COMMUNITY FOURM

USER: Anonymous.

Subject: Willing to trade rare Crimson VS cards for information.

The subject is as it says; I collect rare cards. I have some ultra rare Crimson VS cards that I'm willing to trade for Information. I'm looking for information on a PKer that harmed my best friend and caused him to fall into a coma. Details purposely kept vague. If you're interested in my offer, please email me at the following throwaway.

XXXXX

Thank you.


Ryou never really planned on seeing Yuuichi again, neither did he plan on seeing Aoyama and Suki again; but he never planned on Sakaki taking control of the G.U. and the serpent of lore. Nor did he plan on Yata going missing both online and off. Or having to deal with the heart crushing realization that he had to celebrate Canard's moving to Breg Epona alone. That one hurt the most, and was the main reason he went to see Yuuichi over the weekend.

It was when he was visiting Yuuichi did he run into Aoyama and Suki again, and somewhere along that very crazy line he found himself having lunch with the two most important women in Yuuichi's life on a nice saturday afternoon.

They all settled on udon. Which Ryou nearly spat out multiple times on the stories Aoyama was more than happy to share from Yuucihi's youth.

"-Wait, wait, wait- He did what?!" Ryou gasped in shock as he nearly slammed his chopsticks down.

"He threatened to beat his stepfather with a baseball bat." Aoyama said as she took a sip from her tea like this was a normal conversation to be having.

The more Ryou heard about Yuuichi Morino the more intrigued and almost borderline…enamored by. Yuuichi Morino was different from Silabus and it left Ryou wanting to know more. "How old was he?"

Aoyama scrunched her wrinkly face up as she thought about it. "Thirteen maybe fourteen years of age?"

Suki was quiet as they spoke. She was such a quiet little girl and it almost made Ryou a little sad. Most girls her age were loud and often times outspoken, but she was just so quiet like she was trying to blend into the background and not make herself seen.

Aoyama absentmindedly reached over and touched Suki's hair, running her fingers along it's shortened length. Suki looked at her grandmother before returning to her udon. "I remember the day like it was yesterday. The cops got involved because Yuuichi actually had the bat in question."

"Why'd he do it?" Ryou asked as he tore his gaze away from Suki and back to Aoyama. Aoyama gave him a little smile at that.

"He had found out that his step father had struck Suki. This was before the poor girl was in my custody, of course. She had to be…" Aoyama did the math on her fingers. "Three or four at the time it happened. Yuuichi was in my custody at the time, they dropped Suki off for a visit, he saw the bruise, grabbed his baseball bat, and threatened his step father then and there. There was a whole screaming match between the two of them."

"Ma'am-"

"Please, call me Aoyama."

"Ms. Aoyama. How long has Suki been in your custody, if I can ask?"

She frowned now as she put her cup down. "Not long enough." Aoyama pulled Suki into her chest and Suki responded in kind. She shut her eyes before wrapping her arms around her grandmother's chest. "But… enough on Yuuichi. What I'm curious about is what is Silabus like? What's he like behind a character?"

"The nicest most cheerful person I've ever encountered." Ryou explained with a laugh before he put his chopsticks down. "I mean, Silabus doesn't have a mean bone in his entire pixilated body. And… At first, I didn't like him because of how… annoyingly nice he was. But over time, he and Gaspard, grew on me!"

"Tch."

Ryou almost froze at that very aggressive an annoyed noise that left little Suki's mouth. He and Aoyama both looked at the little girl in surprise. Suki then hopped down from her seat. "Bathroom." Was the only thing she had to say before she stalked off towards the restrooms.

They both waited a few minutes before speaking again. "Was I crazy just then or-"

"-I don't know much about that game Yuuichi plays. But I know a bit about Gaspard and from what I gathered Suki doesn't exactly like to share her older brother with anybody. Online or off."

