Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online

Chapter 2: A Little Duel...


The group finally cleared the tower and were at the top, embracing the view.

"Woah! It's so beautiful!" Ayame embraced the view from the top. By the time they reached the top, it was already evening. Xero stood next to her.

"Yeah, it sure is..." Xero agreed. He put his arm over Ayame's shoulder, only to have her shrug it off.

"Don't ruin it, scumbag..." Ayame said while maintaining her smile. Xero was taken aback by her hostility.

"What did I do?!" Xero cried. Ayame turned to him with a dramatic look in her eyes.

"You agreed to fight for me... so please... protect my honor..." Ayame shed fake tears that dramatically glimmered in the sunlight.

"I shall." Xero clenched his fist passionately.

"What are they doing?" Bertrand looked at the two in confusion.

"It's an act of love..." Hazard muttered in awe.

"You wouldn't understand..." Rogue looked away from Bertrand dramatically.

"So romantic..." Hime and Sayaka swooned.

"Enough of the mushy mushy." Angus glared boringly. "And let's get this fight over with."

"We were having a moment!" Ayame said sternly.

"Yeah, you jerk. How about you shut up?!" Xero clenched his teeth.

"I came here to have a duel with you. How about the winner gets a smooch from the pretty girl over there?" Angus gave Ayame a seductive look.

"You're on! It's not like you have a chance anyway!" Ayame clenched her fist in determination.

"Are you sure you want to take the risk?" Hime whispered to her.

"Of course! What's living if you take the easy way?! The only way to live is risky! Right, big brother?" Ayame pointed to her brother. Hazard took out a handkerchief and wiped away tears of joy.

"They grow up so fast..." Hazard smiled.

"Cut the crap and let's fight!" Angus interrupted.

A duel request appeared on Xero's screen and he quickly accepted. Xero pulled out his one-sided broadsword from his back and stabbed it into the ground.

"Remember, the match ends when one of your health bars turns yellow. No murder, no vicious tactics." Bertraand sanctioned the match. "And... BEGIN!"

"You get the first move!" Xero said smugly. Angus chuckled and chucked a spear towards Xero's face, but Xero quickly grabbed it with his right hand. Xero took the spear and chucked the spear towards Angus, except the flat end hit Angus on the nose rather than the sharp end.

"Ow, dammit!" Angus held his nose. He then pulled out his sword and rushed towards Xero. A sword fight commenced, both slashing at each other randomly, both of their health bars going down at about the same pace. Angus had the upper hand.

"At this rate, Angus will win. He's faster and his attacks seem to do more damage." Bertrand analyzed. The duelers clashed swords and were sent flying backwards.

When they got up, Angus took the time to look at Xero's set-up. Beginner's gear, as expected, but his right hand was clad in a silver gauntlet. "What's up with the lone iron glove?" Angus said in confusion.

"This? Well, if you look at my right hand, you'll see that there's a gauntlet there, but not on my left hand." Xero held his right hand. "Ayame, she has my left gauntlet. It's a symbol of how we'll always be together."

"I'm right handed!" Ayame raised her left hand in glee. Xero chuckled and returned his attention to Angus.

"Also, your one handed skill must be low, because you aren't doing much damage." Angus said. Xero smirked at his statement.

"It's because one handed isn't my highest skill." Xero said. Angus grit his teeth in frustration.

"This is a sword game! How can you not invest skill points into one handed?" Angus yelled.

"Because I'm better with something else." Xero made a motion that said "come at me." Angus charged at him.

"My highest skill..." Xero clenched his armored fist and readied it as Angus charged. "IS UNARMED!"

"What?!" Angus was surprised at what he thought was a stupid idea. Xero pulled his arm back and swing his fist at Angus's face. The moment the fist made contact, a loud, audible crack was heard.

"JACKPOT!" Xero yelled as his fist connected, sending Angus flying back and hitting a stone pillar. Angus's health bar went straight to yellow, almost nearing red. Everyone stared in awe of the raw strength he emitted. That punch launched Angus back about fifty feet!

"Yay! You won you won you won you won you won!" Ayame jumped with glee towards Xero and plucked a kiss on Xero's cheek. "Smoooooch!"

"Hehe..." Xero laughed nervously and scratched the bridge of his nose.

"Damn! That's what you call 'sockin' it to 'em!'" Rogue whistled. "Sorry I ever doubted you!"

