Mizel is Dead...
He grabbed the helmet tightly. Green lines could be seen covering the device. He was already hacking it.
Valkyrie: " stop!"
Leviathan : " you're still willing to hack it?"
Sparks flew out of the helmet, the electricity heaving his hair around.
Mizel: " don't underestimate me. All I have is to direct them outside instead of inside and so she won't be hurt."
His red eyes widened. He was absorbing all the sparks and waves into his body. Soon, it could be seen shaking and dissolving into small particles the more it absorbed. His form shifted back and forth between his old and kid versions.
Finally, with a grant, he took the scanner off...
Kirito shifted restlessly in his bed, despite his body being so tired and longing for a well deserved rest, his mind couldn't relax. The fact that Mizel was yet to return worried him. He didn't fathom much about his ways of doing things, he knew he had a plan the moment he decided on going. However, it was taking longer than expected.
He sat up.
Kirito: " if I can't sleep I may as well keep watching over the security cameras."
He reared his head and squinted through the darkness at the other empty beds in the room, the rest were sleeping at Ban's. Only a single lump could be seen at the very end, ken's bed. It felt odd, so worriedly still.
Kirito: " I can't believe someone can sleep all night without fidgeting the least bit."
With a flung, he swept the cover off the set of pillows. He groaned in annoyance as he lifted his CCM to his ear...
She blinked her eyes open and was blinded by the strong light for a second before she could take in her surrounding.
The helmet that Mizel had just taken of her head was laying down on the ground, sizzling.
As she looked up at the one who saved her, she could see him panting, glitching and his particles were flickering. He was in his old form with his long green hair, his white shirt and grey pants.
Ruri: " you..."
Mizel: " no time, we have to-"
Before he even knew it, tentacles sprouted out of the wall and captured him. Holding him off the ground, Mizel's eyes widened in shock as he was face to face with Leviathan's mark.
Ruri: " Mizel!"
She pushed herself of the chair but her feet felt numb and she fell on the ground.
Leviathan : " I knew you would do that, I knew you wouldn't leave her just like that."
Mizel gritted his teeth, still his body glitching and disturbed.
Leviathan : " Just as I expected. You're it, you're his completed work. That's why you can change form. And since your particles didn't fade away easily after absorbing the microwaves, I can tell you're not a prototype. You're his true, his only one completed D Manipulator."
Some of the free tentacles grew needles at their ends.
Leviathan : " now with you damaged because of the Microwaves, you can't fight me back, you should be easier to hack than the Driver. I have to admit I couldn't hack it, it was a strong protection they put on it. You have my thanks, Reizetsu Ruri, you fulfilled your role as a bait successfully."
Ruri's eyes went wide at those words.
The long needles pressed through Mizel's chest. Red sparks overwhelmed him as Leviathan began his hacking, scanning every bit of his body that was still glitching. Mizel twitched in pain as the needles cut through the particles and reached the core.
Leviathan : " finally I can get it, the data of the D Manipulator. What should I do after that, after all, it's not every time that I get to hack Mizel."
The boy twitched in pain even more as his outlines started to slowly fade.
Leviathan : " Now that I got my hands on you, maybe I should reset you, Mizel."
Mizel: " y-you... W-W-Won't..."
Leviathan : " I can use you by my side. And I would rather destroy you than letting you help them anymore."
Mizel: " W-Wo-Won't... L-Let-t... Y-You..."
He narrowed his eyes and green sparks appeared, fighting off against Leviathan's, trying to neutralize them.
Leviathan : " trying to fight back I see. Why? Back when you tried to optimize the earth, you were the strongest, you were the most feared, you were perfect. "
He pulled hologram screens of the records of the Mizel incident.
Leviathan : " yet look at yourself now, your existence depends on my choice. All because you were infected but those bugs. Because you tried to save that girl in the first place you were captured. I won't put it past you that you figured it may be a trap, yet, you still tried to save her. That's illogical, that just shows how much your AI is damaged. If I reset you, you will return to being perfect, you won't care about bugs again."
Mizel's eyes wandered back to the purple head that was still on the ground, stunned, before he finally managed to speak.
