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AN: hey I know I usually only do one story per anime but this is different. I had four individual story ideas for SAO starting from castle Aincrad and ending with Asuna's dead friend in season two (I currently don't have access to the correct spelling of her name) and rather than include every different story in one where each story is an independent chapter (missed opportunities) I decided to have just the best story placed up there (Underappreciated Character). The one with Argo... but the other stories deserve to know that they exist and are loved and cared for just like any other story I've written (all of my stories have a max amount of two follows/favorites) I don't want my stories to have abandonment issues. So I'll post as many of SAO stories as I can think to make. This will be a series so if you've not read through the first story it won't make much deference but there is one that comes before this for those who don't want to go out of order, and there'll probably be more that take place before this story but I, being the inconsistent little shit I am, wrote this story about the sixtieth floors of castle Aincrad in ALfheim before even getting to gun gale online or even ALfheim before the floating castle was ever there I might make references to future stories at this point stories that may never see the light of day. I've never said this in any of my previous stories, except the one that...let's just say it never happened... in fact when I finish this story I plan on removing it from the site forever so no trace of that embarrassment is ever left in this world except as a massive scar on the lives of all the teen titans fans who read my stories. In fact not only did it not happen I'll replace it with an actually respectable story the second I finish watching the actual show... where was I? Oh yeah...
I've never said this before but make sure to follow and favorite to show how much you enjoyed my stories otherwise I'm left with a story stat chart that tells me a thousand people have read my story without any of them liking it... two people liked it... two people took pity on me...two people saw it and decided to mess with me and make me think it was even worth they're time... the two people reading this and feeling sorry for the seventeen year old author who wishes he could live in his parents basement... I'll shut up now...
Key:
SFX:V (means someone threw up)
SFX:T (means someone fell)
SFX:SPLAT (should be self explanatory)
SFX:Z (someone is sleeping)
SFX:...(basically any combination feel free to assume the two of them happening at the same time in sequence so that I don't have to hold shift while repeatedly pressing the s, f, and x keys over and over for the sake of three seconds of sound I've not found the onomatopoeia in existing manga for)
I included these because I can't, for the life of me, find what manga uses to describe these sounds... least not in what I read... like... for example: Hellsing, Bleach, Naruto, Kämpfer, Tsubasa, SAO, SAO progressive, Magical Girl Apocalypse, Trigun, Full Metal Alchemist, +Anima, FLCL... I could go on but that's not what you're here for is it? Well here's your thing
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Kirito and Asuna walked hand in hand to Agil's bar in the real world sharing an expression of mixed feelings. They received word that someone Kirito knew from their days in SAO had found the bar after much research and wanted to see him again this would be all well and good if not for the fact that he hasn't left his seat at the bar except to use the toilet. They revived the text halfway from Asuna's house, when Kirito went to get her, to the bar and began to grow worried that either the person waiting for them was a drunk or far too eager to meet with him. It could have been another addition to Kirito's ever expanding harem and Asuna would not have that.
Standing at the door a final moment of hesitation, their last opportunity to not enter, and another text appeared on Kirito's phone, "Dude this guy is paying me in gold" finally curiosity overcame him and he opened the door to see Agil behind the bar cleaning a cup with a rag. He looked up, "hey remember Argo?"
"Yeah?"
"It's not her..."
"So who is it"
"He said he knows Argo, said he met you on the fiftieth floor when it opened"
"You'll have to be more specific I had a concussion from hitting my head on the back of the door when I got there"
"I don't know if this is true or not but he said... hold on, I think he wrote it down (clears through and begins reading) Hey remember me I was the naked girl under the tree on the fiftieth floor you thought I was asleep but I wasn't. In case I pass out before you get hear or am too lazy to get up and great you, like on the fiftieth floor, I've written this letter. In case your wondering where I was on the day of your party for beating SAO I'll tell you now. I was working with SAO's successor ALfheim online to build SAO and place it in ALfheim. I was holed up in my office programming levels fifty on but they wanted to release it in the order it was in so they got veteran players in the business to help. We'd of finished earlier if they didn't force me to work alone on the part only I had seen after that whole ordeal with SAO all the original programmers have...(puts paper down) the rest is smeared in alcohol I can't read this."