"Oh! Okay, I just won't bring up Gaspard again then. Point taken…"

Suki returned not to long later. They all finished up their lunch shortly after that. Ryou went to pay but Aoyama practically smacked the money out of his hand to hand her card to the waitress.

"Well, we need to be going back home. Don't we, sweetie?" Aoyama grabbed on to Suki's hand. Suki nodded quietly, her face blank again as she seemed to have retreated, her little anger faded away now.

Ryou bowed to both of them. "Thank you both for spending time with me. I enjoyed it." He then stood and smiled while waving to them.

"Where will you be going now?"

"Back to the hospital for a little while, then to the hotel. I'll be staying all weekend, so I'll probably visit Yuuichi everyday."

Aoyama's eyes lit up at this. "It just warms my heart-" She then shut her eyes as she beamed at him. "-Knowing how much you like my grandson! I know most people would have probably ran for the hills knowing he threatened his stepfather with a bat."

Ryou felt his cheeks heat up as a blush spread over his face. "I-I… I just find him interesting." He admitted with a laugh. "Besides, I have no pity for child abusers."

"Hm. You know, I'm not sure, but I think Yuuichi might just find you interesting as well."


"-Canard moved to Breg Epona. You'd love it the new guild is massive… Gaspard never showed… Gaspard… I'm happy to see that he hasn't quit The World but he's always on busy. I'm giving him space but as time ticks on I'm getting a little more concerned." Ryou sighed as shifted so he was a little more comfortable in his seat. He ran his thumb over the back of Yuuichi's hand. Yuuichi's hands were slightly rough to the touch, which was a bit of a surprise.

Ryou looked at Yuuichi's knuckles as he spoke next. "Death Grunty asked about you. If I didn't know any better I'd say that stupid pig was… sad about your absence. It's like he lost his fire. He still throws insults, but he's not as loud about it."

Yuuichi had white healed scars on his knuckles. Which shouldn't have surprised Ryou, it really shouldn't but it did.

Ryou rubbed at Yuuichi's knuckles like he was massaging them. "How many fights have you been in… I wonder…" Getting up Ryou put Yuuichi's hand down across his stomach, he then looked over by Yuuichi's nose. "Ah… that's what I thought. It's been broken." He hummed now fully curious about how many fights Yuuichi had been in that resulted in a broken nose and scarred knuckles. Not even the hot-headed Ryou had scarred knuckles.

"There was a picture of you in Akpallu. I didn't see who drew it, but it was a nice picture of you behind shop Acorn. It mentioned how they haven't seen you in a while. Don't tell anybody, but I made it my background." Ryou sat down in his chair again. "...I miss you. Gaspard, Kuhn, and Atoli also miss you" He whispered. "I could really use your smile, your cheeriness. I need you more than I ever realized…"

Ryou watched Yuuichi for several seconds. That was when the door to the room opened and at first Ryou didn't think much about it, thinking it was for the other patient in the room, but then the curtian was pulled back. "Excuse me…" Ryou turned to look at the female nurse. The nurse bowed to Ryou once they locked eyes. "I don't mean to bug you, but visiting hours are coming to an end."

"Oh. I guess I forgot the time, thank you." Ryou stood up from his seat and grabbed his bag.

"Of course. It happens to the best of us. It's nice to see so many people coming to see all these doll syndrome patients. Hopefully we'll see them wake up some day soon." The nurse walked with Ryou to the door.

"Yeah, I feel you on that, lady. You have a nice night."

"Of course, sir! You do the same."


Haseo growled as he threw a Funnyface enemy into the barrier with his scythe. He was having a hell of a time taking all his frustration and anger out on pixilated enemies with Kuhn and Atoli. The familiar purple rings twirled around the Funnyface in particular and Haseo sprung like an animal. "RENGEKI! Lotus Flower!" He roared landing the attack successfully.

"Way to go, Haseo!" Atoli beamed at him as the Funnyface vanished.

"Awesome!" Kuhn grinned before landing his own attack at another Funnyface.