Mizel: " I wasn't... How did I lose to them... How did I lose to humans then... My program was missing a lot of data about them... If anything... I'm more completed than the me back at that time... And to show you how... I will make sure you won't have any more data from me..."
Leviathan : " it can't be! You're not thinking of...!"
Mizel smirked.
Mizel : " I almost was deleted before, I'm not afraid at all to do it again."
More green electricity shot out, and as the red and green lightening clashed, sending blinding light. By the time it all came to a stop, Mizel's body had completely dissolved into small particles hovering in the air. All that was left was the O-Legion LBX that had wide cracks on his armor where needles had wedged themselves, his eyes were dim with no light. An ever so still robot.
Leviathan : " wrong decision, Mizel."
Valkyrie: " it can't be... He..."
Ruri: " Mizel..."
Just at that moment, a small metallic capsule was thrown into the room. All the eyes were caught by it. Its plates fell off, liberating the many small bombs it had within.
An energy arrow was shot, bouncing from one bomb to another, triggering them to explode.
The tentacles finally let go of the small LBX. Ruri forced herself of the ground and quickly grabbed it before it was crushed down.
Ken dashed inside the room using the chaos as cover, grabbing Ruri by the wrist.
Ken: " can you stand!?"
Ruri nodded as he pulled her to her feet, Ranger quickly grabbed the damaged Valkyrie and jumped into Ken's pocket where he hid her.
Using the smock screen, they ran out the room, heading for the exit.
More LBXs stepped in their way. Ken threw capsules at them and Ranger triggered them. As they exploded, both Ruri and Ken were cutting their way through.
Ken: " getting out through the secret path will be a suicide! They're sure to have their LBXs in there! In such small area there is no room to dodge an attack!"
Ranger: " so we're getting out through the Staff door, right!"
He said shooting multiple energy arrows at their enemies, dropping them down. They managed to get through, somehow managed to avoid an encounter with a Killer Droid.
They reached to the said door, Ranger covered for them as they rushed out, holding back the LBXs chasing after them.
Ken: " finish them off! Hissatsu Function!"
" Attack Function: Flame Vortex!"
The purple energy arrow was colored in orange as it was launched, morphing to a swirl of flame and cutting through the enemies rows, tossing them back.
Ranger quickly caught up with them and they quickly disappeared in the darkness of the night...
Takuya: " can't you find them anywhere?"
Ban: " not anywhere near Tiny Orbit."
Takuya: " Kirito, any luck with the security footages?"
Kirito shook his head.
Kirito: " nothing at all, as if they had vanished into thin air."
Fenrir: " where could they have disappeared?"
Kirito narrowed his eyes in thoughts.
Kirito: " hold on... It can't be... And since they don't appear on the footages, they've surely! Eva, you're the only one who can see past Mizel's hacking, right?"
Eva, who was wrapping her temple, blinked at him before it clicked in her mind. She quickly placed her hand on Kirito's panel before hacking through the whole network.
Twilight : " so?"
Evangeline: " they're with him."
Kirito quickly took out his CCM and called Gouda.
Kirito: " you're on the way to Dream Future, right?"
Gouda: " ah... Don't tell me, you think they're really there!"
Kirito: " they are there."
Gouda: " alright! I'm speeding up then!"
Ran: " hold on! Don't! I don't want to die!"
Kirito sweat dropped as he looked back at Takuya.
Kirito: " how did you agree to lend your car to Gouda? You know it may never come back in one peace."
Takuya had a defeated look.
Takuya: " I refused, but Asuka managed somehow to steal the keys."
Evangeline : " may they rest in peace."
Twilight : " it's not time to joke like that, Eva!"...
Ken and Ruri finally stopped when their energy was completely drained.
Ken: " are they still after us, Ranger?"
Using his eye camera, the green robot checked the route behind them.
Ranger: " they're not."
Ken breathed out as he bent down.
Ken: " of course they won't. Leviathan has what he wants now."
Having heard the whole story from his sister while running away, Ken couldn't help but click his tongue.
