Dot Hack Vision

by Stance

Dot Hack Vision takes place during the actual Dot Hack time line, the perspective of the chapters varies between characters. You will experience the events of the Anime through the eyes of the Crimson Knight Stance, or his best friend Dash.

11. Chapter 11

.Hack// Vision

Chapter 11: Party

Important events in the .hack Timeline:

Perspective: Dash

"What a rotten day…" it was morning, and the teacher was explaining some complicated math formula, but it was the furthest thing from my mind. Normally I could listen to the teacher, while doing other things, like talking to other students, reading a book, and in some cases sleeping. It always annoyed Kane that I could sleep the class away and still pass… But today… The teacher seemed to be speaking in a foreign language… Well… Technically to me, he was. But it wasn't English, or Japanese. The words coming out of his mouth didn't register with my brain, so I just sat there holding my tired head up with my hand. "Time…?" I glanced down at my watch. "Figures…" I sighed mentally when I realized virtually no time had passed since I last looked at my watch. I swear: If one person says time just flew by during this lecture, I'm going to punch them. It's been an absolutely rotten day, has been ever since last night.

Asaoka returned to Kane's house, she left some of her cloths over there or something… She found Kane passed out on the floor again. That idiot was knocked out while playing The World… It tore Asaoka up, but all it did to me was make me extremely angry. I was willing to put this whole Tsukasa thing behind us, but he goes and does something like this…Does he think the world revolves around him? What about his friends and family in reality!? The doctors told us they don't expect him to wake up any time soon either. Many of the doctors at the hospital were asking me stupid questions about Kane, like if he did any drugs… That only worsened the anger. Asaoka cried, Yoko cried. Last night was a nightmare, and completely unexpected. He was with me the last I saw him… He killed me… Could it have been Orca? No… Not Orca… Atleast I don't think… Out of nowhere this happens, and it's left me with nothing but questions. Sheesh, and like always Kane was right… He's only right when it's about something bad… I should have seen this coming… The school found out about Kane. In fact when I opened my locker I found a copy of the newspaper inside. Whoever found out, must have printed out copies, and stuffed the lockers before school started. Now it's the talk of the school, and on top of that; Kane's in a coma. There are so many rumors flying around it's starting to make me sick. The teachers are keeping a professional attitude, but I can tell some of them are taken aback by it… It happened so long ago, and it was hardly what anyone could consider bad, but now so many people are making a big deal about it… Man people really are stupid sometimes. Of course; like Kane had predicted, it's mostly the upperclassmen causing the fuss. The juniors; my classmates, are simply going along with it, hoping to be accepted. Well that's not exactly true… I can't condemn everyone. Asaoka of course isn't following this stupid crowd. And oddly enough Aoi Tsukio got so annoyed with all the gossip; she punched some girl in the hallway. Most of the freshmen are just keeping quiet, not really following the crowd, but not exactly saying anything against them… Probably afraid to get bullied; how depressing… I have enough popularity to call out these idiots on their stupid gossip without becoming the target of some childish bullying. Who would have thought my reputation would actually prove useful? I wish Kane could see me now… I laughed to myself.

Asaoka much to my surprise went ahead with Kane's plan, and announced her… Well… His candidacy today. Of course this only caused more stupid rumors. She is acting normal, atleast on the outside, but I can't forget what I saw last night. If that weren't enough, I overheard some of my classmen talking about her out in the hallway… Man, it took every fiber in my being not to beat some sense into those idiots… But, unlike me; some people can't keep their cool. Aoi Tsukio is on a warpath, no one is willing to even look at her. All this gossip has really gotten to her. She's either defending Kane, or is just sick of the way everyone is acting over something so stupid. It's common knowledge that she comes from a rich family, so she can probably buy her way out of any trouble that she may get her way into. She's become a fright; that's for sure.

The bell rang, singling the start of the lunch period; I quickly stood from my seat, and stretched. "I thought it would never end…" I sighed with relief. Everyone around me began to gossip, which believe it or not, I was getting used to, even though it's only been happening for two hours now. Asaoka was the acting class representative, so she began to usher people out of the classroom. "She really needs to take it easy…" I sighed. "Will you people shut up!?" Aoi shouted from behind me. "Stop concerning yourselves with someone else's life, and live your own!" her shouts echoed through the class. Aoi has the kind of voice that commands attention; everyone found themselves subconsciously glaring at Aoi. "'You're starting to get really annoying" I heard a random student arrogantly sigh. Aoi's eyebrow's twitched and she marched towards the student, shoving random students that were unfortunate enough to stand in her way. "I'm the annoying one?" Aoi's eye twitched as she looked at the student. "Stupid boy!" Aoi shouted. She grabbed the student's collar and punched him across the face. The class erupted in shouting, as Aoi looked down on the fallen student. "Surprise, surprise! This is my favorite part; you should see the look on your face." Aoi declared. Many students were beginning to get angry, and some seemed like they were about to explode. "Well! Hey Aoi, how about we go eat lunch?" I grabbed Aoi by the shoulders, and moved her along towards the door. "What are you doing!? Let me go idiot!" Aoi demanded. "We're off for lunch; I'll talk to you later, try and calm them down will you?" I hastily spoke to Asaoka as I drug Aoi out of the classroom. "Alright…" Asaoka sighed as she looked at the rowdy class.

"You're annoying, you know that right?" Aoi crossed her arms and looked at me. "I just bought you lunch, the least you could do is thank me" I sighed as I took a seat down on a bunch located on the roof. No one comes here, so no angry mobs should come looking for her up here… "Would it make you feel better if I did?" Aoi asked. "Well it would tell me that you appreciate what I did for you" I shrugged. "And what if I don't appreciate it?" Aoi said bluntly. "Well… You know… You seemed a lot nicer before all this happened…" I scratched my head awkwardly. "Humph! It's these idiots! All the sudden the entire student body is obsessing over what that idiot did long ago. It's annoying, and unlike you; I'm not going to sit around and listen to it" Aoi glared at me. "I'll agree that it's annoying, but I don't think you should go around attacking people for gossiping" I sighed. "You're advice is not welcomed" Aoi shook her head. "I'll do as I please" she grunted. "That could come with serious repercussions" I sighed at her stubbornness. "I am more than capable of beating the life out of any fool in this school. Let them come, I still refuse to put up with this stupidity" Aoi sighed. "Augh! It's giving me such a headache!" she slammed her fist into a nearby wall. "You're stubbornness is making my head hurt as well… Listen here, Aoi" I started. "Did I give you permission to use my first name?" Aoi asked arrogantly. "No, but it's not exactly a custom in my country, so I'm not really used to it…" I explained. "You live in Japan now; forget about your old customs! It's not like you had any real culture over there anyway!" Aoi stomped her foot. "Right, I'm sorry" I held my throbbing head. "Tsukio-sama…" I used a highly respectful honorific that I've never used with all my time speaking Japanese. Aoi smirked, obviously pleased with my formal way of addressing her. "I like that… You and the rest of this school will now address me like that from now on" Aoi laughed. "Right… Could you listen to me, for one moment?" I sighed. "What do you want?" Aoi sighed as she turned her attention to me. "If you go around, attacking random students you're gonna get yourself in a lot of trouble. You'll either be kicked out of school, or worse case scenario, the students that you've attacked will gang up on you" I explained. "And why would that concern you?" Aoi asked curiously. "It's bad… I don't like bad… There really isn't some underlying reason… I just don't want to see you kicked out or beat up" I shrugged. "Ha! What do you think you are some kind of hero?" Aoi laughed. "If not wanting to see someone hurt, or injured makes you a hero; then I suppose so" Aoi's attitude was working my last nerve. "You are worrying needlessly. No one in this school has the guts to actually strike me" Aoi sighed as she looked off into the distance. "Besides…" she began. "Smearing his reputation like this… It's disgusting. Humans truly are the ugliest creatures on this planet" Aoi spat. "And what about you?!" Aoi suddenly turned her attention towards me. "You're his friend right? Why aren't you stopping them?" Aoi demanded. "I can't stop them from speaking their minds, however wrong they may be. There is a little thing called free speech, kind of a big deal in my old country. Perhaps you've heard of it?" I mocked her. "At the risk of sounding like a cliché': I'm no fascist. People can say whatever they want, no matter how stupid, or wrong it may be. Trying to force people to think a certain way is pretty stupid; even more so if you try to use violence to achieve that" I explained. "All you're doing is making enemies of everyone in the class" I sighed. "Good, then atleast I know where they stand. I'm not here to make friends, I am here to learn, which is getting damn hard to do when all I can hear is people whispering while the teacher is teaching" Aoi retorted. "Look… Could you just try and tone it down? You don't need to be hitting people for gossiping, even if it is disturbing you" I sighed. "Humph! I'll "try" and restrain myself, but for their sake, I hope this stops soon" Aoi glared at me. "I'm not conceding to you, don't you dare get the wrong idea!" Aoi shouted. "Of course not!" I hastily shouted. "Good…" Aoi grumbled. "Thank you" for lunched" Aoi obviously hated thanking me, even though she didn't touch what I had bought her. "Don't mention it" I smiled politely. "Good, next time I won't" Aoi turned towards the door. "Don't pester me again; I'd hate to have to take my anger out on you" Aoi left an ominous warning as she left the roof-top. "What a pain!" I shouted as I fell backwards into the bench. "Just talking to her gives me such a headache" I sighed as I held my head. "Her heart is in the right place but… No hold on… Is her heart even in the right place?" I asked myself. "When Kane wakes up I'm gonna knock him hard over the head for making me put up with all of this…" I sighed helplessly. "You try to play the good guy, and what happens? Man; what a world we live in today" I yawned as I put my hands behind my head as support. "Everything has become so jaded, no one knows how to be good anymore" I yawned. "You'd better wake up soon, Kane…" I closed my eyes, and got comfortable. "Too much drama to deal with…" I mumbled.

…

I opened my eyes and studied the bright orange sky above me. "Sun set, huh?" I asked myself. "Wait… Sun set!?" I jolted up from the bench I had fallen asleep on. "Oh you gotta be kidding me…" I sighed. "What time is it?" I asked as I looked down at my watch. "Five thirty…" I sighed. "School's over… Man, Kane would really be angry if he knew I just slept the day away like that" I yawned and looked around me. "Good view though…" I sighed. "I should head home… But… I wonder how Asaoka is doing…" I said thoughtfully. She's putting up with a lot of crap now… Kane in a coma, managing the tennis team, campaigning for Kane… "She should be at the tennis courts, I'll pay her a visit" I nodded, and left the roof.

"Hey, Asaoka!" I hailed her as I neared the tennis courts. She was writing stuff down on a clipboard as the tennis team held practice. "Hm? Oh, hello James" Asaoka acknowledged me as I entered the tennis courts. "You're still here? I didn't think you stayed so late…" Asaoka turned her gaze towards me. "Yeah well… I got distracted while on the roof, and well… Time flies, ya know?" I chuckled. "You didn't miss much in class, if that is the reason you are here" Asaoka explained. "What? No… I just came by to see how you're doing. The team looks real good" I looked at the practicing students. "The season will start soon, everyone is trying the best so they will be chosen as starters" Asaoka explained. "They're really going at it, lifts my spirits. It's been nothing but downers all day, this is a welcome sight, believe me" I sighed. "It has been a rough day" Asaoka nodded. "So, how did it go for you? I imagine it's been pretty rough, you hanging in there?" I asked. "I am fine. I was caught by surprise, but now that the shock has cleared, everything is fine" Asaoka admitted. "Yeah… Good thing you found him, who knows how bad it would have been if we just left him there… Still… I haven't the slightest idea what happened… Everything seemed fine while we were fighting, then the next thing I know… But I suppose that's how things work, huh? Things happen when you least expect them" I sighed. "He said Tsukasa was going to stop all of this, but… Well, what am I supposed to think now?" I asked. "It's different than what happened before… He woke up right away when Tsukasa attacked him before… But now… He's in a coma… Could it be something other than Tsukasa?" Asaoka asked. "Maybe… But what else could it be? Maybe Tsukasa just did something different this time" I shrugged. "It's possible… That night that Stance joined up with Kaochin, after we got back from the hospital… We were attacked by one of those monsters" Asaoka spoke up. "What? Why didn't Kane tell me? That seems kind of important" I sighed. "He didn't want to get you involved… He said the monster was different than the one Tsukasa had… This one was purple. It attacked Stance, but he shielded himself with his old comrade Silver Knight" Asaoka explained. "Ouch… Not good…" I shook my head. "He said he didn't want you to worry, so he never spoke of it" Asaoka admitted. "Sounds like something he'd do… Man… I don't know what's what anymore…" I sighed desperately. "It's true that Tsukasa's monster was yellow… I remember that clearly. He could have gotten a new one… Or god help us; there is another player like Tsukasa running around" I pondered. "I think I'll do some looking around when I get home" I said thoughtfully. "Kane wouldn't want you involved" Asaoka sighed. "Look at the result of me not getting involved… Someone has to find out what's going on, right? I want to know what put Kane in that coma. I'm through sitting on the sidelines, now is the time to act" I nodded objectively. "Don't put yourself in any unnecessary danger" Asaoka looked at me worriedly. "Ha! You just worry about holding the fort here in reality. Unlike me you have responsibilities here in the real world. Leave the investigating to me" I winked to Asaoka. "I'll try to help when I can… But my work load has doubled… With the season approaching, and the elections…" Asaoka sighed. "More work than I could handle, that's for sure…" I looked at the tennis players. "Say… You're the manager right? Are you any good?" I asked. "Good? At tennis? Ha… Not as good as these players. I'm just here for the clerical work" Asaoka shook her head. "You should practice with them, it'll be good for your body, and who knows… You might get good at it" I nodded to Asaoka. "But…" my attention was focused to one of the players in front of me. "That player… You need to tell her that if the ball hits the net, and happens to go into her side of the court it's still in play. She shouldn't just stop" I noticed one of the player's at fault. "Huh?" Asaoka turned her attention to the player at fault. "You're right… Ah! Excuse me for one moment" Asaoka dropped her clip-board and hurried over to the player.

