A/N: This idea has been gnawing in my brain recently. And I just have to get it out. A Kingdoms Heart version of the anime Sword Art Online. Sword Art Online has become one of my favorite anime's of all time, and Kingdom Hearts being my favorite video game franchise of all time, a mash up of the two was inevitable in my head.

A few things I want to clear up before I begin. While the basic set up is same as the anime, I'm planning to put my own spin on the story. Before you ask, no, this will not extend to a second online game like the anime and, no, the game will not be cleared on a lower floor than intended. This'll be just one game and I plan to end it on the top floor. Lastly, I don't know how often this story will be updated as I have other stories in the works.

Without further ado, IT'S GAME TIME!

It's Not a Game

"YAAHOOO!" Bursting through the front door was a fifteen-year with a boy with spiky brown hair and blue eyes. In his hands was a white cardboard box with a blue label that read, Nerve Gear, +Kingdom Hearts Online. The young boy ran through the house and up the stairs, excited about the new game he just got. But he then tripped over the final step, and fell over. He drop his new gear and it would've fallen on the ground had it not been caught by a different set of hands.

"Whoa!" the second person said. "Careful there, Sora. You don't wanna break something you just bought."

The boy, identified as Sora, looked up and saw a boy a couple years older than him, with blue eyed and blond hair that was even spikier than his. Sora grins as he rubs the back of his head and said, "Sorry about that, Ventus."

"It's okay, Bro. You're just excited."

"You know it! I finally get to play the world's first VRMMO! Kingdom Hearts Online!"

Ventus chuckles. "I guess anyone would be excited about that."

"You and my pal, Riku, are lucky. You got to beta test it, something only a thousand people were able to do. But now that it's officially been launched," Sora punched the upward, "it's my turn to have fun!"

"Don't get too carried away, Bro. The game is not that easy."

"I'm a fast learner, I'll get the hang of it in no time."

"Whatever you say." Ventus then turned around with the box in hand. "Come on, I'll help you set this up."

"Okay, thanks, Ven."

Ven helped Sora set up the game and Nerve Gear in his room. After Sora put the helmet like, Gear on his head, he had to do a little calibration where he had to touch himself all over. Ventus told him how to get started, and soon left for his own Nerve Gear. Sora lied down on his bed and took a few deep breaths before proceeding as instructed.

He closed his eyes and shouted, "LINK START!" And soon he saw a bunch of different colors flying at him. His body went numb and his vision went all white. Soon, a red Login menu appeared, with two blank text bars appeared, above one read Account, and the other said Password. A holographic keyboard appeared in front of him. He enter the name Skyknight, then his password. And then blue text read, Welcome to Kingdom Hearts Online!

Sora then found himself standing on a circular stain glass platform in a dark place. He saw text in his vision read, So much to do, so little time. Take your time, don't be afraid. Soon three pedestals appeared around the platform, each with a different weapon. One was a sword with a silver blade, a gold guard, and a red jewel. The second was a green rod with a blue oddly shaped orb at the top. And the last one was a black and red shield accompanied by a shorter sword. More text appeared and read, Power sleeps within you. If you give it form, it will give you strength. Choose well.

Sora remembers his brother telling him that this would determine his starting weapon, beginning stats, and abilities gained from leveling up. He's supposed to choose one to boost stats, and sacrifice another to decrease stats. The Sword changes the attack and speed stats, the staff changes the magic power and resistance, and the shield changes the defense stat and health points.

Sora walked up to the sword and examined it. The text read, Dream Sword: Power of the Warrior, Invincible Courage, A sword of terrible destruction. Is this the power you seek? Yes or No? Reading 'terrible destruction' made the boy cringe, and he pressed 'No' for now. He then walked to the rod and examine it. Dream Rod: Power of the Mystic, Inner Strength, A staff of wonder and ruin. He didn't really see himself using magic very often so he moved on, and went to the shield. Dream Shield: Power of the Guardian, Kindness to Aid Friends, A shield to repel all. After reading that, he actually liked the sound of that. While normally he would've gone for the Dream Sword, he thought the Dream Shield suit him better as a person. Is the power you seek? Yes or No? Sora pressed 'Yes' and grabbed the Dream Shield, and the short sword that accompanied it.

The text returned, Your path is set. Now which one will you give up in exchange? Sora thought for a second. He still wanted a decent attack stat, and again he didn't see himself using magic that much, so he picked the Dream Rod. Do you give up this power? Sora pressed 'Yes' and the rod shattered into pieces. You've chosen the Power of the Guardian, you've given up the Power of the Mystic. Is this the form you choose? Yes or No? Sora thought one last time the pressed 'Yes'.

