Chapter 9: "The Thunder Breaks"
At the entrance floor, the Sorcerer and the other Laughing Coffin members walked in to see the receptionist's unconscious body. Perhaps the force of the short-burst was a bit more powerful than he intended. But all the same, it was one less obstacle to worry about. But the way Johnny Black saw it, he saw an opportunity to make his kill.
"Hehe... can I do the honors?"
"Settle down, boy. She's not our concern."
Knowing where to take his next step, the Sorcerer turned to a member wearing the black coat before he spoke.
"Shinkawa, I believe you know what needs to be done."
As he responded to the Sorcerer, he only gave a determined glance as he replied to his master.
"Oh, I know what needs to be done, alright."
"Excellent. Now, split up and search every inch of the building. Knowing our adversary, they're sure to have sent the patients to the bunker for protection. We are to infiltrate said bunker and find them."
At that moment, PoH spoke up to the Sorcerer for the after result as he spoke.
"Understood. But what's the terms in taking prisoners?"
"There will be no prisoners. With our current facility, any prisoner we take will see a way out and escape. That is simply a risk we cannot take. Which is why no one but us will leave this building and live."
As the Sorcerer got Shinkawa widening his eyes out of surprise and horror, he spoke to the rest of his members, seemingly oblivious to Shinkawa's feelings on the matter.
"Moving on, Shinkawa, you and Johnny Black will search upstairs for any stragglers and dispose of them cleanly, but you will leave Mr. Kayaba to me. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir."
With that, the brothers took off for the patients' rooms as the Sorcerer watched them go with a smirk on his face, knowing that they will, at the very least, keep whoever's left occupied while he attends to the project he's been searching for.
Meanwhile, Kazuto, Suguha, and Sachi were cooped up in the hospital room in defense mode, having just taken notice of what's happened in the building and to other buildings as Suguha looked out of the window and noticed the power outage.
"Uh, Kazuto? There's been a power outage."
"Can you be able to check on your phone?"
As Suguha got her phone out to check, however, she noticed that it wouldn't come on as she gave the update to him.
"No luck. The phones are down, too."
This made Kazuto surprised as he widened his eyes before he pieced it together. With the current thunderstorm going on, he knew that the Sorcerer, whoever he was, must have used a short-range EMP. Added a with the chances of lightning striking in this weather, a power outage would seem to be the case to the people out of the general area so that it wouldn't attract too much attention. There was only one more factor to determine to be sure of what time they have left.
"Right. How many buildings do you think have been knocked out?"
"Well, from what I can see, it looks like it's... six more buildings. And that's just in a close radius."
"A close radius... that only gives us a short time before the power comes back on. If it ever does, that is. And with the Medicuboid out, we'd be on our own. Darn it. This Sorcerer guy really did think of everything."
Before he could work out what to do in that time frame, Kazuto heard Sachi's voice speaking to him.
"Kirito... what do you think's going to happen?"
As Kazuto took notice of Sachi's concerned look, he remembered the time he'd seen that same look on her face, back when she was afraid to die. At least, that was the case before he made a promise to her, that she wasn't going to die. Alas, he was unable to keep that promise, resulting in the death of the Moonlit Black Cats. And when it seemed like he would live forever with such a devastating thought that he couldn't save her, Korai came along and helped to revitalize her by altering the resurrection item's code to be effective for 5 days rather than 5 seconds. Although he wasn't willing to make any vain promises, Kazuto knew that Korai wouldn't let him down, especially not with such a solid strategy. As such, he reassured Sachi of this as he gently held his hand on hers.
"I don't know. But we've prepared for this. We're staying right here for you. Whoever shows up, we'll be ready for them."
As Sachi heard his words, she began to smile back at him, having just as much faith as she did about him back when she found out he was a Beater. With all he's been through, added in with what she went through herself, she came to trust him more than anyone. Although, that didn't mean she wasn't worried. They are practically standing in a war zone, after all.
"Okay. But please be careful."
"Don't worry. I will."
