Chapter 4: Prophetess
11:08 AM, Sunday June the 14th…
"… Jeez. I guess this is why most guys break up with their girlfriends: having to wait for them to ransack through Zara and getting bored to death…! I brought Star Wars Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial along to kill the time, luckily enough…!"
"Yeah. I've got some jokes written by Omega to look up and he challenges me to improve them, too."
Nelaus (sporting a brown trench coat, a brown hat with a black stripe, a black T-shirt, jeans and white sneakers) was leaning on a wall inside of a corridor next to the entrance to a Zara shop.
"I won't deny that Akihara Tower has a lot of stuff to see, but… Ever since Aura – chan and I started off half a year ago I always have to go through the same via crucis once a month." Nelaus muttered.
"No wonder… Felicia – chan spends 1 hour of her life picking up new fashionable clothes, too. Gabcom came up time ago with those "Fashion Chips": the stores offer a display and then they give you the program data for it which is stored in the "Fashion Chip"… but that's something inspired by how Hikari Jr. had to store the Soul Unison data in blank Battle Chips: maybe Ayanokouji reverse-engineered it, too." Isaac sighed.
"Well! Excuse us!"
"Are you trying to seek conflict with us, maybe?"
Nelaus calmly looked up from the novel and to his left to see a girl who'd come out of the Zara store.
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.
"Tamashita Aura – chan. I'm not impressed anymore." He drily replied.
"Felicia."
"Yeah. I know."
Felicia, her Net Navi, 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.
"My, my! Nelaus – kun. It'd seem you've gotten rather dry ever since March!" Tamashita told him with a hint of irritation.
"What happened to that shining knight, Isaac – kun?"
"Yeah. What happened?"
"I haven't gotten "dry": I'm trying to understand why you take so long to do something I could do in less than 20 minutes." Nelaus closed the book.
"That's because we girls must be well-stocked!" Tamashita protested.
"That sounds like a cliché."
"Yeah. Omega would say the same, I guess." Isaac shrugged.
"Omega – san must have zero experience on that field." Felicia shot back at him.
"Cool it down…" Isaac calmly lifted his hands and opened them.
"The AC mustn't be working fine." Nelaus muttered.
"So! That face means you're confident you'll get the top notes of the class, Nelaus – kun?" Tamashita questioned.
"Guess so."
"By the way! We've been doing some research." Felicia announced with a large grin.
Nelaus calmly lifted the left eyebrow while Isaac looked unimpressed at their announcement.
"… There's a new ice-cream shop in the food court." Tamashita finished.
"Ah. So that's what you meant." He muttered.
"What? You thought we'd uncovered a skeleton in your closet? Tee, heh, heh." Felicia giggled.
"Ask Hammer Man." Isaac shrugged.
"Let's go check it out! And put another face: you look like a man on his 40s instead of being 16 years old."
They climbed up some floors and entered the food court: Nelaus picked a free table while Tamashita headed over to the restrooms: he checked the chart and didn't look interested.
"What's up, Nelaus?"
"I know… I found it exciting some months ago, but… The dryness which comes with the exams hasn't left me yet. And I shouldn't complain: I'd never had to do any of them before starting 3rd grade." Nelaus sighed as he leant the right elbow on the table's surface and his cheek on the right closed fist.
"They say that if you lower your guard around a girl they'll leech you out, so…" Isaac whispered.
"Come on… Those two aren't leeches. Look at those two women whom we arrested back in March." Nelaus whispered back.
"Huh? Mail… The sender is… What the hell!" Isaac uttered.
"One of the bike gang…?" Nelaus looked eager.
"The guy named "Past"… He'll be waiting for you today at 16:35 PM in the old "Dark Chip" factory site of the Desert Man incident. It sounds like a classical trap, even." Isaac reported.
"Whatever. I prefer a Net Battle to this stuff. I guess Hikari's and Ijuuin's manias passed into me, too." Nelaus grinned.
"Sure. Let's make sure to sneak out later." Isaac blinked him an eye.
"OH YEAH! LET ZA METTOOL HIT ZA LEGION!"
"Cloud Man. You wanna play stalker?"
"Guess that."
"Shouldn't you be researching about "Rama"?"
"Heh! 17 and 18 let me know ya got a mail from them."
"How devious of you."
"Ain't it? Mwah, hah, hah. I'm off to greeting Vincent "Red"! See ya!"
"Cloud Man… As usual: asking for trouble wherever he goes to."
"I know. Let's not mind the guy too much and focus on what we gotta do."
"OK, Admiral. Time to shine. Guess my secret techniques will do. Heh!"
