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From wordcounttool.com, I got 2267 words, and I haven't gotten to the climax of the chapter yet.

Only know that you have surpassed me in everything I thought I had been good at.

Could I and some others be in for you have to have the One and only Google on here that is ranked? Also some girls named Epic and Never?

In celebration of Freakenstein's one-year anniversary with Armorgames, here is...

~*Chapter V: On Wings of Grass*~

Frank: "Those who're in th' story may not be as represented as fully as th' can be. I'm d'icted as much as the author wants m' to, though! Git readin'!"

Ivan looked at the backside of BigJacob while he was walking upstairs to his room. Every time he moved, a jelly-like liquid was sloshing around inside a small bottle in his back pocket. It was olive-green colored and radiated a sort of glowing energy that provoked curiosity. So much so, that he tripped on one of the stairs and fell on his face. It took 3 more steps to get back to where he started. At the instance of creaking the door into the back deck, Bigjacob chuckled, the sort of chuckle that let passersby knew he was conjuring a plan. His mother may be taken in with him, but Ivan wasn't playing dumb with Bigjacob; he knew he was up to no good.

Starting the shower, Ivan took off his leather clothing and washed the mess off, waiting for the water to warm up. As the room was upstairs and the heater down low in the basement, it always takes a couple minutes to just have warm water. He took off the cloth sack that held his newly-earned AP: 2 for the sonny he defeated, 2 for he sonny Kyle defeated, and 40 for the sonnies that his mother defeated, all earning him 44 AP in a little over 2 hours. He was now ranked, and more. [blast it, where's the dang rank sheet...] He was now an Iron Serf, yet he didn't feel any different, other than basic knowledge of combating one game. Apparel clean and noticing the water was hot, Ivan took off his undergarments and got in the shower.

After finishing the conversation with Kyle, Camilla followed Bigjacob to the backyard, where he was about to set up the party. Ivan's father (Firetrent) was in charge of the petty task of decoration: blowing up assorted balloons, wrapping up appropriate amounts of paper and shaping them into cups, arranging various tables to put in the backyard (quite a task, since the door isn't very wide at all), putting table cloth on the tables, and setting up the drinks and silverware.

Freakenstein came over to teach Firetrent the finer points of making koolaid, concocting drinks one of his lesser skills. His wardrobe today was the usual; rigid, steel pauldrons were set upon his heavily-muscular stature, with soft-leather cloth hoisted over his shoulders, exposing his chest and abdominals. A white fur pelt was wrapped in wide string around his waist, making it a belt of sorts. Various teeth and tusks were tied on either side, revealing the amount of trolls he has defeated in combat, with an entire troll skull latched on the center. Iron chains were gagged onto the teeth inside the mouth and were used to hold up his loincloth. This was made from a tanned and browned pelt to mostly cover the backside and not so much the front. This tassel came downwards like a V, the point at the bottom reaching the calves and the base covering anything higher than the thighs. The boots were quite complex; steel and iron were used to make the soles, giving it the hard crunch whenever he stepped. The iron and steel material then came up in columns in stripes, reaching the knees, with a flexible, steel cap to cover the patellas (aka kneecaps). The junction of the ankle and phalanges had a small trollbone skull fixed in the center. What wasn't covered by iron and steel was stuffed with warm furs of varying animals, usually troll hair as it was more durable and insulated than the rest. Poofs of fur emerged out of the boots, especially the tops, but that didn't bother him. The helmet was made of pure steel, shaped like a bowl and covering the mandible and nose. The part in the back was shaped more like a shovel, while there were three two-inch spikes that were on the three sides of Freakenstein's head--temporal, parietal, then temporal. The eyes were big and brown, with a bugbear smile that was both firm and sincere.

.......yeah, they just call him Frank.

"Yer doin' it wrong, Joey!" Frank yelled. Joey (Firetrent) was holding a mixing bowl with an assortment of chemicals and spices, supposedly containing the makeup of koolaid. Sweat dribbling from his face, he couldn't tell what he was doing, even though given commands by Frank.

"Look, jus' add the citric acid 'fore the food colorin' an' you got it in the bag! Afterwards, you gotta add the flavorin' next; otherwise, you git a foul smellin' liquid an' a horrible taste to it. "

"O-okay, gotcha" Joey said reluctantly. Water bubbling, he added the citric acid. When this happened, the water started rising at an alarming rate.

"Now quickly! Add the food colorin' an' the flavorin'!"

Fidgeting, he unscrewed the small bottle cap containing the red food coloring, shaking a bit. Time was running out. he poured some in, but not too much. Afterwards, he poured in the flavoring Freakenstein graciously prepared for him. Afterall, he didn't think Joey could handle making a flavor, much less a drink. The flavoring must have had a chemical to suppress the rising tide of acid, otherwise this mixture makes no sense and the author is just spewing bull. The timing was off however; when Joey poured the flavoring in, he was too reluctant to do so and the acid, coupled with water and food coloring, boiled over and spilled unto the counter and floor.

"Aww nuts!" Freakenstein gasped, holding his head. "Awright, how 'bout you clean this mess, an' I'll go an' make this stuff?"

"O-okay Frank, whatever you say!" Joey whimpered, realizing what mess he made. He quickly grabbed an old rag and wiped the mess from the carpet.

"Now, you gotta use a base to take away tha' acid, okay? Find some bakin' powder or somethin'."

"A what?"

"Bakin' powder!"

"Oh! Right, right..."

Within minutes, Freakenstein prepared another boiling water-acid substance and added in the extra ingredients (saved for a predicted event like this). The once bubbling, gray matter that gobbled the mixing bowl turned into a clear, red, docile liquid, safe enough to drink. He poured the contents into a pitcher and brought it outside, Joey following him.

By then, Ivan was done with his shower. Naked, he checked himself in the mirror to see if his hair was neatly washed. He put on his undergarments after drying himself thoroughly. He put his neatly-cleaned apparel on and headed for outside for his big moment.

