Chapter 18: The Dragon Becomes Me!

Kirito stood back up slowly. He reached out for the Gamer Driver and the Gashat. He grabbed the Drago Knight Hunter Z Gashat, but Ex-Aid popped out of nowhere and grabbed his Driver before he could.

"You have to rest." He told him.

Kirito didn't reply. He just hobbled over to him, but an arm grabbed hold of him. Sinon and Leafa had returned from the fight and were now holding him.

"Kirito! Give it a rest!" Sinon shouted.

"Let me go!" Kirito demanded.

"You can't fight again!" Leafa whined. "We have to go!"

Kirito was having none of this. He struggled out of their grip, only for Lisbeth and Leafa to hold on tighter.

"Get him out of here." Ex-Aid ordered.

"Don't worry!" Liz said. "We will!"

Ex-Aid nodded and put on his Gamer Driver. He then dissipated back into the fight.

"Hey!" Kirito roared. "Get back here!"

"Come on you!" Liz said, taking to the air.

"We're leaving!" Leafa proclaimed.

And with that, both of them lifted Kirito into the air and back, as Kirito just flailed his legs around, still struggling.

Back at the fight, Brave was still trying to a little bit of damage onto Graphite. But Graphite just tossed him aside like he was nothing. Brave stood back up, but he was cut off by Snipe, who just shoved him out of the way and shot several missiles at Graphite.

"Stay out of this, Level 2 noob." He said.

He took to the air. Flying around to the other side, he kept on shooting at Graphite.

"Graphite's mine!" Brave shouted, pressing the A button on the sword.

GO-JINNG!

The sword became an ice sword and with one upward strike, it froze one of Graphite's arms. Then Brave took the opening to kick him square in the stomach, thrusting him into Snipe.

"Why you…!" Graphite shouted.

He just grabbed Snipe's wing, and tossed him into Brave. However, Brave jumped over the flying body, and Snipe was knocked into a nearby tree. Coincidentally, both DoReMiFa Beat and Gekitotsu Robots Gashat fell on the ground. Brave picked up both of them.

"I'll be taking these back." Brave declared.

Just then, Ex-Aid jumped into the battle. He first bounced on Graphite's head, and then he blackflipped right next to Brave.

"What did I miss?" He asked.

"Not much." Brave replied.

He tossed the Gekitotsu Robots Gashat to Ex-Aid. Ex-Aid received it thankfully, and, along with Brave, both leveled up into Level 3.

DOREMIFA BEAT!

GEKITOTSU ROBOTS!

Both robots from both games appeared next to them. The Riders inserted the Gashats into their Drivers.

GASHATTO!

"Dai Dai Dai Henshin!" Ex-Aid said.

"Proceeding to Level 3!" Brave said.

GACHANN! LEVEL UP!

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!

Both Ex-Aid and Brave got into their Level 3 forms. And, with Snipe slowly getting up at the back, they charged at Graphite. Graphite just grabbed his blade and just shrugged off most of their attacks.

"Outnumber me all you want!" He shouted. "You can never beat me!"

He finally punched Ex-Aid off of him and slashed Brave across the chest. Snipe flew into the air, but Graphite was able to grab his foot and made him stay on the ground. Ex-Aid got back up and went for a punch. Graphite prepared to block it, but laser arrows flew in from the corner and knocked him off his feet. The Riders turned to see where the arrows came from.

GIRIGIRI CHAMBARA!

"Mind if I join?" Lazer said cheekily before twirling into the battle.

Kirito was getting patched up by Leafa. Sinon decided to stay outside to check Klein or Silica ever made it back.

"Does it hurt?" Leafa asked kindly, after getting to his leg.

"I'm fine." Kirito shot.

He yanked his arm away from her and began to stand up. He saw that the Drago Knight Hunter Z Gashat was just sitting on a counter. He grabbed it, and limped towards the door. But, he tripped over misplacing his foot. The Gashat clacked down in front of him. Leafa quickly rushed over to help.

"Where do you think you're going?" She asked.

