Chapter 9, hehe let's do this!

" Morning, Noa." Bael yawned as he stretched, walking outside his house. Noa frowned, looking at the board.

" Bael, take a look at this." Noa pointed to one of the flyers on the board, Bael walking over to it. His eyes widened.

" What? No! Who's doing a raid boss summoning quest?!" Bael asked shocked, Noa sighing as she crossed her arms.

" Heather and Maya somehow managed to do a quest together... but that's not possible. Not without a hacking trait." Bael mumbled. Noa rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

" Weeeell... Actually..." She sighed, Bael raising an eyebrow. Noa coughed hard as she adverted her gaze.

" Noa... what did you do?" Bael asked as looked at her, Noa raising her hands in front of her defensively.

" I'm sorry, dear!" Noa squeaked out, before crossing her arms. " They must have copied my trait on a drive while I was asleep!" Noa told him, Bael raising an eyebrow.

" That's possible?" He asked, Noa just shrugged.

" Everything in this world is digits, like a computer. It makes sense for it to be so easy to copy something so small." Noa told him, Bael crossing his arms.

" Is there a way we can get in there and stop them?" He asked, Noa, shaking her head.

" Even if we did, it would be too late. Any second now the raid boss will summon."


You sure we should be doing this?" Maya asked, hugging Heather's shoulders as she walked behind her, jumping at every little thing. Heather sighed.

" Yes. Look, there's only one way to summon a raid boss. You have to destroy the eggs." She told her, helping her up a nearby cliff. Thunder boomed in the sky as Maya yelped, summoning her keyblade. They were climbing to the top of the mountain in the dwarf woodlands.

" So..." she sighed when she realized there was no threat, dismissing her keyblade. "Killing the eggs will give us a raid boss?" Heather nodded.

" All raid bosses are female, kill their eggs and make them angry, beat the crap out of them and gain the XP!" Heather told her, Maya frowning.

" I just realized how cruel we are toward our enemies..." Maya shuddered as she climbed the mountain. Rain began to drop down as they reached the top, looking at the egg. Heather tapped her glasses, the world around her turning a mint green as she looked at the small egg, a set of stats appearing right next to it.

" It's only a level 2." Heather mustered a smirk, Maya kneeling down to it. She smiled softly.

" It's kinda cute..." She whispered, the egg getting to its feet and tackled Maya, Maya screaming.

" Get it off of me!" She whined as The creature pulled on her hair, head butting her in the back. Heather burst out laughing. Those things don't do any damage, but they sure are hilarious!

" Here let me help you." Heather sighed as she grabbed the egg and threw it off the side of the cliff like it was nothing, smirking at her as she offered her a hand. " A level 2 hmm?" She laughed, Maya, groaning as she grabbed Heather's hand.

" Whatever, I didn't think it would fight me! It was so adorable." Maya told her, Heather laughing. Their quarrel, however, was cut short when an earthquake began, Maya grabbing Heather's hand to prevent her from falling off the side of the cliff.

That did little to no help, however, as the ground crumbled beneath them, the two screaming as they fell off the cliff.

" MAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAA!" Heather screamed, grabbing the girl and hugging her. " DO SOMETHING!" Maya gritted her teeth as she summoned her keyblade, opening a corridor as the two fell through, ending up back in the fountain square. The earthquake was here too.

" What's going on?" Maya whispered, Heather, looking wildly around her.

" This is what you wanted, isn't it? A raid boss..." Bael summoned his keyblade as he walked up from behind them. Heather and Maya looked to the distance, gaping at what they saw. A giant Trickmaster was summoned, the raid boss crushing houses as he walked around the Daybreak town.

" Heck yeah, it is!" Maya summoned her keyblade. " Once we defeat it, we'll gain tons of XP!" Bael looked back at her angerly.

" You won't be doing anything like that." He growled at her, Heather gasping.

" But why?! We summoned it, we should get to kill it!" Heather argued, Voreck, Pro and Noa coming up from behind them.

" You should have never summoned it in the first place." Bael told her, " I believe I have said in the past summoning raid bosses is strictly forbidden in this party. There is a reason why." He looked at the boss. " That thing can kill you. Is gaining XP and getting stronger really worth it?" Bael asked, Heather and Maya, frowning.

" I knew you wouldn't understand..." Heather whispered as she sighed, summoning her keyblade. " Bael... Voreck... Pro... Noa... We're sorry..." She raised her keyblade in the air, Bael's eyes widening as he lunged, trying to knock the keyblade out of her hand.

" Paralysis." She breathed, electricity surging through her keyblade as it touched the group of four, Bael, Pro, Voreck and Noa falling to the ground.

" Heather! What are you...?" Pro asked, Noa and Voreck gritting their teeth as they tried to stand up. It was no use.

" The paralysis should fade in about ten minutes." She told them, turning to Maya. " Let's do this." Maya slowly nodded, casting an uneasy look back at the four before following Heather over to the raid boss.