Outside, the layout was quite spectacular! The back deck was the same: wooden railings dotted the boundaries of the flooring, spanning from one end of the house to the other. The ground was quite different; the ground was under siege by 9 and a half feet of grass! The span of the ground seemed larger as well. It's almost as if the land stretched as far as the eye could see. The balloons that his father made where suspended in midair, despite the helium inside. They were placed in various locations, from around the grass, to up top the house, just to signify that there is a party. The three tables were on the left side of the deck, each carrying something different: One table had the silverware and the paper cups; one table had the koolaid Freakenstein prepared, a choice spell making the pitcher to span deeper; the other table the food: roast troll, various bowls of ramen, a salad bowl littered with carrots, with some avocado dip on the side, and the chocolate layer cake specially made for Ivan. Benches were next to the enormous grass pile for eating, sitting, and watching. Everything looked quite amazing for his birthday party--he couldn't wait until he dug his first piece into that cake; the only thing he couldn't wait any longer on was whatever is going to start this party.

A sharp sizzling sound and smoke issuing from the bottom of the deck revealed that Camilla put more select cuts of meat on a grill. Ivan walked down the steps to greet her, while avoiding the stragglers of grass that were still taller than his ankles. She noticed him walking down the stairs and put the lid on the grill.

"Here comes our birthday boy!" called Camilla. Those who were already here either ran out the boundaries of the grass or appeared out the large underspace from the deck and greeted him. Among those were Strop, who Camilla insisted try the limits of the range of grass, as he was fastest. Apparently, it was a little too much for him, as he climbed out the boundaries and collapsed, sweat bleeding through his garb. A nearby member fed him some water, and he got back up again.

"Hey Strop!" Camilla waved. "How was that expedition of yours?"

"That was hardly fair, now was it?" Strop moaned, gasping for air. He leaned downward and rested his body on his knees, breathing heavily.

"What do you...mean?" She turned her head and covered her mouth, trying to hide her chuckles.

"I thought you were testing me to see how far you MANUALLY stretched the ground. It took me half an hour! Half an hour to realize you While-looped me! You used an infinity code!" He pointed at her. "Cheater!"

"Aww come now, it was jolly good fun!" She argued. "Okay, for reward, you get first dibs on the salad bowl.

Something inside Strop clicked. His left eyebrow twitched occasionally. "First dibs? Salad bowl? Avocado-dipped carrots??" He made for the bowl immediately, but Camilla caught him by a loosened end of his garb.

"Now now, Strop, after we finish this party," she wagged her finger and nagged, "Eating right before extreme exercise only promotes pain."

Strop twiddled his thumbs and mumbled, but after he turned around and saw Ivan, his frown turned to a smirk.

"Ivan! Birthday boy! What's... *huff* *cough* up!" He was still wheezing from the tiring workout. Ivan pretended not to notice his grueling state and just commented.

"Guys!" He squealed. "This is amazing! Who did all this??" Camilla stepped in the conversation.

"Well, Bigjacob took that green, sloshy liquid and turned the whole field into grass, and I just extended--"

"While-looped."

"Er... While-looped. Anyway, all of us that were here pitched in juust for you!" She pinched Ivan's cheeks, but he slapped the hand away quickly in embarrassment.

"Happybelatedbirthdaykid," NoName quickly said while popping his head out of the grass. He waved, then nose-dived back inside. Ivan gave the perplexed look at Strop and Camilla, but they both shrugged; they didn't know what he was doing in there.

Freakenstein was sitting down and taste-testing his koolaid back at the three tables, using one of Camilla's wooden spoons. He was also testing the depth of the pitcher. After noting that the koolaid had the right amount of sugar and flavor, he picked up the Koolaid-Man-shaped pitcher and dumped the drink down his wide throat. The chugging seemed to go on and on. After a while, the koolaid finally died down and became empty. "Two minutesh of chuggin', which ish noted ash twenty-five litersh...*burp*...needsh shmore..." He shakily casted a rewind spell at the koolaid pitcher. This, however, caused Freakenstein to repeat his experiment; swearing, he was stuck in koolaid-drinking limbo, continuously chugging the drink and repeating the spell.

"Hang on, I think Frank's in trouble," Camilla noted, "he was never good with time spells; okay, I'll go fix him, you guys have fun!" She ran over to assist with Freakenstein's misery. Ivan and Strop looked at each other, then exploded with laughter.

The next hour consisted of waiting for the other guests to arrive. Camilla finally fixed Freakenstein's misfired spell and was currently in bed rest, as he had to regurgitate the excess acid in his stomach and was sleeping off the slight tipsiness. Ivan had his headphones on and was listening to music while sitting down in one of the benches, while Strop was searching through the bowels of the grass, trying to figure out where exactly Noname went. Bigjacob was tending to the meat, now revealed as a group of steaks. After they were thoroughly cooked, he set them on platters, sorted by type, and put the platter on the table of food. He then slapped more steaks on the grill and put the lid back on. With Ivan off in his music land, Camilla tending to Freakenstein's head, and Strop and NoName off in the grass doing administrators-know-what inside, Bigjacob was technically alone.

"Ah jeez, a storm?" He frowned. "Now the whole party has to be recalled for a bit." Up in the sky, cumulonimbus clouds were circling around in a vortex above the field of grass, where a hole with a mile in diameter was shown, having the only spot that was clear sky. "That's strange," he peered a bit harder. "What kinda storm circles around a given object? Does it have regular ol' water or windex..........KONGREGATE!!!!"

Bigjacob's eyes blew up wide. After much observation, he finally knew what kind of storm this was. He thief-proofed the food and looked towards the grass. The right thing to do was to shout at Strop and NoName to flee, but the SMART thing to do was to not do this and flee by himself. Not noticing a thing of what is happening around him, Ivan was continuing to play air guitar and was jamming to his music.

"Kashan!" Bigjacob shouted. "KASHAN! HEY! GET IN THE HOUSE NOW!" The wind was incrementally picking up in speed, his dark-green hair flying about, trying to keep itself stuck to his head. "Bah, screw this I'm outta here!" He charged at the door, got himself in, then shut it tight. Sounds of desperate, giggling girl sounds bled through the door as he threw himself up the stairs and into Ivan's room.

"Okay Nemo, knock it off, time to show yourself!" Strop called after NoName. "Oh man, is it storming or something? The wind's picking up bad!" Strop climbed up one of the bigger sprigs of grass and looked up. The sight of the storm made him shudder and scream inside. "Nononononono, not this, NOT THIS!" He jumped off the sprig of grass and made for the house, godspeed. "Camilla, you are one foul demoness if you consider this a form of joke to invite HIM like this! I am NOT going to be a victim again!" Charging through the forest of grass, he stumbled over something soft and furry. A yell prompted Strop to stop running, if just for a second. Turning around, Strop saw a grizzled face and a wolf pelt pop out of the ground.

