Anti Shooting Star

By Zoram Selrof

Chapter 1: Crazy after-school

17:21 PM (Japan Time), Tuesday September the 11th, 2206…

"… Mwah, hah, hah! Mwah, hah, hah! Nyah, hah, hah!"

"… So…?"

"Tremble, world! Warus Rockus – samus has descended!"

"Not again!"

"Oi! War Rock! What's with that weird speech thing?"

"Not like ya'd get it, Fatman!"

"Wha~t?"

"Buruo~! Wanna brawl?"

"Probabilities of…"

"I know: 100%."

"Hmpf! Barbarians."

"Come on, Luna – chan…"

"Hmpf… How boring…"

"Tsukasa~! Hikaru went to date Misora~!"

"I'm SO annoyed, really."

"Gino Il Napolitano~! Falcone wants his spaghetti back!"

"Oh yeah?"

The Kodama Middle School 2-A students had come out of the school when they were "ambushed" by the Wizard War Rock and his silly humor and jokes.

"War Rock. Behave. Or else…"

"Or else I get my ears pulled, Subari~?"

"No."

Hoshikawa Subaru, aged 14, began to scold War Rock but he simply formed a wider grin.

"Oi! Stop with the nickname, War Rock!"

"Buruo~! Not like the jerk began it, Gonta!"

Ushijima Gonta was annoyed and Ox was about to explode given the twitch over his right eye.

"Hmpf! Barbarians! Flee these civilized lands!"

"Luna – chan…!"

Shirogane Luna played the offended to the exasperation of her Wizard, Mode.

"Kizamaro – kun. We should get to the shelter."

"If there's one."

Saishouin Kizamaro's Wizard, Pedia, hushed something to him and he rolled his eyes while sighing.

"Jackie~! Shidou will faint from looking at Queen Tia~!"

"No wonder."

Jack didn't look surprised at the taunting attempt and had his old hostile and unimpressed face on today.

"Tsukasa~! Su casa~!"

"By all the… My name isn't a pun on the Spanish "their home"!"

Futaba Tsukasa got annoyed by the lame idiomatic pun War Rock came up with on the spot.

"Gino Il Napolitano~! Falcone wants to crown you his heir, see~!"

"Don't mix me with the Italian Mafia tales! And my name is Kiboyama Gino, I'm Japanese, and not from Naples!"

Kiboyama Gino was a student who had bluish eyes and brownish hair: he seemed to be one or two inches taller than Tsukasa.

"So! The Roman Legionary's coming with the DCLXVI Legion!"

"The 666th Legion? War Rock! You moron!"

"And his name is Miles, as you know it!"

A Wizard materialized to Kiboyama's right.

His main body was more "humanoid" in shape and colored in a brownish color similar to sand: some patterns had been drawn over the body to form plates of armor.

His helmet had been painted sea blue and black shades hid his eyes yet it looked strong and resistant.

His arms were colored in a reddish color with white color stripes running up and down their length: the forearms had extra armor on them and his hands' "skin" was black.

He carried a round golden shield with a silver edge and center on his left hand which was large enough to protect half of his body.

Like a Roman Legionary, he wielded a large lance with a brown body and silver spear set atop it: the weapon looked easy to maneuver and powerful at the same time.

He also had a hover engine built onto the lower part of his body which allowed him to remain air-bone.

"The Storm is gonna Storm the Dealer Hideout!"

"That pun's LAME! War Rock!" Someone complained from within Tsukasa's Hunter-VG.

"Warus Rockus – samus!"

"Stop with the Latin corruptions! You're laughing at ME!" Miles hissed.

Storm, Tsukasa's new Wizard, looked reminiscent of Gemini, the FM who'd picked him as a host over two years ago.

His main body was shaped like a spheroid and colored in a patch of green identical to Tsukasa's hair.

His head was round and perfectly shaped: a white-like helmet protected it and included a pair of purple-colored thick shades: his skin was normal-colored and his face looked young.

Two sharp needle-like tools emerged from his armored and purple-colored forearms and replaced his normal hands.

The rest of the arms were painted with the black and yellow striping to signal "danger" as if hinting at the usage of the appendixes.

Like most modern Wizards, he had a hover device built into the inferior part of his body instead of legs which had been colored in the same black and yellow stripes combination.

"Huff. We've barely begun 2nd year and you have to be tormenting us over and over again, War Rock?" Subaru sighed.

"Misora will "play" with Queen Tia – sama~!"

"That's not funny!" He scolded in a hushed tone of voice.

"At all." Jack grumbled.

"So! Ya will "play" with Queen Tia – sama~?"

"No." He drily replied.

"Stop bringing that up. What we went through in the summer during the Wizard City Tournament wasn't funny to begin with. We almost lost our sanity!" Kiboyama hissed.

