Swords and Staves

[Comartemis]

Because someone was going to do this sooner or later.

Following the end of the Second Network Crisis, the role of The World and CC Corporation in a near-catastrophe is made public and the game's popularity plummets into oblivion, eventually being recalled completely due to public health and safety concerns. The ensuing financial disaster proves to be the end of CC Corporation.

An Shouji and Mariko Misono don't care overmuch. They liked The World, but their adventures as Tsukasa and Subaru were quite enough excitement to last them for a few years. Their relationship grows deeper and solidifies into a capital-r Relationship when Tsukasa moves in with Subaru a year or two after she escapes from The World, however eventually Subaru gets an itch for the illusion of being able to use her legs again.

Along comes Sword Art Online, the next online VMMORPG and the one slated to fill the gap left by The World. So of course, Mariko has to try it out, though An sits this one out. Within a day, of course, both of them find themselves regretting that decision.

With SAO's entire first-day playerbase held hostage in the game, Tsukasa desperately tries to track down a copy of SAO so she can dive into the game herself and help Subaru survive whatever the game will throw at her. After finding one unused and unconfiscated copy (Bear loans her his copy, having been planning to play the game but also being delayed in doing so until after work that day, by which point word had gotten out), she does so... and immediately finds that something is very very wrong.

SAO is not supposed to have magic, but it does have spears and quarterstaves as available melee weapons. It definitely doesn't have Tsukasa's old gear from The World, nor his spells and Wavemaster class. Does it? It does. SAO is based off of The World's original code, intercepted by Kayaba and rewritten to suit his vision of the perfect online playground for him and his players. But the leftover artifacts go against Kayaba's design decisions, and Tsukasa's possession of magic goes directly against one of his core design goals.

This is Aura's doing. Kayaba is a genius, but not even he can match the mind of Harald Hoerwick, father of the Ultimate AI. Aura's status as the Goddess of The World remains hers, protected in the black box that not even Kayaba can dream of cracking, though remnants of other bits and pieces of code have been re-purposed and analyzed and implemented into his goals.

Aura, for her part, is not pleased that Kayaba has turned her world into a deathtrap for the players she wishes to interact with; but where Kayaba's inability to comprehend Aura's code renders her immune to his tampering, Kayaba's status as GM is likewise proof against Aura's direct manipulation. Only the players can topple Kayaba from his position at the top of the food chain. Of course, Aura has other means of accomplishing this. She still holds the data packages containing the character data of the .hackers, of whom Tsukasa and Subaru are two, and can give her chosen champions an unfair edge just as Kayaba has dealt out his own unique skills to players who have caught his eye.

There are... complications, however. Kayaba's meddling has reawakened things better left buried, some merely unpleasant bugs but others far more alarming; among his gifts to the players, Kayaba has dealt out pieces of the shattered Phases, knowing not the first inkling of their significance in the Epitaph of Twilight or what their reawakening may bring about both within Aincrad and beyond it.

And in the midst of all this, the deadly game that is merely attempting to survive in Sword Art Online continues, as Tsukasa races through the floors seeking Subaru and hoping against hope that she isn't already too late...

 

[wingthesword]

What about Mimiru or Blackrose?

 

[Megaolix]

I would rather hear about Kite or Haseo in this myself. I would think An and Mariko to have moved on from online games myself.

And hey, Kite was Aura's champion, was he not?

 

[Comartemis]

BlackRose in real life was never an avid gamer and only started playing The World to save her brother when he fell into a coma. I don't think she'd be a first-day player of a game very similar to The World, so she'd miss the window of opportunity before Kayaba reveals what he's done. After that point I imagine all copies of SAO still on store shelves would be immediately recalled and she wouldn't have a chance to join in unless she can locate another purchased copy floating around.

I'm not sure about Mimiru since we're never told much about her IRL. I might make that assumption just because I like her and she'd be a useful tank to pair up with Tsukasa's spellcasting powers. Though I have no idea what power Aura would give her, since light armor and a big sword is a valid configuration under SAO's native rules.

