Pull of the Dark Nebula

by Reki Kawahara

  “Ooyah!” With a single battle cry, she took decisive action, sliding directly beneath him. Slipping along the water surface, she just barely managed to pass under the falling bulk and slip out behind him.

  Splooooosh! The sound of water filled the air, and a fountain of spray shot up. Showered in water droplets, she turned around and flew at Avocado, who was trying to get to his feet.

  It was the perfect chance for a counterattack, but any reckless kicks or punches would be absorbed by his soft armor and do no damage. Given how short his arms and legs were, they seemed sturdy; joint techniques were also hopeless.

  She took careful aim and launched a blow with all her might behind it for a direct hit on the real body of the avatar inside the armor. Avocado’s real body—she’d seen it once before—was a mere fifty centimeters around. This was buried in the center of the green shell that was a meter and a half around. In other words, to do damage to the real body, she had to pierce fifty centimeters of armor.

  The gym that Shihoko’s master Satomi went to was a so-called mixed–martial arts type, but for strikes, the foundation was Muay Thai techniques. Naturally, Shihoko had also been taught these, but for some reason, she’d only been given permission to use the left mid-kick, the left jump, and the right straight in a real fight. However, she had a modest pride in these techniques, given that she had practiced essentially an infinite number of times in the time that was essentially infinite in the Unlimited Neutral Field. In the Silver Crow fight before, as well, if it had been just close combat on the ground, there was also a moment when she could see that she would have taken the lead.

  The trick of the right straight punch according to Satomi: Brace your left foot like unh, twist your right heel like whup, fwwm your right hip around, bwam the force of rotation and your body weight behind it—and then kablam! Out in a straight line like you’re firing a massive gun from your right shoulder!!

  Faithfully following the excessively onomatopoeiaed instructions, Shihoko launched her right straight and dug deep, ever deeper into Avocado’s back as he was getting to his feet.

  The soft armor, with the viscosity and elasticity of bread dough allowed to rise once, caught her fist and tried to push it back. But Chocolat Puppeter’s armor was very smooth—almost Teflon—and her small fist gouged into the soft body, piercing it, and reached the avatar’s naked body.

  The feedback was more like she had pushed rather than punched, but Avocado’s pit—or rather main body—had basically zero defensive abilities, and his health gauge dropped over 10 percent. Once she pulled her arm out, the wound was filled in, so she gave up on a follow-up attack and got some distance.

  “Now I have turned the tables, Avocado!” she shouted, a sad attempt at a challenge, and made both of them check his gauge before whirling on her heel. She ran for the station building adjacent to the plaza.

  “I…don’t lose!” Avocado shouted from behind as he stood and set off after her in hot pursuit.

  The building was only a frame, but the stairs were there just like she remembered. She flew up the bare concrete steps, racing toward the top floor. Avocado gave chase, making the entire structure shake.

  The roof was a flat surface, a latticework of gaps. Satomi and Yume were at the very far edge. She stopped to respond to their cheers by striking a tough pose and then dashed in the direction of the plaza along the lattice structure.

  “You won’t get away, Choco!!” Avocado rushed out headlong from the staircase, roaring. He slipped a couple times, but given that he was bigger than the gaps in the latticework, he didn’t fall down but rather half tripped his way over to Shihoko.

  The station building was about fifteen meters tall. Although there was water below, it was shallow, so if Chocolat Puppeter fell, she wouldn’t walk away unscathed. Meanwhile, Avocado would no doubt be unharmed in a fall thanks to his thick, soft armor. Which was exactly why he had chased after her without a second thought.

  “Come, Avocado Avoider!!” On the northern edge of the roof, she stood on the thirty-centimeter frame and waggled the outstretched fingers of her hand beckoningly.

  “I…win!!” With this simple declaration, Avocado threw his arms out and dashed toward her. His strategy was probably to grab hold of her and then fall together. This time, there was no space for her to slip underneath him, and he was nearly three meters wide with his arms out, so it would be hard to dodge to either side in front of him.

  But Shihoko was calm as she stood waiting for Avocado. The massive egg filled her field of view. She could hear Satomi and Yume yelling for her to get out of the way.

