by Dante Doom
Primary Fire Mode: Bolt
Damage: 100
Fire Rate: 3
Range: 250 ft.
Secondary Fire Mode: Surge
Damage: 12
Fire Rate: 1s
Special: Can be used continuously for 30 seconds total before needing to cool down
Skill: Exotic Weapons
The glove was strong, but Savannah had no skills in Exotic Weapons whatsoever. Still, she didn’t have much of a choice. She slipped the glove over her right hand and flexed. Then she turned around to see that the Dragonfiend was slashing away at Timon as he was running for his life.
“Okay, here’s the plan,” Savannah said to the woman. “Grab my hand!”
The woman nodded and took Savannah’s outstretched hand. “Timon!” Savannah screamed at the top of her lungs. “Use your Swap power, now!”
In the blink of an eye, Savannah and the stranger were standing in front of the Dragonfiend. It roared and turned around, focusing only on the target that had originally drawn its Aggro. Timon was a good distance away from the creature now, though.
Savannah immediately began to blast at the dragon with the Surge mode of her Lightning Glove engaged. A continuous wave of electricity blasted from her fingertips, arcing into the Dragonfiend’s body. The announcement Your Exotic Weapon Skill has increased by 1 hovered above her as she began to deal damage to the monster.
The stranger was also using her own gloves, firing bolts of lightning into the dragon, and together they began to cut into its health, causing it to drop down to 6,200 points.
“It’s gonna start Phase Two soon!” the woman shouted as she dodged another swipe of the Dragonfiend’s claws. She was graceful, able to move back and forth without much of a problem, and she took full advantage of the gravity of the Krecius Fields in moving as if she were a ballerina, deftly dancing across the ground.
Savannah wasn’t nearly as graceful. She went to dodge the Dragonfiend’s tail attack, but the shimmering yellow tail flicked hard into her stomach, knocking her backwards. She crashed into the ground and clutched her stomach as pain shot through her entire body. The words Armor Broken hovered above her head. She realized that the attack had decimated all of her armor, in just that one blow, and now she was down to only 50 points of health. One more hit like that and she was dead. Fortunately, the Dragonfiend was busy focusing on the stranger, biting and breathing fire toward her.
“Fingers, why aren’t you doing anything?” Savannah shouted out as she stumbled back to her feet.
“My bullets are bouncing right off it!” Fingers said. “And my explosives are useless!”
“Do you have Elemental Bullets? It’s vulnerable to lightning,” Savannah said. She stood back up and readied her glove. Perhaps her Speed Boost power would be useful here. Still… if she got back within range of that thing and it hit her even once, she was dead, and that would be it for both her and Timon. Timon would no doubt be furious about losing out on all these points if they gave up, though. He’d mentioned something about having a few extra lives, but still… dying now would be a huge hassle.
“Lightning? I’m on it!” Fingers said as he dug into his satchel and began to pull out small blue bullets. He hastily loaded them into his revolvers and began firing away at the dragon. 5 damage hovered above the Dragonfiend as each shot sank into it. “Savannah, this is a terrible idea! We gotta go!” Fingers screamed out once he realized his weapon was barely scratching the creature.
“It’s at half-health,” Savannah said. “We can still take it down!”
“You’re five inches from death and Timon’s the only one who can deal any real damage out of the three of us!” Fingers said. “This was a terrible idea.”
The dragon was beginning to turn its attention to Timon again. He was still shooting at the creature with his Sniper Rifle, dutifully dealing 50 to 100 points with each hit. It would be a few minutes before his Swap power would recover, however, and then they’d be able to do it again—for all the good that would do them.
“We’ve got this,” Savannah said.
“No, we don’t,” Fingers replied. “You know that thing is gonna get even stronger once it reaches the second mode! This is a fool’s errand.”
