Otaku City: New World Rising (Destiny Ark)

San Francisco's Stone

The car begins to materialise in a flash. The group exits the car, one by one. Dylan looks up to realise that they were underneath a construct of some sort. "Did we make it?" Narumi asked, she then looks to Dylan. Dylan is pointing his fingers up to the construct above them, it's bright red. "Yeah?" Narumi replied "What about it?". Dylan then pointed down towards what was underneath the bridge, water. "There's only one construct that connects two piece of land together over a bed of water" Dylan explains "A bridge". Narumi then realises, "And theres only one bridge this big with its iconic red colour" Steph continues. Dylan smiles "That's right" he says gleefully "Right now... we're underneath The Golden Gate Bridge".

{San Francisco, USA}

The drive down San Francisco. This was all their first time going to the states. "Umm, Dylan?" Steph asked "Please don't tell me we have to go through the same fiasco that we went through in Busan". Dylan smiles "No worries" he replies "Here in America, the ShivaNano is more influential here. With that, people will be able to understand us easier". Back in Korea, Dylan had purchased a laptop and already researched for hotels. They pull up to the hotel that they were going to be staying at, make the preparations for their room and enter, ready to be surprised. Although this hotel room wasn't as fancy as the one in Busan, it was still big enough to accommodate the entire group. The group unpack their bags and begin exploring the room. It was large, spacious and had an excellent view. Dylan sits himself down and opens up his laptop. But to his surprise, Steph slams the screen down. "Nope." She says bluntly "You're going to bed!". Dylan sighs "Steph. I need to work" he says "My last plan wasn't efficient enough. I need to make some more contingencies in case another attack happens". As Dylan is about to open his laptop again, Steph smacks his hands away. "You cutting off from your sleep nearly got you killed yesterday" Steph says "You need to be at your best this time". Dylan looks away, knowing that this is true. Suddenly, Steph grabs Dylan by the arm and begins dragging him. "You guys look around the city for any clues on where the Stone is" she commends. Steph drags Dylan into the master bedroom and closes the door. The rest of the group look at the door and then at each other awkwardly. In the room, Steph wraps her arms around Dylan and throws him along with herself onto the bed. Dylan tries to struggle out of this "Steph!" He says "Let go!". Steph clutches on tighter "I'm not going to let you go until you get some proper sleep!" She replies. Eventually, Dylan stops struggling. Despite the circumstances, Dylan found this oddly comforting. The struggling was also causing him to tire himself out. In time, Dylan finally manages to fall asleep. Steph sits up to look at Dylan's tired, resting face. "Hehe" she giggles "How cute". She lies down closer towards him. The warm, comforting feeling was starting to overwhelm Steph as well. At that very moment, Steph falls asleep right by Dylan's side.

{Streets of San Francisco}
"UGHH!" Narumi groans "Where the hell are we supposed to find this stupid Stone". The three of them went outside to look for any clues, asks locals if they knew anything. Sadly, they had no luck. They decided to go buy some drinks. Hisoka walks out with a plastic bag with drinks that he bought. Hisoka throws Narumi a can. "Eh?" Narumi says while looking at the drink "I asked for a Ramune!". Hisoka hands a can to Ely "Ramune is a Japanese drink" Hisoka replies "They didn't have any inside the store". Narumi sighs "Cola...", Ely opens up her own can "What's wrong with Cola?" She asks. Narumi opens the can "It's too sweet" she explains "And it's way over carbonated for my taste". Hisoka pulls out the can that he bought for himself. Upon seeing this, Narumi spits out her own drink "EHHHH!!!" she yells "THEY HAD GRAPE FANTA AND YOU DIDN'T GET IT FOR ME!", "You didn't ask for it" Hisoka replies, "I DIDN'T ASK FOR COLA". Suddenly, Narumi feels a gentle tap on her shoulder. "Well then" a familiar voice says "Perhaps we can take you out to have something more suited to your standards". Narumi turns around, unable to believe who it was. "UHH! HISOKA!" she screams "HISOKA HISOKA HISOKA" she continues screaming while patting on Hisoka's shoulder. "What!" Hisoka says while turning to Narumi. He then looks behind her to see who it is. Ely tilts over to see who the two of them were talking to. "Uhhh, guys?" Ely asks "Who's this?". Narumi looks at Ely "Oh right!" She says "You don't know. Ely, this is our old friend Uehara Jessie". A girl plops her hair on Jessie's shoulder "Umm. Don't forget about her super sexy fiancé, Udagawa Glen". "Ah yes, right right" Narumi replies "eh? WAIT, DID YOU SAY FIANCÉ?".

