Yo! How's everyone doing? starforcebigbang back again with part 2 of Destiny! By the way, I got a review! I'll respond to it now-

fang foxblood: Thank you so much for saying it's better than Megaman! I am sort of trying to style it after that kind of NetNavi and NetOp feel (NT Warrior/Axess/Beast). However, I also based it off of Gunpla Builders Beginning G. I don't know if it's still on Youtube – I moved from the U.S. to China last summer – but it might be. Anyway, thanks so much for reviewing! And I'll also be sure to read those stories by you! (P.S. You get the "starforcebigbang's First Reviewer" reward)

Also, I don't want any confusion about what all of the characters look like. I gave them physical features from other anime characters:

Amy looks like Yurin l'Ciel from Gundam AGE

Jake's face is similar to Lan Hikari's (or Hikari Netto's). Just give him black hair that's spiked back.

Natalie looks like Emily Asuno from Gundam AGE (give her paler skin and make her cuter)

Mitch has the look of George from Case Closed (what? He has a strong NetSoul)

Chapter 6: Done

4:00 P.M.

I typed rapidly onto my monitor. The abilities that made up the form transfer streamed across the screen.I opened an ability, refined it, and closed it.

Each ability took me about five minutes to refine and upgrade. They were so ancient, used when the first NetSoul had been created, and then forgotten. The data was so out-of-date that it was like reading a computer science textbook from 2000.

I still had thirty abilities to go. I yawned, and snatched a chip from the half-empty bag, crunched it, and went back to my quick typing.

I changed lots of commands, and by the time that it was done, it was already seven o'clock, having skipped dinner.

Natalie pushed my door open and cautiously said, "Big brother, are you done?"

I got up and stretched. "Sure am! Man, that took a long time."

Natalie clapped her hands. "Yay! Big brother's done! Form Transfer's finished!"

Destiny popped up and crossed his arms. "About time. Geez, can I go do something else now?" He complained.

"Sure," I said. "I'm gonna go make a sandwich. Go find Meowy."

Meowy was our female black cat with white paws. She liked everyone, and everyone liked her. She was a lovable cat. We, however, never let her outside. She did get out from time to time, but came in after a few minutes.

Destiny pumped his fist. "Alright! Cat hunting!" He flew out the door and into the hall.

I yawned and padded through the wooden hallway of our house, thumping down the red, carpeted stairs, and finally walking through our small, tiled foyer into the hardwood kitchen.

Mom was at the stove, stirring some soup in a pot and tossing spices and vegetables in while listening to her favorite music by Miku Hatsune. Honestly, it sounded like Minnie Mouse singing to me.

I tapped her shoulder, and she stopped singing the last verse of Last Night Good Night.

"Oh, Kirisaki. About time you stopped working on that darn program."

I scratched my head and smiled. "Yeah, sorry, it's for the cyber-battle tournament we're attending."

She turned back to her soup. "Figures. So, whaddya want?"

I opened the fridge, and the cold air blasted me like a laser beam. "Do we have any more bread and pepperoni?"

Mom turned off the burner and washed the spoon. "Yeah. Bread's at the top shelf, pepperoni's in the snack pan. What's your dinner going to be, just a sandwich?"

I flung open the pantry. "Yeah, with some Pizza Rolls."

"We ran out," she replied. "Natalie ate them for breakfast."

"Argh. Fine. Pizza Bagels will do."

Natalie tossed me a new box from the freezer, and I ripped it open. "Natalie, how many do you want?"

"Two, please."

"'K."

I placed the snacks in three rows of two in our oven-style toaster. As I cranked the timer, Mom's NetSoul, Miku, floated into the room.

Miku was modeled exactly the same as the Japanese cyber-pop star, Miku Hatsune. Her hair, clothes, and face were all identical. The cyan, twin pigtails hung down to her legs, and her light blue eyes shimmered with happiness. Her skin was pale, just like the actual pop star, and she wore a skirt and shirt with cyber-data designs on them. Miku had been programmed to know every single song by her real counterpart, and usually sang when Mom cooked. She sometimes sat by the large window, though, and mom resorted to desperate measures-singing and deafening the entire house.

