Chapter 22: Double Up! Pt. 2
Night had fallen. Ex-Aid entered the room Drago was in. He was just silently reading something. Ex-Aid walked up to him.
"How are you holding up, sir?" He asked.
"I'm doing just fine, kiddo." Drago replied.
Ex-Aid then bowed down to him.
"Your Bugster got away…" He admitted. "I'm sorry!"
"You did what you could. It's over now." Drago replied.
"I can't accept that!" Ex-Aid exclaimed. "I will defeat your Bugster and cure you!"
Drago looked at Ex-Aid with a disbelief. He had told him about his pancreatic cancer, but he was still going out of his way to cure him? The thought of that made him want to chuckle.
"I thought we had this talk." Drago said bluntly. "My pancreatic cancer…"
"I'm not going to give up though." Ex-Aid replied. "I'm not going to let someone's life go away!"
Ex-Aid then stood up with his back straight and a smile.
"I would like to see your smile, Drago." He said.
"That's not your burden to carry." Drago replied. "As a surgeon, I know that much."
"Is that really what you think?" Ex-Aid asked.
As Ex-Aid and Drago continued talking about the latter's Bugster, Poppy popped out Ex-Aid's pocket secretly, and then escaped out of the room. She turned into her human size, and walked down the hallway. She soon found Brave's office, which she entered. She closed the door, and found Brave. Kirito, Asuna, Leafa, Lisbeth, and Silica were also present. She waved hello, and then sat down next to Leafa. A short silence ensued before Brave spoke up.
"What happened to him?" Brave asked abrubtly.
"We're just as clueless as you are…" Asuna replied.
They then began to call back to the moment where everything happened before, trying to deduce what had happened.
ORE GA OMAE DE! OMAE GA ORE DE! WE ARE! MIGHTY, MIGHTY BROTHERS! HEY! DOUBLE X!
(Flashback)
The two Ex-Aids were just looking at each other. And as confused as they are, the ones who just witnessed the transformation of Mighty Brothers XX were flabbergasted.
"What… just… happened?" Liz uttered.
Silica shook her head while Leafa only nodded.
"Why are there two Ex-Aids?" Snipe asked.
"Took the words right out of my mouth." Sinon added.
The two Ex-Aids then slowly began to turn away, but the orange quickly snapped a question.
"Who the hell are you?" He asked.
"Me?" The blue one replied. "I'm Ex-Aid, Hojo Emu."
"No, no way, bro." The orange said. "I'm M!"
"I'm Emu, sir." The blue one repeated.
"No! I'm M!" The orange one said.
"No, I am." The blue one said again.
"No, me!" The orange one declared.
The two Ex-Aid then began to butt their heads together. Electricity crackled in the space between their eyes.
"It's me, smart guy." The orange one said, pointing at himself.
"No, it is me." The blue one uttered, using the orange's hand to point at himself.
The two Ex-Aids went back and forth with their argument about who's the real Emu. The others just watched on. Poppy turned to them in just utter confusion.
"They're both Emu?!" She squealed.
Then, the orange one finally got out of the blue one's face and then faced Genmu.
"Ah, who cares!" He said. "I'm gonna beat Genmu!"
A weapon wheel appeared around the two Ex-Aids, and a sword-like weapon appeared in his hand.
GASHACON KEYSLASHER!
The orange Ex-Aid, raising the Keyslasher up to his face, was about to charge, but the blue Ex-Aid grabbed the weapon to stop him.
"Wait a minute, please!" He said, pointing at Alhambra. "The patient comes first!"
"Move it, chode!" The orange one gripped. "Genmu's over there!"
"Please, let go now!" The blue one said again.
"You lemme go first!" The orange one whined.
They then began swinging the weapons back and forth before they both lost grip of it. They then began to have a sissy fight. They just slapped each other for a good while, but then the orange Ex-Aid got behind the blue Ex-Aid, and he got him in an arm hold. For good measure, he also buried his elbow right into the center of his back.
"Owowowowow!" The blue one winced.
"How does it feel, noob?" The orange one laughed.
"Hey, game-show hosts!" Liz shouted.
"What?!" The two Ex-Aids both yelled.
Liz pointed at the directions where Genmu and Alhambra used to stand. Both Ex-Aids looked up to see that Alhambra and Genmu had both disappeared. They got out of their little fight, and began to recollect. The orange one began shouting for Genmu.
