It's been thirty years since the Demon War ended but the scars it made have yet to heal. Marth has lost his memories and most of his powers are sealed away. As he tries to find out his identity, he gets dragged into another VRMMO called Brain Burst by girl named Kuroyukihime. Will they be able to rediscover Marth's past and help him move on as they fight in the Accelerated World? Sequel to Sword Art Online: The Dark Swordsman 2.

"Italics"- thoughts or cable link

Italics- telepathy

Chapter 1- The Beginning

September 26th, 2056

Frank Storm, nicknamed "Marth" by his two friends, was in his math class at high school. He had black hair and sapphire-blue eyes and wore a black school uniform, which was different from the usual blue uniform the other students wore, and black boots. There was a black device around his neck called a Neuro Linker that allowed him access to both augmented reality and virtual reality. He looked around eighteen years old and was surprisingly a junior. However, he was actually the only person in the classroom, no all of Umesato High School, who isn't Japanese. He was actually an American, but how he ended up in Japan was a mystery because he had no memories of his past. The earliest his memories went was when he was found by a couple who would become his foster parents in the Tokyo park when he was eight years old. Despite this however, Frank was able to speak fluently in Japanese and read it just as easily.

Normally Frank paid attention during his classes, but he ended up dozing off by accident, causing him to have the same nightmare that's been plaguing him for four years. In the dream, Frank was wearing a black and silver overcoat with white fur trimming on the collar, black pants and boots, and fingerless gloves of the same color. He was wielding two swords that appeared to be twins despite being different colors, Lunara and Solaris. He also had two black scabbards strapped to his back as well as a silver crystal on his chest that resembled a cross.

"What the?" Frank said in confusion.

Frank was with a group of people he couldn't make out and could tell they were fighting against a man in black armor. The dream then flashed forward to Frank piloting some sort of mech named Siren that matched his color scheme and battling a black version of Siren before Frank's Siren destroyed it and the city they were fighting above with a barrage of energy blasts.

"No," Frank said as he fidgeted in his sleep. "I don't…" Suddenly Frank woke up as he felt someone give him a light shake.

"Are you okay, Frank?" Mr. Kain, his math teacher, asked in concern. "You're not the type to fall asleep in class."

Frank rubbed his eyes as he tried to overcome his drowsiness. "Yeah. I'm sorry, Mr. Kain," he said sincerely. "It won't happen again."

"I hope not," Mr. Kain said, still looking concerned. "You're a smart kid. It would be a shame if you started slacking."

Mr. Kain then went back to his whiteboard and began writing on it, however it was only appearing in the augmented reality from the Neuro Linker while the other students took virtual notes.

"I can't believe I fell asleep in class," Frank muttered in shame as the teacher continued with the lesson.

Suddenly Frank got an email from Araya, causing him to let out a groan.

"What does he want now?" he asked in frustration.

Frank opened the email, causing it let out a loud notification that would've caught him by surprise if Araya didn't overuse it so much that it has lost its effect on the black-haired teen.

"Bring me my usual lunch to the roof," Araya had said. "And don't even think of bringing your friends with you or else."

Frank looked over his shoulder and eyed Araya, who had red hair and wore a blue school uniform. Araya looked very smug until Frank sent him a cold glare.

Later

Frank went to the roof where Araya and his goons were waiting. Frank had a small plastic bag in his hands and tossed it to Araya, who barely managed to catch it.

"You know you could just buy those yourself, Araya," Frank said coldly. "I'm not your vending machine."

Araya glared at the black-haired teen in anger. "Watch your mouth, punk," he said menacingly.

One of his goons took out one of the items from the bag and said, "Hey, this is a blueberry tart. It's supposed to be a cherry tart!"

Frank simply shrugged as he put his hands in his pockets. "They were out of the cherry ones," he replied. "It's not a big deal."

Araya gritted his teeth in frustration before cracking a smug grin. "It's fine, guys," he said. "We're all cool here, right Marth?"

The black-haired teen glared at the red-head. "Only my friends can call me 'Marth'," Frank said coldly.

