by Randy Thao
It only took a few minutes for them to get to the back. Everyone was still on high alert just in case someone came walking along. There were three doors exact duplicates of each other at the end of the hall. Jessie had never been back here, so she gave a look of confusion.
"Jessie says she's not sure which one is Derma's room," Mara spoke.
"Only one way to find out right?" Bu whispered and stepped forward.
Dee grabbed Bu by the arm saying, "Hold on, I have an idea. Mara will be the one to check. If she is wrong, just say that you are the maid. Jessie how does Derma look like?"
Jessie stood there and started to describe with her hands.
"He sits in a hover chair. Has blond curly hair and about the same size as Dee," hesitated Mara trying to figure out the correct translation as Jessie nodded for every right guess.
"Alright Mara your up!' whispered Dee. Mara scrunched her face feeling uneasy as she straightened her cloak and stepped up to the first door.
The rest of them watched shifting themselves out of the way.
Knock knock! "Hello!" greeted Mara. "House cleaning...Hello?"
She walked in and looked around. Then she came back and shook her head. She then went to the middle door and did the same. Still no one. She finally went to the last door and took a deep breath.
Knock knock! "Hello!" Mara greeted again. "House...."
"Come in," replied a voice.
Mara freaked out and went in looking back at the rest of them letting them know that she had found him. She opened the door all the way for all of them to enter and slowly closed it from behind. Someone was in a glider wheel chair facing away from them. His hand could be seen on the arm rest.
Mara continued, "House cleaning.."
"You should know that this area is not a PVP ground," spoke the voice. "Who are you and what do you want?" He spun around to his right. His eyes almost jumped out of their sockets. He shot glances at Jessie and then at Dee. All over Derma's face and hands were skin blemishes and discoloration just as Jessie had described. Every time the sun made any kind of contact on his skin, it would swell, boil and then dry into a scab.
Jessie's eyes filled with tears. She started to sign with Derma as he signed in response. Jessie was frantically signing too fast for Mara to understand her at this point. There were no pauses in between so they just watched, but Dee knew something else. Derma looked very familiar despite the burn marks and scabs. It finally dawned on him that he and Derma have crossed paths before. The day they left the US Bank stadium in the parking lot. The look on his face through the glass windshield of the black Chevy model A4.7 Glider. He remembered his yellow curly hair and the frown on his face right before they took off. How his brain was able to recall it, no idea, but it was as clear as day now.
"I can't seem to understand. She's saying something about Gen forcing people out and that she didn't leave the guild," Mara struggled to translate.
"I had no idea," spoke Derma. "I had to leave my duties to Gen and plan things out until I was able to....to be healed. Is this true Jessie? Dammit Gen!"
Jessie nodded as Derma slammed his fist, but it caused him discomfort throughout his whole body. She quickly ran to him and tended to his need. Everyone sat in silence.
Breathing heavily, Derma sat thinking. Besides the trouble within his own guild, he knew there was something that also needed addressing.
"Dee," spoke Derma. Everyone looked over at him. They all pondered how he knew Dee's name. One way or another their confrontation had to be settled. "Star receiver of the Centaurs."
"Do you know each other?" asked Mara.
"Not quite," replied Dee.
"I don't know how to say it Dee. I'm sorry. I truly am. There is nothing I can do or say to bring them back," relented Derma. "As you can see the judgement has fallen on me, and my father since then is no more. He was a heavy drinker and drowned himself in alcohol."
Dee was once again reminded of that tragic day. The winning score, the smiles on his parent's faces, the glider that Derma was in and the darkness after, which came rushing back to him. There was no way of escaping the truth of their past. Mara and Bu went to comfort him. Tears filled his eyes and spilled over onto his cheeks. He quickly wiped them away.
Derma continued, "My rare disease Xeroderma pigmentosum, was inactive before the accident. From the treatment they gave me in the hospital, it somehow was triggered. That morning, I woke up in my bed and felt pain all over my body like I had fallen into a pit of fire. The doctors ran in and secluded me into a dark room. After, they ran a few tests and well...this is what it is."
