Shit....
Our hunch was wrong. Jushi X or Musketeer X was not Death Gun. After taking her out I saw Sinon lying on the ground. I quickly picked up Musketeer X's smoke grenades and picked up her rifle.
U/N: Kirito. Let's go!
Kirito: Right behind you.
We both jumped down as Death Gun was doing his signature hand gesture and before he shot Sinon, I raised the rifle and shot him in the shoulder. He wobbled a little bit, and I shot him again before grabbing a smoke grenade and tossing it over to them. With the smoke distraction in the way of his vision I grabbed Sinon's sniper.
U/N: Kirito! Grab Sinon.
Kirito: On it!
He picked her up and we both ran. I was behind Kirito Protecting both of them from any shots that Death Gun threw at us.
Sinon: I'm just slowing the two of you down. Just leave me.
U/N: Not going to happen Sinon.
We kept running as Death Gun shot down a sign.
U/N: Kirito up ahead.
I told him about the buggy and horse rental sign.
Kirito: I see it.
When we got to the buggies, there were five of them and a robot horse.
Sinon: Not the horse. It can go fast, but it's too hard to control.
U/N: Kirito. You and Sinon get on one of them. I'll get on a different one.
I said noticing a covered-up vehicle. I gave Kirito, Sinon's sniper and he nodded setting the two of them down on the back seat of the buggy.
U/N: Go! I'll catch up.
Kirito rented the buggy and drove off as I rigged all of the other ridable vehicles with explosives. After that I quickly uncovered a nice matte black motorcycle and noticed Death Gun just arriving. I noticed and gave him a quick middle finger as I rode off.
U/N: Fuck off Terminator!
After catching up to Kirito and Sinon, I looked behind me to see Death Gun riding the robotic horse.
U/N: Shit! The murderer took horseback riding lessons too!
I yelled taking out my Ace of Spades and shooting at him a couple of times. Death Gun took out the pistol again and started lining up for a shot on Sinon.
Again, with the pistol. I've seen him switch from using his sniper to the pistol when he killed Pale Ryder, and again with Sinon. What's so special about that stupid gun. He could have just shot Pale Ryder with his sniper. Unless. He has standards. and with the hand gesture with his left hand. He probably does that to mess with others. Wait... I look down to the watch on my left arm. He checks the time. But why. To avoid the scan. No that's not it. It's risky but I have to test something out.
When Death Gun lined up his shot, I saw the bullet line heading straight for Sinon. After he shot, I got in the way with my arm acting like a barrier of protection for Sinon. But what came after is something I did not expect. Nothing. I thought getting shot by his pistol would've ended in my demise. I looked back at him and noticed that he looked a tad surprised.
I've figured him out.
U/N: So that's how you do it.
I mumbled.
U/N: Kirito! We have to find a way to knock him off that horse!
Kirito: Yea I already thought of something! Sinon! You have to use your sniper and shoot at him! You don't have to hit him! Just distract him!
Sinon: I can't do it. Please. Don't make me do it.
She said between sobs.
Kirito: Then you drive! Give me your gun!
Sinon said something to which I could not hear, and she grabbed the sniper and tried her best to grasp the trigger.
Sinon: I can't do it! I just can't!
U/N: Don't worry about it Kirito. Just keep driving.
When we hit a makeshift ramp, I pulled out a detonation device and triggered it. The horse Death Gun was riding started to beep as he looked down, confused. He saw the bomb and jumped off the second it blew up. He was alive but probably got a whole ton of HP loss from that. With the current danger out of the way for now, Kirito, Sinon, and I made our way into the desert area, and we stopped.
Kirito: We are sitting ducks out here. U/N is there anything that you can see?
U/N: No. Nothing.
Sinon: I think there is a cave over there.
She said while pointing towards a small rock formation.
Sinon: If we hide there. We can avoid the SAT scan.
U/N: That'll do.
After riding to the cave and getting off of our motor vehicles, I took my time to stretch a little bit before sitting down somewhere on the ground. Kirito and Sinon did the same thing and sat on the opposite side of the cave.
