Chapter 7: Malice

03:08 AM (Utah Time), Wednesday April the 11th…

"… Copy of all data successful. I added several protections using our systems and which the enemy should have a hard time breaking through since the data system is very different from any system used here."

"Excellent. We will now move the guy to Vadous' HQ to keep on with the illusion."

"Perfect. I will begin analysis immediately. It can help us get a better idea of the mechanics of the so-called "Dark Generator" as well."

"Ah! Analysis! Excellent, excellent. Crispy juicy and toasty data indeed! Let us get to work, Reclaimer."

"Is that an input by Anderson? Feels unlike him."

"Maybe it is an attempt to keep him more focused on the task or have more enthusiasm for it…"

Blues and Search Man were standing inside of a room that seemed to have no boundaries and in the middle of outer space given the glow of stars and galaxies scattered all over the place and talking to Navi there while looking at the prism having Cosmo Man closed inside of it.

"Alright. We'll be leaving now, Xon' Edos. Omega will come to speak to you once you finish the analysis." Blues told the Navi.

"Understood."

Xon' Edos, looked about a meter and eighty tall and bronze was the main color of his body with some white spots.

The drawing of a planet was engraved on his helmet's forehead.

His eyes' irises were purple and looked calm.

He had two triangular wings (currently folded) with grooves drawn on it and colored bronze.

These same grooves repeated on the rest of his body.

He didn't have any emblems on his chest or in the helmet's ear pads.

"Here: a shortcut."

"Good. Let's go, Search Man."

"Roger."

Both entered a "portal" that Xon' Edos formed and headed out taking the hovering prism with them as Guilty Spark was humming and looking at some holographic screens filled with unknown glyphs and apparently displaying some process.

"Try to isolate any coordinate data, Monitor. That is what interests us most at the moment. "Dark Generator" analysis will come later. But first priority is figuring out their method of coming and going from their base. Understood?" He told Spark.

"Understood. Coordinate data, then."

"There is the possibility that the data is not actually their base but a mid-way point in which they are picked up by Zoan Gate Man's "Remote Gate"… But nevertheless any hints to their base are useful. Clock updates, schedules…" He specified as he began to interact with the screens as well and check the data.

"Roger. Oh? It would seem that the subject was indeed in shutdown state given how an emergency protocol was activated. The cause was overload of pain sensors. Seems to be standard protocol installed in all Net Navis so it possible that the subject was formed using a standard Navi as base and then heavily modified."

"I see. There was the fear that the man was pretending but now we can be at ease that it has no recollection of being here. Did you find anything on the most recent cache files?"

"Yes, I did. Several groups of coordinates labelled "Rendezvous locations"…"

"Thought so. Download all of them and we will then check where these locations are at."

"Like you suspected, Reclaimer, there is no actual data on their base. There is a protocol that mandates contacting Zoan Gate Man for transport between the base and other locations."

"Indeed. However, maybe if we search better we may find something else… Maybe an emergency protocol."

"I found one file labelled as such but it only has the words "under construction" inside…"

"Or maybe that is a decoy and there is another layer to it accessed by some specific input or password."

"Possible. I shall begin attempts."

"Wait. Do several copies of the data before. It might be rigged to self-delete if the wrong input or password is used."

"Roger. Beginning multi-copy."

"Store in Temporary Folder 389."

"Roger. Moving to folder."

"Hmmm…"

"Is something the matter, Reclaimer?" Spark asked.

"Their memory files have two layers of encryption. Standard one which should not take more than a few tens of seconds for the ship's systems to decipher but… I shall make several copies as well. There could be some trap in them." Xon' Edos decided.

"Understood."

"You go over the data, keep on trying inputs. There is a list I got from Vadous about keywords Twilight probably employs."

"Roger."

"Try one per file."

"Understood."

"I shall do the same."

Xon' Edos began to try inputs into several files which went on deleting with each attempt to decipher them: he did not lose his calm and formed new copies and folders to keep on trying while Spark did the same: his eyes quickly jumped from screen to screen as the list of data was reflected on his eyes' surface: they suddenly turned from red to green and Xon' Edos looked slightly surprised.

