//------------------------------// // CH49: Goodbye Virtual World Part 2 // Story: Kingdom Hearts F.I.M: Rise of The Elements // by Spirit Shift //------------------------------// “You didn’t have to kill her!” Kirito shouted, the cork on his anger loosening rapidly. Kayaba scoffed and shrugged. “No, I didn’t. They were interesting, I’ll admit. So much to learn and much more data to analyze. The girl over there is a particularly interesting player. So emotionally unstable, and with such confusion and self doubt hidden under that tough façade.” He glanced over at her prone form, at the blood slowly pooling on the ground under her. “Her emotion levels in particular were marveling enough to study for hours. But there are others. And now that I think about it, if I capture that young one, Pinkie I believe, I can keep them here to study for as long as I please.” “I thought you wanted the game to end!” Kirito screamed. His face scrunching in sheer fury. “I thought you could give me an ending!” Kayaba screamed back. The room went silent, save for a single sigh from Kayaba. “I was bored, so very bored. You were the only thing I could look forwards to--THIS BATTLE was the only thing I looked forward to. But in the end, you didn’t give me an ending.” Kayaba’s grin grew, no longer one of calm malice and confident outlook. His wide and unnatural grin gave him a new appearance. Now he appeared on the outside exactly as Kirito had seen him to be in his mind, insane. “You’ve given me something new. It’s time for the big update, Kirito! I’m revitalizing this game!” he yelled, spreading his arms wide. “The people need a reason to keep fighting? I’ll give them a reason, I’ll give them--” His words were cut short as a deafening sound pierced the area. A familiar sound to every human but not one heard in such a long time. Kayaba turned his head turned to see his left arm, from shoulder down, flying off in a shower of blood red pixels. Both he and Kirito turned to see Dash on her knees, breathing heavily and one eye closed. Held out in front of her with both hands was her smoking rifle, Spiral. “You… you talk too much, I was aiming for your head,” she coughed, blood dripping from her mouth.” “A― a gun?” Kayaba gasped in fear. Immediately, a second shot slammed into and through his chest, sending him flying backwards onto his back. Groaning from the pain of the recoils impact, Dash spat out a wad of blood. Her breath coming in short breathes she bent over and coughed once again. “And who the hell are you calling… emo… emotionally unsta… ble.” eyes glazing over, Dash fell to the ground and dropped the gun. Upon hitting the ground Spiral glowed and vanished much like her Keyblade. His grip tightening, Kirito fought the urge to run towards her. Not letting the chance go to waste, he dropped his white blade and let out a pained fury filled scream as he ran towards Kayaba’s defenseless form. Jumped into the air the angered man stabbed his black blade down onto Kayaba, completely erasing whatever health he had left. Kayaba let out a silent yell as Kirito’s blade sunk into his body. He could do nothing but watch his health bar vanish from his sight. Above him, Kirito’s grip loosened and his arm began trembling. “Please… this time stay gone… let the game end. Let this nightmare die.” Hearing, Kirito’s pleading done, Kayaba’s eyes went wide. After a second of silence, Kayaba closed his eyes and relaxed on the ground. “Maybe I did slip a bit there… but there’s nothing to do now. The game will release everyone. Everyone down stairs will be transported here as well so you all can say your goodbyes. I’ve lost.” He cracked one more grin. “Even if you did cheat to beat me.” And with that Kayaba shattered into millions of vibrant crimson shards. Shimmering, and gleaming, the shards of the final boss flittered up into the rapidly clearing skies before twinkling out of view entirely. Before all of the shards could vanish, Kirito let go of his blade and rushed to Rachelle’s side. Gently, he turned her over and cradled her head on his lap. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of her front nearly entirely covered in blood. However, upon picking her up, he let out a sigh at the feeling of her slow shallow breathing. Taking out a dagger, Kirito didn’t hesitate on ripping open her shirt and revealing the sports bra beneath. He gave a weak smile at the smile of nothing but a large gash tearing through her upper right chest and shoulder, missing anything vital. Reasoning she must have used her insane reflexes to shift to the left at the last moment to dodge, he quickly began applying pressure to the wound and ripping the shirt into a makeshift bandage. Knowing that simple first aid wouldn’t save her from blood loss his only thought was to slow it enough for Twilight and the others to arrive. And arrive they did, just as he finished tying her wound up. Several blue glows from in front of them signaled that Kayaba’s words rang true. Confused, Twilight and the others all began looking around. “What? Where are weーRACHELLE!” she screamed upon seeing her bloody friend. From her scream, everyone else turned to see them and each and every one of them let out a horrified gasp before running towards her. Twilight however, teleported over to her immediately. “What happened!” she demanded, her eyes boring into Kirito’s. “Oh dear, Maker!” Rarity gasped, coming to a kneel beside her. AJ stood over the group, her clenched fists shaking and she looked over her best friend. Lip bit bloodied from anger, she muttered, “Who the hell did this.” Her words, to everyone present, carried all the severity and wrath of a raging earthquake within its quiet tone. Away from the others, Pinkie hunched over, quietly struggling in her own way to keep her anger in check. As Asuna sat down quietly next to Kirito, the man shook his head and explained. “Kayaba decided that he wasn’t satisfied. He adopted most of your powers and challenged us again.” He gave a pointed look at both Twilight and Rarity before letting his gaze fall to Dash once again. “I won’t lie, there’s no possible way I would have won without her. But Kayaba got in a cheap shot, he caused this injury.” Kirito and the others staggered as AJ stomped the ground in anger. Kirito continued with a small grin. “Don’t get me wrong, she got in two of her own in return. Can she be healed?” Twilight, tears glittering in her eyes, nodded her head. “Damn it I wish Shy was here! Rarity help me!” she said wiping her eyes. Rarity flinched back. “Me? But you know I’m no good at the Cure spell.” Twilight glared at her, though unintentionally. “But you know it! Please, I don’t think I can completely cure a deep injury like this with a Cura spell by myself. We need at least a Curaga. But I can’t do that spell so a Cure and Cura together might work. Please.” Rarity didn’t need to be told twice. Together the two called upon their magic and got to work fixing their friends injuries. Meanwhile, Kirito was shrinking back from AJ’s fierce look. “You look fine,” she muttered. Kirito could do nothing but avert his gaze. “I have potions to heal myself whenever I get the chan--” He let out a small yelp as he was dragged upwards by the collar of his jacket. “So what? Did you use her as a distraction while you made yourself all fine and dandy?!” she yelled in his face. “Jackie!” screamed Twilight, holding Dash in her arms after she fell from Kirito’s lap. “We knew what we signed up for. We all knew that we would be injured, in fact,” she looked up at AJ,” he’s the one who warned us that we’d get hurt.” AJ closed her eyes, her brow twitching. Slowly, he let Kirito back down. “I… Ah’m sorry… It’s just… sorry.” Taking a deep breath she too sat on the ground around Dash. “Hell, I’m a bit more mad that I didn’t get to bash that man’s face in myself,” she muttered, punching the ground. Kirito let out a small chuckle. “If it makes you feel better, Rachelle shot him while he was doing his final boss monologue. AJ joined him in his giggling. “A bit more jealous, Ah think.” Feeling the tension die, around her Pinkie finally made her way over to the group while wiping away the cold sweat that had began to flow down her forehead. A nervous smile on her face she sat down, completing the circle. “So, what powers did the big meanie take?” she asked. Asuna intently watched Twilight and Rarity heal their friend. “I’m also curious. I thought he wanted a fair fight.” Kirito nodded and explained everything that happened from the time the two of them made it to this final floor. He recounted Kayaba’s reappearance, his transformation and the gists of the fight. Finally, by the time he reached the end of his story, Twilight let out a sigh of relief. As the glow died down from her’s and Rarity’s hands everyone looked over their friend’s body. “We’ve healed her injuries,” said Twilight. “And even though Cura helped, she did lose a lot of blood. We need to get her back to the ship and get one of my Hi-Potions to completely heal her.” Gently, AJ picked up her friend and lifted her up onto her back. “Geeze, girl, how many times are you gonna be out of it when we leave a world,” she chuckled. As everyone else also stood back up, Asuna craned her head to look around the area. Her eyes finally landed on the sight of Aincrad castle