The Secret Army
By Zoram Selrof
Prologue: Meeting
21:48 PM (Japan Time), Friday September the 29th, 2010…
"… Shah, shah, shah! Heh, heh, heh… Those guys should be about to come… The great me, Needle Man – sama, am a genius, really! It really was a good idea to ditch that useless gardener Operator after the Zero Virus incident!"
The Net Navi Needle Man (the same one who'd been involved in the Zero Virus Incident) was standing inside of a spot somewhere in the Cyber World and muttering aloud.
"… Are you the one who called for us?" A voice questioned.
"Hmpf! It better be worth our time, you punk!"A second hostile voice warned.
"Hmpf." A third voice scoffed.
"Uo~h… It sure has to be something worth our time…" One fourth voice guessed.
"The great I didn't come to waste his time!" A fifth grumbled.
"Shah, shah, shah! It's worth you guys' time… WWW Net Navis!" Needle Man grinned.
"Hmpf. Well then… I am Plant Man."
Plant Man struck as being as tall as Needle Man but maybe taller by one or two inches.
His face's skin was also tinted black: he had a small refined nose plus a mouth: his eyes didn't have irises and were colored green: a flower shape formed around his head and aimed backwards: its main color was a pale pink which then turned deeper in some spots near the far edge: two thorns came out from head where the ears would be at.
His head also had a red diamond set over the forehead and what was visible of the neck indicated that it was also colored black.
His upper body was tinted purple with two rows of seven pink-like dots forming a vertical pattern close to the inner edges of his main body: two orange-colored leaves shaped like a shirt's collar.
The space inside of the collar was colored lush green and that same color spread to the shoulders and until the wrists.
His shoulders had two white thorns each and his forearms had a bulb-like shape with four leaves spreading from the wrist in a cross-shaped formation: his hands' "skin" was black in color.
The outer edge of his main body was white in color but it began to gain tints of green and turning blacker in tonality until it reached the plain feet without any distinctive features.
Three circular pink-like circular bands marked the border between each layer of color until they reached the spot beneath the knees: the other segments had an uncolored band separating them.
Two spiraling vines with thorns forming out of them came out from behind his body and reached the ground: they began as lush green but turned pale green when they reached the end.
"Hah! I'm Beast Man!"
Beast Man struck as being slightly shorter in height: he was a "humanoid" model Navi yet he had a beastly (like his name hinted) appearance.
His head was colored in the same color: a reddish slide-shaped piece sprouted from the top of it: his eyes' irises were red with black pupils: his jaw's color was brown and he had no nose: two fangs formed from inside of the nose openings: the drawing on his ear-pads was three parallel scars aiming SE and set against a black background: his orange-like hair came out from beneath the head and formed seven arched spikes which also extended downwards past the upper torso armor while forming six spikes.
A reddish band surrounded the base of his neck as well.
His upper torso's armor was colored mud brown and had two fang-like drawings colored silver set over the sides of it.
His shoulders were orange spheroids with two red diamonds set over each one: his arms were missing the elbows and his forearms were larger than common: they were colored orange and the wrists ended in thick red circles having four small black rectangles drawn over it: three large claws and a shorter one sprouted from the ends of each one.
His hair also continued down his spine as well: his body until the hips was also colored black before the mud brown armor covered the legs and the feet started: the knee segment was decorated with a reddish edge, a main black color, and the forward edges were colored orange: the black coloring continued until the base of the feet from where three claws emerged from: two round orange spots were placed at the legs' ends.
"Flash Man doesn't do a grunt's work."
Flash Man was a bit taller than Beast Man but fell somewhat short in height when compared to his companions.
His face had no mouth or nose drawn into them and was a gray metallic piece instead: the area around the sides of the head and the jaw was colored navy blue: his eyes did have irises but were red in color: the top of his helmet had a general tear shaped with the upper section being colored yellow.
Flash Man's armor's main color was navy blue: a small cavity shaped like an arch was built on the front of his armor while two small greenish spots could be spotted on the chest area: two curved handle-like metallic tubes were set on his back, too plus two shirt collar – like formations the upper edge of with was colored metallic gray.
His shoulders were shaped as round spheroids: the middle section had a silver metallic band circling it plus a yellow dome-like form: the arms were colored black and, like most Net Navis, didn't have elbows: the forearms were covered by a partial dagger-like armor which only covered the upper part being colored blue with silver edges: the forearm had a gray metallic armlet set on the wrist as well.
His Net Navi emblem was set on the furthest edge of the forearm and consisted on a bright yellow star with four spikes set over a dim yellow background.
The body below the upper torso and legs was colored black until the knees where his boots began: the only special trait about them was a metallic gray triangle aiming downwards on each one plus the front edge of the boots was tinted in white.
"Uo~h… Desert Man's power is nothing to be looked down upon… Hoh, hoh, hoh…" The third one warned.
