Keyblade Online

Chapter One: Link Start!

A/N:

So, I decided to combine my two favorite fandoms into one! I can't believe that there are only three other Kingdom Hearts/Sword Art Online crossovers! It's madness!

So yeah, this is my contribution to both worlds!

See ya at the bottom!

"All right, it's time for this week's episode of MMO stream!"

As I heard the episode platy in the background, I began making the final preparations for my first «Full Dive» into the official release of «Keyblade Online», or KBO.

I plugged my «Nerve Gear» into the wall, loaded my copy of the game into it, and then… waited.

Man, I still can't believe that it's already the day of the official launch. I was really lucky to get a slot in the beta, since it allowed me to pre-order the official release.

For the first time in over a month, I smiled.

This is gonna be fun.

With one minute until the official launch, I put the «Nerve Gear» on my head, remembering the clock on the inside that would tell me when it was time to start.

12:59

Come on, come on…!

And then, finally…

13:00

"Link Start!"

Suddenly, my vision turned white, and lines of all colors streaked across my field of vision until they were all behind me. Then, circles with the English words for the five senses came up into my field of vision one by one, confirming that I could use the senses in the game. Once they were all finished confirming, they scrolled off the screen, and a language bar appeared.

I confirmed the play language as Japanese, and a login screen appeared. I mentally entered my username and password, and a screen showed up.

Character Creation

Your beta test data is still available.

Would you like to use it?

Roxas (M)

Yes/No

I mentally chose yes, and then then a gray screen appeared with the English words, "Welcome to Keyblade Online!" in the middle. My vision moved past this screen, and pillars of blue light that formed a tunnel made their way past my field of vision. Then, the blue light turned into polygons that scattered, revealing the beautiful blue "sky" of the first world, the «Destiny Islands».

"Hello, worlds! It's good to be back!"

As soon as I finished talking, I heard someone calling to me.

"Hey! You there!"

I turned towards the voice, finding a man with blond hair and a muscular figure. In short, he looked like a ridiculously handsome anime protagonist.

Still, it's only his avatar.

"What is it?"

"You just said, 'it's good to be back'. Does that mean you're from the beta?"

Wow, this guy's perceptive.

"Uh, yeah."

"Do you think you could show me around?"

I sighed, preparing to turn him down.

"Come on, please!"

I sighed again, giving in to his overstated begging expression. "All right, but there isn't really much to do in the «Destiny Islands». The real fun starts in the next world. I guess I can help you learn to use the Keyblade properly for when you need to fight «Heartless»."

"Sweet! My name's Nami, by the way."

"That's a feminine name, but I won't judge. I'm Roxas."

As we walked onto the farthest island away from the main island via the «Connector Bridge», I scanned the island for other players. Finding none, I turned around to face Nami.

"All right. Since there aren't any «Heartless» in this world, you'll have to fight me in a one-on-one duel."

"What?!" Nami shouted. "Me?! Fight a beta-tester?! No way!"

"Relax, man. I'll only block and dodge, so you don't have to worry. I'll set it up as a «First Strike Mode» with a time-limit of five minutes. That should give you enough time to get the hang of things."

I opened my menu, went under the «Duel» sub-window, messed with the configurations and sent him a duel invitation.

I could see him making the motions to accept, despite my inability to see his menu.

Once he presumably hit accept, a clock appeared. It counted down, and just before it hit zero, he smirked.

He's pretty confident in himself, it seems.

Five minutes later, I said, "I stand corrected. You haven't got the hang of it at all."

"Well… you're just too fast!" Nami retorted, out of breath.

"No, that's not it," I said. "I'm moving slowly enough that if you engage in the Keyblade's auto-direct mode, you should be able to hit me. Wait a second… you weren't doing that, were you? Do you even know how?"

"No, I don't even know what that is!"

I sighed. "All right, let's set up another duel. This time, I'll be the one attacking so I can show you what to do."

"A-all right…"

I sent another duel invitation, this time changing the «First Strike Mode» to «Half Kill Mode».

"Why would you use that mode?" Nami asked hesitantly.

"We can't feel pain in this game. Plus, we're both level one, and so are our Keyblades, so we have the same stats. The only difference here is skill. That said, I chose a speed-type Keyblade, so I'll be slightly faster and I'll have a higher crit rate, but I'll have lower attack strength. You chose a magic-type Keyblade, so your magic attacks will be stronger once you finally unlock them. That takes a while, though."