"And you know what happened for me during the period summer 2204 – October 2205! Don't joke with that as if it was a trivial manner!" Tsukasa complained next.

"Buruo~! You messed it up! As always! This jackass!"

"Wha~t? Jackass? The great me~? This bull!" War Rock growled.

"This rascal!"

"Nya~h! Showdown!" War Rock challenged.

"The Cosmo Wave!" Ox settled the place.

"Fine! Moon Ace is the witness!"

"Moon Disaster, you moron!" He corrected.

"Nope! Moon Ace and Acid Disaster! Nyah, hah, hah!"

"Wait there, you!"

Both warped out and the group finally sighed in relief at having gotten rid of their behavior.

"Let's get home." Subaru tried to rally.

"Ah! Subaru – kun! Tell Rock Man – sama he'd better not try to play with my virgin heart!" Luna suddenly told him.

"Not like I had any intention. Do I like I'd do that, iinchou?"

"I dunno 'bout cha but Rock Man – sama is another person!"

"Huff. Alright, alright…!" He rolled his eyes.

"See you around. I'm off to the WAXA Japan Branch to check on neechan and make sure she's not attempted to strangle Akatsuki."

"Yeah. You'd better do that." Subaru sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Queen Tia – sensei is a complicated person." Kizamaro muttered.

"More like too cold." Luna muttered.

"Hmm… Ginger beef…"

"FATMAN! CAUGHT YA! CHA WON'T ESCAPE FROM EATING 75 CARROTS THIS WEEK, YOU FAT AND CALORIES ABOMINATION!"

"Kya~h! Spare me, iinchou~!"

17:33 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Ah. Welcome, Jack."

"So, Ryuusuke… Did they strangle each other?"

"Huff. They looked like they were about to do that but Dr. Yoiri and the Chief managed to relocate them to do other jobs."

"H-hi, Jack – kun…"

"Utagai… So? What's with that face?"

"T-there's an omen in my garbage bin!"

"Jeez. He means a broken pencil."

Jack made it to the entrance of the WAXA Japan Branch and spoke with one Satella Police Commando stationed there: Utagai Shinsuke came out while constantly shuddering and Cygnus, his Wizard, sighed.

"Yo! Jack. Hi there."

"Good afternoon."

Akatsuki Shidou came out while munching his usual "sweet candy" and accompanied by his Wizard Acid.

"Akatasuki… I heard the tale."

"Jeez. It's not as bad as it sounds! We simply were there, glaring at each other for about one minute!" He grumbled.

"When will you do something productive about it, Shidou?" Acid asked him with a sigh.

"Dunno, Claw Man." He shrugged.

"Let's not start with the nicknames again…!" He sighed.

"Akatsuki. Ill-mouthing me?"

"Jeez! Queen Tia! Drop that stalker behavior!"

"Oi, neechan… Aren't you over-doing it?"

Queen Tia came out behind Akatsuki while folding her arms and looking dry and unimpressed: Akatsuki looked about to go mad from the exasperation he'd been building up.

"Look! Queen Tia! I burnt up the stuff you'd hid in the air vents because I don't want you to scare Misora any further than you do! Get it?"

"Oh?" She simply lifted the right eyebrow.

"Don't "oh?"! You know what I mean!"

"Maybe I do."

"Now, now! Shidou – chan, Queen Tia… Let's be civilized!"

Dr. Yoiri came out as well and cleared her throat: Queen Tia merely shrugged her shoulders and headed back inside: Jack grumbled something under his breath and Akatsuki slapped his forehead.

"Someone save my sanity~!"

"By the way. Akatsuki… Hyde and his punk… What are they doing?"

"Hyde's gone to Vienna and is going to Opera Houses to see operas while the punk's been spotted in the Black Hole Server."

"Hum. So he aims to lift his level…"

"Sure thing…"

"Yikes." Utagai gulped.

"Be more courageous, Utagai!"

"T-that's easier said than done, Cygnus!"

"Huff. Well. I'm gonna go home. It's a miracle none of us have gone mad already by now."

"Totally." Akatsuki slapped his forehead.

"Absolutely."

"Man." Ryuuseke sighed.

17:44 PM (Japan Time)…

"… WHO THE HELL STOLE THE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM FROM THE FREEZER? SHOW YOUR HIDE, YOU VILLAINOUS ENTITIES!"

"… "Villainous entities"…? Urakata – san…!"

"Pororon! More saboteurs?"

"The curse of the saboteur, yeah, Harp…"

"They don't learn!"

"At all! They go by the cliché and they forget who I am."

"Truly! We need to tag with Moon Disaster and punish them like we did with that geezer!"

