Author's Notes: Chapter 11 of "Log On!" is finally here! Heart-pounding, spear-slashing, philosophical-contemplating action! Okay, maybe the latter won't be present, but that's not the point!
The point is that we're here and ready for the latest chapter! w00t! C'mon, give me a shout!
Everyone: (silence)
Okay… Anyway! I have a request of my lovely readers!
If anyone has information on Helba (any you can offer) Please send it to me at PrettySammyNASaol,com! (comma to .) I especially need help on her personal life if there is any information to offer!
Let's get on to the chapter now!
Log On Chapter 11 – Claws and Fists
"Man, Iam…" It was Sunday, and, as usual, the group of the six ring holders were training up their characters while traveling through a dungeon. Already on the fifth floor, they had all leveled up to twenty. But still, the group was forced to stop many times as its resident Long Arm gave a fit of sneezes. After a particularly large one, Orizo had spoken up. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine," Iam said nasally, throwing them the "thumb's up" sign. "My cold's almost gone."
"You were absent all last week," Chikoro said sympathetically. "You called me every night for notes."
"Yeah," Iam sniffled. "I guess I just caught the flu or something. But I'm coming back to school tomorrow!"
"Tomorrow?" Gabriella asked, and then paused. "Oh thanks! You just reminded me of something!"
"What?" Achean asked.
"That permission slip for the Scuba Diving field trip is due tomorrow," Gabriella said. "I need to get my mom to sign it."
"Scuba Diving?" Iam asked. "I didn't hear about that!"
"Umm…that's kind of because the permission slips were handed out while you were sick," Chikoro admitted. "They're due tomorrow."
"Huh?" Iam asked, a little dumbstruck. "B-but I didn't get one! What am I supposed to do?"
"Don't worry Iam!" Orizo assured her, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure that the teacher will give you extended time!"
"No extended time."
"B-but, Igumo-sensei, I was absent all last week!" It was the next morning, and Mai was already pleading with her counselor, Igumo, to let her go on the field trip. "I'll hand it in tomorrow!"
"I'm afraid that we had to make reservations for the boats this morning," Igumo-sensei explained, holding up a form from a scuba-diving boat rental company as proof. "I'm afraid that you won't be able to attend."
"But if you could just pack one extra person!"
"I'm afraid that this is where I draw the line, Yanagi-san," Igumo-sensei sighed. "You'll have three days off this week it seems."
"This sucks!" Mai screamed, slamming her locker. Ayumi and Hiromi stood by her as she threw her books into her arms. "You guys are going on an awesome trip tomorrow and I have to stay home until Friday!"
"That's okay Mai," Hiromi assured her. "We'll e-mail you loads of pictures!"
"And I'll get to spend a romantic time with Hiromi-sama under the ocean!" Ayumi giggled flirtatiously, throwing her arms around Hiromi's neck.
"Ayumi! Get off!"
"Ayumi-sama, I've already made plans that we will be on the same boat!" The next thing the three knew, Souchirou had skidded up to them, his hair tousled and his glasses foggy. "Isn't that splendid?"
"NO!" Ayumi shouted, bowling Souchirou over. "I wanted to be on the same boat as Hiromi-sama!"
"W-well, I knew that being with Mimura would please you my darling, so I made sure that he, Ryoko-san, Sean-san, and Mai-san would be with us."
"I'm not going…" Mai bit the inside of her mouth. "They wouldn't accept a late permission slip."
"What?" Souchirou asked, taken aback. "Why not Mai-san?"
"I don't know," Mai shrugged, huffing. "Igumo-sensei is a witch."
"What's this about you not coming?" Ryoko and Sean sauntered up to the group, Ryoko looking quite displeased with the news.
"You're not coming?" Sean asked.
"No!" Mai snapped. "I'm not!"
"Man, and we were planning to have you and Mimura-kun all set up in front of a sunset," Ryoko smirked, making both Mai and Hiromi blush.
"I know," Hiromi smiled. "You can keep an eye out for Prism Players and infected areas while we're gone. You'll be like our scout!"
"Scout…right," Mai sighed. "I have to get to trig, see you guys later…" She turned around and walked down the hallway.
"You're so lucky, Mai!" It was Tuesday morning, and Shizuma was lifting his backpack onto his back, getting ready for school. "You get to miss school until Friday!"
"Lucky nuttin'," Mai sighed, eating some old popcorn from the night before. "All my friends are on an awesome field trip right now."
"Sorry…" Shizuma said, looking apologetic. His face suddenly perked up. "Hey! I know!"
"Hmmm?"
