[SP-F6] <<Calming the Soul>> Kane (COMPLETE)

[Kane 0]

The sixth floor. Nobody knew a whole lot about it, since the game was so fresh and new for everyone. So far, the higher-up floors hadn't been unlocked yet past a certain point, but Kane was guessing that this floor had been modeled on fantasy stories about ancient Japan.

There were shrines everywhere, and the topography was decidedly sub-tropical, with vegetation growing in odd places.. even the air felt humid and full of the morning dew. Kane had heard rumors from various information brokers that there was a secret on this level: To find it, you had to go and find your spiritual center under one of the sacred waterfalls.

Approaching the falls, the roar of the cascading water drowned out any thoughts in Kane's mind. Knowing that his armor wouldn't rust from the running water in this world, Kane kept his <> equipped under his cloak as he stepped forward, onto the flat rock in the middle of the pond that served as a place of meditation.

[Kane 0]

Sitting cross-legged, Kane could feel the cool water beating down on his back, soaking even through his armor. Wonderful. Closing his eyes, Kane doubtfully thought of ditching this little "Easter Egg" behind, as his back became more and more drenched from the waterfall.

With a sigh, and with deep concentration, Kane felt himself shutting out the distractions around him in order to focus on his breathing. Soon, the sensation of the water at his back became a minor pressure, and the roar of the falls became a whisper. Kane stared contentedly into the depths of the pool in front of him, completely serene. But without warning, he suddenly found another set of eyes staring right back.Red ones, too.

[Kane 0]

Startled, Kane rolled backwards, into the knee-deep water, watching in awestruck silence as a shadowy figure started to emerge from below the surface, its eyes glowing red as embers in a coal-black furnace. Is this some new kind of monster!? But the so called "monster continued to rise up out of the water, and suddenly Kane swallowed hard. "Of course..." he whispered, unhooking the <> from his back. This was going to be quite the battle.

[Kane 0]

Keeping his blade pointed at the spectre, Kane saw it rise fully out of the water. It looked exactly like him in shape and form; the same medium length hair, swept to the side, the same ghost of a beard, the same tunic, armor, and a midnight-black replica of his sword.

The only difference between the two was that the replica seemed to be made out of living shadow, given shape by some dark program. Even the tag above its head read <>, as if it were a prediction of a future where he was a player-killer, a monster in sable.

[Kane 0]

The Shadow Kane unhooked his massive ebon blade, which seemed to suck all light out of the air as it moved. The pounding of the waterfall and the feel of the water around his legs were lost upon Kane as he kept his eyes on the shade, who stretched his shoulders in Kane's age-old habit.

"Hey buddy." The figure spoke, its voice matching Kane's normal cadence exactly, but its voice was warped, as if it were Kane's but heard through a filter, or over a bad phone line. "I'm guessing that you have no idea what's going on. After all, you only want people to think you're smart. We both know you're really stupid, deep down."

[Kane 0]

Ah. So that's what all this was about. Kane fought to stay calm, never keeping his eyes or the point of his sword off of his dark doppelganger's heart. Psychological warfare was not a foreign concept to him; in fact, how Kane had won most of his fights in the real world was through exploiting an enemy's mental vulnerabilities. Now here he was, on the receiving end of it.

Kane had always feared that he was unintelligent, that he was somehow less capable than other people had told him. When looking at the facts, truly, Kane knew that he was smart. With an I.Q. of 180, he was an excellent student and tactician, a polymath. But there was a niggling feeling there that he wasn't all that he could be, and this shadowy program had the balls to try and strike a nerve!?

Kane gritted his teeth, staring his foe down silently. The clone laughed, shifting its sword to his shoulder, mimicking a pose that Kane generally adopted when he was being playful. "Hahaha, you should see the look on your face! Seriously, I was completely wrong just now, obviously! Really, just look at that wheel spinnin'! You're identifying every emotional weakness you have and locking it down as we speak, giving me less and less to work with. You're a hell of a guy, Kane."

[Kane 0]

The compliment caught him off guard, which is exactly what the specter was hoping for. Turning his back on Kane, it continued. "Yep, you're such a smart cookie... but I wonder, how smart can you be when you abandoned your family?"

Damn. The color left Kane's face as his clone exposited, "You see, they're out there on the other side while you're havin' a ball in here, swinging a big old sword around and acting like you're somebody special." He examined his own blade, embarrassment creeping into his tone. "I gotta tell ya buddy, a sword this big really begs the question, what are we compensatin' for? I mean really, you're not a tiny guy down south, why do you feel the need to carry around the giant phallic symbol?"

[Kane 0]

Kane began mentally locking down the portion of his mind that was responsible for embarrassment, letting the feeling wash over him, then boxing it up and saving it for later. The clone frowned waving a hand. "Hey, stop that, I'm havin' fun messing with your head here! Besides, it's not like what I'm saying isn't true..."

