SAO: Avenger

by JCK824TO

It's been two months since SAO was cleared. But the 300 players remain comatose, including Asuna Yuuki. But when he learns about the arranged marriage & the possibility of Asuna in ALfheim Online, Kazuto, & his friends, dive into ALO in search of her. However, they're not the only ones. Steve Rogers, Thomas Anderson, & the Howler Platoon dives in to investigate.

10. Chapter 10

The Forest near Alne City:

Kirito and Lexar looked around the area with the rest of their infiltration group led by the Punisher.

"Keep looking," Leafa urged, "it's hidden in one of these big trees!"

"You heard the lady!" Castle ordered. "Keep searching for that secret passage!"

"What does it look like," Rain asked, "a hint would be nice!"

"It says it's located near the Alne city walls with the more vines and overgrown grass!" Leafa called.

Spade grunted as he cleared some grass away. "There's overgrown grass everywhere! We'll never find it at this rate!"

"Hey quit your whining and do your job, kid," one of the veteran Howlers bit back.

"Come on, Spade." Lexar cleared the tall grass away with a machete..

Philia groaned. "I can't find it! Why can't I find it!"

"Why don't you kids just-"

"Easy there Howler," Punisher admonished one of the soldiers, "no need to show your temper to them."

The Howler soldier growled in frustration. But he took a deep breath.

Kirito was looking at a tree when Yui popped up from his pocket. "Daddy, some of these soldiers are irritated with us."

"It's alright, Yui.." Kirito reassured her. "They're trying to find a way into Alne faster than we are.." He continued to look upon the tree. Of all the trees they've encountered, this one looked very unusual.

"Hey sis!"

"What is it, Kirito?" Leafa ran towards him.

"What does this look like?"

Leafa looked up and down at the tree. "Not sure... But there's something strange with this tree.." She surmises. One of the soldiers noticed the Kirigayas looking at the tree. "Let me see that."

"Okay.." Kirito and Leafa stepped aside as the soldier examined the tree.

"That looks like a bronze hatch..." the soldier said as he went to touch it. Kirito suddenly noticed a small electrical arc from it.

"Don't touch it!" It was too late as the soldier was suddenly electrocuted and thrown back.

"OW!" The soldier exclaimed.

"Man down!"

"Ugh!" The electrocuted soldier stumbled as his legs felt weak. He was caught by Sleek and Silica.

"He n-needs first aid!" Sleek strained to hold him up.

One of the other soldiers tended to his wounded comrade while Punisher came up next to the siblings. "What happened?"

"He tried to grab the bronze hatch, sir." Kirito explained. "But it was rigged with a electrical trap."

Punisher cautiously cleared the shrubbery away with the barrel of his rifle. And he sees the bronze hatch on the tree trunk. "Is this it?" He asked Leafa.

"Yes sir, it is.." She answered. "But be careful.."

"Stand back, I want to test something." Kirito, Leafa and the others took a few steps back. Punisher aimed his rifle and fired. Electric sparks flew in several direction as the bullets impacted the hatch. Punisher examined the surface... He sees several scratch marks where the bullets impacted.

Leafa shook her head. "At least it is not indestructible."

"It appears that we found our secret entrance.." Punisher concluded. However, he had to deal with the electric hatch. He could not see any visible way to deal with the electric trap. He then remembered that this was a fantasy game. He turned to the SAO guild.

"Got any spells that can remove this electric trap?" He asks. "Anything dealing with electricity?"

"Not me... At least, with dealing with traps like these.." Leafa answers.

"Anyone else?"

"Neither of us learned any of the magic spells here since we created out ALO accounts two days ago.." Lexar explains. This earned some frustrated groans from the Howler soldiers.

"Well.." Punisher shrugged. "I guess we'll just use my skeleton key.." He selects C4 explosives from his inventory and arms it.

"Charge set." He placed the C4 on the bottom of the hatch as careful as he could without touching it.

"That's a skeleton key?" Philia said jokingly, though she could guess what it really was.

"You might want to step back a further, everyone." Punisher suggested. They all move a good distance from the big tree. He then stepped back with a detonator. "Fire in the hole!"

He pushes down the button, and the tree trunk explodes in debris and a fireball. Electricity arcs from the explosion.

"That's one heck of a skeleton key," Sleek said as he saw the entrance blown open.

"At least the electrified hatch is now gone." Silica observed.

Punisher then radioed, "Captain, this is Punisher, proceeding with infiltration."

"Copy that Punisher," Captain America II replied, "good luck and Godspeed."

"Roger that, Captain. Punisher out." He turned to the others. "Alright, let's head on in.."

"We'll take point kids," one of the other soldiers teased the SAO group, "adults first."

"Sure you will..." Both Haze and Rain rolled their eyes and shook their heads.

"They really treat us like kids," Haze groaned to his girlfriend.

"Tell me about it.." Silica agreed. "I mean, we survived SAO for two years.. "

"We're still kids to many people..." Sleek remarked as he looked at the soldier who was electrocuted, still being held by one of his buddies. He noticed that he still seemed to be a little more groggy than usual.

It was then Sleek turned to Leafa. "Doesn't the ALO server have something called the Pain Absorber?" He asks her.

Leafa then saw the soldier trying to get his bearings back. She answered, "yeah. It's standard for any augmented VR game."

"We never had anything like that back in SAO." Sleek turned to Kirito. Have we?"

Kirito shook his head. "It must be a recent innovation."

"Must be, I still remember how painful sword slashes were.." Sleek recalled.

"Hey, stow the chit-chat," Punisher called with a nudge of his rifle, "we are oscar mike."

Sleek was startled, but quickly recovered as he, Silica and the others followed the Howlers into the tree. Lexar and Leafa are the last ones to enter through the tree.

"Well this is it," Lexar stood with his new girl. "Any second thoughts?"

"Nope. This is it, no turning back." Leafa surmises. "Never thought I'd fight Hydra in ALO to save the real world.." She confesses.

"Me neither..." Lexar added. "I've faced Laughing Coffin in SAO... But this is different.. It's really life and death for thousands, if not millions." He held Leafa's hands. "But... I wouldn't do this with anyone else."

"Y-You mean.." Leafa's voice trailed off. Lexar smiled before leaning in and pressing his lips against Leafa's in a soft kiss.

"Mmm!?" Leafa was surprised. However, as she felt Lexar's soft lips caressing her own. She relaxes and wraps her arms around him. She felt a very real warmth from Lexar's body. They parted lips and gazed warmly at each other's eyes.

"Leafa... I.." He gets cut off when Leafa pressed her finger against his lips.

"Lexar... Please do that again.." She smiled. Lexar pressed into Leafa again, albeit harder and with more passion. The world around them seemed to fade away as the two players are lost in the moment.

"Hey Lexar, Leafa, you two-" Philia backtracked to see the two lip-locking. The short blonde-haired girl blushes from the display of affection she's witnessing.

"Um..."

"Hey sis," Kirito came up next to Philia. When he saw his sister and best friend kissing, he grinned.

Lexar and Leafa parted lips for the second time, neither of them noticing Philia nor Kirito. That was, until Leafa glanced her eyes towards the tree and saw two players.

"Eep!" Leafa blushes.

"Well done, Sugu," Kirito was still grinning mischievously. Lexar sees Kirito and nearly gasped.

"Uh... I can explain..." He said nervously.

"That you've lip-locked and kissed my sister senseless?"

"I... Uh... Yes..." Lexar stiffen his body and close his eyes shut, waiting for the punch. But it never came.

"You and Sugu certainly hit it off hot and heavy." Kirito chuckled. Lexar breathed a sigh of relief when he hears this.

"So, you're not mad that I kissed your sister?" He asked. Wanting to double-check.

"Nope... just that you should save the best for when we get Asuna back and we have the double date I promised Sugu." Kirito chuckled.

"Right.." Lexar rubbed his nape sheepishly. "We just got caught up in the moment. About to head into a battle for the free world and all..."

"Well, let's keep up with that Punisher guy before he and his team leave us behind," Philia told them.

"Yeah, you're right." Leafa agreed. "They're already on us to find this entrance anyway."

"Come on," Kirito urged, and the four of them were already heading back with the others...

---

RECT HQ:

Shouzou Yuuki had lost track of time and how long he had been thrown in the room he was in with the Mitchells. The handcuffs were starting to chaff his wrists. He was also tired and aching all over.

'How did I not see any of this?' He thought to himself. When he awoke in the truck, his long-dormant senses picked up the thoughts of the captors. All of them had thoughts of deception and desire for world domination. And he was surprised when they had arrived at their destination...

He also learned that Hydra had been in control of his company for a few months now, during the whole SAO incident. Nobody had to tell him... because he recognized the thought-voices of employees he thought he could trust. He turned to the Mitchells, who remained silent and still. He read their thoughts and he could feel their fears for their family.

Suddenly, the door opened. Shouzou looked up and see more of Hydra goons enter the room.

They dispersed to reveal Sugou Nobuyuki looking over him smugly. "Afternoon, sir," he said mockingly.

"N-Nobuyuki..." Shouzou groaned.

"I must report to you that Alfheim Online is getting record engagement from its player base, and registering hundreds of new ones every ten minutes since the Industrial Revolution update was announced and released." The Supreme Commander of Hydra grinned from behind his glasses as he stood over his former boss. "And we are set to launch this internationally, with something very special that will enlist us some very loyal players."

"W-Why...?" Shouzou groaned. "I... I trusted you..."

"Tsk tsk tsk," Nobuyuki shook his head.

"You said you'd save my daughter from the NerveGear... You gave us your word.."

"And I did save her..." Nobuyuki smiled. "And she will now serve Hydra as my bride."

Shouzou felt the wave of dread and regret surging through him.

"And your future will soon be tied with the success of Hydra's New World Order." Nobuyuki grinned. "But fear not, no harm will come to the Yuuki family..."

Shouzou glared at Nobuyuki.

"Oh, don't give me that look, Shouzou.. After all, you should be thanking your wife."

"Don't you drag Kyouko into this," Shouzou growled.

"No need to worry... She's safe.." Nobuyuki chuckled. "I had her and Miss Sada... relocated."

"Where?" Shouzou struggled to move, but couldn't. "I swear, if you lay one finger on her.."

"You'll what?" The Hydra leader giggled rather creepily. "I think you'll have to worry more for yourself and these Americans here." He gestured to one of his troopers, who threw a small bag in front of Shouzou and the Mitchells. Another stepped forward and unzipped it. Shouzou was horrified, as he saw the bloody head of ALO security chief Hideki.

"You see... He didn't worry about himself. And look what happened.." Nobuyuki shook his head in fake sadness. "He was a good employee to RECT.."

"You devil..." Shouzou gasped as David and Jonathan also seemed sickened at Hydra beheading one of their own. But Nobuyuki just laughed. "Sadly, he just did not have his head on straight."

The Mitchells were disgusted by Nobuyuki's sick humor. "What the heck is wrong with you!?" Jonathan screamed.

"What? I thought you Americans have sense of humor..." Nobuyuki laughed. "That also includes being nosy as well..."

"If we ever get free," David threatened, "you'll rot in a cell you psycho."

"They're no prisons in Hydra.." Nobuyuki cited. "Only Order... Which you will soon learn.." He laughed as he walked out. The other troopers locked the three in again, with the heavy odor of blood permeating the air.

"We need to find a way to get out.." Jon struggled against the cuffs and the chair.

Shouzou tried to stop himself from crying as he stared at the head of the employee Sugou had murdered. "How could I have let this happen?"

Jon gives up after he realized it was hopeless.

"My family... my business," Shouzou lamented, "everything I have is being co-opted for Hydra's world domination..."

"Mr. Yuuki... You didn't know.." David reassured him. "No one saw this coming.."

"But what can we do now? What can I do?"

"He's right.." Jon said. "We're trapped in here, and Alex's out there worrying sick about us.."

David looked around and saw Shouzou and Jon falling into despair. He could only close his eyes in prayer. "Mighty God, save us."

---

Alne City's main entrance:

Sigurd was itching for payback. He was inspecting the assault rifle he acquired. He wanted to really hurt Lexar and the rogue Revere for humiliating him twice. He was glad he'd picked the one with the knife-like bayonet on the end.

"They're gonna get what's coming to them.." Sigurd muttered. Eugene came up alongside him...

"You think they'll come through here?" Eugene asked.