"Nemo??" Strop yelled in confusion, "THIS is where you were? What the hell have you been doi--nevermind that right now! Get outta here; you see that??" He pointed up at the sky. NoName tunneled his whole body out of the ground and looked at the storm. It has progressed a bit, as the middle of the storm started to project a silhouette of a highly-familiar face. The same exact look and sound issued from Noname and he made for the house too.

The two were now coming out of the grass with blinding speed. Strop did a 10-foot jump technique and toppled over Ivan. Falling out of the chair, he looked around in confusion over who knocked him over. Strop was already in the door and up the stairs, by that point. NoName fell IN the deck, mistiming a jump. He instead climbed over the railings and tumbled on the floor. He reached for the doorknob and turned, but realized that Strop locked the door.

"Oh, you are some piece of work, Strop!" NoName yelled. "Sorry kid, I need these!" He grabbed Ivan's headphones that fell on the floor.

"Hey, those are mine!" Ivan spoke, after realizing what just happened. Ignoring the comment, NoName put on the headphones and heaved into the grassland. He ran as far and as fast as he could away from the storm.

"What the heck is going on?!?" Ivan bellowed. The lights in the house turned off, except for the one upstairs, where Ivan's room is located. The shadow of Strop's head is near the window, obviously looking at the storm in complete curiosity and awe. The storm suddenly quiets down to where no windex rain emerges from the clouds, no large masses of black clouds, and no sounds. Everything is quiet. What's left of the storm is a small funnel cloud, with the silhouette of a projected face inching ever closer near Ivan. It floats, ever so carelessly in the air, watching Ivan make his every action, while moving closer towards him.

"Dangit, the door's locked!" Ivan pouted. "Oh wait that's right, NoName said something to that effect...Well, now what?" He bangs on the door so someone can let him in. "Come on guys, lemme in!" Looking into the window again, it seems that there are more faces peering back at him, watching what takes place. Pointing and chuckling can be clearly seen. The funnel cloud gets ever more clearer and smaller, now to the size of a human being, with projected hands outstretched. Since there is nothing making a sound outside, the voices from inside the house get louder.

"There's got to be a way inside," Ivan mumbled. The funnel cloud was ever closer to him, by mere feet. The gases disappear, and the shape of the entire figure is shown. It creeps ever so closer to Ivan. The face is now right up to Ivan's ear. Ivan must have noticed something, because not even the upstair's voices are heard. He felt something cold touch his shoulders and something hairy touch his neck. He felt scared. Really scared. But he couldn't move from utter fear. It was when the figure uttered a whisper in Ivan's ear that something inside him exploded.

"We're no strangers to love..."

Ivan is now pounding on the door and heaving on the doorknob in desperation.

"HELP MEEEEE!" Bellowed Ivan. The voices inside Ivan's room now were exploding with laughter and coughing. The shadows that were shown through the light were all jumbled. The group that was watching was obviously carrying on in there. Ivan turned around and saw the figure that was whispering clearly. The full image screamed "magician!" to Ivan. The rather-large face was old and wrinkly, though he is able to sprout black hair on his head and face. He had a large, crooked nose that curved downward and seemed to be able to touch his lips. He was dressed in a solid, bold blue robe that covered his short body, save for the hands and head. On top of his head was a star-embroidered wizard hat. Most hats of this caliber would span both ends of the head, but this hat just covered his occipital area. It came to a point about half a foot high and drooped down. It occurred to him that it wasn't him that whispered; it was his mysterious white-silver staff. The knob featured the face of a very frightening person--Rick Astley. The face's smile was a very cackling grin, that of a jokester, yet something very sincere. The face of his staff moved when it sang, producing a solid, clear voice that doesn't sound projected from a speaker. Ivan's eyes got even wider as the staff opened its mouth to speak.

"You know the rules, and so do I...."

"AAAAAAAAHHH!" Ivan shrieked. He tried even harder to open the door, whether pull the knob off or break the glass. Neither worked.

"A full commitment's what I'm ... thinkin' o--DAAAH!"

The horrible, vile voice that made Ivan's ears commit suicide was gone. The once powerful wizard that took control of Ivan's feelings was suddenly on the ground, holding his head. The hellish staff was knocked to the floor, looking around blinking.

"Knock it off Possum," uttered a deep voice, "you've scared the kid so hard I can smell him." Around the corner of the house emerged a very dark man. Dark, as in he was wearing very dark clothing. His face, except for his nose and mouth were concealed behind an ebony-colored hooded cloak. This was wrapped around his face and neck, while the rest fluttered down his back. A pure-black robe covered his body and came at two points--one on either end of his legs. It was kept together by a rather large belt that covered his entire stomach. A bright red sash was wrapped under the belt, serving only a purpose of looks. Above his tightly-worn black pants were maroon-colored sabatons with gold, outlining the layers of metal,that almost went up to his knees. He had a matching pair of gauntlets to compliment the boots. Inside a scabbard was a finely-crafted crimson blade. At first, it looks like nothing, but Ivan has yet to see what it can do. His stance showed that he was the one that knocked the wizard on the head and nearly saved Ivan.

"OWWIES!" coughed the wizard, "that HURT! Why do you do such things with which to hurt moi, Crimson?" The wizard was curling back in forth in wincing pain. The cloaked figure rested his arm.

"Possum, you and I are like polar opposites, yet I still respect you as a friend. Don't make me regret that decision."

The wizard slid over to the wall of the house and rubbed the head, taking off his hat.

"Arrgh, I think you gave me a bump!" He mumbled. "I was only having some fun; cut me that which is what never get--slack!"

"I'll give you some slack when you give the new guy some slack," retorted the hooded figure. Ivan was down on the ground clutching the sides of his head. The hooded figure bent down and gave Ivan a hand to help him up. When he let go of his head, Ivan looked at his hands--it was covered in blood. It seemed as though the voice of the staff really did do a number on him, regardless of the psychological stress many people claim to have when listening to it.

"Blood Possum?" The hooded figure questioned to the wizard, "really? You ought to be ashamed of yourself."

"I see the manner of which you are siding is. No sympathy for those who don't know their own strength?"

"You had plenty of time to realize just how powerful you really are."

"Alright, you caught me! I'm the emotion that personifies sadness and guilt, okay?"

"Alright, that's good enough," the hooded figure spoke, ending the conversation, "for you, anyways." He turned towards Ivan, who was sitting on the table, who was nurturing his slight bleeding of the ears. "You okay, kid?"

