16th of April, 17 AJ

Time: 0600

Location: "Stolen" dropship, en route to coordinates

POV: Hope, age 16, Protector of Light

Hope checked her revolver. It was working exceptionally and was ready for a fight. She had received a call saying that her sister had been captured and Hope "fell" for the trap. She actually didn't and had brought her Ninja friends along. They had gone through the plan. They were to hide on top of the buildings or somewhere else as Hope approached the captors. If things went downhill, they would reveal themselves and use Spinjitzu.

Garmadon had attack, Lloyd had used the Ultimate Weapon and the original six Ninjas went off on a massive journey as Hope stayed behind to try and free Ninjago on her own. During the journey, they had discovered their Spinjitzu and as such, Lloyd was able to tame that giant cat, and save his dad in the process. Hope felt the ship shift and she walked to the cockpit.

She guided them down onto the planet's surface, and they scattered. Hope walked through the streets, looking for Veronica. She found her gagged and on her knees, hands cuffed behind her back. She looked at Hope in terror, shaking her head violently.

"So. You came. Too bad you're going to die here."

Hope flipped back right as the mine blew up. She landed without a scratch and whipped out her pistol.

"Huh. You're faster than we thought. That won't help you, though."

Hope dodged to the side right as a sniper round hit the pavement. She squeezed off a shot, then rolled to the side. A Titan lumbered around the corner and Hope smirked. Alone, she was no match for the Titan, but with the help of her friends, they could rip the Titan apart.

"NINJA-GO-GO-GO-GO!"

The Ninjas revealed themselves and blasted the Titan with their combined Spinjitzu. The Titan was ripped apart and Hope sprinted over to her little sister. Using Zar'roc, Hope broke the ropes holding her sister and she ripped the gag right off. Veronica sprinted away several steps, then spun around. She had a tiny blue orb in her hand.

She threw it and shouted, "Bakugan Brawl!"

It bounced off of the pavement, then rolled to a stop.

"Cra-"

It suddenly unfolded into a tiny figure, then a blue spiral began to form right above it. Hope took several steps back, loss her balance, and fell. A giant blue dragon like creature appeared right where the toy was.

Hope looked down to see that the toy had vanished. She looked at her sister, who had rushed to the side of the massive creature. She was standing in a pose, with her right hand out.

"Leo! Show them what we're made of!"

The dragon roared and shot up into the air. Veronica pulled a card out of her pocket and smirked. Turning it over, Veronica shouted a phrase. "Ability Card, activate!"

She revealed that she had three cards in her hand and a bright light surrounded the dragon. It opened its mouth and electric like power gathered in its mouth. The dragon blasted the Titans, disintegrating them. Hope looked on in awe.

"V-Vron? What did you do?"

Her sister turned around and put the slightly burnt cards away. "This is Leonidas, my partner. He's the best during a fight. Oh, and he can decemate an entire fleet, isn't that right, Leo?"

The dragon looked down at the tiny girl. "Want proof?"

Hope looked at Leonidas. "It can talk?!"

"Of course he can, he's a Bakugan. A very special one, that is."

Veronica scratched Leonidas under his chin, and he swiftly turned his head to vaporise another Titan. Veronica clambered onto his back and she kicked back and relaxed.

"I met Leo soon after this great guy, Dan Kuso, taught me how to brawl. Shugi, a bully, tried to beat me when I had no clue how to brawl, but Dan interfered. That was when he gave me a step by step lesson on how to play. I owned Shugi, and he and his brother scrammed. Dan gave me a bit of a pep talk and left the park, leaving me alone. It then turned extremely weird, with blue things raining down from the sky. It became blindingly bright and that was when Leo here bumped into my foot. So. That's the story of how I met Leo."

Hope got up and grabbed the arm of a grunt who tried to stab her. She pulled him over her shoulder, then grabbed his knife and stabbed him in the heart.

"But, how did you get here?"

"Interspace whent all haywire and Dan and I tried to leave. Something happened, the systems glitched, and I was brought onto Marucho's plane instead of on the Phoenix. Weird, huh?"

Hope looked at her sister, utterly confused. Leo shook Veronica and she slid down his wing, landing on her feet. Leo turned back into a "toy" and floated over to Veronica. She dusted her hands off, then looked at her sister with a sly smile.

"So, shall we leave?"

