A/N: Next chappie, as promised. :) (Especially for you, isis2k2! ) So, this is the FINAL chapter, besides the epilogue. I hope you all enjoy it!
Logging On
Chapter 9
"Are you guys ready?" Haseo asked, gripping the handles of his guns. Blackrose glanced at the TV screen on the left, which told the team who they were battling. It said quite clearly, Title Match: Dot-Hackers vs. Taihaku. This was it; if they lost, the last few months would have been for naught. Kite fingered his daggers.
"Let's go," he gave a comforting smile to his party, and then opened the door, stepping into the arena one last time.
The crowd cheered louder than before, because this was the battle of all battles. If the Dot-Hackers won, then Kite would be crowned Emperor, and they would be allowed to enter the infamous guild Icolo. If they lost, however, Taihaku would continue his reign, and the Sage Palace tournament would be over until the following year.
Across the way, the door opened, and a tall man with a white overcoat stepped into the arena circle. The cheering, if possible, got louder, but their opponent didn't seem to notice. He had blonde-white hair, completing his white and purple ensemble of clothes. A large scar ran diagonal from the top of his forehead down past his right eye. His moustache twitched as he surveyed the Dot-Hackers.
"Begin!" the announcer called, and the crowd continued to yell and scream. Kite and his team walked forward, stopping about twenty feet away from the current emperor.
Taihaku stared at Haseo, "I'm disappointed in you, Haseo," he remarked, "To think that you, of all people, have taken on a party. And you're not even the leader of it."
Haseo bristled, "That is none of your concern, Taihaku."
"Oh, but I am curious. How is it that you're no longer alone in your endeavors?" Taihaku folded his arms.
"I don't need to be alone anymore," Haseo said, and a grin spread over his face, "I have friends who support me, and so I'll support them as well. It's something that you could never understand."
"I see. Well, my respect for you has fallen, as it does for anyone who needs a team to triumph. If you defeat me, I'll accept you and your team again, but I doubt you will," Taihaku pulled out a large gun that resembled a rocket launcher with a knife at the front, much like what the British used on their guns against Americans in the Revolutionary War. He took a few steps back and fired his gun.
It was a rocket launcher, as they found out. Blackrose cried and jumped aside, only a hair's width away from the rocket that exploded beside her. Kite and Haseo dodged easily, as both of them had high speed.
"A rocket?!" Blackrose whined, "Kite, how come he gets rockets?"
Kite readied his daggers and sprinted towards Taihaku, "I don't know, Blackrose!" he called, slicing at the Emperor. Unfortunately, the Emperor was fast as well, and he was on the other side of the arena within seconds.
Haseo scowled and readied his weapons. The guns, which had looked so dangerous and impressive before, now used their full potential to release a hail of bullets at Taihaku. Kite couldn't see the rocket flying towards the Epitaph user until it was too late, as the smoke from his bullets blocked all vision.
"Ah!" Haseo flung backward from the rocket's blast, and his guns fell to the sides. He groaned and looked at his health, which had dropped drastically from the rocket, "Dang…"
"Haseo! Are you okay?" Kite called, running up close to the Emperor—whose health was a bit lower, due to Haseo's bullets—with Blackrose right behind him.
"I'm fine! Keep going, we can still beat him!" Haseo called back, standing up and collecting his weapons. He switched his dialogue to whisper mode and reloaded his guns, "Guys, get out of the way!"
Blackrose pulled Kite to the side just in time, and Haseo proceeded to open fire at Taihaku again. The Emperor recoiled, shooting his rockets into the smoke. Watching anxiously, Blackrose noticed that none of the rockets got close to Haseo.
"He's shooting blindly!" she cried, readying her heavyblade.
The bullets stopped, and Haseo reloaded quickly. Taking this momentary lapse in fire, Taihaku readied his rocket launcher, aiming at Haseo.
Kite lunged forward, slicing at the Emperor before he could fire. The Emperor turned and slammed his rocket launcher into him, effectively knocking his against the barrier that lined the sides of the arena.
"Kite!" Blackrose ran to help him, and Taihaku turned his launcher on her instead.
