A/N: Hope you like this new chapter. We're gonna see an old character make a reappearance but in a totally different light. Tell me what you think of the revamps!

Lugosi

Shoichi Shin

McCarthy Mansion

Sho really regretted going to that party.

There he was, at the greatest Halloween bash of the year, and the only thing he could think about was whether everyone would survive if the building spontaneously combusted. Would those makeup-suffocated students with their revealing 'sexy-this-or-that' outfits escape? Or would they suffer horrible burns due to their easy-to-melt polyester-and-nylon-infused, out-of-timeline superhero gear? Or perhaps some would retain life while others remained crippled, given the insane amount of alcohol currently being consumed. Hand-sanitizer-smelling drinks seemed to burst from their aluminum prisons and spring on to the nearest teenager, sliding down their gullet with zeal. There was enough soft liquor to make a virgin spin and enough hard water to make a veteran keel.

So Sho hid in the only logical place: the study.

It was the only room he could find that wasn't occupied by sweaty, hormonal bodies filled with uncontrollable lust or subjugated by wafts of noxious ethanol. Just like everything else in Will's mansion, the study was massive. It held floor-to-ceiling shelves lined with more knowledge than their high school library. The extravagance didn't stop there: at the center of the room sat an Arthurian round table, so littered with indecipherable engravings that Sho wondered what poor Chinese kid had to carve them. The chairs were also ancient-looking, stylized to look like a moldy, thousand-year-old tree—a literal waste of time. He was sure the city dump had nicer-looking seats. Above this assemblage hung a copper chandelier, tipped with diamond lights. It would be a gnat's heaven, were it not for the scorching heat that escaped from a nearby vent.

Asides from the table and chairs, there stood a display case to the west, filled to the brim with Will's various achievements. Sho gave them a cursory glance; the trophies ranged from primary school success in spelling, geography, and calligraphy, to high school victories at Model UNs, parliamentary debate, and a handful of trivia contests—all marked with a giant number one. A particularly large, gold-painted medal drew his eye. Leaning close, Sho read off the mini plaque screwed on to a palm-sized disk.

"For memorizing the most Pi digits."

What a useless skill.

Rolling his eyes, Sho collapsed into a plush armchair and sank into its silken embrace. It was one of four arranged throughout the room in the cardinal directions. His attention meandered for a few seconds until he landed upon the grim face of Will's great-great-grandfather, a Japanese man dressed in a crisp suit. He held his scrutiny over the book-filled room, as if he was inspecting all who dared access his wealth.

"Great, now I'm being judged by a damn painting." Sho looked away and wiggled his toes. He crossed his arms, uncrossed his legs, and sighed. Idle fingers are the devil's playground, he'd heard. Yet, even Satan himself could not combat the boredom that sank into the Shin's bones. It got so bad that he wished he'd brought along his biology packet. Anything else would have been infinitely more fun. It was not like he was in the middle of the largest collection of books outside of the city's cultural archives.

Oh wait.

Deciding, Sho stood and approached the wheeled ladder resting against the shelves. It took a moment, but he figured to stick with the holiday spirit and rolled the ladder to the east. There, he climbed halfway up and peered at a selection of Western titles. 'Frankenstein,' 'Dracula,' 'The Turn of the Screw,' and that movie-inspiring novel, 'It.'

"Ah, why not," he muttered and grabbed the latter.

He slid down the ladder and found his way back to the chair. Squishing his behind within the velvety cushions, Sho got himself comfortable for a night of horror. Carefully, the first page crinkled open, and as he ran his eyes over the first line, the study door creaked ajar.

He froze, the hairs on his back upright like sentries in a stormy night. He slowly slid his gaze towards the entrance and was met by a bare back, brazenly displayed shoulders, and a bundle of honey-brown hair tumbling down over a set of curved hips. He froze, caught red-handed with the cookie jar. For a moment, he considered diving behind the trophy case. The female slowly shut the door, inch by inch turning the knob. There was the slightest click! and she remained by the peephole. Good, no followers.

She backed from the door, turned around, and the boy nearly had a conniption.

"Sho?!" she said incredulously.

"Kairi," he said defeatedly.

It was like the Fates themselves made this call.

"What are you doing here?" Kairi exclaimed. She circled around the chair, suspiciously checking behind him for another guy stealthily stowed within the shelves. When she saw none, she turned back to Sho. "I thought you weren't coming."

