BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga
Volume 2: Pokerface
Chapter 2: Getting Back to Work
Manic quickly got up from the hospital bed and slowly walked over towards the room closet, where he assumed his clothes were stored. He was still suffering under the effects of the anesthesia, but he kept walking forward, trying to shake it off. Finally, after almost tripping up once due to total exhaustion from a week ago, Manic finally pulled open the closet door and saw his clothes hanging on the horizontal bar.
Manic inspected the clothes for a second, remembering something.
*Didn't my clothes change when you absorbed into me?* Manic asked mentally to Infernos.
*Yeah, but that was only when we integrated fully... since then, everything about you has reverted back to normal...well... almost everything...*
*Almost...?* Manic looked around until he noticed something about his forearms. They were encrested with deep red flame tattoos that went fully around the forearms.
"How..." Manic said aloud.
*That'd be because I absorbed into you on a spur-the-moment occassion. Had we not been rushed to do so, or had I just said 'what the hell' and absorbed into you myself without a cause, you wouldn't have those... but hey, what are you complaining about? They're cool, aren't they?*
*Well...* Manic contemplated, *you have a point... they are pretty bad...* Manic stopped looking at his forearms and got dressed in his usual clothing, baggy jeans and the unbuttoned hawaiian shirt.
"Oh..." Manic said to himself as he grabbed his necklaces. "Wait... why only two? Where'd the other one go?"
*It's inside you now...* Infernos said. He seemed to calm down a bit more, knowing that Manic was on his way out.
*Inside me?* Manic asked mentally.
*Yeah. Since that's where I was trapped, that's what had to integrate into you on the spur-the-moment occassion. So, you have me.*
Manic shrugged as he quickly put the necklaces on and walked out of the hospital room, looking down both ends of the hallway to see if anyone was there. No one. Manic closed the door softly behind him and walked down the hall towards the elevator.
Infernos could see everything through Manic's eyes as well, being almost one with Manic's own soul.
*Nice in here...* Infernos commented, happy that he had been freed from his prison.
*Don't get too comfortable,* Manic thought, *I don't know how long we can stay integrated...*
*Don't worry about that,* Infernos reassured Manic, *I'll stay with you until we finish up a job we have to do...Who knows? Maybe later on, we'll find out how to integrate on a full-time basis.*
*That's true...* Manic said, almost happy to feel that power again. The power to actually save his friends single-handedly, although the drawbacks of the first time were immense.
Manic quickened his pace towards the elevator and pressed the button a few times as he stood in front of the elevator doors, waiting for them to open.
*Why did my clothes change that drastically, anyways?* Manic asked Infernos.
*Well, when we integrate, it's basically a merging of two personalities. You preferred the baggy jeans because they're easier to move around in while I thought your hawaiian shirt was a bit too flimsy to provide any real protection, so that's why my keigoki came.*
*Keigoki?*
*Yeah, that sorta heavy blue jacket with short sleeves? That's a keigoki.*
*Oh, kind of like the one Kinzoku wears,* Manic thought.
*Yeah, exactly.*
The elevator doors opened and Manic rushed in, immediately pressing the ground floor button. He wanted to get out of that hospital as soon as he could, now. He had remembered something he needed to do at work.
*You just got out of a coma and you're already thinking of work!?* Infernos commented.
*You would be too if it were as important as this...* Manic retorted.
*Trust me, what you're thinking won't work. No one has ever heard of those guys. Even I don't know if they still exist.*
*Damn...*
The elevator doors opened once again and Manic stepped out into a filled hospital lobby. Manic's eyes shut for a few seconds to readjust to the bright rays of the sun as he stepped forward.
"Wow... haven't seen the sun for a while..." Manic said as he walked towards the front door. However, he felt an arm grab his as he walked.
"Hey!" Manic turned around to see a very familiar face.
"Kin!" Manic said in surprise, "Why are you here?"
"Can't a guy check up on his friend once in a while?" Kinzoku responded with a grin. Manic returned the grin and gave Kin a brief hug.
