Chapter 7: Enemies
13:33 PM (Japan Time) Saturday June the 24th…
"… Alright. Mr. Vadous. What do you think Yoru Yami can do as an "opening act" so as to speak? The "WWW" made ovens go berserk, "Gospel" almost deleted the Japan Internet City and "Nebula" assaulted the Science Labs…"
"Maybe something not so "grand" or so Cyber World – focused…"
"Hum."
"And maybe they'll repeat their tactics of two years ago… Those "soldiers" could've been improved to withstand both plasma and sonic waves but there must be a limit as to how far you can improve something no matter how skilled you are…"
"So they would still be weak to some frequencies, right?"
A meeting was being held between Vadous, Commissioner Kifune, Superintendent Manabe and Detective Misaki in a small meeting room in the Net Police HQ.
"I hope so. But they could also come at us with those Viruses Shadow Man reported and those rip-offs… There's too much they could: they're not obsessed with following just one pattern or two but being totally unpredictable… Not like the other organizations were much predictable but I believe that this man will try to taunt us by letting out some complicated hint about where they plan on striking…"
"Kyou~dai~!"
"Fuck."
Vadous stood up in a violent manner and saw the figure of Yoru Yami cloaked in that cloth standing in the door's threshold and holding a 22 caliber pistol having a nipple of a baby bottle on the muzzle as if being an improvised silencer.
"Die~!"
The trigger was pressed but only confetti came out: the man laughed and Vadous tried to tackle them but they were a hologram which vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
"Ah. And they want to destroy the concept of "safety" by proving they can strike anywhere at all. I'm sure that they could make their way inside of the CIA by guns and Viruses and those freaks too." He didn't lose his composure and shrugged.
"By all the…!" Kifune cursed.
"What a…" Misaki growled.
"Ah, the villain!" Manabe hissed.
"True. Omega. Did you find anything?" Vadous calmly took out his Link PET and turned on the screen.
"Nothing seems to be out of place… Save for a window which was opened in the 7th floor, where you are, and the security of which was momentarily frozen… The rascal must've gotten in through there and brought some hologram projector along… By the way: that of the gun…"
"Yeah? What's with it?"
"It's a rip-off from a Batman comic: The Long Halloween. Some serial killer targeting Mafia members and which is nicknamed "Holiday" because they strike on holidays uses a 22 caliber gun with a baby bottle nipple and the serial number erased which they always leave at the scene: the handle is wrapped in cello-tape so as to not to leave prints there…"
"So they're going for comics too. And next they'll bring Ra's al Ghul and his "countless killing arts"?" He sarcastically asked.
"Wouldn't surprise me…"
"And this was but a teaser: but if they wanted to crush our feeling of safety then you can be as sure as Hell that they've done it."
"Yeah… I'm eager to lock them in the brig!"
"Yoru Yami! You freak…!"
13:49 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Alright. I got an untraceable mail saying "you're lucky" along with this shopping mall's address but I don't see anything weird. So unless it's a joke by "Neo Gospel" then…"
"Mwah, hah, hah. Welcome to the invincible great me's show of terror and chaos! Boom!"
"Damn it."
Enzan got to a shopping mall and spotted nothing odd until a voice rang out through the speakers and explosions began to happen in electronic devices: panic ensued while the sounds of the explosions seemed to be amplified by the speakers.
"Damn it. What's going on? Plug In! Blues, Transmission!"
Blues entered the Cyber World and was greeted by a volley of old-style bombs with their fuses lit: he quickly drew a Long Sword, sliced them into pieces, and rushed forward to find Bomber Man EXE standing 5 meters in front of him with his arms folded in an arrogant pose and having his right foot atop a bomb.
"So! You lowlife again… Bomber Man."
"Mwah, hah, hah! Yeah! I got a new chance! Commander Freeze Man wanted me to show these herds of cowards my power! The "Dark Generator" powers me up!"
"What? "Dark Generator", you say?"
"Hah! It's like a "Dark Ultimate Program"… It allows me to absorb environment energy to form an invisible armor around me protecting me from any attacks and also constantly recharging my HP! This armor has no weaknesses and even if you used a "Vaccine Chip" the energy would merely be vented off!"
"Shit. This guy isn't bragging." Enzan cursed.
"And now you die a slow and pitiful death!"
"We'll see about that." Blues didn't lose his cool.
"Hah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah, hah! Hah, hah! Program Advance! Count Bomb, Triple Slot In! Giga Count Bomb!"
Bomber Man formed the Program Advance and threw it towards Blue who merely readied his sword: he was about to go attack it but it exploded faster than what Blues had predicted: the explosion made the real-world LCD screen Enzan had used to access the Cyber World explode and Enzan had to find shelter behind a map panel.
