A break in the clouds allowed a glimmer of moonlight to shine on Death Gun, revealing his true features. His black feline head and mismatched blue and yellow eyes contrasted greatly with his humanoid body.

Kirito knew this creature very well from his time trapped in SAO. The impossibly intelligent, anthromorphic cat had somehow been logged into the death game. As if this unlikelihood wasn't enough, he had inexplicably learned how to play it. Fluffles had even gone on to found the mafia, earning the title Don. He and Kirito had a troubled history going back over a year. The conflict originated from a debt owed by the guild Moonlight Black Cats. As Kirito was the only surviving member, the obligation transferred to him. After several battles, their rivalry only intensified. With the shutdown of the SAO server, Kirito had assumed he would never see the cat again. He was clearly wrong.

"You sly bastard, how are you logging into these games?" Kirito thrust his photon sword out at arm's length to accentuate his question.

"Meow."

Kirito grimaced at the answer. "So that's why you allied with him huh? I should have known."

"Meow." Fluffles shifted his stance like a cat preparing to pounce.

Kirito raised his glowing blade in a defensive posture. "Yeah, I agree. Let's finish this!"

Fluffles growled menacingly while leaping into the air, far higher than seemed possible. He thrust his estoc out as he descended, stabbing Kirito in the side. The impact knocked him to the ground and he reflexively rolled away. Kirito leaped to his feet just in time to parry a follow-up attack from Fluffles.

They traded blows back and forth to little effect as they battled. Suddenly a glowing red bullet line appeared on Fluffles' shoulder. Kirito immediately realized this was from Sinon's gun; she was trying to back him up. Guess she's good for something after all.

Fluffles reflexively tried dodging the bullet line as a large-caliber bullet whizzed past both of them. Kirito took advantage of this and slashed for the cat's head, taking a chunk out of his ear. Fluffles hissed in pain, quickly jumping back. His feline form suddenly started to blur as he began activating his optical camouflage.

"Meow." Fluffles mocking laughter rang out through the desert.

"No you don't you black furball!" Kirito lunged forward, desperately trying to strike the cat before he escaped. As Fluffles's form began disappearing into the darkness, Kirito realized it was too late; he would never reach him in time. A sudden idea flashed into Kirito's mind, he quickly reached to the holster on his hip grabbing the FN Five-Seven pistol. He fired a quick series of rounds into the vanishing foe; the impacts disrupted the invisibility and staggered the feline.

Fluffles grimaced in pain and hissed at Kirito. He recovered quickly from the assault and began a quick flurry of strikes with his estoc.

The blows slashed Kirito repeatedly, and he stumbled to the ground. As he fell he swung his photon sword in an upward arc circumnavigating Fluffles' attacks. The glowing energy sword carved into the anthromorphic cat's torso cleaving him in half in an explosive fiery flash.

Kirito ducked and rolled away from the blast, dexterously landing on his feet. Fluffles upper body spun and reeled before crashing into the sand, facing towards Kirito.

The gender-swapped black swordsman slowly approached the mangled feline. "I guess cats don't always land on their feet, huh Fluffles?"

As the light in the defeated cat's eyes faded, he responded with a foreboding meow.

Kirito was unintimidated. "I'll take you on again anytime, same goes for the King of Ashes."

Fluffles' eyes dimmed and the 'dead' icon appeared over his avatar.

"Guess you only have seven lives left now." Kirito took one last glance at the vanquished feline before deactivating his energy blade and traveling back to Sinon.

They met a few moments later, Sinon greeting him with a smile. Kirito returned the grin before it abruptly faded. "What the hell was that? You could have killed me with that shot!"

Sinon's smile curled maliciously. "I know, I was hoping to take out both of you with one shot."

"Damn it Sinon I thought we had a truce! I did just save your life after all."

Sinon rolled her eyes. "Sure you did hot pants." After resting the stock of her rifle on the sandy ground she returned his gaze. "So, who was that guy anyway? He looked like a cat."

Kirito took a deep breath before responding. "That was Don Fluffles, the most sinister feline in all Aincrad. Well, only feline in Aincrad."

Sinon raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "That was an actual cat?"

Kirito exhaled loudly and excessively. "Look, it's a long story. To keep it simple, he's a cat…that runs a mob and kills people."

"What?"

"Yeah, I know how it sounds!" Kirito put his hand over his face again before responding. "Look did you owe anyone money or anything? Maybe puked in their shoes or insulted their fashion sense?"

