Sam
Sam strode into the captain's quarters confidently. He pretended to barely glance at the room, but actually he took in every detail he could. There was a low-lying table covered in maps in the far left corner. Chairs surrounded it, but they were far to low to be comfortable. Against the other wall was a small porthole set above a hammock. There was a wardrobe pressed up next to the door on his right, and to his immediate left was a display of swords along with an ornate anchor.

Sam stepped aside to let Jacob and Lea in As he did so, he finally focused his attention on the captain sitting by the table. The man looked to be in his late forties. He didn't have an eyepatch, but a jagged scar across his forehead was more than enough to show that he was a genuine pirate. He wore a long navy blue trench coat with some red and gold trim, but it was worn and had its share of tears. He wore standard pirate breaches and boots, but Sam noted the lack of a sword on his belt. Sam hoped that that didn't suggest that the man was strong enough not to need a sword.

"So," the captain said, rising from his chair, "Who have I had the pleasure of kidnapping today?" Sam took a second to calm the anger he felt rising. This man who beat Lea was acting as if he were some sort of gentleman, and to people he had drugged and captured!

"You may address us as Erik," Sam gestured to himself, "and Jackson." He figured it would be good for Jacob to at least have a name similar to his real one. "Why did you take us?"

"Ha! You have brass, I admire that, but captives have no right to ask questions," The captain sat down again and waved toward the other seats. "Join me for a drink." He raised a bottle of whisky.

Jacob had finally snapped out of his daze, and he decided to respond. "We're under age, but thanks." He glanced at Sam with a look that suggested that he had doubts that Sam would have refused. "May we at least have the courtesy of knowing our captor's name?" Smooth, thought Sam. Jacob recovers well, at least. I guess all those rich-people manners have a use.
"I'm Captain Jack." Sam almost laughed, but the captain seemed to not realize the ridiculousness of his name. AI's really don't need knowledge of the outside world, after all, even complex ones like this. Jack was waiting for them to sit down, so Sam flashed Lea a quick smile and nudge Jacob forward.

"Now," Jack began, "You're going to tell me why I was hired to get you off that continent."

Sam considered carefully before answering. He was just about to give an excuse when Jacob beat him to it. "It depends on who hired you. We're not hated, but all great people have one or two enemies, right?" /He's good,/ Sam thought approvingly. Jacob had not only insinuated that the captain was among the 'great people' and provided empathy, he had also forced the captain to either stop the line of questioning and show weakness, or to tell them who wanted them to disappear.

The captain opted for telling them. "A man named Thor. He sent me a nice tidy sum of gold to get you off that dock and to an out of the way island. So, why would he want that?"

"We, well, I, may have stolen a few, hmm, million or so gold from him. He promised revenge and tried to kill me and get it back, I won, he sent some more, ect... now he wants me gone. Probably figured Jacob was my partner or something." Sam shot Jacob a warning look as he waited for the captains reaction.

"You're a theif!" The man had gone insane. He rose quickly and knocked over his chair. Captain Jack grabbed the front of his coat and shoved an insignia in Sam's face. It was that of the Marine War-on-Pirates regiment. Though his vessel seemed to be that of a pirate's, Jack was against them completely. A true hypocrite, Sam thought. He joins a force against the brutality of pirates, yet he beats young girls and is obviously greedy filth.

Jacob
Jacob watched in horror as Sam's blunder made Captain Jack explode. To top it off, Sam flashed the man a sneer and said, "Yeah, well at least being atheif is better than being a mercenary. Abducting kids for nothing but money." Is he trying to get us killed?! Jacob thought frantically. He's certainly a sore loser. He misjudged the guy and refuses to fix it!

Jacob began shouting apologies and backing up quickly as the captain walked toward them. He stumbled over a chair, but got up and dragged Sam back with him. "Come on," he shouted, giving up on keeping Jack calm. "We need to get outside!" It was dangerous to pull Ayumu Daiki in the cabin, but in open air at sea was its ideal home. Lea was already outside, and as soon as they stumbled out she shut the door and moved a barrel in front of it with practiced precision. It seemed that she wasn't unfamiliar with her captain's temper.

