The Nomad Emissary
By Zoram Selrof
Chapter 1: Tabuu
10:08 AM (Japan Time), Saturday August the 28th, 2205…
"… Hmmm!"
"Uh-oh."
"That guy…"
"Calm down, Luna – chan."
"Probabilities of a catastrophe taking place clock at 98.5%..."
Shirogane Luna, Saishouin Kizamaro, Jack, Mode and Pedia were standing in Kodama Town's square close to the Big Wave building: Luna was tapping the ground with her right foot being obviously impatient, Mode was trying to calm her down, Kizamaro gulped, Pedia made a calculation and Jack looked rather annoyed.
"Mode. Time." She icily commanded.
"10:10 AM…"
"Ki~h! And we'd agreed to meet at 10:00 AM… 10 minutes late! That guy…! He'd be better off hoping there's a God which takes pity upon the pitiful ones…!" She hissed.
Kizamaro, Pedia and Jack remained silent and tension could be felt building up in the air: they heard rushed footsteps and Ushujima Gonta along with Ox rushed into the area.
"Sorry~! Sorry, sorry, sorry~! I overslept! Sorry, sorry, sorry~! Please forgive me, iinchou!" He pleaded as he dropped into his knees in front of Luna.
"Gonta…!" She hissed.
"Y-yes, ma'am?" He gulped.
"… YOU MORON!" She yelled.
"Yikes!"
"LATE! LATE! LATE~! 10 MINUTES LATE~! IS THAT A WAY OF KEEPING A DEAL, YOU CONTAINER OF FATS AND CALORIES? HUH? ARE YOU CRAVING YOUR GRAVE OR WHAT? HUH? YOU BAKA~! NEXT TIME I'M GOING TO FEED YOU CARROTS AND SPINACH!" She roared.
"Y-yes, ma'am…" He turned white.
"Buro~! If ya had programmed the alarm clock like I told ya to do then this wouldn't have happened, Gonta!" Ox told him.
"Then wake me up!" Gonta scolded.
"I tried! But you were playing deaf!" Ox grumbled.
"No way!" Gonta uttered.
"SHADDUP!" Luna snapped at him.
"Y-yes, ma'am!"
"I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE A FATTY MORON LIKE YOU WAS INVITED TO FORM PART OF THE SATELLA POLICE'S "RAID TROOP"…! WHEN I DISCOVER HOW TO DO DENPA - HENKAN LIKE ROCK MAN – SAMA THEN I'LL REPLACE YOU THERE! GET IT!" She yelled.
"Do Denpa – Henkan… Uh-oh." Ox muttered.
"Yeah. I overheard Virgo saying that Ophiucus was a leech. Had she been able to, she'd driven Subaru crazy back then before deleting him…" Jack muttered.
"I'm surprised, though, that Gemini Spark's attack worked on her because electricity is weak to grass…" Kizamaro muttered.
"Guess that was because she was low in HP…" Jack shrugged.
"BE READY, GONTA! I'LL EXPOSE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOUR FLAWS!"
Gonta turned even paler while the other five rolled their eyes…
10:23 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Nothing yet… Choina is huge! I'm trying searching by description but no luck insofar… But I'll find it, nevertheless!"
"Find what? A bargain, Akatsuki?"
"Yikes! Queen Tia! Don't sneak on me from behind!"
"Trouble."
"Yeah. You said it, Acid."
"What are you looking for, hmmm?"
"Not "what" but "whom"… One of Subaru's friends!"
"Is that so?"
"Man! Don't look at me with that utter skeptical look!"
Akatsuki Shidou and Acid had been working with a console inside of the Satella Police HQ when Queen Tia snuck on them from behind all of a sudden, thus startling Akatsuki.
"I have no reason to trust you." She told him.
"Come on! You've never heard of Gemini?"
"Thunder God Gemini? Virgo told me about him."
"Well! I'm looking for his host: Futaba Tsukasa. His whereabouts are unknown ever since May, 2204… Directly afterwards the Mu Continent Incident… And we think a gang is keeping him hostage in Choina to do bad things to him. That's why both Vadous and I are working on trying to get a hold of him while the rest of the staff is looking for that bothersome trio which escaped from Planet Omicron." Akatsuki exposed.
"Like Shidou said… That's what we are working on." Acid confirmed.
"Hmpf. Fine. But I'll get around to my goal sooner or later."
"Goal…? Oi, oi… Let's not start that again, alright? Leave Hibiki alone: you scare her."
"Ah. So I scare her… She must've realized by now." She calmly replied while slightly lifting the right eyebrow.
