Soul Ablaze

by Victory3114

Our life can be found in our souls. Our entire consciousness, our thoughts, our feelings. There is a soul in everyone, be it human or Pokemon. And when you fight alongside your partners, your souls will resonate through the link, and burn brighter. They will be set ablaze, and with this power, this bond, this game of death will be cleared. PokeSAO X-over! Multi-POV.

9. Chapter 9: Harsh Luster

Please don't hurt me. I swear I tried my best.

Reminder to reread previous chapters if you've forgotten.

---

"You okay?"

Sinon looked up to see Argo looking down at her. Forcing her shaking hands to sit still, she took a deep breath and put on a neutral expression, meeting the info dealer's gaze.

"I'm fine."

After receiving a flat look, she amended, "Just a little nervous."

Argo's mousey-brown curls bounced a little as she nodded understandingly, her features softening. She leaned over and patted Sinon on the shoulder with a gentle grin, then turned and looked back at Diabel as he continued to announce the general plan of action to the assembled raid group.

"...squads A, B, and C will be assigned to the main boss, the «Onix». Its main attacking method consists of whipping its tail around from the side, it will be the tank's jobs to take care of that. You, one of the members of your team has a «Rhyhorn» and another with a «Gligar», correct? Those two have high defensive stats, so we'll- «Scrafty» as well? Perfect, we'll need you guys to act as your party's main tanks. Remember to switch out when possible-"

Sinon shifted, drawing her legs closer to chest and hugging them tightly, resting her forehead on top of her knees.

...It'll be fine. Hecate said reassuringly, shrugging under her trainer's arm and rubbing herself against her, trying to provide some sort of comfort. We'll just have to handle the small fry. We won't be targeting the human.

I know that... but still-

The sniper laid down her weapon and pressed her hand against her forehead, feeling the heat of the worry in her mind slowly warming up her fingers, using her other hand to keep her balance. She shook her head rapidly, trying to banish that certain memory from her consciousness.

"-boss is going to be pretty tough to handle as well, Party D will be in charge of him. He'll jump into battle together with that giant rock snake as soon as the battle starts, but you have to lure him to the side. Make sure to stay out of reach of his weapon and occupy him enough so he will have trouble relaying more consistent commands to the Onix or the adds."

"Alright. We can handle that."

"E, F, G, and H are going to be handling the adds that Brock summons. You're going here, you here-" Diabel pointed out a location on the small map floating in midair in front of him- "G here, and H will handle-"

-his head jerked backwards, a perfect hole making a strange black dot on the underside of his chin while his life sprayed both behind and in front-

Something icy ran a full course through her body, causing her to stiffen unnaturally. Her left hand, which she had been leaning on, slipped and she fell over to the side, sprawling out awkwardly and causing a small commotion as she landed on top of Hope's tail.

"Veet!"

The «Eevee» yelped, drawing some attention from those around them. Watching her with surprised and mildly uninterested eyes, most of them turned their gazes back to the gesturing Diabel. The remaining few were shooting her with Shut up! looks.

One guy's «Patrat» didn't remove its gaze from her for a long time. Its eyes, glowing eerily in the dimly lit cavern, seemed to stare into her very soul.

Sinon grimaced, knocking the butt of her palm a little harder against her temple as she straightened back up into a sitting position. "Sorry..." she whispered to the Pokemon.

Nursing her tail, Hope gave her a woeful look before lowering her head and licking the bruised part. Asuna, kneeling next to her Pokemon, looked questionably at Sinon while running her hand down the Eevee's back comfortingly.

"Are you sure you're-"

"Yes." she cut in shortly, not wanting to talk and turning away from the worried looking girl. Something turned about strangely in her stomach as she tried to force the images out of her mind.

This is something only I can take care of...

Shh.

A calming feeling descended upon Sinon, halting the numb shakiness that had been wracking her body. It was as if something had frozen over the nervous feeling, but the cold wasn't harsh at all.

...better now?

Sinon looked down at Hecate, her mind slightly clearer now. Closing her eyes to lessen the dry sensation coming from them, she felt her muscles unknot as she leaned back against the rocky column behind her.

A few seconds passed without a single thought floating through her head, but the memory no long appeared to torment her.

Yes... thank you.

Just calm down. You won't hurt anyone today. Shino.

Sinon jolted in surprise, the back of her head impacting painfully with the stone support. Wha? Why are you using-

You don't like the name Sinon at all, don't you? Hecate leaped onto her knees and fixated her with a no-nonsense stare. You can try to hide it from our link, but I can still sense your base emotions flicker whenever someone calls you by that name.

I, uh- She hesitated, unable to think of something to deflect Hecate's statement. Well, it's not-

How astute.

Sinon immediately slammed her head back into the pillar, this time on purpose, instantly turning from flustered to pissed off and reaching up with her right hand to grasp at her face. To someone watching, it would look like she was trying to drive some kind of irritating bug off of her.

Hecate blinked levelly, showing no sign that she was surprised at her trainer having suddenly interrupted her own words over their link.

The sniper shook her head, her fingernails digging into her scalp.

Shut it. Stay out of this. Go away.

Hmm~hmm. Don't screw up then.

She mentally bared her teeth, daring the voice to respond again, but no further words came.

Shino... Shino. Hecate gently prodded Sinon's side with her tail.

"...last health bar falls to red, it'll immediately disengage and become invulnerable for a while while it repeatedly uses «Curse» to drop its «Speed» to the lowest possible. However, with this its «Defense» and «Attack» will rise significantly..."

Suddenly, as if all of her energy had been drained out of her, Sinon slumped over, staring at the stone ground with a weary gaze. She abruptly had a massive headache, complete with a pounding sensation behind her eyes.

"Mum..."

Somewhere in the room, she heard a shaky warble coming from a pokemon before someone, presumably its owner, shushed it.

Hecate, ears swiveling momentarily to listen to the sound, regarded her quietly with an uncharacteristic hint of sadness in her eyes.

"Brock will also begin focusing on using high powered, slow-charging skills such as «Whirl Cleave» and «Earth Render» and run to assist..."

Diabel's voice sounded tinny in Sinon's ears, like it was coming from the depths of an aluminum can.

---

Chapter 8: Harsh Luster

---

Will they be alright?

Kirito frowned, glancing back to Zero from where he had been observing Sinon and Asuna, a few paces away. He clutched his jacket slightly tighter around himself.

Asuna looks fine. Should we succeed, this should give her some hope... But Sinon, I don't know what's wrong with her.

The scarfed girl kept on kneading her knuckles on her temple, her face screwed tight with either frustration or pain; Kirito couldn't tell which. Contrasting that was the rest of her body, which was limp against the floor and boulder she was propped up against. She honestly looked like one of those dead bodies scattered around as aesthetics in games, save for that fact that her chest shifted with her breathing, albeit irregularly.

Raphael ran a hand over some rocks he had picked up from the terrain throughout the tower. He lowered his head and concentrated for a moment, causing all four to levitate into the air for a second before gently setting them all down.

It looks like indecisiveness. He commented, raising his head watching Sinon with his mismatched eyes. One of them the normal red of his species, the other a strange dull shade of gold, they glinted slightly in the half-light as he blinked.

What kind of indecisiveness would cause that? Kirito bit his lip lightly. Besides, what would she be indecisive about?

"...delegated to keeping him away from the main boss, so as to prevent the two from cooperating together." Diabel finished, waving his hand in front of his face. A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of his head, the only indication on his serious expression that he was nervous about what was to come.

The knight stamped his left leg once, partly, Kirito guessed, to relieve his leg of the tension of standing in the exact same position for a long period of time, and partly to make sure he had everyone's full attention. "Any questions?"

The only sound was the distant chirping of «Zubat» as they screeched somewhere in the corridors behind the raid group. A few of the members and «Pokemon» near the entrance to the cavern gave the direction a quick look, before returning their eyes to Diabel.

A sigh and a terse nod.

"There's not much to say. Stick to the plan, stick together, and most importantly," Diabel pounded his fist into his other palm. "Stay alive."

There was a murmur of affirmation from everyone present as Diabel stepped down from the elevated rock he had been standing on, consulting with a few figures next to him. Kirito noted Sinon finally looked up at those words, though her eyes looked bleary and unfocused.

He pushed his way through the crowd, earning himself a few glares from here and there as people muttered curses at his physical presence. Ignoring them, he squeezed his way between the last two and knelt next to Sinon. Zero quickly followed, nimbly flitting through the gaps he had made.

On the other hand, Raphael simply sat where he was, instinctively turning his attention to scanning the surrounding area for any possible hostiles. It was something he instinctively did while they were out hunting; whenever Kirito was occupied with something, the «Ralts» would redirect his focus outwards in case of any ambushes, simultaneously keeping an eye on what Kirito was doing through the link.

Likewise Kirito and Zero would do the same and keep watch through Raphael as well. Such a thing didn't feel natural, digesting all that information at once, but it was something the three had adopted after nearly falling prey to several sneaky ambushes.

Both girls looked up at him as he appeared, Sinon with the same tired expression on her face. A loose strand of hair dangled in front of her eyes, but she didn't seem to notice.

"What is it?"

Kirito paused, then laid a hand on her forehead. Unexpectedly, the girl let out a small "eep" and flushed, but didn't break away from the contact. Asuna also blinked in surprise.

She doesn't appear to be suffering from anything external...

There aren't any «Poison» types here, Kirito. It's not really possible for her to have caught any kind of sickness here.

Zero leaned over his head and peered at the sniper and her «Eevee», before reaching out to gently pet the fox. Hecate froze as her hand made contact with the bushy appendage, but she eventually relented and allowed the action.

Both Eevees, Hecate and Hope, had their «Silk Scarves» wrapped around their necks in a similar fashion to the old Pokemon Mystery Dungeon styles. Seeing the accessory gave Kirito a strange sense of satisfaction, something he wasn't used to feeling. It wasn't the same as the usual happiness he got when he found rare items or leveled up.

Kirito refocused and looked Sinon in the eyes. "You alright? If you really don't feel good, you shouldn't participate."

Her cheeks still tinged a bit more red than they should be, she shook her head rapidly, dislodging his hand in the process.

The swordsman sighed, but was suddenly interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. Looking up to meet Zero's eyes, he followed the disguised «Zorua's» gesture to the boss room doors: everyone was beginning to form up into their groups to advance through.

