A/N: Hey guys, Monkeycyborgninja here bringing you chapter 2 of Sword Ed Online. Now first, I'd just like thank everyone who reviewed the first chapter, in fact I'm actually pretty surprised at how great of a response it got, and so quickly too. Well, hopefully this chapter will be just as good and I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Ed, Edd, N Eddy or Sword Art Online.
The Journey Begins
Double D stuck the metal key into the keyhole and turned it, once he heard a clicking sound he turned the knob and swung the door open to reveal a cozy looking room with two beds, a wall lamp, oddly enough, and a desk pressed up against the window to allow for a view. It had been about an hour or so since Kayaba Akihiko addressed the players, and the Eds spent most of that hour just standing in place in complete horror, but that was nothing compared to the reactions from the other players. They were rioting in a complete rage, breaking down in total insanity, and a selective few even committed suicide, it was complete chaos. It wasn't until minutes ago that the Eds calmed enough to decide that the best thing to do right now was get a room at some Inn for the night, so they sold the items they got from fighting Frenzy Boars and rented a room at the nearest Inn. Unfortunately the greatest number of beds available was two, they thought that two of them they would have to share, but Ed decided to sleep on the floor, Double D said that he could share with him, but Ed insisted, said he didn't mind. As soon as they entered the room they shut off the light and lay down to sleep. The strange thing was that it was actually still early morning back at the Cul-Du-Sac, they shouldn't have been tired, but Kayaba's "Tutorial" had completely sucked the life out of them, they were depressed and just wanted to close their eyes and forget about this whole ordeal, and wake up in their own familiar rooms and dismiss it as just a horrible dream, but knew that was just wishful thinking. The Eds just laid there in utter silence, trying their best to force themselves to sleep, but after two hours for forcefully shutting his eyes closed Eddy gave up and sat up on his bed. He looked to the bottom left of his field of vision where the time was displayed, It was 0:12, which Eddy had no idea what that translated to, but judging by the lighting from the window, he knew it was late.
"Hey guys, are you awake?" He said as softly as he could, and after a moment of gaining no response, he assumed they were asleep. He envied them, he wished he could fall asleep, but every time he began to he would see his HP bar dropping down to zero, and the red cloaked Kayaba Akihiko laughing as he shattered into a million polygon shards. He knew he would never get to sleep, and so he got off the bed and slowly and quietly made his way to the door. He swung it open and softly closed it behind him as to not disturb his sleeping friends, but little did he know, Ed was already awake. He had ignored Eddy's earlier statement merely because he did not feel like talking, he wouldn't know what to say, heck he didn't know what to think, but one thought did go through his head over and over ever since the announcement. "This is all my fault". If he hadn't entered that stupid contest they wouldn't have been in this mess, they would be back in Peach Creek trying to pull of some other hair brained scheme Eddy concocted, and it would've probably ended in pain, at least they would live to fight another day, but here, there was no guarantee of that. Ed's lip quivered and his eyes filled with tears, he just his best not to whimper as to not wake Double D. As much as he tried to force them back, Ed's tears escaped his eyes and fell down his face, one by one then in an endless stream, and with that, he cried himself to sleep.
Meanwhile, his friend in the bed next to him began tossing and turning, mumbling things like "No… no, please, stop."
Double D's Dreamscape
Double D was running frantically in a dark, endless abyss, he would look over his shoulder every now and then to see countless creatures chasing after him, which just made him increase his speed. Eventually, he reached the edge of the abyss and turned around to face his pursuers, albeit in complete terror. He shakily unsheathed his sword and held it up in a weak defensive stance. One of the faceless beasts swung its claws at him which Double D was fortunate enough to block, but the next swing knocked his sword right out of his hands. Double D fell on his bottom as he backed away from the creature, which had its claws high above his head in preparation for his finishing attack. Double D shut his eyes and waiting for the strike to hit, but it never did. He heard the monster shriek and the sound of a monster exploding into polygons, and opened his eyes to find none other than Eddy, his sword thrusted outward right where the monster had once been.
"E-Eddy?" he said in a shaky voice.
"That was close one Sock Head, get your head in the game." Eddy berated him as he readied his sword for another strike.
"Be gone evil minions of the undead!" He heard to his right, and saw Ed with his sword held high and slashing right through the army of monsters. Eddy soon joined him and for a moment Double D just stared at how brilliantly they fought. He spotted his sword to this left and crawled over to it, but before he could pick it up, it was kicked away by a skeletal warrior, its sword held high to strike him down. But before it could, Ed knocked the sword out of its hand and decapitated it; he then immediately jumped over Double D to fight off another that was coming up from behind.
