Chapter 10: Danger
08:45 AM (Japan Time), Thursday February the 4th…
"… Hum! A good morning patrol… Yet! We must be wary! There's someone lurking out there who has materialization data… We did send a warning to the Net Police and the Science Labs but nothing's happened: the analysis of Dark Man reveals that the data was copied neatly and the assaulter clearly knew the size it had, the shape it had and all…"
"It had to be Know It All Man! Japan Man – sama~!"
"J-Japan Man? What affront is THAT? My name is Yamato Man!"
"Dunno! I felt like it, Mr. Samurai."
"Come out! "Shunoros"!"
"Heh! The coolest guy of them all's saved you for the last!"
"… Gray Thunderbolt."
"Yessir. Kage did tell you guys 'bout the great me~…"
Yamato Man was patrolling a "surface" level of the Reverse Internet evidenced by the brighter illumination and the presence of those "nodes" there and there.
"Heh, heh, heh. It's time to ring up some ghosts!"
"Ghosts? What for?"
"To populate a creepy~ mansion… Luigi's Mansion!"
"I don't know what you mean and don't need to."
"Heh, heh, heh. No news yet but I've got a hunch it won't take much longer, you see~… Or they could be in the summer, like it happened with Platinum… Heh, heh, heh. They're teasing us a lot! Maybe we'll soon have news of this year's movie, Number 15!"
"Stop bringing up things I don't need to understand! Fight me!"
"Fine~… Guess I need to chat with one of the dynamics fellas!"
"Hmpf."
"And here I come~!"
Gray Thunderbolt dropped down.
His design was radically different from that of his companions: his face's skin color had changed to a dull olive green – like coloring and a faint black and thin line drawing of an electrical current's spectrum shaped like a triangle formed on the SW and SE corners of his face and climbed past the note until they ended slightly beneath the forehead's helmet edge.
His eyes, nose and mouth were unchanged even though the eyes' irises were of a blood red color.
His hair had become orange-colored and spread out from behind the helmet in a wild flock manner reaching until the base of his neck.
The helmet's design was peculiar: it had a form seemingly made out of a spheroid's upper half and its main color was gray: the center of it had a drawing which could be interpreted as an arrow pointing downwards which also had two small triangles popping out of the sides: it seen from above and looking from north to south it could be a cutaway silhouette of a tree as well.
A golden-colored plain horn formed on the middle of the drawing and aimed upwards.
The ear-pads had two parts: they began as simple gray metallic disks attached half-way between the upper helmet and the sides of the rest of the helmet: then a dome formation sprouted from there and had a small hole cut atop it.
The sides of the helmet included two slightly curved triangles colored orange spanning past the lower jaw by a few centimeters: his neck was protected by circular gray bands stacked one atop the other with a total of three plus a wider circle at the base of the neck.
The chest armor was simplistic: it was gray again and had two cavities cut on the center of it shaped after diamonds.
They were red on the inside and there was a very thin black line cutting through them spanning half-way across the chest.
His arms were covered by a peculiar golden armor which seemed to reinforce their strength: each shoulder had a soup bowl – like shape along with the cover set over it: a golden horn spread from the center of the cover.
The armor then continued with a slight division drawn half-way the arm located between the shoulder and the elbow: the elbow segment happened to have a circular piece from which a curved fin aiming towards the shoulder emerged: this elbow armor could be divided in four different segments: the first one was a little piece of golden armor in the form of a circle's lower half.
It was continued by a set of three half-circular metallic bands spreading downwards until the start of the wrist.
A screw bolt's head was set half-way between the lower and upper halves of the elbow armor: a black cross was drawn on it (or rather the grooves where a screw driver would be set at) and a straight black line travelled forward from the eastern edge until the wrist.
The last part of the complicated elbow armor included the aforementioned fin.
A small segment of golden armor covered the little space between the elbow and the wrist.
The wrist and part of the hand were encompassed by one featureless metallic black circle from which his usual five fingers (covered in golden "skin") came out.
The body below the chest armor was rather plain: a central vertical stripe which contained the helmet's pattern towards the end as it reached the waist spot: it was painted gray expect on the outer edges where the color switched to purple and ran down the sides of the body including the inner surface of the legs: the outer surface was colored gray too.
His peculiar boots began just at the knee's height
They had a customized design which looked like some attempt at being "futuristic" for some reason or another: their color was gray.
The reason why his boots looked peculiar was because they had a descending triangle-shaped ramp running until the ankles and with three golden buttons set in a vertical manner one atop the other near the end of the piece.
The ankles' armor was built in the manner of three purple trapezes set one over the other: the soil of the boots was also designed to have a trapeze form and painted gray.