"How 'bout I fake sick and play "The World" with you!"
"Nice try little bro," Mai said, pushing him out the door. "Seriously, you've been trying to get on my game forever. I told you, you can only make one character unless you buy a special plus pack."
"You're mean sis!" Shizuma narrowed his eyebrows, turned on his heel, and ran towards the school bus, leaving Mai alone on the porch, watching him go.
"Speaking of "The World"…" Mai sighed, and looked back towards her bedroom door.
"I guess this could be my opportunity to make some new friends on the game," Mai reasoned, sitting down in her chair, still in her pajamas. She already had five bagels, smothered with cream cheese, in front of her, ready to be eaten to soak up the depression of missing the field trip. "I can't hang out with my real life friends forever, can I?"
She half-heartedly turned on her PC and watched it boot up, her eyes sagging with boredom. "I'll just head out and do some leveling. I'll be level thirty by the time they all get back…"
She clicked on "The World" icon and sighed to see she had no new e-mail and no new board messages. "Guess even the Prism Players are going on a field trip."
She then clicked on "Log In" and she was in "The World".
Iam's shoes made a light tap as she descended onto the path of Dun Loireag. She looked around to see loads of people shopping and showing off new armor sets to one another. The city, elevated, was cool and made Iam's hair blow lightly across her face. "I guess it's time to make some friends."
She stopped, looked around, and saw no one pleasing. "I can just go solo…"
But that had been a bad idea. Any monsters that would have been even slightly substantial in the ways of EXP were too hard for her to take on by herself. She had ended up having to run away and gate out as the monsters ran after her.
"Man!" Iam kicked the dirt as she arrived back in Dun Loireag. "I guess it really is time to make some friends…"
She looked around and smiled as she saw two people, a cute wavemaster girl and a tall heavy blade, talking to one another. 'Two plus one equals three,' she thought to herself and ran over to the two.
"Hey!" she waved. "I'm Iam; want to go on a dungeon adventure?"
"Sure!" the heavy blade nodded. "What's your level?"
"Twenty!"
There was a pause. "Umm…we're both eighty-eight," the wavemaster responded and Iam fell over into the dirt.
"Then what are you doing in this root town?" Iam asked, trying not to grow angry.
"We were just trading for some armor from a guy…he said he'd meet us here."
"Oh well," Iam sighed. "Thanks anyway."
"Don't worry," the heavyblade smiled. "I'm sure you'll find some people to level up with."
Iam hadn't been able to find anyone to level up with. All afternoon she had searched, but no one was her level, or even close to it. All the high levels wanted to go to higher level areas, and they said that lower levels would only get in the way. Iam knew that their logic had some truth in it…but still…
"I can't believe it…" Iam sighed. "No one to level with! How hard is it to find a level twenty?"
"Level twenty?"
Iam's head perked up as she heard a soft voice, only to see no one around her. She swerved her head, but still, she couldn't see anybody. "Hello?" she asked.
"Hi!" the voice responded.
"Hey there," a deeper, obviously male, voice called as well.
"Where are you two?" Iam asked, swiveling her head around.
"Ooops! Sorry!" The female voice giggled again. "My bad! I forgot that we're the only ones who know how to get up here!"
Iam looked straight up into the air and saw two sets of legs dangling over the Cliffside in one of the buildings. One set, obviously the females, jumped down from the spot, landing with a definite "thump" on the ground. Falling to her knees, she stood up promptly and gave a huge smile. "Hi there!"
The female turned out to be a tall, mature woman with white flowing hair that reached about her shoulders. Her eyes were grey with heavy black pupils and she wore a white tank top with a white tunic over it. The tunic, lined with pink, had rhinestones near the shoulders that obviously attached the tunic to the tank top.
She wore a short white skirt that was about six inches above her knees. The skirt was lined with pink and white ruffles, giving a whole soft feel to the outfit.
Her boots, reaching to just below her knees, were colored white with gray soles and had a rhinestone pattern on it. Her elbow-length gloves were lined with pink. On her belt were two sets of silver knuckles and Iam realized the woman's class. "You must be…"
"A fighter!" the woman nodded. "My name's Tiyra, what's yours?"
"Umm…I'm…"
"Hey, what am I, chopped liver?" The deeper voice called from up on the cliff. Both Tiyra and Iam looked up to see a man staring down at them with a look a disapproving upon his face. He too jumped down and looked at the two woman with his arms crossed across his chest.
Iam surveyed him to see that he wore a tight black neck top with no sleeves. An armor plate, lined with black fur, rested across his chest and matching ones decorated his thighs. He also wore black tight shorts that showed off the high definition of his legs. Across his waist was a black fur boa, and his black boots (rising just above his ankles) were lined with the black fur as well.
