Neo Gospel's Rise
By Zoram Selrof
Chapter 1: A rough start
19:29 PM (New York Time), Tuesday June the 13th, 2007…
"… Huff, huff…"
"Stop right there!"
"Catch me firstly, Milverton!"
"I ain't Milverton!"
"My beard says otherwise!"
"You don't have a beard!"
"It's invisible, Milverton!"
An unidentified person about a meter and eighty tall was running across a sewer tunnel while a voice rang out some meters behind: they glanced over their right shoulder and replied at them with what obviously was some form of sarcasm.
"Jeez! Partner! Have you managed to ID them?"
"No. The photo we took 13 minutes ago was too blurry." A Navi replied through a speaker.
"I'm No – One In Particular!"
"Sure, sure." The chaser muttered with some skepticism.
"Mwah, hah, hah! Catch me, by Jove!"
"Lovely. I come to see a buddy at the Army Office and I find the whole place gassed and security fried to a crisp plus that guy over there stealing data off the computers for some reason or another…"
"Yeah. And now we gotta chase 'em along this sewer system. I'm glad I can't smell things… But that guy's not the usual jerk…"
"I know!"
"You know NOTHING!" The culprit taunted.
"Shaddup."
"Hit a vibe~? Milverton?"
"How many times I need to say this? I ain't Milverton."
"I like taunting ya~…"
"This guy's weird. But at least they don't seem to be armed. I find it weird they're not getting tired in a noticeable way…"
"Yeah. I find it odd too: maybe the guy is good at gymnastics."
"You can't catch me, Milverton! The Tuesday Doom is about to make you fall into the main channel of the sewer and be washed up in the Hudson River, by the devil! Mwah, hah, hah, hah! I'm a - GENIUS!"
"What silliness is that?" The chaser groaned in annoyance.
"Well. Today's Tuesday the 13th…"
"But that's a Spanish belief. Most of the Occidentals believe Friday the 13th brings bad luck instead."
"Bite my shining arms!"
"What in the… That's stupid."
"Totally. He's driving me nuts already." The Navi grumbled.
"No wonder."
The culprit suddenly ran into an archway and took out what seemed to be a new model PET colored metallic gray and with no emblem save for a purple triangle with three five-pointed stars set on its apexes: it had the purple Alphabet letter "D" in a stylized manner drawn inside.
"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh…"
This new model PET design had a general rectangular shape.
The upper portion was a white hill-like shape and was smooth: the left side had two small round buttons set very close to each other and a smooth surface: the right side had the Slot – In slot on it plus a small red pyramid-like mark over it: the slot also had a pyramid-like shape to it and was colored white: the underside had two small holes with something set on them.
The emblem occupied the upper half of the device and a white stripe crossed through it from the top until it reached the LCD screen's border: this LCD screen was rectangular and had a black inner border plus a white outer border.
The rest of the surface was colored purple and set in a mosaic-like pattern over it: the PET looked practical.
"This new "Link" PET will do wonders… Oi, Milverton! Uncle Nitro says you're fired 'cause the Dalton brothers are in charge~!" He muttered before taunting his chaser.
"Wha~t?" The chaser grumbled.
"10 seconds will be enough… See you around, Milverton!"
The man chuckled under his breath and ran off as some explosives detonated and collapsed the archway: the chaser had to shield his body by crossing his arms and a cloud of dust swept the tunnel.
"Fuck. He'd foreseen this and now has cut off the chase… And who knows where in the city they'll emerge at…! Grah! Let's get back: maybe we can figure out what the guy stole and who they are."
"Yeah. And you'll need a good shower and some gallons of Hugo Boss to shake off this stench off you, pal." The Navi sighed.
"Jeez. Why do I always run into trouble wherever I go to?" The chaser grumbled aloud.
"Dunno. Maybe some kind of dumb luck thing…"
"Whatever the ever. I'm going back to the surface: I can't stand this place's stench anymore… We'll meet again, you thief!"
09:51 AM (Japan Time), Monday June the 19th…
"… Well, well, well. Almost two years by now… Time has sure flown by and I'm surprised nothing big happened… That freak of back then must've gone elsewhere: I don't mind them anymore…"
Rock Man EXE was walking down a street in "New" Internet City while seemingly reflecting aloud: his frame had seemingly been upgraded so that his height was close to a meter and sixty by now and his face looked like it'd been slightly altered as if to reflect puberty: his body design hadn't changed in one inch apart from that.
Netto – kun and I tackled the 6th grade and ended grade school back in 2006, last year… And now we've ended 1st of middle school! WOW! We've both turned 14 by now too… And our bodies have grown… Everyone remains more or less the same… The Maha Ichiban's guys are now exultant because Wily regularly shows up there, that Dark Miyabi guy has been travelling, the "Committee" is in charge of putting tabs into dangerous guys and such…
"… Number Man! Bring me a cupid of love, de masu!"