"How long?"

"Level five."

"Oh."

"Well, whenever you accept the duel invitation, I'll be able to start teaching you," I said, tapping my foot impatiently.

"R-right."

He accepted, and the clock counted down.

This time, just before the clock hit zero, I was the one to smirk. Then, the buzzer sounded.

I ran at him, and just before I got to him, I put my Keyblade parallel to the ground and perpendicular to my body.

"See this position?" I asked rhetorically, knowing that his eyes were already on me. "Put your Keyblade in this position to engage in the auto-direct mode."

"All right!" Nami shouted, mirroring my movements.

I relaxed, saying, "All right, keep it there for a few seconds, and you should feel the Keyblade grow slightly warm. Once that warmth stops increasing, it's done, and you can start attacking. When you do, the system will direct your attacks towards me automatically."

"Right!"

He stayed in the same position, and soon enough, I could see a faint glow coming from his «Kingdom Key Type M».

"Good, now attack me!"

He nodded, letting out a small battle cry. "HA!"

He began with a dash, then started swinging at me relentlessly. Even still, I blocked every attack with my «Kingdom Key Type S».

After a particularly powerful strike, I jumped back.

"I thought you said you would be the one attacking me," Nami said with a smirk. "Am I too much for you?"

"In your dreams, maybe!" I said, giving him a smirk of my own.

I immediately charged at him, delivering strike after strike, though Nami somehow managed to block a lot of them. When I finished, he had a little under three fourths of his HP.

"Whoa, that was amazing! Wait, you didn't engage in that auto-direct thing!" Nami pointed out.

"I was skilled in blade combat even before I got into the beta, so I know how to hit an enemy without the auto-direct. Besides, I feel more free when I'm in complete control of where I'm swinging."

"I see…"

"Well, I'd say that you've got the basics down, so why don't we get going to the next world?" I suggested.

"Of course! But…" Nami trailed off, adopting a sad look for the first time since I met him. "I'm really hungry. I'm going to log out. Oh, but I'll meet up with you later if you want! I can introduce you to some friends of mine that bought the game with me."

I looked down, a sad expression on my face.

"I see… you're a solo player, aren't you?"

"Yeah… sorry…"

"Don't worry about it! I'll introduce you some other time. Then you can get back to soloing. But… promise me something?"

"What is it?"

"Promise me that we'll still party up every once in a while. Just the two of us. After all, you still have some stuff to teach me!"

Well, if it's just him…

"Sure. Just us. Thanks for understanding."

"No problem! I should be the one thanking you, actually. You helped me learn how to play the game!"

"No problem."

"Well… I'll log out now."

Nami looked down, opening his menu and—

"Hey, Roxas? Total newb question, but how do I log out?"

"… Huh? The log out button should be in the main menu. It's pretty hard to miss."

"No, it's not there. Why don't you check yours and see if it's just a bug for me?" Nami suggested.

I opened my main menu, scrolling down to the bottom. My eyes widened at what I saw. "It's… blank?"

"See, I told you!"

"Well, it looks like we're stuck here until this bug is fixed," I said darkly.

"You mean that there's no emergency log out function?!"

"No, going through the menu is the only way."

"No! This can't be happening!" Nami shouted.

"Calm down," I said in a steely voice. "We should think about this calmly. Have you tried contacting the GM?"

"Yeah, right before I asked you to check. He's not answering, though."

Then, I found myself being surrounded in a blue light. I looked over to Nami, who also seemed to be surrounded by the blue light. It intensified until I couldn't see him, and then…

When the light subsided, I found myself in the «Town Square» of the second world, a world known as «Traverse Town».

"What the…?" a familiar voice whispered from beside me.

I quickly turned top Nami. "Hey, are you all right?"

He turned to face me, saying, "I'm fine, but what about you?"

I heard a strange noise coming from below us, sounding eerily familiar to the spawning of a «Heartless». I looked down to find that the ground had turned entirely black. Then, I noticed a bulge in the center of the area, and it was growing fast.

Wait… the blackness is being drawn towards it!

True to my thoughts, the blackness on the ground was slowly being drawn towards the bulge, which was growing at an alarming rate.

Once all the blackness had congregated around the shadowy bulge, it began to take shape.

It started to turn into a giant all-black «Heartless» with giant wings and claws, as well as fangs that gleamed in the dim streetlights of «Traverse Town».