It wasn't hard to guess this man's class of course. He was a werewolf, and it was quite obvious because he had sharp canines and two black wolf ears rising out of his shaggy black hair that ended just above his ears. Also, if Iam looked behind the man, she saw his black wolf's tail. His claws were sharp and Iam wondered why he didn't puncture his own skin. "I'm a Career Werewolf, my name's Sersen."
"Career Werewolf my butt," Tiyra said flirtatiously. "He's my personal gigolo."
"WHAT?" Iam screamed, blushing a bright red as Tiyra laughed.
"Just joking, just joking!" she assured Iam. "So, what's your name, sweetie?"
"Uhh…Iam," Iam said, still recovering from her blush.
"Hey Iam," Sersen whispered huskily, sneaking up behind her and slipping his arm around her waist. "How'd you like to dump this fat-thigh chick and go to a very secluded dungeon with me?"
"W-WHAT?"
"FAT THIGHS MY ASS!" Tiyra screamed, giving Sersen a deck in his right cheek.
"Ow! Bitch, that hurt!" He said, rubbing his face. "Oh, and by the way, your ass is fat too!"
"EAT THIS S.O.B!"
"MAKE ME YOU HE-WOMAN!"
The two started to fight violently on the ground, Tiyra decking Sersen with her knuckles and Sersen trying to claw Tiyra's eyes out. Iam could only stand watching and shivering as the two continued to brawl.
But, as the dust cleared, both were unharmed and actually laughing their heads off. Iam didn't understand the situation at all, but she was glad that the two had stopped their violence. "Sorry about that!" Sersen laughed, scratching his ear.
"You said you were looking for people to level with, right?" Tiyra asked.
"Uhh…yeah," Iam nodded.
"Well, we happen to both be level twenty!" Tiyra smiled and Sersen nodded. "Lucky you, huh?"
"You'll really level with me?" Iam asked, almost overcome with bliss. "Thank you so much!"
"Of course! A long arm like you could take all the damage while we dish it out!" Sersen reminded her and Iam sweatdropped.
"So I'm your shield…?"
"IDIOT!" Tiyra gave Sersen a sharp hit across the head. "You should know Long Arms have lower defense then other classes!"
"Ow! That hurt again! But, you've caught me red handed. I only wanted to go with her because I'm tired of hanging out with an ugly chick like you."
"THAT IS SO IT!"
Once again, a brawl ensued between the two, and Iam was seriously thinking that she would be better leveling by herself then hanging out with these two crazy people. "Ummm…"
"Sorry about that!" Sersen laughed, brushing himself off, Tiyra's fingers still pulling his hair. "C'mon fat chick, cutie pie, let's go!"
"I am not fat…" Tiyra growled as she punched a Lich in the stomach, defeating it. Behind her, Sersen gave a Wasp a claw to the face, making it back off and lunge at him once more.
"HYAH!" Iam slashed the wasp, making it fall to the ground, and the BATTLE MODE OFF message came onto the screen. The group had found itself in a grassy area at daytime. They had been on for about forty five minutes, clearing the fields of any monsters they could. Iam was only about 150 exp points away from leveling up, and the other two were obviously just as close. "We're making great progress!"
"You said it!" Tiyra nodded. "Even with this loser of a fighter, your skills make up for it!"
"Loser of a fighter! I have a higher attack power then you!"
"That's only because of those claws you bought," Tiyra said, cleaning her ear with her pinky. "You couldn't take down a single monster by yourself I bet…it's so sad that I hang out with such a loser as yourself."
"COME HERE!" Sersen grabbed Tiyra and started to tickle her ferociously, making her laugh and squirm in his arms.
"S-Stop it! I'm ticklish!" She laughed, trying to get away. Finally, he dropped her and Iam smiled at the two.
"You two sure get along," she commented, and the two looked over at the red clad Long arm. "You must be really good friends."
The two looked at one another, smiled, winked, and got up from their tickle bout. "Come on," Tiyra threw her arm around Iam's shoulder. "We've still got to go in the dungeon!"
"And another one bites the dust!" Tiyra cheered as the group cleared another portal after defeating the monsters. They were on the third floor, and already had destroyed multiple enemies. All three had achieved level twenty one and Iam was already collecting points for twenty two. "We make a great team!"
"You're right," Iam said and Sersen nodded his head in agreement.
"Oh darn!" Tiyra snapped her fingers. "I just checked the clock; I've got to get to a doctor's appointment."
