The Beginning of it All

When she went underneath him, Power Man put his hands together, prepared to pound the ground and her as well. Then the confusing sound hit him, causing him to stop as the bombs exploded on him. The final blow came from Power Man himself as his confusion caused him to hit his own head with his attack. Max logged Power Man out immediately and the judge called out, "The winner is Lyre!"

Byra-ken's eyes widened as he was taken down. He was barely able to move, but Daichi didn't seem worried. He loaded in the chip and Byra-ken's sword changed again, this time becoming a purple blade. He swung it outward in an attempt to slash her from the stomach.

"Yay!" Asari cheers as she logs out Lyre from the mahcine. "On to round two! We can't lose, Lyre!"

Nana winces in pain as the attack hits her stomach. Lucy uses a recovery chip as well as a sword chip, holding it up to his neck. "Wanna try that again? I dare you. I'll cut your head off and force you to log out!"

"You're not half bad for a girl," Max said as he looked at Asari. "The only one that's ever beat Power Man is that Daichi kid, but you seem a lot cooler than him, so you better not lose!"

"Can you?" Byra-ken said as the sword became engulfed in flames. In what seemed like an instant, he slashed again without fear. This time sending a flaming blade towards her. "You took the Fighter Sword, so I doubt you can take another one, even with that recovery," Daichi said with a grin.

"Tch...That Daichi kid...is he really that strong?" She grunts, turning her back to Max as she goes to wait for Round 2 to start.

"Huh?!" Nana's eyes widen in shock as she cries out, burning from the flamming sword as she was forced to log out. "Ahhh!!!! Chi-Dai's mean! Meanie meanie meanie nearly burn Nana up!!!" Lucy whines, stomping her feet as she starts to cry.

"I think the Flame Sword was more than needed," Byra-ken said to Daichi as he looked at the crying girl. "Hey, don't cry just because you lost!" he said, trying to think of something to cheer her up. "Um... what if I buy you an Ice Cream?" Byra-ken sighed lightly and said, "A defeated opponent who uses tricks like that doesn't deserve your pity..."

With the first round over there were only 8 contestants left. The brackets on the board updated automatically, showing both Daichi and Asari their next opponents. Asari's opponent was named Flash.

Lucy pouts, glaring deathly at Daichi. "STingy perverted bastard!" She hisses, smacking him away as she turns her back to him, crosisng her arms.

The second round starts and Daichi is up against someone named Mari. Asari quickly heads to the next machine where her oponent is. "Flash, huh...? Be careful. If he's a speedy bastard ilke that Byra-ken, we'll be in trouble." She jacks in Lyre into the machine, waiting for him to do the same.

"Mari, huh?" Daichi said as he looked down at his PET. "That's another name I don't think I know..." "The unknown opponents can be most dangerous... don't drop your guard..." Byra-ken said as Daichi walked to the machine. He jacked in and Byra-ken awaited his opponent once again.

The male in front of him seemed older than the others, like a college student more than a teenager. "That Navi's fully customized, isn't it?" he said as he pulled out his PET, a yellow one. "I can tell because mine is the same! Guess we'll see who's the better programmer! Jack in, Shock Man!" A red Navi with lightning bolts decorated on its body appeared.

A taller, more stern looking girl comes up to him, jacking in her Navi immediately. In the net world stood a knight looking male navi, brandishing a sword in each hand. "I've seen you fight...You won't have as an easy time with me!"

"Eh?! A college kid in a tournament full of high schoolers?! That's not fair!" Asari pouts as Lyre glares at ShockMan. "Just because they're older than us doesn't mean anything! ASari, get ready!"

"A knight... Daichi, this won't be easy," Byra-ken said as the announcer came up on the screen. "All parties are present... Let the round begin!" With that sound, Byra-ken dashed forward, his speed as great as ever as he moved his sword to slash at the male's stomach from close range.

"Let's go! Shock Man!" he called out as the Navi let out his hand, sending out a thin stream of lightning at Lyre. What it lacked in size, it made up for with speed, and even though it wasn't a powerful attack, it had a stun effect that would paralyze Lyre for a few seconds if she was hit.

