Death Gun, Asuna repeated inside of her head, after hearing the menacing figure on the screen say his name. Is this...some kind of weird joke from the game's developers? I don't get it? For a joke, it seems kind of...creepy. Plus, that outfit is...off-putting, to say the least. If it's not a joke, then what is this weird guy trying to accomplish?
While Asuna, her friends and the other players that were inside of the lounge area debated whether or not what they were seeing on the screens was real, the individual, who referred to himself as Death Gun, continued.
"Many of you might think this is some kind of sick joke but I am here to tell you that it isn't. It's the furthest thing from a joke."
Players watching the screen began mumbling to themselves about what they were watching and Asuna heard Kazuto mutter, "Something about this feels really off."
She couldn't help but agree with what he was saying but didn't have any idea what the figure on the screen was trying to accomplish.
"It seems that...everyone...has forgotten how dangerous the Nerve Gear can truly be. The SAO incident wasn't even that long ago and, yet, it seems that everyone, including the survivors, have moved on. They no longer fear returning to this VR world. Fear. Such a simple word...and the main reason I'm here, talking to you, now. I think...people need to be reminded just how dangerous the VR world can truly be and the best way to accomplish that...is fear. That's exactly what I am...a symbol of fear and I'll use this weapon in my hand to carve that fear into each and every one of your brains, hahaha."
"What the fuck is this weirdo talking about?"
"When's the announcement for the 'Bullet of Bullets'?"
"This has got be some kind of joke, right? It's getting old pretty fast. I just wish they would move on already."
Despite all of the other players still set on what they were watching being a joke, Asuna noticed that the concerned look on Kazuto's face...and her friends' faces hadn't left...in fact, they had only gotten worse.
The only noise on the screen, at this point, was the sound of Death Gun's breathing, that came from the respirator in his skull mask.
"Seems...no one is taking me seriously. How unfortunate...and expected. How about a demonstration then?"
All of the sudden, the camera that was filming Death Gun zoomed out and now, it was clear that he was standing at somewhere, outside of the HUD city that Asuna and her friends were in. The particular spot looked vaguely familiar to Asuna but she couldn't pin point the exact location in her mind. Although, her mind completely stopped as her eyes focused on what was next to Death Gun...or rather, who. Both of Kazuto's hands curled up into fists as soon as he caught glimpse of what Asuna had and he gritted his teeth in pure, unbridled anger. Standing next to Death Gun was someone that both Asuna and Kirito knew very well. The bloodthirsty leader of Laughing Coffin, the murder guild of SAO, wearing his signature black poncho and holding a red photon machete. It was POH. The only thing that unsettled Asuna more than his reappearance was, who was on his knees, beneath him. The ugly bandana that covered the man's forehead revealed to Asuna and her friends that it was Klein, who wasn't moving a muscle. This could have been due to some kind of status effect or because POH's photon machete was held close to his throat.
"What the hell?" asked Agil, breaking the silence. "How did they get Klein and what are they even going to do with him? Killing him won't do anything but just make him respawn somewhere else."
"That's a good point," said Shino, still taking in what she was seeing as well. "Still, something about this doesn't seem right."
"You have to be shitting me," furiously muttered Kazuto, before he immediately left the lounge area.
Not knowing what else to do, Asuna rushed after her boyfriend, not wanting him to go after the enemies by himself. She caught glimpse of Shino and Agil making their way to follow them.
"No, you guys can stay here," Asuna claimed. "Plus, I need you guys to keep watching the tv and message me or Kirito if you learn anything about what's happening."
Agil and Shino both stopped in their tracks and, despite the worried expressions on their faces, listened to Asuna and stayed put as she ran out of the lounge area after Kazuto.
"This is so fucked," mumbled Agil to himself, returning his gaze the screen that was in front of him while Shino did the same.
Kazuto and Asuna leaving didn't seem to affect any of the other players that were in the lounge area at all since all of their eyes were still glued to the screen that showed Death Gun, POH and Klein.