"Success? What did I just input?" He wondered aloud.

"I have had success too. Inputted keyword was "Starkiller"…"

"Hmpf. Another sample of Twilight's vain "ego"… But it worked. Now let us see these memory files."

"… They know we're here. So we've secured another base. Only I and Zoan Gate Man had the coordinates. He will use his doors to pick you up at designated rendezvous locations." A FPV (First Person View) of Freeze Man appeared onscreen.

"This was 1 day before Vadous' raid on their previous base. So they had secretly readied a new base…"

"However… For added safety. You, Zoan Gate Man, me and Twilight – sama will be the only ones actually managing the base. Darth Bapgei, IQ – sama, Mr. Secretary and Mr. Jade will oversee from another location. "Don't put too many eggs in one basket"."

"It was a matter of time before they realized it, anyway. Hardly a surprise and there is enough manpower to split."

"And for even more added safety… You will come through different routes each and each will have different rendezvous coordinates. Even if one of you is captured they won't be able to find the base. They might set up watch in the rendezvous points but it'll be in vain because that's only a portion of the points which are constantly rotated, shifted and updated… And to exit the base you will need either MY permission or Twilight – sama's permission. I'm speaking to you, buffoons!"

"Y-yes, sir! Roger, sir!" Cloud Man and Swallow Man nervously replied off-screen.

"You're still in charge of being middle man to deal with Vincent "Red" but only when I or Twilight – sama authorize that! No radio transmissions are allowed either. Only I or Twilight – sama can use them when necessary, and for added safety we'll install remote control on some of your abilities so that you don't use them without permission…. Hmmm? Are you unsatisfied at something, Yamato Man?"

"Huh! N-no, my lord."

"You better behave, too. You've disappointed me far too many times."

"R-roger, sir."

"Also, Cosmo Man!"

"Y-yes, sir?"

"You rely too much on the "Cosmo Gate" when you know it's slow and predictable. Get my point?"

"Y-yes, sir. Perfectly, sir."

"Good. Movement will begin in an hour from now once I get final confirmation. Until then you're to stay put here and I'm going to start installing these security measures. Any attempt to tamper with them will trigger a shut-down of your systems and will be seen as disobeying orders which will mean punishment! We might not be an army but there's a chain of command!"

"Y-yes, sir! Understood!" The four of them acknowledged.

"Disband! Don't start a fight, broom and mop! And don't slack! Or there'll be punishment as well!"

"Roger, sir!"

"Let us fast-forward…" Xon' Edos muttered.

"… So this is the new base…? I see, I see…"

Cosmo Man's view was looking around a plain metallic room with no features whatsoever and he was muttering to himself: the clock on the lower right corner had changed from "Jawaii Time" to "UTC".

"They use UTC… So this is hardly a lead. Did not expect it to be but… Let us keep on watching."

"Here you have space to train and perfect your abilities. And you are not to come out of your designated areas!" Freeze Man was ordering off-screen.

"… As much as I fast-forward and check I cannot find other clues of what kind of location it is… Well. Let us compile the data and wait for Omega to come retrieve it. They will be busy fending off the assault by these fools to come retrieve their man, anyway." He shrugged.

"It is so crispy that I feel like popcorn!"

I am afraid young Anderson overdid it with his inputs…

19:39 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Thousand Spear!"

"Cross Thunder!"

"Swallow Cutter!"

"Stubborn rascals!"

"They don't know when to give up."

"Hardly a surprise by now."

"Grrr! The scout Viruses haven't found Cosmo Man yet?"

"Turns out they've hidden him somewhere in the VR simulator Cyber World's "city"… And they have the Smash Bros. characters there to fight them back!"

"Sheesh!"

Yamato Man, Cloud Man and Swallow Man were fighting against Sigma, Blood Shadow and Omega inside of a Cyber World somewhere: Yamato Man grumbled and glared at Swallow Man who reported the status: Cloud Man fumed.