" Welp, that happened." A Chirithy sighed as it popped into life. Voreck glanced back at the Chirithy, his eyes widening.

" Hey, what are you doing here?" Voreck asked. The Chirithy was Vorecks. The Chirithy shrugged.

" Seemed like a good fight to watch." The Chirithy told them, Noa looking at him confused.

" Good...? You think they can beat it?" Noa asked the Chirithy snorting.

" You wanna know why they were weak at first? They didn't have beast stones. However, now that they do... The power of a magic user is very interesting indeed. Just watch." He told the group, Bael frowning as he looked at the raid boss.

" Just don't die..." He whispered.


Heather shuffled through her pocket, pulling out a beast stone. " Do you think it's gonna work?" She asked Maya, Maya frowning.

" It has too." She told her, pulling out her purple beast stone. " I'm not sure what feeling I'm supposed to feel yet..." Heather smirked at her, her beast stone beginning to glow.

" Don't worry, you will." She smiled, raising her stone in the air, electricity circling around her as her teeth began to grow sharp. Her smile dropped to a frown, the frown turning angry as her eyes flashed wildly. Her white hair turned blonde, her eyes turning yellow as her fingernails grew sharp, Heather summoning her keyblade as she charged at the raid boss, slashing down at one of the arms. The boss roared as he raised his torch in the air, knocking Heather to the ground. She groaned, getting to her feet only to stumble back to the ground. She looked behind her, her eyes widening at her feet. They seemed to be crushed, her legs twisted in sickening positions.

" Crap..." Heather breathed, clenching her fists as her heart beat sped up, Heather closing her eyes as her HP bar appeared in her mind, the HP ticking down to 0 as time went by, almost like a clock. She quickly opened her eyes, shuffling through her pocket for a healing medal.

That was when the beast roared once more, his torch aiming toward Maya. Maya's eyes widened as her heart skipped a beat, her keyblade summoning in her hand. Heather stopped cold when she looked at her, the color draining from her face.

No. Was she gonna...?

" Maya! What the hell are you thinking?!" Heather yelled, her blonde hair and yellow eyes vanishing as her normal look appeared, her eyes widening. There's no way she could block a raid boss attack!

Heather gritted her teeth, looking back at her legs as the raid boss unleashed its attack. There was no time. She got to her feet and stumbled a few steps before jumping toward her, reaching out a hand toward Maya. Perhaps, there might have been a way to knock her out of the way. Time seemed to slow as Heather inched closer and closer. The emotion seemed to fade from her eyes as she closed them tight. She was too late. The flames had engulfed them both.


" What the hell is going on out there?" Voreck asked when a blast sounded in the distance, Noa casting a hopeless glance toward Bael. He was struggling against the paralysis, trying to move his legs but with no avail.

" Dammit!" He slammed his fist on the ground, fire lit in his eyes. Pro frowned.

" Bael don't push yourself. Paralysis is impossible to get out of until the player casting it has performed a specific number of attacks." Pro told him, Bael gritting his teeth.

" I don't care." He growled. " They could be hurt or worse. I'm not gonna give up!" He yelled, pushing off the ground. As soon as he did so, the paralysis faded away, Bael landing on his feet as he stumbled in shock. Noa, Voreck, and Pro's eyes widened.

" How are you out of it, and we aren't?" Noa asked with shock, Bael clenching his fists as he ran toward a window sill and used it as a boost to get him to the roof, jumping from roof to roof.


Heather opened her eyes to see herself inside the fire, a bright purple aura surrounding her. Her eyes widened when she looked at her hand.

" Is this... darkness? No..." Darkness had more of an inky black look to it. No, this was poison. The poison had healed her, all of her wounds disappearing. Heather cast a look to her left, her eyes widening when she looked at Maya. She was holding her head in a fetal position, poison surrounding her. She looked up, tears staining her purple eyes.

Fear.

It was then that Heather noticed her situation. She was floating in a sphere of poison, the poison blocking the fire attack. Soon enough, it disappeared along with the poison, Heather dropping to the ground as she looked at Maya. She was on her feet, looking at her hand. She had grown claws like a cat, her hair grown long to her feet, purple highlights in her hair. On her head, were a set of cat ears. Her teeth had grown to the size of fangs, poison surrounding her like tentacles.

Heather's eyes widened when Maya leaped off the ground, her claws growing extra long like a wolverine as she slashed through one of the Trickmaster's arms, it falling to the ground with a loud CRASH! Heather's widened eyes softened as she smiled at Maya, who dropped back to the ground and lunged again for the next arm, narrowly avoiding the flames.


" C'mon Maya! All or nothing!" Heather placed her bet on the table as Maya looked up from her book, frowning at her.

" Why would you waste your money? You already know I'm gonna beat you." Maya sighed as she shook her head, Before placing her own bet on the table. She placed her elbow on the table, raising her hand. " Whatever, I could go for some extra cash."