A third Funnyface used it's rubber-like legs to extend itself up to claw at Atoli. Atoli let out a cry of pain from this attack before using her staff to wack the enemy across the head with it. "Don't be mean!" She pouted before hitting it again with her staff. The Funnyface made a noise before stumbling away from her to go to another target, Kuhn.

"Thorn shot!" Kuhn yelled as he used his skill to send the Funnyface away from him.

"Whirlwind!" Using his twin-blades now, Haseo jump and attacked the second Funnyface, his attack did the monster in and it faded away. The only left one. Between the three of them attacking it, it hardly lasted ten seconds.

"We did it!" Atoli cheered happily as she, and the rest of them, put their weapons away for the time being.

"Whew…" Kuhn wiped his brow. "Good job guys! was that the last one?" He asked as Haseo marched up to the treasure chest before giving it a good kick.

"Yep, that's the last symbol we needed."

"Whew!" Kuhn cheered happily. Haseo hopped off of the alter and looked around the field they were in. It was a sunny area with wide open fields. All of the monsters now defeated so it was pretty barren.

Haseo, Kuhn, and Atoli started to walk briskly towards the beast temple. "Haseo…" Atoli spoke as they started their trek. Her voice steady, but had a bit of sadness to it.

"Yeah?"

"Have you spoken to Gaspard as of late?"

That made Kuhn look at her out of the corner of his eye before looking down at the ground.

"I've sent him a few messages but he hasn't responded ot any of them. You?"

"Same. I even sent him a shortmail telling him that if he needs to talk he can come to me, but… he never responded."

"...I asked him to come on an adventure with me." Kuhn suddenly spoke as he put his hands on his hips. "Ignored." He sighed. "It's been weeks…" He scratched at his face. "I don't expect him to get over it. I really don't, but him being busy for weeks straight and ignoring all of us. I don't like it…"

"Neither do I…" Haseo admitted. "Maybe I'll send him a few more messages asking him to reach out. Just so I know he's alright. I can speak from experience… it's not easy." Haseo sighed as he thought of all three of his friends currently in the hospital. "Maybe a quest might help him out of his stupor… he hasn't even been manning the shop like he usually does."

"... Well, there is this Chim quest in the quest shop right now. Maybe the three of us could all do it together? It might help lighten his mood." Kuhn suddenly suggested as his face suddenly turned forlorn. "I was going to take these girls… but they kinda dumped me…" His voice turned whiny as he threw his head back dramatically. "I've been so busy with G.U. and the upcoming tournament that I neglected them!" He actually seemed to cry at this.

Atoli lightly patted Kuhn's shoulder. "There. There." She cooed sympathetically.

Haseo only gave a bit of a sweatdrop at this before shaking his head. "I'll send him a message and see…"

"So… Haseo." Atoli focused her attention back around towards him. "Without Silabus helping the newbies and with no Gaspard manning shop Acorn-"

"-Canard is a shell." He confirmed to her as he looked down at the ground rather sadly.

Atoli gave a soft whine and Kuhn gave a deep sigh just as well.

"I wanted to ask Pi to see if maybe she could find out who was behind Silabus's character…" Kuhn whispered suddenly. "Just so I can see him, you know?"

Haseo perked at this. Instantly he felt like he knew a secret and, yeah, he did know a secret. One he almost wasn't sure he wanted to share.

"But then everything happened. Yata going missing, Sakaki, the tournament… I can't bug Pi about that… Still, I just hope that Silabus has family."

"Yeah. I know how you feel, Kuhn. I thought about it as well, but the only thing I know about Silabus is his age. I don't even know if he's in college or if he lives alone or not." Atoli gave her own sigh.

"He's nineteen and in college, but I don't know where he lives…" Kuhn scratched at the back of his head.

'So, I know more than both of them…' Haseo almost felt a little proud of the fact that not only has he found the real person behind Silabus because Silabus- no- Yuuichi trusted him with that information.

