.hackPRESENT

This story was influenced by the events of the .hackGIFT episode. And yes, some characters may seem OOC here and in future chapters.

Disclaimer: I don't own .hack

CHAPTER 1: BEGIN

It was a quiet day in Mac Anu when Kite heard the familiar e-mail tone from the speaker in his neuro-goggles. He logged out to find two new e-mails. One from CC Corp. and the other from Blackrose. He read the one from CC Corp. first.

Dear "The World" User,

We are happy to announce that there will be a special event being held at OMEGA: Humorous Revised Episode. Players will form parties of three and gather at this area. From there, they will need to search all servers and any areas to find a "Gifted Spring of Myst." A very special item awaits in this spring. What is this item you may ask? That, you must find out on your own. Good luck!

-CC Corporation

He then looked at the one from Blackrose

Hey Kite,

I'm sure you got the e-mail from CC Corp. (it was sent to all players). Meet me at The Lambda server and we can form a party there.

-Blackrose

Moments later, Kite had logged in and warped to Carmina Gadalica. "Hey, Blackrose, why is it that you tend to always pull me into taking you with me to these things like the eight phases or any other event?"

"Well, because I just lo… well, forget about that. We need a third party member. Who can we take?" Blackrose said, changing the subject.

"Well, let's see…" Kite said as he started flipping through his list of contacts. "It seems there are only three that are available: Marlo, Piros, and Mistral."

"Bring Mistral. I can't stand that drunken slob or that fatso with cheesy dialogue."

"Okay. Sending Flash Mail." Kite sent the Flash Mail and Mistral appeared at the Chaos Gate in moments.

"Hey!Soarewegoingnow? Whatkindofadventureareofftotoday? Huh?Where?Huh?Whatarewegoingtodo,huh?" Mistral said in a very quick pace.

"Have you been high on sugar or something Mistral?" Blackrose asked.

"Whome?Nowhywouldyoueverthinkthat?" Mistral said in the same hyper tone.

"You… sigh, nevermind, we need to hurry to OMEGA: Humorous Revised Episode and sign up for the event."

"Right, I'll get us there now." Kite said as he stepped to the Chaos Gate and selected the Omega server. The three found themselves in the city of Lia Fail (which was really Net Slum).

"You know what I hate? We already went through the phases and risked our lives for the coma victims and defeated the cursed wave and they still haven't fixed this town! Don't you agree Mistral? …. Hm? Mistral? Hey, where'd she go?" Blackrose's question was soon answered by the yelling of shopkeepers running after the wavemaster as she sped through the town with armfuls of stolen candy and other sweets while leaving large clouds of dust behind as she ran.

"Getaway!Mycandy!minemineminemine!" Yelled Mistral.

"I think maybe her cooking had an effect on her brain…" Kite said as he sweatdropped.

Moments after catching Mistral and returning the stolen sweets, they arrived in a snowy field where Kite found many familiar faces.

"Hey! I thought you'd show up for something like this." Orca said as he walked up to Kite.

"Well, I don't have a lot to do now that the wave is gone. Who's in your party Yasuhiko?"

"Will you quit calling me that in 'The World'! Oh, and I've got Balmung with me as well as Sanjuro." Balmung then walks up to Kite.

"Even though we are allies, don't expect me to let you win. I will fight you if I must!" Balmung said.

"You mean lose again like how you did in that sparring match you had with me yesterday where you fell off the bridge in the dungeon?" Kite asked while giving a slight chuckle.

"Don't you ever bring up that event again! And besides, you put that banana peel on the ground! You cheated! You know there's now way for characters in most RPGs to have a way of jumping or finding ways out of pits!"

"You have wings Balmung. You could have just flew out."

"… I knew that… I just didn't want to waist this precious part of my avatar in such a trivial situation." Balmung said, trying to act cool and as if actually knowing.

"…fool…" said a twinblade from behind the two groups.

"Hi Moonstone. Who's in your group?" Kite asked.

"We meet again Kite." Gardenia said as she walked next to Moonstone.

"Ah! He of Fair Eyes! We meet again, and I must say, I am excited to take what lies in the unknown spring of Weapon and Equipment enhancement!" Piros said, walking to the other side of Moonstone.

"Ah, Hi Piros…" 'Blackrose was right, he does have cheesy dialogue, but anyone could have figured that from the start…' Kite thought.

"Why don't I just kill you, ya faggot!" A vulgar wavemaster yelled to the heavy axeman.

"Marlo… who's in…" Kite began.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, you're just being your curious self and asking who's in whose group. Jeez, that's annoying to me!"

"Well, do you mind telling me?"

"Fine, whatever. Nuke and Rachel. Ya happy?"

"You really shouldn't be so rude Marlo." Said a green-haired, blue clad twinblade approaching the groups.

"Hi Natsume." Kite greeted.

"Hello Kite. I tried sending you a Flash Mail and ask to join me in this event, but you didn't respond."

"Hm? Oh…" Kite just realized that the "You have new Mail" message was blinking in the corner of the screen in his neuro-goggles. "sorry, I didn't notice it. I guess I was side tracked in a sticky task…" Kite said as he looked over to Mistral who was licking her fingers of any sugar left on them from the candy she tried to swipe. "And sorry, but I already have two party members with me."

"No worries, I have Terajima and Wiseman with me."

"Why do we have to have that old coot on our team? I want Kite as a party member!" whined Terajima "Now that I think about it, why do you always team up with Blackrose?"

"Yeah, why do you?" Natsume said, now she and Terajima giving Kite a slight glare.

"Well, you see, I was actually pulled into…" Kite began.

"Attention all players!" An NPC shouted from a stage in the center of the field "We will now begin the event. The rules for this event are simple. All parties must search anywhere within 'The World' and find the Special Spring of Myst, where ever it may be. The following are all the teams that have been registered…" a large screen appeared next to the NPC that displayed the party and its group members. Kite ran his eyes down the list looking for the ones he recognized.

Kite, Blackrose, Mistral

Balmung, Orca, Sanjuro

Moonstone, Gardenia, Piros

Marlo, Nuke, Rachel

Natsume, Terajima, Wiseman

Subaru, Krim, Silver Knight

Mia, Elk, Tsukasa

Mimiru, Bear, BT

"This is it Kite. We better win!"

"Yeahyeahyeahyeah!Winwinwin!Iwannaseethatspecialspringandgetwhatever'sinitandaddittomycollection!"

"Well, if I'm correct, the event will start in just a few moments." Kite said looking at his bracelet in "clock mode".

"All groups have been registered" the NPC stated "At my mark, the event will begin and all groups will be teleported back to the OMEGA server root town. All groups will begin…………..NOW!"

NEXT CHAPTER: FOLLOW THE BRACELET

Preview: Kite and his party begin their search. The bracelet shines and stirs suspicion as the transparent blue and green shards point toward the dungeon.

Please review. Oh, and please, no flames.