"Didn't think you knew anything about tennis" I heard a female speak from the corner of my eye. "Hm?" I eyed the female who spoke to me. "It's…" I recalled the female's name. "Risa!Risa Hamaoka" her name suddenly came to me. "I must not have made a lasting impression…" Risa sighed at my response. "Hey now, I'm not very good with names. It's your face that I remember" I nodded. She wasn't exactly feminine… She her hair was short, and to be honest you could probably confuse her for a boy at a distance, but she had her charm. "But I'll remember now, Risa Hamaoka" I held up my hands and framed Risa's profile between a little portrait I made with my fingers. "Cute name, for a cute face" I winked to Risa. She blushed and looked down at her feet at my comment. "So, what brings you over here?" I put my hands in my pockets and asked. "Well… I wanted to speak with Asaoka-Senpai… But I noticed you two were talking… I didn't want to interrupt" Risa explained. "You didn't want to talk to me huh? Kind of disappointing, but hey; sorry for keeping Asaoka to myself, I just came to say hello to a friend, ya know?" I apologized. "It was no trouble!" Risa shot down my apology. "I was actually surprised you noticed that girls fault. I didn't notice it until you said something" Risa admitted. "Heh, that right? I'm no expert, but I played a little back in America" I smirked. "Were you any good?" Risa asked. "Yeah, were you?" another girl appeared next to Risa. "Oh? Hello there…" I glanced to the new female. This female's hair was brown, unlike Risa's and it was longer, giving her a distinct feminine appearance. I recognized her, but I didn't want to make Risa feel bad, so I pretended to have trouble recognizing the female. "Akira… Yeah, that's it. Akira Hayami, right?" I asked the female. "Yeah, that's me. You're James, an upperclassmen right?" Akira asked. "Yep, that's right" I nodded. "So, continue your story… Were you any good?" Akira asked. "Good… Yeah, I was good. I wasn't great by any accounts, just average" I shrugged. "No coach wants an average player, so my time on the tennis team didn't exactly work out" I chuckled. "But that's how everything was. Golf, track, foot-ball, American foot-ball, volley ball, baseball, skate-boarding, bowling, sheesh… I could go on forever. I could play them all, and I wasn't bad by any means, just not great" I sighed. "Ha… I remember when Kane and I first started hanging out, he got me into a Kendo dojo, and he spent the day beating me up with a wooden sword… I think that was the first time I had ever had trouble with sports. But then again what do you expect? I knew by looking at Kane that it was going to be a rough day" I chuckled. "Takeshi-Sama?" Akira asked. "Hey, you hear about those rumors?" Risa turned to me. "Hasn't everyone?" I sighed. "Their just rumors, you shouldn't concern yourself with them, Risa" Akira shrugged. "Someone comes into my house, tries to attack my brother, then I'll take em down like Takeshi-Sama did" Akira grinned, and flexed her muscles. "No one messes with my family" She nodded. "Just rumors…" Risa muttered to herself. "Yeah, I suppose you're right" she smiled and returned to her normal self. "But… He's in the hospital again, huh?" Akira turned to me and asked. "You live near him right? Probably woke you up when the ambulance came… Yeah, he's back in the hospital" I sighed. "Again… What's wrong with him?" Akira asked. "Food poisoning. Atleast that's what they told me" I blatantly lied. "Food poisoning? But he's in critical condition isn't he?" Akira raised her eyebrow at my response. "It's complicated… A lot of medical terms you know? But they said he had some kind of seizure, probably due to some chemical in the food he was eating" I shrugged. "The seizure wouldn't stop they said, so to stop his brain from shutting down or whatever they had to load him up with drugs, and purposely induce a coma" I began to research what could cause someone to fall unconscious when Kane was first knocked out by Tsukasa. One condition called: Status epilepticus that consisted of a never ending seizure stuck with me, and thankfully served its purpose as the foundation for a rather good lie. "Man… So why don't they just wake him up already?" Akira looked at me with a puzzled expression. "That's the down side to doing things like that. He'll wake up on his own" I lied again. "Man… That sucks…" Akira sighed. "Yeah… Poor guy" Risa nodded in agreement. For a moment I didn't think they'd believe me. Phew… "Well hey, he isn't getting any worse, and his condition will only improve, so no need to be all down in the dumps" I wanted to rid the area of the foul mood. "Yeah, you're right" Akira nodded. "Speaking of... Risa we need to get back to practice" Akira turned to Risa. "But I'm tired… My arm hurts so much…" Risa complained. "Don't you want to make first string? You need to try harder" Akira sighed. "Just let me rest…" Risa sighed as she fell to the ground. "What's wrong?" Asaoka returned and looked down at the overacting Risa. "She says she needs a break" Akira rolled her eyes. "If she needs a break, then she should rest…" Asaoka fell for Risa's lies. "Then who am I supposed to practice with? Our team can't afford machines, so I need someone to return my shoots" Akira became agitated. "How bout me?" I volunteered. "You?" Asaoka and Akira both looked at me like I was some kind of idiot. "I was gonna stop by the hospital on my way home, but I don't think Kane is going anywhere. Besides, I already told you I'm not bad. I may not be as good as Risa over there, but I could give you a run for your money I'm sure" I narrowed my eyes, and shot Akira a cocky glare. "Alright Mister cocky" Akira trotted over to her gym bag and pulled out another racket. "You do remember how to use it, right?" Akira asked as she tossed the racket over to me. "Like ridding a bike" I took a few practice swings, and smirked.

"You need a refresher on the rules?" Akira asked me before she served the ball. "Just the basics, standard singles. Nothing really to explain" I shook my head, and prepared myself. "Alright then… Here we go!" Akira launched the ball into the air and slammed her racquet into it. The ball was fast, but I managed to intercept it and return her serve. Akira must not have been expecting me to return it, as she stood there and let the ball pass right by her. "Giving up?" I cocked my head sideways and looked at Akira. "No… I just didn't think you'd actually return it…" Akira admitted. "An attitude like that is gonna cost you the game. I may not look it, but if you underestimate me, then I'll end up winning… Especially if you just stand around and let me score" I sighed. "I don't need any lectures…" Akira sighed and retrieved the ball. "Wanna give that another go?" I smirked and prepared to return Akira's serve. Akira threw the ball into the air once more, and smashed her racquet into it. The bull hurled across the net, and I ran to the left to intercept it. I knocked it back over the net, and Akira easily intercepted it. She back handed it back over the net, this time the ball radically changed direction, and I had to change after it. I barely managed to return her serve, nearly falling over trying to stop myself from running into the ball. I couldn't really control where I hit it, but thankfully it went over the net and remained in play. Akira returned the ball straight down the middle, I ran towards the center of the court, and smashed the ball back over the net. Akira ran forwards a bit, and returned the ball faster than I had expected. I swung, but missed the ball as it flew past me. "Phew… Hey that was pretty good" I chased after the ball. "I may not look it, but I've got quite the arm" Akira pumped her fist. "Big arms for a big ego" I laughed. "What did you say?!" Akira shouted from across the court. "Nothing princess! Here it comes! Keep your eye on it!" I threw the ball into the air and served it. Akira smashed the ball with her racquet. The ball flew forward past my swing and slammed into my chest. "Opps" Akira looked away and shrugged. "Kind of stings" I rubbed the spot that the ball hit. "So, you're playing hard ball huh?" I asked as I picked up the ball. "Alright, fine by me!" I threw the ball into the air and served it across the net. Akira easily returned my serve with an elegant movement. I hurriedly ran to the right and smacked the ball back across the net. Akira countered with a move of her own and sent the ball flying in the opposite direction. I ran towards the ball and leapt forward hitting it midair and sending it right back across the net. Akira quickly returned the ball down the middle of the court as I tried to pick myself up. "Some fancy flying you did there" Akira taunted. "Yeah… Felt fancy…" I straightened out my back. "One more time" I gestured for Akira to serve the ball. She complied and served the ball across the net. I smacked it back towards her and she easily sent it back my way. She had me beat in stamina hands down as I was starting to become winded and she wasn't so much as breathing heavy. We continued hitting the ball back and forth until finally I goofed and missed as the ball flew past me. "Phew… Alright, you got me" I admitted defeat. "Ha! I'll be a starter just you wait!" Akira cheered. "I'd keep an eye on her… Man she really does have quite the arm" I shook the numbness out of my hand and walked back over to Asaoka. "Hey you did alright" Akira stated as she followed me to Asaoka. "I've always done "Alright" I sighed. "I've seen worse, trust me" Akira slapped me across the back. "Heh… So you plan on going pro? Seem like you'd really be good at it" I asked. "I don't know… I'd like to…" Akira admitted. "Center at Wimbledon, right?" Asaoka asked. "Yeah… But that's just a child fantasy… It will probably never happen" Akira sighed. "With an attitude like that it won't" I shook my head. "If you really want something you gotta fight for it. Attack it while it's down and don't give it a chance to get up" I explained. "If you want it bad enough, you will find away" I nodded and roughed up Akira's hair. "Sheesh you sound like my dad" Akira pushed my hand away. "Ha, you should listen to your parents" I smirked. "Well ladies, I think it's time I go pay our sleeping beauty a visit" I stretched. "Please give Takeshi-sama my respects" Akira nodded. "Yeah, mine too!" Risa added. "I may not be able to visit him tonight…" Asaoka sighed. "Hey don't worry, it's not like he's going anywhere" I laughed. "I'll let him know you all said hey, see you guys around" I placed my hands in my pockets and strolled out of the tennis courts.

"Man it's like I'm becoming a regular here" I sighed as I walked through the hospital. "Hey! You're James-san right?" A small blonde haired female ran up to me and asked. "Huh? Oh! If it isn't Yoko" I knelt forward placing myself at eye level with Kane's little sister. "Yep! That's me!" Yoko cheered. You sure seem lively considering the time… What'cha been up to?" I asked curiously. "I've been helping people around the hospital! And taking care of Oniichan!" Yoko must have been excited being able to help out. "Yeah? That sounds like hard work" I smiled at Yoko. "Are you here to see Oniichan?" she asked. "Yep, I came by to see how he's getting along. Everything going alright with him?" I asked. "No…" Yoko sighed sadly. "Neesan said his condition worsened over night. They moved him to a different room and they are very picky about visitors" Yoko sighed. "That doesn't sound good at all" I shook my head. "His lungs stopped working too… So they had to hook him up to a machine like before" Yoko explained. "So a machine is breathing for him…" I sighed. "You want to go see him?" Yoko asked. "Well…" I began to reconsider when I thought of how bad Kane looked. "Wait, what am I thinking? I'm his friend! Of course I want to see him!" I nodded to Yoko. "Alright, another one of his friends came to visit too. So you'll have to wait for her to finish her visit" Yoko explained as she reached up and grabbed my hand. "Another friend? Uhh… Yeah, that's fine" I nodded and let Yoko lead the way. We neared the hospitals ICU; the nurse near the door noticed me approaching and gestured for me to stop but Yoko shot her an evil glare and she turned away. "They stop people from visiting Oniichan! It's so unfair" Yoko grunted as she entered the ICU. "Yeah, no doubt" I followed her in.

"Huh? Well look who it is" a female glared at me from the doorway to Kane's room. "Huh? That you Aoi? What are you doing here?" I asked curiously. "I came to see just how the big celebrity is doing" Aoi cocked her head towards the room behind her. "He looks bad…" Aoi tensed up and looked away. "That serious?" I didn't expect Aoi to act the way she did. "I wouldn't call it living" she shook her head. "I'm sure it's not that bad. He'll be fine" I pointed towards Yoko who was standing in front of me. "Oh..." Aoi glared at the small girl. "As bad as it looks… They say his condition will only improve" Aoi crossed her arms and looked away. "Yep! That's how it works, he'll be better in no time" I nodded to Aoi. "I never met you before… But any friend of Oniichan is a friend of mine!" Yoko happily extended her hand to Aoi. "I am not his friend" Aoi grunted. "I simply wanted to see what condition my classmate was in" Aoi retorted. "That all? Seems kind of… Out of character" I scratched my chin. "A class president must show concern for her classmates" Aoi stated. "Yeah, that's… Hold on… Class president?" I asked curiously. "That's right" Aoi smirked. "I'll officially announce my candidacy tomorrow" she declared. "Uh… So, you too huh?" I asked awkwardly. "I hope I can count on your vote" Aoi smirked as she walked past me. "Yeah, me too" I sighed as she marched out of the ICU. "Is there anyone who isn't taking part in this election?" I sighed. ""Well that explains the limo outside. Figures it would be Aoi. Nice enough of her to visit Kane though…" I sighed. "Well, let's go in, shall we?" I opened the door and entered with Yoko.

The room was rather loud considering it was holding a coma patient; various machines monitoring Kane's vitals constantly beeped and hummed. Kane himself was sitting in a standard hospital bed, his body looked real pale and a small mask was placed around his mouth obviously forcing his body to breathe. "Sheesh…" I gasped as I studied Kane. "Something's not right…" something bothered me about Kane. A mountain of old books covered his legs and a large tray of food was sitting in his lap. "Ah… What's with all that?" I pointed to the mess that was literally all over Kane. "Research" Natsuko's head emerged from behind a nearby curtain. "Oh and you should knock next time. The last thing I'd want you to see is me cleaning him" Natsuko shook her head and sat down in a small chair next to Kane. "Hey, Yoko could you do me a favor real quick?" Natsuko looked over to Yoko. "Yeah? Yeah? What is it?" Yoko excitedly asked. "Could you go find me some aspirin? We're in a hospital you should have to look far" Natsuko rubbed her head. "Starring at this screen all day and reading is killing my eyes" she sighed and pointed to a laptop in front of her. "Yeah! Leave it to me" Yoko darted out of the room.

"So…" I placed my hands in my pocket and looked over at Kane. "You… Using him as a table, huh?" I asked awkwardly. "I don't think he'll mind. And his body takes up so much room already, I really don't have anywhere else to put things" Natsuko reached over to her plate of food and picked up a carrot. "It's not that big… Yeah he's tall… But he's hardly taking up any room" I chuckled. "Non-sense" Natsuko shook her head. "There are his lungs" Natsuko pointed towards the Ventilator breathing for Kane. "If things get any worse we've got his new heart right over there" she pointed over to a large machine near the wall. "That machine there is his bladder and colon respectively, and that machine there acts as his mouth" Natsuko named off the functions of every machine. "Like some stupid science fiction story: He's more machine than man now" Natsuko chuckled. "And he takes up a lot of room, so I think he can bite the bullet one time and allow me to use his lap and chest as a table" Natsuko sighed as she opened a laptop. "Idiot can't even wipe his own ass" Natsuko laughed. "Heh… So how's he holding up?" I asked nervously. "Normally people in intensive care don't "hold up" They're hanging on by a thread. Kane here is no exception, infact I wouldn't even say he's alive right now" Natsuko spoke. "But it's just a coma right? He'll wake up eventually" I asked. "Of course" Natsuko nodded. "It could be tomorrow even… Or maybe thirty years down the road; although I can tell you right now he won't last that long" Natsuko spoke coldly. "His eyes will probably open when the machine is shut down. But that's just his brain slowly shutting down. Not what I would call awake, but…" Natsuko explained. "That's not funny" her attitude was really annoying me. "There are doctors here, you can't tell me there is nothing they can do" I shook my head. "His blood work tested negative for all pretty much every known drug out there; as you said" Natsuko nodded. "What's more he doesn't have a history of epilepsy, or any known neurological disease. That just leaves head trauma, and he doesn't look like he sustained any blows to the head, of course that's just superficial, but you found him in his house and I doubt he could have injured himself that badly in his own home…" Natsuko explained. "His home… That's where he was last time…This isn't the first time and on both incidents he was inside his house…" Natsuko nodded. "Damnit all, why couldn't it have been drugs, it would be so easy… Just what happened to you?" Natsuko was really frustrated. "And you…" she glared at me. "You and that girl are hiding something" Natsuko's senses did not fail her. "This isn't some kind of game. His life is in serious danger… If I were you I would fess up before the situation gets worse" Natsuko warned me.

