Oracle...


Eisuke : " first of all, what do you know about Ban-kun's situation?"

He asked those who followed him into the doctor's office.

Mizel : " his mind was under a lot of stress that it caused it to break down."

Eisuke : " that, and another thing."

Jun'ichirou : " another thing?"

They were befuddled. That was the explanation the doctor had given them.

Eisuke : " I'm sure you all know how overload works. Due to a great amount of stress, a high jump in the mind functionality is to happen in order to keep up with the stress source. The overload then is awakened. The decision on that was actually taken by the mind who removes its own limiter. But what if it's not the case? What if someone was forced to activate overload?"

Elie: " Onii-chan's forced overload, right!"

Eisuke nodded.

Eisuke : " if it's the case, then he will receive more damage than the normal one."

Seeing some of them were yet to understand it, the doctor interrupted.

Doctor: " to simplify it, I will give an example. Imagine that we turn right now and find a hungry Dinosaur right next to us. In our rush to survive, we will find ourselves jumping out of the window, running for a long distance without resting and climbing high walls. Now let's force someone through the same process, but this time with no dinosaur. If we compare the damage caused, we will find that the second person received more damage, you know why?"

Mizel: " simple, because in the first case, the mind had prepared the body for such change, so it was somehow able to cope up more. In the second one, it didn't, the body was merely forced to go through."

Elie: " the effect of the Adrenaline?"

Reina: " you can say that."

Eisuke: " it's exactly the same case with Ban-kun. That's what caused his mind damage, causing it to shut down."

Jun'ichirou : " so his mind was forced to develop overload, much more like forcibly ruining it to do so, right?"

Professor Yamano summed, to which the other man nodded.

Eisuke : " we can safely assume that they resorted to damage parts of his mind to develop it."

Elie: " then, how to cure it?"

Eisuke : " Kamiya Craft's newly developed Oracle."

" Oracle?"...


Kousuke : " we've asked for Professor Mito's help to develop it. It's a technology that can stimulate the dead parts of the mind via electromagnetic waves."

Jin blinked, that somehow sounded familiar.

Kousuke: " it's the same way Mizel revived Oozora Hiro's memories according to Eva."

That was right.

Kousuke : " However, in Hiro's case, it was simple. A small section of his mind needed some stimulation. But for Yamano Ban..."

Jin: " his whole mind needs to be reactivated again. Is it even possible?"

Kousuke: " that's why we were developing Oracle, to make it possible. Still, the technology is yet untested."

Jin: " let me guess, you intend to make Ban-kun the test subject, right?"

Kousuke smirked.

Kousuke : " I like how you're quick to catch on things. Well, it's all up to his father. Either he lets him go like that or take the risk. We've run our simulations, and we expect him to have a chance of 48% to survive."

Zenon: " just 48%? Doesn't that mean there a chance of 52% it will fail!"

Lucifer: " better than 0, don't you think."

Jin took a deep breath.

Jin: " I have to agree."

Kousuke : " if the professor signs the contract, then we will arrange it to bring the oracle to here. Whatever happens next is up to fate."...


A moment later, the door to the doctor's office swung open as the rest stepped out. Eisuke took Jun'ichirou away while Eva, Elie, Mizel and Reina headed off to them.

Kousuke: " so?"

He eyed Eva carefully.

Evangeline : " well, seems we'll have to pull another all nighter to night. Professor Yamano agreed."

Kousuke: " it was expected. Well then, you'll have to excuse us. We need to head back and prepare the machine for tomorrow."

Elie: " tomorrow?"

Mizel: " the longer we wait, the harder stimulating his mind would be."

Kousuke: " every minute passing reduces his already low chances."

And with that, the three of them left. Jin's eyes trailed back to Reina, who had stayed back.

Reina: " shall we speak for a while."

Jin blinked, still he nodded...

They sat in a cafe nearby, each ordering a coffee, while Elie ordered her favorite orange juice. When their orders came, Jin finally spoke.

Jin: " I heard you're now teaching in Misora's Middle school."

Reina: " to be honest, I never thought I will go back to teaching, but, let's say I felt a little bit nostalgic..."

She had a soft smile on her face.

Elie: " why not going back to Kamui island?"

She stirred her cup.

Reina: " I admit that I miss it there, but I don't think I want to go back to that place as a teacher."

Jin merely nodded.

Jin: " you had been through a lot there after all."

Reina: " I can assume it's the same reason you didn't stay there, right."

