And I return to give you chapter three chapters (Five, Six, and Seven) ~ Enjoy~

Chapter Five – January 20, 2007 (Saturday)

“They certainly don’t call you Butcher for nothing. That butcher knife speaks for itself,” Legend teased.

Butcher grinned like a catfish and let out a guffaw of laughter. Martol rubbed his forehead with his right hand and sighed as he rubbed his gloved hands together. Snow softly danced and twirled downward onto the snow covered land of El Nath.

“We can’t stay here long dudes! If your portal goes between El Nath and Victoria Island they’ll be bound to realize that El Nath is where we will end up. Let’s get our bosoms moving, shall we?” Butcher said.
“Where do you have in mind?” Martol’s left eyebrow rose in question.
“The train from Orbis to Ludibrium may grant us some time and throw them off for a while. Perhaps we should head to the land made of lego blocks?” Legend inquired.
“She’s got a point dude!” Butcher said.

Martol sighed and nodded. Silently, Legend, Butcher, and Martol crept to the twenty floored tower that connected the floating land of Orbis and the earth linked land of El Nath. Using the Orbis Tower scrolls that Butcher had on handy they teleported to the utmost highest level in the tower and sped to the train station. Keeping a low profile Martol led the way to the ticketing usher and they boarded the train.

“With any luck we won’t be noticed …” Butcher whispered.
“We’ve already been noticed … By a strange … girl …” Martol pointed towards a girl with fanned out bright red hair who wore a red miniskirt and short white top that covered the upper chest. Over her right eye she had on an eye patch with a skull embedded on it. Under her highly noticeable hairstyle was a black headband and covering her feet were black gomushin rubber shoes. A deep scar lined the side of her face and in her hand she had a deadly razor.

The girl turned around and eyed them with narrow eyes. Legend, Martol, and Butcher returned the same glance and stared at her hard.

“What cha lookin’ at me like that for? You got a freaking problem?!” the girl shouted in an irritated tone.
“No, we don’t have a problem … You just look kind of strange …” Butcher blurted.
“What – a girl stricken by misfortune can’t have some privacy? Leave me alone!” she shouted.
“Stricken by misfortune?” Legend spoke up.
“Just leave me alone,” the girl turned around and tried to ignore them.
“Does this misfortune include a box?” Butcher inquired.

The girl whipped around and narrowed her eyes.

“How the hell do you know?” she asked sharply.
“All three of us were stricken by the same type of misfortune … We all encountered the Accursed Box,” Martol replied.
“Then you’re all … Hackers … like me?” the girl asked.
“Don’t call us Hackers. We aren’t hackers. We were all just struck by misfortune,” Martol winced.
“Right …” the girl said.
“My name is Legend. This is Martol and Butcher. What might your name be?” Legend asked.

Suddenly the train shuddered and began to move. Maintaining their balance, Legend, Butcher, and Martol walked over to the girl.

“My name is Meeepo. Nice to meet you all. When I first had my entire life destroyed by that box, I thought I was the only one. I’m sorry about my behaviour before. Ever since that fiasco … I’ve become … very … different,” Meeepo replied.
“All of us have, Meeepo. Unfortunate, but true,” Butcher added softly.
“Rumour has it that the Accursed Box is actually Pandora’s Box. Do you remember it? All that was left in the box was Hope. Kind of coincidental don’t you think?” Meeepo explained.
“Pandora’s Box you say? That seems … That seems very possible! We were all struck by misfortune but there is a single hope left for us! That hope is everyone around us now – people who have been struck by the same misfortune that befell us all!” Martol replied.
Legend nodded silently.

The train jerked once more and came to a full stop

“Welcome to Ludibrium. Please take the nearest exit to disembark and enjoy your stay!” a microphone broadcasted the announcement.

All four of them jumped off the train and entered the land of the lego blocks.

“Welcome to Ludibrium newcomers!” a husky voice boomed from behind.

A crusader dawning a long Black Dragon Robe and a Red Dragon Babuta beamed at them with his Gold Kalkan shield burdened left hand. In his right Dark Emperors gloved hand he held a double bladed Vifennis axe.

“Um … Hello …” Meeepo said. An awkward stretch of silence lingered for a few minutes as they stared at each other.
“The name is Messenger. Hey, can you guys help me find something?” the crusader asked.
“Hello there Messenger … My name is Meeepo. That’s Legend, Martol, and Butcher! What exactly are you looking for?” Meeepo introduced.
“A sixty percent scroll for attack for one-handed axes. If we split up in the Free Market, we could probably find it among the jumble of people at the entrance or at the stores in the twenty somewhat store rooms in the market!” Messenger grinned.

Meeepo glanced at her newly made friends and gave an expression of inquiry. They nodded silently.

“Then it’s settled! Off to the free market we go!” Messenger laughed.
As Messenger led the way, Legend walked past Butcher, Meeepo, and Martol.

