Chapter 7: Explorers
06:18 AM (Thailand Time), Thursday January the 25th…
"… Lord XY. I, Refraction, have come to report."
"Good. Report."
"I apologize. I have been unable to seize any new data. Only some small data that might have some relation but the probabilities are below 15%..."
"Hum. I see. But as long as there are probabilities it is worth it. Good job: you might transfer it to the server and go to your quarters."
"Your will."
Two Navis were speaking inside of a large dome-shaped building made of stone with several buildings and structures scattered around it: there was a central round square with a large tree set on its center and both Navis were in front of it with one of them kneeling in front of the other.
One of them, named Refraction, had long abundant white hair, were on their late 20s or early 30s, lacked facial hair and had golden eye irises: their gaze was calm and collected.
He was simply wrapped in a long white coat with a lowered heavy hood.
"Did you explore the sector I told you to explore?"
"Indeed. It is as you said it would be."
"I see."
XY, on the other hand, looked very similar to Slur yet their face was that of a man on his 30s: he had no trace of facial hair and his eyes had golden irises to them.
He had that same pattern Slur had on her forehead painted there and some black bands spiraling around the neck: he didn't have the stars on the shoulders, though.
"Remember. Your former CO has been deposed of his authority because he illegally sent you here. So you are under my authority, Refraction."
"Acknowledged. It is an honor to serve you, Lord XY." Refraction calmly looked up.
"Good. As long as you obey my orders then you can remain here. If not I shall send you back to your department."
"I understand."
He lowered his head and then materialized a cube made of bluish transparent walls having some clusters of data inside of it: XY picked it with the right hand as it hovered still on the air and nodded: Refraction stood up and headed towards the right while XY headed north and climbed up a set of stone stairs until a dome having several arches supporting it and a square box with golden wooden walls and a curtain on the center of it: four stone armchairs had been set facing the box and there was someone sitting in one of them.
"Lord Helios… The results have come."
"And?"
"It is as I suspected, Master."
"I see."
"What do we do?"
"Hmmm… We shall tell them yet… We can do like they do with our existence: keep it vague and with no details."
"Your will."
Sitting on one of the armchairs was a man on his late 50s or early 60s dressed with a strange tunic covering the whole of the body and head which had an "arcane" or "alien" look to it.
His eyes' irises were of a brownish/reddish color.
The tunic was colored in several shades of blues and whites.
"By the way, XY. Are you keeping an eye on that fool?"
"Dullahan, you mean? Of course. He and the others have not moved."
"Hum. But do not get confident. Check the hibernation capsules' systems just in case. And tell "our" Pharaoh Man to keep up the surveillance of the perimeter. The hub is still hidden, I take it?"
"Of course. Unless we wish for it, then the entrance on the ruins of that pyramid shall remain sealed and impossible to detect forever. No matter how many times someone might try to snoop around… They shall not be able to locate it. It is a material beyond their comprehension and capabilities, after all." XY replied.
"Fine. I shall go back to the laboratory and continue the simulation on the energized particles that disrupt the normal working of time-space… Come there when you finish." Helios ordered as he stood up.
"Roger."
Helios stepped into the box by slightly opening the curtains and vanished inside of it while XY opened the cube and the clusters of data assembled to form some glyphs on the air: XY calmly analyzed them by pressing each one which in turn formed a small screen with text spanning a few lines and written in the same type of fluorescent azure glyphs: his expression did not change much as he read each box's contents.
"I see. Like I thought." He muttered.
He then made the data return inside of the cube and had it warped elsewhere before looking towards the opposite end of the dome which had another grand stair ending in two grand stone doors that were shut but seemed to lead outside.
"Hmmm… My warriors! Come to my side." He called out.
Four figures quickly warped into the area and kneeled in front of XY: they were the Four Ultimate Warriors that had taken the form of Rock Man to challenge him years ago inside of the Reverse Internet Pyramid: each one still had their form at the time with their respective "Styles".
"Lord XY." They all saluted.
"Report your findings."
Each one produced a data cube tinted in their respective color: XY made them open and glanced at the several sub-screens that formed with the text: he rubbed his chin with the right hand as if he was thinking about what was written there.
