The Death Club

By Zoram Selrof

Chapter 1: Crazy afternoon

17:13 PM (Japan Time), Friday June the 17th, 2011…

"… Phew! Huff! This week's over at least! Next Tuesday… The last class and then… Surprise! Summer vacation!"

"Man. I'm so looking forward to it."

"You two are very alike, Netto – kun and Hiro – kun."

"Well… We're cool guys, so… Right, Hiro?"

"Yeah. Akashi Hiro's a cool guy, yessir, cooler than Major Ocelot."

"Major Ocelot…?"

"Ocelot? Is that eatable?"

"Dekao – kun…"

"Yikes! Sorry, Meiru! I didn't want to annoy ya!"

"Cha are sillier than a cow! Hah!"

"Yaito – chan…"

Hikari Netto was walking down a corridor which led into the entrance lockers of a school along with his brother, Saito: he was two or three centimeters taller than Netto and his brown hair was more neatly combed and arranged than Netto's: his eyes' irises were green emerald.

"Major Ocelot is a guy, Dekao!"

"Well! I didn't hear the "major" part, Hiro! I only caught the "yamaneko" part!"

Akashi Hiro looked slightly over a meter and fifty tall: his hair's color was jet black and it was totally messy (similar to Netto's) while his eyes' irises were blue in coloring.

"Then cleanse your ears, Dekao."

Ooyama Dekao grumbled something under his breath while Sakurai Meiru looked unimpressed at his behavior, Ayanokouji Yaito had a smug smile and student Hikawa Tooru rolled his eyes.

"Setting that asides… We're already 14 years old! 14! Sounds cool!" Netto grinned.

"Yeah. Cooler than Python's cooling abilities, maybe?" Hiro grinned.

"Python?" Dekao frowned.

"Well. A reptile which belongs to the suborder of snakes and looks like one… There are several species of it." Saito explained.

The group stopped in front of the lockers and each opened theirs to change their shoes and pick up their Link PETs: Netto simply placed his on the arm-strap without checking it out and Saito did the same with his (green and white colored).

"Yo! Delta! Any new mail?"

"There's one from someone named "Mars Warrior"… And it's labeled "URGENT AND PERSONAL", too… But I don't know anyone with such a name, either…"

Hiro's Link PET was colored red and white and was decorated with the lowercase delta character painted silver and set against a black background.

"I'll check it out. Any other news?"

"Not really…"

Delta's main body color was jet black.

His forearms, boots, shoulder plates, rear-pack and helmet were silver.

His face looked strikingly similar to Rock Man's although he had some slight differences regarding the eyes' irises (which were blue) and the shape of his cheek bones.

His emblem was the same delta character set on his chest and ear-pads: the central part of his helmet had a murkier silver color to it plus two rectangles and one band cutting across it starting at the back: some jet black hair came out from behind the helmet as well.

Overall, he looked extremely similar to Rock Man and seemed to be around his height as well.

"Let's see… E~H?" Hiro uttered once he checked it out using.

"What's wrong?" Delta frowned.

"Delta… Are ya going out with Red Sword?"

"E~H? Me? Going out with Red Sword? No!"

"Eh… And I thought ya were waiting for me to make a move… Or did he attract you with his leech style?" Hiro teased.

"B-but! What does the mail say?"

"Not say, but show… A photo of ya two going to the Densan Cyber City's newly inaugurated Navi Cinema…" Hiro grinned.

"No way!"

"… Oi, Hiro!" Dekao called out after he looked at his PET.

"What? Gorilla Man ran out of bananas? Tell him to go compete with Donkey Kong for them." Hiro shrugged.

"No! Your little sister is dating my litter brother Chisao!"

"And what if my… Wait. Did you say my little sister?" Hiro absent-mindedly began to reply before gasping.

"Yeah! I said that!"

"I have no sisters and brothers!"

"HUH? Then who's this girl dating Chisao?"

"Someone of his class or a Photoshop edit: it has to be one or the other by force."

"NO WAY!" Yaito yelped.

"What's wrong, Yaito – chan?" Meiru looked up from her PET.

"Listen! "Strawberry Milk Inc. with home office in Kyoto has been found guilty of having sub-contracted a manufacturing company in Taiwan which employed child labor: the UN is going to shut down the company and bring all implied ones into jury." … I'm gonna run out of strawberry milks, then! That'd be the end of the world for me!" Yaito exclaimed.

"… Somehow that reeks…" Saito looked skeptical.

"Huh? Mail… E~H? No way!" Netto checked his Link PET after it beeped and his jaw hit the floor.

"What?" Saito asked.