Desert Man (as if his name wasn't enough of a hint) seemed to be made up of just sand: his body rose out of the ground like a small tower but had no arms or legs: two round purple eyes shone from within a black space and a large black mouth sans tooth could be seen, too, and they created a creepy impression.
The upper portion of his body had three circles climbing upwards which slowly decreased in width: they had some square hollow spots on them, too plus a nose-like formation.
The only other noticeable things of his main body were three dome-shaped formations set in a row on each side of the body having a drawing into it: the outer edge was orange while the insides had two black shapes similar to the Alphabet letter "M" drawn there.
Two gigantic hands made out of sand and having four fingers each emerged from the ground, too.
"Drill Man – sama is invincible! How's that for a change? Ya can't hope to beat my armor!"
Drill Man didn't have much of a "face" per se given how his eyes were set inside of two small rectangular holes with a nose-like formation between them.
He seemed to be over a meter and eighty tall: his chest's main color was red but the area around the stomach and below was colored orange: his upper body ended in a thin cylinder-shaped extension.
His emblem's edge was yellow and its drawing was simple diagonal lines crossing through it starting at the SW and ending at the NE:
A small cone-shaped drill was set above his head and he had what looked like two halves of a drill's body set on his shoulders set aiming slightly downwards: his arms' "skin" was colored black and they had a small orange-like ring just before the wrists: two drills with a red circular support were placed where the hands should be at.
His waist had a round metallic piece which looked like it was part of the main drill body as well: his legs were colored black with some pale rectangles set forming a row and running down their sides until the feet started.
His feet had pale brown-like boots with two halves of a drill's body set on the front and rear of each one: the feet base was red and ended in drill-shaped feet aiming forward with a smaller drill aiming backwards.
"Heh! I drill 'em all!"
"Shah, shah, shah! Not so fast, guys… Where's Bubble Man? Isn't he a WWW Navi, too?" Needle Man asked.
"Cousin Bubble Man? Hah. He got lost and we don't give a cent for him given how idiotic, coward, weak and useless the kid is." Drill Man scoffed.
"Oho. More "guests" are on their way here… Shah, shah, shah!"
"Hum! Someone got ahead of us."
"Meeting timed so that another party arrives first…"
"Oh. Shut up."
"Check it out! It was a good idea to ditch my Operator! Heh!"
"Shah, shah, shah! Say your names, guys!"
"Sword Man!"
"Unit Gravity Man: ready for action…"
"I'm Star Man. I'm up for a thrill."
"Shah, shah, shah! That's the spirit!"
"Check it out! Bright Man – sama's unbeatable! Nyah, hah, hah, hah, hah, ha~h!"
"That's for sure! Shah, shah, shah!"
Four more Navis came in: they'd all been involved in the Zero Virus Incident as well in the past.
"Shah, shah, shah, shah! O. K.! So! Like you said… We're gonna discard Bubble Man… Anyway… I called ya guys here 'cause I wanna suggest something to ya guys, ya see..." Needle Man went straight to the point and trailed off in purpose.
"Oh? And what would that be?" Plant Man asked while crossing his arms and forming a smug smile.
"Shah – hah! Simple! We'll create a "secret army" of solo Navis! We're gonna come out into the real world: we'll fight the bothersome eyesore humans! So?" He announced.
"Mwa, hah, hah, hah, ha~h! Count me in!" Beast Man laughed and swung his claws as if wanting action right there and then.
"Hmpf. Fine." Flash Man was unimpressed and he merely shrugged his shoulders.
"Uo~h… Chaos and fear…!" Desert Man made a dry chuckle and his grin grew wider.
"Hah! I'll smash them into dust." Drill Man boasted as he also swung his arms around.
"W-wait! I'm late!" Someone exclaimed.
"Ah! I was forgetting ya… Bowl Man!"
"Bowl Man?" Star Man wondered.
Bowl Man was a largely tall Net Navi: his upper body color was white yet his neck's base was red in color.
The edges around his head shared the same coloring while his face was white in color: his eyes were plainly red in color and lacked iris to them: his nose was also red in color and he had a mouth.
Four fang-like formations were set on the lower edge of his jaw and aiming upwards towards his face: his ear-pads' edge was tinted red and contained his emblem inside: three round green dots forming a triangle's outline set against a black background.
The other striking fact about his head was a yellowish edge circling the forehead with a bowling ball colored green set atop it.
His arms were made of three bowling balls colored green: his hands were colored black and had a small piece of greenish armor covering the upper part of them.
His legs' color palette was red: they had a cross-shaped piece of armor over the knees and ended right on the ankle: white shoes with a small yellow round band were placed there, too.
Two gray metallic pieces of armor covered the flanks and ended slightly above the knees.
Lastly, Bowl Man carried a pin having a black base, a red stripe over it and white body attached to his back.
"Huff… Huff… Making all the way to a forgotten spot in Izu ain't that easy…!" He cursed as he tried to recover his breath.
