[SP-F6] Jet Force <<Gemini>>

[Ashrah 0]

Again he fumbled as the desire to fall to the dirt flashed across the forefront of his thoughts. Arc let out a frustrated huff as the Gemini managed another powerful swing, and the effort knocked the wind out of him. The mercenary fell to the dirt gracelessly, clutching his stomach. The pain was no more than a slight tingle, but he thought that it could have been much worse hung in his mind. It would have been too easy to give up there, and to let the creature kill him. It would have been so much easier than this struggle, and the resulting suffering.

But that was nothing. Not to Tobias. The struggle was part of the journey. His strength came from how he stood back up each time he fell down. It burned from when he stood in the face of adversity. As he clambered back to his knees, he gripped the dirt and coughed, hacked, and spat. The Gemini watched him carefully. "Are you planning on fighting me in that condition?" it asked. "This is turning into slaughter. I'm losing my interest rapidly."

"Yeah, well, you're no better off," Arc snorted. "Less talking, more fighting."

Arc: 102/140 HP

Gemini: 80/140 HP

ID# 68411

Battle: 1

Craft: 7

Loot: 4

Mob: 9

 

[Ashrah 0]

Arc let out another yelp of pain as the Gemini thrust its blade into his shoulder. "You should stay down," it said in a quiet voice as he fought to stay up. "You've put up a valiant effort up to now. I can let you run away. No one has to die."

"Yeah, you say that," he coughed, spat, and glanced up at the image of himself. "But deep down, you really want a fight. I'm not about to back down. Not after I said I'd fight you." Arc smiled despite his exhaustion. "You aren't getting an easy victory out of this."

"Nor you," the creature murmured as it dislodged its weapon and took a step back. Arc stumbled forward, then back as his body lurched. The pain he would have felt in the real world was just beyond his reach. He almost wished he could have let it rush into him, then he would have felt alive. That was impossible, though. "I won't lose," he told the Gemini. "I can't lose."

"You're only fooling yourself."

Arc: 100/140

Gemini: 80/140

ID# 68585 results:

Battle: 1

Craft: 11

Loot: 12

MOB: 7

[Ashrah 0]

The blade fell again, and Arc let out a gasp from the shock of it. The Gemini wore an unfeeling expression as he drove the blow deeper. "I gave you the chance to surrender," it murmured. Arc stood, paralyzed for a moment.

"Should I offer you the same?"

When the Gemini heard those words, it looked over warily toward the mercenary. The heavy blow took it unawares, and it was thrown backward by the sheer force. Arc watched the image of himself fly across the dirt and skid to a halt more than ten feet away. "Don't go looking down on me," he growled. "Everyone always does that. I'm sick of it. I'm not some weak, pathetic swordsman who you can dismiss that way." Arc puffed out his chest and pointed to himself with one thumb. "I'm Arc. You'd better not forget it, either."

"Arc..." the Gemini repeated the name, then smiled. It slowly pressed off the ground and began to rise. "I see." It watched him with a devilish set of his like his own. "Maybe there is still some fun to be had in this fight after all..."

Arc: 96/140

Gemini: 78/140

ID# 68587 results:

Battle: 8

Craft: 7

Loot: 18

MOB: 10

[Ashrah 0]

He batted away the next blow, and the one that followed. Arc used strength borrowed purely from his own resolve to continue the fight. His body shook with every ounce of effort that he made, but he could see the same weight bearing down on his rival. The Gemini watched him silently. If it had any words left, they were long forgotten in the face of an unbelievable opponent. Arc had cast aside all expectations and turned the battle into something that was more like an exercise in futility than a proper fight.

Both ends of the spat were spent. It would have been better if they both walked away, but by now neither of them could. The Gemini grunted as it took a few deep breaths in an attempt to collect its thoughts and regain some strength. Arc simply stood there, half crouched, and waited for the beast to come at him again. In that stoic moment, both of them started to regain a smidgen of what was lost, but neither one of them had the urge to use it.

