Playerhood18: We'll just have to find out.
I am a burglar: I'd started writing the chapter before your review came in. It took a few days to finish, and in that time, I didn't update my review responses to include yours. Sorry.
South Down: To be fair, it's hard to fight off over a dozen people at once, but yeah, she probably should.
Warknight XL216: I was thinking of including Princess Kenny somewhere; only recently did I decide to use it for this part.
GBond007: Didn't really think of that (not a watcher of SAO). It's more of a plot point, as will be shown later on.
A haunting presence loomed over the Elven Sanctuary like a wraith, casting a shadow of fear over everyone in the game. The skies were gray, and the winds howled ominously, silently warning all inside the game that war was upon them.
Kyle of the Drow Elves and his allies could feel its presence as they marched forth on the battlefield. Kyle, especially, could already see visions of what was to come: the ground stained with blood, mangled corpses scattered across the valley like insects, a stench of death and rot that could be sensed for miles...
And yet, he wasn't afraid. Rather, with his allies by his side, he felt a powerful determination, determination to put a stop to the Grand Wizard's rampage once and for all, to succeed where he had failed the last time.
With a raise of his staff, Kyle halted his forces on a field, where the scouts had informed him was where Cartman and his army was heading. It appeared the Grand Wizard hadn't shown up yet, which to Kyle was a relief. It would give him some time to prepare himself and his forces.
Turning around, he faced his army. He had brought a battalion led by Stan the Great and Shieldmaiden Wendy, made up of dozens of elf soldiers and other players. The rest of his inner circle were spread out across the sanctuary, protecting separate areas with their own battalions, to ensure no side was ambushed.
"Prepare yourselves, everyone!" The High Jew Elf King shouted to his battalion. "A powerful enemy marches towards this very sanctuary. He has endangered the lives of everyone in the game, and has forced countless people into being his slave army! But I'm not afraid, because with all of you by my side, I will fight to the last breath to ensure he doesn't destroy this game! All I ask is you do the same for me!"
Kyle's army let out a war cry, letting him know they would aid him in his quest to stop the Grand Wizard. Mere seconds later, however, Kyle saw their faces contort into fear and surprise. It wasn't until he heard an all-too-familiar laugh from behind him that he understood why.
Whirling around, Kyle felt his chest tighten as he found himself staring at none other than Grand Wizard Cartman. The overweight sorcerer was standing on the other side of the field, about a hundred feet away, and behind him was row upon row of ironclad soldiers.
"Oh, I never grow tired of your gay little speeches, Kyle," Cartman taunted as he stared down the Elf King, tightening his grip on his Energy Staff. "So inspiring, so profound. But actions speak louder than words, Kyle." As he finished his sentence, he slammed his staff onto the ground, sending a powerful shockwave that rippled across the field. It did no damage, but it warned the opposing army of the power they were up against.
"And actions say that you and your pathetic army is toast," Cartman sneered.
Kyle's army fidgeted slightly, a little intimidated by the display. Kyle, however, didn't falter, simply staring down the Grand Wizard. Stan and Wendy did the same.
"You may think that totem of yours makes you invincible," Kyle shouted out across the field. "But I killed you once before, and I'll do it again, even if I have to die, too!"
Cartman smirked. "It's your funeral, then," He sneered. Whipping his head around towards his army, he shouted, "Charge!"
Letting out a war cry, the Grand Wizard's forces swarmed past him and across the field towards the enemy. Kyle's army instinctively moved to meet them, but the Elf King raised his staff, halting them. They stopped in their tracks, confused.
Kyle stared down the charging army, not losing his determined expression. He waited until they were halfway across the field when he pulled out his phone and summoned his Arrowstorm spell. Instantly, a hail of arrows rained down upon Cartman's army, who quickly scattered in disruption as they were pelted by the sharp tips. Screams of pain echoed across the field as many were felled by the arrows.
With Cartman's army in disarray, Kyle shouted, "Now, Timmy!"
Kyle's army made way as Catapult Timmy rolled through them. In the bucket of the catapult were several rats, bound together in a ball. One of the elves ran up to Timmy and lit a torch, raising it over the rats and setting them aflame.
"Fire!" Kyle shouted.
"TIMMY!" Timmy shouted, launching the flaming rats across the air and towards the disoriented army. It struck one of the squires, burning his chest and sending him crashing onto the ground. Sparks of fire flew off him, scorching nearby soldiers.