The male bully cringed before regaining his confidence. "You mean your only two friends," Araya retorted. "Honestly, what do they even see in you? You're just a freak with amnesia! Even your birth parents didn't want you! Why else would they abandon you?"

Frank clenched his fists tightly in anger. Everyone in school knew about his memory loss from when his adoptive parents found him unconscious in the city park ten years ago. He knew he had strange powers, with one of them being a rapid-healing ability, but most of them were sealed away for some reason. Somehow Araya had found out about his amnesia and healing ability back in middle school and spread the word, making it difficult for Frank to make friends. However, there were two students who befriended him, regardless of his past.

As much as Frank wanted to punch the arrogant red-head in the face for that, he didn't because Araya could just play innocent and claim Frank did it unprovoked and get him suspended, if not expelled. It didn't help that there weren't any security cameras on the roof, which is why Araya always had him meet there.

"Admit it, freak," Araya goaded. "Nobody likes you. This whole world is against you!"

Suddenly time seemed to stop as Frank saw the image of a black-haired man wearing crimson red armor with black outlines and a white cape. The man was wielding a sword and a shield that had a red cross on it. Frank began breathing at a rapid rate as panic enveloped him.

"Haha!" one of the grunts exclaimed. "The freak's shaking in his boots!"

Frank took a deep breath and calmed down as the image faded from his mind. "Don't email me again," he said sternly. "This is the last time I buy your lunch for you. Next time, buy it yourself!"

"What was that?!" Araya said in anger before Frank turned around and began walking away. "Hey, get back here! We're not finished!" Araya then sneered. "If you leave, I'll pay that girl friend of yours a little visit. I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun together."

Frank stopped dead in his tracks before sending a death glare at the trio, causing them all to flinch in fear.

"Pick on me all you want, I don't care," Frank said coldly as he exuded a powerful presence, which different from his usual self. "But don't you dare lay a finger on Asuna! If you harm her in any way, I'll make you regret the day you were ever born!"

"Why you…" Araya grumbled before shouting, "The next time I see you, you better apologize or you're dead, freak!"

Frank didn't respond as he just walked away. He then ducked into the boy's bathroom and punched the wall in frustration, making a small dent in it.

"Damn it," Frank cursed, forgetting about his enhanced strength, another one of his strange powers. "What's Araya's deal with me?" He looked into a mirror before unbuttoning his jacket and moved his tie out of the way, revealing the same silver crystal from his dream that was on his chest. "Am I really so different that I can't live like everyone else?"

Frank then rebuttoned his jacket to cover the crystal before going into one of the stalls and sat on the toilet lid. He closed his eyes and said his custom Full-Dive code, "Link Start!" Frank then dived into the school's virtual world as his avatar, "Marth".

Marth found himself in the virtual world's square, where he could see tons of students chatting away. Marth was one of the few students who had their avatars be human, although his avatar was created on its own. His appearance was the same from his dream and he had an ornate black sword with a wing-shaped guard that faced the pommel strapped to his back along with a gold sword that looked identical to it. The twin swords also had a silver crystal in the hilts that looked identical to the one on his chest. Subconsciously, he knew what the swords were called: Lunara and Solaris. Both swords seemed to be made out of metal from the way they shone in the light, but Marth could tell that they were made from a different material, only he couldn't remember what it was.

Marth stared at his right palm and made a fist. "I don't know why, but every time I come to this world, it always cheers me up," he said to no one in particular.

The dual-wielder started running down the pathway towards the arena when he suddenly heard voices near the fountain.

"Hey, it's the Student Vice-President!" one girl exclaimed.

"She's so pretty!" another girl added.

There were a few other praises from other students as well. Marth curiously went up the stairs towards the fountain where he could see a crowd gathered around Kuroyukihime. She also had a very human-like avatar, only hers also had black and pink butterfly wings. Her outfit consisted of a black dress and shoes as well as a black headband to hold her bangs up and she was carrying an umbrella. Kuroyukihime also had long black hair and amber eyes and looked to be eighteen years old.

