Skwuck was meandering the Net once again, searching for more information about this world that was ever so strange to him. He still had no idea as to his whereabouts and hadn't learned much about this place. As he walked on, he pulled what he recently learned were called BattleChips out of his pocket and looked through them carefully, examining each one and studying its name. Pretty soon, he was absorbed in his studies that he kept walking without paying attention and keeping his head down focused on the chips.

Akirai Ryun rode on top the back of Huo and flew across the Net as he looked for interesting opponents.

During his travels, he spotted Skwuck, a navi he had met once before. Once he confirmed that it was Skwuck, he jumped off of Huo and fell down. He crashed down a couple of feet in front of Skwuck's path. The fall caused him to bend his body so that his right leg was perpendicular to the ground and his right arm resting on his right knee and his left leg was almost touching the ground with his left hand hovering in mid air. His body was bent and faced the ground along with his head. The fall caused a crater to form on the ground.

After a moment to recover, Akirai stood up as Huo dashed down and entered the red orb on Akirai's back.

"Hello Skwuck. Nice to meet you." he said as he bowed with no apparent signs of pain.

As soon as Akirai hit the ground, the shaking of it startled Skwuck, causing him to drop a few of his chips and almost fall over. As he caught his balance, he look around to see what might've caused it, and he saw Akirai bowing, standing in a massive crater that ended just inches from his feet. He thought for a moment, wondering how the heck someone could cause a crater that large until he realized that Akirai was greeting him. He quickly snatched up his chips, thrust them in his pocket and walked towards Akirai to greet him.

"Hey there, Akirai. Uh... How did you do that?" Skwuck said, still somewhat in a state of bewilderment. He held his hand out for a handshake, though he did it without realizing it, as if it were part of his normal personality, which he currently knew nothing about.

Akirai got up from the bow and extended his hand to meet Skwuck's hand. He grasped the hand firmly, at first ignoring the question.

After the handshake, Akirai answered the question, "By jumping." He smiled at the obviously unsatisfactory answer he had given.

"So I see that you're studying battle chips." he said in a curious tone. "My suggestion, change those battle chips into something that you can use. It's only data, you can easily manipulate it."

"Uh.. Jumping.... Right...." Skwuck said as he looked up, only to see nothing. "Anyways, data?" Skwuck gave Akirai a peculiar look. "What do you mean data? What the heck is data?" The word was apparently new to Skwuck. He hadn't a clue about what it was.

Then Skwuck heard him say something about it's manipulation. "Wait, easily manipulate it? You mean like this?" Skwuck pulled a chip out, it read "MiniBomb B" on it. He flipped the chip as if it were a coin, and it immediately morphed into a ball of sorts. "I figure this a bomb of sorts because of the chip's label and image... But What's the point in stating the Obvious? I remember using it before... But not exactly how. I just kinda flip these things, the chips, and something happens." Skwuck shrugged after his explanation. "I really have no clue as to where I am, what the heck this world is, or even who I am. I'm lucky enough to even remember my own name." Skwuck sighed and tossed the MiniBomb behind him, getting rid of it.

"Heh, you are new to this world and don't understand its laws. This is the Net, a place made out of electronic data, ones and zeroes." Akirai said as he spread out his hands.

"And this is what I mean by manipulation." Akirai said as he knelt down and picked up a clump of dirt with his right hand and held it in front of him. With his left hand placed on his arm, energy flowed from Akirai's body into his hands, which caused the dirt to morph, and slowly morph into a small dagger.

"That's manipulation." he stated as he threw the blade to the ground. The blade pierce deeply into the ground and was stuck there.

Skwuck stared as the dagger formed. Then suddenly, the words "data" and "Net" sounded a bit more familiar to him. Some things made a bit more sense to him. "I see..." Skwuck picked up a bit of dirt himself, and focus on the dirt, rather than focused his energy into hit, but became a bit disappointed when nothing happened. He sighed, "Dammit, I wish I could remember this stuff. It all seems familiar... but I haven't a single clue about any of it."

Skwuck then realized Akirai might hae the answers he was looking for. "Hey, Akirai, Do you know anything else about this place? And what exactly the purpose of these things are for?" Skwuck held out a few battlechips to indicate what he as talking about.

"This place is a place of information and of entertainment, of law and of corruption, and of people and of navis." Akirai said in a mystic way. "Whatever you wish to find, you may find here." he countinued, "Find yourself; lose yourself in the Net."

"And battle, with fellow navis, against fellow navis, to uphold the law of the Net, to further the corruption of the Net. That is your choice. That is your fate. That is your life." he finished.

Place of information... Right... Skwuck thought to himself sarcastically. Then the moment the word "battle" entered his head, the sense of familiarity of this place Skwuck had grew a bit more. "Battle? Against Navi's? Er... A Navi is... Uh... What again?" Every word Akirai spoke of struck that sense of familiarity in him, and it showed by Skwuck's increasing interest. Skwuck decided to further his questioning. Apparently he had finally found a reliable source. Though how much info he could learn from him he didn't know. "Also, does anything about me ring a bell, so to speak?" Skwuck hoped to see if Akirai knew anything of his past.

