.Hack//LOST (PART C)--PROMISE

[Nekokidd]

Unfortunatly for Kuiper, he had entered the portal too late for another explanation. "Great, what did I miss now?" Kuiper asked as he walked in, getting his fans out. He then started to buff everyone with the appropriate spells. "Come on!" Then, he Duk Lei'd the Black Mass as much as digitally possible, but kept on missing. "Great...." He said, jumping back. He then rushed up and spun elegantly, slicing a section of the mass. From there, he Mumym Lei'd the cut off section, actually succeeding in putting it to sleep. He tried to repeat this with another section, but the former section woke up too soon and attacked. "Ah!" He yelped, once again jumping away. "What is this stuff?" He asked, in need of an explination.

[Soulus]

Tundra looked over to Kuiper as he was attempting to at least keep the thing that looked like Poes worst nightmare at bay and yelled "I have no idea, but whats clear is that status effects are not too effective on it, and i wouldn't suggest letting this thing hit you, for some reason whenever this thing lan..." Tundra had to stop talking for a second to avoid a swipe from the Black Mass and get to a reasonably safe distance before continuing, "Arrgg, listen if it lands a hit on you god only knows what will happen, so far ive seen many different outcomes, and none are good, so bend with the storm and reply in kind..." as he finished he faced the monster and jumped back into the fray.

[kai the pkk]

Kyo: { walking around the area and then the black mass starts to attack him} hmmmm { starts dodging the attacks} ah hey woah watch it! { he jumps back and he looks at the creature} dammit I just cant get a break { he starts dodging again} jeez what the hell have I gotten myself into

[The-Missing-Spade]

As quietly as it had appeared the 'Black Mass' was already causing quite the stir. It keep itself busy while it attacked the rest as they came. Engendering several long sharp looking tentacles from it's body suddenly made the battle alot difficult. Nontheless Clasko had pushed Indigo away and warned her to keep her distance. She obayed but was concerned about Sauna aswell. There was simply no telling how long the portal would keep Sauna visible before it dissapeared.

"Clasko!" She shouted in worry. "We need to defeat this thing before the portal closes..."

With a nod Clasko ran towards the action and began his debugging program. Unfortunately he would have to wait a while before he could actually operate it.
Meanwhile, Sauna starred in worry from the other side of the portal. He could feel several emotions running through as he watched the battle commence. Indigo stood nearby making sure the portal didn't close. At the same time, she knew had to join the fight. Things definetely weren't looking under control.

She turned to Sauna for a quick moment and starred. He could sense that she was going to join the battle, so he simply nodded hesitantly and watched as she dashed across the tiled-floor, quickly joining CLasko and the rest as they continued to endure the BlackMass'es attacks. When she got into range she quickly jumped besides and slashed at it with her TwinBlades. Oddly enough the attacks weren't as affective as she had thought. Clasko seemed to have realized the same thing, but he continued to slash at it with his special sword.

"I'm afraid our attacks will only do so much." He said, recovering from the dodging. "But we need to keep it from attacking....-" He jumped across as a long black tentacle swooshed over with frigthening speed. " At least until my debuggin program is prepared." He finished, landing on the floor.

BOSS HP = 9,500
Indigo HP = 2,000

[kai the pkk]

Kyo: { he draaws his sword though it start glitching} huh

computer voice: virus detected

Kyo: ehh

Computer voice: commencing deletion program { thrusters appear on the blade and data surrounds the blade and a latch straps his arm, to the blade}

Kyo: no wait what the hell is this thing doing { the thrusters ignite and he soars at the black mass extremely fast} AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOAH! { the blade starts tossing his body back and forth and the blade starts hacking away at the black mass}

Computer voice: programmed attack piercing flash

Kyo: wait what! { he starts getting tossed aaround as the blade keeps peircing the black mass} AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[The-Missing-Spade]

Indigo's assult on the blackmass was short-lived when her body was slammed a distance away. Upon her recovery she noticed her body get heavy all of a sudden. A few feet besides her Clasko stood, checking his arm for an indication that the debugging program was ready. However the program still needed a third of the percentage to become complete. Time was running out aswell, as Sauna continued to watch in terror from afar.

