From Falcon6, the “Hero of NSider”, to S1lverHawk79, one of the most elite members of the NSider Police force, X-Naut128 had an uncanny knack for attracting prestigious users of the community. Users of two of the most coveted ranks on the forums devoted their time to this n00b. S1lverHawk79 and the lucky X-Naut were heading towards the Mario Board as I continued to vex on my frustration. Presumably, since the user was an X-Naut, he would be establishing residence in the Mario Board, which only angered me further that my own home board would be filled with more low-ranked filth. Perhaps the most discouraging of all was that I could not do anything about it, as S1lverHawk79 would certainly prove to be a match for me. I continued to follow the pair in silence, hoping that the chance to strike would present itself.
Not surprisingly, as the two were conversing, I noticed that S1lverHawk79 was having a hard time understanding the n00by language of this newcomer. He kept leaning down motioning for the X-Naut to repeat himself and often hesitated to respond to some of the Cappy’s queries. I decided to use this distraction to my advantage as I crept closer and closer to the group, eventually coming within earshot. All the discussion consisted of, though, was the basic functionality of the forums, such as how to send private messages and earn posts to increase one’s rank. The officer also mentioned how it should be the goal of every member to become an upstanding member of the community, but that did not seem to faze the thick-headed newcomer. Perhaps the first legitimate question of his existence, X-Naut128 asked “If beeing nice is importante, then y is fighting such a beg deel?” to which S1lverHawk79 paused and had to think for a moment. Finally he turned towards him and answered, “There is nothing wrong with fighting as a sport. Some may frown upon it, but I personally find it exciting. Backstreet brawls, however, are a completely different story; the general populous frowns upon those who use violence as their only answer to life’s problems. You’ve probably been hearing a lot about fighting with the Power On Power-Up tournament coming up, haven’t you?” “Wats a tournament?” X-Naut said in reply, causing S1lverHawk79 to let out a light sigh. X-Naut128 was clearly eager to find out, so S1lverHawk79 began his explanation,
“Well everyone is in the fighting spirit because of the Power On Power-Up Tournament, which is now only a couple weeks away. Once every two years in the NSider Coliseum, located in Power On, there is a massive gathering of fighters to compete in a series of matches to determine who’s the best.” “Ooh!” X-Naut128 said in awe, awaiting more information. S1lverHawk79 continued, “The entry fee is steep, which usually discourages those who aren’t serious about it from participating. However, there is still an overwhelming attendance every year. There is first a series of preliminary rounds to determine the top sixty-four fighters, who then compete in a massive bracket for the championship. Usually there are about four or five preliminary rounds before the final bracket. The overall winner of the fights is awarded with a special rank; Arena Champ, and a pretty hefty amount of posts. I’m not sure what the prize is this year, but it’s definitely something worth fighting for…not to mention the fame and glory of being the champ. Anyway, it’s one of NSider’s main events, so you should definitely stop by if you want to see some action.” “AWW YEAH” The Cappy screamed and pumped his fist, “I WANNA FIGHT!” “Whoa hey!” S1lverHawk79 exclaimed, pointing his finger at the over-excited X-Naut, “This is a serious competition, you know. Especially being new around here, I wouldn’t advise you to participate. Some people have actually died in this event.” X-Naut128 looked puzzled for a moment, but his expression quickly turned to anger. “R U saying I dunt got wat it takes!?” The officer was taken aback at that statement, but admitted that he did not think that a newcomer was ready to handle the competition.
Suddenly X-Naut128 stopped in his tracks and looked around. Unsure of what he was doing, S1lverHawk79 questioned him, to which he replied, “I can prove taht I have the skillz. C that treee over there? I’ll kill it!!!” “Umm…” The baffled officer replied, but then had a quick change of heart. “Ok, humor me and show me what you got. If you can impress me, I’ll let you participate.” I was stunned that this no-name newcomer would even have a chance at competing when I, a skilled assassin, had no hopes of participating due to the entrance fee. However, S1lverHawk79 was an experienced fighter and there was no way he could live up to such a high standard, so I remained calm and composed. After clearing the area of other bystanders, S1lverHawk79 allowed X-Naut128 to demonstrate his skills on the oak tree beside him.
“YAYZ!” The X-Naut exclaimed before abruptly changing his expression to that of something more serious, “…now watch…” Spreading his feet apart and facing the tree, he assumed a basic battle pose typical of a Cappy. He drew the large broadsword attached to his back and held it with both hands in front of him, pointed outward towards the tree. It looked like he was going to charge the tree and slice it vertically, but he just stood there, motionless. Maybe the sword was too heavy for him to wield or perhaps he forgot what he was doing. Either way, it was pretty comical to watch the strained look on the newbie’s face. Even those who were looking on started to giggle, but the stationary X-Naut remained just that and was not moving an inch. At this point, I could not really tell whether or not this was going to be a serious attack, so I continued to watch from the shadows.