"Uh. Um. Y-yeah. Let's... go...."

Hope and Veronica walked away from the carnage and Lloyd, Nya, Cole, Kai, Zane, and Jay joined them. They boarded the dropship and madeway for Ninjago. Hope sat down and watched as Veronica cleaned Leo with a toothbrush.

"Soooo, why are we going to Ninjago?" Veronica was still cleaning Leo.

"To drop off my friends."

"'Friends', yeah right. More like fellow Ninjas."

Hope gaped at her sister. How's she so good?

Veronica put away her toothbrush and lied down on several seats. She drifted to sleep and Hope watched as Leonidas floated above her, like a guardian. Hope walked over to the cockpit and sat down. She sighed and closed her eyes. They soon arrived at Ninjago, dropping off the Ninjas once they touched down. After they had left, Hope made a course for the Phoenix, and then walked into the troop hold. Veronica was still laying down, but this time, she was awake. Hope sighed again and sat down.

"What's wrong sis?"

"Nothing."

"Then why do you keep sighing?"

".... I'm probably going to get court martialed."

"Why?"

"I went AWOL."

"Oh. Ohhhh."

Hope laid down and closed her eyes. She tried to go to sleep, but couldn't. She was too worried about getting in deep trouble.

Stupid ADHD. I always act first, think later. It's annoying.(A/N: Personal thoughts!)

The dropship rocked and Hope felt it getting tugged. She knew that they were being drawn into the Phoenix. She got up and tried to make herself as presentable as possible, mentally bracing for a lot of shouting. The dropship touched down and Hope opened the door. Her dad was waiting.

"What. The. Fuck."

Hope bit her lip, then responded. "I-"

"I don't care that you were trying to save your sister! It was obviously a trap and you fell for it! It's a miracle you're alive!"

"Sir, I had backup."

"Backup? BACKUP!? What fucking backup?!" He was pissed.

"My friends Lloyd, Ka-"

"Really? You had untrained friends for backup? Wh-"

"Dad. They are trained. We've got Spinjitzu at our disposal."

"Spinjitzu? That isn't real."

"In all due respect, it is. You know those Secret Ninjas? Well, they've got Spinjitzu."

"But they weren't with you."

"In all due respect, they were. Me and my friends? We are the Secret Ninjas. How do you think one of them has access to a Vanguard class Titan?"

Hearth opened his mouth to say something, but stopped himself. He realized that Hope was right. How did one of the Ninjas have access to a Vanguard? And at that, HM-4673? Hearth looked down at his daughter, then stormed off. He was still pissed at her, but at least she won't get court martialed. He laid down in bed and Dawn sat down next to him.

"Honey, what's wrong?"

Hearth bit his lip. "Hope. Can't fucking believe she brought civs into a trap."

"What?"

"She got a strange call, claiming they had Veronica. They wanted me, but I guess they couldn't find my number. She went off, gone AWOL, grabbed her friends, who are actually Ninjas, and rescued Veronica. Hope and I had a talk, and I'm still pissed with her."

Dawn shushed him right there and placed her head on his chest. "Don't worry about it, Hearth. She'll grow up, trust me."

"Really? She always rushes head first into battle, not caring about what might happen. It terrifies me."

"I know, I know. We just have to show her that she needs to wait and look at things from a different perspective."

"Dawn. What you're saying is a lot easier in words than actions."

"Are you saying that you're giving up? Noble never gives up; you said that yourself."

Hearth sighed and began to subconsciously run his hand through Dawn's hair. He still remembered when they first met.

"Dawn. Habits never die."

"They're just missing in action?"

Hearth chuckled, then the two of them kissed. Hope, walking past the door, heard the conversation and realized that she was reckless. She sat down at the dinner table and began to fiddle with her phone. She sighed, then plugged in headphones with a built in mic. She tapped in her password and oppened the phone app. She tapped Stone's name and her phone began to ring.

Stone picked up and the two began to talk. Midway through the call, Hope began to semi-breakdown.

"It's just.... I kinda hate the strictness of military life."

"I can see what you're getting at. I too hate it when something's super strict. Hey, let's swap subject."

"Fine. What's on your mind Stone?"

"I was thinking, maybe we can go out on a date? Weather here should hold up."

Hope looked around. "A date? Really?"

"Yeah. I don't see what's so surprising about that."

