Today was the last day before the big day. When James realized that he had done everything he could, an emptiness filled him.
Once again, as he walked around the city, he began to think about what he could do. He looked down at his empty hand as if he had a list and began to count, closing his fingers one by one.
"Alert Volt or anyone else for security, check!
Collect SP by entering constant battles, check!
Do quests or create situations that could be quests, check!
Make lots of recipes and hide them somewhere where they can be found with a note in case you fail and become a Bakugan, check!
And finally, find a companion who can help her even if I'm not there. Of course that's checked too! Even a little more than I asked for! And now, there's nothing else I need to do, is there?"
He looked at his hand, balled into a fist, and smiled with satisfaction. Fox, instead of being happy with him, said unhappily:
[Can you stop talking like you're guaranteed to transform? You're already doing everything you can. You can even change the main plot.]
James exercised his right to remain silent on the matter. What he wanted to believe and his logic were very much at odds.
Could he really change it? He wasn't sure about that at all. Even though he had interacted with Volt, even though he had indirectly influenced things, he had a feeling that it wouldn't be enough and that the Resistance would succeed.
And yet, despite this, he hadn't given up. No, he never did. Even if he knew he was going to lose, he would not stop fighting. He would cling to that little bit of hope.
Time was passing as they continued walking. As the conversation between Fox and him continued, the topic eventually turned to an interesting question.
[Do you plan to take up a hobby in the future? Just fighting and running the restaurant is only going to get you so far.]
"A hobby...?"
James was stunned as he had honestly never thought about that question. He had never given himself the opportunity to think about it, given what he had done so far.
He began to murmur softly.
"Hobby, hobby..."
He thought as he kept walking. What did he like? What had he enjoyed doing so far? Or rather, what did he want to do?
He kept thinking as he walked. Cook, waiter, brawler. He had never felt the need to take up a hobby, to be honest, since he was all of these things. He enjoyed them all.
But at that moment a small memory came to his mind and he mumbled:
"Author..."
His eyes shining, he finally gave his answer:
"When this is all over, I'm going to be a author."
[Well great! Do you have a specific story in mind?]
James thought for a while. Then he answered:
"How about The Way of the Half-Beast?"
[Too cliché.]
"Hm... Okay... Then... How about... Surviving Among Monsters with the Modular System?"
[Are you trying to write an autobiography?]
"I don't know, nothing creative came to mind."
These conversations went on and on and on. During the course of these conversations he realized something. Even though a part of him kept shouting at him that it would end in failure, deep down he didn't want it.
His life in the restaurant, every Bakugan battle he entered... It had all become part of his life. Even as his memory filled with new information and new old memories, it still felt like a new home.
Part of him was still screaming at him that it was impossible. But he had to ignore it. Until now, he had always ignored that part of him. He had to try, even if he knew he would fail.
Before, it was a struggle to protect the person he used to be. But now, now he just wanted to be able to live his current life. He wanted to take care of the customers in this seemingly simple restaurant, he wanted to battle his Hammersaur as he pleased, and he even wanted a new hobby for himself.
Nevertheless, he resolutely clenched his hands and spoke as he punched the air:
"Fox, I will stop this no matter what."
This was the greatest determination he had ever shown. He continued:
"I don't want to lose Lucy, who I consider a big sister, you, who I consider a friend, and Siren. I've done everything I can to get the SP I need so far, and I will continue to do everything I can now and tomorrow."
He paused and once again paused and punched the air. This time his punch was extremely fast. Combined with his eyes burning with bright, white flames, he was undoubtedly a frightening sight.
But he ignored it. Not even realizing that he was the target of many stares, he continued speaking:
"If necessary, I will beat them so badly that they will never come again. But I will stop them."
He was extremely determined and full of hope. It was clear what he had to do and it looked like he was going to do it. But instead of being impressed by his determination, Fox gave him a little reminder:
[Don't kill them, even if they're against you, they mean you no harm.]
With that reminder, the light in James' eyes disappeared completely and was replaced by a surprised look. Surprised, he asked:
"What killing? What's this about killing? I'm just going to knock them out, that's what I said in the heat of the moment."
[Oh, good.]
James decided to go back to the restaurant to talk it over. He had nothing to do. He had finished his application for the tournament. At the moment he had absolutely nothing, and with it getting dark he didn't feel the need to wander any further.
