CRAZY WORLD CYOA

by Persephone04

In this Crazy World, we all live our lives wishing it to be different, to be colorful and exciting, not the day-to-day monotonous routine of shambling to school or workplace or dealing with the same shit again and again. So we make distractions, we make fantasies, so that even though our world sucks, there's an incredibly vibrant just inside our heads. And heart is the key...

2. DRAFT 1

Author's Note: Hey, guys! This is Persephone with another League of Legends story but this time, it features my friends and me in real life. Aliased, of course. This is one of the drafts I made. I discarded this because I felt like it was going too easy. I'm getting tired of my own overpowered genre. But the official one seems to be just the same. Meh. I'm so wasted. Anyway, if you like this story, just message me. I'll consider making Crazy World a two-dimension story. Love lots, Persephone.

---

Chapter 1

Runeterra, Here We Come! Part 1

PROLOGUE:

The year is 3120 and technology has rapidly gained ground over the last decades. Virtual reality has become more than just a science fiction. Nowadays, games are not played though consoles or computer sets, they're played by beaming yourself into the game world.

It all started when Dominex, that insatiable, soulless gaming empire, acquired the rights to several games through their signature deployment of blackmail, extortion, financial denial and hostile takeover. Not that much of those game companies has survived to see this age, mind you.

Then Dominex announced their Living Worlds RPG, featuring the worlds of Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo, Elder Scrolls, Everquest, Dungeons and Dragons, Eon Watchers, League of Legends, Dark Souls, Gladianos, Origins, Dead Quest, Nevermore, Heroes of Newerth, Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40k and Calcunna each turned into a DIVE MASSIVE MULTIPLAYER ROLE PLAYING GAME.

The gamers of the generation held orgasmic anticipation for the biggest resurrection of games from the 2000s. There had been much clamor to see these games released into this current era. When they were finally released, it was as if the gates of hell broke loose. Gaming shelves were restocked in frenzied rates, only for it to be emptied again in mere seconds.

Dominex had solidified its reputation as the world's premiere gaming authority with Living Worlds. This is a story about several friends getting their hands on a very special datakey to a revisited League of Legends.

•

Two teenagers, a fat boy and a bitchy girl, walking side by side, wearing expressions of extreme disappointment. "Well, that settles it. We're plain unlucky." the boy said. The girl snorted at that.

"Need I remind you that we're still lucky by far? We have the last copy in our hands, right now? You've seen the incredible line back there. People literally broke down when the store announced they've sold out." girl said.

The boy still pouted. "But look at this!" he shrieked, putting the holo-disk in front of the girl's face. The girl snorted again. The holo-disk was a special edition one.

Special edition disks were gamers had either to cheer for or curse the gods they ever had the misfortune of possessing one. They contained limited edition or exclusive races, classes, items, jobs or a plethora of really cool starting items and benefits. That is, if you're lucky.

For the unfortunate, they'll be forced to play troll classes, prank jobs, real shitty items, constant weakness or curses modifier or they get zapped into a fucking 100+ difficulty dungeon as their starting place. In this case, that would be the latter.

The holo-disk the fat boy was holding up contained exclusive prank or troll races and classes. That meant that disk in their hands was a total disappointment.

"Who cares?! We're gonna play Living Worlds and we're playing it no matter how it turns out!" the girl said. She said it with much severity that it ended the discussion. The boy continued to grumble as they walked to their destination.

•

3120 is not such a bad age to be living in. That is if you have the strength to live here. Humanity has taken to space. The high class and the rich had taken to living at the Terra Regina worldship, the middle class lived on the moon and the lower class and the poor scraped a living in the wasteland remnants of Earth.

Nature had taken irreversible damage against the warmachine of Man but she had taken revenge on the remaining pockets of civilization on Earth. The environment here is inhospitable, the skies, lands and waters were green with poisonous and acidic fumes and vapors.

The bodies of water were pools of death no human or work of man could endure. Hosts of vicious, mutated flora and fauna had taken to Man as their primary source of food.

The last sanctuaries of old Earth still exist in biospheres scattered throughout the globe, surviving through the sheer willpower of scientists, environmentalists and dreamers.

But even the biospheres are not exempted from monster attacks. Worse still, mutated humans litter the barren landscape, as dangerous as the monsters that roam the lands. This was the past generations' gift to the current and future ones. A grave of a dying planet.

It does not come as a surprise that people had taken refuge into the gaming world. The reality of which they live in offered little to make their lives enjoyable. It's a living hell. You might say that the middle class and the high class have it so easy but they too are plagued with their own problems.

They just won't admit it but they're just as worse off as the people on Earth.

•

Two men walked the smog-dominated streets of the industrial dome. They were headed to residential domes where the air was somewhat cleaner and the surroundings were far tolerable. Even though their bodies were tired from the heavy labor, their strides were fast and excited.

Working on Earth was something akin to a life-or-death situation. Hazardous workspace, minimal protective gear and the overall danger involving the work itself contributed to the single-digit chances of survival. What they had for shitty equipment, their bosses made up for fair wages.

Even though the money itself was not worth the life-threatening danger you had to endure, workers were still flocking to it.

This was the best paying job on Earth.

An industrial worker's job involves going out of the designated safezones and into the dangerous landscape beyond the fragments of civilization. They're tasked with harvesting materials from the flora and fauna outside. You can guess that the death tolls were pretty high.

These precious resources kept the communities going. While specialized biospheres still provided food from rapidly-cloned poultry and livestock, it's still isn't enough to meet the demand.

Cities are built around these said biospheres. They formed an ever-present niche to the survival of humanity. That being said and the importance of biospheres punctuated, industrial workers are also sent to defend biospheres from attacks. They're also tasked with harvesting rare and useful minerals that, ironically, could not have been possible to exist back at the past Earth.

These minerals called Llave (Pronounced as lee-yah-vey), the Spanish word for "key", is appropriately named. It grew abundantly near the poisoned seas but its greatest deposits were deep under the oceans. It fueled the machines of cities but its most important function is to keep the artificial sun going.

That's because Terra Regina, the worldship for the rich and the powerful, blocked the Earth's and the moon's access to natural sunlight. Any demands and pleas involving the matter in the past, present and future had fallen into deaf ears.

The solution was given by Adelia M. Sorenson, one of the geniuses who chose to remain here on Earth and the head of the Earth's Core, the association of scientists operating the biospheres. She invented a false sun using advanced technology.

Problem was how to stabilize the core. The solution was Llave. These crystals were so powerful that they could keep the artificial sun going for a week. This magnificent device, though, had to be turned off for a week every month for repairs and maintenance and when it did so, it plunged the Earth and moon into life-stealing cold. Not even the heat from the overworked machines of the city could stall the chill.

The men joined the railway transport along their fellow workers and the ancient machine, that many wondered how it could still function, moved in surprising speed back to the residential domes.

Upon reaching the docking area, the two sprinted off to their homes. This was a miracle on its own for the two men were known among their fellow workers as having the biggest jobs during the outside trips. The pair were known crackshots. Their spatial awareness, aim and precision was excellent and they had been given the roles of snipers and scouts.

Their teams couldn't count how many times they were saved by the pair's effectiveness.

The pair reached a small building that rose upwards like a stack of cards. To put it bluntly, the house looked like someone had haphazardly put one house on top of another until it looked like it was being held together by magic. They opened the doors and quickly took off their purifying masks.

Clean, synthesized oxygen filled their lungs. It's a treat as these men had adapted to the foul stench of polluted air of their workspace.

While the outside of the house was not notable, the inside was shocking. It was clean, glistening with modern equipments of a well-kept, decorated apartment.

The men walked straight to the dining area and saw five people already sitting on the table which was laden with steaming food of questionable origins.

"Hhhmmm! Smells good!" the taller of the pair said, sniffing the air appreciatively. The fat guy and the bitchy girl was also there.

"We're having Carnifex meatballs with Jardinal sauce tonight!" the girl behind the counter smiled. She was a drop of sunshine. Fragile-looking, pretty and always with a smile on her face, she was the cook in the house.

"Thanks to you two, we can eat a lot tonight!" piped in another voice. It came from another guy of short height but his physique was impressive. It's a unspoken benefit among the industrial workers that they were given a portion of the goods they bring in.

There was also another fat guy but unlike the first one, he looked more approachable and more prone to smiling.

The other industrial worker was a short guy with a sinister-looking face. He took a look at the food and proceeded to help himself to it. "Doki, I believe we should say grace." the pouty fat guy said, his voice sounded cheerful but his intent was otherwise.

"Grace for what? Another day in this shithole?" he snapped. Pouty fat guy smiled wider now, resembling the Cheshire Cat in more ways than one.

Doki threw his spoon and fork on his plate, crossed his arms over his chest and glared at pouty fat guy. They all sat at the table and said grace, led by pouty fat guy, of course. When he finally finished, his friends descended upon the food like a swarm of locusts.

Amid the scraps of food flying around, bitchy girl nudged pouty fat guy. "Jessa, you have something to announce, right?" bitchy girl said. Jessica's eyebrow shot up. "Watcha talkin' 'bout?" he asked. Bitchy girl (Jessie), looked at Jessica meaningfully.

Across the table, sunshine girl (Bee), hot shorty (Dusty), tall guy (Blackburn), Doki and smiley fat guy (Erica) stopped their eating to look at the two.

Jessica took and deep breath then smiled. The nature of his smile was different this time so they took a breath of relief. Jessica is not particularly dangerous when he's mad but he can be extremely annoying and stubborn in that mode.

He dramatically opened his holo-bag and withdrew a holographic disk suspended within a transparent metallic container. Spoons, forks and even food dropped on the table with a loud sound. "IS THAT-" Blackburn said, daring himself to believe.

Jessica smiled proudly. "YESSSSSSSSSSSS!" he shrieked. The table erupted in cheers. Even Doki joined in the celebration. "Which game is it?" Dusty asked excitedly.

"I don't know. League of Legends. I don't know about it but they say it's a MOBA game. MOBA, you know. The predecessor of Online Virtual Arena." Jessica said. Jessie nudged Jessica again. He sighed. "And it's a prank edition." he added in defeat.

Jessica slumped back on the table and burst into tears.

Doki had burst into laughter. He pounded his fist on the table as he laughed hard. Jessica glared at him. "It's okay! It's a nice thing! We're not serious gamers anyway. We just play to enjoy anyway." Erica offered. Bee added in her words of support.

At an instant, they went back into eating, their eyes positively gleaming with anticipation. Within seconds, the food was gone and the dishes were left on the sink. Blackburn looked at Bee's fragile hands. "Remind me to get a washer bot." he said, taking them into his hands. Despite Bee's frail look, she had a worker's hands.

She was capable but her delicate health kept her indoors. She helped by being the housekeeper and cook in the house and worked part-time as a tinkerer. She blushed as Blackburn said that. "No, it's okay. We don't need one." she said hastily. Blackburn grinned. "We can afford one." he said firmly.

The seven teens walked up five flights of holo-stairs to where the empty story right above Jessica's and Erica's floor. The room used to serve as an attic but when they opened it, it had been cleared. It was clean and pristine and in the middle of the room, a cube-shaped device the size of a large cabinet stood quietly.

"I never thought I'd live to see that day to see an RPGium with my own eyes." Doki said, amazed. "I know, right? It arrived just ten minutes right after Jessica and I came back." Jessie said. "So? Are we gonna check it out?" Dusty asked, his eyes sparkling.

"Let's check things up here before we go inside the game." Erica said. They spent the next hour making sure no burglar would come inside and steal what few they have. By the time the others were there, Jessica had already read the manual seven times in a row. "What took you so long?" he snapped.

They gathered around the RPGium and placed their hands on the cube. Jessie had the honors of putting the holo-disk into the server feed.

The RPGium sprang to life and sounds and colors filled the small room. The device erupted into a burst of light and then they felt as if they were being sucked in by a powerful force.

•

Each of the seven teens opened their eyes to see themselves alone in a dark and unending abyss.

"Welcome to Living Worlds, presented by Dominex, your number one source of quality games and goods! You'll be introduced into the world of Runeterra, the setting of the game League of Legends from the 2000s!"

"It would seem that you have gotten the Pranksters and Jokesters edition disk! You have access to exclusive races, classes and items that no other players can access to! Congratulations!"

"For this edition only, you are automatically assigned to a race and class at a random roll. You are given three rolls if you wish to change your assigned race and class. The more rolls you have left, the more and better starting items and benefits you'll have!"

"Good luck and have lots and lots of fun!"

•

REFERENCE POINT:

SPELLS (FOR MAGIC RACES/JOBS)/SKILLS (FOR NON-MAGIC RACES/JOBS) LEVELS AND POTENCY:

NOTE: FAITH SPELLS FOR GODS ARE EXEMPT FROM ALL CLASSIFICATIONS.

STANDARD JOBS AND CLASSES:

1st Tier

2nd Tier

3rd Tier

4th Tier

5th Tier

6th Tier

7th Tier

8th Tier

9th Tier

10th Tier

11th Tier

12th Tier

13th Tier

14th Tier

15th Tier

16th Tier

17th Tier

18th Tier

19th Tier

20th Tier

Super Tier

Over Tier

God Tier

ARCH-JOBS, ARCH-CLASSES AND EXCLUSIVE EDITION HOLDERS ONLY:

Lessest

Lesser

Less

Normal

Great

Greater

Greatest

•

ITEM LEVELS, CLASSES AND POTENCY:

NOTE: GOD CLASS ITEMS ARE EXEMPT FROM ALL CLASSIFICATIONS.

ITEM TYPES:

Material Armor

Immaterial Armor

Material Clothes

Immaterial Clothes

Material Ranged Weapons

Immaterial Ranged Weapons

Material Melee Weapons

Immaterial Melee Weapons

Protective

Trinkets

Accessories

Wards

Weird

Miscellaneous

Quest

Journal

Ingredients

Components

Blueprints

Consumables

Expendables

Charged

ITEM CLASSES:

Poor

Inferior

Discount

Apprentice

Novice

Normal

Journeyman

Superior

Master

Rare

Ultra Rare

Special

Unique

Artifact

Legendary

Mythical

World

Otherworldly

God

•

As each of the teens tested their luck, praying that they'll have something at least semi-useful to use, they expected the worse already.

•

BEE: MOTHER DEAREST

BEE: 1 (Vlad Tepes Jr.)- Reroll- 2 (Surfer)- Reroll- 3 (Mother Dearest)

-Mother Dearest: Exclusive Edition Boss Monster (The Whore of Babylon) variant

-Starts with all Household Jobs unlocked

-Starts with 100% Mastery of Household Jobs

-20% Bonus Experience Gain when leveling Household Jobs

-Mother Dearest spells enabled

-Mother Dearest skills enabled

-Mothers Dearest are capable of birthing special NPCs, along with standard mercenary NPCs, for free after a lengthy amount of time. They possess strong defenses, backed by powerful HP Regen and are capable Tanks even without items but have poor attacking capabilities. Their affinity with Household Jobs gives them access to a broad choice of crafting choices. In addition to that, they are able to summon specialized armors and shields so they can adapt quickly to the flow of the battle.

•

BLACKBURN: POPE/POPESS

BLACKBURN: 1 (Otaku)- Reroll- 2 (Stalker)- Reroll- 3 (Pope/Popess)

-Pope/Popess: Exclusive Edition Saint-race variant

-Starts with all Divine, Heaven and Holy spells unlocked

-Starts with 100% Mastery of Divine, Heaven and Holy spells

-Pope/Popess spells enabled

-Pope/Popess skills enabled

-Popes/Popesses are healing and buffing machines with powerful MP Regen. With the right choices, they can also supplement the role of offense with their magic and summoning. They have weak defenses and their Alignment must be Good for their spells to work properly. Popes have access to the sought-after Resurrection spells. Popes/Popesses might be spellcasters at heart but they are also attuned with armored warfare. With the right specs, they can make Tanks like any other from the Tanking-specialized classes.

•

DUSTY: MURDER CLOWN

DUSTY: 1 (Santa Claus/Mrs. Claus)- Reroll- 2 (Murder Clown)

-Murder Clown: Exclusive Edition Boss Monster (Ars Goetia) variant

-Starts with all Hell spells unlocked

-Starts with 100% Master of Hell spells

-All Hell spell systems unlocked

-Murder Clown spells enabled

-Murder Clown skills enabled

-Murder Clowns are Tanky spellcasters with an emphasis on kiting and countering attacks. They have weak defenses but they make up for it with deception spells and a sizeable amount of HP. They can also fill the role of an Inhibitor or Nuker. Murder Clowns, with some spec distribution, also become specialized mass-debuffing machines. If they supplement it with sufficient MP Regen, they become horrifying as they can sustain their debuffs. With a point in a specific specialization, their debuffs apply a stacking degeneration effect.

•

DOKI: JACK O' LANTERN

DOKI: 1 (Critic)- Reroll- 2 (Jack O' Lantern)

-Jack O' Lantern: Exclusive Edition Boss Monster (The Lich) variant

-Starts with all Necromancy spells unlocked

-Starts with 100% Mastery of Necromancy spells

-Jack O' Lantern spells enabled

-Jack O' Lantern skills enabled

-Jack O' Lanterns are summoning platforms due to their powerful MP Regen and short-cooldown summoning spells. They have difficulty venturing outside these roles but with training, they can function like any of the Necromantic classes. Exclusive to the Jack O' Lanterns only, they have access to the Legends summoning systems and a plethora of unique NPCs on the mercenary system. Jack O' Lanterns, with a spec on a specific specialization, are able to steal enemy necromantic minions and force necromantic spawns into their service.

•

JESSIE: CAT LADY

JESSIE: 1 (Mascot)- Reroll- 2 (Weirdo)- Reroll- 3 (Cat Lady)

-Cat Lady: Exclusive Edition Mad Scientist-class variant

-Cat Lady spells enabled

-Cat Lady skills enabled

-Cat Ladies, like their Mad Scientist counterparts, fill the role of instantly creating big threats by genetically manipulating their cats. They have low-cost, low-cooldown spells back by powerful MP Regen. Their mutation or evolution choices for their cats are broader and more tenacious. They are never without a coterie of monster cats to protect them wherever they go. They are fragile characters who must stick behind the line while loading out their debuffing spells. Additionally, Cat Ladies cannot damage felines or be damaged by felines all around the world and felines will come to their aid and can be enlisted to their cause.

•

JESSICA: PIRATE

JESSIE: 1 (Pirate)

-Pirate: Exclusive Edition Hacker-class variant

-Pirate spells enabled

-Pirate skills enabled

-Pirates possess poor offense and defense capabilities but they make up for it with unparalleled utility. They can summon items out of nothing and can support their allies or their assault with potions, scrolls, wands or tomes. They can also enforce absolute rules into an area and can call upon unique summoning spells and mechanics. They have access to all Black Market systems which allows them access to NPCs, items, spell or skill tomes which are not available by normal means. Unique among Merchant classes, Pirates exclusively use gold to cast their spells.

•

ERICA: PANTHEON

ERICA: 1 (Pantheon)

-Pantheon: Exclusive Edition God variant

-Starts with Divine spells unlocked

-Starts with 100% Mastery of Divine spells

-All Divine spell systems unlocked

-Pantheon spells enabled

-Pantheon skills enabled

-Pantheons are divine characters with questionable offense and defense. They are a group of aspects-governing gods. They are bound by the Faith mechanics and cannot function without sufficient Faith. While they are optional additions to every team, they are powerful assets. Each of their spells are capable of turning the tide to their favor and have devastating effects against the enemy teams. Pantheons, with their divine nature, are able to identify and locate God-class items.

•

There was a massive flash of light when they finally made their choices and when they opened their eyes, they were in an alien world. "Whoaaaaaaaaa..." they chorused.

They took a deep breath of the clean, pristine air. For once, it seemed a miracle that they were breathing air from a planet untainted by pollution of a disastrous scale. "Wow! This world is so lifelike!" Jessie said. She prodded a nearby tree. "Too lifelike!" she added with some degree of nervousness.

"Yeah. I played a lot of games but this is the first time I've seen one so real." Doki said as he surveyed his surroundings.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" laughter suddenly exploded. It was Jessica's and Erica's voices. They whirled around to look at them but it would seem that Erica was disembodied.

"OMFG! You guys really went downhill!" Jessica howled with laughter.

Bee wore an unappealing flowery dress complete with a hideous flowery apron but somehow, strangely and awkwardly, gave her just the right amount of sugar. Among the group, Bee was probably the only who got to keep her realworld image.

Blackburn wore the garment of the Pope's office but, boy, did he look good in it. Blackburn sported golden skin, hair of feathers and an aura of soft light.

Dusty looked like the clown from all the nightmares of everyone with Coulrophobia past, present and future combined, solidified and embodied into one entity. Dusty was taller and even more muscular but that face was a nightmare borne of manic joy and excitement.

Doki looked like a Halloween trick-or-treating kid with that ghost blanket of a body and carved pumpkin head. Doki was taller in this form but it was largely unimportant given his current body.

Jessie wore an old woman's clothes that looked like pictures of cats glued together, carried the strong smell of cats as well and her hummingbird-like faerie wings clashed horribly with her get-up. Jessie became slender and fae in appearance with a pair of antenna that gave off sparkles.

Jessica wore sunglasses, a huge black trench coat filled with pirated movies, shows, games, and other goods and his butterfly-like faerie wings clashed horribly with his get-up. Like Jessie, Jessica became slender and fae in appearance with a pair of fluffy antenna that filled the air with spores with each movement.

Erica was practically disembodied and invisible but he was number of gods so it ain't mean no nothing. Even though no one could see him, his default body was that of his realworld appearance but was made out of energy and essence instead of flesh and blood.

"Harharhar." Dusty said sarcastically. Then his face grew huge in a split of a second, his eyes maddeningly gleaming and his grin too demonic to be true. Jessie, Erica and Jessica shrieked. Jessica fell backwards, pirated works spilling from his trench coat.

It was the others' turn to laugh. "Okay, guys. Where do we head to?" Doki asked the moment they recovered. "PIRATE ITEM: DUNGEON GUIDE!" Jessica intoned and a hologram appeared out of thin air. Everyone huddled around him to get a look at it.

"Says here, there's a perfectly good dungeon at a cemetery just south of here." Blackburn said. Jessica, Erica and Jessie immediately balked. "Hahaha! Why the sudden direction for leveling? Let's explore first!" Jessie chirped. Jessica and Erica agreed. Doki, Dusty, Blackburn and Bee rolled their eyes. They dragged the two (Because Erica was also intangible) as they walked towards the cemetery's direction.

They discussed their bonuses along the way.

•

Jessie received Disturbing Stuffed Cat (10% to WATER, FIRE, AIR and WILDS RESISTS. Increase Cat limit by 20. Gain +1 PHY DEF per Cat active).

