Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System

Chapter 701: A Movie.

Darkness.

Once again, Dante found himself floating in absolute darkness. His senses were cut, and so were his thoughts. He only had his instincts to lead him around, but a the moment, they proved to be utterly useless. He couldn't tell back from front, up from down, left from right. Was he standing still? Or was he moving? It was impossible to tell. Time seemed to halt, and with no advancement, his frustration kept growing.

"Tsk…"

Dante opened his eyes, catching sight of his bionic hands, which rested on his legs as he sat in a lotus position. As he heaved a sigh, his Absolute Awareness activated once more, picking a few things in his surroundings that caught him by surprise.

The white haired hero was sitting across from him, deep in meditation while still fully transformed. He seemed to be struggling quite a bit going by the wrinkles warping his face. Oliver was there, too, though he was clearly asleep, making Dante want to give him a good smack on the head. As they had started around the same time, Dante wasn't too surprised by their presence, unlike that of Bella and Merry, both of whom took his side and joined their meditation session.

'This is getting a bit out of hand…'

They probably got bored watching them train all morning, but if that were the case, wouldn't sitting in complete silence just make things worse?

A sigh drew his attention to the white haired hero, and the others seemed to open their eyes because of it.

"Having trouble as well?" Dante asked.

"You could say that." Wolf replied.

While Dante was trying to learn Soul Manifestation, the white haired hero was looking for a way to better control his powers. Apparently, even though almost half a year had passed, the wolf side of him still took control whenever he tries to pass the Level 5 threshold.

Remembering their fight in Blue Ember still gives Dante the chills. Thankfully, the scar from that time had long since healed, but he still feels it from time to time.

"Let's call it a day, then." Dante said. "The ladies look like they're about done with us."

"Finally!" Merry stretched her arms in the air. "I don't know how you guys can do this."

"It takes a lot of patience, I gotta admit." Dante chuckled. "How about we go do something fun? Maybe a movie?"

"That sounds great!" Merry clapped her hands together. "It's been a while since I last went to a theater!"

"We can have dinner afterwords. What do you say?"

Dante turned to Wolf with that question, but the white haired hero seemed to be lost in thought. He only reacted when Merry addressed him.

"Wolf needs to go back and check with the others, right?"

"R-right. Leader ordered me to come back early this time!"

"Well, suit yourself." Dante turned to his Raven haired subordinate next. "What about you?"

"I…" Bella cast her gaze down. "I will excercize some more before going home."

Completely unprompted, Oliver raised his hand in the air.

"They're doing a Lruce Bee run in the 36th complex's cinema. We really should-"

"What are you saying, Oli? Didn't you promise to help Bella with her training?"

"O-Oli?"

Though they had talked while watching Dante and Wolf spar, one wouldn't say that the hero and the two gangsters were suddenly good friend. Maybe it was Merry's bubbly personality that let her give people nicknames, but even though she had the same smile as before, the light was gone, and that seemed to terrify Oliver.

"R-right! I guess someone has to keep an eye on B-"

The words caught in his throat, stopped by a glare that warned him against the mistake of using a nickname that has never been approved.

~[ ]~

Dante ended up leaving with just Merry, who seemed to be a believer in the fewer, the merrier. Having set their eyes on a particular theater in the city center, the two used one of his cars to get around, with Dante doing the driving.

"Oh, it already came out…" Dante said, looking at one of the posters near the entrance. It depicted a young man about to fire lasers from the sci-fi gauntlet on his left arm.

"Were you waiting for this one?" Merry asked.

"Yeah. I remember reading the comics back in the day. Can't believe it took them this long to adapt it."

Dante remembered Carlos saying that the artist behind those comics was the same one who designed Inferno's logo, which was one of the reasons that made the original artwork framed in his office a little easier to bear.

Through his Absolute Awareness, Dante noticed a few people looking their way while whispering among themselves. Without making it obvious, he moved a little to the side, blocking their line of sight so they couldn't catch Merry's face.

"It's decided, then," She said. "Let's go with this one."

The two of them had stopped by a clothing store on the way, changing their outfits in an attempt to disguise themselves. Thankfully, they managed to find clothed with temperature adjustment functions, allowing them to cover themselves completely despite the heat. Even then, Merry's long orange hair still caught a lot of eyes, and so did the way she seemed to glow from time to time.

"Try to control yourself when we get inside." Dante said. "The darkness will make it easier to notice you."

"I can't promise anything." Merry replied, looking away from him with a clearly fake frown. A Moment later, her radiant smile was back on, and she grabbed his arm, pulling him toward the entrance. "C'mon, let's go! I want to get some popcorn before it starts!"

As he let himself be guided by the bright Merry, Dante couldn't help but feel the situation was a bit familiar. It took him a while to realize that this wasn't the first time a hero in disguise pulled him along.

-Are you going to do it?-

The question appeared in his mind just as the smiling face of a red haired hero flashed in his mind.

-Are you going to kill her, too?-