A/N: So, I owe you guys an apology for taking so long to make this chapter. I'll try to make sure that the next one comes out sooner :P
In case you didn't already know, the Shattered Fragment storyline is the one that was voted to have a scene turned into an illustrated panel by yours' truly, so I hope that excites those of you who enjoy my Sword Art rendition. The only issue now is, I need to know which scene you guys want me to illustrate, so you guessed it- time to vote again! ...Sorry, I'm indecisive, and I also want to give you guys the content you so desire, which is why I'm trying to be open to your input. That being said, there are 11 choices to pick from, seven of which are scenes already covered in the first story in this series, and four that are brand-new content. You're each being given three votes for this poll (now available on my profile page), so let me know which ones you want to happen the most! I can't wait to see what you guys end up picking!
Now, read, review, and as always, enjoy!
P.S. Just watched the trailer for the SAO Progressive series, and I am hyped! We're going back to Aincrad, suckas!
Seven
"Her sister?!" Suguha said in disbelief, causing me to roll my eyes with traces of annoyance. It wasn't the first time that she'd said it since Kirito and I had convinced Rain to let us share her secret with the others, and I doubted that it would be the last.
"Just because you keep saying it, doesn't mean it's gonna change," I said dryly as I passed her the jasmine tea that she had requested.
"Shut up, this is a lot to process," she shot back as she grabbed the little cup. "Thanks."
"No problem."
She, Kazuto, Victoria, Reiko, and Sayuri were all sitting in my living room with some drink or another in their hands. We were gathered to discuss options for approaching Seven now that we knew of her relation to Karatachi while still fulfilling our objective of trying to keep an eye on any hidden agenda that she might have in JFO. The girl herself was busy, but we were scheduled to meet up as a guild that afternoon, as the tournament rules were finally supposed to be unveiled to the contest participants.
"Should we tell Kikuoka about this?" Sayuri asked us, which got me and Kazuto to look at each other for a moment.
"I don't think that's a good idea, unless we're running out of options for how to get closer to Seven," I answered after a moment. "Even then, I dunno how much more he could do with that information than we can."
"What do you mean?" Victoria asked me.
"It's not like we can just march up to Shamrock and say, 'Hey, mind if we have a word with your boss? We've got her long-lost sister with us, would it be cool if we let them grab lunch for a few?' I don't see that going well." I passed Kazuto his own mug with oolong tea, which he thanked me for.
"You don't think Seven will believe Rain?" Reiko guessed, which I nodded at.
"She did say that her sister was pretty much a toddler when they were separated," Kazuto pointed out. "I'm sure she's been harassed by enough weird people in-game and IRL that she'd be pretty skeptical of Rain's claim."
"Not to mention Shamrock will probably be less than pleased to see any of us around her, especially after the dragon ball hunt," Suguha reminded us.
"Maybe we'll get a chance to talk to her tonight," Victoria suddenly said, surprising all of us. Seeing this, she explained, "We have to go and turn in our dragon ball to register for the tournament, right? Argo said that their guild got one of the Namekian dragon balls, so we know that they'll be entering the competition, too. If she's the head of the guild, chances are more than likely that she'll make an appearance tonight. Maybe we can talk to her while we're waiting for the announcements?"
Kazuto and I exchanged another look before our guild leader said, "That's not a bad idea. The entry office is in a safe zone, so even if Shamrock wanted to get into it with us, there wouldn't be much that they could do."
"Still doesn't get us a guaranteed chance to talk with her in a civilized setting," I argued. "Besides, I doubt that this is something that Rain would want to do in public."
"True," my sister sighed.
"I could try to talk to her," Reiko volunteered, surprising all of us again. "After Argus folded, Dad managed to recover his losses by investing in another company called 'Kamura'. I could tell Seven that they're looking for someone to promote their new tech that's set to release next year, and they're interested in her."
"You think she'd go for that?" Suguha asked.
"What kind of tech?" Kazuto asked at almost the exact same moment, causing several of us to chuckle.
"He's not allowed to tell us the full details yet, but from what I can gather, it's something to do with AR instead of VR," she told us. "Seven is a scientist, right? Maybe this'll get her attention both as an intellectual and a pop idol."
Once again, Kazuto and I looked at each other, but this time we were nodding. "That's actually a really good idea," our leader said as he turned back to look at my girlfriend. "Nice thinking, Rivka."
"No problem," she smiled as we hi-fived.
"Now that we have that settled, any word on the tournament rules?" Victoria asked me. Since I had the dragon ball in my inventory, we figured that if anyone was going to receive an early notification, it would be me. Unfortunately…
"No dice," I answered, causing the others to look disappointed. Shrugging, I told them, "They did say that the rules would be explained alongside the tournament matchups tonight."
"Yeah, but I figured that'd be for the general public," Suguha complained. "How're we supposed to get prepped for something this big with almost no heads-up?"
"Fighting doesn't start until two weeks from now, in our evening," I reminded them. "We know that much, at least."
"I doubt that the times will be consistent, though," Sayuri mused out loud. When we all looked questions at her, she elaborated by saying, "Think about it. This is a world-wide event, and not everyone on the other side of the world is going to want to stay up for the middle of the night for every match, right? I imagine that they'll stagger the events across several days- if not weeks- and have them at different times, each."
"What I wanna know is why they won't just do a big battle royal?" Reiko asked her curiously. "It'd be easier that setting up a bracket tournament, wouldn't it?"
"Easier, yeah, but think about it in terms of viewership and the commercial value that the sponsors could get out of it if they drag it out," Kazuto pointed out. "An event this big, a world-wide premiere, no less? They'd be crazy to waste the hype all in one night."
"You think it's gonna interfere with your schoolwork?" I asked those of us that were students.
"I'm sure if it does, we can have Mr. Kikuoka validate an excuse for us," Victoria said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "That is, of course, if this ends up being team matches. We don't know whether or not you'll be allowed to bring any of us along, or if it's just the people that turn in the dragon balls that get to fight."
"That last scenario is not very likely," I muttered. "Given how hard it was for us to get the thing, I doubt that anyone could have done it solo. Why leave it up to chance as to who gets the drop item for participating? No, my gut tells me that this'll be a team effort again." There was a slight lull in the conversation as we all realized that there was little for us to do other than speculate, as there was very little concrete information for us to go off of. With that in mind, I stood up and said, "Well, we have a few hours to kill before the registration. Who's got homework?"
"Finished," Victoria answered quickly.
"Really?"
"Yes, really," she said with a roll of her eyes. "I had a study period, and I might've asked Strea to help me finish a little more quickly than I coulda done on my own."
I frowned at that, but there wasn't a lot I could really say to it. After all, I had pretty much lucked out with not needing to finish school in the first place, so who was I to criticize how she made use of the resources at her disposal? As far as I knew, the school didn't have any rules against having an AI program assist in homework studies, so it wasn't like she was actually breaking the rules.