"Yamitarou… How many times do we need to go over that?"
"A trillion, de masu!"
"Hi, Number Man! Good morning, Higure – san!"
"Ah! Rock Man. You're alright?"
"Rock Man, de masu? Do you know if Mariko – sensei likes samurai movies, de masu?"
"Well…"
Rock Man met with Number Man outside of the Internet City Higureya store: Number Man had been placing a new poster at the door's right and Higure Yamitarou came up with a question.
"I'm not sure… I haven't seen Mariko – sensei ever since we finished grade school… We've crossed from time to time but…"
"True, de masu… Hum! Then I need to ask someone else, de masu… I know how to do it: by asking her in person! De masu!"
"Yamitarou… I'd rather say she'll bring you to the bowling lane…"
"Not bowling again! De masu! I'm bad at sports, de masu!"
True… Higure – san ended up cheating back when the "Bowl Man Incident" in February, 2005…
"Well. I'll be going, Number Man."
"Sure. See you around."
Dekao – kun has kept on trying to play "cool" to Meiru – chan but he got nowhere at all… Tooru – kun keeps on being the nice person he is but it'd seem Yaito – chan wants him to be her boyfriend… Netto – kun has been telling Meiru – chan he's not in the mood for that and that he wants to play safe… Princess Pride and Knight Man have visited us from time to time in an incognito manner… Raoul - san and Laika – san have come and gone too… Thunder Man and Search Man have grown stronger… Aqua Man and Shuuko – san work in Higureya… Roll – chan still teases me but never gets past that: guess she likes to play teasing type. Guts Man tries to beat Sigma – san in Net Battles and gets close but not close enough… Ice Man still plays around with ice… Blood Shadow gets along nicely enough with both of us… And Omega – san seems to have grown less hostile and softened up a bit but remains serious… The other "Subspace" members have trouble with the cook, Dragon Hell – san, and his bizarre ideas of original recipes…
"Guts, guts… Dekao! What did you want me to buy?"
"More Vulcan Battle Chips! I wanna have a Folder dedicated to the Mugen Vulcan Program Advance! Not even that Sigma guy can withstand 10 Mugen Vulcan in a row! This is my superb strategy!"
Rock Man spotted Guts Man walking into an alley while talking with Ooyama Dekao who hadn't changed much either.
See? There they go.
"Remember, Glyde! I wanna a stock of 50 strawberry milk bottles by next week! If they come delayed then they're gonna regret messing with Gagbcom Inc.!"
"Roger, Yaito – sama."
Rock Man then saw Glyde flying across the air and heading elsewhere while Ayanokouji Yaito forwarded commands.
"Desu! Tooru – kun! I'm off to playing with Aqua Man! Desu!"
"OK! Be careful, Ice Man!"
Ice Man walked down another street while singing some tune: Hikawa Tooru smiled at him and looked in high spirits.
Netto – kun is immersed in his manga so I went off for a walk: I still feel a bit sad that we've never been able to figure out what happened to those two in the end… Have they survived and started anew? They were victims of that freak, too… If only we could catch that freak… But they've totally vanished ever since two years ago…
"Hiya~! Darling!"
"Roll – chan, please… I thought we'd left that behind…"
"Tee, heh, heh!"
Roll suddenly showed up behind him and teased him: Rock Man sighed and looked defeat while she giggled.
"Yo! Rock Man! Netto's immersed in his world again?"Sakurai Meiru asked over the screen.
"Yeah, Meiru – chan. I went off for a walk. We all ended 1st grade with very good scores." Rock Man admitted.
"If only the guy weren't SO DENSE…" Meiru muttered.
"Oh come on! Meiru – chan. Let's not start another fight over that. Didn't he bring you chocolate for White Day these last two years?"
"I know, but one can't help but feel empty and disappointed…"
"Eh… I'll be going. I'm sorry if I look rude, but since this seems to be a talk between Roll – chan and Meiru - chan…"
"Sure, darling! Tee, heh, heh."
"Please…"
Rock Man walked away, sighing, and failed to spot a tall figure looking towards him from not too far away.
Heh, heh, heh… Been a while, Rock Man… This 2-year "peace" has made you guys lax and lazy… They won't see it coming… Heh, heh, heh. But let's wait for a better chance… Heh, heh, heh…
"The envoys of Nowhere At All are at work."
"Huh? Who…?"
"Boo."
"YIKES!"
"Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh…"
Shadow Man suddenly showed up behind Rock Man and he jumped to a side, startled: Shadow Man folded his arms and chuckled.
"JEEZ! Shadow Man! That wasn't fun. What do you want?"
