LAB...
Arata stood up in front of the door, not knowing how to face off the man standing on the other side. But as his cousin said, he can't keep on running from him forever.
Dot Blastriser looked at him to which Arata offered a reassuring smile.
Arata: " don't worry about me. It's just that... my father isn't like Dr. Yamano... or any of our friends' parents that we met for that matter."
He said before reaching into his pocket and taking out a key. He hesitantly opened the door and stepped in with a weak ' I'm back '. He got his shoes off and placed them rightfully in their place to which the LBX was surprised.
Arata had been always the messy boy. Even during his time in the dorms, his half of the room would sometimes exceed Sakuya's room in term of mess. He was more than shocked to see that same Arata actually acting as a quiet obedient kid.
Arata wandered across the house. Everything was tidy up and cleaned. Not even the smallest spec of dust could be spotted. Dot Blastriser realized the fourniture was actually a top class expensive one, to which he wondered if Arata was actually a rich boy.
It then hit him, that he knew nothing of his partner's life outside the school. He had been with him for a while, but he never knew what type of childhood he had, who were his parents, how he lived. They were all clueless to a lot of things about Arata.
Arata walked up the stairs and to a certain room that Dot Blastriser assumed to be his. The room had a very expensive fourniture as well and was very large. What amazed the LBX were the many shelves of books that were taking a whole corner for themselves.
Dot Blastriser: " I didn't know you like reading books?"
Arata sweat dropped.
Arata: " I don't. But my father forced me to do so when I was a kid."
He said as he took out his CCM and checked out the time.
Arata: " if he is keeping the same schedule as before he should be here any moment."
Soon the sound of a car parking outside proved him right. He could tell the one outside knew that he was there.
A few minutes went by as Arata waited for the man to climb upstairs. Soon a voice from behind the door spoke.
" Get yourself cleaned and come meet me in my office in an hour."
Despite being thankful for delaying his conference with his father, he was disappointed. Nothing from when he left for Kamui Daimon changed. Even after almost a year, he still wouldn't open the door to see his only son's face.
An hour had passed, Arata came out of the shower with a towel on his head. He had changed into light blue pajamas. Just when he had dried his hair, he left the room with his LBX hiding in his pocket. He stopped in front of the door next to his and knocked twice before a muffled ' come in ' answered.
The boy opened the door as he faced his father's back, as usual. The man was looking through the very many cases he had that day and the ones he will have the next one.
" You're 2 minutes late."
Arata: " sorry..."
" Why didn't you answer to my calls?"
Arata kept silent.
" Anyway, hope you had your time playing around for this whole year. Now you can stop this foolish thing and-"
Arata: " I told you before it's not foolish!"
The man looked up from his files and turned to face the red head. He had dark black short hair and small mustaches as well, bright narrow blue eyes that matched those of his son and were hiding behind a pair of rectangular glasses.
Arata bit his lip as his eyes wandered away.
Arata: " I told you, I'm following my dream of being a pro LBX player till the end."
The man, also know as Sena Hiroto, stood up as he walked to the window.
Hiroto: " the Sena family's members should exceed in everything they do. They have to be always on top."
Arata: " that's what I'm trying to achieve through LBX-"
Hiroto: " and yet, you're still chasing such childish dream. Listen carefully, there is no room for such foolish thoughts here. I've never approved of you going to that school in the first place. But I thought why not giving him a year to try it out for himself. And then the World Savers' incident happened. I thought you would understand by now that LBXs are good for nothing. It's just a game. And with all the incidents that's happening, they're bound to be hated and disposed of sooner or later. So put some senses into your mind and start thinking seriously of your future."
From the corner of his eyes, he could see the fists of his son shaking in frustration, but they eventually stopped. Taking it as a sign of acceptance, he continued.
Hiroto: " I will arrange things so you will be back to study in the elite school in country A by the beginning of the new school year as was originally planned. With your grades before joining that school it won't be something difficult."
Arata merely looked down.
Arata: " as I thought, I should never had come back."
Hiroto's eyes twitched slightly at that.
