.Hack//Escape

by -{BM}-

Chapter 8: The Plot Thickens...

19th April 2004

The characters and plot in this story are copyrighted by the author. However the concept of 'The World' is not. I take no credit for this; the credit belongs to Bandai Entertainment who used the concept in the animation series .Hack//Sign, .Hack//Dusk and .Hack//Liminality. (Pronounced Dot Hack)

***

"You met the creator?!" Cam asked in amazement as we walked back to the Chaos Gate to exit Windmill Plains. After a brief discussion with the group we decided to leave quickly after the battle was over just in case any of the Scarlet Knights had seen the battle from afar and wanted to ask me about my character level.

"Yes, he helped me." I replied as we reached the gate. "He maxed out my character level and sent me back into the battle."

"So you actually didn't die?" Romero asked, studying me very closely.

"No. Well, I think I did but the creator transported me to another area," I replied.

"Dave," Michael said as we all stopped at the gate, "What happened to you?" He asked and the expression on his face told me that he was both worried and confused.

As Romero and Cam teleported back to Midge Village I took his hand in mine and looked him in the eyes, "I'll tell you everything soon Michael."

"You, you sacrificed yourself for me?" He whispered with tears in his eyes.

"Michael, I would sacrifice anything for you," I replied, tears beginning to form in my eyes as well. As I said these words he slowly leaned towards me and our lips met in a passionate embrace, when we stopped we both looked up and saw Bill standing there looking at us with a big smile on his face, Ian and Hugh must have teleported while we were kissing.

"Let's get back to Elysium. We can talk and act more freely there," Bill said as he walked up to the gate and transported himself.

***

"Hey Dave, what the fuck are you playing at man? You said we could have some fun killing off the fag group and instead we're annihilated and I loose the items and experience from a whole day of playing!"

Dave stopped walking through the shopping crowds in Midge Village and turned around to face the large boy and his two cronies. He smiled to himself when he realized who it was, and how weak they were despite their size.

"Go fuck yourself Brad," he answered. "I didn't know that the fag group was that strong, especially their new recruit. If you have a problem then lets teleport outside town and we'll settle it the proper way, otherwise get the fuck out of my face before I decide to break a rule and kill you right now."

At these words Brad and his two cronies stepped back, eyeing Dave with apprehensive looks.

"S-s-sorry Dave. I didn't mean it like that. It's just that..."

"Yeah yeah yeah," Dave interrupted. "Just fuck off and leave me alone you useless shit."

"Uhhh... sure," Brad replied as he and his two friends turned around and walked away quickly.

"Useless... They're all useless," Dave sighed to himself as he walked down an alley to escape the shopping crowds. His fists clenched in anger as he remembered the embarrassment of being defeated by a fag. What made it even worse is that it was the second time that Articus had escaped him. He began to punch the wall in a fit of rage as the events kept running through his head, how did Articus gain so much power in a short amount of time? He was new to the game only a few days ago and yet he unleashed a high level spell that had the ability to decimate countless attackers.

"Those are nice eyes."

Dave nearly jumped out of his skin and looked in the direction of the voice. It came from down the end of the alley but it was too dark to see who it was.

"Who are you? Show yourself," Dave demanded, taking out his sword as an added precaution.

"There is no need for your sword young David, I have not come to hurt you," the voice hissed and Dave could just make out a large figure moving towards him.

"Those were some nice eyes you had before," it hissed and as he squinted his eyes, Dave could make out the figure of a large man.

"Who are you mister? And why do you like my eyes so much?" He asked, trying to compose himself and not look frightened.

"Me? Well, you can call me Mr. C. And to be honest, I don't like your eyes at the moment; they are showing fear and weakness. But I did like them before when you punched the wall. They were full of hatred and strength."

"Why are you called Mr. C?" Dave asked, wondering if he should turn and run while he still could.

