Chapter 11


Desmond slowly opened his heavy eyes, frustrated. Darkness was the only thing that greeted him. He looked to his left, which was still darkness, then to his right, the same. He was…in the same place as his dream.

I…ha…He darted his eyes. His senses sharpened after he heard a voice that seemed to echo from the deepest part of the darkness in front of him.

"Who's…there!" he shouted, his voice echoing after the silence.

I…had…enough-

"Show yourself!" Getting a little bit annoyed and angry, he shouted again, but this time he screamed after a death-like pain suddenly attacked his head. He put both of his hands on his head, and tried to squeeze his head to create a similar pain in order to dull his senses. However, the other pain reigned.

"W—what's…he-lp!" Desmond tried to shout, but his voice suddenly croaked. His throat froze, and became dry because of the pain which was very familiar to him. The pain was just like separating from his body whenever he would shout the Burst Program command.


(1 Week Later)

"Ah!" Desmond, with his eyes opened wide, yelped and breathed heavily. He gasped for air as his eyes darted to every corner of his room, looking for something that was surely hiding and planning to attack him. After a few seconds, he sighed. Relaxing, he closed his eyes.

"What…am I dreaming…?" he asked himself, frustrated because of the dream. The alarm clock beside him suddenly rang. He quickly turned it off, and stood up. He took off his white shirt, and took out a black one. Just as he was about to put it on, a holographic mail envelope appeared on his Neuro-Linker interface.

"Hmm…?" Desmond quickly put his shirt on, and pressed the envelope.

A colorful holographic paper appeared in front of him. Desmond stared at it, and silently read the mail that had only one sentence typed on it.

I'M WATCHING YOU…DESMOND MILES

Desmond stared and blinked at it.

What is this…? He grunted, annoyed and at the same time creped out. He swiped the mail to the trash icon, deleting it permanently. Then, he walked outside of his room.


"And then…," Rena said, and continued her animated chattering to Desmond who was staring at his plate, not minding and listening to the woman's talk.

What's with that mail? He thought deeply, and tried to analyze the contents of the letter, unaware of the woman in front of him.

"Desmond? Desy-kun?"

Desmond realized that he was stuck in his own thoughts, so he responded while quickly darting his eyes to the woman's brown eyes, "Y-yeah…?"

"You're making a scary look…," Rena said uneasily. She stared at him with a worried look.

Desmond quickly allowed himself to form a thin smile, and apologized to her. "Sorry, Rena. It's just that… I've been having nightmares. That's all…"

Rena's face, which had been showing a questioning look earlier, quickly transformed into a firm, authoritarian-like expression. "Nightmares? What nightmares?"

Desmond, feeling a sense of uneasiness building in his chest from his aunt's reaction, answered, "Well, they were just about scary monsters under my bed," he lied as he stared at Rena's firm expression which slowly changed into a relaxing one as she let out a sigh.

"Maybe we should contact a doctor or maybe you should take a break on play-"

Desmond blinked twice when he noticed his aunt's face turn into a stern expression again, and then back to a normal one after she paused.

"I mean restoring the balance within Accel World," she finished as she took a sip on her tea. Then, smiled, and said, "How was your solo mission by the way? It's been a week since you reported to me."

"I'm now Level 10," Desmond said simply as he relaxed, and shrugged off the feeling of uneasiness that was building up in his chest.

Rena's smile grew wider. She then, immediately engaged him into a deep conversation about Accel World while praising Desmond, who only nodded and listened to her, until the clock on the wall suddenly rang out.

"Oh shucks! I'm late for work again. Desmond as usual I'll be late." She quickly stood, and hurriedly put on her coat that she had grabbed from the coat hanger. Pulling it over her orange blouse and grey blazer skirt, she then opened the door, and bid her usual farewell to him.

Desmond smiled, but sighed after the door closed, leaving him alone again.

What was that just now…? He thought as he stood for a while, staring at the door. Then, he walked towards his room to change his clothes.


LOCATION : SUGINAMI COMMUNITY COLLEGE

"Well as technology progresses, culture also follows…."

The students inside the auditorium silently listened, and typed down the notes in their Neuro-linker's E-notebook. Everyone was silent as the professor, whose voice reverberated throughout the entire room, made a gesture in the thin air, in front of a large black board. Everyone except the lone, foreign student, Desmond Miles.

Desmond Miles, whose eyes were closed and had his head resting on his crossed arms, was thinking deeply. He wasn't listening to the lecture at all as his mind wandered.

What's with that letter? He thought as his eyebrows twitched. And more importantly what's with Rena today-

"Oi, Desy-Kun!"

Desmond quickly opened his eyes, and immediately thought that he had been caught sleeping by the professor, so he shouted, "Queen Victoria of House of Hanovarians!"

