Chapter 1: The Hedgehog and the World of Swords

It was a peaceful day in South Island. The wind blew gently over the grass of Green Hill and the ocean water made gentle waves. The greatest hero on Earth, Sonic the Hedgehog was chilling out at the lab of his best friend and most trusted sidekick, Miles Prower, commonly known as Tails, and playing video games together.

The game in question they were playing is Rocket League, on the same team, and as the countdown hits zero, they managed to score their final winning goal.

"Alright! Great job buddy!" shouted Sonic in excitement.

"Yes! We did it Sonic!" replied Tails. "And look at that! We got to Supersonic Legend now!"

"Nice! The season's about to end soon and we finally did it. Good thing we got everything in the Rocket Pass."

The two best friends give each other a high five to celebrate their accomplishment in the game. Then, Tails looks at the time and flies quickly out of his seat.

"Oh! It's already time!" The fox said.

"Time? For what?"

"One second. I'll be right back."

The fox rushes off to his desk to grab something and shows it to Sonic. Looks to be some kind of VR headset.

"What's this?" Asked Sonic. "A VR headset? Doesn't look anything like the Oculus or Vive."

"It's called the NerveGear" explained Tails. "It's nothing like any other VR headset. It's the kind of headset we call Full Dive."

Sonic raises an eyebrow.

"To put it simply, it's a headset where you lay down and fall asleep after putting it on, and it inputs signals of all five senses, making you see, and feel a virtual world. It's almost as if you're actually there" explained the fox.

"Woah. That sounds incredible!" said Sonic. "Where'd you get this from?"

Tails giggles a little bit. "Well I took a visit to Japan a while back and they released 10,000 copies of this overall. I actually got my hands on it and the game to go with it called Sword Art Online."

"Sword Art Online?"

"That's right. It's an MMORPG, and it's the only game available for this device at the moment. I actually took part in the beta test for it and the servers have just opened up right now" explained Tails.

"Well good for you, but still that sucks" replied Sonic. "Only one game? Well that's better than nothing I guess."

"How about you try it Sonic?" asked the fox.

"Huh?"

"I think you'll like it a lot." said Tails. "Plus there may be a lot of room for you to run around in Aincrad."

"Gosh Tails. That sounds exciting" said Sonic. "You know what, I think I will."

"Nice! Now just put the headset on, lay down somewhere, and close your eyes. After that, say Link Start"

"You got it, buddy!"

The hedgehog puts the headset on and lays down on the bottom bunk of the bed.

"Good luck, Sonic" said Tails.

"Thanks."

After turning the NerveGear on, he closes his eyes and smiles.

"Link start!" said Sonic. And without further ado, he dives into the virtual world and creates his account.

Soon after, he opens his eyes in the Town of Beginnings on Floor 1 of Aincrad with the exact same appearance as how he looks in the real world. He then finds lots of people appear from a blue light. He looks at his surroundings and has this great expression of awe in his face.

"Woah! Look at this!" said the Hedgehog. "And this world is digital?"

He starts running around town at fast speed, completely surprised and excited about the experience.

"Holy cow!" He continues to run through town and then out into the field. Suddenly, he finds a couple of angry boars and giant bees with health bars on top of them. "Uh oh!"

He spin jumps in the air and uses his homing attack to take them out. A display showing some items he got from them appears.

"Wow. This is incredible" said Sonic as he looks around again. "You weren't kidding at all, Tails. This is way different from any VR world I've ever seen in every form of the word. Kind of reminds me of Cyber Space back on the Starfall Islands."

He takes a deep breath and releases.

"Man. We gotta get the guys to see this."

"Yo! You're Sonic the Hedgehog, aren't you?" asked a stranger from behind him. The Hedgehog finds two guys. One with black hair and a sword on his back, and another with a headband and a sword by his waste.

"Yup! In the flesh" replies the blue hedgehog with a thumbs up.

"Dude, no way!" shouted the guy with the headband. "You're here in SAO?"

"It's nice to meet you, Sonic." Said the boy with black hair. "I'm Kirito. This is Klein. We just met and I taught him the basics of combat in SAO."

"Well it's nice to run into some fellow players" said Sonic. "My best friend Tails got his hands on the NerveGear and let me try it first, and I gotta say, this is definitely not like any game I've ever played in my life."

