Author's Note: So here's the second part of the opening day. I've had the first part done for quite a while, but I just finished the second part, since Kayaba's speech was really kind of boring to write. I mean, we all know it, and to reiterate a canon event almost verbatim is tedious at best, but it's necessary. So I persevered for you, my dear readers. Enjoy!

Disclaimer and Warnings still apply from the first chapter.


Ichigo II


Four hours later found Ichigo grunting as he dodged two of the hog monsters while he rammed Iron Fang home into the beady, glowing red eye of a third. He flipped over a fourth's charge, tracing a violet line across its back with his newest Dagger (acquired from the quickly disintegrating corpse of a Fury Wasp), Venom Barb, slowing it down enough to allow him to focus on the remaining three.

It had taken some doing to figure out how to fight using two weapons, but Ichigo had managed it after a few less-than-amazing false starts. He wasn't known as a combat genius in Soul Society for nothing, after all, and it wasn't too different from the street fights he'd been getting into since he was ten.

In short order, Ichigo collected six more Pork Chops, unable to keep the smug look off his face. He'd leveled up since the beginning of his hunt while his One-Handed Dagger and Leather Armor skills had both gone up four levels apiece (he wondered briefly if there was a Two-Handed Dagger skill). Not to mention he had made twice the amount of Cor he'd spent on initial supplies, and besides Venom Barb, he'd also taken a Chitinous Breastplate off an Armored Beetle, and close to three dozen Pork Chops besides. The three stat points he'd gotten were all promptly placed into AGI, and he felt as though he was getting close to moving at the speed his RL body was capable of, even if his reflexes were still set to Ludicrous Speed thanks to all that time spent flash-stepping a hair's breadth ahead of a gruesome death. Perhaps one day he'd regain that kind of speed in the game and relive his glory days.

Snorting at the wistful nostalgia his inner thoughts had gained, he checked the time, then his map. He'd gotten carried away, and was much further afield than he'd first guessed. Sighing, he turned and started trudging back toward Town of Beginnings, wondering how much he could get for all the Pork Chops and thought about sending a quick message to Argo inquiring after a good place to lighten his load for optimal sell-prices.

While he walked, he realized with a start that the only time he'd thought about his complicated other life was when he'd wished Zangetsu (both of them) had been here to enjoy this place with him. Ichigo resolved then and there to thank Tatsuki for managing to persuade his family to get the NerveGear for him (or at least for talking to the twins about it, who would have used a combination of strong-arming and puppy-dog eyes on Goat-Face to get it). He hadn't realized how heavy his emotional burden had been until it was lifted by this wonderful game.

He stopped suddenly, ears twitching. A low growl just a little louder than the BGM, followed by the telltale tinkle of shattering polygons, alerted him to something's presence behind a tumble of rocks.

Jogging over, Ichigo found a large, gray-furred wolf creature with the glowing red eyes of a monster and the label Dire Wolf hanging over its head sprawled on its belly. The reason why became apparent immediately: the creature's hind legs had been severed at the knee joint, leaking red pixels into the air while several orange cuts glowed faintly across its back and muzzle. Nearby, a full bag with the symbol for Cor stamped on it sat unassumingly in the grass, and Ichigo realized that it must have just recently been in a battle against an unfortunate player who was respawning right about now in Town of Beginnings.

When it spotted him, the Dire Wolf snarled weakly and tried to rise up to meet this new challenger, but with such grievous injuries it only lifted its torso halfway before flopping pitifully back down again. Ichigo was surprised it hadn't just broken apart at the end of the battle, but approved of the creature's determination on principle, AI program or not.

A thought occurred to him then, and with a few quick chimes he had an armful of pork products. "Here," he said, tossing a Chop within reach of the Dire Wolf's muzzle. "Food equals HP in these kinds of games, right? Heal up so we can fight." Ichigo would swear that the wolf gave him a look of sheer bafflement.

"Go on," he urged. "It's not poisoned or anything. That's a bullshit way to beat an opponent." He chucked a couple more slabs of meat at the wolf, who warily snapped a couple up. Instantly, the orange scars on its body shrank, and the red pixels that denoted bloodloss stopped leaking from its legs altogether.

