A/N: Man this chapter took awhile to write. Sorry for the long wait everyone, but as you'll see I had to come up with a few new mega designs for some pokemon. Hope you all enjoy it.

The second the elevator reached the next floor, Ren and the others quickly got out. They were expecting their next opponent to be standing before them, but they were instead met with something else entirely.

Three different paths split up for the group, each leading to a different door. There was no way to tell where each would lead.

"Great, which way are we supposed to go?" Ryota asked to nobody in particular.

A new voice spoke up to answer them. "I can answer that for you." Everyone looked up towards a speaker, where Kira's voice was coming from.

"Kira." Kirito growled. "Tell us where Yui is!"

Kira could be heard laughing from the other end. "You really care about that brat, don't you? Even though you don't know the truth about her."

Asuna narrowed her eyes. "The truth about her? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Sorry, can't go spoiling things yet." Kira told them. "I will tell you that she's very close though. If you manage to beat us, she'll be in the next room."

"Us?" Sinon questioned.

"Correct." Kira confirmed. "Each door in front of you leads to a different member of Laughing Coffin. And each of us has specific limitations on who we'll battle. My door is the middle one, and the only ones I'll allow to enter are Kirito and Ren."

Izumi's voice sounded next. "My door is to the right. Asuna, you'll be going there. Feel free to bring along any friends that don't mind watching you die."

Last was Ju's voice. "My door is the left one. I'll take on anyone except the one's Izumi and the boss have on reserve."

"If all three of us are defeated, then the next area will open up." Kira explained. "But don't worry too much over that. You'll all be dead before that happens." With a final laugh, the speakers all went silent.

Kirito and Ren wasted no time in moving towards Kira's door. Asuna and Misaki both called out to their significant others.

"Kirito!"

"Ren!"

Kirito turned his head to the girls. "If we want to rescue Yui, this is our only option. We have to beat Laughing Coffin."

Ren did the same. "Besides, it's time we settled things with them. Kira and I have a score to settle."

Asuna couldn't help but worry for Kirito's safety, but she knew he was right. She nodded her head. "Alright then. Good luck."

Ren and Kirito both silently nodded and walked to the center door. Asuna turned towards Izumi's door and walked towards it. She knew this was a battle that Izumi had been forcing on her for a long time. And now it was time to finish things with her old friend.

"Wait up Asuna! We're coming with you!"

Asuna turned her head to see Liz and Silica run up to her. "You girls don't have to do that. This is my battle."

Liz shot a knowing grin at her friend. "Don't give us that crap Asuna. We've been traveling together since the beginning. Your battles are our battles."

Silica nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, we're here for you. We won't let you do this alone."

Asuna didn't know what to say to her two friends. A soft smile formed on her lips. "Thanks. You girls are the best."

Kaede seemed confused at everything going on. "I am so lost. Who exactly are these guys? They called themselves Laughing… Coffin I think it was?"

Akio waved away the Kanto champion's concerns. "They're just a bunch of PKing losers. You could say they love… Horsea-ing around."

Kaede let out a giggle, but a loud groan came from Misaki. "You know what, you stay here Akio. I'm gonna take on that Ju guy just to get away from your dumb pokepuns."

"I'll go too." Ryota said. "Anything's better than staying out here with that idiot."

"It's fine. Best to let you non-champions have a chance to shine I suppose."

Misaki and Ryota growled in frustration as they walked to the left door. They didn't care what Ju had planned for them. Anything had to be better than listening to Akio and his pokepuns.

"Think we can take him?" Misaki asked.

"Well he's prepared to take on multiple opponents so I'm betting he has some tricks up his sleeve." Ryota said. "But the two of us should be able to handle him together."

"It's been awhile since we teamed up. I think the last time was fighting the boss of Team Reaper."

"Well hopefully this won't be as difficult as that fight was." Ryota told her. He pushed open the door to the room. "Now let's go."

As Misaki and Ryota entered the room, they both took notice of how dark it was. There was no lighting whatsoever. That soon changed however when azure blue flames lit up around the walls of the room, revealing a battlefield. Standing on the other side was the hooded member of the Laughing Coffin trio, Ju.

"So you're my opponents?" Ju said. "This should be fun."

Ryota grabbed a pokeball from his belt. "Don't hold me back Misaki."

Misaki did the same as she smirked. "That's my line."

Simultaneously, the duo threw out their pokeballs. Empoleon and Garchomp landed on the field, ready to fight. Misaki and Ryota both tapped on their key stones. "Mega evolve!"