"Nice! You've got an awesome friend, Sonic!" said Klein.

"Well, he's the coolest and smartest kid around. Couldn't ask for a better best friend."

"Say Sonic. Why don't you join us for a little while?" asked Kirito. "Maybe hunt monsters together and level up."

"I'm down with that" said Sonic. "Let's go!"

For about an hour or two, Sonic goes out hunting monsters together with Kirito and Klein. Once the sun starts to set, they take a break on a cliff.

"Gotta say, the things you can do with your swords are pretty impressive" said Sonic.

"Pretty much anybody can use sword skills" says Kirito. "There are various weapon types to choose from as well, and it's best to go with the one that works best for you."

"I honestly still can't believe it no matter how many times I see it" says Klein. "That we're in a game. Whoever made it sure is a genius. I'm glad I was born in this time."

"You make a big deal out of everything" says Kirito.

"I mean hey, why not?" said Sonic. "I've played a lot of different games, even VR games, but none of them even compare to this, that's for sure."

"Is this your first time diving too, Sonic?" asks Klein.

Sonic nods his head.

"So this is both your first time playing a game with the NerveGear?" asks Kirito.

"My buddy Tails was one of the beta testers of the game" says Sonic. "He actually got his hands on the headset a while back and played it."

"I actually rushed out to get it" said Klein. "Man was I lucky to get one of the 10,000 copies. But you were ten times as lucky, getting to be a beta tester, Kirito."

Sonic's eyes widen a bit in surprise after hearing that.

"You were a beta tester too, Kirito?"

"That's right. Only a thousand people got to take part in it though."

"How far did you get in the beta by the way?" asks Klein.

"Over a couple of months, only to Floor 8" replies Kirito. "This time it's only going to be a month."

"Heh! Maybe even less with my speed." says Sonic.

"You're really into this aren't you?"

Kirito pulls out his sword, reminiscing about his time as a beta tester.

"To be honest with you, ever since the beta test, SAO was all I ever thought about day and night" he says. "In this world, a single blade can take you anywhere you want to go. It's a virtual world, but I feel more alive here than in the real world."

The swordsman grins once more and sheathe's his blade.

"So do you guys want to hunt some more?" asks Kirito.

"Actually, I think I'm about to log out" says Sonic. "I've been here for a while and Tails is probably waiting for me. Don't wanna keep him waiting to play."

"Yeah I'm actually getting pretty hungry" says Klein.

"Eating food here only makes you think you're not hungry" replies Kirito.

"Haha! I already ordered a pizza for 5:30!" Klein says.

"And I got some chili dogs to get ready for 6! Sonic follows.

"You guys sure are prepared."

Klein turns over to Kirito with excitement.

"I'll be back later" he says. "I got some friends from another game that I'll be meeting up with. You guys wanna friend them?"

"Sure I'm down with that! And maybe I'll introduce you guys to Tails sometime" Sonic replies. Though Kirito just stays silent about the question.

"Well you don't have to if you don't want to, Kirito" Klein says. "I can introduce you another time if you want."

"Yeah, sorry. And thanks."

"No worries Kirito" says Sonic. "And thanks you guys. I had fun today."

Everyone nods their heads.

"If there's anything else you guys wanna know, just tell me" says Kirito.

"Will do" Sonic and Klein reply.

They all shake hands together, and soon after, starts Klein walking out waving goodbye, and Sonic and Kirito do the same.

"Oh yeah, Kirito" Sonic calls. "This is gonna sound weird but how do you access your menu and log out?"

"Oh, just move your finger like this to open up the holo-window" Kirito says as he demonstrates to Sonic. "And the logout button should be in the settings menu."

"Got it."

"What the heck?" Klein asks as the other two look toward him in concern. "There's no logout button."

"Look closer" Kirito says. "It should be in your settings menu."

"Wait a minute" Sonic says as he looks at the settings finding the same thing. "There's none for me either. It's blank."

"That's weird." Kirito replies as he finds the same in his menu too. "There should be an option to log out here, but there isn't."

"Well the game just got out of the beta" Klein says as he puts his hands on his hips. "There's bound to be some bugs, right? And I bet server people are freaking out."

"You will be in a second" Kirito says, pointing at his clock. "It's 5:25 right now.