Thirteen Pork Chops later, the Dire Wolf was completely healed, and Ichigo stored the rest back in his Inventory, readying both Daggers with an anticipatory grin. Bugs and boars were all well and good for XP, but a Dire Wolf was an apex predator and bound to give him a better fight.

So his surprise was understandable when a new notification window popped up. "Congratulations," he read aloud, for the wolf's sake. "You have just tamed LV 2 Dire Wolf. Would you like to name your pet?" His gaze bounced from the window to the wolf, whose eyes had lost the menacing red glow, then back. "Pet?" he repeated blankly.

The Dire Wolf cocked its head to the side in a disturbingly dog-like gesture, its tongue lolling out of its mouth cheerfully. He hadn't heard anything about there being a Beast-Taming feature from the articles he'd read, but figured it wasn't too out of the ordinary and took it in stride.

"Okay then," he conceded thoughtfully, wondering what to name it. "Er...for fear of sounding like Professor Oak, are you a boy or a girl?" The Dire Wolf helpfully rolled over on its back, presenting a featureless underbelly. Unisex name it is, Ichigo thought wryly. After a few minutes of pondering, he said, "How does Artemis sound?"

The Dire Wolf's ears perked up, and barked in what sounded to Ichigo like an affirmative. "Alright, Artemis it is." As soon he put in the name, a new status bar showed up below his in the top left corner of his vision, and the little mark next to her name firmly identified Artemis as a female. After a moment's contemplation, Ichigo brought up his menu again and found an extra option with Artemis' name on it and found that not only could he equip her with a few items, but there was also a skill slot filled with the aggro-drawing Howl skill.

"Nice," he observed appreciatively. He'd also gotten two skills of his own, Familiar Communication and Familiar Recovery, which allowed him to interact with his new companion effectively and heal her respectively. "Better start training these up now," he mused, equipping Familiar Communication.

Turning to the wolf, he smiled. "Hello, Artemis."

"Hello, Zan-Ge-Tsu," she answered, speaking his name in a slow, methodical tone. "I am glad to know you."

"I'm pleased to meet you, too, partner."

"Meat?" she echoed hopefully, perking up. Sighing, Ichigo retrieved another Pork Chop from his Inventory and flipped it to her. She gobbled it up easily as he muttered, "I hope this skill levels up fast."


And so, for the next quarter of an hour, Ichigo and Artemis talked a little about nothing much (rather, Ichigo talked while Artemis listened and learned). By the time they came across a pair of players, the Familiar Communication skill had leveled once, and Artemis had gone from monosyllabic words and broken enunciation to simple sentences that were crude, but made sense (mostly).

As they drew closer, Ichigo watched as the duo took on a Frenzy Boar, and deduced that the shorter player was teaching the redhead. Curiously, the ginger's Curved Sword glowed green and he shot forward, cutting through the boar as he left a trail of verdant light behind him.

When he was within earshot, he called out, "Oi, you two!"

The players turned and acknowledged that they'd heard him, but then they stiffened and pointed behind him. Turning, he saw only Artemis following after him, and figured they didn't know about the beast-taming thing.

"Don't worry, she's mine," he assured them as he halted a few feet away. "She's Artemis, and I'm Zangetsu." The redhead was older-looking than the shorter, dark-haired one, but both were male and ridiculously good-looking.

"Cool names," said the redhead, looking interestedly at Artemis. "I'm Klein, by the way, and that's Kirito. I didn't know you could tame monsters in this game." The wolf returned his gaze curiously, head tilting first one way then the other.

"Meat?" she inquired hesitantly, and Ichigo shook his head.

"No, only players that piss me off are meat," Ichigo emphasized, taking out another Pork Chop and feeding it to her, just to keep her pacified.

"Wow, you can understand it, too?" Klein queried, looking intrigued.

"Kinda," explained Ichigo. "It's like she's speaking pidgin, and her grammar needs a little work, but hopefully that'll correct itself as I level up the skill that lets me talk with her."

"Familiar Communication," Kirito elaborated for Klein's benefit. "Beast Taming was rare in the beta version, but not unheard of."