It may not be a game… But a game certainly is the cause of all of this…

"Yeah, well it's like I said before. We just found him. I wouldn't endanger my best friend's life like that" I shrugged. No more playing around, I am going to find just what's going on. "Still don't want to tell me? Well there isn't much I can do" Natsuko shook her head. "I've been researching conditions and diseases that can result in a coma and Kane is as healthy as a horse. Unless he has some new kind of disease and if that is the case he will die…" Natsuko was as cold as ever. "But I highly doubt it is a "new" disease, such a thing rarely happens." she simply shrugged. "This is just a new cluster of symptoms no one has ever seen before… Ha! That's all diseases are" Natsuko giggled. "We could look into sending him overseas… But they'd probably just claim it as clinical obesity and ship him back over here" Natsuko joked. "You're bedside manner could really use some work" I sighed. "That doesn't mean much coming from someone who is just going to let their friend live out the rest of their life in a coma" Natsuko retorted. "Look! You can sit here and make accusations all you want but that doesn't change the fact I don't know what happened. If I did I would speak up not because he's my friend but because it's the right thing to do" I shot back. "I really hope you don't act this way when Asaoka visits him… Sheesh and what about his sister?" I asked. "You just don't get it" Natsuko stood from her chair and walked over to the entrance and locked the door. I crossed my arms as she turned to me. "Now that Kane's in this situation, one that could lead to his death… The doctors here are beginning to think taking his heart wouldn't be such a bad idea" Natsuko explained. "What?" I gasped. "Yes, the situation is worse than you thought. I'm not going to sit here and tell you they won't do anything to help him…" Natsuko shook her head. "But if he does not recover I can almost guarantee they'll take action" Natsuko looked down at the floor. "And with his parents…" I came to realize what Natsuko had probably known from the start. "There is no way of knowing if they'll allow it. Infact they probably have no idea of their own son's situation. No one can get a hold of them. They can't technically act on their own until he's eighteen… Or our great government steps in and pulls the plug themselves. I don't think you need to worry about the government, but they may jump the gun and assume seventeen years old is good enough" Natsuko explained. "Of course right now this is the furthest thing from their minds, and with any luck my blackmail will keep it that way" Natsuko said something rather outrageous. "Uhh… Blackmail?" I cocked my head to the side and asked. "The world is an ugly place and stop giving me that hateful look" Natsuko crossed her arms. "I did it for him anyway. Of course he has to go and be an asshole…" Natsuko seemed really stressed. "Look. If you decide you want to talk, which I highly recommend you do" Natsuko reached into her pocket. "Call this number, and don't worry I'm no mandatory reporter or any of that garbage. I just want the truth" Natsuko spoke seriously. "Yeah… If I find out anything, I'll be sure to call you" I took the card and averted my gaze. "Neesan! I found some aspirin!" Yoko burst into the room with a cheerful smile. Her cheerful expression was enough to tear me apart, I wanted out of the room and fast. "You be sure to take good care of your big bro now" I walked over to Yoko and roughed up her hair a little. "Of course! The best care available!" Yoko saluted. "That's a good girl" I smiled down at Yoko. "I'll be waiting" Natsuko returned to her chair and opened her laptop back up. "Yeah… I know" I nodded and quickly left the room.

I couldn't stand to look at any of the doctors as I left the hospital. After what Natsuko said they all appeared two faced to me; welcoming him with open arms to visit his sister, but willing to carve out his own heart while he was asleep. And what am I supposed to tell her? Kane fell into a coma while playing The World? What's more it's because he was killed by a player with a hacked monster? That solves nothing, except put me in some asylum on the edge of town… Telling us he'd handle it on his own… Kane you can be such an idiot at times… "Well… Being all depressed won't solve anything. He'll wake up on his own" I nodded. "And in the meantime I'll find out what's really going on. Whoever or whatever is causing this is gonna have to pay. No more sitting on the sidelines; it's time I get into the game!" I placed my hands in my pockets and left the hospital with a confidant smirk.

…

"Phew! Nothing quite perks me up like good old Mac Anu" I stretched as Dash my character entered The World. "Man, I really needed this" I placed my halberd across my shoulders and rested my hands atop it. "Hey there folk's how's it going?" I politely smiled and spoke to a passing group of players. "Just fine, thank you" one of them replied as the walked towards the chaos gate. "Looks like everyone is having fun" I smirked. "Hey Joker, you're late Joker!" Spade appeared beside me and elbowed me. "Been waiting for ya! Sure took your sweet time" Spade sighed. "Waiting? Spade… You know you shouldn't do that. Especially at this hour" I shook my head. "I mean it's cool and all, but with the time zones… The sun should just be coming up on your side. You can't let your real life suffer just to play with me" I explained. "Hey, I'm home schooled, remember? Not only that I just got off work" Spade laughed. "You're schedule seems really messed up" I shook my head. "And club is a complete brainiac, not like she even needs to go to school. Diamond's school starts up later than most and Heart is… Well she's Heart" Spade laughed. "I guess… But seriously, I really enjoy playing with you guys again but don't let it interfere with anything" I said seriously. "Yeah, yeah. Stop your preaching old man" Spade yawned. "Hey I'm still the leader of this guild, you just remember that… Speaking of, I need to talk to all of you" I explained. "Alright!" Spade nodded. "Royal Flush! Assemble!" Spade's shouts echoed Mac Anu and her English drew a few curious stares. "Club…" Club cart wheeled out of a nearby alley and landed next to Spade. "Diamond!" Diamond jumped up from under the bridge and on the opposite side of spade. "And… Heart!" the youngest of the group emerged from a large crowd of players and jumped over Spade landing in front of her. "Ha! You guys remembered the entrance? Been awhile since I've seen it to" I laughed. "What are you looking at?" Diamond barked at some starring players. "Do not be mean to the general populace Diamond… We are guests here" Club shook her head at Diamond's actions. "It's been so long, it was really fun!" Heart held her pose but spoke happily. "Well? You do remember your part, right?" Spade asked. "Sure do" I nodded. "Joker!" I ran forward and vaulted myself in the air with my halberd and landed behind Spade. "And we're…" I started. "Royal Flush!" we lifted out pole arms and slapped them together in unison. "By now a lot of players were crowded around us and all of them were giving us questionable looks. "Man… That was more embarrassing then I remember… Hard to believe that was an every day thing with me" I chuckled. "Oh…" I glared around at the crowd around us. "Show's over folks! We normally charge admission, but this one's on the house!" I spoke Japanese so they could understand me. "Anyway…" I began once the crowd dispersed. "How's everyone doing?" I asked. "Great… But how are you?" Spade asked. "Me? A little stressed but fine I suppose" I shrugged. "You don't know do you?" Spade asked. "Know what?" I looked at the whispering group in front of me. "You've got a bounty on your head" Spade sighed. "A bounty? What… Again?" I sighed. "You don't seem to surprise" Spade sighed. "He's just an idiot" Diamond shook her head. "Hey! Don't be mean! It's probably some mean players who just want to cause trouble" Heart spoke in my defense. "Heh, if they're just going to come after me for a bit of GP we would end up fighting eventually" I shrugged. "Probably just a bunch of PKers sick of me getting in their way, let them come after me. It's better if I draw their attention, that way some new player won't have to worry about getting killed on their first adventure" I smirked. "There you go again… Making yourself look like the good guy" Spade sighed. "Heh, I'm just doing what I've always done. It sucks getting killed on your first day, no one wants that to happen to them, so if I can prevent it from happening to just one player, then hey I suppose I've done my part" I shrugged. "He never changes" Club stated. "Never will" I placed my Halberd behind my neck and rested my arms atop it. "But hey, putting aside bounties and what not, I've got some pretty depressing news" I spoke seriously. "A serious expression like that is hardly fitting for you" Spade giggled and pointed towards my face. "Heh, I agree… But listen…" I began. "Stance is in a coma… We found him passed out in front of his computer again… But it doesn't look like he's going to wake up anytime soon" I explained. "You idiot! Why didn't you tell us that sooner! That's kind of important!" Spade shouted. "Maybe he doesn't care about him" Diamond glared at me. "It does appear that way…" Club sighed. "What? Slow down… I just didn't think you'd give it much thought" I defended myself. "Idiot! Of course we care! He's our friend!" Spade shook her head. "Well… I didn't know you cared so strongly about him…" I smirked. "My bad" I apologized. "You said coma… He has not awoken yet?" Club asked. "No… He's still in the hospital now, it's pretty horrifying to see actually" I sighed. "Was it Tsukasa?" I could hear Diamond's teeth grinding together. "Well… Maybe… I don't really know…" I sighed. "Stance was pretty confident that he wasn't to blame for what happened… He said something about him being "stuck" inside the game, and he can't be blamed for his actions" I explained. "…Stuck?" Spade, Club, Diamond, and Heart all gave me looks that clearly told me what they thought. "Well… He said that Tsukasa was stuck inside the game, and couldn't log out" I told them the truth. "That's stupid" Diamond blurted out. "Yeah, well I thought the same thing myself, then Stance asked me to imagine myself in that situation, imagine being stuck inside this world with no way of getting out… Even I can admit it'd be a pretty scary experience, and to top it all off people where always after Tsukasa…" I sighed. "Are you defending him?" Diamond grunted. "No! Not at all… I just don't think it's a good idea to run up to Tsukasa weapons in hand, trying to pick a fight with him" I shook my head. "We've made that mistake before, have we not?" I asked. "…But we woke up after a few hours… Why is Stance in a full blown coma?" Spade asked. "No idea… And to be honest our only lead is Tsukasa, and we can't chase that line too far because we don't know where he is, and we do not want him to use that monster against us, especially if he had nothing to do with what happened to Stance… That would be a meaningless death for us all" I sighed. "If I'm going to end up in a coma, I'd at least like to know I was on the right track" I explained. "I guess… I'd rather avoid the whole coma thing myself" Spade sighed. "Well… How can we help?" Spade sighed. "Help? You guys sure? I mean, there are risks…" I really didn't feel comfortable involving them, especially after what happened to Stance. "What are you an idiot?" Spade taped her finger at my forehead. "We're a team, got it? We're going to find out what's going on, and put an end to it" Spade crossed her arms. "Heh… Yeah, thanks you guys" I nodded. "Alright… Information! Club! We need to find out about Tsukasa, and his recent whereabouts!" Spade commanded. "Understood. I will begin questioning the players around town" Club bowed and left the group. "Diamond! Go find some PKers! Make them tell you everything they know about Tsukasa!" Spade commanded. "I'll force it out of them…" Diamond sneered and leapt across the river landing near the weapon shop. "Heart! Uh…" Spade suddenly started to stammer. "Uh…" she continued. "She should go help Club out" I commanded. "Yeah! Do that!" Spade shouted. "Alrighty!" Heart nodded. "Oh! Before I forget…" Heart stopped as she passed me. "I… Got a message for you from… Stance… Um… I met with him after our battle in Δ Bursting Passed-Over Aqua-Field" Heart spoke. "Oh? You must have met him before he was put into that coma... What did he say?" I asked. "I guess… He was acting a little weird, but all he asked me to tell you was… These area keywords: Δ Lonely Imprisoned Fallen-Angel" Heart gave me the keywords to an area. "Yeah…? Thanks I guess" I nodded. "There you go! You should head over there" Spade exclaimed. "Huh? What for?" I asked. "That could have been where Stance went last before all of this happened. You should go check it out, maybe Tsukasa is there" Spade explained. "Yeah… I guess it couldn't hurt… But I do have a bounty on my head… But… Heh, whatever. Bring em' on; I'll make it an adventure!" I declared. "Alright then, it's settled. We'll gather information in the root towns while you investigate that area" Spade happily declared. "Oh! And if you run into anything you better come running back to get us! I won't forgive you if you do something stupid and end up like Stance" Spade grabbed my shoulders and shook me. "Yeah, I'll be fine, don't worry" I smiled and pushed myself away from Spade. "Stance is going to owe us when he wakes up, for now let's just concentrate on finding out the truth, don't make any moves without me, alright?" I asked. "No problem" Spade placed a hand on her hip, and sighed. "Alright, see you soon!" I leapt backwards and landed on the bridge above me. "The area is Δ Lonely Imprisoned Fallen-Angel, Let's go!" I ran towards the Chaos Gate.

"Sheesh, how depressing…" I warped into the area and was greeted with a hazy and damp environment. It was extremely dark, and to top it all off, it was raining heavily, making it pretty difficult to see. "But what was I expecting with an area name like "Lonely Imprisoned Fallen-Angel" I sighed. "Don't see why Stance would want to come here…" I leaned on my halberd. "Oh… Looks like the welcoming party" I noticed two enemies running through the rain straight towards me. "Alright, let's get this party started" I fan forward, and gripped my halberd with my right hand. "An Arrow Fish… And... Oh wow… An Onimusha!" I studied the enemies as I neared. "Let's get rid of the small fry first!" I reached out with my left hand and grabbed onto the fin of the floating Arrow Fish. The moment he was in my grasp I shoved my halberd into the muddy ground and vaulted myself high into the air. "Here we go!" I threw the hapless fish forward, and prepared to use a skill. "Vak Repulse!" My halberd burst into flames, and I began to use my right hand to spin it around my body. The blade tore into the Arrow Fish with each swing, eventually the fish burnt into ashes and scattered into the rain. "That's that…" I dropped from the sky and landed in front of the Onimusha. It resembled a player, a Heavy Blade to be exact; in fact it could easily be confused with a player if it weren't for its insidious appearance underneath its large straw hat. "Alright, pal… Give me a run for my money will you?" I ran towards the monster. It swung its large katana sideways, forcing me to block it with my halberd. "Pretty strong" I smirked. "Alright then…" I squatted down and leapt into the air allowing his Katana to pass under me. "You're open!" I landed in front of the creature, and began my assault. I swung my halberd sideways, and left a deep gash in its chest, but it countered, and knocked me away using the blunt side of its blade. "Close call…" I grunted. "You know for a small fry you put up a good fight" I complemented the monster. "Alright… Let's get this over with" I ran forward and forced my halberd through his defenses and through his stomach. "Sorry about this!" I lifted the monstrous samurai into the air, and tossed him off my halberd sending him falling behind me. "Really hate going to low level areas…" I sighed.

"Well… It's pretty hard to see with this lightning, guess I'll head for the dungeon… No use looking for what I can't see" I sighed, and rubbed my rain drenched hair. "Hm?" The sound of metal rubbing together made me turn around. "Not done yet? For a low level monster you're pretty persistent" I smirked and readied my halberd. "Dash?" the shadow suddenly spoke. "What!? Since when could monsters… Oh… I get it" I shook my head. "I knew something was odd… Darker armor and clothing than that Onimusha… You're a player" I nodded. "So, what do you need?" I asked politely.

"My body… How is my body…?"

"Eh?" I glared at the dark figure hidden behind the darkness of the night. "Don't think I know what you're talking about" I shrugged. "Do you need directions? Or a partner? I was just about to head down into the dungeon" I explained. "I am not in the mood for games! Do you not recognize me?" The dark figure began to march over to me. "Can't say I… Oh my God…" I gasped as the player neared. "My body… Dash, I need to know… I have to know… How is my body" the player character Stance stood before me. "What… Hey is this some kind of joke? Is that you Asaoka?" I crossed my arms and chuckled. "This is no joke… I've been looking for you Dash, and now that I've found you I want answers. Do not turn me away, you are my friend" the character spoke firmly. "Look if this is a joke it's not funny at all. Taking control of someone's character like that is pretty low, especially after what I've been through… I don't' even want to think about what Asaoka would say if she saw you" I spat. "Would she believe me? You are my friend, and you are turning me away like this? Do you not understand? Dash… This is… This is my body, do you understand? Like Tsukasa, I am stuck in The World as well. And… I desperately need your help" the imposter spoke. "Shut up! What kind of sick man are you? Do you really find this enjoyable?" I shouted. "My memories have been shattered… But I remember that you are my friend, and that I can always trust you… I do not know how long I have been in this state, but you have to help me… At least tell me how my body is doing… I… I am not dead, am I?" the imposter asked worriedly. "Look buddy, I'm not going to sit here and let you continue this little act, alright? You best leave before I get a system administrator over here and turn you in for breaking into someone else's account. "Dash, I am stuck in this game! I need your help! Please do not turn me away!" the imposter shouted. "Shut up! You are not Stance… You are not Kane!" I screamed. "I told you to come here! You're friend Heart; I remember them, your guild! You are James, my friend in reality! You have to believe me" The imposter begged. "Shut your mouth!" I gripped my halberd and ran forward. "I do not want to fight you!" the imposter drew his sword and took a defensive stance. "You should have thought about that before you screwed with my friends account!" I shouted as I slammed my halberd into the ground and began to vault into the air. "I remember all of your attacks!" the imposter grabbed my halberd, and lifted it into the air. "What the!?" I cried out as I tightened my grip on my halberd. "You must forgive me!" the imposter slammed my halberd down onto the ground causing my body to fall with it. I hit the ground with an extremely dull thud that easily knocked the wind from my body.