"Arrgh...yeah I guess I am," Ivan winced. "That's two people now that have attacked instead of introduced."

"Ah. I bet you're talking about Bigjacob, then," remembered the hooded figure, "I'll be sure to remind him who's keeping tabs on him, how about that?"

Not realizing what he's talking about, Ivan agreed, "Okay, I guess that will work...."

"You can call me Crimsonblade," he revealed, "if you ever want to look me up, just add two five's at the end."

Ivan was about to speak, but he and the other two noticed the doorknob to the door inside the house turning. When opened, the rest of the group emerged. Strop and Bigjacob came out first, beet-red and laughing, with tears in their eyes. Camilla and Joe were holding Freakenstein up, who was now awake, alert, but still uncoordinated.

The first thing that Camilla noticed was Ivan's bleeding ears. She let go of Freakenstein and rushed towards Ivan's aid, making Freakenstein topple over Joe, crushing him. Freakenstein chuckled a bit, still on the loopy side. He was mumbling over Freakenstein's hefty body and struggling to get out of him, something of a "get off of me Frank, you're huge!". Freakenstein called out to what was under him, "keep yer diet jokes to yerself, you hear me?"

Camilla took some cotton balls from a pocket in her apron and set them inside Ivan's ears, to take out all the blood.

"What happened to you dear??" She asked Ivan. He limply pointed to ThePossum, who was still next to the wall, sweating beads. He was clearly in trouble.

"You rickroll'd him??" Camilla yelled, "Possum, why do such a thing to someone you never even met??"

"What?? You mean to tell me I missed a rickroll in action, because I was drunk?" Freakenstein still didn't budge to Joe's wishes.

"Frank, you're not helping, shush!" commanded Camilla. "And get off of Joey!"

"Okay...." He stumbled himself off the floor, off Joe, and climbed unto a nearby chair next to a table. Joe quickly stood up and wobbled over to another chair. Camilla, however, wasn't finished.

"I have a good means to....er.... banish you from this party until I feel like you have learned your lesson!"

ThePossum knew exactly what she really meant. "Okay, okay, okay, I get it! I'm sorry! Sorry!" He was now hiding his face in his robes, still sitting by the wall. The rest of the group merely watched. Strop and Bigjacob tiptoed as quietly as they could across the deck to try to dive into the grass, but not even their stealthy skills couldn't be outsniffed by a mom.

"And you guys!" She pointed at the two who were shaking. "You did nothing to help?"

"Hey Camilla, Possum was after us too!" argued Strop. "You can't pin this on us, we were running for our lives! You don't understand what it is to be rickroll'd by....HIM!" He pointed to ThePossum, who was now totally covered by his robes in a fetal position, hugging the wall.

"Alright, alright, look," proposed CrimsonBlade, "Maybe we should just calm down and enjoy the party, hmm?"

"I'm up fer that," Freakenstein agreed, wobbling in his chair. BigJacob nods, but is still in hiding.

"As long as I keep my hide, I agree," bandwagoned Strop.

"Yeah! Let's party!" Called NoName from inside the grass.

"Yeah, so far this has just been a disaster on my end," said Ivan, weakly.

Camilla finally calms down and leans on the railings. "Alright, since everyone apologized, we can go continue the party. But we gotta wait for the rest of the guests."

"About that," corrected Crimsonblade, "See, they're over there."

He pointed to the east, where a large group of nameless, unrecognizable faces were lined up behind the boundaries of the field of grass. Among those was Kyle, who pushed out of the crowd and jumped up the railings to meet everyone.

"How many people did you invite, Mom?" asked Ivan in awe. As soon as he got up from his chair, everyone in line turned their heads to see him and chanted random calls, like "Happy birthday Kashan!", "look at the grass!", "look! It's Freakenstein! I hear he created the koolaid drink!", and "over there! It's Setsuka! She's a m--"

Camilla clapped her hands, "Mother!" She stepped over to the end of the railing and called, "Welcome everyone! As you are well aware, 30 feet wide grass is in our backyard and spans as far as the eye can see! This:" She picked up a strange device out of one of her pockets in her apron and pressed the button on it. "...is all part of the party!"

Moments later, a blue and red streaked blimp that stretched as long as a football field was cruising above the field of grass. On the bottom was a slot that opened up to release something. On the command of Camilla pressing the button again, that hatch opened, and dozens if not hundreds of various figures and characters dropped and fell into the grass. The party goers watched in awe as the many cries and murmurs of these characters echoed as they fell. The hatch kept open, and the many characters kept being released, until finally, there was no more to drop. The blimp then turned around and left the area.

"Sweet party, huh Ivan?" greeted Kyle. He was watching the whole event while still hanging on to the railings. He finally climbed over and took an available seat, next to Freakenstein and Joe.

"So nice you could join us Kyle!" greeted Camilla with a smile. "Will you be joining us for the whole party?"

"That's my plan," replied Kyle.

"Oh dear, I think the field isn't wide enough," Camilla realized. "Let me go re-enchant it before we begin!" She slid down the railings and unto the ground with finesse. When facing the field of grass, her once-blue eyes were now turned white to the whole. A transparent pulse that looked like a cross between distortions of reality and water pounded out of her outstretched hands and covered the viewable grass. In moments, the field grew wider, overtaking the naked ground and covering it with thick grass. The guests took steps back and or fled, trying to get away from the grass that was inching ever closer to them. A couple guests that weren't paying attention were caught up in the enchantment and were fed to the highest point of the grass, bouncing. A simple push spell from ThePossum, who emerged out of his robes and viewed the scene, sent the silly guests out of the grass, but into others. He snickered, but realized Strop was glaring at him, then imitated a cough and watched.

"Alright!" called Camilla. "The enchantment is done and the field of grass is wide enough! Everyone, come near me and I'll tell you what's going on." The guests piled around her, while the group on the deck walked and peered from over the railings. Camilla looked over at everyone with a smirk, showing her cream-white teeth. "Here, in this field of grass, I spawned nearly 300 games for us to play. With a little increase in the regulations and some extra rules, I was given permission from the administration to allow this to take place. The rules are simple: Travel into the field of grass and locate a game. When you do, you are able to attempt to tame it. If, however, the game finds the exit out of the grass, which is flee west or east out of the width of the field, you must yield to them and give up."