"Well," the voice began to reply and Dave heard it chuckling, "Because I love chaos, just like you David," he answered. "But I'm not here for introductions, I wasn't going to help you, I originally thought you were weak. But after witnessing the little display of you and your friend Brad and after seeing the incredible potential you have for hatred and destruction in your eyes before, well, I've actually decided to help you."

The man finally moved into the light and Dave stepped back in confusion and horror. He was wearing a black tuxedo with a small red bow tie and was carrying a large cigar in his left hand. But that wasn't what shocked Dave so much, it was his face. It was covered with what looked like massive cuts from a weapon, the cuts were festering and his face was covered in puss. From the mass of horror Dave could make out two glowing red eyes that were peering at him behind his excuse for a face.

"W-w-what are you? You're not a character; I've never seen anybody like you."

The man chuckled. "Yes, true, the CC Company would have never designed a character like me; there are children in this game after all. I'm a self designed character and I found this image to be fitting of my inner most desires of chaos and malice."

"So you designed your own character, that means you work for the CC Company then," Dave said as he took a step back.

"Yes, but enough about me. I'm here to help you and make sure that you are never defeated again like you were earlier today on Windmill Plains."

"H-how did you know about that?" Dave asked in amazement. He immediately regretted asking as Mr. C's two red eyes began to glow fiercely.

"That's not important! What is important however is what I have for you here." He reached into his jacket pocket with his spare hand and pulled out a really small treasure chest. "Here, take this and open it," he said as he walked forward and handed it to Dave.

"What is it?" Dave asked as he looked at the chest in his hands.

"Once you open it, it will raise your character level to maximum. It also contains a small list of the special abilities you will acquire once you reach maximum level. This is what happened to the boy you call Articus, he was given power and abilities by another person as well and used them to repel your attack on his group."

"That little fucker," Dave said to himself as he opened the chest, a red glow surrounded his character as he reached into the chest and pulled out a piece of paper. As he read the list of things he could now do a large smile broke out on his face when he realized all of the things he could do to the fags now.

"There they are, those beautiful eyes, showing evil and power," Mr. C said to himself as he watched his new apprentice read the list of his new abilities.

"Why are you doing this?" Dave asked as he tucked the paper into his belt.

"I have a long list of reasons why I'm doing this David. There are two main reasons though, the first reason is the same reason why you opened that chest, I can't stand homosexuals. The second reason is that I have a longstanding feud with the person who gave Articus his powers, he is called the creator and our views on what's right and wrong in this world and the real world differs greatly. Which brings me to my next point; I know you've been spying on a little shop on the outskirts of Midge Village."

"Yeah," Dave replied. "The fags always go there for hours on end and I suspect that it leads to some sort of hideout."

"Your deductions are quite accurate, now come with me so I can tell you about the creator and how to access a little place called Elysium. It's normally inaccessible to people with our opinions but I have just discovered a way that will allow you and your friends to get in."

"I'm listening," Dave said as he followed his new best friend thorough a door that had suddenly appeared in the alley.

***

"And that's what happened," I said, sighing with relief after finally telling the group the whole story.

"Wow," said Bill as he finally sat down on one of the armchairs in the room. He was the only one who remained standing during my tale and for some reason; he seemed the most confused by it as well. When we had all teleported to Midge Village Cam made sure we all immediately made our way to the store and took the portal to Elysium. He was worried not only about the Scarlet Knights, but also about any of Dave's friends who might have logged back in and were looking for revenge. I looked around at all of my new friends who were sitting with me, all of their faces showed fear and confusion, except for Romero, who was smiling.

"Well I for one am glad the creator intervened, otherwise we'd all be logging back in right now and Dave and his posse would think that they can always pick on us for a cheap thrill," Romero said as he smiled at me in appreciation.

"He's right," added Hugh "Thanks Jim, you saved us all and sent a message to all of the homophobes out there that we're not going to take all of the physical and mental anguish anymore."

"You're right Hugh," said Cam, who before now was looking at the ground. "But I believe that our victory today might have started something, something really big."

