A/N: Hello once again, readers. Here's the latest chapter of the Ordinal Scale story. Enjoy.

Ordinal Scale: Chapter 4

The sound of his phone getting a text message woke Dan up as he groaned from having to get out of bed. He reached lazily for his phone and felt around for it. The teen yawned as he brought the phone closer and took a look at it. When he read the message, he blinked in surprise. Quickly, Dan rubbed his groggy eyes to make sure he was reading the message correctly.

'What the hell?!' Dan asked himself. 'How is that possible?!'

The message was from Kazuto, and added that he'd go into more detail in ALO later today. Dan quickly called up Alicia, knowing she could probably give him more details on what happened since she had gone to the Ordinal Scale raid with Asuna.

After a few rings, Alicia picked up on the other end. "I take it you just read Kazuto's text."

"Asuna has amnesia?!" Dan questioned. "What happened during the raid?!"

Alicia was silent for a moment before responding. "Honestly I didn't know things were that bad until I got Kazuto's text. During the raid, Eiji suddenly shoved Silica. Asuna shielded her from the boss and got taken out. After that, she passed out for a couple minutes. When she woke up after the raid, Kazuto walked her home."

"But how does that lead to her losing all of her memories of what happened in SAO?" Dan asked. "It makes no sense."

"I have no idea." Alicia responded. "We'll just have to hope Kazuto has some more info for us when we go into ALO later."

After the call ended, Dan laid in his bed. He had thought something was fishy when he and the others were attacked by Sheeptar the other night. Now he knew for sure that something was up. But with what he had just heard, what scared him wasn't the fact that something bad was happening. He was scared of just how bad things were going to get.

The group was gathered together at Kirito and Asuna's log cabin on Floor 22 of New Aincrad. The only one not present was Asuna, who according to Kirito was busy in the real world dealing with her memory loss.

"I still don't get it." Helios said. "How could Asuna end up only forgetting specifically her memoires of Aincrad?"

"I'm not entirely sure myself." Kirito said with a shake of his head. "When I went with Asuna to the hospital, the doctor said that it seemed Asuna's brain had been scanned for memories related to her time in SAO. As a result, her memory loss is from that part of her memory as well." the raven haired Spriggan stared down at the ground. "And we're not even sure if Asuna won't lose even more of her memory as time goes on."

"This is awful." Liz frowned.

"Do we know what scanned Asuna's brain in the first place?" Dagger asked.

This time it was Yui who explained things. "I believe it happened as a result of her dying in the OS raid. When that happened, her Augma activated a scan of her brain."

"It's all my fault." Silica said. "Asuna ended up protecting me, and because of that, this happened."

"Come on, you know that's not true." Sinon said, putting a hand on the young girl's shoulder. "That Eiji guy is the cause of all this, right?"

Kirito nodded his head. "Yeah. I'm willing to bet he knows more about this."

"Well we can't exactly force it out of him." Alice sighed. "He took me down in two seconds flat. And in hand to hand combat no less."

"So what do we do?" Riku asked. "We can't just sit on our asses and do nothing."

"Why don't we just go public with this?" Mai asked. "If we post that this is happening, players will stop going to the raids."

"Already tried that." Kirito sighed. "Nobody believed me and accused me of trying to hog points for myself."

"Then what do we do?" Himiko questioned.

The group was silent as they thought for a solution. Finally, Ren spoke up. "We minimize the damage." Everyone looked at the male Imp as he said those words. "This is happening because of SAO Survivors dying in Ordinal Scale, right? Whatever their motive is, if we can take down raid bosses without having too many players die then their plan won't move forward. Plus it'll give us time to figure out a way to stop this for good."

Kirito nodded in agreement. "I was thinking the same thing. But I don't want you guys getting involved. This is my problem, and I won't-"

"Don't even try going there, Mr. Solo Player." Liz said with a grin. "No way are we letting you do this alone. Asuna's our friend and we're not going to do nothing to help her when she needs us."

"And it's not like ALL of us have memories of SAO to get stolen." Sinon smirked.

"Yeah, I'll be sure to help too." Himiko added.

Kirito looked at everyone, who were giving similar expressions. He showed an appreciative smile. "Thanks guys. You're the best."

"So now we just need to figure out a plan on going after the raids one at a time." Ren said. "We should also see what info we can dig up on Eiji from other players at the raids."