Indigo ran towards the area where Kyo, who had now found himself caught in the middle of the chaos, seemed to be puzzled by his new weapon. At the same time Tundra who stood nearby prepared himself for another attack. Indigo ran between the two and paused, feeling determined to keep the monster from wasting their time.
"Kyo, Tundra!" She yelled. "Lets attack at the same time...if anything, we might stun it." She thought as she gripped her TwinBlades tight; she was ready for a tri-attack.

BOSS HP: 9, 350
Indigo HP: 1,233

[Soulus]

Upon hearing Indigos suggestion, Tundra, now moving as though controlled by instinct and impulse, began ducking and dodging at break-neck speeds until he was finally right next to Indigo. All though at this point he was felling a bit mute he managed to grumble out "On your word miss Indigo" before looking away from her and focusing every ounce of his gaze upon the black abomination. Sure it seemed like a bad idea to get in a cluster for a three for one shot by the Black Mass, but at this point, what did any of them have to lose, it sure wasn't their sanity, that faded away about the time this group had agreed to fight this thing in the first place. Without looking at her this time he said "watch my back, I'll try to deflect the blows until were all in position, if he hits me, even though it probably wont do any good, try to heal me, we have to make this one count for something. For your brother Sauna, For my wife Elleone, and for all the other lost ones, LETS END THIS NOW!!!" With that he kicked away another tentacle and hoped to god that this would all work out in the end.

[kai the pkk]

kyo: ha! {slices it from the left to the right and then he rips upward} RAH! { he slides across the ground and lands next to indigo} Freaking weapon what the hell is up with this hey listen to me enough with the thrusters}

Computer voice: voice acitvated thrusters full power

Kyo: no no thrusters off thrusters off!!!!!!!!!!!! { the weapon gets a red glow and hes able to hold it at his side hes able to keep a stable footing} okay we should do this quick before it starts draqgging me around again}
computer voice: charge complete unleashing deleting skill........................... Neo..... generations { the hilt gets longer and the blade gets bigger and starts emitting electricity }

[The-Missing-Spade]

Indigo nodded in agreement and got into position while Tundra kept the area safe. Kyo, who seemed to be having issues with his sword got into position aswell. Clasko stood a few feet away checking his debugging device for it's eventual completion. Moments later they were ready.

"Alright, we're ready." Indigo said, calling out to Tundra.
"Thanks for your support. Hopefully this attack will draw the blackmass away..."

Clasko stepped closer to them, enough to speak.
"My program is just about ready...we can all do this!"

In unision the group ran towards the enourmous black-mass drew their weapons upon the assult. In one last effort to protect itself the black mass gathered all of it's tentacles around the core of it's scattering body while everyone released their attack. The impact of the attack destroyed the majority of the tentacles; exposing it's body oncemore. Immediately afterwards Clasko jumped in front of the players and extended both of his arms, where his large broad sword appeared in a flash of white. Data began to gather at it's peak, while wind picked up around the surrounding area.

"Alright....lets end this now!" He shouted.

In a burst of blinding light, a powerful ray of debugging power shot towards the blackmass. This divided it's body into several smaller parts; all of them scattering farther away from eachother until the entire entity had vanished all around them.

It was sudden but there was a silence that surrounded the area. The echoing of the blackmass was no longer heard. Indigo turned and smiled happily at the rest. It seemed as though the threat was long gone.
Feeling a great deal of releif she ran towards Sauna's portal and then stopped to catch her breath.
Sauna seemed releived aswell having seen the battle come to an end quickly.

"Sauna..." Indigo said. "I still don't know how this is possible, But...I know that your my brother."