Suddenly the short sword in his hand glowed a bright gold light. When the light dimmed, to Sora's surprise the short sword was gone and in its place was a large key-like sword. Then text appear in his vision saying, Congratulations! You've purchase a Hidden Keyblade Special Pack! Your prize: Kingdom Key Keyblade! Sora looked confused at first, but then he got excited and started jumping up and down. Until he's engulfed in a blue light.

Sora then found himself in a town with red roofed buildings. The sky was bright and clear. Sora looked around in awe of the virtual world around him. He looked at all the players in the area and was stunned at how many there were. Too many to count.

On the top left corner of his vision he could see two bars. The green bar represents his health points (HP). When that gauge hits zero, he's dead, and if he's not revived in sixty seconds, he respawns in the last safe zone he's been to. At half way down the bar turns yellow, and at the last quarter it turns red. Certain abilities can be activated when the gauge is at the yellow or red zones. HP slowly regenerates over time, much faster when inside a safe zone. The blue bar represents his magic points (MP). Magic spells and certain skills require MP in order to use. MP recharges faster then HP does. To the right of the two bars was a heart that was mostly blue, with a tiny amount of purple to the left. That's the Heart Gauge that displays the amount of light and darkness within his avatar. The amounts determine the effectiveness of light or dark type attacks, but the higher the darkness the more vulnerable they are to dark mind control. The gauge starts off random for each person, and most of the time it's fixed, but special circumstances can alter the gauge. And at the top right was the digital clock, which read 1:00PM

Soon he was approached by another player. "Excuse me, I'm looking for Sora." Sora turned around a saw a player with shoulder-length blond hair a blue eyes. He wore a black shirt with white sleeves, a small red leather vest, beige pants and black boots. Strapped to his back was a short sword, and to his left arm was a Dream Shield.

"Ventus?" He asked.

The player nodded. "Yes, but in this world, I'm Roxas."

"Oh, right." Sora chuckled at himself. "Nice to meet you Roxas, I'm Skyknight. So this is Kingdom Hearts Online huh?"

"Yep. The Kingdom of Fantasy! And this town, where every player starts, is called Traverse Town."

"This is so cool. By the way you're avatar is looking good."

"Yours isn't too bad either."

Skyknight looked at a nearby window and saw what he was talking about. His reflection revealed that he had shoulder-length brown hair and blue eyes. He wore a red shirt with black sleeves, a small white leather vest, red pants and yellow boots. His own Dream Shield was strapped to his left arm.

"I see you chose Guardian too." Said Roxas. "Imagine that. I would've thought you'd choose Warrior."

Skyknight chuckled. "I kinda thought protector sounded better for me than destroyer."

"I see."

"But never mind that look at this." Skyknight held out his right arm and his Keyblade appear in his hand. Keyblades are the only weapon a player can summon and dismiss at will without accessing the item storage.

Roxas was flabbergasted at the sight. "What the-? How did you get a Keyblade? You not supposed to be able to get one until the tenth floor!"

"The game told me I got a 'Hidden Keyblade Special Pack', or something like that," Skyknight answered.

"Wow! I didn't know there'd be a hidden pack with a Keyblade already downloaded into your avatar."

"I guess I got lucky, huh?"

"Lucky is right." The two brothers laugh it up. "Well I gotta meet up with my buddies."

"Yeah. And I have to meet up with Riku. Catch ya later!"

With that, Skyknight-Sora and Roxas-Ventus, parted ways.

Sora looked around town for his friend Riku, or Landdusk as he was told his ID in this world would be. He sent Landdusk a message asking him where to meet him and he said the Second District in front of the fountain. He reached his destination and right where he said he'd be stood a player with short silver hair, and sky blue eyes. He wore a yellow sleeveless shirt, a small black leather vest, indigo pants and gray boots. Strapped to his back was a Dream Sword.

"Riku-er...I mean Landdusk!" Skyknight shouted.

"Yo, Skyknight!" replied Landdusk. "How you doing?"

"Awesome! Your not gonna believe what I got right off the bat! Check this out!" Skyknight show Landdusk his Kingdon Key Keyblade.

It was Landdusk's turn to be flabbergasted. "No way! How did you get that?!"

"Luck of the draw, I guess," Skyknight answered. "Turn out I pick just the right Gear and got a Keyblade right after selecting my weapon."

"Damn! I hadn't heard of that!" Landdusk then looked at the Dream Shield on Skyknights arm. "I see you chose Guardian huh?"

"Yeah, I liked the idea of being a protector. I gave up Mystic, cause I didn't see myself using magic that often." SkyKnight then looks at Landdusk's Dream Sword. "I see you chose Warrior."

"I work a lot better on the offense rather than defense, which is why I gave up Guardian." Landdusk then waved his right arm downward and a menu popped up. He sent Skyknight a friend request and a party member invite, to which Skyknight accepted both. "Well, ready to do a little hunting?"

"You bet!"