After he said this he got up and began to walk towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Asked Ian, whose look of confusion matched the faces of everybody in the group except Bill, who began to follow behind Cam.

"Out," he replied. "I have to talk to the other moderators," and with that he opened the door and he and Bill left the house, leaving the rest of us wondering what the hell was going on. It was at that moment that I happened to glance at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room and I nearly fell out of the chair in panic when I saw that it said the time was 3:45, shit! Dad would be home in fifteen minutes, or he could even be home right now, his note said he would be back around 4!

As I hopped out of my chair and picked up my staff that was resting on the wall next to me the rest of the group began to get up and head towards the door, saying their goodbyes on the way. I looked at Michael who was standing a few feet away from me with his staff in his hand.

"I've got to go," he said as he headed towards the door without looking at me.

"Wait Michael, I have to go too," I said and I grabbed his arm as he walked past me. When he turned around I was shocked to see tears in his eyes, "Michael, what's wrong?" I asked frantically as he tried to pull his arm away from my grasp.

"You sacrificed yourself for me," he replied between sobs. "You shouldn't have, I'm not worth that."

Suddenly I found myself becoming angry, angrier than I've ever been. All of Michael's comments about himself from the last few days were ringing in my mind, fueling a rage in me that I never knew I had. I tightened my grip on his arm and pulled him towards the stairs leading to the second floor of Cam's house.

"W-what are you doing?" He asked nervously as we began to climb the stairs.

I was too angry to answer him. In my mind I was debating whether or not to ask him what was going on in his real life that is causing him to doubt his self worth. My previous conversations with Cam and the Doorman were ringing through my head, making me feel a tad dizzy. As I reached the top of the stairs I pulled Michael into the first room on the left with me and when we were inside I pushed him up against the wall and glared into his eyes that were showing a large amount of fear.

"Why, why do you put yourself down like that?" I asked him, trying to keep my anger so that I wouldn't break down and cry as I looked into his eyes that were showing hurt and confusion.

"What do you mean? It's the truth, I'm not putting myself down, I'm just telling the truth..."

"NO!" I yelled before I could stop myself. "Michael, you are not worthless. I love you, do you hear me? I love you! And I can honestly say that you the most perfect person I've ever met. Why do you always say that I don't deserve you, sometimes I feel that I'm the one who doesn't deserve you." I took a deep breath, trying to hold in the sobs that were forming in my throat. Michael looked at me with wide eyes as I finished my speech. A few moments of uncomfortable silence passed and suddenly he collapsed. I managed to catch him and he buried his face into my robes and began to cry. We stayed like that for five minutes, him sobbing into my robes and me apologizing and whispering comforting things in his ear as I kissed the top of his head. Finally he stopped crying and lifted his head out of my robes,

"You don't understand Jim," he said with tears still in his eyes.

I leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips. "Then make me understand," I replied. Suddenly I heard the grandfather clock downstairs chime four times, signaling that it was now four o'clock. A huge mental battle took place in my mind, trying to decide whether to stay here with Michael or log out before Dad gets home. My stomach turned as I realized that he could already be home, looking at me wearing the headset while I'm sitting at my computer. I sighed in defeat, no matter how much I wanted to help and comfort Michael right now, I really couldn't afford to be caught by Dad. If I was caught you could be certain that I'd never see Michael again. I looked at Michael and saw understanding in his eyes,

"You have to go, don't you?" He asked.

"Yes," I replied with a sigh. "I'm so sorry Michael, I really want to stay here and talk but if my Dad catches me online he'll stop me from ever logging on again."

"That's okay," he said as he wiped his face. "I understand, could we meet up tomorrow sometime then?"

"Count on it," I replied. "I just have to find a good time to log on, I'll email you once I'm in and we can meet up."

"That sounds great. I'm normally logged on all day during the weekends, unless um... well, don't worry about it" he added suddenly looking at the ground.

I decided to ignore that last comment; we would have plenty of time to talk about the meanings of his disturbing comments tomorrow.

