Disclaimer: I don't own anyone from the .Hack series or Bandai.
.Hack//Penetration
By ZEROChapter Two: triple virus trouble
"I wonder if I can trust ZERO. I know! I'll post a message on the board." Kite had met the mysterious player known as ZERO, an ace hacker who had powers similar to Kite's. Kite logged out and posted a message on the board before re-entering "The World." Kite was headed to the Chaos Gate before he got a message that he had e-mail. He logged out yet again and checked his mail. He had an e-mail from every party member, with the exception of Elk. They were just a bunch of untrue rumors. However, Mia told Kite about ZERO. He knew what she said was true. She knew that ZERO was an ace hacker who had started Pluto's Kiss. What's worse is that his father was the one who created the infamous Deadly Flash Virus. Kite sent a reply e-mail and asked if they could meet at Mac Anu. Kite thought he was finished with his mail, but suddenly, all his old mail was deleted and a new one appeared. He read the mail. Seems it was from ZERO himself. It said:
Sender: ZERO
Subject: Virus Core N
Kite,
I apologize for deleting your e-mails. Good thing they are old. Anyway, meet me at server Δ at Mac Anu. I am searching for the Virus Core N. Bring a party member. I have a feeling that this time, there's a different trap and if we don't be careful, it won't just be a regular Game Over, but a permanent one if you know what I mean. One more thing, I got a gift for you. You'll need it to survive.
"I guess I don't have much of a choice." Kite logged into the game immediately. Mia was waiting for him, but ZERO was nowhere to be found.
"Where could he be? Does he always do this?"
"Of course I do. I like sneaking up on people."
Kite turned around to see ZERO. However, there was something peculiar. At first glance, ZERO looked kind of fuzzy. Kite could sense something was wrong.
"Oh, excuse me. I forgot to take the vaccine."
ZERO drank a strange looking vile.
"That's better. Oh! That reminds me, I got a gift for you. Now where did I put it? Oh, here it is."
ZERO handed Kite a Twin Blade Weapon. The blades were blood red, but they weren't the Bloody Blades.
"That is the Hyakkidouran. That was the best Twin Blade weapon I could get. It has Flame Dance, Twin Dragons, and Blazing Wheel plus a Critical Hit effect. Good for water-based monsters. Oh wait, I got four other weapons for you. This first one here is the Ryogun, which is good for earth-based monsters. This second one is the Anshou, which is good for thunder-based monsters. This third one is the Bom-Ba-Ye, good for darkness-based creatures. And this last one is Hell's Gate, which is good for every type of creature. Now, shall we get going?"
"Where are we headed?"
"The keywords are Δ: Closed, Oblivious, Twin Hills. That's where you got the Virus Core N."
"I'm not gonna even ask how you know that."
"I take it that your friend here is Mia."
Mia shot ZERO a look. Zero stared back at Mia's eyes. He saw the secrets Mia was hiding and some were unbelievable. He couldn't afford to tell Kite or it could be disastrous.
"So, you are ZERO. You like keeping yourself scarce."
"And with you too. I know who you are so don't think you can fool me."
"I should've guessed."
Kite just stood there in utter confusion of what ZERO and Mia were talking about. He could sense that something was wrong. He decided it's best that he break up the conversation.
"Are we going to Δ: Closed, Oblivious, Twin Hills yet? Or are both of you just going to talk?"
"Right, let's go."
"Understood. Let's get this virus core ASAP."
They arrived at Δ: Closed, Oblivious, Twin Hills. However, as soon as they entered, a magic portal was opened.
"Let's get this over with."
They enemies that they were up against are a Mummy Ripper, Mimic, and a Red Wyrm. ZERO charged forward and used a Blademaster skill that was used by Orca himself…the Cross-Slash. However, ZERO was able to make it target the three enemies at once.
"Let's head to the dungeon. The sooner we get out of here, the better. I'll just use a Speed Charm on all three of us."
Once ZERO had used the Speed Charms, they rushed towards the dungeon as fast as they could, avoiding any magic portals. After a minute or two of searching, they found it. They slowly descended into the first room, but as soon as Kite and ZERO entered, a gate appeared and kept Mia out of the dungeon.
"I want only us to enter. Very well, let's proceed."
For some reason, there wasn't a single magic portal in that first floor. They descended to the second floor and there still wasn't a single magic portal. However on the third floor, there was an obvious sign of a boss.