Jessie

Race: Faerie King/Queen

Class: Cat Lady (LOCKED)

Racial Spells:

Faerie Flight (1/10)

Faerie Dust (10/100)

World Tree (1/100)

Shapeshift (5/100)

Class Spells:

Summon Cat (10/100)

Empower Cat (5/100)

Evolve Cat (15/100)

Mutate Cat (15/100)

•

Blackburn received Pope's Crosier (+10 PHY ATK. +10 MAG ATK. Item Spell: Cast a Lesser Heal on three targets instantaneously).

Blackburn

Race: Pope/Popess (LOCKED)

Race: Level 1

Class: Assassin

Class: Level 1

Racial Spells:

The Papal Edict (10/100)

Acts of Faith (5/100)

Class Spells:

Phase Strike (3/100)

Parkour (15/100)

Energize Weapon (2/100)

Flurry Assault (3/100)

•

Bee received Kitchen Knife Set (+5 PHY DEF. +10 MAG DEF. Item Spell: For 60 sec., change weapon attacks into ranged. Flurry modifier).

Bee

Race: Mother Dearest (LOCKED)

Race: Level 1

Class: Mother Dearest (LOCKED)

Class: Level 1

Mother Dearest Spells:

Mother's Armor of Love (5/200)

Mother's Shield of Love (5/200)

Mothering I (10/10)

Greatest Mother (100/50000)

Birthing (10/1000)

•

Dusty received Acid Flower (10% to WATER, FIRE, AIR and WILDS RESISTS. Item Spell: Cast either an Acid Globe or Acid Lance at enemy target. 10% chance of casting Acid Rain instead) and Exploding Cards (Ranged. Charged item. When equipped, attacks deal area-of-effect damage. 100 charges).

He gained the Killing Joke permanent buff (Restores 5% of max HP and MP when successfully debuffing an enemy).

Dusty

Race: Murder Clown (LOCKED)

Race Level: 1

Class: Murder Clown (LOCKED)

Class Level: 1

Murder Clown Spells:

Devillish Pallor (3/100)

Devillish Aura (3/100)

Torture (20/1000)

Deceive (10/1000)

•

Doki received Devil's Lantern (+10 PHY ATK. +5 PHY DEF. 15% chance of doubling the number of a successful Summon) and Souling (+2 to all STATS).

He gained the Hallowmas permanent buff (Overcharge spells by sacrificing MP).

Doki

Race: Jack O' Lantern (LOCKED)

Race Level: 1

Class: Jack O' Lantern (LOCKED)

Class Level: 1

Jack O' Lantern Spells:

Permanent Levivation (1/10)

Undead Summoning (10/100)

Mass Undead Summoning (10/100)

Legends Summoning (5/100)

Halloween Summoning (10/100)

Bone Constructs (10/100)

Blood Constructs (10/100)

•

Jessica received Portable Black Market (+1 to all Pirate spells level. Allows instant access to Black Market and instant delivery. Improves Black Market wares. 10% discount on Black Market wares. Gain 1 gold per sec.).

He received the Plunderer (Gain 2 gold per sec. while in combat. Gain 10 gold per min. when out of combat), Friend of Thieves (Gain benefits from the Thieves Guild whether a member or not. Benefits increase when a Thieves Guild member) and Hoarder (30% chance of doubling the amount of items produced by a successful Summon, Create or Pirate Item) permanent buffs.

Jessica

Race: Faerie King/Queen

Race Level: 1

Class: Pirate (LOCKED)

Class Level: 1

Racial Spells:

Faerie Flight (1/10)

Faerie Dust (10/100)

World Tree (1/100)

Shapeshift (5/100)

Class Spells:

2-in-1: Create Item Spell, Summon Item Spell (10/100000)

2-in-1: Pirate Item Spell, Mass Pirate Item Spell (10/100000)

3-in-1: Black Market, Console Commands, Cheat Codes (4/500)

3-in-1: Pirated Mechanics, Pirated Summoning, Pirated Rulerealms (4/500)

•

Erica received Tiny World (Faith spells cost 20% less and are 5% stronger. Generates 10 Faith per min. Allows the use of Physical World Interactions spells upon reaching LEVEL 5).

He received the Faithful (Party members generate 1 Faith per min.), Intercession (Casting Faith spells near an ally surrounded by enemies or is at below 50% of max HP refunds 70% of Faith cost) and Last Gift (Upon death, allies generate 100 Faith. Allied summoned minions and NPCs generate 20 Faith upon death) permanent buffs.

Erica

Race: Pantheon (LOCKED)

Race Level: 1

Class: Pantheon (LOCKED)

Class Level: 1

Pantheon Spells:

Pantheon Gods (10/10)

Divine Intervention (10/100)

Word of God (10/100)

Wrath of God (10/100)

Judgment (3/100)

Ministries (10/100)

Birth of Miracles (5/100)

Molding The World (3/100)

Choirs of Angels (5/100)

•

"Aren't we so lucky?" Jessica and Erica jeered as they gave the rest of the gang pitiful looks. Somewhere in Doki's body, a vein twitched. "As far as I'm concerned, you two are useless in a party. Hello, VERY OPTIONAL ADDITIONS." he sneered. "Careful, Doki, we might just ignore you later if you're in trouble." Erica said in a sing-song voice.

"Guys, we got company." Bee suddenly said. Several armed people had come out from their hiding in the canopy of thick trees. They looked exactly like your stereotypical bandits. Scarred, bulky with lecherous grins and exuded a false sense of bravado.

There were at least a dozen of them. "Whoa! Our very first hostile encounter!" Doki said excitedly. Then the gang's eyes widened. "Well, well, well, what do we have here? A bunch of freaks having a trip around our woods. Don't you know it's rude to trespass on someone else's property?" a burly man in heavy armor said, grinning.

He was eyeing Jessica, sensing the number of valuable items hidden beneath that trench coat. Jessica noticed this and hid behind Bee. "Your woods? Who died and made you owner?" Jessie snapped. "Is it just me or they made a great job designing the A.I.? It really sounds and feels like we're talking to someone." Blackburn said. Doki and Dusty nodded in agreement.

The burly bandit snorted. "And here I thought we could have a civilized discussion. Okay, hand over the goods and you get to keep your lives." he said.

The fact that he didn't seem to be discouraged one bit meant he knew the numbers advantage was one their side. Meanwhile, Erica, Jessica and Doki were planning their actions through Morse code.

All of a sudden, all sorts of ranged weaponry was pointed their way, their ammo ready to fly at the slightest reaction. "1. 2. 3!" Doki counted down. He yelled when he reached three.

To Jessie's, Dusty's, Blackburn's and Bee's disbelief, everything that happened next was something they never expected.

"TRIPLE CAST: UNDEAD SUMMONING: SKELETON MAGE!" Doki intoned. Black goo oozed from the ground and formed into three skeletons dressed in spellcaster's robes.

"MASS PIRATE: VENOMFUME POTIONS!" Jessica intoned. He threw the conjured potions into the ground all around him and green, toxic mist suddenly blanketed everything.

"DIVINE INTERVENTION: RADIANCE!" Erica intoned. A dazzling display of divine light suddenly erupted out of nowhere. It blinded all enemies it came with contact with.

"ATTACK!" the trio screeched (Even though Erica can't physically interact with anything without a Faith spell). Blackburn snapped out of his shock and yelled for the others to support the crazed trio.

Doki's Skeleton Mages threw elemental attacks, their vision unhampered by the mist created by Jessica's potions. Meanwhile, the opposition was crumbling to the effects simultaneously unleashed on them.

"ACTS OF FAITH: HOLY SHIELD!" Blackburn intoned. The gang was suddenly endowed with a shield formed with religious symbols. It gave them a layer of protection and amped their Regen rates.

He rushed to the aid of Doki who leapt right into the thick of it, eyes crazed with bloodlust. "BEE, TANK ME!" Jessica yelled. Bee rushed to her friend's side and stood in front of him, hands outstretched with a determined look on her face. "Damn. You look corny." Jessica said. Bee blushed.

"MOTHER'S ARMOR OF LOVE: VALENTINE! MOTHER' SHIELD OF LOVE: VALENTINE!" Bee intoned. She was suddenly covered in full heavy armor. It was the purest white with the lining of the pinkness of a baby rose. She wielded a literal wall of a tower shield of the same color scheme and had a rosy design. "Nice! You look cool!" Jessica said. Bee grinned under her armor.

Meanwhile, Jessie looked forlornly at the number of cats with her. Was it worth it to turn these cute things into monsters just because your spell mechanics told you so? "Dude, seriously?" Dusty said, cocking an eyebrow up.

He rolled his eyes and jumped back into the fray. Jessie sighed. "MUTATE CAT!" she intoned. A hologram appeared in front of her. "Whoa. So many to choose from. How will I know what to choose?" she said. "Does it matter? Just pick one." Erica said. "DIVINE INTERVENTION: TREE OF LIFE!" Erica intoned. A beautiful, ghostly tree appeared out of nowhere and bathed a wide area around itself with a constant HP and MP Restore.

"But what if I pick a bomb-type and blow us all away?" Jessie asked. "Oh, yeah, that makes sense." Bee agreed. "Come to think of it, we just engaged a fight without knowing we can really do. That was dumb." Jessica said. "MASS PIRATE ITEM: CHARACTER GUIDES!" Jessica intoned.

Several holograms appeared in front of him and he gave Erica, Bee and Jessie one each. "What the hell are you fuckheads giggling over there? HELP US! Doki yelled angrily.

"Oh, okay. So, this is how it works, huh?" Jessie said after reading her character guide for some time. She looked back on her own spell hologram and pressed a button. "MUTATE CAT: MEOWGANTOR!" she intoned.

One of her cats suddenly enlarged and swelled to the size of an elephant. In its wake was a cat-like monster that looked like someone took a whole lot of giant cat heads and lumped them together in one body.

"IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE!" Jessie shrieked madly, laughing like a total maniac. "Get them, my pet! Destroy! Pillage! Plunder! Dance upon their ashes!" she shrieked once more.

Erica, Jessica and Bee looked at each other then Bee made a cuckoo sign and the trio giggled. "I wonder how does mine works." she said in wonder. "BIRTHING!" she intoned and a hologram appeared in front of her. It looked like a list of monsters available for summoning.

They didn't look like standard summoned minions. They were like mercenary NPCs. They were high-leveled characters with a whole lot of unique spells and skills. Bee sorted through the short number of these NPCs available for her and picked the one that had big buffing and healing potential. "BIRTHING: SIX HANDS!" she intoned.

Then she suddenly felt strange. Sick, nauseous and the sudden desire for something bittersweet, Bee wanted to hurl but no bile had come up from her stomach. Something weird was happening to her. It made her want to crawl under a rock and stay there a hundred years.

Meanwhile...

"DESTROY, MY PRETTIESSSSSSSSS!" Jessie shrieked. Her Meowgantor, despite its massive size, turned out to be a spellcasting machine. It churned out one offensive cat-inspired spell after another.

A gigantic ball of burning yarn.

A rain of boiling-hot cat food.

A stampede of spectral cats who treated everything they passed through as a scratching post.

"TRIPLE CAST: UNDEAD SUMMONING: BLOATED ONES!" Doki intoned. Black goo oozed from the ground and formed into three undead resembling obese zombies with mismatched limbs sprouting from their bodies in odd positions and each of those limbs were armed with wicked cleavers.

"We're up against just a dozen people and we're taking this much time to win?" Erica complained. "Hey, for level 1 players, we're doing quite pretty well." Bee groaned, gasping in short, harsh breath. Jessica and Erica hovered around her. Jessica had been pouring one healing item on top of another on her because he thought she was afflicted by a debuff.

"Stabbity-stab-stab-stab..." Dusty sang as he went his way, using the cover of Jessica's poison mist to sneak behind people and stab them through the heart. The last thing his victims remembered was that horrible clown face smiling down at them.

Then the duration of the poison mist ended and it vanished without a trace.

"OMFG!" Jessie, Jessica and Erica screeched when they saw what they hadn't seen before. Just right above the canopy of the trees, hidden amongst the thick branches and tangling leaves were crude treehouses.

The gang ran smack-dab right into the middle of a bandit outpost.

"MUTATE CAT: KITTY-KITTYGEDDON! EVOLVE CAT: FAIRY GODMEOWTHER!" Jessie intoned. One of her cats puffed like a balloon being inflated and another one looked like someone fed it with some kind of evolution serum.

On the mutated cat, what replaced it is a monster that looked like a normal cat but with three heads way bigger than its own body. It floated unassisted above the ground and seemed to have overcharged brain capacity.

On the evolved cat, what replaced it is a cat standing on its hind legs, wearing what someone cosplaying Cinderella's Fairy Godmother would.

Fairy Godmeowther began chugging out some serious buffing spells for everyone.

Kitty-Kittygeddon began to channel a high-damage area-of-effect spell.

They didn't need much in the way of healing. Erica's Tree of Life was still active and beefing up their HP and MP bars. "DIVINE INTERVENTION: RADIANCE!" Erica intoned. Another dazzling display of divine light blinded enemies.

"Can someone please end this already? I think Bee's going into something." Jessie said, this time with real concern in his voice. The girl had already doubled over on the ground, clutching her belly and emitting pitiful sounds.

As if in answer to this request, Kitty-Kittygeddon released a blast of elemental magic and instantly dealt huge damage to all the remaining enemies.

"BLOOD CONSTRUCTS: RED LANCES!" Doki intoned. Blood that stained the ground began to flow unto Doki's palms, gathered into spheres that took on the shape of several lances. Dispersing this constructs, the red lances launched themselves against what few remained.

And none were left alive. All of the bandits were dead.

"You know, something about this whole first hostile contact thing bothers me." Blackburn confided as he, Doki and Dusty surveyed what's left of it. "GUYS! SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH BEE!" Jessie yelled at them. They immediately hurried to where their fallen friend was.

Bee was whining pitifully, her voice tinged with both pain and discomfort. "If- I- aaah!- didn't- hah- hah- know- any- OH, GOD!- better,- hah- hah- I'd- say- hah- I'm- OH, GOD!" she groaned then laid herself on the ground.

Jessica, Erica and Jessie were now pouring all the healing spells they have on her but nothing seem to help at all.

Then her summoned armor timed out...

Bee's friends gasped. "HOLYMOTHEROFGODALMIGHTY!" Jessie screeched in disbelief.

•

Jessie's Meowgantor dangled a pirated interrogation light overhead, back and forth, back and forth.

Underneath that light, Blackburn and Dusty sat at wooden chairs that resembled electric chairs. Both of them looked at their inquisitor with a mixture of denial and disbelief.

"FESS UP, YOU DIRTY BASTARDS! WHICH ONE OF YOU GARBAGE ASSHOLES RUINED THAT POOR, SWEET GIRL'S SANCTITY?!" Jessica yelled aggressively.

"Yeah! Shame on you! Shame on you! Dishonor on your family! Dishonor on you cow!" Erica seconded with as much indignation as he could inject into his voice. Only Jessie wasn't taking any of this seriously. She sat in a corner, keeping her giggles to herself.

"Bee's like a sister to me, you idiot! I would never touch her! I love her just the way I love you guys!" Blackburn yelled indignantly. "And I can't believe you dare to accuse me! I look like a playboy but I have a whole lot of moral fiber in me!" Dusty yelled angrily.

"OH, REALLY?! THEN HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THAT?!" Jessica yelled, drawing a hand dramatically to where Bee was. She was clearly heavily pregnant. And from the looks of it, she was also near giving birth.

"HOW THE FUCK ARE WE SUPPOSED TO KNOW?!" Blackburn and Dusty yelled at Jessica. "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence!" Erica piped in angrily. "WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT EVEN HAVE TO DO WITH THE CURRENT SITUATION?!" came the pair's thunderous reply.

"And why are we the only ones being charged with a crime we didn't commit? What about Doki? He's a guy too." Blackburn said indignantly. Somehow, that comment drew out a little of Jessica's and Erica's fire.

"Well, for one, we know Bee's got standards. Like, come on, Doki and Bee?! BBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" Jessica said, shivering in exaggeration. Blackburn and Dusty covered their mouths in their attempt to stop their snickers.

"I HEARD THAT!" came Doki's pissed-off yell. "Well, move along, Mr. Sensitive!" came Jessica's haughty reply.

Bee raised a quivering hand. "Jessa, I think Doki is the father of my child!" she said, giggling weakly. "Shut up, woman. You know not the blasphemy you speak." Erica and Jessica chorused. Bee laughed out loud then she went back whimpering a split second later.

"Guys, is it really a wise investment for this stupid argument? Shouldn't we get help for Bee? Like, right now? As in this very second? Won't that be more productive?" Jessie said.

"Well said, Jessie! I'm glad I thought of it!" Jessica agreed. Jessie looked positively murderous. Jessica grinned at her to show he was just kidding. "But we already did everything we could. We put all our healing spells on her. Nothing!" Blackburn said. "And Jessa put in all the gold he's got for restorative items." Erica said.

"What if she's giving birth?" Jessie suggested.

A fast silence descended upon them all.

"Oh, Dear God, what do we do?" Dusty said. He was hyperventilating. Blackburn went pale. Erica suddenly had a thought. "Jessa, search for the Mother Dearest spells." he said. "PIRATE ITEM: ORACLE TOME!" Jessica intoned and a special book appeared in front of him from thin air.

He picked up the book and whereupon opening it, several holograms immediately sprang out. Jessica put in the Mother Dearest spells and the results came back in seconds.

Chief among the Mothers Dearest spells is the Birthing. A channeling ability that spawns a mercenary NPC from the standard list, the special list, the exclusive list and the exclusive special list.

Basically, while mercenary NPCs were paid for depending on their strengths, Mothers Dearest can summon them for free through a long-delay channeling-type summoning spell called Birthing.

"Mothers Dearest are variants of the Whore of Babylon Boss Monster from the Ancient Civilization Ruins dungeon. They're NPC-summoning platforms. Bee, what monster did you pick? *Bee gave her answer in a pitiful whimper* Oh! The Six Hands! They're healing and buffing machines but rely purely on their permanent invisibility for defense! Nice choice, Bee!" Jessica said. "No problem." Bee groaned.

He put down the holo-tome and glared good Dusty and Blackburn. "What're you still hounding us for? Bee's probably preggy from the spell, not from actual intercourse." Dusty snarled.

"It takes two to tango, sweetheart! The evidence is right before us! Now if you will kindly remove your articles of clothing, we will inspect you thoroughly." Jessica said as-a-matter-of-factly. The two gawked at him. "Of course. There's gonna be a semen test. We'll have to test the nutrients it carries, its volume and thickness. The length and width of the insertion device in question and-" Erica added.

Dusty and Blackburn looked fit to kill with their dark expressions. "Is this what it's about? Bee's writhing over there and that's all you can think about?" Dusty asked in a deadly, soft voice.

"On the contrary, my dear man, I've known she'll be fine since the beginning." Jessica said indignantly. Then he stopped abruptly. Dusty and Blackburn were flexing their fists. Jessie, still overcome with her fit of giggles, piped in. "I think it's happening!" she warned them.

Then Jessie, Jessica, Erica, Blackburn and Dusty appeared at her side immediately. "PUSH, BEE, PUSH!" Jessie screeched. Jessica and Erica pushed Dusty and Blackburn aside. Several tense minutes afterwards...

Jessie came back with a bundle. Inside it, six gauntleted desiccated hands wriggled and writhed like deformed worms. "They look just like you." she said serenely and unceremoniously dropped the bundle on Blackburn's hands.

On the other side, Jessica and Erica were consoling Bee as best as they could. "Bee, I know you seem to think it's not natural for a healthy woman of your age to give birth to a zombie hand, six of them on the first go I might add, but I want you to know that it only makes you extra special. You're not a failure as a woman and this is not a taint against your future motherhood." Erica said solemnly.

Bee's fist came thundering on Jessica's nose. "Hey, what d'ya hit me for?!" he demanded, massaging the sore spot. "I've been wanting to do that ever since you two dolts opened your mouths. It made my headache worse." she said with an easy smile.

"Hey, twits, anytime you want to come back to the real world, check this out first." Doki's voice came from the bandit remains. Doki had ordered his minions to move the corpses while his friends were still in their own world.

Neatly placed in a row in two columns, the corpses were stripped of whatever items was deemed of worth on them. Doki had already broken through every nook and cranny on the winding tree houses above and came back with all the possessions they had.

A medium pile of gold, lots of unremarkable weapons and armor and a bag of precious stones. Not a single magical item.

Shame about that.

As his friends came up to him, they couldn't help but notice that the damage they had dealt to the bandits looked grisly real enough. Blood splattered everywhere and the men's bodies were littered with abuse.

"I don't fucking think we're a game anymore." Doki said.

Chapter 2

Runeterra, Here We Come! Part 2

The gang was silent as they continued moving along.

They didn't know how much time they had taken with dealing with the bandits but it looked like sundown by the time they noticed everything.

No game had ever been this realistic before. Even with cutting-edge technology, a jaw-dropping concept and super-awesome game mechanics, several features weren't included in games.

That included the limited sense of feeling so players wouldn't feel pain like their characters do, gore and the deformation of the faces of NPCs and player characters.

"Quit pulling our legs, Doki. That's our job." Erica complained, denial very much evident in his voice. Jessica and Erica tried to show him he's just being paranoid by logging off.

To no avail...

They couldn't contact Game Support. They couldn't log off. They couldn't do shit of going out of the game.

That is, if everything here is still a game.

Unnerved by the silence, Dusty tried to make light of their situation. "Hey, guys, does it really matter where we are? As long as we're together, everything's fine!" he said.

His friends cheered up when he said that. Dusty gave himself a mental pat in the back for saying something nice for once. "Though it kinda makes you wonder. What the hell happened to us? People don't just zap into a computer game world all by themselves." Bee said.

Jessie's eye sharpened. "Maybe we all died." she said quietly but her friends heard her just fine anyway. They stopped and looked at her. "An accident must've happened. A critical one. As we stand here, our bodies might be slowly being emptied of life, cold and numb inside a Medi-Tube. This all here might be an illusion of our brains to soften our passing. To make it easier for us to go towards the light." she said dramatically.

"Someone make her stop." Erica wailed. Jessica was utterly petrified. Everyone knew here that he had the nasty case of Thanatophobia. He was the one who kept saying he'll save enough money for a cybernetic reconstruction, that way he'll retard his own aging process.

Aside from the existential questions that always plagued him, death was a mystery not even the sciences of the current era had fully explored. It is the prerogative of the living to stall death as long as possible.

To him, death meant the end of all possibilities. You ain't gonna be there to see what would happen in years' time. All the hopes and despair aren't yours to feel anymore.

Believers can harp all they want that an afterlife does exist, there is one truth no amount of theology or ideals can refute: the dead never come back.

