Hello there. I'm working on Chapter 13 already, so I hope I won't keep you waiting too long. As I've said, the story is finally getting where I'd always wanted it to be, and I hope you're all likint it as well. Please review!

Chapter 12 – The Black Brotherhood

Infinite City

"It's official, everyone. The system will be updated to allow for conquering the NPC cities within two weeks." Lolidragon announced.

"Great, that mean we can formally organize our troops. Have we decided already witch city our liege lord will be taking first?" Madam White Bird passed her eyes through the generals present, then let them rest upon Prince.

"I want to take Star City! They had some amazing European cuisine there!"

The liege lord had spoken and – no matter how lame the reasons – preparations were started to take Star City within 15 days.

Real Life

"Oh, Yu An..." Lian Si Piao sighed. Leaning against him, her lips caressed his skin as she spoke. "... I wish we could stay here all night long, that the amusement park wasn't going to close and we didn't have to log in Second Life"

"We don't have to." He whispered back. "Even if this park closes, there are still plenty of places we can go. Plenty of things we can do."

This time, he had decided it wasn't too soon for the Ferris wheel, and in two more turns they would have the dazzling view from the top for themselves.

"Sigh... It's just that I promised my friends that I would log on tonight. There's a bit of a situation going on..."

"What is happening?"

"Well..." even though what she was about to say worried her, Lian Si Piao assumed a satisfied tone. She seemed to enjoy being able to provide such information. "Fan is in Moon City. He's trying to rally an army go against Prince as soon as the update is out, and that is really bad."

"Well, but if nobody goes there and rally n army, wouldn't be Moon City unprotected anyways?"

"Yeah, but... well, nobody wants to go against Prince, really. So no one wants to side up with Fan."

Bai Yu An didn't have the slightest clue as to who was Fan, but he gathered it was some weirdo with a grudge against Prince.

"I see. But why is that? Prince is just another player. The game wouldn't be fun at all if players couldn't compete against each other."

Lian Si Piao sat up, so that she could look him straight in the eye. She seemed slightly in disbelief, but said nothing, so Yu An continued.

"Either way, it's not as much about who you're fighting against as it is about who you're fighting for. I'm from Moon City myself. I met my friends there – or at least around there. I would hate to have my city taken, so I'm ready to put up a fight with whoever wants to take it."

"Wait... so you are saying... you are not Prince?!"

"What?"

"I thought you didn't want to meet in Second Life because you were Prince and it would look bad for your fans if you had a girlfriend, but now you're saying you are from Moon City and that you're not Prince."

"Well... I told you I wasn't Prince. Twice, actually."

"Yes, but I thought you were saying it like 'I am not Prince, Prince is just my character in a game I play'!"

"It's not my fault that you just assumed that. Now don't you tell me you're mad at me because I'm not Prince."

"I'm not mad at you because of that. I'm mad at you because... why can't we meet on line? If you were Prince you would have a reason, but now... do you have another girlfriend on line, is that it?!"

"What?! No!" They had finally reached the top of the Ferris wheel, and were too busy having an argument to notice the view. "I just figured it was better this way. It's just a rule that I set for myself."

"Then can't you open an exception for me?"

"No."

"Why not? I'm your girlfriend!"

"Yes, but we've only just met!"

"You know what? I can't date a guy that doesn't want to spend time with me."

"But Li Piao, I do want to spend time with you! Just not in game..."

"Liar. You're probably cheating me with some chick you met on line!"

It was no use arguing, and as soon as they landed, their date and their dating were over. Just like that.

Sighing, Yu An went to look at his cellphone contacts. A girl's name caught his eye. Wu Yue. If he wasn't mistaken, she was the one that was very particular about her coffee.

"Hey, Wu Yue, there is this new coffee shop that opened in the mall. I wanted to try it, and you are really a connoisseur. Are you free on Tuesday?"

Then, reflecting on how short lived his relationships were proving themselves, he scanned his contacts a little bi more.

"Hey, Liu Ling Ling, are you free on Friday?"

"Hey, Crow. I didn't expect you to log so soon. Wasn't tonight date night?" Jet asked as soon as he logged.

"Didn't go very well. But I found out something interesting about the update."

"Prince is going to Star City first." Jet cut him.

"And a weirdo called Fan that was one of his enemies is trying to get Moon City to fight him." Dash added.

"..." Crow looked at them. Guess they'd beat him. And Star City was actually news.

"I wouldn't like Star City to be taken, but it's Moon City I'm worried about." Pen said. She had been pretty upset that Crow and Jet had attacked her two against one (it didn't matter she completely owned them, it was still two against one) and that Dash tried to deceive her (it didn't matter that she hadn't fallen for it for a split second, he had tried to deceive her), but after she got over that she proved herself a real asset. She was book-wise - her name came from "The pen is mightier than the sword" - and almost as good a strategist as Jet. She was also working into forcing some sort of honor code that they could guide their robberies by. They could be ruthless, alright, but ruthless with an honor code had style. She continued. "If they don't rally an army, Prince will go for them soon enough, and the place will be Prince-town. But if it's Fan's army..."

