Cyber Crisis

By Zoram Selrof

Chapter 1: Ongoing crisis

13:37 PM (Japan Time), Sunday July the 23rd, 2009…

"… Aup, aup! Pau, pau!"

"Oho! Rush! Been a while, man! Where'd you been at?"

"Aup!"

"I think he's saying he was in Izu."

"Searching for a girlfriend? Explosive Russia – chan? Mwah, hah, hah."

"Sigma. Don't say nonsense."

"Au~pp…"

"See? You offended Rush!"

"Too bad, Bloody Shadowy~!"

"Quit it."

"Start it!"

"JEEZ!"

Hikari Netto and Saito (sixteen years old) had been playing with a Wii console in their house's living room when Rush, the dog-shaped Virus, popped out of the ground and into the ground: they stopped to greet him as their two Navis (inside of their respective PETS: blue for Netto and green for Saito) began to chat: Netto's Navi began to joke and Saito's Navi began to scold him.

"Oh come on. Sigma. Don't mess it up, man." Netto sighed.

"We were having a good time!" Saito complained.

"Mwah, hah, hah. Explosive Sigma's Appearance~!"

Sigma turned on the holographic project to show that he was a Net Navi about two meters tall.

He was colored jet black: a red spheroid could be seen set on his chest area and it seemed to be missing the armor over its mass.

His face had two red eyes and one shone brighter than the other: two horns, one of which was almost erased, were set on both sides of his head and added a "demonic" look to him.

Green data flows moved around his body and he held a massive black and green sword in his right hand which he was currently aiming at the floor in lazy manner.

"Aup! Uap! Pau!"

"Wha~t? That I'm a bully~?"

"Jeez. You had it coming, Sigma!"

"Sure, Blood Shadow…" Saito sighed.

Blood Shadow showed up next.

He used red as his main body color.

He sported black shades and a flock of messy reddish hair came out from behind the helmet given how it only covered the face and the front of the head: his ear-pads had two purple "V" letters drawn inside of them.

His armor had the purple letters "BS" engraved on the chest area while his legs were colored black and had two red stripes running down the legs' sides in a parallel manner.

His right forearm was covered by a device colored red coupled with a piece of it which was colored transparent red: a small indentation near the wrist had the same "BS" initials engraved there: and, where the hand would be, a large double-barreled shotgun emerged instead.

Overall, he seemed to be about Netto's and Saito's age.

"Sigma. If ya don't behave…"

"Santa will bring me coal?"

"Commander Omega will yell at you."

"Yikes!"

"See?" Netto sighed.

"We were having a good Great Melee Smash Brothers X match and you had to get in the way." Saito fumed.

"Aup! Pau! Aupppp!"

"What? Oho. Hinoken claims he's descended from Red-Beard!" Saito translated and laughed.

"Hinoken? Guess he got another attack of impatience and tries to praise himself while he boils his brains to try to defeat Freeze Man… Which he can't 'cause the guy isn't material to begin with…"

"Pau~! Aup! Rappp!"

"Count Elec tries to emulate The Beatles."

"No surprise."

"Mwah, hah, hah. Beatles Emulation Count!"

"Jeez."

"Rap! Zap! Aup!"

"Madoi is trying some weird perfume which smells like petrol, even."

"I guess she got scammed there." Blood Shadow sighed.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. He's the best insider ever!" Sigma laughed.

"He told us that plot by the Maha Ichiban's guys to retrieve that Chip Wily had left behind with his excellent intelligence and memories transplanted there… And in the end it fell into the ocean… I was there, ya know?"

"Hum. You were somewhat correct this time around." Blood Shadow muttered.

"And that was… Warning! Drum roll! Ta-ta-ta-DAN! November 2004! It's July 2009! So! 4 years 9 months! Time flies by, Hikari – sama~!"

"Sure, sure." Netto rolled his eyes.

"Jeez." Saito complained.