11:17 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Priest – sama. Thou have summoned me?"
"Correct, Prophetess. I have a mission for you."
A girl on her late teens or close to her twenties was kneeling in front of the LCD screen.
She looked close to a meter and eighty tall.
She sported a black helmet with the Kanji yogensha (prophet/prophetess) colored purple set on its forehead: some blond hair came out from behind and reached past the neck.
She wore biker's gear, including a zipper leather suit, boots and gloves:
Her Link PET was colored metallic gray with a transparent reddish carcass which allowed one to see the circuitry boards: its emblem was the Kanji majo (witch) colored lush green and drawn over a golden background.
"Command me." Prophetess bowed.
"The relative data is on its way to your PET: make sure to leave no copies of it." Priest commanded.
"Roger."
The PET beeped and she picked it up to look something up: she then replaced on in the arm strap.
"Rama will guide you. Now go." Priest commanded.
"Yes, My Master." She quickly stood up and saluted in a military manner at the screen.
The screen shut down and she quickly turned upon her heels to walk outside of the room: she was rubbing her hands in excitement and giggling.
"Interesting! Really interesting! My target is not a vulgar man: it's a handsome one which I could teach some arts, even! I can see his future: under my rule! Tee, heh, heh!"
11:46 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Jeez. Man. Frederick the Great strikes back! Now I can't find that report about that Hong – Kong casino bribes investigation Commander Alamantz took care of seven months ago. It ain't in the "H" drawer, it ain't typed into the database Nokay built a year ago and it ain't in the garbage bins. And I ain't gonna ring each and everyone one of our companions to ask "Who the hell hid that report to make me sweat on a Sunday morning?"… What a morning!"
"Come on, Charleston…"
"Gra~h. Nya~h! Go explore Venus, Davis or Dave, whatever name suits you better! Pick Hal and tell the Monolith there's something worth its time and laziness over there!"
A man was rummaging inside the metallic drawers of one archive room.
This guy could be about a meter and seventy-five in height but his age was around his early 20s.
He had messy silver hair which spread slightly backwards and formed some spikes: his eyes' irises were blue.
His clothes consisted on a navy blue overcoat which had a central silver button about the waist.
His coat then opened to expose his legs although it covered the rear of them.
He wore a black shirt beneath the overcoat plus black fingerless gloves on his hands: he also sported black jeans and sneakers.
The right shoulder contained blackish armor with an orange-colored edge and a silver button right over it which seemed to help it be gripped to the shoulder: three circles were then drawn on his right sleeve before a triangular piece of armor expanded over the hand: its main body was black too and it had orange edges.
His PET was colored silver and brown and had an emblem: a perfect golden-colored cross.
This cross was drawn inside of a silver circle having a brownish edge.
"Charles. Be realistic. I'm sure it's on your drawer to begin with. You're not looking hard enough."
The man named Charles directed a glance at his left: a Navi was standing there and he looked somewhat amused at his companion's behavior.
His body suit was colored in a deep brown color and he appealed as being about a meter and eighty tall in height.
His eyes' irises were chestnut brown and his face seemed to be shaped after a man on his early 20s: he currently displayed some annoyance which they didn't bother to conceal.
His helmet's color was red and so were his boots and forearms: the helmet had the kanji for "seigi" or "justice" written in a golden coloring vertically across his forehead's height.
The Navi seemed to wear a vest over his chest armor colored silver.
This vest had bronze edges: it also had the Alphabet character "D" colored golden set on each side of its body.
His arms contained four thin brownish stripes running down the north, south, west and east side of them until they drew four circles around the wrist: his forearms had extra armor over it colored in a grayish color plus a small red dome inside of each palm.
The legs' length had been designed to include a network of patterns interconnected by some nodes which were reminiscent of human nerves: the boots' front edge was shaped like a triangle and so was the heel: they apparently served as close-quarters combat weapons.
"Yeah? I find that hard to believe, Davis." Charles sounded and looked skeptical.
"Try it out, Morgangantz – sama." Davis grinned.
"Bang your head with a hammer, Captain Henshman – sama." Charles drily replied.
"Invent Hammer Man." Davis chuckled.
Charles ran off the archive and ran into a small office-like room which had a desk with a PC and a metallic drawer set: he opened one and rummaged inside before taking out a folder labeled "HONG KONG CASINO INVESTIGATION: CONCLUDED ON 12/12/2008".
"What the… It was at the very bottom! I must've been working up late into the night and ended up putting it here by mistake!" He cursed.
"See?" Davis grinned as he showed up on the threshold.
"Sod off." Charles grumbled.