"It's very likely they're after the Grand Quest the same as us.." Sigurd replied. "And when they show up... We'll be ready to take them.."

"And you have any strategy to counter whatever it was that Revere and Jackhammer did?" Eugene wondered.

"Yes... We underestimated them twice..." Sigurd stated. "We will not let it happen again.."

The large Salamander general just shook his head. Sigurd was egotistical and had no strategy. He was acting on rage while thinking himself more brilliant than he really was. He just turned around and went back into Alne to converse with his strategist and brother, Mortimer.

"You got any strategy to counter Revere and Jackhammer?" He asks. Mortimer was studying the gameplay footage of Eugene's encounter with Revere, and how Revere had promptly shot up the whole party.

"I gotta admit.. It was impressive how they were able to hide it.." Mortimer scoffed.

"They're cheaters," Eugene disdained.

"You got that right." Mortimer agreed. He was then met with the leaders of the hunting parties of the other races, including the Cait Sith, Leprechauns, Undines, and even the Spriggans.

"I've never seen such a gathering before.." Mortimer admitted at the sight of almost all of the Alfheim races.

"Me neither... but at least I still don't have to deal with the likes of Alicia and Sakuya." Eugene still did not like the actual leaders of the Cait Sith and Sylphs, viewing them as his fiercest competitors. Compared with them, Sigurd's more tolerable. Eugene checks his assault rifle. It sported in gilded colors of gold, silver, and White Fire, the colors of the Alfheim world. Unlike Sigurd's weapon, this sports a large grenade launcher underneath the handguard/barrel. Which will explode mid-air and sent several cluster grenades towards the group of enemies.

"Gentlemen... and ladies," Eugene greeted. The chatter between players ceased and they all turned to Eugene.

"Thank you all for coming." He continued. "As you're aware that the bounty on two certain players had increased since the update." The four other race leaders muttered in the affirmative.

The Leprechaun man remarked, "that was quite a video you sent us."

"Indeed, it was.." Eugene grimaced before he continued.

"Where those... really Americans though?" The Cait Sith boy asked.

"I doubt it.." One Undine boy answered. "This game is made for the Japanese public."

"But there is an international launch, right?" The Cait Sith boy pointed out, "maybe they are early foreign players."

"They could be.. Which is why they showed up as American soldiers.." The Gnome boy player added.

The Spriggan leader, a girl seemed to muse over this. "I kinda find it impressive... I guess it's a perfect way to release it international.. Right?"

Eugene raised an eyebrow from the female Spriggan's blunt statement. He never trusted Spriggans ever since he started playing ALO since its release. However, she did had a point.

"Right... Anyway. This will be the biggest battle yet to be released in ALO." Eugene turned back to the crowd. "Which is why we're banding together on this one. It's no surprised that the American players, and anyone dressed up like earth foreigners will try to get to the Grand Quest.. Which is why we're here, to get the jump on them and win the big rewards."

"We got new weapons that'll give us the edge.. Including these..." Eugene presented the clunky, but slim assault rifle with the grenade launcher underslung with it. "I'm pretty sure that most of you have this weapon and are eager to test it on the enemy players.." He sets the rifle down. "But that battle is coming soon..."

"Now let me make it clear," Eugene added, "we are still rivals... But since this new update and mission will allow us to reap rewards, we will forge an alliance."

This aroused chatter from the leaders present.

"Now, rest assure all of you, this alliance is only temporary for the grand opening for the international release." He added.

"General Eugene," the charming Spriggan female said, "there's something that makes me wonder..."

"Such as?"

The others in the meeting turned to the Spriggan leader. "Well... don't you all think that the timing is... funny?"

"Funny?" Eugene was confused. "How do you mean?"

"First... we get this bounty on two players who are supposed to be cheaters..."

"And?"

"Then in less than half a day, we get news of this update and the international launch." The Spriggan leader was contemplative. Something did not sit right.

"What are you saying? That we should let these cheaters go?" Eugene was glaring at the Spriggan leader with suspicion.

"I'm not saying that, but something smells funny to me."

Silence loomed over the entire crowd. The Spriggan leader did had a point in some cases.

"And why the NPCs being American soldier avatars, just like these cheaters?" The female Spriggan asked, "it's as though the whole thing is based on getting just these guys."

"She's right, you know.." The Cait Sith boy spoke up. "Something strange has been going on in the past two days."

"What do you mean?" The Undine leader asked.

"It's like she said.." The Cait Sith boy explained. "Hasn't anyone find it strange that all of this. The strange players showing up and the update and rewards happened in the span of two days?"

"It's as though the whole Industrial Revolution Update is a response to just those two."

It was then, a female Salamander player stood up. "I don't really thing that's true. It's just some big coincidence.. And besides... I get to test this baby out!" She smiled while holding up the assault rifle in display. He was the same type as Eugene's rifle, but with the flaming red paintjob.

Eugene smiled at the female player's enthusiasm. The others, however, were not convinced.

"Oh come on, guys!" She protested. "We're probably not gonna get another chance like this again! I'd say we should get a leg-up on this while we still can!"

The others did not openly protest, but the Spriggan leader seemed most skeptical.

"Hmmm... Fine..." The Spriggan leader said. Realizing that it's no use trying to reason with the Salamanders.

'I hope my contact reach Alicia and Sakuya to look into this... I smell a rat.'

Eugene, proud of the enthusiasm of the female player on his side. Decided to check his weapon. Things are going their way after all..

---

Outside the Forest:

Colonel America and Captain America II led the way for their troops, with Recon following closely behind them with Iron Man II and Iron Patriot in escort.

"We should be close to the main entrance. It's not too far.." Iron Man II stated.

"Right," Captain America turned to the young charge, Recon. "Anything more you can tell us about Eugene, Sigurd, or any other others we might encounter?"

"Well, besides the Sylphs and Salamanders, there are the Gnomes." Recon explained.

"Anything else?" Captain America asked.

"Before I slipped out, I've overheard the conversations from the Spriggans, the Cait Siths, and the Undines." Recon continued. "Most of the players found the whole update suspicious.."

"Suspicious?"

Recon nodded. "Yep. They said something about how you two arrival was the real reason the update was made."

"It seems that some of the players are catching on.." Iron Patriot surmises.

"But not enough," Recon shook his head, "Eugene and Sigurd refuse to back down."

"Of course.." Iron Man II scoffed.

Colonel America looked to Captain America II. Captain answered, "two blowhards leading the bounty hunters, sir."

"I'm guessing they're gonna be a problem for us." Colonel America surmises.

"Yes Colonel, they will be difficult." Iron Man II replied. "They've caused trouble for Kirito and the others when we first met. And later on in the Legrue Corridor."

"Clearly getting shot at point blank range failed to penetrate Eugene's thick skull," Captain America II said bluntly, eliciting some chuckles from the Rangers behind him.

"Perhaps a few repulsor blasts and a shield could help." Iron Man suggested.

"Maybe," Lisbeth added, "and a shotgun blast!"

"Two shotgun blasts." Mace chimed in. The two lead American-themed heroes turned to the SAO group in their midst.

"Don't worry. Colonel and Captain. When push comes to shove, we'll be ready." Lisbeth smiled.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Captain America II asked.

Lisbeth raised her eyebrow when that question was asked. "We've faced far worse challenges in SAO." She pointed out. "So, I'm sure we'll be able to handle some big-shot players here... Especially since we now have the edge."

"I second that." Mace added.

"Same here..." Klein agreed.

Colonel America also wanted to be sure. "You know that if we fail this mission, your friends and loved ones will most likely be in danger."

"We won't fail this mission, sir." Spade said with determination.

"We have an opportunity to make a difference for the better, Colonel and Captain," Kureha said, "we won't let you down."

"Same here.." Rex added. "Kirito made a difference when he helped us out in SAO... Even when I logged on after it began.."

Agil gave the thumbs up, while Klein and his band flashed guns and smiles. Haze and Rain also gave the thumbs up as well as flashing their weapons.

"I guess our new friends are all in agreement, Colonel," Captain remarked.

"Alright then.." Colonel America nodded. "Let's get going.." The unit proceeded and halted just at the edge of the forest concealing them.

"Alright everyone." Colonel turned to face the SAO guild. "We're gonna try to reason with them. And, if that doesn't work, we fight.."

"With all due respect, Colonel.." Codex said. "I don't think these players can be reasoned with.."

"I agree with him, Colonel." Captain added. "We tried to reason with them back in the Legrue Corridor. And, short version, we had to fight them.."

"And we'd be giving away the surprise," Captain America II added.

Iron Patriot II raised a hand. "On the contrary, I think it is feasible."

"Should we hide our armor?" Iron Man II asked. "That way, we can get the jump on them. I can imagined their reaction when we whip out our armor and take them by surprise.."

"Colonel, you know this is a tactical error," Captain America II objected as he shook his head at his subordinate.

Iron Patriot II started again. "They are unwitting accomplices, we should at least try-"

"Seriously, Doc," Captain America II groaned ,"you've got too much of a bleeding heart, they're lucky that this is a game-"

"Captain America," Iron Patriot shot back, "you of all people..."

"I've never seen Revere argue with Anderson before..." Kureha whispered to Rex.

"They seem to butt heads," Rex agreed.

"I've read up about Anderson before the civil war.." Codex whispered to Strea. "He's calm and calculate in general... But I've never seen him get into a heated discussion before..."

Strea watched as Captain America II and Iron Patriot II argue.. "Humans are so complicated..." She lamented...

"Agreed.." Codex sighed.

"Why are they arguing about this now?" Lisbeth asked Mace.. "Don't they know that we have to save the others soon?"

"Officer rivalry..." Mace groaned with a facepalm, "happens a lot."

"Were they rivals during the civil war?" She asked.

"Don't know.."

"Americans... Always bickering..." Kureha shook her head.

"Seriously..." Rex sighed. He tapped on Iron Man II's shoulder pad. "Are they gonna argue all day, Lieutenant?"

Jack just shook his head. "They won't be long..."

"We walk into the grass, we lose our advantage," Captain II reasoned, "we should lay down machine gun and sniper fire to divert their attention."

It was then Colonel America shouted. "Enough you two!"

"Sir," Captain America II acknowledged.

"Sir," Iron Patriot II acknowledged as well.

Colonel America ordered Captain, "have your men hold position." He then swung out his status window. "I will go." He clicked and his hero uniform faded to reveal his Army Combat Uniform and cap, with the stars and insignias of colonel. "I will speak to them."

"Colonel..."

"But... I will need you by my side... my Japanese is not that great, but you have that natural polyglotism to work wonders," Colonel Rogers smiled.

"Poly..." Klein seemed tongue-twisted. He turned to Ramirez, "what is that?"

"It means to use, notably speech, of several languages.." Ramirez explained.

"Iron Man, Ramirez," Captain America II ordered with a wave, "hold positions with your men."

"Got it, sir." Ramirez replied.

Captain America then gave Klein a look. "Y Ramírez, asegúrate de que Klein no haga algo estúpido," he suddenly said.

Klein was confused. "What's he saying?"

Ramirez laughed a bit with some of the other troops who happened to be Hispanic. "Babysitting."

"Meaning babysitting us?" Klein concluded.

"Ah, y Ramírez, Klein también es un falso samurái, así que no dejes que se adelante," Captain America II finished.

"I see," Ramirez grinned, "won't let him out of my sight."

The Japanese players were a bit confused by Captain speaking Spanish.

"Don't think we'll be moving forward anyway.." Mace surmised.

"You should see him speaking Russian," Ramirez chuckles. "And believe me, it's harder than it looks.."

"A multilingual, Captain America," Agil seemed to be impressed. "not bad."

"You learn a lot in the military academy and after the civil war.." Captain America II replied.

"And having that natural knack for languages on top of that," Iron Man II added, "which also means Cap has more than a few witty comebacks in different languages."

"I see.." Agil surmised.

Captain America then clicked on his status window, and his avatar reverted to wearing his standard combat uniform with a tactical vest and patrol cap, while still sporting his M4v1. "I guess I'm following you Colonel."

Iron Man also clicked on his status window, and his avatar reverted to wearing his standard combat uniform with a tactical vest and patrol cap, while holding his SCAR-25. "I'll be right here when you need me, sir."

"Good.." Revere saluted before following Colonel Rogers. Codex watched the two leading COs walk, with Rogers having just a pistol on his side and Revere escorting him with his rifle. Rogers and Revere approached the path that leads to Alne's main entrance. Revere scanned the gathering of opposition in front of them.