Dee wasn't the only one suffering from the accident. Though Derma had no fault in what happened to his parents, he now physically carried the guilt on him with this condition. Dee got himself together. He knew exactly how Derma felt. There was no way he could blame him for his parent's death. After all, Derma's father was already gone. The best thing to do now is forgive and forget. They had bigger problems to deal with and better to settle this now then later.
"The past is the past Derma. There should be no reason for you to carry this guilt. You have my forgiveness. My father would have wanted it this way," spoke Dee. Derma nodded in agreement.
They informed each other of what they knew so far about RTU. Derma had Gen send some of the guild members out all over Pongblong to find a way out, but so far no solutions existed. Dee kept Keeper out of the conversation as he didn't want too many people to knowing therefore exposing her.
"So you say that the last boss has something that may get us out of here?" questioned Derma. "How sure are you? It makes sense that by defeating the end game boss, doors would reopen through the portal."
"We need to gather as many people as we can. I believe the quest is within the castle somewhere. Players need access back into BluaNu," explained Dee.
"I will get to it right away. Let me walk you out. There shouldn't be anyone awake at a time like this except me," whispered Derma as they made their way towards the door. He led them down the hall where they had come from. "I will hold a meeting to ban Gen from the guild to reopen the city gates again. From there we can....."
"Well well well..." came a voice from around the corner. Gen appeared with fifteen iron armored men all equipped.
"Gen! What is the meaning of this?" questioned Derma.
"You mean, what is the meaning of this?" mimicked Derma looking at each and every one of them standing next to Derma. "Looks like you know the truth now do you? Jessie, how have you been?"
Jessie gave Gen a dirty stare scrunching her nose in reply.
"Gen, you take orders from me! Remove these men from my sight and let us pass," demanded Derma.
"If you haven't checked, there's been a little change in the guild," sneered Gen.
Derma tried hard not to move as much. He slightly turned his head to the right, and his eyes started going through the menus. Raid menus appeared after a raid had been formed by the player and all those involved. He scrolled up and down looking for the menus to which there were no more. Derma's blood started to boil as his eyes jolted up and down, back and forth.
"Gen, you son of a.." started Derma as he was rudely interrupted.
"Now now, I love the raid regulations within RTU. If more than 70% of the raid members agree to remove the raid leader, then this will be granted making the next in command the new raid leader. I, Gen, am the new raid leader!" declared Gen. "Get these people out of my city."
The armored guards came from behind Gen and grabbed them all by the arms pushing them out of the Court of Kings.
"Wait!" Dee shouted. "Wait! I challenge you Gen. To a duel. If you win, we will remove ourselves away from here. Away from the city."
"A risk taker we have here. Dee is it? You and your friends were the ones that started that ruckus at the west gates. You actually think you can take on a high mage like me? Hahahahaha!" laughed Gen.
"But, if I win, you are to remove yourself along with your guild off of this city
!" demanded Dee glaring at Gen.
Gen returned the look with confidence sure that Dee had no chance of winning. He smirked and suddenly the look on his faced turned menacing. Who knew what thoughts were running through that mind of his.
"Deal," agreed Gen. "Meet me at the front gates. You have fifteen minutes to prepare or else the deal is off, and you all will be tossed out like dirty rags. Let these people go for now and prepare the torches. Let's show the rest of RTU that we are not to be taken lightly."
"Yes sir," replied the armored men. They marched back around the corner, and a door could be heard creaking open, then shut.
"What the hell were you thinking," questioned Mara. "You can't defeat Gen. Did you not check out his stats?"
Jessie in the back shook her head in concern. She signed for Mara to see.
"She says that Gen is a very high level Mage. She has not seen his full potential before, but how he took out the crowd of players with one spell tells a lot." Translated Mara.
