Return of the Demons
By Zoram Selrof
Chapter 1: Heated up morning
23:39 PM (Japan Time), Saturday August the 7th, 2005…
"… GUO~H… THE MIGHTIEST OF THE CYBER WORLD'S BEASTS HAVE BEEN SLAIN… NO – ONE CAN OPPOSE ME ANYMORE… I HAVE GATHERED THE STRAY SOULS AND GIVEN THEM NEW BODIES… THEY SHALL OBEY WITHOUT QUESTIONING… NOW… YOU…"
"Command me, my lord."
"YOU SHALL… BE THE CARRIER OF MY WILL… YOU SHALL… SPREAD FEAR AND TERROR AMONGST THOSE PITIFUL HUMANS AND THEIR TOOLS WHICH NET NAVIS ARE…!"
"I understand, my lord. I shall not fail thee."
"USE WHATEVER MEANS YOU… DEEM NECESSARY… YOU DO NOT NEED TO INFORM ME… I SHALL FEEL IT THE MOMENT THEY PLUNGE INTO FEAR AND TERROR AND THUS RUN LIKE THE HERDS OF COWARDS THEY REALLY ARE…"
An unidentified figure cloaked in a purple cloth plus hood plus having a pendant with the drawing of a bluish flame with four spooks and a white core was kneeling while being atop an elevated platform set in front of a gigantic purple-colored swirl from which an inhuman and powerful voice was ringing out: the whole place was barely lit and it seemed to be somewhere in the vastnesses of the Cyber World.
"May I depart, my lord?" The figure asked.
"GO…! STIR UP FEAR AND TERROR… THEY SHALL FEED ME… AND I SHALL BE FULLY REVIVED… BRING DEATH AND DESPAIR TO THE HOLDERS OF WHITE SOULS… THE ONES WHO DARED TO DESTROY MY INCARNATION BY SETTING THEIR FEET HERE…!"
"Roger and acknowledged…"
07:55 AM (Japan Time), Sunday August the 8th, 2005…
BEEP – BEEP – BEEP!
"… Man. The alarm clock… Go fish…!"
"That isn't the alarm clock, Netto – kun. It's the surveillance alarm I set on our firewall."
"It it's another invasion of weakling Mettools then you should be alright alone…"
"No… This is different from Mettools… And they're emitting or producing heat, too…"
"Heat? No wonder. It's August! And now let me nap: it can't be 8 o'clock even, today's a Sunday and I'm in summer vacation after the crazy end to 6th year."
"Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah! Heat, heat and HEAT!"
"Huh! I know that voice! They've intruded into our HP! Come on, Netto – kun! We gotta put a halt to them before they set the house on fire! Here, wake up!"
"Yikes! What the heck's going on?"
Hikari Netto had been tossing and mumbling while on his bed as Rock Man EXE had been typing into their PC: he turned around with a grave face as a loud alarm rang out and someone laughed to rush to Netto's bed and pinch his right cheek to wake him up.
"HEAT! HEAT! HEAT EM UP! I WANNA HEAT UP!"
"Hey! You're right! I know that voice too!" Netto gasped.
"Wash your face! Pick the PET and build up a water Folder! Pack in powerful Program Advances too! Move it!"
"A-alright!"
Somehow disoriented Netto quickly washed his face and picked the PET plus the Battle Chip box to shuffle through it.
"Huh… Tri Arrow 3, Bubble Star 3, Ice Seed… Aqua Needle 3, Blizzard Ball, Ice Dragon… Ojiouzan… Kawarimi, Colonel Army… Element Wrap… Bubble Wrap… Stealth Mine… Poison Anubis… Magnum, Air Wheel 3… Justice One… Elec Dragon… Killer Sensor 3… Summon Black 3… Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword… Area Steal… Reflect Met 3… I've put more than one of some so I already make up 30… Let's go!" Netto listed.
"Good!"
Rock Man aimed his hands at the computer's Plug-In port and emitted an IR laser: he vanished and on his place a "Copy Roid" was left behind so Netto wasted no time in aiming his PET at the PC.
"Plug In! Rock Man EXE, Transmission!"
The holographic screen came out to show how Rock Man was already aiming his Rock Buster at Heat Man EXE.
"Heat Man! So! Hinoken's back at it?"
"Well! Yeah! Was bored, too! The great me can't sit idle for long! I wanna burn with passion! I wanna heat the air up!"
"Do that in December." Netto sarcastically muttered.
"Nah! It's too classical! Go for the unexpected! I wanna HEAT UP! Oh yeah! HEAT EM UP!" He laughed.
"Hinoken! Show your hide!" Netto challenged.
"Hikari Netto! This time I'll defeat ya for good and Wily – sama will praise me! No need for my own gang!" Hino Kenichi exclaimed.
