Here's revised Chapter 4. This time, I hope I did a better job of portraying the fight. I'll admit I did pretty well the first time if I go by the original reviews for the chapter, but I hope I did even better than then. ~ DragonKing0117

Disclaimer Notice: The series Sword Art Online and Accel World are the copyrighted works of Reki Kawahara. This story is not being written for profit but for the satisfaction of the writer and viewer. Thank you.

Kirito vs Black Lotus

Kirito opened his eyes. Looking around, he saw that the world around him had turned into various shades of blue, including the bodies of those around him, while at the same time they had frozen solid. However, not everything was blue, and people who weren't there before he called out the command "Burst Link" now were. To be exact, it now seemed like everyone in the room had doubled, although there were minor, and one major, difference here and there.

For example of the major, by Haruyuki was a small, pink pig with a similar face that was standing on its hind legs. Conversely for the minor, everyone else looked exactly the same with the exception of their clothes. For Takumu, he stood next to his frozen blue self dressed in a tin man suit. For Chiyuri, she was in a cat-girl outfit. Niko, on the other hand, was dressed as a medieval prince. Last but not least, Kuroyukihime was dressed in a somewhat revealing butterfly costume. The only one to have not changed was Fuuko, who now looked like she was twins with her frozen blue body. Looking down at himself, Kirito realized he was now dressed in his Aincrad attire during the final weeks before its destruction. He had regained the appearance of the «Black Swordsman», both «Elucidator» and «Dark Repulser» strapped to his back.

"Hey, you're back in the avatar that you used to fight me!" Haruyuki the pink pig exclaimed. The others turned to look at Kirito as well, varying expressions on their faces ranging from surprise to mild approval.

"So that's what Haruyuki meant by you being dressed in all black," said Kuroyukihime as she walked around Kirito examining his appearance. "It actually suits you."

"Thank you."

"Well, it seems like you can accelerate," Kuroyukihime said this as she walked back to her original position. "Which brings me to the next question: What are your stats for Brain Burst, namely your [Level] and [Burst Points]. You can find it in your menu which you can up by swinging your right hand down while your index and middle fingers are extended. You should be able to find your stats easily from there."

Kirito did as he was told and a translucent screen came into existence.

"This is just like how it was in SAO," Kirito thought to himself as he scrolled through the menu.

Finding the option labeled Brain Burst, he pressed it with his finger allowing him to access a further set of options where Kirito then found the option labeled 'User Stats' before pressing it. Another translucent window appeared, this time showing a 2D image of himself with various information and figures next to it.

"Um, let's see… It says [Level]: Not Available, [Burst Points]: Unlimited."

"What!?" exclaimed Haruyuki. "That can't be possible! Right Sempai?"

"Anything's possible at this rate Haruyuki," said Kuroyukihime as her eyes narrowed. "So, Kirito, how would you rate yourself as a fighter?"

"Back in my time, one of the best. Why?" Kirito said, getting a bad feeling.

Kuroyukihime grinned.

"I want to see for myself how good of a fighter you are."

"Are you sure about this, master?" Takumu asked. "You know the sudden death rule-"

"Only applies to fights between two level nine players," interrupted Niko. "Kirito is obviously not level nine, so let's let them fight. Besides, I want to see this."

"Niko's right Taku," said Haruyuki. "Besides, I've been wondering myself how Kirito would do against Sempai. After all, when I faced him, he gave off the impression of a veteran fighter, just like Sempai."

"It's alright Takumu," Kuroyukihime said to her worried Legion member. "Besides, I want revenge for him sneaking into my Neuro Linker!"

"That's what you wanted!?" Kirito exclaimed. "Well, I wouldn't mind fighting. It would at least give me something to do so, I accept your challenge."

"Good. However, let's do this outside. Say 'Burst Out' if you wish to decelerate."

"Burst Out!"

―○●○―

Kirito and Kuroyukihime were standing on opposite sides of a nearby park while accelerated. The others stayed across the street in a nearby cafe, the reason being that they needed to keep their real life identities hidden from other Burst Linkers.

"Are you ready, Kirito?" Kuroyukihime shouted. Kirito nodded.

He saw Kuroyukihime move her hand as she manipulated her menu.

Bashiiiii!

All of a sudden the world transformed in front of Kirito's eyes. The world, once vibrant and colorful, transformed into a dull, empty, and desolate place as everything rusted away and died in a flash of light.

[HERE COMES A NEW CHALLENGER!]

A loud voice rung out as four bars appeared over Kirito's head, the larger ones filling with green while the smaller ones remained empty. The appearance was the same as the last time he had fought within Brain Burst, except this time, [BLACK LOTUS] was his opponent instead of [SILVER CROW]. Looking ahead, he saw the girl in question. She had turned into a black robotic being with a purple visor covering her glowing eyes. All four of her limbs were, long, sleek blades. Kirito whistled.

