Chapter 6: Doppelgänger DLC
After that whole fight went down, the gang were just chilling out in Lisbeth's shop. While Liz is fixing everyone's weapons, everyone else, along with Brave and Ex-Aid were in a staring contest.
"So…" Klein started. "What's up?"
"What's 'up' is you kids." Brave replied. "You should all stay out of this."
"Why?" Silica asked. "Those Bugster things are all over the AR game! We want to help!"
"Yeah!" Leafa chimed in. "All we need now is more information!"
Upon hearing this, Brave pinched the bridge of his nose in disgust.
"You actually told them?" He groaned.
"Yeah he did!" Poppy replied in defense, popping out of Ex-Aid's pocket. "These kids can handle themselves!"
"How these kids can handle themselves is none of our concern." Brave replied harshly.
"Hey, come on." Ex-Aid commented. "I've seen them in action. You yourself battled Asuna over here!"
Asuna slightly flinched at the mention of her name.
"Okay, I'll give her that." Brave admitted. "But we can't have citizens putting their lives out for something like this."
"Something like what?" Kirito asked.
Brave turned and saw the black swordsman in his face. He stared down at him hard.
"All you need to know, child." He said condescendingly, pushing him back with two fingers. "Are in need to know basis."
With that final phrase, he began to walk out of the shop. Poppy and Ex-Aid followed after him.
"Sorry about him!" Poppy said sweetly. "We'll make sure to have a talk with him!"
Ex-Aid didn't say anything. He just simply looked back at the SAO gang, and just followed Poppy outside.
"They're keeping something from us." Klein said. "I know it."
"You may be right." Sinon agreed. "This might not be as simple as we thought."
Kirito grimaced. These Kamen Riders are beginning to peek his interests. He wanted to know what the matter was.
Kazuto sat on his bed with a book in hand. He was reading it, but he just couldn't focus. The whole Bugster debacle was distracting, to say the least. It took a few minutes, but he finally dove into the book. But a few seconds later, his phone buzzed.
"Aww…" He groaned. "I was just getting into it."
He looked into his phone and saw that he got a text. He opened it up and read it silently.
Hey, Kirito.
Are you free after lunch? Emu wants to meet up with us.
Before you ask, he sent this message through the ALO messenger.
We'll meet at Liz's shop. Seems like the place is our stomping ground.
Meet you there!
-Asuna
Kazuto sighed. Just when he thought he was pushed out of a problem, the problem just keep pulling him back in. He closed the book, and got up.
"Hey, Suguha!" He shouted. "You doing anything?"
Kirito and Asuna are sitting on a desk with Ex-Aid and Brave right across from them. Poppy and Yui were with their respective players, and the others are around Kirito and Asuna. Liz was in the back, prepping their weapons, but she listened on as best as she could.
"I've got an appointment in an hour." Brave said annoyingly. "Make this quick."
"Don't worry." Asuna assured. "All we have are some questions that need answers."
Klein whispered something into Kirito's ears.
"You DO know that they still won't answer, right?" He whispered.
"Hey, I thought the same thing." Kirito shrugged. "But Asuna was persistent."
"Do you know when the Bugsters began to appear?" Asuna asked.
"Classified." Brave replied bluntly.
"What can you tell us about them?" Asuna asked again.
Ex-Aid was about to open his mouth to answer, but Brave cut him off.
"The reporter should've told you that." He said blankly.
"Are you working with someone?" Asuna asked.
Ex-Aid and Brave now looked at each other. Their employer and financer is someone very high in the gaming industry. Would it be okay to tell them?
"I guess it's okay." Ex-Aid finally said.
"Very well." Brave sighed.
"We're working with GENM Corporation's CEO, Dan Kuroto." Ex-Aid answered.
Everyone paused at that answer. Someone that high was involved in something like this. Asuna gathered herself from the shock.
"I… think… that's enough questions." She whispered.
