Kamen Rider Gaim/Sword Art Online --- Chapter 6

I do not own Kamen Rider Gaim or Sword Art Online. They belong to their respective creators and not me. I am only writing this for fun and not for any kind of profit. If you enjoy the story then please continue on with your support. If you don’t like it...well, I can’t please everyone. No flames please. They don’t contribute to to my writing like solid constructive criticism would.

Kamen Rider Gaim: Cyber World

By Ten-Faced Paladin

Chapter 6: Rogue

Tobei Tachibana’s Apartment December 4th 12:12 PM

It had gone viral.

The video which Tobei had copied of the boss battle for the First Floor in SAO, copied as a favor to a group of girls worried about their loved ones, had gone viral only hours after it being posted online to show the world what was going on inside the video game that a madman had turned into a deathtrap.

Comments were pouring in from cyberspace. People were declaring that it had to be faked or were praising it, glad to see that someone they knew was still alive in the game. He was pretty sure that some of the people who commented were Suguha or her friends since they mentioned his name in connection with the suits that seemed to allow four players to even the odds between themselves and Illfang before claiming such a definitive victory over the Boss. Plenty of people said it was about time someone did something after someone wrote out his story in the blog. Other people were ready to hang him, stating he should be trying to get them out of the game and not giving them more things to kill each other with.

Tobei just wanted to groan and bang his head against the wall when he discovered what Suguha’s friends had done. He was just starting to drift off the public’s radar and now this had brought him back onto it! His phone was ringing for interviews all over again and he was sure the cops weren’t going to be far behind. His lawyer had chewed his ear off about spilling details about his involvement in SAO and he was sure that his car and apartment were going to be vandalized all over again by angry parents and relatives of the players.

“Can this get any worse?” he asked himself with a groan as he watched the view count on the blog got higher, and higher, and higher...

Sighing, Tachibana decided that he might as well check and see who else had gotten his SengokuDrivers. Bringing up the window, he was surprised to see that his Cherry and Lemon themed Riders had both found wielders, both of them women.

“That was fast,” he muttered to himself. He was about to close the window when another notice blinked on, “Oh, Kurokage too? Good. More Riders means less risk for the players as a whole. Now where are my designs?”

(LINE BREAK)

Aincrad - Second Floor: Second Floor Dungeon December 4th 9: 45 AM

“HAH!”

The <<Minotaur Soldier>> groaned before it fell back with a red line across its chest before it shattered into blue pixels. It’s executioner, a young man in a black coat and a sword in his hands heaved a sigh before he sheathed his weapon. “Okay, if I remember right then that should be the last monster trap for this section. Time to go raiding.”

Kirito was hard at work in raiding the Second Floor Dungeon, clearing out as many monsters and traps as he could while recalling where the treasure chests were supposed to be. Usually he got some decent accessories and a piece of armor or two he could use. Clearing out the monsters he met also would allow other parties to have an easier time as they headed to other areas to explore.

Monsters on the rest of the Second Floor were hardy enough as it was, but inside the Dungeon they were tauric, meaning they had the hardiness of the ox monsters on the outside, but had the ability to use Sword Skills which made them all the worse to fight against them. Kirito also knew that the Boss of the Second Floor was an advanced form of the minotaur monsters in the dungeon and thus why he was grinding in the dungeon, getting the experience needed to fight that Boss. Where Illfang was a general boss, not being an expert in any area of battle save for having unusual skills, <<Baran the General Taurus>> was one hundred percent meat tank with the hammer skills to match. The raid party fighting him had failed twice before they finally got strong enough to take him down.

So Kirito was working through the Dungeon to get his level where he felt would be appropriate for taking on such a Boss. While using his Gaim armor had been a boon in tight situations, it left him trailing in the level department more than he was comfortable with. The experience drain for the armor was a substantial curse for all of the benefits it brought him since he had gotten it.

Walking down the corridor he was in, Kirito tapped the walls as he went while reflecting on how his run in SAO was proving to be so different compared to the Beta Test thanks to the suits. Kamen Riders were being considered the cream of the crop and in high demand by Clearer parties and other adventuring groups wanting an edge in their escapades. Although Kirito would be the first to admit that he was far from the most social of people, he did feel a bit of a camaraderie with the other Riders, considering the responsibility on their shoulders. After they had unlocked Urbus for the other players, Klein had insisted that they all trade message information so they could stay in contact since they were all Kamen Riders.

Klein and his friends were being offered to be brought on quests left and right. They accepted the first few, but after the people they teamed up with demanded all the spoils since Klein had a SengokuDriver they decided to stick to requests for the Clearers near the Dungeons if they ever came up. Agil was likewise being hounded, but he stuck the the merchant business. He would help out low-level parties who requested his help on high-risk quests though so long as he was guaranteed a cut of the spoils for his shop. Sinon was still going on her solo style of play, but even she said unless she had to take steps to avoid being mobbed by players hoping to coast off of her abilities. Kirito could relate since the time he came back to Urbus to restock he had several people asking him for his help on quests they learned about. Kirito had to dig into his Beta Tester knowledge to appease them, making the quests marginally easier. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to help, but the quests he kept being asked to go on were so minimal and easy unless those players were below Level 10 they wouldn’t need his help at all. In essence, the players were hoping that the Riders would hand-guide them through the game so they didn’t have to do anything.