Meanwhile, Suguha was groaning out loud before saying, "No fair! Kazuto was hogging Yui, so I'm up a creek!"
"I can help you, Suguha," Sayuri volunteered readily. Out of the four of them, she had taken to school life again the most fluidly. She and Kazuto were both good with computers, but for different reasons, I thought. The Black Swordsman had begun his tinkering with computers as a hobby and then an escape from reality, while Sayuri had taken to the world of machines in order to grow closer to her friends and to make a better life for herself than the one that her late father had left her with. One was more motivated than the other, and their test scores showed it, from what I had seen.
"You're done with your assignments, then?" I asked our guild leader, who nodded quickly. "Care for a match, then?"
"Oh, come on," Victoria huffed as we both stood up. "Why can't you guys just do this in VR?"
"Higher stakes makes for better training," I answered with a grin as I led the way to the back door. Over my shoulder, I added, "Help yourselves to whatever's in the fridge if you're hungry. We'll be back in thirty minutes or so."
"If you break anything, you're walking to the hospital," Reiko warned us.
"Got it, I'll take it easy on him," I said with a smirk as I turned back around.
"That's too bad, I was hoping that I could finally stop holding back," Kazuto shot back with a cheeky grin of his own as we stepped out onto the back porch.
"You wish you could hold back against me."
Once we had made our way over to the Kirigaya's backyard dojo and changed into sparring gear, we each took up our preferred weapons and squared off across the room. Kazuto settled into his familiar stance before he eyed my staff and asked, "You sure you wanna keep using that thing? If you used a sword, you'd have me beat every time."
"Where the fun in that?" I snickered, trying to hide my irritation at the question. "I told you, I'm done with swords. Besides, it's good for you to practice against other weapons, especially given how diverse the equipment in JFO is." These days, I preferred to use a staff for live combat, as I had trained with it during my years studying under Master Omine. I had been saddened to hear that he had passed away during my imprisonment, and since then, I had not found it in me to revisit the old dojo to resume my studies. For now, I would content myself with practicing what I did know.
Only now, practice for me usually consisted of sparring with one or sometimes both of the Kirigaya siblings in their grandfather's dojo every few days. I won pretty consistently against the both of them when it was one-on-one, but I had only defeated them as a pair last week, after months of trying.
"Fair enough," the other boy sighed in response to my rebuttal. "I just miss having a challenge with the sword, you know?"
"Don't let Suguha hear you say that," I chuckled as I whirled my bo into ready position. "She'll knock you into next week."
"Only if I let her," Kazuto shot back confidently. "She might have had me beat at kendo, but we both know there's a better way to fight, isn't there?"
Instead of answering with words, I darted forward, thrusting my staff at his midsection, hoping to knock the wind out of his lungs. Even before the blow landed, though, I knew it was no good.
Twisting his body to the side, he held his wooden practice sword across his back and used it to deflect my weapon and avoid harm. With another spin, he whipped the sword up and over, aiming to strike me square across my shoulder blades, a blow that would smart for days afterwards, if past experience was something to go by. If I had been using a sword, avoiding the attack would have been difficult, if even possible with the speed he was going at.
Clack!
The sound of wood striking wood echoed in the walls of the small dojo, followed by a jarring sensation in my hands that told me that my countermeasure had been successful. By raising my left hand above my head, his sword had been knocked aside by the back half of my staff, which was only the first part of my counterattack.
As his momentum was suddenly knocked off-course, he mistimed his forward step and gave me an extra half-second to spin my body around and slam the leading part of my staff into his right shin, causing him to yelp as the hard wood struck his shin guard. Before he had a chance to muster any kind of defense, I stepped in closer and jerked my left hand forward, still gripping the oak weapon as the trailing half of the staff slammed into his stomach, emptying his lungs of air and knocking him flat on his back as his sword rolled away from his limp fingers. I finished things by walking over to him and planting the butt of my staff on his chest, just below his neck and said, "You've been slacking on your footwork. The sword won't do the whole job for you."
"Oh…" was all that Kazuto could say as he felt oxygen returning to his body.
With a small grin to myself, I thought, Yeah. I don't need swords anymore.
The announcements were to take place in a massive replica of the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament from Dragon Ball, which was only fitting, given the entry tickets. The stadium was surrounded by hundreds of players, all of them from varying guilds and factions from all over the world. Normally such a setting would have been ripe for a massive battle, but the area was a designated safe zone, so there was no point in trying to start a fight- after all, there would be plenty of time for that soon enough.
Only eligible contestants would be allowed onto the stage itself, after handing over the entry fee to a robot that looked somewhat like Pina and Litrosh. It took us a while to make our way through the buzzing crowd, but we made it fifteen minutes before the deadline, giving us plenty of time to provide the information we would need to submit to participate. Once the droid had examined the dragon ball I had brought, it deposited the precious item into its stomach and said, "Entry fee accepted. Choose a team captain and three other participants to join you. Bear in mind that this will be your lineup for the first match, though you may change members in later in the competition, given certain circumstances that will be disclosed soon." I frowned at the cryptic explanation, but there wasn't much I could do about it now.
A holographic screen appeared in front of the small droid, displaying four blank handprints, which meant that the first four to touch it would be accepted as the participants for the tournament. I hesitated before turning back to look at Kirito, who had a thoughtful look on his face. "Your call," I told him.
"I'll sit out for now," he answered, surprising us at first. He took his hand off of his chin as he added, "I'll be able to get a better look at our competition from a distance, which'll help me come up with better strategies for the later matches. We need to start this thing off strong, but we should also keep some ace cards in reserve. I want you as acting captain, and since you guys have the longest history of team PvP combat, Sinon and Strea should go in, too. I'll leave the last member up to you, though I'd prefer it if you save Yuuki and Rain for later on in the contest."
"Way to let us know who your favorites are," Kiriha said as she swatted him on the arm.
"Rivka, you're with me," I said immediately before the two siblings could start getting into it.
"Really?" she asked as her eyes lit up with excitement. "You're sure?"
"You said it yourself, you've always had my back," I told her as I reached to hold her hand with a grin. "I figured it's about time that I start letting you do your job properly, yeah?"
"You got it," she said as she stepped up to stand next to me in front of the hologram. In a lower tone, she added, "Thank you."
"Of course," I answered in kind while giving her hand a small squeeze. To the droid, I said, "I'll be acting as captain. Where do I sign?"
"Please place your hand on the top right slot," it answered patiently. "The others may arrange themselves in no particular order."
I did as instructed, followed by my teammates, all of them wearing different expressions as they did so. Rivka was clearly glad that I had finally set aside my stubbornness and was willing to accept her as an equal partner in combat, so she was smiling happily as she entered herself in the tournament. Strea was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet as she scanned her palm in to register while Sinon was as collected as ever, her face showing no hint of her emotions as she added herself as the last member of our team.