The students inside the auditorium turned and looked at the foreigner, confused on what he said. Desmond's stern eyes slowly widened as he felt the eerie silence in the room. He only had to endure the silence for a moment before the room was quickly filled by laughter.

"Psst! Des-y!"

He slowly looked down beside him and saw Suzuha, who called him earlier.

"W—what…?" He slowly sat down; his face was red as tomato.

As the laughter died down, the professor called their attention, "Very nice answer, Sir Miles, but that is what I'm going to ask later." The professor glanced at the foreigner, who covered his head with his hoodie, and went back to his lecture.

"What is it?" Desmond asked, still embarrassed from what he had just done.

"Well, are you going out tonight? Because I'm all alone, and I'm planning to eat at that ramen restaurant that recently opened," she said excitedly to him.

He smiled thinly at her. "Hmm… maybe I can. Where can we meet up?"

Suzuha's eyes lit up, and shined like a bright star in midday. She rapidly responded to him as he listened intently to her with a smile on his face.


LOCATION : AKIHABARA

(Later that day)

Desmond stepped out of the crowded commuter train onto the platform of the station where he would meet up with Suzuha. He looked around while pulling his hoodie up to conceal his face, after he felt the cold air of ber-month. It was October already, so the ads that appeared on his neuro-linker were all about Halloween sales from every department stores or scary, classic, T.V. programs.

Christmas is near huh…Desmond thought as he stood in front of a flight of stairs leading to the station, after he saw an ad about Christmas presents. As he stared, he began to hum a Christmas song. He suddenly froze. His surrounding had stopped moving, and the sounds were deafened. Then, he felt the acceleration of the program.

"Great. Really?" He pouted and protested as his surroundings slowly collapsed, and changed into something else.


Location: Akihabara

Stage: World War Aftermath

Desmond slowly placed his right foot on the decaying flooring of the once happy, good-looking station of Akihabara. He looked around the dark hallway where he was standing. Only the wind that swept past him greeted him, but he felt like he wasn't alone.

"Let's get this over with," he muttered as he ran towards the exit.


Location: Central Tokyo City, Transcendence Corporation.

The night light in Tokyo was wonderful and bright. The buildings glowed like tall candles. The road was filled with people who were walking and shopping. They were enjoying the calm, peaceful night. But right in the center of the district, standing tall and proud was the Transcendence Corporation. Considered the tallest building in the world, the proud man-made marvel was the biggest attraction today in Japan. Its tall, single tower seemed to pierce the night sky.

On the top floor of the building were the presidential offices of the corporation, and inside it three people were engaging in a small meeting. The contents of the meeting were very confidential.

"This is my team's and my recent findings about the 'cargo'," Dr. Reirenbach said while quickly handing over neatly arranged papers to a woman who was sitting in an executive chair.

The woman possessed blonde hair, and was dressed in a green blouse with a small, white necktie on her chest. She wore white pants. Looking with her amber eyes at the paper, she read over the papers for a second, understanding its content, then smiled. "Interesting." Her eyes slowly moved to Rena, whose eyes were closed, tired from today's work. "Do you know what this is Rena?"

"Yes, Takano-san." Rena nodded as the woman president's smile widened to a Cheshire cat-like length.

"Two months from now, during the centennial celebration of this corporation, a space rocket will launch at Tanegashima Space Center. Transcendence Corporation, with collaboration with JAXA, has built the last of 236 satellites that are orbiting around our Earth's atmosphere as we speak," Takano said with pride while she stood up, and had her back to the two other people in the room.

"Of course, the purpose of those satellites is to provide every country with free Wi-Fi and Neuro-Linker's fast access to the World Wide Web." She raised both of her shoulders, and sighed.

"But, that's only the surface." She touched her ring, which had a large red cross embedded on it, on her left ring finger with her right hand. She toyed with it. "Say, you two?"

The two people in front of her desk looked at her.

"Do you know what happened to Abstergo Industry?"

Rena's eyes looked down. She thought for a moment, and then answered, "They filed bankruptcy-"

"The reason?"

Rena blinked after she heard Takano's voice, cutting her off, become stern.

"They, well…several 'sponsors', 'investors', and 'some political people', had to back out from giving financial support to their project."

Takano yawned suddenly, bored from what the woman had said.

"No, that's not the reason. They failed to finish something, and so they backed out." She then, giggled and continued, "Transcendence Corporation was the leading investor and stock holder of Abstergo Industry. And now that they're closed, what do you think happened to its remaining assets?"

The German, whose face was firm and unmoved, slowly smiled and answered, "It was transferred…to us."

"Very good! Finally, someone answered me correctly!" Takano faced the German man, clapped both of her hands, and moved her mocking eyes to Rena, who looked away.

"Abstergo's assets are in my hands," she continued and moved closer to Rena. "Including the Akashic Satellite Plexus program."

