Chapter 4: Chaos
13:55 PM (Japan Time), Saturday November the 11th…
"O~w… My head… What a headache!"
Enzan was regaining consciousness and the first thing he felt was an aching headache as he tried to sit up from the floor.
"Damn Tabuu! Tricking me like this…! Huh? What's that! By all the…! T-that's…!"
Enzan managed to sit up and ran towards the window to look outside: he spotted the purple and apparently impassable wall of purple energy barely five meters next to the tower: the thickness of it made it impossible to see what was going on inside of them.
"E-Enzan – sama…!"
"Blues! What happened?"
"S-some kind of masked man… froze me…! His legs and arms…! Were made of ice…!" Blues reported as he somehow managed to shake off the remaining ice on him.
"As you can see… It's like I'd deduced: Tabuu has set some customized "Dimensional Converters" to project this "area" in which powered-up Viruses can materialize. And he's done the same thing inside of the Cyber World, too… No wonder he called it Apocalypse Day… It sure fits the whole mood... And he's a horrible rip-off loving jerk… He picked this from Golden Sun: Pitch-black Dawn!" Enzan muttered aloud what he'd realized before growling.
"Yet, Enzan – sama… The eclipse is not progressing! It's still at the climax, sir!"
"That's impossible! This is not a fantasy world in which a device makes the moon end up blocking the sun… No device can have an effect on the movement of the Moon!" Enzan gasped.
"Wait a minute, sir. Incoming call from the Net Police."
"Patch it through!"
"Enzan – kun!"
"Commissioner Kifune, sir!"
"Where are you?"
"My office, sir! Tabuu snuck in and drugged my coffee to stop me from spoiling his setup!" Enzan summarized.
"What!"
"What's the situation out there, though?"
"Hikari – hakase has realized it by now thanks to intensive analysis. What we don't get is why the eclipse isn't proceeding. We've called JAXA and they're looking into it!" Kifune reported.
"… Anyway! Have the "Cross Fusion" users been mobilized to handle this emergency, sir?" Enzan asked.
"They have! And we actually used the Converters to save up travel time: this is a nation-wide phenomenon and not limited to the Densan City area." Kifune reported.
"What in the…! Nation-wide…! I thought he was targeting Densan City and its surroundings, like Yoka Yoka Village! And I believed he'd start it up from our tower!" Enzan gasped.
"No. He used all of the tall buildings which were around 250 meters tall or above. And since those areas are modified "Dimensional Areas", people can't run from the inside. The whole country is in chaos!" Kifune reported next.
"Where's Mr. Zataki when you need him?" Enzan grumbled.
"Netto – kun and Saito – kun contacted Mr. Denpa! He's trying to get into contact with him as we speak." Kifune replied.
"… Guess it can't be helped. Commissioner. I'll take care of this adjacent area." Enzan announced.
"Good! Report to me every five minutes, Enzan – kun. We're still pending to find out how to disable this." Kifune commanded.
Enzan picked the Link PET and placed it on the holster.
"By the way, Enzan – sama… If this is ripped off from that game, how are we going to find the device which is supposes to stop this process? The "Apollo"…" Blues asked.
"Damn. I hadn't thought of that. I'm sure that no matter what, we can't just go and destroy the Converters… If this is "Yami", then we'd need "Hikari" or "Light"… "Light"… The Link PETs use infrared light… Laser… A laser device…! There must be one set close to the origin spot of each area. If we use it and target the Converter then we can stop it! In the game, the Eclipse or Luna Tower's function is to store up "Light". If hit with a brutal overdose of "Light", then the Dynamo which powers it up is going to enter "Reverse Drive" and release all of the accumulated light to cancel the process!" Enzan explained while firstly sounding annoyed but then realizing the meaning of it.
"… It must be it! It fits perfectly, Enzan – sama! I shall send a message to everyone immediately enough!" Blues announced.
"Good! I'm off to the parking!" Enzan announced.
"Roger, sir!"
Enzan ran out and stopped on the main office where everyone had stopped working and were looking at the dome.