"Eh… There's a photo of Rock Man going out with Delta and Red Sword and a heading underneath it which reads "triple affair between two Net Saviors and the leader of the Hunters' Guild: exclusive news!" … But that can't be!" Netto exclaimed.

"Can't be. This is someone's idea of a joke using Photoshop." Saito looked annoyed.

"This has to be it, too! I got a photo of Roll dragging Rock Man along to shopping in an expensive cyber store and having him try on a white groom's suit! And she then tries on a bride's suit… But I'm sure Roll would never go to such stores!" Meiru exclaimed.

"By all the…!" Roll looked annoyed at the setup.

"And here's a photo of Ice Man going out in a date with a Navi named Bubble Man…" Hikawa grumbled.

"I know no Bubble Man, desu!" Ice Man protested.

"Bubble Man? The surviving WWW Navi? That guy's a moron who's unable to do anything serious: Red Sword, Forte, Zero and the others told me plenty of stuff 'bout him." Hiro shrugged.

"But… Who sends all these mails?" Saito brought up.

"This "Mars Warrior" character: whoever he may be!" Everyone immediately replied.

"Ahem, ahem… Attention, please. They are about to dynamite this place so please evacuate in a calmly and ordered manner while not forgetting to call for the bomb disposal squad of the Navy SEALS…" A manly voice rang out through the speakers.

"The Navy SEALS…? But the Japanese police have their own bomb disposal squad…" Hiro frowned.

"KYA~H!"

"RA~H!"

A mass of students ran out without bothering to pick their PETs from the lockers or their shoes: Netto's group was dragged along and they suddenly found themselves in the middle of the street where they struggled to break out of the mass and reunite in front of Higureya.

"What the heck!" Netto cursed.

"Someone's placed dynamite in the building?" Saito gasped.

"Attention, please. The headmaster is about to attack to vice headmaster with Visigoth fury. Please call the riot squad police." The voice announced next.

"HUH? The headmaster is going to…?" Hiro looked baffled.

"Attention, please. The chemistry teacher is about to blow the school up: please call the police."

"The c-chemistry teacher…? Blow up the school…?" Meiru was taken aback.

"Attention, please. A fatty man with a moustache is about to send our school's top idol, Sakurai Meiru – sama, to the grave. Set up the "Protect Sakurai – sama Squad" if you may."

"E~H? A fatty man with a moustache is gonna…? Let them come! I'll make bits and bytes outta them!"

"Attention, please. Akashi Hiro – sama is about to lose his life in a silly accident: bring out the Copy Roid and let Delta escort him to safety to his village."

"Lose my life in a silly accident? No way!" Hiro gasped.

"Attention, please. Mt. Fuji is going to erupt today at 6 o'clock in the afternoon. Evacuate the immediate premises."

"Mt. Fuji is gonna wake up?" Hikawa gasped.

"Attention, please. A great madame is approaching. There will be manslaughter and everyone will fall one after the other."

"A great madame…?" Yaito looked puzzled.

"That sounds unlikely, Yaito – sama…" Glyde ventured.

"Attention, please. Prophet Jeremy is resting on a watery grave by now: let us offer him the last of our admiration for his accurate prophecies which he recorded in his journal."

"Prophet Jeremy?" They wondered.

They then spotted police vans parking in front of the school: several riot squad members ran in accompanied by dogs and a crowd of curious (mainly the students who'd run out) began to form as the police formed a perimeter.

"… I'm innocent! I didn't intend to attack the vice-headmaster! That Arabian scimitar in my drawer is a collector's item I got from an auction 11 years ago!" The headmaster protested as he was led out.

"… Take your hands off me! That gunpowder wasn't there when today's chemistry class! Someone is trying to frame me!" The chemistry teacher growled.

"Inspector! We found genuine dynamite in the gym, the roof and the elevator's control room plus in the teachers' desks of all classrooms! We're trying to see if the dogs pick up more of it." One officer reported to a police inspector.

"Okay. Something's gone crazy." Saito muttered.

"Totally. But… Maybe the dynamite and the gunpowder are connected somehow? Both are explosives, after all…" Hiro suggested.

"B-B-B-Bertie~!" A voice boomed out of nowhere.

"… Is it me or do I recognize the voice behind that exaggerated Hokkaido dialect?" Saito looked suspicious.

"Beware! The chemistry teacher was trying to produce the elixir of eternal life for Clark Kent – sama~!" The voice announced over the speakers.

"WHAT?" The chemistry teacher roared.

"It's useless to play innocent, Moriarty! I, Holmes, have uncovered each and everyone one of your tricks!" The voice claimed.

"I am not Moriarty~!" The chemistry teacher protested.

"I thought everyone had been evacuated?" The inspector asked a member of the riot squad team.