We have to get ready now.

Aye. Raphael strode over to where they were gathered.

He nodded, both in response to his Pokemon and in response to Sinon, straightening up and offering a hand to her. "Alright then. Make sure you watch yourself."

Sinon looked back up at him with an unreadable expression, but accepted his assistance, pulling herself to her feet. Kirito then did the same to Asuna, helping her up as well.

He felt slightly concerned as he noted the slight tremble in both of their hands. Asuna positively snatched her hand back after getting up, drawing out her menu and rapidly tapping on the screen.

"Well, aren't you the gentleman, Ki-bou. Extending a hand to all the girls?"

Kirito didn't even flinch as he felt someone latch onto the back of his head, throwing both their arms around his neck and hanging on. He knew who she was and had felt her coming; even if he didn't, he could see her face through Zero's and Raphael's eyes as they passively shared what they saw with him.

Still, her extra weight caused him to lean backwards slightly before he planted his feet, stabilizing his center of mass.

"Well what about me, hnn?" His sudden passenger continued wryly. "Do I not count? Ara, I thought Ki-bou liked me more than that..."

"You're already standing up. That's all, I swear." Kirito shook his head, watching the other two girls rifle through their inventory menus. In a quieter voice, he also muttered, "And you're not someone who needs help... eh, finished consulting with them?"

He could feel the movement against his back as Argo shrugged, releasing her grip around him and dropping to the floor lightly and moving around into his field of view. "Nothing new."

"Hnn." Kirito grunted unsurprisingly. Not that either of them had really expected anything.

"Squad A?"

"Ready!"

"Squad B?"

"All set."

Diabel had begun the final check, standing in front of the boss doors. Kirito stretched, lacing his fingers and pushing away from himself. He'd need full mobility for the battle to come.

"Squad C?"

"Assembled."

"Squad D?"

"Wait, wait... alright!"

Sinon took a visibly deep breath at the same time Asuna finished looking over whatever it was she was looking over and straightened, her hands tapping a nervous beat on the guard of her «Wind Fleuret».

Kirito mentally went over the details of the boss again one last time. silently exchanging short phrases and thoughts with his Pokemon. Zero's eyes narrowed as she began entering battle mode, and Raphael channeled his mental energies into the four rocks he carried. The stones hovered around him, slowly orbiting his small childlike form.

"E, and F?"

"We're ready to go."

"H?"

Kirito shook his head, redirecting his attention back at the podium as his squad's designation was called.

"All present." He intoned shortly. With a flick, he summoned his «Anneal Blade» from the «Pokelink's» internal storage.

Was it just his imagination, or did Diabel's eyes linger on his face a little while longer than they had on the other groups?

Half a second longer to be precise. Raphael tilted his head, the floating shards around him rotating a few degrees together with it. Probably happenstance.

"Alright then."

Without further ado, Diabel whirled around and shoved against the double doors of chiseled stone, hard.

---

Asuna nimbly leapt back to avoid a massive stomp where she had just been standing. A small shockwave erupted from the point where the foot made contact with the ground, quickly catching up with her and snapping up near her foot where she landed, pushing her back another step.

Her HP went down a bit, but nothing compared to what would have happened if she had been nailed by the smash head-on. Whirling around as the enemy «Rhyhorn» tried to turn around to face her, the lithe girl aimed for a chink in the overlapping stone plates that made up the «Pokemon's» armor, executing a lightning fast «Linear» attack.

It missed its target as the rhino Pokemon shifted, causing the blade to skitter off the smooth rock in a shower of sparks. However, it did cause a nice chunk of damage, leaving a faintly lit wavy trail where the sharp blade had carved into the armor.

The enemy, about half a size larger than others of its species and missing parts of the plates on its right haunch and upper left body, let out a raspy sound, somewhere between a squeal and a growl. Faster than one might expect for its girth, it finished turning and leaped towards Asuna who was just landing as the «System Assist» finished its influence. The tip of its horn was surrounded by a faint white halo that indicated it was using the system-defined move «Take Down».

Move to the side!

Faster than thought, Hope conveyed her intentions to Asuna through the link and acted upon them, «Tackling» the Rhyhorn's side at an angle and forcing the beast's trajectory several degrees away from its intended target. At the same time, Asuna finished recovering from her own skill's short vulnerability time and leaned back, barely dodging the move.

She watched as its eye rolled in its socket to nail her with an unreadable stare as it flew past. Screeching to a halt, its claws digging into the packed earth floor, the Rhyhorn used its unspent momentum to rear into the air like a horse and spin around to resume its attack.

Sure, these «Rock» type Pokemon were slow to react, but when they managed to start moving, their weight allowed them to move faster than one would expect. These were especially tough and well trained, being tower boss adds; normal Rhyhorn would have kept going and smashed right into a wall.

As it was, it exposed its gray leathery underside for a split second as it whirled around. That was enough for Sinon; a beam shot out from where she was kneeling near the edge of the room, burning a black scorch mark into the wrinkly skin.

Landing with an expression of fury, the Rhyhorn roared with enough force to push Asuna back a few paces. Twin rings of white wrapped around the Pokemon in an X-shape before sections of it melted into sizable rocks, five in total. The «Rock Blast» projectiles made one revolution around the Rhyhorn's head before launching themselves at Sinon's position.

Sinon adjusted her aim and shot one of them right through the center, pulverizing it. Being naturally fragile and only created for a single use, even the fragments were blown apart by the attack and completely disintegrated into dust.

In front of her, Hecate lowered her head for a moment before firing a small barrage of stars from her mouth, intercepting two of the other missiles and reducing them to nothing. The barrel of Sinon's «Nemesis» twitched as she aimed again, shooting apart the fourth rock.

The last one met the same end as Hecate leaped into the air and spun, striking it down and splitting it in two with her tail like a knife with a «Tail Whip» attack. Despite being a «Defense» lowering move primarily, it could also be used offensively, though it paled power-wise to even «Tackle».

With the attack over, Sinon shifted again, and tried to pin down a safe targeting angle on the Rhyhorn itself. Asuna thought she could see the sniper taking a deep breath. All of this, starting from the formation of the attack to the countermeasures, had taken less than three seconds.

The Rhyhorn suddenly bellowed in pain and shook itself wildly, dislodging the «Rattata» that had been hanging onto its side. Asuna watched it flip and land on all fours passively as she ran by, noting the series of large pockmarks in its shoulder armor, surrounded by a spiderweb of cracks.

It had been one of the strategies Argo had discussed. Over the past ten minutes, that tiny Pokemon had been constantly attacking that location with «Hyper Fang», slowly but surely opening up a weak point. Once the crack was deep enough...

Contemptuously, the Rhyhorn lifted a foot and hovered over the Rattata for a moment, before bringing it down with all of its might. The initial hit missed, the Rattata being the slippery rodent it was, but the shockwave it created still damaged the rat's legs.

A small particle effect appeared around the Pokemon, signifying that it had received a «Speed» debuff, courtesy of the «Bulldoze» attack. Instantly conveying her intentions to Asuna and moving without a confirmation, Hope dashed forward to pick up the mouse by the scruff of its neck, streaking past the Rhyhorn and carrying the slightly disabled Pokemon out of range of danger.

In that opening, Argo dashed around next to the weakened area and raised her arms, the mysterious luminescence of the room casting strange shadows over her face. Her features were scrunched up in concentration as a pinkish-red blaze surrounded the edge of her weapons.

With a yell, she slashed downwards and ething a glowing red cross into the stone, kneeling onto the ground as bits of the plates came loose, raining down on her head. Ignoring the fragments, she leaped back up again and drove both her blades into the center of the X she had carved into the armor, depleting the last of its durability.

The plate shattered like a piece of hot glass dropped in snow. Instantly, the Rhyhorn roared in pain as fragments of what once protected it were now stuck in its grey skin, pointy ends digging into the flesh like so many «Beedrill» stingers. Its HP fell drastically, halting to a stop just above the red zone.

Rearing around faster than should have been physically possible, it stomped down right where Argo had been standing before she rolled away. Although avoiding a fatal smash, the blowback from the attack threw her several meters away. Landing on the ground with a gasp, she lay stunned for a few moments; despite there being no pain, the sheer force and distance she flew from the attack was enough to temporarily disable her.

Asuna immediately aborted her planned attack and changed direction towards Argo as the Rhyhorn summoned a ring of rocks again, preparing to bombard the fallen info dealer with «Rock Blast». Her hand tightened around the hilt of her sword, as she prepared to defend her fallen friend.

But before it could capitalize on its advantage, three pieces of stone dug into its newly exposed shoulder with their pointy ends, together with another attack from Sinon, changing its HP bar to a bloody red and sending it into a rage. It whirled around to find its new attackers, already forgetting about Argo who was still struggling to get off the ground-

"Switch, Argo!"

-only for its field of vision to be filled with a line of dark blue light as Kirito's sword horizontally flashed and bit deeply into its horn. Roaring in pain, the Rhyhorn's eyes dilated as it tried to run the swordsman down, front legs outstretched to try and trample him.

Nimbly sidestepping the short dive, Kirito lashed out with his blade as it screeched to a halt next to him, catching the creature in the eye. Simultaneously, Raphael made a shoving motion with his two hands: the three stones wrenched themselves out of the target's shoulder and attempted to strike from the other side, but only one found its mark.

Rhyhorn had extremely small and simple brains. Both their processing and instinctive capabilities left a lot to be desired. Completely focused on a target that wasn't even there, it hadn't even noticed that its eyes were about to be gouged out, not even bothering to protect its eyes by closing them.

This time, the Spikes Pokemon screamed bloody murder, the sound of two abraded plates of stone scraping against each other, magnified by a speaker by three hundred percent. Immediately, it abandoned all form of restraint and twisted, throwing itself towards Kirito while rotating at a rather slow but still dangerous speed.

«Drill Run», Asuna remembered from the guide as she made sure no attacks went near Argo as she chugged down a seemingly normal bottle of water. The attack was a reckless dash while spinning at high velocities that had an easier chance to hit critical spots. Of course, this particular Pokemon couldn't spin all that fast but its weight and momentum provided the piercing power it needed.

But it was easily predictable. Kirito had already begun moving before the Rhyhorn had even bent its knees. He jumped, ducking through the tiny piece of space between the Rhyhorn's last enraged tackle and the floor. Sparks trailed off the tip of his sword as it nicked several rocks stuck in the ground.