Suddenly, Klein gasps in agony and shouts from the top of his lungs. "MY TERIYAKI MAYO PIZZA AND GINGER ALE!"

"Just hurry up and call the Game Master." says Kirito.

"I tried but nothing's happening" replies Klein. "Isn't there another way to log out?"

"There's gotta be another way, right?" asks Sonic.

Kirito looks away for a second, thinking, and looks back at the guys. "No, if a player wants to log themselves out, they have to go through the menu. It's also impossible to move your physical body IRL while you're diving."

"You're joking right now" says Klein.

"There's really nothing at all?" Sonic asks.

"I told you, there wasn't any emergency logout in the manual either" Kirito replies.

"So if we can't move our real bodies, does that mean we can't pull the NerveGear off?" asks Sonic again.

"No. The NerveGear intercepts anything we tell our bodies to do right here" Kirito says as he points at his head.

"You've gotta be kidding me" Klein complains. "So we gotta wait for them to fix the bug?"

"Or maybe for someone in the real world comes to remove the NerveGear from us" says Kirito.

"Dang. I live alone" says Klein. "What about you guys?"

"I'm diving from Tails' workshop" says Sonic. "He should be right near me right now."

"And I have a mom and little sister" Kirito says. "So I think they'll notice by dinnertime..."

Klein suddenly rushes to Kirito and puts his hands on his shoulder. "How old's your little sister?"

"Ack! She's on a sports team, and she hates games" says Kirito. "She has nothing to do with people like us."

"Hey that doesn't mat..." Just as Klein was about to finish, Kirito kicks him off. "Oww! Oh right, it doesn't hurt."

"Come on, Klein" Sonic says. "Give Kirito a break."

"But more importantly, don't you guys find it weird?" asks Kirito.

"Well it IS a bug after all" says Klein.

"It isn't just a bug" Kirito says. "If we can't log out, it'll pose a serious problem for the game's future."

"You may be right about that" says Sonic. "People might even avoid it entirely."

"If they wanted to, they could just shut down the server and log every player out" says Kirito. "But there wasn't even an announcement..."

There is a brief moment of silence among the three, thinking about how there is no way for them to log out at the moment. But then, they hear the sound of a church bell from the Town of Beginnings and the clouds above start moving faster.

"Uh, what's going on?" asks Sonic in confusion.

"I don't know" Kirito replies.

Suddenly, a blue light emanates around the boys and they suddenly disappear. Soon after, they reappear in the Teleport Gate Plaza at the Town of Beginnings. Looking around, they see what looks to be every single other player logged in showing up. Everybody in the area is looking confused as to what's happening.

"A forced teleportation?" Kirito asks.

"Huh? What's that up there?" Klein asks as everybody looks up to the sky to see some kind of "Warning" sign. Very soon, it multiplies, filling the entire sky with "Warning" and "System Announcement" signs.

"What is this?" the hedgehog asks as some large red gel appears from the sky and merges together with some electricity. Everybody seemed confused as the gel takes the form of what looks to be a mysterious giant figure in a red robe. Some assume it's a game master or if it's some kind of event.

"I'm scared" says a female player clinging to a male one.

"Don't worry" the male player says. "This is just part of the opening ceremony.

The mysterious avatar spreads its arms open as it prepares to make its speech.

"Attention players. Welcome to my world" the mysterious figure says. "My name is Akihiko Kayaba. As of this moment, I am the sole person who can control this world."

"Wait! So then he's..." Kirito thinks back to the books he read about Kayaba and the NerveGear.

"The game's creator?" Sonic asks.

"I'm sure you've already noticed that the logout button is missing from your main menu" Kayaba opens up his settings screen, demonstrating to everybody. "However, this is not a defect. I repeat... This is not a defect. This is a core part of Sword Art Online."

"Core part?" Klein asks.

"You cannot log out of SAO yourselves" Kayaba says. "And no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside of the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave, destroying your brain and ending your life."

Everybody starts expressing feelings of shock about what Kayaba just said, even Sonic feels the same way.

"You're joking right now, right?" the hedgehog asks. "That's not what a game should be!"

Two people try to leave the plaza but are stopped by an invisible wall.

"Hey! I can't get out!" one of the players say.

"He's gotta be nuts" Klein says. "I mean right guys?"

"Yeah, I mean there's no way that can even happen" Sonic says.