"Thank you," the droid said once we had registered. "Please enter a team name if you do not wish to use your guild title."
"Our guild title will be fine, thank you," I told it before the option could appear.
"Very well, you shall be entered under the name 'Moonlight Black Cats', is that correct?" the robot inquired.
"Hold on a sec," Philia interrupted. "Are you guys sure about that?"
"Why wouldn't we be?" Kiriha asked. "That's always been our guild's name."
"Not all of us," she said with a pointed look at Sinon, Strea, and me. "Not everyone in VR knows who you guys are, but enough will recognize you once your names are announced. You can bet that they won't be happy to see you, either. You sure you wanna drag our guild's name into it?"
"Time for registration closes in five minutes," the droid reminded us. "Please finalize your information before then."
"Keep the name," Kirito told me without hesitation. "If they already know who we are, there's no point in trying to cover it up. Let's wear our name proudly and honor those of us that aren't here anymore with our efforts."
I gave him a little smile as I thought, Where'd that shy kid from three years ago get to? The Kazuto Kirigaya that logged into SAO never would have made such a declaration. He would have tried to remain as inconspicuous as possible, not go and calling potential heat to himself and his friends. Aincrad had changed him as it had changed all of us, and this was in one of the few matters that I could think was a good one.
Turning back to the droid, I said, "Put in our guild name, please."
"Understood," it answered. "Team name and participants have been finalized. Please have the competitors step through the gate. All other party members will have to wait outside or in a designated seating area until the announcements have been completed." With that, the robot hovered over toward the wall, followed by its eyes glowing green. A warp gate shimmered into existence, and our guildmates wished us luck as Rivka, Sinon, Strea, and I made our way into it, ready for whatever might come our way.
We found ourselves standing on the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament stage amidst a roaring crowd of thousands excited for the upcoming event. We had been placed among about forty other players, all of them in groups of varying sizes, which immediately had us puzzled.
"Why do those guys have six people on their team?" Strea asked as we look at a group that seemed to be mostly made up of pirates, although one of them could have been an alchemist.
"No idea, but at least it's not just one of us out here on our own," I muttered as I indicated a tall, muscular man with dark red hair and a seemingly permanent scowl etched into his face.
"Maybe his partners just haven't come through the gate yet?" Sinon guessed.
"Doubt it," I replied over my shoulder as we continued to survey our competition. "The guy gives me some serious 'loner' vibes."
"You don't think he actually beat an event boss like that all on his own, do you?" Rivka asked as we noticed a trio of players warping in about halfway across the ring.
"I beat crazier odds in SAO on my own, not to mention some of the stuff that Saphira told us about," I reminded her. "Whatever the case is, he's one to watch out for." I didn't see Shamrock anywhere, but it was possible that they were waiting to make a last-minute entrance for dramatic effect. According to Kirito, the guild loved showing off to a crowd, and this was the biggest crowd in the history of virtual reality to date. There had to be five times as many people present as the day that Kayaba trapped us all in SAO.
"Anyone else you're getting a bad feeling from?" Rivka asked me, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Not yet."
"Guys, shh," Sinon said as she pointed up to a giant screen that faced into the stadium from the north side. "I think the announcements are about to start."
The screen flickered to life to show us three people sitting at a large desk in a setting that reminded me of a news station. Two were men, both of them appearing to be middle-aged, if handsome enough, while the third member was a beautiful blonde woman with startling blue eyes that peered down at us contestants through the large monitor.
"Welcome, everyone from around the world, to the opening ceremony of the first Global Jump Force Tournament!" she declared, setting the crowd wild with cheers that were deafening compared to the dull roar that they had previously been producing. "I'm one of your hosts, Adriana Garcia, here with my two good men, Mako Tsunehisa and Thomas Baldwin!"
"Nice to be here," Thomas said with a friendly smile.
"As one of the developers responsible for transitioning Jump Force into the virtual world, my excitement for this event in particular knows no limits," Mako added energetically. "I'm sure that our competitors and audience are eager to learn the rules for the first matches to be held in two weeks, so let's give them a show!"
"All right, let's get into it," Adriana said with a grin. "The rules for advancing are fairly simple. This is a standard bracket tournament layout, with four rounds total, and only one team taking the grand prize for themselves!" As she spoke, a tourney bracket layout appeared behind the three of them, with sixteen branches at the bottom, though no names had yet been assigned to them.
This got me to frown again. The entry fee is one dragon ball, and only fourteen of those were released for the event, I recalled. Where are they getting the other two teams from?
As if they could hear my thoughts, Thomas spoke up to say, "I'm sure many of you are wondering about the number of teams, seeing as we've already admitted the fourteen groups responsible for obtaining the dragon balls needed to enter this tournament. In order to make it an even sixteen for the event, Shonen Jump and has agreed to sponsor two teams for the event, both of which have been scouted to make sure that they give us a good show."
This got a mixed reaction from the crowd- and us participants. "We busted our asses to get the entry ticket, and now two teams get to just waltz in and get handed a free pass?" Sinon growled. "Talk about a stacked competition."
Sensing the unease of the crowd, Mako cut in to try and smooth things over. "We assure our viewers and other contestants that these teams were not selected on a monetary donation basis of any sort," he insisted, causing many of us to scoff and roll our eyes. "They were chosen for their contributions to the advances of virtual reality and the psychological effects that it has on players. They have contributed much of their time and energy to make events like this possible, and so I think it only fair that they have a chance to participate in such an auspicious occasion. They also have not been given access to any special accounts or abilities- the skills that they display throughout the course of the tournament have been earned as fairly as the next player."
When he put it like that, it was hard to refute their reasoning, but something about it still left a bad taste in my mouth. This is a risky move on their part, I thought while the crowds began to debate among themselves about the given answers on the matter. If one of the two teams that they enter wins, a lot of people will accuse them of favoritism and stacking the competition.
"And now, we will announce the lineup," Adriana said, trying to bring the crowd's attention back toward the upcoming competition. "You've all likely noticed the different teams have different numbers of participants- this is partially the luck of the draw, but it was also a hidden facet of the competition. The number of stars on the dragon ball that your team turned in correlates to the number of players allowed to fight on your side."
Once again, the players began to speak to one another amongst ourselves. "So that explains it," I mused as I looked around at the other teams, now realizing that there were none that had over seven members. "I have to admit, it certainly plays a part in making things interesting."
"If they sent out the orbs at random according to the discretion of the Seed program, not even the GM's would know which continents would get which numbered balls," Strea added.
"Not bad," Rivka murmured. "Still puts a few people at a serious disadvantage. What happens if a team of seven goes up against one of the solo players? There'd be almost no competition."