"What, already?" Sersen asked her, and then paused. "Oh, okay."
"Sersen and I can just hang around town or something," Iam shrugged and Sersen coughed.
"A-actually, I just realized that I…I have umm…a class to get to. I'm a University student you see."
"Oh," Iam sighed. "Too bad. I guess that's all for today."
"Hey, I know!" Tiyra smiled. "Let's meet tomorrow at noon!"
"Yeah!" Sersen nodded in agreement. "We'll all meet by the Theta Chaos Gate at noon tomorrow, gotcha."
"See you both later!" Iam waved as the two gated out, leaving her alone. "Well, they sure were strange, but it's good to have some friends around. I'll have to introduce them to the others once they get back. I guess I'll log out now…not really much to do."
So, Iam gated out, then quickly hit "Log Out" on her menu screen. "I can't wait till tomorrow."
"So how's scuba diving?" Mai asked into the phone. Hiromi and the others had called her from their hotel that night, and Mai patiently listened as they pretended that they were having no fun whatsoever. "Boring?"
"Yeah, yeah, really boring!" Hiromi told her. "You wouldn't like it."
"Yes, I must admit, I would rather be spending my time at home like you Mai-san," Souchirou commented.
"It's a drag…" Ryoko said, forcing a fake yawn.
"Hey guys, poker in room 409!" A voice yelled from the hall and the entire group gulped.
"Uhhh, crazy hobos hang out in our hotel! Better get rid of them, bye!" Ayumi finished, and the phone quickly hung up.
"Heh," Mai sighed, hanging up the phone herself. "Glad they're having such a good time."
"So, all by yourself today?" Sota asked as Mai walked into Start Button the next day. "Hey, where's your uniform? You ditching today? Good girl Mai!"
"SOTA!" Fuko gave Sota a large whack on the head with a heavy game system, making Sota grow a large bump. "Only you would cut class!"
"Actually, my class is on a field trip and I wasn't able to go," Mai said, smoothing down her skirt as she sat on one of the stools facing the counter.
"Aww, drag," Sota shrugged. "But hey, what can you do?"
"Actually, I'm meeting some friends online in a couple of hours," Mai looked at her watch which read "10:30".
"Hmm?" Sota asked. "Friends?"
"Yeah, they're named Tiyra and Sersen. They're really weird, but they're fun."
"I see," Sota smiled. "So you're really getting into "The World" aren't you?"
"Yeah, I guess," Mai shrugged. "It's really fun, making new friends and stuff."
"And the more you get into it, the more products you'll want to buy from us, right?" Sota asked, looming over Mai, who just sweatdropped.
'I knew he had a hidden agenda…' Mai thought to herself, laying her head down on the glass desk, waiting for it to be noon.
But she wasn't bored waiting. Sota had let her play a few new video games they had gotten in stock on the test machines, and Fuko and she talked about college and entrance exams.
"Now, don't panic when you can't answer a question," Fuko assured her. "Just read it slowly, and skip it if need be."
"I heard Tokyo U's exams are pretty hard," Mai commented.
"Pretty hard, but I'm sure you can handle 'em," Fuko winked. "If Sota can then a chipmunk could…"
"I HEARD THAT!"
"Hey!" Mai smiled. "It's almost noon! I'd better log on to meet my friends!"
"Have fun," Fuko smiled and Mai sat down at one of the parlor computers, putting on a headset. Logging in with her password and username, she quickly accessed "The World".
"Hey, you're late!" Tiyra called as Iam dropped from the Chaos Gate. "It's already 11:58!"
"You said noon!" Iam said, blushing.
"I did? Oops," Tiyra laughed. "Just kidding, I love to tease."
"Where's Sersen?" Iam asked.
"He's having…" she stopped. "He's probably just late, the bum. He always stands me up whenever we're supposed to go on an adventure or something."
"Heh, I see," Iam smiled, but in a moment, Sersen popped out behind her, panting slightly.
"I'm here," he sighed, walking over to Tiyra. "And I fixed it."
"Fixed what?" Iam asked and Tiyra shot Sersen a glare.
"Umm…his resolution's been fuzzy," Tiyra covered. "He told me the other day. Glad you fixed it, Dog Boy."
"Let's go on a dungeon adventure!" Iam suggested. "We didn't get to finish the last one we were in."
"Sure, whatever," Sersen shrugged. "Hey Iam, you know about all those board messages that have been up lately?"
"Huh?" Iam asked, blushing slightly pink. "Y-you mean the ones about the coma victims and weird areas?"
"Yeah," Tiyra nodded. "Sounds really suspicious; you know anything about it?"