After about fifteen seconds of nothing, S1lverHawk79 moved to stop the X-Naut from hurting himself when he suddenly let out a loud indecipherable scream, signifying that he was not to be bothered. “Ok, ok!” S1lverHawk79 said in his defense, “Just hurry up because I have to get back to wor-wor-w…what the hell!?” Upon saying this, a faint red aura started to appear around X-Naut128, getting more and more intense with every passing moment. Some others in the area appeared startled at the glowing user and even S1lverHawk79 took a few steps back and wiped his eyes to check his vision. The wind started to pick up, blowing in a strange swirling pattern around X-Naut128. Leaves and pieces of paper scattered around began to swirl in a tornado-like fashion around X-Naut128, which actually caused me to brace for whatever attack was coming. The ground beneath the X-Naut started to rupture as he continued to build up his attack. Even I didn’t know what to expect, but I could now tell that he was unloading all of his potential into this mysterious attack.
Then it happened; in an instant, the red aura surrounding the X-Naut was channeled through the sword and fired at the tree, moving in a wave-like pattern. The attack was so fast that even I had trouble following it. All I could do is watch as the red energy laser struck the tree, slicing it into mere splinters before totally incinerating it with deafening explosion. A few screams could be heard as the blinding flash and ground-shaking impact rocked the surrounding area and even I had to hold onto a building to keep my balance. I felt like I was in a wind tunnel as the gale from the explosion whipped at my face, causing my black robes to wave wildly in the air. There was smoke everywhere and I had to cover my mouth so I would not start coughing and give away from my position. Finally after a short while, the ground stopped shaking as the aftershock of the blast diminished to a negligible magnitude. I looked over and saw that S1lverHawk79 was on the ground with his hands over his head and many others who were once laughing at the poor user were now nowhere to be found.
When I finally realized what had happened, I dropped one of my daggers in amazement at the blast. An attack like that is something one would expect from a highly skilled and intensely trained Sage or Knight of Hyrule, not from a mere Cappy. When the heavy black smoke cleared, not even a fragment of the tree was left and a deep crater of rock appeared in the ground upon which the tree once stood. The blast was perfectly controlled, as nothing but the target was hit by its devastating power. It was an attack more powerful than any I have ever seen...more powerful than my own techniques. On top of all that, it was seemingly perfected by this Cappy, one which I had vowed to kill and failed to do so back when he was a simple OSider. My paradigm of this user started to change, as I was a clear witness as to how much hidden strength he possessed under his superficial n00b-like behavior. “Who have I really been chasing?” I thought, “Was the n00b appearance just a façade to conceal his true strength?” It seemed extremely unlikely, but I was beginning to consider the X-Naut as a worthy foe rather than an annoying ant that needed to be eliminated. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that I did not attack the user and try to stealthily kill him; perhaps he would have caught me and unleashed this awesome power on me. I tried to avoid jumping to conclusions based on just one attack, especially with such a lengthy preparation required, but it was impossible to ignore such a display of power.
When S1lverHawk79 finally got on his feet and regained his balance, he just stood there, mouth agape, glancing back and forth between X-Naut128 and the damage done by the devastating attack. Finally he hesitantly walked up to the X-Naut, who was putting his sword back in its holster on his back, and muttered, “T-That…that….c-could’ve…killed a Sage…even an NOA…..” “TREE GO BOOM!” X-Naut screamed as he turned back to the perturbed police officer, grinning ear-to-ear. I felt as if was a little better at disguising my emotions and inner thoughts than S1lverHawk79, but he was entirely correct. Not even an all-powerful administrator caught in the middle of that attack would have been able to survive. Even a user powered-up with a G-Mod Crystal probably still could not have unleashed anything that fierce.
