N. I apologize for all of you who have waited for so long, here is the newest chapter and I promise that it's on an entirely different level….maybe…I hope…please?
You did ask for it!
Chapter 9
A new AIDA?!
XXX
"So you say that you've been in contact with Ovan…interesting." Yata mused to himself as Haseo stood before him. "That would explain your information, though I sense that you know much more than you are letting on, but I will not pry. I only ask that you tell me why you are knowledgable of the Epitaphs."
Haseo held out his right hand with the palm facing him. Yellow-gold energy patterns appeared upon his body momentarily.
"My PKK title is more than just a name, you know."
Without waiting for Yata's reply, Haseo strode out of the Serpent of Lore.
Yata stared after him in silence. Then he sighed.
"Terror of Death…you are interesting."
XXX
"Your meeting is over already?!" Pi sputtered as Haseo strode out of the Serpent of Lore. The Terror of Death simply smirked.
"Yeah, my meeting with your 'master' went rather well. Not that you should have expected anything different, old hag."
"DIE!" Pi howled.
Haseo sidestepped the enraged admin and slipped out.
Pi stood next to the Wise Grunty, trembling with rage.
"I don't care if you're ten TIMES my level Haseo…I'LL KILL YOU!!"
Haseo shivered as he logged out.
"I've suddenly gotten a sense of impending doom."
XXX
CC Corp Letter to all Players
XXX
We are pleased to announce the opening of several new servers and the re-vamping of several old. They are as follows:
Delta (Eternal City Mac Anu): 1-50
Theta (Celestial City Dol Dona): 51-100
Beta (Astral City Kama Elias): 51-100 NEW!
Sigma (Dual City Breg Epona): 101-150
Lambda (Desert City Tal Rasha): 101-150 NEW!
Epsilon (Golden City Fors Midas): 151-200 NEW!
Gamma (Conflicted City Leos Helba): 151-200 NEW!
Omega (Warring City Lumina Cloth)
Be advised that several conditions are now in place in each server.
Delta: Characters over level 50 receive stat penalties if they party with weaker players
Theta: An inexplicable item, known as "Adler's Key", has appeared in random stages. Collecting them may give bonuses to characters
Beta: Spells are increased in power, and magical characters' SP regeneration is doubled
Sigma: Bayonets are sold at a 30 percent discount and item drops are increased in fields
Lambda: Characters in "outskirts" of the area will suffer fire damage at regular intervals
Epsilon: Item drops are eliminated, except for mission completion, but G is increased by 75%
Gamma: PKing is legal and encouraged, especially prominent PKers will be offered status on the bounty list in exchange for rewards
XXX
[Omega – Warring City Lumina Cloth]
"I'm sorry Master Haseo, you are simply too high of a level to fairly compete in the Demon Palace Tournament."
Haseo fought vainly to restrain the twitching in his eye. He'd forgotten about the level cap, and was now suitably embarrassed. No characters above level 60 would even be accepted into the tournament.
"Fine," He mumbled, "Just let me observe. Can I request an E-mail for the first round of the tournament?"
"Absolutely, Master Haseo"
Haseo grunted and walked away.
Too bad for him, as he missed a very interesting team registering.
XXX
[Delta – Statistically Impossible Odds]
"You know," Haseo muttered, "I think that sometimes the people who come to PK in these areas are just mocking us. Statistically Impossible Odds…come on!"
Atoli trailed silently at his side. The area was a level 48 dungeon, so Atoli's level was causing Haseo some severe penalties as they crushed the various monsters in the area. Being in a darkness element area, the monsters were particularly vulnerable to Atoli's Lei Zas spell, which she had put to good use. The huge level difference had given Atoli heaps of experience, to the point that she had leveled up to Level 46 in just a few floors.