When he entered the restaurant, he unexpectedly saw Lucy, who had just turned off the weird device in her hand.
The device in her hand was a video calling device. It looked like a phone, but it was quite different in design and more suited to video calling.
Lucy sighed as she turned it off. She was obviously too distracted to notice James. She muttered to herself:
"Nothing again. What could this boy be sick with? There is no genetic disease close to scaling. He doesn't seem to be contagious. Otherwise he would have been infected already."
All the time Lucy had been talking to James, she had been searching for a suitable way to treat him. She had done a lot of research and even consulted her brother to get a proper diagnosis of his illness.
But she had not been able to get any tangible results. With advancing technology, serious illnesses were of little importance. Everything could be solved easily and the rate of getting sick was very, very low.
Given all this, it was extremely difficult to find a case like James. That's why the big brother-little sister duo couldn't even diagnose anything, let alone find a solution.
James, on the other hand, knew instantly that she was trying for him. As his heart warmed, he felt guilty that he couldn't tell the whole story. Even if he told the whole story, she wouldn't believe it. He had deliberately avoided it because he didn't want to come across as someone obsessed with Bakugan.
Still, the sight had stirred his emotions and he had decided that he absolutely had to stop it tomorrow. Tomorrow he would battle with everything he had. Both in the arena and in reality!
Nevertheless, James greeted her politely, as if he knew nothing and had just arrived, and prepared the food as usual. He didn't even notice the tiny thorns protruding from his elbows.
Lucy, however much she wanted to help, had to give up because she could no longer keep up with James' ridiculous speed.
Finally, they started eating together as usual. As they talked, Lucy noticed that James had a strange expression that was hard to hide. It was like he was going to war.
"What's wrong with you?"
James answered involuntarily in surprise, not expecting this question:
"What do you mean?"
Lucy immediately said that she was thinking:
"You look like you're going to die. Or rather, like you're going to a war, where you don't know if you're going to survive or not."
James was instantly startled by these words. Was it that obvious? To which Fox had an immediate response:
[You've been an emotional nuclear bomb for a while now. It's pure luck that you haven't drawn attention to yourself until now].
Ignoring Fox's comment, he replied with difficulty:
"Oh, uh, well. I signed up for the Tournament. I'm stressed out about it."
Lucy, who had been so taken aback by James's argument, didn't press the point. Instead, she spoke after finishing her meal:
"It's hard to be a brawler. Controlling a monster and giving it appropriate commands. Don't be too hard on yourself, though. After all, there's no death at stake."
James smiled and nodded:
"I'll keep that in mind."
Inwardly he was thinking.
'Even though it's as good as death for me...'
With that, Lucy went to bed. James did too after washing the dishes. Tomorrow was going to be a long day, after all.
At the dawn of the new day, James, no doubt feeling the same excitement as many of the brawlers, woke up with a faded card in his lap and immediately sat up and started to put his clothes on.
Partially groggy from sleep, and frankly too preoccupied with his own thoughts, he didn't even notice that the card had fallen. He put on his usual jacket tightly, put on his gloves, and looked at himself in the mirror.
The white scales were starting to show on his tanned skin no matter how hard he tried to hide them. Although he now wore black gloves to hide them, he could still see the sparkle of the scales. He also had a knife-like protrusion on his elbows. Fortunately, they didn't grin too much with the outfit. Especially considering the weird fashion of the Vexos.
He was no longer surprised by the changes. Thankfully, it didn't look that bad.
Still, James believed that in just ten thousand SP, this would be fixed. Or rather, he wanted to believe it. So far they had been able to raise his SP faster than he had expected.
He just needed to get through today as a vestal. And he was confident in that. For now... He smoothed his messy black hair a little and made a note to cut it at some point because it was too long.
Just as he was about to go out, he heard Fox's voice:
[Take a look at that card on the floor.]
James, confused, was about to ask what card, when he saw the card on the ground. It looked like a typical bakugan ability card. It had a similar design. But it was strangely faded and glitched.
It looked like a corrupted file. So James hesitated whether to pick it up or not. Fox was strangely silent at that moment.
In that moment of silence, James, overcome with curiosity, picked up the card and was stunned by what he saw.