Savannah sighed. “Well…” she paused. She didn’t want to run. There were so many points to be had right now; it would be stupid to walk away from all of it now that they’d gained this much ground on the creature. The mysterious woman seemed to be so confident that she knew how to defeat the creature alone, so maybe if they kept fighting from a distance, it would all work out. Then again, what if the woman was a moron?
“If we get outside of the raid zone, its Aggro will go down and we’ll be taken off the participation list,” Fingers said. “That’s the best option right now. Leave this woman to her fighting.”
Savannah sighed again—Fingers was making sense, but... She looked at the Dragonfiend’s health bar to see that the woman had done quite a number on it already, dropping its health down to 5,400 points. The only way Savannah would be able to do any real damage to the creature was if she got within range of getting attacked by the claws.
“You’re right, this was stupid,” Savannah agreed. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Finally,” Fingers grumbled. “I thought I’d have to bail on this team.”
Savannah waved over at Timon. “Hey!” she shouted. “Stop firing! We’re leaving!”
“Awwww, too tough to handle?” the woman mocked Savannah as she leapt over the back of the dragon and began to pummel it with energy bolts. “You really thought you could pop in and fight a raid boss?”
Savannah felt a flash of heat rush to her face. There was something in the tone of the woman’s voice that made her angry. “Well, you’re going to die, too, so have fun with that!” she shouted in return.
“Hah,” the woman replied. “I know what I’m doing. Good luck out there, you cowards!”
“We’re not cowards!” Savannah shouted.
“Easy!” Fingers whispered as he put a hand on Savannah’s shoulder. “There’s no reason for you to get in a shouting match with a woman who thinks she can fight a raid boss on her own.”
“No, don’t touch me!” Savannah said as she slapped Fingers’ hand off her shoulder. “She called me a coward!”
“Well, words are meaningless here; only actions count,” Fingers said. “Now, let’s get out of here before that thing hits its next stage.”
As Savannah felt the anger well up in her, she glanced at Timon, who was trotting over to them. He was smiling widely, thrilled with the fact that they’d had the gall to try to fight the raid boss. She wasn’t here to prove that she was a capable player to some random woman, she reminded herself; she was here for the purpose of getting Timon and herself to the second-highest rank in Verre. She sharply exhaled, letting go of the anger she’d felt. This wasn’t the time for a fight.
“We’re running?” Timon asked when he got to her side.
“Yeah, it’s too dangerous, but hey, we tried, right?” Fingers offered as he began to turn around and walk away from the fight.
“Too bad—that was fun!” Timon said. He glanced at Savannah’s health bar. “Whoa! What happened to all of your armor?”
“One hit almost killed her,” Fingers said.
Savannah was still staring at the strange woman who was effortlessly fighting against the monster. She glanced down at the glove in her right hand then. It crackled with energy. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Kireen floating above them once again. Savannah turned her head to look at the Aspect who had lured them into attacking the creature to begin with. Why did it want her to fight the Dragonfiend, anyway?
As she began to question Kireen’s motives, she felt a powerful psychic impression push against her mind. Kireen was sending waves of telepathic messages to Savannah’s mind again, and for a moment, she was overwhelmed. The sensation was that of a thousand voices all murmuring at the same time, and Savannah gasped,
dropping to her knees.
“What’s wrong?” Timon asked. Savannah didn’t answer. Her mind was trying to sift through the messages that Kireen had sent her. There were no words to them—only images, sounds, and feelings. Amongst the chaos inside of Savanah’s mind, a singular feeling emerged after a few seconds… a feeling of needing that strange woman for something important.
“Grab her and let’s go,” Fingers said. “That Dragonfiend is gonna be a real problem when it gets to the next stage.”
Timon wrapped his hand around Savannah’s arm and began to pull her back up, but she resisted. She wanted to speak, but felt overwhelmed by what was happening inside her head. Kireen was forcefully sending messages into her mind, even now, and for a moment, Savannah felt everything around her begin to spin.