"Now, now! Queen Tia… Please leave that child alone." Dr. Yoiri suddenly walked in.
"Dr. Yoiri. Good morning." She greeted.
"Can I have a talk with you?"
"… Roger."
"Good luck, Shidou – chan, Acid – chan."
"Hai~…" Akatsuki replied in a resigned tone of voice.
"At least they're not as worse as Omega's nicknames." Acid reminded him with a shrug.
"Right. Or that joke of "Moon Ace" and "Acid Disaster"… Let's try checking another region next." He shrugged.
"… Shidou. Mail from Jack." Acid reported.
"Jack? Open it." Akatsuki commanded.
"Roger."
"Huh? E~H? No way! Wait… Check the address!" Akatsuki gasped once he checked it out.
"… It doesn't match." Acid replied.
"Omega! This is that guy's handiwork!" He cursed.
"What's wrong, Akatsuki – kun?" The WAXA Chief asked.
"Omega and his stupid jokes!" He yelled.
"Hum? Ah. I see."
The mail was photo showing Jack and Futaba Tsukasa apparently going out in a date: they were holding their hands together and looking at each other.
"That guy… He never grows tired of teasing people with poorly edited photos… I'm not surprised Vadous always ends up short of patience to deal with him." Akatsuki fumed.
"It could be worse." Acid whispered.
"Yeah, I know! But this doesn't help, either." Akatsuki grumbled.
"Mail. From Moon Disaster." Acid reported.
"Another! Read it."
"Roger… "… YO, YO, YO! The week's poll is this: what is Harp Note's identity? Possible choices: Madonna's reincarnated soul; Shakira's reincarnated soul and Miss Universe! Results insofar: 59%, 30% and 11%! YO, YO, YO~!" … How ridiculous." Acid grumbled.
"Totally. They set up polls which don't reflect truth." Akatsuki sounded exasperated by now.
"Well… As long as their real identities aren't exposed…" The WAXA Chief shrugged.
"YIKES!" An officer yelped.
"There we go again." Akatsuki rolled his eyes like he knew what had happened.
"What's wrong?"
"A mouse-trap! In my drawer!" The officer cursed as he tried to take it off his fingers.
"Who the heck would do something so arcane?" Another wondered.
"Omega." Akatsuki replied.
"That Omega guy must be nuts." A third added.
"Totally." Akatsuki confirmed with a sigh.
"Take this off my fingers!" The officer yelped.
Akatsuki sighed in defeat along with Acid and the Chief rolled his eyes…
10:29 AM (Japan Time)…
"… I CAN'T STAND THIS ANYMORE~! SHOW YOUR HIDE, YOU BLOODY CONSPIRATOR! EIGHT POWER OUTAGES IN ONE MONTH! WHO THE HELL IS MESSING WITH THE ELECTRICTY, HUH? SHOW YOUR HIDES! I'LL MAKE MINCEMEAT OUTTA YOU~!"
"There he goes again, Misora."
"Yeah. No wonder. Eight power outages in one month is pure sabotage and it's gotta be a rival studio."
"Pororon! At least it ain't Rocky."
"Yeah. He'd blow everything up."
"What are you talking about?"
"I think I know who they mean, Suzuka."
Hibiki Misora and Harp ignored Urakata Mamorou's ramblings and met up with Suzuka and her Wizard, Ice.
"Yeah? Who do they mean?"
"War – Rock, Hoshikawa Subaru's Wizard."
"Oh. Subaru – kun's Wizard…"
"Correct. He's too hyperactive." Misora rolled her eyes.
"NYA~H! THAT'S ENOUGH! I'LL ROOT THEM OUT WITH MY VERY OWN HANDS! MISHIRUSHI CHOUDAI! I'LL SLICE YOUR NECK! GET READY!"
"And I did ask a favor out of Akatsuki – san to check on the staff's backgrounds but he didn't find enough evidence. We've set up an IR battery-powered camera to check, too, but we've recorded no – one yet so the saboteur could be very well be in the electrical distribution plant, too…" Misora told Suzuka.
"In short: we're stuck. What a month." Suzuka sighed.
Both girls slapped their foreheads in defeat and the Wizards sighed…
10:33 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Mwah, hah, hah, hah, ha~h! I'm Terror Man! Be terrorized! I'm gonna rip through you Viruses! Mwa, hah, hah, ha~h!"
"War Rock… Stop it already."
"Beg to me."
"Come on!"
"That sounds better."
"You're worse than Solo's manias."
"Did you call?"
"Yikes! Solo! What, you turned stalker or what?"
"Maybe."
"I preferred you serious and hostile."
