Cross sits by the author's grave grave, staring at a watch. Finally, the author pops out, covered in sweat and dirt, with a fedora on his head.
Cross: "Well, here you are. Only SEVEN MONTHS LATE!"
SA: "Not... *gasp* Now..."
Cross: "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
SA: "I tried to post in May, but they came out of nowhere!"
Cross: "Who? And why are you wearing a fedora?"
SA: "The MEMES, man! It was THE MEMES!"
Suddenly, a Roblox scream, alonig with people screaming something about buying clothes at a soup store and 'deez nuts' or something, could be heard from the hole in the grave.
SA: "Those freaking memes are RELENTLESS!"
Cross: "What do we do, dude?!"
SA: "You start the thing! I'll find some cement or something and plug the hole!"
Cross then ran off, and the author began fighting off the memes.
Griffin woke up the next morning to exactly what he expected: his mother's blood-curdling scream coming from Henry's room. He ran to his parents and told them the whole story, aside from the part where he was ALO's only hope. That would send his parents into shock. He returned to his room and logged onto his computer. He searched through his computer, trying to find his GGO login information, but with no luck. "It's in your notepad program." A voice said in his computer. "Thanks, Yui." Griffin said to the voice, recognizing it. "Wait. Yui?!" He looked around his screen, but didn't see the little pixie anywhere. "Hello, Cross!" Yui's voice called through the speakers of Griffin's computer. "What the heck are you doing in my computer?!" He asked. "When we were in contact with each other before you logged off, I traced your signal to this computer." Yui replied. "Now I'm inside it!" "That is so cool and probably illegal." Griffin said. He found his login info. He still wasn't sure how he could save GGO when he had the weakest weapons and armor. Yui noticed this, and said, "Don't worry, I'm sure you can do it. Too bad I won't be there to help." "Maybe you can be." Griffin said, then began to find a way to bring Yui with him. If push comes to shove, he thought. There is always plan B. He finished what he was doing and started the game.
Cross opened his eyes to see a familiar sight. The holographic neon signs and futuristic buildings of SBC Glocken. But, despite the fact it was the capitol of Gun Gale Online, it was almost empty. Where the hell is everyone? Cross thought. Then, he looked down at himself. He still had his beginner's armor, if it could even be called that. It consisted of black sneakers, jeans, a blue t-shirt, and a black jacket. He had goggles on his head, and his brown hair had a few blue streaks in it. But he had something on him that he didn't have before. A wristwatch. It resembled an Apple Watch, but the face was round instead of square. It was the only form he could give Yui. Cross decided to look for someone who could tell him where Sinon was. As he walked off down the road, he felt like he was being watched.
Cross decided to make a quick stop at the weapon shop to challenge that cowboy game one more time. He looked around. There were a few people, and NPCs selling weapons and ammo. Then he saw the damned minigame he once wasted hours trying to beat. He looked at his money. He had enough for one try. He started the game. As he started running at the robotic cowboy, Cross saw the red lines that indicated where the robot would shoot. The first part was always easy. Then the bullets began to speed up. But Cross kept going. 'Predict the predictions, predict the predictions!' He thought over and over again. Then he noticed something. The prediction lines from the robot followed a pattern! As soon as he noticed it, Cross sped up, dodging bullets with ease. He reached the end, giving the robot a punch in it's metal stomach for all the trouble it had caused him. He then looked at how much money he had won, realizing he hadn't beforehand. What he saw on the sign made his jaw drop. Over 1,000,000 credits! He grinned ear to ear before he remembered his mission. Money in his inventory, he browsed the shop for some suitable gear.
After a few minutes, he found something he had always wanted: a photon sword. He bought a blue one, and gave it a few swings, before latching it onto his belt. He also bought an 8-chamber revolver and an AK-74. He then looked through some armor.
He looked through dozens of choices before he saw it. A red and blue shirt with a black spider with gold trim on it, with a blue and orange bulletproof trenchcoat, jeans, and red and white combat boots. They also included oddly-shaped goggles with dilating lenses, and web shooters that would shoot webbing harvested from mutant spiders in the wild, used for swinging, tethers, or traps. "This is the happiest day of my life." Cross said, wiping away a tear. "What next?" Yui asked in his watch. "First, I get my gear on." Cross replied, buying the armor and changing into it.
"Then," he continued, "We find Sinon." "How are we gonna do that?" Yui asked. "Maybe the guy following us would know." Cross said. He then quickly turned, seeing a masked boy behind him, holding a gun. Cross shot a web at the gun, pulling it away from the boy. "Alright, I'll make this simple." Cross began. "Tell us what you know, and I won't use you as a test dummy for my new equipment.
"Okay, okay!" The stranger yelled, holding his hands up in surrender. "I'll tell you."
Cross froze. He knew that voice.