Chapter 4: Fake romance
17:02 PM (Japan Time), Thursday December the 4th …
"… Phew! I've managed to complete it…"
Saito closed his notebook and stored it inside of his backpack along with the Math course book: he stretched and picked up one of his English novels.
"Let's see… This one will do fine."
"Oh? Which one did you pick?" Blood Shadow asked.
Saito grinned and showed him the title:
"The mysterious Mr. Quin: by Agatha Christie."
"You're into the detective stories world, eh?"
"Well, yeah. I'm hooked."
Saito began to read the book and sometimes wrote down one word he didn't understand.
"Hey! Saito – kun… Roll – chan is here." Blood Shadow suddenly announced a few minutes later.
"Huh? Roll – chan?"
Saito looked at the PC's screen and spotted Roll next to Blood Shadow.
"Hullo, Saito – kun."
"Eh… Good afternoon, Roll – chan… What's up?" Saito asked.
"I'm sorry if I dropped by so suddenly… But I wanted to talk about you… There's something I need to talk of…" Roll told him.
"What?"
"Hum… Would it be asking too much for you to enter your PET for a min? I'd rather…Talk it between the two of us…" Roll blushed a bit.
"Huh… Why not…"
Saito jumped into the bed and stayed in face-up position and he transferred himself into his green and white Link PET.
"OK."
Once he was inside he made sure to turn off the speakers.
"Is something troubling you, Roll – chan?"
"Truth is… Saito – kun… Have you ever… Felt something special about me?" Roll asked.
"Huh? … I'm not really sure…" Saito, as Rock Man, frowned.
"Ah… Maybe it's not the right time for it…" Roll muttered.
"I've always thought of you as a good friend. Were you expecting otherwise, perhaps?" Rock Man asked with a frown.
"Hum… Eh… No. It's okay if you think of me as your friend… Maybe the time is not ripe yet… Sorry to have bothered you… And I guess I've been overdoing it these last years with that teasing joke…" Roll quickly replied, without stopping looking nervous.
"Huh… You weren't really bothering me, Roll – chan… You're welcome anytime. And I really don't mind the teasing joke, mind you."
"Ah… Then… That person was too much of a blabbermouth… I shouldn't have thought they were so literal."
"Who told you that it was the right time for romantic stuff, anyway? A tarot seer or someone like that?"
"Nah. It was a customer on an all-girls-store I go to from time to time in Internet City Block 3E… She did look like she was the Navi of a tarot seer, though… She was themed after the "heart"… As in the Trump Cards, you know." Roll explained.
"Ah! That must be one of the Filibusters of Death! We've met Spade, Diamond and Club! It was obvious that we'd stumble upon a girl Navi themed after the "heart" next! So she's the 4th out of 7: we're making progress." Rock Man realized.
"She was going around telling this in on a whisper to all customers… Even Meiru – chan seemed to believe on it, so I wouldn't be surprised if she's cornered Netto – san and tried to do something similar…" Roll scratched the back of her helmet.
"It wouldn't surprise me at all."
"Say… Are you going to deal with that hoaxer?" Roll asked.
"Hmmm… Maybe you could lure her towards a discrete spot by pretending to know a store with incredible offers… I'd rather not try to intrude upon that store: it'd be pervert."
"I'll take care of that! See ya!"
Roll quickly departed the Hikari house while Saito returned to the real world and into his "cyborg body".
"Blood! We need to go to Internet City and deal with one of the FOD members!" Saito told him.
"O.K.!"
Netto entered the room at that moment.
"You wouldn't believe the silly stuff Meiru – chan has been…" He began while looking annoyed.
"Sorry, Netto - kun! But we gotta deal with one FOD member… Right away!" Saito cut him.
"Huh? OK! What kind of strategy should we use?"
"Let's use our secret ace-in-the-sleeve." Saito grinned.
"But you can engage it on your own, can't you?" Netto frowned.
"… Let's say it's for the old times' sake."
"Oho! That sounds better."
Saito transferred into Netto's PET and he entered Internet City along with Blood Shadow.
"OK. Sigma. Stay here and watch the fort."
"Mwah, hah, hah… Tell that gal to go visit Madame's Tussaud's wax museum and bring Maria's wax statue in Nebula's tanker there!"
"Oh come on. It must've deteriorated by now."
"O.K.! Roll – chan has guided her towards the Internet City Block E 7th Street Warehouse. Let's get there ASAP." Rock Man instructed.
