The Big Bosses were all in deep conversation amongst themselves. They were always so self-centred, thinking straightforwardly and not contemplating all possibilities. They were like a flock of birds only headed in one direction. While they were so foolishly continuing with their lives, they were unaware of everything happening underneath it all.

It was sickening to Atlas. To him, being a leader meant you had to look at every angle, every crevice, no matter how small or dirty it may seem. You had to be prepared for anything, and you had to be able to keep standing and take charge as the head of your people. There was always competition—people whose goal was to overthrow you. People who wanted the spotlight. Those who wished for power and money. And even those who wanted to lead the future their way. These Big Bosses were too stubborn between themselves, unable to fathom a world where anyone could even begin to think taking over was possible.

The Big Bosses were utterly ignorant of what was occurring. And if he kept an eye on them, it would stay that way. It was entirely possible that Shade and the others would alert someone able to contact them. Still, he relied more on something other than that part of the plan. The EMPs were only a mere part of his plan. If they were to fail today, he would still have a chance as long as Ray's surgery progressed. According to the statistics per session, Ray's chances of success rose every time they did an operation on him. Atlas estimated the possibility of Ray's completion after three more operations would be close to seventy percent. The second would have a fifty percent completion rate, and the next one, which was taking place at this very moment, would have a twenty-six percent chance of success.

He took a sip of his orange drink, tuning in to their conversation about trades, deals, and other pointless junk.

Evan Medy asked for more food to be shipped to his clubs, casinos, arcades, and other buildings to serve his visitors. Also, he wanted better security in certain places hand-picked by Dr. Barker himself.

Kean Standing ordered better equipment to use during their projects. Atlas never told him, but his own company was currently using any available equipment. He had none in reserve to lend. He didn't tell Kean, instead telling him they would start working on upgrades in the near future, which seemed to satisfy the Big Boss of Construction at least.

Leopold Tate requested to open more restaurants in the other Big Boss buildings, which he would own. It would do great business and would help their workers by having something to eat much closer in the vicinity. More specifically, he wanted to make one inside or near Dr. Barker's Main Headquarters, where most of his officers worked daily.

Dr. Barker wasn't keen on the idea, but he had to admit it would be convenient. He demanded more watch towers and stations for his men, which was added to Kean's list of future projects accordingly.

Atlas didn't want anything, not out of them, at least. It was all about these deals to them, but he was always thinking about the bigger picture. Atlas wasn't content with simply sitting alongside them. He preferred to be a step ahead. And after tonight, he will be sitting at the top.

"Back in the tournament, it was a stalemate," Willy reminded. "I couldn't do anything to you, and you couldn't either.'

"Hmph..." Mikey shrugged. "If that's what you believe." He pointed his taser at the two threateningly, the edge of it sparking with electricity.

"You were quite the spectacle back there," Sidney chimed in. "How about you show me what you're capable of personally."

Mikey took that as a cue to dash in. Immediately, he went towards Willy with his taser up and charged.

Willy compared his crazy speed to Lincoln's. When he first faced Mikey in the tournament, the boy didn't move nearly as fast as the white-haired child and instead took it easy, like jogging instead of running. This time he was trying. However…

Mikey struck Willy's large stomach with the taser. It seemed to shock the big man but didn't affect him in any way.

"His fat absorption," he thought, "Even this taser, huh?"

Willy puffed out his stomach, hitting Mikey. The boy got pelted out of the dish room and into the next, which was the kitchen.

Mikey looked around the room. The ceiling held golden chandeliers, and every shiny metal surface had equipment designed for making food sitting on them. The walls were made up of pretty white tiles, and the floor was made up of the same stuff. This kitchen was seemingly designed to make food for royalty. As one of the best restaurants in the city, a grand kitchen such as this was expected.

Sidney stepped forward into the large kitchen and smiled. "Getting too cocky won't work with me. With me alongside Willy—who you won't be able to take down—this is a losing fight." She clapped her hands together and grinned with closed eyes. "So why don't you just give up and spill the beans?"

Mikey nearly chuckled. "I like how overconfident you are."

The woman opened her piercing eyes and stared at him. "Overconfident? Oh, no. You'll come to find that it's warranted." She snapped her fingers.