Sam unfurled his wings in a huge motion, grabbed Lea, and deposited her in the crow's nest. He looked winded when he came down, and Jacob knew that he wasn't strong enough to carry them off the ship. They were trapped with a hostile captain and his crew. To punctuate that delightful thought, Jack yelled, "Make 'em walk the plank!"

Jacob
"Make 'em walk the plank!" Jack yelled from his cabin. The men who had noticed the commotion quickly relayed the order to the rest of the crew. Now the entire ship was one giant lethal death trap.

"Any bright ideas, oh great smooth talker?" Jacob said sarcastically as he drew Ayumu Daiki. Sam probably replied, but Jacob didn't hear. Already his consciousness was far off among the Great Winds. They whispered all they heard in his ears, and he saw the world as they did. For an instant, Jacob saw the entire world. He noticed Moza and Aro's fight with the dragon, but he couldn't focus on them. He had to contain the Winds before they shattered Ayumu Daiki, along with his mind. He dragged his attention to the ship they were on, and saw that the battle had begun around him. Sam was fending off their attackers well, but he wouldn't hold them for long.

Jacob called upon the West Wind, and with a great sweep f his sword he knocked a dozen men overboard - along with some rails to help them float, just to ease his conscience. He tried to settle the West Wind so he could call the East, but it resisted with force. For few seconds, the Winds, riled by his restraint, ripped across the deck and threatened to tip the ship. Most of the crew was thown overboard, but Sam's wings were picked up with a gust. He was thrown against the aft mast with a sickening crack and crumpled to the ground like a rag doll. Jacob, furious, slammed his will against the Great Winds and forced them to back off. He used the brief calm to sheath Ayumu Daiki, and the Winds disbanded with a soft breeze. Their sudden absence always left him feeling like a limb had been cut off, but now he had more important things to worry about.

Jacob ran over to Sam and lifted his head gently. It looked like the wole back of his skll had been flattened. Jacob suppressed the urge to throw up and called Lea down. He had seen players with this sort of wound before, but they were always quickly pixelated and revived. Since Sam was actually in the game, it was anyone's geuss what would happen.

"Cracken's teeth," Lea swore from behind him. Sailor's only used that for the worst of events. Her look of horror attested to just how bad it was.

"Can you - " Jacob's voice cracked. "Can you fix him?" Lea shook her head slowly.

"He's already dead, isn't he?" she asked. Jacob frowned. She was right; Sam should be dead. He just, wasn't. His chest rose and fell slightly with breath, and Jacob could see a slight pulse on his neck.

"He's alive... for now."

Lea took a few steps back. "I know he's a demon, but even one of them would die from that." She seemed frightened.

"Well, he's obviously special," Jacob said. He tried to be gentle, but even if Sam wasn't dead yet, he soon would be if they didn't help him. "If this wound wasn't fatal, how would we fix it?"

"Uh, we could, um - " Lea broke off as a loud slam echoed behind them. Captain Jack had gotten out.

"Well, I guess at least one little thief got his due," Jack said. He sounded like a lunatic, but Jacob wasn't about to correct him. The dangerous gleam in his eye was just a bit too cunning to be dismissed. Jacob couldn't risk using Ayumu Daiki again, but he took Sam's dagger off him and rose into a fighting stance. Really, he was only good with swords, but he would have to deal. Lea, meanwhile, just stood there like a deer caught in headlights. Can't really blame her, Jacob thought. He began to step slowly sideways, to get out from behind her, but stopped when he realized that Sam would be defenseless. This was truly a no win situation.

Jack began taunting him. "So, you gonna come at me or what? You're just a thief. Skum."

Jacob launched himself forward, desperate.

Sam
Sam had thought his plan to get the captain to get angry was perfect: Jack would get angry and have them walk the plank, Sam would carry Jacob over to a life boat from 'the plank,' Jacob would use his wind katana Hi You Ducky or what ever to give them a nice head start, done. That went down the drain real quick.