"Grua~h!"
The explosion opened a 10-meter wide crater around Blues' position and he groaned once he'd fallen inside and some shrapnel fragments had gotten stuck into his body.
"Shit. This thing's overpowered."
"Mwah, hah, hah."
"And that's but a PAWN! How harder can Freeze Man be?" He groaned next realizing the dire look of the whole deal.
"Dunno. Maybe the guy can "die another day"…" Bomber Man made some silly joke.
"Recovery 100, Slot In! Program Advance, Blues!"
"Yes, Enzan – sama! Program Advance!"
"Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword! Slot In!"
"Dream Sword!"
"Dream on! This armor's unbreakable! Hah, hah, hah!"
The Dream Sword left a trail of destruction along its path and actually hit Bomber Man as he was running towards it as if trying to intercept it: the Program Advance formed a tall vertical cut on his body and he stepped back, momentarily stunned.
"What? Impossible!"
"Ah! When the guy's running the armor goes off… If Anaya Maria was the paranoid type then Yoru Yami surely is and he must've come up with some deliberate weakness to this pawn in case he got too cocky and tried to rebel or something while blowing them up." Enzan grinned.
"Impossible! Activate! "Dark Generator"!"
Bomber Man spread his arms wide and roared but nothing seemed to happen and the wound began to slowly leak data.
"I-impossible…"
"Ah. So that "Dark Generator" is to create some initial angst and despair but no way he'd come up with something so complicated to use on expendable pawns…" Blues grinned.
"Fuck you~!"
Bomber Man ran towards Blues but he calmly drove the sword into the already opened wound plunging past Bomber Man's body: Bomber Man growled and tried to use his fists to hit Blues but he merely ducked and took out the sword while pulling the left leg: the guy lost balance and hit the floor: Blues loomed over him and aimed the sword at his neck while Bomber Man cursed under his breath.
"So? Where's Freeze Man at?"
"Like I'd know!"
"No big deal then. We'll check your data byte by byte."
"Blues! Behind!"
"What? Ah! Damn it!"
Blues quickly turned around to face a humanoid shape having some kind of blackish helmet over their heads, the shape of eyes, a nose, a thin human-like body with two arms and legs, and two intimidating knives instead of hands: it looked about a meter and sixty tall.
"Damn! The freaks of two years ago! I knew it! They would be coming back with a vengeance!" He cursed.
"Not so fast, Bomber Man!"
"Who…?"
"Name's Davis. Now speak."
"Go to hell, kiddo!"
"I'm no kiddo. You're the kiddo."
"Wha~t?"
Davis suddenly loomed over Bomber Man while having draw that golden-colored Long Blade Battle Chip and he grumbled: Blues was trying to counter the assaulter's attacks but all cuts and wounds inflicted quickly regenerated.
"Battle Chip, Elec Pulse! Slot In!"
Blues shot the Elec Pulse at the thing and it suddenly broke down into raw data to get deleted: Blues quickly looked around but didn't seem to see anyone: Davis had begun to sing a silly rhyme at Bomber Man as if trying to drive him nuts.
"The carrier of carrier will carry a carrying carrier…"
"Ugh! Stop it!"
"The cargo boxes will cargo the cargo-loading-man…"
"No more!"
"Freeze Man is laughing at ya~…"
"Damn ya, Freeze Man! Ya feel so cocky up there and not sticking out your damned hide~! There in the… the… the… Ugra~h!"
"What the…"
Bomber Man's chest plate got some wounds there which seemed to form from the inside and some tentacle-like things began to crawl out while some yellowish organic mass began to encompass the body while forming some appendixes: the thing stood up.
"What the… A Flood Combat Form from the Halo games!" Charles recognized what it was.
"More rip-offs! What does this mean?" Enzan cursed.
"Easy! A parasite has taken over the guy and can use their memories to figure out how to use weapons or vehicles! And they all then can fuse to form a gigantic compound mind…!"
"In short: it's a trick to stop them from giving out the location of their base and making sure to give us trouble…" Blues growled.
"Fucking freak!"
"What… That'd been boring! Shah, shah, shah!"
A 3D image of Needle Man projected behind the "infected" Bomber Man and formed a smug smile: both Navis grumbled.
"Ya gotta SWEAT and STRUGGLE a LOTTA MORE~!"
"Oh? So Oozono is a body-builder now?" Enzan tried to taunt.
"How dare you!" Yuriko opened her window and although she had the sunglasses on she was pretty annoyed.
"Hmpf! Eye for an eye. I still remember about Monday February the 27th, 2005." Enzan shot back.