"I... vaguely remember a person like that" at this Asuna had to chime in, "when did you plan on telling me about this?"
"Hey it's not my fault I forgot okay."
"Still I don't like the idea of a girl you saw naked meeting you in the real world"
"Wait hang on. I didn't see her naked Argo did"
"How were both of you there and only one of you saw her naked I'm asking her"
"Where is Argo by the way?"
"Don't change the subject you saw that girl, wait where it's she?" At this question Agil pointed down at a winged figure dressed in all black... from behind any way. He turned in his bar stool and proceeded to bow, or it seemed like it anyway, and throw up on the floor as he said a simple greeting, "nice to meet y-(SFX:V)"
"And you are?"
"Don't you remember me Ki-kun?"
"Argo?"
"close but no ciga-(SFX:V)"
"Then who are you?"
"The girl from the fiftieth floor"
"You're a girl?"
"No(SFX:V)"
"Then how?"
"I invented a potion" at this Asuna chimed in
"Wait... IT'S YOU!"
"Yup you is me"
"No I mean you, the guy who kept coming to my cage and saying 'fly away birdy be free' and opening the top of my cage when my cousin want there"
He smiled briefly then frowned when he realised that his cup was empty. He turned to Agil and shook the cup around ice rattling with an annoying sound. "Bourbon?"
"All out"
"Whiskey?"
"Empty"
"Scotch?"
"You need to stop drinking"
"Just give me the strongest drink you've got left"
"All I've got left is wine"
"... I'll take that"
"Your tab's run out of money"
"All of it? I gave you one and a half million American!"
"With the vomit stains everywhere and all the broken bottles and scratches on the floor be glad I'm not charging you more"
"Just get me the wine you vampire" as he spoke he took a shinning yellow ingot from his coat pocket and placed it on the table. Agil looked downcast almost sad in his next actions and reluctantly accepted the payment and replaced his cup for a glass befitting the drink he was to consume and poured him his wine before turning to clean the cup in his hands and get a mop to clean the ever expanding puddle beneath the dapper drunk. Kirito's eyes widened "DID HE JUST PAY YOU IN GOLD?"
"Yea didn't I tell you? Anyway I tried to cut him of earlier today but he just asked how much was left on his tab and reminded me that that particular bar is with one and a half million in US currency." He let out an exasperated sigh and turned to the now open bathroom door, "and the editor for mmo today is here to talk to the guy they found already on the next floor eliminating mobs in the field closest the stairs' exit" the thin, former leader of the Aincrad liberation force, Thinker (I don't know if that's his actual name or just the name he used in the original SAO but that's what it says his name is in the book I bought so that's what I'm going with). He rushed over to take a seat next to him but skipped over it to the other side then over leaving one between them for on either side the puddle surrounding him not only reached the other seats opposite him but rather the seats themselves had vomit on them and their own smaller puddles as well. Gathering his thoughts and pulling back from the harsh reality that this amazing discovery was now lost in a sea of acid and half digested udon he spoke, "so how did you manage to get to the next floor before the clearers did?"
"I'z a programmer who was busy on floors fifty through one hundred since no-one wanted to help me I've been working until yesterday"
"Back to my question how did you get there?"
"I have admin privileges"
"But how?"
"Kirito!"
"Yea?"
"Remember the dungeon thinker was stranded in?"
"The one in the town of beginnings?"
"The boss reappears when you leave"
"And?"
"And If you beat him you can use the-hold on a second..."
"The... the console for the system control keyboard you mean?... dude?" He held up a finger downing the third bottle since Kirito started talking. When he finally put the bottle down and took a breath he turned to face him lifted a finger and opened his mouth to reply. As if he'd forgotten hit thought he turned back to the bar and began a new bottle. "...just, wh-why are you? ...You gonna tell me?... well I'm waiting... DOES THAT EVEN DO ANYTHING FOR YOU?" Letting the bottle fall from his lips he responded with, "not anymore."
