Evil plans...


Sure enough for them, the number of L Virus cases had declined since they took back the communication.

It's true that there were a lot of players that had been brainwashed and targeted other people's lives, but they were soon stopped by NICS' members.

The situation was getting better, or so what it seemed...


As soon as Hakai-O was destroyed, the blond boy fainted.

Yuuya ran to check on him while Jin called for the Fire Sweet. Soon, they came to pick up the kid.

Jin and Yuuya looked at the direction the Fire Sweet's van went in and the latter sighed.

Yuuya: " why are they dragging them into this? They have nothing to do with this fight."

Jin's eyes narrowed at that, he was actually asking the same question for quite a while. Yuuya, Ban, his friends and even him, at a certain point they didn't choose to follow down the path of fights. They were dragged to participate, much like those brainwashed kids.

He wondered, had his grandfather not asked him to retrieve the Platinum Capsule years ago, would he live his life without knowing about the truth of the world and finding himself dashing each time crises happen?

Had not entrusted his son with the Platinum Capsule, it could have been that he and his sister are chasing after their dreams without worrying about the world's safety, like any other teenager their age.

Had Yuuya not been used as an experiment, he could have found a family to adopt him and he would live happily, not obliged to follow after him in all these battles.

From the start, they weren't given a choice. And after that, they found themselves dashing to fight again and again as they knew it was wrong to keep a closed eye while knowing of what was happening.

The more he thought about it, the more he found himself agreeing with Seredy despite everything. Maybe it was better to just leave the battlefield while it was possible.

Jin kept silence the whole time as he was diving into his own thoughts, worrying both Yuuya and Zenon.

Yuuya halted as he cocked his head back to the other man.

Yuuya: " Jin-kun, is something bothering you?"

The red eyes looked up at the long black haired man in front of them.

Jin: " it's nothing."

Yuuya: " you know you can talk to us if you're worried about something."

Jin managed to force a smile.

Jin: " Yuuya, I'm really fine."

Yuuya's eyes then went to Zenon for confirmation. If anyone is close to Jin enough these days, it should be him.

The robot looked away, something that made Yuuya narrow his eyes.

Yuuya: " alright, but remember, I will still be here if you need to talk."

He said and started walking again on the way to NICS, feeling a little bit pissed off at being pushed away like that by his friend...


NICS HQ...

The adults were satisfied as to see that there wasn't any sever damage caused to the city and citizens.

Haruka: " they're doing a pretty good job."

Kaios: " thanks to them, we've pulled through the crises."

Otacross rubbed his beard.

Otacross: " still, it's quite worrying deyo~."

All eyes wandered back to him.

Otacross: " not just in N City. The situation around the world seems to calm down with the Fire Sweet's help since they were sent to lend hands to other countries deyo~. But why on Earth aren't they making a move, seeing that their plans dashed down deyo~?"

The adults exchanged worried looks. What Otacross said was true. The enemies should move now that their plan to put the world in chaos failed. But why didn't they?...

Far away, in another tall building that was climbing to the sky, the blond man waved out his secretary as soon as the meeting ended. He sat comfortably on his chair and shifted his attention to the hologramme screen right by his desk.

Ash: " you were right. I shouldn't have underestimated them."

" Glad to hear you admitting your mistake."

The green haired man showed on the screen smirked, yet, he kept his cool expression.

Ash: " what should we do now?"

" Simply crash them down."

Another voice added as a certain boy with a lollypop in his mouth stepped into the room from another door.

Jinn: " no need to rush."

The green haired man had his eyes closed as his grin grew more.

Jinn: " those players are actually something important for our master now."

Both the blond male and the boy rose their eyebrows in confusion. As a response to their action, Jinn pulled a video on the screen.

Jinn: " watch carefully."

It was a record of the airport battle.

Ash: " and what's important about it?"

He questioned, seeing no benefit of watching a record he had already seen before, not to mention that it reminded him of his failure.

Jinn: " this."

The scene on the screen showed the moment Ban pulled the Armor Change. Now both the humans and the LBX resting on Itan's shoulder were interested.