"M-me?" Iam asked, taken aback. "N-no way! I'd rather not get involved."
"Hmmm, I see," Sersen frowned. "C'mon, let's go on a dungeon adventure!"
By the time the group had returned from their adventure, Iam was level twenty two, along with the other two in her group. They also returned with a pile of treasure, most of which had gone to Iam since Tiyra and Sersen already had large stocks of GP with them. "That was loads of fun!" Iam smiled. "I'm going to be so high level when the guys get back!"
"Your friends?" Tiyra asked and Iam nodded. "Can't wait to meet 'em."
"I better go," Sersen sighed. "Class."
"Yeah, me too," Tiyra told Iam. "I've got work to get to."
"So…you're older Tiyra?" Iam asked and Tiyra blushed.
"A-actually I'm younger…" she said, scratching her head. "I have a part time job."
"You two must have played together a lot," Iam smiled and the two looked at each other and smiled once more. "How long have you known each other?"
"A couple months…" Sersen told her.
"Do you know each other in real life?" Iam asked and both gasped lightly.
"O-o-of course not!" Tiyra laughed. "N-no way! Hahaha!"
"Anyway, time to go! Bye girls!" Sersen gated out quickly.
"Hey Iam," Tiyra nodded to Iam and Iam gave a motion as if to say "Huh?". "Let's get on together tomorrow at noon again, kay?"
"You bet!" Iam nodded. "See you tomorrow!"
"Bye bye, girlfriend!" Tiyra waved goodbye, and she too gated out.
"I guess I'll follow suit," Iam nodded, gating out after the two.
"So, any Prism Player activity?" Sean asked that night. The group had called Mai once again from the hotel, checking up on her.
"Nope," Mai shook her head. "No board messages or anything. Haven't seen them around for awhile."
"That's good," said Ryoko. "So, you must be pretty bored, huh?"
"Not really," Mai smiled. "I met two new friends on the game. We've been adventuring a lot."
"Hey, don't level up too much," commanded Ayumi. "We'll have to catch up!"
"Can't guarantee anything," Mai winked.
"Well, it's pretty boring here," Hiromi sighed. "I'm glad at least you're having fu-"
"Chocolate fondue in 405!" A shout from the hall called and the group gulped again.
"Uhhh…more hobos! Gotta go, bye!"
Mai stared at the phone, wondering how "crazy hobos in the hotel" was the only excuse that they could come up with…
Mai booted up her computer about 11:00 the next day. Still in her pajamas eating limp cereal, she noted a new e-mail in her box.
Subject: Hey there Girlfriend!
Sender: Tiyra
Message:
What up Iam? This is Tiyra, checking up on you! Don't forget, noon today! Hey, actually, I had a question about that cool ring you have. Do you think that I could get one? They're really awesome.
-Tiyra
Mai scratched her head, thinking of what to say…
Subject: Re: Hey there Girlfriend!
Sender: Iam
Message:
Umm…actually, I bought the ring from a game store.
Your friend,
Iam
Quickly, she clicked "The World" icon on her desktop and realized that there were new board messages. She scrolled down, and noticed the new message:
Subject: Another Strange Area
Sender: Hana-chan
There was a strange area that my friend and I found. It wasn't protected, so we went in without knowing. There was a weird girl in the dungeon, and she told us to get out. My friend said she was being rude and refused to leave. Then, the girl summoned some sort of monster and it defeated my friend! Now she's in a coma! Someone, please help!
The area was Theta, Dying Crying Hopelessness!
"An area that wasn't protected?" Iam asked. "Probably is now…nothing I can do about it…Zaiten isn't here. And that girl…could it be Moyotu?"
Noticing it was noon, she logged into "The World".
"Almost late Iam!" Sersen reminded her as she gated in, seeing her two friends. "It's just noon."
"Sorry, I was reading that board message," Iam told them. "Really weird, huh?"
"Yeah," Tiyra nodded, smiling. "But totally exciting! Can we go?"
"Huh?" Iam asked. "You're joking! You could fall into a coma!"
"Oh bah!" Tiyra waved her hand, as if dismissing Iam's concerns. "Don't be such a worrywart! Live a little!"
"A-and I doubt we can go anyway!" Iam assured them. "It's probably protected!"
"We could try," Sersen offered.
"Fine…" Iam furrowed her brow. "But it's going to be protected."
"Look!" Tiyra smiled, and Iam turned around to see she was already at the Chaos Gate. "It's not! It's our lucky day!"
"Huh?" Iam asked, checking out the area to see that it was, in truth, not protected. 'Oh no…' she thought. 'They must have not protected it yet…' She turned to the two members of her party. "Guys, we can't go! They're going to protect it any second!"