Hope giggled. She realized she was toying with her hair and stopped. "Sounds great. You know the most about the city, so I'll let you pick the place. See you."

"See you, too. Bye."

Stone hung up and Hope struggled not to giggle. Horizon, the middle sister, was rounding the corner. She leaned against the wall and smiled.

"You've got a boyfriend, don't you?"

"What? That's crazy talk."

"You so do! I can see your cheeks turning red!"

Hope put away her phone and glared at Horizon. She giggled, then walked away. Hope sat back down with a sigh and rested her head in her hands. When Hope looked up, she saw her brother, Blake, walking around typing away at a computer.

"Blake. Do you ever put that down?"

"Huh? Did you say something?" He clicked a button on his headphones.

Hope rolled her eyes and repeated her question. Blake looked down at his laptop and smiled sheepishly.

"What can I say? I like to write."

Hope rolled her eyes again and pulled out her phone. She began to listen to music and fiddle around with a pen. She grabbed it and clicked it open. She grabbed a piece of paper and began to doodle with no real clue about what she was drawing. When she clicked the pen again, she realized she had drawn a Sylph. She smiled, then walked into her room.

Her room was small and she had a laptop sitting on a desk close to her bed. Her Amusphere was resting on top of the laptop. She set it aside and flipped her laptop open. It immediately booted up and after Hope had punched in her pin, she opened the disk tray and placed a new game in the tray. She closed it and World of SAO opened. She logged in, then was instructed to close her laptop.

She tilted the lid down and grabbed her Amusphere. She changed into a dress for comfort, then laid down.

With her Amusphere on her head and eyes closed, Hope said the command. "Link start!"

She was transported to another realm. A blue room surrounded her.

"Welcome to the World of SAO! Here you may explore the towns SAO players explored, fight the bosses they fought, and much more! In this realm, you can: train to be a Pilot; fly through the skies as a fairy; take aim with the guns of GGO; make friends with the legendary Guardians and their cryptarchs; and much more to explore! Now, please input player name."

A keyboard materialized in front of Hope, as well as a text box. She grinned, typed in the name "Destiny" and waited for the confirmation.

"Valid name. Please select race."

Various fairy races appeared. She selected the Sylph race and waited.

"Scanning. Scanning. Welcome, Pilot, to the game! Do you wish to modify your avatar to reflect you better?"

"No."

"Voice command accepted. Your equipment shall be waiting for you at the Cryptarch. Scanning. Scanning. Ghost detected. Unlocking Guardian abilities. Have a nice day and welcome to the World of SAO!"

The blue box slowly turned to sky and the credits rolled. Hope began to fall, but she knew the game would protect her.

This is so real! I thought Keiko was joking about how real VR was!

The title of the game showed, then the credits ended. Hope looked "up" and saw the ground rush at her. A glitch happened and a rift in the game appeared right below her. She shot through the glitch and was transported to a different location. She slammed into the ground and her vision turned red.

She was on her back and her head was spinning. Hope laid there, unable to get up. She thought she heard footsteps, but she wasn't sure. Her vision had stars dancing across it and her hearing sounded watery. A fellow Sylph appeared right above her.

"Holy crap! Are you okay?"

The in-game translator was working. I wonder what her native language is.

"Ughhh. I think I glitched."

"What?" A Spriggan man was kneeling next to the Sylph.

"I said I think I glitched. I was about to land in the starting town when the world below? Above? A rift in the sky oppened intercepting my fall. I was translocated, I think, and hit the ground hard. Why do bad things always happen to me, especially when everything else is normal?"

The Spriggan offered a hand. "Dang. I glitched while entering a game once. Anyways, you might want to get up."

Hope grabbed his hand and he pulled her onto her feet. She rolled her head around and blinked several times.

"You going to be good? Me and my friend Leafa can help you back to town."

Hope looked down at her hip and saw a beginner's sword. She drew it and gave it a couple of swings. It wasn't what she was used to, so much so, she doubted her abilities.

"That might be for the best. I practice sword fighting IRL, but this sword is way too heavy for me to use effectively."

"Huh. Well, might as well get going. Name's Kirito, by the way."

"Wait, Kirito, as in the Black Swordsman Kirito? That's super cool, dude. What do you think about the game?"

Kirito began to blush. He looked at Leafa and shrugged. "Guess there's some things you can't out run. And what I think about the game? It semi reminds me of SAO, but not too much to make me think I'm trapped. The floating logout button in the top right is comforting."