"…"

"That… Sound… What… Is…" I held my aching head through my HMD. "James… Only I would know you that well… You normally start each battle with a vault attack…" the imposter stood above me and explained. "Just… A coincidence…" I grunted as I fought to regain my breath. "Dash… Tsukasa and I are alike, we both are stuck in this world, please do not continue to attack me… Unlike you I face true death in this world" the imposter's expression was hidden by Stance's dark and insidious helmet. "Should have thought about that beforehand!" I jumped up, and grabbed my halberd. "I do not want to fight, why you won't believe me" the imposter grunted. "It's an impossible story, and not only that; I know you can't be Kane… He is able to…" I stammered. "You are not Kane!" I shouted. If he thinks he knows all my moves then… The player character Stance took a defensive position; I on the other hand slammed my halberd into the ground once more. "Another vault?" I heard him ask. As before he reached forward and grabbed my halberd but I knew he would do that, so I threw all of my weight forward and landed behind him. "Darn you!" I shouted as I threw my halberd over my head, sending the imposter soaring through the air into a nearby tree. "Didn't predict that, did you?" I whipped the mud off my clothing and marched over to the fallen imposter. "This is what happens when you go too far with your jokes" I shook my head as I looked down on the imposter. His gasp for air echoed through his helmet, and he moaned occasionally as he tried to stand. "I don't do this very often… But I'm warning you… If you don't log out right now, I'm going to kill you" I spoke seriously. "It hurts… I can't… Breath…" the imposter gasped. "You won't get any sympathy from me… Get going, now" I demanded. "You… Are stubborn… I remember that much about you… My life is at stake, and you believe this to still be… A game…" he sighed. "I… I'm sorry Dash…" He climbed to his feet and apologized. "Good, now get out of my sight" I gestured for him to leave.

"…"

That noise again?

A sudden jolt of pain shot through my face, my body reacted violently, and I buckled in reality, falling from my chair and into the floor. "What…?" I gasped as I tried to pull myself up in reality. "James… Look at me…" The imposter stood above me, looking down at me. "Do you see?" a bolt of lightning illuminated the area, and behind him I could make out a large barbell shaped monster. "That is…" I held my aching face. "The same as Tsukasa…" Stance sighed. "James… Please… I have no one else to go to… You have to believe me… This… Guardian behind me should be all the proof you need. I am trapped, and cannot get out…" Stance kneeled down to my face and explained. "Then… It's… True?" I sighed as I drug myself up in reality. "Yes… Would you allow me to explain my situation to you" Stance asked. "Heh… You know… Now that I think about it… It really is you… Ha-ha… Yeah… It has to be… Only you would do something as crazy as that… Hitting me like that… You could have broken something…" I forced my character to stand, and Stance took a few steps backwards. "So… It really is you…?" I studied Stance. "…In the flesh…" he sighed deeply. "I gotta make sure…" I shook my head. "You still do not believe me?" Stance asked worriedly. "Not yet… Stance and I got a real bond, he's my partner… If you're really him there is really only one way to tell" I said thoughtfully. "You want to fight…?" Stance sighed. "No, fighting you wouldn't prove a thing… There is one thing that Stance and I have… One thing that makes us better than everyone else" I nodded. "Our teamwork" I nodded. "I won't accept you as Stance until you prove to me that you are truly him." I glared at the large purple guardian behind him. "I see… Honestly… I had a feeling it would come to this…" Stance sighed. "Very well… The dungeon" Stance nodded. "There is an ambush waiting for you there. How many players I do not know, all I know is they have gathered to defeat you" Stance explained. "Say what?" I sighed. "I was desperate to find you, so… I put a price out for your whereabouts…" Stance admitted. "A bounty?" I sighed. "I believe that is how it was interrupted… But I gathered those that pursued you, and they await you in the dungeon" Stance explained. "I knew heart would deliver the message that is why I've been waiting here for… What feels like days… Honestly my sense of time is completely warped… What feels like days are mere hours in reality…" Stance sighed. "Well if they're after me I shouldn't keep them waiting" I smirked. "You'll be coming along to… That is if you want me to believe you" I glared at Stance. "Facing them would mean risking death… I will warn you that if faced with such circumstances I will not hesitate to use the guardian… They will be injured in reality" Stance's expression was hidden by his helmet. "If you are who you say you are; then WE shouldn't have anything to worry about" I smirked. "There is no other way… Diplomatically that is… I am counting on you, my friend" Stance's guardian disappeared, and he sheathed his sword. "Alright then, if you're ready we'll get going… Oh… And… If things get bad, just get out of there" I wasn't sure if I could believe what Stance was saying, or if this even was Stance… But if he really is facing death, then I have a responsibility to help him. "It looks as though you are starting to believe me" Stance's obvious smile was hidden by his helmet. "We'll find out soon enough, I smirked and began marching towards the dungeon.

"Huh? One of you the player called Dash?" there were two players standing at the entrance of the dungeon. "I am the one who issued the bounty, I am canceling the contract, please leave at once" Stance stepped forward and spoke firmly. "Canceling? After wasting all of my time sitting here you'd better pay!" one of the blademasters shouted. "I have located the player myself, you're services are no longer required" Stance reached for his sword. "So, that's him huh?" the other blademaster asked. "Yep! The name's Dash" I stepped in front of Stance and bowed. "Well Dash I'm going to kill you, and your friend for wasting my time, alright?" both of the blademasters stepped forward weapon in hand. "Fine by me!" I spun my halberd around my head and assumed a combat ready position. "I cannot fight like I used to… I have had to completely change the way I fight… My old style is to tiring, so try to adapt…" Stance got serious and stepped ahead of me. "I will destroy you both" Stance stated this and drew his sword. "Enough talk! Let's fight!" both of the players ran forward. "Stepping stone!" I shouted as I ran towards Stance's back. "Up, and over…" Stance kneeled down and allowed me to use his back as a springboard. "What the!?" both of the blademasters shouted in unison as I jumped behind them. "They're flanking us!" one of the blademasters turned to face me while the other turned to face Stance. "Alright pal, let's not waste any time!" I ran forward spinning my halberd around my body as I did. The blademaster hastily brought his weapon up to defend himself, but fell for my feints, allowing me to jab at his exposed arm. "Keep an eye on my halberd buddy, I know it moves a lot, but you gotta follow it" I taunted. "Bastard!" He shouted and ran forward. I blocked his attacks, and slammed the blunt side of my halberd into his stomach. "Sheesh you really leave yourself open" I sighed and pushed him backwards onto the ground.

As Stance said earlier he was fighting in a completely different manner. He wasn't relying on his speed or power to defeat his opponent. He still held his sword with one hand, but his fighting style now seemed very conservative, and it made him seem extremely slow compared to how he used to fight. His opponent seemed to pick up on his slow speed, and was attacking repeatedly, without hesitation He constantly swung his sword, often times swinging his entire body around in an attempt to break through Stance's defenses. When it became too much to handle Stance gripped his swords with two hands, and parried each attack that was thrown at him. "To fast for you?" the blademaster taunted as he continued his assault. Stance swung his swords towards his opponents, and the two interlocked briefly before Stance effortlessly forced him backwards. "You efforts are in vain" Stance assumed his offensive style with his right hand, and taunted his opponent with his left. "We'll see about that!" The blademaster ran forward, and assaulted Stance with blinding speed. "This could get ugly…" I worriedly watched their battle. Stance parried each of his attacks, and soon he was on the offensive. The blademaster began to block Stance's attacks, but Stance easily halted that be forcing the blademasters arm to twist, with one of his parries. He dropped his weapon and fell to his knees. Stance reached forward and grabbed the man by the throat. He lifted him up with just one hand, and allowed his feet to dangle momentarily before savagely throwing him into a nearby wall. "Bi Ani Don!" Stance held out his left hand, and fired off a darkness spell that slammed into the player, and finished him off. He then glared at me and leveled his hand in my direction. "BiAni Don!" he fired off another spell, and I jumped sideways. The spell flew past me, and slammed into the player behind me, nearly killing him in the process. "What? Whoa, that was close" I laughed when I noticed Stance had saved me. "You are not concentrating, I can't prove anything to you if you are dead" Stance fired off another spell, and finished off the other blademaster. "Heh, that was pretty sharp of you… So, you starting to feel the flow of things?" I asked. "I am. We are a team" Stance nodded. "We'll see… So… Slowed things down have you?" I brought up the issue of how he was fighting. "Running around and blindly attacking like I did is too tiresome… Prolonged battle wears me down, and I end up losing. This is something I have come to learn" Stance explained. "Heh, works for you I guess, I just hope you can keep up with me, if you truly are my partner I'll be counting on you" I smirked. "There are more, deeper in the dungeon. If you wish leave, then I recommend we do so now. Those players will be back. If we take too long we will be surrounded" Stance explained. "I thought you said you're memories were messed up?" I smirked. "My memories have nothing to do with predicting how people act" Stance shook his head, and began to walk deeper into the dungeon. "We'll see…" I smirked and followed after Stance.

The second room was a large square; as soon as we entered we were greeted by a twin blade, and a heavy axeman. "Huh? Who are you guys?" The heavy axeman asked. "We're the guys who just broke through your guards outside, name's Dash. I heard you guys have been looking for me" I smirked and stepped forward. "That's him? He's just a wimpy long arm! Let's take him down and get our reward!" the twin blade sneered and readied his daggers. "… Man… It really makes me mad when they talk bad about the long arm class" I clenched my fist. "Why not show them what it's capable of?" Stance walked by and suggested. "Oh they're about to see firsthand…" I smirked. "Grab hold" I held out the end of my halberd to Stance. "…Alright" Stance gripped my halberd under the blade, and turned towards the enemy. "Just don't swing me into any walls…" Stance muttered. "Heh, we'll see" I smirked. "Well boys let me tell you something about the longarm class!" I began. "One thing that sets us apart from everyone else is our awesome range! Combine that with high attack, and you've got quite the combination!" I declared. "We don't' care! Just shut up!" The heavy axeman stepped forward and prepared to attack. "Sheesh, how rude can you get" I sighed. "Alright then" I sighed and began to walk backwards with Stance in tow. "Running away?!" the heavy axeman shouted. "No, just getting some running room" I smirked, and dashed forward, letting my blade fall behind me, while Stance still held onto it. Stance ran with me, but kept his grip firmly on my halberd, when we neared the heavy axeman I jumped forward and swung my halberd over my head. The heavy axeman jumped backwards, but what he didn't count on was the extra reach I had obtained. Stance held his sword out and fell with my halberd increasing its range by a substantial amount. Stance's blade met with little resistance as it slid straight down the heavy axeman, killing him instantly. Stance crashed into the ground, but suffered minimal damage. "Man I haven't done that one in a long time!" I smirked and ran over to Stance who was pulling himself to his feet. "Let's not do it again…" He gasped and healed himself with a Reapth spell. "Well it's like I said before. When you combine reach with high attack power you have a deadly combination… Of course my attack power isn't really high, but the same could not be said about my partner" I laughed. "What the… You guys are…" the twin blade began to panic. "Whoa are you getting scared?" I kind of felt bad for the guy. "Screw this!" he began to back away from Stance and I, but I walked after him. "Hey, you came expecting a fight right? You didn't just think it would be easy, did you?" I followed him around the hallways that formed a large square. "You can't just expect every player you come across to roll over and let you kill them" I sighed as I followed him around the room. He kept his attention focused on me, and backpedaled around the room, eventually he bumped into Stance's chest. "Wha-?" he spun around to meet Stance's dark armor. Stance wasted no time, he grabbed him the shoulders and threw him into a nearby wall. He marched over to the player, and picked him up again, this time Stance marched towards the dungeon entrance, and chunked the player out of the dungeon entirely. "Ha. That was great" I laughed. "The look on his face when he bumped into you" I shook my head. "Satisfied?" Stance asked. "One more room…" I smirked and made my way back into the dungeon.

"Except for these cages holding wired skeletons this room is clear" I studied the large Y shape room we entered. "It is possible we have eliminated them all" Stance stated. "I thought more people would have been here considering it was a bounty on my head" I sighed. "You should be careful with what you wish for" Stance shook his head. "We got em! Don't let them escape!" Suddenly all three entrances were flooded with players. "Oh… Crap…" I sighed as I realized we were completely surrounded. "Sure are a lot of them…" I gasped.

Dash: Uhh... Hey, guys I've gotten myself into a bit of a situation here. Look I don't have time to explain, just get over to where I'm at as fast as possible!

"Dash? You thinking what I am thinking?" Stance asked. "I sure am partner! Let's waste these guys! Back to back!" I spun around and stood towards the players readying to advance. I felt Stance's armor brush against my back as he did the same. "Royal Flush is on the way, we've just got to hold out until then. Got it? Partner?" I asked. "I have got your back" Stance tapped the back of my hand with his own.

"When this is over me and you have some serious discussing to do"

"Humph. Very well, but for now let us focus on these dissidents in front of us"

The players charged towards us, and Stance and I began to fight them off one by one. Each player that approached was sent flying back by our all out offense, Stance kept both of us at the peak of our powers with various strengthen magic. And when a heavy axeman or long arm would try to take advantage of Stance's short range, or a twin blade or blademaster would try to close the distance between me we would both spin around and switch places. "I could do this all day!" I laughed as I fought off more approaching players. "It would be easier with a third person! We've got an exposed flank!" Stance moved to intercept a player who tried to split us apart. "Guess so…" I parried an attack from a fellow longarm. "Things are getting rough… I don't know if my body can keep this up" I heard Stance breathing heavily behind me. "Come on, don't die on me now, the cavalry is almost here!" I pushed Stance into a nearby wall, and guarded him against the players by myself. Just as I was about to be overwhelmed four longarms rushed into the room, and completely cleared the place out. Those that were not killed by Stance and I were either finished off by Royal Flush, or retreated when they appeared. "Phew! Now that was a close call!" I turned to Stance who held himself up using the wall. "Well…" I casually walked over to him. If this is truly Stance then he will... I could feel Stance's cold glare through the helmet. He pushed himself off the wall, and limped over to me. "Told you I had your back…" Stance and I exchanged fives, and then slammed our fist into one another. It was something I taught Stance when we first began playing together, when we first used teamwork to beat a monster. It was something you'd never expect Stance to do, but he was always happy to celebrate a victory, even if the method was rather "informal" as he called it. The man before me was truly Stance, my friend who had fallen into a coma in reality.