On the screen, the camera that was filming zoomed back on Death Gun's weapon, a handgun that Shino recognized as a Type 54 "Black Star", the same weapon that was used by the man, who was responsible for the post office incident. She couldn't help but wonder if there was a connection between the two. She had hoped she would never have to see that weapon used in this kind of manner, again, but here it was, right in front of her, being wielded by a man, who seemed even more dangerous than the one she encountered at the post office.
"This weapon in my hand...is the tool that I will use to demonstrate my power...my power...to kill players in a VR environment," threatened Death Gun.
"That's impossible," muttered Agil to himself, annoyed. "The developers of this game took all of the necessary steps so that would never happen. How could a single player figure out a way to get around that?"
While a part of Shino found what Death Gun had just said to be a bit of a stretch as well, another part of her couldn't help but be intimidated by the words. She couldn't describe it but, for some reason, Death Gun sounded like he was completely telling the truth.
"This weapon...Death Gun, as I like to call it, is able to stop a player's heart in the real world, killing them both in this world and the real one. A single shot...is all it takes to end someone's life."
Death Gun pressed the barrel of the weapon against the back of Klein's head and the camera, once again, zoomed out, so that it was no longer focusing only on the gun.
"This isn't good," Agil said, clearly bothered by the sight of the gun being that close to his friend's head. "I really hope Kirito and Asuna know where they're going. I'm going to message Kirito the bullshit that he's spewing about that gun of his so, at least, he knows. Kirito knows more about this kind of stuff than I do so, maybe, he'll be able to figure out how logical it is."
"Good idea," agreed Shino, hoping that, wherever Kirito and Asuna were, they were safe.
*
*
*
"Kirito, do you even know where we're going?" asked Asuna, after finally catching up to her boyfriend, who was running through the wasteland, outside of the HUD city.
"I think I know where the bastard is," Kazuto responded, eyes forward. "The bridge...the same bridge where we found the Hecate. Or, at least, I think it that's where they are."
"Oh, now that you mention it, it did kind of look like that area," said Asuna, remembering the place Kazuto was talking about now as well. "But, shouldn't there be a dragon there?"
"I'm assuming those two already killed the damn thing before making that video. The fact that they were able to kill it, just the two of them, makes me wonder what level they are, to accomplish something like that. Most likely, higher leveled than us. I feel like this is going to be dangerous."
"It'll be fine," convinced Asuna. "The two of us can take them. I know we can. Plus, we have to save Klein, even if I don't think he's in any actual danger."
"What I want to know is why POH is here, after what happened with SAO? Why the hell would he come back to another VR world like this?"
From all of her conversations with POH back when she was his and Sugou's prisoner, Asuna knew the exact reason he was here and it made her sick to her stomach. He was still obsessed with Kazuto. He wanted to prove that Kazuto was just as violent and wicked as he was. She knew that she would encounter POH again but didn't think it would be this soon.
"Hold on one second, I got a message from Agil," claimed Kazuto as he pulled up his menu screen whiles still continuing to run.
He read the message to himself while Asuna focused on the bridge that they were, slowly, approaching in the distance. She tried to see if she could see POH or that Death Gun person but Kazuto interrupted her train of thought when she heard him say something.
"T-That's impossible. It has to be bullshit. It has to be."
Asuna glanced over at Kazuto, worriedly, as he exited out of the menu screen.
Before she could ask what was wrong, he said, "Don't worry, it's nothing. Let's just focus on getting to Klein."
Asuna had been with Kazuto for a while and it was because of this fact, that she knew he was withholding information from her. Kazuto rarely...if ever, lied to her which made her think that he was doing this to prevent her from worrying. More than anything, she wanted to pester Kazuto about what the message said but she chose to ignore it and just focus on the task at hand. Her and Kazuto had to save Klein. Even if there was the slightest chance that Klein could get hurt, she wanted to do everything she could to make sure it didn't happen. She had already failed Lisbeth; she didn't want to fail anybody else.
