The true God of Destruction stood in front of us with an evil smile and a killer look in his red eyes. Although he looked exactly like Lan, except with a darker shade of red, his heart was not the same. This Burst Linker (could I even call him that?) had the intent of removing Brain Burst from us forever. As Lan crumpled to the ground, I thought that he was entering Zero Fill, the state of where the negative emotions of a Burst Linker overwhelm their will to fight. After that happens, their duel avatar becomes a cold, dead lump, vulnerable to any attack.
"Lan, get a hold of yourself!" I said desperately. I couldn't lose him here, not now!
"What can I do? His strength surpasses all of ours..." he mumbled.
"I recall you saying that you wanted to become level 10! How can you reach that level when you can't even stand against an opponent who's supposedly stronger than you!" I shrieked.
Lan said nothing back to me. Instead, his eyes were distant, as if he were remembering something.
"What happened to the Red Hero who wouldn't give up to protect the bonds he shared with his friends, and their bonds as well?! Where's the Hero I believe in?"
I couldn't stand to see that look of defeat on his face because it hurt me. It hurt me to see the Hero I loved in the depths of despair against one strong foe when he had faced an army of Burst Linkers and took them all out. He was no God, but he was certainly a Hero. To me, at least.
"Alright," he said, getting up. He pulled out his Hero Sword and took a defiant look at Omega.
"So you're gonna fight, eh?" Omega sneered.
Lan threw himself at Omega and slashed with precision. He probably knew all of Omega's moves, since they were practically the same duel avatar. Omega pulled out his version of the Hero Sword, which was the same shape but colored pink, and clashed blades with Lan. They executed their special moves over and over, both dodging and blocking each move. Lan used his large arsenal of weapons to trip Omega up. However, Omega had already seen most of these weapons in their previous one-on-one duel.
Something was strange about Omega, though. He didn't use any of the weapons Lan pulled out, only the Hero Sword and Hero Gun. Was Omega only limited to two weapons, or did the original Red Hero not obtain the other Hero weapons? Nonetheless, he was still the most powerful duel avatar I had ever seen.
"Messenkou!" Omega commanded. He pounded the ground with his left fist and created pillars of white light that encircled him, protecting him from Lan's Shield Boomerang.
After the shield returned to Lan, Omega dashed forward to take advantage of the opening, but Lan saw this coming.
"Orbit Shield!" he yelled. His shield came back and orbited around him, protecting him from Omega. Omega didn't expect this and was hit by the rotating shield, falling back.
"Should we help him?" Harpuia asked.
"He'll be fine. I think we should help Master X," Leviathan answered.
"Good idea. Let's go!"
The Four Guardians left me to watch Omega and Red Hero duke it out in a battle of skill and wits. I took a last look at Lan and dashed over to where the other Guardians were, ready to face my parent, White Cosmos. Her blinding light was now gone, thanks to X, which meant that it was possible to look at her directly. White Cosmos was a very slim duel avatar, with thin legs and arms. Scattered across her body were golden orbs, and her helmet had a clear glass covering it. It was strange how her duel avatar seemed to be the opposite of mine, where mine was black with purple orbs and hers was white. She was a defensive-type duel avatar, so fighting her wouldn't be that difficult with six people.
"Good luck, Lan," I whispered.
(A/N: Physical appearance of White Cosmos may or may not be canon)
Fighting Omega was like fighting a mirror image of myself, except a little more difficult. Omega was slightly faster than me in my normal form, and didn't hesitate to use powerful special attacks, such as Rekkoha. His favorite special attack, it seemed, was the Double Shot Wave, which was shooting two large shots from the Hero Gun followed by a crescent wave with the Hero Sword. He used this move the most frequently in our duel.
"Charged Shot!" we both cried at the same time. We smashed our blades together at the same time, causing the ground to shake violently and the objects around us to crumble.
I leaped back shot Omega with a few shots with my Hero Gun. He blocked almost all the shots, only getting hit by one. That was my chance to move forward and slash him with my triple-slash combo. Although he sustained quite a bit of damage, he still moved extremely fast.
"Ranbu!" Omega said.
I've never heard of this move! I panicked.
He lunged at me with terrifying speed and slashed me for a total of seven times. The last attack was a rising slash that flung me backwards into a stone spire. I dashed forward, ready to attack again, but was blocked by his Messenkou.
"Do you know what differs between us, Hero?" he asked.
"What?"
"I don't hold back!" he roared, "Rekkoha!"
"Urk!"
I tried to dash backwards but the beams of light came down too fast, smashing me into the ground. I was surprised that I wasn't finished yet, since I already took seven powerful hits before I was hurt by this attack. I took a look at my HP and noticed that I had 20% remaining.