As Miku lazily drifted by, Meowy bounded through the same door, Destiny chasing after her, yelling, "Whoop, whoop! Found Meowy!" The cat padded up to me and pushed herself against my leg, purring with affection. Destiny landed on top of her head, and Meowy meowed with delight. Ever since we had gotten Meowy, she had gotten along with everyone in the family-even our NetSouls. It was strange, but wonderful to see them all have fun with each other.

Natalie knelt down to pet Meowy, and I pulled out two pieces of wheat bread and a few large slices of pepperoni, slapping the meat onto the bread and making the sandwich. Miku landed next to the snack and waved with exaggerated slowness. "Hi, Kirisaki," she yawned.

Ding. The Pizza Bagels were ready.

I opened the mini-oven, used a spatula to scoop up the snacks, and landed them on the plate in one smooth motion.

Natalie hopped with giddiness. "Wow, big brother! I never knew you could be so awesome at that!"

Chapter 7: New Forms, New Weapons!

Next Day

My House, 8:55 A.M.

I sat at the table and ate the delicious strawberry pancakes mom had made on the stove, and Natalie ate next to me, happily swallowing the tasty breakfast.

Ding dong.

"I'll get it!" I rushed to the door.

I pulled the heavy wooden doors open to meet the sight of Amy and Lily.

Amy yawned and rubbed her eyes. "G'mooning," she mumbled.

My eye twitched. "Uh…your hair is sorta…"

Her eyes widened and she quickly turned around and smoothed her hair from the previous mess into a glittering silk. When she turned around, traces of a blush were just disappearing. Lily stifled a giggle, and I almost laughed.

Amy ignored our humored faces, huffed, and marched into the house, taking off her shoes as I handed her a soft pair of slippers. We shuffled into the kitchen where mom was preparing three more plates of pancakes.

"Amy! How are you, sweetheart?" Mom greeted her cheerfully and handed her a steaming plate of pancakes.

Amy graciously accepted the plate and smiled. "Good morning! I'm doing just fine!"

They both continued to chat as Natalie and I ate the pancakes and Destiny and Angel sparred in the air.

I sighed and glance at them. "You know," I whispered to Natalie, "Why aren't you like that?"

Natalie looked at them. "I don't know," she shrugged. "I guess I will be when I'm older."

Amy joined us at the table, and we ate in silence.

Jake and Mitch came minutes later and passed breakfast because they had already eaten. Mom gave one plate of pancakes to Meowy, and saved the last in the fridge.

We trudged upstairs into my room. As we passed my parent's room, Jake pressed his ear against the door.

"Hm," he murmured, "It's dead quiet. Shouldn't your dad to snoring like a tuba?"

I whacked his head lightly. "Business trip," I answered.

My Room

"Alright, let me see your customizations," I said.

Everyone brought up the holograms of their NetSouls and their details.

I nodded approvingly. "Hey," I noticed, "Each of you have assigned your NetSoul an element."

I read over each report. Slash was now a fire-based warrior. Guts was thunder, Lily was energy, and Angel was now light.

I gave them a thumbs-up. "Good," I said. "I've haven't done the same to Destiny because of the Wings of Light and the Form Transfer."

I opened the form transfer ability on my monitor and said, "Plug your NetSouls into the data port of my computer."

My friends unstrapped their watches and placed them into four of the five data ports on my computer. I unstrapped my and plugged it in.

The five AI's immediately appeared on-screen and started to bounce all over the place. I sighed and opened their files up. I pulled out a folder, copied it, and placed it into their files. They all stopped bouncing, data lines running up and down, and started their frenzy again.

"It's done," I said. My friends took out their watches and strapped them on again. The NetSouls disappeared off of my monitor.

"I feel weird," Destiny complained.

"Oog," Lily moaned.

"Guts feel not right," Guts grunted.

Angel and Slash floated in front of the other NetSouls, who were standing on my desk.

"It's not that bad," Angel commented.

"Just a rush of energy and data," Slash muttered.

Destiny stumbled around the desk, looking like a drunkard. Lily sat down with her hands behind her on the desk, head woozily nodding. Guts was sprawled in a heap, groaning with exaggeration.

"Now," I said, "We have go train with this. I can edit it in the capsule if I have to. Let's go train!"