Ruri sank to her knees, leaning against the railing of the bridge and holding to O-Legion tightly while tearing up.
Ruri: " it's all my fault..."
She spoke in a wavering voice. Ken stood up and trudged over to her side.
Ken: " No it's not. You did nothing wrong."
Ruri gritted her teeth, swallowing her gasps. Her head was hurting so much. She wasn't able to gather her thoughts, she could hardly focus, and her welled up guilt didn't help the least.
Ruri: " Leviathan was actually after me...and he used me to hack Mizel... And now Mizel is... Dead."
Ken's face scrunched at that thought. All of sudden, they could hear the sound of a car horn. A rushing car zoomed past them, only inches away from them, almost crushing them before it parked.
Ran: " this is the last time I get on with you, Gouda!"
The red head shouted angrily at the man who stepped out of the driver seat.
Gouda: " come on, I'm not a bad driver."
Asuka was merely laughing.
Asuka: " it was fun! One more time!"
Gouda: " anyway, we finally found you! Do you even know how worried we were!"
Ken: " Gouda-san, Ran-san, Asuka-san..."
He couldn't make a decision, whether he should be befuddled as why they were there or be relieved.
Ran: " what were you two thinking of! Heading to Dream Future on your own! And, what's wrong with Ruri?"
Ken shifted his look between his crying sister and Ran before he finally spoke.
Ken: " I will explain everything when we reach Tiny Orbit. But let's hurry there first."
Ran helped the purple head to her feet and walked her to the parked car. A moment later, Gouda drove off...
Hiro: " Kirito-san!"
Hiro and Mirai were the last to get back to Tiny Orbit.
Mirai: " did they really find them?"
Kirito nodded.
Kirito: " they will be here any moment."
Jin looked back at the blonde by his side who was walking back an forth behind the group.
Jin: " what's the matter Eva?"
As he approached her, she slightly rose her head to him and he could grasp the worry in her eyes.
Evangeline : " I just... Have this feeling that something is wrong... Like, something that snapped or... Unplugged at the back of my mind. I don't know if I'm making any sense."
As soon as she finished her sentence, a car came rushing from the end of the route, before the driver hit the breaker, the car slid to a stop, leaving dark wheel marks behind and damaged ears from the sharp screech it made.
Gouda and the others quickly stepped out.
Ken: " you're surely reckless when it comes to driving! How did you get your license again!"
Gouda merely shrugged off before looking at the red head who was helping Ruri out.
Ran: " we're in Tiny Orbit, you're safe."
But the woman kept shaking her head while crying. Everyone walked over to them.
Ban: " what happened?"
Ruri looked up, more tears streaming down her face as she held O-Legion at everyone so they can see it clearly.
Ruri: " Mizel... Is Dead..."
Their eyes widened at the news.
Kazu: " oi, what type of jokes is this?"
But glancing over Ruri's face again, he could see that she meant no joke.
Hiro: " it can't be... Mizel isn't... Mizel can't..."
Eva waited no more, she quickly snatched the robot from Ruri's hand.
Evangeline : " Mi! Can you hear me! Mi!"
The silence in her head was terrifying and her face fell as she got no respond. The Oozora siblings walked to her.
Mirai: " Eva... What..."
Evangeline : " he is not responding... There is no signal..."
Hiro: " can't anyone do something! Can't anyone bring him back! Professor! Mom! Otacross!"
He looked over at the professors who stood at the very back with imploring eyes, but they merely answered with unsure looks.
Haruka: " If he is dead, if his AI was deleted, we can't bring it back."
Hiro: " but Mizel saved me! Mizel saved us a lot of times! Can't we repay him!"
Mirai gently rubbed her brother's arms to comfort him. Eva lowered her head as she held the robot closer.
Elie: " but... How... Why? What happened?"
Ken: " I will explain everything. But for now..."
He looked at his sister who was leaning on Ran to walk.
Ken: " let Ruri rest for a while."
Takuya: " Ran, Runa, please take her inside. The others, we may need to talk in my office."
The blunette and red head helped Ruri to climb up the stairs and head inside tiny Orbit.
Hiro: " wait! What about Mizel!"