Behind her, Willy stepped forward, shouting, "HISSATSU TENGI: PRESSURE COOKER!"

Blazing red steam blew past Sidney, who managed to move to the side at the perfect moment. The directional stream headed straight for Mikey.

Raising the hand that wasn't holding his taser, Mikey blocked the attack with his palm, and the stream flowed around him, only harming the kitchen equipment.

Seeing as it was ineffective, Willy stopped his attack. "You're strong, no doubt about it."

"Something like that won't do anything," Mikey said, lowering his palm.

While the attack was going Mikey didn't have a clear view of the other two, but once Willy ended his move, the boy noticed Sidney was preparing food at one side of the room.

Wait, Sidney was cooking food?

Mikey did a double take and understandably looked confused at the woman. "Uh…"

Sidney happily hummed, cooking an assortment of meats and vegetables. To everyone else, her entire body was still like a rock, except her arms, which looked like they were flailing without thought. Looking closer, they were precise, cooking like a master chef.

Mikey tilted his head. He looked towards Willy, who seemed unfazed by her actions. All of his focus was on him.

"Here, Willy!" She tossed a leg of meat at Willy, who caught it without glancing at her and started eating it.

Mikey put a free hand in his pocket, saying, "It doesn't matter how much bigger he gets. It won't make a difference in the end."

Willy bit the last piece of meat into his mouth, tossing the bone to the side. After chewing and swallowing, red steam started rising out of his mouth as he exhaled, staring directly into Mikey's soul.

Sidney chuckled. "That's ridiculous! I'm not giving him food to make him bigger."

Mikey narrowed his eyes.

Willy steadied himself, shouting, "HISSATSU TENGI: PRESSURE COOKER!"

The steaming red attack went straight for Mikey once again, but it was much faster this time.

The boy raised a hand to block the attack like the first time, but at the point of contact, he was pushed back several feet, making him clench his teeth in shock.

It was stronger.

In his shocked state, he raised his other hand, holding his taser, using both arms to push against Willy's more vigorous attack. Through the energy, he could hear Sidney speak.

"The best chefs in the world are able to make meals that enhance whoever eats it," she explained, "The power of food is something fascinating! And on top of that, it's delicious!"

Mikey was being dragged back slightly by the powerful attack. The difference in power was unreal. He couldn't push it back if he wanted to. Instead, he was locked in place as he struggled.

After Mikey kept pushing against it for around ten seconds, the attack suddenly became weaker.

Sidney grinned, speaking to herself in a soft tone so Mikey couldn't hear. "Unfortunately, the effects don't last too long." Although, she had a feeling the boy was bright enough to figure that out on his own.

Soon the ability scaled down to the level it originally was before Willy ate the cooked meat. The large man ended the attack and exhaled deeply, the last of the steam rising out of his mouth.

Sidney turned to him. "I hope you don't mind the aftertaste, Willy."

"It's nothing," Willy replied, but honestly, it was a bit tangy in his mouth.

Sidney smiled and went back to cooking, while Willy kept his stare on Mikey.

The boy furrowed his brows towards Sidney. He would have to deal with her first. If he left her unchecked, her food would complicate things for no good reason.

Willy noticed where Mikey was staring and had an idea of his plan, but he knew it was pointless. Worry didn't cross him in the slightest.

Twirling his taser, Mikey dashed towards Sidney at incredible speeds, who seemed too enticed with her cooking to notice.

He jabbed forward, but she swerved her body around the taser at the last second.

Shocked, Mikey went for it again, but to his surprise, she effortlessly evaded again.

Willy simply watched as Sidney avoided Mikey's strikes. "Pointless…" he muttered.

Gritting his teeth, Mikey could only stab air as he relentlessly tried to hit Sidney, but to no avail. He kept the pressure on, but it seemed Sidney wasn't going to cave in soon.

He was getting more frustrated by the second as he kept missing his target. If he clenched his jaws any tighter, his teeth would be in danger of cracking.

Lincoln and Shade were heading up the spiral staircase at one end of the building, passing floor thirty-two. Being as stealthy as they could, so far, they attracted zero attention.