"Here goes nothing.." Rogers muttered as they approached them.

---

World Tree, Hydra Base:

Asuna and Naomi finished checking the 299 players. They were just walking out when they felt a sudden spike in sensations.

"W-What was that?" Asuna asked. Feeling very uneasy by this strange sensation.

"Oh no..." Naomi realized. She opened her status window and went into admin mode. She checks the Pain Absorber setting and sees it set to Level 5. "They've lowered the Pain Absorber..."

"Th-The Pain Absorber?" Asuna stammered. She didn't like the sound of the feature.

"It's to control the pain sensations all players feel... The higher the level, the less pain will be felt. But if it's lowered..."

"The more painful an attack is," Asuna finished.

"And that's not all..." Naomi continued. "From what I've heard, if the Pain Absorber's set to level 3 or lower, it'll cause players to remain in a state of shock and pain, even after logging out."

Asuna's eyes widened. She remembers Nobuyuki mentioning about the accomplices in slug forms being sore after their punishments being carried out.

"That would mean everyone in the game is susceptible to pain," the Yuuki heiress realized. "Including Kirito..."

"The Supreme Commander is not playing around... any lower," Naomi seemed to tremble, "people could actually die."

"Or be sore..." Asuna surmised. Remembering Nobuyuki's words when he punished Hideki. "Whatever the case is, we should be extra careful not to get involved into fights up here.." She suggested.

Naomi grimaced. "But those players out in Alne..."

"I know..." Asuna shuddered. Asuna then began to think about the PA announcement that she and her loyalists were planning to air... it was going to be an automated voice announcement that would include recordings of Nobuyuki's previous meetings with the Hydra leaders and crimes that were commit inside RECT. However, it was now clear to Asuna that it may not be enough to dissuade the players surrounding Alne to let Kirito and the Americans pass, and Nobuyuki could always deny them as deep fakes.

Suddenly, their bracelets beeped. Asuna and Naomi brought up the holoscreens before them. It was footage of the outside of the main gate into the city. Two American soldiers in patrol caps were slowly walking towards the line.

"Looks like the US Army's getting ready to fight.." Naomi surmises.

"Wait, why only two?" Asuna was confused.

"Perhaps to scout ahead?" Naomi deduced. "However, given by the current situation down here. I highly doubt they'll blend in.."

"Look at the soldier up front," Asuna pointed to the man with the eagle insignia on his shoulders and cap. "He's a colonel.."

"How do you know that?" Naomi looked to her friend.

"Look closely at the insignias on his uniform.." Asuna zooms in on the image. The colonel then stopped, with the other officer standing off to the side with his rifle at the ready. Asuna and Naomi watched as the ALO players aimed their weapons at them. But didn't open fire on them. The colonel then reached for his cap and removed it. He sported short brown/blonde hair. The two girls' eyes widened as the recognized the man from previous news about superheroes in America.

"Is that Steve Rogers?" Asuna asked. She blinked a few times to see if she's seeing things.

"Captain America?" Naomi was incredulous.

"It's him.." Asuna was astonished. "Then, that means..." She then looked over to the other officer with the assault rifle. It was Revere, with his uniform showing the insignias for captain.

"Revere!?" Asuna gasped.

"That's got to be Captain Burke then," Naomi said. She then looked over to Asuna. "You recognize him?"

"I do... Well, it must be the old Revere's twin brother..." Asuna surmises.

"Old Revere?"

"There was a player known as Revere in SAO," Asuna revealed. "He helped form the Knights of Blood guild. A guild which I was second-in-command of.."

Naomi seemed stunned.

"And during our war against Laughing Coffin, he and his friend saved several players, including Kirito and myself, from that guild... At the cost of their lives.." She lamented.

"Oh my..."

"So this must be his twin brother, since that soldier bear the resemblance of the old Revere.."

The two girls glanced back to the screen. There was a stand-off between the two US army soldiers and the ALO players. Asuna then got a notification on her bracelet. She opens it to read it. It was an order from Sugou...

Asuna gulped as she continues reading the order made for her. She was to implement combat programming into the players and marshal them against the US Army Rangers outside ALO. And to be done immediately.

"He wants them mobilized as Hydra troopers..."

Naomi checked their surroundings. No one's in sight. "If we're gonna start sabotaging Hydra's operations. Now's the chance.." She whispered.

"You said you had something?" Asuna asked.

"I do.."

"Excellent. Prepare the 299 please," Asuna smiled, finally relieved to carry out her own plan.

"Will do, Mistress." Naomi bowed.

"I'm counting on you, Naomi, and be careful."

"Same for you too, Asuna."

Asuna escorted Naomi back into the lab. She then told the lab technicians, "the Supreme Commander wants us to make final preparations to mobilize the test subjects. Naomi will be making the last adjustments, but she is not to be disturbed. Is that clear?"

'Understood, mistress.." The lab technicians replied and bowed.

"I want the lab cleared for the final mobilization. Commander Hunter needs to work uninterrupted."

"It shall be done, mistress..." The technicians acknowledged as they made their way to the door. Soon, Asuna and Naomi are alone in the lab.

"Now do your thing, Naomi," Asuna prompted, "let's get them going."

"On it.." Naomi made her way to the GM console.

"Now excuse me," Asuna said as she turned around.

"Where are you going?" Naomi asked.

"Change in plans," Asuna told her, "I've got something at the last minute."

"Such as?"

Asuna flipped her hair and cape as she took a virtual breath. "Trust me."

"Okay, I trust you.." Naomi smiled. "Be careful.." As Asuna strode out of the lab, she activated a private channel to her key loyalists.

"We got the green light.." Asuna spoke into the bracelet.

"We are just awaiting the word, Miss Yuuki," Fuji Yamane said.

"Waiting on you," George followed.

"Initiate Operation Nobunaga," Asuna gave the code.

"It shall be done.." Yuki replied.

Asuna got other voices of loyalists affirming their roles in the aptly named Operation Nobunaga. She then told her loyalist in communications to patch her through a secure link Delta One left behind.

"We'll keep in touch, mistress..." George said.

"Just do what you need to do," Asuna affirmed. Soon enough, she was talking to Delta One again.

"Oberon's ordering the 299 players to deploy against the US soldiers." Asuna said.

"That's not good," Delta One remarked. "What are you doing right now?"

"Naomi's at the GM console working her magic.." Asuna answered. "We're gonna delay it long enough for the others to make their way up top."

"Excellent."

"But I'm also calling you to ask a favor," Asuna indicated, "you are working on the PA system, correct?"

"Indeed, I am. Why you ask?"

"Change in plans, I want to go live," Asuna said.

"Why? I thought you wanted to remain anonymous," Delta One asked.

"I do... But if Kirito and the others are gonna make it in time. The other players must know the truth about Alfheim Online." Asuna explained. "It's the only way to get most of them on our side..."

"You would expose yourself."

"That's the risk I'm gonna have to take. I'm not going to let RECT be used for Hydra's evil any further, even if it means we have to start all over," Asuna resolved.

"Okay... I'll patch you into the PA system.." Delta One said after Asuna finished.

"I'll find a good spot to transmit from," Asuna said, "I'll let you know." The Yuuki heiress felt her cape flow behind her with a strong sense of purpose. It was time for her rendezvous with destiny.

---

Alne's main entrance:

Eugene forced his way to the front. He demanded of one of the junior players, "what now?"

"Two American soldiers have appeared in front of the main entrance.." The player said.

"Then why aren't you attacking!?"

"Um..." Another player gestured to the two uniformed Rangers outside the gates. "They're not attacking.."

"General Eugene!" A familiar voice called out in Japanese. Eugene instantly recognized it.

"Revere!" Eugene growled. He looked over the wall to see Revere and another tall blonde man. The both of them were in military uniform, with Revere sporting his cap, vest, and rifle.

"What do you two want!?" Eugene called out.

"My commanding officer wishes to speak with you and the other leaders in Alne," Revere spoke in a loud voice.

"For what purpose!?"

The tall officer in front of Revere then removed his cap. Eugene focused his sight on the tall officer. Everyone, including Eugene gasped or yelled in surprise to see Steve Rogers in uniform.

"It can't be..." The female Spriggan leader gasped.

"Wait... is that Captain America?" A Cait Sith bowman asked.

"Looks like him.." The male Undine player whispered.

The boy leader of the Cait Sith party ran up. "Captain America? What's he doing here?"

"I am Colonel Steve Rogers." The tall officer called out. "I'm here to call for peace.." Revere relayed the message in Japanese for Rogers.

"It sounds like Captain America too.." the male Undine player added.

"How do we know that it's not another sprite or NPC?" A Sylph hunter asked.

"Shush!"

"There's no need for such hostility.." Rogers continued. "We just need a safe passage through the city."

Revere scanned the faces of the crowd. The looks of both surprise and intrigue are showing on many of the players. Still, he kept his rifle at the ready as a few of them eyed him. Eugene, Sigurd, and the leaders stepped forward to look down on the two Rangers. Silence filled the air between the ALO factions and the two Rangers.

"And how can we be sure that you are not some NPC part of the invasion event?" The Gnome leader shook his head.

"We're not NCPs of this game.." Revere replied.

"No... but you're a cheater," Eugene shot back. Several of the Salamanders yelled in support. Revere frowned, but did not retort.

"Listen, all of you," Rogers quickly regained control... "None of you have any idea what is taking place here.."

"There are real lives at stake here," Revere added in his Japanese, "we are not here for the Grand Quest as you call it."

Meanwhile, behind the two men were the rest of the SAO group and Howler Platoon holding positions in the tree line.

"That's a lot of players there..." Klein commented.

"It will be a bloodbath if they try to fight us," Ramirez grunted as he helped a corporal with loading his M60E6 light machine gun.

"Especially with power armored-clad soldiers waiting for them.." Anderson commented.

"I wouldn't be too cocky," Jackhammer pointed up, "flying mechanized dragon riders at our twelve and one o'clock high."

True enough, there were dragon riders, mainly of the Cait Sith race overhead. These dragons were armored and armed with additional heavy weapons.

"Great..." Iron Patriot groaned. "Now we gotta deal with armored dragons.." Some of the SAO survivors had a strange sense of deja vu as they helped the soldiers prepare for battle.

"Do you, by any chance, bring air support as well?" Mace asked Damion. "Because we could use them right now.."

"I heard that we're supposed to have some sort of data conversion for the combat data of some of our support Quinjets," Damion said as he checked his M4v1 and loaded his M320 grenade launcher, "but I don't know if they'll be ready in time."

"We better pray that they do get them set up.." Mace added.

"I didn't know you guys had Quinjets," Rex told Damion as trained his rifle.

"We got almost every aircraft we brought with us... In the real world, that is..." Damion revealed. "Although I'm not sure what other aircraft will be brought in ALO..."

Revere meanwhile grew a little more uncomfortable as Rogers spoke. 'Some of these guys look a little too trigger-happy.' Some of the Cait Sith, Spriggan, and Sylph sharpshooters seemed a little too eager to test the ranges of their new bolt-action rifles. He especially kept an eye on Sigurd. Who is clutching his newly-equipped assault rifle with the knife-like bayonet attached at the end.

Revere made sure to make eye contact as he shook his head firmly in silent warning.

"I understand that some of you are interested of getting rewards on the quests in this place.." Rogers continued. "However, no one wants a skirmish here. Especially since they're lives at stake here.."

"I hear that over and over," Eugene was dismissive.

"It's very serious, son.." Rogers replied. "And unless you want to clash with us. I suggest that everyone stands down and allow my team a safe passage through the city..."

"Son!?" Eugene hated being talked to like that.

'Better get ready..' Revere thought as he held his M4v1 rifle up.

Eugene, Sigurd, and the Gnome seemed ready to pounce, but the Spriggan female leader quickly waved her hand in front of them. "Let me talk."

Eugene glared at her. Then back at Rogers. "Fine, you talk to them..." He growled.

"Thank you kind sir," the female Spriggan said with a mix of charm and wit. She stepped forward. "The name's Charlie.. Leader of the Spriggans." Some of the other races looked at her and the other Spriggans warily.

"Most of us wanted to get a leg-up on the main quests here.." She continued. "However, not everyone's keen on this sudden update.."

Sigurd gave her the stink-eye.

