Rouge XXII

The Fanatics were not getting ready to throw anyone into the volcano. Instead, they were arguing. Apparently, someone had finally realized that Scar was damaged goods, and, furious, they had beaten him, then turned on each other. Silus recounted all of this to Rouge as she ran up the ridiculously long road, which seemed to be full of switchbacks separated by short, steep cliffs. She desperately missed Wally, who would have jumped up the side of the mountain like he was going up stairs.

::Is Scar all right?:: Rouge sent.

::I think so,:: Silus answered. ::I can’t get too close, but it looks like he hit his head, and maybe broke his arm. The other people the Goo-guys kidnapped are helping him.::

Rouge snorted a laugh. ::Good. Hang on-::

Silus broke in, suddenly serious. ::There’s a lady here who’s dressed really fancy. She seems like the boss. She’s telling everybody else to stop messing around and get the others ‘ready’. Rouge, they grabbed one of the kids!::

Rouge could hear raised voices now, and there wasn’t going to be time for subtlety or scoping out the situation. No, she was just going to have to hope that she could over-power these guys, at least until Bonny and the others caught up. Still, she did have a few more tricks up her sleeve.

::Silus, fly up high. Now.:: She glanced down at her cousin, who almost looked like he was sleeping in her arms, with his eyes closed and his head leaned against her shoulder. “Sorry, Vexxx,” she muttered, and tossed him toward a particularly dense bush as she darted past. He yelped as he landed, and she winced, but she needed her hands free, and she didn’t have time to be gentle.

The moment the first of the Fanatics came into view, Rouge cast her old standby, [Poof!!]. A thick cloud of smoke enveloped the shocked-looking man and his companions, and a moment later, loud coughing began to echo through the caldera. If she was lucky, a few of them might get the Smoke Inhalation debuff, or even fall to the poison in the mist. Rouge herself, of course, was immune, as were her party members, but that didn’t make it any easier for them to see in the thick morass.

Silus, however, could ‘see’ using her [Sonar], and she and Rouge had practiced this under the strict eye of Nekthadt. ::Twelve o’clock,:: the bat called out, and Rouge attacked, swinging her Mambele through swirling clouds of mist. She hit something solid, and a man’s voice cried out in pain.

You have dealt 147 points of damage to Fanatic.

::Three o’clock!::

Stab.

::Duck, and three-thirty!::

Slice.

One after another, Rouge took out the enemies, hearing bodies fall as her seeing eye bat guided her through the blinding fog. Still, all good things must come to an end, and as sunlight began to filter through the gloom, she felt a sharp pain on her side.

You have taken 51 points of damage from Fanatic.

She grimaced, whirling and slicing all at once, but her enemy managed to dodge back out of the way. It was a man, and when Rouge squinted toward him, his tag told her he was level ninety, by far the highest level of any of the Fanatics she’d seen so far. Still, he was twenty levels below her, and while her character wasn’t optimized for direct combat, she could be pretty darn good at it when she tried.

Crouching, she spun, one leg out in an attempt to sweep his feet out from under him. He managed to dance back, but as he did, a small body swooped in from above, biting at him. Before he could do more than yell and swat at Silus, she was gone again, and a thin trickle of blood seeped down from his ear. He staggered, and Rouge moved in, slashing and stabbing until he fell with a groan.

By now, her protective smog had cleared, and when a child shrieked, Rouge’s head whipped around, staring as one of the last Fanatics still on his feet dragged a little girl toward the hole in the center of the caldera. Thick smoke that wasn’t lingering remnants of [Poof!!] rose from it, and Rouge could detect the scent of rotten eggs.

“Uh uh,” Rouge yelled, launching herself toward him, Mambele raised. “No killing people, you jerk!”

The little girl, a pretty brunette with big eyes and chestnut skin, seemed to take courage from this, because she began twisting in his grip like an enraged kitten. Her hands flailed, fingernails tearing at the skin of his hands and arms, and she managed to get hold of his thumb, pulling it back sharply.

The Fanatic shouted in pain, and his grip loosened, dropping the child on the rocky ground. She lay there, stunned, as Rouge, finally able to get a clear shot, threw her Mambele. The weapon thudded into the center of the man’s chest, knocking him backwards into the smoking hole. His scream was cut off short.

Rouge almost frantically called her Mambele back to her, terrified that it might melt if it fell into lava along with the man. Its hilt was hot as it smacked into her palm, but it seemed to be intact, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Motion pulled her attention from her weapon, and Rouge looked up to see a familiar figure staggering toward the little girl. It was Scar, his face covered in blood from a new wound that paralleled the old one. He reeled as he walked, one arm outstretched, seeming determined to reach the child and pull her away from the edge of the pit, though it looked more likely that he was going to throw himself in after the Fanatic by accident.