Heather smirked before placing her elbow on the table, gripping Maya's hand. " Whatever, I'm totally gonna win this time for sure! I've been doing extra pushups!" Heather smirked, as the two arm wrestled.

Bang!

Heather's eyes widened as she looked at her hand, placed firmly on the table. Maya gazed boredly at it as if she had done it a hundred times, before taking the cash and placing it next to her book.

" I win again!" Maya flashed Heather a peace sign before sitting back down and going back to her book.


" ...And then when I went up to the counter, he was sharpening a knife! I screamed and ran away..." Yoshi told Heather as she giggled, sitting on top of a school desk. She was wearing a school uniform, a button up top and plaid skirt and a tie, tennis shoes on her feet.

" I've met Voreck, he's not that scary. Different... but not scary. I was there when you left, his little sister Faul yelled at him for scaring the customers again." She told Yoshi, Yoshi crossing his arms.

" You met that physco alone? You should have gone with someone at least, a girl needs protection!" Yoshi told her, Heather punching him in the shoulder.

" Maya went with me. That was enough." Heather told him, casting a glance to the girl who had her head in another book. " She's as hard as nails! Watch." She walked over to Maya, placing a hand on the desk. " Put em up."

Maya looked up from her book and at her before sighing, placing her elbow on the desk. " Fine."

" Aw man! Chicks fighting? Sign me up!" Heather turned to see Maru smirking at the two, a crowd of girls but mostly boys surrounding them. When Maya turned her head, her eyes skipped a beat as she breathed a breath.

Bang!

" Hey... Maya? We're you listening? I said go." Heather frowned at her when Maya looked back. She looked kinda dazed like she was staring off into space. She stared at her chocolate colored hand, placed firmly on the table.

" Hey, round too! Let's try it kay? Show em what you're made of!" Heather told her, picking up the two hands as she placed them back. Murmurs of confusion surrounded them.

" Ready? Go!" Bang!

Heather looked back at Maya, Maya releasing her hand from her grip as if she had been burned, getting up from her seat as she left the classroom.


" Hey, what was with you back there?" Heather asked as she walked a little ahead of her on the way home from school. Maya frowned, hugging her book.

" Don't ask me to do anything like that in front of people again, please." She whispered, Heather, frowning when she turned to her.

" But why? Your strength's awesome! I wish I was that strong with my upper body. I'm pretty strong with my lower body but still! You should be proud-"

" Just quit it, will you!?" Maya interrupted her, Heather stopping as her smile dropped, Maya looking at the ground.

" I want to be the damsel in distress, okay!? I want to be the one to find true love my knight in shining armor! I want him to sweep me off my feet and save him when I need him most and for me to support him and...and-" Maya stopped and sighed. " I didn't ask to be so strong, it's just the way I am. So I fake it. Guy's don't like the strong type." Heather frowned at her, stuffing her hands in the pockets of her jacket.

" Kay...you're secrets safe with me. Hey, want to go play a prank on Voreck and see how long we have to survive?"


Heather smirked as she gripped her beast stone tightly. She looked at Maya, the tentacles of poison binding the Trickmaster. Heather took a deep breath, her fangs growing as her hair turned blonde and her eyes yellow, her claws growing long as electricity sizzled around her.

" Heh... guess you're not faking anymore are you?" She whispered to herself, opening her eyes, anger flashing in her eyes. " This thing damaged our town... I'll rip it to shreds!" She lunged, Maya following her lead as the two drew a hand in synchronization, Maya slashing from the right shoulder down to the left leg, Heather slashing from the left shoulder down to the right leg, creating an X as poison and electricity mixed together.

The raid boss fell, fading away into darkness as the poison and electricity faded from the girls, the two falling to the ground in exhaustion. Two screens appeared in front of them.

Congratulations! Level 120 has now reached 240! They both read and soon disappeared.


Noa ran forward, stopping right next to Bael, Pro and Voreck stopping close behind. Bael, who was sitting on the edge of the roof, had his chin in a cupped hand as he smiled softly at the two unconscious girls.

" Did you watch them?" Noa asked Bael, who nodded, getting up as he shuffled through his pocket, pulling out two Tinkerbell healing medals. He threw them in the air like frisbee's, the medals healing the two girl's injuries.

" We don't need to protect them anymore." He breathed. Ever since day one, when the two girls stumbled upon his party as level 1's and no knowledge of how the game worked, Bael had taken it upon himself to teach them how it worked, almost like he was raising children. Guess at some point everyone has to grow up.

" Voreck, can you help me?" Pro asked him as Voreck nodded, jumping down from the roof as the two helped pick up the girls, Bael jumping down to help them as well. Noa began to follow their lead, however, she had turned around to see Aced.

" Aced..." Noa breathed, the foreteller putting a hand on his mask.

" I'm sorry." He told her before warping behind her, knocking her out cold. He slung her over her shoulder and disappeared in a corridor of light, Bael turning around just when the portal disappeared, shrugging, thinking it was nothing as he turned back to the four.