"To be honest, all this sounds very fishy if you ask me.." Charlie confessed. "I've been playing ALO for a while now and the way this sudden update occurred in the past two days."

"Then what do you think it is?" Rogers asked with a bit of a friendly smile. He had a way to help break the ice with his demeanor.

"We're not sure.." Charlie answered. "However, most of us found it strange that this update was suddenly made the moment two players arrived at the span of two days.. It feels like it's a cover-up of sorts.."

Some of the players on the ALO side seemed to be looking to one another. This included the Cait Siths and Undines. The Salamanders and Gnomes seemed angry and confused for differing reasons.

However, one Salamander Hydra agent, Crimson aka Jack Rollins, seemed to be moving through the throng of players like a silent serpent. One of the young male Sylph players noticed this and silently followed Crimson. Jack Rollins eyed his target... the one who had bested him and his former superior Rumlow back in 2014.

"...So despite getting improved weapons and armor.." Charlie continued. "It's all too fishy to me and I've gotten strange vibes over this... You see what I'm saying?"

"Why are you wasting time talking?" The Gnome leader seemed impatient, "why not just shoot them and get our bonuses and rewards already?"

Charlie turned to the Gnome leader. "Look, I'm telling all of you that something's way off.."

"So if you don't feel that it's right Charlie," Revere said, "you and all the others would do well to let us through, and get as far away from here as you can."

It was then, one of the Cait Sith players stepped up from out of the crowd. "I agree..."

An Undine female stepped up. "I also think this stinks."

"Agreed."

Rogers smiled as he heard more clamors of dissent. However, no one else seemed to notice Crimson leveling his scoped rifle to line up a shot on Rogers' head, except for the Sylph following him.

Revere seemed to almost think that a fight could be avoided, until he saw Crimson in the corner of his vision with the scope glint. He realized he was aiming for Rogers. "No!" He quickly raised his rifle.

"No!" The Sylph player rushed Crimson and pushed him. Both Crimson and Revere's rifles cracked loud in the Alfheim air. It was at that moment, the peace in Alfheim was shattered in a heartbeat.

---

Kirigaya Residence, Tokyo:

"So far, nothing..." Minetaka muttered as he peaked out the front door window. He had a flannel shirt on for the cool evening, while concealing his old service revolver. Midori watched through the back window while checking on Kazuto, Suguha, and Alex. The sight of the NerveGear on Kazuto's head made her nervous, bringing back bad memories. However, she reassures herself that it's safe since SAO was cleared. Plus, she sees the external cords plugged into the NerveGear headsets. Thus, Kazuto and Alex are safe.

Midori went back downstairs to meet her husband. "The kids are doing alright.." She said in a soft tone.

"I hope so," Minetaka expressed. "It's just that, I wish I was there with them.."

"They are up against war criminals, terrorists, and technocratic totalitarians, and I'm not there to help them," Minetaka confided, "I retired from policing because I didn't want Sugu dragged into this kind of stuff... and then Kazuto, especially after what happened to your sister and brother-in-law."

"I know, dear..." Midori understood what her husband meant. "And yet... it still eats at me that we can't tell Kazuto fully about his parents."

Minetaka nodded somberly. "It's strange that the file he recovered on his tenth birthday didn't give out the full details of his parents.."

"Which means that Yukito covered his tracks right," Midori had a solemn smile as she remembered him, "he and Aoi were scared to death for him and didn't want him to be burdened with their parentage and past."

"Do you think he may inherited their abilities?" Minetaka asked.

Midori sighed, "I hope not. It would become a great burden if he did."

"Agreed." Minetaka shook his head. Midori then accessed her computer, searching for live game news from Alfheim Online. So far, there's nothing except for the Industrial Revolution update. She accessed the live video section. The first thing she saw was the street view of Alne city. There were multiple players running and flying about, heavily armed with all sorts of weapons. There were also loud popping noises coming from the video feed as players ducked behind cover whenever they could.

Midori had to rub her eyes, almost thinking that she was watching a real warzone. It was fortunate that all of the players have elf-like features such as the pointed ears. Yet... she knew that these players were real, and the stakes in ALO were real for the lives of 300 players held hostage by Hydra. "Be safe kids..."

---

Alne, ALO:

"Suppressing fire!" Revere shouted as he lets loose his shots at the Salamander players.

"Colonel get back!" Revere yelled as he and Rogers tried to retreat back to the tree line. Eugene and Sigurd opened up on them, trying to score hits. However, their shots went wild and only spread in several directions.

"You freaking idiots!" Revere yelled as he fired more shots up at the ALO players.

"Ramirez, take out those gun emplacements and mages!" Jackhammer ordered.

"Got it!" Ramirez dropped to his knee and picked off players with his SCAR-25 rifle. The Repulsor attachment sent the shots outward and striking the mages. Knocking them back.

"The colonel and captain are taking fire!" Spade yelled.

"We need to protect them," Agil took the lead, "covering fire!" He spun up his Minigun and roared as he unleashed a lead rain. Rex knelt down and fired his SCAR-L rifle in semi-auto fire.

"Strea," Codex yelled, "those guys with the scopes are bearing down on those two!"

"I got them, Codex!" Strea replied as she aimed her bullpup rifle and took down the snipers.

"Good shooting, Strea!"

"Thanks!" Strea giggles.

"Ramirez," Anderson yelled as he fired his P418, "lay down some smoke!"

Ramirez grabbed a smoke canister, pulled the pin and tossed it. Within seconds, a large cloud of smoke is released.

"Burton, toss one and help them out," Ramirez ordered.

"Popping smoke!" Damion drew a canister and tossed it, adding to the smoke cover for Rogers and Revere.

"Head to the smoke, Colonel!" Revere yelled as he reloads. Rogers had no problem with his own super soldier stamina and speed. The two super soldiers dove into the smoke, and eventually back into the tree line.

"I guess negotiations didn't work out.." Anderson said while he reloads his P418 rifle.

"What happened!?" Recon was confused as he took cover, trying to cover his ears over the shooting.

"Crimson shot at us," Revere growled as he resumed shooting, "tried to pop off the Colonel!"

"Who?!" Rex yelled over the noise.

"The guy who attacked me and Kirito in the Corridor!"

"That's just great!" Rex yelled before popping off more rounds.

"Isn't he that Hydra agent that you mentioned!?" Lisbeth screamed as she fired a spare P418 in 6.8mm she had borrowed.

"That's him!" Jackhammer replied before firing more rounds at the mages.

"Just like Hydra to screw it up!" Mace cursed the organization. He took one of the SCAR 25s and fired upon some of the ALO machinegun players. He also used the 203 grenade launcher and took out several of the ALO players with one blast.

Colonel Rogers knelt next to Revere as they both fired upon the fortifications. "Sorry about that, sir," Revere said, "Crimson really tried to shoot you!"

"It's alright.." Rogers reassured him. "It was a boring conversation anyway.."

"Now we have to count on Punisher and Kirito getting past their defensive lines," Revere sighed.

---

Frank Castle leads his team through the dimly-lit corridor underneath Alne. He then got a notification from Helios. He brought it up on his status window. Castle's brow furrowed. "Howler Platoon is engaged in combat."

"We need to pick up the pace." Kirito urged. "They need our help."

"Hey check it out guys!" Haze was checking the game news and Rain watching the live game videos. They see the combat that's taking place in the streets and market districts of Alne. Players running around and ducking behind cover while returning fire. It was pandemonium.

"Looks like some of Howler Platoon have advanced into the outer parts of Alne, but others are being held up outside the city walls," Lexar remarked as he viewed the live shots of the main gate, where some of the fiercest fighting was taking place.

"I've never seen anything like it," Leafa was stunned by the ferocity of the gunfire and magic energy attacks.

"Never seen fighting like this, not even in SAO.." Philia remarked.

"Just another day in the office," one of the seasoned Rangers answered with a chuckle.

Silica looked at him with disbelief. "How can you be so casual about that?"

"We've seen combat almost on a daily basis, young lady.." The soldier remarked.

"You young ones should see what we do on the southern Mexican front," a younger soldier laughed, "blasting apart entire forests and cartel druggies hiding in them."

"Almost like when we were hunting Pacifican remnants in the US state of Jefferson." The other soldier added.

"Uh..." Sleek was stunned with Silica. Even the younger soldiers from the American mainland seemed to show no visible reservations about encountering such carnage.

"A little destructive, don't you think?" Rain asked.

"Hey, we're trained and paid to serve our country by blowing up stuff and doing bad stuff to bad people," the seasoned Ranger behind Castle reminded, "so sorry if we happen to joke about our jobs."

Rain just shook her head. Philia thought about Damion and how someone as nice as he was could actually hang around some of these gruff boys and men. When this is all over, she could spend time with him and learn more about his choice to join the military.

Leafa leaned into Lexar. "Are many soldiers like this?"

"Well..." Lexar began. "Before SAO, I've seen troops being transported to military bases in Japan and so on. Most of them visited my father at the base."

"They've told stories of dealing with remnants of the Pacifican military in the west coast. Mainly in the states of Oregon, Jefferson, and East California. Many of the most battle-hardened troops in the States come from both Texas and California, since those two states had some of the bloodiest battles and purges in the Union." He added. "Not to mention the horrors civilians went through during the occupations.."

Leafa then thought about Revere aka Captain America II... And his twin brother, Taylor...

"Chris and Taylor are both from Texas..." Leafa muttered.

"I'm sorry, who's Chris?" Lexar asked. Leafa then realized that she had mentioned Revere's real name.

"That's Revere's real name." Leafa explains. "He told me and Kirito back at the Howler's base camp.."

"He told you?" Lexar was surprised.

"He also told me how he never got the chance to say goodbye to him.." She added.

"That's got to be really hard on the guy," Lexar shook his head.

"It was..." Leafa agreed. "And it reminded me on how I would've lost Kirito if he died in SAO..." She gazed down.

"Yeah... surviving a civil war, and then losing his brother like that." The blonde American began to think of his own brother being held hostage by Hydra. He hopes that he, along with his father, will be rescued.

Kirito in the meantime was on edge with Castle up front. "Hey kid, you okay?" Castle asked.

"I'm alright.." Kirito answered.

"What's bothering you? I can tell you've got something on your mind." Castle had learned to read faces very well over his years of service and vigilantism.

"It's just that we're about to take the fight to Hydra.." Kirito confessed. "I mean, we've faced Laughing Coffin back in SAO..."

"Laughing Coffin?"

Kirito sighed from the memory. "It was a guild made up of players that went crazy during the first few months of being trapped in SAO..."

"They started murdering people left and right. I was part of a group to stop them." Kirito hesitated for a moment before continuing.. "They prey on innocent players for fun.."

Castle frowned. "Sounds like the scum I had to hunt down back in New York."

"Yep... Except we captured them and held them in the dungeons until SAO was cleared." Kirito sighed. He was aware of Castle's past as the Punisher.

"You sure about that?" Castle wondered, "because once people get their rockers off murder, they may not stop... even in the real world."

"That's what I was afraid of..." Kirito lamented. "Because we didn't find their leader when we captured the guild.. PoH..."

"I see..."

"And now we've got Hydra controlling an entire video game and doing Kami knows what to those 299 players," Kazuto grimaced, "and my wife in the hands of that creature, Sugou Nobuyuki."

"Wife?" Castle did a double-take.

"Asuna... Asuna Yuuki," Kirito smiled a bit, "a fellow survivor and greatest swordswoman of SAO."

"I see.." Castle couldn't help but smiled for Kirito...

"I'm going to get her back from Hydra if it is the last thing I do."

"And we're gonna help you get her back..." Castle reassured him. "So, you married her in SAO?"

"Yes," Kirito said.

Castle laughed then told his soldiers with a grin. "Hey boys, we've got a married guy here!"

"Wow! Really!?" One soldier chuckled.

"Congrats Kirito!" Another soldier laughed.

Kirito blushed as the soldiers either teased or cheered for him.

"Don't worry about it. That shows that you love her..." Castle patted Kirito on the back.

"Thank you..."

"WHAT!?" Kirito heard several shouts behind him.

"You and Asuna married in SAO?!" Spade was stunned.

"You two tied the knot!" Sleek was awed.

"Why didn't you tell us?!" Haze asked.

"Kirito-san and Asuna-san?" Silica blushed.

"chto? dla nastoyashchego kirito?" Rain blurted out in Russian.

Kirito gave awkward stares to all of them.

