Chapter 10: Express bail out
18:51 PM (Japan Time), Wednesday December the 14th…
"… It's gotta be around here… Here! This must be the place."
"Yes, Enzan – sama. Probabilities are high."
Enzan had made his way to the lake and was examining the ledges which led towards the cave.
"Damn. I go to Netto's home to discuss the riddle we found while having a new look at the Silver Arrow HQ mainframe and I find the answers listed in a Word file along with the suggestion that there's a machine of those hidden around here. And Netto went there with Saito. I'm sure he knew it was a trap: but he's obsessed on getting to the bottom of this!" Enzan muttered with some annoyance on his voice.
"But even if Hunter Man was there, Saito should be more than enough to handle him given how his materialization program was so weak." Blues brought up.
"I know. But I'm sure Obihiro didn't forget that. And he must've called in accomplices. Standing idle won't do us any good: we gotta hurry!" Enzan exclaimed.
"Roger, Enzan – sama."
Enzan jumped down the ledges and entered the hidden cave: he ran over to the machine and began to type into the keyboard.
"This was used 55 minutes ago… And no – one has come back through it yet! I knew it: they've fallen into a trap are being held hostage! I'm gonna go and free them no matter what!" Enzan cursed aloud.
"Given how Enzan – sama managed to borrow an experimental "Copy Roid" based off Iris' design, I could materialize and assist."
"Yeah. Come out and be ready for battle. Things are gonna get hot and hectic." Enzan commanded.
"Roger, sir."
10:53 AM (Barcelona Time)…
"… Pom, pom, porom… Huh? A call…"
Obihiro was standing next to the house's entry and exit door when a cell phone began to ring: he took it out and looked at the display.
"Oh. Luigiano. Let's see… Luigiano? Cosa pasare?" He muttered before picking up the call.
"He asked "what's up?" to the caller…" Saito whispered to Netto.
"Let's take note." Netto suggested.
"… Cinco minuti? Perfetto. Ciao." Obihiro grinned.
"… "Five minutes? Perfect. Bye"…" Saito translated.
"He's gonna arrive in five minutes and I guess he has a car." Netto muttered back.
They heard the sound of Navi logging into the laptop's Cyber World and a close up of Death Shadow appeared onscreen.
"Obihiro. I have the reference data. We can start planning from these." He announced.
"Perfect! Lemme have a look at 'em."
"Sure."
Obihiro walked over to the laptop and unplugged the charger to then store it on its case: he typed into the screen and read something before looking surprised.
"Whoa! Is the date on this file correct?" He suddenly asked.
"It is." Death merely replied.
"Whoa. Research on this was begun as far as the 70s…! Even before "Spectrum" even…! And I thought that decade was very dull!" He exclaimed next.
"Military always have technology superior to their age." Death shrugged.
Military…? Some research which began in the 70s…? Netto frowned upon hearing it.
Dunno… It seems that that is gonna be the base for this "STS" weapon whatever it is… Saito frowned.
They heard the noise of a van parking close by and someone stepping down from it.
"Eh! Quien sere questo giovento?" A man's voice asked while being obviously surprised.
("Who's this young lad?")
"Agente dil Padrino." Sidier replied.
("Godfather's Agent.")
"Ah. Il Padrino…! Entendo, entendo… Capo sere negli la casa?"
("Ah. The Gofather…! Gotcha, gotcha… Boss is in the house?")
"Coretto. Di dentro."
("Correct. Inside.")
"Grazie."
("Thanks.")
The door opened and a man stepped in: he looked on his early thirties and had some blondish hair.
He wore a simple navy blue tie with a black suit and brown shoes: he sported sunglasses and a hat as well.
"Capo. Io avere arrivato." He announced.
("Boss. I've arrived.")
"Bene, bene! Caricare dela bagaglio negli il veicolo." Obihiro replied with a smile.
("Good, good! Load the luggage in the car.")
The man complied and paid no attention to the twins: he merely picked the wheeled suitcase and the laptop case with the laptop inside.
"Heh, heh… Anyway…"
He headed outside while Obihiro took out a piece of paper and a pencil: he began to mark some items written on it.
"Luggage. Check. Computer. Check. Food will be there and I already made sure nothing is left here to rot… Good. I've got everything." He muttered.
"Yeah. But we're gonna take it all, ya see." An amused voice rang out.
"This is as far as you two come to." A second voice rang out.
The door was slammed open and both Enzan and Blues appeared on the threshold.
"Enzan!" Netto exclaimed in relief.
"Buruusu!" Saito exclaimed.
