Chapter 2: I'm a Kamen Rider!

Kirito is now leaning against the tree. Lisbeth and Silica are playing with Pina, Klein was taking a nap, Leafa and Sinon were talking, and Asuna was right by Kirito's side.

"Are you sure about his?" She asked.

"I'm sure." Kirito replied.

"But why a battle though?" Asuna asked again.

"I don't know. I just think it's just a man's code to fight it out." Kirito remarked.

Asuna pouted at this answer and playfully punched his arm. Klein woke up and saw a figure in the blinding sunlight of the ALO.

"He's here!" He shouted.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and made room. A Salamander landed on the ground. He looked just like Emu.

"Didn't think you'd show up." Kirito remarked.

"Well, I kept my promise." The Salamander said. "What are we doing?"

"We're dueling." Kirito answered.

Klein and everyone else cleared out some space. Kirito and the Salamander now stood a foot apart from each other.

"So, does anything go?" He asked.

"Yup." Kirito replied. "You could use whatever you want. But, let's fight on the ground. Jumping will suffice, but no flying."

Kirito was about to scroll down his menu, but he was stopped by the Salamander.

"Hey, can I send the battle request?" He asked.

Kirito was puzzled. But he let him do it. The Salamander quickly scrolled down his menu and sent Kirito a battle request. Kirito read it, and made sure of his name.

'Ex-Aid, huh?' He thought.

Kirito accepted the battle request, and drew his sword as the timer began. The Salamander, whose name is now Ex-Aid, just stood there though.

"Can you hold on for a short second after the timer goes?" He asked.

Kirito looked puzzled, but he shrugged it off. The timer ended, and Kirito put his sword down.

"Alright. What do you need to do?" He asked.

Ex-Aid rolled into his item scroll, and summoned two items. One appeared to be a belt, while the other was a gaming cartridge. He put the belt around him. The gang looked confused and surprised. Then, Ex-Aid pressed the button on the cartridge.

MIGHTY ACTION X!

Suddenly, a video game title screen appeared behind Ex-Aid, and spewed out brown blocks, which placed themselves around the battlefield.

"Wait, that's Mighty Action X!" Lisbeth shouted.

"You know this game, Liz?" Asuna asked.

"Yeah! My cousin loves it." Lisbeth explained. "It's a side-scroll 2D game that beats monster and stuff like that!"

Ex-Aid then posed. It was rather dramatic to Kirito's taste, but he had to dismiss it for this guy's antics.

"Henshin!" He shouted.

He inserted the cartridge into his belt.

GASHATTO!

LET'S GAME! MECCHA GAME! MUCCHA GAME! WHATCHA NAME?!

I'M A KAMEN RIDER!

Ex-Aid pressed the selection in front of him as a selection scroll appeared. The figure that used to Ex-Aid was now replaced by a giant chibi figure. It didn't look so threatening.

"So cute!" Lisbeth squealed.

"I want to hug it!" Silica squealed.

"Come at me!" Ex-Aid taunted.

Kirito raised his sword, and scoffed. And, with one rustle of the tree, Kirito charged. He swung his sword in every omnidirectional area he could find, and he was giving out good hits, but Ex-Aid's health bar only lowered by tiny increments. In addition, Ex-Aid was also jumping around all over the place. He was using the blocks summoned to jump around the field.

"Come om!" Kirito shouted. "Time you should start fighting!"

Ex-Aid and Kirito landed back on the ground. Kirito was panting slowly, as he used up half of his energy on all those attacks.

"I guess you're right, Kirito." Ex-Aid laughed. "Time to level up!"

"Level up?" Kirito asked.

"Yeah." Ex-Aid said. "This is only Level 1. It's Level 2 time!"

Kirito tightened the grip on his swords. If this was Level 1, just how powerful is Level 2?

"Witness the play of the Genius Gamer M!" Ex-Aid declared.

Leafa froze at the statement.

"M…?" She whispered. "That's… him?"

Ex-Aid did a little pose. He put his hand on the lever of the belt.

"Dai Henshin!" He shouted, pulling the lever.

GACHANN! LEVEL UP!

MIGHTY JUMP! MIGHTY KICK! MIGHTY MIGHTY ACTION X!

The chibi figure's arms and legs popped off. The face remained in the air for a split second, and limbs spewed out from behind. A head popped out next. And with one more pose, the figure landed on the ground with a superhero-landing.

"Wait, what?!" Kirito exclaimed.

Ex-Aid rubbed his hands together, as a weapon finally appeared in his hand.

GASHACON BREAKER!

A hammer with two giant A and B buttons materialized into his hands. He swung it around, and got into a battle stance.

"I'll clear this game with no continues!" He said energetically.

