Disclaimer: I do not in any way shape or form own .hack or its characters.

Notes: Ages-Tsukasa, Mimiru, Kite, Black Rose, Mistral, Mireille, Subaru, Elk-around 16 or 17.

Sora, Crim, Silver Knight, Ouka, Gardenia, Kamui, Balmung- late 20's

BT, Sanjuro, Helba, Moonstone, Nuke, Rachel, Bear- Late 30's

Hotaru, Reki, A-20, Ryoko Terajima- around 7 or 8

Macha- ? Unknown

This is my first fan fic ever written, so review with constructive criticism. FYI, constructive criticism is when you tell the person what they are doing wrong and how to fix it; not just telling a person that they suck and have make a bunch of mistakes.

Summary: An alternate universe where the game characters from dothack are not game characters, but real people. It is not part of a game, but reality itself. Tsukasa is a parentless child living in the city of Dun Loireag. After having an unusual field adventure will his classmates, his boring life starts to change, but will it be for better or worse?

Reviews: Please review me if you like this story, reviews will give me incentive to create new chapters and or stories

" 'What is it?' 'A great force, the power it holds can bring forth either salvation, or, destruction... at the whim of the user.' "

.hackInfection quote Orca and Aura

DotHack: Reality ch. 10

By: TsukasaTheFominian

(Crim)

They had been fighting for ten minutes to reach the Crimson Knights HQ, and were almost there. Nobody knew, but the monsters continually slowing them were deliberately stalling them, as ordered by the Shadow Slime. Though the monsters were not smart enough to speak, they instinctively knew to obey the other monster, and knew how to do what it asked. An unknown force guided their actions, a force thought to have been destroyed years ago.

The humans knew none of this though, all of Crim's party, Bear, Gardenia, Kite, Black Rose, Kamui, and Silver Knight, only tried to reach their destination to help Tsukasa and Subaru. Both Crim and Silver Knight were horrified by what they found when they reached their base, the front entrance in ruins and a huge fire spreading was almost enough to crush their spirits. The site of multiple Wave Masters trying to put out the fire gave some heart, but the knowledge that their home was destroyed still stung at them. A patrol of Wave Master Knights ran up to their leaders with news.

"Sir, we have captured a mutant outlaw who may have been involved with the destruction of our base."

"Good" replies Silver Knight. "Who is it and what happened?"

"When we arrived to put out the fire, we found the outlaw Balmung fighting with a monster of an unknown type. We tried to subdue both the monster and the outlaw, but the creature seemed to be made out of some sort of slime and was able to escape us through the rocks. The winged human tried to give chase, but we were able to detain him."

Kamui was the next to speak up; addressing the Wave Master whom was giving the report. "Don't you dare call a mutant creature human you spineless coward. They are nothing more then disgusting anomalies that we are sworn to exterminate. Our leaders have spoken extensively about this." The anger in her voice was undeniable to everyone around her. "If I hear you talking of those creatures as humans again you will be made an example of."

Crim then steps in between the Wave Master and Kamui with a dangerous look in his eye. "You forget your place Cerulean Leader. You have no authority to order my troops around or to punish them in any way. The ability to had out orders and to give punishments are only available to Silver Knight and myself. Just like we can not command your knights or punish them. Now Elk, why don't you take me to your captured person." (A/N: I wasn't planning on adding Elk, but now that he's in here, he's just a minor character who you may never see again. I don't have this planned out.)

Kite could easily see why neither Crim nor Silver Knight looked at Kamui with kindness or pleasure. The way she over steps her authority and hated mutants would cause any kind hearted person to instantly dislike her. Kite himself had no problems with any mutants, not that he had ever met one, but whenever he heard about a captured mutant, they never told about anything he or she had done to deserve capture. Never was there a crime stated, just information about the capture. It was another law created by the Administrators, which made no sense to anyone. Only the completely blind and devoted people like Kamui had no problem with any of the rules, and she didn't tolerate others talking down to her.

"Like I said before it is a thing, not a person Crim. I have no problem with reporting your negligence to the Admin. and forcing you to step down from your position."

"You're just as greedy and backstabbing as ever Kamui. Always looking for even the smallest flaw to get rid of a rival and get what you want. I will state again that you have no jurisdiction here, and if I find that any of your troops have harmed or killed any one for any reason, you will be the one without your knights. You agreed to come and help us, not take over spread your "justice" here. The objective is to find the one who let the monsters into the city and detain them for questioning. If I find any sign of murder by your knights, there will be hell to pay. Let's go now Elk. Kite, Black Rose, stay with Bear, Silver Knight, and Gardenia."

The Crimson Wave Master only smiled at his leader as he led the way where Balmung was. Everyone present, even Silver Knight, was giving smiles to the Red Thunder as he walked off. Everyone appreciating the way he handled Kamui and putting her in her place. The Cerulean leader only gave Crim a death glare before returning to the city to help the troops.

