Ready player 2 (real title TBD. Unfinished.)

The Shadow Wars

Talion stood in front of the fortress in Nurnen, his army of players and bots alike behind him, rallied to his flag. The enemy overlord walked out on his towering balcony, clad in Hide armor, and that iconic iron helmet. He began shouting some words in Dovah, different flashes of light and energy spewing from the top of the tower. After a few moments, he walked back inside. Talion turned to the knight beside him. "Warden, you ready?" he asked, looking over the warden and his squad behind him. The warden smirked beneath the cold metal of his helmet, and adjusted his stance so his plate armor fit a bit more comfortably. He was prepared to charge the enemy fortress. The warden felt a tap on his shoulder, and he glanced over it. It was his wife, playing as the elf she always did. She couldn't see well through the small slits in his helmet, but his face lit up as he realised she was protecting him. She drew her bow, and nodded slightly. The warden looked back at the fortress, listening to another one of talion's group leaders give a boring speech about honor and glory. It still drove him nuts hearing how seriously everyone seemed to take the program.
After a few more moments, talion raised his sword toward the fortress, and bellowed out "Charge!" and all at once, the troops started at a full dash toward the fortress. The warden was quickly passed by a couple ninjas, and some men in sci fi armor. He rolled his eyes slightly before his wife passed him effortlessly. Fuckin elves and their speed he thought to himself with a chuckle, mimicking how she mocked his choice of character. She quickly clambered the walls as he rushed the gate. When he reached it, there were several men planting explosives at the base of the door. He stood back several feet but kept his stance. After the charges were primed, the men who placed them ran away from them, the sound of crunching leaves and twigs beneath their feet like the breaking of a million bones. The warden lifted his right foot off the ground as he lunged forward. As he began to move, there was a very loud explosion, and a wave of heat washed over him. The gate doors were blown off their hinges, and they came crashing down into the fortress. The warden led the charge in, but unbeknownst to him, an assasin had scaled the walls as well.
As Talion watched the doors of the fortress fall, and his troops charge in, he got an uneasy feeling in his gut, almost as if- Dodge! The single word ran through his mind almost in a panic, as the assassin draped in red and white landed just before him. He quickly stood, blades extending from both wrists as he lunged at talion. He dodged backward again, and the assassin kept up his push. Rushing talion with the speed of a cheetah, the assassin made him lose his balance, and he stumbled backward and onto his back. The assassin quickly stood over him, brandishing his wrist blade. "Requiescat in Pace." He said in a cold voice as he raised his arm back, to plunge it into talions throat. Then almost like the sound of a book hitting the floor in the silence of a library, there was a solid Thump. The assassin froze, before a second thump followed shortly after, and the assassin slumped over in a heap next to talion. There were 2 finely crafted arrows in his back, and his gaze shifted to the walls of the fortress, where the elf who almost always seemed to accompany the warden was perched. She waved at talion, then seemingly chuckled a bit before scaling the wall entirely.
As the warden made his way through the gates, arrows and bullets alike flew passed him, and tore through the grunts and bots around him. The program limited firearms to one magazine, so most of the weapons were empty in a matter of seconds. After a few seconds of fire, the warden continued his push inwards passed the corpses of the soldiers. He could see the first of the four command points, and on it, stood a man clad in a large metal suit. He could hear the hydraulics whirring to life as the man picked up what appeared to be a large piece from the undercarriage of a train. The program labeled it a "super sledge", but it didnt look very super to the warden. He tossed his sword into his right hand and charged toward the man. As he approached, it became more obvious that it took next to no effort for him to wield this weapon, and he slowed his charge a bit. He looked around for any help nearby, but all he saw were grunts from both sides cutting and shooting eachother down as if they were nothing. There was practically a tunnel connecting the warden to the man in the metal suit. He sighed a bit, and gripped his sword in both hands, before he heard slightly heavy footsteps rush up next to him. It was Talion, finally making his way into the fortress. He drew his sword as well, and locked eyes with the warden, nodding knowingly. Though the two had never met outside of the program, they fought together inside regularly, and had a plan for foes like this. The two split, talion going right and the warden going left. They charged together, and the large metal man never moved. He stood his ground, gripping his weapon in both hands. As they neared him, he spun quickly, extending his arms out and gaining as much reach as possible. He spun in a full three hundred sixty degree circle. As the super sledge came flying toward the warden at speeds that seemed unimaginable, he unbelievably managed to duck just enough to avoid the connection. He lost his footing though, and fell onto his back. Talion hadnt been so lucky however, as the warden heard the sound of metal careening into metal, and ribs shattering. Time seemed to slow as he saw talions body wrap itself around the blunt head of the weapon. It eliminated him instantly, and sent his body flying backwards and crashing into the floor. The warden was given a "promoted" message by the program, and cursed slightly under his breath as he clambered to his feet. He had no idea how he was going to stop this behemoth, but then he saw it, the fusion core in the back plate of its armor. If he could damage it, or get it out somehow he could stop him. He whistled, and his wife's elf hearing picked it up from atop the walls. She looked at him quickly, and he gestured lightly to his back, trying to give her a hint without cluing in the metal man. He whistled again, before shouting tauntingly "Alright, you took out talion. Not hard to whack someone with next to no armor. Let's go." he snapped out quickly, and got the exact response he wanted. The man in the suit turned toward him, and ran at him with the speed of a boulder rolling uphill. The warden laughed a bit and stood still, opening his arms as if he were going to hug him. The metal man rushed and screamed angrily as he raised his weapon up to swing it. Suddenly he felt as though he was in a block of concrete, and lost all control of his movement as his suit locked. "What the..." he mumbled to himself. The warden walked up to him, and chuckled softly.