I would rather hear about Kite or Haseo in this myself. I would think An and Mariko to have moved on from online games myself.

And hey, Kite was Aura's champion, was he not?

Mariko always liked to play The World because it doesn't matter that her legs are crippled there, so I think she'd come back to it eventually and then Tsukasa (who has moved on as you say) would be sucked in trying to find her. And Kite may be Aura's champion but he's not necessarily in Aincrad, nor is Data Drain immediately needed to resolve the plot at the start of the crisis. Lacking Kite, Aura might deploy the Azure Flame Knights in his stead, but that could be really story-breaking if the knights are as broken in Aincrad as they were in R:2.

 

[Megaolix]

Hey, it's an idea being developped. You gave a good reason for Mariko to seek to play on the first day. That doesn't mean Kite cannot be a first day player himself if he doesn't have a reason like her.

And Kite doesn't have to have Data Drain right away. It could always be given by Aura later if it's needed. It's not like he would abuse it, knowing the price if he do so. Getting a bug on you in a game that will kill you if you're not careful... Yeah, not a chance of risking that. Chances are that it would send red alarms to Kayaba too, so that's another reason to not use it unless it's really needed.

And if you say Aura's Knights are too powerful, then there's a need for a character who can fight Phases without being overpowered, right?

So yeah, I really like Kite and want to see him there, if it wasn't obvious enough.

 

[Comartemis]

Hey, it's an idea being developped. You gave a good reason for Mariko to seek to play on the first day. That doesn't mean Kite cannot be a first day player himself if he doesn't have a reason like her.

And Kite doesn't have to have Data Drain right away. It could always be given by Aura later if it's needed. It's not like he would abuse it, knowing the price if he do so. Getting a bug on you in a game that will kill you if you're not careful... Yeah, not a chance of risking that. Chances are that it would send red alarms to Kayaba too, so that's another reason to not use it unless it's really needed.

And if you say Aura's Knights are too powerful, then there's a need for a character who can fight Phases without being overpowered, right?

So yeah, I really like Kite and want to see him there, if it wasn't obvious enough.

The thing is I find Kite to be kind of generic, and more to the point I don't know how I'd develop his character once he's inside the game. Tsukasa is still the quiet loner and being a literally game-breaking character would make her very very big news in Aincrad, forcing her to deal with all kinds of unwanted attention even as she's being driven to power-grind her way through the game searching for Subaru (and then inevitably being reunited with her in the lower-mid levels, since she wasn't that far ahead of her). Kite's bracelet, if he even has it to begin with, is much more easily-concealed and he doesn't have anything really driving him like Tsukasa does in this situation.

Haseo has a completely different problem, which is that his story can't really begin until enough time has passed for the whole business with Ovan and Aina and the birth of Tri-Edge to have happened, so we're probably looking at him not even starting down the path to becoming the Terror of Death until several months have passed. This is if you skip the events of Roots almost entirely and just have Tri-Edge slaughter whatever guild Haseo joined instead of the Twilight Brigade, if you account for the formation of the brigade and Haseo joining it then things get pushed back even further.

An alternative that I'm kind of iffy on doing is to apply Haseo's character development to Kirito by having Tri-Edge be responsible for the massacre of the Black Cats. At that point you would have Kirito develop into a vengeful PKK instead of a guilt-stricken loner. That has some rather uncomfortable complications to deal with given that canon Haseo was never actually killing people, and Kirito turning into a mass murderer (of other murderers, but still) is likely to put off all his potential allies and eventually get him killed.

 

[Azure]

If SAO is built under the code for R:2, it would be nice to see AIDA to appear in SAO too, reacting to the humans trapped in a death game. AIDA's interference could work as to why Aura has not managed to gain complete control over the system and freed everyone. The invading god has sealed the original god.

You know what, I would actually like to also see more of Haseo and Kite in SAO. If SAO was marketed as the true successor to the world, it wouldn't surprise me if not all of the old characters, like Kite or Balmung, had picked SAO at the start, due to nostalgia.