Is he insane? Hope shouted mentally, scandalized.

Asuna felt a shiver go down her spine. That was just far too reckless of a move to make. A fraction of a second off and he'd be squashed as the Rhyhorn came down.

Having missed its target, the boss mob crashed into the ground at rough angle, momentarily becoming stuck as its horn and half its face were half-buried into the hard, packed earth. It snorted, trying to pull itself out, but its face was too deeply embedded to yank free immediately.

That was the chance they all needed.

Asuna immediately knelt and focused, feeling the «System Assist» infuse her arm and weapon. Lunging forward, both she and the fleuret melded seamlessly into a flash of light as she buried the point into a wide crack in the side of her enemy's armor. Two shots from Sinon sizzled as they found other weak points on her side, and she could see more flashes of light over the other side as Argo and Kirito dealt consecutive blows to the mob.

She couldn't exactly see her, but she felt Hope attacking the mob from behind.

Under a full out assault, the Rhyhorn's HP bar quickly dropped right to zero within a matter of seconds. With one final roar, its outline shimmered and it burst into a formless cloud of particles, which quickly dispersed into nothingness.

Asuna finally felt some of the tension leave her body as she let out a deep breath, dropping onto one knee. Looking at her «HUD», she could see their HP levels were respectably high, both at around eighty percent: not enough to warrant the use of healing items.

Hope wandered her way over to her, the white scarf tied around her neck slightly dirty from all the dust that had been floating in the air, her tiny head rotating back and forth to survey their surroundings.

We got 'em. Took that one down!

Yeah. Asuna wiped a line of sweat from her forehead. We're not done yet, though.

Hope raised an eyebrow at her, as much as her Eevee features could, before looking over the proceedings around them. We're doing it though. We've almost beat this boss. See, Asuna?

A boot stepped into her field of vision; Asuna looked up to see Sinon standing next to her, her eyes focused on the main boss around sixty meters away. The sniper's face was set, but had a pallid color and tone to it. Asuna noticed her finger was still hooked around the trigger of her rifle instead of the guard, and shaking intermittently.

Hecate padded next to her, exchanging a look with Hope. Without looking away, Sinon's mouth moved, but Asuna couldn't hear what she was saying over the din of battle.

All around them, battle was still going on. Squads E, F, and G were still in the middle of handling their boss mobs, while the A, B, and C were under fire from the main boss: A giant snake made up almost entirely of boulders.

Upon entering, the entire room had been filled with a strange, uneven lighting that seemed to emanate from the walls, casting warped shadows over the earthen floor and rocky walls. It was shaped like a throne room, with the boss, «Brock», sitting on a large boulder at the far end of the room. A dark-skinned, well-muscled man whose eyes never opened, his presence had been intimidating to say the least, not to mention the massive axe that lay on his lap.

When he had noticed the intruders, he had stood up and hefted the weapon, his HP bars curling around his sides before condensing into one layered one. A light blue hue had shrouded it afterwards, signalling that he was being shielded by the presence of his own Pokemon. Without speaking a word, he tapped all six of the circles on his «Pokelink» in quick succession: several circles had opened up, with Rhyhorn and «Graveler» leaping out of them, ready to begin battle.

Then something curled around half the length of the room had shifted.

Asuna had heard Kirito and Argo emphasize the sheer size of the main boss while they were preparing, the «Onix», but she still hadn't grasped the concept of size they were trying to convey. It was only after it reared to its full height and coiled up next to Brock that she realized the thing was big enough to swallow several adult-sized people in a single gulp. It had to have been at least fifty meters long from head to toe.

Hope had nearly fainted from shock and fear alone as it roared, nearly blowing out their eardrums. They hadn't been the only ones; many people had paralyzed looks on their faces, their Pokemon slowly inching backwards. Others had let out strangled gulps. Only a few people had remained stoic, among them Diabel, Kirito, and Argo.

Asuna braced herself as the floor shook. Onix's tail impacted the floor three times in a row, throwing up clouds of dust and sending shockwaves to buffet back the defenders lined up in front of it. One of the tanks, a Rhyhorn looking quite similar to the one they had just defeated but at a more normal size, roared in pain and stomped the floor in return, a «Bulldoze» attack that caused the towering Rock Snake to glower at it.

Bit by bit, its hp was growing smaller and smaller, the yellow bar steadily decreasing as a torrent of attacks from three parties worth of offensive members gnawed away at it. Bit by bit, more and more cracks appeared in the stones that made up its body.

Look, it's literally falling apart. Hope pointed out. Doesn't look so tough anymore. Size doesn't mean everything.

I suppose so... Asuna squinted at the boss. Still...

Hmm?

Nevermind.

In fact, its entire length was covered in fractures, from the tip of its antennae-like spike to the end of its tail. Black lines and bits of dust fell from the cracks in its body with each blow it suffered, and it moved far more slowly than before, as if in pain. Which, given the condition of its body, it probably was. Unlike Rhyhorn, Onix didn't have any external armor.

But while others found hope in the damage, Asuna had a strange foreboding about it. Something in her gut squirmed as she looked at the boss. Nothing looked or seemed wrong though, so she dismissed it as paranoia.

When people had realized its attacks were blockable and realized that despite its emphasis on defense over offense they were visibly inflicting lots of damage to it, they had regained their morale. Its «Rock Throws» were massive boulders, but still easily deflected with the right attacks and angles. Other than that, it tried to «Slam» its tail end down into the gathered squads, but that attack was easily telegraphed and slowly executed.

Brock had been lured away from the Onix by Squad D as planned. His wide sweeps with his «Great Axe» were devastating, leaving huge crevices in the floor and walls, but they weren't enough to one-hit KO anyone. Neither were any attacks done to him able to scratch his HP; the gauge was a still a healthy green.

It was more of a grind than a fight. No one had been in any great danger as of yet; the teamwork between each squad was working smoothly. From what Asuna could tell, when alerted by a cry or out of the corner of her eye, only three Pokemon had been damaged to fainting and they had been safely recalled back into their Pokelinks.

"Almost there. See, noob-kun? It is possible."

Argo's voice shook Asuna out of her thoughts. The info dealer was spraying a «Potion» on her Rattata, but her attention was on Asuna. The mouse hissed as the healing concoction stung its wounds, but endured them admirably.

Kirito was next to her and at some point Zero had come as well to stand next to him. The disguised Pokemon had been standing at the edge of the fight, near where Sinon had been, since the beginning of the boss battle. Asuna still didn't know why Kirito didn't allow her to fight, but she respected other people's privacy.

Most of the other boss adds had been taken care of as well. More people were finishing up and watching the main group take on the boss. Cheers and encouraging words were flung, overshadowing the din of swords on stone.

Asuna looked back, and at the sight, she couldn't deny she could feel a slight tinge of what could have been hope.

"I suppose so." She responded slowly.

"Don't let your guard down yet."

Kirito's words surprised Asuna, and Sinon too. He should have been pleased at the pace they had been going at. Both girls, and their Pokemon, looked at the black swordsman questioningly. The usually chipper and carefree boy had a hard look on his face.

He noticed and returned their gaze steadily, almost emotionlessly. Asuna felt unsettled at the severe aura he was giving off.

Eh..? Hope was flummoxed.

"What do you mean?" Sinon queried. Her voice was still barely audible.

Kirito's mouth pressed into a hard line as he sucked in a long breath through his teeth. "It may be nothing. But the amount of cracks on that thing doesn't make sense. That visual effect shouldn't be there..." His eyes narrowed as he gestured at it. "and if they are, at that level of damage the broken portions should have fallen off long ago."

He was silent for a moment before continuing, "Raphael agrees. Something's off."

"Is that so?" Argo glanced at the Ralts. "I can't really think of a reason off the top of my head but-"

An earthshaking roar interrupted their tense conversation. The Onix had fallen into the red zone of its last health bar. The cheers from the squads on standby doubled as they saw the end of their ordeal in sight.

Hope cheered as well, yipping once encouragingly. Yes! Take the snake down!

Brock leaped back, creating some distance between him and Squad D. With a heave and a grunt, he hurled the axe he had been wielding towards the party. The heavyset weapon was easily dodged, dissolving into nothingness after making contact with the ground.

Then the «Gym Leader» drew two tomahawks from his belt.

Argo slowly rose to her feet and flicked her hands, pulling out her weapons. "Subete, to me."

The Rattata vanished up her arm at her command.

The Onix was drawing back, abandoning its previous attack patterns. There was a series of clangs as a few straggling attacks made contact with the boss's body, but all of them were deflected as the message «Immortal Object» popped up.

Asuna noticed as Kirito's eye twitched. "I remember this..." The boy muttered feverishly. "I've seen this-"

Slowly, the massive rock snake shifted, coiling slightly and shivering. Dust and bits of rock fell from the wounds in its body, as it apparently began to focus.

"It's changing tactics!" Diabel shouted. He raised his sword, and his «Pawniard» did the same. "Remember, it will be a lot slower but more powerful after «Cursing»! Get ready to resume the assault once the Immortal Object status runs out!"

Yells of affirmation rang out from the assault squads. Asuna made to stand up-

A horrible screeching sound was emitted from the fragmented stone that made up the Onix's body.

Kirito paled. "Wait, that's-"

Then the boss exploded.

---

When Spiegel had been blown back by the force of the discharge, he had been unashamedly staring at her.

It had taken Sinon a while to notice it, but every time the boy had been recovering his HP while switched out, he had been looking at her as she laid down covering fire onto the boss mobs. For some reason his gaze sent shivers down her spine.

It just didn't feel right, the way he looked at her. It didn't feel natural, even if they had been classmates.

Of course, that didn't mean that the feeling went away once he, among others, were sent flying by the blast. No one had expected the cracked rock surface of the «Onix» to detonate, sending billowing cloud of dust and shards spewing everywhere. Cries of confusion engulfed the main attack squads as they stumbled back in surprise.

Sinon's finger tightened around the trigger of the «Nemesis». This hadn't been in the beta test. Something was about to go horribly wrong.

Hecate hissed, her fur standing on an end.

Diabel, to his credit, didn't panic. Instead of struggling to run away after struggling to get back up, he cast his eyes over the members of his attack group and judged the situation: No one had gotten seriously hurt. A dense cloud of dust and debris surrounded the boss, shielding it from view. Not even its silhouette could be seen. The front line was in disarray, most of its members having been flung away from the force of the explosion; only him and two other players were still standing beside the murky shroud.