"I'm sure the organizers will take that into account when matching us up," Sinon pointed out. "This is supposed to be entertainment, and there's not much point in a one-sided match."
"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for…" Mako announced, drawing our attention back to the giant screen. "In the first bracket, we have Team Three-Star from North America, going up against one Shonen Jump's sponsored teams… It's team Shamrock of Asia, led by the rising sensation, Seven!"
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me," I growled as a warp gate opened to admit seven new players, many of them smiling up at the crowd that was now cheering wildly at the prospect of getting to see their newest idol compete with the best of the gaming world alongside her elite guild members.
The girl herself was in the lead, and as it was the first time that I'd seen her in person, I made sure to make a quick study. She was small, almost as small as Yui, and she seemed to radiate boundless energy and joy as she smiled brightly at everyone, even her fellow competitors. Her silver hair glimmered in the flashing lights of the arena, and her magenta eyes sparkled from the same source. There was nothing about her clothing that gave any clues as to what her powers might be, and I had been unable to ascertain what they were in advance, even with other info brokers' assistance. Apparently not even most of Shamrock knew what power she had been given by the system, though I supposed it wouldn't be long before we found out- after all, it wasn't like she could keep her abilities hidden in a competition like this one.
Then again, who knows how much fighting she'll actually have to do? I thought as I looked her comrades up and down. Several of them were smiling back at the crowd, and among those members, I could see a kunoichi, a ninja, what was probably a mage of some kind, and two more dressed in casual clothing, leaving me unable to determine what their gimmicks might be. One of the people in casual clothes looked a little familiar to me, but I couldn't quite place why, and my mind was focused on other things at the moment. The one that concerned me was the tall blue-and-white frost demon flanking the girl, regarding all of his surroundings with a cool confidence that showed no fear of the competition. I wouldn't be surprised if they pit us against them sooner instead of later, I mused silently. I'm sure everyone would love to see a Saiyan go up against him.
"Next up, we have Team Variety versus Team Gallant!" Thomas announced, having apparently decided that the crowds had been given enough time to admire the late addition to the competition. "Six players from Oceania against five from Africa!"
"I get the feeling that'll be a match to remember," Adriana gushed as the chosen teams waved to the people in the crowds that were cheering for their success. "Who do we have fighting after that?"
"Let's see…" Mako said as they waited for the names to appear on the lineup behind them. "It looks like Team Spectrum from Europe will have to make it past Team Red Clouds of South America to make it to the quarterfinals!" As he spoke, a young man and woman gave a team of six others a pair of feisty grins, which the larger group affected not to notice.
The next to be announced was a team of four players under the title 'Team Goofy', another set of European competitors up against Team Nexus, seven players from Australia. All of them seemed to be in good spirits as they tossed friendly insults back and forth while the announcers awaited the results of the next bracket.
"How much you wanna bet we end up in the last slot?" Sinon commented as we watched the screen in anticipation of our team name appearing.
"Probably," I agreed, even as the names began to appear. As the last figure settled into place, I widened my eyes and added, "On the other hand…"
"For the fifth match, we will have the Moonlit Black Cats of the Asia continent against Team Discord of North America!" Adriana announced.
We immediately turned to lock eyes with the team that had been set against us, even as about a third of the competitors turned to look at us with renewed interest. The reason was no secret to us- the names of all the guilds that had helped clear SAO were well-known on the internet by now, and ours' might just be the most famous- or infamous- of them all. Based on the wary to outright hostile looks that we were receiving, I was willing to bet that it was the latter. It wasn't just contained to the competitors, either- many people in the crowd were murmuring among themselves at the sound of our name, and I think that the announcers were even taken aback just a little bit.
"So you're one of the groups that cleared the death game," said one of the members of Team Discord as he approached. The accent was east-coast American, and he was dressed in ninja garb, so I supposed it was a shame that I didn't have one of our own on the team- ninjas were easier to deal with if you had a set of Sharingan eyes or the Byakugan on your side.
"We are," I said as I nodded once. "What of it?" I knew coming into the competition that it was going to be impossible to go unrecognized in the long run, but I had held on to the slim hope that we might have been able to at least go a couple of rounds without being outed as SAO survivors, much less part of the Assault Team. Word travels fast on the internet…
"Just surprised to see that you guys have the guts to put on a VR headset again," the other player shrugged. "Makes me think that this competition is gonna be a lot more interesting than I thought it'd be."
"Hmm," I murmured as I glanced at the rest of his team for a moment. "All of you from the States?" While we were talking, the announcements continued, but since our names had been called, my group was no longer paying as much attention.
"Born and raised," he replied as her held out a hand for me to shake, which I did. "I'm Karuto, by the way."
"Mataras," I told him. "I'm from Virginia, myself. Been a while since I've had a chance to square off against one of us- I'm looking forward to it, now."
"Likewise," Karuto smirked. "Mataras, huh? Think I've heard of you."
"You mean you've heard about how he's a mass murderer that somehow got off scot-free?" interjected a new voice, one that got us turning toward the speaker, an angry-looking young woman. "You can change your face from the one you had before, but your name gives you away, Red Swordsman of SAO."
"Can I help you?" I asked warily, even as Sinon and Strea moved to flank me while we stared down the newcomer.
"I'm Korra," she answered in a biting tone.
I raised an eyebrow and replied, "Is that supposed to mean something to me?"
"You killed my brother," she spat, causing the girls to all exchange worried glances. "But I'm sure you've forgotten about him among all the other hundreds that you murdered." I met her accusation with silence, which only seemed to anger her more. "Don't have anything to say to that?" she demanded as she took a step forward, only to be stopped by a spear and rifle being aimed at her face.
"Take another step toward him, I dare you," Rivka said with steel in her voice.
"He's been through enough without people like you coming to cause trouble," Sinon added in a tone as sharp as an icicle. All around us, the crowds were getting excited at the sight of a possible early conflict. "Save it for the competition if you have a problem with him."
"I take it that you two are his accomplices?" Korra replied without making a move to retreat. "Did you help him kill my brother?"
"Hey guys, let's all take a step back-" Karuto started to say, but he was quickly interrupted.
"What was his name?" I asked, bringing everyone's attention back to me.
"What?"
"You brother's in-game name," I elaborated while maintaining a stony expression. "What was it?"
Korra glared at me for another moment before she replied, "Would it matter if I said the name? You've already forgotten him, haven't you?"
"The name," I said, my tone growing harder while Karuto began to back away, apparently having realized that he wasn't going to stop whatever was about to happen.
"…Viren," Korra finally said as tears began to build up in her eyes. "You killed my big brother, and nobody seems to care that you did."
"Viren," I repeated with a slow nod. "Yeah, I remember him. As I recall, he was facing several assault charges against minors in Japan."
Korra reddened angrily before she snapped, "Those were all made-up accusations by people that just wanted his money!"