"Look Michael I know that something is happening or has happened in your real life and tomorrow we'll talk about it, okay?"

"Okay," he replied.

I leaned in and we shared one more kiss and I was breathless as I said goodbye and opened the door. As soon as I was outside Cam's house I immediately sprinted towards the spot where I could leave Elysium. I hurried out of the shop and made my way to the chaos gate at Midge Village.

***

A few moments later I was sitting at my computer desk. I quickly took the headset off and ran to the front door. I sighed in relief when I found that the door was still locked which meant that he wasn't home yet. However I paled when I heard his truck pull up outside. I immediately made my way to my room, locked the door and jumped into my bed, pulling the covers over myself. I hoped that if he thought I was asleep then maybe he would just leave me alone. As I heard the front door open and his footstep approaching my room I began to shake with fear. The shaking was completely involuntary and no matter what, I couldn't stop. I wish that Iorori was here right now and would protect me. As he stopped outside my door I curled up into a ball and closed my eyes, praying that when he realized that was I was asleep he would leave me alone. The door opened and tears began to form behind my closed eyes. When would the suffering stop?

"Wakey wakey sleepyhead."

My eyes opened wide I realized who that voice belonged to. I immediately jumped out of bed and nearly screamed in relief when I saw my Aunt May standing in front of me. She was obviously one of the people that had gone fishing with Dad. She was short and skinny, had short jet black hair with blue sparkling eyes and there were no signs of wrinkles on her face due to the fact that she was always smiling.

My Aunt May is probably one of the only reasons I hadn't gone completely crazy during the height of my misery, which was just after I was unwillingly outed by the way. She lives al the way down in Southern Detroit so I hardly ever see her, but when we visit her or when she decides to stop and visit I can actually feel safe because Dad doesn't dare beat her favorite nephew when she's around. Another reason I like her so much is that she's the only person so far who knows about my sexual orientation in the real world but doesn't hurt or ridicule me for it. I can still remember the conversation we had when she found out; she was staying over here and walked in on me during one of my regular crying sessions.

"Jimmy, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" she asked as she sat down on my bed.

"Everybody hates me Aunt May. I haven't got a friend in the world, all because I'm gay" I replied, still sobbing into my pillow.

"You're gay?" She asked. I remember nearly kicking myself at this point, outing myself to the one person who makes my life bearable. I raised my head off my pillow and looked at her, she was smiling at me and I was unsure of what to do next.

"A-are you mad?" I asked after a few moments of uncomfortable silence.

"My dear boy, of course I'm not mad. Being gay is nothing to be ashamed of, homosexuality is not a problem, it's an orientation and I'll always support you, no matter who you love or what you do with your life."

I'll never forget those words as long as I live. The feeling of finally being accepted for who I am filled me with undying gratitude for this woman who meant so much to me. I remember hugging her and crying on her shoulder for ages in relief at finally finding someone who won't hurt me for being different. I never told her about Dad and his beatings, it would break her heart to learn that her younger brother was so hurtful.

"So how is my favorite nephew?" She asked as I ran over and hugged her, jumping for joy the relief that it wasn't my Dad who was coming to my room. When he does that it normally means that I'm in for some pain.

"Ah, here you are May."

Speak of the devil. I involuntary stepped behind Aunt May as my Dad appeared in the doorway of my room. She didn't seem to notice my reaction and turned to him and smiled,

"Why John, what are you feeding him? He's grown so much," she said as she looked over at him. The smile on my fathers face didn't fool me; I knew he was just itching to hurt me. I think Aunt May knows that he hates the fact that I'm gay but she doesn't know how much he hates me.

"How long are you staying for Aunt May?" I asked, hoping that it would be for a while.

"Only for tonight Jimmy, I've got some work to catch up on so I don't have a lot of spare time but I decided to visit anyway. I phoned your Dad last night and we went fishing with some of his friends today."

"Well I'm going for a shower," my Dad said as he walked away.