"Hey! The game's not over yet! Come back and fight!" He yelled.
The blue one sighed and just closed his Driver and pulled out his Gashat.
GACHANN! GASHUNN!
But when that happened, the orange one's Driver closed up and the Gashat ejected automatically.
GACHANN! GASHUNN!
Then, both Ex-Aids slowly attracted to each other's backs. They slammed into each other. The chibi armor attached to them, then the transformation cancelled out, then Ex-Aid, one body and one Salamander body, fell on his back with a thud.
"Ow…" He groaned.
Then, he experienced a short pain in his head. But then, after experiencing the pain, he just fell over unconscientious. Everyone but Kirito and the other Riders got over to help. Poppy checked if he was okay, and Asuna and Leafa carefully lifted him up and carried him away. While that went on, Brave and Snipe's minds were bustling with questions.
Luckily, they weren't the only ones bothered by this. Taiga was sitting on his desk with a bottle of water.
"Ex-Aid…" He muttered. "Just what are you…?"
Suddenly, the lights of his office came on, startling him. He turned to see who it was. It was the girl that visited him many times before.
"So…" She sighed. "Finally feel like beating M?"
Taiga did a face-palm upon meeting her.
"You again?" He groaned.
The girl pulled a bag of nuts and began to eat them slowly. Taiga grew more and more impatient as she finished.
"You should really get this place checked out, dude." She asked, tossing the peanut bag on the ground. "It ain't passing any hygiene standards."
Taiga got up and grabbed the bag.
"Says the girl litter-" He began
"Here!" She said, pushing a trash can to him.
Taiga could do nothing but just grab the trash can and gently put it back while the girl grabbed a chair and silently sat down.
"So…" She began. "What do you want to know about M?"
"He's the guy that changes persona whenever he plays games." Taiga explained. "Do you have any idea of that?"
"Oh yeah… he just changes, doesn't he?" The girl smiled. "Weird. He wasn't the polite type before…"
That perked Taiga's interest. He turned to the girl and quickly turned her towards him.
"Just how are you connected to him?" He demanded. "Who are you?"
The girl smirked evilly.
"You really want to know?" She asked, teasing Taiga just a little bit more.
Dan sat in his office, typing away on his computer. But something confused him. He put his hand on his mouth and thought very hard.
'Using that Gashat should've killed someone right then and there…' He thought.
"C'mon, man." Pallad interrupted. "You should know better than anyone."
He was sitting on a billiards board. He was holding a billiards cue.
"He's different from the others." He concluded.
Dan looked at him, but when back to typing.
"But, to be fair…" Pallad added. "Who would've thought that he'd make a new game?"
Dan just shrugged and went back to typing.
"But thanks to that, your Gashat will be ready for completion." He said.
"Guess we have M for that, right?" Pallad smiled.
He then leaned on Dan's shoulder, expecting to be patted on the head.
"Myself included, right?" He smirked.
"Please, don't make me laugh." Dan said.
As he typed on, he made something very clear.
"I'm the game master." He stated. "I will not allow anyone to make a game without my knowledge."
And with one more press of the enter key, he concluded his statement.
"I will retrieve that counterfeit game, and erase its data." He concluded.
The next day, the sun shone right back at the Earth. It was a day of promise as well. The wind was very light as well.
"Pancreatic cancer?" Hiro asked.
Emu and Hiro were both on the roof of the hospital. The helipad, to be precise. Asuna was hiding from afar. She was visiting Drago to see how he was holding up, but when she saw Emu and Hiro, she slowly followed up and eavesdropped on them.
"Yes." Emu said, handing Hiro some papers. "The patient is Kazuki Shirakawa; Room 506. So even if we cured his game disease, his life is still in danger."
"But you should be able to remove his cancer, right, Hiro?" Emu asked.
Hiro read over the papers carefully. When he was finished, he was amazed but also confused.
"You're out of line again, intern." He said, giving the papers back to him. "So you're saying we doctors should just operate on a patient without any consent from him?"
"I know he wants it!" Emu retorted.
"Who asked for your opinion?" Hiro asked bluntly.
"But it's true!" Emu added.
"It would explain why Alhambra targeted you!" He said.
Brave then remembered. Back in ALO, when they first encountered Alhambra, they were in a café. And out of every other player in that entire café, he chose a specific target.
"If you were gone, Mr. Shirakawa will be stressed…" Emu explained. "He needs you."