No. They both admired their handiwork, a body full of bruises on the opposing side. Arc stood there with his eyes set on this singular obstacle, and he focused on his determination to win. If he could just drag this out for a few seconds, he might be able to come up with a plan to take it all.

Arc: 96/100 Health 1/14 Energy

Gemini: 78/140

ID# 68598 results:

Battle:  - Action held-

Craft: 4

Loot: 15

MOB: 2

[Ashrah 0]

Arc stood in place as the Gemini rushed at him again. He had known the beast wearing his face would not give him free reign to rest and recover, but he had counted on it. When the blade came within millimeters of his face, the system came to his rescue. In an awe-inspiring show of agility, the Breakneck Brawler leaned backward and deftly evaded the incoming blow. His eyes followed the movements of his opponent through and he watched as the Gemini fumbled from failure. He had an opening to strike, but he refused to take it.

Not yet. I have to wait until the time is just right. Patience... that's what I've needed to learn. That's what this fight has been trying to tell me. I need patience.

He took a few skilled steps backward as the Gemini came again, this time with a more powerful downward slash. Arc hopped to one side, quickly dismissing the attack. The clone let out an enraged roar. I knew it. It's been pressing me all this time, but it's taken on all my qualities. It knew about my rage, so it kept pushing all the buttons to send me into the throes of it. But it also knew, if I could figure this out that I could turn it around.

Just a little more, then... hold out just a little while longer, Tobias.

With the skill of an acrobat, Arc stayed his hand. He let the enemy come to him, and he moved out of the way. A failed attack here or an ineffectual one there would profit him nothing. No. He needed blows with accuracy, power, and finality in them. He had to wait while his opposition whittled itself away instead of letting it do him that way.

Arc: 98/140 Health 2/14 Energy

Gemini: 78/140 Health

ID# 68599 results:

Battle: -Action held-

Craft: 5

Loot: 13

MOB: 6 (-1) = 5

[Ashrah 0]

He continued to dance away from the blows skillfully, guided by the quickness of the system assist. Arc was beginning to grow accustomed to that speed, and his digitized body was memorizing each motion. As he whirled around the hasty, vicious strokes of his lookalike, the mercenary started to notice the lack of attack pattern. Choppy, thin, and erratic strikes intended to hit, but only to main. Could the Gemini possibly hope to win that way? What was it playing at?

"Damn you!" the fraud screeched. "Stop moving! Fight! Where did all that power from before go? Are you so afraid to die!?"

Arc sighed, then smiled. He had no idea just how much of himself existed in that fake. He could taste the unsustainable malice as it ripped through the arms of his foe and pressed the blade in his direction time and again. He ducked another blow and hopped backward when the blade withdrew, and Arc glanced across his HUD. Still going. Almost there. I'm managing to get out of the way of his strikes, but I need to analyze his style. There's got to be an opening somewhere.

Just... where is it?

Arc: 98/140 HP 3/14 Energy

Gemini: 78/140 HP

ID# 68604 results:

Battle: -Action held-

Craft: 1

Loot: 19

MOB: 6 (-1) =5

[Ashrah 0]

Fragmented data spilled forth from a freshly open wound as Arc grievously miscalculated the depth of a blow. "That's right!" the Gemini let out a maniacal laugh as it was vindicated. "Just try to keep dodging forever! I dare you!" It laughed louder and more fiercely with each passing moment, as though that single stroke had spelled victory. The look on its face was of supreme satisfaction. It continued to grow exponentially more erratic, and Arc fell into sloppier steps as he lost the upper hand.

I can't get distracted. I have to figure out how to hit this guy as hard as I can, as soon as I can. Arc gripped his blade and sought an opening still, though his movements were far different from the even flow of before. If he could find that rhythm again, perhaps that would be enough. He might be able to find some purchase on victory through that skill, the elusive skill that if only for a moment had been his.