As Kazuto reassured her, they began to hear footsteps approaching. Could that be them already? As much as he wanted to confirm it, Kazuto didn't want to go rushing in blindly a that would put him and his partners at great risk. And besides, seeing a repeat of Sachi's demise was the last thing he wanted.
"Someone's coming. You ready, Sugu?"
"Yeah, Kazuto."
"Good. We'll need some weapons to defend ourselves."
"Right."
As the footsteps grew closer, Kazuto and Suguha looked around the room for any weapons they could use. Alas, the only items they could find were that of surgical utensils. Normally, a gun would be ideal, but they weren't given such a tool of destruction to defend with. So, it was the best they could do for now. As they managed to get the knives ready, they heard a jiggling on the door handle before a voice spoke up.
"Oh, you think a locked door could keep me out forever? How naive of you..."
As he heard the voice speaking, Kirito knew that voice sounded familiar.
"Wait... that voice. I know it, but where?"
As Kazuto tried to figure that out, the door began to jolt viciously as his grunting could be heard in the process before Sachi trembled in fright, alerting Kazuto to her attention before he spoke.
"Don't worry, Sachi. He shouldn't be able to—"
Before he finished, the door suddenly flew open as the trio were forced back before the figure who managed to successfully break it, Johnny Black, snickered devilishly as he got Kazuto in his sights.
"Here's Johnny!"
Seeing him, Kazuto recognized him from before. After all, why wouldn't he? He and Shinkawa were in cahoots throughout the whole Death Gun experience. If he couldn't remember him after all of that, he wouldn't be trying.
"Johnny Black!"
At that moment, Kazuto acted on instinct to reach for a sword on his back. But at that moment, he also forgot that he had no sword on his back in this reality, much to Suguha and Sachi's confusion as Johnny laughed maliciously toward his momentary misstep.
"You idiot! You've got no sword here!"
As he pointed that out, Johnny began to get closer to them as he began to sneer angrily towards him. Remembering the ambush that took place on SAO, as well as the failed Death Gun experiment, Johnny didn't hesitate to give Kazuto the evil eye in spite of the Sorcerer's orders. Seeing the look of fury in him, Kazuto decided to play along to find a way to knock him down before he spoke.
"So, you guys are still on the run?"
"Of course. But the Sorcerer counted on that. That's why we're still here... but then, Perseus told you about him, didn't he?"
With that, Johnny began to laugh to himself slightly before it quickly became agitated and vexatious.
"Oh, Kirito... I can't believe you're the same dude who beat the crap out of us! But you're just some stubborn kid, ain't ya? Take away the swords, and you're nothing."
"Yeah, and what about you? You don't have your poison dagger."
Despite Kazuto's observation, Johnny's glaring and devilish smile told him he was wrong as he got it out from his back pocket, revealing a syringe.
"I don't? You sure about that, Kirito?!"
Seeing the syringe out ready to be used, Kazuto widened his eyes in panic as he remembered the weapon he used as Death Gun in GGO before he came to see Death Gun himself. At his moment of fear, "Death Gun" spoke to Kazuto as he held his "dagger" at the ready.
"You know, at first, I wanted to just stick this into your skin and watch the life leave your eyes. But the Sorcerer... he had a better idea. Once he told me the plan, I got ecstatic. So I decided 'why not strike it at the person he loved the most?'"
As Sachi heard this, she rightfully became scared as she cowered, making Johnny take notice of her before he spoke
"And I've got a feeling... that she's sitting right behind you, isn't she?"
As Kazuto acknowledged a threat from Johnny, he stood guard as he spoke.
"You stay away from her, Black!"
"Or else what? How can you possibly strike back if you can't even move?!"
With that, Johnny lurched towards Kazuto before getting out a surprise syringe from his left pocket, striking him in the arm before his eyes widened and he fell to the floor paralyzed, worrying Sachi and Suguha as they shouted.
"Kirito!"
"No!"
As Kazuto cringed at the liquid coursing through him, Johnny laughed insanely at his condition as he spoke boastfully.
