Author's Notes: You all are in for a treat today! Two chapters in one day! Aren't I just awesome?

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Heart or .hack.

Δ Hidden Forbidden Radiation: Lost Ground Arche Koeln Waterfall

Haseo stared at Ovan as he asked the question, narrowing his eyes slightly with is arms crossed. Ovan stared back, his expression unreadable. "You've gotten quite strong. A lot stronger than you were back then…" The older man's voice was deep, but it was neither too loud, nor was it too quiet. It betrayed no emotion from his statement.

Haseo shrugged his shoulders; Ovan had always been like this. "Well, I was forced to become stronger…" He added a bit of venom to his voice. "...thanks to you." For his part, all Ovan did was adjust his glasses, pressing them up with his hand. They briefly glinted in the setting sunlight. "Where have you been?" Haseo demanded.

Ovan strode forward calmly. "Haseo. Always the reliable one. I knew I could count on you." A small hint of emotion slipped into his voice with the last sentence. Pride? Happiness? Haseo wasn't sure.

Haseo turned to face his old Guildmaster's back; he still wanted answers, and he'd get them. "When the Twilight Brigade broke up, why didn't you come then? What have you been doing the last six months!?"

Ovan's reply was out of his mouth as soon as Haseo had finished. "I was busy." He continued speaking, almost to himself. "It was such a small seed. I needed to find out what was growing inside, and there was only one way to find out. That's why...I decided to raise it."

"You raised it? What are you talking about, Ovan?" Haseo hated this the most about his old friend; he never lied, but he always spoke in riddles.

Ovan stopped walking, turning back to face Haseo. "I'm speaking figuratively," he said it as if it was obvious.

"When you suddenly disappeared, we all just… Why did you disappear like that?!" A pair of images came unbidden from Haseo's memory. A female Harvest Cleric in black and white standing in a cathedral, looking back at him; the same girl in the same place, but on the ground. Haseo looked down, his anger replaced with sadness. "After that, Shino…" He couldn't bear to finish telling his friend what had happened to her. How could he, when the three of them had been the closest in the Twilight Brigade? Haseo was suddenly very interested in the ground he was standing on.

A few tense moments passed before Ovan spoke again. "Haseo, do you want to know about Tri-Edge?"

Haseo's head shot up. "Wait, you know Tri-Edge?!"

Ovan glanced up at the sky, the light reflecting off of his sunglasses as he did so. "Six months now, and Shino hasn't come back to The World since Tri-Edge killed her. Meanwhile, the real-life Shino is lying in a coma, and no one seems to know the reason why. Tri-Edge..." Ovan blinked slowly before continuing. "He is not a normal PK."

"So you knew...about Shino?" Haseo was surprised by this. Had he possibly known the whole time? Before he could ask, Ovan spoke again.

"Yes, but that's all that I know. But, if you were able to find Tri-Edge, you might learn something about Shino's coma. You may also learn more about what really happened that day. And if you were somehow able to defeat Tri-Edge…"

Haseo spoke up, realizing that Ovan and he were thinking the same thing. "...then maybe Shino would come out of the coma." A spot of hope, after six months to the day of searching.

Ovan spoke again. "If my information is correct, he will be back today...at the scene of the crime."

"The scene of the crime? You mean-" Haseo's eyes widened in realization.

"Δ Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground; the place where Shino was killed." Ovan confirmed his suspicions. The Hulle Granz Cathedral! Haseo thought, clenching his fists as an almost mad grin split his face.

"Yes, finally...I'll get my chance! I swear I'll bring Shino back! I'll do it, Ovan!" Haseo was ecstatic. It was finally happening!

Ovan nodded, his tone taking on a reassuring quality as he spoke. "Yes. You and I, we're the only ones who could possibly bring her back."

"We're the only ones…" Haseo muttered, as Ovan began to turn away again. "Ovan?" Where was he going?

"I'll meet you at the Holy Ground," he reassured Haseo. "There are some things I must do." With that, Ovan was surrounded by rings of light, warping out of the Lost Ground. After a few minutes, Haseo followed after him.

Δ Server Root Town: Eternal City Mac Anu

"So that's what took you so long…" Kairi looked at Sora. The three of them had bid farewell to Sakaki and Atoli. Sora had told his two best friends that he needed to tell them something, so the three had switched to a private text chat mode. They could hear each other, but for all intents and purposes, they were just three players sitting silently by the docks at Mac Anu.

"Yeah. If Haseo hadn't shown up when he did, I would've been mincemeat. Just...don't go spreading that around. He's got a reputation to uphold." Despite his close call, Sora was feeling pretty good. Both of his closest friends were with him.

