I hope reading this chapter will be as thrilling for you as writing it was for me. Please review!
Chapter Twenty Nine - The Greatest Heist in the History of Second Life
Second Life's sun hadn't risen yet when Prince's army marched out of Infinite Castle in all their glory. People flocked at the main street to see the soldiers with their sparkling armor and waving banners.
From amidst the crowd, Crow put his fingers in his mouth and whistled.
"Can you stop that?" Dash scolded.
"C'mon, it's a joyous day." They disappeared into a back alley.
At night, their black cloaks increased sharply their stealth status. They hoped to make good use of that before the sun rose.
"Care for a lift?"
"My low agility status would appreciate it very much."
Crow joined his hands to make a support and help Dee propel herself to a rooftop. Dash helped Band likewise, and the others were able to climb on their own.
"How much longer until checkpoint A?"
Up and up they went, for Infinite City was well planned. The castle was in the very center and the closer the buildings were to the castle, the taller they became, making sure eventual archers would have clear shots on any external invaders.
"Getting tired, Dash?"
"Getting sick. All this jumping over roofs is causing me vertigo."
"How about a little break, Jet?" Crow asked. After all, she had been the one to come up with the schedule.
"No can do. If we don't reach checkpoint B by sunrise, we lose twelve points of stealth."
Everyone knew secrecy was their only chance to succeed, so they kept climbing.
"There it is: checkpoint A."
Crow was the first to reach it. They stood on the tallest roof outside the castle walls.
"And there is our deadline." Jet indicated the eastern sky. Pink and orange denounced the approach of the sun.
The gap between their position and the wall was too great for even Crow to jump, and for that reason they had prepared a grapple. During the planning phase they had argued hard about who should throw it. The archer had superior accuracy, but perhaps lacked the strength. In the end, they decided to trust One Man Band's buffs, so now Crow prepared to launch the grapple while the bard played an upbeat Strength Buff on his drum.
"I think I'm good to go."
Band immediately changed instruments, activating the Sonar ability.
"The coast is clear" he ok-ed.
Crow swung the rope twice, and let go.
CLANK.
"What's that?"
The metal hook clashed against the wall, attracting the guards.
Two guards came running from opposite directions. They exchanged a few brief words, and scanned the area looking for the source of the sound. They were slightly on edge, with half their contingent gone due to the war.
Particularly, there was a rooftop they thought was uncomfortably close to the wall, but nothing moved on it. They leaned down. At the base of the other building a stray cat chased mice, a trash can knocked over only a few steps from it.
Both guards failed to notice the metal hook attached to a rope, floating one foot in the air, just across the street at the base of the castle walls.
"They are gone now."
System Notice: Invisibility Barrier deactivated.
"Phew." Doomsday Device raised her staff, and the grapple flew back up.
"Magnera, saving lives for a change, huh?" Pen smiled.
"It wouldn't be enough without your barrier."
"Yeah, but this skill is still new, so it completely depletes my mana every time... and Band, the cat was the perfect finishing touch."
"I was lucky." He shrugged the praise. "My 'Piper Song' is useless if I try to summon something that is not in the area."
As they congratulated themselves and caught their breath, Jet looked worried at the horizon.
Suddenly they were hit by the sun's warm light.
System Notice: World status has changed to "Daytime". Black Robe's Stealth status has decreased by two.
"And that's twelve points, total. I don't know if we'll make it to checkpoint B anymore..."
"You had a plan B, right?"
"Plan B was to use Pen's Bouncy Barrier as a trampoline, but that also counted on having enough stealth that the guards wouldn't notice us."
"Plan C?" Dash still asked, hopeful, but Jet just shook her head.
"Just hope we get lucky."
"Or... we could just skip to Plan E." Crow was weighting the grapple, pensive. He waited until everyone looked at him in curiosity. "Eemprovise."
"I swear... I'll make all of you go on a diet. Now pass me that mana potion."
Pen passed her the potion, but wasn't able to answer. She was too busy swallowing potion after potion in order to sustain the Invisibility Barrier.
If it weren't for the Invisibility Barrier, the Black Brotherhood right now would be quite a sight. Dee moved the grapple through the air using Magneja. She needed the strongest version of Magnera to keep it suspended, because the whole team was hanging from it. In particular, she and Pen were tied around the waist, because they would need both hands: one to hold their respective magical staves, and one to get the potions from the inventory.
"Just a few more meters." Crow promised. Of course he wanted the Doughnut to be a success, but he had to admit: win or lose, he was having a blast. Dee probably wanted to punch him for it.
They landed on the closest roof and paused to regain their strength.
"Checkpoint B." Crow announced proudly. The others had a hard time being so enthusiastic.
"Where to, now?" They could hardly speak, so it was natural to want a clear destination before getting up again.
Dash, now familiar with city administration; and Jet, familiar with gaming in general, answered.
