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ghost-client · 2 years ago

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Don't Do Hacks, Kids

“Don’t look out there.”

“Why?” he asked, immediately suspicious.

“Please," Akita said grimly. "If something goes wrong, you don’t want to see it. Give us ten minutes. You close soon anyway.”

She paid for their drinks and tipped twenty dollars, then went to join the others.

Words: 2911

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The last Hypixel story I'm willing to share from this era, this one gives us some insight into the personalities and dynamics of the Leporidae leaders. Warning for a description of a child being injured, and some general violence/blood.

The sun had set but there was still light in the sky. The streetlights had only just turned on, painting the streets with an amber glow. The Golden Apple, a small, cozy café in the Skywars district, closed in just a few minutes.

Only four customers remained in the café. And they were an odd four. At first glance, no one would assume they even knew each other.

One was a plump woman with dark brown skin and waves upon waves of creamy-white hair, who wore an eye-catching fluffy jacket and, in one ear, a glowing cyan earring in the shape of a plus. Beside her was a short, skinny man with pale skin and spiky black hair, dressed in a large diamond-patterned poncho, ears adorned with countless piercings. And beside him was a scrawny man with striking yellow eyes and brown hair in sore need of a haircut, wearing a worn leather jacket and carrying a huge satchel. Then, perhaps the most unremarkable of them all, there was a person with teal hair who wore a black vest over a red crop-top.

But if one observed them for more than a few seconds, it was plain they not only knew each other, but were very, very good friends. And there was clearly more than what meets the eye to the one with teal hair, because the others turned to face them when they spoke and awaited their responses in a way that made it clear they were some kind of leader.

Technically, they were all leaders, though the teal-haired one held more authority. The leaders of a covert organization named Leporidae.

They were doing their best not to mention it in this public café, though, and doing so quite well. This wasn’t an official meeting to discuss Leporidae matters, it was just four friends meeting up at a local coffee shop.

“Have you guys heard about the new regulations on illusions?” the man with the satchel, Nirv, asked. “Apparently they’re cracking down on holo-capes.”

“Oh yeah, I heard about that,” Bunny, the one with teal hair, nodded. “Anyone know why?”

“Well, with official capes you need a license. Maybe you’ll need a license for holo-capes too,” suggested the woman with the fluffy jacket, Akita.

“I bet that’s got people in a tizzy,” remarked Bunny.

“Won’t really affect us though,” muttered Two, the man wearing the poncho. “Can’t use holo-capes anyway.”

The others nodded agreement and didn’t elaborate. Between Bunny, Two, and Nirv, they probably had the illegal magic of a dozen hackers, and everyone knew hacks interfered with the magic that powered holo-capes. Akita was the only one who didn’t have some kind of illicit device on her person at any given time, which was very purposeful.

“What about other cosmetic illusions?” Bunny asked. “Like wings or holo-crowns?”

“From what I’ve heard, they’re fine,” Nirv answered, looking to Akita for confirmation.

She nodded. “It’s just anything that resembles a cape that’s an issue.”

Two stiffened suddenly and turned his head to face the café doors. The others glanced at him, wary. Two always left his tracers on but he didn’t acknowledge them unless he needed to. He stood up without warning, still looking at the doors.

“HELP!” someone cried from outside. “HELP ME!”

They all glanced at each other and came to an agreement instantly, without needing to speak or even nod. The four of them stood up in unison and hurried to the doors. Bunny and Two pulled them open and darted outside with Nirv on their heels.

Akita approached the owner of the café, who was looking outside with concern. “Don’t go out there. In fact, don’t even look out there.”

“Why?” he asked, immediately suspicious.

“Trust me. Please,” Akita said grimly. “If something goes wrong, you don’t want to see it. The more you know, the more danger you’re in. Give us ten minutes. You close soon anyway.”

She paid for their drinks and tipped twenty dollars, then went to join the others.

Outside, the situation was exactly what they feared. A young boy who couldn’t be older than fourteen, fleeing from a man and woman twice his size. He raced past the leaders of Leporidae with his pursuers right behind him, gaining on him. The four friends gave chase without hesitation.

The boy ducked into an alley, hoping to lose them at the next turn, but found himself in a dead end. He turned to face his chasers right as they caught up with him. The man grabbed the collar of his shirt, lifted him up, and slammed him against the brick wall.

“Please,” the boy begged, tears streaming down his cheeks. “I haven’t— I didn’t do anything!”

“You owe us—” the man began.

“HEY!”

The woman turned to see four silhouettes at the end of the alley, outlined by amber light. Two of them had hands on the pommels of swords.

“Let him go,” Bunny said in a calm, firm tone. “I don’t want this to get violent. Just drop him.”

The man stepped back, though he kept one hand gripping the boy’s shirt. Bunny and Two could see perfectly despite the near-blackness of the dark alley, and they could make out metal glinting on the couple’s shoes and right forearms. They knew too well what that meant.

“This is none of your business,” the woman scoffed. “He owes us.”

“What does he owe, exactly?” Bunny asked.

“We truced with him, and he never paid us,” she replied.

“That’s a lie!” the boy yelled. “I paid them what they said, and then later they raised the amount!”

“Shut up,” the man rolled his eyes.

“Seems like he doesn’t owe you anything,” Bunny pointed out sharply, drawing their sword. “Just let him go. It’s not worth the trouble.”