"Let's do this everyone." Liz said. "For Asuna."

The group all nodded in unison. "Right!"

Days passed by as the group cleared one raid boss after another as planned. Their numbers were still limited unfortunately. Multiple raids were beginning to start with very little time in-between. With real world agendas also to take into consideration, they were able to do one raid a night at best.

Kazuto stood around as he waited for his backup for tonight to show up. This time, it was going to be Dan, Alicia, and Hyde. A much as he disliked the idea of exposing his friends to danger, Kazuto was extremely grateful for their help.

"Kirito!"

The sudden call caused the raven haired teen to turn and see his three friends walk up to him. "Hey guys." he greeted. "You ready?"

"Hell yeah!" Hyde grinned as he cracked his knuckles. "We're gonna clean house here."

The enthusiasm coming from the ashy haired teen made Kazuto feel a bit more at ease. Yesterday he had been assisted by Riku and Sinon. Today he had three of the strongest members of Wyvern's Inferno. He was truly glad to have such great friends willing to support him.

"It's almost time." Alicia said. "We better get ready."

The group nodded as they all put on their Augmas. As the time for the raid drew near, they all logged into the game.

"Ordinal Scale, activate!"

Just as it had always done, their surroundings changed almost instantly. The city streets turned into a desolate ruined city landscape. The clock finally struck the announced time of the raid, and a bell echoed throughout the area.

Everyone took notice as flames shot up from one area of the blocked off street. Ren and the others all prepared themselves to see which boss they would be facing this time. As the flames died down, they each recognized the boss in front of them.

"Damnit, it would have to be that one wouldn't it?" Ren remarked.

"This is going to be tricky." Alice noted.

The boss that appeared was that of a giant woman hovering above the ground wearing a long violet and black dress. Her skin was a pale blue color with long sharp nails on her fingertips. Her face was akin to that of a banshee. Her short black hair flowed as she let out a terrifying wail.

"The Maiden of Nightmare." Kirito said, recognizing the boss. "This was a tough one back in Aincrad."

"Big deal, we know what to expect this time." Helios said as he waved away their concern. "Just avoid its attacks and we'll be fine."

"Let's hope it's that easy." Ren said. He held his sword and took a deep breath. "Alright, let's do this!"

All together, the players gathered for the raid charged at the boss. Weapons assaulted the boss at first, but it didn't last long. The Maiden of Nightmare let out a high pitched shriek as several pitch black thorns rose up from the ground in a long row, impaling multiple players in the process.

Ren managed to jump to the side and avoid the row of thorns. He wished he had his speed from SAO with him now. Dodging sudden attacks was a lot harder without his famous speed to rely on. But now wasn't the time for wishful thinking and Ren knew that. He ran at the boss and let loose a series of slashes at it, cutting down its HP. As the Maiden of Nightmare's health fell, it raised its arm to swing down at Ren. Before it could do so however, Ren retreated to a safe distance.

'We can't afford to take too many hits.' Ren thought to himself. 'Our health is very limited since we're not at high rankings. And there's no way for us to heal our HP either.'

Helios went in next, swinging his axe down at the boss from behind, taking out a large chunk of its health. As The Maiden of Nightmare turned around to face Helios, Alice sped past him and spun her scythe around, shaving off even more HP. She finished up by hooking her scythe around its waist and yanking on her weapon.

Ren grinned as he saw the boss's HP fall, but he soon noticed it prepare to counter attack. He quickly called out to his friends. "Alice, Helios, get out of there!" As he spoke, Ren noticed a figure dash past him, going towards the boss. He widened his eyes at who it was. "Kirito, what are you doing?!"

Alice and Helios both retreated away from The Maiden of Nightmare, but gasped as the saw Kirito run towards it. "Kirito, look out!" Alice exclaimed.

The Maiden of Nightmare unleashed another row of thorns, but Kirito quickly rolled to the side and barely avoided them. The boss then swung its arm down at Kirito, but the raven haired swordsman swung his sword up and cut through the boss's arm while dodging its attack. A fierce determined glare was in his eyes as he roared and unleashed a barrage of powerful slashes with his sword.

"What does that idiot think he's doing?!" Helios asked. "He's gonna get his HP taken out if he acts that reckless."