Kirito knew the armor he and his comrades had would give them an advantage, but it didn’t make them invincible. They could still get killed just like everyone else and Kirito was sure it would happen sooner if he was busy taking care of a bunch of players who shoved the responsibility of escaping onto him.

Coming to a brick in the wall which was sporting a deep crack, Kirito tapped it particularly hard. The item flashed and the entire wall split apart. Inside was a small room with a treasure chest on a raised platform, just begging to be plucked.

“Still there,” he smiled. Approaching the chest, he tapped it and a message popped up asking if he was sure he wanted to open the chest. Tapping yes the window closed and the chest opened. Pixels flew out before reforming together to form a sword. It looked like a regular sword, but it was expertly polished and had a fine edge to it. The hilt was triangular with a red stone in the middle.

“Ruby Edge,” Kirito nodded as the readout came to him. “Nice.” Ruby Edge was a semi-rare weapon for the second-floor. It could be bought, but not until one got to one of the weapon shops in the smaller villages in the floor and with all of the heavy monsters roaming around that could take some time. Finding it in the Dungeon was easier if they had the right luck for it. Fortunately for Kirito, he remembered where it was from the Beta Test and no one else had managed to tumble onto it by accident.

Taking the weapon into his Inventory, Kirito turned and headed back out of the room. Ruby Edge was a good weapon, but it wasn’t quite up to his standards just yet. He’d need a Blacksmith to be able to get the weapon up to where he wanted it to be. Fortunately, he did hear where a Blacksmith could be found in Urbus and it was time he made an appointment.

(LINE BREAK)

Aincrad - Second Floor: Urbus December 4th 10: 55 AM

Returning the the crater city, Kirito walked to the market district where all the where all of the goods and services were being sold. He also spotted some people with their Inves accompanying them, the bigger ones carrying extra objects that were too big for an inventory while the smaller ones followed like obedient pets. It hadn’t taken long for the creatures to become part of the daily life in Aincrad. Although Kirito didn’t see why they shouldn’t have, what with how useful they had been for the Clearers and being a point of amusement for the people who were too afraid to play. They offered a distraction from their situation, something to have fun with that didn’t involve risking their necks.

Brushing past some Inves Warriors waiting outside a store, Kirito discovered the person he was looking for. He was sitting on a <<Merchant’s Mat>> wearing a simple tunic and pants. He looked like a teenager with droopy eyes and brown hair which was parted in the middle. Next to him were some blacksmith tools and some cheap swords which he apparently had for sale.z

“Hello,” Kirito called, getting the Blacksmith’s attention. “Are you Nezha?”

“That’s me,” the boy nodded. “You need something?”

“An upgrade,” Kirito replied, opening his menu and materializing the Ruby Edge. He held it out for the Blacksmith player to take. “Think you can do it?”

“The chances get better if you give me the materials for it,” Nezha replied. “Otherwise you’re just asking for the weapon to get broken.”

“Already covered,” Kirito replied, materializing some types of ore along with a monster part. The ore he got from a quest in the crags near the edge of the floor at an NPC mining village. “I checked the requirements and that should be all of it.”

“Okay,” Nezha nodded. He opened his blacksmithing menu and inserted all of the items which he asked for. Although it was reversed, Kirito could see that the chances for success in his upgrade were 97%. That was as close to a guarantee as one could possibly get.

A shout caught Kirito’s attention and he looked up to see two players getting into an Inves Game, twin Red Inves Warriors brawling each other. A small crowd had quickly gathered to see the fight, cheering for one side or another. Kirito eyed the action for a moment, wanting to be sure that nothing shifty was going on. If one of the two combatants dropped their Lockseeds, it would cause their Inves to go berserk in the middle of a crowded shopping area. It would put a lot of innocent people at risk and Kirito wouldn’t allow that.

“Okay, I’m ready to try,” Nezha announced, bringing Kirito’s attention back to the player Blacksmith. He had the sword on a tray and it was glowing from the materials introduced to it. The hilt had a nice golden sheen to it as well, making look more impressive. Nezha lifted his hammer and brought it down on the weapon with a mighty CLANG. The sword trembled and the item flashed, meaning the upgrade process was underway.

Upgrading weapons was tricky in Sword Art Online. One needed to have the skills specific to forging certain kinds of weapons or armors along with the materials to do it so a player had to dedicate themselves to the profession in order to be able to get good at it. It was something they had to get good at since upgrading items was risky what with a chance of failure depending on the skill of the one doing the job and the amount of materials being brought into it. If the upgrading failed, the weapon would be destroyed and it would have all been for nothing. That was the reason why most players went to NPC Blacksmiths for the time being, since most player Blacksmiths likely weren’t too high on the skills list yet. However, Nezha seemed to be on the respectable end if he was advertising his skills already.

*CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!* Nezha’s hammer came down several times on the sword, filling up a progress bar hovering above the weapon as he did so. The bar was soon almost filled and Nezha held his hammer up for a moment, knowing that the next strike could make or break the weapon before bringing it down with a final CLANG. The weapon in the Blacksmith’s hands flashed bright blue before shattering into pixels, much to Kirito and Nezha’s shock.