"Again!" Kyle shouted. Another ball of rats were placed in the bucket, set aflame, and launched across the field. This one struck a native hunter in the face just as he was about to fire. The blow caused him to misfire, shooting a squire in the eye.
Catapult Timmy continued to fire flaming rats at the opposing army while the elves fired arrows at them. Behind his army, Cartman gestured towards something behind him. At that moment, several war machines, carrying crusaders, rolled up towards the hill and across the field. Kyle was about to order his forces to fire at them as well, but froze up when the war machines got closer into view.
Stan's eyes widened in horror. "Mom!" He shouted.
"Stanley!" Sharon shouted, strapped to the front of one of the war machines.
"Stan, you have to save us!" Randy shouted, he, too, bound against the front of one of the machines.
"Stop firing!" Stan shouted, causing the elves to cease their fire. "You'll hit my mom!"
Kyle growled as Cartman merely laughed at them from across the field. "Charge!" He shouted, aiming his staff at Cartman's army. Letting out a cry, Kyle's forces charged down the field to meet the enemy in close-quarter combat.
The two armies slammed into each other, followed by the sounds of swords clashing together and flesh being sliced into. Kyle's soldiers applied the training lessons they had learned from Stan and Red, skillfully dodging the flail attacks from Cartman's squires before swiftly counterattacking, cutting them down with single, well-placed sword strikes to the neck and head.
Stan the Great charged towards the war machines as they rolled across the field. With a swipe of his sword, he sliced off the wheel of one of the machines, causing it to come crashing to the ground. The crusader inside tumbled out, and was quickly dealt with as Stan plunged his sword through the visor of his helmet.
"Stan!" Sharon called out from the front of the war machine.
"I'm coming!" Stan shouted. He rushed towards the rolling machine, but was blocked by several of Cartman's soldiers. One of the squires swung his flail towards his head, nearly decapitating him. Stan dodged at the last second, before swiftly side-stepping behind him and slitting his throat with his sword. One of the hunters took aim and fired, but Stan used the dead squire as a human shield, blocking the arrow, before shoving the body at his assailants, sending them crashing to the ground in a heap.
Jumping over the bodies, Stan pounced onto the front of the war machine. With a swing of his sword, he hacked off the rope around Sharon's arm. Before he could finish, a purple chain was latched around his waist, yanking him off of her and onto the ground.
Struggling against the chains, Stan turned to see Henrietta, dragging him towards her, a scowl on her face. Panicking, Stan thrashed against the chains, but it was no use.
Just as he was within Henrietta's grip, the goth girl lurched forward violently, gasping out. Blood flew out of her mouth, splattering against Stan's face. Her grip on the chains loosened, allowing Stan to free himself. Scrambling to his feet, he looked to see Henrietta fall forward, revealing Wendy, her sword buried in the back of her neck.
"Wendy. . ." Stan whispered in awe.
"Don't mention it! Just move!" Wendy ordered.
Snapping back to attention, Stan grabbed his sword and rushed to free Sharon. The woman fell loose, collapsing onto the ground.
"Stan, could you hurry up?" Randy called from his own war machine. "These ropes are making my limbs sore."
Stan shot a glare at his dad, and promptly hurled his sword towards it. It sliced through the rope binding his arm and buried itself deep into the machine's armor, causing the machine to spiral out of control and crash onto the ground, breaking apart. Free, Randy tumbled to a stop on the hill.
"Thanks, Stan!" Randy called out.
Stan only grimaced, annoyed that he'd missed his target.
Kyle, meanwhile, was blasting charging soldiers with his staff, sending them flying backwards. "Hey, we're actually doing pretty good," One of his elves pointed out to him as he ducked under the swing of a squire.
"Yeah. . ." Kyle replied, but stopped. As he inspected the battlefield, he only now noticed that Cartman's army was suspiciously small. He hadn't expected Cartman to bring all of his troops to his area, but surely he'd have had more to spare. . .
At that moment, his skin paled. "I've been a fool," He whispered to himself.
"Huh?" Stan asked, fending off a squire.
"All of you, get back to the castle, now!" Kyle shouted. His soldiers seemed confused at first, but Kyle simply repeated the order, more forcefully this time, and they reluctantly conceded, heading back in the direction of the castle, with Cartman's soldiers in pursuit.