Sauna felt her honesty, and was at the brink of tears but he retained from crying and closed his eyes instead. Although the others couldn't hear it, Sauna heard the sound of bells coming from the other side of his portal. He had heard these bells before...

"Indigo. It's time for me to tell you the truth...the reason why I lost my real body." He said. Indigo stood still. "You see, when I was trying to complete an event...I got separated from my party and accidently entered a portal to an Outer-Dungeon. There I encountered a creature, created by the black-mass. I thought it was part of a battle...so I fought it. I ended up running away because I was too weak for it. I had never seen something so powerful."

"Anyways, when I found my way back to the dungeon I felt very sick. I didn't know it at the time, but my encounter with this creature had affected my mental state...I began to feel drowsy, and then disoriented. I felt my body get real heavy...and my friends, who had found me by then saw me vanish before their eyes. I guess they thought I had quit the game..."

"And then...a moment later I awoke inside a white room."
He could hear the bells ringing louder behind him.
"Thats when I realized I was stuck inside the game. At first I thought I was dead...but I met an old lady. She told me where I was and how I had gotten there. She's not human, though. Shes part of the game too...but well, eversince then I've been trying to communicate with you, Indigo. I could only send messages through my "dreams".

"But then...why can't you just get out of where ever you are?" Indigo asked.

"I don't know how, yet. You see, I'm in the middle of a very large and complicated system of paths and dead-ends. It's like a maze. I've been lucky enough to find areas that lead me to the Outer Dungeons...the old lady calls this...the OtherWorld. It's a place hidden beneath the system that controls the entire game.But thats all I know.."

Indigo tried to understand, but she was still confused. Why didn't the portals he appeared in let him get out. She asked him.

"There is an invisible barrier that traps me inside the portal. The old lady says the barriers help protect the OuterWorld from existing DataBugs, or that Black-Mass. But she shes there is one place where the barrier is disabled. But she can't seem to find it yet... she said she was close though." He replied.

"Whoever this old lady is, or whatever she is...has only a limited time to find out that right path. The game stops functionality in four days. When that happens you might become trapped permanently." Clasko said.
Indigo turned her head in anger towards Clasko.

"Thats NOT going to happen!" She yelled.
"we're going to get him out of that place before then...we just have to." Her eyes seemed as watery as sauna's now.

The sound of bells rang heavily within the portal. Sauna knew his time was up, and the old-lady was calling. He slowly extended his arm towards the barrier in front of him and smiled.
"I know you'll find a way to help...I'll let you know if anything comes up...I need to leave now." He said.
Indigo released the tears that had been building up inside of her, wishing she could just break the barrier. Unfortunately it repelled any type of weapons, even those of administrative powers like Clasko's.

"Okay...I'll wait for your message." She said.

The portal began to close then, Sauna's image becoming covered as time slipped by. Finally the portal was gone. Indigo stood quiet for a moment. However the silence was broken when the dreadful sound of the black mass was heard again. Indigo's eyes opened as she turned around and starred into the darkness in the distance.
"That thing is back?" She asked.

Indigo could see the fear in Clasko's face as she glanced at him. He too, was starring straight where the sound was coming from.

"It would seem the black-mass has build resistence to my debugging program alot more quicker than I thought." He said. "We need to get out of this area. It's useless to stay anylonger."

Everyone exited the OuterDungeon through the portal and escaped back into the cathedral where the portal closed as soon as everyone had walked in. Several emotions were running through Indigo as she entered the Lost Ground. But she knew she was going to trust on Sauna to help her rescue him. Everyone else was also trying their best to help him....she was greatful for that.

She also need some comforting...