  Not yet. She would draw him in further. Shihoko waited until Avocado was close enough that he could no longer stop himself.

  “Now!” The moment she had carefully set her sights on was here; she jumped back.

  Naturally, there was no foothold there. Shihoko began to drop soundlessly. If she kept going and hit the ground, she wouldn’t be able to avoid serious damage. But her hands caught onto the edge of the frame passing before her eyes, and using the force of the reaction, she swung her feet in ahead of her and yanked herself up through a gap in the lattice with something along the lines of a gymnastics move.

  Directly ahead of her feet was Avocado’s back. She used her toes to push him with everything she had, and the heavyweight avatar leapt from the roof.

  “I’m falling!” he announced faithfully before disappearing from her sight.

  Having climbed up onto the frame once again, Shihoko stared down at the falling Avocado. A second later, the massive body slammed into the water in the plaza, atomizing the liquid into jets of frothy spray. His soft armor was completely flattened, and just as she’d expected, this absorbed the majority of the impact so that Avocado was essentially unharmed.

  However, this situation—this moment—was precisely what Shihoko had been aiming for. Avocado’s impact had displaced enough water to lay bare a circle of tiled earth more than ten meters across. It would of course be covered again soon enough, but she only needed a few seconds.

  Brandishing her hand high above her head, she turned her index finger toward the dry land and shouted, “Cocoa Fountain!!”

  A shining brown pond welled up immediately next to Avocado. She yanked her finger up and yelled, “From there…Puppet Maker!!”

  The pond instantly contracted, and a human shape made of chocolate sprang forth from its center. Shihoko gave orders to the automatic doll, whose face shone with a flower pattern. “Chocopet! Evade attack!!”

  Avocado had finally gotten back up. He had no sooner noticed the Chocopet standing in a defensive posture next to him than he was thrusting both hands out and opening his massive mouth. “I…eat choco!”

  Since the Chocopet could only use striking techniques, it had no way of doing damage to Avocado. Meanwhile, Avocado Avoider could bite down on the avatar whole with his mouth, which was rumored to be filled with a void.

  Thus, Shihoko had ordered the Chocopet to focus on evasion, but it wouldn’t be able to keep that up for long. If it could keep Avocado’s attention for twenty—no, ten seconds, though, that would be plenty.

  From the roof fifteen meters up, she stared at Avocado chasing the Chocopet. It might have been the Accelerated World, but she was honestly afraid. She’d never once jumped of her own will from somewhere this high up. But she had been knocked down from a place many times higher up than this. And Shihoko had learned then that while there was the risk of instant death, the vast energy that a fall from up high generated could also be a powerful weapon. Next time, she would ask Silver Crow to take her as high up as he could ascend.

  She stretched out her right foot, toes pointed sharply. Below, she saw that Avocado had finally succeeded in capturing the Chocopet and was opening his large mouth to devour it.

  From the edge of the plaza, Magenta Scissor, who had been watching quietly up to that point, shouted sharply, “Avo! Above!!” They were a tag team, so it wasn’t particularly a breach of etiquette to give
him advice. But it was too late.

  “Hanga…?” Avocado Avoider made a strange sound as he started to look up at the sky.

  And then Shihoko’s foot stabbed into the top of the egg-shaped avatar. Chocolat Puppeter’s slender and relatively smooth, slippery leg gouged ever deeper into Avocado’s soft armor, which had defended against even the full weight of Silver Crow’s spiral kick, and the tips of her toes touched the real body hidden deep inside. This time, she felt a definite sense of impact, and Avocado’s health gauge dropped 20 percent all at once.

  “O-ow!!” Avocado shrieked and released the Chocopet to try to grab ahold of Shihoko piercing his head. But his arms were too short and couldn’t reach her. Meanwhile, Shihoko fought the peristalsis of the soft armor trying to push her leg back out and ground the tips of her toes into the main body.

  “Now admit that you’re in quite the bind! Otherwise, I’ll make it hurt even more!” Shihoko thought about it, and then thought some more, and decided I kind of don’t like how that sounds.