"So, are you a beta tester, then?" Klein asked Ichigo, who shook his head.

"Nah, I just got lucky. When I found her, she was wounded and laying next to a bag of Cor; must've just finished pixelating a player or something. I fed her some of the Pork Chops I'd gotten from all the boars around here, and when she was all healed up, I got a notification saying I'd just acquired a pet. Dumb luck, I guess."

"Man, I'll say," Klein quipped enviously. "A cool pet and an awesome skill to go with it? I'm super jealous!"

"Speaking of skills," Ichigo prompted, "what was that glowy-blade thing you did earlier?"

"You mean this?" Klein asked, demonstrating the green attack once more. "It's a Sword Skill. Kirito's been kind enough to show me the ropes today."

Kirito had been staring oddly at Ichigo. "So you don't know what a Sword Skill is, but you had enough Pork Chops on you to tame a Dire Wolf? Have you leveled up yet?"

"Yeah," Ichigo nodded, "I'm level two now."

Eyes wide, Kirito's gaze flicked upward as he did some mental math. "Considering Frenzy Boars only give a maximum of around fifty XP, you must have killed around a hundred of them in order to level up!"

"Mm, that sounds about right," Ichigo agreed. "It got a little repetitive after a while, so I searched around and took out a couple Fury Wasps. I got lucky about an hour ago and found an Armored Beetle, too. That's where I got this nifty chest armor," he added, tapping the Chitinous Breastplate.

"Are you an RL martial artist?" Kirito asked, looking a little impressed. "Normally, Sword Skills are the only thing that allows players to attack with the proper force and speed necessary to do any significant damage to monsters. Frenzy Boars, I can understand, they're this game's equivalent of Slimes, but I don't think anyone could take down an Armored Beetle without Sword Skills, at least someone with no actual combat experience."

"I took karate lessons as a kid, and I get into the occassional street fight around town, just to keep from getting rusty," Ichigo acknowledged, deciding not to mention his other 'combat experience'.

"Dude, teach me!" Klein exclaimed.

"As long as you show me some of those Sword Skills, we got a deal," Ichigo decided with a nod.

"Hell yeah...is what I wanna say," Klein began. "But I'm starting to get hungry. I've got a pizza set to be delivered at five-thirty to my appartment."

"You're sure prepared," Kirito commented, smirking.

"How about I add you to my Friend List and we can meet up sometime?" Klein continued.

"Sounds like a plan," Ichigo said, and a few chimes signalled his second new contact in this world. "Well, I guess I'll see you later then."

"Count on it!" Klein declared, then turned to Kirito. "And thanks for taking the time to teach this old dog some new tricks. I'll pay you back, mentally."

Ichigo turned to ask Kirito a question about Sword Skills, but a confused grunt from Klein made him look over at the redhead.

"Hey, Kirito," Klein said slowly, "Uh, total noob question here, but...how do I log off?"

"Seriously?" Kirito looked amused, and Klein's expression became defensive.

"Look, this is my first full-dive; I can't exactly alt + F4 this shit, now can I?" he older player groused.

Kirito opened his menu as he spoke, "It's fine," he assured. "The log out is right...here..."

Something in Kirito's voice caused Ichigo's frown to deepen. "What?" he demanded. "What's wrong?"

"The...the log-out option is blanked out," Kirito murmured anxiously. "This can't be right."

Klein chuckled nervously. "Man, the guys who run this game are probably going nuts right now," he joked. "A bug this big on opening day?"

Ichigo felt his gut sink in anticipation. He doubted something this major could be accidental.

"Hey, does anyone else feel tingly?" Klein piped up. Before Ichigo could respond, he was treated to the singularly odd sensation of being broken down into little tiny data packets, moved through digital space, and reassembled elsewhere in perhaps a second.

"No," Kirito replied, then gasped as his mind caught up with the situation. "What the—a forced teleport?"

Ichigo vaguely recognized the place they'd been teleported to as the main plaza of the Town of Beginnings. Even as he took in his surroundings, more and more players 'ported in until it seemed like every last person who had logged on was there. Confusion reigned as ten thousand voices asked just what the big deal was, but they didn't have long to wait.