"Strange… Team B! Check the broadcasting room!" The officer commanded over a walkie-talkie.

"Yes, sir! Wait a minute, sir… There is no – one, sir. Yet the equipment is working, so… Maybe there's a Net Navi inside?"

"Send some police Navis to ID that Navi!"

"Roger, sir!"

"… Lieutenant, sir! There's a problem, sir!" A Navi reported.

"What now?"

"Well, sir… ALL Warp Points are labeled "BROADCASTING ROOM", sir! We don't know which one we have to pick, sir!"

"How's that possible?"

"Blame my hacker skills. Soon this world shall be plunged into fear and terror by the hand of the Death Club!" The voice announced.

"Death Club?" Everyone wondered.

"Heh, heh, heh… We've already started to move! We're not slow. Maybe you'll soon find you're missing a few guys out there?"

"What!" The inspector exclaimed.

"And it's too late to try to find me, too. I'm faster than these slow Navis uselessly wandering around the central hub… It was all so easy, really! Have the complicity of a real-world agent and you can do anything at all: I now see why terrorists have it so easy to target places… Security is so laughable, really!" The Navi kept on proclaiming.

"What's your name?" The inspector demanded.

"Mars Warrior. Maybe some have gotten a hold of some mails I came up with… I know April's Fool was way back in April, but I missed it 'cause I was so busy… Anyway… I'm off. Enjoy… While you can!"

"Wait! All Police Navis: watch all exits!"

"Roger!"

Silence built up as the inspector nervously glanced at his wristwatch and everyone seemed to wait for something.

"Boo."

An explosion suddenly rang out followed by the sounds of a shotgun and some other explosions before silence formed again.

"W-what was that?" The inspector gasped.

"We don't know, sir!" One of the riot squad reported over the walkie-talkie.

"Check on the Police Navis!"

"… They've all been brought down, sir!"

"What! All of them?"

"Correct, sir!"

"Is there anything else?"

"There are some puddles of a weird blue liquid which seems to generate static electricity somehow, as far as we can see through the PETs… We many need to pick it up and send it to the Science Labs for further analysis, though…" The member reported.

"Good! Send a squad to cleanse up and secure the area. And it'd seem we can release those two persons: we've been fooled by a terrorist who wanted to cause mass panic." The inspector added.

"I will protest to your superiors!" The headmaster threatened.

"I will, too!"

"Feel free to." The inspector shrugged.

"What do we do, sir?"

"Check that the school is secure once again and then we head back to HQ: there'll be a pretty heated up debate there, I'm afraid."

"Roger, sir! Move it!"

"… Whoa. Our school was targeted by terrorists, then? We can be lucky this guy was satisfied with just giving us a scare." Netto sighed in relief along with the others.

"Totally. Mama and Papa will freak out." Saito sighed as well.

"Zataki – san will start questioning all authorities as to how could someone sneak gunpowder and dynamite into a school unchecked and unquestioned." Hiro rolled his eyes.

"Let's try to submit this email address to the Science Labs, too, to see if they can figure out something from it." Delta suggested.

"Good idea… And we should look out for news related to this "Death Club" terrorist group. All we know is that one of them is a Navi who's named Mars Warrior." Netto nodded in understanding.

"What people!" Meiru cursed.

"Yeah. Let's hope the authorities can do something about them before they turn deadlier." Roll sighed as well.

"Heh! Worry not! Ooyama Dekao – sama and Guts Man will sweep the floor with them on it! We have the "S" License, after all!" Dekao boasted as he held up his right fist.

"Ya don't. We know you failed the exam." Meiru shot back.

"Wha! How did ya know that?"

"I saw it, remember?" Hikawa rolled his eyes.

"Crap!" Dekao gasped.

"Hah! Ookarada and Gorilla Man fail again!" Yaito grinned.

"I ain't Ookarada: I'm Ooyama!" He protested.

"Heh! Prove it to me." Yaito challenged.

"Che!" He looked elsewhere and played the offended.

"Let's get on the move already. It's 17:34 PM and our parents must be worried if they heard the scandal or the 17:30 news." Saito rallied as he cleared his throat.

"Yeah. See you around, guys."

"Hey. Let's be glad the bomber wasn't Fatman and his cologne-signed C4 bombs. He could've hid them in the ceiling of the girls' toilet for all we know, even." Hiro tried to shake off some tension.

"Then he had to be a rude pervert!" Both girls grumbled.

"Guess so…" Hiro shrugged.

"Come on, Hiro – kun… Let's not start with the Metal Gear Solid references again…" Delta rolled his eyes.

Saito ignored their discussion and looked towards the school building while seemingly thinking.

Who in the world are the "Death Club"…?