A/N: Apologizes for the delay on this one, flu got me but I have enough energy in me to get this thrown out before I curl up in a corner in the dark. Enjoy!

[Gun Gale Online, Remnant Wasteland, Somewhere?]

[Malzeno's POV]

"Jesus Christ!" Was a phrase I said twice today, which is quite irregular for me since I've been adamant about dropping any slurs linked to religion. I ain't religious but I've seen Yuuki's face twitch ever-so-slightly but never say anything, so I've only ever let it slip when I was really, really nervous.

Case and point, my groin was an inch away from being struck by the rusted, metallic foot that slammed into the ground.

Rolling back, I retreated just in time for a burst of electricity to erupt from the machine, the impact damaging me slightly as the force gave my jump an added boost and behind new cover to gain my bearings.

We were situated in an abandoned rocket testing grounds. The final area was akin to an arena, with large cargo crates stacked to form walls and a curved catwalk running along the back half of the arena. Old rocket parts and other components still swayed from thick chains connected to oxidized cranes, bathed in the harsh sunlight above.

Before us was the boss of this whole area, the big cheese, if you will.

It was an autonomous hexapedal tank equipped with an impressive, varied arsenal that allows it to efficiently deal with just about any type of threat, or multiple threats at once, like snoopy players looking for loot. It had a bulbous chassis with a head featuring multiple red eyes drilled in across a red faceplate. It looked more like a spider than anything else

Mounted under the command pod is a machine gun that is capable of cutting down swaths of personnel in seconds without pause. On its back is its main weapon: a swivel-mounted cannon that fired high-velocity, high-explosive rounds powerful enough to eliminate clusters of enemies, or even weak cover, as I eyed the smouldering pile of concrete that Yuuki was previously hidden behind.

Mounted on the side of its main gun is a missile pod capable of launching a small salvo of missiles. Lastly, if you got too close, it would occasionally release a burst of electricity or bouncing shock mines from the abdomen.

/51D3R - Lv. 35/

While the level wasn't an issue, to make it balanced for all players, the damage enemies could do is scaled to be even for all players. In Yuuki's case, she was much lower levelled than either me or Sinon, so the game auto-balanced her level to around ours in terms of stats to compensate in this instance. However, outside of dungeons, it wouldn't be the case.

Spider turned towards me, machine guns whirring to life as blue bolts struck every surface, my head pulled back behind the cargo crate. The place I stood was towards the way we came in, but a hardlight barrier prevented us from falling back, leaving him boxed in.

The heavy cannon turned the complete opposite direction, a red laser honed in on the catwalk to the far left, suddenly, the air rang with a blast as an explosion ripped through the far wall, Sinon rolling through the smoke and behind another barricade, Hecate ringing out a second later, pinging the boss' front right leg.

To bring it down, we needed to destroy the thick armour on the legs, causing a surge to expose its weak point around the neck, so far, we've destroyed two. Loading my scout rifle with a black and white camo paintjob, labelled Crypt Dweller.

The high-impact rounds rang from the chamber, pinging the head and right foreleg of the tank as it turned its attention towards me, those salvo rockets coming to life as I ran across the gap to the other cargo crate in time, feeling the ground rumble behind me at the cluster rounds that sprayed dust and bits of gravel in my face. Instantly, I spun around and unloaded every round as fast as I could pull the trigger.

Sinon's sniper let out a crack, the heavy cannon turning towards her yet again, despite that, her posture remained unphased by the threat of total annihilation. She is the Cold Sniper of GGO for a reason, you don't earn that through hugs and kisses.

"Guy's a tough one," I remarked through the open coms.

~Try to keep the main weapons off me, I should be able to break the armour off after two more shots~ Hearing Sinon say this, she ran, evading the barrage of salvo followed by the cannon's 135mm shot, nearly blasting a hole through the factory's wall.

~Leave it to me, I got an idea!~ Uh no, Yuuki had a plan? This ought to be good.

"Love, not that I have any doubts of your capabilities..."

~Buuut?~ She trailed for me, I could see her purple head popping up from behind cover, looking towards me from behind a box crate beneath the catwalk.

"But, the last time you tried what I think you're trying, you had more holes in you than a block of cheese. And, need I remind you, these bullets are the size of my middle and ring finger side-by-side," I remarked, reloading Crypt Dweller. Honestly, Yuuki is quite the gun-nut as we've come to learn.