"Jessa, it's alright. Jessie's just kidding." Dusty said hastily. Jessica had literally gone to stone but tears had wet his eyes. "It might be true! While days might pass here, in truth, only seconds remain from our lives! It's our turn to the Mysterious Beyond! We'll see for ourselves the mystery that lay beyond death!" Jessie continued, her voice escalating into prophetic madness.

"Will someone shut her up?!" Blackburn hissed. They took one look at Jessie and her monster cats and looked back at him. "Why don't you give it a try?" they chorused. He sighed. "SHUT UUUPPPPPPPPPPPP!" he shouted. The sound exploded like small bomb.

Jessie snapped from her tirade and Jessica out of his trance. They looked around and stared at Blackburn who was taking deep breaths. "This doesn't feel anything like dying, you guys. We're inside a fucking game and we're stuck in it. Let's leave it at that and hope we find another player soon." he said.

No one made any objections to this.

"Now that I think about it, where the hell are we anyway?" Bee asked after some time. "PIRATE ITEM: WORLD MAP!" Jessica intoned. A hologram promptly appeared in front of him. "I think we're near some place called Hurgeon. It's a trade town. The cemetery we're going to is just beyond that hill." he said after some consulting.

"Okay. This is shit. I'm downloading some things into you guys." Jessica said as he felt the discomfort of having six people crowd around him. "MASS PIRATE ITEM: BASIC KITS!" he intoned. On top of their heads, a downloading progress bar appeared. It finished exactly a minute later, they found several pirated items in their person.

Mining Basic Kit.

Mapping Basic Kit.

Cooking Basic Kit.

Travelling Basic Kit.

Woodcutting Basic Kit.

Alchemy Apparatus Basic Kit.

Enchanting Apparatus Basic Kit.

Smithing Apparatus Basic Kit.

Encyclopedia (HOSTILES) Series Basic Kit.

Encyclopedia (NEUTRALS) Series Basic Kit.

Encyclopedia (GAME MECHANICS) Series Basic Kit.

Encyclopedia (RACE/CLASS/JOBS) Series Basic Kit.

Swimming Basic Kit.

Riding Basic Kit.

Taming Basic Kit.

Crafting Basic Kit.

Poultice-making Basic Kit.

"WHOA!" his friends crooned as they looked utterly amazed. Well, you would be if someone just handed out to you a ton of freebies. "Now, try to make use of the items I just gave you instead of asking me every time." Jessica said irritably.

Jessie's monster cats timed out along with that of Doki's undead minions.

"Well, it goes on to say that summoned minions, unless specified, normally disappear when their duration ends." Doki said. Jessica and Erica clapped wildly at his words. Doki blushed and glared at the two.

"My cats are back!" Jessie said in delight as her feline test subjects appeared well and good. Now that they were out of the woods, Doki, Jessie, Jessica and Erica flew off the ground.

"WHOO-HOO!" Jessie, Jessica and Erica zoomed through the air, feeling so free and ungrounded. "Show offs." Dusty grumbled. "EVOLVE CAT: FAIRY GODMEOWTHER! TRIPLE CAST: EMPOWER CAT: NYANENDING!" Jessie intoned. One of her cats turned into Fairy Godmeowther and it was immediately bathed in blue glitter.

The evolved cat enchanted them with Mass Flight and the landbound ones steadily flew into the air. Soon after, seven teenagers filled the air with their hooting laughs of excitement.

"NOW, THIS IS THE WAY TO TRAVEL!" Blackburn yelled boyishly as the wind whipped his hair. It was something alright. To be flying on the air of an unpolluted sky with an equally untainted land below. It makes a man appreciate the beauty of Nature more and more.

As night steadily approached, the gang had a change of plans. "Hey, guys, we should just take a rest. It's nighttime already." Jessie said. She got an unanimous reply of agreement.

"Good going, gurl. Now, they don't have any reason to drag us to some scary shit cemetery." Jessica whispered. Jessie gave him a thumbs-up. The gang changed their course towards the nearest town and that was the port town of Hurgeon.

They flew silently in the night, their backs to the earth, looking at the starlight night with wondrous expressions in their faces. "So romantic!" Bee gushed. For once, neither Jessica or Erica held it against her.

The town gates appeared on the horizon. Hurgeon was surrounded by tall, thick walls patrolled by well-equipped guards. Its gates was just as huge and guarded. The gang flew down into the ground, roughly a meter from the gates.

"State your business, strangers!" a voice came from top of the gatehouse. "Okay, who's going to do dialogue?" Blackburn asked. Everyone beside him took a step back as one. He sighed.

"We ask for passage, good sir, into your fine town. We are adventurers, sir. We pose you no harm." Blackburn said. When he said "adventurers", the guards above suddenly erupted into a hubbub.

"Adventurers, you say? Are you strong folks? Might you mind lending us a hand?" the guard asked. "With what?" Doki snapped, his patience stretching thin. As if in answer, an unnatural wail shattered the night silence. "Of course." Doki said, facepalming.

Running down the path towards the town gate was a literal horde of the undead.

"Okay, team. Here's what we gonna do." Blackburn said.

"Erica, you're the scout. You're intangible and invincible. Find out how many are coming and where they are coming. Try to help out as many people you come across." he said. Erica agreed.

"Jessie, Jessica, Guard the walls. Don't let anything get inside. We're trusting the town's blind spots to you." he said. The two agreed.

"Dusty, Doki, Bee, you're with me. We'll hold on and give these people as much time as needed." he said. The three agreed.

"Uuummm... B?" Erica said hesitatingly. "Yep?" Blackburn asked. "Why don't I just do this?" Erica said. "WRATH OF GOD: GODFIRE!" Erica intoned. A massive column of pure-white fire descended from the heavens and consumed the approaching horde.

None were left behind. Not a single one survived.

"Well, that works too." Doki grinned evilly. A second howl disturbed the silence and what looked to be the second wave came charging from the forest. "Oh, shit. I can't do that again. I'm running a few on Faith." Erica breathed.

"Well, back to the plan." Blackburn said. Jessie and Jessica flew unto the walls and the gate. "Don't worry, people! We're here to save your asses!" Jessie announced at the sight of the fearful guards.

Jessie left Fairy Godmeowther with her friends. "MUTATE CAT: MEOWGANTOR! MUTATE CAT: MEOWGANTOR! MUTATE CAT: KITTY-KITTYGEDDON! MUTATE CAT: KITTY-KITTYGEDDON!" Jessie intoned. Right away, two of each of the mutated cat monsters appeared.

"PIRATED RULEREALM: SHOW ME THE MONEY!" Jessica intoned. A huge area swallowed the town, extending all the way to the forest edge and into the deeper waters. "Violence inside this place will give me tons of gold! Yyyeeeaaaaaahhh!" Jessica said.

"TRIPLE CAST: THE PAPAL EDICT: EXORCISM!" Blackburn intoned. Three pentagrams bedecked with holy seals and symbols shot through the air, swallowing undead whole until it dissipated.

"MOTHER'S ARMOR OF LOVE: SELFLESSNESS! MOTHER'S SHIELD OF LOVE: SELFLESSNESS!" Bee intoned. She transformed into an armor of dazzling white so polished it could be mistaken as made of mirror. Her tower shield was shaped of a woman with outstretched hands. An area of constant HP and MP Restore appeared around Bee and Blackburn, Doki and Dusty was linked to her. She would be taking their damage in their stead.

Bee's Six Hands immediately focused on healing spells because healing spells damaged undead and mainly because Bee would taking in a lot of shit.

"DOUBLE CAST: DECEIVE: MANY ME!" Dusty intoned. Twenty-four more of Dusty appeared from the shadows, maniacally giggling. All twenty-five of him looked ready for murder. He prepared for the moment the two sides would collide.

"TRIPLE CAST: MASS UNDEAD SUMMONING: ZOMBIE SUMMONERS!" Doki intoned. Black goo oozed from the ground and formed into thirty-six zombie spellcasters. When Doki gave the sign, the zombies began to chant their summoning spells.

"This is almost too easy." Doki said, grinning maliciously. "Dude, don't tempt the universe. Nothing good will come out of people saying that." Bee said.

Then they clashed. Doki's zombie summoners had phased shadow bats and shadow wolves into existence. These monsters clashed with the undead but the zombie summoners wasted no time chanting another summon.

"Guys, please, don't let someone hit you." Bee begged as the three guys jumped into the fray. She watched as a overlarge zombie hit Blackburn right on the left side of his face. Bee didn't feel the blow but her face suddenly stung. She whimpered.

Behind them, a wall of divine fire surrounded the entire town. "Did Erica just lock us out?" Dusty asked. "Yep, he sure did." Doki grinned. "TRIPLE CAST: UNDEAD SUMMONING: VILE TOWER!" he intoned. Three corpse-towers emerged from the ground on a pool of black goo.

The undead constructs' use was immediately realized. The enemy undead switched their bloodlust on them immediately, savagely tearing the flesh in frenzied speeds.

Jessie's Fairy Godmeowther was casting buffing or healing spells one after the other. "DEVILLISH AURA: FIRE AND BRIMSTONE!" Dusty intoned. All twenty-five of him glowed brilliant red and enemies attacking him called unto themselves a fire strike from the skies.

The gates of the town was suddenly flung open and all sorts of zombies, ghosts and skeletons emerged. A sinister-looking cloud had appeared on an area right above the town and swirled around on what's underneath it.

A hologram appeared in front of each of them.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" the message screamed. The four of them looked at each other. "That doesn't make any sense. These undead are allies." Doki said, eyeing the weak undead that appeared and engaged the tide of enemy undead.

"Maybe something else appeared inside." Bee ventured. The blood in their veins suddenly ran cold. "TRIPLE CAST: MASS UNDEAD SUMMONING: ZOMBIE SUMMONERS!" Doki intoned. Black goo oozed from the ground and thirty-six more zombie summoners appeared.

"Hold the line and make sure nothing gets in!" Doki ordered. His undead minions nodded their understanding. Over the next minutes, the flood of summoned creatures the zombie summoners called in was more than enough to push the tide back.

The gang ran inside into the town. Smoke filled the air. On their way, they passed by what looked to be a derelict mansion. Right above it was the swirling sinister cloud and undead servants poured from its doors and windows.

"It's a mercenary NPC." Dusty said. He was right. It was the Haunted House. A tanky, immobile NPC with excellent defenses and can mass-spawn POPs. They followed the trail of the blazing houses, passing by people who ran away from it.

That's when they saw Jessie, Jessica and Erica fighting off what looked to be three ghost ships. Upon spotting the others, Jessie sighed massively. "Be careful! These bastards are tough!" she yelled.

The ghost ships fired another round of cannonballs. Buildings were gutted apart. "The Haunted House will keep the things outside busy for a while. I gave the guards grenades to throw at anything hostile they come across." Jessica explained. "How the hell are they supposed to differentiate your undead and the undead outside?" Doki asked.

Jessica gave him a look. "If it's tearing at your throat, then it's an enemy. Otherwise, it's not." he said. Doki grinned. "You got some flyers! Make some flyers!" Jessica demanded.

Jessie's Meowgantor and Kitty-Kittygeddon took on one ship. "MOTHER'S ARMOR OF LOVE: VALENTINE! MOTHER'S SHIELD OF LOVE: VALENTINE!" Bee intoned. She went back to her white-and-pink and rosy motif armor and tower shield. While Selflessness excelled in area restoration and absorbing damage for allies, Valentine excelled at long-ranged projectile heals.

Bee glowed and dozens of rose-bearing doves shot in four directions. Each dove was a living healing spell in disguise. They began to seek out wounded and fatigued townspeople in order to usher them to safety.

Ironically, the citizens of Hurgeon had taken shelter at the Haunted House. Which was smart of them, if Doki would be informed, as it was the spawn point of the undead defenders.

Bee glowed once more and a dozen doves stood by for immediate medical need. The seven teens charged straight at the three undead apparitions. "TRIPLE CAST: MASS UNDEAD SUMMONING: CC'CNAS!" Doki intoned. Instead of black goo, the said zombies appeared by divebombing from the skies.

They looked like infected humans that would do Resident Evil proud. The bottom half of their bodies had mutated into a winged monster and the human top half had mutated so the arms were more like lashing whips of steel-hard flesh.

Doki directed the zombies to attack but he stopped, stupefied, at what happened next. The ghost ships rose unnaturally from the waters, their wooden shapes undulating to reveal that the ships were more like wooden crocodiles.

One swing of its tail had taken out half of Doki's summoned minions. "Whaaaaaa-" Doki sputtered. "Wait! This is good, this is good! Doki, do more kamikaze attacks! Put out the weak ones! Do it!" Erica said. Doki obeyed merely because he couldn't think of anything more to do.

Soon, the Hurgeon port was filled with cheap undead units that threw themselves in vain at the ghost ships. "Oh, I get it. Erica, you sly bitch!" Jessie said when she realized it.

Doki kept putting out the undead minions like Erica insisted. The others bought more time to keep the ghost ships from attacking the town. Then Erica's sinister laugh filled the air.

"WRATH OF GOD: EVIL BEGONE!" he intoned. A pulsing orb of divine power suddenly appeared out of thin air. It crackled and sizzled with the power of the divines then collapsed in on itself. A massive nova of destructive divine power pulsed, swallowing entire landscapes as it expanded.

It continued to devour all in its wake and when the gang opened their eyes, no hostile undead remained. It was as if they never existed in the first place.

"Good job utilizing that Last Gift perma-buff." Jessie said she loked around. Silence had come back on. It was the natural silence of the night accompanied by the chirping of the crickets and merry twinkle of the stars above.

People peeked from their hiding places. Those who took shelter out in the Haunted House rushed to the port area. That massive release of divine power would've come from their eleventh hour Samaritans.

When they saw the gang, they clapped and cheered until the sounds generated by their utter relief and gratitude rose into octaves.

Hurgeon was saved.

•

Blackburn opened his eyes to see the sunlight streaking from the open window. He didn't remember much last night, only that they saved Hurgeon.

His body felt like lead last night. All that fighting had taken its toll on all of them. Well, except Doki, Dusty and Erica, they're both tireless and didn't require food, rest or anything.

For the rest of the night, the three had taken different courses of action.

Erica and Dusty commandeered Jessica's Haunted House and assembled the undead POPs to begin rebuilding the damaged parts of the town.

Doki scouted the area around them with his summoned minions.

He uncovered evidence of where the undead incursion had come from. The cemetery near Hurgeon. He silently thanked Jessie for being the one to suggest not coming to the cemetery last night.

They would've been certainly digging their own graves.

"Morning, guys!" Doki said cheerfully as he opened the door and let himself in. A barrage of pillows flew at him from every direction and Doki felt a vein tick somewhere.

"Wake up already! It's the middle of the day! The mayor wants to see us! We're getting rewards! Jessica's already throwing him his sales pitch!" Doki said.

They reluctantly rose from their beds. Jessie and Bee made a big deal out of the fact that the modern toilet and bathroom had not yet been invented here. It's still the good, old bucket around these parts.

Doki rolled his eyes and gave her a little present from Jessica. "Bear Necessities"- a customized portable toilet and bathroom. The others silently thanked Jessica for this one. They secretly shuddered at the old bucket concept.

Three hours later (10 minutes for Blackburn, the rest equally divided between Jessie and Bee), they went down. They slept at the guesthouse for the very important guests. Originally, the guesthouse was reserved to royalty and nobility who visited Hurgeon. But being the town saviors, they had an unanimous vote of approval.

Blackburn, Bee, Doki and Jessie looked around as zombies, skeletons and ghosts were zooming here and there, repairing the damage of last night's attack.

They detected the sound of Jessica's enthusiastic voice and followed it.

"And so here we are, good citizens of Hurgeon! This is my final offer: rent two Haunted Houses, get one free! Think about, Mr. mayor, the big boost in defenses! You wouldn't want to be sitting ducks here the next time some crazy monsters decide to drop by and have a bite off all of you, right?!" Jessica said smoothly.

"And just think about it! The undead don't need maintenance! They don't need to rest, eat or sleep! They need close supervision, sure, but that's no problem! You can use them as town guards! You can use them for farming or fishing! You can use them to clean the town! You can use them to patrol the streets and the paths to Hurgeon! With the Haunted Houses at your disposal, the only limit is your imagination! Only a good and sensible man would take me to my offer! Imagine! All this and more! Just for 60 gold a month!" Jessica said.

His friends shook their heads. They could see that the townspeople needed no further persuasion. Jessica literally had them eating out of his hand.

"And look at that, ladies and gentlemen! You can see those faithful, ever-so-loyal undead repairing your homes! How can they fix your things so fast, you might ask? I tell you what: pure, unadulterated ghost power! While we're at it, you folks dabble in fishing too, huh? What if I tell you that you can ask one of them ghosts to possess your boats so you won't need to do the steering, huh? Just tell them what to do and where to go and those ghost-pumped boats will do the rest!" Jessica said.

"Well, of course, you might have some concerns about the undead going out of control! Well, you can rest easy! You'll never have problems like that of the sort! These guys might look rotten and spooky and all but they're true ladies and gentlemen at heart! They won't hurt a fly! Unless, of course, the fly hurt any of you then that's a different story! Also, any concerns of these guys being use for self-serving purposes, well, you got some quality concerns there but no worries! All problems have solutions! If there ain't one, don't bother with it! We'll make a contract and these guys will obey the contents of the contract to the letter! So, how about it, huh, people?! Do get a aye or a nay?!" Jessie said.

He got an unanimous aye for that. He had the look of excitement and pride of nailing a deal. He smiled wide and resisted the urge to shriek like a girl. He just contented himself into fluttering his wings open and hovering off the ground.

"Selling hot cakes and it's even noon yet." Dusty said as the others came up to them. "Yeah. You're on fire today. But hiring mercenary NPCs are not cheap. How will you make ends meet?" Bee asked curiously. Jessica grinned like the money whore he is.

He opened a big hologram window and showed it to them.

0_0 - Their literal reactions. "WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THE GOLD AMOUNT?!" Doki demanded, his eyes never leaving the screen. 839,400 gold. "Fufufufufufufufufu~!" Jessica laughed haughtily.

"Is that the result of the Rulerealm you used last night?" Erica asked. Jessica nodded his head. "So, the plan is this: you give me all the gold and all the items we don't need and I'll sell it. I use the money to buy better items off the Black Market and BOOM! We'll be camping Bosses in no time! Mwahahaha!" Jessica explained, laughing maniacally.

"You know, for once, that sounded quite the great idea!" Dusty agreed. The others nodded. "And we can get free money every month! It's an amazing venture for something that costs so low. Maybe I'll even hire out some mercenary NPCs to people in the future." Jessica said.

As he said this, money-making schemes began to form into his head.

"Well, I'm glad to have you back again. But- uh- doesn't 60 gold sound a bit, I don't know, lower than your usual rates?" Dusty asked. "1 gold here is equivalent to 1 Mega-Credit back in our world. 1 silver is 1 Credit. Copper don't count shit." Erica pointed out. "That was a fucking good deal!" Dusty said, shaking hands vigorously with Jessica.

"So, what do we do today?" Bee asked. Inside her mind. she was praying no one bring up about heading up to the cemetery and investigate. "Why don't we head up to the cemetery and investigate?" Doki asked.

Bee slumped back into her chair. "You had to ask." Erica, Jessica and Jessie chorused, glaring at her. "I had to." Bee said apologetically. They sat at the table the townspeople prepared for them and began loading their plates.

"Please, eat slow everyone." Erica begged.

•

A good thirty minutes later...

Erica, Jessica, Jessie and Doki flew through the skies. The landbound ones were flying alongside them through Jessie's Fairy Godmeowther's Mass Flight buff.

As they soared through the noon sky, they came across the evidence of undead passing through the land underneath them. "Told you so." Doki said.

"Are we really heading straight into the belly of the beast?" Jessie asked nervously. "Don't be such chickens." Dusty snapped. Immediately, Erica and Jessica made clucking noises.

When they did arrive to the cemetery, they made audible gasps. Every grave in sight, every mausoleum and crypt stood unearthed, empty and cold. "Did the dead just decided one day to wake, take a stroll and go brain-bingeing?" Dusty asked.

"That's not possible. A third party's involved." Doki said. He could see what his friends couldn't. The wisps and streams of necromantic energies hung heavy in the air. It defiled everything it touched.

"Does anyone have any spells that can purify the whole area?" Doki asked. Everyone turned their heads to Jessica and Erica. "What're you looking at us for?" they chorused.

"You two have access to strengths that we don't." Blackburn said. Jessie sighed. He had something up his sleeve. "Well, what're you gonna do? Smoke them out? I can set-up a Ritual but someone's gotta stay in it to work." he said.

They looked at Bee. "We got just the person." Doki said.

"WHY AM I THE ONE DOING THIS?!" Bee wailed as she stood in the middle of a magical circle enclosed with black candles and other mojos. "You're the Tank, that's why!" Jessie replied, grinning wickedly.

"Don't worry! We're right behind you!" Dusty said. Bee gulped nervously as the Ritual began to charge up. The circle went alight with runes and symbols flashing in kaleidoscopic speeds. As the Ritual began to charge up with holy magic, there was an answering wail from right underneath the ground of the cemetery.

Bee wore Mother's Armor of Love: House Pillar and Mother's Shield of Love: House Pillar. Both armor and shield were excellent at absorbing large amounts of incoming damage while reflecting a percentage of it back to the attacker. Bee would be supplemented with spells that increased her overall defenses.

Since it was such a hit back at Hargeon, Doki summoned thirty-six ghost summoners and had them prepare another last stand battle against whatever was inside the cemetery.

Erica would be hovering about Doki and charge up his own Faith amounts with the sacrifice of Doki's summoned minions.

If things went south, Jessica would be ready for a teleportation spell so they could escape.

The ground shook as the legions of the dead poured through every crypt and mausoleum. Someone must've gone through the pains of connecting all the crypts and mausoleums into one underground system.

As Doki had predicted, the same kinds of undead that attacked Hurgeon last night made another appearance here. In Doki's standards, they were mediocre undead. Not strong, not weak either. Just so-so but annoyingly tanky.

They're more trouble than they're worth.

Doki's ghost summoners had prepared tanky summoned minions of their own. Summoned shadow elephants and shadow bears stood their ground and met the dead head-on.

"MASS CAST: THE PAPAL EDICT: EXORCISM!" Blackburn intoned. Twelve pentagrams appeared all around him and dashed forwards, swallowing the dead in its path and leaving without a trace.

"MASS CAST: MASS PIRATE: HOLYFUME POTIONS!" Jessica intoned. He hurled the summoned potions all around him and a great blanket of holy mist swallowed the cemetery. "Now that I think about it, this method would be just as effective." Jessica said after some thinking.

"WHAT?!" Bee shrieked. "Nothing!" Jessica said hastily.

"DEVILLISH AURA: THE GOAL OF ALL LIFE IS DEATH!" Dusty intoned. As to why the others wondered why he held back so much, they all could see why. His spells, while powerful and very effective, burned a hole through his MP bar. One spell and poof! 80% of his MP gone.