"Did you see the new secretary guy?"
"Yes, sir. He said he was feeling ill so he went out for a walk… Maybe he got sucked up by that, sir…!" One muttered.
"Alright. I'm off to try to solve this. Don't mention this to anyone else. And all work is interrupted. No one can work in such a state."
"Good luck, sir!"
"Thanks."
14:13 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Damn! There's no end to them! Neo Variable Sword! Outta the way, you Viruses!"
"We should be glad Papa invented this technology, "Cross Fusion", which allows us to fight as one, Netto – kun!"
"Yeah! You're right!"
"Let's go!"
"We're getting closer to the goal, too!"
"About bloody time, too!"
Netto was fighting some black-colored Viruses inside of one of those "Dimensional Areas" while having somewhat fused with Rock Man at the same time.
This fusion, or, rather "Cross Fusion", had Rock Man's bodysuit over his normal clothes but with some design differences.
The helmet's design was different as well: a bright blue-colored fin-shape piece formed at the sides, emerging from the ear pads' upper edge and extended until the end of the helmet: an arch was drawn over it and the space inside of it had a deeper tonality of blue.
A complicated drawing was imprinted within the forehead and the helmet's front now extended until the start of the nose: his hair now flowed out in a more natural manner from behind it.
The plating over his shoulders had a more pyramid-like form and was aiming towards the NW and NE, respectively.
A pale blue border formed around it and a straight line travelled towards the emblem to form a curve surrounding the lower half of it: the curve ended with a small "spike" drawing pointing downwards.
His forearm design included a thin separation around the elbow: the two combined section formed a hexagon with a green jewel set on its centermost spot.
The short section set on the rear half of the elbow was colored navy blue while the rest of the forearm was slightly brighter.
The blue borders travelling down the sides of his upper body ended around the hips: two circular bands of the bright blue color were drawn over them with a small separation between them.
His boots' design was based upon that of his forearms: the soil was painted black and separated from the rest of the foot by a bright blue line.
The jetpack design had changed a bit, too, and it now included bright blue pieces connecting the upper right and left edges with the body: a curved red line was drawn half-way across it: the rest of the backpack looked identical to how Rock Man's usual form.
He was currently slicing Viruses as he climbed up the outside emergency stairs of a tall building not too far from Tokyo Tower: he stopped to regain his breath and pushed on forward until he reached the roof.
"There! Look, Netto – kun!"
"Whoa! "CF" Netto tells you it's cool. Heh, heh."
A device in the form of one laser cannon with a rotating base and capable of being inclined was set in the roof and it was obviously recent: the word "APOLLO" was written in Katakana and using a yellow marker on its surface, too.
"… Apollo…? Ah! It's the Greek God of the Sun! Hence why this thing is named "Apollo"… Let's see if we can operate it somehow." "CF" Netto muttered.
"There's a control console over there." Saito announced.
"CF" Netto rushed towards the north – east end of the roof and examined the console: it was quite self-explanatory given how it had one joystick to rotate the base and another to change the angle: a screen with a lock-on mark was set on it and there were two buttons labeled "FIRE" and "CANCEL" respectively.
"This feels like a shoot-'em-up game, even."
"Guess so."
"CF" Netto maneuvered the machine and zoomed on the very top of Tokyo Tower: a purple-colored-gigantic-sized cylinder which had circuitry boards inside of it and electricity flowing through it had been set in there: the machine was obviously the source of the "Area".
"Five centimeters to the left… I decrease the angle in two degrees… Lock On! Perfect! This thing is already charged up to 100% power so it should work." "CF" Netto muttered.
"Netto – kun! Something is coming from behind at a high speed!" Saito announced.
"How much time do I have before it reaches me?" "CF" Netto asked.
"I'd say sixty seconds." Saito replied.
"It'll be enough. Fire!"
"CF" Netto punched the button and the machine began to hum and whistle as a golden-colored laser began to form on its cannon barrel and it looked about to shoot it out at any second.
"Good. Dream Aura! Neo Variable Sword!"
