Kinzoku woke up in a cold sweat, panting heavily. He slowly walked to the bathroom sink to splash some water on his face and try to rest, but every step he took seemed like an eternity of pain for him as he walked. He was still panting heavily, but he finally reached the sink and leaned on it with his left arm, his right hand holding his lower left ribs. He couldn't breathe regularly, only in short breaths. He calmed his breathing rate down enough so that we was breathing slowly, still holding his side.

Kinzoku could still hear the sound of steel cutting through steel, the cries of someone from far away, and his own searing pain.

BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga

Volume 2: Pokerface

Chapter 3: The Ballroom Fiasco

"Man, what should I wear..." Manic said to himself as he looked through his closet and found absolutely nothing that could be considered dresswear. He looked through his small wardrobe over and over again frantically.

*Hey, this is your fault... if you had listened to me in the first pla--*

"Shut it," Manic said to Infernos. Infernos let out a small laugh as he watched through Manic's eyes.

*Hey, that could work,* Infernos said to Manic mentally as he took control of Manic's arm and raised up a black long-sleeved dress shirt.

*Guess it could,* Manic responded as he set the shirt aside and kept looking. After a while more, Manic found a pair of khaki cargo pants that looked somewhat appropriate. *These should do...*

Infernos merely sighed. *You have no tact... later on, I'm dragging you to that place I saw on the co--* Infernos stopped mid-sentence as Manic and he heard a knocking on the apartment door. Manic stopped his search for dress material and went to open the front door to see Shinzuka, Joseph's younger sister, standing there.

"Hiya, Manic!" Shinzuka said with a smile.

*Woah, she's cu--*

*Think it and you will die,* Manic responded mentally. "Hey Shinzuka," Manic responded. He then stepped aside, "Come in," he asked her and closed the door behind her.

"What's up?" Manic asked Shinzuka, having absolutely no clue as to why she came. However, while she was looking around the apartment, Shinzuka caught a glance at the clothes Manic set aside to wear to the ball.

"Is that what you're wearing?" Shinzuka asked Manic, not sure of whether she was happy or disappointed in his choice of clothing. Manic simply nodded, and Shinzuka shook her head. "Come on, I'm getting you real clothes!"

Manic was utterly shocked as Shinzuka rushed to the door and opened it and went towards the elevator door with Manic's arm in her hand. Manic barely managed to close the door behind them by kicking it shut and finally caught up to Shinzuka.

"Wait, wait, what's going on?" Manic asked Shinzuka, half-yelling in surprise.

Shinzuka pressed the elevator button and waited for the doors to open up. She was about a year younger than Manic and had flowing blonde hair with deep blue eyes. "Joseph told me about the ball and I felt left out and then he told me that you didn't have a date to go with and I thought that would have been lame for you to show up without a date, so I'm bringing you along as a date and now we're going to get you a new tux." Shinzuka spoke quickly and with a smile and walked into the elevator with Manic in tow. However, it seemed evident that Manic was just as baffled at the current change of events as before.

*How cute, you two are in love...* Infernos teased. *She's already dragging you along, just like a married couple, aww...*

*Shut up. Now.* Manic responded mentally.

*Bah... You'll be thanking me when we get home...* Infernos said as Manic merely rolled his eyes. The ball was tonight and Manic had no intention of telling anyone else that Infernos was integrated with him, nor would he be thanking Infernos for whatever he might do today with Shinzuka.

"Come on!" Shinzuka yelled with a smile as she dragged Manic out of the elevator and onto the sidewalk. She then slowed her pace down into a walk and latched onto Manic's arm.

*He's kinda cute like this,* Shinzuka thought to herself as she giggled a bit. Manic's face lit up like a firecracker when she latched onto him when they walked down the street. *I should do this more often...*

*Infernos...* Manic said mentally.