"Yeah!" Everyone shouted along enthusiastically.

10:00 A.M, Same Day

Forest Road Cyber Battle Mall

We went to the mall by foot, and once there, signed in. While going through the maps, we talked about the details of the tournaments.

"I've thought of some names," Amy said.

"I heard that the map is completely new!" Mitch added.

"That means we'll have no idea what's in store for us," Jake muttered.

"Ooh…a mystery!" Natalie grinned.

I nodded. "We shouldn't worry about the map right now. First, let's get the Form Transfer mastered and ready to go."

10:05, Same Day

Training Map (Middle Of Desert)

The five of us stood on the barren wasteland. Everyone was identified as friendly, as we had set the match to a training session.

"The Form Transfer has been installed in all of you," I began. "You can activate it by adjusting it from OFF to ON on your HUD, and choosing one of three forms. Well, actually two, because you're already in one. It's just like adjusting your saber settings or something. It's simple."

Everyone nodded.

"Well? Try your first form."

They nodded again, and the next second their weapons were replaced. Jake now had a beam-buster rifle, a beam rifle and a sword combined into one weapon. Mitch had large beam cannons mounted on his forearms. Amy had twin pistols that shone silver, and Natalie had a beam assault-sniper rifle with a staff on her back.

Everyone was in shock and happiness. Jake inspected his new weapon in grinned in approval. Mitch lifted his arms up and pumped his fist. Amy twirled the pistols, and Natalie looked through the scope of her new rifle.

"Everyone try your weapons." I said.

Jake fired a beam of flame-infused energy at a holographic target that appeared. He then dashed at the target and slashed the air ahead of him, sending a wave of inferno at the target, which disappeared. Mitch fired his twin cannons at two large rocks which exploded with lighting and electricity. Amy fired her pistols at tiny rocks I had thrown into the air, and the beams split mid-way, directed by Amy's HUD. Natalie fired rapidly at approaching targets and slashed one away with her new beam battleax.

After this first try, I showed everyone my new gun form. I now had twin beam SMG's with mini torpedo-launchers.

Everyone was amazed with the new features I had added.

"I have a new analyzing system!" Jake shouted with joy.

"A target tracker, very nice," Mitch muttered in approval.

"Wooooooow, I can control my beam's path!" Amy hopped in the air.

"I can shoot light!" Natalie ran circles around me.

"I've added these new features to assist us in battle." I said. "They'll certainly help us. I have a new targeting system. Alright, second form!"

This time, Jake had a beam assault rifle, missile pods on his legs, and an auto-lock system. Mitch was quicker than a hare with his new rocket boosters mounted onto his back and legs, and could slice up enemies instead of bashing them with his twin beam sabers and their sonic boom ability, not to mention his new tracker. Amy had a beam sword with a straight edge, making it look like a knight's sword, and could launch energy waves from them. Natalie had a beam broadsword with the ability to fire light-waves. I now had one beam SMG that fired wind-based projectiles and a beam saber that could launch mini-cyclones, along with a harpoon to reel anything in. Heh. Maybe this completely new map's objective was to catch Moby Dick.

"This is great!" Amy exclaimed. Everyone agreed. Never again would Natalie be defeated while sniping because of a close target, and never again would Mitch be too slow for snipers and sword-players.

After training with the holographic targets for ten more minutes, we all had the Form Transfer mastered pretty well. We then headed home for more matters of the tournament.

Chapter 8: Team Stuff

My House, My Room

10:15 A.M.

"We need to think up of a team name," I said.

"I'm empty," Mitch shrugged. "I was never good with names."

"Let's see…" Amy thought. "We have two sword-players, one powerhouse, one sniper, and one multifunctional unit…maybe a word similar to unique?"

"Nah," I waved it away. "That's not exactly the most…creative, I guess, because everyone else will have the same structured team. Maybe something that we all have in common…"

"We're all friends," Jake muttered. "Strong bonds, we have Form Transfer…"

"We're brave," Natalie whispered.

"Eh?" Amy scratched her head.

"We like light, or we're all sunshiney," Natalie continued.

I snapped my fingers with a moment of brilliance. "The Solbraves! We'll be the Solbraves!"

"Wasn't that name used in the Gundam 00 Movie, Awakening of the Trailblazer?" asked Mitch.