"Hum. I see. It makes sense… Good work, my warriors. Return to your duties… And patrol the area with the hibernation capsules: keep an eye for Dullahan's one… Scan the system down to the last piece of data." He muttered before ordering.
"Roger."
They all warped away while XY sighed and warped the data away: he headed into the cubicle that had a stone armchair inside plus a round open hatch on the ground behind it having a spiral stairway: he climbed it down into a lower level, walked past an empty dome-shaped chamber and crossed two open stone doors into a wide and large room having several large and tall machines assembled in rows like it was a library: the doors silently closed behind him and formed a bluish ghostly energy field over their surface.
"That was fast." Helios showed up from the right.
"I only wanted to read the summary. I shall examine the contents with more depth later on."
"Good. By the way. There has been activity in point 14."
"Is that so?"
As a response, a spherical device formed out of nowhere and hummed: a circular holographic display formed around them: it turned on and displayed 360º view of an unlit and abandoned location somewhere that had many devices aligned in the middle of the room: they consisted on a chair having a bulky cubical machine attached behind it: the chair included a helmet-like device hanging from above it and armrests coupled with footrests: most of it looked worn down and broken given the holes present in the cubical machine.
"There." Helios signaled something.
"I see."
The 3 "Hell" Navis could be seen studying one of the devices: one of them was holding some documents on the hands and apparently reading to the other two as they studied the device from the outside and the inside.
"As much as they struggle… They shall not figure out the meaning of this machine." XY calmly muttered.
"Indeed. But if that keeps them distracted then it is beneficial to us. I do not think they will be coming often yet…"
"It is a possibility indeed."
"That was 5 hours ago. They spent approximately 2 hours studying it before giving up. Their leader decided that they would not do as materials for a backup plan." Helios summed up.
"No wonder. And those notes are surely the report by "Spiral", one of the Shadow Nova executives, who came there as well. Maybe they thought they could understand what that man could not. But they failed as well: because all traces are gone." XY deduced.
"Indeed."
The display ceased and both shrugged: Helios headed for the right and XY followed him to see a display of flows of atomic particles: one had a complicated spiral-like structure while the other was parallel-shaped: the spiral-like one mingled with the parallel one and the flows of the latter were interrupted in most of the part but not totally because new streams formed exploiting deficiencies on the first.
"Preliminary results suggest that they can block about 80.775% of the normal flow particles thus slowing down time-space by the same percentage… But there many other factors that are not taken into account on this simulation yet. But it is something." Helios told XY.
"I understand. I will progressively add the factors and compare the resulting figures. This could be a powerful tool to combat that thing."
"Indeed. One day… We shall undo that berserk creation…!"
08:58 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Tee, heh, heh. So. Wan – ted. What's the pink tale today?"
"There's no such thing, Ikada – san…! And that pun's getting old!"
"Don't tell me. Za – ra – she – chan."
"Oh come on. Ikada – san…!"
"Bertha – chan… I still fail to see the point."
"Don't worry, Sandra. It's just that Wan – ted here is a cutie masochist, you see. And I'm a beautiful wannabe."
"Oh come on. When did cha become a narcissist?"
"Dunno."
"Sheesh."
Zarashe was sitting on a chair inside of a room in Purgatory while having only a couple of black boxers and black wool socks on: he had his hands cuffed behind the seat and a black wool blindfold over his eyes as a girl loomed over him, joking, while her Navi was unimpressed.
"Ikada here will go to Inaka! And tell the Inaka cousin I've got a handsome butler, see."
"To the county? Sheesh."
Ikada was on her early 20s.
She had long platinum blond hair plus eyes with blue irises to them: she had a ruthless-like figure to her, even.
She sported a golden-colored jacket over a teal sweater plus navy blue jeans and a pair of black boots.
She carried a cobalt-colored Link PET with a golden-colored Alphabet "S" character on it as emblem.
She was currently rubbing Zarashe's jaw with the right hand to tease him while she kept the left one on the jeans' pocket.
"I'm not your butler, Ikada – san!" Zarashe blushed.
"My. You'd like to?"
"T-that's…" He trailed off.
"Sheesh."
"So, Sandra… Did you make progress with Beta – chan?"