"Oh? What's this? Bahamas? You sure love tropical islands, don't you? Or it is that woman's megalomania? Thinking she's a millionaire who lives surrounded by luxury?" Vadous said over the radio.

"HMPF!" They played unimpressed.

"I authorize the "Dark Generator"! Blow them up!" Twilight hissed over the radios.

"Roger! "Dark Generator", activate!"

A loud THUMP sound rang out followed by a series of heart bump-like sounds as a purple "aura" formed around the three of them and took on a vaguely humanoid form about the same size as each of the "Darkloids": the "copies" flew forward at a high speed but they suddenly vanished so the "Darkloids" got into fighting stance and checked their surroundings: they didn't see something falling from the "sky" although its shadow could be seen on the ground.

"It's coming from above! Look out!" Twilight ordered.

"Eh? Whoa!"

They all jumped away in different directions at the last instant as Master Hand fell down and hit the ground with the hand extended causing a shockwave spreading over the ground.

"Hmpf! What can this thing alone do?" Yamato Man scoffed.

"Guoh!"

"Guah!"

"Huh? What!"

"Who said there was only one?"

Another two Master Hands suddenly appeared of nowhere and closed grabbing Swallow Man and Cloud Man while Omega mocked Yamato Man for assuming there was only one: two blue "portals" opened and the Master Hands flew backwards into them as Sigma and Blood Shadow also stepped into another two portals: Yamato Man grumbled and aimed his spear at the first Master Hand but a "portal" formed on his feet and he fell inside to land inside of a vast city: the "skies" were grey and the city was eerily silent with a ton of hi-rise buildings with glass façades rising high and all streets deserted of life or decoration: he gulped and got to his feet as he scanned around.

"Damn. A jamming field is in place, can only send local-range transmissions…" He grumbled.

He scanned his surroundings as if expecting an attack but nothing happened and the silence remained undisturbed.

"There's a gravity set here and the Viruses can only explore the buildings by climbing stairs… And the average height of the buildings is 13 floors, ground floor included… Vadous must feel like mocking us indeed. Then again this is a war." He muttered with annoyance.

He walked over to one building and spotted a row of Mettools climbing up the stairs since the floor was totally devoid of anything save but the concrete stairs heading upwards into the next floor: he rushed up the stairs and towards the topmost floor since he heard the Mettools making a fuss over something: he stepped there and found the prism with Cosmo Man inside.

"Oh, here it is! Good job! Let's break this and get out of here. As for those two idiots, I couldn't care less. Survival of the strongest! I will be rewarded and redeemed!" He got confident.

He thrust his spear into the prism and it shattered into countless shards yet the form of Cosmo Man inside was actually a hologram: he gasped as the Viruses suddenly began to look at him: they jumped and began to attack with head-butts one after the other slowly overwhelming him: he growled and tried to shake them off by spinning his lance with both hands and forming a tornado of electrical energy to paralyze them or make them bounce off it and fall into the lower floors: he then loaded energy on the spear and shot a beam into the ceiling to open a hole and exit into the rooftop: he saw lights and heard sounds of scuffle from another two buildings' rooftops several tens of meters away.

"This is Cloud Man! I got fooled by a decoy and now a horde of Viruses is attacking me!" Cloud Man reported.

"Swallow Man here! Damn it! I got fooled, too!"

"Same! Damn it! Fortunately enough we don't know where the base is at so even if they can scan all of Cosmo Man's data they'd only find his list of rendezvous locations."

"As expected of Mr. Jade! At least this time we're not sitting ducks which can be brought down in one blow."

"Shut up, idiots!"

"Yikes! Twilight – sama!"

Twilight had actually appeared on the area piloting a Hind – D helicopter and scolding at them.

Twilight had changed to a Navi-like appearance consisting of a helmet with a mouth guard activated, his chest emblem, consisting on two shades of black and white split by a horizontal grey line.

His shoulder pads were shaped as two split halves of a diamond, navy blue color save for the forearms and his boots, colored purple.

Lastly, he had a black smooth cape hung from the back of his shoulders.

"Hold into it! I'm going to activate a bubble shield!"