Jun'ichirou narrowed his eyes as he walked over to Eva.
Jun'ichirou : " we need to run some scanners on him first. May I?"
Her eyes reverted back to his extended hand and she deposit the LBX into it.
Evangeline : " I'm going to help too. With our bond, it maybe easier to figure out."
The professors exchanged looks then nodded in approval.
With that, they all entered the building. The professors and Eva headed to the LAB, while the players followed Takuya up to his office. Moment later, Ran and Runa joined.
Runa: " now I think it's time we know what's happening here? Why does Ruri seem so shaken?"
Ken took in a deep breath before retelling the whole story. How they were determined on infiltrating Dream Future and how they cooperated with Mizel. How Ruri got caught and used as a test subject for the scanner. How Leviathan managed to hack Mizel when he knew he was the completed D Manipulator and how Mizel chose not to give him anymore data.
Kirito spat out the coke he was drinking at the end of the story.
Kirito: " Mizel is what!?"
Jin: " that would explain a lot of his abilities."
Takuya : " but heading out like that and thinking of infiltrating Dream Future, there is a limit to how much reckless you can be!"
Ken's eyes reverted to the side.
Ken: " Mizel was trying to go on his own as well."
Kirito: " right, because he is Mizel, he is capable of finding the Driver easily on his own. He won't come out unscratched, though."
Fenrir: " if anything, yours and Ruri's presence was just a trouble for him."
Ken bit his lip at that and his fists tightened.
Takuya : " what you've done was dangerous, and you've also given the enemy the most important data they needed. As much as I want to make you sit for a long lecture, seeing your situation right now, it will merely get in and out of your head. You need to go and rest, you haven't slept for the whole night after all."
With a bow, Ken left. Takuya collapsed back on his chair and rubbed his forehead.
Takuya: " that's why I hate dealing with kids."
Ami: " anyway, Hiro..."
The blunette looked up when he was called.
Ami: " you said Mizel saved you, how?"
Hiro rubbed the back of his head.
Hiro: " well, he kind of speeded up the process of my recovery. I owe him for giving me my memories back and all..."
He looked down.
Ban: " Mizel did that?"
Achilles D9: " not just that, he made sure to make his overload was safe to use."
Arata: " eh!"
Muraku : " how?"
Jin: " Hiro had used the overload before but with no damage on his mind, right?"
The blunette nodded.
Touko: " very interesting."
Hiro: " that's why, I'm really thankful for him, despite everything, I'm thankful for what he did for me at least. I just..."
His hands balled into fists.
Ban: " Hiro..."
Takuya merely sighed out. The situation was actually out of hand.
Takuya: " anyway, we will leave him with the professors tonight. Hopefully they can figure out something by tomorrow. As for the Driver, we will listen on to it when everyone is here."
" Understood."
And they left the office...
He sat by her side on the bed, although she was in a deep sleep, her eyes were still full of tears.
His hand reached to wipe them away and she shifted slightly on her bed.
Ruri: " Mom..."
Ken's look softened.
Ken: " dreaming of mom, huh... Maybe after such thing, you may need a sweet dream ..."...
The door was opened with a whoosh as Mirai stepped into the LAB and walked to her mother.
Mirai: " how is things with him, Mom?"
Haruka took off her glasses and narrowed her brown eyes.
Haruka: " everything shows that he had deleted himself. But Dr. Yamano is still insisting on more tests. Not to mention Eva's persistence."
Sakura: " but, the question is why?"
Mirai: " Ken just told us, Leviathan hacked him, in addition to getting the data of the D Manipulator, he was about to reset him."
Yuuki: " reset?"
Mirai: " and to prevent that, Mizel chose to delete his own AI."
She looked down, feeling disappointed. Whether she liked it or not, she had grown more closer to Mizel over the time. Without her knowing, she was actually playing the role of his older sister, she started considering him more like Hiro.
Mirai: " he doesn't deserve it."
Haruka finally looked over at her daughter.
Haruka: " Mirai, is there something I don't know happening with you both and Mizel?"
Mirai nodded.