"Lead the way."
Both Navis rushed towards the warehouse and entered it through the backdoor: they hid in the shade behind some piled wooden boxes and waited: the main door soon opened.
"Hello~! Is anyone here~?" A sweet voice called out.
Blood Shadow nodded at Rock Man and Rock Man blinked him an eye: Blood Shadow snapped his fingers and the lights turned on.
"Yikes!"
Both Navis jumped out from their hiding spot and aimed their weapons at the newcomer.
"Net Saviors! Don't move!" Rock Man announced.
"What the…!"
The newcomer was a clearly feminine Navi.
Her helmet's color was black with five purple stripes stretching across its length and the FOD initials on the forehead.
Her eyes' irises were coal and some crimson curly hair came out from behind her helmet.
Her main body's color was purple and the chest emblem was the Trumps "heart" colored crimson set upon a blue background.
Her shoulders were anatomically correct and colored black with cobalt circles atop them.
The arms and elbows were colored black and some pink bands travelled across their length while forming a shape reminiscent of a DNA strain.
Her forearms were colored crimson and her fingers were purple: they contained fake fingernails colored black.
She sported the FOD belt although she had a coiled whip attached to its right side.
Her legs were colored purple and had green bands crisscrossing at some points along their length which were also reminiscent of DNA strains.
Her boots were heeled and black in color: they included diagonal crisscrossing brown patterns too.
"How rude of you! I'm Hidden Heart: one of the Filibusters of Death! Do you know what kind of witchery you pulled on me?" She questioned in an annoyed tone.
"Witchery, you say? You're the one filling people's heads with clichéd romantic stuff… St. Valentine's ain't due until February the 14th!" Rock Man protested.
"Huh? Ah! You're THE Rock Man EXE! I hadn't recognized you at first… My, my… This should be interesting… I'm going to teach you the secret art, see… But its name is a taboo: so I'm going to refer to it as THE art." Hidden Heart smirked.
"Sorry. I'm not good at tarot." Rock Man replied with a smirk.
"You nitwit! It ain't something as stupid as tarot! Bah! It matters not! You shall be MY SLAVE!" Hidden Heart scowled.
"Ah. Dominatrix." Rock Man calmly deduced.
"Hah! So you've heard of it."
"Too bad, though. Some guys got ahead of you."
"What! Ah! The devil!"
"The devil's come to send you back to your maker." Blood Shadow joked.
"These men…!" She cursed
"We're still boys. We aren't 16 yet." Rock Man corrected.
"OK! Soul Unison: Omega Soul! Slot In!"
"Wha~t?"
"Heh."
Rock Man's chest emblem glowed with crimson light and some streaks of energy jumped out of it before a glowing crimson sphere of energy surrounded his body.
His helmet got Omega's helmet overlapped with his but the ear-pads remained unchanged: the inverted pyramidal jewel on the forehead was replaced by an eight-spoke emerald and a golden line with silver edges spanned across the length of the helmet from behind the jewel to the lower rear edge of the helmet.
His shoulder-plates became vermillion and gained white circuitry patterns over them: his arms' skin became black and his forearms' armor got a new crimson layer with a golden bracelet close to the wrist: the fingers were colored black by now.
The chest got Omega's vest over it and it included the "Omega" symbol colored in white color on both sides of it: a hole had been cut on the center to expose his chest emblem.
His waist got that curious "V" piece of armor on it which formed that cavity in the front and the rear of it.
The legs became black and unadorned and the boots also got that crimson armor with a golden bracelet slightly beneath the start of them: the soils got thicker and were colored in metallic black color.
A large flock of blonde hair formed behind the helmet and reached all the way to the floor.
He lastly got a saber weapon on his right hand colored in a bright emerald color plus the holster for it over his right hip.
"Soul Unison: Omega Soul!"
"No way~! What the heck is THAT?"
"It's simply my newest addition in my arsenal. Send us a postcard once you reach Thailand!" Rock Man grinned.
He began to build up energy on the weapon.
"Bert Saxby has a message for ya: build yer own abode!"
"Hra~h!"
Rock Man hit the floor with it and provoked an explosion which sent Hidden Heart flying, breaking through the warehouse's roof.
"I SHALL BE BACK!" She roared.
"Next time try to sell this stuff to Miyuki – san… She'll give you're her Continuous Stare of Death!" He shouted.
