Guess who's back (back again). Here we are, after a long time waiting. As always, sorry for the wait. Lack of motivation, been busy with life, yada yada... You know the drill by now.

As always, see you at the bottom.

Chapter 17

A Tight Knit Bond

"Switch!"

"Got it!" Asuna charged in, teleporting forwards before unleashing a barrage of gunfire into the weak point of the Hooligan. It collapsed, leaving it open to attack. Kirito moved in to finish it, but the crack of a sniper echoed throughout the air and the beast exploded before Kirito could strike it.

"That was my kill." He twirled his Photon Sword around, deactivating it before clipping it to his belt.

"You were too slow." Sinon smirked as she slung her sniper rifle over her shoulder. "I believe that's three to one for me and Asuna."

"Hey, that's not fair. I need to get up close to damage them."

"Well, that's your fault to stubbornly clinging to swords."

Asuna sighed, shaking her head. "Come on Kirito, Sinonon, we should get going."

"Right. Hey! You nearly done over there!?"

I panted as I slid down the bank, the Hooligan leaping at me. I was just out of its reach, the beast tumbling down the hill and throwing sand up in the air as it bounced. I twisted my body to aim at it, unloading a clip into its horns and activating Sliding Shot. The Hooligan lay in the sand for a second before exploding.

"That was close." I wiped the sand off my clothing. "You okay there [ArN]?"

Arfa-sys shook herself out of a trance and nodded. "Yes Master!"

I frowned. She had been like this since we had left Glocken. Constantly going into trances. I guess it was because she was worried, but surely being with three other people who are perfectly capable of taking on Death Gun would calm her down a bit.

Kirito seemed to notice this too, immediately heading over to us and putting a hand on Arfa-sys's shoulder. "Don't worry Rei, we're almost in the area. Then all we need to do is take on the boss and we'll head back."

"Right…I'm just not feeling well." Arfa-sys shook her head.

I looked at Kirito with confusion. "Can AI get sick?"

"Not typically." This immediately concerned me. Kirito raised his hand to his chin, muttering to himself. "Maybe a scripted event... Argo would probably know more, but we would be wasting time just to head back…" He sighed. "Can you continue on Rei?"

"Y-yes!" Arfa-sys nodded, putting on a fake smile. "Don't worry about me!"

Asuna patted Arfa-sys on the head. "If you need to, then drop back. We can handle the heat for a bit."

"We'll be handling most of it anyway. I hear the boss can fly." Sinon glanced at the Photon Sword in Kirito's hand. He just rolled his eyes and continued towards the bottom of the map.

Over the sand dunes, a building began to peak over the desert. Even from this distance, I could see it was an oil refinery, long abandoned by any friendly people. Two turrets guarded the entrance, with several Facsimiles roaming the inside.

Sinon lay on the ground and looked through her sniper scope. "I can snipe a few, but those turrets are going to be an issue."

Asuna nodded. "Kirito and [YN] can rush the turrets to draw their fire. Me and Rei can be on support." She passed Arfa-sys two smoke grenades. "We'll cover your approach."

"Right." Kirito jumped up and began running. Expecting some sort of call before leaping up, I didn't even realise he had jumped up until he was already several metres in front of me. I scrambled to my feet and began firing as I ran towards the right turret, drawing its attention. I heard gunshots behind me and Facsimiles began dropping inside the refinery.

As the Bullet Line began aiming for me, a smoke grenade landed several feet in front of me. I dived forwards onto my shoulder under the blasts, rolling straight onto my feet. I looked over at Kirito who had already managed to get to his turret and was ducked under the cannons which weren't able to aim at him. I was halfway to the turret now, and I activated my Sliding Shot, throwing up sand in front of me. I stopped just in front of the turret, underneath its firing range. I almost couldn't believe that this was an exploit because it was so simple. Not wanting to waste any ammo, I activated my own Photon Sword and began hacking away at the turret, its HP soon depleted.

I deactivated the Photon Sword and placed it on my belt again. I joined Kirito at the entrance to the oil refinery. "You use one too?" He nodded at my belt. "A lot of people think they're a waste of money."

"It's a little too situational for my taste, but they're alright." I shrugged.