Kirito cut through even more of the boss's health, but a sudden swing of its arm knocked him back. He flinched as a fair portion of his health dropped down from the hit. Before it could follow up an attack, several slashes from behind caused The Maiden of Nightmare's attention to turn to several other players attacking it. A loud wail escaped from The Maiden of Nightmare as a shockwave of energy erupted from it.

Several players were knocked off their feet from the shockwave. Before they could get away, The Maiden of Nightmare swung its hand down onto the ground and black thorns shot up from the ground all around it. Multiple players were impaled and had their HP taken out. Among them, Ren noticed a couple of the players fall unconscious. He could only assume they were SAO Survivors and had just suffered the same fate as Asuna.

"Take this you bitch!" one player yelled out as he shot from a distance with a gun weapon. Bullets came one after another on the boss. Gaining aggro on the gun user, The Maiden of Nightmare shrieked and stretched its arm out. The arm became veiled in a black aura and reached all the way to the player with the gun, impaling them. Once it did, the player became frozen still, unable to move. After the boss brought its arm back, it let loose a row of thorns that went towards the player it had just impaled. He made no move to dodge the incoming attack and the thorns took out the rest of his HP.

"Be careful everyone!" Ren shouted. "Whatever happens, don't let that long reach attack hit you! If it does, it's all over!"

The players nodded and carefully proceeded with their attack. Those that were SAO Survivors and had been on the raid for the boss fight of Floor 37 knew what a terror The Maiden of Nightmare was. Although it's stats weren't anything to brag about, it had something else that made it very dangerous. It could play tricks on a person's mind. It's long reaching hand would impale players and cause them to experience their worst fears or relive the worst moments in their lives. It was an attack that had caused more than a couple of members of the assault team to lose their lives.

"I'm going in." Kirito said.

"Wait!" Ren called out, but it was too late. Ren cursed under his breath. He knew Kirito was only acting reckless because he wanted to find a way to help Asuna, but if he acted too impulsive he'd only end up losing his memories too.

Kirito roared as he dodged an attack from the boss and slashed at it, causing another loud cry of pain to erupt from it. The Maiden of Nightmare swung its arm and knocked Kirito onto his back. As he laid down, the boss raised its arm, ready to strike him down.

"I'm going in after him." Ren said as he ran in.

"Hey wait up! Ugh, damn idiots!" Helios groaned as he ran after his friend.

Alice watched as her two friends ran towards the boss. "Be careful." As she stared at the scene going on before her, she suddenly felt a presence behind her. Alice gasped and turned around to come face to face with Eiji.

"You will be the next to be sacrificed."

Alice glared at Eiji. "You!" She prepared to take a swing at him, but before she could even realize what was happening, Eiji broke her stance and swept under her legs. Alice gasped as she suddenly found herself flipped over, her back slamming onto the ground.

Ren slashed at the Maiden of Nightmare, getting its attention away from Kirito. As he readied himself to take on the boss, he saw its attention become focussed on something going on behind him. Ren spared a small glance to his rear, but soon gasped when he saw Alice lying painfully on the ground with Eiji standing over her. "Alice!"

As Ren was about to rush to his girlfriend's side, he heard a loud shriek from behind him. He turned around and jumped away just in time to avoid an attack from the boss. He gasped however as he saw The Maiden of Nightmare use its long reach attack, the stretched out arm going towards Alice.

"Alice, look out!" Ren exclaimed.

Alice stood up and attacked Eiji but he easily turned her around, forcing her to stare at the boss as its arm impaled her chest. Almost instantly she felt her vision grow foggy, her surroundings becoming enshrouded in darkness. In the darkness, she saw two figures begin to form. She gasped when she realized who it was. Her two childhood friends, Jean and Olivia. Before she could call out to them, ghastly hands reached up from the ground and dragged them under.

"No!" Alice cried out as she rushed in but was too late. Her friends had been dragged under the ground. She suddenly felt a presence behind her, only to turn around and see Yamato.

"Miss me?" Yamato grinned.

Alice's eyes widened in fear. She tried to run, but found chains shackles to her arms and legs. Her entire body shivered as Yamato reached out towards her. Just as he touched her cheek, the illusionary Yamato disappeared along with the chains. Alice thought it was finally over, but she found out she was wrong when a familiar voice rang in her ears.

"Mama."

Alice looked to see a young girl with violet hair standing before her. "Luna…" Suddenly, Alice saw a pair of piercing emerald eyes appear behind Luna. She gasped as the owner of them became clearer, revealing it to be Jormungandr.