Wow... I subconsciously won't give up, huh?
Omega grabbed my face with his left hand and lifted me up. How could this be the real Zero? Was the real Zero really bent on destruction and chaos, as opposed to me, the fake Zero who wanted to fight for the people he believed in? He threw me into another stone spire and used the Double Shot Wave special attack, causing the rocks to fall on me and trap me.
I guess this is it, huh? I lose this battle and Omega defeats the other Guardians by himself...
I lost the will to fight and entered the state of Zero Fill. In my mind's eye, I stood behind a large destroyed tower. Upon closer inspection, there were large cables that hung from the ceiling, and connecting to those cables was none other than the Red Hero himself. He looked damaged beyond repair and was unconscious. His arms were missing and his hair hung loosely by his side. It looked depressing no matter how you looked at it. Was this the feeling of defeat? Was this the negative emotion that surpassed my fighting spirit?
You're Lan, the one who mysteriously woke me up, right? He asked me.
Yeah. I'm sorry for letting you down. I answered.
Everyone goes through despair some time in their lives. Isn't that right?
I guess so.
As cliché as this sounds, the fate of the Accelerated World depends on you.
I know, and I've failed everyone. I can't do it! I can't defeat Omega.
I believe in you. So does She, so does the Four Guardians. X believes in you as well.
I walked over to where Red Hero rested and tried to touch him, but was blocked by a force field.
Are you ready to stand and fight, Lan? He asked.
Yes. As long as you and the others believe in me, I will stand and fight! I answered with confidence.
STAND, HERO. STAND AND FIGHT
I pounded on the force field with the intention of breaking it. My hands became sore, but I kept bashing it. I needed to go back and protect my friends! For that to happen, I needed the strength of the Red Hero to fight! After a few more punches, I broke the barrier and entered Red Hero. I opened my eyes and broke out of the cables with a loud roar.
Exiting Zero Fill, I broke out of the rocks with a battle cry and dashed towards Omega, who was walking to where White Cosmos was.
"You're not going anywhere!" I yelled, pulling out my Hero Sword.
"Hmph. You never give up, do you?" he said, whipping his body around to block my attack.
I slashed him fiercely and pushed him back a few meters. He lifted his left arm and opened his left fist. It began to glow a malicious purple and the Ω symbol was engraved on the palm of his left hand.
Incarnation?!
He lunged towards me with this palm out and attempted to grab my face, probably trying to crush it.
"Guard Shell!" I said, panicking.
The familiar small oval-shaped shield popped up and blocked the attack, stopping Omega completely.
"What?!" he said in a sinister tone.
My Guard Shell responded to the Incarnation attack and sent out a ball of energy, sending Omega flying backwards. I took this opportunity to execute Shoenga to move him up into the air and executed Entsuizan to deal a considerable amount of damage. He was sent back down, crashing in the ground. I ended the combo with Rakuretsuzan, impaling Omega as he tried to stand up again.
Omega hit me with his palm and sent me backwards, allowing him enough time to stand up and use the Double Shot Wave combo. I blocked the entire attack with my Guard Shell and pulled out my Recoil Rod. It was the first time Omega had seen it, so he had no idea what it did. Frustrated, Omega roared a terrifying battle cry and began to glow, indicating that he was using Charged Shot. I used it as well, preparing for whatever attack he had planned.
"Shin Messenkou!" he said fiercely, pounding the ground.
Knowing exactly what it was, I dashed as far back as I could. The ground beneath me glowed and large blue plasma-like projectiles emerged and rose into the air quickly. I unleashed the power that was in my Recoil Rod and successfully hit one of the projectiles, sending it straight towards Omega, who was a sitting duck. It hit him directly in the face and knocked him down.
I dashed to him and switched to my Hero Sword and pointed it at his neck.
"It's over, Omega," I said quietly.
"Heh. That wasn't too bad, Hero," he muttered. "But do you have it in you to destroy your original body?"
I hesitated for a few moments. Did it really matter which body was the real one? Even if the body was different, the heart was the same. That's what truly made the Red Hero who he was.
"The heart is the only thing that counts," I said confidently.
"I see. So that's your answer..."
Before I could finish him off, a white and gold arm cut me off. I looked at who it was and saw that it was X. He stared at Omega with his sad green eyes and spoke.
"Is this what you've become, Zero?"
"I'm the God of Destruction portion of that Burst Linker Weil created," Omega spat. "That other Zero is the one with feelings."
"Wait, what? We're not programs, we're real people here!" I said.
"I'm not a person," Omega said. "I was created from the Disaster Armor and the berserk form of Zero. That's why I can't die."