"Whoa there buddy" I caught Stance as he fell backwards. "I am tired… Let me sit…" Stance backed against the wall and took a seat on the cold dungeon floor. "No problem, but you're going to explain to me just what's going on, right?" I leaned against my halberd. "I'd like to know too… You said he was in a coma Joker, that's not something to joke about!" Spade ran over and slapped me. "How disgusting…" Club muttered. "What an asshole…" Diamond sighed. "Big meanie!" Heart shouted. "What!? Let him explain will you? He -is- in a coma! I wouldn't joke about that!" I shouted. "Enough… No more arguing… First and foremost… James, how is my body?" Stance asked. "Pretty bad… You're in a coma… At least in reality…" I awkwardly explained. "Asaoka and Yoko are pretty worried, and after seeing your body I can see why… All those machines hooked up to you…" I knew Kane wouldn't want me to sugarcoat it. "But I am not dead… A coma means I can awaken… That is such a relief…" Stance sighed. "You sound like you've been through hell" Diamond studied Stance. "You could say that…" Stance sighed. "So… You really are stuck in here huh?" I plopped down onto the floor and faced Stance. "Yes, at this point there is no denying that" Stance removed his helmet and shook his sweaty hair. "Whoa! Is that your face? Wow, never thought I'd get to see it! You always cover it up with a helmet" I laughed. "Wearing my helmet for too long gives me a headache… It is difficult to see out of it… That aside… I am glad you believe me… If you did not, I would have surely lost my sanity" Stance sighed. "That I doubt, the calm and collected Kane Takeshi?" I chuckled. "I believe I had some psychotic episodes before I found you… I would not laugh too much" Stance shook his head. "Wait, wait, wait, hold on for just one second" Spade interjected. "Just what the hell are you two talking about?" Spade sighed. "You remember earlier when I told you about Tsukasa, and how he was stuck in the game?" I asked. "Yeah?" Spade nodded. "It looks like Stance is in that same situation" I explained. "Is this some kind of joke?" Spade sighed. "Of course not! Stance is the same as Tsukasa! He… He even had one of those monsters…" I hesitated bringing it up, but by then it was too late. "He has one of those things? Then it could have been him who did that thing to us!" Spade grunted. "Don't be stupid!" I shouted. "You got a good look at him didn't you? Tsukasa looked nothing like Stance, so don't make accusations like that, I know Stance would never do something as awful as that" I shouted. "Stop shouting…" Stance sighed. "See for yourselves" Stance sighed. "Answer my call… Come forth Aurora Gaze!" Stance's shouts echoed the empty dungeon. A strange blue light appeared near Stance, and a familiar creature emerged from the blurry light. "It's the same! Look at it!" Spade declared. "No it isn't… This one is purple!" Heart happily declared. "The one that killed us was yellow!" she added. "She's right… The colors do not match…" Club nodded. "Could he have changed it?" Diamond asked. "His avatar isn't the same either…" Club shook her head. "Then… It wasn't Stance…" Spade sighed with relief. "Of course…" Stance sighed. "Help me up" He turned to the creature and held out his hand. A long tentacle emerged from the creature and wrapped itself around Stance's arm; lifting him to his feet. "But… How can he be stuck in The World? It's too farfetched, I can't just believe that" Spade sighed. "I went by the hospital on my way home, they had him hooked up to so many machines there is no way he'd be in any condition to do anything. In fact, let's give the hospital a call" I nodded, and removed my HMD. "Well hurry it up then" I heard Spade. I opened up a drawer near my bed and took out two cell phones. "Both should work…" I turned them both on. "There we go… Now to just give Jamie a call…" I dialed Jamie's, that is Club's number. "Huh? Who's this?" I heard her voice through one of my phones. "It's James, keep quiet will you? I want to get this over with as soon as possible" I sighed. "Long distance is expensive… Please do not take long" Jamie was polite as ever. "Alright not to call the hospital…" I picked up my other phone and activated its speaker function.

"Asahi general hospital, how may I help you?" a secretary answered the phone. "I would like to check on a patient currently being treated" I spoke politely. "Name?" She asked. "Takeshi Kane" I answered. "It's nice to see someone calling in to check on him… Are you his parents?" she seemed to know Kane. "No, just his friend" I sighed. "I see… Well… I'll connect you too the ICU" the phone clicked for a moment, and then another female suddenly answered. "Yeah, what do you want?" I heard a female literally sigh into the phone. "Natsuko right?" I couldn't hold back a sigh of my own. "Uh-huh… Something you need?" she asked. "Just calling to check on Kane, how is he doing?" I moved the phone closer to my other phone that had Cassie listening. "How do you think he's doing? His condition hasn't changed since you came to see him. He's still in a coma" Natsuko sighed. "Look, I don't have time for this; don't call back unless you're going to clue me in on what you know, alright? Damn kids" the phone suddenly cut off, she hung up on me. "She really can be a jerk sometimes…" I sighed. "So it's true? James, I am hanging up, please meet me back in The World" Jamie hung up, and I made my way back over to my desk.

"So it is true" Club bit her bottom lip. "From what Club translated… I guess so…" Spade nodded. "I still don't believe it" Diamond crossed her arms. "How wired…" Heart sighed. "Well, more to the point, how do we get you out of here?" Spade asked Stance. "You're Japanese… It's improving…" Kane leaned against a nearby wall and sighed. "Yeah? I've been practicing a lot! And with Club helping me through private messages, I'm probably just as fluent as her" Spade placed her hands on her hips and nodded. Club simply rolled her eyes and looked away. "Getting out… I do not know honestly… I met a hacker named Helba, she said she could probably help me, but it would take time" Stance explained. "A hacker? Stance you're accepting help from a hacker?" I gasped. "Of all things for you to… A hacker? Are you kidding me?" I sighed. "Given my situation I don't have much of a choice, and to be completely honest I don't recall ever wronging them or hating them… But that could just be my memory…" Stance sighed. "You did say your memory was bad earlier… Is everything alright?" Spade asked worriedly. "Bits and pieces… I remember… Things… Just not events… I know that Dash is my friend; I recall everything about him, and all he's taught me about The World… I just… Don't remember the last time we actually spoke… That goes for everyone… You four included" Stance explained. "We've met before, and I know you all… But that is all I can recall" he sighed. "So, this Helba is helping you?" I asked. "From what I can gather… She and Kasey seemed to be friends" Stance continued. "Whoa! Kasey? She's in on this? Wait, that makes her a hacker too! Just what's going on…?" I sighed. "She is helping me, and I can't turn her away after she gave me this program. Without it I would have been stuck in Net Slum for God knows how long" Stance explained. "Program?" I Club asked. "It is… Inside my wrist so to speak. It allows me to travel between areas without using an actual Chaos Gate. Because I do not see menus or have options like you, I have to rely on this program to travel. She called it "Gate Hack" Stance explained. "Alright… So Kasey is a "good guy"… That's good, but just what happened to you? You mind explaining how you ended up in this situation?" I asked. "It was… That voice… Morganna is what Helba called it. I found that area… There was…" Stance began. "A girl…?" he wasn't asking us, but rather himself. "Yes… That girl… I remember… There was a girl!" Stance nodded. "That girl in white… And this…" Stance reached behind his belt and held out a rather old looking teddy bear. "I got this from that area…" Stance studied the stuffed animal. "How cute!" Heart suddenly squealed and looked at the small toy. "Help you sleep at night?" I smirked. "Don't be foolish…" Stance placed the bear back in its original spot on his belt. "But it was that voice… Morganna, she did this to me" Stance nodded. "Easy enough… What did she look like?" I asked. "She didn't have a body" Stance shook his head. "What?" I, and my guild sighed out at once. "Helba said she could be described as… "The God of The World" Stance said something rather outrageous. "So what does that mean?" I asked. "Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue. But I have not met her since she attacked me, so I can only assume she is no longer interested in me" Stance explained. "Good news for us then… But… What can we do to get you out?" I asked. "Helba told me to wait, she said she was going to study my character's data; she said it was completely different from what a regular character's should be… Other than that I have decided to search for The Key of the Twilight while I wait for Helba to come to her conclusion. This whole mess started with Tsukasa, and the appearance of his monster, now everyone is looking for The Key of the Twilight… Given my situation is –has- to exist… I know it does, and if I can find it, I may be able to return to my body in reality" Stance explained. "So… The Key of the Twilight… No doubt the rumors have really become rampant since the incident with Tsukasa…" I nodded. "Well, that's the plan then… We need to find The Key of the Twilight!" I stood up, and nodded. "You'll help?" Stance asked. "Of course, we're pals aren't we? Besides, can't just let you rot away in here can we? Gotta say though I'm kind of curious as to how it feels…" I nodded. "It's no different from real life, Dash" Stance picked up his helmet. "And could you please stop that? It is very annoying" Stance brushed away Spade's hand; she had somehow slipped away from the rest of the guild and was poking the Stance's neck. "Wha! You can feel that?" Spade jumped back away from Stance. "Of course… I've already told you have I not? This is reality for me… This is my body. I may seem like nothing more than an avatar to you, but you are all very real to me" Stance explained. "So do you get sleepy, or hungry?" Heart asked. "I get tired, and I have slept four times since I've entered this state, I think… I normally sleep in the bottom of a dungeon, in a room that no one would enter… As far as hunger goes… I have had urges… But I have not acted on them… The only real food that exists in The World is for grunties… And I would rather avoid eating those, so as long as I do not need to, I'll avoid eating" Stance explained. "Wouldn't touch the stuff either…" I nodded. "Well, I'll have to let Asaoka know what's going on" I explained. "Is that a good idea?" Stance asked. "Of course it is, she'll want to know" Stance's response caught me off guard. "But will she believe you?" Stance asked. "I had to corner you, and risk my life to prove to you who I was, and you are my best friend" Stance explained. "Walking up to her in reality, or calling her and trying to explain things will make you look crazy. And you can almost guarantee she'll never speak with you again, or step foot in The World" Stance added. "Hm… You might be right" I nodded in agreement. "You'll have to set her up. Make sure she can confirm that I am in a coma, and then bring her in game. If you can do that, I can force her to believe" Stance said something really strange. "Force her?" I nearly choked on the words. "I couldn't convince you with mere words, I doubt I'll be able to convince her. This is assuming you wish to involve her. I'll leave that up to you" Stance crossed his arms. "Up to me? Stance isn't she your… You know… You two were acting like…" I hesitated. "Like what? If you have something to say; then say it" Stance shot me a cold glare. "Well… A couple…" I blurted out. "What? Our relationship is purely professional" Stance glared at me as though I smacked him in the face. "What?! But just the other day you two were all… You don't remember?" I couldn't help but get angry. "I know that I am a class representative, and she is my assistant… But I think I would know more than anyone… I wouldn't allow such a relationship to form, it is highly unethical" Stance shook his head. "She is a friend, but nothing more" Stance said coldly. "What!? After everything that happened you're saying things like that?!" Before I realized what I was doing I grabbed Stance by the throat. That night… He doesn't remember a thing… He was acting so calm after what happened… But… He's just gone back to the way he was before… "You really don't remember…" I let Stance go, knowing it wasn't entirely his fault. "I… I don't know if I want to involve Asaoka… I'll have to think about it" I turned my back to Stance and sighed. "I will leave the decision up to you" Stance nodded. "Yeah…" I sighed and turned back to Stance. "So, what should we do now?" I asked. "The Crimson Knights are after me, so I have been avoiding Root Towns" Stance shook his head. "The knights? What for?" I asked. "Player Killing. A run in with Kaochin clued me in on quite a bit" Stance shrugged. "That's right… You joined her guild to fight against the knights" I sighed. "Indeed… Kaochin herself was able to explain to me a great deal. As far as I can gather, I was kicked from the Crimson Knights for a foolish reason, and I joined up with Kaochin's guild" Stance explained. "The Iniquity Knights" I stated. "Correct. If I was helping Kaochin it's only natural for the knights to peruse me… After all I can only imagine what I did to anger them. It couldn't have happened at a worse time either" Stance sighed. "For now I've been avoiding Root Towns, and trying to not to draw their attention. I have also avoided Root Towns for fear of running into Kaochin herself. I know her character, and the way she acts… If I am a member of her guild she'll ask me to do something that would draw attention from the knights, and I can't have that… And should I refuse she would simply force me, or kill me off herself… She is not aware of my situation, and I would rather not involve her. So it may be best to make my time spent in Root Towns short" Stance explained. "That does sound like a good idea" Club nodded. "Well… We need a game plan" I gestured for everyone to come closer. "Alright… So, here's what we'll do. Stance since it's a bad move for you to hang around in root towns, it's probably best if you stay in areas, and try not to draw attention. We'll gather information, and let you know what we find. If we get any solid leads we'll let you know, alright?" I explained. "Dash… You want me to… Stay in these fields… Alone?" Stance asked timidly. "You can't very well hang out in towns can you? You'd have the Crimson Knights all over you, and not to mention Kaochin, something you want to avoid, right?" I asked. "Yes but… I…" Stance stammered. "What seems like an entire day to me is only a matter of hours in reality" Stance explained. "Sounds rough… But what's your point?" I shrugged. "You idiot!" Spade smacked me across the back of the head. "He's lonely!" She shouted. "What? Stance doesn't get lonely" I chuckled. "He's always told me how he prefers to work alone when he was with the Crimson Knights, and…" I couldn't help but stare at the aggravated Stance. "I am only human… Just what kind of person do you think I am?" Stance crossed his arms and glared at me. "Well you're always keeping to yourself… You never really talked when I brought company on our adventures… I just figured…" I hesitated to continue. "I wouldn't continue" Stance threatened. "Yeah that sounds like a good idea…" I awkwardly scratched my head. "Well I guess even the hard and cold knight gets lonely from time to time, heh" I laughed. "Not a problem, we'll keep you company when we can, I'd tell you to go play with Kaochin but… The only thing you'd be playing with is your own life I suppose" I nodded. "It's night in Japan, but morning in America, yeah that's perfect. Looks like the time zones are on our side this time" I smirked. "Works out great, you four can hang out with Stance while I go to school and work, and then we can hang out afterwards, that works out great" I nodded. "Fine by me" Spade shrugged. "Acceptable" Club nodded in agreement. "Whatever, he just better keep that monster away from me" Diamond muttered. "Alright then, Dash since you'll be sleeping soon you'll hang out with him first, we'll go out and gather more information" Spade declared. "You sure? You've been doing that a lot lately…" I suddenly felt bad about making them do all the work. "Sure! It's pretty fun speaking another language, and I never get to do it unless I'm playing The World" Spade laughed. "You always were easily amused…" I smirked. "What was that?" Spade shouted. "Nothing! You should get going!" I dodged Spade's attack, and hurried away before she had a chance to follow through.