"Like that special dose, Kirito? The Sorcerer cooked it up just for you. It won't stop your heart like my 'poison dagger', but it'll stifle your muscles long enough for you to watch the show. And now... it's time to begin the bloodbath."
As Johnny leaned closer to Sachi, she gasped as she tried to get away from him in vain as he grabbed her by the arm and held it out in front of Kazuto as he was forced to watch him take her life. If it wasn't for that serum, he would've done anything. Except, in his moment of triumph, Johnny seemed to have forgotten about Suguha as his eyes remained fixated on him while Suguha was trying to train her eyes on the syringe hovering over Sachi's arm.
"You know something else, Kirito? After all of that trouble you've put me through, I decided I'm not just gonna inject it. I'm gonna do it slowly and painfully until she falls dead on the ground... and then it'll be your turn. What do you think of that?! An eye for an eye, don't you think?!"
As Kazuto noticed Suguha preparing to strike from behind, he simply gave a smirk as he spoke to him.
"I'm not so sure."
"Huh?"
Given the moment, Suguha quickly tossed her surgical knife at the syringe, breaking the glass and causing the substance within to spill out, surprising Johnny before he was met with a sucker punch in the face from her as he was knocked to the wall before falling to the floor as Suguha checked on Kazuto.
"Kazuto! Are you alright?"
"Yeah. Just a little numb is all."
Seeing that he was still alive, Suguha helped him up to his feet before Kazuto grew concerned about Sachi, seeing as she was supposedly at the receiving end of the syringe.
"How's Sachi? Did she make it?"
"See for yourself."
As Kazuto looked at Sachi, he noticed her checking her arm for any bruises or punctures in the skin other than broken glass from Johnny's syringe, finding nothing on her as she took a deep breath of relief.
"That was close. Thanks, Sugu."
As Suguha smiled at being able to contribute, she looked back to Johnny's momentarily unconscious body with a fierce look, as did Kazuto before they spoke.
"Glad I could help. But I don't think now's the time. Where there's one of him..."
"There's more. I have to help Korai—"
Before Kazuto could make an attempt to, he realized he couldn't move his arms as he looked at his arm, still limping from Sugu's shoulder as she walked him over to Sachi before setting him beside her.
"That serum you were injected with just paralyzed you, Kazuto. You won't be able to help anyone like this."
As Kazuto felt the serum working inside his body, he couldn't help but agree with his stepsister.
"I hate to admit it, but I think you're right."
"It'll be okay. Just lie here with Sachi until it either goes away or we find a cure, okay?"
With that, Suguha laid Kazuto by Sachi, making her blush as she looked to her.
"And what about you?"
"I'll go see if the others need any help. Something tells me the other members might have the same trick up their sleeve."
With that, Suguha ran out of the room quickly, leaving Kazuto and Sachi by themselves while the former became embarrassed with the position he's placed in as he began to blush with Sachi taking notice before she hugged him, not willing to let him go, especially not after what happened with Johnny Black not too long ago.
"You told me you'd be careful..."
"I know. I'm sorry, Sachi. I let you down again."
"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're okay."
As the two stared in each other's eyes, Sachi and Kazuto smiled as they got each other to keep company. True they had Black's company as well, but for the moment, he's incapacitated. And they'll take any moment they can get with each other as long as he isn't trying to get to them again. However, that didn't mean they weren't worried about everyone else. That must've been why Suguha took off after all. If what she said is true, she'd be putting herself at risk as well. But then again, they already put themselves at risk just by being here; why would now be any different?
For Shino's case, it wasn't just a war zone. With any luck, she knew she'd be forced to confront Shinkawa again. But that situation alone wasn't what frightened her. It's how they'll meet each other. Last they saw each other officially, he tried to kill her before himself as he'd given up on this reality previously. She hasn't seen him since, but that memory of him was too fresh for her to just let it go and take it head on. Korai seemed to have figured that out as he recalled seeing someone with her picture in a jail with a separate juvenile center. As he remembered that memory from after his interrogation, Korai realized that he gave Shinkawa a word of advice that led to all of this in the first place. But the question is why? Did he not take it after all? Regardless, he could see the fear overcoming her resolve and had to say something to get her ready.
