hackGU: Return Chapter 7: Hacker, a .hack/sign fanfic

All right, who'd have guessed, another disclaimer! (Yay…!)

.hack//G.U. does not belong to me…which in my opinion, sucks… XP

Axel and Hikaru, as well as Ginny and Aurum belong to Miffin/Pudding Fiend… The characters Kuroha and Hunter, also introduced in this chapter are Miffin's as well. Eclipse and Forsythe as well, but you really don't see them…)

Eon is mine…as well as Koji, Denki, and Aqua; all introduced this chapter.

Now, with the beginning of this chapter, brings a close to the contest of this fic! (Yes, I plan to have others!) The winner, Mudge and Miffin; and no, I didn't choose their ideas because I know Miffin. They both said similar ideas, and that idea had the most votes, so there. XP I also mixed a bit of Dusk Ado's idea in with it, but wasn't able to completely recreate it…So, congratulations to you three, and thank you for all those that participated! Next time, I hope for more participants!

Chapter 7: Hacker

Eon teleported into Mac Anu angrily. Since when did Yata get off ordering her to 'come and see him immediately'?! What a stuck-up jerk…

She stomped out of the Cathedral, and to the Warp Panel in a huff; ignoring all of the Kestrel PKer's moving their blood-thirsty gazes to her.

With a bright, spiralling flash of cyan light, she appeared in Mercenary District, and slowly waltzed into the Home leisurely.

He disrupted her levelling up; the least he could do is wait for her arrival.

------------------------------------Raven: The Serpent of Lore-----------------------------------

"You're late." Yata commented as the little dog-girl entered the dark room.

"Yeah, well you're early, baldy." Eon argued, ignoring the glare that Pi had given her from the insult. "Anyway, what did you want me for? With all of these monitors, I think that you could see that I was busy. Short-Mailing me in the middle of a fight does not help me kill monsters!" Eon explained.

Yata let a small grin onto his face; this child had a lot of spunk…

He turned to face her, and crossed his arms over his chest. He looked at her from above the rims of his glasses, before speaking.

"I have a mission for you, as well as the other two known Guardian Masters." He announced.

Eon starred at him for a moment, before bursting out into laughter. It was not funny, but the fact that he had called her to come here, alone, must have meant that Axel had completely blown him off.

She managed to stop herself from laughing, just in time to hear Pi whisper to Yata that this seemed to be a bad idea.

"You cannot possibly leave this up to a couple of…children!" She explained desperately.

"I understand your concern Pi, but I believe that we can leave this one mission up to them…if only to see how much trust I can put into them for future use." Yata explained.

Eon grit her teeth hard.

For future use?! What are we? TOYS!? She demanded mentally.

Sounds like it…bastard… We'll show him! Shiruba agreed with a growl.

Eon managed to suppress her anger somehow, noticing how Yata seemed to almost be goading her on to yell at him. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction…not easily, at least.

"And why are you sending us on a mission? I don't remember officially joining G.U." Eon explained, crossing her arms as well. "So technically, you can't control us."

Yata's grin grew a tiny bit more.

"Whether or not you officially join our cause, having the anomaly, 'Shiruba', within your PC body, as well as 'Ginryuu' within Axel, and 'Aurum' within Hikaru, you are all considered hacked players. Unless you are to obey the will of Project G.U., and provide the support that we ask for, all privileges will be taken away from the three of you, and your characters taken into examination by the Administrators of the CC Corporation." Yata explained simply.

Eon grit her teeth even harder, and curled her hands into fists; both in the real world, and this one.

How could he say this so coolly?!

She took a deep breath, before glaring up to Yata, who seemed triumphant over her.

"Then what is this 'mission'?" She asked, defeated.

'The World' was all that she had; if she lost it, she didn't know what she would do…

"You are to form a party with the players, Axel and Hikaru, and explore the area, Delta, Hidden Sniping Operator, and search for any AIDA within the area, and destroy it. Understood?" Yata asked.

Eon nodded, ignoring Shiruba who was now yelling a long chain of swears from within her head.

"I get it. Go in, destroy, come out, right…?" Eon replied.

"Yes." Yata agreed.

"Okay, I'll be off then." Eon bid them farewell, and raced out of The Serpent of Lore as fast as she could.

Being in that place alone, without Axel or Hikaru at her side, was a little…creepy…

Pi narrowed her eyes a little bit, as she watched the girl race out of the room, full throttle, before turning to Yata.

"Are you sure that they can do this mission…? Even Haseo had me with him, the first time that he messed with AIDA." The Tribal Grappler explained, worried.

Yata pushed his orange glasses up higher, before answering.

"We really will not know until they have either succeeded, or failed." He explained. "If worse comes to worse, they will end up as Lost Ones; and I would presume, that if that were to happen, there is a chance that their Guardians would switch hosts."

Pi bit her lip in the real world. How could Master Yata be so heartless…? These kids were probably no older than Haseo; and he would never risk putting the Adept Rogue into so much danger…

"Pi," Yata started, shocking her for a moment.

"Yes…?" The Admin asked, looking up to her superior.

"I have a new mission for you as well." Yata said.

"Yes…?" She asked, but already knew what he wanted; it was the same with all of the Epitaph Users as well…

------------------------------The Eternal City: Mac Anu: Chaos Gate--------------------------

Eon tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for Axel and Hikaru to transfer in from their newest PK-friendly field. She had told them both what Yata had explained about G.U. to her in a Short Mail, and that seemed to get under Axel's skin, as the reply stated a large amount of swears, as well as a 'be there soon'.

She shut her eyes, and leaned against the stone wall behind herself. She could imagine it being cold, like a real wall; not just a bunch of data in a computer game…

There was a bright flash, and Eon opened her eyes, just in time to see Axel race over to her.

"You weren't kidding, right?! They'd really take our characters away?!" He demanded.

Eon nodded silently, and Axel swore again. Even Hikaru looked a little down-hearted.

"So…should we be going…?" Eon asked.

Axel and Hikaru both nodded, and the three of them joined into a party.

Eon quickly put in the three keywords to the new area; Hidden, Sniping, Operator…

There was a bright flash of cyan light, and the three of them were transferred to a completely new area.

Axel was the first one to say anything, in the form of a swear, when they saw the area that they were in.

A cave; oh how lovely. A big, long cave…most likely with monsters too powerful for Eon to take out…

"I bet that he chose this area on purpose…" Axel complained as the three of them started walking. "Just to keep me from filling in my quota today… I barely filled it yesterday!"

"At least you did." Eon said, attempting to cheer him up. "And if we get out of here fast, you'll have a lot of time to finish it, won't you…?"

"That's true." Hikaru agreed, nodding his head.

"I guess…" Axel muttered, before spotting the first party of monsters in the dungeon.

Two Goblins, and a large Scorpion.

