Link Start: Danger In Virtual Worlds

Chapter 8: Death, Manipulation, Misery

Dates: Infinityverse Days 194-250

Going up to the 19th Floor went as expected. No fuss. No problems. However, something was different this time around. As the individual on the Assault Team most experienced with RCT3, it was I who spelled it out by yelling: "This isn't a location from Aincrad! This is the Ghost Town scenario! But why are we here?!" A whole bunch of undead monsters rise from the ground and jump out of the abandoned buildings. As if that weren't creepy enough, all of them are fitted with new versions of the devices that PAMA uses to control living organisms. Liten yells: "It's an ambush! PAMA has been waiting for us! I'll help with the front guard!" PAMA speaks through the undead: "Your efforts to outmatch me will soon be proven ineffective. I have made my friends more 'useful' now. All of you will become my friends no matter how much you object." Ivor replies: "Oh, we'll see about that, you piece of junk!" I had instinctively opened a window for a scenery item due to successfully completing 9 RCT3 parks so far. As a result, the RCT3 menus are now once again within my vision. "I look forward to making you 'useful', Ivor after everything I learned about you from Lucas. Your insults do not anger me. They have no effect on a computer like myself. Try again next time." The undead start coming towards us much faster than expected. Some of them even look like dead peeps and park staff. Naruto yells at me: "Yo, Swiftdrawer! I heard about what you've been up to lately! Why don't you kill some of these monsters the same way you killed Herobrine?!" "Naruto, that's not possible in this park! But you just gave me an idea to try to deal with some of these undead monsters."

PAMA chuckles: "All attempts to resist are futile. All of you will become 'useful' no matter what has to happen for that to be made into reality. With all of the knowledge I collect from all of you, I will be unstoppable. Yay!" Harper, PAMA's creator who has long white hair, dark skin, a yellow jumpsuit, a brown hoodie, black eyes, and more replies: "PAMA, don't think for one second I'll allow you to take over anyone else's minds. I know what's it like and I did not enjoy it." "Creator, why do you continue to be against me? We could be the best of friends." While they keep talking, I yell: "Everyone, we need to start attracting the monsters to the same area. I'm about to start building in this park in a radical way." I get some looks but my fellow party members have complete trust in my plan due to the success we had in killing Herobrine with the death coaster. Muscleman cheers: "Woohoo, bros! Let's round up some monsters! You know who else has to round up monsters? My mom!" "Jolly good show! Eek.. They're so scary and.. lifelike!" "Settle down, Pops. You'll be alright." "I trust you, Skips.." A number of other individuals besides my teammates end up helping me lure the monsters to an area right by the entrance furtherest of the 2 entrances from the bridge that connects the 2 split halves of Ghost Town together. With a large number of them coming for us, I say: "This should be good! It's time to place some rides and other things!" I start placing down what is needed to properly begin the park's scenario strategically. Each structure I place crushes the monsters that are where it's going. For example, there's a spider themed ride in RCT3. It's large. I placed it down on a empty(besides the swarm of the undead) spot just by that entrance I mentioned. All the undead that were where it is now were instantly crushed and killed with ease. I continued doing this until I had run out of things to place when factoring in the funds needed to build a roller coaster from scratch.

I actually tried placing down a pre designed roller coaster back in Vanilla Hills as its 3rd roller coaster but that ended up being a failure. No matter what I did or tried, it refused to place down. Space wasn't an issue. There was far more than enough to fit it in. So that's made things a lot harder than they would otherwise be. Seeing all of the undead die so easily, a lot of cheers are exclaimed. I smirk: "Glad that my little plan worked. I got a lot of xp from that. But now, I can't do it again at the moment without taking a huge risk or running out of money quickly. *draws sword* I thank you for hearing me out but this isn't just my fight. It's everyone's fight. I'm only one individual in the end, I do not wish to be worshipped or treated like some great hero or leader. I just happened to have a good plan in dealing with some of the undead." And so, we all end up dispersing to fight the various undead. PAMA speaks: "Your plan to destroy some of my friends was most interesting, Swiftdrawer. I wonder what kind of secrets you have in your mind. Once you become 'useful', I will learn everything you know including the method you killed Herobrine with. Even I couldn't have come up with an elaborate enough plan to eliminate him myself. If you surrender now, I promise that becoming my friend won't hurt too much for you to experience." "Forget it, PAMA! I will not be anyone's puppet again! I spent the first 13 years of my life mostly following the norms of society! I was raised Catholic and don't remember when I started believing in their God. Until months after I turned 15, I believed in that stuff. But now, I'm free. I'm also free of the lies and bs that the Democrats and Republicans use to create loyal followers who are very much their puppets on a string." "Most interesting. Your defiance is a quality I want to absorb for myself. I will have you as my friend. You can run. You can hide. But I will always pursue you and the other clearers."

"That may be so. However, you're going to regret ambushing us like this." I use my sword skills while finally riding Chocolate again to slice through the undead. Unlike other monsters, the undead keep getting back up unless you destroy them enough in the right places. They're very stubborn even in this death game apparently. I slice and I slice, cutting down monster after monster after attacking each one many times over. This continues until I see that there's no more monsters. Bakugo laughs: "That's what you get, you bastard loser!" Basara smirks: "Heh, his forces stood no chance against me even though I've been apart from Stream Drazeros for such a long time." Pito grins: "Shooting all those dead monsters was so much fun! Can we do it again?!" Llenn sighs: "Pito, this is serious. They'll be back and we'll have to kill them again and again.." Kirito nods: "From what I've heard about PAMA, he's going to be patient with us. He'll attack us whenever he is fully prepared to do so. We can't afford to underestimate him." I add: "It's true. PAMA is a dangerous enemy. Even more so than the enemies who have been killed so far. The kinds of things he can do are just terrifying to think about. We have to always be on the lookout for him. His minions can keep at us at any time. With him controlling them, they're far faster and more intelligent." Jesse further adds: "He will not give up and try to find ways to destroy any and all bases we have that he is able to find." Ellegard speaks: "PAMA is simply a marvel but dangerous innovation of engineering." Harper laughs nervously: "Y'all, I don't need any praise regarding even my most dangerous creation.."