The two exchanged a knowing look. The man sighed and let go of the boy’s shirt. He took a nervous step towards the leaders of Leporidae, untrusting of his sudden freedom.

It turned out, he was right to be untrusting. The man jumped forward and slashed his sword across the boy’s back, then slammed the pommel into the side of his skull. He didn’t have time to scream before slumping to the ground, unconscious.

In the split second before all hell broke loose, Akita and Nirv heard a quiet chorus of beeps as Bunny and Two activated about four hacks each.

They didn’t even bother running across the alley. Instead, they blinked the distance and their swords started moving the second they appeared next to the boy. His attackers activated their own illegal devices to defend themselves.

They circled each other at inhuman speeds, arms being pulled in all directions as their bracers tried to keep up. While the boy’s attackers had been cruel and intimidating, when it came to bhopping they were rather . . . disappointing. Bunny and Two dodged their unnatural attacks with ease and struck before their enemies’ killaura even registered their locations. They weren’t trying to kill or even maim them, just trying to get them to leave.

Then, the woman broke free of the fray and ran for the end of the alley as if to flee. Akita and Nirv stepped aside to allow her escape. But, instead of rushing past them, she turned on Akita, sword glinting under the streetlights.

“AKITA!” Bunny yelled.

They blinked to her side instantly, their blade catching the woman in the collarbone. She stumbled back with a pained shriek. Normally, they’d let one escape after such a devastating blow, but now they weren’t merely annoyed, they were truly angry, and Bunny wasn’t someone you wanted to see angry. They jumped forward with magically-enhanced speed to strike again, furious.

In the alleyway, the man chanted a spell and disappeared. Two’s blade swung through empty air. A moment later, the woman vanished too, which was good because Bunny was dangerously close to fighting to kill.

“Where’d they go?” they growled, still fired up.

“They warped,” Two panted. Fighting was always a workout, even with illegal magic helping you out.

Bunny lowered their sword, chest heaving. “Anyone on your tracers?”

“Nope. Think we’re good.”

They turned off the many hacks they’d enabled and closed their eyes, breathing hard. When they opened them, their gaze was calm and focused once again.

The woman had only managed to land one hit on Akita before Bunny fought them off, a sizeable cut on her upper arm. She had one hand pressed against it to reduce blood loss, and managed a small smile despite the pain.

“We’ll clean that and disinfect it at home,” Bunny said, nodding at the wound. “I’m checking up on the kid.”

The boy was still unconscious and face-down in the alley. Blood matted the hair near his temple, where the pommel of the man’s sword had struck him. The back of his shirt was ripped in a spectacular fashion, a huge diagonal slash stretching from his left hip to his right shoulder. His back sported a similar slash, though not quite as big. Luckily, while the cut was still alarmingly large, it didn’t seem too deep. It was bleeding profusely though, coating the boy’s back with red.

“What do we do?” Nirv asked quietly.

“We’re taking him home,” Bunny decided.

“What?” Two protested. “Are you crazy? We can’t take some random kid home!”

“Well, we can’t leave him here,” they retorted. “He needs help.”

“We shouldn’t touch him. Think about it! Can you imagine how suspicious that would look?”

“We’re not leaving some kid bleeding and unconscious in an alleyway!”

“Okay, okay, fine. Let’s drop him off at the closest hospital and get the fuck out of here.”

“We can’t do that either. Look,” said Bunny, pointing. The boy was wearing metal ankle braces dotted with a few tiny glowing lights. “The second he gets out, he’ll be detained.”

“Is everyone in this kingdom bhopping?” Two cried, incredulous.

“Seems like it. That’s why we do what we do, remember?” they shot Two a crooked grin, but he didn’t seem amused.

“This is just backing up my point,” he said, shaking his head. “I don’t want an unknown hopper under our roof.”

“We’re not leaving him here.”

“We have to. Look, we just fought two hackers, we’re all riled up right now, so you’re not acting rationally. This decision is based purely off emotion, not logic. As a leader, you need to—”

“As leader, you’ll do what I say,” they snapped. “And I say, we’re not leaving him.”

Akita and Nirv exchanged nervous glances. Bunny never pulled the leader card.

“I’m not letting you endanger us all to satisfy your hero complex!” Two yelled.

“I’m not letting some kid bleed out because of your completely unreasonable suspicion!”

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Akita shouted, bringing out her angry-mom voice. They both fell silent, more out of shock at her harsh tone than anything else. “Indecision is what really puts us at risk. Any decision is better than standing here doing nothing next to an unconscious boy’s body.”

Bunny closed their eyes and took a deep breath, brow furrowed with thought. “Okay, new plan. Two, you have a point. We’ll be as careful as possible, and you can tell me all the ways he could endanger us later so we can guard against them. But right now, we are helping him. Understood?”

All three nodded, though Two hesitated and didn’t seem especially enthusiastic about it. Bunny squatted next to the boy and put their hand on his shoulder. Normally, one needed someone’s username in order to send them a party invite, but physical contact circumvented that. The boy’s communicator beeped a moment later as the invite went through. They grabbed his limp hand and maneuvered it to accept the invite, which was super illegal. But, hey, so was bhopping and that never stopped anyone.

