.hack//POKEMON: SIGN
Episode 2: Guardian

Disclaimer: I do not own  .hack//SIGN, Pokemon, or any of the characters from either 
show.   I DO however own Tsukasha (Soo-kash-uh), Maymiru(may-mee-roo), 
Mistaru(Miss-tar-oo), Ginkoak(Gink-ohk), Bearock(Bear-ock), Mahawth(mah-hahth), the 
swinys(swine-ees),  Tsukasha’s Guardian, Sorax(Sor-acks), and Aurachu(Ah-ruh-choo)	

	<’The World’>
	Today we find our young sorcerer in a rocky area in a thunderous storm, all he 
says is “This can’t be.”
	
	Now he is in a common area, playing with a strange fruit, which he throws to his 
swiny to eat. After eating it, he grows larger and tells his sorcerer “I am an adult now. I 
will no longer be following you on your adventures.”  Before floating off into the 
distance.
	Moving along the sorcerer runs into the same male warrior he met at the pond.
	“Have you read the BBS?” Bearock asked. “Is that what you want?”
	“I—“ He walked away instead of finishing his answer. He then just happened to 
pass by Maymiru, but just continues walking, pretending that she was not even there.
	Maymiru talks with the warrior.
	“Tsukasha has been acting very strangely. He says that he can’t log out of the 
game. And the Knights are after a cat-like character. Apparently it’s an illegal character 
design. I think that we should keep an eye on him.” stated the heavy blade.
	“I agree. We should look out for him. I will call you if I find anything out.”

	The female sorceress from before is now being chased by somebody in a desert 
area, until she finally gets cornered he jumps her. 
	“Give me your member address!” demanded the evil man.
	“No!” exclaimed JT.
	“But we used to be partners! Until you betrayed me!”
	“We never used to be partners! Leave me alone!”
	“Won’t you please give me you member address?” begged the man.
	“I said no!” screamed the girl.
	“Fine, be that way!” The man stabs her repeatedly and ends up killing her. As he 
laughed, he murmured “You are too weak.” 

	Again in the city with the river through it, Mistaru is in a boat with two Rocket 
Knights.
	“We are keeping an eye on this Tsukasha character. We are having a hard time 
keeping track of him due to his constant warping to different areas. We suggest we close 
some gates to isolate him.” said a Knight.
	“Were you able to get any background information on this character?” asks the 
heavy axe man.
	“No, we were not.”
	“Well I suggest you do. That is what is important at the moment. And please, be 
careful”
	“In a cave, our chief’s character got deleted by an unknown monster while trying 
to get some information from Tsukasha.”
	Mistaru, worried about one of her loyal knights, tells them to go look for 
Tsukasha.
	There were some Knights patrolling waiting for Tsukasha. When he does appear 
at the gate, he quickly warps to another area.
	“We will be able to catch him before he logs out.” Stated one of the Knights.

	Tsukasha, alone again in an open desert field contemplates on what he should do, 
when Mahawth appears floating above him.

	Back in the main area the warrior is talking to the sorceress, says “They had to 
charge another PK(Player Character).”
	“I am so lucky I made a backup save to my character before I got killed, so I 
didn’t lose too much of anything. That guy keeps bothering me for my member address.” 
exclaimed the female wave master.
	“You should be more concerned with things to come than things that have already 
happened.” stated Bearock.

	In the same area, two Knights were talking with each other. 
	“It’s hard to tell anything about a character by appearance, but getting one’s 
member address will clear things up a lot.” said one of the Knights.
	
	“What is his name?” asked Bearock.
	“I believe it’s Sorax.” Replied JT.
	“There are no clear objectives in ‘The World’ and players can do whatever they 
want. Perhaps Sorax is trying to collect all the member addresses of all the beauties in the 
game.” stated the warrior.
	Another Rocket Knight appears and then disappears with the others that are there.
	The warrior wonders what the Knights are up to, and says “I am worried about 
someone.”

	Tsukasha is still watching Mahawth who seems to be speaking to him, yet no 
words were spoken.
	“You’re right. I should have escaped to this place, but no matter what, I’ll end up 
here anyway.” said Tsukasha. “It’s horrible, but I don’t want to involve anyone else, and 
that is why I choose to be quiet.”
	Mahawth nods and speaks to him, prompting him to say “Is there such a place?”

	Tsukasha is now in a dimly lit dungeon, but what he does not know is that he is 
being followed by Sorax, the PK. “My mission is about to end.” 
	Tsukasha presses against a wall, and moves right through it, only to have Sorax 
turn the corner and wonder where he has gone.
	Tsukasha is now in a surreal place, and a teddiursa doll floats toward him. The 
landscape is a lush forest, very pleasant. He then spots a young female pikachu floating 
above a bed in the middle of a strange place. The coloring is not complete, as she is 
colored in with swirling shades of color.
	He simply asks “Who are you?”