"Daup! Pan!"

"And Maha is into feng shui again."

"Shug Feni!" Sigma made up a parody.

"Jeez."

"Mau~p!"

"And the Navis are totally exasperated by Shadow Man's puns."

"No wonder, either." Blood Shadow sighed.

"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh… I'm being praised, adventurers!"

Shadow Man came out of Sigma's large shadow while making his pose with the fingers glued and chuckling: everyone sighed out of exasperation while Sigma grinned.

"Yo! Shadow Man! How many did you fish out?"

"Hmpf… I found 7 sinners lurking in the outskirts of Internet City and trying to blow up the Silver Tower… You know: the one with so many antennas and all… Paid by "them"… And by "them"…"

"Yeah. The "Neo Gospel" survivors… The "Dark Side"…" Netto grumbled.

"They never stay quiet! Is it that hard to find them in Melbourne?"

"Well. In a metropolis with over 4 million souls… And the guy could be using a disguise too…" Shadow Man sighed.

"Heck. I forgot Melbourne was that big of a city…"

"Speaking of cities…" Blood Shadow brought up.

"Yeah… Brasilia Internet City got stormed by the UFOs…"

"Who finances those? The Dark Side?"

"No. Miyabi had a talk with Chief Lezareno but they suspect some figures in Choina… The extent of the whole affair is yet under investigation."

"Hum. I see."

"By the way. Step-brother Miyabi says a stinking donut is behind it."

"Stinking donut…? Oh come on."

"Auppp…" Rush looked annoyed.

"He's offended." Saito translated.

"My, my. Well then. To avoid a battle over pride… I shall go out through the backdoor: the perfect escape route… Let's meet again… Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh… Nin!"

Shadow Man vanished with a cloud of dust and Sigma chuckled while the others didn't seem to find the whole deal funny at all.

"That guy…" Netto grumbled.

"I know. He doesn't change."

"Newest banner!"

"Swallow us, Earth."

"Aup?"

"Ahem! "Of vile ones and pure ones is the essence of life Universal as written by Universal Man AKA Cosmo Man. 137 BCE. Zin Zan."…"

"Oh come on. Cosmo Man hacked into the forum Dragon – san visits and corrupted another Choina proverb… Universal Man… It's no wonder why he nicknamed himself "the smug Mister Cosmos"…"

"Au~ppp?" Rush wondered.

"Yeah. The town goes mad in the summer, Rush… Run for your sanity…!"

"Jeez. Why do these things happen to us, anyway?"

13:58 PM (Japan Time)…

"… De masu~! Welcome, Nelaus – kun! No! Don't say anything! I KNOW what you MUST gain to WIN! Masu~!"

"… I'm somewhat skeptical, Higure – san…"

"Join the club, Nelaus…"

"I know, Isaac, I know…"

"Huff. Ya-mi-ta-rou! Stop dancing atop the desk!"

"Huh… Trouble… I guess…"

"Pyururu?"

A guy had come to Higureya and Higure Yamitarou began to dance atop the desk while trying to sell him something: Number Man fumed, Kiddo Shuuko looked nervous and Aqua Man seemed to be puzzled: the guy's Navi made a sarcastic comment and the guy sighed.

"Nelaus – kun! My "Love Pact" Battle Chip will do wonders! Masu!"

"L-love Pact…?"

The guy, Nelaus, was about the twins' age and maybe some inches taller than either Netto or Saito.

He had neatly arranged blonde hair which ended at his neck's base and his eyes' irises were green emerald.

His facial features were rather smooth and suave, thus making him stand out somehow.

He carried a Link PET arm strap: his Link PET was colored golden and purple: its emblem was the Alphabet letter "I" colored purple.

"What in the…" Isaac, the Navi, cursed.

"Insert it and… Magic! De masu! You will find a love opponent! I guarantee its success! Masu~!"

"Try it with Mariko – sensei first, you rascal." Number Man growled.

