Hi guys, I am so sorry for the long wait. I hope you are still interested in this adventure because here is the next chapter XD
Sean opened his eyes slowly, wondering what had happened and where he was. He could hear a lot of different voices, but he couldn't understand one single word. All he knew was that it sounded Japanese.
"Wait! Would that mean he was in Japan? How on earth did that happen? Oh yeah, the portal."
Sean sighed. Turned out he wasn't taken back to Gotham after all. But what about the portal Selina took? Did that portal lead back to Gotham? If so, would they still remember him? Would they warn to the others? If not, which country would they have ended up in? Also, where in Japan was he?
Sean's latter question quickly was answered when the face of a doctor bended over his then spoke to him in Japanese. All Sean could do was frown and mutter confused; "Whaaat…?"
"Oh, you are English?" the doctor asked with a very heavy accent. "What is your name?"
"Great…" Sean thought to himself, realizing he was taken to an hospital and was lying on a gurney. How the f*ck did he ended up here?
As if the doctor could read Sean's mind, he said; "We took some blood samples as soon they brought you in. It appears you have nothing serious, just low blood sugar. When was the last time you ate something?"
"Good question…" Sean thought to himself then asked; "What day is it today?" The doctor replied Sean's question and the young teen froze. It's been two days since he was taken from the manor? What had he been doing all that time? Walking around for clues? Probably. However, he couldn't remember he had found anything important.
"Hmm…I think you might have a concussion as well…" the doctor said, thinking Sean's lack of replying his questions was due to a trauma to the head then wrote something down as he spoke. "I will schedule you in for a brain scan and I will ask a nurse to clean your wounds."
"Wounds…?" Sean looked at his arms then not only the noticed the bruises but also the cuts. They weren't that deep, luckily, but they did seem a little infected. The same could be said about the ones on his legs. How did that happen?"
Sean was taken into a room then a nurse, a middle-aged woman with long braided hair and glasses helped him into a bed. The doctor introduced her to Sean and introduced Sean to her as John Doe. Sean decided that would be the best for the time being. The last thing he wanted was for them to look for friends or family relatives only coming to a conclusion a guy with his name didn't exist. Besides, all he remembered was his first name, so going with the amnesia thing was maybe best.
Sean looked around the pristine and clean white hospital room then quickly noticed there was another person lying in the other bed. Sean couldn't help but frown. This person didn't seem like an ordinary patient. The patient was wearing an helmet.
…Sword Art Online Intro starts…
A suddenly frightful thought entered Sean's mind. Was he taken to a hospital where they did experiments on their patients? If so, then he had to run as soon he got the chance.
"We are very short on rooms, I'm afraid." The doctor looked at the other patient sadly then said; "A private hospital would have been a better place for him, but this is all his family could afford so this is the best we can do for him. I hope you don't mind sharing with him for a while. If everything goes fine and your scan shows nothing major, you are free to leave tomorrow."
Sean nodded in understanding then asked; "Is it okay to ask what happened to him? I mean, what's the helmet for?"
"Oh, you're not from around here, are you?" the doctor scratched his cheek then explained Sean everything about some VRMMORPG gamed named Sword art online and how 10,000 of players are held captive in the game by the helmet which is called; the NerveGear, over the course of two years now. The NerveGear was created by a man named Akihiko Kayaba and stimulated all five senses of the user, allow them to experience and control their in-game characters with their minds. If removed, the NerveGear send a electric pulse to the user's brain and...well...kill the user. If the user's character died in the game, the person would also die in real life.
Sean had to gulp after hearing the last part.
Not aware the doctor was called by a nurse for some emergency, Sean's mind started to process everything he had just heard. Millions of people, forced to live a virtual life and risk being killed and die in real life. Not knowing they will ever see their friends or family again. Why would anyone do that sort of thing to others?
"You're from Gotham and you're still asking yourself this…?" Sean sighed and shook his head. This Akihiko guy, or whatever his name was, definitely sounded like a guy who would perfectly fit between all the other loony-birds in the Asylum back in Gotham. He could be seriously considered being related to Hugo Strange, because this NerveGear thing definitely sounded like a bad experiment.
