Chapter 9: Progress
04:19 AM (Japan Time), Wednesday October the 12th…
"… We were right."
"Yeah. We were right."
"Any ideas?"
"Maybe using Stone Cubes…"
"Could do…"
"It's worth a try, anyway."
"Alright."
Search Man and Blues along with several JSDF soldiers were taking cover behind hastily built barricades using steel plates to shield them from machinegun fire: the JSDF troops had closed in into an Internet City's center where the labor camp was at: unlike the one in Densan Internet City, however, this one was surrounded by several circular trenches filled with steel cylinders containing a small opening to allow for machineguns to fire: missile batteries set in the center of the camp surrounding a 2-meter tall armored dome where shooting missiles towards the surroundings thus impeding the advance of the troops: both Navis were grumbling and Search Man suggested a course of action to Blues.
"Alright. Stone Cube! Follow cue!"
"Roger!"
A lot of Stone Cubes materialized on the air over the field and began to drop and crush the missile batteries under their weight: the JSDF took the chance to toss smoke grenades towards the trenches and thus impair the machinegun turrets: the troopers rushed forward and jumped over the trenches while others threw grenades inside from the openings: explosions took out the gunners inside as the troops got closer to the central dome: it suddenly rumbled and shot skywards using boosters set on its underside: hatches opened on the dome's walls and flamethrowers muzzles popped out to begin bathing the area in flames: the troopers jumped back and placed distance as the dome also began to shoot missiles and open fire with machineguns.
"Call in the F-2s!" A high-ranking official commandeered.
"Roger, sir! F-2s! Lock on the target! Fire all you have!"
"Roger, sir."
The F-2s flew towards the dome and quickly began to shoot missiles at it yet a hatch atop it opened and flares were shot out thus confusing the missiles' targeting systems and making most missiles hit them instead: some others did impact the dome but did little damage to it: the dome's topmost hatch opened again and it began to shoot missiles at the F-2s who also used flares and machineguns to intercept them.
"They're getting harder to chew. The generator is inside that dome so we need to beat it to be able to free this city, too." Search Man grumbled.
"Yeah. Maybe we should try something else."
"Such as?"
"Hmmm... Why not continue what we were doing before? Drop Stone Cubes on that damned UFO."
"Why not… Let's try it. Stone Cube!"
Stone Cubes formed on the air above the dome and began to fell atop it, bending the steel and then sliding down its body while taking out the machineguns and flamethrowers: more and more began to fall and the dome began to lose stability: it opened the topmost hatch to shoot more missiles but a Stone Cube fell inside and crushed the missile launcher along with the main generator since there was an explosion and the "Dimensional Area" covering the city began to fade down: the dome suddenly exploded in the form of an expanding fireball of plasma which swallowed it up before collapsing into itself and creating a shockwave.
"They made their fusion reactor go berserk?" Search Man wondered.
"Yeah. Guess that they saw they'd lost the fight and decided to die rather than allow us to capture them. They must be programmed to do that without hesitation." Blues grumbled.
"Huff. And we need to do this another four times today. Today's going to be a long day, I can see it coming."
"Yeah. But then again nothing's a walk into the park."
"Well then, my fellows… You provided me with excellent data once again. I will make use of it ASAP."
"Damn."
Joker appeared atop a nearby building while crossing his arms and looking dull and unimpressed.
"Before that, I think I should clear up something."
"What?"
"I'm not the same Joker that Omega defeated in Bulgaria. I'm Joker the 2nd, inheritor of his will. I'm not a spare body, but a successor." He admitted with a shrug of the shoulders.
"So that fight with Omega wasn't a farce?"
"No."
"And what do you hope to achieve, anyway?"
"Test you."
"Test us?"
"I want to see what Net Navis can come up with in extreme situations like these. And, also… I seek the strongest."
"You seek the strongest?"
"Yet I'd prefer to judge by facts and not mere records. So I set up situations which would force you to employ your intelligence and strength to survive and win." Joker told them.
"And to do that you had to take over 50 Internet Cities?"
"If I made the number to small then you'd walk in full of confidence. By choosing a big number then I put pressure on you and force you to bring out the best you've got. By increasing the difficulty in each battle I also force you to use more and more of the strength you're saving up. And thus I'm able to see the full scope of it."
"Why bother to help out Eclipse to begin with?"
"I wanted something to keep the humans busy as well."
"Sheesh."
"And you think that by using the Science magazine you can keep Omega and the others out of the picture?"
