The next day, Haruko logged in and sat calmly by the Chaos Gate. He yawned. "Ah, this is going to be a great day. My paper's all done, the afternoon's clear, and there's nothing but time to spend here." He blinked as a short mail message appeared on his screen. "Huh? Oh, Henako-chan. I wonder what's up now."

He read the message and frowned. Quickly, he sent a reply. Got it. Hang in there for just a bit longer. He glanced around. "Blast it, where's Akiko-kun?" He opened his friends list, and then contacted both Akiko and Yuki. Henako-chan was just attacked by an AIDA. I need you both to come with me and help fight it off.

Within moments, a pair of rings appeared, and Akiko and Yuki appeared in a shimmer of light. Haruko blinked at Akiko's new appearance. "Geez, Akiko-kun, you look like some kind of heroic knight or something. Like something out of the medieval ages, I mean."

Akiko grinned and flipped his long cape over one shoulder, revealing silvery armor beneath. "And you look like something out of a Shinsengumi manga. But come on, we'd better hurry. Who knows what kind of terrible things Morganna's up to now?"

Haruko nodded, and turned to the Chaos Gate. "Right. Luckily, Zefie-chan has no idea about any of this, and I want it to stay that way."

Yuki grinned. "Hey, of course. We've all sworn to protect her no matter the cost, right? So what's the area word?"

Haruko raised his katana. "Δ Sorrowing Marble's Phoenix. Luckily, it's a field and not a dungeon, or we'd have no hope of making it there in time." The three players vanished, blue spheres of light streaking into the Chaos Gate as the currents of the ancient Crest technology wafted them onward.

At the field, Haruko glanced around. "Good, there she is." He stared at the space above her. Enormous black dots flashed and moved in the sky. "And there it is. Blast it, why'd it have to pick now to show up?" He glared over at Henako's companions. "And she's brought along some newbies; no doubt to help them level." He ground his teeth together. "Perfect timing, Morganna!" he shouted at the heavens. He sighed. "How could this get worse?" he moaned, as the three ran over to Henako's group.

Henako looked over as Haruko and the others arrived and grinned. "Hey guys! Isn't this exciting?"

Akiko keeled over anime-style in mid-run and slid several feet. "Are you kidding me? The three of you are in big trouble if that AIDA decides to attack!"

Henako shrugged. "Well, yes, it was dangerous at first, and very scary, but nothing's come through yet, and now you three are here, so there's nothing to worry about! Come on, we have the Guild Master and the three Unit Captains of the Twilight Guardians here now. Nobody gets by us!"

Haruko blinked. "She's got a point. And as long as it doesn't…" He broke off, staring. "Never mind. Here it comes; get ready, everyone!" He pulled out his blade and took up a ready stance.

Yuki stared as she drew out her staff. "Where? All I see is those black spots all over the place."

Haruko blinked. "Right there, in the middle of them. It's coming through…" He stared as the creature emerged entirely. "What the… what is that thing?" he shouted.

Akiko shrugged. "Still don't see anything. Are you all right?"

Haruko gestured to the AIDA frantically. "Don't you see it? That amorphous… thing, whatever it is?"

"Yeah, can't you, guys? It's right there," came a voice. Atoli ran back to Haruko's side, trembling at the sight. "It's like some horrible jellyfish… I hate jellyfish!"

Henako shrugged. "Well, I can't see anything either…"

Haruko blinked. "Atoli-san? You can see it too?" He sighed. "This is not good. What is going on?"

"It's hidden, except from those that have eyes to see it," came a soft voice. In a whirl of feathers, Zefie appeared next to them. "That type of AIDA… Morganna must have modeled it after the Avatars."

Haruko stared. "So only someone with an Avatar can see it. That makes sense, then." He blinked. Wait… does that mean that Atoli-san has an Avatar as well?

Atoli raised her hand. "Um, Zefie, I can see it too. But what's an Avatar?"

Zefie grinned. "It means that you have a mysterious power inside of you, Atoli. Haruko also has this power. You'll see for yourself, once you awaken it."

Haruko shrugged. "Except I still have virtually no control over it. And Atoli-san's probably hasn't even awakened yet. So what now, Zefie-chan?"

Zefie frowned and aimed a punch over his shoulder. "Idiot. Your weapons will damage an Avatar's barrier just like they would any monster. It's just that they won't do much because an Avatar is so strong."

Haruko nodded. "Right. Even for something like AIDA, there is no such thing as infinity. And Kite-sama fought off plenty of Data Bugs without an Avatar. But we can't fight what we can't see."