Gruxeon: " how did he...?"

Jinn: " Leviathan changed his mind since he saw this."

Ash: " may I ask why this, Mr. Kazama Jinn?"

Jinn: " they're the perfect experiment for our project. What they had given us already was beyond imagination. And this, it's mind blowing. Leviathan wants to focus on them. He finally found what he is looking for."

Itan bit on his lollypop.

Itan: " so what are we going to do?"

Jinn drew a sinister smirk on his face.

Jinn: " we'll turn them into the perfect experiment for us."

They all kept looking at the picture of Ban and Ikaros Zero on the screen...


Jun'ichirou: " well done everyone."

He greeted the players and their LBXs as soon as they stepped foot into the meeting room.

Kaios: " thanks to your efforts, the number of cases were contained in N City, you have our gratitude."

Hiro: " it was our duty, Secretary."

He said with a wide grin, earning himself a pat from his older sister.

Mirai: " acting like a hero as usual."

Achilles Deed: " anyway, we're just glad everyone are safe and sound."

Arata: " then, does this mean we can have a break?"

Kaios nodded with a smile.

Kaios: " you can do whatever you want. But be careful, don't let your guard down. There is no tell what the enemy is up to."

Jin frowned.

Jin: " keeping quiet isn't always something good."

Otacross: " my thoughts exactly deyo~. I bet they're up to something-"

Touko: " yet, until we discover what that something is, we can have a break, right? It's no use thinking about it when we have no idea of what their plan is."

She winked at the older adults who nodded.

Touko: " great! We can use this chance to go shopping!"

Jessica: " sounds like a good idea!"

Ran: " we're in!"

She said dragging Ruri who seemed confused at that.

Runa: " can I join?"

Touko: " of course."

Asuka: " I think I will pa-"

Jessica: " no way! I will make sure to dress up the image girl of Cyber Lance in the most amazing outfit! I can't skip on this chance!"

Jessica held the other blonde down, stopping her from running away.

Elie: " it's been a while since we went out for shopping! I'm excited! Let's go, Eva!"

She said pulling on the younger blonde's arm.

Evangeline : " here we go again, you drag me around wherever you go. Why me?"

She could see her eyes shimmering and that made her restless.

Evangeline: " you're up to something."

Elie: " not at all~. Just want to enjoy shopping with everyone~."

Evangeline knew that was straight up lie.

The LBX on Elie's shoulder somehow manifested a sweat drop.

Beargguy: " Elie, you don't usually buy anything. You either sit down and draw designs or arrange outfits for Jessica or your friends to try on."

Elie ignored him and turned to Lilyan who had an indifferent face.

Elie: " you're coming too, right, Lilyan-san?"

Lilyan blinked.

Lilyan: " I don't see why I should buy new clothes now. I mean, I still have ones that I've never worn before."

Ami placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder.

Ami: " that's no good. A girl should go out and get herself new clothes every now and then. Right?"

Momona: " exactly. No girl says no to new clothes."

Mirai: " that settles it then. Shall we go, girls?"

Touko and the others pumped up their fists as they walked out.

Ban had a sweat drop at that.

Ban: " I still don't get how they become all energetic when it comes to shopping."

Hiro let out a sigh.

Hiro: " I'm just thankful they didn't ask us to tag along."

Kirito snapped open his coke.

Kirito: " thankfully or it could have been a pain."

Yuuta: " how?"

Kazu: " you don't want to know how much time they spend trying all types of outfits and pondering on what they should choose before they can settle on something! Not to mention that once carried away, you will end up holding all their bags!"

Hiro: " and your arms will get sore..."

He said rubbing his arms as memories of when he used to accompany Mirai to go shopping passed by his mind.

Ban looked at those who had been already through the same situation as Kazu and Hiro with a sweat drop before rubbing his head. He probably should thank Lilyan for not being the same...


Later that afternoon...

Elie: " Jessica, stop being insisting!"

