Chapter 10: Unchanged

10:20 AM (Japan Time), Sunday November the 11th…

"… So? How it'd go like, Misora?"

"The girl was in a pretty bad situation but I managed to get through to her and calm her down."

"Good. The villain got arrested as well so… Maybe Queen Tia wanted us to do it in her instead. Or maybe she was still waiting for an opening."

"It could be, Akatsuki – san."

"Pororon. That basement was creepy, alright. I'll never understand why you humans need to go to such ends."

"Not like I do, either."

"Pororon. Guess that."

"Join the club, Harp."

"I get the irony, Acid."

"Oh well. Now we've only got those 2 left… They must be plotting but we'll be ready to tackle them…"

Misora had come to report to Akatsuki the results of the mission she'd undergone with Omega the other day: Akatsuki looked satisfied as he leant next to the outer wall of the WAXA building.

"By the way… Omega didn't step into the basement and I think it's better than he didn't do it: he looked about to go into a rampage and bring the house down." She whispered.

"No surprise. Having seen what Anaya Maria did… I was there, when we arrested her, ya know? That "Palace" place was sickening. I'm glad that the demolishing finally ended and it's gone forever."

"I wouldn't be surprised. Dr. Lartes had a point when he wanted me to stay out of the deal back then. It's something which only adults should see: the madness of humanity…"

"Madness of humanity? Sure thing."

"It feels like a rather vague title." Acid complained.

"Bear with it, Mr. Lawyer."

"Not again."

"Pororon. There they go again." Harp giggled.

"I fail to see the grace." Acid addressed her.

"Pororon. You're too machine-like dear, you lack sense of humor." Harp pointed out.

"Maybe. I don't need it to accomplish a mission."

"Alright, alright. Let's not fight over that, either."

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. Acid Disaster on the disastrous acidic tale~! I'm a genius, yeah!"

"War Rock. Show your hide." Acid commanded.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah."

"Sheesh."

War Rock showed up while improving another lame motto: Akatsuki fumed and didn't seem to be in the mood for them.

"The villanius repelignus manus is on the run!"

"The repulsive and villain man? RVM? Oh come on."

"Your Latin corruptions don't have a point to begin with."

"Who cares, Claw Man? I just wanna go loose and wreck it all! My blood's stirring! Bring it on, twerp!"

"Well. Your dear RVM will beat your Noise Wave 6 record."

"Wha~t? I won't let the jerk! Just you wait!"

"Phew. We shook the guy off somehow."

"Somehow, yeah." Misora sighed.

"My, my. Shidou – chan, Misora – chan. Did you know that the Chief's nephew…?" Dr. Yoiri came out.

"…married with a French girl and now have 2 daughters, yeah." Akatsuki finished for her.

"Oh my. Guess this one is pretty well-known by now."

"Everyone knows it, hakase~…"

"Well. Then, the one about Ryuusuke – chan's…"

"…girlfriend, who showered him in pink pain 5 years ago at a party~…"

"Oh my."

"And they're still at it?" Misora looked surprised.

"Oh no. They quit after that. Ryuusuke never liked the joke."

"Ah. I see."

"UWA~H! The Devil's Claws, I say~! RUN FOR I~T!"

"Utagai! It was War Rock, I say!"

Utagai ran past them as if he was going to be slaughtered alive and not paying attention to what Cygnus was telling him.

"My, my. Utagai – chan and his superstitions."

"Yeah, I know. Nothing new. Nothing surprising. By now." Akatsuki looked dull and unimpressed.

"At all."

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! Oi! Amachi~! Amas your land?"

"War Rock! That joke's lame!" Amachi protested close by.

"Totally!" Misora fumed.

"Daigo will promote ya to Gotenou! Aka Big Five~!"

"My name doesn't mean "Big Five", War Rock! How many times do I need to tell you?" Daigo protested next.

"Until your wife pulls my ears?"

"Oh come on! Stop making lame jokes. Yours aboard "Bonds" were terrible and you always ended up fighting with Ox in the end: the other FMians ignored you to begin with." Daigo sighed.

"I'm not surprised." Misora muttered.

"Pororon. I was there, ya know?" Harp reminded her.

"Oh yeah. I'd forgotten."

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. Subari~ promotes triangles and singles!"

"What's the point of that, anyway?" Daigo sighed.

"Ya never know, Great Gorilla~!"

"SHEESH!" He protested.

"Just get lost for a while. They'll beat your records."

"Wha~t? Ah! The feathered jerks! The lil bros of Cygnus!"

"Lil bros of Cygnus, how brilliant." Harp muttered with rising and obvious annoyance.

"Phew! We shook the guy off somehow. This town is getting maddening again, truly. I prefer having to deal with stubborn Material Waves to that guy, really." Daigo sighed.