Bunny used a part of the boy’s shirt to blindfold him, which really wasn’t helping their “don’t look like you’re kidnapping him” part of the plan, but they didn’t have a choice. Showing an unknown hopper what their house looked like was way too risky. Then, they cast a large spell to warp the entire party of five back home.

Their home wasn’t anything crazy like a mansion or volcano-themed lair. It was just a simple two-story house with plenty of room on both floors, and a spacious basement. If it wasn’t for the half dozen hidden rooms, heaps of incriminating paperwork in their study, and boxes upon boxes of black market items in their basement, it’d be a perfectly normal, average home.

They carried the boy inside and brought him to one of the hidden rooms on the ground floor. It was austere and clean, with a floor made of shiny polished concrete that was easy to mop, and pastel blue walls. Three white beds each occupied a different corner of the room, and in the center stood an immaculate quartz table. The cabinets here were full of water bottles, healing items, and various first-aid supplies.

Bunny had been nursed back to health in this very room once. Leporidae wasn’t even a year old at the time, and the organization wasn’t nearly as regulated or formidable as it was now. They’d bitten off a little more than they could chew fighting off multiple hackers at once, and the other three leaders had had to administer first-aid and run Leporidae alone while they recovered. But all three agreed the hardest part had been keeping Bunny in bed where they belonged while healing.

“I can fix up the kid,” Nirv suggested unexpectedly. “Don’t look all surprised! You learn how to treat wounds like this pretty fast when you visit the black market as often as I do.”

“You sure you can handle it?” Bunny asked, laying the boy gently on the quartz table.

“I’m sure.”

“Good luck. Akita, do you want any help with that?”

Akita had shed her fluffy jacket and was washing her hands in the sink in preparation to clean her own wound. “Just with the bandaging part. I can clean it just fine on my own.”

“Right. I’ll go wash up then. Two, you should do the same. Don’t forget to clean your sword.”

“I was planning on it,” he said shortly, and hurried from the room. Things were clearly still a little tense between the two of them.

A few minutes later, the four of them were clean and their wounds were cared for. Both Bunny and Two had sustained a few nicks from their fight with the hackers, but they were mere scratches that didn’t even need bandaging. Akita’s bicep was wrapped in a clean white bandage, courtesy of Bunny.

The kid wasn’t in such good condition. Nirv rinsed his back first to clean it of any debris and dried-on blood, then went to work disinfecting the large cut. The burning sensation roused the boy and the pain sent him into hysterics immediately. Bunny had to hold him down. Luckily, the process was over quickly, and he fell unconscious again almost immediately. Normally, they’d douse the wound with a healing potion to jumpstart the process, but they couldn’t risk an allergic reaction. Nirv bandaged him carefully and carried him to the one of the white beds to rest.

Akita wished them all the best of luck, offered her trademark amazing hugs, and headed home. Her position as an agent left her the least suspicious of the bunch, and they all wanted to keep it that way. Nirv would stay the night to keep an eye on the boy and help Bunny if something went awry. And Two . . . had seemingly vanished into thin air.

Bunny found him on the second floor balcony, resting his forearms on the rail and staring off into space. They approached quietly and leaned on the rail beside him. For a few minutes neither of them didn’t say anything.

“Sorry I called you unreasonable,” Bunny finally said, breaking the silence.

Two let out a long, shaky sigh. “It’s okay. I’m sorry I said you had a hero complex.”

“Do you . . . did you mean it?”

“No. I was just . . . I dunno, I believed it when I said it, but I don’t normally. I was just really upset.”

Bunny stepped closer and leaned their shoulder against Two’s. After a moment, he sighed again and rested his head on their shoulder. The two of them stayed like that for a long moment, leaning against each other in companionable silence.

“You fucked up that hacker lady,” Two said suddenly.

“What can I say? I’m just so talented.”

“Wow. I can’t believe you were just born knowing how to bhop. Y’know, most people have to use devices for that.”

“Crazy, right? They say I bhopped out of the womb.”

Two cracked up at that. Bunny found themself smiling too.

“All that talent and yet I’m still the superior hopper,” remarked Two.

“What? I could hop circles around you!”

“Oh, please. I could hop on you in my sleep.”

They grinned at each other. Both were glad things were mended between them. The friendly banter felt good.

“Are you staying here tonight?” Bunny asked.

“Yeah. To keep an eye on you, if nothing else.”

“Sweet. I look forward to obliterating you in Uno,” they nudged Two with their elbow, which was how they showed him affection, and left the balcony.

After a few minutes, Two turned from the railing and went inside. He had a game of Uno to win.

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN: May 29th, 2020

#tam.png #book and quill #leporidae #last one

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ghost-client · 2 years ago

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Internal Investigation

Her heart sank. There it was. The phrase “Fluffy wants to play”, or any of its variants, was code for “The boss wants to talk to you”. And Daisy was pretty sure she knew why the boss wanted to talk to her.

Words: 1490

AUTHOR'S NOTE Another Hypixel story, but this one has never seen the light of day beyond showing my friends the google doc. It involves the fictional concept of a vigilante group that fights fire with fire, hacking only on those who hack on the innocent, invented by @ghost-client

Daisy got the message during breakfast. She’d woken up late and watched a few videos before finally getting around to feeding herself, so she ended up eating her first meal of the day around lunchtime.