"No abnormalities in the "seal"… That Bubble Man guy has tried about 20 strategies but all have failed insofar and integrity hasn't been compromised either…" He shrugged.
"Hum. That's fine. We don't want that guy to roam loose."
"Sure. Well then… Iron your tuxedo: you'll need it, I'd daresay."
"Iron my tuxedo? While it's true that Gabcom came up with "Fashion Chips" to allow for Navis to "wear" suits over their bodysuits, there's no need to iron them because they don't have that level of detail to them and they surely won't have anytime soon…"
"Oh? Who knows? Well. I'm off. Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh…"
Sheesh! That guy…! That guy…! THAT GUY…! THAT DAMNED GUY…! I'll mincemeat them and…! Huh! Wait! No. I can't do it here with so many witnesses and all: it'd ruin our preparations!
"That guy… Ever since Dr. Wily revived him then he's become sarcastic and fond of pranks… Maybe Sigma – san is to blame too… Whatever. Let's get back home already: I'll look up some videos…"
Let's send out the bait…
"Excuse me! Rock Man – sama?"
"Eh… Yes. What is the matter?"
A normal Navi approached Rock Man and he began to talk with them while looking slightly surprised.
"I'm a messenger: I was hired to deliver this package, sir. Please sign as reception acknowledgment: it's already paid for."
"Eh… Sure. Here… Rock Man EXE…"
"Good. Here you have, sir."
"Thank you."
The Navi left and Rock Man opened the package: it contained a medallion having a purple Alphabet "V" drawn on it set against a black background: it turned into a map and signaled a spot.
"Huh… "From Blood Shadow to Rock Man… I've got a lead on some jerks smuggling stuff… It'd seem they're monitoring my lines so I had to resort to a messenger… Meet me here and I'll deliver the data."… Alright: let's go meet Blood and receive that data…"
Rock Man walked over to a small warehouse building: he stepped inside and found it to be unlit and unused: he didn't spot the tall figure suddenly looming over him from behind and closing the right hand over his helmet and lift him up: the culprit used the left hand to grip his chest emblem next: Rock Man gasped but then hung his head down, unconscious.
Heh, heh, heh. TOO easy. Boss was right… Let's go! Heh, heh, heh,
10:29 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Heh, heh, heh! This manga is cool!"
Hikari Netto (aged 14) was sitting on the chair next to his bedroom's work desk: his PC remained the same and the room hadn't changed much save for another bed parallel to his which had something covered by the blankets: the shutters were half-lowered but it could be guessed that it was a very bright summer day on the outside.
"Heh, heh, heh! Man! This rocks!"
He kept on sporting his usual bandana, the orange sleeveless vest over the white shirt, his shorts and socks.
His chestnut brown hair remained unchanged and his brown irises displayed amusement.
He'd grown close to a meter and sixty tall by now as well.
"Well! Let's tease Rock Man… Eh… No. I mean… Let's go tease Saito – niisan with a joke… Heh, heh, heh!"
He reached for a new-model PET placed on a carcass on his arm which was strapped before the elbow: this PET's colors were blue and white, like his previous PET II, and the Hikari emblem was drawn there.
"Yo! Niisan. Listen to this: "Let devil bite me if you aren't the culprit of the robberies!"… "Yeah! I'm the guy!"… "Devil-bite your leg!" … "Wha~t?"… "Gotcha, devil-bite-leg!"… "This guy…!" … Isn't that good? Huh?"
Netto suddenly gasped when he saw that the PET's screen only displayed a burst of static: he pressed the button and a holographic screen formed on the air: a touch-pen slid out of its cavity on the SE corner and he began to touch spots of the screen but to no avail.
"What the hell is that?"
He didn't notice an almost invisible figure crawling inside through the opening in the shutter and taking advantage of the open balcony door: the figure silently crawled until it was behind Netto.
"Oi! Rock Man! What happened?"
The figure then stood up and drew some kind of syringe which seemed to have been designed to be used quickly given its short needle surrounded by a round plastic edge forming a cavity: the figure suddenly hit Netto's right side of the neck and began to inject but Netto suddenly tossed an open tankobon towards their face using the left hand: the hit stunned the attacker by a second and they let go of the syringe which fell into the ground but remained intact: Netto suddenly jumped and turned around to begin bombarding the figure with a barrage of fists on their stomach area plus a kick to the stomach: the figure recoiled.
"Who the hell! What did you do to Rock Man?"