Philia then smiles.. "So you and Asuna got hitched, huh?" She smirked. "Did you two had your honeymoon?"

"Uh..." Kirito blushed a deep red.

"Shhh," Castle suddenly shushed the group. Everyone became silent. A moment later, they heard popping sounds and explosions. They're faint, but they still can be heard.

"Is that... the battle above us?" Leafa wondered.

"That means we're close.." Lexar deduced.

Castle then readied his weapon. "Stay alert... this is too easy."

Everyone drew out their weapons, including Kirito.

"I feel it too," Kirito concurred with the Punisher.

"Same here.." Lexar added. He checks the rounds in his P418 rifle. They came upon a series of catacombs underneath the city.

"Okay... We appear to be at the Catacombs of Alne." Leafa said. "According to the website. These tunnels lead to different parts of the city."

"So what are we to do?" Rain asked, "what's our target?"

"According to our intel from the Colonel. Our target is the Salamanders, the Sylphs, and the Gnomes.." Castle reveals. "Specifically the leaders Eugene the Salamander General, Sigurd the Sylph Vassal, and Barris the Gnome Lord. We take them out, the whole defensive formation will fall apart."

"They'll never see us coming from behind..." Philia commented.

"There they are!"

"Contact!" Castle yelled as gunfire rained down from above.

"Enemy soldiers!" One soldier shouted as he returned fire. Kirito and the others did the same.

"Get to cover!" Kirito told the others.

"I'm hit!" A young Ranger next to Kirito screamed as he fell with a damaged shoulder. Everyone ducked behind the wall corners and small pillars. Kirito and Leafa quickly dragged the young Ranger behind one of the pillars.

"Son of a- ugh!" The Ranger clutched his shoulder in sharp pain. Leafa checks the Ranger's health bar. It had gone down to seven-eighths, but she noticed that he was in a lot of pain.

'This doesn't make sense..' Leafa thought. 'The Pain Absorber setting should've prevent this kind of pain... unless...'

Rain screamed as she fell to the ground clutching her left arm. "THAT HURTS!"

"Rain!" Haze ran towards her and drags her behind cover.

"You were shot!?" Haze cried as he looked at Rain's injury.

The red-headed girl winced and hissed loudly. "It feels like someone stabbed me and hit me with a hammer at the same time!"

Kirito looked at Leafa with concern. "You don't think?"

"Hydra..." Leafa realized what had happened. "They must've tampered with the Pain Absorber!"

Leafa turned to Castle. "Hydra may be tampering with the Pain Absorber on all of us, sir!"

"If it's low enough, it would be like getting shot in real life!"

"Everyone! Keep firing, but stay behind cover!" Castle ordered.

Lexar hissed as a glancing shot nearly missed his head. He stumbled back behind the pillar. "I guess we're pinned down!" He was slightly disoriented. 'Is this what a real gun battle is like?'

"What are we gonna do!?" Spade ducked down as bullets zipped by him. It was then they heard more shots coming from Hydra's direction. However, they're not re-enforcements as they heard Hydra soldiers shouting. Castle peaked around the corner to see Hydra soldiers diverting their fire in the opposite direction. He even saw an explosion, probably a grenade, sending one of them onto the ground with great force.

'Who's doing all that?' Castle thought.

"Someone's shooting at them from behind," Kirito realized. "Did Revere and the others managed to push through the main entrance on their own?"

---

"We're not making any progress, sir," Revere told Rogers, "they've got those walls fortified well!"

"Incoming dragons!" Revere and Rogers looked up to see armor-clad dragons swooping down from the sky towards the forest's edge.

"Ramirez," Captain II prompted, "have the gunners shift fire up!"

Ramirez turned to the gunners. "Concentrate fire at the dragons!" He ordered. The stationary gunners and the juggernauts pointed their Mk.46s and M60s up and fired. The plasma pulse shots made their marks on several points in the dragons' armor platings. The riders fired back, but many were knocked off their dragons. Two dragons crashed into each other before colliding into the others.

"Look out!" Codex yelled as he pushed Strea to the ground. Riders and dragons impacted the trees and ground around them.

"Oof!" He groaned as he landed near Strea and shielded her. Codex and Strea heard haunting shrieks and screams of pain from the riders who did not explode into flames. Strea clutched onto Codex tighter.

She seemed extremely distressed as she heard cries from both the Rangers and ALO players. "Something is wrong."

"What do you mean?" Codex asked.

"I'm detecting brainwaves registered with pain outside of ALO's safety parameters!" Strea cried, "it's horrible!"

"You mean they're feeling extreme pain!?" Codex's mind raced. He recalled reading something about the Pain Absorber being part of ALO's safety features. And during their leveling up yesterday, they didn't feel any pain whenever they were hit by the creatures and monsters.

"My leg!" A soldier screamed as he laid on the ground with a badly damaged leg from a grenade exploding.

"You don't think that the Pain Absorber's been tampered with, has it, Strea?" He asks her while he held her. Klein heard a crack and a loud thump and thud beside him. He turned to see one of his Fuurinkazan buddies down and sick with a rather sizeable hole in his lower chest. The rest of the Fuurinkazan clan rushed to aid him and drag him behind one of the trees while Klein laid down covering fire.

"Dale..." Harry One sounded distressed.

"That really hurts..." Dale groaned, "t-that's what's getting shot's like?"

"Maybe..." Issin stammered. "But we should've be feeling this kind of pain in ALO. Right?"

Strea scanned the wounded around her, and her eyes widened in horror. "The system's Pain Absorber has been lowered to Level 5!" She exclaimed. "If lowered any further, everyone will be in danger!"

"You mean... We could all die!?" Codex begins to panic as the horrible memories of dying in VR came flooding back.

"Yes!" Strea screamed. Everyone who heard Strea and Codex felt chills of horror in their spines at what Hydra was doing to ALO.

"We need to activate our armor!" Anderson suggested. "And to bring in air support!"

"As soon as this fighting stops!" Revere screamed. He reached for his radio on his avatar. "Helios! Where is our virtual Quinjet support!?"

"We're working on it now, Revere." Helios replied. "However, it'll take five minutes to have them deployed.."

"We don't have five minutes!" Jackhammer shouted.

"This is Fireteam Bravo," a sergeant from a section of outer Alne radioed, "we're taking heavy fire in a market sector in the south part of the city! Multiple wounded and forced to log out!"

"This is Fireteam Delta, we've getting hit badly. Got a lot of wounded here and had to log out!" Another sergeant radioed.

Rogers gritted his teeth. "This is out of control..."

---

On the west side:

"Help me!" Charlie the Spriggan leader heard another bloodcurdling scream after a mortar exploded. She sees one of her fellow Spriggans lying on the ground clutching his leg and stomach. Thankfully, there were only red flashes where the stomach puncture and leg stump were to keep it from being graphic, but the Spriggan's excruciating pain was made clear on his face.

"It.. It hurts!" The male Spriggan player groaned.

"It burns!" A young Salamander boy behind a barricade had dropped his rifle and was screaming as he clutched his injured right eye.

'What is going on here!?' Charlie thought. She realized that something was wrong.

"All remaining Spriggans, fall back and take cover!" She ordered.

"Why?" A female comrade asked.

"In the middle of an event?" Another boy seemed oblivious.

"Something's going on here..." She explains. "All the players are experiencing actual pain.." She shows them their fallen compatriots clutching their bodies in agony.

The word quickly spread among the Spriggans. And they begin to retreat, carrying their fallen companions with them as they did so. Charlie grit her teeth as she saw the destruction to Alne unfold around her. She cursed whoever it was that fired the shot that started this. She was the last to retreat with the others as soon as she saw the rest of the Spriggans evacuated. Charlie was questioned and cursed by some of the other players, but she and her band of Spriggans could care less about the insults. "Look, there's something wrong here," Charlie shot back at some, "run back if you value not getting hurt bad!"

Meanwhile, the Undine and Cait Sith players are running around and dodging bullets. Some of them even took flight, only to be shot at airborne. The leaders of the Undines and Cait Siths watched as they took cover.

"Ah!" The Cait Sith leader ducked behind the wall when a sniper shot nearly hit him in the face. He watched the Spriggans retreating further into the city.

---

"We should be closer now.." Castle said as he peaked around corners. The Hydra soldiers were taken down by the mystery shooter. The positive thing was that they can advance through the corridor and make their way into the city. Rain was still feeling a bit sore despite the healing potion and magic Leafa applied to her.

"Still can't believe that happened..." Haze muttered. He rubbed Rain's back gently as she rubbed her shoulder.

"T-Thanks Haze.." Rain groaned.

"H-how many did we lose?" Silica asked as she trembled.

"I-I don't know, Silica.." Sleek held her. One of the soldiers did a headcount.

"We're down three, Sarge Punisher," the soldier told Castle, "they had to log out due to the damage they sustained."

"At least no one died.." Castle sighed.

"They must be really sore, though," Sleek remarked. Before quickly adding. "No pun attended.."

Leafa rubbed her arms as she let her rifle hang at her side. "For them to do that with the Pain Absorbers, though."

"And now, Hydra's lowered them on us so we couldn't plow through easily.." Lexar lamented. Kirito regarded this new info with silent anger. However, it's still not gonna stop him from saving Asuna. If anything, this fueled his resolve to save his wife and to destroy Hydra and everything it stood for.

"How far are we to the exit?" Kirito asks Leafa.

"We should be coming up on the one leading to the main entrance to Alne... if I am correct," Leafa sighed as she checked her weapons, "just hope we don't run into more Hydra."

"Me too, Leafa..." Kirito agreed.

"Not to jinx this," Lexar said as he scanned the catacombs with his rifle, "but I somehow have the feeling that this is still too easy."

"True.." Kirito replied. "Still, we should be extra careful now that they've tampered with the Pain Absorber."

"Seriously though," Philia threw her hand up. Her eyes seemed bloodshot and weary. "They would actually risk those other players getting hurt or killed just to hold us back!?"

"Lady," one of the soldiers replied, "Hydra cares about nobody but themselves."

"It's just another thing Hydra has to answer for.." Spade concluded.

"That and much more," Castle growled.

Lexar saw the black-uniformed Punisher raise his SCAR 25 carbine for emphasis. The Punisher name was fitting given how intimidating this Ranger was. "Those animals are going to pay for every American and Japanese they harmed."

"Well, look it at this way..." Lexar said. "At least the Pain Absorber's affected Hydra soldiers as well... So if they hurt any of us, we hurt 'em back hard.."

"I'm also going to hurt them for hurting my fellow ALO players and threatening my family," Leafa said in a threatening tone. "This included my sister-in-law.."

Kirito noticed how fast Leafa now considered Asuna her family. Yui poked her head out of Kirito's breast pocket.

"Yui, what is it?" Kirito asked his daughter.

"I've scanned the players that are fighting in the streets of Alne." Yui said with concern. "Most of them are scared and became aware about the Pain Absorber being tampered with.."

"That's... a good thing, right?" Leafa asked.

"Yui shook her head sadly. "The fighting has intensified in the outer perimeters and streets of the city... many are angry at seeing their friends injured and are fighting off the military's advance with greater ferocity."

And then the AI child added. "The Howlers are still pinned at the main entrance."

"That little fairy's right," Castle grimaced as he saw battle reports come in on his status window, "and our boys attempting to enter through the rest of Alne aren't faring any better. The fighting's slowing to a painful and vicious grind."

"Reminds me too much of the Second Battle of New York City.." He added at the painful memory..

Leafa's curiosity got the better of her when she went to click on the live game feeds. However, when she saw the carnage that was taking place in Alne, she regretted it. She gasped as she saw and heard soldiers and players yelling, running, and shooting. Many of the ALO players in the front were screaming for help and apparently unable to move or log out due to their injuries, and others were yelling obscenities at the Americans for shooting their friends. The Americans themselves seemed increasingly agitated and aggressive, especially as Quinjets came in to try and dislodge the armed ALO players with extreme prejudice. While the Rangers were more experienced and inflicting more damage, the ALO races refused to bend in anger.

"It's a massacre up there.." Leafa cupped her mouth in horror.

---

Kirigaya Household:

Midori herself began to question her own decision to watch the whole live feed of the invasion event in ALO as she watched the whole American offensive grind to a halt in the face of stubborn ALO resistance. Despite the Quinjets suddenly appearing in the skies and took out the stationed machine gun nests and armored dragons. There wasn't any progress being made.