"Come on Double D, get up and fight!" He heard Eddy say as he finished off another monster. Double D looked around and found his sword again, but no matter how hard he commanded his body to reach for it, he just couldn't, he was frozen in fear.
"I… I can't, I just can't do it Eddy!" He screamed to his friend in shame.
"What are you talking about, just pick the dang sword up and…" Eddy was silenced midsentence as he was penetrated through the chest by the rusty blade of a skeletal warrior's sword. After a moment of shock, Double D watched as the last of Eddy's HP depleted and he burst in thousands of polygon shards.
"…EDDY!" Double D screamed in horror, gaining the attention of Ed. He finished the monster he was fighting and ran over to avenge his fallen friend. He slashed at the warrior and killed him in seconds, and then turned his attention to a bestial creature to his right. He decapitated him and slashed him down the middle, killing it, but before Double D could say anything, he was struck in the back by another monster, causing him to fall to the ground before Double D. He looked up and his eyes met with his friends, he reached out his hand towards him as the last of his HP ran out.
"D-Double D." He muttered just before he exploded into shards, just before Double D could grasp his hand.
"Ed… Eddy… no, please, DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!" He screamed as he desperately reached out to grab the shards that were once his best friend. He then heard a snorting sound and looked to see a Frenzy Boar staring him down. It rubbed its front right hoof on the ground as if it was preparing to charge. "No… no, please, stop." He said barely above a whisper before the boar charged and rammed right into Double D, knocking him back quite a bit. He then watched as his entire HP bar fell from 250 all the way to Zero in the blink of an eye. He watched in horror as his hands began to glow, the action one's body does before it bursts. "No… no…"
End Dreamscape
"NOOOOOOOO!" Double D screamed as he shot up on his bed. He breathed heavily as he surveyed his surroundings, realizing that he was back in the Inn room and that it was all just a dream, well, not all of it unfortunately.
"Double D?" Ed said from the floor. Double D looked over the bed to see Ed with a worried look on his face, and it did Double D some good to see that his friend was safe and sound. "Are… you ok?" Ed asked a bit awkwardly.
"Y-yes Ed, I am… perfectly fine, just a nightmare." Double D assured, but Ed was not convinced.
"But, you screamed pretty loud Double D, are you sure you're…"
"Ed, I said I'm fine, now just go to sleep." Double D cut him off in a bit of a nasty tone. Double D appreciated Ed's concern, but he just wanted to get his mind off his terrible dream and go back to sleep. Ed on the other hand thought that he was mad at him, and he had every right to be.
Eddy had absentmindedly wondered out of the Starting City and back into West Field, and eventually to the exact same spot that he and his friends had watched the sun set, and discovered their inability to logout. He sat down and just blankly stared out at the calm, moonlit landscape. Despite its deadly usage, the world of Aincrad was still a beautiful sight to behold, it calmed Eddy down a bit, but no matter how hard he tried, he still couldn't forget that this breath taking world was still a prison, one of which he had no means of escape. He replayed the events that lead to his imprisonment, from Ed happily showing him his "Winners Notice", to being pressured into putting on the NerveGear by his peers. It was this memory, the memory of the kids he left behind; that brought him the most pain, to think that he could've brought this fate upon one of them, and for what, a measly 25 cents that they would've wasted on some tooth rotting candy, it was… despicable, it would've been by far the worst deed that they had ever done in their entire lives, that he's ever done to those innocent kids of the Cul-Du-Sac. Sure they weren't his favorite people in the whole world, but he would never want to put their lives in danger like this. He then took a moment to reflect on all of the things he had done in his life, every scam he had pulled, every person he had swindled, and finally, all the pain he has caused. Not only to the kids, but to himself and his friends, if he hadn't been such a penny pinching pest, the kids would have no reason to hate him, or his comrades for that matter, he had put them in harm's way before, but this just took the cake. And now, here they were, trapped in a video game of all things, and with the possibility of death looming over their shoulders every waking moment. He just felt so helpless, he could barely survive puberty; how could he survive one hundred floors of pure, agonizing death. Ed would probably be fine, with his monstrous strength and love of fantasy, he would be able to at least survive, and Double D was wicked smart, he probably already had the entire guide book memorized; he would have no problem navigating his way through this world with minimal danger to his actual life. But him, he had nothing, no brains, no brawn, he was just a big mouthed teenager that hasn't seen a growth spurt