MERRY CHRISTMAS (Or insert your winter holiday)! What better way to celebrate 12/25 than with chapter 25. Is this a coincidence? Not really; its just insane luck. And I'm finally, FINALLY, wrapping up the tournament!
Siris: I might leave that for Asuna if I include her as she technically has more experience with a rapier, even though Lyam has actually used one irl. At least, I don't think Asuna used one outside of SAO/ALO.
Lyam nodded. "Yeah, but it's blunt, so I can't hurt anything." She was confused. "Don't you practice Kendo?" Lyam raised an eyebrow, but laughed. "I did say that, didn't I? I meant to say I was apart of the Fencing Club, and according to coach, I'm one of the best fencers." Asada looked at him in bewilderment, before turning back to look at the street in front of them. Well, you're using a real one, now, aren't you? Sinon joked in her mind as she watched the screen.
As Lyvek rushed at him, Kirito could feel his whole demeanor changed. Before, he was a berserker style, slashing right away, but here, Lyvek was keeping his center facing away from him and stabbing forward with the now rapier Kurenzā. As he tried to block it with one of his own swords, Lyvek slid his until the guard met Kirito's blade. He tried to move it, but the photon sword was stuck. Lyvek smirked as he slashed with his katana, and pulled the other sword still locked in Kurenzā's guard out of his hand. Kirito jumped back, and reached for his gun, which was not there.
Lyvek laughed at this, and the Black Swordsman glared at him. He started to slowly circle him, and Lyvek kept turning to face him. "So, when could Kurenzā do that?" Kirito asked, half stalling, half legitimately curious. Lyvek replied, his eyes unmoving from him. "Ever since I got the thing. It has the power to mold itself to the user. Took me a while to figure it out, but that means it can morph into any sword I desire." Kirito's eyes widened. Lyvek started laughing again. "And don't think I don't see what you're doing." He said, and lunged at Kirito. The black clothed player barely had time to dodge, but rolled out of the way of the rapier stab, but not the katana slice.
The all black sword started to change shape again, and this time, it stayed as long as it was, but widened. Before long, Kurenzā was a longsword, and Lyvek was back to his old style. Kirito parried and blocked as he made his way over to his other sword. Then, something flew by his face, missing him by inches. He looked to see, and it was a knife. He rolled, grabbed his sword, and blocked two more knives. Lyvek raised an eyebrow. "Never said knives were banned." He joked as he ran forward. Kirito ran to meet him, and started slashing with blinding speed.
The two were blocking and parrying most of the other's blows, but many still got in. When they backed off, they were both at half health. Lyvek, stood up straight and smirked. "Guess it's time to be serious, right?" Kirito smirked back. "Yeah, I guess it is." He rushed, both of his swords glowing like rainbows. This threw Lyvek off guard, and Kirito started up his Skill. "Starburst Stream!" He yelled as he started the immensely powerful combo. Lyvek was taught a new meaning of taste the rainbow when he was hit with this.
Halfway through the Skill, however, there was a slight pause. Lyvek yelled and retaliated, his own swords glowing pure white. "How's this? Lunar Wave!" He started up his own 8 hit Skill (or 16, if you count every individual sword slash). The blows from both Skills almost blocked the other's, but some still got through. At the end, after the final blows were delivered, both players stood at red health. They both turned around to meet again, and used two more skills. Kirito used Vorpal Strike, and Lyvek, Sword Driver. The swords met, and sparks flew everywhere.
The blades clashed as they melt the other's energy blade until there wasn't even the hilts left both players flew off in different directions. Kirito landed on his feet and took of running at Lyvek, who fell to the ground and was getting up. The Black Swordsman slashed down at him, but Lyvek rolled out of the way and picked up Kurenzā, which by now was back to its katana like shape. Kirito started up a Skill he learned in ALO, Savage Fulcrum ( It's a thing. Look it up.), and Lyvek started Fatal Cross. The Skills had the two end up back to back. They both looked, and slashed behind them.
Lyvek and Kirito were now about ten yards away from each other, but they knew what the other was thinking. Lyvek's grip on Kurenzā tightened, and he ran at Kirito, who was doing the same. With his sword low to the ground, Lyvek did an upwards slash, and Kirito finished with a horizontal slice. They passed through each other with the attacks. Lyvek saw his HP drop to zero, and smiled softly. Unbeknownst to him, Kirito did the same. As they shattered into red glasslike particles, the lobby went nuts.
Lyvek retuned to the lobby, and found his black photon sword still in tact. But he could dwell on it too much, as Sinon came out of nowhere and tackled him to the ground. He smiled at her beaming face. "So, what'd you think of the show we put on?" He asked her, and she laughed. "You should really be proud. Not many player can stand up to Kirito one on one. I think the only ones I've seen are Asuna and Sughu." Lyvek looked up at the screen, and got up. He looked confused, but saw Kirito had the same look. They stared at each other, before Lyvek extended his fist.