I sighed as I sat back down on my bed. At least one night without any beatings is better than none. Aunt May sat beside me and put her arm around me,

"So how is everything Jimmy?" She asked.

"Good," I lied, not wanting her to know how messed up my life is.

"So, have you found anyone... special yet?" She asked with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Yes... yes I have." I smiled as I thought of how special Michael was to me.

"You have? Well that's great! You see? Just because you are a little different from everybody else that doesn't mean that you can't find someone who will love you for who you are," she said as she hugged me.

"Thanks Aunt May," I replied as I returned the hug.

"So where did you meet?"

"Ummm... at the mall," I said, deciding to lie just in case she unknowingly mentions `The World' in front of Dad. My eyes widened as I suddenly realized something, Michael and I have never actually met. Sure we've kissed and expressed our love for each other but that was only our characters in `The World' interacting, it wasn't us.

"So I take it that he's a very special person to have attracted the attention of my nephew?" She asked, still smiling at me.

"He's special alright," I said with a smile as I remembered all of the things we'd gone through today.

"Well I'm glad to hear that you haven't let your sexual orientation hinder your ability to be happy Jim. I'm going downstairs to make some dinner," she added as she got up off my bed and started to walk towards the door.

"Aunt May?" I asked, suddenly remembering something.

"Yes dear?" She said as she turned around.

"Please don't mention any of this to Dad," I said. I doubt she would on purpose but if there is one flaw about my Aunt, it's that she sometimes speaks before she thinks about any consequences.

"I understand dear, I won't say a word," she replied as she left the room.

Dinner that night was a very tense affair. What made it so tense was my Dad attempting to have civil conversations with me and due to me not wanting Aunt May to know about the abuse, I had to respond in a civil way as well for Aunt May's sake. At one point Aunt May asked about the front door and why I was locked from both sides but my Dad quickly replied that it was for security reasons and only he and I have the keys. I was so glad when I could finally excuse myself and trudge up to my room. As I lay on my bed I felt a great temptation to log onto `The World' and play around with my recently acquired skills. Thirty seconds later I had locked the door and was putting on the headset and beginning the logging in process.

***

As soon as I found myself standing in Lut Kalen I immediately made my may to the chaos gate and decided to teleport to an area that I had heard Cam talking about earlier called `Lava Mountain', where there are many high level monsters and players. I read the piece of parchment that I had received from the creator, trying to memorize the spells and their effects.

After using the chaos gate I opened my eyes to find myself standing on a large cliff. As I looked over the edge I saw a sea of lava slowly moving and bubbling below me. I looked up to see that I was actually standing inside the mountain, there was smoke and ash rising from the lava and it was so hot that I found myself sweating as I just stood there taking in my surroundings. The inside of the mountain was covered with small cliffs like the one I was standing on and there were small rock trails leading from one cliff to the next. I decided to go and find myself a monster of two and began to walk along a narrow rock trail to the next cliff. I gulped as I looked down while I was walking, one bad step and I would fall into the lava and holding my staff in one hand made it harder to keep my balance. Even though this is still a game falling hundreds of meters into a sea of lava wasn't something that I really wanted to experience.