There are two known types of enemies in this game. The first is Heartless. According to the game's lore, Heartless are beings born out of the darkness in peoples hearts. They hunt down other people's hearts to increase their numbers. They say if a person yields to the darkness in their heart, they too will become a Heartless. They come in two categories: Purebloods and Emblems. Purebloods are said to occur naturally, and also said to hail from the Realm of Darkness. Emblem, distinguishable by the black and red heart sigil, were originally artificial, but afterward become the result of a heart stolen by a Heartless. When Emblems are slain, it's captive heart is released. There are a much larger variety of Emblems then there are Purebloods.

The second type of enemy is called a Nobody. According to the lore, at rare times when a person with a strong heart and will becomes a heartless, the empty shell they leave behind begins to act with a will of its own, mutating into a white husk with a white upside down thorny heart sigil, they are call Nobodies. Nobodies have no hearts, no feelings. While Nobodies are much less common than Heartless, they are generally stronger and have a much smarter AI. Low level rookie players are not recommended to engage these Nobodies.

Landdusk, as an ex beta tester, showed Skyknight the ropes of the game by hunting some Shadows, the weakest Heartless in the game. He taught him how each skill activated, how magic works, as well as a few tricks that are usable, as a solo player or in a party. The sun was starting to set, as the digital clock said 5:30PM. And of course time in the virtual world was parallel to time in real life so the sun was going down in the real world too. Sora was expressing his amazement of the virtual world, when he suddenly got a message.

"Huh? A message from Roxas?" Skyknight said as he opens the message from his brother and reads it aloud. "Something weird is going on. Check your menu for the Logout button." Both Skyknight and Landdusk did just that, and they both found that the logout button was missing. "Hey, what gives? What happened to the Logout button?"

"This is not good." Landdusk said. "Our only way out of this world is missing!"

"Seriously?! There's no other way out?!"

"Afraid not. We can't use the Logout button, there's no emergency Logout command, and our bodies in the real world are immobile, so we can't take the Nerve Gear's off ourselves. The only way out of here is if someone in the real world takes off the Gear for us."

"Well, my parents are out of town till tomorrow. And my brother dived into the game too."

"My parent's are out, too."

"You think this is some kind of bug?" Skyknight asked as he sends Roxas a reply.

"Maybe," Landdusk said while in deep thought, "but if it is, it's a very serious bug. One that could cause a public issue with the game. I'm wondering if the Game Master has even noticed what's happening."

Suddenly both of them heard a bell ring echo from the town, and before they knew it, they were engulfed is a blinding blue light.

Skyknight and Landdusk found themselves in the First District of Traverse Town. It appears that every player in the game had been forced teleported into this town. Everyone was very confused as to what's going on. Once the bell stopped ringing, black clouds quickly filled the sky. And in a flash of lightning a giant holographic figure shrouded in a brown robe appeared in the sky.

Everyone shuddered in fear as a deep voice spoke. "Greetings, my subjects. I welcome you to my world. My name is Ansem, the Game Master."

"Ansem?" said Landdusk. "The creator of the Nerve Gear, and KHO?"

The voice called Ansem continued. "And as of today, this world is mine to control. As I'm sure many of you have noticed by now that there's an item missing from your menu, the Logout Button. Let me assure, you this is not a defect. I repeat this is not a defect. This is how Kingdom Hearts Online was designed to be. You cannot logout of KHO. And no one from the outside will be able to shut down or remove the Nerve Gear from your head. If anyone attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the nerve gear will discharge a microwave signal into your skull, destroying your brain and ending your life."

Many players were in disbelief, some have tried to leave the area only to find a barrier blocking their way.

Skyknight was getting nervous. "He's not serious, is he?"

"The transmitter signals in the Nerve Gear work just like microwaves," Landdusk answered. "If the safety's disabled, it could fry your brain."

"You've got you be kidding me! That's so messed up!"

Ansem continued his speech. "Despite my warning, the families and friends of some of the players have attempted removing the Nerve Gear. A very unfortunate choice. As a result, the game has two hundred less players than when it began. They've been deleted from the Kingdom of Fantasy and the Real World."

"Two hundred?!" exclaimed Skyknight. "Unbelievable?!"

Screenshots from the real world start appearing in the sky. "As you can see, international media outlets have round-the-clock coverage of everything, including the deaths. At this point it's safe to assume the likelihood of a Nerve Gear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a little comfort as you try to clear the game. It's important that you remember the following: There is no longer a way to revive someone within the game." The screenshots ceased. "If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system, forever, and the Nerve Gear will simultaneously destroy your brain."

Everyone was dead scared now.

"There is only one way for you to escape now: You must clear the game." A map of the of the world is displayed. "Everyone here is now gathered on the first floor of the Kingdom of Fantasy. If you can make it through the dungeon and defeat the boss, you may advance to the next floor. Defeat the Final Boss on Floor 100 and you clear the game."