"I hope Mikey knows what he's doing," Lincoln said. He wasn't worried about Mikey losing the fight, but he didn't know if the boy would remember their goal of staying quiet.

"The less they know about us, the better," Shade said as they snuck past a dimly lit room where a conversation was taking place. They carefully snuck past it and continued. "He can hold them off on his own, I'm sure of it. The only thing I'm worried about is Sidney."

"Why's that?" Lincoln asked.

"She has a special ability, although I'm not too familiar with it. It's something of abnormal foresight. It would be difficult to try and hit her."

"Foresight? If that's all, it shouldn't be too much to handle. I'm sure Mikey could find a way to deal with it."

Shade nodded. "But the front cover isn't always the full story, is it?" She brushed her red hair slightly with a hand. "Did you get all of that, Mikey?"

Back with Mikey, he was thinking to himself, standing at the far end of the room opposite Sidney and Willy.

"I'll take that as a yes," he heard in his earpiece.

He was doing his job, keeping them at bay, but that wasn't enough for him. He wanted to win.

Sidney finished cooking something else. She handed it to Willy—an assortment of green peppers in a bowl.

Mikey watched as he engulfed them. The effects on the large man weren't immediately inherent as he placed the bowl down. But as Willy looked back at him, he opened his mouth and burped out a couple of flames.

The flames were hurling towards Mikey in the form of dark-red fireballs, but lucky for him, he kept his guard up, not underestimating Sidney's meals any longer.

Twirling his taser, he imbued a part of it in his blue energy. Surprisingly, it took more strength than expected, but he still managed to whack the attack away.

The small boy named Ray lay inside a machine. The boy was all too familiar with this contraption, having used it for the past year. Countless experiments were conducted, research was done, and operations were tested. Though his memories always stopped once he lay in the machine. Like always, his eyes were closed, and he was in a deep slumber. It wasn't sleeping, but more of a trance state as scientists stood on platforms surrounding the machine in the large white room.

With the scientists were multiple computers, all displaying statistics, including some graphs and even a scan of the boy's entire body, showing temperature, energy rates, his Life, and other important stuff.

One of the scientists looked at another, and they nodded.

A lever was pulled.

The machine lit up and began to whine. Inside, Ray started to strain a little as he squirmed. His body was locked against the device, as parts of it restrained his ankles, wrists, torso, and neck.

As the machine began to glow brighter, the graphs on the monitors started to show high percentages.

"Completion at ninety percent!" One scientist stated.

"Power consumption is at max!" Another shouted while holding a clipboard with a touchscreen.

The machine completely lit the room, but due to the ingenuity of the room, there was tinted glass that surrounded the outer walls, so the scientists weren't forced to cover their eyes.

Sparks of electricity started forming around it without warning, making some of the workers who were sitting down stand up in shock. The room began to shake, causing the empty seats to rattle and nearly making the standing scientists flop over due to their lack of balance. Ray started to jerk his body against his restraints and groan inside the machine.

"The intensity is nearly one hundred percent!" Someone shouted as she typed on a keyboard. "We shouldn't continue any further!"

"Shut it off!"

Ray began to scream at the top of his lungs.

The scientists all grabbed something to keep themselves from falling over due to the intense shaking of the room. The one who was about to shut it off failed, fumbling to the floor before he could. Suddenly, Ray's diagram began to show that his already fragile Life was fading away fast.

"Hurry!" One of them yelled.

The scientist picked himself off the ground and was about to pull the lever. It was at this very moment it all stopped.

The shaking ceased, the electric sparks vanished, and that blinding light was back to normal. The scientist wrapped his fingers around the lever, looking at the center chamber. Realizing it was over, he slowly let go of the lever without pulling it.

After getting back up to their feet, all of the scientists gazed at the phenomenon.

Inside the machine, Ray lay there, no longer straining and squirming. Instead, he was unmoving, breathing as if even the building's destruction wouldn't disturb him.

"It's complete…" One of them said in near shock before turning to the others. "Call Dr. Atlas immediately! Tell him the Artificial Energy Surgery was a success!"

Inside the machine, Ray slowly opened his eyes. Below that, a smirk appeared on his face.

"Time to play."

Atlas got a call on his wheelchair's screen.

