9 Years Later (2022)
"Guys!" Mikey yelled, "I got it!"
His brothers looked up from the things they were doing.
"You got the NerveGear?" Donnie exclaimed.
"Since I got it, I'll try it out first!" Mikey grinned, "Sorry, bros!"
"No problem," Leo smiled, "Just get off after an hour."
"Yeah, sure." Mikey jumped onto the couch, put the NerveGear on, and yelled, "Link start!"
The world faded away into bright flashes of light, and a login screen appeared in front of him. He typed in the login he had committed to memory.
"Welcome to Sword Art Online," Someone chimed, and suddenly he was in a village. Mikey looked around, grinning.
This is gonna be awesome! I look like a human, too! Sweet!
His grin widened, and he walked forward to explore the place.
He sighed.
Ah, it's been an hour. It was so fun, though!
He swiped with his hand and opened the menu.
Hang on. Where's the logout button?
Mikey frowned, and looked at the few people walking past him.
"Hey," He asked one of them, "Where's the logout button?"
"It should be there," They pointed, and frowned, "Hang on. It's not there."
They swiped with their hand and checked their menu. Mikey peeked over their shoulder. It wasn't there.
"Uh," They frowned, "I dunno. I can't find it, either. That's weird."
"I know," He agreed, "I need to get off, anyway. I'm sharing this one headset with my brothers, so I had one hour."
"Sorry, I have no idea what's going on. It should be there."
"Ah, no problem. I'm sure it's just a bug or something."
Mikey walked off, and allowed himself to panic a little bit.
Why isn't it there? It should be there! It's supposed to be there!
He shook his head and wandered forward.
Why did we all get teleported here?
He looked over the heads of the other people, frowning.
All of a sudden the sky was filled with flashing warning signs in red. He yelped at the sight of them.
Red stuff started oozing out of the cracks between the warning signs, forming a giant person. Mikey gasped.
"Who… who is that?" He managed.
"No idea." Someone replied.
It just happened to be that time when a memory took over.
Emma saw him before he cut her.
Sharp blades were strewn all across his clothing, his eyes hidden beneath a mask.
The Shredder.
He raced across the room, and before she knew it, the blade was in her arm. She gasped at the pain.
"Tell me where Splinter is," He hissed, "Or else."
"Never." She whispered back.
"Fine." He grabbed her, slammed her into a wall, and took her clothes off.
Mikey's eyes widened at the memory.
Shredder… raped Emma?
He looked up at the giant man, who was still speaking, but he couldn't hear him over his shock.
He… he…
A small growl of fury made its way out of his mouth, startling the players around him.
He did not!
Mikey's limbs were trembling. His teeth were clenched.
No.
He fell to his hands and knees.
That was when the players around him started changing. He stood up, frowning.
What's up with them?
He yelped as his own body was consumed in light. When it disappeared, he was no longer a human.
He was a turtle. A freak. Like usual.
People noticed almost immediately what he looked like. They stared at him, like he was a monster. They yelled and screamed and tried to get away from him. But all he did was stare back at them, sadness in his eyes.
Humans will never understand me. Not now, not ever. I'll always be a freak. In this game, anyway. I can't shape-shift in here.
There was one person, though, that stared at him almost sympathetically. They walked up to him and frowned.
"What are you?" They asked, "You're like… a turtle."
Mikey looked down, "I… yeah, I am."
"I'm Kirito." Kirito smiled.
"Mikey." Mikey frowned, "What did that guy say?"
"Oh, that we can't log out of the game and if we die in the game we die in real life, and we die if the NerveGear is removed."
He froze, "What? But… my brothers!"
"I'm sure they'll be fine."
"They'll be so worried, though."
"Just be glad that you're the one going through this, not them."
He's right. They'll be worried sick, but at least they'll be out of danger.
He glanced at Kirito.
I hope they won't worry.