Most of the crowd were still in disbelief.

"This can't be!" said Skyknight. "The beta testers never made it that high. How does he expect us to get up there without dying?! This is just insane!"

"Last but not least, I've place a little gift in the item storage of every player. Please have a look."

Everyone took a look in the inventory, and found a mirror added in. They all selected it, which cause a handheld face mirror to appear in their hand. seconds later, everyone was engulfed in a bright light. Dimmed Skyknight looked over to Landdusk to find that he now had longer hair. But he noticed something odd. "What the-? R-Riku! What are you doing in your real world form!"

Landdusk looked back and said, "Me? What about you, Sora?"

Skyknight then look in the mirror he was holding, and found that he was back in his real world form, spiky hair and all. Every player in the game has been reverted to their real life form. "B-but how?"

"The scan," Landdusk answered. "There's a high density signal device inside the Nerve Gear rig. It can see what our faces look like. And the calibration where it ask us to touch ourselves all over is how they got our physical data, our height and body type."

"I'm sure you're all now wondering: Why? Why would Ansem, the developer of the Nerve Gear and Kingdom Hearts Online, put you all in this position? It's really quite simple. The purpose of KHO was to control the fate of a world of my creation."

Skyknight gritted his teeth in anger. "Ansem," he hissed.

"My goal has been achieved, for the moment. But I'm really looking forward to seeing how far you all go! This concludes this tutorial, and the official launch of Kingdom Hearts Online. My subjects! Show me what you can do!" With that said, the giant robed hologram vanished in another flash of lightning, the sky was clear again, and the barriers blocking the exits disappeared.

The reactions of the players were all a mix of outrage and panic.

Landdusk had grabbed Skyknight's arm and dragged him out of the crowd.

The two friends are now in an alleyway.

"Is this seriously happening, Riku?" asked Sora in shock.

"All I know is that this isn't a game anymore, Sora," answered Riku doing his best to keep a level head with little success. "Ansem is a genius. I've been a fan of his for a while now. He designed this world and the Nerve Gear, after all. So I know for a fact that everything he said was the truth. And that means, if we die in this world, we'll die in the real world!"

Sora was shaking for a moment, but he managed to compose himself and asked, "What do we do now?"

"What else can we do? We have to make ourselves as strong as possible in order to survive this!" Riku pulls up a map of the first floor from his menu. "In an MMORPG, once it starts there's only so much Munny and XP to go around that we can earn. The fields around Traverse Town are gonna be hunted clean soon. If we head to the next town now, we'll have an easier time collecting cash and points. I know all the paths and places we should avoid, so you don't have to worry."

"What about my brother, Ven?"

"He's an ex beta tester like me, right?" asked Riku. "And you said he's with his friends, Terra and Aqua, right?" Sora nodded in response. "Then, you don't have to worry about him. He'll won't go down that easily."

Sora was still concerned. "Shouldn't we, like, team up with them? You know, strength in numbers?"

"Not always the case," answered Riku. "In this game, Solo players earn full amount Munny and XP after slaying a Heartless. But with party kills, the earnings are divided evenly among a it's members, regardless of who dealt the killing blow. The more members in a single party, the less XP each member will earn, and the longer it takes for everyone to get stronger. I'm sure Ventus knows that and has his own plan in mind."

Sora was hesitant to leave his brother behind. He suddenly gets another message from Roxas, it read, My friends and I are gonna sweep what we can from the fields, what are you gonna do?

Sora thought for a second. Then answered him with, I'm gonna head to the next town with my friend, Landdusk. Think you'll be alright without me?

After a minute, another message said, Hey! Don't worry about me. I know this floor like the back of my hand. It's you I'm worried about. Tell Landdusk that I'm trusting him to keep my little brother alive. Good luck, you're gonna need it.

Sora chuckled as Riku read the message over his shoulder. He then relied with. Alright. And don't worry about my luck. I have a Keyblade, don't I? We'll all get out of this alive, I promise!

Roxas-Ventus replied, Yeah, okay. We'll keep in touch! If you're ever in a jam, let me know.

Sora sent one last message, Ditto to you too, bro. Feeling a bit better, he turned to Riku and said, "Alright. Let's go."

Riku nodded and they ran out of town. Skyknight-Sora and Landdusk-Riku ripped through the Heartless in there way, determined to survive!

A/N: And cut!

Finally got this chapter out of my system!

You may have expected Sora to pick the Warrior, but I thought the 'kindness to aid friends' in Guardian fit Sora better(whenever I replayed the first game, I always picked the shield). I thought Riku was best suited for the Warrior class. And they're gonna be joined by a Mystic in the next chapter(you've probably already guessed who it is), making for a perfectly balanced party.

As I said, I don't know how often this story will be updated as I have other stories in the works. But I'll see what I can do.

Please review, some advice might help. Hope you like this.