"So Kuroyukihime, how do you create such awesome avatars?" one girl asked eagerly. "Mine don't come out nearly so cool."

The Student Vice-President didn't answer as she suddenly looked over her shoulder and stared directly at Marth. The dual-wielder could've sworn that she was shocked to see him. The two teens silently locked eyes for a few moments before Marth turned with a flick of his coat and walked away.

"Could that really be him?" Kuroyukihime questioned to herself as she watched the dual-wielder leave. The black-haired girl then zoned out from rest of the conversation as she thought about an incident eight years ago when she met a teenager wearing a certain black overcoat and wielding two swords.

Meanwhile Marth just continued his way to the arena. "What was with Kuroyukihime?" he asked himself before shaking his head. "Why am I even thinking about her? It's not like she knows me or anything."

Marth then arrived at the arena and found it empty. This wasn't really a big surprise for the swordsman, since most students would rather chat in the virtual world rather than fight. Marth accessed the system menu to begin the Boss Rush minigame. Immediately a timer began to count down from ten as he drew his swords.

"In this world, anyone can become strong," Marth thought to himself. "That might not mean much to me, but its true, even if strength here is just a bunch of numbers."

Immediately three lizardmen spawned in with curved swords and bucklers. The monsters hissed at the swordsman before charging at him. Marth simply smirked as he activated Spinning Totality, causing his swords to glow blue before he spun in a complete circle, killing all three monsters at once and causing them to shatter into polygons.

"When I fight with my swords, everything just comes naturally to me," Marth thought as he fought several battles back-to-back while taking little damage to himself. "I don't know why that is, but it sure comes in handy here."

Marth then found himself on level 73, which was a battle with a large golem. The golem tried to crush the dual-wielder with its right arm, but Marth blocked it with a cross-block, however he did take some damage from the impact. Marth then deflected the arm away before activating Vorpal Strike with Lunara, causing its blade to glow red. He charged at the boss and stabbed it in the chest, inflicting a good amount of damage on it, before drawing back his right sword.

Marth then activated Horizontal Square with Solaris, its blade glowing blue while also canceling his post-motion delay from using Vorpal Strike, and performed four horizontal slashes on the golem's waist, inflicting even more damage on it while also drawing a square with the streaks from the attacks. Finally, Marth finished it off with Sharp Nail using Lunara. He began with an upward right to left diagonal slash against the monster's chest, followed by a left to right horizontal slash across its waist before concluding the combo with a downward right to left diagonal slash on its chest.

The golem groaned before it shattered into polygons. Suddenly the level 74 boss appeared, which was a huge red-eyed blue demonic monster with a purple cobra as a tail and was wielding a large one-edged sword.

Marth tightened his grip on his swords as the monster roared at him as it raised its sword. He found himself getting a sense of familiarity from the boss, even though this is only his third attempt on it.

"Here we go, Gleam Eyes," Marth said in a serious tone, more seriously than the average gamer would use. "This time, you're going down!"

The dual-wielder charged at the boss and hastily dodged a downward slash that ended up striking the ground instead. Marth then slashed at the boss's legs with his swords, leaving red gashes behind before blocking a horizontal slash with his swords while also taking some damage from the impact.

"Damn it," Marth cursed under his breath. "I need to go faster!"

Marth forced Gleam Eyes's sword away before activating Howling Octave with Lunara, causing the black blade to be surrounded by red flames. He began the one-handed sword skill by performing five high-speed thrusts on the boss's chest before with a downward slash in the same spot. He then jumped high in the air while also doing an upward slash before concluding the skill with an overhead slash, striking the boss's mid-section. Marth grunted as a pillar of red fire briefly surrounded them before dispersing.

Gleam Eyes managed to recover from the attack and prepared horizontal slash. Marth chose to abandon defense as the flames parted around Lunara and activated Savage Fulcrum with Solaris, causing the golden blade to glow blue. While Gleam Eyes's attack hit its mark, Marth slashed at its waist with Solaris, stopping midway. He then let out a howl as he turned the sword ninety degrees before pushing it in, causing a block of ice to appear on the boss's back before it exploded. Marth then adjusted his grip on Solaris before turning around and concluded the skill with a full-powered vertical slash, removing his left sword from the monster's chest and creating another block of ice that also exploded.