"Shino, I saw Shinkawa once."
"What? You did?"
"When I was leaving this jail, it had a different juvenile center. I saw someone with your pictures for some reason and I told him to find a new crowd."
As Shino heard this, she realized that her worst fears have come true, and yet... at the same time they haven't. Either he was in Laughing Coffin and still proving loyal to it, or he had his own reasons for joining it, just like Korai.
"Thanks for trying, but it didn't really help. At least not by much."
"Well, it could mean anything. I've said it before."
"I know. That's what I'm afraid of."
As Korai knew it was for good reason, he didn't bother trying to tell her to calm down this time; she was calm enough already. As he sighed, Shino grew quite anxious about the number of people they should expect from Laughing Coffin, their forces having whittled away the way they did.
"Hey, Korai. How many do you think came in here? The members of Laughing Coffin?"
"Well, if I were to make a guess... counting Shinkawa and PoH, that's about three. Four, if you're counting Johnny Black."
Hearing the numbers, Shino began to think that the number of precautions he had to make revolving around the hospital was a bit of overkill.
"That's it? Only four?"
"Yeah, but they're just as dangerous as they were in SAO. How do you think this building and many others got shut down? A power outage?"
"Well, yeah. Except... the nearest comms tower is far away. And for that to be the case, all of the buildings would've shut down. But they weren't."
"Exactly. Odds are, the short-range EMP might've been what did it. And if I'm right, the Medicuboid would've shut down."
"And then... Yuuki wouldn't be able to get the word out. Which means..."
"That's right."
As Shino let the danger of it all sink in, Korai attempted to remind her of the strategy he made as he spoke.
"Don't worry, though. We've—"
"Prepared for it, I know. But one thing I'm not prepared for is—"
Before she could finish her sentence, Shino heard footsteps approaching from down the hall and grew startled for a moment before composing herself so that she wouldn't attract too many of the members here and trying to remind herself of his plan.
"Okay. Relax. Stick to the plan, and you'll be fine."
Despite her reminder, Shino was still fearful of what could occur. Of course, it was to be expected, given their increasing odds of survival. All the same, whoever comes through the door next, Shino wouldn't hesitate to hold them at gunpoint. For such an occasion, she brought the very weapon that plagued her previously. Truth be told, although she has been getting better, Shino's phobia of guns still existed, percolating in her mind. But if she was to survive the night, she must overcome it and use it to fight back.
Much to her surprise, though, she found herself confronting the person she cared about. As she looked at him, she noticed his face riddled with panic on his face. And along with that, what she could make out to be a tinge of relief at seeing an old, familiar face. Seeing such a face from her adversary let Shino know who he really was.
"Shinkawa?"
"Asada..."
When he reached out to her, Shinkawa took notice of Korai and remembered when he passed his way after interrogating Sugou with a dead end. As Korai looked at him, he reminded him of the advice he'd given him, hoping he'll remember.
"I told you before, didn't I? To find a new crowd?"
"I can't. Not while Laughing Coffin is still out there."
Willing to hear him out, Shino lowered her weapon and tried to get to the root of his problems.
"Is that why you stayed with them? To stop them from the inside?"
"Yeah. They haven't suspected yet. But I found out what they were after. And they don't just want Korai or Kirito. They're after something else here."
This caught Korai's interest as he spoke up.
"What? What could they possibly want other than us?"
"A device that would help him and Laughing Coffin being real death everywhere."
As Shino heard this, she couldn't believe her ears. Wasn't that Death Gun scheme opposed already?
"You mean like with Death Gun?"
"Worse than Death Gun. The Sorcerer is looking for faster results. He's hoping that a project here would help him achieve that."
"What project? The only thing in this place worth anything is..."