"And I thought you were shorter," he answered bluntly. He pointedly looked at the heels on her feet. "Shouldn't you be out there, amusing the masses?" He said it like it was her job, the emphasis heavy on 'the masses.' The book clapped shut and was placed on the chair's arm. "What is the star of Katta High doing, all by her lonesome? I'm sure there's some poor, unfortunate soul just yearning for your… angelic presence."

"As I recall it," she said, "that—was you." Kairi matched Sho's raised eyebrow with her own. This time, resolute in his victory, Sho maintained eye contact. His unnerving laser-focus sent a shiver down the girl's spine. She glanced away, a light blush rising on to her powdered cheeks.

"Right, because my perfectly crafted, electronic response inspired such a conclusion." Sho rolled his eyes, fingers thrumming non-stop on his thigh. "Maybe I wasn't evident. Next time—I'll use more emojis."

"I would be more inspired by monkey stenography over your abhorring abbreviations." She crossed her arms and pretended to peer into Will's past. Try as she may, she could not be rid of Sho's glare while she examined the trophy stand. Another tingle raced down her back. "Anyways, shouldn't you be out there, terrorizing citizens with your…"

"What?" he snarled.

She mildly gestured at him.

Sho was not sure how to respond to that.

As he watched, Kairi seemed to glide across the floor. She wore a violet gothic-styled dress, complete with a swallow tail, popped collar, and accompanying red floral bracelet. When she turned, mauve crystalline earrings sparkled, the heat of the fireplace reflecting off the stones. In the light, he noticed the blonde highlights that streaked through her hair, ending in eye-catching golden tips. Her face seemed to glow, almost unearthly as she elected to respond to his staring. It was a simple move: Kairi ran her tongue over her lips and moved towards the ladder, climbing up to randomly select a book at the zenith.

Sho found his throat inexplicably dry.

"Well," he sorta heard her say, "since we're both hiding from the public, why don't we discuss how I'm supposed to fish for a great white shark in the Yangtze?" Her face danced with mirth as Sho's brain blew a neuron and his entire command loop evaporated into chunks of myelinated sheaths. Somewhere in the back of his parietal, he picked up laughter. Her laughter.

She was making fun of him.

"I… uh…"

"It's alright, Shoichi. There's nothing you need to say. After all, you still ended up going to this party. And you still ended up wearing the costume I convinced Kuzon to get you." She smirked and circled her slender, fuchsia-tipped fingers at his outfit. For the first time, he realized what he wore. Popped collar, crimson red, a matching hip long cape. Sixteenth-century-styled gothic top with a frilly bib, floral button designs, and an over-the-top lace trimming. He remembered when he first saw it. The word 'douchebag!' popped unceremoniously into his mind, and Sho wasn't sure whether he loved it or wanted to incinerate it.

After all, if he really had to go to a party, he reserved the right to be an absolute dick about it.

"That answers that question," he muttered and pushed himself off the chair. Inaudibly cursing his nonexistent luck, he flicked open the door and left the room, not before propping the entrance wide open, a move that only served to elicit more uproarious laughter from the girl. It was a sound halfway between a chuckle and a chortle—a chucklortle. And that odd sound, followed by her teasing, "Don't forget to try the gelatin!" tailed him out of the room and through the mansion.

After he left, and she had amply calmed herself down, Kairi Ono replaced the prop that she pulled from the shelves. She saw his book and clicked her tongue, read the title, and then inserted it back to its slot. The girl approached the trophy stand again and checked her image in one of the shinier prizes. She pulled a lipstick from within her stocking and reapplied the crimson.

"Wish I recorded that," she said, fluffing out her hair. She creased the wrinkles that inexplicably formed on her costume, fixed her smile, and convinced herself that she enjoyed the deafening EDM that was your average teenage party.

Floor 1

Sho jerked awake.

Every neuron fired, a spectacular Fourth of July display of electric signaling. He was broiling, like he had a forty-two celsius fever. Drinking in the thick inkiness, fragments of memory floated inside the soupy remnants of his brain. He felt completely out of place. There was a ringing sound that seemed to emanate from somewhere in the dark. It probed him, like the soft buzzing of an alcohol-induced high—which was strange, since he'd never drunk.