After what seemed an eternity of edging step by step along the trail while trying not to think about what was below me I finally made it onto the next cliff. I saw a small portal around twenty meters and I readied myself for a fight. As I approached it began to glow and a few moments later a huge creature appeared. It had no eyes and had a huge mouth with no teeth. It looked like a dog because it was standing on all fours and it looked like it was made entirely out of rock. As I stood there gaping at it, it raised its head back as it took a deep breath. Remembering the devastating move that Iorori had preformed with his breath yesterday I immediately reacted. "Frozen Fortress!" I yelled as a pointed my staff at the ground in front of me. For a moment nothing happened and I thought I was totally screwed until the ground beneath me began to shake and ice rose up all around me. On the parchment it had said that this was the ultimate defensive spell and as the ice rose up around me I could see why. I looked through the ice to see the monster lurch its head forward and release a huge breath of fire. As it hit the ice I could feel the heat from the blast but the ice still held strong. Deciding it was time to end this fight so I immediately switched an offensive strategy. "Dispel!" I yelled as I pointed my staff at the ice and it immediately disappeared, the monster was still in front of me and was taking another deep breath. I pointed my staff at it and yelled "Ice Spikes!" A large jet of blue light shot out of the top of my staff and struck the ground just in front of the monster transforming the ground and the surrounding area into ice. I watched in awe as large spikes of ice rose from the ground, impaling the monster as it stood there. The monster roared in agony and collapsed onto the ice that was starting to disappear. As its body sank into the ground a treasure chest appeared right in front of me and I opened it to find a device that I didn't recognize at all. Oh well, I'll just look in the manual later of ask Cam to find out what it is...

"Well done. My, you are strong, aren't you fagboy?"

I turned around and looked at the owner of the voice. I smiled to myself as I saw the lightning sorceress that had tried to kill Michael during our battle today with two guys standing next to her. She was smiling as she glanced at the remains of the monster as it disappeared,

"Guys, you can both go and have some fun somewhere else. Fagboy and me want to have a little talk," she said as she focused her attention back to me. The two guys with her shrugged their shoulders at each other and began to walk back along the rocky trail to the next cliff.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet an opponent who's as strong as you," she said as she began to walk closer.

"I don't have to be your opponent," I replied. "We could be friends."

She let loose with a loud laugh that sounded more like a bark. "Friends? Hah! Not likely, you see my little brother is gay and I love tormenting him relentlessly, just like I was today before you so rudely interrupted."

It took me a few seconds to comprehend what she was talking about until I realized.

"You, you're Michaels brother?" I asked in shock.

"Yes I am, not willingly of course. I hate the little faggot, to think that he came from the same father as me is a disturbing thought. I don't know why Dad ever married his stupid bitch of a mother."

"So you're his step sister?" I asked.

"Yes, and the only reason I love having him around is so me and my friends can make his life a living hell. With help from my father who also despises his little `mistake' as well. It's quite funny when he calls Michael that to his face; we all have a good laugh of course."

My fists were clenched with anger. I had just learned why Michael believed he was worthless. I thought my home situation was horrible but his is much worse. Tears began to form in my eyes as I imagined all of the horrible things he must have endured with such a family.

"What about his mother?" I asked, wondering why she doesn't do anything to help her only son.

"That dumb slut has no say in what happens in our house. Dad makes sure that she never interferes. She works at some crappy bar in South Detroit somewhere as a stripper while Dad works at a garage."

My heart leapt. Michael also lives in Detroit! I didn't let my joy show on the outside as I continued to face this cruel monster standing in front of me. I've heard enough, its time for action. She bean to talk before I could do anything,

"You can never imagine the rage in me when you defeated our whole group. Then when I remembered that you sacrifice yourself for him I worked out that you must be a couple. So I took my rage out on Michael when I got back into the real world."

"Leave him alone! Your fight is with me you fucking bitch," I screamed, tears now pouring freely from my eyes.

"Ha!" She replied. "You can protect him in here but there's no way you can protect him in the real world. I don't know what you see in such a pathetic mistake anyway."

"He is not pathetic. He is a beautiful human being and I love him!"

"Hehehe, that's really funny since love isn't possible for fags," she replied.

"I've had enough!" I screamed, no longer able to control my anger. I looked off the edge of the cliff and saw a small platform by itself hovering in midair ten meters above the sea of lava. I pointed to it and she looked at it with an evil grin,

"So you want to fight me on that platform? You're on," she said as she turned her attention back to me.

"I'm really going to enjoy this." I said as I glared at her. "You can bring anybody else you want with you as well. I love going against a handicap," I said as I already knew that thanks to the creator, I couldn't be beaten anyway.

"Very well, see you there in five minutes," she said as she turned and began to walk away.

