AN; Conclusion of the fight and its aftermath, enjoy.

Disclaimer; I don't own Bleach or SAO

Chapter 13: The Setup

"Hoven!" both Mugetsu and Kaine shouted at the top of their lungs as they rushed to help. "Stay still while we get you out from under there."

"No,'' he stopped them with his free arm. "Get my other arm out first, I can't seem to feel it."

"..." Both Mugetsu and Kaine nodded and did as they were told. "On three. Hoven, when we open its mouth you pull your arm out." With everyone clear on the plan they proceeded with the countdown. "One... two... THREE!" As Hoven pulled out his arm he felt it get surprisingly lighter. Probably his his sword slipping out of his weakened grasp.

"Oh... man I think I'm gonna be sick." Hoven turned to Kaine, who's face seemed to lose all color.

"This will likely take more than a simple potion to fix."

"What are you two talking about? Is the bite wound that bad?"

"Trust us, you don't what to know," both said with a tone of seriousness.

"Oh, come on. I'm sure it's only a few cuts and gashes. The both of you are just trying to freak me out."

"Aw, how you hurt me, dear friend. And after I was trying to spare you the horror," Kaine said in a voice of fake hurt. Soon however, the was a grin forming on the edge of his mouth. "But if you don't believe the word from our kind friend and I, then why don't you take a look for yourself?"

"Fine," responded Hoven with narrowed eyes. "I still don't think it can be that ba-" He paused as he looked at his arm, or at least what was left of it. What remained was little more than a red mass of bloodied flesh. An urge to puke suddenly overcame him. The two on ether side of him took a step back as the contents of his stomach spilled over his cloths. "... Get this thing's head off of me, now." With no further delay the two standing did as they were told. "Thanks. Now, do any of you of anyone or anything that can help me? I don't want to become permanently left handed if at all possible."

"Well, there is something that might work. But I don't know if it'll work on something like this" came the response from the orange haired swordsman. "Let's just hope that your arm doesn't fall off by the time we get there." He proceeded to taking out a bandage roll out of his inventory. "Hey Kaine, make yourself useful and find some water before I wrap his arm, wouldn't want an infection now would we?"

"Sure thing." He reached into his satchel and took out a small bottle. "Its not much but I can go get more."

"Wait," said Hoven. "I think there should be some in my satchel."

"Great, now I wont have to go running around this place."

Taking both bottles, Mugetsu proceeded to washing off the dirt from Hoven's arm. "Shame we don't have any disinfectant. Maybe we can..."

"H-hey , hold on a second. Just what's in that vile you just took out?"

"This," he asked as he shook a small flask with a pink liquid. "This is just an anti-poison I picked up. The description says that it can eliminate any toxins when consumed or applied to an open wound. It probably works just the same."'Wait,' he thought, 'if that's the case then it might be best to...' "Hey, Kaine! I need to have a quick word with you." He motioned Kaine a few feet away from Hoven, who was lying on a wall that was toppled over during the fight. They whispered something between themselves as they glanced back at the patient.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

"Alright, did you everything I just told you?"

"Clear as day," responded Kaine with an grin.

"What were you to talking about?"

"Just on how to go about how to go about helping you," said Mugetsu, waving him off. "Now do me a favor and clench your teeth."

"Fine, but I don't see how this is going to hel-" "NOW!"

Before Hoven could react, Kaine held down his free limbs, while Mugetsu quickly wrapped the bandage. The task was actually quite difficult, but that's to be expected when applying a large amount of disinfectant on a mangled arm.

"OW! Let me go, or I swear to beat the ever living hell out of both of you the first chance I get!"

"Shut up! I'm almost done." Mugetsu tightened a knot at the back of Hoven's hand and nodded in self approval. Quickly, he jumped a small distance away, and as soon as he did, Hoven punched Kaine on the side of his head. He then pushed Kaine of and delivered a second punch strait to his chest. Before he could continue, Mugetsu twisted his arm behind his back.

"Are you done with your tantrum? Remember that those wrappings are only temporary."

"Fine," he responded as he rubbed his sore arm."A warning would have been nice."

"Yeah... sorry about that. Old habit from helping my father back at his clinic."

"You would tackle and hold down injured patients? What kind of clinic did your family run back in the real world?"

"A crazy one," he responded while rubbing his eyes at the memory of his father. "Still, you can't imagine the amount of times that it was actually necessary. But I wont deny the fact that my dad was a certified nut-job. Well, if there aren't any more questions, let's go grab that medici-" Before he could finish a window appeared before him and the others.