"Thanks," Manic said as he let go and walked towards the doors, along with Kinzoku.
*Hmm... there's something... odd...* Infernos thought for a moment.
"Good timing, too," Kin said as they walked down the sidewalks of Marine Harbor, "The cheif planned a commemoration party for everyone who stopped that one guy last week..." Manic remained completely silent during this. He was still contesting with his feelings about his own brother dying in his arms. It was a feeling no one should have.
"Hey, still listening?" Kinzoku said. Manic snapped back to reality and nodded in response.
Kinzoku stopped walking for a second.
"You know, that was one hell of a datasilver you pulled out back there," Kin said. Manic looked at Kin blank-faced.
"Datasilver? What?"
"I didn't know they even developed form-changing datasilver nowadays," Kin said, "So, where'd you get that? From the cheif? Top secret? Experimental?" Kin kept badgering Manic while smiling, while Manic kept shrugging Kin's arm off his shoulders.
"No, it's not a new datasilver... but...oh well, you wouldn't believe me if I told you..." Manic said.
"Try me," Kin responded.
"Ok... well..." Manic tried to find the words to say, but Infernos beat him to the punch.
"Well," Infernos said, using a deeper-pitch of Manic's voice to talk, "What happened was that I inherited a necklace from my old man and since my brother was killing people left and right, I thought, 'hey, that'd be uber- awesome to use that,' and the necklace held the spirit of the fire deity, the best deity ever, mind you, and that's why I became all powerful and stuff!" Manic gained back control of his right arm so that he could at least knock Infernos in the side to keep him from babbling on.
Kin was speechless, while Manic finally regained control over his own voice and looked at Kinzoku again. "Something wrong?" Manic asked in his own voice.
"...oh..." Kin merely responded, "Ok..."
"...that's it? Ok?" Infernos said through Manic's voice again. Manic was getting a bit irritated at this now. "You're not shocked by that one bit?"
"Well, no, actually," Kinzoku responded as he continued walking down the sidewalk, "I can tell through your voice, somewhat... also... there seems to be something... different about you... you know?"
"True..." Manic said in his own voice again.
"Anyways," Kin continued, "You, Ryuu and I are supposed to get something, along with Joseph..."
"Ok..." Manic responded, "So, are we getting them now, or..."
"Oh, no," Kin said, "He's holding a ballroom party tomorrow night on Beach Street, so get something good to wear..."
Manic choked a bit at this. Never in his life did he think he'd have to dress somewhat formally for a party like this, much less have the clothes to do so.
"I'm going home now, seeing that you're awake," Kin said as they were walking towards the Metroline station.
"Ok, I think I'll head down to the office for a few minutes," Manic said.
"Ok, see you tomorrow, then," Kin said as he walked down the stairwell and out of Manic's sight. Manic continued walking towards the ONBA Headquarters, his mind focused now on that party.
*Man, where am I going to get a suit...* Manic thought.
*Hmm... something about him...* Infernos thought as well.
*What about Kin?* Manic asked mentally.
*Oh... nothing...* Infernos responded, still thinking.
Manic finally reached ONBA HQ in a few minutes, after grabbing a light snack to keep him from collapsing from his still-present exhaustion.
"Hmm..." Manic said to himself as he walked inside the building and walked towards the back part of the building, where the Officials' desks were. He walked down the second aisle until he reached his own desk, littered with a few papers here and there. He logged onto his computer and checked his office email.
"Hmm..." Manic said to himself.
WELCOME, GRAVE/MANIC/ID 427
YOU HAVE (7) NEW MESSAGES
Manic looked through the messages, one of which being about the ball, another two from people around the office telling him congradulations and get well soon, and the other four were basically junk mail. Manic didn't stay long until he heard someone tap on the side of his desk. He looked up to see another familiar face standing at his desk.
Ryuu.
"You're ok, I hope?" Ryuu asked calmly.
"Hey," Manic said as he nodded to answer Ryuu's question. Ryuu smiled slightly.
"I was on my way home, actually," Ryuu said, "Do you want to get something to eat on the way?"