"Be prepared, girl. Don't turn your back on an enemy," Taihaku targeted Blackrose's back.
"No!" Haseo called, "Blackrose, watch out!"
Kite was already up, pushing her out of the way just as the rocket hit where she had been. They fell to the ground a few feet away, and their HP dropped a bit from the force of the blast.
"Be more careful," Kite scolded, and Blackrose nodded in understanding, helping him stand.
Haseo frowned and began another wave of firing, but Taihaku wasn't stupid. He learned from the last two times and quickly sent an ice spell towards the gunner.
Blackrose scowled, "Kite, we're not getting anywhere! Every time we take him down, he just heals himself and gets back up again!"
Kite watched Haseo continue shooting, and sent an Ol Repth his way, "I know. It may be time to use our secret techniques."
They had discussed this before, as all of them were determined to win. If it looked like they were about to lose, Kite would use his bracelet, and Haseo would call Skeith, and they would terminate the enemy easily. They hadn't had to use it yet, but clearly their level 146 skills weren't cutting it with Taihaku.
"Haseo! It's time!" Kite ordered, and Haseo stopped firing. Blackrose charged at Taihaku, engaging in close combat to keep the emperor busy while Kite and Haseo got into position. She only took a small chunk off of his HP, but as soon as she felt Kite kick her lightly in the real world, she moved out of the way, and Taihaku was engulfed in Data Drain. Skeith's scythe soon followed, and Taihaku didn't even have time to cry out before he vanished into data.
Silence filled the arena as Haseo recalled Skeith, and Kite retracted the bracelet. Suddenly the arena audience burst into cheers, and the announcer's voice came over the speaker, "And the Dot-Hackers are the winners! This is amazing, we have a new Emperor!"
In front of Kite, a key appeared, and the word 'Icolo' was written on it in clear block letters. He took the key, and put it in his inventory before turning to Haseo. Blackrose came to stand beside her partner, smiling.
"We did it," he congratulated them, "Good job, everyone."
Haseo nodded, and they were transported out of the arena for the last time.
Icolo was a quiet guild with marble pillars signifying the entrance. Kite glanced at Blackrose and Haseo before touching the large double doors, which opened upon recognizing the key he had in his inventory. The Dot-Hackers proceeded to enter the honorable guild, amazed with how elaborate it was. They made their way to the center of the guild, where a grunty dressed in attire similar to Taihaku met them.
"Welcome to Icolo, new Emperor and party. I am King Grunty, the grunty of this fabulous guild," the grunty bowed politely, "Guildmaster Taihaku requests to see you, so it would be wonderful if you would proceed through the hallway to your left immediately."
Kite cocked his head at the grunty, but shrugged and led his team up the stairs and through the designated hallway all the same. They walked through two double doors, and arrived in an elaborate room, vacant of all but a long table at the end. On one end, a twin blade with redish-purple hair watched them with interest, and on the other end, a PC dressed in heavy samurai armor and a weird mask looked at Haseo in approval. Working inward, a dog-like character sat tall, quite dignified. A man with long blue hair, a red hat, and a cat perched on his shoulder stared at Kite and Blackrose with excitement. Finally, in the middle, Taihaku stood, smiling broadly.
"Welcome to Icolo, team Dot-Hackers. I am impressed with your victory, though with Haseo on your team it should have been expected," he turned to Haseo, "Still, though. I didn't recognize it before, but it appears that the team you chose to join was none other than with the two most famous dot hackers. Interesting.
"Either way, let me introduce you to the other members of Icolo. On your far right, we have Alkaid, the first Emperor of the Demon Palace. Beside her is Endrance, the current Emperor of the Demon Palace. On your far left, you will see Antares, who I believe Haseo already knows. He is the founder of Icolo, and after a long absence from the guild, he is back with us. Then, to the left of me, is Sirius, the current Emperor of the Holy Palace.