"Neat. Uhh, is that a monster?"

Hope pointed at a giant dragon like beast. It seemed familiar.

"Yeah, I think so. Let's check it out!"

Kirito took off, but Leafa stayed on the ground. She had her hands on her hips and was frowning up at Kirito.

"Leafa! What's wrong?"

"You're forgetting something! The only flight in this game is voluntary! The newbie doesn't know how to fly!"

"Oh. Right."

He came back down and smiled sheepishly at Hope. The three of them took off running and they soon found a Cait Sith standing next to the dragon. They were standing off against a horde of wolves. She was young and had a card in her hand.

"Ability Card, activate!"

The dragon was engulfed in power and Hope remembered who it was.

"Wait a sec, that's Leonidas, a Bakugan! Waaaaat?"

Leonidas leaped into the air and shattered the legion of wolfs. The Cait Sith spotted Hope and smiled.

"Heya! Sup?"

Hope peered closer at the girl and saw her stats and name. Veronica tilted her head and looked at Hope inquisitively.

"Vron? What are you doing here?"

"Huh? Sis?"

"Vron, what are you doing in World of SAO? How'd you get a Amusphere?"

"Bought it. But is that really you sis?"

"Yeah, it's me. What's so confusing?"

"You look nothing like yourself and you're going by a different name."

"Of course I went with a different name! It's still a game, you know. Privacy IRL is still a big topic."

"Oh. Woops. Hey, at least I have Leo, right?"

"I guess you can look at it that way. Hey, did you land here?"

"No, I came from town. Why?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

"Hmmmm. Yeah, right. Well, gotta go! See you later, Destiny. Could you really not think of a better pseudonym?"

Hope shoved her sister playfully, then turned to face Kirito and Leafa. "Heh heh. Sorry 'bout that. Let's get going, shall we?"

Kirito walked past her, a skeptical look on his face. The three of them headed for the inn and once they walked in, Hope saw Keiko was in game. She was calling herself Silica, and Hope knew she had made that name up way back in SAO.

Hope tried to grab her attention. "Hey Silica!"

Keiko looked at Hope. "Uh, do I know you?"

"IRL, yeah."

"Huh?"

Kirito looked back and forth between them. "You've got some explaining to do, Destiny."

They sat down and Hope thought of where to start.

"How about you explain how you know me?" Keiko leaned in.

"'Kay. Might as well break the fourth wall a bit. My name's actually Hope. You gave me World of SAO, remember, Silica?"

Kirito scratched his head. "Why do I feel I've heard that name before?"

Asuna scratched her head as well. "I feel like I've heard that name as well."

"We met when I was like seven."

"Wait, how old are you now?"

"Sixteen. Space-timey wimey stuff. Don't think too hard about it."

Everyone slowly nodded their heads. "Uh huh."

Hope smiled, then shrugged. She was about to say something when the doors to the inn were kicked open. Three bulky men stood in the doorway. They had Bakugan clipped to their belts.

"We're looking for a brawl. New style. Three v three. Any takers?"

A Salamander and Undine stood up. Two Bakugan were floating above their shoulders. The Salamander flicked his thumb across his nose and smiled.

"We'll brawl you."

One of the players sitting at the table the Salamander was sitting at face palmed. "Dan. Really?"

"What can go wrong?"

The challengers laughed. "We said three brawlers, not two."

Veronica came out of her hiding spot in the corner of the inn. She stood next to Dan and flicked a Bakugan up. "I'll join 'em."

Dan and the Undine looked at her. They chuckled, then pulled out a card. All the players drew a card and got ready.

Flipping their cards over, the players shouted in unison. "Arena open!"

Everyone in the inn was transported to a different realm. The players were grouped up, each team on different sides, and the bystanders were circling the arena. Some of them flew up higher, using the strong winds to their advantage.

The players grabbed a card and threw it while saying "Gate card, set!"

It was Veronica's turn first. She smiled, flicked a Bakugan into her hand, and threw it. It hit a gate card, but didn't stay. It bounced a bit, turning mid air here and there, and landed in the center of the card she had threw when the arena opened.

"Bakugan, stay!"

It opened and Hope saw that Veronica had thrown Leonidas.

It was the other team's turn next.

