Chapter 4: Questioning
10:44 AM (Japan Time), Sunday October the 2nd…
"… Crap. I forgot to bring the bottle of cold water plus the mini-fridge box to cool down! Let's see…"
Hiro entered his house in a rush (wearing his baseball clothes) and slammed the door shut behind him: he took off the boots and put on the slippers before he headed over to kitchen: he opened the fridge and picked a bottle of cold water which he put inside of the mini-fridge box before closing both.
"Good enough. Let's go back."
THUD!
Hiro gasped and looked at the ceiling after a loud sound rang out: he ran out of the kitchen into the hall and looked at the stairs.
"What was that? The wind tossed something into the ground…? Guess so… Let's go fix it."
Hiro rushed upstairs and into his and Delta's bedroom: his Link PET was on the charger and the computer was on: a tankobon had fallen off the desk and into the ground: the balcony door was badly closed as evidenced by how the curtains moved.
"Jeez. I knew I should've paid attention to Drake when he said I should double-check everything. My laziness can lead to disgrace, even. Let's go fix this." He grumbled.
He picked up the tankobon and placed it atop the desk again before heading over to the balcony door and locking it: he pulled the curtains and then sighed in relief.
"Good enough. Let's go back."
He didn't notice a figure slowly heading for him from behind and holding a taser on the right hand: the figure suddenly closed the left arm around Hiro's neck and zapped him with the taser to knock him out…
10:53 AM (Japan Time)…
BLOF!
"Guah!"
"Oi. Wake up."
Hiro groaned as he tried to recover from his sudden dizziness: he suddenly noticed how he was sitting on a chair and had been tied into it while also having a blindfold covering his eyes.
What the hell!
"Ya awake?"
"Z – Nation grunt?" Hiro grumbled.
"I ain't a grunt. I'm a Special Ops Agent!"
"Whatever the ever. You guys are doomed."
"What?"
"Zataki – san let me know. Ameroupe is planning to get back at you for your attempts to hack into their military networks."
And now I notice that I only have my briefs on… I hate being looked on by someone else who isn't Drake.
"So! Where's Zataki?"
"Dunno. I thought he was in Taiwan or somewhere like that."
"He isn't."
"Well. He's very secretive. I don't question him."
"Why would he bother to pay for your expenses and all?"
"Because I ditched Neo Nebula…"
"And you helped imprison one of our foremost researchers, Dr. Regal. Yeah, I know that. Now… What happened to "C"? Where did you hide the real one?"
"… "C"…? What are you talking about?"
"The top-secret item hidden beneath the Science Labs! General Sentou seized it but it then turned out to be a decoy! So where's the real one, Akashi?" The interrogator questioned.
"Do you think that being a Net Savior grants me access to top-secret info or what? It's not that different from being a patrol policeman!"
"What? Aren't you a Special Ops Unit?"
"Special Ops Unit? This is a police branch, not military! We're civilians! I'm telling you that we're no different from patrol policemen!"
"By all the… So you've never heard of "C", then?"
"No, I haven't! You picked the wrong guy!"
"Che. Orders are orders."
"So go back and release me already before Zataki – san's Three Musketeers get here and make mincemeat of ya because I can hear the typical humming of a Copy Roid engine." Hiro shot at him.
"How could you double-cross Dr. Regal after you bothered to get him out of jail?"
"Jeez! He was the one who started to extortion me and then tied me up inside of a van! I almost died because my nose was getting clogged by the dust there! Besides, I was starting to realize I'd gotten into a mess! So it was logical we wanted to put a stop to him before someone ended up dying for real!" Hiro growled.
"We didn't know that."
"Well! You could've tried to look up Net Police files, lazy grunts! You're acting more like a Genome Soldier than a FOXHOUND member. They'd laugh at your silly behavior." Hiro taunted.
"You're downgrading me to the rank of a mere soldier? I'm a Special Ops Unit member under the command of Supreme Net Navi Commander Kratins Boo: Moonlight!"
"As if I cared!"
BLOF!
"Grah!"
"Don't laugh at me. I didn't bring the equipment given my orders but if I had I could exploit your weaknesses until you confessed."
"You wanna imitate Ocelot, huh? Then bring the revolving bed and try to impress me!" Hiro challenged.
"Shut up."
BLOF!
"Is that all?" Hiro taunted.
"By all the…"
SLAP!
