"Arf!"

Roll scooped up the little brown dog as he appeared on her shoulder. "Rush! You've finally come back!" she crooned, stroking his head for a brief second before he mysteriously disappeared from her hands.

"Little guy!" Mega Man laughed as the brown dog materialized atop Guts Man's angular head. The big Navi furiously tried to claw Rush from his lofty perch, but the little dog only barked again, disappearing with a loud pop.

"Arf!"

"GAH!" shouted Guts, still grabbing at his head in a plight to seize Rush, who was currently still elsewhere. "Get off me, you bugger!"

"He already has," said Yai, pointing. "He's right there."

A hole opened up in Lan's leg, revealing a Rush who popped up as he was apt to do. In a rapid-fire movement, the crazed crimefighter reached – in vain – for him. With another Arf!, Rush vanished, calmly appearing in Lan's spiked brown mass seconds later.

"Arf!" the little dog barked, burying his face into the spikes. "Arf!" he yapped again as he resurfaced, mouth full of the remains of the chocolate anime hairdo. Now, with another movement (not to mention another bark), he disappeared and quickly popped around Tory's shoulders.

Tory giggled, not bothering to reach for Rush as Dex and Lan had done. Instead, he calmly stood by, watching the others with calm eyes as they watched the canine lying quite easily around his neck, tail wagging in extreme happiness. Now, seeing the stares of his friends but otherwise ignoring them, Tory headed forward with a light, easygoing step.

They continued to gaze after the pair of them; even Ice Man was annoyed. With a loud, wordless sound, the pipsqueak Navi crossed his arms as he stared after them.

"Like I need this," he grunted. "I'm supposed to be his Navi."

"Ice Man?" Roll was more than a little surprised as she looked at her small friend. "Rush is my dog – our friend. Why the jealousy?"

Ice Man muttered something under his breath.

"I guess we'd better go." Lan, embarrassed and confused, moved slightly away.

"Yeah, I think we'd better." Maylu pulled on his arm, avoiding Ice Man's eye. "Come on, gang. We have to something important to do at TGT headquarters – and Rush is an important part of it, too."

--------------------------------------------

Elynor surveyed the mass of humans and Navis gathered at the long table around she and Piero, who sat at its head. For now, they were waiting with bated breath for her to begin; it was the day before the Grand Tournament and everyone's tension was increasing consistently. For some, it made them be filled with excited anxiety for the tourney – the NetBattling, the excitement, the courage, the valour, the victory. For some, it was the battles themselves – wins, losses, mounting excitement and ferocity as the counter ticked down lower and lower, the list shrinking down to a handful of contestants. For some, it was the fruit of hard labour – just a day from today it would all come down to the Grand Tournament itself; their pride and joy, their dream, would finally be realized. For some, it was the options – true, TGT was fun enough in its own right, but it was the sort of thing that allowed you to make new friends, meet new people, share newfound experiences.

But, for all of them, it was what was they wanted. Each and every one of them.

Elynor sighed and glanced to the low ceiling above their head and the midnight-blue lamps hanging from it; highlighted in blue as it was now, this room, the meeting room that they had regularly assembled at every week, quite resembled the room where psychedelic hippie chauffeur Chuck and his group were fond of hanging out in. But that was a trifle, compared to what had originally lain ahead of them on their path. The entire building had been purchased with the Zenny original founders – she and Piero – had earned. It had been hard enough, getting TGT the way they wanted it. And now…

How am I going to do this? Elynor thought, summoning her courage. She wasn't as talkative as Piero and felt shy, a little embarrassed, even though she knew perfectly well that she had been much more comfortable during other TGT staff meetings. All in all, it was the sort of thing that made a chill run down her spine. Odd enough, considering she was merely gazing at her cohorts, accomplices, cronies, helpers, friends…

Elynor sighed again, and, still aware of every eye now glued onto her, raised her voice in it. "Well, this it," she began in trepidation. "TGT starts tomorrow. Now you're free to talk about what you will – though I don't even know who the hosts will be yet."

She left herself slump, slouching into the chair. As the staff around her talked, throwing comment after comment at each other, she merely let herself stay there, their fast words passing through her ears and just tapping into her mind. Yes, it was a fairly enlightening conversation, and while Elynor would have normally would have participated in it, today she was feeling fatigued. Exhausted, even – all this work on the Grand Tournament must have finally caught up to her.