02x07 - The Wings in a Draw

[bunniefuu]

It is the present day.

Fully-immersive games, in which
the users wear VR headsets

to play as fully-realized
denizens of a fictional world...

are dominating the gaming world.

The pinnacle of these VR games,

boasting over 30 million players worldwide,

is known as a god-tier game.

Its name...

is Shangri-La Frontier!

However...

After suffering a severe in-game setback,

Sunraku is not currently playing SLF,

but a robot action game

about customizing and fighting in
"Nephilim" that fall from the sky,

Nephilim Hollow!

The Wings in a Draw

That player...

Yeah, it is! It's gotta be him!

Crimson Twinewing...

Crimson Twinewing

I'm getting pretty sick of this Nephilim.

Rust!

Big news! Look at this!

Mold. It's a little early for
yelling, don't you think?

You'd yell about this, too!

It's Sunraku!

Sunraku's fighting Super Tamao!

The default-colored
blue-and-orange machine...

Single-shot sn*per Railgun's for scrubs

Xenon Pilot
Dang, that thing's fast... like a monster.

It's Sunraku fr! What area? Highway?

Kingfisher?

Right?! The lobby chat's hyped up, too—

Take it back.

You're not gonna watch?!

Kingfisher's obviously going to win.

Someone else got to him first...

I'm heading out.

Sunraku's fighting me next.

Our ranking match ended in a draw.

Why haven't you logged in since then...

Sunraku?

Huh? Why haven't I...?

You expect me to remember
every little thing I do?!

I probably found some awesome
trash game or something!

Trash game?

You're saying... some stupid trash game...

Don't call it stupid! Trash games are very—

Rust has challenged you.

Fight me, Sunraku!

I'll crush you this time!

Is everyone who plays this game like you?

Whazzat?

But I got me a challenge from
the number one ranker...

No way I can turn that down!

Transporting to spectator lobby.

Hey, man... You can't just—

I want a rematch!

Hey, here we go!

Damn, beat me to it!

Crimson Twinewing's dueling Kingfisher?!

Sunraku's the one who crashed
the leader board, right?

Look at all these rubberneckers...

Yeah!

But Rust managed to fight him to a tie!

Mold...

Total focus, huh?

Crimson Twinewing's hardest battle
was against his Kingfisher.

The moment has come at last...

Kingfisher versus Crimson Twinewing!

Kingfisher

Crimson Twinewing

Duel start!

Let's go, Sunraku!

Let's roll!

You're not getting away!

Here comes payback!

Not likely!

Close call!

Too damn fast!

How the heck does she know which way is up?!

I've basically been playing this game to
knock Rust out of the number one slot.

I never considered that
it might be impossible.

I always thought... someday I'd beat her.

But... much as I hate to say it, you might
be the closest to beating her right now.

Go, Sunraku!

Bash her—

Crimson Twinewing

Eh?

Got a little too aggro, huh?

How does she even move that way?
She a superball or something?

Sunraku.

You...

Don't you dare tell me you
couldn't dodge those attacks!

Are you half-assing this?!

Hey, don't be a jerk.

I'm playing for the first
time in three months, here!

I can't readapt to a high-speed battle
with all those kooky moves just like that!

What?!

Besides, you know how it is.

I've gotta go back over my whole build.

I hear there's been a bunch
of new parts added,

and I'm sure the meta's changed, too.

One more time! Fight me one more time!

Oh, I know! You can get back
up to speed by fighting me!

Nah. You'll just trash me every time.

What's wrong with that?!
You expect me to hold back—

Rust, calm down! Everyone's watching!

Wow, that's something. Rust's yelling.

I've never seen that before!

She never loses her cool.

Look, I'm really sorry...

She's just really worked up.

She's actually really happy to see you ba—

Shut up!

I get it.

I'll get a new Nephilim
worked out within the day.

How's about a rematch tomorrow morning?

Hey, what about my rematch?!

All right.

But you'd better not make such
a pathetic showing tomorrow.

Let's go, Mold.

E-Excuse us.

I'd better not, huh?

Still, weird she's got the same
machine as three months ago.

Has she really used the
same build this whole time?

Man, you really don't know
the first thing about Rust.

Huh?

She sticks with the same machine
until she loses to someone.

It's like a weird policy of hers.

You saying she hasn't lost once
since the last time I logged in?

Yeah, she's accepted challenges from
basically everyone and she's still undefeated.

Ticks me off.

Undefeated in an online game, huh?

Okay, made up my mind!

I'm stickin' with NH until I get
her to change up Crimson Twinewing!

Sunraku.

If you'll give me a rematch,

I'll tell you the key to Rust's strength.

It began when the first giant fell.

The giant unleashed its rage,
destroyed the city...

Then at last, with a final howl,
it burst open and died.

The world breathed a sigh of relief,
but that was only the beginning.

Giants began dropping all over the planet.

Soon, civilization itself crumbled,

and a humanity pushed to the
brink made a crucial discovery.

The technology—

A fusion of giant and man.

