Kirito

In the year 2025, a relatively new game on the amusphere called Gun Gale Online was experiencing a peculiar crisis. A player had claimed his rise to infamy under the alias "Death Gun" after killing two top players in the game. What made these kills interesting is one simple fact: the victims were found dead in real life from heart failure after dying in the game. The amusphere was designed not to have the capabilities to kill a player through heart failure. The situation required the attention of a top player from another game with the same issue: SAO.

Upon hearing about the incidents and the payment for his active investigation, Kirigaya Kazuto, who was better known online as Kirito, agreed to jump into the world of GGO to investigate the case. His SAO data loaded and his items erased, he jumped into the world of smoke, rust, and oil from a hospital room where he would be monitored during his dive. When he arrived, he was shocked to find that his avatar was the M-9000 type, a model that made him look like a girl in appearance. This was able to fool almost everyone who saw him, even Sinon, the sharpest sniper in the game.

Kirito still had his stats from SAO, so after winning a reaction-time lottery and buying his items, weapons, and gear, he joined Sinon in the Bullet Of Bullets tournament to find the legendary killer. It was in the first preliminary matches that Kirito showed off his moves and began to grow a small fan-base.

Kirito's skills from SAO all transferred with the exception of his Dual Wielding skills. His one-handed sword and parry skills reached the maximum of 1000 before he ended his journey through Aincrad. This allows him to have full knowledge of his style of swordplay. However, GGO was built with weapon customization at its core, so the skills he has are performed through motions without actually activating skills with the system assistance like in SAO. Basic skills that he can use include:

Vorpal Strike - a heavy strike that deals damage with a reach of twice the length of the blade

Savage Fulcrum - a three-hit combo that creates a "4" shape with the slashes

Serration Wave - an area of effect attack that does little damage, but impedes movement.

Deadly Sins - a seven-hit combo with high evasive maneuvers between each strike

Howling Octave - an eight-hit combo consisting of five thrusts and three slashes

He wields the Kagemitsu G4, a small sword with a laser beam as its blade. This purple blade can cut through anything in game with one exception: he can't cut through Space Battleship armor and blades made of the same material. His reflexes allow him to move his saber into positions that can cut bullets, lasers, and block deadly shots aimed in his direction.

However, sometimes Kirito needs a ranged distraction in order to close in on enemies. In order to fulfill this task, he wields the FN Five-Seven, a small pistol with focus on accuracy over power, making it the perfect distraction tool. Combining this with his knowledge of dual wielding swords, he can fire with one hand while blocking bullets with the other.

His defensive options are limited, but he has what it takes to fend off against strong attacks. He wears a set of battle armor that makes him look like a Jedi Knight, a fitting look for his method of offense. His armor only offers limited protection against live-ammo guns, similar to Sinon's sniper rifle. His defense against plasma based weapons include his energy shield, a protective field that can absorb a large amount of plasma and laser-based damage. However, the shield is designed to work to an extent before failing, so he can't rely on the shields to keep him invincible.

He also has two skills of detection that were not available to the system as selective skills: Distinguish, and Hypersensitivity. Distinguish allows him to tune out all noises other than specific sounds, usually made by players or their weapons. Hypersensitivity is similar in nature, but instead of tuning out noise, it allows him to lock onto the "killing intent" of another player, which came in handy when Laughing Coffin members are close by.

Upon leaving the game, he proved that his skills followed him wherever he went, no matter which game it is. This allows us to compare his abilities to his stats in ALO and SAO to figure out certain scenarios and their outcomes. His skills that do not involve swordplay include fishing, martial arts, knife/small blade throwing, and extended weight limit, which offers him the option to use heavier blades with one hand, carry more equipment, and lift larger in-game objects.

Kirito's battle skills may be the best out of his friends, but he tends to be a bit of an introvert. He usually lets his emotions take over unless someone comforts him. Often, he finds himself not very good with words, which means he usually says what he really means. This can cause him to seem rude or unkind, but inside he truly cares for those around him, even if his first impression is always the worst of introductions.