"Oh pish posh!" Tiyra smiled. "Theta, Dying Crying Hopelessness!"
"No! Stop!" In a second, the group had been sucked through the Chaos Gate and were on their way to the area.
But just as they left, two people emerged from the gate. One was a short girl with curly brown hair and markings on her face. She wore a yellow tank top and a loose brown shirt and fell past her shoulders. She wore a brown skirt with yellow tights and brown boots. A heavy blade sword was on her back, a notepad in her hand. "Ma'am?"
"What is it Ruta?"
"Would you like me to install the protection grid now?"
"Yes…before anyone gets wind of that message."
The girl walked over to the Chaos Gate and pressed her hand to it. "Administrator access, username "Ruta". Protection Gate…" she paused, closed her eyes and a green light erupted from her fingers onto the gate. "Installed on Theta, Dying Crying Hopelessness. Anything else ma'am?"
"No…wait," the other person stopped. "Has anyone entered the area?"
"Currently…there are four players in the area," Ruta commented, looking at her notepad. "Anything else, Miss Emerika?"
Emerika shook her head that was covered with long silver hair in a ponytail. Her eyes were a shade of blue and she wore a blue and silver breast piece that matched her long flowing blue skirt. On her hands were long silver gloves that matched her boots. On her back was a long spear, and it was apparent she was a long arm. "Let's go Ruta. If those four…or three I should say…get themselves killed, CC Corp is not responsible."
"With all due respect ma'am…" Ruta mumbled. "Don't you think we should take measures to get them out?"
"No. Ruta, if dumb thrill seekers jump off a cliff, is the owner of the property responsible?"
"N-no ma'am…"
"Then neither are we," Emerika commanded. "Now come, I still have to respond to that e-mail."
And with that, the two were enveloped in golden rings.
"Woah!" Tiyra gasped as they landed in the area, one that was blacked over with broken skies. The ground was hot lava that showed rims of lost and corrupted data. "This is so cool! C'mon, let's find that girl that the message mentioned!"
"Guys, let's get out of here now," pleaded Iam. "It's too dangerous."
"Hey, there's the dungeon!" Sersen pointed. "C'mon Iam, Tiyra, let's go."
"Guys, stop!" Iam called as the two ran towards the tall tower that contained the dungeon. Iam sighed and ran after them. "This is horrible…"
"Man! Four levels and no sight of that strange girl!" Tiyra snapped her fingers. "Or weird monsters for that matter!"
"I guess she's not here!" Iam laughed nervously. "Let's go!"
"Wait!" Sersen pointed to a door in front of them. "There's still one more level! We can't give up now!"
"We really should!" Iam told them. "What if we get attacked?"
"Then we'll fight 'em off!" Sersen said, showing his claws. "Comas? Bah! I laugh in the face of danger!"
"I…I guess…" Iam looked down at her right hand. 'There's no way I can beat a data bug with only one ring… How can I get them out of here…?'
"Finally! The last room!" Tiyra pointed towards the room. "She's GOT to be in here!"
"Guys, we've got to stop now!" Iam turned Tiyra around to face her. "This isn't a game, it's way too dangerous!"
"What's gonna happen?" Sersen asked, smirking.
"You guys could fall into a coma! What if a strange monster is in there?"
There was a pause and silence hit the room. All of a sudden, Tiyra and Sersen grew serious. "If there is a strange monster…why don't you just drain it with your ring?"
Iam's eyes widened as she looked at Sersen who had just spoken. From Tiyra's look, she obviously knew the capabilities of her ring as well. "H-how…"
"We saw you a few days ago with your friends Data Draining a bug," Tiyra explained. "We got information from a Wave Master and were able to follow you after you hacked the gates."
"We know you have the power to defeat those things…" Sersen said. "We want to see it in action. We need to know if you can really do it."
"Not with only one ring I can't!" Iam told them. "I need my friends here!"
"Look…we're going in there and fighting that thing…" Tiyra told Iam. "You can't stop us!"
With that, before Iam knew what was happening, the two sprinted into the last room. Iam stopped, spun around and ran after them. "No! Stop!" she yelled, then skidded to a halt as she saw the same violet mist as before. "Damn! Guys, come back!"
"I see you've shown up…"
Iam skidded to a halt next to Tiyra and Sersen who already had their weapons drawn and ready. She looked forward and saw a young woman standing in the middle of the room, behind her a gigantic black dragon covered with green flakes.