	The heavy blade, the warrior, and the sorceress are now all together.
	“The knights lost track of Tsukasha, and now they’re watching the gates even 
more closely, so Tsukasha will not be able to return through the same gate more than 
once.” says Bearock. “Tsukasha is alone somewhere in the server.”
	“Maybe he reset the terminal when passing through a gate or something.” Adds 
JT.
	“But he’s not able to log out.” reminded Maymiru. 
	“That is why I am concerned.” says Bearock.
	“But you have to log out. There are things you have to do in the real world. Like 
school, eating, and sleeping. If he’s unable to log out, than it’s most likely due to him 
doing a reset too quickly.” stated JT.
	“Perhaps he has lost the terminal.” said Bearock.
	“Or maybe it lost power. If that is so, than there is nothing we can do.” added JT.
	“When I first got ‘The World’, I discovered a new place where you have to save 
the world, but only to have to reset and return to the real world. I wonder what happened 
in ‘The World’ when I wasn’t there. Perhaps somebody was waiting for me, regardless; I 
do not think this is a terminal problem.
	“Tsukasha is in more trouble than we thought he was.” Said Maymiru.

	Tsukasha, still in the surreal realm, speaks to the girl, but gets no reply. Then a 
voice, very similar to that of the one he heard when he touched the tablet.
	“We will work together now. I will protect you.” says the pikachu in all white.
	“What should I do?” asked the confused sorcerer.
	“Get in contact with Maymiru.”
	“I am wanted by the Rocket Knights.”
	“Do not worry, as I will be there for you, like a guardian. There is one more thing 
for me to pass onto you.”

	The warrior is now in the city, and notices the young axe man departing her boat 
atop a bridge, when Maymiru shows up.
	“We should not work so closely together, nor make eye contact with each other, 
unless either of our suspicion increases.” commented Bearock.
	She tells him “I got an e-mail from Tsukasha asking me to meet me in a field in 
the Donarick Server.”
	“I am amazed to hear that he was able to exit the server he was in and into another 
without logging out.” says Bearock.

	Sorax jumps two passing Knights, and tells them “The fugitive you are after is an 
introvert. Will you please come with me?”
	The Knights are uneasy, and Sorax takes off. He’s back in the area where 
Tsukasha disappeared. He runs his blade against the spot Tsukasha went, and says 
“Good! I was worried about you… … you have grown considerably.”

	Maymiru has met up with Tsukasha, and has brought along the warrior with her.
	“Why is he here?” asks Tsukasha.
	“I could not get back alone” answers Maymiru.
	They both ask “Have you read the BBS?”
	“I know nothing about what is on it.”
	“You will not be able to read the BBS unless you log out.” Says the warrior.
	“What good would that do?”
	“What is on your mind that is sitting in front of your terminal?” questions 
Bearock.
	Tsukasha states, “I am not sitting at my terminal now… this is my world. ‘The 
World’”
	“How are you capable of moving between servers when the Knights have closed 
access between them?” asks the warrior.
	“I was given the power to.”
	“Is that the same power that you used to defeat the Rocket Knight?” asks the 
heavy blade.
	“That was something else.” he replies.
	She is amazed that it was he whom defeated the Knight. “Who the hell are you?  
And why did it hurt and damage you when I hit you the other day?” she asks. “You 
defeated a Knight, and whatever goes on-screen is not physically damaging, but it still 
affects him.”
	“I think we may be able to help you, but I’m puzzled on how you can talk with us 
without being in front of a terminal.” says Bearock. “The Knights are gathering 
information as we speak off the BBS.”
	“What are you going to do, Tsukasha?” asks Maymiru.
	“I think I’ll sacrifice myself. I can’t think of any other way.” He turns around and 
tells them “It’s okay. I think it’d be best if we didn’t meet again.”
	“They Knights will not give up until they find you.” reminds Maymiru.
	“It’s okay. I have a guardian with me.”
	“You are a liar! Are you expecting me to believe that it was your ‘guardian’ 
defeated that Knight for you? What kind of player is that? Does he want you to phase out 
in front of your monitor and lose part of your memory? I will not allow this!”
	“Don’t interfere in my affairs anymore!” he says before running into a cave 
entrance. Maymiru follows him and the warrior yells out to them “Wait!” Just then his 
guardian appears before Maymiru and attacks her.
	“Why did you attack her?” Tsukasha asks the guardian.
	“If this is your guardian, you need to dismiss it, for we are not his enemy!” yells 
the warrior.
	“I know… but.”
	As the warrior launches to attack it, the guardian attacks him.
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