"NO!" Alice cried out, but it was too late as Jormungandr lunged down and devoured Luna, sinking into the darkness.

Alice felt all of the life in her fade as she watched the sight. Tears formed in her eyes. "No… No…"

"Alice!" a voice called out. "Snap out of it!"

Slowly, the darkness began to clear up. Alice gradually regained her bearings, remembering what was going on right now. It was too late however as she saw the boss standing right in front of her. It raised its arm and prepared to strike her down.

"Alice!" Ren exclaimed as he made a mad dash towards her. He ran as fast as he could, but he knew he wasn't going to make it in time. He watched as The Maiden of Nightmare's hand slashed through Alice, the black haired girl screaming in terror in the process. Her HP gauge slowly decreased.

And finally, Alice's HP hit zero.

"NO!" Ren cried out. He slowly came to a stop and fell to his knees. A small yellow cluster escaped from Alice's Augma and flew up towards the sky. Ren looked at Eiji standing next to Alice, not showing even a shred of remorse at what just happened.

Ren's entire body shook with rage as he gripped his sword tightly and charged at Eiji. He didn't care if he was rank 2, all he cared about was beating him to a pulp. Ren let out a loud war cry as he sped at Eiji with hatred burning in his eyes. "YOU BASTARD!"

Eiji didn't even bat an eye as he easily grabbed Ren by the arm and flipped him over. Ren felt his back slam against the ground.

"Even the famous Crimson Flash is no match for me." Eiji scoffed.

"Ren!" Helios exclaimed as he looked at his two friends lying on the ground.

Kirito glared at the number 2 ranked OS player. "What did you do to them?"

Eiji looked over at Kirito. "I beat them, nothing more."

Helios growled in anger as he looked at Eiji. "You son of a… I'm gonna beat you to a-" Suddenly, Helios narrowed his eyes. "Wait a sec… haven't I seen you somewhere before?"

"Seriously Helios?" Kirito questioned. "You know this guy?"

"I think so." Helios said. "I could swear I saw him somewhere…"

Kirito looked over at Eiji, noticing the sudden glare he was giving Helios. "Well he sure remembers you. What did you do to him?"

"Honestly, I can't remember." Helios said. "I…" Slowly, Helios's eyes widened. "Wait a minute… it's you, isn't it?!" Out of nowhere, the Unrelenting Psychopath burst out laughing as he pointed mockingly at Eiji. "I knew it! You're that guy I piledrived in SAO!"

Suddenly, Kirito turned his head. "You did WHAT?!"

Helios nodded his head as his laughter began to die down. "Yeah, this kid was in the Knights of the Blood Oath. He tried to fight me, but I just ended up sending him headfirst into the ground."

"Four days…" Eiji said bitterly, clearly still holding a grudge. "I locked myself in my room for FOUR DAYS!"

Helios's laughter came back as Kirito stared blankly at him. "Ah, good time, good times." Helios said. "So, what you been up to?"

Eiji rushed forward with unbelievable speed that Helios had a late reaction to and drove his gut into his gut. Helios gasped as he felt the air rush out of his lungs.

'What the hell?!' Ren gasped as he looked at the scene unfolding in front of him while he laid on the ground. 'How can he move that fast in the real world?!'

Kirito tried to lunge at Eiji while his fist was lodged in Helios's gut, but Eiji quickly leaped away. Barely able to endure the pain, Helios looked at Eiji while standing on wobbly legs. "Come on man, still sore about that boo boo I gave you? That piledriver must have hurt more than that. Need a reminder to show you how it's done?"

"I don't have time to waste on you." Eiji said. "I did what I came here for. You'll join the list of sacrifices soon enough." He prepared to turn around and walk away.

"Hold it!" Kirito yelled. "What did you do to Asuna?! Why are you doing this?!"

Eiji glanced back at Kirito. "You're too weak to face me right now. If you wish to fight me, you have to raise your ranking."

Before Kirito or Helios could get another word in, Eiji walked away, leaving them alone with their friends with the raid in the background being the furthest thing from their minds.

A/N: For those of you that don't know, the moment between Helios and Eiji was inspired by the latest chapter of Cocytus Ace's fic Parallel Romance. I highly recommend it, as it has some interesting ships between my OCs and some of the cannon cast with plenty of hysterical moments in-between. Thanks for the idea Cocytus Ace.