One of the players grabbed his Bakugan. "Just for the record, in this mode, there is no Double Stand and you have to get six cards to win."

Veronica raised an eyebrow. "But with battles, can you have multiple Bakugan on one card?"

"Yeah. You can have an entire team on one card, if you can manage that."

Veronica grinned. The brawler took his turn, landing on Dan's card. It was Dan's turn next and he aimed for Leonidas. He threw Drago and he successfully stuck the landing.

"Alright Marucho, you're next!"

The Undine gave Dan a solid nod. He waited for his turn, then threw his partner so that three Bakugan stood on one card. The opposing team smiled. Their last player stood on Marucho's gate card and the three of them looked right at the opposing team.

"Now that everyone went, we take turns by teams. You start."

Veronica gave Marucho and Dan nods and the three of them threw at the various Bakugan standing on cards. None of them used ability cards because they didn't need to. When the turn went to the newcomers, they threw all three of their Bakugan at Leonidas, Drago and Elfin. They stuck to the card right before their Bakugan could slam into the legendary Bakugan. Veronica's grin grew.

"Looks like someone didn't do their homework. You can't Sphere Attack me, or my team's Bakugan. Gate card, open!"

The Bakugan revealed their true forms and they all gained a boost from the gate. Veronica drew two cards and activated them. One made a victory worth three cards and the other engulfed Drago, Leo and Elfin in what seemed like never-ending power. The glow stopped and Veronica rolled her head around.

Dan looked at Veronica in confusion. "What was that?"

Veronica smiled. "Adds the gate bonus again, timesed by 80, that is. Leo! Do it."

Leonidas began to gather energy. Drago and Elfin joined him and the three of them released their power at once. The breath attack from Elfin and Drago twisted around that of Leonidas's and then, it balled up in the middle of the six Bakugan. Nothing happened for a while, then, the ball bursted. Dozens of tiny shards flew at the opposing Bakugan and then, the arena closed. The challengers were faced with their cards and Bakugan lying on the floor.

"Huh. We'll remember you."

They left and the Brawlers sat down. Hope turned around to face Kirito and his friends.

"My sister is one hell of a Brawler, huh?"

"You can say that. What was that?"

"Her showing off. I wanna say she's become a bit more reckless, but who am I to talk? I've never held a Bakugan."

Asuna began to scroll through her inventory.

"Hey, Asuna. What you looking for?"

"Huh? What was that?"

"Nothing. Well, gotta go. Have to go and pick something up."

Keiko grabbed her arm. "Hang on! What you grabbing?"

Hope looked back at the group and winked. "Maybe I'll show you. In a raid."

Hope pulled her arm away and left the inn. She was immediately lost. She found a NPC guard and tried talking to it.

For all I know, they could work like the guards in World of Warcraft.

"Hello sir. Do you know where the cryptarch is?"

The guard looked down at her. "Yes. He's in the shopping district. Go down that road, take the left turn, and then you'll be in the shopping district. Another guard can help you there, if need be. Also, we have reports of a hooded man who only accepts these Strange Coins. The equipment he provides is so powerful that you can only have one armor piece, and one weapon equipped of that rarity."

"Do you know what the rarity is called?"

"Yes, exotic. Also, if you're a Guardian and you get a piece of exotic armor, the Vanguard will gift a replica of it to you."

"Speaking of Guardians, do Ghost shells count as armor?"

"No. That means you can have a total of four exotics, without the life exotic perk. One weapon, one shell, one armor piece, and one relic. Have a nice day."

"Have a nice day and thank you!"

Hope set off, following the guard's directions. As she was walking through the street, looking for the cryptarch, someone called out for her.

"You! You there! The Sylph in the cloak! Come here, will you?"

Hope turned her head and walked over to the stall. It was a blacksmith. Lizabeth, one of Kirito's friends, was inside.

"Hey there! I see you need a blade. Care if I interest you in some of my works?"

"Sure. I need/want a strong blade that's light. Also, I only have ten gold, so there's that."

Liz went into the back and brought out a sword wrapped in cloth. "I think I have what you need. I was given this blade by the system and since I don't use swords, I opted to put it up for sale as a special blade in my shop."

She removed the cloth and Hope gasped. She was staring at Zar'roc!

"Impressive, huh? Don't know what this glyph means, though."

"Holy crap! That's Zar'roc!"

"Wait, you know this blade?"

