Rules Of The Game

CODE NAME - RULES OF THE GAME
FIGHTERS: Guardsman Railgun (Level 4) vs Turquoise Duro (Level 1)
STAGE: SHOPPING DISTRICT / DENKIGAI

===Rules Of The Game START===

It's a name I haven't seen before in this area. That's probably the only reason I chose this guy.

"Turquoise... Duro. Level 1, won once, drew once, lost once. Newbie."

I'll just get the ten Points and leave. I can always go for a bigger fish tomorrow when Zealot finishes his report. For now...

The stage loads in the form of a neon-lit shopping district and he's right there in front of me. Blue-green armour, he looks tough. Certainly, he's got the advantage in height and strength. But above all, he's just a newbie. I bet he doesn't know a millimetre about battling at all.

"Woah, what? Another...red-colour avatar?"

Above, the Gallery collectively takes a breath. Some spectators 'follow' me to keep tabs on my duels, including Mirage Zealot, but the vast majority above us spectating the fight now are all Brain Burst players well aware of my name. Unlike this guy.

This will be goddamn easy!

-"No hard feelings, man. After all, you're weak."

Duro visibly flinches. "You called me...what?"

"I said-" I curl my wrist back over and behind my shoulder, "-that you're going down!"

-And I serve the first pitch-

BAM.

At this close range, there's no way I can miss. The round flew straight and true, burying itself in the forehead of Turquoise Duro and throwing him back.

"Ow!" Turquoise Duro yelled, clutching his head in pain, "Why do all the red avatars carry guns? It's cheating!"

"Eh heh heh... Ah hah hah, ah hahahaha!"

I can't help it! This isn't just a beginner, he's a total *loser*! Hands down, this has got to be the funniest thing I've seen all day!

"Ughh! C'mere!"

The thudding of heavy footsteps kills the mood immediately and I look up: Duro's charging at me, drawing back his left fist in a punch I can see coming from a mile away. Even though we're this close, his utter inexperience makes him look about as threatening as a Youtube comment warning.

All I have to do is stand there until the last second, duck and lunge to the side in one easy movement, and jump out of harm's way. I even manage to score a free kick on his exposed back while Duro ran full-tilt into a virtual car hulk, denting the rusted steel like it was aluminium foil. That one kick alone earns me another five percent that fills up my Special Gauge with a small /glop/-

"Hyah!"

And I hurl another round, then another, and a third round in quick succession, Duro can only yelp in pain and fruitlessly shield himself. There's no blocking these curveballs I'm tossing, and this ain't even my full power!

This is just the first thirty or so seconds of the fight, and Duro's already at 75% health? Man, this is too one-sided. There's no need for me to even fight seriously if he's taking this much damage.

...Maybe I'll play a little. I'm not even busy after this fight anyway, so why not up the ante and make things more exciting?

"Hey, you there. How'dya feel?"

"Like a practice target, thank you very much," said Turquoise Duro, glaring at me with one of the most agonising looks I've ever seen. "What in the world are you throwing at me?!"

"It's just a baseball, dude," I flick my wrist to produce one and toss it leisurely in the air, "*Just* a baseball."

What had he been thinking those were? Anyone who had half a brain inside their heads would've look 'round and spotted the little red ball rolling away from them after every time I fired. If that didn't give it away, then what about the snap of the wrist to produce a new ball, or the very act of throwing the ball? I guess I do take pains to make each throw as efficient as possible, but if those weren't clear enough already, then you've gotta be blind to not know. I think it's pretty simple.

Duro's eyebrow is in imminent danger of disappearing into his forehead, so rather than risk cracking his poor skull as a result of explaining my skill, I go straight to the point:

"You got any skills hidden or something? Surely you're saving up for something. A Killer Move, perhaps? Or perhaps even...an Enhanced Armament?"

"En..Enhanced Armament?"

"Err...y'know, like a weapon or extra thingy you've got from the beginning. Something that comes with your avatar, ya' understand what I'm talking about?"

"..."

From the way Turquoise Duro remains standing there silently, trying to burn me through by sheer will alone, he probably doesn't have either. Not as though I expected him to have anything...

"Maybe there is, after all."

Duro clenches his fists and draws them back to his waist-

"-Reserve Armour!"

-Wait, what?

A shrilly rasping sound of metal on metal. From seemingly nowhere, polished silver armour plating emerges and covers every bit of Turquoise Duro's arms, easily doubling their size. His shoulder guards thicken with burnished metallic protection and his fists fuse into a much more recognisable outline - boxing gloves. There no other visible changes to the sturdy blue-green armour that covers the rest of Turquoise Duro, but-

-"I'm not going to lose!"

And under his breath, so faint I doubt he was talking to me, Duro adds, "I'll show you that I can do this..."

I could facepalm. This is probably his third battle and all, but Turquoise Duro needs to urgently learn that such anime-esque declarations of resolve simply don't mean anything in Brain Burst!