Zefie grinned. "Well, then, I'll just have to grant the others the power to see it, won't I?" She raised her hands. "Let their eyes be opened!" she intoned. Energy flared in her hands. Haruko grimaced and ducked as an evil glint flashed in Zefie's eyes.

A moment later, four giant boxing gloves shot out of Zefie's outstretched hands and smacked everyone square in the face, except for Haruko and Atoli. Haruko groaned. "Please tell me you only grazed them this time, Zefie-chan."

Zefie grinned. "Hey! Zefie's a good girl, remember?"

Haruko rolled his eyes. "Well… they'll be able to see the AIDA now, right?" He sighed. "Geez… you're Aura-sama's daughter, all right."

Henako blinked and stared upwards. "Oh. Okay, Kira, run fast and get out of here. Trust me, you don't want to be hit by this thing."

Kira, a black-garbed Edge Punisher, nodded and ran towards the platform. There was a flash of light as he vanished. Akiko drew out his new lance and grinned. "Finally, a chance to test my new skills in real combat."

Haruko frowned. "Keep your guard up, Akiko-kun. Zefie-chan said this thing has a powerful barrier." He sighed, concentrating hard. "Come on, work! Prisma!" he shouted. Nothing happened. Haruko cursed. "Why doesn't it ever work when we really need it to?" He stared angrily up at the creature above them. "And is there anything Morganna is not willing to mock? Honestly!" He charged the AIDA, and put a powerful slash across its middle. The enemy rippled under the force of the strike, but seemed undamaged. Only a small scratch across the barrier that covered it betrayed the fact that anything at all had happened. Haruko snorted. "A scratch, huh? Well, that's a start."

Yuki pivoted gracefully, then brought her grimoire down with a quick motion and shouted, "Vak Don!" A barrage of fireballs fell from the sky and impacted on the AIDA, leaving blackened patches where the barrier had been struck. She grinned smugly. "Ouch, I don't think he liked that." She turned to Haruko. "Say, why can't you just Data Drain it?"

Haruko shook his head. "First of all, I'm still a long way from being able to control the bracelet, and second, because of that barrier. It will reflect the attack, and all I'll manage to do is maybe cause some damage to the barrier itself." With a flash of light, he sheathed his katana and drew out his twin blades, whirling them around. "Sword Dance!" he yelled, as he spun around and delivered several swift strikes, followed by a powerful overhand attack.

Akiko shot past him, broadsword out and swinging furiously. The AIDA stood the beating for a few moments, then swung one long tendril and knocked him aside. Henako dashed to his side and began chanting a recovery spell. Haruko grit his teeth, and then launched another Sword Dance strike. Akiko rose and joined in. "Twin Moons!" he shouted, and swung his blade in two massive arcs. A long crack appeared in the barrier, and Haruko nodded in satisfaction.

Up above, energy began to flow into the head of the AIDA. Haruko saw this and yelped. "Akiko! Look out!" With no other option, he struck Akiko with a charged strike to knock him out of the way, and then swung his twin blades up just before a massive laser blast swept out from the enemy's head.

The force of the attack swept aside Haruko's guard easily and sent him flying backwards to land on his back in the grass. He groaned and sat up gingerly. "What was that?" he muttered.

A voice broke in on his thoughts. "Haruko-san! Are you all right?"

He looked up. "Atoli-san? Why are you still here? This is too dangerous… ugh!" He groaned and clutched his stomach.

Atoli knelt down besides him. "Repth!" she shouted, healing energy surging through her and into Haruko's body. Shakily, Haruko rose to his feet. At his side, Atoli quickly cast another Repth spell. As another tendril swept down at him, Haruko nimbly sidestepped it, and then with a flash, his katana swept through the air and cut it cleanly in two. He smiled grimly, rubbing at the corner of his mouth as if to wipe away something.

He turned to Atoli. "Don't worry, Atoli-san. I'll protect you."

Atoli blinked. "What were you doing to your face, Haruko-san?" She gasped. "Are you… in real life…?"

Haruko nodded grimly. "This is why AIDA is such a dangerous phenomenon. And why I was so worried about you. Because they are so far outside the game, they can influence even real life."

Henako nodded. "Think of it like 'The Matrix'- you know that old movie, right? If you hurt the player's mental self enough, it will manifest as real pain outside of the game."

Yuki giggled. "What is it with you and that movie, Henako? It was good, but it's still pretty weird."

Akiko rolled his eyes. "It's Henako, remember? She loves weird stuff, especially science-fiction stuff like that."

