Chapter 9: Scouting parties

15:45 PM (Japan Time), Monday August the 9th…

"… Man! This place is filled with nuts hard to crack! But I like those! Nyah, hah, hah! Right, Slash Man?"

"Yeah. Look there."

"I'm Quick Man! I'm gonna beat you a 100 times over!"

"Hoa~h! I'm Air Man! Hoa~h!"

"Nyah, hah, hah, hah! Festival, bloody festival!"

"Get ready."

Killer Man and Slash Man had been pacing around the Saiba City section of the Reverse Internet and stumbled upon Quick Man and Air Man blocking the road to a deeper section.

"Quick Boomerang!"

"Hoa~h! Tornado~!"

"Killer Death Beam!"

"Rolling Slasher!"

Quick Man shot his boomerangs at Killer Man who countered with the beam shot from the "eye" drawn on his torso: Air Man formed a tornado but Slash Man formed his spinning form to cut through it and hit Air Man several times in a row.

"Hoa~h! Triple Tornado~!"

"V – Sword!"

"Hyah, hah, hah, hah! Hell's Sickle!"

"Wide Slash!"

"Grah! You won't get past here! The Mistress commands us!"

"Hoa~h! That's right!"

"Mistress and whatever! I wanna kill!"

"No – one will stop the allies of justice!"

"Hell! Oi, Air Man! Resort to the ace-in-the-hole!"

"Roger! Hoa~h!"

"Dark Chip! Dark Sword!"

"Hoa~h! Dark Chip! Dark Tornado!"

"Damn!"

"Shit!"

Both attackers were hit by the respective "Dark Chips" and the evil Navis began to shin with purple lighting while their irises began to be tinted purple: both began to emit hollow chuckles.

"How foolish! You lowlifes have been consumed by this power already: how weak-willed! Yet! You lowlifes' weaknesses have proven useful: spread hatred and grudge! March as one, as shells under my command! Our forces shall sweep this Cyber World and plunge it into chaos and calamity!" A voice proclaimed.

"What the hell?" Killer Man cursed.

"Che. That sounds bad."

"Bad? Nay! It is the advent of a calamity which you lowlifes shall be unable to halt!" The voice laughed.

"Whatever! I just wanna kill! Horra~h! Death Killer Beam!"

"Rolling Slasher!"

"Useless!"

Both Navis suddenly formed spherical barriers made of "negative energy" which repelled their attacks: both Navis gasped and formed grimaces upon realizing the tight spot they were in.

"Now die!"

15:58 PM (Japan Time)…

"… How is it, Thunder Man?"

"I haven't spotted anything weird, Raoul."

"Puku! My turn to shine came, puku! No – one outruns the great and mighty Bubble Man – sama, puku! I'll defeat you easily, puku! You stand no chance, puku!"

"What?"

"This guy looks lame."

"What? How dare you! Puku! I'm the strongest!"

"Oh yeah? Elec Beam!"

"Yikes, puku!"

"See? That little of an attack scares you."

"I wasn't scared, puku! I got startled, puku!"

"It's the same thing, you loophole-user."

Thunder Man had snuck into the "Underground" of Saiba City's Central Area and stumbled upon Bubble Man who was trying to play the cool guy but sucked at it: Thunder Man shot at the ground in front of him and he got startled so Thunder Man shrugged while Bubble Man began to make up stupid loopholes.

"Take that back, puku!"

"I won't. Out of the way. I can fry you in just 5 seconds."

"Hell! Heck! I'll remember this, puku… No! I'll use this! Dark Chip! Dark Lance! Puku, puku! Heh, heh, heh!"

"What in the…? Damn! Ugh! 800 HP of damage! But I still have 500 HP left! Thunderbolt!" Thunder Man growled as he lifted his arms and summoned a thundercloud.

"PUKUKUKU~!"

Bubble Man ended up burnt and smoking: he muttered something and collapsed into the ground, clearly out of energies: Thunder Man ran past him and accessed the "Immortal Area" which was filled with vapors and a snoring sound from further ahead.

"Careful." Raoul whispered.

"Yeah… Something HUGE is up ahead…"

"… Hmmm… So! You have come to try to take it back… How foolish! Don't you know that I have no weaknesses? You'll be burnt to black ashes and cinders… But if you still dare to then come on and witness… The treasure I possess!" A voice rang out from further ahead.

"What?" Thunder Man seemed to frown.

"Hah! No use playing innocent. Who else would dare to come into my territory? Only a treasure-hunter like you would! Well then! Show me your flesh… I'll treat you to my Hellish flames!"

"Who are you?" Raoul demanded.

