The Park

Marius was walking along the ACDC town, joyfully looking up into the sky with a smile on his face. He immediately looked down at his red PET, watching as the speed upgrade was installing into Voulge. "Careful, you just might rip your lips if you keep on smiling like that." Ignis appeared as a holographic projection, hovering just above the screen. "Say what you want, I'm still going to enjoy this upgrade as much as I can."

Voulge was in a subconscious state as the upgrades was patching into his body, unable to speak, but able to hear everything that was around him. Licht was silently besides him, either floating above the navi in a circle or patiently laying besides him. The operator had nothing planned while he waited for his navi to be upgraded, so he simply decided to walk around his neighborhood.

"I still can't believe you guys went on even after I jacked out! Seriously! You guys are HEARTLESS." said Ignis in a demeaning tone

"Yea yea yea. It's not like you could've really helped us out on the Rogue Net." replied Marius with his smile growing bigger.

The two went on to fight, catching many people's attentions as they saw the strange interaction between the two. Before they knew it, Marius found himself on the park bench, still wailing on his SP.

"...Quiet down."

Marius and Ignis stopped their bickering in an instant when they were surprised by Voulge's sudden apperance. The navi looked like it just woke up...and it didn't look so good as his eyes was still half-shut and baggy. "The upgrade took alot longer because of you two. I told you to leave me in the apartment so I can finish this in peace and quiet." The two quietly bowed their heads in apology and became awfully silent.

"...Oh, hi Zeo! Didn't realize you were there! How are ya?"

A familiar voice was heard. Marius, Voulge, and Ignis all turned their heads towards the voice as they immediately recognized it.

"Was that..." "Yes, I think they're around here somewhere." "THE TRANSVE-*Smack*-Ow."

The voice was none-other than SplashLady, as apparent as Marius caught the glimpse of Sabrina and the navi's holograph not so far away from the bench. Standing up and dusting off his pants, the operator slowly approached the two with a big smile.

"Hey there, Sabrina."

Floating is fun. It makes you feel all weightless and junk. And there's all the cool stuff you can do, too. Like, riding headless goats, thrashing villanous demons with nothing but a cockroach, and laughing insanely in the face of cake. Yup, cake. Hey, look, there's some cake right there. I'll just go dive into its delicious real butter cream icing now and savor the giant sharp maw of teeth that is coming at me nowuaaaaaaaaagh

Harke's eyes immediately sprang wide open, his pupils dilated. His brain took a while to defrost from its frozen status. Once the melting was complete, Harke blinked his eyes hard as the ensuing worldblur started to fade slowly and things started coming into focus. First things first: surroundings. He was staring straight up at blue sky, lying on what he presumed to be a bench, but with backing. Surrounding presence: voices. A high-pitched, loud kind of voice, Sabrina. Small talk and a generally timid voice, Zeo. Booming and rough scratch, his father.

Okay, time to try and get up. So far so good, ability to move limbs seemed to be present. He wiggled his fingers a bit to feel them, and success. Then, he moved his arms to prop himself up. His head was now nothing but a dull throb, so that was doable as well. Harke then sat up with a little effort on the bench, but he was still in something close to semi-consciousness, as nothing seemed to register in his head. Not the birds chirping overhead, not the sound of a newcomer into the group, not even the mess of a sandwich he'd managed to squish under his palm earlier. His blank stare just looked straight forwards as he tried to overcome this new hurdle. Turning to his right, he saw something that he could relate to: his PET, which Reverus had so kindly left there.

Thus, he resorted to trying out his basic motor skills by pressing random buttons on the PET. He hoped that nobody would see him awake right then, as it would be awkward if he answered someone with nothing but a dumb look, especially Sabrina.

Fortunately for Harke, Sabrina didn't look in that direction, as a familiar voice suddenly entered her ear. Both she and her Navi turned to look at who caused it, revealing a couple familiar faces. And the person they were on. "Hi Marius!"

"Hey Voulge, long time no see!" SplashLady waved her spear at her partner in Crossing, for the obligatory greeting. "Well, at least I want to say that, but I guess it hasn't been that long, huh?"