"Ugh, what the hell?" he mumbled, the words tumbling out his mouth in thick, slurred syllables. He smacked his lips, and his tongue felt like he'd eaten a handful of ghost peppers and decided to forego the dairy. Inflated and tender, he wondered if it was the result of sentient gelatin exposure. As he worked his jaw into something capable of words, he sensed a movement out the corner of his eye. Immediately he sat up, and immediately, he regretted his decision. His abdomen contorted in pain, his chest constricted, and weakly, he fell back into his mattress.

Mattress?

He didn't have a mattress.

That realization forced energy back into the teen's limp, lame limbs. Sho drove himself upright, gnashing his teeth on the motionless mastication muscle, strong enough to flatten the papillae that lined it surface. His body cursed him for even thinking about moving, but if there was one thing he was excellent at—it was not listening. Finally managing to sit, he twisted his torso to the side to search for the movement. The air was still. He painfully turned to the other side. Nothing.

Maybe it was his eyes?

He squeezed them shut and reopened them. This time, a sliver of his black-covered cage cracked apart. He saw a soft, orange-yellow warmth on the other side for a split second—until it vanished, replaced by the halo of a wax candle. Its halo lit a blurry circle on its carrier: he noticed golden tips and honey-brown hair; a dull-silver chunk of a breastplate; and an arm covered by a gauntlet and rerebrace. A player cursor soon came into view.

Only to be frozen when he recognized who it was.

"Good, you're awake," Kairi said. She placed the candelabrum down on a stool next to his mattress, a discovery that Sho found to be just as shocking as the girl in front of him. Her eyes ran over his form and she clicked her tongue. "I thought you'd recover faster, given your background. That's going to make things a bit more difficult." Sho managed to raise an eyebrow at that. She ignored it and reached a hand out to gently rest it on his forehead. So shook was he that the teen could only sit there, looking like a dumbstruck virgin at the Playboy Mansion.

"Well, it doesn't look like you caught a disease, else you'd be drenched." She pried his eyelids apart, revealing the hostile onyx that stared her down. "And your vision appears intact," she said, waving a hand over his eyes. He tracked the motion easily. "That's good. The last time we fought the King Blob, three of us ended with burns and hallucinations. Here, eat this." She offered him a brownish-red rectangle. "It'll make you feel better."

He looked at it and shook his head, scrambling away from her. The surprise was now fading as his own instincts found a foothold, piercing through the daze that engulfed his mind. "Right, cuz they never taught me 'stranger danger,'" he said, coughing and pounding his chest. His voice came out raspy. "You're not making me eat whatever piece of crap that is."

Kairi responded by crossing her arm. "Sho, seriously, be more mature. You just got the tar beat out of you, and if you want your energy back, I highly recommend you eat something. This is a beetle-caramel bar. I bought it back in town, and it tastes exactly like Crunch. It's not poison if that's what you're worried about."

"Firstly," he said, "I hate chocolate. Secondly, I just crawled through collagen intent on tearing me limb from limb. Then you show up out of literally nowhere." One of his free hands scrambled for something he could use. Kairi noticed and rolled her eyes. "Let's start with answers, you she-witch." He pointed a threatening finger, and all she did was stare at it with a 'really?' expression on her face. "Where the hell am I?"

"The Mortistry," she answered, "and if you keep that up, you'll wake the other inhabitants. And unlike me," she stood and moved the stool away from him, swiping open her menu and accessing her log of items, "they aren't nice." An old-timey lantern materialized in her hand, and she lit it with a match. Sho finally saw where the hell he was: well-built tent with thick, canvas-lined walls. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he took in the various supports that created the vertices of the rectangle, the center pole that held up the top of the tent, and the second mattress that lay parallel to his, about five feet away. There was a plate next to said mattress with a pair of chopsticks and leftover noodles. His stomach growled, which only made him crankier.

"Other inhabitants?" he snarled. "You're kidding me. Is there a reason I'm here?" His voice got louder and more irritable, and he struggled to stand to his feet, masking the rapid convulsions of his legs with his heated words.

He took a step and wobbled like the inflated body of a car sales lot dancing man. Kairi reached out to catch him, but the look he had in his eyes halted her. Don't you dare, it said, prideful with just enough venom to back up its words. Sho collapsed, and the buzzing noise in his head restarted, static from a dilapidated radio phone that some idiot kid kept insisting he could fix. It was then that Kairi saw the true extent to his wounds.

"You know," he groaned, sushi-rolling himself over on to his back. "If I die, I will personally find where you live and haunt you for the rest of your life. I—what's that smell?" He sniffed the air and then looked down at his body. "Oh… Jesus Christ. You've got to be kidding me."