"Smaug the Magnificent!"

A gigantic red-colored dragon suddenly loomed over Thunder Man while spreading his wings wide and looking amused: Thunder Man gasped and stepped back.

"W-where did this thing come out from?" He gasped.

"The "Witch - Queen of Angmar" granted me life! And I shall defend this area from intruders! My armor of incrusted jewels is impossible to penetrate or damage and so is my skin!" He proclaimed.

"Hell. This is bad." Raoul cursed.

"Destroy them, Smaug!" The voice of "Witch - Queen of Angmar" rang out from nowhere in particular.

"Get ready! Hra~h!" He opened the mouth and began to inhale.

"Chance! Mega Energy Bomb, Slot In!" Raoul gasped.

"Have at you!"

Thunder Man threw the "Mega Energy Bomb" inside of Smaug's mouth and it suddenly exploded thus taking out his body from the inside: he roared and made the ground shake before he collapsed and began to be deleted.

"NO WAY!" The villain yelled.

"Over there! Elec Beam!"

"Kyah! How dare you, plebeian!"

"I dare."

Thunder Man detected her location and shot an attack at her to knock her off the air and into the ground: she groaned and managed to stand up as Thunder Man loomed over her.

"Fu-ru-ru-ru! Happy Clap!"

"What! Ugh!"

"Hah! Caught ya!"

"Good timing, Circus Man!"

"The Mistress commanded of me to defend the Underground 2 deepest spot: but the scandal worried me so I hurried over, Mistress!"

"I'll commend your intelligence."

"I am honored! Fu-ru-ru!"

Circus Man's gigantic armless hands formed and clapped to trap Thunder Man between them: Circus Man then made a reverence in front of the woman who sounded satisfied.

"Delete them! I've got other businesses to take care of." The woman commanded.

"Roger! Fu-ru-ru! Gloom Pinch!"

"Oh damn!" Thunder Man cursed.

Circus Man became the tent which dropped down atop Thunder Man and sounds of a scuffle rang out inside of it: the woman fled but she was suddenly tackled off the air by someone and driven into the ground: a scuffle rang out while dust built up around them but the sound of a "Tank Cannon" rang out and someone groaned as the woman warped out of the area.

"Damn! So close!" Someone hissed.

"Oi! Are you an ally? Lend me some help, will you!"

"Sure. Charge Shot!"

"Kyu~h! Who goes there! Huh! Rock Man!"

"Wrong."

"What?"

"Shirakami."

"Shirakami? Who the heck?"

Shirakami turned out to be a Navi who looked strikingly similar to Rock Man yet his color palette had purple instead of navy blue, the drawings on his chest emblem were colored in a bluish color instead.

His eyes' irises were blood red yet he looked calm and collected: he could be taller than Rock Man by one or two centimeters too.

"You don't need to know. Where did you Boss go to?"

"Fu-ru-ru! Ya don't need to know either!" He shot back.

"Talk will be quick. Who's in Graveyard 2? There's a link further in."

"Fu-ru-ru! Element Man!"

"Element Man, huh. Thunder Man. You'd better stay off that guy. He can switch to Wood Element." He warned.

"Are you supposed to be an ally? Rock Man never talked about you."

"… No surprise. But I'm not interested into all-out war."

"Then it's settled. Tackle this guy, Thunder Man!" Raoul commanded.

"Roger!"

"Here… Full Recovery Sub Chip… Use it wisely!"

"Thanks."

"Ops, ops! Sorry for the hold-up!"

"You're Ground Man? You're pretty late."

"Man! I had to finish a request: fix up the "Shachihoko Castle" server!"

Ground Man came in and apologized as he faced Circus Man: he seemed to lose confidence.

"Ya were in Saiba City! Rock Man could transform into ya!"

"Oh yeah! Sure he did! And now I'm gonna run ya over. There's nothing I can't excavate! Get ready, clown!" He laughed.

"Thunder Man! Stand as backup!" Raoul commanded.

Shirakami hurried ahead and stepped into a Warp Panel to Graveyard 2: Element Man was right in front of him and he had twitch on his right eye.

"KUKARIKU KURA~H!" He yelled.

"… "Damn you!" … Yeah. Lame. Repetitive. Meaningless. Over-used. Doesn't impress me anymore…" Shirakami aimed a purple-colored "Rock Buster" at him.

Element Man formed two tornadoes in a rush but Shirakami dodged them.

"Let's go. Come!" Shirakami taunted.

Element Man switched to wood mode and formed Woody Towers across the grass field which Shirakami easily dodged.