"Oi. Beta and I are mere pals. There's no deal."
Sandra, the Navi, had a ruby set on her helmet's forehead.
She had green eye irises and reddish hair and also seemed to be on her early 20s.
Her bodysuit's main color was cobalt coupled with a golden band around the waist, golden shoulder plates and golden bracelets on both the wrists and the ankles.
Spiral-shaped magenta patterns travelled down her arms' and legs' surfaces while eight lines of the same color spread from the blackish edge of her chest emblem.
She looked annoyed and exasperated.
"Maybe because Dr. Jacinta didn't…" Ikada began.
"I know the rest." Sandra cut her.
"Tee, heh, heh. Did you find somewhere to have fun?"
"Sheesh. Stop bringing up 50 shades of grey… I read it and it was hardly anything new. I dunno what makes so much people say it was great. Guess 90% of them are men and the rest are that type of women. Masochist women…" Sandra fumed.
"You never know. Maybe they should listen to Salander – chan."
"Lisbeth Salander, the hacker? The gal's the bossy type and I like that plus her skills… But mixing those 2 works isn't a good idea."
"Then let's mix M&F with some manzai show."
"How original. I'm off. I'm gonna have a Smash Bros match with Beta, Napalm Man and Lily. See ya."
Sandra stepped out and Ikada giggled while Zarashe sighed: she suddenly began to rub his right nipple with the right finger and Zarashe blushed as Ikada grinned.
"So. Wan – ted. Whom do you think the culprit is?"
"The culprit? Those cloaked guys? Dunno. Could be anyone."
"Including the Phantom of the Opera?"
"How original." He drily muttered.
"You lack energy, Wan – ted!"
"Will you please stop calling me like that, Ikada – san? It's shameful!"
"It's my love-name."
"It's a parody of nick-name and you KNOW it."
"Maybe you prefer a bliss-name?"
"Bliss-name, oh come on. Patent it, Ikada – san!"
"Sure. After you tell me what you've been up to as of late." She began to rub his nipple again.
"You know it too! I got orders by President Hades to investigate some spots where incidents have happened! But I found nothing linking them together: which means the culprit picked them at random!" He argued back, sighing.
"Random Woman was busy."
"Oh come on."
"Maybe it was dating Super Man." She laughed at her poorly improvised joke.
"Dating Super Man? Thought Super Man was in love with Wonder Woman to begin with… Or maybe I'm wrong?"
"Ah. True. Maybe it was a fleeing mood and she's gone pick someone else by now." She shrugged.
She suddenly slipped her right hand inside of Zarashe's boxers and grabbed his cock to begin teasing the head with the thumb finger: Zarashe groaned and blushed while Ikada leant closer to his face.
"Your tint of red is superb. Maybe one day I'll write 50 shades of red as a version with the roles opposed." She grinned.
"B-but…!"
"Of course! I'd use fictional characters and a penname to hide our identities, cutie. Wan – ted."
"W-well…!" He nervously muttered.
"Oh my? Something tells me you'd actually like that. To see people commenting about it and inwardly thinking "that's me"… And feeling like you'd become famous!" Ikada teased.
"N-no way!"
"Who knows? Maybe we need to Special Summon Black Magician Girl to make it possible?"
"Oh come on. Leave the disciple magician in peace. Don't involve others into this if you may, Ikada – san!" He sighed.
"She's pretty cute, isn't she? Wonder if there was some tale with ATM – sama?"
"Oh come on. That's a Nico Nico Douga nickname for Atem, the real name of Dark Yuugi… Because it sounds like "ATM"… I know they were depicted as childhood friends but there was never much development in that aspect…" Zarashe sighed.
"My, my. You're becoming stronger, eh? I'm playing with your little rod here and you talk like it was nothing. You really are a masochist boy, Wan – ted!" She teased next.
"T-that's…!" He blushed again.
"Heh, heh, heh. Bingo! Beware of Prophet Jeremy's comeback from a shark's insides!"
"Not Prophet Jeremy again… The guy and his dramatic "prophecies"… They were true but he could've described them in a less apocalyptic tone…" Zarashe groaned.