"He's right that the transmitter signals work like microwaves" says Kirito. "If the safety was disabled, it could fry the brain."

"What if we cut the power?" Klein asks.

"No, the NerveGear has an internal battery" Kirito replies. And as he does, Sonic and Klein show expressions of shock on their face, wondering why this is happening.

"Unfortunately, several players' friends and families have ignored this warning, and have attempted to remove the device" Kayaba says. "And as a result, 213 players have lost their lives both in Aincrad and the real world."

"You're kidding me right now!" Sonic shouts. Even the other players find it insane. And to prove it, Kayaba shows various news articles to them, showing reports of the incident.

"As you can see, news organizations across the globe are reporting all of this, including deaths" he says. "Thus you can assume the danger of a NerveGear being removed is now minimal. I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game."

Sonic and Kirito give the man a death stare.

"But I want you to remember this clearly" Kayaba says. "There is no longer any method to revive someone from within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be forever lost, and simultaneously, the NerveGear will destroy your brain."

After hearing that, the hedgehog and the other players gasp, thinking about what will happen to them. Most of the players in the plaza show expressions of fear.

"Not a chance! You're not getting away with this!" Sonic shouts as he starts charging his spin dash. Once he takes off, he spin jumps high in the air and uses his homing attack on Kayaba.

"SONIC! WAIT!" Kirito shouts, but he was too late. As the hedgehog collides with Kayaba, a message saying "Immortal Object" appears above, and that sends Sonic flying down to the ground, sliding on his back. Kirito and Klein run up to him, and other players appear to check it out.

"Is that Sonic the Hedgehog?" one player asks.

"I can't believe it!" another player says.

Kirito helps Sonic up, and as the hedgehog tries to go for another attack, a familiar face grabs his wrist, stopping him.

"It's no use, Sonic. He's protected by the system" the familiar person is none other than one of Sonic's allies, Shadow the Hedgehog.

"Shadow?! You're here too?" asks Sonic.

"I'll explain later" the black hedgehog with hover shoes says.

"Are you one of Sonic's friends?" asks Kirito.

"We're acquaintances" Shadow replies. And soon after, everybody looks back at Kayaba, who continues his speech.

"There is only one means of escape and that is to complete the game" says Kayaba, showing a map of Aincrad and all its floors. "You are currently present in the Town of Beginnings on Floor 1. If you make your way through the labyrinth dungeon and defeat the floor boss, you may advance to the next level. Defeat the final boss on Floor 100 and you will clear the game."

People talk amongst each other, completely confused and freaked out.

"That's impossible!" Klein shouts. "Even the beta testers never made it that high!"

"Certainly it will be possible" Shadow says. "With the right manpower."

"Last but not least, I've added a present from me into your storage" says Kayaba. "Please see for yourselves."

Everybody opens up their storage menus and takes out what looks to be a mirror. Once they equip it, every single player in the surrounding area starts glowing in a flashing white light. Once the light disappears, everybody is seen in a different appearance, though Sonic and Shadow still look the same.

"What happened just now?" asked Sonic.

"You guys good?" says a man with scruffy hair and bandana. And a young boy with black hair walks up to them.

"Huh? Who are you guys?" asks Sonic.

"It's me, Klein" the man with the bandana replies.

"And I'm... Kirito" the young boy with black hair replies.

"What?! Why do you guys look like..." Sonic was about to finish his sentence when he looks around at the other players, freaked out by how their appearances have changed.

"It would appear as though everybody has taken the form of their real world selves" says Shadow.

"But... How?" asks Klein.

"That scan... The NerveGear covers your entire head with a high-density signaling device so it can see what your face looks like" says Kirito. "But how did it know our height and body shape?"

"When you first put on the NerveGear, it makes you calibrate it, right?" asks Klein. "You have to touch your body all over."

"Oh, that's right" Kirito replies. "That must be where it got that data."

"But why? Why in the world would he do this? asks Klein. "Why would anybody do this at all?"

Kirito points at the giant avatar in the robe. "I'm sure he will explain."

"Right now, you're probably wondering, 'why?'" Kayaba says. "Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear do all of this?" He looks down at each and every one of the players, giving his reason why. "My goal has already been acheived. I created Sword Art Online for one reason... To create this world and intervene in it."