Dusty had cast his doppelganger spell and all twenty-five of him siphoned HP from all nearby enemies. Streams of essence flowed to all of him.

If this was a PvP, his enemy would find this incredibly annoying. Twenty-five people sucking your HP all at once is terrible. But when applied to a party engage or a guild engage, the effects are devastating.

The effects of the Holyfume Potions were effectively chewing away the advantages of the undead. They were susceptible to holy attacks. It didn't help that the opposition had mounted a tenacious defense.

"Guys, we're halfway there!" Bee yelled through the throng. She was surrounded by Doki's ghost summoners' summoned minions. The light encircling the pentagram had reached half-complete.

Bee's attention was suddenly diverted by several robed figures literally popping out of nowhere. "These guys are dangerous!" Bee thought.

She yelled a warning to her friends but one of the robed men raised a hand and she was thrown out of the Ritual's circle. The charging magic stopped and the pentagram shook violently.

Jessica scrambled and jumped into the pentagram. It stabilized immediately. Another man had raised a hand and what looked to be a lance of shadows appeared upon his palms.

He threw it at Jessica but Bee had leapt and shielded him. "THANKS, GURL!" he said gratefully. Then their ace in the hole arrived.

"MUTATE CAT: PURRANORMAL CATIVITY!" Jessie intoned. One of her cats puffed up into the size of a boulder and changed into the most hideous cat monster they've seen so far.

Part fleshy, part skeletal and part spectral, this monstrous creature was a Cerberus-like amalgamation of the three kinds of undead, brought together like a living curse of the entire cat family.

"SHE'S BEAUTIFUL! SHE'S BEAUTIFUL! SHE'S BEAUTIFUL!" Jessie shrieked madly. Her Fairy Godmeowther appeared by her side and magicked Jessie and Purranormal Cativity into the air. It began to charge a high-damage area-of-effect attack.

The necromancers were given a choice. Pursue Jessica who stood behind the stubborn support of Bee or pursue Jessie and her feline assistants.

Instead of focusing their efforts, the necromancers split their forces.

Nine went for Jessica and Five went to Jessie. That, of course, they had ignored the third and the fourth threats.

Doki was channeling a mass undead domination spell. If he were to succeed, every undead within the cemetery's radius will fall under his control. Since they're all weak undead, that meant the enemy army would be his. And he'll detonate them all.

That would be enough to give Eric all the Faith he needs to unleash a Wrath of God Pantheon spell.

Doki was the third. The fourth was something the gang didn't even know about. A contingent of Demacian warriors was headed for the cemetery's direction. A small army of elite soldiers with specialization with undead combat.

In other words, exorcists.

Take out threat one, you have to deal with threat number two and three. With the impressive defense the gang had mounted, there was no foreseeable chance of that happening.

Unless the opposition had its own surprise.

The earth of the cemetery erupted suddenly, throwing soil and grave everywhere. Something stirred beneath the dark. Something gigantic.

That's when they saw the monstrous undead beast. It was a skeletal dragon.

It wasn't exactly a dragon but it was made up of countless bones that formed into the terrible shape of a dragon. Sitting squarely between the massive claws of the beast was Bee and Jessica.

Both hugged each other tightly, their lives flashing before their eyes.

"ERICAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Bee and Jessica shrieked. The skies opened and was aglow with wondrous visions. Ten pillars of light flashed brightly down towards the earth and ten majestic creatures appeared in a burst of color.

The 1st was a three-headed giant wolf. Bezeluth Morde, whose domain is war, revolution and change.

The 2nd was a golden bird with flowing plumes of sunshine gold. Serena, whose domain is time and unchanging passages of life and death.

The 3rd was a child's figure composed by countless dazzling fireflies and butterflies. Terramira, whose domain is the mysteries of love and friendship.

The 4th was a mighty sea monster: a giant fish that hosted innumerable tentacles. Sorromere, whose domain is the world of dreams, omens and magic.

The 5th was a beautiful doe with twining horns that housed planets, suns, moons, stars and the beauty of Earth Mother. Abeathea, whose domain is nature and all her works and children.

The 6th was a black rabbit whose dug holes led straight into the heart of the underworld. Gilbranos, whose domain is the realm of the dead and the hosts of the dead.

The 7th was a giant egg bursting with potential and life. Genesis, whose domain is inspiration, artsmanship, craftsmanship and birth of beginnings.

The 8th was looked humanoid but a close inspection would reveal that the left side was female while the right side was male. Effugus, whose domain is fate and mystery.

The 9th was a giant squid whose body was comprised of the cosmos, the stars and heavenly bodies. Atenregina, whose domain is the creation of the celestial firmament.

The 10th was an owl who pored over countless books, writing secrets none should know. Fathomnus, whose domain is the knowledge of the past, present and future.

These were the ten gods assigned to Erica's Pantheon. The Ten Divines, the oldest and wisest of the Annunaki Beast Gods. They were one of the major characters in the Old Earth RPG Rebirth. And they're making a crossover here in the form of Erica.

"WHOA! ARE THOSE THE TEN DIVINES?!" Blackburn asked excitedly. He recognized them instantly, having played Rebirth avidly. "GO, GET THEM, ERICA!" he yelled, waving his hands like an excited child.

The physical manifestations of the Ten Divines launched themselves against the undead dragon. The epic and awe-inspiring scene of ten gods ganging up on a poor undead dragon made the gang weep.

"These guys can't do anything major yet. All of their skills are still locked." Erica yelled as he fought off the dragon who seemed to be determined to rip Jessica and Bee apart.

Then Jessie's Purranormal Cativity unleashed its attack. Stormclouds gathered overhead and swirled into a chasm of lightning. Wicked arcs of electricity cascaded down from above, consuming the opposing undead whole and throwing the necromancers into chaos.

"Guys, get them alive! Don't kill any of the bad guys! We need them alive! We'll have a bigger reward if we take them alive!" Doki yelled over the excitement.

"I think I just have the thing for that! JESSA!" Jessie yelled. Jessica looked at her in question then he cottoned in quickly.

The pair flew straight above and flapped their wings madly. Magical Faerie Dust immediately filled the air. Blackburn smirked as he watched the necromancers try to stay awake.

They were already swaying back and forth in their vain efforts to keep themselves awake. In a matter of minutes, all eleven necromancers were fast asleep on the ground.

Jessie and Jessica fluttered back to the ground. "Should we go collect our rewards now?" Jessie asked excitedly. "No. There's still the matter with the Final Boss." Doki said. Everyone looked at him. He grinned back slyly.

"You didn't think these bozos were the brains of the operation, right? We got something bigger here. Something that lurks deep within the burial grounds." he said. "Oh, no. No. No. NO!" Bee said, fervently shaking her head.

A minute later...

The gang found themselves moving their way deep underground. Jessica had procured several pirated Bottled Siren Songs to keep the necromancers asleep. They left behind Jessie's Purranormal Cativity to guard them.

The monster cat was too big to fit in the underground network anyways.

Doki's ghost summoners led the way and their summoned minions scouted the area far ahead of them. If there were any traps ahead, the summonined minions would ferret it out.

There were traps alright. But instead of the standard spikes, crushing walls and dart-ridden hallways, it seemed fitting that the traps were necromantic in nature as well.

There were rooms that sealed itself in and summoned a lot of undead monsters.

There were rooms that filled itself with necromantic gas, much like a gassing chamber.

There were rooms that filled itself with hallucinogenic gas that made you see a happy illusion while zombies feasted on you.

"Well, I'm sure glad Doki's on our side. I'd hate to find out for myself how those traps work." Dusty finally admitted as they watched Doki's ghost summoners' summoned minions fall to the traps.

Jessica threw a grenade-like device into the room and there was an electrical flash. The item was called a Trap Negator. Like suggested in its name, it will disable traps within its explosion radius.

Blackburn suddenly shushed them. He heard something. So had Doki. These men were industrial workers. Vigilance was part of the job description if you don't want to die.

Their trained ears heard something others had not. "Someone's calling to us." Doki said. Jessie, Jessica, Erica and Bee felt the hairs on their body rise on end. "Well, that's out cue to get the hell out of here." Erica said merrily.

"BOSS FIGHT! BOSS FIGHT! BOSS FIGHT! BOSS FIGHT! BOSS FIGHT! BOSS FIGHT!" Dusty yelled excitedly, pumping his fist into the air. "I clearly remember the inadvisability of messing with the dungeon Boss especially if you happen to be noobs." Bee's icy voice cut in.

That got some sense into them. "Well, before we mess around with it, Jessaa, is there any way to escape once you initiate a Boss fight?" Blackburn asked. Jessica rolled his eyes and checked his Encyclopedia (GAME MECHANICS).

It's worth mentioning that he gave the others the exact same things and they still pester him with the questions.

"It says here you can. For players at levels 30 and up, you're allowed to leave if you make an offering of a Special-class item or above. For players at levels 30 and below, the item Noob Savior will help you escape. Also, the dungeon of the Boss you just escaped with get the "Ancient Grudge" buff. 30% increased damage against you." Jessica said.

"And I'm not going to buy that Noob Savior *He opened up his Black Market hologram and consulted the prices*. It says here- HOLY JESUS!- 5,000 gold for one lousy item?! 5,000 apiece and there's seven of us. That's 35k! NO WAY! NO WAY IN HELL AM I SPENDING THAT MUCH MONEY!" Jessica shrieked.

A vast tremor from the ground suddenly interrupted Jessica's tirade.

"What's happening?" Doki asked in alarm. Before any of them could react, the floor suddenly gave way and the gang fell into the darkness below.

•

Blackburn felt something hit the side of his face hard. He woke up with a start, remembering what just happened a whilw ago. He could see Jessie standing over him with a look of concern and alarm on her face.

He noticed the sounds fo fighting and immediately leapt up. He could see that Jessica was busy with reviving Doki and Dusty. He looked at who was stopping the Boss.

Bee and Erica.

Erica had once again invoked his Ten Divines form. A weakened god is still a god and they were holding splendidly against the Boss.

The Boss for the Hurgeon Cemetery dungeon was a Ancient Lich. They were powerful undead made from master sorcerors who elected into the dark immortality offered by necromancy.

Erica's Divine Intervention: Tree of Life and Bee's Armor of Love: Selflessness and Shield of Love: Selflessness combined their area HP and MP Restore to supplement for their low-leveled defense.

"THE PAPAL EDICT: HOLY GROUND!" Blackburn intoned. He threw in his own brand of HP and MP Restore area. Erica's Ten Divines were each limited to one low-cooldown attack.

Jessica deployed seven Rituals and had each of the Six Hands occupy one. Jessie had conjured up her Meowgantor, Kitty-kittygeddon and Purranormal Cativity. But she was mostly relegated to evaporating whatever summoned minion the Ancient Lich planned on calling.

"DOKI, IF YOU DON'T FUCKING WAKE UP NOW, I'M GIVING YOU MOUTH-TO-MOUTH RESUSCITATION!" Jessica hissed on his unconcious friend's ear. Doki rose up instantly with a roar and looked around widly.

"You get your diseased lips away from me!" he bellowed. He blinked and immediately took what was happening. "MASS UNDEAD SUMMONING: LICH!" Doki intoned. Black goo oozed from the ground and took the shape of twelve mummified undead swathed in luxurious arcane robes.

"MASS CAST: IMMOBILIZE!" the Ancient Lich called out. Everyone, excluding Erica's Ten Divines, was suddenly rooted in place and unable to move. "ELEVATE MAGIC: DEATH PULSE!" the Ancient Lich called out again.

A blast of necromantic energy flung them all up and slammed them hard against the wall. Jessica and Six Hands immediately scrambled to occupy an emptied Ritual circle.

"Your opposition is impressive. I am much more impressed by the fact that you are not as strong as I thought you were. And yet here I am, having difficulties only because of your numbers." the Ancient Lich said, its voice was as cold as the grave.

"Oh, great. Mandatory villain monologue time." Bee groaned. She stood up and erected Selflessness' constant HP & MP Restore field again.

"WHEN DID YOU HAVE TIME TO CAST THAT SHIELD?!" Erica shouted indignantly as his Ten Divines' attacks were blocked by a shadowy shield the Ancient Lich had conjured.

"DIVINE INTERVENTION: RADIANCE!" Erica intoned. A flash of divine light erupted and the Ancient Lich shielded his eyes. Blackburn and Doki pressed on their attacks.

The Ancient Lich slammed its staff upon the ground and the shadow spikes erupted, skewering the gang. "OMFG! That hurts!" Jessie wailed as blood dibbled down the area when she got pierced.

Her cat monsters got dispelled. Doki's summoned minions got dispelled. They were open.

She looked up and had to admire Bee for forcing herself to stand to maintain her HP & MP Restore field. The Ancient Lich threw a shadow lance at Bee but Erica used the god Genesis to block the attack for her.

Blackburn raised his Crosier and activated the healing magic within.

Then Erica used his other Ten Divines to shield everyone from the shadow tentacles the Ancient Lich had conjured.

They survived the assault but no one knew what to do anymore. The enemy was simply too strong.

Then two figures came streaking down from the chasm above them. A man and a woman. Bats suddenly filled the huge chamber with their numbers and sounds. A woman stepped out of invisibility and let loose a barrage of bolts upon the Ancient Lich.

Her aim was true but they noticed how she focused her attacks on the Ancient Lich's face. The man joined her attacks, releasing a barrage of his own attacks from his weapons. Again, he aimed for the face.

At the sight of their saviors, the gang began to move.

"MASS CAST: BONE CONSTRUCTS: DRIFTING SPLINTER MINE!" Doki intoned. Twelve spheres of sharpened bones appeared out of thin air. They turned blood red in color and made a beeline towards the Ancient Lich.

The Ancient Lich moved a hand and another blast of force erupted from him. The man was hurled but the woman had tumbled to swiftly recover her balance and continued her attacks.

Doki's bone constructs stuck on the Ancient Lich and detonated. It was the monster's turn to be hurled into the air.

"Just a little more time!" Jessica said. The Rituals were nearly complete.

The Ancient Lich's eyes widened in realization. It looked at the Rituals and felt something would turn the tide completely if it allowed the Rituals to complete.

Bee flung herself in front of Jessie. Blackburn used The Papal Edict: Holy Ground. Erica used Divine Intervention: Tree of Life.

The Ancient Lich hurled itself at Jessica, eyes wide with murder. A figure leapt up and tackled it midway. It was Dusty. He finally recovered.

"TORTURE: HELL VISITATION! TORTURE: DEVIL EYES! TORTURE: MENTAL SICKNESS!" Dusty intoned. Immediately, the Ancient Lich began shrieking hysterically at things only it could see and feel.

It thrashed and shook violently in fear. Whatever Dusty did to it, they were thankful they weren't the receiving end. "ERICA, NOW!" Jessica yelled.

The Rituals were completed. Their circles erupted and unleashed the stored magic. Jessica aimed all of it at the Ancient Lich.

AMPLIFY DIVINE DAMAGE TAKEN!

AMPLIFY DIVINE DAMAGE TAKEN!

AMPLIFY DIVINE DAMAGE TAKEN!

AMPLIFY DIVINE DAMAGE TAKEN!

AMPLIFY DIVINE DAMAGE TAKEN!

AMPLIFY DIVINE DAMAGE TAKEN!

AMPLIFY DIVINE DAMAGE TAKEN!

The Ancient Lich, susceptible to Holy and Divine damage like all undead, suddenly found itself with a fatal, devastating weakness.

Erica, all Ten Divines attacking as one, struck the Ancient Lich.

And all its HP evaporated instantly.

"We did it! We fucking did it!" Erica yelled excitedly. His Ten Divines timed out. And his friends had fainted from sheer joy, not of winning, but of surviving their first Boss encounter.

Doki and Blackburn would think twice in the future before running into another Boss fight.

•

Jessie opened her eyes and saw herself staring at the sky whose light was being chased away by the coming night. She immediately rose from whatever she was lying on and looked around.

Her six friends were lying unconscious upon a floating board. It hovered above the ground and was large enough for all seven of them to occupy.

Jessie noticed that they were surrounded by armored figures. They wore light armor but something about them told her they weren't pure fighters. "Who are you guys?" she asked.

It was the woman rescuer who answered. "We are going back to Hurgeon so the medics there can take a closer look at you." the woman replied succintly. It almost like she was terminating the conversation.

"Well, I'm glad you guys are alright. I thought y'all had a heart attack from all that." Erica piped in. Neither of them noticed that the armored figures as well as their rescuer look wildly around in a vain attempt to locate its source.

"That's enough excitement to last a week for me. When Jessa's up, we'll never hear the end of it." Jessie said, petting her small army of cats. "I'll say. He'll make sure Doki and Blackburn reflect on this." Erica agreed.

"By the way, Eric, what's up with your voice?" Jessie asked. She noticed that Erica's voice was indeterminable as it sounded as if it came from many men and women at the same time but it carried regal pride and grace. "We just level-jumped. We're 6 now. Happens when we level-up upon beating a Boss." Erica explained.

"I unlocked Tiny World's Physical World Interactions spells! And I can maintain one Ten Divines form indefinitely. Locked just like the invoked ones, of course, but nevertheless, much appreciated." Erica said. A divine portal opened right above them.

Jessie gasped as the Ten Divines' Atenregina appeared and merrily fly above them. She wasn't the only one stupefied. The warriors around them were stunned at the appearance of an alien creature overhead.

Erica didn't bother with them. He just kept playfully doing air stunts. "How do you pick?" Jessie asked excitedly. "Sleep. You'll have the dream." Erica said.

Jessie grinned and laid back. She closed her eyes and was asleep in moments.

•

ERICA

Level 6 Pantheon

-Tiny World: GRANTED: Physical World Interactions spells!

-6 Spec Points

-Faith Generation +6= COMBAT: 160/min. NON-COMBAT: 40/min.

•

JESSICA

Level 6 Faerie King/Queen

-6 Spec Points

-Gold Generation +6= COMBAT: 70/sec. NON-COMBAT: 50/min.

•

JESSIE

Level 6 Faerie King/Queen

-6 Spec Points

-MP +3= MP: 600 {60/sec.}

-Faerie Dust +1= Faerie Dust (12/100)

-Summon Cat +2= Summon Cat (14/100)

•

BEE

Level 6 Mother Dearest

-6 Spec Points

-HP +2= HP: 500 {50/sec.}

-MP +2= MP: 400 {40/sec.}

-Birthing +2= Birthing (14/1000)

•

DUSTY

Level 6 Murder Clown

-6 Spec Points

-MP +4= 600 {60/sec.}

-Deceive +2= Deceive (14/1000)

•

DOKI

Level 6 Jack O' Lantern

-6 Spec Points

-Undead Summoning +2= Undead Summoning (14/100)

-Mass Undead Summoning +2= Mass Undead Summoning (14/100)

-MP+ 2= MP: 500 {50/sec.}

•

BLACKBURN

-6 Spec Points

-Flurry Assault +2= Flurry Assault (7/100)

-Phase Strike +2= Phase Strike (7/100)

-The Papal Edict +2= The Papal Edict (14/100)

Chapter 3

Runeterra, Here We Come! Part 3

The gang opened their eyes and heard much merriment coming from outside the guesthouse. They remembered toasting the Ancient Lich.

Then they blacked out.

They remembered having the dream where they got to choose how to level up. Others boosted their HP/MP, others chose to unlock more spells.

They noticed Erica and Jessica wasn't with them. For a wild moment, they thought they lost those two but they calmed down the moment they saw Erica's Atenregina pass by the window.

If Erica's up and about, Jessica must be busy making money again. That restless money whore. Bee was the first to rise up. Everyone else followed suit.

When they came out of the guesthouse, they noticed that Hurgeon had gone up in celebration. Someone must've informed them of the gang's unlikely victory against the Ancient Lich.

When they reached outside, they saw people were dancing and cheering, bright colors bedecked every house in sight and sumptuous food were given away everywhere they looked.

"Now, this is an amazing reception." Doki said. He looked everywhere, pride had filled his heart. He never had seen a celebration this big. Again, they made their way to the mayor's house.

In front of it were their rescuers, the woman in a catsuit with bat followers, the man of color with twin relic-guns and the host of masked warriors in armors of white.

When Erica spotted them, his Atenregina waved all her celestial tentacles at them. "Hey, guys, glad to see you up!" he yelled as his Atenregina picked them up and hugged them.

"Look at you! A flying squid and all!" Blackburn laughed. Erica put them down. "The woman with the crossbow is Vayne. The man with the guns is Lucian. The others are peepz from the Demacian Exorcist Squad." Erica explained in a whisper to his friends.

"And what is Jessa selling them now?" Jessie asked. "Nothing. He's just sealing the deal. The others objected to the renting the Haunted Houses. Saying it's unsafe and unreliable. Spawning undead and all. The mayor beat them down. He's considering the town security more than sentiment." Erica explained.

"A fine man, that mayor." Doki grunted. He and the others walked up to the table and the mayor and his wife rose up and gave them all warm smiles and hugs.

"We can't thank you enough! First, saving the town! Then getting rid of that horrible monster! Hurgeon and its neighboring towns can rest easy now!" the mayor said happily.

"Hurgeon wasn't the only one attacked that night we arrived?" Doki asked. The mayor nodded. "Birchwood, Nesthaven and Terrin were also attacked that night. There had been incursions in the past but never an army like that." the mayor said. "It was fortunate for the King to send the Exorcist Squad to investigate" the mayor's wife said.

"Well, it would seem you didn't need our help after all." the man named Lucian said, his tone truly neutral. He gave the gang a steely look. Doki and Dusty met his gaze head-on.

"Well, first of all, I would like to thank you for coming to Hurgeon's rescue. We came here as fast as we could but only after securing the other three towns. We expected to see ruins here. Imagine our surprise when we saw the town still standing." the woman, Vayne, said.

"And imagine our surprise once more when we saw undead mingling openly with the people." she added, this time her eyes had gone with the same steely look as Lucian's. "Don't ya worry, bub! I sell nothing less than quality merchandise! I guarantee you those little pets ain't gonna harm anyone! I'll give you a draft of the contract later! It's positively fool-proof!" Jessica said proudly.

"Which is why we're extra doubtful on the matter. Is this shady person with you?" Vayne asked, casting a look of distaste at Jessica. "Why? Do you want him?" Doki asked hopefully. Bee gave him a look.

"Yeah. He's with us." Blackburn said evenly. Vayne snorted and took her seat again. "And what are you people? Clearly, none of you are human at all." Lucian said. "Does it matter if the hand that helps you comes from a human or not?" Bee posed this innocent question.

She sent Lucian sputtering. Bee and Jessie bumped fist under the table. Lucian shook his head, muttering something in disbelief. "Don't worry. We're just harmless adventurers passing by." Blackburn said.