"Sure," Manic responded as he logged off his computer and got up from his desk, grabbing his cyberband from the computer terminal, which made sure all his adaptor bits and datasilver were in working order.
"So, what happened that day Shadow tore up everything?" Ryuu asked as he took a sip from his vanilla milkshake. He and Manic were walking back towards the Metroline on their ways home.
"Pretty odd, actually," Manic responded, "But I doubt you'd believe me..."
"Try me," Ryuu responded. Manic chuckled a bit. "What's so funny?"
"Well, Kin told me the same thing today," Manic said, laughing that he suspected that Infernos would take over again and tell Ryuu a long-winded story about what happened. Manic sighed, "Might as well tell you too..."
*Don't even think about it,* Manic said harshly to Infernos mentally.
"I don't really know... at first, I felt like I was about to die, then...wait, I saw my cyberband capacity go over the limit, why couldn't anyone just log out?" Manic asked.
"We found out after we got you out of the cybersystem that Shadow activated a program locking system for our cyberbands," Ryuu responded as both he and Manic walked down the steps of the Metroline station.
"Program locking?" Manic asked.
"It sent out electronic waves through the area so all cyberbands in the area would be unable to exit the net, so we would have died had we stayed in there and gotten hurt enough..."
"Like the undernet..." Manic wondered.
"Right," Ryuu responded, "So, the rest of the story?"
"Oh, yeah," Manic said, trying to find the words again.
*Oh no...* Manic thought.
"Well," Infernos said, taking over partial control of Manic again.
Time passed on the train as Infernos explained the entire ordeal to Ryuu, who was a bit more shocked than Kinzoku at this, but he chose to believe. Finally, the Metroline came to a halt in ACDC and both Ryuu and Manic walked out of the station.
"So, Infernos is the deity of fire," Ryuu said, still trying to comprehend some of this, "and he was imprisoned in your necklace..."
"Right," Manic said.
"Hmm... I guess it'll make more sense later on..." Ryuu said, thinking as they walked. Unknowingly, Manic had followed Ryuu to Ryuu's own house. It was a decently-sized house, but fairly big for only one person to live in. Outside, however, there was a small statue on the front porch of the house.
"Well, I better get home, then," Manic said as they reached Ryuu's house, "I still have to look for something for that ball tomorrow..."
"Yeah," Ryuu said as he walked towards his front door, "See you tomorrow, then, Manic."
"See you," Manic said. The walk to the ACDC Apartments didn't take long for Manic as he pushed the door open and walked towards the elevator.
*What a day...* Manic thought, *First, I find out that I have a deity inside me, then I find out I have to dress up for a party tomorrow...*
*It won't be too bad,* Infernos replied, *It's in your commemoration, so you're bound to get something...*
Manic didn't respond to that as he pressed the seventh button inside the elevator. He stepped out through the open elevator doors once it reached floor seven and walked towards his apartment.
*I only spent half the day awake and I already feel tired...* Manic thought to himself as he almost dropped his keys and unlocked the door to his apartment. Everything was kept the same way he had left it, which made Manic happy somewhat. He then went straight to his bed and fell down on it, falling asleep almost instantly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So, what do you have cooked up this time?" a deep-voiced character asked.
"Well, ONBA is holding a party for the people who killed Shadow..." a higher-pitched, nasal voice said.
"First off, about Shadow," an innately evil voice said to the group, the leader of them all, "Well, he's not en...what are you planning on?"
"Oh, ONBA is holding a party for those guys who killed Shadow," the nasal- voiced person said.
"So, what's your plan?" the deep-voiced person asked.
"Well, they'll need some sort of... 'entertainment,' won't they?"
"Good plan," the leader voice responded, "This will be the perfect opportunity to stop them from being awakened right from the start. Leave as quickly as you can."
"I'll arrange some things around for you," a cool-voiced character spoke up, "You're on your own for the rest..."
"Well, showtime's tomorrow," the nasal-voiced character said with a bow, "and I'm off."
Chapter 2 of Volume 2 is down! Review, please!