She was just finishing the last of a delicious egg sandwich when her communicator beeped. She glanced over, not especially fazed, then frowned.

NewMoonSky: hey, down for some pit rn?

That was the username of one of her coworkers, and not one she was especially close too. It was unusual for them to ask something like that.

She didn’t have time to even start typing before another message popped up.

NewMoonSky: fluffy wants to play w/ us

In her defense, those hoppers had had it coming. She’d just been minding her own business, trading blows in the Pit. It wasn’t her fault two hackers had dropped in and teamed with each other. It wasn’t her fault that they patrolled the same areas she liked to go, bhopping on anyone who got to close.

Okay, so maybe she’d snapped and activated every hack she had on her person without authorization, which was a huge violation of the Leporidae Code, and maybe it turned out fighting two hackers alone was a little harder than she’d expected, and maybe she’d called a ton of attention to her in the process and had to be rescued by a few fellow Leporids.

She was so screwed.

Daisy sighed and typed a response quickly.

dazeflower: im down! warp me

Moments later, the party invite appeared on her communicator. She accepted it after only a moment’s hesitation and waited nervously to be warped. She didn’t have to wait long.

She found herself in a clean, brightly-lit cafe modeled after the Corals map. The walls were blue, paper fish hung from the ceiling, and the chairs were painted to look like colorful coral. The din of a dozen simultaneous conversations filled her ears.

Someone seated in a corner, wearing a black shawl and shiny silver bracelets, waved her over. She wove between tables to meet them, dread building.

“NewMoonSky,” they greeted without looking up from their communicator. “And you are?”

“Daisy.”

“Perfect. They’ll be here soon to talk to you. Standard codewords. Good luck.” NewMoonSky stood up and left without another word.

Daisy watched them go, all the words she wanted to say freezing in her throat, the horrible hollow feeling in her chest expanding with every second. She swallowed hard and sat down, trying to act nonchalant.

She wondered idly who exactly was coming to talk to her. Her first thought was her supervisor, but now she was anxious that maybe it would be someone higher up. Her supervisor’s supervisor perhaps. Maybe even higher. Maybe Two himself, the leader of her entire branch.

She shook her head. That was ridiculous. There was no way her blunder would have made it all the way up to Two. It would just be her supervisor, and they’d talk it out easily, and everything would be fine.

The bell on the top of the door jingled as someone new entered the cafe. Daisy glanced up and felt her heart fall out of her chest. Just how much trouble was she in?

She would have preferred if Two had just walked in. This was much, much worse. The teal hair and crop-top/vest combo was unmistakable. This was Bunny. Not the leader of one branch, but the leader of the entire organization.

He met her eyes and she shrunk down in her chair, wishing she were anywhere but here. He crossed the cafe quickly.

“Hello,” she squeaked. “Will Pearl be joining us?”

Thank the stars she’d always been good with the codewords. If she’d forgotten them now she would never recover.

“Pearl’s already here,” he replied. If he’d answered any other way, Daisy was to assume he was a fake and act accordingly. “Let’s go meet ‘em.”

She nodded and stood up. He led her out of the cafe and into the noon sunlight, forcing her to squint against the brightness. The sky was blue and cloudless, the wind gentle. If it wasn’t for the uncertainty and fear crushing her, she’d take a moment to appreciate the lovely weather.

“Walk with me,” Bunny said. She fell in line beside him at once. Now didn’t seem like a good time to disobey orders.

“Are we going somewhere in particular?” she asked.

“Just somewhere a little less public,” he answered, which wasn’t the most encouraging thing he could have said.

He turned onto an unkempt dirt road lined by wild undergrowth. Daisy followed nervously, wishing she’d brought her chewy necklace to nibble on. They walked in silence for a few minutes. She fiddled with the fabric of her shorts, anxiety growing with every passing second.

“You know why I’m here, right?” Bunny said unexpectedly.

Daisy winced. “Yes.”

“Then why did you do it?”

“I . . . I dunno. Does it matter? I know it was wrong, and I’m sorry. It—”

“It does matter, actually. I need to know your thought process so I know if you’re worth keeping.”

She barely bit back a gasp. She could be kicked out, right here and now. Panic rose in her chest.

“I-I just, I . . . can I have a minute to collect my thoughts?”

He nodded. Daisy closed her eyes and took a deep, stabilizing breath, thinking.

“I guess . . . I was really upset. And I wanted to make a difference. And I had the power to make a difference, so I-I did. I just . . . I wanted to show them they can’t just get away with that. And, I didn’t want people to think we’d, like, abandoned them, or something.”

“Is that all?”

“Um . . . I think so? I didn’t—I wasn’t trying to—I thought I was doing the right thing,” she admitted miserably.

At that moment, Bunny’s communicator beeped. He tugged it out of his pocket and sighed. “Hold on.”

He typed quickly and tucked it away again. “Daisy, what’s the third part of our code?”

“Never engage in any Leporidae matters without authorization,” she mumbled, ashamed. “I wasn’t trying to, I just . . . I thought . . . aren’t we allowed to take on hackers if we see them without a permission slip?”

“Hoppers of your status are allowed to take on one hacker without authorization,” Bunny corrected. “And, you’re to retreat and call in backup if they pose any kind of threat.”

Daisy bit her tongue and blinked away tears. She would not cry in front of the leader of Leporidae.