Ichigo noticed first, which wasn't too hard considering most everyone else was still trying (unsuccessfully) to puzzle out what was happening. Up in the sky, a translucent red hexagon appeared, announcing what looked like an incoming system message. Within moments, the single shape became hundreds until a dome of the things encapsulated the entire sky above the courtyard. To his increasing trepidation, crimson liquid that looked disturbingly like blood began to ooze from between the interlocking warnings before coalescing mid-air into a massive cloaked figure.

A wave of uneasy muttering swept through the crowd, but it all ceased as the person raised their arms invitingly and spoke in a booming voice that everyone could hear. "Hello, Players. Welcome to my world. My name is Kayaba Akihiko and, as of this moment, I am in control here."

His words set Ichigo on edge instantly. As he spoke, Kayaba's hand swiped down and he scrolled through a menu. "I'm sure most of you have already noticed that the log-out option missing from your main menu. I assure you that this is not a defect in the game. I repeat. This is not a defect. This is how Sword Art Online was designed to be. You cannot log yourselves out of SAO and no one from the outside will be able to shut down or remove the NerveGear from your head. If anyone attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the NerveGear will discharge a microwave signal into your skull, destroying your brain and ending your life."

A buzzing sound filled Ichigo's ears as other players finally began to react, denying his words and attempting to leave only to be rebuffed by invisible walls. Beside him, Klein tried to laugh Kayaba's words off, but Kirito explained how due to the NerveGear's hardware it was entirely possible, even highly probable.

"This is crazy!" Klein muttered, eyes bright. "It's totally insane!"

"Despite my warning, the family and friends of some Players have tried to remove the NerveGear, an unfortunate decision to say the least." Kayaba's voice gave no indication that he felt any remorse when he dropped the bombshell. "As a result, the game now has two hundred and thirteen fewer players than when it began. They've been deleted from both Aincrad and the real world."

Ichigo's blood ran cold in his veins. Two hundred and thirteen people dead, just like that. He wondered what would happen to their souls, but quickly cut that line of thought when screens playing what looked like news programs began circling the game master, and messages of panic as the insidious plot was uncovered and cried to the masses.

"As you can see," Kayaba gestured to the rectangles vaguely, "international media outlets are covering this story around the clock, including the deaths. At this point, it's safe to assume that the risk of the NerveGear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a little comfort as you try to clear the game. It's important you remember the following: there is no longer any way to revive someone in the game. If your HP reaches zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system forever, and the NerveGear will simultaneously destroy your brain. There's only one way for a player to escape now, and that is to beat Sword Art Online. Right now, you are on Floor One, the lowest level of Aincrad. If you can get through the dungeon and beat the boss, you may proceed to the next level. Defeat the boss on Floor One Hundred and you will clear the game."

Voices immediately protested the likelihood of passing a freaking MMORPG, virtual reality or not.

("When was the last time you heard of someone clearing EverQuest?" someone shouted.

"When was the last time you heard of someone playing EverQuest?" another person retorted belligerently.

"...that's fair," the first player conceded.)

Kayaba, who was either ignoring the yelling or didn't have audio on his end, forged ahead. "Last but not least, I've placed a little present in the item storage of every player. Please have a look."

All around Ichigo, players were accessing their inventory and pulling out the 'gift'. Ichigo did the same and frowned at the innocent-looking mirror while holding it like a poisonous snake. Sudden flashes of light began to engulf the gathering, and Ichigo spun when he heard Klein and Kirito cry out in surprise.

Before he could go to their aid he, too, was blinded by a searing blue glow.

"Klein, are you alright?" Kirito's voice asked.

"Yeah, I'm...wait, who are you?" Klein responded, bewildered.

"I'm me, who are you?" Kirito returned, just as confused.

Ichigo looked at them and immediately saw the problem. Kirito's handsome face had seemingly regressed to an almost cherubic appearance, with slightly chubby cheeks and a stubborn chin while Klein had become scruffier-looking, with a crooked nose and patches in his stubble where it had before been even.

"I'm guessing that's how you look RL?" Ichigo surmised quietly. They both turned to him and their eyebrows rose.