Kirito smiled, and attacked. He first swung at his legs, to which Ex-Aid dodged it with a swift jump, and bonking him on the head. Kirito got disoriented, which in the short timeframe, Ex-Aid pressed the A button.

JA-KIIIN!

The hammer threw up a sword blade on top of itself, and Ex-Aid took the chance to slash Kirito across the back. The cut a huge chunk of Kirito's HP.

"Why you little-" Kirito started, once he got himself together.

He slashed behind him, only to find Ex-Aid on top of one of the blocks. He smashed the block, revealing a coin.

"Item: Get!" Ex-Aid announced. "Speed: Up!"

Kirito jumped for a straight hit. Ex-Aid moved with enough speed to avoid that attack. Kirito kept on swinging, but Ex-Aid dodged them all superbly. They landed back on the ground, but Kirito is now panting heavily.

"Aw, you tuckered out already?" Ex-Aid wined. "I'm only at Level 2!"

Kirito smiled. "I'm just getting started."

"Alright, now you're talking!" Ex-Aid smiled. He pulled the cartridge out of his belt and inserted into another compartment on the side of the belt. He then pressed the button just below it.

GASHUNN! GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!

Ex-Aid got into kicking stance. He was ready to use his final move. Kirito prepared himself. He knew a kick was coming. He had to block it if he had to win it by a small window. Ex-Aid jumped into the air. There he stuck his leg out and dived down to Kirito. Kirito smiled.

"You're wide open!" He shouted.

Then, his sword glowed and smashed his sword against the kick. And explosion engulfed the two. The impact sent shockwaves of wind against the spectators.

"Did he get him?" Silica asked.

The smoke cleared, and Kirito smiled. He blocked an attack. But when the smoke on Ex-Aid's end cleared, he had blocked it, and Ex-Aid had received recoil damage, but it seems nothing happened. His leg was just on Kirito's sword.

"Gotcha!" Ex-Aid suddenly shouted.

"Eh?" Kirito exclaimed.

Ex-Aid made no haste and pressed the same button.

MIGHTY CRTICAL STRIKE!

Then, using the sword as a launch pad, Ex-Aid did a flip off the sword and kicked the sword out of the way. And one more time, he flipped off the sword and kicked Kirito in the face, and finally using his head, he flipped one more time and landed the kick straight onto Kirito's abdomen. What followed afterwards was an explosion. Out of the explosion, Ex-Aid jumped out and landed behind Kirito, who fell on to the ground. The game now set the winner.

Winner: Ex-Aid

Ex-Aid sighed with relief, and turned back to Kirito.

"Looks like I won." He chuckled.

Kirito rubbed his head. He was beaten by someone he didn't even knew? That's a first. Asuna quickly rushed over while everyone else took this in.

"Kirito… lost?" Silica commented.

"Well, it was bound to happen at some point." Lisbeth shrugged.

Ex-Aid walked over, cancelling his transformation.

GACHANN! GASHUNN!

Emu hoisted his hand to Kirito.

"That was fun, kid." He smiled. "Let's do this again sometime."

Kirito smiled. He took his hand and stood up. Despite all those things he wrote, he is a good guy in heart.

"So, are we done here?" Emu asked. "Cause… I have an interview I need to get to in about an hour, so…"

"Yeah." Kirito laughed. "See you around man."

Emu said goodbye and logged off. Kirito and Asuna both were happy, they now made a new friend.

"Guess I was wrong." Kirito admitted. "Ain't that a first time?"

Asuna laughed, and wrapped her arms around him. But Leafa hasn't said anything in a while.

"Leafa, you okay?" Lisbeth asked.

"Huh?" Leafa said, snapping back into reality. "Oh yeah. I'm fine."

"Well…" Asuna spoke up. "Guess we should call it a day."

"Yes." Silica replied. "I have to look after Pina. My cat Pina, of course."

"We have other stuff to do too." Lisbeth added.

"Alright then." Kirito concluded. "See you guys at school tomorrow!"

It was now 7:00 P.M. The Kirigaya household is currently having dinner. Kazuto was enjoying the meal, but Suguha was just nibbling her food away.

"Hey, Sugu." Kazuto called. "You okay? You've been uncharacteristically quiet lately."

"Well…" Suguha began. "Something about Emu threw me off."

"What about him?" Kazuto asked.

"It's just… he said this:" Suguha explained.

"Witness the play of the Genius Gamer M!" Ex-Aid declared.

"You don't think that's… him, do you?" Suguha asked timidly.

There was this famous celebrity that went missing last year. He had won many gaming championships. That man was only known as the Genius Gamer M.

"I don't think so…" Kazuto wondered. "Even if that was him, why would he be so open to accept my challenge?"

"I guess you're right…" Suguha answered.

But Kazuto knew Suguha was onto something. If Emu is the Genius Gamer M, there's got to be something bigger. They needed to know what's actually going on.