The knight blocks the attack with both his swords, grinning as he pushes him back, much stronger than Byra-ken. "Do you think your little fast sword of yours can match up to my dual blades? I think not!" He was quickly equipped with two wide swords, slashing at him heavily.

Lyre sees his speed, knowing sh couldn't dodge it. She opens her mouth and lets out a small scream, being engulfed in green light. The attack hits, but they did no damage or status effects to her. "Lyre!" She quickly obtains a Wood Tower, pushing her hand down to the ground and causing the towers to erupt towards Shock Man.

Byra-ken jumped back, giving a slight glare as he knew that two blades would make it hard to advance. His body disappeared, the Invis Battle Chip. He advanced forward as his sword extended into a Long Sword through another Battle Chip. He'd have to wait for the Invis to pass before he could strike, but the moment he did, he thrusted his sword outward in an attempt to stab the chest.

"Fanfare?" He said in shock as the tower came up. Shock Man rolled forward to dodge the attack as it would have done critical damage had it hit. "Use your special move!" Flash said as his Navi pointed a hand at Lyre. The floor directly under her changed, sparking with electricity as it shot to shock her. This didn't have the status effect, but was much more damaging.

The knight waits and waits for Byra-ken to show himself, seeing that he used Invis. Once he did, however, his attack hits a giant yellow shield with a green plus on it. "Guard." Mari simply said as she held up her battle chips. "Anything else?"

"Huh?!" Her eyes widen, never seeing such an atatck before as Lyre cries out in pain, getitng hit by the attack as she moves out of the way. "Tch....what a cheap move...Asari!"

"Roger! We'll need to up our anty! GunSol 1, Battle Chip in!" Lyre soon obtains a strange gun object as she quickly activates it. A wave of light apepars, seemingly draining Shock Man's HP at an alarming rate.

"Step Sword!" Daichi called out as Byra-ken disappeared, appearing behind the knight in a flash of speed. He aimed a slash at his back as Daichi looked at Mari. She was stronger than she looked.

Flash looked on with wide eyes at the new chip. "So many rare Battle Chips..." he said as he moved his hand to the PET. "Ring Zaps! We can still move in that Light, so make it count!" Shock Man started to fire a barrage of Zap Rings out at Lyre. They weren't powerful, but they were fast and had the same Paralysis effect as the other attack.

"Tch." Mari glares at Daichi as her navi was hit, staggering forward a bit before turning around. "Fine then...You wanna play rough, I'll give you rough...Lynx! Sword and Widesword!"

"Yes, my lady!" HE shouts as his arms turend into a normal sword and a wide sword, slashing down at Byra-ken with all his mide. His speed and attack seems to have increased as he starts assaulting to no end.

"R-Ring Zaps?! Damn it...Lyre!" Asari calls out to her navi as she continues to dodge out of the way of the battle chips. "That's it...Discord, battle chips in!" Suddenly, a row of blue trumpet viruses apepared behind Lyre, blasting out the distorting, confusing music to waver the rings' paths and confuse Flash.

"How'd he get faster?" Daichi said as Byra-ken did his best do dodge, getting grazed and slashed by some for the blows as he simply couldn't avoid them all. "Only one chance... Barrier, Long Sword!" A circular field appeared around Byra-ken and his sword extended in length. This was his last chance. He dashed in, striking at the gut with a horizontal slash, not even attempting to dodge the blows.

Shock Man was unable to move properly as he aimed his hands at the ground. He started to shoot the remaining rings at himself, stunning himself as Flash called out, "Oh No! Shock Man, endure it and we can still do this!"

Lynx lets out a grunt of pain, taking the full hit of the sword before slashing down wit hboth his swords to crush teh barrier. "This is the end....Long sword, Battle Chip in and download!!!" He raised up his arms as the swords fused into a blue phantasma sword. "Program Advance, Life Sword!" Quickly, he throws down his arms point blank at Byra-ken.

Lyre smiles lightly as she watches Shock Man hitting himself and paralyzing himself. "Oh dear...did I do that? Silly me. I'll make it easy on you." With that, Asari gave her a Heat Shot, shooting two shots of flames at Shock Man.