"So you DID keep on being a bad guy! The Densan Battle Tournament incident, the clash with Burner Man, "teacher" in Saiba City… But now you've shown your true colors, eh?" He grumbled.
"Oh yeah! Heat Man! Let's go all out! Heat 'em up!"
"HEAT EM UP! Oh yeah! I wanna HEAT EM UP!"
"Coming, Netto – kun!"
"You're facing a stronger me now! Battle Operation, Set!"
"In!"
"HEAT EM UP!"
"Let's go! Area Steal! Sword, Wide, Sword, Long Sword! Program Advance! Dream Sword!" Netto exclaimed.
"What the! Program Advance already?" Hinoken gasped.
"Eat this! 500 HP of damage to you… Out of 1900 HP!"
"Hah! That was some good heating up! Now I'm gonna heat ya up! Grand Burner…!"
"Slow! Ice Seed! Triple Arrow 3!"
"Whagh!" Heat Man uttered as he got hit by three arrows on rush which inflicted double damage.
"300 HP deduced! 800 HP deduced in total! Let's go! Fast Gauge!"
"By all the…!"
"Your memory is somewhat lacking, Hinoken! I beat you back when our first clash, then I beat Heat Man in Densan Airport and Flame Man! Then Fire Man again and Heat Man again! And I've beaten all those freakish huge programs then I can win against you easily!" Netto grinned.
"Bloody hell!"
"Bubble Star 3! 200 HP of damage… Elec Dragon! 150 two times because you're trapped inside of the bubble… 500 HP deduced! Total: 1300 HP deduced!" Netto grinned.
"Damn!" Hinoken hissed.
"Ice Dragon! 240 HP of damage to you! Killer Sensor 3! Double damage because Heat Man's standing on the Ice Field! 320 HP of damage! Total: 560 HP! 1860 HP deduced! Only 40 HP left! The final blow!"
"Roger! Charge Shot!"
"Uwa~h! HEAT EM UP!"
Heat Man was forced to Plug-Out and Hinoken banged something out of pure frustration.
"Damn you!" He cursed.
"Hah!" Netto grinned.
"BURN!" He cursed.
"You burn." Netto shot back.
"That woman's gonna strangle me!" He cursed aloud.
"Your ex-girlfriend?" Netto taunted.
"How dare you!"
"Madoi's mama?" He taunted next.
"Heck no! Go to Hell!"
"If you'd show me the entrance…" Netto giggled.
"Hmpf." Rock Man formed a smug smile, for once.
"Damn you~! I'll remember this!"
"Going somewhere…?" A voice suddenly rang out from behind him with a dull tone.
"Who the hell!"
"That voice…!" Both Netto and Rock Man gasped.
THUD! PTAF!
"You idiot. Thought you'd get away with breaking into my former unit's Network to try to steal something to sell to the Reverse Internet black market deals? And Wily ain't going to recognize you: the WWW's ended for good. Like it nor not." The voice told Hinoken.
"Ugh! Grah… Who the hell are you lowlife?" Hinoken groaned on the other end of the line.
"No – one… Just Barrel…"
"Barrel – san! I knew it! He was alive!" Netto gasped.
"Barrel – san!"
"Hum… Hikari Netto, Rock Man… It's been a while." Barrel came into the screen while having his usual poker face.
"Why were you hiding? You brought Iris' "Copy Roid" to our school and then vanished! Wily wanted to see you!" Netto called out.
"I know. But I wanted to weep in silence and unseen. I went back to my former unit to have a look around and firm my leave from them. I'll be counselor to the Japan ONBA. Find me there. Later."
"W-wait, Barrel – san!"
"I'll bring this lowlife to the nearest police station: something tells me he didn't think of this on his own. See you."
The line went dead and both sighed in relief before assuming grave faces: Netto glanced at the "Copy Roid" standing to his right.
"Iris… Colonel…" He muttered.
"… It's hard to believe they're gone… They sacrificed for the greater good… We'll never forget it…" Rock Man grimly muttered.
"Yeah… But we must move on… Such was their will… And that's why they sacrificed themselves… For everyone's sakes…"
"I know… I'm going to fix the firewall and then you can go back to napping if you want. I'll then help cleanse the house."
"Alright…"
Netto headed over to the bed and sat on it but he seemed to lack the will to go sleep once again: he couldn't help but look at the "Copy Roid" the whole time.
"Iris, Colonel… You guys' sacrifice won't be in vain… We'll root out any other evil guys… And defeat them!" He muttered.
08:14 AM (Japan Time)…
"… I know - NOTHING! I wanna see a lawyer!"
"You'll have one. But I've recorded what you said in the phone booth. And given how I am former military I have credibility. Plus having been the "Leader" of the "Darkloid Oppression Unit Team of Colonel"…"
"What the hell! Then you're Barrel!"
"Yeah. Wily must've mentioned me."
"Sure did! Thought you'd died!"
"It'd seem something doesn't want me to die yet."