"Then explain why we found him stalking little kids from an orphanage in Aincrad," Sinon said as she put her finger on the trigger of her weapon. It was a safe zone, so Korra wouldn't actually take any damage, but there would still be a nasty recoil effect that could knock her flat.
"That's not even taking into account the fact that he sold out lower-level guilds to murder groups like Laughing Coffin and Poison Apple," Strea added with a cheery smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Your brother was responsible for at least thirty deaths in Sword Art Online, and he might have gone on to molest a child if he hadn't been stopped by those with better intentions."
"He would never!" Korra shouted, her two teammates finally moving in to drag her away from us. "You're all liars! All of you!"
"Korra, calm down!" said a young man with dark skin and almond-colored eyes. "The judges have been trying to get your guys' attention this whole time! If you pick a fight with them now, our team is out of the tournament!"
This seemed to get the girl to settle down, just a little bit. As she looked up at the screen with the announcers who were looking troubled by the proceedings, she held up her hands in a gesture of surrender and backed away from me and the girls, all of them letting out soft breaths of relief as they were able to put their weapons down.
This didn't stop Korra from growling at me, "I hope you rot in hell someday, Red Swordsman."
Instead of replying to that, I bowed my head slightly toward her before saying, "Just for the record… I remember all of them."
"That doesn't excuse you of your crimes," said their third teammate as he glared at me while making their retreat. "The world knows who you are, Red Swordsman. We know you're not the hero of SAO, and whatever the justice system says about you, just know that someday, you're gonna pay for what you did to all of those people, and their families." With that, he turned his back and walked away from us.
I felt Rivka place her hand on my back while my vision swam in and out of focus for a moment, steadying the shudders that I hadn't even realized that I was suffering from. "You're not who they remember you to be," she reminded me. "Their anger now is on them, not you. You did what you could to atone, and now you gotta remember to keep moving forward."
"…Right," I said as I concentrated on taking deep breaths. I knew I wasn't actually taking in oxygen, but the focus that I needed to maintain the steady breaths still helped me to calm my rattled nerves. Giving vent to a dry chuckle, I said, "Looks like I'll have plenty to tell my therapist on Thursday."
The rest of the lineup was announced pretty quickly after that. The announcers seemed eager to try and avoid any more premature confrontations, so there was a fair amount less gravitas used with the naming of each remaining team. Once that was complete, and the lineup was on full display for everyone to see, the event runners proceeded to begin explaining the rules to us.
"In order to advance to the next round, one team must either send all of their opponents out of bounds or knock out them out in their entirety," Mako announced. "If a team loses members in the process of the battle, but still advances to the next round, those fallen team members cannot participate for the rest of the tournament. The team may replace their friends, but it can only be from members of the same guild that do so. The exception to this rule is the team captain, who will be a part of the tournament until his or her group is taken out of the competition."
"There will be no time limits on the matches," Thomas continued. "Team captains cannot be changed at any point during the competition. The stages will be different for each round of the tournament, with the first round taking place here."
"The teams that tie for third place will each be granted a single wish from the Shenron Dragon Balls," Adriana told us, causing the crowds to stir excitedly. Apparently most people were still in the dark about the information that Argo had managed to procure for us. "Second place will get to have three wishes granted by Porunga, and…" Adriana paused for dramatic effect before gesturing behind herself to reveal an image of seven planet-sized dragon balls as she announced, "First place gets any wish they could want in the virtual realm granted by Super Shenron!"
Now the crowds were really excited, as were many of the competitors- after all, this was a prize worth fighting for to any gamer worth their salt. I think everyone but my team was excited about it- mostly because we were now aware of the fact that for some of those amongst us, they would be fighting for more than just a virtual prize. Some of these people have been wanting to get at me since before SAO ended, I thought I as I looked over to see Korra, who was grinning up at the screen. They'd hear my name whispered on the internet, but they could never actually find me in the real world. I suppose if they have a chance to hurt me in any reality, they'll take it.
"We got this," Sinon said as she nudged me with an elbow, drawing me out of my thoughts. "We've been through worse, and we're better for it, now."
"We'll show 'em who saved Aincrad, not who destroyed it," Strea added with a confident grin aimed at me.
I felt Rivka squeeze my hand as she told me, "We're all here with you. All of us in the Black Cats, both here and above." My eyes drifted upward to see a cloudy blue sky, but I could pretend to see Crimson smiling down at me from beside the virtual sun, letting me know that he was watching over me, even now.
"Thank you," I answered as I returned my gaze to my friends. "All of you."
With the announcements completed, the showrunners wished us all good luck before allowing the screen to fade to a board that detailed the names and places of origin for each team and their members. There was nothing about their abilities, however, which I was slightly disappointed in. Guess I'll have to learn about them the old-fashioned way, I thought as I tried to remember how much money I had in my virtual wallet. Argo is gonna love this…
"Should I still try to talk to Seven?" Rivka asked me as the various teams began to depart.
"Huh? Oh, yeah," I answered after a moment of confusion. "We probably won't get another chance anytime soon."
"You sure?" Sinon muttered as she glanced around at our competition. "I doubt we'd get a warm welcome on a good day, much less after what just went down. We almost ruined the world premiere of global VR tournaments."
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," I muttered as I grabbed Rivka's hand and started walking toward Seven's group, who were still smiling and waving at the crowds around them.
As soon as my group drew near, we were intercepted by the frost demon that had been staying close to Seven during the festivities. "No autographs or conversations without a meeting," he said stoically before we could get a word in.
"Chill out big guy, we're not exactly a group of fanboys," I replied a little archly. "Got a business proposition for your boss on behalf of Kamura. You her manager or something?"
"Or something," he answered in the same tone as before. "My name is Sumeragi, and I don't need Seven being seen with people like you."
"People like me, huh?" I shot back, one of the other Shamrock members catching my eye again, an old memory finally starting to surface.
Sinon beat me to it, though, because she pointed at one of the players dressed in normal clothes and said, "You know your buddy over there is like us, don't you? SAO survivor, former member of the Knights of the Blood-Oath?"
The frost demon's red eyes locked on to our gunslinger before asking, "Why does that matter?"
"Nothing, if you don't mind the fact that he was part of the raid against the Laughing Coffin murder guild, which left over fifty people dead, one of them by his and his partner's hand," the bluenette replied with an icy smile. "His name's Clause, right? I wonder how the media would react if they knew that their precious little cinnamon roll had a murderer like the Red Swordsman on her team?"
Sumeragi's eyes narrowed before he said in a low tone, "Do not move from this spot." With that, he turned on his heel and walked over to the little girl and bent over to speak in her ear, causing her to stop waving at the crowds around them. After a few seconds had passed, they both turned around and approached us. Seven was smiling warmly while Sumeragi remained taciturn, but at least it seemed like we were going to get a chance to talk.