"What about you, Haseo? Do you think about visiting him?" Atoli inquired.

"Uh… yeah actually. I think about it." He admitted as he, Ryou, shifted on his hotel bed. For a moment he did think about telling them so they could also see Silabus-

-But then he was reminded of what Aoyama had said earlier that morning: "I know most people would have probably ran for the hills knowing he threatened his stepfather with a bat."

Then he thought about Yuuichi's scarred knuckles and healed, but obviously previously broken, nose. Even if Ryou felt intrigued and interested by the darker side of Silabus. The others may not be, and, as selfish as this sounded, he didn't want them to know; it was a secret that only he knew and he wanted to keep it that way.

There was silence between the three of them now as they were coming up to the beast statue inside of the temple. Their footsteps echoed around them. Haseo got to the treasure chest and kicked it. "Mmm… it's just a broadsword." He shrugged at the less than steller item.

"You don't want it?" Kuhn inquired.

"I have a good enough broadsword from fighting a doppleganger. You want it?" He turned to Kuhn.

"Yeah! I could give it to some lucky girl :3"

Haseo's eyes rolled into the back of his head, but still he handed the broadsword over. "Have it, you horndog."

"Eheh."

"Don't ever make that noise again."

With training now officially over, the three of them went their separate ways, but not before Haseo and Kuhn both sent Gaspard a message asking him if he wanted to do a quest.

It would go ignored concerning both players tenfold.


"Sakaki just does what he wants and it pisses me off!" Haseo growled as he gave the waiting area wall a good kick. Him, Atoli, and Kuhn all stood around waiting for their first round of the tournament to start. The team they would be fighting would be a secret and that alone made Haseo angry, but finding out that Sakaki blocked them from seeing just who they were fighting from the information board sent him over the edge.

"Just calm down. I know it's frustrating, but there's nothing we can do about it now." Kuhn softly told Haseo and Haseo huffed a little before nodding.

"Yeah, I know… I just don't understand how CC. Corp can give him so much power. They have to see how dangerous he is."

Atoli gave a sigh at this but didn't verbally speak.

"It's time." Haseo suddenly said as he looked towards the warp gate. "Are we ready?"

The other two nodded and Haseo touched the gate warping them away to the arena battlefield.

The moment the three of them warped onto the platform above the arena they were met with boos of pure indignation. Of hatred and spite. Nobody wanted to see 'The Terror of death.' win. Which, was kind of understandable for a PK tournament. Still, these boos, these spectators, they were angry and out for blood.

"Ah! That noise!" Atoli cried out as she clamped her hands over her ears in shock. "It's everywhere!"

"Noise? AIDA?" Haseo quickly asked as he rushed to her side. "Who? Sakaki?"

"N-no…it's bigger, louder…it's…everywhere!" She continued to keep her hands over ears to try and block out the sounds. "It's the arena, the audience..." She whimpered.

"You mean… this whole place is an AIDA server!?" Kuhn gasped as he looked out at the crowd of people watching them.

It was the obnoxious cackling laughter that made Haseo jerk his head away from the crowd.

"Hello there, Terror of death!" Sakaki laughed as he lowered himself down on a platform away from the arena. There the other team warped in and Haseo felt himself tense up. He recognized the party as chaotic PKers. "Recognize them? These are all Pkers that you've fought, Terror of death. You'll be fighting five parties in today's match!"

"Five?!" Kuhn had yelled back in shock.

"Yes! And if you manage to survive by some miracle then I'll give you a gift! A gift I know you'll want to see at the end!"

'A gift?' Haseo's heart raced, his limbs became tingly, and he tensed all at once. 'I know I don't want his gift, but I have no choice but to continue on regardless.'

Haseo summoned his scythe out and held it tightly in his hands. "Bring it on!"