"Bwah, hah, hah! Nice!"
"You know Miyuki – san. 90% of the time she has that empty gaze which can freeze the bravest of warriors." Rock Man told him.
"Heh. Classical."
"But, really… A dominatrix mistress…? Twilight's behind her: she must be an imitator of Anaya Maria to begin with." Rock Man rolled his eyes.
"Meh! Like they'll have it easy to sneak on us…" Netto shrugged.
"Mwah, hah, hah. Madame Tussauds will make a wax statue and label it "Hollow Heart"…" Sigma made a joke.
"Jeez."
"Dragon – sama's newest banner! "Those who have a heart of steel are likely to melt down in front of a passionate heart: beware of the ill-famed inns, oh traveler, or thou travel shall be cut short." …"
"Jeez. It's an irony which means that he shouldn't go to clubs or else he'll get into a pinch… Dragon Hell and his banners… They're helpless!"
18:08 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Hello~! I'm the district's new shopkeeper. It's nice to meet you~!"
A woman on her mid-30s entered a store.
She could be about a meter and seventy or maybe slightly taller.
She sported a reddish jumper and a knee-long gray wool skirt along with black shoes.
Her hair was dyed green over her natural brown color.
She had reading glasses on and carried a suitcase under her right shoulder.
"… You are not initiated."
"Excuse me?"
The newcomer just entered Miyuki's antiques store: Miyuki was, as always, looking serious and sitting behind her desk as she peered into her glass ball.
"… What might your name be?" Miyuki asked the visitor.
"Ah… I'm Elizabeth Glassy… It's nice to meet you, Ms. Miyuki…" The newcomer introduced herself.
"… You a tarot peer… But your art lacks truth to it… Lacks truth and skill and subtleness… There is no communication…" Miyuki emotionlessly commented.
"Huh? Excuse me?" Ms. Glassy looked slightly uneasy.
"… Trying to proclaim your art in front of me… Shall make the enraged spirits come and inflict divine punishment upon thee lies… If you value your life, you shall not intrude this place with your fake art…"
Ms. Glassy ran off like she was going to be slaughtered alive and closed the door.
"Heh, heh, heh! Good job: you scared her, Miyuki!" Skull Man chuckled.
"It was nothing. I was merely pointing out the truth."
18:17 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Bloody him! I'm so gonna…! Wait and see…!"
"Who did you try to take on?"
Hidden Heart had been cursing as she walked down her group's HQ corridors at a brisk pace only to meet up with Diamond Duchess, who looked indifferent.
"Rock Man! It was Rock Man! He was there along with that Blood-something jerk you told me about!" She cursed.
"Oh… Rock Man, huh? He did take down a lot of competency: so it was natural he'd be able to deal with you." Diamond Duchess commented: she was unimpressed.
"Grftx! I'm so gonna kidnap him and turn him into my S&M slave! Then we'll see who laughs the last!" She cursed.
"Be realistic. That Blood Shadow boy wasn't there because of pure coincidence. He and that Sigma barbarian are supposed to be his and his Operator's escorts." Diamond Duchess told her.
"Bloody them…! I'm so gonna blow 'em up!" She cursed next.
"Only those two are left. But Boss seems not to be angry with us. I think we all are his guinea – pigs to collect combat data."
"Why! The nerve Boss has…! I'm gonna speak with him! I'm not a vulgar guinea-pig!" Hidden Heart cursed.
"Do as you like, dear." She sneered.
"GTHZKAJ!" She cursed something undecipherable.
"Oh my. Martian V 111.11?" She made a joke on the spot.
"NYA~H!"
"Ops. Neko Virus Version 2008.12!"
"I'M SO GONNA SLAUGHTER 'EM ALL!"
18:26 PM (Japan Time)…
"… So! You sent her to Thailand, eh?"
"Yeah, Blues."
Saito was speaking with Blues, who'd apparently come to visit them to get a hold of what had happened in Internet City.
"So! There's a fifty-fifty chance that the next one is either Ace-themed or Joker-themed." Blues summarized.
"That's correct, Mr. Vice President." Netto laughed.
"Oi. I heard that." Enzan told them.
"But you are IPC's Vice – President! Aren't you?"
"Yeah. But I don't like being addressed like that by someone who's not an IPC employee."
"Well then… Bang the coffee vending machine for breaking down and hope it spits out the coin it swallowed 'cause it was hungry." Netto suggested, laughing.