Light enveloped both Empoleon and Garchomp as they both mega evolved. The two pokemon stood side by side as Ju was now faced with two mega pokemon.

"What do you say to that?" Misaki grinned. "We're gonna make you guys pay for everything you've done!"

Ju reached for a pokeball from his belt. "Is that so? Let's see if it's as easy as you think. Allow me to show you a little gift I've received. Go Darkrai!" Ju tossed the pokeball and the legendary pokemon descended onto the field, staring down its opponents.

Misaki and Ryota both gasped. "A legendary pokemon?!"

"That's not all." Ju said with a chuckle. "Darkrai! Mega evolve!"

Light shot out from Ju's palm and enveloped Darkrai. Soon the light vanished, but Darkrai looked more powerful than ever. The crimson red spines around its neck were extended and seemed very dangerous. A black fog was emitting from its two wrists, with its fingers tipped with bloody red claws. The azure blue eyes of the pokemon were far brighter, but in an ominous way, and the white top of its head was elongated and seemed far more fog-like.

"A mega… Darkrai?" Misaki asked, unable to believe what she was seeing.

"This is gonna be tough." Ryota growled. "Stay on guard."

"This is where you die." Ju told the duo. "Your circumstances are quite… Ghastly."

All of the tension in the room went silent at that moment. Misaki looked like she had been pushed off a cliff, and then saw a mass of spikes at the bottom. "No… No…"

Ju raised a brow. "What?"

"I came here specifically to get AWAY from this pokepun crap!" Misaki shouted. "I am not dealing with this from another person, let alone a Laughing Coffin member!" She called out to her partner. "Empoleon, take this guy and his Darkrai out! Use ice beam!"

"Darkrai, use dark pulse."

Both pokemon unleashed their attacks simultaneously at each other. The two blasts collided, but Darkrai's power was greater and pushed Empoleon's ice beam back. The water and steel type barely managed to stop its attack and bring its armored fins up to defend itself in time.

"Garchomp, use slash!" Ryota commanded.

Garchomp quickly sped at Darkrai with its two fins on its arms sharpened. Ju and Darkrai didn't seem to care at the dragon type attacking. The reason why was shown as Garchomp's bladed fin phased past Darkrai as if nothing had happened.

"What?!" Ryota gasped.

"Oh did I forget to mention? When Darkrai mega evolves, it becomes a dark and ghost type." Ju explained. "Normal attacks like slash won't even scratch it. Let's see if this next attack is any good." The hooded trainer called out to his pokemon. "Darkrai, use shadow ball!"

Garchomp couldn't even dodge or block in time with how close Darkrai was. It took the shadow ball attack at point blank range and was blasted back.

"Garchomp!" Ryota exclaimed.

"Don't let up Darkrai! Use another shadow ball!"

Darkrai charged up another shadow ball attack and hurled the projectile at Garchomp. Ryota gasped as he seemed unable to get his pokemon out of there in time.

"Empoleon, metal claw!"

Out of nowhere, Empoleon moved in between Garchomp and the shadow ball. Its fin became cloaked in a metallic sheen as it swatted away the shadow ball attack like it was nothing.

Misaki smirked at Ju. "Don't underestimate Mega Empoleon's defenses. It can take whatever you dish out."

"Oh really?" Ju asked. "Let's see if it can take this then! Darkrai, hypnosis!"

"Empoleon, defend against it!" Misaki quickly ordered.

Empoleon quickly brought its two shield fins up, covering its body. It was useless against an attack like hypnosis however as the psychic waves hit Empoleon. Ju saw Empoleon's fins shrug down slightly, telling him it was asleep.

"Empoleon?!" Misaki gasped.

Ju burst out laughing. "Did you really think that would work? You may have strong defense, but it won't do a thing against status moves. Now to chip away at its health until there's nothing left."

Ryota knew it was up to him now. With Empoleon asleep, there was nothing it could do. And there was no telling when it would wake up. "Garchomp, it's our turn."

"Hold on Ryota." Misaki told him. "Don't do anything until I say so."

Ryota looked at Misaki bewilderedly. "What are you saying? Empoleon can't fight while it's asleep."

"Just trust me." Misaki said.

Ryota didn't know what Misaki was thinking. Did she have some sort of strategy for this? He didn't know what to think, but he went along with it and nodded. "Alright then."