Jin: " I can't actually keep on as a teacher, dealing with kids is really tiring."

Reina smiled.

Reina: " sounds just like you."

Her eyes looked down to her reflection on her coffee.

Reina: " I'm surprised you chose to take the path of fighting again. Even after such thing happened to one of you, still..."

He looked down at his reflection as well.

Jin: " back at the World Savers incident, I could do nothing but watching everyone as they broke mentally. There was little I could do back then for my students. After spending so much time fighting at the front lines, it was really hard being pushed out and watching them as they struggle."

Reina: " but, Jin..."

Jin: " I know, this fight is totally different. I have to admit there were times I doubted the reason I fought for."

He chanced a glance at Elie and his look softened.

Jin: " but someone made me realize that I was just fighting alone for a long time. That's what led me to lose a lot of things. Right now, I have saw my fault."

The girl blushed slightly while she sipped her juice and averted her gaze from him.

Reina: " hm, it's my first time seeing you smile like that."

She said leaning forward while giving him a smile.

Reina: " are you sure you don't want to go back as a teacher. You did a great job back then despite what you may think."

Jin set down his cup.

Jin: " teaching is a responsibility I'm not yet ready to shoulder."

His eyes narrowed slightly.

Jin: " the slightest thing we do may have an irreversible impact on the students, whether positive or negative. I'm not sure if I'm able to fulfill my duty as a teacher towards them."

Reina sighed, nevertheless, her smile didn't drop.

Reina: " you're no different from when you first came to the island."

Elie shot her eyes up at the older brunette curiously.

Elie: " how was he when he first became a teacher?"

Reina's smile widened as she looked at her.

Reina: " he was the most worried I had ever seen him about taking the position of a teacher. In term of knowledge he may have exceeded me, but he is the same age as high school students. Needless to say, some students didn't show him respect at first because of that."

Elie: " eh?"

Reina: " not to mention that other teachers looked down at him as well for the same reason. The idea of someone the same age as students teaching along side them wasn't really appealing for them."

Elie stared at the woman as she continued talking.

Jin: " Reina-san, I think that's enough."

Reina: " Ara, I thought you would tell your girlfriend all of these things yourself."

Both of them flash red as the words left her mouth.

Reina: " there was also the problem of students getting crushes on him."

Elie choked on her juice.

Elie: "sorry..."

She said grabbing a napkin.

Zenon: " don't forget about the rumor about you both dating."

Jin looked back at his LBX, befuddled.

Jin: " how did you know that? You weren't even around?"

Elie however kept looking back and forth between the both of them.

Elie: " eh? Eh!?"

Jin: " seriously. I don't even know how that rumor started. I mean, considering the age diff-"

He broke off when Reina gave him the look.

Jin: " I... I will go take care of the tab."

He said leaving his seat and walking back inside the cafe. Reina heaved a sigh and leaned back on her chair with a soft smile.

Reina: " I'm glad his time in the island didn't change him that much."

She looked back at Elie who seemed deep in thoughts.

Reina: " Elie-san..."

She snapped her head back to the older woman.

Elie: "h, hai..."

Reina: " there is something you should know... From the very beginning, Jin was against using children. But it was me who obliged him to do so. And to that, I apologize."

Elie: " Reina-san..."

Reina: " to help me out, he indulged himself in that war despite himself. I will never forget what he had done for me."

Elie looked down at her juice then back at Reina, her mind set.

Elie: " Reina-san, if you don't mind me asking. How did you two meet each other and how did you end up in that island?"

Reina closed her eyes, recalling everything before looking down at Elie.

Reina: " it was when he came to our house while he was tutored by my father. It was rare for dad to give someone private lessons. However, I soon figured why when we got closer. I have to admit that he impressed me, although he was young, he was ahead of most of his group in university. "

She sucked in a deed breath.

Reina: " he ended up in Kamui island because ... I asked for his help. When I was looking for my father and found myself in a place with no allies, he was the only one I could think of. But now looking back at it, I feel it was selfish of me to drag him down there and causing him troubles."

Elie shook her head as she spotted the woman's remorseful complexion.

Elie: " not at all, Jin would have helped either way."

Her smile softened.

Elie: " because he is so kind to turn on someone in need."

Reina: " I see. He truly is."

She stood up as she saw Jin heading back.

Reina: " he looks always after others till he forgets to look after himself. That's why Elie-san, please look after him very well."

Elie nodded her head.