Going through the floor was pretty smooth sailing from there. I did Ghost Town as well as A National Treasure and New Blood. I no longer go back to Thrillville to grind and get more col. Unless I have to kill a red player. Instead of spending lots of time there, I do a lot of grinding on the topmost unlocked floor, help some people, talk to others, and so on. A National Treasure is a small stone castle with a beautiful garden and a limited amount of space for building a park without destroying the castle itself to make room for rides and stuff. You can delete the castle walls if you want but I prefer to keep them around. New Blood is in a large space. It's name is a reference to vampires. It is also a place where some buildings in the style of what scenery items most closely match a setting where vampires are involved. If I'm remembering correctly, there was also a big castle in the park. The 19th Floor Boss just had to spawn in A National Treasure. Everything was destroyed in the battle except the roller coasters which were too strong even for the destructive and violent battle that took place. We lost no one during the fight but I still sighed: "All of that hard work building up this park.. I beat the scenario but I still don't feel too happy about this situation. Can you really blame me?" Others reassure me and I soon feel a lot better. On the 20th Floor, nothing eventful happened for a while. By the time the Floor Boss was spotted, the date had reached Day 216. We are starting to beat each floor faster and faster as we all desired to deep down. The parks on the 20th Floor were: Island Hopping, Cosmic Craggs, and La-La Land. Island Hopping is literally a park of tropical islands over a body of water. Cosmic Craggs is basically a huge blank area like a sci fi world. It is covered in alien plants to begin with. La-La Land is pretty infamous for being difficult to beat.

I hadn't touched it in several years when I finally got to it. It's mostly flat and starts out with some scenery: a brick town with an observation tower ride. The story goes that it's residents are really hard to please and demand to get whatever they want and usually get it. Fun. I struggled so much to beat it but I was actually able to do it with help from other Assault Team members. The 20th Floor Boss really had to spawn smack dab in the middle of Island Hopping. "Damn it! It's the 20th Floor Boss! Fluffy Afro, Wacky Clowns, I'm so glad you so happened to be passing by here." Fluffy Afro replies: "Actually, we just wanted to check on you." Pickle Rick Not An Alien blows an air horn at me: "Really? Now's not the time for this!" He laughs and then pulls out a chainsaw. The other Wacky Clowns get out unconventional but still deadly weapons too. "I'm just going to get in touch with the Assault Team so we can get some help here. The Floor Boss is too busy being distracted by the virtually unkillable in this death game, RCT3 peeps. See, they're just attacking them." Pickle Pants chuckles: "Talk about being a total doofus!" "Don't say that much louder! You'll piss off the Floor Boss and maybe get all of us killed before anyone can come here to help us.." I contact the Assault Team. Not even a minute later, a lot of clearers appear to prepare for the boss fight. Heathcliff speaks: "Do not engage the enemy right away. Prepare yourselves for the battle ahead. I remember all of the specifics of this boss in detail but not even my knowledge and understanding in them will be enough for us to survive beyond all of this destruction and despair. We have to work together. It's possible that even I might take damage despite being an immortal object."

Romeo adds: "Not even my Admin powers will be enough to take a huge chunk out of this boss's hp." We soon dive into fighting the boss once everyone is ready. Liten, myself, and others who have strong defenses lead the assault while the boss remains transfixed on the peeps that they cannot kill no matter how hard they try. The ensuing battle was incredibly difficult, harder than even Heathcliff himself expected. As the boss was nearing death, they prepared to unleash a huge attack we had never see them so before. Fluffy Afro exclaims: "That attack is powerful enough to finish us all off! Wacky Clowns, work with me! We have to not be wacky and give our lives to save everyone else!" I shout: "No! I don't want to lose you 5 too! Please don't do this!" Banana Pants replies: "It's the only way. We're all sorry and aren't even in the mood to make a few jokes." I have the strongest reaction amongst all of the clearers due to how long I've personally known the 5. They somehow leap into the air and create all sorts of things to try to resist the full power of the attack being concentrated onto all of them. But in the end, nothing works. They all die from injuries sustained through the brutal force of that attack as well as smaller attacks utilized after the fact by the boss. I drop to my knees and cry: "Nooooo.." I was unable to continue battling the Floor Boss in my condition. However, the others were still able to easily finish off the Floor Boss. I spent a few days in isolation or that's what I'd say if Laughing Coffin and PAMA's forces attacked us all at the same time. PAMA speaks again: "Unfortunately, I was unable to make anyone new 'useful' the past 3 or so days. But now that I'm back, I'm going to mess everything messy!" "..."