There was something which looked a recent addition, though, and that was an emblem on the forehead which was the same depicted in Eisei's own Link PET.
"Oreichalcos Boundary! Engage!"
"And now you summon a Spirit?"
"Correct! Volt! Fierce God which holds the purple-lightning hammer! I command you by the name of the contractor! Come out! Volt!"
Purple streaks of lightning fell down and hit Yamato Man yet he didn't seem to mind them.
"My HP clock at 3000 points! Yours at 2950… And each of Volt's attacks was 200, so each is 300… 5 volts: 1500 damage!"
"Hum. A mere stolen spirit won't halt me."
"Heh, heh, heh. Let's go, then! 100, 000 Volts!"
"Hum! Lightning Rod!"
"Crap! This attack has base power of 95 points and the Boundary lifts it up to 142…! And my own electrical attribute allows for a second power-up so it actually inflicts 190 points! Gruah!"
"Hum! Your foul weapons shoot back at you."
"Sheesh. And now he comes with the Sengoku speech, like Shadow Man!"
"Come!"
"Sheesh! Don't laugh at GEMINI SPARK!" He grumbled.
"Another nickname or rip-off?"
"Yikes! I mean… Don't laugh at Gray Thunderbolt!"
"I don't care! Thousand Spear! Each blow is 200 points! 5 serial blows: 1000 HP! Eat these, foul one!"
"Foul! Me! I'm cool! Eat this! Rocket…! Gruah!"
Gray Thunderbolt was about to shoot another attack when Yamato Man quickly thrust his spear to hit him five times in the upper chest and the lower chest: the last blow did make him fall down into the ground and he stood up while grumbling.
"Rocket Knuckle!"
He formed two copies of his knuckles and they shot forward while frizzling with electricity: both impacted on Yamato Man but he didn't mind them to begin with and began to spin his spear to form a circle until he let go of it and it shot forward, spinning: it hit Gray Thunderbolt another 5 times and he groaned.
"Damn it! I've lost over 2100 HP by now and that guy's still got close to 2000 HP left! I'll have to try harder! Inazuma Head X! 390 points per every thunderbolt which rains down…!"
"Hum! Foolish! Reckless. Lightning Rod!"
"Heck! Krua~h!"
"… Hmpf! I see. So that's how it is… The Life Synchro Strategy…"
"Sheesh. I got found out. It was too obvious, I guess. But now that I've lost close to 2500 points I can turn the tide and leave you with less than 500 HP! Hah!"
"You damned fool… A battle isn't settled by numbers!"
"Sheesh! Burai!"
"Yeah. So? Kyutora blessed you?"
"Wha~t? This rascal!"
Burai suddenly showed up outside of the boundary: he was folding his arms and looked unimpressed.
"Hmpf."
"Sheesh! Aibou will deal with you thoroughly later on!"
"Let the guy come anytime."
"Alright, you! Samurai wannabe!"
"Hmpf."
"Synchro Hook X! 270 points of damage! And you synchro your HP!"
"Come."
Gray Thunderbolt attacked Yamato Man but he vanished in a cloud of smoke and left a katana behind before shooting one shuriken at Gray Thunderbolt from behind and returning to his original position.
"Shit! I take another 200 points of damage and my plan fails! But I've got another two ready! Synchro Hook X!"
"Thousand Spear!"
"Gotcha!"
"Hrum."
Yamato Man began to attack but Gray Thunderbolt vanished and left a statue of "Raichu" behind before he dropped a shuriken which hit Yamato Man but he didn't mind it much.
"I still have a lot of energy left."
"Sheesh! I'll have to try harder, then! Flash Spear X! 60 per hit: total is 300 and this will bring you remaining HP to about 1500!"
"How foolish."
"Not again!"
It turned out that Yamato Man had another Kawarimi ready and he countered Gray Thunderbolt's attack.
"Shit! Now or never! Synchro Hook X! I've only lost to Andy and Kage and I don't plan on losing to anyone else!"
"Save for those "Dark Chips" artifacts which you lowlife used a year ago, making you go berserk and needing Golden Star to halt you."
"SHEESH! Eat this, Yamato Man!"
"Hmpf!"
Yamato Man turned out to have yet a third Kawarimi and it hit Gray Thunderbolt.
"Fuck! Only about 100 HP left! NOW! You've run out of Kawarimi! Synchro Hook X! I'll rest and then synchro the damage!"
"Hmpf." Burai grumbled.
"EAT THIS!"
"Holy Panel, Dream Aura!"
"NO! IMPOSSIBLE!"
The attack was nullified by the Dream Aura and Gray Thunderbolt looked furious by now.