"The usual. The highest room, in the highest tower."
The less agile members of the team groaned. Up. Again.
Carefully they climbed, counting on the fact that guards protecting the castle would seldom look for threats from the castle.
"There it is."
"Kind of isolated, right?"
"They did think of everything."
The tower they'd been searching for stood at the center of an inner courtyard, again at a distance they wouldn't be able to jump.
"Band?"
The bard was ready, his Sonar melody already resonating.
"Two guards. Average level. And a... weirdly shaped high level NPC pet? Sitting outside the door."
"And that was their mistake." With that, the Black Brotherhood started their final preparations.
All buffs were cast, then bard, mage and barrier master refilled their mana. Carefully, Dee looked over a roof facing the city's main plaza.
"It's quite a crowd out there."
"Good. We want people to be outside." Jet smiled. "Is this going to be your spot?"
The mage nodded.
"I'm sorry I couldn't level up this skill more before we came." One Man Band apologized as Crow wrapped the metal claw in cloth.
"Let's just hope this will get a firm enough grip."
He threw it, and the hook fastened itself to the windowsill with a muffled thud. It wasn't long before all members of the Black Brotherhood but the mage had made it into the tower room.
Before their eyes, glistening blood red was Infinite City's Jewel.
His instrument was now the lute. One Man Band played and no sound came forth. There was no time to lose.
"Fissure Arrow." Crow launched his special attack, thrice in a roll. Sure enough, a crack appeared on the gem. He looked inquisitively at the warriors.
"I think it's good." Jet assured him. "We don't want to break it too fast."
She and Dash started hacking at the stone.
Pen and Crow went to eavesdrop by the door.
"...not a clue on what to write about the Classical period."
"Well, the professor wants a comparison between trends, doesn't he?"
"Yes. But I'm still not sure where to start from."
"Zzzzz."
"Seems like the pet is asleep." Pen said aloud.
"Too bad Band couldn't figure out what it is before we entered." Crow said, but his thoughts were elsewhere. The voices of the guards sounded sort of familiar. "Any progress with the jewel?"
"We're almost halfway there." Dash assured.
"Yawn! Meatbun-bun is awake! Good morning, Jin-Jin, good morning, Yun-Yun!"
"Good morning, Meatbun-bun! Did you sleep well?"
They heard the female guard give an audible sigh, like she was bracing herself for a long and pointless exchange. Crow and Pen were fascinated by it, and even the warriors stopped what they were doing to listen at the door.
"Yun-Yun, where's Mama?"
"Prince is at Moon City."
"What is Mama doing there?"
"He is going to conquer that city."
"Why is Mama going to conquer that city?"
"He wants to conquer that city because it's the only city that's left for him to control the whole continent."
"Why does Mama need to control the whole continent?"
"Is that serious? 'Mama' is Prince?"
The Black Brotherhood was laughing (except for One Man Band, who continued to play stoically). Jet and Dash went back to attacking the jewel.
The two chatterboxes went on and on.
"When will Mana be back?"
This time the girl answered.
"Last time they PMed, they had just started the battle. They need to take the gates and make it to the city tower. Then they will settle some political matters and Prince should be back at the end of the night."
"What are political matters?"
"Why do you think Prince named his pet 'Meatbun'?" Crow asked.
Pen looked at him weird.
"Because his pet is a meat bun?"
"Give him a break." Jet smiled. "He didn't know anything about Second Life at all when he started playing."
"What do you guys mean, his pet is a meat bun? Like... a food piece, but with eyes?"
"Yes."
The archer started laughing so hard that he had to support himself against the wall. With that commotion, they almost missed the following line:
"Yun-Yun, can Meatbun-bun see the city jewel?"
"Sure."
Then there was the sound of people getting up and stretching.
There was no time to discuss a battle plan. Pen dashed to One Man Band's side, ready to cast a barrier. She also threw his hood over his face, since the bard had no hands to spare. The others also covered their faces, the warriors taking a menacing instance on both sides of the jewel, and Crow hiding behind the door - which opened as soon as they finished those hurried motions.
"Here it is..." Yun stopped dead on his tracks, and Jin bumped into him.
"What are you stopping f... "the question turned into a shriek mid sentence.
None of the hooded figures moved - except for one that must have been a bard, though his lute made no sound at all.
"You are the Black Brotherhood."
"Aren't you smart, young master?" Pen teased.
"The city jewel! You are trying to take the city."
"And the miss has got great deductive powers." Dash added.
There was a timeless instant when both sides expected the other to act.
It finished abruptly.
"Meatbun! Dumpling attack!"
"Rebound barrier!"
"Bouncy barrier!"
As delicious smelling dumplings targeted the black clad figures, dangerously hot, two barriers arose almost simultaneously. One was hard, and centered on the jewel. The other was elastic, and protected the Black Brotherhood's barrier master and bard.