Strop had a sickening feeling in his stomach to that of fatigue. "That's how you get out of there?? I wish she'd told me earlier!" He turned and looked at Freakenstein, who just happened to stand next to him. "You know how hard it is to navigate in that field?? I couldn't see a thing, much less move!"

Freakenstein just shook his head. "Yer face is priceless, yeh know that, Strop?"

"I'm serious!"

"When yeh have a heft' stature, things like traversin' heavy fields is cake."

"Well, that's easy for you to say..."

Camilla realized that she was being talked over by the two upstairs, so she raised her voice. "Maneuvering these fields isn't easy. Not only does it take strength, but speed as well. If you take too long to move, the grass will grab you by your ankles and trap you in."

Freakenstein's raring-to-go smile turned into a cross between shock and cold defeat. "Whut?? Well, this ain't good fer me, no ser...."

"Come on!" urged Bigjacob, "Frank, you're a Gold Duke, what do you have to worry about?"

"Well," he replied, "I'm big an' strong, but I'm slow. Yer a heavy assassin ain't yeh? Not sure yeh have to worry about any o' this."

"I hear them grassies over there are flesh-eating," commented ThePossum, "if they nip ya, they eat ya alive!"

"Hey, why don't you try it out for yourself, old friend?" Added Crimsonblade. He casually walked over to ThePossum, who was sliding himself into the corner, trying to escape from his own medicine.

"Woah woah, slow down!" he pleaded. But it was too late. Crimsonblade picked him up by his feet and handed him to Freakenstein, who in turn tossed him, head first, into the field of grass like a javelin. His surprised cries echoed over the field, pitch tuning lower with each yard across.

"Whoops! I seemed to have thrown him a little too far, heheheheheheh!" The rest of the group chuckled.

"So in conclusion!" finalized Camilla, "the most important part about this party is to get a feel for the grass, track down the game you can manage, and overall, have fun! Now then, get out there and enjoy the party!"

In that instant, the group from below bellowed cries of excitement and charged into the grass, some leaping inside and some just crawling in. Within moments, clashes and sounds of combat followed. CrimsonBlade slowly walked down the stairs. He felt the grass's textures, took a foot inside, and felt how emerging into the grass is like. After several attempts, he finally hoisted himself inside and followed the rest, but turned to the left and hugged the boundaries. BigJacob leaped on the house's roof and flew inside, diving down in the heart of the field.

"Sounds like a rip-snortin' good time Strop!" Freakenstein announced in ecstasy. "I'm goin' in!" He charged down the stairs, rumbling the whole deck, and flung himself inside. He apologized, as he seemed to have knocked a fellow guest down.

"Come on Ivan!" yelled Strop, "This is your party! You should have gotten in there first to get first dibs!"

"Yeah! I guess it seems kinda fun!" replied Ivan. "Come on Kyle, let's go in and play some games!" The two also ran down and headed inside, more towards the boundaries, so they wouldn't get lost.

"Well, looks like I get to go inside as well. Might as well get myself hungry before I help myself to those carrots!" Strop did a front flip over the railings and started to head inside.

"Wait Strop!" interrupted Camilla. "I need you for a second." She caught Strop just in time, his jumping stance frozen.

"Oh?" Strop snorted, his ears perked up. "What about? But make it quick--I don't think Nemo knows that the party is starting."

NoName: "IndestructoTank, you fall on top of me one more time and I'll make sure you REGRET IT!"

"It's about Ivan's little friend, Strop," Camilla said, sternly. "He calls himself Kyle?"

"Oh, that one fellow!" recognized Strop. "Seems like a nice kid. I think he's adopting some sort of dog-like combat styles?"

"And that's just it!" Camilla exclaimed, "Doesn't that bother you? That, and he is alone? That he just came out of nowhere when Ivan, Joey, and I settled down?"

"He doesn't have parents? Do you know?"

"He says he does, but makes the most convenient excuses that they aren't around. I didn't even bother with that this time."

"Well, what?" asked Strop, "Do you think he's someone else, like an alt of some sort?"

"Well...." Camilla paused. "It's well before MY time, but...Do you think he is....him?"

"There are many 'hims' in Armor Games, Setsuka," Strop noted. "Besides. I'm not a moderator anymore; you know that. Anything you want to investigate, you gotta do on your own. I don't have those perks anymore."

"I know that...but he's Ivan's friend, and...."

"That doesn't mean I can't give you helpful advice, however. There will come a time when he will just snap and go crazy, because there will be no way around his excuses. And that's when you identify him and ban him again."

"Oh..." said Camilla despondently.

"You have just started taking up this responsibility," encouraged Strop. "Many people such as myself and Zophia have felt such ambition when they were new, but then felt like how you are when we couldn't accomplish such tasks. Just remember that you are just one person; it takes a group of people to achieve the most complex of goals."

"It's even harder than it usually is, because Ivan doesn't know that I am a moderator," realized Camilla. "How would he function with me breathing down Sedes's neck?"

"Well, maybe you should tell him," advised Strop. "Besides. I bet he thinks moderators are the coolest thing on the web right now."

"Really?" asked Camilla.

"I think Nemo and I can vouch for that."

"Thanks Strop..."

"Now get outta here before I get all weepy!" commanded Strop, waving a hand at Camilla. Her once melancholy face turned into a bright smile.

"I'm right here, you know..." reminded Joey.

"Oh honey, go eat your salad," said Camilla.

"But I'm not eating!"

"Then just be quiet."

"O-okay!"

Inside the field of grass was something phenomenal for Ivan and Kyle. It seemed as though with every passing step, the grass grew taller and taller. Or rather, the illusion in which they themselves were getting smaller, not the other way around. Hardly any back light shone in on this dungeon of weeds. What back light that did reach the bottom was covered up by shadows. The patches of grass that were curled over and pulled apart made it obvious to them that others passed this way. The patches of grass that remained vigilantly tall proved to be where no one has entered. The two climbed over a pile of weeds that were caught unto their ankles and hobbled farther in.

Quick steps and a large shadow showed that either a game or a person nimbly shot through the sides of the grass, about 10 yards away from where Ivan and Kyle were standing. "Argh!" pouted Kyle, "How are we ever going to get past this place?" He slashed at the grass with his katars, like a machete. This didn't help very much, as the grass was very thick; Kyle had to cut very deep in order to progress further. Inch by inch, they moved on to where that figure was. It just stood there, unaware that it was being watched.

