Modern Age Online

Kaleb wasted no time firing both his repulsor and his Cybar at Karick. The Player swooped down low to meet Kaleb's blasts, raising his hands to meet the blue beam and energy ball, respectively. Both hit Karick's palms and were rapidly absorbed. The Mage was suffused with a blue glow and his body seemed to expand with power. Kaleb grimaced as Milly kept up the beam of fire from his arm and he vented his Cybar. Next to him, Abby charged like a bull, using her shadows to propel herself forward at incredible speeds.

The short woman reached out with her spiky arms, ready to impale Karick. But she was batted aside by the shield that popped up around him. The shield also cut off Kaleb's beam, which stopped the Karick from absorbing energy. Karick landed in the sand and grinned happily at his hands. The blue glow was fading, but the mage practically crackled with power.

"YES! I knew choosing this alien race was the right choice!" Karick giggled as he waved a hand at Kaleb.

A pillar of fire exploded into existence right in front of Kaleb. He had to leap and dodge-roll out of the way. But the huge red column started to follow him. Turning the sand into glass as it went. Kaleb ran as the pillar gave chase. His arm still pointed at Karick as Milly started firing again. Karick's shield dropped as he accepted the beam of energy with his palms again. The heat from the magic fire pillar was hot on his back as Kaleb climbed and slid down a nearby dune. All the while, Karick laughed as he absorbed Kaleb's energy.

Abby leapt up from behind the mage, her shadowy arms slamming into him and jerking his body forward. She was faster than the shield this time, as her blades sliced through Karick's back and stuck out of his chest. The mage coughed up some blood as Abby roared in triumph. But the mage spun on the spot, fling the shorter woman his back and into the sand again. Kaleb watched as the wounds on the mage closed with a burst of blue energy. Milly stopped firing as Karick righted himself again and glared at Abby. There was a blue glow in the man's eyes.

Abby got back to her feet in time to see her damage negated in seconds. She whirled on Kaleb as they stood apart.

"Could you stop empowering the damn Super Villain!"

"Toy Box!" Kaleb shouted back as he ordered Milly to continue firing.

His arm snapped back up again as he aimed his pistol again. Both the repulsor and his Cybar blast Karick repeatedly as the mage just stood there and absorbed the power. Burning out a mage's magical pathways was a thing. It was half the reason not everyone was a mage. If you didn't have the talent for it or your internal pathways were weak. The magic would burn them out. Kaleb guessed that Karick's race could transform energy into magical power. Which he hoped meant he could fry the bastard from the inside.

Abby quickly picked up on the plan and drew her own pistol again. The woman started firing up at the mage as Karick stood and absorbed it all. His body was glowing brighter and brighter as Kaleb maintained the rate of fire. His body went from bright blue to white, and Kaleb was practically cheering in his head when Karick's shield sprung to life again. The golden see-through eggshell popped up around Karick as the Player laughed.

"Hahahaha! Oh, I think that's enough. Seriously. Did you just try to overload me? Like I wouldn't catch on to that? Bunch of dumbasses."

"Professor…" Abby practically growled.

Karick's hands glowed with power as the man started to wave them. Abby started firing again as Kaleb did the same. The mage pulled his arms to his side and shouted something as the world around Kaleb exploded. Sand flew into the air and his feet left the ground. A short distance away, he saw the same thing happening to Abby as they were both flung through the air by a wave of magical force. Both of them crashed at the feet of the still cackling mage. Abby rolled to her feet and abandoned her pistol for her shadows again, diving at Karick and making his shield flare into existence again.

Karick took a few hits to his shield before he waved his hand and Abby's shadows become gray clouds that floated into her vision. With another wave, Abby was flung to the side as Kaleb got to his feet and tossed a taser egg. The plastic shell cracked around Karick's shield and sparks cascaded across its golden surface. Kaleb vented his Cybar and started firing again when his feet were dragged through the sand and he found himself right in front of Karick Tore. The Villain player was slightly shorter than Kaleb, and his eyes still shone with the energy from Kaleb's weapons.

Karick raised a hand, and Kaleb's cybernetic arm rose against his will. The player was staring at the bit of technology with a manic glee that made Kaleb slightly uncomfortable.