"Maybe we need something else…"
She suddenly drew a 5cm pink dildo from the jacket's left pocket and turned it on: she crouched behind Zarashe and lowered his boxers to stuff it up his ass before pulling the boxers up again: Zarashe moaned and his cock got hard, pushing against the boxers' fabric: Ikada giggled and rubbed his chin.
"Well? Is this intense enough for you?"
"Y-yeah…! Oh…! Too good…! This vibration…! My body's going numb! It's incredible…!" He moaned.
"Heh, heh, heh. There you're displaying your true nature, Wan – ted! It was you who began this, remember? Tee, heh, heh."
"W-well, that's… O~h! Too good!"
"And I'd say we need to boom the booming boom!"
"Not Alfred next…! O~h! Too intense~! I can't hold it back!"
He suddenly released inside of his boxers and left a wet stain on the area over his cock's head: he panted as Ikada removed the dildo and headed for the adjacent bathroom to cleanse it up on the sink while humming a tune: Zarashe seemed to have fallen asleep, even, given his breathing's rhythmic.
"Tee, heh, heh. Wan – ted is so cute, really. I'm lucky."
She stored the dildo in a cardboard box below the sink with other stuff piled on it and returned to the room: she picked a chair and sat in front of Zarashe while giggling under her breath.
I'm going to have fun admiring your sleeping pose, Wan – ted! Tee, heh!
13:45 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Man. There's still 1 months before MGR is released. I'm not sure what can I do to kill the time in the meanwhile… Huff. Maybe I could go play one of my Fire Emblem games and come up with my own "shibari" or "restricted" play… Like not using powerful equipment and try to advance with initial equipment…"
"Hum! You're Fighting Cyclone of "Shunoros", am I right? Runt?"
"Huh? Who…? Hey! You're one of those punks!"
"Fight me if you've got the courage to!"
"Fine! You rascals ruin the mood to begin with. I was itching for some action too!"
A member of "Shunoros" had been walking down one of Internet City's streets while sighing and muttering to his own until one of the "Hell" Navis showed up in front of him.
Fighting Cyclone used green as his main color.
His helmet was also partial since the rear was unshielded and his purple-tinted hair emerged from behind.
It was split into two parts: the uppermost part had a dome protruding off the helmet's center and protected by further armor which, as seen from the front, amounted to a trapeze with two extensions reminiscent of antennae aiming backwards.
Two narrow yellowish pyramids formed from the rear section of the dome and aimed backwards: the center of the trapeze had the "kaze" or "wind" Kanji colored purple set there.
The second part of the helmet could be described as an inverted trapeze covering the center of the forehead and with two slightly curved lines aiming backwards and which ended with another pair of inverted trapezes coupled with a bit of black armor: the ear-pads were also purple in color but had no drawing there yet they had a black edge as seen from the outside while the edge running down the cheeks was white.
A pair of greenish transparent shades protected his eyes the irises of which were brown.
The chest armor began with a round blue metallic collar around the base of the neck and, from there, an inverted triangle-shaped piece of greenish armor extended with the purple initials "FC" scrawled on its centermost spot.
The shoulders had an initial upper-half-of-a-cylinder armor coupled with further armor with curved greenish armor built in segments: two white paws were set on the foremost and rearmost sections.
His forearms, like most Navis, had armor starting at the elbow and protecting them: it was built using a green circle plus a green cylinder reaching until the wrist.
Three fins were arranged in a row over the whole of the armor paired with a pair of white metallic blades reminiscent of a dragon's ones starting at the wrist and extending past the hands' length: the exposed arm was covered in black "skin" too.
Similar to Raging Flame, the body below the torso and until the knees was only shielded by black "skin" and a row of dull gray metallic squares ran down the length of both sides.
The legs' armor began at the knees with a blade aiming upwards and a navy blue round edge with a diagonal depression: the rest of the boots were rather plain green models with two bands splitting the boots in three segments colored deep green.
Lastly, a metallic green piece with orange edge reminiscent of a dragon's tail emerged from the rear of the torso's armor.
His overall height was over a meter and seventy tall.
"Mwah, hah, hah. Fine, runt… Catch me!"
"Rascal!"