"It's a...." Kyle paused. "I can't tell! It's a....."

When they moved even closer, a roaring sound flew past Ivan and slammed into Kyle. It happened to be an indestructotank with treads. It flew off course and rammed into whatever figure they were watching and continued on its course. Kyle was fixed on top of the game.

"Kyle!" Ivan shouted. "Watch out! Don't get under him!" Within moments of the game being unseen, however, a screeching sound, an explosion, followed by lines of code, shot out of the grass and flew into the sky. Kyle returned, with four AP coins in his hand. His face was not of shock, but of delight.

"Lucky me, eh?" he gloated.

"How did you do that so quickly, Kyle?" Ivan asked with a gaping mouth.

"I slashed the tires! Then it toppled over and I just simply removed the engine forcibly!"

"But you get four armor points for that?" He asked.

"I guess so! Now come on! Let's go get more before the rest take all the glory!"

They charged onward into the bushes, listening to any sounds that issued from all directions. Once they were a good enough distance, they were stopped because they heard a swooshing sound from behind them. Emerging were two straw-hat samurais. They readied their blades and moved to attack, but Ivan and Kyle were one step ahead of them. The clinging of their blades echoed, but their footwork was were unstable, as from the grass. One false move made one samurai fall flat on its behind, in which Ivan swiftly defeated it and gained the two 4 AP. The other samurai was still standing and was holding its own against Kyle. But he was too much, as Kyle was too fast, easily countering one blade strike and attacked with the other katar. When the dust and code left the area, 4 AP for the two appeared and was collected.

The fights between them continued on and on, when they bumped into a familiar face. Freakenstein, with his finely-sharpened battle axe, was facing off against a hydra, a mighty three-headed dragon most fabled in Monster's Den. It was taller than the grass that held him in and was much stronger; it seemed to have no affliction whatsoever with the resistance of the pulling weeds. The far-right head roared high in the sky and bellowed yellow-green sparks that continued into flames. The same head then lurched after Freakenstein. He leaped out of the way, but the left head came in from behind and knocked him straight into a wall of grass.

"That's th' great thing 'bout this place!" Freakenstein heaved in excitement. "Yeh have no hard places t' fall on! Now c'mere yeh pakistan!" With his massive battle axe that spanned longer and larger than the two watching him, he spun it around his arms like a flag and lopped the middle head off. Code sprayed out in a coned direction, but the game wasn't done yet. The left and right head lunged at Freakenstein in unison, in which he countered the attack by leaping into the air and pounding on the back with his heavy weight. With this in control, he then slashed at the back of the left head. The back, however, absorbed the blow--Freakenstein was knocked off his feet by his own power; the scales were too tough for the attack and made him fall over the hydra and unto the ground.

Freakenstein finally noticed Ivan and Kyle watching him in awe. "Greetings kids! I'd embrace yeh, but I'm a bit tied up a' the moment! I'd also advise yeh to not try yer hand a' this, as this is one helluva beastie! Don't yeh worry yerselves though; contrary to what th' beastie thinks, I got this fight well under control. Ain't tha' right, ugly!?" He picks himself up off the ground and readies his weapon again.

The now-two-headed hydra roars and instead charges after Freakenstein with immense speed and force, but that's what he wanted him to do, as he was open.

"I can roar louder than yeh can, beastie!" replied Freakenstein, "GRAAAAAAAGH!" He also charges, in the direction of the hydra. Taking his battle axe, he pulls the length down to where the entire place meets his hand, the long handle empty. He carries the shortened battle axe in his left hand, with the other hand outstretched and open wide. The collision with two hefty bodies are sure to make a sound! Ivan and Kyle close their eyes and brace for impact. When the two bodies meet, a loud bang of flesh and scale occurs. When Ivan and Kyle look, something unexpected happens. Freakenstein had somehow managed to enter through the dragon's unprotected belly and pulled himself out of his back! The dragon slumps over, with Freakenstein climbing out, holding a whopping 30 AP in his hand. The massive body of the dragon poofs into code and travels out of the field of grass. Ivan and Kyle were left speechless.

Goop piled onto Freakenstein's entire body, he looked at the two and finally realized how much of a show he put on for them.

"Oh y'guys well be able to do stuff like this in no time!" encouraged Freakenstein, "Mark m'words! Yeh just gotta git yer armor points up and yeh be adoptin' all sorts o' skills!"

"Well," paused Ivan in awe, "I'm not sure I'll be able to perform these techniques as well as you could, Freakenstein!"

"Aww, yer makin' me blush, now go on, git!" The two traveled north, while Freakenstein watched. After they were out of earshot, he huffed and fell over on the ground, gasping for air. "Heh, good thing I didn't show 'em how worn out I was, or I'd've been 'sulted as an ol' fart! Whew!"

Hours passed, and the back light over Armor Games grew dim. Camilla stayed behind, making sure nothing went wrong over the field of grass. Joe was still sitting down on the chair next to the railings, sipping on some koolaid, marveling on how great the batch Freakenstein made tasted. Some wind picked up, blowing Camilla's hair and skirt off to the side.

"You know," Camilla spoke to Joe, "This was a really good idea! But do you think the guys in there are safe?"

"Oh, I'm sure they'll be fine!" Joe remarked. "It is getting dark though. It's probably pitch black in there!"

"Yeah, maybe it's time to just sit down and enjoy the birthday part of the party!" Camilla teleported over to the field of grass and chanted words pertaining to a choice spell. With her eyes pure white, she paused, trying to remember how the spell she wanted went. Moments later, the field of grass burst into flame and sparks flew everywhere. Shock, terror, fear, and crying flooded the air from all directions.

"EEEK! The other one!" She quickly chanted the spell with slight variation. The grass instead disappeared, and the stretched, distorted land, flung back into its original spot. Those who were too far away, however, were scraped along with those on the edges of the land and were piled on top of each other. A couple guests on the sidelines watched in terror as ThePossum and BigJacob were running in circles, still on fire from Camilla's mis"fired" spell. ThePossum stood still and chanted, a word ending in "aqua", and a giant sphere of concentrated water splashed over the two of them, the bodies still sizzling. The crowd then turned their heads over to the blushing figure in front, realizing her mistake.

"Sorry everyone!" apologized Camilla. "the incantations for 'fire' and 'disappear' are notoriously similar to each other!"

"Hey, what gives?" shouted NoName. "I wasn't done getting this gnome to come out of the hole in the ground!"