Kirito let off a groan and his shoulders slumped in depression. The chace was at ninety-seven percent! Ninety-seven! That high and he still seemed to somehow get the bad draw on the upgrade scale.

“Sorry,” Nezha grimaced. “That happens sometimes in this game. I can offer you one of my homemade swords as compensation...but I don’t have much,” he gestured to the swords next to him.

“No, no, it’s okay,” Kirito sighed, shaking his head. “It was just an extra sword I wanted to get updated. I’ve still got my main one. Don’t worry about it. I know how blacksmithing can be tricky this early in the game for players.”

“Glad someone does,” Nezha sighed in relief. “The NPCs make it look easy and other players expect me to be just as quick and easy. Its trickier than I ever thought it would be.”

“Well, at least the experience will help you get better,” Kirito shrugged. “The higher the level, the less chance for failure and all that.”

“No kidding,” the Blacksmith nodded. “Maybe I should stick to repairs until I get better.”

“Maybe,” Kirito nodded, sticking his hands in his pockets. “Well, thanks anyway.”

“Thanks for coming,” Nezha waved, watching Kirito leave.

(LINE BREAK)

Tobei Tachibana’s Apartment - December 4th 5:21 PM

“Is it too late to commit seppuku?” Tobei thought to himself as he read over responses to the blog entry.

This totally rocks!

Go orange guy! Kick that freak’s ass!

This is awful! Someone DIED during this fight! Can’t anyone see that?

All I know is my little brother is fighting for his life and knowing someone is arming the players against the crap in that game, I say we give this guy all the support he needs!

I have a little sister trapped in the game! Can Tobei get me more footage of what’s going on?

Is everyone forgetting that this guy helped that psycho MAKE this game?! He deserves to go to jail!

He helped make the game, but so far he’s the only one of the programmers who’s doing anything about it!

Then help get the players out, don’t give them better stuff!

You saw the description. The game’s AI just repairs anything that’s deleted as a defense mechanism. Adding stuff is probably the only way anyone can really help those poor kids right now.

My husband was wearing that brown suit! Is there anyway I can get information on what he’s doing from Tobei?

Yeah! We need more Tobei! Our loved ones are in there! We need to see them! Please!

My little sister is trapped inside using my NerveGear! Please let me see that she’s okay! She nearly got beheaded by that Kobold!

Please! My thirteen-year old daughter is trapped in that game! I need to see her! Please! Please! *sob*!

Tobei sighed and rested his head in his arms. The posts were dipping between praising him for being so far the only programmer who was trying to help or begging him to get more images of inside the game, specifically their loved ones who they were worried sick about. Again it was just another example of how many people Akihiko was hurting in his warped bid to create a real world.

Tobei’s moral compass was telling him to go ahead and help these people who were so desperately begging for any shred of hope. His practical side told him that they may see something that they wouldn’t want to see their loved ones doing. Several players like that PoH fellow was already making a name as someone who attacked other players constantly for his own reason, possibly even enjoying it. If he had anyone worried about him, they wouldn’t want to see the thug he had become. Also one of his Riders, Sakyubasu, had been claimed by a woman who according to the profiles had actually slept around and stole items from players.

Not quite the kind of person he intended the Drivers to go to, but at least she wasn’t beating up players with it.

Looking back up at the screen, he read a new comment...

can i see my big sister please?

“I’m going to get arrested, I’m going to get arrested,” Tobei muttered as he moved to a new portion of the blog.

Tobei@ARGUS writes:

This is Tobei Tachibana. I’m reading this right now. I still have access to Argus’ mainframe so I can still look into SAO. I need either the screen name of the person you want me to find or their email address to find specific people.

Sighing, he looked at the screen again before hitting the enter button, posting his words.

The responses were immediate

My husband uses the name Agil!

My little sister calls herself Asuna!

Our son’s address is bachelorklein@windows.com!

My brother is called HarryOne.

Big Sister is called Kuro

My daughter likes the name Silica! Bless you!

Tobei nodded and began writing down the names to cross-reference for players on SAO. Hopefully he would be able to get the people some images of their loved ones alive and well in the game and not on the verge of death somewhere.

(LINE BREAK)

Aincrad - Second Floor: Urbus December 4th 7:09 PM

Kirito heaved a sigh as he picked through his meal. The loss of the Ruby Edge was a big disappointment. Of course, it was hardly the end of the world and there were nearly countless more swords to be had on both floors and the ones that would come next. In the grand scheme, it wasn’t such a big loss. He still had his <<Anneal Blade>> which was still better so it was hardly a loss. Still, just having the sword would have made for good backup in case he had a problem like the one he suffered when he first entered Helheim Forest.

“Ah well,” he shrugged for the upteenth time. “That ore quest should have reset by now. The blacksmith out at the mine could make me a good custom sword.”

“I can’t believe that hack! Blacksmith my ass!”

“I should have stabbed that dick Nezha when he screwed up! I busted my ass to get that sword and three whacks in he busts it!”

“You know what they say about him? The Blacksmith with the worst luck ever. He’s not going to last as a Blacksmith for long with his luck.”

