[center][color=khaki][h3]Azga the Amazing[/h3][/color][img]http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll12/Shiori_Utsuri/cutmypic_zps5eyzku11.png[/img][/center]

He'd been so pleased to see Verdant go down so quickly, and with so much of his life drained. He didn't even notice at first when he attempted to go  in for the next blow, that his limbs refused to move.

It took Azga a moment.

His heart slowly sank into his stomach as his eyes shifted down to his arms, a blue, translucent hand wrapping its length around his wrists... as well as his entire body. His pupils shrank in recognition as a bead of sweat trickled, digitally, down the side of his jaw. The impact of the sudden force that brought him to his knees was tremendous, his head hanging downward with his jaw clenched tightly. 

He could barely hear the question Streak has asked him. It only barely registered what he said a moment after he'd spoken. A nervous, hesitant chuckle welled up from Azga's throat as his head heavilly lifted, his eyes tight with a certain dread.

[color=khaki]"It looks like we won't be getting that spar, afterall."[/color]

He grinned, his body visibly trembling under strain.

[color=khaki]"It's my fault. I'm sorry."[/color] His head lowered once more, the hands were hurting him. [color=khaki]"Get out of here, Red King."[/color]

[color=red["What?"[/color] the Red King asked, not sure what Azga meant. [color=red]"The enemy is retreating and there's no one else near our location. Azga, tell me what's wrong."[/color] He leaned down now in the effort to see if something was holding the other Player down. Unfortunately he couldn't see anything and briefly wondered if this was the work of something illegal. [color=red]"Is it a hack holding you down?"[/color]

Could Azga really say? He swallowed, his throat felt tight but not from a hand. His blue eyes peer over to look at the Red King as best as he could from his position. 

He hesitated.

[color=khaki]"It's a program,"[/color] He practically spat the words out. [color=khaki]"Forget hackers... it's completely legal. It's the game, Streak... The program, he's behind everything. He doesn't like what I've done. You [i]need[/i] to get out of here...!"[/color]

The game? What was Azga talking about? Not understanding himself, he did as he was told and zipped about in a mad dash. Azga seemed pretty on edge but he couldn't just leave him there like that. The Red King would instead seek help from someone who knew the game. It had to be a hack. What else could affect the game in such a way? As he departed, a force much harsher than ever before gripped Azga's throat, rearing back and slamming his face into the ground. Whatever it was that was causing this, it was seemingly very unhappy with the results.

Azga gasped loudly, gritting his teeth. The pain was intense, the suffocation felt too real--but it seemed his health bar refused to go down, dying would probably be a mercy for what was in store. Azga's teeth gritted as he glared at the hands that would be invisible to the other avatars, his jewelry jingling innocently as he struggled against the intense force around his neck. He swallowed around the hands on his throat.

[color=khaki]"What's wrong?"[/color] Azga gasped around the pressure on his windpipe, [color=khaki]"Don't tell me you're intimidated by something so minor..."[/color]

[color=00aeef]"Eheh, not that it's a minor kid. More of a major really. A major turnout for you trying to blow my cover here,"[/color] said a taunting voice. One blink and the grinning form of Blue Joker stood before Azga, a tilt of his head and a wink of his eyes serving as a greeting. [color=00aeef]"Pleasure to meet you Erika Mitsuki. Don't believe we've ever met proper now have we, eheh."[/color]

[color=khaki]"Chaaaarmed! So very charmed! Hh,"[/color] Azga swallowed painfully again around the tight grip of his throat and the sting of the rocks against his face. [color=khaki]"Of course I know who you are... I don't think it gets much more intimate than... hh.... being broken..."[/color] Azga couldn't complete what he was trying to say, grunting against trying to escape or at the very least, loosening the grip of the several hands that seemed to be all over him. His blue eyes, so similar to her own in the real world, glared up at him. [color=khaki]"A pleasure."[/color] It was all he could manage, his heart beating out of his chest barely hidden, though fairly obvious to the larger being, by stark sarcasm. 

[color=00aeef]"Eheh, it doesn't sound like it's a real pleasure for you kid. How'd you end up on the ground sucking dirt like that?"[/color] Blue Joker said casually. His grin present all the way, he walked around Azga's form without much cause or reason. [color=00aeef]"Ehhh, let's just cut to the chase kid. You trying to blow my cover and all that. In fact, you've been making things pretty hard for me lately too. How's about you turn back to your senses and come work for me again, eh? Or does the Red King really got your heart in a flutter? Eheh, you know kid, you're supposed to be playing for the winning team. Or maybe I need to remind you about that, eheh?"[/color]

Azga panted against the hands on his body, on his throat. Memories of being ripped apart countless times, of being trapped in an abyss of lines of code and being those lines of code and losing and regaining so many pieces of what came to be a fractured mind... Azga's fist clenched, the knuckles white.

[color=khaki]"What do you want?"[/color] He couldn't do it. He couldn't do it again. No more, he didn't want to return to that hell but he realized, slowly, that he just pissed off the only thing that could bring him back to that. Digital tears pricked at his eyes as his jaw clenched tighter. Fear bloomed in his chest and reddened his cheeks. 