"Asuna." Kirito bluntly replied. "I… have to save her!"

Leafa heard this before. Years ago, when Kirito and her made it to the World Tree, Kirito was dead set on rescuing Asuna. While, she did go along with it, there was this underlying tension she had for that fact that Kirito would go through hellfire to get to Asuna. This was no different. However, something irked her. It was just like Kirito was saying that he has to go. No one else. She helped him back then, but now he is refusing their help.

"Leafa!" Kirito grunted, still struggling out of Leafa's grasp. "Let me go!"

Leafa pulled Kirito in front of her, making him face her. And with one breath in, Leafa slapped Kirito clean, right across his cheek. It wasn't that hard, like how Sinon slapped him in GGO, but it was to send a message through.

"Kirito…" Leafa began. "We want to save Asuna as much as you do…"

"But you can't do it yourself!" She continued, with tears of anger and sorrow beginning to twinkle on her face.

"Back at the world tree…" She went on. "We helped you! So why are you avoiding us now?!"

Kirito was speechless. Again, the last time Leafa let loose her feelings was years ago, just before the aforementioned World Tree debacle. And she was right. He's been trying to get Asuna back with his own power right now, while he had help back then.

Leafa being the one to snap some sense back into the guy; that's not something you would see every day.

Kirito slowly got up, with Leafa holding him up. He placed the Gashat back on the counter, and sat down on the couch.

"You're right, Leafa." He admitted. "I can't do this alone. I was too overcome with my emotions."

"That's an understatement." Commented a voice.

Kirito and Leafa looked up and saw Ex-Aid, Brave, and their friends who just came back.

"I'm not in the position to say it, as you said, I was overcome by emotion as well." Brave said. "But you using that Gashat is another matter."

"Hand it over." Ex-Aid chimed in. "You're lucky to be alive right now. The shot of using a Gashat that powerful could've killed you on the spot."

Kirito sighed. As much he hated it, they were right. The Gashat was too powerful. He felt it overpower him, slowly eating and blinding his mind and body. He could still remember the destruction he unleashed with it.

So, he got up, and grabbed the Gashat from the counter. He handed it over to Ex-Aid.

"I trust you guys would have a better chance of using it?" He asked.

"Yeah." Ex-Aid replied, taking the Gashat.

"We'll check on the patient." Brave stated.

Once they had gone up, Kirito sat back down. Despite all of this, Asuna was still with Graphite. The thought of what he was going to do with her just made him shudder. Leafa placed her hand on his shoulder to give him some comfort.

"Hey, where are Snipe and Lazer?" Sinon asked.

"They took off once the fight was over." Klein replied. "Who knows where they are?"

"We have to worry about Asuna right now!" Liz interjected.

Sinon sighed. Knowing Snipe, he would be up to whatever the hell he has planned.

Klein also knew Lazer. However, it was more of worry than concern. He knew the whole thing about Genmu. He didn't want to talk about the whole thing to them, as he didn't know how they would respond.

Graphite was chilling, cleaning his blade with a cloth. He was in a good mood. The Gashat he acquired were doing wonders for him, and the Riders could barely get a scratch on him. Even that kid was in over his head trying to get him.

"Of course…" He muttered, looking behind him. "There's also that."

There, tied to a metal pole with chains, was an unconscientious Asuna. She had been unresponsive since the day she fell into his hands, and he had no problems with it.

Now, he could've just infected her, but a) there would be no purpose, and b) it would be much more satisfying to infect her just after he has crushed his foes.

"My kind will no longer be bound by these trifles…" He stated.

He went on cleaning his blade. Everything was going his way now.

On another building, within viewing distance, Pallad was just watching the whole thing. While he did approve of what Graphite was doing, he was getting bored of it.

"C'mon, Graphite…" He groaned. "Get on with it!"

The sun rose on the horizon of Alfheim. On a pathway, Kirito was just moping around. Leafa and the others were just nearby, but they didn't say anything.

"I think the whole Asuna thing got him pretty down." Klein whispered.

"Oh really?" Liz asked. "What was your first clue?"