"CF" Netto engaged a Dream Aura to protect most of the machine and drew a Neo Variable Sword to deal with whatever which was coming towards him as he glanced at the console's screen where a countdown was progressing:
00: 18
"Gotta hold on eighteen seconds… And this thing can't reach me before twenty-five seconds." "CF" Netto muttered.
"Correction: fifteen. It's increased the speed!" Saito reported with a hint of nervousness.
A shape could be seen flying at top speed towards the spot "CF" Netto was at and it looked like it didn't want to stop or reduce speed.
"It can't be a kamikaze… Or can it?" "CF" Netto gulped and felt very nervous all of a sudden.
The thing suddenly shot skywards and made a parabola move to plunge from above into "CF" Netto's position: he prepared the blade and braced himself.
"Come!" He taunted.
The impact was brutal and even the modern steel-reinforced roof collapsed in this precise spot thus plunging both opponents down an elevator's shaft.
"Uwa~h!"
"CF" Netto was on the lower end while the opponent was above him: he hit one emergency lighting button to illuminate the shaft and gasped: it was Moonlight, who had a mouth guard colored purple (similar to Blues') and black shades on.
"You're - Moonlight! What are ya doin'!" "CF" Netto questioned.
"I'm gonna have a thrill." Moonlight replied.
"Huh? What "thrill"!" "CF" Netto questioned.
"Heh, heh, heh… Compared to the "treatment" I did to Akashi Hiro, this'll be a hundred times worse." Moonlight giggled.
They both heard the large and unmistakable sound of the laser gun on the roof shooting out its charged attack: although none of them could see it, the laser hit the "Converter" right on the middle and it turned it golden before it suddenly released a lot of light into the air and the dome collapsed until it vanished and the "Converter" exploded into a thousand bits.
"Say bye to the "Dark"!" "CF" Netto grinned.
"Wait… The radio says the eclipse isn't moving at all! This is so weird, really!" Saito whispered to him.
"I still don't get what stunt he pulled on us!"
"Hmpf! Like I care! This is fun! More, more and more~! I wanna have more fun! Nyah, hah, hah!" Moonlight laughed.
Both "CF" Netto and Moonlight kept on falling: "CF" Netto spotted a "Dimensional Converter" (colored navy blue) which was popping out of the shaft's wall, thus allowing him to remain in Cross Fusion inside of the shaft since the "Eclipse" area had been cancelled.
"I've had enough of you guys!"
"CF" Netto used both knees to hit Moonlight's stomach and he managed to break free of her grip before he switched the Neo Variable Sword for a Long Sword and stuck it on the wall: Moonlight shot past him and towards the unlit depths of the shaft.
"I dunno if she wanted to try to kill us along with her but we better get out NOW." "CF" Netto muttered.
"Yeah. Something tells me she's not gonna plunge to her deletion just like that." Saito agreed on it.
"CF" Netto spotted floor 17th's elevator doors so he forced them open and came out into the hallway to then begin climbing down the interior stairs and descending: the Dimensional Area kept on being active.
"I don't like this. This looks too well organized to be a coincidence even if they had no way of guessing who would be assigned where and when given this chaos." "CF" Netto muttered.
"Or maybe they've set this up at various buildings in which those laser guns are set?" Saito suggested.
"I wouldn't be surprised. But there are just 3 of them. They can't do this everywhere. They have to be physically present to pull such a stunt!"
He managed to reach the 9th floor sans too much trouble so he made a pause to rest without cancelling his Long Sword and he had a Bronze Fist ready on his left forearm.
"… It's too quiet. I know that the scandal out there has died but I don't feel safe." "CF" Netto muttered.
"YO, YO, YO~!" A voice rang out.
Some yells and shrieks began to sound inside of the elevator's shaft and sounding like they came from further down followed by the sound of a logout.
"Is it me or those manly yells ring a bell somewhere?" "CF" Netto sounded surprised.
They heard a sound which was someone climbing up the walls of the elevator's shaft: "CF" Netto tensed and saw how the elevator's doors were being opened from the inside.