They suddenly heard a motorbike's roar not too far away along with the sound of a sub-machinegun being discharged: something broke through glass and a motorbike parked with a loud screech.
"T-that came from the lobby!" Davis gasped.
"Shit. Another grunt they sent to try to scare us off… Well then. They're gonna learn they messed with the wrong guys." Charles grumbled.
He picked a black object which looked like a vertical rectangle with a pyramidal base from his belt and pressed a button: a blue-colored pyramidal light-saber was ignited: Davis nodded and drew a Super Vulcan Battle Chip.
"Go!" Both whispered.
They ran off the office and Charles made sure to hold his sword ahead: the building had gotten eerily quiet ever since the initial dramatic appearance of the intruder.
"They must be making their way here…" Charles whispered.
"Let's be ready." Davis whispered back.
They heard footsteps walking towards them and a shadow was drawn against the wall: Charles and Davis glued their backs to it: the footsteps stopped and they heard the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground followed by rummaging.
"Hah!" Someone exclaimed.
A Duel Stage was thrown into the corridor and both gasped in surprise at the act.
"Plug In! Witch, Transmission!" A female voice commanded.
A Navi was displayed through the Duel Stage's own Net Battle arena 3D projector.
Her eyes' irises were golden and red and she had a smug smile on her face.
Two long strings of reddish hair expanded from behind her head and reached as far as her ankles
She wore a witch's hat and a red leather bodysuit which formed the shape of an inverted triangle.
She sported long black leather gloves and heeled boots complemented by stockings on the legs and mail-like texture on the remaining exposed space of her arms.
She carried a magic staff with a black spheroid on top of it by grabbing it with her right hand: her emblem was placed on the suit's upper torso area just beneath the neck.
"Rama!" Both gasped.
"Correct!" Witch grinned.
"Senator Morgangantz. My. You guys are funny!" Prophetess giggled as she stepped into the corridor by carrying a Heckler & Koch sub-machinegun on her left hand and the Link PET on the right one.
"So… According to your helmet's Kanji, your codename is Prophetess… You must be fond of dramatic entrances." Charles icily told her.
"Yeah. We're serious, after all! Then… Showdown!" She challenged as she tossed the sub-machinegun into the carpeted ground.
Davis dematerialized and returned inside of his Link PET: Charles then aimed it at the Duel Stage.
"Plug In! Davis, Transmission!"
Davis entered the system and Witch calmly looked at him with an inspecting and commanding look.
"Hmmm… Not bad." She muttered.
"Crap." Davis cursed.
"S&M sadist…?" Charles grumbled.
"Correct. I'm a good provider of goods. It's my first time in the Tokyo Prefecture but maybe I can make some slight business here… There's way more market elsewhere." Prophetess giggled.
"Heck. Go, Davis! Battle Chip, Justice Sword! Slot In!"
"Justice Sword!"
Davis drew a golden-colored Long Sword Battle Chip and jumped towards Witch: she calmly placed her staff horizontally and blocked off Davis: he seemed to have expected the move, though.
"Battle Chip, Justice Cannon! Slot In!"
"Justice Cannon!"
Davis shot the Justice Cannon (a golden-colored Hi Cannon Battle Chip) at close-quarters but a purple round shield formed and bounced the attack back at Davis: he groaned and was pushed into the ground while rubbing the side of his body.
"Damn. This thing bounces back your attack and doubles its power! No kidding! Instead of 100 HP it drained me 200 HP!" He cursed.
"Men like you are always eager to rob us women of our beauty with your filthy hands: my Witch's Barrier is a useful way to stop you from doing that like you always do." Witch grinned.
"Tell that to some grunts in the lower districts: I've never been that kind of person!" Davis groaned.
"Flame Spell!"
The spheroid of her staff glowed red and a circle of flames formed around Davis while increasing their height before closing on him and setting him on fire: a chibi doll was burnt instead and she gasped.
"Justice Cannon!"
The attack hit her from behind and she didn't have time to bring up her Witch's Barrier, so she groaned and turned around.
"Kawarimi…!" She cursed.
"Hey. Don't tell me stuff like that again because I was 3 meters away from you!" Davis grinned.
"Sheesh. Ice Spell!"
The spheroid shone blue now and some Ice Towers came out of the ground thus forming a cage around Davis: he calmly cut them with his Justice Sword and rushed towards Witch.
"Lighting Spell!"
Her spheroid glowed yellow this time around and some lighting fell down around Davis: he simply used his sword to absorb it and shot it at Witch: her Witch's Barrier deflected it but Davis was already running past her to dodge it: she turned around and looked annoyed.
"Playtime's over! I'll be serious! Earth Spell!"
