Game Masters, Episode I: Let's eh Go! (IC/Mushroom Kingdom)

[Andonam]

Things to remember

1) Kicking one enemy's hindquarters is easy; kicking dozens at the same time is hard.
2) It takes a bloody lot to kill you.
3)Viral-infected programs can be identified by their in-your-face glowing red eye.
4) You can't cut a ghost
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Since this is the first episode, I would like your first posts all explain how you ended up getting sucked into this mess; preferably something that gives you an idea of what you're dealing with and ends with you flying down a portal or pipe of some sort. Then, we can start the adventure.

[Firstaria]

Laharal didn't know what happened. One second he was asleep in his castle, after a boring day to sign papers and slay a couple of contenders for his title (along with 3 senators who didn't want to approve his recent laws); the other was clearly in a place he never saw in his entire life.

He woke grumpy as always, immediately shouting " Etna, I'm hungry, where are you pr... " and then stopping noticing the place around. He knew many strange place of the Netherworld, but surely no a single one of those, or Earth or Celestia had hills with EYES. Oh, not only hills, clouds and flowers around seemed to respect this rule.

" Where in the netherworld am I? " He asked, not really surprised by his presence there, but more than the land " Is this another cameo or something? Don't tell me they did another game without me as a protagonist!!! " He shouted angry, his blue antenna looking more like horns.

He quickly checked his possession: sword, levels, trousers, scarf...and the 'thing' behind it, a peculiar amulet he gave a quick look before hiding it again under the scarf so no one could see it.

" Well, my level are still high and my inventory is ok, so who cares where I am...I could actually conquer this place! Ahahahahahahahahahahah! " He concluded with his trademark laugh.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

A figure clad in red walked through the plains of the Mushroom Kingdom. The landscape was alien and quite strange to him, with all the hills and clouds with eyes and the odd wildlife. His purpose was clear, but he didn't know where to begin, so he simply wandered...

Earlier, Zero was in the Resistance Base, resting for a moment after the incident with Elpizo and the Dark Elf. However, all of the sudden, an unknown presence entered the base. Zero immediately headed towards the place it manifested, but the presence stated that it was a Vaccine, and then explained the situation of the Network to Zero, convincing him to help.

That was how Zero ended up in the Mushroom Kingdom, seeking out the Virus that threatened all the worlds within the Network, including his own, the one that he had promised X he would protect. And so, with this in mind, he wandered.

[Rupudska]

Youmu woke up suddenly and immediately realized she wasn't in Gensokyo anymore. First off, the hills in Gensokyo didn't have eyes. Secondly, the scenery in Gensokyo wasn't so... colorful, except in fall, and then it was mostly reds and oranges. She stood up, and looked around. It certainly wasn't familiar territory, but at least it didn't look hostile.

Yet. Just in case, she wrapped her hand around the handle of one of her swords. She loved them. They had yet to fail her.

[Andonam]

(Time's up. You three will take part in the first event; others will have to talk to me about what to do).

Current Location: Pedal Meadow

It was a lovely day in Pedal meadow... the sun was shining, the birds where chirping, the river was flowing... and the koopas where marching.

On second thought, perhaps it wasn't such a lovely day.

A Koopa brigade, 20 men strong, swaggered down the road as if they owned the place, three carrying large sack upon their backs. Unintelligible conversation went on between them, broken by collective laughs, while a few put on their shades, just to emphasize how cool they were. Most where of the green-shell garden variety, but a few where reds or even blues.

"What a bunch of wimps those toads where." One of the chuckled with a playful push on his neighbor. "It's been rich pickings all over the place."

"We can thank their dip of a princess for that," another responded. "She's build for parties and picnics... hardly a leader or a general. And that old fart she keeps with her..." Then, their eyes settled on some... strange things.

"Weirdos!" A sharp cry came form one in the front. "I don't knows what you are, but this is Killa Koopa's Territory. You wanna hang out here, you've gots ta pay!" His fist came up, fingers rubbing to make a point

[Erryeah]

Sylvex Maal---Mass Effect MMO
Sylvex Maal was very excited when the new addition to a very successful series even with its trend of mysterious endings re-purposed the third game in the series as a cross platform virtual reality MMO as a preemptive attempt for "The Network." Being much a dedicated fan, Sylvex, donated to the development of Mass Effect the MMO on the Kickstarter website the maximum amount where he was able to get early access, XP bonus items, and lifelong unlimited free access with no subscription fee ever! There were other prizes that enhanced the experience but were mostly consolation aesthetic prizes like T-shirts, custom color gears, and 24-pack of collectible launch Mountain Dew soda cans. Sylvex Maal could not wait until 12:01 PM when the servers would start to let players access the game. He waited impatiently for three hours before entering clicking the enter game button countless times.