When it finished forming, it took to the air.

"Attention, players. I welcome you… to my universe."

"What the… hell?" I whispered.

"My name is Hoshikage Yami. As of this moment, I am the sole person in control of this universe."

Hoshikage… Yami?!

I had seen that name in the news hundreds of times. He was one of the most influential people in all fields of technology ever to have existed. He created the «Nerve Gear». He created a complete virtual reality environment— «Keyblade Online», that is.

"I assume that most of you have already noticed the logout button missing from the main menu. However, this is not a glitch. No, this is a feature of the game— of «Keyblade Online»."

What…?

"What's he talking about?" Nami asked me.

"I repeat, this is not a glitch. This is a feature of «Keyblade Online»."

"A… feature? He must be joking, right? Right?" Nami said, turning to me.

"No… no, I don't think he is. So far, everything he said has made some degree of sense when put into context with what's happening," I said, my voice toneless.

"You cannot log yourselves out of KBO, and no one on the outside will be able to shut down or remove your «Nerve Gear». Should such an action be attempted… the transmitter inside the «Nerve Gear» will emit a powerful burst of microwave radiation, destroying your brain…

"And ending your life."

People began to say words of disbelief. But I knew… I knew he wasn't lying.

Everything he said was true.

"He's gotta be bluffing, right, Roxas?" Nami asked me.

"He's right, though. The «Nerve Gear's» transmitters emit microwaves to allow us to have control of our bodies here, and those microwaves are just like those of a microwave oven. If the limiter were disabled, it could seriously mess up our brains, most likely killing us."

"Then why don't we just cut the power?"

"Doing that is essentially the same as shutting down the «Nerve Gear», and you remember what he said about that, right? Even if that would've worked, that's prevented by the internal battery that it has."

"But… that's crazy! Messed up! Insane!"

"Unfortunately, the friends and family members of several players have ignored this warning, and attempted to remove the «Nerve Gear». As a result, two-hundred fifty-six of the original ten thousand players' lives have come to an abrupt… and tragic end."

Two-hundred fifty-six people?!

"No way… I don't believe it!" Nami shouted.

He opened several windows up, showing what appeared to be news reports of the current situation.

"As you can see, news organizations across the world are reporting this incident and the many deaths that have occurred. Thus, you can assume that the danger of your «Nerve Gears» being removed is minimal at best. So you can relax and work hard to clear the game."

I grit my teeth, trying to hold back a string of swear words.

"But please do take note of this: there is no longer any method of revival in the game. Once your HP reaches zero, your avatar will permanently be deleted from the system, and at the same time…

"The «Nerve Gear» will destroy your brain."

I gasped. But I must've died a hundred times in the beta! That's what the point of an RPG is! When you die, you learn from your mistakes and you get better!

"There is only one thing you need to do in order to log out of KBO… and that is to clear the game. You are all currently in «Traverse Town», the second world of the game. Make your way to the keyholes of each world and defeat the bosses there to advance to the next world. Defeat the final boss in the five-hundredth world, and you clear the game."

Nami looked on with disbelief before yelling, "Clear all five hundred worlds?! That's impossible!"

Even us beta-testers only made it to the twentieth world!

"You can find a gift from me in your item storage. Please feel free to check for yourselves."

Against my better judgment, I went into my inventory to look for the "gift" he promised us. When I found it…

A «Hand Mirror»? That item wasn't in the beta…

I pressed the «Make into Object» button, and I found myself staring at the face of my avatar, carefully constructed to look like my father, Sora, in the mirror.

Then, a blue light overtook my vision. When it subsided, I saw my own face… my real face.

Medium-long, spiked up blond hair, deep blue eyes, and a pissed off expression.

When I turned to face Nami, I found him to be a—

Girl?!

The girl before me had long, blonde hair, with some of it hanging over her shoulder. She had an average build, with a moderately large bust and blue eyes.

"You're a girl?!" I shouted, though no one's attention wavered from the giant «Heartless» above us.

"Wait, what?!" Nami… or whoever she was… shouted back. She looked into her «Hand Mirror». "But this is what I really look like! How did it get all this data on my body?!"

I began to explain. "The «Nerve Gear» has a high-density scanner built in that could easily create an exact copy of our faces. As for your body structure, do you remember when the «Nerve Gear» had you calibrate it? That's probably how they did it."