“We…” Savannah tried to speak, but the sensation in her mind was so powerful that she felt her eyes begin to roll to the back of her head, and only mumbles emerged from her lips. She could hear Timon saying something, but it was muffled. Darkness overtook her as she fell unconscious.
Chapter Seven
Savannah woke up gasping for air. “Where am I?” she gasped out as she glanced around frantically.
“You’re still in the Grind,” Fingers said as he hovered over her, looking at her curiously.
She could see the endless amount of stars in the night sky, and the cool breeze gently blew across her face. She looked at the men standing above her and asked, “What happened? I remember… passing out?”
“We were running one moment, and the next you were unconscious,” Timon said. “Are you sick in the real world? That might explain it.”
“I’ve never seen anyone actually pass out in this game,” Fingers said. “I’ve seen people knocked out by spell effects or taking damage, but… not like that. You might have something wrong with your hook-up, or maybe your brain.”
“No, it was the Aspect,” Savannah said as she leaned up on one elbow. “She was trying to tell me something, but I… I couldn’t understand her.”
“How many times do I have to tell you? Those things are nothing but trouble,” Fingers said, shaking his head. “It’s stupid that we have to deal with them.”
“What are these aspects anyway?” Timon asked.
“Well, around the campfire, we used to tell all sorts of tales and stories about Aspects,” Fingers said. “Some people say they’re the ghosts of people who actually died inside the game. Since their consciousness was connected to the machine, their souls merged with the machine instead of passing on to the afterlife.”
“That’s stupid,” Savannah grumbled as she clambered to her feet. Her legs wobbled a little, and she still felt dizzy, but she was determined to get past this quickly. “There is absolutely no proof of them being ghosts. They’re probably just part of the game and no one has ever been able to figure out where they came from.”
“Well, whatever they are, they’re malicious little bastards,” Fingers said. “I try to steer clear of them whenever I can.”
Savannah stared up at the stars. The feelings echoing in her mind were haunting her. “We need to go find that stranger, the woman fighting that Dragonfiend.”
“Why?” Timon asked.
“I don’t know… but we need her help,” Savannah replied. “For something,” she muttered, having no idea what. She shivered at the feelings inside of her. Why was it so imperative that they work with her? How had that Aspect affected her like that?
“Well, she’s probably dead or still fighting that thing,” Fingers said. “It’s only been about twenty minutes since you passed out.”
“Let’s go back then,” Savannah said. “Quickly!”
“I, uh, hate to be a pain here,” Timon said, “but while I realize we’re supposed to be fighting Virals, I’d rather not have anything to do with her.”
Savannah looked at Timon. He seemed embarrassed to have spoken up. “Look, something weird has been going on, Timon,” Savannah said. “There’s… I don’t know... Something isn’t right in the Grind, and that Aspect told me that we’re going to need that woman’s help.”
“You’d trust an Aspect who tricked you into fighting a raid boss?” Fingers asked, crossing his arms.
Savannah sighed as she looked between both men. Neither of them seemed particularly interested in following her plan to go back and find the stranger, and there was no way she was going to convince them based on a feeling she had. But, that said, her dad would know how to deal with what was going on—which was why she definitely needed to find him.
“Let’s keep pressing on to get to the Geo-Forges and forget about the Dragonfiend. There will be plenty of opportunity to score more points,” Timon said.
“I vote we go that way,” Fingers said, pointing to the northeast. “There’s more Virals to be found over there.”
Savannah looked at Timon. He shrugged at her, and then said, “Fingers, we had a plan before—we may as well stick with it. Let’s keep going to the Geo-Forges, as we originally planned.”
“Fine,” Savannah said as she began to walk towards the large mining machines in the distance. If Timon wanted to keep moving, she’d have to acquiesce. The last thing she wanted was for him to start doubting her. She only hoped that Fingers wouldn’t put up any more of a fight about their destination.
“All right, fine, whatever,” Fingers said. “We’ll go be disappointed at the Geo-Forges first, and then can we head northeast?”
