Royalmech Gridlock

Four dark gray cubes fell off the ceiling as Dosigma roared. They floated between the group and Dosigma.

"Phase two?" Mivangeline looked at Chloridium.

"Oh no," Chloridium gave himself a facepalm. "Is this supposed to be new?"

"What?"

"Ugh, we androids were supposed to be updated with all the additional layouts and formations on the day the Cybertrap began," Chloridium shook his head. "I believe the Cybertrap took away our database update."

"Then… what should we do?"

"Commander, whatever happens, happens. We need to improvise for whatever those cube things are."

"O… okay…" Mivangeline clutched onto her knives.

The group watched the flying squares materialize into walkers. The gray armored walkers were about a third the size of the boss with rectangular heads and square-shaped body parts like Dosigma. Each one had a rotary grenade launcher as a right arm and a purple pincer cannon as a left arm. As the walkers faced Mivangeline and her group, two of them flew in front of Dosigma with their jet-powered feet.

Cubic Royalmech

Level 150

HP: [1/1]

Trait 1: Zero Armor

Trait 2: Immune Chassis

"Zero Armor?" Chloridium gasped.

"One health. Let's attack those walkers before they cause trouble!" Mivangeline commanded the group.

"Huh? No, wai-"

It was too late. While Naivern maintained everybody's stats, the three teams attacked the royalmechs simultaneously. Ampyria and her droids fired exploding dice and rockets at the walkers. The back team blasted their ranged attacks at them from a distance, and Mivangeline along with her front team attacked the walkers with their melee head-on. The walkers didn't budge. A myriad of gray zeros floated above them, indicating that the royalmechs took no damage.

"What's going on?" Shien kept on smashing his clarinet staff at a royalmech. "That one HP isn't going down at all!"

"Oh, come on!" Ruddigus fired his minigun at the droids. "Not even my defense ignoring cards touch them?"

Everyone stopped attacking the walkers, puzzled with the ineffectiveness of their combat skills. They heard the spinning whir of the royalmechs' rotary launchers, blasting grenades that made the entire battleground explode.

Hundreds of police droids were destroyed as the gang frantically jumped about. The grenade explosions created burning shockwaves that damaged everyone's health. A flying royalmech activated its pincer cannon, which glowed bright pink with power. Chloridium recognized the weapon. Only rare enemies had such weapons.

"Erbium Moonbeam!" Chloridium pushed the front team out of range. "One hit, you're dead!"

"Huh? What?" Shien panicked as he felt Chloridium push him away.

A gigantic purple ray fired onto the ground, destroying all the remaining baton police droids the front team had. The last few members of the front team wildly rolled about as the moonbeam made the ground shake.

The other royalmechs fired more grenades at them. Shien and Ritom quickly got up to protect them from the aggressive walkers. Phoenicia jetted up to pummel the flying walkers down, but Dosigma punched her away with a flaming fist. The back team continued to fire everything they had, but the royalmechs never flinched.

"My Symphonic Jammer isn't doing anything to them!" Naivern shouted. "Their stats aren't going down!"

"Chillax, loud girl! My blade's cooled enough to at least do some pyro slashes!" Ritom slashed at a royalmech. "Feel the Plasma Burn!"

The walker stared at him, unaffected by his reckless flurry of attacks.

"Um, you didn't even get burned a bit?" Ritom scratched his head before the royalmech blasted him away with a grenade shot.

"What's happening?" Mivangeline struggled to get up. "Chloridium, I am sorry…"

"Ugh, just be careful next time. Think before you act, alright?" Chloridium helped her off the floor.

"How.... how come we can't stop those things?"

"It's that Zero Armor," Chloridium picked Elysia up. "All damage done to its armor becomes zero. And that Immune Chassis makes them invulnerable to any status effects or stat changes."

"Not even my Metallic Toxoid?" Elysia fired her machine pistols at the royalmechs. "That's just cheating! Then how do we even beat them?"

"I recall that Zero Armor only applies to the armor worn, not the actual person wearing it," Phoenicia jolted to a royalmech, clashing her gauntlets with its pincer. "I believe that if we can hit an exposed part of the royalmechs, they will be destroyed."

"So we just gotta find the weak point?" Shien backflipped away from Dosigma's flame breath.

"Guess so," Ritom ducked from getting his head sliced by a royalmech's pincer.

Shien and Ritom collided their weapons with the royalmechs' pincers. They looked around the walkers for any openings.

"I don't see any exposed parts though!" Ritom said. "Their armor looks perfectly sealed throughout!"

"Keep trying! You're a mechanic, you dope!" Ampyria flew about to dodge the flying grenades. "Shouldn't you know this stuff?"