"Maybe if you were to operate on him, the genius surgeon Kagami Hiro…" Emu went on. "There is a slight possibility that his cancer may be cured."
"If that's true…" Hiro mentioned. "Why hasn't he said anything yet?"
"That's because just like you, he's a genius surgeon himself." Emu answered.
Emu then gave Hiro a cold stare. There was no malice, but it was enough to send a message.
"Aren't you qualified to perform any form of surgery, Hiro?" Emu asked again.
"So what?" Hiro said.
"I ask you: Can you perform the operation on Mr. Shirakawa?" Emu asked with his utmost confidence.
Hiro actually had to think about it. While it was his duty to save a patient's life, doing so without permission from the patient himself would be rather… unethical.
"I told you." He replied. "That decision is not for us to make."
Hiro then began to walk back into the hospital. When he got close to the entrance to the building, he was blocked by Asuna. She had a firm look on her face, and by the looks of her stance, she was not going anywhere. Kirito was just by her side, confused just as much as the doctors are.
"Asuna?" Emu asked. "What are you doing here?"
"You're afraid, aren't you?" Asuna stated. "Too scared to take that chance?"
Hiro looked down at Asuna with scorn. She may be child, but he had more than enough authority to talk her down.
"What did you just say?" He asked.
"Failure would be the end of your career." Asuna stated bluntly. "Am I wrong in saying that?"
Hiro then stared down hard at Asuna. There was a lot of tension going on now.
"Asuna…" Kirito started, trying to calm her down.
"Do you have any idea who you're talking to, girl?" Hiro seethed.
"If you say so…" Asuna said, ignoring the question. "Give Emu his Gashats back."
Hiro looked back at Emu was now wthin armlength of them.
"Unlike you right now, he's confident in his abilities." Asuna went on. "His ability to operate on Mr. Shirakawa's game disease!"
Hiro took a step back from Asuna, and then looked at Emu, who was now armslength away from them. He had no choice in the matter now.
A little while later, Shirakawa was sitting in his room idly, reading a book of sorts. That's when his room door opened. Hiro walked in with his papers.
"I went through your records, sir." He said.
"And you are, my young friend?" Shirakawa asked.
"Hiro Kagami." Hiro replied.
"Ah, so you're the prodigy…" Shirakawa replied. "I've heard of your achievements."
Hiro took a deep breath, and began to talk.
"I'm sure you are aware." He began. "But a complete removal of your cancer through an operation is an extremely difficult process."
"I know, son." Shirakawa replied.
"However…" Hiro added, grabbing Shirakawa's attention. "There is nothing I cannot cut."
Shirakawa looked at Hiro intently.
"You have a bright future ahead of you." He said. "I can't let you take this chance. Your reputation-"
"If you wish to be operated on, it is your call to make, not mine." Hiro interrupted.
Shirakawa looked at Hiro intently again. He could see that Hiro was very serious about the current situation. He was ready to take on any challenge, even if it meant getting kicked in the shaft.
"Y'know, you remind me a lot myself years ago." He sighed. "I wish for the operation."
Hiro nodded, and as he began to move his patient out, he took a AmuSphere with him.
"While this is proceeding." He asked. "My intern will be taking care of your game disease. So while we do the operation, please keep this on so your Bugster can be taken care of."
Shirakawa grabbed hold of the AmuSphere, and then gently put it on as he was rolled into the operating room.
ALO is such a nice place. Well, if you take into account that Alhambra is causing a ruckus in one of the game's many villages, it isn't. So far, he had shocked several players, and was now scaring everybody away.
"Show yourself, genius surgeon!" He announced.
Ex-Aid, Kirito, Asuna, Poppy and Yui wasted no time getting over.
"Well, he's committed, I'll give him that." Kirito commented.
"Asuna! Kirito! Yui!" Ex-Aid called. "Help Poppy get everyone to safety, once that's done, you can help me out!"
"Right!" Asuna replied.
And as Asuna and the others, guided the other players, Ex-Aid darted forward and approached Alhambra.
"Ex-Aid!" He said. "I have no business with you! Summon Brave this instant!"
Ex-Aid scoffed and just put on his Gamer Driver.
"Sorry, but he'll be coming late." He smirked, pulling out his Gashat.
As said encounter was going on, Hiro had just finished putting on his gloves and slowly entered the operation room. There, on the table, was Mr. Kazuki Shirakawa, wearing an AmuSphere.
"A surgery?!" Alhambra spluttered.