"Anyway… I have a score to settle with a runaway mouse, so count me in into this idea!" Sword Man announced.
"Check it out! It's gonna be fun!" Bright Man grinned.
"Sure…" Star Man shrugged.
"Sha, sha, sha! Ah! If you wanna something in exchange… Have these on for a try!"
Needle Man suddenly opened a compartment in the ground and pulled out a large armored box which he unlocked.
"Here! Catch!"
Needle Man tossed all of them some objects which they ended up picking: they checked them and gasped in surprise.
"Are there the real stuff?" Star Man asked as he looked up from whatever he had hidden inside of his hands.
"Shah, shah, shah! Test it out!"
"Check it out! It's become interesting!"
"Heh, heh, heh… Ya guys will come out and seek your own targets… I'll suggest good places where ya will be able to cause a good ruckus… Shah, shah, shah!" Needle Man instructed.
"Affirmative." Gravity Man dully intoned.
"And we get this stuff, too…! Things can only get better! I've got that hunch, see! Munyah, hah, hah, hah!" Beast Man sounded amused and began to laugh.
"Shah, shah, shah! But those are for "emergencies"! I don't have infinite stock, guys! I have to ration 'em! And quit it with the eerie laughter as well, Danna!" Needle Man warned.
"Good. And I agree. Shut the beak up, savage." Flash Man nodded in agreement and snapped at Beast Man.
"Wha~t?" Beast Man growled.
"You heard Flash Man!" Desert Man added.
"You lowlifes…"
"Wanna brawl?" Drill Man challenged.
"My, my. What savages, truly. It's some miracle we haven't killed each other already." Plant Man sighed in defeat.
"Shah, shah, shah! Cool it, guys! Let's meet early at 8:05 AM! And if ya see Bubble Man then tell 'im we don't count 'im in and go harvest bubbles in Alaska via DHL!" Needle Man grinned.
"Sure! I was tired of the guy, anyway. The only good thing he could do when we played hockey was to watch the goal. And I agree that we should stop the quarrel or else we look like idiots." Beast Man seemed to have cooled it for the time being.
"Shah, shah, shah! Beware of the treacherous "Hunters' Guild" guys, too! Hide in remote spots and don't lower the guard! Their turn will come later but we're so gonna have payback on 'em, too! How's that like? Did it boost ya guys?" Needle Man cautioned.
"Uo~h… Excellent…! They humiliated us back in the summer when we were in Alaska… They shall pay for the sinners' sins with their fleshes and souls!" Desert Man proclaimed.
"Heh, heh, heh… I smell profits." Plant Man chuckled and rubbed his chin with the right hand.
"Heh! Let's go, guys. We need to boil our brains." Star Man snickered as he began to walk out.
"Affirmative." Gravity Man dully intoned.
"Oh. Just be quiet." Sword Man grumbled.
"Check it out! I'm a genius!" Bright Man snickered next.
"I wonder about that." Bowl Man taunted.
"Wha~t?" Bright Man grumbled.
"Hmpf!" The WWW Navis taunted.
"Eh… Guys! Guys! Cool it, cool it!" Needle Man gasped.
"Fine. Let's go, guys." Star Man sighed and seemed to realize it was pointless to start a fight.
"Hah! Let's leave those old-timers to handle it themselves!" Drill Man taunted.
"That includes ME?" Bowl Man grumbled.
"No." Flash Man dully replied.
The WWW Navis ran off (Desert Man crawled across the ground) while Bowl Man fumed and headed off in another direction: Needle Man was left alone and he sighed in relief.
"Phew! That was close…"
"Man! They sure have a lot of bad blood."
"What were ya expecting? Yuriko."
"I know, I know."
A communications window formed in the air and displayed the face of a woman on her mid-twenties.
She had teal brown hair which ended up in tail which hung directly over her right shoulder.
She sported sunglasses plus purple lipstick and was smiling.
"Heh! How lucky! The "Professor" happened to have resurrected some the Navis involved in the Zero Virus affair: they could escape back when the Official Net Battlers got the man… Heh, heh, heh. This a thousand times better than being a schoolteacher in a shabby elementary school...!"
"Shah, shah, shah! Yeah! Huh? Mail… Troll-F? Who's that?"
Needle Man had sighted how part of the circuitry lighted up and a program shaped like an envelope popped out into the air: he opened it up and frowned.
"Huh? "Blistering blister of blisters will throw ya overboard along with your pocket shark-shaped submarine which we have NO interest into: Troll-F tells ya to go pick lilies in the bottom of the Pacific Ocean and maybe you'll be lucky and discover a galleon's watery grave to claim its shining shiner of shines treasure~…" … How stupid!"
"Don't mind, man. Let's start to boil our brains, too."
"Shah, shah, shah! The Secret Army's been established! Nyah, hah, hah!"
Both laughed aloud and their voice echoed inside of the space…