Chapter 1: React

Eyes met with an off-putting yellow hue of the sky, flesh-like things latched on to buildings surrounding him as if they were alive. There was no doubt that this was the Purgatory stage.

Let's see. This stage has sturdy buildings, and you can enter them. What other properties are there? Haruyuki brainstormed as he dashed through the single carriageway. Right now, his body was not his real, plump, rotund self. This body was slim, almost wire-like. The silver colour reflected any dim light. His head was a smooth helmet, a round green in front. The duel avatar 'Silver Crow'.

He had been challenged into a duel, and a timer, located on his upper-middle vision, ticked to 1750, and kept decreasing further.

As he was challenged in his Legion's territory, he should have the privilege to refuse matches. However, he decided to take the challenge as this opponent's identity made him curious.

While searching for his opponent, Haruyuki glanced at his upper right HUD, and confirmed the opponent's name.

Titanium Will.

First word denotes the colour, so he (or she) is a metal colour. Kuroyukihime had told Haruyuki that a metal colour is a rarity, and Titanium made him more curious. Even with his limited knowledge in metals, he knew that Titanium is an extremely strong and light metal—stronger than silver, at any rate—so he expected he would face a quick and strong avatar.

Then the second word, which defines an avatar's characteristic. Will.

Unlike Haruyuki's own avatar, or his best friend Cyan Pile, whose second words are literal descriptions of their characteristics, he could not imagine what strength an avatar with "Will" would have. He guessed that Will is a connotation of the avatar's abilities, much like Kuroyukihime's avatar, Black Lotus.

This was also his first time facing Titanium Will.

He clicked Titanium Will's status before, and noted that the duel avatar was at Level 2, two levels below him. Challenging a stronger opponent may be a foolish decision, but it was one with a suitable reward, because if Silver Crow were defeated, Titanium Will would gain Burst Points more than when winning against same-levelled opponents. Bravery or recklessness, Haruyuki wondered which side Will was in.

He stopped his track as he approached the centre of a junction, and checked a cursor on his centre of vision; it showed his opponent's general direction. He faced the cursor's direction, and saw lines of buildings. Haruyuki then deduced that Titanium Will was approaching him from the rooftop—or straight through walls.

Silver Crow still facing the buildings, Haruyuki had expected tremors if Will broke through the tough walls, or metallic clang from the avatar's footsteps. That train of thought was broken as Haruyuki caught a collection of murmurs from his back. The voice was subdued, as the speakers were at a distance from him—as in, the rooftops

"Man, a duel between two metal-colours!"

"This'll be interesting."

"Tch, his gauge is full from the get-go again."

Such comments and remarks were launched between the Gallery, spectators of Brain Burst's duels. It is normal for spectators to talk in a match, but Crow tilted his head at the "gauge" part.

Huh? Full, but… ah! As Haruyuki rechecked the upper HUD, he gasped, mouth opened, if Silver Crow has an actual mouth.

Being modeled after the fighting game genre, each combatant would have a health gauge and special-attack move gauge, presented as blue and green bar, respectively. Usually, both combatants' special-attack gauges start at zero, and will accumulate as the combatants take or deal damage to the environment. But for Titanium Will…

It was full. Complete 100 percent.

No way, but how!? Did he destroy the stage while I wasn't looking? But that would take a huge effort! Equipment as strong as Scarlet Rain's? But the Red King's a level 9, and he's a level 2! That totally ruins the game balance! Such thoughts swirled inside Haruyuki's mind, but that too was cut off. Not from the Gallery, but from a rhythmically faint yet quick sound of a metal stomping the ground.

… He's here, with that conclusion, Silver Crow widened his stance and readied his arms. He didn't know what sort of style Titanium Will does, so couldn't let his guard down. Rather than focusing on building his own special-attack gauge, he should focus on how to react to the mysterious metal avatar. He re-confirmed that the cursor hasn't changed, so he must be approaching in a straight line. From the sound, he must be at the rooftop.

Few seconds after, the sound stopped. A moment of silent then crushed as a roar like that of a jet engine vibrated Haruyuki's eardrum. Then, no less than five seconds. A figure appeared from the buildings Silver Crow faced, covering the murky sun, rising while covering the horizontal distance between them. The cursor disappeared thus, instinctively, Haruyuki knew…

It's him. Titanium Will.