Haruko laughed, and then suddenly began coughing. "Blast it," he groaned, falling to one knee. "I must have taken more damage from that beam than I thought. If this is my limit, then we're in a lot of trouble." The AIDA quickly took advantage of this opportunity, thrusting one long tendril at him. He squeezed his eyes shut and braced for the attack.

It never came. Slowly, he opened his eyes, and saw a green blur. He blinked, and then suddenly understood. Blond hair brushed his face as he leapt to his feet. Atoli stood just in front of him, a grim smile on her face and a broken staff in her hands. The attack had hit her directly, and the tendril still stuck deep into her belly. She coughed. "I'm sorry… Haruko-san. I… couldn't block it," she said, as she wavered.

Something seemed to snap in Haruko's eyes. With one swift motion, he grabbed the tendril and ripped it out of the AIDA by the root. It withered and vanished into smoke. Unsupported, Atoli collapsed. Haruko managed to catch her, and then laid her gently on the ground. "Hang on, Atoli-san. I won't let it hurt you any more." He knelt by her side. "Repth," he whispered, healing to the best of his limited abilities. "What were you thinking, Atoli-san?" he murmured, as she raised herself unsteadily on hands and knees.

She smiled, and Haruko was struck suddenly by how cute she was. "If you're going to use an honorific, I'd prefer –chan. We're friends, aren't we?"

Haruko blinked. "Well… you're right, actually. But in exchange," he grinned, "You have to call me Haruko-kun, 'kay?"

A small hand fell on Haruko's shoulder. "Haruko, go on and finish it off. I'll make sure Atoli's all right." Zefie looked up at him. "Be careful. If your mind is clouded, you'll never be able to call it."

Haruko nodded, rising firmly to his feet. My mind is clear. Only one thing remains: to summon my power. To protect my friends and annihilate the enemy- these two wishes together summons the Duality. Raising one hand, he shouted, "Prisma!" As the magic began to swirl around Haruko, Zefie grinned. "Come on, Atoli," she giggled. "You asked about Avatars before, right? Well, here's your answer."

Grey wisps of magic were now swirling swiftly around Haruko. As Atoli raised her head wearily and watched, two figures flew out of the mist in opposite directions. They quickly resolved themselves into a regal young girl in a white robe and a feral boy in black armor.

The boy spoke first. "Yes! Finally, that idiot figured out how to release us again!"

The girl blinked, blowing a lock of blond hair out of her eyes. "Uh, Yami? 'That idiot' is the sum of you and me, you know. You just insulted yourself." She ran to Atoli's side, drawing out a long staff. As her hair blew in the wind, Atoli was surprised to note that her ears were pointed.

Atoli blinked as the elf-girl knelt beside her. "Um…"

The girl smiled. "I'm Hikari, and the barbarian over there is Yami. We're personifications of Haruko's light and dark side." She raised her staff and chanted something under her breath, pouring a powerful healing spell into Atoli.

Yami grinned, adjusting his gauntlets. "Guess which is which." He took up a fighting stance and glared up at the AIDA. "Huh. I think I'm annoyed with these stupid things, for once."

Hikari rolled her eyes. "Yami, we don't have much time here. Haruko was pretty badly hurt by that attack."

Yami nodded, black glyphs shimmering around him. "I know." He grinned wildly. "All right, come on then! Chaos!" He screamed the last word, as black energy suddenly surged around him.

Hikari grinned. "Don't miss this, Atoli. You haven't seen an Avatar transformation before, have you?"

As the energy surged around him, Yami rose slowly into the air. He grinned manically as a giant right arm crystallized itself around his, shortly followed by the other arm. Two legs, curled up in a ball, followed, and finally a leering horned skull appeared atop the creature. With a quick motion, he uncurled, and a surge of energy blew out from him. The form flickered, and for a moment, Yami appeared in his usual form, laughing insanely.

Everyone stared at this strange new titan. "So that's what it looks like," breathed Akiko.

Henako shrugged. "It looks pretty human- well, minus the black and red coloring, and the fangs, and whatnot…"

Yuki shook her head. "Too thin. This thing looks more like a skeleton than a human. And the arms are so long…"

Atoli stared. "It's like a demon…" she mused. "Is that what an Avatar is?"

Yami chuckled darkly, curling and uncurling clawed fingers. "Actually, my normal form is that of a demon. Chaos is an archfiend, my dear. I told you, I'm Haruko's dark side." He snapped two fingers together, and a small sphere of dark energy smashed into the AIDA. "Hah!" he shouted, clenching his fists and charging.

