Insaneiac: New notes up top as I restart this up again. After purchasing my copy of Reminisce and fanboying over it… and weeping like a pansy at a particular scene involving Haseo and Alkaid…my epic GU story is going to get a slight rehashing before it takes over as the top of Insaneiac the Maniac's projects. Just a couple things being altered a bit, some choice words used in the process of this chapter, and a new name. As the current trilogy will be named Rebirth, Reminisce and (tentatively I believe) Redemption, this will match the "R" titled pattern. So, from here on, this is .Hack//GU Volume 2: Resemblance. Enjoy
Disclaimer: I do not own dotHack//GU or any of the amazing dotHack universe. A couple characters in this are property of mine, and the story is, for now, mostly mine. While some things in my original plan were already elements of the game's incredible plot, almost everything else (unless I note it) is my intellectual property.
Summary: At first glance, a tragedy. At second glance, a friend. At third glance, oblivion. A different path along the road known as .Hack//GU sees an entirely different outcome. This is my Volume 2 of .Hack//GU
This was once The World
It was once a beautiful place…
Yet this is not my world…
This world is tainted, impure…unholy.
It lacks order, it lacks life. It lacks…a hero
Both my mother and my father would understand
This place is an evil place, where the demons play.
I am not here to care for it, and he is not here to lead it.
For he has lost his hope for this World…
And I have lost my love for it.
--------------------------------------
"I don't like getting stupid answers! So stop sugar stepping my questions and ANSWER ME YOU OLD MAN!" Haseo screamed at the top of his lungs as he glared murderously at Yata. To the rear of himself were his two comrades, the Tribal Grappler Pi, and the Steam Gunner Kuhn. Behind the both of them was a petite figure clad in green with a large white hat upon the top of her head, blond hair poking out from under it. This girl was lying prone on the floor with her eyes wide open as flat shades of empty amber. That was Atoli, one of Haseo's closer friends and someone the deeply resembled someone even closer. Another Harvest Cleric named Shino.
"Haseo! Show some restraint and respect in front of master Yata!" Pi reprimanded, surprised to find that she received no reaction at all. Usually, Haseo would at least spare a 'shut up' in response to her.
"Answer me…" Haseo growled as he continued towards the leader of Raven with a furious glint in his eyes. "Answer me right now!"
"With what Haseo?" Yata finally spoke, glancing to the side to lay eyes upon Atoli. "How to wake her? What has happened to her? How we can cure what we are not even sure has yet occurred? What do you want an answer to, Haseo, when you aren't even sure of the question you want to ask?" Yata questioned back to the distraught and angry Adept Rogue without so much as a falter in his voice. He adjusted his gaze back to Haseo and hardened his eyes considerably, watching the loud PC move backwards.
"Why…" Haseo stuttered dejectedly as his steadfast fury suddenly dwindled to a flickering anger. "Why was the AIDA there? In that white room with those lockers?"
"I cannot say at this time. It was, however, an obvious assessment that AIDA would have relations to that room."
"Can't say or don't know?" This time, Pi had progressed beyond using words and delivered an open handed smack to the back of Haseo's head. He had whipped a hand up to the back of his head and clamped it tightly in response to the blow. Growling angrily, Haseo turned his head slowly to Pi and glared at her angrily. "Whatcha do that for you hag?!"
Forgoing the comment on her age, Pi met Haseo's glare steadfast and nearly pushed him backwards with just her eyes alone. "If you are not going to respect master Yata, than he has no reason to answer your questions." Haseo was just about to throttle Pi when Yata coughed silently, single handily regaining all the attention back to him. He turned from a screen that he was viewing, and waited until it blinked out of existence before continuing on.
"It doesn't matter at this time." Yata's words nearly resulted in Haseo going into a homicidal streak, but his urges to disembowel were stowed when he heard a groaning come from the prone Atoli. All eyes turned to the Cleric, before turning back to Yata. The aforementioned guild master, however, was not bearing his calm eyes as he usually did. This time, his eyes were as wide opened as Haseo had ever seen them as being.
"Shouldn't you be a little happy ya old fogy?"