Ju got ready to attack. Empoleon was asleep, but it's two fins were still protecting it. If that was the case, then long range attacks would do minimal damage at best. He'd have to get in close and find an opening in Empoleon's defenses. "Darkrai, get in close and fire a shadow ball at where it's guard is weakest."

The dark and ghost type nodded and moved in. It floated around Empoleon, trying to find Empoleon's most vulnerable point. As it managed to go around and look behind the fins, its eyes widened in surprise.

"Darkrai? What's wrong?" Ju questioned.

"What's wrong is you fell for it!" Misaki grinned. "Empoleon, ice beam!"

Ju gasped as Empoleon fired an ice beam attack at Darkrai close range. The legendary pokemon couldn't escape in time and got hit by the attack, encasing it in ice.

"Impossible!" Ju exclaimed.

Misaki showed a cocky smirk to Ju. "Oh I'm sorry. Did I forget to mention Empoleon's ability when it mega evolves? It's a little something called Iron Fortress."

Ju narrowed his eyes. "I've never even heard of an ability like that."

"Nice, isn't it? It's an ability exclusive to Mega Empoleon." Misaki explained. "Empoleon is completely immune to sleep, paralysis, and infatuation. You could say it's like a dutiful knight."

"No way…" Ju gasped. "I had no idea…"

"Your turn Ryota. Go get 'em." Misaki said.

Ryota nodded. "With pleasure. Garchomp, use dragon rush and hit that Darkrai with everything you've got!"

Garchomp let out a mighty roar as it became veiled in a dragonic aura and charged at Darkrai. The legendary pokemon was helpless in its frozen state and took a direct hit from the attack. Its health dropped drastically as the ice around it shattered and it was blown back.

"Let's end this!" Misaki said. "Empoleon, use hydro cannon!"

The water type obeyed its trainer's command and created a powerful orb of water. It hurled the attack at Darkrai, who was forced to once again take a direct hit. The damage was too much as the legendary pokemon let out a cry of pain before shattering into fragments.

Ju fell to his knees. "Impossible… my mega evolved legendary pokemon… lost…?"

"You underestimated our ability." Misaki told him with a smirk. Both she and Ryota returned their pokemon to their pokeballs. "Now give up. You have no chance at winning this anymore."

"You're right… I've lost…" Ju admitted in a hollow voice as he held his head low. "The boss doesn't accept failure. If I go back now, he'll just kill me. That's who Kira is." Slowly a smirk became stretched across his face. "But if I'm going down, I'll at least take you with me!"

Ryota suddenly noticed a presence behind them. He turned around and gasped to see a Weezing floating near the closed door they had entered from. More and more Weezing appeared around the entire room.

"Use explosion!" Ju shouted madly.

"Misaki, get down!" Ryota yelled as he tackled her to the ground.

Misaki felt her entire body tense up as she shut her eyes while the multiple Weezing detonated simultaneously. She screamed in terror, knowing even Ryota shielding her wouldn't save either of them from death.

When the explosions all occurred together, it had hurt a lot less than Misaki was expecting.

Slowly, Misaki opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was that her health bar hadn't decreased at all. The second was the fact that the smoke from the explosion hadn't engulfed them. Instead, it had moved around them.

Ryota was on top of Misaki. "Geez, that was too close."

"Ryota…?" Misaki gasped. She soon noticed that something was standing over the two of them. Her eyes widened as she realized it was Ryota's Torterra. A forcefield was around them, most likely the move protect.

When the smoke cleared, Torterra moved over so Misaki and Ryota could get up. Looking around the room, they saw that all of the Weezing were gone, killed by the explosions. Ju was at the other end of the room, lying weakly on the ground.

"Damnit…" the Laughing Coffin member muttered. "You even managed to live through that one, huh?" He let out a weak chuckle. "No matter. In the end, the boss will kill you all. No one can defeat him."

Misaki and Ryota watched as Ju's body shattered into fragments. Both of them were completely exhausted from the battle and after surviving near death from the explosions.

"Ryota…" Misaki spoke. "Thanks… for saving me."

"Forget about it." Ryota said, scratching the back of his head. "Let's hurry and continue on. Hopefully the others managed to win their battles too."

Misaki nodded and the two took off running through the door at the other side of the room. All they could do was pray that everyone else was still alive like they were.

As Asuna, Liz, and Silica walked through the door to Izumi's room, they instantly noticed how cold it was. The entire room was covered in ice, and the battlefield had large icicles sticking up from it all over.