CRASH!

"Masu~…"

"Oh come on."

"Jeez."

Higure gasped in fear and lost his footing so he crashed behind the desk and seemed to be somewhat stunned.

"Isaac… What do we do?"

"Well."

Isaac, his Net Navi, had a unique design and was about a meter and eighty tall.

His face was young and looked like a guy on his teens: his eyes' irises were purple and they had a hint of amusement to them.

His helmet had a central ruby jewel over the forehead shaped like a cross having four triangle ends: eight lines radiated from the central of it and spread across its surface.

The helmet's main color was navy blue and it was also filled with small round and random green dots.

His ear-pads had a white edge and a reddish central body: the Alphabet "I" letter colored purple had been printed there.

His neck had a piece of armor shaped like the Alphabet "V" protecting its base before the start of the chest: it had a cyan edge which split it into two halves the insides of which were colored yellow.

His shoulders were slightly curved square pieces with brown edges, a central silver matrix and five bronze paws forming out of the southern edge which weren't even 5cm long.

His main body color was blue and a central thin purple line spread from the neck's base until his waist, being interrupted by his chest emblem which had the same design as that of his ear-pads.

Some small jade-colored pieces made of two triangles aiming in opposite directions fused at their base were set in columns along the sides of his upper body: none of them were taller than 2cm.

His waist had a belt with three converging rectangular stripes of white edges and black body.

These fused in a diamond having a gray body plus a repetition of his Navi emblem on its center.

His arms had purplish DNA imprints painted over their surface.

His forearm armor had a magenta matrix on them while his wrists were colored in a bronze color.

His hands were blue in color too and they had a circle with a white edge the insides of which depicted the Katana "I" colored purple: some "stars" were drawn at random over the background of the symbol.

His legs had some round dots set along their height which contained a drawing: the edge was brown, the core of it was purple and eight slightly curved lines painted red stretched from the core: the gaps between each one were colored blue.

The knees contained a circling bracelet colored mahogany and having those two fused triangles on the front colored golden.

The boots were colored purple and had an eight-pointed sapphire set on the inward side just below the ankle

Eight thin indigo lines spread from each spook of the sapphire and across the boot.

Overall he was very cool and looked advanced.

"Forget about the guy."

"Well. Guess that."

"What… would you want?" Shuuko timidly asked.

"A Super Vulcan…"

"Alright…"

Shuuko picked the case and placed it on the counter: Nelaus took out his wallet and paid for the Chip.

"See you."

"Thank… you."

"Yamitarou. You moron." Number Man grumbled.

"Mariko – sensei~… De masu~…"

"Pyururu~…"

"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh… The Desk God is your enemy, Higure Yamitarou!" Shadow Man's voice echoed.

"Not again with Shadow Man… He drives me MAD." Isaac fumed.

"Anyone would be… Time to scram…"

"And to scream, Rainon…" Shadow Man made a lame pun.

"Jeez."

Nelaus came outta the store before Shadow Man could pull another on him and heard a chuckle: he turned to the right and spotted Ooyama Dekao walking towards there while rubbing his hands in excitement: Chisao followed him but he had his arms folded and looked both annoyed and skeptical.

"Today I get an Ultra Rare Mega Super Rare Chip and I beat the crap outta Sigma once and for all! Mwah, hah, hah, hah!"

"Guts, guts! Guts Man will win!"

"Hmpf! Chu! Dream on, niichan! There's no such thing! Chu!"

"Au~p."

"Wha! Rush! Where'd ya been at?"

"Yay! Chu! Rush's back!"

"Let's get away NOW." Isaac whispered.

"Sure thing…" Nelaus grumbled.

He ran off while Rush grinned as he signaled the store: Dekao peeked inside and grinned.

"Oho! Higure – san is KO! Chance!"

"Chu! Dream on, niichan!"

"Aup! Pau! Rau~h!"

"What?"

