Event 0: The Blue Ordeal

[Royal Duke]

Machine Slots:

#1: Teal Hero (Driver), Eternity Moment (Passenger), Ghost Seeker (Passenger)
#2: Harlequin Martyr (Driver), Chaos Reaper (Passenger), Eminence Puppeteer (Passenger)
#3: Turquoise Protector (Driver), Gorse Theory (Passenger)
#4: Madras Horror (Driver), Damson Incinerator (Passenger)
#5: Regimental Samurai (Driver), Jonquil Shadow (Passenger)

The moment the Transport cards were used, you instantly transformed into your Duel Avatars and appear inside your shuttles. There... You were greeted with an otherwordly sight.

The entirety of Tokyo had been flooded by the rise of the sea level, but unlike the Ocean stage, where there was no sight of buildings, many hotel resorts and skyscrappers made of waterproof material had been built, alongside with above-water roads. Thus, its name was 'Flooded Resort'. A place for the weary and tired rich of the future to relax, enjoying the strange combination of skyscrappers and amphitheatres with clear blue water.

Also-

-”Uooh! They're here! Hero, go and kick ass! Protector, don't slack off either!”

-”Incinerator, make sure to burn them to ashes!”

-”Moment-chan, good luck~!”

-”Samurai, Shadow! I bet two thousand yen on you two so you better win!”

They were greeted with cheers from all sorts of directions. Apparently, transportation cards for gallery attendants had been distributed for free by the system. As the game was in its intial stages, this was most likely the very first large scale commemorative Event of the game Brain Burst. Nearly all Burst Linkers, even those strong enough to form their own Legions attended this Event, either to look at promising newcomers to fill their ranks with or to see what their future opponents will be capable of.

In other words... Whoever reaches the finish line first, will do so in front of all the Burst Linkers of Tokyo.

While the rest of the teams were getting ready, a yellow coloured Duel Avatar approaches Turquoise Protector. His shape is nothing out of the ordinary. If one had to define him, the word 'expendable mook' would be the first thing that'd spring to mind. A slim, thin body, with equally thin armor. A closer inspection revealed he was unarmed, meaning he posessed no means for direct battle either.

Yet for some reason, Protector couldn't help but feel this Duel Avatar had a trump card, no, the pressure he emitted did not match at all with the impression he gave.

-”Greetings. I'm Gorse Theory, member of the Legion 'Argo Navis'. A pleasure to meet you.'

A few days ago, Turquoise Protector had recieved a message from one of the people who had him on his watch list, 'Oxide Lock'. In trade for being able to gain fame as a Legion by winning the race and the extra points, he would dispatch one of his best suited members.

And so, this strange Avatar was dispatched. Protector recalled having heard his name once or twice during Gallery discussions as a 'super annoying to fight bastard'. That had to be a good thing, right?

-”... L-let's do our best, Protector. I... I'll guide us to victory. All you have to do is pay attention to my instructions, and we'll win this... I guess?”

**

And thus, the machines automatically made their way to the starting line. The #1 shuttle, coloured in the same colour as the Suginami Hero's armor. The #2 shuttle, coloured the same as the strange Duel Avatar, Harlequin Martyr. #3, coloured in blue and carrying the strange pair of blue and yellow who did not meet prior to the race. #4, carrying the Duel Avatar with most firepower of the race, and #5, the purple coloured shuttle which seemed to be in the largest disadvantage.

A screen appeared in front of the drivers, showing a numerical display of the total remaining health of the ship as well as the state of its parts at the right, while at the left a speedometer was displayed, and right below it the total amount of km left. At the same time, the signal stoplight's first red light flared up.

The crowd's cheers roared higher as the second red light flared up as well.

The machines roared with a realiable sound as the third green light as about to light up.

And then...

The green light shone, allowing the machines to shoot forward like bullets-!

[Sado Ikaru]

Theme Song: Vergil's Theme - UMvCIII

«Regimental Samurai» wasted no time. Just before the race started, he decided to equip «Steel Shoulder Guards», «Regimental Katana», and «Chrome Wakizashi» in case he needed them.

As soon as the green light lit up, «Samurai» shifted the vehicle into gear. And we're off! Luckily, «Samurai» has been driving for the last year. Hopefully, «Samurai» had that advantage over most of the other Drivers.