Sam never lost consciousness. He felt every crack of bone as he hit the mast, and he felt every bruise as he crumpled. He could feel the blood slowly leaving his body, but he couldn't do anything. He heard as Jacob and Lea discussed how he should be dead, and thought idly that death would almost be better than this extreme agony. He thought he knew what Jacob had been going through when he was in shock. The pain, the threat of death, even the very real captain fighting Jacob were distant. They didn't matter, because he couldn't do anything about them. The pain was horrible, and he felt as if his body was trying to rip itself to shreds, but at the same time he knew he could do nothing about. No. He could do something about that. He was a fire demon, one who had literally gone to the Underworld and back. Something as simple as healing himself was child's play. In fact, it was a skill he had trained in. Using the heat to individually stimulate each of his white blood cells, and using the expanding air to push things back into place. He wouldn't die from something as silly as a little fatal wound. Mira needed him to survive this and go home.

Those thoughts fueled him as Sam slowly mended his head injury. He could still hear Jacob and Jack fighting, but it was still a seperate thing. This time from purpose, not shock. After a few minutes he was healed enough to open his eyes, but he resisted the tempation and concentrated. Another few minutes had him back to fighting shape, so he slowly turned his head and loked at the fight.

Jack was toying with Jacob, confident in his victory. And he would win, if things went on like this. Jacob had exactly zero skill with a dagger, and he was tiring fast. Sam waited until Jack's back was turned to make his move. Jacob had taken the daggers he had gotten at Mozaik's village, but he still had Ignis. He pulled out the collar, put it on, and twisted into a crouch with one graceful movement. Then he did something he could only do in Oz. He stopped being human. Technically, he was a demon, but his mind still was human. In Oz, though, he could let go of everyting that seperated him from a demon: emotions, morals, values, even words. Nothing was left but a hunter, a demon. He wasn't proud of this terrible skill, but it was nice to just give in to his hunting instincts.

Now, though, it was not nice. It was neccesity, so the demon lept at the man in front of him and enfolded him with its wings. The demon burst into Unburning Flames. All the heat of real flames without the destruction. A difficult skill for Sam, but it came naturally for the demon, and was perfect on a ship. It couldn't just kill its prey, of course, since Sam would be angry later, and it wanted to be free again, so it lifted its prey high into the air and dropped him into the ocean. The prey's screams gave it no satifaction, for a true hunt was silent, but the cursing after the man landed was good, since it meant he lived.

The demon would return, but for now he let emotions creep back in. It was unpleasant at first, and he resisted automatically, but Sam was soon pulling himself back together as quickly as he could with desperation. He forced his face to go through some basic smiles and emotions before he began spiralling back down to the ship. Sam hurriedly took Ignis off and put it away. He and Jacob certainly had some scary artifacts from the game's Old Times.

"Let's turn this ship around and go back, hmm?" Sam said as he landed. Jacob looked exhausted, but he said thanks and started directing Sam on how to handle a ship. Lea pulled herself together and rallied some left over crewmen who had managed to stay on into helping out. Jacob and Lea didn't seem to notice what he had become, so he let them think he had just healed himself and fought like a normal person. They didn't need to know that besides his skull he had also had a broken spine that would have made it impossible to move his legs along with a broken right arm and left hand. The demon could heal such things instantly, and they would all be dead by now if he hadn't used it, but Jacob didn't need to know he was traveling with a monster. No one did.


Both
In a few hours, they were back at port. Lea had freed Winstep and Kelpy and even returned all their belongings, but Sam had bid her a quick farewell. Jacob bought some potions while Sam went off to who-knows-where to find out who else knew about Thor. When he got back, they started off toward the dragon mountains. It was quicker this time, because the Water Scroll had also sped up Kelpy's growth, so Jacob and Windstep rode him like a pony while Sam flew.

As they neared, Sam dropped back to the ground and had Jacob get off Kelpy. They walked for a minute or so before a game message popped up. "Warning, Players. Alkim has recently been defeated and the dragons now have a bonus of 200 hp. Please turn back or proceed with caution."

"Guess we know where to go," Jacob said, grinning. They got up the mountain in short bursts. Sam would carry Jacob a few dozen yards up while Kelpy carried Windstep, then they would rest for a few minutes, then continue. Eventually they made it to Alkim's cave. There were a few spare coins tucked in some corners, which Sam of course pocketed. Jacob scanned the cave for signs of were Aro and Moza went, but found none. Windstep, however, tugged his shirt and barked until he looked at a particularly uninterseting wall.