This game likes to show you what you could be, then rip it out of your hands. I like that. It gives you something to work toward. I'm fighting for the day this world can't take anything away from me. From anyone. That's my way in SAO.

The Gemini held its blade upright, and it readied for another onslaught.

Arc: 96/140 Health 4/14 Energy

Gemini: 78/140 Health

ID# 68607 results:

Battle: -Action held-

Craft: 11

Loot: 8

MOB: 8

[Ashrah 0]

The time was right, now.

He saw it. In the instant before the Gemini struck, the creature lurched to favor one side. The blow skidded past in fluid time with Arc's riposte. He thrust the blade straight forward, skewering the fraud clean through the chest. The beast let out a powerful roar as Arc murmured beneath his breath. "Straight." The green glow of his weapon lasted from start to finish, and ethereal power summoned from his renewed reserves. This was how he would fight from now on. Each blow would hold power, conviction, and authority.

A mob could never hope to beat a player who had such things. His need to survive, his drive for power pressed him forward. Though he had been on the brink of failure for so long, Arc fought off the ropes. He found the middle ground again, and he pushed a firm advantage. The Gemini continued to spout agonized sounds, reeling as it pulled away from the wicked strike.

It stared at him with abject enmity in his own eyes.

Arc: 98/140 Health 4/14 Energy

Gemini: 70/140 Health

ID# 68676 results:

Battle: 8

Craft: 10

Loot: 9

MOB: 4

[Ashrah 0]

He returned to the back foot after his attack struck true. The defensive effort struck him as the most effectual method of dealing with this opponent, especially as the fit of rage seized the Gemini. Each time he left the beast to its devices, it grew wilder like some sort of enraged stallion. It bucked and heaved in a fruitless attempt to foil a rider unworthy of its talents. Arc felt the wroth of his foe, though it was hardly the same horrific pain he had sensed from previous strikes.

The Gemini had given itself over to some sort of malicious hatred. Every movement was riddled with contempt, so clear that he could almost see the red around the other man's sword. "I see it," he murmured as he evaded the next attack. Arc leveled his weapon and batted away another hefty blow. "So that's how..."

Mercenary and mirror image battled to a standstill, but neither man stood still. Arc spun as he deftly evaded another straightforward blow, arcing over the thrust and landing on the opposite side of his opponent's arm. I get it now. That's what I was missing all along...!

Arc: 96/140 HP 5/14 Energy

Gemini: 70/140 HP

ID# 68692

Battle: -Action held-

Craft: 4

Loot: 8

Mob: 8

 

[Ashrah 0]

His opponent came again, and once more, Arc was ready. The blow came clearly from below, but was stopped by a vicious downward stroke. Digital sparks flew when Arc collided with his alter image, and both men sped together with the force of the impact. Each blow was difficult to follow if one were an outsider, but both men could see clear as day what was unfolding between them. One attack after another, forcibly denied by the sheer grit of either combatant. In the instant where it looked like it might go on forever, Levantine glowed a vivid green color.

His eyes matched that intensity as Arc sent his blade rushing toward his unsuspecting foe, and the weapon impaled the Gemini deep. He had no time to celebrate, however. He had to jump back and away to avoid the next blow. The Gemini growled again, this time more feral and far removed from the calculating creature he had witnessed before. It had dropped the act, and it sought to slake its thirst with his blood.

That was good. Now he couldn't even see himself in that clouded mirror. There was only someone wearing his face, and they were not even doing it convincingly. He snorted.

"Looks like its game over," he said in a soft voice.

Arc: 96/140 HP 4/14 Energy

Gemini: 61/140 HP

ID# 68694 results:

Battle: 9

Craft: 12

Loot: 18

MOB: 2

[Ashrah 0]

The green glow came again, and the Gemini let out a howl of anguish as its eyes opened, impossibly wide. They lacked that emerald glow that belonged to Tobias, consumed now by a deep crimson that burned hotter than hell. It savagely stalked straight for him, blade angled toward his throat. The mercenary did not so much as flinch. He grabbed the weapon by its blade and halted the blow with a surge of strength borrowed from his training. With time, he would grow to have the power to back that up. With time, he would become a worthy master of weapons and his speed could be considered something legendary in this world.

