Preparation

"...A-Alright...." Aida hesitantly said, "If you all a-are alright with it."

"Feh...I'm not really into going to an onsen today....and never...." She mumbled the last part to herself as that horrid memories flung her. "Jack me in. I'll show them how this older navi whoops some viruses."

"O-Okay." Aida said with a nod as she jacked into the net.

As Junior returned to his PET, Wes looked over his status summery, "Well, we have a good chunk of change now. You also managed to gain enough trust with your sister that you can borrow some of her abilities in Cross form. We just need to get rid of an old one or buy another slot. Hmmm... you Capu-cross also seems to be back online. Not sure if that means she's over it or you somehow beat the system. In any case, I'm not sure whether I should buy upgrades now or wait and see what else you can manage to dig up, cash wise."

"Well, if you log me into this network, you can think about it and go to the shop while I'm still busting. Since you'd be close enough to the plug in point, communication wouldn't be lost." Junior suggested.

"Hmmm... true. Fine, then I'll send you in while I ponder what to do next." Wes pointed his PET at some random device and released Junior into the net. Wes then set back and thought, "Now what would be better, HP or raw power? Sheesh, this is an annoying choice. Not as annoying as having to pick a folder. I really don't feel like choosing..." With three Recovery chips in each folder, he wasn't sure how much HP they'd really need. Of course, at the same time, he knew that the Dark Finger Shot was already strong enough to take out the vast majority of those participating, leaving them only with Undershirt, while the Soul Finger Shot would leave probably around half in the same state. It was hard to prioritize between the two, since both seemed like they might not require improvement. If only he knew who their first opponent was, this might be an easier choice. When would they release that roster? Would he have time between then and the match to grab his upgrades? Oi vei, this was a pain.

With that train of thought going no where, Wes decided to focus on other matters, "Hey, Ambridge, is Capuchin's JuniorCross operational again? And Leon, Miyu qualifies for a cross with her brother as well, right?"

"S-so miss Aida and mister L-leon ... I believe we should go to prepare for the tournament now..." Polonius said as he looked rather timidly towards everybody, then looked down at his feet.

"Now now Polo, I think a little bit of discussion shall be good for you. We're here for socializing... I think." DNR said from inside the PET.

"Okay but I think I'll go and get some upgrades for you at the shop, should be nearby..." Polonius said as he got up and gave a quick bow towards the others, walking towards Suitachi's.

Miyu returned to the PET and plopped down on a large, soft, and comfy seat she conjured up. She kicked off her shoes and crossed her arms behind her head and leaned back, relaxing after the events so far.

At Wes asking about the ability to cross, Leon checked Miyu's status, and sure enough it seemed like they had the potential to cross. Now whether or not they would was another question. Leon gave Wes a thumbs up. "Looks like they could cross on our end as well."

Leon stood as he was still reading the updated stats. "So, it seems like we have room for a couple new upgrades, huh?" Leon checked their money reserves. "And it seems like we have the money to grab 'em too. So I think I'll go do that."

Leon gave a half-hearted wave to the group as he walked into the store. "Be back in a second, eh?"

"Oh crap, I really have to go." said Wes, looking at the time, "Seeya Ambridge and tell Leon that I'll see him at the tournament in the near future, if he actually does come back." With a small wave, he took off for the metro and headed back to ACDC to get some sleep.

Leon walked back casually to the group, or rather, what was left of it.

"So, I guess I was a bit late and missed the train out of here, huh?" he said in a light-hearted tone. "I suppose it's about time to get moseying out, isn't it."

He nodded slightly to Aida. "I suppose I'll see you at the tournament later on, if you're going. Wish me luck~" He gave a pseudo salute and waved goodbye to her as he headed to the train to go home and relax before the big day.

"G-goodbye ev-everyone." Aida said as she looked at the time, "I better head back home too....and t-talk to you..." she looked at her pet which held Capuchin.

"Feh... whatever..." Capuchin said and remained silent. She was definitley in a cross mood.

"Hone-estly, what has gotten into you?" Aida sighed as she departed on the metro.

Wes walked over to the place where he had met with his friends at quite some time ago and took a seat. He let out a sigh. Why was he having trouble finding friends to mess around with now?

"Something wrong?" his navi asked.

"No... nothing. Anyway, here goes," Wes sent Majinman into the net, the demonic navi transferring from Scilabs to Netsquare to Yumland. This should be a good way to eat up some time.

"What a pain that battle was," Majinman said, as he stretched himself out, "and what we got in compensation wasn't really worth the trouble. Geez."

"Well, we have enough for another two process upgrades now, I believe. Not that we're using all of the ones we currently possess," Wes commented, "You have any ideas on what you want to use these for yet?"

"I have a few ideas, but nothing definitive as of yet. Might as well save our money until I have a better sense of what I want to do," Majinman replied, "We might actually want to raise our level next, so we can expand on what we can do with my specials... For now, I should probably do that thing that I promised Junior quite some time back and get that SP data thinger."

"It looks like our previous mission request, the one with the group of us, is pretty much null at this point. I'll have to post up a new one. Until then, want to train and earn some more upgrade money somewhere?" Wes suggested, opening the Mission Board in his browser.

"Yeah, sounds like it'd be a good call. Yumland again, this time in Rogue net or whatever the kids call it these days," Majinman replied.

Majinman returned to his PET just as Wes finished replying to the Mission BBS post, "Okay, here's the deal: You're supposed to head into Scilabs net and board a train or something like that. It seems like it's carrying something or other that someone might try to steal. You're just supposed to ride the train and make sure nothing happens. Sound easy enough?"

"Yeah, I guess... so it'll either be really exciting or really boring. Which will it be?" Majinman asked himself, not really looking thrilled either way.

"Well, you said you wanted something fun. And if it turns out to be not fun, then that just means that we'll be done with it quick and get back to normal virus busting, so either way, you should be happy," Wes pointed out.

"Yeah, but still... it's normally a good idea to know what you're getting into before hand, you know? We don't need to land ourselves in the middle of another conspiracy."

"While that's true, you can't expect every job and mission we take to be straightforward. We'll take care of this and if the yakuza or something ends up after us, big deal. It's not like we have that many close allies at the moment that could get caught up in whatever's bull we drag up."

"While you're right, that wasn't at all comforting," Majinman sighed. Perhaps after this, he should try making some friends. And perhaps to increase the chances of success, he should try to not be such an asshole. Nah, that'd be too much effort and probably wouldn't pay off in the long run. He'd just force someone to be friends with him. That are some who enjoy that sort of thing. With those disturbing thoughts, Majinman plugged into the net to locate this train... or something like that.