Pixelate 3: Final Stand

Chapter 9: Strength is Key

Next morning...

Asaka: "(groggy) Huh?"

Most of the other girls are sleeping normally while Risa has her manga on top of her head for reasons unknown.

Asaka: "(yawning) Okay..."

In the guys room...

Edo: "(stretching) Morning..."

Kyle: "(yawning) Was everyone up last night?"

Edo: "(stretching) Is your head screwed on right?"

Kyle: "(groggy) Probably not."

The two exit the room to find Asaka in the hallway.

Asaka: "Were we the only ones who decided it was a good idea to sleep?"

Edo: "Most likely."

Isabel walks out of the girls room.

Isabel: "(rubbing eyes) Hey."

Kyle: "Let's head downstairs and see if breakfast is going."

The four are allured to the smell of bacon and maple syrup.

Edo: "Early bird gets the worm, am I right?"

???: "Bacon..."

They turn around to find Robert being allured to the smell of bacon.

Kyle: "Get all the food you can guys!"

Asaka: "Why?!"

Isabel: "Robert is like me and cookies with everything!"

Edo: "C'mon!"

The four begin to grab as much as they can as Andrea, Cole, and William walk downstairs.

Andrea: "Uh oh..."

Kyle: "Well hurry up before Robert devours everything!"

The three sit down.

Cole: "Guess he chose the Guardian class for a reason."

William: "He was the third member of Shining Star and he has always been... like this."

Everyone begins to eat.

???: "(panicking) Did you guys start eating without us?!"

Micheal, Tori, Zack, Anthony, Roy, Serena and Emily enter the room with a panicked look on their faces.

Micheal: "The moment I saw Robert left the room I knew it was because of breakfast!"

Everyone grabs a plate as half of a buffet's worth of food alone enters Robert's stomach.

Roy: "(mouth full) Where's Risa?"

Emily: "Probably still asleep with her manga on her head."

Anthony: "I'm actually really curious about how that looks."

Tori: "Don't be."

???: "(yawning) What're you guys talking about?"

Risa walks in looking like a zombie.

Zack: "I see why."

Andrea: "Just take a seat and eat Risa."

Now everyone finally eats their breakfast and gets dressed.

Edo: "We're logging in right?"

William: "Yeah, we need to get enough strength to not get ourselves impaled to death."

Micheal/ Zack: "Hey!"

Everyone leaves for the nearest Login.

Tori: "ID Cards only have one advantage over ID Gloves."

Isabel: "Is it that you can log in anywhere?"

Emily: "Yeah, but we don't have augment slots, guild chats, and can't use the full potential of ID tech."

Andrea: "The RLA system?"

Zack: "Yeah, there is no way to use it unlike ID Gloves where it can be activated by that green circle."

Zack points to the back of Andrea's hand.

Anthony: "Here we are."

The eight walk inside.

Micheal: "See you in a sec."

The other eight insert their ID Cards into their phone as the other eight scan themselves in.

Serena: "This place is pretty empty."

Only a few dozen Players total are logged in.

Micheal: "I mean, when you die, you're dead."

Risa: "(annoyed) Stop giving me PTSD!"

Roy: "We both don't like that anime..."

Serena: "Well this next boss should be in the usual place too."

Isabel: "Well we won't be able to watch Risa being flung into the air."

Micheal/ Anthony: "(annoyed) Don't bring back those memories."

Zack: "Let's just go. We do have a time limit to beat that thing."

Asaka: "It should be this way."

Shining Hope follows Asaka to an open meadow with the sky being a mix of night and day.

Risa: "Time to beat this guy to the-"

A bull rams into Risa from behind.

Serena: "Talk about a surprise!"

Serena tosses her shurikens into the rider.

Tori: "Here!"

Tori sends an arrow into the bull's side.

Micheal: "Time for some action!"

Micheal stabs the rider, only to have him act like a bowling ball into everyone except Risa and Serena.

Risa: "Well shit."

Everyone is busy recovering their HP.

Serena: "How are we going to win?!"

Serena lodges more shurikens into both beast and rider, only slowing them down.

Serena: "We can't-"

Serena is sent flying.

Asaka: "Risa!"

The bull rams itself toward Risa.

Risa: "(determined) My fist is the fist..."

Water surrounds her fist.

Risa: "(determined)... that will..."

The bull makes contact.

Risa: "(determined)... THAT WILL SMASH THROUGH THE HEAVENS!!!!!!"

Risa punches the beast into Serena and the rider into the air.

Risa: "Get it Serena!"

Serena holds her shurikens like brass knuckles and uses the force of the punch to create a giant hole in it.

Roy: "This is reminding me of my favorite anime."

Risa: "Aqua Wave!"

Risa sends a blast of water that splits the rider in two.

Robert: "(in awe) Nailed it!"

Risa: "Let's move on."

Risa becomes Lv14 and the group heads out to go against the third boss right off the bat.