"I think so," I thought. "Yeah. It was the name issued to the special elite force that helped the main characters. I think they all sacrificed themselves or got killed, and their leader self-destructed."

Mitch gulped. "Bad omen," he muttered.

"The Solbraves it is," Jake said with an air of finality.

I created a new file in Destiny's databanks: our new team roster. I filed myself and everyone else into the team, and the screen beeped. The Solbraves appeared on top in shimmering letters, and everyone's picture and NetSoul. Next to each profile were two buttons: W.I.A. or D.I.A.-wounded in action or deleted in action.

"D.I.A…oooh…" Amy shivered.

"I'll program it so that you can always see it on your HUD." I typed rapidly and the monitor beeped upon completion.

"Great," Jake commented. "Now we can know who's out and what strategies we can use."

I nodded. "With all of the teams competing, I doubt that there would be a death announcer. Too many deaths in one huge match. It would be like the background music in parties."

"Alright, we have new strategies to make," I clapped my hands and pulled up an empty diagram.

"Our special killer team-attack will be…"

Chapter 9: Believe

July 10th, Sunday

4:00 A.M.

I woke up.

I yawned and stretched, peering over onto the desk where Destiny slept, sprawled in a heap and snoring. The sky outside was still dark, with the sun just peeking over the horizon and spreading rays just across the city.

I yawned again and got out of bed, shuffling in my pajamas over to the built-in closet and sliding the door open as quietly as I could.

I picked a casual outfit-black track pants and a black t-shirt. I then strapped on my watch, and Destiny woke up with a start. "Wh-wha? Awwwwwwww, is it morning already?"

I shushed him and opened my door to the hallway and tiptoed down the stairs. The lights outside shimmered in the early morning darkness, and I flipped the light switch.

The kitchen lights winked on and revealed the island counter and its border. The island's sink shimmered with its silver steel, and the granite counter shone dully in the orange light.

I shuffled to the wooden pantry and flung open the door, my eyes wandering to find a good breakfast. Finding nothing, I closed the door and pulled open the refrigerator, its frigid air blasting Meowy as she skidded to a halt in front of the door. She hissed to the cold and immediately jumped away to the couch.

My eyes shifted from top to bottom, left to right, looking for something tasty. They finally fell on a new box of Pizza Rolls.

"Yes!" I hissed silently, mentally pumping my fist. I pulled out the frosty box and read the box label-Combination.

I ripped the box open and placed the cold treats onto the oven-toaster's tray, and cranked up the timer to two minutes.

While I waited for the toaster, my watch suddenly rang.

Beep. A screen popped up and revealed a dark room.

"H-hello?"

"Amy?" I yawned and scratched my head. "Why are you calling so early?"

"I-I couldn't go back to sleep," she whispered. "I'm…I'm worried about something."

"What."

"Can we talk? At the park."

"Why not on the watch-"

"Please."

I glanced at the Pizza Rolls. Ding.

"Alright. Gimme a few minutes."

I quickly ate the Pizza Rolls (and chugged down a large glass of water after nearly choking) in a few minutes and put on my light jacket. I then walked out the front door, shutting and locking it quietly.

The morning was still young and quiet, with a few squirrels scurrying across the smooth, cement sidewalk, and birds chirping soft tunes from the trees.

As I walked, I listened to the soft sound of my soles on the cold, hard cement. The gears in my head started to spin and work. What could Amy want to talk about at the park? Guess I'll find out soon enough.

I arrived at the park. The park was a simple, flat space with small squares of land covered with fresh, green grass, and small ponds scattered throughout, not to mention beautiful, fresh trees on each square of grass. Lampposts on each corner of sidewalk that ran through the park dimly illuminated the dark recreational area, casting orange light across the area.

I scanned the area for anyone else. My eyes laid onto a feminine figure by a tree. They had their hands clasped by their chest, and her long hair blew in the wind.

I quietly walked over to her.

"K-Kirisaki…" Amy said with a sad voice.

I immediately noticed the sad tone in her voice.

"Yes?" I asked her. Oh, yeah, I purposely put an extra-caring tone into it, too.

"I'm worried about…today's match…"

I yawned and shook my head so that I was awake. "So am I."

