[i]"Calm down, Ariel!"[/i]

[b]"How the hell can I stay calm at a time like this!?"[/b] Needless to say, the Red King - much to the dismay of the altogether forgettable student and guildmate standing near her outside the school building - was far from calm. She was furious. She'd already knocked out three other Harleys who tried to calm her down, and the pudgy blonde guy behind her could have easily been next. [b]"The Black King picked now of all times to come back,"[/b] Ariel ranted on, bordering on screaming. At least she had no problems going unnoticed. [b]"Why!? We were [i]this[/i] close, [i]THIS CLOSE[/i] to launching our plans, and now we have a whole new obstacle to take into account!"[/b]

[i]"Ariel, please take your medicine. We wouldn't want you--"[/i]

[b]"YOU AREN'T MY DOCTOR! I plan better when I'm riled up, so shut up and stand[/b]...aside..." For all of five seconds or so, the Red King finally stopped screaming at her subordinate. In all fairness, she should have taken her medicine; it was to keep her level-headed and stop her other personalities from taking the reins. Without it, she was a highly volatile bomb with a very short fuse, and after she finally explodes, it takes some time to put the pieces back together. Or, without using stupid metaphors, when Ariel gets riled up, her other personalities tag in. Her expression was blank to nonexistent, and during the brief switching-out process it almost looked as though she'd died or something. But sure enough, afterwards, her head perked back up, very much alive again.

[i]"Who are you?"[/i]

"Alex, of course. What's new around campus?"
------------------------------
[center][b]“Attention all players. I, the Black King, ruler of the Ebony Strykers, am allowing any and all to join my Guild. This will be the first time I have done so in the entirety of Deep Ground’s launch. Please, choose your allies wisely.”[/b][/center]

"Any and all, huh?" Just as well. Fiona O'Connor had yet to find a guild that suited her tastes. Joining one seemed to have its perks anyway, so may as well be one of the first members of the Ebon Strykers. Maybe that would be the guild for her. The Blue King's guild seemed to enjoy killing a little too much for Fiona's taste, she didn't feel like donating skills and weapons just to serve under the White King, and she [i]certainly[/i] wasn't going to help the Red King out. That bitch was crazy. The others just didn't stand out to her, at least not to an extent where she'd want to serve their guild.

And so, Fiona let her mind go through the steps to hook back up to the World Interface, loading up Deep Ground once again.

[center][i]LOADING...50%
80%
100%

Welcome back, War Dog[/i][/center]

Stretching her left arm - having it back online was one of Fiona's favorite things about this game - Fiona turned her attention in the direction of the Black King's part of town. No doubt that was where [s]Fiona[/s] War Dog would have to go. Doing a mental checklist of her weapons, she went in that direction. Any guild was better than no guild.