DotHACK: Hating to Love You
Chapter 11 written by Vincent Noble Valentine...
The Net Slum, otherwise known as the Omega Server, a place of peace and paradise to those who have come to either love it or hate it. Quite possibly the most famous and well known server in all of 'the World'. Here in this place, is where the legendary Hacker Helba and outlaw to others that don't like Hackers, resides. Here in this land she is queen and ruler of all. Yes this place was indeed paradise as well as it was peaceful.
"Ok just what the FUCK is going on here!"
Well it WAS peaceful until Blackrose turned up --;;
Nearly half an hour later after Helba and Balmung had begun to concoct their little scheme...well it was mostly Helba's devious little plan and Balmung was along for the ride to play along since his interested was perked as to what Helba had in mind concerning her cryptic message of 'mind games' that she was going to play. No sooner had she explained the details in full, flash emails were sent out to each and everyone of the HACKER's that journied along side Kite in the first place, including various and demanding emails sent also to their leader with the banner literally screaming, 'URGENT! GET YOUR ASS TO NET SLUM!
Well that's what it said more or less, but obviously in a more polite manner of course. In either case, regardless of who read the emails, each HACKER knew instantly that when Helba called, then it was most definetly urgent. As the emails were sent and recieved, one by one they started turning up to OMEGA server, the numbers of the group growing rapidly until nearly everyone was there, standing about patiently waiting for what sort of death defying news Helba would spring on them. A few of them questioned how big the problem was and even many of them dared think that more coma patients were turning up again...perhaps even the Phases?
Needless to say the atmosphere around the group was nerving, intense even. The sooner Helba explained the situation, the better their nerves could rest. But unfortunetly not all were present, Kite of course was one of the first to turn up as it was his duty as the leader of his crew, who was standing beside Helba looking more serious than ever as he looked about his team-mates, eying them but more importantly, keeping an eye out for Blackrose. She had still refused to speak to him after all this time and even in his slightly depressed phase he wanted more than anything to reconcile with her or at least get his side of the story across.
balmung was there also, he had been present beside Helba even before Kite entered. He too was looking as serious as ever but none knew of his motives, only Helba his sneaky accomplis for the moment. Orca also made an appearance, none the wiser than anyone else present but always ready for action. The ever annoying Piros was present also, trying to make random conversation with anyone who would put up with him and his annoying voice. How Kite ever put up with him the first place was beyond anyones reasoning or logic to understand.
Mia and Elk turned up together as they always were. It seemed that those two had become inseperable, as if joined at the hip. Ever since Elk had gotten Mia back, he never dared let her out of his sight. It was obvious to anyone who knew the duo that Elk cared for and quite possibly loved Mia very much, even though she was a computer program stuck in 'the World' and was not even human AND even though she was a former Phase herself: Elk really cared for her. People might find that to be a strange sort of 'relationship' but then again if that wasn't strange what wasn't? Would it sound weirder if Helba herself had hooked up with her biggest enemy, Lios: the pig head as she called him? Possibly but then again that sounds like a scenario that NO-ONE wanted to imagine. That sounds too horrific to be true (00)
No-one hardly knew how Mia felt, she was cold and callous as always and if anything she was only ever interested in how Kite's bracelet worked and aromatic grass. But she had admitted a few times that she did enjoy Elk's company, that had to count for something right?
The next few to arrive were Moonstone, Mario, Ryoko, Mistral and Wiseman. They all came to the group as quick as they could and were already starting idle chatter, trying to get any info they may have missed. Moonstone was keeping himself to himself, brooding in a corner on his own. Mario as per usual was being rude to others and seemed quite grumpy for some reason. Mistral wasn't quite overly interested in conversation, just the purchasing and exchanging of rare items to add to ever growing collection, even for a mother to be that's quite a fixation to have, something only hyper teenage girls would have.
Moving on Wiseman had already moved to his spot in the group and had immediately approached Helba seeking information on the imposing 'threat' that he was duped into believing to be true. Wiseman like his name states was very wise for his character and like Helba and Balmung, he himself was considered one of Kite's higher officals which needed no questioning as he was quite the strategist other than being a very powerful Wavemaster.
And finally another sort of 'threat' had tagged along with Wiseman's group: Terajime Ryoko and already she had her sights set on Kite the minute she saw him. Being as giddy and stubborn as ever she was already proceeding over to him, ready to glomp him at moments notice without hesitation. But lucky for Kite, Balmung had already intervined between the two, acting as barrier and proceeded to scold Ryoko while all the while glaring at her. Kite silently praised his thanks to whatever gods that were watching over him, he didn't need this situation with Ryoko, not now if he wanted to get things sorted out with Blackrose.
Soon after the remaining party members turned up with Blackrose finally turning up last, who marched up to the group like the worst natural disaster imaginable. She had not been on 'the World' for quite sometime, for reasons we already know. But even after coming back now she was still not happy, she was royally pissed at seeing Ryoko trying to glomp Kite right in front of her and some of her anger and glaring were also directed at Kite who could do nothing but look away, not wanting to meet her glare as he felt slightly ashamed, perhaps even hurting more seeing her again.
It wasn't long before someone spoke up, "Ok just what the FUCK is going on here!"
"It's quite simple isn't it? I asked for all of you to be here because something important has come up" replied Helba looking as calm as ever, trying to hide the sinister smirk from gracing her lips.
"Yeah? So get on with it, I haven't got all day!"
"Hark, he of fair eyes, has Blackrose got PMS or something?"
Everyone went silent.
"Watch your fucking mouth Piros, cause if you utter another word, YOU, your ass and my sword are all going to come under a first name basis" replied Blackrose glaring, daring him to even squeek a reply.