~I know, I know, 'always pick your battles', but I can do this!~ Yuuki sounded eager, and even from this distance, I could feel her eyes on me, pleading for my approval. I was the one that pulled her into this game of high-stakes. ~Trust~

Hearing my own word thrown back at me got a light scoff to leave my lips. This girl is gonna be the death of me... Pressing my back to the crate, I felt my heart pounding in my ears, my grip on my rifle taut. "Sinon, on my mark, knock it down. Yuuki, you know when,"

~Aye, sir!~ Yuuki perked up instantly.

~Copy~ Sinon kept it professional.

Without a second to waste, I spun around and started moving sideways, pinging Spider with every shot towards the salvo rockets as they crackled to life, firing in a wide arc that I ran and slid onto my back to evade, still pulling the trigger after each shot.

From my left, Yuuki swung wide with a vibrant, purple photon sword, Kagemitsu G4, now standing to protect me with the wind pulling at her hair, and just over her shoulder, I could see that fiery gaze and wide, confident smirk. I'll admit, that's pretty hot.

The machine guns revved, and Yuuki's posture shifted instantly, arching her whole body with the swing of Kagemitsu, leaving purple contrails in the air as each swing slashed through the bullets, the girl becoming a haze of purple that leapt and danced between shots, keeping any from hitting me directly.

I steadied my aim on the ground, reloading fast to continuously fire upon those beady, red eyes. Yuuki's constant dance routine was nothing short of breath-taking, her body was grazed and pelted by the occasional bullet, but by some miracle, she was managing to keep pace with the machine gun's rampant fire.

Bullet casings clattered as chunks of concrete were picked off the ground around me, all while my own shots cut between the magnificent strokes of the photon sword. However, the gunfire ceased, the two of us staring up at the towering Spider tank as a red laser pinged us, and both salvo rocket packs began to glow blue, the main cannon a molten orange. Oh crap.

"Sinon, now or never!" I called out, but the second I said her name, I already heard it.

Blam-Blam!

To our left, Sinon's Hecate rang twice, puncturing the heavily wounded armour plating. The wounds caused the armour to burst and shatter across the ground, eventually reduced to polygons as the whole armoured tank let out a whir and fell over, a beeping sound emanating from the chassis as a warning as all its system's overheated.

The head jutted outward, exposing a cherry-red neck of overheated components and other machinery I had no knowledge of. All that mattered was that this was its critical point.

Jumping to action, I grabbed from my right hip my pride and joy, twirling the trigger guard around my finger to rest the grip in my palm. It was a sleek, black and brass handcannon, a big handgun, with a brass barrel, and a faded logo of an Ace of Spades on both the grip and slide in white. Hard Luck.

Using one of the legs as a rampart, I climbed the tank and levelled my iron sights with one hand, feeling the kick behind the handcannon rip through the air and bury bullet-after-bullet through the molten neck. Yuuki's own semi-auto pistol pelted the insides beside me, followed by the reverberating crack of Hecate between us, watching the boss' health plummet faster.

It continued to squirm and make audible sounds of discomfort from the assault, sparks spewing from the bullet holes made. It wouldn't be long before it cooled down and stood up again, but we're running low on ammo so it wasn't worth the risk.

Emptying another moon clip, I holstered Hard Luck and drew from my belt a handle of the same make as Yuuki's own, herself copying me without either of us really thinking about it. A flash of violet and crimson spewed to life, drawn backward as we leapt off the chassis, arcing our bodies to draw both light blades in a vertical crescent through the thick, scorching nape, feeling the heavy resistance as my blade melted through the super-heated metal.

Clutching with both hands, I forced my body weight down, twisting my handle to wrench the blade down and sideways, leaving a molten splatter through the air, and a thick chunk of metal missing from the Spider.

Instantly, the health gauge disappeared, and the tank let out one last burst of electricity, tossing us aside to stop and stare as it stood up sharply, gaps in its body bursting with black smoke and sparks, the neck and head jerking back and forth before eventually, the main cannon burst from its back, sent flying elsewhere, the body slumping against the ground of the factory floor, buzzing with a fire in place of where the cannon once sat.

All the parts turned bright blue, bursting a second later in a fountain of shards, leaving only the tabs with our EXP, Credits, and loot in its place.