"It's fine!" Xero smiled. They suddenly heard Angus push himself out of the pillar.

"NO! NOT YET! I'M NOT FINISHED!" Angus swung his sword at Xero, only to have him block it with his forearm! Xero shoved his sword back, which caused Angus to fall to the ground. Rogue and Bertrand hoisted Angus up, who seemed to have been knocked out.

"Good job, kid! That was a great performance!" Rogue complimented Xero.

"Good job." Bertrand nodded. Hazard patted Xero in the back.

"You always seem to get into these quarrels." Hazard chuckled. Xero slammed his fist into his other hand.

"And I always end it the same way!" Xero laughed. Rogue clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention.

"Okay, now that the fight's over, I have a little announcement. More or less a proclamation." Rogue pulled out his sword and pointed it to Hazard.

"I saw how you fought in the tower. Pretty impressive, but I wanna see it first hand!" Rogue grinned.

"What are you getting at?" Hazard readied his katana.

"How about we have ourselves..." Rogue twirled his sword around and pointed it back at Hazard. "a little duel?!" Hazard smirked at his request.

"I think we can fit one in before nightfall..." Hazard declared. Rogue sent a duel request to Hazard and Hazard promptly accepted.

"Alright, let's get to it!" Rogue pointed his sword in Hazard's direction yet again, but this time, Hazard flinched. "What's wrong? You do remember we have a duel, right?" Rogue chuckled. Hazard scoffed and partially unsheathed his katana from it's sheath with his thumb.

"Right."


"So, who do you think will win?" Sayaka whispered to Hime.

"Huh? Me?" Hime pointed to her chest.

"Yes. Seeing how our boys are duking it out against each other, I'm curious to see your opinion on who will win." Sayaka explained.

"Well, if I had to choose, I'd honestly say Rogue." Hime confessed. "Kana- er, Hazard gets distracted easily. One stray pretty bird in his sight could lead to him falling off this tower!"

"Looks like we're at odds. I think Hazard will win. Rogue... well, he focuses on style over efficiency. He'll do ten backflips and cartwheels only to figure out he has three HP left." Sayaka admitted. "And Kana-? Is that part of his IRL name?"

"Yes." Hime blushed at her mistake.

"Well, only to be fair, I'll tell you the first four letters of Rogue's IRL name. It's Kyou-" Sayaka winked. "You may not have known, but my first letters are Saya-" Sayaka referenced how Rogue abruptly said her IRL and in game name was the same.

"Oh really?" Hime laughed. "Well, to be fair, mine are Hime-"

"Really?" Sayaka looked at her dumbfoundedly.

"I'm not kidding!"

"Mine are Ayas-!" Ayame yelled.

"So it's Ayase?" Sayaka guessed.

"How'dya know?!" Ayame gave her a mortified look.

"Mine are Raku!" Xero exclamed.

"... So it's Raku?" Sayaka gave him a tired look.

"How'dya know?" Raku stood dumbfounded.

"Are you guys even watching the duel?!" Bertrand yelled. The group turned their attention to the two fighting. "Hazard, he's going so fast, I can't keep track! And Rogue is attacking so elegantly and perfectly, as if it were nothing!" They saw Hazard attacking at lightning speed as Rogue was slicing at every direction, coming in contact with every single strike. Eventually, their blades met, and the force pushed them back.

"Argh! So, you must not do your best when fighting lesser enemies, 'cos I'm working up a sweat!" Rogue complimented Hazard between blows.

"You're one to talk. When you fought on the way up the tower, you were just toying with those mobs. Now..." Hazard struck Rogue, only to have him block with his sword. "you're actually impressing me!"

"Impressing you?! I'll show you something impressing!" Rogue slid on the ground all the way to Hazard and thrusted his sword. Hazard dodged the attack and swung his katana at the same time, forcing Rogue's sword up. He took advantage of the opening and sliced his stomach.

"Ooo, I can feel this mornin's breakfast comin' out! Hehe!" Rogue joked. Hazard chuckled through his heavy breathing.

"You and I, looks like we're evenly matched..." Hazard breathed heavily. Rogue took notice to this.

"What? Feel like quitin'?" Rogue breathed as heavily as Hazard.

"You're no better yourself!" Hazard barked. "Besides, you and I are at the same health."