“Look, every part of the code is there for a reason. We’re an essential part of the kingdom, yet in the eyes of the law we’re no better than the bhoppers you were fighting. With an organization this big, this important, and this illegal, breaking the code could put real people in real danger.”

He didn’t sound angry or disappointed, which was a relief. He just sounded tired. She met Bunny’s gaze and for a moment she caught a glimpse of the terrible stress that came with running Leporidae, a glimpse of all the expectations he had to meet and all the people he was responsible for, a glimpse of the weight always on his shoulders as leader. She looked away, shaken.

“I understand,” Daisy said quietly. “I’m really, really sorry. I didn’t mean to cause all this trouble.”

“I know. And now you know better.”

“Am I still . . . y’know, part of . . .”

“Yes, you’re still a Leporid. We’re not gonna kick you out on the first mistake, even if it was a serious infraction. Although, you won’t be allowed in combat for a few weeks, as a safety precaution. Neither will the others involved.”

“Are they mad about that?”

Bunny snorted. “I hope not. It’s standard procedure. If they got mad every time they were temporarily removed from our active hopper pool for safety reasons, they’d spend most of their lives furious.”

She laughed a little at that, and it took the edge off her anxiety. “I know I said this, but I’m just . . . I’m sorry. It won’t ever happen again. I promise.”

“Good,” he nodded, glancing at his communicator again. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, some dumbass got jumped and they stole his Leporidae badge, and I have to go deal with that. Have fun with whatever you do when not bhopping for justice.”

“Good luck!” Daisy called.

He waved and leapt into the sky, soaring away and out of sight. She watched him disappear over the trees and let out her breath.

She hadn’t been kicked out on the spot. Bunny hadn’t been mad at her. Things were gonna be alright. For the first time since getting that message from NewMoonSky, she relaxed.

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN: July 7th, 2020

#tam.png #book and quill #leporidae

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ghost-client · 2 years ago

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The Chase

The sky was blue, the sun was shining, and the wind was fierce. It ruffled your hair and made the huge branches of the colossal tree sway overhead. The gold pattern on your weapon glowed in the sunlight as you swung it around yourself, effortlessly cutting through enemies.

Words: 2291

AUTHOR'S NOTE Figured I'd start posting my writing by re-uploading my Hypixel stories over here so they no longer exist exclusively on the forums. If you know me from Tumblr and not the Hypixel Pit forums, this might be your first time seeing 'em!

While these are both standalone stories, I do recommend reading this one first if you haven't already.

Streaking was one of those things that’s unbelievably stressful and frustrating when going poorly, and fun like nothing else when going well. The high stakes and physical exertion make it exhilarating while the rewards make it satisfying. And no one can deny there’s something special about killing nons in just a few hits over and over again.

Today, it was going well.

Sure, it’d taken plenty of teleportation spells to find a good lobby, but once you did? Paradise. A surplus of low-prestige players in iron, a distinct lack of other streakers, and no hunters as far as you could see. You’d been here two hours and were still going strong. The sky was blue, the sun was shining, and the wind was fierce. It ruffled your hair and made the huge branches of the colossal tree in the center of the map sway. The gold pattern on your weapon glowed in the sunlight as you swung it around yourself, effortlessly cutting through enemies.

Your blade of choice was enchanted with Executioner III and Moctezuma III. Most RARE! sword enchants changed the shape of a sword quite dramatically, and Executioner was no different. It turned swords into large scythes, which was part of what made it so much fun to streak with. And Moctezuma was the enchant responsible for the gold pattern on this particular scythe. Perhaps a perfect blade would have had a good damage enchant too, but when you were in a perpetual state of Strength V, you shredded just about everyone either way.

You glanced around, looking for nons to kill. Your gaze caught on the familiar—and dreaded—sight of someone wearing golden leggings, the unmistakable sign of a bounty hunter. He darted to the side, but you turned to keep an eye on him. Then, he sprang forward.

You blocked his first attack with the long handle of your scythe, but he pulled his sword free and slipped under your defenses in one swift, smooth motion, stabbing at your chest. Your armor kept the blade from breaking the skin, but the impact was going to leave a bruise. Quickly, you slashed at him before he could pull away, tearing through the metal links of his chainmail tunic. He winced and stumbled backwards, then suddenly leapt forward, aiming a slice at your stomach. You stepped backward, barely avoiding his blade, and swung at his head. He ducked and his sword came up to land a solid hit on your ribs. Pain spiked along your side.

He was competent, you realized. If he came back with diamond gear, he might actually be a problem.

You aimed a devastating blow at his shoulder. He saw it coming but couldn’t quite get away in time. While he was still reeling, you tugged your blade free and swung again, this time getting him in the stomach.

He disappeared in a flash of light and a burst of sparkles.

People didn’t really die in the Pit. Their health dropped to zero, sure, but the district’s spells healed them to full and teleported them back to spawn a moment before they died for real. The same magic turned blood into glittering particles, which not only looked cool, but kept the game open even to the squeamish players.

The gold sparks around your form multiplied, indicating the bounty on your head had just been raised. Still not quite a 5k though, which meant you couldn’t self-checkout. Bounty hunters would still be a threat for the next few kills.

At that moment, two nons clad in chainmail and armed only with plain iron swords charged you in unison. They must be new here, because they seemed to think they actually stood a chance.