“Sure,” Savannah said as a simple lie formed in her mind. “Besides, you should be happy about going to the forges; you might find out more about where your old gang went.”
Fingers paused and tilted his head. “You know, I hadn’t thought of looking for them over there. Good point, Savannah.”
Finally in agreement regarding their destination, the three moved on as quickly as they could. Everyone seemed to be itching for a decent fight after that last debacle, too, and Savannah hoped that there would be some kind of Viral waiting for them in the forges. She wanted those points.
They reached the large crater known as the Geo-Forges soon enough. At the bottom, Machina were hard at work creating steel beams. After the beams were forged, cranes would pick up the beams and take them on to construction sites across the Grind. They were always working and building, but no matter how long the Machina spent time building steel beams, the Grind never seemed to get any new construction.
“Down there!” Timon said as he pointed to a small Viral wandering by one of the construction cranes. It was round and fluffy, with two fangs jutting out of its mouth. Above it in white was the word Snapper.
“A white-tiered Viral?” Fingers asked as he shook his head. “That’s gotta be worth maybe ten points. If you’re lucky, you might get fifteen points out of it.”
“Hey, points are points!” Timon said as he aimed his Sniper Rifle at the little monster. He gunned the creature down. The note Your Energy Weapons Skill has Increased by 1 hovered above Timon’s head. A few point orbs rushed up to him. 55,000/1,500,000
“Nice!” Timon said, pleased with himself.
Savannah wasn’t paying any attention to Timon and Fingers; instead, she was scanning the area visually, looking for any sign of another person.
“Well, this place is underwhelming,” Fingers said as he began to walk down deeper into the crater. “But we might as well poke around and look for anything interesting.”
The three walked downhill, looking for signs of action or life. There was no one around except for the Machina, quietly working on creating steel beams.
“Hey, why don’t we kill the Machina?” Timon asked. “Are they worth points?”
“You don’t get points from blasting Machina,” Savannah replied as her eyes darted across the landscape again.
“Yeah, it’s dumb, and they don’t give any gear either,” Fingers said. He knelt down and pointed at a footprint. “Check it out.”
Savannah glanced down to see a pair of footprints leading to one of the forge�
�s interior locations. “What do you think it is?” she asked.
“I’m not sure, but it might be a player,” Fingers said. “If that’s the case, we might be able to rob them.”
“Rob them? That doesn’t sound very fair,” Timon said.
“Well, it’s always an option to get good gear for free,” Fingers said. “You pop out from behind something, aim your guns at them, and watch them give you free crap. Items can be replaced, but no one wants to lose their points.”
“I refuse to take part in such a thing, and nor would I allow my guide to do so, either!” Timon said as he set his feet, staring down Fingers.
Savannah felt agitation running through her. As stupid as it was, she didn’t care for the fact that Timon was telling her what she was and wasn’t allowed to do. Maybe it was the rebel that lived inside of her, but she now felt a desire to do the opposite of what Timon wanted—she wanted to rob someone. She gritted her teeth and remembered why she was here. Timon was going to be splitting a lot of points with her, and with her dad missing, she had to learn to think more like him.
“We aren’t Wild Cards or Kleptos, Fingers,” Savannah said, disregarding that rebellious inner voice. “Still, this player might be able to point us towards something interesting around here.”
“Or they might have seen my people,” Fingers said. “Although, I somehow doubt that... But fine, let’s go say hi. I promise not to rob them—unless I see some really good gear.”
“What gear could someone who’s been in the game as long as you have even need?” Timon asked.
“It’s not about the effectiveness, but how cool it looks,” Fingers said. “Aesthetics are life in this game. A sweet hat or a cape in this game is worth far more than even the best weapons.”
“Why?” Timon asked as they walked closer to the small shack that the footprints were leading them to. “Why would anyone waste significant points on cosmetic items?”
“Why do people waste their money on good clothes in the real world?” Fingers asked. “People want to look pretty, whether in real life or in the virtual world.”