Hiro felt how he was slapped on his right cheek but acted like he hadn't felt anything at all.
"You're supposed to scream in pain, like before!"
"I'm a though guy."
"Hah! You men are weak."
"You're a woman Navi? You've gotta be looking up to Sniper Wolf, then, given how she was the only woman in FOXHOUND."
"I ain't a sniper but who cares! I'll get the answers I want. Who is Sigaano? We know he's a Net Navi, but where did he come from?"
"Dunno! All I know is that Zataki – san and he had cooperated until some years ago when he apparently died and vanished."
"Che. Information compartmentalization… In short: information spoon-feeding…!" Moonlight grumbled.
"Go back to your Kra-something and admit your failure."
"Shut up! Nobody laughs at Kratins Boo taichou!"
BLOF! SLAP!
"I don't feel anything! Take that, ugly!" Hiro taunted.
"Then how's this like!"
BLOF!
"Gua~h!"
"Hah! See? You men are weak. A single fist in the balls and you paralyze from pain!" Moonlight taunted.
"That's dirty! Not even Volgin did that!"
"Volgin? A Sharo Nation man?"
"Well! Yeah! A colonel in 1964!"
"Whatever! Answer me! Where did you come from?"
"Need Not To Know! Go to Hell with an elevator!"
"You brat…!"
"Go ahead! The more you attack me the more Zataki – san's anger will rise and you will suffer retribution in less than 24 hours. He'll chase you all across the world if necessary, too!" Hiro grinned.
"What!"
"He holds grudges."
"Damn it!"
"And it won't take long for him to know of this: the "Committee" has direct contact lines with him."
"Hmpf! Then we'll use them to figure out his location!"
"Go ahead but once you meet Omega then you know you're doomed: the guy will go all out on you and only bits and bytes will be left. Heck, even Death Shadow feared his true potential."
"Death Shadow? One of the Death Club? The one who got deleted in June, you mean?" Moonlight gasped.
"Yeah. The one who made that dramatic broadcast about how their satellite could stain the world with that blue stuff and cause apocalypse all around it… That was Death Shadow!" Hiro grinned.
"And his two companions are still at loose, I knew that. But you mean that that Omega Navi is terribly powerful?"
"Yeah. And when you piss him off he goes into an unleashed mode in which he dedicates the whole of his processor to fighting and doesn't even bother to speak… He won't halt until the enemy is destroyed and if you're caught in his gun and saber combos you can kiss your hide farewell, see." Hiro's grin grew wider.
"By all the…! How can such a thing be possible?"
"Zataki – san is a genius programmer, ya see."
"Che! The last thing we needed…!" Moonlight grumbled.
"Hiro – kun? Are you here? What happened? We're all waiting for you to continue the game!" Drake called out from the ground floor.
"Damn it! I forgot about that." Moonlight cursed.
"Come on! Do you think I wore baseball clothes just to show off or what? You lack imagination, grunt. FOXHOUND would laugh at you. You're a badly-paid grunt!" Hiro taunted.
"Shut up, shut up!"
BLOF! BLOF! BLOF!
"Ugh! Uh… Guh…!" Hiro hissed as he closed his teeth.
"Damn it! Scream! You're supposed to scream!"
"And I told you I'm a tough guy! Go to Hell!"
"Hiro – kun? Who are you talking with? Why did you lock the door from the inside?" Drake called out from the other side of the door.
"Damn. Then I'll get the answers outta that guy!"
"Who's there?" Drake questioned
"Che! Spoke too loud…" Moonlight cursed.
"That's as far as you get. Comrade." A familiar voice rang out from behind the door.
There was a sound as someone shot the lock with a silenced gun and then kicked it open.
"Who the… The "Committee"…!"
"Hrah!"
"What?"
CLING! ZA~P!
"Gua~h! The Copy Roid's malfunctioning! Plug Out!"
"Hiro – kun! Are you alright?"
"D-Drake…" He muttered.
Drake removed the blindfold and Hiro had to blink several times: he could see Drake crouching and looking at him while Colonel Talos was examining the computer.
"Broke a hole in the firewall… But we know where it's headed to. This is the last straw. Now we have a good motive to carry out retribution…. Are you alright, Mr. Akashi?" Colonel Talos muttered before he turned to speak with Hiro.
"S-somehow…"
"Wait a minute."