Sean looked at the patient, noticing, though he was very fragile due to the I.V being his only life-support, he seemed not very older or younger than him. Maybe just by a year or so? What would be his name? Where was his family? What kind of guy is he? How would his mind cope with what his in-game character is going through right now?
These questions and the idea of being trapped in a virtual game, touches Sean and he can't help but feel a few tears fall from his eyes. Almost instantly he clenched his fists and a determined glow appeared in his eyes. A glow that said it all.
Though two days had passed for Sean but, back in Gotham it were only two hours. Both girls were unconscious since they exited the portal.
Bullock, who agreed with Gordon to go check on Sean and the girls and see what they were up to, found both Selina and Annie sleeping on the driveway. Though sleeping outside seemed a very odd thing to do, even for Selina, Bullock still shrugged it off and disappeared inside the manor.
While heading to the kitchen to grab a snack and a cold beer, Bullock suddenly wondered where Sean was. He called out for the teen but didn't get any response. Bullock shrugged. Maybe Sean managed to escape from Selina and one of her antics. Nothing new. Nothing to be worried about.
With a cold beer in one hand and a sandwich in the other, Bullock plopped into the study chair and sat back. For the next two hours he would do nothing but relax and wait for Gordon to take his turn to watch the girls and Sean.
After he was done devouring his sandwich, Bullock was surprised by the sound of the phone. He got up to answer it. It turned out to be Alfred, checking if everything was fine.
"Yeah, everything is peachy, trust me. Sean is probably hiding somewhere from Selina, and both Selina and the writer girl are sleeping on the driveway, outside. Or maybe they pretend sleeping to lure Sean out, wherever he is. You are never really sure why Cat-Face does what she does."
Suddenly there was a scream coming from outside then Selina's voice called out for Sean, repeatedly. Bullock rolled his eyes. "Sounds like they woke up, so gotta go."
Annie came running down the hallway, yelling; "Bullock, your car is just right outside, so you better not be hiding!" When she saw Bullock coming from the study, with an annoyed expression, Annie halted then grabbed the detective's arms and yelled; "I want to report a missing person!"
Bullock couldn't help but snort. "Oh yeah? And who might this missing person be?"
"SEAN! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Selina called out before Annie even had the chance to reply to Bullock. Selina then came running inside the manor, screaming; "We need all of Gotham's police force to—no wait, it would be better if we call for America's entire police and Military force to save Sean! GCPD isn't qualified enough for this job!"
"Hey!" Bullock said, feeling offended.
Selina scowled at him. "You know it's the truth! You guys suck at your job. Besides, this thing with Sean falls under Military jurisdiction!"
Bullock gasped dramatically; "I never thought I would ever hear a smart, advanced word exiting your mouth, Cat-Face." Bullock smirked. "Maybe you should lie down for a moment. The last thing I want to explain to Alfred is that your brain somehow fried after using smart words."
"Shut up!" Selina snapped back, angrily then pondered what she could do next.
Bullock folded his arms then sighed; "Just out of curiosity, or maybe just to have another good laugh, what happened to Sean? Why would the military be more qualified than us?"
Annie quickly explained how the three of them woke up and saw the entire manor being changed into anime art style. At first they didn't think much of it, thinking it was a writing prank created by one of them, but then they heard angry voices and loud footsteps as if a large crowd was coming. Once outside they found themselves in a grey space, spotted a large group of angry and violent anime characters, and a portal.
Bullock stroked his chin. "So, you guys weren't pretending to be sleeping outside but in fact were knocked out due to some odd and strong portal powers? And Sean is still stuck on the other side, in this grey area?"
"Yes!" both girls shouted in unison.
Bullock tried his best to keep a straight face but failed and burst out, laughing. "Ha, you seriously think I believe you girls? Either you two napped Sean to some secluded place as some sort of stupid joke, or those anime series you two and the crazy butler watch affected your brains, stopping you from seeing the difference between fiction and reality. Either way, I'm going to call Jimbo to arrest you two for possible kidnapping, and will call the Asylum if they still have two rooms available. If not, one room would be enough. Nut-cases don't mind sharing rooms."
Watching Bullock head back into the study, guffawing about what he just said, Selina clenched her fists then said to her friend; "Looks like we have to solve this matter ourselves. Back there, an invisible force field tried to stop me from helping Sean, but no way I would let an, in-real life idiot stop me! So this is what we'll do…"
The determined glance in Selina's eyes told Annie that, whatever was going through Selina's head, might be the worst decision she had ever made.