You focused your efforts on one, straightlining them into the wall of the obby ring and tearing through their “defenses” like they were wet paper. The other one took this opportunity to slash at any part of your body that wasn’t covered by armor, but then the first evaporated under your blade and you turned to face them. Your attacker seemed to realize their mistake and quickly backpedaled. Not quickly enough.

You jumped forward, moving your scythe so fast it was just a golden blur. They dodged a blow or two, but only a few had to land to kill them. Needless to say, they didn’t last long.

Your kill count rose higher and higher, and so did your bounty. The hunter you’d noted as competent came back for more, but he was still in default iron armor, and you managed to defeat him again. But he wasn’t the only one, and they just kept coming. Eventually, you reached a 5k and stepped out of combat for a moment to self-checkout. This turned a few bounty hunters away, while others seemed only encouraged. You were starting to take a lot of damage thanks to your megastreak, and they knew it.

Finally, three of them, one wearing diamond, cornered you. You blocked the first couple attacks, but you just couldn’t deflect three swords at once. The clumsiest fell to your blade, but by then you were out of breath and covered in scratches and bruises. One slashed at your side and while you were preoccupied trying to dodge that, the other brought their blade down on your neck.

For a split second, a deep, primal fear surged in your chest. You were completely, utterly terrified. You knew with absolute certainty you were about to die, and you didn’t want to.

And then you came to on the floor of spawn, blinking blearily. Even if you knew you weren’t actually going to die for real, getting that close always triggered a powerful fear response from one’s body.

You stood up and stretched with a groan. Your stomach growled, reminding you of just how long it’d been since your last meal. Luckily, you’d come prepared. You strode across spawn and opened your enderchest, searching its contents for... there! In the corner, a brown paper bag heavy with food you’d bought from a local café on your way to the Pit that morning. You plucked it out and sat down with your back against the wooden wall of spawn to eat.

You ate quickly, hoping the lobby wouldn’t die in your absence. The only thing that fluctuated faster than the Pit’s economy was the quality of its lobbies. Before long, you were licking your fingers and bracing yourself to jump back into the fray.

You peered into mid first, making sure no leaderboard players had materialized without you noticing. To your relief, it was still crowded with nons and you couldn’t see a single streaker worth worrying about. You double-checked your gear, but other than your self-checks running a little low on lives, everything seemed in order.

You stepped off the edge and plummeted into mid. For a second or two, you were in free-fall, that curious rising sensation in your chest and the wind mussing your hair. Then you landed in a crouch and rolled to disperse the impact. The first few times you dropped mid, you’d nearly a sprained an ankle on the landing. Now, you knew exactly how to land as painlessly as possible.

First, you replaced the ring. It’d dissolved soon after you respawned, and no one had bothered to make a new one. It didn’t take long to build, even if a few foolish nons made the mistake of trying to attack you in the process. With a solid ring in place, you threw yourself into battle and started racking up a streak.

The first few kills were always the hardest. It took a second to find your rhythm again after taking even a short break, and you didn’t have Strength V backing you up yet.

But it didn’t take long for you to get back into the swing of things. Those in default chain were simply vaporized under your blade. After only a few minutes, the gold sparks indicating a bounty appeared around your body. You darted from non to non, slicing through them all like a knife through warm butter.

Suddenly, pain curled around your gut and a sour, bitter taste seared your tongue. The pain felt almost like stomach cramps, but you knew better. The taste in your mouth was unmistakable.

You’d been poisoned.

This was bad. This was really, really bad. You were losing health fast, your mystics wouldn’t work for another ten seconds or so, and the fact that someone in here was using venoms implied a number of things, all of them bad news.

You fought free of the fray, taking a lot more damage than you were used to, and sprinted across the ring. There was a gap in the bottom here you could use to escape if need be, but you wanted to save that for a last resort. For now, you turned around, scanning the melee for your attacker.

Someone wearing darks stepped out of the crowd, immediately drawing your attention. The black leather of his pants was studded with fangs, and a long, gleaming combat spade dangled almost carelessly from one hand. That had to be them.

“Don’t you know you’re supposed to streak with a friend?” he called. “It’s dangerous to do it alone.”

And then he darted forward, spade raised.

You don’t actually remember slipping under the obby ring. One moment you were staring at him, the next you were outside the ring, scrambling upright from the floor and running. You hadn’t hit mega yet, so if you died now you’d lose mystic lives. You knew he knew that, and you were pretty sure that’s why he’d chosen to go after you now of all times.

You tore through one of the gigantic tree’s hollow roots, footsteps and ragged pants echoing in the enclosed space. You took a right and ended up out in the open, in the Summer quadrant. Legs pumping, mind racing, you looked for a way out. What you needed was somewhere to hide, somewhere you could block off with obsidian and /spawn the second your combat tag wore off. The first place you thought of was the room with the rainbow floor. It’d be hard to get to, but if you could just get there, you stood a chance.

You paused for a moment to notch an arrow to your telebow, aim at the other end of Summer, and fire. In the agonizing few seconds before your arrow landed, he was upon you. He danced around you, his blade seeming to be everywhere at once, moving much too fast to block. In that moment, you realized just what you were fighting. Not merely a venom hunter, but a venom hopper. And you were poisoned again, which meant another twelve seconds without mystics.