"So... what?" Windstep barked again, irritated at his slowness, and scratched at the wall.

"Dogs and wolves are supposed to be able to find hidden doors and treasures, right?" Sam said, popping up behind them. Jacob startled a bit, but nodded agreement.

"I think I bought something for hidden stuff. One second..." Jacob dug through his pack. "Here!" He splashe it against the wall, and it disolved into a door slowly.

"You're welcome to go into the dark, foreboding cave first. Your pet discovered it, after all," Sam said with a joking grin. Truthfully, he was a tiny bit afraid of anything underground.

"Fine! Come on!" Jacob said. He took off down the tunnel at a dead run, even after the light left.

"Hey, slow down!" Sam called, but chased after the older boy anyway. It wasn't long before they caught up to Moza and Aro.

Jacob reached them first. "Hey! We're here!" he shouted, stating the obvious. "Oh man, Moza, you okay?" He pushed past Aro and caught her shoulders.

"Oh, hey guys," Sam said. He conjured a small fire in the palm of his hand to give some light, and noticed Mozaik's sickly look. "What's wrong?" He gave Aro an accusing look.

If it wasn't for the glare Sam gave him, Aro would have kissed the creature, but instead he did what came natural and folded his arms rebelliously. "I didn't do anything" he responded coldly. "She's been acting odd ever since we defeated Alkim. I theorize it has something to do with her connection to Thor, but I could be wrong."

When Aro noticed the confused look on Jacob's face and Sam's raise brow he explained. "Mozaik is the 'real life' sister of Thor as well as the offspring of the original developer of OZ. Apparently Thor is screwier than a bowl of fruit loops and is hell bent on making her life miserable. More to the point he is behind the whole game lock that has our consciousness stuck in OZ. We think he plans on destroying Mozaik here, so that he can inherit OZ in the real world. of course the only clues we have are the odd activity of the dragons. They intentionally targeted her. Even Alkim." Aro eyed Jacob and Sam and their companions. "You look different....somehow...what happened to you guys?"

Sam
"I'll tell you later. We have more pressing problems now, right?" Sam said. He didn't mean to be rude, but Mozaik looked ready to pass out. He went over and looped his arm under one of her shoulders and gestured for Jacob to do the same. "Do you guys want to keep going and hope this leads out or go back?" Personally, he didn't feel like risking a dragon attack at the cave, but with Moza out of action, he don't want to start any arguments.

Jacob
Jacob did the same as Sam and took Moza's other shoulder. "Let's go farther down. If we go out by the cave we'll have to fly her down, and I 'm not sure that we could balance her on Star, no offense." He looked at the dragon sympathetically. "Aro, want to tell us everything Moza said while we walk?" Jacob hadn't really paid much attention too what Aro had said earlier, to focused on Moza to really notice anything else.

Aro nodded his head in the direction of the tunnel exit and continued to walk down the stair path. As they walked Aro recounted to them everything Moza said to him. He told them about Moza's father who was the creator of OZ and his untimely death. He told them about the abuse Moza suffered from the guardian she had to live with. . He told them about Moza's genius brother who in real life went insane and escaped from an mental institution. How he wants to get rid of her, so that he's the only heir to OZ. He told them how Moza was on the run. Then finally he told them of his theory.

His theory was that Thor who was already known as an elite hacker somehow found away to trap the consciousness of OZ players inside of the game. His plan would be to trap Miza inside of the game and kill her here, so that she'd be forever unconscious in the real world. He'd get away with murder. As Aro finished they approached a doorway.

The exit.

Once on the other side. They found themselves in a marsh. Aro looked around curiously at the trees that blocked out the sky. When he realized where they were he snapped around trying to go back the way they came, but the doorway vanished. He cursed. "We're not in the mountains anymore. We took the wrong path...this is Grigori's Marsh of Death. Where Dog Demon x Pixie War Special event is taking place..." The Dog Demon x Pixie War was a special event that would be going on all week. It hosted special missions that allowed characters to select powerful New classes for limited time only. Aro had his eye on the Anarchist class. To start you had to either ally with the Demon side or the Pixie side. If you were unallied with either they would both randomly attack you.

