Death by Design [Vexx - Hacker Event]

The skeleton's words seemed to have no effect on PartumsoL's attitude. She sat glaring with an angry scowl at the hacker. Setting a window on the side of her vision, she opened another window. Typing furiously into the keyboard, there was an emergency post added to the staff board.

"You know, for someone who's trying to get the players to rebel against SC.CO, you certainly do a lot of attacking the innocent." PartumsoL glanced behind her, dropping a weak health potion to the merfolk she kept an eye on the skeletal figure. Bringing her inventory up to her face, so that she could look at the threat while still being able to read, she began typing something into the public chat. A message popped up across everybody's vision.

::IN THE INTEREST OF PROTECTING ALL MEMBERS, THOSE WHO ARE CAPABLE PLEASE ATTEMPT TO STOP THE HACKER IN THE AREA, REWARDS WILL BE GIVEN.::

Lowering the window from her vision, PartumsoL raised her hands to the skeleton. "You're going to leave, now.  I'm not going to just leave and allow you to harm the players." She took a deep breathe before using her repel ability.

As Cordelia's gaze swept across the crowd she could see fingers pointing toward the six armed lich.  Most of the players were fleeing or logging out.  Some of those that were doing so however were taking a moment to pour pity on the new player who seemed to be the focused target of the bully.  Cordelia started feeling the effects of a number of buffs even as her gaze locked onto the source of her pain.

She felt the effects of TIME even if she didn't know what she was feeling.  It mixed with the other buffs she was getting.  Higher armor, less damage taken, more damage given... She didn't know what all the feelings meant, but there would be time to sort all that out later.  The spell she had already cast was just waiting for a target, and her finger came up to point at the six armed lich. It moved slowly however.

Small shards of rock rose out of the ground, each one shaped like a little miniature trident.  They hovered for a moment, the spell taking effect before the target was designated due to the slowing of time.  However once Cordelia's finger pointed at Vexx, the flurry of projectiles flew at the armored figure as she started mumbling her next spell.  The earth around Cordelia's tail rose up, crawling slowly up her body to begin encasing her in stone armor.

The random buffs that Cordelia got from the crowd, and the few nearby players who hadn't logged out yet were not the only sympathetic players to the merfolk's plight.  A few random spells and ranged weapons began flying from the larger crowd to target the six armed lich and it's monstrous summon.  These random projectiles made it clear however that there was a limited radius to the effects of the hacker's TIME hack it had used.

If not for the bone monstrosity and hacked skill that surrounded the lich figure, he surely would have been in trouble from the sheer number of things that were thrown in his direction as he tried to convince the player base to log off. A good number of players had already done so, but those that remained seemed to have taken a liking to the the new player he had targeted initially and were now either buffing her, or were throwing things at him to express their displeasure at his unwarranted aggressive action.

He ignored the other players though, happy to let Monstero protect him from the food, and other impromptu items that they could get their hands on. Including one attack from the mermaid girl which caused the summon to look at her blankly. Monstero's empty gaze was not as fearsome as his own, but the summon was no small creation, and it was deadly when it chose to be.

Instead, he focused on the SC.CO member, his own fire-lit orbs focused and intent now that he had located his quarry. "You coward. You place other lives in danger rather than risk your own. I will not go. I will stay, and you will regret."

The hacker moved forward, Monstero moving with him. Only two of his arms moved now, directing the bone creature to attack even as it and his new position before the SC.CO. member protected him from less adventurous attacks from the other players. Worse, the mermaid and the SC.CO member would find that they were even more slowed by the effect of his hack so close to its epicenter.

With time slowing, PartumsoL began panicking. Her mind raced with ideas on how she was going to get others to safety. The hacker's ability ran by in a blur over her logging menu's making it impossible to read them, even if she were to go back and re-watch the recording. The slowing abilities radiating from the threat caused stuttering around her, as particle effects swarmed her hands at incredibly slow speeds. Turning back, PartumsoL realized that the noob behind her was using a spell that buried her feet into the floor. That will make it difficult to get her out of danger. Adjusting the angle of her hands, she braced for the heavy impact of what came next.