Ex-Aid smiled, and Brave just turned around back with his legs crossed. Poppy began to flew to Ex-Aid, but Yui grabbed her arm and yanked her over to the SAO gang.
"GENM Corporation's CEO?" Kirito asked.
"Uh-huh!" Poppy said. "He gave me to Ex-Aid, and now I'm here to help him against the Bugsters!"
"Isn't the CEO like… insanely rich or something?" Leafa asked.
"Yes, he is." Sinon answered. "His company is number one on console gaming. Looks like they're taking a shot at AR."
"How would he know about this though?" Silica asked.
"Huh…" Asuna pondered.
Just then, Poppy froze and flew into the air.
"Bugster, located!" She announced.
That's all they needed. Ex-Aid and Brave leapt out of their seats and bolted out of the shop. Poppy hastily followed after them. Kirito and the others followed them outside. They saw them run down the path.
"Let's follow!" Klein shouted.
"Hold it!" Liz yelled.
Everyone turned to Lisbeth with her hands on her hips.
"I haven't finished prepping your weapons!" She said grumpily.
The gang had no choice but to wait for Liz to finish.
Meanwhile, Ex-Aid and Brave made it to the location of the Bugster.
"Poppy. You sure it's here?" Ex-Aid asked.
"I'm sure!" Poppy said.
Brave looked around. And with one step the Bugster leapt from the trees and landed behind them. It roared a bit before settling down.
"Looks like it can't talk." Ex-Aid observed.
"Let's get this over with then." Brave replied.
Both of them put on their belts and pulled out their Gashats. They pressed their respective ones at the same time.
MIGHTY ACTION X!
TADDLE QUEST!
A pink and blue game field spread all over the area. And at that same time, brown 2 by 2 by 2 blocks placed themselves all over the area, while brown chest landed all over the area as well.
"Henshin." Brave said.
"Henshin!" Ex-Aid said.
GASHATTO!
LET'S GAME! MECCHA GAME! MUCCHA GAME! WHATCHA NAME?!
I'M A KAMEN RIDER!
Both figures of Ex-Aid and Brave were soon replaced by two chubby chibi figures. They stood for a bit before turning the levers on their belts.
"Proceeding to Level 2." Brave said robotically.
"Dai Henshin!" Ex-Aid announced.
GACHANN! LEVEL UP!
MIGHTY JUMP! MIGHTY KICK! MIGHTY MIGHTY ACTION X!
TADORU MEGURU! TADORU MEGURU! TADDLE QUEST!
Both chibi figures' armor and limbs popped off, and revealed two slimmer looking men, raring to fight.
"Let's clear this game with no continues!" Ex-Aid said.
GASHACON BREAKER!
"Proceeding with Bugster extermination." Brave said.
GASHACON SWORD!
Kirito and Asuna were up front, followed by Klein and Lisbeth, then Silica and Leafa, and Sinon at the back.
"They should've gone in this direction!" Klein shouted.
"We heard you the first time!" Lisbeth shouted back.
Asuna noticed Kirito hasn't said anything in a while.
"Hey, you okay?" She asked.
"Huh?" Kirito startled. "Uh, yeah."
They kept on running for a few minutes. That's when they were stopped by something. Some sparks sparked on the ground near them, causing them to stop. Everyone slowly drew their weapons, just in case.
"Who's there?" Kirito shouted.
"Reveal yourself!" Asuna yelled as well.
That's when a purple game field spread through the vicinity. Everyone took a step back, while Kirito looked unfazed. Then, they were face-to-face with another chibi figure. It stared them down hard.
"Uh…" Klein began.
"Who are you?" Lisbeth shouted.
The figure didn't reply. It only pushed the lever on his belt.
GACHANN! LEVEL UP!
MIGHTY JUMP! MIGHTY KICK! MIGH~TY ACTIO~N! X!
The chibi arms popped off. A head and new limbs spawned out of the side of the face. He turned around and faced the SAO gang. He was exact copy of Ex-Aid, only he is purple and black to the latter's pink and white.