Lovely…

Axel gave Eon a sympathetic look, as her ears flattened sorrowfully; these monsters were too strong for her…

With the press of the 'X' button, Axel sneak attacked them, and killed one of the Goblins instantly. He quickly flipped around, and slashed the second one, before it could summon another annoying Goblin in the fallen one's place, and Hikaru finished off the Scorpion with a hard swing of his Lance.

"There, done!" Axel chirped cheerfully, but it did not brighten Eon's mood.

Axel scratched the back of his head awkwardly, before continuing down the Dungeon.

Hopefully, it wasn't that long…

--------------------------------The Frozen Paradise: Saal Haku---------------------------------

Haseo transferred into Saal Haku quietly, only to be blinded at first sight. All around him was white!

At first, he wondered if the AIDA had done something to mess up the server, before realizing that some light, shining, crystal-like things were slowly flying down towards him.

Snow…?

Haseo blinked in surprise. He really didn't expect to see snow…Saal Haku sounded more like a desert place to him…

He looked around himself. There were four paths; one north, west, south, and east. Haseo silently opened up his map to see where each path led.

The south path led to the Quest Shop alone; nothing else was around it. East led to a bazaar-like place, since the rectangular area had about eight shops on either side. There was a small path in between the northern shops, which circled to the west, and led up to the north path; a small area labelled 'hills' in the center. The north path had the Home symbol plastered in the middle of it, but nothing more. Haseo looked to the west path, which had an 'H', which apparently stood for 'healing'…he wondered what that was for…

Haseo finally closed his map, and looked around to coordinate himself with his surroundings. The Chaos Gate was in the center of the block that he was in. To the left of the Gate, was a large boxed-in area, with a neon sign that flashed 'Skating Rink'. Haseo narrowed his eyes for a moment in confusion, before hearing a loud crash come from inside…he didn't want to know…

The Adept Rogue started heading to the North path, before hearing a familiar voice call his name.

"HASEEEEEEEEEOOOOOO!!!" Gaspard called.

JUST as Haseo was about o turn around, the Beastman tackled him in a large glomp; Silibus racing up behind him.

"We heard the good news!" Silibus panted.

"Our Guild is going to be a level ten Guild now!" Gaspard exclaimed, before hugging onto Haseo's waist harder.

"Get off!" Haseo howled, before shoving Gaspard off.

The Beastman only giggled, before standing up and dusting himself off.

"Thank you for everything, Haseo." Silibus suddenly said, sticking out his hand to the Rogue. "Canard would have never come this far, if not for you."

Haseo slowly took Silibus' hand, and shook it.

"I-it was nothing…" Haseo started, but Silibus and Gaspard both shook their heads.

"Without you, we'd of never even been in the Arena! You've let us move our Guild four times, from Mac Anu, to Don Dola, to Breg Epona, then to Tartarga, and now here!" Silibus explained.

"Yeah, Haseo! Thanks to you, we're now at the same level that Moon Tree and Kestrel are at." Gaspard stated. "That makes us one of the biggest Guilds in 'The World'!"

Then why do we only have three members…? Haseo wondered.

"I see…" Haseo lied. "Well then…are we going to check out our new Guild or what?!" He asked.

Silibus and Gaspard cheered enthusiastically as they raced up the north path, and through the large twin doors of the Frozen Paradise's Home.

----------------------------------------Delta Hidden Sniping Operator-----------------------------------

A large red vein was pulsing on Axel's PC body's head.

Ten floors. This was the tenth floor of this cave!

"Since when do caves even go past five floors?!" He howled, before noticing a small blue Sleiphnir bouncing around by the wall.

With a quick dash, Axel kicked the unfortunate Sleiphnir all the way across the room, and into the other wall.

Eon felt a little sorry for the poor thing, but as an NPC, it robotically restated its line, and vanished after promising to help them.

"DAMN HORSE!" Axel howled yet again, before kicking his foot into the wall. "CAVES AREN'T THIS LONG! YOU JINXED US!"

"Axel, calm down." Hikaru said, before picking him up. "The Beast Statue should just be down there…" The tall Lord Partizan explained.

Axel slowly nodded, before Hikaru finally put him down.

"Okay, so the AIDA-whatever's should be in there, right…?" He asked.

Both Hikaru and Eon nodded in agreement, and Axel let out a silent prayer of thanks to Aura.

He was beginning to think that they would die in here…even if this was a video game…

"Is that all that we were needed for…?" A voice asked, making the three of them stop in their tracks.

"Someone's here…?" Axel whispered.

The party of Guardian Masters was just entering the area to the Beast Statue, before they heard a few voices conversing, one of which was silent; only words came from the character.

"Looks like it…" Eon muttered, sneaking a peek into the room.

There were four people within the room; all male. The first one to speak was the second shortest of the bunch. He had black hair with a ponytail in the back, and was wearing a tight black tank top, with a dark navy overcoat on top of it. There were white cuffs on the ends of the jacket's arms, and his pants were a matching navy to the jacket. In his mouth was a small, but noticeable, toothpick…

Eon swung her head back behind the wall before any of them could see her.

"I think that they're HACKED!" She exclaimed, though as quietly as possible.

"What do you mean?!" Axel demanded.

"Characters do NOT have toothpicks in this game!" The dog-girl explained.

Axel and Hikaru looked at each other, before quickly sneaking a peek as well. They watched for a number of seconds, which felt like eternity to Eon, before swinging their heads back behind the wall.

"Guess you're right…" Axel muttered.

"But what are hacked players doing here…?" Hikaru asked.

"HOW would I know?!" Eon asked, before listening in on their conversation once more.

"Yes, that was it." The silent, as well as the shortest one typed.

"Then I believe that that means that we may leave then." The tallest one said.

He wore navy kimono-style clothing, with long baggy pants and straw sandals. The jacket had short baggy sleeves that ended at about the length of his elbows, and there was a long white shirt under that; also with overly large sleeves. His eyes were shut, and slightly hidden under his long light brown bangs. His hair was neat, and had a ponytail in the back. On his left shoulder, to his right hip, was a long crimson strap, and there was also a crimson belt with a sword sheathe to his left. A large, cat-like smile was plastered on his face, even when saying this.

"Do as you please then." The shortest one typed.

"Okey dokey then!" The second tallest agreed.

He wore a cowboy hat on his head, and his hair was slowly layered in colour; brown at the top, and slowly getting lighter on its way down. The cowboy wore what appeared to be very heavy duty gloves, which stretched all of the way to his elbows; brown in colour. He wore a vest with many pockets in it, and brown and green pants…almost like camouflage, but not quite.

"All right then! Let's get a move on! I've got a lot of work to do, just to pay you off…" The black-haired boy explained, glaring at the silent one.

"I am glad to be of service of you." He typed back, though it seemed sarcastic.

Yeah, some service. More like slave labour if you ask me…" He shot back.

"No one ever said that this would be a fun job, baka-chan." The short boy typed.