"Hello there," the little girl said sweetly before she bowed slightly from the waist. "It's nice to meet all of you. Sumeragi tells me that you wanted to discuss something for business, right? Is it virtual or real-world related?"
"More real-world, but it may extend into Augmented Reality, if you're interested," Rivka said as she returned the bow. "My name is Rivka in-game, and my father has holdings in the Kamura Company in Japan. I was hoping to have a chance to discuss the possibility of a collaboration effort with you, if not an advertisement arrangement."
"I would love to!" Seven said excitedly, surprising all of us with her eagerness. "I'm all about advancing VR technology, but I'm game to do some studies on AR, too!"
"Hold on," Sumeragi interrupted before things could progress any further. "We can't just take you at your word for this. For all we know, you could just be trying to exploit Doctor Rainbow for any number of reasons."
"An understandable concern," Strea said with a friendly smile. "I'm sure mister Takamara would be happy to arrange a meeting on your terms when it suits you- provided you're available sooner, rather than later?"
"How much sooner?" Sumeragi countered.
"The tech goes live early next year, so if she wants to be a part of it, she'd best hop on the bandwagon soon," I answered. "Then again, if she just wants to be a spokesperson instead of a researcher, she could wait a little longer." Based on her previous reaction, I felt as though it would be best to play on her intellectual pursuits rather than her desire for attention as a pop idol.
"I have an opening two days after the first match," the girl gushed, forcing me to hide a smile at her eagerness. I almost feel bad for taking advantage of her naiveté, but if this gets us closer to our goal, and Rain closer to her sister, I suppose it's a small price to pay.
"Great," Rivka said with a smile as she opened her menu and sent Rain a friend request. "I'll arrange the meeting with my father, and then we'll see you on the first day of the tournament to confirm."
"Here, I'll do you one better," Seven said as she pulled open her menu and typed in a series of numbers that she then swiped over to Rivka. "That's my personal office phone. Leave a message there, and I'll get back to you to confirm it."
"Great," Rivka said as she saved the number to her inventory as a small card. "I'm sure Kamura will enjoy doing business with you."
"I'm sure I'll enjoy it more!" the little girl said happily. "I'm always excited to learn more and work on new projects!"
While she and Rivka shook hands, Sumeragi stepped in closer to mutter in my ear, "If this is some kind of ruse, or you are impersonating members of Kamura's staff, you can be sure that you will regret it… Red Swordsman of Aincrad."
I set my face like flint as he pulled back before I grabbed his forearm with a steel grip, halting him in place as I growled, "I'm a lot of things, but a liar is not one of them… nor is the Red Swordsman." Not anymore.
Sumeragi met my angry eyes with his stone cold ones before he calmly said, "Take your hand off of me."
I did so, allowing him to step away as he said to Seven, "We should go. You have a concert in the morning, and you should be well-rested for it."
"Aw, all right," she sighed as she stepped away from us. She surprised us when she made an apologetic gesture and said, "Sorry about him, guys. He's a little overzealous when it comes to keeping me safe. I look forward to seeing you all in the competition again!" Then she was gone in the midst of her followers, leaving us standing among the dozen-odd competitors that were still talking to one another.
"That… actually went a lot better than I thought it would," I said as I turned to look at my teammates. "I guess we should tell Rain that we're on the right track, at least."
"Sounds good," Strea chirped.
"And I'd better get home so I can tell Dad that the meeting is actually happening," Rivka said as we started walking off the stage, toward one of the shimmering warp gates.
"See you for lunch tomorrow?" I asked her as she pulled up her menu.
"Of course," she said with a smile before kissing me on the cheek. "Love you."
"Love you too," I replied as she hit the logout button and vanished from our sight. Since she had exited the game in neutral territory, she would log back in at her designated home area, which was our guild HQ.
As we stepped through the gate, I saw Sinon and Strea both giving me knowing grins, so I shook my head and said, "Not a word out of either of you."
"Who, us?" my old partner snickered.
"Mataras and Rivka, sittin' in a tree," Strea started to sing.
"I regret ever allowing you to set foot in my library back ho- back in SAO," I said with a roll of my eyes. Even now, months later, it was sometimes hard to remember that Aincrad was not our home anymore, and that it should not be referred to as such. "Why was there even a book of nursery rhymes in a game meant for people aged thirteen and up?"
"So she's agreed to meet?" Rain asked hopefully as we were all gathered in our home base.
"She has, but it's strictly business right now," I informed her. Even so, the news seemed to lift her spirits, as her amber eyes lit up with excitement. "Hopefully if things go well on the business end, we'll be able to arrange for a less formal interaction."
"Thank you," she said as she trembled with barely-contained emotion. "Thank you so much, Mataras."
"It's what friends are for, right?" I said with a little grin. Turning to Kirito, I said, "This also lines up with what we're aiming for. For now, all I know is that she's more into her research than she is her music, though she doesn't necessarily dislike the latter."
"Every bit of understanding helps us try to keep an eye out for whatever red flag that she raised for Kikuoka," he nodded. "I'll let him know that we've made contact next time he calls us. For now, you and the girls should get as much practice in for the tournament as possible."
"Why?" I snorted. "We established contact. We don't even need to really participate anymore. I dunno about you, but I didn't exactly enjoy having a bullseye put on my forehead today, man."
"The longer we stay in the tournament, the better chance we have at keeping Seven's attention," Kiriha reasoned. "That, and I'd like a chance to punch anybody that spits on our guild's name."
"We earned that spot in the tournament, screw anybody that's trying to scare us out of claiming it," Philia agreed. One by one, everyone present added their voices to the opinion that it was finally time for our guild to make a name for itself in a more positive light.
"You guys do know that if we win, it doesn't mean that everyone is gonna automatically like us, right?" I said dryly. "Some of these people have very good reason to hate me."
"Then let's give them more reasons to respect you, instead," Saphira asserted as she clapped me on the back. "Chin up, pal. You're leading the guild through to the end of this tournament, so no time for self-doubts, got it?"
"Got it," I sighed.
Later that evening, after everyone else had left the game, I met up with Argo in front of the house. "What's up wit' the urgent call?" she asked as soon as she was in the front foyer.
"This," I answered as I sent her a notification for ten million credits, causing her eyes to bug out as she double-checked the number of zeroes that she was seeing. "If you want it, you have to do as much research on our competition as possible throughout the tournament. Powers, gaming experience, team-up history, all of it. I wanna know who I'm fighting and how to beat them before my team steps in the ring."
Argo frowned as swiped the money aside as she said, "You know I don' trade info on people, Red. Did'ja really think that a butt-load a' cash was gonna change my mind?"
"No," I answered with swift shake of my head. "But the fact that they're gunning for my friends because of me lead me to hope that you might be willing to make an exception."
Argo stopped just short of walking away in favor of looking back over her shoulder to ask, "You sure 'bout that?"
