Chapter 7: Cyber World
8:40 AM (Japan Time), Friday June the 30th…
"…Wizard Ship calling Wizard Tower. Repeat: Wizard Ship calling Wizard Tower. We request permission to land. Repeat: we request permission to land."
"Permission granted. Head for the heliport in the south coastline: start cutting height and reverse engines."
"Roger, Wizard Tower."
The Wizard Ship was heading towards a clearly artificial island which contained a tall steel tower which had a battle stage on the top floor exposed to the environment: the tower structure had four curved steel pillars which formed its outer structure and was clearly recognizable amongst a heap of ruins and fragments of other buildings: a helipad had been marked on the southern end of the island for the Wizard Ship to land at.
"Cut height from our current 1000 meters to 700 meters. Prepare landing approach: ready vertical engines." One of the pilots commanded.
"Roger, sir."
"Good morning to all contestants: we will soon be landing in our next destination. There is no need to pick any luggage: the Wizard Ship will stay there until the end of the tournament. The cleansing staff will take care of the rooms." The referee announced through the P. A. system.
The Wizard Ship suddenly rocked and it began to veer towards the west instead of keeping its straight course: alarms rang out in the command bridge and the three pilots were hysterically typing into their consoles' keyboards.
"What in the…?" The referee asked.
"I can't get the control back! Something has hijacked our systems and is taking us away from the scheduled course! The hacking signal is very strong so they have to be nearby!"
"W-what's going on?"
"Huh! Eh… W-well… That's…"
Subaru, Misora, Akatsuki, Kiboyama and Tsukasa had rushed into the control bridge: they'd obviously been startled by the sudden rocking.
"What's going on?" Akatsuki asked.
"We don't know for sure… But it'd seem something has hijacked the whole ship!" One pilot reported.
"What?" Subaru gasped.
"Huh? That monitor is acting strange! Isn't it?" Tsukasa signaled.
A monitor built over the front viewing Plexiglas panels was displaying static instead of the usual screensaver.
"How strange! I could swear it was off two minutes ago." The second pilot exclaimed.
The screen soon cleared and everyone gasped given how two persons had appeared on it.
One of them, to the left, was a guy around Subaru and company's age: his eyes' irises were crimson red and his hair was colored jet black hair: it was rather messy and reached all the way to the base of his neck.
Only his upper torso could be seen and he was wearing a black wool jumper.
Something about his face triggered a reaction in Subaru's subconscious.
The second one, to the right, was a girl around the same age: she also had red crimson eyes irises and jet black hair which ended close to the base of the neck.
Like the guy, she merely wore a black wool jumper.
Something was triggered in Misora's subconscious this time.
"Who are you two?" Akatsuki demanded.
"I'm Mr. Admin." The guy replied while shrugging.
"I'm Ms. Admin." The girl replied while also shrugging.
"Why have you hijacked the craft?" Tsukasa demanded.
"We felt bored. We saw company coming over so we've decided to invite you people to our show." The guy shrugged.
"I'd even say more: you're our pawns in a chessboard." The girl made a smug smile.
"Look over there!" Kiboyama exclaimed all of a sudden.
They all looked over there to see a gigantic ray-manta-shaped metallic fortress emerging from the waters colored in a metallic-like-green color plus having two large horizontal and parallel hatches which were opening thus revealing a cavernous inside.
"That's…!" Misora gasped.
"Impossible!" Subaru gasped.
"Impossible? Why? You didn't get to destroy it back then! It entered auto-pilot through some secondary systems and then it fled to parts unknown! Kuroban Howsad's fortress! Stolen from the Bermuda dockyards…! We have named it "Underwater Shrine"!" Mr. Admin laughed.
"And a nightmare awaits you guys inside of that thing… An unending nightmare…!"
"They plan on holding the ship hostage inside of that thing? It won't be long before we escape with our abilities." Akatsuki grinned.
"Sorry. But the interior has been redesigned to impede Denpa – Henkan usage." Mr. Admin revealed.
"That's cheating!" Kiboyama yelled.
"Of course." Ms. Admin confirmed.
"Those who enjoy adrenaline rushes might want to join us in this little party." Mr. Admin amusedly invited.
"You'll learn more once we dock." Ms. Admin added.
Before they could question them any further, the screen went black and everyone looked concerned.
"Let's try contacting for help." Tsukasa suggested.
"Bad news: there's a jammer field in place which stops all incoming and outgoing signals." War Rock reported.
"And it's too powerful to be broken just like that, too…" Harp added with a hint of annoyance.
"What a bunch of cheaters!" Akatsuki cursed.
The Wizard Ship was pulled inside of the fortress and it descended until two magnetic locks closed around its frame: the two giant hatches were sealed and the sound of heavy machinery could be heard transmitting through the metallic structure before the Wizard Ship's entry/exit hatch opened and the five of them stepped down.
"Heh. It looks like there's gonna be a thrill ride." Someone announced with a hint of amusement.
They spotted Solo climbing down the stairs and looking around the place with a look of amusement.
"Guess so…" Subaru shrugged.
