Chapter 7: Decisive hit

15:55 PM (Japan Time), Wednesday November the 21st…

"… There's nothing abnormal to report, Master."

"Good. Take a break, High – Max."

"Roger, Master."

"… And let's hope nothing bad happens, too… Or maybe I'm just being defeatist…"

High – Max was a rather tall Net Navi whose main color palette was jet black: he appealed as being close to two meters tall.

His face's skin was metallic grey while his eyes were white and expressionless: his mouth's position denoted seriousness.

The center of his upper body had a ruby-colored spheroid set on it plus a hexagonal white patch of armor with the "Devil Syndicate" emblem painted upon it.

The helmet was built around his head and included a segment covering the length of his nose: a ruby jewel in the form of an oval had been built on his forehead: the centermost section of the helmet was colored white but the rest of it was jet black in coloring: two horn-like extensions formed at both sides of the helmet and aimed upwards while leaving a small space between them.

His shoulders had thick armor built over it and two metallic grey stripes signaled the beginning and end of the short arms which didn't have elbows: golden armor surrounded his wrists while his fingers were colored in both white and grey painting.

The skin below the armor was jet black in coloring, too, and it was visible because the armor ended slightly above the stomach area: a black belt was built around his waist and it had a yellowish piece of armor set on the center portion: the armor beneath it was colored white and was surrounded by black armor: two gray stripes were painted over the hips to signal the start of his legs.

Gigantic armor covered the legs starting at the knees and then developing into large and thick feet: two yellow rectangles were placed together at the start of each leg along with a black pattern having a shape reminiscent of the Alphabet letter "Y" slightly below the start of the legs: the feet themselves were shielded by sturdy armor colored white and with black edges plus two small holes near the heel.

Overall, he was tall and commanding.

"Master Caesar, sir… Actually… The "p." department and the Hacking department have been raided, sir…" High Max admitted.

"Lovely." Dr. Raher grumbled.

"Lovely daises?" Someone asked with obvious amusement.

"Grrr…"

"Who the…? Huh! You lowlife are… Forte!"

"Correct, Danna."

"Forte, you say!"

Forte and "Gospel Jr." had come into the computer and High Max made a grimace while Dr. Raher stood up in a violent manner from his armchair and dropped the golden fountain pen.

"How did you know where this was at?" He demanded.

"Please… According to Colonel Talos they've been checking on you guys for a year and 8 months already. They've simply bought their time to make sure they had a complete and detailed schematic of your layout and a good estimate of the amount of bucks moving up and down… They've now been teasing the police with spoon-fed info to slowly decapitate you guys given how your business was a headache for several parties… The Hacking dept got shut down with help from the NSA, too." Forte admitted while humming a melody.

"Damn!" High Max cursed.

"Delete that guy!" Dr. Raher commanded.

"Roger! Be gone! Death Sphere!"

High Max lifted his arms and formed a bluish sphere of energy with a yellowish core and which frizzled with electricity: he threw it towards Forte who merely lifted his eyebrows in amusement.

"Gonna play tennis, Wellington? Set 1! Go! Dark Arm Blade!"

Forte drew his curved indented blades and suddenly spun around his axis to hit the sphere laterally and make it bounce back towards High Max: he gasped and quickly countered it: this time, though, "Gospel Jr." used its tail to hit the sphere back and make it build up speed: High Max jumped out of the way at the last moment just as the sphere hit the floor and left a mark there: Forte abruptly jumped across the air and headed for High Max: the taller Navi used his punches to hit Forte on the chest twice and delivered a brutal kick to his upper body using the right foot: Forte was sent crashing into the ground, hard, and he groaned.

"No more Mr. Nice, huh… Go, Gospel Jr.!"

"Grrr!"

"Damn!" High Max cursed.

"Gospel Jr." opened the mouth and shot a stream of green-colored flames towards High Max but he withstood them without much trouble: he then rushed in front of the beast and plunged the right arm inside of it: "Gospel Jr." suddenly became stone and stopped moving.

"Hmpf! I have an ability which can freeze up any program's processor until I deactivate it. You lowlife go next, Forte!" He grinned.

He looked towards the spot Forte was supposed to be at but he wasn't there anymore: he gasped but didn't have time to react and Forte made two cuts on the exposed skin section from behind: he hissed and quickly whipped around to deliver two punches to Forte's helmet which formed cracks on it: Forte stepped back and looked at the helmet for a split second before focusing again.

"Bring it on, Freddie~!" He taunted.

"You lowlife… Die! Sphere Buster!"

High Max began to hover over the ground and to shoot a string or ten or eleven bluish spheroids frizzling with electricity about the size of a tennis ball but Forte had no trouble slicing them in half or dodging them: a twitch showed up over High Max's right eye as if to prove that he was getting pretty annoyed: he then formed the earlier spheroid again.

"Be gone! High Sphere!"

