Finn’s body jerked as the sensation of falling from a great height forced his consciousness to return. Almost immediately, his mind was assaulted with the aching of his muscles and the slight tingling of every nerve in his sore body. His vision swam, wandering in the direction of the faint light coming from somewhere to his right.
Feeling the sharp, metallic taste coating his tongue, he regained enough awareness to recognize where he was. Gasping, he wondered why it was so difficult to breathe, and why the hell he was on the freezing floor?
It was only when he saw the yellow sports bag beside him that fragments of what happened came back to him along with a wave of soul-shuddering panic.
"Jake!" He yelled, staggering as he pushed himself up.
The bag was there, and so was the Exocore stored inside it. Finn frantically looked around for any sign of damage but found nothing at first glance. That’s when he saw letters appear on the monochrome LCD screen.
Realizing something, the boy reached for the back of his head and felt around for the ports, realizing that the cables that should have been there weren’t connected.
"I’m here." He replied then began looking for the plugs. "Are you okay?"
[Yeah.] More words appeared on the screen. [What happened?]
"What do you mean what happened?"
One after the other, he found the cables and plugged them into the ports of his MLP. A screen opened in the corner of his vision a moment later and he heard the familiar beeping.
[Jake: Were you attacked by a ghost?]
A frown creased the boy’s face as he grabbed his headphones. Those were nothing more than an accessory and served no purpose.
[Jake: Yes. You were talking to yourself for a while, then you told me to activate Berserk Mode. I thought I caught something, but then it disappeared. If that wasn’t a ghost, then what was it?]
The words refused to leave Finn’s mouth. When he thought about it, the word ghost seemed strangely fitting. For most of their conversation, the red-haired youth was shrouded in darkness. Jake was incapable of perceiving him, and even when Berserk Mode was activated, he remained unaffected.
Berserk Mode was an all-out attack that established a connection to all nearby devices and pumped them with destructive viruses. It was a weapon intended for situations where he is forced to deal with a large group, but that guy shrugged it off as if he didn’t have a single piece of tech on him.
"... you are right..." Finn muttered. "Maybe he was a ghost."
He stared down at the Cylindrical Exocore and let out a long sigh. Losing the Blue Night once more was a painful strike, and being tased till he passed out was far from a pleasant experience. Still, Finn couldn’t help but feel a great sense of relief. From the looks of it, torturing him a little was enough to satisfy that guy, which is probably why he left without taking the Exocore with him.
[Jake: So... is it gone? The ghost, I mean...]
Finn found himself looking around the room despite knowing the answer.
[Jake: Great. I think I’m starting to understand why humans fear them so much.]
Ghost or not, the fact that the red-haired youth was dangerous doesn’t change. Finn didn’t want to deal with him again if possible, but that was out of the question when his father’s gun was in that guy’s possession.
The boy sat there and contemplated the encounter in silence. The ugly emotions he had worked so hard to suppress broke out of their seal, freed by a defeat he never saw coming. As his eyes suddenly grew itchy, his nose caught a strange stench and he noticed that his clothes were somewhat damp.
"... I need a shower..."
Unfortunately, his small room didn’t have such accommodations.
Having retrieved his weapon, Dante went home and spent the next few days doing nothing but relaxing. A part of him was wary that the brat called Finn would show up to cause more trouble, but thankfully, he seemed to have learned his lesson, or at least he decided to keep his distance for the time being.
Dante tried not to think about the brat and what he did, which he found surprisingly easy as he leaned forward, feeling the subtle roar of an engine as he twisted the handle in his right hand. Wind whipped against his face and played with his hair, its speed masking the subtle smell of the big city, almost giving it a fresh taste.
There was no better place to ride a bike than the old highways scattered around the Neo-Vatra. Traffic had long since been redirected to new roads, and with no one bothering to dismantle the old ones, the city was left with miles and miles of open, trafficless stripes of concrete available to anyone looking to enjoy riding their vehicle in (relative) peace.
Ever since he retrieved Raven from Megan’s shop, Dante had spent most of his time riding it around the city. All of a sudden, his free time problem was no more. He even fixed his sleep schedule after spending more than twenty-four hours doing nothing but riding. Now he no longer slept till the afternoon, instead using that time to enjoy his new ride while the street rats were still slumbering in their holes.
Winter was a thing of the past so the weather remained warm despite it being November already. The sun still went down at its intended time, though, which means night arrived earlier as the days went on.
It was 18:00 when Dante pulled up to the Bowl of Fortune. He parked his Raven out on the road despite Volcan having added a vehicle slot to the Equipment screen, knowing full well that he was being watched the entire time.
The bike had a pretty good security system, and with Volcan managing it, Dante didn’t have to worry about it getting stolen.
Despite not being a fan of helmets, Dante knew all too well that Nobara would nag him nonstop about not wearing one. That’s why he made sure to equip the one Megan had gifted him before coming back to Hollowgrid. With it under his arm, he walked into the old restaurant and greeted the few regulars who were already there.