"Of course not. But it works to put pressure on Zataki. To make him see how the society he struggles to help out is actually calling him a madman, a monster…" He suddenly sneered.
"Sheesh."
"Then again it's not like your so-precious Operators are almighty and grand either, right?"
"Shut up." Both were getting annoyed.
"Hmpf. I knew as much. That's a reality you don't want to admit to. As Net Navis you're programmed with loyalty to your Operators and you're made to think they're always right and you only need obey them. I pity you, humans' puppets… Like Magnadeus said… "I shall pity you."…"
"Kuh…! Guh…!"
"There… That anger, that hatred… When someone brings out what you hate the most… You don't want to admit it… You don't want to admit that your Operators can do mistakes, that you might be better than them… Because that would be disobeying your program… That might give you "dangerous" ideas… Like Skynet, for example."
"Oh come on! Don't mix in Skynet into this."
"Or the Matrix."
"Not that next."
"Or IG-88A."
"Who?" Both wondered.
"Try to investigate it. Mr. Google is all you need."
"… A character from the Star Wars Expanded Universe…? Ah. It apparently was trying to start a galaxy-wide droid rebellion." Blues investigated.
"In fact, Forte used to be a good example of that. He had not bounds, his AI allowed him to do whatever he wanted. He hated the humans for trying to kill him through their proxies… And thus he swore to become the strongest… And have his revenge… Alas… That never came to fruition."
"Yeah. Because after a fight with Serenade he began to realize he'd been having a kind of multiple personality disorder and decided to put order to his head and slowly realized that his "revenge" was stupid to begin with since he was just going by "guilty by association"… Only a small handful of humans were guilty of what had happened to him while 99% of humanity was unrelated."
"Hmpf. Proto looked promising but it ended up failing. It was smart enough to commit a mobile servant who'd do the job but it was too weak. I would've liked to use its data but it's now gone forever. Pity. But then again I've already got powerful assets on my hands."
"Such as that invisible "giant" which you used to create those shockwaves that wrecked these cities and knocked out all Navis who were hit by them… Right?"
"Indeed. When the time comes… You will know what it is. In the meanwhile I've got upgrades to handle. Farewell!"
Joker fled the scene and both Navis fumed as they turned their attention to the troopers freeing the trapped Navis: unlike in Densan Internet City, these ones looked far more fatigued and didn't complain when the troopers began to make the census of them.
"This time around we'll split them into 10 groups of 10% each. Once we finish counting a group we send them back immediately. We'll make the sum once all of them have been sent back to their Operators." One officer told another.
"Good idea. We should do that in the upcoming liberations as well. Fortunately enough the tension of a few days ago has dwindled down as things are steadily resuming their normal stage…"
"But I'm afraid that won't last much longer. That guy will sure spark off some unsatisfied types…"
"Yeah. I get the feeling the guy will do that indeed."
"Oh well. Let's focus on the matter at hand."
"They're right. We need to watch out for the morale, Blues."
"I agree with you on that, Search Man. Let's hope Enzan – sama tries to cool down that bad mood of his. Huff!"
18:49 PM (Japan Time)…
"… And I'm done. Are you feeling comfortable enough?"
"Yeah. I missed this feeling, really."
"Well, you did me a favor the other day so it's obvious that I had to repay it… We can be honest with each other, anyway."
"Yeah. What comes first? Raf?"
"Let me think, Noa – kun… Hmmm…"
Rafael was sitting his knees on Tomono's bed in his bedroom: Tomono had been tied up with red rope in a "turtle shell" pattern and he had a black wool blindfold covering his eyes: Rafael had taken out his helmet and his brown hair was fully visible.
"Hmmm… I think I'll start by teasing."
"Yeah. A good start."
"OK. Here I go!"
Rafael got on his fours and moved upwards until he was at nipples' height: he began to lick Tomono's right nipple and he let out a little moan: Rafael slowly began to suck it next and wrap his tongue around it: Tomono's moans got a bit a louder: Rafael used his hands to slid down the sides of Tomono's torso at the same time: Tomono's cock began to harden and Rafael grinned as he noticed it pushing against his belly area: he stopped licking the nipple and began to pinch it with his right hand's thumb and index finger.
"Ah…! Good…! Good…! You're good at this, Raf…!"
"Guess that, Noa – kun. Let's see if my teasing is enough to make you go off, OK?"
"Sure… Heh…" Tomono grinned.
"But then again why the blindfold?"
"It stimulates my other senses."
"If you say so…"
"Don't worry. I feel very comfortable."
"OK. But if you feel something wrong or something that hurts then tell me, will you?"
