Chapter 9: A courtesy visit
17:41 PM (Japan Time), Wednesday December the 14th…
"… Crap. Light is fading out already…! I better use the PET's flashlight to see the ground."
"Yeah. You better do."
Netto and Saito were searching the area around the spot where Obihiro had vanished: the clearing where the car had been parked at had been sealed off by police tape to keep its integrity.
"Here."
Netto turned on the flashlight and aimed it at the ground to check the terrain while Saito pushed branches and bushes asides to try to open a path up.
"A path…!"
They continued until they reached the lake's edge: it extended for about 700 meters and was about 400 wide: Netto aimed the flashlight at the ledge and spotted some ledges set like stair steps descending and curving to head under another cliff.
"This path looks like it can be walked." Netto commented.
"Yeah. But let's check if it's solid enough." Saito replied.
He tapped the ground and it didn't bulge nor move.
"It'd seem this is a natural formation… Good. Let's go, otouto." Saito muttered before addressing him.
"Roger."
They jumped from ledge to ledge until they reached a cave's entrance set into the cliff.
"I see! It's so deep inside that you can't see it by looking from above… This is why they didn't think of searching further." Netto realized as he looked upwards.
"I guess it was to be expected: you wouldn't think there'd be a cave in such a spot." Saito agreed on it.
They stepped in and found a machine set there: it had a pyramidal base and a tall vertical circle with rows of monitors and machines aligned at its sides.
"This is it! Let's check it out." Netto exclaimed.
"O. K.!"
They both ran next to it and Saito began to interact with a keyboard set under a monitor: a set of coordinates was displayed along with the location's address.
"Say… Why do you think the guy claimed he was at Poland?" Netto suddenly frowned.
"… Oh! I remember! There was that humor show named Polònia which means Poland!" Saito recalled.
"So he went by that joke… Anyway… Let's start this thing up." Netto muttered before switching topics.
He took out the baseball bat from a sports bag and held it while Saito pressed the "RETURN" key: the machine hummed and a purple-colored vortex formed inside of its frame.
"Okay! Next stop: Three Hills!" Both announced.
Saito jumped in and Netto waited a second before following him: the world became a purple tunnel surrounded by blackness
"Wow."
He felt a force gripping all of the atoms on his body and shooting him forward.
"Whoa!"
He automatically stepped out of an identical machine placed behind him as it powered down.
"Hum."
The machine was set inside of a small wooden-made room somewhere: Saito was already standing next to the only door and having the Rock Buster drawn.
Operation: Intrusion starts now. Saito mentally warned.
Roger. Maintain silence. Netto acknowledged.
Saito slowly turned the doorknob and the door silently opened into a lighted corridor made of wood.
Go!
Both stepped out and Saito took point while aiming the Rock Buster as Netto held the baseball bat.
Clear!
The corridor had three doors at the right and some closed balcony doors to the left with the blinder doors closed: some light filtered through them as well.
It's close to 10 AM in here… There's an 8 hour difference with Japan. And it's a bit colder, too. Saito reported.
Hum. Let's check these rooms. Netto suggested.
The rooms were a bedroom with a closed and locked wheeled suitcase on top of the bed, a bathroom and a storeroom: they spotted a door leading to another section of the house.
That's gotta be the living room and kitchen. He must be there. Saito warned.
I'm ready. Take point and handle Hunter Man. I'll butt in after you secure the area. Netto replied.
Both kept some distance from each other as they neared the door: Saito began to charge the Rock Buster to have it ready before he looked at Netto: he nodded in agreement.
Go!
Saito kicked the door open and aimed his Rock Buster: they were inside of the living room.
The living room had more balcony doors, the sofa, the desk with the laptop, a TV displaying a soccer match and a burning fireplace.
There was a table with some chairs which acted as dining room and an adjacent window with a large window and shelf which looked reminiscent of those in restaurants.
Two steps led to a small upper level which had another bathroom in front of the kitchen's door and the main door, which was locked.
Weird… There's no – one! I'll risk stepping in. Please stay back until I secure it, otouto!
Roger!
Saito stepped in and quickly aimed the Rock Buster around as he seemingly scanned the room.
No – one… They aren't home.
Crap.
Netto walked into the living room while lowering the bat and both looked at the TV for a second before looking at the laptop: a Link PET was still connected to its USB port and it was working: the laptop was humming to indicate it was running some process.
What? Both wondered.
KA – CLICK
Netto gasped as he felt the muzzle of a gun being pressed against his stomach from below while Saito felt the barrel of a shotgun pressed against his back.
Shit.
Damn.
Netto looked down to spot Obihiro crouching on the ground and aiming the ground while Saito spotted Hunter Man stand behind him: the door had closed as well.
Damn! Behind the door! They were there! We were fooled by the oldest trick in the book! Saito cursed.