"I think I got a visual on the two of them," spoke up Kazuto.
Asuna looked in the direction of the bridge and saw three standing figures and one, kneeling down. Kazuto was right about the location. She couldn't help but feel relieved by this fact but knew she still had to be careful. It was much too early for a celebration.
"I'll take POH," Kazuto said, firmly. "Do you think you can handle the other guy, Asuna?"
"Yeah, I got this," Asuna answered as she equipped her Uzi submachine gun as the two got closer to them.
Kazuto equipped his green photon saber in preparation for fighting POH.
*
*
*
"Hahaha, it looks like we've got company," observed Vassago, sinisterly, as he watched as Kazuto and Asuna were making their way towards them.
Death Gun, briefly, turned his attention away from the screen that he was talking to, in order to see what Vassago was talking about. The third man, who was the one filming Death Gun, Vassago and Klein still used the recording option on his menu screen to keep the feed live.
After letting out a couple of deep breaths through his respirator, Death Gun, finally, gave his instructions.
"Keep filming...I want the world to see all of this. POH, you and I will deal these two. Will that be a problem?"
Vassago chuckled to himself in glee.
"Not at all, boss man. Just one little request. Let me take the kid with the dark hair...we have a bit of...history with one another."
"Fine, I'll deal with the girl, then," responded Death Gun. "I trust that she shouldn't pose much of a threat."
"Hahaha, I know you're pretty damn tough but I wouldn't underestimate that girl too much...she's a tough cookie," warned Vassago, remembering how skilled Asuna was back in SAO.
"No matter how tough she may be...she won't be able to land a single strike on me," said Death Gun, confidently, as him and Vassago waited for Kazuto and Asuna to reach them.
*
*
*
"Now, Asuna!"
Asuna aimed her Uzi submachine gun at Death Gun, as soon as Kazuto gave her the okay and aimed using two hands like Shino had taught her, so she wouldn't miss from a slightly farther range.
Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!
What? thought Asuna in to herself in shock.
As soon as the bullets had left the chamber of her weapon, Death Gun had vanished in thin air, almost like a ghost. He was no longer standing behind Klein or anywhere where Asuna could see, for that matter. Before Asuna could question where Death Gun went, any further, she could hear the eerie sound of breathing through a respirator coming from behind her so she spun around as fast as she could but as soon as she did so, Death Gun rammed his knee right into Asuna's gut, knocking the wind out of her. Asuna flew backwards and rag-dolled onto the hard ground of the wasteland. Pain was handled in GGO to a similar fashion to Aincrad Online. The players never felt real pain from combat but, rather, would get numbing sensations in the areas where they were hit. Asuna checked her health as she picked herself up off of the ground and saw that the blow was able to do a shocking 10% damage to her, leaving her at 90% health.
"The Lightning Flash, huh?" spoke Death Gun, who was standing in front of Asuna, not having moved an inch. "Notorious for her speed...and her ability with the blade. Not only is your speed disappointing but you aren't even using your photon saber. Interesting. Why is that, I wonder?"
"Shut up!" yelled Asuna in frustration as she aimed her Uzi submachine at Death Gun, again, this time only holding it with one hand, decreasing the accuracy.
Unfortunately, similar to last time, none of Asuna's shots hit because Death Gun vanished, immediately.
How the hell does he keep doing that? He's going to try the same trick. He'll be behind me...I'm sure of it.
Despite Asuna believing that she had Death Gun figured out, this time he appeared directly in front of her, rather than behind her so that they were face to face. He grabbed her shoulders with his hands and pulled Asuna's face directly into another brutal knee strike, knocking Asuna onto her back and causing her nose to feel just as numb as her stomach.
