Hey everybody this is the Master checking in with a slight change in my normal Fanfics, as most can tell by my name. But in the recent months, I have been on a Sword Art Online kick, starting from re-watching the entire series from start to finish while playing Hollow Fragment, currently the only ENGLISH game for SAO, though I hope that the sequel will be released in North America, and that when it does that it will be in English and not Engrish. With the final chapter of the game complete, the new character in that game has become my second favourite character in the entire series, next to the Ice Sniper of GGO. Over the course of playing the game and completing the Hollow Area I have wondered what would have happened if parts of this had actually happened in canon. AS A GENERAL WARNING, SPOILERS AHEAD, DON'T READ IF YOU EITHER DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN DURING THE ANIME THROUGH MY FANFIC, OR DON'T WANT TO SPOIL THE REST OF SEASON 2 OR HOLLOW FRAGMENT. In advance I will tell all of you this, Asuna is actually one of my least favourite characters in the entire series, with Sachi being a close second, so don't expect them to show up to often, that being said I will try my best to limit the bashing to characters that NEED to be bashed… such as Kibaou ( MWAHAHHAHAHAHA! (Insert lightning and evil laugh here)). Before I start this Fanfic up, I have to thank KaiserBlak for his unfinished story Gun Gale Online: Cerberus, for the inspiration to finally start up another Fanfic after almost 3 years. Also this will not be canon at most parts throughout the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of SAO which belongs to Reki Kawahara, and I also do not own any myths and legends that I may use during the span of this story. The only thing that I do own in this story are the OC's unless they belong to someone else. This will be the only disclaimer.

Now that my Author's Note is complete, I hope that you will read, review, and follow this story. So without further ado, I present…

Primal Instinct

A Sword Art Online Fanfic

"A Body Without a Spirit is a Corpse, A Spirit Without a Body is a Ghost." –Abraham Hessel

Chapter 1

When the first news that Sword Art Online would be cancelled reached my ears, at first I couldn't believe it, the first major VRMMORPG to be released for the NerveGear was being pulled back, with no further notice of it being re-released. This was going to be a huge setback for the future of all VR games if it turned out to be true, though I had no doubt that in the end, Sword Art Online would either be revamped and improved from the Beta or be torn down and rebuilt into a brand new game altogether. Then again, that persistent worm that all people fear was crawling in the back of my mind, dreading that the worst case scenario is actually a reality, my personal escape from this world would be destroyed and with it, probably 70% of my friends. Huh, to think that the only way that I would get friends was to play a game where people kill each other for the top spot in Beta.

I was drawn from my inner musings, and unintentionally from my wallowing, by the joyous screams that were playing over my live feed of the recently cancelled release.

"I have just been informed of the reason for the call back of most likely, the most anticipated game of the next century. Apparently the reason for the cancellation was for the lack of an accessible log-out button from in the game itself, and a plot that has been in its planning stages since as far back as the Alpha test of Sword Art Online. As of recently, former chief of the research institute for RCT Inc, RCT Progress, has been planning to trap every player inside the game with the goal of becoming a god of his own world. As a result the company has made a promise that has been recorded for future use, while SAO has been postponed until the company can debug the entire game and find any other hidden death traps, there has been another game in creation up until this announcement, where they have finally moved to the Beta phase of their development. As a rule of thumb, only a certain few individuals from the previous Beta will be allowed to participate. That will conclude this report on the, nearly, fatal game that would have been released had it not been for the timely intervention of the original creator of SAO, Kayaba Akihiko."

I sat there, simultaneously shocked, relieved, and excited. The day OF the release, when almost 10, 000 people would be signed on, a madman would have held them hostage against the world. That thought had sent chills down my spine and having my entire body shaking, until they had mentioned that a new game would be introduced instead, where the fear of standing before death faded to the excitement that my gamer blood had been craving for the past 6 months. With any luck myself and my in-game friends would be chosen, for the Beta, they would undoubtedly need high level and highly skilled players to get a more diverse and complete data set for a game that is set to replace SAO.

That was a week ago.