"Is this really a game?" Midori was horrified as she saw zoomed in footage of some of the younger players and American soldiers crying out in pain. She wasn't sure this is how VR actually works. That if players could feel actual pain while playing the VR games. The Kirigaya mother then remembered Rogers' words that Hydra controlled this world. The more she thought about it, the more worried for Kazuto, Sugu, and Alex she became. Midori's anger towards Hydra also grew for whatever they were doing to those young boys and girls.

As she was about to turn off the live feed, something else caught her eye. There was a red blur zipping by in the background.

"What?" Midori zoomed in to get a closer look. But the image was so blurry and this mystery player was moving so far that any attempts to make out the details were impossible.

"Midori?"

She was startled by her husband. "Sorry, Minetaka..."

"Are you okay?" Minetaka asked. His eyes then rested on the screen with the live feed and a stream of confused, angry, and frightened commenters from across Japan.

"It's chaos in there..." Midori said. Minetaka was stunned into silence... he had been to the worst crime scenes in Japan and even had to fight and kill hardened residents of the underworld. None of those prepared him for the scenes that gaming commenters were calling 'Total War in Alfheim'.

"If that is what war in a virtual game can look like... I hate to see the real thing..." Midori muttered.

"You and me both.." Minetaka agreed. "I hope those three kids are not in the middle of all that."

---

Outside of Alne's Main Entrance:

"Air support incoming!" Anderson yelled as a squadron of four USAF Quinjets flew overhead.

"About time!" Mace whooped. "They should thin out the defenses for us to push through!"

"Anderson, get those Quinjets to open a path for us," Rogers yelled to him over the shooting and explosions.

Anderson radios the Quinjets. "Anderson to Quinjets! Clear a path at the main entrance!"

"Ramirez," Revere ordered, "get someone to mark that target!"

"Burton! Launch a smoke marker!" Ramirez yelled to Damion.

Damion glanced over to Lisbeth from his prone position. "Hey Liz, reach into my grenade pouch for a red marker round!"

Lisbeth grabbed the grenade pouch and fished out a red marker round before tossing it to him.

Damion loaded it into his M320 and fired it towards the gate. "Marker away!"

"Target is going to be marked with red smoke," Anderson reported, "hit everything within a 25-yard radius of the target!"

---

At the gate:

"What is that smoke!?" One of the Sylphs yelled as red smoke permeated the perimeter. Sigurd sees the red smoke before looking out towards the sky and caught two aircraft diving towards it.

"AIR STRIKE!" Sigurd shouted.

Eugene cursed as he realized that his people had little effective weapons against aircraft. "Everyone off the wall!" The Sylph and Salamander players scrambled to get away from the marked strike zone.

Charlie was flying through the city towards the gates when she saw that two armed Quinjets were bombing the walls. The force of the impact knocked her out of the air and tumbled onto the ground. She could not hear anything except the ear-splitting explosions and Vulcan cannons roaring in the air. She crawled behind the alley wall.

"Ugh..." Charlie's ears rang badly and her vision distorted. Her chat notification then rang. The Spriggan girl opened it to see that it was her friend, Sakuya.

"Sakuya!" Charlie gasped. "I hope you've figured something out with Alicia! The whole world is at war here!"

"Don't worry, Charlie. I've got Alicia with me!" Sakuya replied.

"Anything good would be welcome right now! I've got a serious pain in my ears and I'm sore all over," Charlie complained, "I'm like dying here!"

"We're almost there Charlie! Hang in there!" She reassured her.

"Be careful! The Pain Absorbers are not working right," Charlie warned as she struggled to sit up against the wall, "and those American troops are real and will shoot you on sight!"

"We'll be careful! Sakuya out!" The video feed went dead. Charlie yelled as she fought exhaustion and rose. She needed to get back to Eugene. As she ran, Charlie realized that she had underestimated how destructible the environments in ALO really were.

'Never thought I see Alne in this state of war..' She thought. There were player flames everywhere of those whose avatars were slain, people stumbling around trying to help or get help, and entire buildings and streets were smoking and in ruin.

"Keep it together, Charlie," she told herself. Charlie began to cough from the smoke as she got closer. There was a thick stench like burnt petrol in the air. She tried to see through the smoke. Several Sylphs and Salamanders ran while others stumbled. There were many more injured or already exploded into flames before fading out.

It was then that Charlie got a ring from a friend on the live chat. This friend was relaying some disturbing news that another she was having over for an ALO game session woke up from the FullDive in excruciating pain, as though she were really suffering from gunshot wounds.

"This is madness.." She said to herself before asking. "Anything else?

The friend even added, "there are reports of players being checked into hospitals across Tokyo for symptoms of phantom pain. Family are even phoning in emergencies from home because some players cannot get out of bed."

"This is SAO all over again... Only this time, it's phantom pain instead if being trapped." Charlie surmises in horror. She ran towards the wall, and found it in ruins with gaping holes in whatever remained with severe burn marks. The whole gate archway have been completely blasted away by the bombs. As she looked ahead, she sees American soldiers heading towards the main entrance now that the path had been cleared for them.

"Shoot!" Charlie saw some of them take aim. She had to fly back rapidly as she felt shots wizz by her. "No way I'm gonna end up in the hospital.." she gasped.

"Eugene, Sigurd! Where are you!?"

There was no answer over the shouts and gunshots.

---

Howler Platoon:

"We have a breach! All units, advance into the city," Revere ordered.

"You heard the captain!" Ramirez shouted. "Push forward!"

The SAO group were nearly stunned at the fireworks of aerial bombing they had just witnessed. But they started making their way towards the main entrance, which is in ruins.

'This is it, Nathan..' Codex thought to himself. During the revelations of the Pain Absorber being lowered, Codex suffered a panic attack.

"Man, those Quinjet pilots went all out," Rex gasped, "there's hardly anything left of the gate!"

"Right you are!" Kureha agreed, with the ACR rifle at the ready. The sight of his friends standing together and charging at the enemy players has given Codex confidence that they can face anything. And he's not alone..

"Come on Strea! We're charging at the enemy!" He helped Strea up on her feet. Strea did not seem too excited. Her pink-red eyes had a sadness to them.

"I know that you're scared... I'm scared too..." He reassured her. He takes her hands and held them with care. "But together, we can face this new threat... And we're not alone..." He gives her a smile.

"But.. But I felt the players' pain..." Strea said sadly. "All of them... are pawns..." Tears welled in her eyes, threatening to spill over.

Codex was struck by Strea's sadness as soldiers passed them.

"Something wrong?" He asked.

"I'm..." Strea lowered her weapon and leaned against Codex. She seemed tired as though suffering sensory overload. Codex let his weapon drop to the ground and wrapped his arms around her to comfort her.

"Strea," he gently talked, "we don't have to be up front for the advance if this upsets you. I'll stay with you in the rear until we come across Hydra themselves." Codex lifted Strea's face by the chin and looked into her eyes. "Sorry I wasn't more considerate."

"But when all of this is over. I'll make it up to you." He added. "And we'll spend a lot of time together with your mom. I will continue to love you and charish you ever since the day we've met in SAO. I'll log in to check on you and we'll go on adventures together.."

Strea still seemed tired, but she managed to ask, "even though I am an AI?"

"Yes... And even if you're Kirito's daughter as well. My love for you will always remain the same..." He cupped her cheeks and stroked them with care.

"Codex..."

"Hey," Anderson cut in, "nice as it is. We still have a battle going on."

"We're gonna cover the rear as we advanced.." Codex quickly replied. "So, we'll be right behind you guys."

Anderson nodded with a slight smile. Jackhammer passed them by and gave a silent thumbs up. Codex smiled before turning his attention back to Strea. "I'm here beside you... Always... And forever..."

"Codex," Strea breathed.

Klein and his Fuurinkazan proceeded slowly. "Dale," Klein asked, "how are you holding now?"

"I'm fine.. For the moment, at least.." Dale groaned.

Dale tried to smile and pose triumphantly on the move, only to stumble a bit with a groan.

"Take it easy... " Issin said. "I believe we're gonna cover the rear as we advance into the city.."

"So Rogers and Revere put us in the back?" Kunimittz groaned.

"Not fair.."

"I think it's for the best for us.." Klein reasoned.

"Klein?" Dynamm looked to his leader, "when did you become the cautious one?"

"Since I saw what Rogers and Revere go through for their jobs," Klein gave a serious look, "they don't enjoy this, you know."

"So, I believe the smart thing for us to do is to play it safe.." He added. Klein's mind ran with various thoughts as he looked ahead to where Revere and Rogers were.

"Colonel, there are stragglers," Revere warned, "need me to take them out?"

Steve Rogers looked around at the opposing civilian players. They had varying looks of horror, pain, and some even held their hands up as though begging for mercy.

"You could... But it looks like they're ready to surrender.." He watched the opposing players closely. "Disarm them, but let them log out."

"Are you sure?" Revere asked his colonel.

"They are civilians, our real enemy is Hydra, remember that," Rogers told him.

Roger's com then buzzed with a priority from Helios.

"Bald Eagle, this is Helios. We're getting reports from the Tokyo medical emergency services that players from ALO are experiencing phantom pain from ALO."

That sent a chill down Rogers' spine. Even the hardened Captain Burke seemed to be troubled upon overhearing that.

"This is Revere... what about our own troops?"

"Some of our men who logged out are being treated for Phantom Pain." Helios replied.

Revere and Rogers looked with solemn looks as they understood what was happening... and the message Hydra was sending.

"We managed to take the main entrance, and are in process of disarming the opposing civilian players." Rogers then said.

Revere then ordered, "Ramirez, disarm the guards."

"Alright Burton, let's take their weapons away.." Ramirez walked towards the defeated players.

"Copy that, Bald Eagle," Helios replied, "be advised that Trinity and Unity have gained access to remote live game cameras. ALO militia have retreated deeper into the city and are hardening their positions around the downtown areas. Expect heavy resistance."

"Roger that, Helios. We'll proceed with caution." Rogers and Revere looked to one another as the unit regrouped. "Colonel... if players defeated are in that much pain... we can't advance without possibly causing further serious harm to civilians."

"This also includes some of our soldiers.." He pointed out.

"You're right, Captain," Rogers shook his head as he looked up at the World Tree, "and if Hydra decides to lower the Pain Absorber any further, more lives will be jeopardized."

"But still.. We need to be careful.." He added.

---

Charlie retreated deeper into the city. Her long black hair flowed in the smoke-filled air with her wings as she tried to find the other leaders, especially Eugene and Sigurd. She heard the roar of jet engines overhead as the four Quinjets circled around in pairs.

'I hope they don't plan to bomb the entire city..' She thought as she watched the Quinjets. She was shocked and impressed by the firepower the Quinjets posed. They hovered around the city like grey birds of prey with their underside bombs and missiles.

'Now, where's Eugene and Sigurd.' She looked around the city streets.

"Charlie!" Two familiar voices called out. She turned around to see the male Undine leader and the male Cait Sith lieutenant.

"Alias! Echo!" Charlie replied.

The blue-haired Alias was breathless. "Good to see you're alright."

"Same for the two of you.." Charlie sighed.

"This is madness.." Echo shook his head.

"What is this?" Alias threw up his hands, "they advertise a ranking invasion event, and we end up getting a total war!"

"Tell me about it.." Charlie rubbed her forehead. "I really wanted to know who fired the first shot." She was irritated.

"Wasn't it that soldier... Revere, I think?" Echo wondered, "he just raised his gun all of a sudden and started shooting."

"I saw one of the Salamander players doing the same." Alias added. "But that Sylph boy stopped him."

"So who fired first?" Charlie rubbed her hands through her ruffled hair.

"It was hard to tell." Echo answered. "It looked like they both fired at the same time.."

"That doesn't help," Echo's ears drooped as he said that.

"Nope, it didn't..." Charlie groaned and shook her head. Charlie's chat notification rang again.

"Anything to report, Sakuya?" She asked.

"Well we're just flying north outside Alne, and it looks like someone just took a wreaking ball to the place! What's with all those jets around?"

"They're Quinjets." Charlie explained that the American soldiers have the air force of Quinjets at their disposal. "I don't recommend trying to come in by air," Charlie warned, "those pilots leveled entire portions of the walls with their bombs."

"Okay, we'll try to find another way into the city.." Sakuya replied. It was then that Alicia rang in. She seemed to be in disbelief.