"Faster than that!" Marth thought quickly as he activated Horizontal Square with Lunara.

While Gleam Eyes unleashed a barrage of slower attacks, Marth's attacks with the sword skill were very fast before he followed it up with Vertical Square with Solaris, which was the same as the previous sword skill, only it consisted of vertical slashes. Marth then howled as he activated Vorpal Strike with his black sword. Both opponents thrusted their swords at each other, but Marth was faster and stabbed the monster's stomach, taking out the last of its HP and causing it to shatter into polygons.

"Did I…win?" Marth said in exhaustion before lowering his swords. He then checked his HP bar for the minigame and saw he only had a small chunk left. Seeing that he was too tired to continue, Marth chose to end the game right there before sheathing his swords. He then checked the scoreboard and saw that he made the top score, much to his satisfaction.

Suddenly the dual-wielder heard someone applauding behind him. He turned towards the sound and smiled when he recognized the source.

"I thought I'd find you here," Asuna said with a light smile. "So you finally reached level 74. Congratulations." (Asuna's avatar is her Undine avatar from ALO. Her rapier is strapped to her waist. She's one year older than Frank but she's in the same grade as him. She's also the one who gave Frank his nickname "Marth".)

"Hey Asuna," Marth greeted kindly. "What brings you here?"

"Uh, did you forget to meet me and Kirito for lunch?" Asuna questioned.

Marth cringed as the memory was just coming back to him. "Crap. I'm sorry. It slipped my mind."

"Was it Araya again?" Asuna asked in concern.

"Yeah, it was," Marth answered slowly. "He's still being a jerk, like always."

"Did you have another panic attack?"

"A small one but I handled it pretty quickly."

Asuna let out a deep breath. "You really should report him, you know. It's not right for Araya to be treating you this way."

"If I did that, he'd just get suspended," Marth replied. "When he comes back, he'll just go back to his bullying. Anyway, are you and Kirito still at our usual spot?"

Asuna nodded in confirmation. "Of course, but you better hurry before Kirito eats all the food," she said teasingly. "In fact, he might be doing that right now."

The duo shared a laugh before they both logged out. Frank then hurried out of the bathroom before going to the school's courtyard where he saw Asuna and Kazuto/Kirito sitting by a table. Asuna had long chestnut-brown hair, brown eyes and wore the girl's blue school uniform, a white Neuro Linker around her neck, and had a small picnic basket with her. Kazuto, on the other hand, had black hair and eyes, was around eighteen, and was wearing the same uniform as Frank and had a Neuro Linker that was the same color. Kazuto and Asuna were also dating, which Frank really didn't mind.

"Hey guys," Frank called out as he hurried over to his friends.

"About time you got here," Kazuto said with a light smile as the new arrival took a seat next to him. "A few minutes later and I would've eaten your share, Frank."

"That's not nice, Kirito!" Asuna scolded. "Anyway, let's eat."

Asuna took out two sandwiches and gave it to the boys before getting one for herself. The trio then started to chow down.

"Tasty as always," Kazuto said. "You're an awesome cook, Asuna."

The chestnut-haired girl blushed from the praise. "It was nothing. Believe it or not, I actually made these in a rush just so I could get to school on time."

"Anyway," Kazuto said before eyeing Frank. "Asuna told me that Araya was harassing you again and that you had another panic attack. Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm alright," Frank passed off. "I really want to punch that guy in his arrogant face, especially since my avatar's strength is with me IRL, but I'm fine."

Both his friends laughed in response.

"I swear that if Araya knew that, he'd be the one shaking in his boots," Kazuto joked.

"You got that right," Asuna agreed with a smile.

Later- virtual world

Marth was back in the arena where he saw that someone else had topped his highest score, with them reaching level 80.

"What the?" he said in confusion. "How did someone else pass me up? Not even Kazuto could make it past level 74."