The ground was filled with grass and some weeds formed out of it and around the area: Davis calmly jumped across the air and ignored them as he headed for Witch: he hit her knees with the Justice Sword and then jumped back.
"Crap. He found out I protected the weeds with my Witch's Barrier…! Not yet! Light Spell!" She grimaced.
Her spheroid shone white and some blinding streaks of light were emerged from it: she quickly tossed a Prism Battle Chip into the air to bounce them off and bombard the ground: one hit Davis but another chibi doll showed up and four shuriken hit her from behind.
"No way! He's not even fighting seriously!" She cursed.
"Really… Didn't you make your research?" Davis looked skeptical.
"Heck! We were assigned this mission a little while ago and we were driving the whole time: it was no situation to be able to do research on you!" She protested.
"Cool it off, Witch." Prophetess commanded.
"Yes, Mistress. Dark Spell!"
The spheroid shone black now and several small orbs colored purple were shot out: one or two hit Davis but he looked rather unfazed.
"What does it take to make you feel pain…? A sword plunging through your body…?" She hissed.
"You picked veterans." Charles shrugged.
"It wouldn't be worth it if it weren't veterans." Prophetess calmly replied while crossing her arms.
"Dunno." Davis replied.
"Huff! Spell Fusion!"
The spheroid's colors shifted around as it built up energy and then projected a white-colored energy shockwave which hit Davis and sent him flying but he didn't display any symptoms of the attack having actually hurt him.
"Wait, wait! Ancient fell for that trap yesterday! It's a Muramasa strategy: they're provoking us to fall for it!" Prophetess realized.
"Ah. Catching up?" Charles grinned.
"Why, you…! So that's what you were planning!" Witch hissed.
"We said it: we're veterans! We've got several aces up our sleeves!" Davis grinned as well.
"Let's level this up! Annihilator Chip, Slot In!"
Witch shone with a black aura as her pupils' glow slowly diminished to be replaced by a faint purple sparkle: her body seemed to accumulate energy and the hollow voice rang out.
"Are you the Danna's Net Navi?" Davis questioned.
"Correct, Davis! However! You may call me "Puppeteer" for the time being before I make my debut. You guys will soon experience the flavor of desperation!" The voice confirmed.
"What benefit does it bring upon to control the Navi from your throne, puppeteer - sama?" Charles questioned.
"It's not only my cache copy personality being transplanted: their full potential is unlocked by the password only I and my Lord know: they jump from 50% potential to 100%!" "Puppeteer" exclaimed.
"Crap. Then… This one's max HP is not 1600 HP but 3200 HP?" Davis looked nervous.
"Not only that! All attacks' power doubles as well. If a Giga Cannon Program Advance normally inflicts 500 HP damage, it'll now inflict 1000 HP! And Witch's Barrier will return you four times the original damage it was going to grant!" "Puppeteer" laughed.
"That Ronin Man didn't look so strong…" Charles frowned.
"Hah. He was a test mouse! His power was limited to give you the impression that our power was like his: but now you realize that you've stepped into our carefully calculated trap! Atomic Chips and Dark Chips did increase the power of attacks but did nothing regarding the max HP or the power of a Net Navi and Darkloid: it was already at a 100% to begin with, anyway! But this makes the Annihilator Chip be a terrifying tool capable of defeating you lowlifes!" "Puppeteer" laughed.
"Crap. I drained around 500 HP, but… I've got to drain over five times that number to win! And I thought the Atomic Network guys and other enemies were hard to though…!" Davis grimly muttered.
"Craving your own grave, then! I'll make that wish come true! Meteor!"
The staff hit the ground and some incandescent meteors began to rain down around Davis: he tried to attack Witch but her Witch's Barrier came up and he barely avoided hitting it.
"If there was a way around it… Wait. Hmmm… I'm not sure if it'll work or not, but… It's worth a try." He muttered.
"I can see what you mean." Charles confirmed.
He quickly brought up his Link PET's menu and inputted some commands: one of the Duel Stage's LEDs switched from green to red: Witch suddenly recovered the glow on her eyes and looked disoriented.
"Huh? I've hit the 10-min time limit for the Annihilator Chip?" She wondered aloud.
"Giga Cannon!" Davis exclaimed.
"E~h?"
The blast hit her while she was distracted and inflicted severe damage to her: Davis was already getting ready for his next attack while Prophetess was messing around with her PET's menu.
"Program Advance! Cannon, Hi Cannon, Mega Cannon! Slot In!" Charles exclaimed.
"Zeta Cannon! Go!"
The bombardment hit Witch before she'd recovered and she was automatically logged out.