"VariSword, download!" Daichi called out as Byra-ken's blade changed again. The moment the barrier was taken down, Byra-ken slashed his blade. The blade grew, becoming as long and as wide as a Life Sword. At attacked, striking at his foe as it would now come down to who hit first.

Shock Man was hit, falling down as he was forced to log out. "Those Battle Chips did me in..." Flash said, not angry, or so it appeared. "Winner, Lyre and Asari!"

"V-Varisword?! How did you get your hands on such a rare chip?!" Mari's eyes widen as the attack hit Lynx hard and rough, falling backwards as his progrma advance disinigrated and he was logged out. "Winner, Lance and Daichi!!!"

Asari sighs, logging Lyre out as she shakes her head. "Well that was really annoying...least we won. All the mor egood for the semi finals."

Daichi was panting as he logged out. He was actually exhausted from the battle as he said, "You were really strong. I'm surprised I've never seen you before..."

With the round ended, the semi-finals were set. The screen updated, showing that Asari was battling against someone named Sean.

Mari grunts as she looks at Daichi. "I'm on vacation from Netopia...of course you haven't seen me. I can't believe little brats like you have such rare chips in this remote town." she mutters angerly, walking off. In the other half of the SemiFinals, It seems Daichi is going to fight Kurika.

"Sean? For the love of god, why do I keep on fighting guys?!" Asari felt a bit angry...then again, there weren't that many female operators or Navis compared to the male population. With that, she sighs as she walks over to the machine and jacks Lyre in.

Daichi was confused by the name. Again, it was someone he didn't know. He gave a sigh as he went to the Machine and jacked in. "This is the semi-finals..." Byra-ken said, his eyes closed in meditation. "If this opponent is on the level of Lynx, then it won't be a simple battle..."

A boy with slightly spiky blue hair look at her with an uninterested glare. He let out a sigh as he held up his PET. It looked more like Asari's than a normal PET. "Sniper... In!" he called out as a Navi in full body armor, including a helmet that even covered his face, appeared with a rifle in hand.

As he jacked in, a girl with long, green hair tied up in a ponytail did teh same. In the machine appeared a male warrior like Navi looking almost like Lynx. "Come on, Byte! We need to win this!"

She looks at his PET, narrowing her eyes as his navi was plugged in. "A PET Like mine...are they starting to distribute more tests now?" She mutters to herself. "Lyre! Be careful...I'm thinking he's not gonna be like the others!"

The announcer appeared before the two battles and called out, "All participants are present... Let the battle begin!" At the call of the announcer, Byra-ken took a stance. He was obviously being more cautious than in the previous battle. Daichi was doing the same, surprisingly enough.

"Sniper, Cannon!" He called out as he sent in a battle chip. The Navi aimed his rifle outward as it grew. He fired it, aiming at the shoulder of Lyre. He had amazing accuracy.

"Byte, time to rock and roll! Rock Cube!" Kurika shouts, inserting the chip in. Above Byte were 9 rock cubes hoveirng up above him. He throws his arm towards Byra-ken as they all shot forward towards him.

Lyre tries to dodge out of the way, but it did her no good, crying out in pain as the cannon hit its mark. "Tch...Now we have an Accuracy Navi to deal with?!" Asari glares at the screen as she grabs a battle chip. "Fine then...Blinder and Discord!" A huge flash of light hits Sniper to blind him as a blue trumpet appears, letting out a distorted sound to confuse him. All the while, Lyre was running up to him with her arm turned into a sword, raising it up and slashing it down to him.

Daichi's eyes widened at her attack. Byra-ken jumped upward, getting on top of the cubes as his only means of avoiding destruction. He jumped from cube to cube as his sword aimed for Byte directly. "Long Sword!" Daichi called out as his sword grew, allowing him to slash forward before he got too dangerously close.

"Visor, Mode 2," Sean said as his Navi's visor started to glow. He aimed forward, shooting out as his shoot just missed her head, even with the Blinding. It hit the Discord, causing it to be destroyed. "Shotgun..." he said as he sent in another Battle Chip. Sniper pointed at the stomach of Lyre. The moment the sword touched him, he shot, meaning he was hit.