Asuna didn't care about that though. All her attention was focussed on the violet haired girl standing on the other side of the field across from them.

"Hello Asuna." Izumi greeted with a cold smirk. "I hope the commodities are to your liking. Not too chilly for you?"

Asuna reached for a pokeball from her belt. "This is the only chance I'm going to give you Megumi. Let us pass now. Otherwise, I won't show any mercy."

Izumi let out a giggle. "That's funny coming from you. I plan to have you begging for mercy once I'm done with you."

"How is she not freezing in here?" Liz asked as she shivered. "It's so freaking cold!"

"I know. Even the mountains in Unova weren't this cold." Silica agreed.

"The cold here is nothing to me." Izumi explained, reaching for a pokeball. "It doesn't even compare to all of the cold I've had to deal with since that fateful day. The isolation from my parents' love. The loss of my status and the people who pretended to be my friends. It all stung far more than the coldness of this room." She glared fiercely at Asuna. "But the coldest feeling of all was watching you get everything and I get nothing!"

"Get over yourself!" Liz yelled at her. "You're just jealous that Asuna was better than you!"

"I wasn't speaking to you." Izumi told Liz before glancing back to Asuna. "Well Asuna? You just going to have your backup dancers do all the talking?"

"I'm done talking." Asuna said. "I've tried to tell you over and over again. But you just won't listen. And what's worse, you involved Yui in this." A burning desire could been seen in her eyes that seemed like it could melt the ice around her. "I won't forgive you, Megumi! If you wanna fight, then that's what you'll get!" She threw out her pokeball and the capsule device opened up. The pokemon that appeared was a Jolteon, teeming with electricity around its body."

Izumi smirked as she looked at the pokemon. "I remember seeing that at the Unova Regional Tournament. It was your favorite if I recall." Izumi took the pokeball she was holding and threw it up into the air. "I'll take great pleasure in killing it, just like I'm going to do with your friends and that little girl you're pretending is your daughter!"

Izumi's pokeball opened up and revealed a massive bird pokemon. One of the legendary bird pokemon of the Kanto region. Articuno.

Liz and Silica both gasped. "Where the hell did she get an Articuno?!" Liz exclaimed.

"A little gift from Kagutsuchi." Izumi explained. "But there's more, just wait." She called out to her legendary pokemon. "Articuno, mega evolve!"

Light enveloped Articuno as it transformed. When it finished, the light around it exploded, revealing a brand new Articuno. It's tailfeather was fluffier, with the two sides covered by what seemed to be snow. The two wings it had were shining with an icy sheen, and the bottom tips of the feathers on it sharpened at the end with ice. Coming out from the back of its head was a long silvery stream, much like its tailfeather. The ice and flying type let out a powerful cry at the three girls standing on the other side of the battlefield.

"How do you like my Mega Articuno?" Izumi asked. "It's the perfect pokemon to take you down for good."

Asuna tapped the key stone on her wrist. "You're not the only one who can mega evolve." Light surrounded her Jolteon as it mega evolved. When the transformation was done, Jolteon looked stronger than ever. The ends of its legs and the tips of its ears were a jet black color. The white mane around its neck stuck out in the back, like a cloud. At the rear end of its body, black fur could be seen coming up, almost like a storm cloud, along with the longer tail it grew.

"Mega Jolteon. How interesting." Izumi said. "But don't go thinking type advantage will win you this battle. You'll soon see Mega Articuno can handle that no problem."

"Then you won't mind if we join in too." Liz said as she held a pokeball of her own. "Let's go Silica!"

"Right!" Silica nodded.

The two girls simultaneously threw out their own pokemon, a Gigalith and an Emolga. Liz and Silica both tapped their own key stones. "Mega evolve!"

Soon Gigalith and Emolga transformed into their mega evolutions. Gigalith's new form had far more crystals sticking out from it, along with an opening near its chest where light was emitting from. The crystals on its body were finely sharpened. Emolga rested on four legs with its two wings on its back. It's tail was longer and had a bolt shaped tip at the end.

"If you think that'll be enough to stop me, you're dead wrong." Izumi told them. "Articuno, use hail!"

The legendary mega evolved bird let out a cry as clouds appeared over the battlefield. Shards of ice fell from the sky, creating a hailstorm.

"This is bad. The longer this battle goes on, the bigger our disadvantage is going to be." Silica said.

"Big deal. Our opponent's an ice and flying type." Liz smirked. "My Mega Gigalith was born for this battle." She called out to her pokemon. "Gigalith, use stone edge!"