Ironically, it was the priestess Silus had mentioned who saved him and the girl he now clutched by the hand. As Scar’s foot slid on the loose chunks of pumice that covered the ground, nearly throwing him off balance and into the hole, a woman seemed to appear from nowhere, grabbing him and shoving him away. Her colorful garments matched those of the Fanatics, but she was draped in elaborate ropes of shells and shark teeth interspersed with gleaming black obsidian beads.

Priestess of Gurang - Level 102

Well, that wasn’t good. That still put Rouge fifteen levels higher than the woman, but if she really was a Boss, and not just the boss of the Fanatics, her stats would be boosted beyond her level. It was the same reason Captain Shale’s ghost had given Rouge trouble in spite of the even greater level gap; Bosses were stupidly powerful.

The woman glared at Rouge from glowing red eyes surrounded by thick eyeliner as she raised her hands. Rouge grimaced. She’s going to be fire, isn’t she? Fire mages are the wor- The rest of her thought was cut off as she desperately dodged a gout of flame that shot from the priestess’ raised palm. In spite of the fact that she knew it was coming, it still caught her heel as she rolled out of the way.

You have taken 42 points of damage from Fire.

Your Left Foot is Burned.

And that was why she hated fire-type attacks. Fire hurt. You could dive through a firewall, if you were stupid enough, and had your pain settings on low, but you would, without a doubt, be Burned. And once you took a Damage over Time effect, it wouldn’t go away until you were healed, out of combat, or you used an item.

In spite of herself, Rouge stumbled as she tried to put her left foot down. Pain lanced up through her leg, and she let herself fall to the side, turning the movement into a roll and coming up into a kneeling position, with the injured foot behind her.

You have taken 7 points of damage from Burned.

Fortunately, Rouge had been burned before, and, as they say, ‘once burned, twice shy’, so she now kept a stock of burn-repair items in her inventory. She hurled her Mambele at the priestess, forcing the woman to step to the side and break off the spell she was casting. While the whirling weapon was still in the air, Rouge pulled out some Salve and slapped it on the exposed skin of her foot, where her leather-soled boot had been burned away.

Your Left Foot is no longer Burned.

Now, the trick was going to be avoiding any further burns. She had a lot of Salve stashed away, but if she just kept getting Burned, that wouldn’t matter, especially once the priestess realized what Rouge was doing, and focused on preventing it.

Which she already had. The woman’s orange eyes narrowed as Rouge stood up, balancing easily on both feet. She bared her teeth, opening her mouth to start chanting or taunting or something, when Rouge called her Mambele back. The weapon traveled along the straightest line from the ground where it had struck, to Rouge’s outstretched hand. Conveniently, the priestess was standing right along that straight line, and as the Mambele came spinning back, its rearward spike gouged deeply into her side, once again breaking her focus.

You have dealt 117 points of damage to Priestess of Gurang.

Rouge grinned, then yelped as she had to spin to the side to avoid a blow from one of the surviving Fanatics, who were finally shaking off the effects of her [Poof!!] and the blows they’d taken while Rouge moved through the smoke like invisible death, guided by Silus.

She looked around, noting that four more Fanatics were up and moving, and three of them were heading for Scar and the little girl, who had been joined by the other child and a woman who looked to be in her early twenties. Sure enough, all of them were ridiculously pretty, in spite of the fear that twisted their features.

Just as Rouge realized she was going to have to decide between protecting the victims and avoiding injury herself, Bonny showed up. The woman was out of breath, but she held a massive boathook in one hand. Without hesitation, she interposed herself between Scar and the oncoming Fanatics, who slowed, looking uncertain.

The priestess spoke for the first time, and her voice roared like fire burning away all the oxygen in the area. “Take them! Our God wakes, and if He is not appeased, we all die!”

The five Fanatics turned toward Scar and the others, expressions resolute, and Bonny raised her boathook, readying herself. Grace stepped up beside her, holding two long daggers, her shoulders heaving from exertion, but clearly ready for battle. Then, shockingly, Vexxx appeared, holding a long, slender sword in a shaky hand. She hadn’t even known he had a proper weapon, and wondered if he had any idea how to use it, but at least until the Fanatics realized he was completely incompetent, he made their side look slightly stronger.

::Rouge!:: Silus cried.

You have taken 95 points of damage from Fire.

You are Burned.

Rouge staggered, breath catching in her throat at the fierce pain engulfing her back. The priestess had taken advantage of her inattention to attack, and it felt like the worst sunburn she’d ever had. She was grateful again that minors were protected from the worst of the overly realistic pain that some players took on in exchange for buffs.

Spinning, she left the Fanatics to the others, and focused on the Priestess. The woman had a triumphant smile pasted on her face, but that faded as Rouge launched toward her. Rouge swung her Mambele, doing something she tried to avoid and entering into melee combat. Hopefully, the Priestess was a pure mage-type, and suffered from some of the same deficits that Vexxx did.