"So…" Once my guild was gone I turned to Stance. Stance crossed his arms like he normally would and turned to face me. "You seem to be taking this well" I shrugged. "I have had plenty of time to cope, I've gotten my crying, screaming, and insecurities out of the way" Stance spoke firmly. "I want out" He added. "Not what it's cracked up to be?" I playfully asked. "We'll get you out, just gotta wait for Helba, and maybe find that key while we're at it, eh?" I shouldered my Halberd. "Kind of boring here, not to mention depressing" I finally realized how dark and menacing this dungeon was. "I do not have a list of keywords to form an area… So… I simply let my feelings take control, and blurt out three words until I ended up in this area" Stance explained. "Depressed?" I asked. "Mildly…" Stance nodded. "Well staying here won't fix anything, and I'm starting to get depressed as well. Let's go somewhere else; you don't mind fighting do you?"I asked timidly. "Fighting is inevitable, but there are limits to what I am willing to do… Nothing to dangerous" Stance stressed this point. "Hey when you're with me, you're in good hands" I laughed. "Let's go somewhere more our style" I added. "This place is starting to get me depressed, let's get out of here" I motioned towards the exit. "Very well" Stance nodded.

…

Both Stance and I stared in silence at what stood before us. "This is your idea of good hands?" Stance grunted as he took a step backwards. "How the heck was I supposed to know…?" I muttered. The moment we left the dungeon we entered the raging lightning storm outside, and before us stood someone we both –really- did not want to see. "Stance? I knew if I followed that buffoon I'd find you…" the blonde haired female was clouded in darkness, but occasionally appeared when lightning lit up the area. "Yeah… We were about to go and hang out, so we'll be on our way" I explained. "No… Stance is coming with me, he said he'd help me" Kaochin snapped. "I do not remember making any plans with you for today" Stance spoke up. "The price you pay for joining my guild, you have to help me when I ask!" Kaochin retorted. "What do you need help with?" Stance asked. "I… I just want you to come with me, you're a member of my guild so we have to accomplish our goal" Kaochin wasn't visible, but I could faintly make out her crossing her arms. "The Crimson Knights are perusing me, I cannot afford to draw their attention" Stance explained. "That's good, you're just like me!" Kaochin giggled. "We are… Look, just come with me, alright?" Kaochin was obviously becoming impatient. "I can't do that" Stance stood firm. "But… You're in my guild, you have to!" Kaochin shouted. "You have other members, I am busy at the moment" Stance shook his head. "I bought that excuse earlier…" Kaochin grunted. "Fine, if you won't agree, then I'll just force you to" Kaochin sighed playfully and I could easily sense her sadistic grin through the darkness. "I don't want to fight" Stance took a step backwards. "No need, I'll just drag you along with me" Kaochin laughed. Battle-mode activated, and we were no longer able to gate out, at least not with Kaochin in front of us. "Give up Stance, or fight me" Kaochin giggled. "Stance! We can take her; we've done it plenty of times before, right?" I readied my halberd and nodded to Stance. "I don't remember… But I do know I –can- best her… I'll attack first" Stance drew his sword, and held it one handed like he used to. He probably knew as I; speed was Kaochin's weakness, fighting like he used to is his best chance. "You could still run away Kaochin, we'll just end up beating you, like always" I taunted. "Confident as ever, I think now is a fitting time to put you in your place" I heard Kaochin's sadistic laughter. "I don't get why she's so confident, she's never beaten us before…" I shook my head. "Trying to psyche us out, don't fall for it Stance" I warned him. "Of course" Stance nodded. "Prepare yourself Kaochin!" Stance dashed forward and let out a mighty battle cry. Stance became a mere shadow in the darkness as he approached Kaochin; I followed him so I could keep an eye on him. Stance thrust his sword straight at Kaochin with blinding speed; I knew there was no defending against it.

"What!?" Stance's surprised voice suddenly brought me back into reality. Stance had just barely missed Kaochin; I wouldn't have believed if it I hadn't seen it with my own eyes but… "She dodged it!?" I gasped. "Pha…" Kaochin lightly giggled and placed her hand near Stance's breast. "Rai…" She lightly pressed it against his armor. "Rom" her hand erupted in a violent flash of lightning that lit up the whole area. "Stance!?" his body rolled across the muddy ground from the force of her spell. "Alright, now you're gonna get it!" I jumped forward and ran towards Kaochin. "Here we go!" I spun my halberd around my head and slashed at her chest. Kaochin simply took one step backwards, and my attack barely missed her. "Pha Rai…" Kaochin leveled her free hand in my direction. "Oh no you don't! Beast's Blood!" I used an item called "Beast Blood" on myself. "Rom!" Kaochin's finished her spell and numerous bolts of lightning sprung from her hand. The lightning slammed into me but due to the effects of the item I used my magical defense was greatly increased, the spell burned my armor in several spots, and left my skin charred in some cases, but I survived. "Now you'll get it!" I held my halberd with one hand, and charged frantically towards Kaochin. "Foolish" Kaochin laughed and swung her axe down at my body. As her axe neared I leapt upwards, and grabbed onto the long handle of her axe. "Die!" my legs drug across the muddy ground as I flipped over her handle and leapt above her. I slammed my Halberd down over the top of her head, and the blade smashed into her skull with a loud thud. "How'd you like that?" I fell to the ground in front of Kaochin and smirked. "A petty attempt" Kaochin suddenly faded from view and reappeared. "What the?" I gasped as I caught a clear glimpse of Kaochin's attire. "Pretty cool, don't you think?" Kaochin smirked and spun around showing off her light blue dress. "Purple was more you're color" I smirked. "No taste…" Kaochin's left eye was covered by a pitch black eye patch, but her sinister grin did not change; unlike her outfit. "A new outfit won't help you though, no matter how good it may look; you know that right?" I lowered my combat stance and used my legs and my free hand to support me. "Of course…" Kaochin smirked and ran her free hand through her bright yellow hair, and along her eye-patch. "My natural look has always been more appealing than that stupid purple outfit I've been wearing… But…" Kaochin laughed.

"Kaochin!" A horrific shout stopped our rather playful conversation. Stance emerged from the darkness, and judging by the tone of his voice he wasn't playing around. "Oh? I thought you were dead" Kaochin laughed but didn't bother to look at Stance. I could tell by Stance's posture he was about to summon his guardian; Kaochin had no idea what she was doing, so I did what came natural. "Stance!" I ran forward using my hands and legs and leapt onto of him tackling him to the ground. "What the heck are you doing idiot?" I whispered. "She tried to kill me, get off of me now!" Stance's hand held firmly around my throat. "Idiot! She doesn't know what she's doing; this is just a game to her" I whispered. "And I am just defending myself! Now get out of my way!" Stance tightened his grip. "So… This is what it's come to? Mister hard man who always following the rules is about to knock out a helpless player because he's getting his butt kicked in a video game? Yeah, you're a real man" I taunted Stance. "Stop getting so pissed off, and play by the rules of the game, she's not your enemy. And above all else she does not deserve to be knocked out in reality, not like my friends were, no matter how horrible she acts in game, she's still human" I explained. "So stop letting your anger get the better of you, and play by the rules!" I shouted. "Stance tightened his grip and threw me to the side just as Kaochin's axe came crashing down atop us. "He barely managed to draw his sword in time, and block her attack. "My,how persistent" Kaochin held her axe above Stance and easily drove it downward with just one of her hands. "To bad I can't see your struggling face" Kaochin sighed at Stance as her axe neared his throat. "Hey! Over here!" I dropped my "beast" routine and vaulted forward, kicking Kaochin across the face as I flew by her. "You can be a real pain sometimes…" Stance grunted as he stood up. "Hey I'm just keeping you on the straight and narrow" I chuckled. "I've always walked the straight and narrow, taking a detour with you leads me to a dead end" Stance casually walked over to me and slapped me upside the head. "Real cute" I sighed. "I suggest you think of a way to get me out of this situation" Stance glared at Kaochin who was now starting to stand. "Why do I have to think of a way out?" I asked. "Because I have already found one" Stance answered coldly. "Let's just go all out, and give her all we've got! That will drive her off" I smirked and prepared to attack. "Normally I am the one who chooses to fight, no negotiations?" Stance asked. "Have you seen her? That new outfit must have gone to her head, that or she's been doing some serious push-ups or something" I shook my head. "Since when was she this strong?" I asked. "That is a redundant question, I would not be able to recall what made her this powerful" Stance explained. "I love how you answer my rhetorical questions…" I sighed. "And I love how you waste time asking questions that are not supposed to be answered" Stance sighed. "Well… Ready to fly?" I let out one last sigh and asked. "Just get on with it" Stance placed his sword in his left hand and held firmly onto my free hand. "I didn't know you two had that kind of relationship" Kaochin laughed. "She keeps talking like that I may just let you use that stupid monster on her…" I grunted. "You sound angry" I knew Stance was smirking under his helmet. "This is ridiculous! After all we did, and the severity of the situation she shows up like always and just… What is her problem!?" I shouted. "Come on!" I tightened my grip on Stance's hand and ran forward. "Up you go!" I planted my halberd into the ground and vaulted up into the air like I was accustomed to, only this time when I reached the peak of my vault I used all of my strength and threw Stance above me. I fell back to the ground and landed back on the ground and dashed towards Kaochin. "That was stupid" Kaochin said bluntly. "We'll see!" as I neared she swung her axe towards me but I fell forward and slid underneath her attack, and her legs. "Got you!" as I passed under her legs I grabbed both of her shins and drug her down to the ground. "Anid Crack!" Stance landed on her chest and began to pummel her using a darkness based skill. Stance slashed at her abdomen, and occasionally her face; before stepping off her and taking a position next to me. "Phew, that got her" I whipped the rain from my face and nodded. "Not really… But that attack does warrant recovery" Kaochin was still lying on the muddy ground, but she giggled as if nothing were wrong. "Why isn't she dying?" I looked to Stance. "Just attack!" Stance ran forward. "Reapth!" Kaochin healed herself with the weakest spell available. "Come on" Kaochin stood up and readied for Stance's attack. "Gi Rai Rampage!" Kaochin took the initiative and used a skill. Stance took notice and brought his sword up to parry her attack but his guard was easily crushed by Kaochin's power; her axe slammed into Stance's armor and utterly crushed his breastplate, shards of metal flew everywhere along with Stance's blood as her axe tore through his flesh. "That's going too far!" I ran forward and prepared to attack Kaochin. "Pha Rai Don!" Kaochin fired off a powerful thunder spell that floored me. "Can this fight get anymore Anti Climatic?" I struggled to my feet. "I wouldn't move" Kaochin held Stance by the neck and she proudly waved him around like some kind of trophy. "I want a good look at your face" Kaochin delightfully pulled Stance's helmet off and smiled at his pained expression. "Now, you remember when you joined my guild don't you? How I was kind enough to offer you shelter when Subaru cast you out?" Kaochin smiled and shoved her free hand into Stance's free wound. "You said you'd be there when I needed you, and I won't let you lie to me. We're friends after all!" Kaochin twisted her hand sideways and Stance responded violently. "Kaochin, you've had your fun! You need to stop, come on!" I shouted. "This is a conversation between friends, please butt out" Kaochin snapped. "What kind of friend tortures their friend like that?" I shouted. "Good question! Why not ask Stance? After all he lied to his friend, and ignored her when she asked for his help" Kaochin shook Stance and laughed. "What do you want?" Stance coughed. "I really love how you're going through such lengths to express pain! But… This is all too easy…" Kaochin sighed and tossed Stance to the floor. "Hey, Stance…" Kaochin placed her foot on his wounded chest. "You remember when we first met don't you? Do you remember what I told you back then?" Kaochin playfully stomped around Stance's chest. "Kaochin! Stop this now!" I shouted. "You shut up before I kill him, and then finish you off!" Kaochin shouted. "Remember? I told you I had been playing for a long time" Kaochin smirked. "Longer than most… You remember? I told you I have been playing The World since "Fragment". You never found it strange how you were constantly beating someone who had been playing from the moment The World was released? Hehe…" Kaochin giggled. "Just what are you talking about?" I began to walk around to Kaochin's rear. "Isn't it obvious? I purposely wear equipment that weakens me so things aren't killed in one hit when I attack them!" Kaochin laughed. "And since the administration has closed down all the higher level root towns so I've decided to be fair to everyone, and have a little fun while I'm at it. Being such a high level makes fighting the knights so easy… And I can't forget you… All of our little fights were you've walked away the victor… Haha, it's funny because you're the only Crimson Knight I've never utterly killed by ridding myself of that bothersome equipment… And this is the thanks I get…" Kaochin walked over Stance. "One last chance… I could still use your help" Kaochin smirked and looked down at Stance. He held up his hand, and the space behind Kaochin distorted. "Kaochin!" I shouted. "Shut up, and let him answer!" Kaochin looked to Stance's hand with a pleased smile. The guardian Stance summoned was right behind Kaochin, and prepared to attack her exposed back. "Stance, think about what you're doing!" I shouted. "I'm only going to ask once…" Kaochin began. A tentacle emerged from the large purple monster and it prepared to impale Kaochin, and knock her out in reality. "I need three people for this stupid event, Karl is busy, and I don't know where the other two fools are" Kaochin placed her hands on her hips and sighed.

"What!?" the tense atmosphere completely vanished, the guardian with it.

"Why didn't you tell us that to begin with?" I felt like screaming. "This seemed like more fun" Kaochin giggled. "So, what is your answer?" Kaochin looked expectantly to Stance. "If you will heal me…" Stance seemed about as amused as I was. "Will you beg?" Kaochin looked down at the injured Stance, completely unaware of what she had really done. "Please…" Stance coughed a little as he spoke, I was amazed he hadn't bled to death, but he isn't actually bleeding. As long as his HP remains like that he'll probably remain in that state of near death. Man, how messed up can you get… Who designed this? "Haha! Good! Here you go" Kaochin laughed. "Pha Reapth!" Kaochin cast the strongest healing spell available to players; curing Stance completely. "Thank you" Stance grunted as he stood up. He's not going to attack her now is he? "So… What's this I hear about an event?" I ran between them and tried to make small talk. "It's an event centered on trivia or some junk. If it were about combat I could do it myself, but I don't want to waste my time going down there only to be asked a dumb question they can't expect me to answer. That's why Stance is coming with me" Kaochin explained. "Wait, that's the event? You need help with answering questions?" I tried to hide my amusement. "Well, how about me? I'm not some battle maniac you know, kind of nice to see an event not centered on fighting for once, mind if I tag along?" I asked. "But you're an idiot aren't you?" Kaochin frowned and pointed at me. "That he is" Stance nodded. "Hey, come on now… Kaochin said it herself; she couldn't find anyone to go with her, and you'll have an extra space available, why not invite old Dash to tag along, you might learn something" I smirked. "Fine… But if you screw us up I'll kill you!" the blonde headed female sighed. "Well alright, we shall we go?" I tossed my halberd over my shoulder. "Meet me in Mac Anu, we'll go the area from there, got it? Don't make me wait!" Kaochin gave us an ominous warning and left.

The moment Kaochin left a tremendous force knocked me over in reality, and sent me face first into my monitor. "What the heck was that for?!" I shouted as I held my aching head in reality. Stance was standing behind me with his guardian; its tentacle slowly retracted back into its body. "An event!? What a brilliant idea! Let's fight her! I nearly died because she wanted me to help her with an event! And one that does not even involve combat!" Stance shouted. "What!? I didn't hear you object! Besides I was just following you!" I retorted. "So now I am the leader?" Stance crossed his arms. "Well you're not much of a follower" I chuckled. "How childish, blaming someone else…" Stance sighed. "Oh I'm the child? Here you are, smacking people around with that stupid monster because things didn't go your way! What's up with that?!" I asked. "I was shocked, slashed, stepped on, and nearly killed. I wonder; just how many times in your life have you been attacked with an axe? Have you been stabbed? Or slashed?" Stance asked. "Ah… Well… Sheesh, alright… Let's just call this one a fifty/fifty" I suggested. "Sixty/forty" Stance countered. "What, you were ready to rumble just like me! Face it, you had the exact same idea, in fact you were going to use that stupid monster and screw with her in reality, and all she wanted to do was hang out!" I retorted. "Fifty/fifty" Stance withdrew his offer. "Alright then, fine with me" I nodded and extended my hand towards him. "Cool?" I asked. "Until you screw up again" Stance shook my hand. "No… Until we both screw up again" I smirked.