I mean, if saying such things really help me win, then what did all those messages in the past count for...?

"Bring it on!"

Whether real or imagined, something distorted that otherwise confident-sounding voice, something that I instinctively recognised: the fear of failure.

For the first time in this fight, I allow myself to really smile. A teeth-baring, tell-all, kind of smile. It's just like the kind I make when I'm about to kill in a single shot.

-This loser has no idea what's going to hit him!

I raise my hand back again-

"UWOHH!"

With all the rage of a four-year-old throwing a tantrum, Duro charges. I set the ball in my fingers and cock back, ready to strike.

"Hyah!"

Duro is all sloppy in his movements. His footwork leaves him unbalanced after each punch; I dodge three of his awkward straights and let fly-

"Oh no, you don't-!"

*CLANG.* My ball bounces harmlessly off the hardened silver armour; Duro threw his arm up at the last second. Well, he's finally catching on, I'll give it to him!

"Oh, so you can block one-"

-Two balls materialise simultaneously in the air to be caught in both my hands-

"-I think the good doctor Railgun-sama ordered a double dose!"

There's no letting up of the pressure here. I pitch right, curving the ball round his curled arms to target his head. Then I hurl the left in a relentless straight throw, targeting his exposed neck-

I'm not exactly used to pitching with my left, but I've been practicing! Duro's cries of shock come as a sweet, sweet reward and prove that my training is progressing. So now being an ambidextrous pitcher, I've got that going for me, which is good and all-

"UGH!"

-a shiny silver fist smashes my cheek in-

"So, Railgun-*sama*," Duro spat, "Everything going well?"

How the hell did he get so close?! I hastily twist and jump backwards- but Duro seizes my ankle and pulls, bringing my head firmly into contact with terra firma. I see stars in my eyes again, it's been a long time since I last saw them-

"Now, I don't know a lot about being one of those bullies in school, but if I hafta make a guess-"

-Uh oh-

"They like to kick a man who's down, or so I've heard!!"

-And a foot clad in blue-green sinks itself into my ribs-

"ARGH!"

Damnit! It hurts! Twisting away doesn't lessen the pain any less, it just presents my spine as a target, I roll from side to side as my Special Gauge rapidly fills-

"UWOHH! friggin STOP-"

If I have to use my trump card, so be it, I'm gonna die at this rate!

"CERTAIN DEADLY-"

A barrel as long as I'm tall extends from my forearm, pushing itself into Duro's unprotected chest-

"Huh?"

"-RAILGUN!!"

The world is dyed white for an instant--

CRASH. The very ground seems to shake as Duro is thrown back a full twenty metres and into the pillar of a huge skyscraper. Sparks fly from his ruined chest, exposing a crumbling, smoking smorgasbord of electronics within. From the huge wound, a red substance pours-

"You... You really had me there, faggot. You made me use my Killer Move, and at half-power, no less."

One hand clutching my sides, I stow my railgun double-time and ready a ball. Duro's health stands at twenty percent, while I'm at forty; still in the yellow zone. But then again, I've never gone yellow since I hit Level 3.

"-is that so."

Duro's head is hunched over like a dead man, but I guess it's pure ignorance that keeps him going. Any Burst Linker with a shred of common sense would have backed down and acknowledged his loss, or so it should be.

"Is that... Is that good enough?"

"Whaddya' mean, good enough?"

No, seriously. Dafuq? Things like 'good enough', 'sufficient effort,' they don't belong on this battlefield. That's the real world, man. Has Duro seriously lost it?

"-I mean, I could give it to you for forcing me to bring out my Killer Move. You're a newbie, but I'm the /veteran/. Any day the fight goes in your favour, I'd say that's... That's impressive."

"Do... Do you really mean that?"

"Well, well of course! It's- It's not like I'm complimenting you or something like that! For a Level 1 to stand up like that-"

-I'd say you have the guts I never had.

That second half of my sentence was locked up at the tip of my tongue. I can't say that, not when I'm supposed to be looking for Spring Renascentia.

"Look, kid, you gotta learn to just, just tell yourself, 'To hell with the world!' Do whatever you want. You'd be better that way."

Yup, that's all I can say for now.

"'To hell with the world', 'do anything I want,' huh."

Pieces of blue-green armour fragment and disintegrate into polygons, but Duro struggles to stand.

"I'll keep that in mind then. Does that mean that you wanna-"

SMASH.

Teehee! This is still a duel, idiot!

My ball drills itself through his wounded chest and /through/, emptying out his remaining Health. The words 'YOU WIN!' appear in system font in the center of my vision.

"-Wha..."

"Too bad, son. Try again next time!"

I pull my baseball cap down and walk away. No more fucks to be given, another mook crushed today...

-He's got potential, that one.

-I hope I don't see him again.


===Rules Of The Game END===