"But I'm worried that I'll be a burden to you, because you're so much better…"

"Considering that fact that you beat me after I won the championship twice, that does mean that you have skill, even if just a little."

"I guess so…but what if I get deleted in the first few minutes? What if I'm just not good enough to be on the cyber-battling champion's team? Do you think that I'm…"

I turned around and looked over my shoulder. "Remember this, Amy."

She looked up.

"No matter how crappy or good you are at cyber-battling, no matter how strong your bond is with your NetSoul, the one thing that makes you the strongest that you can be is your own belief in yourself. Your own self-esteem. Make sure that you always remember that."

She nodded and smiled.

"We good?" I asked.

"Yes!"

Chapter 10: The Hover Car

10:00 A.M., Same Day

My House, Kitchen

I zipped a plastic bag of Cheez-Its shut, and placed it into my small backpack. Natalie tossed a small bag of Cinnamon Toast Crunch in, and I set two bottles of water inside, as well.

Next to me, Amy put her crackers in, Mitch added his plastic container with bread, and Jake put his chips inside, too.

We had agreed that we would bring on bag along to the to the tournament, placing it at the security office inside the mall and waiting for the match to end, and then staying until the winner's ceremony.

I hefted the bag and said, "Let's get a move on."

"Right!" Everyone replied in unison with a cheery tone.

"Mom, I'm taking the hover car!"

"Alright, don't crash into anything."

We all piled into the red craft-our family's personally customized hover car-that was shaped like an ellipsoid, with a glass window that could "roll" over into the front and cover the entire inside. I had gotten a license to fly last year, and grown accustomed to all of the controls.

I entered the passcode into the keypad on the hull, and the glass window rolled back into the hull. We all clambered into the seats, Natalie, Amy, and Mitch in the back, and Jake in shotgun. I sat in the driver's seat and entered the code to close the window. I then activated the car, which hovered a few feet off of the ground, and we sped off into the direction of the City Cyber-Battle Mall, about fifteen miles away.

We were doing about fifty miles per hour above the treetops when we reached the edge of the forest. Once here, we immediately passed a skyscraper that towered over the small buildings at its foot, and a few other hover cars which we crossed paths with and appeared as blips on the mini-map on the dashboard, the small radar-style map that showed the landscape and surroundings on a 2-D plane.

I eased the throttle up to fifty five and placed my right hand back onto the wheel, while pulling the wheel back and raising the craft about ten feet.

"Whee," Jake grumbled.

"You're saying it wrong, it's !" Natalie corrected him, shouting into his ear.

"Yeah, yeah, just shoot me now," he muttered.

The City Cyber-Battle Mall soon came into view. We all breathed a sigh of beauty, even after seeing it countless times.

The City Cyber-Battle Mall was a hub for cyber-battling. It was a huge dome of many materials such as plexiglass and stainless steel. The inside was full of capsule rooms, computers for customization, and various restaurants and snack shops in case you got hungry. You could see the capsules from the round skylights that filtered light onto the tiled walls and floor.

We soon landed in the hover car parking lot, which was filled with many other of the small craft. We opened the window and hopped out of the seats, and I entered the lock code and the glass rolled down into the hull. Then we all walked along the walkway into the large, automatic glass doors.

The inside of the mall was a cool temperature thanks to the cooling system that sheltered us from the blazing summer heat. The walls were lined with posters announcing various competitions and tournaments, not to mention a poster of me on the Last Year Champion poster.

I opened my screen of my watch and found the information for the tournament. "Let's see…capsule hall four…that's at the end of this hall." We walked over through the corridors while passing many people. When we reached the hall, we signed our team in at the front desk and walked to our designated capsules.

"First match in fifteen minutes. All participants, please enter your capsules in ten." The speaker boomed.

"We're match number two," I told the others. "Last minute checkups, do em' now,"

"Roger!" Everyone saluted me.

"Eeh," I face-palmed.

Chapter 11: The Team's Thoughts

Jake

I opened the capsule and entered. Slash appeared in front of me and I opened his file on the capsule's computer.

"Diagnostics…all green. Weapons…check. All systems OK."

Slash floated in front of the screen and crossed his arms.