The black haired one let out a frustrated grunt, before using the Warp Panel next to them to exit the cave.

The others watched him leave, before anyone spoke.

"I think that it is unwise to annoy Koji like that." The tallest one explained. "He is quite…sensitive…"

"He'll need to grow up." The quiet one typed strictly.

The tallest one starred at the short one, though his eyes were shut, it still seemed a little…unnerving, even if Eon did not know why…

"N-now now guys, let's not argue!" The cowboy said, standing in between the two of them. "C'mon, Denki, let's go before he takes away these characters, and we lose all of that money for no reason."

'Denki', as he was called, nodded to the cowboy, before giving the 'hacker' one final stare. (Though his PC body's eyes were still closed…)

"All right, let us go, Hunter." He stated, before heading to the Warp Panel, and leaving.

"Right behind ya! See ya, Kuro-chan!" Hunter yelled, before teleporting right after Denki.

There was silence, but the player seemed to sigh exasperatedly; even if it could not be heard.

"My name is Kuroha, not Kuro." He corrected, before turning to the entrance of the Beast Statue room. "I know that you are there." He typed. "So just come out."

Eon's heart raced fast as she slowly stood up; Axel and Hikaru had similar expressions as her own. She slowly turned to face the entrance, before taking a deep breath, and entering the room; both of them at her sides again.

"So good of you to show yourselves," Kuroha typed with a small grin. "I was wondering if you'd choose to stay or run…"

Eon flinched back in shock. Did he see them when they peeked…? No. He wasn't facing them...so how…?

The silent boy beckoned them to come closer with his finger, and the three of them gingerly stepped forwards; all three more cautious than ever.

"How did you know that we were here…?" Axel asked, cocking one of his eyebrows.

"Simple, I'm a hacker. It's my job to know when people are nearby." He answered.

"Then why didn't you say anything earlier?" Eon asked.

"Because, you were not a threat."

"A threat…?" Hikaru asked.

The boy nodded silently, before grinning.

"You came here to eliminate the AIDA, correct…?"

"Yeah….wait! How do you--!" Axel exclaimed, surprised.

"I told you; I'm a hacker. I know a lot of things; therefore, I will not go into the specifics." Kuroha explained. "Now, as to why you were not a threat, those three that you saw earlier came to eliminate the AIDA as well. To put things simply, they beat you to it."

"There're others that can beat the AIDA?!" Eon exclaimed.

"Not originally. Only ones such as yourselves, who are in the Project G.U., could defeat them at first. I simply helped out 'The World', and created a few more…allies…" Kuroha explained, though there was still no voice to his words.

"Okay…" Axel muttered, before exchanging glances with Eon and Hikaru suspiciously. "So…if you did all of that, then why can't you get your own mic to work?" The Twin Blade asked.

Kuroha gave Axel a death glare, before answering.

"Not all need to use a mic to enjoy this game; however they choose to play it." He explained.

Axel was silent for a moment, before snapping his fingers together as a thought occurred to him.

"Oh! I see!" He exclaimed. "You're that kid from downstairs; the one that can't talk! The brat with the muscle-brained sister, and tree-hugging brother!"

Eon coughed loudly to hold back a laugh.

"What are you talking about?!" She demanded in 'Party Chat'.

"It IS him! I know it!" Axel answered.

Kuroha's glare grew angrier.

"I am NOT a brat!" He typed angrily.

"But you are mute." Axel said with a grin.

Kuroha was shaking furiously.

"And how exactly can you prove that, genius?!" The shorter boy asked.

"Simple; your sister beat me up once on the way to school, since I wouldn't tell her how to turn on an iPod." Axel explained. "After that, yer brother came, and yelled at her, and said that he was sorry. I saw you later that day."

Kuroha grit his teeth together hard in the real world.

"Whatever you say, idiot."

"So glad that we agree!" Axel exclaimed cheerfully, nearly making Eon fall over.

Kuroha sighed exasperatedly; though like all of his other words, it was silent.

"All right, whatever you say, but I'd think that you want to hear me out right now." Kuroha typed, looking serious.

"Listen to you about what?!" Axel demanded. "This dungeon was long enough! Ten levels of nothing but getting lost, and finally I get to the bottom, only to find a mute brat who wants to talk?! I haven't even filled my quota today!" The green-eyed twin Blade complained, before flinging himself onto Hikaru and pouting.

"What I have to say may be an interest to you. As in, it will stop whoever it is from hacking into your systems." Kuroha explained.

The three Guardian Master's heads shot up instantly, all suddenly interested.

"Someone is…hacking us?!" Eon asked, half confused, half afraid.

"That is correct." Kuroha answered.

"How do you know that?" Hikaru asked.

Kuroha sighed again, and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"For the last time. I. Am. A. Hacker! I know these things! Besides, this system that I created lets me see characters that are hacked, and are being hacked." He explained.

Eon nodded slowly.

"So…what do you want to tell us? 'Hey, by the way, someone is stealing info from you. Just a heads- up'?!" The dog-girl demanded.

"On the contrary," Kuroha typed. "I wish only to aid you, and protect your PC bodies, as well as your own personal information, from those that wish to obtain it."

Axel and Eon exchanged sceptical looks, and Hikaru furrowed his eyebrows.

"Yeah, and for what 'price'?!" Axel demanded, remembering 'Koji's' previous statement.

Kuroha only smiled.

"No price; I am merely lending you some technology. Even a hacker has a soft side."

Eon bit her thumb in the real world in thought. Was someone really trying to hack into their systems, and take out their information forcefully?!

"You had better hurry and make up your decision. They will have received everything quite soon." Kuroha typed casually, before pointing at his wrist, and making a watch temporarily appear on it, just to get the point across.

Eon shut her eyes tight, and bit on her thumb harder. With a deep breath, she slammed her palms onto her desk, and opened her eyes to the M2D's screen.

"Okay, how do we get it?" She asked.

Kuroha's grin widened as Axel and Hikaru exchanged glances, before nodding their heads as well.

"Quite easily," Kuroha typed, before his character stopped moving entirely.

There was a brief pause, though it felt like an eternity for the three of them, as Kuroha typed in many confusing codes into his laptop in the real world. After he checked his work, he pressed the 'Enter' button, and like magic, many thin, blue transparent screens appeared in front of the three of them.

"There, you can see what they are hacking from these screens. They will appear as anyone attempts to hack you, and you will easily be able to cut them off by resetting that part of your system, without resetting the whole game." Kuroha explained. "As you can see, someone is hacking you, and I would advise that you cut them off. Immediately." Kuroha grinned.

Axel and Hikaru did as Kuroha said, but Eon quickly skimmed over what the hacker in question was trying to take.

Birth Date, Blood Type, school grade, family…

Eon bit her teeth together hard, before finally tracking the Hacker's current path. A small grin crept onto her face as she moved her finger above the track, and clicked on it. She typed in a series of keys from the bottom of the tiny blue monitor, before getting the 'Short Mail' option.