"So, have either of you found out anything?" Kurayami asked. It hadn't taken very long for the two of them to realize that he would not be responding to Riku online. He'd briefly explained to them that most people didn't use their real names online. As the two of them shook their heads, he sighed. "Well, I read something on the Rumors Board before I logged in. Someone said that they'd been adventuring in a field one night when he saw a figure appear out of nowhere. When told it was probably a monster called a Doppelganger, the player said that it wasn't, since it didn't chase after him. But get this; as he moved forward to get a closer look, the figure suddenly raised his hand, and a column of darkness appeared that he walked into. After that, the server suddenly crashed for a little while. That was about...three days ago, now. So it looks like we know what we're looking for."

"Did you get anything else? Like what this person looked like?" Kairi asked.

"No. It was too dark for him to make anything out, apparently." Kurayami shook his head.

"So, we're back to square one…" Kairi sighed.

"No we aren't!" Sora spoke, forgoing the private chat. Quietly he whispered to the two of them. "I mean, we definitely know there's something here now, so now we just need to find it! Oh, before I forget…" Sora dug around in his pockets, pulling out what looked like two business cards, and throwing them into the ocean, removing Asta and IYOTEN from his Member List. He then pulled out two more, handing one to Kairi and one to Kurayami. "Here, you two take these. They're my Member Address. So this way, we'll know when we're online!" He grinned. At least those two had taught him a few good things. As the two accepted them, they heard a voice speak up behind them.

"Woah! That's such a cool character design! How'd you get that? I mean, I didn't see any of those when I made mine." Turning around, the three of them saw a short, fat, and very pink Lei Tribe player admiring Sora's character.

"Oh, I won it in a contest. My name's Sora, by the way. These are my friends Kurayami and Kairi!" When Kurayami and Kairi just looked at him, he grinned.

Kairi cooed a little bit and walked forwards. "Aww, he's kinda cute."

The beast player blushed suddenly and began stammering. "O-oh. Th-Thank you, Miss Kairi." Suddenly, a new voice was heard, as a brown haired player in green ran up to them.

"Gaspard! You've really gotta stop running ahead like that!"

"Oh, sorry about that Silabus. I just say spotted him, and wanted to get a closer look! Doesn't he look awesome!" Gaspard pointed at Sora, who grinned and put his hands behind his head. He'd really lucked out with how his character looked.

"Woah, he is pretty cool." Silabus leaned forward with a hand on his chin, as if he was inspecting the three of them. "Say, are you three newbies?"

Kairi spoke up, frowning slightly. "Yeah, what's it to ya?"

"Oh, well, Gaspard and I are part of a Guild. See, we help out newbies to the game." Silabus pointed a thumb at himself, rather proud of his status as a newbie helper.

"Really? What's it called? How big is it?"

"Well, you see...the thing is...Canard is just the two of us right now. We used to have a third member, but he left it in our hands." Silabus deflated a little.

"It's just been the two of us ever since." Gaspard sighed, looking rather glum.

"Just the two of you? Well, why don't we join?" Sora offered. The duo looked up at him in surprise.

"Really? Just like that?" Silabus asked.

"Yup!" Sora smiled.

Kairi giggled beside him. "You always were someone who went out of his way to help others."

Kurayami put a hand to his chin. "My mind's telling me 'no'..." Silabus and Gaspard looked down again. "...but…" They looked back up. "...I'm more one to follow my heart. So count me in." He grinned at the bright looks the duo were giving them. Gaspard looked like he was about to cry tears of joy.

"I don't know what to say…" Silabus said.

"Nothing to be said! Just show us the way." Sora grinned.

"Here, follow us. Oh, and here. You'll need these Guild Keys to get into the Home." Silabus proceeded to give the three of them Canard Guild Keys, a smile on his face. "Welcome to Canard!" Kuhn...I think I'm finally starting to fulfill your dream.

Δ Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground: Lost Ground Hulle Granz Cathedral

The wind howled as Haseo appeared outside of the Hulle Granz Cathedral. The words of Ovan echoed in his head as he gazed upon the massive Gothic-styled architecture. "He will be back today...at the scene of the crime."

"Tri-Edge...is coming here!" His grin would have been truly terrifying, if there had been anyone around to see it. With that, he walked confidently to the large building, the old wooden doors opening with an aged squeak. He walked past the rows of empty pews to stand before an altar, a triangular scar that glowed an ominous red the only thing marring the the beautiful church scenery. Looking out the window in the back, two memories came to Haseo, from the last two time's he had been to this place.

A younger and more optimistic Haseo stood in front of the altar, the scar that would appear later missing. He didn't wear the armor of a demon, but a simple black leather outfit that showed off his midriff. His grey hair was much shorter, and a lighter shade too. Behind him and to the right stood a girl slightly shorter than him, dressed in white and black, with a small black cape that looked similar to the wings of a bird or dragonfly. The girl, Shino, spoke to him suddenly. "They say there used to be a statue of a girl here."

Haseo turned from the empty pedestal to her. "A girl?"