"Then it will be Anti-Prince town." DeeDee finished the thought. "No neutral grounds."

They were all quiet for a couple minutes.

"Dash... how is your fame status again?" Pen asked finally.

"With yesterday's job, it just increased to 'Admired', why?"

She didn't answer, looking lost in thought. She then turned to Crow. "Crow... I know we've never actually said it, but I think you know that we consider you the leader of the party, right?"

Under the dark elf skin, it was pretty hard to blush, but they could note how embarrassed he was because he almost lost his footing with the surprise.

"No way! Me? A leader?" He looked for the team mates that had been with him longer. "Besides, Jet is the one who actually gets things done."

"I get things done, it's true." Jet started looking at him... weird. Whatever was it that Pen was thinking, it seemed like Jet was starting to catch up. "But only after you decide what to do."

Dashing Mysterious Hero was Crow's only hope now.

"Don't look at me, pal. I hadn't quite thought of it that way, and I don't think you are 'bossy' or anything, but we do tend to follow you."

"You recruited us." Doomsday Device reminded him. "So I know I at least have always thought of you as the boss."

Defeated, Crow accepted the title. In another untimely show of omnipresence, the system beeped:

System Notice: Party leader set as player Crow. Player Crow has gained ability 'Leadership'. Player Crow's Charisma has increased.

"I suddenly feel a lot of pressure..." he complained.

"Please don't do. We like your style of leading without realizing it. Just keep being yourself." Pen said, but you could see her head was still scheming something, so she sounded far away.

"She's right. We wouldn't be able to cope with a bossy Crow." Jet provoked, and Dash teased her.

"Because the only one in this team who has a right to be bossy is you."

"Hey! I can be pretty bossy too!" DeeDee laughed.

They started a playful argument, and Crow finally came to be at ease with his newly acquired status. Then they were abruptly taken out of it by Pen.

"I think I know how we can keep it neutral. Moon City, I mean." Now she had their undivided attention. "We have two leader figures people can flock around, and three beautiful girls, if I can say that about myself. We should have enough convincing power to get a few people thinking about it, especially if we find the players that have pretensions of ruling the city. They should help rallying more people, at least to avoid Moon City being taken by outsiders."

"But how are we supposed to do that?" Crow voiced the main concern.

"Well..." DeeDee said slowly. "I do have a psychology degree, and I may or may not have an specialization in 'Mob Psychology'..."

"..." the whole party was speechless.

"You are a devil." Jet said at last. Then she hugged the mage. "So glad to have you in the team!"

The next fifteen days (nights) were dedicated to increasing the fame of the whole group, and starting rumors about the upcoming war. In pubs all around Moon City, two or three beautiful girls were witnessed having conversations like:

"I hope Prince doesn't conquer our town. He plays nice in front of his fans, but my cousin went to the backstage of his show and she told me he is an awful person."

"My friend that lives in Infinite City told me he rules there with an iron fist, and that they have a lot of taxes."

Sometimes, a blond, heroic looking young man would be with them, and say soothing things like:

"Don't worry. I'm sure he won't be able to get our city if all the strong players we have here fight together."

Meanwhile, shadowed figures would inquire about the most influential players in town, and be overheard in back alleys and dark corners, whispering about how Fan couldn't be let loose in their town, else they'd become even more of a target to Prince.

It didn't take long before important looking players started tapping Dashing Mysterious Hero on the shoulder.

"I couldn't help but listening to what you've said about Prince. Do you think he will target us next?"

"I think that is likely. Sun City is the biggest of the NPC Cities, so he is bound to save it for last."

They would then sit and have a few drinks, discussing how they could possibly stop Prince from conquering their town, and those players would invariably leave digesting the following ideas:

"Prince may be the big name, but the truth is they need four to five teams to do the whole city administrative work. We can have an alliance governing Moon City just as well, and if it's about who will sit on the throne, we can just make it a freaking republic. Infinite City may be as big as Moon City, but most of it's population is composed of fan girls and low levels. We can beat them."

It wasn't long as well before they were presented with another problem.

"You know, guys, our party won't have a collective increase of fame unless we officially register as a team." Dash pointed out after another robbery.

"Now that you mention it... Pen and I have been saying we already belong to a team, but sometimes people ask us the name of our team and we have to come up with some really lame stuff..."

"Well, we do need to be a team to increase our collective fame, but I think you'll still have to come up with lame names. Unless you want people to know you are part of a notorious group of robbers."

Jet was right, and they spend the next couple of minutes discussing possible names. It had to be cool. It had to have an impact. It had to make they sound mean. It had to give an impression of power.

"How about... 'The Black Brotherhood'?"

"But Crow, we can't be a 'brotherhood'. Our team is sixty percent girls."

"Exactly! That's why no one will ever suspect us! Can you imagine? We are there, entering town, and the guards are like.. 'Oh, we can't let those robbers, the Black Brotherhood, in.' and the girls are like 'Black brotherhood? We are so scared!' and the guards are like 'No worry, misses, those bad boys will never get to you as long as we are guarding this town!' Right under their noses!"

Silence.

Crow was about to give up on his idea, when all the other team members started grinning.

"You know what? We love it."