He looked over to the other Big Bosses. "Excuse me for one moment," he said with a kind face before rolling away from the table.

They stared at the retreating cripple for a moment before returning to their conversation.

Atlas held a smaller phone to his ear. He didn't want anyone to hear the conversation.

"Did something happen?" he asked.

He listened to the speaker for a moment before replying, "I see… This is great news. I'll be there as soon as I can."

He hung up and looked at the other Big Bosses for a second. "When that time comes, at least…" he muttered to himself.

Lincoln and Shade headed to the planting spot near the middle of the building. It helped that it was pinged on their maps.

Just having exited the spiral staircase, they arrived on floor fifty-eight. Looking closer at their map, they could see their destination was a room coming up on their right.

Nodding her head in that direction, Shade took the lead. Looking around for anyone potentially here, they carefully went through the hallway. It was quiet. It seemed they were in the clear.

Shade checked the door, and sure enough, it was locked. She told Lincoln to take watch, and it only took her a couple of seconds to pick the lock.

Lincoln entered shortly after she did. Looking around, he realized this was a server room, as many computers and hubs were in rows along the room. But it looked nothing like any of Atlas's tech. He passed them many times and remembered that Atlas's were polished in white spaces, glowing with life, and looked superb. These were dusty, the metal frames were rusting a little, and a rattling sound could be heard. These machines looked old and out of place in the futuristic city and world.

"Here." Shade tossed something at Lincoln.

He caught it and realized it was the EMP device.

"Let's get that thing planted and get out of here."

Lincoln smiled at her and nodded.

That woman was the issue. He needed to deal with her first, or rather, what she was accomplishing.

He pressed forward, straight towards Sidney, who wasn't worried in the slightest.

But in a turn of events, instead of attacking her, he slammed a fist down on the stove she was working on, breaking it in half and rendering it useless.

Mikey cracked a smile, but it disappeared once he noticed his actions didn't make Sidney recoil.

The woman's hand glowed orange, and she waved it in the air. A floating steel table appeared, part of it was a stove, and the other was just a flat surface with cooking ingredients and tools. "You didn't really think I was only reliant on using the kitchen, did you?"

Mikey gritted his teeth, and as she began to cook again, he rushed her.

She dodged his attacks, humming to herself as she began cooking some vegetables in a pan. Every strike she bent her body, every slash, she sidestepped. Nothing was working in Mikey's favor, and it irritated him.

She tossed the vegetables at Willy in the middle of her dodging streak by flipping her pan. The large man opened his large mouth and engulfed it in one bite.

One second, Mikey stared into Sidney's eyes as she dodged another jab. The next, Willy replaced her.

Mikey didn't have time to process this before he was blown back by Willy's palm. He flew past the kitchen and into the dining room, where dozens of fancy but empty tables sat, waiting for the restaurant to open tomorrow. He managed to flip himself upright to skid to a halt, but little did he know it wasn't the end of it.

Loud footsteps shook the floor as Willy charged after him. Willy's speed caught Mikey entirely off guard as he closed the distance in a mere second. This speed difference must have been the effect Sidney's vegetables had on him.

Willy kept up the pressure, throwing multiple punches at speeds that were unheard of coming from him. Even with this enhancement, Mikey avoided them all, being nimble himself.

The boy needed a breather, so after he dodged the last barrage, he skipped backwards to make some distance.

Willy started to breathe heavily. He noticed the effects wore off, but Sidney's little strategy seemed to work. After the lesson he learned fighting Lincoln, he knew not to underestimate anyone, no matter how they looked or how old or young they were. Mikey fits into that category. But with Sidney's cooking and his endurance, they should be able to pressure Mikey into a corner and finally put an end to this fight.

Mikey raised a hand in the air, unlike the others he didn't felt a need to yell.

"Hissatsu Tengi: Power Chamber."

His blue energy materialized around all three of them as a box, going through the kitchen walls to pass Sidney. He softly closed his palm, and the box began to shrink in size slowly.

Sidney chuckled, hopping over the stove Mikey broke and taking place next to Willy. As it was Mikey's energy, she knew there was a good chance it would damage her if she touched it. "I see. Making less space, so I won't be able to move as much. Unfortunately, that won't do much."