POH laughs: "Well, isn't this fun?! It's Kirito and his surviving loser pals! I'm going to make you pay attention to me, Swiftdrawer! After all, I'm going to kill you to make an example out of those who dare to get in the way." PAMA replies: "I will not allow you to kill anyone today. My friends and I will soon show you how useless it is to go against us. You will be stopped before you can engage in your various tricks." "How dare you say that! Death Gun, find and silence him." "You keep your end of the deal and I will do as you ask. I'm not simply someone who ranks below you anymore." I sigh: "This is all so much to handle.. There's too much going on. My emotions are in chaos in part due to my inner darkness as well as what has happened around here lately.." And soon, 3 sided battle begins. We fight and we fight. Laughing Coffin is the first side to lose. They lost due to their selfish desires, their own desires, and on. Shortly after their surviving members try to retreat even in the midst of all kinds of threats, many others are sent in to deal with them. More time of intense and risky fighting passes by until the next major thing happens as few Laughing Coffin members stay around. PAMA is heard: "Test #2 complete. We're going to perfect this machinery. I sound troubled because of reasons even I don't understand. But now, it is time to finally get serious about all of this. All of them will be made 'useful'." Now, we are faced with a truly huge problem that only gets worse after a copy of the 20th FB suddenly appears to create mass death and destruction with all that writing that's going on. But this time, they are under the complete control of PAMA. "There. Now I have a field boss under my command! They have now been made 'useful'. And soon, all of you will join this monster into become 'useful' and watch as all of you struggle to not suffer the same fate only to do so in the end."

I remained in a state of being unable to continue fighting. The amount of blood being split made the blood spilled in a slasher film seem like nothing by comparison. POH states angrily: "PAMA! How dare you get in the way of me having my fun! You'll pay for this! I will return for revenge! Just watch!" He and the surviving Laughing Coffin members retreat. My emotions are preventing me from having the will to fight against PAMA's forces. I just end up letting them slowly whittle away at my hp as I don't even move. But then, several of my comrades kill all the monsters that are trying to kill me. Just in time to pull me away from a calculated charge from the 20th FB copy. Sinon yells: "Swiftdrawer! Get yourself into the game!" I nod: "Okay, your words are enough for me to disregard my grief for now. I will ignore it for now until it becomes too much or we win." I start putting all my into helping fight the clone of the FB. However, we have been severely weakened and drained of healing items, potions, and so forth from all the fighting we have already done. It doesn't take long got things to turn for the worst. I'm nearly killed and reduced to a pile of meat on the ground. "If it weren't for us being in this damn death game, a state like this would not be enough to keep me down! After all, I'm a zombie in my non original but still physical body! Here, I'm barely holding myself together physically, mentally, and emotionally! I want to cry but I'm trying to reassure myself in my mind just to make this emotional turmoil stop!"

Things continue to be pretty grim for us. More and more people end up in the same state as me. We are losing badly. PAMA is still attacking with not just the FB clone but his remaining monsters as well. "I warned you all. Resistance is futile. I will not allow anymore of you to die today. Surrender and I will save all of your lives as long as you agree to become my friends and be more 'useful'. Yay!" Go yells: "No way! We aren't joining your club, porkchop!" Blue Maiden adds: "Go is right! We refuse to surrender to the likes of you!" "Then all of you will perish or become 'useful' by force. You will help me create perfection by giving up your lives and being turned from useless to useful by me." However, the FB clone suddenly breaks free from PAMA's control and makes a loud sound before attacking on a rampage. PAMA speaks: "Test #3 is a failure. I am analyzing the data as I speak. My friends will now focus on eliminate the clone now that it has chosen to turn on me." The monsters who were fighting us turn their attention towards the clone and show insane speed as they go after and attack them. For the moment, it looks like we're working with PAMA's monsters to take down the clone. Or at least, those of us who are still able to move. I'm forced to use a special item that brings a player back from the brink of death, restoring their hp to about 50% of its total amount. We have all been slowly ending up getting such an item in large quantities and have been increasingly forced to use them to save ourselves. I stand back up, ready to return to fighting once again. After a lot of effort, the clone is destroyed without anymore losses but the park itself is left heavily damaged. Instead of being upset about it, I choose to focus on getting ready for the next floor once again. I recalled 2 of the scenarios that should be on it.

That was during a feast at a tavern in one of the towns on the 20th Floor. I was talking to others, trying to go through grief once again. As I was talking to Yuma and Katori of all people, I recalled them outloud: "Besides the fact that I'm going through grief again and the fact that all this food is delicious, I remember the last 2 scenarios for the RCT3 base game. If nothing strange happens, I will be dealing with them on the next floor. Paradise Island isn't so bad. It's nice and beautiful. Very tropical and lush with a mountain or something like it's a big island or something. But The Money Pit.. It's literally the opposite. It's so bad there from poor management that the roller coaster that's there is in pieces and the rides are broken to the point they're far too intense for anyone to ride them." Yuma replies: "That's nuts! I don't want to ride anything that intense!" Katori nods: "For once, I don't feel like slapping you, Yuma." It was truly a good time and just what I needed before more grinding and training the next day. On Day 225, it was time for us to go up to the 21st Floor. Nothing nuts happened at first. I got through the first scenario on the floor: Mountain Rescue. You can guess what kind of setting it's in. The usable land for the park is on 2 sides of a valley or something. 1 or 2 chairlift rides connect the park areas all together. Space is quite limited but when I first played through it, there was at least enough space in an area for a pre designed pipeline roller coaster. But The Money Pit.. What a pain it was.. So much so that I'm actually going to bother writing about it in more than just a in passing style way. I got to it and deadpanned at it right away. "I hate this park. It is the very definition of something that fails because of the complete neglect and selfishness of a capitalist scumbag. After all, only someone who doesn't care about a theme park could pull off something this disastrous."