"I would, Haseo, had I not just been contacted and informed that Chigusa Kusaka…better known as player that controls Atoli…was just rushed to the nearest hospital." Even though his facial features displayed an inordinate amount of shock, his words still showed no faltering in their steady pose. "Initial reports describe her as in a comatose state. So the fact that she appears to be coming to here lead me to believe that this is not, at least right now, a happy event."
As Atoli sat up slowly, she glanced around her immediate surroundings, blinking in a very confused fashion. "Where…did the lockers go?" Atoli muttered softly, before her attention turned to the foursome that were now staring at her in as much a shocked gaze as Yata had just been. "Umm…is everything alright? Why are you all staring at me like that?"
----------------------------------
dotHack//GU
------------
Volume 2: Resemblance
------------
Chapter 1: A Happenstance
----------------------------------
"ARGH!" A newbie screamed out as he collapsed to the ground in a pile, crumpling face first into dirt. As his feet met the ground that his face had just gotten acquainted with, his entire body turned entirely grey. Behind him was a cloaked individual with a rather hefty bayonet in right hand that was shaped in the form of a sickle, with a pair of large gun barrels on either side of the blade. On the hand that could be seen is a cobalt gauntlet that ran to his wrist. His cloak was a simple black hooded one that he had covering his body at all times. Walking towards the body, the player killer planted his foot firmly into the back of the dead character's head, using it as a stepping stone of sorts as he moved along.
"Damn noobs." The man muttered angrily as he continued along his way, slipping the steam gun back underneath his robes.
"Shoooot." Another voice called. Turning his head to face the newcomer, the cloaked figured looked to meet one of his companions. Like himself, he was an Adept Rogue that had a special character design, just like himself. He wore a helmet made of yellowed bone that covered his head to the same shape, revealing only his mouth and eyes. At the top of the helmet, the bone extends into a point. His body is garbed in a closed robe, with the left side overlapping the right side. The hue of his rob was quite similar to his helmet, with a dark grey trim that ran along the edges of his robe and around the cuffs at his wrists. On his hands was a pair of studded leather gloves, the left one a deep black and the right one a pale white. His pants were simple baggy slacks that had much the same hue as his rob, and he had a pair of plain leather boots for shoes.
"K1ngf1sh3r. So where is lovely Cero?"
The sound of a hard foot stomping caught bother their attentions as their eyes turned to the cloaked figure's immediate right. At the ledge of a hill stood a taller female character, glancing down unhappily at the cloaked figure. She had a tiara the slid underneath short grey hair that was longer in the front and tended to cover the left side of her face. In the battle-style tiara was an indentation that had a jeweled ring filling it in. The right side of her face had a red tribal tattoo that left only a handful of patches of the paler skin that her character had, and her eyes were a slightly violent shade of purple. She wore sleeveless battle-vest that covered her upper torso entirely, and white, elbow high gloves were worn on her hands. At her shoulders where a pair of tattoos that looked like large, demonic eyes. Her lower torso was adorned in grey slacks with black lines that ran in a spiral format down each leg that held just right to her frame, and a pair of dark blue boots. Along the sides of her battle-vest were long strips of cloth that flickered about when she moved.
"Up here, idiot!" She growled before she walked off the cliff, front flipping in the air and landing nicely landing on her feet. "Chaos Reaper, are we done here? No offence, but what's the purpose of killing off noobs? We're far too strong to waste time on these greenies!"
"I see you're as pleasant as always, Cero." K1ngf1sh3r taunted as he flicked his wrist in her direction, garnering himself a fiery glare in return. "Ugly ugly…that gaze just doesn't suit you any." He replied aloofly, waving his right hand in the air in a dismissive fashion.
"Neither does your company, F1sh3r." She replied tautly, turning her head away and sighing. "Can we please just go back to our field now? Why do you find it so necessary to waste these stupid noobs anyways? They're all not worth it any. We get better items from those stupid monsters in our field anyways. If you hate them so much, then why do you like coming to the novice fields and going psycho like that?"