Time to have some fun…

-----------------------------Raven: The Serpent of Lore---------------------------

Pi shut her eyes for a moment before looking up to Master Yata seriously.

"I have the data…" She muttered, but Yata's back was facing her. "Master Yata…?"

Yata let out a small, irritated grunt, before turning to her.

"It appears that the area that those three have entered has turned into an AIDA server. I can no longer track their movements with the Serpent of Lore." He explained.

Pi nodded slowly, a small knot in her stomach.

Hopefully, they could handle whatever came their way…

"Now, about that information…" Yata said, extending his arm in a 'continue' position.

"Y-yes," Pi said quickly, before looking down to a glowing, translucent screen in front of her PC body's face.

"Starting with character ID, 77913; Axel.

Age: 15

Real Name: Keizen Sei

Birth Date: October 31, 2003

Gender: N/A

Blood Type: O Negative

Current Grade: 10

Current Marks: Failing all classes, or in the low sixties. The only class that…'he'…is passing is math, which is in a higher stream than 10.

Psychological Disorders: He/She has ADHD; the medication does not work. Bipolar, with very high ups and downs, and is a kleptomaniac, meaning that Sei has a high tendency to steal anything…shiny…

Family: ….what…?"

Pi stopped for a moment, as Axel's data suddenly vanished off of her screen at that point.

"What is wrong?" Yata asked, narrowing his eyes; his head looking back to his beloved big screen-monitor every few seconds.

"Th-the data just stopped dead there…" Pi exclaimed, before collecting herself. "I-it must be a bug…I will retrieve it later…next;

User ID 78912; Hikaru

Age: 16

Real Name: Kagurazaki Hikaru

Birth Date: August 28 2002

Gender: Male

Blood Type: O Negative

Current Grade: …? Again…?"

Pi looked at her screen dumbfounded. It cut her off again…

She looked up to Yata, whose eyes were now narrowed in thought.

"I…I don't know…" Pi started, but Yata held out his arm to stop her.

"It is all right, what about the third?" He asked.

Pi nodded, before looking down at her data.

"User ID: 76511

Age: 10

Real Name: Ippikiookami Eon

Birth Date: July 14 2008

Gender: Female

Blood Type: O Negative

Current Grade: …She is not in school…she stopped at the age of eight…

Specific Disorders: Retin—"

There was a loud 'PONG!' sound, and Pi looked up at Yata in surprise.

A Short Mail…?

"J-just a moment please…a Short Mail…" Pi muttered, before reading the message.

"It is not very nice to spy."

Pi starred in front of herself for a moment, pale.

She looked at the sender.

Eon.

Pi only starred yet again.

How did they know?! Was it them that cut her out? But…how?! She was an experienced hacker! How could a child outwit her?! It was impossible!

"Is there a problem, Pi…?" Yata asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"I…they…!" Pi tried to explain, but the right words would not come to her mouth. She was still attempting to make sense out of all of this.

"Pi, random words do not explain anything." Yata explained bitterly. "Tell me, what is wrong?"

"I—I've been cut out of their records!" She exclaimed, before typing in various codes before herself. Nothing let her back in…

Yata's eyes widened in surprise for a moment, before his gaze moved back to his monitor.

Did something else happen within the server? Or…was it even an AIDA server to begin with…?

Pi swore silently, before slamming her fists onto her desk in the CC Corp. office building; earning her multiple stares from other workers.

"I can't get back in…they've locked me out…!" Pi explained.

Yata grit his teeth, before steeping back to the lotus flower-like control panel, and typing various things into it. No matter what he tried though, he could not enter that specific server, and see what those three were up to…

He shut his eyes in thought, before slowly opening them, and turning to Pi.

"We will make do with the information that you have already collected, and attempt to reclaim the rest at a later time." Yata explained.

Pi nodded, before putting the small screen away.

"What do you wish to look for?" She asked.

"Any possible connections between the three." Yata explained.

Pi nodded again, and stepped up to the series of monitors to the left of Master Yata, before typing in what she had found.

"The matches: All three have Blood Type O Negative, and currently reside within Tokyo, Japan. All three of also them started playing this game at least six months prior to the Third Network Crisis Incident; Hikaru being the last to join of the three." Pi explained, before turning back to her 'Master'.

Yata rubbed his chin in thought, before waving his arm over the floating green sphere before him.

A large monitor popped up in front of all of the others, and showed the three possible connections; Blood Type, residence, and time of playing.

"We will investigate this further, but at a later time; right now, we must find out what happened to our three subjects." Yata explained. "I will go with you to the Chaos Gate, and we will wait for them there. Unless they have become Lost Ones, they must return here sooner or later…"

Pi nodded instantaneously. Master Yata was right; they could not over look this, nor leave the three of them on their own…especially since they were the only clue that they had to ending this foolish 'war'.

Yata led Pi out of the Serpent of Lore, and into the main entrance room of Raven.

He was silent for a long time, before finally speaking to her.

"What else did you see in those files, before they were cut off?" He asked, interested, though his expression did not change.

Pi looked up thoughtfully, before answering.

"Only a few things…such as Hikaru's parents, as well as Axel's are barely ever home…and…" Pi thought.

"And…?" Yata asked.

Pi bit her index finger's knuckle in the real world. Had she seen right…?

"I…am not sure about the last one…" She muttered, "But, I intend to find out as soon as possible." She explained.

-------------------------Delta Hidden Sniping Operator-------------------------

Eon let out a relieved sigh. After sending the Short Mail, she just barely had time to reset that system, just before the hacker could take out something…personal…

Axel stretched his arms back, and grinned cheerfully.

"Showed them right!" He announced, before laughing hysterically.

"Yes, it did." Hikaru agreed, nodding his head,

"I'm glad that you enjoyed your new ability so." Kuroha typed, a small grin on his face. "That makes it all the more worthwhile, if you are planning on using it." He explained.

"Hell yeah!" Axel cheered, before jumping up onto Hikaru's shoulders.

Eon nodded slowly, before allowing a small smile onto her face.

"Well, does that mean that our job here is done then?" She asked.

Axel looked around, as well as Hikaru, before facing her.

"Yup! Looks like it is!" He chirped, before hugging Hikaru's head.

"Let us go back." Hikaru said slowly, before lumbering towards the Warp Panel.

"All right! Let's go Eon! We'll see you in Mac Anu!" Axel explained, before the two of them teleported out of the Dungeon.

"Okay…" Eon muttered, turning towards Kuroha. "Why did you help us…?" She asked.

"Did I not answer that?" Kuroha asked. "I am a hacker, and we all have soft spots. Helping a fellow player in need is what we do best. Nonetheless; what would have happened if your information fell into the wrong hands…?"

Eon hesitated, before answering.

"I…don't know…" She admitted.

"Exactly. I would rather not find out either, myself." Kuroha explained.