The enemy warped away and Fighting Cyclone did the same: a chase over the rooftops began as the enemy drew the railgun.
"Eat railgun!"
"Lightning Rod!"
Fighting Cyclone formed the Lightning Rod to absorb the attack yet the device suddenly frizzled, overloaded and blew up in several fragments, some of which stabbed his body: he growled and hissed under his breath as the enemy jumped from a roof opposite the street to his and aimed the gun at close-quarters.
"Weak!" He taunted.
"Think again, Mr. Smith! Edogiri Blade X!"
Fighting Cyclone drew a katana with a purple hilt and quickly sliced the railgun's muzzle: "Hell 2" gasped and tossed it before jumping 3 buildings away: Fighting Cyclone did the same and heard the gun exploding behind him: "Hell 2" suddenly formed yet another railgun and loaded it up so Fighting Cyclone grumbled under his breath as he tossed a Giza Wheel X: the disc began to spin as it flew and formed a saw-like effect with its own spikes: it jammed the muzzle of the gun when it was firing and it got blown up so most of the energy began to disperse around the opening without control: "Hell 2" fumed, tossed it at the street, and formed a third railgun: Fighting Cyclone, though, had gotten close enough by now and he began a series of punches and kicks at "Hell 2": he grabbed the railgun and used his right leg's strength to break it in two as if he was breaking a tree's branch: "Hell 2" fumed and formed his fourth gun insofar before jumping away.
"I'm called Fighting for something! 'Cause I'm good at CQC!" Fighting Cyclone fumed.
"Damned meddling runts!"
"You're the meddling rascals! You want to beat up that Colonel guy so badly, do it already! And don't involve us! If you'd only done that then we wouldn't have gotten in the way! But you had to drag us into this! That proves how stupid you all are!"
"STUPID? WE? DAMNED RUNTS!"
"Speak for yourself! Damned gramps!"
"I'm not an elder!" "Hell 2" grumbled.
"Oh yeah? Thought you were 90 years old."
"Navis don't age!"
"Hmpf. Whatever. Bring it on, you rascal! Heat Upper!"
He warped and reappeared right next to "Hell 2" to deliver an uppercut attack while his right fist was surrounded by purplish flames: the blow hit the jaw and was blocked by the "Dark Aura" yet the kinetic energy did affect the enemy because he erratically recoiled.
"Poison Knuckle! Drill Arm X!"
Fighting Cyclone delivered an attack with the right fist that connected with the right cheek and formed some slight cracks on the "Dark Aura": some poison infected "Hell 2" and he was then attacked by the Drill Arm trying to pierce through the chest's "Dark Aura" but ultimately being unable to: the kinetic energy did push him backwards nevertheless and Fighting Cyclone delivered another array of punches and kicks: "Hell 2" grumbled and formed a Tank Cannon yet Fighting Cyclone dived for the ground to dodge and shot a Hyper Cannon at the right leg: the recoil from the Tank Cannon and the blast from the Hyper Cannon pushed "Hell 2" further back and over the southern edge of this rooftop: he suddenly fell face-up into the ground 7 stories below and formed a crater upon fall: he quickly stood up and growled as the eyes sparkled with a menacing yellowish glow: Fighting Cyclone dropped down, unimpressed, and having a Mad Vulcan X ready to fire.
"You will regret angering me~!"
"Impress me. Old-timer."
"I'm not an old-timer! You're a damned runt!" He growled.
He suddenly formed a spear the end of which was frizzling with electricity: clouds formed and rain began to fall down: a thunderbolt fell down and got absorbed by the spear.
"An imitation of the spears used by Grievous' bodyguards?"
"Shut up, runt! Die!"
He shot a powerful beam of electricity but when it hit Fighting Cyclone he was replaced by a wax statue of Jackie Chan: Fighting Cyclone reappeared behind him holding a Hammer Weapon X which he used to hit the head: the "Dark Aura" became visible and began to crack: "Hell Two" gasped but the next second a wide beam of purple energy fell down from the skies and split both away: "Hell Two" got forcibly retrieved through a black hole and the storm ceased.
"Hmmm… So that "Dark Aura" accumulates total damage and does not compute each attack alone. So by shooting several attacks it should eventually shatter but… I'm sure that they'll fix that before they show up again… What is your take, Prince?"