She said without looking up of her notebook. They had been already to four shops and that was the fifths they visited that afternoon. Jessica had managed to shove Asuka and Lilyan each with a dress into a change room. Elie had done the same for Ruri and Evangeline before, as Beargguy said, sitting down and drawing different ideas from the designs she saw. The other girls were trying out their outfits.

Ran: " she has all the right to be!"

She interjected from behind the curtains.

Elie: " I told you, things between Jin and I are fine."

Jessica: " no they're not! What the hell does it mean ' we're just friends '! You don't even talk to him Elie!"

Ran: " we all know you and Jin have feelings for each other, it was obvious for four years now so come of it. You're not fooling anyone."

She stepped out of the changing stall, having her outfit switched over to a black hoodie and pink jeans with their brims slightly above her ankles.

Jessica: " and just after he saved you!"

Elie: " I thanked him, alright!"

Jeanne D: " yeah, but still..."

Elie rubbed her forehead.

Elie: " look, this is Jin's choice. Jin decided to distance himself, not from me but from all his friends. If he wants to be like that then I don't have a problem with it."

Jessica: " but it pisses you off, I can tell! You're actually angry with him!"

Elie: " I'm not."

Evangeline : " you're, it's obvious."

She peeked from behind the curtains donned in a white shirt and a lavender long skirt reaching till her ankles.

Evangeline : " and the fact that you're angry itself means that you care for that someone. Your words not mine."

Elie: " and so what if I'm? It won't change anything either I was angry or not. If he is not to listen to me then I may just keep my mouth shut. If he wants to push us away then he might stay alone for all I care."

She held out her hand in exasperation.

Evangeline : " I don't quite understand it."

Her eyebrow cocked upwards.

Evangeline : " I mean, there were a lot of times I myself found it hard to tell people what's bothering me."

Elie: " it's different Eva. You usually don't talk much about yourself and act cold because you're still learning how to interact with people. Jin interacted with politicians at the age of what, 10?"

She took in a breath.

Elie: " let's take both Arata and Onii-chan for example. They're both LBX freaks who would throw everything behind their backs for an LBX battle. Such thing is more or less acceptable of Arata since he is a kid and still doesn't understand much, but Onii-chan on the other hand is a grown up and should know better than to neglect his responsibilities. It's the same here. Eva is still more or less a kid when it comes to showing emotions. Jin on the other hand..."

She had told him, she had always told him, she made him promise to not bear anything alone, to come to them when in need. But he deliberately broke that promise.

Ran then placed a hand on her shoulder.

Ran: " Elie, you may regret this later. You don't know if he will be there when you will decide to talk to him again. Shouldn't you patch things up now while it's possible. You don't know when something like what happened with Hiro may happen again."

Elie: " I know!"

She snapped, unintentionally, her grab of the pencil tightened.

Elie: " I know that. Still, everytime I remember that incident, and how I was glad to see him in one piece after that, I think about making it up. But... But even if, I can't just bear him pushing me away like always!"

Beargguy: " you know that's Jin's way of taking care of those whom he cares about."

Elie: " but I can't bear him doing all of this, keeping secrets from me, from us, not asking for help even when he needs it, placing himself in danger without telling any of us! I bet everyone of you feels pissed about Kamui Daimon's incident! How we were all worried since we couldn't find him anywhere!"

Jessica: " that..."

Elie: " I can't bear any of that..."

Her fist clenched tightly on her sweater and she fought back the urge to burst in tears.

Elie: " ... It hurts."

Asuka: " Elie has a point here."

She stepped out of the dressing room.

Asuka: " I won't say to go as far as to not talk to him though. But Jin's way of doing things is wrong. Even if he didn't want to bother us, that ended with him being in danger without anyone there to support him. I can just understand why Elie is very angry. So, instead of lecturing Elie, shouldn't we lecture Jin?"

Ran let a sigh at that.

Ran: " maybe you're right, to a certain point."

Jessica: " Jin deserves a lecture as much as Elie does."

Jessica managed a small smile at that before it widened when her eyes fell on the dark purple dress Asuka was wearing.

Jessica: " it really suits you."