If SAO was built under the original code, it might have the Phases remaining in the system from Project RA, leading to eight PC's getting the Eight Phases. (Imagine Asuna having to deal with controlling an Epitath like Tarvos or ,even worse, an AIDA infection, and it causing her to attack other players).

Also if you disfavor Kite and the bracelet because they are overpowered, remember that the bracelet is an double-edged sword. Using it corrupts Kite, and it can lead to him being erased by the system. Even worse, you could make it so the more Kite uses the bracelet, the more SAO is corrupted, leading to data bugs and damaged floors inside Aincard. More importantly, the bracelet being there means that Cubia also lurks, which is always interesting (specially in the human form from XXXX).

One interesting character to explore would be Haseo. You could have the events of Roots take place in the early months of Aincard, ending with Shino being PK'd by Tri-Edge. Then he could take down the whole Laughing Coffin guild in a fight, establishing his PKK reputation as the Terror of Death.

I also would like to see the SAO characters dealing with the whole Mystery of the World. Things like Kirito fighting Aida, and finding the Creator Room and asking himself what is happening.

There is plenty to think about, and I am sure it is bound to be interesting.

 

[Megaolix]

Thinking about dot hackers that would be here... If Piros got rehired back from CC Corp., then he'll be here for sure to see his own work. And he'll be pissed as hell to see it becoming a death game.

Elk... Oh God, Elk. If GU has shown anything about him, it's that he never could forget Mia. If he ever learned that the data from the World was used to create SAO, then he'll be here for sure. No guess as to which Phase parts he'll attract.

And considering he would have no problem living in the game forever to be with Mia, it could even go as far as to fight against cleaners to get them to stop clearing the floors...

Another idea... Since Aura side with the players against Kayaba, she could appear and interrupt Kayaba's speech to state her declaration of war against him, to give the players hope in the knowledge that someone on the level of the GM will do all in her power to find loopholes and give them to the players to help them beat the game.

 

[Comartemis]

Thinking about dot hackers that would be here... If Piros got rehired back from CC Corp., then he'll be here for sure to see his own work. And he'll be pissed as hell to see it becoming a death game.

Elk... Oh God, Elk. If GU has shown anything about him, it's that he never could forget Mia. If he ever learned that the data from the World was used to create SAO, then he'll be here for sure. No guess as to which Phase parts he'll attract.

And considering he would have no problem living in the game forever to be with Mia, it could even go as far as to fight against cleaners to get them to stop clearing the floors...

Another idea... Since Aura side with the players against Kayaba, she could appear and interrupt Kayaba's speech to state her declaration of war against him, to give the players hope in the knowledge that someone on the level of the GM will do all in her power to find loopholes and give them to the players to help them beat the game.

Forget Piros, what about Helba? I'd be way more worried about what the legendary super-hacker is cooking up than what the hot-blooded goof is doing.

 

[Azure]

Hell, Elk in SAO would be interesting, and if AIDA spreads through the game, I could really see him attacking the clearers with his Avatar to stop the game from being completed. His love is like that.

I actually want to see Piros, he would be fun. I can just see Kirito and Asuna having to deal with his special personality.

For Haseo, you could make the formation of the brigade something that happens some three months into the game. Haseo originally stayed in the Starting City, like many of the others, until Ovan came and recruited him. Then almost year after being trapped, Tri-Edge PK the guild, leading to Haseo's path of revenge.

In my mind Kite's development would be dealing with the responsibility of the bracelet, and how it threatens to crush the man. If Aura gave him the bracelet again in SAO, he would take it as his duty to free everybody, and work endlessly to complete the game, but at the same time he is alone, without his friends, and alienated by others because they believe him to be a Beater. He would work himself to death to deal with the phases, Cubia and even AIDA.

An interesting thing would be that Kayaba would try to fight the phases, like say Skeith, by himself, only to draw against them because neither can kill the other. (Both are Immortal Objects...) Thus he would be forced to cooperate with the .hackers, making him one of their allies, until he back-stabs them at the most opportune moment.