Rena's eyes suddenly opened wide, shocked from what the president said. She asked, "Do you mean…?"

"Yes. The satellites of Abstergo are now mine." She made a gesture using her right hand, and accessed the Neuro-Linker's main menu. For a moment, she scrolled down, passing several case-sensitive files, and finally chose a folder by lightly tapping it.

"And soon…the world of tomorrow." She let out a short laugh, and tapped a picture showing Rena's 'nephew', Desmond Miles.


LOCATION: Akihabara

STAGE: WORLD WAR AFTERMATH

Silver Animus silently landed on broken pavement in front of the famous landmark in Akihabara. The whole virtual environment was just like a warzone. The buildings were collapsed, glass was scattered on the floor, the sky was blood red, and tiny ashes fell like snow.

"Eagle Vision." Desmond's eyes became infrared, and searched for the enemies who had challenged him.

"Now, who do you think you are, disturbing me right now-" He suddenly heard a scraping sound which made him look up.

There they are! A smile formed on his face, after he saw the avatar on top of the building in front of him. The avatar was colored black with a huge purple gem covering its face. The avatar was hovering a little in the air, and its limbs…were all made of blades.

"You there!" Desmond called and pointed at the black avatar. "Are you the one who challenged me?"

The avatar looked down, stared at him for a second, and then jumped form the edge. The avatar stopped just before the tip of her lower limb blades touched the ground, creating and spewing a cloud of ashes in the air. Desmond now had a clear view of the avatar.

"Yes, I am."

He whistled mentally, impressed after hearing a girl's voice on the other end of this ferocious looking duel avatar.

"Well, you must have a lot of guts challenging me-"

"I don't have guts…," the avatar paused and said, "I just know who I will defeat today," before raising her right blade into the air.

Desmond was about to speak when he sensed another duel avatar behind him. He quickly darted his eyes to an alley, and saw a large, heavily armored, blue avatar with a large crystal protruding on its shoulder. Its face was covered with a kendo-like mask.

Then, he looked to his right as he sensed another avatar. He saw a small avatar standing in the middle of the road. It had a naturalistic built and a yellow cape behind it. It also wore a large hat with a green leaf on it. Desmond squinted his eyes, and saw that the avatar was less armored than the blue one, except its left hand which was made of metal.

"Silver Animus!"

Desmond quickly looked to his left, and was startled to see a silver avatar just like him. It had a green faceplate, and was heavily armored on its arms, legs, shoulders and torso.

"You have a group…That's good," Desmond said as he attempted to taunt them more, but the silver avatar spoke.

"You're the first level 10 Duel Avatar who defeated the four kings."

"Yeah, so what?" The silver avatar took a step back, startled from what he said.

"Your reign, Silver Animus," Desmond turned, and faced the black avatar, "…ends here," he finished with a devilish smile.

"You…avatar clouded in black, hovering a little off the ground…You must be the infamous Black King, the traitor of the Accel World," Desmond said while eyeing the avatar.

"Enough chatter," the Black King said. Then, the virtual bars appeared above them.

Desmond looked up, and saw the names of his enemies.

BLACK LOTUS

CYAN PILE

LIME BELL

SILVER CROW

Silver Crow? According to the data, that matchmaker gave to me-

His thoughts were cut off when he suddenly bent back to avoid a punch from Silver Crow.

"We are going to defeat you!"

Desmond grunted, and said, "Come and try!"


(30 min. Later)

"Altair, Arrow Rain!" Desmond fired his two cross bows at Black Lotus, but its left blade limb moved, and slashed the oncoming arrows in a fast movement.

It didn't even scratch her!

Desmond shouted, and ran away from her onto the road. Then, he retracted his dual blade, spun around to the left, raised his right hand, and blocked the large sword of Cyan Pile.

"Your little blades must be strong to block my incarnate skills!"

"You're just weak," Desmond answered and kicked Cyan away. He jumped further back, avoiding an attack from Lime Bell.

"Take this!" Lime Bell shouted, and removed her left heavy armor arm from the small crater that she created. She ran towards the taller silver avatar, swinging her armor weapon at him.

Desmond moved, bended to the left and to the right, avoiding many melee attacks from the small avatar. Then, suddenly after the girl avatar swung her weapon to the left, he grabbed the large armor tightly.

"You've pissed me off! Altair, wings!" Desmond's wings sprouted on his back, and he immediately launched like a missile up into the air, dragging the poor, small Lime Bell with him. Desmond heard the girl avatar squirming, which made a sinister smile form on his face.

"Your stop is here!" He instantly stopped flying, swung and spun Lime Bell hard, and then threw the green avatar down to the earth. "So, is your end! Edward Dual Pistol!" His pistols retracted from the armor on his back. He aimed, and then fired at the free falling Lime Bell.