[kai the pkk]

Kyo: stupid weapon! { stabs it into the ground and starts kicking it} what the hell is your problem since when the hell r you alive jeez I never should of opened the email! { he sees indigo and he takes the weapon as it retarcts into the bracelet on his hand and he walks over to indigo} yo indigo whats up anything on your mind even though you dont know me very well I can listen to anything if you want to talk { he sits down next to her but looks into the sky}

[The-Missing-Spade]

Indigo fell to her knees before the cathedral. The only thing in her mind was figureing out how to save her little brother. Things were becoming alot more real when she realized Clasko was right; time was running out. Only four more days before the game stopped operating for the public. Although they had come a long way since six days ago, she still felt they had a long way to go before anything made real sense.

The melody of the background music filled her ears, and with it a sense of easyness. She then realized that besides her Kyo was sitting. He wanted to know what was on her mind. She slowly turned her head and looked at him, seeing Kyo starring at the cieling.
"Time is running out...time is the only thing in my mind." She replied finally.

Clasko sighed in relief and approached her. He seemed affected by her situation as well, but his time with her was also coming to an end. He had just received an e-mail from his superior. He needed to leave. He kneeled down in front of her and bid her farewell.
"I will inform you of anything later." He said, and with that a special aura had spread around him. Shortly afterwards he was gone.

Indigo felt grateful for everyone's help. And smiled and hugged Kyo, who had not even expected this type of reaction.
"Thank you soo much...all of you." Her spirits seemed a little lifted now.

[kai the pkk]

Kyo: ehhh uhhhh no problem even if times running out I'll find a way to help you and your brother * boy cc corps really gonna be after me if I go through with this but I have to I owe her that much* leave it to me I'll help you get your brother back even if the world goes offline I'll still help somehow and in way that can get me arrested but lets not worry about that I'm not the only one helping you there are kuiper clasko and tundra and that other guy who doesnt like me so much heh

[Nekokidd]

Kuiper had just watched the rest of the fight in a daze. When he heard Sauna explain, he snapped out of it, and walked up to Indigo. "I'm... sorry I couldn't help more. I'm useless." He then laid his character down next to her, watching the sky of the area. "I feel useless. I tried to help my friends- now they're both lost ones. I tried to help my parents around the house- I almost burned it to the ground. I tried to help you, and all I could do is ask questions and watch..." He sighed, tears falling down hid cheeks.

----Real World----
Haru, Kuiper's player, felt a soft wetness creep down his cheeks. He touched them as he laid back in his chair. Why was he crying? It made no sense- nothing sad had happened. However, he really and truly thought he himself was useless. He heaved a large sigh, trying to suppress any more tears. Was this just part of chance? Him opening up to complete strangers online? Or was it fate he'd find these players? He did not know...

[The-Missing-Spade]

Indigo couldn't help but smile after Kyo had stopped speaking. It seemed as though he would give anything up just so she could be with Sauna oncemore. In the inside thats exactly how Indigo felt too.
"I'm glad you're willing me help me..." She said softly. "If I were to go at this by myself...I probably wouldn't have made it this far."

A moment later, a depressed Kuiper sat on the other side of Indigo. He told her how he felt about the situation and how helpless he truely thought he was. Indigo felt his pain, but she knew that if they didn't stick together nothing would get done. So she turned away from Kyo and looked at Kuiper, who seemed just about ready to cry.
"Kuiper, thats not true. You've been a great help." She said. "Like I said before, if I hadn't met any of you, and if you hadn't accepted to help me then I probably wouldn't be here now..." She turned her head and starred into the sunlight coming from the window. "You have helped me alot." She said. "Just being here with me has meant a world of difference."

Then suddenly, she stood up.
"Well, we should get going. I'm sure Clasko is busy trying to figure something out...and Sauna must be doing the same. So, I think it'd be a good idea for us to prepare ourselves." She said. "Why don't we go level up, or something?" She asked then. "Any of you know of a good place to start?"

______________________
WhiteRoom// ? ? ?

Meanwhile, in the silent erieness of the OuterWorld Sauna had finally reached the white room. The old lady remained sitting down on her chair as she skipped past a couple of pages from her golden book. She lifted her head when she saw Sauna come in and smiled.
Sauna approached her, feeling great about having told his sister the truth.