About Aura doing a speech, I would like it. However in G.U. she went all-humans must decide their fates by themselves, so I kinda believe that she would just work behind the scenes to help the players. Maybe she could help to allow the players have the means to communicate with others outside, and track Kayaba? That would be interesting.

 

[Megaolix]

In my mind Kite's development would be dealing with the responsibility of the bracelet, and how it threatens to crush the man. If Aura gave him the bracelet again in SAO, he would take it as his duty to free everybody, and work endlessly to complete the game, but at the same time he is alone, without his friends, and alienated by others because they believe him to be a Beater. He would work himself to death to deal with the phases, Cubia and even AIDA.

If any other .hacker is here (except Elk) and hear about Kite, it's likely they'll seek him out. Let's not pile too much on him, shall we?

 

[Comartemis]

In my mind Kite's development would be dealing with the responsibility of the bracelet, and how it threatens to crush the man. If Aura gave him the bracelet again in SAO, he would take it as his duty to free everybody, and work endlessly to complete the game, but at the same time he is alone, without his friends, and alienated by others because they believe him to be a Beater. He would work himself to death to deal with the phases, Cubia and even AIDA.

Kite? Crushed by the same responsibility he spent four games dealing with in the first series? Somehow I think not. And Mega's right, Piros and Kuhn and Wiseman and the rest would come looking for a legendary player with a game-breaking bracelet. Never mind, now that I think of it, that Kite's twin blade character data makes him a dual-wielder and a unique character by default.

Still, I'm kind of set on Tsukasa being the main character. Kite never showed up for whatever reason in R:2 anyways so he's probably off doing something else with his life.

About Aura doing a speech, I would like it. However in G.U. she went all-humans must decide their fates by themselves, so I kinda believe that she would just work behind the scenes to help the players. Maybe she could help to allow the players have the means to communicate with others outside, and track Kayaba? That would be interesting.

This Aura never left The World like original Aura did, so she wouldn't have the same approach to things. Kayaba and AIDA would keep her busy enough that she can't be holding anyone's hands anyways.

 

[Azure]

In my mind Kite's development would be dealing with the responsibility of the bracelet, and how it threatens to crush the man. If Aura gave him the bracelet again in SAO, he would take it as his duty to free everybody, and work endlessly to complete the game, but at the same time he is alone, without his friends, and alienated by others because they believe him to be a Beater. He would work himself to death to deal with the phases, Cubia and even AIDA.

If any other .hacker is here (except Elk) and hear about Kite, it's likely they'll seek him out. Let's not pile too much on him, shall we?

If Kite finds any other .hackers they will probably help him. But I imagine the pressure must be enormous on the hero, after all discounting the Avatar (which might not even bother) he is the only one who can face the phases.

I do hope if Elk is there that we get a confrontation between the Kite and Elk. I could see an AIDA-PC Elk accusing Kite of having abandoning his friends and allowing Mia to die. Cue Elk using Macha and a sad boss fight.

An idea could be this. Skeith appears six months in on the starting city, attacking players even though it is a safe town. He data drains the ones who remained in the starting city, but they do not go into comas. They are already the Lost Ones; instead Data Drain activated the fail-safe in the Nerv Gear and killed those Data Drained. The whole Skeith battle becomes a huge mess, as many of the innocents are data drained, The Army (whose HQ is in floor one) intervenes, but is crushed. Even the front-liners try to intervene but all they manage is to protect break the monster. Until Kite comes and his party manages to beat him.

However this has consequences. The illusion of safety in towns is lost, and now everyone who wanted to just wait to be freed made a mad rush to gain levels to protect themselves from the Phases. In one hand this increases the number of clearers who are trying to beat the game, but many of the ones who left the city become PKers, desperate for more power and competing for the limited resources, leading to the dog-eat-dog aura that permeated R:2.

EDIT: Sorry, I wrote this while you posted, In a way, even though Kite would feel more pressure in this, as unlike R:1, people do not just fall in comas, they will die here. Plus people would now him more, adding to the pressure.