"We have to hurry and think of a strategy. I don't know how you're going to pull this one off, but it's worth a try. I believe in you Dee," encouraged Bu.
Derma hovered around going back towards his room. "Follow me."
They all went back to the room and in the back next to the window was a rather large chest. Derma opened it staring at the items below. He then waved for Dee to come over. Not knowing what was in the chest, Dee walked over next to Derma.
"Yes?" Dee spoke.
"These are yours now," replied Derma.
Chapter 23 - Fight For BluaNu
Dee stood in amazement as his eyes glazed over the sight of a full set of armor reflecting in white silver and blue designs. He set focus, and the description read "Morning Star Full Amor Set".
"Derma, I can't take this. You worked hard to get it. It's yours," Dee said with a concern look on his face.
Derma smiled saying, "Dee, look at me. It's going to be a long time before I can be healed to use it. Our raid group got it from the Dark Crawler in the north on the second day. As raid leader, it was given to me. Take it Dee. Take it and defeat Gen!"
There were no words to say as Dee picked up the armor. He looked back at Mara, Bu and Jessie. In return, they nodded their heads. Accepting, the items disappeared into Dee's inventory.
"Equip," announced Dee. He stood up, and the Nano-bots went to work. Starting from the bottom of his foot and then up to his neck, the armor fitted to his body structure. It looked like he was in some sort of tech suit. Dee looked at himself and balled his fist to get a feel of his newly given suit.
"There's not much time Dee," reminded Bu. "We have to meet Gen out in the front."
"Wait there's one more thing," Derma exclaimed. On the wall was an object wrapped in cloth. "You will be needing this as well."
Dee grabbed it and slowly unwrapped the object. "Serious?" Dee smiled.
"Serious," Derma replied.
Dee grabbed the handle of the object and pulled it from underneath the cloth. A white aura appeared around it giving light to the room. The double edge sword reached out about four feet long and three inches wide, but it felt very light. The handle made of gold and in the center a clear stone was embedded within. Dee swung it towards the wall to get a feel of the sword comparing it to his other two. It cut the air leaving behind a trail of dust that continued its way to the wall causing a gash in it.
"That is the effect of this sword. Even if you don't make direct contact, it sends out an "Energy Wave" at the end of your swing that can also cause damage. It also possesses a limited amount of energy stored within. That, I have not figured out how to use yet. Maybe you can," explained Derma.
"Guys? Let's take back the city," declared Dee.
As they exited the Court of Kings, Gen had already set the stage for the duel outside of the city gates. A large area in front was cleared, and torches were lit along the perimeter with large round tin vases burning with incense sticks. All around them were players waiting for the duel to begin. They could see that those outside of the city were present as well. Tim seated in front within the crowd. They were split down the middle with RTU Elite members to the right and the rest of the other players to the left. Insults were hurled back and forth between both sides as they waited for the duel to begin. How news of the duel got out so quickly was beyond Dee. Little did they know that Gen wanted to make a statement tonight of their dominance.
"How the heck did this get out so quickly?" Bu whispered.
"Gen has always been that type of person to make a scene of things. Back on earth, he would have been disciplined for his actions or even kicked out of the guild. The rules here are different. Dee, you be careful. Gen is a very wise player as well as strong," Derma explained.
Dee felt nervous now that they could hear the crowd chanting and arguing. It was like going on stage for the first time. He was not used to all the attention since his accident. Football was football. This was a duel. As they came out of the gates, the players outside of the city roared in cheers chanting, "Dee, Dee, Dee!"
"Quiet.... I said quiet!" shouted Gen and with a snap of his fingers, a loud thunder cracked across the sky causing the ground to shake. The crowd came to a silence. "Where did you get...? I see, Derma so generous of you. No worries, this won't take very long."
"Don't be so cocky you bastard!" yelled Bu.
They made their way to the left side of the duel ground. Quiet chatter started again. Everyone stepped out of the ring except Derma and Dee.
