Here's Ryo, bringing you a story that brings together an unlikely group of friends. Using characters from an online game called .hack//integral; this story takes place 7 years after the Tri-Edge incident. Uses classes from .hack//G.U. and made up classes. I own Ryo, Yokiro, Mia, Yolan, and most of the plotline here, so if you don't like it, I DON'T CARE!!!

Summary: Seven years after Tri-edge was finally put to rest, a new threat rises. Who will rise up to the challenge, and take down this new evil?

Ages:
Ryo: 16 (First part is him turning 16)

Yokiro: 15

Mia: 15

Yolan: 16

Kira: 15

Brandon: 16

.HACK//Blaze

Chapter 1: The Flames of a Phoenix

The year is 2024.

Most of the kids around the world are playing an awesome, if a little bit overrated, game known as 'The World.'

The reason for all of these kids playing is the hope that one of them will be chosen for a higher purpose in the world, like Haseo the Adept Rouge, or Kite of the Azure Flames. But one kid who never wanted 'The World' to change again is about the get the reverse of what he wished for.

May 27, 2024

"Ok Ryo, open your presents!" Yokiro said. Yokiro was a good brother to say the least. Most people thought of him as Ryo's twin, but that was something that wouldn't happen. For one, Yokiro had blue spiky hair and hazel eyes, while Ryo's hair was red and spiky, and his eyes were a bright blue. While both brothers were laid back, Ryo always did his work more often than Yokiro, while both still slept in class.

But the biggest change in their lives was when their parents died.

When the brothers were still young, they were staying at their friend's house. Someone came to the family's mansion that night and killed both parents with a sword. When the boys got back, the sword was in their father's back, so Ryo pulled it out, vowing for revenge on the person who had committed this black deed.

Ever since that day, the brothers have been more aware of what each of them did. But today would be a little different.

"Yokiro, why did you get me this?" Ryo asked, holding up a headset for virtual games and things like that. "You have to open up that other present over there to find out." Yokiro explained. So Ryo did what he was told and opened up a gift with red wrapping paper. "You got me the game…" Ryo said with a dawning realization. In his hands was a package with a label that said 'The World' on it. Yokiro nodded his head. "That's right. The guy who killed our parents plays this game. It may not be what you want, but maybe this game will help us get a little of the revenge that we deserve…" "I understand bro…" Ryo told his blue-haired brother.

Then Ryo started wondering about their friends. "By the way… where are Yolan, Kira, Mia, and Brandon at?" Yokiro scratched his head while he thought. "I think that Brandon is at home playing right now… Yolan is at our parents' graves paying his respects like he always does on our birthdays. Kira is working today… but I don't know what Mia is doing right now…" Yokiro said the last part with an 'all knowing' smirk on his face. "What did you do Yokiro?" Ryo asked, thinking that his brother had done something to Mia.

All of a sudden, Ryo's sight went black. It took him a few seconds to realize that someone was covering his eyes with their hands. He took a moment to think about who it was, before the smell of cherry blossoms invaded his nose. "Alright, I know it's you Mia…" No one that Ryo knew always smelled like cherry blossoms except Mia. Suddenly he got his eyes back. A pretty 15 year old girl with bright red hair entered his eyesight. She had bright blue eyes. In fact, Ryo and Mia had been mistaken for brother and sister more times than one. But if they stood together long enough, they could see that they weren't siblings, but a boy and a girl who are attracted to each other. She was wearing blue jeans and a white tee-shirt that day.

"So what did you get?" She asked her boyfriend. "I got me a copy of 'The World,' a headset, more red and black clothes… The usual…" And it was true. Ryo always wore red and black wherever he went. Sometimes, when he was feeling really down, he would wear his black leather trench coat. "Why don't you install and play it then?" Mia asked. She played the game, but she didn't understand why people liked it so much. Maybe she would understand if she saw a game master play it.

10 minutes later…

"That thing is a pain in the neck to install…" Ryo said after sitting down in front of the computer. "Quit complaining and start playing!" Mia said. Despite her usual sweet demeanor, she could be very mean when she wanted to be… "Ok." Ryo said after putting on his headset. First he had to get through the usual information: the Terms of agreement, making a username and password, and all of that boring stuff… Then came the interesting part, Ryo had a hard time making a character. Just all of the character classes alone intrigued him. Then he saw one class that he knew that he should have right then, the Adept Rouge class. He clicked on the Adept Rouge icon.

The window came back up without the class, but with a small part of the screen showing the words '4 points remaining.' "So you have to use the points to choose which classes you can get… Let's try this combo!" Ryo said while messing around with it. Finally he made a decision on the classes he would have. He got the Twin Sword class, the Flick Reaper class, and last but not least, the Blade Brandier. Ryo knew that he wouldn't get his favorite class until he did the right quest, but he wanted his strongest for last.

When he was done creating a character look, he typed in his username and password.

Logging in.

Author's notes: Sorry if this isn't good, it's been a while, but I will try to update whenever I can… So R&R please!