"Cause, I want to get some infamy around here. After all, where do all noobs shout and pray to for help and saving?" Chaos Reaper replied with a lighter tone than he had before, crossing his arms in front of his chest, outside his cloak. "I want to see this "Terror of Death" and see just how terrible he is…"
K1ngf1sh3r sighed loudly as he knelt down beside the corpse and poked it gingerly with his finger. "You're looking to off Haseo, aren't you? That is so like you Chaos. Want to put the Chaotic Triumvirate above the Terror of Death do we?" His face lit up in a rather unhealthy smile as he launched him back to his feet and turned towards Chaos Reaper. "Ambitious aren't you, oh great leader? You know though…with all this ruthless killing you're doing, Moon Tree is going to want to snap us in half…but when you want something, you don't stop, do you?" F1sh3r spoke in a knowing fashion as he smiled a demonic smile. "So where do you plan to do this foul deed? In a field, in a dungeon, in the Arena?" F1sh3r spoke cheerfully, tilting his head and smiling. "Oh maybe you're going to call him out directly?"
"First thing's first…I want to pay a visit to that place again…" Reaper spoke in return as he stalked off towards the chaos gate, stepping on top of a noob corpse. "Because…even without her there anymore…One can still feel her presence if they simply close their eyes."
------ Serpent of Lore ------
"Why…is everyone staring at me?" Atoli muttered hastily, her eyes flickering amidst the group. True to her nature, she really hadn't realized yet that something was substantially wrong. Lifting a hand, she pointed at Yata as he floated on his platform, eying him strangely. "I don't even know who you are…Haseo?" Atoli added as he eyes rested on the aforementioned fighter, one of his eyebrows lifted slightly more than his other one. "What's going on, Haseo?"
"For starters…" Yata began, negating any attempt for Haseo to speak. "…you're supposed to be logged out." The sheer lack of emotion in his voice sent a spark of anger rippling through Haseo, but he decided that, just this once, he would stop himself from calling Yata something nasty.
"I…I'm not supposed to be here, am I?" Atoli muttered quietly, pressing her index fingers together nervously. "I promise I won't say anything, really!"
"Beyond that, log out. Please." Yata commanded. Haseo whipped his head back to glare at Yata, but was caught halfway by an equally vicious glare from Pi that seemed to freeze Haseo's head in place. Kuhn just stood off to the side, mentally trying to put together the fact that a coma patient was still playing her character in the world.
"Oh…Okay…" Atoli muttered, looking at Haseo again. "I'm sorry, Haseo." With that, she attempted to log out of the system.
And failed miserably.
"Huh?" Atoli murmured quickly as the blue rings faded just above her and left her standing in the same spot. Her voice was clearly a mix of confusion and surprise. Everyone slowly glanced back at her, the various glares and thought filled stares turning again into shocked ones. Except for Yata that is, who continued to look on in a composed manner. Quickly, she tried again to log out of The World and was once again denied exit. She wasn't even able to see the error message that would normally be sent in cases like these. She tried to log out again, this time quivering on the floor as she did. Again, nothing happed.
"What…huh…" She muttered confused to the air around her, before she tried another idea. She shot her hand up to go for her headset, so as to wrench it off, and instead grabbed a handful of her character's blonde hair. It took her a moment, as she began to tighten her hand on her hair, feeling the textures and design of it. It was as real as her own hair seemed to be. Her eyes continuously opened wider and wider as she began trembling.
"I can't log out…I can't take my headset off…" She whimpered, just loud enough to be heard by all. She pressed her hands into the ground, as though she was searching for the computer that she was attached to. She tried to look calm at first, but he search became frantic after a while. "Where's my computer…Where's my computer…" Atoli kept whimpering before she brought both her hands back to her chest and stared at them, a look of horror fixated on her face. "Why can't I log out…Why…why…WHY?!" She screamed before frantically backing away into a corner. "This isn't right…"
"Atoli…" Haseo spoke first, trying to figure out just what to say at that point. He managed a step before he felt an arm cross over in front of him. He glanced over and saw Pi shaking her head slowly, as if warning him to not do anything. Oddly enough for the arrogant adept rogue, he decided to stop himself and take the silent advice Pi was giving him.
