Level Two: Ensnare

Level One: Boss Dungeon Door

Kirito and Black Fox waited with the group who were going over the plan one more time. Black Fox and Kirito were going to be taking out the minions of the boss, along with a few other newbies. The main group would be taking on the boss in groups to do the most damage and hopefully not take too many hits. The group agreed to the plan and opened the doors, proceeding cautiously, Black Fox and Kirito entering last. The doors closed behind them and the boss awoke, looking much more vicious than he had in the beta.

The minions attacked the others, but before they could land a hit, Black Fox seemed to materialize in front of them, knocking them all back with a kick. Because she was backed with Martial Arts attributes, she didn't need a weapon to fight. Kirito began to assist her, slicing at the minions who were a little slower to get to their feet after the kick. When they got too close to Kirito, he would back off and Black Fox would go in again to send them flying. A few of the teams not currently attacking watched, fairly impressed, some skeptical of the pair's technique.

But, as the boss's bar got down to the red, something changed. The boss gained a white tattoo on his face and it looked like a white fox face. Black Fox noticed and she charged at the monster as Kirito finished off the last minion. Diabel, their group leader, attempted to stop her, but she parried the monster's attack with her level one Chi-User move, making a chip in its weapon. "Move! Get back!" she called to the others, jumping back herself. "That thing's on White-Fox's side… I bet she gave it power way higher than the level one boss." She said to Kirito as she saw it charging an attack that was certainly not part of the beta.

"How do you know?" one criticizer asked.

"Did you not SEE that tattoo on its face?" she asked. "It's the same design as White-Fox's mask."

"Yeah well it's the same as yours too!" one stated, not seeming to notice that he was in line with the attack. Black Fox jumped in his way, only to have Diabel jump in her way, protecting her.

"D-diabel!" the other members attacked the Boss, only to get thrown, but their health bars remained in the yellow, unlike Diabel's.

"Are you alright?" he asked, smiling, bleeding from his mouth.

"You idiot…" she mumbled. "You didn't have to save me…"

"… I had to…" he said. "You're probably the only one who could settle the score with White Fox and get everyone out…" he chuckled. "Besides, saving you during the beta level one was fun~ You seemed REAL happy about it."

"Sh-shut up." She mumbled, seeing his HP meter fall down even further. She rummaged for a healing potion but he wouldn't take it. "Diabel…"

"Its fine… don't waste that on me… save it for someone more important to you." He said as his meter hit 0. "Like that friend of yours… what was his name again?" Black Fox watched him start fading away. "Oh right… Kirito." He grinned. "Now go beat that thing and take back the special item you got in the beta…" he said, fading out completely. Black Fox took a ragged breath, getting up, the charge levels of her Chi, which should not have been possible before she finished all to quests for the official title, skyrocketing.

"Kirito." He got to her side. "We're taking that thing down." She stated, glaring at the boss. "Can we switch? You distract, I deal the blows?" she asked him, not taking her eyes off the Boss, who was getting ready to attack again. Everyone else was on the sidelines, recovering or watching the fight, too scared of dying to attack the Boss alone.

"You got it." He said, getting into his stance. "But what are you going to do…?"

"If White Fox could hack her user profile before getting up to the level 10 Chi-User Quest, then I can too…" she mumbled, going into her menu and pulling up a screen that Kirito had never seen before. "Activate Shiki-Arts… Black Protocol…" the window glowed and her veil from the beta appeared, hovering over her until she pulled it down over her head. "Go." She stated, both of them charging the Boss. Kirito attacked, knocking the weapon away before she got in to deal a devastating attack. "Shikigami Art! Midnight Pinwheel!" she landed a palm-thrust to the Boss' face, shattering the fox tattoo and sending it flying back into the door that lead to level 2. She got up close to it in a split second, shocking everyone in the room. "Shikigami Art! Shadow of the Black Sky Sickle!" the Boss was sliced right in half by what looked like the shadow of a scythe, dissolving into nothing almost instantly. The prize-window appeared in front of Black Fox, the XP and Money windows appearing as well for everyone in the room.

"We did it!" people cheered. But Black Fox headed straight for the door.

"Stop cheering! That b*tch is a Beta-tester! She didn't bother to protect Diabel!" one exclaimed.

"I couldn't have…" she stated, turning to look at them through her mask. "Diabel jumped infront of me because he wants me to kill White Fox… and I will…" she stated. "With or without anyone else's help." She mumbled. Kirito stood next to her, "I may be a beta, but if you check you can see how that technique takes out my energy and HP." She brought it up to show everyone. Her health bar was in the red, almost entirely at zero. Her energy bar, as a chi-user, was nearly empty as well. "To be a Chi-user means to be willing to sacrifice one's self for the sake of winning. The only reason I'm not dead too is because everyone here helped." She said, looking ragged, Kirito offering her a health potion but she declined it. "And just so you IDIOTS know… one third of the people who were killed before today were Beta-testers… that INCLUDES Diabel…" she stated. "So stop trying to pin this on me being a damn beta." She changed her boots out to the ones she'd just received, turning on a heel and heading for the door. She turned to Kirito. "Here." She sent him the other item she'd gotten from beating the boss. "You deserve this…" she opened the door, only to feel a hand on her shoulder.

"You're not going ahead alone." He stated. "If these guys don't like beta-testers, then I'm going with you." He added, turning to them, having just changed into the item she sent him. The Midnight Knight's Cloak. She gave half a laugh.

"Fine with me…"

Level Two: Pine Town

The pair walked around the town, checking on a couple of things and making sure they had what they needed before going to search for lodging. "Are you okay?" she asked him.

"I should be asking you that." He said, looking up at her as they walked to the nearest inn. "You gave one hell of a speech back there… they had no business blaming you for Diabel's death."

"No, but…" she sighed. "Diabel… shouldn't have jumped in front of me…" she said as they made it inside the inn. They remained quiet until they got to their room. The two beds were large enough for one person comfortably, two people in a much… cozier manner. "I'm going to sleep." She stated, earning a nod from Kirito. But as she lay down, he looked confused.

"Are you going to leave your mask on?" he quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Is that a bad thing?" she asked him.

"No… but… isn't it weird to sleep with a mask on?"

"No… not at all…" she turned to him, the smirk he remembered from when they met in the beta coming to her face. "What, do you want to see my face, Kirito~?" she asked, chuckling. He blushed, shaking his head furiously.

"O-of course not!" he stated.

"Awww… okay then I won't show you~" she said, turning over on her side to face away from him, the veil placed back in her inventory and her armor as well. "Night, Kirito."

"N-night…" he mumbled, staring at her for a moment before turning away to look out the window. She was still the same, teasing woman she was in the beta… so what was making him so… happy?