"You should've seen the looks on these guys' faces, Argo," I said in a gravely soft tone. "I've earned their hate, but I won't stand for people tearing down my family to get to me, and my gut says that's exactly what's going to happen in the tournament. I don't know how much I can protect them in this world, but I can certainly deny our enemies their victories, with your help."
Argo was quiet for a few seconds before she walked away, though she did say, "Keep the money, Red. I don' trade fer info on people… But I'll help my friends, no doubt." As she held up a hand in a gesture of farewell, she added, "I'll dig up what I can on Discord 'fore the first match. We meet IRL, I don' need people snoopin' on my biz while we're in here."
"Thank you."
"See ya in two weeks, Red."
Interviewer: Well, that got intense real quick.
Asuna: What'd you expect from a story written by Mataras?
Michael: Was that a diss or a cheers?
Asuna: I think we'll leave it to our readers to decide that.
Interviewer: Hello, everyone! It's good to be back again after a few months of absence- hope we didn't keep people waiting for too long.
Michael: Yeah, sorry about that, guys. Life keeps happening, but like I said before, I'm gonna do my best not to make you wait so long for the next chapter. Shouldn't be more than a month, tops.
Interviewer: You're really taking this story in a pretty different direction than the Lost Song chronology, aren't you? I'm sure that's becoming more apparent to our readers who have played the games, and I'm sure they're curious about it.
Michael: Well, I mean, in its base form, the story is essentially one encounter after another with Shamrock, some meetings going better than others. In that sense, the story hasn't changed much, though I will admit the settings and format have been fairly drastically altered.
Asuna: I'm just glad that we got to ease up on the fight choreography for this chapter.
Michael: I wouldn't get used to that, if I were you.
Asuna: Do you hate me?
Interviewer: And I think it's time to answer our reviews! Joining us this time will be co-star Reiko, who plays Mataras' love interest. How are you today?
Reiko: Glad to be here, thanks for having me.
Interviewer: I have to say, I'm excited to see you and Mataras getting to fight side-by-side for the first time since... Wow, how long has it been?
Michael: Well, our characters fought together fairly often during the early days of SAO, but I don't believe I've actually covered them working together in any detail since the second boss fight. I dunno, maybe the dungeon trap on floor 27, does that count?
Reiko: I think so...?
Asuna: Let's just go with 'it's been a long time'.
Interviewer: I guess that's fair. Okay, to the reviews!
Michael: Bring it!
Interviewer: All right, first we have KiroZen, who says 'Good luck getting access to Seven for a quick chat, she's probably constantly hounded by Shamrock when in public, and if they see you, there's basically no chance they'll talk it out with you. And the Bloopers section is very nice, as is the callback to Slayer. As for Sinon's secret gun...I have ideas on what it could be. *Riftley's HALO/DOOM Mashup starts playing*'
Michael: Well... I have no idea what that music at the end is, but I suppose I'll have to give it a listen! I'm just happy that somebody remembers Slayer of Aincrad- even though the quality of the writing on that story is a little embarrassing, now that I look back on it.
Reiko: Hey, you had to make it through writing that story so that you could develop your technique well enough to write this iteration of SAO. Sure, it's kinda cringey, but it was good for you.
Asuna: Kind of?
Michael: Oei!
Asuna: Just saying. I think Kiro is gonna be more surprised at how easy it was to talk to Seven- as are many people, I imagine.
Michael: Hey, the scene kinda wrote itself. My fingers were just the conduit to make it happen. Don't get me wrong, I thought it would be more of a dramatic scene, too, but as I approached it, I just realized that the setup had not led to a big explosion of drama- at least, not after what went down right before that. Besides, you gotta remember that Mataras is a very calculating person when he's taking on a problem that involves an opposing force of people.
Reiko: He's kind of a sociopath.
Michael: Kind of?
Asuna: Well, KiroZen, if you liked the bloopers last time, you are in luck, because there will be more of those after this interview!
Interviewer: I'm looking forward to that, too. But first, let's talk about our next review, coming in from Naruto Sakura Uzumaki, one of our most consistent readers!
Michael: Hey, good to see you, mate!
Interviewer: They said, 'Another great chapter, and with lots more action to boot! I'm glad that the story WILL cover the tournament! And don't worry about what I said in my review last about the extra characters. It was just another suggestion. I'm not disappointed at all. I just wish Jump Force actually included Yugi/Atem (the Pharaoh) in the story, or even did Side Stories/Events for Yugi and Kaiba... If by chance this isn't too much, would it be possible to add either of the Yugioh characters or their powers/abilities into the story? It would at least make for an interesting event, since the actual Jump Force game missed a perfect opportunity to do one...'
Reiko: Well, we're glad you liked the last chapter, but sorry about the very little amounts of action in this one. Exposition and character development has to happen some time, right?
Asuna: As for the Yu-gi-oh powers being added, yes, there will be one or two duelists in the tournament, but since it's not one of Mataras' fortes of knowledge, don't hold your breath too much on a grand display of their abilities.
Michael: Yeah, sorry mate. I'll do what I can, but it might not be what you're hoping for, fair warning. I hope that you enjoy the tourney, regardless!
Asuna: Okay, why are you talking like that?
Michael: Sorry, been hanging out with a few my old mates from Down Under this week. My tongue tends to slip back into my childhood vernacular whenever I do.
Reiko: But you're typing this.
Michael: Not much difference for me, really.
Interviewer: Moving on, TriforceHero writes, 'Another awesome action packed chapter. I laughed a little imagining the look on Mataras's face when He said "Check it out, I got a Dragon Ball", like it was no big deal they had just taken down a powerful boss. I will have to go back to the Slayer story and reread some of it to remember the powers Kirito used in that story. Looking forward to seeing the character artwork on your Instagram Page here soon. Keep the chapters coming Mataras.'
Michael: Ha! That was a fun scene, largely because I like referencing Dragon Ball Z Abridged. Man, I miss that show-
Asuna: Parody.
Michael: It's better than the original, change my mind.
Reiko: Let's get back to Triforce, shall we? To save you some time, it might easier just to remind you that Kirito played as a Shadow Dragon Slayer in Mataras' second iteration of SAO. Mataras decided that it would be fun to have him return with those abilities, not only as a nod to the previous work, but also just to give the team a little diversity.
Asuna: Regardless of missed Easter eggs, we are glad that you enjoyed the chapter, and we hope that this one was just as entertaining, even if in a different way.
Interviewer: Okay, we've only got a couple more to go... Here we have Ethan Kironus, who says, 'Sorry for the complicated review. I have just one more request for Yu-Gi-Oh! inclusion: "You activated my trap card!" is exactly the sort of thing one of these characters might say-now that I think about it, it's interesting to wonder who would be the most likely out of the Moonlit Black Cats to have seen Yu-Gi-Oh!. On another note, I most highly recommend Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains if you ever feel like checking out the fandom. Not counting Sevens, which is ongoing, it's the shortest out of all of them (120 episodes), has a strong and cohesive story, and centers around VIRTUAL REALITY/Ai (you'll get the joke if you watch the first few, and I only capsed it because bolding wasn't possible).