"Atoli." Kuhn started in place of Haseo, while the multi weapon simply glared at Pi. "I know this is really bad right now, so you're probably really confused and really scared right now." He continued until he was just in front of the character before kneeling down and glancing at her, making eye contact on the same level. "But don't worry. Haseo, Pi and I, we'll get it all fixed up okay. Before you know it, you'll be back in the real world." He was wearing the same smile that he would usually win his lady friends over with, but his eyes bore a sincerity that seemed to calm the distraught girl down. "Just…think of this as a vacation. Time off from real life, where you can just kick back and enjoy a carefree life for a while. It's like being at a Beach, only you don't have to go home anytime soon. So stop looking so distraught and smile. You look much cuter when you smile." He continued in his squat with his eyes locked carefully on Atoli's eyes, waiting for her to give him a nervous nod and then try to put a smile on, a slight cast of red upon her cheeks at the words. "There you go! Besides, you've got Haseo working with you here. He's too stubborn to let something like this remain unsolved. If that isn't enough to put you at ease, then you're just too nervous for your own good."
"Well…his 'abilities' with women finally paid off for once." Pi spoke quietly, glancing to the side in discreet manner. She knew Kuhn had heard her, because his relaxed position instantly became mildly tense. Haseo, on the other hand, had has arms crossed over his chest and was muttering angrily about not being stubborn, instead calling it fiercely determined.
"Cold…" Kuhn whimpered in response before scratching the back of his blue-haired head.
It did not take long for Haseo to remember his initial purpose in being inside the Serpent of Lore. Turning on his heels, Haseo focused his glare back on Yata's back, as he had turned around to read a new set of text. It seemed that he felt the eyes on him, as he paused the scrolling of the information and turned to Haseo.
"This phenomenon has occurred only once in the past, though I am unable to find any record of it. It appears that the heads for CC Corporation have removed all further documentation of the event." Yata stated in a matter of fact tone.
"Removed…THEN UNREMOVE IT! You're an admin aren't you!?" Haseo yelled angrily, stomping his foot down to accentuate his point. "And for that reason, why the hell would the remove something as important as coma patients winding up trapped in a game?" Haseo growled, catching a sudden and startling eep from the only member that was (formerly) out of the loop. Haseo slowly turned his head back towards Atoli, his eyes opened and his face pasted with an 'oh-crap' look upon it.
"I'm…in a coma?" Atoli muttered, shaking as she processed the thought in her head. She slowly raised her trembling hands in front of her as she shook, before wrapping them around herself and shaking her head furiously. "This can't be happening!" The smile faded away as the distraught one again fixated itself upon her face.
"Good one, Haseo." Pi and Kuhn muttered at the same time, Pi in a reprimanding tone and Kuhn in an exasperated one.
"As for your request, Haseo…the files that dictate any of this information has been completely removed from all forms of media. No paper articles, or news pieces, or even radio broadcasts contain information of the event. I do, however, have a single name that may…or may not…have some degree of bearing towards this phenomenon." Yata dictated as he tapped his closed fan on his hand. He had easily grabbed all of the attention with his sudden announcement; bring weary and tired eyes towards him like a magnet draws metal.
"What's the name then?" Kuhn asked with his head slightly tilted as he watched Yata just as eagerly as everyone else."
Yata turned back to the screens and pulled a specific one up; expanding it greatly and having it hover over his head with a seven letter long name filling in the screen. Confused looks where swapped amongst the members of G.U., and just as soon snapped back to the name in front of them.
"Who the hell…is Tsukasa?" Haseo grumbled confusedly as he rubbed the back of his head gingerly.
A/N: Thus, the story starts slightly anew. Okay, just because the sequel to Rebirth is out does not mean this is simply a noncannon retelling. I have hand crafted this plot carefully, making sure that it is a .hack worthy plot that is worthy of .hack fans, being an absolute one myself. I think I went through thirty different plot ideas before settling on this one. Of course, not a lot of the plot shines through right now…just that Atoli is stuck in the world, a la Tsukasa once was. Do not worry; this isn't going to be a repeat of //Sign.