"You may understand your life, through your death." Akirai said slowly and solemnly as he walked away from Skwuck at the start of the stament and turned his body after he stopped so that his right palm faced Skwuck and smiled. "Summon Huo." he shouted as energy burst forth from his back in a raging torrential stream and spiraled in front of his right palm and formed a spinning orb of red, firery energy.

"Ignite the flames of death so that life can be reborn." Akirai said to himself as the orb quickly lost its shape and burst forth, sending a flood of firery energy towards Skwuck. Akirai chuckled. The potential that Skwuck wished to unlock, the past he wished to remember; it would all depend on his will to survive, his strength to survive, and his ability to go beyond mere survival. All which will be tested this very moment.

OOC: lol profound.

The moment Skwuck heard Akirai utter the word "summon," he began fumbling through his pockets grabbing chips. He had an idea as to what was coming. He had experienced a similar attack before in a previous encounter with this Navi. Skwuck finally pulled out the chips he was looking for. He flipped two of them and as they vanished, his two swords became pickaxes. He immediately unearthed a large section of ground and hurled it straight at Akirai as he executed his Summon, planning to cause the flaming energy to hit the now airborne platform and stop it, if not slow it down.

After the first CrakShot executed, Skwuck then unearthed another nearby panel and instead of shooting it at Akirai, he propped it up and began to use it as a shield or cover of sorts. He then flipped two more chips while sheathing his swords and catching the newly formed MiniBombs in his hands. He peered out over the 'shield' and thrust one of the MiniBombs at Akirai, hoping to slow him down further as he continued to devise an attack. Fear began to spread throughout Skwuck's body. What exactly had he meant by understanding his life through his death? Skwuck had no intention of dying here. Not now. Skwuck had to find out who he was and how he even arrived in this situation.

Akirai laughed loudly, so loudly that his laughter was heard over the roar flames that instantly incinerated the flying chunk of rock that Skwuck sent towards him. And then the flames engulfed the MiniBomb, turning it to ash.

"Yes, fight, navi. Fight. Think of ways to fight. Fight for life and the dream of knowledge." Akirai thought as the flames illuminated his face as the flames reached the chunk of ground held up by Skwuck, whose energy unconsciously seeped into the earth and strengthened the ground. The flames were stopped by the ground, spreading out as they clashed against the stone.

"Now, continue to fight and continue to remember." Akirai shouted above the flames. He then roared at the top of his lungs as he sent a burst of energy into the stream of flames boosting it to a higher percent of his true power..

Skwuck immediately ducked behind the "shield" and began to think of a strategy or tactic he could use to help him. All of a sudden, he began to lose control of his body. All of his moevment felt like reflexes to him, and all he could do was watch. He was able to think clearly but other thoughts ran through his head as well, though they sounded as if they were his own. However, Skwuck remained calm. He had experienced this situation before, where what seemed to be his instinct guided and took control of his every move.

Skwuck got up and took a quick look from over the "wall" at Akirai's position, being careful as not get hit and burned by the waves of energy being pounded into the makeshift wall. He then quickly leaped into the air sideways, threw the MiniBomb in a lob shot over the wave of energy at Akirai, and began to charge at him from a little ways off to the side while flipping two more chips. He then unsheathed his two swords as they morphed into a different form, the basic Sword chip. He began to keep a steady eye on Akirai's movements during his charge as his speed increased more and more.

"Heh, you need to try better than that! For my flames are living flames! Flames that will test your own life!" Akirai shouted as a stream of flames split from the main river and blocked the MiniBomb. Right after this, he saw Skwuck run at him from the corner of his eyes where the light from the flames did not block his eyesight as much. He decided to change the type of battle into a more personal battle. A fight with short-ranged weapons, one-on-one, face-to-face. It was an impulsive decision, but it might be for the best.

The unrestrained flames that burst from Akirai's hands soon became a controlled and smooth cylinder of energy, that quickly condensed and violently condensed into a sword with the blade having a solid and consistent form, but looked as if a violent storm is taking place within the blade. The sword was an ever-changing shade of red. All this took place in a manner of seconds, and at the moment it was finished, Akirai turned towards the dashing Skwuck and readied himself to fight off the attack.

As Skwuck neared Akirai, he noticed that he channeled his energy into the form a sword. His reflexes immediately kicked in to this new situation. As soon as Skwuck was a few feet within slashing distance, he threw one of the swords directly at Akirai, while still holding onto the other. He immediately changed his course to a circular path around Akirai and threw the other Sword from a different position. He then readied the two other chips in his hand while looking for a weak point, studying every feature he could about Akirai.