This comment was followed by more silence. Kirito didn't know what he was going to do. Silica approached him quietly.

"Kirito…?" She asked slowly. "Are you okay?"

Kirito didn't reply. He just picked up pace away.

"This isn't like him…" Sinon commented.

"Yeah…" Leafa added. "He hasn't said a thing last night… I'm getting worried."

But that feeling would have to wait, because suddenly, a giant something crashed right in between Kirito and them. It appeared to be a monster. It roared loudly.

"Finally some action!" Klein cheered, drawing his sword.

He then jumped into the air. Just as he was about to strike down, the monster grabbed him and tossed him down.

Liz and Silica drew their weapons. They went for a strike as well. While Liz was thrown back, Silica was able to stab one of its arms. Once she pulled her dagger out, the monster began to bleed. It bellowed in pain, and swatted Silica away. Sinon drew her bow, but the monster was able to grab her and throw her. She slid down just to Kirito's feet.

"Sinon!" Leafa shouted.

Sinon got back up quickly.

"Hey, Kirito!" She shot. "You going to help?"

Kirito answered with a murmur similar to a "yes." That was enough for her. Leafa and Sinon then took off together. Yui popped out of his pocket.

"Daddy?" She asked. "Are you okay?"

Kirito didn't respond. He just charged in. He jumped and sliced off several of its arms and came down with the force equivalent of a hammer. The monster roared and shook off Kirito. He landed, and slid.

"Yui!" He said.

"Right!" Yui replied.

She focused.

"Three arms! Headed this way!" She shouted.

Kirito waited. The limbs came closer. He jumped at the right moment. The first limb went under him, which he dodged. The second and third limb punched him and then grabbed hold of him. Sticking him to a nearby wall of rocks.

"Kirito!" Leafa shouted.

She went in to save him, but was cut off by a foot.

"This thing's tough!" Klein commented.

"Who asked you?!" Sinon shouted back.

The monster roared and raised another arm.

"A punch!" Yui shouted. "Dodge it!"

"I… can't!" Kirito answered.

The monster was ready slam its arm, but then it felt several attacks to its face and the said arm. There were small explosions and sparks.

JET COMBAT!

Snipe was in the air. He scoffed at the sight.

"The ants on a grasshopper trick, huh?" He laughed. "How cute."

He then dived down for a bombing run. He shot several bullets down the monster's body.

"Snipe…" Sinon said.

Several small slashes then darted upward from the ground. It cut the monster's arms off clean. Kirito was freed, and he landed back on the ground with Yui slowly descending down to his head.

GIRIGIRI CHAMBARA!

"Mind if we cut in?" Lazer joked.

He twirled his two Sparrows and charged while cheering. Kirito also followed him.

Liz and Silica were doing their best with all of the arms the monster was keep regenerating.

"How many arms does this thing have?!" Liz shouted.

"Just eight!" shouted a voice. "Just keep your heads down."

Then, several music notes darted towards the arms, repelling them off Liz and Silica's faces.

DOREMIFA BEAT!

Brave, with one hand on the scratchboard, was standing before them. He then grabbed his Sword. He then jumped onto one of the arms and began running up.

"Well…" Liz uttered.

The monster was now taking major attacks. Snipe and Sinon were sniping it from above and below. Brave, Silica, and Liz were now on the arms and began attack the arms directly. Lazer and Klein were doing so well together. The two "samurai" of the group were slashing the monster's main body, before moving onto their next attack point.

All the while, Kirito was watching.

"This is… incredible." He mentioned.

GEKITOTSU ROBOTS!

Ex-Aid walked up beside him.

"See?" He mentioned. "This is what working together does."

Kirito looked puzzled. He then realized. He had heard this before from Leafa, but Ex-Aid helped drive the point home.

"Well?" Ex-Aid said, showing Kirito his robot fist. "What are we waiting for?"

Kirito smiled, and clanged his sword with the robot fist.

"Yui." He whispered. "Draw us in."

"Of course!" She replied.

