Chapter 2: Annihilator Chip
20:28 PM (Japan Time), Friday June the 10th…
"… Nelaus! Sorry. We came as fast as we could."
"I made it on time, it'd seem."
"Yeah. But we shouldn't lower the guard!"
Netto, Enzan and Nelaus met up some meters in front of the perimeter surrounding a still under construction office building: a discrete deep green Hyundai car was parked nearby and two persons' silhouettes could be seen inside of it.
"I see. Those are the escort agents… At least we have this backup ready and in standby… Listen up: there are three of them… So I guess each one of us will have to pick one opponent." Nelaus told them.
"I see." Rock Man calmly muttered as he projected with hologram.
"We're ready to come out, too, if the situation calls for it." Blood Shadow whispered from inside of the Link PET.
"Hum. We're on standby inside of the CCTV camera's Cyber World." Sigma whispered next.
"Look: the entrance fences have been tossed asides. It's like saying: "come in", even." Enzan signaled.
"They picked the wrong guys to mess with." Netto grinned.
"Yeah. They'll be having caries." Isaac grinned.
"Oi, oi…" Blues seemed to fin the joke out of proportions.
"Jeez." Nelaus mumbled.
"Mwah, hah, hah… What are we waiting for? Let's go inside already and meet our three punks!" Sigma whispered.
"Cool it down, Sigma." Blood Shadow scolded.
"Go!" The three of them whispered.
They ran into the perimeter and spotted the open lobby doors: the lobby itself was roughly over 80% complete but some tiles were still missing as well as some handrails.
The elevator shafts were not totally enclosed yet but the stairs had been built.
Some construction material could be seen around as well as walls missing covers and showing the electrical wiring and piping running behind them.
"Where are you guys? Come out!" Netto challenged.
"Net Saviors gentlemen! Welcome!" A man's voice rang out.
A man dropped down from a balcony about three meters higher and landed on the ground in a crouched position before standing up.
He looked around a meter and eighty tall and had both black beard and hair.
His eyes' irises color was brown.
His facial features hinted his age to be on his thirties.
He wore a brown and green monk's tunic with a lowered hood and a round glass monocle over the right eye.
His tunic included a golden medallion hanging around his neck with the Kanji inishie (Ancient) drawn on it colored blood red.
His hands were bare and he seemed to be holding a dome-shaped object on his right hand.
Overall, he looked calm and didn't seem to care about what was going on.
"My name is Ancient!" He announced.
"Ancient?" Everyone wondered.
"Indeed! My codename!" He exclaimed.
"Codename…? Are you a companion of those guys from before?" Nelaus questioned.
"Correct!"
He suddenly lifted the right hand and tossed the object into the floor in front of him.
This object had a dome shape and was colored white and red: it seemed to be as tall as a human foot.
Four rectangles with azure borders and black insides were set on the north, south, east and west ends of it while the space between them had plastic covers displaying circuitry boards.
Each rectangle had a Plug-In port set half-way across it which allowed for Plug – In.
"Whoa!" Everyone gasped.
The device suddenly hummed and a small lens set on the topmost section of it and having eight thin circuitry pathways leading up to it ignited to project a hologram of what looked like a VR arena: a matrix of green lines forming squares.
"Plug In! Ronin Man, Transmission!"
Ancient took out a brown Link PET with his name's Kanji as its emblem and colored in a faded brown color: his Navi plugged into the north port of the device and appeared inside of the VR arena.
"Wow."
Ronin Man looked around a meter and eighty tall.
His eyes' irises were red he looked serious and menacing given an eight-pointed purple jewel shining on his helmet's forehead.
He had blood red armor on which looked reminiscent of Takeda Shingen's Akazonae cavalry troops.
He carried the traditional two swords: the katana and wakizashi inside of their holsters and attached to his belt.
The word ronin was painted black against red background on his emblem.
"Ancient… Ronin Man…!" Nelaus gasped.
"What's that machine?" Enzan questioned.
"A new Net Battle device we have developed: the Battle Stage! Up to four Net Navis can Plug-In and carry out a holographic battle: the holograms are properly scaled to be one third of the real-life size. Hikari – dono! I challenge you to a Net Battle!" Ancient announced.
"Fine! Plug In! Rock Man EXE, Transmission!"
Rock Man entered the Battle Stage and he appeared in front of Ronin Man while having already drawn his Rock Buster.
"So! You're THE Rock Man." Ronin Man calmly told him.
"Who are you guys?" Rock Man demanded.
"If you wish to know the answer… Then there's no other way around but to defeat me! Showdown! Hikari – dono!" Ancient challenged.
"Fine! Let's go, Rock Man! Battle Chip, Samurai Sword! Slot In!"
Rock Man drew the Samurai Sword while Ronin Man calmly drew the katana and assumed a fighting pose by placing his right foot forward yet holding the sword vertically to make sure to block any incoming attacks Rock Man might throw at him.
"Rock Man. Let's try to make a study of their capabilities before we decide switching to heavy weaponry. We gotta find out their pattern." Netto told him.
"Roger." He calmly replied.
"Come!" Ronin Man challenged.