"Hey, Jake," Natalie popped in front of the capsule.

"What," I asked.

"Angel has something to say to Slash," Her white, cosmic-like AI appeared over her head.

"Good luck, Slash," she said soothingly.

"Hmm," Slash replied nonchalantly.

"Awww, I was expecting a nicer response," Angel pouted.

"Fine. Thanks."

"Hmph. Big jerk," Angel stuck her tongue out and disappeared.

I closed the capsule and continued my checks.

Natalie

"Hmph! Slash is so handsome…but he's such a jerk!" Angel hovered around my head as I sat in the capsule and typed away on the capsule's computer.

"Yeah, but you can't blame him," I tried to console my AI. "Jake programmed him to be just like that-cool and collected, but a jerk."

"Then maybe he should have made him all happy and nice!" she pouted.

I started to filter out her voice and began reviewing battle tactics.

Mitch

Guts lazily drifted around as I typed on the capsule computer.

"Guts is bored," he droned.

"Whatever," I muttered.

Amy

I sighed and leaned put my elbows on the capsule seat's armrests, resting my head in my hands. I thought about Kirisaki and Destiny, and what he had said earlier this morning.

"No matter how crappy or good you are at cyber-battling, no matter how strong your bond is with your NetSoul, the one thing that makes you the strongest that you can be is your own belief in yourself. Your own self-esteem. Make sure that you always remember that."

I sighed dreamily and remembered hugging him, blushing as the warm memory of affection waved over through my mind.

"Amy? Amy…Amy!" Lily's voice rang through my head.

"What?" I woke up from my daydreaming.

Lily giggled. "You're thinking about Kirisaki, again, right?"

I blushed and turned my head. "N-no! Why think that?"

"Because you love him," she dully answered.

"No I don't!"

"You hugged him."

"That was encouragement!"

"You just muttered his name."

"So?"

"…Dreamily."

Kirisaki

"Match number two will start in fifteen minutes. All participants enter your capsules in ten."

I stood up from my seat and entered my capsule. The red data lines ran along the sides and reached the data port. I unstrapped my watch and plugged it in. Destiny popped up and shimmered before disappearing.

"Contestant number fifteen. Team: Solbraves. Kirisaki Eins. Confirm identification."

"Watch passcode: Skyward."

"Contestant confirmed. Prepare for information of map."

A few minutes later, after all of the contestants were in their capsules, the female voice rang through the speakers again.

"The map this tournament will be on is called Meteor Storm."

A picture of a large asteroid field appeared.

"Your team will launch from a starship at the same time as all of the other teams."

A sleek starship appeared, a ship with a similar design to a Y-Wing starfighter from Star Wars. However, its engines were not engines, but large catapults.

"Once you launch, the starship will self-detonate."

A video of the ship exploding played on-screen.

"The goal of this match is to defeat every single enemy team."

I suddenly plunged into the hypnotic state and woke up in the starship's rectangular launching bay. Natalie, Amy, Jake, and Mitch appeared along with me.

"Please choose your order for launch."

"Jake and I first," I announced. "Then Mitch and Amy, and finally Natalie."

"You have five minutes until the match begins."

"Alright, everyone, here's the plan. Jake and I will first launch and take out any enemies that might be close enough. Next, Amy and Mitch will launch while taking accord of any enemies farther away. Use your mini-map and send the coordinates of the enemies to Natalie, so that she has a good idea of where they are."

"Roger."

Chapter 12: Launch!...Yeagh!

Five Minutes Later

"First two launching participants, stand on the catapult."

Jake and I stepped onto the catapults. I stood on the right, and he stood on the left.

"Launching in three-two-one-"

"Launch!"

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaagh!" The catapult's footholds zoomed forwards on the rails and dragged me forwards. My stomach leapt into my throat, and my heart out of my mouth.

"Holy mmfkaseer!" Was all I managed to scream out as my lips and teeth rattled from the accelerating g-forces.

I soon reached the end of the corridor and the footholds released me. I flew into space and saw Jake behind me.

Bleep.

A blip on my mini-map appeared. Above me!

I activated the Arondight and stabbed it up into the space above me.

"Yeeagh!" Another contestant above me had been impaled my saber.

Bleep.

Bleep bleep bleep.