Then, Ex-Aid and Kirito ran towards the fight. The monster threw and arm at them.

"Arm from above! Incoming!" Yui indicated.

Kirito jumped and Ex-Aid action-rolled. The arm swung right in between them. Kirito used this chance to jab the arm into the ground.

"Ex-Aid! Now!" He shouted.

Ex-Aid got on top of the arm, and ran up. He inserted the Robots Gashat into the slot next to his belt.

GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!

The robot fist began to glow. Ex-Aid got closer and closer to his mark. He jumped and then placed the fist on the monster's abdomen area. He pressed the button.

GEKITOTSU CRITICAL STRIKE!

The impact of the fist was massive. Even the air behind the monster boomed, with a visible circle cloud behind it. The monster stumbled back, roaring in pain. Ex-Aid bounced off.

"There's your opening!" He bellowed.

At that moment, Lazer, Brave, and Snipe appeared in the air. All of them had their Gashats inserted into their weapons.

GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!

The weapons began to build up energy. And with a swift second of the monster growling, they unleashed their attacks.

DOREMIFA JET GIRIGIRI CRITICAL FINISH!

Brave slashed, sending a treble clef slash at the monster. Snipe pulled the trigger, launching what appears to be an air-force equivalent warhead missile. Lazer also shot, but instead, he shot a cloud of energy arrows. All of the attacks crashed onto the monster's face. It roared before exploding into shards of pixels.

The Riders landed back on the ground. Ex-Aid quickly ran up to them, congratulating them.

"That was awesome!" He shouted.

"I will admit, it was fun." Brave admitted.

"We should do this again sometime!" Lazer suggested.

"Please not." Snipe groaned.

Just then, the Drago Knight Hunter Z Gashat began to glow. It flew into the air in front of them, and then it split into four different copies of itself.

"Looks like your theory worked, kid." Brave admitted.

"Theory?" Kirito asked. "What theory?"

"If you remember, Drago Knight Hunter Z is a four player co-op game!" Poppy shouted, popping out of Ex-Aid's pocket.

She flew around to Kirito.

"In order for that factor to activate, we had to take on a monster!" She explained.

"And you chose this one?" Sinon asked.

"Yes." Brave replied.

The glowing Gashats flew to the hands of each Rider. They firmly grasped it.

"Now, the next step." Ex-Aid declared.

"The next step?" Klein asked.

Ex-Aid reached to the button on the side of the belt. He pressed it, changing the location.

STAGE SELECT!

They were now in an open field with some rocks on one side, and a field of grass on the other. However, the only people present were the Riders and the SAO gang.

"What's this supposed to do?" Liz asked.

"Wait for it…" Ex-Aid warned.

Suddenly, Graphite pixelated into existence right in front of them. He had his back facing them.

"So…" He began. "You've summoned me to battle?"

"Hell yeah, we did!" Lazer laughed.

Graphite turned around. He had something shocking in his hands. Asuna, still unconscientious, was being held up by her collar.

"Asuna!" Kirito shouted.

Graphite scoffed, and then just tossed her body to them. Kirito was able to catch her, of course. Yui flew onto her chest.

"Asuna…" Kirito whispered. "C'mon, don't do this!"

Asuna's eyes winced. Then, they fluttered open. She reached up to Kirito's face, touching his cheeks.

"Kirito…" She mumbled weakly.

Kirito laughed in happiness, and then he buried his face into Asuna's shoulder. He was glad that his girlfriend was still alive. Yui also flew to Asuna's head, and she also welcomed her back.

"I'm back…" Asuna said.

Graphite, while amused by this sight, he was sick of it. He just pulled out the Gashat he had and just stabbed it into his chest. He then morphed into his monster form.

"Let's get on with it!" He roared.

Kirito helped Asuna up, and grabbed his sword. Ex-Aid just blocked him.

"You can't take him on." He said.

"No need to worry about us." Kirito interjected. "We can still fight!"

"Maybe another time." Brave stated. "Right now, your primary concern is taking care of Asuna."