"Roger, sir!"

They jumped towards the helicopter and attached to the sides as a bubble shield formed around it deflecting all Viruses.

"I knew it wasn't a good idea to come try retrieve Cosmo Man since I was sure that once they extracted all his data they'd move him to the Navi Prison which would be easier to attack but…! Sheesh! Mr. Jade agreed with me but when IQ – sama gets stubborn, there's no talking Her Grace out of it!" He mumbled aloud.

"But you've put yourself at risk as well, sir." Yamato Man argued.

"I know. But even if they end up finding the operational base, at least IQ – sama and the other two can keep on operating things. For safety reasons I already deleted my knowledge of the operational base and set myself so that only Her Grace can contact me and I cannot. But I can't help feel that I'm missing some factor in the calculations…"

"The alien?" Cloud Man suggested.

"That's it, damn it all! That alien's damned sneaky program which keeps on deleting my data about him! Thought I'd gotten rid of it but maybe it self-replicates! That was what went wrong not so long ago in that plan to defeat those kiddos!" He growled.

"Omega is strong but not invincible, IQ – sama proved it. Vadous is a mortal, he has a lot of limitations. He's no wizard." Swallow Man tried to encourage him.

"Good points, yeah. Problem is that alien. I can't fathom his potential. He's supposed to be way weaker than that damned Slur because he's only an overseer but his strength isn't raw power, it's his quick brains. And his speed!"

"How will we get out, sir?"

"I secured some ways out, came in through another satellite they're using… I've readied some assets to keep those guys busy. But they can still call for reinforcements… If they aren't already here and waiting for a signal to jump into us…"

"I'm picking up tens of decoy signals but can't pick anything else than that… It's like threading into a fogged forest at nighttime…"

"Sure thing… Huh!?"

He spotted Blues and Search Man riding on discs which flew across the air and loading their weapons: Twilight smirked all of a sudden and a cage with two plain walls on the sides suddenly formed in the air and dropped dragging both Navis to the ground with it.

"Go, my servant!"

"Gruaaahhh!"

A copy of Beast Man appeared inside of the cage as it glowed with a reddish "aura": an "Iron Maiden" formed behind him and he stepped in before it closed.

"… The beast's instincts have begun to sprint… Countless steel blades pierce its flesh… A paradise reached by overcoming pain… IRON MAIDEN!"

A pre-recorded voice whispered some words before yelling a name: the "Iron Maiden" glowed as Beast Man broke it from the inside and howled like a beast: Blues rushed for him, Variable Sword drawn, and Search Man took a sniping stance: Beast Man suddenly jumped diagonally across the air until the right end of the cage to land there and form some reddish pools of a liquid that resembled blood: he jumped around the cage another two times before stopped in the NW corner: thick and large spears of steel suddenly formed from the blood pools and extended in several directions so Blues and Search Man had to run around to avoid being pierced by them: Beast Man groaned, dropped the ground, panting, and self-deleted but not before a couple of the spears pierced through Blues and Search Man, gravely injuring them: the cage self-deleted as well while Twilight chuckled.

"I've got a lot more stuff on store!"

"Hmmm? Ah!"

Prism Man suddenly dived for the bubble shield from the NE while having combined his weapons into a large double-ended spear the southern end of which glowed yellow: Twilight smirked as a copy of Aqua Man appeared hovering atop the bubble shield.

"… My copies reflect in the water's surface… A great tide that swallows it all… Cleanse up the surface's filth… AQUA AVATAR!"

Aqua Man formed two intercrossing streams of water as he drew a trident-like weapon and jumped into one of the streams as some copies of him having a water-like composition began to jump out of the streams and hit an invisible ground that had suddenly formed above the bubble shield and into which Prism Man had ended up landing, his spear stuck there: and mass of water shaped like a trident formed beneath Prism Man and pushed him upwards: it soon vanished and he fell to the ground as another two copies did the same before the real one rushed past him forming some waves of water and throwing the trident at him getting stabbed over his waist.

"Guoh… Grah…!" He growled.

"Who wants more?" Twilight laughed.