[color=00aeef]"Eheh, yeah that's right. You're remembering all your hours spent in that place. Savor it,"[/color] Blue Joker said, pausing in his step. [color=00aeef]"What I want? Frankly kid, what don't I want? My plan's been going smooth sailing for a while now and I'm at the top of my peak. All it takes is for one player with a big mouth to screw all that up,"[/color] he continued, snapping his finger and pointing down at Azga. [color=00aeef]"Ehhh, that big mouth's gotta be you buddy! But don't fret. I can overlook your behavior so far if you start working for my friend the White King. Gonna need all sorts of help to finish this bad boy out, am I right? So what do you say kid, buddy, pal?"[/color]

Azga opened his mouth to respond, but then paused, a thought occurring to him. He shifts against the ground, his face dirty from being shoved there, peering up at the Blue Joker. 

[color=khaki]"Why does it matter... to you... which king I spend my time with? You're a program... so why should my human matters... or... whatever... involve you? Why did you choose the White King...?"[/color]

[color=00aeef]"Eheh, that's information for me to know and for you to never, ever find out pal. But maybe it has something to do with her....personality. Guess you could say I'm a sucker for the crazy chicks, eheh,"[/color] said Blue Joker. [color=00aeef]"What's it to you? I got my reasons; same as you with the Red King. Bet he'd be real pleased to find out what's really going on. I'd have to do something about that in the nastiest way possible-oh, but we wouldn't want that, would we friend?"[/color]

[color=khaki]"Don't you touch him!"[/color] Azga spat the words out, louder and sharper than he'd intended to, his eyes fill up with their own malice as his head briefly jerks up from the grip of the hands on his body. Every fiber of his being wanted to attack the Joker right that moment, but the rest of him refused to move. [color=khaki]"Don't you touch him."[/color] Azga said again, softer this time but with the same anger in his blue gaze. 

[color=00aeef]"Then you better report to the White King as soon as possible then,"[/color] the Blue Joker said, his happy tone suddenly shifting. [color=00aeef]"Like I said kid, we're so close to letting our goals be reality. I'm not gonna let some bleating school girl ruin it all for me...eheh, why the long face? Cheer up pal! This way, you be on the happy side when the war's over."[/color] With that said, he turned away, the Avatar slowly fading from sight. As he did so, so too did the invisible hands holding Azga down. [color=00aeef]"Catch you on the flip side Azga,"[/color] were his last words before departing.

There was a very sour taste in the back of Azga's throat. A dark shadow fell over the eyes of the usually spunky avatar. Even after the hands had faded, the avatar slowly clenched the dirt in the palms of his hands, pressing the rocks into his palms until they bled.

-1 Damage.

Somehow, that was the most satisfying thing he'd seen all day. The witch doctor slowly sat up, sitting on his legs with his head down towards the ground in a lethargic, defeated posture. The truth was though that his blue eyes were burning with a steadily growing rage that took root in his abdomen until it flowered into his chest and made him raise his head. He wanted to scream. He couldn't say anything. He couldn't think anything. Because [i]he[/i] would be there.  

The sting of humiliation made him want to vomit. The blonde avatar picked himself up from the dirt, grasping at his staff on the ground nearby as he surveyed the now empty former battle zone. A blank stare on his face was all he could compose as he lifted his hand, opening his message board to send a message to the Red King.

His hand trembled over the keyboard, then with a loud, frustrated grunt, he waved his staff through the pop up control panel, dispelling it. He paced for several moments back and forth, trying to let off some steam before pressing his hands to his face. There's nothing he could do. All he could attempt right now was to somehow find the White King, as the Joker had said. 

That is, until a small idea crossed his mind. It wasn't a good idea. It was all he had. The Amazing magician signed out of DGO, his avatar dissipating in shimmer of light. 

[hr]

[center][color=cornflowerblue][h3]Erika Mitsuki[/h3][/color]
[img]http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll12/Shiori_Utsuri/fda62f8d-5d5c-4f33-a348-7c6b75bab55d_zpsi3vbhkot.jpg[/img][/center]

When Erika's eyes opened, her cheeks were covered in tears she hadn't even been aware of were there. She sat up from the pods the school provided for going into Deep Ground Online and wiped her face with the sleeve of her sweater. Her chest heaved as she got her bearings and looked over at where Michael had chosen his own pod for joining the Deep Ground world. He looked so peaceful like that, it made her heart flutter, and then made her stomach drop when she thought of what he would need to do. 

Climbing out of her own pod, Erika stared down at Michael, a blush on her face. Her hand slowly lifted to the fun, high ponytail she'd put her hair in for the event and slowly pulled out the red scrunchie she'd used to tie it up. Her dark curls dropped from the soft hair ornament and bounced around her face and shoulders in lively unison in stark contrast to the suddenly grim look on her face.

A deep desire to protect the red head in front of her was overwhelmingly powerful. It looked like she was going to need to play ball if she didn't want him to suffer for it. That meant she was going to need to do something she would very much regret. A whimper caught in her throat, she pressed the red scrunchie into Michael's hand and closed his fingers around it.

[color=cornflowerblue]"I won't let anyone dethrone you."[/color]

She said it barely above a whisper, but her eyes filled with tears and her chest swelled with pride. 

[color=cornflowerblue]"As your knight... I'll protect you. My King."[/color]

Erika leaned down, her soft lips pressing against his as he remained comatose. Then she tore herself away from him, running down the halls of the school with a fire in her eyes. She opened up her message board, to be sent to the White King.

[quote]
To: Chiyo Kuroke
From: Erika Mitsuki

The Joker has declared me to be in your audience. Meet me in the park.

Erika
[/quote]