"Damn! You switched off the Wi-Fi link of the Duel Stage and shut down the SSH remote management protocol! Thus it was treated as if the Annihilator Chip's 10-min time limit had been hit and all effects were withdrawn! I didn't write down the password I decoded and I couldn't connect again in time!" Prophetess cursed.
"All's fair in war: but now that you've lost the surprise element, we'll have more powerful Folders ready by the next encounter with you guys."
"Right in the mark!"
"Mark my words, Morgangantz! Once I defeat you I will make sure to make you pay for this shame you inflict into me!" Prophetess cursed as she picked the sub-machinegun and aimed it at Charles.
"Wanna brawl?" Davis challenged as he materialized.
"Farewell!"
She shot out the bulbs in the ceiling and ran off.
"After her!" Charles rallied.
They ran down the corridor and heard her motorbike turning on and running off: they climbed down stairs into a small lobby which only had two plants and a receptionist desk: the front two glass doors were shattered in their majority and all light bulbs had been blown out by the sub-machinegun round's.
"Damn. She ran away and we weren't able to find out her bike's plate at the very least. Even if it's faked we could've set up a warning." Charles hissed in frustration.
"I wonder what will everyone say when they come on Monday to deliberate on the weekly meeting to decide investigations' assignments and progress… They must think Bourne dropped by here along with his CIA pursuers." Davis sarcastically suggested.
"They're armed, too, which makes them a dangerous lot. And if I can bet then they're gonna send her after Martin and Lander next." Charles grumbled.
"I guess the police must be on their way: there'll be some ruckus about us bringing noise to the district again." Davis sighed.
Charles' Link PET rang so he patched the call: Netto was onscreen along with Saito and both looked worried.
"Charles! Are you guys alright? We heard over the RSS that there'd been a shooting over there!" Netto told them.
"Who did it?" Saito asked.
"One: we're alright. Two: Prophetess, a new Rama member. Three: RSS will beat TV and radio at this rate." Charles' last reply had some sarcasm to it.
"Try to beat Twitter or Facebook." Davis sarcastically challenged.
"Mwah, hah, hah… I'd like to see 'em tryin'." Sigma grinned.
"Come on… This is serious."
"Was that…?" Netto began.
"Yeah. Regrettably enough... Her Navi, Witch, was the same type. And the mere name hints it anyway." Charles grumbled.
"Crap." Saito muttered.
"Luckily we believe she prefers a slight more grown-up type of guys: she'll most likely be going after Martin Blackdesu and Lander next." Davis rolled his eyes.
"Lovely." Both grumbled.
"Please send us a report when you have time: we'll submit to both Boss and the Net Police." Blood Shadow requested.
"Mwah, hah, hah… We'll send it to 'em via DHL." Sigma grinned.
"Sigma. Be serious."
"Ya are too stiff, Blood." Sigma shrugged.
"I'm serious. And if Commander Omega comes down he'll scold you for trying to be so light-hearted about these matters."
"We'll send you guys that report once we solve this mess. But this is quickly escalating: these guys might go to sinister ends, too." Charles sighed in defeat.
"They're escalating Mt. Everest." Davis sarcastically told Charles.
"Not you too…" Charles looked exasperated by now.
"Metto~!"
"Mwah, hah, hah. Swallow Man – sama's ghost found ya!"
"Swallow Man. Not you again."
Swallow Man's 3D image formed there while crossing his arms and looking rather smug.
"Mwah, hah, hah. Bert Saxby sends his greetings."
"How original."
"Origin sends his too."
"That's a Tales of Symphonia rip-off. Did Twilight get amused by that?"
"Guess that, College of Charleston and Davidson."
"Jeez." Both grumbled.
"Mwah, hah, hah… I'm eager to pound ya again!"
"Hmpf! Sigma. You lowlife… But now that I don't have a body you can't do that! Hah! Same goes for Blood Shadow and Omega!"
"Hmpf." Blood Shadow was unimpressed.
"Well then… Beware or the "Talon" will come for your head, Charlie~!"
Swallow Man laughed and his 3D image vanished while Charles picked the machine and blew some dust off it while looking at it from different angles with growing curiosity.
"Man. Guess you guys' dad will be truly excited to have another sample 100% intact to study." He muttered.
"Huff." Both sighed.
"If you tell him that who knows how much time he'll spend closed in the lab going over it…" Blood Shadow groaned.
"Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah…"
"Charlie~ Team. Analog Snatcher Leo – sama~… Give us a break, will ya~?"
"OK. Joking, joking… Let the guys and girls hit the wall! Heh, heh, heh!"