Volume 2: Pokerface
Chapter 2: Getting Back to Work
Manic quickly got up from the hospital bed and slowly walked over towards the room closet, where he assumed his clothes were stored. He was still suffering under the effects of the anesthesia, but he kept walking forward, trying to shake it off. Finally, after almost tripping up once due to total exhaustion from a week ago, Manic finally pulled open the closet door and saw his clothes hanging on the horizontal bar.
Manic inspected the clothes for a second, remembering something.
*Didn't my clothes change when you absorbed into me?* Manic asked mentally to Infernos.
*Yeah, but that was only when we integrated fully... since then, everything about you has reverted back to normal...well... almost everything...*
*Almost...?* Manic looked around until he noticed something about his forearms. They were encrested with deep red flame tattoos that went fully around the forearms.
"How..." Manic said aloud.
*That'd be because I absorbed into you on a spur-the-moment occassion. Had we not been rushed to do so, or had I just said 'what the hell' and absorbed into you myself without a cause, you wouldn't have those... but hey, what are you complaining about? They're cool, aren't they?*
*Well...* Manic contemplated, *you have a point... they are pretty bad...* Manic stopped looking at his forearms and got dressed in his usual clothing, baggy jeans and the unbuttoned hawaiian shirt.
"Oh..." Manic said to himself as he grabbed his necklaces. "Wait... why only two? Where'd the other one go?"
*It's inside you now...* Infernos said. He seemed to calm down a bit more, knowing that Manic was on his way out.
*Inside me?* Manic asked mentally.
*Yeah. Since that's where I was trapped, that's what had to integrate into you on the spur-the-moment occassion. So, you have me.*
Manic shrugged as he quickly put the necklaces on and walked out of the hospital room, looking down both ends of the hallway to see if anyone was there. No one. Manic closed the door softly behind him and walked down the hall towards the elevator.
Infernos could see everything through Manic's eyes as well, being almost one with Manic's own soul.
*Nice in here...* Infernos commented, happy that he had been freed from his prison.
*Don't get too comfortable,* Manic thought, *I don't know how long we can stay integrated...*
*Don't worry about that,* Infernos reassured Manic, *I'll stay with you until we finish up a job we have to do...Who knows? Maybe later on, we'll find out how to integrate on a full-time basis.*
*That's true...* Manic said, almost happy to feel that power again. The power to actually save his friends single-handedly, although the drawbacks of the first time were immense.
Manic quickened his pace towards the elevator and pressed the button a few times as he stood in front of the elevator doors, waiting for them to open.
*Why did my clothes change that drastically, anyways?* Manic asked Infernos.
*Well, when we integrate, it's basically a merging of two personalities. You preferred the baggy jeans because they're easier to move around in while I thought your hawaiian shirt was a bit too flimsy to provide any real protection, so that's why my keigoki came.*
*Keigoki?*
*Yeah, that sorta heavy blue jacket with short sleeves? That's a keigoki.*
*Oh, kind of like the one Kinzoku wears,* Manic thought.
*Yeah, exactly.*
The elevator doors opened and Manic rushed in, immediately pressing the ground floor button. He wanted to get out of that hospital as soon as he could, now. He had remembered something he needed to do at work.
*You just got out of a coma and you're already thinking of work!?* Infernos commented.
*You would be too if it were as important as this...* Manic retorted.
*Trust me, what you're thinking won't work. No one has ever heard of those guys. Even I don't know if they still exist.*
*Damn...*
The elevator doors opened once again and Manic stepped out into a filled hospital lobby. Manic's eyes shut for a few seconds to readjust to the bright rays of the sun as he stepped forward.
"Wow... haven't seen the sun for a while..." Manic said as he walked towards the front door. However, he felt an arm grab his as he walked.
"Hey!" Manic turned around to see a very familiar face.
"Kin!" Manic said in surprise, "Why are you here?"
"Can't a guy check up on his friend once in a while?" Kinzoku responded with a grin. Manic returned the grin and gave Kin a brief hug.