As both armies fled, Kyle turned towards Grand Wizard Cartman, the two locking eyes with each other.
It was just the two of them now.
The defenses at the castle were on high-alert. If Kyle's forces on the field failed to repel the enemy, they were prepared to continue the battle if Cartman's army arrived.
Paladin Butters stood next to Dragonslayer Red, clutching his hammer tightly in anticipation. Glancing upwards towards the sky, his eyes widened in shock and horror.
"Look!" He shouted, pointing upwards, causing all heads to snap to the sky.
Hovering over the castle were several UFOs, the ones that had formerly been controlled by Craig's Gang. As they loomed over the sanctuary, multiple soldiers were dispelled from their openings, landing on the ground and going on the offensive.
"Everyone, attack!" Blood Elf Bebe shouted, taking her bow and launching an arrow at the attackers. The others did the same, rushing to meet Cartman's ambush party before they overrun the castle.
Across the field, Castle Defenders fired arrows up at the enemy soldiers as they fell from the UFOs, shooting them down before they could even hit the ground. Several native hunters rushed to return the fire, shooting at the kids in the towers. To their shock, however, the arrows bounced harmlessly off the Castle Defenders.
"Huh?" One of the hunters said, confused. It was then that the enemy soldiers saw that Rune Totems had been placed around the Castle Defenders, forming a protective barrier around them and granting them immunity.
"Destroy those runes!" A Crusader bellowed. He and the squires charged to topple the runes.
"We have to stop them!" Red shouted. Letting out a cry, she and the rest of the battalion charged at the enemy soldiers to quell their attack. The large Crusader swung his shield at the smaller girl, nearly decapitating her. She ducked under the blow before twirling her battleaxe and, with an underhand strike, lodged it painfully in the crusader's groin area.
The crusader threw up blood as he doubled over, collapsing onto his knees. "Not. . . cool. . ." He croaked as Red ripped the axe out of him, seconds before she swiftly decapitated him with a powerful blow of her axe.
Paladin Butters backed away slowly towards the castle entrance as Dwarf Engineer Dougie and a small squad of squires approached him menacingly. "Outta the way, paladin," Dougie ordered him.
"Gee, I'd be inclined to do so, but I should tell ya, you don't wanna enter those gates," Butters warned the squad.
"Yeah, and who's gonna stop us?" One of the squires asked. "You?" Reaching over, he grabbed Butters' hair and tossed him to the side. Dougie then strode forward and opened the castle gates.
"Now let's storm the cast-" He froze in horror, as did the rest of the squad.
Glaring down at them was Sharpshooter Shelly. "I thought I said I didn't want any turds in my castle!" She shouted, gripping her twin guns angrily. The squad gulped nervously.
Butters watched the ensuing carnage take place, simply shaking his head. "I tried to tell them," He whispered.
In the wooded areas around the sanctuary, Craig's Gang battled Cartman's forces with their battalion, doing their best to keep them from reaching the castle.
"Make way for the King of Dwarves!" Dwarf King Clyde bellowed as he charged through the trees, cleaving through enemy soldiers with his axe.
Nearby, Rogue Token skillfully dodged the swings of enemy squires. As one charged, he side-stepped out of the way and delivered two successive stabs in the squire's neck and chest with his daggers. As the squire collapsed, dead, Token sprang up into the air and flung the knives, plunging them into the heads of a pair of native hunters, killing them both.
Dark Mage Craig was repelling a crusader with a magic blast when he noticed a group of enemy soldiers charging towards him. Quickly, he rushed in the opposite direction, luring the group into his trap.
"Clyde!" He shouted. "Air support!"
Quickly, Clyde whipped out his phone and transformed into Mosquito. Soaring past the soldiers, he grabbed Craig's hands and lifted him into the air. The enemy soldiers continued pursuing them, but stopped when they started to feel nauseous.
"W-What's happening?" One of the squires asked as he began to feel lightheaded. It was then that the soldiers noticed, too late, that they had stepped in a Toxic Pylon planted in the woods by Kyle's forces. They collapsed onto the ground, succumbing to the poison.
As Clyde lowered Craig to the ground, they two barely avoided being struck by a lightning bolt. The force of the blow sent them flying through the air, crashing into a tree. Landing on the ground, Craig raised his head to see Michael and Pete in a tree, charging their spells. Michael launched a fireball, scorching several members of their battalion.
