Chapter 14: Lies or Truths
Kiriya is just sitting in a café, chilling with a cup of tea. Next to him, sat a briefcase. He had something to do for himself. In fact, despite working with GENM and the other Riders for as long as he has, he was still suspicious of Dan from day one. And ever since that day from a few weeks ago, his suspicion was proven correct.
"Huh…" He sighed.
Then, his phone buzzed. It was from Emu.
They're done. Wanna come?
-Emu.
Kiriya sighed.
"Well, guess it's time to tell them." Kiriya sighed. "Not that they'll believe it, but I'll say it."
I've gotta believe!
(A circle camera shot of Kirito and Asuna, back to back, looking around, as the world pixelates and revealing the title)
I don't wanna know heta na shinjitsu nara I don't wanna know shiranai kurai ga ii noni
(The SAO gang talking together)
Why? Why? Why? Why?
(The floor suddenly crash and all of them fall, their bodies pixelating into their SAO avatars)
Kizukeba I came too far
(They slowly get up, looking around the pitch blackness)
Tomaranai kanjiru kono yokan wa
(The world shatters into color with the Riders walking behind them)
The new beginning
(Each Rider show their Gashats)
Michi no ryuoiki ima wo kirihirakunda
(The SAO gang prepare to fight)
I've gotta believe!
(The Riders go Level 2)
(Turn it on!) soutou
(The Gamer Driver lever turns)
EXCITE! EXCITE! Takanaru
(Ex-Aid VS Kirito and Asuna)
EXCITE! EXCITE! Kokoro ga
(Brave VS Silica and Lisbeth, Snipe VS Sinon and Leafa)
Michibiku ano basho e kakenukete ikudake
(In an explosion, Lazer tears by with Ex-Aid riding)
(Hey!) I'm on a mission right now
(Brave, Snipe, and Lazer go into Level 3)
(Hey!) I'm on a mission right now
(Ex-Aid also goes into Level 3, and does a rocket punch)
EXCITE! EXCITE! Kotae wa
(Graphite VS the SAO gang)
EXCITE! EXCITE! Kotae wa
(Ex-Aid VS Genmu)
(One!) kono te no naka
(Sinon (GGO) and Snipe raising their guns to their faces)
(Two!) susumubeki Life
(Asuna and Brave clashing swords)
(Three!) ikitekudake
(Kirito & Ex-Aid run towards each other as the title appears)
Kirito slowly opened his eyes. At first, he was blinded by the light that was placed above him. He looked beside him and saw Asuna.
"Kirito!" She greeted. "You're awake!"
"Heh, was I going anywhere?" Kirito chuckled.
Soon, everyone else huddled up beside him.
"You were the last one." Suguha stated. "Dr. Kagami should have you discharged by tomorrow."
"What about you guys?" Kirito asked.
"Dude, we all got the surgery way before you." Ryotaro answered. "Why would we still be here?"
Just then, Hiro walked in. He was holding a clipboard.
"Just make sure you take care of yourselves." He said, not looking at them. "Don't come crying to me if you want to go back."
Kirito looked at him.
"Don't worry, we won't have any regrets." He stated.
Hiro only replied by handing a bottle of water.
"Alright, enough with the playing around!" Rika shouted. "Let's get to work!"
Kirito nodded and grabbed the nearby AmuSphere.
"See you on the other side, Kirito." Asuna said.
Kirito then slowly closed his eyes.
Kirito then opened his eyes to see the forests of ALO. He was about to stretch, but Yui popped out of his pocket and greeted him.
"Hello, Papa!" She said cheerfully.
"Hey, Yui." Kirito greeted.
"Welcome back!" Yui smiled. She then flew onto the top of Kirito's head. "I missed you."
"I missed you too." Kirito assured. He then turned around and saw the rest of his friends.
"Nice to see you like this again." Lisbeth teased.
"Yeah, it's been a while, hasn't it?" Kirito joked.
Ex-Aid and Brave came to be as well. Brave was the first to speak up.
"Come on." He said. "We have work to do."