"That's right. She was called 'Aura'." She began walking forward to the altar. She spoke almost...reverently of Aura, like she was a Goddess.

"I wonder...why'd she disappear?" Haseo asked, genuine curiosity filling him.

"Who knows." Shino turned to him, smiling sadly at the newest member of the Twilight Brigade. "Maybe she just lost her interest...lost hope for this world..."

He was running as fast as he could. Panic filled him. Ovan had gone missing, as had Shino. He had run to the first place he knew Shino would be; Ovan could have been anywhere, so it was pointless to try and look. Throwing open the doors, his eyes adjusted to the darkness just in time for him to see a triangular sign scarring the altar, blue flames...and Shino falling to the floor, with a shadowed figure holding a tri-bladed dagger.

"Shino!" As Haseo burst into a run to retrieve her from the floor, the mysterious figure suddenly vanished. Grabbing her shoulders, he began to lift her torso up as he shouted at her. "Hang in there! Hey!" She didn't answer him, and a sound like static drew his attention from her face. To his horror, her right hand was flashing between it's normal look and a look of nothing but static. As her hand hit the ground, it suddenly burst apart into light, followed by her entire body beginning to flash with static as more particles faded into the air from her. When a player died in The World, it was not like this. "Shino…" Haseo shook his head, unwilling to believe this was happening. "No...No! This...This can't be happening!" He screamed to her, trying to wake her up, as tears filled his eyes.

Her finger suddenly twitched, and her hand slowly rose to brush his cheek. "Don't cry…" her voice was weak, like she did not have the strength to speak. "Boys don't cry...do they?" She screamed as cracks appeared on her, as in the real world a spike of pain shot through the body of Shino Nanao.

"Shino!" Haseo screamed her name again. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening!

Another pained breath escaped her as she spoke again. "O...van… Save...Ovan…"

Haseo was confused at her request. "Save...Ovan?"

Shino didn't answer him as she closed her eyes with a small smile, before another scream of pain came from her. Her body dispersed into light, and Haseo reached up, as if grabbing a particle would put her back together. When the light around him finally faded, and he looked down at the altar with the Tri-Edge Sign on it, he could only scream one thing as he burst into tears.

"SHINOOOO!" The very earth itself seemed to tremble with his cry, and...

A tone rang through the air, breaking Haseo from his memories. Haseo, not being musically inclined, did not recognize it as the musical note A in C Major. He turned, looking back and forth for the source of the noise. "What's that sound?" He turned around fully, looking for anything that could have made it, missing the sight of a tiny blue orb appearing from nowhere. A brief whine drew his attention to behind him as he leapt backwards, the brightly glowing sphere exploding outwards into a blue blaze.

Having dodged the blast, he saw a figure standing in the flames that proceeded to fling it's arms out, dissipating the azure flames he had appeared from. Haseo saw that the figure had a red outfit, the shade of which he was certain could not be obtained legally within The World. Blue-green hair rested under a cap of the same color, obscuring his eyes. He almost looked like he was sewn together. As the figure drew his twin blades, noticeably missing the accompanying flash of light that came with drawn weapons, Haseo saw that he had razor sharp teeth in a perpetual mockery of a smile. "Is that...Tri-Edge?" He wondered aloud.

The figure remained silent as he lowered his head slightly, crossed his arms, and unfolded the blades into it's sinister form, glaring back up at Haseo as blue sparks flew away from the blades. Memories flashed through Haseo's mind again. Shino and himself sitting atop the steps at Mac Anu, her throwing up a peace sign as he gazed at her. Her turning to him in the cathedral with a smile. Her lying on the ground of the cathedral, about to fade into light. Without a doubt in his mind, this was Tri-Edge. He poured all his sadness, all his strength, and all his rage into the next two words he roared as he drew his own twin blades.

"YOU BASTARRRD!" Haseo charged at Tri-Edge, swinging the first blow. To his shock, he found one of Tri-Edge's own blades blocking where he'd been aiming, parts of the PK surrounded by a light green aura. What?! Leaping backwards, Haseo charged again, swinging again and again and again, screaming the entire time. Tri-Edge blocked every strike, looking like he wasn't even trying to do so! Seeing that this wasn't working, Haseo jumped back and sheathed his twin blades, pulling out his chain-sword, the teeth on it already spinning as he charged forward with another roar. Yet try as he might, he couldn't break through Tri-Edge's guard. Seeming to have had enough, Tri-Edge sung his other blade at Haseo, sending the boy and his sword flying backwards with a pained sound. I...I felt that! Ryou had enough time to think that as he landed face down on the tiled floor, his sword impaling itself beside him. With several pained grunts, he managed to get back on his feet as Tri-Edge approached, placing his weapons behind him as he did so. Ryou was running out of breath, which didn't make sense because it was just a game. He shouldn't have felt that hit from Tri-Edge...right?