Anyhow, in the SAO part of things, how does Kayaba deal with Aura and Helba, those two probably could hack SAO to free the players. If anything I could see that Kayaba tied the player's death trigger to his system's protections, in case Aura tries to hack too deep into the system, the system kills everyone. That is why Aura can only help indirectly.

Also Yui is another failed Aura made by the blackbox system of the World.

 

[Cosgrove]

Its interesting, to be sure. But how long after the .hack/IMOQ quadrilogy will this be?

Main reason I ask is that I'm fairly unfamiliar with Sword Art Online, but its premise sounds exactly like that of the AIDA server incident in GU mixed with its 'Forest of Pain' extra dungeon.

Also, what's your endgame here? Not asking for spoilers but I do find myself curious of why you're focused on Tsukasa being the main character. Mainly because I can't really see, unless you're using Tsukasa as more of an observer main character, the purpose of this story. Because all you're really doing is giving people 'Tsukasa trapped in a game' part two. Especially if you're giving her magic back.

Will there the Sword Art Online characters as important characters? Because if you plan to include the .hack ones, even from the original anime and games, it seems like there's just too many characters to juggle.

Not to mention, if Aura's able to interfere at all, why isn't she doing anything like 'dead players are merely in comas until the game ends.' Considering that the game is basically all The World coding, isn't she god and can make modifications like that?

Furthermore, with the hackers in the .hack/ universe, how is this not easy to fix? In comparison to Morgana, this guy has to be a chump.

Hell, since you're including phases, it seems more fitted towards GU with someone like Ovan trying to gather the phases to get his sister a 'get outta game free card.' Or something.

Hell, how are phases even gonna work here? Unbeatable monsters? They're less threatening than ever here, considering merely coma-ing someone is small time to complete death. It sounds like Avatars from GU will be used, but it really doesn't change the point of 'so, how does this make things that much worse, really?'

Basically, while the two are similar, I don't get exactly what you're going for here. .hack// has enough shit in it already like Sword Art Online's main premise that I can't believe that nobody can do anything about it IRL without a damn good reason. Secondly, though I like Tsukasa as a character I have a hard time feeling that she'd survive without plot armor in a pk-filled world.

Finally, from what I've wiki'd there's no way she can win against Kayaba so it seems like either it will be resolved off screen by someone else nullifying all the tension or she'll lose. Or win via Deus ex machina.

Though, considering that Haseo is the most interesting of the main characters to me, the idea of him not being in the spotlight makes it less interesting, especially since Skeith is literally part Ryou Misaki after the events of Sign/IMOQ. It doesn't help that the setting seems perfect for him, either. Hell, iwth it being based on The World, it'd make it mroe interesting because instead of a complete GU rehash, the story could be something interesting like him trying to track down what exactly happened to him before in The World after a meeting with Aura or something.

Kite... I agree is too bland as well. Shugo/Rena are comedy protagonists and are to be treated as such. Tsukasa... she already fulfilled her main character arc, though, and I found the other characters' interactions with Tsukasa to be more interesting than Tsukasa herself.

 

[Megaolix]

Geez, Kite being too bland... That's a bit sad an excuse to not have him in. Would it be really impossible to write his character better than what the game gave us? An's not exactly the most complex character either and I've seen worse cases than Kite beign used in fanfiction.

Beside, I just ask for him being in it, not making him the main character.

Hell, if anything, while Kite may know the most about Elk's situation, the one who would be able to persuade Elk to stop whatever he would do would be An.

 

[Muramasa]

A couple of things...


1. Subaru would be found quickly, assuming she didn't die in game. Players at the beginning of SAO would have been restricted to the first floor of Aincrad. There would only be so many places Subaru could be, and Tsukasa would definitely stand out in a crowd.

2. Even if Kayaba can't directly effect the character data of former dothackers etc. (because of Aura or whatever), this is still his show. If he wants you to play the game right, he has other means of doing it, such as threatening to rescind his one and only logout condition, effectively trapping everyone in SAO permanently... or he could adjust the monster ai to all be completely resistant to magic, effectively neutering much of what Tsukasa is capable of...

3. ...and I prefer Kyte too... sorry.