An Exorcist bent over to Vayne and whispered something in her ear. She looked at the man then sighed. "I suggest you delay your trip further. The King wishes to thank you personally. You are summoned to the Capital. The King wishes to reward you properly." she said.

Even though the news secretly excited them all, the gang pretended to be disinterested. "Yeah, okay, whatever." Jessie managed to squeak. Again, Lucian shook his head in disbelief.

The day in Hurgeon passed on quietly. As quiet as a town celebration could ever be. Instead of asking for gold, Jessica surprised his friends when he asked for land instead as a reward for saving Hurgeon.

This surprised the mayor as well but he stated the only available plot was on the mountainside outside of town. Jessica immediately accepted and the gang went over to see their new land.

When the mayor said it was on the mountainside, he didn't mention what a prime spot it is for a homestead. To the east and south was the great mountain, a natural barrier on its own, the west overlooked a great river and the north were filled with the greenscape.

Of course, the mayor mentioned that it was susceptible to attacks by monsters, animals and bandits. That's why even though the place was a hotspot, no one had the balls to take it.

"So, what do you have in mind for this place?" Blackburn asked curiously. "We're looking at either a floating home or a several homes." Jessie said.

They began picturing a cute cottage built by the river, extending halfway into the rapids.

They pictured a floating island home, either a great mass or several small islands at once.

They pictured an underground home, Hobbit-style.

"The possibilities is endless." Dusty grinned, mouth drooling from fantasizing his dream house. "Are we building it immediately?" Bee asked excitedly. "Don't be daft. We'll need money for that. Lots of it. We'll save first. Buy some quality items. Then we go fundraising." Jessica said.

His friends agreed. Jessica opened the Black Market system and drew up the mercenary system.

Very few classes get to open the mercenary systems. There's the Hacker class, Sovereign class and Dealer class. Because the mercenary system in itself required the Black Market system to begin with, the three aforementioned classes had direct link to it.

For the gang, however, they had two who can access the mercenary systems. Bee and Jessica. Bee's an NPC-summoning platform. Jessica has access to the Black Market by default.

Jessica punched in some icons and two floating variants of the Haunted House appeared out of thin air. POPs composed of zombies, ghosts and skeletons made a makeshift wall to highlight the land area.

They went back to town and Jessica went with the mayor to draft the contract for the rented Haunted Houses. He came back several hours later, changed the static Haunted Houses into their floating variants.

They left Hurgeon around dusk. With Hurgeon's three new Haunted Houses on the job, it's security is pumped up.

Later, Jessica told the rest of the gang he wanted to approach other towns with the same offer. He told them Haunted Houses were cheap anyway.

The Exorcists had arrived to Hurgeon via their War Wagons. They were massive covered wagons outfitted with thick armor, weapon placements and was pulled by a team of powerful-horses.

At a closer inspection, one would notice the horses had four pairs of legs. They were domesticated monsters.

It was through this same War Wagon that they planned to make their way back to the Demacian capital. "How long would that exactly take?" Dusty asked Vayne. The woman's eyes looked upward as she calculated mentally.

"Two days worth of travel." she said. "WHAT?" the gang chorused. "Hell, we'll make that a day!" Jessie said indignantly. "TRIPLE CAST: EVOLVE CAT: FAIRY GODMEOWTHER! MASS CAST: EMPOWER CAT: NYANENDING!" she intoned.

Fairy Godmeowther's such a hit to Jessie that she found herself relying more and more on them. They're quickly becoming her favorites. Three of her cats had flash-evolved into Fairy Godmeowther.

They first cast calming spells on the horses then instantly deployed Mass Flight spells. The War Wagon rose into the air and moved with such speed it couldn't have done so on the ground.

Flying above the trees at a constant speed, the Exorcists once again felt conflicted. If they could have access to such convenience, the Exorcist Squad could cover a lot of ground.

Malevolent spirits and restless dead were common plagues in Demacia. The leader of the Exorcist, a practical man, already wanted things from the strangers but he didn't dare speak out. He held too much respect for the legendary hunters Vayne and Lucian.

It had been the steadying rate of appearance of the undead from Hurgeon cemetery that brought these two lone wolves together.

Now that the threat was gone, Vayne and Lucian would return to their own crusades. It was a real pity. The Exorcist Squad could use people of their caliber. Not everyone had the guts to face the things that go bump in the night.

While Jessica, Jessie, Blackburn and Bee slept, Doki, Dusty and Erica asked question after question of any information the Demacians were willing to divulge. They had hidden their real natures behind questions of who sold the best equipment here, who had the best enchanting capabilities and so on and so forth.

Even though Vayne began to suspect something, she had no concrete proof. For all she knew, they could be foreigners. Then somewhere around midnight, when the everyone else were asleep, Vayne had asked her question.

"What are you?" she asked. Doki, Dusty and Erica shared looks of uncertainty. "We're just people, ma'am. Good people. Very lost." Dusty managed to say with his most innocent expression.

Vayne sighed. "Well, you did save an entire town from annihilation and got rid of that monster. You cannot be that bad after all." she said. Somehow, she managed to convey to them that she wasn't satisfied with their answer.

But it was clear to her that it was the only answer she was going to get.

After that, she fell asleep. To pass the time they had on their hands, the three took out the guide books Jessica had each given them and began to read. With only three Fairy Godmeowther for company, the trio threw themselves in researching as much as possible.

"Man. Being unable to sleep sucks." Dusty commented. Doki had grunted his approval.

It was around sunrise that Fairy Godmeowther had let the War Wagon down to give the horses the chance to move their limbs and it moved on land again. Each of the gang woke up after some time.

No one knew how fast they had traveled that night but the Demacians recognized what they call the Sunrise Plains, a wildlife preserve, and concluded the capital was only two miles away.

By now, the Exorcist Squad captain was dying to purchase some services these people could provide. Jessica caught the look on the captain's face and a glint of greed lit his eyes.

By Bee's suggestion, they stopped by the riverside for breakfast and if anyone wanted to unleash the Kraken, they were given access to Bear Necessities.

Jessica, as if inspired by some dark creature from unspeakable places, showed everyone a Rare-class Expendable-type item called Wand of Provision. It contained the power to summon your choice of the twelve meal sets and contained one hundred uses.

The captain nearly fell to his knees.

He no longer doubted that Jessica was some sort of demon. He was seducing him, turning all his convictions and beliefs into delicious lures for his honey-coated traps.

He watched as Jessica magicked enough food for all of them. He sat beside Jessica and began to whisper some deals. This did not escape Vayne's and Lucian's attention and they looked on with disgusted expressions.

"It's not even noon yet and I've won another potential customer!" Jessica said gleefully. "If you ask us, that Pirate class of yours fits you really well. Like you were cut from the same cloth." Blackburn commented, shoveling cornbread and mashed potatoes into his mouth.

How he managed to talk clearly with a mouth that full was beyond any of them.

"It's a match made in heaven. I can't really help it. I use money to fuel my spells, remember? Unless you want me sitting pretty every time hostiles come along..." Jessica said. The gang groaned. He did have a point in that.

"By the way, Doki, how long does your undead minions last?" Jessie asked. Doki gave her a look. Jessica and Jessie had overlapping personalities. They've held joint-business ventures before.

"Usually hour or two. Jack O' Lanterns have the longest summon duration. The strongest ones last for an hour, the weakest last for two hours. That's not taking into consideration if I overcharge the spell." Doki replied. "Why?" he asked.

Jessie grinned. "It's possible!" she said to Jessica. "What are you two talking about?" Doki demanded. "Nothing! We're just working on some theories!" she said. "You're thinking about hiring my summoned undead, aren't you?" he speculated.

"God, dude, slow down. All you've been doing is make money since we got here." Blackburn groaned. Jessie and Jessica blushed.

Spurned by the fact that their guests had taken the time to freshen up, the Exorcists, Vayne and Lucian helped themselves to Bear Necessities. Vayne had praised the Bear Necessities, saying she had never seen such advance technology, not even from her trip to Piltover.

"Now there's a name that catches my fancy. Piltover. You could do a lot of sales there, Jessa." Doki said. Jessica's eyebrow shot up. Doki felt smug. He had read a lot about the other nations on the books last night.

"Then you should know that's under the economic sovereignty of the merchant clans. A little salesman there, unallied with any of the merchant clans, would get devoured whole in seconds. The same could be said of the next door neighbor Zaun." Jessica said haughtily.

Doki flushed, eliciting a chuckle from Jessie. "I thought you were talking about the shady kind of business." Doki sputtered. Then he saw it. A look on Jessica's face like he was a saint having a divine vision.

"You're a genius!" Jessica said, pulling Doki up and kissing him on the cheeks. "He's having a breakthrough." Bee said. "Or a breakdown." Dusty snickered. "Oh, yes, to be the first to pierce Piltover's underworld! I'll do it with a bang! I'll take over by storm!" Jessica said.

He boomed maniacally, laughing like a deranged psychopath. Dusty looked around, watching as the Demacians slowly back away from Jessica. "It's normal for him! Nothing to see here! It's perfectly normal for him!" he said, laughing awkwardly.

The Demacians still looked at their friend with doubt and mistrust. It didn'y change when they boarded the War Wagon again and took to the skies. Jessica had been muttering things under his breath. He was joined this time by Jessie.

•

"Is that what I think it is?!" Bee exclaimed when a glorious shape had emerged upon the horizons. It was around noontime and they nearly reached the capital.

It loomed like a shining beacon of white and gold. And although the era looked like it was somewhere around magic-version Medieval Times, the land all around them remained largely unspoiled by human greed.

It was an amazing change. For these teenagers who lived in a ravaged, polluted Earth, the chance of breathing air this fresh, watching living things frolic around in boundless horizons instead of the limited space of biospheres, it was a sight to be remembered.

It was exactly around lunchtime that the War Wagon arrived at the eastern gate of the capital. When observed so high in the air, the capital was shaped like a wheel, with the royal palace sitting in the middle.

The high walls of the capital was heavily guarded as to be expected and a concentration of soldiers manned the four main gates. Inside these very walls lived the King of Demacia, the ruler of their country.

It would be logical to put this much protection for such a indispensable individual.

When the leader of the Exorcist Squad had finished identifying themselves and the gang as guests of the King, Vayne and Lucian had both vanished. They were nowhere to be seen.

Everyone knew those two hunters of the dark worked alone, directing their campaigns without the burden of company. It was easier that way. No one tangles with the dark and emerged without a few hundred enemies.

They only hitched a ride to restock and repair their arsenal, get information from their contacts and return to their eternal vigil. The gang oooh-ed and ahhh-ed as the War Wagon made its way through the opulent streets.

So much history and culture had been crammed on everything they passed by. Whether it was a building, a street lamp, the paved road they moved upon, the dresses of the Demacians or the lines of little stores and booths that hawk their goods, each of them had so much to tell.

The small entourage made its way to the royal palace. By that time, the gang had been reduced to country bumpkins. They gawked at everything they passed by but it instilled in Demacians who watched them a sense of haughty pride.

It really made them puff their feathers out and show these countryside mice what the capital was all about. When they reached the palace, the gang was nervous.

They looked highly out of place and they weren't dressed for the occasion. They all looked ridiculous. Well, except for Blackburn and Bee. They weren't dressed properly but at least it didn't make them look like clowns.

The Exorcists beckoned them to follow. The palace was H-U-G-E. The teens had read about the palaces back in Old Earth. They were grand structures that housed as much decadence as the epitome of the stature of their inhabitants.

The teens never saw a palace in real life before but the architectural marvel before them certainly qualified to be one. They were herded straight to an ornate hall.

A tall, Oriental-looking man with hair so long he tied it into a ponytail came in. "The King will be with you shortly." he said, his voice was deep and completely void of emotion. With that he left the hall as well.

"Jessa, do you have something there that will turn us into instant best dressed guests?" Bee asked nervously. She began patting her dress self-conciously but not as much to the extent of Jessie's, who named her own clothing flaws out loud.

Jessica rolled his eyes and produced a wand. It was the Rare-class Expendable-type item called Wand of Disguises. When used, it casts a Greater Glamour spell which covers the affected's appearance or person with a solid illusion. He twirled the wand and his friends were suddenly changed into masterfully fashionable clothes.

No one would mistake them for adventurers. They looked right at home with the Demacian court. The next thing they knew, the door of the great hall was flung open and an entourage appeared.

"God, these people looked like peacocks." Blackburn said. Bee and Dusty snickered silently. "Jessie, status report!" Doki barked. Jessie was giving a soul-searching stare at each of the people.

"Except for the King and his assistant, they're all rotten. Oh!- And except for the guy who looks like a mountain, the girl who looks like blonde Barbie, the guy who looks like a fox and the guy who looks like an eel. They're sensible folks." Jessie said.

She had the God-given ability to summarize a person's character with just a look. And she was right 80% of those times. The hall was flooded with the overdressed people but the King's assistant told them to stay in place.

Then the trumpets blared and two people entered. One of them, the older man, was dressed fit for a King. From his robes to the rings on his fingers, they all emanated opulence. He was past his prime but he radiated the intense power of a competent and active man.

The younger one beside him looked like the younger version of the King. The gang had no doubt they were looking at the prince of Demacia. And if these prettied people were here, they must be nobles or people of similar importance.

The assembly was silently reeling. The adventurers present looked like they were out of the fairytales. The dresses they wore were nothing less than unnaturally exquisite, as if tailored by inhuman beings of greater talent.

The King graced the adventurers with a smile and sat upon his throne. Then there was silence. It was as if the King was waiting for something. Then one of the adventurers moved. It was the being with the pumpkin head. He seemed to have kicked someone hard.

Another guy, the slender fae one with eyes that looked like black pools void of irises and fluffy antennae, moved and glared at the pumpkin man. He moved a little bit forward and smiled at the King.

It was a winning smile. The females of the group moved behind the fae guy. The small girl who looked like the embodiment of a man's idea of a perfect mate and the small girl who looked like she couldn't stand still for one moment and resembled the fae guy.

"Forgive us, Your Majesty. It's our first time standing before true royalty." the fae guy said. "FREAKS!" he said in a strong voice. At first, the Demacians thought he was insulting them. Then they realized that the name for their group was FREAKS.

"Pay your respects!" the guy said grandly. One by one, the gang had played their roles. Jessica, the conniving actor he is, led them and gave them confidence.

Blackburn was the first. He knelt and seals, symbols and runes filled with holy power appeared all around him. "I pay my respects to the King of Demacia!" Blackburn said in a strong voice. He knelt. His back was drenched with sweat though.

Dusty came next. His body burst into black flames that took on the shapes of giggling children. "I pay my respects to the King of Demacia!" Dusty said. His voice was just as strong but his legs threatened to give way. He knelt as well.

Doki came next. In an instant, zombies, skeletons and ghosts appeared alongside him, making the Demacians back away in fear and alerting the royal guards. Then they knelt alongside Doki. "I pay my respects to the King of Demacia!" Doki said, his voice was like a powerful tide over them.

Bee came next. Her Six Hands stood beside her and she was suddenly enveloped into her Mother's Armor of Love: Valentines and Mother's Shield of Love: Valentines. Doves flew around her and she and her Six Hands knelt. "I pay my respects to the King of Demacia!" Bee said, her voice clear and loud.

Jessie came next. Her three Fairy Godmeowther stood by her and raised their wands and the air was filled with a thousand sparkles. She knelt and spread her faerie wings. They were like diamonds cast in the sunlight. "I pay my respects to the King of Demacia!" Jessie said, her voice tinged with insufferable pride.

Jessica was next. He graced the King with a playful smile and knelt. No show, he just knelt. Then he spread his faerie wings and the Demacians gasped for its beauty none could aptly describe. "I pay my respects to the King of Demacia!" Jessica said, his voice laced with arrogance.

With the six adventurers elegantly kneeling before the King, the Demacians could not think of any insult to hurl at them. Demacian nobles were well-known for their ego and sense of self-importance, after all.

"Wonder-" the King began when he finally found his voice. "Please wait, dear King! This is not all of us!" Jessica interrupted him. He just gave the Demacians something to scoff at. Then Jessica's face became frostbite incarnate as he looked over his shoulders.

"When I said "Freaks, pay your respects", I meant all of the Freaks. And that includes you." Jessica said coldly. There was nobody left. Among the royal guards were some of Demacia's finest spellcasters. Even they would tell anyone who asked that there was nobody there at all.

"What form do you prefer I take?" Erica's voice came from nowhere. The Demacians gasped. They looked wildly around the room to locate where the voice had come from.

It was a different experience for the royal guard spellcasters though. It was a moment of realization that someone had completely evaded their magical sense and managed to stand inside the room unnoticed completely. Had it been an assassin, the King would be lying in the pool of his own blood.

Jessica assumed a thoughtful expression. Then he smiled. The Demacians were beginning to dislike the nature of his smiles. It felt like a cat toying with a helpless mouse. "We cannot present the King with anything less impressive. Please assume Her Endlessness Abeathea." Jessica said.

Literally out of nowhere, a majestic beast appeared. Nearly as big as the great hall, it was a doe with hide so white and pure, it sparkled like winter snow in sunshine and cast a soft glow into the room. Her horns were vast entwining branches and they were the color of vapors of outer space. Celestial bodies merrily danced upon her horns and crowned within it was the breath-taking beauty of nature and all her wonders. The doe was all that mattered. Everything else seemed insignificant.

"I pay my respects to the King of Demacia." the chorus of voices that was Erica came again. It was the voice of the imperious and divinely chosen. "Now we are complete. The Freaks pay their respects to the King of Demacia." Jessica said.

The Demacians were hyperventilating now. While the nobles had always flocked whenever the lesser stood in front of the King, it wasn't a show of solidarity. It was putting them in places. They were nobles. Know your place, peasant. It was that situation.

Of course, the royal family had tried to stop it but they also risk winning the ire of those nobles who were already discontent of the King's reign. Up until now, it was something no one had ever tried of turning against them.

But this group of people seemed entirely different.

If they only knew. None of the gang would be taking shit from them and expect them to take it easily. They were from a harsh world, thrived in a harsh environment and raised in a harsh society.

People of the current Earth aren't used to ass-kissing. It never did them any good. It never made their lives easier. Living in a toxic, mutated planet was hard enough. There was no point of suffering others' obnoxiousness.

"May we rise, dear King?" Jessica asked. The King swallowed at least three times. "Very well, honored guest. I pay my respects to you as well, heroes of Hurgeon!" the King said, returning to his usual self right after Jessica gave him an encouraging look.

The gang rose to their feet but not before giving the King a sincere bow or curtsy. They dispelled all their show of intimidation. Inside, each of them was laughing their asses off. It's amazing what few spells can do.

"Well then, I believe we would like a moment of privacy with His Highness." Jessie said. The nobles flinched. Usually, they would ignore it altogether or someone may protest vocally but the look Jessie gave them quelled their stubbornness.

"Please, you four. Please stay. We insist." Doki said, motioning at the four people Jessie had named earlier to the worth their time. The four people took the invitation warily but they held their ground. When the room was closed and only the gang, the King, the prince, the royal guards and the four chosen nobles remained, a snicker erupted.

No one knew where it came from but the Demacians looked with surprise and apprehension as the gang fell on the floor, laughing their asses off. "DID YOU SEE THE LOOKS ON THEIR FACES?!" Doki managed to squeak. "PRICELESS!" Bee sputtered. They laughed again.

It would've continued had Bee not chastised them. They rose with their faces flushed from laughing hard and tears streamed down their faces. Jessica dispelled the illusion on them and they were back on their normal clothing.

The Demacians gaped at them. "That was an illusion?!" the prince asked. Laughter erupted from the adventurers again. It took them five minutes before they tried to stop with deep, steadying breaths. "Only our attires. The rest is real. Please forgive the little prank, Your Highness, but they seemed mighty determined to put us down." Dusty said.

The gang gave the royals a real gesture of respect this time. The King seemed to have deflated on his throne but a wicked smile crossed his face. "That was brilliant!" he said after some time. "Jessa, I think you should give the others some lines too. You were hogging everything." Erica complained.

There goes that intangible chorus of voices again. "I do remember adding enough pauses in there for someone to pipe in." Jessica said. He glared at Blackburn and Dusty. "We got no talent there. You know that." Dusty said easily.

"Now, you are all truly welcome to the Royal Palace. Please, would you join me in the gardens for some tea and treats?" the King asked. The gang followed the King to the garden. The prince and the four nobles gaped as they watched their figures.

They were chatting like old friends. "Garen, did you just see and hear everything I did?" the prince asked. The mountain of a man nodded uncertainly. "And you, Luxanna?" the prince asked again. The Barbie doll blonde nodded her head feverishly.

When they had reached the gardens, the King, Jessie and Jessica were talking business at a rapid pace. The rest of the gang were helping themselves to tea and treats. They couldn't ride the wave of the three.

From what the prince could pick up, it seemed the group was willing to turn down a reward in return for the King's serious consideration of the special services Jessica had to offer.

It would seem that they had a group of mercenaries under their wing and they would be willing to rent out their people's services. Jessie and Jessica informed the King to be the judge. Hurgeon had taken up the services of three Haunted Houses to supplement them.

The leader of the Exorcist Squad had expressed interest in some of the things they had to offer. By the end of the discussion, the King had not promised them anything.

But the moment the gang left, he ordered an investigation at Hurgeon and allowed free reign on the Exorcist Squad's expenses.

•

"Well, Jessa, you just turned down a reward from the King himself! He could've given us something awesome!" Dusty said in disbelief. "That is, of course, unless Jessa has something better up his sleeve." Doki said.

"I told you, didn't I? I need money for my spells. Besides, I've already picked out items for each of you. They're only available from th Black Market, of course. But they're awesome and you're gonna love it!" Jessica said excitedly. No one could pry it out of him what the items were.

It was only when they checked into the Royal Apple Hotel and settled into their rooms that Jessica gave in to their badgering.

•

BEA:

Eleven Madonnas

MOTHER DEAREST EXCLUSIVE WALL SHIELD

ARTIFACT-CLASS PROTECTIVE

DURABILITY: 1000 {Chance to block: 50%}

+50 PHY DEF

+50 MAG DEF

+20% to WATER, FIRE, AIR, WILDS RESIST

+10 HP REGEN WHEN IN COMBAT

+10 MP REGEN WHEN IN COMBAT

SPECIAL: After a 60 sec. countdown, summon a random "Act VII: Cursed Heritage" Boss. One Boss is automatically summoned when taking damage. Limit of 5 Bosses.

•

BLACKBURN:

Devil's Advocate

POPE/POPESS EXCLUSIVE HIGH PRIEST ROBES

UNIQUE-CLASS IMMATERIAL CLOTHES

+20% DAMAGE against UNDEAD, ELDRITCH, UNHOLY, ABOMINATION

+10% to all RESISTS against HUMANOID, BEAST, MONSTER

+30% DAMAGE RESIST against ENVIRONMENT MODIFIERS

+20% DEBUFF RESIST

+5% MOVE SPEED

SPECIAL: Upon reaching level 20, allows use of Archive Secretsspells

ITEM SPELL: Next three Pope/Popess spells after activation will Mass Cast.