"You did well. I agree with your theory. And that also means that this guy and the silent guy are monitored in real time by the leader-like guy: he's just imitating how XY retrieved his "Jet-Black Phoenix" Navis using that "phoenix" phenomenon…"
"Speaking of which, they've been pretty quiet insofar. No?"
"Meh. XY gave up on them after that round of battles last year. He's got more important things to do than those. XY was just testing us all: you needn't worry about the man. I guarantee it."
"If you say so, sir… What should I do, sir?"
"Do as you like. Report anything odd or curious you stumble upon. Those guys must be stalling for something, too… Else they'd already blown up that Colonel idiot and his men… Instead of allowing them to evacuate the base and bring it down when it was empty…"
"You're right, sir. Maybe they don't have enough with just killing and they're sadists who want to make them suffer for fun?"
"Wouldn't surprise me if they were. Don't lower the guard!"
"Roger, sir. Sheesh. One after the other… Don't mess with "Shunoros"!"
18:39 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Good evening."
"Welcome!"
"A tempura udon, please."
"Right away, sir! Please have a seat!"
"Alright."
"Good evening."
"Oh! Another customer! What'll it be?"
"Curry udon."
"Right away, sir!"
"Enzan – sama: should I investigate?"
"Do so."
A customer stepped into a small udon restaurant somewhere and sat on one of the seats around the square counter: the customer was the mysterious man known as Takatoo: Enzan came in next and sat on another seat: he drew the PET and nodded to Blues before he began to look: there were another 15 or 20 customers sitting in the tables and animatedly chatting while the TV showed a soccer match somewhere.
I got a tip-off saying "a tragedy as red as a true rose will happen here" but I don't see anything out of place. But if it's those rascals then there must be hidden Viruses in sleep mode ready to be activated anytime soon.
"… Hips! I'm fed up with the world! You're all hypocrites! I'll kill ya all! Die~!"
"Wha?"
A customer came out of the restrooms while looking totally drunk and holding a survival knife on the right hand: he suddenly rushed for another customer giving him the back and roared: the customer gasped in terror.
"A~h!"
Enzan quickly grabbed his sticks for the udon and threw them at the man with the knife: they hit his right hand's top and stabbed there through their speed before jumping off: the man yelped and the customer run off as Enzan rushed for the guy: the attacker growled and clutched the knife.
"So ya wanna die! DIE~!"
Enzan ducked and quickly grabbed the man's right forearm to then yank it backwards: the man yelped but did not let go of the knife nevertheless: he suddenly drew a Single Action Army from his vest's left pocket and aimed it at Enzan: he gasped and quickly let go to jump sideways: the man fired a shot and missed: Enzan risked a glance around and spotted that all other customers had fled the store already along with the cook: he frowned when he saw a rose left behind on the counter where Takatoo had been at but focused again on the madman.
"I wanna kill!" The madman roared.
"Blues!"
"Yes, sir!"
Blues materialized and rushed for the man from behind: he closed his arms around the waist and inclined his body backwards to lift the man off the ground: Enzan quickly seized his left wrist and forcefully moved it upwards: the man shot the remaining 5 shots into the ceiling in a row: Enzan stepped back as Blues let go of the man yet he suddenly jumped to land before him, he grabbed the right arm and used a judo hold to throw him at the ground: the blow made the man let go of both weapons and Enzan picked them yet the man recovered and drew a remote from the right jeans' pocket while opening the vest's zipper: he had several C4 packages strapped to his waist and the remote had a big red button that obviously was the detonator.
"Brat! Make a single move and I'll drag ya to Hell with the great I~!" He roared.
"Shit." Enzan cursed.
Blues, however, used his speed to steal the remote and opened the battery compartment to take the battery out: he tossed it inside of a udon bowl that was filled up to damage it: the man roared and jumped for Enzan: he tackled him to the ground and began to try to strangle him: Blues delivered a karate attack with the right hand to the rear of the man's skull to knock him out but the man blocked by lifting his legs into the air: Blues grumbled and pulled the man's shirt neck to try to drag him away: the man wouldn't yield so Blues resorted to jumping over him, picking an udon bowl and throwing the contents at the face: the man yelped from the pain and let go of Enzan who began to cough as he recovered his breath: Blues delivered a violent kick to the balls and the man howled before collapsing: to top it off Blues also used the empty bowl to hit the man's head and stun him for good: Enzan crawled again while coughing and trying to recover his breath.