"The First Nephilim w*r"—

the name for the battle between the "mad
giants" and humanity's "tamed giants."

And two-hundred-and-some
years have passed since then.

Huh, so that's the backstory?

I skipped the opening, so I forgot.

What are you doing, Sunraku?

You wanna build a Nephilim
to take down Rust, right?

Go on. Look.

That one in the back there.

Hey, yeah, that looks new.

Is that the new base body
added in the update?

Yeah. But...

They've got some serious quirks
that make 'em hard to use,

so basically nobody does it.

You really wanna base a
build off one of those?

I can't beat Rust in an all-out speed fight.

And the fact that it's not widely
used is good news for me.

Means it's unexplored territory.

To build a new Nephilim,
you need to go through three steps.

First, catch a wild Nephilim.

Most of the Nephilim that fall from
the skies are the Open-Eyes type.

Open-Eyes

These are enemies in the game,
and they attack the players.

But occasionally, you'll find a different
kind of Nephilim...

the Closed-Eyes type.

Closed-Eyes

Players can only use the Closed-Eyes
types for their base bodies.

Closed-Eyes captured.

Hell yeah! Got 'em!

Impressive as ever.

The next step is to dress
up your naked new Nephilim.

In other words, customize
it with weapons and armor.

You can get parts from shops,
the black market, and other players.

Sunraku!

Putting together your new Nephilim?

Guess so.

Curious what you'll go for,
but I guess we'll see tomorrow!

You better beat Rust, okay?

We're all counting on you!

Super Tamao wasn't even getting close.

I don't wanna hear that from
someone weaker than me!

Later!

Take care!

Buncha snobs.

Do people not like Rust or something?

Huh? Nah.

She's highly respected as a player.

That's why we wanna take her down.

Remember what I said?

Rust won't change her
machine until she loses.

Everyone wants to see her fight

with something other than Crimson Twinewing.

That explains that.

So that's why you're teaming up with me.

Nothin'!

Anyway, have you thought up a
build that can take her down yet?

It ain't that simple, man.

Kingfisher can't hold a candle to Crimson
Twinewing's unconventional moves.

Reaction time, coordination, control...

Rust's tops at all of 'em.

No wonder she's queen of the mountain.

And the info you gave me
just makes things harder.

You said that player, Mold,
was feeding my moves to Rust, right?

Mold's an excellent operator.

He won't be fooled by base-level tricks.

So that's the key to Rust's strength...

Then the weakness might
lie in Rust herself.

Hey, mister! Show me the legs you got in.

Sure, that's Warehouse C4.

Hey, Sunraku?

I just had an idea...

for a Nephilim to take down Rust.

Hey, now.

Is this the whole NH playerbase or something?

When was the last time
we had a crowd like this?

I stayed up all night in anticipation!

Where's Sunraku already?!

Outta the way! I can't see!

Just get started already!

He's here.

Hey, sorry for the wait!

That's your new machine?

Yep! Pretty cool, huh?

The last step in creation,
name your new Nephilim build...

This one's called...

Fiddler Crab.

Fiddler Crab

It's not at all like Kingfisher.

Bulky armor...

A heavyweight Nephilim?

Against me?

Fiddler Crab...

That's the kind with one
oversized claw, right?

It's an apt name,
with that one large pincer...

The Type-6 Guillotining
Scissor Unit, "Bookmaker"...

A close-range weapon that
does massive damage per hit,

but with slow attack speed.

A rule-of-cool weapon like that

doesn't seem like a good match
for Crimson Twinewing...

What's he plotting?

Well, Mold, will you notice it?

Sunraku's trump card...

What's with the cryptic mutterings?

No one's impressed, Super Tamao.

Shut up!

Rust.

Don't be deceived by appearances.

Your Crimson Twinewing's going down.

I can't wait to see it.

Let's get started...

Sunraku!

Let's make this a quick one, Rust.

Fiddler Crab vs. Crimson Twinewing...

Fiddler Crab

Crimson Twinewing

Duel start!

Those rocket legs...

Rocket Legs

Don't see those very often.

He's keeping maneuverability
at the lowest acceptable level?

But the Bookmaker on his right arm...

That can't be a random choice
against Crimson Twinewing.

He'll use it for sure.

Rust. His head part is—

I know. It's a pretty deep cut...

You think you can catch me off
guard with an obscure parts build?!

Good question.

He disappeared!

That's active camouflage.

It lets you disappear for a few seconds
if you're not in an attack animation.

Oh, that head part does active camouflage!

I totally forgot!

That's because no one uses it these days.

Yeah. Because active camouflage in NH...

Yeah. It's got a major defect.

The only thing active camouflage
masks is the machine itself.

It doesn't hide the effect
animations from the rocket legs.

I can watch the booster angles and dust
clouds to know exactly where you are!

There!

Better luck next time, Fiddler Crab!

Something's not right.

There's no way he wouldn't
anticipate this outcome...

If he intentionally equipped unusual
parts, there's no way he'd just...

No sign of him using his boosters to escape.

Wait, that Nephilim—

Rust, get out of there!

It's over.