"You don't know how many times I have to do that. I have a lot of bad luck regarding those things." Enzan sighed in defeat.
"Heh, heh, heh! I suspected so."
"Anyway… I'm gonna tell the Commissioner. Next time, though, Blues and I will be enough. That I promise you, Netto."
"There you go again with that attitude…" Netto rolled his eyes.
"I was pulling your leg."
"Be careful! You'll end up tearing it!" Saito warned with a broad grin.
"Mwah, hah, hah! That's a good one, yessir!" Sigma laughed.
"They should dance like pirates and go search the Black Pearl."
"They sure should. Well. I'm on my way back. See you guys around."
18:39 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Over here…"
"Over here. There. And nowhere."
"Shadow Man! Try to be quiet."
"Don't worry, Miyabi. I've set a curse on the stalkers."
"Oh yes? And what's it about, Your Grace?"
"Heh, heh, heh… To be chased by berserk Harley-Davidson bikes!"
"Lovely."
"Isn't it, daishogun Miyabi?"
"I'm no Great General."
Dark Miyabi was roaming around a badly lit side alley and discussing with Shadow Man over his jokes until he found a side door and opened it: he stepped inside of a dusty locale and climbed up some wooden stairs where he found a locked door at the very top.
"Kanero! Open up. It's me, Miyabi." Miyabi announced as he knocked on it.
There was no reply, so Miyabi took out his Link PET.
"… Plug In. Shadow Man, Transmission."
Shadow Man appeared inside of a small Cyber World and found the lock program surrounded by Spark Bees.
"It's small fry, then. Shadow Clone!"
He generated multiple illusions of his own form and they all attacked at the same time, quickly disposing of the Viruses, and he reached for the lock program: he unlocked it.
"The door's open, Miyabi. Welcome to the Evil Room."
"Save me the stupid titles."
Miyabi stepped into a small bedroom and immediately spotted something which made him raise his eyebrows.
"Hmpf… Hence why he wasn't replying…"
Lying half-way between the ground and the bed was man's body: its eyes were blank and its mouth open, he had a burn mark on his chest and he simply wore a simple brown wool jumper and jeans.
The alphabet letter "A" colored black and turned 180º was painted on the wall above the bed
"… This wound has cauterized. It was a Navi's work using some light-saber imitation." Miyabi calmly deduced.
"So it'd seem. And if we take into account that firm then it must be one of the FOD." Shadow Man added.
"… It'd seem the Ace-themed Navi is an assassin as well. This could get ugly." Miyabi dully commented.
"We should call the police."
"I agree."
Miyabi dialed a number and waited.
"Police? I want to report a murder. Yes. Densan City Akoro Street 14… The name is Dark Miyabi… Yes. I'll be waiting on the entrance to make sure no – one come in… I'll be waiting… Over."
"Waiting for your fiancée?"
"I don't have a fiancée! Shadow Man: stop pulling worthless jokes."
"Who knows? Maybe they're not as worthless as you think."
"Save me the crap: what else are you up to this evening?"
"Evening Man will summon the Arcane Demon Ganon."
"Oh come on. That's a videogame character: leave me alone, will you?"
"Too bad, daishogun. The Joking Campaign has begun. Heh, heh, heh."
19:04 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Oh? … Once the facility is up and running, then I'd like to take part in the investigation… Thank you for your offer. We will be in contact. Good evening."
Hikari Yuuichirou finished a call and sat down on his office's chair while seemingly thinking about it.
A Utah desert crater is filled with space-time distortions and abnormalities and there's something totally weird with it… NASA plans on building up a facility to study the phenomena from a closer distance… And I have been invited to participate on the study of this… I'll tell Haruka and the boys although it's going to be a month at the very least before I have to go there…
"Meijin – sama~! Your devout 666 neophytes came~!"
"Orando! Save me the worthless jokes: when will you finish the work on the HTTPS protocols?" Meijin scolded.
"When the Ancient Arcane Demon Ganon is revived…!"
"You're playing too much Legend of Zelda."
"Oi! Orando, Meijin! I hear it! A magical crater appeared in Utah: Voldemort's lil cousin did it!"
"What in the… That was a meteor and it somehow created that phenomenon upon impact! Now go tuna!"
"I'd rather say go beef."
"Beef and tuna!"
"C-Commander Beef! When did you come here?"
"Shark Man's under maintenance so I happened to hear the chat…"
"Oh come on. Is this becoming a circus or what?" Yuuichirou sighed.