“Once inside the Free Market, meet in room nineteen. I don’t trust this guy,” Legend whispered as she trailed behind Messenger. They nodded in understanding and silently followed Messenger. If Messenger held true to the way he acted – he didn’t know they were on the GM blacklist.

>>>

Chapter Six – January 21, 2007 (Sunday)

The Free Market was jam packed and bustling with an assortment of people. Squeezing through the crowd, Legend kept an eye as to which direction Messenger was headed. Slowly he entered the first room. Rapidly searching around she rolled under moving legs and finally managed to reach the teleporting arrow. She swiftly entered the nineteenth room and waited. Slowly, but surely, Butcher, Martol, and Meeepo came through the portal.

“Okay … Let’s get down to business,” Martol said, his tone business-like.
“The chances that Messenger knows that we are on the GM Blacklist are very low. The way he’s acting is just way too legitimate,” Butcher supplied.
“Agreed. Though I’m worried about when the GMs Beholder and Lumos and their little friends will be coming after us. There has to be a way for us to prove to them that it was the fault of the Accursed Box. We also need to stall for time,” Legend agreed.
“Do they know that all of us are on the Blacklist? As far as I’ve known – not one GM has come at me accusing me of being a so-called Hacker,” Meeepo spoke up.

A long stretch of silence grew between them as they tried to think of a way to reply to that.

“Perhaps we can use that to our advantage …” Butcher said.
“How so?” Martol questioned.
“I see what Butcher is getting at. If Meeepo isn’t on their list – maybe she can get some inside information from the GMs themselves; see what’s up. If we can get at least some hints and clues as to what their actions are, we will have a head start and an advantage against them. Maybe we can even figure out if they have any information on the accursed box. What do you say?” Legend collaborated.
“But I don’t have any equipment to make me look like an actual crossbowman! In addition, I can’t even use the bow!” Meeepo cried.
“Point taken …” Butcher rolled his eyes.

“HEY GUYS!” Messenger said, popping through the portal.

Everyone swerved around and waved nervously.

“I found the scroll on my first try! I didn’t hear back from you guys so I guess you couldn’t find anything. It’s okay though – I got what I wanted!” Messenger laughed.
“That’s great!” Legend faked.
“Hey … I heard from my friends that you guys were on the GM Blacklist for being Hackers … Is that true?” Messenger asked in a hurt tone.
“Well …” Martol’s voice trailed off.
“Hey, I just want to know, that’s all. I mean I heard from some sources saying that you guys became Hackers without wishing to. I’d so totally help you figure out what happened but … I’d like the truth,” Messenger grinned.
“You’re strange, Messenger … The last time I asked anyone to help me, they ran away from me and reported me to the GMs. Yes … We are indeed the ones that everyone calls a Hacker. If you tell the GMs where we are – you won’t have a head left to talk with,” Meeepo threatened.
“Hey cool it, cool it! That’s fine. If you guys were forced to be Hackers, it isn’t your fault. If you need help – I’m all ears,” Messenger smiled legitimately.

Legend glanced over at Martol and raised an eyebrow.

“Can we talk over that for a while, Messenger?” Butcher asked. Messenger smiled and nodded.

Quickly, all four of them huddled in a little corner of the room and whispered to each other. Could Messenger be trusted?

“What do you say? If he’s true to his word, we can use him to help us,” Meeepo launched into her spiel.
“Meeepo is right. We can use some help. He can stall while we look for the one who gave us that stupid box. Maybe we can even make that dude’s ass bruised up,” Butcher chuckled.
“Then it’s decided then … We’ll befriend Messenger … For now,” Martol grinned.

With one line of acceptance, Messenger was allowed into their leagues. He beamed with joy and laughed pleasantly. Martol explained what happened and what they needed help with and Messenger listened intently. As the story came to a close, Messenger blinked back tears.

“That’s such a sad tale to have befell you all … I vow to help you find that person and make him pay!” Messenger said heroically.
“Thanks Messenger. Just please don’t tell anyone about this. We need as much confidentiality as possible if we want to find the one who placed the box so conveniently close to us and stop the GMs from chasing after us,” Butcher whispered.
“Rightio,” Messenger smiled. Maybe Messenger wasn’t so bad after all …

>>>>

Chapter Seven – February 3, 2007 (Saturday)

“Game Master Lumos, you’re wanted at headquarters,” Beholder spat.
“What did I do this time?” Lumos sighed.
“Don’t know, don’t care. Just go – I’ll take over the search for those accursed hackers,” Beholder growled. Lumos bowed and disappeared in a blink of an eye.

Beholder sighed as she turned to see Unholy and Shinta following her.

“You kiddies going to be following me forever?” Beholder inquired.
“First and foremost, we aren’t ‘kiddies’. Yes, we’ll be following you until we bring those Hackers down. Don’t try to stop us,” Shinta grinned.
“I could well just suspend or ban you now if I wanted to,” Beholder growled.
“And you would have done so already if you didn’t need our help,” Unholy retorted.

Beholder let out a fit of laughter and then sighed. Clever he was, that Unholy. Clever indeed.

