Author's Notes: Sorry this took so long to get up! I actually had it finished for quite some time, but I had a few problems with my Internet, and then the Destiny Beta happened, so...

Anyway, I'm so sorry that this took so long to get up! I'll start working on the next chapter soon, promise!

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and .hack aren't mine, blah blah blah.

The first time Sora had heard Ryou yelling about something, he tried to ignore it. But when he heard him screaming in pain, he had immediately shut his computer off and rushed towards Ryou's room. He had tried to turn the knob, only to find that the door was locked. He was about to summon his Keyblade when he remembered the words of Yen Sid. "You must not summon the Keyblade, for if any of you do so in the outer layer of this world, then the Heartless shall come to it."

Thinking fast, he grabbed the nearest heavy object he could find, a nearby desk lamp, and smashed it down on the handle repeatedly. It took a few tries, but he finally managed to knock the handle off the door, exposing the lock. He spent a couple seconds fiddling with the mechanisms when he heard Ryou scream again. Eventually Sora opted to just break the door down. It took him two tries, but after a running start he'd managed to knock the door in to be welcomed to the sight of Ryou on the ground, his computer screen saying something about "reformatting".

Ignoring the screen, Sora had dragged Ryou to his bed after realizing he was unconscious. He cast a weak Cure spell on him, thankful that while the Keyblade granted him access to magic, he didn't have to have it out to use said magic all the time; it was more like an object that would bolster his spells anyway. That had been almost 4 hours ago. Sora had managed to get some light sleep in a chair he'd pulled up. He was roused from his slumber at the sound of the bed's occupant groaning as he came to. "You really had me worried there, Ryou. I'm glad you're okay."

"What...happened? And why the hell are you in my room?" Ryou gave Sora a glare as he sat up.

"You were screaming in pain. I...kinda broke your door trying to get in to see what was wrong. I'll find someway to fix it." Sora rubbed the back of his spiky hair, chuckling nervously. "Oh, what happened? I saw you on the ground with an M2D. I didn't know that you played The World too, Ryou!"

Surprisingly, Ryou didn't look as upset as Sora thought he would be over the door. "It's fine. I'll replace it later." A let out a sigh. "Yeah, I...play as a character called Haseo. You might have heard of him." He smirked at the gobsmacked expression on Sora's face at the news. Before he could relish it any further, Ryou's eyes suddenly widened as he remembered the events from earlier today.

Ovan telling him about Tri-Edge. Him fighting Tri-Edge. And then…he couldn't remember. But why?

He was interrupted by the sound of his computer starting up again. Slowly walking over to it, he saw the screen flicker with a hint of static before it settled to the default background. Placing his M2D on his head, Ryou took a seat at his computer, feeling the need to log in to The World. Before he could do so, a pop-up suddenly appeared on screen, with only two words: "Reboot Complete."

"Huh? What the-" The pop-up disappeared, only for another one to appear: "Continuing process…" it said, before disappearing as well. Ryou was growing frustrated with his lack of memory. He remembered everything up until he'd fought Tri-Edge, but why couldn't he remember afterwards?! A third pop-up appeared, and he paled at the sight of those three words: "System reformatting complete." "Huh? I...I don't remember doing that. Did you do this?!" He threw an accusatory glare at Sora, who raised his hands above his head.

"All I did was drag you to the bed and make sure you were okay. The only thing I touched was the chair. I...guess I'll just leave you be, for now." With that, Sora left Haseo's room. He had logged out rather suddenly, so he was pretty sure that Riku and Kairi were a little worried. They might have logged out too, so he'd send them both e-mails to let them know he was alright. Still, maybe he'd pay his two newest friends a visit in-game...

Ryou watched Sora leave the room, taking a breath to calm himself. Sora wasn't the kind of person who would do something like that. He didn't know why he was so sure of that, but it was just the vibe that Sora gave off; he wasn't a malicious person. Then the meaning behind the message hit him. "Reformatted?! What's going on? What about my e-mails?" Picking up the controller, he scrolled the menu over to the Mail Station and his inbox, only for another message to show up over the empty inbox: "Mail data not found."

"What the hell?! I would never delete these! They're all...gone? Even the e-mails I got from Shino?" He numbly backed out to the main menu as his mind tried to grasp the truth that was before him, but that he still couldn't believe. "Everything's been reformatted?" He thought aloud, his ire increasing by the second. "What the hell is going on?!" Before he could ponder it any further, yet another notification popped up, this time to inform him that he had one new e-mail. An e-mail? Fine, let's take a look. He thought, going back into the Mail Station. To his surprise, it wasn't junk mail. Ovan?! He narrowed his eyes slightly as he briefly checked to make sure that Sora wasn't around. Seeing that he was currently walking back to his own room with a piece of toast in his hand, Ryou went back to his computer and opened up the message.

Sender: Ovan

Subject: Choices

There are two paths before you.