*Yes?*

*...you do not tell anyone about this.*

Infernos laughed like a madman, utterly enjoying the moment. *I can probably get you through this and get you a sweet tux, if you want...*

*...help would be nice. Yeah, help...* Manic said mentally, very awkward at this point.

*Ok, leave it to me...* Infernos then took control of Manic as both he and Shinzuka walked towards a small shop in central ACDC called ~The Dressed Met~.

"There's the place," Shinzuka said as she guided them towards the shop and Infernos opened the door for her.

"So, what did you have planned for a dress, Shinzuka?" Infernos asked through a deeper pitch of Manic's voice.

"Well," Shinzuka wondered, "...I only found out about the ball today, so I don't really have anything planned out..."

"Perfect..." Infernos said with a grin.

*Perfect?* Manic asked skeptically.

*Trust me, you'll like this...*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After an eventful day at the tuxedo shop, the time for the Ball on Beach Street finally came. ONBA cheif officials and other officals from the Marine Harbor district came for the party, among many others.

"Hmm..." Ryuu said to himself as he walked past the doorway and looked around. He had a white tuxedo jacket with a black dress shirt underneath and black dress slacks.

"Ryuu!" Kinzoku said to catch Ryuu's attention as he walked over to him. Kinzoku dressed in a black zoot suit tuxedo, complete with the chain running down his left leg, but lacked a fedora.

"Kin, nice to see you after such a long time," Ryuu joked, seeing as how they had bumped into each other at the Challenger Hall this afternoon.

"Yeah," Kin responded, "it's been a long time..."

"Hey fellas," a voice said, coming closer to the two. It was Joseph, who dressed in a formal black tuxedo jacket with a blue dress shirt and black dress slacks, and a beautiful, brown-haired lady with a blue dress holding Joseph's arm.

"Well well, Joseph," Kinzoku said as he shook his hand, "I see you have a pretty girlfriend now, congratulations."

"Ryuu, Kin, this is Honeychile," Joseph said as he introduced his date, "She works in the Challenger Hall, so I'm pretty sure you've met her before." Both Kinzoku and Ryuu were surprised to finally recognize her.

"You look much different dressed up than in the Challenge Hall, Honeychile," Ryuu commented as she smiled. He only knew her as the water mage in the Challenge Hall, being feared for having a reputation with defeating her opponents quickly with her specialized flood datasilver and various other freezing attacks to render her opponents helpless.

"Nice to meet you two as well," Honeychile said with a smile, "I hear you three are getting special rewards today." The three of them nodded in response. "But wasn't there a fourth one?"

"Oh yeah, that's right," Kinzoku commented, "Where's Manic?"

"I have no clue..." Joseph said as Ryuu shook his head. "I don't even know where my sister is..."

"Here's a clue," a voice said from behind the netbattlers.

(A/N: If you want to, start playing the Hellsing Opening theme right here. BTW, Hellsing is a very good anime about a vampire, so think vampiric thoughts. Evil, bloodthirsty vampiric thoughts. It also helps a lot with the imagery if you imagine the events happening with the beat of the song.)

The netbattlers turned around slowly and saw Manic standing there, with Shinzuka holding onto his arm. Manic had an unbuttoned, blood red tuxedo jacket on over an untucked white dress shirt and blood red dress slacks. In Manic's right hand was a long cane with a skull head on top, handcuffed to his wrist. Shinzuka wore a blood red dress and colored her hair black and leaned on Manic's left arm, smiling evilly.

"Wow," Kin and Ryuu said as Joseph whistled.

(A/N: music fades out.)

*Infernos... you were right...* Manic said mentally

*...and?*

*...and I'm sorry I ever doubted you,* Manic thought in a monotone voice.

"What do you think, Joseph?" Shinzuka asked her brother. Joseph remained speechless with his mouth partially open. Suddenly, someone appeared on stage and held a microphone.