"And I'm about to the same thing here!" Emu chuckled, pressing his Gashat.
MIGHTY ACTION X!
The pink game area spread throughout the area, and after a quick pose, Ex-Aid inserted the Gashat.
"Henshin!" He called.
GASHATTO!
LET'S GAME! MECCHA GAME! MUCCHA GAME! WHATCHA NAME?!
I'M A KAMEN RIDER!
Ex-Aid's figure was replaced by the chibi Level 1 form. But Ex-Aid had to get moving, so he opened up the Driver quickly.
"Dai Henshin!" Ex-Aid called.
GACHANN! LEVEL UP!
MIGHTY JUMP! MIGHTY KICK! MIGHTY MIGHTY ACTION X!
Back to the operating room, all the preparations have been set. Hiro raised his hands up, and spoke silently.
"Beginning the pylorus-preserving Whipple and portal vein bypass operation." He announced.
"Scalpel." He said.
"Here." Replied one of his nurses.
Holding the scalpel expertly, Hiro began his operation.
"Performing Benz incision." He said again.
Back to ALO, Ex-Aid was exchanging blows with Alhambra. They would lock weapons, and then they would bounce off. Asuna and Kirito joined in a bit later, but they were having no luck either. While 3-on-1 was a decent advantage, there was another advantage Alhambra had, and that was his magic. He would often use it to trip up his enemies.
During this fight, he used a spell to trap Kirito's foot in a temporary sinkhole, and he would aim for a strike. However, Asuna was able to block it just in time and Ex-Aid got him out of the sinkhole.
"Shock!" Alhambra chanted.
That summoned thunderclouds above their heads and it struck down on the players. They were able to dodge it swiftly, but one shock was able to hit Ex-Aid. It resulted in him tumbling.
"Ex-Aid!" Kirito called.
Ex-Aid got up and saw a Gashat on the ground in front of him. He went to reach for it, but someone else picked it up.
"Eh…?" He uttered.
He looked up to see Klein, strangely without his energetic smile. He looked at Alhambra with menacing eyes.
"Hey, Klein…" Kirito spoke up.
Klein walked up past Kirito and Asuna to get closer to Alhambra.
"Bow down before my magic prowess!" He called.
Klein looked at the Gashat. He breathed in, and then his signature smile returned.
"Bow down before this, pal!" He shouted, pressing the Gashat.
BAKUSOU BIKE!
"Burn!" Alhambra shouted.
Flames engulfed Klein's body, but out the ashes, accelerated Klein, on the Lazer's Level 2 bike form. He rammed into Alhambra, but continued down the road as Alhambra hung onto the bike.
"Wow." Asuna said. "Never seen that before."
"Let's just follow." Ex-Aid sighed.
Asuna and Kirito sprouted their wings and flew after Klein, while Ex-Aid grabbed a little something from one of his blocks to help him out.
SPEED UP!
IR, the operation was still going underway. Heartbeats were steady, and the nurses and doctors were doing whatever they can to help Hiro.
"Forceps." He said.
"Here." Said one of the nurses.
After doing something, Hiro raised the forceps and said one more thing.
"Cutting open stomach from pylorus-preserving line." He said.
Going back to the fighting, Klein was still tearing down the street on Lazer's bike form, with Alhambra still hanging on for dear life.
"Stop this at once!" He ordered.
"Okay." Klein replied.
He slammed on the brakes, and launched Alhambra into a patch of rocks. He got off and bragged briefly.
"How's that?!" He said.
Just then, Kirito and Asuna came down. Ex-Aid followed up behind shortly after.
"Hey, Klein." Kirito greeted.
"What's up, Kirito?" Klein smiled.
"Well… nothing much." Kirito shrugged.
He looked over at Ex-Aid, and gave him the Bakusou Bike Gashat back.
"Thanks for lending me this." He said.
"Uh, no prob, dude." Ex-Aid replied.
"You haven't been online for two months." Asuna asked worriedly. "Were you okay?"
"Well… not exactly." Klein replied, rubbing the back of his shoulder.
He breathed in and began to speak.
"Look, Kiriya's passing was hard on all of us." He said. "I hadn't felt like playing in such a long time. But, just last week, it hit me. He knew something that we didn't. And that Genmu bastard killed him for it. I realized that revenge wouldn't bring any results. You just have to keep fighting. And if we do find out about what he found, it'll be worth the fight."