Four more contacts appeared on my mini-map.

I saw the rest of the guy's team appear over the edge of an asteroid.

Boom. The starship behind me detonated, creating a large fireball and swallowing the debris and rocks unfortunate enough to be in the way.

Sa-wang.

A thin beam of energy cut through the black void and hit an enemy in the head.

"Headshot." Natalie muttered over the COM.

"Form Change," Mitch said. A few seconds after, twin streaks of thunder hurtled into the meteor by the enemies and ripped through the large rock, sending large chunks of debris astray and into the other team.

"Team Ultimate: Defeated."

"Hmm, defeated an entire team in less than five minutes," I whispered.

"Kirisaki!"

"Hm?" I turned around and narrowly missed a saber slash almost cut me.

"Hah!" I lashed out with Arondight horizontally and the enemy exploded in front of me.

"Be careful, champion," Jake grumbled over the COM.

"Right."

Two more enemies closed on me and tried to pin me from two sides. I spun around and held my saber out as far as I could, performing a lethal top-spin attack and deleting my attackers.

More opponents began to appear on the HUD.

"Scatter and attack!" I shouted over the COM.

We all dashed off into space and taking out many enemies. However, soon another team with immense power and strength approached us. Our normal long-range weaponry was just bouncing off of their armor, and their huge hulks stood like skyscrapers.

"Gun form, now!" I shouted. "Group together, fire beams at the same time!"

We flew in from separate directions and I quickly sent targeting coordinates to the rest of the team. Their acknowledgment lights blinked green.

"Destiny! Calculated how fast they're coming in!" I shouted.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he grumbled. A number appeared in the corner of my HUD:

60 kph

"Everyone, fire your beams at a speed above 120 kph!" I shouted into the COM. "Forget about power, just do a high speed!"

Everyone aimed their long-range weapons and fired. The beams hurtled to their targets, streaking through the dark void like a baseball to the batter.

The beams all punctured the enemy's armor, stopping them in mid-flight and causing them to explode, kicking them out of the game.

Suddenly, beam-chaingun fire tore through the silence, the bullets rocketing towards us like homing missiles. Everyone scattered from the line of fire.

I tracked the source of the hail of bullets.

Five contacts, each with plain, rectangular armor, were all holding a single, massive chaingun. The barrels were at least five feet long and half a foot wide. They started to spin, and more bullets spat out.

"Hoo, boy," Destiny commented. "Big gun, big trouble."

"You think I don't know that!" I snapped, diving out of the way to avoid the bullets.

The barrel's suddenly stopped firing bullets and instead, five wires snapped out. Everyone but Mitch got caught by the wires.

"We're stuck!" Amy cried, trying to break free.

One of the enemy started to break off from the group, unsheathing a beam sword and dashing towards us.

Suddenly, Mitch flew in like a thunderbolt from nowhere, rearing back a huge fist.

"Nobody touches…" he started.

He crashed the fist into the enemy, distorting their armor and sending them crashing into a meteor.

"My friends!" He finished.

He proceeded to slice up the wires by changing to his sword form and wielding his twin sabers.

"Alright, Mitch and Guts!" I shouted happily.

"Guts protect friends," Gut's voice rang out through the COM.

A team of sword-equipped enemies closed in on us. We all changed to our sword forms and met blades with them in a huge clash.

"We'll be taking the championship!" said the enemy in a sword-lock with Jake.

"You forgot one thing!" shouted Jake, while changing to his multi-purpose form.

"We're…" he spun around and knocked the enemy away with his buster-sword.

"The Solbraves!" he unleashed a blast of fiery energy onto the unfortunate guy. "And we got the Form Transfer that Kirisaki made for all of us!"

"That's right!" Amy joined in with the energetic shouting. She broke out of the sword-lock and changed to her gun form.

"We're all united!" she cried, firing her pistols, the beams splitting into brilliant trails of light.

Enemies were punctured by the beams, getting kicked out of the game.

Long-range attacks starting bombarding us – missiles, rockets, you name it.

Natalie switched to her gun form and snapped the scope of her rifle to her eye.

"You think I can't block that?" she cried.