[Zagrin]

So this was a car, of course Hero had been in one before, but that was in the backseat with his mom driving, so actually being in the front was a whole new experience for him. He was actually going to drive a car, and his mom said he was too young to drive shows what she knows!

Better yet this car was the same colour as him, as though it had been made specifically for him to use, indeed he felt a sort of kinship with the car, as though it wished to bring justice upon evildoers just as much as he! Truly this car to him was what the batmobile was to batman!

And not only thing, he now even had his own Hero team! Eternity Moment from the Christmas event he had attended a couple days ago as well as someone called Ghost Seeker, whom he really never met before, but his name was pretty cool so it didn't matter, both agreed to join his team! Yes with the help of this car and his team he was sure he would be able to win this race!

Now their was just a matter of starting this thing...well when his mother ever properly drove she normally pushed down on that pedal down there and used the wheel to steer...well here goes nothing!

"UWOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! LET'S WIN THIS, TEAM! JUSTICEMOBILE, ROLL OUT!"

With that shout of certainty, Hero literally pushed down the pedal to the metal causing the car to swiftly accelerate and take off!

[Dranes]

Ghost Seeker was a new arrival to the Accel World so it wasn't surprising that he didn't have people cheering as they did for the other duel avatars, a relative unknown that was dwarfed by the prestigious of those around him. Then again that did suit him just fine, he wasn't one to strive for attention in the end after all.

He glanced to his two teammates as he entered the vehicle, one was Eternity Moment, a friend of his that actually got him to join this team. If it wasn't for her, he probably wouldn't be at this Race to begin with, there seemed to be little point to join it by yourself after all. The other avatar was someone new to him however, blue in color, he seemed to be gittery as he entered the vehicle as if he couldn't hold his excitement.

Wait...why did this seem like it was going to-

"UWOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! LET'S WIN THIS, TEAM! JUSTICEMOBILE, ROLL OUT!"

"WHAAAAT THE HEEEEEEEEEEEELL?!"

That was all the pale avatar could shout as the car sped off, gripping to the seat as the sudden acceleration pushed him into his seat. He looked to the driver before to Eternity, slightly shocked and confused.

This was going to be a long day it seemed.

[Kerubin]

Sooo......we're all in a Car, and I'm stuck with a Green DA as the Driver and another Purple DA like him, but in a much Darker Shade. Chaos Reaper would think to himself as he's in the front Passenger Seat.

He would take a moment to look in his Inventory and noticed that he got Lightning Gadget's Lightning Boots and another Weapon, called "Turquoise Blade."

Hmmm.....what do these Enhanced Armaments do?? Just for future Reference. Chaos Reaper would think to himself as he looked at what they did, first looking at the Lightning Boots, which gave him the ability to grind on Rails.

I wonder how Arashi's doing?? He would ask himself, since this is the Enhanced Armament that Lightning Gadget used against him, and he had ended up with Gadget's EA.

"Hey, name's Chaos Reaper, how about you guys?" He would ask calmly with a somewhat happy tone.

[Nakara]

Madras Horror was surprised to see as many people come as did after all who would want to come watch a bunch of weaklings race. Still this meant the winner would become quite famous in the accelerated world, something that might be helpful at a later time. Recognizing the dark colored vehicle number four as his own Madras Horror made his way to it and got in.

As he prepared to start the race Madras Horror looked around at the crowd. "Lots of people here today huh," he said to his teammate Damson Incinerator. Having witnessed Damsons abilities in the Christmas event Madras Horror had been sure to secure him as an ally in this race. "Well I guess we should get going then," Horror said as he noticed the race about to begin and took off in his vehicle borrowing on his experience driving in real life to try and get an edge.

[Eminence Puppeteer]

"Eminence Puppeteer, nice to meet you both. And thank-you for having me along."

The purple avatar bows his head slightly, trying to sound as pleasant as possible.
Makoto had just managed to get himself a place in this exclusive event and planned to make the best of it.

"Exclusive event means exclusive rewards~" He thought, summoning his <<purple puppet>> next to him in the back of the oddly coloured vehicle.

"Martyr-san, Reaper-san, let's do our best and win ok~?"