"You're asking for it! Super North Wind! Panel Format! Ice Grenade! Elec Plus 30, Thunder! 120 power points! Plus the Elec 30! 150! Boundary bonus: 225! Two times damage because of ice! 550! And my own power-up: 775! EAT THIS!"
The attack did make contact with Yamato Man but his spear just began to glow with a reddish tint: Gray Thunderbolt looked too infuriated to take notice and Yamato Man got into a fighting stance while getting the spear ready to thrust.
"Muramasa Spear!"
"Fuck! Holy Panel, Dream Aura!"
"Hrum. Desperate."
The Muramasa Spear did get to break the Dream Aura nevertheless and Gray Thunderbolt growled.
"Fuck! I could give Blues trouble first time around!"
"But you lowlife lowered the guard and he brought you down."
"Shaddup, Mu's lapdog! This is MY battle! You stay outta it!"
"Whatever."
"Sheesh! I'm fed up with this! I'll use cheat codes! Recovery 300, Triple Slot In! I regain 900 HP in the blink of an eye! And now… Destroy Upper! 280, but since it's of Breaker type… It'll inflict 560 to you!"
"I don't care. Thousand Spear!"
"Fuck. Destroy Upper!"
Gray Thunderbolt's attack connected and the blow stopped Yamato Man's attack: he snickered and drew a very large axe.
"Yeah! Now your HP points have lowered from 1800 to 1440… And this axe will inflict 640 points… No! 1280! EAT AXE!"
"Mugra~h!"
"Shit."
The brutally powered up axe made a wound on the chest armor and Gray Thunderbolt drew another weapon.
"Break Saber X! 1000 HP! THE END!"
"Mugruka~h! Damn you…!"
Gray Thunderbolt violently swung the weapon to form another two blows to the chest armor: he laughed and cancelled the "Boundary" before quickly warping away as if expecting Burai to strike at him: he growled and tended to Yamato Man.
"These wounds are deep. You'll need to go have them repaired."
"The dishonorable grunt…! If their Prince knew…!"
"Yeah. Somehow, it wouldn't surprise me if Kuroban scolds them. By the way, did you figure out the thief of Dark Mans' data?"
"No…! But Beta X infiltrated the lab and found… kurh… No evidence of any Navi development… Dark Man's idea… gruh… has been discarded."
"Don't force it. Tell me the coordinates and I'll accompany you: Legato can attest that I collaborate with you guys."
"Of course…! I apologize for… the burden… kuh…"
Both warped to the entrance of the base: Beta X saw them coming in and rushed there.
"Yamato Man! What happened?"
"Kruh! That damned runt…!"
"Gray Thunderbolt. The jerk was about to lose and cheated to ensure victory… The lowlife…"
"Dark Man! I need a hand: let's go to the repairs lab! Zero should come have a check too!"
"Roger!"
"I'm going to try to trail those guys. And I'm still concerned about the thief of the data… None of you have any hunches?"
"No. Slur – sama checked out around but found nothing. They could've already gone into the real world and keeping a low profile."
"Alright. I'll try to check out suspicious spots. See you around."
"OK."
Burai left and both Beta X and Dark Man helped Yamato Man lean on them as they headed inwards.
"The rascal…!" Beta X grumbled.
20:02 PM (Japan Time)…
"… The codes! How do I get the codes? Speak, you damned brat!"
"Huff. You're bothersome."
"You're supposed to be pleading!"
"After all I've gone through? I'm a tough guy."
"Speak!"
"It's useless. No member knows them. Only that Zero guy must but I'd like to see you trying to wrestle with him."
"Shit! I thought this would be easy!"
"Thought, thought… Done the homework, you have not?"
"What's with that speech?"
"Dunno. Ask your government, whoever they are."
"I'll shoot your legs!"
"Then you're going to the brig for a long time. No – one gets away with shooting a member of the Net Police. Well. An ex-member."
"What? You can't be serious!"
"That's why I told you that you didn't do the homework. Your English is accented. And I know that accent. Eastern Europe."
"The codes! I want the damned codes!"
"To sell them to other governments, huh…?"
"Shaddup!"
"You shouldn't have bothered to drag me here to fuck me, anyway."
"I'll cut off your punk hair!"
"Tell that to Punk."
"What?"
"Not like you'd get the local joke, stranger."
"Wha~t?"
"Go sell AKs-74Us to New Zealand."
"Where is the base?"
"Do the homework, you moron!"
"Shut up! I'll fuck your ass again!"
"No matter how many times you do it nothing will change."
Netto had been stripped of his clothes and he had his arms tied behind his back with two ropes set over his upper body: his legs had ropes on the ankles and the hips too and he had a black blindfold over him: he'd been made to sit on his knees on the ground and his face was touching the ground.