"I wasn't aware that actual plasma could enhance my powers. The description just said I could absorb various forms of energy. When I became a mage, that meant that anything I absorbed went straight to my MP bar."

Karick let Kaleb's arm pass through his shield and he caressed Kaleb cybernetic with glee.

"But this… This fucking overcharges my MP bar for some reason."

Kaleb raised his Cybar and fired several blasts into the man's shield even as it still crackled with electricity. As the taser egg burned itself out, Karick dug his fingers into the plates of Kaleb's cybernetic and yanked it closer. Kaleb's nose was pushed up against Karick's shield and he watched as the Mage tried to find something on his arm.

"I really don't want to rip this off. How about you give it to me and I let you and your friend live?" Karick asked, smiling up at Kaleb.

From behind, Kaleb heard Abby charging back toward them, and he smiled at the villain.

"There's no way you thought I'd say yes to that."

Karick shrugged. "Self-preservation is a powerful motivator. But if you'd rather lose all those skill levels and have your precious gear wrecked. That's up to you."

Karick pulled Kaleb's arm closer, squashing his face into the shield further. He studied the power lines along Kaleb's arm as Kaleb vented his Cybar and sent a mental command to Milly.

Stolen novel; please report.

"Overload, Milly!"

As he practically shouted the command in his head, Kaleb grabbed at Karick's arm with his metal hand. The mage was quick to react, shoving Kaleb backwards with a burst of magic. His armor crunched into his chest and his feet left the ground as Kaleb felt and heard his arm go nuts. Blue sparks danced across it as Milly poured her power into the cybernetic. His metal hand held onto Karick's forearm and for a brief moment, Milly activated the repulsor in his palm.

A bright blue flash went off as Karick screamed. His golden shield expanded and Kaleb heard the metal in his arm tear as his cybernetic was ripped free. He went tumbling through the sand as the spot where Karick stood bloomed with power. The mage was still screaming even as Kaleb rolled to his feet and the blue glow died down. Karick's golden shield was flickering now as Kaleb's arm was dropped into the sand. Karick still stood within the sparking confines of his magic. But he didn't look too good now.

His right arm had been blown off while his clothes and face were a charred mess. He was still grunting and screaming in pain as he tried to move his head. Abby was staring in shock at the brutality of the scene. The sand around the villain had been turned to glass from the explosion. Kaleb's arm sat a short distance away from the man's shield and Karick was glaring at it like it was a bomb.

Kaleb did his best to re-balance himself as he held on to his Cybar. The fight didn't appear to be over. Karick was in down, but not completely out. Abby was the first to shake herself out of her stupor and charged the mage again. Her shadow blades had reformed, and she used them to batter what remained of Karick's shield. The golden flicker would flash back into existence as Abby tried to hit the man, but then fade away when she recoiled.

Kaleb hurried to help as he saw Karick's skin bubbling ominously. He raised his Cybar and let a few shots loose. More than one of which made it past the shield. Karick's body didn't absorb the energy now. Instead, the blasts of energy burned the other player just as normal. Kaleb passed his cybernetic arm as he climbed up the dune to Karick. He could feel Milly still within recovering from her overload maneuver. He could see where the joint socket had been torn off his body and the thought of all that repair work made him pull the trigger of his Cybar even harder.

Karick's shield flickered away as his body seemed to shiver. A wave of magic hit Kaleb and he saw the villain's skin start to regrow in places. Chunks of burnt skin fell away even as Kaleb and Abby kept up their assault. Karick was healing the damage faster than they were dealing with it. But Kaleb could tell that the Mage was burning a lot of his MP to heal himself.

Reaching melee range, Kaleb holstered his pistol and instead used his one good arm to grab hold of Karick's wrist. Hand gestures seemed important to Karick's spells, so Kaleb gave up attacking and just held the man down as Abby tore into him. Flesh and blood went flying as Abby slashed into the other player. Karick was healing the damage faster now and Kaleb worried they weren't doing enough damage fast enough. He tried to think of another way to help. But he didn't want to give Karick the chance to absorb more power. So instead, he held on as Karick shouted and healed himself.