Arata: " there is no way I can discuss things with you. I didn't plan to return to this house since I set foot outside it, I've never come back when I had the chance. But Ran-nee said that I should give it a try. That hopefully over the year you will come to understand that you can't plan one's future. Seems I was wrong. My life isn't some case like the ones you frequently win on the court. You can't plan everything in it as you want, Oto-sama. I have my own plans for my future. Sorry for wasting your time today, I will make sure it shall never happen again."
He said with a slight bow and walked to the door.
Hiroto: " if you ever set one foot outside this house again, never dream of coming back here."
Arata: " I don't care. My friends are waiting for me to help them. I've faced more horrible things than you may imagine, your threats have less meaning to me after I saw what the world is really like. Farewell, Father."
And he walked out. A few minutes later, Arata was back into his old outfit with his yellow bag hanged on his back. He stepped out the fence and casted one last look at his house before making his way through the darkness of the night.
Hiroto watched him through the window as he left and collapsed back on his seat, running a hand on his face. He didn't know what to do with such a stubborn kid.
Hiroto: " he's got your determination, Hana."...
Dot Blastriser: " are you sure of this?"
The red head nodded with a reassuring smile.
Arata: " don't worry about it, I've never considered that place my home since Mom passed away."
He said as he finally stopped in front of a certain dojo a wide grin formed on his face.
Arata: " this is my real home."
He said as he walked in, yelling on top of his lungs.
Arata: " Gramps! Ran-nee! I'm home!"...
Ken placed a hand on his sister's shoulder.
Ken: " we should get back. We don't want auntie and uncle to worry about us."
Ruri nodded her head before he body finally shook as small drops fell off her face.
Ruri: " why..."
Ken looked back at her as she rose her hands to quickly wipe away her tears.
Ruri: " why should they keep him with us! He is the one who killed mom! He is the one who caused dad to be like this! Why should we..."
She gasped as she hid her face with her hands. Ken gently wrapped his arms around her and pulled her so her head was resting on his chest.
Ken: " I know it's painful, I know it's hard. But, he is the only one who can lead us to this Minerva now. Else, the world that we once lived in with them will be destroyed. I don't want dad to wake up in a world full of misery and chaos. We have to protect this world so we can live happily again, together, all three of us. To do so, his help is needed."
Ruri shifted so she was hugging her brother back.
Ruri: " will he wake up again?"
Ken patted her head gently.
Ken: " we should never give up on hope. There will be a way to wake him up. I'm sure of it."...
Next Day...
All six of them were in Yagami's van as he drove them to the secret LAB. He would from time to time throw a look at the boy sitting next to him in the passenger seat every now and then. In case he tried anything, he insisted that Mizel would sit next to him.
Mizel: " maybe you should focus on the route rather than on me if you want to live longer."
Mizel suggest with an annoyed tone and Yagami had to refrain from rolling his eyes.
The van came to a halt in front of a fence extending around the area and everyone got out. Yagami opened the door and led them through the area of green trees.
Eva seemed perplexed at being there. She had been to that base before, and it wasn't a place she liked.
To say the truth, almost everyone were taken aback by her suggestion to come. But seeing how she insisted, they didn't say anything.
A hand fell on her shoulder and she whirled around to meet a pair of dark green eyes. Both girls soon lingered slightly behind the group and chatted in whispers.
Elie: " if you want, you can stay back as a back up. You don't have to go in if you don't like to."
Eva smiled back at her.
Evangeline : " it's alright, I'm fine. I may... Have some bad memories here. But, I'll be fine."
Elie sighed at that.
Elie: " You want to follow Mizel right?"
The blonde rubbed her head at that. How did the brunette figure out, she didn't know. Was she that easy to read?
Evangeline : " you got me, right. I just... Don't want him to go on his own. It's not like I don't trust him, I know that everything Mizel said was true yet..."
Elie: " you're worried how other would act towards him, I get it."
She pointed out.
Elie: " you know I'm not a big fan of him, what's with him trying to kill everyone else namely Onii-chan, Dad and almost you as well. But even I know that he is offering the only possible way for us to fight against Leviathan. I bet everyone else is the same. So at least, for the valuable information he has, I doubt anyone would try to hurt him."
Evangeline : " still it won't put my mind at ease."
She thought for a second before shooting the other girl a pointed look.
Evangeline : " speaking of which, why did you join?"