Another glance reassured him that his «Pawniard» was standing next to him, the Sharp Blade «Pokemon» peering into the dust cloud and trying to discern where the enemy was.

Immediately, he began shouting orders.

"Back up! We've still got this! Back up ten met-"

"Retreat! Full retreat, back OFFNOW!"

Sinon's eyes widened as Kirito shot off like a rocket, charging forward as fast as he could together with Zero and Raphael. After a moment of hesitation, Argo and Asuna got up from where they had fallen in shock and ran after him as well.

She herself tried to step forward too but halted as Hecate warned her, Wait. Don't.

What? I-

Wait! The «Eevee» hissed, fur standing on an end. She crouched, baring her teeth. Danger! Don't go-

Diabel's eyes weren't the only ones to turn to Kirito's. The sheer tone of desperation caught everyone's attention as every head swiveled to watch the black-clad boy dash forward, towards the disorganized main boss squad. Some watched with hostility, some watched with confusion.

Spiegel was one of the hostile ones. He reached forward, an indignant expression on his face. "What are you-"

"No, get AWAY!" He shouted, screamed. "GET AWAY FROM IT, THAT'S NOT «CURSE», THAT'S ITS HIDDEN ABILITY, «WEAK ARMOR»!"

His words echoed in the dead silence as both Diabel's and Sinon's eyes went wide, both of them finally realizing what was going on. The color drained from their faces at the same time.

In the original Pokemon games, Weak Armor was an ability that decreased «Defense» in exchange for a boost in «Speed» every time the ability holder was struck with a physical move. Which made sense; with weakened armor, every time bits of it were broken off, the Pokemon would have less weight, and therefore would be able to move faster. In «Pokemon Universe», this translated to not only the physical implications but also the statistical ones.

It wasn't a common trait. It was an extremely rare ability even among the few species that could possibly inherit it, thus granting it the title of «Hidden Ability».

All of which meant the Onix had been holding onto its broken armor using the innate magnetic powers that held its body together, and chose to shed it all at once once its HP fell to a certain point... meaning an instantaneous massive drop in defense and a huge boost in speed. Speed, which rock types were known for lacking- usually.

At the same time this information registered in their heads, something made a grinding sound against the floor from within the depths of the cloud.

Don't look.

Diabel immediately charged at the nearest member of the attack squad and tackled him just as something lashed out from the far side of the cloud of dust at an insane speed, screaming like a banshee. The thing's black color seemed to glow unnaturally in the dim lighting as it left an afterimage behind it.

Shick.

Look away! Hecate shouted.

But Sinon couldn't.

It hit Diabel on the side of his head just as he managed to push the other man to the ground, catching the knight and ripping both him and his Pawniard from the ground. Without so much as a pause, it continued on its way and seemed to melt right through the torso of the second player, before slamming its baggage into the wall.

The Pawniard flew into the air like a broken doll, having rebounded off the wall, and landed near where the second player was. Its HP bar was completely empty and tinted red, signifying that it had been «Fainted».

Then the top half of the second player that had gotten hit slid right off the bottom half, just as both exploded into countless faceted polygons.

Sinon's throat constricted, her hands feeling as cold as ice. Her vision shook.

No...

Inexorably, her gaze was drawn to where Diabel had fallen. His body was pinned flat against the wall in the center of a cracked circle with a deep slanted line drawn through the top half. Apart from severe dents in the armor, he looked mostly unharmed.

No, no, nono no...

Except, the top half of his head was missing. Everything above a diagonal line drawing from his left jawbone to the base of his right ear was gone, revealing the crimson wireframes that made up his body. Bits of polygons broke off and vanished even as she watched.

The bar around his head made a gentle beep sound before depleting entirely.

-jerked as if electrified, it was every, everywhere, wherewas-hishead, and, and bits ofhisskullyesandbrainsandbloodhedeservedititseverywheresobeautifulohmygodwhyahaha-

"Ahh... ahhhh-"

Sinon's breathing became ragged as she clutched her head, something breaking inside of her. The Nemesis clattered to the ground and vanished as her eyes twitched, pupils dilating with horror.

She couldn't remove her gaze. All she could see was blood. Diabel's head was full of blood.

Completely filled with blood.

So beautiful.

Blood and death.

Death. And killing.

Killed.

She didn't even notice Kirito and Zero running forward with their arms outstretched, their faces etched with desperation. Nor Asuna's and Argo's, filled with shock. Nor Spiegel's and Kibaou's, filled with fear and rage.

All she could see was the remaining half of his head, the empty cavity that seemed to hold blood like a grail, and the way his lips moved as he uttered his last words. Despite being so far away, and not a good lip reader, she somehow knew what he was saying. She could somehow read it, as the doomed man's arm raised up to level with Kirito's approaching form.

"It's all up to y-"

That very moment, she screamed.

The reason rewound itself in slow motion in her head, repeating over and over again behind her eyes. Over and over, slowly, even more slowly, flickering with something akin to static as her brain seemed to systematically shut down till only the images were left.

Something black shot out of the cloud of dust with the force of a cannon ball, completely blowing the cloud apart and dispersing it.

The spike mounted on its head, jagged and sharp and plain evil-looking beyond anything Sinon had ever seen, impaling him through the heart and tearing through the remains of his enhanced armor like so much rice paper.

The rest of the knight vanishing behind the Onix, now several times smaller, several times more angular, devoid of any color, and reflecting the light like an opaque black diamond, as it rammed its head into the wall.

And that horrible, wonderful, horrible crunching sound she heard the instant before the crash, along with her scream, deafened her ears.

Dead. He was dead.

Head cut off. Heart pierced. Body crushed.

Head cut off. Just like the man she had killed. Head destroyed, just as he deserved.

Killed. Diabel didn't deserve it. But he was killed.

Did she kill him? Was she the reason?

Diabel's Pawniard's cursor flickered, before becoming a pale red color. It had reverted back to the status of a wild Pokemon.

No. She wasn't the cause. But he was dead all the same.

Dead just like he had been. Like he had earned.

Sinon? Sinon!

She didn't even respond as Hecate butted her with her head, eyes glued to the spot where Diabel had met his end, and at the monstrosity that was slowly pulling itself away from the wall. Not a trace of the man remained.

Then four circles opened up throughout the room, and an oversized «Boldore» dropped out of each one, shaking the room beneath their weight as the main boss, no less intimidating even with its HP in critical, roared at the assembled players.

The nose-like protrusion on all four Boldores began to glow, along with the gems that were studded along their bodies.

Chaos broke loose.

Everyone panicked at the same time, nearly every player doing their best to escape as blasts of silvery energy waves shot through the air, causing seismic tremors wherever they struck. Two of them stomped the ground hard, splashing waves of mud over nearby targets. The rapidly drying clay stuck to their victim's faces and arms, slowing them down and blocking their vision.

Some people tried to fight back. There were yells as some squads attempted to combat the new threat. Orders were given. The sounds of combat resumed.

One of the boss mobs turned towards Sinon's frozen form, the hollow "eye" regarding her with an inhuman, emotionless stare.

Sinon, we need to get out of here, now!" Hecate growled. The Eevee was shifting its gaze between the exit and her trainer, the latter of whom was still staring at the Onix in shock. Sinon! Shino!?

I... he died... I-

Look out!

Shino couldn't move. Couldn't think. Couldn't speak. The only part of her that showed any signs of life was the index finger on her right hand, repeatedly opening and closing. Not even with the shadow of a Boldore's front leg rapidly descending upon her, could she move.

Sinon, MOVE!

Sinon rolled out of the way. Seized as if possessed, her body lurched sideways, just barely dodging the sharp gems that made up the "feet" of the Boldore's limb. Somewhere along the way, she scooped up Hecate's small form as well, hauling the fox out of the way of the attack.

Shino blinked. Or at least tried to.

Wha-

Her mouth wouldn't speak. Her body refused to respond to her own wills as she leaped out of the way of another «Rock Blast», rolling over and summoning the Nemsis rifle as she did so, coming to a stop near another gaggle of players trying to combat the Ore Pokemon she had just escaped from.

"Pitiful."

Now Sinon's lips moved. But not according to Shino's own will; the word, dripping with contempt, came out through her own gritted teeth with an irrefutable feeling of self-disgust.

Her. Herself? Her.

Ahh... ahhh... Shino started to hyperventilate. But only mentally, within the prison of her own body.

"How do you expect to keep us alive if you can't even stand the sight of one man dying?" She spoke in a low whisper. An unstable chuckle racked her body, her mouth twisting into a gruesome smile that spoke of anything but happiness. "Such a disappointment."

Sinon straightened, hefted her weapon, took aim in one smooth movement, and fired. The shot struck dead in the center of the Boldore's eye-like cavity, causing the Pokemon to groan in pain.

She licked the edge of her lips predatorily as she pressed the attack, accurately tracking down the Boldore's weak spot and sniping it over and over. "Well, I'm not complaining." It feels so good to see those who threaten us suffer with my own eyes instead of yours. Feel the trigger beneath my fingers. Hear their cries of agony!

Hecate's fur fluffed up, her instincts warning her that something was wrong inside of her trainer's head. Sinon-

Hecate, don't- Shino tried to speak, to warn Hecate, to tell her-

Move to the right and begin attacking it from behind. Sinon intruded, completely shutting Shino off as the girl suddenly found she couldn't even mentally speak anymore. Serve as a distraction while I lay down covering fire and those other fools engage this thing.

Hecate's ears flattened against her head as she began to growl. Who are you. What have you done to-

Shut up AND MOVE, YOU USELESS PIECE OF TRASH.

The Eevee shuddered as Sinon brought her full mental strength to bear, forcibly imposing upon the Pokemon's mind to fall silent and obey. One tense moment passed; then Hecate, with jerky movements as she resisted the whole time, turned and charged at the enemy, together with a few other players who were trying to fight back.

No! Shino gasped, trying to reach out over the link. Hecate-

Don't waste yourself on such a small matter, Shino. Your little pet isn't that weak. Sinon laughed out loud: a crazed, broken giggle that drew stares of all kinds from the people around them. It'll live. And stop interfering. You'll get us killed and I'll be doubly pissed at your sorry ass.

