn't work for a creature unless...!"
He suddenly trailed off, letting out a horrified gasp before whipping towards someone out of frame.
"Imthor, where's Churrel?!"
The call suddenly ended.
"Code Master Crellan?!" Kaz exclaimed uselessly, the Code Master ignoring his attempts to call back. Kaz scowled as he was called again but by Herculeon.
"Not NOW Leon!" He snapped through gritted teeth.
He hit ignore again before slamming his scanner down with as much force as he dared, turning his attention to the screen.
Back in the Drome
"We have to find a way to tell the other tribes!" Tom exclaimed scrambling to get back down towards where they had left Roxanne's things. "We needed a set of binoculars to see, there's no way they're going to be able to see on those crystals!"
"What do you suggest we do?" Roxanne asked, climbing down after him. "Those crystals don't have sound!"
"I know!" Tom snapped back before taking a deep breath before asking, "I don't suppose you've got pencil and paper in that pack."
"How would that be useful in Glacier Plains?!" Came Roxanne's indignant reply,
"Didn't think so." Tom said with a disappointed sigh, "Can I borrow that pocket knife instead?"
She gave him a confused look before complying. She jumped as he suddenly jammed the tip of it into the wooden table and began carving out his message. It was a very crude drawing of the M'arrilian symbol with a much larger and squiggly lined scanner next it, an arrow pointing from the symbol to the scanner finishing the carving.
"Uh, how is this supposed to help?" Roxanne couldn't help but inquire as he finished.
"I'm hoping whatever records the matches will give the creatures a view of this since we're right next to it." Tom said, handing back Roxanne her knife before she shook her head.
"Keep it, I have an extra one and you might need it sooner or later." She said.
"So, now what?" She asked as he pocketed the knife.
"We have to do something about Milla'iin." Tom decided after thinking for a moment. "We need to make him leave somehow. Is there anything, anything you can tell me about this place that might be helpful?"
Roxanne considered his question carefully, taking a full minute of false starts before finally deciding,
"Well there are these big rocks up near the top..."
Meanwhile in Chaotic
As the two players formed their plan of attack, Kaz looked like he wanted to strangle someone, more specifically a blue-haired Overworld fanatic who clearly did not know when to quit.
Kaz was visibly gritting his teeth as he glowered at his scanner with a look that would've made Chaor proud. It had been going off practically every thirty seconds for the past five minutes, all from the formerly undefeated player. Both of his friends had scooted away from him, seeing the blow up coming from a mile away and wanting to get out of the crossfire while they still could. They were giving him worried looks occasionally as he seethed about the annoying Overworlder.
It wasn't unusual per-say. The Overworld Player looking for a rematch did occasionally challenge him, but he usually refused because he had more important things to worry about.
But was he really this. freaking. desperate. for. a. REMATCH?!
CHAOTIC WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF A CRISIS.
His nightmare from over a year ago had finally come true and Herculeon chose now of all times to get stalkerishly vehement about a rematch?!
Kaz snarled as his scanner rang again and the caller ID read Herculeon for the umpteenth time. He snatched up his scanner and violently pounded the answer button.
That's it.
The Overworld player had gotten on his last nerve.
"LEON, TAKE A GODDAMN HINT ALREADY AND F-!" Kaz bellowed at his scanner, only to cut off with a sound like a lawnmower hitting a rock.
"MAXXOR?!"