"Alicia?"

"That's supposed to be a raid event!? I thought it was a warzone!"

"We all thought so.." Charlie surmises. "They really want to enter Alne very bad.."

Sakuya then grew serious, as though she knew something. "You think all this had something to do with the Grand Quest?" She asks.

A thought occurred to Charlie. They were investigation the events that took place in the past two days. One of them involved a fight in the Sylph city Swilvane and another that took place in the Legrue Corridor. However, when they reached Legrue, they've learned that the group have disappeared after buying out healing potions, bows, arrows, and such before heading to one of the tunnels. They didn't follow their path as they've heard stories about creatures and bosses are extremely difficult to beat. Which was why none of the players ventured through that area.

"Those player that we've been hearing about.." Charlie asked.

"Correct," Sakuya confirmed.

Alicia then spoke up. "There is also something that one of my sources in gaming news noticed about RECT Progress."

"Such as?" Charlie raised her eyebrow.

"There have been encrypted transmissions out of RECT Progress," Alicia added, "though it is a gaming development division, the communications appear to be of a military nature."

"So what are you saying? That the military players out there are real?" Charlie asked.

"That... and RECT Progress is involved in some sort of military operation..." Alicia grimaced, "another friend of mine who works in the communications industry traced them to military bases across Japan and around the world."

"Around the world..." Charlie wondered. It was then her eyes widen in realization. "America?"

"That's what it appears to be," Alicia grimaced, "but other than that, I we don't know for sure."

"Needless to say," Sakuya narrowed her eyes, "it's clear that RECT Progress is not honest with what is going on with the Americans."

"Then, what should be our plan?" Charlie asked. Now unsure what to do.

"Well, first things first," Sakuya reminded, "we find my boneheaded lieutenant and Eugene, and get them to stop fighting the Americans before more people get hurt."

"I'm looking for those two myself."

Alicia huffed, "any voice of reason would be welcome right now, and hopefully we can figure out what in the world is going on with RECT that the American military would send a full blown battalion to assault a virtual world!"

"We're working on that.." Sakuya added. "Once we convince everyone to cease fire, we'll get answers."

"Alright," Charlie agreed, "just be careful, the American soldiers are highly trained, well-armed, and ready to shoot."

"I think we'll get around them," Alicia chimed, "from what we see up here, they appear to be halting their advance just past the southern and southeastern walls."

"Good. We'll see each other later. Charlie out." She then looked to Alias and Echo. "Let's find those two knucklehead players."

"I heard that the US troops have stopped their advance?" Alias asked.

"Yes they have... For the moment, at least.." Charlie answered. "That should give us enough time to find Sigurd and Eugene and convince them to cease-fire."

"Finally, Alicia is here," Echo seemed relieved to have his race's leader here to help.

"Hopefully, they'll get in without getting shot at." Alias reminded.

"Let's worry about not getting shot ourselves before we talk to those two and that Gnome idiot," Charlie added.

"Right.." Alias agreed. "Lead the way, Charlie." The three young leaders ran through the ruins of Alne, determined to stop the fighting.

---

Hydra Base, World Tree:

Asuna makes her way through the corridor. There was an urgency to her steps as she recounted the scenes of the war in Alne down to mention that Hydra will be broadcasting on the PA system soon and she needs to reach the room. The canned transcript of Hydra's announcement about the international launch of ALO and the explanation for the phantom pain afflicting the players made her sick, and she could not wait any longer.

'Sugou, you are going down,' she fumed to herself. It was then, one of the technicians approached Asuna.

"What is it?" Asuna ordered.

"The American forces have breached the city walls and gates. But our forces are holding out and we'll push them back."

"You mean the ex-STRIKE forces," Asuna remarked.

"Of course, those players out there are mere placeholders, my lady," the slug technician demurred.

"Good.." Asuna put on a smile to avoid suspicion. "Anything else to report?"

"Well..." The slug stammered. "T-There's a break-in in the ALO servers..."

"What?" Asuna feigned a glare.

The slug technician slouched back in fear. "Well... w-we tried t-to hack into the p-players with the Americans... And.." He hesitated for a moment. "It appears that t-they have some advanced f-firewall that's protecting them.."

"Is that so?" Asuna asked. In her mind, she's amused that Hydra's attempt to hack into Kirito's account has been thwarted. "Does King Oberon know about this?"

"Um... yes, ma'am."

'And I bet he's furious right now..' Asuna mused. "Care to show me?"

"Ma'am?"

"Perhaps there's a gap that you've missed. And I wish to inspect it myself.." She demanded.

"Y-yes, Mistress." The slug leads Asuna to the Command Center. Asuna could see the main holoscreen displaying of a figure in armor in a chibi anime style.

"Ah Ah Ah.. You didn't say the magic word.." The figure repeated the same line over and over again while wagging his finger. Asuna looked to see the smaller holoscreens that the technicians were working on. It had the same image as on the main screen.

She had to stop herself from laughing at the absurdity. "Is this displaying on the screens in this room?" Asuna asked.

The chief gave a grim look. "It's happening all over the base.."

"Well... This does look bad.." She commented. "I'm gonna take a closer look at it in the communications room.."

"What about-" Asuna raised her hand to silence the chief. "I have Commander Hunter mobilizing the subjects."

"Once they arrive, they'll assist the rest of the main force to push back the Americans." She finishes.

"Thank you, Mistress!"

Asuna smiles. "Now, if you excuse me..." She heads towards one of the rooms marked 'Communications'. In there, is where the PA system is located. She got a transmission from George just as she entered and the door closed.

"Miss Asuna, what are you doing right now?"

"I'm in the communications room." She answers.

"We're just about to transmit our own broadcast-"

"There is a change in the plan," Asuna told him, "I'm going to go live instead."

"Wait, what?" George did a double-take on his end.

"I'm going to have Delta One help us stabilize the connection of the broadcast," Asuna said, "and I want to speak the truth myself."

"O-Okay... Make sure that the door's locked.." George warned. "But you do know what it means for yourself."

"Yes, I'm aware..." Asuna sighs. "But I'm ready to take that risk.. The whole of Alfheim and the world need to hear it from me, as the daughter of Shouzou Yuuki."

"Very well then.." George says. "I wish you the best of luck... And be careful.."

Asuna let the call end. She straightened her cape and ran a hand to smooth out her hair.

"This is it, Asuna.." She muttered to herself. "No turning back after this.." She then called Delta One.

"Hello?" The female voice said from the other end.

"Delta One, it's Asuna."

"What's the status?"

"I'm in position in the central communications hub," Asuna told her, "you said you left a scrambler code in the ALO servers?"

"I have... Are you ready to broadcast your message?"

"Of course," Asuna said with a shine of resolve in her bright brown eyes, "if I don't speak out, Hydra will continue to hurt soldiers and innocent people."

"I'm not going to let RECT Progress be used for evil any further, even if my family and I have to endure years of shame..."

"Whatever happens, we'll be able to help you through it.." Delta One reassures her.

Asuna smiled a bit. While it was probably not going to be that simple... having her true husband beside her again would be a comfort in a hard aftermath.

"Make sure that you're secure the door before you make your broadcast.." Delta One suggested. "But I'm sure that you've got that covered."

Asuna checked the door. It was locked. "Got that." She then reached into her belt and cape, one for her Hydra dagger, and the other a pistol she had managed to code-appropriate quietly for herself. She regarded the Luger-like pistol with a weight to it. She had dealt with swords before, but having to shoot back at someone was an issue of its own.

"Alright then. I guess you know what to do.."

"That I do," Asuna holstered her weapons into her cape and tidied herself for her broadcast.

"Just hang in there, Asuna. Delta One out.."

Asuna took a deep breath as she neared a terminal panel.

'Here goes nothing.' She thought.

---

Underneath Alne City:

"The main force has breached the walls, Sergeant," one of the soldiers reported to Castle, "they've advanced past the walls of the city."

"Good, let's get up there and take the enemy by surprise." Castle ordered.

Rain hugged Haze. "I don't know... if we fight those players..." She shivered at the thought of actually having to hurt other players again.

"Me neither..." Haze comforted Rain. "But since they didn't listen to reason, we may have to..." He didn't like the thought of inflicting phantom pain on the players either.

Silica shivered as well. "Why does Hydra torment us like this?"

"It's their nature.." Sleek shook his head.

Kirito looked to his friends who all had varying degrees of fear and disgust. Hydra's going through all this trouble to stop them from rescuing Asuna.

'What won't they do...'

"We're close now.." Leafa said. "This tunnel leads to the exit inside the city."

"No way to guess what is above us though," Castle remarked. He slapped a new magazine into his gun.

"Agreed.." Lexar agreed while he checks his P418 rifle.

"We've got a door, sir," one of the Rangers reported back.

"Alright, everyone stack up." Castle ordered while he raised his rifle up. The Rangers slowly cracked the door open and peaked out to see anyone.

No one's in sight.

"Clear!"

Two of the Rangers broke the door open and flashed their rifles out. They scanned the area for any hostiles. None in sight, but they remained on their guard. Kirito, Lexar, and Leafa emerged next to Castle. Lexar and Leafa in particular took in the smoke-hazed sight of Alne's ruins.

"They really made a mess of this city.." Lexar remarked. "In SAO, all of the buildings, statues and such are indestructible.."

The four Quinjets roared overhead.

"That's new.." Philia commented while looking up towards the sky.

"Hooah!" Some of the other Rangers cheered as they saw the Air Force overhead. Kirito smirked to see the Quinjets flying above Alne. If only they'll be able to reach to the World Tree's top. But the game's system won't allow it.

Castle checked the game map...

"According to this map, we're near the central city gates." He then brought up tactical data updated from the Quinjets overhead, showing the blue positions of the allied Howler Platoon teams, and the ALO defenders in red near the center of the city.

"The World Tree gates isn't too far. Once we assist main force, we'll make our way to the gates. And then, up to the top." The uniformed Punisher then transmitted target data to his team and Kirito's. Portraits of the three men in question were brought up; Eugene, Sigurd, and the Gnome leader Barris.

"These are our targets, along with Hydra..." Castle said. "We'll disarm these three as Hydra's our real enemy.."

Leafa glared at them. "These three idiots don't know who they are fighting for..."

"indeed, they don't.." Castle lamented.

"Attention defenders of Alne!" It was Colonel America's voice amplified by some of the Quinjets. "We have you outgun! No one here has to get hurt even further! Surrender right now and log out while you still can!"

Lexar just shook his head. "Knowing those three, they're not gonna surrender..."

Silica and Sleek shivered at the destruction that was around them.

"I never seen so much destruction.." Silica shivered. Even Philia herself was floored at how the military had leveled an entire portion of the city

"Do you guys really have to level part of the city?" She asked.

One of Castle's Rangers just chuckled. "Standard fare, little Philia."

Philia just shook her head at the Ranger's response.

Another took a sniff, and exhaled. "Nothing like the smell of fuel-air explosive in the afternoon."

"Smells like victory..." The third Ranger laughed.

"You guys actually enjoy this?" Leafa gave the soldiers looks.

"Apparently, they do..." Lexar rolled his eyes.

"Blowing stuff up is what we're paid to do," one of the young soldiers cheered.

Leafa leaned towards Lexar. "I just don't understand soldiers.." she whispered.

"The Army takes joy on seeing destruction..." Lexar answers. "And, sometimes, the navy and air force does so too..."

"Defenders of Alne," Colonel Rogers repeated. "This is your last chance! Surrender now!"

"Come on, Colonel," one of the Rangers jokingly laughed, "just sic us on them!"

Yui poked her head out of Kirito's breast pocket. "Why do the soldiers enjoy this kind of destruction, daddy?"

Kirito shook his head. "Some do... but I think it's a coping mechanism for many others."

"Humans are so complicated..." Yui lamented as she gave a sad look to the soldiers who continued to jest about ripping into the enemy. She still remembers watching the trapped players taking joy of preying others for amusement. Some of the Howlers either seemed frustrated with the resistance they encountered, and others seemed to joke about the fighting like it was a game. Yui sighed sadly.

---

Kirigaya Household:

Midori continued to watch the live feed in ALO's servers. Alne was crumbling and smoking in areas, and several players and soldiers were hardening their positions. Meanwhile, the American soldiers continued to advance into the city through the main entrance.

"They had this many soldiers for this?" Midori asked aloud.