Dark red lines crisscrossed over his arms and legs, tendrils from the Nile that streaked up towards his neck, pulsing red. Kairi crouched and traced one such stream till it snuck underneath his shirt and wormed its way around the back of his neck. She lifted her finger and examined it. A purplish drop of blood lay on her finger. Blood? Pus? Whatever it was, it reeked of decay and had the particularly familiar smell of vomit. She winced when she flicked the drop away and some of her health disappeared. Her flesh eroded and color drained from the edges of the wound, its center inflamed and raw.

"Butyric acid," she concluded. "They updated the monster."

"Then it wouldn't be butyric," Sho said. "It'd be butyrate. Damn programmers probably didn't take the next step for butanol and acetone creation. Anyway, you just gonna stand there and spit science nonsense, or are you gonna get me out of this shit hole?" He groaned loudly as he once again bullheadedly tried to stand up. "Great. I'm screwed, and my lifeline is a girl who runs around on her weekends doing science fairs. What are you even doing in a video game? Girls like you don't play video games. They cosplay at those kinky-ass cafes—but not video games."

"Wow. Okay, Shoichi. Okay." The sass could not be stronger right now, and Sho, inwardly, smirked at the results. "I'm sorry, Shoichi, maybe a girl like me should've left you to die to a level three elite mini-boss. That thing had the AI brain capacity of a wheel of cheese, and somehow, you managed to get nearly killed. I should leave your presumptuous behind behind. But unlike you, I'm not a jerk." She bent down and scooped up his arms, looping his left around her shoulders and sticking his other arm far from any of her areas. Sho rolled his eyes, because—yeah, that was exactly what he was thinking about at a time like this.

With hurried half-steps and stunted strides, she dragged the boy out of the tent and into the dungeon. Typical, Sho thought when he saw the stone, the dirt, and the four different tunnels that raced into the void. They were underground, and he had no doubt that unless they had a Amazon Echo—there was no way he could find his way out. This begged his previous question: "This your new hobby or something? Game hopping? See how the rest of us chumps do it outside of our gold-crafted world of education?"

"Sho, what are you even saying? Just because I get good grades doesn't mean I can't go and play video games." She lowered him down next to the cone-like construction that sat in a circle of pebbles and a makeshift fire that had been snuffed out. Hilt up and point embedded into the ground, there stood a normal-looking two-handed sword that the girl hefted. She wiped some debris off its blade and advanced about a meter or two out from the campsite. Standing there, she looked like a medieval sentinel, and Sho had to forcibly hold back the impressed feeling that popped into his head.

"I just find it interesting," he replied voluminously, idly poking at a bulging, poisoned vein on his quadricep. He ignored her shush. "That the most talented kid in central Japan would beta test a video game. What—was the Chess Club disbanded or something?"

Kairi sighed and continued to scan the surroundings. Sho heard and barked out a sardonic chuckle. "For all your achievements, you sure are dumb. They've already started ostracizing the betas. In a week, two? The first person to hear the fat lady crow would be you lot. Raiden's already gotten himself in some crap because he tried to play the damn hero—oh, look at me, I'm gonna go save these fucking idiots who can't tell a left chopstick from mitochondrial DNA."

"Sho, shut up," Kairi hissed. Her eyes were closed. "I'm trying to concentrate, and your blabbering isn't helping." Exhaling carefully, she tried to block out the incessant words that just seemed to fall and fall from Sho's mouth. Cocking her head, she focused on detecting anything that would alert her of the creatures she knew lurked beyond her vision. But because she just had to rescue the most annoying person in Aincrad, she couldn't hear anything past his… bitching.

"What are you looking for, the Holy Grail?" His arms mimicked his mocking tone. "Hey, last I checked, King Arthur found it with his band of merry men. You should try Atlantis. That's where the trinkets are." He nodded encouragingly. "Oh yeah, and then if you're lucky, you'll find the Apple of Eden." Snort. "Kairi, there's legit nothing here." In a sing-song voice, he called into the darkness. "Hey! Inhabitants! Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

Okay, that was it. Kairi flung her eyes open and stormed directly towards Sho. She plunged the sword directly in front of him and gripped his shoulder, lifting the taller boy like he was a Sunday grocery bag.

When he was young, Sho used to watch Animal Planet every weekend. He remembered the closeup of the predators; there was always a fascination with the eyes. It was only now, facing her murderous, gray eyes, that he properly understood why those prey would ever fear the big bad wolf.