"Oh, well, you can do that some other time, Nemo!" Camilla suggested, "Now it's time to just relax, enjoy the nightly breeze, and feast on a good meal. It's time to sing happy birthday to Ivan! (Or happy anniversary to Frank!)"

The crowd muttered something like "oooooo!" and gathered around the front of the deck, while Camilla and Joey grabbed the layer cake from off the table. Freakenstein carefully placed the entire bench on the middle of the ground. It was quite spacious, as the grass was no longer here--not even a weed misplaced! When the cake was placed on the middle of the table on the ground, Camilla lit a fire and placed thirteen candles on the top. When announced, the nameless guests and the gang chanted the Happy Belated Birthday Ivan! song, while he himself stood there blushing. When finished, Camilla asked them to form a line while she cuts the cake into portions to give. Ivan, of course, received the first wedge and happily moved upstairs to enjoy it.

He sat on a table next to Strop, who was helping himself to the salad bowl. He was about to take a bite of his delicious cake, when he got curious and instead watched Strop. His eyes grew wide and his mouth gaped open as he witnessed a content Strop take a bite of an avocado-dipped carrot with his mask still on. When Strop stopped and looked in Ivan's direction, he quickly fixed back to his cake and took a bite, trying to hide the fact that he was watching him. Strop shrugged and continued his business.

Freakenstein and Crimsonblade sat next to the two with their plates. "Happy belated birthday, kid!" congratulated Freakenstein. Ivan was about to say thanks, but he interrupted, "Ah, whadda we have here? Roast troll? Mah favorite!" He then gets up and helps himself to the meat, negating the thief-proof charm. After selecting his piece of meat, he sits back down in his spot.

"So Crimson," Freakenstein spoke, between bites, "What did ya think o' that bit o' news earlier?"

"Oh, you mean about the new system being updated into Armor Games?" he replied.

"Yeah! I can't wait till they *munch munch* ask one o' us to beta test for 'em!"

"Of course! I also bet you are going to be one of the first to beta test, am I right?"

"Yeh bet yer crimson blade I am! Heheheheh! Here, have some koolaid..." Freakenstein handed him a drink. He politely backed down.

"Oh, sorry Frank, I don't drink."

"Oh c'mon, it's a party! Yeh gotta lighten up a lil'!" Crimsonblade refused, so Freakenstein drank it instead.

"What's this about a beta test?" Ivan asked, perplexed and curious.

"Oh, I wouldn't get used t' this here place lad," suggested Freakenstein, "after all, th' whole place is gonna be r'vamped in a couple weeks or months!"

"What's going to happen?" asked Ivan. Crimsonblade added in the discussion.

"It is a total system update," he explained, "in which there are going to be many, many new changes to Armor Games; some good, some bad. The administration has leaked some information as to what may be added, such as new terrain and armor points awarded for defeating games in a certain way, instead of just defeating it." he stopped to eat a bite of the layer cake. "All and all, we are very excited for this new update, and so some of us are even willing to go and test the new web out before any of the others do, otherwise known as 'beta testing'. I don't know what the qualifications are, but some of us here are more than qualified, such as Strop, Frank, and I."

"Sounds like a great thing to be a part of!" Ivan exclaimed. "Yeah, I'll probably not be able to join in the beta testing, but I'll wait until the rest of you are done with it. Until then, I'll just stay here where I can just get to know the rest of the Armor Games family!"

"Very mature decision," Crimson praised, "many kids like you just leap into whatever without a moment's notice, without noting the dangers and such."

"Oh whatever Crimson!" Freakenstein interrupted, "How can there be any dangers to th' beta testin'!"

"Oh, I do not know, maybe something like GLITCHES and BUGS that could trap us in the very fabric of the coding abyss?"

"Yer deep lad...anyway! I'm gonna do somethin' big, see? I'm gonna infiltrate the Armor Games headquarters an' see if I can't get anymore info outta these guys. Mehbe even officially be th' first beta tester!"

"Why do you care so much about being the first, Frank?" Crimson asked.

"Other than being the Neil Armstrong of Armor Games 3.0? Mehbe 'cause o' th' fact tha' I get to see fers'hand of everythin' in Beta! Or mehbe it's 'cause I wanna help as much as possible. Did yeh know I really never did much in th' way of helpin' the administration out? As long as I've been here, I couldn't think o' any way of makin' life easier on them, other than improvin' th' gaming by submittin' reviews an' such. Righ' here, righ' now, I'm able t' prove jus' how much o' an asset I can be t' these guys!"

"Touchin' story Fra--kongregate! Look what you made me do! I'm talking like you already!" Crimsonblade slammed his fists on the table, startling nearby guests. Some stopped to look to see what they are talking about.

"Well what about you Strop?" Ivan asked, listening to the conversation between Freakenstein and Strop, "what do....you......."

Strop was continuing to feast on the salad bowl. He even brought it to the table as his own plate, while listening to the conversations. Even Freakenstein and Crimsonblade looked at him wide-eyed as they saw him eat. He looked around at the faces with shifty eyes. "What?"

"What do you think about this beta testing thing?" Ivan asked finally. "You've been pretty......quiet and such, I kinda wanna know what you think."

"Well, as for me *munch*, I don't really think I'll be able to participate and such, as I'm ever so busy. I'll be there at the announcement section as an honored guest though, as Carlie insisted I stop work to experience the evolution of Armor Games and such, so maybe I will watch to see who actually gets to beta test."

"They're gonna announce AND beta test a' th' same time?" Freakenstein gasped. "I gotta get there pronto!" He shuffled out of his seat and exited the property, saying goodbye to Camilla, Joey, and the rest who stopped to greet him.

"He's some piece of work," Crimsonblade commented, "That guy won't be satisfied with his ambitions and goals until they come true."

"You can't say those are selfish goals either," Strop argued.

"True. But something like this can get him in more trouble than imagined."

"Ahh, let's not worry about it!" Ivan urged. "Come on! There's still some partying left to do before it's totally night time!"

"Now you're sounding like a veteran user!" praised Strop. "Let's continue *munch munch* eating, then head off to bed. Afterwards, we got yet another celebration to attend!" He and Ivan raised a koolaid glass to each other, then proceeded to finish their food.

The group finished their meal and dessert, and afterward, offered to clean up the after-party mess that was left over. Ivan waved goodbye to those that he met, whether formal, or with fear, and proceeded to enter the house for a quiet, relaxing time before bed. Kyle quickly caught up to him.