Hikari sighed. "Show-off," she muttered, kneeling. Her eyes closed, even as Chaos tore at the AIDA and was forced back by another beam strike. "Please, come to our aid… Archos!" she shouted.

As before, energy surged around her, though white this time. Feathers fell through the air as, with a bright flash, the Avatar crystallized itself around her. Atoli stared. "It's… beautiful…" was all she could manage to say.

Hikari laughed, the Avatar form flickering around her for a moment. "Thank you, Atoli." She stretched her wings, examining one slim arm and the silver bands that hung gently on it. The palm, similar to a human's but more delicate, shimmered with white light. "It feels good to be able to take on this form again," she mused, and then laid the hand gently on Atoli's brow and began to chant softly. "Haruko is strong-willed, but he's only managed to call on us once before." Atoli sighed as energy coursed softly through her, healing the damage the attack had done to her. "That really was foolish, you know." She thrust her other hand out, and the beam attack the AIDA had just fired at them reflected harmlessly off of a shimmering shield. "It takes incredible mental strength to be struck by AIDA and even remain conscious. You took a terrible risk."

Atoli giggled, rising slowly to her feet. "It's all right. Although this," she waved the broken head of her staff, "might be a problem."

Yami laughed. "You got off easy, you little idiot. You know people have gone into comas from being attacked by these things?"

Hikari sighed. "Ignore him, Atoli. He seems to take delight in upsetting people."

Atoli shrugged. "Dark side, right? So, what should I do now?"

Akiko flew past them as he charged the AIDA again. "Stay behind Hikari and keep safe. Yami's right; you're lucky you're not in a coma right now. We've already lost one good friend to these things. I don't want to see another get caught up in this."

Yuki twirled her staff, and then thrust it upwards. At her command, a tornado sprung out of the ground just below the AIDA, battering the damaged barrier. Henako joined in with a water spell of her own. New cracks appeared in the barrier, and Chaos tore gleefully at them with black claws. "Just a bit more…" he muttered.

Suddenly, both Chaos and Archos dissolved, leaving Yami and Hikari standing on the ground, looking puzzled. Then, a grey mist swirled around them both, and left behind only Haruko, lying flat on his back on the ground. "No…" he groaned.

Henako dashed to his side, closely followed by Atoli. "Are you alright?" they asked in unison.

Haruko tried to struggle to his feet, but fell heavily back down. "I… guess I've hit my limit. I'm sorry… everyone." He turned to Zefie. "Especially you, Zefie-chan. The whole reason… I'm here… is to protect you and Aura-sama. And I couldn't… even do that." He broke off, breathing heavily.

Akiko and Yuki joined the others at Haruko's side. "You idiot," muttered Akiko. "You're always trying to do too much. I thought you considered me- all of us- to be your equals. So why won't you let any of us take on the pain you do?"

Haruko grinned, and struggled up again. Leaning on his sword, he managed to sit up. "You're my equals… but you're also my friends." he panted. "I can't stand to see my friends in pain. It's just… my nature." He smiled grimly as he got to his feet. "Well then… let's finish this thing off together. I didn't buy all those scrolls for nothing, you know." He raised his hand, shimmering with magic. "One last good strike… should finish off that barrier."

Yuki nodded. "I'll start. Vak Don!" Fireballs fell from the sky.

"Rue Kruz!" called Henako. Water gushed up to meet the flames.

"Gan Bolg!" shouted Akiko. Rocks rose up from the ground and then crashed down again.

Haruko gripped his blade and focused. "Zan Rom!" he shouted. A whirlwind sprang up, whirling the other three spells along with it into a powerful strike.

Under the onslaught of the four elements, the AIDA let out a loud shriek as its barrier exploded into a thousand glass shards. An icon reading "Protect Break OK!" appeared. Haruko grinned fiercely. "Focus, Haruko," came a whispered voice in his ear. He nodded. "I know," he whispered back, as the Twilight Bracelet began to shine golden. "Data… Drain!" he shouted.

Golden light shone from his hand, and as he thrust it forward, an orb of shining energy stabbed out and struck at the heart of the AIDA. A terrible screech rang out as streams of data burst out of it and flowed into Haruko's right hand. He grinned grimly. "You lose this round, Morganna," he whispered, as a great gleaming orb flew out of the creature. "This is the power of the Twilight that you fear so much." He caught the orb deftly and crushed it, and the AIDA dissolved into smoke like the end of a terrible nightmare. He smiled softly, then fell back and blacked out.