Elie: " I will..."...


Takuya: " I see. So it's up to you all."

He ended the call with Mizel and his eyes went back to the players in his office.

Jessica: " hopefully he will pull through."

Kirito: " we just have to leave it to Kousuke now."

They agreed. It was all up to Kamiya Craft from that point onward.

Mirai: " anyway, any news about the Driver?"

Takuya shook his head.

Takuya: " As we thought, the creator doesn't hide the drivers in places that meant something to him."

Yuuta: " then I wonder how he chooses where to hide them?"

Kirito: " that aside. There is something I want to ask about."

Takuya looked up at the blond.

Kirito: " what had happened with the information that Seredy Kreisler had given you?"

Takuya closed his eyes and sighed.

Takuya: " so you were told about it, that Seredy is still alive."

Touko: " ah, and all of us present here know exactly what kind of information he had shared. "

Jessica: " We want to know what has happened."

Takuya took a deep breath and held his hands together while leaning on the table.

Takuya: " Yagami is pressing on them right now."

Yuuta: " Yagami-san?"

Takuya: " since he knows a lot of people from when he was in the police, he managed to gain help. They're giving them no space to breath. Sooner or later they will slip and will be captured with all the information Yagami managed to gather about them."

Touko: " so you want to say it's a matter of time before they're behind bares."

Takuya nodded.

Takuya: " hopefully he won't face any troubles with arresting them soon."...


Jin: " she isn't picking up?"

He asked the woman next to him who was trying to contact a certain blonde. Elie shook her head with a defeated look.

Elie: " I hope she is alright. I will send her a message, telling her about Onii-chan's situation."

Her finger moved on her CCM as she proceeded with typing the message.

Elie: " I can't believe Lilyan-san had a brother like that..."

Jin looked down, recalling what she had told him about not being on good terms with her older brother.

Elie: " he is her brother right. He should care about her. But..."

Jin: " you know not all brothers are like Ban-kun."

He said offering a small smile.

Elie: " of course I know! It just, makes me thankful for having Onii-chan..."

She leaned her head on Jin's shoulder as she looked at the room behind the glass.

Elie: " he will wake up, right? Even if it's 48%, he will make it, right?"

Jin rubbed her back to comfort her and gave a gentle smile. Although he himself wanted to believe that. Although he too needed to be told that Ban will make it, or he will never be able to forgive himself. Still, he managed to speak out.

Jin: " if it's Ban-kun then I'm sure that he will."

He snapped when the woman nudged closer to him and held tightly on his sleeve.

Elie: " I'm sorry..."

Her words perplexed him.

Elie: " back at Kamui Daimon, you had been through hard times yourself. I didn't know of any of that and I just, bursted out at you. I'm sorry..."

He shook his head at that.

Jin: " I had caused you a lot of troubles myself, didn't I? You were about to start searching the glob for me."

He smiled and Elie giggled out.

Elie: " seriously, you know how to make others worry."

Jin: " it's a talent."

Elie: " you..."

A chuckle escaped her before she tiredly closed her eyes.

Elie: " Everything will go back to how it was, right."

Jin: "ah..."

He looked back at the sleeping form of his friend and his smile slowly faded.

Jin: " ... It will..."...


Next Day...

He understood why Eva said they would need to pull an all nighter. Oracle wasn't just one simple machine. It was many mingled machines of different shapes and sizes enough to fill a room. It must have taken so much effort for them to assemble them.

Professor Mito was making its last checks, explained to both Jun'ichirou and him that how it works. He pointed at the large bed with a white rectangular box shaped helmet interface on the top which had a monitor on it.

Eisuke: " that's the EMP generator. It will run the scanning and stimulation of Ban-kun's mind."

Jin looked at the many more screens and wires crammed on the sides of the bed, mostly to monitor the patients physical state.

Jun'ichirou : " hopefully this will work."


In Ban's room, as the nurses finally realized him of the many machines that were linked to his body, Elie and her mother were allowed to see him before he was taken to the other room with the Oracle.

Marie: " Ban, I know you will be able to pull through. You've saved the world before, overcoming this won't be hard for you."

She said running her hand on his hair with a soft smile while Elie held his hand tightly in hers.

Elie: " Onii-chan..."

There was so much to tell him, and so little time to do. She closed her eyes, and smiled softly as she finally decided on something.

Elie: " when you wake up, let's have a battle, okay."

Soon, the career rolled out in its way and Elie and Marie watched as Ban was taken away...