"Now if that's not an avatar made for fighting, I don't know what is, Hime."

"Call me Lotus when we're dueling please, and my Avatar does look a great deal better at fighting than yours," Black Lotus responded.

"Ah."

Kirito looked down, noticing he was still in his SAO outfit. It certainly didn't look as battle ready as Black Lotus.

[FIGHT!]

The voice echoed through the area. Then another voice was heard.

"Good luck Sempai, Kirito!"

Both people looked up to see who called them. It was a silver and slim Avatar on top of a nearby building. Kirito recognized it immediately as Silver Crow. To his left stood a large blue avatar with a pile driver and a green Avatar with a large bell. Kirito assumed they were Cyan Pile and Lime Bell respectively. To Silver Crow's right was a blue Avatar in a wheel chair, Sky Raker, and a small red Avatar, Scarlet Rain.

"Good luck Master! Kirito!"

"Do your best everyone!"

"Good luck Sacchan!"

"Knock the Black Princess down to size, Kirito!"

The others yelled their respective cheers. Nearby, on other buildings, were several groups of Duel Avatars. All of them were saying things along the lines of:

"The Black King is dueling!"

Or…

"Who's that mysterious Burst Linker? Where's his Duel Avatar, he can't fight without it, can he?"

One Avatar, a small, box-shaped one with glasses and a laptop said:

"It seems like another exciting event is here to rock the Accelerated World."

This was promptly followed by him pushing up his glasses as they let out a shine.

"From the looks of things," thought Kirito. "Everyone looks very excited about this."

"Well, I didn't expect such a crowd but, let's begin, Kirito!" Black Lotus pointed one of her blade arms at Kirito. "I'll show you that the «Century's End» stage is the perfect place to defeat you."

"I thought you'd never say that Lotus! Bring it on!"

Kirito drew his two swords and Black Lotus readied her blades. There was a pause as even the spectators grew quiet, tension filling the air. Then, Lotus disappeared. Instantly Kirito lifted his swords to block the incoming attack.

Kashiiiiin!

The sound of metal clashing echoed across the field as a shockwave erupted from the contact between the two's blades. "Ooh!"s and "Ahh!"s could be heard from the audience.

"That's quite a reaction speed you have there Kirito. How'd you get so fast?" Black Lotus asked trying to push Kirito back with her blades.

"I spent two and a half years in a death game. It does wonders for your reflexes," Kirito responded, struggling to push Black Lotus back as well. "Besides, against a person who has blades for limbs, I have to go all out to survive you know."

Black Lotus' two glowing eyes narrowed.

"I see."

The two jumped away from the other before Black Lotus once again disappeared.

Kashiiin! Kashiiin! Kashiiin!

Several shockwaves and flashes of light could be seen across the wasteland as Kirito repeatedly blocked Black Lotus' strikes repeatedly. Eventually the two settled back in their respective areas, both still having full health, before charging again.

Kashiiin!

Kirito blocked Black Lotus' attack with one sword before using his foot to kick her back a bit. Surprised, Lotus fell backwards. Kirito lunged forward, second sword at the ready, but quickly jumped back as Lotus turned her fall into a backflip and tried to slash him with her bladed leg.

"Whoa!"

"Amazing!"

Comments like that could be heard around the area as the two separated.

Quickly checking his Special Gauge, Kirito noticed that it was three-quarters of the way full. That was enough for about two or three sword skills. Looking ahead, Kirito tucked his arm in and twisted slightly. Immediately, a crimson light glowed around «Elucidator» and Kirito charged, activating the One-Handed Sword Skill, «Vorpal Strike». Black Lotus, noticing Kirito, quickly lifted her arms to block the attack as Kirito closed in and their blades clashed. However, due to the extended range and power of «Vorpal Strike», Lotus was launched backwards into a nearby building while Kirito took the time to recover from his strike.

Quickly, Black Lotus shot out of the building and into the air, her blades at the ready. Kirito, now recovered, rested «Elucidator» against his shoulder activating another Sword Skill, «Sonic Leap», and jumped forward at high-speed.

The two clashed in the midair, creating another shockwave, and, as the sword skill ended, Kirito activated another sword skill with «Dark Repulser», this time using «Slant» to slash at Black Lotus' side sending her straight to the ground. Kirito landed a few meters away.

"Sempai!" Kirito heard Silver Crow shout.

"He got the Black King!" This was shouted by some of the other spectators.

"Great job, Kirito! Finish her!"

That shout came from Scarlet Rain.

"Yeah, yeah!" Kirito shouted back. Kirito walked a few steps in the direction of the fallen Black Lotus.

"It seems I got the first clean strike, Lotus!" Kirito shouted before he charged once more at Black Lotus. Suddenly, Black Lotus jumped up and activated a skill of her own.

"«Death By Barraging»!" she shouted as she started to launch countless bladed kicks at Kirito.