Then, the arrow landed and you found yourself on the other end of Summer. You leapt to your feet and dashed into the nearby cave. It was noticeably cooler in here, which was a relief. It was hard to keep your footing on the sand, and your chest was starting to hurt, but you had to keep going. You were almost there.

Something collided with your armored back with a loud CRACK! and flung you to the ground. He’d swatted you with his spade. He’d caught up fast, even for a hacker. You leapt to your feet and kept running without even glancing back.

“Why are you doing this?” you panted. Your voice echoed off the rocky cavern walls. “What did I do to you?”

“You didn’t do anything to me, but you pissed someone off, and they paid me to make you regret it,” he answered, from somewhere behind you.

“I can pay you more,” you suggested. It was the first thing that came to mind that might get you out of this.

“Oh, I doubt that,” he laughed. Suddenly, he was right in front of you and you ran straight into his outstretched blade. It knocked the wind out of you and threw you off balance. You ended up on your back on the floor, dazed and struggling to drag air back into your lungs.

He planted one foot on your chest, which didn’t help. For the first time, you actually took in his physical appearance beyond the venoms. His hair was black and in need of a haircut, and he was wearing a dark sweatshirt with glowing patterns on the sleeves. Judging from the smirk you wanted to punch off his face, he seemed to think you were beaten.

“How much did they pay you?” you asked, gasping. You hoped he’d gloat for a bit. If you could just stall him for a few more seconds . . .

He told you. You felt your heart stop. Just who had you pissed off? You couldn’t outpay that, even if you wanted to.

Then he cocked his spade to strike, and you moved. You had a spoon of your own, after all. You slammed it into his knee, knocking him off you, then jumped to your feet and sprinted deeper into the cave. You were so close.

But then he was there again, all around you, blade flashing. Suddenly, your back was to a wall and your health was dropping fast. You were out of breath from the chase and could barely breathe, let alone deflect his attacks or fight back.

He rammed his spade home in your gut and you winced as the expected pain shot through you. Darkness crept in along the edges of your vision.

“Bye-bye,” he said in a cheerful tone, with the arrogance typical of a venom hopper. His sharp teeth were the only thing you could make out as the black static rose to swallow you.

And then you were gone.

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN: August 18th, 2020

#tam.png #book and quill #pit

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ghost-client · 2 years ago

Text

The Pit District

If Hypixel was a city, the Pit district was the shady neighborhood near the edge of town, the one parents told their children to avoid, the one where people who went outside alone at night went missing. But, it did have one thing that no other district did.

Mystics.

Words: 1645

At first glance, the district dedicated to the Pit seemed almost quaint. It was much smaller and less crowded than the Skyblock district, or even the Skywars district, but almost as lively. There were rolling hills and green grass and trees swaying in the wind and strings of lights stretching between buildings to illuminate the streets below at night. The markets were busy but not jam-packed, and the Trade Center was impressive enough to interest the occasional tourist.

Today of all days, the district seemed especially charming. The sky was blue and cloudless, and a faint breeze stirred the leaves of trees lining the streets. The dull roar of the marketplace, of people talking, haggling, and announcing their wares, was a pleasant one.

Of course, first glances could be deceiving. The Pit’s reputation was far darker than it’s physical appearance, and for good reason. If Hypixel was a city, the Pit district was the shady neighborhood near the edge of town, the one parents told their children to avoid, the one where people who went outside alone at night went missing. But, it did have one thing that no other district did.

Mystics.

The only items in the kingdom that could hold a candle to Skyblock’s, and they were usually cheaper and easier to hide, too. Sure, taking items exclusive to a certain district outside of that district was highly illegal, but that’d never stopped anyone. Everyone wanted a good sword on their person, to defend themselves from armed robbers or to use on a hacker if they encountered one. To continue the city metaphor, mystics were the restaurant that sold burgers so good it was worth risking the shady neighborhood for.

Of course, in addition to the mystic trade, the Pit also sported a booming black market. Hackers were so common they’d become a part of the economy, selling illicit devices and their services to those who could afford it. There were rumors that it was such a hub for illegal activity that hackers from other districts would visit it to take part in the economy’s dark underbelly. Though so far, no one had backed up those rumors with evidence.

But, you weren’t here for a history lesson. You were here to do business.

Your journey took you past the Trade Center, a large, impressive building that sat proudly in the middle of town. Its walls were mostly clean white quartz and glass, and inside it had high ceilings and tall windows that made it feel like there was plenty of room even when it was full of people. Huge floating holograms listed known scammers, advertisements, and graphs displaying current prices and what they were yesterday. It was probably the best place for trading if you wanted a safe deal with a low chance of something going wrong.

Today, it wasn’t the place for you.

You snatched a newspaper from a stand outside on your way by and read it as you walked. It was today’s copy of The Hypixel Pit News, the first paper dedicated to the Pit, and one of the most respected. They released articles online too, but trying to read text on a translucent hologram while walking had always given you a headache, so you preferred the physical copies.

An illegal inter-district trading ring had been exposed, there was more drama between high-prestige players, a new hopper group was making threats, and the anti-Conclave protests were still going. Same old, same old.

The sound of shouting tore your attention away from the paper. Not your average shouting typical of the marketplace either, but something more synchronized. More organized.

Hey, speaking of anti-Conclave protests, you’d just happened upon one.