Kirito, Asuna, and Ex-Aid looked at Klein with keen interest.
"Y'know." Kirito commented. "That's the most genuine thing I heard from you this whole time I've known you."
"I-, is it?" Klein chuckled nervously.
"That was lovely, Klein." Asuna added.
"You're right." Ex-Aid chimed in. "Let's continue fighting; for Kiriya's sake."
Then, all four of them raised their fists in the air.
"Yeah!" They all shouted.
Then, they heard steps. They turned to see Genmu walking up towards them. He had the BugVisor in one hand, and the Dangerous Zombie Gashat in the other. He smiled at them with fake warmth.
"That was truly magnificient." He said.
"Genmu…" Kirito growled, raising his swords.
"For Kujo Kiriya's sake…" Genmu pondered. "That is quite a noble set of words coming from you, Klein."
"We don't have time to waste on you!" Ex-Aid shouted.
Genmu ignored him, and just put on the BugVisor.
GACHANN!
He then pressed the Gashat as well.
DANGEROUS ZOMBIE!
He then inserted the Gashat into the BugVisor.
"Henshin." He said coldly.
GASHATTO! BUCKLE UP!
DANGER! DANGER! GENOCIDE! DEATH THE CRISIS! DANGEROUS ZOMBIE!
After the deafening zombie roar, a character face card appeared in front of Genmu, and after showing Genmu's 8-Bit characters, one in white and another in red, the card began to crumble. And then, a white arm struke through.
Genmu's Undine figure was replaced by his Zombie Gamer figure.
"Let's do it!" Ex-Aid said, grabbing his hammer.
GASHACON BREAKER!
Then, Klein, Ex-Aid, Kirito, and Asuna all charged at Genmu and the now-recovered Alhambra.
"Let this memo of him bring you suffering." Genmu said bleakly.
GASHACON SPARROW!
With that said, he began firing several arrows at them. Everyone did their best deflecting. Soon, they were within close combat range. Kirito was the first one. He currently has his sword locked with the Sparrow. Genmu scoffed and just pressed the A button.
ZU-PANN!
The Sparrows separated into two, and Genmu quickly grabbed the other one and slashed upward. Kirito was thrown back, but he quickly recovered.
"Switch!" He called.
Just then, Klein and Asuna darted forward and landed a strike onto Genmu's abdomen. Genmu's back fell backward, only for it to get right back up with bone cracking sounds. He would then slash the backs of the two players. Ex-Aid jumped in. He blocked the first strike, but then Genmu would slice with the free Sparrow he had on the other hand.
From the air, Snipe was watching. Next to him, was a young Sylph girl. She was pumping her fists in excitement of the fight down below.
"There he is!" She cried. "C'mon! Now's your chance! Pummel him!"
"Will you just shut up for two minutes?" Snipe scoffed.
The fight continued on as Snipe just observed.
Back to the operating room, Hiro was still doing the operation. He was under a lot of pressure.
"Sweat." He said.
"Got it." Said one of his nurses.
She quickly damped down his sweat as the operation went on.
"Moving to the removal of pancreas and duodenum." Hiro said.
Reverting back to the fight, the fight was still going strong. At this point, they had splitten up. Kirito, Asuna, and Klein fought Alhambra, while Ex-Aid continued on fighting Genmu.
Kirito and Klein did all of the strikes and slashes, while Asuna supported them from the back. Kirito then jumped over Alhambra and Klein went for the legs. Alhambra had other plans.
"Stop!" He chanted.
That halted everyone in their tracks.
"This… again…?!" Kirito groaned.
"Shock!" Alhambra shouted.
Thunder shot down from the sky and landed on Kirito and Klein. That sent them right at Asuna's feet.
"Guys!" She called worriedly. "Are you okay?"
"Burn!" Alhambra shouted again.
A vortex of flames shot forward and engulfed the SAO players. That launched them towards the direction of Ex-Aid and Genmu.
Genmu and Ex-Aid currently had their blades locked. Genmu looked to his side and saw the SAO players hurdling towards them. He bounced Ex-Aid off of him and stepped backward. Ex-Aid could only look confused as he was tackled by the ball of fire and SAO players. Genmu saw a chance. As the flames dissipated, he slashed their bodies repeatedly in tandem. And with one final slash at Ex-Aid's body, he attached the two Sparrows together.
ZU-DONN!