"Thanks," Manic said as he let go and walked towards the doors, along with Kinzoku.
*Hmm... there's something... odd...* Infernos thought for a moment.
"Good timing, too," Kin said as they walked down the sidewalks of Marine Harbor, "The cheif planned a commemoration party for everyone who stopped that one guy last week..." Manic remained completely silent during this. He was still contesting with his feelings about his own brother dying in his arms. It was a feeling no one should have.
"Hey, still listening?" Kinzoku said. Manic snapped back to reality and nodded in response.
Kinzoku stopped walking for a second.
"You know, that was one hell of a datasilver you pulled out back there," Kin said. Manic looked at Kin blank-faced.
"Datasilver? What?"
"I didn't know they even developed form-changing datasilver nowadays," Kin said, "So, where'd you get that? From the cheif? Top secret? Experimental?" Kin kept badgering Manic while smiling, while Manic kept shrugging Kin's arm off his shoulders.
"No, it's not a new datasilver... but...oh well, you wouldn't believe me if I told you..." Manic said.
"Try me," Kin responded.
"Ok... well..." Manic tried to find the words to say, but Infernos beat him to the punch.
"Well," Infernos said, using a deeper-pitch of Manic's voice to talk, "What happened was that I inherited a necklace from my old man and since my brother was killing people left and right, I thought, 'hey, that'd be uber- awesome to use that,' and the necklace held the spirit of the fire deity, the best deity ever, mind you, and that's why I became all powerful and stuff!" Manic gained back control of his right arm so that he could at least knock Infernos in the side to keep him from babbling on.
Kin was speechless, while Manic finally regained control over his own voice and looked at Kinzoku again. "Something wrong?" Manic asked in his own voice.
"...oh..." Kin merely responded, "Ok..."
"...that's it? Ok?" Infernos said through Manic's voice again. Manic was getting a bit irritated at this now. "You're not shocked by that one bit?"
"Well, no, actually," Kinzoku responded as he continued walking down the sidewalk, "I can tell through your voice, somewhat... also... there seems to be something... different about you... you know?"
"True..." Manic said in his own voice again.
"Anyways," Kin continued, "You, Ryuu and I are supposed to get something, along with Joseph..."
"Ok..." Manic responded, "So, are we getting them now, or..."
"Oh, no," Kin said, "He's holding a ballroom party tomorrow night on Beach Street, so get something good to wear..."
Manic choked a bit at this. Never in his life did he think he'd have to dress somewhat formally for a party like this, much less have the clothes to do so.
"I'm going home now, seeing that you're awake," Kin said as they were walking towards the Metroline station.
"Ok, I think I'll head down to the office for a few minutes," Manic said.
"Ok, see you tomorrow, then," Kin said as he walked down the stairwell and out of Manic's sight. Manic continued walking towards the ONBA Headquarters, his mind focused now on that party.
*Man, where am I going to get a suit...* Manic thought.
*Hmm... something about him...* Infernos thought as well.
*What about Kin?* Manic asked mentally.
*Oh... nothing...* Infernos responded, still thinking.
Manic finally reached ONBA HQ in a few minutes, after grabbing a light snack to keep him from collapsing from his still-present exhaustion.
"Hmm..." Manic said to himself as he walked inside the building and walked towards the back part of the building, where the Officials' desks were. He walked down the second aisle until he reached his own desk, littered with a few papers here and there. He logged onto his computer and checked his office email.
"Hmm..." Manic said to himself.
WELCOME, GRAVE/MANIC/ID 427
YOU HAVE (7) NEW MESSAGES
Manic looked through the messages, one of which being about the ball, another two from people around the office telling him congradulations and get well soon, and the other four were basically junk mail. Manic didn't stay long until he heard someone tap on the side of his desk. He looked up to see another familiar face standing at his desk.
Ryuu.
"You're ok, I hope?" Ryuu asked calmly.
"Hey," Manic said as he nodded to answer Ryuu's question. Ryuu smiled slightly.
"I was on my way home, actually," Ryuu said, "Do you want to get something to eat on the way?"