The figure suddenly recovered and tried to deliver a kick by spinning around and using the left leg as support: Nettto ducked and pulled the extended leg to make them fall into the ground: Netto delivered a hit to the nose with the right knee but the figure gripped his vest with both hands and violently pulled Netto forward while sliding their body forward: Netto ended up flying across the room and meeting the southern wall with his back: he fell face-down on his bed while facing north and groaned from the blow: the figure suddenly picked the syringe, ran towards Netto, lifted his neck, and injected: Netto, however, gripped their right wrist and pulled it back so that the attacker would stop injecting: Netto flipped and landed both feet on the man's torso knocking them into the ground: Netto gripped their wrists and brought them to the ground.
"Answer me!"
The figure didn't reply this time around either and suddenly slid backwards while lifting the feet and kicking Netto's chest: he groaned and let go out of instinct but the figure picked the syringe and injected him on the neck again: Netto groaned and collapsed on the ground.
Heh. So you put up some fight, kid. As I thought: that guy hasn't been idle these two years… Whatever… My subordinate completed his role and now I completed mine… Time to start a bittersweet drama… Let's use the "Dimensional Converter" and get away… Heh, heh, heh…
10:55 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Hello? Hikari? Just to check: are you coming over today? Huh? Hello, hello? Hikari? Odd. I can't patch through…"
A Navi about one meter and eighty tall was standing inside of a warehouse somewhere.
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.
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 calm and concentration while long blond hair came out from behind him and reached all the way to the floor.
"Maybe by using the shuttle radio…"
A shuttle had been parked inside of the warehouse.
It looked aerodynamic and was colored silver: the shuttle had a front Plexiglas view window and two short wings and tail but it didn't seem to have any visible means of propulsion: entrance was gained through an open hatch on the left side of the body.
"It's worth a try…"
He opened the hatch and stepped inside: several seats resembling those of normal commercial planes were set inside of the cockpit: the Navi sat down on the pilot's seat and interacted with a computer.
"Hello? Hikari? Rock Man? It's me, Omega. Are you receiving this? Is there a problem with the district's GSM antenna? Huh? Weird. There's only a burst of "noise" in the channel… Let's try asking the watch guys… Karasu and Mori… Hello? Karasu? Mori? It's me, Omega."
"Ah. Mr. Omega. What's up, sir?" Someone replied.
"Is that you, Karasu?"
"Yes. Mori went out to procure some water."
"Say, your cell-phone… You've got carrier signal and all, right? There's no interference or whatever, right?" Omega asked.
"No." Karasu immediately replied, surprised.
"Has Hikari come out today?"
"I don't think so…"
"Can you see their room?"
"The shutter's been half-lowered ever since they finished cleansing the balcony… Too much sun would heat it up…"
"Can you do me a favor? Ring the bell and ask to see them: just tell them I'm trying to contact them but there's some problem with the PET 'cause I can't get through." Omega requested.
"Well. Why not… It won't harm."
Omega heard him stepping out of a car and walking: Karasu rang the bell and the door opened.
"Do excuse me, ma'am… Agent Karasu, Hikari – san…" Karasu could be heard announcing.
"Ah, yes. Is something the matter, sir?" Haruka asked.
"I apologize, but… Mr. Omega wants me to check with the gentlemen why their PET doesn't seem to work… I will knock, ask, and be on my way back immediately enough, ma'am…"
"Oh. That's alright. Maybe Netto accidentally did something to it anyway without noticing… Netto~! Karasu – san is coming up! Please come in."
"I apologize, ma'am."
"No, no. Just do your duty, sir."
"Thank you, ma'am."
"About time…" Omega inwardly muttered.
"Hello? Mr. Netto? I am sorry to be so rude, but… Your PET doesn't seem to be working, sir. Is something the matter? Mr. Omega would like to know if you're going to come over, sir…"
There was no response: both remained silent and then heard some steps in the ground floor.
"What's wrong? Netto~! Say something!"
"I am sorry to insist, sir, but Mr. Omega would like to… The door's ajar? Do excuse me, sir, but… Huh?"
"What's wrong, Karasu?" Omega asked.
"Well… They're not inside… Maybe they went to the restroom… Wait a minute… What's that?"
Karasu walked over to something and a burst of "noise" suddenly filled the channel before dimming a bit but remaining close by.
"I found their PET: the screen only emits static. There's a mark on the south wall which looks like something hit it…"
"What's going on?" Haruka asked.
"Well… I'm not sure, ma'am, but… It would seem both Mr. Netto and Mr. Rock Man have been abducted, ma'am…"
"WHAT?"
"Oh shit." Omega inwardly cursed.
"I shall not offer any apologies, ma'am. Someone has made it past our surveillance somehow, ma'am… But we will search each square inch of Japan if needed to locate them, ma'am…!"
"I know… You did find them after their disappearance when in a party two years ago… Why do these things happen to us? People are so cruel: Netto and Rock Man saved society twice but people harm them!"
Damn it. We lower the guard and this happens. And let devil bite me if I don't have a suspect already… What a blow! DAMN THEM ALL!