They were camped out on the sidewalk near the Trade Center, chanting in unison, waving handmade signs, the works. They argued that the organization was corrupt and holding them back rather than uplifting them as it was supposed to. It’d been going on for a few days now. Conclave had made a few official statements addressing it, but the protestors didn’t seem satisfied.

Frankly, you didn’t care either way. It didn’t really affect you. At least it made your walk entertaining.

You skirted around the protest, giving them a wide berth. Immediately, you noticed what appeared to be three locals cornering a pair of tourists. That usually meant bad news. You angled yourself to get within earshot while still appearing casual.

“I-I-I don’t know anything about that,” one tourist stammered. “We’re just visiting.”

“Visiting or not, you still have to pay your taxes. Let’s not make this any harder than it needs to be,” one of the locals replied.

“C’mon. Pay up,” another beckoned.

“Everyone has to do this,” the first reassured. “It’s completely normal.”

“Hey!” you called, abandoning any pretense of uninvolvement. “Quit scamming the tourists.”

The three locals turned around, all wearing near-identical sneers. From the colors of the eight-pointed stars pinned to the front of their jackets, you could make out their prestige and level. Yellow brackets, every single one of them.

“We’re not scamming!” one objected innocently. “We’re helping. If they pay us now, they won’t get hunted later.”

“Uh-huh,” you monotoned, unimpressed. “Get outta here.”

“We’re not doing anything wrong!” the other cried.

You shifted your weight slightly so the golden sword dangling from your hip was more prominent, and casually placed one hand on the pommel. It was quite a blade, with a serrated edge indicating Combo: Damage, and a dark red line running down the middle, indicating Lifesteal. Not a record-breaking sword, but certainly a good one. Plus, its presence meant you had the wealth or power to obtain it, which was almost more intimidating than the blade itself.

The yellow brackets backed off.

“Sorry about that,” you told the tourists. “You know how nons are. What did they tell you?”

“Um, something about taxes?” one offered.

“They said we had to pay them or we’d be hunted forever,” the other explained.

You sized them up with a critical eye. Neither wore any mystics, but both had the glowing cyan earring of MVP rank. They weren’t even wearing the eight-pointed star pin of the Pit, which meant they hadn’t actually stepped foot in the combat zones yet. They oozed “I’m a rich idiot, please exploit me” from every pore.

“Wipe that wide-eyed look off your face,” you ordered. “You look like tourists.”

“We are tourists.”

“Well, hide it better. You’re lucky most higher prestiges don’t think you’re even worth scamming, or strangers might have a harder time rescuing you. Keep a hand on your sword and squint at everyone like you expect them to jump you at any moment,” you instructed. “Don’t expect me to save you again.”

With that, you turned and continued walking. You had places to be.

As you advanced into the seedier parts of town, things started to look a little less charming. The buildings were shabbier, the pavement was cracked, and the streets were narrower. Glowing signs and hologram advertisements alike flickered like they could lose power at any moment. There were less people walking these streets, and the ones that did wore good mystics and wary expressions. Rather than shops and cafés, most of the buildings here were taverns.

You were near the district’s dark underbelly.

Then, you found your destination. A tavern dubbed The Mariana, short for the Mariana Trench, and vaguely themed around the map Corals. There was a café downtown called The Aquarium that had done the same thing, but it had gone for a cheerful, colorful aesthetic, with light blue walls, large windows, and huge murals depicting schools of fish. This one had done rather the opposite and mimicked something closer to the deep sea.

You entered cautiously. It was quite dim compared to the sunlight outside, and it took your eyes a moment to adjust. The walls were brick and the floorboards dark oak. Black curtains were drawn over the few windows, and the only light came from greenish bulbs dangling from the ceiling on long strings, likely meant to resemble an anglerfish’s lure.

You analyzed the establishment’s customers quickly before taking another step. A few high-prestige players sat at the bar, the Executioner scythes strapped to their backs glinting when they caught the light. Most of the tavern’s occupants sat at circular tables, sipping drinks and talking in low tones. Not a single person here was without a weapon.

In the far left corner, you spotted what you’d been looking for. Two people sitting next to each other at a table, both wearing darks, and, oddly enough, long sleeves despite the warm weather.

You approached their table cautiously. As you got closer, you could make out fangs sewn into the black leather of their pants. Not only darks, but venoms. Perfect.

They looked up when you neared them. They both had pretty good poker faces, but you could just barely make out distrust in their eyes and the faintest hint of smugness in the curve of their mouths. You noted that neither had the glowing earring indicating a rank. What a curious coincidence.

You planted both hands on the table and leaned closer.

“Weird question, do either of you happen to know someone with . . . a really comfortable gaming chair?” you asked.

To anyone else, the question would seem like gibberish. Perhaps a joke of some kind. But if your assumptions were correct, it’d mean something else entirely to these people.

A slow smile spread over one’s face. He reached down and tugged his sleeve back slightly to reveal a glimpse of shiny metal and tiny glowing lights. You’d been in the Pit long enough to recognize a killaura bracer on sight.

“Maybe. Why do you ask?” he replied.

You pulled back a chair and sat down. You had their attention. No turning back now. You took a deep breath.

“I need someone hunted.”

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN: August 7th, 2020

#tam.png #book and quill #pit #these are all set in our universe so we gotta show em off

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