Reiko: Well, don't worry about the trap card line- trust me, it'll be in there.
Michael/Asuna: It will?
Reiko: It will now.
Michael: Okay, it will. As for who among the Black Cats will have seen it, my bet is that it's either Sachi, Yuuki, or Kiriha... Maybe Strea?
Reiko: Wait, why Kiriha?
Michael: I dunno, maybe it's a guilty pleasure for her? I'm just saying, it's always the last guy- or girl- that you expect.
Asuna: And Strea?
Michael: She spends way too much time on the internet while our characters aren't in-game, you can't seriously expect me to believe that she hasn't at least tried it out?
Asuna: Yeah, I guess that's fair.
Interviewer: Okay, last one, and then we'll go to our closing comments! This is from Joeclone, who has this to say-
Alright I'm starting to get a better idea of everyone's power sets. Lessee here...
Mataras - Saiyan
Kirito - Shadow Dragon Slayer with a sword (nice reference!)
Saphira, Yuuki, Rain, and Sachi - Kunoichi
Rivka - Conjurer
Sinon - Requip mage.
Silica - Anivoice quirk (cuuuuuute!)
Kiriha - Fairy quirk
Strea - Basically Mount Lady.
Any of those I got wrong?
I wonder how you decided to convert Seven into JFO? That'll be fun to see what her powers are. Would Sumeragi be a part of this iteration of Shamrock as well? I always thought of him as like a potentially fun character, just very blandly executed, but I haven't seen the whole Lost Song story so I could be 100% wrong. Awesome chapter as always! Great fight with Hades and all the Shamrock mooks. I'll be waiting for the next one eagerly
Michael: Mooks is right, but I wouldn't underestimate Sumeragi, especially as a Frost Demon.
Reiko: Did he get everyone right? I feel like that's not quite right on my character...
Michael: Oh yeah, you're a requip mage, not a conjurer.
Reiko: Thought so.
Asuna: Seems a little redundant to have two requip mages, doesn't it?
Michael: Hey, it's a handy gimmick. Besides, they use different arsenals, so is it really a repetition?
Reiko: It kind of is.
Michael: Yeah, I know...
Asuna: Also, Rain is not a kunoichi- she has a quirk called 'Weather' that lets her summon or conjure any natural disaster that she wants.
Michael: Yes, and the girls have some pretty good dojustu among them. Saphira has the Sharingan, as does Yuuki, though hers' is more developed-
Reiko: Why's that?
Michael: Because.
Reiko: Fair enough.
Michael: And Sachi has the Byakugan. As for what Seven's power is, well... The only that I'll give you guys is that it's in the name.
Asuna: Wait, the name of what?
Michael: The name.
Reiko: That's not helping!
Michael: I know it's not.
Asuna: Argh! How am I supposed to direct these scenes if you don't fill me in on stuff ahead of time?!
Michael: I dunno, ask David Yates, he did alright with the Harry Potter movies!
Reiko: Did you just say that those were good movies?
Michael: Hey, I said they were alright! Books are way better!
Reiko: So long as we're clear on that.
Interviewer: Since we seem to be just about out of time, I suppose I'll just if there were any particular stories that you guys have from filming the scenes in this chapter?
Reiko: Well, I gotta say, it was nice getting to meet Nanairo and mister Youta for the first time. She's a really sweet kid, and I think it's good for Keiko and Yui to have another person on the set a little closer to their age.
Michael: Wait, are we calling Youta 'nice'? That seems a bit thin...
Asuna: Oh, shut up, you knew he was a method actor before we signed him on.
Michael: Eh...
Asuna: Oh, I've got another story that I'm sure the readers will love.
Michael: Please no.
Asuna: So, the scene where Kazuto and Michael have their practice spar, right?
Interviewer: Yes?
Asuna: Michael here was being a little cocky and bragging about how we didn't really need to choreograph the fight since it called for a quick win on his end.
Reiko: I thought a little lesson in humility might be in order.
Michael: I already learned the lesson, we don't need to bring it up again.
Asuna: Maybe, but I'm gonna keep telling the story anyway.
Michael: Eugh...
Asuna: So, we get a short sequence going, which we ended up using in the final take. But what the Red Swordsman didn't know was that Kazuto and I rehearsed a different sequence after hours with Sayuri's help, which we then ran after I had the shot that I wanted.
Michael: Long story short, I went in expecting Kazuto to do one thing, he did something else, and I ended up on my ass.
Asuna: But surely, the 'Red Swordsman' would never make such a careless-
Michael: And, we're done here! Thanks everyone for your time, now enjoy some bloopers!
Reiko: Don't forget to vote on which scene you want illustrated for this story on Mataras' profile page!
Asuna: Next time- Broken Shield, Fractured Bow.
Bloopers
(Dojo Dunce)
Asuna: Okay, boys, in position...
Mataras: Hey, what was wrong with the last shot?
Kirito: Just do it, man, you know how much of a perfectionist she can be.
Asuna: I can hear you...
Kirito: Yipe! Sorry, I'm ready.
Mataras: Fine... Ready.
Asuna: And... Action!
*swords crack, flesh impact, body hits ground*
Mataras: Ow! What the hell was tha-?!
Asuna: Ha! So much for the Red Swordsman's infallible instinct for incoming danger!
Kirito: We should start calling him the 'Dead' Swordsman, don'tcha think?
Mataras: Why you-! Delete that footage!
(Dance Party)
Asuna: I feel like I ask this question way too much to be in the presence of professional actors, but what am I looking at?
Strea: Uh... Impromptu breakdancing?
Asuna: We're supposed to be filming a confrontation between an angry player and the guy that killed her brother!
Korra: Yeah, but... I mean, have you seen Strea's moves? She's a breakdancing queen!
Mataras: For the record, I tried to put a stop to this.
Asuna: You're holding the phone that's playing the music!
Mataras: I didn't say I tried very hard.
(Wrong Powers)
Sumeragi: The film is no longer rolling. Stop staring at me like you're trying to set me on fire with your mind.
Mataras: But what if I can?
Sumeragi: You can't, and neither can your character.
Mataras: Not even with... my Sharingan?!
Saphira: Hey! Those are mine, why are you even wearing them?!
Sumeragi: Those are-? That's disgustingly unhygienic.
Mataras: Nah, she hasn't used these one's yet.
Asuna: That still means we have to get her a new set, dammit!
Mataras: Oh come on, don't even pretend that a Saiyan with Sharingan eyes wouldn't be awesome!