Though Haruyuki couldn't make out Will's figure, he noticed that his body had a silver-like lustre, similar to Silver Crow's, maybe slightly darker in comparison. Facing against Haruyuki, Titanium Will extended one arm towards him, weapon in hand. Silver Crow looked up in response, and saw the hollow muzzle of the weapon.

The way it was pointed made it impossible for Haruyuki to guess the shape of the gun. But he knew what must be done as he saw what happened after….

The muzzle shined, primed for shooting.

Titanium Will's special-attack gauge dropped rapidly to 50 percent.

Not good! Bearing that thinking, Haruyuki discarded all planning and concentrated on dodging the shot. He carefully looked at Will's figure and realised that Will was aiming slightly at Crow's right. With all his might, Silver Crow kicked the ground as as he could to leap to his left.

His guess was correct.

With a booming roar, the gun let out a pinkish light, darting straight at Silver Crow. Its size was the same as Silver Crow's abdomen, and it hit where he previously stood.

The beam collided with the street, exploded at a 5 metre radius, swallowing Silver Crow. "Uwah!" Crow yelped, still in midair, and was blown away from the torrents of heat and wind. He landed with a tumble, and as he tried to regain his balance….

Will had closed in on him with his right arm raised, brandishing a sword, their distance only one feet.

A sword, too?! An overhead strike to the head! With his poor footing, it was impossible for Silver Crow to evade the attack with a step. Normally, the only option was to block, but being light and nimble was not his only strength. In his duel against Black Lotus, Haruyuki discovered a mean of escaping from this kind of offense.

To minimise the damage from the oncoming slash, Silver Crow raised both arms. Before they clashed, however, from the blade's hilt, a pinkish light—the same colour as the shot beam—blazed around the blade and grinded Crow's armguard.

Sparks flew, Will's blade ever so slightly eating away Crow's defence. Silver Crow maybe resistant to slashing attack, but if this continues, he would succumb to Will's pressure and will always be on the defensive on this match. His HP gradually grinded down, which, in turn, his special-attack gauge gradually rose. Now's my chance! Mustering his willpower, Haruyuki summoned Silver Crow's true abilities and his shoulder blade opened and unleashed ten thin silver fins.

"Uwoooooooooh!" With that cry, the fins vibrated and he leaned back, his spine facing the ground. Then, his feet lifted by a few millimetre, both arms slid off from Will's blade. The blade crashed to the rubble, thus Silver Crow had successfully escaped Titanium Will's primary onslaught.

He landed a few metres away from Will, not just to conserve his gauge, but to ensure that his wings were not shot down with that beam. He saw that Will stood, sword in hand, beam dispersed into the air. Where the gun went, Haruyuki wondered. Then he noticed, that between the sword's blades (it is dual edge, not single) was a cylinder resembling a gun muzzle. A weapon that can change form, that is troublesome. He glanced at his wrists and saw that both of them were cut a quarter of the way through. Finally, he could see Titanium Will's full appearance.

As his name suggests, Titanium Will's body was covered in white/silver-ish armour. His height was between Silver Crow and Cyan Pile, but his build leaned more toward slim. Really, he does not possess any extraordinary muscles anywhere on his limbs, completely average. However, all parts of his body was covered with thin armour, most certainly made of titanium, with gaps left open here and there on his joints. Must be to ensure good mobility. Said armour formed a collar around the side and back of his neck. There was also an identical sword located on his left hip.

His head was shaped like a helmet, sharp-edged forehead, with some angular pieces were attached namely on his ears and forehead, adding a slightly more personalised appeal. Will swathed his sword and turned to Crow, and Crow, at last, saw his face; it was covered with a plate from jaw to the bridge of the nose, two green thin—but sharp—light between forehead and the plate; his eyes. The ornament on his forehead was, in fact, forming a v-shape if one directly faced him. His collar did not reach his front side, leaving his neck exposed.

Haruyuki's eyes darted around the upper HUD to assess the situation.

Silver Crow's health gauge had dropped fifteen percent; five from the explosion of the beam, and ten from the blade, most likely. His special-attack gauge was now at thirty percent.