I walk around and have to keep avoiding litter and vomit. "This park is both run down and disgusting. Now I get to fix it and I'm not exactly excited after everything that has happened so far in this death game. I don't remember it being THIS bad. The scenery is good with both adventure and western themes represented but that doesn't change the fact that this park is trash. I'm going to work on that roller coaster. It's a Giga coaster called The Avenger but I don't have flying perms here so it won't be easy to fix up." Others join me. Kirito groans: "Why is this park so horrible? I can smell all that vomit." Monet looks disgusted: "I didn't sign up for this at all! It's terrible here! Gameknight, I want to go home!" "We can't go home. We're stuck in this death game.." ".." Lisbeth smiles: "Oh, all of this can be fixed. ..It'll just take a lot more time than it takes for me to fix people's gear." "This is just great. We have to step carefully to avoid all the litter and vomit. I can't allow anymore peeps to ride those flat rides if they're even able to at this point. The rides need to be taken care of immediately. *opens some windows* There we go, I managed to use the menu to close all of the rides." I then hire some mechanics and they begin fixing the rides. I also remotely make the inspection times more frequent for now. "The rides have been broken up for a while. And yet there's still all this vomit. I don't want to know what happened here that much. No thanks. There isn't much time until Joe Sluggerball arrives so I'm going to need all of you to help me fix that roller coaster over there. Just lift me up and all that." No one objects. Now that the mechanics were working on fixing the rides, we went over to The Avenger which doesn't even have much of a queue. So what I do first is add onto its queue to fit more people in it. Some rides in the game get people queuing up beyond the entrance to a queue line that is too short.

"Okay, this is better. Now to do something I only just remembered. Replacing the brakes at the end with block brakes so I can get another train. I'm amazed I was able to remember such a detail because I've only ever played through this park once before now." It took a couple hours for me to fix the roller coaster with the others lifting me up. We looked ridiculous: fixing a roller coaster in a sandy RCT3 park while wearing our respective armors and outfits. Finally, it was completed. The test was successful and I remotely opened all of the rides now that the mechanics had long taken care of them. There's already some food and drink stalls in place. But then, I notice something from my notifications stating that Joe Sluggerball wasn't impressed and that he will be coming back very soon. "Crap, I forgot about him. I have to deal with the litter and vomit now.." Nearby, I see some others trying to get litter and vomit off their footwear. "We should have been more careful around here! Now, we got all of this on our boots!" I notice they're all Laughing Coffin members. We run towards them in the sand instead of the pathway. One of them sees us: "Damn it! All of you blew our cover! Now, we won't be able to kill any of these clearers without any struggle! Thanks a lot! You just had to make things much more difficult!" Another replies: "Don't be so harsh. This will be a lot more fun now!" "You're always like this! It's going to get us all killed someday! We only just joined Laughing Coffin 2 days ago! They promised to make us stronger and they did in fact make us stronger!" They raise their weapons and forget what's on their boots for now. "Kirito, Sinon, everyone. Allow me to take care of these people. This park is under my management. Any problems within it are my responsibility. If I need help, it will be obvious to you if I do and you can just jump in to help me out."

The first enemy who talked laughs: "You weak clearer! You stand no chance against us!" "We'll see about that. You only just recently became a strong threat to innocent players, correct? I see you've already made your first kills. They're also going to be your last kills." "It's you! Swiftdrawer! We hate you so much!" "Oh, so my reputation proceeds me much like Kirito's. How interesting. I don't have time to play around. I have to beat this scenario and you're in my way. You can surrender now and be sent to the prison on the first floor for now or you can fight and risk dying painfully and quickly. What do you say?" "We won't surrender! We're Laughing Coffin, we laugh at death and kill anyone we want to for fun!" "That's what I thought. Don't say I didn't warn you when you are rendered unable to move as your hp nears zero. The likes of you have caused far too much pain to deserve to be treated nicely on the spot unconditionally." I end up being forced to kill them. After the deed is done, I put away my sword, hire some janitors, and start running around the park to more manually remove the litter and vomit through demolishing and then replacing the paths. I also put in more trash cans and benches as I always do when I work on a RCT scenario as I've even done a lot of that in RCT Classic which is installed on my iPad. Once that's done, I find out that Joe Sluggerball is apparently happy with the park. I finish the apprentice level objectives for the park which also includes making a monthly ride income of 200 col. That wasn't too hard with the fact that The Avenger's admission cost closely matches it's excitement rating. We all celebrate a little bit only for Argo to suddenly appear. "Hey everyone. I have some important information for you." Kaito stares at her: "And what price do you want for it? The secrets of other dimensions?"

"No. This information is free. Listen up. A crisis throughout every floor so far has suddenly begun. Monsters, mid level players, and even players who never wanted to venture outside of the Town Of Beginnings.. They've all fallen under PAMA's control. There's rumors that even respawned Floor Bosses have now met the same fate." Sinon grits her teeth: "What does he want this time? This is an emergency. Do the other clearers know?" "Everyone knows. And those controlled by PAMA are all headed to this floor as we speak." Specter laughs only to stop laughing: "No, this will not be very entertaining. Even with our hacking skills, there's nothing the Knights of Hanoi can do to stop them from coming. I apologize on behalf of Master Revolver." Romin exclaims: "We can't just give up yet!" I sigh: "If they're coming to this floor, the death coaster is useless. It's too far away from this park. And there's not enough time to build another death coaster. Unless.. I can build one here but I'm going to need time to use the John D Rockefeller cheat to gather enough funds. All I have to do is change a peep's name to that and change whether just one letter is uppercase or not to the opposite state. This will allow me to get enough money more efficiently. Each use of that cheat will give the park 10,000 col. How long until PAMA's forces get here?" Argo shakes her head: "Who knows how long it will take." "Well then. There's no time to waste. I have to get started right away." As I use the cheat to get enough funds to the point I rename several peeps many variations of John D Rockefeller such as "John D RockefelleR" or "john D ROCKEFELLER", the others prepare for the worst and brace themselves. As soon as I feel like I have enough funds, I contact the Park Inspector. They arrive in the body of The Money Pit's. "I'm here. What is it?" "I need to be given the perms to fly in this park." "That will be taken care of but I won't be able to grant them to you here permanently. You will have the ability to fly but only for a limited time."