Rock Man calmly circled around and tried to trick Ronin Man with fake attacks by starting the gesture to move forward yet then stepping back: Ronin Man read through it and tried to attack Rock Man back, but Rock Man blocked back: Ronin Man took out the second sword and tried to attack Rock Man but he was always two steps ahead of him and forcing him into countering.
"I had to battle a guy with two swords some time ago. He was really powerful so I learnt from the experience. You're not weak, either, but I have had a good share of unique battles." Rock Man calmly told him.
"Hmpf. So it'd seem." He sounded unimpressed.
"Hum! Keep it like this, Ronin Man." Ancient commanded.
"Yes, my Lord."
"I guess Miyabi would want to butt in no matter what if he got a hold of this." Nelaus whispered to Enzan.
"Yeah. Obviously." Enzan shrugged.
"I'm under the impression they aren't holding back, but… It looks like they're testing Rock Man." Blues commented.
"I get that same feeling, too." Isaac admitted.
"Battle Chip, Neo Variable Sword! Slot In!" Netto announced.
None of the presents spotted three figures looking on from a finished balcony set on the west wall.
The leftmost one looked close to a meter and seventy tall.
Their hair was brown and they had sunglasses on and they were smiling: they looked no older than sixteen years old.
They wore a reddish scarf, a black trench coat, biker jeans and black boots: a navy blue shirt could be seen being worn under the trench coat.
The Kanji kako (past) was printed in purple color over the right sleeve.
The person wore leather gloves as well.
A red and brown Link PET was set on the right arm and its emblem was the Kanji mamono (monster) colored vermillion and set against a navy blue background.
"Heh, heh, heh…"
"Wro~h…"
The centermost one was over a meter and eighty tall.
Their hair was blond and they sported sunglasses as well: they looked serious and might be been close to its thirties.
They wore a navy blue biker coat with long sleeves and had the hands stuffed on the pockets.
They also wore biker jeans and black leather boots.
The Kanji genzai (present) was drawn in green and vertically across both sides of the coat.
The Link PET of this person was colored purple and yellow: its symbol was the Kanji ono (axe) colored forest green and set against a white-colored background.
"Hmpf."
"Hum."
The rightmost one looked slightly over a meter and seventy tall or maybe slightly taller.
They also sported a biker's helmet the face shield of which was lifted: the person had sunglasses on, too.
They wore a brown raincoat which had the Kanji mirai (future) draw vertically on both sides and colored fuchsia.
They sported a large black leather double-row belt with a boomerang and a set of keys attached to it.
The palms were covered by strap-affixed black-colored half-a-capsule-shaped plastic objects with a red circle set atop them.
They sported black leather boots as well.
It was hard to estimate its age given the helmet.
Their Link PET's colors were black and magenta: the symbol was the Kanji hakai (destruction) colored metallic gray and drawn over an azure background.
"Oho."
"Heh."
"Let us watch." The centermost person commanded.
"… Sonic Boom!"
"Ronin Cross!"
Ronin Man crossed his swords and managed to block off the Neo Variable Sword's Sonic Boom before shooting it back: Rock Man had already skidded across the ground taking advantage of Ronin Man's struggle and managed to land some hits on Ronin Man: he calmly stepped back and shrugged them off.
"I see. Keep 'im busy with the Sonic Boom and use that window to strike at the enemy… Amusing." The rightmost person muttered.
"I should've seen it coming." The leftmost person turned serious.
"Oi, oi… Past. That face doesn't suit ya, I tell ya." The rightmost person told him.
"Future. Do us a favor and be silent." Past replied.
"Silence." The centermost person commanded.
"Present. Ya are too stiff." Future grumbled.
Past and Present paid no heed to him: he grumbled under his breath and resumed watching the ongoing Net Battle.
"… Program Advance! Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword! Slot In!"
"Dream Sword!"
"Ronin's Counterattack!"
Ronin Man, however, was one step too late to try to deflect the Dream Sword with his swords since it'd already made it inches in front of him: it hit him and inflicted some damage thus pushing him back and leaving some wounds and bruises on his body: he looked ready for more, though.
"This guy is starting to look like a Darkloid…" Netto muttered with a hint of nervousness.
"Diehard type, huh…" Nelaus lifted the right eyebrow.
"… Hmmm… Fine. Hikari – dono! I shall allow you to witness our true power!" Ancient suddenly exclaimed.
"Crap. Ace-in-the-hole…!" Enzan muttered.
"Annihilator Chip!"
Ancient took it out of his tunic's chest pocket and held it up.
This device looked like a "Synchro Chip" without the dome and having just an empty circle with eight radial black-colored grooves.
It didn't have an emblem, either, and the rest of the structure looked identical to a normal "Synchro Chip".
"You're not gonna tell me it's a rip-off from the "Dark Chips" like those "Atomic Chips" the Atomic Network Net Mafia came up back in October…"
"Heh, heh, heh! Wrong! This is no "Dark Chip" based tool. It is a wholly new system! Annihilator Chip, Slot In!" Ancient chuckled.