"Garrison!" Clyde shouted. "We could use some help here!"
A distance away, Witch Garrison stood before his cauldron, readying his spells. "Just wait a moment," He told them casually.
"You've been at that cauldron for ten minutes!" Craig shouted as he dodged an energy blast. "Are gonna help or what?!"
"Don't get your panties in a twist!" Garrison snapped. "Here; I'm done." Pulling out an alcohol bottle, he hurled it at the two Goth kids. The bottle struck the branch they were standing on, expelling a toxic gas that engulfed the two.
"Ah!" Pete shouted, coughing violently as the fumes surrounded his head. "Stupid conformists!"
Token took advantage of their distraction, flinging his knives at the tree. The first one struck Pete square in the forehead, sending him flying off the branch, while the second caught Michael in the shoulder. With a gasp, he fell off the branch and onto the ground.
Clyde, back in his Dwarf form, approached the fallen Goth, dragging his ax behind him. "Now, it's time for you to kiss my ax, emo boy," He declared, raising his battleaxe over Michael's head.
". . . Really?" Michael groaned, letting out a deep sigh seconds before his skull was split open.
As Clyde removed the ax from Michael's head, he noticed a figure, hiding in the shadows. "Who's there?" He asked, jumping backwards and readying his ax for a fight. The rest of the gang rushed to his side to back him up.
Slowly, the figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing himself. Instantly, relief washed over the group, especially Craig.
"Tweek!" Craig shouted in joy. "You're back!"
Robin Tweek stared silently back at the gang, his face blank. The gang, sans Craig, began to feel a chill start to run up their spines when they noticed the lifeless expression in Tweek's eyes.
"Uh, Tweek?" Token asked, on edge.
Oblivious to Tweek's expression, Craig rushed forward to greet him. "I can't believe you're here!" He was saying as he approached him. "I thought you were captured! How did you get free-"
As Craig got within arms length of him, Tweek suddenly pulled out an arrow and swung at him. Craig pulled back in alarm, clutching his bleeding cheek where Tweek had cut him.
"Tweek?" He exclaimed as Token and Clyde rushed to catch him. It was only then that he noticed the icy cold, murderous expression in Tweek's eyes. Those weren't the eyes of his boyfriend.
Without any hesitation, Tweek took out his bow and arrow, aimed at the gang, and fired.
In another section of the woods, on the outskirts of the battle, Princess Kenny sat in a chariot, flanked by half a dozen guards, including Annie. Eventually, he raised an arm and said, "(Stop here.)"
The chariot came to a stop. "Is this where you wish to view the battle, your majesty?" One of the squires asked.
"(Yeah, view,)" Princess Kenny mumbled. "(You've done your part. I'm safe here; go join your fellow soldiers in battle.)"
"But the Grand Wizard ordered us to protect you," The squire reminded him.
"(Do not fret,)" Princess Kenny reassured him. "(I have all the protection I need, right here.)" He pointed at Annie, who blushed.
The squire still didn't seem convinced. "But-"
Suddenly, Princess Kenny leaned forward, cupped the squire's face, and planted a kiss on his forehead. Nearby, Annie felt her heart stop.
The squire pulled out of the kiss, dazed. Quickly, he murmured, "Your wish is my command. Come on, men, let's go!" With that, the band departed to join the battle, leaving Princess Kenny and Annie alone in the chariot.
The pair waited until the band was out of site, then Kenny spit and began to rub the taste out of his mouth. "(The things I do for my sister,)" He muttered. Hopping out of the chariot, he transformed into Hermes Kenny.
"(Alright, I'm going to sneak past the sanctuary and get to the Underworld,)" He told Annie. "(You coming?)"
"I'll cover your escape," Annie reassured him, pulling out a sword she'd taken during her time in Cartman's army. "I'll make sure nobody follows you."
(Alright,)" Kenny said, nodding. He was about to run off, but paused. "(Oh, and one more thing.)"
"What?" Annie asked.
Kenny answered her question with a hug. "(Thank you,)" He whispered into her ear. Annie stood, frozen for a few moments, before smiling and returning the hug.
Breaking out of the embrace, he turned and rushed down the hill, Annie following close behind.
As they ran, neither of them noticed the motorcycle girl, watching them from atop a hill. A smirk appeared on her lips as she watched them go.
No, she thought. Thank you.
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