"Hey Ivan!" he called. "You're going to that beta testing celebration, right?"

"You bet!" Ivan replied. "There are going to be so many famous, tough people signing up. If we thought Freakenstein was amazing, there ought to be much, much more amazing people than him!"

"I'm going to get a good night's sleep before that happens, so I don't sleep through the event. Good night!"

"You too! See you there!" Ivan proceeded to enter the house and upstairs. Camilla and Joey were spending their last hours of the day together on the sofa, cuddling and watching a movie. She waved Ivan off to bed, as he entered his room. Undressing and entering his bed, he unleashed his soul and then entered his dream world, wondering just what the beta testing ceremony was going to be like.

But else where, something devious is unfolding....

"Iroot! You look happy today!"

"Well of course Daniel! Today is that special day you know.

"What special day?"

"Today! Didn't you read up above? There's a special event going on today!"

"Okaaay....Well, what's it about?"

"The other developers and I believe it is time to release our research and begin the upgrade. As team head, I myself am especially proud of this accomplishment. Improvements galore!"

"How incredible is it?"

"Many, many changes! The citizens are now able to express EXACTLY how they feel with a certain conversation, instead of pointing out how. Our new system allows citizens to be rewarded AP for taming certain species. The sky will be a different color as well(to impress the stoners)! More buildings, more forums, and best of all--you're not going to believe it-- Logo itself will change!"

"The moon is going to change??"

"Yes! See, here's a rough copy of what it will look like:"

*sweep sweep* *scribble scribble*

(from beta.armorgames.com)



"That's...err, amazing! You sure Logo itself will change just like that? And....Why did you just paint on my breastplate?"

"I uhhh, ran out of characters. Anyway, it will be a big achievement, with no bugs foreseen."

"Don't lie to me Iroot, you know I don't like it when you lie "

*ignoring the possible last emoticon ever typed*

"Okay okay, so we need to test it to make sure! We don't want the citizens to revolt again.... took me a week to get the ban juice off my boots."

"So this is the 'special day' eh? When will the actual installing of the new system take?"

"The last time we made a new system, we had plenty of testers and we launched as soon as there were no mistakes reported. This one will take a while, as there is 3x more stuff than now."

"Alright! *rubs hands* I can't wait! Let's start the B--"

*FOOOM* *cchhh...*

*HIIFFF HUUFFF HEEFFF HOFFFF*

"Uhh? And who might you be, son?"

"H...h...HI DANIIIELL..."

"Good grief, get ahold of yourself! Iroot detain this boy before he drools all over my newly-painted-on breastplate!"

"I'm I'm....*slurp* I'm Freakenstein..."
"D*** you're huge... what do you *mmph* want? And how did you get in here most importantly? There were 3 mods on duty!"

"I wan' t' be th' first beta tester! I overheard you guys talkin' so I jumped the castle walls and opened the door without th' handle."

"this is going to be fixed, right Iroot?"

"Most definitely sir."

"Alright, ermm..."

"Freakenstein?"

"Yeah! That one. Okay, let me just look you over. Gold Duke... lots of forum posts.... little of everything else...five merits...What else have you done?"

"I've written reviews on twenteh species o' games, and I got five checkmarks from a biologist! I also logged in 300 hours o' Armor Games unt' Xfire! I'm ready! I'm ready!"

"okay okay, you're ready. You seem active enough. Iroot, where's the key for the new project?"

"We...erm..haven't made it, Sir. That's the only thing we haven't done yet."

"KONGREGATE! Well, sorry Son, it looks like you're going to have to wait until they make that beta key for you. But I promise, as founder, I'll let you go first! "

"YAAAAY! Okay, I'll see you later!"

...........

...........

"Okay he's gone. Quickly Iroot, prepare the portal and the keys so everyone else who wants to test the new project can get in."

"Yessir."

"I now declare Beta OPEN!"

That....was....awesome! I'm very intrigued about this Kyle person...(suspense). And, BTW, I love how you displayed my character...I LOL'd so hard. =)

Even zombie slaying?

Hmm...it says thoad posted, but I can't see it. So THIS is the glitch people are talking about!

Whew! Thank goodness I still have an audience! lol I was sure I scared them off with the epic chapter! I'm sorry!! It was a big chapter;I had to cover both introductions and the context of the party! I'll make them shorter next time--but with more chapters!

Hehehehe i think this will be a success nice representation of my character by the way.

Thanks for the feedback!

Chapter VI may be a little tricky. Obviously, this is the big moment where Beta is announced and people finally get to "test" the new system update. I really, REALLY wanna include some of the administration team in this...but they are busy and I don't wanna bother them. Plus, if they are going to be lasting in the story, they gotta have a distinct personality to tell them apart from the rest... I dunno. Like I said, a little tricky lol

Chapter VI may be a little tricky. Obviously, this is the big moment where Beta is announced and people finally get to "test" the new system update. I really, REALLY wanna include some of the administration team in this...but they are busy and I don't wanna bother them. Plus, if they are going to be lasting in the story, they gotta have a distinct personality to tell them apart from the rest... I dunno. Like I said, a little tricky lol

Frank, please forgive me tardiness in responding to thy awesome Beta story!
I still haven't read every word but chapter 5 is making me a little thirsty for Koolaid!
The part about (Oh, no), Possum was priceless. Too bad the Rick-rolling staff didn't burn up before, *cough*the mother*cough, cough* put the lawn fire out. Her eyes turning white reminded me of Storm, one of my favorite action heroines.

Chapter VI may be a little tricky. Obviously, this is the big moment where Beta is announced and people finally get to "test" the new system update.

I really, REALLY wanna include some of the administration team in this...but they are busy and I don't wanna bother them. Plus, if they are going to be lasting in the story, they gotta have a distinct personality to tell them apart from the rest... I dunno. Like I said, a little tricky lol

Too bad the Rick-rolling staff didn't burn up before, *cough*the mother*cough, cough* put the lawn fire out.

...You already included administration, didn't you? Or are you talking about actually collaborating with them on it? If that's not it, others include them all of the time (like what you've done earlier) from what I've read, though I can see why you wouldn't like to follow in their example.

Nah, if it burned up I wouldn't be able to steal it.

I, being ninja, know how to dodge Rickrolls LOL.

I, being ninja, know how to dodge Rickrolls LOL.