The ground began rumbling beneath their feet. A fury of deafening roars erupted around them followed by massive creatures that tore through tree branches and ran at the group with bulging vein covered muscles. Aro's eyes widened. "Pixies!!!! Run!!!"

Sam
Sam didn't need to be told to run. He was already in the air and flying as high as he could to escape the things. Pixies were nasty at the best of times, but he had heard that their likelihood of attacking and making hits had been upped just for this event. As soon as he was out of range he remembered Jacob, Aro, and Mozaik still trapped on the ground. He started flinging fireballs at the little beasts as fast as he could. At the first sign of a lull in the garage he swooped down and helped Jacob with Moza. "Come on!" he cried, casting a Wall of Fire spell behind them. "Let's move!"

Aro

Aro didn't waste another second. He turned and fled. He wasn't sure how long the wall of fire would hold so he did his best to put as much distance between the as possible. The forest around him turned into a blur of fluid brown and green as he ran. Suddenly he stopped and tried to summon his crimson Pegasus, but it did not descend. He looked up to the sky. It was completely blocked by the army of trees. "It's the same a cave dungeons...aerial summons are nullified." he looked ahead. Everyone was in such a frenzy he was being left behind. "Wait!" He began running again, but was smacked to the side by a large paw. He flew and rebounded into a nearby tree with a yelp and hit the ground. Gritting his teeth, he attempted to pull out his dagger, but was stopped when the same enormous paw slammed down on his back. He was pinned. Think Aro! Think!

Out of nowhere the beast's pressure dropped and released him as it toppled over. He pulled himself up to see an enormous copper colored dog demon that was almost as big as a dragon. It was headless. Blood flowed from it's open neck. A top of the carcass stood a lean warrior with huge horns and an even bigger axe adorned with a skull.

She turned and gave him an obnoxious glare. "Don't be so boring. Get up and do something."

Aro stared back at her quizzically. "Who...are you...?"

She frowned as if his question annoyed her. Then in an instant a gang of dog demons that resembled werewolves jumped from the trees tossing a spiral of spear in their direction.

Cherry

Cherry back flipped off of the dead dog giant, dodging the incoming spear and landed behind Aro. She scooped him up and tucked him under her arm and hopped into the air. Using her axe to swing from a tree branch, she propelled herself, landing on a far away tree branch then proceeded to race forward. She was going to return the midget to his companions. "Make a right! And climb the biggest tree at the end of the path! There's a tree house up there! The mobs won't follow you up there!" She leapt from the branch she just landed on and disappeared into the trees. Using a short cut she knew she reached and scaled the biggest tree at the end of path. She dropped the boy on the floor and peered down to see if the others were in any distress.

"This is annoying..."

Jacob
Jacob dragged Mozaik along as he and Sam scrambled to get away from the pixies. Pixies, ha. More like baby fairies from hell, he thought. The trees dodn't serve as much protection, spaced out as they were. As he pulled Moza up onto small ledge, he heard the terrifying baying of true hellspawn. The demonic dogs were on them in no time, snapping at his legs when he tried to kick them back. Jacob didn't want to risk dropping Moza, but he feared that he would have to draw Ayumu Daiki.

The sword was still not settled from their fight with the not-pirates, and using it now could mean disaster. Moza was still unconscious, Aro was no where to be seen, Sam was, well, he was Sam. Who knew if he would be super ninja, like on the ship, or a total wuss. Jacob tried desperately to think of a way out, but fighting off the hellhounds without weapons was taking all his attention. He could nay hope that Sam would end up being brilliant or that someone would save them.

Sam
Sam used a Breath of Fire spell to ward off the hellhounds, when they came. Barely a half minute later he was out of mana. He didn't even bother to consider using his demon, and went straight to escape options. Jacob seemed to be tiring fast, and Aro was gone, maybe dead. The ledge they were on brought them even farther into the pixies range, and the creatures were going nuts for his wings. He had already felt at least four feathers get pulled off, and he could feel a dozen more being tugged at. Caught between demon dogs and pixies. He definitely didn't want to go like that. Sam racked his brain for some scrap of information that would ge them all safely out.