As if on que, a female voice said, "Were you the one who managed to clear level 74?"

Marth turned around and saw none other than Kuroyukihime in the stands, staring right at him.

"Do you want to accelerate?" Kuroyukihime questioned further. "Do you want to take this to the next level?"

The dual-wielder raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What are you talking about?" Marth asked. "Accelerate?"

"If you want to know more then meet me in the school lounge during lunch tomorrow," Kuroyukihime replied. "I hope to see you there." She then logged out, leaving Marth even more confused.

"Was that really her?" Marth asked himself. For some reason, he felt like he was getting dragged into something big.

The next day

Frank went into the cafeteria before making his way to the lounge area, which was bordered by a hedge. As soon as he entered, he immediately noticed most of the students giving him strange looks.

"Isn't that the freak kid?" one boy asked.

"I thought he and those friends of his kept to themselves," a girl added. "What's he doing here?"

"Maybe this was a mistake," Frank thought as he grimaced from all the negative attention he was getting.

Frank was about to turn and leave when a familiar voice said, "Leave him alone, everyone. He's with me."

All eyes turned to Kuroyukihime, who was sitting alone at the farthest table that conveniently had only two chairs. Her hair and eyes were the same color as her avatar's, and she was wearing a black girl's school uniform along with a black Neuro Linker and black leggings. She also had a silver bracelet on her right wrist with a single purple sword charm on it.

"He's with you, Hime?" a girl questioned. "But he's a freak!"

Frank scowled in response, which Kuroyukihime noticed.

"I highly doubt that," the vice-president said inquisitively. "If anything, he's just misunderstood." She looked directly at the dual-wielding player. "Am I right, Frank Storm?"

Everyone, including Frank, gasped in shock.

"Do Kuroyukihime and the freak kid know each other?" a student asked.

Frank chose to ignore the question as well as the other students before walking over to the Student Vice-President and took the seat in front of her.

"Are you trying to make my life harder?" Frank asked in irritation. "I don't need any more bad rumors about me."

Kuroyukihime was unfazed by his tone and brought out a link cable, which got everyone's attention. Frank was also surprised since people only used link cables when they were dating, since it allowed them to communicate through thoughts and access each other's Neuro Linkers.

"No way," a girl said in disbelief. "Is she gonna do what I think she is?"

"How long have you had your Neuro Linker?" she asked curiously, ignoring everyone else as she inserted one end of the cable into her Neuro Linker and handed the other end to Frank, who hesitantly inserted it into his.

Frank was confused by the question but said, "Around ten years or so. Right when my adopted parents took me in."

"I see. That will make things…interesting," Kuroyukihime mused. "Anyway, I'm sorry for dragging you all the way here, Frank Storm. I know that you're not one for attention."

"It's fine," Frank replied. "So what's this about anyway? Why do you have such an interest in me?"

"All will be explained shortly," Kuroyukihime assured as she readied a download to send to him. "But first I'm about to send you an application. Normally it can't be received if someone your age has a Neuro Linker for as long as you, but I believe you will be an exception. If you accept this application, your reality will never be the same again."

Frank briefly had a vision were a blonde-haired man wearing a lab coat holding the same silver crystal Frank had on his chest.

"Because of me, your whole life was altered," the man had said.

"What the?" Frank said in confusion.

Kuroyukihime, who saw the vision as well through the link cable, simply smirked. "Interesting," she said. "Now I'm even more convinced that this will work. So what is your answer?"

Frank saw a small purple virtual butterfly fly to him before it became a notification if he will accept the application for a program or not.

"Will you tell me why you called me out if I accept it?" Frank asked.

"Of course."

Frank selected the "accept" button causing the notification to vanish into an app with a "B" on it. The app then burst into virtual flames that only the cable linkers could see as the flames surrounded them. Frank then saw the words Brain Burst appear before him along with a load bar that was slowly increasing though the flames disappeared.

"What the hell is this?" Frank asked quickly. "I've never heard of a Brain Burst program before."