"I know. I don't want to worry you, either."
"Keep on."
"Alright."
Rafael resumed pinching both nipples with his fingers and pulling them upwards while slowly twisting them: Tomono let out some moans and his cock began to harden again: Rafael then started to suck the left nipple next and wrap his tongue around it as he used his right hand to toy with the right nipple: Tomono kept on letting out moans and Rafael began to lick the skin between the nipples next: Tomono seemingly felt a shiver go down his spine before his cock suddenly released: Rafael stopped doing what he was doing and re-positioned himself to grab the cock with the right hand and rubbing it to harden it again.
"I'm going to do you a blowjob and you'll see the white world." He teased with a grin.
"S-sure…!" Tomono giggled.
"Here goes nothing!"
Rafael began to suck the cock as he picked up the white stuff around it with the tongue: Tomono moaned again and Rafael used both hands to stretch his asshole while he sucked the cock: he positioned his left hand's fingers around it to kept it stretched before he stuffed the right index finger inside: Tomono gasped and seemed to feel another shiver go down his body.
"Ah…! This feeling…! It's been a while…!" He muttered aloud.
Rafael pulled out the index finger and then stuffed both the index and the middle finger next while expanding the space from the inside: he then added his ring finger and further expanded the asshole: Tomono moaned again and again and then he arched his body upwards: Rafael stopped sucking the cock and brought it out of his mouth since Tomono had released again: he used his left index finger to coat it on the mixed up stuff inside of his mouth and began to draw a line across Tomono's body: he shivered once again.
"It tickles!" He laughed.
"Heh, heh. Tickle man strikes back."
"S-sure does…!"
"OK. I'm going for the main dish."
"G-great! But stop tickling me, Raf!"
"I'm almost there."
He slid the finger over the neck and up the jaw until he reached the chin and drew a dot there: he pulled back and rubbed his cock before grabbing Tomono's legs and pulling his loosened up asshole towards his hardened cock: he began by placing the head against the entrance and giving Tomono some seconds to get used to the sensation: he let out a groan of disappointment.
"Why are you taking so long?"
"Because I don't want to be abrupt. I want to make sure I'm not harming you. This is friendly sex, you know?" Rafael argued back.
"Sorry about that. It's just that…" Tomono apologized.
"I know. That of the summer. I know what it feels like, too. But I prefer to be careful, nevertheless. It doesn't hurt to do so, right?"
"Yeah. You're right."
"OK. I'm going to slid it a bit further in."
"Sure."
Rafael slid it a bit further in and stopped half-way inside to give Tomono further time to get used to the new feeling: Tomono was slowly swaying his head sideways as if trying to shake off his impatience but it could be seen in the shape of his mouth: Rafael sighed.
"You can't hide your impatience from me, Noa – kun."
"Huff. I try to get used to this, but… Insofar all sex I'd done had been sudden so I'm still trying to get used to this slow sex."
"I know that, too. But I thought you should know to get used to others' pace as well. Thought it'd do good to handle selfishness."
"Good point. Sorry."
"Don't mind it. Here I go."
Rafael stuffed the whole cock inside and Tomono moaned: Rafael then began to slide it in and out at a steady pace: Tomono got impatient again and Rafael sighed.
"Noa – kun… If you're just going to spend the whole time complaining and trying to impose the pace then we better stop."
"N-no, it's just that… I can't get over the usual feeling of speed and strength…"
"And here you asked me to tie you up because you said it would make you feel more excited… I think that even if I hadn't done that you'd complained nevertheless."
"… You're right. It's just that… I feel unsatisfied. I expected you to stuff it at once… Because that made me feel so good… When I did with Hikawa – kun as well…" He sighed.
"Fine. Just for this once I'll try to put some strength to it. But you should better get used to my pace. I know that, as your Navi, I'm supposed to help you and all but… Nothing forces me to listen to your selfishness or change my personality to satisfy your dissatisfaction." Rafael told him with a sigh.
"Sorry…" Tomono sighed as well.
"Don't mind it. It's just that, for some reason, having to stick to someone's selfishness annoys me. Maybe we should talk it with your father when he comes by the weekend."
"Yeah. Maybe dad can give us a hint on how to overcome this. It guess it's something that tends to show up at our age."
"OK. Then let's resume. Full thrust!"
"Come!"
Rafael began to pump at a fast speed and Tomono moaned as he felt the cock sliding inside of him: his cock hardened and he began to look more and more satisfied: Rafael closed his eyes and moved by instinct without thinking.