The place was some underground room which was barely lit: save for a flashlight dropped into the ground.
A man who could be about a meter and eighty tall was looming over Netto from behind and they wore a simple black sweater, jeans and boots plus a balaclava.
He was raping Netto while using a wrench to hit his back but Netto didn't seem to mind those.
"You shouldn't have gassed our house and taken me out. Golden Star has known from the instant the gas entered my body. And you can't disable the GPS. Even if this is underground they can know the route you made and even if you used a "DC" then they know how to access them and check their usage." Netto calmly told him.
"The fucking damned codes!"
"Huff. You don't understand English or what? I'm telling you no member knows them save for Zero."
"Where's that Zero!"
"Where else? In the super-computer, he's the admin."
"And where's the machine at!"
"Huff. You really DIDN'T do any homework."
"Shut up!"
"Fine~… It's on the middle of the bay. But it's like a fortress. Trying to get in alone is impossible. Zero's heavily defended. You'd need something like one "HEAT" missile to blow up the corridor doors."
"What! I thought you lowlifes were computer geeks!"
"Huff. DO THE HOMEWORK, MR. OLOF!"
"I'm not named Olof!"
"It's an irony."
"Chut! What's that humming sound? Behind this wall…!"
"Dunno. Guess your doom's descended."
"Shut up!"
A piece of the wall slid open and both Kuroban and a young guy stepped out of a hidden room.
The young guy coming with him didn't seem to be older than fifteen or sixteen years old and past a meter and seventy tall.
His hair had grown in an uncontrolled manner and it now extended to past the base of his neck: it had a natural reddish tone to it and his eyes' irises were blue in color: he looked calm at the moment.
He wore a brownish sweater, jeans, black sneakers and a brownish overcoat.
"You!" The foreigner hissed in Russian.
"… Algov Renof." The teen icily replied.
"An accomplice of that man…?" Kuroban guessed.
"Yes, Prince."
Kuroban easily lifted him by gripping his sweater's neck and violently threw him towards a corner: the young man gasped and rushed over to Netto to begin to undo the ropes.
"Are you alright?" He asked in English.
"You're… "Shunoros"…?"
"Yeah. And you are…?"
"… Hikari Netto. Rock Man's Operator." Kuroban recognized him.
"You're… Prince Kuroban?"
"Yeah… Ernst. Free him. I'll watch over the coward."
"Roger."
Ernst undid the rest of the ropes and took out the blindfold: Netto merely articulated his wrists and rubbed them without looking concerned or nervous at all: he spotted his clothes hastily thrown into a corner and began to change while Kuroban loomed over the man while having draw a custom sword with a golden handle and a pale green blade.
"Huff. This stupid guy gassed my house and dragged me here thinking I knew the codes. He didn't bother to do the homework."
"Homework…? You mean that he didn't bother to investigate."
"Yeah. This guy's a desperado."
"Hmpf. Totally. How the mighty have fallen. This guy had a fortune of millions but we exposed the guy's dirty plays and he was to be processed in Copenhagen out of tax evasion. Guess they ran away and, desperate for money, tried to do this after hearing some rumors and not bothering to check if they were true or not."
"… Hikari – kun! Are you there? Answer us!" Kage's voice rang out from close by.
"We're coming!" Andy's voice also rang out.
Both rushed in and gasped at the scene but Netto signaled them to stop so Kage put the safety into his gun.
"Alright. What happened? Your house was gassed, Hikari – kun, and your big bro was KO."
"That guy thought I knew the codes. A desperado. That's all. The Prince and that guy happened to come in: it'd seem they have a secret storage here, right, Prince?"
"Yeah. We'd come retrieve some spare parts for a Jeep and we heard noise so we came out. This is in Akihara Town, the basement of a house abandoned 7 years ago."
"Ah. The empty house… Nobody seemed to want to rent it: there was some ghost tale about it for some reason or another."
"Huff. At least you're OK."
"Wait. That man… He violated you?"
"Yeah. But I don't care. Not like he intimidated me to begin with…"
"… The Demon…! Come to try again…!" He began to mutter and a foreign accent became noticeable.
"Huh? Prince?" Ernst wondered.
"… Nothing. Call the police. Let's have a truce for today. I've had enough of a bad mood time dealing with Gray's idiotic behavior."
"Alright."
"I'll knock them out to save time."
Kage shot a round from his gun and the man got knocked out.
"Today's a truce. But this will continue… For a while…"
"We know. Let's go, Hikari – kun. The police will handle the rest."
"Good luck…"
"Same thing over there… This has been Round 1… Round 2 is starting…!"