Chapter 10: Intriguing duel
18:43 PM (Japan Time), Monday August the 9th…
"… Hum. So we had to yield on the Reverse Internet yet we've secured the Underground and Immortal Area plus destroyed one of their main caches of "Dark Chips"… That's something."
"Yeah. But things are getting uglier."
Barrel was listening to a report by Dark Miyabi and was rubbing his chin as usual: he looked preoccupied with the tidings.
"Yet we should be glad Thunder Man defeated that dragon program: it could've been dangerous later on."
"It'd seem Copy Forte and Shirakami are indeed seeking the unmasking of the "Witch - Queen" but I'm wary of trusting them too quickly. It could be a highly elaborated deceit for all we know."
"True. I wasn't intending to grant them trust yet."
"You should warn Hikari Netto about that: he looks easy to deceive in my opinion." Dark Miyabi warned.
"I know." Barrel calmly replied.
"Call me if you need something else. I'm going to the mountains for this evening. I need some time to cool down."
"Fine."
Dark Miyabi came out and Barrel then glanced around while lifting his eyebrows as if he was being suspicious of something.
"… Come out." He ordered.
"Yikes!"
"Ookuda. So there you were."
"N-nope! A passer-by spirit! Good night!"
"Don't try to run off. I need to talk about the hologram thing."
"Oh heck."
Ookuda came out of hiding behind some boxes and looked pale as Barrel strode across the room and seized his shirt's neck to direct a hostile and angered glare at him: Ookuda's teeth began to dance and he also sweated as he tried to avoid eye contact.
"That wasn't funny. At all."
"W-well… But…"
"No buts. It was of a very bad taste. In fact, some prosecutor could come and say this was a death threat. We don't look lightly on death threats made to government employees, Ookuda." Barrely warned.
"M-mercy!" He pleaded.
"No. Your database management skills are just run-of-the-mill and you in fact copy other programs to do the job for you. You're not a devoted worker and I'll see to it that you go try to sell your lame tricks elsewhere: if not become a comedian." He icily told him.
"There you are~!" Meijin roared as he rushed in.
"Wait, Meijin. I'll handle this."
"Good! Make sure this guy get show the way out: Hikari – hakase agrees on firing him!" Meijin exclaimed.
"Sure. Here, the way out."
"Grah! Let go of me!" Ookuda cursed.
"No. There's no "oh, it was a joke. Nothing happened" chance anymore: you've crossed the borderline." Barrel replied.
He dragged Ookuda out into the main entrance and shoved him outside before locking the sliding door: Ookuda banged on the glass but both played deaf and returned into the Command Room: they sighed in relief and Barrel then spotted someone sitting on a chair.
"Kanou Shade."
"Do excuse me." He apologized as he stood up and took of the hat and sunglasses thus revealing blue-colored irises and his brown hair.
"What have you found out?"
"Our subject bought the cybernetic material from a usual dealer online and had it delivered to an old locale which had been closed down ten months ago. I directed the investigations there yet all access logs had been deleted: they've sealed up the place in the meanwhile and set a surveillance alarm. Truly disgusting. It makes me remember all too much of IQ's methods. Yet I eliminated the possibility that she was an agent trained by her." He detailed with a scowl.
"But she could've been trying to find power for that tyrant and was taken in by Nebula Grey who saw a useful pawn on her." Barrel calmly suggested back.
"Ah. It is a possibility indeed." He admitted.
"Jeez. What a scary talk." Meijin grumbled.
"Warning. Intruder alert. Intruder alert. Warning."
"What? Who's there, Gate Man?"
"Well…"
"Enemy detected, de a~ru… Starting surfacing, de a~ru…"
"Dive Man." Barrel grumbled.
"The submarine-model guy?" Meijin recalled.
"Same one."
"Hooray! My turn to shine came! Oi! Submarine jerk! I'm gonna chop ya out with my tomahawk! My kami – sama told me!"
"New enemy detected, de a~ru… Ready tubes 1 & 2, de a~ru…"
"Oi! Did ya listen? I'm Tomahawk Man! And I'm gonna beat ya!"
"Tomahawk Man of Sky Town." Barrel introduced.
He turned on the monitor behind him and displayed live feed of the Science Labs' HP where a Navi was facing Dive Man.
"Oh yeah! That's me! Oi, gramps! Bring it on!"
"De a~ru… Mission: sink the enemy frigate, de a~ru… Ready for immersion, de a~ru…"
"Hikari Netto met him and Rock Man has the "Tomahawk Cross" installed on him yet I believe I'd rather introduce you to him." Barrel calmly explained to them.
"He looks powerful."
"Sure thing! Sorry for the wait, Barrel – san! I'm Dingo!"