"Petty tricks won't allow you to win, rascal!" Sigma rushed towards them across the invisible floor from the left.

"Hmpf!"

A copy of Number Man formed next and extended his arms horizontally as his head's squares lit up in a pattern.

"… Codes that make the world's borders waver… The Cyber King is sitting… In an unsinkable fortress which no-one can approach… IMPREGNABLE FORTRESS!"

Number Man warped and hovered in the air as several cylindrical cannons formed a circle around Sigma, ignoring the invisible ground, and spun while shooting plasma beams at him: he deflected some with the sword but couldn't block the ones that hit him from behind or below: the cannons switched mode and fired cannon balls that exploded in mid-air as they pulled away: the cannon balls released many metallic shards which scattered in all directions and stabbed Sigma in different spots of his body: he groaned and collapsed.

"There comes more mice, sir." Yamato Man chuckled.

"I'm no mice!" Blood Shadow grumbled as he rushed there from the SE.

"You are, little red mice! Got a special opponent for you!"

"Hmpf. Mere parodies of Darkloids of our friends won't stop our resolve, you fool. You've learnt NOTHING!"

A grey-colored copy of Roll with an evil smirk and crimson eyes suddenly formed there and took a pose like she was a ballet dancer.

"…Golden hair which endlessly grows… The maiden's life becomes beautiful… Become a tower that pierces the heavens… ENTANGLE BLONDE!"

Some masses of hair shaped like ropes popped out of the ground and from nowhere in the air and began to try to catch Blood Shadow who dodged them as the fake Roll hovered in mid-air with her arms extended: a large group of hairs suddenly tangled around Blood Shadow's feet immobilizing him as the fake Roll formed a tornado made of thick air spiraling and tangling around Blood Shadow's body while apparently stealing his HP as well: he groaned and collapsed face-down on the invisible ground while Swallow Man muttered something.

"… Too easy."

"What?" Twilight asked.

"Too easy, Twilight – sama… This reeks of a play… They must be pretending to be desperate but it's all within their calculations… I'd prioritize running away while we still can…"

"Hmmm… Yeah, good point… Huh? Damn, you're right. The beaten guys were actually standard Navis with holographic disguises!"

In effect: the beaten Navis weren't the real ones and they'd become standard ones which were warped away: another two Navis armed with RPG-7s rushed for the chopper from the west.

"Hmpf! Even if they're pawns I'll show them my new trump cards! I'm not leaving until I teach them how powerful I've become!"

A copy of Prism Man appeared there and took a pose as if he was in a dancing party.

"…A sparkling prism that makes my heart dance… Aligned prisma seem to tower over me… A prison from which you can't escape… PRISM PRISMA PRISON!"

"Heh! AKA the "PPP"!" Twilight grinned.

"Feels like a childish abbreviation." Cloud Man muttered.

Several columns made of a prism-like material colored purple dropped around the two Navis forming a circle and energy loaded in some spots of them before shooting lasers in patterns linking some spots with others and easily piercing through the Navis: the fake Prism Man dashed across the air and kicked through the upper half of the columns shattering them before vanishing.

"Now's a flamethrower unit!" Cloud Man spotted.

In effect: 5 Navis equipped with flamethrowers were running towards them but a copy of Destruction Man appeared next followed by a standard Navi: the fake Destruction Man hovered into the air.

"… Machines spun by wires dance… Wired hands control them: their fate is to die… This battlefield is my cuisine… BEAT UP ENTREMETS!"

The fake Destruction Man formed several strings that attached to the standard Navi's body and it broke into six pieces: head, torso, both arms and both legs which began to move across the air in a pattern: the head formed a laser that ignited oil on the ground forming a wall of flames which surrounded the flamethrower soldiers: the arms closed into punches and flew across the air to smack them on their faces, the legs kicked them on their torsos while the torso also dove towards one of them to knock it into the ground: they call combined back before they vanished: the Hind – D headed for a purplish "portal" that had formed in mid-air and then they saw Omega diving for them.

"Today's last demonstration… Go!"

