Sunny climbed out of the pod and stretched, lamenting the fact that Dreamscape capsules weren't as sophisticated as the sleeping pods used to enter the actual Dream Realm.
Despite the fact that the duels themselves had not lasted too long, an entire day already passed. Sunny was somewhat tired, but instead of resting, he used Shadow Step to teleport into the training room, where Seele was borrowing one of the spare Dreamscape pods. She was already stepping out, and blinked in surprise when she saw him.
Before she could say anything, Sunny asked:
"So? How did you do?"
She scowled, turning away a little.
"…I lost in the fifth match."
Sunny pursed his lips.
"…So you were eliminated without getting any prizes?"
She nodded.
'What a waste…'
No rewards were given until the sixth match.
Well, it was better than he expected. After all, he had also sent her in with the purpose of evaluating her skills for his totally real secret organization that still didn't have a name. He may have to settle for Sunny Squad.
"If it makes you feel better, I was expecting you to lose in the battle royale."
She glared at him for a few moments, before turning back to the Dreamscape pod.
"…Do you think it'd be possible for me to have one of these?"
Sunny tilted his head. If she really wanted one, then he supposed it would be possible to get her one. No internet signals were required, since the Dreamscape operated on a pair of Aspects. He sighed.
"I'll buy you one for your apartment. Just wait until the tournament is over."
Seele raised a brow.
"I thought you weren't participating."
Sunny snorted.
"Do you think you're the only person I planted in the Dreamscape? The tournament is only a tool to achieve my goals."
Seele looked at him in what he thought would have been admiration, but was actually just pity. He glared at her. So disrespectful!
She was silent for a few moments, before she began to look nervous.
"Uh… you've been buying me a lot of things, huh?"
Sunny stared at her. Had he? There had only been her phone, and the Dreamscape pod he promised to get. He also gave her a lot of his money, but that barely put a dent in his account. Actually, why was she even bringing all this up?
"If you want me to stop, then I'll have to ask you to return everything I invested in…"
Seele shook her head.
"It's not that. But, I mean, we might be friends, but that doesn't mean you have to provide of me or anything. I could do just fine on my own."
Sunny's eyes widened.
"We're friends?"
He wasn't prepared to defend against the kick to his shin.
"Jerk. You could rot in a ditch for all I care."
Despite the scathing comments, Sunny sighed in relief.
"So we're not. Got it."
Right as Seele seemed to be readying another kick, the door to the training room was opened.
"Sunny! You knew Seele was in the tournament!"
He didn't need to turn his head to see March and Dan Heng entering. He had already sensed them approaching.
"Yeah, I did. Why do you sound so mad?"
She was frowning quite a bit. She pointed towards Seele.
"Because of you, I had to beat my friend to death! Without preparation!"
Sunny stared at her for a few moments, before turning to Seele, who averted her gaze in embarrassment. He imagined a scene where March was brutally pulverizing Seele with tears running down her face as she constantly apologized.
He did his best to stifle a laugh. He really did.
"It's not funny!"
"I—It kind of is. Right, Seele?"
"Why don't you try getting your face caved in. At some point, I couldn't even feel anything…"
Was it strange that he found an unusually great amount of humor in Seele's pain and suffering? Probably not.
At this point, Dan Heng decided to ask:
"Why didn't you just participate yourself? You might have actually won."
It seemed like he deduced that Sunny had wanted Seele to join to get him the prizes. Now that his plan has obviously failed, it would have seemed more beneficial to take part in it himself. He couldn't simply say that he was pretending to be Mongrel — or was actually the original Mongrel, but that was an even bigger can of bees. Stupid bees.
Sunny shook his head before speaking in a lecturing tone:
"Memories are cool, sure, but is it really worth revealing all my tricks? If I have no tricks, then what do I have left? The moment I run out of tricks is the day I day, you hear me!"
March deadpanned.
"Sheesh. No need to get philosophical."
"That wasn't philosophical."
"Dan Heng, nobody asked."
He shrugged, before walking past them to get to the next compartment.
Sunny blinked.
"Where is he going?"
March rubbed the back of her head.
"Storage room. I think he said something about a special super move…?"
"I don't think he'd ever say that."
She laughed.
"Yeah. But it's probably something like that."
Sunny's eyes dimmed as he stared at her in pity.
'What an idiot…'
The two of them went together to teleport Seele through the Space Anchor. When they returned to the Express, she said:
"Well, I'm going to win, even if I have to cave in Dan Heng's stupid face! So… you're going to cheer me on, right!"
Turning to him with a bright, hopeful, and pretty smile, Sunny snorted.
"Nope. Not unless you're planning on giving away those Memories…"
"Not a chance."
"Then tough luck."
She sighed in disappointment, before hesitantly asking:
"…Hey, you know about that Mongrel guy? The one in the Dreamscape, not the Stellaron Hunter."
Sunny's gaze lingered on her for a moment, not quite expecting the conversation to suddenly be about him.
"Yeah? What about him?"
She looked around for a moment. The parlor car was empty besides the two of them. Welt and Himeko were doing something in Belobog, which was strange since they haven't really done much since they landed. Dan Heng also wouldn't be present for a while, since he was busy with whatever he was doing.
Sunny paled a little. Had she actually figured out his identity?
She leaned forward, whispering conspicuously:
"I think that's the real Mongrel!"
Sunny blinked.
"…You mean, you think that Mongrel and… Mini Mongrel are the same guy?"
March nodded. Then, she sighed.
"Yeah, I know. It's pretty stupid, right?"
'What the fuck?!'
How did she even make that connection? Everyone else thought that he was some bastard offspring of himself… which was really weird now that he thought of it.
Somehow, March 7th, a certified airhead, was closer to the truth than any of those theorists!
All she had to do now was accuse Sunny of being Mongrel, and she might as well be the incarnation of wisdom herself!
Sunny stared at her in barely concealed shock, before nodding:
"Actually, I had the same thought."
March gasped in surprise.
"Really?!"
Inwardly, Sunny was facing tons of pressure. He had to successfully divert her thought process before she connected Mongrel to his real identity. She had already seen the Mantle of the Underworld, so he either had to make sure she forgot about it — which shouldn't be too hard, considering her memory — or bring her to think that his armor wasn't uncommon.
'Hm…'
"Yeah! So, uh… what exactly gave you that idea?"
She placed a hand on her jaw as if she was deep in thought.
"It's… kind of in the way he fights. Like he's only thinking about killing his enemy… I don't think a cosplayer would act like that."
…Sunny had to acknowledge that March had an astute eye. Indeed, his act was simply too good. Although, that could be brushed off as a trait of being one of Mongrel's… children.
'Ugh…'
"Why couldn't Mini Mongrel just be the real Mongrel's kid?"
March tilted her head.
"You mean that whole Silver Wolf thing? She looks like a teenager! I don't want to entertain the thought of some grumpy old man behind a mask doing those kinds of things…"
Sunny's eye twitched. Who was an old man?
"…Wait, what does Silver Wolf have to do with anything?"
He was a bit confused about why his fellow Stellaron Hunter who he couldn't really remember was involved.
She shrugged.
"That's where the 'Mini Mongrel is Mongrel's kid' theory comes from. They think she's the mother."
Sunny resisted the urge to throw up.
"Oh, but there's also another one where Mongrel's a woman. In that one, they think SAM's the father— Sunny?!"
He couldn't hold it anymore.
"Woah! Don't get anything on my shoes!"