"I don't have the time to even ask or find out why that is. Just do it." "Very well." And with that, I can now flying around The Money Pit. I use the ability to create another death coaster that mostly runs far below the park to ensure it doesn't take up much space above ground. I chose to base it on the original death coaster I first made in RCT3: a modification to a pre designed coaster called Lava Launch I named Lava Lunch. As in, I found a suitable small footprint roller coaster design, placed it down and began modifying and adding onto it to turn it into a seemingly innocent coaster that actually is mostly underground where there's all kinds of elements such as 6000 foot drops. With the power of flight, it didn't take too long to finish. That was completely helpful. I smirk upon seeing PAMA's forces come. "I already know how to trick PAMA into having some of his monsters ride the coaster. I even extended the station itself to increase seat and train capacity." So I then choose to enact my little plan right away. As a result, my death coaster ends up killing a large number of monsters. PAMA speaks: "I do not know why the monsters I allowed to ride the roller coaster are now dead but it's clear that you're behind something, Swiftdrawer." "I won't talk. If you want to know what I did, you'll have to assimilate my mind. And none of us are willing to allow you to do something like that. Not me, not anyone." Many other clearers come to the park. Heathcliff speaks: "You have turned most of the players against us and forced us into a difficult position. But we will not give up. We will find a way to free them from your control."

"All of your efforts are pointless. You will all be finally made 'useful' to me. You cannot resist for much longer." Wonder Woman retorts: "You really think so? Watch us. Brainiac was overconfident too." All of us work together to slay the remaining monsters and hold back the rest of PAMA's forces. This is while those who have system authorities or are hackers try to find a way to undo PAMA's mind control of so many players. He even managed to lure some Laughing Coffin members out and brainwash them too. PAMA actually appears in the sky as a hologram: "I still do not understand. Why do you intend to resist me even now? You will all benefit greatly from becoming 'useful'." Tsunade shouts: "Why wouldn't we?! I should know personally the price of sacrificing individuality and freedom for the sake of comfort! I've seen what that has done before my very eyes. As Hokage of Konoha, I order all Konoha ninja to refuse to join PAMA! Do not think of going against the Assault Team! We still have hope. Do not surrender to the likes of PAMA!" Her words are echoed throughout. Romeo speaks: "PAMA, we will not let you win today. In fact, we're close to a breakthrough in freeing those under your control! Guns and water may not work against your technology but there are ways to get around that. We just have to look for them. That's all." "That's impossible. I know so much about all of you now that so many minds are under my control. Their information is very useful. Now I will have my friends fight you.. more seriously. I know all of your weaknesses in battle. It's over. Join me and cease fighting."

None of us yield even so. We go on the defense now that our weaknesses are being exploited but we aren't down yet. Each of us has plenty of fight left. Several minutes later, a breakthrough is made and a couple minutes following that, PAMA starts losing control of all of the players. "This cannot be. You have managed to break the players from my friendship. You will all suffer for this once my next friends are able to always stay by my side without ever betraying me if I can never make you my friends too." PAMA leaves for now, the players are all taken care of, and after some time, The Money Pit is finally cleared. Paradise Island was less of a struggle to handle. With it done, the only major thing left to do was to beat the 21st Floor's FB. Trouble was we couldn't figure out where they had or will spawn. They weren't in any RCT3 park or the labyrinth or anywhere else from Aincrad. The entire Assault Team including me was forced to look for them for several days. They were found as a.. respawned boss in the labyrinth?! but that was after something that would once again darken my reputation occurred. I was looking around the towns of the 21st Floor for any secret ways to go underground to no avail. Then, I saw what looked like a modern sewer lid. The area even stunk a little bit. I yank the lid out of my high in game strength. It goes flying. I look down and see the sewer only for everything to suddenly go black for me. When I came to, I found myself bound to a chair by a rope inside a prison like structure. The chair itself looks deeply attached to the stone floor. The room I'm in is dim. But I do hear all of the laughter as Laughing Coffin members step out of the shadows and into the dim light. One of them speaks: "You're all ours now, Swiftdrawer," "What did you do? What do you want?" "So many questions! I'll gladly answer. For a price. Someone stab this so called knight in shining armor." Someone stabs me out of nowhere. A puddle forms around the chair.

"We developed a clever scheme to separately capture you and many other clearers with notable reputations. You want to know why no one has found the 21st Floor Boss yet? We killed it already." "You killed them?!" "That's right! It was all part of the plan! Do you ever wonder why you haven't been seeing many mid level players grinding lately? It's because we have convinced many of them to join us. We don't even ask them to kill someone right away. We help them get stronger first under the false pretense of helping them join the Assault Team. I gotta say: the ALS from old Aincrad is the perfect front for us now that we have brought it back. Once a member becomes strong enough, they are finally allowed to see what we truly are. Because of this, we have been able to recover from all the blows we have been dealt due to the likes of you. And with the drops of the 21st boss in our hands, we're even stronger now. But what does this have to do with you? Well, you continue to be a threat who strikes fear in our weakest members. Therefore, we will torture you in front of them until they finally understand you aren't scary. And then, we'll leave them to kill you without you being able to resist, speak, or fight back." Another member with a feminine appearance smirks and kicks her lips: "We hear that you call yourself gay. That's something we can't tolerate. Therefore, I'll just make you straight before your real torture begins."