•

DOKI

Pumpkin Field

JACK O' LANTERN EXCLUSIVE ETHEREAL SHIELD

UNIQUE-CLASS PROTECTIVE

DURABILITY: 1000 {Chance to block: 30%}

+30% WILDS RESIST

+100 HP

+100 MP

+3 to all Legends Summoning

SPECIAL: Whenever successfully casting a Summoning spell, summon a portal. If after 10 sec. the portal remains, summon a number of leveled undead.

SPECIAL: +35% SPELL ABSORB when below 50% HP.

•

DUSTY

Seven Sins Blades

MURDE CLOWN EXCLUSIVE SWORD COLLECTION

ARTIFACT-CLASS IMMATERIAL WEAPONS

+30 PHY ATK

+30 MAG ATK

+10% to all SPELL DAMAGE

SPECIAL: 10% MOVE SPEED when above 60% HP

SPECIAL: Allows use of Seven Sins spells.

•

JESSIE

Five Freaky Cats

CAT LADY EXCLUSIVE FAMILIAR

LEGENDARY-CLASS PROTECTIVE

+Increase Cat limit by 5

+Decrease Summon Cat spell costs

+Decrease Empower Cat spell costs

+Decrease Evolve Cat spell costs

+Decrease Mutate Cat spell costs

+10% Improve Mutated Cats/Evolved Cats

SPECIAL: Allows use of Five Freaky Cats spells.

•

JESSICA

UNLOCKED: Scooby Doo universe!

+Scooby Doo Summoning

+Scooby Doo Mechanics

+Scooby Doo Items

UNLOCKED: Plants VS. Zombies universe!

+Plants VS. Zombies Summoning

+Plants VS. Zombies Mechanics

+Plants VS. Zombies Items

•

ERICA

CULT OF THE TEN DIVINES

PANTHEON EXCLUSIVE CHARM

UNIQUE-CLASS TRINKET

COMBAT: 5 Faith per sec.

COMBAT: 100 Faith per min.

NON-COMBAT: 1 Faith per sec.

NON-COMBAT: 10 Faith per min.

+1 Faith per sec.

+20 Faith per min.

SPECIAL: Allows use of Ten Divines' Advent spells.

•

"I spent all my gold buying those things. You're all welcome." Jessica said. Inside, he was laughing haughtily as his friends couldn't seem to pick up the right words.

"I don't know what to say." Bee said. Doki, however, looked up and fixed his narrowed eyes at Jessica. "I'm seriously reconsidering letting you have all the money." he said. Jessica's eyes was suddenly full of fire.

The two launched into full-fledged bickering. One minute, they were arguing about the necessity of the high-quality items. The next, they were arguing about the weather. The next, they were arguing about the possibility of the afterlife.

The gang rolled their eyes as they watched the fighting pair. Jessica and Doki had gleefully grabbed any chance to ruffle the other's feathers but they knew the two were communicating through their own language.

The others dragged the pair downstairs so they could taste for themselves Demacian cuisine.

"You mean to say you spent that much money on Scooby Doo?!" Bee asked incredulously. "What's wrong with that?!" Jessica and Jessie hissed. They were both Scooby Doo fanatics.

Even though all forms of movies and television shows, along with entertainment as a whole, had been halted around 2817 because of the massive transition of Old Earth, they were making a successful comeback by 3120.

Jessica and Jessie were modern Scooby Doo fans and they had fainted when the newest addition to the Scooby Doo legacy had been added after decades of absence. Scooby Doo and The Space Terrors.

Bee recoiled under their wrathful eyes. "Hey, don't take it out on little Bee. She's just making a point. What's exactly the point of unlocking Scooby Doo?" Dusty asked. "One: every character in the entire series are available as free mercenary NPCs. Two: That means an entire army of people to lend. Three: The benefits from Scooby Doo are quite handy. Four: Pester me one more time and I'm taking back everything I bought for you guys." Jessica said.

And because no one wanted to be parted from their new items, they all fell silent. And that's when the food came with perfect timing.

"Jessie, you ordered seven of everything?!" Doki hissed as the parade of food never seemed to stop. Jessica nodded affirmatively. No else held Doki's concern. They were busy gorging on the food.

Varieties of soups, pies, salads, breads, meats and other foodstuffs paraded through their table.

"My goodness. I've never eaten something so amazing before." Bee said as they finally had their dessert. Jessica snuck a generous tip to each of the waiters that served through throughout the meal.

They positively delighted at the given amount. "How much did you give them each?" Erica whispered. "50 gold. That's three times their wages in a month." Jessica said. "Not bad." Jessie said.

They made the last of the food disappear. They finished their ice creams and stood for a walk around the city. The Royal Apple was located on one of the busiest districts of the capital.

People were everywhere and the night life was aplenty. They happened upon the capital during a trading season. Merchants were hawking their goods and patrons scrutinized wares with critical interest. Adventurers like themselves were everywhere.

They moved through the commercial districts and into the residential districts. It was much quieter there. They gazed in awe at the large mansions and opulent homes. They landed on the area for the rich folks.

They passed by several homes that hosted parties. The gang silently thanked their luck for not coming across any noble they had embarrassed back at the palace. They crossed another part and this one was for the middle class.

The gang couldn't help but notice a metal gate separated the high class from the middle class.

The homes were modest but pretty. It was nothing compared to the houses before but they looked like a nice place to raise a family or two. Each time they crossed a district, they would come across a great wall, too titanic to be breached, and a great gate so reinforced you'd think they expected an invasion any time now.

They came across another of such. The city guards gave them steely looks but didn't bother them on their way. The guards, however, for the district they were about to cross into had stopped them.

"Halt! Who need have you of crossing into the memorial district?" the man asked. "Memorial district? What's that?" Blackburn asked. The city guard gave them a searching look then concluded they really had no idea. "The other side is the capital's only graveyard. Biggest in all of Demacia." the guard explained.

"Wait. The graveyard is right next to the residential districts?" Dusty asked. The guard nodded. "And the temple district." he supplied. Since the capital was shaped like a wheel, the districts must be inter-connected in its own way.

"We're not allowed to pass through the memorial district?" Doki asked. Jessie, Jessica and Erica had begun to panic. They were chickens. Chickens didn't frolic around at night in the middle of a graveyard even though it was 100% safe.

The guard gave them a glance. "You're allowed, of course, but at your own risk. I guess you're new here if you want to cross here." the guard said. The gang took a second look and noticed that the guards stationed at this gate were a lot compared to the other gates.

Excitement made Blackburn, Doki and Dusty shiver. Bee, Jessie, Jessica and Erica shivered with fright. The guards were heavily armed and well-equipped. As if they were expecting some trouble. Several mages were also among them.

"The graveyard's haunted?" Blackburn asked. The guard looked at him again. "Are you a Priest?" he asked. Blackburn noticed. After all, Pope/Popess was his racial assignment.

"Well, your friends are gonna need you. It started several months ago. Usually it was safe here. Guards patrolling the graveyard spotted several undead. First time it's happened. Now the place's crawling with the restless dead. You still wanna proceed?" the guard asked.

Doki, Dusty and Blackburn nodded their heads excitedly. The others sighed and agreed. "We'll cleanse the graveyard for you. Might even come across the real reason why the dead's up and moving about." Blackburn said easily.

The massive gates opened with a metallic wail. They didn't open it fully, just enough for each of them to squeeze through. They stepped through and the gang was met with utter, disquieting silence on the other side.

A vast expanse of graves and crypts filled their vision. Again, they noticed how the graves were filed and divided into three. The high class. The middle class. The low class. You could almost tell their social standing with the grave's marker alone.

"Isn't it too quiet?" Blackburn asked. "You tell me." Dusty agreed. Bee's Six Hands immediately cast a buff. Immediately, each of them emanated an aura of light that chased the darkness away. "MASS UNDEAD SUMMONING: GHOST SUMMONERS!" Doki intoned. Black goo oozed from the ground and turned into twelve ghost spellcasters.

On Doki's command, the summoned undead began channeling their summoning spells. Moments later, burning skulls levitating off the ground appeared. They were called Seer Phantoms and these undead were perfect for scouting missions.

Doki closed his eyes and focused to see through his minions' eyes. The skulls traveled in all direction and through their vision, Doki was able to estimate the threat level of the graveyard.

"Well, no wonder they're reinforcing everything. It looks like someone played with too many dead bodies." Doki smirked. The others looked at him in question. "All we're up against are zombies. No skeletons or ghosts. But I think I saw at least seven kinds of zombies wandering." Doki said.

"Are we splitting up or something?" Jessie asked timidly. They looked at her and chuckled. "No, we're not. We're still noobs." Blackburn said. "Are you implying that if we're leveled enough, we can split?" Erica barked. Blackburn merely grinned.

"I've set the skulls to herd the zombies in one place. Let's go!" Doki said. The gang followed him as he rushed into the darkness.

•

On the other side of the massive doors, the stationed mages could sense magical energies being unleashed. They also detected summoning magic being employed.

"One of them's a powerful necromancer." one mage said. He was immediately refuted. "Don't be daft! Those were undead summoners! That's well beyond even a master necromancer! I think one of them's a lich." another said. The guards sputtered at that.

"Lich?! That's crazy!" one the guards yelled. "No! It's entirely possible. I think it's the pumpkinhead. It certainly is the pumpkinhead. Or maybe that ghastly jester." the mage continued.

"Should we sound the alarm?" one of the guards asked. The mages consulted one another. "Not yet. They're fighting the undead on the other side. I think they're adventurers." one of the mages said. They were fighting the undead on the other side alright.

And they holding out spectacularly.

•

Blackburn's eyes was closed, his Papal Crosier raised high into the air. He was channeling a spell the most powerful Acts of Faith available to him. A circle of holy energies rose around him, dancing with seals and symbols of religious nature.

Around him, his friends had made a circle and they were holding off the zombies in the graveyard. What Doki had failed to detect was the presence of several Cursed Graves.

According to Doki, they were like his undead summoners. Immobile, weak necromantic structures that had the ability to spawn weak undead. Doki was capable of summoning stronger versions of necromantic structures but he chose not to.

He said the only thing it was good for was saving MP. They were not ideal summons because while they can mass-spawn POPs, they were entirely inflexible. Undead summoners outclassed them in every way.

Doki, of course, forgot to mention that necromantic structures could last for several months when summoned. They made ideal cheap defenses. In addition to their low MP costs, their duration was appealing for novices.

They were also great for chipping away the opponent's resources.

Doki's ghost summoners summoned stone golems to assist them. The stone golems were cumbersome but they were super tanky. And each time Doki's summoned minions summoned minions of their own, Doki's Pumpkin Field reacted. Necromantic portals erupted randomly around him.

And after some time, expelled several undead of its own.

"So, Doki, any ideas how to tell the Cursed Graves from the normal ones?" Dusty asked. Doki was silent for a moment. "That's the problem. If you put them in a burial grounds, there's no telling which is which." he admitted after a while.

His friends stared at him in disbelief. "Well, we just gotta catch the things in action. I mean, these zombies must be coming from certain directions. We follow it and they'll lead lead us right to it." Jessie suggested.

"Okay. Since these zombies aren't much, we can split up." Blackburn suggested. Without even asking for the other's opinions, Doki, Dusty and Blackburn each took a direction and ran off, leaving the others behind.

"Great. They left the chickens together." Bee said. "ERICA, GET YOUR TEN DIVINES IN ACTION!" Jessica screeched. A celestial portal opened and Ten Divines' Serena appeared.

Erica's Serena bathed the cemetery with divine light, chasing away the darkness. Erica's Ten Divines each had unlocked only one attack move. Each Divine had a unique attack move, which reflected the domains they governed.

Each were strong on its own but it was totally different from attacks you can maintain. The opposition could easily exploit the cooldown between each attack.

Erica unleashed Serena's attack: a shower of light that sought every enemy within range of it. As to be expected, the undead didn't stand a chance against the god's attacks. But their numbers just replenished quickly.

That's when Bee noticed one grave that looked severely damaged. "Doki said that all necromantic structures are immune to one-hit K.O., right?" she asked. Erica and Jessica agreed. "Look!" Bee said, pointing to a heavily damaged grave.

When Doki said it was nearly impossible to set aside a Cursed Grave from a harmless one, he meant it. His friends did not see any difference at all. They could look like anything and when put in a cemetery, it was like finding a tree in a forest.

"It's weak, right?" Jessie asked. Bee, Jessie and Jessica began kicking and wrestling the thing. Erica rolled his eyes and his Serena attacked it again. It destroyed the thing along with the undead it brought forth.

"I think you were dealing 1 damage per attack." Erica snickered. "Well, sorry for being lousy at combat." Jessie said tartly. The four of them walked warily among the graves.

Though they couldn't see any undead in sight, more of them might be lurking around.

•

The moment Doki, Dusty and Blackburn separated, they had one thing in mind: clear off as many Cursed Graves as they can. Without the need to look back on their shoulders to check on the others every once in a while, they were free to fight openly.

Doki lied about the Cursed Graves. It was for the four chickens' benefit. Cursed Graves were weak, mass-spawning, long-lasting necromantic structures but they also held another infuriating capability: their mass-spawning scaled with the negative emotions around them.

In other words, if you give in to panic or fear, it will spawn stronger undead faster than you would come to expect.

For once, Jessie, Jessica and Erica were susceptible to panic attacks especially when surrounded and Bee froze light a deer on the headlights. If these four were to be brought together, the whole place would be teeming with undead.

The Demacian capital would be swallowed easily.

That's the thing with the undead, they could spiral out of control.

They just prayed they did the right choice of telling the four chickens to stay put. Wait a fucking minute, no one told the chickens to stay put. DAMNIT.

•

"LEGENDS SUMMONING: HOOKMAN! LEGENDS SUMMONING: BUNNY MAN!" Doki intoned.

Black goo oozed from the ground and shaped into the tall, intimidating form of a cloaked man, entire body hidden in the disguise, save for his eyes which glowed like live coals. One of his hands ended up with a wicked hook.

Black goo oozed from the ground and shaped into the equally intimidating form of a man in a bunny mascot costume. Only the costume was bloody and the bunny looked more eerie than cute.

"Kill all the zombies you come across along with any hostile undead. Don't hurt my friends or anyone non-hostile." Doki ordered. The two bowed once. Hookman disappeared into mist and Bunny Man ran away like a maniac.

Doki suddenly jerked. What if those two would come across the chickens?

Scenario 1: The chickens will scream and panic. Cursed Graves react. Cemetery bloated with undead.

Scenario 2: The chickens will engage, scream and panic. Cursed Graves react. Cemetery bloated with undead.

Scenario 3: The chickens will flee, scream and panic. Cursed Graves react. Cemetery bloated with undead.

"OMFG! WHAT HAVE I DONE?!" Doki yelled. He didn't really care about what would happen. He just didn't want to blow up a golden chance to suck up to the Demacians.

He already planned on building castles, owning lands, having his own domain, given titles and powers, getting filthy rich, kicking back, enjoying the sun while he orgied with his bitches.

Doki got a hold of himself and sighed. He ordered his ghost summoners to bring out detector undead. They'll find and take care of the Cursed Graves for him.

HUBRIS.

•

Dusty's trail was nothing short of carnage. He had invoked seven of him and each of those bodies wielded a summoned Seven Sins Sword.

Greed. Gluttony. Lust. Envy. Wrath. Sloth. Pride.

Greed was a bastard sword made of flesh. It looked like animated hands were meld together, blindingly grasping out. Greed's power is to transmute its victims into precious stones and metals, encouraging a constant bloodbath.

Gluttony was a broadsword made of flesh. Maws lines with wicked teeth adorned its blade, their tongues lashing and salivating. Gluttony, when buried into the earth, had the power to turn the surrounding area into a digestive system.

Lust was a fencing blade shaped into a rose, the bloom as its hilt and wicked thorns lining the blade. It exhumed an aphrodisiac from the bloom. Lust's power flays an enemy on each attack with agonizing pleasure.

Envy was an Urumi made from what looked to be solidified tar. It bubbled and churned, whispering unpleasant things to those around its wielder. Envy, when raised high, turns its bearer into the object of hateful jealousy, to the point where everything, except for true allies, would attack it.

Wrath was a gigantic broadsword, too huge to be wielded by mortals. It was made from real blood and could be shaped into other weapons. It emanated an aura that incited anger, discontent and discord. Wrath's power is to consume a victim whole, becoming useless while it digests.

Pride was a shortsword and it was a product of the refined craftsmanship combining jewels, metals, wood and incorporated them masterfully. Pride emanated an aura that gave the bearer and its allies false courage, bravado and a startling sense of self-importance. Pride's power turned the bearer into an avatar of conceit and ego for a time.

If anyone else had been wielding the legendary Seven Sins Swords, they would die, most likely impaled by their own swords. Only a handful of classes could wield them without becoming corrupted.

Murder Clowns and Mothers Dearest happened to be among them. With the right equipment, Bee could wield one of them swords herself and become every Tank's wet dream.

Dusty was not corrupted by the swords, mainly because he was already struggling with what he is.

Ever since he's been turned into a Murder Clown, he's been tormented with inclinations of murder and bloodshed. There were times he would look at his friends and see nothing but bags of flesh waiting to be torn open.

Only his love for them checked his violent impulses. The desire for massacre was not the only thing he had to deal with. He daydreamed of all manners of sick and depraved acts he would be doing to imaginary victims.

Murder Clowns were devils and devils had the innate desire to sow chaos wherever they went. Dusty's spells reflected Hell's best of the best. Though he wouldn't admit it, Dusty was scared as hell. He didn't know how long he could pretend to be sane.

He felt a presence come behind him and it was madness afterwards. Dusty grabbed the head of the being, jumped high into the air and slammed its cranium against the stonework. Laughing maniacally, he kept slamming the bloody pulp.

SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!

Dusty caught himself. By the time he came to his senses, all he held in his hands was a headless corpse. And its head was nothing less than sausage filling.

He yelped, raising bloodied hands. The smell of blood was everywhere. It smelled of life slowly, sweetly being choked between his iron fingers. It was the scent of power. The glorious miracle of watching life ebbing away right in front of your very eyes.

An insane smile crossed his face.

MADNESS.

•

Blackburn inhaled and exhaled like someone had dunked his head underwater. He's been dealt a very bad hand. He didn't know how many Cursed Graves there was in this big cemetery but he certainly picked a direction where a lot of zombies were coming from.

Doki, Dusty and Blackburn had each taken a different route. You may say you can cover more ground divided but it was more along the lines of clearing their minds. The three men were the most practical of the gang.

They had dreams, they had ambitions, they had drive but they also knew their own limits. They operated within their boundaries but now, their world had taken turn to Weirdsville.

I mean, getting sucked into a game world that's been brought to life? Crazy!

Well, they didn't have much to live for back at Earth. Living in a toxic wasteland isn't a picnic. Dusty said it was okay as long as they were all together. He liked that. Blackburn really liked that.

Still, they had lives they left behind on Earth. What about their worker teams? Those guys would be slaughtered without him and Doki to watch out for them.

Blackburn cursed his in-born sense of responsibility. Jessie had always called him 'Old Man'. In some ways, she was more than right. He made a rallying breath. He activated his robe's special magic.

" MASS CAST: PAPAL EDICT: EXORCISM!" he intoned. When you elevate an ability that has been applied with Mass Cast already, you get the rare Ulti Cast. Popes/Popesses were one of the chosen classes to have access to the Ulti-Cast mechanics.

Normal Cast- 1X

Double Cast- 2X

Triple Cast- 3X

Multi Cast- 6X

Mass Cast- 12X

Ulti Cast- 12X per sec. for 12 sec.

Omega Cast- 24X per sec. for 24 sec.

Only the peepz with the highest MP in all the game could access the dreaded Omega Cast. Two spellcasting Exclusive classes were notorious for this: the Isis Priest-class and the Hecate Destroyer-class.

As the Exorcism spell raged, devouring undead it passed through, Blackburn was filled with a sense of power and second thoughts. What had they become? Maybe Jessie was right all along.

Maybe they had died and all of this crazy events are nothing more than fantasies made real by the brain, to make it easy for them to pass on. After all, it was scientifically proven a long time ago that as long as the brain remains undamaged upon death, it retains a small electrical charge that takes months to dissipate.

Time had no meaning here. Neither did anything else.

That's when Blackburn noticed that the zombies had completely disappeared. That was a lucky shot of its own. An Ulti Casted Exorcism had hit one or two of the Cursed Graves.

He had cleared this level. He began to jog back to where he came from. Maybe the guys needed his help. Those chickens ain't gonna cluck by themselves.

Still, as he walked, these things that don't usually bother him bothered him.

DOUBT.

•

Feeding on hubris, madness and doubt, the three remaining Cursed Graves reacted to these negative emotions and barfed undead on a scale of a raiding expedition.

"WHAT THE HELL JUST FUCKING HAPPENED?!" Erica screeched as they found themselves surrounded by undead that looked nowhere weak as the former ones.

Zombies that looked like bloated towers hosting skeleton archers. There was another variant that hosted skeleton mages.

Zombies that looked like rotten giant humanoid bats.

Zombies that looked like giant eggs with mutated intestines snapping and writhing.

Zombies that looked like Frankenstein's monster, complete with the crackling electrical aura.

Zombies that looked like several corpses were fused in a garish imitation of a spider.

Zombies that looked like it was inspired by The Human Centipede movies.

Zombies that looked like obese people rolling around, their bodies too heavy for their feet to carry.

"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Bee, Jessie, Jessica and Erica shrieked in fear.

FEAR.

There was another movement behind the scenes and stronger undead appeared in droves. "ERICA, DO SOMETHING!" Jessie screeched. Erica's Serena activated its attack move. The undead, impressive with their numbers, vanished in a shower of divine light.

And another wave appeared. "WHAT?!" the four shrieked. The undead were spawning faster and faster. That's when they heard the giggling sounds. They looked up to see the blurry form of Dusty leap over them.

He was making those creepy laughs again. "I guess he went cuckoo." Bee muttered. When Dusty leapt into the fray, the air was immediately filled with chunks of flesh. The dead were eviscerated with glee and malicious exuberance.

"THAT IS JUST SO WRONG." Jessica said. They couldn't look away as Dusty continued his killing spree. Dusty was a lot of things but a genocidal maniac wasn't one of those. "I think it's a race or class penalty or something." Bee suggested.

They took that as the only answer. The only answer they were going to accept. Come hell or high waters, that is not Dusty. That's when their very own Murder Clown cast a look on them.

His face was terrible to behold. Nothing human remained of Dusty. Just the desire to slaughter. With a maddened cackle, he launched all seven of him at them. Erica's Serena threw herself in front of the three.