Sean strolled down the hospital hallway. Only an hour ago he had his brain scan, which didn't show any signs of concussion, so the doctor allowed him to stretch his legs for a while.
As Sean was walking around, still pondering about the whole NerveGear issue, all the nurses and doctors suddenly started to run in and out one of the rooms. As he was getting closer to the particular room, Sean found out that another victim of the NerveGear, lost his life. It was more than obvious this patient, or victim, had died from an in-game death.
Sean clenched his fists upon realizing the NerveGear was even more dangerous than he first could think of. A part of him still had trouble believing such a thing could be real. People dying in-game and in-real life sounded so far fetched, but now witnessing someone just died because of this game, made everything more real. Was it possible to do something about it?
Sean waited for the doctors to leave the room to inform the parents their son had died then sneaked inside the room and took the helmet off the kid's head and whispered; "I do not know if you had friends in there, but if you do I, will find them and get them out alive."
Without another word, Sean turned and took the helmet and the devices it what hooked onto to the other room. One of the doctors saw what he was doing and tried to stop him but Sean quickly shut the door then plugged everything in and hopped into bed.
"Wait, don't! Are you doing?! Are you crazy?!" the doctor yelled as he came in the room and found Sean sitting in his bed.
Sean smirked. "Maybe…"
Before anyone could stop him, Sean put the helmet on and logged into the game, not knowing what to expect.
While strutting down the streets of 'Towns of Beginnings', Klein noticed something strange. A teenage boy around the age of fifteen looked around in total confusion. In shock or stunned some might say. Everything about him screamed 'newbie'. From the way he acted to the clothes he was wearing which looked like the game's usual default ones. But that was not possible, was it? Sure, being stuck in a game might make some people loose sense of time, but definitely more than a year had passed since he got stuck in the game himself.
"Oh well, maybe he never upgraded his gear," Klein thought to himself and shrugged it off. He had other things to be more worried about, like whether Liz had baked his favorite pastries or not. She better be, otherwise he would starve.
As Klein strutted away, the stranger, Sean, took his time to take in his surroundings. He had never been in a virtual world before let alone played even a virtual game. When he saw his avatar looked like his actual body in real life he was even more surprised. Would everyone look like themselves? That would make things far more easier. He knew how the guy in the hospital bed next to him looked like, so all he needed to do was look for someone who looked like him.
Sean inhaled a deep breath of air then opened the game drop menu. It took him several tries, for he used the wrong hand first then scrolled all the way down and saw the log-out button. However, it was deactivated meaning it couldn't be used.
The teenager decided to forget the log-out option or even think even further about it and scrolled through his menu until he found his 'weapon' section. All he had was a prep regular sword.
"Well, better than nothing, I guess," Sean thought to himself then looked around until he saw a middle-aged woman walking around while carrying a basket of apples. Sean first frowned, wondering why on earth a middle-aged woman would even play a virtual game then realized he was not the one to questions others. After all, he deliberately logged into the game knowing he would not able to get out.
Clearing his throat once, Sean approached the woman then asked politely; "Good afternoon, ma'am, do you maybe know the right place for beginners to practice their sword skills?"
Looking clearly puzzled after the teenager's question, since it's been nearly two years since someone asked the same question, the woman slowly pointed to a field in the distance. Sean thanked her and took his leave.
As he reached the field he was pointed into, Sean saw nothing but wild boar. They seemed very slow and easy target to practice on but, he was wrong. As soon as Sean launched forward ready to kill one of the boars, the animal turned around and Sean ended up being the one chased all around the practice field.
Klein, who returned from town with pastries in his hands, saw the comical sight of a teenage boy being hunted by a group of boars. He couldn't help but chuckle when it reminded him of himself, about two years ago. Before he found out he was locked inside the game.
Klein quickly ate his pastries then yelled at the teenage; "Hey, you need help?!"
"NO!" the teenager yelled in return as he tried to out-run the wild boar then suddenly turned around and attacked the boar. He struggled to defeat in.
Klein smiled; "Are you sure? Because I really think you could use some help there!"