Kirito smirked and fist bumped him. The announcer came back on stage. "There you have it folks! Our two winners are...Lyvek and Kirito!" He walked over to Lyvek and Kirito, without his mic." The prize money of 5,000,000 will be split between you, is that a problem?" They both shook their heads. The announcer went back to the center of the stage. "And that concludes the first ever Grand Gun Tournament! Thank you for watching!"
As this was wrapping up, a group in another VRMMO was watching the match. They all had colorful outfits, and pointed ears. Asuna, with blue hair and matching eyes, looked astonished when she saw it was a draw. Liz got up and cheered. "I knew he wouldn't lose!" Silica looked at her in confusion. "But Kirito didn't win, either..." The blacksmith glared at the Cat Sith, and she looked away. Sughu, with long blond hair and green eyes, pouted. "He must have cheated. No way he tied with Kazuto." Klein walked over, and tried to put his arm around her. "Come on, Lyfa, it was a good fight. Plus, you can't deny that Lyvek is a good swordsman." He said smiling, but got a face full of knuckles.
Johnos and Cecil's jaws dropped when they saw the draw banner. They (secretly) put bets saying that Kirito would win, so they just lost 10,000 credits. Each. They looked at each other and decided not to tell Lyvek they bet against him. As they walked over, they saw him pinned to the ground by Sinon. Cecil looked annoyed, and was about to break the two up until Lyvek got up. After the announcer finished talking to him and Kirito, they walked over cheering. "Dude! Bro! You, you held your own against fuckin' Kirito! You are a sword GOD!" Johnos said, mock bowing in praise.
Lyvek narrowed his eyes. "What did you do this time?" He asked, clearly annoyed. Johnos slowly looked up. "W-whaddya mean?" He said laughing nervously. Lyvek was now glaring at him. "Now I know you did something. Cecil coughed. "He placed a bet against you for 10,000." She said, smirking. The shotgun user's eyes almost shot out of his head as he looked at his girlfriend. "What? It's the truth, isn't it?" She said slyly. Johnos turned back to his brother, his eye now twitching. "Five seconds." Lyvek said, and Johnos opened his menu and logged off. Sinon laughed at the brothers, and started to open her menu when Lyvek grabbed her hand.
She blushed, but went along with it. Kirito nudged Cecil, and they both logged off, giving Lyvek and Sinon some privacy. "So, I didn't win, but I didn't lose, so are you still breaking up with me?" He jokingly asked. She smirked. "Well, I said if you lose, so no, guess I'm not." He laughed and smiled. "Good, so I can give you this again." He kissed her, and they stayed like that for a few seconds. When they finally broke apart, they were only slightly pink. "Merry Christmas, Asada." She looked surprised as she remembered what day it was. Sinon smiled back. "Right back at you, Lyam, but I think I need one in real life as well." He raised an eyebrow. "Want me to arrange that?" Sinon laughed and nodded.
After he logged off, Lyam got on his snow gear and headed for the apartments, a small box in his coat pocket. As he reached the door, It opened right before him. Asada, dressed in full winter clothes as well, almost pushed him over. Lyam almost tripped on the ice. "Sorry." She said, helping him inside. "No, it's fine." He said, taking off his hat. After they too, off their heavy coats and such, Lyam handed Asada the box. She smiled as she opened it up. In the box was a silver necklace. The medallion was a pair of wings with an emerald in the middle. She stared at it for a good five minutes. "This, this is..." She couldn't get the words out of her mouth.
Lyam laughed. "It's an antique. My grandmother wore it until, well..." He trailed off. She took it out of the box and realized how delicate it looked, but it was strong. As she put it around her neck, Lyam smiled. Asada smiled back before remembering something. "I almost forgot, sorry." She rummaged through her room and found a box of her own. "Sorry it's not anything like what you gave me, but it's something." She said, and looked away.
Lyam smirked. "Come on. The only reason I even had that was because it was my grandmother's." He opened the box, and found a notepad with a bunch of assorted paints, markers, and pens. He smiled back at her. "To me, this is the best gift in the world." Asada widened her eyes. "Really?" He stood up. "Want to know why? Because you're the person who gave it to me." He said, and locked his lips with hers. They could both agree that this was the best Christmas they'd ever celebrated.
Yeah! The end of Grand Gun AND a Christmas special. Hope I did a good job on the fight scene there, because THAT took me the longest. I've decided I'm going to end it here, because it seems to be dragging on a LITTLE bit. So, thanks for all the support, and see you on my next writings!