"Tuna and beef! Higure Yamitarou! You won't rob Mariko – sensei's heart: I will be the one to go in a date with Mariko – sensei! Hah!"
09:24 AM (Iceland Time)…
"… Oui. I agree, Monsieur Vadous. That crater is no normal thing: we should try to monitor it."
A man who looked on his late twenties or early thirties: he could be over a meter and eighty tall too was speaking over the phone.
His hair was combed in a neat manner and it was colored in an orange-like coloring while his eyes' irises were blue.
He had reading glasses on.
The man currently wore a white lab coat over a shirt, brown pants and shoes.
He was sitting on red leather armchair placed behind a desk somewhere.
The room he was in contained polished wood desk which had a closed laptop on top of it as well as an interphone system: the desk also contained several drawers and there were several papers piled in the top left-hand corner: a pot with several pencils and pens was placed nearby
There were two leather armchairs most likely reserved for visits in front of the desk.
The room itself looked like an office: it had a set of five bookcases which occupied the whole length of the north wall.
The left wall was largely bare except for a custom-made light support design and an air duct cover.
The right wall had another identical light and a canvas of the Eiffel Tower.
The south wall just had the entry/exit mahogany door.
"Thank you for your help, Dr. Spimer. I feel more and more anxious with every passing day. I need to find out if something went wrong with attempt to remove Duo from the picture years ago or not."
"If it is Duo then we should find a way to actually destroy him."
"Yeah. I know. I'll think up of something." Vadous replied.
"That's good. I shall call you up once I find out more information. I have a contact on the NASA who could help me as well." Dr. Spimer added.
"That would help us a lot. Please do contact me if a breakthrough is made." Vadous requested.
"You may be assured of it."
"Au revoir."
"Au revoir."
Dr. Spimer closed his cell phone's lid and pocketed it on his lab coat's chest pocket: he sighed and leaned his elbows on the table to allow his chin to rest on top of his intercrossed fingers.
"Duo… Is it him or could it be someone else? It's too early to say…" He grimly muttered.
He opened a drawer and took out a novel which he began to distractedly read before the interphone buzzed.
"Dr. Spimer? This is Colonel Morgan… Zoan Gate Man and 8 Mettools were lurking very close to our firewalls until a minute ago."
"Heck. They could've intercepted the call… But then again all mobile calls are powerfully encoded. Not even Twilight could afford the gigantic machine one needs to decode these calls."
"We tried to chase them but they gave us the slip on the Iceland router: they surely had alternate routes to skip time."
"And I'm sure they're still on Melbourne… If only we could find a way to narrow them down..." Dr. Spimer sighed.
"I know, sir. We'll try to figure out what they could've done in the 5 minutes they spent near the firewalls, sir."
"Good. Maybe we'll have to send our agents to investigate too."
"Roger, sir. That Twilight devil… We won't let 'im get away with it!"
"Of course not. That gredin deserves being told a lesson… Che."
21:50 PM (Melbourne Time)…
"… Heh, heh, heh… This crater is becoming more and more similar with every passing day, Philip…"
"Similar… To what that "Duo" did in the Alternate Time-Space…?"
"Correct…"
"So, Lord Twilight… Have I progressed insofar?"
"Of course. Your skills are obvious. You just need to keep the concentration and make sure to overwhelm the enemy…"
Two persons were sitting in a sofa inside of a house's living room and looking at a laptop's screen placed atop a table in front of them.
The one in the left was a young man who could be about a meter and sixty tall or maybe a bit taller.
His hair was jet black and he had green emerald irises.
He simply wore a sleeveless black t-shirt, brown shorts and sandals.
"Heh, heh, heh…"
The man on the right could be about a meter and eighty tall or a bit taller.
He had a black suit over a white shirt, a black tie and pants along with shoes.
His hair was blonde and neatly combed and his eyes' irises were green emerald too.
"We'll let NASA check it out and we'll eavesdrop on them… I'm eager to figure out the secret behind it… By the way: what did you think of Hidden Heart's dungeon? Was it thrilling and refreshing enough for you?"
"Totally. That weird machine she had was worth my time. She was a very good Mistress. I wouldn't mind repeating the experience, Mr. Twilight."
"Good, good… Heh, heh, heh… Oh, when they see it… It'll be exquisite!"
Twilight laughed aloud while Philip formed a smug smile…