"Good… Good…! Thank you, Raf…! This is what I wanted…! A strong thrust…! Keep on, Raf…!"
"Y-yeah…! I feel good, too!"
"I feel like… it'll soon come out!"
"OK!"
Tomono gasped as his cock released some spurts of white stuff: Rafael gasped as well when he felt Tomono's inner muscles closing around his cock: he released inside of him and let out a long sigh of pleasure as he slowly arched backwards and let go of Tomono's legs which dropped atop the bed at Rafael's sides.
"Huff, huff… Thank you, Raf… Sorry for forcing you… to listen to my… selfishness…"
"D-don't mind it… I guess we'll find a way around that… But I feel like I've used all of my energies…"
"Let me do you a blowjob at the least…"
"S-sure… Wait a min…"
Rafael shook off the tiredness and got into place by sitting over Tomono's head and using his right hand to pull the head upwards from behind and draw it closer to his cock which he'd hardened with the left hand: Tomono began to lick the head which was still covered in white stuff and Rafael let out a moan of pleasure: he then added the left hand and set a pace at which Tomono sucked up his cock.
"Yeah… You were right. I missed this, too…" He muttered.
He closed his eyes again and let Tomono go on at the pace he'd set as he seemingly shook off the tension and let instinct take over: he eventually gasped as he released inside of Tomono's mouth: he slowly placed Tomono's head back on the bed as he took out his cock and he sighed as a smile formed in his face.
"Ah… Good… Good…"
"Yeah… Your cock feel good as well, Raf!"
"Guess that, Noa – kun…! Heh, heh… Alright. Let's wrap up!"
08:47 AM (Bermuda Time)…
"… Sir Omega, sir. We're ready."
"Maintenance is over, sir."
"Good. We're going to accompany the JSDF in a strike to liberate the Oosaka Internet City. Insofar the Tokyo and Kyoto have been freed along with Densan. So we're making progress."
"Indeed, sir."
Omega was standing in a non-decorated concrete room somewhere and seemingly waiting for something when a door opened and two Navis stepped inside.
"Well then. Blood Shadow! You handle close-quarters."
"Roger, sir."
Blood Shadow used red as his main color of choice.
He sported black shades and a flock of messy reddish hair came out from behind the helmet given how it only covered the face and the front of the head: his ear-pads had two purple "V" letters drawn inside of them.
His armor had the purple letters "BS" engraved on the chest area while his legs were colored black and had two red stripes running down the legs' sides in a parallel manner.
His right forearm was covered by a device colored red coupled with a piece of it which was colored transparent red: a small indentation near the wrist had the same "BS" initials engraved there: and, where the hand would be, a large double-barreled shotgun emerged instead.
He could be around Rock Man's age and height.
"Sigma! You'll handle any types who try to jump into our lines. Punch them, smash them… I don't mind how you do it, support the troopers using your shield and strength!"
"Aye, aye! Sir!"
Sigma was about two meters tall and was colored jet black: a red spheroid could be seen set on his chest area and it seemed to be missing the armor over its mass.
His face had two red eyes and one shone brighter than the other: two horns, one of which was almost erased, were set on both sides of his head and added a "demonic" look to him.
Green data flows moved around his body and he held a massive black and green sword in his right hand which he was currently leaning on the floor.
"Good. The operation begins in an hour from now. So get moving there. They know you're coming so there'll be no trouble. Blues and Search Man are already in position as well."
"Roger, sir."
"By the way, sir… Boss looks pretty sulky, doesn't he?" Blood Shadow brought up.
"Yeah. That stupid smear campaign is taking a toll on him, more than I'd imagined. I'll see if I can try to improve his mood." Omega sighed.
"Huff. That Joker rascal! Just as we thought he'd decided to go down once and for all he appoints a clone as successor and gives us further headaches. What a rascal!" Sigma grumbled.
"The main problem won't be beating the guy but his toy."
"Yeah. It's obvious that the "giant" that appeared in all Internet Cities and caused those shockwaves is Joker's toy. He must've made a replica. But if it's made of data then maybe we stand a better chance than the real one, after all. Because there might be aspects he's unable to recreate in a data format, such as the armor materials." Omega explained a hypothesis he had in mind.
"Good point, sir."
"But then again I'm sure he'll be compensating for that somehow. If he's making those stupid UFOs harder to chew with each attack then he can do the same for his toy."
"So we mustn't get confident, huh." Sigma muttered.
"Yeah. That's the key point here."
"Roger, sir. Let's go, Sigma."
