And beyond Despair... is Hope
The atmosphere in Tiny Orbit was so heavy that evening, one could easily suffocate. Not only that their raid had failed drastically, but also they were faced with losses. Lilyan turned in rather early, wanting some peace of mind and some time alone. Aya bolted into her room too since Takuya gave her some bad news. William was yet in the infirmary, having his broken leg tended to.
The rest of Seekers gathered in the dining hall and bend down on their damaged LBXs, fixing them in utter silence. No one of them spoke, their minds preoccupied with events from earlier that day. Their face-off against Leviathan, the hard truth he struck about their future, how he simply obliterated a whole tower with a single blow, it was all bothering them.
A clinking sound snapped them out of their silence and made them turn to one of the tables which were occupied by Gouda, Asuka and Sendou.
Asuka: " sorry, my screwdriver fell off. Didn't think it would sound that disturbing."
She halfheartedly joked as she bent down to pick it up but stopped when seeing her hand shaking. That was missed by neither of her neighbors on the table, or any of those who were paying close attention to her.
Sendou: " hey."
He picked the screwdriver and give it back to her as she sat straight.
Sendou: " you okay?"
He asked all concerned for her. Asuka merely bobbed her head multiple times.
Asuka: " yeah, yeah, great..."
But the fact that her hand was still shaking didn't help at all. She tried to stop it by grabbing her wrist with her other hand but to no avail. Seeing that, Sendou stood up and sat on her side of the table.
Sendou: " you know you're not fooling anyone in here. You're acting too docile since we came back."
Asuka sighed deeply at that and lifted her face so she looked at both boys.
Asuka: " I'm afraid, alright... you've all seen just how strong that thing is... It literally blew off the tower before our own eyes, and we could not move a muscle... How could we even begin to face it?!"
She admitted. Gouda and Sendou exchanged worried looks. That was bothering them as well. Not to mention that no sooner than they had come back, they were greeted by the news of Leviathan's weapon being scattered all over the world.
Huge tanks in almost every city as though standing guard over the citizens, making sure they were not to do anything funny. How he managed to spread and deploy them so fast was yet beyond them. It felt, as professor Yamano said, as though he had taken the whole world as a hostage so that he could prevent them from retaliating to him.
Many of them shifted uncomfortably in their seats, unable to shake off Asuka's words. Elie snapped when Jin beside her stood up and walked off.
Elie: " where are you going?"
Jin looked back at her.
Jin: " to check on Aya, she didn't even show up for dinner, so I'll see if she needs anything."
And with that, he left the hall. Elie merely sighed at that and went back to her work.
Elie: " he really can't help but care for everyone, right."
Ban: " that's Jin for you."
He said and heaved a tired sigh before looking back at his sister. Sensing his glance, she looked back at him curiously.
Elie : " is something on my face?"
Ban: " no. Actually... I'm rather worried about what's going to happen from here on so-"
Elie: " don't worry."
She cut in, resuming her work on Beargguy's core box.
Elie: " I know better than to hold you back when time comes. If I'll have any problem I'll lay down and leave the rest to you."
Hearing that somehow relieved half of his worries, although, he wasn't even sure if they were in a position which will allow them to fight.
Surprisingly the girl wasn't in her room. Looking around for her, he came across her working in the empty maintenance room. She snapped when she heard the sound of the door behind her and shifted around so she could see the newcomer.
Aya: " Jin."
Jin: " I hope I'm not interuding."
He said walking off to the table and sitting across her. The girl offered a small smile and looked down at her LBX.
Aya: " not actually, no."
A moment of silence went by before he decided to ask her.
Jin: " why didn't you join us down at the main hall?"
Aya offered a rather awkward smile at that.
Aya: " well... I kind of, don't want everyone to focus on me right now because of... You know. The fact that my father just passed away."
She gave an audible sigh.
Aya: " I'm really not good with so much attention, especially in situations like this."
Jin: " I understand."
He understood when someone needed to be alone, to sort his thoughts and feelings. He was the same years ago. However...
Jin: " still, Aya, how are you feeling?"
It seemed as though she tried to suppress a sigh.
Aya: " I'm fine, really. Sad right, but fine."
Jin: " Aya..."
Aya: " I know what you're implying. But let me tell you that crying my eyes out on my pillow would never give my father back."
She let down the LBX and screwdriver she was holding and pushed herself slightly from the table.
Aya: " there is nothing I can do but accept this. It's not like I can bring him back by any means."
Jin: " no one said you could."
He stated calmly while looking her in the eyes.
Jin: " but that's no excuse for holding everything back. Aya, it's okay to have all of those feelings, no one would blame you for being frustrated."
Aya kept looking at him while she sat straight.
Jin: " I don't think your father would want you lying to yourself as well."
Aya: " I'm not lying."
She protested.
Aya: " I'm just..."
Jin: " being strong and acting strong are different things. And believe me when I say that holding back isn't being strong."
She eyed him carefully before swallowing the lump stuck in her throat for some time, she took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes.
Aya: " you know... I actually believed..."
She started, looking off at nothing specific.
Aya: " I believed he would get better, I believed he would make it through. I believed he would be there at least when I get back..."
She gave a shaky sigh and her lips shivered slightly.
Aya: " but... the worst part is, I will have to live my life without him..."
She shuddered, covering her face with her hands.