"Guts, guts. Rush says Dekao will become Clown Man."

"WHAT? THIS GUY!"

"Aup!"

Rush opened his Rush Hole and dived into the ground: Dekao fumed and headed inside of the store as Ijuuin Enzan strolled down the street from the opposite ground: he had his hands stuffed into the pockets and looked amused.

"Heh. Dekao is gonna learn the consequences of his own "reality distortion field", I guess."

"So it'd seem, Enzan – sama." Blues calmly commented.

"Well. Laika's overseas but he should be coming in 2 days' time. We'll need to gather a lot of strength if we want to assault those UFOs from the inside. Not like the "Net Saviors" are going to let those foreign hackers get away with it, anyway… The "Dark Side" jerks can wait…"

"Indeed."

"… UWA~H! A FLYING KATANA~! RUN FOR YOUR NECKS!"

"Chu! Baka niichan! That's a hologram! Chu!"

"Jeez. Shadow Man and the guy's lame sense of humor… The city goes mad AGAIN and AGAIN…! Is there no end to the madness?"

14:14 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Hiya~! Nelaus – ku~n!"

"Tamashita Aura – chan. So you dropped by, huh?"

"What. Did something happen? You've got such a long face!"

"Higure – san acting the clown."

"Oh yes! Ayanokouji – san told me plenty about him."

"Jeez. Ayanokouji, the lil gal… She talks too much."

"At least Glyde is silent."

"But he glides, Isaac – kun!"

"How original, Felicia – chan. I've got the feeling someone invented that way before you did."

"Tee, heh, heh."

Nelaus reached his house and spotted a girl standing in front of the entrance and who waved at him.

This girl was around fifteen years old and roughly a few inches shorter than Nelaus.

She had orange curly hair and blue eyes.

Today she sported a brown sleeveless leather jacket coupled with a knee-long skirt, and brown leather boots.

She also carried her arm strap for her Link PET and a handbag: her Link PET's emblem was a stylized "F" letter colored white and black and set against a blue background which was decorated with snow drops.

"Alright! Let's crush!"

"Crush? Crush… What? Some nuts?"

"Tee, heh, heh!"

"Jeez." Felicia fumed from inside of Aura's PET.

"Is there some secret meaning?"

"Popularly… "Crush" stands for "love relationship" or "coupling"…"

"Hum. I see."

Felicia came out with the projector and directed a scolding glare at Tamashita, who ignored it.

She seemed to be around her Operator's height at a first glance.

Her helmet was colored olive green and it had a sapphire set into its forehead which glowed differently depending on the light's angle: the helmet included a cobalt blue matrix over its surface.

Her eyes were cobalt blue as well and two twin tails of blondish hair came out from behind her head.

Her bodysuit's main color was cobalt blue instead and her emblem was the same one as in the PET.

Her shoulders were anatomically correct and had ruby plating over them while her arms and elbow were colored in a mix of blue and white decorated with emerald square dots.

Her forearms were colored orange and had eight thin pink circles circling along their length.

Her legs used a mix of blue and yellow and contained diamond-shaped brown dots scattered at random.

The boots had been painted using orange color and had zigzag patterns which vertically spanned the height of them.

"Let's go, honey~…"

"Sure, sure." Nelaus drily replied.

Nelaus unlocked the house and they came inside the living room: Tamashita sat down on the sofa on the north wall while Nelaus headed into the kitchen and began to prepare some tea: the PET rang so Isaac activated the holographic screen: Sakurai Meiru was onscreen.

"Chut! Nelaus – kun… Be careful with Yaito – chan… She's up to something sneaky!" She whispered.

"No wonder, Miss Sakurai."

"Well. That's all. See ya."

"Be careful as well." Roll hushed to Isaac.

"OK."

The call got cut and Nelaus waited as the teapot heated up: there was a chuckle coming from his PET and Isaac sighed.