"Guess you've stirred something on me. But that of Planet Omicron was too much for me. And I like sitting in a chair in front of you and watching your reactions."
"Fan – tas – tic."
"Heh, heh, heh. Maybe a passing birdie rang him up?"
"Rock! It was you, wasn't it?"
"Ga…"
"Laplace confirms it."
Hoshikawa Subaru (aged 13) had been walking down a pathway across a forest while War Rock had been slicing the air: Subaru rolled his eyes but he suddenly felt a hand land on his right shoulder from behind and it turned out to be Solo: Laplace was accompanying him and Solo had a smug smile on his face: Subaru began to look and sound exasperated.
"What a morning!"
"B-B-B-Bertie~!" A voice rang out from the Hunter – VG.
"Omega – san…!" Subaru groaned in exasperation.
"OMEGA~!" A man's voice roared.
"Ops. Bossing bossy boss came…"
"Stop trolling Subaru~!" The man yelled.
"Sure, daitouryou."
"I'm not the Prime Minister of Japan! Go visit Moon Disaster and come up with a new extravaganza~!"
"Sure, Grand Moff Vadous!"
"LEAVE IMMEDIATELY~!" The man, Vadous, yelled.
There was a giggling sound followed by footsteps rushing out of somewhere: Subaru engaged the Real Wave screen to display a man on his mid-20s having jet black hair and reddish eyes: he looked rather annoyed.
"Sorry for the bother, Subaru. Hmmm? Solo. I hope you don't try to do anything "indecent" to Subaru…" He sounded suspicious.
"I merely sit in front of the guy and look on." Solo shrugged.
"… As long as it doesn't go past that…"
"Any news on the trio, Boss?" Subaru asked.
"No. Hmmm? Email… Van der Miar…? Oh. He administers a recently inaugurated Netherlands private space lab… Maybe I'll introduce you to him one day… What? "Unidentified object detected by our radar in collision course towards a point 33km NNE of Kodama Town, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan… 33km NNE of Kodama Town…? Isn't that were you're at, Subaru?" Vadous read the email before asking.
"Correct, Boss."
"Look, Rock Man. Over there…"
Solo turned serious and signaled the sky: something was plunging through it while leaving a trail of smoke behind and seemed to head to point located close by.
"Whoa. A meteor…?"
"No… The radar signature is way too smooth. It's an artificially-made object…! Ten meters tall and five wide… Form of a diamond… Outer heat shielding…" Vadous read from the email.
"How much time is left until landfall?" Solo asked.
"… 2 minutes 33 seconds." Vadous replied.
"I guess it's better not to move from here. When that thing makes landfall, it'll be quite a shock." Subaru suggested.
"What? I wanna see it from close up!" War Rock looked impatient.
"Yeah. And be destroyed by the energy release?" Subaru dully told him without looking concerned.
"Uh. Then I step back." War Rock muttered.
"Coming…!" Solo muttered.
The object descended until it was out of sight and a loud crash sound rang out followed by a rush of heat: the air soon calmed down and both rushed on forward until they reached a clearing made by the object: some scales were jumping off it and it was emitting heat: it had driven into the ground, too, and remained in a perpendicular angle to the ground.
"Whoa." Subaru whistled in surprise.
"Hmpf… Looks worth my time…" Solo formed a smug smile.
"… My, my. If it ain't the famous Solo… I thought you worked alone yet it'd seem my info was a bit outdated. But who cares? No – one's perfect, not even me…" A manly voice rang out with a hint of amusement.
"Who goes there?" Solo demanded.
"Well… Guess it's time for my debut…"
The diamond ejected steam and the upper half began to displace upwards until it had expanded to reveal a two meter – tall compartment where an ellipsoid made of white energy was hovering inside of: it slowly hovered outside of the diamond structure.
"Is aibou listening? I think he'll like this surprise."
"Aibou?" Subaru frowned.
"… That voice…!" Vadous suddenly muttered.
"Yeah. Been a while, aibou."
"No way!" Vadous gasped.
"Way."
The ellipsoid then dissolved to reveal the identity of the speaker: he had a humanoid shape and seemed to be around two meters tall.
Black armor made of an unknown material covered the whole of his body thus protecting him.
The helmet around his head lacked nose or mouth yet it had two cavities for the eyes which were plain red and lacking iris: but they seemed to be a decoration more than his real eyes, too.
His shoulders were plain and didn't have a spheroid form unlike most Wizards: he had elbows and the armor over the hands included two small dome-shaped objects with the Alphabet "T" character colored in rainbow colors drawn upon them.