"Sure," Manic responded as he logged off his computer and got up from his desk, grabbing his cyberband from the computer terminal, which made sure all his adaptor bits and datasilver were in working order.
"So, what happened that day Shadow tore up everything?" Ryuu asked as he took a sip from his vanilla milkshake. He and Manic were walking back towards the Metroline on their ways home.
"Pretty odd, actually," Manic responded, "But I doubt you'd believe me..."
"Try me," Ryuu responded. Manic chuckled a bit. "What's so funny?"
"Well, Kin told me the same thing today," Manic said, laughing that he suspected that Infernos would take over again and tell Ryuu a long-winded story about what happened. Manic sighed, "Might as well tell you too..."
*Don't even think about it,* Manic said harshly to Infernos mentally.
"I don't really know... at first, I felt like I was about to die, then...wait, I saw my cyberband capacity go over the limit, why couldn't anyone just log out?" Manic asked.
"We found out after we got you out of the cybersystem that Shadow activated a program locking system for our cyberbands," Ryuu responded as both he and Manic walked down the steps of the Metroline station.
"Program locking?" Manic asked.
"It sent out electronic waves through the area so all cyberbands in the area would be unable to exit the net, so we would have died had we stayed in there and gotten hurt enough..."
"Like the undernet..." Manic wondered.
"Right," Ryuu responded, "So, the rest of the story?"
"Oh, yeah," Manic said, trying to find the words again.
*Oh no...* Manic thought.
"Well," Infernos said, taking over partial control of Manic again.
Time passed on the train as Infernos explained the entire ordeal to Ryuu, who was a bit more shocked than Kinzoku at this, but he chose to believe. Finally, the Metroline came to a halt in ACDC and both Ryuu and Manic walked out of the station.
"So, Infernos is the deity of fire," Ryuu said, still trying to comprehend some of this, "and he was imprisoned in your necklace..."
"Right," Manic said.
"Hmm... I guess it'll make more sense later on..." Ryuu said, thinking as they walked. Unknowingly, Manic had followed Ryuu to Ryuu's own house. It was a decently-sized house, but fairly big for only one person to live in. Outside, however, there was a small statue on the front porch of the house.
"Well, I better get home, then," Manic said as they reached Ryuu's house, "I still have to look for something for that ball tomorrow..."
"Yeah," Ryuu said as he walked towards his front door, "See you tomorrow, then, Manic."
"See you," Manic said. The walk to the ACDC Apartments didn't take long for Manic as he pushed the door open and walked towards the elevator.
*What a day...* Manic thought, *First, I find out that I have a deity inside me, then I find out I have to dress up for a party tomorrow...*
*It won't be too bad,* Infernos replied, *It's in your commemoration, so you're bound to get something...*
Manic didn't respond to that as he pressed the seventh button inside the elevator. He stepped out through the open elevator doors once it reached floor seven and walked towards his apartment.
*I only spent half the day awake and I already feel tired...* Manic thought to himself as he almost dropped his keys and unlocked the door to his apartment. Everything was kept the same way he had left it, which made Manic happy somewhat. He then went straight to his bed and fell down on it, falling asleep almost instantly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So, what do you have cooked up this time?" a deep-voiced character asked.
"Well, ONBA is holding a party for the people who killed Shadow..." a higher-pitched, nasal voice said.
"First off, about Shadow," an innately evil voice said to the group, the leader of them all, "Well, he's not en...what are you planning on?"
"Oh, ONBA is holding a party for those guys who killed Shadow," the nasal- voiced person said.
"So, what's your plan?" the deep-voiced person asked.
"Well, they'll need some sort of... 'entertainment,' won't they?"
"Good plan," the leader voice responded, "This will be the perfect opportunity to stop them from being awakened right from the start. Leave as quickly as you can."
"I'll arrange some things around for you," a cool-voiced character spoke up, "You're on your own for the rest..."
"Well, showtime's tomorrow," the nasal-voiced character said with a bow, "and I'm off."
Chapter 2 of Volume 2 is down! Review, please!