"Oh yeah. Once we figure out who they are…"

Hibiki Misora rolled her eyes as she worked on the draft of a new lyric for a song in her Okudama Studios room: Urakata Mamorou had yelled and both she and Harp, her Wizard, sighed.

"Room service!" Someone knocked at the door.

"Did the canary eat the wolf?" Misora asked back.

"What? No way! Hah, hah, hah!" They laughed.

"Gotcha!"

"HUH?"

"THERE! YOU! I don't recognize you!" Urakata growled.

"R-room service… I mean… Cleansing staff!"

"You don't have the cleansing staff uniform! And what's with that Hunter – VG? Huh? And you don't know the password!"

"W-what password? Boss said that… YIKES!" The man began to mutter only to gasp.

"That's a CONFESSION! Security~!"

"Beep, beep! Resistance is futile! You're under arrest!"

"Let go of me!"

"Here! I'll be taking this gizmo! Huh? What! It has a built-in stun gun! You were planning on abducting her…? Or to do something… perverted?"

"What in the… So it's not a record studio but a pervert magazine?"

"Pororon! Humans sure are weird."

"You needn't tell me." She fumed.

"YO, YO, YO!"

"Moon Disaster? What the heck are you doing here?"

"I got told by Warus Rockus – samus to relay the results of his Battlus Agonicus with Oxus!"

"What's with those Latin corruptions…? He means "Agonic Battle" with Ox which I doubt it was. They surely tackled each other." Misora sighed.

"Pororon! Those two wanna start the AM-FM war once again."

"Where's Cepheus when you need him to put a halt to them? Or, better, where's Dr. Lartes? They could lock the guy in the Subspace's server and give Subaru the solo Denpa – Henkan ability."

"Speaking of which… Those three haven't shown up around here ever since that weird August day with that "Clock Genius" fellow…"

"Yeah. I know. But that's fine, anyway. Omega's puns combined with War Rock's are a living Naraku."

"What's a Naraku?"

"Look it up on the data banks."

"Pororon. Guess you mean something painful."

"Totally painful."

"Alright, alright! Huh? Say! I got an idea! Listen, you! Hush… Hush…"

"YO, YO, YO! OK! Leave it up to me!"

"Misora? It's me. Can I come in?"

"Sure, Urakata – san."

Urakata came in after Misora unlocked the door and he sighed in relief: he looked amused.

"I told Moon Disaster to corner the chief of that magazine and torment him a bit with his 5 hour – long extravaganza."

"Bravo. That's what we need. Teach them that they're messing with my dignity… And that I have zero tolerance."

"Mwah, hah, hah! Misora~! Subari~ is dating Jackie~?"

"Oh yeah? I'm SO annoyed, cha know, War Rock."

War Rock popped out there and laughed as he exhibited a Polaroid showing Subaru and Jack looking at each other and grinning while clasping their hands: Misora yanked it and calmly broke it into pieces without beating an eyelash, even.

"The punk is gonna beat your Black Hole Server record."

"What! Like I'll let 'em! I'll go slash and dice all Viruses there myself and bring one to his stinking turf! Mwah, hah, hah!"

"Huff. This guy…" Urakata sighed.

"Is maddening, yes." Harp sentenced.

"This town is the craziest in the world!" He exasperatedly groaned.

"Of course."

"Pororon!"

"Huff! Let's see if we can continue our work already!"

"Let's hope it, yes. I better continue working on the lyrics."

"Pororon!"

18:22 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Mwah, hah, hah, hah… Subari~!"

"What now? I'm working on my homework."

"Work-home is going to home-work the non-home and the non-work!"

"How devious of you."

"Mwah, hah, hah! I pulled the guy's horns!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Mwah, hah, hah! I invited someone no-one!"

"I see."

War Rock returned to the Hoshikawa house to start picking on Subaru as he worked on his homework but he wasn't impressed.

"So? Is there gonna be more "triangle"?"

"You'll have to struggle to beat Miles and Storm at the VR Simulator."

"But of course, Subari~!"

His Hunter-VG rang and Subaru picked it up: Solo showed up on-screen and looked pretty much pissed off.

"The guy messed it up?" Subaru guessed.

"Yeah. They stole the data of a discovery I made on the Mu ruins."

"War Rock. Return that. Or else I'll call Master."

"Master of Mastering Masters?"

"And lock you on the server AGAIN."

"Mwah, hah, hah! I'm invincible~! I'll get outta there in a breeze!"

"I'll replace you for a solo Denpa – Henkan system like Blood." He warned next.

"Bloody Shadowy~!"

"The fool…!" Solo got a twitch over his right eye.

"Ra?" Laplace wondered in the background.

"Shut the hell up." He icily hissed.

"Yu!" He gasped.

"Mwah, hah, hah. The data says he found a horny guy there~…"

"In the middle of a ruin in Thailand? Sure, sure."