"Oh, have you met Zeo already? If you haven't...well, here he is! And, uh, Zeo, this is Marius!" Even more introductions, awesome. "So, Marius, what brings you here to ACDC?"

"Well, the last time we met face to face was in the tournament lounge...So it's been a while between Sabrina and I." he told SplashLady with the same lingering smile. He turned towards Zeo, who also happened to be next to Sabrina, and stretched his hand forward for a handshake. "Nice to meet you, Zeo."

---

"Good to see you again, Splash." Voulge nodded his head as a sign of greeting. "Marius and I were out for a small walk. He was looking for something to do while the new upgrade was being installed." The navi answered Sabrina's question on behalf of his operator, who was too busy introducing himself to Zeo. "The upgrade was pretty pricey...I hope Marius did the right thing."

"New upgrade?" SplashLady blunk, as though she just noticed something on Voulge's face. "Now that you mention it, you do look stronger than you did before. So what'd you get?"

"So...if we're all done greeting, I have an idea, Marius." An idea. From Sabrina. Joy. "Since we're both here, how about we team up again? I'm sure you want to see how that upgrade does, and we've got that AquaDragon we want to test out!"

Ooh, that did sound good. "That's right, you traded us AquaDragon! I really do want to see what that's like...it sounds really cool!"

"Yep! You can pick the area, I'm up for whatever!" The Netopian girl looked at her partner in busting, awaiting an answer. "But I guess if you don't want to, you don't want to...so, your call. Wanna?"

"Team bust again?...Sounds like a grand plan." Voulge placed a big thumb up at Splash's idea and turned towards his operator. "What do you say, Marius?" He shrugged as he took his jacked off and hung it by the shoulder. "I was hoping to stay chat with Zeo, but I guess we can do it."

Marius took his PET and began to search the net, flipping through pages after pages in just seconds before he came to a stop. "Well, if you really want to test out the AquaDragon we traded...I think this place would be perfect." Voulge swiped his hand over the holographic screen, flipping it around and showing Sabrina and Splash what he was talking about. There was alot going on in that small screen: Volcanos were errupting, the land too rough and damaged to actually grow anything, and powerful viruses was lurking everywhere. And to top it all, there was a friendly sign saying "WELCOME TO HADES."

"This place would be a haven for Splash. Fire viruses everywhere, I'm sure you can take care of everything in a flash."

Suddenly, a new guy had shown up. Once again Zeo hoped he wasn't Sabrina's boyfriend or something. In retrospect, simply asking her whether she had a boyfriend would permanently assuage his fears, but she might take it the wrong way. Besides, the new guy looked a little too old for her, but he supposed there were worse pairings.

As Sabrina and Marius greeted each other, Zeo turned around to look at Harke. Hey, he's awake, Zeo thought. Then he noticed the guy pressing random buttons on his PET with a dazed expression. Maybe not quite... he corrected himself. Zeo decided to give Harke some time to get his bearings while he greeted yet another new arrival. After a quick handshake and a friendly hello, Marius and Sabrina quickly descended into discussions about a proposed busting trip.

It made Zeo feel a bit left out, but he didn't exactly have access to a Navi at the moment. Besides, three Navis was probably a bit much. Rather than intrude on their current conversation, Zeo opted to simply continue listening and find out more about Marius and his Navi.

After a while of randomized button-mashing, Harke slowly began to regain awareness of his surroundings, his brain starting to look at something other than his PET. The first thing he noted was that Zeo had looked his way, but turned back. Probably a sign that at least he wasn't being ignored outright or something. Looking around some more, he found that Sabrina was talking to a new guy about something... he strained his ears to hear exactly what, but the only thing he caught was something about busting. Deducing that the two were talking about virus busting in tandem, he started to look interested, but then realized nobody was looking at him sitting on the bench like some random vagrant.