Sakaki had given them an order to check the lower levels of the dungeon, as a distress signal had come from the area only minutes before. The monsters in the area were no problem, dying to Atoli's offensive spells and Haseo's covering scythe swings. Morale was high since Haseo hadn't taken over the battle, instead opting to strike the foes away so that Atoli could finish them off.
Haseo finally got fed up with the latest batch of monsters and just used his Smoke Bomb to escape the area, swearing the whole way.
"Atoli, do you have any idea where the signal could have come from?" He asked once they had reached an area empty of monsters.
"Um y-yes" She replied, "Sakaki said that the signal was coming from the Beast Statue. It's right in front of us." She pointed to a closed Chim Door
"Of course," Haseo grumbled, "The Beast Statue. I don't know why I even asked, it's always the beast statue. Next thing you know we'll find an AIDA in the area…or run into some glitched monster or hacked player or- Atoli? What's wrong?"
Atoli had her hands up to her ears. "That sound!" She said thoughtfully, "What is it? It's not part of the background music."
Haseo poured five Chim Spheres into the door and tapped his foot as it slowly opened.
He blinked as he took in the situation. Then his mind caught up.
Within the Beast Statue room there was in fact a battle fence.
"Oh for the love of…Let's go Atoli!" Haseo commanded.
The two stepped through the barrier and rapidly observed the situation.
Hacked party on one side, Alkaid and some guy in black on the other…
"Looks like somebody started the party without us!" Haseo stated, drawing the attention of the fighters.
"Oh god!" One of the PKers, a Steam Gunner, shouted, "It's the Terror of Death!" He turned to his comrades, "We're in trouble! Take them out fast and run!"
"Got it boss!" A strange character replied. He was wielding a Gunblade in his left hand and a blade in his right. He aimed for Alkaid. "Take this! Dust Bullet!"
Haseo grinned.
"Level 3 Arts already? Don't be so hasty!"
The helpless character found himself directly in the path of Haseo's charge.
"Shit!" The Steam Gunner aimed for Haseo, "Tempest Blast!"
BANG!
Just as it seemed that Haseo would be hit, a blue-white barrier materialized in front of him and negated the attack.
"Idiot!" Haseo smirked, "Ghost Falcon!"
The steam gunner ended up dead after the first hit, and the over damage was probably enough to drive the point home. Don't PK.
The third PKer, a Lord Partizan, stabbed at Haseo, only to get the same result.
"Haseo! Move!" Atoli cried, "Lei Zas!"
The Harvest Cleric was disappointed when little to no damage registered.
The Partizan shrugged off the attack and lunged for Atoli.
RENGEKI!
"Whirlwind!" Alkaid smirked as she chopped at the PKer, dealing large amounts of damage.
The black-clad player followed up the attack on the Partizan while Haseo methodically demolished the Gun-Blade Dual Wielder. In a matter of moments, the two non-hacked characters had faded away, while the GBDW simply stood up unsteadily.
"What?" Alkaid shouted, "You should be dead! Your HP is completely gone!"
The player, Gullwing, simply giggled madly. "This isn't over yet!" He doubled over and shivered. "I've got a "power" that I haven't used in a while. You think you've won – HA! It's not over! It's not, it's not, it's NOT!!!"
Haseo watched in shock as Gullwing doubled over and leaked dark purple dots.
"AIDA?!" He shouted in amazement.
"This is my 'power'!" Gullwing shrieked, "And I'm going to kill you with 'it'!"
The dots consumed him and erupted into a gigantic…thing.
Due to Haseo's connection to Skeith, he could immediately identify his foe.
[AIDA (Procene)]
A four-winged crimson eagle with a long, plumed tail screeched across the field and slashed Haseo, Atoli, and Alkaid with its talons.
Both girls screamed and collapsed.
"NO!" Haseo shouted. He growled and gathered energy. "Come on, COME ON! I'm…right…HERE!"
A grin spread across his face as the familiar gold patterns appeared around him.
"SKEEEEEEEEEITH!"