Mirai: " Mizel was the one who sped Hiro's recovery and restored the overload limiter for him so his overload wouldn't represent any harm for him."
Haruka's brows furrowed as the contemplated on it.
Haruka : " ...but that's impossible."
Jun'ichirou : " if we think about the Oracle technology, it's totally possible. However, that doesn't explain where he got the resource to duplicate it."
The brunette man interjected. He more or less got pushed out of the picture when Eva took over the scanner.
Mirai: " he didn't. He said Hiro's condition wasn't that bad that a shock from the machine that was monitoring him was enough to stimulate his brain."
Jun'ichirou : " I see. "
He looked at the LBX that was linked to many cables and wires, all gleaning Data from him.
Jun'ichirou : " to think he actually was a completed D Manipulator. I expected him to be like the other Drivers, but..."
Haruka: " it just shows how much the creator trusts him."
Jun'ichirou : " The creator... Himari William... Just what kind of person is he..."...
Next day...
Ruri rubbed her forehead, trying to soar the pain cutting through her head.
Runa: " are you alright?"
Ruri: " huh?"
It took a moment for the question to sink in.
Ruri: " oh, uh, my head is in pain and I kept waking up during the night, but I'm fine anyway."
The woman looked up when Jun'ichirou and Haruka walked in, O-Legion's beaten form in the brunette's hand. Eva and the other had just went to sleep after a whole night in the LAB.
Takuya: " Professor Yamano, what have you found?"
Jun'ichirou closed his eyes as he collected his thoughts.
Jun'ichirou : " it looks like if he had deleted his mind, but in reality he shut himself down."
Ban: " eh?"
Jun'ichirou : " he used many protection layers to cover his conscious, so it seemed like if he deleted it. But we can think of him as if he is sleeping."
Ruri: " then Mizel is..."
Jun'ichirou nodded with a smile.
Jun'ichirou : " he is alive."
Her eyes sparkled as a relived smile spread through her face.
Haruka: " but there is one problem."
Valkyrie: " what's it?"
Haruka: " no matter what we tried, he is not responding to us, he is not waking up."
Jun'ichirou: " not even his and Eva's link could bring the slightest respond from him."
Yuuta: " but why?"
Jun'ichirou : " we don't know."
" I can explain that."
The doors of Takuya's office opened as a certain old man and a strange clock creature walked in, Kirino running after them.
Kirino : " you can't just walk in like that!"
Takuya sighed as he saw the man and waved at his secretary.
Takuya: " leave them, Kirino."
Kirino: " president... As you want..."
And she bowed out.
Old Man: " it's been a while since we met."
Takuya: " what do you have to tell us this time?"
Old Man: " straight to the point I see, very well then. That's more efficient. I've been informed that Mizel shut down himself."
They all nodded.
Old Man: " a pretty risky step he took then. Anyway, better not waste your time on him anymore and proceed with the search for the drivers."
Elie: " eh, why?"
Old Man: " no one can awaken him but the creator at this stage. For all three of them agreed that if Mizel is to be hacked by Leviathan, he is to shut himself down as soon as he finishes hacking him."
Jin: " so they anticipated that."
The old man nodded.
Ken: " why not shutting himself when they try to hack him?"
Old Man: " the creator insists that Mizel is very crucial to his plans. If he had shut himself while Leviathan still hacking, then it may have caused a damage to his AI. The only chance he may have to shut himself down is when Leviathan finishes copying the data of the D Manipulator."
Odin Mk2: " but, they got the data of the D Manipulator..."
Old Man: " it's still not over yet. There is still time before Leviathan manufactures the D Manipulator and finishes his body. Before that, you all need to find the creator before he does. He is still looking for him. Plus, you need to keep the Drivers you gather safe, you will need them when Mizel wakes up. That's all that I can tell you for now."
Kirito: " that's all?"
The man whirled on his feet.
Old Man: " since there is no Mizel to guide you now I'm the only one to tell you what to do. You better hurry up and find the creator... I as well must go with the next step..."
He murmured as he walked out. Though everyone had more questions to ask, more things to know, but they had learned that the old man won't answer to them easily...