Dingo rushed in with a grin and carrying a real tomahawk with him: Meijin looked curious and Kanou Shade formed a smile: Barrel merely nodded to acknowledge his entrance and focused on the fight.
"Smart Missile!"
"Totem – sama! Invincible Mode! Tomahawk Swing!"
"De a~ru…"
"That was a 120 point attack! So he loses 120 but still has 1380 HP left: we gotta work hard!" Dingo announced.
"Yeah! Tomahawk Air Raid!"
"120 damage again! 1260 HP left…! Go, Tomahawk Man!"
"Totem – sama! Meteors!"
Meteors rained down into the field and some hit Dive Man who didn't seem to be impressed.
"Heh! Each meteor has a base power of 100 and 5 hit him so he's lost 500 HP! 760 HP left!" Dingo grinned.
"De a~ru… Tidal Wave!"
"Incoming!" Gate Man warned.
"Hah! I've got "Super Armor" and I won't flinch! Totem – sama: recovery mode! Tomahawk Rolling! 240 points of damage! 520 HP left!" Tomahawk Man exclaimed.
"De a~ru… Leakage confirmed in starboard side…"
"Heh! This guy is so weak, really!"
"For you. But not for a normal Navi." Barrel warned.
"Aw man! Don't take the fun outta me!"
"Tomahawk Swing! Hah! 400 HP left… How's that?"
"De a~ru… Dark Chip, Dark Meteors!"
"Oh hell! Dodge, Tomahawk Man!"
"Greah! My own grass field is proving my undoing! I feel 400 HP of damage per each meteor plus my weakness to fire! You wanna meteors I'll give ya meteors! Totem – sama~!" He growled.
"De a~ru… Smart Missile…! DE A~RU!"
Dive Man had been about to shoot his "Smart Missiles" when the totem bombarded him with four meteors in a row and he was deleted: Tomahawk Man collapsed into his knees while panting.
"Too close…! Grah…! I've lost 1600 of my total 2000 HP…! Damn! Sorry, Danna… I messed it up!" He groaned.
"You're not to blame. That guy knew who he was going to face and came prepared… That woman must've been doing some background research into us…" Barrel grumbled.
"Undoubtedly. Damned woman." Kanou Shade hissed.
"So. Can I count on you to find out anything else?"
"I'll check on a certain place… I have a contact."
"Good. I don't care how you get the info: just tell us when you've gathered enough of it." Barrel told him.
18:54 PM (Japan Time)…
"… What? Big Bro is going around there and still obsessed with becoming the strongest Navi on the world? Jeez! Someone should set that guy's head straight already! That Serenade guy, for example!"
"Guess so."
"Ah! Here you are! De masu! Broom fight, de masu! I draw the Straw HY, de masu!"
"Oho. Higure Yamitarou. We were expecting cha, Danna. Alright. Shi – chan, bring me the Straw Excalibur, will you?"
"I hate that nickname. I really do."
"Yeah, yeah. Tell it to the bird in the honor seat."
"Grfjtx. Fine!"
Copy Forte had been mumbling aloud when Shirakami brought him news inside of a locale turned into a Battle Chip store decorated with posters of Battle Chip images: Higure suddenly came in while brandishing a broom as if it was his katakana and he'd changed into yukata clothing too as if to set himself in the role: Copy Forte grinned at Shirakami who didn't seem to like the nickname at all but did hand him a broom.
"Alright, Danna. First one to hit the other's forehead wins."
"De masu! That's the ancient rule passed down for generations!"
"Ancient rule… Stop kidding me." Shirakami groaned with obvious skepticism at the whole thing.
"Yo!"
"Huh? Wha! Y-you're…!"
"Yeah. Me. It's been a while, eh? Huh? What's Higure – san doing with that broom? What's going on?"
"Some kind of samurai duel parody… Netto – kun. I'm surprised you came to visit us."
"Well… I wanted to bury the enmity…"
Netto had come inside of the store to Shirakami's surprise but the other two paid no heed given how they were swinging their brooms around like mad: Netto looked surprised and Shirakami was skeptical.
"But I'll NEVER place even one foot, get me, inside of your Satanic rocket of blue blistering barnacles! NEVER!" Copy Forte exclaimed.
"De masu~! No – one shall make Higureya crumble! I'll fight to the end, de masu! Right, Number Man! De masu!"
"I do think, Yamitarou, that this whole thing is becoming rather pointless and parodied." Number Man complained.
"Join the club." Shirakami sarcastically told him.
"Delighted!"
"Man." Netto mumbled.
"So! Going alone into danger again, Netto – kun? Trying to play the cool guy will get you into trouble and… Shirakami! What are you doing to Netto – kun!"