Dusty was strong but he wasn't strong enough against a god. As to be expected, Serena was more than enough to block the attack. However, Dusty continued to giggle as he repeatedly stabbed Serena's impenetrable form.

Then his attacks stopped. Something or someone had wretched Dusty off Erica's Divine. It was because of two minions they didn't recognize. It was Doki's Hookman and Bunny Man.

The two wrestled Dusty to the ground. His other forms were restrained by Doki's other summoned minions. "As much as I hate giving you the spotlight, I have no choice! You four get to the remaining Cursed Graves!" Doki barked. He continued to summon minion after minion to restrain Dusty, who was fighting tooth and nail to get his hands on them.

"LEGENDS SUMMONING: BLOODY MARY! LEGENDS SUMMONING: HEADLESS HORSEMAN! LEGENDS SUMMONING: HANAKO!" Doki intoned.

Black goo oozed from the ground and formed into three minions no one recognized.

The first was a dark and frightening woman, her face hidden behind a curtain of dreadlocks, sealed within an overlarge mirror.

The second was a headless specter riding upon a horse that looked like someone just plastered skin over bone.

The third was a girl sealed within a puddle of water but her small realm hosted more demented spirits such as her.

These Legends flung themselves at Dusty. Had they been attacking, they could have overwhelmed him with their strength alone but their orders were to restrain. Doki's ghost summoners brought forth minions that possessed traits that could hinder someone.

"Are you going to be fine?!" Jessica asked. Doki smirked at him. "Will I?" he replied sarcastically. Jessica threw him several articles. 10X Paper Talismans of Polymorph. 2X Potion of Physical Damage Immunity. 5X Scrolls of Greater Banish.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING DIE!" Erica yelled as Bee, Jessie and Jessica hopped on Serena. They went to locate where the undead were coming from. Doki had a grim look on his face.

"Dusty, if you can hear me in there, get your shit together, man. You know me. If it came down to who's gonna walk away alive, it'll be me." Doki said coldly. He didn't want to do it but he'll have to if he didn't have a choice.

Doki gritted his teeth as he watched his summoned minions struggle against Dusty. He wasn't even using any spells at all, just brute strength. "All minions, change of plans! Shoot to disable!" he barked.

Instead of restraining him, all his summoned minions began to attack. But even then, Doki was still being pushed back. He didn't know about the additional effect brought when the Seven Sins Swords were used together at the same time.

55% CHANCE TO IGNORE DEBUFF

10% STAT STEAL AURA

It wasn't because his debuffs were weak, it was just Dusty ignored them. It wasn't because his summoned minions were weak, it was just Dusty feeding off them.

If Doki knew about that, he could've summoned an undead that specifically disables that function.

"MASS CAST: PAPAL EDICT: CONFESSION ROOM!" Blackburn intoned. Dusty screamed as all seven of him was suddenly enveloped by a cage of light he couldn't break through. Blackburn had arrived with impeccable timing.

"Anyone wanna explain what the hell is happening here?" Blackburn said, his eyes never leaving the thrashing Dusty. He looked at Doki for explanation. Doki was panting heavily. "Don't look at me. I just saw him ready to carve our chickens for Thanksgiving." he said.

Blackburn's eyes widened. He looked at Doki then back at Dusty then back at Doki again. "What?" he echoed in disbelief. "That's what I said." Doki snapped. They looked at the berserk Dusty who clawed and hammered against the holding.

"Do you think it's permanent?" Doki asked.

•

"Leave it to the chickens to clean up their messes." Jessie complained. She had her two Kitty-kittygeddon and two Purranormal Cativity active. It was overkill against the zombies but they didn't want to leave anything to chance.

Sure you have Erica's Serena putting out high-damage area-of-effect attacks but you don't know when a bloodthirsty corpse is going to rise from behind you and bite your head off.

"Do you think Dusty will be fine?" Bee squeaked. That was the one question bugging them.

"Well, if he's not, I'm going to spend a lot of money on restorative items." Jessica said airily. He said it as if he was trying to reassure himself. "Jessa, you should help out more." Bee said.

She had activated her Eleven Madonnas and Jessie's Fairy Godmeowther had blessed her with Flight. One of the benefits for Jessie, Jessica and Erica was their innate ability to fly. Faeries need Faerie Dust to sustain their flight capabilities.

Normally, they would need a Faerie Grove and have it produce Faerie Dust but Jessica could just buy them by the buckets cheap at the Black Market. On Erica's case, he could simply elect to fly at will.

Bee's Eleven Madonnas had summoned The Felmorynn Witch. Her shield couldn't summon anyone more fit for the job. The Felmorynn Witch was a Raid Boss that specialized in high-damage area-of-effect attacks.

Many elements in Living Worlds: League of Legends was inspired by Rebirth. The Felmorynn Witch is a Boss from Rebirth: Act VII. Jessica had mentioned something about achieving a level requirement would allow them to go to the Player Realms.

Bee watched as her Felmorynn Witch chug out one attack after another. Jessie and Bee's combined effort kept the undead at bay. Erica scouted ahead. He came back several minutes later.

"One of the crypts is haunted. There's a spirit inside that keeps making these Cursed Graves. I don't think it's strong enough to make more of them tonight but it can bring one day after day." Erica said.

"Jessa, are you listening?" Jessie snapped. Jessica had a triumphant look on his face. "I think I've figured out what's wrong with Dusty." he said. He unceremoniously pushed an unremarkable-looking pan flute into Bee's hands.

"Bee, we'll handle the rest here. You go calm Dusty down. Play this near him. It'll do the rest. If we don't calm Dusty down, things go south from here." Jessica said. A determined look took over Bee's face. She took the pan flute and flew to the direction where they came, escorted by her Boss and Jessie's Fairy Godmeowther.

She left her Six Hands with them in case of emergency.

"So, what's the reason you sent her off?" Jessie asked. Jessie pushed the hologram towards her. Jessie and Erica read its contents. After several minutes... "Yeah, you're right. We three are useless. We'll just get in their way." she admitted.

•

Bee was breathing hard even though she flying. She didn't know how to fly faster so she focused on her objective. Jessica said to play it near Dusty. The musical instrument will do the rest.

Her eyes widened as she neared the area they left Blackburn, Doki and Dusty. A number of armed people surrounded them, brandishing weapons that could really hurt. Bee descended on the ground.

"Hey, hey, hey! What's going on here?!" she demanded. Demacian city guards, knights, battlemages and even students from the Arcane University surrounded her three friends.

The people looked like they were ready to apprehend her when Bee's Felmorynn Witch came into sight. A giant of a monster, a grotesque monster of fused flesh, dressed in tattered rags, and its head was a hundred animated faces, all looking malevolently down at them. Its seven pairs of gnarled root-like hands held a vomit-inducing mojo.

The Demacians' eyes widened with fear. Bee took a look at her Boss and decided that it was indeed horrifying. She was only calm merely because she knew the Boss was there for her.

"Don't worry. She's not going to hurt you. Tell me what's going on here. What are you doing to my friends?" she asked gently. She was a Tank. She could take a lot of damage and she had a Boss to back her up.

She had no desire for this to turn into violence.

"We just told these guys we're doing them a favor, clearing the dead and all and they arrested us!" Doki said indignantly. Bee noticed that his summoned undead were nowhere to be seen. It was safe to say that they had considerable magical might with them too.

That's when Bee's brain went into overdrive. She noticed that the manacles they've placed on Doki and Blackburn were magical. She no doubts the magical effects interfered with the magic of its wearer. Her eyes widened.

She didn't notice the nobles from House Crownguard. Garen and Luxanna Crownguard. If she wasn't panicking, she would've talked her way out of all this. Those two were sensible people, Jessie had said. Instead, the Demacians watched in curiosity as the little woman's eyes widened with fear.

Her gaze had turned to the berserk friend they had contained in a cage of light. "Oh, Dear God! RUN, PEOPLE, RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Bee screamed. She pushed as many guards out of the way.

The cage of light expired. Dusty was freed again. "Stop him but don't hurt him!" Bee ordered her Boss. The Felmorynn Witch descended upon Dusty. Each hand had caught one of Dusty and the Murder Clown was stabbing away at the limbs restraining him.

One of Dusty broke loose. He jumped down and looked at all the meatbags around him. An ecstatic smile lit his insane features, causing the hardened warriors to back away. Worse still, this Dusty possessed the Wrath sword.

He thrust the mighty weapon at one of the mages. There were people who stood still and watched with fascinated horror at the sight of something so terrible coming their way. That's the truth, people. People like those do exist.

They had the chance to glimpse upon a power that could end them on a whim, a moment of enlightenment of how insignificant oneself is compared to coming force of nature. The mage clearly belonged to this category.

He just stood there as Dusty came at him. Then Bee appeared right between them. Fairy Godmeowther wasted no time unloading debuffs on all seven of Dusty.

And while the Dusty coming right at Bee already had stacks of slowing, weakening, reductions on magical and physical attacks, the force of Dusty meeting Bee's shield sent her protective item hitting her forehead made Bee see stars.

As testament of her powerful HP Regen, she felt the pain ebb away quickly. She rose to her feet to see Garen and Lux engaging Dusty. She looked up and saw her Boss struggle to contain the other six. If those six get loose as well, Dusty is going to become a criminal.

Everything went slow motion. She could see Blackburn and Doki furiously demand to be freed from their manacles to help in the fight. Lux had bound Dusty into a cage of light but Bee didn't know how long she could do that.

She put down her shield and took the pan flute from her inventory. She blew hard as she could into the musical instrument and a weird tune filled the air. Everyone, except her Boss, had stopped to listen.

She played again. The music that filled the air caught their attention. It had a calming effect. Even Dusty who flailed and gnashed at his restrainers began to show signs of calming down.

She did it. She saved Dusty from himself. Her heart elated at the sight of Dusty no longer fighting. The six Dusty on her Boss' hands went limp. The savagery in their eyes was slowly disappearing. Reason and sanity went back into them.

She turned around to look at the seventh. Before she could even turn her head, a tingling sensation suddenly swam into her body. It was a weird feeling. She kept on playing the pan flute. The sensation seem to be coming from her lower body.

Somewhere in her head, she heard Blackburn and Doki roar. The Demacians looked at her with horrified expressions. She wondered what was going on. She looked down and what she saw made her very curious.

Was that a broadsword sticking out of her stomach?

•

Jessica had finally summoned Scooby Doo, Shaggy, Velma, Daphne and Fred. The Mystery Inc. gang. Jessie and Jessica fainted at the sight of them.

Erica didn't understand all the drama but he knew the two overreacted at every single thing that they loved. For example, Jessie loved cats and if you happen to be a cat hater, only one of you is walking away alive.

In the year 3120, with the massive revival of entertainment, there's a technology called MMPC. Mass Movie Producer and Configurator. It's especially popular because it allowed you to make your own animated work without as much effort as people back in the day had to.

This technology allowed anyone who knew the how-to to make their own movies, animated shows, etc. The only limit is their imagination.

That being said, the flood of low-quality works was astounding but someone came up with something okay occasionally. Rarer among them all were people who came up with masterpieces. They were highly praised for it.

Of course, the realm of pornography prospered with the MMPC.

Hell, you can make your own perfect stud and your own perfect bitch and have them bang each other in ways you could only see in wet dreams.

Anyhoo, it was a time where you would appreciate the artistic drive from movies back in the day. They had a battalion of people to make movies and other shows. That meant something for people who got tired of shitty creations.

It was an age where dreams and effort drove everything. To the generation where convenience was everything, and ultimately it was convenience that wrecked the planet, it was a dream of simpler days.

Anyhoo, Jessie and Jessica had hounded down every Scooby Doo they could grab their greedy hands on. Whether bought in a long, long line or wretched from the hands of a little kid, they did amazing work.

If the two were given the choice of playing as Mystery Inc. in this place, Erica knew the two would jump at that chance.

Mystery Inc. looked and appeared to be like their cartoon origins. They stood out completely. They were like cartoon holograms, like 2D characters copy-and-pasted into realspace.

Mystery Inc. happened to be just like Bee, NPC-summoning platforms but exclusive only to characters from their many incarnations. Jessica had Mystery Inc. summon The Phantom of The High School Musical from First Frights.

With the Villain came an army of skeleton men, witches, headless poets and phantom musketeers. "I can see why they're all free." Jessie muttered as she watched the carnage below.

All of Mystery Inc.'s NPCs were free and for good reason. They were only good for chipping away enemy resources and tiring them out. They had no problems dealing with the undead below. Unlike the standard summoned minions that relied on orders to function, these guys had intelligence.

That means they have emphasis on utility. That means there's a definite lacking in the raw power department. They didn't mind though.

Because the NPCs were acting on their own, they had little much to do. Erica joined the fight, blasting away undead every once in a while. "Hey, I have enough Faith now!" he exclaimed. "WRATH OF GOD: EVIL BEGONE!" he intoned.

The nova of divine judgment appeared once more. It swallowed everything in its sight. Undead and all. Cursed Graves weren't spared from its wrath. The expanding nova chased out all darkness from the cemetery.

Nothing of the unnatural activity remained. Or so they thought. One of the mausoleums glowed spectral white. "Erica, you got them all, right?" Jessica asked nervously. "Uh- I think so." came the nervous reply.

They cautiously approached the glowing site. Its doors creaked open. "HOLY SHIT." the three chorused at the same time. "Okay. Who's gonna go in first?" Jessie asked. "After you!" they chorused. "No, please, after you!" they said again. "I insist! After you!" they said again.

Then they spent the next minutes bickering who should enter first. "Why not send one of yours to enter first?" Erica suggested. Jessie's cats had timed out so he must meant Jessica. "Oh, yeah, I never thought of that." Jessica said sheepishly.

They nervously approached the crypt entrance. "FAERIE DUST: GLOWPATH!" Jessie and Jessica intoned. They flapped their wings and rivers of Faerie Dust came forth. It shot into the darkness below, leaving behind a trail of light intense enough to bathe the whole thing.

Jessica sent his minions inside. They eagerly poked their heads inside. No sound of fighting came. Or the sound of someone being torn apart. The minions gave the signal. Jessie, Jessica and Erica entered.

There must've been a time where this mausoleum was once grand. They could tell it had a respectable past. Judging by the architectural designs, the paintings, statues and other tokens of art, someone very important was buried here.

In the bottom level, they saw the minions surrounding what looked to be a wispy figure. The Phantom stood in front of them in case the being was malevolent.

"What the hell is that?" Erica asked.

Chapter 4

Runeterra, Here We Come! Part 4

News of the adventurers who purged the capital's great cemetery spread all over Demacia. The Freaks gained fame and acclaim for their adventure. But the story wasn't complete yet for as the excited populace discovered, one mystery led to a bigger one.

Strange-looking creatures still patrolled the cemetery, keeping anyone without the official permission of the king out. They looked to be undead but their appearances and their auras told anyone otherwise.

They looked funny. Like a child's drawing brought to life. Chief among them was a tall phantom who wore a half-mask. They all answered to him but the phantom answered to one of the adventurers.

•

Bee slowly opened her eyes and looked around. The gentle glow from the lit candles of the chandelier hanging overhead met her eyes. What happened? All she could remember was the sword sticking out of her stomach and everything went black.

She looked around if any of her friends had the decency to stay and her attendants made her eyes wide with wonder.

Scoobert "Scooby" Doo

Norville "Shaggy" Rogers

Frederick "Fred" Jones

Daphne Anne Blake

Velma Dinkley

The characters from the Scooby Doo series. Bee wasn't a fan really but when you spend all that time listening to Jessie and Jessica blabber on and on, you can't help but get infected a little.

She broke into a giggle. Mystery Inc. looked at her and broke into a smile themselves. "Zoinks! She's awake! Scoob, let's, like, break for it and call the boss!" Shaggy said. "Right, Raggy!" Scooby agreed.

The pair ducked into the curtains that surrounded Bee's bed and disappeared. Fred, Velma and Daphne went to her and slowly eased her back to the bed. "Just take it easy. Are you feeling dizzy or anything?" Velma asked.

Bee gawked at them. "You can talk?!" she exclaimed after some time. Her voice broke the stillness of the infirmary. "It's a rerun all over again." Fred sighed.

They were indeed Mystery Inc. from all the many incarnations of the Scooby Doo series. They remembered each and every version. It composed them as the sentient beings they are now. Bee's eyes were the size of teacups by the end of their explanation.

Mystery Inc. had memories because they had a solid and tangible origin. They were breathed to life long before they were given this form. Bee wondered about the rest of the NPCs and their summoned minions. What about them? Did they have something of the kind too?

As she wondered, she heard the sounds of frantic footsteps and the curtain was suddenly parted. Doki, Blackburn, Jessie, Jessica and Erica looked down on her with relief very evident on their faces.

"BEE!" Jessie, Jessica and Erica screeched as they flung themselves on her. Doki and Blackburn were a little in control of their emotions but Bee noticed their eyes were wet.

"Hey, guys, what happened? How did it go? Did we win? Where's Dusty? Is he alright?" Bee asked. When she mentioned Dusty's name, a chilly color entered Doki's and Blackburn's eyes.

"Oh, he's alright." Doki said. "Please, don't argue." Daphne pleaded with doe eyes. Bee's friends sighed while Mystery Inc. had fled to the opposite side of the bed. "He's okay. He's under lock and key since some of us had become so self-righteous since we got here." Jessie said serenely.

The next thing Bee knew, they were arguing up a storm. A vein twitched in Bee's head. BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! The sounds came as something solid hit someone very hard.

Bee had used her Eleven Madonnas to hit her friends each on the head. "No one is to blame for any of this, ya fuckers got that? This was all an accident. Not like any of ya asswipes got stabbed, right? Ya wanna say something, HUH?!" Bee said in a deadly whisper.

This was her second personality. "Francineeeeeeeeeeeeeee..." Doki said, trembling from head to toe. As someone who had a firsthand experience of Francine's temper, Doki shook more than any of them combined.

"Yes, ma'am!" they chorused. Bee nodded in satisfaction. Then Francine was gone. It was Bee again. "Oh, dear, did she appear?" she asked. Her friends nodded in horror. Bee and Francine were aware of each other.

Francine was just one of the several personas living inside Bee. There were others but Francine was the strongest, surfacing whenever Bee suffered physically or emotionally. Always there to protect her well-being.

"Let's go see, Dusty." Bee said, her voice trembled. Her friends didn't argue with her lest they wanted Francine to appear again and beat them.

As the gang, along with Mystery Inc., walked to where they told Bee was. She took deep, steadying breaths as she realized where Dusty was being held. The dungeons. "You let them put him here?!" she shrieked. "Ask them." Erica said acidly, pointing to Doki and Blackburn.

She glared at the pair and sure enough, Francine surfaced to deliver one of her most biting lectures. When Bee turned up, Doki and Blackburn were both pale while the others played cards nearby.

They continued to where Dusty was kept and it was a terrible sight. Scratch marks were everywhere. From the floor to the ceiling, to the door and all around it, they were carved so deep that they looked menacing in the torchlight.

It was twice as heavily armored on the inside than on the outside and yet when they peered into the very small window, no scratch marks were anywhere. Bee's friends explained that after she blacked out, Dusty had hovered between the berserk him and the sane him.

He didn't try to harm anyone but himself. He clawed at his own body and the Demacians had overpowered him. Try as they might to contain him, Dusty fought insanely to escape.

The claw marks were evidence of the struggle but he never had tried to hurt anyone else. Then Jessica told them that the Pan Flute of Calming Melody was only halfway there to calm Dusty down.

Had someone else resumed playing it, Dusty could've come to his senses a minute later. Dusty realized what he had done and Jessie, Jessica and Erica pointed out the fact that he didn't try to hurt anyone else as evidence of that.

Inside, Dusty had been fighting his own affliction tooth and nail. When Bee asked what happened to the Pan flute, Doki admitted that it was broken in trying to restrain Dusty. God knows how many people stepped on it.

Jessica found it and repaired it. By the time they were informed of what happened, Dusty was already in his cell. And the gang broke into fighting.

On one side, Doki and Blackburn were sensible and logical in their decision to have Dusty locked up for his own sake. On the other, Jessie, Jessica and Erica were outraged at this treatment.

"Shut up." Bee said. They fell instantly quiet. "Does someone have the keys to this?" she asked as she fiddled with the magical lock that was enchanted to its core with the best restraining and containing spells.

Jessica produced a wand from his person. It was the Master-class Expendable-type item called Wand of Open Object. He pointed it at the door and it slid open without any resistance.

Blackburn and Doki unconsciously gripped their weapons harder. They didn't want to take any chances. The others fled into the cell. Dusty was huddled miserably in a corner, curled into a ball of regret.

"Dusty? Dusty! It's me." Bee said gently, laying a hand on the prone form's shoulder. As if a show of their solidarity, Jessie, Jessica and Erica joined Bee on the floor.

Dusty was awake but he didn't acknowledge them. He merely turned away and concentrated his gaze on the floor. "Dusty, that's enough moping around." Jessie said sternly. He didn't react to it.

"Dusty, this isn't like you. I want the cocky, reckless playboy I know back." Bee said gently. Still, he didn't move. Jessie put a hand to his lips and grinned devilishly. Erica knew what he was going to do and smiled evilly as well.

"I know you didn't mean to disembowel Bee, Dusty." he said. Bee, Jessie, Blackburn and Doki looked at him, shocked at his gall. Dusty flinched when Jessica said that. "Yeah, I'm sure you were just curious to see Bee's insides. Where her intestines were, how her digestive system functioned." Erica added.

The others were openly gawking at the two of them. Dusty started shaking. Even Doki and Blackburn were getting offended for him. Before the two devils could make it worse, heavy books slammed hard on the pair's heads.

Velma and Scooby delivered that attack. "Holy shit." Doki said, grinning widely when he saw Jessica had bitten his own tongue hard. He snickered in glee but he stopped when he saw Daphne and Velma glaring at him. "I'll let this pass because you're my childhood heroes." Jessica whined.

Mystery Inc. pushed the two aside, none too gently at that. "You can mope here all you want, sir, but if you want to be there for your friends, you can get up and help them. They need you, sir." Daphne said. "Easy for you to say. You didn't try to kill one of your bestfriends." Dusty croaked, his voice cracking.

"I want to point out that the damage you did was a nonfactor. A combination of Six Hands, Fairy Godmeowther, the Demacian spellcasters on site and Miss Bee's own powerful regeneration abilities, she recovered in no time. She just remained unconscious because of shock." Fred said.

"Like, dude, attempted murder on your own friend done unconsciously or otherwise, is, like, the worse, man, but you gotta man up. The past's past. Miss Bee's not holding a grudge. You gotta, like, learn from it, man." Shaggy said.