"Well… Here we are" Stance and I appeared right in front of Kaochin, she must have equipped her old equipment because she was wearing the purple dress I was accustomed to. "Took you long enough, can we get going?" Kaochin let out an exaggerated sigh. "Where to?" I asked. "Δ Quiet Solitary Feeling, that's where the event is being held" Kaochin explained. "What I wouldn't give… Well, you said this event was centered around trivia? Must not have caught my mind" I pondered. "Obviously…" Kaochin giggled. "Let's get going before I lose my enthusiasm, they might close the even down, and I want to know what their offering as a prize" Kaochin snickered. "What would you give someone for winning an event based on knowledge? A diploma or certificate?" I wondered. "It would be the only diploma you will ever receive" Stance interjected. "Real cute. But just who has the higher grade point average?" I smirked. "Good question" Stance stated this and said nothing more. Did he forget? "Come on, shut up! Let's go!" Kaochin marched towards the chaos gate and Stance and I followed her. Kaochin activated the chaos gate and all three of us were transported to the appropriate field.

"How bland…" Kaochin commented. "Bland? It's a forest! Just what about a jungle is bland?" I asked. "Just what is so exciting about one?" Kaochin answered my question with one of her own. "Sheesh, I don't know… The trees? The animals? The fact that it's a lot different from what I'm used to?" I shrugged. "You're a pretty ignorant person" Kaochin commented. "I actually prefer the term "arrogant" I chuckled. "Would you mind if I just called you stupid from now on? It's a lot easier" Kaochin smiled happily and looked at me. "And I'll just call you "Spoiled Brat" I met Kaochin's smile with one of my own. "Hey Stance, you agree with me don't you?" Kaochin turned to Stance, perhaps just to satisfy herself. "You both are wasting a good deal of time" Stance took the highroad, probably the smartest thing to do right now. "Heh, yeah Stance is right, we should get going" I nodded. "Humph! I'm the leader, you'll follow me" Kaochin stopped me from going ahead and took off on her own.

"Greetings! Are you the leader?" A rather dumb looking NPC dressed like a clown turned to Kaochin and asked. "Of course!" Kaochin flaunted herself even to artificial intelligence. "You've come here to take the challenge of knowledge, have you not?" the NPC asked. "We've come here to crush this pathetic challenge" Kaochin grinned. "Somewhere in this dungeon are three statues, each guarding a precious item. Answer their questions correctly, and the item they are guarding will be yours. You may challenge only once, and you're not allowed to start over! Now; we have registered your party, so please proceed!" The NPC bowed and beckoned us inwards towards the forest like dungeon "Good luck!" the NPC added.

"Well… I guess it's inside here" our group stood outside a large red building. "Obviously…" Kaochin sighed. "Will we enter?" Stance asked. "Of course, let's go!" Kaochin lead the way into the red stone building. In the center of the building was a large statue; as the NPC had explained. It really didn't stand out, but it looked kind of like a giant cat. "Welcome, now answer my question!" the statue roared. "In the book of revelations; there were twelve stones that were to become the foundation of the twelve gates on the walls of New Jerusalem… Which of these is the 9th true treasure?" I gave out a riddle. "What kind of question is that? I'm no Christian!" Kaochin grunted. "Nor am I… What about you Dash?" Stance tossed his glance over to me. "Heh, you're in luck!" I smirked. "The answer of course; is sapphire" I didn't even have to think about it. The statue began to rumble, and slowly slid backwards, revealing a small treasure chest. "Heh, what's next?" I smirked and kicked the small chest open. "Wow, you're not completely useless after all… So, did you cheat?" Kaochin crossed her arms and glared at me. "Cheat? Hah! Yeah right. I just knew the answer, I always got bored when mom forced me to go to church with her, so I just read the bible on my own while he preached. Old and new testaments too!" I smirked. "This is something I will not be allowed to forget, this am I sure" Stance sighed. "But… I must say I am impressed. You are always sleeping in class…" Stance muttered. "Heh, not a big deal, just comes naturally. Besides, I only sleep when I already know the material" I nodded. "You sleep an awful lot" Stance grunted. "Well yeah I suppose I do" I laughed, and reached into the chest. "What have we here?" I held up a necklace containing a large blue stone. "A sapphire" Stance responded. "Nice little accessory I suppose, not much use though…" I examined the item before throwing it to Stance. "Guard it carefully; don't want anyone trying to steal it from us" I explained. "Of course" Stance nodded and placed the necklace inside one of the pouches on his belt. "Let's go" Kaochin sighed.

"So, Kaochin, you've been playing since fragment, huh?" we were hopelessly lost, so I decided to break the boredom with some conversation, hopefully one that Kaochin couldn't sour. "Yep. I was one of the few selected to participate" Kaochin mused. "What was it like?" I was always curious about what The World was like during its testing phases, but I never actually met someone who played during fragment. "Hm… Some aspects where better… Others were pretty crappy, and were removed when Fragment was upgraded into The World" Kaochin explained. "What kind of content was removed?" Stance asked the question I was about to. "Some classes; like Bowman, Martial Artist, and Beast-master. The classes that made it to the final version had their named changed, and received a complete overhaul" Kaochin went on. "Oh? What was the Long Arm class before it was actually called "Long Arm?" I asked. "Pikeman. Most classes had rather archaic names like that. Blademaster was called "Knight". Twinblades were called "Assassins". "Heavy Axemen were just called Axemen. Wavemasters were called Mages" Kaochin counted off the classes. "What about Heavy Blades?" I asked. "It was German. They were called… Ver… Verlorene…" Kaochin stopped and tried to sound out some foreign sounding word. "Verlorene Haufe?" Stance stopped his march and looked back to Kaochin. "Yeah… How'd you know?" Kaochin asked. "It's German. It means "Forlorn Hope". It could also be translated as "Lost Hope" Stance explained. "Strange name for a class that wields large swords…" I stated. "I never really understood it either" Kaochin shrugged. "It was a term used for men who were forced, or volunteered to lead an attack, normally to break up an enemy spear wall, or attack an enemy in an entrenched position. Like enemies standing guard on walls during the siege of a settlement. Normally people in the first wave of such an attack would be killed or fatally wounded, but those that survived received great honor, and valor. They would normally be armed with large weapons used to break up enemy lines. The weapon of choice would normally be a Zweihander, or one of the many polearms available. Zweihander were extremely large two handed swords; a typical attack would involve them using the large sword to break an enemy's pole-arm, then they would charge forward and carve a bloody trail through the front line" Stance finished his long winded explanation. "The idea for the Heavy Blade class probably came from that concept" Stance added. "Doesn't sound like a job I'd want… Sheesh" I sighed just thinking about what those men felt like. "That's because you are a coward" Kaochin chuckled. "Self preservation makes me a coward? Heh, whatever you say. I just don't like the idea of running down a path I know will lead to my end" I shrugged. "Ha! Well maybe you'd die. But if I were in that situation I'd destroy the entire army single handedly" Kaochin boldly declared. "You know what… I don't find that hard to believe… Which is actually kind of scary" I smirked. "Of course!" Kaochin smiled and posed proudly. "It sounds to me like Fragment was based more on a classical or medieval setting" Stance said thoughtfully. "It was. Wave-crests did not exist, and we were allowed to input any word we wanted into the Chaos Gate" Kaochin nodded. "Man… I bet there were an endless number of fields you could go to…" I gasped. "It was fun… It was before the knights; maybe that's why I enjoyed it so much…" Kaochin muttered. "A lot of rumors though, not that it's any different that The World today… People dying, upside down men… Comas… I'm sure you know the stories" Kaochin chuckled. "All too well…" Stance cynically laughed to himself. "Well… We're still lost… We should try and find the next statue" I stretched and surveyed the area. "It's your fault for holding us up… But whatever, let's go" Kaochin ordered.

…

"Well, I guess this is it" We stood outside another stone like hut. "Good thing Stance knows a thing or two about navigation" I chuckled. "Whatever! Let's go!" Kaochin grunted, obviously angry she was the reason we got lost. "Ladies first" I bowed as she marched past me. "Dash..," Stance grabbed my arm before I entered and pulled me towards him. "Yeah? What's up?" I asked. "I think we are being watched" Stance whispered. "Yeah? What makes you think so?" I asked. "A bad feeling… While we were lost I could have sworn I had someone whispering, and at times laughing… Maybe I am losing my sanity, but I believe we should be cautious" Stance explained. "Yeah? Well… Yeah, you're right. Let's keep one ear to the ground, eh?" I nodded and followed Kaochin into the yellow hut. "Another statue" Stance noted the large yellow statue in the center of the room. "Wonder what it'll ask?" I wondered aloud. "Welcome. Now answer my question" the statue commanded. "In a world where 1 is 2, 5 is 5, and 8 is 7… What thing appears when you multiply 331 and 3 without heaven and earth?" the statue roared. "What?" I nearly threw my halberd to the ground. "Math… I am no good at math…" Stance sighed. "Humph… well 331 multiplied by 3 is 993" Kaochin stated. "But what do you get when you take away heaven and earth?" I asked. "Heaven and earth could refer to the ground and sky" Stance suggested. "So… You get a floating number? I don't get it" I shrugged. "Maybe you flip it over?" Kaochin suggested. "Now you've got a backwards three and sixty six" I sighed. "Well what does this thing want from us?!" Kaochin shouted. "Backwards three… Dash, I believe I may have an answer…" Stance nodded. "Yeah? Well don't be shy" I sighed and gestured towards the stupid statue giving these ridiculous riddles.

"Heeeeeelllllllooooooo?" A high pitched voice echoed throughout the area.

"What the heck was that?" Stance, Kaochin and I all glared towards the entrance. "Tsukasa? I want to play a game!" a green haired man skipped through the shadows. "What did he just say?" I glared to Stance. "Tsukasa…?! You there!" Stance stepped forward. "What do you know of the player known as Tsukasa?! I demand you tell me everything you know, immediately!" Stance commanded. "Oh? I could have sworn he'd be here…" the player stepped forward revealing his features. "Sora!?" I shouted in shock. "OH! It's you! It's not Tsukasa, but I suppose I could play a game with my old friend!" Sora gleefully cheered. "You're no friend of mine!" I countered. "Oh come on… We used to have so much fun together!" Sora danced around the area while speaking. "Cut the crap! What do you know of Tsukasa?" I asked. "He's an interesting person isn't he?" Sora asked. "Answer my questions!" Stance stepped forward and reached out towards Sora's throat. "Not so fast!" Sora suddenly jumped up; landing on Stance's shoulders. "You shouldn't invade people's personal space like that" Sora shrugged and laughed at the same time. Stance unsheathed his sword with a loud cry and swung towards Sora; however Sora easily jumped out of the way, and landed behind Stance. "Fighting you would be boring" Sora practically yawned. "Who is this clown?" Kaochin finally spoke up. "Oh…? And just who are you?" Sora moved so fast he practically disappeared and reappeared behind Kaochin. "Hey… Why don't you give me your member address?" Sora suggested this idea, his blades resting against Kaochin's exposed neck. "How about you kiss my ass?" Kaochin countered his offer with one of her own. "How boring…" he let out a simple sigh before cutting into her neck. Kaochin's body fell forward; her death was instant having such a vital part of her body slashed like that. "Sora, you monster!" I readied my halberd. "Its fun being a monster" Sora licked the blood on his wrist blade.

"Sora!" Stance's voiced shook the small stone hut. He charged forward and tackled Sora to the floor. Sora however easily used the momentum to his advantage, and rolled backwards to his feet. "So you want to play a little game? Alright let's dance!" Sora laughed and assumed a combat position. Stance held his sword with both hands and marched over to Sora. He brought his sword crashing down, but Sora blocked his attack using just one of his blades. "It's not much of a game unless you're going to put all you've got into it!" Sora laughed. Stance began to swing his weapon faster, each swing seemed like it had enough to crush Sora, but he just stood there blocking with one hand and yawning with the other. While Sora was yawning Stance reached out and grabbed his extended hand. "Uhh…?" Sora stopped his taunting and looked at his captured hand. "I'll crush you!" Stance threw him over his shoulder and onto the ground. Stance's sword was above his head but he brought it crashing down on Sora.

Stance suddenly dropped his weapon and his hand fell limp.

"Whoops… I thought I would only have to use one hand… But I guess I was wrong" Sora laughed and drug Stance to his feet. "Aww… That looks like it hurts" Sora's right hand, and the blade atop it was shoved into Stance's stomach. "Here, hold this; if you would be so kind" Sora jammed his left hand and the blade affixed to it into Stance's stomach. "You didn't put up enough of a fight… You should work a little harder" Sora stepped on Stance's feet and laughed to himself. "Bye bye…" Sora thrust his hands upwards, and his blades cut through Stance's armor, and flesh, leaving a blood trail all the way up his shoulders. "Game set!" Sora playfully pushed Stance backwards; his body faded to a dull gray when he landed on the ground indicating that he was dead, much like Kaochin. "Sora! You're going to pay for that!" I screamed. "You sound angry? You wouldn't hurt an old friend, would you?" Sora laughed. "Hunter's Bane!" I pulled out a magical scroll and cast the magic spell contained in it. "That's not exactly fair…" Sora laughed as the spell took effect on his character. "Like you would know anything about fair? I'm not holding back now! Let's see just how low I can lower your stats!" I smirked and reached for another magical scroll. "Warrior's Bane! Knight's Bane! Hermit's Bane! Beast's Bane! Wizard's Bane!" I used one scroll after another, and when I was finished his magical attack, defense, and accuracy was lowered. His magical attack, defense, and accuracy also took a heavy drop as well. "You've always relied on those cheap scrolls" Sora laughed. "And you've always relied on your high level, and cheap tactics. Well it won't work on me!" I retorted. I reached into my inventory and pulled out a small container of oil. "Not done yet?" Sora laughed. "Almost" I smirked. I popped the cork off the bottle and poured the contents over my body, drenching myself in the searing hot oil. "Ap Vakz!" I cast a spell that would increase my fire elemental skills. The spell reacted with the oil on my body, and combusted causing my body to erupt in flames. "Come on you brat! It's time I teach you a lesson in humility!