  “N-no!” Avocado was flailing out of control, but he had a surprising stubborn streak. “I…will fight Choco more. More!”

  “Then I guess I have no choice!” Hardening her heart, Shihoko put every bit of strength she had into a kick to smash Avocado’s body.

  “Avo! That’s enough!!” The cry echoed across the plaza. The owner of the voice was Magenta Scissor. She was walking toward them with her arms crossed, both her knives back on her hips. Avocado froze, and Shihoko hung her head, still stabbing into the top of the other avatar.

  “I lose…,” Avocado announced, slumping to sit on the spot, so Shihoko pulled her foot out and jumped down from his head.

  They still had half the duel time left. She stepped back together with the precious Chocopet she’d finally been able to summon and stared at the approaching Magenta. She’d managed somehow to get a victory by decision over Avocado, but Magenta was still essentially unharmed. This was the real start of the duel—or so she thought.

  Magenta came to a stop next to Avocado and patted him near the top where the hole was still open as she spoke in a curt but warm voice, “You did your best there, Avo. Choco was a cut above today, but you’ll be able to fight much better next time.”

  “Next time…,” Avocado murmured, whirling around on the fulcrum of his butt. “Choco. Will you come again?”

  “Uh…Um.” She was unconsciously stuck for an answer, but with those tiny eye lenses staring hard at her, she got the feeling that she couldn’t just simply refuse. She cleared her throat and put her hands on her hips. “W-well, if the spirit moves me, I suppose I could do you the favor of coming again.”

  “Yay!” Avocado Avoider waved both arms wildly. “Next time, I eat—no, win!!”

  A transparent smile rose up on Magenta Scissor’s face for the merest instant, a smile that quickly became challenging as she turned to look at Shihoko. “Now…what’ll you do, Choco? You wanna keep the duel going with me as your opponent? Or do you want to have your chat or whatever?”

  As a Burst Linker, she should perhaps reply, “I will fight, of course!” But her opponent still had plenty of energy to spare. If Magenta was willing to listen to what she had to say, then she had to take advantage of this opportunity.

  “Well then, I would ask that you hear what I have to say,” Shihoko responded, and Magenta waved her hand, urging her to speak then. She took a step forward and a deep breath, but then her throat closed up like it was glued shut. She frantically tried to open her mouth, but her throat was spasming so hard that she couldn’t make a sound no matter how she tried.

  There was no way for involuntary movement to happen to an avatar in a virtual world. It wasn’t her flesh-and-blood body shrinking; it was her spirit. Right. Chocolat Puppeter’s high-handed way of speaking was no doubt a mask to hide her own shyness.

  Shihoko was extremely bad at handling conflict. She held her breath at school so that she wouldn’t stand out, and if she sensed trouble brewing, she left the scene immediately. She feigned an agreeable smile in front of everyone, and even if something made her mad, she would never let it show. Even with her own parents, she had gotten into the habit of being one step ahead so that they wouldn’t get angry with her. She thought that she let her true self out with Satomi and Yume, but that could have just been her deluding herself.

  She had told her friends that the mental trauma that was the resource for her duel avatar Chocolat Puppeter was the fact that she had been allergic to chocolate since she was small, and she herself 90 percent believed that. But…what if…perhaps the armor with the scent, texture, and taste of chocolate was an expression of her desire not to be hated? Perhaps the mask of the friendly smile that Shihoko wore in the real world had produced her sweets avatar in the Accelerated World.

  If that was the case, it was deeply ironic that she was finally able to act freely by wearing a high-handed and antagonistic mask with this avatar. Or was she actually just doing the same kind of performance as in the real world? Had she been stifling herself all this time in this world, too? What on earth was the “real” her?

  “Magenta.” Before she knew it, the stiffness had vanished from her mouth, and Shihoko spoke her former nemesis’s name. “Indeed, I— The truth is: I didn’t really like duels too much.”

