(Author's note: IMPORTANT!!!  If you haven't already read the new chapter 20, please do so.  The old was scrapped.  Thanks for reading!)

Chapter 21: Practice

With a whir, the elevator made its way to the basement of the skyscraper. The door opened with a ding, allowing the group to exit.

The training room was large, easily the size of a football field. Empress couldn’t begin to imagine how much the whole hideout would have cost.

The group gathered near the edge of the room, lining up in front of Yuki.

“Welcome to the Crimson Lilac’s first official training session,” Yuki spoke.

“Let’s go ahead and get started,” she clapped.

“I’ve taken the liberty of calling a few henchmen to be our rivals. They don’t have any super powers, but they should allow us to test our coordination at least.”

Empress frowned, “You guys don’t have any sidekicks?”

The original members of the Crimson Lilac exchanged glances. Yuki shook her head.

“We kind of spent all our money on the hideout,” she explained.

“Although, NPC death isn’t permanent since the latest patch, so maybe it would be worth buying one eventually,” she said with a thoughtful expression.

Empress’s ears perked up

“NPC death is no longer permanent?”

Yuki nodded, “There were quite a few complaints from the player-base. Now there is just a one million credit revival fee.”

Empress smiled widely, taking a glance at Helia from the corner of her eye.

“Anyways,” Yuki said, “Let’s get training.”

The group took up a formation. Kuro and Yuki were at the front, easily allowing them to be on the offensive. Empress was in the middle, allowing her to deploy barriers in front of her teammates at a moment’s notice. Helia and Flora were in the back, ready to assist whenever needed.

Numerous henchmen were lined up in front of the group, equipped with everything from swords to rifles. They wore black suits, giving them the appearance of secret agents.

“The henchmen are equipped with training weapons, so no one will die. You can still get injured though, so be careful.”

Empress and Helia nodded.

“Okay, 3…2…1… GO!”

At her command, they dashed forward, charging towards the henchmen. The minions immediately opened fire, raining a hail of bullets towards them.

Empress deployed a reflective barrier, causing the bullets to return to their senders. Dozens of henchmen were decimated, defeated by their own attacks.

Kuro and Yuki followed up, waving their hands in the air. Spirals of darkness and snow swirled together, taking on the shape of a dragon. 

The dragon charged forward, spewing globules of darkness and icicles. The attacks crashed into the henchman, instantly crushing them.

Suddenly, henchmen rappelled from the ceiling, landing behind the group. Flora waved her hands forward, sending pink particles towards them. The pheromones slammed into the men, causing them to adopt hazy expressions. Admiration and love appeared on their faces.

Before they could awaken from their daze, Yuki turned around, sending an avalanche of snow their way. They were frozen instantly, falling to the ground in the form of human popsicles.

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Just as the group was about to celebrate, a deep, mechanical groan rang out.

Yuki’s face fell, “I forgot I bought that.”

In front of them rolled a tank.

“You bought a tank?” Empress asked bewilderedly.

“It looked cool,” Yuki shrugged.

Empress was about to comment further when a blast rang out. The group dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack. The bullet struck the ground, causing the room to tremble.

Empress was about to summon a barrier when Yuki stopped her.

“Don’t bother, it has barrier-piercing shells.”

With a sigh, Empress put her hands back down.

“What should we do?” Flora asked, “Strike it with everything we’ve got?”

Yuki smiled sheepishly, “It’s made from extremely powerful armor. Our super attacks won’t work.”

Kuro groaned in annoyance. 

The tank driver grew impatient at their banter, firing another bullet towards them. Flora wasn’t quick enough to escape the blast radius. The shock sent her flying.

Helia immediately dashed towards her, absorbing the wound.

“Thanks,” Flora smiled, grabbing Helia’s hand as she was hoisted to her feet.

“How do we defeat it?” Empress asked Yuki.

Yuki shrugged, “Our powers aren’t very well equipped to fight it. We need someone with metal manipulation or something.”

Empress rubbed her chin thoughtfully, coming up with a plan.

“Okay, I have an idea. Can you guys distract it for a minute?” she asked the group.

Yuki and Kuro nodded. They immediately summoned another dragon, attacking the tank. The tank weathered their attacks, not even shaking. The tank driver fired at the dragon, causing it to blow into pieces. Empress didn’t waste the opportunity. She immediately teleported towards the tank. She condensed a barrier and placed it inside the barrel.

Yuki’s eyes went wide in disbelief. She immediately waved her hands towards the tank driver.

“Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!” she yelled.

The tank slowed down and the hatch opened up. A confused henchman looked at her.

“Why? What happened?” he asked.

“Empress placed a barrier inside of the barrel. I’m just trying to save my money,” Yuki explained, her panic dissipating.

Kuro burst out laughing, “Good job Empress! Remind me to have you deal with any tanks we run into.”

Empress smiled slyly, proud of herself.

“Nice thinking, boss,” Helia praised. 

The only one who wasn’t happy was Yuki. Her heart felt like it was going to explode at the thought of wasted money.

“Well, that went well.” Flora spoke up, “It seems like we’ll be able to accomplish our mission tomorrow.”

The group grew slightly somber.

“It’ll be tough, but we can do it,” Yuki said.

“Agreed,” Kuro seconded.

Yuki turned to Empress, “We’re going to log off and get some sleep. We’ll need all our energy tomorrow.”

Empress nodded at the idea.

“I’m leaving Helia,” Empress said, taking out the summoning sigil.

Sadness briefly flashed through Helia’s eyes.

“Alright, boss. I’ll see you when you get back.”

Helia was familiar with the peculiarities of the so called “players”. As far as she was concerned, they were simply a part of two interconnected worlds.

Empress unsummoned Helia and logged off.