As one the pixies started up a screeching war chant, he remembered the event's description. It had been weeks since the email, but he forced himself to remember. He began muttering the phrases in the ad, "One week only. Take on a new class. Fight for your side. Pixies versus hellhounds, choose your side and battle it out. Call on other members of your team to aide your fight." As soon as he said it, he saw the way out.

"Join the pixies!" Sam shouted. He punched one of them in the face as he said it. It's an option in the Quests menu! Join the pixies and call for back up!" He shook out his wings to knock of the little winged devils and wrapped them around himself. He pulled p the menu quickly and prayed that the quests hadn't gone with the logout button. To his relief the request to "Choose Our Battle" was still there. He practically slammed his palm iponto the button. As soon as it was chosen, the pixies stopped plucking his feathers. The shrieks of "Kill the players!" turned to "Defeat the hellhounds!"

Sam grabbed Jacobs arm and pulled him through the trees. He kept Moza up as well, but it was already a huge burden to carry her. "Kelpy, Windstep, you guys take her," he said, stopping for a moment. Her whole body wouldn't stay on Kelpy without a harness of sone sort, but Windstep would probably be able to tug her into position if she started to fall too much. "Jacob, we're going to have to leave her somewhere eventually," Sam said. He was leaning against a tree, panting hard, but he forced his face to show that he was telling the truth. He also tried to make it determined, as if he was set on the decision, but failed miserably. Moza had been with him since the beginning, and he hated the idea of leaving her.

Death Cherry

"You might want to go to the event tab and join the pixies side. Pixies have Anarchy classes, plus they'll stop attacking you." She remarked as Aro ran over to the edge of the tree house and dove over it. Cherry rolled her eyes. "Hey! I wasn't finished talking to you!" She dove over after him.

"I appreciate your help, but I have other things that need my attention." He landed on a branched and peered around the forest searching for his Sam and the others.

Cherry landed on a branch next to him. "Of course because something more important always needed your attention, Aro the Guildless!"

Aro head snapped around to face her. He narrowed his eyes. "Who are you...?"

Cherry's cheeks flushed. "You bastard!" She reeled her arm back and took a broad swing at him with her enormous scythe. Aro back flipped off the branch and landed on the forest floor with big eyes.

"You're from the ColdVengeance clan, aren't you?" Aro questioned.

"Damn right!" Cherry brandished her blade and jumped from the branch swinging.

Aro

Aro's reflexes kicked in, he threw down a smoke bomb obscuring his opponents vision and made a break for it. It wasn't that he didn't think he couldn't take her. It was his guilt that ultimately made him decide to flee instead of fight. He jumped from tree to tree careful of any dog demons creeping around until he spotted Sam Jacob, Mozaik and Kendra. He swooped down before them. Concern on his face for Moza. "How is she?"

Jacob
"She's the same," Jacob snapped. It came out more harshly than he had intended. "Sorry." He knew that Sam's statement was true, but he didn't like it. They couldn't keep hauling Moza all over the place. "Sam, what about Thor? If we leave her alone he's bound to send something to attack her." Jacob knew he clutching at straws, but he couldn't help it. He hated that they couldn't do anything, trapped in Oz.

Sam
"We can set some tea sand guard charms around her, and I'm sure Star'll protect her mistress," Sam said. He recognized Jacob's desperation. It was similar to the hopelessness that he had felt after what happened to Mira. The memories made hm clench his teeth. They were things he'd really rather not remember, especially here. "Come on, we need to go before the hellhounds reach us. I don't like the pixies' chances against those beasts." He stood up and walked deeper into the forest. Thinking about Mira was always a mood killer, but now he had to worry about Moza too. Kelpy, Moza still on his back, followed Sam. They were headed toward what looked like a small clearing, but it was hard to tell from their distance.

Aro

"Something is distorting her character encryption."

Aro turned to see the girl from early who sauntered forward carrying her scythe. Aro instinctively yanked his dagger out prepared to fight. Her eyes landed at Aro but moved back to Moza. "She's been infected with a virus. It's something I've seen hackers do to other hackers with altered characters in MMOs. I saw you guys join the pixies. If you leave her anywhere it should probably be in the Pixie village's high temple. Killing isn't allowed there."

"Who are you...?" Aro asked her.