Titanium Will's health gauge, of course, was still a perfect hundred percent. What surprised Haruyuki, however, was that his special-attack gauge's, at forty percent, flared like a fuse and filled it green, bit by bit.

Is that how he suddenly gain a hundred percent special-attack gauge? But at that rate, it'll take at least 5 minutes to reach full from zero, and now… Haruyuki glanced at the timer. Barely 3 minutes. Did he really destroy the stage while searching for me? This Purgatory stage? That should make a ruckus and I would have noticed. Or—

"For the record, it was always full at the start of the match."

A voice disturbed Haruyuki's train of thought, and he jolted as if Silver Crow's body electrified to ensure Haruyuki paid attention. It was Titanium Will's. The sound felt like it was filtered through a radio, the same way astronauts would communicate. Within the distortion effect, though, Haruyuki sensed that his actual voice was not so different than how he spoke right now: firm and clear.

"Eh?"

Ignoring Crow's unintentional stutter, Will continued, "Like I said, my special-attack gauge always fills itself to the brim every start of the match. It also regenerates every second or so."

Crow, putting his left arm and leg forward and widening his stance, politely replied, "I see, it's the first time I ever see something like this."

"Heh, not like this comes free. You know…balance." A slight mocking tone, Will must be referring to the game balance. 'Same level, same potential', this is the one law all duel avatars must abide to. So to gain ability, one must have a weakness to compensate. But if it's like that, then...

"Then what is his weakness? Is probably what you're thinking, right?" Will interrupted.

E—exactly right, Haruyuki gulped.

"No need to be surprised, Silver Crow. You're not the first one to fight me for the first time. Then again, most of people's first time with me ended up with their head decapitated, charred body, or even completely obliterated," Will nonchalantly said, no irony or a sense of arrogance. He may have lied, but his tone didn't allow any humour to leak through.

"Seriously, the best a Level 4 I fought managed to hold 30 percent damage, but you…", Will proceeded with a slight fervour, "Not only you halved that damage, you also took quite a distance from me, returning the favour to neutral. Any closer, I can just close the distance and cut those fins. You're quite good, Silver Crow."

"Uh, yeah…thanks?" Haruyuki loosened his stance and bashfully responded. It may have been a simple courtesy, then why did he not continue his assault? Looking back at their gauges, Haruyuki noticed and readied himself for charging.

"Wait, I'm not going to let you get back your special-attack gauge!"

Will cocked his head forward, as if spitting, "Tch, busted," He then gripped the sword on his hip with his free hand and spread his stance, special-attack gauge rose to about 45 percent, "Can't hurt to try, though, can I?!" Though no expression should form on his avatar, Haruyuki felt that Will was smiling…no, smirking.

Both duel avatars readied their combat position, distance a few metre. Will may have a longer reach with his swords, but Silver Crow should be resistant to them. If he were to shoot that beam again, Crow would just dodge the bullet again and charge at him with wings deployed at full speed. Haruyuki would not lose should this becomes a close-quarter combat, that much he was confident. And if there is an opening…

I'll grab and throw him to the air, Haruyuki resolved. He noticed Will slightly fidgeted, body bent towards Silver Crow. His right arm at his side, left arm covering his shest. He kicked the ground and leapt to Crow's right flank.

Beneath the yellow sky of the Purgatory stage, the sound of clashing between metals echoed.

Author's Note:

Gah! Finally some free time after all that stuff for universities. So, like the summary said, this is just a taster for my actual story, a test to make sure I could make a good fight scene. This chapter is mainly the introduction, explaining how and why Haruyuki met my OC. Yes, another OC for the Accel World fanfic section, joy oh joy. Then again, it's Kawahara-sensei's fault to have built such an expansive and interesting world, so full of possibilities.

I picked Silver Crow as the OC's opponent because he already has a defined ability, so it makes it easier to visualise the fight (no need to think how my other OCs would be described as well, but that's for another thing). I was thinking of picking Cyan Pile instead, but Taku is suffering enough already, so give him a break. If you feel Haruyuki is a bit OOC, feel free to comment on it!

Settings wise, this was set a few days after the 5th Chrome Disaster subjugation, after Haruyuki figured out how to deal with long-range type. Next chapter will be the real fight, so read and review if you like.