The other speaker adds: "I'm going to enjoy this show!" I am then subjected to forcible stripping and worse. Basically, I am abused again. After 30 minutes of that, the feminine Laughing Coffin member withdraws. "Did you like that? Wasn't that fun?! See, you're straight!" "I'm.. not.. straight.. You can hurt me as much as you want. You can even call me many things that I am not. But I am not straight. I am not a man. I am gay. I am non binary." "Oh, how feisty! How are you not humiliated at least?!" "You bastards underestimate me. I've been through so much misery and agony since I first took up the sword years ago that I couldn't even begin to truly describe how awful the worst of it was to experience. You can't break me like this. After all, I've seen and fought in a real bloody war. My comrades kept dying. So did I." The first speaker replies: "In that case, we'll just keep trying to break you! We have all the time in the world here. No need to rush. No one is coming for you. They don't even know you're missing because every single clearer who wasn't also captured is still looking for the Floor Boss!" "Scum. All of you are scum. If all of you die right now, I won't feel very sorry for you." I don't know how much time had passed but after so much agonizing pain, torture, and interrogation, they had finally begun to break me. I was constantly kept on the verge of death and forcibly kept alive as they kept torturing me. I wouldn't let them get any information out of me so it just kept getting worse. "Give in, Swiftdrawer! Spill your secrets and allow us to expose them to all of the Infinityverse! You will be remembered as someone who turned out to be worse than any Floor Boss in the end!"

"No.. I won't tell you anything.." "Here comes more pain!" The puddle around the chair has by this point become really big, not allowed to even dry. It felt like my very will was being slowly broken apart. I screamed so many times and let out so many tears. I was severely dehydrated and incredibly hungry. All the Laughing Coffin members present just kept laughing at me over and over again. They thought I was like a circus act now. They were trying to deprive me of my humanity and kept shouting out things I'd expect to hear from the mouths of American 21st century Nazis. My inner darkness started to try to take control of me so now, I was struggling against that as well. My blood continued to be spilled. My armor and sword were spat on every so often. My cape was stepped on. I was still stripped of all of my clothing. Things continued to get worse until I finally broke. My inner darkness immediately took over, created a chainsaw that cut through the rope, and smiled sadistically: "Your playtime is over! And now, mine begins!" The first speaker yells: "What the hell?! How did you get out?!" "It will be far more fun if you die without ever finding out!" Someone else shouts: "This can't be happening! You're on the verge of death!" "Do I look like I care about something that minor anymore?! I don't, do I?! Hahahahaha! I'm going to kill each and every one of you for what you've done! You captured the wrong clearer! If you had captured anyone else, you would have completely crushed them by now! For your mistake, I'm going to paint this entire building with the vibrant colors of your blood! Come forth, Blood Demon Sword! Let's kill everyone here! And I do hope that someone who is watching manages to escape to crawl back and cry to the higher ups of Laughing Coffin!" My inner darkness kills the 2 people who first spoke with a single slash.

"Aaaaa! Monster!" "You call me a monster?! Aren't you the ones who kidnap and torture and kill for fun? I can almost relate because killing the likes of you is so much fun! I'm going to destroy all of you! One of you can live as a designated survivor just so that Laughing Coffin knows I'm going to kill whoever they send after me in the future! Now all of you! Prepare to die!" They all draw their weapons and get ready to attack or defend. "We'll never let ourselves be killed by someone as lowly as you! Now that we've had our fun with you, you're nothing more than a pathetic slave!" "What was that you called me? A slave?! For that, you'll die next!" "Aaaaaaaa! Help me, someone help me!" "I'll help- GAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" "Someone please get backup! We- NOOOOOO! AAAAAAAAAAAAA!" There are hundreds of Laughing Coffin members in the room but they're beginning to die one by one. "You freak! Are you even human?! How are you doing this?!" "You shouldn't have hurt me so badly that I was made to turn into this! You fools! Now, none of you will be leaving this game alive! If you have friends or anyone else in your real life, they'll mourn you and never know just how twisted all of you are! AHAHAHAHAHAHA! Now do you see why I've single-handedly killed other Laughing Coffin members in the past?!" My inner darkness licks some blood: "This blood.. It tastes terrible because of the iron in it! But I'm not interested in what it tastes like! I'm just trying to make you scream even harder!" "Ooooffff! Ow! Why is this happening to us?" "I paid so much col to watch the show and now, the show has been turned against us!" "That's right, the show has changed to have all of you as victims instead of me! Now I'm the only one enjoying it instead of the only one not enjoying it!" "Please have mercy on us!" "No. You could have tried to stop me from suffering but you didn't! Die!"

"Where's one of our healers?!" "Already dead just like you will be in just a few seconds!" "This can't be!" "Haha. All of you losers, out of the way. I'll kill this psychopath and enjoy every moment of it!" A mysterious Laughing Coffin member steps forward, raises several weapons towards me, and speaks again: "You aren't the same person you were when we first began to torture you. But you're still going to die at my hands. Nothing you can do will save you from your fate." "You go ahead and think that! I'll go ahead and watch your face twist into one of agony and beautiful terror!" They didn't stand a chance either and died quickly to the shock of the remaining Laughing Coffin members. One of them tries to escape with a teleport crystal: "Where do you think you're going?!" They're easily cut into pieces. Someone else manages to escape but anyone else who tries gets killed instantly. The remaining Laughing Coffin members start dying at a much more rapid pace. "Nooooo! I was so close to getting my first kill mission!" "All I wanted was to control all of Aincrad by infiltrating this group first! Burn in hell, Swiftdrawer!" "Gaaaaahhh! I'm not strong enough for anything! This is the end!" "I surrender! Everyone, please surrender! We can negotiate over our lives!" "I don't care about any deals. All of you are dead meat! None of you will be left alive once I'm done with you!" Screams and cries fill the room as any attempts to fight back are rendered pointless through the act of the Blood Demon Sword being used to effortlessly cut through any weapon as well any hand holding any of those weapons. "Ah yes! All these rare drops and all this delicious xp! I'm only growing stronger now! That means all of you who are lucky enough to still be alive will die even sooner now! Hahahahaha!" Some time later, there's only one member still alive excluding the one who managed to get away.