"Kite, be prepared. I'd equip the Ryogun if I were you. There is a Stone Turtle in there and the easiest way to kill it is an Elemental Hit. Trust me, I know what I talk about."
"Okay, got it. Let's go."
They entered the room and as soon as they did, the magic portal opened. However, there wasn't one, but three bosses for them to face. They were up against a Stone Turtle, Red Wyrm, and Killer Snake that were all Data-Bugged.
"Kite, you take the Stone Turtle and Killer Snake. They're susceptible to Elemental Hits from your Splinter Slash skill. If you don't want to attack them head on, here are a few Green Gales."
"I like to fight them head on."
Kite rushed for the turtle, but it got out of the way at incredible speed. He then rushed for the snake, but instead of evading, it coiled around his body and restrained him. The Red Wyrm ZERO was fighting headed towards the Killer Snake and used its Breath attack, causing major damage to Kite and the Killer Snake. However, the Stone Turtle used Rig Seam on the Killer Snake and the rest of them, recovering the damage done. Kite was not only being restrained, but the snake was also draining his HP and SP and transferring it to itself and its members.
"This is a first. Three bosses teaming up and attacking one person at a time. Guess I'll have to use the Data Load on the first two. The snake I'll just use the Data Override. ZERO rushed forward and slashed the snake repeatedly, but it was to no avail. The lost HP only came back at an increasingly rapid rate.
"There's one way I could do this, but it's very risky and I don't want to lose a party member, but I have no choice."
ZERO used a Green Gale on the three bosses. The one affected most was the Killer Snake and the Stone Turtle. Both reached the Attack Break status.
"Here I go! Data Override!"
The snake was completely disabled and could not attack Kite whatsoever. It released Kite, who was in really bad shape. He had only 5% of his strength.
"Kite, drink this. It's a Noble Wine I got from trade. Your HP and SP should be restored by now."
The Noble Wine was just the thing Kite needed. ZERO continuously pummeled the Killer Snake enough to make it go into Protect Break.
"Kite, take care of this thing while I continuously pummel the others."
Kite performed his Data Drain skill and reduced the menacing Killer Snake to a pathetic Snake-Charmer (I could be wrong about this). ZERO had his work cut out for him. He couldn't accurately hit the Red Wyrm due to its ability to fly. He decided to skip the wyrm and go for the turtle. He used Hayabusa on the Stone Turtle to make it go into Absorb Break.
"I'll deal with you later. I'll take care of the wyrm. I think I got just the thing."
ZERO used an Ice Floe on the Red Wyrm. It caused an Elemental Hit and both the Red Wyrm and Stone Turtle were in Absorb Break.
"Here's the kill. Data Load!"
ZERO put the two bracelets to form one bracelet and sucked both the Stone Turtle and Red Wyrm. ZERO felt the pain and tried to contain it, but to no avail. It was obvious that ZERO was in pain.
"We're done here. Let's exit this place."
ZERO used a Sprite Ocarina and exited the dungeon along with Kite. As they stood on the field, Kite realized that he had the Virus Core ZERO wanted.
"Okay, I'll trade you 10 Divine Crosses and 10 Noble Wines for that Virus Core."
The trade was complete and ZERO left immediately. Kite gated out the same time, but by the time he returned to Mac Anu, ZERO was gone.
"Guess I'll never figure him out. There's something about him that makes me trust him. He seems just like Orca in almost every aspect."
"Mission Accomplished. Seven down, nineteen more Virus Cores to go."
To Be Continued…
It seems the System Administration have been monitoring Kite and ZERO's activities. Now, they are on the run and it seems as if there's no escape.
A.N: Okay, got a bunch of reviews for this. Unfortunately, most of them are flamers. Anyway, I realize that it seems that my story is one big paragraph. Actually, it's just something with fanfiction.net. It doesn't recognize the tabs and every time I hit the enter key. If this should continue, my format may change. Hopefully, this bug should be fixed soon, considering I e-mailed about this. Also, I realize that all of you are talkin' 'bout my character, ZERO. Sure he may seem to be this omnipotent (all-powerful) and omniscient (all-knowing) character, but he does have his weaknesses and you will see in future chapters very soon. Heck, I already gave his major weakness in the last chapter and this one. Now, that's everything is clarified, hope you'll enjoy it more and don't flame me too bad. Gray, that includes you. You sent me three flamers, one being a copy of a flamer (I'm evil, huh? Mwahahahaha!).