The girl had long black hair that reached her mid back and shone brightly when she flipped it around her shoulder. She wore a white circlet with a black jewel in the middle and had black sharp markings on her cheeks.
She wore white armor that covered her shoulders and her chest. She also wore white armbands and white fingerless gloves. Her armored skirt was white with black fringe and her short boots were black while her knee socks were white. Every piece had sharp black markings all over them, and everything was lined with black. She was a blade master with a black sword on her belt.
"Who are you?" Tiyra snarled.
"My name is Garavarta…" she spoke softly, her heavy eyelids drooping. "I would tell you all to leave, but Moyotu would be angry with me."
"Garavarta…" Iam chewed the name in her mind.
"Yes…so I made this…to kill you all," Garavarta said, pointing to her large beast.
"You're going to pay…" Sersen growled, and Iam noticed intense anger in his eyes. "YOU'RE GOING TO PAY YOU BITCH!"
He lunged forward, slicing at Garavarta, only to have her easily dodge and flip backwards. "Why do you have a grudge against me?" she asked. "I don't remember ever meeting you."
"Were you the one who installed one of those," he pointed to the dragon, "at Theta, Crossed Abandoned Dream?"
"Hmm…" Garavarta smirked. "No, that was Moyotu who installed that one. One of my favorites, very creative."
Iam noticed a huge change in Garavarta's personality. Instead of the mellow girl she had been when they had met her, she was now slightly manic. "What, did it kill your best friend or something?"
"SHUT IT!" He lunged again, only to have Garavarta dodge once more.
"Anyway, I'm not in the mood right now," she laughed haughtily. "Ready to become dragon food?" She cackled loudly and the dragon lunged forward. "GO, GO AND KILL THEM ALL!"
The dragon lunged at Sersen, knocking him to the ground, blood coughing from his mouth.
"SERSEN!" Tiyra ran to his side, and helped him up. "Are you okay?"
"I-I'm fine…" he wiped a bit of blood from his mouth. "So this is the group of people…those bastards that…"
"WATCH OUT!" Iam shrieked as the dragon threw itself forward again. Iam slid in front of the two and slashed the dragon with her spear, of course not inflicting damage but making it back off. "Guys! Help me out! Attack it with all your might!"
"But you said you couldn't beat it!" Tiyra said.
"I don't care!" Iam shook her head. "Someone's got to take care of it! It might as well be me!"
The two stopped, looked at each other, and nodded. "Let's go fat thighs!"
"Whatever you say gigolo!"
The two rushed forward, slicing, clawing, and punching at the dragon. Of course, the dragon felt no effect, but that didn't stop them from putting out whatever they could to defeat the beast.
Garavarta, on the other hand, was writhing on the floor with laughter. "You're all so dumb! You can't win! Give up!"
"Man, talk about Jekyll and Hyde personality!" Sersen shouted above the noise. "What's her problem?"
"I don't know!" Iam shouted. "VAK KRUZ!" She cast the spell, and the words: PROTECT BREAK flashed above the dragon. "Guys! We did it! Stand back, I'm going to drain it!"
"One ring?" Garavarta cackled again. "Are you joking? The power from the bug will overload your ring!"
"You don't know that!" Iam shouted to Garavarta and she smirked.
"Yep! I sure do! It'll be so much power that you're ring will shatter and you'll fall into a coma like the others!" Garavarta shouted and Iam looked down at her ring, now slightly afraid.
"I…I'll fall into a coma?" Her hand turned into a fist, and she looked at her ring. "I…I…"
"Iam…" Tiyra whispered.
"I DON'T CARE! I'VE GOT TO STOP YOU!" Iam pointed her ring at the monster. "HERE I GO! RED DATA DR-"
"Stop!" A soft voice called from the ceiling, and Iam looked up to see none other then Prisma floating down to her. "Please stop…it is too dangerous."
"I can't let anymore people go into comas!" Iam told her. "Even if I'm all alone, I've got to at least try!"
"Your bravery is astounding," Prisma smiled, touching Iam's hand with her own. "But you are not alone. Look behind you." Iam did and saw Tiyra and Sersen running towards her.
"Who's…who's she?" Tiyra whispered to Iam, but Iam did not answer.
"You two have been through quite a hardship," Prisma said, addressing the two behind Iam. "Now, I give you these…" Her two small hands touched the ring fingers of the two fighters, Tiyra's right and Sersen's left.
A bright light erupted, and swirling colors passed around Iam and the others. "Wh-what's going on!"
"The rings are evolving!" Prisma shouted over the wind. "You are coming one step closer!"
"To what!" Iam asked.