"Dee, I've seen Gen's fighting ability. Watch out for his area effects. These spells will corner you. Once cornered, he will slice and dice you to pieces. You've played MMOs before, so I don't want to bore you with the obvious. One thing I have come to realize is that within RTU, you can overcome certain things in which you would be restricted in a digital video games," explained Derma.
"Right," Dee replied. "Derma, thanks again."
Derma nodded and hovered out of the area. Dee and Gen made eye contact. Neither one of them made a move as the noise of the crowd faded into the background. Their focus was set, and the wind was still. An incense had an inch of ash hanging for dear life. When the weight of it could hold no longer, it withered off falling onto the black dirt in the tin vases.
"Cross Slash!" announced Dee making the first attack.
He darted so fast players couldn't react quickly enough to follow. Gen aware of Dee's high agility and speed, set an initial magic trap that shot up a yellow transparent barrier the instant Dee's sword was about to make contact on Gen's head. It appeared to Dee that the trap was set before the duel even started. Dee almost ran into it and had to stop in mid-swing of his sword, twist out of the way and tumble across the ground. The crowd burst into cheers. Gen held up two fingers to his temple and recited something in a whisper. Red cracks drew on the ground starting underneath him as the source. Dee dashed out of the way before the cracks could reach him. Smoke rose from the openings expelling intense heat.
"Don't get cornered Dee!" shouted Bu.
Dee had to fight at a distance or try to get on the inside without stepping on a trap. No way was Gen going to let that happen. Casters such as Gen can do tremendous area damage that is very effective against big mobs. Though area damages do not deal much damage at first, they do multiple damages per second to a player within the affected area, which can prove to be deadly.
"Very good indeed. You're a lot quicker than I thought. This could get very interesting for a change," smirked Gen. He made a sign with his hands just below his ribs and chanted indistinctive words.
Dee, now back on his feet, thought about how he was going to penetrate Gen's traps. Approaching head on was not going to work as Gen would not engage in fear of Dee's high damage attacks. Dee ran around Gen staying at a twenty feet radius. Gen got done chanting and then began another change. The sky turned dark and immediately fireballs came thrashing down following Dee's path. The crowd filled with commotion of the scene.
"Whoa!" exclaimed De
e as he jumped out of the way from spot to spot. Almost right after he got out of the way of one, the next fireball was already on top of him. He glanced at Gen looking calm as ever. He was actually controlling where they were landing. "If that's the case let me bring the fire to you!"
Dee ran towards Gen in hopes that he would call the fireballs on himself. If he didn't, that would leave Dee an opening to strike. Gen watched waiting as Dee jolting left and right dodging the balls of fire.
"I got you now!" yelled Dee. He gripped his sword with both hands. About a foot away from Gen, Dee planted his foot for his first major blow, and it felt like it was going to be a solid one. Twisting his hips, the rest of his body followed. The sword cut at full speed with Dee ending his swing on the opposite side of his body. Gen's face went blank.
"He got him!" cried Mara hugging Jessie who was also filled with excitement.
Dee smiled. Then, he felt weak and fell on both his knees. SSppew!! The energy exited out from his back like a pierced soda can. The blank stare on Gen's face turned wicked as he paced behind Dee.
"What the hell?! It feels like I had just gotten hit by a cannon ball. Cough! Cough!" whispered Dee.
"Did anyone see just what happened?" Bu stuttered. "Derma?"
"It was another trap," stated Derma.
"Another trap?" hollered players in the crowd.
"Yes. It's an invert spell strap. The attack will be inverted back at the player causing no damage to the one being attacked, resulting in the attacker receiving the full impact," explained Derma.
Resting one hand on the sword and the other on the ground, Dee felt wobbly. He tried to get up, but failed to do so. Gen had already made his way behind him. It was a good fifteen seconds before Gen said anything. Dee waited for his final blow. He really put everything into that swing not intending it to come back to him like this.