At that moment, Korai widened his eyes as he figured it out. By itself, it wasn't particularly useful. But if it can be synced to one strap-on camera, or even a phone, imagine it synced into the major weapon systems of the world. As Korai pointed it out, Shinkawa wanted to do anything to keep Shino safe.
"The Medicuboid. That's why he used the EMP. To safely remove it once they find it."
"And to get rid of everyone in the building that much faster. That's why I wanted to look for you guys, to stop this before it all happens."
As Shino looked to him, she remembered how insane he was back then and began to have doubts, as much as she loved him.
"I don't mean to doubt you, but how do we know you won't betray us?"
"Asada, since my recovery, the last thing I want is for you to get hurt. Please, let me prove it to you."
Although she was hesitant, Shino took a deep breath before considering her options. On the one hand, she could reject his offer and remain with Korai alone. On the other, she could accept the risk and stop Laughing Coffin from getting the Medicuboid and cutting down the innocent patients. With so many lives at stake, Shino had to take the risk.
"Okay, Shinkawa. What do we have to do?"
"We have to get to the bunker and stop PoH from breaking in and attacking them."
"Why? Kurahashi's down in there with the patients. He should be keeping them safe while we take care of it. And what about the Medicuboid?"
With that, Korai stood up from his hospital bed, barely overcoming the vertigo from almost three days of the transfusion as he spoke up.
"Leave that to me. I'll tell Yuuki and Kiko about the Medicuboid and what's going on while you check on Kurahashi and keep the others safe. That work for you?"
As Shino and Shinkawa looked at him, the former nodded to him as she replied before she turned to Shinkawa.
"Alright. How do we do this?"
Inside Yuuki's room, she, Asuna, and Kiko were standing guard in case any of Laughing Coffin's members found them. While they stood guard, Yuuki sat in her wheelchair and tried to will herself to stand up as she felt as though the sugar cookies would've helped her to bear being able to stand by now. However, when she did try to stand, her legs became wobbly and she was about to fall when Asuna and Kiko noticed this before they caught her with their arms and set her back in the chair as Yuuki looked to them while Asuna and Kiko spoke to her.
"Easy, Yuuki."
"We know you want to help, but we can't take any risks."
"I don't get it. I thought those sugar cookies I ate would help me recover."
Hearing this, Kiko understood the confusion before she spoke.
"Oh, I see. Well, they're meant to help you recover your blood sugar so that you don't get dizzy."
"What? You mean... they can't help you walk again?"
"Not really."
When Yuuki became saddened by Kiko's revelation, Asuna felt there wasn't any need to feel that way, in spite of the situation going on around them.
"Well, you can't expect to be able to walk right away. You've been sitting in the hospital room for more than two years. It's bound to be a while."
"And how long is that, exactly?"
As Asuna was about to answer, she stopped herself before she held her head down before Yuuki spoke about her increasing situation.
"Man, I thought being able to live in the real world would be better for me, but... with Laughing Coffin, my vertigo, and how long I've been away from the real world... I'm beginning to think it was all a fluke."
As Yuuki sighed at her luck so far, before anyone could say anything, they heard delayed footsteps walking to their destination before squeaking followed those footsteps. At first, they initially thought that Laughing Coffin was approaching, but to hear wheels squeaking afterwards made it confusing for them. All the same, a lot could've happened between now and then. Presented little variety of what to use to defend themselves, Asuna and Yuuki were only passed a surgical knife while Kiko took a scalpel and the three of them got ready to defend themselves when Yuuki heard a familiar voice.
"Guys..."
"Huh? Wait, guys."
As they listened to the footsteps and squeaking getting closer, Yuuki heard his voice as if he was in the same room as her.
"You need to listen... the Medicuboid..."
"Korai?"
As he walked in view, they saw him overcoming his vertigo little by little while holding onto the bar that transferred plasma to him where he needed it. Yuuki was a bit upset that he's standing up so soon, but to be fair, his vertigo was a lot less severe than hers. All the same, Yuuki was just relieved to see him again.
