And I'm back with yet another chapter! Sorry about the wait. (But really, I think we all knew it was going to happen again :/ Sorry) Vacations and homework(AP and GATE classes peeps) and sports and drama and stuff. Enjoy the resolved cliffy!

Special thanks to:

megashypuppy

Patient 0 Zero

DisasterMaster0

Doubleminor20

Nope (guest): While I have completely no idea what you're talking about, I'm going to take it as a compliment and tell you that I couldn't find any other fanfics like this in this fandom/category. So thanks for the compliment.

SmileWave

Shadeslayers of Chosen Ones

alanhuang649

Drttmt12

Sn0wk1tty (guest): I'll try to update sooner but with the reasons stated in the author's note at the end, its undetermined.

For all of your reviews on the last chapter. They mean a lot! And I'm super, super sorry about the wait. Honsetly.

Plus a huge thanks to the people who have favorited(131) and followed(179) the story and an even larger thanks to those who are still here after the long wait.

Now onto the story! And sorry in advance for the small swears (just one word) that I use. And the change in the title name.

(Disclaimer: I do not own SAO or any of its characters. I just own this fanfiction's plot and the kitten)

Chapter Ten:

Ruining Plans

"Kyaaahhh!" Silica yelled as she jumped passed Kirito with a sword skill activated. "Switch!"

Kirito switched with her and swung his sword at the large beast. Flare ran up his arm and jumped off his sword into the monster's eyes. It roared and pawed its face to get the familiar off. Kirito stabbed the beast and slide under with his sword dragging through the hide, signalling to the last party member that it was time for her attack. Asuna didn't waste a moment and activated her sword skill that made her so famous. Before long, the monster shattered into fractals. Flare let out a mew and trotted over to Kirito who was grinning, still sitting on the floor.

"That," Asuna said, offering her hand, "was a great plan."

"Thanks." Kirito said. He took her hand and stood up, dusting himself off. His smile didn't show his inner turmoil as yet another cold ball of ice settled in his stomach.

"Now that's over, what next? Shall we go right or left?" Asuna asked, addressing the group.

Kirito looked at the pathways, fear ran ice cold through his veins at the sight of the two paths. He debated over which path to take when his eyesight showed what was down each hall.

Damn you Kayaba. He thought, looking at the right pathway which was smaller.

Taking a deep breath and exhaling, Kirito raised his arm and pointed at the small hall. "How about that one on the right?"

Asuna hummed noncommittally. "I don't know. We wouldn't have that much space to move."

"But that'd be an advantage wouldn't? Most of these monsters are large so because we're smaller and more agile we'd have the upper hand. Besides, we could protect each other's back better."

"I say," Silica piped up, "that we go down the right path. We can always come back and see the main hallway."

Kirito forced a smirk. "Two against one, commander."

Asuna gave a glare but her smile gave away that she was really just annoyed at his mocking. She shrugged and went first into the right hallway. Kirito sighed and gestured for Silica to go before him. She gave him a small worried look but it disappeared as she nodded. Gripping his sword tight, he went forward, thinking on the beginning of their trip.

"ASUNA!"

Silica was screaming and waving her short sword everywhere, trying to hit the shadow. Kirito followed its movements and ran after it. It slunk up the wall and hung from the ceiling. Kirito followed it and flipped backwards slicing the neck. It dropped then, like water, the shadow dripped away showing a falling and half-conscious Asuna. Kirito couldn't do anything as she fell and was immensely thankful to Silica for noticing and breaking her fall. Kirito was angry and, as soon as his feet touched the floor, he bolted at the monster. He never let up, slicing it then dicing then finally mincing it that the fractals that formed from the leftovers had no need to break apart and just dissolved. He noticed his eyesight had a few screens in front of him with programming and he dismissed them. Kirito looked back at Silica and Asuna against the wall before walking over. Asuna connected gazes first.

"How'd you do that?" She asked, sitting up.

"Does it matter? I saved you." Kirito answered, trying to wrap his head around the fact that he might have engaged the system during the battle.

Zeal meowed from his pocket, when she'd gotten in there Kirito had no idea. Asuna's hard gaze softened. "Thank you for that. It was sapping my health."

Kirito nodded. A notification popped up and he excused himself for a second. It was from Kayaba. He was trying to apologize for not realizing that something a worker had made and implemented and all that jazz. Then there was the scolding paragraph for engaging the system and possibly breaking the agreement. Then there were the orders. Gritting his teeth, Kirito wrote a quick reply, dismissed the screen and went back to Asuna and Silica.

Now here he was trying to gain the courage to actually follow through with those orders while walking down this narrow hallway. The monsters chose then to spawn, when they were too far from the entrance to run and trapped between the pair of monsters. Silica yelped and Asuna found her senses quick enough to react immediately. Kirito parried a blow then sidestepped and directed the coming blow towards the right of Silica. It hit her side, shocking her into action as she whipped around and slashed the arm that had hit her. Flare yowled shrilly when Kirito, reluctantly, pinched her scruff rather hard and held her up. The monsters, along with Silica and Asuna, froze and covered their ears screaming and roaring at the noise and noises.

Kirito took advantage of the distraction and ran towards the exit. He slid under the monster and kept running. He blocked out the sounds of Silica and Asuna's screams and yelling, focusing on his feet pounding against the floor. Or maybe it was his heart pounding in his head.

It no longer mattered. He escaped the dungeon and stumbled as he tripped over the long grass hiding the exit that he came out of. Zeal cried out as she squirmed from underneath him. Kirito rolled over onto his back and cursed very loudly. Knowing he had to keep going, Kirito got up , punching the ground as he did so, and kept running.

He reached the village right before dusk and got two rooms, one for himself and one for the two party members he left behind.

.oO0Oo.

Footsteps were loudly and there was arguing from outside his room. Kirito, leaning against the door, didn't catch any words but knew it was Asuna and Silica. He waited, watching the time. When it was about midnight, Kirito let the safety of his room and walked out to the edge of the village. He sat on the short stone wall underneath an oak-like tree. He glanced around, making sure he was alone before pulling up the menu.

Kirito was puzzled. He seemed to have the same menu as anyone else. So how in the world did he change his avatar the other day? A small thought appeared in his head as Zeal meowed and crawled into his lap.

"Well no harm in trying." Kirito muttered. Taking a deep breath he said, "System login. ID: Kirito"

Screens began popping up in front of him and one that said, Change avatar?

Kirito tapped yes and the same fractals appeared as it did the other day, shedding the SaoKakk avatar and revealing Kirito.

He looked around the menu tapping different little icons and reading new information. The old, geeky part of his brain woke up and was totally taking over his mind at this point. It was like he was back in his room in front of his computer and hacking into systems or creating a program or editing one. Everything was tuned out, even Zeal's purring. This caused a problem. Especially when Zeal meowed loudly, he was too absorbed in the screens that he didn't hear anything until one word from a familiar, yet meek voice.

"Kirito?"

I know. Sorry about the cliffhanger again. But here's some important news:

First, I've basically lost all interest in this story and it's anime.

Second, I've lost all my plans I had written out and really only remember the next scene.

Third, I've resolved to ask my readers their opinions. I can either end the story in the next chapter(it would be action packed), a little bit later (filled more with drama), or keep working on this and go the length I was originally going to shoot for. With the last option, I'd ask you guys to give me ideas for floors, characters, and quick little subplots I could write in.

So please review to tell me if I should end the story in the next chapter, in a couple chapters, or just stick to the original plan.

And I hope you enjoyed.

Chapter Eleven:

Shh...