"Woohoo, that's what I'm talkin' about!" Yuuki practically leapt through the air, pumping her fist as she landed with a spin before me, peppy as ever.

Her purple hair whipped through the air, the vermillion of her eyes brighter than any neon sign.

Although, my love for the girl was only trumped by the flat stare my mask projected as two horizontal lines. "As wonderous as our victory is. See, there's a magical thing called 'bullets', most of which, you apparently attract like the damn plague,"

Yuuki blinked, waving her arms as the nearly two-dozen spots or thin cuts across her body, primarily the torso, not even Yuuki could react faster than a heavy, belt-fed machine gun. She flashed a toothy grin with her eyes closed, clearly trying to not look nervous.

"All part of the plan," She argued. Yeah, sure.

"Good work," Sinon appeared next to us, carrying Hecate with her mouth covered by her scarf, but her brow noticeable relaxed. "It was reckless, but you gave me an opening,"

Rubbing the back of her head, Yuuki giggled at the praise. "Coming from you, that's awesome!"

"'Great plan, Malzeno, you're great', ah, thanks I try," I remarked with a light eyeroll, but was stopped when Sinon offered her hand to me.

Pulling a straight face, I slapped my hand to hers and was hoisted off my ass, feeling her grip squeeze with a small nod. Yep, good enough for me. Returning it, I let her go to now flick Yuuki on the forehead, much to her displeasure.

"Hey, I'm still alive... this time," Her eyes shifted to one side in saying that.

"Still as reckless as Blackie, Cupcake, not a good trait to learn," I tisked.

She pouted, hands on her hips. "Oh, and your gambling addiction is any better?"

"It's a healthy and legal monetization system," I countered, crossing my arms in protest. "At least it's not real-world gambling,"

"You blew 100,000 Yrd yesterday!" Yuuki waved her arms wide, exasperated.

My posture stiffened a little, "...so a minor setback, don't act like you don't waste money either, I've seen your withdrawals for dango, don't act like I don't know how to do basic math,"

Now it was her turn to look briefly stunned, raising a finger and then throwing her hands down with a very cute frown and glare. "Wha? What'd you say? I'm your leader, so I have every right to do what I want with my money! And who do you think you are, ordering me around?!" Now, she was up in my face about it. "Yours is an actual, unhealthy addiction!"

"Yeah!? And what kinda leader complains about having extra money for the guild and its resources! Without me, you'd all be broke with how much we use in boss battle tests!" I yelled back at her. "So instead of complaining, how about being all like, 'oh, thank you so much for being such a big help with the guild, Malzeno~' like you're supposed to!"

Her teeth ground together, raising a fist at me. "I'm not supporting your addiction, and I do not sound like that!"

I just stuck my tongue out at her, pulling a face that was making her tremble with annoyance. She was gonna hurt me later, worth it.

Suddenly, a soft bout of laughter broke our heated debate, following the source to Sinon who held a hand over her mouth, trying not to snicker too loudly, a tear caught in her eye at the amusing sight, I.E, us.

"S-sorry, I can see now why Asuna talks about you two so often, you both can get so heated yet not once did either of you look genuinely angry, it's quite funny to watch," Sinon cleared her throat, smiling at us. "Don't mind me, you can continue if you like,"

Now that she had pointed it out, my face felt as hot as Yuuki's looked, puffing her cheeks out a little before bursting out in a fit of giggles, myself feeling a chuckle or two escape me.

"Draw then, Cupcake?" I suggested, holding out my fist to her.

"Pfft, yeah, I can live with that," She bumped my fist.

"Okay, now then..." My head turned slowly to the barrier still in place. "...is there an exit in this place?"

Sinon rolled her eyes, gesturing for us to follow. "Come on, before the commotion draws too much attention,"

"Lead the way, Sniper," I bowed jokingly as she passed, earning a light shove. "Ah, only so much you can do,"

"Yep," Yuuki slipped up beside me, her hand already intertwined with mine to follow after Sinon.

[To Be Continued...]

[Author's Notes]

Alright, heavily inspired by Destiny's Walkers, guns included, but it makes for a thrilling firefight. A little bit of action from GGO never hurts anyway, especially for what's to come. Ominous warning aside, I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; see ya in the next chapter, Players!