"You're right! In fact, one more blow from either side would mean victory." Rogue pointed out. He swung his sword behind and tightened his grip. "How about we have a 'clash!' A clash is when two people rush at each other and strike, but the first one to get hit takes damage, while the attacker takes no damage whatsoever. Wha'dya say?" Hazard smirked and held his katana back like Rogue.

"Let's end this!" A banner appeared between them that said "CLASH!" The two rushed at each other and swung their swords at each other's open chest. Once the clash ended, the two stood backs to each other, panting hard. Rogue fell onto one knee, his HP bar lowered to the yellow, and Hazard was declared the winner of the duel.

"You... you got lucky." Rogue panted. Hazard offered a hand to pull him up, and Rogue took it.

"I make my own luck... Good job. I wouldn't expect a fight like that from anyone but you." Hazard shook his hand.

"Thanks..." Rogue limped back to the group and Hazard followed. "Welp, that settles that! I made up my mind!"

"You plan on leaving?" Xero asked.

"DON'T GO!" Ayame fell to her knees and cried. Rogue chuckled.

"That all depends on one person!" Rogue pointed his sword at Hazard, startling him again. "I wanna start a guild, and I suggest a merger with the both of our groups!"

"Well, that decision belongs to the rest of my group." Hazard looked over to his group. Hime simply nodded, Xero gave the thumbs up as approval, and Ayame was simply jumping up and down repeating "YES!"

"That sounds like a resounding yes!" Rogue chuckled. "What about you guys?" He looked over to his group."

"It's strategically a good idea." Bertrand propped his glasses so it would glare.

"Meh" Sayaka shrugged.

"*snore*" Angus snored.

"Guess those were yeses." Hazard said.

"Since we all agreed, go ahead and make the guild!" Rogue ordered.

"Me? Isn't the guild your idea?" Hazard pointed to himself.

"Well, you just kicked my ass, so the title belongs to you!" Rogue grinned. Hazard opened the menu and selected "Create a guild." He stared at the screen for a minute before Rogue snapped him back to reality. "Thinkin' of a name?"

"N-no, that isn't it..." Hazard looked at Hime and thought of the events of the previous night.


"Why do you always take the lead? You're always making the decisions. I never get a say..."


"How about you be the leader?" Hazard closed the guild creation screen.

"M-m-me?!" Hime gasped. Hazard gave her a warm smile. Dammit! Don't smile at me like that! Hime blushed.

"I think leadership is your cup of tea, not mine." Hazard winked at her. Hime's blush got even redder.

"I-I-I dunno! Lemme think about this for second." Hime closed her eyes and consulted her thoughts.

Come on, Himeko! It's your opportunity! Grab it! Her determined thoughts screamed.

L-leadership is the only way to gain courage! Her shy thoughts pleaded.

Screw the courage! Use this opportunity to get CLOSER with Kanade! Her dirty thoughts drooled. Hime shook her head and answered Hazard.

"I'll do it!" Hime gripped her fist in determination. Hazard gave her a happy smile.

"That's the spirit!" Hazard cheered, but on the inside was grimacing. I hope she didn't agree so she could have sex with me...

"I guess that'll work!" Rogue shrugged. "For the name, how about the 'Red Riders?'" Rogue flipped the tails of his cloak.

"I was thinking the 'Brotherhood of Swords.'" Hazard suggested. Ayame took her short axe and struck it at the ground near her brother's feet.

"How about I AXE you a question?! Can you please consider we all DON'T have swords?!" Ayame growled. She then sheathed and giggled. "What about the 'Pink, Fluffy Unicorns Dancing on Rainbows?!'"

"There's a twenty five character limit." Hime said to Ayame's disappointment.

"What about the 'Observers?'" Bertrand propped his glasses again.

"Too nerdy. How about 'Absolute Zero?'" Xero pointed to his chest with his thumb.

"Too you..." Hazard chuckled.

"Enough! Enough. C'mere!" Sayaka motioned Hime to come to her. Hime did as she said and Sayaka whispered to her ear. Hime smiled at her idea.

"That's a good idea!" Hime typed in the name and sent the guild requests to everyone.

"'Royal Pains?'" Rogue looked at the request strangely.

"Look at us! We got the royal ones," Sayaka pointed to Hazard, Hime, Bertrand, and Ayame. "and we have the pains." Sayaka pointed to herself, Rogue, Angus, and Xero.