Sho found his throat inexplicably dry.

"Listen, Sho. Maybe you didn't hear me earlier, but I saved you. Do you understand? I. Saved. YOU! Now normally when that happens, a person is grateful, but for the last ten minutes, you have done nothing but complain and screwed around. I might have dealt with this at regionals and nationals, but you have no idea what you're in for. You need my help. That's not a question; that is not a query," she mocked his sarcasm, "That is a statement. You need my help, and maybe your pride can't take it—but that is where the situation stands. Hold your tongue for just one minute, and maybe we can get out of here alive." Her nose flared, and Sho found that little quirk… pleasant.

"Fine, Kairi," he said dryly. "But you might want to start saving me, again." He gestured behind her, and that was when she heard the noises.

The lumbering of feet drawn across a ragged surface. Sticky clapping of teeth, stale breaths—the slobbering of a tongue. There was a lurch as something putrid careened itself towards her. Shoving Sho away, the girl yanked her sword from its perch and swung it haphazardly at the mass that moved towards them. The weapon bit into the creature, and she thrust her leg at her adversary.

Shiiinggg! Her sword freed itself and a chunk of the thing's flesh flopped to the floor. Its health dropped by about a quarter, and it clattered its jaw. The creature shambled into the light. Pale, feverish eyes hungrily fixated on the players. A single arm dangled loosely by its albino chest. It felt like ants were crawling up Sho's skin as the zombie inched closer towards them.

"We are going to talk about what you just did," she said. Her stance switched from the typical Jedi to that of the Warden: blade flat and horizontal, resting over the bent, forward presenting elbow of her left arm. She was sideways, and her transition into the stance was so smooth that Sho raised both eyebrows. She then pointed herself towards a second sound, then a third. Two more zombies stumbled out of the darkness. "Get behind me."

"No, gee, you think?" Sho matched her step for step as they backed towards the tent. The two wouldn't get far as one zombie lunged towards Kairi's right. She stabbed out her sword, moving swiftly from her stance. The blade pierced through the zombie's chest. About thirty percent of its health dropped. Then her weapon burned a bright viridian: Rising Cleave activated. She swung her sword upwards. It sliced the undead torso in two, rose from the head, and registered a critical hit with a giant red number in her view. The mob exploded into a million shimmering shards.

But then the other two were upon them, and she was stuck momentarily in position due to the [Post Motion Delay] of her ability. It was for a mere two seconds, but in fights—two seconds could be the difference between victory and loss. Sho intervened, spinning around the girl and ignoring the various signals of pain that zipped across his body. When the one-armed zombie swung a glowing fuschia claw at him, he slid beneath the move and straightened with a backfist towards the face. He uppercut beneath where the rib cage should be, hand forming a knife. He gripped the stack of bones and tore, flinging the monster away from Kairi.

Sho flowed immediately into a step-behind side kick and planted his foot directly into the second zombie's groin. He rose his leg up and axe-kicked down. The mob keeled over, its face smashing into the dying embers of their campfire. Kairi wasted no time in jumping forwards and jamming her sword through its neck, once again critting, and once again severing head from body. With this one dispatched, it was quick work to finish off the last zombie: Sho evaded another swipe and grabbed its one arm, pulling it towards the girl. She used another skill, Chop, and diagonally decapitated the dead detritivore. He, too, detonated into a cloud.

But the worst was not yet over.

From the tunnels, the two players heard flapping, followed by high-pitched tittering. Without a word, they positioned themselves back-to-back. Sho's fists were held by his face; Kairi was in her warden stance. For a short lull, they heard nothing, saw nothing, and felt nothing. It was like the molecules were holding their breath, concentrating their charges. Then it happened: a deafening screech invaded their ears. Agony shattered through their auditory ossicles, reached their semicircular canals, and shredded that tympanic membrane. Their world went mute, collecting a [Deaf] debuff.

That was when it struck.

Sho saw a flash of leathery wings and claws before he was tossed into the air. He was sure he yelped, but all he felt was his mouth opening and closing. Kairi watched him whirled about like a ragdoll by a giant bat. It had fangs the size of forearms, claws curved like a scimitar, and gingantor ears. Sho scrunched up his legs and attempted to kick outwards as he fell, but the bat effortlessly weaved over him. Seconds before he hit the ground, there was a crackle of thunder and a flash. Abruptly, Sho found himself dangling in the air with a vice-like grip over his throat. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and his esophagus constricted.