Gigalith roared as several stones hovered around it. All together, the stones flew towards Articuno.

Izumi smirked, as if the rock type attack was no threat to her at all. "Articuno, use blizzard!"

With a powerful flap of its wings, Articuno sent a gust of icy wind at its three opponents. The attack blew Gigalith's stone edge away, and hit the three pokemon with a cold blast of wind. Their HPs plummeted.

The three girls dug their feet in as the blizzard hounded them as well. "Where did it get this much power from?! It's insane!" Liz exclaimed.

"That would be my Mega Articuno's ability. Izumi explained. "Absolute Zero. In hail weather, it doubles the power of all ice type moves, while at the same time halving the power of all other move types other than fire and normal."

The three girls gasped. "What kind of broken ability is that?!" Liz yelled.

"The kind that you get from aligning yourself with the creator of the game." Izumi told them. "It's come with quite the amount of benefits."

"Jolteon, thunderbolt!" Asuna shouted.

Jolteon's body crackled with electricity as it fired a blast of lightning at Articuno. The legendary bird flinched in pain as the electricity hit it, but the damage was lessened due to its ability. The attack was enough though to stop Articuno's blizzard from continuing.

"Now girls! Hit it!" Asuna told her teammates.

Liz and Silica both nodded together as they called out attacks.

"Hyper beam!"

"Electro ball!"

Both attacks flew towards Articuno. Izumi quickly called out commands to counter attack. "Ice beam!"

Articuno's ice beam collided with Gigalith's hyper beam. It pushed the hyper beam back and hit Gigalith with the full force of its attack. Emolga's electro ball avoided the ice beam though and made contact with its target.

Izumi glanced at Articuno's health bar. It hadn't fallen by much, but it couldn't take these hits forever. Facing three opponent's at once was proving tougher than she had thought.

"Emolga, use wing attack!" Silica called out. Her partner flew towards Articuno with it's wings shining brightly.

"Ice beam!" Izumi commanded.

"Gigalith, stone edge!"

Izumi widened her eyes as Gigalith fired off its stone edge just as Articuno blasted Emolga with its ice beam. Emolga dodged out of the way of the attack, while Gigalith's stone edge hit its opponent hard. Emolga then swooped in, hitting Articuno with its wing attack.

"Go Jolteon! Quick attack!" Asuna said, following up.

Jolteon sped at Articuno with incredible speed. Barely a second went by between the start of its dash and Jolteon ramming into Articuno's belly.

Izumi growled as she watched the battle slowly turn against her. "I was going to let this battle draw out so I could kill you slowly, but it seems I'll have to take things seriously." She called out her attack. "Now Articuno! Use mist!"

Spreading out from Articuno's wings, a thick mist enshrouded the battlefield. Jolteon, Emolga, and Gigalith were all blind, unable to see far in front of them. The mist spread even further, enshrouding Asuna and her friends in it.

"Liz?! Silica?! Are you alright?!" Asuna called out.

"I'm fine Asuna!" Silica confirmed.

"Me too!" Liz said. "But we're blind as Zubats like this."

"Ice beam!" Izumi shouted. "Kill her!"

Asuna quickly called out to her pokemon. "Stay on your toes Jolteon! Be ready to dodge the second you see the attack!"

Jolteon obeyed its trainer's command as its body tensed up. Liz however, couldn't help but focus on what Izumi had just said.

"Kill her."

'Her...' Liz thought. 'There's no way she could know the genders of our pokemon at a glance. That means…' Her eyes widened as she ran towards where she had heard Asuna's voice.

"ASUNA, GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

Asuna gasped as Liz appeared out of nowhere and shoved her away. In that same instance, Articuno's ice beam came and shot right where she had just been standing. Asuna gasped in horror as she watched the attack hit Liz and freeze most of her body.

"LIZ!" Asuna screamed as she ran up to her friend. She was stuck to the ground from the ice, most of her body encased in it. "Liz, are you alright?! Speak to me!"

"A...su...na…?"Liz mumbled, barely able to keep her eyes open. "A small smile came to her face as she looked at her friend. "Good… you're safe… I'm glad…"

"Why did you do that?!" Asuna asked. "You could have died!"

"Simple." Liz told her. "Because you're my best friend."

The mist slowly began to thin out, showing Izumi that Asuna hadn't gotten hit by her last attack. The violet haired girl still managed a smirk when she saw Liz frozen though. "You like that Asuna? That's how each and every one of your friends are going to end up once I'm through with them."