Stop it! Shino finally broke free of her paralysis. People were going to die again. She couldn't- She had to, to stop, no protect, start protecting, I have to protect them, no more killing-

Protect what, fool? You're useless. You can't even protect ourselves. Don't force that naive ideology on me.

A tremor shook the floor behind them, and Sinon raised an eye to glance in that direction, only to see a second Boldore turning its full attention to their little group of resistance.

There was an audible gulp. Someone else, a boy holding a «Lance» type weapon, swore loudly. One Boldore was bad enough, but two at the same time?

"Well, isn't this dandy." Sinon muttered, still keeping her rifle targeted and firing at the first adversary. "Staying alive is such a chore."

Both «Rock» type Pokemon glowed brightly, stray boulders and rocks crumbling away from their bodies as well as swelling to a lethal size out of thin air to levitate by their sides as projectile weapons. Unlike the Rhyhorn from before, this Rock Blast attack was like a whole sheet of falling stone about to collapse upon their little group.

"I'm dead." The lancer muttered. "I'm so dead. I never wanted-"

"-then don't complain about this, spineless fool." Sinon's mouth muttered.

Shino felt her arm shoot out, latching around the back of the neck of the nearest player: the one that had swore earlier. He flailed in surprise, completely caught off balance from her pulling him close.

"Hey!" He yelped. "Who- what-"

Sinon flipped the barrel of the Nemesis up and smacked his hand painfully with a quick motion, causing him to drop his weapon with a stunned cry, his distracted state leaving him unable to hold onto the lance. The motion was, however, not harsh enough to be considered an attack.

Something which Sinon clearly knew.

"Let me borrow your worthless life for a moment."

Sinon! What are you- The facts clicked into place inside of Shino's mind, filling her with dread. No, stop! Let him go-

The stones fell. The boy realized what Sinon was trying to do at the same time as Shino did, twisting his head to stare at Sinon's face with horror. His partner, a «Growlithe», whirled around to look at them as it felt its trainer's terror.

"You, you bi-"

No, please, it wasn't me it wasn't me I didn't want- Shino babbled out uncontrollably, even though she knew he would never be able to hear her- I never wanted, I wanted to protect you, I didn't want this-

But the pure hatred, the betrayed visage, the look of despair on his face didn't change. Nor did the eerie smile on her face.

"You're dead, aren't you?" Sinon flashed him an insane grin. "Then don't complain if I use your corpse as cannon fodder!"

Then the boy screamed as he was bombarded by rocks from every which way, his HP bar being chunked down as if some beast were taking ravenous bites out of it. His body convulsed with every blow, fingers and hands scrabbling against Sinon's arm weakly as he tried desperately to free himself.

Out of the corner of her eye, Shino could see the Growlithe convulse as it was pelted with a veritable sheet of stone, fainting almost immediately due to the super-effective attack.

Green, green, green, then into the yellow.

Stop it. Shino whispered. Something was dying inside of her each time the boy's face twisted in fear and shock. Stop it Sinon. Please...

Weak.

Yellow, yellow, then it jerked into the red.

You're too weak, Shino. Sinon snarled, infecting her mind with an overbearing feeling of disgust. Where's your will to live? Just go and die already.

Red, once more, then red to nothing.

I'm going to survive. That's all that matters... ahah, dead so soon?

The last few boulders blew his avatar apart, reducing what was once a human being into a rapidly vaporizing cloud of computer generated polygons. Her hands closed shut around empty air, the last fragments of a human life vanishing between her fingers.

Useless, all of you.

---

"Stick together! Get into formation, don't break ranks!"

It was no use. Kirito twisted his head back and forth but could find nothing but players broke ranks, dashing for the exit as fast as their legs could carry them, some of them even trampling a few of their allies on the ground. A few stood up against the newly spawned «Boldore» adds, but without proper positioning and strategy just staying alive was a massive expenditure in and of itself.

The whole expedition was scattering. Without the head, Diabel, the body was driving itself apart.

The inside of Kirito's mouth felt like it was coated in some kind of metallic-tasting liquid upon remembering the raid leader's final moments as he batted aside a few deadly-looking boulders that had been heading straight for that cactus-headed player, whose name escaped him at the moment.

"It's all up to y-"

Why me?

"Parties B and C, the tanks, we need you-"

A flash in the corner of his eye and a timely warning from Zero was all he had before the «Onix's» tail slammed down on the floor where he had been, both him and the Zorua jumping out of the way. Raphael immediately countered the attack with his remote bits, but they only dug deep into the packed earth: the appendage had already ripped itself out of the rut it had made at a speed much faster than before.

Zero's illusion dissolved away, partly because of the shower of debris that battered her, but also of her own choosing. This wasn't the time to hide anymore, and she was more nimble in her original form. Flipping back in the air, she focused a globule of dark energies into her maw and released it as a twisted projectile of negativity, aiming it directly for the center of the Onix's gleaming black body.

The Rock Snake Pokemon recoiled as it sensed the attack coming, flexing to avoid the mass of energy before roaring in pain: as it did, it moved right into the path of one of Raphael's sharpened stones, this time unable to dodge. The dark surface of its body was suddenly riddled with cracks as the bit stabbed deeply into it.

Without its normally high «Defense» stat, the boss's last HP bar dipped noticeably lower. But not low enough.

If we can just focus- Kirito ducked, narrowly avoiding a cloud of shrapnel that sprung up as the Onix's tail flailed and glanced off the surface of the ground- on the boss and deal enough damage it should be enough to bring down that last fifteen percent or so-

A loud clang and a scream came from behind him, followed by several tremors. Raphael glanced in that direction as he directed his stones to form a small shield, deflecting a few errant «Rock Throws». In his mind, Kirito caught sight of Brock and his minions smashing through most of the players with the efficiency of a cinder block through pudding, sending bodies flying.

He could see two groups of organized resistance through Raphael's eyes as the «Psychic» Pokemon ascertained the situation, along with Sinon who was dancing a deadly beat among the legs of a Boldore. Weaving in and out between the three stumps the Pokemon had and firing all the while as Hecate did the same, her efforts were paying off with scorched holes in the rock's body.

Both she and the last organized remains of the raid faltered momentarily as a stray boulder from one of the Onix's attacks sent up a spray of dust not two feet from the left of the group's formation.

The leader and his Pokemon are engaging the remnants of our attack group. Raphael reported tersely. But they might stand a chance if we keep the Onix away.

"It's all up to y-"

Kirito hissed in frustration, mind working furiously as he instinctively lunged to the right as fast as he could. The Onix's main body carved a groove into the packed dirt where he once stood, spraying shrapnel everywhere, some of which drew small cuts across Kirito's face. In retaliation, Zero countered quickly with a few nimble swipes with her darkness-imbued claws as she dove past.

The raid. I can't let everyone die... what was the proper strategy for a retreat? What can I possibly do in a situation like this.. ngh!

The boss roared and retaliated, releasing a shower of slightly glowing stones that blanketed the area. The lone trainer spun his weapon around desperately, trying to deflect as many of the projectiles as he could, but one slammed into his shoulder with surprising force and sent him spinning across the ground.

Kirito! Zero cried.

The boy in question grunted as sharp rocks tried to grate against his shirt as he slid to a stop.

I don't have the ability to keep the boss occupied with just Zero and Raphael-!

A cloud of star-shaped projectiles landed with painful-sounding thunks in the Onix's body before dispelling, causing it to recoil in both surprise and pain before it could actively capitalize on the fallen swordsman.

Before Kirito could blink, a hand roughly grabbed him around the upper arm and hauled him to his feet and out of the way, just as an errant swipe of the Onix's tail left a gouge in the ground where he had been lying. Gritting his teeth against the wave of revulsion that welled up at the close call, he quickly regained his balance to settle back into a combat stance together with his mousey-haired savior.

A bright flare lit up his eyes for an instant as Asuna dashed forward, landing a beautiful «Linear» on the Onix's main body. It roared in pain, attention momentarily captured by the one who had landed the most damaging move on it recently, turning away from Kirito and Argo.

Argo knelt and quickly flipped her wrist blades out, speaking quietly and urgently. "I've gotten some of the squad leaders to rally. We need to hold the boss off long enough for the raid to regroup."

Easier said than done. But your assistance is welcome!

The info dealer simply grimaced as Kirito relayed Zero's snarky comment and leaped forward into combat, Subete flying out of her left sleeve as a shapeless pink glob before warping its cellular structure into a copy of the «Zorua». Both the copy and the original attacked in the same manner, shelling the rapidly flailing snake with «Dark Pulses».

The air seemed to blur as the boss roared again, this time much louder than usual. Kirito could feel his feet slipping backwards as a wall of sound forced him backwards. He could feel his two partners also backing up uncontrollably.

Enough of this! the real fox snarled. Almost there..!

Kirito shook his head to clear the ringing in his eardrums and charged back into the fray, heading directly towards Asuna to back her up. The girl in question had easily shaken off the influence of the «Roar» and was in the middle of executing another «Linear», virtually flying across the broken earth.

A bright shine, along with the accompanying slight tremor that reverberated through the floor signalled the «Critical Hit» as Asuna's saber plunged right into a series of cracks that had been left by earlier attacks, sinking in up to the hilt. The rock snake convulsed involuntarily, its HP falling to single digit percentages. Around eight percent, Kirito guessed at a glance.

But in return, her strike left the weapon so deep Asuna was unable to pull it back out.

"Asuna!" Argo cried, coughing as she inadvertently inhaled the rock dust floating everywhere. Hope let out a panicked screech at the exact same time.

Raphael's eyes widened. She needs to get away!

Even as Kirito ran forward and opened his mouth to shout for her to abandon the sword, the rookie gamer made the mistake of spending the few precious seconds it took for the boss to recover to attempt to yank out the blade. The massive behemoth of a snake whipped its head around to glare at Asuna through beady onyx eyes, ripping the buried hilt of her sword out of reach and throwing the girl onto her knees.

In the middle of getting back up, Asuna froze as she realized just exactly how much danger she was in.

Asuna!

Without thinking, Kirito threw himself forward and pushed out towards the petrified girl with his left arm, just as the boss whipped its tail around once to build centrifugal force.

"Get out of the-!"

Something black landed directly in front of his nose and something hard shoved violently against his chest.