*
*
*
"Asuna!" I yelled, seeing that Asuna was getting beaten by this man, who referred to himself as Death Gun.
I made my way towards her, immediately, and pressed the button on my photon saber, causing it to shoot out green photon energy in the shape of a saber. My plan was to cut Death Gun down with my saber while he was focused on Asuna but as soon as I got close to him, someone else leaped at me, with a red, glowing, photon machete. I, instinctively, put up my own green photon saber to block the strike.
Bzzzzztttt!
The two energy weapons clashed into each other and I could feel the heat from the red photon machete that was inches away from my cheek. The person standing in front of me was someone that I instantly recognized as the leader of the murder guild, Laughing Coffin, POH. His attire was nearly identical to what he wore during his time raising hell in Sword Art Online and even used a similar weapon.
"Long time, no see, Black Swordsman," mocked Vassago, smiling, devilishly. "I've been waiting for this moment for so damn long. It's finally here!"
"Get out of my way!" I hollered, not having the time to deal with this bastard.
Using an amount of strength that POH didn't think I had, I pushed him back with my green photon saber, creating a small distance between the two of us.
"Sorry, bud, can't do that," he replied. "Plus, it's not polite to interrupt a duel between two players, even if your little girlfriend is part of the duel."
"Ahhhhhhh!"
I charged at POH, lunged into the air and thrusted my green photon saber, downward, with as much force as I could muster but this time, he was the one to block the strike with his photon machete. He turned his body sideways while blocking, and booted me in the side, sending me flying backwards but I still managed to land on my feet.
Damn it, I thought to myself, annoyed. I don't have time for this, right now. Asuna needs me.
"If you want to get to your little girlfriend so badly, all you have to do is get past me, Black Swordsman. That shouldn't be too hard for the one responsible for clearing SAO, right?"
Not seeing any other way, I accepted POH's challenge and began to rush him, with the intent to end our fight as quickly as possible.
*
*
*
"Ughhhh!" Asuna moaned as she forced herself up, after being knocked down by Death Gun, again.
He hadn't moved an inch from the spot that he kneed her in the face from. Instead, got out a photon saber and pressed the button on the side of it, causing it to shoot red photon energy out of it, creating the blade of his weapon.
Damn it. He has a saber. This gun isn't going to do a damn thing against him, especially because I'm thinking too recklessly to aim it. My only choice is...
Asuna unequipped the Uzi submachine gun and equipped her own photon saber. As she pressed the button to activate it, she kept telling herself that it was the only way to save Klein which caused her hands, that were holding it, to shake a little less.
"Ah, that's better," commented Death Gun, clearly happy that Asuna was using her saber instead of her gun.
Asuna dashed at her opponent, realizing she wouldn't be able to hold her photon saber too long without beginning to panic, and started swinging it, rapidly.
Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt!
Three swings of her pink photon saber and, before each strike could land, Death Gun vanished and reappeared in a different location, almost like he was teleporting around her. As Asuna's frustration increased, her strikes became sloppier and sloppier, as she was still desperate to end the fight as quickly as possible. Death Gun continued to teleport before any of her wild strikes could hit and, finally, Asuna felt a numbness in her back. Death Gun had teleported behind her and struck her, horizontally, across her back. Death Gun then, teleported in front of her and slashed Asuna right cross the left side of her face, sending her flying, backwards. She landed, hard, on her stomach, dropping her pink photon saber in the process. Blood dripped from the left side of her face where the red photon saber had hit and that entire side of her face felt numb. With the eye that didn't have blood dripping into it, she could see that her health was at 30%.
After trading strikes with Vassago, Kazuto caught glimpse of the shape that Asuna was in and she could hear him calling out for her. Although, as soon as he did so, Vassago began attacking him, once again, preventing him from doing anything to save her.
"I...I...can...still fight," Asuna told herself as she began to use the palms of her hands to push herself up off of the ground.
"No, you can't," said Death Gun, who had teleported right beside her.