since he was five, he was just scrawny, helpless, powerless Eddy, his death was all but an absolute certainty. Suddenly, he was brought out of his thoughts by a low growling sound coming from behind him. He slowly turned his head to find a grey furred wolf staring menacingly at him, his sharp, white teeth showing as he let out a steady growl. Eddy immediately sprang to his feet and backed up a few steps, the wolf reacting by talking a single step forward. Eddy was frozen with fear, his first instinct was to make a run for it, but on second thought that would've been futile, it was clear the wolf had already targeted him, and it probably wouldn't stop chasing him until it either caught him, or he made it back to a safe zone, and Eddy knew he couldn't out run it, so that was out of the question. With no other option, Eddy slowly unsheathed his sword and held it up in defense. The wolf reacted by growling louder, which spooked Eddy a little, but he held his ground. Eddy shifted his pose a little and was surprised that his blade started glowing; having accidently activated a Sword Skill. At that moment, the wolf charged at Eddy, its eyes glowing a bright yellow that was extremely noticeable, and intimidating, in the darkness of the night. Eddy panicked, everything was going in slow motion; he felt as if he had been standing there for hours, just waiting for wolf to brutally strike him down. He closed his eyes and just waited for his demise, but just as he was about to lose hope, he felt the Sword Skill finish charging, and without even thinking about it, he unleashed it, dashing forward and landing a horizontal slash that left an orange gash of data on the wolf's pelt. A second later, the wolf burst and the typical congratulatory window appeared before Eddy, but before he could even read what his winnings were, a second notice appeared in the form of glowing white letters that read "LEVEL UP: 1 to 2". Eddy was in a daze, the whole thing happened so fast that it took a moment for him to process it all. After he had full comprehension of what just happened, he came to realization, he wasn't completely powerless, he wasn't just useless little Eddy here, despite its very real danger, Sword Art Online was still a video game, an RPG no less, strength here wasn't real, it was measured in numbers and increased by repetition, in this world, anyone could be strong, he could be strong. Eddy looked at his reflection in his Beginner's Sword, just because he looked like how he did in the real world, didn't mean he had to be the same, weak, spineless person he truly was, Eddy couldn't survive, but Richmond was a different story. He looked past his blade and saw two more wolves spawn in a few meters away. The moment they spotted him, he readied his sword and charged at them, letting out a battle cry and charging a Sword Skill.
Double D stirred in his bed as he woke from his slumber. It was morning now and sunlight was pouring into the room through the window, however, Double D wanted to sleep some more, and so he buried his head under the covers to shield himself from the light. It wasn't really that he was still tired; it was more like he didn't want to open his eyes, because every time he did he was met with the sight of the HP bar in the upper right corner of his field of vision, a constant reminder of his terrible fate. After a few moments passed, Double D heard the door open, but just assumed either Ed or Eddy had left the room and ignored it.
"Guys… guys wake up." He heard a voice say before he felt something small and hard land on his head.
"Ow!" Double D exclaimed as he sat up on his bed to see what had hit him, and who. He saw Eddy standing at the foot of his bed with a serious look on his face. He looked around for what had hit him and he saw three Health Potions lying on his bed.
"Come on lumpy, rise and shine." Eddy said as he brought out three more Health Potions and threw them at Ed, which woke him up in a similar manner.
"Eddy, what's going on?" Ed asked with a yawn.
"Come on, we need to get going." Eddy stated and began to walk out of the room.
"Going, going where?" Double D inquired as he picked up the Health Potions and put them in his item bag.
"The next town, where do you think, now come on." He replied as he closed the door behind him. Ed and Double D just stared at where their friend had just been, trying to grasp what they just heard him say. Double D was the first to come to his senses and went after his friend.
"Eddy, Eddy wait!" Double D pleaded as he followed Eddy out of the Inn. Eddy stopped outside in the middle of the path and waited as Double D tried to catch his breath. "Eddy, you can't honestly be considering leaving the sanctity of the Town of Beginnings, can you?" He said in the same tone he used whenever he tried to talk Eddy out of a bad idea.
"That's exactly what I'm suggesting Sock Head." Eddy responded without even turning to face him.
"But… but Eddy, look." Double D then pulled up the mini map to show Eddy, but he still didn't turn around. "This is where we are now, and this is the closest village to our current location, which is still several kilometers away, all of which is teaming with murderous, computer generated beasts!"