Eon nodded slowly.

"Now, while you are here, I have a favour to ask of you." Kuroha stated, his face in an amused grin.

"What is it…?" Eon asked cautiously.

"I have a friend, who has just entered the Arena with those boys that you saw…or rather, heard earlier. My friend is always looking for a good challenge, and I believe you three up to the task; even without a second party. Those Guardians of yours can do wonders." Kuroha typed.

Eon starred at the boy, horrified.

"We can't just use the Guardians to take out people! Isn't that cheating, anyways?!" She demanded.

Kuroha shrugged.

"It is up to you, but still, I ask you to face them."

Eon glared at Kuroha, but he seemed unfazed.

"And how am I supposed to do that anyways?! I'm at least a quarter of Axel's level! All that I'll do is drag them down!" She explained, a little down-hearted.

"I have taken that into account." Kuroha typed, a mischievous grin on his lips. "That is why I have taken the liberty of levelling up your character for you." He explained. "The effects will not show until you log out, but it should be more than satisfactory to you, someone that has been Data Drained."

Eon's mouth went dry. How did he know that?!

"I…how?!" She demanded, but Kuroha only grinned at her.

"Their team names are, Crystal Seraphim, and Bad Boyz. I will look forward to the fight." He stated, before a large, black and purple portal appeared behind him. He stepped into it, and with one final, interested grin over his shoulder, the portal closed, leaving Eon standing there, dumbfounded.

What…? She wondered, but nothing seemed to make sense at the moment. Players with the ability to kill AIDA? A mysterious hacker that gave them some strange technology, which they didn't even know about…? She didn't know what to think at the moment…

Eon let out a small sigh, before stepping up to the Warp Panel, and teleporting out of the area. This was too much to think on for one day…

----------------------------The Eternal City: Mac Anu---------------------------

Eon opened her eyes slowly, to adjust to the minor difference in light levels within the Cathedral. The was a slight pause, when everything seemed to be calm, and even pleasurable, until it all came crashing down in one moment, when Axel screamed the words, "Be gone foul beasts!" in a very loud and idiotic tone.

Eon let out a long sigh, before turning around, only to see two familiar Guardian Master's, as well as two more familiar Administrators, glaring at them. She trotted up to them slowly, gaining the interest of Hikaru, but the other three were more occupied with more…frivolous matters…

"What's happening here…?" Eon asked the tall Lord Partizan, who looked down at her, slightly worried.

"When we came out, they were waiting for us, and wish to interrogate us." Hikaru answered. "Axel told them to go away, while you were still in the dungeon, but they will not listen to him."

"We are not interrogating; we only want to know what happened within that server." Pi explained coolly.

"Indeed." Yata agreed.

"Yeah right!" Axel yelled. "Tell that to the judge!"

Eon smacked her forehead. She knew what the response would be to that.

Pi sighed irritably, before looking back to Axel.

"We are administrators. In any case, we would technically be considered the 'judge' for anything that happens within 'The World'." She explained.

Axel gasped over-exaggeratedly, and held his hands up to his mouth.

"Well, then ask the non-judge!" He announced.

"What…?" Pi asked.

"I call my lawyer, Eon to defend me in this trial! The judge…That guy!" Axel yelled, pointing.

Everyone turned their heads to the random passer-by that Axel had conveniently pointed to, before turning back, only to see that the Ninja, as well as the Knight, had vanished without a trace; most likely having Logged Out of 'The World'.

Pi bit her teeth together hard, and held back a swear, before turning to Eon.

"Don't you try to run as well." She said, a serious expression on her face. "Remember what we said would happen to you if you did not cooperate."

Eon sighed exasperatedly again, and shrugged in a 'don't care' way.

"Do I look like I'm going anywhere?" She asked.

Pi shot Yata a look, and the Macabre Dancer nodded his head in agreement. She wasn't going anywhere…yet…

"All right then. We have some questions that would like to ask you, about the mission." Pi explained. "So, we would like you to accompany us to Raven. We will talk in the Serpent of Lore."

Eon gave Pi a look of distaste, before following the two Admins to their layer. There was no point in fighting back. She'd just need to get payback on Axel later…

-----------------------------Raven: The Serpent of Lore------------------------------

"All right, we will get straight down to the point. We wish for you to report everything that happened inside of that Dungeon, from the point that you entered the floor with the AIDA located on it." Pi explained seriously.

Eon's jaw dropped.

Scratch payback; this is now downright revenge!

"Why do you need me to tell you?! Don't you have at least one monitor in here that sees that area?!" She demanded.

"Because," Yata started, "once on that floor, we lost all contact with you, as well as the other two Guardian Master's; Axel, and Hikaru. From that point forward, we need you to explain what happened for us to analyze the situation."

Eon let out a loud irritated howl, before glaring up at the two of them.

This was not a fun way to be spending her not-so-valuable time…nonetheless how she saw today's events unfolding…

"Okay…" Eon muttered, before sticking her finger to the side of her head in thought. "Well, we went into the dungeon. Wasted two hours of our lives getting to the bottom floor, and then, there was no AIDA in sight." Eon explained. She didn't want to tell them about their…'hacker friend', not yet at least. It wasn't really lying anyway…right…?

Pi narrowed her eyes, before slowly nodding.

"I…see…" She muttered, before looking up to Yata.

Yata also narrowed his eyes. It was unlikely that the computer was wrong, unless the AIDA left the area; nonetheless, what about the server's inaccessibility? She wasn't telling something… He closed his eyes slowly, before pausing, and then opening them again. There was no point in pointing fingers without any evidence.

"You are dismissed." Yata said coolly, ignoring the look of astonishment on Pi's face.

"Finally!" Eon sighed in relief, before dashing out of the Serpent of Lore.

"M-Master Yata?!" Pi demanded, but Yata held out his arm to silence her.

"There is no point in asking a question that they will not answer." He explained. "We will learn what happened sooner or later anyway."

"O…okay…" Pi muttered.

"Good." Yata said. "Now, focus on trying to retrieve that Data back." And with a quick turn, Yata stepped onto the Lotus Flower-like panel, and raised it out of sight. Now was not the time that he wished to be bothered. Not by anyone.

Pi shut her eyes and cursed silently. She wished that Yata would take her feelings into account for once… She held her breath for a moment, before opening up her hacking window, and attempting to steal back the data.

----------------------------------The Eternal City: Mac Anu----------------------------------

Eon nearly had a heart attack, as three familiar blue windows turned up around her. She resisted the urge to just plainly Log Out and shut down the system; there were regular Players everywhere around her! Eon quickly looked around all of the screens, before finally locating the correct one, and shutting it off. It must have been the same hacker… She glanced around herself; just to make sure that no one was staring at her, or about to report her to the nearest Admin, (Most likely Pi or Yata to her displeasure) but no one looked at her.

"What…?" She asked, looking up from the transparent screens, to the passer-bys. "Why…?"