"Who wouldn't, Daigo – senpai?"

"You're right, Amachi. Let's get back to work."

"Roger."

"Well. Guess I'm going back to Okudama Studios. Goodbye."

"Goodbye. Take care."

"Pororon! Be friendlier, Acid."

"I'll try." He merely replied.

Misora walked away and stepped into the Wave Liner: her Hunter – VG rang and she didn't seem to be surprised when replying: the screen only showed static.

"Sensei. I know it's you, ma'am."

"Hmpf. Am I that readable?"

"Totally, ma'am. I guess you must be feeling satisfied: we did the job in your stead, ma'am."

"So you had the courage to step into Hell."

"I had. And I'm not going to let that intimidate me."

"Hmpf. So your naïveté is no more."

"Who said I was naïve, anyway? Your points are rather moot, ma'am."

"So it'd seem."

"I'm going to fall for that tune, ma'am. You only began this campaign to drive us to this point where we would the job for you. You'd planned it all ever since the Meteor G crisis… Your cold behavior, exasperating everyone, putting pressure on me… They were all planned!"

"Indeed." She calmly admitted.

"You wanted to test our intelligence and prove yours too along with your patience."

"Hmpf. If you've deduced that much then there's no point to this chat: farewell."

The call got suddenly cut and Misora sighed in relief.

"Phew. At least I got rid of her pressure…!"

"Pororon. I still find it odd Virgo got along with that gal."

"Don't ask me the details. I'd rather not know what goes on sensei's mind to begin with… It's scary."

10:53 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Sigma. What are you doing there?"

"Yikes! S-Sir Omega, sir!"

"Answer me."

"Eh… I was looking for spare light bulbs!"

"… The light bulbs are on Storage 15, not S 07. This is where we keep replacement shoes and sneakers."

"G-guess I got lost… I'm going there and…"

"What are you up to?"

Sigma had been standing in a curved metallic corridor somewhere which had some structural arches and was illuminated by fluorescent lights set in the ceiling: he'd been trying to do something with a control panel next to an armored door on the left side labeled "STORAGE #07" but Omega had shown up from the south while looking both annoyed and suspicious: Sigma gulped and began to step away.

"Huh! I've got to keep an eye in the Black Hole Server… Bye~!"

Sigma ran off and Omega looked like he was getting annoyed: he interacted with the control panel and a burp sound rang out followed by a roar.

"Burp & Roar present… Quiz Queen!"

"What the…?"

"Kyah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah! Quiz the Queen or the Queen Quiz!" A womanly voice laughed.

"How lame. Sounds like a Virgo imitation."

"Gontaga – sama~! Nanska Village's new ruler!"

"Huff. That episode… Really…"

"Beware! Dossy strikes back with a hellish and rotting breath!"

"Please!"

"Alright! Enough preludes, kiddo! The password! The hint is: who's the Ace of the Moon Tribe~?"

"Not this again." He growled.

"Irony strikes back?" Vadous asked he calmly stepped in.

"Huff. I know my other "self" set up such a password time ago but it's got nothing to do with my current "self", Boss."

"Guess that. Another reason I installed the "switch" into you."

"We need one for that moron too, and for War Rock. Or else…"

"I know. Sigma needs some lessons too."

"Time's up! Enter and smell these sneaky sneakers!"

"How stupid."

The door buzzed and opened to reveal a sheet of paper hanging from the ceiling using a string of tape and which had a badly-drawn Denpa – kun with a scary face drawn on it.

"Mwah, hah, hah. I'm the Terror Denpa~!"

"Huff. War Rock. This reeks of the guy's handiworks too."

"Who else?" Vadous rolled his eyes.

"Let's get rid of this stupidity already."

"Sure."

Omega picked the paper and the tape and made a ball of paper with it while Vadous used his Hunter – VG to apparently re-program the control panel with the correct software.

"Alright. It's fixed."

"About damned time."

"I know. Let's get back to work."

"Yeah. We need to find those 2: they fled the submarine behemoth but maybe it's a temporary diversion maneuver."

"I wouldn't be surprised if it is: they're so random."

"Boss? Mr. Dragon wants to talk with you." Blood Shadow walked up to both of them.

"Dragon? Sheesh. The guy surely ran out of spices or rice. He should take care of keeping an eye on the stocks." Vadous sighed.

He walked down the corridor while Omega closed the armored door and handed Blood Shadow the ball of paper.

"Throw it into the trash incinerator."

"Roger, sir."

"Did anything odd happen at Okudama Studios…?"

"Not really. They found a fan who'd tried to sneak in posing as the nephew of a staff lady." He reported.

"Hum. No big deal, then."

Blood Shadow's ear pads rang so he touched the left one with his left hand's fingers: an Air Display screen formed and Tsukasa showed up onscreen while looking slightly annoyed.