He took out his dagger and used it to cut the ropes: Drake then helped him sit up and Hiro made a grimace as he rubbed his stomach area: Colonel Talos seemed to be analyzing the damage.
"Some rest will be necessary."
"Alright… Man… Our baseball game spoiled twice… Hope we have better luck next weekend…" Hiro groaned.
"I am sure there will be. "Strategy: Retribution" is ready and we're only waiting for the signal to carry it out. They will know how foolish they were to neglect the potential of their civilian populace."
"So that means… You're gonna trigger a revolt?" Hiro asked.
"True. And this time they WILL succeed. I will not allow such people to roam free like that." Colonel Talos confirmed.
Drake helped Hiro climb into the bed and put the covers over him before he picked up the tossed baseball clothes and shook the dust off them: he folded them and placed them atop the chair: Colonel Talos picked the cut ropes.
"I will be going. We will place a car for security. But those people are just about to be met with their doom."
"Yeah… Go ahead… Give 'em a beating…" Hiro formed a smile.
"Good morning."
Colonel Talos rushed outside of the room and the front bell then rang: Drake stood up.
"It must be the gang… I'll go."
"Tell them… And allow them in, too…" Hiro requested.
"Alright."
Hiro heard Drake going down the stairs and opening the door: whispers rang out before several sets of footsteps could be heard: Netto and Saito entered the room first.
"Hiro… Drake told us. Are you alright?"
"Somewhat… But I gave the punk a lesson… I guess I'm taking after Big Boss, even! Heh, heh, heh." He grinned.
"That's the spirit!" Saito smiled.
"Akashi – kun… Does it hurt?" Tomono asked.
"No big deal, really. Thanks for being my friend."
"Eh? Ah… Uh… Yeah. True." Tomono formed a smile.
"Hiro – kun… Is it grave?" Hikawa asked.
"Nah. Drake just tends to dramatize but it's no big deal. A bit of rest and I'll be fresher than an athlete." Hiro grinned.
"Jeez. I don't think this is something to joke about, Hiro – kun! Be serious!" Drake grumbled.
"Did ya say something, Drake – chan?"
"Jeez. I give up!" Drake sighed.
"How did the culprit run away?" Rafael asked.
"Didn't Drake say it? It was a woman Navi! Colonel Talos disabled the Copy Roid and she fled though my computer. She's gotta be on the way back to the Z – Nation by now but today those guys go down. They should be ringing up Lloyd's of London. Heh, heh, heh."
"You and your lame humor…" Drake looked unimpressed.
"Tell that to Saito over there or Forte." Hiro shrugged.
"We should host a competition." Saito grinned.
"And you'd win?" Netto guessed.
"Ask Victory Man."
"That joke of making up Navi names sounds cheap to me." Netto told Saito while looking unimpressed.
"Ah? But who was the one trolling around last year?" Saito brought up with a smile.
"Jeez. You win."
"Heh, heh! I'd like to meet that Forte guy." Rafael grinned.
"Sure thing. We'll introduce you to him: we need some new dynamic ideas, anyway." Hiro invited.
"Heh, heh! And I'll show 'im how cool I am when bringing down two Viruses at the same time with my guns!"
Rafael picked them and began to spin them by their triggers before tossing them into the air and picking them back: he then spun them horizontally and tossed them upwards to catch them and spin them behind him: he lastly holstered them and grinned.
"That looked like Major Ocelot's SAA Revolver spinning… You've been looking him up?" Hiro grinned.
"Sure thing! MGS is cool! I dunno why they say ya gotta be 16+ to see that but that's the general public speaking." He shrugged.
"At least it's not H stuff." Tomono muttered.
"H as in Holo-deck?" Rafael laughed.
"Star Trek, eh? It looks cool." Saito recognized the name.
"Thanks, Saito – kun! Let's fight!"
"I'd rather let's drive!"
"Now ya wanna play Mario Kart Wii?" Hiro lifted his eyebrows.
"I'm good at those games." Hikawa admitted with a smile.
"Alright! Then let's form the Akihara Town Kart Team!" Hiro rallied as he lifted his right arm.
"BANZAI~!"
Everyone laughed and Hiro smiled as Drake blinked him an eye.
THIS is what "friendship" means! We all get along perfectly! No Z – Nations grunts will be able to undermine our friendship. They're doomed, anyway.
The group kept on laughing and joking…