He then pulled the trigger repeatedly at a fast rate. Seven arrows were shot with seemingly only one pull. Each arrow landed on the bodies of all the targets, and then they all fell to the ground in pain, while Ex-Aid was thrown out of his transformation.
GASHUNN!
Ex-Aid could only feel the pain riling up inside him. Asuna and Klein looked up while Kirito struggled to get back up.
"You little-!" He started.
Genmu only replied with a slap to the face and then stepping on his stomach. Completely ignoring Kirito under him, he looked down hard at Ex-Aid.
"Ex-Aid." He called. "You created an illegal game without my acknowledgement, the game master."
"I will erase its data." He finished.
A small silence insued. Just then, Ex-Aid began to chuckle. He continued to chuckle as he got back up.
"Game?" He asked sarcastically. "What game?"
And with one stretch of his hand, he quickly reached in his pocket and pulled out the Mighty Brothers XX Gashat.
"What I'm doing right now…" He declared, pressing the Gashat. "Is operating!"
MIGHTY BROTHERS XX!
A game area spread all over the area. Blue and orange were the colors. Ex-Aid then placed the Gashat next to his face.
"I'm going to change the patient's fate with my own hands!" He declared.
And after a brief pose, he inserted the Gashat into the Driver.
"Henshin!" He called,
DOUBLE GASHATTO!
Ex-Aid then opened the Driver up immediately.
GACHANN! LEVEL UP!
MIGHTY BROTHERS! FUTARI DE HITORI! MIGHTY BROTHERS! FUTARI DE VICTORY! X!
Ex-Aid's figure was replaced by the chibi figure of the orange and blue Ex-Aid. He stood there for a bit before closing the Driver back up.
GACHANN!
Ex-Aid then waved his hands around.
"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaai…" He began. "Henshin!"
With that, he opened the Driver back up.
GACHANN! DOUBLE UP!
ORE GA OMAE DE! OMAE GA ORE DE! WE ARE! MIGHTY, MIGHTY BROTHERS! HEY! DOUBLE X!
The chibi armor popped off to leave only the face. Then, the face split in half. The orange side of the face sprouted arms and legs, and then a body. It was the orange Ex-Aid, with hints of blue. This was Kamen Rider Ex-Aid XXR.
The other half of the face, the blue side, also sporuted arms and legs, and then a body. It was the blue Ex-Aid, with hints of orange. This was Kamen Rider Ex-Aid XXL.
Once the sequence was done, they posed with the chibi face right in the middle.
Klein and the girl got really confused.
"What the-? Two?!" Klein spluttered.
"What's up with that?" The girl asked.
Snipe then knew what his next move should be. He wasted no time logging out and leaving ALO. The girl beside him also logged out, albeit confused as to why he did so.
The two Ex-Aids then stood normally, and a massive weapon wheel formed around them. XXR grabbed the weapon as it appeared in his hands.
GASHACON KEYSLASHER!
Then, the two Ex-Aids looked at each other.
"I'm you." XXR said.
"And you are me." XXL replied.
"We'll clear this game… with super co-op!" Both of them said together.
Then, the two charged at Genmu and Alhambra respectively. XXR pressed the blue button on the Keyslasher, activating its sword mode.
JA-JA-JA-KINN!
XXR slashed Genmu a couple of times. First, he slashed his back, and then jumped over him to get his head.
"Comin' your way, bro!" He called, throwing the Keyslasher to him.
"Thank you!" XXL replied, catching it.
XXl then spun around and struck Alhambra on his open chest. He slashed downward a few more times before throwing it back to XXR, the latter who just stretched his arm out to catch it.
"Nice pass!" He called.
After kicking Genmu back, XXR turned around and ran towards Alhambra, slashing his leg. He then past the baton, throwing the Keyslasher to XXL. XXL responded with another slash at Alhambra.
Genmu quickly got back up, and quickly grabbed the Sparrows more firmly. He then began to run towards them, but was cut off by Klein. He struck upward, and then Kirito and Asuna darted behind them and slashed his back.
"Don't go forgetting about us!" Klein smirked.
"We have a few co-op tricks of our own!" Kirito smiled.
Asuna nodded and continued attacking Genmu.
Back to the operating room, Hiro was still going on.
"Peeling off the SMA." He said.
Once he had finished, he moved on to the next step. This was the most difficult part.
"Beginning the pancreatic excision." He said.