Multicolored blurs blinded his vision and a thunderous clap of sound drove him to deafness. A strange sense of dull weightlessness filled Kirito's body, as if someone had switched off the gravity. Both his arms felt numb; he could barely feel the weighted hilt of his sword slip out of his hand before it vanished.

The feeling lasted for all of two seconds before he was harshly introduced to a hard, flat surface. A scream broke through his throat, the sound shattering the fog that had plugged up his hearing. Despite there not being any pain, the sheer amount of force and power that he had crashed into the wall with sent every virtual nerve he had on fire, the shock easily incapacitating him just as much as pain would have.

He crumpled to the floor, his Pokelink making an echoing clattering sound as it struck stray bits of rock.

"K...to-ku...!"

KIRI...

"...bou!"

His brain felt like scrambled tofu, and his chest felt like it had just been run over by a construction bulldozer followed by a horde of «Bouffalant». Blearily, he cranked open his eyes, gasping for breath.

Although everything was blurry, a side effect from being «Concussed», Kirito could tell he had been thrown bodily across the room after the Onix's tail had landed in front of him and flipped him twenty feet through the air and into the wall.

There was the big black blur that was the Onix, shifting as it turned around to face him.

Two small and one large beige shape: Hope, Raphael, and Argo in her cloak.

Two black: Zero and the transformed Subete.

There was a white blur on the ground some ways away from it: Asuna, though Kirito could not tell if she was okay or not.

However, his «HUD» was in perfectly sharp resolution. One glance at it told him that she was okay.

Then his heart stopped; The highest bar was in the red.

«Kirito: 248/1776»

Against his will, his brain put its limited brainpower to a useless calculation.

Fourteen percent... But I was at a nice safe seventy just now...

No! Get out of there! Zero yelled. A clear picture of the Onix readying itself to attack a fallen player intruded on his thoughts.

The player was him. And he was in no condition to dodge nor was anyone in his party close enough to save him.

Flinching, Kirito instinctively raised his left arm to ward off the impending blow-

-It's gone.

His entire left arm had been ripped off. His arm ended halfway down the shoulder. He could feel- he could see so very clearly where his fingers and arm were supposed to be, he could feel the phantom appendage moving and flexing, but there was nothing there. Nothing to stop the thick tail of stone from dashing him against the wall.

Not that an arm would have done anything anyways.

Raphael and Zero both shouted something across their link, their mental voices thick with desperation, but all he could feel was a calm sort of peace. The realization that his life was no longer in his hands, that he could do nothing to stop his death.

Shhh-ING!

A shower of rocks littered the top of Kirito's head, followed by a dense cloud of debris. Unable to help himself, he coughed wildly, waving the air around his face with his remaining limb, squinting at the rough humanoid silhouette that had slid in front of him.

Kirito! Zero cried.

"Hm, hm, hm." A roughly feminine voice sounded from the figure. "I know the hero is supposed to come in at the last moment, but that was maybe just a teeensy bit too close for comfort."

The assumed girl twirled the simple-looking lance that she had used to deflect the attack in her hand expertly, fanning away the worst of the cloud. Now Kirito could see that his savior had short hair and was of a lithe build, shrouded in a worn short cloak that seemed to have been torn into a strange spiked tail design which ended around the small of her back.

"You okay?" She considered her own words for a split second, and without even turning around, continued, "Yeah, you're okay. You'll be okay. «Echoed Voice»!"

Kirito instinctively tried but failed to cover his ears due to the fact that he only had one arm; however, it was of little consequence as the earth-shattering wave of sound was directed solely towards the Onix. Letting out a low, pained groan, it reared back with its eyes shut tight under the pressure.

"Aaaaaand, full power, and again! That's my adorable little girl! " The lancer addressed her Pokemon jauntily before crouching, spinning her weapon around and shifting smoothly into an experienced combat stance. "Oi, oi, time to get up sleepyhead! We're finishing this thing and going home!"

Her tone was so insufferably cheery, Kirito could practically see the splitting grin the girl was carrying even though she was facing away from him.

You're alright! You... you-

Blinking away the last bits of confusion from his system, the black swordsman was brought back to earth with the overwhelming feeling of relief emanating from his partners over the link. Zero in particular was practically hyperventilating.

...you IDIOT KIRITO-

I'm fine, I'm fine now. The words were hastily spoken. A minute pause later: Is Asuna alright?

Zero growled, still trembling. Raphael stiffly answered instead, conveying his words twice as fast as he normally did.

She is fine, and has just rejoined the fight. She nearly went comatose after seeing you... Argo almost broke down as well.

That piece of information sobered him up tremendously. I see. We need to end it now.

Five percent HP remaining. Raphael growled.

Nodding to no one in particular, Kirito scrambled back to his feet, disoriented due to the lack of weight on his left side. A gesture later saw that his weapon was once again grasped in his right hand.

Quickly, he retook stock of the situation: The cloaked girl was weaving back and forth, playing a dangerous game similar to Argo's as she ducked under and nimbly leaped over the boss's attacks, jabbing with the spear as much as possible. Her Pokemon and Subete was nowhere in sight; probably on the other side of the snake's body. Asuna was crouched a few meters away from the fight, ready to unleash more of her lightning-fast linears, though this time she appeared to be aiming for points so her weapon wouldn't get stuck again. Hope was at her side, fur fluffed out, and Raphael stood nearby, commanding his remaining two bits to defend all three of them from errant Rock Throws. A brush of fur against his leg told him Zero was next to him, circling his form warily.

The boss, now sensing that it was surrounded on all sides, let loose a loud screech and slammed its tail into the ground, sending three abnormally large boulders into the air, where they shattered and rained down randomly. Unsatisfied with just that, it continued to sweep its tail around in a massive circle, the appendage now glossed over with the silvery sheen of «Iron Tail».

Unprepared for the sudden onslaught, Argo was knocked back by the rocks and caught by the tip of the tail, which opened a deep gash into her chest. The other girl managed to deflect most of the rocks and catch the «Iron Tail» on the shaft of her weapon, though it still sent her flying. The edge of the attack barely managed to reach Asuna's position, but Raphael immediately pushed her out of the way with one of his telekinesis-controlled stones, at the cost of its destruction.

Kirito didn't see what happened to their respective Pokemon, but the moment he saw the attacks initiate he knew he had to act. Iron tail was a powerful but inaccurate move, and had a moderate amount of ending lag due to the inertia of the swing. A timeframe between half a second and two.

But it was the only one they'd get for a while.

We're ending this.

Wordless commands were sent and acknowledged. Instantly, Zero ran forward together with him, charging one last Dark Pulse with the remainder of her energy. Raphael pulled back and aimed his last bit directly at the Onix's head.

Twisting his torso to counterbalance the loss of his arm, Kirito raised his sword up and back over his shoulder. A deep blue light collected around the blade, a few tendrils also reaching down to strengthen his legs.

As the Onix slowly turned around to face him, he focused on his intended target, gritted his teeth, and swung to initiate the skill.

The dashing aspect of «Sonic Leap» allowed him to jump forward at three times the speed he would be able to normally. Simultaneously, Zero released the globule of negative energy, and Raphael fired.

All three attacks hit at exactly the same time; The sharpened end of the bit drove directly into the Onix's eye, the mass of darkness impacted and corrosively ate away at its lower half, and Kirito slashed downwards with as much strength as he could muster, cutting deeply into its main body.

It was just enough to bring down the last vestiges of its HP. An almost inaudible whine accompanied the disappearance of the last bits of red in the gauge, then the HP bar itself.

With a large sense of finality the Onix collapsed, glowed, and shattered into nothingness in quick succession.

Two seconds later, Kirito did the the same without the shattering part.

It's... over?

Glancing behind him, he only caught the last bits of light as Brock disappeared as well, leaving behind the stunned remains of the raid group and an awkward silence. A whole host of stares bore down on him, most in shock. Some were amazed, some were questioning. One or two of them were hostile.

But in his current state, he couldn't have cared less. He slumped over onto the ground, dropping his weapon and watching it dissolve away. Now that the battle was over, the adrenaline that had been powering him was leaving his brain to crash and burn. He could feel the same happening to both Raph and Zero across the link.

He rolled over onto his back, staring at the rugged stone ceiling.

Kirito...? Raph... You two okay...? Zero asked, sounding like she was fighting off unconsciousness.

I think you two will be fine. Raphael murmured.

The Zorua wobbled over to him, before tripping and planting her face into the ground. She didn't move from there.

Ugh... my energies are completely spent. I'm so sleepy.

It was then the system chose to break out the massive "Congratulations" sign, startling all three of them with the fanfare and trumpets. A series of notifications popped up in front of Kirito, each of them cheerfully accompanied by another celebratory musical flourish.

«Congratulations! You have conquered the «Pewter City» Tower!»

«You have leveled up multiple times and achieved level 14!»

«Zero has leveled up multiple times and achieved level 19!»

«Raphael has leveled up multiple times and achieved level 18!»

As a loud cheer rose up from the direction of the raid party, a whole bunch of «Poke» and assorted loot was deposited into Kirito's inventory, including the «Boulder Badge» and «TM 39 (ROCK TOMB)». What really caught his eye, however, was the last notice.

«You dealt the killing blow of this fight! Last attack bonus: «Lucky Egg» x1»

...this thing gives extra experience points to the Pokemon holding it, if I remember correctly...

Raphael exhaled deeply, feeling slightly stressed out as his body slowly began to evolve into that of a «Kirlia» due to the three-level jump. It wasn't exactly a comfortable experience.

It's over... but, the amount of casualties...

Kirito squeezed his eyes shut. Diabel. Several others as well...

...zz..

Reaching over, Kirito gently patted the gently sleeping Zero on the head. His fingers felt and moved like lead, but he still managed to scratch her fur slowly.

The sounds of footsteps echoed out on the floor and two figures appeared in his field of view: Asuna and Argo. Both looked equally exhausted and worried.

"...where's Sinon?" Kirito asked, suddenly realizing that their long-ranged fighter wasn't nearby. Then: "And the other girl, the one who saved me..?"

"She ran off while we were distracted with the boss's death." Argo shook her head. "I can't find Sinonon here either-"

A sad-sounding blip rang out as the aforementioned sniper girl's HP bar disappeared from Kirito's HUD as she left the party.

---

"Why!? Why didn't you help earlier?"

"Because of you, Diabel...!"

Why? Asuna wondered numbly.