Kirito blinked and looked up, spotting three players who were complaining and quite loudly over Nezha apparently and his lack of skill when it came to blacksmithing.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him once upgrade anything. He just ends up breaking it all.”

“If I didn’t see them break, I’d swear he’s stealing them.”

“I watched him once and almost every sword brought to him he ended up breaking. Some of them were really expensive or rare ones too!”

Kirito wasn’t one who eavesdropped or even participated in gossip, but when it came to the mechanics in games and the like, he couldn’t help but want to hear about it. Hearing about Nezha’s string of failures, he really had to wonder how one Blacksmith could screw up so many times in a row. While here always was a chance of failing and sometimes bad luck could make a string of failures, the amount that Nezha was going through was just impossible for a random odds generator like the one SAO had. Say what you would like about Kayaba Akihiko, but so far the game had been perfectly fair and quite realistic. If it could happen in the real world (relatively speaking) then it could happen in SAO and it usually did. There was no way that anyone could have luck that bad to destroy nearly every sword they tried to upgrade. Even if he lied about his blacksmithing skills, a novice at the craft wouldn’t destroy every sword they got their hands on. In Kirito’s opinion, something was fishy.

Finishing his meal, Kirito got up and headed back to the market district. Rather than making himself obvious as a shopper, he stuck to alleys and shadowed places so no one would see him. With his black Coat of Midnight and his black hair, he blended in rather easily. Moving down the street he ended up near Nezha’s portion of the street. He was just sitting there, looking for customers. Kirito slipped into an alley so he could keep an eye on the Blacksmith.

Soon, another player came up to him and handed over a sword along with materials needed to upgrade it. Nezha set up the upgrade process like clockwork, but before he began an Inves Game broke out which caused everyone to look over at the action. Kirito on the other hand kept an eye on Nezha with his usual intense concentration in his tasks. As the Inves Game went on, Nezha quickly opened his inventory and stashed the sword inside of it before he materialized another sword which looked quite similar.

“What the-?” Kirito frowned deeply.

The customer got over his gawking and returned his gaze to Nezha who made the motions of upgrading the sword. Now though Kirito was frowning deeply. It was no wonder that he broke every sword he got his hands on. He was swapping out the customer’s sword for a duplicate which needed a different set of materials for an upgrade! He wasn’t a Blacksmith, he was just a thief!

Nezha made the motions of trying to upgrade the weapon, but of course since it wasn’t the weapon that the upgrade was intended for it obviously failed and the sword broke. The customer was obviously not pleased and shouted at Nezha for a while and the Blacksmithing thief just offered weak excuses trying to explain the mechanics of the Blacksmith profession. Eventually the customer got sick of shouting and stormed off. Nezha shook his head and opened his menu, checking the time. After doing so, he recalled all his wares into his inventory and got up, leaving through the crowds.

Kirito frowned, finding the scam Nezha was pulling downright deplorable. Everyone was out there risking their lives or fearing for them and they needed weapons in order to survive. Nezha was just robbing everyone blind of their weapons and leaving them in the dust. Some of the weapons had to be upgraded several times already and would be a boon to the ones who had them. Worse yet, people’s lives were going to be at risk if they had to drop from using quality swords to some unmodified piece out of a store. It wasn’t a death sentence by any means, but it did up the risk.

Emerging from his hiding spot, silently thanking his <<Hiding>> skill in the process, Kirito started to follow Nezha through the crowds. It have him the chance to enhance his <<Tracking>> skill in any case, even if the Blacksmith wasn’t trying to evade him. They moved through several city streets to one of the outer edges of Urbus where it was more like a frontier town. Still keeping Nezha in sight, he followed the thief to what looked like a building which could be used as an inn or some kind of guild HQ.

Suspicious, more than he was, Kirito silently followed Nezha to the building. The Blacksmith rapped on the door and it opened, allowing the teen inside. Knowing that the door was guarded, Kirito walked alongside the building until he found a window. He reached for one and found it unlocked so he nudged it open enough to be sure he could see inside. He glanced inside, spotting several players sitting at tables and chatting. Fortunately the oil lamps kept the edges of the room dim and the dark night and his own dark clothes kept Kirito from being seen. He stuck low just in case.

Nezha entered the room, getting greetings from some of the other members in the room. He approached one of the larger tables and began scrolling through his menu before he materialized a large pile of swords. Kirito caught a red gleam from one sword in particular and saw the Ruby Edge sticking out from the pile.

“Got a good haul this time guys!” Nezha grinned. “Those noobs never suspected a thing!”

“Ha! Great going Nezha!”

“Woah! Check this one out!”

“Score!”

“We’re going to crush the Dungeon Boss with these!”

‘They’re going for the Dungeon Boss?’ Kirito frowned. ‘Are they Clearers?’

Conversation stopped when another player entered the room, causing Kirito’s eyes to widen. The one who walked into the room was that spikey-headed jerk Kibaou! He was dressed in thicker armor than what they had when they fought Illfang, but he still had that smug self-righteous look on his face. He walked across the room and saw the pile of weapons that Nezha had brought in.

“Good going Nezha!” he grinned. “With this, the <<Aincrad Liberation Squad>> can really begin making themselves known!”

“Huzzah!”