Because they can't see it. That hacker-kid must have known that it would do that; saves you the trouble of Admins…nonetheless him… Shiruba snarled.

"Oh…" Eon muttered, before nodding in agreement. "I guess so…"

Yeah…it would be stupid to give us something that an Admin could track… She explained to herself mentally.

Eon watched as all of the screens closed. It seemed like the hacker didn't want to play anymore today…No wonder why…

Eon looked around the mass of 'The World' players, but did not see Axel or Hikaru anywhere in sight. She then opened her party list. Nadda.

Eon made a small, nervous giggle.

"I'm going to Log Out." She warned the giant beast.

Do whatever ya want, brat. Shiruba pouted, before a bright cyan spiral surrounded Eon, and she vanished. …kids… can't keep em in one place…

----------------------------Offline: Ippikiookami Residence----------------------

Eon pulled off the M2D from her eyes quickly. There was a searing pain when she looked around her nearly all-white room, before she shut her eyes.

Okay…note to self…Don't do that… She thought sarcastically, before slowly opening them again.

It was better the second time.

Eon sighed irritably, as she waltzed over to her bed, and flopped down onto it, like a fish. She knew that she still had to warn Axel about the 'battle' that Kuroha wanted, but wasn't in the mood. She wasn't even sure if he would raise her level like he said he would…she wouldn't put it past him. There was really no way that they could fully trust him. Even if he did give them the ability to stop people from hacking themselves, that could just be an attempt of trying to draw them into his hands…like in those old books that she sometimes read…

'They trust the traitor, until the traitor turns traitorous'…or something like that… Eon attempted to quote, but, there having been no quote like that, it was a little hard to do so.

She stretched her arms to her pillows on the bed, and yawn loudly. Eon sat up and looked at the cloak on her desk.

6:52 P.M.

Eon made a very unhappy gurgled sigh.

She had wasted over half the day, trying to track down some non-existent AIDA! What a waste!

She grit her teeth together, before slamming her head into her pillow. There was no point in complaining about it now. The past was the past…unless they started working on that 'Time Machine' that people throughout the centuries have dreamed about, why complain?

Eon yawned once more, before slowly reaching her hands under her pillow comfortably.

Okay… She thought. Maybe just a quick cat—er—DOG nap then…

Eon slowly closed her eyes, before drifting off to sleep.

Hopefully that hacker wouldn't attempt anything tonight…

-------------------------The Frozen Paradise: Saal Haku: Hades----------------------

"You're late, Kuroha." A girl's voice said, as the short black-haired boy entered the Guild room.

"Yeah, well sue me." He typed distastefully. "Even you are late sometimes too, Aqua!"

The girl giggled, but it wasn't a cheerful one.

"So be it." She said. "But the Master doesn't like late people."

"Well screw him." Kuroha argued, before walking to the center of the large room, and taking a seat in the amphitheatre-like area on a large, fancy red chair.

Kuroha looked around at his handy work. The room was large, and quite dark; totally going with the name 'Hades'. It slightly resembled the main part of the 'Icolo' Guild, but the walls, instead of being covered in banners, had multiple entrances for the other Guild Members; an area only for themselves.

There was a large entrance, which the door had the image of a large, Asian-style dragon in the center, and an even larger entrance to the main…inner room, for the Guild Master.

Around the various entrances were different doorframes. The left one, closest to the entrance, had marble symbols of 'clubs', 'spades', 'hearts', and 'diamonds', for cards around each of the corners of the doorframe. The nameplate, imbedded into the top of the entrance read, 'Libra'.

The room next to it had a large, spiralling eel around the doorframe. Its nameplate read 'Libra' as well.

The next room had images of various animals from the real world around the doorframe. Deer, elk, rabbits, and even crows, were worked beautifully into the marble. The nameplate stated 'Aries'.

The room closest to the right of the entrance, had the nameplate, 'Pisces', and around the doorframe, a maze of patterns of diamonds and pearls. The corners of the door had the image of a snake crawling out.

Next to that room, was the other 'Pisces' of the two. The doorframe had the image of one fish on either side, and water for the rest. The topmost part of the frame had what appeared to be the sun, rising from below the sea.

'Sagittarius' was beside that room. Its frame was the most plain of them all, but Kuroha loved it anyway. He worked extra hard for this specific player… There was only the image of a large, wolf-like creature on either side of the door frame. Nothing more, nothing less.

Kuroha's eyes drifted to his own room; 'Cancer'. He had to say…if he could talk, that cancer seemed to suit him; being a crab and all…but he would never admit it to anybody; especially not Aqua. His doorframe was surrounded with images of old, rifle-style guns from the past. He had to admit, it was a hobby…

Finally was the large, black abyss of the center, Guild Master's door. Above, where the nameplate would normally be, was instead, a large, lion-like creature imbedded within the marble. It glared down at anyone that dared look up at it ferociously, and its jaws agape. Around the doorframe, unlike any of the other rooms, was writing.

"Ye who wishes to play god, must pay the sacrifice first. Only then will immortality be granted, and thy shall receive the powers to govern all." It read.

Kuroha's gaze moved back to Aqua, just beyond his left, after a very bored-looking boy. They sat at a large, circular table, in the center of the indent in the floor; each of them waiting patiently for their Guild Master to emerge.

Kuroha sighed, but like all of his words, it was silent.

"You say that I'M late, but what about him?!" He demanded.

Kuroha could barely make out Aqua shrugging uncaringly.

"What does it matter? He's a busy guy; and unlike you, he doesn't cheat to play the game." She explained.

Kuroha grit his teeth hard in the real world. As much as he hated Aqua, he hated her attitude even more. He wished that he could take away all of the upgrades that he gave her, but even then, he would be in danger from angering his Guild Master. Even he knew his place in here…

"By the way, Kuroha…" Aqua started, a small grin on her lips.

"What?!" He demanded, irritably.

"It seems that you were awfully…generous today…" She stated. "I've never seen you be so nice to anybody but Rei…yet you so easily gave those three some of your…abilities…"

Kuroha slammed his fists into the table hard, before standing up fast, and glaring at the girl, making Koji on the far side of the table jump in shock.

"You spied on me using IT?!" He demanded angrily. "I thought that I created it only for the Guild Master! Not for your grubby little fingers to mess with it!"

Aqua sat back in her chair, unfazed.

"Yes, you did, but even so, if you think about it more carefully, I'm the second in command here, believe it or not, Mr. Hacker. Therefore, I get to play with your…toys as well." She explained, with a sadistic smile.

If he could, Kuroha would have howled as many swears as he had heard in his entire life, but couldn't. He grudgingly took his seat, before a familiar, almost ghostly feeling came over all of them.

"I am glad that you could all make it here today." A man said from behind them, before slowly stepping up, and taking a seat next to Kuroha. "As for our little argument about the Uroboros, indeed, Aqua can use it, Kuroha," he stated, as Aqua stuck out her tongue at him, "but at the same time, she only has limited access to it. As you intended, I can only use its full potential."