"Yo~! Mars Warrior came~!"
"Omega!"
"Omega – san!"
Omega turned out to be a Net Navi who appealed as being over one meter and eighty tal.
His eyes were blue and looked amused while long blond hair came out from behind him and reached all the way to the floor.
A blue jewel shaped like an inverted triangle was set on the forehead of his helmet which was emitting a cross-shaped flash.
He had a red vest over his mainly black body and red armor over his forearms and boots: two golden circlets were set around his forearms and on his boots as well.
He was holding a green energy pyramidal saber on his right hand which had a white trapeze hilt and rectangular handle.
"Been a while, eh?" Omega greeted with a smile.
"Been training in the Bermudas?"
"Yessir. And trolling Brad Shad and Stigma Man a lot, too. We dediced to start a Generation IV competition and insofar we've all cleared the Four Heavenly Kings and that Madonna Champion."
"Madonna Champion…" Saito groaned in annoyance.
"We're now trading to fill the normal Pokémon Encyclopedia, too. Heh, heh, heh." He explained with a broad grin.
"Whoa."
"Anyway! Moonie~ was actually lurking in B1F and I dunno what she was up to but I told her she was fired."
"There's gotta be a trap."
"Yessir. Leave it to Anti Trap Man."
"Anti Trap Man! Hah, hah, hah!" "CF" Netto laughed.
"Please…" Saito didn't find it funny.
"Alright! I take lead. Let's go, Nettie~ and Saitie~!"
"Please…!" Saito groaned.
"Be glad! Ijuuin wanted to drag you guys to Ms. Lucy's club and force ya to be the "S" in "S&M", Nettie~!"
"I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted to do that as some form of payback for the power plant and Ameroupe Castle…" "CF" Netto shrugged.
"Come on! Enzan – kun is not that type of person, Netto – kun! And you know it!"
"What about ya, then?"
"Huh? Me?"
"I didn't experience it: and they don't remember. But I know that, back in January, 2010…" "CF" Netto began.
"Halt right there! That was Nebula Grey and his program portion inside of Delta which triggered his lust. But that's over!" Saito protested: he sounded rather offended.
"Okay, okay! Topic settled. Were you planning on taking part or what, Omega?"
"I'd love to as a spectator. I wasn't built to take part into the thing, sadly enough. Shachou is too… dry… in that part." He grinned.
"Jeez. The last thing we needed, really!" Saito groaned.
"Heh, heh, heh!"
The two of them climbed down the remaining stairs and stopped on the last flight of them just before the exit into the ground floor: an almost invisible string was set on the last ste and it was connected to a small bell which had been attached to the wall.
"I doubt this being here before." Omega guessed.
"Yeah. I get the same feeling, too." "CF" Netto replied.
"Hmmm… Let's make a check. I'll trigger this and toss a coin." Omega grinned.
He purposely cut the string and the bell rang: four virtual walls appeared and formed a cube along with a cover which then stood there, in the middle of the hall, and not doing anything.
"I knew it. There was a trap." "CF" Netto cursed.
"Lemme check." Omega announced.
He walked next to it and used his left palm to feel the material as he looked at it from several angles, too and hit it with his knuckles as if to check its thickness.
"I see. This cage can nullify the effects of a Dimensional Area. They were surely aiming to get you inside of it, force you out of "Cross Fusion" and then that gal would come in and warp you to their hideout." Omega summarized.
"What a jerk. Anyway… Let's get out of here. Can't we disable this thing somehow?" "CF" Netto grumbled before asking.
"I have a better idea. We'll bring it to the HQ and reverse engineer it: we'll surely be able to turn it against them, even." Omega grinned and exposed his plan.
"I like how that sounds. By the way… Have you noticed? The street is still unlit…" "CF" Netto began commenting only to point out the oddity.
"That's true. I still dunno how Tabuu did it, but there must be a trick. You can't just project a 3D image into the air. It wouldn't create the obscurity."