"What the…?" Kirito whispered.
"Ex-Aid?" Silica asked.
"No." Sinon replied. "That's not him."
The Rider calmly raised the weapon on his right arm. He twisted it around, revealing a handheld chainsaw.
GE-IING!
The Rider charged. He swung and slashed at them, with the sound of a roaring chainsaw following close by. But the way he landed hits were off. He would put his chainsaw somewhere on his target's bodies, and then he pushes the saw aside, landing a hit.
"Why you little-!" Leafa grunted.
But the Rider only flipped around and sliced her back.
"Stand still, would ya!" Sinon yelled.
The Rider paid no attention as he just threw Liz into her.
"Yui!" Kirito shouted.
"Yes!" Yui replied quickly. She then slowly concentrated. She was trying to predict the pattern of attacks this Rider was about to do. But she wasn't able to come up with anything.
"I can't do it!" She shouted.
With a slice and dice of Klein, the Rider then turned to Yui. He twisted his weapon again to reveal two ray gun barrels.
KER-POW!
He swung it around his body and bullets flew in a cone shape. Kirito and Asuna were able to block some of them, but one of them landed directly on Yui.
"YUI!" Kirito shouted.
The Rider scoffed, and twisted his weapon into the chainsaw form again.
GE-IING!
He went for a direct slash, using Asuna as launching pad. He would've landed the attack if a hammer hadn't smashed into him. Gathering himself, he stood back up to see Ex-Aid and Brave running towards him.
"You again?!" Poppy frowned, holding Yui in her arms.
The Rider observed the situation. He was now face to face with two Riders. The SAO gang are of no concern to him, but he was still outnumbered. He only turned around and began to walk away.
"Where are you going?!" Leafa shouted. She began to run after him, but Brave stopped her.
"Let him go." He said. "He'll be back for us."
Leafa only frowned and looked on in the direction that Rider ran.
"Are you okay?" Ex-Aid asked, helping Lisbeth back up.
"Yeah… we'll live." Liz smiled.
'This is new for him…' Brave thought. 'What is it about these kids?'
"Who was that anyway?" Klein asked.
"Believe us, we're asking the same thing." Brave replied.
There was a tense feeling in the air. A new Rider that no one ever knew?
"Wait, you don't know?" Sinon asked again.
"We encountered him several times before, and we never got the chance of getting to know him." Ex-Aid explained.
"That's right!" Poppy chimed in. "We think he's with the Bugsters, but we really don't know!"
What followed that was some more silence. Kirito marched forward to the Riders.
"Now, you willing to talk about the Bugsters?" He asked.
Ex-Aid looked at Kirito, then turned to Brave, silent as ever. Brave then turned around, and shoved Kirito. He fell back, but Asuna caught him.
"I thought I told you." Brave stated coldly. "All you need to know are in need to know basis."
And with that, Brave logged out of ALO. Ex-Aid looked at the gang. He then too began to log out as well.
"I'm sorry." He called before leaving. "There's nothing else I can do here. Poppy, let's go."
Poppy flew onto his shoulder, and Ex-Aid logged out. The SAO players are now just sitting in the plains of ALO, even more confused by what just happened.
"Just what are you all up to…?" Kirito whispered.
Elsewhere in the real world, the young man is still playing on his mobile gaming device. He just defeated the boss of the level he was on. Just then, another man on a screen nearby appeared before him.
"Hey." He said.
"Pallad." The other man said.
The man looked furious.
"He met those kids." He told him.
"Well, that was ballsy of him." Pallad chuckled, going onto the next level.
The man next to him only grunted.
"Three of my kind have been defeated…" He muttered.
"C'mon!" Pallad assured. "We can always get more!"
The man, visibly angry, scoffed and left Pallad. Pallad only laughed and continued to play his game.
"Just a few more…" He whispered to himself.