The shadow's tone took a deadly serious turn. "You were such a miserable SOB back in the real world. Now you're dinkin' around in here, blissfully unaware of the fact that everyone up there? They're glad you're stuck in here. Your parents might say that they want you to wake up, but deep down? You and I both know they're better off without you. And Karla, your sister? She's the happiest she's ever been without your shadow being cast over her."

[Kane 0]

CREAK. That was the sound of Kane's psyche bending under the verbal assault that was heading his way. He tried to remain calm, blocking out what the phantom was saying, knowing full well it was just a ruse to get him riled, unfocused. What was the purpose of his enemy's taunting? Of course it was to unbalance him, but there were very few enemies in Aincrad that could speak, even fewer who taunted their opponents, and as far as Kane knew, this was the only one who had an in-depth knowledge of Kane's innermost thoughts, and dark-

Aha. Gotcha.

[Kane 0]

Kane did something that his shadow counterpart wasn't expecting. He smiled, having completed his assessment of his enemy's tactics. Somehow, as he smiled, the phantom seemed to grit its teeth, just the way that Kane did. It knew that Kane knew.

"Go ahead, say it. I know you're dying to." He spat, sounding disgusted.

Kane smirked, wiping water from his blade, then leveling it his opponent again. "Around the time that you started bringing up my fears about my family not wanting me to come back, I knew exactly what you are. An AI, but not just any AI: A psychology program, designed to deduce our innermost thoughts and secrets from our actions. I'm gonna take a wild guess that the waterfall acts as a giant body scanner, allowing you to get an accurate reading of my vitals, brainwaves, and other functions. How am I doing so far?"

[Kane 0]

The phantom's face was a mask of pure disgust. Dropping its familial tone, the AI raised its sword in a manner that Kane recognized as his own. It attempted one final jab at Kane's mind before it resorted to physical violence.

"Good guess. But it doesn't matter. Regardless, you're going to die here, in Aincrad. You will never again see your family, or feel a loved one's touch, or see a summer sky, or smell a lover's perfume, because you are going to make a mistake. It might be a year from now, when you're on one of the top floors, and a boss monster guts you. It might be when you let your guard down and someone you thought was a friend puts a dagger in your back and earns an orange mark above their head. Or it might be now, when I strike you down and laugh as you disappear into a thousand little pieces, and your brain gets boiled like an egg by your NerveGear. But this is for certain: You are going to die."

Kane readied his blade. "All men die," he intoned, preparing to fight. "Some die better than others."

[Kane 0]

Their fight began, the pair dashing towards each other with their massive blades held high. They clashed, sparks ringing off their blades. Both glowed with multi-hued light as they charged up Sword Skills, sending them clashing against one another.

Kane knew that the AI would use tactics that he had seen Kane use in previous fights; it was the nature of the beast. So he had to do something unpredictable to get past its defenses.

The phantom swung hard at Kane, but he managed to get his blade into position, parrying the aggressive blow.

[Kane 0]

Die roll: Shadow Kane

[Kane 0]

Kane started thrusting with his giant blade. It wasn't his usual tactic, as his sword more specialized for hacking and slashing. Hopefully it would trick the AI and exploit a weakness.

It worked like a charm! The extra length of Kane's flared sword sliced cleanly through the phantom's shoulder, hitting critically and drawing an angry red line.

Kane: 15/15

Shadow: 13/15

[Kane 0]

Die roll Kane

[Kane 0]

The phantom struck back, hard. Leaping forward, its eyes burned a crimson red as it executed <>, a sword skill that Kane had used many times before.

Kane was too familiar with this tactic though, and didn't take the bait by blocking the first rising strike. Helpless, the computer was forced to complete the motion as Kane prepared a counter-attack.

Kane: 15/15

Shadow: 13/15

[Kane 0]

Shadow's die roll

[Kane 0]

Kane attempted to take advantage of the specter's overstep by activating a <>, a three-hit combo that would undoubtedly do some damage if it connected.

It connected solidly with the hyper-extended phantom, the first blazing blue strike arcing up, then right, and finally finishing his signature 'K' by bringing the blade crashing down, stunning the shadow warrior by striking him in the head. Critical Hit! The stun effect would allow Kane to engage his enemy again before he recovered.

Kane: 15/15

Shadow: 10/15

[Kane 0]

Die roll Kane

[Kane 0]

Knowing that his opponent was open for a free hit, Kane lined up his sword. Thrusting and trying to run his opponent through wouldn't work here; he had the same vital-guarding breastplate that Kane had. Angling his blade as the phantom struggled to regain control of its facilities, Kane brought the blade up sharply, slicing the monster's right hand clean off. It howled in agony as the <> status appeared on its HUD.

Kane: 15/15

Shadow: 7/15