Death Gun pointed his red saber downward and, using both hands, drove the weapon directly into Asuna's back, pinning her into the ground so she couldn't move. Asuna's health shot down to 7% and she felt incredibly weak.
"Now, if you don't mind, there's something I need to do," Death Gun claimed as he teleported from beside Asuna to behind Klein, who Asuna had a clear sight of, from the position she was pinned to.
The player that was dressed in all black and who was filming everything that was happening, refocused the video feed so that it only showed Death Gun and Klein.
"Sorry about that inconvenience," apologized Death Gun, as he took out his Type 54 "Black Star" and pointed it at the back of Klein's head.
Since Asuna was closer to Klein, she could now tell a few things about his game avatar's predicament. Not only was he suffering from a paralysis status ailment but his health was at 5% as well, meaning that a single shot from the weapon that Death Gun was holding would be enough to finish him off.
"Now, without further delay, I will demonstrate to all of you watching, the power of the weapon I hold in my hand...my...Death Gun. The days of no longer fearing VR games will be no more, from this point forward and I'll make damn sure of that."
No, not again! Asuna screamed, internally. I don't want to lose anyone else! No! Not again! Not again! Not again!
It was as if Asuna had completely disregarded the earlier thoughts of her believing Klein wasn't actually in any danger. It all just felt...so real to her, now, that she couldn't help but feel like Klein was in danger, somehow. On top of that, there wasn't anything she could do about it, no matter how much she struggled. After Death Gun's speech, Klein, despite suffering from his paralysis ailment, forced himself to look at Asuna and he smiled at her, realizing there wasn't much either of them could do. He wasn't able to actually speak due to the paralysis but was able to force himself to mouth a couple of last words to Asuna.
It's all alright, Asuna.
Asuna could tell the first part of what Klein was mouthing but couldn't figure out the second part. Before she could give it any more thought, Death Gun pulled the trigger to his weapon.
Bang!
The sound of the Type 54 "Black Star" being fired echoed throughout the wasteland. Blood shot out of Klein's forehead and his body flopped onto the ground, lifelessly. Normally, when a player was killed in the game world, they would shatter into tiny red polygonal shards and be respawned at the HUD city. Although, this isn't what happened with Klein. Rather, his body was surrounded in blue light and his body was enveloped by it, completely. This was akin to what happened to a character when they logged out of the game world. As soon as his character's health dropped to zero, Klein had logged himself out.
"No!" screamed out Asuna, desperately. "No! No! No!"
She had no idea what had happened to Klein or, ultimately, what his fate was but she had just witnessed her friend get shot in the head while being paralyzed by the man standing in front of her. No matter how hard she struggled, she couldn't force herself to move because of the red photon saber that was pinning her to the ground.
"Damn it! Damn it! You bastard!" she hollered out, angrily. "How could you do something so horrible?! Klein couldn't even move and you executed him in front of other players! Why?! Answer me! Answer me!"
Death Gun simply laughed to himself.
"You'll get your answers...soon enough, Lightning Flash," he responded, without turning his attention away from the screen that was filming him.
"Today, I have demonstrated the power of my weapon and now, all that's left, is for each and every person around the world to realize the effect of it," announced Death Gun, like he had accomplished a grand feat. "This will not be the last time you see my face; that is a promise."
Death Gun and the red photon saber that was pinning Asuna to the ground were both enveloped by blue light and disappeared, immediately, indicating that he had logged off. Asuna was no longer pinned to the ground but still felt incredibly weak.
Whack!
Vassago had elbowed Kazuto in the mouth, causing him to land on his rear, still holding, tightly, onto his green saber.
"Seems like we're done here," said Vassago, grinning. "See ya round, real soon, Black Swordsman."
Similar to Death Gun, Vassago was enveloped by a blue light and logged out of GGO as well. As soon as he was gone, Kazuto turned his attention to Asuna, who was still struggling on the ground and rushed over to her aid. As soon as he arrived, he noticed how badly she was hurt based on the amount of health that she had left and the brutal wound on her left eye.