"Chillax, you brat!"

"Another moonbeam!" Chloridium yelled.

The group spread about the battlefield. A royalmech knelt on the ground with its pincer cannon releasing a huge pink beam across the vast room. Ampyria and her police droids soared about the enormous room to dodge the huge ray while Dosigma kicked Shien away with his rectangular foot.

"Ack!" Naivern flipped in the air as a grenade exploded onto her face, destroying her wings.

A royalmech jetted towards Naivern, slamming her down onto the floor facedown with its armored foot.

Naivern Misshia

Level 91

HP: [357/74,500]

"Naivern!" Shien got up, running to her.

"No!" Mivangeline turned around as a royalmech's pincer cut her face. "She needs to be protected! We need her to survive!"

The same royalmech jetted at Shien and Naivern, swiveling its pincer arm. Ruddigus fired a payload of pink YuGiOh cards that repelled the walker back into the air with explosive blue and red lights.

"You want some Mirror Force?" Ruddigus yelled as he, Esarin, and Enshiron stood alongside Shien and Naivern.

"Meh! That's not how women should be treated, you good for nothing metal garbage!" Esarin fired a shield rocket onto the air, which exploded into a smoke barrier that covered the back team.

The royalmech dashed at the dark transparent miasma only to ricochet at Dosigma's face, who angrily swatted his royalmech off.

"Naivern! Can you hear me?" Shien laid Naivern down as he searched through his items tab.

Naivern didn't reply, for she was unconscious. Shien looked at his items tab to realize that he ran out of eonspace brews. Instead, he gave her his remaining batch of healing potions. Although it restored most of Naivern's health, she was still knocked out cold.

"Oh, dear…" Enshiron saw everyone's stats decrease as Esarin's smoke shield faded.

The team's attack, defense, accuracy, agility, and other stats were falling as Dosigma's stats were rising. Only Ruddigus was unaffected with Dosigma's abilities due to his passive Brawn Fortitude trait.

"Crap!" Ampyria commanded her dice to bombard Dosigma. "Without Naivern, our stats will be sucked into the boss thanks to his traits!"

"No, no!" Mivangeline panicked while the aerial police droids supported Ampyria with their rockets. "This isn't supposed to happen! Naivern is pivotal to-"

"Watch out, Commander!" Chloridium pushed Mivangeline away from a royalmech's Erbium Moonbeam.

Mivangeline fell onto the floor, looking back to see Chloridium engulfed in the huge pink laser.

"Chloridium!" Everyone yelled as the pink laser dispersed along with Phoenicia getting punched by Dosigma in the air.

As the royalmechs shot Ampyria and her police droids away with their grenades, Chloridium stood with smoke and pink electricity shocking his entire body. He fell onto the magenta floor as his HP instantly dropped to zero.

Chloridium Atomaytion

Level 100

HP: [0/100,000]

"Cover her!" Ritom shouted as he helped the rest of the front team fend off the royalmechs that charged at Mivangeline.

"No…" Mivangeline ran for Chloridium, kneeling to him. "Chloridium?"

"Ugh," Chloridium struggled to hold on as was slowly fading into blue hexagons. "Commander… Hey..."

"Chloridium, I… um, I don't… you can't… please don't… it's all my fault!" Mivangeline cried.

"Woah there," Chloridium reached for Mivangeline's hand as his body glowed with light blue. "I just… ugh, just wanted what's best for you. I'm your, your android guide after all. And you will see me again after like 30 days… right?"

"I know, but, but I can't… I can't do this! What… What am I supposed to do? I can't lead without you!" Mivangeline sobbed as she held his hand. "Please don't go!"

"Hey, you got this…" Chloridium struggled one last grin. "I know you can… I taught you the best I can. Now, ugh… go, lead the players… to victory…"

Chloridium's body disintegrated into blue particles. Mivangeline couldn't feel her android's hand anymore as her hand felt the sprinkles of what was left of him. Everybody froze in shock until Dosigma's fire breath blasted in their faces along with the royalmechs making the entire battlefield explode with their grenades. Less than 50 police droids remained.

"Cheaters!" Esarin fired shield rockets to cover the remnants of the team with a wall of smoke. "We already lost a darn o member! How dare you torment the kiddies like that, block boy dumbos!"

The barrier protected the group from Dosigma and the royalmechs.

"Heh, heh. My old smoke trick should hold us for some time!" Esarin grinned. "That fat cube's dingo traits can't touch us either!"

"Nice one, old-timer," Ruddigus sighed, dropping his minigun to rest. "Ugh, man, we lost a boatload of health there…"

Everyone's HP was in critical condition with less than 100 remaining. Their weary faces and their clothes were covered with ash and grenade pieces.