The bat transformed into a white-haired male with crimson eyes and alabaster skin. He wore a collared, gothic-styled top, red with black-trimming, a pair of midnight pants; and a trench coat that gave his presence regality. Deep, rich laughter boomed from its muscular chest, biceps bulging like that of the dude at the gym who spent way too much time at the curling machine.

Kairi blanked.

She gawked, paralyzed by horror. Sho's health bar blinked distressingly at her, rapidly dropping. His helpless face imprinted itself in her brain, seared by a hot iron brand, but abated by a tiny, conspiratorial whisper. This is his fault, it said insidiously, he's the one that brought them here. And try as she may, she couldn't shake that belief. It was only when Sho was hurled across the room did she snap out of her trance.

Kairi ran. She dropped her sword, pumped her arms, and leaped. Her «Acrobatics» skill slot giving her enough of a boost to reach out and snag Sho midair. Skidding, she saw a hand mark over his throat. The boy was gagging and shaking, swallowing gulps of precious oxygen. His health was about sixty percent. He weakly pointed behind her as the vampire jammed its shoulder into her body.

Thoompph!

The resounding impact sent both players in different directions. Rocks and dirt dug into Kairi's limbs, and she once more slowed to a stop. Gritting her teeth, she stood. The vampire rose to his full height—a whopping one hundred and ninety-five centimeters. The name «Varendal the Voracious» appeared above a health bar, which also featured a small crown. Another elite mini-boss. She'd forgotten about this one.

"A female?" Varendal crowed. "A celebration, indeed! What brings you here, beautiful one? I have not had human flesh for some time—lest it be the undead that roams these halls."

Kairi ignored the programmed voice lines and sprinted towards her dropped sword. Varendal seemed to understand her goal and flapped his wings, giving chase. It was a brief race, but one that mattered: whether she gained the weapon would determine the fate of their lives. His hot breath was on her neck; his sickly odor penetrating her nostrils. She was five meters away, one meter, ten centimeters—

Almost…

Varendal's hand grasped her hair and wrenched her to the side. She was airborne for a split second until she was pulled backwards into his inflexible clutch. The vampire chuckled triumphantly and bared his fangs. Growling, Kairi kneed him in the groin multiple times, and twisted in his grip. The move must've struck some hidden weak point, for he howled in pain and released his grip.

"YOU DARE ASSAULT A WARRIOR FROM THE HOUSE OF MORT?!"

"House of Mort, my tushie," she muttered. With her sword now in hand, she leveled herself at her foe. "You're no warrior. You're an overgrown rodent who needs a timeout!" Back in her warden stance, Kairi felt her confidence soar. "Come and get me, Varendal."

"INSOLENCE!" he screamed and pounced at the girl.

Kairi backpedaled a half meter then thrust out her sword like before, but Varendal, more advanced than a mindless zombie, sidestepped midflight. His right fist glowed garnet, and he thunder-punched. The move traveled with the sound of a jet engine. Kairi gasped, raising the flat of her sword to block. The impact sent waves after waves of force down her arms; the knockback so immense that she rocketed about ten meters backwards, health dropping by fifteen percent. Tears erupted in her eyes, and she wanted to surrender. But, as the vampire warrior continued his assault, she clung to a memory: left, right, left, right—pause—kick.

All she could do was block, and when the fourth punch came, she slid to the side. Her sword was green; Rising Cleave activated once more, and she counterattacked. Her blade snaked past Varendal's guard and punctured his chest. She was about to finish the combo when he took off, and she lost her sword. Illuminated like the world's largest glow stick, Varendal grasped the hilt. He roared and attempted to pull it out, but to no avail. The sword skill had triggered, and it had to be finished, no matter what.

"A CURSE UPON YOU!" Varendal screeched.

The vampire dove. Like a bullet, his hands were grasping viciously for her throat. She bent her knees and waited. Almost. Almost… Jump! This time, she got her hands on her sword and swiftly yanked it in an arc. Her weapon rose through his chest, up his neck, and out his head. It was an instant critical, and half of Varendal's health evaporated. Orange-red shards exploded from his neck like a geyser of blood; his brain turned to goop; and both eyeballs popped out from their sockets. But, as she watched, his eyes reversed themselves, sucked back into place; the soupy gray matter reforming under his cranium to recreate the undead lord.

She didn't wait for him to be whole.