At another part of the city, a battle was raging on.

Ken: " ranger! Right behind you!"

The green LBX turned around and shot down the Killer Droid that jumped at him from behind, destroying it.

Ranger: " Wow! This Laser is awesome, Ruri!"

He said inspecting Aquarius Laser closely. Ruri smiled with a blush.

Ruri: " I'm just glad we managed to mass produce in time."

Valkyrie: " and she is even working on something more powerful."

Ken: " as long as she doesn't spend the night in the LAB, I will be looking forward to it."

Ruri sweat dropped at the thought of the many nights she had sneaked to work on her weapon. Still, after Gendou's words, she was considering more he fighting role as well.

Ruri: " it's almost done. We only need the final adjustment. We will roll it out soon."

Valkyrie: " good for you."

Ruri looked down at that.

Ruri: " but, it doesn't make up for the fact that I let them have the Driver."

Ken frowned when seeing her crestfallen face.

Ken: " it wasn't your fault Ruri, no one managed to stop them from taking it anyway."

Ruri: " it's not the same, Nii-san! I was there, if I was just faster, it couldn't have happened... And now..."

Touko walked to her from behind and placed her hand on her shoulder, almost startling her.

Ruri: " Touko-san!"

Touko: " no need to blame yourself for something you couldn't help. It won't do you nothing but dither you. No one ever blames you, Ruri. What happened is already in the past and we can't do anything about it, can we?"

Queen: " Touko is right. So please, don't overwork yourself for that reason."

Touko: " we will find a way somehow, so don't worry. Now let's head to the next spot and back up the others."

Ken nodded and followed after the pinkette. Ruri however stayed put. Her fists digging into her dress' fabric. Even with everyone trying to console her, it was only making the burden of the responsibility heavier...


Elie: " it's been already three hours. Could something have gone wrong?"

She was trudging forth and back, making Kousuke more nervous than he already was.

Kousuke: " for god's sake, that's Kamiya Craft's creation, it won't malfunction."

He sighed deeply while Eva approached her friend.

Evangeline: " the machine needs time to run an overall scan of his mind and then specifically stimulate the dead parts."

Jin gently warped his arm around Elie's shoulder.

Jin: " don't worry, he will be alright."

Elie held on Jin tightly.

Kousuke : " right right, take care of calming your girlfriend down, Kaidou Jin."

Jin ignored him and Elie was in no mood to react. But suddenly the door opened and Eisuke walked out.

Jin: " professor Mito..."

Eisuke looked at them one by one before finally addressing them.

Eisuke : " now we wait, if his mind accepted the stimulation, he should wake up in the next 24 hours. Hopefully everything works out."...


Mirai: " I see. I pray that he wakes up then."

Elie: " you and me both, Mirai-san."

And the call ended.

Hiro: " I don't know though why should it take time? I mean, when Mizel did it to me, I regained my memories immediately."

Mirai: " Hiro, your situation wasn't as sever as Ban's. The electricity within the monitor device was enough to stimulate your mind. You were actually recovering so all Mizel did was speeding that up."

Kirito: " But in Ban's situation, a high voltage chock is need. And the mind can't answer to such stimulation immediately. Even if he wakes up, his mind is still to recover."

Hiro: " I see, makes sense now."

Hiro looked around.

Hiro: " speaking of him, where is Mizel?"

Mirai: " I thought he was with Kousuke."

Kirito took a sip of the his coke.

Kirito: " nope, he went out to try once more to find the Driver."

Hiro: " again?"

Kirito lowered the cane and whispered.

Kirito: " because if we can't find the next driver on our own, then he will have..."...


Jin gently placed the blanket over the sleeping brunette. She didn't want to leave her brother's side, still holding his hand tightly as if he may escape if she doesn't.

Her mother was there too, but Jun'ichirou managed with much difficulty to get her back to the house, saying that Jin and Elie will be enough to take care of their son.

He looked at his friend's sleeping face. How did everything end like that, with him on the edge of death? Weren't they having a battle under Blue Cats Coffee a few months ago? Wasn't everything so peaceful after the world saver's incident?

Zenon: " Jin... Oi Jin!"

Jin snapped back to the reality and looked at his partner who pointed his finger at Ban.

When Jin looked over at him again, his eyes slightly widened spotting his eyelids shaking slightly. It was just a few seconds later that Ban started to slowly crack open his eyes.

Jin: " Ban-kun!"