Kirito then pumped his fists and then followed everyone else.
They soon came to a bustling village by a river. The townspeople were going about their usual business, and several players were interacting together.
"Why are we here?" Leafa asked.
"I think I found a Bugster here!" Poppy answered.
"'You think'?" Sinon asked.
"Well… it's a hunch!" Poppy whined.
"And she's usually right." Ex-Aid backed up.
Then, they saw an old man. He was a player, and he was having difficulty moving about.
"Yui?" Asuna asked.
"Of course." Yui replied. She then closed her eyes and put her hands to her head. "The player name is Master. Age 60. Level 60."
"Oh boy." Klein shrugged. "An old man in a game like this? Not good to his health."
Silica and Leafa quickly rushed over to Master.
"Are you okay, sir?" Silica asked.
"Come on, we'll help you." Leafa assured.
Both of them helped Master to a nearby bench. He groaned as he sat down.
"Thank you, young missies." He smiled.
"Pardon me for asking…" Asuna spoke up. "What are you doing in a game like this?"
"Well, you see here." Master chuckled. "I run a factory. Sometimes the work can be a little bit too much. This is a good way to rest."
But when he said that, he then began to groan. He clenched his chest tightly. Then, orange blobs began to spew out of his body.
"Bugster." Brave said. "Get back. All of you!"
Everyone took several paces back, and prepared for the Bugster. However, something unusual happened again. The orange blobs did continue to spew out, but the blobs accumulated in two different spots in front of them. And the accumulation looked different from the other. One had a grey cape on its back and scabbard. It drew his sword and prepared to attack. The other had a jet turbine for an arm and a missile pod on the other. It also had a machine gun on one of its shoulders. Both had Gashats sticking out of their heads, one black and the other orange.
"Okay… that's new?" Klein commented.
Kirito charged first. He first went for the black Bugster. He blocked the downward slash, but then, bouncing the Bugster off of him, he striked right across the Bugster's abdomen. There was visible damage. The Bugster groaned.
"Looks like the surgery worked!" Kirito exclaimed.
He twirled his sword around and then continued to attack. Klein and Asuna went to help Kirito, while Sinon and the others went for the orange one. Ex-Aid and Brave both looked at each other and nodded. They pulled out their respective Gashats after putting on their Gamer Drivers.
MIGHTY ACTION X!
GEKITOTSU ROBOTS!
TADDLE QUEST!
DOREMIFA BEAT!
The robots from each games came to the battlefield. They both twirled around their Riders and floated to the air as both Riders inserted the Gashats.
GASHATTO!
"Proceeding to Level 3!" Brave announced.
"Dai Dai Dai Henshin!" Ex-Aid chanted.
GACHANN! LEVEL UP!
MIGHTY JUMP! MIGHTY KICK! MIGHTY MIGHTY ACTION X!
A GACCHA!
BUTTOBASE TOTSUGEKI! GEKITOTSU PUNCH! GEKITOTSU ROBOTS!
TADORU MEGURU! TADORU MEGURU! TADDLE QUEST!
A GACCHA!
DO-DO-DO-RE-MI-FA! SO-LA-SI-DO! OK! DOREMIFA BEAT!
Brave and Ex-Aid were soon in their Rider forms, as well as the robots becoming their armor. Then, they set off in two directions. Ex-Aid went to helped Kirito, Asuna, and Klein, while Brave set off towards Sinon's party.
Kirito blocked another slash from the Bugster, and Klein used the opening to strike across the Bugster's back. The Bugster turned around to attack Klein, and Asuna used that opening to get into the air. But as she came down, a robot fist went past her, knocking her off balance. She did stick the landing though. The Bugster bounced off of Klein, and sent it into the ground.
"Um, a little warning could help!" Asuna complained.
"Hey, it did its job." Ex-Aid remarked.
He walked over to the Bugster. He saw the Gashat that was sticking out of its head.
"Girigiri Chambara?" He said to himself.
"Huh?" Klein said. "That samurai game?"
"Yeah." Ex-Aid explained. "It's a game where every slash is lethal."