A slight ping put my mutterings to rest for the moment. As I manoeuvred the windows on my desktop to show the e-mail I had just received, it had seemed that the weight of the world had been taken off my shoulders. A message from... Zaskar? I wonder who they are. As i opened the only link in the message, a RECT log-in console appeared on my screen asking for conformation of what my in-game character was named, and as I continued through the onslaught of loading screens and prompts, before finally reaching a private chat server, my mind pieced together what was going on. As my heart started pounding in anticipation, more names started to appear, some of which i knew from the SAO Beta, and others that i had no recollection of. After almost 1, 000 players had joined the lobby, was when the real excitement had started to reach a peak in my body, which soon answered the question that everyone was hoping it would be, that they were being chosen out of MILLIONS to take part in the next major VR game. As every player was no doubt looking at their screen with just as much intensity as I was, there was no doubt in my mind that the most relieving part of that day was when the black chat screen was replaced with a live video feed.

A slightly distraught group, developers for the new game presumably, stood twitching under the virtual presence of 1, 000 impatient gamers, some of whom have been anticipating this game more than most. Of the 1, 000 chosen to Beta this, as of yet, unnamed game, only the 30 best players in their field were invited from the previous failed game. But in reality only 3 were good or skilled enough to say that they were undoubtedly the best in their field.

For gathering and selling information, the one that stood heads and tails above the rest was without a doubt, Argo AKA The Rat, a nickname that was only emphasized by her trademark whisker markings, and her insanely high prices for the most mundane info. For treasure hunting, only one had dared to venture further into the most dangerous and unmapped portions of Aincrad, they went by the name Philia, taking major risks by going solo, and yet maximizing her profits and level because of it. The only other that could preach of mastery in a skill, would be... me, known as Kirito, or better known to most as The Black Swordsman (What, I can't change the fact that black is better than almost all colours!). I was the highest level player at the end of the Beta, had the most hours logged, and had made it to floors higher than any other tester had during the time period. As my thoughts marched onwards, one of the developers cleared his throat, mostly to clear his nervousness about his next announcement, which could end the game before it started.

"Ahem, well welcome all to the opening Beta, and welcome back to the testers from SAO. As some of you know, Zaskar used to be a purely American company that was very discreet, almost to the point of only existing in name alone." The longer that the developer went on, the clearer and more confident his voice sounded, "Recent events have presented us with an opportunity to expand our reach to your country. Since I am sure that all of you are to excited to listen to me drone on about the game, so I will cut to the chase. The game that we have sent you should have arrived in the last day or so, giving you time to create your characters, though not allowing you to play the game itself, seeing as the servers are being set-up as we speak." By now he looked as excited about the new game as I'm sure that everyone else was, "So without further ado, I will see you inside to give a better explanation of the game, after all teaching is better through action rather than boring lectures."

As soon as that was said, more than 90% of the chat had logged off of the server, mots likely to start up their own game for the first time, as most didn't expect that the character creation would be available before the severs had opened. Myself and the the other original Beta's had already completed the creation stage so, they had time to spare. Time that would be spent getting as far as they could before the Intro started and all the players were forced back to the start point.

As I lay down on the bed beside my desktop, and loaded the game, my mind was racing. My focus solely on my return to the world that I had so desperately wanted to escape to, and though it may have changed in name and scenery, there was still one thing that remained the same.

In this world, my social skills were limited to close friends and family, if only just...

But in my world, I am somebody else, something else.

No thinking, no logic, and the only thing that separated the two people is two words that I have waited to say for the past 2 months. The two words that will herald the return of the most feared player in the MMO world, and the words that will change both worlds for the worst.

"LINK START!"

And SCENE!

OK guys, I know this chapter was pretty boring, but it is needed for setting up the story that will be building along the way. Especially since I am keeping Kayaba good, for now at least, considering almost this entire chapter was just spur of the moment. Also just so you guys don't flame me messing up the info later on, yes I know that RCT and Zaskar were not apart of the original SAO arc until later on, but again, this is MY Fanfic, and as such I will use information that, while not ENTIRELY true, will stick to the main storyline for the most part. Also character descriptions and introductions will be made in the 2nd or 3rd chapter, depending on how generous I am feeling. Anyways, this is will be last note before I start up the next chapter, as many have noticed I have yet to introduce the game that they will be playing, that will be a secret until I post the next chapter. Yes I know, I'm evil, I get told that all the time. With nothing left to say for now, Read, Review and Follow.

Tyranitar Out!