Lime Bell blocked the bullets using her left armor, but some of them hit her right shoulder, sending pain to her real body.

"You'll pay for that, Silver Animus!"

Desmond looked, and tried to utter a skill, but he was too late. Silver Crow hit and grabbed him on his waist, and flew downward to the earth.

"Gah!" he grunted, and elbowed Silver Crow's back. " . !" Desmond yelled as he punched and elbowed the silver avatar with all of his might and strength. He then, called and retracted his dual hidden blade before stabbing Silver Crow's neck.

"Ah!' Silver Crow screamed, and let go of Silver Animus, who used his wings to land on the road below.

"Guuhhh…" he moaned before standing up and running.

"Don't run! I'm going to cut your head!"

Desmond looked behind him, and saw the Black King chasing him. He increased his speed towards the ruined, almost collapsed, Akihabara Radio Building, a famous landmark in the real Akihabara.


"Huff…Huff…" Desmond climbed the stairs as fast as he could, and bumped into a door, which he forced open. He barged inside the room.

"Damn that King! She's much more powerful than the rest, as expected of the traitor of Accel World." He made a gesture, and accessed the inventory box. Scrolling down to the very bottom, he equipped his primary weapon.

"Now how can they withstand this-" His sentenced was cut off as he held his sword. The wall in front of him burst, and before he could react, Silver Crow grabbed him again by the waist. The silver avatar pushed him through the wall behind him. The two silver avatars burst out of the building, and began to fall towards the road below.

"You're so persistent!" Desmond elbowed the silver avatar's back, but it was too late. He yelled in pain as his back hit the road. Silver Crow, then began punching Silver Animus' face as hard as he could.

"You're a cheater! You can't level up that fast! Headbut!" Silver Crow called out his special move.

Dammit! I can't die here! Desmond thought while tilting his head to the right, avoiding the other silver avatar's head which hit the ground with tremendous force.

He then, kicked the silver avatar away and quickly stood up. He looked in front of him, and saw the Black King approaching him at a staggering speed.

"This is the end of the line, Silver Animus," The Black King said as she raised both of her blade limbs and swung them downward, aiming at his head.

Desmond raised his sword, and blocked the two limbs of the Black King. Creating a blinding spark of red and black, they were both pushed back.

Desmond smiled, and shouted a skill, "HAYTHAM' RAVEL!"

His claymore sword glowed a deep, beautiful red, and then he charged towards the Black King in a blink of an eye. Black Lotus used her right blade limb to block the sword; a bright spark of red was created which made her move back.

Desmond charged again, and swung his sword to the upper left, then spun, and swung it downwards, hitting the blade limbs of the Black King.

This man…The Black King thought as she crossed both of her blade limbs, blocking the sword of Silver Animus in the air. …is strong. She then, jumped back away from him, who charged towards her, leading him towards the middle of an intersection.

Their blades met, and Desmond taunted, "Running out of ideas, huh Black King?"

Black King, under her avatar, grunted and said, "The rumors are true. You're strong, and capable of killing two or four kings-" She tried to push back, but his sword suddenly glowed red, pushing her with a god-like force.

"But, I win, Animus!"

Desmond, confused, was about to speak when the Black King shouted, "Bell now!"

He looked behind him, after the girl commanded someone behind him. He saw the green avatar with her armor on her left arm pointed at him. What on earth is she-

"Citron Call II!"

Before Desmond could react, a bright beam of green light shot out from the armor of Lime Bell. It hit him and the Black King at point blank.

"Shit! What-" Desmond looked up, and saw something strange was happening to his life points. They were increasing, and so were Black King's. He then, looked back to his target, and noticed another strange thing. His sword, the Haytham's Redemption, his ace weapon, was slowly disintegrating.


"What the-!" He jumped back, away from the two. He looked at his weapon, but it disappeared completely, leaving him defenseless. He glared at the two with his fierce silver eyes. "You..! What did you-"But then, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest. He slowly looked down, and was startled to see the tip of a screwdriver-like weapon, protruding from his chest. What…the…! He slowly looked over his shoulder, and his eyes widened. Cyan Pile stood firmly on the ground, his right arm holding and supporting, a large armor which the tip of the weapon came from.

"Cyan…Spike…" the blue avatar uttered as the weapon pushed, impaling, and sending pain to the Silver Animus.

"Gahh!" Desmond yelped in pain, and looked up.

He grunted again, after he saw Silver Crow, flying towards him while shouting a skill, "Laser Lance!" Silver Crow's right hand glowed blue. Then, he launched an energy-sword that produced a very long beam. Desmond's eyes widened, horrified, as it was the last thing that he saw before darkness took over him.

Yoo-Hoo! Finally Updated! I've been lately and so was my beta-reader, but anyway here's the latest one, and I'm completely free this month since its sem break! Special thanks to SuperSaiyanHallow :)