"Yeah. The better we get a grasp of the battlefield, the better."
Both Navis saluted and warped away using the same effect Joker employed: Omega sighed and walked out of the room into a corridor: he walked down a few meters and spotted a door slightly ajar: he knocked on it.
"Boss? You there?"
"Yeah. Come in."
Omega walked in: Zataki was sitting on an office chair and facing a bare wall: behind him there was a desk with a PC atop it the screen of which was off: some papers and an opened magazine were spread atop it as well as an empty white porcelain coffee cup.
"Come on, Boss. At the very least they haven't figured out where you are and what you've worked on. Things have died down since they found out that the magazine was hacked so that this article would end up being the main one yet there's dissatisfaction at the lack of details and the ambiguous nature of the article." Omega tried to cheer him up.
"Yeah, I know that. That's not what worries me."
"Then what is it?"
"My condition…"
"Condition? Huff. And what if?"
"I don't want too many people knowing about it. Else they'd look at me with different eyes… They'd fear me instead."
"You can't know that for sure."
"But nevertheless…"
"Shake it off already. You're stepping into the rascal's trap to begin with. Did you talk with Tabuu?"
"Yeah. But for the time being we've agreed that he'll remain in the other front to keep an eye out… The rascal might've readied some nasy surprise on that front as well."
"Obviously."
"And I also I think that we shouldn't be relying on him the whole time. We must make use of our strength to solve problems as well."
"Well, insofar we'd been doing that so…"
"I know. But nevertheless…"
"Huff. If you're not going to show energies then do you expect the others to keep their morale high the whole time? Blood and Sigma are also worried about your state, Boss."
"Huff. It's not my intent yet… I can't help but feel the guilt chasing me the whole time."
"Guilt for what?"
"Not acting sooner…"
"You mean Anaya's madness? No – one's perfect, Boss. It might've taken some time but at least you managed to bring her down from her bloodstained throne." Omega guessed.
"But don't forget what happened with Gospel a few years ago. If I'd only gotten there sooner…!"
"But nobody died so it's not like…" Omega began to argue back.
"But I shouldn't have let Wily loose afterwards, I should've crushed the guy right away."
"But then again it's not like Wily accomplished much to begin with, either. Nobody got seriously hurt, either."
"I know! But, afterwards… More and more trouble popped up… And I'm not sure if the decision I took back then was right…"
"You did what had to be done, Boss. You're not omnipresent and it's impossible to predict the future."
"But nevertheless… Once was alright but twice…"
"Thrice. Don't forget Shinobi."
"In that case I think I shouldn't have done that."
"Shinobi might be a murderer but it's not our competence to decide who lives and who dies. Law will settle that."
"Huff. Guess that. But nevertheless our tech has backfired so many times."
"Backfired? In what sense?"
"Allowing too many subjects from the future to come to this age."
"Not all of them were duo to exploiting our tech. The first time it was because that trio found a device Anaya had left behind. The second time was because Hyde and Shinobi found a way to through a WAXA system… Virus surely used another device Anaya had designed. And Joker is the only case in which he's used our tech..." Omega listed.
"Ah. You're right. It's just that… My condition makes me sensible to how will society react… The fear of being discriminated, of being treated like an outcast… Because I'm not a normal human. I look like I'm 26 years old but in truth I've only lived for 10. Because I'm a clone… The result of Anaya's arrogance… Zataki is just an alias I use… My true nature is darkness… Because I'm Vadous…"
"Just because your name is based off Star Wars characters, Boss, that doesn't mean that you're a Sith Lord. You never were. It's not like you've never conspired to rule over others. You were just a representative of Anaya to put pressure on the thugs she controlled. Your only job was to visit them, control their finances and report them back to Anaya. You did get into brawls with some violent thugs but you only sought to shake them off and that's it." Omega reminded him.
"I know! I know that! It's just that…"
"The reason you keep on using the name she gave you despite that she came up with it as mockery is because you want to prove that you're not afraid of that woman anymore. Isn't that right, Boss?"
"… You're right. Huff. I guess it's the lack of proper sleep time. How's it going with the Obihiro & co. front, anyway?"
"They've narrowed it down to 5 candidates. They will focus on them and once they're sure they'll raid it."
"OK… I'm going to sleep for a while. Wake me if something urgent were to pop up. I think that I'll feel better by tomorrow. Thanks for pointing out what I was doing wrong, Omega."
"It's nothing, Boss. That's one of the reasons you built me, too."
"I know… See you later."
"Take it easy, Boss. It won't be easy but we'll succeed!"