"Attention everyone," the person said. He was a fairly old man, partially balding. "I want to thank you all for coming tonight. I am the ONBA head cheif, Craig Massingale, for those of you who don't know me as chief or boss..." The crowd gave a small chuckle at this. "Well, we arranged this ballroom party for a dedication to a few good men, as I would like to call them." Cheif Massingale continued, "These men had shown great courage in defending the home fort a few weeks ago from an unsuspected attack at the ONBA Marine Harbor district and we are here to honor them tonight." The audience clapped for Kinzoku, Ryuu, Joseph and Manic. "However, there is one slight twist to this party," the cheif continued. "As you all know, the ONBA is a community dedicated to the prevention of crimes through the net, so... may we all put on our cyberbands to celebrate this party." Suddenly, the cheif vanished from normal sight, along with a few others.

"Might as well," Manic said as he took out his cyberband.

*Damn,* Manic thought, *we went through all that for nothing, then...*

*Oh well, you got a sweet tux out of the deal,* Infernos said, trying to lighten the mood. Manic then appeared in the internet with his regular clothing, as did everyone else in their own cyberforms. The cheif had even taken on his own knightly form as well, Manic remembering the last time he had to deal with him in his cyberform.

"Now we can all celebrate," the cheif ended his speech as he stepped off the stage and into the crowd once again as everyone resumed their conversations.

"Well," Ryuu said, taking off his visor for the time being, "I guess we should join the party, then."

Minutes passed as everyone had a good time conversing and dancing to the music. Even Joseph and Honeychile danced, although Joseph accidentally caused a domino effect by twirling Honeychile into another couple, making them fall forward. Kin and Ryuu were well off as well, Ryuu dancing with Miyuu as friends for one song, then Kinzoku dancing with a woman from the Challenge Hall he recently met. Manic and Shinzuka were dancing together as well, although every time they did, Shinzuka was the one to initiate the dance. However, the songs stopped for a few minutes so the band could have a break and everyone stopped dancing to talk.

"Manic?" Shinzuka asked.

"Yeah?"

"...you've never danced with a girl, have you?"

"I have..." Manic responded weakly.

"When?"

"High school?"

"...you haven't danced, have you?"

"Got me there..." Manic responded, defeated.

"You're not that bad a dancer, though," Shinzuka said to Manic. Manic perked up a bit in response.

"Er... thanks," Manic responded as Shinzuka grinned, then grabbed his arm to dance again. However, just as they were about to dance, the lights all around them went out, plunging everyone into total darkness.

"What happened?" Manic asked as he looked around.

"I don't know..." Shinzuka responded as she held onto Manic's hand tightly.

(A/N: Another song, if you will. Orphen opening theme 1, "Ai Just On My Love")

The music started playing as everyone looked towards the stage to see spotlights blinking on quickly to the beats.

The spotlights then shone brightly on sections of the band on stage with the beats. Manic and Shinzuka, along with everyone else, watched the performance, the main singer nowhere to be seen yet.

Then, the spotlights quickly flashed each of the four sections of the band with each hit of the snare drum, then all the lights came on as fireworks appeared in the middle of the stage and the main singer appeared in plain sight for everyone. The main singer was thin and tall, with dark red, wavy hair and stylish clothing. Manic noticed that Shinzuka was ecstatic at seeing who the singer was.

"That's Ricky Matena!" Shinzuka yelled with excitement.

"Who?" Manic asked, wondering who that was. The singer was now walking along the stage, somewhat flirting with the women in the audience with his song.

"Ricky Matena, the greatest singer in the whole world, Manic!" Shinzuka yelled at him with excitement as she walked towards the stage unknowingly. Manic just stood there.

*Grr...* Infernos growled with anger.

"What's wrong, Infernos?" Manic asked, "You angry he made a better entrance than you did?"

*...you could say that...* Infernos responded with a small laugh.

After a while of singing, an instrumental occurred in the song while Ricky Matena walked back and forth across the stage, looking at everyone in the crowd with a charming smile. He then caught a glance at Manic, arms crossed.