"I'd say "for sure"…" Solo looked amused.
"Walk down the corridor in front of you." Mr. Admin's voice rang out through some speakers.
"It's getting late." Ms. Admin insisted.
They all walked down the corridor and didn't spot Shinobi discreetly trailing them: they stepped through two large open lock doors and entered a printed-circuit-filled room where two life-size holograms of Mr. Admin and Ms. Admin were waiting: they both wore identical clothes since they included fingerless gloves, jeans and black leather boots into their attire.
"Welcome to the nightmare of the Cyber World: can you try to make it to our Temple alive?" Mr. Admin challenged.
"The first two who made it there will be told how to leave this place."
"So that's how it is. Yet your work for Kuroban?"
"Work for Kuroban? No, no. We found the place on our own after he'd vacated it. We've done some little refurbishing yet we haven't been able to rebuild all those robots you destroyed."
"That's gotta be the positive part. What do we have to expect instead, "Darkloids", FMs, UMAs and Noised Wizards?"
"Bravo." Mr. Admin made some sarcastic clapping.
"Go fish." Misora challenged.
"Fish a sardine." Ms. Admin giggled.
"Mwah, hah, hah… Funny dudes…" Shinobi muttered.
"Damn. I knew it. The punk's 'long for the ride." Akatsuki cursed.
"At least we left Utagai – san onboard…" Tsukasa muttered.
"That was a bright idea…" Kiboyama shrugged.
"… Definitely…" Ms. Admin was whispering to her accomplice.
"Chut. Lower your voice… Let's talk it on the Control Room…"
"Huh? What are you plotting, you two?" Kiboyama demanded.
"Ask Moon Disaster."
"Or should we say Moon Ace?"
"Not again…" Akatsuki groaned.
"Talk time's over! Plunge into the depths of this Cybernetic Hell!"
Holes opened beneath each of them and they fell down through some long and deep tubes towards the unknown as the two of them laughed aloud…
09:31 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Ow… Aw… Damn it…"
"Crap…"
Subaru and Misora awoke while feeling an intense headache and discovered that they were standing in the middle of a calm summertime forest: grass could be seen everywhere as well as the sun in a cloudless sky while a soft wind blew across the land.
"Yo!"
War Rock popped out in front of Subaru's face with a scary expression and looking about to devour him.
"Yikes!"
Subaru actually hit his head with one tree branch due to the jump he made and fell into the ground.
"Ouch… Rock! I'm fed up with this!" Subaru groaned.
"Pororon! That wasn't nice." Harp told him with a hint of annoyance.
"What were you expecting?" Misora asked.
"Anyway! Guys and girls: we're inside of this freaky Cyber World thing, for all the looks and gives. We can perform Denpa – Henkan inside of this space, though." War Rock announced.
"Have you located the others?" Misora asked Harp.
"Pororon! No. They're not in a 500 meters radius." Harp replied.
"This Cyber World must be kilometers wide… How are gonna find their "Temple" thing?" Subaru wondered.
"Surprise: they bothered to include Wave Roads, too."
"Then let's go already! Denpa – Henkan! On Air!"
Both transformed into Rock Man and Harp Note and jumped into a nearby Wave Road before nodding to each other: the hunt was on…
09:35 AM (Japan Time)…
"… It'd seem we've gotta fend off in our own."
"What guys!"
Tsukasa and Kiboyama had awakened inside of a large factory-like building along with Storm and Miles.
"And what can we do besides walking? We can't use Denpa – Henkan to ride in the Wave Roads." Tsukasa cursed.
"If we could find any vehicle or shortcut, it'd make our day, I swear."
"For the time being there doesn't seem to be anything dangerous around us." Storm reported.
"But it's obvious that they must've reserved some nasty aces in the hole for us." Miles warned.
"For all I know regarding Kuroban… He might to play a psychological trap on us." Kiboyama warned.
"Then we must try to reason if any strange situation we meet is logical or crazy to break through the illusion." Tsukasa suggested.
"Damn. And let's hope we don't have to face the punk either. He might get thrilled and we'd be done for." Kiboyama hissed.
"They won't get past my shield!" Miles proclaimed.
"I'll electrocute them!" Storm exclaimed.
"Guess we don't need to worry about that… Hyde must try to look like a gentleman so he's surely ordered the punk to do nothing until the end of the tournament." Tsukasa replied.
"Standing here and chatting won't do any good. Let's try to find the "Temple" thing. It's gotta stand out somehow if we could get out into the open unless it's built underground." Kiboyama rallied.
Both nodded in agreement before they set off while their Wizards orbited around them: danger could be lurking ahead…
09:37 AM (Japan Time)…
"…I've been left on my own and I've gotta find the other four. Thank goodness Utagai - san stayed onboard. I'd hate to babysit the guy, truth to be told."
"Do you have any practical ideas?"
Akatsuki had awakened and found himself in cave inside of a mountain range which spanned kilometers beyond his sight and was surrounded by a dense and bone-chilling fog.
"Let's use the Wave Road and try to get to the big bosses."
"Roger."