Two-handing her sword, she swung in a wide crescent, her last skill dominating the darkness with its canary glow. Deathstroke activated, and Kairi aimed it at the throat. True to its namesake, the skill was bounded with a special buff: should the enemy be below 50%, it would deal an instant crit. After 1 second of charging, she let it rip. The skill blasted through the putty-like image of Varendal, and his head was severed from his body. Both critical hits layered upon each other, and the mini-boss had 1 measly HP remaining. A poke would end its life.

It, however, had one last technique.

Its headless body bulldozed its way into Kairi and pinned her to the floor with its larger frame. Its hands were wrapped around her throat in a heartbeat, and before she could stop it, it constricted. Her eyes bulged, she gasped for air, and tried to pry the hands apart. But, like Sho, she was helpless against its control. Red tinged her vision as sirens blasted in her ears. Her health bar flickered in time with the alarm. They were annoying to say the least. She knew she was dying. There was no need to make such a big deal out of it.

Then, as suddenly as it occurred, the pressure around her neck stopped. She returned from Death's door with a wheeze. Her vision swam. Everything she'd eaten today decided to come up at that moment and splatter itself into any available surface. Opening her eyes, she saw Sho standing over her, her sword in his hand. He was white as a spectre.

A sea of shards surrounded them.

"Well, that was easy," Sho said raspily as he swayed in place. He let the sword fall from his hands. Looking down at Kairi, he observed the last bits of vomit exit her body. There was fury in her eyes—and a wordless accusation. Clearly, she had not forgotten about his little trick.

"What?" he said tiredly. "You gonna off me too?"

"Why?" she asked simply.

"Why what?"

"You know what I'm talking about. You intentionally drew them to us." She had her hands on the sword now and pressed it into his chest. He regretted letting go of the only weapon in the entire dungeon.

"Eh, intentionally might be a strong word. Purposefully, maybe. Intentionally—no."

"You almost got us killed."

"Key word: almost."

The sword twisted and dug into his tunic.

"Woah, okay. I'll tell you why." He motioned around them. "Look at this place. Don't think I didn't notice the gaping hole in the ceiling. Or that rope." He pointed to said objects. "You dragged me down here—unwillingly. Oh sure, thank you for saving me from the King Blob. I'm sooo grateful. But then what do you do? Throw my ass into a fucking dungeon. So here's my problem, Kairi: if you're going to do something, don't half-ass it. How long were you going to stay here, waiting for the mobs to kill us? An hour? Two? And what if they didn't move? What if they just sat there, waiting for us to walk by before tearing us to bits? You ever think of that?"

"I had the situation under control," she countered. "They would've passed had you not opened your big mouth. We would've never had to fight Varendal, and neither of us would've been in so much danger."

"Are you sure about that? Are you positive? I reek of the plague, Kairi. They would've found us anyways, and Varendal would've come. Not to mention that you didn't even tell me why we're here or why my left shoe is missing." He raised said foot and wiggled it. "Don't think I didn't notice that either. I'm sorry if I'm suddenly doubting your ability to save me when everything is as big of a shit show as nationals. You never see the big picture."

"Maybe I would see the bigger picture if I didn't have a stupid fool keeping me down! I had to coddle you, just so you wouldn't die! I would've finished this quest hours ago! The key would've been mine!"

Performing the quickest one-eighty that Kairi had ever seen, the boy turned from a vicious fountain of ridicule into a well of tranquility. His sneer was replaced by a look of curiosity, which she found to be much more suffocating than the ego that saturated the air.

"What key?" he asked.

"Nothing," she showed her back to him. "Don't worry about it."

"Don't give me that bullshit. You've been hiding things from me the moment I woke up."

"And you just manipulated me."

"Semantics." Sho approached the girl. His voice was suddenly a lot gentler, though it still held the same amount of rancor. "Look, I know you don't like me. But right now, we're stuck, and you need me. Tell me what the quest is, what the key is—everything. I'll help you get to the pot of gold, then, you can go back to hating my guts, and I can go back to pretending you don't exist."

Kairi took in a deep breath. She counted to three, exhaled, took in another, counted to three again, and exhaled. She then spoke. "I needed you because you aggroed the King Blob. I killed it, but it still gave you an item. I couldn't actually steal it from you without it being completely obvious. So I dragged you down here and took it from your inventory."