From somewhere, the woman pulled out an obsidian dagger, blocking the blow with a ringing chime. Rouge really felt like it was unfair that a blade made of what was basically fancy glass didn’t just shatter against her own metal weapon, but it didn’t, and the two exchanged blow after blow as they circled each other and the smoky hole.

The priestess tilted her head, eyes evaluating Rouge as she struck several short, sharp blows in a flurry. “You’re not quite what we usually look for,” she said, conversationally, “but if you’re volunteering to go to our God, we won’t deny you. Unlike your companion.” She sent a castigating look behind Rouge, who resisted the urge to see what the woman was looking at.

::Is everyone okay?:: Rouge asked, seeing the priestess begin to smile.

::Fine,:: Vexxx grunted. ::Except that I have a twenty-four hour Silence debuff on me, so I have to wave a pointy stick at these guys instead of just zapping them.::

::Bonny got stabbed a little bit,:: Silus said. ::But two of the Goo-guys are down, and she and Bonny are holding off the others. Vexxx isn’t actually helping.::

::Hey!:: Vexxx yelped, and Silus said, ::Well, you aren’t!:: and then they were bickering loudly in Rouge’s mind. She tuned them out, though, because as long as they were arguing, they were okay, and the priestess wasn’t going to fake Rouge out with that annoying little smirk.

“Your guys’re losing,” Rouge said, aiming for a gap in the woman’s defense. The curved tip of the Mambele opened a red line down the priestess’ forearm, and she hissed as she stepped back, her heel touching the edge of the pit.

You have dealt 47 points of damage to Priestess of Gurang.

You have taken 9 points of damage from Burned.

Rouge and the priestess both wore scowls now. While they seemed to be fairly evenly matched in most ways, Rouge’s Dexterity was high enough to sneak in the occasional blow, while the Burned debuff ticked away at her own health. She had no idea who was coming out on top in the small battle that raged behind her, but her own health was down to just a little over fifty percent, and she had no idea how to break the stalemate. She had even tried [What’s That?!], but her opponent hadn’t fallen for it at all. She couldn’t use [Poison Rain] with her allies so close, It wasn’t shadowed enough for [Shadow Glide], and she wasn’t set up for [Backstab] or [Pterion Puncture]. She could use [Poof!!] again, but it wouldn’t actually help at this point. Which really only left one option.

Vanishing her Mambele into her inventory, Rouge changed tactics. Ducking and rolling, she slid over the graveled ground, hissing at the pain this sent through her back. A few more points of health ticked away, but she succeeded in what she was trying to do.

She touched the Priestess.

Standing, she launched herself at the woman, knocking them both to the ground in a puff of volcanic dust, accepting a sharp slice along her ribs as she did so.

You have taken 59 points of damage from Priestess of Gurang.

You have cast [Substitution:Lv31]. You now appear to anyone viewing you as the sapient being Priestess Evanora. This illusion will last 45 minutes. Spell will be canceled if you take damage or if someone with a high enough [Illusion Break] skill attempts to [Identify] you.

Rolling away, she slapped a handful of Salves on every part of her back that she could reach, and the Burned debuff finally cleared. Now, she just had to avoid taking any damage long enough to sow a little confusion.

“Aid me!” she called, motioning to the two Fanatics still battling Bonny and Grace. The real Evanora was in the midst of moving away, probably preparing a spell now that she had the space to do so, but her head snapped back to stare at Rouge as she heard her own voice coming from the girl’s lips.

“No!” she shouted, but it was too late. The two Fanatics hesitated, staring from one ‘Priestess’ to the other, and Bonny’s hook sunk into one of them while Grace’s blades crossed, acting like scissors that neatly lifted the other man’s head from his shoulders. Both bodies fell, and the two women turned their attention to the pair of Priestesses standing at the lip of the volcano. Rouge promptly dropped her spell, re-summoning her Mambele, and joined in the stare-down.

Seeing that it was now one against four - or six, if you included Scar and Silus - Priestess Evanora finally seemed genuinely afraid. She motioned to the hole, which helpfully belched a particularly thick and noxious cloud of smoke. “You don’t understand,” she said, sidling away from it. “Our God demands death! If we don’t provide it, He will take it for Himself, and He will feast until all life has been devoured. Not just we will be killed, but those of the other islands, as well. We protect everyone with our sacrifices!”

“Hooey,” Rouge said, throwing her Mambele at the woman, though she already knew the Priestess would be able to dodge the blow. Still, it kept her in place as Bonny and Grace moved to bracket her, pinning her between the three approaching females and the dark, reeking pit behind.

With nothing left to lose, the Priestess threw up her hands, shouting out, “Gurang! Save your pathetic servant!” and the volcano began to erupt.