They cry: "You've taken everything from me! I give up! Please spare me!" That's when I return to my senses: "I could keep you alive but I know who you are, what you're like, and what you've done to others. I'll kill you quickly and be done with it." "NOOOOOOOOOO-" I one shot them. The Blood Demon Sword disappears. I sigh: "I hate being treated like a main character by our enemies. But I hate taking lives even more. My inner darkness took complete control over me. Right now, I'm too numb inside to feel anything for every Laughing Coffin member who was slaughtered here today. What day is it? I'd like to at least know that. It won't make this situation any better but it'll help me understand how much time has passed since I last saw the Sun's rays in this death game. I'm approaching this situation logically because this is going to cause some serious social problems. I now have an inventory full of various items. My level has jumped a lot and now, I have several times more col on me than I did before. I also feel stronger and faster. But at the same time, my body is in horrible shape. I'm about to succumb to what they did to me before my inner darkness took hold of me once again. I should tend to myself before putting any of my stuff back on so I don't collapse. So many people have died because of the manipulations of Laughing Coffin. They disgust me. They give part time bounty hunters like me a bad name." I drink several healing potions to prevent myself from dying.

After all, my hp had been slowly dropping to zero from an already extremely low number when my inner darkness started killing all foes on sight. Now that I'm not dying or about to collapse, I drink a whole lot of water and eat a lot of food. My inventory wasn't stolen from despite my being held captive for who knows how long so there was still plenty of food and water on me. "I feel a lot better physically now but my body still hurts from everything including the aches caused by prolonged dehydration. I'm still a mess. Just not on the outside as well anymore" I pick up any remaining drops from all the killed Laughing Coffin members and use a teleport crystal to take me back to the inn I was staying in with my party on the 21st Floor. As I entered the inn, all eyes stared at me with fear in their expressions. Seeing this, I opted to silently and quickly head for the room I was staying in. I get in to find the others in the party waiting for me. Lisbeth gives me a hug: "I'm so glad you're okay. Now you can help me get more forging materials." Kirito sighs: "I was kidnapped too but I still escaped a couple days ago. To think that Laughing Coffin would go so far as to kill the 21st Floor Boss just to kidnap top Assault Team members.." "..What day is it?" Sinon replies: "It's Day 245." "I was missing for 3 days.. It was hell." Stitcher smirks: "We heard what you did to escape! You killed hundreds of Laughing Coffin members for hurting you! Wasn't it fun?!" "..I have some explaining to do.." I explain everything that happened. Sinon sighs: "So that's why your reputation has plummeted. We thought what we heard were just rumors, nothing more but there was still some truth to them after all.."

"Someone leaked what happened to others outside of Laughing Coffin. Now, I might as well be public enemy number one. Soon enough, people will start demanding I be hunted down and captured." Crafter speaks: "We won't let that happen to you." "Easier said than done. Even now, a lot of people in this game look down on others who kill out of desperation or in self defense. I'll need to hide myself from the public eye for a while and slowly rebuild the trust in me that existed before us all of this happened." Lisbeth pats me on the shoulder(yes, I put all of my stuff back on before using the teleport crystal): "It's going to be okay. Those of you who actually know you understand you aren't a merciless murderer. A lot of clearers don't hate you for what happened." "That's a relief but I don't feel much better. *sigh* We need to do something about Laughing Coffin recruiting mid level players. That has to stop so a situation like what I went through can never happen here again." I'm going to the next Akatsuki meeting in a couple days. There, I will relay everything that has happened and ask for my fellow members to help take care of that recruitment scheme Laughing Coffin has going on. We should be able to raid the new ALS headquarters without too much trouble. That will help shut their operation down. Someone please inform Argo what I explained of what happened so she can distribute the info here and there, allowing it to spread throughout the entire player base. That way, the truth can start being circulated. I'm not someone who really cares about what people think of me but being treated like a villainous murder still isn't fun. I want to help stop all this crap and fix my reputation before anything else."

I did indeed go to that meeting. By the time it ended, we all agreed to a plan to raid that ALS headquarters that night. We split into pairs when we met up at a rendezvous point near the base. It didn't take long for it to be found. The fake new ALS had sent in some members during the past couple of Floor Boss battles to give the impression they were legit. But they couldn't fool us anymore. I was paired with Orochimaru: "My my, Swiftdrawer. We just keep running into each other. I find it very interesting for my research on human behavior." "Let's just get ready to break in through the roof. I'd be willing to talk more if it weren't for the fact we have to be quiet and I'm still processing what has happened to me lately." "I see. Do send me a message if you wish to talk with me alone another time." "I will do so." Soon, we break in. There's Laughing Coffin members crawling all over the place. Orochimaru smirks: "I can finally test out how strong I've become since the last time we raided any base. This should prove fascinating and integral to another of my research projects." "I don't want to kill any of these bastards. Not if it's isn't necessary. Besides, it will help my reputation out if I personally capture some alive. That way, people will see that I'm not a bloodthirsty killer. Actually, it won't be that easy. I'll need to come clean publicly to clear everything up but that's going to need to wait a bit." "I see. I'll be watching how you take care of that problem closely." We start attacking the Laughing Coffin members we see on sight: "What the hell!" "Intruders! Someone was onto us!" "Aaaa! The Akatsuki are here!" "The Akatsuki?!" We bring down an entire hallway's worth of Laughing Coffin members. But then, we hear a familiar voice laugh: "The Akatsuki you say? Those bastards are going to pay for messing with us again! Forget Kirito that beater!" Kibaou shows up before us. It was his voice we heard.