Fight back!
Netto quickly swung his bat towards Obihiro and kicked the gun out of his hand while Saito quickly aimed the Rock Buster behind him and shot at Hunter Mans' chest emblem from behind: it made contact and Hunter Man's body frizzled before he was forced to dematerialize.
"Hmpf. We predicted this." Netto told Obihiro.
"You're under arrest." Saito added.
They suddenly heard someone breathing close by and the atmosphere seemed to turn colder than usual.
HUH?
Ice began to form on the ground and quickly climbed up to immobilize Saito's legs: he bent and tried to break it, but a pale blue hand came out of nowhere and closed around Saito's neck while forcing his head to look at the ceiling.
"Niisan!" Netto gasped.
His right hand was suddenly encompassed into ice and he let go of the bat in instinct: Obihiro picked it and jumped over the chair to deliver a hit to the back of Netto's skull: he blacked out and collapsed into the ground all of a sudden.
"Groah!"
"Otouto…!" Saito gasped.
He felt the icy hand closing around his chest emblem and his body suddenly began to go numb before his eyes slowly lost the trace of consciousness on them and he lost consciousness...
10:22 AM (Barcelona Time)…
"… GOL! GOL! GOL! GO~L DEL BARÇA! 3 A 0! UN INCREÏBLE GOL DE INIESTA! GO~L!"
Netto mumbled something and began to regain consciousness while his skull ached after hearing a chorus of voices and the sounds of a soccer match.
The Barcelona Football Club…?
He tried to move but realized that his upper body, shoulders elbows and wrists were tied with thick ropes: his knees and ankles were also immobilized and he was sitting: he could feel his clothes on.
Agh… What the hell happened…?
His sight began to clarify and he realized that he was looking at the living room's ceiling.
Huh… Obihiro's hideout?
He slowly lowered his gaze and looked at his right to see Saito being immobilized by what looked like the wire for a Yo-yo Battle Chip and still unconscious.
Damn… What went wrong? I'd kicked the gun out of Obihiro and niisan was able to disable Hunter Man's materialization…!
Saito began to mumble and he slowly woke up as well while looking confused: he suddenly gasped and looked at his helmet's forehead with a surprised look.
What? E~H?
Netto looked there and gasped: the shi ("death") Kanji had been engraved in one of the yellow squares and it was colored pale blue.
"That is my mark, Hikari Brothers." An icy voice announced.
"Huh! Who…?" Netto gasped.
"Who goes there?" Saito demanded.
They gasped and spotted the faint trace of a figure standing in front of them which seemed to emit a pale blue glow: the "invisibility" effect began to fade and it was revealed.
"Yikes!"
The newcomer seemed to be over a meter and eighty tall and he had a pale blue color to his body.
His helmet had no face and had a turquoise - colored slit shaped like the Alphabet letter "Y" was set on its center while it also had a dome-shaped form above its body.
His shoulders were shaped like two round spheres with a cell-like pattern drawn into them: the armor was thicker around the chest and seemed to have two ellipsoid lines which vaguely resembled eyes set on it while a small round spot with six membrane-like formations on drew a shape similar to a mouth.
The waist had a navy blue colored piece shaped like the Alphabet letter "V" built on it and the legs had two round turquoise spots on each side plus above and below the knee which also resembled eyes: his feet were slightly curved in shape.
The left arm had some lines running down the sides before ending in a very thin and skeleton-like hand with a living round turquoise eye with a black pupil set on top of its palm while, in comparison, the right arm bore what looked like a built-in buster colored both turquoise and navy blue.
Overall, his mere presence seemed to chill the room and foresee something dreadful and terrible.
"My name is Death Shadow." He announced.
"Death… Shadow…?" Both slowly asked.
"Before you two ask… I am a "Darkloid". But you two never got to battle me or see me before." He let out next.
"S-so…? W-where did you…?" Netto asked as his teeth danced and he looked like he was trembling in cold.
"It would seem the atmosphere is not adequate… Let us switch it." He announced.
He snapped his left hand's fingers and the air seemed to heat up slightly to become comfortable: both sighed in relief.
"Where did I come from? Ah. That is a long and intriguing tale. But since there is plenty of time, I shall narrate it. I should be named an extraterrestrial "Darkloid" to begin with." He announced.
"Extraterrestrial…! Like Duo and Slur?" Saito gulped.
"Yet… Those two were purposely created. My own existence was the result of some coincidences and events. I was not a data being to start with… I was a living being." Death Shadow pointed out.
"T-then…? How did you…?" Netto asked.
"I was "born" in a far away planet… My duty was to ride in a huge shell across space and find a planet to irrigate with my own substance… A mutagen which, for convenience, I shall name "Factor"… I impacted against a planet and soon found one slight problem: there was no strong enough native predator or machine which I could use as a guardian." He began explaining.