Until that time came, he would settle for being able to deal with nuisances such as this. He made a concerted effort and shunted the blade aside with a precise, dismissive toss. The Gemini roared again, its rage flowing from every pore. It looked less like Arc now and more like something out of a demonic text, its flesh rapidly shifting and sloughing as it twisted his form and crafted something vulgar in his place. Instead of Arc, it sought to dig deeper for something that he feared. It twisted into the darkness, that hot rage that stirred deep within his soul. As Arc saw it for what it was, he pitied the beast. He could not even hate it. It simply sought to survive and strove toward the most effective means of doing so. Even if it had seen that sadness deep within him, it deserved no contempt. Arc silently promised he would put an end to it.

Arc: 96/140 HP 3/14 Energy

Gemini: 52/140 HP                                                                                                                                                                            

 

ID# 68695 results:

Battle: 9

Craft: 5

Loot: 17

Mob: 5

 

Edited September 27, 2016 by Arc

[Ashrah 0]

When he pulled back for another powerful Sword Skill, the enemy mirrored him. Arc watched in subtle disbelief as the mimic had seemed to learn his movements on the fly, but he hardly found it surprising. It had copied more than just his face at first. Now, armed with his vicious, monstrous rage, it turned against him the one thing that had given him an advantage to this point. It threw caution to the wind as it wound up, then threw the attack with reckless abandon.

Arc reeled from the powerful impact, but not before his own attack hit home. Another massive red spot appeared on the Gemini where he had put his blade through its gut, and it pulled away to place a hand on its gut. It made sounds, but nothing human. It formed words in a language that Arc did not understand. He could only feel what it sought to express to him in the heat that had broken out between them.

Like a wildfire, their passions rage. It was a battlefield where neither man needed to be understood in any other way. Their blades spoke with pristine clarity for their lips. As data ebbed away from the Gemini, Arc understood. The need for words was at last gone. All pretense of formality bled away with the creature's life.

Now he had only to slay it.

Arc: 92/140 HP 2/14 Energy

Gemini: 42/140 HP

ID# 68698 results:

Battle: 10

Craft: 9

Loot: 14

MOB: 10

[Ashrah 0]

Okay. I've got it going, but now I need to maintain this pace. I can't win if it keeps trading deathblows with me. Eventually, one of them really might kill me. I need to let off the gas and let it expend more of its energy. With that kind of power in its movements, it can't possibly keep up this speed forever. It'll start to slow down, and then I can get an advantage on it. Until that happens...

Arc stepped effortlessly out of the way of what could have been a far more lethal blow. The system assist cultivated his movements as he learned to use them without its help. Over time, he could make that speed his own. He could feel it becoming more natural with every dodge, and every stroke that he loosed seemed to become more accurate as well. It felt almost as though the sword was never meant to be his weapon at all. It was as though he needed something more geared toward raw power than Levantine, a perfectly crafted blade though it was. He took notice of that fact immediately.

When I get out of here, I need to do research. What weapon am I using versus what weapon should I be using? I'm not sure, but something feels off about this. I picked a sword originally because this game is called Sword Art Online, but there's so much more I could be doing. This battle is teaching me that. I'm going through the motions and learning my skillset, but that's only half of what this is all about.

I need to be the best fighter I can be. I need more than just power. I need...

Arc: 92/140 HP 3/14 Energy

Gemini:42/140 HP

 

 

ID# 68699 results:

Battle: -Action held-

Craft: 9

Loot: 19

Mob: 6 (-1) =5

 

Edited September 27, 2016 by Arc

[Ashrah 0]

...I need to win this!