However, no human is without his flaws. While it is not in his nature to be arrogant, his only reason for this is that he never estimates his power. He prefers to acknowledge his opponent's power as slightly better than his, even if the odds are completely impossible for him to overcome. This can result in him facing death by the hands of foes he just has no hope of defeating, which has happened almost three times in SAO and ALO combined. He remains as calm and calculative as he can, but in slightly impossible odds, his anger and determination can take over, taking him to his limit in order to achieve his goal. In these moments, he loses all control and sometimes forgets what happened for a minute or two following the chaos.

His never-ending war with oppressive AI's can become a bit strenuous, but he pulls through with some impressive feats. He's been able to hold his own against the Cardinal System and even defy it on three separate occasions, once with refusing to accept permadeath, once with saving Yui from her program's deletion out of existence, and once with becoming an admin for ALO in a final showdown against Suko, his in-game wife's captor.

He's proven many times that he is never limited by the system he resides in. His deflection of bullets is just a minor example. He's proven that against artificial intelligence, he can outsmart almost any computer program and claim victory for the human race. He truly is the hero worthy of his Aincrad nickname, "The Black Swordsman."

Zero

In the year 21XX, Maverick Sigma released a deadly, newly mutated virus into the Reploid population. The virus caused the autonomous robots to turn on everyone and anyone they saw, be it human or robot, master or former friend. A war began, with Sigma leading the Mavericks and the Maverick Hunters being lead by a pair of Reploids: Megaman X and Megaman Zero, the two strongest creations remaining from the works of Dr. Light and Dr. Wily.

Zero was created by Dr. Wily, originally meant to combat Megaman and help Wily control the world. Eventually, his core program was modified, remodeling him into a new defender of the human race. His evolution into the Maverick Hunter we know was well rewarded as he quickly became the most powerful Hunter in his group of reploids.

Being a Reploid, he has his physical advantages over humans. He is naturally built stronger, faster, and more durable than humans, due to Reploids' sturdier design and, well, they're robots. His physical strength and speed combine to make him a worthy opponent to any robot willing to face him. He also has a shadow mode, allowing him to strike twice in a row with each maneuver with a shadow of himself making the second hits each time. He can only sustain these for short moments of time, so it's not a move that he can abuse in combat.

He wields two versatile weapons: the Z-Saber and the Z-Buster. His Z-Saber is arguably his trademark weapon. It's composed of a short hilt that resembles a lightsaber handle. The blade itself is composed of pure plasma, capable of slicing through almost any substance. His swordplay is first rate, proven by his versatility in fighting games as a standard source of attacking. He is able to swing it as freely as a samurai crossed with a ninja and, through physical advances, can attack faster with almost pinpoint accuracy due to higher reflexes than humans are capable of. If he swings it fast enough, he can also fire waves of energy as a projectile following the path of his blade's motion.

His Z-Buster is his trademark arm cannon, sporting firepower better than most other sources could site. Essentially, it's a plasma cannon that shoots bullets made of solar energy. He can modify these shots mid-battle to create a wider array of effects. His most used methods are charging up for a more powerful blast or firing at the ground to create a "Ring of Fire" made to encase his foes in the solar energy.

Similar to X, Zero has the ability to copy other robot's powers and use them as his own. For this conflict, however, we'll be using the original Zero at the end of Megaman X, where he does not have any other Robot's powers. The reason for this is that we're not letting his opponent use two things he has: Magic and Bullet Line Detection.

Zero is not without his flaws. His offensive tactics make him formidable, but he is not invincible. Unlike X, Zero was not built with upgrades available to boost his defense, nor was he compatible with Dr. Light's armor for X. Get in a few shots on him and you've got one dead hunter on your hands.

Nevertheless, Zero is more experienced than any other Reploid in his league of hunters. He can string together several sets of attacks and maneuvers to create an overwhelming offense. He calculates his moves quickly and decisively, adapting to fight any foe to challenge him. He always puts forth his best effort and refuses to tolerate holding back at any length. Zero truly is a robot to be reckoned with.

Alright! The combatants are set and the arena has been picked. Let's cast our votes and find out who really wins! It's time for an epic SHOWDOWN!