A copy of Freeze Man (in his original form) appeared and crossed his arms as he built up cold air around him.

"…Frozen icy petals which dance in the white darkness… They fall into the ground and are quickly cut loose… Absolute zero: get cut in half… Ice Flower Snow Cut!"

Freeze Man then jumped skywards and suddenly vanished: a white pillar of almost transparent light formed over Omega's position and he barely had time to look upwards before he was suddenly frozen and trapped inside of a giant ice flake: Freeze Man then dived downwards from above with two blades drawn and shattered the ice shard while inflicting heavy damage to Omega who reverted into a standard Navi.

"Let's go!"

The Hind – D flew off through the "portal" which closed: Prism Man, Blues, Search Man, Sigma, Blood Shadow and Omega turned visible atop a building alongside Iris (who was using her Navi form) and Trill.

"Well. At least we have an idea of what he plans on unleashing next. And we heard their chatter. It's possible that he's bluffing about not knowing where the human members are at." Omega calmly concluded.

"Yes. They rely a lot on Twilight so I think it's logical to assume that he does know their hideout." Iris agreed.

"Where did all those attacks come from?" Trill wondered.

"Must've hacked some game company that's working on a game or games that'll have those." Blood Shadow shrugged.

"Guess they'll head to the Navi Prison next. It could be a good occasion to wrap them in a shot but with Zoan Gate Man loose he can easily pull them out of the cells." Blues sighed.

"We knew it wouldn't be easy." Search Man shrugged.

"At least we had some payback for their cowardly tricks. Next time I'll send them flying to meet the Looney Tunes." Sigma grinned and tapped his sword with his left hand's knuckles.

"Yay! Taz will beat the bad guys!" Trill jumped around.

"Alright. Let's reset the environment." Vadous muttered over the radio as he typed into a keyboard.

"Let's not forget to make a check for any backdoors the guy might've set up and…" Omega began saying.

"Snnnnaaaakkkeeee!" Twilight hissed.

"Go back to your nest, Liquid. Have an ear-pull with Vulcan Raven while you scold Ocelot for wasting time acting the cowboy." Vadous sarcastically shot back, undaunted.

"Hmpf! I'm the "Incarnation of Malice"! As long as there is "malice" in the world, I shall revive again and again AND AGAIN!"

"In short: you want to end up like Ganon." Vadous taunted.

"GBHDKGBHDKBH!" He howled something undecipherable.

"You even parodied yourself to act like Ganon not too long ago. And that was YOUR decision."

"Fuck! I felt cocky on that day, but that was an exception! You're not hero and you've got no holy power!"

"And you're no magical entity which can't be destroyed either. You're but a Net Navi."

"A cybernetic being!" He growled.

"Force me to say it, Mr. I-stole-Liquid's-handsomeness."

"What in the fuck…? Grrrr! Speak for yourself! Snake! I'll crush you with a giant boulder!"

"Like the villagers in Biohazard 4? Go ahead, try it. Maybe you're the one who'll crush yourself with your own boulder. I'm busy so go explore Pluto and tell us if the Forerunners left some gizmo there." Vadous dully taunted as he inputted some commands.

"I'm not done-KZZZZZZ!" Static cut off Twilight's reply.

"Pathetic, truly." Iris was hardly impressed.

"Bad guy loses! OK! Trill is going to play with Kirby and friends! See you later! Yay!"

Trill spotted Kirby and his friends atop a nearby building so he jumped into a flying disc and headed there to start playing with them: the Navis began to leave and Iris stayed behind to head to the rooftop and sit on a bench there as trees and tables formed on the rooftop and the skies switched to a sunny day: the city shrunk to a few buildings in which characters from the Smash series lived: some interacted with each other by gestures and voice clips, other trained together, and others used recreational facilities to sharpen their strength.

"As much as Twilight brags, they can't run and hide forever. Sooner or later, they'll make a mistake. And then we'll end this pointless war which so much damage has done." Vadous told Iris.

"Indeed. We came here from our world, ravaged by a long war, to live free of war… And to avoid this world suffering the same fate…!"