"Tsk tsk tsk, not watching weak points." he said as he leaned behind the man and grabbed the arrow that had embedded itself into the top of the fusion core. He yanked the arrow out, and the fusion core immediately began to heat up. "Move! Now!" he shouted to his men as he lobbed it directly onto the command point. After about three seconds it had heated to the point that the casing melted, causing a very small nuclear blast, about the size of a mini nuke. It cleared the capture point, which the warden quickly ran onto, and claimed for himself.
The elf sat perched above the command point when she saw the warden claim it, and she smiled at him, "Good job jasper!" she shouted down to him, using his real name. He shouted back to her, "Thank you Elana! Let's go get B!" he said, his face beaming underneath his helmet. He quickly ran through the crowd of grunts towards checkpoint B. As he approached, he didnt see any defenders on it. He chuckled to himself and ran even faster, his wife almost directly above him, but slightly to his left, running on a cable that connected two different structures on either side of the point. As the warden stepped onto the checkpoint, it became suspiciously quiet. Then almost as if an answer to his suspicions, he heard his wife scream out almost in terror. His eyes shot upward, where he saw celebrimbor shadow strike his wife, sending her tumbling from the cable. The warden tossed his sword to the side she was falling from and dashed quickly to position himself beneath her. He extended his arms, so she could gracefully land in them. As soon as she landed in his arms she rolled herself out of them, and drew the two small daggers from her hip. The warden reached down and grabbed his sword from the floor again, and went back into a fighting stance. Celebrimbor laughed a bit as he positioned himself so he was standing directly in front of the elf, but keeping an eye on the warden. A moment of panic washed over the warden. He knew he wasn't good at handling quick opponents, especially elves. As those thoughts ran through his head, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that a knight was making its way through the crowd of grunts fighting just off of the point. He was clad in blue cloth, and held a large great sword over his shoulder. The warden look him over a little more and thought he could see... Is that giant dog hair? But as he thought it, the knight charged forward and lept into the air, slamming his sword down toward the warden. He dodged backward, and raised his sword to guard himself. The knight swung again and the warden deflected it, quickly but lightly slashing across the knights chest plating. It cut through the blue cloth, making the hood topped by a metal helmet both slide off his head. As it did, it exposed his face, which seemed hideously disfigured. It looked as if all the blood and fluids had been drained from his body. A shiver ran through the warden, who lost his balance slightly. The knight took advantage and rushed forward, slamming his shoulder into the wardens chest just below his throat. It sent the warden tumbling back onto the floor.
As the elf saw the blue knight rush her husband, she made her move. She rushed toward celebrimbor, who drew his sword. She lunged forward with both daggers in hand. Celebrimbor obviously was no match for her weapons and fighting style. As she lunged, she saw the new ring on his finger ignite in what looked like a blue flame. He lunged it forward, and she quickly dropped to one knee and slid beneath his attack. As she did, she slashed a dagger at his hand. She heard him scream in agony, followed by a light metal clink as the ring hit the floor. She wanted to reach for it, to put it on herself, but she resisted. As she slid behind him, she rose back to her feet. He stood there clutching his hand, as he spun to face her. She could see the shock in his eyes. He hadn't ever lost the ring in a fight, and she took advantage, lunging herself forward again, plunging both of her daggers into his collarbones. He screamed in pain again as he was pushed to his knees by the attack. He gnashed his teeth as blood flowed out of his mouth passed them. He spit blood at her a bit, before he spoke. "You dont deserve to take this fortess" He tried to say something else after that, but was quickly silenced as she drew one dagger from his body, as though it were a sheath, and she plunged it into his throat. As the light in his eyes faded, she pulled both of her weapons free and tossed his body aside. She saw the new ring on the floor, and rushed to grab it. She picked it up, and screamed out "Warden!" As she saw her husband fall onto his back. He glanced over at her, and saw the ring already flying toward him. He stuck his hand out, and as if it were magnetic, the ring slid itself over his finger. He could feel celebrimbor's power surge through him and he quickly rolled to the side, dodging a massive downward slash from the knight. He could feel the ring guiding his hand, which he slammed against the side of the knights exposed skin. "Submit!" the warden screamed, almost instinctually as the ring began to glow. He could feel the skin beneath his gauntlet bubbling, as it boiled from the branding. The knight yelled in pain, before his expression went blank, and his cloth turned black, matching the wardens battle standards.