His body moved with unbelievable vigor and speed all of a sudden, and he jetted out of the way of another vicious attack. The Sword Skills had become more prominent from his opponent, and the system guided its lackey in an effort to put him down. Arc denied them both with a sudden display of ability far beyond what he thought he had been at before. The sword skill came and went from his blade like it had been rehearsed a hundred times, and perhaps it had. How had he become so strong, so quickly? Arc remembered a time, faced with a boar where he had been able to do no more than watch as his allies did the bulk of all the fighting. It had been intense, and so sad at the same time. He wanted power so that he could fight at their side, to be the blade of the people so that they could stand aside while he went forward and shouldered their burden.

The less people that came into harm's way, the less lives that would be lost. That was unfortunately an impossibility- they had to work as a team to take down bosses and ultimately achieve victory. He knew the risks, but he wanted the reward no less strongly. If he could put his life on the line so that someone else would not have to, that would be fine as well.

There were people in this world worth saving.

His blow took the Gemini in the throat, and it gargled something that sounded like blood.

Arc:92/140 HP 2/14 Energy

Gemini:33/140 HP

ID# 68701 results:

Battle: 9

Craft: 5

Loot: 19

MOB: 6 (-1) =5

[Ashrah 0]

Arc hopped backward again as his foe reached forward, still impaled on his blade. "No," he huffed, "I can't let you keep getting those easy hits, big guy."

The creature decided not to hear him, or if it had, it did a good job of ignoring his words outright. The blade tore into his arm as the beast pulled him back toward it. Arc let out a low growl as he pushed aside the urge to fight back. Instead, he grabbed the blade tightly and forced his arm back. It's getting more monstrous with every second that passes. Its almost like my rage gets hotter, and the fires of this battlefield break out into a tumultuous hell.

This thing is literally feeding off the innate hate I feel for it. I need to start dousing those flames, one at a time. As if that was something simple to do.

Arc managed to break free of its hold for long enough to retrieve his weapon. He held it in a defensive position, looking once more for an opening. This situation changed things. He took a long breath, then expelled it. He needed to reserve some of his energy for the endgame.

Arc: 90/140 HP 3/14 Energy

Gemini: 33/140 HP

ID# 68702 results:

Battle: 4

Craft: 10

Loot: 5

MOB: 7

[Ashrah 0]

He struck again, this time with more urgency. If he could manage to end this soon, he might be back in time to sleep some before morning. If he could manage to get out of here alive, that might be even more of a miracle. He conjured up that same sadistic speed from before and spiraled out of the way of another attack. The bestial creature spawned from the darkness in his heart gazed back at him with contempt. Arc felt his heart drop into the pits of the abyss for a moment as he stared into it.

Then, he took a soft breath and shook his head. "I won't lose to you like that," he said. "I can't lose to myself."

He hurried out of the way of another massive blow, disgusted with the sheer power that went into it. "What a waste."

Had he been this bad? Had he given himself over to the anger and acted like a petulant child? How many people had been made to suffer from his foolishness? Was this world trying to tell him something? Arc could not find any answers with this enemy in front of him. All he could see was a darkness, darker than even his own. There was more than himself inside the Gemini. That had to be it.

After all, he had cultivated hate, but he had never cultivated this much of it.

Arc: 90/140 HP 2/14 Energy

Gemini: 25/140 HP

ID# 68703 results:

Battle: 8

Craft: 1

Loot: 14

Mob:(-1)=5

[Ashrah 0]

Arc leaned back to attempt another dodge by slim margin, but failed to fully get out of the way. A thin stroke etched across his torso as he slid beneath the blade and skidded around behind his warped body double. This thing was by no means him anymore, but something far more ephemeral and horrific. If ever there was a part of my that looked this way, I pray it's dead and gone and I won't ever succumb to it again. I can't believe that something like this could manifest from any corner of my consciousness. I was a good person, right? I am a good person, aren't I?

None of that matters right now. Focus, Tobias. Focus on the enemy, and on finishing this. There is nothing else.