As he did this, he thought to himself, "He said something about fighting to remember... Or something along those lines... I have no clue what he's getting at.. Is he really trying to help me?!" Skwuck had no choice but to fight, even if his reflexes were doing all the fighting for him.. If he ran, he'd be open for attack. He probably wouldn't even be able to flee a Navi of this strength anyway. But then again, would he even be able to put up a fight for very long? Skwuck continued to go on with his attack, going over the last few minutes of what had happened in his head to see if he could learn anything useful he might've missed. He figured his body would defend him as it had in a previous battle, so he didn't worry too much for the moment. As long as he kept his attention on the battle and his thoughts focused, he was sure he'd be fine.

As Skwuck headed towards Akirai, he changed his stance so that his legs were right next to each other and his sword, held in his right hand, pointed towards Skwuck while his chest pointed to the left. He smiled as he waited for the headlong confrontation with Skwuck. Unfortunately, he was dissapointed as Skwuck threw his sword at him and circled around him, then threw his other sword later on.

Akirai roared as rage filled his eyes. "Do not cower from confrontation!" he commanded, "Learn while fightning. Fight while learning. The fear of death is not a crutch that hinders your mind." he shouted angrily with such disappointment resonating deep within his voice. He took his sword and pointed it to the sky as the swords flew towards their target while sending energy into his feet, which released the energy in two short bursts that surrounded his body in a temporary barrier that deflected both swords. And while his sword pointed to the sky, energy coursed through it, which caused it to glow more and more intense with every passing moment. Akirai's head was laid low in shame over Skwuck's actions.

When the light was blindingly bright and emitted pure white light, Akirai smashed his sword down into the ground. From the point of impact where the blade touched the ground, a bright dome emerged and grew. "Now, you can not run away. You must confront death. You must confront me." Akirai said as he was engulfed by the blinding light without any signs of worry about the light. The dome grew and grew, until it engulfed Skwuck as well.

Inside the dome, the area was changed into a ring for the ancients. A ring for those who revered the dragon. A ring surrounded by dragon statues and thus was protected by the dragons.

Akirai and Skwuck stood on opposite sides of the ring. Both were unchanged in appearance, but Akirai was changed is mind. His motions were more feral and so were his thoughts. As he stood there, he emitted a deafening roar that echoed throughout the room. And his eyes focused on Skwuck.

OOC: ... Just wondering, did you think I was as good as you at RPing when we started this? ._.;;;

As soon as Akirai's sword pierced the ground, Skwuck stopped his circling. He stood and watched as the bright light was emitted and engulfed the both of them. He found Akirai and himself on opposite ends of the newly formed dome. Skwuck was in awe. Surely Akirai must hold a tremendous amount of power to create a dome such as this one. He hen saw the rage in Akirai's eyes as he stared at him.

"Er... Run away? I didn't plan on it... And, there's no reason to be so angry!" Skwuck said with a nervous laugh. "So much for a way to survive..." he muttered to himself. He had fear surging through him. After the stunt Akirai had just pulled, he had no idea how he was going to make it out of here alive. He couldn't tell anymore if Akirai had a plan to help him or not. It somewhat sounded like he did before, but not now.

As Skwuck stood there, he quickly ran through the last few moments before the battle. One word caught his attention: "manipulation." He looked around for the swords that were thrown at Akirai earlier and found them. He willed them to him, causing them to dissolve into fragments of data and reform back into their previous state before they were morphed by the chips. He then held his swords out, and then held the upside down and began to focus his energy into the handles of the blade. As he did this, the handles slowly began to take on a new shape while the blades extruding from the bottom of his hand remained intact. After a quick moment, the handles had now morphed into what resembled two pistols: one a bright shade of a gray on the sword in his left hand and the other a dark shade of gray on the blade in his right hand. Skwuck was learning little by little about this world. Now he intended to learn and remember all of it, seeing as he had a strong sense of familiarity about it.

Newly formed weapons in hand, Skwuck began dashing straight at Akirai again, keeping his body low and increasing his speed like before. He had a new determination to finish this battle and he didn't plan on losing his life in the end of it. As he ran, he pocketed the chips he had out a moment ago and continued on. As he got closer and closer, he watched Akirai's every move. "If confrontation is what you want, it's what you'll get!" Skwuck shouted as the determination, fear, and excitement began to show in his eyes and the movements of his tail.

OOC: Your mom is as good as me.

"You might not have planned to run away. But you did." Akirai responded with a deep growl, like a tiger confronting his rival. His eyes watched Skwuck's movements as he retrieved his swords and manipulated them into a new weapon, and internally, he smiled. Learn the ways of this world, navi. Learn. he thought as he continued following Skwuck, who dashed towards him.

As Skwuck ran, Akirai slashed the ground in around him with his sword, which created a large, bright red line that would burst into flames as soon as Skwuck neared him. The tests continued. He then prepared for Skwuck's assault, will he dash through the flames or will he cower? Akirai's face was still in that look of contempt. This test will redeem Skwuck of his previous cowardice, if he passed it.