"Me? A pain? C'mon, I gotta say I'm quite illustrious!" Rogue spun to make his coat flare.

"Do you even know what 'illustrious' means?" Hime asked.

"That's aside the point!" Rogue laughed. "I guess I'm kinda a pain."

"How is Ayame a royal?!" Bertrand glared at the girl sitting crosslegged.

"I haz smarts! S-M-R-T!" Ayame giggled.

"I'm obviously smarter than you, girl..." Bertrand scoffed.

"Oh yeah? What's the square root of 5?" Ayame glared happily.

"It's impossible to calculate in your head." Bertrand put her question aside.

"Ernk! WRONG! It's 2.2360679775!" Ayame answered.

"You memorized that!" Bertrand retorted.

"No, she's quite the genius. A bit scatterbrained, but I wouldn't have gotten through school without her." Hazard said.

"Me too." Hime shamefully admitted. "But anywho, how about we all join?" Everyone accepted the guild request, all except one.

"What?! What is this?!" Angus woke up and saw the guild request.

"We made a guild with Hazard's group! Isn't that great?!" Rogue tried to coax Angus to reason.

"No! NO! NONONONONONO! Not with that jackass!" Angus growled at Xero.

"You wanna go, pal?!" Xero clenched his fist. Angus took his spear and ran towards Xero.

"Stop fighting!" Ayame suddenly tackled Xero to the ground. Angus tripped over the two people and fell off the edge of the tower.

"ANGUS!" Bertrand tried to grab Angus, but it was too late. Angus plummeted to his death.

"Oh no..." Ayame traumatically looked over the edge as Angus exploded into a bunch of pixels. "What have I done..." Ayame's eyes filled with tears.

"No... no, he's not dead..." Hazard looked over the edge. "At the rate he fell and the height of the tower, he would have the ground later than he disappeared."

"Then what happened?" Hime was shaken.

"Teleport crystal in mid-air. A valid and..." Rogue posed dramatically. "stylish exit!"

"It must be..." Bertrand gripped the hand he tried to catch Angus with.

"Besides, he's still in our party-aaaaaaaand he's gone!" Sayaka closed her menu with a look of indifference.

"I-I almost killed a man... In real life..." Ayame still felt guilty.

"It's fine. He was a horrible person anyway." Xero patted her back.

"He's still human!" Ayame cried. She wiped the tears from her eyes with her sleeve. "Ah well! What's done is done!" Ayame giggled.

"Wow, she recovered quickly." Rogue stood astounded.

"She's known for that." Hime smiled. "As leader, I decree we go back to sea level before someone falls again." The guild began to leave down the tower towards the camp.


Rogue tended to the fire as Sayaka made the guild's dinner for the night, Ayame was happily gathering kindling for the fire while humming a little tune, Xero was kicking rocks around with nothing to do, Bertrand was reading the manual, and Hazard and Hime were lying down in their tent.

"So, why did you eagerly accept the title of guild leader?" Hazard asked, a hint of fear in his voice.

"Just because. Why would I not?" Hime played the innocent card.

"I don't know. You and your wild, sexual fantasies." Hazard figured her out. Hime blushed and faced the opposite direction.

"N-n-n-n-n-n-no! That's preposterous!" Hime giggled nervously.

"I don't know why you're so crazy about sex. We're only 17. Isn't that a bit young?" Hazard shook his head in disbelief.

"That is a healthy age for sex!" Hime countered him.

"We've been having sex since we were 15..." Hazard glared at her slightly. Hime tried to retort, but Rogue burst through the tent dramatically.

"It's dinnertime!" Rogue sang. "Hope you guys weren't getting too crazy." Rogue gave the two a suggestive look.

"I'm glad you interrupted." Hazard stood up and left the tent, not before glaring back at Hime. "We might have gotten crazy if you didn't interrupt." Hime felt guilty and left the tent as well.


Next chapter

The fourth floor is cleared and the guild follows just short of the frontlines. A newly formed guild can be hard to manage when some are at odds with each other and one half doesn't know much about the other half.

Chapter 3: Background Check

If you aren't a fan of lemon, then be relieved because I'm not typing a sex scene. I may insinuate that sex has just occurred, but I'm not getting into the nitty gritty. Please favorite and follow. Also, please review to give me an insight of what you guys want this story to go to. And PM me if you want to give advice, story suggestions, or character ideas!