Five parties, all led by chaotic PK's out for blood wanting to be the one to best Haseo and his party. Five parties that didn't stand a chance in hell of winning this. Between the three of them they mowed every party down. It wasn't without it's hiccups and it's tumbles. In fact, Haseo lost a bit of health, Atoli ran of SP and so did a lot of running around, and by the very end Kuhn had no SP left so he was forced to just smack people with his gun.

Still, in the end, they won. Much to Sakaki's apparent dismay. Or… was it to his delight? It was hard to tell with the crazed AIDA infected man.

"So… you won. How … fortunate." Sakaki actually grumbled a little before he clared his throat. "Regardless, I promised you a gift. Did I not?"

"Who cares!?" Some Pker had shouted and it caused a slurry of jeers and insults headed their way. It made Atoli cover her ears once more.

"Oh trust me, my dear friends!" Sakaki had risen his voice to silence the jeering crowd. "This is something you'll want to see! This isn't just a gift for Haseo and his friends, but a gift for the rest of you as well!" He announced.

Haseo felt his breath hitch only slightly as he gnashed his teeth together. 'What the hell does he have planned.' He got down in a fighting position, Atoli, and Kuhn followed suit both equally distrustful.

"Look at the screen ladies and gentlemen!" Sakaki dramatically swept his hands out to the nearest screen towards him. Haseo whipped his head towards the screen in question along with Khun and Atoli.

At first he was met with only the Serpent of Lore starting up and loading whatever video Sakaki wanted to show not just him, but the whole world as well.

After a prolonged period of time the video Sakaki was dying to show them finally loaded in-

All Haseo heard was a pained scream erupting from the speakers. A painfully familiar scream. Haseo's breath hitched in his throat as he was forced to watch as Silabus was PK'd by Sakaki.

"No!" Atoli shrieked as she grabbed on to her ears. "Sakaki! How could you!"

"Ha…" Haseo felt a whimper leave his mouth as he watched Silabus collapse to the ground. "No…" He shook his head. Silabus screamed as he grabbed on to his side, no doubt mimicking Yuuichi.

"You bastard… you bastard!" Kuhn screamed at Sakaki in rage.

"Heh. I guess this makes me no better than the rest of you PKer's!" Sakaki called out to the crowd and they cheered. It made Haseo's blood boil watching as Silabus curled up on his side. His character started to glow only seconds later.

"M-Mochi…" Silabus suddenly whimpered out on the otherside of the screen.

Haseo collapsed to his knees when he saw Silabus reach out suddenly. Like he was looking for something.

"Mochi…Kitty-kitty-" Silabus started to move his arm out a little more frantically in desperation. Wanting nothing more than his cat in that very moment. Then he drew his arm back. "Ack!" Silabus cried out in pain. "I don't want to be alone…" He whimpered.

"Turn it off!" Haseo felt tears fall down his eyes as his knees gave out. "Turn it off!" He then roared in his anger. 'I'm going to tear him limb from limb whenever I get my fucking hands on him!' He thought as he grabbed at the sides of his head. Sakaki didn't turn it off.

He kept it playing through Haseo finding Silabus. Holding Silabus in his arms, pleading with Silabus to stay. It only stopped when Silabus vanished, becoming a lost one.

" I need you." Sakaki mocked Haseo's tearful voice. "How pathetic. If I would have known that's all it would have taken to make you a snivling mess, I would have PK'd that fool long ago!" Sakaki announced with a cackling laugh that showed just how deranged he really was. "The fact that that fool wiped your tears away was just the cherry on top!"

"..." Haseo's sadness shifted. His tears dried. And he felt anger. White. hot. burning anger. "Sakaki… when I get my hands on you- not 'if' when- you better find a god to pray to. Because when I'm done with you there'll be nothing left! You'll pay for what you did to Silabus!" Haseo stood back to his feet. "I'll carve my name into your flesh when I'm done with you so you know how much you messed up by targeting Silabus!"

Sakaki cackled again. "You can't touch me." Was all Sakaki said before waving his arm out and the three of them were forced to warp away.


