T̸̪̯̬͉͍̤̣̟̪̤͛̋̌̎͐h̴̡̯̫̙̖̫̻̯̦̔͜͜e̷̩̦̘͚͖̞̮̒̃̎̌̍̽̏͘ͅ ̴̖̳̀̓͛͑̀S̶̗̄͒̀͠͝ẅ̶̡͓̣͔̗̱̦̮̲̘́̄͠ȯ̴̭͚̺͌̐͠ṙ̴̬͓̮̫͔̋̈̏͛͒̍̕͘͠d̷̡̛͔̞̱̥͈̟̝̽̈́̊̊̌͂͜͝s̸̨͍̙͎͔͙͙̹̋m̵͖͕̀̍͗̅́̾̀͠ą̷̡͉̱̘̟͚̬̟͌͑́̿̿͊̇̕̚͝ͅn̸̩̐́̑̀̓͐ ̸̩̞̔ą̵̝̫̞͔̬̝̮̔́̌̃̒̈́̍̐̕̕͜͠ň̴̜͌͊̄͌ḑ̶̲̬̱̹̲̰͋͜͜ ̸̡̢̺͈̰̼̜̼̹͙̖̋T̷͉̜̯̱͇̖̎̓͂̈́́͒̓͜h̵̻̭̪̀͑͆͂̑̉̎͝e̴̔̂̉̎͒͐̋̈́͐͝͠ͅ ̷̛͇̋̿̂̉̒̑̀̈́̈́̆S̵̲̀n̵̲͈̤̫̼͚͆̿̊̇̅̆̀́͘͝í̸̡̮̺̭̇̿̏͘p̶̩̤̬̈̀ͅë̷̛̹̩͓̥̰̏̇̈̕͝ř̴̦̪̬̪̉̎̑̊̅ ̴̹͋̆̂-̶̧̙̮̫̩̓̉̾̈́͒̚͘ ̶̛͈̝̩̺̟͌̋̓̿̇̈́̔̂͝Ṟ̵̡͇̘̙̹̩̙̬̙̒̔͐̽͆͝í̴̗͕͖̻̭̲͑͌͘b̷̧̯̮̠̯̝̳̼̹̉̄̏̈́̎̅͌͗ͅḃ̵̛̲̯̩̼̩͊͌̾̀̈̆̇̿̕o̵͈̊́̒͗̆͜n̶̢̟̜̹̙̗͒͒̎͛̇̕̚ͅș̵̢̦̰̉̊̾̀̚̕͝ ̵̥̲̱̫̯͕̖̙͎̄ơ̴͕̖̫̯͌͗̿͌̍̾̚͝f̴̛̤͔̯̱̠̭̬̰̔͌͋͠ ̸̧̟̃̒́̈́F̵̛͉̝̤͉̣̥̽̄́̈́͜a̶̘̮̠͗͋ṭ̵̙̎̎̿̋̍̃̑̾͂̚è̸̱̭̯͔̬̖̲̲̜̓͆̔̊̀̐͝

To lose oneself is to betray oneself – Unknown

Seriously though, once you've lost sight of yourself, you need to take time for yourself and recover. Otherwise... well, I'm sure you can guess what the consequences are.

Anyway, off the darker stuff onto stuff relating to this chapter... which is dark stuff. A-Anyway, I won't make it ridiculously dark; that's not what this story is about. But it will get dark at some points. Also, ask questions after reading. If they haven't been answered by the story, I'll try and explain (No Spoilers Of Course)

Also sorry for late update plz don't hurt me :):)

Thrusting forwards, Kirito disabled the locking system for the final prison cell, trapping the player inside. Ignoring their pleas for help, the teen walked away, countless screams filling the metal-plated prison as he deactivated his sword.

KA-BOOM!

"Is this to re-create the intro of SAO," Kirito muttered, eyes narrowing as he stepped onto a street. Swarms of players were in a panic, destroying stores and stealing their wares. Vehicles were stolen and many players were trampled over in the process of escape.

"Come on! Kii-bou said to go to the dungeon and this'll be faster!"

Whipping his head towards the source of noise, the teen caught the sight of Argo, Asuna, Klein and Sinon with bags on their backs, filled to the point of nearly over-flowing. Following Argo's path, he caught sight of a lone vehicle. Unfortunately, other players were scrambling for it as well.

Darting forwards, Kirito jumped up, vaulting into the military buggy as others player looked at him in surprise. Turning the key in the ignition, the engine roared to life, making all the players scramble faster.

SSCCCCREEEEEEEEEEEE!

Slamming his foot on the accelerator, the four-seated shot forwards, the desperate players falling off helplessly. Approaching Argo and the others, the teen suddenly braked, drifting to a stop in front of them.

"K-Kii-bou?"

"Get in!"

Shaking their heads, the players all jumped in; Argo at front with Asuna, Klein and Sinon squeezed in at the back.

Hitting the accelerator, the buggy shuttered forwards before gaining steady acceleration.

"Hold on, that's not the road!"