"Mivangeline?" Shien knelt to her.

She didn't answer. Mivangeline sobbed, covering her face full of tears.

"Just what kind of commander are you?" Ampyria kicked Mivangeline away in the face.

"What the? Ampyria!" Shien ran to Mivangeline. "What was that for?"

"I've already held my temper long enough seeing my police droids killed in your command! What are we? Expendable?"

"N… no…" Mivangeline cried.

"Thanks to you, Chloridium is dead!"

"But Chloridium should be able to regenerate within approximately 30 days, correct?" Phoenicia reminded Ampyria.

"You suck, Mivangeline!" Ampyria ignored Phoenicia, charging at Mivangeline.

"Argh, enough!" Esarin blocked Ampyria with his cane. "You all are young adults! Act like it! The last thing I want is for us to end up killing each other!"

"I don't know who you think you are, old man," Ampyria snarled. "But I am an android. Do you have any idea how many of us droids have died under her command so far? Why do we droids need to die for you stupid players? Why should we fight for you people?"

"Now you listen here, young lady," Esarin swung his cane. "Human or droid, I don't care! We work together. My condolences for your fallen companions, but your many droid friends wouldn't have needed to put themselves at risk with us if more players manned up to help us fight!"

Ampyria frowned, but she knew what Esarin said was true. The three factions were designed for hundreds to thousands of players to work together. However, the group only had eight players: Mivangeline, Shien, Naivern, Ritom, Enshiron, Elysia, Ruddigus, and Esarin. To substitute for the many players that had no interest in helping everyone return to the real-world, the police droid battalions had to participate in the campaign instead.

"My dad's right, you know," Ruddigus scratched his head.

When the transparent smoke dispersed, Esarin quickly fired more shield rockets around the gang to protect them from a swarm of grenades.

"Meh! Those were my last ones," Esarin warned. "I won't be able to protect all you kiddies again."

"May I remind you all that we are critically low on health?" Phoenicia pointed out. "We should heal and use this limited opportunity to generate a new strategy to destroy Dosigma and the royalmechs."

"Well, we could have Enshiron healed with an eonspace brew," Ritom suggested, looking at his items tab to find it empty. "His passive Nebula's Communal trait will heal all of us simultaneously. That way, we can conserve our other items."

"A splendid idea!" Enshiron said as he looked into his item storage. "Oh, dear. It appears that I have no healing items left."

The gang searched into their item storages, but they had no healing items left. All except Elysia, who had only one eonspace brew left.

"It's my last one," Elysia wagged her tail, swiping a tab to donate her item to Enshiron.

"Ah, many thanks, my dear Vulpi companion," Enshiron drank the almighty healing item.

Everyone was relieved to see their health maxed out with the help of Enshiron's trait.

"Aw, no freebie," Elysia's ears drooped, seeing her Restock Caliber trait didn't help her regain the used item this time.

"Mivangeline…" Shien said.

"I'm a failure…" Mivangeline whined. "I am a terrible commander… How can we win now?"

"Hey. You can do this."

"I can't! I can never lead! I don't want to anymore!"

"But Mivangeline. If you don't, then who will?"

Mivangeline didn't answer. The group hopelessly stared at the other side of the smoky barrier. They could see Dosigma headbutting it with his antler horns as the royalmechs flew about, blasting their pink moonbeams at the wall.

"I could," Ampyria said.

"Why exactly?" Ritom raised an eyebrow.

"I am the leader of the Syanic Earth Police Force. It only makes sense that I should lead."

"Well, we got players here that could die. And you have only led droids for public safety, not for an all-out war with the three factions."

"Shut up, you dumb mechanic! How hard can it be?

"Beauty and brains aren't the same, Ampyria. And let me be honest, I'd feel more comfortable with Mivangeline's great strategies guiding us this far in fighting the Cubic Regime rather than tolerate your bratty attitude towards me and those around you."

"But-"

"Okay, I know you hate me, but could you just listen to me? Wanna be a leader? Look at the enemies! Why don't you come up with a brilliant strategy to take down Dosigma and the royalmechs?"

"Um…" Ampyria stared at Dosigma punching the smoke barrier. "I…"

"Could you have planned our sophisticated attack on Kel Rectilinea? Could you have made up a plan to take out the apiaries when we started our battle with Dosigma? We're listening, Ampyria."

Ampyria's mind went blank. She couldn't think of a strategy as Mivangeline could.

"Commander?" Phoenicia asked Mivangeline. "What are your orders? It is imperative that we devise a strategy before Esarin's smoke wall disperses."

Mivangeline sniffed.

"Why don't you lead, Phoenicia?" Ampyria asked.