Kirito: What happened back there? He just appeared out of nowhere. None of us saw him on the scan. That means he has some sort of cloaking skill. Is there a skill like that here? Invisibility?
Sinon: Yeah, there is. It's called meta material optical camouflage. We are safe for now anyways. Besides, even if he was invisible, we would hear him due to the sands here being rough. We would also see his footprints too. he can't sneak up like he did before.
Kirito: Well, I guess we'll keep our eyes and ears open then.
Sinon: Hey U/N? Do you think when you blew up that horse, that Death Gun might've been killed in that explosion?
U/N: No. I saw him jump off when I detonated that horse. He defiantly lost a huge amount of HP, but he isn't dead.
Sinon: Oh. Back when he had me in his sights, how did you two know I was in danger? And how'd you get to me so fast from your position?
Kirito: Hmm. We were wrong about Jushi X being Death Gun.
U/N: Clearly.
Kirito: Yeah. We both took one look, and it was pretty obvious.
Sinon: Obvious?
Kirito: I know a woman when I see one.
Sinon: Ohh.
Kirito: The second we saw her. I knew we overlooked something, but we didn't know what though. Oh, and even though her handle was Jushi, she called herself Musketeer X. Anyways, when U/N and I took care of her, we looked towards the south and saw you lying there in the streets.
U/N: We both knew you were in trouble when we saw you, so I grabbed Musketeer X's rifle and smoke grenades to pull off a daring rescue.
Sinon: I can't believe I let my guard down like that.\
Kirito: Don't go beating yourself up about it.
U/N: He's got a point Sinon. It's not like we knew he was down there either. And hey, if it were me or Kirito down there in your position, it would've been me or Kirito the ones getting shot. But you would've saved either of us just as we saved you. Right?
Sinon kept to herself while Kirito and I just looked at each other and then at her. I then sighed and stood up.
U/N: I'm going to head out for a bit. You two should stay and rest up here. I know we can't log out while the tournament is still going but still.
I grabbed my photon sword and checked the status of it while Sinon and Kirito looked at me.
Sinon: You're going after Death Gun, aren't you? You think you can take him on alone?
U/N: I have to. It's a pretty even fight. If he gets a couple of shots at me who knows I might even bail. I'd rather not leave the two of you alone to fight that guy.
Sinon: So, your scared of him too?
U/N: He makes me nervous if anything. If it were the old me. I would've fought him without thinking twice. But there are people I need to protect. In the virtual world and the real world.
Sinon: Ok then don't go after him. Just stay here and keep low like us. As long as BoB is going on, we can't log out. But when the competition comes down to the three of us and one other, we can just suicide out. That'll leave that other guy and the tournament would end.
U/N: I mean. Sure, that's one way of doing it. But I think that's not so good of an idea. If we just sit here, then who knows how many other players he could kill.
Sinon: Yeah.
She stayed silent before standing up and walking towards me.
Sinon: Then I'm going with you to help take out that bastard.
Kirito: What?!
He also stood up.
U/N: No, you're not. I'm not sure if you were listening or not but I'm not putting you or Kirito in harm's way just because you don't want to be afraid anymore. besides, I'm better than you at close quarters combat then you or Kirito. This is my fight, not yours, not his either. Regardless, his target at the moment is you, and since Cheshire Cat can go invisible, he can appear right next to you at any moment and kill you.
Sinon: I don't care if I die.
I couldn't say anything else when she said that. Those words brought me back to my earlier days of SAO.
---FLASHBACK---
U/N: I could care less if I die.
-----------------------
Sinon: I was scared back at the stadium. Scared I was going to die. I was even weaker than I was five years ago. Like a screaming, crying little girl. If that's how I'm going to be for the rest of my life. Then I'd rather be dead.
I took a deep breath.
U/N: Sinon. It's natural to be afraid. I haven't met anyone who's not afraid of dying.
Sinon: Yeah well. I hate it. I'm tired of being afraid. I'm so tired.