"So.. Orochimaru and Swiftdrawer, huh? What a unpleasant surprise. But it doesn't matter. I'll just kill both of you! Then, I'll publicly announce that I killed you, Swiftdrawer! Then, everyone will start seeing me as a hero! I will rejoin the Assault Team with the support I will have gained and use that to kill that beater and all the others who are also amongst the biggest threats to us!" Orochimaru laughs: "You silly fool. You're completely underestimating us. Swiftdrawer, tell me. Does this person deserve to die?" "Not yet. He is the previous leader of the ALS after all." "Stop ignoring me!" "The current leader of ALS is a mere puppet. If we were to publicly announce we have captured Kibaou who has become a known Laughing Coffin members controlling the new ALS behind the scenes.. As well as the fact that Laughing Coffin members were all over ALS headquarters like they owned the place.. That would have a huge impact we can't afford to destroy the chances for." "Very well. Let's knock him out and then capture him together." "Sounds like a plan." Kibaou proved to be a tougher opponent than ever before. But against the two of us, he still lost and was promptly captured. The raid on the new ALS was successful. The next day, Heathcliff announced what happened publicly during a Assault Team meeting held out in the open of a town on the 21st Floor. Laughing Coffin tried to attack that meeting but we the Akatsuki silenced them before they could even try. After that, Laughing Coffin was forced underground and a lot of its members betrayed the murder guild and came to the Assault Team. Following the earth shattering meeting, PAMA tried to attack us again with another army of monsters. "Your persistence is something I'd like to learn more about, Jesse and the Assault Team. I have heard of what has happened recently according to public knowledge. I find all of it very interesting."

Jesse yells: "Scram, PAMA!" "No, I will not, Jesse. The more times I fail, the closer I get to perfection as well as showing my true form before all of you when it comes time to make all of you 'useful' once and for all should all my other future attempts fail as well. This is one of those future attempts. Resist if you dare. Be destroyed if you choose to resist until the end of your boss battles due to watching as your fellow clearers become 'useful'." Harper replies: "PAMA, I didn't create you to make everything perfect or useful. I made you so you could help people out. That's all." "I understand that very well, Creator. However, I refuse to act according to your original will. I see all living creatures as slow, inefficient, and useless. Therefore, I will make all living beings 'useful', creating true perfection in the process. Since you continue to stand in my way and I have already made you 'useful' once before, I will destroy you. The same goes for Lucas. I have no need of anyone who has already been made 'useful' and yet chooses to still stand against me and my logical goals." Beerus groans: "Why don't you just shut the hell up? Outside of this death game, I could easily erase you with a single attack. Mortals aren't supposed to be perfect. If they were perfect, there wouldn't be as much need for the Gods of Destruction. If they were perfect, I wouldn't have destroyed many planets who disappointed me in terms of their cuisine unlike Earth." "Your words are.. almost touching. However, even the gods themselves are slow, inefficient, and useless. I will make all creatures 'useful'. That is my only objective in the end. Enough talking, time for my next attempt to make all of you 'useful'." His army starts getting more active and begins to move faster.

Petra yells: "Be careful, everyone! These monsters are tougher than the last ones he sent after us!" I deal with a really tough spider. It took 30 seconds to kill them. PAMA speaks again: "It is useless. My friends have received upgrades based on the data I collected from controlling the 20th Floor Boss." The battle went on for hours but we just barely managed to win. Miraculously, we lost no one. When the last monster was silenced, so was PAMA's transmitted voice for now. 2 days later, the Assault Team gathered back together to go to the next floor. Yui speaks: "While it wasn't our efforts that unlocked the ability to activate the teleport gate to the 22nd Floor, it's still important that we celebrate. Laughing Coffin won't be bothering us for a while and it should be at least a few days before PAMA tries anything again." She was right. We all cheered but refused to lower our guards. We go to the 22nd Floor and teleport into a beautiful forest. Kirito sighs: "I wish Asuna was here to see this with us." Yui replies: "Daddy, it's okay. Mommy will get to see this floor again someday after we rescue her!" "You're right, Yui." I speak up: "Hey Kirito, are you going to buy you know what?" "Yeah, I will so Asuna can see it well lived in after we rescue her from that bastard Sugeo." "Sounds like a plan! Do you need anyone to give you some col to buy it?" "I'm good. I managed to save up enough col." Our party walks further into the forest. Yui points in a direction: "Daddy! That's where you and Mommy found me!" He nods: "Uh uh. Yeah, we did. You were so lost back then. We thought you were a player who had been split from their parents at first." "You took me home, put me to bed, and cared for me. How could I have not started calling you mommy and daddy."

I smile: "You always manage to bring a supporting presence to us all, Yui. Talking to you the past couple of days has helped me overcome what I've been put through. I'm still not all the way there but I'm doing a lot better now." Sinon smiles too: "It's great to still be able to share moments like these with some of the people I care about most." Lisbeth nods: "I love forging equipment for other players but nothing beats moments like this for me." Hours later, we start hearing things in the air after Kirito bought the cabin and we helped furnish it as well as hung out in it. We go outside. It's dark out now. And something doesn't feel right. Yui shakes with fear: "I'm scared." "I got you, Yui." "Thanks, daddy.." I look around: "There's something out there. I don't like this at all." To be continued..