"I'll explain once it's safely installed," Kuroyukihime replied as she took a sip from her tea. "There are cases of installation failures, but I doubt it will happen here."

"What makes you so sure of that?"

"I have my reasons."

Frank let out a groan in annoyance. "She's never gonna give me a straight answer," he complained in his head.

"I heard that," Kuroyukihime said smugly, causing Frank to cringe. "And I will give you a straight answer, just once everything is ready."

As if on que, the load bar filled up completely, causing it and the Brain Burst icon to be replaced with the words "Welcome to the Accelerated World".

"I'm glad my intuition was right about you," Kuroyukihime said with a small smile. "You know, it took me two minutes before I decided to accept this program. I prepared a little speech to try to convince you, but it looks like wasn't needed. You really don't follow the same rules as the rest of us after all."

Frank gasped in surprise. "How much do you know about me?"

"More than you might think."

"Hey, freak!" a voice called out.

Frank gritted his teeth as he saw Araya storming over to him in anger.

"Did you think you could avoid me?!" Araya asked bitterly. "You owe me an apology or things are gonna get ugly, real quick!"

"Frank won't be doing any such thing," Kuroyukihime spoke up with a smug expression. "In fact, he just told me that you were supposed to go to a zoo instead of our school. Talk about a mix-up."

Despite knowing that the vice-president was trying to get a rise out of Araya, Frank couldn't help but laugh, which only made Araya even angrier. The red-head grabbed Frank by his collar and forced him out of his chair.

"That's it!" Araya shouted in rage as he readied a punch. "You're history, freak!"

"Hurry! Say 'Burst Link' now!" Kuroyukihime exclaimed quickly.

"Uh, Burst Link!" Frank said quickly as Araya started swinging.

Suddenly time stopped as everything took on a shade of blue. Frank then found himself separated from his body and instead was in his avatar, Marth, and was the only one in his normal colors.

"What the?" Marth said in confusion as he looked around. "What just happened?"

"Don't even think about staring at my legs," Kuroyukihime spoke up. She was also in her avatar and not affected by the change of color. "I had hoped they'd be covered from the security cameras, but it seems I was wrong. Anyway, should I call you 'Frank' or 'Marth' when you're in this form?"

Marth turned towards the girl and folded his arms. "Frank," he said instantly. "Only my friends can call me 'Marth'."

Kuroyukihime simply sighed. "Very well. I guess I still have to earn that right. Anyway, you're probably wondering why everything is frozen. This is one of the functions of the Brain Burst program. We've simply…accelerated."

"Accelerated?" Marth questioned. He tugged at the link cable, but it wouldn't budge not matter how hard he pulled. "Well we didn't freeze time. Is this some sort of 3D reconstruction of the real world?"

"You catch on quick, no pun intended," Kuroyukihime replied. "You are correct. This is the Accelerated World, home of the Burst Linkers. It is created through the images pulled from all the security cameras that are in the lounge. By using accelerated brain waves with our Neuro Linkers, we are able to see this world with our own eyes."

"Cool," Marth commented. "How fast are we accelerating?"

"By about one thousand times the normal rate," Kuroyukihime stated. "One second in reality feels like one thousand seconds. In this world, that's sixteen minutes and forty seconds." She then eyed the image of Frank and Araya. "By using this power, a person can get out of situations such as that like by catching a punch."

Marth folded his arms. "Don't need it. You may not know this about me, but I'm stronger and faster than the average teenager."

"I know," Kuroyukihime replied. "That's why I chose you. You're not an ordinary teenager, you're special. I can tell just by looking at you, or more importantly, that." She pointed at Marth's crystal, which was gleaming on his chest. "However, I don't want you to avoid that punch."

Marth raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Wait, you want me to get hit?!" he exclaimed.

"You heal fast so its not like it would be much of a problem for you, Frank," Kuroyukihime explained. "Think about it. Araya knows that security cameras are everywhere within the school. That's why he tormented you in places where they weren't installed. But this isn't like the school's roof. Thanks to my provocation, Araya's aggression is being caught right on camera for all to see and in front of multiple witnesses."