crumbling slowly. “Weren't we just in there?” “I don’t know, but it’s over now.” Kirito patted down his clothes and walked over to Twilight. Looking her in the eye, he held his hand out. “Thank you… and I’m sorry I couldn’t protect your friend.” Twilight smiled and shook her head. “It’s alright,” she said, gripping his hand tightly. “I was worried at first but Rachelle is strong. She’ll be fine. Heck, she’ll be bragging about it when she gets up.” AJ scoffed. “Yeah and Ah’ll remind her of how she left that fight.” A few feet away, Rarity and Asuna were hugging it out. “Thank you for everything,” sighed Asuna. Tightening the hug, Rarity shook her head. “No thank you for your teachings.” “Thank you for the fun times!” Pinkie shouted, popping up and hugging them both. Twilight looked from Asuna to Kirito. “So what’ll happen to you now?” Kirito opened his menu and scrolled down. To his surprise the logout button had returned to his menu. “We leave.” Twilight frowned. “Kirito I have to tell you, I’m a bit worried. You’ve all been unconscious this whole time. How atrophied would your body be by now?” Kirito shook his head and Asuna came up and gripped his hand. “We know. Honestly, I’m not even sure if we’re in any condition physically, but both of us and the people of this world have accepted that fact. All of us just want to leave and now we can.” Twilight nodded, her mood brightened by their sincerity. “Then I hope you all get back safely.” Pinkie hopped around her group with glistening energy. “So are we all ready to go?!” “I hope so!” Rarity sighed. “I desperately want to change my clothes.” “H-hold on!” AJ flinched as the girl on her back tiredly raised her head. “Rach?” gasped AJ. “Hey, stop wigglin’ around.” Dash shook her head. “I…. I gotta know before we go. What happened to Spike? Do you know where he went after you saw him last?” Kirito’s eyes went wide for a moment and, reluctantly, he moved his gaze from her's. Memories flashed through his mind and his mood soured. Eventually, he shook his head. “I… don’t know where he went. But I do know the last world he went to before he left.” All of the girl’s gazes locked onto him instantly, all of their interests piqued. “He found his home world as far as I could gather. I don’t know the name but something happened there… something that definitely had a hand in changing him. I honestly don’t recommend going to it, but if you want to find out more about Spike… you may have to.” Giving a few weak coughs, Dash’s eyes fluttered closed and she fell asleep once again. AJ glanced back at her for a few more seconds before hitching her back up on her back and securing her. “Leave it to Rainbow to wake up just to ask a question.” All of them waited for a few more seconds. When nothing happened all of the girls burst out in a fit of giggles, much to Asuna’s and Kirito’s confusion. “Yeah she’s out of it,” observed Twilight. “We should really get back to the ship. Pinkie?” “Yupperoonie!” she cheered. Keyblade already in hand, she threw her arm into the air and released a bright beam of light upwards. Upon reaching a few yards into the air the beam split and formed a bright dome over the girls. As they began to vanish an unearthly wind blew around the area. Asuna, to her surprise, began shivering from the cold. She gasped and rose her hands to her face. “I… I can feel that... “ she muttered. “I can feel the cool air?” Kirito nodded, leaning into the wind. “Yeah… it’s been a while. Keyblades have a tendency to do that. Asuna smiled and leaned her body into her husband’s. “So this was what you were talking about back then.” Kirito’s relaxed grin slowly lowered into a frown. Memories from the past reformed in his head. His final memory of Spike was, sadly, something he wished could have been better. ~Three years ago~ Giving her husband a gentle kiss past the door frame, Asuna took a step back and grasped Yui’s hand in her own. With her other one, she opened her menu and summoned a cubic teleport crystal. “See you later,” she said, waving him away. Yui also began waving at him wildly. Kirito, standing inside his home, smiled and waved as Asuna activated the crystal. “Have fun,” he cheered as his wife and daughter disappeared, engulfed in a bright white light. The light fading into sparkles. Kirito reached up an arm and stretched, yawning as he did so. Angling his head out of the door, he looked up into the sky and gauged the sun’s position. Catching himself he frowned and immediately opened his menu to check the time. “This is just a video game…” he muttered, citing his personal mantra. After spending such a long time in this world, a lot of people around him