Raizo's eyes narrowed with fury, his body trembling with the weight of the pain and exhaustion he'd endured. He was down, but not out. Not yet. His hand shot to the side, and he activated his Burst Technique with a sudden, sharp motion.
From the podium, Shinra's fingers hovered over the digital readouts on his screen. The numbers blinked and shifted in real time, reflecting the dire situation unfolding before him.
Raizo's vitals:
Health: 30%
Stamina: 10%
Mana: 100%
Burst Technique: 100%
Level: 11
GiggleGrim's vitals:
Health: 80%
Stamina: 50%
Mana: 70%
Burst Technique: 100%
Level: 20
Shinra clenched his fists, his thoughts racing. It's all up to this move. He glanced at Raizo's Burst Technique, realizing just how much of a gamble this was. With Raizo's Stamina so low, it would be a miracle if he could even land a successful hit. Shinra's eyes flashed across the battlefield, knowing this was their last shot—if they didn't finish GiggleGrim here, there wouldn't be enough left to pull through.
Back on the holographic battlefield, Raizo's body blurred as he rose to his feet, his afterimages streaking across the ground in a rapid, erratic motion. His katana was a flash of silver, his movements now impossibly fast as he began to slash at GiggleGrim from every angle.
GiggleGrim, watching the onslaught of afterimages closing in, didn't panic. Instead, Daiki quickly activated Fool's Gambit—a defense mechanism tied to GiggleGrim's grim mask. The mask itself became a focal point of defense, shifting and warping to intercept as many slashes as possible. Each metallic clang of Raizo's katana against the mask echoed across the battlefield, sparks flying from the impact.
Raizo's strikes were precise and relentless, but GiggleGrim's mask defense absorbed the brunt of the blows, the clownish AI weaving around each slash with a disturbing calm.
Raizo, undeterred, suddenly shot upward from the ground, his body a blur as he ascended with incredible speed, coming down at GiggleGrim with the intent to land a devastating finishing blow.
GiggleGrim's eyes flickered. With a wide grin, he raised both of his arms to catch Raizo's blade, the sword's edge pressing against his hands as Raizo brought it down with all his strength. The unicycle-wielding AI's movements were calculated and precise.
But just as their clash reached its peak, the action time for Fool's Gambit ran out. GiggleGrim's burst technique was fully charged. He quickly activated it.
GiggleGrim's vitals shifted, reflecting the power that surged within him:
Health: 80%
Stamina: 100%
Mana: 100%
Burst Technique Bar: 100%
Level: 20
The air seemed to warp around him as GiggleGrim's burst technique activated, his hands now gripping Raizo's sword arm and holding him in place with an unnerving, powerful force. The unicycle beneath him spun in tight, fast circles, but his focus was entirely on Raizo.
With a twisted chuckle, GiggleGrim spoke: "You really thought you could land that? How adorable." He began to slowly tighten his grip, the tension between them thickening as Raizo's sword remained locked in GiggleGrim's hands.
Raizo's blade trembled in GiggleGrim's grip, the AI's twisted grin widening as the burst of energy surged through him. His body shuddered, as if something inside had snapped—then, with a flick of Daiki's command, GiggleGrim unleashed his Burst Technique: Fool's Carnival.
The battlefield warped. It wasn't a real change—just a distortion of perception, a fractured reality created by the sheer speed and unpredictability of GiggleGrim's movements. His unicycle spun wildly, kicking up streaks of neon light as his third arm lashed out, hammering Raizo's ribs with a brutal strike.
Before Raizo could react, GiggleGrim's grinning mask twisted into a scowling grimace, the shift almost instantaneous. The grim mask snapped forward, slamming into Raizo's face, sending him stumbling back. But before his feet could even find balance, the laughing mask reappeared, and with it, GiggleGrim somersaulted through the air, his legs scissoring around Raizo's neck before flipping him onto the ground with a crushing force.
Shinra's screen flashed red, warning him of Raizo's rapidly dropping vitals.
Raizo's vitals:
Health: 10%
Stamina: 5%
Mana: 80%
Burst Technique: 0%
Shinra gritted his teeth. Damn it…
Raizo grunted, rolling onto his knees, but GiggleGrim never stopped moving. The AI blurred around him in a cyclone of erratic motion, the third arm punching, grabbing, twisting, while the two masks shifted between laughter and sorrow, their expressions disorienting.
GiggleGrim's unicycle spun in unpredictable loops, weaving between the pillars of the ballroom battlefield before launching him back toward Raizo, a deadly overhead smash aimed to crush him.
The world flashed—a blur of colors, laughter, and pain.
Total darkness.
No shapes. No movement. No light.
Then—voices.
Muffled at first, like sound traveling through water, then sharp and clear.
"This AI combatant will never be ready for the market at this rate."
A man's voice—irritated, clipped.
"It had the potential to be one of the greatest," a woman added, frustration laced in her tone. "But with these issues… it will never be safe for the general public."
A faint hum of machinery buzzed in the background. The air was sterile, the artificial glow of monitors illuminating a cold, lifeless lab.
"One way or another," another male voice spoke, this one calmer, more calculated, "we need to make back the money we invested into it."
Silence. Then a fourth voice, casual—almost amused.
"Then let's just sell it to the black market."
The room froze.
The suggestion hung in the air, thick, heavy, dangerous.
The other three sat in stunned silence, their minds racing to process what had just been said.
Then—disbelief.
"That would be reckless." The second man scoffed, shaking his head. "You really think we should let this thing loose, completely unregulated?"
"We can't afford to scrap it," the first man countered. His voice was cold now, detached. "If we sell it under the table, it won't be our problem anymore."
"That's insane," the second woman snapped, standing so suddenly her chair scraped against the floor. "You're talking about dumping an unstable AI into god knows what hands—"
"Exactly. Hands that will pay millions for it."
The argument flared—logic versus greed, ethics versus desperation. Words clashed, rising and falling like waves, but no resolution was reached.
One by one, the scientists stormed out.
The lab fell silent, save for the rhythmic pulsing of digital cores running in containment units.
Then—hours later, under the cover of night—a shadow moved.
The scientist who had made the suggestion returned, stepping lightly across the sterile floor. His breath steady, his purpose clear.
In the far corner of the lab, a row of handheld devices rested on a charging dock—sleek, compact, and lined with faintly glowing circuits.
AI Conduits.
Each one housed an AI combatant in pure data form, waiting to be deployed.
The scientist scanned the row until his gaze settled on one in particular—a black, palm-sized device with a single, ominous red light pulsing at its center.
The unstable one. The one deemed too dangerous.
He reached out, fingers grazing the smooth surface before gripping it tightly. With a final glance at the door, he disconnected it from the dock and slipped it into his coat pocket.
A smirk played on his lips.
"Time to make some real money."
As he slipped out into the night, he had no idea what he had just unleashed upon the world.