The lights flick red 'bing', 'bing', then green 'Bing!' Engines roar as the vehicles spring to life-

Fighting off the overwhelming force pushing back on him, the avatar braces his puppet, readying an attempt to gain his team an early lead.

[Belzera]

The crowd was a surprise for Martyr, a major one as his parent had always told him that Brain Burst had hundreds of players but he had never been willing to actually believe her until now.

"So many people"

He mutters as he places his hands onto the wheel before leaning back into his seat his eyes darting from left to right taking in his opponents vehicles each one a different colour, obviously matching their drivers own colours after all his had turned green to match him he could only wonder if his passengers understood the colourings better than him.

He glances up into the mirror as one of his passengers speaks up in a joyful tone before he gives the man called Chaos Reaper a small salute.

"I'm Harlequin Martyr, I'll be your driver today just a heads up this will be a rough ride"

He says with a chuckle in his rough voice before he grips the wheel tightly his foot hovering above gas pedal as the vehicle hovers at the start line, his eyes fixated on the green light, starting to count down readying for the green light.

"3... 2... 1... Lets go Jokers!"

He shouts out as his foot hits the pedal and the vehicle accelerates forward at full force.

[EmeraldStag]

Damson looked around at the Burst Linkers in the stands and could hardly believe so many were here at one time. It was completely different from the Duels he was used, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. In his head, he was hoping someone would be in there...but knew it was no use in searching. Shaking his head, he took his seat next to Madras Horror.

"Lots of people here today huh."

"Yeah. It feels so strange having so many other Burst Linkers in one place."

Silence took the both of them for a moment, during so, Damson went through his Menu and equpied his EA Gulf Saw, which appeared on his arm. With Flame Waker in his other hand, he was prepared to go. The countdown then began.

"Well, I guess we should get going then."

Saying that, the light went green and they went racing forward with the rest of the participants.

[Destination]

As Turquoise Protector's Transportation card took him away from the Blue World and into another one...

While the rest of the teams were getting ready, a yellow coloured Duel Avatar approaches Turquoise Protector. His shape is nothing out of the ordinary. If one had to define him, the word 'expendable mook' would be the first thing that'd spring to mind. A slim, thin body, with equally thin armor. A closer inspection revealed he was unarmed, meaning he posessed no means for direct battle either. 

Yet for some reason, Protector couldn't help but feel this Duel Avatar had a trump card, no, the pressure he emitted did not match at all with the impression he gave.


”Greetings. I'm Gorse Theory, member of the Legion 'Argo Navis'. A pleasure to meet you.'


A few days ago, Turquoise Protector had recieved a message from one of the people who had him on his watch list, 'Oxide Lock'. In trade for being able to gain fame as a Legion by winning the race and the extra points, he would dispatch one of his best suited members.

And so, this strange Avatar was dispatched. Protector recalled having heard his name once or twice during Gallery discussions as a 'super annoying to fight bastard'. That had to be a good thing, right?

-”... L-let's do our best, Protector. I... I'll guide us to victory. All you have to do is pay attention to my instructions, and we'll win this... I guess?”

--Gorse Theory.

When Protector had received the PM from Oxide Lock, he was confused as to what 'Theory' meant. Even after going through his English materials, all he could get was that 'Theory' came from 理論 and its conjugations.

In other words: he has no idea how this passenger of his will play.

"...nice to meet you. I'm Turquoise Protector, please take care of me."

With his avatar standing a head taller than Gorse Theory, it felt odd to bow, so Protector merely nodded. Theory responded in kind and gestured at the waiting car...

Just as Protector remembered, the car, originally a neutral grey colour, was now dyed completely blue-green, the exact same colour as his armour. Hopping into the driver's seat, he studies the controls: steering wheel, accelerator, brakes, clutch pedal and a gear handle. This was manual. 

The car shuddered slightly as Gorse Theory entered as well. Fanfare from the spectators echoed all around, and once or twice Protector swore he could have heard his name shouted. Could one of them be her?

A slight smile appears on his face.

"UWOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! LET'S WIN THIS, TEAM! JUSTICEMOBILE, ROLL OUT!"

Looking to his left and right, Protector quickly realised the other teams were starting too. A sharp tap on his shoulder underscored that point.