Kuroha grinned snidely at Aqua, before turning back to his Leader.

"Now, before we get this meeting started, I would like to ask you, Kuroha; why did you give those children that ability?" The man asked.

"I gave it to them, so none of those stupid G.U. administrators could steal their data. I also gave it to them, though, to keep tabs on them, like you wished to do so from the start." He explained.

Kuroha could see a small grin creep onto his leader's face, but nothing more, other than a golden eye starring in front of himself in thought.

"I see. Good work." He said.

Kuroha nodded enthusiastically, before turning to the now fuming Aqua.

In your face! He typed, using the Whisper command.

Let's just say that Aqua was not pleased…

--------------------The Warring City: Lumina Cloth: Waiting Room------------------

Eon bounced up and down on her toes eagerly. She watched a small screen show the end of a quite powerful team at the hands of some no-name players.

She couldn't help but let out an excited squeal.

"Finally!" She said, looking Axel and Hikaru cheerfully. "Now it's our turn!" She announced.

"Yeah!" Axel yelled, pulling out his Twin Long-Daggers. "Took long enough; those wimps!"

"Yes." Hikaru stated simply.

Eon watched the players all teleport out of the Arena, before grinning brightly. That kid stuck to his promise! Eon was now a level one hundred and fifty-seven 'Seraphim' as her class was apparently called. (Thanks to Kuroha…)

"Okay, let's go!" Axel announced, as the three of them entered the Arena transporter.

"In the depth of the night, two parties face off to see which one can make it to the top!" The commentator yelled into his microphone, as Team Shinigami, and Team Butt-Kickers appeared on their platforms.

"Heh, team Butt-Kickers?!" Axel asked, before bursting into hysterical laughter.

Eon, and even Hikaru grinned as they entered the Fighting Area.

"What?!" The leader of 'Butt-Kickers' demanded, seeing that Axel, Eon and Hikaru only had one of their two allowed teams. "Do you have a death wish?!" He demanded.

"No, I think that you've got that backwards…" Axel said, a small, maniacal grin creeping onto his face.

"Yes, do you know what Shinigami means…?" Eon asked, crossing her arms.

"N-no..." He muttered, the Harvest Cleric behind him catching their drift.

"It means... " Axel started.

"...Death God." Eon finished, both grinning wildly.

The Steam Gunner stepped back in shock for a moment. Bad choice…

Axel dashed up to him, and with a quick tap of the Skill Trigger Button, used the technique, Thunder Squall.

Lightning surrounded his blades, and he shocked the living daylights out of the Steam Gunner, who soon after, fell to the ground, lifelessly.

Eon took this chance to race towards the large Edge Punisher for the second Leader of their party, while Axel had just finished taking out the first.

With a loud howl, Eon raced up to him at full force, but he was ready. He lifted his Broad Sword, and swung it quiet fast, attempting to hit Eon. Once the attack was over though, there was no dog-girl in sight. He laughed triumphantly, before a pair of golden slit eyes glared over his shoulder, and a small claw skewered his stomach.

He let out a cry of shock and pain, but Eon wasn't done yet. She whipped herself around, and flipped herself up, kicking him in the back of the head, before driving her claw up though his stomach, and to his chest, and out again.

The poor Leader didn't know what hit him, as Eon finished off, using a new technique, called 'Raising Beast'.

She kicked off of his back, and landed ten paces away. Eon then swung her left arm in front of herself, and set it aflame. She then did so for her right arm as well, and with a vicious howl, she launched herself into the air, and flipped three times, before rocketing towards the Leader.

It was over in seconds. The victor; Team Shinigami!

"Wha-what just happened here?!" The announcer asked, starring down at the field below. "It seems that Team Shinigami has beaten the time record for their level, but how?" he asked, before a slowed-down playback played on the screen, of the moment that the Edge Punisher attempted to slice Eon it two.

At the perfect moment, Eon ducked under the sword, and side-stepped around him, doing a quick spin, nearly becoming invisible under the red of the Broad Sword, before appearing behind him, and attacking.

The play-back played a few more times, as the audience watched the evasion in awe.

Eon sighed irritably.

"Haven't these people ever heard of dodging?!" She demanded. Axel shrugged.

"Guess not, but good idea! Hikki didn't even have to move!" He exclaimed cheerfully.

"Ya-tta!" Hikaru exclaimed monotonously, before the three of them were teleported out of the Arena, and back next to the Registration Counter.

"You have received three WP Points for winning, as well as the following items" A small bubble popped up.

Eon glared at the items that they received.

Two Fairy Orbs, a Spell Card, and a Broadsword.

THEY COULDN'T EVEN USE BROADSWORDS!

Axel sighed as well.

"Guess we'll have to sell it all…" He muttered, before turning to the opposite side of the Counter. "By the way, isn't that 'Team Crystal Seraphim' starting now…?" He asked.

"O-oh yeah! Let's go and watch!" Eon exclaimed, before racing to the opposite end of the platform, and to the Warp Panel.

"Please select Arena." It asked robotically.

Eon quickly selected the Warrior Arena, before it asked where to sit.

"I DON'T CARE!" Eon yelled at the AI, before clicking onto a random area.

The three of them then teleported into the Arena.

"The Beast growls viciously, as man attempts to slay it! It's the fight that we've all been waiting for today! Team Crystal Seraphim and The Bad Boyz are back in brawl again!" The Announcer yelled into his mic. "For people that don't remember these guys, they are the ones that have obtained the extremely high number of 66 WP, in the short time of two days! They have crushed opponents that are way more experienced, as well as stronger than themselves, and work perfectly together on the battlefield! It is like a dance, just watching them, folks!"

Two teams of six players each appeared onto each of the platforms.

On the opponent's side, there was a level one hundred and seventy-three Steam Gunner, as the first leader, and a level one hundred and sixty-five Blade Brandier as the second Leader. Their party included two Harvest Clerics, both level one hundred and sixty-nine, and a Tribal Grappler, for the Steam Gunner, and a Beastman Shadow Warlock for the Brandier.

On the side of the 'Crystal Seraphim' were a…variety of characters…

The main leader of the bunch, the Leader of the 'Crystal Seraphim' Team, was named 'Aqua'.

She had red hair, with spiky bangs in the front; a mid-long ponytail in the back. She wore a tight dark blue tank top, with a high collar with lighter blue swirls in the front of the neck, and the sides. There was a white, long jacket over top, with a hood, as well as two long straps on the sides, just next to her neck. Her stomach showed, as the jacket was open, and the tank top short, and she wore a black belt around her waist. There was a white belt to her right side, leaning to the left, and she wore a pair of white shorts, that ended at her knees. She wore some straw sandals, similar to Denki's on her feet, and held two small, red fans in her hands. Her eyes blazed, as if anticipating a hard fight, yet, at the same time, enjoying it.