"I spoke to her." He said happily. "Although that stupid blackmass interupted us, I was still able to tell her the truth before I had to return."

The old lady looked down again; her strands falling like water over her face.
"That is good, my child. It brings me good to hear you have finally communicated. And I have even better news..."
Sauna kept quiet.
"I have finally found the path...the one without the barrier."

"Wh-really?!" Sauna shouted in disbelief. "How did you find it?"

"That is not important. What is important, is this that I must tell you before you go..." She said.
"At the end of the path is a monster of great power, one you have already encountered. It is not the "black-mass" that lurks...and it's not as powerful as that, but you should be careful. That monster is more dangerous to your sister and her friends than that "black-mass"."

Sauna felt an overwhelming fear come over him as he realized what monster the old lady was talking about. It was the same one that had placed him in the game from the beginning. The thought of confronting it once more made him think it would be impossible to leave the OuterWorld at all. However, he didn't want to continue being trapped inside the game world any longer. Even though that monster posed a danger alot more lethal than the black-mass, he knew that if he didn't try he would be stuck forever.

Defeating that monster was his only chance at life again. He needed to do it.

[Nekokidd]

Kuiper smiled, getting up. "Well.... I do know one place. my favorite training spot." He said, before turning. "But it may be a bit low-leveled, because I'm not very high..." He weakly smiled, and waited for a response.

----Real Life----

Haru smiled, sitting up in his chair. 'At least I'm not totally useless.' He thought, wondering if he should take them to the field. Radiant Dusk's Starlit Sky. He'd tried fitting together words to make a star filled place, and ended up with a LV 25 forest, with a starry sky above it. But the place was good for leveling, if you were not already LV 25. He frowned a little, remembering when he and his friends used to level there, but shook it off, and waited for the group's response.

[kai the pkk]

Kyo: { stands up} allright then lets go any areas better then nothing and besides it doesnt matter what level I need to learn how to control this damned thing { he points to the bracelet on his wrist}

computer voice: but master I am only performing my proper functions deleting abnormalities in the system

Kyo: shut up! you dont just starts flying around wh'y'll dragging me!

computer voice: i'm sorry master

Kyo: what ever and stop calling me master my names kyo got it!

Computer voice: sure and my name is xyzIII

Kyo: okay okay we need to fix that that names stupid and you sound like a girl your names raina got it

Raina: Raina huh?

Kyo: well lets get going kuiper indigo

[hollow44]

"okay then let's go!" keith realized that himself wasn't very strong either and decided this would be for the best.

[The-Missing-Spade]

Indigo looked around besides her and saw that everyone was ready. She approached Kuiper with a smile and confirmed her decision to go to his favorite training spot. She was startled almost, when she heard the sound of Keith behind her. He had been awfully quiet since they had arrived. Nontheless she felt a greater sense of relief and determination knowing that they were doing more than just waiting.

"Okay. Whenever you are ready." She said softly.

She could hear Kyo argue with his new item aswell, as she turned and looked at him quit bewildered.
"That is some strange bracelet you got there...I hope Clasko doesn't consider it a cheat item Kyo. Otherwise your going to loose your new friend, Raina."

[kai the pkk]

Kyo: yeah right I'd like to see clasko try the thing might be annoying but its my weapon and it was gift from my dad I wont let anyone take this thing from me not clasko not ccorp not anyone Damned CCorp.......................... lets get going

[The-Missing-Spade]

Indigo was rendered silent for a moment, having realized how much a simple-looking item meant for Kyo. Even if it were a cheat item it's not like CC-Corp would busy itself with such a thing. They had, afterall, much more important things to attend to; like the closing down of the game, and whatever came afterwards. In the end Indigo understood Kyo's position and decided not to push the subject anylonger. She walked towards Kuiper.

"I'll let you lead the way since you know where it is." She said. "We should hurry, though. We don't know how much time we may have before we get Sauna's next message."