Ronin Man was surrounded by a white column of light and the bright on his eyes seemed to dim until they became black and lifeless: his mouth opened but only a hollow echo-like laughter emerged.
His body started moving faster and Rock Man suddenly found himself being bombarded by multiple sword attacks.
"Netto – kun! Take out the Metal Soul!" He called out.
"Roger! Soul Unison: Metal Soul! Slot In!"
Rock Man transformed into the Metal Soul and quickly charged up his right fist: it glowed with a blue light.
"Metal… Break!" He exclaimed.
The attack shattered both swords and sent Ronin Man flying.
"How's that…?"
He simply didn't seem to feel it as he was moved by mere inertia and crashed upon the ground without making a single sound: they quickly stood up and began to charge up energy around the forearms: almost invisible circular buzz saws formed there and Ronin Man jumped towards Rock Man: he saw it coming so he brought his fists out to block: the buzz saws plunged into them and got stuck there.
"Something's wrong. Ronin Man is acting weird. I'd say he isn't even conscious of what he does… It's like… he was a puppet!" He muttered with a hint of nervousness.
"What? Someone is using Telnet to control the guy remotely?" Nelaus wondered.
"It's not crazy…" Enzan muttered.
"Hah, hah, hah… More or less correct, Rock Man." The hollow voice rang out of Ronin Man's mouth.
"And you're the puppeteer." Rock Man guessed.
"Call me that if you want to." The voice shrugged.
"So! Your "Annihilator Chip" shuts down a Navi's consciousness program and opens a Telnet or SSH connection to you so that you can implant a cache copy of yourself there and control it: you don't feel this guy's pain or anything thus why you can keep on fighting as long as you have enough HP." Rock Man deduced.
"Holmes. I take my hat off in front of you." The voice sarcastically told Rock Man.
"Did you think we're slow? We've seen a lot in these four and something years ever since I was appointed a Net Savior."
"Of course not. But this doesn't apply to Ronin Man: even you could be controlled by me if your Operator used the Annihilator Chip. We could control any Navi in the world and always in a simultaneous manner: it's easy to have several cache copies and servers to do this."
"Yuriko's trick won't work twice. "Fool me once, you're to shame. Fool me twice, I'm to shame." No – one falls for the same trick twice, puppeteer guy!" Rock Man calmly shot back.
"Hah. I was just warning you: this is but the prologue of something bigger which is going to start from now onwards."
"Metal Missile, Metal Wheel!"
Rock Man took the chance to shoot a rain of missiles at Ronin Man and then hit his waist with the Metal Wheel thus separating them and making him land on the ground.
"His HP is below 50 by now… Or are you gonna push it to 0?" Rock Man announced.
"Enough… This will be sufficient for the time being. Ancient! Retrieve Ronin Man and meet up with the Swordsmen. Then retreat." "Puppeteer" commanded.
"By your orders, sir!" Ancient bowed.
"Farewell, Rock Man!" "Puppeteer" exclaimed.
"Ronin Man! Plug Out!"
Ronin Man returned to Ancient's PET and he quickly aimed his left arm at the wall behind him: a small magnetic hook shot out of a device hidden inside of the left sleeve and attached to the wall: Ancient let the wire reel him and he easily climbed into the balcony.
"Keep the Duel Stage if you desire to, gentlemen! We have plenty more of them in stock. Farewell, Net Savior gentlemen!"
He ran off towards the left to meet the other three who had already opened the emergency fire stairs' door and were running down the stairs: Netto quickly retrieved Rock Man and the three of them tried to run off only for "Dimensional Area" walls to form on each opening and blocking them off.
"What the…!" Netto cursed.
"Damn. Stall for time…" Enzan groaned.
"Guys?" Rock Man called out.
"The line's been jammed." Blues reported.
"Shit." Nelaus growled.
They heard the sound of four motorbikes turning on and one of them ran off while the other three came close and broke inside of the lobby as the walls vanished: they tossed the stolen Chips into the ground as well.
"Net Saviors! We are Rama. A new conflict has begun. You will need to draw your true power if you hope to survive!" Present exclaimed.
"… You better don't think low of us." Past announced.
"Heh, heh, heh! Many and plenty of itchin' battles are waitin' for ya guys from now on. Blood 'n guts! Heh, heh, heh!" Future exclaimed.
"Farewell!" They all exclaimed.
They exited through the north gate and tore down a perimeter fence to exit into the street: they were soon out of sight but a while column of light which showed up some blocks away indicated it all.
"Damn. They used "Dimensional Converters" to run away." Isaac cursed aloud.
"Rama…" Rock Man muttered.
"Mwah, hah, hah. Those guys looked like they'd come out of a bike party!" Sigma exclaimed as he showed up on Netto's Link PET.
"It's like they said: a new conflict has begun." Blood Shadow summed up.
"Let's go sleep and we'll talk it with the Net Police because it's almost 21:00 PM and it's no time to discuss." Enzan suggested.
"Of course… And I'm sure Twilight will soon show up to taunt us too…"
"Lovely prologue. Let's pick that thing and bring it to the Science Labs."
"Rama… What's you guys' goal…? To what ends do you intend to go…?"