Kibaou continued to grin as he slapped the table, “Okay guys, this is going to be our chance to show everyone that only only those rotten Beta Testers who are hoarding everything can be the ones who take on this game! If they’re hoarding all the good stuff, we’re going to do the same. It’ll keep both the losers out of the way and get us the good stuff we need to beat this thing!” He looked to one of the other players in the room, “Nico, how’d the tribute for our grinding areas going?”

“Got a couple thousand Col and plenty of potions and other items,” another player replied. “With this we can go grab supplies and even a couple of Lockseeds.”

“Great,” Kibaou nodded. “Then we can go on a Dungeon crawl and find the Boss before those fucking Beta Testers do.”

Kibaou then went on to discuss the issues with his group, mainly efforts in getting items and supplies. Several of the groups outlined how they were actually camping out quest area to get supplies to upgrade weapons or get new weapons to fight with. Others were camping out mob areas and actually charging parties to grind them for a set amount of time. Since Kibaou’s group was so well-equipped, no parties could really challenge them on their stunts and with no real law-enforcement group in Aincrad they could get away with it. Of course, Kibaou kept ranting about the Beta Testers and using them as a scapegoat, all but accusing them of the reason why the game was taking so long to clear since they were hoarding the good items. According to his logic, they were the reason so many players died since they didn’t stick around to train the people who needed it, and he also blamed those deaths on the Beta Testers not sharing the high-quality items that they knew how to find.

Kirito grimaced at Kibaou’s speech, knowing that technically the man was right. Maybe plenty of the deaths could have been avoided if the Beta Testers held back and tried to teach the people how to survive in the game, maybe give them an idea which quests they should try so to improve quickly. However, he remembered that everyone was struggling to survive and there was nowhere near enough resources for all of the players to take care of themselves. Besides, Kirito himself went solo and forged ahead so he could take on the burden of clearing the game as much as he could, not because he wanted to leave the others to rot.

Still, for Kibaou to still be fixated on that either meant that he was disturbingly fixated or downright obsessed with the notion of the Beta Testers. That or he was using them as a scapegoat excuse for everything he was doing and also as a tactic to get people to join up with him. Unfortunately, it was one that would be effective since the opinion of the Beta Testers was pretty low. Players were using them as targets for their anger over the situation since they couldn’t get to Akihiko, or actually blaming them since they figured that somehow they should have figured out what Akihiko was planning. Kirito had heard rumors of one or two Beta Testers being mobbed by a bunch of players in retribution for what they felt was their fault for letting Akihiko do what he did.

‘Still, blaming the Beta Testers or not, robbing players and forcing them to pay these guys so they can grind is going way too far!” Kirito frowned mentally.

The question was, who to tell? Likely there wasn’t much that he could do. He was good, but there was at least ten or more players inside and Kibaou knew that Kirito was a Beta Tester. He’d sic the whole group on the Kamen Rider if for no other reason than to try and steal every item he had. He did hear about an emerging group who were taking the law into their hands and to keep orange players from going out of control. He’d try looking them up once he got away from this den of thieves. First he had to get away…

“Hey! Someone’s at the window!”

Kirito grit his teeth and ran off like a shot. He wasn’t going to get captured and he didn’t know if some of those players were willing to try and kill him just because he was a Beta Tester. He’d rather not have to find out.

“Get him!”

“Take what he’s got!”

The door to the building slammed open and the players for Kibaou’s party stormed out, taking off after him. Kirito took a sharp turn, trying to lose the group down an alley. He didn’t stop to see if that worked or not. He instead just kept running to try and get some distance between himself and the mob of players gunning for him. He ducked around several more corners, taking care to dart out into the moonlight only when he had to and only when no one was around or at least when they weren’t looking.

He finally came to a stop at a gap between buildings, panting slightly for breath. He glanced into the streets, but didn’t see anyone who looked like they were gunning for them. He hoped that none of Kibaou’s players had the <<Tracking>> skill. They all seemed like the hotheaded types who wouldn’t consider it a useful skill in their playing strategy. So long as they didn’t think to use it, he could hide out until they gave up and get someplace where he could report their conduct…

“HEADS UP BETA TESTER!”

It was that warning mixed with Kirito’s own survival instinct tempered by his battles thus far that allowed him to roll along the ground into the open street. Getting to his feet, he turned to see who had attacked him while drawing his sword. Getting a good look at the one who had attacked him, his jaw dropped slightly.

Kneeling on the ground where he had been was a Kamen Rider. He was donned in a pure black bodysuit which had silver bands on the wrists and silver greaves on his legs. His Arms were deployed, looking like layered pieces of black and brown armor which covered his chest and pointed up on his shoulders. His faceplate looked like a  traditional Japanese foot soldier’s with a band across the forehead and a silver strap under the chin with a visor that was yellow. The helmet attachment was pointed at the top and layered with the same armor as his Arms. Gripped in his hands with the tip pointed at the concrete was a spear with a long blade with the base of the weapon covered in layers of metal just like his armor.

“What-?” Kirito gasped.

“Surprised, cheater?” the Kamen Rider snickered. “The belts aren’t just your advantage anymore!”

Kirito frowned, but then remembered the voice, “Kibaou? Is that you?”