Kirito nodded. He then motioned his friends to get back. Sinon went up to Kirito and helped him carry Asuna to cover with their friends not far behind. Ex-Aid also had Poppy go with them.

"You are only delaying the inevitable!" Graphite bellowed.

"You sure?" Ex-Aid taunted.

He, with all of the other Riders, then reverted back to their Level 2 forms. Lazer had to go into Level 1, as it was the only other human form he had.

"Now…" Ex-Aid began. "Let's make this a competition! Let's who can take out Graphite first!"

He pressed the Gashat.

FANG!

Brave chuckled, pressing his Gashat as well.

"You'll be kissing my boots, boy." He said.

BLADE!

"I'll be winning this." Snipe responded.

GUN!

"You wish!" Lazer laughed.

CLAW!

Then, they closed their Drivers back up and inserted their Gashats.

GACHANN! GASHATTO!

GACHANN! GASHATTO!

GACHANN! GASHATTO!

GASHATTO!

The dragon pixelated above them. It roared and flew around just above the Riders.

"Phase 5." Snipe indicated.

"Proceeding to Level 5." Brave said.

"Fifth gear!" Lazer cheered.

"Dai Dai Dai Dai Dai Henshin!" Ex-Aid shouted.

Then, all of them opened up their Drivers at the same time.

GACHANN! LEVEL UP!

MIGHTY JUMP! MIGHTY KICK! MIGHTY MIGHTY ACTION X!

TADORU MEGURU! TADORU MEGURU! TADDLE QUEST!

BABABANG! BANGBABANG! YOW! BANG BANG SHOOTING!

BAKUSOU! DOKUSOU! GEKISOU! BOUSOU! BAKUSOU BIKE!

A GACCHA!

D-D-DRAGO! KNI-KNI-KNI-KNI~GHT! DRA! DRA! DRAGO KNIGHT HUNTER!

The dragon roared. Then, it split apart into parts. The parts first attached themselves onto Ex-Aid's body. The sword arm on the right arm, the gun arm on the left, the feet becoming leg armor, and the main torso becoming a giant torso armor, complete with the dragon's head becoming a helmet.

EX-AID!

Then, the armor from the legs and arms split off, leaving Ex-Aid with only the main torso armor.

BRAVE!

The sword arm and the leg armor for the right leg attached themselves onto Brave, who reached his arm out to receive them.

SNIPE!

The gun arm and the leg armor for the left leg attached themselves onto Snipe, but he just let them situate themselves onto him.

LAZER!

Strangely for him, both the gun and sword arms, as well as the leg armor, made another duplicates of themselves and attached themselves to Lazer. Lazer's motorcycle body flipped around, and the arms attached onto the side. The leg armor, formed into dragon feet and then connected to the exhaust pipes. That gave him his feet.

And with that, everyone has reached Level 5!

Graphite was appalled by this sight. He reached for his blade and went for an attack immediately.

"Blackest Dragon Slash!" He roared.

He slashed in a X-shape, but Ex-Aid shut that down with a quick fire breath. Out of the smoke, Brave and Snipe emerged. They slashed and clubbed Graphite in the chest and abdomen. Even more so, Brave and Snipe are actually exchanging the blows. For example, Brave would slash a bit, and then Snipe would finish it off with a club to the stomach and a laser blast.

"Let me join in!" Lazer shouted.

Brave and Snipe twirled out of the way as Lazer clawed down Graphite.

"Out of the way!" Ex-Aid shouted.

Ex-Aid shot another fire breath. Snipe and Brave were out of the vicinity, but Lazer ducked to avoid it. Graphite was thrown back.

All of this was being watched by the SAO Gang.

"Well…" Klein muttered. "They work pretty well!"

"I guess so…" Sinon added.

But then, the Riders began to argue. How they argued would be very hard to put into words, so the author will now just write down the random mumbo jumbo they spewed out to each other below.

"Hey, what was that for?!"

"I was just shooting at him!"

"Your timing was off!"

"You were the one who exchanged too late."

"You charred my back!"

"I got Graphite!"