Elie: " what's happening here... I just need 5 more minutes..."

She pulled herself up while slightly rubbing her eye. But as she saw Jin's surprised face and looked at her brother, all of her sleepiness was knocked off as she screamed on top of he lungs.

Elie: " Onii-chan !"

The green eyes seemed void and were merely staring at the ceiling.

Jin: " I will go call the doctor."

He said rushing out of the room.

Elie: " Onii-chan ! Onii-chan can you hear me! Onii-chan!"

But there was no response...


Gruxeon : " Itan, what are you thinking of?"

He asked the male who managed to sneak into the room with the huge red tube in it.

Itan: " I need answers, and I have to get them myself."

He walked off to the computer and switched on before starting on hacking it.

Itan: " I will discover Leviathan's secrets, who really is he and how he managed to get this far? I will uncover his truth."

He skimmed through the different folders, through all different plans and designs. Before he finally stopped in front of one specific design. His eyes widened in horror at it.

Itan: " what's this thing... Why would he..."

Leviathan : " seems you had your time, fiddling with my own data."

Metallic tentacles shot out of the walls and grabbed the boy and the LBX, holding them a few inches off the ground.

Leviathan :" didn't you learn to not touch what's not yours."

Itan: " what... What do your real want! Leviathan!"

" Isn't it obvious. To rule the humans."

A familiar voice resounded in the room. Itan's eyes widened as the male walked in front of him.

Itan: " y, you...!"

" Don't you dare ruining Leviathan's plans."...


Marie: " Doctor..."

The man who sat next to Ban's bed hummed in thought before looking at the other people there.

Doctor: " he certainly managed to pull through."

Marie: " but, why isn't he responding to any of us?"

Doctor: " try and call him."

He said looking at Elie who blinked at that but nevertheless looked at her brother. He was sitting up, yet, his void eyes looked down.

Elie: " Onii-chan ?"

On the monitor next to him, they could see a small pulse that suddenly appeared but quickly faded.

Jin: " Doctor, is this..."

Doctor: " a signal, yeah. He can hear and see all of you. More like, he is still half conscious. While he is here, please keep talking to him and interact with him as much as you can. The stronger the signal gets, the sooner he will wake up."

They all exchanged relieved smiles as they heard that. Elie walked to her brother and hugged him tightly, tears streaming down her face.

Elie: " thank God... Thank God!"...


Next day...

Asuka: " really! Thank God!"

Before she even knew it, she jumped on Sendou, warping her arms around his neck and squealing in joy.

Asuka: " Ban is going to wake up!"

Sendou: " hold on... Asu... Asuka... You're strangling me... Stop!"

But the blonde didn't listen, even turning around him while tightening her grab.

Gouda: " it's good news to hear."

Jessica: " finally I can breath."

Mizel: " I told you not to worry."

Eva's eyes shot at him with a teasing smile.

Evangeline : " you were worried yourself, Mi."

Runa: " although it will take sometime till he is fully recovered, but it's just enough for us."

Mirai: " just wish we could have informed Lilyan."

Jessica: " now we can head back to A Nation and take her back."

Takuya: " with the frequent attacks around the world, I'm afraid we can't sacrifice any more strength we have at the moment."

Yuuya: " true. We barely have time to rest."

Asuka: " Man! Leviathan is surely active lately!"

Kirito: " he is trying to keep us busy so as to not try and get back the Driver."

Momona: " as if we know where it's in the first place."

Kirito narrowed his eyes before he was cut off by another alarm.

Takuya: " seems that's how much we get for the break. Everyone head out!"

" Roger!"

As they were rushing out, Ruri stopped Jessica.

Ruri: " wait a second, Jessica-san."

Ken stopped as well, wondering what his sister was up to.

Jessica: " what's it, Ruri?"

Ruri: " there is something I want you to test out for me."

She said holding up a metallic capsule. Jessica took it and carefully examined it.

Jessica: " what's this?"

Ruri: " Great Bomber, a weapon I was working on it on parallel with the main one. I need you to test it for me. It's a one use weapon, so be careful with it."

Jessica: " understood, I will be using it then."

Ken: " hold on, Ruri, isn't that..."

Ruri: " yeah, it's. It's one of my mother's original designs."

Jessica: " your mother?"

Ruri: " you can tell it's an upgraded version of Megashot Shell, a bomb Crystal Ingram had made out of my mother's blueprints."

Jessica: " awesome! I will make sure to use it to its full potential!"...