  Magenta was staring hard at her. Taking in the powerful gaze emitted by the invisible eye lenses, Shihoko continued, without noticing that at some point she had adopted her usual real-world tone, “All this time, I thought it was enough if I could just have fun hanging out with my friends in this world cut off from reality. But…Brain Burst is a fighting game, so I can’t keep running away from the fights forever. There’s going to come a time when I’ll have to fight to stay in this world. And lately, I’ve been thinking that you’re the one who made me realize that, Magenta.”

  “How incredibly spoiled you are,” Magenta said coolly, lips twisting up. “I mean, all of you, you fought any number of duels to reach level five, right? In the process, you stole plenty of points from other Burst Linkers. I’m not saying that’s bad or anything. But now you stand here, telling me you just forgot about all the Burst Linkers you stepped on so you could pal around having fun; I mean, you gotta be kidding me.”

  The anger in Magenta Scissor’s words cut through Shihoko’s heart and made it ache painfully. But it was only natural that when one person and another person slammed their individual truths up against each other, there would be anger—and pain. They couldn’t communicate their true feelings if she kept avoiding that.

  “I…guess…up to now, I’ve only been thinking of us. I’ve just been like, it’s fine as long as we’re having fun. But after meeting you and your friends, Magenta Scissor, and Crow and them, I understand. I was given power in order to fight, and if the time comes when I should fight, then I have to fight. In order to be a Burst Linker…and to protect the things I want to protect. That feeling…it’s the same for you, isn’t it?”

  Magenta pursed her lips tightly and raised a hand with its tapered nails, as if to grab the center of her chest covered in the ribbon armor. The place where a jet-black eye had once parasitized her. “I don’t have a single thing I wanna protect in this twisted world. But if we’re talking things I want to destroy, I can’t even count how many of those I have,” she spat, her voice like ice.

  “Liar!” Shihoko shouted, putting her own hand to her chest in the same way. “At the very least, you want to protect Avocado! That’s why you sought power, isn’t it?!”

  “Don’t talk like you know me! You and your cute avatar and your powerful abilities, what would you know?!”

  “I do know! I love Min-Min and Pliko, too! And that feeling has to be there inside you, too!!”

  “If you say any more stupid stuff—!” Magenta’s hand flashed out to clasp onto the grip of her knife.

  But in that instant, Avocado Avoider opened his massive mouth and roared at an incredible volume, “I…love Magenta!!” Surprisingly large tears
spilled from his tiny eye lenses, and the egg-shaped duel avatar shouted, “I like Choco, too…And Crow…So I want to fight! I want to fight lots more. I want to get strong and be friends!!”

  “…Avo…” Magenta Scissor called her partner’s name in a stifled voice, and the tension drained from her body bit by bit. Pulling her hand away from her knife, she gently stroked Avocado’s armor. When she lifted her face and looked at Shihoko, she asked, the anger in her voice faded, “Chocolat Puppeter, you…What do you want from us?”

  “I want you,” Shihoko said, placing her other hand over the one on her chest, “to fight the Acceleration Research Society with us—with Nega Nebulus.”

  10

  “You damned bird—I mean, you damned Silver Crow!!” the skull-faced rider yelled, straddling the large American motorcycle and thrusting out a tightly clenched fist. “Today, for sure, I’m putting our fighting to The End!!”

  “That’s just what I was hoping for, Ash—I mean, Ash Roller!!” Haruyuki thrust his own fist up as he waited for the motorcycle charging forward, exhaust jetting from the muffler. “Let’s finish this…On this day, the end of the first term!!”

  Saturday, July 20, 2047. 7:50 AM. Once again, the regular Ash-Crow battle was taking place on Ring Road No. 7, which cut north-south through Suginami Area No. 3.

  That afternoon was the Legion merger meeting with Prominence, and that evening was the long-awaited trip to Minato Ward Area No. 3; it was an important day with the decisive battle with Oscillatory Universe ahead. Haruyuki thought he should maybe take at least today off from his regular duel with Ash Roller and save his energy, but they couldn’t allow the Oscillatory side to get wind of the Territories’ attack by some chance. Given that, he decided he should avoid doing anything different from usual, and so Haruyuki had accepted Ash’s challenge.