Omega inputted some commands into a nearby "Dimensional Converter" and warped the failed trap away: they then came out into the street and looked around.
"Cancel the "Cross Fusion" already. The Viruses are gone."
"Cross Out!"
"CF" Netto spreads his arms and legs as the bodysuit broke down into a raw data and then reformed into the Link PET which ejected a customized Chip colored in a metallic gray color, having black patterns around the centermost green dome and the Hikari family crest on the SE corner.
"Phew. What a morning!"
"Yeah. I'm still here 'cause I used one of our Copy Roids to stay materialized… I'll escort you in case Moonie~ gets "mistress" complex again." Omega sighed.
"Netto – kun. A call from Enzan – kun."
"Speaking of the VP… Patch the VP in." Netto grinned.
"Jeez."
"Hikari. Took you long enough." Enzan coolly greeted.
"Says the man! I had to shake Moonlight off me and met up with Omega who helped me escape a trap set up by the gal."
"Ah. If it's because of that…"
"Are we making progress?"
"Yeah. There are only four or five left of the almost hundred ones there were over an hour and a half ago. I don't believe Tabuu set this up in just two days."
"Sure didn't."
"It takes a brutal amount of time to synch all of these devices and power them up as well as setting up those lasers… How could he do even if he's hiding in the real world, anyway?" Enzan exposed before asking.
"Hmmm… Maybe he built them in a secret location and then warped them there." Omega guessed.
"That makes sense." Blues muttered.
"Netto – kun, Vadous – san is contacting us."
"Oh! Patch him through!"
The screen was split in half and a man appeared on the right screen: he appealed as being on his mid-twenties.
His hair was of a jet black color and his eyes' irises were blue: his facial features were reminiscent of both Netto and Hiro.
"Netto – kun, Saito – kun! Are you two alright?" He asked them.
"We are, Vadous – san. Omega helped us." Netto replied.
"Good job, Omega! I found out Tabuu's setup." Vadous looked relieved and then let out a bombshell.
"What is it?" Enzan asked.
"Ah! I hadn't realized you were there, Ijuuin – kun… Anyway. He just materialized a gigantic black screen and set it up on the appropriate angle and orbit to fit right in front of the Moon. Thus the Moon has actually moved but the screen kept on blocking the sunlight. I've hacked my way into an R – Nation satellite and will use it to blow that thing up."
He lowered his sight into his computer's keyboard and began to type several commands at a quick rate before he hit the 'RETURN' key as evidenced by the distinct sound it made.
"Don't look at it directly at it or you'll be momentarily blinded. I've already issued that message to the authorities via Commissioner Kifune."
Netto followed his advice and looked at the ground: there was a sudden flash as the sunlight pierced through the hole in the "fake moon" and the rest of it began to break up: the Sun was soon enough shining with its usual light.
"Phew." Vadous sighed in relief.
"Over! Finally!" Netto exclaimed.
"Yeah. But… Kzzzzz!"
"Huh? What happened?"
His screen was filled with static and Kratins Boo appeared on his place with a smug smile on his face.
"What the…! You must be Kratins Boo!" Netto assumed.
"Indeed, Net Savior! You may have bested Moonlight. But that doesn't mean anything. We're still in top shape. And there is no defense we can't pierce through. I just managed to take over the backup server and all of its info has been sold off!" He announced with that smug smile.
"I knew something about that robbery was bugging me! The 5% was to keep the technicians busy restoring the data so that they wouldn't notice a hostile takeover program inside of the register!" Omega grumbled.
"Why! It's Omega. This time I'm so gonna turn you into scrap."
"You won't be smiling for much longer when I tell you that even Tabuu fears my skills." Omega shot back.
"WHAT?" Kratins Boo was pale.
"Even Tabuu fears Omega – san's skills…!" Rock Man was surprised.
"I know his weak points."
"By Jupiter! This can't be!" Kratins Boo looked horrified.
"Brag while you can, Kratins Boo. You'll soon be under UN custody. Hah!"
Tabuu… You want war? We'll give you war!