"Megumi…" Asuna growled.

"I won't let you hurt Asuna or anyone else!" Silica shouted. "Emolga, use electro ball!"

"Steel wing." Izumi countered.

Emolga fired off its electro ball attack while Articuno's wings became veiled in a metallic aura. With Articuno's superior power, its wings swatted away the electro ball with ease, while flying towards Emolga. The attack landed and sent Emolga flying back towards Silica. Silica caught her pokemon in her arms, seeing its health fall down into the red.

"Ice beam." Izumi smirked.

Silica gasped as she saw the ice beam attack fire directly at her. She turned herself around, using her body as a shield to protect Emolga. The ice beam hit Silica's back and the young girl cried out in pain as most of her body became frozen stiff, just like Liz.

"Silica!" Asuna exclaimed.

"Does it hurt Asuna?" Izumi said with a cold grin. "Watching everyone you love suffer. Seeing how powerless you are to protect them."

Asuna's hand curled up into fists. "Megumi…"

"I'm going to take my time now and show you real pain. I'll make you watch as everyone you know and love dies in front of you. And when you're finally all alone and have experienced the same isolation I did, then I will grant you the mercy of death."

"SHUT UP!" Asuna suddenly shouted, her voice echoing across the room. Her eyes burned with hatred as she glared at Izumi. "I am going to make you pay for everything you've done up till now! For every person you and Laughing Coffin have hurt!"

"Show me then!" Izumi challenged. "Let's settle this Asuna! Once and for all!"

"Jolteon, use agility!" Asuna ordered.

"Use blizzard!" Izumi commanded.

Articuno unleashed a widespread blizzard attack, causing the ice to expand on even more of the battle field. But before it could reach Jolteon, the electric type vanished in a flash and disappeared.

"What?!" Izumi gasped. She looked around the field. "Where is it?!"

"Do it, Jolteon!" Asuna yelled.

In a flash, Jolteon suddenly appeared on Articuno's back. Izumi and Articuno both gasped in shock at Jolteon's godly speed. Before Articuno could attempt to shake it off, Asuna called out her next attack.

"Use thunder!"

With a powerful cry, Jolteon summoned a thundercloud above the battlefield. A bolt of lightning shot down from above and struck Articuno. The legendary bird cried out in pain as Jolteon's attack sent a violent amount of electricity surging throughout its entire body. Articuno fell towards the ground and landed on the ice with a thud.

"Articuno…" Izumi gasped. "Impossible…"

"My Mega Jolteon's ability is Speed Boost." Asuna explained. "The longer the battle goes on, the faster it becomes. I kept its movement to a minimum until now to throw you off from its true speed."

"Asuna…" Izumi snarled.

"Finish it Jolteon." Asuna told her partner. "Thunderbolt."

Sparks crackled across Jolteon's fur before it unleashed its thunderbolt, zapping away even more of Articuno's HP. Articuno tried to get up one last time before falling back down and shattering into fragments.

"This is impossible…" Izumi muttered. She clenched her fists tightly. "Asuna… you'll pay for this one day! I swear it!"

Asuna watched as Izumi ran off through the door behind her. Before she could give chase, Asuna ran over to Liz and Silica. "Are you two alright? Your HP isn't falling any further, is it?"

"We're fine Asuna." Liz told her. "The ice will melt eventually. Just hurry up and go after her."

Asuna shook her head. "No, I'm not leaving you like this." She tossed out a pokeball and a Ninetails emerged. Asuna quickly began using her Ninetails to melt the ice holding her two friends.

"What are you doing Asuna?" Liz asked. "Izumi's going to get away at this rate."

"Go after her." Silica said.

"No." Asuna said firmly. "The reason Izumi turned out the way she did… I'm partially to blame." Asuna's head lowered. "If I had called out to her that day. Tried to reconnect with her. Maybe she wouldn't have gone down the dark path she did. That's why I will never leave behind anyone to benefit myself. Never again."

"Asuna…"

"Once I'm done here, I'll go after Izumi." Asuna told her friends. "And then I'll set her straight. Do what I can to make things right between us." A fierce determination burned in her eyes. "And then I'm going to save Yui."

Liz and Silica looked at each other and smiled. This was the friend they had gotten to know since the start of PWO. And they were a team, now until the end of time.

A/N: Next chapter is Ren and Kirito vs Kira, the final battle against the leader of Laughing Coffin. Hope you all liked the battles this chapter.