OMG! DO U SEE DIS SHIAZ! AHAHHAHAHAA CHAPTER 2 WTF! Ha! Here is chapter 2 of Harbingers Of The End! I had a lot of difficulty writing this chapter so Gomen'nasi. I just couldn't get any inspiration. But Anyway I Hope You Enjoy! :3

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"Welcome, players, to my world of Aincrad!" the man in the blood-red cloak had his arms raised to the side as he spoke, there were many confused mumbles but most just thought it was a part of the opening ceremony.

"What the hell is going on here?" Kirito mumbled under his before the giant red cloaked figure spoke again. "My name is Akihiko Kayaba and at this moment I am in control of this world." There were a few shocked gasps at his announcement but they were quickly replaced by confused looks, the cloaked figure-now known as Akihiko Kayaba- lowered one of his arms as he began to make a gesture with his raised arm. "I'm sure most of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menus - the log-out button. Let me assure you, this is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect." The gesture he had made was the one that players use to bring up their menu, many people froze while some people spread whispers, many of them panic-driven. "This is how 'Sword Art Online' was designed to be."

'What the hell have I got myself into?!' Ichigo thought to himself.

"You cannot log yourselves out of SAO nor can anyone remove your NerveGear from your head. If anyone attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the NerveGear will discharge a microwave signal into you skull and thus ending your life." There were murmurs throughout the crowd such as "How is that possible?! He's kidding right? That's total B.S! This game sucks!" One brave soul in the crowd stood tall and began to walk towards the arched pillars, ready to leave. "Let's get out of here." the man growled, only to stuble back as he hit an invisable wall. "Hey, i can't get out!"

"He's not lieing." Kirito said, a slight tremble in his voice. "The transmitter's signals in the headgear work just like microwaves. If the safety's disabled, it could fry your brain." Ichigo looked shocked, "Couldn't someone cut the power or...?"

Kirito shook his head. "That won't work. The NerveGear's got an internal battery."

Either ignoring the scared screams and sobs or oblivious to them the madman in complete control spoke over them with ease, "Despite my warning, the families and friends of some of the players have attempted removing the NerveGear, an unfortunate decision, to say the least. As a result, the game now has two hundred thirteen less players than when it began. Theu've been deleted from both Aincrad and the real world."

Two hundred thriteen?!" Kirito asked, shocked. The red clad man paused as a few rectangular screens popped out of nowhere and revolved around him slowly, on the screens were different news channels."As you can see, international media outlets have round-the-clock coverage of everthing, including the deaths. At this point, it's safe to assume the likelihood of a NerveGear being removed is minimal at best." the giant man said in a nonchalant tone.

"I hope this brings you comfort as you attempt to clear the game." there was an eerie silence before someone in the crowd of frightened players shouted up to Akihiko. "Like hell we are gonna clear the game now!" Among the crowd there were a few agreeing shouts and nods before the GM of the game continued.

"It's important to remember the following: There is no longer a way to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system... forever. And the NerveGear will simultaneously destroy your brain."

Many people were openly crying now, their sobs filling the crimson dome. "There is only one way for a player to escape now," Kayaba continued, "you must clear the game. Right now you're gathered on Floor One, the lowest level of Aincrad. If you can get through the dungeon and defeat the boss, you may advance to the next floor. Defeat the boos on Floor 100, and you will clear the game."

Confused and angry whispers rang throughout the plaza.

"Clear? What's he talking about? Why should we believe any of the crap you're saying?! We can't clear all 100 floors... That's freaking impossible... even the beta testers never made it that high!

The last statement - made by a man with bright red, shoulder-length hair and an equally red bandana - cut through the whispers as the shocking truth just in front of Kirito, Argo and I. The three of us kept our gazes firmly fixed on the ground as we nodded our heads slowly in unison.

"Last but not least, i've placed a little present in the item storage of every player. Please have a look."

'A mirror?' Ichigo thought, unconsiciously mimicing Kirito's. The orange-haired swordsman twirled it about in his hands and was about to put it away until he heard a scream next to him. Argo had began to glow a brilliantly bright blue, and Ichigo had to turn away from his friend if he didn't want to go blind.

"Argo!" He screamed before glowing himself, letting out a grunt at the overwhelming light.

When the light finally faded every player was exactly where they were before, standing confused. Ichigo quickly turned to Argo to see if she was OK only to find himself staring at a complete stranger.

"Argo?" Ichigo asked, his brow furrowing as confusion burrowed deeper into his brain. "Ichigo?" The young girl asked, in an equally confused voice. Instead of the ash-blonde girl Ichigo had known for the past two months, there now stood a young girl with beautiful amber eyes and golden blonde, shoulder length hair.

Looking around Ichigo saw that every player in the plaza had changed, and looking at the mirror he saw that he too had changed. Instead of his normal avatar that he had grown used too he saw that his hair had shortened in length, now reaching just past his chin, his sharp amber eyes which he could not change at the start of the game returning to their normal brown colour and he easily gained a few inches in height.

This was him. Not some avatar but the real world him.

Realisising this he turned to the blonde girl and asked once more, "Argo?!" Argo's eyes widened at she replied to her friend. "You actually have orange hair!?"

"Haha, laugh it up." Ichigo replied with an eye-roll, before turning to Kirito - who was talking with the red bandana man(1) from earlier - and seeing that he could be no older than 14.

Ichigo tuned in just in time for the man - now known as Klein - to ask why?

"I think he's about ot tell us." Kirito replied before gesturing to Akihiko.

"Right now, you are probably wondering why. Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and NerveGear, do this? Ultimately, my goal was a simple one. The reason i created Sword Art Online was to control the fate of a world of my design."

Murmurs rang out through the crowd as GM continued.

"As you can see, I have achieved my goal. This marks the end of the tutorial and the officical launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck." And suddenly he began to dissapear, along with the red hexagonal attention warnings.

There was a stunned silence as the players began to process what was going on. and suddenly a pin was pulled and everyone exploded into chaos. People were screaming, some trying to find there friends, others screaming to the heavens at Kayaba.

Ichigo, sensing the oncoming panic, grabbed Argo's hand and sprinted to the edge of the plaza. The former shinigami turned to his friend, "We have to go help calm the people. There are children no older than 12 playing." He turned, ready to go help create a sense of peace when Argo grabbed his hand, twirling him back around.

"We can't!" She insisted. "There's nothing you can do! We're best going on our own to the next town and gathering [XP]."

"You want me to leave those kids? I can't! There alone and scared!" Confusion and horror laced his tone.

"Please Ichigo!" She pleaded. "I don't want to leave with out you."

Ichigo shook his head, trying to clear his mind. "I..." He tried but couldn't decide. Looking back at his friend, he saw the desperation on her petite, whiskered face. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before opening them, having decided.

"Argo I'll..."

TO BE CONTINUED

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Ha! Cliffhanger. Sorry guys but I haven't decide what to do with this couple yet. Soooo Poll! Just review what you want to happen to these two lovable characters out of these three choices:

1: Ichigo leaves with Argo to go to the next town.

2: Argo stays with Ichigo to calm the people

3: Argo leaves for the next town while Ichigo stays to calm the people

Hope You enjoyed this long awaited chapter!

Thx Guys!