Sword Art Online:

Retroactive Continuity

Chapter One:

Link Start

Nov. 6th, 2022 – Wayne Enterprise's Tokyo Branch, Tokyo, Japan

That Wayne Enterprise had a Japanese Branch was not surprising. That the Tokyo branch, as well as most other branches outside Gotham City, had a sprawling, two story penthouse on the uppermost floors was only slightly more so. Alec had just assumed that, if Bruce had to visit these branches, he just stayed in a fancy ass hotel. The real surprise was that Bruce had managed to arrange for the whole family to take a 'vacation' to Japan, staying in the aforementioned penthouse for a couple of weeks, just in time for the official launch of Sword Art Online. How the man had managed to get ahold of not just one, but four copies of SAO as well as four Nerve Gear headsets on such short notice was a mystery. Then again, we are talking about Bruce Wayne, so that does kind of explain it. Either way, Alec definitely wasn't going to complain. This was a once in a lifetime event and he was going to enjoy it to its fullest.

That the rest of the family seemed to be just as eager was a nice bonus. While Dick and Tim weren't as big into MMO's as Alec was, and Bruce likely didn't have much time for video games in general, this was an idea that most people could get behind. The chance to experience a video game in person, to actually live one in a way, was an opportunity only an idiot would pass up. Or maybe that was just Alec. Whatever.

Alec was currently going through the setup process for his character, having already gone through the calibration and 'tutorial' programs. One thing the previous program had taught him was to not stray too far from his normal proportions, unless he wanted a rough adjustment period on his first day or two in. He did, however, take some liberties with his features. He kept his hair its usual black, but grew it out from its two odd inches to just past shoulder length and selected a rough ponytail hairstyle. His grey eyes changed to a bright green and a small scar appeared on his left cheek.

"That should do, I think." He whispered thoughtfully. "Nothing flashy, but should look good once I'm in some actual armor."

After hitting the appearance confirmation Alec's vision went white, like someone just turned a bright as hell light on in his face after being in a dark room. A few seconds later saw him standing in a packed town square with a bunch of people flashing into existence all around. Once again, Alec gaped around him with what he was sure was the goofiest grin on his face. Marveling at how realistic the virtual space was. He was nowhere near computer savvy enough to even have a small idea of how this was possible, but that didn't stop him from appreciating that it was.

Once he got ahold of himself Alec made his way to the large tower nearby, which was the place they had all agreed to meet. Bruce hadn't been able to clear up all of the work needed to be done before their vacation, though not for lack of trying, so he wouldn't be joining them until tomorrow. Unfortunate, but understandable. Alec found himself very fortunate that he wasn't in charge of a multinational corporation.

Alec didn't see anyone waiting at the meeting point, no one obviously waiting anyway, so he decided to lean against the tower and scroll through his menu. The three teens were alike in their idea of keeping most of their features the same so he was fairly confident that he would spot the others when they arrived. His inventory was pretty empty as expected, having only the starting gear he suspected everyone around him had. His skill menu had his base stats and several skill trees to scroll through, though most were grayed out to show that he didn't meet their requirements. He made a note of which ones he would like to try out later, but laughed when he noticed one entry in the minor skills section. "A cooking skill." He said with some minor disbelief. "Oh, I have got to find a kitchen as soon as possible."

"Damn right you do!"

Alec looked up at the exclamation to see Dick, looking like his usual self, and Tim who apparently decided age up a few years from his thirteen-year-old self. "You're almost at Alfred's level in a real kitchen. I can't wait to see what you can come up with using fantasy food." Dick said, earning a laugh from his siblings.

Deciding on an explorative walk around the Town of Beginnings, the trio took off, gathering health potions and other items from various stalls on the way. A couple of hours later saw them leaving the town behind and making their way to The Boar Fields for their first taste of combat. Needless to say, that their lack of experience shined through quite well, though the Boar enemies were thankfully weak enough that they didn't need to use too many healing items. Not yet anyway. By the time they decided to call a break for lunch (in game lunch, that is) the trio was a level higher and feeling like they were on the right track for progress.

If only things had stayed that way.

A few more hours, a moment of no-log-out-button-panic and a forced teleport later left Alec frozen in shock after listening to Akihiko Kayaba's speech. He vaguely noted the rest of the people in the plaza not fairing any better. He probably would have just stayed there, staring into space with the last few minutes playing in his mind on repeat, if not for Dick grabbing his arm and pulling him and Tim towards the back of the crowd. Managing to focus enough to walk on his own seemed like a pretty impressive feat at that point, honestly.

They had just about got to the outer edge of the plaza when a scream rang out nearby. Dick cursed and began roughly pushing through the crowd that was rapidly becoming an angry mob, seemingly shocked into action by the earlier scream.

oOooOo

Bruce sighed as the elevator doors opened to the penthouse, the day's stress finally beginning to melt away. He regretted not being able to join the boys for the games opening day, but an impromptu vacation abroad for the CEO of any company required far more prep work than the average person would think. There was no one in the living room or attached kitchen, so he assumed the boys were still logged in with Alfred monitoring their progress. Deciding to check in on them before having Alfred start dinner, he made his way into the bedroom they had prepared for their time with the game. It was odd seeing the three teens laying so still, but it was Alfred staring at the computer running the game without acknowledging his return that made him worry. "Alfred, is everything alright?"

