Vexxx (Patreon)

Note: Yay, I actually get to write instead of angsting about things! Today and tomorrow we'll have Vexxx's story, which leads into the long-awaited Rouge novella starting Monday!

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Vexxx leaned back on the glass floor, his feet propped up on the first step of the crystalline staircase that wound up to a platform that somehow managed to be both above and beneath him. “When is she going to get here?” he complained, laying his hand over his eyes to block the brilliant light cast by the blazing orb in the center of the inverted spherical dungeon.

Tess, who was leaning up against the tent that was still set up nearby, sighed heavily. Still, her voice was patient when she replied, “When she’s ready. You read the message, right? She was hurt really badly, and she’ll get here when the doctors finish checking to make sure that logging in won’t make things worse.”

Vexxx rolled his eyes behind his hand. Yeah, he’d read the message. A message from some rando. Accident, injuries, test program, long-term immersion, blah blah blah. It was all totally sus, especially since Alpha had already been in long-term immersion. So, what, now she was in it whether she wanted to be or not? Right.

Plus, there was the bit about Myles. Vexxx had actually liked Myles, and he didn’t like very many people. The guy was totally weird, but he had a sick sense of humor, and Myles was pretty sure he was either a l33t haxxor, or a legit GM. Frankly, Vexxx was voting haxxor, and now the guy was… what? Gone?

His avatar had just disappeared about a week ago, and his name didn’t show on Vexxx’s Friend list anymore. The message about Alpha had said Myles was ‘involved in the accident’ too, and Vexxx was totally betting that the two of them had been up to something, got caught, and Myles had been kicked out of the game while Alpha was in some kind of gamer jail. Which was actually totally fire.

A soft noise was the only warning Vexxx got before the flap of the tent opened, and he peeked out from under his hand to watch as someone exited the tent, which faded away behind her. Squinting, he checked out the woman’s tag.

AlphaOmegadon - Level 85. Bard.

He sat up sharply, only to be reminded that he still had his legs propped on the stair when his low Strength stat reminded him that he was basically doing a sit-up, and his muscles cramped up. He rolled over on his side, groaning, as Tess launched herself into the blonde woman’s arms.

“Ava!” Tess said, hugging her friend tightly. Her stupid hat poked into Alpha’s ribs, but the tall woman didn’t even flinch as she hugged the half-dwarf back. Vexxx wasn’t sure what the look on her face meant, but he could tell when he wasn’t wanted, so he sloped around to where the gnome’s weird fur-tunnel was and gave it a nudge.

“Hey,” he said. “Uh, Toggle. Your girl’s back.”

Immediately, the fur flipped back, revealing the gnome for the first time since both he and Vexxx had received the message that they were no longer ‘Servants’ of a vampire. That had been Vexxx’s first clue that something had gone down, and while he’d been disappointed because it meant he probably wasn’t going to be able to become a vampire after all, the little gnome had been heartbroken. He was certain it meant something was wrong with his ‘Mistress’, and he’d retreated to his tunnel and stayed there. Vexxx had almost started worrying about the little guy.

Now, the gnome, who was noticeably thinner and more wrinkled than he had been a week ago, scurried out of his nest, scattering rib-bones that spun and clattered against the almost-translucent floor. “Mistress!” he shouted, and ran over to glomp onto Alpha’s leg.

If that was Alpha. Because the Alpha Vexxx knew was tall, yes, and had a similar bone structure, but her coloring was completely different. Instead of a square jaw, crimson hair, and pink-purple eyes, this woman was a pale blonde elf with mismatched blue eyes. He squinted at her mouth as she replied to something Tess had said. Were those fangs pressing against her lip? Smaller, sure, but definitely pointier than standard canines.

He felt excitement rekindle in his heart. Was it possible she could still vamp him if he begged enough? Not that begging was his thing. No, he’d just harass her until she gave in. It worked in real life, and though Alpha had so far managed to resist, he knew he could break her if he tried hard enough.

“Yo,” he said. “Where’s Myles?”

All three of them stopped talking and turned to stare at him. Tess had a weird expression on her face, and frantically lifted a hand to make a slicing gesture across her throat as she scowled at him. That was unusual. Tess was usually nice to the point of being annoying, and while she sometimes teased him, he knew she didn’t mean it. Right now, though, she looked pretty serious.

Alpha’s eyes were… dead. Just flat, and empty, and as she fixed him with a blank look, he actually stepped back, stumbling as he tripped over one of the furs that had made up Toggle’s bed. Her lips were pressed into a pale, thin line, and when she said, “Gone,” her voice had a strange kind of finality to it.

Still, Vexxx knew a weak spot when he saw one, so he pushed on, even though a tiny voice in the back of his head told him he should back off.

“Uh, yeah, I got that,” he said. “When’s he coming back? He promised to teach me that lit move,” he swung his arm as if he was holding a sword.

Alpha glared at him, and he was finally sure this was the same person he’d been playing with for the past several weeks. He’d know that look anywhere. “He’s. Gone,” she said, with finality, but if he didn’t know people couldn’t cry in Veritas Online, he’d swear there were tears in her eyes.

He shrugged, ignoring all the warning signs. “Sure, but where? Like, we’re obviously not gonna clear this dungeon now, so I might as well track him down, right? So, where is he?”

Slowly, Alpha’s arm stretched out, and her big-ass, glowy pink sword appeared in her hand. He felt a twinge of envy. His spell was good, but that sword was legit. She took a step toward him.

