Cubic Intrigue

"Ritom," Phoenicia inspected her new gauntlets. "I fail to see how exposing my arms makes me a better fighting companion."

"Chillax, droid gal!" Ritom organized his toolbox. "It's supposed to give you more agility! And come on, I think Phoenicia revealing more of her body is pretty cute! Am I right, Elysia?"

"Yeah," Elysia crossed her arms. "I like it. You look good, Phoenicia."

"Thank you!" Phoenicia swung her arms to test Ritom's upgrade.

While they walked across the city streets, Shien talked about birds while Naivern jammed a soothing melody on her guitar. Elysia's Vulpi ears twitched in rhythm as Enshiron played his violin along with Naivern.

"Almost there!" Shien pointed to the large dome-shaped building.

The Saberdome Arena had shining blue hexagon windows that blinked in sync with the booming music within Tetrachrome.

"Alright! Let's see what Dorian's cooking," Naivern cheered.

An explosion shook the atmosphere.

"What was that?" Shien jumped.

Phoenicia's two antenna hairs stood on its ends. "Danger detected!"

From the smoky hotel came out a male player wielding a sword. The man faced his sword at the front doors. With low HP, a being made of white cubes jumped from the doors and stabbed the player with its blade.

"Cubic Regime!" Enshiron held his violin like a bow and arrow.

The dying player disintegrated into black hexagons as a dark tab emerged.

Player Terminated

Account Destroyed

"Odd. Termination effects aren't programmed like that," Phoenicia blinked.

"Wait, what?" Ritom drew his pyrotechnic blade. "If we die, we just regenerate like always, right?"

Shien shuddered at the opposite possibility. "I-I hope so."

The cubed being looked at the friends with its pale featureless face, raising its sword to signal its other lackeys to attack the group.

Cubic Warrior

Level 45

HP: [45,000/45,000]

"Guys! They're coming!" Elysia cracked her brass knuckles, charging at the Cubic warriors.

"Wait!" Shien grabbed her back. "Let Naivern start things off. Do your thing, Loud Girl!"

Naivern nodded, swiping a tab to activate her red DJ monarch wings. She soared above the group and played her guitar, boosting her friends' stats and lowering the Cubic enemies'.

"Oh, yeah!" Ritom slashed his giant flaming sword to cut the Cubic warriors into charred pieces. "Let's beat them up!"

While Shien smashed his clarinet staff against the warriors' swords, Phoenicia and Elysia helped punch the Cubic men. The warriors' hybrid swords morphed into rifles to fire back, but Enshiron used his violin bow to snipe them with wind arrows.

"Take that!" Naivern played tunes to launch heated plasma waves at the warriors.

"Feel the burn!" Ritom's blade morphed into a flamethrower to finish the Cubic patrol off. "How was that?"

"Awesome!" Shien high-fived him.

Elysia huffed. "Wow, you all have some cool powers."

Ritom elbowed Elysia. "You like that, huh? My flames rock!"

"Y-yeah, sure."

Phoenicia still felt her antennas stand on its ends. "I don't believe the fight is over."

"What's that?" Elysia unsheathed her machete.

The group saw a rectangular platform hovering towards them with a few Cubic warriors on top. A Cubic pilot steered the personnel carrier, firing its machine gun. Naivern switched tunes to summon hexagon shields to protect the group.

Cubic Gunspeeder

Level 57

HP: [63,350/63,350]

Elysia charged at the vehicle. "You think you're so tough?"

"What the? Elysia!" Shien dragged her back before the Cubic gunner could shoot her.

The group took cover behind a nearby skyscraper for Naivern to rest her hands.

"Shien! What's the big idea?" Elysia stammered. "I was going to slug them!"

"What? I just saved your life!"

"I didn't need help from someone six inches shorter than me!"

"What was that? I'm not short!"

"Shortie! Shortie!"

The two bonked their heads together with their teeth clenched.

"Good fellow people!" Enshiron stepped between them. "Could we focus on neutralizing the gunspeeder?"

Ritom peeped over the corner, scouting the enemies with his mechanic goggles. "We can disable the vehicle by hitting the rear thrusters."

"How do you know that?" Elysia fired her machine pistols for cover fire.

"I told you! I'm everyone's favorite mechanic!"

"May I take the pleasure of sneaking to the Cubic backsides?" Enshiron drew an arrow from his quiver.

"Go, Enshiron!" Shien fist-bumped him.

While Ritom flashed his flamethrower to burn the Cubic warriors, Enshiron ran behind the buildings. When he spotted the two rear engines, Enshiron fired a cyclone arrow to engulf them in a chaotic explosion. The Cubic troopers looked in confusion as their vehicle dropped to the ground. Enshiron used the smoke as cover to snipe the distressed enemies while Shien and Elysia strangled the rest.

"Nice, Enshiron!" Shien gave him a thumbs up before bonking his staff with Elysia's machete.

Elysia and Shien fist-bumped and spun their bodies around to high-five below with Dorian's handshake.

They laughed until Phoenicia scanned the area. "I still detect danger."

"Are you kidding me?" Naivern groaned.

They saw two Cubic gunspeeders mowing the other players down with their machine guns. The two hovering vehicles floated towards the gang, pointing machine guns at them.

"We're in trouble!" Shien twirled his staff.

"Let's sic 'em!" Elysia cracked her knuckles.

Swarms of flaming dice landed on the Cubic forces, leaving the gunspeeders to explode in flames. A purple-haired girl floated above Tetrachrome with her mechanical wings.

"Is that another android?" Elysia watched the winged girl throw explosive dice at the Cubic enemies.

"Yes, that would be Ampyria," Phoenicia smiled. "She commands the Syanic Earth Police."

Shien elbowed Ritom. "It's your chance to make a move again."

"Ahem, I don't know what you're talking about," Ritom rolled his eyes.

"Attention to all players!" Ampyria yelled to the entire city. "This is Ampyria of the Syanic Police Force! Everyone must head to the Saberdome Arena immediately!"

"Looks like Dorian's message got to everyone else," Naivern nodded.

"Tetrachrome is under attack by the Cubic Regime!" Ampyria chucked dice to scorch another Cubic gunspeeder. "Please head to the Saberdome Arena ASAP! The Syanic Police Force will fend off the attack!"

"Oh, no! Look!" Shien pointed.

Everyone turned to the Saberdome Arena. A pale hovertank escorted by a squad of Cubic warriors blocked the entrance. The tank's rapid-firing quad cannon killed off all the players that tried to enter.

Cubic Flakpanzer

Level 63

HP: [71,650/71,650]

"Oh, no!" Ritom gasped. "Everyone's being led to that thing!"

"It's imperative to destroy that flakpanzer before it terminates anyone else," Phoenicia advised.

"Let's stop it before more players die!"