"I get it," Marth caught on. "No matter what he does, he can't avoid punishment for this. You want me to take the hit in order to get him in even more trouble."

"Exactly. Now do you see why I asked you to come here? But that's not all I want you to do. When Araya punches you, throw yourself at me, hard."

"Are you sure about that?" Marth questioned. "I've got a healing ability, so injuries don't really bother me, but you don't. What if you get hurt really bad?"

"Don't worry about me," Kuroyukihime replied, her eyes looking as serious as ever. "I know what I'm doing." The black-haired girl suddenly grabbed Marth's hand, much to his surprise, and pulled him towards the image of his real body and placed his hand on its shoulder.

"To stop accelerating, say 'Burst Out'," Kuroyukihime continued as she went over to her real body. "Make sure to put on a good show."

"Okay," Marth said slowly. "But don't blame me if you get really hurt."

"Burst Out!" the teens said in sync.

Time began to move again, and Frank let Araya punch him in the face. Frank then threw himself backward, knocking himself into Kuroyukihime. When he regained focus, he saw some blood dripping from the vice-president's head and her eyes were closed.

"Are you okay?" Frank asked in concern, ignoring the screams from the students and Araya and his goons were being taken away by the teachers.

"Don't worry, it's just a scratch," Kuroyukihime replied. "We're just maximizing the damage on Araya. Now he'll never bother you again."

Frank let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Has anyone ever tell you that you're reckless?"

"You'd be the first," Kuroyukihime said before leaning into the male teen and whispering, "I look forward to the future of our friendship, Frank Storm."

"What did I get myself into?" Frank muttered in annoyance.

Kuroyukihime simply giggled. "One more thing I should tell you. When you leave school today, don't remove your Neuro Linker until we meet up here tomorrow. Also don't connect to the global net, no matter what."

"Okay, but why?"

"I'll explain it tomorrow."

"Oh, come on!"

Later

After classes ended, Frank shut off his Neuro Linker's connection and headed to the front gate to meet up with Kazuto and Asuna.

"We heard what happened at lunch," Kazuto said as the trio started walking home. "Are you okay, Frank?"

"Yeah, my bruise is already gone. Do you guys know what happened to Araya?"

"He and his goons got expelled," Asuna replied. "I'm glad they're gone but did you really have to put yourself at risk like that? What if you used your powers back there? You'd be in more trouble than Araya if you did."

"Which is why I didn't use them," Frank said. "I don't want another incident like that to happen again. Besides, I've got you two to help me if I get in a jam."

Both Kazuto and Asuna smiled.

"That you do, Frank," Kazuto replied. "We're a team. We look after each other, no matter what."

"So Frank, I heard you cable linked with Kuroyukihime," Asuna added with a smug look. "Care to share what happened?"

Frank reeled back in surprise. "Uh, she, uh, just wanted to talk, uh, about something," he said nervously. "She heard that I cleared level 74 in the Boss Rush minigame and wanted a few pointers on it."

Asuna raised an eyebrow in suspicion, clearly not believing him. "Oh really? The vice-president of the student council wanted gamer tips from you. Really?"

"Uh…"

Thankfully Kazuto came to his friend's rescue and said, "Lay off him, Asuna. If Frank wants to talk about it, let him do it when he's ready to."

The chestnut-haired girl sighed in defeat. "All right. I'm just concerned is all. Not that many people really see Marth as a person. I just don't want him to be taken advantage of."

Frank simply smiled. "Don't worry, Asuna. I'll be careful. Besides," he made a fist as purple lightning briefly sparked off it, "I know how to handle myself."

"That you do," Asuna admitted. "Just know that if you need me and Kirito, we'll be there for you."

"You got it."

Later That Night

Frank was tossing and turning in his sleep as he had a nightmare. He was in his "Marth" avatar piloting a silver Siren mech and was firing multiple silver particle beams down at his opponent, badly damaging the city of Tokyo. The terrified screams from the people below filled the air as they ran for their lives.

"No," Frank muttered in the real world. "No."