"Cloud Man. I know it's you. Go tell Swallow Man that Kujaku Mai's "Harpie Ladies" are his Bahamas Primitive Barbarian Terrific And Deadly Cousins." Isaac improvised a silly title.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah! Good, Isaac, good! I always knew ya had a knack for this: I've known since last summer!" Darkloid Cloud Man's voice laughed.

"Yeah. I know. And if you don't go back soon your precious Commander Freeze Man will get vehemently disgusted!"

"Ugh! No good!"

"Phew. I shook him off somehow. Let's let the guy quarrel with Swallow Man and hope he stops lurking before the firewall. He knows he can't come in so he teases us like that."

Nelaus finished preparing the tea and served it into two teacups: he placed them in a platter and brought it to the living room where he set them into the desk: Tamashita lowered the PET and set it on the table.

"Sakurai – san told me Ms. Heiress was up to something sneaky." She admitted.

"Ah. I see."

"I think she wants to involve B-Class' Masuko – kun."

"Arushi Masuko? Jeez. Why won't she leave anyone in peace?"

"Dunno."

"How lovely."

"Someone save us! Yaito – sama upgraded the land mowers and now they fly! The sky hoppers!" Glyde began to hysterically knock into the firewall from the outside.

"By all the… I knew this would end up happening. Come in, Glyde, fella, and get into the bunker."

"A~h! Isaac – dono! Felicia – sama! It is terrible! Yaito – sama plans on having them fly across the city and place the blame into a curse~!" Glyde ran in and looked about to go mad.

"By all the…" Even Tamashita cursed.

"Join the club." Isaac sarcastically told Glyde.

"I do get the irony, sir."

"Desu? What's wrong, Glyde – san?" Ice Man asked from the outside.

"We saw him run like he was going to be slaughtered…" Hikawa Tooru admitted.

"The lil heiress' sky mowers…"

"Sky mowers…! First trying to make me play the boyfriend to quit it and now this…! I thought she was joking back in early 2008 but…" He rolled his eyes.

"Someone save us!" Glyde pleaded.

"Where's her father?" Tamashita sighed.

"He is to come back tomorrow morning but I'm not sure if we'll be in one piece by then!" He exclaimed.

"Heck. How else can we stop her?" Nelaus sighed.

"Hum… Hard to say…" Tamashita trailed off.

"Hit her with a frying pan." Felicia grumbled.

"Oh come on! Felicia, dear. Violence only feeds violence."

"I knew it. I was being sarcastic."

"Call her father. NOW." Isaac told Glyde.

"I've tried. But I'm afraid he's embarked into the plane already. He had to come back from Paris!"

"Paris! Heck. I'm sure she timed it all, even."

"Aupppp?" Rush popped out the ground.

"Rush, was it? Well. I'm Isaac. Say. You know Ayanokouji, right?"

"Auppp…" He nodded.

"Good. Then go give her a message from me: IPC is gonna invent the Mole Mower to get rid of garden moles." Isaac snickered.

"Aup! Aup, au~p!" He grinned.

He opened the hole and ran off while everyone sighed in relief.

"The mere mention of IPC should be enough to trigger her envy and pride and get obsessed with inventing something else which can beat garden moles and which isn't mowers." Isaac sighed.

"Huh! We're saved… For now." Glyde sighed.

"Yeah. For now… We gotta prepare some emergency measures or we won't make it through this summer…" Nelaus grimly sentenced.

"Huff. I totally agree on that. Maybe your uncle could help pretending he's going to write a "Book of Inventions" and invent the "Anti-Mower-Mower-Anti"… And have her boil the brains to try to figure out how it's supposed to work…" Tamashita suggested.

"Yeah. We'll have to go for that kind of strategy and I'll also need Ijuuin's collaboration… Man! What a July afternoon."

"Jeez. Ayanokouji – san… Behave like an adult already!"

The group sighed in defeat: Yaito drove them all mad…