"Monday February the 27th, 2005…? Oh my. The double-trap strategy… A little bit more and Desert Man would've succeeded…"
"What would your sister say?" Charles questioned.
"Don't involve Mariko into this. I'm a freak. I'll never interact with her again: the only one who recognized me for what I was… That was Dr. Regal but because he was a freak, too… And Dr. Yoru… A gathering of freaks: just like how Two-Face gathered some of Gotham City's freaks as well… Come back, Needle Man." She icily muttered.
"Shah, shah, shah! No pain no gain!"
"Shit."
"Battle Chip, Hell's Burner! Slot In!" Charles announced.
"Battle Chip, Flame Tower! Slot In!"
Both attacks converged on the infected Bomber Man and set fire to the organic mass which emitted a shriek before it got deleted along with Burner Man's body: both fumed.
"What a lovely start." Blues growled.
"Yeah. Lovely." Davis cursed next.
"Don't complain: we got a swarm of 66 Sword Men, 33 Gravity Men and 11 Bright Men knocking at the "Council of Armies" HQ in Arkansas, close to Little Rock City right after the rascal showed up in the Net Police HQ wit that hologram..." Omega showed up next: he was filled with multiple wounds and being pretty if not much annoyed.
"By all the… I prefer this thing to those." Blues cursed.
"Totally."
"No use crying over spilled milk, anyway."
"Why the hell would the guy wear that fancy robe, anyway?"
"To start up rumors about some "sect", "Voldemort cousin" and such: the forums are boiling with speculation by now. The guy was aiming to create "terror" with this and "chaos" with that." Omega let out.
"So he wants to use rumors and forum speculation to create an "image" to his damned gang, huh?" Enzan wasn't impressed.
"Anaya Maria was a megalomaniac: the guy's inherited that."
"No wonder." Charles fumed.
"And the witch's surely laughing at us by now too, by saying "gotcha" and "I'm a genius"…" Omega scoffed next.
"That damned mouse…!" Vadous growled over Omega's line.
"And if this was but a teaser… We're in deep shit."
14:48 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Dr. Yoru…"
"Mr. Freeze Man… So?"
"I got a scene report from Needle Man… The "Flood" trick worked as it did and our strategy of initial angst had the desired effect… Their angst was very bitter indeed… Isn't that good? Heh, heh, heh."
"Yeah. It's good. It's just as I'd calculated… I'm a genius."
Freeze Man came into a room somewhere which had some servers set in the far wall along with switches and routers connected by multiple wires: a laptop had been connected nearby and Yoru Yami was sitting on a chair in front of it while working on that: he stopped to stood up and face Freeze Man while toying with a pen on his right hand: he had a smug smile on his face and so did Freeze Man.
"By the way… Should we deploy Stone Man next?"
"Yeah. Let's keep the schedule up. The guy doesn't need to know anything: they will cause some initial angst if the report on Bomber Man hasn't been spread to others and then prove that we are but teasing them and that the real thing's yet to come… How did the cannon fodder fare like, anyway?" He calmly asked.
"All were destroyed but those three mice will take a while to recover: the damage to the facilities was considerable too and the building has almost collapsed too… Most of the equipment is out of commission: they'll have some red numbers this month…"
"Good. One eyesore less: their military equipment could be used to counter us in the future but now that they've lost a big deal of it then I don't need to worry about that."
"What should we do about Gauss Magnets, though?"
"Hah. We'll use them to provide us funds…"
"Good… Dr. Wily is totally out of the picture, right?"
"Totally. The guy's gone soft. It ain't useful anymore."
"Fine… I'll be on my way…"
Freeze Man came out while the villain brought out a cell-phone: he dialed a number and waited.
"Boss?" Someone asked.
"Yeah. That's me. Did you get the package?"
"Yes, sir. I got it without hitches, sir."
"Good. No – one questions anything?"
"No, sir. They have no reason to, sir. This city is far enough so that no – one sees any connection, sir."
"Fine. I don't care what you do as long as you don't come out of the city and keep on storing the packages."
"Roger, sir. "
"That'll be all."
He finished the call and then rubbed his hands on excitement: he inputted some commands into the laptop and Stone Man showed up there using a window.
"Stone Man! You're next! Crush those miserable insects!"
"Ou! Where do I gotta go to?" Stone Man asked.
"Bury those fools under tons of earth and rock!"
"Gotcha, Boss! Mwo, ho, ho! Ho, ho, ho!"
Stone Man departed the system while the guy calmly tapped the edge of the laptop table while forming an evil grin.
"Kyoudai! Watch on as I overcome you lowlife and prove to IQ – sama I am their one and only heir! An heir who will serve them without question…!"
Heh, heh, heh! Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah!