"Purification Spell"
"Meatbun, Double Attack!"
Jin prepared a piece of magically charged paper, and Yun threw the pet in the air, hitting it with his tenketsu like a baseball player.
Meatbun started bouncing between the walls and the barrier in the center so fast that even Jet and Dash were having a hard time dodging.
They hadn't noticed Crow yet. This was a good thing, because he was in a state of shock.
It's Jin and Yun!
He knew they played in Infinite City, but not in his wildest dreams he'd have imagined Prince would leave them to guard the city jewel.
And what was up with that pet?! It was an actual meat bun, but it had eyes, and it propelled itself in the air with an helix, like a helicopter, while shooting... other meat buns!
He was brought back to the game by an explosion. One of Jin's paper charms had exploded against Pen's barrier.
Greatest menace first. He shot a succession of arrows against Pen's barrier. He wasn't in the least worried that it would break. The arrows had the desired effect of making both Jin and Yun turn. Theatrically he closed the door behind him, but didn't stop to say a provocative line. Instead, he went back to shooting at nearly random places.
The next series of events happened really fast. Yun turned, intrigued by where Crow was aiming. Before he completed the action, two people cried - and they were both voices he recognized. But things were still in motion. Because Yun had turned, he was able to see Dash closing in with his blade raised, and was able to conjure a barrier half a second before the hit connected.
Jin hadn't been so lucky. She wasn't expecting an attack, and Jet's Kamaitachi Slash granted her a longer reach. The exorcist lied on the floor, over a pool of blood.
"Jin!" But he didn't even have time to worry about her.
The second cry had come from Meatbun. There was a gash on its round body.
"Aim for the line, not the dot." Crow explained, self satisfied. The bouncing attack was over, but - with teary eyes due to the pain - the pet went back to shooting meat buns.
"I don't really need a barrier for those" Pen deflected the projectiles with her staff, but she did cast a barrier: over Yun. Her barrier started contracting until colliding with his, and then sparks started to fly as the two magical barriers competed.
Jin hadn't lost consciousness yet.
"Just don't kill her." Crow reminded them, but as he did so, he made a mistake. He got close enough for the girl to put a paper charm on his boot. It exploded immediately, tossing them both in opposite corners of the room.
"Damn it..." Jet rushed to the exorcist's side, readying a health potion.
"Why?" Jin was too weak to protest.
"Because we can't jam your communication if you are at the rebirth point."
Now no longer on the death zone, Jin gasped. Jet gave her best evil laughter.
"What? Didn't you notice that there were no messages from the system during the whole fight? While he is playing" she indicated Band "no messages can be sent to and from this room."
Now idle talk was over. Jet simply hit the other girl in a way that would make her faint.
Meanwhile, Pen was struggling. Too late she noticed that while her stats were balanced, Yun's stats were heavily skewed towards defense. Her barrier would break before his.
"Let go, Pen!"
Luckily, their boss had a quick solution for that. His Quantum Arrow was ready, and as soon as Pen's barrier disappeared it tunneled through the remaining barrier, hitting Yun. It was enough to knock him senseless.
"Does anyone know if pets can PM?" Dash asked. He was chasing after the flying Meatbun.
"I think not." Jet volunteered. She was the most knowledgeable about gaming of them, so that pretty much settled the matter.
"Open the door!"
Using the sheath of his sword, Dashing Mysterious Hero sent Meatbun flying. They closed the door immediately, but could still hear the pet bouncing down the stairs for a while.
"Phew..."
With Infinite City's guards securely tied, the Black Brotherhood was finally able to sit down and drink their potions. They were waiting for Doomsday Device to give the signal.
It didn't take too long. A small fireball came flying through the window.
"Finally!" One Man Band exclaimed, dropping his lute.
System Notice: Skill "Sound of Silence" has been dispelled. Communication features have been resumed.
"I don't want to play that song ever again!"
Crow examined the jewel. The warriors had already weakened it considerably. He got his knife out.
Infinite City's Main Plaza
Messengers that accompanied Prince's army periodically send news to messengers in the city, and all players that hadn't been recruited in the army gathered in the main plaza to hear. Occasionally soldiers would appear at the rebirth point, with more detailed accounts of the battle including their own heroic deaths.
Absolutely no one noticed the magey figure observing them from atop Infinite Castle. Then the system finally announced what they had spent the whole day hoping to hear.
System Notice: Player Prince has taken Moon City. Player Prince is now Overlord of Central Continent.
DeeDee sent a signal to her team, and turned her attention to the plaza again. She started chanting.
Noise in the plaza was deafening. Everyone cheered, slapping each other's backs and punching the air. They were not prepared for what came next.
System Notice: Player Crow has taken Infinite City.
It seemed like the system itself was giving the players time to digest the news, because it only gave the next announcement once silence was absolute.
Position "Overlord of Central Continent" is now vacant.
Chaos issued.