He made the spheroid form around his right fist and he hit Forte with it thus sending him flying and forcing wounds on his body: Forte chuckled and grinned as he suddenly formed a purple-colored copy of the same spheroid.

"Have you forgotten what makes me special?" He taunted.

"Damn! Get Ability Program…!" High Max cursed.

"Yessir! Been a while since I last used this, but… Take this! Your own medicine, Major!"

"Not yet! High Rings!"

Two transparent rings with symbols carved into them formed around his shoulders and knees: Forte hit one of them and his attack got repelled to be shot at him: but Forte's body glowed and he formed the same rings, colored purple, around his body: he repelled High Max's counterattack and drew his Hell's Buster.

"Hell's Buster!"

The multiple shots broke through the barrier but they bounced off High Max's heavily armored body, nevertheless: High Max formed a smug smile and formed the spheroid again.

"Death Spheroid!"

He shot it towards Forte and it broke through his defenses: Forte absorbed it, too, and formed a copy of it: High Max then ran towards him while having another spheroid formed on his right fist.

"Die."

He made contact with Forte's own spheroid and both annihilated each other: the shockwave damaged Forte because of his close distance and he had to jump some distance away: he panted and was starting to have trouble standing, even.

"Damn. I hadn't had such an intense fight ever since I fought Nebula Grey…! I need to focus…! Recovery Program!" He hissed.

"Destroy!"

High Max now formed two spheroids which he fused into a large one and threw towards Forte: he clasped both hands together and waited for a second just as High Max flew towards him.

"Darkness Overload!"

The blast pierced through the spheroid and met High Max head-on thus inflicting some damage to his face: High Max growled something and was forced to abort his earlier attack: he suddenly hovered above the ground again and seemed to build up energy.

"Destroy! Destroy! Destroy~!" He roared.

He formed the main spheroid which he split into eight smaller ones: he then began to shoot one after the other towards Forte while forming different trajectories and going at different speeds: Forte cursed and tried to intercept them but half of them ended up latching into him to then self-destroy and inflict close-quarters damage: Forte jumped towards High Max but was repelled by the barrier rings: he got a jab on his jaw next and was tossed into the ground: Forte corrected his trajectory and managed to land into the ground somehow.

"Is that all?" High Max taunted.

"Che… Not falling for that…" Forte grumbled.

"You lowlife are nothing. I don't see why they say you lowlife are so powerful but that must be rubbish speaking. You lowlife can't stand up to a secret military Navi like me." High Max laughed.

"What? That Caesar man didn't create you?"

"No! I was created as part of his request… A highly skilled military programmer designed me to return a favor… My armor is immune to Breaker-type attacks: it's unbreakable! A revolutionary armor compound…!" He announced.

"Crap. This is turning ugly. But I won't give up! Earth Breaker! The finishing blow!" Forte cursed.

"Hmpf!"

Forte built up energy on his right hand and then jumped towards High Max: the taller Navi formed his gigantic spheroid and placed so that Forte would inevitably strike it: Forte, however, drew a Dark Arm Blade on his left forearm and sliced it in half to then hit High Max's chest thus shattering his ruby jewel: High Max cursed and stepped back while clutching that segment: Forte grinned.

"How was that one like, huh?" He taunted.

"You lowlife… Don't dare to think you've won…! Limiters: off! Meet my TRUE POWER!" High Max roared.

"Limiters…? This guy is like Omega?" Forte gasped.

"Hra~h…! Power…! My power is being released…! Destroy Sphere! This time it's really the end, Forte!" High Max exclaimed.

He formed a reddish sphere of energy from which nine stream of energy shot out and all hit Forte on different spots of his body: wounds formed there and High Max rushed towards Forte: he closed his right hand around Forte's neck and began to try to crush it.

"Heh, heh, heh, heh… Weak! Weak! Weak!" He taunted.

"My, my… I'd never guessed my aibou needed help like this but it'd seem it was a good idea to remain on standby as backup… Mr. Ugly! I'm your opponent!" A voice rang out.

"Who the…?" High Max cursed.

Something hit him from behind and he roared while he let go of Forte and turned around to see Omega holding a gun on his hands which was smoking: he looked calm and collected.

"You lowlife…! Omega…? What was that?" He cursed.

"Raw plasma. Not even your armor can withstand it."

"Raw plasma? Impossible!"

"Well. I call it raw plasma yet it is way cooler than normal plasma. But it's hot enough to melt most metals and compounds…" He shrugged.

"You lowlife… Die! Destroy Ray!"

High Max formed a sphere of energy tinted crimson and shot a straight beam of energy towards Omega: the guy switched the gun for the saber in a blur and then moved forward while dashing across the ground and forming a trail of afterimages on his wake: High Max gasped as Omega's dashing pose made him bent the body forward and make the beam skip him by 5cm: Omega dashed past him and suddenly whipped around in a blur to jump atop High Max and plunged his saber into an opening made on his back by the earlier attack: High Max howled something and tried Omega who wasn't there and had landed next to Forte.