You have been removed from your party by the party leader.

He stepped back, swallowing hard. There were penalties in Veritas for injuring or killing a party member. If they got hit by an Area of Effect spell, and took incidental damage, that was no big deal, but if someone in your party suddenly, say, chopped off your head with a giant sword, they’d get hit with all kinds of debuffs.

So, how did people get around that? Easy. Just kick the offender from the party before you attacked them.

He held up his hands. “Whoa, whoa!” He tried to grin, but it probably came out pretty weak. “I was just asking a question. I can ask questions.” He took another step back, then another, and then something rolled under his feet, and he sat down hard. A rib clattered as it rolled away, and he stared up at Alpha as she lifted her sword. Tess hung from her arm like an air freshener from a rear-view mirror, but the newly elf-ified woman didn’t even seem to notice.

“Shut. Up!” Alpha growled, through gritted teeth, her sword still held threateningly over his head. Beneath Vexxx’s hands, which were splayed out on the ground behind him, the glass floor thrummed.

You have been [Silenced] by AlphaOmegadon.

Vexxx’s eyes widened. He scrambled backwards, glancing desperately from Alpha’s enormous sword to the dwarf dangling from her arm. As he caught Tess’ eyes, she released her grip, landing on the faintly-vibrating floor with a clink. A glass chip flew away from her metal boots.

They all froze, watching as the tiny piece of glass skittered away before falling off the ‘edge’ of the floor. Normally, everything was held down by some bizarre game logic, and you could walk right over the edge of one floor and end up on the ceiling of another, without falling. More than once, one of them had ended up upside-down in relation to the others, and it often took a fair amount of effort to figure out how to get back onto the same surface.

But this piece of glass teetered on the edge of the floor, then fell inward, toward the bright globe in the center of the spherical space. It tumbled, end over end, before poofing into glittering dust about halfway to the ‘sun’.

Tess stared down at the floor. Cautiously, she stomped her foot again. Nothing happened. She tried a third time, grunting with effort, but the surface remained perfectly smooth, except for the tiny chip and two small cracks that radiated away from it.

You are no longer [Silenced].

Vexxx pointed at Alpha. “Do that again!” Frowning, she lifted her sword, and he waved it away. “No! The other thing! Tell me to shut up.”

She lifted her lip, revealing a distinctly pointed lower fang. “Gladly. Shut up!”

You have been [Silenced] by AlphaOmegadon.

This time, everyone noticed the tremor. The glass shivered, and a few crystal stairs cracked with sharp pings. Vexxx wanted to whoop in joy, but apparently that still counted as speaking, because when he opened his mouth, nothing came out. Still, he pantomimed opening and closing his mouth, then made embiggening gestures. This was the first time anything they’d done had affected this stupid dungeon level, and definitely the first clue on how to defeat it.

Tess stomped down hard as the mini-quake quieted. A few more glass chips flew up into the air, and the cracks widened, as did her eyes. She looked up at her friend assessingly. “Uh, Alpha… it says you’re a Bard now. Um, I mean, I don’t want to make you upset, or anything, but do you, maybe, have some sound-related skills?”

Alpha’s muscles tensed, but her sword vanished from her hand, and her eyes flickered like people’s did when they were interacting with the game interface. “I- Yes,” she admitted reluctantly. “I have… a lot, actually.”

Tess nodded eagerly. “Do you have any passive ones going, maybe?”

Another moment passed, and Alpha said, “A few.”

You are no longer [Silenced].

Instantly, Vexxx said, “Scream! Like, totally scream as hard as you can! Like you’re really, really angry or something.”

Both Tess and Alpha turned to stare at him, and he made ‘go on’ gestures.

Alpha screamed. She screamed, and Vexxx thought he hadn’t heard so much raw pain and fury since the day his father walked out on him and his mother when he was eight. Even six years later, he remembered hiding in the closet as his father packed, and his mother, who was supposed to be at work, but had come home unexpectedly early, shrieked. It had been the worst day of his life, and as the floor shattered into a trillion shining shards of glass, Vexxx wondered if maybe Alpha was having the worst day of her life, and he, idiot that he was, had made it even worse.

You have taken 5 points of damage from Broken Glass.

You have taken 1 points of damage from Broken Mirror.

You have taken 3 points of damage from Broken Glass.

You have taken 8 points of damage from Broken Crystal.

You have taken 7 points of damage from Broken Glass.

You have taken 2 points of damage from Broken Glass.

…

He watched his life trickle away as he spun into space, surrounded by fractured crystals and glass dust. Alpha floated past, still screaming, Toggle clinging to her leg, clutching his pointy hat with his free hand. The larger chunks of glass that streamed past him, flowing like a river of molten glitter, continuing to burst and shatter as the sound of Alpha’s heart breaking filled the air. He saw Tess, her arms and legs thrashing as she tried to swim through the air, reaching for Alpha. He saw the tears that weren’t supposed to exist in the game flow down Alpha’s cheeks.

You have died. You will be sent to your last respawn point in 30 seconds.

29…

Vexxx swore, though his avatar was no longer able to make a sound. He saw his own limp hand floating in the air beside him, as a red countdown timer ticked over. He knew he might as well just go to respawn, since no one would resurrect him, even if they could, but instead he watched, helpless, as the brilliant ball of light that had been hanging in the middle of the inverse sphere contracted, then expanded again, flexing brilliant white wings as it opened its beak, diving toward Tess and Alpha. As Alpha swung her sword at the gargantuan white owl, the world faded to black.