After the knight had been branded, the warden stepped into the center of the checkpoint. He held his fist in the air and let out a bellowing war cry. As he did, the ring expelled a burst of power, sending a strong but not overly powerful shockwave through the air. It was just strong enough to blow his wife's hood back, exposing her characters face. During her entry into the program, she decided to use her real face, unlike most other players. She had short, dirty blonde hair cut into a pixie cut that parted to the left. She had incredibly pale skin, almost porcelein, with only a single flaw. A single straight scar across her left cheekbone, almost perfectly horizontal. She had fallen from a tree as a child, and caught her cheek on a branch below as she fell. She glanced at her husband, the warden, jasper, whatever anyone wanted to call him, she didnt care. She only knew that she loved him, inside the program and out. Her pale blue eyes locked with his muddier, yet still blue eyes through the slits in his helmet. He smiled at her, as he turned and darted forward on the path toward the third checkpoint.
As he carved a path toward his goal, he heard the rumble of engines, and turned just in time to see a red and gold armored man soar over head. As he passed, he dropped small explosives onto the hordes of nameless grunts and bots in the crowds. As he flew over the third checkpoint, a large white blob slammed into his chest, sticking to it immediately and slamming him into the ground. The man in the red and blue suit that had pulled him stood triumphantly on the checkpoint, before firing several more webs from his wrists into the crowd. The warden rushed forward to the point, raising his fist bearing the ring of power. As he lifted it however, spider man launched another large web ball directly at his hand. It wrapped around it, effectively making it useless. He fired another web around the wardens leg, before firing another into his chest and yanking him forward onto the ground. Spiderman raised his arms in excitement, knowing he had temporarily stopped the enemy commander. As he lowered his arms, a large smile noticeable through his mask, he started to turn. He saw a large Japanese man, probably around 400 hundred or more pounds, clad in layered wooden armor and a pig mask swing a club the size of a small tree upward at him. "Oh shi-!" was all he could get out before it made contact, sending spiderman sailing through the air. He landed hard, and was immediately pounced on by several lower tier characters.
As shugoki, the massive man who had launched the spider, stood on the point a strong cold wind began to blow over the battlefield. Along with it came snow, and a blizzard so heinous none of the warriors could see more than a few feet in front of their own faces. The warden managed to rip off some off the webs, and draw his sword, which he used to cut the rest of the webs. He quickly rose to his feet, just as shugoki completed his capture of the third point. The warden nodded to him before the blizzard completely blocked his view. He struggled to move as the cold started to effect the his armor, making the plates stick together. He fought against it though, and kept himself in motion to avoid freezing. As his vision got blocked even further, he started to hear pained screaming, and calls for help from within the snow. Where's Elana? He thought to himself in a panic. He couldn't see, but he had to find her. "Elana! Where are you!?" he shouted into the blizzard. He thought he heard her scream in the distance, and he charged in that direction. As he ran passed bodies, he started seeing blue eyes poke through the snow and the winds. He could smell rot, decay, and blood. As he ran by bodies, he noticed something. What happened to the screaming? As he thought it, he started seeing more and more of the blue eyes appear around him. Wait, could it... He thought again before his fear was confirmed. White walkers had invaded the server. They were controlled by one man, who himself played the night king. He could turn and resurrect anyone who had fallen in that certain battle. Fuck, where is elana? He thought to himself one last time before he began sprinting again. He made his way into what seemed like a large open area, before he ran full speed into someone. He drew his sword as the two collided, but stumbled backward as he readied himself. The man in front of him turned, and he could see the outline of the horns atop his iron helmet. It was the dragonborn. The two looked at eachother and traded looks of aggression before they were replaced with understanding. The night king couldnt be allowed another server victory. The two men held their hands out, before they were clamped together in a tight grip. The entire server had been shifted in that moment, people who had been enemies at the start now allies to face the larger threat. The dragonborn smirked a bit before he turned his head up.