"Here, Forte. Full Recovery Program!"

"Ugh… I owe ya one…" Forte groaned.

"You'll have plenty of chances to repay me. Let's go tell this guy to head into Windows 7's Recycle Bin." Omega grinned.

"Omega…" A slightly annoyed voice called out through the radio.

"Oho. Boss joined the party. What should I tell this Sigmund Freud wannabe?" Omega asked with a smug smile.

"Who is a "Sigmund Freud wannabe", huh?" Dr. Raher demanded as he discharged both fists into the desk.

"Your non-existent uncle who has a thick moustache, a golden tooth and a monocle is…" Omega laughed.

"OMEGA~!" "Boss" yelled.

"Guess Mr. Vadous didn't like that one." Forte muttered.

"What! That man's voice is THE Vadous…? The head of the "Subspace" organization…?" Dr. Raher gasped.

"Correct, Dr. Raher. That of the replacements was a little idea of mine and the Committee managed to make it possible."

"Damn! I knew it couldn't be a series of coincidences…!"

"Omega! Remember: your mission is to weaken High Max and then pave the way for the Officials to finish the job up." Vadous told him.

"Roger, shachou~!" He grinned.

"Oi, oi… Omega… I think ya should stop…" Forte nervously whispered to him.

"You lowlifes… Don't screw around! Destroy Meteors!" High Max roared as he began to hover into the air.

High Max began to make crimson meteors rain down into the field but both Net Navis had jumped out of the way: Omega touched "Gospel Jr." and cancelled its freezing: Forte whistled and signaled High Max, so "Gospel Jr." jumped and bit the right arm section which wasn't protected by the armor to drag the guy into the ground to jump away right afterwards: High Max stood up while rubbing the wound and formed a grimace.

"You lowlifes…! Be gone! High Quake!"

High Max's fists glowed with crimson light and he hit the floor with them thus causing it to shake and for cracks to form across it: hellish crimson flames emerged from them and spread all around the area: "Gospel Jr." was totally unaffected by them while Forte and Omega jumped into the air to face the opponent.

"Hell's Rolling!"

"Take this!"

"Grah! You lowlifes…! DIE~!"

The Hell's Rolling left two crevices on High Max's body as they travelled across it while Omega delivered a barrage of punches to his face and helmet before High Max punched them away.

"Let's end this already. Behold! Seal of Infinity!" Omega announced as he drew what looked like a Trump card.

"Seal of Infinity…?" Forte frowned.

"What the hell?" High Max cursed.

"Hah!"

"Uwo~h!"

"Whoa!"

Omega threw the card at High Max and it latched into his forehead's jewel: the "infinity" symbol colored purple formed over it and High Max's body was slowly petrified until he stopped moving altogether: Forte looked surprised while Omega merely snapped his index and middle fingers of his right hand.

"Heh, heh! Boss' high-power Navi-freeze program works perfectly. Officials! You guys' time to shine came~!" Omega called out.

"Let's go back, "Gospel Jr."! I need a rest." Forte told the thing.

"Grrr…"

"Nobody move! Official Net Battlers!"

There were some knocks on the office's door before six policemen came in and Dr. Raher's face turned white.

"Dr. Murker Raher. You're under arrest. The full list of charges is yet to be completed, but all evidence is against you." One officer announced.

"I-impossible…!" He gasped.

Omega grinned and shrugged while Forte whistled a tune…

16:24 PM (Japan Time)…

"… WHAT? Master Caesar got arrested and the "Devil Syndicate" is being slowly decapitated? Damn!"

"Yeah, I know… What do we do?"

"Fulfill our mission, obviously enough! It can't wait: we'll do it today so that we'll catch the guy largely unprepared and he won't know what to expect out of your battle potential…!"

Zarashe jumped outta his chair when Beta X brought the news: his sunglasses fell atop the desk, too, and he didn't bother to pick them up again.

"Yeah! We'll prove to Master Caesar and to High Max – sama that we are loyal to end! Loyal soldiers who will carry out their mission…! I'm with you on that one: let's challenge them to come at 18:00 PM. Given how they end the classes around 17:00 PM, they'll have little time to prepare and even less if we suddenly send them the mail around 17:30 PM! They'll be on a rush. We could add a threat or another, too." Beta X suggested with obvious malice.

"I like that plan's sound. Those guys are about to get beaten up and they're gonna have a dramatic end…" Zarashe grinned.

He opened a drawer and checked on something before closing it again and slowly sitting down: he picked the sunglasses and put them on again by using his right hand's middle finger to push them up: he then aimed his hands towards the PC while joining his index and middle fingers in a cool-like pose.

"You copied that from Major Ocelot…" Beta X grinned.

"Yeah. I feel like I could look up to the guy. He's cool and I like how he tests people's lucks with his SAA revolvers… Hikari… We'll see what kind of luck you hold… Because if it isn't strong enough, then…"

"… Something bad will happen to ya…" Beta X finished.

Both chuckled under their breaths…