"Now that you know all of them, I can tell you about your new duties as Emperor of the Sage Palace. It's a difficult thing to be, but you have good friends supporting you," he winked at Kite, "I think you'll be fine. First off, if someone challenges you, do not battle him. The only time you're allowed to battle another PC is when you're fighting in the arena to keep your title. It would only confuse other players if you started accepting personal duels. Secondly, try to ignore your fan club, as they will probably be surfacing within weeks."
Blackrose groaned at this thought, "Not again…" she muttered. Kite grinned.
"Thirdly, and finally, be sure to report back to Icolo frequently, as I like to know what my Emperors, past and present, are up to. Also, everyone in your team is allowed to enter Icolo whenever they like. Even though there can only be one Emperor of the Sage Palace, that doesn't mean that they shouldn't be rewarded for helping," he smiled warmly, "Now, then. I believe that's it, and since there's no medal to give you, I think we're done here."
The PCs at the table stood up as well, and filed out of the table. Sirius nodded swiftly to Kite, Blackrose, and Haseo before walking out of the room. Alkaid and Antares ran to Haseo, congratulating him and clapping him on the back, while Endrance walked up to Kite and Blackrose.
"Oh, man! I can't believe it's really you guys!" he cried, engulfing them in a hug. Kite glanced at Blackrose, who shrugged.
"Um, do we know you?" Kite asked.
Endrance straightened, "Oh, sorry. I completely forgot that you don't recognize me. I'm Elk!"
They stared at him in disbelief, and the cat on his shoulder mewed, "Oh, sorry. This is Mia, guys."
They continued to stare at him, silent. He fidgeted.
"Guys?"
Kite cleared his throat, "Sorry, that took us by surprise. It's great to see you again, Elk!"
"Endrance," he corrected, "I'm trying really hard to actually role-play in this game." He chuckled, "Everyone thinks I'm a cold, unsocial Emperor. It's fun, though at times it gets a bit upsetting because no one wants to talk to me."
Blackrose blinked, "You're actually role-playing? Wow."
Endrance beamed, "Yeah, but I just can't role-play with you two! It's so good to see you again! Oh, and take heed of Taihaku's advice about the fan club. They will come…" he shuddered with Blackrose.
Kite rubbed the back of his neck, "Ulg. I thought I got rid of them in The World…"
"No way. They come back," Endrance leered closer, "They always come back."
Mia mewed in agreement, and he straightened, smiling again, "Here's my member address! We have to get together and go adventuring like last time!"
They exchanged addresses and continued talking.
Beside them, Haseo was chatting with Antares and Alkaid.
"I can't believe that you won the Sage Palace, Haseo!" Alkaid gushed. He nodded, grinning.
"I always knew you had it in you, boy!" Antares folded his arms proudly.
Haseo motioned to Kite and Blackrose, "Well, I couldn't have done it without them. They really are an amazing team."
Alkaid paused, "Oh, that reminds me. Shino is back!"
"What?" Haseo turned his full attention at the mention of his girlfriend, "She's back to playing R:2?"
"Yep," Alkaid nodded, "She told me to tell you that she'll be waiting in the usual spot, um…" she paused and glanced at the clock, "right now, actually. You'd better get over there."
Haseo nodded, turning to Blackrose and Kite, "Hey, guys, I have to go! My girlfriend's waiting for me."
Blackrose beamed, "So she's back?"
"Yeah. I'll talk to you later!" he waved and ran off, leaving a satisfied Blackrose and a confused Kite.
"Haseo has a girlfriend?"
Blackrose shook her head sympathetically, "You miss so much when you're sick."
Kite grinned, "At least I'm a good boyfriend."
"Excuse me?" Blackrose's temper was back, and Endrance watched in amusement as his friend chased Kite around the room.
"The World just got a whole lot more interesting," he murmured.
A/N: Okay, for those of you wondering, I totally forgot about Atoli. Yes, amateur mistake, but it's true. Shino is the girlfriend, as mentioned before, and I'm not sure where Atoli is, so don't ask. :) And finally, for all of you reviewers (or readers) who had been wondering/asking, ENDRANCE SHOWS UP:D Yay!!! Ahem... anyways. Epilogue, and then no more. The story's almost over:'(