There is, but it is not right now. The present is the only battlefield that matters to a warrior. Everything else comes when it will come, and not before. I need to remember that. Face these things when they come at me, and not before. If I try to fight too many enemies at once, I will lose. That's what I'm learning here. It's not just enemies in my head. They're outside, too. Just like this one. His blade ripped forward as he thought, and he struck once more with a powerful Sword Art.

Arc: 88/140 HP 1/14 Energy

Gemini: 17/140 HP

 

 

ID# 68706 results:

Battle:

Craft: 8

Loot: 12

Mob: 7

 

Edited September 27, 2016 by Arc

[Ashrah 0]

He took his time as the creature ran him through. There was no pain, though there should have been. Everything about this world reminded him that as real as it seemed, it wasn't. There were aspects of it that terrified him in that way. He could have gone forever learning new things and still thinking that he'd never get to properly experience any of it. What would his life amount to if it ended in the confines of Aincrad? What would he be remembered as?

The data streamed from his own wounds as he staggered backward and considered the strange image of rage incarnate. If the game truly considered this a reflection of something inside himself, then he needed to truly consider what that meant. In a way, the NerveGear could see things in his mind that he never could himself. It was a worthwhile thought. It meant that he could do something about it now, while he was still alive.

He didn't want to be remembered as some brute who gave himself over to his rage. He could be so much more than that, if only he learned the way. He just needed to become stronger, and right now, that meant beating this... thing.

Arc: 84/140 HP 2/14 Energy

Gemini: 17/140 HP

ID# 68707 results:

Battle: -Action held-

Craft: 1

Loot: 20

MOB: 10

[Ashrah 0]

He smiled sadly as the creature came at him again. Was this all that his life amounted to? Was it all that he could become? He knew better. In this hellish mirrorscape of a reality, this game tried to force onto him the belief that he was no more than a beast controlled by his own passions. He had them, Arc could not contest that fact. There would always be some motivation for the mercenary, something that pushed him forward when there was no other reason to go on. But he was no slave to them.

Arc knew, no matter what his subconscious seemed resigned to- none of that would stop him from being everything he wanted and more. Nothing would stop him from achieving his dreams. He wanted to give others the gift of knowledge, and he wanted the power to protect them. No one, not even Kayaba Akihiko was going to strip him of that legacy unwritten. This world wouldn't last forever, and neither would he- but he would certainly strive to outlast it.

He understood that, now.

You're beaten, ripoff. You can't take me down. Not with an invective hate as your motivation. Even as more digital blood flowed from him, he stood firm.

Arc: 80/140 HP 1/14 Energy

Gemini: 9/140

 

 

ID# 68708 results:

Battle: 6

Craft: 7

Loot: 8

MOB: 10

 

Edited September 27, 2016 by Arc

[Ashrah 0]

He stood there, staring in abject sadness at the projection. As it rent his flesh and spilled more of his lifeblood, he agonized over the fact that something like this could have been created from any part of him. What would dad say if he saw this? Would he see me as a failure? Would he know, all along, that I had been such a sick, twisted creature? Is that why he left?

Tobias hardened his gaze. He wouldn't lose himself to that perverse sadness born of his inadequacy. He needed to be stronger than himself. Stronger than he ever thought possible. That was how he would become the man his father believed he could be. That was how, in the face of that darkness, he could emerge a hero. Faced with an insurmountable foe, those who rose above the challenges were gifted with strength far beyond their own. That's how these stories went, wasn't it?

Was it his destiny to rip through the curtain of doubt and reach something thought unattainable? Tobias believed so. He knew he was strong, at the very least stronger than the world wanted to give him credit for. If he wasn't, he would continue to fight until he believed that he was. That was how it had to be.

Arc: 78/140 HP 2/14 Energy

Gemini: 9/140 HP

ID# 68711

Battle: -Action held-

Craft: 11

Loot: 14

Mob: 7