"You really don't remember me do you, Aro the Guildless?"

Aro shook his head.

"I'm Death Cherry. Rank number 17 on the leader board. I used to be in your old clan. Remember the one you robbed then abandoned? ColdVengeance?" Her eyes narrowed.

Aro's skin went white. "That was so long ago...."

"So, What we're all still hunting you down and we're going to PK you and until you quit playing OZ."

Death Cherry

Though Cherry wanted to shred Aro with her recently obtained skill set, she didn't. Or atleast she wouldn't yet. Something very odd was happening. first it was that there were no players online at the moment. Now, it was this obviously hacked character's encryption code that was bugged out. Something very strange was happening in Oz and she had the foreboding feeling that it had something to do with this particular group of players.

'I won't exact revenge on you yet, though. Something odd is happening in Oz." She was now walking with them. "None of you wouldn't happen to know what exactly it is, would you?"

Jacob
The new girl unsettled Jacob, especially her familiarity with Aro. She did know what was wrong with Moza, though, so he decided to trust her. He smiled at her. Now that he was used to Sam's ridiculous pace, it was easier to talk and walk at the same time, so he began telling her everything that had happened to them. He was just about to reveal the fact that the evil hacker was actually Mozaik's insane brother when they reached a clearing. The change was abrupt. One second they were in forest twilight, then suddenly the sun was blinding. Jacob held up his arm to block the sun. "Well, if we leave Moza here at least she'll get a nice tan," he joked. He chuckled nervously, trying to conceal his anxiety.

Sam
Sam stifled a laugh at Jacob's joke. It was obvious the poor guy was close to a break down. He signaled for Kelpy to let Moza down. Windstep helped as best he could, but Sam had to go over and lift her down anyway. Once he had Moza laying on the grass with a nice leafy pillow, Sam went into his inventory and cast his last trap around her. He turned to the others. "Do you guys have any guard charms or anything? Mine'll only zap the first thing that comes through and alert me." He couldn't quite keep the strain out of his voice. Stopping his memories and guilt from overwellming him was becoming difficult. He figured that once they had Moza protected he could disappear for a few hours and hunt the hellhounds. Slaying digital monsters was great for stress release.

Aro

Aro ran over to help lay some guard charms over where they laid Moza. When he was finished the spot where Moza was became guised by the image of a large thick tree. "This should do." He felt odd standing up from the spot where he laid the charm. Something inside him was tearing away at the thought of abandoning Moza here. His mind jumped to the image of when Moza's head rested on his chest up on the mountain cliff. Was what he was feeling more than the pain of abandoning a friend? Was he starting to feel something...more for her? He felt his eyes begin to water, then shook his head.

"Let's get going." He said to everyone. "Besides, I think Kendra is still on the mountain. She wasn't with us when we entered the marsh. The portal probably disappeared before she could exit the tunnel." Then turned to Death Cherry. "I'm no hacker, so I don't know how this stuff works, but can you tell us how to help Moza?"

Death Cherry seemed to be taring into space with an expression of utter disbelief on her face. Had she not known about not being locked in Oz before Jacob explained their journey thus far? It seemed so. She hadn't responded. "Uhh....Death Cherry are you alright?"

She seemed to have snapped back to reality or virtual reality at least. "Yeah...I'm fine. Just a little shocked. Thor, huh? And you said Alkim was supposed to lead you to him, but you entered down the wrong path. Well...I'm not a good enough hacker to remove the bug. I could probably have removed it if it was weaker, but it's pretty advanced. Way out of my league. The only way I can see it being removed is if you make Thor do it himself."

Death Cherry

Cherry couldn't believe what Jacob had told her. Locked in Oz by a hacker. Was there a hacker so advanced that they were able to do it? For what Purpose?! Perhaps thats what Jacob was about to tell her before he stopped speaking. Before he could continue, Aro of Guildless began to speak to her. Though she despised him, looking at his face and the expressions of the others sobered her anger. She felt remorse for them. They all seemed to be so troubled by what was happening to their companion. She was seeing with her own eyes what true comrades were.