“Heh!” the Kamen Rider snorted. Standing up, he closed the Lockseed on his belt, revealing it to be a Matsubokkuri Lockseed. He then removed it, allowing his armor to vanish and reveal his smirking spikey face. “Like it? I managed to get my hands on it from some loser player who wanted to go and make himself stronger in one of our grinding areas.”

“Meaning you stole it from him,” Kirito frowned. “I knew you wanted items from how you were whining on the First Floor, but I didn’t think you’d stoop to theft. And you say you’re better than the Beta Testers?”

“Hey!” Kibaou snapped, “You did it to us, so it’s only fair we do it to you!”

“The Beta Testers went on quests and challenges to get those items!” Kirito frowned deeply. “They at least have the guts to play the game! You don’t even have that much, stealing and bullying every other player that won’t join you!”

Kibaou growled, looking like he was ready to draw a weapon to try and kill Kirito with, but it then gave way to a smirk. Kirito was of course confused, but then he looked around and saw several players coming out of the alleys. He recognized them from Kibaou’s little gathering of bullies and thieves.

“Looks like you’re outnumbered cheater,” Kibaou grinned.

“I’ve had worse,” the black swordsman retorted, hefting his sword and looking ready for a fight.

Kibaou just continued to smirk as he opened his menu and sped through it. Pressing a few buttons, he came to the menu he wanted and then typed in a command. Kirito frowned slightly, knowing that something was up and when the window popped up in front of his face he finally understood what the thug wanted.

<<Kibaou has challenged you to a duel!>>

<<Accept Y/N>>

“You and me cheater, let’s see how well you do when someone fights you on your level!” Kibaou smirked. “You win, we’ll let you go. I win, you fork over everything you’ve got down to your shorts! That includes your SengokuDriver and all your Lockseeds!”

“Tsk!” Kirito frowned. “And if I say no?”

Kibaou gestured to his minions and they all began to draw Lockseeds of various quality and held them out to be used. Kirito didn’t have to be a computer whiz to know that they were prepared to launch a mob of Inves at him to get what they wanted. It would also allow them to avoid being branded as orange players so no one would be the wiser about their crimes. Kirito knew he was being backed in a corner and didn’t see much of a way out. So with a frown, he reached to the menu and tapped on the Y.

The menu closed, bringing up the options of the duel. The first option was Total Loss Mode which would make Kibaou and Kirito fight until one of them died. The second option was Half Loss Mode which would push the two until one of them lost exactly half of their life. The final mode was First Strike Mode where the two dueling would fight until one of them had scored a clean hit or whittled their opponent down to half life. Fortunately, as the challenged party Kirito could decide what kind of duel they could have. Total Loss was of course out of the question and he had a feeling that First Strike mode would cause Kibaou to cry cheat again if he lost. Half Loss would be the only way to get a definite victory and maybe intimidate the other players around them enough to keep them from attacking him. So Kirito selected the option. The air above the pair lit up with a pair of panels depicting their names and faces along with the type of duel they were having. Below that was a timer set at the number 60.

“Half Loss eh?” Kibaou smirked. “Okay then! You got sixty second before the duel starts! Make that time count!”

“Believe me, I will,” said Kirito. Opening his menu, he scrolled through it before materializing his own SengokuDriver and strapped it to his waist. Once it was secure, he lifted up his Lockseed for Kibaou to see. The spikey-haired thug did the same before they both opened them at the same time.

“ORANGE!”

“MATSUBOKKURI!”

The portals zipped open above them as their respective Arms came out and hovered in the air. On Kirito’s side was the familiar metal orange and on the other was a black and brown pinecone with its tip sticking into the air.

“LOCK ON!”

“Henshin!”

“SOIYA! ORANGE ARMS! HANAMICHI ON STAGE!”

“SOIYA! MATSUBOKKURI ARMS! ISHIGEKI IN THE SHADOW!”

Both Arms came down on their respective masters, forming the protective suits around them. Gaim’s Arms unfolded, forming the samurai-esque image people associated with him. The Matsubokkuri unfolded as well, the bottom halves folding onto the back and front while the sides shifted onto the shoulders. Both suits of armor set into place with flashes of light, arming the pair of them with their respective weapons.

“Get ready to lose cheater!” Kamen Rider Kurokage laughed.

“Whatever, thief,” Kamen Rider Gaim retorted calmly.

All the while, the timer continued to count down.

...3

...2

...1

<<BEGIN!>>

“HA!” Kurokage bellowed, lunging forward before stabbing with his Kagematsu spear. Gaim shifted his stance before likewise pushing himself forward, lifting the Musou Saber and the Daidaimaru in both his hands. Both met in the centre before Gaim parried Kurokage’s spear strike with the Musou Saber before slashing with the Daidaimaru. The strike managed to hit the black Rider’s shoulder, but the boost the suit gave him allowed him to take the blow to his shoulder when Gaim had been aiming at his torso. The shoulder armor absorbed most of the strike, inflicting only a small portion of damage on Kurokage himself.