"Ampyria, I do not possess the capability to unite players nor form a military-grade strategy. We were programmed to assist players in their raid battles with the three factions, not lead them."

"But this is different!"

"Chloridium suggested that a human player leading the campaign would encourage other human players to join, especially for the fact that Mivangeline is an idol in the real-world. A droid leader whether idol or not would not have the same effect."

"But that didn't work-"

"Ruddigus and Esarin were two new members that joined, correct? Esarin said that they joined because they saw Mivangeline lead us in destroying the rocketeer cobra in Tetrachrome. Just as Chloridium said, the more frequent Mivangeline succeeds against the three factions, the more players would be willing to join the campaign in the future."

"Well, fine!" Ampyria pouted, looking at the other members of the team. "What about you guys?"

Ruddigus, Esarin, and Elysia looked away from her.

"Psst, they only know how to punch things," Ritom whispered to his android guide.

"Great," Ampyria sighed. "What about you?"

"Ampyria, my knowledge in war goes as far as war movies go. I can't use my movie logic for our legit life and death battle, especially against futuristic sci-fi monsters we don't understand."

"May I ask that you refrain from looking at me?" Enshiron shook his head to Ampyria. "I am merely a bistro cook, not a strategist."

"Shien?" Ampyria asked, hoping he would step up to lead in Mivangeline's place.

"I'm not a military expert," Shien replied. "Even if I was, not all people want to support a Niang wanted by Fanghui. So, I think Mivangeline is our best bet."

"Uh, who's Fanghui?"

"Real-world stuff," Ritom told his droid guide. "You won't understand."

Ampyria was in dismay, realizing that everyone believed that Mivangeline was best suited to lead the group.

"Huh?" Naivern woke up from the ground. "What… what happened?"

"My dear loud girl," Enshiron patted her shoulder. "It's, well… complicated…"

"Mivangeline," Shien held onto her cold hands. "You are more capable than you think."

"No, I'm not…" Mivangeline mumbled.

"Yes, you are. I mean, who came up with the big plan to attack Kel Rectilinea? Who came up with the starting strategy and that crazed Ritom improvisation to fight with Dosigma and the apiaries?"

"Me?"

"That's right!"

"I know that… but Chloridium is dead because of me…"

Shien took a moment to think of a way to encourage the team's only commander to continue leading.

"Hey, let me ask you," Shien finally said as he wiped Mivangeline's tears with a handkerchief. "You want to know why Chloridium sacrificed himself for you?"

"So I wouldn't die?"

"Well, yes. And he would be back in a month. But Mivangeline, he wanted you to be alive because he knew you were the only one capable of leading us. He knew that if you were shot by that beam, not only would you die, but there wouldn't be hope for us in this battle."

"He… he believed in me?"

"Yeah! Look at me, Mivange!" Shien rubbed Mivangeline's back. "Can I call you Mivange? Cause it sounds cute."

She made a small giggle. Mivangeline sniffed onto the handkerchief as she turned her shiny blue eyes at Shien's.

"So, Mivange," Shien continued. "I believe in you too!"

"Really?"

"Of course! Even Chloridium knew that you were a great strategist, but just need to adapt to change. I think that's what he said, right?"

Mivangeline made a tiny nod.

"I know he's not here, but he wouldn't want you to stop here and give up. He would encourage you to keep going. To lead us home."

Everyone stood around Mivangeline, waiting for her to provide a strategy.

'You all… believe in me?" Mivangeline looked at everyone.

"Of course!" Phoenicia smiled. "It is logical for us to assist you in fighting for the players' freedom from the Syanic Earth with the best of our abilities!"

"Yeah," Ritom added. "And honestly, I'm not too sure if we could have fought those cubed dudes alone without any of your planning."

"Mivangeline, we all want to go home," Naivern said. "None of the other players want to help, but you're the one who guided us to get this far, right?"

The group nodded, holding their weapons up high in preparation to resume the boss battle.

"You see? You got this, Mivange," Shien assured Mivangeline. "We are here to help you. Just give us the instructions."

Shien hugged Mivangeline.

"Um… thank… thank you, Shien…" Mivangeline wiped the last of her tears. "But those walkers… they're invincible…"

"But remember what Phoenicia said?" Shien reminded her. "We just need to find the weak points!"

"Okay…" Mivangeline nodded. "But I'm not sure… how to overcome this..."

She looked at Dosigma and the royalmechs pounding onto the smoky shield.

Macrocube Dosigma

Level 200

HP: [87,566/200,000]

"Well, let's figure out a plan together! Come on, be positive, Mivange!" Shien jumped, turning to the gang as he frantically clapped his hands. "Alright, let's move before Esarin's barrier goes down! Let's hustle!"