13

I had decided to take a nap one day after I ate a light brunch. The nap was interrupted by a loud chime. I sat up, and looked around. I got out of bed, and ran to my rigs. I saw a flashing light from my OASIS visor and picked it up. I put it on, and I picked up my gloves, putting them on as well. I sat down in the chair, and turned to my screen.

I gasped. The Jade Key had been found. Not by Parzival, though. This time, it was the sassy Art3mis. I gasped. Six and a half months after Ogden's birthday party incident, the key had been found. I couldn't believe it. The girl had found it. What would happen now?

Half an hour later after the girl had found the key, the Sixers all converged on Sector Seven. This means the fuckers had used Fyndoro. Maybe Ogden was right. Maybe we were doomed. But that still left them to search through the whole sector. And sectors on the OASIS weren't small. So it would be a while until the key was found by any of the Sixers. I wished the five of them could clear the gate right at this moment so the Sixers wouldn't have a clue where to go. The next time they could use Fyndoro was tomorrow. Twenty-four hours from now. I sighed as I got ready for the shift at IOI.

Now more than ever, Sorrento wanted to make sure our fire walls and security systems were safe. He sent one of his assistants to contact me, and the two other employees that were stationed around Japan. He was apparently paranoid, and was willing to pay us extra himself if the company wouldn't do it, for us to make damned sure the system was secure at all times. We were constantly finding bugs in the fire walls, and the security software, and he damn well knew it.

I wished I could've talked to Sorrento myself. I wanted to tell him what a dumbass he was.

Throughout my shift at IOI, I kept looking at my immersion rig, and checking the news feeds. Sorrento was a complete dumbass, and his stupidity had given Gunters the advantage. He had used Fyndoro, and located the sector where Art3mis had been. The news feeds had immediately seen that he and his fleet of Sixers had gone to the location. This caused a lot of Gunters and Gunter clans to hit that sector up as well. What a complete idiot. Like I said though, the cards also played in our favor. For now. Until he found the damned key before any of the others did. My hands started to sweat just thinking about it.

Later that day, Aech found the Jade Key as well. I felt so nervous. Where were Daito, Shoto and Parzival? I didn't know if the guys were still alive, or not. Most importantly, were Sorrento and his goons able to use the tablet? I hadn't been keeping track of the time, and I didn't know if the window of opportunity had reset itself. If the kid had found it less than twenty-four hours after they first used the tablet, then everything was all right. But if not…, they knew exactly where the damned thing was located. I sighed.

I didn't have to be nervous for long. A while after that, Parzival actually cleared the quest. He got the Jade Key. I was a little happier. I still had to know where my cousin was. I was super nervous.

There was a chime in my ears, and I saw I had a message. I checked my email, and discovered it was a message from Og.

Subject: Dude!

Message: The sixers found the planet. When Aech reached the gate, the guys found him.! Either that, or they were following him! This is epic!

I shot back a quick reply.

Subject: Re: Dude!

Message: This is not epic! My cousin's in there somewhere!

After I sent it, I took my avatar back to the couch, and I took my gloves and visor off and began pacing. I didn't know what the hell I was going to do! How come Shoto and Daito hadn't cleared the gate yet? Was my cousin dead? Was he? Oh this was too much.

I went back to the visor and put it on along with my gloves. I found out that the newsfeeds were showing coverage of the battles breaking out on Frobozz. The place was teeming with Gunters, and Sixers alike. All of them armed to the teeth and fighting to the death. I just stared. I had no clue how long this was going to go on, but the carnage was unbelievable. According to the feeds, the casualties were mounting on both sides.

I was so lost in the fight, I didn't hear the chime when the scoreboard changed. But when I finally went to look, I saw that Sorrento's score had increased. I shouted at the top of my lungs. I screamed. I didn't know why, but that meant bad news. I wanted…, needed…, Daito to appear.

I sat there crying for fifteen minutes, and the chime went off alerting me to the change in scores. But to my anguish, it wasn't Daito who snagged the key next. It was Shoto.

I just stared. … And stared. … And stared. And then all of a sudden, his name disappeared from the scoreboard entirely. A second ago, Daito had been right below Shoto. Now, there wasn't a sign of him anywhere on the damned board.

I needed to contact Shoto. Or Og. This was going to be impossible. Shoto wouldn't accept the invitation from a stranger. Og couldn't do anything. It was worth a shot.