The armor extended across his legs, being thicker around the knees and ended in ellipsoid segments protecting his feet: rainbow-colored lines travelled down their length.
The main body was absent of decoration save for a pattern drawing the same Alphabet "T" letter in the middle of the chest the colors of which were constantly shifting and mixing.
Lastly, four large and irregularly-shaped wings formed behind him: its colors were also constantly shifting, too.
"Heh, heh, heh… When was our last conversation? Ah. True, true. May, 2204. One week before the incident with Spade Magnets in Kodama Elementary… You were busy planning "Operation: Independence" to split free from Anaya Maria's iron grasp. And I know you succeeded, too. Yet I didn't feel like playing the nice guy, so that's why I left. I've bid my time and I've come up with a scenario which will surprise you guys." The newcomer announced with obvious amusement.
"T-Tabuu…!" Vadous uttered.
"Taboo?" Both Subaru and Solo wondered.
"No. Write taboo as Katakana."
"Tabuu… Ah. So his name should be read like it was a Japanese word and not an English word…" Subaru muttered.
"So! Hoshikawa Subaru! Solo! Weren't you itching for some action? I'm the action. Come!" Tabuu taunted.
"Oh yeah! Let's go, Subari~!" War Rock laughed.
"Jeez. Denpa – Henkan! Hoshikawa Subaru, On Air!"
"Hmpf. Denpa – Henkan… Solo, On Air!"
Subaru became Rock Man while Solo transformed into his Burai form: Laplace muttered something and morphed into the Laplace Blade.
"Let's go! Mad Vulcan X!"
"Laplace Swing!"
Rock Man's rounds bounced off Tabuu's armor without leaving a single scratch on it while Burai's attack didn't inflict any effect, either: both gasped in surprise.
"What?"
"Crap!" Vadous muttered.
"Regretting making this armor so powerful, aibou? But it's too late to regret, sadly enough!" Tabuu laughed.
"What? Boss made that armor?" Rock Man gasped.
"Long tale!" Vadous sentenced.
"We'll hear to it later, then." Burai muttered.
"How about you guys dance to the flute's tune?" Tabuu taunted.
"What?"
"Fate's Strings!"
Tabuu formed up five strings colored yellow at the edge of each of his fingers and they latched on each fighter's hands, feet and forehead: Tabuu then toyed with the strings and had both Rock Man and Burai collide head-on to then attack each other.
"Heh, heh, heh. I'm the puppeteer! So, aibou? Are ya gonna come out and blow me away?" Tabuu taunted.
"Sorry. But ya gotta deal with me firstly."
"Who…?"
"Me."
A reddish blur crossed through the air while cutting the strings and dragged both Rock Man and Burai until they landed in the crater's outer edge.
"My, my! Omega… I'd forgotten about you!"
"Hmpf. So it'd seem, Tab."
"… I never liked that nickname."
"Omega – san…!"
"Phew."
"Mwah, hah, hah, ha~h! This guy's gonna get butchered! Omega's the top-class butcher in 'ere!"
"Ga…"
Omega appealed as being over one meter and eighty tall.
The guy struck as being over one meter and eighty tall.
A blue jewel shaped like an inverted triangle was set on the forehead of his helmet which was emitting a cross-shaped flash.
His eyes' irises were blue and they displayed some level of amusement while long blond hair came out from behind him and reached all the way to the floor.
He had a red vest over his mainly black body and red armor over his forearms and boots: two golden circlets were set around his forearms and on his boots as well.
He also carried a pyramid-shaped emerald green saber weapon on his right hand which had white a trapeze base and hilt.
"Yeah. Me. Omega. I'll make you hear to the thirty-six bells of doom, Tab, before Ms. Moon comes tell you you're fired." Omega grinned.
"I guess I need to get serious, then. How's this like? Apocalypse…!"
Tabuu spread his wings, legs and arms wide and began to build up energy around his body: Omega gasped and looked nervous.
"Crap! Boss! The gateway! Open the gateway and get us outta here!"
A purple-colored gateway or "portal" formed behind the trio and Omega pushed both of them inside to then follow them: the gateway vanished while Tabuu kept on loading up energy: a red sphere was forming in front of him and was growing in size.
"… Now! Apocalypse Now!" He laughed.
The sphere suddenly stopped expanding to collapse upon itself and imploded: radial shockwave which burnt up trees, grass and anything else upon contact began to expand and covered a radius of about 300 meters before dying down: Tabuu laughed as he looked on.
"While you wait for that trio to show up… I'll be your new headache, Vadous! Heh, heh, heh. Ladies and gentlemen: show's started! Hah!"