had began to accept this world as reality, they’d given up on leaving. Slowly, even he found himself losing his grip, just a little. Walking outside completely, he shut the door behind him and sighed. Staying inside like he had previously planned would do nothing to help his situation. Scratching his head, Kirito wondered what to do. Should he go farm some materials? Power level in one of the many cleared floor dungeons? Go visit Klein and maybe help out with his guild? There were plenty of choices, as there always were but none of them really appealed to him, none of it seemed challenging enough for the mood he was currently in. Kirito let out a deeper longer sigh. “God, I wish Asuna hadn’t banned me from soloing in the uncleared dungeons… Maybe I should have gone with them to the orphanage. Deciding that standing around was no good, Kirito took out his own teleport crystal and fondled it in his hands, moving it around in though. “I guess I’ll hang out with Klein then, maybe spar a bit.” Kirito’s eyes widened as a sudden strong breeze picked up from nowhere. A familiar strange feeling washed over him, a feeling he dearly missed. The wind that always blew in the game was simply that, wind. To any normal player it was just a force pushing against his avatar. However, this breeze, it always carried a feeling. It felt cool, calm, and relieving, like it was caressing his actual body in real life. He couldn’t explain how it was able to give him a real sensation, but it probably had to do with it’s cause. As always, preceding the wind was a small pinprick of light that shined in place for a few seconds before expanding wildly into a grand portal of shining light as large as Kirito himself. The breeze picked up. Kirito closed his eyes and leaned into it while still keeping a few feet from the shining door. He loved this, actually feeling the cool, cool wind. His only thought being that he wished Asuna was here to fell it as well. After about a minute of silence, Kirito opened his eyes and tilted his head. “Spike?” he called. Hearing nothing but the soft hum of the magic in front of him, Kirito tentatively stepped forward towards the door. “Spike!” he called once more. Reaching a hand out to touch the portal, he extended a finger into it. Like usual the world went green for him and his body froze. In his eyes, the world devolved into wireframe as the vast textures that made the game realistic melted into their base components. Bracing himself mentally, he prepared for part two of the glitch. Kirito jerked away with a yelp of pain coursed through his head. Falling to one knee, he gripped his head and waited for the pain to subside. Afterwards, Kirito looking upwards at the portal, his face downcast. A portal to the outside world… and he couldn’t use it. The man shook his head, wondering why he kept trying to cross whenever Spike visited. Speaking of the dragon, Kirito stood back up and got as close as he could. “Spike!” Eventually, he could make out a distant shape in the bright expanse. He smiled and backed up, waiting for his friend to come through. Kirito opened his menu and summoned his blades. Last time Spike appeared before him, the wild boy jumped out and attacked Kirito in a surprise spar. The time before that when he first did it, the boy glomped him and dragged him to a boss fight. Kirito spread his legs and braced himself, not sure what to expect this time. A figure came into view and Kirito’s steeled frame softened. He lowered his blade and the figure became clearer. It was definitely Spike, now about a year older than last time, a full on teenager of nearly the same height as himself. The boy exited the portal and Kirito gasped as Spike fell over, face first, onto the ground, his Keyblades falling and disappearing alongside the portal behind him. Kirito rushed over to his friends aid, dropping his own weapons in the process. Spike twitched on the ground and Kirito looked over his injuries. The boy was cut up and slashed in various places, his clothes were torn, his breathing was shallow and he was burned very badly. Kirito gasped at the sight of Spike’s body that was charred black in various places and burned in other places. The supposedly fireproof warrior was actually suffering from burn injuries. “Spike,” Kirito called frantically, “Spike are you alright what happened!” “K-” Spike coughed out. Kirito leaned closer. “Kir? I… I figured it out.” Spike, using probably what remained of his strength griped his right hand into a fist, tearing the dirt in the process. Kirito continued to look over the boy's body clearly unsure of what to do considering his interaction with Spike’s physical