I used the long reach of my halberd to my advantage; I kept him at as far away from me as I could. "You've gotten a lot faster" Sora laughed. "And you've gotten slower!" I smashed my halberd into his blades, and quickly spun it over my head and attacked him on the other side of his body. "But it's all pointless in the end, you'll just end up dying" Sora laughed. I forced him to parry one of my attacks then took to the offensive. I thrust my long halberd forward; Sora easily jumped upwards and landed skillfully on the blade of my weapon. "Now this seems to be familiar" Sora laughed. "MeVak Don!" I held out my free hand and let lose a spell. "Boing!" Sora laughed and jumped high into the air. "Got you!" I used my halberd to vault up into the air. "Vak Doom!" I smashed by halberd into the left side of his waist, then followed up by slicing into his right leg; finally I held my weapon sideways and used the blunt of my blade to smash him back to the ground below. "You ready to give up?" I smirked. "Nope…" Sora laughed. "Potion!" Sora sang while healing himself with an item. "It was an impressive display but nothing fantastic… Is that all you can do? It's been a real long time since we've last fought, I was expecting something more" Sora sighed. Yeah… Now's the perfect time… "Well I do have a brand new attack, one you've never seen before…" I bluffed. "Is it interesting?" Sora asked. "Sure is. It'll knock your head off, here check it out!" I held out my hand. "Rip Maen!" I cast a healing spell that revived a dead player. "Hm? That's it? Reviving your friends?" Sora giggled. "Oh? And you're running away?" Sora noticed I was now hightailing it towards the exit. "I just don't want to get in the way" I turned around and leaned against my halberd. "In the way?" Sora cocked his head and shot me a confused glare.

"Gi Rai Break!" Kaochin's shrieking voice echoed around the small area we were located in. Sora barely caught glimpse of the enraged Kaochin, but was able to jump over her attack. "Not very nice!" Sora shouted as he reached the height of his jump. "Try this on for size then!" Kaochin smiled sadistically. She had already changed her equipment, and was wearing the blue dress she had worn when she defeated Stance and I. "Die!" Kaochin wasted no time and throwing her large axe through the air and straight at Sora. "Ranged attack?" Sora frantically waved his body around and was able to dodge the axe despite the fact he was in the air. "Ta-da!" Sora landed with a deep bow. "A shame you threw your weapon away like that. Ah… But I see you changed outfits! I'll get to stain that one in your crimson blood too! He-he…" the blades on Sora's hands burst from their sheaths. "And… Die!" Sora shot forward and thrust his right hand out towards Kaochin. Kaochin had no weapon and thus no way to defend herself, the best defense she could manage was to block his attacks with her open palm. Sora thrust his right hand forward and his blade impaled Kaochin's palm. "I got you" Sora mused as he thrust his other hand towards Kaochin. Like before she stopped the blade by sacrificing her palm. "Actually…" Kaochin muttered as her impaled hands clamped down on Sora's. "I think I've got you" Kaochin laughed. "Oh?" Sora looked down at his hands with a sly smile. "Let me just…" Sora tried to retract his blade from Kaochin's palm, but she held it firmly in place. "Oh no…" Kaochin laughed. "You're the one who wanted to play, so how about we dance?" Kaochin's face lit up with her all too familiar twisted smile. "Pha Rai Kruz" Huge bolts of blue lighting suddenly burst from her hands and engulfed not only Sora, but the entire area. It was the first time I've ever seen Sora outright bested, and probably the first time I've ever heard his character scream like that. When her incredible attack finished she opened her hands and Sora fell to the ground shaking violently. "That looked like it hurt" Kaochin laughed and kicked Sora clear across the room. "Ughhh… This is getting boring…" Sora's happy demeanor from earlier was gone as he glared at Kaochin. "It's only getting boring because you have no chance of winning" Sora was so easy to read. "You love hunting down players weaker than you, but hate it when someone is able to put up a fight, man you're really disgusting you know that?" I picked up my halberd and prepared to finish him off. "Sorry folks, but this isn't my scene" Sora yawned, and leapt over me towards the exit. "I'm looking for a certain Wavemaster, sorry old friend but our game will have to wait" Sora laughed and ran away. "What are you waiting for, aren't you going to go after him?" Kaochin asked. "No, Stance comes first. We need to revive him" I felt horrible for allowing him to actually die, not only that I just sat there and ignored him. "Idiot! I'll take care of Stance! He's my servant anyway! Go get your revenge!" Kaochin shouted. "I weakened him enough so you could have the pleasure of killing him yourself. Now stop standing around, go after him!" Kaochin shouted before kneeling down next to Stance. "Heh… I understand Kaochin; take good care of him alright?" I tossed a wink her way and bolted out after Sora.

"She's not such a bad person after all…" I muttered as I emerged into the forest. "Sora! Come out and finished what you've started!" the players around me began to stare and whisper as I shouted. "Hey! Did you say Sora?" a random blademaster ran up to me. "Yeah, I did. You seen him?" I asked. "That stupid bastard killed off my friend last week, and my girlfriend a week before that! Hell I'll help you look" he nodded and drew his blade. "Wait… Sora… The player killer?" A fellow long arm walked over to our conversation. "I hate him! He's been harassing me in my friends for a while now!" she grunted. "Count me in!" she nodded. "I've read about him on the forums! He's here? Let's take him down!" A twinblade joined in. This kept going and before long more than a dozen players joined the hunt for the hated player killer. "Alright guys! Sora's still weak, and I doubt he's left the area! Let's spread out and find him, alright! Let's show him that we don't take kindly to his mischief, alright!?" I held up my halberd and cheered. The group of players that was formed in just seconds rallied together in one loud cheer. "Let's get him!" I let lose one last cheer and the group spread out into the vast forest to search for Sora, who I was beginning to think quite was the most hated player in all of The World.

"It's only a matter of time…" From what I could gather he had to be hiding in the northern parts of the forest, as the southern part had been completely searched by the mass of players. "Nothing like seeing players coming together like this… It's like I told Stance, we can look out for ourselves!" I couldn't help but smile. "Hey…" I suddenly came across a pale blue hut, much like the yellow one I was just in. "Could he…" I wondered aloud. "It's worth a shot!" I prepared to attack and entered the stone building.

"Humph! How boring" Sora was standing in front of me, looking into the room, he didn't seem at all amused, but he was preoccupied, and it gave me an opportunity. I charged forward and tackled Sora from behind, throwing both of us deeper into the building. "Hey, what are you doing?!" Sora was probably annoyed by my presence. "You're not getting off that easy!" I pressed the hilt of my halberd against his neck. "What's going on?" I heard a player cry out. "Their fighting in the middle of an event like this?!" I heard a female shout. "Don't get involved! Get Tsukasa out of here!" a male player ran past me towards his comrades. "Wait… Tsukasa?" I softened my grip and looked towards the exit. Sure enough; there was the Wavemaster at the center of all of this, If there was a solution, he probably had it. "Wait! Tsukas-" my cry was interrupted by Sora's punch to my gut. "Hey now, you came here looking for me, right?" Sora laughed and pushed me off of him. "Darn… Tsukasa!" I ran towards the exit only to be cut off by Sora. "Get out of my way Sora. I don't have time for these stupid games!" I shouted. "Hm… I like these stupid games" Sora laughed. "But… Tsukasa is mine…" Sora dropped his playful attitude and got serious. "What do you know about Tsukasa?" I asked. "He's an interesting person, and interesting things happen around him" Sora answered. "That's it?" I asked in disbelief. "What other reason is there?" Sora asked. "You've got the mentality of a child, and the attitude to boot" I snapped. "Your parents must not have disciplined you enough. Looks like I'll have to do their job for them, and beat some sense into you" I readied my halberd and took a combat position. "Trying to mentor me again? Teaching isn't one of your strong points" Sora added. "Humph! We all make mistakes" I retorted. "Well… Welcome to the school of hard knocks, you'll be learning the hard way!" I shouted and ran forward. I held my halberd outward, in an attempt to impale Sora on it. "Whoop!" Sora jumped up into the air as I had predicted, what he didn't bother to realize is he did so in a very narrow hallway. I flipped my halberd around in my hands, and ran underneath him. I swung my halberd over my head, and the hook on the back of my halberd pierced Sora's abdomen, and held him firmly in place. "Out you go!" I held my halberd above my head and dashed out of the stone building, bringing Sora with me. I smashed my halberd into the ground, crushing Sora underneath it. "You can't beat me" Sora still smiled despite the wound in his stomach. "You know, of all the players I know, you're the most predictable. No matter what you have one way of doing things, I knew you'd jump, you always do. It's pretty easy to play an idiot like you" I chuckled. "Even still, you can't beat me. My level far surpasses your own, even if you can get lucky, and hit me a few times… My skill far surpasses your dumb luck" Sora laughed and rolled backwards to his feet. "You call sneaking up behind players half your level and killing them without giving them a chance to attack "skill?" I asked. "Or perhaps you're talking about your repetitive easy to read fighting style?" I laughed. "Maybe you just have a weakness against us Long Arms?" I suggested. "Humph! You're got a big mouth" Sora prepared to attack. "And you've got a big ego" I countered. "Of course it's not match when compared to mine" I smirked. "Hey… You hear that?" I suddenly stopped when I heard the shouting of players nearing. "That's my dumb luck coming to get you…" I chuckled and returned to my combat stance. "You're so annoying!" Sora ran forward, but all I had to do was step aside. His attack passed right by me. "Got you!" Sora reacted fast and thrust both of his hands forward. I blocked with the hilt of my halberd, his two blades became lodged between the wooden hilt of my blade. "Whoa!" I gasped. "Aren't I lucky?" I smirked and violently jerked my halberd left and right causing Sora to lose his balance, and fall to the ground.

"There he is! Let's get him!" the group I formed to hunt Sora finally arrived, and they were ready to attack.

"Sora… You know… I've come to realize something about you…" I looked down at the childish twin blade. "A long time ago I tried to be your friend, but you made the decision to stab me in the back" I recalled the time I first met Sora. "I've gone out of my way to avoid you, but from what I can gather you just keep making enemies" I sighed. "You keep betraying people, and you keep making people angry, and with no one here to help you… One day you're going to mess with the wrong person and you're going to end up in some serious trouble" I explained. "I really hope one day you realize how stupid you've been acting. You're going to land yourself in some really hot water" I looked around at the approaching players. "Humph, this is what I'm talking about. Well…" I stretched my arms, and dislodged my halberd from his blades. "No sense in me talking, best if you just experience it for yourself I suppose. Some people just don't want to be helped" I shrugged. "You're still so boring" Sora just laughed. "The Hanged Man!" I reached into my bag of scrolls and used one to paralyze him. "You reap what you sow… And you can bet we'll speak again, after all; my friend is very much interested in finding Tsukasa. So look forward to our next meeting" I gave Sora a polite smile, and left him to his fate at the hands of the players he wronged.

"Phew… I really hate dealing with him…" I dusted myself off, and yawned. "He knows Tsukasa… But just how much does he actually know? It looks like Stance and I have our lead… Speaking of… I Wonder how Stance is doing… I did just leave him there… I'll PM Kaochin" I nodded and began typing my message to Kaochin.

DashHey, Kaochin! I took care of Sora; of course he probably would have beat me if you didn't work your magic on him, thanks for that. How's Stance doing? You get him revived?

Kaochin So that's Sora? Ha! I read so much about him on the boards, I was actually expecting a fight. You two seemed to know each other? You idiots meet before?

DashWhen he first started playing… I think… There really is no telling if he was actually telling me the truth or not… Anyway, he was always complaining about how boring The World was, so I helped him find something to entertain him. Turns out he enjoyed killing off other players. Not my cup of tea… But I encouraged it, I mean; Player Killers are just players trying to have fun. Yeah sometimes it gets in the way of other people's fun, but then you get those players who defend others, you know? Like a big circle or something. Anyway, I told him that Player Killing isn't all that bad, and if he finds it fun he should continue, that's what games are for, ya know? Then within the next week I come to find out he's already light-years ahead of me in terms of level, and he didn't want anything to do with me; said I was too boring to hang out with.

DashOf course I had no idea that he would gain so much fame, and become one of the most wanted players in all of The World. He's caused problems for a lot of people, no doubt there. Player Killers have their place… But there is a limit, and Sora has crossed that limit. Heck, I don't even think other PKers like him.

DashHe's pretty predictable, and I normally avoid him because the first thing he does when he sees me is pick a fight, and unfortunately nine times out of ten I end up losing simply because he is a higher level than me, and can take more punishment. I don't get angry with The World often, but when I'm around Sora, I really start to hate it, so I decided it was best for me to just avoid him.

DashGood thing you were there to weaken him. I know from personal experience, that he doesn't have any spells to heal himself, he's all decked out for offense, and he's pretty dense, so he forgets to buy potions too. Probably wasn't expecting to run into someone like you, guess I was lucky in that regard. But Just thinking about what I said to him back then… It feels like I've created a monster…

Kaochin Good going

DashYeah, thanks.

DashBut what about Stance? He is alright, isn't he? He was in our party so he didn't actually die; you were able to revive him, right?

KaochinYeah. Although he's acting a bit strange, going through great lengths to express pain I guess, kind of amusing actually.

DashYeah… That's Stance alright. He's all about making you happy.

"I wish she could see me roll my eyes" I sighed deeply.

KaochinThe event was shut down shortly after you left, seems like someone else already cleared it. Stance and I are going to go to a dungeon, alone that is. So I'm finished talking with you.

DashAlways the charmer… That's cool I guess… Take good care of him… Thanks for today too, even if it was a bit hectic. Guess I'll see you around.

"Well Stance is in good hands… Well…" I stopped as I pondered about what exactly I just said. "Stance is in strong hands" I nodded to myself. "Not much I can do to intervene… After all if Stance truly wanted Kaochin to leave him alone he could use the guardian…" I pondered aloud. "Sheesh and I can't forget about his request… He gets lonely huh?" I chuckled. "Crud, I never asked him where he and my guild mates should meet up! Hanging out will be a problem if they can't find each other…" I sighed. "I wonder if I can flash mail him. Would he receive it?" I asked myself. "Worth a shot" I shrugged.

DashStance? You see this? Well… Uh… Hear this? Probably not… I just wanted to know where you'd be hanging out later, so you'd have someone to hang out with.

StanceThe cathedral… Now be quiet, doing this gives me a such a headache

"A reply? Ha! A headache huh? I wonder how he receives private messages let alone sends his own?" I laughed. "Well that wraps up today's adventures, just need to check in with Royal Flush" I yawned.

DashYo, Spade! You get any useful information?

SpadeNope, just redundant bull-crap. Everyone is so interested in Tsukasa, but no one knows a thing about them!

DashYeah, but listen! Stance and I found a lead if you can believe that; a PKer by the name of Sora, I think he actually knows Tsukasa, or the two have met before… Whatever it doesn't really matter, he's our only lead so we need to track him down and force the information out of him

SpadeForce? What happened to diplomacy?

DashNot possible with Sora, in fact you're all girls, it might be better to stay away from Sora, and let us men handle it

Spade What is that supposed to mean!?

DashNothing! He just makes it a priority to go after cute girls!

SpadeCute girls huh?

DashThat's Royal Flush

SpadeSure is… Sheesh you're such a basket case… Well what do you want us to do?

DashNothing right now, just have one of the girls meet Stance at Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground, you know the place right? The cathedral.

SpadeWhat time?

Dash Hang on…

"Christ! It's late! Three A.M!?" I freaked out when I saw the time.

DashFive hours, maybe four. It's not like he'll be going anywhere, as mean as that sounds… Look it's real late, I've got to get to bed or I won't be able to stay awake during the classes I need too, tell the girls good night for me, I'll see you tomorrow!

SpadeYou're fault for staying up late, good night

I hurriedly shut down my terminal and jumped into bed.

"I've got to give this a rest… It's not good for my body…" I sighed as I tried to get comfortable.

"But… Just how am I supposed to rest after all that's happened today?" I sighed to myself as I closed my eyes.