Finally, he was able to enter the server. He thought he'd try out a female avatar for the first time to see what the whole phenomenon was about. He also decided to hold himself to that character until it reached max level before returning to a more natural form. Within a weeks time he hit max level of the game coming in 7th place in the race to 60 contest just shy of first place by fifteen minutes. He might have made it there quicker if he was part of the 5 character squad that won part of the top ten versus being on the 4 character team that won the other four top ten spots. One of the top ten, however, made it there solo but was found to be a AI bot test of the company. Soon after three hours of in game celebration of reaching the cap the server was serviced to regular maintenance with a new implemented patch with end game content.

Then three days later when Sylvex and the other eight human winners of the contest were logged into the game all at once on their max level characters strange things began to happen. Hexxor a level 34 toon at the time was the first to report over world chat that he could not log out of the game. Seconds later he stated in WC that he actually felt pain when he was shot by an enemy in game. Then three minutes after that one of his teamates said he died in game and could not revive him. This was followed by a frantic all caps response of, "HE'S DEAD! HE DIED IN GAME AND DIED OUT OF GAME! SERIOUSLY! MY BRO IS...DEAD." Skepticism ensued until a GM was able to confirm the actual death of that player and hear reports of other players. People who had saw this begin to panic and try to exit the game. Most players were able to exit but any character that had completed a certain quest were unable to logout and rejoin the physical world. The game was immediately cutoff from outside players as a safety measure.

Then there were 100 left to scour and survive the Mass Effect galaxy. Within one day that number had dropped to 5 due to the increased difficulty of the patch combined with the Virus. Sylvex and his fellow team members are the last human component with the AI company bot the last bit of communication the company has with its trapped players.

---

"I...I...why the hell did I roll a female? I mean look at me...or her. If I don't get out of here. I...I don't know."

"Hey, Sylvex, at least you give the rest of us something to look at while were stuck here. Haha..."

"Fuck you Mar5hm3110w!"

---

Sylvex's Log

I began to feel hunger in this virtual sexily designed female body. It had seemed like an endless amount of time that we had been travelling the galaxy evading the combined Reaper and virus infected forces. Thanks to the help of the AI bot that was our only communication to the outside world. I spoke to my mom about an hour ago. I lied to her. I said, "I would be okay."

We lost many within the first few hours because of panic and lack of organization. Many died because they were too low a level. Others, insufficient gear. I even prayed to God for the first time in my life as a last ditch effort to let me survive. I am an atheist, praying how odd is that?

---

We moved into this one hidden place behind the Omega Space Relay for quite sometime until even there the Virus found us. With no place to run I along with my friends decided to take our own lives. We jumped onto our ship renamed Hope and flew at warp speed into the center of the galaxy. We would not allow that damned Virus nor the Reapers to take us. Our ship blew up due to the intense gravity just as I passed out.

---

Current Location: Pedal Meadow

"I awoke to the most obscene colorful sight. The graphics were horribly childish something like that of a cheap nintendo game like Mario! Oh...wait it is Mario." I then looked at myself to see if I was still all there. Yes, still female. I thought as I began to see a group of animated NPC's walking towards me. Oh, no they see me! They then stated in a funny tone that I had to pay a toll of sorts. "A toll?" I asked. "What for? And why?" Then I thought, Why the hell was I even dignifying a Koopa with a response?! I hate Koopa's.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

As Zero wandered through the Mushroom Kingdom, and, more specifically, through the Petal Meadows, he noticed a group of twenty walking turtles marching in his general direction. Their shells were of different colors, three were carrying large sacks, and some had shades over their eyes. In addition to that, it seemed they could speak. It was an odd sight for anyone who was not an inhabitant of that world, that much was certain.

The turtles then spotted him, as well as other beings that he had not yet noticed, and one of them said something about payment. Zero simply approached the turtles, noticing how a woman spoke to them as well.

"Who are you?" He asked, the question directed both to the koopas and to Sylvex.

[Rupudska]

Youmu felt mildly insulted at the talking turtle calling her a 'weirdo'. Sure, she had seen stranger things, but at least they showed some semblance to respect. She grasped one of her katanas and pulled it around. She didn't pull it out, but she made it visible to the Koopas.

"Why should I give you payment? I'm just travelling through, and judging by your levels of hospitality, I don't think I'll be staying."

[Firstaria]

World 1-1

Laharal didn't move this much, since he loved the place. With his level, the enemies around the place were pathetic at least, going down at the first fireball or...even by jumping on them?

" These things are weaker than a Prinny! Come on, I'm not even getting experience here, and these money have no value in the netherworld. How many hell is a coin? " He asked to himself, pissed off by the lack of difficulty. He was a Overlord, level 1 enemies were not his deal, he should have servants for those.

" And what is with these pipes? I swear, you are worse than Flonne in decorating places!!! At least they are not pink or whatever..." He added, examining them.