Alfred turned around quickly at his voice, which was another hint that something was wrong. It took a lot to surprise Alfred in any way. His pale face was another. "Master Bruce, I didn't hear you return. I'm afraid there has been an incident." Alfred was as professional as always, so the boys must be fine, but something bad had clearly happened. Alfred turned back to the computer and gestured for Bruce to take a look. Doing so, Bruce noticed his boys standing in a deserted street. They had been able to rig a monitoring system so Alfred could see what the boys experienced in-game. A perk of being Bruce Wayne. Any other time and he would have marveled at the realistic look of the virtual city, but now all he could see was the distress they were apparently in.

"Alfred, what happened?"

Listening to Alfred go over the last ten or so minutes filled him with fear and guilt. Fear because his sons were now in very real danger, and guilt because he wasn't there with them like he was supposed to be. They were supposed to be playing in there as a family and now his sons were trapped in some sort of death game by themselves. The boys did seem to be pulling it together, though. The fear and distress were still there, but they were talking together properly now and seemed to be making plans. Bruce hoped that they would do their best to stay out of danger, but he knew better. To their knowledge there was only way to escape, by beating the game. And he knew they weren't ones to sit back and do nothing when they could be helping. After watching them finalize their initial plan and begin to move, Bruce came to a decision himself. "Alfred, please keep watching them for now. I'm going to make a few calls."

"Of course, Master Bruce."

ooOoOoo

The first month after Kayaba's announcement was fairly productive. Absolutely terrifying, yes, but still productive. We decided to take the rest of that first day to just find an inn to stay at for the night, to overall just rest and calm down. Alec was eternally thankful for Dick's encouragement on Day 1. He was the reason Tim and himself were any sort of functional after the announcement. The next morning, during one of the most bland breakfasts any of them had ever experienced, they had made plans to go back out into the Boar Fields. Despite the new stakes, they didn't want to just hole up at the inn and wait for rescue. They knew Bruce was probably tearing the game's company down, brick by brick, trying to get them out, but they didn't think counting on that was a smart idea. Who knew how long it would take or if it was even possible. So they decided to do their best to help clear the game. They had even managed to get a personal trainer in the form of a younger, but very knowledgeable, beta tester that had decided to stick around town to help his sister learn the ropes.

Kirito was a very shy kid, but could get very passionate when it came to the game. Even their situation hadn't seemed to dull his enthusiasm. His sister, Leafa, by contrast showed hints of a very outgoing and excitable personality through the fear and anxiety the situation imposed on everyone. Kirito turned out to be a veritable fountain of knowledge, helping them all learn basic planning for their intended builds. While none of them had a specific weapon in mind just yet, he told them they could still plan for it based on what kind of role they wanted to play. Alec was very happy to hear that the basics weren't too different from a standard desktop MMO in that regard. The first week of training was probably the toughest on the newcomers, their first day not being quite enough for them to completely get the hang of fighting monsters in person. The Wayne boys had also met a friend of Kirito and Leafa's, whom they had met on their first day, named Klein. He mostly kept to his own group of friends in the fields on the other side of town, so as to not overload one area with too many players at once, but they ended up meeting up fairly often to keep in touch.

Over the second and third week the group started asking Kirito about the weapons they had semi-decided on. Leafa, who turned out to be a budding practitioner in kendo, had wanted to use a katana. Even her brother's warning that they weren't available until Floor 5 and that it wasn't an easy weapon to master, requiring many hours poured into specific quests, hadn't deterred her. Kirito himself was apparently going to stick with a standard bastard sword. Tim was sticking to a one handed sword for now, but was considering switching to a spear, trying to make up for his smaller frame with the spears longer reach. Alec was going back and forth between a sword and shield and a two handed sword, like a claymore. Kirito said claymore style weapons were only available in one town on Floor 1, Tolbana, but didn't have any quest requirements, only the usual stat based ones. Dick liked the idea on a two handed sword, but wanted to put his skill points more towards dexterity than strength. Kirito then recommended he use a longsword. It was technically a one handed sword, but was very unwieldy when used as such. Having higher dexterity and wielding it two handed mitigated that problem.

Towards the end of that third week the group marched on towards Tolbana, after hearing that the Floor Labyrinth had been found. Kirito was more than eager for things to move forward, as were the rest of them, but he was also adamant on being part of the Boss Raid as well, when the Boss Room was found. This led to the group spending more time in the Floor Labyrinth and for Tim to finally make the switch to a basic spear at the end of week four.

The next day was when the Boos room was discovered. It was the day a push was made. A push towards the start of Aincrad's liberation.