"The fuck?" Sho said incredulously. "You little—"

"—Just listen," she said and held up a hand. "Here." She generated the item from her inventory and handed it to the boy. He quickly entered the tent and exited, lantern in hand. In the light, he saw that the item looked like a small wheel. A crimson red, intricate… gear. Yes. He could see the cogs, the nicks, and dents that he knew was an important piece to some complex device. Something seriously felt off about this, but he quickly banished the thought from his mind. There was also something about the material that he just could not place. Handing it back to the girl, he motioned for her to continue.

"That's part of a quest that spans several floors, a global quest. I never completed it during beta, but I do know the intermediaries. That gear goes inside a giant lock-and-bolt mechanism at the end of these tunnels. The last time, it was that tunnel." She pointed to the leftmost one. "It opens a door to the dungeon boss. The dungeon boss drops a key. That key unlocks a chest that grants you a weapon of choice, Cor, and a randomized piece of armor. In terms of starting items, it's probably one of the best."

"And you couldn't tell me that why?" He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Fucking enlighten me."

"Because you're you." She, again, made a vague motion at his body.

"You literally gestured to all of me."

"The point," she said with an eyeroll, "is that you would've never helped me, nor given me the gear without making a scene."

"Too late now."

"I also didn't expect you to do this quest."

"This is a quest?" Sho scrunched his brows and shrugged. "I just followed Raiden's instructions: find a white-haired NPC in Horunka and take his job. The dude told me to go south and find the tree in the middle of the field. I did, and next thing I know, you're here trying to rob me. Thanks a ton. Why would there even be a quest with such vague instructions?"

"Sho," Kairi groaned, "just stop. Just shut that annoying mouth. There are two," she held up her fingers, "white-haired NPCs in Horunka. One gives a basic collection mission—another leads to this quest. The instructions aren't 'vague.' You just can't read and screwed up. Again."

"Great, and you're still a toxic idiot."

"I swear to God—" Kairi sighed and planted her sword into the ground. "What do I have to do to get you to shut up? Jesus." She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Now do you get what happened? I couldn't just ask you. There was chaos in the Town of Beginnings. You were either going to be a psychopath or do something so typical that I couldn't risk it."

"You couldn't risk it?" Sho growled. "Really. Propriety just died and anarchy rose in its midst?" The teen stepped close to Kairi, planting his face inches from hers. His eyes held a dangerous gleam. "I should've known you'd do something so utterly demented. Huh," he scoffed, "maybe I should just be thankful you didn't leave me to the animals."

"Or maybe," she muttered lowly, her indignant gaze piercing his, "you should stop asking so many fucking questions. I saved your life. Have some honor, and thank me."

"Go to hell."

Shoving that insolent bastard away, Kairi stormed towards the leftmost tunnel. She paced back and forth heatedly. All the while, Sho regarded her with a smug half-smirk. He started to count in his head, wondering when she'd implode. He reached fourteen when she stomped back towards him and noisily sheathed her sword. "Let's move," she said flatly. "Can you walk, or do I have to carry your sorry ass?"

"Even if I could," he said nonchalantly, "you'd better carry me. Who knows, I might break a toenail." He raised an eyebrow challengingly at her. "And wouldn't that just suck. Also," he pointed at his health bar. It was around fifty percent, and there was a red skull and a raindrop next to it. "I'm pretty sure that's bad. So, chop chop." He clapped his hands haughtily. "Get to it, princess."

"I am never saving you again," she mumbled. Looping his arm around her shoulder, she glared sideways at him. "You are utterly useless. It's just a debuff: a Tumble paired with a Fumble and off-brand Bleed. You're not going to die. Get over yourself, bozo."

"I saved your ass just now, Kairi," Sho retorted. He took a few cautious steps. "If I'm a bozo, you're a leper."

"Rude," She huffed and started hauling both of them towards the tunnel. "Why are you such a hard-ass?"

"Why are you such an idiot?"

"I'm going to drop you."

"Drop me, and I'll wake every zombie in a ten-mile radius."

"We are way past that. Plus, we're in Japan. You need to stop using imperial."

"Fine, sixteen point zero nine three four kilometers." A grin tugged at his exasperated frown. "Happy?"

"Hardly," she mimicked, stretching out the first syllable so it sounded more like 'hahd-ly.'

"I do not sound like that."

"Oh yes you do, Shoichi."

"I believe not, Kairi."

"It's Kana in here," she responded. "Call me Kana."

With a snort, Sho shook his head.

"Yeah, no. There's no way I'm calling you that."

A/N: Don't forget to review!