Infernos then took partial control of Manic and glared back at Matena with an evil grin. Matena was taken back a bit by this, then went to the other side of the stage, with his hand to his left ear.

"Found him..." Matena whispered as he stared at Manic as he walked. "Start up the program..."

Ricky Matena then started singing again, kneeling down to caress Shinzuka's cheek softly, then got back up and finished the song out. Once he was done singing, the band played for a few more seconds to bring the song to a close. Once they played the final beat, however, the entire band, Ricky Matena and Manic suddenly exited the net, leaving everyone there. Everyone was in shock at what happened. Ryuu and Kinzoku tried to take off their cyberbands to exit the cybersystem, but no one could, not even the cheif.

"Damn, internet lock..." the cheif deduced. The cheif then sent officials to check out what happened and to find a way back into reality.

In the real world, however, stood Manic with his demonic tuxedo and cane, and Ricky Matena with seven members of the band.

"Well well, deity," Matena said with an evil grin, "we found you at last..."

"Who are you?" Manic asked, not moving an inch.

"Funny you should ask... because your fire friend knows who I am, obviously..."

"Damn right I do, you heartless bastard," Infernos barked at Ricky by taking partial control of Manic.

"Such harsh words there... what do you call yourself this time?" Ricky asked with the same evil smile. His regular voice seemed a bit high pitched for a male's, but it still held coldness within it.

"Infernos," Infernos responded, "which is what you'll be screaming in a few minutes for mercy..." Ricky and the band laughed at this comment, then suddenly stopped and encircled Manic when Ricky snapped his fingers. Ricky glared at Infernos.

"I guess there is just no teaching a dumb mutt any manners, is there," Ricky said. Manic then took back control of his voice.

"Who are you?" Manic demanded.

"I'm Ricky Matena, as many of those people in the net call me..." Ricky said coldly, "But to a select few... and trust me, you're one of them... I'm the Jack."

"The Jack?" Manic said skeptically. "You're named after a card?"

"How foolish you are," the Jack responded as he turned his back and walked away slowly. "Finish him off now, I don't want that deity escaping..." The band started to move closer to Manic.

*Ok, I have some business to deal with him, so I'm taking over now,* Infernos said.

*Fine by me, this is your fight,* Manic responded. Infernos then took control of Manic and jammed the cane into the band member's face to his left quickly, then quickly dispatched the other members after that with merely the cane, as if they were mere punks looking for a fight. After a few minutes, the band was on the ground unconscious and the Jack turned around to see what happened.

"I can't believe you guys," the Jack said, "You couldn't even take him do--!" the Jack was then sent to the ground by a backhand from Infernos and the cane. Infernos then stomped once on the Jack's ribcage, breaking a few bones. The Jack started to spit up some blood as Infernos slowly jammed the end of the cane into the back of the Jack's neck, causing him to scream a bit.

"Go back to your master and tell him that I'm back in town," Infernos said with a menacing tone, "and that the others are coming back with me." Infernos then walked away from the Jack, letting a few of the now-conscious band members carry the Jack's body away from him.

"Let's go home, then," Infernos said as he walked. However, Manic regained control and halted.

*Why are we stopping?*

*I'm waiting for everyone else,* Manic responded. After a few seconds, everyone came out of the internet, relieved that they were able to escape from the internet lock. Everyone was a bit confused as to what happened during then, but the party resumed in the real world as if nothing had happened. Joseph received a medal of civilian honor for helping with the fight while Ryuu, Kinzoku and Manic were promoted to elite status and were put into a new district of ONBA Officials: Section Seventeen. Directly headed by Cheif Massingale.

Volume 2 Chapter 3 down! If you would like any of the songs, you may either contact me or you may buy the respective anime soundtracks the songs are on(that's the more legal way, btw). Again, I do not own Capcom or any characters/ideas they have. Please review. ^_^