"Yeah, so what?" Eddy replied almost bitterly, which seemed to make Double D snap just in time for Ed to join them.
"So what, SO WHAT! Eddy have you forgotten what's at stake here, if we go out there there's no guarantee that we will survive the trip, we nearly met our demise at the hands of a sapphire swine for goodness sakes!"
"Swines are bad for Ed, Eddy." Ed added.
"What are you talking about; we were slaying those boars left and right yesterday, and look." Eddy then opened up the Main Menu and pulled up his stats to show them. Ed and Double D looked at the window and a certain stat caught their eyes. They both were surprised to see that Eddy had somehow managed to raise his Level to 4, contrary to their Level 1.
"Level 4, how did you…?" Ed began, but Eddy cut him off.
"I level grinded out in West Field last night, and not boars, wolves you guys, and let me tell you they put up a heck of a lot more of a fight." Eddy said as he closed the menu. "And we need to get your levels up too, so let's get a move on already."
"Eddy, please be reasonable, it's too dangerous out there." Double D pleaded, making his last attempt to keep Eddy from going.
"Oh yeah, well what do you suggest we do then Double D, lock ourselves up in the Inn for who knows how long hoping that someone will clear the game?" Eddy asked a bit sarcastically.
"Well… yes." Double D answered, catching both Ed and Eddy off guard.
"Wait, seriously, you're really ok with spending the next few months, or even years of your life cooped up in a ratty old inn?" Eddy asked in a much more angered tone.
"Well first of all, that inn happens to be quite nice and second, there's absolutely no problem with choosing life over death." Double D responded, just as angry as Eddy was.
"You're not choosing life; you're choosing "safety"."
"And what's wrong with that!?"
"What's wrong is that it's not living!"
"Oh for HEAVENS SAKE EDDY, this is not just one of our average, every day screw ups, and the consequences for screwing up any further are much more severe than getting roughhoused by Kevin or held captive by the Kankers. We. Could. Die Eddy, this is most likely our most profound and horrific mistake we have ever, could ever, and will ever commit!" Double D exploded, tired of how unserious Eddy was taking the situation. Eddy was silent for a moment before he responded.
"No, we could've screwed up a lot worse." He said in a barely audible voice.
"Worse, worse, how in god's name could it POSSIBLE, be any worse THAN IT ALREADY IS!"
"WE COULD'VE DONE THIS TO SOMEONE ELSE DOUBLE D!" Eddy roared, instantly silencing his ranting friend. "Johnny, Nazz, Rolf, we could've put any of them in this same situation, and for what, a measly quarter, sure I like Jaw Breakers but not enough to put someone's life in danger like this. Do you really want to spend your time in this world knowing that you were the kind of person that was willing to risk the lives of innocent people for 25 cents , but not your own for your own freedom?!" Eddy was clenching his fists and facing the ground, eyes closed shut to try and hold back tears. Double D didn't know what to say, and he felt quite a bit guilty, he hadn't even thought of the other kids since the tutorial, but his guilt was nothing compared to Ed's, who fell to his knees and began balling his eyes out.
"Ed is sorry everyone… this is all my fault, I have doomed us aaaahahaaaaalll!" Ed sobbed, wallowing in his own grief.
"But… we didn't know…" Double D said in a comforting yet defensive tone.
"Try telling that that their parents." Eddy said in a calm voice, mostly because he was just tired of being angry, they all were.
"Is that what this is all about Eddy, you feel guilty about almost putting someone else's life in danger so you want to put your own life in danger as some sort of penance?" Double D questioned.
"It's not just that." Eddy insisted. "Sure I would've been partly responsible for putting someone's life in danger, but there still would've been one other person that was more responsible that I would ever be… that faceless freak Kabaya or whatever his name was. Sure Ed was the one who brought the NerveGear to us, you were the one to set it up, and I offered it to the kids, but it was still Kabaya that created it, and turned Sword Art Online into the prison it is. And what's worse he did it all on purpose, he willingly put 10,000 people's lives in danger just to make himself feel powerful. Don't you see; if we just coop ourselves up in this village out of fear of dying then we'd just be giving Kabaya what he wants, power. I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired of being pushed around, I could never do anything about it before, but now I have the power to fight back, we all do, and we owe it to the kids back home that we could've put in danger to show this psycho that he can't just play around with human lives like this. So what do say, Lothar, Einstein?" Double D was just blown away; Eddy had given this so much thought, and he knew he would never be able to talk him out of it. But letting him go was one thing, following is something entirely different. Before he could even begin to think of an answer, Ed stood up, wiped away his tears and saluted.