Two hours later he was walking into my stronghold. I had given him permission to park his Cowboy Bebop vehicle outside my OASIS apartment. He had made this with Daito, and they had both shared it for the longest time. We both sat down across from each other on the two couches. Just then, Shoto started crying. He had forgotten to mute his mic, and turn off the emotion filter on his visor. I got up from the couch and walked over to him. I knew he couldn't feel me, but I wrapped him up in my taller avatar and just held him. I explained to him that he would be all right. I explained to him that Daito would make an avatar later and join him once again. He shouted as he clung to me.

"No! Daito is dead! The sixers killed him! They killed him in real life, 3dward!" he sobbed.

I just stared. I felt my hands start to sweat again. "How do you know?" I asked as I let him go and stood up to pace. "They probably just—"

"—When we were getting the key, he was protecting me because the Sixers were already there. At one point he told me that he was going to try his best, but he had to keep an eye on his apartment, because someone was there. He was puzzled, because he wasn't expecting any visitors." At this point, Shoto was sobbing again.

This couldn't be. I went back to comforting the teen, and just let him cry while I thought about the implications of this story. My cousin couldn't be dead. There was no way in hell. The Sixers already tried to kill Wade and failed. There was no way they were dumb enough to try and kill another Gunter.

When the boy calmed down, he extracted himself from me. "I have to show you something." He whispered.

He opened a browser, and spun it around so I could see it. He pulled up a video file, and started playing it. It was the confrontation between Daito and the Sixers. I gasped. I didn't want to see it, but at the same time, I knew I had to. This was the only piece of closure I was ever going to get. The only way to find out for sure if my cousin was gone.

The feed started with him standing alone guarding the "neglected" dwelling. I could see far off a small fleet of Sixers descending on his territory. As soon as they got within range, they started firing at him. He was rummaging around in his pocket, and suddenly, as more Sixer vehicles descended on him, he pulled out the Beta Capsule. My cousin transformed himself into Ultraman. He now stood there, a 156 foot high glowing-eyed red and silver alien hero, able to kick major ass. For the next three minutes. I stared.

"Where did he get that?" I asked.

Shoto shushed me, and told me he'd tell me everything as soon as this was over. I nodded in agreement.

All the Sixers froze as they saw the transformation. Suddenly, he started picking up ships in his hands, and smashing them anyway he could. He smashed the first two ships together like tin toy cars, and started demolishing all the others he could reach. Ultraman Daito was super-fast at snatching them and crushing them. There was wreckage everywhere. Some of it still virtually flaming as it lay there. As the rest of the ships he couldn't get to started firing, he let out a loud booming laugh. The fire was bouncing off of him harmlessly. Suddenly, he crossed his wrists, and a beam blasted out of his hands. He vaporized almost all the ships within range. He turned around every way he could and vaporized more of the ships.

He was too busy enjoying himself so much, that he didn't see the warning flashing on the center of his chest. I had read up on a lot of the items that the Sixers had not managed to get, and I knew all about this capsule. The artifact only gave you three minutes as Ultraman. If you failed to transform back into yourself….

He had a dilemma on his hands. If he changed back into himself, he would get killed instantly. Shoto would also never be able to get the key. I could see the cogs turning in the youth's head. I could also see the Sixers arriving as the ones still left over in his area called for backup. Daito blasted all the ships with his beam. With every burst of power he used, the warning light on his chest shined brighter. He was running out of time, and fast.

Suddenly, Shoto stepped out of the house. The Sixers spotted him as he informed Daito he had the key. Shoto was an easier target, so they directed their fire at him. He put on a burst of speed, and ran for it. Daito made himself into a protective shield as he covered his little brother's ass. Then, his voice broke through my trance.

"Shoto! I think someone is here! Someone is inside—"

Suddenly, his avatar froze. It looked like he was a stone version of himself. A log out icon came flashing on over his head. In the OASIS, logging out when you were in a fight or doing combat of any sort, was like suicide. You instantly forfeited your avatar. His avatar froze for a full minute, in which he was totally defenseless. The creators of the OASIS designed this with the intention that no one could cheat by logging out during a fight to save themselves. He had decided to log out at the worst possible moment. As soon as he froze, he took so much damage from lasers and gunfire. The red warning light in the center of his chest started to flash faster, faster, and faster still. Then finally, it was solid red. Daito fell over and collapsed, almost crushing his little brother and their ship in the process. He transformed back into his normal self, and began to disappear. This was how they got him. But I wondered how they got him in real life?