"Oh… but why…? Why would he do this?!"

I pointed back to the robe. "I'm sure he'll tell us soon enough."

"I'm sure you're all wondering… why? Why would Hoshikage Yami, the creator of «Keyblade Online» and the «Nerve Gear», do all of this?

"My goal has already been achieved. I wanted to watch over and control a world of my own design. That is why I made «Keyblade Online»."

I clenched my teeth in rage. "Yami…!"

"And now, that goal has been fulfilled."

It took all that I had not to materialize my Keyblade and run at him, slashing with all my power.

"This ends the tutorial for the official «Keyblade Online» launch. Players…

"I wish you the best of luck."

The giant «Heartless» then dispersed into nothing, leaving all of us, the players, to fend for ourselves.

I looked down at my hands, clenching them into fists.

This is reality. Hoshikage Yami, the genius who created the «Nerve Gear» and a complete virtual environment. I admired him, so I understand…

I looked around, seeing the looks of terror and disbelief on the faces of everyone around me.

Everything he said just now… was the truth! If I die in the game… I die in real life!

I heard the sound of shattering glass, and I instantly knew that someone had dropped one of the mirrors. Then…

The crowd went ballistic.

Taking advantage of the chaos, I grabbed Nami's arm and started running.

Once I reached the end of the «Safe Zone» in «Traverse Town», I turned to Nami. "Nami. I want you to listen to me. I'm going to the next world right now. There's no boss in «Traverse Town», so I want you to come with me."

"Huh?"

"If what he said is true, and I think it is, then we've got to train ourselves and our Keyblades up as much as possible in order to survive in this world. The money, EXP, and other resources in an MMORPG are limited. The streets of «Traverse Town» are gonna be hunted clean soon, and I don't feel like fighting with other players over resources. We need to head to the next world and start mob hunting there if we want to avoid that.

"I know all the safe and dangerous paths, so even at level one, I can get us there safely."

Nami looked down, her expression grim "You know, I really would, but… my friends and I went and got this game together. We waited in line for days."

"Then they're probably still in the «Town Square», freaking out like everyone else," I informed her.

"Oh no…!"

But… I can't take all of them. If even one of them were to die, then the rest of them would undoubtedly blame me for taking them into dangerous territory.

I felt a hand take mine. "Don't worry about us…" Nami whispered.

"What…?"

"I can't ask you to take care of all of us, especially when you're already a solo player. So don't worry about us. Get to the next world. We'll always be in touch if we friend each other."

She went through her menu, and a few seconds later, I got a notification.

Namine sent you a friend request

Accept/Decline

I accepted, saying, "So your in-game name is actually Namine?"

"Yeah. Sorry for not telling you."

"It's all right."

We stood in silence for a few seconds, before I said, "You need to go help your friends."

"Yeah, you're right."

I looked down. "All right… well then, I guess this is where we part. Send me a PM if anything happens."

"Of course!"

"Then… take care. I'll see you, Namine."

With that, I turned around and ran until I reached a crossroad. When I turned back, I didn't see Namine, and I knew that I might never see her again. I felt something warm in my eyes, and my vision blurred. I put a hand to my eyes, wiping warm liquid from my face.

I'm… crying?

I turned back around, beginning to run. I ran through the alleyways, past the «Safe Zone», and into the dark streets. I saw a mid-level «Heartless» several meters in front of me, but I didn't stop. Instead, I materialized my Keyblade, putting it in the stance to execute something I didn't tell Namine about: weapon magic.

I've got this! I can do this! This world can't beat me!

The weapon skill unleashed itself unto the «Heartless», destroying it in one hit. I didn't even stop when I heard a level-up sound.

I will survive!

"HAAAAAAA!"

A/N:

Anyone who knows the SAO me and knows about my new Kingdom Hearts kick must have known that this was going to happen, am I right?

And I know, five hundred worlds?! To be fair, anyone who plays Kingdom Hearts games knows that the worlds aren't usually that big. I don't really think that five hundred is much of an exaggeration, considering that the worlds will probably be cleared faster than the floors in SAO.

Anyway, tell me what you think! If you like it, leave a review and tell me why! If you didn't like it, feel free to leave a review telling me what areas I need to work on.

Well, it's time! Time for the disclaimers!

I don't own the Kingdom Hearts franchise or any of the characters I use from it, and I don't own the Sword Art Online light novel series or any of its adaptations!

See ya!