"Eh? What? Me? Nothing! He came on his own! Right, Number Man!"
"Indeed, Rock Man! He came alone yet he's watching on Yamitarou playing the imbecile."
"HUH? What the heck are they doing?"
"A broom duel, de masu! Do not get in the way, de masu! Higureya's pride is at stake, de masu!"
Rock Man had come into the store and looked wary of Shirakami: he gasped and defended himself with the backing up of Number Man yet he forgot them and his jaw hit the floor when he saw the fight between Copy Forte and Higure.
"This is… ridiculous." He groaned.
"Welcome to the club." Number Man sarcastically told him.
"Count me in too." Netto muttered.
"Well. 4 to begin with…" Shirakami muttered.
"This is the store you guys opened?" Rock Man looked around.
"Yeah. All bought in a neat manner. Heck, this district is nice and all but Higureya is 45 minutes from here. This place is 10 minutes from the center of this district and there are other shops around too. We're doing them a favor: we've had 15 customers already in the first day. They seem to think we're otaku guys." Shirakami explained.
"Ah. So that's why they don't mind you too much. Well… Can't say it's a bad thing…" Rock Man muttered.
"See: we even asked an ONBA guy to drop by and he approved of the whole thing." Shirakami added.
"So that of March…?"
"I know! We were trying to imitate Star Wars."
"Well. If that's it then I might let it slip… You have a point in the aspect that you didn't hurt us." Rock Man muttered.
"We won't force you to decide." Shirakami lifted his hands as if to prove he wasn't hiding anything.
"DE MASU~! Flying Striking Rallying Attacking Broom!"
"What the heck?" The four skeptical guys uttered.
"Ascending Descending Swinging Broom!"
"They're trying to invent "cool" names like in manga series? How lame, really!" Shirakami groaned.
"Totally."
"Intriguing, gentlemen."
"Wha! Kanou – san!"
"Cha came too, Danna?"
Kanou Shade had popped out and looked amused at the show those two were producing.
"DE MASU~! Concentrating Mystifying Rolling Advancing Broom!"
"Ending Exploding Breaking Broom!"
"How pathetic." Number Man grumbled.
"On the contrary: how original." Kanou Shade sarcastically replied.
"Lovely." Netto muttered.
"Totally." Rock Man looked annoyed by now.
"YA~H! DE MASU~! Raiding Destroying Broom!"
"Finishing Battling Broom!"
"DE MASU~! I got hit in the forehead…! I lost…! I must close Higureya and go into exile…! De masu…!"
"Oi, oi… I never said any of that, Danna…"
"Someone snap him outta that!" Number Man growled.
"Allow me."
Kanou Shade walked over to Higure who was on his fours and hanging his head down in shame: he crouched and whispered something to him: Higure suddenly stood up and looked energetic.
"True, de masu~! Akihara Town's spirits protect Higureya! No tsunami or earthquake will be able to harm it, de masu! My reputation is saved, de masu! You guys do all you want but you'll always be a pale imitator of Higureya! De masu~!"
He ran off to everyone's surprise and Kanou Shade grinned.
"I just told him he's got 20 online orders waiting to be delivered. Good luck, gentlemen. Maybe an enigmatic spirit will guide you."
He walked out while chuckling to the surprise of the remaining four guys: things were turning crazy in this city.
"Hum… Aha! Warning! Warning! A new challenger has appeared! Its name is… Mewtwo!" Copy Forte suddenly exclaimed as if to try to shatter the tension.
"So?" Shirakami dully asked.
"Well…" He trailed off.
"We bring out Capt'n Falcon and beat the guy up!" Netto grinned.
"Otaku." Rock Man muttered with a hint of annoyance.
"OI!"
"Now, now." Copy Forte tried to calm them down.
"You'd rather stay away, Copy Forte. It's between me and Netto – kun's otaku fever."
"Says the man! You were replaying Triforce of the Gods a few days ago, weren't you?" Netto complained back.
"But I don't brag about it." He shrugged.
"Eh…" Copy Forte tried to call out.
"Rock Man. I think that's enough. Else it looks like you're dancing to that woman's flute tune." Shirakami whispered.
"… You've got a point. Fine. We'll settle this on another day. Maybe I just need to confiscate your Game Cube."
"E~H?"
"Oh come on. Rock Man… Don't overdo it, either."
"I decide that, Shirakami. Let's go, Netto – kun."
"Ouwah! Don't pull my ear! I can walk off on my own!"
"What do we do?" Copy Forte gulped.
"Hope Rock Man will snap out that "commanding" mood…"
Both guys sighed: Rock Man could have odd moods from time to time …