"W-whoa!" Both gasped.
"So, left with no other solution, I spent time mutating and altering my own genetic code and shape until I became an autonomous being generating the "Factor" by my own existence. I shaped an exoskeleton as defense to my core form and roamed the planet… The small human colony there died because they were unable to adapt to the radiations and the mutations brought upon by my arrival. However… Some new humans arrived. They built a gigantic base for the sole purpose of mining and processing the "Factor". But I proved too much for their security drones, so… They fled to seemingly come at another time with better weapons but they did lockdown with heavy bulk gates all passageways in an out of the impact cavern where I dwelled at." He narrated.
"Incredible…!" Both exclaimed.
"Another few years spanned… And two beings showed up. For the sake of simplicity… I will label as them as autonomous Net Navis. They fought me out of defense when they found me: I had by then managed to escape the sealed down caverns and reached the surface… They managed to breach my exoskeleton. But their weapons could not damage my core form."
"And you deleted them?" Saito tried to guess.
"No. At that time, I believed they could lead to some use, so… I began to tag along them and we mutually did not attack each other. But a new expedition led by a man named Vadous arrived. That is when things took an important turn." He let out.
"V-Vadous, you say! Didn't Twilight…?" Netto gasped.
"True. "Vadous Chaos" was based upon him. But Vadous was a mortal of flesh, blood and bone. His techniques were materialized data. One of the components of the expedition was an android. He and his companions battled us." Death Shadow continued.
"What happened?"
"The android had analyzed my composition and found the only weapon which could damage me: my own "Factor" could overload my composition. He did so and I was forced to take on a very simple core form with little to no defense… In an act of last struggle, I plunged my… I suppose you could name "tentacles"… into their body. The result was above what any of us two expected: I ripped off their whole outer armor, nanomachines, segments of its power core, segments of its electronic brain and some internal circuitry. I began to assimilate with them and feigned my destruction by shattering the ground and plunging into a deep cave."
"And you then… evolved?" Netto tried to guess.
"Correct. It took me some hours, but thanks to the nanomachines, they could quickly rebuild the missing parts from what I had. My assimilation with the electronic brain opened a new world to me: the world of autonomous thought and the human world. The only price I had to pay for such evolution was that I could no longer generate "Factor"…"
"But… Why didn't we ever find this "Vadous" person?" Saito frowned.
"Hah. That is because all of this happened in a parallel Universe with different events and existences." Death Shadow told them.
"What!" Both exclaimed.
"Is that it so hard to conceive? Did not you two visit "Beyondard" to end the "Cybeast War"?" Death Shadow sounded amused.
"T-true, but… We weren't expecting such a thing to be true…" Netto admitted.
"I then met with those two Navis and we established cooperation: I would gain experience and they would gain power. Both ended up winning. We then used a space time machine to flee to Earth. We began to stir up chaos: we built a satellite and began to plan on filling Earth with "Factor" and turning it into another planet…"
"What!"
"But… I had the idea of challenging you two given your potential. You came at me after defeating my companions and I gave you war with a machine I had invented. You used your trump card to fight me: the "Vadous Soul"..." Death told them.
"W-what! We… could use such a power?" Netto gasped.
"It must've been incredibly powerful…!" Saito gasped.
"So it was: its "Chaos Beam" tore through my war machine and annihilated me. But… Its grand power tore a hole in Time Space for a second and I was sucked into it as my data began to break apart. I ended up somewhere while being already dead. But… Obihiro was able to slowly repair me and my memory files. Thus, I am grateful to him and I am cooperating with them." He finished.
"Then… You were the one who froze my legs!" Saito grasped.
"And that's why they didn't react: they were counting on you!" Netto grasped next.
"Hmpf. You are starting to realize, it would seem. And no matter what you two do… STS cannot be halted." Death Shadow shrugged.
"STS? The Space Shuttle…?" Saito frowned.
"No way you're gonna go with Tesla's Yggdrasil Plan…" Netto muttered.
"What? Ah. No. That was foolish. Orbital satellites cannot survive re-entry and even less crash against the face of the Earth. Some remains might rain down, but… Both Pharaoh Man and Tesla Magnets were idiotic." He sounded bored.
"Yo. It'd seem the "guests" have come." A voice rang out from inside of the laptop.
"Sidier. Do come out and greet them."
"Sidier…?" Both wondered.
Wait. The guy just mentioned "Vadous"… And "Sidier" is…
Another cruel Star Wars joke…! Netto grasped.
Sidier materialized next to Death Shadow while looking amused.
"Sergei!" Both exclaimed.
"Wrong. I'm based off him. My name is Sidier. My Lord commands the road I trek upon." He calmly corrected.
"… Lord…? Saruba?" Netto gasped.
"I was told you had some degree of "familiarity" with Yamikawa – sama indeed." Sidier grinned.