Turning his attention back to his PET, he found that Eternalis was off busting somewhere, pointing a gun into something, presumably a virus. Oh, and that he was ankle-deep in what seemed to be a pile of yellowish mashed potatoes. Where the hell is he? Turning around the visuals, Harke found a sign that answered his unspoken question quite bluntly, "Tor's Resort - NetVegas". Huh, so he was running off to bust in NetVegas? With a partner, he noticed a few seconds later. A female Navi, no less. Hoo, he was gonna have his share of snide remarks sooner or later if he could help it. He'd put it off for later, though. His Navi had activated the direct link, which prevented him from any verbal communication. For now, he'd just eavesdrop on him and send chips whenever he needed it.

Then, Harke realized that he had yet to greet the new guy. However, he wasn't in any shape to walk up and shake hands just yet, what with the bandages around his head clearly acting as a giant neon warning sign. Instead, judgement impaired, he opted to do something dumb instead: raise his hand and shout as loudly as he could, Hello!

Idea approval. Sweet. But...why did he think he couldn't talk while he was busting. "You know, you could always talk AND bust at the same time. Unless you're the kind of person that can't do two things at once!" Sabrina might've kept on that particular avenue of conversation, but the image in front of her face stopped her cold, even though it looked rather hot. And, what was that wispy thing in the background...?

"Eek!!" ...Uh, shoot. She stopped herself before it got too loud, but it still happened. "...Heh, you surprised me with that! I wasn't really expecting a fiery wasteland!"

All SplashLady could do was roll her eyes at that fairly weak excuse. "Yeah, because Fire viruses would totally hate that stuff. But sure, might as well! We've never been to Hades Net, so it'll be neat! And yep, I think I'll do just fine there..."

"Yeah...okay, l-lead the way, you two!"

"Not so fast! You know the saying, ladies first!"

"R-Right..." Funny how Sabrina suddenly seemed less keen on team busting...or any busting. "I g-guess we'll go first, then. Unless someone's hiding s-something!" A moment passed while she positioned her PET towards the squirrel statue; if everyone was really quiet, they could probably hear her heart beating out of her chest. "Jack in! S-SplashLady, Execute!"

(to Rogue Hades!)

"Alright, it's a deal."

Marius confidently prepared his PET and pointed it towards the closest port. With a click of a button, Voulge began to disintegrate piece by piece as he transferred into the net. "Let's enjoy ourselves there, Splash." said the navi before he fully disappeared.

The operator pulled the PET back and turned towards Sabrina, who looked a flustered at the idea of busting in hades net. He smiled as he gently padded her head, "...It's not as bad as you think it is. Just trust us ok?"

======
Destination: Hades Rogue Net
======

...

He also turned around to see a man on his back, waving his hands in the air and even greeting Marius. The operator looked side to side, realizing that neither Zeo or Sabrina has realized this. "..." Marius scratched his head in confusion and hesitation, but immediately walked over to the fallen bench. "You could use some help."

Harke had just began to lower his hand, when he noticed that his targeted person did nearly nothing to respond to his motions. His recently blood-deprived brain began to make its assumptions about the new visitor. Most of them were accompanied by fleeting thoughts of expletives, profanities, and downright rudeness. Harke probably didn't know it, but the blow to his head had some effects on his usual demeanor. A crack in the teenager's usual shell of shyness showed in the form of a large mischievous grin. Then, he saw the man clad in white walk up to him and offer his assistance.

"You could use some help."

Oh hey, look. The new visitor actually replied. Part of his left eye was obscured by a piece of bandage that just came loose, giving him a somewhat different look than before. He looked at the loose piece, and understood the intention of the offer. His grin turned into a friendly-looking smile and he replied to Marius, "No, no thanks. I'm fine." Still keeping his smile, he raised his hand in a typical handshake request and continued, "You look rather charming, sir. My birth certificate notes the name of Harke Ezarith, and may I have the pleasure of knowing what yours says?"

Hey look, Harke got back up. It seemed that he had managed to get his head in order enough to stand up and offer a coherent greeting to Marius. That was one worry banished from Zeo's thoughts, and most likely Sabrina's. Then again, since Reverus' arrival there hadn't been much chance of Harke's injury being fatal. Now, it was time to go welcome Harke back to the land of the conscious and hope he still remembered who Zeo was. He'd already demonstrated remembrance of his own name; that was a good sign.