"Before you two start fanboying over your laser swords, how about we do what we came here for?" Sinon suggested as she and Asuna walked past us into the refinery.

We followed behind Asuna and Sinon, Arfa-sys right behind us. "If you want, I can show you some tricks sometime. It'll be fun." Kirito twirled the handle around his fingers.

"That would be nice."

The inside of the oil refinery was a ghost town. There were watchtowers that had no one in them. Old equipment that hadn't been touched in decades. Tanks that were caked in rust, mostly likely dry of oil. It was dead.

"I don't like this." Asuna muttered as she aimed her rifle at the watchtowers.

"Afraid of ghosts jumping out at you?" Kirito teased.

"Kirito, don't." Despite trying to sound as serious as possible, a tremor of fear was present in Asuna's voice.

Kirito laughed. "I'm kidding. I don't think there are any ghost type enemies in this game. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to shoot them."

I smiled, letting my rifle rest in my hands. "So what exactly are we looking for?"

"Argo said that she needed to verify a quest that was supposed to spawn around here with a boss." Kirito's voice echoed as we all started to drift apart. "There must be a trigger around here somewhere."

Arfa-sys walked past me suddenly. Her upper body was stiff and her eyes looked like she was in a trance again. She was walking straight at a small pillar that was sticking out of the ground in the exact centre of the oil refinery.

"Hey [ArN]!" I grabbed her arm. She stopped suddenly, blinking rapidly. "What's wrong?"

"It's calling to me…" She muttered. Her hand was outstretched towards the pillar.

This might be the trigger. "Hey, I think we found something!"

Asuna reached us first, immediately going to investigate the pillar. "There's nothing on this pillar."

"Maybe Rei is the only one who can use it?" Sinon suggested.

"You need an Arfa-sys to get this to work?" Kirito looked somewhat annoyed. "No wonder it only came to Argo's attention the other day. Seems like a pretty small amount of players that can even access this quest."

"Should we let Rei touch it?" Asuna was still looking over the pillar. "There's no sign of any traps."

Kirito nodded. "Let's get ready for a boss fight first."

Everyone began preparing for battle. The entire time, Arfa-sys had her eyes glued to the pillar. It didn't take long for everyone to get to vantage points. I stayed by Arfa-sys's side, ready to pull her away if the pillar was indeed a trap.

Arfa-sys placed her palm on the pillar, and it lit up. The pillar was a console, and the style of it immediately reminded me of the dungeon where I had found Arfa-sys.

An ear-piercing noise rang throughout the area. I instantly had to cover my ears to stop them from bursting. The noise soon fizzled away, and I looked up to see Arfa-sys falling backwards. I dived forwards to catch her in my arms. Her eyes were closed, but she seemed to be half conscious.

"Mother…I have to…go to…Mother…"

"[YN], get back!"

Kirito's yells instantly alerted me to Bullet Line that was aimed at me. I began running, but it was too late. The laser hit my back and I fell to the ground, Arfa-sys rolling away from me. I crawled towards her, hearing the sound of lasers activating behind me. I shielded Arfa-sys with my body, knowing that the attack would likely kill me.

"You really can't stay out of trouble for ten minutes, can you?"

A bullet flew above me, striking my attacker. It was enough to divert the laser away from me, avoiding a killing blow. I instantly got up, lifting Arfa-sys in a bridal carry, and getting behind one of the oil tanks as some sort of cover.

I let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you Itsuki."

"Well I thought you were logging off for the night." His voice crackled in my earpiece, which I had honestly forgotten was there after the Squad Jam thanks to all the chaos.

"Friend of yours [YN]!?" Kirito yelled from the watchtower where he was firing his handgun from.

"Yeah, he's a friend."

Another gunshot came from the sand dunes. "I'll provide some fire for you to all get out of here. I'm afraid to say that that boss isn't going down any time soon."

Looking at the HP bar from my cover, he was right. The boss was under fire from two sniper rifles, an assault rifle and a handgun, and it was barely making a dent.

"I need to get [ArN] out of here!" I yelled at everyone. Arfa-sys was still muttering in her strange state.

"Go on ahead, we'll catch up!" Asuna yelled back.