"Enzan – sama! Are you alright, sir?"
"Gruh… Grah… Kuh…! T-too close…!" He gasped in fear.
"I know, sir. I am sorry, sir."
"Y-you did what you could… Gruh… Keep a watch over that man: use the Yo-Yo Battle Chip to tie him up!"
"Roger, sir. Battle Chip, Yo – Yo!"
Blues used the Yo – Yo's thick cord to tie the man up while Enzan recovered: a SWAT team rushed in along with Superintendent Oda at that moment.
"Thank goodness! Ijuuin – kun! You're alright!"
"Y-yes, sir…! Kuh… Guh…! That bastard almost killed me for real! And here I thought it was a mere drunkard…!"
"Isn't. It surely was an act. We got notice that a very dangerous mercenary had been witnessed going into this store very often! We came in the nick of time!"
"Mercenary! A pro killer? Devil. No wonder it was so dire and so tough!"
"I think that the tip-off was a trap to lure you here: the man was surely hired to assassinate you."
"Fuck. Those cloaked bastards got serious!"
"I know. There were no Viruses, right, Blues?"
"No, sir. There weren't any." Blues confirmed.
"What's with that rose?" Oda spotted it.
"I don't know! I guess someone left it during the chaos when the customers were running off… Anyone could've approached the counter while I was distracted fighting this guy, sir!" Enzan explained.
"I'll deliver it to forensics but it'll hardly tell us anything."
"I had to use brute force to stop the man, sir. Is it justified, sir?"
"Of course, Blues! That was a killer! You had to defend Ijuuin – kun: his life was at stake! Anyone will agree with that. And if not… I'll show them my "anger modes"…" Oda calmly told Blues with a sigh.
"Roger, sir."
"We'll interrogate this bastard but chances are that he's never met the employer and got the money delivered through some proxy accounts to begin with…" The captain of the SWAT Team told Oda.
"Surely. That's your competency so I leave it up to you."
"Understood. Let's go, men!"
"Roger, sir!"
Four members carried the man away and out of the locale while Enzan sat on one of the stools with Oda's help: he coughed again and felt shivers go down his body.
"You need to go home and rest. That was too dire. I'll handle the rest: you send me your memory files about what's happened, Blues."
"Understood, sir."
"Wait a min. I'll ask one of my men to escort you home."
"Thank you… Guh, kuh…!"
Oda exited for a moment while Enzan coughed for a few seconds: Blues stood by his right in his firm pose yet his face displayed a slight grimace: he fixed it and resumed looking neutral and composed.
"Alright. You can go, Ijuuin – kun."
"R-roger, sir."
Blues dematerialized and returned to the PET as Enzan, with Oda's help, walked out and into a patrol car parked on the street, one of 4: several policemen were keeping the curious at bay and a "KEEP OUT" band had been placed near the store's entrance: muttering filled the air along with the sound of cameras, flashes, and some TV reporters speaking to the cameras: Enzan climbed into the passenger seat and put on the safety belt: the policeman drove off while Oda sighed and looked at how they headed away: a policeman walked over to him.
"Superintendent, sir. We have managed to ID most of the customers but there are several who are not here, sir."
"They obviously ran away as far as they could. We'll go over the recordings to try to ID them and if not we'll make a public call for all customers to come declare as witnesses." Oda shrugged.
"Roger, sir. What do we tell the ones that are here, sir?"
"They'll be contacted in the days to come with further instructions."
"Roger, sir. I shall tell them immediately, sir."
The policeman saluted and headed towards some of the crowd: Oda sighed and nodded in negation while looking at the evening skies.
Ijuuin – kun also fought hard to protect the others and this world and this is how it ends up. Damned ungrateful bastards. Too many of them. As if the tragedy of some years ago wasn't enough.
He closed his fists and hissed under his breath while forming a grimace…