Aya: " he won't be there when I graduate... He won't be there when I get married... He won't be there for me anymore..."
Her shoulders trembled with each shaky breath she took as tears slid down her face. Jin quietly sat there, giving her the silence she needed and listening whenever she needed to speak.
By the time she felt well enough to join them in the main hall, she was rather perplexed by a call from Takuya telling them to get to his office at once. Exchanging curious glances with Jin, they took the elevator to the top of the building and stepped into the man's office. Everyone else was there already. Even William had Mizel help him to get there.
" Aya!"
Several of her friends ran back to her, asking if she was alright and reminding her that she didn't need to stay if she was feeling unwell. Aya merely shook her head, telling them she was fine while Jin walked over to Ban and Elie who were giving him known smiles.
On the other hand, only one person didn't show up, Lilyan. After waiting enough, Takuya decided she wasn't coming and then addressed everyone in the room.
Takuya: " we had urgent news from the cities which confirmed to have Leviathan's weapons spread along them."
He looked back at Kirino who nodded and pressed something on her tablet. Soon enough the hologram screen appeared before all of them broadcasting live battles in many cities around the world.
Ban: " what..."
He was the first to ask, wondering about the LBXs fighting off against the giant tanks, the whomping spinning top and the marching army of Killer Droids.
Rina: " the whole world is fighting back."
She answered him, looking back at the screen herself.
Gendou: " still... Against those things..."
Despite how admirable he found their act to be, Gendou doubted that the LBX players of the world could stand a chance at fighting.
" I wouldn't be so sure."
A familiar voice called out before another screen popped up this time with Yamaneko's smirking face on it.
Yamaneko: " how did ya all find our little gift?"
He asked proudly.
Gouda: " your little gift?!"
He quirked his eyebrow at him before the screen split into two as someone else joined the call, much to Yamaneko's annoyance.
" I take it that you didn't check the net since the incident today, haven't you."
The blunette who joined the discussion abruptly pushed up his glasses.
" Minamo Naoki!?"
Most of them were rather surprised to see him again.
Yamaneko: " oi, Naoki! Don't interfere! I'm the one who will be giving them-"
Naoki completely ignored him as he continued talking.
Naoki: " thanks to your efforts today, we managed to find out the weakness of both Big Tank and Rafflesia. We just slipped them through the net and then every LBX player knew exactly what they ought to do."
Yamaneko: " tsk, you fun killer. Anyway, just as Naoki said, every LBX player picked on the data we uploaded and went out there to fight."
Muraku: " still, we were able to win because we have the power-up program with us! The other players however..."
Yamaneko's smirk widened as though he was waiting for that very comment.
Yamaneko: " don't look down on us! What do you think we the hackers army were doing while you were risking your life around the world!"
He said pointing a finger at them.
Yamaneko: " look carefully at those LBXs!"
Their eyes tore from him and to the other screen just as a few Big Tanks had been paralyzed and fuming as they were wrecked from the inside.
Haruka: " they're actually winning."
She stated in bewilderment, a small light of hope slightly restored to her eyes.
Yamaneko: " we've worked day and night to upgrade the Vaccine program we have. It's not up to yours yet, but we can cover that with number! So we've spread it among the net as well!"
" Eh!"
Naoki: " Right now, other chosen players and a whole lot of LBX players around the world are fighting. You do understand what that means don't you?"
They all stared in disbelief at the frays on the screen, some LBXs fell down, some were putting a good fight and some were strong enough to presume they belonged to a chosen player. But what mattered the most for them, was that they still didn't give up yet. All the LBX players around the world didn't give up hope.
Seeing them struggle, the air of the office slightly changed. It had moved them, seeing everyone come together to defend against Leviathan.
Yamaneko: " you're not alone, you know. You don't have to bear the weight of saving the whole world on your own. Those players will defend themselves so you don't have to worry about them."
His expression changed from mirthful to serious.
Yamaneko: " standing here right now, you too must know what you ought to do, as an answer to their feelings. You understand what you have to do don't you?"
They did. After seeing the other LBX players fighting, they couldn't let themselves be held back by fear anymore.
Ban: " everyone! Let's take another shot at defeating Leviathan!"
He said turning to face his friends with an all determined face.
Ban: " it's not too late yet! Right, William!"
He turned back to the blond leaning on stretchers to walk. William, who didn't take his eyes from the screen looked back at Ban.
William: " it's still possible to take Leviathan down yet. However, we require the code that was saved up in Unicorn's AI chip."
" I have it!"
A voice called at the very back of the group and Seekers moved apart, making a way to Lilyan as she walked up to the front with her CCM clenched tightly in her hand as though afraid she might lose it. She cast one look at the hologram screen in front of her and then looked at her brother.
Lilyan: " we still have the code. We still have hope, right? So let us finish what we began."
Ban: " Lilyan..."
He was rather surprised to see her that confident and determined to do something. She has been always a tad reluctant and hesitant in her actions, however, the Lilyan that was before him knew nothing of that. If that was for the worst or for the best, he didn't know.
William studied his sister for a moment before nodding his head at her, his eyes narrowed with a serious air all over him.
William: " then we still stand a chance. And it may be our last opportunity to vanquish him. So we must tread this time carefully."
He exchanged looks with Takuya this time.
William: " we ought to make a perfect plan, for the sake of all of those who went out to fight as well."...
