Little Battlers eXperience (Revised ver.)

Infiltration

Evangeline was sitting by the desk in Jin's room, The Emperor in her hands. Under the owner's request, she upgraded the LBX's systems to make sure the same fatality wouldn't occur again. As soon as she was done, she handed it to the boy sitting on the bed. He thanked her and motioned for her to sit next to him, which she obliged to. The Emperor was placed on the floor and as Jin tested its upgrades, she broke the silence.

"Hey... Are they really going to break in here?" She could barely believe how any of them would manage to bypass the security of their mansion.

"They will." He stated with complete confidence. "I'm sure they'd find a way to sneak into one of the passages."

"So you even think they might have the blueprints for this place?" She ended up only being able to nod. "Well, they'll have to go underground if they want to get here without anyone noticing. But how are you so sure they'll end up in your room?"

He gave her a knowing smile. "Call it a hunch."

~~~~~

So it's just like he said... She sipped on her tea as she watched the three teens made their way into the room through one of the hidden doors. She watched their faces turned from curiosity to utter shock when their gazes switched from the room decorations to them.

"Kaidou Jin..." Ban didn't seem to believe it.

And neither did Ami. "This is his room?"

The blonde could only smile wryly at that. She didn't think the encounter would be possible either. She turned to the boy across the table, eager to see how he would make use with the upgrades.

Jin took his time finishing his tea. Only then did he stand up to face them. "So you came, Ban. Let's settle the score from Angra Visdas."

Kazuya showed his refusal immediately. "Ban, it's a trap. He's trying to buy time to get his men here! We better scram!"

Just as they were about to turn away, the butler held up his phone. "Wait. If we sound the alarm, the men will come here."

"If you agree to the battle, we won't sound the alarm." Jin continued. "Fight. With this enhanced Emperor M2!"

"He's gonna rat us out if we don't then?" Kazuya muttered to himself.

"Did you tell Ban that Professor Yamano was here just so you could fight him again?" Ami accused.

Jin didn't reply to her. Instead, he turned to the brunette. "Ban, I wanted to settle the score with you. You want to meet your father, right? As long as you battle me, you're free to do anything else afterwards. What will you do?"

Ban didn't hesitate. "Fine!"

With that, Evangeline, who had been motionless and silent from her seat, stood up and snapped her fingers. The lights in the room turned on and both parties met by the diorama at the center. On one side, she stood behind Jin, and on the other, Ami and Kazuya were standing behind Ban.

The butler stood between them. "Ready..."

"Emperor M2!"

"Let's go, Achilles!"

As soon as the match began, Emperor M2 attacked mercilessly. Its movement speed had increased further since Angra Visdas. Or rather, it's able to properly keep up with Jin's high-speed control input.

"He's as fast as ever." Kazuya muttered.

"Emperor M2's response time is even faster than before." Ami added.

"This Emperor M2 has a different CPU. A top class one." Jin explained. "It won't give out system errors like it did at Angra Visdas. In other words, I'll be the one to win this match!"

Ban's eyes narrowed. "Then, I'll use this!"

"Advance, V-Mode."

Ban was able to push back for a little bit, but Jin still had the upper hand. Kazuya didn't like this. "Can it really be so different by changing CPUs?"

After exchanging a couple of blows, Achilles tried to retreat to regain its balance, but was intercepted and kicked off the wall.

"It's even faster that V-Mode!" Ban seemed nervous. "And not just speed, power too!"

The blonde girl couldn't help let a smile show. "Praises like that are really nice to hear. I guess the extra hour it took for the upgrades was worth it after all."

Ami's eyes widened. "You made the changes to his LBX?"

She bowed to them. "Evangeline Mech. Pleased to meet you."

Kazuya grunted. "Even her name relates to machines, huh..."

Back in the battle, Ban had begun attacking again. Little by little, he was catching up to Jin's input speed. Eventually, the two resorted to their finishing functions and created a large crater within the diorama. Both LBXs stood up, but Achilles' V-Mode ran out, causing Ban to worry. But before they could continue, the security guards barged in. The intruders made a run for it, the brunette barely able to throw one last glance at Jin.

One of the men stopped to check on him. "Jin-sama! Are you alright?"

Jin didn't reply, so his butler did. "Don't worry about him." When they left, he turned to the younger boy. "Young Master..."

He took his LBX out of the box, slightly upset they didn't get to finish the battle. "Yamano Ban..."

Evangeline let out a sigh. She snapped her fingers once again and the hidden door closed. She turned to the butler with a nod. "Thank you for the tea. It was delicious, as always."

"But of course, Lady Evangeline. Next time, if you wish, I'll prepare some cookies to compliment."

"That'll be lovely." She replied. He bowed and left the room.

Jin placed his LBX in his pocket. "Grandfather will probably catch them soon."

"What happens then?" She asked.

"Realistically, they should be turned over to the police for sneaking in." He replied. "But then again..." He thought back to every bit of information he was given, as well as considering Ban's expressions when he taunted him. There might be something we don't know about all this. "Don't go anywhere and wait. I'll be right back."

She blinked. "Okay... Why?"

"It's safer if you stay here." Without waiting for her response, he left the room.

She didn't understand what he meant, but knew better than to question his judgment. She sat by the table again and poured some more tea into her cup. Taking a sip, she sighed sadly.

"It's cold."