"And he wants to have a triangle with ya and that punk…"

"Punk! Me! That coward's pawn is the punk!" He growled.

"Hand over the data, War Rock."

"And if I don't want to~?"

"Hello? Master?"

"Subaru. Trouble with War Rock?"

"In essence, sir."

Subaru began a voice-only call with someone: the screen displayed the name "Dr. Lartes" on it.

"Yikes! N-no, Doc! Ox's to blame~!" He gulped.

"War Rock. You think that, after these 2 years, I wouldn't know how to tell apart when you're lying or not?" The man sighed.

"He stole data from Solo."

"Use the app I programmed."

"Roger."

"What "app"?" War Rock gasped.

"Data retrieval. Download the most recently copied data." Subaru dully announced as he stood up to face him and aim the device at him.

"What? Ugru~h!"

War Rock's body glowed and a spheroid containing a 3D image of a page of text popped out to then warp elsewhere: Solo looked at the lower edge of the screen as his Hunter-VG beeped.

"Good. I owe you one, Hoshikawa."

"Don't mind it."

"Fine. Maybe you could give me a copy of that? It'd do wonders to deal with this moron behind me." He glanced at Laplace.

"Yu!"

"That was unfair, Subari~!"

"It was fair. You bring more trouble than Omega – san."

"Yeah. You steal things and begin to toss them there and there."

"Alright. I'm off to continuing my research… See you around."

"See you."

Solo ended the call and Subaru directed an annoyed glare at War Rock that seemed to put down his cocky mood.

"Lesson learnt? Or do we need to be bolder than this?"

"A-alright! I'll behave, yeah!"

"About time!" Dr. Lartes fumed.

"I'm sorry to have bothered you, Master."

"Don't mind it. Not like I was doing anything critical, anyway… Gino and Tsukasa got here without incidents…"

"By the way… Are Blood and the others in an overseas mission?"

"Correct. They're investigating sightings of some sect or another which seemingly holds chemical weapons. They're worrisome so sending them is a good idea because those don't seemingly have Wizards."

"Good. Let's hope it doesn't end up in trouble."

"Nah. I don't think so."

"Trouble is forthcoming." A distorted voice suddenly burst into the communication.

"Who goes there?"

"Anti Shooting Star."

"Anti Shooting Star? What's this, a prank?"

"No. The day after tomorrow… Misfortune will happen…"

"I know it'll be Thursday the 13th but the bad luck day is Friday the 13th, Mr. Universe." Subaru calmly replied.

"You will soon submit to despair and grudge."

"Don't tell us." Dr. Lartes muttered.

"Such is the will of the daimaou."

"The daimou died time ago."

"The new one."

"Ah. So Hyde's crowned himself daimaou this time around. And you're Shinobi, anyway. If this is you guys' idea of a drama then it sucks because you've been found out before it even began."

"Hmpf."

There was a sound like a burst of static and Subaru fumed.

"Will they leave me alone once and for all?"

"Good question." Dr. Lartes fumed as well.

"See you around, Master."

"OK. Take care."

"Oi, Subaru… Are you sure that was a prank?"

"Of course it was. It was a poor attempt at scaring me."

"By Hyde and the punk…?"

"Who else? King is wandering the world and is under monitoring, Kuroban Howsad and Hikaru travelled to "another world" and Hyde and the punk are the ones who have been plotting up schemes ever since 9 months ago, anyway." He listed.

"Well… Yeah. That's true."

"And those two we encountered again during the Wizard City Tournament were most likely deleted in the explosion."

"True, true… W-well, guess I'm gonna go chat with Daigo… See ya."

"Fine. But don't pick on the others."

War Rock warped outta the room and Subaru sighed in relief as he stretched and resumed working on the home-work while listening to some music he played from his Hunter-VG: he failed to spot a small spheroid which was hovering in the NE corner of the room's ceiling and looking towards him: it vanished without making any noise.

"Huh? Huh… I had the feeling I'd heard some sound… Guess it was my imagination." He muttered while looking around.

"Beep-beep-beep… The Beep Show is going to Beep Thou!" A Denpa – kun chanted outside of the house.

"It's another of those publicity-use Denpa – kun which are made to patrol the Wave Roads and chant aloud… Jeez. Play that on TV. Or advertise that on some website, too."

"Peeb-peeb-peeb… The Peeb Show is going to Peeb Thou!"

"I smell Moon Disaster's involvement in that one."

"Epeb-epeb-epeb… The Epeb Show is going to Epeb Thou!"

"Jeez. Moon Disaster. You're a disaster at these. Hence your name!"

"Ebep-ebep-ebep… The Ebep Show is going to Ebep Thou!"

Please… Leave me alone already! Kodama Town… Madness Town…!