"Crap!" Kirito quickly raised his swords in front of him and blocked what he could of the attack, barely managing to keep himself from being blown away by its power, yet still being pushed back about a meter. Eventually the attack ended and Kirito was left barely standing and breathing heavily.

"It seems like I did more damage Kirito," said Black Lotus. Looking up, Kirito noticed what she said was true. His health gauge was at around 50% while hers was closer to 70%. Both his and her Special Gauges was now maxed out and the timer was down to 600 seconds left.

"Like I… thought… the pain in this game… is ridiculous…" Kirito, breathing heavily, said as he endured the pain and readied his blades. "But… you're packing quite the kick… aren't you, Black Lotus?"

"Unfortunately for you, you won't be able to witness the full extent of my power, as I'll finish you with this next attack!" Lotus said as she held her arms in an X-shape in front of her.

"Hey, I was going to say the same thing… though I'm still not used to this level of pain," said Kirito, wincing, before looking back up at the timer. "Looks like we have less than 10 minutes left. Let's finish this before then."

"Yes, let's."

Both players stood in silence as they prepared to strike. The spectators also grew quiet, waiting in anticipation for what they expected to be the last attack for both players.

Soon, the wait was over. Both Kirito's blades glowed blue with energy while Black Lotus' arms glowed with purple energy. Both fighters charged while shouting their attacks, Kirito's gauge dropping to around 15% while Black Lotus' dropped to five.

"«Death By Piercing»!"

"«Starburst Stream»!"

A large purple aura radiated around Black Lotus as she charged with her blades thrusted forward, swirling around her like a giant blade. Meanwhile Kirito rushed straight at the enormous amount of energy and started his «Dual Blades» Sword Skill against the energy.

"Come on!" thought Kirito as he unleashed his sixteen hit combo against the giant energy mass. "I need to hit harder and faster than I ever have if I want to take her down!"

Kirito's blades started moving faster against the swirling mass of energy. Time seemed to slow down as Kirito slashed. Slicing to the left, right, up, and down, Kirito's blades clashed against the energy with a strength that rivalled his peak during the days of SAO. Then the attacks started to slow down and weaken.

"No!" Kirito thought as he felt spasms of pain throughout his body. "I'm too weak from the pain, I need more power!"

However, it was futile. Kirito felt the Sword Skill's power fade away as his body was left in a vulnerable state. As he looked at his upcoming destruction, he smiled.

"Thanks for the fight, Hime! It was fun!"

Then, Kirito resisted the urge to scream as he felt Black Lotus' two blades stab straight through his body before he disappeared in a burst of polygons.

―○●○―

Haruyuki was in awe. Everyone had just gathered back at his place after the fight between Kuroyukihime and Kirito. Everyone was praising the fight. After all, a fight like that was only seen one other time in Brain Burst history, and that was between two Kings, Kuroyukihime as Black Lotus, and the Yellow King, Yellow Radio. However, Haruyuki felt a bit disappointed that Kirito lost. Quickly, he shook his head. Thoughts like that weren't allowed if it was against his beloved Sempai. He was able to clear his thoughts in time for the meeting to resume, this time around his dining room table instead of in the living room.

"So, Kirito, I will admit you are quite the fighter. Though you still cannot beat me."

Kuroyukihime took her time to gloat for a bit.

"Yeah, yeah. Just be glad I'm not used to the pain yet, else you really would have lost." Kirito muttered while propping his head up with his hand and his eyes half open.

"That sounds like the words of a loser, to me."

"Hey, hey! Your fight's over already! Let's get on with the rest of the meeting already!" That came from Niko.

"Niko's right," said Chiyuri. "We still have to decide what to do with Kirito."

"Well, isn't that simple?" Fuuko asked.

"What do you mean?" Takumu was polishing his glasses when he said this.

"'Just let him stay at Haruyuki's place for the time being' is what you're thinking isn't it, Fuuko?" asked Kuroyukihime.

When Fuuko nodded, Kuroyukihime sighed.

"Well there's no helping it then. You don't mind do you, Haruyuki? Having Kirito stay at your place?"

"N-No. I don't mind," Haruyuki said while looking at Kirito.

"That's fine by me," Kirito responded with a nod after sitting back up.

"Well then there you have it," Kuroyukihime said as she clapped her hands together.

"Wait why is he staying at Haruyuki's place?" demanded Niko.

"He met Haruyuki first, plus he already agreed to it. Unless you're saying your legion needs help again?"

"T-That's not what I'm saying at all you damn princess! He can stay where he likes!"

"Well with that, there are no objections to that are there?"

Everyone was silent, including Niko who was fuming.

"Then Kirito," Kuroyukihime said, turning towards Kirito. "For now, you will stay here at Haruyuki's place. Feel free to do as you like, provided it's not invading my Neuro Linker. Other than that, welcome to Japan, 2047."