"Denpa – Henkan! Akatsuki Shidou, On Air!"
Akatsuki became Acid Ace and immediately dropped down into a Wave Road crossroad.
"Let's try south for the time being and… Huh! Long Sword!"
"Good reflexes."
Acid Ace had to suddenly whip around and slice a Mettool which had tried to hit him from behind in halt thus deleting it: more of them began to form around him.
"A trap! I prefer those to wandering around here aimlessly. Come, ugly Viruses! You're uglier than Queen Tia's make-up!"
"As far as I…"
"I'm being ironic! I know both she and Hibiki dislike make-up. And that gal who greeted us didn't seem to be the type either. Let's hope she's not like Queen Tia, though." He muttered.
"And what would that be?"
"Not like you'd get the point… Damn! There's no end to them!"
"We are in trouble, then."
09:41 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Mwah, hah, hah, hah. This looks fitting."
"Euh…"
Shinobi was wandering around some ancient stone corridors which looked like a total replica of the Mu Continent: Assassin was following Shinobi and looked bored.
"I think it's time to go find some fun. Don't you agree, Assassin?" Shinobi asked with his amused tone.
Assassin merely shrugged and muttered something undecipherable while Shinobi crossed his forearms and closed his fists to make them come closer to his shoulders.
"… Hah! Emu! Iuru! Shu! Segi! En! Gureru! Ra! Euru! Ereph! En! Neum! Shutosu! Sewa… Ne…" He began chanting in an echoing voice: his words had a sinister echo to them and they seemed to be part of some ancient spell.
A bright purple light began to surround him and Assassin as the Wizard vanished and his image was superimposed over Shinobi's body before there was a flash of purple light.
"Mwah, hah, hah!"
Shinobi gained two shuriken on his knees and shoulders while a small green shuriken glowed in the middle of his forehead: but he didn't look much different than in his normal form.
"Mwah, hah, hah. Assassin Shinobi came… Mwah, hah, hah. Time to slice and dice… Here they come~!"
Viruses began to form around the area and he laughed as he drew the katana and brandished it: each deleted Virus let out some "blood" which stained him.
"Mwah, hah, hah! Rejoice, Assassin! Here's blood for you to drink! These guys though of everything! Mwah, hah, hah!"
09:45 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Heh. I've gotta survive and find those two jerks, huh? I dunno why. But something about them seems familiar."
"Ru…"
Solo had been wandering a devastated city which looked like it'd been assaulted by an army on a long past era due to the high level of decay and the wildness of the vegetation around it: he looked amused and Laplace was following him.
"Let's go explore further. Denpa – Henkan! Solo, On Air!"
Solo became Burai and Laplace transformed into the Laplace Sword: Burai smirked and climbed the ivy on a wall until he reached the top and was close to a ramp leading into a Wave Road.
"Next stop: the "Temple"." He announced.
"Ru… Da…"
"Hmmm? What happens if we find the punk? We're still taking part in the tournament, you know. I want to play fair. So I'll merely ignore the punk given how the punk will ignore me. Hmpf. The "Assassins' Clan"… Don't make me laugh. They were pathetic. Their own internal strife for supremacy was their doom!" He grinned.
"Ga… Da… Ru… Ga…"
"Yeah, I know… Here they come… Come! Rubbish!"
"Metto~! Metto~!"
A horde of Mettools jumped towards Burai but he merely swept the air with the Laplace Sword and deleted them: these ones didn't let blood out like the other ones yet they quickly regenerated.
"Hah! Mere rubbish! Mere weaklings. Mere fools. Mere idiots. Mere pawns. Grunts. Jerks. Lowlifes. Idiots. Imbeciles." Burai taunted.
He laughed and sliced another pack into pieces…
09:50 AM (Japan Time)…
"… We've got all of the pawns on the move."
"Perfect."
The guy and the girl were sitting in two metallic armchairs which were glued together by the back which had integrated keyboards and were set on top of a machine-like cylinder: many wires came in and out from the cylinder's base and the whole room was made of printed circuitry.
"All cameras work fine, too, Ka."
"Good, Ku."
Both of them were looking at slightly curved floating "Real Wave" screens which were set on a grid which allowed them to slide up and down and to the left or the right: some of them displayed maps, others displayed landscapes and another set were monitoring the progress of the seven persons trapped inside of the Cyber World.
"Hah! This was just the prologue. It's about time we began with the real stuff, Ka."
"Yeah, Ku. I'm finishing the programming of the "Bosses" and the Viruses are catching up to some of them by now."
"Perfect. Make sure to set a tough one for that Assassin Shinobi punk He's eager to kill something, Ka." Mr. Admin put up a smug smile.
"Let's see if he'll get himself killed instead, Ku."
"Regarding the two loners… What should we do, Ka?"
"Let's split them from their Wizards and then have some fun with them."
"Which one would you like to pick, Ka?"
"I'll pick the brown-haired man." Ms. Admin immediately replied.
"I'll be having the green-haired guy, then. This is going to be entertaining."
Both laughed aloud in an evil tone of voice…