"Now's not the time to be divided. You're all in an alien world, trapped and with no certainty of returning to normal life. You only have each other. You can only depend on each other on this one." Velma said. She and the rest of Mystery Inc. shared sentimental looks.

"Reah! Rorgive rand rorget! Rou rnow rour rimitations row! Rou rnow rhat rou ran ro rand rat rou ran't! Rou ran rake rit!" Scooby said. He had changed into a psychiatrist's costume as he delivered his own encouragement.

"What did the dog say?" Doki asked. A gust of wind from Jessie's and Jessica's wings sent him flying out of the room. The two shed a tear at the sight of their heroes cheering up their friend. "This is nice." Jessie said. "Yeah!" Erica and Jessica chorused. "And way better than yours." she added acidly.

"I'm not holding it against you, Dusty." Bee said. Dusty looked at her with nothing but misery in his eyes. Tears flowed free and he hugged Bee, apologizing again and again. Jessie grabbed her cats as her own tears threatened to spill.

All the women, the gays, Shaggy and Scooby dabbed their teary eyes. Blackburn sighed. He really couldn't hold own to his anger at the sight of this. Bee's safe and she's not holding it against Dusty. He should just let it go.

Dusty looked hopefully at the guys. Behind him, Jessie's, Jessica's, Erica's and Bee's faces turned monstrous. Blackburn grinned at Dusty who gave it back. Doki sighed. "Forgive yourself and I'll forgive you." he said, looking away as he said it.

"Now that's settled, let's go back up and have a little celebration." Daphne said happily. "Reah! Re're rungry!" Scooby said. He and Shaggy named all the food they could imagine. "Slow down, guys. This is Medieval Times, remember? There ain't no pizzas here." Blackburn said.

Wasting no time, the pair named all the medieval food they could think of. Blackburn chuckled at that. The happy group made their way back up. "Boss, something just occurred to me." Velma said. "What's that, dear?" Jessica asked. "We just broken into the most secure cell in the palace and waltzed out with its prisoner." she said.

They all suddenly stopped still. It was sinking in. When they continued, you'd notice the great improvement of their movement speed.

•

The Round Table, as the Demacians called it, was the most important thing in all of Demacia. From this simple-looking court, the King, the council and the nobles of the Great Houses convened and determined the fate of Demacia as a nation.

It's from here that the decisions flow forth to affect the lives of every citizen under the Demacian flag. This is the place that makes and breaks the country.

On this day, the discord among the leaders of Demacia was harder than usual.

"Those adventurers never had the right to intervene in political matters!" Lord Carrion from the House of Lionheart roared. Opposite of him, Marion Farlight from House Farlight roared back. "And since when is the matter at the cemetery a political matter, you fool?! When it threatens the citizens of the capital, that, sir, is no longer a political matter!" came his thunderous reply.

After that, the whole court burst into sounds of protest and accusations. Xin Zhao appeared at the heavy doors. "My King, the Freaks have assembled." he announced. The hall went deathly silent.

The King secretly applauded the adventurers' sense of timing. Even though there were nobles and people of the council who approved of their doing, they looked uncertain at the prospect of meeting them.

They've heard of the putting down they beat into the nobles who had gathered at the assemblage. The ruthless display of superiority was intimidating for the nobles.

The halls opened and the Freaks strode in. For Garen and Lux Crownguard, the King, Xin Zhao and the two other nobles (Lord Blake Sunspire of House Sunspire and Lord Fenton Everdew of House Everdew), it made them grin secretly.

They witnessed a rerun of the mental spanking the Freaks did to the nobles at the assemblage. Bee, Blackburn, Dusty, Doki, Jessie, Jessica and Erica were once again with those supernaturally beautiful clothes.

Erica had assumed a large scale version of Her Endlessness Serena. The songbird of life and death piped her divine melodies into the hall. Those who heard it felt a strange nostalgia as if they were watching their lives in film. When Serena ended her song, the listeners suffered from a sense of emptiness and haunting regret.

"We pay our respects to the King of Demacia!" the gang loudly said as one. They kneeled with a resolute manner that reminded them of elite veteran warriors. "Rise, young ones! You have done Demacia a great service once more! Defending Hurgeon from the undead scourge! Slaying the Lich of Hurgeon! And now, you have lifted the plague of the capital's cemetery!" the King said.

He sent a conspiratory wink at the gang who returned it with a wicked smile of their own. The gang rose gracefully. "You praise us more than we deserve, great King. We have not exactly lifted the plague of the capital. We merely uncovered its true face." Doki said.

He knew Jessica was inwardly pleased with someone helping him do the talking. "Oh?" the King asked. He had an idea what they meant. In fact, this is the nature of the debate itself.

"Dear King, we have seen the face of the culprit of the attacks. It is a Avenging Spirit." Jessica declared grandly. It was a bait. It only took one idiot, one fool, to show his ignorance of the matter.

One idiot rose magnificently to the occasion.

"What the hell is that?" Master Leorin Magnus from House Magnus spoke out loud. Jessie smiled at this. The nobles were beginning to hate her and Jessica. The nature of their smiles weren't a sign of friendship, they were symbols of mockery. "Oh, dear, to have such little knowledge of the subject. Nevertheless, I shall enlighten you." Jessie said, her tone a frigid cold.

"Doki!" she said grandly. He looked up at her with a questioning look. "Do the explaining for me!" she said. How dearly he wanted to raise his middle fingers at her then get his hands around her neck.

He coughed loudly and raised his hand. He summoned an Avenging Spirit of his own. The Demacians looked at the pumpkinhead warily.

"This is an Avenging Spirit, esteemed lords and ladies. They're among what necromancers couldn't normally summon but that's no problem for me. They're weak spirits, one trick ponies. An Avenging Spirit is formed from the restless soul of an innocent man doomed by a treachery he had no undertaking." Doki said.

"An Avenging Spirit is weak on its own but it makes up for it with two innate abilities. One ability is randomly determined upon its creation. Others can curse, create disturbance, manifest or call forth other undead. But an Avenging Spirit can only perform the same trick over and over again. It neither can get stronger nor get any weaker. Usually, Avenging Spirits could only use that one ability once a day. Your Avenging Spirit in the cemetery happens to have the power to bring forth Cursed Graves." Doki said.

"An interesting ability. If I created an Avenging Spirit, I would have paired it with an ability to create necromantic structures. It's ideal, you see. Necromantic structures, like Cursed Graves for instance, last for a very long time and are able to summon undead of their own. Summon one Cursed Grave each day, one day after another. Each Cursed Grave summoning undead minions of its own. It spirals out of control." Doki said.

There was a lulling quality to his voice that both enraptured listeners as if he was weaving a really scary ghost story.

"The second ability that all Avenging Spirits possess is utter deathlessness. No matter how many times you exorcise it, kill it, banish it or any action that will remove it, it'll be in vain. It'll just keep returning and returning." Doki said.

"How do you get rid of it permanently?" the King asked. Doki smiled. "Do you not still guess, dear King? You must appease it. Restless souls are divided into four categories: the ones who demand vengeance, the ones who demand justice, the ones who are bound by mortal attachment and the ones who simply don't want to die. Avenging Spirits belong to the category of those who demand justice." Doki said.

The hall immediately erupted into another verbal argument. A loud bang dominated the hall. Blackburn's Crosier struck the floor with full force. "This indeed turns the whole situation into a political matter. The Avenging Spirit may have been tangled into some political plot when it was alive and tossed aside when circumstance warranted it. Even if you keep this matter down, the spirit will not take it as such." Blackburn said.

His friends looked at him with sparkling eyes. Old man Blackburn faced his fear of public speaking. He blushed when he saw their admiring gazes and shut his mouth.

"And here we come across a crossroad, dear Demacians. Which is more important: your power-mongering or the safety of the capital?" Jessie finished with a purr. "Is there really no other way to get rid of the Avenging Spirit?" the King's seneschal asked. Even Xin Zhao himself was surprised at his own daring.

He had been an ever-present but silent figure. He answered only to the King but many here wanted a shot at this man's undying loyalty. Jessie sniffed loudly. "If you won't take our word for it, I suggest you do all the means you can think of to get rid of it. We'll be here to say "WE TOLD YOU SO" in the end." she said.

"Heh. Coming here, acting all high and mighty. You don't even have the proof of your competence." one noble said loudly. It was followed by several snickers. Jessie's smile turned pure malevolent.

She gazed at the fool who spoke those words. "Why, such confidence! Are those the words of someone who can make a competent course of action? If you could make a better job than we do, why stay silent all along? Dear King, I think we have a volunteer!" Jessie said.

The noble who said that paled immediately. If the King gave this order, he needed to perform it. Otherwise, his failure would make him the object of ridicule of society.

If these adventurers had spoken true, appeasing it means making enemies of nobles more powerful than himself. Either way, it will end badly for him. A social outcast or food for the fishes.

He reddened in rage. He hoped the King would not make that order. "Why would a noble like myself bother with something beneath me?" he said with as much serenity as his female adversary had spoken with. His effort was pitiful.

"Why would a noble like myself bother with something beneath me?" Jessie repeated his own words. She said it five more times, with each sentence far more scalding than the last. By the time she finished, every noble's ears were burning.

The man just committed social suicide. Even the noble himself realized how his tongue had gone far. "The safety of the capital and ultimately, the safety of your patriot king, is beneath you?" Jessie said frostily.

"This is not a matter of the capital's safety! This is a matter of one stupid spirit! Why not assign some men to deal with the matter?! Each night they can deal with the undead that comes up! You said yourselves those graves are weak! It seems to me you're trying to raise a panic where one doesn't even exist!" another noble spat out.

The hall was immediately aloud with the support of his like-minded nobles. Jessie sighed in an exaggerated manner. "Dear Lord, are you really that stupid?" Doki had interrupted.

All eyes snapped at him. "WHAT?!" the noble demanded angrily.

"How do you think the Harrowing becomes stronger with each attack? They feed on negative emotions. If we did take your idea and send men quell the undead each night, you do realize it only takes one negative emotion to open the floodgates, right? And for those who live in the capital, knowing undead sprout each night while they sleep, how do you think they would feel?" Doki said, smirking at the noble.

"I think they'll be utterly delighted! Nothing beats the excitement of having murderous dead next door! But what if it's fear? The collective fear of people living in the capital? Let's not to mention anger, lust, envy, greed, pride, gluttony, sloth and all the other negative emotions that humans feel every day. What do you think will happen?" Doki said. His voice had taken a child-like tone.

Only silence met his words. "Oh, well, what the heck. Maybe I'm just paranoid. It certainly won't be our problem if the dead comes knocking on your doors. Am I right, Jessa?" Doki said. Jessica looked at him and smiled serenely.

"We'll be long gone by then. I heard Noxus is beautiful this time of year. The news of the capital under attack from within will surely make their day. Maybe even encourage them to take a visit to Demacia. You know, concerned neighbors lending a hand." Jessica said.

The King grinned inwardly. These kids were throwing one threat after another. They were ruthlessly turning the nobles' own ego against them. They had a master surgeon's skill of inserting panic into their victims.

No sooner Jessica had said that, a clamor went up again. This time, it's nature was different. They were an insufferable, proud lot but they know all too well the threat posed by the Noxian warmachine.

"This is a grave matter. It needs to be addressed immediately, Your Highness!" one of the nobles. It was Lady Nemia from House Teris. The King sighed. "We will do a double effort in this one. Gather all the mages in Demacia and have look into the spirit in question. In the meantime, we'll dig up all we know about this spirit." he said, his voice weary.

"As you wish, dear King." the gang chorused, bowing respectfully. Somehow, the nobles, even the stupidest ones, found for themselves that these adventurers were no pushovers. They had their own fangs.

"But, dear King, would you allow one of us who has been silent all along to share their mind? It's not like you to be quiet. Why the silence, Eri?" Jessie asked. It's true. Aside from Dusty and Blackburn, who were known washouts when it came to public speaking, Erica had been quiet.

Quite strange for someone who adamantly made people hear out his opinions.

They looked upon the beautiful yet alien bird who kept looking thoughtfully at the ceiling.

"I don't know, guys, but do you think we should consider the possibility that there's more than one person, living or otherwise, involved in this?" Erica said. KA-BLAAAM! That summarized the effects of Erica's words. Even Jessie and Jessica had their eyebrows twitching at this.

"What makes you say that?" Bee asked, eyes now wide with real horror. "Well, I read about those Avenging Spirits and all since I'm basically unable to sleep now, I learned that Cursed Graves feed off from negative emotions but on their own, they'll just keep making the basic dead guys." Erica said.

"Remember the first time we came across those undead? We said they were nothing special at all but none of the undead we saw that night were basic. They from a higher tier. Skeleton Defenders. Shriekers. Wraiths. Shambler. Ghouls. Corpse Eater. Why's that? It can't be because they've been feeding off from people of the capital. It had to come from a nearby source." Erica continued.

"How did I come to this conclusion? Well, necromantic structures have a limited range when it comes to feeding off negative emotions. I think the other one feeding the Cursed Graves is somewhere inside the cemetery and it's been there constantly. Well, of course, I'm only assuming it's a spirit. Who'd want to live in a cemetery anyway? Unless-" Erica rambled on.

Then he realized where he was going with this. "It's a possibility alright." Doki said grimly. "FREAKS, TO THE LIBRARY!" Blackburn declared. "He stole my bit." Jessica hissed. Bee and Jessie giggled. "Let him have his moment." Erica whispered.

The gang exited the hall without another word, talking rapidly and excitedly.

"What the devil were they talking about?" one noble demanded. A snort came from way back the stands. Heads swerved to look at Shauna Vayne, who had a look of pronounced disinterest.

"It means, gentlemen, that we're either dealing with another undead here or a group of necromancers." she said. She looked at the pale faces staring at her.

"Everything they said about the spirit and the Cursed Graves are true. I admit I didn't know about the necromantic structures' ability to feed off negative emotions though. I thought they simply reacted to the threat." she said.

"Also, did they just break into the most magically bound cell in the palace and stood before the King with its occupant?" she asked wonderingly. A split second later, she too was gone. Like a ghost.

•

When the gang burst into the library, they saw Mystery Inc. looking at them quite worriedly. "We tried to stop them but they made us do it!" Daphne said. "WHAT?!" Jessie and Jessica screeched.

"Who dares defile our childhood heroes?! Who dares insult their image?! Who dares tarnish their golden legacy?! Who, WHO?!" the two said, their voices rising into fanatical octaves.

"We weren't referring to anything of the sort." Velma said. They looked at her blankly. "We meant the tomes. They made us let them- uh- "borrow" it." Fred said. "Oh. If that's the case, it's fine as long as they didn't hurt you." Jessica said airily.

"Because if they did, someone's head is going to roll for this." the two chorused in a hair-raising way. Shaggy and Scooby fled underneath a table for safety. That's when the gang noticed Lucian, Garen and Lux crowding over the Encyclopedia (HOSTILES) Series Basic Kit and Encyclopedia (NEUTRALS) Series Basic Kit.

"To what do we owe the displeasure of your visit?" Jessie said elegantly. Garen smirked. "Can the act. We've already seen you do it." he said. Lucian looked up at them with amused eyes.

"This has got to be the most useful book I've ever read. I didn't know half the things this book says about Liches." he said. He leafed through the undead section of the book. "I have an even better version of that available. 100 gold a set. It's a steal." Jessica said.

"It's a steal alright." Lux said, grinning as she heard the outrageous price. She couldn't refute the knowledge they contained though. So for a mere 100 gold, the offer might indeed be a steal. A good one. "Done." Vayne's voice joined them as she stepped out of invisibility.

"Do you always have to sneak up on people?!" Dusty said. Vayne and the others looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "He's not gonna go wild now, is he?" Lux asked. The gang nodded no.

"Don't worry. He won't but we're hoping he will so we can test out our calming technique." Jessie said. Jessie, Jessica and Erica had explained in full detail this "calming technique" they had developed.

They explained what they were going to do to him when he goes berserk. By the time they had finished, Dusty was white as snow and shaking like leaf in a hurricane. The Demacians looked sick. Basically, their calming technique involved lots and lots of milking. If you know what I mean.

"NO! ANYTHING BUT THAT!" Dusty yelled, cowering in a corner. The trio's smiles changed maliciously. "NO! ANYTHING BUT THAT TOO!" Dusty yelled again. The three's smiles got wider than what their faces would normally allow. Dusty looked over to his friends and beseeched their help with his eyes.

Bee, Doki and Blackburn clapped their hands loudly, rubbed their palms together and offered their prayers. "You will be remembered." Bee said solemnly. "GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUYS!" came Dusty's yell.

"Dusty, man, rest in peace. Know that your friends mourn your passing. You will be missed but never forgotten!" Doki said solemnly, very much sounding like a priest. "GUYS, THIS ISN'T FUNNY!" Dusty yelled. The three closed in on him and Dusty's story ended, not with a bang, but with a whimper.

BAAAAAAM! The sound came as heavy books descended on Jessie's, Jessica's and Erica's heads. The attack came from Scooby, Velma and, much to their surprise, Vayne. "I'll let this pass because you're my childhood heroes." Jessie and Jessica whined.

"Now that is all settled. I believe we have something more important to discuss." Vayne said as if nothing just happened. "What's to discuss anyway?" Doki asked. "The thing about the cemetery. I would like to investigate it further." she said.

"It's politcal territories now. We have no right to barge on people and accusing then. Even with permission, we'll be making a lot of enemies." Doki said hastily. It didn't escape Vayne that he wouldn't do it for free. "I offer you 3,000 gold as reward." she said.

She looked to the Crownguard siblings as if she wanted output from them. "Ah- yes! Indeed- ah- uh-" Garen stammered. His sister gave him a look. She stood up, took and breath and smiled. "As representatives of House Crowguard, we are willing to add our own bounty. The same amount as that of House Vayne." Lux said, her eyes determined.

Jessica nudged Doki. 6,000 gold was nothing to scoff at. Even for the average noble, it amounted to a fortune. Jessie was giving Doki a look of disbelief. Then Doki grinned fiendishly.

He gave Jessica a look. His friend sighed in relief and produced a slip of paper. He handed it to Vayne and the Demacians crowded around it to read it.

Augusta Stonehelm

DIED: Winterfall 30 VE208

CAUSE OF DEATH: Slow poisoning

NOTES: Killed during a meeting with a patron. Betrayed and forcefully administered with slow poison. Death was falsely declared a natural one. Killers unidentified but they wear the symbols of House Mazin. Had twin children who were afflicted with Faintbreath. Returned to protect her children. Bound in the cemetery due to insufficient ectoplasm. If she is allowed to summon a sufficient amount of undead, she will be able to ascend into higher undead level.

ADDITIONAL NOTES: She may be the sole witness to the Everfort Scandal and was removed for it.

"Well, this saves us a lot of time." Garen commented. He grinned at the cheekiness of the adventurers. He was beginning to like them. "House Mazin. Huh. It had to be House Mazin. Everfort Scandal." Vayne grunted. "That'll be quite the scandal." Lucian said.

"So, let's split up and see what we can do." Jessie said. There was a strange glint in her eyes. "Bee, Dusty, Doki, Blackburn, you go with Lux, Vayne and Lucian and dig up anything you can find about this matter. Meanwhile, Jessica, Erica and I will go with Garen and find the children." Jessie said.

"Question. Why are you three on the same team as the hot guy?" Bee asked. "Shush, Bee! This isn't about you. We have something more important in our hands. Get over yourself." Jessie said. Bee rolled her eyes.

Man-hunting. A tag team of two gays and a woman who was nearly as gay herself. "Go with them and if anything happens, you know what to do." Blackburn said. Mystery Inc. appeared energetic at the given quest. "We'll do our best." Fred said, giving them all a salute as they ran after the four.

•

"So this is House Mazin, huh?" Dusty said, his eyes wide at the imposing mansion right in front of him. "Indeed." Vayne said. She took Dusty and Bee with her. She planned to infiltrate the mansion and find something damning inside.

They spied the mansion through the relative safety of the carriage Vayne had provided.

Her reasoning was that Bee, in the unlikely event that they were discovered and had to fight their way out, could distract opponents for them and Dusty could use his Torture spells to clear the way for them.

Lucian and Lux had taken the other two to the place famous for being the setting of the scandal that rocked Demacia to its core.

"You have something to help you get inside without being spotted?" Vayne asked. Bee and Dusty nodded. "DOUBLE CAST: DECEIVE: HIDDEN INTENT!" Dusty intoned. He immediately disappeared from sight. Not even Vayne was able to detect her. "MOTHER'S ARMOR OF LOVE: CAUTION! MOTHER'S SHIELD OF LOVE: CAUTION!" Bee intoned.

There was a flash of light and Bee changed into an armor and shield that looked like molten silver. Bee activated the armor-and-shield effect. She became invisible as well and she could choose up to ten other allies to bestow this effect on as long as they remained within range of her.

"Let's go in." Vayne said. She turned invisible too. Bee and Dusty discovered the biggest disadvantage of invisibility. Total zero visibility of your own allies. The carriage started to move again but its door silently swung open.

They heard Vayne disembark and the two scrambled to follow after her. "Are you still with me?" Vayne asked into the silence. "Yeah." Bee's and Dusty's voices croaked back. "How do we know what look for and where to look for?" Dusty asked.

"You'll know it. It's something you won't find inside a respectable Demacian house." Vayne replied. They heard her climb the great walls of the estate. The pair followed her with great difficulty (Mostly on Bee's part).

By the time the two finally reached the ground on the other side, Vayne was rapidly reassessing her own judgment. Perhaps Bee, who was ill-equipped for espionage, made it difficult for herself.

Although her summoned armor was light as a feather and didn't slow her down at the least, she was still unsuited to other, longer route around. Vayne couldn't complain about Dusty. He was perfect but he looked out for Bee.

That meant he would be distracted for the plan ahead. Vayne's trained eyes could see the forms of invisible people. She assumed correctly that Dusty had the skills as well to see through invisibility. What surprised Vayne, however, was what followed next.

Bee's tone had gone strange, as if it was spoken by a completely different being. She didn't know about Francine, Bee's strongest alternate personality. "Hmph. A spying mission. How boring. Let's get this over and done with." Bee said.

Her tone was nothing less than sarcastic and condescending.

Vayne was reminded of the pumpkinhead but she could sense this one has no semblance of humanity in her.

"Dusty, you cover the third floor. Demacian, cover the second floor. Leave the underground levels to me." Bee said. Without another word, she strode off. Vayne and Dusty gawked at her. "Did she say underground levels?" Dusty asked.

·

They didn't look any further. Evidence was abound in the mansion like someone actually rummaged through and made sure the evidence was there for everyone to see.

Documents detailing the underground deal between House Mazin and the Tyrant of Noxus were everywhere. It was damning enough but this was for the politicians to bicker among themselves. Vayne's bat familiars collected each of the papers and into her outstretched hands.

Though she wasn't particularly interested in politics but these clues might lead her to that which she sought.