Crim meanwhile looked down at the winged human in chains. He wondered how many people he knew in the past would turn out to be criminals or illegals. Sora, Balmung, and Orca, all some of his closest friends in school and as he grew up all turned into criminals or, as in Balmung's case, were reviled to be a mutant. Crim actually pitied Kamui, since she had grown up with basically no friends. She had grown up on the belief that the Admin and the rules knew everything and could never do wrong. She couldn't understand that mutants were just as human as anyone else was, except they couldn't help the way they were born. Even some criminals were just victims of circumstances and only did what they could to survive.

"How are you my old friend?"

"Being held captive isn't what I would call good or fun, but I guess I'm fine."

"You know that I can't release you, especially with Kamui here."

"Yes, and I wouldn't ask you to risk your position either. You and Subaru are some of the only people to let mutants try to live their lives. You don't know how many in Net Slum owe their lives to you."

"Balmung, what were you fighting, what destroyed the building, and what happened to Subaru?"

"To answer your first question, it was some sort of strange black slime monster called a Shadow Slime."

"If it is unheard of, then how do you know its name?"

"Because that is what it told Subaru and Tsukasa." This caused Crim's eyes to widen in shock as Balmung continued. "It could talk, and even said that it let the monsters into the city. My guess is that it is what keeps letting monsters appear in the city as well.

"For the second question, Tsukasa was the one to blow apart the building."

Crim had a hard time swallowing that answer. "Impossible, that blast shook the entire city. If he could do that then he'd have to be..."

"Yes, the boy is an illegal. He has more power then three adult Wave Masters working together. If he was trying to kill the Shadow Slime in order to protect Subaru."

"A blast that powerful didn't work?"

"Slime monsters are extremely powerful creatures. Normal attacks and magic do not effect them. Tsukasa seems to be able to summon a slime monster himself. That is how he was able to fend off Sora when their group was attacked a few days ago."

'Now things are starting to add up' thought Crim.

"For your third question, I don't know. Both Subaru and the boy ran after I showed up to fend off the monster. Why was that boy alone with my sister anyways Crim?"

"...Um (sweat drop) They just became really fast friends."

"How close of friends?"

"Well..." Crim was half expecting Balmung to start asking questions about his little sister. He had always been over protective of her in personal matters, even though they were half siblings and she was ten years younger then he. "I don't really know how close they are, but lets focus on finding them first so you can ask them later. Do you have any clue where they could have gone?"

Balmung only shook his head while sighing, making the knight leader wonder if they were going to find them in time. Just as this thought crossed his mind, Crim began to feel something. It was nothing like he had ever felt before, but it was powerful and... the only word he could find to describe it was "bright." Only Wave Masters ever felt any powers and aura's like this, but Crim, a simple blade wielder, was able to feel it clearly.

Though the Long Arm didn't realize it, every person in the city was feeling the exact same thing. Blade users were simply awed by the new force, while the normally sensitive Wave Masters were overwhelmed by it, causing them to become completely lost in this unknown power. Crim rushed outside leaving Balmung behind without a thought, the Red Lightning somehow knew that when he reached where the power was emanating from, he would find both Tsukasa and Subaru.

(Kite and Black Rose)

Crim had just gone into see the prisoner when Silver Knight got an urgent message about criminals who had just been captured near the Central Clock. After ordering the teens to stay with the adults, he left to investigate. Things had gotten rather boring for Kite and Black Rose, seeing as how they had nothing to do, nowhere to go, and no way to find their missing friends. They were contemplating sneaking off to go look when they felt the power. The feeling of an aura was unknown to either, while the strange Wave Master Elk, near them, fell to the ground; tears of joy spilling from his eyes as he felt things he had never felt before in his life.

They were both lost in the feeling until Crim ran by them. Suddenly, both teens knew exactly what Crim had realized, that their friends could be found at the source. The two ran off with Bear and Gardenia close behind, somehow knowing where the energy was coming from, the central gate area near the Clock Tower.

While running, only Bear noticed that their path was clear of any monsters. He realized that there had been fighting up until the power began. The monsters which were coming in droves had stopped their advance and where no longer appearing, as if the power which had just started emanating had stopped the invisible holes the monsters had been crawling in from.

While they were about three blocks away from their destination, a pillar of light suddenly shot up into the sky, shining light onto the entire city. Nobody could describe its beauty, but everyone could tell it was a summoning spell at its core, and the entire city knew that the creature that had been summoned was far more powerful then anything summoned before.

When the teens rounded the corner, they met a sight unlike any they had seen before, two monsters of great power that not even Crim had expected. One was a creature any human could tell was dark, but didn't hold the description Balmung had given Crim. It was a strange creature, which seemed to be made of crystal, Ying Yang symbols where on it's arms and chest, instead of eyes and a mouth, and it had three crystals on its face. A circle on top of it's head gave it even more of an odd look, while the red staff with a circle at the staff's top gave a huge contrast to the monster's white body.

The second creature was a being of glowing rainbow light, but the dragon shape of it was undeniable. It was as big as a house, and radiated pure power. The creature had no definite shape, no real body except the beautiful glowing light, radiating multiple colors as the light frayed at the dragon's edges.

Nobody was surprised to see two figures on the ground beneath the rainbow dragon; Subaru, who was lying on the ground looking up in aw at Tsukasa, who was standing tall with power radiating off him. Power which took the form of the same rainbow glowing light which the dragon was made up of.