"You guys wouldn't stand a chance against Thor," She stated, planting her enormous scythe into the ground next to her. "Well, not the way you guys are now. Thor is an old player, but his strongest assets are probably his hacks. All hackers are the same way. The one's who start out with hacks are the least skilled players." She paused crossing her arms and placing a thoughtful finger on her temple. "I think if we are able to nullify his hacks. The four of us could stand a better chance against him even if his level is high, but the chances of winning then is still probably slim."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Aro asked.

"I can apply some hacks to your weapons. More like Anti-Hacks. All I have to do is add some anti data streams into their encryption and they should nullify his hacks on impact. It's usually how we,Mods, get rid of hackers in Oz."

"Wait...you're a mod?" Aro asked incredulously.

"Yeah. Anyway, if we're going to face off against him you guys have to get stronger. You guys seem pretty geared up already." She gestured towards Jacob's sword. "But that won't be enough. He's not just lethal because he's a hacker. He has followers and they're just as mischievous. I can help all of you get Anarchy classes and weapons. If I combine you're Anarchy weapons with the one's you have now, you'll be 10x stronger than you are now. All of you. Just follow me. I'll take yo to the pixie village so we can start your Anarchy quest."

Sam
Sam scoffed at Cherry's comment about hackers. Mozaik had seemed plenty strong when she took down that troll by herself. Too bad she would have to be left behind. He reached up and patted Star's nose. "Take care off her," he said, not looking the dragon in the eye. He couldn't help comparing Moza to Mira, and it was starting to make him furious. Death Cherry was partially right at least; Sam was going to need to get much stronger. He wanted to be completely in control when he killed Thor. Of course, he would use his ressurection potion on the loser so that Jacob could have a go, too. "Lead the way, oh great moderator," he said mockingly. He bowed and swept his arms in the direction he figured the pixies were. It was easy to pretend flamboyance. Mods were the equivelent of cops, and his father had drilled into him to never show his true face to police.

Jacob
Jacob frowned at Cherry's implication that his sword wasn't strong enough. He hoped that it was only because she didn't know how powerful it was, and not because it was actually weak. He could barely handle the Winds now, he couldn't imagine trying to wield anything stonger. He knelt down by Moza to say a last goodbye. No, not last. Just for now, he scolded himself. Looking at her, his hand went to Ayumu Daiki. He had never really hated anyone before, and he didn't like the taste of it. He forced his anger at Thor into a mental box and locked it. There was no time for it now.

Jacob stood up, his resolve clearly showing on his face. He had always wanted to defeat Thor, but now he was truly determined. Even feeling so serious, a small smile tilted the corners of his mouth at Sam's jest. Jacob knew him well enough to know that even if he couldn't see it, Sam was as ready to beat Thor as he was. "Alright Cherry, I guess it's time to go on a quest. I'll keep my own sword, though. It's plenty strong."

Black Cherry

Cherry gave Jacob a thumbs up. "You're confidence in your Ayumu Daiki is admiral!"

"Don't you mean, admirable?" Aro corrected.

Cherry rolled her eyes. "Thats what I said." Before Aro could open his mouth again, Cherry spoke. "Follow me." She led them through the forest into the pixie village where they were all supposed to accept the Anarchy quest from the pixie elder.

"We have to kill a thousand hellhounds!?" Aro screamed incredulously. "We don't have that kind of time!"

"Look, it's necessary. Besides I'll show you a place where they gather in mobs and help you guys out. You'll hit a thousand in no time if we all do it together." She then took them to a hill over looking a clearing in the woods were a group of hellhounds were wandering around. There they formed an official party, so they could share the kills. "Ready to go on a rampage?" She asked with a twisted expression and then diving into them before anyone could respond.

Aro

"That's unbelievable...she's killed fifty in just a minute....Is that the power of Anarchy classes?" he said before spinning to kick a hell hound that was charging toward him and then twisted back around to slash another one with his dagger causing it to explode in a ray of light.

After about forty minutes they hit their five hundred mark. Aro did his best not to complain. He only continued to fight and fight and fight. Envisioning himself taking down Thor and forcing him to undo whatever it was he did to Mozaik. Then what? After this experience, would he just return to Oz? Would he never play again? What about his relationship with his new friends? What would the outcome of the end of this journey be? Things he contemplated as he continued to kill.

HellHound Kill Count: 700