The Bugster slowly got back up and began to attack the players.
"Hey, you guys can talk games later!" Asuna called.
Ex-Aid then rolled his arm and continued his attack.
Meanwhile, Brave, Sinon, and the others were handling the other Bugster. Surprisingly, they were doing pretty well. Despite the Bugster's many attempt at flight, Leafa was able to bind it to the ground with a flight-restriction spell.
Soon, both groups were able to pin both Bugsters to their backs.
"Looks like this is going to be an easy score!" Lisbeth taunted.
But she spoke too soon. As soon as she said that, a figure walked towards them. It was the black Ex-Aid in his Level 3 form.
"You again?!" Brave asked.
The black Ex-Aid just slowly raised his weapon at them.
"I'm done with playing games." He said.
"Could say the same for you!" Ex-Aid pumped.
And with that, the Riders charged at the black Ex-Aid. That left the SAO players with the Bugsters. But the black Ex-Aid wasn't planning on staying. He only shot a couple lasers at both the players and the Riders, who all dodged. But by the time they recovered, the Bugsters and the black Ex-Aid were all gone.
"Where did they go?" Klein asked.
Brave and Ex-Aid sighed, and just cancelled out of their transformation.
GACHANN! GASHUNN!
Kirito, Asuna, and the others are now just sitting in a plain. Ex-Aid and Brave were just standing a bit far off.
"Looks like I missed the party." Commented a voice.
Everyone looked up and saw a familiar Sylph flying towards them. It was Lazer.
"You missed a lot, actually." Ex-Aid pouted.
"So, we have two Bugsters this time?" Lazer asked.
"Right." Brave replied. "They separated from the host. Player name Master. We have him quarantined right now."
"Quarantine?" Kirito asked.
"You heard me right." Brave said. "To prevent any further infections, we had to isolate him. He's held up in one of Ex-Aid's remote cabins in New Aincrad."
"Wouldn't it be a lot more dangerous up there?" Klein asked.
"Don't worry!" Poppy assured. "The place is pretty remote! No player ever comes near there."
"We have him separate, that's what that matters." Ex-Aid interrupted. "All we have to do now is to defeat the Bugsters."
"I'll volunteer for that orange one." Sinon stated.
Everyone just stared on at Sinon. This was completely out of nowhere.
"Where did this come from?" Lisbeth asked.
"I don't know…" Sinon wondered. "But I think that Bugster's mine to deal with."
"How so?" Brave asked.
"The Gashat it had in its head was Jet Combat." Sinon answered. "It's a game where you pilot fighter jets to destroy your opponents."
"And this correlates to you how?" Ex-Aid asked.
"You may not know this." Sinon explained. "Before I converted, I was the number one player in GGO. Shooting targets out of the sky was kind of natural instinct cover there."
That was her putting her foot down.
"Alright then!" Ex-Aid concluded, rubbing his hands together. "Sinon, you handle that Bugster, while we take care of the other one."
"Got it." Sinon agreed. "I'll leave right now."
She then turned and began to walk away. On her way, she just grabbed Leafa by her shirt and dragged her along.
"Wha- what?" Leafa blurted. "Sinon, what are you doing?"
"You're with me." Sinon replied.
With that, Sinon sprouted her wings and floated away, with Leafa dangling by shirt, flailing her arms and legs all over the place.
"Okay, that was weird. Even by her standards." Klein commented.
Lazer smiled and just sat down on a nearby log. He then opened up his menu and then scrolled through something.
"What's that?" Asuna asked.
"Hm?" Lazer grunted.
"You're still doing that, aren't you?" Brave reprimanded. "I told you. Going into a situation like this is out of our hands."
"Hey." Lazer pouted. "If you need to know, I've been digging into the mysteries of the Bugster!"
"Wasn't that the whole thing that went down 2 years ago?" Klein commented.
"Well, that is true." Lazer corrected. "But!"
"But?" Kirito asked.
"I recently discovered that the Bugsters date much farther back." Lazer explained. "I don't have the exact info on it, but my buddies are in the process of going into it."