Kurokage grunted before he twisted on the spot, trying to strike at Gaim with the butt of his weapon since his initial attack proved ineffective. Again, gaim proved to be the faster as he dipped away from the attack, but Kurokage himself proved he wasn’t the average thug as he quickly twisted his Kagematsu for another wide swing on the blade end. Gaim leaped back to avoid the blow, his boots skidding across the cobblestone as he went.

“Ha! Too quick for you?” Kurokage mocked. “I thought this was a duel, not a dodging contest!”

“And yet I’m ahead,” Gaim shot back, pointing to Kurokage’s health bar which while not a significant portion was missing, was still smaller than Gaim’s own. The logic made Kurokage growl and ready for another attack.

Gaim could already tell from the first strikes that he was faster than Kurkage, but the problem was that Kurokage had a longer reach with his weapon which could hold Gaim off. The pinecone Rider’s reflexes were deceptively good as well, which was how he managed to try that strike with the end of his spear. Gaim knew he could try shooting with the Musou Saber’s gun capabilities, but he doubted that if Kurokage didn’t block the shots his armor would make any blows like a trickle.

However, Gaim actually had a trump card. On a recent trip to Hellheim, he had gotten a new Lockseed. He hadn’t had the chance to test it out but his instincts had never steered him wrong. The trick was, would he get the chance to use it and did he really have to bring it out now of all times? He didn’t want to give away any of his skills unless he had to.

Kurokage’s spear began to glow as he charged up a Sword Skill, lunging forward at high speed to try and pierce Gaim through the middle. Gaim cursed under his breath for letting his mind wander and crossed his blade, letting the spear strike where they crossed. The weapons clashed and the force knocked Gaim back. He landed against some of the thugs who unceremoniously hefted him by his arms before pushing him back into the dueling space.

“What’s the matter cheater?” asked Kurokage. “None of your fancy tricks working for you here?”

Gaim frowned behind his mask, but he didn’t offer a reply. He reasserted his stance and the two Riders began to pace around each other once again. It didn’t take long for Kurokage to think he had the advantage before he charged again, this time using multiple strikes over and over to try and strike Gaim. The orange Rider grunted and slashed with both of his swords to deflect the blows, showing off his own enhanced reflexes in the process. He got cut once or twice, but his armor blocked a good portion of the damage.

“Just admit you can’t play fair you cheat!” Kurokage bellowed in tne midst of his multi-strike. “Hand over all that stuff that belongs to us normal players and I won’t beat you up too bad!”

“Will you! Just! SHUT UP!” Gaim bellowed, capturing the end of the spear between his two swords like scissors. With the weapon stopped, Gaim lifted up his foot before slamming it into Kurokage’s chest with enough force to knock the thug back where he landed flat onto his back.

“Gah!” the black Rider groaned.

“You sit there, whining and crying cheat when all you do is steal and bully from every other player,” Gaim frowned. “We Beta testers may know where the best quests are, but that doesn’t mean we’re guaranteed to complete them. We risk our lives just by trying to complete some of them. At the very least we were willing to undergo the risk to get the tools we need to survive.” he scoffed, looking at the thugs around him. “All of you hide behind these walls and rob the people who are trying to clear this game and escape. Then when someone proves better or shows you up, you whine cheat and unfair. Yeah, you’re a real crusader.”

Perhaps it was the frustration at all of Kurokage’s claims and accusations, perhaps it was that security one has when their face is concealed and people aren’t sure what they looked like, but the boy behind Gaim’s mask felt more confident in his speech than he usually did. He had an opinion and for once wasn’t shy in stating it. Gaim’s true character was allowed to shine through while he wore his mask, rather than being hidden behind his reluctance to connect with anybody.

Kurokage growled, not wanting to be talked down on by one of the people he blamed for not being as good as he wanted to be, not having as much equipment as he wanted, and for not being as far in the game as he wanted to be. Getting up, he charged at Gaim with murder in his eyes. He got in close and began stabbing again, but unlike his last attack his temper and natural impatience was getting the better of him. It caused his attacks to be sloppy, going wide in some case, and leaving himself ungarded when he made such wide strikes.

It may as well have been an engraved invitation to Gaim. When Kurokage tried to strike on the right, Gaim dove left and slashed with the Musou Saber, making a long line of red across Kurokage’s torso. The black Rider gasped at the strike, but Gaim didn’t let up as he unloaded several more strikes which hit Kurokage over and over, leaving more red lines as they went.

“Kibaou-sama!” the thugs all began to cry out, seeing their leader being struck with so many blows.

“HUAGH!” Gaim bellowed, using his last strike to make an X across Kurokage's chest and knocking him clean off of the ground. The force made him fly several feet back before he crashed into the cobblestone, the wounds glowing brightly in the darkness. His HP bar dropped like a rock, stopping only a fraction above the halfway point.

“Guh,” he groaned, trying to get up. His weapon had fallen from his hand, leaving him essentially defenceless.

“It’s over,” Gaim spoke seriously. “I only need to whack you over the head with my palm to end this. Just submit now and save yourself at least a little bit of your dignity.”

Kurokage grunted as he tried to get up with the red pixel lines fading from sight, “You...you...you-!” he choked on his breath before he looked up at his minions watching the fight. “What are you all gawking at?! Send out Inves and get him! Don’t let him get away with saying crap like that!”