Sonic, Shadow, and Kirito express a serious look on their faces, knowing what the man is doing is extremely insane.

"And now, it's complete." Kayaba concludes. "This ends the tutorial for the official launch of Sword Art Online. Good luck, players."

As the tutorial ends, the giant avatar disintegrates and disappears, and the sky above returns to normal. There is silence all around the Teleport Gate Plaza as players all around show fear. Soon, Sonic and Kirito each look down at their hands, and close them, prepared to take on the death game with all their might.

"This is no game" Sonic says in his mind.

"This is real" Kirito follows in his mind. They can tell for certain that Kayaba is no liar. Especially Kirito, who has followed him for a long time. If they die in the game, then they die in real life.

The silence around the plaza breaks as players begin to panic and shout, demanding to be set free. Chaos erupts everywhere. Nobody can even begin to comprehend that the game they thought they were playing turned out to be a prison of death. To escape the chaos, Kirito taps Klein's shoulder.

"Klein! Let's go!" Kirito says. "You as well, Sonic and Shadow!"

The three agree to follow Kirito to a quiet place somewhere in town. They regroup to a back alley, discussing their plans.

"I'm going to head to the next town. Come with me, you guys" Kirito says. " If what he says is true, the only way to survive is by making yourself as strong as possible."

The boy opens up the map of Floor 1. "The resources within a virtual MMORPG, in other words, money and EXP, we can earn are very limited. The fields surrounding the Town of Beginnings will soon be hunted clean. To do this efficiently, we should head to the next village right away. I know all the paths and dangerous areas. Even at level 1, I can get there safely."

Then, Klein starts to speak up about his feelings of the game. "You know, I spend a whole night in line to buy this with my friends from the other game." He suddenly realizes, "They're out there! In the plaza! I can't leave them."

Kirito looks down with a sad look on his face. Sonic and Shadow look to each other and nod their heads.

"Shadow and I will go on ahead to look for the labyrinth" the blue hedgehog says. "We're the fastest so we should be able to find it soon."

"But we'll need a lot of people to help us take on the boss" Shadow says. "And a lot more than just a couple of rings too."

"You guys go on ahead" Klein says. "No need to worry about me. In fact, I used to run a guild in the last game. I can use what you taught me to get by, Kirito."

"...Okay" replies Kirito, a little sad that they have to part ways. "Let's say goodbye here then, you guys. If something happens, send me a message."

"Will do!"

"Same to you, Kirito" Sonic replies.

"Okay, see you guys around" Kirito says as he waves farewell, but then Klein stops him.

"Kirito! Hey... I think you're pretty cute with that face."

The swordsman with black hair turns around to Klein.

"That's my type!" he continues.

Kirito then looks back with a smile. "And that unkempt face of yours suits you ten times better!" he says.

Sonic then pats the swordsman's shoulder. "See you soon pal. We'll regroup once we've found the boss room."

"Will do, Sonic" replies Kirito. "Be careful out there."

"Hah! Careful? Where's the fun in that?" Sonic jokes. He waves goodbye and him and Shadow dash off ahead at high speed.

Somewhere in the plains, Sonic and Shadow run off at high speed.

"So you got your hands on a NerveGear, eh?" Sonic says. "Tails was a beta tester, and he actually let me try it first today."

"Is that right?" Shadow asks. "Rouge gave one to me as a gift a while back. She figured I needed a break from work for a while."

"I'm pretty sure they're both worried about us. But I bet that Tails will somehow come up with a plan."

"I'm sure he will" Shadow replies. "But we need to do all we can here. We won't be able to save everybody, but we still need to fight through the floors to get to the end."

"Right. Well it looks like we're teaming up again, Shadow" says Sonic.

"I prefer working alone, but it seems as though I have no choice."

Sonic waves over to Shadow. "Good luck finding the labyrinth. Don't be a slowpoke!"

"Hmph! You talking to me?"

The two hedgehogs split up in search of the labyrinth. Meanwhile, Kirito is running through the fields outside of the Town of Beginnings, on his way to the next town. With his sword in hand, he strikes down enemies one by one to level up. While doing that, Sonic, who is much farther away, spin dashes and takes down enemies on his side as he looks for the labyrinth. Both Sonic and Kirito are prepared to do whatever it takes to clear the game and make it out alive.