"Like hell I do! I fight with it IRL!"

"Woah, you kidding?"

"No way. I couldn't make something like this up even if I tried. Hey, when did you receive the blade?"

"I found it just sitting on this counter. How long ago? Oh, around an hour or so."

"You've got to be kidding me. I've been logged in for an hour."

"Jeez. Guess it belongs to you. It has durability, like all things."

"Really? Weird. Zar'roc IRL can't break, dull, ext. That's really weird."

"My guess is the system wanted to nerf it. Actually, I do have a cost."

"Huh? What is it?"

"Let me be-"

"My personal blacksmith? Go right ahead."

Liz smiled and handed Hope the sword. She gave Liz her old blade and Hope gave Zar'roc several swings. Weightless, just like she remembered.

"Thanks Lisabeth. Care if I call you Liz?"

"Heh. Go right ahead."

Hope waved goodbye and exited the shop. With Zar'roc on her back, Hope wandered through the district, searching for the cryptarch. She eventually found him standing under a tent. With a bow, he greeted her.

"Ah. Good afternoon, Destiny. What may I do for you?" The cryptarch was a player.

"Two things. One, do you know where Xur is and two, I believe you have a package for me."

The cryptarch sighed. "Name? Real one."

"Guardian Hope Everlasting."

"Ah. Nice to see another Guardian. Let me check.... You have two packages, actually."

"Really? I thought I only had one, my Pilot kit."

"Yes, that's here, but there is also a quote en quote 'Guardian care package' with your name on it. Here you are. Let me know if there's an engram. I love cracking this VR's code, legally, that is."

Hope chuckled, then bid the cryptarch farewell. She sat down on a bench and opened her Pilot kit. It had her unique helmet and jumpkit, as well as a data knife and R-201. She put the kit away and placed her Guardian 'care package' on her lap. It was kinda big and heavy. It was decorated with gold lace on top of white wrapping paper and it had a blue bow on top.

She tugged at the bow and the paper fell away. It was added to her inventory and she grabbed her data knife. The box was metal and had a keypad on the top. Before hacking it, she tried putting in a random code. Nothing happened, so she tried her Guardian number, 4673. The box clicked and she put away her knife.

Lifting the lid, Hope peered inside. Foam pellets covered whatever was inside. She brushed them aside and saw the visor of a Hunter helmet. She lifted it and saw that a special knife fell out of the helmet. The helmet was ornate and gold lines danced around it. Hope set it aside and continued digging. She found a Ghost shell, this one blue with pulsating orange streaks. There was an entire set of armor, as well as some top notch guns. Hope went into her inventory and saw the orange colouring of exotics. She examined them closer and saw that most of them had the perk "life exotic" attached.

She smiled and put on the pieces on by one. She stood up, lifted her hand cannon, and went through various motions. She had a relic clipped to her belt and gave her Ghost its new shell. She walked over to the cryptarch and smiled under her helmet.

"Yes? What do you need?"

"I was told that if I'm a Guardian and acquired exotics, the Vanguard would give me a exact replica. Well, all of this is extoic."

The cryptarch turned around and gaped. Hope was in full exotic armor, only possible by life exotic. He chuckled and tapped an order into a keypad. As he was putting in the order, Hope decided to explore the menus. While she was in the character tab, she noticed something. An icon was missing.

What's missing?

Hope looked up at the top right of her vision and saw nothing.

"Oh hell no."

"Hmm? What's wrong Guardian?"

"The log-out button's gone."

"Wait, you're right. And I think all outside communication is gone because I can't put in your order."

Hope clenched her fists. "This isn't good. What should we do? I mean, what can we do? This game is a true MMO, no end."

"Good point. This is a tricky problem."

Thoughts ran through her head. "OUR GHOSTS!"

"What?"

"Our Ghosts! They are in the game via our mental links! Their bodies are still movable! And the Titans! They can interface with the game and pull themselves out whenever needed! Let's try Hammer first, okay?"

"Okay, but keep it quiet. We don't want people to panic."

"Got it. Continue the fight, cryptarch."

"Continue the fight and protect us all, Guardian."

Hope sprinted off, headed for Hammer's location. He looked at her when she came bolting by. Jack got up and began talking with the teen.

"Hey Hope. What's up?"

"Jack. Keep what I'm about to say a secret. We're trapped in the game. The log-out button's gone. We're cut off from the outside world."