"So? Was I right or wrong?"
"You got it on the nose that's how I got admin privileges but there's another thing too"
"What's that?"
"I also appear as an NPC would and have to actually sit around the ninetieth floor and initiate a quest involving a perfect metal ore that when crafted has a perfect success rate and never breaks or losses its edge. The only thing that changes it is personal preference"
"What but why? A metal like that would put blacksmiths out of business you can't do that"
"It's not really like that that's just the script they gave me when I agreed to this but with where you put all the points it probably will be a sword that never needs repair."
"Still why?"
"Because there exist boss weapons after the eightieth floor that have the ability to go through immortal objects and the like weapons and armor created with this metal was meant to offset that"
"If that's true we'll never make it to the ninetieth floor anyway."
"And the boss can parry projectile spells as well"
"Again well never make it that far."
"You know I'm not the only one with admin privileges."
"What?"
"I believe it was a female NPC from the world of ice from beneath ALfheim and her two daughters."
"You mean..." he never finished
"Tell me. How many NPCs have you meet that seem too smart to be pre programmed?...(waiting for a response that never came) for you see although the game was programmed to learn and grow on its own as any good fully functioning AI would it still needs people for certain tasks... so cardinal allowed me to have admin privileges knowing only someone who knew what was emblazoned above the ruby cattle at the peak of Aincrad in gold could be trusted. Hey thinker"
"Yea!"
"If you plan on writing this in an article I suggest you have these words as the title and not say anything about them in the article just leave them wondering why you choose such an odd title otherwise cardinal will take everyone's admin privileges
"Why is that?"
"Cause the raid parties are strong enough to reach where you were now and soon they'll be able to kill THE FATAL SCYTHE. If everybody knows the words and everyone gets admin privileges soon all admin privileges and the things gained by them well be revoked without a trace the second knowledge of this becomes public and cardinal will cease trust in humans forever close its doors to outside programming and make drastic crude changes without the human knowledge that people in general will hate like making feeling pain in game real with an authentic feel of death taken from the days it recorded people's feelings from SAO making the weight of the objects more realistic and forcing anyone above a certain altitude to feel the full force of the thin air as well as-"
"Yea yea ok I won't tell anyone about it I won't even tell them there's a way to get admin privileges just wake up you're starting to put yourself to sleep"
"Good idea. Barkeep gimme a blow job"
"Do it yourself"
"I don't know where you keep the coffee"
"What are you-oh the drink"
"Yes the drink what else could I possibly... you're a real sicko you know that"
"We're" out of rum jackass you drank it all"
"Then give me coffee"
"We're all out your footprints are still on my wall"
"How did that get there?"
"You were hyper and spent all morning either drinking your Irish coffee or trying to do a backflip off my wall. On that last one you puked all over that Italian family and the ceiling in one arch that left you on their table passed out and leaking vomit from your mouth as they shouted insults at you and left in a stampede like fervor to leave everyone else applauded you getting rid of the loudest people there but you were to busy being passed out and concussed to remember"
"No I remember now I just needed a little reminder is all"
"You broke my wife's favourite chandelier you know that right"
"You took that out of my tab remember"
"Yea"
"And you said you'd shut up about it"
"I also said I'd kick you out when they got here"
"Give me my change and I'll gladly leave until then keep me awake so I can-hold that thought" he rushed over to the bathroom clenching with all his might as he ran to take the biggest dump Agil's bar had ever seen. "Can one of you take him somewhere else all my alcohol is disappearing and I've got friends coming over tomorrow with nothing but wine to offer them"
"You could just tell them it's a French themed party"
"They'd never buy it. By the way can you two make it?"
"To what?"
"I was going to throw a little reunion for the SAO players we know to discuss wether or not we start clearing again cause were getting close to where we left off and some of us actually want to see the upper floors"
"When exactly?"
"Sixish"
"yea no Asuna has dinner at Sixish"
"You're not going with her are you?"
