I must admit, I was fairly surprised at the good reviews I got on my last one. So thank you everyone for the inspiration.
I loved the anime but I really wish Klein could have gotten a bit more screen time. Therefore here we are, Klein's perspective while Kirito engaged Heathcliff in the final battle.
Enjoy.
"Klein... I'm sorry I bailed on you that day." Kirito spoke as he turned his gaze upon Klein. "I think about it all the time." The dual wielder looked at the ground, his tone full of remorse.
Klein wanted to scream, swear, hell even hit the guy. None of that mattered, even on his own Kirito grew to be one of the best players in all of Sword Art Online. Had he joined Klein back then there was a chance that they wouldn't even be here.
"Damn it Kirito," Klein forced the words out as he tried, and failed, to hold the tears back. "Don't you apologize, don't you dare apologize now. I won't accept it!"
Kirito was not going to get off that easy. After all they've all been through he was going to make it, he just had to!
"I'll never accept it until we're on the other side and you're buying me dinner goddammit!"
Kirito flashed Klein a tiny smile along with a salute with his sword. "You got it. See you on the other side."
With one last look at his paralyzed wife, Kirito turned to face the stoic Heathcliff. "If it's okay, I have a final request to make." Kirito's voice showed not even a hint of fear, only that blind determination he was famous for.
"What is it?" Heathcliff asked curiously.
"I'm not planning on going down easy, so if I did today..." Kirito began slowly. "I want your word, that you'll fix it so Asuna doesn't kill herself."
Klein stared on in total shock. Where the hell did that come from?
Even Heathcliff was caught off guard Kirito's words. He quickly recovered though. "As you wish," he answered with a tiny grin.
"No Kirito! That's not fair!" Asuna screamed from nearby. "You can't do that it's not fair!"
Something in Klein's gut told him that it was something the married couple had spoken about previously.
That girl loved her selfless idiot enough that she'd kill herself if he died? If he didn't survive this and she couldn't... Oh crap this was not going to end well if Heathcliff won.
"No!" Asuna screamed again as Heathcliff adjusted his HP to match Kirito's.
Klein could see Heathcliff change his status from immortal object to mortal object, but it somehow didn't make him feel that much better.
"Kirito I swear to god..." Klein growled under his breath. "You better survive this, if not for yourself then for your wife."
He could do this, Klein didn't think so, he knew so. Kirito was the best of all them. If anyone in this entire game could defeat the creator it was going to be him. If Kirito could pull this off the nightmare would finally be over.
Sword Art Online's creator and its greatest champion stood face to face for the final battle.
In a flash, Kirito dashed forward to make the first move.
Klein watched in awe as Kirito launched in a relentless assault. It was far from the first time he had seen Kirito fight with his dual wielding skill but this was something completely different. Even when facing the Gleam Eyes boss Kirito fought for just Asuna, himself, and the others with them. But now he fought for the freedom of over six thousand trapped players.
Hell no, Klein was not going to just take this laying down.
With a snarl, he punched his fists hard into the stone beneath him and pushed with all the strength he could muster.
Screw their one on one duel, his friend needed him.
With the paralysis it was as if Klein's body was refusing to respond to what his brain told it to do. He wasn't going to let some stupid effect stop him.
Klein took another look at the battle before him. Even with all Kirito's blind determination, it wasn't making any difference. Heathcliff moved with surprising speed and was able to not only block every strike, but easily counter attack.
Regardless Kirito did not slow down for even a second. Even when Heathcliff's swords sliced into his cheek it was as if he barely noticed.
Risking a glance to the side, Klein could see Asuna in the same boat as him. She was giving all she had to try to get up to help her husband.
"Hang on buddy, backup's comin'." Klein growled the words out as he tried to force his body to move even a little. Agil and the other nearby players stared at them in utter disbelief. None of them seemed able to move an inch while these two were already halfway up.
It was not long before Klein was able to reach his knees.
With Katana in hand, Klein jabbed the blade into the rock under him much like he had done with his fists moments before and again pushed with all he had.
Klein managed to get one foot planted on the ground so that he was in a kneeling position. If he could just get to his feet he could do something.
"Just hold on Kirito." Klein whispered as he moved to stand up straight, but again his body just refused to cooperate. "Just a little more..."
Klein watched as Kirito's Dark Repulsor glowed and launched forward in a mighty thrust. Only to strike Heathcliff's shield and break off at the tip.
Everyone save Heathcliff watched on in shock and horror as the deflected attack threw Kirito off balance.
Leaving him wide open for the deathblow.
"Game over, Kirito." Heathcliff raised his sword up as it began to glow with red light.
Klein wanted to scream, but movement from the side caught his eye. He turned just in time to see Asuna, now not only on her feet but running, jump in front of the attack meant for Kirito.
Heathcliff's blade bit deep into Asuna's body, slicing from shoulder to hip. Kirito caught her as she fell but even from where Klein was he could see her HP bar rapidly deplete until there was none left.
The married couple exchanged quiet words but Klein's distance prevented him from hearing what it was.
Asuna's body began to glow for a few moments before her body exploded into thousands of tiny pixels. Kirito blindly reached for the floating shards for a few moments before falling to his knees, quiet sobs racking his body.
"Now that was a surprise. I'm sure I never programmed a way for players to neutralize their own paralysis. I guess sometimes these things just happen." Heathcliff sounded a little amused.
By this point, Klein had managed to reach his feet but the only thing keeping him on his feet was the Katana blade jabbed into the ground.
Klein snarled under his breath. "Yeah they do, you son of a bitch. Just wait til I get over there."
Before he could do anything else Kirito moved. With his secondary sword broken, he picked up Asuna's rapier.
Klein expected an attack of pure blind fury and rage. Instead, Kirito weakly swung his sword at Heathcliff. A move that the larger man dodged simply by taking a step back.
Heathcliff let out a quiet sigh as he swatted Kirito's main sword out of his hand. Even then Kirito seemed to barely notice.
It was right then that Klein understood. Kirito's whole reason for fighting, his reason for living, was tied to a certain orange haired girl that just died in Kirito's own arms.
This was Kirito completely broken.
Just as Klein was about to force himself to try to take a step, he froze when he saw what happened next.
Heathcliff lifted his sword and ran Kirito through.
There was barely any flinch, no cry of denial or pain. There was simply just... nothing.
Falling back down to his knees, Klein couldn't move, couldn't find any words. All he was able to do was watch as his friend died before him.
In a few moments, Kirito's own HP ran down to zero and his body began to glow much like Asuna's had when she died. But he didn't explode into small pixel shards like she did. Kirito's body slowly turned see through much like a ghost.
Everyone, Heathcliff included, watched in absolute bewilderment. What was happening?
"Not... yet..." Kirito groaned out as he tightened his grip on Asuna's rapier.
Before Klein could think more on what he was seeing, Kirito screamed and drove Asuna's rapier through Heathcliff's chest. Strangely enough, he made no move to dodge or stop the attack.
For several long seconds, both men stood there, swords stabbed into the other. It felt like an eternity before both men vanished in an burst of multicolored pixels.
What the hell was going on? Were they both dead? What happens now?
The stone beneath their feet suddenly began to shake violently. With their paralysis finally gone, everyone was trying to get back to their feet.
That lasted only a short bit before everything vanished in a bright flash of white light.
Let me know what you all think.
If anyone has a prompt or story idea let me know. I'm always looking for new stuff. I am also considering doing this same scene but from Asuna. I don't know yet though.