"Korai!"
With that, she rolled her wheelchair over to him as she wrapped her arms around his waist before he grew accustomed to it as he smiled before he spoke to her.
"I'm glad you're okay, Yuuki. But listen, and this is very important."
The look on Korai's face was enough for Kiko to know it was very serious.
"What's going on?"
"Shinkawa just told me about what Laughing Coffin is here for. They're looking for the Medicuboid here."
This made Asuna and Yuuki concerned as they widened their eyes and spoke up.
"What? They're after the Medicuboid?"
"But why?"
"I don't know, and I don't want to find out. We need to guard it."
Considering what they had to work with, Asuna knew that wouldn't be very easy.
"Well, at least we got a start, but I think we'll need to be better equipped for it."
Korai would normally agree, but with the seriousness of the situation and how much time they have before they catch on, he didn't have enough of it to worry about that.
"There's no time. We'll just have to make do for now."
With that, Korai grabbed his bar and held it as a staff with the plasma hanging from it before he turned to Yuuki. With the situation happening in front of them, Korai was concerned about her well-being, more so than even his own.
"You doing okay?"
"Yeah. I am now."
At the stairs, Shino and Shinkawa were running down to the bunker level as they tried to think of a plan.
"So, what do we do, Shinkawa?"
"PoH must've found a way to break in by now. But we can't let you be seen if I'm gonna keep up appearances. So, for now, you'll have to stay hidden until I give the word."
With that, the two of them reached the bottom of the stairs before they stopped just by the door as she spoke.
"Or you can be the one staying here until I give the word. I've been recovering myself since what's happened between us."
"You have?"
With them close to their destination, Shino took the time to finish their conversation as she sighed.
"From my phobia, yeah. It wasn't easy to begin with, but... I'm getting there."
As Shinkawa heard this from Shino, he couldn't help but remember the time she was deathly afraid of guns. Judging from how Shino was holding her gun out the way others would have, she must've come a long way from her phobia since that night. He would've been mad at Kirito before, but he was recovering at the moment, and it helped him to be more mindful of others. Although, that wasn't to say he approved of him. However, it was his own possessiveness at the end that hurt her, not Kirito. If he was going to make it right, he needed to let her go.
"So, Asada... have you been seeing Kirito lately?"
As this caught her off guard, Shino looked to Shinkawa and grew embarrassed.
"You mean go on a date? N-No, not really. Why do you ask?"
"It's just... when I was recovering, I realized I was being more than forward with you. And that I hurt you in the process."
"Shinkawa, that's okay. You went through a lot yourself."
"Yeah. But... what I'm trying to say is, if you want to see Kirito, I won't hold that against you."
As she heard this, Shino widened her eyes and looked to him with a confused look on her face as she tried to get the words out.
"So, you're... okay with that?"
"Yeah. As long as you're happy, I'm okay."
With that, Shino smiled at him before she hugged him and he returned the favor as she gave her gratitude to him.
"Thank you, Shinkawa. It means so much to me."
With that, the two embraced the hug before they had to cease it and continue on with their plan as Shino spoke up.
"Okay... let's move on. Together."
As he nodded his head at this, Shino opened the door from the stairs, earning a few frightened reactions from the other patients around them before attempting to calm them down.
"Calm down, everyone. It's okay. Laughing Coffin hasn't broken in yet."
As she demonstrated that they weren't a threat, the patients in the bunker became relieved and spoke to each other about their presence. Despite this, a young girl ran up to them out of worry as she spoke.
"Can you help us? Our doctor got jolted and he won't wake up."
"Jolted?"
As Shino looked around, she noticed Dr. Kurahashi unconscious with black dust on him before she and Shinkawa ran over to him and checked on him as the latter held him up while Shino looked at the fuse box where he was before he looked to her for an answer.
"What could've happened to him?"
"A short-range EMP was set off not too long ago, right? It must've made the fuse box short circuit when he was manning it. I'll see if I can fix it while you wake him up."
"I'll try."