『 You have now unlocked all requirements for the quest, «Legacy of the Twin Guardians». You may now choose to complete or ignore it. Warning; if not completed, others may stumble upon and change it without the need to slay the two guardians. Your presence will not be required .』

'«Legacy of the Twin Guardians»? Now that's new, a Boss Fight that actually unlocks a quest. I wonder if Argo knows anything about this?' Before he could ponder more on the subject, his attention was brought back to the two before him.

"Hey, you still there," asked Hoven. "I'd rather get my arm fixed sooner rather than later."

"Sorry, I was looking at this quest notification that popped up. Maybe you heard of it."

"You mean the one about the guardians," said Kaine.

"That's the one. Did it appear after killing the dragon you two found?"

"Yeah, same as the tiger that mangled my arm. We decided to take on the quest, but the only thing we have is part of an old map. We thought that this boss would have the other half. So, do you have it?"

"Don't know, give me a sec." Scrolling through the drops he received were two items that caught his attention, one being the map and the other a claw weapon. 'Hmm, I bet I can get some good worth out of this. At least the map peace is there.' Doubt started to form in his mind. Rather, one that he already had was beginning to become clear. 'If what I think is true, then this could get messy. Better tell Kaine and Hoven.'

"So, did you find it? If you did we are willing to buy it of you, for a reasonable price." Kaine had a grin across his face, while Hoven just had an impassive look. All he cared about at the moment was getting his arm fixed.

"I have it, alright. Unfortunately for you two, it's not for sale."

"Oh, come on," whined the redhead. "It's not this is the first time you've sold some rare item. Heck we know about the time a guild paid you to let them go on one of your little exclusive quest."

"Okay first off, they were upfront with their request. Secondly, this is still part of my current contract Or have you forgotten the reason I came looking for that overgrown cat!?" At his response the two let out a disappointed sigh. "Besides, there's something I want to verify concerning this whole map thing. You might actually be interested in this. It involves both you and the fist of the reasons I wont sell you the map."

"... We're listening."

"First I need to know if either of you told anyone else about it."

"Well... we did ask for any leads on an enemy with similar attacks to the dragon we fought."

"Who was it?"

"Can't remember, we asked quite a few. None had any information, and if they did they wouldn't say."

"Wait, so then how did you find him if no one told you?"

"Well," said Hoven, "two days ago we overheard a small guild talking about how they failed to kill some giant tiger. We didn't think much of it at first but one them kept complaining about an "annoying lightning blast." We figured it was what we were after."

"Hmm, by any chance was one of them wearing a spike vambrace that looked to be made out of bone?"

It took only a short time for Hoven and Kaine to realize what he was insinuating.

"You were setup..."

"That's right," confirmed Mugetsu. "No matter how I see it, they knew of the attack pattern and that there was some sort of rare drop, besides the weapons. I bet they expected me to die and weaken it enough for them."

"Wait, if that's the case, then wouldn't they need to be close by for their plan to work?"

"Precisely," he said. "But thanks to you two, their plan only half work. Right now they should be closing in to claim their reward. I would like to like to confront them, but as things stand at the moment we would have problems if things turn south."

"So what then," asked Hoven. "We hide and hope they don't find us? If they truly planned to ambush you from the beginning, I highly doubt they will give up so easily."

"i hate to say this this, but we need to run for now." The thought of having to run from a fight really upset him, especially considering he had been double-crossed. But he would not put the life of the two would saved him over a pointless fight. If they truly wanted the map that badly, then they will eventually come after him. When that happens, they will be in for one hell of a fight.

"Hey, not saying we shouldn't run but.." Both Mugetsu and Hoven turned to Kaine, who seemed to be hesitating with his words. "How the hell are we suppose to get out of here if they are surrounding us?"

"The hell kind of question is that? Just take out a teleport crystal and meet up in town."

Both just looked at him like he was insane.

"Are you crazy?! Do you have any idea how rare and expensive those damn things are? Only those in the front line are able to afford them for frequent use. Even then they are only used in emergencies!"

"Seriously, they're not that hard to get if you know where to look. I make a good deal of «Cor» from the jobs I take, so money is never really an issue for me. Now we can start discussing my source of income, or we can leave and not wait for someone to try and kill us."

So without further interruptions Kaine and Hoven took a crystal each. In a quick display of blue light they vanish. The only evidence left was the carcass of their fallen prey.

AN; Does it really matter if I apologize for updating after so long? It will change nothing. Some will see it as empty, which in all honesty, it most likely is. If I explained my reasons, then that is little more than an excuse. Honestly, I really need to get my act together. There is still so much I look forward to typing.