"How are you able to this?" Silica asked.
"Hey, I know everyone around these parts." Lazer smirked. "As long as they can do it, I let them do it."
"Also, about that black Ex-Aid…" He added cheekily.
That got everyone's attention. They quickly crowded around Lazer.
"You know who he is?" Kirito asked.
"Yes." Lazer reassured. "Yes, I do."
Klein stepped up.
"It's that why you've been silent lately?" He asked.
"Well, things like this tends to make me a busy man!" Lazer joked.
Brave then shoved Klein aside.
"Enough wasting time." He stated. "Who is that black Ex-Aid?"
"Well… the answer may surprise you." Lazer began.
But, he didn't have time to finish it, as the Bugster just popped out of nowhere and attack the group.
"So you came to us, huh?" Ex-Aid pumped. "Big mistake!"
As the Kirito and his friends began to attack the Bugster, both Ex-Aid and Brave put on their Gamer Drivers and pulled out their Gashats.
MIGHTY ACTION X!
TADDLE QUEST!
Then, they inserted their Gashats into their Drivers.
"Henshin!" Ex-Aid announced.
"Henshin." Brave said.
GASHATTO!
LET'S GAME! MECCHA GAME! MUCCHA GAME! WHATCHA NAME?!
I'M A KAMEN RIDER!
Their figures were now replaced in their chibi forms, but they didn't stay long like that.
"Dai Henshin!" Ex-Aid announced.
"Proceeding to Level 2." Brave said.
GACHANN! LEVEL UP!
MIGHTY JUMP! MIGHTY KICK! MIGHTY MIGHTY ACTION X!
TADORU MEGURU! TADORU MEGURU! TADDLE QUEST!
Then, as their figures became slim and turned into their Level 2 forms, they summoned their weapons.
GASHACON BREAKER!
GASHACON SWORD!
The Riders grabbed their weapons and got ready to fight.
"Proceeding with Bugster extermination." Brave said.
"I'll clear this game with no continues!" Ex-Aid smiled.
Then they began to proceed towards the battle, but then, out of the sky, they were cut off by the black Ex-Aid.
"You never quit, do ya?!" Ex-Aid taunted.
"Kid!" Brave ordered. "You get to the Bugster! Send Asuna over here!"
"Got it!" Ex-Aid complied.
Ex-Aid then jumped over his black doppelgänger and ran to the Bugster. The black Ex-Aid aimed his weapon at him, but Brave cut him off.
"Your opponent is me!" He said.
Ex-Aid made his way over to the Bugster. He told Asuna to get over to Brave, to which she complied. She let Ex-Aid take her place, and then ran back towards Brave. The Bugster was slamming its swords down at its opponents. While it did receive damage, it was doing a good job of giving out damage as well. At one point, he just threw Kirito into the air with an upward backhand slash.
Lazer, who had taken cover, saw his chance. He put on his Gamer Driver, and pressed his Gashat.
BAKUSOU BIKE!
He twirled around, and then inserted his Gashat into the Driver.
"Henshin…" He said smoothly.
GASHATTO!
LET'S GAME! MECCHA GAME! MUCCHA GAME! WHATCHA NAME?!
I'M A KAMEN RIDER!
His figure was replaced by another chibi figure. He had his two wheel-weapons on hand, but he didn't spend any time in this form.
"Second gear!" He shouted.
GACHANN! LEVEL UP!
BAKUSOU! DOKUSOU! GEKISOU! BOUSOU! BAKUSOU BIKE!
Lazer then transformed into his Level 2 form. The motorcycle. He roared his engine and sped toward the falling Kirito. He tore right through the fight between the black Ex-Aid and Brave-Asuna fight. But he was just in time to catch Kirito.
"Whoa!" He said. "Nice save!"
"Don't mention it, kid!" Lazer remarked. "Now, do you want to beat this guy or what?"
Kirito looked at the Bugster. Klein, Silica, Lisbeth, and Ex-Aid had done intense damage on the Bugster, and one more critical strike should be able to beat him.
"Let's do it." Kirito smirked.