"FIRE"

The heavy word rang out over all the noise in the area, echoing off the buildings and calling any unwanted attention that she may not have wanted. The particles stuttered around her outstretched palms, becoming smooth and swift as it touched her palm. The spear erupted from her palms, making contact with the ground immediately. Medium chunks of earth flew from the impact, as PartumsoL flew from out of Monstero's attack.

The now airborne player rocketed through the air, flying above several players before colliding with a market stall. Now at the very edge of the hacker's sphere, she opened the chat window she had been typing on previously, adding a few more characters, and typing enter. Pulling herself to her feet, she began semantic and verbal components, particles of energy fading into existence around her forearms.

As the earth began forming up around her tailfin, she realized she was expecting this to happen much faster. She panicked slightly, seeing the skeletal lich and it's monstrous summon act much faster than her and those immediately around her. It wasn't till the hail of projectiles from around started flying in that she realized she was being subject to some sort of power used by the hacker.

The stone crawled slowly up to envelop her entire body as the hacker moved to attack the person who had stood between the two of them. Cordelia tried in vain to hurry the movement of the earth, but to no avail. She watched, holding her breath as the hacker got closer, the other figure rushed away, and her armor inched higher up her body.

Finally it finished, rising up over the crown of her head and fully encasing herself in stone armor. It wasn't pretty or ornate. But it should be functional. She started to try and back up to move away from the approaching hacker, but the effects of the hack left her normal movement slowed also. She gritted her teeth and mouthed a silent curse, not wanting her parents to take too much interest in what was going on.

There was a wet thwap on the ground. The oddly and discordant flop of a fish on the ground. A second fish followed it, landing solidly on the top of Monstero's head. The summon did not notice the fish. Not when it landed, and not when it flopped hopelessly between the creature's ribcage and landed on the hacker's shoulder. The summon was taking a lot of damage thanks to the many players throwing various attacks and oddments at it. The goldfish flopped on the hacker's shoulder and one hand reached up to catch the fish before it slid off.

Carefully embraced by the hacker's hand, the fish vanished from view as the lich's eyes narrowed at the mermaid girl even as the SC.CO. member that had been protecting her ran away - flinging herself at that.

The other players narrowed away as Monstero was allowed to sink into the ground. Better to let the summon vanish and summon the creature again. This time he summoned the creature between himself and the other players. In particular another SC.CO. member. The monstrous creation would attack this time, its claws would draw blood wherever they hit - if they hit.

Meanwhile the Hacker reached out with his own claws to the girl, seeking to subvert her very NATURE. The hack would corrupt her avatar, causing it to decay unnaturally.

Norbert had been closing in on Monstero as fast as her scales would carry her.  She got within leap-strike range of the summon and made her move.  Norbert coiled herself up and pounced to where Monstero was.  The powerful muscles in the Dark Naga's body contracted with great force, lunging her body forward with what would have been great speed without the hack.  Whilst in mid air, the hacker's summon began to sink into the ground.  Norbert's claws were glistening white, outstretched in anticipation of sinking them deep into the flesh of her opponent.  She bared her rows of razor sharp teeth; saliva dripping from them onto the ground with a slight HISSS as it dissolved the grass where it landed.
Death began to cast another Bone Armour upon himself as he made his move to start running at the hacker, cane in hand when a fish very nearly landed on his head, knocking him to the side and onto his ass.
"What the hell was that?!" Death exclaimed involuntarily while still in the air.  Apparently a large halibut around 80lbs had just fallen from the sky and  smacked into the ground with a resounding *THUD* followed by flap flap flap flap of the fish suffocating out of it's element.  As Death's hiney hit the ground, another fish fell from the sky directly onto his head.  This time it was only a herring. His energy had nearly been spent at this point and had one more hope of doing something worthwhile before possibly getting killed and having to run back from the graveyard.

Drake began laughing out loud and couldn't help himself, regardless of the outcome.  He was going to taunt the hacker and hope for the best!

Death screamed out "NI!  NI I SAY UNTO YOU!!!" in the direction of the hacker as he slowly clambered to his feet.

Drake fell out of his chair laughing with tears in his eyes; knowing that he probably just doomed  his character but couldn't stop himself from doing it anyway.