The AIDA didn't even have a chance to reposition itself before a sparkling plasma scythe sheared off its long tail.
Procene shrieked in pain and fired several sapphire lasers from its mouth at the now-present Terror of Death. Skeith simply dashed to the side and raised its arms. Energy bolts hammered into Procene's wings until the AIDA simply froze, paralyzed by the sheer amount of damage.
Skeith needed no invitation and practically warped to Procene's blindside. A moment later the AIDA's left wing was hacked from its body as well.
Atoli, Alkaid –both having recovered- and Ado – for it was he – stared in shock as the…thing that Haseo had become systematically and literally cut its foe apart.
"Wha-what is that thing?" Alkaid gasped, "It's like that monster of Endrance's, but stronger!"
"Forget that!" Ado replied, "Where did that Phoenix thing come from?"
Atoli simply stared at the two titanic beings with a sense of inexplicable longing. Unknown to her, bright blue patterns briefly flashed across her body before fading away.
Meanwhile, Alkaid had carefully walked over to the severed tail of the AIDA and picked it up.
"Hey, guys!" She called, "What do you think this-" Her eyes widened as the rest of the phoenix's corpse crashed to the ground beside her.
"Alkaid!" Haseo's voice called, "Get away from that thing!"
Alkaid complied as a giant cannon-like thing appeared on the Haseo-monster's arm and fired a technicolored beam that proceeded to disintegrate the phoenix into a haze of crystalline pixels.
Alkaid was so shocked by her brush with certain death that she didn't let go of the AIDA's tail. She, Atoli, and Ado stared in silence as Haseo descended to the ground and returned to his normal PC body.
He took a few seconds to assess the situation, then sighed.
"So judging by your stunned expressions and the fact that you look ready to run, I'm guessing that you all saw that."
Three heads nodded in response and Haseo groaned.
"Well, this complicates things." He grumbled, "I suppose I should expl-"
"Whoa! What the heck is this thing doing?!" Alkaid shouted in shock.
Atoli winced and held her ears as the sound of boiling liquid filled the air. Haseo whirled to face Alkaid and gasped.
Procene's tail had dissolved into a swarm of deep blue spots, eerily similar to the black of AIDA. Alkaid dropped the mass of bubbling AIDA, only to have it hover in the air before her.
Then it struck her in the chest.
Alkaid's eyes widened for a moment and she let out an "Eep!" of shock as the blue bubbles engulfed her character.
"Alkaid!" Haseo shouted in concern.
The blob of AIDA writhed for a moment before going still.
Haseo growled and summoned the Epitaph patterns again, but a reply shocked him into stopping.
"It's okay!" Alkaid's voice rang out, causing Haseo to jump, "I'm alright!"
The AIDA cloud exploded and, without hesitation, Haseo rushed forward. He got about five steps before he stopped and stared.
Alkaid's character appeared outwardly fine; her expression was a bit perplexed and she had blue dots floating behind her, but otherwise she seemed unaffected.
Except that her hair had changed from red to turquoise at the tips, and she had ethereal wings sprouting from her back. Haseo blinked and the wings were gone.
Alkaid looked at her hand curiously as the AIDA whirled about her.
"What is 'this'?" She wondered aloud, "I can hear things that aren't here! 'It' is telling me things, things that I wanted to know…I understand!"
She turned to face Ado and placed her hands on her hips.
"How long were you going to wait to tell me that you were an AIDA too?!"
Ado blinked and smiled. Lines of static flashed across everyone's screens.
"Ah, I wasn't going to tell you until we encountered the Epitaphs in actuality. He-" Ado pointed at Haseo, "possesses the Epitaph of Skeith, the Terror of Death. He's not exactly the one I wanted to speak to, but this is as good a moment as any."
He turned to Haseo, his eyes black.
"I represent a rogue group of Artificially Intelligent Data Anomolies, commonly known as AIDA. You have come into contact with AIDAs before, and managed to absorb quite the large amount of data from different strains. I assure you that we are much different."