At the GM Headquarters, Lumos walked down a golden corridor towards the Game Master Leader’s office. She knocked once and the door creaked open. Lumos breathed in and stepped into the room as she exhaled.

“This had better not be a meeting to have me fired for no reason,” Lumos thought nervously.

As the door silently shut behind her, Lumos stared with wide eyes as the GM Leader’s chair slowly swerved towards her.

“M-Messenger?! I thought you … I thought you were gone!” Lumos cried.
“It has been a while … Game Master … Lumos …” Messenger welcomed warmly.
“Game Master Messenger … I heard you summoned me. How may I serve you?” Lumos asked nervously, her heart pounding.
“I have a small request. I know that we Game Masters have been chasing after the Hackers, but I would like you, and especially you, to hunt after someone else. There is a name of a previous Game Master that I fired who seems to be doing some … illegal activities. I want you to investigate this matter and see what exactly he’s up to. His in-game name is … Game Master Eden,” Messenger explained.
“Game Master Eden?! The creator of the in-game Box of Misfortune?!” Lumos cried.

Messenger nodded soundlessly.

“But I thought you want to find out about Hackers and eliminate all of them. Why do you want me to find more about Eden when Eden is long gone from the possibility of being a threat?” Lumos asked.
“His current activities which cannot be recorded except for when he logs in are what I want to find out, Lumos. If we don’t find out what he’s up to; as a former Game Master he may try to sabotage this place,” Messenger said darkly.
“Y-Yes Sir … I’ll get to it right away,” Lumos said. She bowed and scurried out of the room.

Lumos pounded her office wall with her right fist after she ran out of Messenger’s office. Why did she always have to do the dirty work? Why did she have to find out the hidden information about the former most dangerous Game Master who was fired? She sat down onto her office chair and sighed. Thinking of Eden brought back terrible memories. What kind of illegal activity could he be doing and how did Messenger know that he was performing illegal activities if all information was hidden except for every log in to the game?

In Ludibrium, Beholder, Shinta, and Unholy sat on a bench silently. Unholy and Shinta sat at one end and Beholder on the other. There was enough room for one more person – Game Master Lumos.

“Game Master Beholder,” someone messaged Beholder. She looked down at her messages and gaped. Suddenly a message began to write out before her.

“Game Master Beholder, it is I, Game Master Messenger. There is information that the Hackers Legend, Butcher, Meeepo, and Martol have moved to El Nath. Please head there immediately and corner them.”

Beholder bolted up from the bench and beckoned Shinta and Unholy.

“Let’s go kiddies. The Hackers are at El Nath,” Beholder frowned.
“So much running around,” Shinta sighed.
“IF you don’t like it, don’t follow,” Beholder rolled her eyes as they jogged to the station.

At the exact moment that GM Beholder and the ‘kiddies’ reached the train at the last minute, Legend, Martol, Meeepo, and Butcher entered the station. As the train took off Beholder cast a side glance towards the station and her eyes opened wide.

“Shoot! There they are! Log out and come back in Unholy, Shinta,” Beholder spat.
“Yes ma’am,” Shinta said.

Legend caught Beholder’s gaze and froze. Martol, Meeepo, and Butcher turned around and turned their heads in the direction Legend was looking.

“Back to Ludibrium everyone! GO, GO, GO!” Martol sprinted toward the portal and grabbed Legend by the arm, whirling her back into reality. Meeepo and Butcher turned on their heels and followed Martol.
“Where do we go?! Where is Messenger?!” Meeepo screeched.
“We don’t have time to find out where Messenger went. He said he needed to confirm some information, so we’ll have to trust him on that! As to where we’re headed, I don’t care! Anywhere but the station!” Martol screamed.
“What bad timing,” Butcher scoffed.

Unholy and Shinta logged back in and reappeared at the station. Beholder disappeared off the train and returned to the station within a blink of an eye and all three of them charged after the four Hackers – hot on their trail.

Meanwhile, at Zakum’s Altar, Game Master Lumos confronted former Game Master Eden.

“Welcome Lumos … It’s been a long time since we’ve spoken to each other! You have come just in time! I am about to create another Box of Misfortune … The Legendary … Pandora’s Box!” Eden cackled.
“Box of Misfortune? The Legendary Pandora’s Box?! The box that you used … That you used to turn those four into Hackers!” Lumos cried.
“You’ve done your research Lumos … That is correct … And I won’t use this on anybody … It will be infused with the Power of the Zakum! I will use this box on myself! I will rule over this world! I will rule supreme! I will become the strongest person in the history of this world and bring death to all who oppose me and my perfect world! Those Hackers have done a good job of diverting the attention of all you Game Masters … Now … my creation is complete!” Eden laughed as he threw a small red, round, orange-glowing object towards the Altar.
“Eden, NO!” Lumos cried as she teleported towards the object.
“Too late Lumos … I call forth the Zakum!!” Eden shouted.

>>>>>
ENNNNJOY~~~~~~~~