"Shut the fuck up and hold on Klein!"

CRAAAAAAAACCCCCCKKKK!

With a might slam, the buggy bulldozed forwards with a massive jolt, stunning its passengers.

"Kyaa!"

Airborne, Kirito grit his teeth, his eyes desperate. As they fell, the sight of the various roads underneath hurtled towards them.

CCCRRRRRCCKKK!

"GGwwaa~"

"Everyone good?"

The others groaned weakly in response.

Nodding, the teen hit the floored the accelerator as they shot forwards.

CLICK

"Mind explaining yourself, Kirito?"

The teen glanced at the gun barrel before looking straight ahead.

"Explain what?"

The buggy suddenly swerved right, avoiding a piece of debris as Sinon glared at him.

"You know what I'm talking about! Why were we in the BoB? Who was that man? Why did you kill me?"

Klein flinched as Asuna stared at Kirito, a tattered black jacket covering his body. Argo frowned.

"..."

Sinon pushed the gun closer to his head.

"Answer me!"

"Sinonon... you may want to put your gun down."

The girl glared at Argo.

"Why?"

Kirito didn't bother turning around. "Look behind you."

Glancing behind, Sinon yelped as she saw the gigantic asteroid descending towards earth.

"This isn't the time for this, but..."

Kirito sighed as he swerved left, the buggy going airborne for a few seconds before they hit another road. SBC Glocken was quickly disappearing as they made their way towards the desert.

"...I didn't kill you."

"Bullshit!" Sinon snarled. "There's no other way to win the BoB!"

"Also," Kirito muttered. "You don't know him, but a man manipulated everything for this to happen."

"Huh?!"

Kirito grimaced, glancing at his hands in disgust.

"The man who trapped us here for the second time. A mad genius."

Klein's eyes widened, fear striking his heart.

"N-No way man.

"It's true," Kirito confirmed. "It was Kayaba Akihiko. Or, as you heard me call him, Heathcliff."

"...the commander is here?"

"...yes, Asuna. And he's got some twisted fucking plan for me."

Nobody spoke, silence spreading between all of them.

"Hold on tight. We don't have time to waste."

Pushing the buggy to its max speed, it shot forwards as SBC Glocken disappeared behind them.

"Where's this entrance to the 1st Floor Dungeon?"

Argo yawned as she waited for Kirito to answer her question. The teen glanced up at the sky, the asteroid closer then before. He glanced at the top right of his HUD.

[Asteroid Hits SBC Glocken – Three Hours]

"The entrance to the first floor isn't actually the dungeon me and Sinon did," Kirito said, stirring the half-asleep girls and man. "That was a sub-dungeon that lead to the actual entrance, but certain circumstances had to be met, such as the one in the sky. In reality, there are four different dungeon routes which is hidden in other sub-dungeons that players can take. I'm taking you guys to the closest one which is the third dungeon entrance in the sand desert."

"Does that mean there's four-hundred floors to clear for each route?!"

Kirito shook his head. "No, Klein. Kayaba made it so four groups of players enter the dungeon's various entries at once. Each group has to make it through forty-five floors each, then they all meet up in the center underneath Glocken for the last nineteen. The final floor is still in development, but I can't say much else."

An alarm suddenly went off, alerting everybody.

"We're here," Kirito said.

Pulling up, the teen slowly braked in front of a cave.

"This is where we have to start walking," the teen said. "Come on, let's go."

Kicking open the door, he stepped out and moved towards the back. As the others got out, the teen popped the boot and grabbed a duffel-bag, swinging it over his shoulder before closing the boot.

Walking past Sinon, the girl hesitated before glaring at him. Kirito went to talk, but hesitated and instead walked away.

Crunch

Crunch

Crunch

Thud!

Kirito came to a stop, the familiar metal laboratory filled with glowing lines greeting him as he turned around.

"I'll lead you all to the Sub-Boss," the teen said. "The Robot Illfang would've been rebuilt, but he's blocking the door the first floor for us."

Kirito glanced at everybody and their equipment.

"Klein, stay back with Sinon and watch out behind us. You haven't got any gear despite transferring over, so you'll be able to warn us. Same goes for you Asuna," the teen said as the girl went to open her mouth. "Argo, you'll stay in the middle." Turning around, the teen walked forwards, holding his sword handle out.

With a faint buzz, his lightsaber flickered to life, the pretty lavender now stained into a faint blue.

Walking in silence, the group entered the dungeon as the asteroid above prepared to savor its meal on the earth.

AN: I won't lie, I've been sitting on this small segment for over a year.

Regardless of what ideas I can think of for future chapters or how I've lost my passion for writing, I've been unable to express my ideas and emotions into writing.

IN reality, I feel absolutely terrible.

I set myself goals and dates to write to, and how I planned on finishing all of my stories.

And now?

Haaaaa~ Whatta joke, right?

Sorry again for waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long of a wait for a half-assed update.

I'll try my best to bring some quality content for the next chapter

And fingers crossed it won't take roughly 2 years, eh?

- Striderm8