Minetaka, who came back after checking the front and back doors. "Anything else happening, dear?" He asks.

Midori ran her hands through her hair. "Well, the American soldiers ordered an air strike on the main entrance of the city. And are now pushing their way through their defenses." The live chat stream continued to go crazy, and now news pages were reporting on medical emergencies concerning ALO players in Tokyo and across Japan in pain after being forced logged out of the game.

"This is SAO all over again..." Minetaka lamented. "Except everyone's able to log out.." But something inside told Minetaka that Hydra could do even worse things.

"I've heard how aggressive the Americans from their mainland can be after the last civil war, but I didn't think they would be this willing to bomb a city like that," Midori shuddered.

"Figured that since it's in VR. No one's getting killed.." Minetaka remarked.

"But that doesn't explain players being rushed to the hospitals." Midori added. She then clicked on some of the newsfeeds. The hospitals were being filled with patients being driven in on gurneys. Others could still walk, but needed help as they were clearly sore in their limbs.

"This is madness.." Minetaka muttered. Suddenly, the newsfeeds began to shimmer with static.

"What's going on?" He then asked.

"Not sure.." Midori replied. "The feed's suddenly cut off from the servers.." The screen went blank for a while, when suddenly it came back on to the sight of a chestnut-haired girl in a black suit and cape.

The Kirigaya adults looked closely at the girl.

"That's Asuna..." Midori said.

"Hello, players of Alfheim Online, and citizens of Japan..."

---

In Alne City:

"Eugene!" Charlie yelled as she, Alias, and Echo ran up to the barricades and shields of the Alfheim defenders.

"Charlie!" Eugene turned to see the female Spriggan leader running towards him.

"Listen to Steve Rogers and stop fighting!" Charlie pushed past the barricades and vanguards and got up to Eugene. "You, Sigurd, and Barris are making a dangerous mistake!"

"Mistake?!" Eugene shouted. "They're the ones who shot at us!"

"Well one of your guys just tried to shoot at Rogers," Alias argued back.

"Impossible! I saw one of the invaders shot at us!" Eugene replied.

Charlie grit her teeth. "People are going to get really hurt if you keep trying to fight them! Have you heard what is happening in real life!?"

"No! What's happening!?"

"People are getting hospitalized!" Echo screamed, "all of Tokyo's in a panic because our people are waking up and screaming in pain from wounds inflicted in here!"

"You're joking!" Sigurd bit back, "that is ridiculous!"

"Impossible! ALO has the Pain Absorber!" Eugene retorted.

Barris, the Gnome leader seemed to be annoyed by Charlie. "Listen Spriggan girl, if you think..."

Charlie pulled out her orient pistol and shot him, Sigurd, and Eugene, in the abdomen.

"OW!" Eugene shouted in pain.

"Y-you brat... what are you..." Sigurd coughed as he turned green and sick.

A Sylph healer quickly rushed over. Other defenders who saw what Charlie did suddenly held their guns and swords to her.

"What was that for!?" Barris questioned while clutching his stomach in agony.

"W-why am I in such...!" Eugene yelled as his brother, Mortimer rushed over.

Mortimer glared angrily at Charlie. "What in blazes are you doing!?"

"I'm proving a point here!" Charlie argued back. "This is what I've been trying to tell you guys!"

Charlie spun around and pointed up at the World Tree in the skies.

"W-what do you mean!?" Mortimer demanded.

"What I'm saying is that someone has tampered with it!" Charlie yelled, "and I think those bastards in RECT have something to hide!"

Mortimer was about to argue when the giant holoscreen appeared before the World Tree. There was a PA jingle that rang across the virtual window as the Alfheim Online symbol appeared.

"W-What's going on?" Sigurd groaned.

"Someone's making an announcement." Charlie wanted to see what sort of excuses RECT would come up with. It was then, after some static, they see a chestnut-haired girl in a black suit and cape.

Then, the chestnut-haired girl spoke. "Hello, players of Alfheim Online, and citizens of Japan..."

---

Howler Platoon:

"Colonel, Captain," one of the troopers said, "up in the sky!"

Both Rogers and Revere looked up to the sky and see the holoscreen being displayed in front of the World Tree.

"Colonel," Revere recognized the girl on the screen, "that's her!"

"The girl?" Rogers asked Revere. The former looked closely at the outfit the chestnut-haired girl sports. It was no doubt that's Asuna. Several in the SAO group gasped as they saw their friend for the first time in two months.

"It's Asuna!" Lisbeth explained.

"Can't believe it's her.." Klein observed. "And that outfit does look good on her.." He commented.

Lisbeth hissed at Klein.

"Wait, that skull symbol," Mace realized the jewelry on Asuna's cape. Klein looked at the symbol which holds the cape together..

"No..." Klein realized it was the Hydra emblem after all.

"I was afraid of that..." Agil grimaced.

---

With Kirito:

"This is Asuna Yuuki, daughter of RECT CEO Shouzou Yuuki, and one of the 300 players of Sword Art Online who have not woken up."

Kirito stared up at the sight of his wife.

"Asuna..." He breathed...

"It's Mommy!" Yui exclaimed while looked up at the screen.

"Look at her outfit," Sleek shuddered at seeing the Hydra emblem on her.

"Tell me about it.." Silica agreed. The image of Asuna wearing the black outfit completed with Hydra symbols is unnerving.

"Mommy's hasn't gone traitor!" Yui replied.

Castle looked at the little fairy.. "Mommy?"

"Many have wondered why I and the 299 others have not returned to the real world," Asuna continued, "and now many of you have wondered why war has broken out inside Alfheim Online with American soldiers raiding the city in coincidence with an Industrial Revolution update to seemingly counter their invasion..."

Asuna closed her eyes and paused, as though to let it sink in. She then looked at the camera intently. "It's time for the whole country to know the truth behind Alfheim Online."

---

With Shouzou:

Shouzou Yuuki, along with David and Jonathan Mitchell were given the live feed of the ALO game.

"Asuna?" Shouzou was shocked to see his daughter live, and in a Hydra outfit.

"That's must be her.." David surmises.

Asuna then said, "RECT Progress is not the company that my family built anymore. It has been completely taken over by Hydra."

Shouzou could not believe what his daughter was doing.

"Alfheim Online is a test hub for Hydra's experiments on memory manipulation and mind control... Sugou Nobuyuki is their leader and CEO of RECT." She continued. Shouzou realized that Asuna was exposing Hydra inside RECT.

---

In ALO:

"RECT's Board of Directors, Security Division, and Gaming and Moderation are also Hydra leaders and agents in Japan. Along with members of our own government, police, and military."

"I knew something was going on here.." Charlie muttered to herself as she stared up at the Yuuki heiress. There were murmurs of unrest amongst the populace of ALO. Even Eugene, Sigurd, and Barris were taking it in all at once.

"Hydra has infiltrated every sphere of our society... and they are poised to take even more control."

SAO Investigation Task Force:

"And I was made a component for their plans to take over the whole country... And the world..."

Colonel Seijirou Kikuoka was on the phone with Nick Fury when the news across Japan began to pick up on Asuna's broadcast.

"And so are the 299 others with me who are at this moment are being conditioned into loyal followers of Hydra's New Order."

"This is hard to believe.." Kikuoka said from the other end.

"I'm afraid you've got sleepers across your corporate community and national defense, Mr. Kikuoka," Nick Fury replied.

"And how far are you and your team in this investigation?" Kikuoka asked.

"Far enough to know that Sugou Nobuyuki is the Supreme Commander of Hydra in Japan, and may have control over sections of industry, government, National Police, and Self-Defense Forces. My intel also tells me that the Nobuyuki family have been Hydra leaders since World War II," Fury added.

'This is gonna be one big mess...' Kikuoka thought to himself. It was bad enough for them to keep tabs on the SAO survivors during the incident. Now he had to watch his own back for Hydra members inside his own government.

---

Back with Kirito:

Kirito, Leafa, Lexar and everyone continued to look up at the holoscreen.

"Hydra has revived in Japan, stronger and more entrenched as the rest of the world tore themselves apart in regional wars and civil wars. And they're not gonna stop until they have complete control of the entire world.." Asuna was solemn. "Supreme Commander Nobuyuki has already had people killed inside RECT, and many more abroad in America's civil war."

"Barnas Shinsei..." Lexar muttered.

Kirito felt a certain fear and pride for Asuna... It must've been terrifying for her to endure being captive for two months.

"And Alfheim Online is the culmination of his sleeper agent project... if this game goes international tonight, he will be able to track and brainwash players across the planet to create loyalists in every nation." Asuna paused for a moment for the revelations to sink in.

"Asuna..." Kirito, Leafa, and Lexar whispered.

"Mommy..." Yui hugged her daddy's face.

"Like Insight all over again," Castle remarked.

---

ALO Defenders:

Charlie, Alias, and Echo along with Eugene, Mortimer, Sigurd, and Barris couldn't believe what they're hearing.

"And every single player in ALO is a potential target for Hydra's sleeper project, which is already in its final activation stages."

"It can't be..." Eugene shook his head in disbelief.

"You... you don't suppose that we are test subjects too... are we?" The possibility was frightening to the young Echo, whose ears and tail curled up.

"I... I hope not.." Alias replied nervously.

"I think that girl answered that for us." Everyone turned to see Sakuya fly in with Alicia behind on her dragon.

"Sakuya... Alicia..." Charlie said.

"I knew something was rotten inside RECT," Alicia said as she landed and dismounted, "but I never dreamed that we were all pawns of Hydra."

"Same here.." Sakuya added as she hopped off from the dragon and landed on the ground.

Asuna then took a deep breath, and her eyes betrayed deep emotions. "Kirito... my friends, and everyone out there... Don't give up. Keep fighting Hydra and make your way to the World Tree... And I ask every American and player inside Alfheim Online..."

There was pounding on the door behind Asuna.

"Help them reach to the top and stop Hydra before they complete their project. The whole world is at stake here."

"Open up in there!" A hostile American-sounding voice echoed from behind the door where Asuna was broadcasting from.

Asuna gave a smile that betrayed both apprehension and hope to everyone in Alfheim and Japan. "If I'm still alive... I'll see you in a while." She then reached into her cape and produced her gun as the transmission cut out.

The entire city fell silent after the broadcast ended.

"Oh my goodness..." Charlie the tomboy put her hands to her mouth. Now she knew ALO was terribly wrong... and now feared for the Yuuki girl's life.

---

Kirigaya household:

"That poor girl," Midori cried for her daughter-in-law.

Minetaka could do is watch as the revelations of ALO's true nature was revealed.

"It's all a trap..."

"And it's worse than SAO.." Midori then shot a glance upstairs. "The kids..."

"There's nothing we could do about it.." Minetaka said. Deep down, he's dreading of what will happen.

---

Howler Platoon:

"That changes things," Colonel Rogers said.

"Agreed.." Jackhammer remarked. "But now that everyone knows the truth. This should make the siege much easier.."

"And all the more urgent," Revere reminded, "that Asuna just outed herself, and Hydra's going to bear down on her." He then checked the time on the status window, "and we have less than one hour before this game launches internationally and Hydra starts brainwashing players worldwide who don't know any better."

"Let's push through, then." Jackhammer suggested. "We haven't got a moment to lose.."

"Not another moment," Anderson concurred. The four then looked to the SAO group again.

"This is going to be the real deal, kids," Revere said, "Hydra is going to throw everything they have at us now that the game is up."

"We know, sir.." Mace agreed. "But we're gonna push through and save her." He loads a new magazine in the AA-12 shotgun.

"All the more reason to get to her before Hydra now decides to turn her really Hydra," Lisbeth was fired up as she produced her shotgun.

Codex glanced to Strea, who is terrified for her mom's safety. "We'll get to her... and now everyone here knows the truth." He gives Strea a comfort hug. "Now, let's go save your mom.."

Strea then smiled with tears in her eyes. "Yeah..."

---

With Kirito:

"Daddy, Hydra is going to go after Mommy now," Yui flew up into Kirito's face.

"Then, we gotta move fast and save her." Kirito then said.

"Then, let's go save your mom, Yui." Leafa added, this time with encouragement.

Yui nodded with a determined look.

"Wait, what is this mommy stuff that the fairy keeps going on about?" One of the soldiers asked.

"Not now, Ranger," Castle quickly policed the talk. "Let's get going!" He ordered. He, and the Howler soldiers, along with Kirito and his SAO guild followed.