"Lok, Vah koor!" he shouted at the heavens, and the blizzard ceased almost immediately. All the clouds and winds dissipating immediately. The two looked at eachother again, and nodded as they turned and stood back to back. They looked around them and saw nothing but a field riddled with bodies. "They're all face down." the dragonborn pointed out to the warden. The warden nodded, and raised his hand bearing his ring, and slammed it downward. There was a blast of light emmited from his hand, striking into every corpse on the floor. Some of them started convulsing before leaping to their feet, eyes beaming blue light as they began to charge at the two men in the middle of the circle. The warden stuck his sword straight out as they rushed at him, running the first few into his own blade. As he did, the dragonborn drew his steel sword and began slashing at the ones that ran at him. These undead had no special weakness, and were simply reanimated, and were therefore very easy to kill. Although easy to kill, they came in hordes. One after the other charging at the two men. "To hell with it! This is pointless if we cant stop him from bringing them back!" the warden screamed to the dragonborn as they culled the charging herds. The dragonborn nodded before he looked around slightly. He could see a dim blue light coming from a small alley a bit further into the fortress. He motioned for the warden to follow as they began to run toward it.
The dragonborn quickly took the lead, being lighter in his hide armor. As he neared the entrance to the small alley, the warden got an uneasy feeling. This is too simple. The night king would never give away his position like this. And almost as he thought the words, the dragonborn turned into the alley, only to almost immediately stumble backward out of it. The warden quickly shifted into a battle stance as he saw him stumble out, a thin shaft of wood extending from his chest with a small bit of feather on the tail end. There was a slight whistle as another flew from the alleyway and punched its way through the dragonborns hide, and directly into his abdomen. He continued to stumble backward until he was stopped by a wall. As his back met the wall, a third arrow met his throat. It came just as suddenly as the previous, puncturing straight into his jugular. Blood spewed from around it as he slowly slid down the wall, into a sitting position, and went cold. The warden stood almost in shock, seeing the dragonborn fall so easily. But wait, i havent seen a single walker use a- as the words scrambled through his mind, he saw a familiar woman sprint around the corner, before coming to a complete stop. She had her hood up, but jasper knew immediately it was his wife. "Fuck, Elana he was on our side!" He yelled to her in a slight panic. He saw her lips curl into a smirk under her hood as she reached up and grabbed it, pulling it back to reveal a set of pulsating blue eyes, and grey, rotting skin. Fuck! He thought as he raised his sword immediately. She was on him in the blink of an eye, dagger drawn and bow on her back. She slashed at him, and he was barely able to block the attack. She harrased him with a flurry of light swings which he was barely able to defend against. After several attacks, she launched her entire body at him, sending him tumbling backward. The two fell in a heap, and almost immediately she lept back to her feet and lifted her daggers up above her head. She slammed them downward, one reflecting off the wardens armor plate over his heart, and the other puncturing through his chainmail beneath the plates, and digging into his upper chest on the right side. He screamed out in pain and grabbed her wrists, yanking them upward and off of the grips of her weapons. The night king had granted her special power over the other undead though, and her strength overpowered his, and her hands found their way to his throat. She clamped them there, and he started to gasp for air. She held him that way for several seconds, if not a minute while he squirmed beneath her. Just as he was about to black out, there was a roar in the air. "Ég ríf ykkur í bita!" the massive icelandic man screamed as he rammed himself into the undead elf on top of the warden. He grabbed her, slinging her over his shoulder as he ran her into a wall with a ferocious strength. He released her and she fell to her knees, all the while he brought his leg back and slammed it forward, connecting his knee squarely with her nose.
The wardens vision began to return as he started coughing. He rolled on his side, grabbing the dagger and yanking it from his chest, and throwing it to the floor. He looked at the massive mountain of a man that had saved him. He bore a helmet with two massive horns hanging downward on either side of a helmet with a skull as a faceplate. Across his chest he had what appeared to be a wolf pelt. The warden coughed up a small amount of blood as he rose to his feet.
The tip of the wardens sword dragged through the snow while he pulled it from the ground. With a two handed grip, he brought his arms back, and let out an aggressive war cry as he charged toward the raider and the elf. The raider heard him coming and stepped aside, while the warden came toward them at a full sprint. He slammed his sword downward, cleaving it in a vertical gash just to the left of her neck. There was a slight gargling sound, and she tried to reach up to grab him, but slowly faded. The warden looked at the raider, and nodded in appreciation before he ripped his sword from his former wife's corpse. He sighed a bit as he looked down at her. Fucking necromancers.
While the two men stood beside each other, a quiet but solid clap began to echo off the walls of the fortress. They turned to see the night king himself standing before them. The warden glanced at the stats on his peripherals. 3 players remaining. The warden smirked, and Gripped his sword tighter. The night king began to speak. "Well done. You killed her. How do you feel?" he shouted tauntingly. The wardens expression tensed, and the raider readied his axe. The two looked at eachother, nodded again slightly, and turned to the night king. The two charged forward, war cries escaping from their lungs, and weapons toward the sky. As the neared the night king, he lifted his hands and simply stated "I forfeit", and everything went dark.

Server End