Lazer grunted in agreement. Kirito twisted his handlebars, roaring the engines. And with three seconds of tire scrapping sounds, Lazer darted forward with Kirito riding him. As he got closer, he pulled out Lazer's Gashat, and inserted into the slot on the side, pressing the button as well.
GASHUNN! GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!
The Bugster was getting closer and closer. Kirito then stood up on top of Lazer, and drew his Elucidator and Excaliber. And once the Bugster was in range, Kirito crounched down, and pressed the button again.
BAKUSOU CRITICAL STRIKE!
Both Kirito's blades glowed a yellow color. And with an X-shaped slash, Kirito sliced right through the Bugster. The Bugster roared and then was consumed by an explosion. And a Gashat flew out of the explosion and landed in Ex-Aid's hands.
GAME CLEAR!
That sound interrupted the fight between the black Ex-Aid and Brave and Asuna. They all looked back to see Kirito on Lazer.
"Race – Finished!" Lazer cheered.
"Kirito!" Ex-Aid shouted.
Kirito looked up and saw Ex-Aid throw the Gashat at him. He caught it with one hand, then observed. He then pressed it.
GIRIGIRI CHAMBARA!
A small robot that looked like a samurai then spawned into the area. It floated around Kirito and Lazer before floating up into the air.
Kirito then closed up Lazer's Gamer Driver.
GACHANN!
"Third gear!" Lazer said.
"Here you go!" Kirito smiled.
He then inserted the Gashat into Lazer's Driver.
GASHATTO!
"Thanks kid!" Lazer said.
"Here's looking at you!" Kirito then said, opening the Driver back up.
GACHANN! LEVEL UP!
BAKUSOU! DOKUSOU! GEKISOU! BOUSOU! BAKUSOU BIKE!
A GACCHA!
GIRI! GIRI! GIRI! GIRI! CHAMBARA!
Lazer then glowed. Kirito was prompted to go off then. Lazer then flipped around. The tires and wheel gear popped off and pixelated away, and then the samurai robot from earlier detached its limbs and head. Its arms turned into legs, and its legs turned into arms. They attached themselves in their appropriate places. Then, the torso and the headpiece were the only ones left. Lazer's bike face twisted around to become a head. That's where the headpiece ended up. The torso became a crotch armor.
Once the attachment sequence was complete, Lazer sighed a sigh of relief.
"Finally, somethin' humanoid!" He called.
"A samurai, eh?" Kirito observed.
"Heh!" Klein laughed. "Welcome to the club, buddy!"
Lazer shot a quick thumbs-up at Klein, but then he turned his attention to the black Ex-Aid.
"Now, time to play the truther game now…" He began.
Then, he said something the shocked everybody.
"GENM corporation CEO, Mr. Dan Kuruto." He bluntly stated.
Well, that was enough to cause everyone to question.
"What?!" Ex-Aid stuttered.
"What the-?" Kirito spluttered.
"Are you serious?" Klein asked.
"Huh?" Brave uttered.
Asuna, Lisbeth, and Silica was just speechless.
"And I have the evidence to back it up." Lazer smirked. "When we were fighting that Gekitotsu Robots Bugster, I saw his Avatar transform into him."
The black Ex-Aid said nothing. He just then pulled out and pressed his Shakariki Sports Gashat.
SHAKARIKI SPORTS!
The BMX bike appeared around him again. He then silently closed the Driver and inserted the Gashat into his Driver.
GACHANN! GASHATTO!
He then opened it back up.
GACHANN! LEVEL UP!
MIGHTY JUMP! MIGHTY KICK! MIGH~TY ACTIO~N! X!
A GACCHA!
SHAKARIKI, SHAKARIKI, BAD! BAD! SHAKATTO, RIKITTO, SHAKARIKI SPORTS!
The bike landed on top of him again. He then looked on menacingly at Lazer.
"Guess I stunned ya, huh?" Lazer said. "Well, if you don't believe me, you know the old saying: Actions speak louder than words!"
GASHACON SPARROW!
