A Quest for Answers (and Snacks)

The next morning, Ryo woke to the unmistakable sound of crunching. He opened his eyes to find Kenji sitting cross-legged beside him, devouring a bag of chips with the enthusiasm of someone who hadn't eaten in weeks.

"Morning, sleeping beauty," Kenji said through a mouthful of chips.

Ryo sat up, groaning. "Kenji, how are you always eating? Is your shard secretly powered by junk food?"

Kenji smirked. "If it is, I'm unstoppable."

Rei walked into the room, balancing three cups of coffee. "Glad to see you two are awake. We've got a long day ahead."

"Do I smell coffee?" Ryo sniffed the air like a bloodhound, grabbing a cup. "You're a lifesaver, Rei. I take back 10% of the mean things I've said about you."

"That still leaves 90%," Rei said dryly, sipping her coffee.

Akira appeared from the corner, already dressed and looking as sharp as ever. "If you're done joking around, we need to move. The person we're meeting doesn't like to wait."

Ryo raised an eyebrow. "Who is this mystery person, anyway? Some kind of ancient master? A wise old hermit?"

Akira gave him a flat look. "No. It's my ex-teammate, Sora. And they're… eccentric."

The group arrived at a cluttered workshop on the outskirts of the city. The building looked like it had been cobbled together from scrap metal and duct tape. Ryo peered at the sign over the door, which read "Sora's Totally Legit Artifact Repair and Smoothie Bar."

"Smoothies?" Ryo asked, confused.

"They're multi-talented," Akira muttered, knocking on the door.

The door flew open, and a young person with wild hair and goggles perched on their forehead grinned at them. "Akira! You're still alive! That's… surprising!"

"Good to see you too, Sora," Akira said with a sigh.

Sora's eyes darted to the group. "Ooh, new friends! Wait, let me guess—serious one, snack-loving gremlin, and… ah, the golden retriever hero type."

Ryo pointed at himself. "Golden retriever? I'll take it."

Sora clapped their hands. "Come in, come in! Mind the floor; it's booby-trapped."

Kenji froze mid-step. "Booby-trapped?!"

"Just kidding," Sora said with a laugh. "Probably."

Inside, the workshop was a chaotic mess of tools, wires, and half-finished contraptions. Sora took one look at the shard Rei placed on their workbench and whistled.

"Well, well, this is a beauty. Where'd you find it?"

"Kurogami dropped it after summoning a shadow dragon to try and kill us," Ryo said casually.

Sora blinked. "You guys have way more exciting lives than I do."

As they examined the shard, Sora's expression grew serious. "This is a primal shard. They're insanely powerful, but also insanely dangerous. Kurogami must be trying to gather them to amplify his abilities."

Ryo leaned closer. "Amplify, like making him stronger? Or amplify, like turning him into a kaiju?"

"Both," Sora said. "If he gets enough of these, he could reshape reality itself."

Kenji raised a hand. "Uh, quick question. If these shards are so dangerous, why aren't they locked away in, like, a magic vault or something?"

Sora shrugged. "Budget cuts?"

Before they could delve deeper into the shard's mysteries, the workshop shook violently. Tools and gadgets fell from shelves as a loud explosion echoed outside.

"Not again," Sora groaned, grabbing a strange-looking device. "I told them to stop messing with my stuff!"

"What's going on?" Rei asked, already activating her shard.

Sora peeked out the window. "Oh, just some bounty hunters. They've been trying to steal my artifacts for weeks."

Ryo perked up. "Bounty hunters? Cool! Let me handle this."

He ran outside, followed by the rest of the group. A trio of heavily armored figures stood in the yard, weapons drawn.

"You're not supposed to be here!" Sora yelled. "This is private property!"

One of the bounty hunters, a hulking figure with a glowing hammer, pointed at Sora. "Hand over the shard, and we won't have to hurt you."

Ryo stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. "Sorry, but the shard's not for sale. But if you're looking for a fight, I'm happy to oblige."

Kenji whispered to Rei, "Why does he sound like an action movie hero every time he talks?"

"Because he thinks he is one," Rei muttered.

The bounty hunters charged, and chaos erupted.

Ryo dodged the hammer-wielding brute, countering with quick punches. "Hey, big guy! Ever heard of personal space?"

Kenji darted around, tossing random objects at the second bounty hunter, who was trying to aim a plasma rifle. "Catch! And this! And—wait, is this a wrench?!"

Rei engaged the third bounty hunter, who wielded twin energy blades. Their movements were fast, but Rei's precise attacks kept them at bay.

Meanwhile, Sora stood back, tinkering with a strange device. "Keep them busy for a minute! I've got a surprise for them!"

Ryo yelled back, "A surprise? Please tell me it's not a bomb!"

"It's not a bomb!" Sora paused. "Well, not technically."

The hammer-wielding bounty hunter swung at Ryo, who ducked just in time. The hammer smashed into the ground, leaving a crater.

"Okay, that's impressive," Ryo admitted. "But can you do this?" He picked up a metal pipe and swung it like a baseball bat, landing a solid hit on the bounty hunter's side.

Kenji cheered. "Home run!"

Finally, Sora finished their device and aimed it at the bounty hunters. "Everyone, duck!"

The group hit the ground as Sora fired. A bright beam of energy shot out, engulfing the bounty hunters. When the light faded, they were frozen in blocks of glowing ice.

Kenji stared. "That was… awesome! Can I try it?"

"Absolutely not," Sora said, putting the device away.