"That's enough, knock it off you two. We don't have time for this childish banter. Piros go bug a gruntie or something" frowned Balmung intervening, much to the relief of most present.
"Yes, Balmung is quite right. The situation at hand is most dire I'm afraid which is why I called you all here"
"So, get on with it!"
"After speaking with Aura, it has come to my attention that a majority of Data Bugs still remain within 'the World'. As I'm sure you all know Data Bugs are highly dangerous even to the most novice or advanced of players and we simply cannot ignore them or let them roam around all servers any longer. Simply put I suggest we eradicate those that remain to insure that the Phases don't return"
"Your saying that the Phases could come back if the Bugs remain?" questioned Orca.
"That is correct. I do not wish to leave anything to chance nor do we need any more players turning up as coma patients"
"Gee great plan Helba but aren't you forgetting something? Only one of us has the ability to Data Drain those things and that's the head honcho over there"
"Correct again, which is why I'm pairing you all up to investigate the area's around 'The World' which are suppposedly infected with the Data bugs. Once found I want you all to return here with your reports so we can take on each server one by one"
A few mumurs and grunts were heard all around, everyone agreeing on some level or other.
"So who goes with who and who goes where?" questioned Wiseman.
"I've already decided and i'll be sending you to the area's that need to be checked. There are no complaints about who get's paired up with who, my decision is final. Blackrose, your teaming up with Kite to take on Omega Raging Facing Mirrors Virgin. Reports from Lios state that that area is most infected at present"
This reply caused Blackrose, Kite and Ryoko's faces to blanch slightly. All three of them knew that location quite well, especially Blackrose and Ryoko as they both had wanted Kite to join them there, their intentions were obvious but to Kite who knew nothing, he didn't understand what they had planned in the first place until much later.
A snort of annoyance came from Blackrose as she glared at Helba wanting her to pair her up with someone else, but Helba ignored it easily. Her decision was final no matter how much of a hissy fit Blackrose was going to get into.
"Fine...let's get this over with" she grumbled leaving Kite to watch her go before he slowly followed.
"Be careful you two, don't get into any trouble"
Kite turned back to Helba nodding once before raising an eyebrow seeing her smirk slightly, Kite from his experience concerning Helba knew that smirk anywhere. She had something planned but whatever that was could take the Twin Blade master a lifetime to figure out, no one ever knew what Helba was thinking.
"Are you coming or not!"
Jumping slightly Kite checked his equipment quickly before heading off to the Chaos Gate before dissappearing along side Blackrose to their designated destination.
"Ok Helba, where do you want to send us?" asked Mistral, chirpy as ever.
"Nowhere, your all staying here" was the simple reply as she let her smirk fully show.
Collective eyebrows and opened mouths dropped in her direction, not understanding the answer to her reply.
"But you said..."
"Oh sorry about that I lied, this is just all for a little fun"
Whatever that meant was beyond anyone's understanding as many of them, minus Balmung were thinking: 'What the fuck is going on?"
Meanwhile back with Kite and Blackrose
"What the fuck is going on!"
A good question, unfortunetly neither Kite nor the enraged Blackrose weren't going to get an answer anytime soon. Ever since they arrived and after searching the fields for about 15 minutes there wasn't a single sign of a Data Bug, not even the smallest shred of a simple enemy was in sight. Kite couldn't even reply to such a vulgar question as he stood there silent wondering the same thing. With the use of a fairy orb, Kite's suspicions were confirmed. There wasn't anything on this server at all.
"HEY! I asked you a question, dumbass! Answer me!"
"I...don't know" he replied finally, looking at her once before turning away.
"Great you've been a great help Mr insightful. This blows! Helba was completely wrong! Screw this I'm gonna find out what's going on!"
Without waiting for a reply from her betrayer, she pressed the log out switch preparing to the return to the Net Slum and waited for a few seconds only to find that she was still standing there. Blinking, she pressed it again and again and again and still nothing was happening. If Blackrose was pissed off before then that must have seemed like a gentle breeze passing by, now she was absolutely livid!
"What the HELL is going on!"
At least she didn't use the word fuck this time, Kite thought. That's the last thing he needed to be thinking of or doing for that matter, even if his estranged lover was beside him. Looking thoughtful Kite tried pressing the exit button also only to find that it wasn't working for him also. Something wasn't right here...wait this happened once before didn't it? Of course Lios did this once when he trapped both himself and Blackrose on server so he could delete their characters and to make sure they couldn't escape he removed the exit program so they couldn't log out or return any server like Mac Anu.
Great, so why was Lios doing this? Or...was he? That smirk of Helba's...oh shit, THAT's what it meant! Kite didn't know whether to be glad Helba had done this or to curse her slightly. Neither he nor Blackrose could escape the server nor could they log out, they were both stuck together which meant that could be good or bad. Good perhaps that Kite could tell Blackrose what happened...Bad that she might end up killing him anyway.
Smiling slightly he turned to see Blackrose stomping the ground, ranting and raving before turning away and making his way to the dungeon. If he lived through this day he was certainly going to have to thank Helba, that is if Blackrose didn't get any ideas and kill him first.
Author's note: Chapter 11 and man are you guys demanding? Always wanting more, more, more. Well i'm trying to do the best I can and I hope this chapter satisfies your desire for now. Sneaky, sneaky Helba has trapped Kite and Blackrose in the Omega Raging Facing Mirrors Virgin. What's going to happen? Happily ever after? Or does Kite die a young death? Find out next time! Also thanks for the reviews they are greatly appreciated!
Signed Vincent Noble Valentine...