"A-Asuna..."
"K-Kirito...I...I couldn't...save Klein," muttered Asuna. "I-I let him die. I-I'm worthless. I'm...still so damn weak. I-I haven't changed...at all."
"Asuna, none of this is your—"
"I let him die!" yelled Asuna, causing Kazuto to jump, slightly. "I let him die! I let him die! I let him die!"
Kazuto pulled Asuna into a hug, even though she tried to whack him while he did so.
"I-It's alright," he comforted. "He just executed Klein in this stupid game world...Klein is fine. There's nothing to worry about."
While Kazuto spoke these words to Asuna, he couldn't help but remember what the message Agil had sent him said about the weapon that Death Gun used. Apparently, Death Gun claimed that it could kill someone in the real world. Even though, Kazuto thought it was impossible for a weapon like that to exist in this VR world, he couldn't help but worry for Klein's safety, just like Asuna was doing, now.
*
*
*
"Oh, God, that was a late one," said Kana, yawning, as she unlocked the door to Klein's apartment with a key that the two had gotten made for her. "I didn't think my day at work would ever end. I'm surprised Klein didn't respond to my text saying that I was going to be...oh, that's right, tonight's the announcement of that tournament thing. Hm, is it still going on? It's kind of late."
Kana opened the door to Klein's apartment, closed it behind her and locked it. It was completely dark in the living area of the apartment, meaning that Klein must have been in their bedroom, either asleep or still in the Nerve Gear. After popping her stiff neck a couple of times, Kana made her way into their room and, just like she thought, saw Klein lying on their bed with the Nerve Gear still on his head.
"Haha, just like I thought," she said to herself, smiling.
The more she looked at the Nerve Gear, though, her smile, slowly, disappeared, as she realized that the usual green light, that indicated that the device was in use, wasn't on. That meant that the Nerve Gear wasn't even powered up as it sat on Klein's head.
"Hm, did you fall asleep wearing that silly thing? What a goof."
Kana made her way over to Klein and, carefully, took off the Nerve Gear, to not wake him up. She placed the device on the nightstand next to the bed and was relieved that she didn't manage to wake up him when taking off the Nerve Gear.
Right, I'll just get cleaned up and join...Wait, is he breathing? Kana thought to herself, noticing that Klein's chest wasn't moving at all and that his body almost seemed lifeless.
Kana put her ear to Klein's chest to check for a heartbeat but couldn't hear one which, instantly, caused her to panic.
Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. M-Maybe, if I check for a pulse somewhere else?
Not knowing what else to do, she began checking both his wrist and side of his neck for a pulse but couldn't find one from either location. Having exhausted all of her options, she began to shake Klein, rapidly, in the hopes that this would result in him opening his eyes. Although, no matter how hard she shook, it didn't seem to be making much of a difference. As she continued shaking Klein's body harder and harder, she began shouting his name in the hopes that this would do something...anything.
"Klein! Klein, wake up! Klein, wake up! You have to wake up, Klein! Klein!"
No matter how hard and desperately she yelled and shook his body, Klein's eyes never opened.
Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading this week's chapter! I apologize for how long it is but I really did want to make this chapter as detailed as possible and didn't want to split it into two different chapters, really. The introduction of Death Gun in my story is vastly different than how it is in the anime and light novels and I mainly did this because I really wanted Death Gun's introduction to be more impactful to showcase how much of a threat he really is. On top of that, I wanted to make my version of Death Gun more of a foil to Asuna, rather than Kirito, since Kirito's main foe in this story is Vassago. That's why I gave him that mysterious teleporting ability which I thought, not only fit his character, but would be a good counter against Asuna's speed! Hopefully, I was able to capture something unique with Death Gun's character in this chapter. Anyways, I will see you next week!