I picked up Arfa-sys again, waiting for an opening. I could now see the boss fully. It was called the Honeycomb Maker. It was humanoid in form, about twice the size of a player, with a set of wings on its back that had two jet boosters keeping it in the air. On its right arm was some sort of cannon, most likely where the lasers came from.

The instant it turned away from me, I ran. It was awkward with Arfa-sys in my arms like this, but it was manageable. I could hear the sound of gunfire and lasers fading behind me. It didn't take long for me to make it out of aggro range for the Honeycomb Maker.

I let out a sigh of relief, opening my menu and pressing the teleport for Glocken.

I lay Arfa-sys down on the bed in my room. She had finally stopped muttering to herself, sleeping peacefully. I finally took a moment to breathe after that sudden rush of adrenaline. According to my friend's list, Itsuki had only just arrived back in Glocken, so I had a few moments before I was inevitably called to talk.

What was that console doing there? And who is Mother?

My message notification popped up, and it was from Kirito saying they were just outside the main building. I made sure Arfa-sys was still asleep before heading down to Glocken.

"-for a small fee."

"How much?"

"Let's say…10,000 credits?"

The voices came from the left of the entrance, where a player in a yellow uniform, thick straw-coloured hair and whiskers, of all things, was talking with Kirito.

"That is a small fee coming from you." Kirito raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "What if you knocked off the pay from the quest?"

"That is with the pay knocked off." Her mouth curled into a smug smile.

Kirito opened his mouth, then slowly closed it, a look of disappointment passing over his face, directed more at himself than anything.

I approached them. "What's going on?"

"I'm getting ripped off as per usual." Kirito sighed.

"Aw, come on Kii-boy, don't besmirch my good name to a new customer." The player did a weird laugh. "Argo the Info Broker. If ya need any information or have any to sell, I'm ya girl."

I nodded. "What's with the whiskers?"

"I'll tell ya for a million."

Kirito rolled his eyes. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Itsuki. Already getting ready prepared for a lecture, I sighed before explaining. "I was out with Kirito, Asuna and Sinon. I would've been fine if Death Gun showed up."

"I know. I was bored so I decided to see what you all were up to." Itsuki's slight smile appeared again. "A game is about having fun right? You can't do that if you're hiding in the Safe Zone all the time."

A wave of relief washed over me. "Thanks."

"So [YN], is Rei alright?" Asuna suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Yeah, she was sleeping when I left her."

Asuna sighed with relief. "I'm glad. That sudden collapse scared me."

I looked at her, confused. "You really didn't seem that scared."

Kirito smiled. "Asuna isn't phased at all when she's in battle. They called her the Berserk Healer back in ALO."

"Kirito!" Asuna blushed.

I yawned. "I should actually head off now. It's very late."

"Hey, we'll mostly be free from now on. If you want, shoot us a message if we're online and we can help out." Kirito opened his menu, scrolling through the tabs. A friend request soon followed.

"Thanks, I'll call you if we need help." I turned back towards the main building.

As soon as I was back in my room, a wave of exhaustion suddenly hit me like a truck. "I really shouldn't be staying up so late…" I muttered before falling asleep on the bed.

So this is the part where Kirito, Asuna and the gang would all be available for use in my version. You've had plenty of time to mess around with Kureha, Zeliska, Arfa-sys and Itsuki, now the rest of the crew jump in. But only the ones that you've seen so far. Don't worry, I do have a plan for the Gameverse characters, but unlike Fatal Bullet, I don't want to shoehorn them in for the sake of it.

Reviews:

blackbutterfly1313: Thank you for the kind words, and thank you for the criticism. I am trying to add as much depth as possible to this story, so if I missed the mark, I'm sorry, and will try hard to add that detail. And yes, my proofreading skills are terrible. I've been trying to improve them, but sometimes things slip by me. I'll work hard to not let them in the future.

As always, thanks for reading. I'm really looking forward to continuing as I begin to introduce the Flugel quest. A lot of you probably didn't even notice that I had skipped that detail. I wanted to give the characters some time to just have fun, but now the plot is kicking up, time to add some pressure.

Until next time, Stay Cool.