"Let's move!!"

Depress clutch. Gear One. Release clutch and jam that pedal--!

The acceleration squeezes his chest for air! Right as the #1 car takes off, so does Turquoise's car in the center! 

[Katie]

"UWOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! LET'S WIN THIS, TEAM! JUSTICEMOBILE, ROLL OUT!"

"WHAAAAT THE HEEEEEEEEEEEELL?!"

Eternity Moment didn't even bat an eye when Teal Hero cranked it up at full speed. Instead she simply turned to look at Ghost Seeker and shrugged, as if there wasn't anything wrong with a particularly... eager person driving.

To be honest, she would have rather had someone else driving, but beggars could not be choosers. Rather neutral about the area (she would admit the Flooded Resort could make a nice dating spot if it didn't seem so... conditional) she concentrated on the screen which she could see from behind Teal Hero.

Health bars for the vehicle. That's all she needed to know.

She got up and looked over the sides, pointing her guns at the vehicle that was labeled #2. Right now this was the initial acceleration, but she had a plan in mind. She could easily lead the shot with Time Piercer and land a blow, abusing its skill for the very purpose of winning.

That's why she was here. To win.

She pointed Time Piercer and aimed it roughly 10 meters in front of the car, and fired. She shot into the future, and eagerly hoped her bullet would hit its mark.

"Seeker-kun, I'm sorry that we have... Hero driving, but understand we do have to make the best of this."

------

Spoiler:

[R4yleonard]

The race has started. His decision of teaming up with fellow veteran, Regimental Samurai, can't be withdrawn. He doesn't know if this is a good decision. There's nothing he can do, but to trust his driving skills while trying to do what he can

Already equipping his Steel Shoulder Guard and Shadow Gun before the race start, Shadow tries to aim his gun to any opponents near him, namely the driver of vehicle #4. While the HP is locked, the pain will still be felt. This was his aim, to distract the driver with pain.

"Tries to keep this thing steady!"


Note : I'm assuming we starts like this

---------------------
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

[Royal Duke]

(r4y is in fact right)

As the shuttles reached top speed, it would seem no incident would happen during the first few seconds of the race. Under the cheers of the Gallery, the speedometers soon reached the mark of 200 km/h and stayed there-

That is, until #2's front left thruster suddenly was impacted by a bullet that appeared out of nowhere, making it malfunction for a mere fraction of a second. Even so, that amoumnt of time was enough to be outran by the rest of the vehicles going at top speed.

At the same time, #4's driver was hit by a bullet, inflicting a negligible amount of pain. However, the bullet bounced off inside the car towards the driving panel, causing a momentary malfunction that shuttle #5 easily took advantage of.

As the starting line was left behind and the Gallery seats moving along with the shuttles, there were three ships on the lead: #1, #3, and #5. #4 was lagging a second behind, while #2 had taken a heavy impact and as a result was, for the time being, stuck in last place with a few seconds of difference from the top.

-"#2, hang in there!"

-"Samurai go go go! Don't make my money go to waste you bastards!"

-"Hero, make me some easy cash!"

-"Oi, Theory! I bet five thousand on you, so you better not fuck up!"

It appeared that some sort of betting underground had been set up by a few players in an attempt to make a profit from the race, and thus far it had been pretty successful. In the Gallery seats one could see always one or two Linkers busily running around, taking notes.

How would it end? From this moment onwards, none could tell-!

Status:

#1 shuttle: 100% Health.

Eternity Moment - Killer Gauge: 8%

#2 shuttle: 90% Health

#3 shuttle: 100%

#4 shuttle: 98%

#5 shuttle: 100%

Jonquil Shadow - Killer Gauge: 2%

[Destination]

Blamblamblam!

As the #3 car ran at what seemed to be its maximum speed (at 6th gear), the one thing Protector was concerned about was losing control of the car. At such a speed, even the smallest slip would cost him a lot of distance...

...well, was. The reports of gunshots made his blood run cold.

--If I wasn't driving, the only way to even think about defending myself and Theory is to stick myself out of the car...

As the cars by his side slip behind, Protector knows full well the next target of #1 and #5 will be him. More out of desperation than anything, he turns his head slightly and yells to his passenger:

"Oi Theory! I hope you have a plan for this!"