"… Gotcha. Hell's Burner 3, Triple Slot – In. Program Advance. Wide Burner! And given you current mode you get double damage plus damage from being hit with a flame attack in a grass field: you lose 1200 HP of 1700 HP!" He formed a smug smile.

Shirakami bathed the field in flames and Element Man shrieked in agony while Shirakami wasted no time in preparing something else.

"Hmpf… The end. Mega Cannon, Triple Slot In! Program Advance! Giga Cannon 3!"

He hit Element Man with the Program Advance and he shrieked as he was deleted: Shirakami quickly ran on ahead and found a large cache of "Dark Chips" accumulated in boxes.

"Gotcha. The cache. Say bye-bye." He muttered.

"Not so fast, evil-doer! Judgment Press!"

"Hell. Area Steal!"

Shirakami warped just as a book dropped down from above and Judge Man landed into the area while having his electrical whip drawn: the thing was frizzling with electricity.

"Judge Man… So Dive Man and Blast Man are somewhere close by too or did you come alone?" He demanded.

"Hum! I need not the backup of such imbeciles! They can handle lesser tasks like spreading into the areas surrounding Central Town! Our power is extending!" Judge Man exclaimed.

"Who is that woman?" He questioned.

"Dare not defile the Mistress! She shall see it to it that you are given proper punishment!" He exclaimed.

"I just busted Element Man with two Program Advances and in 2 Turns so what makes you think you can fare better than him?"

"I don't care! Element Man was a savage! But I am civilized! And today I sentence you to the gallows, Rock Man!"

"Sure, sure. But let's settle something: I ain't Rock Man. I'm Shirakami and you better remember my name, Judge Man."

"Hah! Judgment…!"

"Slow. Wave Arm 3, Triple Slot In. Program Advance. Power Wave."

"What! Ugra~h!"

"600 HP less for you, Judge Man."

"Such villainy!" Judge Man came up with an old-fashioned curse.

"Villainy? Well. Yeah. We cooperated with Dr. Regal. But that was because we got influenced by the Star Wars movies. A little experiment. Now go codfish." He dully replied.

"Eat this!"

Judge Man tried to hit him with the whip but Shirakami dodged with ease and hit him with an "Air Shot" Battle Chip thus momentarily stunning him: he formed a smug smile.

"Program Advance. Count Bomb 3, Triple Slot in. Giga Count Bomb. Its normal power is 700 points yet given how I scored a "Counter Hit" it gets doubled to 1400 HP. Say farewell." He dully announced.

"Impossible… Mistress!"

"3… 2… 1… 0. Detonation." Shirakami counted down.

"Muwra~gh!"

"Go to the Graveyard and never awaken again." He signaled him with the right hand's middle finger.

"MISTRESS! MUWRO~H!"

"Hmpf… That power is something… Look-alike…" A voice scorned.

"Partner? No, wait… Oh heck." He cursed.

"You'll be my entertainment…!"

"Original Forte. Heck. I thought you were gonna stay in the Nebula Hole Area!" Shirakami cursed.

"What "Original"? I am the only one in the Cyber World!" "Original" Forte exclaimed as he showed up while having his cloak hid his body.

"Oh yeah? Ever heard of "Gospel"? In fact you have it inside of your body, you know." Shirakami dully told him.

"A clown of mine is left out there, you lowlife mean to say?"

"Yeah. And you can't use this stuff over here now that your body has permanent antibodies." Shirakami told him.

"I'm the one who decides that… I'll absorb you lowlifes' power!"

"My bad. But I'm on a rush. See ya."

"Wait there, you lowlife!"

Shirakami warped out of the area and "Original Forte" hissed something under his breath while looking angered.

"Nobody laughs at my face and lives to tell it! Nobody! I'll delete each and all of you lowlifes and absorb your power to become the strongest Navi in the Cyber World! Nothing will stop me!" He growled while being clearly pissed off.

BEEP – BEEP – BEE~P!

Two short beeps followed by a pitchy and flat beep rang out before a Giga Count Bomb set in the middle of the cache blew up and destroyed the whole of it: "Original Forte" growled.

"Fuck. I'm off!"

He fled the area while "Witch-Queen of Angmar" looked on.

"Damn them! We've lost this area too… But given how I can use the real world then… In the worst-case scenario I can flee there and bid my time until they forget me and I can start anew…! I'll strike at them from the real world and they'll be unable to counter from there! I'll drag in those useless masses as deterrent…! And then they shall bow to my will or this nation shall be annihilated! My Lord's power shall not be scorned and laughed upon! Just you wait! Foolish rebels! I shall root out each and every one of you!" She cursed.

My anger shall be terrible to witness! They will pay for their foolishness!