With that, Shino got to work on the fuse box while Shinkawa carried Kurahashi in his arms as he looked to the crowd.
"Does anyone have a spare bed he can use?"
As Kurahashi looked around for any volunteers, Shino was getting to work in the fuse box. Although, since it was her first time around any fuse box, Shino found herself placed in a trial by fire situation.
"Uh, okay... how did he work this thing?"
At that moment, they heard an unexpectedvoice from afar as Shino and Shinkawa gasped.
"Snooping around, I see."
Hearing the voice, Shino and Shinkawa turned behind them to see PoH by the stairs as they stared daggers at him, worried about the patients around them.
Meanwhile, Korai, Asuna, Kiko, and Yuuki were standing guard by the Medicuboid, protecting it from any member of Laughing Coffin that'll trespass here. In the meantime, Korai could notice Yuuki's legs trembling. She must not have fully recovered from the transfusion, let alone two years of using the Medicuboid just yet. When Yuuki took notice of this, she showed a frustrated look before she spoke softly to him, so as not to alert the intruders.
"If you're gonna say it'll take a while for me to recover, just don't. I already know."
"Actually... I was gonna ask how you're gonna get back up on your feet."
"I don't know, okay? I've just been... away from the real world for so long. Even if we do survive this... I don't have one clue how I'm supposed to go back to the way I was. I lost so much of my life because of that virus. What am I supposed to do to get them back?"
Seeing Yuuki down in the dumps like this, Korai knew things must be really bad for her to be at this point. Of course, he's seen her in that state only twice now, but knowing her, she never acts like that around others. The fact that she's doing it right now, with Asuna and Kiko around her, it must be because she doesn't quite know how to move on. Come to think of it, neither did he. Here he was, free from the death game, and yet here they are trapped in this potential bloodbath. He could very well be the reason for all of this. But he wasn't going to let the past take away his future, not while he has anything to say about it.
"Yuuki... I don't know any answers for how to make it happen. I know just as much as you do; as much as anyone. I could've chosen to move on and drop all of that crap, but I didn't. And by the time I did, it managed to have a way to find me. Now, you're all stuck in this because of me. All because I couldn't move on. But I'm not going to mope about it. And it's not because I don't want others to feel sorry for me; they can think whatever they want. I'm doing this to move on. And I know it's not that easy, least of all for you, Yuuki. You may not be able to take the time you lost back, but you can cherish the moments that have yet to come. Because the future starts now."
As Yuuki heard this, she felt empowered by his words and felt as though they had touched her very soul as she shed tears and wiped them away as she replied.
"Thank you, Korai. It means a lot to me."
As Korai nodded to her, Asuna couldn't help but shed tears herself as Kiko smiled at them just as they heard his voice.
"Ah, love. A dreadful bond. And yet, if one isn't wise to contain it, so easily severed."
As they glared at him, Korai didn't hesitate to speak to him as he got in front of Yuuki.
"I know why you're here. You're after the Medicuboid, so you can hack into the weapon systems and cause a mass murder!"
"The Medicuboid, you say? Hmph. A very doctoral term for such a machine."
With that, Yuuki took her turn to speak up as she held her scalpel out.
"Regardless, you're not getting within 10 feet of it, Sorcerer!"
The Sorcerer momentarily became surprised for a moment as to how she managed to recover from her condition before he only made a grinning scoff as he spoke to her.
"So you do know who I am. But you forget, I plan for every eventuality."
At that moment, the Sorcerer's walkie-talkie went off as PoH sounded off.
"Sorcerer, sir. This is PoH. I've found a way into the bunker and the patients are all present. And so is their doctor. He's been neutralized."
Hearing this, the Sorcerer made a smirk while Korai and the others grew worried about what it means as Yuuki became the most worried of them all. The doctor who looked out for her all this time... did one of them kick his bucket?
"Doc..."
Seeing the fear in her face, the Sorcerer sealed the deal as he spoke.
"How unfortunate. It seems that the good doctor has taken bad medicine..."