body could only go so far. However, before Kirito could figure something out, Spike stirred. “Spike what are you doing stay down, you’re hurt.” Kirito yelled, eyes wide in fear. Spike, finally getting his arms and legs under him, shook his head. “N-no… I have to get back to the castle. I finally remember now!” Kirito stood up. “Fine, if I can’t stop you let me at least help you.” Kirito reached down and tried to take hold of Spike’s arm.” In a split second Kirito caught a flash of metal before a burning sensation spread across his body. Staggering back he groaned in pain and clawed at the fresh mark going across his body and the burning embers trailing along it. “Sp… Spike?” he grunted, looking over at Spike and the smoking weapon in the boy’s hand. Spike, finally climbing to his knees growled. “I know… I figured out who I am!” Kirito shrugged off the otherworldly pain and quickly downed his most effective elixir. Slowly, the pain ebbed and his wounds healed. Glancing at his health bar he was shocked to see that just that one attack had thrown his health into the red. “What the hell are you talking about?” Kirito glowed, re-summoning his blade. Spike, still breathing heavily, struggled to his feet. While one arm, the burned one dangled uselessly, his other arm held his Keyblade outwards, tip pointed towards Kirito. Keeping his head lowered and eyes shut tight, he continued. “My home, I found it. And my memories… I got a few of those back too.” Kirito rose a brow, but kept up his defense. “Then why are you acting like this. Isn’t this what you wanted?” Spike’s outstretched arm began shaking. “Not like this… I didn’t want to find out like this.” Kirito ventured a step forward. “What’s wrong Spike… I don’t understand. Please, look me in the eyes and tell me, ‘Where did you go? What did you see?” Spike took a step back and slowly opened his eyes. Kirito stared into Spike’s teary emerald orbs. As soon as they opened, tears began to stream down his face. “I killed them all… and burned the world to the ground… I don’t remember but I know I did.” Kirito recoiled in shock but  quickly regained his composure. He opened his mouth to continue but paused when Spike frantically wiped his eyes. “Spike,” he began, “I think--” Spike shook his head rapidly. “They deserved it though, for what they did just to save themselves. But… but that’s not the point! I finally remember what happened to my friends.” Kirito took another step forward, curious but cautious. Spike was clearly in hysterics. As far as Kirito could tell Spike had come across a recent world and did something to unlock a few memories, but those memories were hurting and confusing him. However, what Kirito was far more curious about, but was who Spike claimed he killed. “What happened to your friends?” he asked. Spike clenched his teeth and growled. Fire erupted from his Keyblade and with a cry of despair he swung it in a wide arc, spreading flames everywhere. Kirito immediately jumped far back, shielding himself with both his arms. By the time Kirito had recovered, Spike was standing next to another portal like the one before. His Keyblade gone and the hand that was carrying it was now cradling his other, far more injured arm. The boy was visually more calm and more tears were now flowing, unrestrained from his eyes. “My friends are gone and there’s nothing left for me to do anymore… I don’t know who killed them… but I hope they burns in hell.” And with that, Spike moved through the portal. ~~~ “And that was the last time I saw him…” Kirito muttered, letting out a sigh and staring out across the clouds towards the bright golden sunset. Asuna, staring instead at the slowly crumbling Aincrad castle in the distance. “Why didn’t you tell Rachelle and the others that?” Kirito’s gaze fell. “I couldn’t… with the way Rachelle is now, she’s close to acting the same way as Spike did. She’ll refuse to believe me but the doubt will kill her inside.” Asuna snuggled closer to Kirito and gripped his hand. “So… I didn’t want to admit it… but I am a bit worried about what will happen to us on the other side.” Kirito shook his head. “Who knows… Do you regret ending this game?” Asuna smiled. “Of course not. And I guess it’s fine. Just promise me… that when you wake up, you find me… even if I don’t?” Kirito gasped but gave a weak nod. “Of course.” Asuna continued to watch the remnants of the game crumble. Her eyes widened at one particular sight. “Look is that our house?” Kirito followed her gaze fast enough to watch as their shared home broke in two and fall into the endless data stream below it. Suddenly, a third voice rang out. “Quite a view, don’t you think?”