She looks down, her hair covering her eyes.
Sinon: Whatever. I'm not asking to go with you. I'll fight by myself.
She says as she pushes me to the side. But I stopped her by grabbing her wrist.
U/N: So, you're telling me that you'd fight alone and die alone?
Sinon: Yeah. I was always supposed to die alone.
She tries to get out of my hold, but I refused to let go.
Sinon: Let go. I have to do this.
U/N: You've got it wrong Sinon. There is no dying alone. When you die, you leave an empty hole in everyone's lives you've been a part of. And like it or not, you are a part of mine and Kirito's too.
Sinon: Well. I never asked to be a part of it. Besides my life is no one else's business but mine.
U/N: Well too late for that now.
She huffed. Clearly in anger, she grabbed my coats collar and starts to yell in my face.
Sinon: Alright. If that's how it is then you can protect me for the rest of my life!
She starts to break down in tears.
Sinon: You don't know anything. And you can't do anything so don't go saying stuff like that. This isn't your fight it's mine. Mine you got that.
She says while hitting my chest.
Sinon: Even if I lose. Even if I die. no one could blame me for what I did. You want to help. You going to carry this burden with me. Then what. You going to hold my hands. Even though they got blood all over them!
She cries. I couldn't do anything but stand there while she cried into my chest. I wrapped both of my arms around her in a hug as she continued to cry.
Sinon: I hate your guts. I hate you.
After a bit, Sinon calmed down and we all sat back down. she laid her head on my lap as she then told her story.
Sinon: I... Killed someone. About five years ago, in a small town up north. there was a guy who tried to rob a post office. The news said he died because his gun went off accidentally. But in truth, I was there. I grabbed his gun and shot him dead.
Kirito: How old were you?
Sinon: Eleven years old. And ever since then, whenever I see or hold a gun, I start throwing and pass out. When I see a gun. I see the face of the robber I killed the way he looked right before he died. And then I get so scared.
U/N: Really?
Sinon: Yeah. But in this world. I don't have those problems. And that got me thinking. If I become the strongest player in the game, then I'll be strong IRL too. And maybe even forget what I did. But just now. I mean when Death Gun had me pinned. I was terrified. And just like that I wasn't Sinon anymore. I was the real me. I'm scared to die I really am. Although what's worse is living with this fear. It's so painful that I'd rather be dead. But I know, if I run away from Death Gun in my past, I'll end up weaker than before. I will, I know it.
U/N: Yeah. I get it. All of your pain. You see, I'll killed people before too.
Kirito: I did too.
Sinon: What!?
U/N: I'm sure me and Kirito mentioned once or twice. About how we knew Death Gun. I'm sure we've fought before when we were stuck in another game. I think you even heard about it. Sword Art Online.
Sinon: Oh my god I knew it.
U/N: Yeah. Kirito and I are survivors of SAO. And so was Death Gun. And back then, he was a red player and even part of a guild. They were called Laughing Coffin, P'kers. They've done too much harm, so they had to have been stopped. So, a small party from the front lines were assembled to send them to prison. Kirito and I were a part of that party. Somehow, they figure out our plan and made an ambush. And when that battle ended...
Kirito: I Killed two members of the Laughing Coffin.
U/N: And I killed six of them. We just cut them down in blinding rage. That doesn't even amount to the countless others that I killed after that. You should know since I have my own couple of chapters in the case book. The Pheonix Swordsman.
Sinon: The Pheonix Swordsman!? That's why your name was familiar.
U/N: Yeah. I was manipulated by the games admin to kill any and all red players. On that day, I saw everyone's faces. How they saw me. A monster. We've forced ourselves to forget what happened but after I bumped into Death Gun back at the prelims, I was reminded of the unspeakable things I've done in that godforsaken game.
Sinon: And you are sure he's part of Laughing Coffin too?
U/N: Positive. I'm sure he is one of those players we took to prison that day. That's why I'm here in GGO. I'm here to finish what we started in SAO.
---END---
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