"Lothar reporting for duty Richmond." Ed said in a voice that more closely resembled his typical happy go lucky tone. Eddy smiled at this and then looked to Double D.
"What about you Sock Head?" Eddy asked, still waiting for an answer. Double D was deep in thought, he tried to think logically about this, but every time he thought of going out into the field with them, he remembered his dream, and he realized that he just couldn't do it.
"I-I'm sorry… I-I just can't do it Eddy." He finally responded as he took a few steps back, as if in fear. "I'm not like you two; I just don't have the coordination to properly survive in this hostile world. Besides, if I were to accompany you I would just hinder your own progression."
"What are you saying Double D?" Ed asked.
"You… you should just go without me." Double D said solemnly, somewhat ashamed of his own weakness, but he knew it was for the best. However, Eddy wasn't one to take no for an answer.
"Fat chance Sock Head." Eddy said in his usual rude demeanor, gaining Double D's full attention. "There's no way we're just going to leave you here."
"No man left behind Double D." Ed added with a smile.
"But…" Double D began.
"So you're not the most active person on the planet, so what, me and Ed here are more than able to pick up the slack." Eddy cut him off, trying to reassure his friend.
"No… no, no, no! Don't you see Eddy, that's what I'm afraid of, if you and Ed were to lose your lives trying to protect me… I just wouldn't be able to forgive myself, and the fact that I would most likely lose my life moments later ultimately means that your sacrifices would be for nothing… I just… I just can't do it Eddy." Double D then began crying at the thought, in both fear and shame.
"You know, you're right Double D." Eddy said, surprising his two comrades. "It's true we might die if you come with us, but… we'll definitely die if you don't." Double D ceased his crying and looked up at his friend. "Let's face it Double D, we'd be lost without you, I may be the idea man, but you've always been the real brains of this outfit."
"Yeah, remember you showed Lothar the stance of power." Ed pointed out.
"Right, if it weren't for you we wouldn't even know how to use Sword Skills and we would've probably died a long time ago, we can't do this without you Double D." Eddy said as he put a comforting hand on Double D's shoulder. Double D was touched, Eddy had never shown any appreciation towards him before, and now here he was practically saying that they would die without him.
"Do… do you really mean that Eddy?" He asked as he whipped away his tears.
"Of course, the three of us have been through a lot of crud over the years, but we always got through it, and I know as long as we stick together, we can get through this, so you coming or what, Einstein?" Eddy paused to give Double D a chance to answer. Double D was still apprehensive about the whole situation, his fears were still very much prevalent but knowing that his comrades believed in him so much touched him so, and made him feel like he couldn't just abandon them. Double D took a deep breath and nodded in response, gaining a satisfied smile from Eddy and a large, goofy grin from Ed. "Alright, let's hop to it then, those boars aren't going to slay themselves, and you two noobs need to get your levels up, now come on." Eddy said as he rushed over to the gate of the city. Ed and Double D followed close behind, reveling in the moment of light heartedness. However this was replaced by seriousness as they approached the gate and a warning message that they were about to leave the safe area appeared over head. For a moment all of their previous fears resurfaced, who knows what dangers they would face out in this virtual world of swords, but the fact that they would be facing them together comforted them enough to keep going, to pass that gate and to start their way down the path to the next town. And with that their journey thorough Sword Art Online truly began, it was just the three of them against the world, like it always was, and always will be.
A/N: Well, there you have it, Ch 2. Sorry if the Eds were a little OOC in this chap, and that Eddy's reason for wanting to actually play the game didn't really make much sense, but hey, what are you gonna do. I really hope you guys enjoyed it nonetheless and I'd like to take this time to respond to a review that an anonymous user gave me.
Lover of Eds: First off, I'm really glad that you've enjoyed the last chap and are so happy that I wrote this story, I do tend to make some pretty weird crossovers and knowing that there are some people out there that have a similar mindset to mine is the very reason I started writing on this site in the first place, so yeah, thanks. Second, only Eddy will keep up with the 1H Sword Skill, the other two will change their weapons, but you'll just have to stay tuned to see what they are.
Well, that's all I have to say for now, thanks for reading and remember to R&R please.