"It's a double-edged sword," Willy said, "You also have less space to move in. You won't be able to dodge my Pressure Cooker easily."

Mikey chuckled and took a step backwards. His body fazed through the energy wall like it wasn't there, and it started to ripple like gentle water. "Try your dumb tricks if you want to," he said with a smirk. "But don't expect the same results."

The energy room continued to shrink, and the two adults realized it wasn't stopping any time soon.

Willy clenched his teeth. He knew his fat could absorb the damage, but Sidney was a different case. Unfortunately for him, he didn't have a way to protect her. "Hurry up and cook something!" he yelled, "I'll be fine!"

Sidney stepped back slowly as the walls neared. Second after second, gradually, the situation dawned on her. She tried to rack her brain for something to make, but nothing she could think of would help her with this situation. She didn't have any defensive buffs she could make, and even if she healed herself with Apple Pie, that surely couldn't stall the inevitable. She couldn't believe it. It was as if Mikey was playing around this entire time. When she thought about it, Mikey could have snatched her meals at any moment like a monkey in the middle. Knowing his speed, it was certainly feasible. So why didn't he? Did they seriously stand no chance against him?

Suddenly, she felt their bodies touch. There wasn't any room to move. With the energy box so small, she would touch the wall if she took even one step forward. Behind her, Willy pushed against the wall as it tried to singe his hands, but nothing worked; Mikey's energy was holding up strong. Her following thoughts never even had the chance to appear in her mind.

Mikey flew towards her in the blink of an eye with a bored-looking expression. The moment he brought up his taser, a perfect hole formed in the wall between them, and he tased her through it.

She felt the sharp pain instantly, stunned for a couple of seconds. Her body was rigid, and she couldn't move her limbs through the shock.

Mikey took back the taser, and she went limp, falling against the Power Chamber unconscious. He took off his special ability immediately after, and Willy was released.

The large man took no time to turn towards Mikey, ready to continue the fight even though he was at a significant disadvantage now. Even knowing his fat could absorb any damage he would take, he couldn't undermine this boy's abilities. Mikey was on par with Lincoln. Between the two of them, he couldn't judge who was more remarkable. Both of them were fast and agile, even though he was slow. Their power was something else entirely. While Mikey showed off the power of his hardened energy, Lincoln had somehow passed through his plump skin. On top of all that, both were holding back against him. He wasn't even a worthy opponent to try. Willy swore they were twin brothers.

He expected Mikey to continue the fight, but to his surprise, the boy flicked a switch on the taser, turning it off.

"Long story short," Mikey began, "I'm working with someone trying to 'save this city.' I'm only doing it because I'm bored… and getting paid, I guess. But you should stay out of this."

"Why should I?" Willy asked, "You just sneak in here, hurt my boss, and expect me to let you leave without answering?"

"Just wait a few hours, and you'll understand," Mikey said, walking off. "I'm sure you realize you don't stand a chance against me. I took it easy on you in the tournament. After I cut off that woman's arm, I was on a thin line. I'm doing you a favor here."

Willy gritted his teeth, but Mikey turned to him and said something that stopped him from pressing further.

"Don't you think it's odd that only one Big Boss owns all the best and most successful restaurants in the city?"

Willy furrowed his brows, thinking back to his own restaurant. For an establishment that a Big Boss didn't own, it was doing well for itself. But it never came close to comparing to any of Leopold Tate's restaurants. He knew that no matter how hard he worked, he would never get to that level. That's why he chose to work for him. Perhaps there was a way of success working under him. But was that what he truly wanted? There was a part of him deep inside that wanted to be successful while being independent—not relying on someone else at such a high standard in comparison. It was like taking an easy path through a forest. The course was less difficult, but the reward didn't feel earned.

When he received no reply, Mikey knew he had Willy stumped.

"Mikey, we're done here. We're leaving," he heard Shade speak on the comms. Putting his hands in his pockets, he said one last thing, "Relax, I'm leaving. She'll wake up eventually, so watch over her. Before morning comes, everything will be clear to you."

Mikey walked past the two, heading back through the kitchen and into the dish room. Finding the sewer entrance from which he came, he surrounded his body in a thin energy cloak and jumped in, now out of Willy's sight.