The yelling seemed to snap them out of their funk. Several of the members held up their Lockseeds again before opening them, heralding the arrival of Inves Warriors who were quick to form a protective wall in front of Kurokage.

“You’re proving my point,” Gam frowned, taking another stance. “You say people like me cheat, but you blatantly break all of the laws every chance you get.” He pushed down the Cutting Blade twice over his Lockseed.

“ORANGE AU LAIT!”

Gaim charged at the Inves with his energized Daidaimaru, the blade building up energy and then he swung the orange sword along with his Musou Saber. Both blades struck the Inves and reduced them into a cloud of pixels instantly. The member of Kibaou’s party could only openly gape at how their Inves Warriors were taken down so easily. Gaim himself just relaxed his stance. Inves Warriors were hardly the strongest monsters and twice empowering a hissatsu guaranteed a kill no matter what level an Inves Warrior was at.

The thugs then yelped further as the systems built into the Lockseeds activated, causing the items to fly from their hands and land into Gaim’s. He filed the Lockseeds away into his inventory and looked back at Kurokage, “Now, are you going to end this or do we have to finish?”

The black Rider snarled and rose to his feet, panting hard from his anger going out of control. Now he wasn’t being fueled by anything but rage. Gaim could already guess that he didn’t care about the Beta Testers half as much as he claimed. He only cared that they had better items and skills than he did, and he wanted them but didn’t want to risk himself to get them. So he scapegoated the Beta Testers to try and convince people to either help him or even get the items he wanted for him.

Kurokage reached to his belt, hitting the Cutting Blade.

“MATSUBOKKURI SQUASH!”

“Don’t do this Kibaou!” Gaim warned. Using a hissatsu on another human being? Was Kibaou’s greed and pride really driving him that much?

“SHUT UP!” the black Rider bellowed. He charged at Gaim before leaping up into the air and pointing his Kagemane at him. The end lit up with dark brown energy, taking the form of a giant pinecone.

Gaim quickly countered by swiftly slashing the Cutting Blade thrice.

"ORANGE SPARKING!"

The Orange Arms swiftly reassembled into their fruit form on top of Gaim’s head. As Kurokage began coming down, Gaim reached up and began spinning the Orange Arms at high speeds. Kurokage’s attack struck at Gaim’s head, but the high speed of the spinning metal orange caused a recoil which sent the black Rider flying back with a scream. He landed heavily on the ground, his weapon clattering next to him. He grunted and tried to get back up, but Gaim turned to face him as his Orange Arms transformed back into armor.

“I win,” he spoke.

“Huh?” Kurokage grunted. Gaim pointed to his health bar and Kurokage glanced up, only for his eyes to widen in horror when he saw that the recoil from the attack included damaging him. His health had dropped past the halfway point from the strike. Behind his helmet, his eyes bulged in horror, “NO!”

<< Winner: Kirito!>>

The duel results appeared and officially declared Gaim as the winner. With the declaration of a winner and a loser made, the Lockseed Kurokage was using reacted. Kurokage’s armor vanished before his Lockseed detached and flew into Gaim’s waiting hand to be filed away with the others he had.

"Improve yourself with your own hard work instead of the hard work of others," Gaim spoke before he closed up his Lockseed and removed it, taking off his armor. Seeing as none of Kibaou’s goons or Kibaou himself were trying to stop him, he turned and headed back towards the more populated section of Urbus.

“Grrr!” Kibaou growled, getting up. “You didn’t win Beta Tester! You didn’t! You cheated somehow! You had to!”

“Keep telling yourself that. It might become true one day,” Kirito waved back, still walking. He didn’t want to waste time on Kibaou’s greed and denial.

He had better things to do, like preparing for the Boss.

(LINE BREAK)

Tobei Tachibana’s Apartment - December 5th 8:00 AM

Tobei tiredly rubbed his eyes and drank another mouthful of coffee. It was times like yesterday that he wondered if his conscience was going to kill him with its nagging when he saw things like the heartfelt pleas he read yesterday. Of course, spending the afternoon on fulfilling the requests several people asked of him and then sending those videos to the people in question made it all worth it.

Asuna’s okay...Asuna’s okay...thank Kami.

Ryotaro has one of those spiffy suits? Does that mean he’s going to be better protected?

Andrew running a store. He never changes.

My daughter is so talented at dancing! I’m so glad she’s staying out of that horrible fighting.

Taking another gulp of coffee he closed the internet window so he could go to his Kamen Rider designs. There were only eight active Riders in the population of over 8,000 players and while they seemed to be busting monsters when they used the suits, it wouldn’t be enough to get through the floors as quickly as possible. More Riders were likely going to be needed in order to ensure that the remaining players would come home safe.

*KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!*

Tobei sighed and set down his coffee before heading to his front door. Undoing the lock, he opened the door to see who was looking for him. On the other side was a man in a suit with an overcoat and a rather serious looking face.

“Tobei Tachibana?” he asked.

“Yes,” Tobei nodded, knowing what was happening and resigning himself to it.

The man lifted his wallet from his pocket and opened it, revealing his identification and a police badge, “We’d like you to come down to the station and answer a few questions we have about your recent actions.”

“Of course,” Tobei nodded. “Just let me get dressed.”

To Be Continued...