Sinon put her hand to her chin, "Not that I can think of… you know, aside from you Tinkerbell. You think Death Gun was killing people over something so trivial?"

Kirito nodded, "Yeah, he's petty that way. Well anyway, you probably should logout to make sure one of his goons isn't rummaging through your underwear drawer."

Sinon glared at him. "That's not funny you freak! There could be a murderer in my house right now!"

"Fluffles, err, Death Gun only murdered people when he killed them in the game. His little death fairy accomplice probably fled already."

Sinon still looked uncertain and Kirito groaned loudly. "Okay, fine princess. Just tell me your contact info and I'll swing by your place to make sure there's no stalker hanging around."

Sinon hugged her arms to her chest and scowled in disgust. "Yeah right, so you can creep on me? No way!"

"Hey! Get over yourself Sinon; I have a girlfriend if you must know."

"Yeah, I'm sure she has adjustable arms and everything."

"Oh my god! Not you too!" Kirito turned his back on her while rolling his eyes.

"I'm sorry…I'm just really worried," Sinon responded in an uncharacteristically soft tone.

Kirito turned back, "What? Seriously?"

Sinon turned red and abruptly punched Kirito in the arm. "Shut up asshole, I'm trying to be nice!"

"Okay, I'm sorry. Just stop hitting me!" Kirito stepped back to avoid her assault. "That one lowered my HP!"

After the situation calmed, Sinon and Kirito exchanged their information and agreed to meet up.

"Just make sure to beware of any black cats okay?" Kirito nonchalantly flicked off one of the rotating cameras. "So uh, how do we end this thing anyway, wanna duel?"

"No thanks, I don't beat up little girls. So, I guess you don't know how the first BOB ended do you?" Sinon reached to her belt for a grenade.

Kirito raised an eyebrow. "No, what happened?"

Sinon handed him the grenade. "They were both eliminated at the same time, so there were two winners."

"You want to-"

Sinon cut him off, "That's right; I always wanted to try a double suicide!"

"Wait what!"

Before he could react Sinon activated the grenade and abruptly wrapped her arms around Kirito, preventing him from fleeing. She giggled merrily just before they were both consumed by the explosion.

With the Barrage of Bullets' conclusion, both Sinon and Kirito were the winners. Sinon hesitantly logged out, being wary of what awaited her.

When she awoke she could feel the cool air from her air conditioner blowing over her. She sneezed reflexively before cautiously opening her eyes. Darkness filled her vision as she listened carefully for anything out of the ordinary. After several moments of nervous focusing, she relaxed and slowly sat up, removing the Amusphere.

Sinon put her glasses on and scanned the room. The lack of moving shadows gave her the courage to carefully get up and flip the light switch. A new search of the now illuminated room revealed nothing and she proceeded to investigate the rest of the apartment.

After completing her detailed inspection, Sinon leaned against the small sink releasing the pent-up stress from the last few hours. What am I doing, there's no one here. Kirito was exaggerating.

The doorbell rang without warning, making Sinon jump. After momentary uncertainty, she nervously approached the door and looked through the eyehole. Her peek revealed nothing, leaving her feeling anxious. Eventually, the uncertainty gnawed away at her and without thinking, she swung open the door.

Sinon saw nobody outside, a quick look up and down the hall also revealed no one. Feeling foolish she closed and locked the door before moving to the fridge. After retrieving a can of tea she closed the refrigerator's door and sat down on the couch. I need to calm down.

Suddenly she spotted something moving out of the corner of her eye. Dropping the tea, she craned her neck and spotted it. A black cat with a blue and yellow eye.

"Meow."

End

This story is in response to the many fans of SAO Abridged that want Death Gun to be Fluffles in Something Witty Entertainment's adaptation. This would differ from the original material as Death Gun was Red-Eyed XaXa, a member of the murder guild Laughing Coffin. He appeared in the murder mystery arc but did not speak. However, this would be an excellent chance to depict an epic fight between Kirito and Fluffles; something only previously referenced. I made Sinon a more sarcastic version of herself for this, something I imagine Something Witty Entertainment will also do.

As for the ending, I thought it was funny. Fluffles showing up in person to kill Sinon is comically absurd. If I would ever continue this story, I suppose it would detail Kirtio showing up and fighting the cat. Ultimately Fluffles would be defeated and flee. The end of the arc would be Kirito meeting with the ministry of the interior, discussing how Fluffles is still at large.

I thank everyone that read this story and hope you enjoyed it.

FlammPanzer