One of these will lead to safety and shame. It is a path where you give up The World and never log in again. The other path leads to peril and pride. It is a path where you continue The World, and resume your search for the truth.

Let me be blunt. The latter path is tortuous and will threaten both your mind and body. Once you have chosen it, there will be no turning back.

If you still choose to walk this path, then there will come a time when you and I will meet once again in The World.

When the time comes I will once again say this to you:

"Welcome to The World."

Trial and truth...Whether or not I should quit The World? You should know better, Ovan! I'm gonna go back to The World! And then...I'm gonna get Shino back, no matter what! With his confidence regained and a smirk on his face, Ryou backed out of the Mail Station and logged in once more to The World.

Δ Root Town: Eternal City Mac Anu

Given how early in the morning it was in real life, the dome housing the Chaos Gate in Mac Anu was devoid of players as Haseo warped in. He managed to take a few steps forward before realizing something was wrong. Huh? What's going on? Why is my equipment different? Looking at his hands, he was shocked to see that they were covered in black leather gloves, instead of his usual armor. Further inspection of his character revealed that he wasn't wearing any heavy armor at all! Black leather pants with a black top that seemed to be made of belts that didn't come close to covering his midriff or the tattoo of two red serpentine dragons clashing. His shoulders were bare as well, red Wave tattoos shown off there as well.

Images flashed through his head as he attack Tri-Edge had hit him with. Suddenly nervous, he opened his in-game menu. Surely he was still Level 133, like when he'd faced Tri-Edge, right? What the-I'm back at Level 1?! What about my items?! Checking that submenu, he saw that he only had a couple hundred GP and a few measly Health Drinks; none of the thousands of GP or the powerful recovery items to be seen. My Member List?! Checking that as well, he saw that it was even worse than his items; completely empty. All the friends he had made...gone. M-my equipment?! That wasn't much better. He only had a basic pair of twin blades and some beginner armor. Nothing else.

"Heh heh heh...Gone. It's all gone. My whole character has been completely reformatted." Just then, two female players entered the dome, gossiping with each other.

"Hey, did you see that guy just now?" one asked.

"With the really weird arm?" the other chuckled.

"Yeah!"

Arm? Haseo thought for a brief moment. Memories of his very first day in The World flashed through his mind; the day he had been saved by Ovan. Could they have been talking about him? He would know something about this…

He ran out, catching a brief glimpse of Ovan leaving the main plaza and heading towards the harbor. When he finally made it to the harbor, he saw him disappearing around the corner once again, just ahead of him. Damn, there's so many places he could go from there! Where could he… He suddenly overheard two players talking, a man and a woman.

"Oh, man! Did you see that guy? He was so hot!" the woman gushed.

"Really? You're into guys like that? I thought he was kinda creepy…" the man dead-panned. Haseo suppressed a chuckle. Ovan always had that effect on people, so they had to be talking about him.

"Hey, where'd he go?! I wanted to go talk to him," the girl whined.

"Uhh, I think he down that alley. Don't expect me to follow you if you chase after him," the man chuckled.

Haseo bound forward, down the steps leading to the alley, around the corner...and promptly hid back behind the wall at the trio he saw at the far end. Damn! It's those player killers! He pressed his body against the wall, hoping they hadn't seen him. He seemed to catch a lucky break for the first time that day, for they had not.

"Heh, it's not much of a challenge when they're so...pathetically weak," the woman, Bordeaux scoffed.

"Yeaaah, I know what you mean! Fighting those noobs is making us all rusty," the pale one, Negimaru, sneered. Grein, as always, remained silent.

"That Rogue that we fought the last time...he really wasn't that bad!" Was that...admiration that Haseo heard in her voice?

"Um, you mean we're going after him next?" Negimaru sounded nervous. He didn't want to get blasted into a mountain again.

"Hell yeah! And that other kid too!" Bordeaux paused. "There is no way in hell...I can back down after what happened last time!"

"Y-yes, ma'am," Negimaru cowered. Grein was still silent, but he seemed to be paying more attention to Bordeaux.

Haseo frowned at this information. Looks like he'd have to be more careful. Wait. What the hell am I hiding for? Why do I have to hide from bastards like them? It's pathetic. Another part of his mind reminded him that he wasn't a Level 133 force of nature anymore. With that displeasing thought in mind, he snuck out of the alley and back into the harbor. What the hell's going on?! He stood on the path in the harbor, trying not to scream in frustration. This day was just awful. His character had been reformatted, his e-mails were gone, and Ovan was nowhere to be seen! At least it couldn't get any worse.

Suddenly, a fat pink beast player ran into him with a startled cry. He was so short that it barely made Haseo flinch, while the beast player was sent flying onto his back, flailing around on the ground rather comically as he tried to right himself. A brown-haired player about Haseo's height ran up behind the beast player, offering him a hand. "Gaspard! Are you okay?"

Taking the offered hand, Gaspard managed to pick himself up. "Huh? W-What happened?"