I walked the other way and slowly made my way over to the platform. As I walked Michael's sister's words still swam around in my head. They call him a mistake, his mother is a stripper, his father and sister continually torment him. As I reached the platform I could feel the anger boiling up inside of me, I was going to make sure that this bitch pays for all of her sadistic deeds.

As I walked across the platform to the other side I saw her standing with three other boys, the two she had with her before and another boy who looked around my age.

"So you didn't wuss out after all fagboy? Excellent! This is Roger, Lee and Randy," she said as she pointed to the two big boys and then to the boy who looked my age. "Randy is Michaels school bully, I emailed him to come here when I was on my way over here."

I looked at Randy with fire in my eyes. So, he was responsible for making Michaels school life a living hell.

"Heya fag, so you're the reason why Michael has began to smile a bit over the past few days. But some work done by me and my friends sure took care of that fact quickly, now he's as miserable as he ever was," Randy said as he unsheathed his sword and the two other boys did the same.

"Why," I sobbed thinking of all of the shit Michael was going through. "Why do you make him miserable?"

"Because," Randy replied. "He's a... fag!" And as he said that he and the other two boys charged at me with their swords.

The rage in me was now at a breaking point and I decided to make these vile creatures pay. "Ice Spikes!" I screamed as I aimed my staff at the ground in front of me, the ground in front of me turned into ice and the three boys screamed as huge spikes rose up and slashed through their bodies.

"That's a nice move," the sorceress said as he looked at her friends bodies slowly turn colorless and disappear. "But they were only fodder; I'm your real fight here."

I raised my staff and pointed it at her. "I'm really gonna enjoy this," I said as I smiled at her.

"So will I... Static Shock!" She screamed as she aimed her staff at me. I was caught off guard and her attack hit me, it didn't hurt but I couldn't move my body at all.

"Ha! Now you can't move, this fight is going to be too easy," she said as she aimed her staff at me again.

I laughed, "You must really think I'm an amateur, Dispel!" I yelled and I could move again.

It was my turn, "Ice Guardian!" I yelled and Iorori appeared in front of me in a cloud of smoke.

She smiled at the creature that had flattened her earlier today, "I didn't have the chance to use this spell earlier today but here it goes, Lighting Guardian!" The sorceress said as she pointed her staff at the ground. As the smoke cleared a huge silver snake that had to be at least forty meters long and five meters wide appeared.

"Go Iorori!" I yelled as the snake began to slither towards us. Within a few seconds it had wrapped itself around Iorori, something was wrong...

"Iorori, what's wrong?" I asked.

"It's this place," he grunted in reply as the snake tightened its grip. "It's too hot for me to get any power."

Shit! I am so dumb! Of course an ice guardian would have a hard time performing in a mountain filled with lava. The sorceress laughed as she watched her guardian tighten its grip,

"You are such a dumbass!" She laughed. "You may be strong but without true knowledge of your spells and your surroundings you will never be as strong as me."

I decided it was time to end this fight now and I still had an advantage since this sorceress was laughing so hard she wasn't even concentrating on the fight.

"Ice Spikes!" I yelled as I pointed my staff at her, and she screamed as the spiked impaled her. Her snake let out an angry hiss and disappeared. Iorori looked at me and I felt guilty for summoning him in such a hot place,

"Sorry Iorori, I should have known that you wouldn't have liked it down here."

"That's okay," he replied. "Just plan your battles in a wiser fashion in the future." And he disappeared.

I walked over to the sorceress, who was still alive and screaming,

"I may be a dumbass for not knowing about my surroundings but you are an ever bigger dumbass for not paying attention," I said as her body began to loose all of its color.

"Not to worry, I'll just hurt you by taking it out on your boyfriend once I log out. You will never be able to protect him outside of this game, see you around fagboy," and after she said that her body sand into the ground along with the ice as it melted. I sighed to myself in frustration, knowing that through trying to help Michael's situation I've gone and made it even worse.

***