"I'm not good because I have skills! It's because of my friendships and all of the good deeds everyone's done for me!" The rifle spat out multiple beams of light, each colliding head-on with the oncoming projectiles, stopping the dangerous onslaught in its tracks.

"That's right! We're all friends, and we won't ever cut our bonds!" I shouted, firing my twin SMGs on full automatic.

"The ultimate power is friendship!" I latched my harpoon onto an enemy and whipped him into his teammates.

"We're the Solbraves!" I dashed forward with Arondight out, and the bars on my back flipped open and outwards.

Pink light began to shine from the, giving them the appearance of twin wings. Little particles leapt off from them now and then.

We all dashed forwards, firing or slashing away at all of the enemies. We were clearly getting the most kills.

My wings of light began to propel me forwards faster than before. I stopped flying and grabbed Amy and Natalie's hands. The grabbed Mitch's and Jake's, respectively. My wings began to extend until they were five feet longer and wider.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" I yelled.

We started to dash forwards at an incredible speed, and the wing's energy enveloped us, forming a huge "V" of energy. Flying through the clusters of enemies, the energy around us whipped and lashed out in long blades, slicing them in half. It was like a huge bird with wings of steel, cutting through the air with its feathers of blades.

"We're the Solbraves! And we're taking this championship!"

Real World

I stood in front of my capsule, staring at the inside. We had defeated every single team…by a long shot.

Amy walked over. "The ceremony is starting," she said softly, putting an arm on my arm.

I looked up to her and smiled. "Alright."

In the theatre, all of the audience – including the teams we beat – were all cheering madly like a bunch of fanatic fans of the team that just won the Olympics.

"We have the winning team up here with us now!" the announcer said into the mike. "The Solbraves!" And at the mention of our name, the cheering multiplied tenfold.

We all stood on the stage, with huge smiles on our face, and waving to the crowd.

"Now," the MC said, turning to us. "How did you guys manage to pull through to the very end?"

Mitch grabbed the mic and said, "It was because of my friends. They're all close to me, and if anyone tries to hurt them, they gotta go through me."

Jake snatched it out of his grasp and said, "We also have the Form Transfer, which Kirisaki spent a long time to make."

"You think that it's because of skills?" Amy asked the crowd, mic in hand. "It's because of our friendships and bonds that are so strong which connect us together."

"I'm not a crack-shot because I got a steady hand," said Natalie. "It's because my bullets are all shot from me, with the power of my friends."

Finally, I had the mic.

"No matter how crappy or good you are at cyber-battling, no matter how strong your bond is with your NetSoul, the one thing that makes you the strongest that you can be is your own belief in yourself. Your own self-esteem. Make sure that you always remember that."

Epilogue

Some random hill overlooking Forest Road, now dubbed "Destiny Hill"

I stood at the edge of the small cliff, gazing out across Forest Road. It had been two days since we won the tournament.

I closed my eyes as the breeze blew past me, rustling the leaves in the tree behind me. The sun was still high in the sky, and shone its rays and warmth onto the city.

When I opened my eyes, someone put their hands over them.

"Amy."

"Awww, how did you know?"

She let go. "You're the only one who knows I come here."

I turned around. My jaw hit the dirt.

She had let her hair fall to her back, and lowered her bangs to her forehead. She was wearing a purple summer dress, and had a purple flower hairclip.

She stuck out her hand and pushed my mouth back up. "What?"

I stared at her. "You're-you're-you're…"

She giggled. "Pretty?"

I blushed.

"Kirisaki, I have to thank you for telling me to believe in myself. That really helped me in the tournament. I'm really happy that you're my friend."

"So am I," I turned back to the cliff. She moved next to me.

Our hands brushed.

I gulped nervously.

Maybe…should I? Maybe I should. I don't know.

I slipped my hand into hers.

She turned her head, and I just stared ahead into the sky. I felt the blush burn my face a deep red, and her cheeks were a bright pink.

No matter how good or bad you are at anything, you have to know that if you believe in yourself. That is what makes you the strongest.

The End

Yeah…I kinda know that I'm a sucker for romantic stuff. I also think that I kinda rushed a lot with the end. But anyways, that's my first story! And wait for my next one. I'm still not sure what I'll name it, but just watch out for it on my profile.

Please R&R!

-starforcebigbang