Elie: " to offer help, what else."
Eva hummed.
Evangeline : " you know, you're easy to read too. I wonder why Jin never knew."
Elie: " what are you talking about!"
Eventually her face had a shade of pink at Eva's words.
Before they both knew it, they had reached the lake. The hologramme was activated so no one accidentally happen to see the secret base that is considered one of the top secrets for the country.
Elie: " everything seems quiet."
Kazu: " will this be an easy mission?"
Ban: " I hope so."
Mizel: " let's go while it's still safe."
He said walking ahead of them. The natural scenery changed to what seemed like a factory as soon as they totally phased through the water hologramme. Seeing that he had the whole map of the LAB stored in his memory, Mizel immediately took the lead, Yagami right next to him.
Evangeline: " so, what are we looking for, Mi?"
Everyone almost chocked at the word 'Mi' and it took the short boy all he could not to face palm.
Mizel: " a small projector device."
Ami: " that can be anywhere."
She pointed out as she was the first to regain her seriousness.
Mizel: " I've been told I will find it in the control room."
Jin narrowed his eyes at the familiar scenery. He wondered why would they always end up coming back to that very place.
Evangeline : " one's past will always haunt him. Don't you think?"
Jin: " Eva..."
He looked over at her as she slowed down her pace so to be by his side.
Jin: " fate has a strange interest in playing with us."
Evangeline : " well, we just have to show it that we're unfazed by whatever it rubs at our faces."
He blinked at her and she could see he was surprised at her reaction.
Evangeline : " you can't blame me for having Kousuke of all people looking after my health."
She rolled her eyes and it downed on him then. Having Kamiya Craft as the ones who experimented on her and the ones who are looking after her currently must have been the strangest irony of all time.
Evangeline : " I just learned to cope with things. I won't say it's easy. But you have to move forward, right."
Her eyes narrowed as she looked back at him.
Evangeline : " yet, I see you're going backwards."
Jin tried to avoid looking at her red eyes.
Evangeline: " I don't know what fate had thrown at you the past few weeks, but it sure had a negative effect on you."
Jin: " I'm fine."
Eva shrugged and shook her head.
Evangeline : " that's what you've been telling everyone for so long. Yet, you know everyone doesn't buy it."
He did.
Evangeline : " there are some weights that we can't bear on our own in this world. That's what Kousuke and Kirito taught me. Jin as well, you should let others help you."
His frown deepened.
Evangeline : " we're always here by your side when you ever wish to speak."
After she made sure her point sank in, she hastened her pace and caught up with the others.
They finally came to the said room and as they walked inside, they had to avoid the remains of the LBXs left there since their last battle.
Yagami: " it seems no one used this base since the Mizel incident."
He stated.
Mizel: " wrong. "
He simply said as he started looking around for the small device.
Mizel: " there was a human activity in this base a few days ago. You better hurry and find the thing so we can leave sooner."
Everyone snapped then as they got their hands to work...
Meanwhile, Muraku, Arata, Hikaru, Momona and Wataru were on the train on their way to Shibuya as they were going to try and convince the other mysterious player to join them.
Arata: " so Wataru! How did you get your talking LBX?"
He said looking back at the brunette.
Muraku: " I'm curious to hear that as well."
He looked down on the boy next to him with a smile, to which the boy rubbed the back of his head with a slight blush.
Wataru: " first I have to tell you why I've never went back to the school in the first place."
He scowled slightly at that.
Wataru: " my parents actually wanted me to continue my studies here and take after them in their small cooperation. No matter how many times I tried to negotiate with them, they won't listen, so I gave up. Every night, I would think back to everyone in Kamui Daimon and wonder, what Muraku-senpai would do if he was in my place?"
Muraku gave him a soft look while Arata unintentionally clenched his hand at that, he was surprised that he and Wataru somehow shared the same situation.
Wataru: " one day after the rampaging incident, when I got back from school, I found Odin M in my bag. And while I was wondering to whom it belonged I got a message. Asking me if I was willing to make decisions for myself. I then remembered your words when you encouraged me to do things on my own way rather than following others. And as soon as I answered with yes, this guy started moving."
Arata and Muraku gave each a smile at that before Arata shifted his look to his friend next to him.