Going back to ALO, there were now two separate fights. The two Ex-Aids were fighting Alhambra, while the SAO players were battling Genmu. In the midst of fighting, XXL has his hands on the Keyslasher, and XXR was just fighting with his fisticuffs. XXL looked over to the SAO players and saw Genmu overpowering them.
"This should help them…" He said, pressing the yellow button on the Keyslasher.
ZU-KYU-KYU-KYUNN!
"Heads up!" He called, throwing the Keyslasher to XXR.
"Gotcha!" XXR replied, catching the Keyslasher.
He then flipped and fired the energy bullet. But, instead of Alhambra, the bullet landed on Genmu. Genmu stumbled backward, but he wiggled back from the damage.
"Thanks!" Asuna shouted.
"Don't mention it, Asuna!" XXL called out.
Genmu groaned as he took the damage.
"Alright!" Klein cheered. "Let's do this, you two!"
"Right!" Kirito and Asuna replied.
And all together, with one downward slash of their swords and kicks from each, they threw Genmu out of their line of vision.
"Alright, that's one down." XXL sighed.
Just then, XXR landed right next to him. They quckly bumped their wrists together and ran towards Alhambra. Alhambra looked desparate, but he had to do something.
"Shock!" He chanted.
However, the thunder meant nothing as both Ex-Aids just ran right through them. Both of them took turns with the Keyslasher slashing and striking Alhambra.
"Burn!" He chanted one more time.
Both Ex-Aid's shielded themselves from the fire, and once the flames dissipated, XXR just fired another energy bullet, launching Alhambra back.
"Time for a change of pace!" He smiled.
He then pressed the orange button on the Keyslasher, followed by the three dials of the same color. Then he pressed the orange button again.
ZU-PA-PA-PANN!
A huge orange energy axe blade appeared on the blades of the Keyslasher. XXR then slammed the blade down on Alhambra, who blocked with his staff. But XXR just grabbed him and threw him up into the air.
Suddenly, Alhambra landed on his back. In mid-air. When XXR jumped to him, a line of brown Mighty Action X blocks came into existence. Alhambra and XXR are on top of it. Alhambra stood up and began to fight XXR on the blocks. XXR was dodging them all.
XXL knew what he could do to assist. He went underneath the block Alhambra stood on. He jumped and punched the block. That stunned Alhambra, and then XXR kicked him off the block.
The operation in IR was almost nearing its end. There was no so much to do, but even so, it is too late to get lazy.
"Vascular tape." Hiro said.
"Here." Said one of his nurses again.
Hiro stretched the tape over. Once he had set it down, he used another clamp to get a grip of another end of the tape.
"Portal vein clamp." He said.
"Here." Said one of his nurses again.
Then he reached over to the other side of the patient. Once he was finished, he went back to his side.
"Beginning portal vein excision." He said.
Backto ALO, Alhambra stumbled down the ground and then growled at the Ex-Aids as he stood up.
"How dare you…!" He said.
XXR walked over next to XXL.
"Time to finish it, right?" XXR asked.
"Yes, it is!" XXL replied.
Then, the two closed their Drivers.
GACHANN! KIMEWAZA!
"Very well…" Alhambra growled. "Then… I shall show you my most powerful spell!"
XXR and XXL just ignored that statement, and opened their Drivers back up.
GACHANN!
MIGHTY DOUBLE CRITICAL STRIKE!
Then, both Ex-Aids jumped into the air. They landed a kick on Alhambra's head. But that wasn't it. They then did a spin kick on both sides of him. And with another flip kick, they launched a flurry of kicks again at his sides. Then, the two reunited into the chibi form, and landed an uppercut. Alhambra was launched into the air, and the chibi body rolled past him. Then, as the chibi stretched his legs out for a kick, the armor split off to reveal XXR and XXL, shoulder to shoulder, coming down with a kick. They tore right through Alhambra, and landed back on the ground. Alhambra screamed as he exploded in a giant ball of fire.
GAME CLEAR!
XXL and XXR both looked at each other and they highfived each other. Kirito, Asuna and Klein quickly walked over to them.
"That was overkill, you two." Kirito commented.
Asuna quickly jabbed him in the stomach for that.
"I guess it was…" XXL chuckled.
"Hey, but it's part of our charm!" XXR said, grabbing XXL in a shoulder hug.
They laughed a bit more, but then Klein saw something.
"Hey, look!" He said, pointing at something behind them.