"Blood – kun?"

"What's up, Tsukasa – kun?"

"War Rock somehow hacked the whole NFB Battle Cards from your Folder and dropped them here, in the Dream Island Park… They all have your name on them so…"

"Weird. When did the guy…? Ah! When I was undergoing maintenance in the capsule, here…!"

"Sheesh." Omega grumbled.

"Mwah, hah, hah. The Square of Vile Sins!" War Rock laughed.

"Oh come on." Kiboyama groaned off-screen.

"Mwah, hah, hah. Bloody~ Shadowy~! Join the club! The Evil Vile Veli Eliv Club!"

"How stupid."

"I'm going there to get them back. And then we'll talk, Rock." Blood Shadow fumed.

"Of Mars Aces and Moon Acids!"

"I'm about to go berserk." Omega icily threatened.

"YIKES!"

"He ran." Tsukasa calmly reported.

"That guy…!" Kiboyama growled.

"I know. I'll be going, Sir Omega."

"Go." Omega sighed.

Blood Shadow strode away while Omega walked down another bit of corridor: another door opened and Dr. Lartes came out while sighing and looking tired.

"Lartes? You pushed it again?"

"A bit… Hospital stuff… They suddenly sent several diagnostics to me as if hoping to shake them off… And they're wrong: they don't belong to my department or specialty… Really…!"

"Huff. Someone should pull their ears."

"Sure thing."

"Anyway. This is but a pause. Before the next act…" Omega warned.

"Hum. And let's not forget about our other "front"…"

"True. There's a sneaky mouse there that knows TOO much."

"Indeed. It'd be best to keep them under control or else…!"

10:05 AM (Taiwan Time)…

"… Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh."

"What now, Hyde~?"

"This fortune will make me invincible!"

"What news."

"Huh… What should I do, Hyde – sama?"

"Bah! Just do yoga or whatever. I need to brainstorm."

"Kuh, kuh, kuh, kuh, kuh."

"Man. Your laughter is odd, Assassin…"

Hyde was chuckling inside of a living room with obvious Choina – style decoration and sitting on an armchair: Phantom was unimpressed with his cocky mood, Shinobi was saluting close by and Assassin made some hollow chuckling which Shinobi didn't seem to like.

"Those fools can't think we've chosen Taiwan to hide at: and by my sales of "Crimson" I've gained a lot of fortune… My latest client invited us to this humble villa… Heh, heh, heh. I'll soon provide them with some goods they want too…"

"That's excellent, My Master."

"Hyde~… You just happened to be lucky and find some which was still stored in Dealer's Orbital Base…" Phantom sighed.

"Don't rob me of my glory, Phantom!"

"Yeah, yeah. Well. I just happened to warn you."

"Huh… Guess that…" Shinobi looked somewhat hesitating.

"Kuh, kuh, kuh, kuh."

"Oh. Be quiet already. Go scare some Denpa."

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! Soon! I'll be supreme~!"

11:18 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Ah… The air feels good, really…"

"Yeah. Despite it being autumn…"

"Huff. I hope this spot doesn't become a trauma."

"Oh come on! Be positive, Subaru – kun!"

"Yeah! We gotta be optimistic!"

Kiboyama, Tsukasa and Subaru were in the Dream Island Park and standing on the topmost spot of the hill looking at the sunken ship: Kiboyama was spreading his arms and feeling the breeze, Tsukasa looked animated and Subaru was slightly sad.

"Yeah. Guess that."

"So you grew up on this island, Tsukasa – kun?"

"Yeah. There's an orphanage close by, about 20 minutes by foot, on the mainland. But I always came here to enjoy the scenery and to disconnect as well."

"Nice~… I'd loved to know about this place sooner. Say. When I was being "possessed"… You said I was living here in secret?" Kiboyama seemed to remember.

"Yeah. Inside of the basement containing the "Bonds" Communication Module… Guess Kuroban posed as an orphan of the orphanage so as to not to draw much attention…"

"Why don't you show me the place? It's picking me."

"Sure. I haven't been there for a long time either." Tsukasa admitted with a shrug.

"Good. Follow me."

Subaru led them through the garbage plant and the junkyard before they reached the entrance to the huge basement room under the island which had the weathered down remains of the module.

"So this is the place, huh? It must've been cold all year long: with that shaft leading straight into the surface… And when it rained or snowed it'd get wet…" Kiboyama muttered.

"There's a switch to close it off here." Tsukasa signaled a column which had a large lever with a label.

"Oh. I didn't spot it back then. It makes sense. These remains were stored for 3 years here. The reason they were still working when I found them must be that… Amachi – san must've opened the shaft when he repaired it up…" Subaru guessed.