Then, a weapon appeared in Lazer's hands. It looked like a crossbow. He pressed its A button and split apart into two mini scythes.
ZU-PANN!
He flipped one into the air, catching it again.
"Let me show you!" Lazer smirked.
Lazer then charged at the black Ex-Aid. The two began to exchange blows. They were currently fighting hand-to-hand right now. But, while the black Ex-Aid did do his best, Lazer was a lot more powerful than he thought. He jumped back a few feet and flipped his weapon around.
KER-POW!
He then shot lasers at Lazer, who just dodged it effortlessly.
"Two can play at that game, bro!" He shouted.
He then put his two scythes together, turning it back into a crossbow.
ZU-DONN!
He then pulled the trigger. An arrow whizzed by the black Ex-Aid's head. He was able to dodge it though. It was now a standoff between lasers and arrows. Both the black Ex-Aid and Lazer kept on exchanging shot after shot, until Lazer was able to get a lucky shot at the black Ex-Aid's chest. He fell on the ground in pain.
"Gotcha!" Lazer cheered.
He then pulled out the Chambara Gashat and inserted into the crossbow.
GASHUNN! GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!
The black Ex-Aid slowly got back up, but he wasn't able to anticipate the next move Lazer had for him.
"Try this on for size!" He cheered.
GIRIGIRI CRITICAL FINISH!
Lazer then fired an arrow. But that arrow stopped a few inches in front of him. Then, it multiplied itself in horizontal direction, and soon there was multitude of arrows pointing viciously at the black Ex-Aid. Then, Lazer did a roundhouse kick at one of the arrows. That sent them all towards their target. A huge explosion ensued.
Amidst the explosion, the black Ex-Aid was sent out of his transformation. But then, Pallad pixelated in from him and blocked the explosion. Then he grabbed the Gamer Driver and thrusted the player that was the black Ex-Aid out of the way.
The explosion slowly began to clear. Everyone slowly crowded around Lazer.
"Are you ready for the reveal?" He asked the patrons.
Everyone didn't say anything. The smoke of the explosion dissipated. It revealed something rather… intriguing.
Pallad was just standing there, his side facing the Riders and the SAO players.
"And you are…?" Lazer asked.
Pallad turned and smiled at them.
"That was fun." He said, showing them the Gashat. "Let's play again sometime."
He then pixelated into the air. Lazer was dumbfounded by this. Everyone then began to frown towards him.
"Is this your idea of a joke?" Brave asked.
Lazer looked down. He, along with the other Riders, just cancelled out of their transformations.
GACHANN! GASHUNN!
The Riders reverted back to their Avatars. Lazer looked down. He had his Gashats in his hands.
"Well?" Brave asked.
Lazer thought about what he was about to do. If it destroys them, he'll have to live with them.
He smirked, and then turned to them.
"Yep!" He laughed. "That was really good, wasn't it?"
"Figured." Brave nodded. "Nothing you do is ever true."
"I knew you were a liar, Lazer…" Ex-Aid sighed. "But this is something else."
Then, both of the Riders began to walk away. The SAO players were still trying to process what just happened.
"Thanks for the new Gashat." Lazer said to Kirito.
He then began to walk in a different direction.
"Let this be a lesson, kiddos." He said. "Make sure you can actually trust someone. Otherwise, he could turn sour like me."
He then disappeared into the yonder.
Asuna, Silica, and Liz walked off, followed by Kirito. Klein was the last to leave. But something bugged him.
Keep in mind, Lazer and Klein have now been friends for at least a while. They know what their personalities are like.
"This isn't you taking, man…" He whispered. "Just what's up?"
Meanwhile, an Undine was getting replenished in a nearby lake. Pallad pixelated right behind him.
"Y'know, you should be more careful about this stuff." He joked.
"Don't worry. I had it all planned out." The Undine sighed. "Now, Lazer has no one to turn to."
"But what about that Klein fellow?" Pallad asked.
"He's of little concern." The Undine said. "Just focus on the bigger picture."
Pallad smiled and then sat down on a rock. This puzzle of mystery is quite a ride.