Kirito stood in the fields outside the main city. GGO had been bustling with people trying to get in either an interview or autograph from him. Sure, he may have been popular with winning the third BOB tournament, but he still had one final thing to do before reconverting.

His co-winner walked up behind him. "You ready to do this?" she asked, her sniper rifle in arms.

He nodded. "Let's go." He'd agreed to go on one final hunt as her GGO Avatar before they both converted over to ALO. They both took off, like two bolts of lightning streaking across the landscape. Their location of interest was an old abandoned city with several skyscrapers and broken structures. It was Sinon's favorite spot to hunt players near, and the monsters that now roamed the area offered for a diverse selection of targets.

However, Kirito was more interested in something that popped up on his menu: a simple quest that he had not accepted, yet was activated. It told of a robotic enemy found in the deserted city that needed to be stopped. His mind was set: take it down and log off soon as he could.

Standing on top of one of these buildings, a lone robot stood. His golden locks flowed behind him as the breeze slowly passed him. His blade was drawn, but not activated. His red armor would have made it easy to spot him, but since he was so high up, no one would be able to see him. His eyes were focused on the entrance to the city. Finally, his target had arrived.

Kirito looked up to see an incoming blast of energy flick by him. It hit Sinon in her chest, making her fall to the ground. He knelt down to help his companion, but she clutched her chest. Immediately after he touched her cheek, her avatar burst apart into tiny shards of light. A white message box appeared as she vanished. It said, "DISCONNECTED."

Kirito's eyes widened. This happened four times before. He witnessed one of these in the tournament. Sinon had been killed in the real world. His mission to keep her alive in the third BOB had failed.

He rose, turning to face the attacker. He saw the red humanoid machine leap off of the building he was standing on and plummet to the ground. The newcomer flipped in the air and landed in the classic pose: kneeling with one knee on the ground, the other forward, and one arm down in front of the grounded knee. It rose slowly, locking eyes onto Kirito.

"Do you realise why I've summoned you here?" the robot voiced.

Kirito nodded. "A battle to the death. Before we begin, will I really die IRL if I die here?"

The Reploid scoffed. "That remains to be decided."

Both fighters ignited their swords and lunged towards each other. Kirito went for a low strike while the robot, Zero, went in for the same. Their blades hit and locked together. For a moment, the fighters began dishing out slash after slash, each one tossed aside by the other's blade.

Kirito finally leaped back away from Zero, drawing his FN Five-Seven. He fired off three shots, which Zero proceeded to block with his blade. Zero pulled his blade back, extending his other hand, which had now transformed into a blaster.

Zero fired a spray of ten shots at Kirito. The black swordsman nimbly dodged over four of them, but his blade intercepted the others aimed at his vitals. This caused them to fly in random directions, hitting the buildings to the side. One of these shots hit Zero in the leg.

Kirito charged in, swinging his sword in quadrilateral slash maneuver. The Kagemitsu G4 was blocked again by the extreme reflexes of the robot. Kirito then brought his open fist in a punching motion, socking the robot in the jaw and sending him back a few feet.

Kirito followed this up by throwing a small metal shard he picked up next to him. Zero tried to slash through it, but it went unnoticed by his targeting computer and stabbed him in his chest. He shrugged off the pain and performed a low-sweeping kick, catching Kirito off guard and nearly toppling him.

Zero saw his opportunity. He kicked off the ground into the air and spun around. He fired off a blast of energy he had been charging. Kirito winced as he braced for the attack to land. Fortunately for him, his shield absorbed most of the damage from the blast. Kirito looked at his shield gauge to find that they were depleted.

Kirito charged forward, grabbing a pipe that had littered the ground. He pulled his blade and the pipe into position. He began a stream of slashes in the quickest motions that he could, slashing downward with one item while swinging upward with the other. He repeatedly switched up which directions he was swinging, landing several hits on Zero, but the reploid still had a slight upperhand.

Zero backhanded the pipe out of Kirito's grasp before grappling onto his free arm. Kirito swung his arm upward, allowing his strength to finally kick in and toss the robot behind him. Kirito's Kagemitsu was ready, slashing straight through the chestpiece and destroying the robot's core.

Zero burst into the shards again, the same text box appearing in place of the robot. Kirito sheathed his weapons and walked away, his heart heavy at losing another friend to the system he defied.

RESULTS:

Since Kirito is just an Avatar in a game, we had to transfer Zero into GGO in order for this fight to take place. Kirito and Zero are both skilled with swords in combat, able to hold their own against opponents tougher than most that they could even dream of. The main difference in combat is their stats. Kirito's stats will always rise and his reflexes are only paralleled by one other ALO player and by no other player in SAO or GGO. This allows him to react quicker in states of panic, stress, and chaos to deliver quick and calculated blows.

Zero, on the other hand, never increases his power unless he's copying the foe's moves. He can get too aggressive in these same situations Kirito overpowers, causing him to forget strategy and adopt the tactic of brute strength. This leaves him open and susceptible to attacks and prohibits him from dodging as well. While it usually helps him win, it leaves him drained due to his excessive use of energy.

The last two deciding factors were simple:

Could Zero take in the damage from Kirito's blade if left open for attack? Not really. He was taken down by some lesser weaponry and his defense was clearly sacrificed for his increased speed and strength. Not to mention we're using the original Zero from Megaman X, who dies at the hands of Vile in the Japanese version.

How well does Kirito defend against plasma and laser-blasts? To answer this question, we surfed throughout the anime to find out the answer. If Kirito does not pull his blade in the path of a laser shot, his shield can absorb it and save his health bar from damage. His shield only works if it has enough power left, meaning that he will need to return to a safe zone in order to recharge it. However, if he blocks the blasts with his blade, they ricochet off of it and move in a randomized direction. When it comes down to it, Kirito has a method for dealing with non-live-ammo damage.

Anyway you slice it, Zero just couldn't blast ahead.

The Winner is KIRITO!

Next time on Mindsightgames, we'll be continuing with Kid Icarus: Grounded Awakening.