"You were actually gonna play with yours?" Klein turned the question back on him, then shook his head. "Never mind that; how is he doing this?"

"The scan..." murmured Kirito, cupping his chin in thought. "There's a high-density signal device inside the NerveGear rig. It can see what my face looks like, but how's it know my height and body type?"

"When I first put on the NerveGear, I had to perform some type of manual calibration," Ichigo recalled. "It asked me to touch certain points on my body."

Kirito nodded in recognition, still looking troubled, and for good reason. It was Klein who voiced those worries, though.

"So we know how he's got our images, who cares?" the still-redhead snapped, gazing angrily up at Kayaba. "What the hell's the point of all this?"

"I think he's about to tell us," Kirito said gravely, and he was proven right when the massive figure spoke again.

"Right now, you are probably wondering, 'Why? Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and NerveGear, do this?' Ultimately, my goal was a simple one: the reason I created Sword Art Online was to control the fate of a world of my design. As you can see, I have achieved my goal."

Ichigo gnashed his teeth together to stop himself from spewing a torrent of hatred and frustration. This was Aizen all over again, except this time he didn't have any more powerful allies who could aid him in gaining strength. This man with the desire to play god was in full control in the world he'd made, and Ichigo could do nothing to even the odds. He didn't even know most of the game mechanics, if his earlier conversation with Kirito and Klein was anything to go by.

"This marks the end of the tutorial and the official launch of SAO," Kayaba said, bowing his head ever-so-slightly in mocking humility. "Players, I wish you the best of luck."

The quietude was palpable as the figure vanished into thin air and the red hue disappeared along with the dome of warning notifications. Then, a young girl screamed out and the proverbial floodgates were opened. People called out frantically, unable to fully comprehend the situation they'd found themselves in and grasping at something, anything to do.

Ichigo's scowl deepened, and he realized that he was going to have to do something. No one else seemed like they even had their heads on straight, let alone be calm enough to ease the tension of all the players. He saw Kirito tense and reach for his and Klein's arms to pull them away, but Ichigo preempted the younger player and caught his wrist.

"Stay here for a moment and watch Artemis for me, would you?" he requested, making sure that his face didn't betray the sudden churning in his gut as he made his choice.

"What are you—?" Kirito began, but Ichigo turned and headed toward the closest corner of the clock tower and began to climb the spire there. If he'd tried to ascend to the top of the tower everyone would be too terrified to listen, and they probably wouldn't be able to hear him from up there anyway.

Ichigo pulled himself the final few feet to the top of the spire and straightened up. Only a few players had taken notice of his ascent, and he cleared his throat, swallowing the anxiety he was feeling.

"OI!" he hollered at the top of his lungs, forcing his voice to rise above the terrified din of the panicked people below. "SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

The buzz of overwrought voices were cut off almost immediately, making way for a shocked silence as every single player's attention focused on him. For a moment Ichigo faltered, feeling the weight of ten thousand gazes upon him at once, but he donned a scowl to hide his nerves and steeled himself. What the hell was he scared of? A bit of public speaking was nothing compared to the absolute nightmare of the Afterlife...right?

Nodding, Ichigo swept his eyes over the assembled crowd and saw naked fear on every face. That wouldn't do at all, so he pointed the spot where Akihiko Kayaba's gigantic form had floated minutes ago. "First off, let's take a moment to say fuck that guy." A wave of slightly hysterical laughter rippled through the assembly, and Ichigo took that as a good sign.

"That asshole just made the worst mistake of his life," he began. "He thinks that because he shows up as a big spooky projection that he can intimidate us, make us afraid. He thinks now he's got us stuck in this game that he can do whatever the fuck he wants. He thinks that we'll bow down to him and die like the good little sheep we are. Well, you know what? He's dead fucking wrong."

"This world that he created is dangerous, we can all agree on that," Ichigo acknowledged, and despondent noises followed, but he forged on. "But the world we've lived in our entire lives is dangerous. Maybe not in the same way, but people die all the damn time. That's life, and you can just suck it up and deal with it. Here, though...this world is governed by numbers and systems that are designed to make sense. Out there, the real world, it's fucking nuts. You could be the most careful person on the planet but any of a million-billion things could happen to you and poof, you're dead."