"You were 2 seconds off!"

"I mean, look at this!"

"You're fine!"

"You could've torched my back!"

The SAO gang were just looking at this argument, all with sweat marks.

"Then again…" Liz chuckled nervously. "Opposites never attract?"

Graphite recovered, and stood back up. He found his enemies arguing. He found his chance.

"Ryujin no ken wo kurae!" He bellowed.

His blade glowed, and then he charged. Brave moved to intercept. He blocked the first slash. Then, he just bounced Graphite off and then slashed his torso in a V-shape. He then kicked his stomach. Snipe advanced and stuck his gun arm into Graphite's stomach. A laser blast sent the poor bastard flying again. Lazer then slashed upward at Graphite, and then Ex-Aid slammed him down with his tail.

Graphite fell down. He was getting pushed to his limits. He used his blade to get back up.

"This… isn't… possible…!" He roared.

The Rider looked and stood next to each other. They all scoffed and inserted their Gashats into the slots next to their Drivers.

GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!

Graphite braced for an attack.

"Very well…" He said. "For my ultimate final attack!"

He twirled his blade. He then put it next to his face. The blade glowed as it built up energy.

At the same time, Graphite unleased his attack and the Riders pressed the button on the slot once more.

"Ryu ga waka teki no kurau!" He screamed.

DRAGO KNIGHT CRITICAL STRIKE!

Graphite stuck his blade out, unleashing a beam of black energy. The Riders were a different story.

Ex-Aid shot a pink energy beam.

Brave only slashed diagonally upward.

Snipe only stuck his arm out.

Lazer just claw the air.

However, in contrast to Graphite, their attacks kept on coming, while his was only one beam, just keeping them at bay. Just barely, however. Soon, it was beginning to overpower him.

"No…!" He roared. "NO!"

But it was too much for him. The attacks soon overpowered him, consuming him. The event that followed him as an explosion soon consumed his whole body. In the midst of the explosion, an object flew out. No one noticed strangely. The object landed on the ground with a clack. It sat there for a while before it was picked up. Pallad smirked happily as he put it away.

"That was quite a show." He chuckled. "Thanks, Graphite."

The area reverted back to the walkway back at the beginning. The Riders canceled out of their transformations and walked over to the SAO Gang. Except Snipe, because he said he had "better things to do". Lazer too, but he went to check on the patient, which was Chrystheight, just in case anyone forgot.

"I… uh…" Asuna said nervously. "I don't know how to repay you for this!"

"There's no need." Brave replied. "It's like our time during the Knight of the Blood Oath: We never leave one of our own behind, no?"

Asuna smiled warmly. Despite this, Brave was still a good person on the inside, and she was grateful.

"That was so cool!" Poppy cheered. "You were like BOOM! And then he was all like YAAA!"

"Okay, okay, we get it." Klein groaned.

They all laughed.

"Thank you for getting Asuna back." Kirito said, stretching out his hand. "Sorry we held you back."

"No need to apologize, man." Ex-Aid said, shaking his hand.

And with that, the remaining Riders left. The SAO gang departed back to the Kirito-Asuna log cabin.

Brave sat down by a river bank. Ex-Aid logged out a while ago, as he had an article due in a couple of days.

He sighed. The river streamed down quietly and gently. He opened up his board and pulled up an image.

The image depicted him in RL. He was holding a cup of coffee. Beside him was a woman. She had short black hair, and was also wearing glasses. She had a cup of tea.

'What point is there in revenge…' He thought. 'If there's no point in bringing that person back?'

"Yuko…" He sighed.

Chrystheight was now standing on the porch.

"Thank you for this." He said.

"Don't mention it." Klein smiled.

"If there's any way I can repay you for this, just let me know." Chrystheight said.

"Yeah. We'll call." Liz chuckled.

"I've heard it all." Chrystheight added. "I'll try to keep the Bugster a secret within my area as well."

"We appreciate it." Silica replied.

With that, Chrystheight left them. The SAO gang then walked back inside the log cabin, to recharge, relax, and regroup.