Envy. Hope muttered. Loss. Hatred.

The boss had been defeated. Save Asuna, still paralyzed from having almost contributed to Kirito's untimely death, everyone had been celebrating. One could have literally felt the elation coursing through the air as what was a total rout had somehow miraculously turned into victory.

Then the boy that accompanied the cactus-haired man, Spiegel, began shouting. Glaring at their little group of players, the ones who had finished off the boss, he ranted as everyone's voices died out.

"You had the power to defeat the boss all on your own! You're not even a full team! Then why, why did you wait until Diabel was dead to act!?"

The murmurs began. Looks of gratefulness slowly turned into suspicion as the sickly-looking boy pointed an accusing finger at the sole dark-clothed member of their party.

"And you! You didn't even commit all of your «Pokemon» to battle!" His gaze switched to the «Zorua» lying unconscious in the boy's lap. "Disguising that Zorua as a player and keeping it near our ranged fighters! What's your deal? What was your plan? We needed everyone to give it their all, darnit!"

His «Absol» closed its eyes, sitting back on its hind legs as it bowed its head as its crescent blade glowed slightly. Its master shook with barely retrained fury and anger.

And not just him. The whispers were growing louder by the minute, and from what Asuna could hear, the casualties lost during the stampede of extra adds were finally coming back to the forefront of everyone's minds, having been temporarily forgotten in the euphoria of success.

Hope turned and fluffed her tail out, growling softly at the growing aura of hostility, directed towards the three players lying across from them on the other side of the room. Argo narrowed her eyes, and for once, was completely silent, her mouth pressed into a thin line. Subete was already in «Pokelink» form on her arm.

Kirito, the accused, merely stared at the ground, his eyes overshadowed by his hair. Raphael slowly stood up and walked to his side.

"You knew!" cried Spiegel, his arm shaking. "You knew the boss had that ability. That it would speed up as soon as it hit red. You knew its moves! That's how you survived fighting it almost solo! Why didn't you tell us?"

Silence.

"Yeah!" Another voice rang out, from the remnants of squad C, the one that Diabel had been a part of. This one had an undertone of grief. "My brother died because of that! Why couldn't you have told us! If you had only just told us, he wouldn't have died!"

"Diabel wouldn't have died!" Echoed another member of squad C. Like a chorus of birds, they all began clamoring at once.

Why are you all so hateful towards him? Asuna cried internally. He saved me! He nearly died to try and save me, and also to save you all from this boss!

Despite that, Asuna still understood. Much like how she had been devastated at being trapped in the game, taking out her frustrations and fears on Hope, these players were trying to cope with the deaths of their friends and leader by pinning the blame on the few people they could: the ones who should have acted earlier.

She could relate, because she had been in their shoes once. Now that she was on receiving side, she felt a slight twinge of self-disgust at how she had treated Hope before, overshadowed by the tension of the situation.

Still-

"He's a beta tester!"

Hope swore like a dirty pirate.

Spiegel's glare instantly frosted over as the other players hushed up, save the one that had made the connection: a middle-aged man with a slight amount of stubble showing under the straps of his helmet.

"He knew! He knew it all and he tried to hide it all from us!" The man pounded his left fist into his other hand, the sound echoing throughout the cavern. "The boss patterns, and the «Hidden Ability»! That's how he knew! He's a tester! He tried to get us-"

Then his face twisted due to a sudden realization.

"-THAT GUIDEBOOK! IT WAS FALSE!"

Asuna flinched at the man's sudden outburst. Next to her, Argo stiffened, as if she could feel the impending danger coming her way.

The sound of creaking could be heard from Kirito's remaining hand, the blade of his sword producing a clattering sound as it shook against the ground.

"That strategy guide was a complete fake! A sham!" The player drew out a copy of the guide from his inventory and threw it to his feet, before pointing at Kirito, rage evident in his voice and bearing. "This beta tester here knew the real boss's data! That means the guide was false! As if a beta tester would deign to give out free information! She sold us lies! LIES THAT GOT MY FRIEND KILLED!"

"She tried to get us killed!" shouted Spiegel, seizing the chance and stoking the flames, his own hatred of Beta testers showing. "They BOTH tried to get us all killed! All for what!?"

The fur on the back of Hope's neck flattened down. This is going in a very bad direction.

Asuna had to agree with her «Eevee», suddenly feeling very exposed.

"You beta testers are all the same! Using your extended knowledge to screw others over!"

"Because of you... he, he-"

"You monsters! Hoarding information for selfish gain! Cheater!"

As the situation escalated, Asuna desperately tried to think of a way out. Despite her best efforts though, she simply couldn't think of a solution to the current predicament. Clearly, most of these people had lost someone close to them and buried it deep to focus on the boss fight. Now Spiegel's and the other accusing player's efforts were digging that pain to the surface and focusing it onto Kirito, Argo, and the other testers. Strangely, the cactus-headed man who had started the entire problem the day before was silent, but that didn't matter amongst the scores of riled raid members.

Most possible outcome? They'd be lynched, and a witch hunt for beta testers would result from this. The clearing effort would probably collapse in upon itself.

Simple words weren't going to calm them down. Fighting was out of the question; Argo and Kirito had already explained to her the «Cursor» system and «Orange Players»; and in any case, their respective «Hit Points» were all at critical levels anyway.

She wouldn't put it past the enraged raid group to just execute them then and there.

Hope, if it was even possible, tensed up even more, wound up as tight as a spring as she heard the thought. If they even DARE try to attack you-

"Beta testers, huh."

As if by magic, everyone's voices were silenced as the target of their shouting spoke up. Hope fell over at the sudden change in atmosphere as she tried to turn around to take see what had happened.

At some time, Kirito had stood back up, still staring at the floor and missing his left arm. The sword in his hand shook with some unidentifiable emotion.

Two seconds later Asuna realized it wasn't shaking because of anger or fury. Neither was it because of disgust.

He was laughing.

"Ahahah... ahahah! Beta testers? Really? You'd group me together with those amateurs?"

Kirito looked up, and Asuna was startled to see a derisive snarl on his face. A condescending grimace that made her think that he wasn't altogether there.

"Hah, please." He snorted, almost as if he was disdainfully writing off everyone else there. "As if. How could any of those novices really understand the game at all? How many of one thousand people out of the total population of Japan, randomly selected, do you think would actually know how to play the game, given its horrible popularity in the past? Much less truly keep track of everything, from the rarest items to the best training grounds? You think I'm one of those idiots?"

Apart from the black swordsman's laughter echoing off the walls, the entire chamber was dead silent.

"You call me a beta tester?" Kirito suddenly spat. "Don't make me laugh! None of those weaklings could ever measure up to me! Not even the «Rat»! You think she was the one who came up with the guide?"

Argo's eyes narrowed, her mouth silently mouthing, Kii-bou...

"Well SURPRISE!" He flung his arm to the side, sword still in hand, for emphasis, causing a few of the raid group to flinch at the sudden movement. "It was me! I submitted the information to her! Even I can't believe she was fooled so easily! As if I'd actually deign to help you weaklings."

His smile twisted into a crueler, more sadistic visage as he delivered his final blow. "I'd like to thank you all for working so hard for my «Last Attack Bonus»."

But even as Kirito shouted those hateful words, ridiculed everyone with his haughty laughter, all Asuna could see was the hollowness in his eyes. None of his condescending expressions even came close to reaching them.

However, the raid group was too far away to see the same.

"You... you...!" Spiegel was on the brink of an apoplectic fit, unable to even articulate his words properly. "You bastard! You took advantage of us for just that!? You let Diabel die just so you could clear the way for yourself!?"

Kirito just smirked at the stunned players as if none of them were worth his time, ignoring the palpable feeling of mounting rage that filled the air between them. "Did I not just say that, «Newbie»?"

Instantly the raid party burst into a fury, hurling words of hatred and insults at Kirito.

What is he doing? Asuna wondered, whispered, still stunned at Kirito's actions.

Even as she asked, something appeared to click in Hope's little head and she slowly dropped back onto her behind, radiating a silent feeling of shame and shock.

He's redirecting all of the raid group's hate from us and the beta testers to himself.

What!?

"...Beta, cheater. That sounds just about right... Beater, huh. That's a much better title for me. Don't mistake it again. I can't stand being the same species as you mooks."

Kirito suddenly drew her attention back, along with everyone else's, as he flipped around and began walking away towards the gate that had opened up to the top of the tower. With a flick of his wrist, his weapon vanished in a flurry of sparks. Both of his «Pokemon» dissolved away as well as they returned to their resting places in his «Pokelink».

"I'm going to the top floor to finish the capture process... really, there's nothing profitable beyond this point. So, please, follow me if you so dare."

No one took him up on it, probably because the latter half of his sentence was accompanied by a piercing glare from a single eye over his shoulder; more accurately, the shoulder that was missing its arm and leaking particles. Overall, it made for an intimidating effect.

"Kirito-kun..." Asuna whispered.

The moment the gates swung shut after him, pandemonium broke out. All the raid groups began shouting, dissolving once again into a chaotic mess. Spiegel in particular was screaming bloody murder, swearing eternal vengeance against Kirito.

Nobody was paying attention to anything else anymore.

Argo looked over at Asuna and caught her eye before nodding, getting to her feet and breaking into a run instantly. Asuna and Hope stood up as one and moved to run after her, but a hand on Asuna's upper arm held her back for a moment.

Hope skidded to a halt. Enemy!?

Her trainer whirled around, ready to slap whomever it was that had a hold of her, but froze in surprise as cactus-head's conflicted visage came into view.

He opened his mouth to say something, hesitated, scrubbed furiously against the side of his head with a pained look, then gruffly mumbled some words barely audible over the din behind him.

"Can you pass on a message to the bad liar for me?"

"For me as well." A deep voice interjected.

She looked up to see Agil, the big dark-skinned giant of a player who had spoken up for beta testers the day before, standing over them both.

---

Silence.

It had been quite some time since the last time Kirito had no separate consciousnesses linked with his mind with both his «Pokemon» stored away in the «Pokelink». Zero was sleeping, and Raphael had been just about ready to collapse too.

That was a side effect of both of them having nearly zero «Power Points» on all of their moves. Abbreviated to PP, each move had a set number of times they could be used before it became too much of a strain on the «Pokemon's» stamina. Overuse of a single move quickly led to reduced battle efficiency and relying on a single Pokemon without letting it rest eventually led to «Sleep» conditions as it tried to regenerate some of its energy.