I saw a pile of all the items in his inventory spinning in the air as they fell to the ground. I gasped. The Beta Capsule! Just as I was about to scream out, a blur was visible in the feed as Shoto ran back to collect all of his items. Holy crap, dude. Holy crap. He made a dash of doing so, before he ran right back to the Kurosawa, and blasted into orbit. It still took a lot of fire as it did. The video ended as Shoto made the jump to light speed. He closed the window, and I realized my hands were soaked.

I didn't ask how the Sixers had found him. I knew. He was stupid enough to give the school his real name and everything. That's how they got the bastard.

"Shoto—"

"—No. That is not my true name." he said as he looked over at me. "My true name is Akihide. I want you to know." He said as he once again began to cry.

I sat with him on the floor as he collapsed into grief. I pulled him into me, and I hugged him close. "I know what you are going through." I whispered.

"No, I don't think you do." He said as he stopped crying enough to tell me the story of how they had met.

Both of them were antisocial fucking geeks. Daito was good at video games, and since he had grown up with parents and a grandmother who had lived in the US for a time, Shoto knew everything about pop culture. They made an excellent team. Something told me that that wasn't the only reason the boy was torn up about the death of Daito. He had been an only child, and loved the living crap out of my cousin. The reason for that was because he always wanted a bigger brother. I knew this to be true, because Daito was an only child as well. Shoto idolized him.

"I tried to meet him in the real world." Shoto said softly as he lay in my arms. "But when I suggested that to him, he stopped speaking to me for a long time." He whispered. He had whispered those words so low, I could hardly hear him.

"I know. I have to tell you something." I said softly. "He is my cousin." I explained.

"What?" Shoto gasped as he stood up extracting himself out of my grip. "Are you serious?" he asked.

"My name is Taisei." I said softly. I explained to him what the relationship between my family and Daito was.

"Can I tell you something?" he asked softly. "This is a secret. No one else must be knowing of it." He said softly.

"What?" I asked dreading the tone in his voice.

"I believe very deep that this is over. This battle is won, and we are not the winners. The Sixers, they have no honor. They have everything. They got everything. They won." He said as he threw himself back on to the couch and curled up into a ball.

"I have an idea for you." I said softly.

"Hmm?" he asked from the couch.

"Why don't you get revenge?" I asked.

"No. That's not for me to do. That is up to you. Revenge is your job. He is your family. Not mine. He didn't even want to meet me in the real world." Said the boy as more sadness filled his voice.

"No, Shoto. I have to tell you a second secret." I said bitterly.

I knew I was risking it all. But my shock and numb state at losing my dearest cousin had just hit me, and I found no point in keeping secrets anymore. So I told him the truth. He was puzzled. I didn't know what else to do. Secrets were just not good at this point.

"So, you cannot get this revenge?" he asked bitterly. "One more thing to be disappointing me. Just what I needed." He said as he balled his hands up into fists.

"This is your job, Shoto. I cannot do it for you." I said softly.

"We have lost." He said bitterly. "Don't you see? We have lost this game now. We are doomed. There is no more hope."

"It's not over 'til the fat lady sings." I said bitterly.

"What is that?" he asked.

"The game is not over until the game has actually been won." I explained. "We still have a chance."

"This means I may get my revenge!" shouted Shoto as he stood up. "I will bathe in Sixer blood!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "The egg is no longer part of my quest." He whispered. "Taisei, I must go."

"Wait!" I shouted blocking his exit. "What are you going to do? What if they find you next?" I asked.

"I have some things to do that Daito left me in his will. He wanted me to give Parzival some items."

"But what if they find you?" I asked.

"They will not find me. I have taken steps to make sure of this. My destiny will be fulfilled!" he shouted. This was apparently a huge deal for the poor teenage boy.

"Wait!" I shouted stalling him a little longer. This was the last person—even if virtual—to have seen my cousin alive. I wanted to be in his presence as long as possible. Because I was going to cry and scream and curse the world as soon as I was alone. "How did Daito get the Beta Capsule?" I asked.

"Parzival, Daito and I completed a quest. You have to play through all thirty-nine episodes of the show in order to get the capsule." He said as he told me where the quest was.

Before long, it was time for him to go. I felt so alone as he left. I watched his vehicle go, and I felt myself start to cry once he left.