Keeping the pedal to the metal and his eyes glued to the road, Protector drove and prayed--

[Eminence Puppeteer]

PANG!

The small puppeteer was thrown forward and back again as an impact to the left thruster made the vehicle jerk violently.

He cursed, eyeing the culprit- car #1.

The other vehicle seemed to leap ahead- Puppeteer yanked on his strings causing the marionette, which was hanging precariously over the side of the vehicle, to chatter violently and shoot two arcs of crimson flame towards the responsible transport.

[EmeraldStag]

The speed. The Acceleration. The wind blowing his cape. Going this fast, it made him feel as if the world were rushing past him, as if he were riding the wind. He took a moment to look around and thoroughly appreciate the scenery around them. The sparkling waters; the hotel-like buildings that were flooded yet still looked wonderful and inviting. If only she could see this... Shaking his head for the second time that day, he refocused his mind on the race- A shot rang out from the car next to them.

Damson could hear the bullet hitting it's mark on his partner. Then he ducked down as the bullet ricocheted in the car. The health of their car went down a bit. Dammit! He thought. We're already lagging behind... He looked over to Madras and yelled:

"Hey! You better be alright!I'm gonna return fire!"

Without saying anything more, he brought up his Flame Waker. He fires 4 fire balls at the # 5 car. He hopes they it, to cause either a distraction or something so that they could get a lead. He lightly ponders if his KM would even be useful on this stage...

[Nakara]

"Ow why are they shooting at me, you're supposed to hit the car," Madras Horror complained as Shadows bullet struck him. Then he saw the bullet strike the control panels of his vehicle causing them to malfunction. As he worked to get the vehicle back under control Madras Horror couldn't help but sigh at the extra work.

Then Madras Horror heard Damson yell "Hey! You better be alright!I'm gonna return fire!"

"Yeah I'm fine heath gauges are locked so it just stings a little no big deal," Madras Horror replied keeping his attention on the number 5 car looking for an opportunity to pass them.

[Belzera]

Martyr let out a load scream of anger as one of the hovering devices cut out for a moment cuasing the vehicle to swerve and slow, it wasn't helped any further by Martyrs' attempts to straighten the vehicle just as the hovering device kicked back in. Gritting his teeth he slams his foot hard onto the pedal and focuses on the car ahead of him, moving his vehicle in behind it, trying to follow its path to help the vehicle catch up, a principle he had read about in school, using the vehicle ahead to cut a path through the air and lower the air restistance of the vehicle.

"Good job Puppeteer, don't let up"

He shouts out as flame burns through the sky and with a chuckle as it clicks that the vehicles where destructable, if they weren't he wouldn't of lost control for that short moment.

"Time for some Martyrdom"

He mutters to himself as his armour glows brightly with a harlequin glow, this was going to make this race an endurance race for him but... the vehicle would last longer. He lifts one hand off of the steering wheel and points to the dash board of the vehicle which moments later starts to glow with a harlequin green glow as he links himself to the vehicle and regrips the wheel of the vehicle.

"Be careful what you hit guys"

He mutters trying not to shout it out as he continued to try and stay right behind Car 4.

[Kerubin]

Tch, we got hit already huh, guess somebody's not wasting time in trying to killing us off the race....there's no roof sooo.... Chaos Reaper would think to himself as he got an Idea.

Let's see how they like getting their Hover Wheels being cut off.... Chaos Reaper would think to himself as he enveloped his Dual-Edge Scythe in a Midnight Black Aura and swings forward while standing up, keeping his Balance. "Chaos Breaker." He would say calmly but with a low voice so that nobody could hear him.

Upon launching the Energy Wave, he swings it slightly downwards to give it a Downward Angle towards #4's Hover Wheel.

Without your Hover Wheels, you can't race, simple as that...... Chaos Reaper would think to himself as he watched the Energy Wave head towards the car out of sight from the Rear View Mirror, and towards the Hover Wheel.

[Katie]

Blue Rose. A new item for her to play with.

Eternity Moment had received the item from Teal Hero via request; they needed to slow down the enemy and fast. The two fireballs crashed into the ship without delay, and Eternity Moment would have said something particularly rude were she less restrained.