Suddenly he vanished and reappeared behind Haseo. Before the Adept Rogue could blink, Ado whispered into his ear.
"We were born from the Second Rebirth, Haseo. Your secret will be safe with us, but there is something you must understand."
Haseo's eyes widened as Ado continued.
"We are the neo-AIDA, a mixture of AIDA strains and Epitaph data. We are strong Haseo, stronger than you could imagine any simple AIDA to be. I personally contain strains of AIDA(Gatekeeper), and Epitaphs Tarvos the Avenger, and Innis the Mirage of Deceit. Thus my personality of hating PKers and hacked PCs and my need to help others." His voice dropped even lower, "Just like Atoli did before the Second Rebirth."
He smiled and spoke to everyone.
"Alkaid here has gained the favor of Procene. I wouldn't advise that you try to separate them, as Procene contains strains of AIDA(Victorian), and the Epitaphs Magus the Propagation, and Corbeneik the Rebirth. Thus her appearance as a phoenix...she's immortal. She appeared hostile earlier because of her host's rage and desire for power. Alkaid's curiosity gave her a powerful tie to Procene as she is supposed to be."
He turned his head and looked over his shoulder.
"Isn't that right…Ovan?"
XXX
Serpent of Lore
XXX
"Such an interesting development," Yata mused, "To think that there exists a rogue AIDA faction…but their power levels are most concerning."
He looked up neutrally as Kuhn and Pi burst into the Serpent of Lore.
"Master Yata! We have to do something!" Pi exclaimed, "I've detected an AIDA signal of incredible power in Delta – Statistically Impossible Odds! What's worse, scans show the presence of several Epitaph users and data fragments belonging to all eight!"
Yata smiled, "Pi, the situation is not one of concern. Please observe this."
The guildmaster of Raven pulled up the recording of Haseo's battle with Procene and smirked when Pi's jaw dropped. Kuhn simply looked impressed.
"He's already awakened his Epitaph?!" Pi sputtered, "And to such an extreme! The power of Skeith is so much higher than even my own Epitaph. It's as if-"
"Every enemy he's ever defeated has contributed to his growing strength." Yata finished, "It is the ability of the Terror of Death; the potential for infinite growth."
"But Master Yata, the AIDA-!"
"Those particular AIDA are none of your concern…" A soft, deep voice stated.
The three G.U. members whirled towards the doorway of the Serpent of Lore where a group of five stood.
Haseo, Atoli, Alkaid, Ado, and Ovan easily strode into the room.
"What in 'The World' do you mean 'None of our concern'?!" Pi sputtered.
"Perhaps I can put this into perspective for you." Ovan said as he lifted his right hand and slammed it down upon the lock on his left arm's seal.
A brief flash of light later the lock dropped from the contraption and Ovan's left arm burst forth from the confines that had held it.
Yata, Kuhn, and Pi stared in shock at the arm of Tri-Edge that Ovan had revealed. Haseo himself almost attacked on reflex, but calmed down slightly when he realized that the bubbles emanating from Ovan's arm were white instead of black.
"This is AIDA-An, part of the rogue faction of the AIDAs. Due to unforeseen circumstances, these AIDA were able to dig up remnants of data from the Epitaphs and integrate it with themselves. In essence, they can be seen as the Epitaphs of AIDA, though they wish instead to remove the infected AIDAs from The World instead of expanding their influence. This one here, AIDA-An(Tri-Edge) was formed from the destruction of the true Tri-Edge and absorbed data from my own Epitaph, Corbeneik." Ovan's eye twitched slightly as Tri-Edge bubbled up a bit. "Rather than ruthlessly kill, like its ancestor, the new Tri-Edge has helped me to find some of the other AIDA rogues. So far, we've come across four of them; AIDA-An(Tri-Edge) the Repentence, AIDA-Af(Noir) the Reflection of Purity, AIDA-Pro(Maxwell) the Guardian of Order, and the most powerful; AIDA-Cu(Procene) the Last Wonder."