"Damn!" He breathed out, glaring at Tri-Edge. "What the hell...what the hell are you?" He asked, looking down slightly. Tri-Edge didn't answer, just looking down at him with that smile. This guy...killed Shino! Haseo thought, gritting his teeth in anger. "IT'S NOT OVER YET!" He roared again, as he drew his scythe, charging forward again.

Before it could even come close to hitting Tri-Edge, Haseo was blown backwards, the scyther flashing green briefly before shattering into fragments like glass. Haseo looked at his hands in shock as he realized that his weapon had been destroyed. As he looked up again, he was met with the sight of Tri-Edge's hand gripping his face. He had no time to think as Tri-Edge pushed forward, knocking Haseo back almost to the entrance with a blast of azure flames that he could swear he felt the heat of in real life! He heard Tri-Edge taking a few steps forward, looking up when they stopped to see he had raised his right arm above his head.

As the arm came down, a massive glowing bracelet appeared, three massive points rotating around it as it built up energy. As soon as the offshoots stopped spinning, the ball of light shot towards Haseo at blinding speed, multi-colored ribbons of something trailing behind it. As it hit him, Ryou screamed in agony as he felt nothing but the most extreme pain shooting through his entire body. It felt as though he was dissolving from the inside and outside at the same time!

When the attack ended, Haseo dropped onto his hands and knees, gasping for breath. As he looked back up at him, Haseo-no, Ryou-realized that the screen was beginning to glitch out. He was suddenly aware of his heart beating, faster and faster. Looking to his left through Haseo's eyes, he saw a single piece of his armor floating upwards and dissolving into tiny streams of code. He looked down in horror and saw his entire character was covered in something that seemed to be eating his armor! He let loose another scream of pain, before Haseo's armor exploded into pieces, dissolving as it left his body.

He was vaguely aware of the sound of his bedroom door being broken down in real life as both Haseo in-game and Ryou in real life fell backwards. His eyes widened slightly as the static on his M2D cleared for a brief second to reveal a figure approaching. O...van? was the last conscious thought he had before the M2D, and his sight, faded to black.

Author's Notes: Well, Haseo finally found Tri-Edge! But was it Tri-Edge who was at the cathedral that day?

Of course Tri-Edge was at the cathedral that day!

Anyway, here's something a little different than the usual omake. It's time for us to hit...The Forums!

Some of these will be for comedy purposes, and some of these will not.

This particular thread will be going in to the General Forum. What's it about? Well, Kairi was wearing what amounted to a version of BlackRose's outfit, so...yeah.

Also, I'm not a member of Rooster Teeth...

Topic: That hot newbie

Tucker

Oh, man. Did you guys see that hot chick walking around Mac Anu today? I'd have gone up to her and worked the moves on her, but someone had to go and be an idiot again. Next time I see her, I am totally gonna party up with her and show her a good time. Bow chicka bow wow!

I know right?

Church

Man, I wish my girlfriend wore stuff like that! If she were I wousljdhnhajkgfbnakgbjagfbjakb;

Sorry about that

Tex

Had to smash my idiot boyfriend's head against the keyboard a few times. There's not a chance in hell I'd be caught walking around like that.

Hey, no fair

Grif

I saw her first! I called dibs.

Um

Simmons

Hate to break it to ya, Grif, but you don't just get to call "dibs" on a woman. She'd probably just kick you between the legs if she heard you say that.

Who says it's a "she"?

Donut

I mean, for all we know, that could be a guy behind "her"! I've heard about people doing that before. One time, a buddy of mine got PKed by this guy who was playing as a girl. Turns out it was a trick!

Shut up, Donut

Grif

You're a male Steam Gunner with pink armor.

Yeah, shut up.

Simmons

Seriously, what guy makes their armor PINK?

IT'S NOT PINK!

Donut

IT'S LIGHTISH RED! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU GUYS?

Blarg!

Crunch-bite

Blar-Blarg! Blarg honk honk, blarg blarg honk!

I agree with Crunch-bite

Caboose

Being a woman, we should go to her gently so as not to scare her. Offer her gifts. Learn her habits. Compliment her, but not too much.

Also, she has a boyfriend.

Is the world ending?

Church

Did...Did Caboose just give good advice that was on topic and shatter our hopes and dreams at the same time?

Alright Ladies...

Sarge

Given the events I have witnessed thus far, I believe that there is only one course of action the Rooster Teeth Guild can take...

I'm listening.

Sister

What's the plan, Sarge?

To prevent certain doom...

Sarge

In order to stop the end of everything we know and love, we must all take turns killing Grif! In the most humiliating and painful ways possible! Starting with me!

This plan...

Simmons

I like this plan, Sarge. It's probably the best one you've come up with yet!

Hmm...

Tex

Do I get to kick him in the nuts again?

...

Grif

I hate you all.