Based off Sergei…? No! That's the "Cross Fusion" form! Saito realized.
True! They just erased the Kanji it had on it and added new ones!
I'm convinced he ain't "based off": he's the same body but with a different persona! Saito told him.
They didn't get to "underground", then! Saruba transformed them! Netto deduced.
Yeah! He must've wanted Obihiro to take over and use him! What a double-faced creep! Saito grumbled.
"So! Death. You finished your nice tale?" Obihiro asked as he walked in while carrying the wheeled suitcase.
"Correct." He merely replied.
"Heh. Two "Net Saviors" and they were caught so easily…" Sidier looked rather amused.
"If it hadn't been for that Vader wannabe, Obihiro and that Hunter Man would be the ones who'd gotten caught instead!" Netto growled.
"Vader…? Darth Vader…? Ah. My breath SFX is copied from him, I will admit such." Death Shadow made a hollow-like chuckle.
"And what's with this Kanji on my forehead?" Saito demanded.
"My mark… Those labeled with it die in less the days a human hand possesses… Such is your fate, Hikari Saito." Death announced.
Saito gasped and looked afraid as he tried to struggle to break the wire immobilizing him.
"Hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah… That is the kind of face I rejoice on seeing… The face of fear, terror and desperation… That rush of adrenaline which erases all rational thought and makes your own self trek the road to eternal sleep…" Death Shadow laughed.
He jumped over the desk and loomed over them: Netto also looked afraid and tried to break the ropes.
"D-don't come any closer!"
He suddenly felt those icy fingers pressing against his bandana's cloth and the same Kanji was slowly drawn into it until it glowed.
"It would be unfair for those who came to exist at the same day not to do die together." He announced.
"Y-you jerk!"
"Now, now… Death. Remember Emperor S – sama's request: he wants those two alive to make up a nice exciting show." Hunter Man called out.
"I knew that. I was just displaying how serious I can be when I desire to be in such an attitude." He shrugged.
He returned to his earlier spot while the other two seemed to snap out of it and tried to look unimpressed.
"What's that "STS" which you talked about earlier on?" Netto demanded while looking serious.
"STS: a weapon." Death quickly replied.
"A weapon…! What weapon…?" Saito demanded.
"Hmpf. I am still researching onto how to construct it. But you two will get to experience it as well as the rest of those foolish mortals out there soon enough." Death shrugged.
"Obihiro! What are you planning?" Netto demanded.
"Hmpf! What I do is wished by Emperor S – sama. He wants you two alive, so… I'm just getting ready to leave elsewhere. And something tells me Ijuuin will soon catch up." Obihiro put up a smug smile.
He giggled under his breath as he headed back towards the bedroom and the twins grumbled under their breaths.
"I need to find some reference files. Sidier. You are in charge." Death announced.
"My pleasure…" Sidier grinned.
Death chuckled as he dematerialized and disappeared from the room: the atmosphere seemed to ease up: Sidier picked a chair and sat down while leaning his right elbow over his right hip and his right cheek on his right fist.
"By the way… Did you know? Twilight didn't really "die" back in May."
"What!" Both gasped.
"Did you pay good attention to Death's tale? He traveled here via a Time Space hole which opened because of the Chaos Beam… And since Twilight used it, too… He actually intended for the explosion to happen and he was able to be "sucked" by the hole to "exit" this Universe." Sidier smugly told them.
"Damn." Both cursed.
"And Kuroshiro lied, too. He wasn't revived in April. No. Twilight revived him on some other planet which that android who was Death's basis visited: Umbra was there, too. Both got bested but we believe it to have been another "Double". Twilight must've visited a second Universe, maybe his origin place, and that must be when he came up with the cyborg body thing. Kuroshiro did betray him and ran back here somehow."
"Shit. And he fooled us from the start to the end." Netto growled.
"Yeah. What a creep!" Saito growled next.
"Heh, heh, heh… Yeah… But I'd rather Colonel Olrik is a cool bad guy: he always has the surprise element of everyone thinking he's dead."
"You're into Blake & Mortimer, too, then."
"No wonder: Solo must've told him."
"Yeah. Solo is an excellent gentleman. Although… I would prefer not to be on the receiving end of Somari – chan's bad moods."
"… Comencem la segona meitat del Barça Sevilla! Messi ha marcat dos dels gols mentre que Iniesta ha marcat el tercer! Aquest partit promet ser pa sucat amb oli per al Barça!" A commentator's voice announced.
"What did they say?" Netto asked Saito in a whisper.
"Huh… "We're starting the second half of the Barça VS Seville match! Messi scored two goals while Iniesta scored the third! This match looks like it'll be a piece of a cake for the Barça!" … I'd heard that they're a pretty good soccer club." Saito translated.
Let's hope Enzan comes help us or we won't survive this!