They seemed to be stuck in a loop until a wave of mana shot from Karick's body. Abby was picked up and flung away as Kaleb's legs left the ground again. He held tight to Karick's wrist, which he heard pop as the blast died down. Karick was still groaning, but he sucked in enough air to growl.

"ENOUGH!"

He tried to yank his arm free from Kaleb's grasp as his body rebuilt itself. His pale skin still had a slight blue glow to it. But the energy quickly left Karick's body as he focused on regrowing his other hand.

"I am a GOD here! What part of that don't you two understand?! This is my world! What I say goes!"

Karick's other hand finished regrowing, and he used it to swing at Kaleb. Dodging out of the way, Kaleb dragged the mage toward the edge of the dune, hoping to send them both careening down it. But Karick got his feet under him first and tried to yank his arm free again. Kaleb barely managed to spot Karick's free hand speeding through some gestures before a lance of ice suddenly slammed into his chest.

His armor held, but he was carried away from Karick as he lost his grip. He tumbled down the dune and rolled to a stop as he tried to get air back into his lungs. His cybernetic arm laid a short distance away and Kaleb started to crawl for it, hoping to use its Spike launcher. Karick finished reforming his body and sighed dramatically. His eyes went from Kaleb to Abby and back again before he snorted angrily.

"Well, you two at least made this fun. But now you can both fucking die!"

The player raised his hands to summon another spell, but a furry pink beast charged in from behind him. The pink teddy bear grabbed both of Karick's arms and slammed them into his side. With a monstrous growl, the teddy bear lifted the mage into the air and started squeezing.

"Hello god! Go fuck yourself!" Teddy screamed as he did his best to crush Karick in a bear hug.

Kaleb used the moment to leap for his cybernetic arm. Milly was stirring awake as he gripped it and raised it like a rifle. Making sure the spike launcher was clear, Kaleb aimed for Karick's head and gave Milly the signal. A loud thunk echoed across the dunes as a black iron spike flew through the air and slammed into Karick's forehead. The struggling mage went limp in Teddy's arms. But the bear didn't let up, instead he redoubled his efforts to crush the Player with his bear hands.

The world shook, and Kaleb felt his stomach drop. Off on the horizon, the clouds started to fall out of the sky. The sun cracked down the middle and the sand dunes all around them jumped like someone was shaking the desert. Abby raced to Kaleb's side and let him an arm even as she watched the pink teddy bear break Karick almost in half. The dead mage's arms snapped and his chest was crushed inward as the fluffy teddy bear didn't let up. Even as the blue sky above became a black starless void. Even when his teddy bear facade dropped away and all that was left was an old tattooed biker. The man's muscles bulged as his hands finally met around Karick's sides and he tossed the mage away like a crushed soda can.

Looking at his newly human hands, the man in biker leathers smiled before his entire body turned to dust and he was blown away. Abby started to ask what was happening before she, too, turned to dust and disappeared. Kaleb wrapped his arm around his broken cybernetic one and waited. A fuzzy feeling spread from his feet up to his nose, and before he could look down, Kaleb's vision blurred.

A cool blast of air across his cheek was the first sign that Kaleb was dead. Blinking away spots from his eyes, Kaleb heard the sounds of commotion and fighting as he came back to himself. He was lying on asphalt and he could smell the scent of cars in the air. Combined with the many angry voices, he surmised they were back in the real world. Turning his head, Kaleb spotted Abby coming awake a short distance away. Her eyes found his, and he gave her a tired thumbs up as he laid back down. His well-earned rest was interrupted by a sudden shout from a familiar voice.

"What the hell, Professor!?" Farrah screamed from nearby.

The sounds of fighting seemed to increase along with the shouts. But the rabbit-woman sounded more bored than anything.

"Abby was there too, Farrah. Blame her."

"I take no credit for anything that happened. It was all his idea." Abby's tired voice said.

The two of them argued back and forth as Farrah tried to cut in with questions. Meanwhile, the sounds of fighting and arguing increased. Kaleb mentally sighed as he argued with Abby. It seemed they had popped back out, relatively unharmed. Karick was dead and his dimension had been emptied into the streets. Now someone else could deal with the fallout. He continued to argue with Abby as exhaustion slowly overtook him. Before he knew it, his voice had faded into silence and the warm grip of sleep carried him away.