As the group returned to the workshop, Sora sighed. "This shard is trouble. If Kurogami wants it, you need to keep it out of his hands."

Rei nodded. "We will. But we'll need your help."

Sora grinned. "Oh, I'm in. This sounds way more fun than fixing old artifacts."

Ryo clapped his hands. "Great! Welcome to the team, Sora. Now, can we talk about snacks? I'm starving."

The group sat around Sora's cluttered workbench, the frozen bounty hunters still visible through the workshop's cracked window. Kenji leaned against a pile of scrap metal, balancing a screwdriver on his finger.

"So," he began, breaking the silence. "What's the plan? Do we hide the shard, use it as bait, or sell it to fund my snack addiction?"

Rei sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "We can't sell it, Kenji."

Sora smirked. "Technically, you could. The black market would pay a fortune for something like this. But then, you'd probably be hunted by every shard enthusiast from here to the other side of the world."

Kenji's eyes lit up. "Ooh, sounds exciting! Think of the adventure!"

Ryo clapped a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Kenji, you're already adventure-prone. You don't need to add 'target of international criminals' to your résumé."

Sora tinkered with a small device connected to the shard, their goggles glowing faintly as they studied its energy signature.

"This shard is more than just a power source," they muttered. "It's… encoded."

"Encoded?" Rei asked, leaning over their shoulder.

"Yeah," Sora replied, typing furiously on a battered keyboard. "It's not just raw power. It's like it's storing data. Maybe instructions, maybe something else."

Kenji tilted his head. "So, it's like a magical USB drive?"

Sora shot him a grin. "Pretty much."

Ryo crossed his arms, frowning. "Okay, so what happens if Kurogami collects all the shards? Does he get the ultimate instruction manual for world domination?"

"Something like that," Sora admitted. "But whatever's in here, it's dangerous. We need to decode it before he does."

Before they could strategize further, the frozen bounty hunters outside began to stir. The ice cracked and hissed, shards falling to the ground as one of them let out a groan.

"Uh, guys?" Kenji said, pointing. "I think your ice beam wore off."

The hammer-wielding brute stood first, shaking off the remaining frost. His eyes locked onto the workshop with a murderous glare.

Sora grabbed a wrench. "Oh, come on! That was supposed to last at least an hour!"

"Guess they don't make gadgets like they used to," Ryo quipped, rolling his shoulders. "Time for round two."

The bounty hunters stormed toward the building, their weapons at the ready. The plasma rifle-wielding one aimed a glowing barrel at the door.

"Everyone, move!" Rei shouted, diving behind a pile of crates.

A bolt of energy blasted through the wall, sending tools and debris flying. Ryo shielded Kenji, then grinned. "These guys are persistent. I kind of respect that."

"Focus!" Rei snapped, already summoning her shard energy.

The cramped space turned into a battlefield as the group engaged the bounty hunters.

Ryo charged at the hammer-wielding brute, ducking under a swing that narrowly missed a rack of tools. "Hey! Watch it! You almost broke Sora's antique wrench collection!"

"It's not antique!" Sora shouted, hurling a screwdriver at the plasma rifle wielder.

Kenji, meanwhile, zigzagged between shelves, tossing random objects at their enemies. "Here! Have a wrench! And a flashlight! And—oh, is this a stapler?!"

The rifle wielder ducked, growling in frustration. "Hold still, you little pest!"

Rei faced off against the dual-bladed hunter, parrying their attacks with swift precision. Sparks flew as their energy blades clashed. "You're outnumbered," Rei said through gritted teeth.

The hunter smirked. "But you're outclassed."

Akira joined the fray, throwing a series of precise strikes at the brute. "Keep him distracted!" they called to Ryo.

"Distracted? I'm practically his dance partner!" Ryo retorted, dodging another swing.

Sora, ducking under a falling shelf, suddenly shouted, "Everyone, get down!"

They pressed a button on a small device, and the workshop was flooded with a blinding flash of light. The bounty hunters staggered, clutching their eyes.

"Time to finish this!" Ryo yelled, landing a solid punch on the brute's jaw, sending him crashing into a pile of scrap.

Rei disarmed the blade wielder with a swift kick, while Kenji, armed with a frying pan he'd found, whacked the rifle wielder over the head.

"Kenji!" Ryo exclaimed, laughing. "Where did you get that?"

Kenji grinned. "It was in the kitchen. Improvisation, baby!"

The bounty hunters lay groaning on the ground as the group regrouped.

"We need to get out of here," Sora said, stuffing the shard and their decoding device into a bag. "They'll be back with reinforcements."

Ryo nodded, helping Kenji up. "Agreed. Let's move before this place turns into a battlefield again."

As they hurried out, Sora locked the door and muttered, "There goes my security deposit."

Rei smirked. "You're worried about the deposit? Your entire workshop is trashed."

Sora shrugged. "Eh, it was like that before. Mostly."

Kenji snickered, brandishing his frying pan. "Well, at least we know who the MVP of this fight was."

Ryo rolled his eyes. "Yes, Kenji. You and your trusty frying pan saved the day."

The group disappeared into the city as the bounty hunters slowly picked themselves up, vowing revenge.

With the shard secured and a new lead on decoding its secrets, the group prepared for the next leg of their journey. Unbeknownst to them, Kurogami was already setting his next plan into motion, his shadowy forces growing stronger with every passing moment.

And somewhere, deep within the shard, a faint glow pulsed, as if waiting for the right moment to reveal its true purpose.

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