A scream erupted from both Haseo and Kuhn alike. Haseo took his anger out on a nearby wall. He continued to kick it wishing for nothing more than to feel his foot against an actual wall. He wasn't alone; Kuhn was punching the ground.

"How could he do this?…" Atoli whispered as she fell to her knees next to Kuhn. "How could he do that to Silabus?" Soft cries left Atoli's mouth as she covered her eyes.

Haseo pressed his forehead against the wall he had been kicking just moments before. His throat tightened as he squeezed his eyes shut. He then lightly smacked his head against the wall. "Sakaki needs to be stopped…" Haseo growled. "That was something that we all knew. But now it's personal. It's personal to all of us. This isn't him going after us epitaph users, this isn't him going after more power. This is him going after a completely innocent player because he knew it would hurt us. It's unforgivable…" He growled and clawed at the wall.

"Let me tell you guys something here and now. I meant it. What I told Sakaki. When I do get my hands on him. I'm going to make him regret ever targeting Silabus in the first place."

"I'll be with you when you do. There's no way he's getting away with this!" Kuhn put a hand on Haseo's shoulder, making Haseo turn to look at him. Then the two of them turned to Atoli.

"..." Atoli was looking down at her feet for several seconds. Tears falling from her eyes and splashing on the floor, just to be erased seconds later. "I just can't believe Sakaki would ever become this… you're right, Haseo, It's completely unforgivable, he hurt Silabus just to hurt you in particular! I will never be able to forgive him for this! I don't agree with ripping him apart, but… he shouldn't be able to walk away form what he's done! We have to stop him before he targets someone else. Like Gaspard!"

Haseo gave Atoli a stiff nod. "We won't let him get that far. Not again."


Weeks and Weeks of endless grinding is what led Gaspard to this moment.

Gaspard narrowed his green eyes as he bit his wobbling lower lip. He kept himself hidden behind the arena watching…waiting. Posed to strike. His hands shook while his breath hitched in his throat. His mouth was dry, and he just couldn't believe he was actually going to do this.

'Sakaki… Sakaki from Moontree. He's done this. He's the one who PK'd Silabus.'

Gaspard tried to deny it at first when a player answered his plea, and bribe, in the fourms. This player, NAOO a bit of a ditzy airhead, told him that Sakaki was the player last seen with Silabus. Gaspard still gave her a card for the information, but didn't believe it…

Until Sakaki came out and showed that yes, he was the one who PK'd Silabus and he was proud of that fact.

'What goes around comes around…' Was something Kouta's mother taught him from a young age.

Sakaki warped out of the arena and was already starting to stalk for the chaos gate. 'Not only did he take Silabus from me. Not only was he happy about that fact… but he also allowed Pking in the towns… his own downfall…' Gaspard stepped out of the shadows of the arena and summoned his weapon.

'I've never Pk'd someone before…I never wanted to Pk someone before… but… what he did… it's unforgivable!' Gaspards hands shook as he looked at Sakaki's back. The man unaware of Gaspard the entire time. Tears sprung in Gaspard's eyes as he was close to becoming a sobbing mess. His heart-rate picked up as his breathing increased to the point of panting. His lower lip continued to wobble and shake.

Gaspard raised a hand out, pointing directly at Sakaki's back. The spell was right on his lips "Ani-"

A hand clamped on Gaspard's shoulder making him freeze and tense up. He whipped around to see who had caught him, fearful it was Haseo or Kuhn. It was neither.

Instead stood a tall man dressed in various shades of white and blue say for the round orange glasses on his face, blocking Gaspard from seeing his eye color. The man also had a lock on his arm making Gaspard wonder 'How did he get that?' for a moment before he looked back up at the man. He then used his mouse to see this player's name. Ovan. Was what greeted Gaspard.

'That name sounds familiar.' He thought.

"Hm…" Ovan hummed as he shifted his hand on Gaspard's shoulder before tightening it so Gaspard couldn't escape. "Let's have a talk, young one."