The whole group's eyes widened.
"You mean the most powerful of these AIDA bonded with me?!" Alkaid said incredulously, "Why me? Why not someone else, someone stronger?" She gripped her shoulder suddenly as blue bubbles surfaced and began pouring out of her. They combined together and formed a body, one that was a photo negative of Alkaid with light blue hair, black eyes, and dark purple skin. Yata stared in interest while Kuhn and Pi looked terrified.
Procene spoke, uncaring of the stares she was receiving.
"The reason that I chose you, Alkaid, is the strong feeling that courses through your mind. You are curious, Alkaid. You want to understand and learn, yet at the same time you want to punish a certain someone who has wrongfully taken away your greatest pride. I have found a kindred spirit in you, Alkaid, and I will stand by you."
Procene gave a smile as her body dispersed into its amorphous AIDA state and assimilated back into Alkaid's body. The former Empress' eyes widened for a moment, then she smiled softly.
Nobody spoke for a few moments. Haseo, Pi, Kuhn, and Yata were shocked, Atoli was perplexed, and Ovan seemed interested.
"Well then," Ado stated, "I suppose that'll be it for me. After all, I've found a kindred spirit who could use my help as well."
Pi's attention snapped towards Ado.
"You're an AIDA too?!"
Ado smiled, "AIDA-Pro(Maxwell), the Guardian of Order, at your service…former member of TaN."
Pi choked.
"You didn't think that Ovan never knew about you and Yata did you?" Haseo smirked, "We figured it out long ago."
Ovan laughed gently. "I'm sure that you understand the reason for my abnormally large data quotient now."
Yata nodded, "Indeed, you were trying to contain the original Tri-Edge. It seems that our curiosity was quite dangerous, was it not?"
Ovan merely nodded, but then held up his hand in front of his face and frowned quizzically.
"I'm sorry, but something has come up. I must depart for now."
Cerulean rings obstructed Ovan as his body disintegrated.
"If you don't mind, we'll be going now as well." Ado stated, "Farewell, members of G.U…I doubt you'll come across me again. At least, not like this."
Yata and co. didn't protest as Atoli, Ado/Maxwell, Alkaid, and Haseo departed.
They made it to the streets of Mac Anu before Ado pulled the group towards the nearby boats.
Pong!
Haseo frowned as he received a message from Ovan.
Haseo,
There's something unexpected that has come up regarding Shino and Atoli. Bring Atoli with you to Hulle Granz when you have finished there.
Ovan
"…is your connection to?" Alkaid was asking as Haseo snapped back to the world around him.
Ado/Maxwell smiled.
"Who am I connected to? Why, Atoli of course."
Atoli gave a surprised "Eeep!"
"M-me?! But – but I'm-"
Ado cut her off.
"You wish for people to play fairly and get along, but at the same time you don't mind fighting for your beliefs. That is my purpose, and that has become your purpose as well. I can help you, Atoli. While my AIDA body is unsuited for fighting, I do have a very powerful ability. If you accept my aid I will protect you with all my might."
"Hey wait just a minute!" Alkaid began, but Haseo interrupted her.
"We'll discuss this later. Ovan's called us all to Hulle Granz. He says that there's something that he needs to tell us about Atoli and Shino."
Ado smirked and tossed a hand towards the water. Dark red bubbles erupted from his hand and formed a swirling portal.
"Let's go," He said, "This way's quicker."
XXX
Chapter END
I've recently played through Rebirth and Reminesce and just started Redemption again. I'm trying to get the Doppelganger equipment this time. I have the Own King and all the weapons except the DG-0. All I need is the Empty Self and Shadow.
So what do you think? I know that this definitely doesn't make up for the year+ wait on the fic, but I had some bad writer's block on this so I tried to work on other stuff for a while.