Arata: " what about you?"
Hikaru: " I just activated it a week or two after you left the island. As soon as I did so I figured I should catch up with you. But when I reached here and met Takuya-san I was told that you left to country A."
Wataru stood up and craned his head from above Arata's seat.
Wataru: " what was your question?"
Hikaru: " should I tell you?"
Momona: " of course!"
She insisted, bouncing up and down on her chair.
Before he could open his mouth Val Diver jumped out of his pocket and spoke.
Val Diver: " it was ' do you want to help your friends?'."
Everyone blinked at the LBX as Hikaru grabbed it and tugged it back into his pocket.
Hikaru: " I'm still not used to him talking so much."...
With Ban and the others they weren't having any luck with finding the device.
Ban: " are you sure it's here?"
Mizel: " it should be here."
He groaned.
Kazu: " well, I didn't see anything that seemed like projector."
He said pulling a chair and sitting on it.
Mizel narrowed his eyes. Could it be that someone was there before them? There was no way. He had checked the security cameras and he can tell no one entered that room for so long.
He wandered back his head at Kazu. Right, of course. He walked to him.
Mizel: " did you check that chair before sitting on?"
Kazu blinked before standing up, much to everyone surprised, a small round metallic orb fell down as soon as he stood up.
Kazu: " I didn't realize it was there!"
The green head rolled his eyes. They were focusing on him rather than finding the , Elie, Eva and Jin were seriously looking for it.
Mizel picked it up. Of course it will be on a chair, how did he miss that detail. Just like how the one in his place would always rest on the chair after the projection of the man disappears, it's the same here, seeing that he used it for the same purpose, to project his body in a different place and to use a different computer every time so he won't get caught.
His eyes glowed in red as he checked it, the last projection was six months ago. The man should have noticed that someone was going inside the base and never used that Driver again.
Yagami: " is this what we're looking for?"
Mizel turned to them with a nod as he held up the small device so they can take a closer look at it.
Jin: " what's this?"
Suddenly the lines shone in blue as small particules flew out of it, they gathered and shaped the form of the same young man Mizel was talking to in his place. But for safety reasons, the projection was blurry and in shades of blue so they couldn't make much of the man's features.
" Seeing that this thing is activated means that Mizel finally is leading you to find Minerva and me."
Evangeline: " a record?"
Ban: " is this the Creator?"
Despite being blurry, they still can see a few of the man's face. He was wearing a rectangular glasses with medium length hair. He was wearing a coat, means he was in a very cold place when he recorded the message. The coat was open, revealing a tight t-shirt with a necklace resting around his neck. The younger adults can tell he was a few years older than them.
" Anyway, I won't take much of your time."
He said pushing up his glasses.
" As Mizel should have told you, you will find me after you gather all the leads. My life is targeted so I can't communicate with you directly, that's just how a terrifying AI Leviathan is. I'm not aiming to discourage you but, as the one responsible for creating Leviathan, I have to warn you that he is a very dangerous program, for he does not understand the difference between life and death."
Everyone then had their jaws dropped to the ground. First to hear that the person in front of them was responsible for bringing up Leviathan, and second, for the fact that Leviathan actually doesn't understand the difference between life and death. Then again, does an AI understand such thing?
" Be careful while dealing with him. The next time we will meet will be in the colony angel. Be careful of UEs in your way there."
He said with a smirk and the projection disappeared only for Mizel to grab the orb before it fell to the ground.
Everyone stood there with wide eyes as they didn't quite understand the last part. Mizel sighed at that before his hand glowed in green as he absorbed something from the orb then he smashed it.
Yagami: " wait! What have you done!"
Mizel looked back.
Mizel: " I got rid of it."
Kazu: " why? we could use it to get some useful data?"
Mizel: " the Creator ordered me to destroy every Driver I find. This technology shouldn't be known by Leviathan."
He extended his hand, throwing down the remains of the broken orb in front if their eyes.
Jin shot his eyebrow up.
Jin: " what's important about it, and what did you absorb of it?"
Mizel looked back at him sharply.
Mizel: " I will tell you when it's the right time. Now we should leave before someone comes."
He said as he was the first one to walk out of the room, leaving the others with thousands of questions in their minds...