Prisma smiled, shook her head and slowly faded away. "Wait, Prisma!" Iam held out her hand to reach Prisma, and gasped as she saw her ring start to grow what looked like silver material. It wrapped around her hand and wrist, and when the light and wind subsided, on her hand was a bracelet that branched out with tiny silver chains and tiny red jewels that all came from her ring. It attached at her wrist and the entire thing had become a hand guard.
She looked over at the others to see that they had matching guards; Tiyra's white and Sersen's a brilliant black. "Tiyra, Sersen…you guys…"
"So…shall we get rid of this thing?" Sersen asked and Iam looked taken aback. Then, she smiled and nodded.
"Hey ugly!" She called to the dragon and it turned around to face them. They lined up, Tiyra and Sersen each on one side of Iam. "What's black, and white and red all over?"
"Give up?" Tiyra asked.
"YOU!" Iam shouted and the three outstretched their rings. "RED, WHITE, BLACK DATA DRAIN!"
The three powerful lights streamed towards the monster and the green flakes exploded off of it. "Quick! Get it!" Iam commanded, and the three rushed forward, their weapons outstretched.
"N-n-n-n-no!" Garavarta cried, grasping her hair. "How did this happen? H-how could you have won!"
"RAI PUNCH!" Tiyra delivered the final blow and the dragon fell to the ground, dead.
"It's over!" Iam smiled, relieved. "We've won!"
"N-n-no!" Garavarta shrieked. "You couldn't have won! I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!" She shrieked and shouted until finally golden rings enveloped around her, making her disappear from the area.
"Well…" Iam turned to the two. "I think I deserve an explanation. Why did you want revenge on the Prism Players?"
The two looked at one another, Tiyra looking extremely hurt. Sersen put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. Tiyra turned to Iam, nodding to Sersen.
"W-we were attacked…about two or three weeks ago," Tiyra explained. "We just wanted revenge…that's all."
"We apologize forspyingon you…" Sersen bowed to Iam in apology. "But we needed you to help us defeat that bug."
"I see…" Iam nodded. "That's why you hung out with me these past three days."
"Hey, don't make us out to be manipulators!" Tiyra scoffed. "We wanted to be your friends too! You're one cool cat Iam."
"So…we're friends?" Iam asked.
"Now that we've got these…" Sersen held up his black hand guard. "We'll be spending lots of time together."
"Hey…" Tiyra's eyebrow cocked. "Iam…there's something behind you."
Iam spun around and saw a core with a Y encrusted in it and a strange black book with a red marking on it. "Huh?" she picked them up. "A data core…but what's this?"
"A ryu book…" Prisma's voice echoed through the room. "Keep it safe, its purpose will become apparent later."
"I'm the keeper of the Ryu books…aren't I?" Iam asked, remembering what Kalen had told her, but Prisma did not answer. "I guess I'll just keep it—woah!"
The book evaporated in red mist and the next thing Iam knew, it was gone. "Wh-where did it go?"
"Inside of you…" Prisma spoke again. "It will return when it is needed…"
"This is getting weirder and weirder…"
"C'mon Iam," Tiyra smiled. "Let's get out of here! Your friends are coming back tomorrow right?"
"Right!" Iam nodded. "Have I got loads to tell them!"
"MAI!" Mai winced as her door flew open and all of her friends ran in that night. "O-our rings! Th-they just went poof!"
"Changed into hand guards?" Mai asked, smiling and they nodded. "The rings are still there, they're just attached to guards."
"What happened?" Hiromi asked, sitting on a chair next to Mai.
"Let's just say we have two new ring holders," Mai winked.
"Man! I thought I specifically requested you tell me these things sooner!" Ryoko commanded, ruffling Mai's hair and putting her in a headlock.
"Well," Sean rubbed his hair. "Any new Prism Players?"
"Yeah…Garavarta," Iam nodded. "She's nuts. Totally bipolar."
"I knew we'd run into at least one like that," Ayumi shrugged. "Although Tikairo was pretty weird himself. Izaile too…"
"Anyway," Mai smiled. "I've also got another core and a strange Ryu book."
"Ryu book?" Souchirou asked. "What is its function?"
"Prisma said it would become apparent soon."
"Well," Hiromi smiled at Mai. "We're glad to be back."
"I'm glad you're back too," Mai nodded. "So…how was Scuba diving really?"
"Not half as fun as it would have been with you," Hiromi smiled and Mai returned the smile.
"So…were there any real crazy hobos in the hotel?"
"Umm…"
The rest was a pretty long story…
The end of the 11th chapter! Things are really picking up now! Please review and don't forget about the Helba info I need!
Sayonara!