"Hey Harke, welcome back. Did you have a nice rest?" Zeo asked, a hint of humour in his voice. "Being serious, I'm glad you're alright. It wouldn't look good for Sabrina and I if you had cracked your head open or something, huh?" He laughed. Mid-laugh, he remembered that Reverus had run off and figured it would be prudent to tell Harke. "Oh yeah, your father ran off towards the chip shop a minute ago saying he'd be right back. He called someone to come take you to the hospital.

That made Zeo wonder if Harke even needed medical attention. "On that note, are you okay, Harke? You aren't going to pass out again?" Zeo didn't need more than one shock like that in a day. The fear of conviction for murder was not something he enjoyed experiencing often.

...Perfect, her busting partner was treating her like she was 6 and just saw a monster in her closet. As Marius walked off, Sabrina stood there, arms crossed, doing what she could to not look like she was about to give off steam from her head. Luckily, this was made easier when she finally noticed Harke was fine. "Oh, thank goodness!" She gave off a relieved sigh afterwards, knowing that both her friend was okay, and that she wouldn't be spending time in federal prison. Especially since she was too pretty for jail.

With her mind now clear, the group's lone female made her way to the Sharoian, much like everyone else. She elected to remain quiet, letting the others voice her concerns instead. But...was Harke acting a little different? Maybe it was just her, but something seemed...off. Oh well. "Glad you're back with us! But don't EVER do that again, you hear me? Didn't anyone teach you not to give girls a heart attack?!" Sabrina wasn't being too serious, but if he took it like she was serious, she wouldn't complain very much.

"..." Marius was bewildered by Harke's way of introducing himself. "Marius. Marius Eirenikos."

Ignoring the awkwardness of the fallen man, he took Harke's hand and pulled him off the ground rather than giving him a friendly handshake. Marius wrapped his arm over his shoulder to keep him up and also managed to pick the chair up with his right feet, just so his new, dazed friend could have a place to actually rest. "These is just no way that you're fine laying down like that."

Marius gently placed Harke down and let out a sigh while staring at Sabrina and Zeo, shaking head in disappointment. "I can't believe none of you guys tried to help him out..."

Marius... Eirenikos. Interesting name, he would have to make sure he'd get all the interest he needed out of this one... Harke was then surprised by Marius' act of lifting him up from where he was earlier. Hm, it seemed that he was never on a bench, but on the ground, as he had been before. Or was he? His head hurt with the burden of confusing thought processing, and he simply let it be as Marius placed him on a chair that the man put down. Hearing the man speak of his condition on the ground, he replied in a matter-of-fact tone, his smile still beaming, My, Eirenikos. Can't a man feel the solid grip of terra firma under his own hands nowadays? Then, after a bit of reconsideration, he added to his statement, I do thank you for the help, though.

Then, his friends began to speak up as well, basically welcoming him back to the real and solid world of no cake. It was a sad change, but it was necessary. Cake is fattening. Yes, thank you, Zeo, I did rest well, though they're not very nice, those nightmares. Or are those noonmares, now? And the part of his father... hmm, good, it wasn't another part of his mind's various screw-ups. I think I will be fine, but I do still have a small headache.

...Heart attack? Chuckling on the girl's less-than-serious scolding, Harke returned the greeting on a similar note, Ahahaha, of course, Sabrina. In my humblest opinions, however, it would be best if a girl of your strength would not flinch at infarctions of arteries, much less a little accident, in the near future.

"Didn't help out?!" Oh, Marius should not have said that. Sabrina stormed over to a nearby trash can, which had what appeared to be a piece of dark red cloth peeking out from atop it. And since it was in a trash can, the girl naturally picked it up and displayed it to the group; in actuality, it was formerly a sky blue handkerchief, with a blood stain staining most of it crimson. "Who do you think treated him before his dad got here?!" ...Eww, there was a piece of slightly used gum stuck on it now. She tossed it back in the can, letting out a silent 'yuck' as she did so. "And by the way, you'd make a girl try to pick someone bigger than her up? Shame on you!" By now her tone had softened a bit, down to half-joking. "You shouldn't make a lady do something like that!"