Behind her stood a smaller, and paler boy with purple hair. His character name read 'Rei', on the stat. screen, before the fight began, but he didn't seem too lively. His eyes were red, and half closed; almost as if bored, or even uncaring. His purple hair was quite short, but his bangs fell over his eyes quite a bit. He didn't seem to notice.He wore a large, plain black hoody-like shirt, with arms that were almost too long, and what appeared to be jeans for pants. He slouched as he stood, waiting for the fight to begin, but in his hand, instead of a normal weapon, like a sword, or a staff, was a violin!

Axel starred at Rei in shock. How did they not know that this guy was hacked, if he had such an obvious weapon like that! His Class even said 'Sorrowful Player'! He finally looked to the last player in 'Crystal Seraphim'.

The boy's name was 'Sijez'. His skin was tanned, unlike the rest of the bunch, but not as much as a regular player would receive from playing 'The World' normally. There was a golden loop earring in the upper part of his right ear, and a red bandana around his neck. His T-shirt was plain white, as well as quite tight, showing some muscle. There was a long, dark brown jacket overtop, with red flame-like markings on the back, as well as on the ends of the sleeves; like Aqua, the jacket was open. He wore a mahogany belt around his waist, slightly loose, and dirty jeans as pants; holes on the knees.

The other party, 'Bad Boyz', consisted of Koji, Denki, and Hunter, as the three of them had seen in the Dungeon the day before, but all of them looked thirstily at the opponents before them; as if waiting to rip them apart.

"They look a little…scary…" Eon muttered.

Axel nodded his head in agreement.

"Yeah…creepy…"

"Yes." Hikaru agreed.

Suddenly a hand grabbed Axel's shoulder from behind, and he screamed shrilly, making everyone nearby turn their heads to stare at him. He wheeled around, and glared at none other than Haseo.

"I'd have thought that a 'Shinigami' wouldn't scream like a little girl…" Haseo said, a small grin on his face.

"Yeah, well I'd expect an idiot to back off when they had the chance." Axel said.

Haseo removed his hand, before stepped up to the rail, and looking down at the excitement below.

"These guys have eliminated some of the toughest opponents that this Arena has ever seen…" he muttered, still starring down at them.

A loud buzzer sounded, and the two teams launched themselves at each other viciously; The Crystal Seraphim especially violently.

"Yeah, so what?" Axel asked, sticking his finger into his ear. "So, they're strong, big deal."

Haseo moved his head a little, just to see Axel, before looking back down at them.

"They're hacked." He explained.

"Wow, good job, Sherlock!" Eon exclaimed, clapping her hands exaggeratedly. "Now, will you tell us who killed Ms. Peacock, and with what?!"

Haseo sighed, and rubbed the bridge of his nose with one hand.

"I meant that something isn't right. Look at all of them; the entire team, Bad Boyz, are all hacked, just look at their weapons!" He explained, pointing.

Eon looked down, only to see that Haseo was right. Koji, Denki, and Hunter were all using weird weapons, just like Rei and even Sijez! Koji was throwing cards at players, and reloading his deck every couple of seconds. Denki was using both a sword, in his right hand, and a spear in his left, and as for Hunter…? He had a giant Long Bow! Rei, of course, had his Violin, which he was hitting people with, as well as playing a few tunes, and either confusing characters, or making them fall asleep. Sijez had Dual Guns, just like Haseo… The only one using a normal weapon was Aqua, as a Macabre Dancer!

Eon looked back up to Haseo, before narrowing her eyes.

"So they're all hacked, what's the problem?" She demanded, but Haseo only shrugged.

"Pi found out something interesting about all of those players." He stated, "All of them are in the same Guild, 'Hades'. She presumes that there is an active hacker among them." He explained. "But, why they needed a hacker, is still unclear."

"So what?!" Axel demanded. "I thought that it was our job to get rid of AIDA! Not get rid of hackers!"

"I know." Haseo said calmly. "But, right now, with AIDA reappearing, we don't even know why, or how it came back. Until we have something to work on; towards, we cannot lend these guys a blind eye." He explained.

Eon's stomach churned painfully, but she nodded. Did Kuroha really hack all of these people…? And if so, why?

"Hey look! Looks like they're gonna get pwned!" Axel chirped, grinning manically.

Aqua breathed hard. These guys were harder than she expected…then again, that's what happened when you face a team ten levels higher than oneself.

"Damn…" She swore, as she just barely dodged the Blade Brandier, before narrowly jumping out of the Shadow Warlock's range. It seemed that they found out that she was the one giving the shots to these teams, and now trying to take her out…fat chance…

Aqua held her fans together, and forced them out straight.

"Cover me!" She yelled, as Sijez moved instantly in front of her to absorb any oncoming attacks.

Aqua them took a deep breath, and shut her silver eyes, almost in meditation.

"Ge' outta da way!" The Edge Punisher yelled, as he hit Sijez hard with his Broad Sword.

Sijez howled in pain, but kept his position, and shot at him with his Dual Guns. He managed to catch him at a good angle, and hoist him into the air, so he was unable to get down, with continuous shots, but noticed the Brandier moving in as well. He shut his eye, ready for impact, but Denki launched himself in the way; Guarding with his sword and spear in an 'x' position.

"Sorry, but I can't let you though." He said with a grin, and pushed forward, before shooting both weapons out, and sending his opponent flying into the barrier.

Aqua had started to chant something, too quiet for the spectators to hear, before a light blue Aura began to surround her…

Haseo nearly launched himself over the railing in shock, as he starred at Aqua's new 'ability'.

"I-It can't be!" He yelled, starring in disbelief.

Axel starred in awe, before understanding what was going on.

"She isn't…!" She muttered.

She is, numb nuts. Ginny growled from his head.

"But…she can't use it against normal players!" Eon cried, a look of horror on her face.

"I know…" Hikaru agreed. "But, we cannot stop it from here!"

Axel swore, as he watched Aqua open her eyes quickly, and pull back her fans in a graceful position.

It seemed that she had done this more than once before…

Yippee! Another chapter done! Took me long enough. XP

Okay, sorry for the late update. I expected to do this in four days, but it ended up being a week… Darn zombies and paranoia! Also, I let Miffin edit this time, since, one, it was like, 3500 words longer than all of my older chapters. XP and two, over half of these new characters are hers! (Also, I paid her twelve cents to edit! XD)

So, what did you think? I would like to say, I personally liked writing about Hades. It seems like the perfect clichéd Guild! (Yes, it is supposed to be clichéd!) The Guild Master, who's name will not be released yet, has evil clichés down to an ART! XD

Also, for anyone that would like to say what Haseo's new area Guild looks like, E-mail me, or Review a suggestion. I'm totally at a loss for that one. XP

So, I hope that you enjoyed this freakishly long chapter, and Good Night!