Asuka then blushed, realizing the outfit she came out in.

Asuka: " though it's not my style at all."

Elie: " I agree."

Asuka: " see! The opinion of a future fashion designer!"

Elie: " though I won't deny that you look cute."

Jessica: " as you said Asuka."

She retorted and Asuka blushed harder while looking away...


NICS HQ...

Ban merely sighed as he and Yuuya sat down to a table, doing maintenance on their LBXs.

Ban: " this is just like Jin. He won't ever utter a word about himself."

Yuuya: " I have a bad feeling about this, Ban-kun."

His eyes met with Ban's.

Yuuya: " even Zenon seemed worried. Whatever is with Jin, it really starts to worry me."

Ban: " it's Jin we're talking about. There is no way to make him fess up."

Yuuya: " there was that time when he tried to comfort Hiro-kun..."

He tried to remember the incident.

Odin: " there is a way."

Both men blinked as they looked at Ban's CCM as Odin Mk2's voice came out.

Odin: " my memory ship stored two other events when Jin talked about himself."

Ban rose an eyebrow as he tried to recall such times before his eyes widened in realization. The first being their battle before the Akihabara kingdom tournament, the second was when he battled him before he and Yuuya left for A Nation.

Ban: " I see."

He looked over at Yuuya who had a confused look as he couldn't keep up with what Odin said.

Ban: " don't worry Yuuya. I think I know a way to make Jin speak."

Yuuya blinked twice before smiling softly.

Yuuya: " then, I will leave it into your hands, Ban-kun."...


Zenon jumped over to the desk where Jin was skimming through a few files.

Zenon: " Jin, it's not me anymore. Everyone else seems to notice that there is something wrong with you."

Jin: " I'm fine."

Zenon: " you're not."

Jin: " I'm-"

Zenon: " hell not! For how long will you keep fooling yourself!"

Jin cocked back his head at the LBX that snapped in anger.

Zenon: " I've known you for so long, you're not fooling me with this! You're not fooling anyone with this! We both know something is wrong with you since you went to see Seredy!"

Jin's eyes wandered away but Zenon just kept standing in front of him every time he would turn of him.

Zenon: " Jin! What's the matter with you!"

The black and white haired boy let a sigh.

Jin: " what's just the meaning of what we're doing?"

Zenon looked at him, and if he could put on an expression, it will certainly be that of confusion.

Jin: " now I'm able to see things I couldn't see as a kid. So, I'm wondering, why are we fighting? It's all pointless."

Zenon: " no it's not!"

He narrowed his eyes as he glanced at his LBX with a cold look.

Jin: " then how can you explain what's happening? Why is it that the enemies are appearing one after the other? Why couldn't we change one single thing about this world?"

When Zenon gave no answer the male sighed.

Jin: " figure."

His eyes looked up through the glass of the window.

Jin: " we're just running in circles, we're not getting anywhere. What we've been doing so far only led to this. Every enemy we defeat, we are only making the way for a more dangerous one to rise. There is no meaning for what we're trying to do, and there is all those who lost their lives during all of this chaos."

For the first time, Zenon saw Jin making that sad face. It seemed like if he had regretted his actions till then.

Zenon: " this fight isn't pointless."

Jin's eyes fell on Zenon's visors.

Zenon: " you know it deep down, but you're neglecting it."

Just as Jin's mouth was about to open, the sound of an alarm echoed through the whole base, making him stand to his feet.

" To everyone in NICS HQ! We're under attack! Please evacuate to the underground basement and take refugee!"

Just as he walked out of the room, Jin ran into Ban and Yuuya.

Yuuya: " Jin-kun!"

Zenon: " what's happening?!"

Odin Mk2 was the one to answer.

Odin: " an army of LBXs is heading this way!"

Jin: " what about the city?"

He asked as soon as he recalled the girls were out.

Ban: " their target seems to be only the HQ."

Liu Bei: " we should head out and stop them."

Jin's hand clenched but he found himself nodding before all three of them headed off to battle the intruders.

He knew it was meaningless, but still, he knew he couldn't turn back either...