Everyone turned and saw Genmu. He had the BugVisor out, and the weapon seemed to be absorbing the residue Bugster data left of Alhambra. Once he was done, Alhambra appeared on the screen.
"Huh? Where am I?" He asked.
Genmu ignored him and just put the BugVisor back on.
"What was that just now?" Kirito asked.
Genmu chuckled.
"No matter how many times you change a patient's fate, Ex-Aid…" He said. "You cannot change the grand destiny that awaits them."
With that, he fazed away. The players just looked on. The Ex-Aids both closed their Drivers and pulled out their Gashats.
GACHANN! GASHUNN!
Then, the two Ex-Aids turned into bubbles of data and merged together. The bubbles then formed into Ex-Aid's ALO avatar. Just then, Ex-Aid felt the sharp pain in his head. He then passed out, and fell on the ground.
"He-, hey!" Klein called. "You okay?"
"Ex-Aid!" Kirito shouted.
"Kirito!" Asuna said. "Go! I'll stay and leave with him."
Kirito knew what she meant. He stood up and began to log out.
"Hey! What's she talking about?" Klein asked.
"I'll text you about it right now." Kirito replied. "You just log out and get to Seito University Hospital!"
Klein looked puzzled, but he still went along. And as Kirito and Klein left ALO, Asuna stayed by Ex-Aid's passed out state.
A little while later, Ex-Aid slowly opened his eyes. He groaned his got up. Asuna quickly helped with that.
"Ow…" He groaned. "I have a migraine the size of a truck…"
"Are you okay?" Asuna asked.
"Yeah, I'll live." Ex-Aid replied.
Then, something snapped inside his head.
"What about the operation?" He asked.
"I was waiting for you to say that." Asuna responded. "Kirito and Klein already left. I was going to leave as soon as you were okay."
Ex-Aid and then jumped up.
"We have to hurry!" He shouted.
Asuna nodded, and without realizing, they pressed the logout button at the same time.
The AmuSphere clicked, and Emu quickly took it off. Placing the AmuSphere nearby, he then darted out of the office and ran down the hall. He was so busy trying to get to the operating room, he didn't notice Taiga just quietly leaning on the side of a door. He had cloth in his hand, and a blood mark was smudged on it. Taiga got it by quickly giving him a poke with a needle. It bled as much as it need to for him to collect a sample. He looked at it carefully, and then left.
Emu was the first one to arrive at the entrance of the operating room. He sat down on the bench, and then played the waiting game.
Ryotaro, Kazuto, and Asuna quickly joined him a bit later.
"Emu!" Ryotaro called.
"Guys!" Emu called back.
"Is the operation over?" Asuna asked.
"Not yet…" Emu shrugged.
Just then, the operating room doors slowly slid open and out walked a sweat-drenched Hiro. He threw his mask off and wiped some of his sweat off himself. He looked at the entourage before him. Emu stood firm, while Asuna, Kazuto, and Ryotaro tensed up.
"Hiro…" Emu whispered. "How did it go?"
There was a small silence. Hiro then raised his hands up like he was about to operate.
"There is nothing I cannot cut." He stated.
He then turned around and began to walk away. Asuna sighed a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness…" She sighed.
Kirito and Klein looked at each other and wrist-bumped. Emu then looked at Hiro.
"Uh…!" He started.
Hiro stopped and listened.
"Thank you for this!" He said, bowing down.
Hiro first looked puzzled, but then, he smiled. He waved backwards, and continued on his way.
Later that night, Asuna, Kirito, and Emu visited Mr. Shirakawa. He was now connected to some life support systems and a breathing mask. He looked up at his visitors and gave them a thumbs-up. Kirito smiled and also gave him a thumbs-up.
Mr. Shirakawa then began to cry. He was crying tears of joy and happiness though. Emu held his hands tightly as Asuna began to arrange some flowers that she had brought for him.
Meanwhile, Taiga was doing a little research. He had just finished typing in something in his computer. On his side, he had the blood-smeared cloth he got from Emu. On top of it was an analyzer. It was connected to a computer. This is what Taiga had typed. The analysis went on for a few seconds longer before showing the results. It showed a DNA strand and then some cells reacting to something. Taiga took a swig of his water bottle and sighed.
"Well…" He said. "That would explain the separation."
A small window on the side showed another thing.
Patient: Hojo Emu
Reaction: +
Taiga sighed and then leaned back on his chair.
"Ex-Aid… Hojo Emu…" He announced. "You're infected."