This time, both of his Pokemon had been worked to the bone, so he had recalled them. Though they didn't consciously like being shoved back into the device, it was a more comfortable and safer resting place for them while out in the field like this.

And more quiet.

Even when they were asleep, their minds still lingered on the outskirts of Kirito's mindscape, allowing bits of their muffled thoughts and dreams to drift over the boundaries. Now, his mind was entirely his own.

Nothing to distract him.

Kirito stood quietly in front of the altar that softly glowed in the darkness, watching as the small diorama-like map on it slowly colored over as it indicated the amount of territory that had been reclaimed by capturing the first tower. Honestly, he didn't know what to think about; both his body and mind were frazzled, the virtually-physical one even more so with a missing limb. He felt even more weary than the time he had been forced into multiple rounds of Kendo with Suguha.

There was a small dull pain in his chest at the thought of her and his family in real life, before it was overshadowed by the satisfaction of the fact that he had cleared the first hurdle in returning to said real life. All of it was then swept away by worry.

Worry about whether or not the Beater thing would stick to protect what was left of the «Beta Tester» population. Had he succeeded in drawing the fire onto himself?

Worry for Asuna and Argo. Would the raid members harm them since they were associated with him?

Worry for Sinon. What had happened during the boss fight to make her leave without informing any of them?

Worry for himself. Would he be hunted down like a criminal now? At the very least, he knew he had just tossed away any chance of support from the general player population. Abetting murder wasn't a very good crime to paint himself with.

At the very least, his next course of action was pretty much set in stone: go solo. After his little show of evil mastermind posturing, he'd practically turned himself into public enemy number two, right under the number one Kayaba Akihiko, whose throne could never possibly be ursped. Argo and Asuna probably knew he was faking it, but they still couldn't follow him lest they become targeted as well. Sinon too, not even considering what had happened to make her leave so quickly and without any sort of warning.

Best for him to shy away from society for a bit. He thought silently as he watched the map finally stop updating, showing a nice chunk of territory that had been claimed. Until this all blows over, I'll have to go alone.

The teleport portal in front of him activated with a soft hum as soon as the map finished rewriting itself, casting darkened shadows across the room.

Go solo again, just like I always have...

"Kii-bou!"

The sudden calling of his pet name startled him out of her reverie as he turned around to see Argo panting, resting her arm on the side of the entryway. Evidently she had taken the stairs at a run.

"Argo." he returned, unable to think of anything else to say.

Her head snapped up, the sudden movement causing him to blink. While huffing out the rest of her fatigue, she glared at him before snapping, "Kii-bou, you insufferable retaaarrrrr..."

She trailed off. Kirito tilted his head a few degrees.

"...what?" He asked quietly, almost as if mumbling.

"...are you okay?"

"Huh?"

"Your face..."

His left hand moved up reflexively and touched his cheek; it was wet. He blinked several more times, suddenly feeling a sort of uncomfortable pressure around his eyes and a constriction around his throat that certainly hadn't been there before.

"...huh." He repeated in a sort of neutral tone. "I... don't know what you're talking about."

At these words Argo's anger evaporated like water in a sauna and her arms flopped down to her sides. Her face bore a worried expression as she quickly moved over to him.

"Kii-bou, that was a very stupid thing to do."

"I know." One of the dumbest decisions in his life, from a utilitarian standpoint.

"Very, very stupid."

"I know."

"Thank you."

"I know."

A pause. Argo gently laid a hand on his remaining forearm as his brain caught up.

"...eh?"

Argo gave him a bitter smile. "There's my stupid Ki-bou. My stupid, stupid Ki-bou. " The smile faded. "I understand why you did it, and I'm grateful that I and the remainder of the testers can probably breathe a little easier from now on, but I can't help but be extremely worried for you, idiot. The repercussions of your actions won't exactly be pleasant."

Hesitantly, he laid his hand over her forearm in the same manner she did his. "I-"

"Kirito-kun!"

Both beta testers flinched and retracted their arms.

"A-chan?" Argo stayed frozen a bit longer as she seemed to realize she had actually left Asuna behind as Kirito hastily looked aside, wiping the remains of his tears off his face and steadying himself. "Ah! Sorry for leaving you behind, but what took you so long?"

Hope leapt forward, shaking herself over like a dog would. Asuna carefully stepped around her as she advanced; unlike Argo, she had walked up the stairway at a normal pace. Her hazel eyes looked weary, but the gaze she had locked onto Kirito was firm.

"Some people wanted me to pass on messages to this idiot over here." Asuna finally said blandly.

The idiot in question blinked. "Messages..?"

"From Kibaou."

That was the last person Kirito ever thought would be sending him a message through Asuna. Well, second last; Spiegel took the cake. In the same vein, Argo had a similar expression of surprise.

"Kibaou?" The both echoed.

Asuna nodded, looking a little pensive herself. "Apparently you saved his life in the initial chaos after Diabel died. He just wanted to thank you, I guess, and he knows your whole beater thing was only act. He did make sure to stress the fact that he and you were not going to see eye to eye anytime soon though."

Kirito cast his mind back, vaguely remembering deflecting an attack towards a fallen player.

"Agil-san also guessed the same." Asuna continued. "He wants you to know that despite current public opinion, you'll always have his support."

Agil. Tall, big stature, darker skin. The man who stood up for testers at the meeting...

"...I see." He said out loud, bitterly smiling a little. At the very least, there were some people that weren't hostile towards him. "Thank you."

"...and also I..."

Her voice dropped off and she mumbled something that was too soft for Kirito to hear, though Argo's expression softened. The info dealer stepped back, as if to leave the two their own space.

"I..?" Kirito repeated. After there was no answer for a few seconds, he tried again: "Asuna?"

Asuna suddenly bowed. "I'm sorry."

The black swordsman was at a loss for words. "Sorry? Why?"

"I was a burden." She looked back up, her face now set into a conflicted expression. "You nearly died because of me... because I was foolish enough to try and retrieve my sword."

She was visibly shivering as she her eyes started gaining a distant look, staring at the softly glowing stump where Kirito's left shoulder ended. Hope whined sadly, rubbing herself against Asuna's leg, trying to offer some measure of comfort.

"I was so worried-" Her voice hitched at this point as she let out the feelings that she had repressed during the beater fiasco. "You were nearly killed because of me, because I was so stupid, and I, I-!

"Asuna."

Kirito cut her off by tightly gripping her shoulder with his hand. She broke off abruptly, breathing heavily and looking as if she was about to cry.

Now he felt guilty, and he was never good at dealing with guilt and comforting. Swallowing once to steel himself, he patted her once or twice on the shoulder, then on the head when she seemed to relax a little at his touch.

"It's fine." he muttered. "It's fine, Asuna. Please don't cry. Just... take this as a lesson and learn from it, okay? Live and learn. Survive. Be careful and make note of your surroundings. Think before acting."

She sniffed and shivered, trying to compose herself. "...okay. Okay... thank you."

They stayed like that, with his hand gently resting atop her head, until Argo finally cleared her throat pointedly with a hint of amusement. Both of them flinched back very much in the same manner he and Argo had just a while ago, which was why there was a clearly visible smirk on the Rat's face.

"My, my. Kii-bou and A-chan getting all cozy with each other, nyeh?" She teased.

Both players flushed slightly, though Asuna had more of a relieved expression rather than one of embarrassment.

They fell into a companionable silence for a few seconds, listening to the light hum of the gate.

"It would be best if you two stayed away from me for a while." Kirito eventually spoke. "It won't do any of us any good if we're seen together in public, given my newly acquired reputation."

Asuna's face fell, but he could tell that she understood the reason why he said that. She sighed and nodded sadly, before reaching out and gripping his arm with the steel-vice-like strength of a frustrated woman.

"You had better take good care of yourself, you hear me?" She muttered with a dangerous undertone, though it still sounded somewhat fragile. "Don't get into any more trouble."

Argo uncrossed her arms and flicked her hood back over her head, looking back at him with uncharacteristically concerned eyes. "I guess I'll try and dampen your infamy in a way that doesn't compromise your efforts. In return, you're going to listen to A-chan and stay safe, you got that, Kirito?"

Kirito nodded frantically and sighed in relief as Asuna let go.

"Well... I guess I'll see you both later."

Asuna hesitated, as if she still had something to say, but was cut off when Argo popped up behind her and began pushing her towards the exit portal that would take them instantly back to town.

Suddenly, he remembered something and called out the info dealer's name.

"Argo!"

When she turned around with a questioning look on her face, Kirito continued, "Sinon. Please find out what happened to her. And warn her to stay away from me for the time being, I'll pay any price."

Argo just turned right back around with a huff. "Free. I was going to do that anyways. Bai-bai, Kii-bou."

Kirito could only blink in mystification as they vanished through the portal. Argo never did anything for free.

Or, maybe it was her way of paying him back for his actions.

"Thank you, Argo." He whispered to the empty room. Nothing responded but a small rustling sound, almost lost among the sound of his own movements as he trekked over to the exit.

Before entering the portal, he paused and looked around. His gaze landed on one of the many darkened alcoves engraved into the wall.

"...and, thank you for saving me too."

Silence.

"...mum."

"Shh!"

An awkward silence.

Then: "We really do suck at hiding, don't we? Ehhhhh, you're welcome, hero."

Kirito turned and walked through the gate.

---

Author's Note:

College has not been kind to my muse. It was subject to a fate worse than death: Writer's block. I wrote bits and bits over the year 2015, as my inspiration came and went, so it may be a little inconsistent or rushed. Sorry!

That being said, college hasn't let up; if anything, it's even more tough than before. I'm probably still not going to be able to write on a consistent basis for a long time if I want to keep my grades up. I highly doubt I can churn out another chapter anytime soon. Soon meaning for the foreseeable future. Sorry again! Please blame Calculus and Physics and stupid computer programs that won't compile.

I'm pretty sure if you know the character you can all guess who the mystery girl is. I left more than enough hints. She's not an OC.

-pats Sinon to try and comfort-

Please review with any sort of constructive opinions or advice you have! Though I'm not sure I can make any use of your feedback for a long time...

---

Thanks to nanaya88 and audiodelus for helping me go over this chapter.

I don't own Sword Art Online or Pokemon.