"You all are gamers, and this is a game world! You know the rules, you know what to expect. The only reason you're panicking is because Dick-Head Kayaba wants you to be!" He watched in satisfaction as realization began to dawn on the faces turned toward him. "You think that big song-and-dance of his just now was for shits and giggles? He calculated just what kind of effect that would have on us, and you're playing right into his hand. Are you just gonna lay down and assume the position for him?"

There was a single, heart-stopping moment of ringing silence. Then a single voice called out. "Fuck that!" Ichigo looked down and shot a grateful smirk at Klein, who had spoken up. Soon, others were denying their willingness to take it up the ass from some programmer, and instead of the frenzied terror from before the crowd had been roused with their chests full of righteous fury and indignant defiance.

"The only way we're going to stay alive and make it to the top of this place is together," Ichigo proclaimed once the fervor died down a bit, and he saw nods of agreement all across the host of players. "Beta Testers, you were able to play the first few levels, so you know a lot more about this place than the rest of us do. We'll need your expertise if we're to survive long enough to get competent."

A diminutive figure wearing a familiar cloak stepped out of the crowd, and while the face that peered up at him wasn't the one he was expecting the voice was undoubtedly Argo's.

"I would be happy to provide any general information I have free of charge," she declared. "Special quests will still be full price." One by one, other people came forward, claiming to be beta testers, including Kirito.

"That's that, then," Ichigo said loudly so everyone could hear. "Let's all get some rest so we can beat this game and shove Kayaba's words straight back down his throat on the hundredth floor!"

A massive cheer rose from the multitudes that lasted a solid minute. Slowly, the crowd departed in clumps until only Ichigo, Kirito, Klein, Argo, and Artemis remained. For whatever reason, Argo seemed a little leery of his Dire Wolf.

"That was quite impressive, Zangetsu," the info-broker said as he dropped to the ground. "The opening ceremony could have ended much differently if you hadn't spoken up."

"I saw a problem and I tried my best to fix it," he shrugged, running a hand restlessly through his hair. "Thanks for stepping forward; I'm not sure if the others would have done the same if you hadn't."

The girl smiled. Her new (old) face wasn't as obviously attractive as her avatar's had been, but it strangely suited her. "I'm sure your rousing speech would have stirred the goodness of their hearts. I should get going myself; I'll need to come up with some new tactics and strategies now that the game-play has changed so irreversibly."

"Take care, Argo," Ichigo waved. She nodded, gave a brief mistrustful look toward Artemis, and then left the courtyard.

"So...that happened," Klein chuckled nervously. "Where the hell did you learn to talk like that?"

"I always speak my mind, Klein," Ichigo snorted. "I just had a bigger audience this time."

"I don't think I would have been able to do that," Kirito said, looking pale just at the thought. "That took a lot of guts."

"Just stubbornness and a bad attitude," Ichigo denied humbly. "We'd better get some rest, too. Tomorrow's a big day, and there won't be time for a break any time soon."


After-Action Report: And there we have it. So now people aren't as hopelessly panicked as last time, the beta testers have been given the opportunity to help more openly without any bias (or without much bias, humans being humans and all), and the Players have been rallied. What else did you expect from Ichigo "The Determinator" Kurosaki?

So now he's got a Dire Wolf companion, the Familiar skills of a Beast Tamer, and the recognition of being the guy who stopped everyone from falling into a spiral of panic and depression. Suffice to say he's going to have a lot more nicknames by the end, and you can probably guess one by now, it being the title and everything.

Ichigo's ability to wield two weapons simultaneously isn't that much of a big deal. There's that guy in Titan's Hand or whatever that orange guild was who had two axes, and the 'sword-and-board' technique is not much different. Ichigo's officially the first person to come up with an Outside System Skill, and it'll be put to use pretty fast.

And some of you may have noticed the references go SAO Abridged series by Something Witty Entertainment. If you haven't heard of it, go watch it now!

Tell me what you all think, and let me know if I've made some grave error or something so I can fix it ASAP. I appreciate everyone reviewing, favoriting, and following this story, and I hope everyone has a great day!