"Seeker-kun, see if you can smash anything into their way. I'll take care of those who think they can take us down so easily."

Immediately, Eternity Moment looked over the walls of the vehicle and glared at car #2, and pointed the Enhanced Armament at it. Almost instantly, it froze, drastically reducing the enemy's speed. This would make their presence in the race negligible; it would be hard to catch up after this.

Sighing, she turned to glance at the other cars, waiting to see if any other problems would arise.

Spoiler:

[Royal Duke]

The first volleys of the race are fired-!


First, the purple coloured puppet launches a barrage of fireballs at the #1 shuttle, while the dark coloured reaper launches an attack towards #4 shuttle. With this kind of strategy, they can surely recover from damage-


Or perhaps not so soon. Their ship is soon covered in a layer of ice which prevents the boosters from functioning at top speed, and a hard decision is to be taken. The two passengers quickly move to the side, shifting the ship's balance so it will crash against the guard rail.

With a deafening sound, the ship bounces off and the ice layer is shattered, returning the shuttle back to top speed without much damage. But...


Chaos Reaper is nowhere to be found anymore, and bubbles can be seen a few metres away from the site of the clash.


At the same time, ship #4 takes a heavy impact to the left rear thruster that temporarily shuts it down, making it lose speed. However, ship #5 has too taken heavy damage from Damson Incinerator's assault, making it lose speed as well.


The overall result is the following:


#3 shuttle has taken no damage and is in top condition, while the rest have all taken some form of damage; #1 is nose to nose with the two. #5 is right behind, with #4 following it in an attempt to slipstream past it, and #2 is still last, but has managed to save face at the cost of losing a crewmate...


**


Chaos Reaper
Location: Flooded Resort


Health Gauge: 95%
Killer Gauge: 20%


The entire world is blue the moment his body hits the water, taking some light damage in the process.

Wait, damage?


His Health Gauge did no longer have the [LOCKED] word on top of it, indicating that now he was back to normal.


As he pondered what that meant... Suddenly, in the depths of the resort, various eyes registered the presence of a Burst Linker in their territory. The sound of many gaping mouths ready to
tear away meat, of tentacles ready to latch onto their prey and not let go until his breathing ceases, and...


A pair of red eyes light in the darkness, belonging to a beast extinct long ago, with teeth large as knives and a voracious appetite.


He did not even have time to feel pain. His skull was instantly crushed between its gargantuan jaws along with his virtual muscle and bone.


[CHAOS REAPER IS RETIRED!]

***

Shuttle #1: 95%

Eternity Moment's Killer Gauge: 12%

Shuttle #2: 88%

Eminence Puppeteer's Killer Gauge: 4%

Shuttle #3: 100%

Shuttle #4: 88%

Damson Incinerator's Killer Gauge: 8%

Shuttle #5: 90%

Jonquil Shadow's KG: 2%

[Eminence Puppeteer]

Puppeteer stares blankly as the bubbles cease to surface.

As if being last was not enough, they were now *more* last and an avatar down.

Puppeteer dismisses 'Purple Puppet' and crouches low being Harlequin Martyr, now the vehicle should be lighter and more aerodynamic than the others.

"Well things aren't looking too good Martyr-san but there is plenty of time to make it back."

[Nakara]

"Good job Damson keep it up and we should get past these guys soon," Madras Horror said as he looked for a chance to pass the number 5 car. With the number two car now well behind them now Madras Horror figured that it would be safe to focus on only getting past the people in front of them. "Well time to start being aggressive I guess," Madras Horror thought as he attempted a pass.

[EmeraldStag]

Damson nodded back.

"It was nothing really, but damn that last attack... Oh well." A pause.
"Hey, I'm gonna take another couple of pot shots at them."  

Damson took aim again at car #5. Just like in those FPS games....lead the shots.....lead the shots.... He fired another volley of 4 shots at them. Half of his ammo has been consumed of th total 16 shots. The Gulf saw on his arm continued to hum and sputter, as if it were somewhat impatient, reminding Damson that he had it on him. For now though, he had to concentrate on the ones in front of him.

[Sado Ikaru]

Hold on to something. Noting that they were being targeted, «Samurai» veered to the side in hopes of dodging the incoming fireballs.

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