Several seconds passed before the police officer regained his composure and looked at the X-Naut, “W-Where did you learn that!?” he asked with a startled tone in his voice. “One day i just kinda did it and….umm….yah….WHEE!” X-Naut128 replied, which made S1lverHawk79 even more confused and slightly afraid by the looks of it. “Well,” he began, “that attack was a little slow, but it certainly was…ahem…impressive…” Straightening the belt on his uniform, S1lverHawk79 reached into his back pocket and pulled out two small slips of paper and handed them to X-Naut128. “Here…I changed my mind…” “Huh?” The dumbfounded X-Naut said as he examined the documents. “These will get you into the Power On Power-Up Tournament for free,” S1lverHawk79 explained, “I don’t have very many of these to give out, but you just…wow…yeah…” Now S1lverHawk79 was speaking gibberish; apparently the image of that attack was still replaying in his mind. “Erm…anyway… yeah, you definitely have what it takes to compete and do really well. I gave you two of those passes, so maybe you can take your friend who was escorted to the Zelda Board earlier. What was his name?” “TECHNODRAGON64!!!” X-Naut128 screamed, angry that the officer didn’t remember the name of his best friend. “AHH! Ok!” S1lverHawk79 replied, still shaken up, “Just don’t hurt me…erm…I mean…Just watch yourself out there.”
The pair continued the rest of their walk to the Mario Board in silence. I continued my pursuit, but was also awe-struck by the display that X-Naut128 just unleashed. I have never witnessed an attack that powerful and I am thankful that I was not the target of such a blow. If he received the proper training or happens to run into another highly ranked user of the forums, which is not unreasonable given his luck so far, he could control that fighting ability and could have a very high chance of becoming the Arena Champ relying solely on that one move. Seeing an X-Naut with that much power brought back the painful memory of FenirKnight murdering my father all those years ago. Now the mere thought of this user’s death appealed to my killer instinct, my deep-seeded anger, and my unfounded revenge. However, I decided that I no longer wanted to defeat X-Naut128 relying on my speed and stealth alone. Despite how prideful it might have been, I wanted to kill X-Naut128 in a fair one-on-one match-up so I could test my abilities against his battle prowess. He had to have other moves at his disposal if he was able to execute such a forceful strike and I wanted to see them all.
“And here we are…this is where you’ll be living for now.” The voice of S1lverHawk79 snapped me out of my daydreams as I realized I was walking down the main street in plain sight. I instantly dashed into an alleyway and checked my surroundings to make sure no one was in pursuit. It was a miracle that no one noticed and I knew that I could not make mistakes like that with Dr_Peppy trying to close in on my position. Any user out there could have been hired by the ex-military officer to kill me on the spot, so I had to keep a very low profile for the time being. Even though I now wanted to fight and defeat X-Naut128, it was still my top priority to remain hidden and avoid any troublesome situations. Peering out from the alley, I saw that the couple was stopped in front of an apartment building, which would have to suffice as a temporary home for the newcomer. When they first become Cappies, all newcomers start off in apartments until they reach higher ranks, at which point they can transfer to bigger and better housing options. Also, it was possible for users, much like myself, to break out of the system and open a business that could double as a house. It was also entirely true that some users did not have a home, but stayed in various hotels and other rooms from day-to-day.
S1lverHawk79 continued to explain how the housing system works to X-Naut128, though he did not seem to be paying much attention. This attitude clearly frustrated S1lverHawk79, but he did not want to say anything, fearing that he could be on the receiving end of one of those deadly blasts. Blatantly interrupting the officer, X-Naut128 turned to him and said, “Sooooo yeah I get to live heer but am I gonna bee all alonez?” “Yes,” S1lverHawk79 responded, “Though I’m sure you will quickly make friends around the Mario Board. There are a lot of contests here that you can get involved with... trivias, picture captions, you name it!” “OK! COOL!” X-Naut128 exclaimed rather loudly, much to the distaste of the elite police officer. Following some more idle chitchat, S1lverHawk79 said his goodbye and walked back in the direction of Power On. X-Naut128 walked slowly into the brown building, now being truly alone for the first time since he was an OSider. Earlier today, I would have jumped at this opportunity and killed the poor user without a moment’s hesitation, but now it was different. I saw that, under the n00bish exterior, there was an unbelievable reserve of strength. I wanted to test out my abilities against it. Though the thought of this X-Naut possibly rivaling my battle skill was demoralizing, I could utilize this as an opportunity to improve my abilities and become even faster, stronger, and deadlier.
My inner monologue was unfortunately disrupted by a soft beeping noise coming from my PM watch. I looked down and saw that I had an unread message, which could have been sitting there for several minutes now. I pressed a button and a screen popped up in front of me, presenting quite an interesting decision.
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FROM: ANTIROCKETCLOUDY Add User to Friends List – Add User to Ignore List
SENT: 08/17/07 – 1:14 P.M.
ShadowMario41,
You have been invited to become a new member of our organization. We find your case rather interesting and believe we could utilize your skills to fulfill our objectives. If you are interested, meet me tonight at 9:00 in the alley behind “The Rank Thread.” More complete details will be explained there. Do not bring anyone with you. The pay will be more than satisfying. I await your arrival.
~Prince Ludwig
N
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