"The Guardians and I were made specifically to permanently wipe you off the face of this World," X stated.
"I see. It looks like Ciel isn't that bad after all."
X smiled sadly and looked at me. His eyes were asking if he should destroy Omega and save the Accelerated World. I nodded slowly as an answer.
"Nova Strike!" X commanded. I jumped back as he jumped into the air and flew downwards with his arm cannon out in front of him. A yellow aura surrounded him as he fell from the sky. He crashed into Omega and a large dust cloud appeared, covering the entire area. I also noticed that he created a small crater after he landed! This move must have been a very powerful one.
The dust cleared and the last of Omega was sprawled out in the ground. Red streams of data erupted from his body and rose up into the sky. I had only seen this twice during my time in the Unlimited Field, once when I accidentally robbed a person of all their points and when I spectated a duel where a Burst Linker lost all of his points.
Once the data purge was done, nothing of Omega remained. It was finally over...
"Check your inventory for the Disaster Armor. Omega mentioned that he was created with it, so be sure it isn't in your inventory. You don't want to become the next Chrome Disaster," X said.
I nodded and decided to ask about the Chrome Disaster later. I checked my inventory and found nothing in there, thankfully. X checked as well and didn't see anything either.
"Are you guys done with White Cosmos?" I asked.
"She escaped. Unfortunately, she tricked me into moving to a zone where there was a return point."
"Oh."
Part of me was glad that she escaped. I wanted to hold on to my Brain Burst for a little longer, at least until Kuroyukihime came back.
"She'll be hiding for a while, so don't expect another operation anytime soon."
"Alright."
We regrouped with the other Guardians and told them what happened. We figured that White Cosmos would show up again eventually, but she'd be a lot more wary every time she enters the Unlimited Field. We would strike whenever there would be an opportunity, which wouldn't be any time soon.
"Good work, Guardians," X said cheerily.
"It was fun!" Fefnir said with a big smile.
"If only there was water..." Leviathan pouted.
"That wasn't too hard," Phantom mumbled.
"Our pleasure, Master X," Harpuia said, bowing.
"We're going to head back to Neo Arcadia. Are you two going back to Suginami?" X asked Black Lotus.
"Yes. We'll see you when the next operation starts," Black Lotus answered.
"Alright. See you later."
We waved goodbye and went our separate ways for the time being. Black Lotus and I headed back to Suginami with haste; we were exhausted from the fight that raged on back there. We were lucky to not have anyone killed.
"How was it, fighting your parent?" I asked.
"She didn't see it coming. Oh how I wanted to slice her limbs off..." Black Lotus muttered, trailing off.
"We'll get her next time. You know who she is in real life, right?"
"She's my older sister."
"O-Oh. Sorry!" I quickly said, ashamed of my shallowness.
"No, it's alright. You would've found out anyhow," she chuckled.
I laughed along with her, glad that we were spending time together again. I had missed her company and yearned for the day when she would be back in Tokyo.
"So you can enjoy the rest of your trip now, right?" I asked.
"Yeah, now that this is over," she answered.
"Almost over," I corrected.
"Oh, right..."
"Don't worry about it. It'll end sooner than you think."
"I hope so."
We finally made it to the return point closest to Suginami and said our farewells. We couldn't wait to see each other again!
Returning to the real world, I wondered if the Guardians did the right thing. Was eliminating Omega the only way to solve the problem? I just hoped that I wasn't accidentally on the wrong side, working with the wrong people. I mean, X had a colleague, who was more than likely to be this 'Ciel' that Omega was talking about, who could manipulate Brain Burst!
Thinking about Ciel, I wondered if she could make it so that my duel avatar wouldn't disappear after this entire scenario was over. Actually, ever since Omega revealed himself as the original Red Hero, I had second thoughts about keeping my duel avatar. It was completely overpowered in terms of how the Accelerated World worked, and probably had the potential of destroying it all as well. Maybe I should create a different avatar... No, my true avatar. Red Hero wasn't the ideal avatar I had dreamt up. But then, how did Red Hero end up being my duel avatar?
I shook my head in frustration and crawled into bed. I guess I'll figure out who this Ciel is and find her. If I find her, I might be able to meet X and the Guardians in real life too. I wondered what Fefnir would be like... He'd be pretty aggressive, maybe.
And so I laid in bed thinking about the real-life counterparts of the Guardians before falling into a deep sleep, despite the few seconds that passed in the real world.
(The "STAND, HERO. STAND AND FIGHT" part is a reference to SAO in the Fairy Dance arc, where Kirito used the 'will of the mind' to stand and fight Sugou, the person who was, erm, harassing Asuna.)