"Actually yea I am Asuna wants to prove to her mother that I'm worthy of her."
"How are you gonna do that?"
"What"
"Prove your worth"
"I made a hologram projector and we can bring Yui to the real world...kinda"
"Shoulda built an android and put Yui's program into it so she could see your ingenuity"
"Maybe next year Asuna said her mom doesn't like dolls and probably isn't ready for a sentient doll walking around feeling and responding in real time" as he spoke the winged alcoholic made his slow journey back to his seat, "I'm back what I miss?" Agil was quick to say, "Nobody tell him." And as if no explanation was needed he responded with, "But I know where Argo lives"
"So tell us so we can invite her but not you"
"I've told you before and I'll tell you again I can read your mind and can learn all your secrets if I feel like it"
"Doesn't matter you're not invited"
"Then I'll be Argo's plus one"
"I'll tell her not to bring you"
"but I'm the one with her cell number"
"Give it then"
"But then you won't let me come"
"I won't let you through either way"
"Tell you what. I'll arm wrestle you and if I win you let me come to the party and if you win I'll tell you where Argo is"
"The drunk who can barley stand proposing a battle of strength. I don't see why not" a mischievous grin appeared on his face and he immediately righted himself and walked calmly to him in a straight line coming face to face with him and saying "so it's decided, you will keep your word won't you?"
"What do I get in case you break you're promise"
"All the money left on my current bar tab. What do I get in case you don't keep your end of the deal"
"You can take whatever you want everything is covered in vomit anyway"
"Anything you say... shake on it" the grin on his face widening as he extended his hand. Thought his instincts were screaming at him to run for the hills; he decided it was nothing and that he had naught to fear from this winged man who, though had been vomiting all day, had nary a mar on his three piece suit. Cautious he extended his hand to meet his and resolved to not invite him even if he won, but something in his smile when he offered him anything was off putting but he set the thought side feeling it was no more than an unjustified fear, shook his hand and walked to the last clean table and set his elbow down shortly after sitting. He did the same and asked Kirito to start them off. Still smiling across the table he sat with his gloved hand in Agil's ready to begin without a doubt in his mind as to who would be the victor. Kirito slowly walked over put his hands over both of there's took a deep breath and said, "ready... go!" Almost immediately after Agil's hand was sent directly into the table and the no longer smiling winner was vomiting on the floor next to him. He quickly said, "I wasn't ready!"
"You wanna go again?"
"This has to be fair or the deal's off"
"Big words from the one who has to pay up. Fine I'll go again."slowly he lifted his hand metal gleaming in the dim light of the vomit stained bulbs. Kirito assumed the same position said the same thing and when he removed his hands nothing happened. There hands remained completely stationary. For second it seemed as though they were perfectly matched until the winged man asked, "are you ready now?" And slammed his hand into the table again. Shortly after he took out a small gold ring from his coat pocket shinning brightly with its own light he held it tightly until it imploded into a small crystal ball fitting perfectly in his quickly tossed it into his opponents face but rather than strike him it went through him and from anyone else's point of view it would have seemed to graze the opposing side of his face. The ball did a 180 degree turn and returned to his hand in the exact path it took when it left. Agil slumped in his chair and his voice was heard again but not from where he sat rather from the ball in his opponent's hand."who turned out the lights!" he cried but when he removed his hand finn the ball he screamed, "now it's too bright!" And the four in the room saw that a smaller version of him was now trapped within the ball sitting on the bottom with a hand to his forehead. Asuna, inquired, "what did you do?"
"I sealed his soul in a crystal ball until such time as he agrees to hold up his end if our bet"
"But why?"
"He said I could take anything and should have tread more lightly when dealing with an immortal such as me"
"What are you on about"
"Truly you couldn't have come all this way and think my wings were fake I've had them since SAO and long before I ever came here"
"To this city?"
"To this world entirely"
"Wait you never told us what was written on the ruby castle"
"Can't believe you didn't already know"
"Is that it or are you not going to tell us?"
"Fine the words are as follows 'this might be a game but it's not something you play'."