And...what? Sabrina didn't get a word of what Harke was saying to her. She just stood there, looking blankly at her confuser, wondering exactly how fine he was at the moment.

Zeo was not quite as offended as Sabrina. Yes, he was a little annoyed that Marius would be so presumptuous, but Zeo hadn't done much to help. However, it wasn't like he'd just ignored Harke the entire time; he'd been both worried and clueless. He wasn't as vocal as Sabrina either, barely speaking up after her. "We had our hands full 'helping him out' back when his head was bleeding, thanks." Huh, that seemed a bit more hostile than Zeo had intended. "It doesn't matter now. What matters is that Harke is...alright?"

He did look alright, but he was sounding very weird. Zeo wasn't sure whether that was normal or not, but how many people started talking...like that, when something was wrong with them? At least he was physically fine. Zeo decided to comment on Harke's last words out of concern for his mental health. "Uh, this may just be me being paranoid, but you sound a little...different, Harke. You don't feel...off, or anything?"

Maybe getting him to the hospital would be a good idea after all...

Feeling... off... Hm, now that you mention it, Zeo, something does seem quite wrong, Harke said in a rather slow slur, as his smiling face was directed at his friend's face. Your stance... is slightly off... by about 5.456 degrees, bearing 34.56 degrees relative to line of sight... Height-to-slope ratio is about level.. 1.031406. You're right... it is off. His hands reached up to the glasses sneaked into his hair, and immediately pulled them down onto his nose, making him look even stranger than before.

Harke then turned his head, quickly, mechanically, towards his next subject, a certain 20-year-old Eirenikos. His glasses shone in the bright afternoon sun as he rattled off a barrage of mostly meaningless figures, presumably directed towards the man. Hue of clothing... effee-deeff-seaeff. Eye-nose ratio... 2.4521... a good specimen. Extension by-reach... 49.1221... very long. Factors of arc length.. the cosines look very small for such a figure, the exponents aren't there.

Afterwards, the possibly-nuts Harke veered his eyes towards another target, the only female in the group. His head rotated once again, stuttering as if inorganic. His smile then turned to a wider grin as he examined what his eyes were locking onto. Ho, what's this? A nice little exhibit C. Eye-nose ratio.. a perfect 1.5! Oh, yes... His left eye began to narrow as his grin returned to its normal smile, albeit slanted further more left than what 'normal' would be considered. Ah, the hair-neck positions... the sine of y and 3.45x! But what's this?! A waistline of.. function 1.34x + 10 to the power of pi x?! Hm! I thought it was a perfect exhibit, but this!

BAM.

It happened quickly, and without so much as a thought. It just...happened, as if by instinct. Sure, had Sabrina stopped to consider things, she wouldn't have done it. Especially not on that side. But Harke had done that which a man could never, EVER do without consequence.

And as such, the red remains of a handprint were imbedded into the Sharoian's cheek, matching his stylish head wound. But one that critiques a girl's figure like that? Totally asked for it. Still, she couldn't help but feel a little guilty for assaulting the already injured. But unless she gave him a concussion, Sabrina wasn't about to apologize for it. Jerk had it coming. Maybe now he'd know enough never to combine her two least favorite things: math and insults to her figure.

In the few short seconds preceding Harke's response to Zeo, he pulled out his PET after hearing it make noise. He flipped it open and was soon greeted by his annoyed Navi. Zeo spent a minute doing damage control for something he'd apparently done wrong before closing the PET (and leaving it on this time). Once that was done with Zeo turned back to ask about Harke's most recent response in confusion. Sadly, that wasn't going to be happening as in the moment Zeo looked up he saw a frightening sight.

For the most part, he simply witnessed a blur as Sabrina scored a critical hit on the already injured person's face. Just watching caused Zeo to wince in pain. Major note to self: don't cross that girl... ever, he thought. He hadn't quite heard what Harke had said to Sabrina, but it was probably just as weird as what the guy had been saying before. Truthfully, Zeo wasn't surprised it had come to this. He decided to look on the bright side of things; maybe the blunt force trauma would be sufficient to bring Harke completely back from wherever the initial fall had taken him.