The other player looked at Haseo, a little worried. "Are you okay?" Haseo wasn't quite sure what to think. Didn't these two know that under normal circumstances, you couldn't hurt people in Root Towns?

"Uh, yeah."

The brown haired boy smiled. "Hey, are you a new player?"

"You're a...noob? Oh. Heh, hey, I'm sorry. I guess I must have scared you, huh?" Gaspard chuckled goofily.

Haseo had seen Chim Chims scarier than this beast player, a scowl crossing his face. "Hell no! I'm not a noob! I'm the Terror of Death." That would probably send them scurrying away.

"Terror...of...what?" Gaspard tilted his head in confusion.

The brunette was surprised. "What? Wait, are you talking about the famous PKK, Haseo?"

"Ooooh, you're a player-killer killer! I knew I'd heard about him somewhere before, Silabus. But...I'm pretty sure the player's name was 'Haseyo'." The pink beast put a hand to his chin in thought.

"Are you sure?" Silabus turned to Gaspard, giving him a questioning look. Haseo's eye twitched at the butchering of his name.

"Definitely, yup!" Gaspard nodded his head.

"Hey, look. It's me. I'm the real PKK Haseo!" His proclamation was met with Gaspard bursting into giggles.

"I'm sorry, but you'll have to gain more levels before you can say anything like that," Silabus chuckled.

"W-What! Hey!" Haseo scowled even harder.

"If you're a noob, we'll be happy to teach you the basics of this game," Silabus smiled, oblivious to Haseo's ire.

"Actually, Silabus and I are part of the noob-support guild called Canard. We're actually pretty famous, you know!" Gaspard explained.

"Noob...support guild?" In all his time playing, Haseo had honestly never even heard of a noob-support guild, nor this 'Canard'.

Before any of them could continue speaking, another player came running up to them. "Hey, come on you guys! Don't leave me in the dust like that!" Despite his words, Sora was laughing.

Haseo never thought he'd be so happy to see Sora. "Hey! Tell these two that you know me, that I'm really the Terror of Death, Haseo."

"Huh? Sora, do you know this player?" Silabus asked their newest guild members.

"Hmm." Sora examined him. He knew for a fact that this was indeed the PKK Haseo, but that wasn't gonna stop him from teasing him a bit. After all, Haseo had told him to not breathe a word about him being saved by him online. Riku and Kairi didn't really count, because he knew them offline too. Sora took a deep, dramatic breath and spoke. "Nope! Can't say I do, guys." Haseo was pretty sure that, were it capable of doing so, his jaw would have shot through the ground. "Say Silabus, why don't we show this newbie the ropes? I mean, I'm pretty sure he's got the more basic functions down, like Member Addresses and stuff, but he's probably never gotten into combat before."

The grin on Sora's face pissed Haseo off to no end, because he knew that Sora was screwing with him on purpose. Despite this, he accepted the Member Addresses of the three of them. As the three of them talked with each other, Haseo mentally debated on the course of action he should take. Oh man, it's just my luck to get mixed up with a bunch of weirdos. I even lost sight of Ovan. Anyway, right now I've gotta level back up to where I was before…back to becoming the Terror of Death. Well, I guess I'll just hang out with them for a little while longer.

"Hello? Did you get all of that?" Gaspard asked him, breaking him from his revery.

"Yeah, I was listening," Haseo lied.

"You were? Really?" Sora sounded skeptical, but he still had that infuriating smile on his face.

"Yes, really. Anyway, come on." The three looked at him. "You're gonna teach me the basics, right? So let's hurry up and get going to this area."

"Alright! But before we get going, you've got to smile!" Sora proclaimed.

"Smile?" Haseo looked at Sora strangely. Silabus and Gaspard gave him a similar, confusion on their faces.

"That's right! No frowning, and no sad faces! This boat runs on happy faces!" Sora affirmed.

"...Happy?" Haseo looked down at the ground, frowning slightly. What did he even have to be happy about right now? Tri-Edge had de-leveled him back to one, Bordeaux and her cronies were going to be stalking him no doubt, Ovan was missing as usual, and Shino was still in her coma!

Better just get this over with… he thought with a sigh. Looking up, he gave Sora what had to be the biggest, dumbest grin he could force onto his face. He held it for as long as he dared, given that some people were starting to stare. Silabus and Gaspard burst into laughter, but Sora actually looked contemplative. Why was that?

"Hmm… It'll do for now," Sora said, a small smile on his face. "Anyway, off to the Chaos Gate, and Δ Peaceful Leading Freedom!" With that, he enthusiastically pumped his fist into the air and took off running.

Author's Notes: Aaaand there we are.

I'm actually considering an idea I had recently. I'd like to hear from you all, though, be it in a review or in a private message.

How interested would you guys be in a side-story tie-in for this fic? It would focus on what Mickey and Yen Sid are doing while our heroes are goofing off-I mean-searching for answers in The World. It may also provide some clues of what is to come later on in this fic...