The five of them head over to a local café, Heart A La Mode. Hisoka and Jessie order a frappe while Glen, Narumi and Ely each order themselves a hot chocolate. "So..." Jessie says while looking at Hisoka "It's nice to see you again". Hisoka smiles "You aren't surprised?", "Nah" she replies "I didn't really think you betrayed us". Narumi cuts in "Okay okay" she says "What's this whole fiancé thing about?". Jessie and Glen smiles at each other, "Well" Glen begins to explain "We've been thinking about it for a while. And a couple of months ago, Jessie proposed and I said yes. Now we're on our honeymoon". Narumi shrieks "That's so wonderful" she says "I'm so so happy for you guys". The two of them laugh, "I'm guessing since Hisoka's back, Taiyou has returned as well?". Narumi and Hisoka suddenly freeze up, unable to think of what to say. "Umm, hi" Ely says while waving "You probably won't believe this. But I guess... I'm Taiyou". Jessie and Glen suddenly freezes up in the same way that Narumi and Hisoka did. "Oh erm..." Glen says "Well..." she looks to Jessie, "Oh um" Jessie says "We don't know what sparked this decision... erm", "Ely" she quickly says, "Right! Ely" Jessie continues "But whatever it was, we respect and support you, no matter what". Hisoka begins violently coughing "No!" He says awkwardly "You have the wrong idea". Hisoka takes the time to explain their current situation.

"Hmmm, I see" Jessie says "So that's what happened". She looks over to Ely "Hehe" she says "To be honest. You kinda look more cuter as a girl". Ely blushes and covers her face. "Do you guys know where the Stone could be?" Narumi asks. Jessie and Glen look at each other and nod. "There is one possibility" Glen says "Can we see what the Stone looks like?". Hisoka pulls out the container holding the stone and opens it. He reveals it to Jessie and Glen. Glen reaches out and grabs the Stone. "Eh?" Ely says "It doesn't burn you". Glen laughs "Well..." she says "When you have a WitchPower as hot as mine. High temperatures becomes less of a problem". Glen snaps her fingers and a small flame appears on her thumb. "SHES A WITCH" Ely yells while pulling her Blood Blade out of her bag. "Whoa whoa" Narumi says "Ely stop! She's a Witch, but she's not DragonFruit". Ely awkwardly realises what she was about to do and slowly hides her knife away. Narumi coughs "So do you guys know where the Stone could be?". Jessie pulls out a hologram from her ShivaNano. The image shows an article about the annual San Francisco drift. This year the winners would receive a trophy with a rare mineral imbedded in it. The mineral bared a strong resemblance to the Stone that they were looking for. "The race starts in 4 days" Jessie says "And the trophy is being guarded in maximum security. How do you guys plan on stealing it". Hisoka smiles "By stealing victory" he says. Narumi looks at Hisoka "Wait. Don't tell me". Hisoka pulls out a pair of leather gloves "I'll be participating in the race".

Dylan wakes up to realises that Steph is sleeping right in front of him. Her gentle resting face was right up close to his own head. He turned around to look at the clock, it was 20:30. Dylan begins to crawl out of the bed. Then suddenly, a pair of arms wrap around his body. "Nuh uh" Steph says while yawning "Not until the morning". Dylan sighs and lies back down on the bed. "Hisoka messaged me" Steph says "Apparently the others met up with some old friends of yours. A Jessie and Glen?". Dylan smiles "That sounds about right". "Anyways..." Steph continues "The Stone is embedded in the trophy for this year's San Francisco Drift. Hisoka plans to enter in order to win the trophy". Dylan thinks for a while "He was always good at driving" he says "But he can't just rely on that. I say while Hisoka races, we go out and try to steal the Stone from its holding place". Steph frowns "I guess that means you'll have to do more research...", "No need" Dylan replies "I've researched all the possible locations for the stones back in Busan. I have an entire schematic of the staff area and the trophies holding place". Steph is shocked by this "Wait. Really?". Dylan lies closer towards Steph "From now on. I can take it a bit easier" he says. "Hold on" Steph says "You were trying to go on your laptop today though!", "I was trying to go watch Anime" Dylan replies "I've missed out on so much in the last week". Steph growls and slaps Dylan on the back "You're the worst". Steph thinks for a while "Theres another thing" she says "I realises that whenever we fight the DragonFruit leaders. Ely's personality starts to change. Her physical abilities and behaviour becomes completely different when fighting them". Dylan thinks "That may be Taiyou breaking through, like some form of defence mechanism" he says "But I guess... that's just a theory". Steph turns to Dylan "Seriously?" She asks in an irritated voice. "Hehe" Dylan says. The next few days were some to really prepare for.

To be continued—>

{Character Profiles}
Name: Yoshisawa Aoi
Codename: N/A (Does she even have a codename?)
Weapon: One handed sword, embedded with Blood Vile
Race: Advanced Witch
WitchPower: Teleportation, Limited Time Travel
Notes:
•She seems to now hold a grudge against Narumi for killing Kairi
•She shared a deep bond with Kairi, almost like sisterhood
•Although she didn't admit it, she missed Ginga
•It's extremely unclear weather she hates Taiyou or still feels friendship towards him.