Frank then found himself in a dark room, holding the dead body of a girl with purple hair. Tears were streaming from his eyes as he sobbed loudly.

"This isn't what I wanted," Frank cried out as he held the girl close. "Please don't let this be true!"

Frank then saw the back of himself wielding Lunara and Solaris. The duplicate was wearing a blackwyrm coat, black boots and pants, and black fingerless gloves as well as the same silver crystal on his chest. He also had two scabbards of the same color strapped to his back.

"You can't keep denying your past," the duplicate said. "Sooner or later, you have to accept who you are."

"What?" Frank said in confusion before the duplicate was replaced by a black wolf howling in the moonlight.

Frank then woke with a scream. He was covered in sweat and breathing hard. "What on earth was that?" he asked himself as he held his head in his right hand. "That nightmare was different than the others." He then thought about the duplicate he saw. "That appearance…it couldn't be…"

The Next Day

Frank was ready to head out to school when he ran into Rias, his adopted mother, who was sitting by the dinner table since she still had time before she needed to go to work. She had long red hair and green eyes and looked to around thirty-five years old. His father, Shiro, had already left for work. They both worked at a company and occasionally had to leave on business trips, but Frank was mature enough to take care of himself when that happened.

"Hey Mom, I'm running late," Frank said quickly as he grabbed his bag in a hurry. "Can I have some money for breakfast at school."

"Of course, Frank." Rias tried to send money to her son, but it didn't work since he wasn't on the global net, so Frank reconnected so she could.

"Frank," Rias said suddenly as he was about to walk out the door of the apartment. "I heard you screaming last night. Did you have another nightmare?"

Frank slowly nodded, knowing better than to hide it from her. "Yeah. They've been happening since I fourteen. The weird part is that they don't feel like dreams at all. They almost feel like…memories or something."

"Do you think it might be you trying to remember your past?" Rias questioned in concern.

"I don't know. To be honest, they kinda scare me at times. Especially the one where I'm destroying Tokyo with some sort of robot."

His mother's eyes filled with sorrow. "I'm sorry you're going through this, Frank. If you need someone to talk to, your father and I are always here," Rias offered.

Frank gave his mother a warm smile. "Thanks Mom. I'll see you and Dad after school."

"Okay. Be careful. And remember not to use your powers!"

Frank then hurried out the door and left the apartment building. "I feel like I'm forgetting something," he thought to himself.

Suddenly time stopped and the blue 3D world appeared as Brain Burst activated on its own.

"What's going on?" Frank asked himself.

The 3D world was then replaced by the apocalyptic ruins of a city, which reminded Frank of his nightmares. He then saw a timer appear over his head along with two HP bars and special gauges. Under one of the HP bars read "Black Wolf".

Frank then looked at himself and gasped in shock. He was wearing some kind of black futuristic armor that resembled a twin-tailed overcoat with silver highlights, black gauntlets and boots, along with a black visor that covered his eyes and nose, but it did expose his black hair and ears. His silver crystal could be seen prominently on his chest. He also had Lunara and Solaris strapped to his back in black scabbards.

"No way. Is this a virtual world? But how did I get here?"

Suddenly Black Wolf heard the engine of a motorcycle revving and turned towards the source, where he saw a person dressed like a biker with a skull helmet covering his face while riding a motorcycle.

"I haven't fought on the World's End stage in a while. Lucky me!" the biker exclaimed in glee. "And I'm facing a newbie! That makes me super lucky! You, on the other hand, are mega unlucky!"

The biker revved his engine before charging at Black Wolf, full-throttle.

"Don't tell me," Black Wolf realized. "This world… is a VRMMO!"

To be continued

Wow, this turned out longer than I expected. Sorry about that. I just wanted to get a part of Marth's childhood established right off the bat. The next chapter will probably be just as long because it will delve into the incident Marth and Kuroyukihime hinted at. And just for clarification, Haruyuki/Silver Crow will not be playing a role in this story since Marth is taking his place. If you like Haruyuki, I'm sorry in advance. Anyway, I'll see you guys in the next chapter.