As everyone watched on, the dragon turned its head slightly until it was looking directly at Kite and his small group. As the dragon stared down on the group, Kite felt like he was the creatures center of attention, and suddenly felt a strange power shoot up his left arm, making it feel aflame. His wrist was suddenly engulfed in a bright light, and after the light died down, he found he was wearing a strange bracelet made up of translucent polygons.

(Reki)

They were almost to the clock tower, and that was where the boy finally got his first look of the legendary thief called Sora. He was standing tall and proud, but had some sort of evil glint in his eye, a dangerous look that made him seem like some sort of criminal. Hotaru had been telling him about her father, and how much he loved her. He'd learned about how the thief had taken the girl in, about how he was really a kind person who just needed to be a villain to fight off the Administrators. She told him about the very first time he had betrayed his friend Crim, and how he'd been depressed for days afterwards.

Reki knew Hotaru wouldn't lie about her father, but this man didn't seem kind at all. 'Something is wrong' the boy thought. 'Macha was being strange as well, she flew away about half way here.'

"Where is everyone?" The boy asked.

"I have them locked up inside. They'll be released once I get you two brats."

Reki was slightly hurt by this, but found that Hotaru was unaffected. He knew then that something was very wrong if her own father treating her like this didn't hurt her. Just then, troops from the Cerulean and Crimson Knight groups swarmed around the tower area with weapons drawn. One woman was dressed differently then the others stood out and announced, "I Kamui of the Cerulean knights place you, Sora, under arrest for terrorizing citizens and the attempted abduction of these children. And you, mutant, will be arrested for working with this criminal and for being a mutant."

Reki looked around in confusion until Hotaru finally whispered to him, "We were being followed by those knights since around halfway to here. Play along with this fake hostage thing and we'll probably survive."

"Sorry to disappoint you Miss. Kamui, but I will have the two little children I came for. You can't stop me or my little friends."

"We have you out numbered and out manned, both you and your little wolf friend."

"I wasn't just talking about the wolf you fool." Sora then snapped his fingers and suddenly Macha appeared out of no where in front of the children. As he grabbed a hold of Reki and Hotaru's arms both children started to struggle as if this wasn't what they wanted. This made it a little more difficult for Macha to teleport them all to safety, but he had plenty of time; Ouka was doing a wonderful job of protecting the three people, as three were pulled off the ground and teleported out of the city to Net Slums.

As Macha teleported, Sora was swamped with more knights then even he could possible handle. Ouka had already turned into her wolf form and was running through the knights to get to the Chaos Gate. Macha was special because he could teleport even in the city, which was something not even Tsukasa could do. The Wave Master could only teleport from field while in a field, to any city despite restrictions, and to restricted areas, but he still needed a Chaos Gate to accomplish those.

Sora had half expected to get caught finally, especially with Kamui in the picture. He didn't expect to get caught within the first few minutes of the fight though. He had been doing good until someone was finally able to grab him from behind, while another tackled his legs from the front, causing him to fall with a 'thud.' The only consolation he could see was the fact that he had been captured by the Crimson Knights who would only imprison him, and not the Cerulean Knights who would undoubtedly kill him on the spot, though not for a lack of trying.

"So how do you want to die Sora, slow or fast?" Kamui stated with amusement in her voice.

"You shall not kill anyone Knight Leader." One of his nameless captors said. "We are taking him in for questioning, then to be put under judgment of the Administrators."

"How dare you, you worthless little nobody. I am your leader and you shall do what I say."

"You forget your place," the same knight said. "Crim, Subaru, and Silver Knight are our leaders. You have no right to order us around and kill captives."

"You were just told that a little while ago Kamui." Silver Knight says as he walks over to the female leader. "Isn't that right? You were just told that if you try to kill any captured human or mutant that you would suffer."

Kamui is now angry and talking through clenched teeth. "Silver Knight..."

"My troops and I will take this low life (points to Sora) to the dungeon. You will check on the hostages inside the building."

As Silver Knight began to leave, the strange power began to arise. Since they were much closer to the source, the Knights near the clock were even more deeply impacted then those at the base. Everyone there was lost in the power, even Kamui and Sora, as well as those locked up in the Clock Tower as well. Only a few people were snapped out of their trance when the huge pillar of light erupted. Kamui, finally freed, began to race to the site of the power, which wasn't too far, and was met with the proof she needed to convict Tsukasa of his illegal powers; the sight of him summoning a dragon, a feat which would normally take five adult Wave Masters to accomplish.

------------------(TBC)----------------

A/N: I just have one more piece to go before I get done with this whole festival mini-series. I don't know how to explain a dragon made up of rainbow lights either, I hope I did a good job with that. And Skeith is finally here; just to let you know, I'll only do three or four phase monsters in this story. Reasons, 1) Some are just stupid and weird, (Gorre, Magus, Travos) one doesn't work while I have cat Macha in play (Macha) 2) If I did try anduse all 8, it wouldmake this fic way too long.

What happened to Shadow Slime you ask, that will be revealed in the next chapter.