"Che."
Barrel was interrogating Hinoken in the police station as one policeman kept watch of him: Barrel looked dull and unimpressed while Hinoken had a scowl on his face.
"Mr. Barrel!"
"… Ijuuin Enzan…"
Ijuuin Enzan rushed in and stopped in the threshold to catch his breath: he looked like he'd changed in a rush from being asleep and come there as soon as possible.
"Mr. Barrel…"
"What. You want to pity me, too?"
"Eh… No, just… What happened? Today, I mean."
"This man is the source." Barrel signaled.
"This man…? Isn't that Hino Kenichi, former WWW?"
"Hinoken for ya, little punk!" He grumbled.
"Oh yeah? Didn't you know? I'm the "Ace" Net Battler of the ONBA, Ijuuin Enzan… I thought Sunayama would've told you about me."
"Oh hell! You're the kid he was targeting, the son of that IPC President guy!" He gasped.
"Yeah. So? What have you done this time? Set fire to garbage containers or what?" Enzan demanded.
"Hmpf!"
"He tried to set Hikari Netto's house in flames by sneaking there with his Net Navi but failed miserably. I intercepted him because I was hot on his trail. He'd tried to make some money by stealing military secrets and selling them to the highest bidder…" Barrel told him.
"What!"
"The lowlife!" Blues EXE growled.
"Hmpf!"
"And it'd seem some woman is involved."
"Woman? Iroaya Madoi, Anetta or Chirol?" Enzan tried to guess.
"Dunno! Miss Universe!" He shot back.
"Someone powerful, then. A money deal." Barrel deduced.
"What! How could ya…?" Hinoken gasped in surprise.
"I have instinct for these things… And we've already found a letter inside of your backpack… It's signed with a black rose drawing… And the name is "Witch - Queen of Angmar"… They offer you 50000 and pay you 25000 as preview…" Barrel held out a computer-written letter.
"Che! Snooping jerk!" Hinoken grumbled.
"Nothing will save you from jail by now: attempted homicide, attempted pyromania, illegal break-in… The list is large." Barrel dully told him.
"Angmar… Angmar… Where's that at?" Enzan wondered.
"I am researching, Enzan – sama."
"Good. Hmmm… Has an odd ring to it, really…"
"… Eh… It'd seem I've made a mistake. I'll check again."
"What did you find?" Enzan asked with obvious surprise.
"Witch - King of Angmar…"
"And where's Angmar at?" He asked next.
"Eh… It's not a real location, sir… It's a fallen kingdom in the Lord of the Rings world… And this "Witch - King" was one of the "Nine" commanded by Sauron of Mordor…" Blues admitted.
"Hmpf… A fake lead then… Should've seen it coming… And I'm sure this man doesn't know anything else about this "Witch - Queen" either so let's settle it here. I'm going to firm my entrance into the Japan ONBA as counselor… See you around, Ijuuin Enzan."
Barrel calmly stood up and paced out of the room while Enzan picked the letter and read it.
"Did this have an envelope?"
"No! It was folded directly in my mail-box."
"Hum… "Hino Kenichi. I will grant you an opportunity to prove your power… Here are 25000 Z… You will get another 25000 if you can defeat Rock Man EXE and set flame to his abode… You will have no other chances… Witch - Queen of Angmar…" … I see." He read.
"That's why I said I was sure that woman would cut my head off! Now go to Hell, all of you!" He growled.
"I dunno where the entrance is at." Enzan replied as he turned to leave and tossed the letter atop the table.
"T-this KID!" He grumbled.
He tried to stand up but the policeman quickly pushed him down by holding his shoulders.
"Quiet! You're under arrest!" He commanded.
"DAMN YOU! Barrel! Hikari Netto! Rock Man!" He yelled.
08:33 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Hmpf! I should've seen it coming… Whatever. You."
"Mistress. Command this vile servant."
"You go next. Your target is…"
"… Roger and acknowledged, my mistress."
"Go."
"Your will!"
The cloaked figure of some hours ago had been standing in a corner of that dimly-lit area and muttering before addressing a figure cloaked in blackness behind it: the figure spoke with a clearly womanly voice while sounding icy and commanding: the kneeling figure made a reverence and then vanished.
"Do you expect him to succeed, my mistress?" Someone asked off-screen with a hint of intrigue.
"We shall see. I do not think highly of any of you save for that one. All of you must prove your worth." She merely replied.
"I understand, my mistress…"
"Retreat."
"Roger and acknowledged… It is time for me to go seek nutrients to feed my power, though…"
"You have carte blanche but hide your trails, servant."
"Roger and acknowledged…"
The new figure retreated yet a brief green blur could be seen before it vanished out of view.
"You can't trust such a lame human to succeed. But these ones might have a chance. Humans! Learn the foolishness of your actions…!"
The figure laughed aloud with an icy tone of voice…