Their Hunter – VGs beeped at the same time so they brought them out and the "Air Displays" activated to show Moon Disaster's face from close up while grinning.

"YO! YO! YO! I'm Moon Ace~! Are ya listening, guys and gals? My ultimate extravaganza is about to begin! Sponsored by Mr. Raibu!" Moon Disaster announced.

"Mr. Raibu?" Tsukasa wondered.

"You lowlife. Staining my pride and name…! My blood's stirring!" Burai growled close by.

"YIKES! When did ya…?"

"I happened to be making my way through when I hear this lowlife insulting my tribe, blood and pride…! That sin…! I'll have it you pay with your flesh! Get ready! Go, Laplace!"

"Da."

"Uwa~h! Run for your Moon Boomerangs! The competency sponsored by Michael Jackson XIII chases me~!"

"Michael Jackson XIII? Reeks of Rock's handiworks: totally." Subaru grumbled.

"Totally. And he had to piss off Burai." Kiboyama sighed.

"He's up for a world of pain."

"What's with this scandal?" Luna asked.

"I don't know." Kizamaro merely replied.

"A new meal?" Gonta asked.

"KI~H! FATMAN!"

"Uwa~h! Spare me, iinchou~!"

"No good."

"Man. Not again." Jack grumbled.

"The madness…!" The 3 of them groaned.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. The plague of madness, brought forth by Warus Rockus Samus and Sigmus Samus! Get to the shelters, humans and Denpa Bodies!" War Rock laughed.

"Let the Denpa Bodies hit the Cosmo Wave~! Run for the shelter!" Sigma laughed.

"Sigma~…!" Omega icily hissed over the line.

"Jeez. I come back from getting my Cards back and now you two are stirring up trouble again?" Blood Shadow sighed.

"Probabilities of chaos unleashing… 100%." Pedia sighed.

"Buro~! Sheesh." Ox grumbled.

"Oh boy." Mode seemed to roll her eyes even.

"Boss. You've got my permission to shut the guy on the server for a while: he needs another lesson! And Sigma – san too!" Subaru announced aloud while looking annoyed.

"Yeah! I approve of it!"

"I approve of it too!"

"Wha~t? Subari~! Ya can't be serious!"

"Delighted!" Vadous hissed.

"Uh-oh. Let's run, Rock!"

"YIKES!"

"Sheesh."

"Burai, huh? You were looking for me?"

"Yeah. Let's have a showdown next week."

"OK. I'll borrow the solo DH program."

Burai showed up there along with Laplace who remained silent: Subaru wasn't surprised by his appearance there.

"So this is the famed CM…"

"Yeah. This island was a decisive spot during the whole FM invasion back then… A lot happened…"

"Yeah… A lot sure did…" Tsukasa grimly muttered as he looked away, sighing.

"Sorry. I didn't want to bring up sad thoughts."

"No. It's me who should confront them sans fear."

"Fine. I won't get in the way. I'm heading back. And, Hoshikawa… Keep an eye out on your Wizard… Or else there's trouble."

"I know that. Boss is about to lock the guy for another while: he needs it, really." Subaru nodded in agreement.

"Alright."

Burai stepped out while Laplace was gesticulating to Burai who was replying in a hushed tone of voice: Laplace sighed and Burai didn't seem to get in a better mood before he stepped into the elevator and headed back into the surface.

"Well. Hyde and Shinobi might plot all they want but…" Tsukasa began as if to relieve the air.

"They can't overcome our "Bond Power"!" Kiboyama added.

"Good motto." Subaru grinned.

"Hi~! Darling."

"Misora – chan… That joke's getting outdated."

"Tee, heh, heh. I know, I know. I got told you were here, Subaru – kun, so I dropped over to check it out."

Misora joined them while giggling and Subaru slightly rolled his eyes as if being tired with the running joke: the other two grinned and looked amused.

"By the way… How about we go visit the newest Roppondo Hills Museum exhibition? This time around it's about sci-fi films so…" Misora suggested to Subaru.

"Wow! Count me in. My "mania soul" has woken up!"

"Mania soul? Sure thing." Tsukasa giggled.

"You could patent it for some RPG."

"Pororon. And this time Rock won't be swallowing up weird stuff which is bad for the stomach!" Harp giggled.

"You needn't remind me. That "consciousness" engraved in the OOPArt was hard to deal with." Subaru recalled with a sigh.

"Well then! Settled. We'll go in 2 weeks' time. Look forward to it: to our newest date." She teased.

"B-b-b-b-but!" He uttered in a rush while blushing.

"Kidding. See ya~!"

Misora giggled and ran out while both guys tapped Subaru's back to encourage him: he grinned and looked elsewhere.

Oh well. A joke's a joke… Our "Bond Power" can't be beaten by mere power or tricks! Hyde! Next time… We'll settle the score!

THE END