Jack shifted his weight. "Totally?"

"Without Titans or Ghosts, yeah. But with the Titans, they can exit the simulation and warn the Militia. In theory."

"What about the Ghosts? How can they help?"

"A Guardian's Ghost isn't physically linked to the game, like we are with our AmuSpheres. Their bodies can still function IRL. They are hitch-hiking on our brain waves. They can pull away from their Guardian's mind and warn others. Again, hopefully."

Hammer knelt down. "Attempting disconnection from servers.... Attempt failed."

"Fuck. Ghost?"

"I can disconnect from the server, but you'll lose the Light. Your choice."

Hope looked at her Ghost. "Getting the players into the hospital is more important than if I have the Light or not in a game. Besides, us Guardians need to learn that we can't always rely on the Light."

"Well said, Hunter. Ghost. Don't disconnect. Mine already has and the Vanguard knows."

Hope spun around to see Ikora Rey standing behind her with hands behind her back. She looked at Hope and a small smile formed on her lips.

"What you said is very true. Very inspired. So much so that you could have been mistaken for a Warlock." She winked.

Hope began to laugh, but stopped herself when a strange portal opened up. On the other side, she saw the Lighthouse.

"What the-"

Osiris stepped through and looked at Ikora.

"Ikora."

"Osiris."

"I didn't expect to find you in a place like this."

Sagira materialized. She looked at Hope and stared for a bit. "Why do I feel like we've met, Hunter?"

"We have. You *borrowed* my Ghost's body for a bit while I worked on a solo mission to save the universe with you. Remember?"

"OH! Now I do! Say, it's been a long time, Hope."

"Hey, can you call me Destiny here? You and Osiris kinda walked into a game."

Osiris lifted an eyebrow. "Now did we?"

"Yeah, and the log-out button's gone. We're trapped. Soooo, if you want to go tell my dad, Hearth Everlasting, about our predicament, go right ahead."

Osiris laughed and pulled out a strange relic. He began to rearrange the three cubes in a pattern and a portal opened. "We'll be going. Stay alive, will you? I have the sense that if you die here, you truly die."

Osiris walked into the portal and Sagira flew in after him. The portal closed and Hope sighed.

"Looks like it's going to be a while before we're free."

"It seems so. What now?" Ikora began to read a book.

"Well, I've gotta stay here, so how 'bout you two go and talk in the inn or something."

"Good idea Jack. See you later."

Hope led Ikora to the inn and she immediately spotted Keiko. She was in the process of sitting down with her friends. Hope walked over and tapped on her shoulder.

"Hey, mind if my friend and I sit down?"

"Go right ahead."

Hope pulled up a chair as did Ikora and they listened to the conversation. Kirito was speaking.

"Guys, we- oh, hey Destiny. Looks like you brought a friend. Listen, you've got to hear this. I'm not kidding."

Asuna looked at Kirito. "Kirito, what is it?"

He took a deep breath. "You're not going to like it."

"Like what?"

"Guys, we're trapped."

Everyone but Hope and Ikora looked at him in surprise. With a warbling voice, Silica perked up.

"W-what do you mean?"

Kirito took another breath. "It's SAO, all over again. The log-out button is gone."

The table began to murmur. Hope and Ikora kept quiet, and Asuna noticed.

"Why are you two unaffected?"

Hope closed her eyes. "We already knew. We didn't spread the word because we didn't want to spread panic through everyone. Some might not even realize it's missing."

"How are you so calm?"

"We've sent out a message. Ikora's Ghost left the game to warn the Vanguard. They'll spread the message."

Kirito frowned. "And if they don't?"

Ikora perked up. "They will. Also, Osiris, a legendary Warlock, entered the game fully and we told him to warn Hearth. He'll do it."

Hope added onto Ikora's statement. "When she said entered, she meant he walked into the game via a portal. He was basically an AI, no 'real life' body to speak of. He's gone now."

Asuna slowly nodded. "Uh huh. What should we do then?"

"Don't die. That's really it. Oh, and try to keep this a secret."

Kirito bit his lip. "Will do. It'll be tough, not charging ahead, but I'm sure someone will rein me in if need be."

Everyone at the table began to chuckle. Hope bought a room for herself and fell asleep.

I hope to Etro that Dad'll find a way to free us. If not, fuck me.