While struggling to defeat the boar, the teen replied no again but when the boar almost straight up attacked him again and Klein saved him, the teen had no other choice and asked reluctantly for help. Klein seemed very happy to hear the teen's words and nodded.
It seemed like the boars were programmed to stay on the field because they didn't follow them as they walked over to a patch of grass. The teenager dragged in an angry sigh then glared at his sword before tossing it to the ground and grumbled; "This sword is useless!"
Klein nodded agreed then said, smiling; "I know a place where you can upgrade your gear, if you are interested."
"I don't have money!" the teenager scolded then plopped into a patch of grass, exhausted.
Klein sat down, too and said. "In that case, I might know someone else who helps out people who can't afford the proper battle gear they need. He's a friend of mine who goes by the name Agil. He's a merchant stationed on the 50th floor and his motto is 'buy cheap and sell cheap.' He might have what you need."
The teenager looked at Klein as if he was crazy. "You really expect me to climb all the way to the 50th floor, kill beasts after beasts with this sword to reach it?"
Klein smiled friendly. "Or you could use transportation crystals." Noticing the confused look on the teenager's face, Klein's smile quickly melted into confusion and asked, hesitant; "You do have transportation crystals, right?" When the teen didn't reply and Klein understood the answer was 'no' he choked out in surprise; "How did you survive this place for two years?"
The teen grinned; "Because I can do things others can't."
Klein shook his head in disbelieve then opened his menu and said; "Here, I let you borrow mine until you earned and won your own. When you found Agil's shop, tell him Klein send you. When you got what you need you can come back and I'll teach you some skills. How does that sound?"
"Thanks..." the teenager said hesitant as he took the stone from Klein then examined it thoroughly. After a short silence he asked, hesitant; "So, how does this work?"
Klein's mouth dropped speechless. This guy surely made it seem like he just entered the game five minutes ago. Weird. Klein then cleared his throat. "Come on, I'll show you were the town's portal is. It's another way to reach the 50th floor faster."
"Thanks," the teen replied genuinely then stood up, dusted the dirt off his clothes and tucked the sword under his belt. He then introduced himself to Klein as Sean and followed Klein to town.
Sean entered Agil's shop and found out it was not as crowded and bustling as the other shops in the street. A tall African-American man around 180 cm tall stood behind the counter filling up paperwork. When he saw Sean he pushed the papers aside and asked what he could do for him. Sean mentioned Klein's name and that he wanted to buy some clothing and gear for the right price.
The man turned out to be Agil and he lead Sean to the back of the shop and told him he could look around and yell if he saw something of his liking. Sean nodded in understanding and looked around.
The shop turned out to be low on stock and most of the stuff was left by players who didn't want it. There was barely any clothes and clothes that was available was all black. Not that Sean cared. In real life most of his clothing were black anyway. Sean took what he needed then went over to the sword section to find anything better and more useful than the sword he had in his inventory.
Sean looked around for about five minutes but saw nothing of his liking. He was just about to give up when he suddenly spotted a sword that looked to be almost hidden or separated from all the other swords. It was stainless painted all black from the handle to the very tip of the blade. Sean liked it and took it.
After returning to Starting Town, Sean met up with Klein and showed him what he got. Klein was impressed. Then his training started. Klein taught him the basics which took an awful lot of time to master but, Sean finally figured them out well enough to at least fight a little.
When Sean asked him a several questions about the game rules, Klein frowned and wondered why Sean didn't know them already. He was in the game just as long as they were, right? Instead of questioning Sean, but remaining hesitant and suspicious, Klein explained there were 100 floors and it was their job to beat all of them, allowing themselves to be logged out of the game. Klein tells Sean about the assault teams and guilds. Klein then suggested him to join his guilt so he could teach him some more over time. Sean politely declined and told Klein he rather wanted to be a solo player.
Klein grinned; "Huh?"
"What?" Sean asked confused.
"Nothing, nothing," Klein quickly replied. "You just remind me of somebody I know, that is all."
After that, Sean thanked Klein for all of his help then they parted ways. Klein turned to look over one more time at Sean and wondered to himself; "I wonder...he might be like him after all."
Sean walked and walked, not knowing what adventures would lie ahead of him, or, how many times it would take for him to return home.
What did you think?