"Crap. Ijuuin!" Obihiro cursed.
"Blues…! You lowlife…!" Hunter Man hissed while inside of the Link PET.
"That's my motto." Blues shot back.
"Give it up." Enzan told them.
"Who's gonna give it up, Ijuuin?" Sidier suddenly announced.
He drew a sword and aimed it at them: it was colored back and had a slightly curved shape along with a small purple-like sphere on the spot where the handle and blade fused.
"What the…! Sergei!" Both cursed.
"Wrong. My name is Sidier. I'm based off them. But I work for Emperor S – sama." He announced.
"I knew it! Yamikawa has been hiding your location from the very start, then…! The double-faced guy…! I'd like so much to go and fill his smug face with scars!" Enzan growled.
"Hmpf." Sidier put up a smug smile.
"So you lowlife are the reason their attempt to catch Obihiro failed." Blues guessed.
"Wrong. That was my hand." A voice rang out.
The atmosphere suddenly chilled and both Enzan and Blues felt a shiver go down their spines: Blues' Long Sword began to slowly freeze before it shattered.
"What!" He gasped.
"Ijuuin Enzan. Blues EXE. You two will be granted my mark as well." The voice announced.
"Who the…?" Enzan demanded.
Death Shadow's left hand showed up of apparently nowhere and was pressed against Enzan's torso: he gasped and seemed to freeze on the spot as the "shi" Kanji formed on his jumper's chest area.
"What in the…?" Blues cursed.
The hand suddenly gripped his helmet's forehead and the Kanji was also drawn into it: Death Shadow then turned off the optical camouflage.
"W-who the…?" Enzan demanded.
"… Hah. My name is Death Shadow: the reincarnated Grim Reaper. Hah, hah, hah…" He icily announced.
"T-this guy…!" Enzan muttered.
"The power levels…! I can't measure them!" Blues cursed.
"Like those two over there… I shall come to take you lowlifes' meaningless lives in less than 5 days starting today." He announced.
"Less than 5 days…!" Enzan gasped.
"You lowlife…!" Blues hissed.
"Hang it!" Enzan grumbled.
"But, today… I am merely introducing my role in this "show", as they vulgarly name it... The name "drama" sounds more fitting to my intellect instead... Experience the cold which comes before eternal sleep…"
He suddenly charged up his arm cannon and placed the barrel on the ground: a mass of ice quickly formed and spread across the whole ground before it formed some tall and wide columns which made moving around harder: the ice formed on both Enzan and Blues' feet and it encompassed their hands as well.
"Farewell." Death icily announced.
He ran off along with Sidier and Obihiro and slammed the door closed.
"You cowards!" Netto cursed.
"Fight us!" Saito challenged.
The door merely froze and they heard the sound the wagon turning on and escaping the area.
"Shit." Netto growled.
"Buruusu! That ice is temporary! It can be easily broken!" Saito called out to him.
Blues tried hitting the closest solid object he could find and broke the ice on his hands before shattering the one on his legs: he lost balance due to the poor friction: he sat on the ground and rubbed his lower back.
"Ouch!"
"Yikes!"
Enzan had managed to break the ice as well and he also fell into the ground while rubbing his lower back: the ice suddenly dematerialized and both were able to stand up and walk over to the twins.
"Gomen, Enzan! We fell for it." Netto apologized.
"Don't mind it… Even a whole team would've been unable to handle such a guy… What the hell was he, anyway?" Enzan muttered.
"Well… That's somewhat of a long story. I'll tell you on the way back home… Can you cut these?" Netto asked.
"Sure."
Enzan took out a scout knife and quickly cut the ropes while Blues used a Sword Battle Chip to cut the cable: both stood up and stretched their feet and wrists for some seconds.
"Guess we need to call a full investigation team to search this place… But I doubt them having left any hints behind." Netto muttered while he looked around the room.
"Yeah… I get the same feeling."
"I really don't want to find that guy twice… His mere presence seems to invite death!" Blues muttered.
"And I'm sure he wasn't kidding when he "granted" this mark into all of us four… He'll be coming for us." Enzan grimly muttered.
"No. Let's get the hell outta there. It's almost 7:00 PM in Japan and Mama must be about to get worried." Saito told them.
"Yeah. Let's go, Enzan."
"O. K. You two go home: I'll go report to the Net Police and bring an investigation team to work here." Enzan nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. The problem will be locating those creeps again." Blues sighed in defeat.
"… Heh, heh."
The black van reached the end of a hill and turned left to pick a road overseeing a city and the sea: only Obihiro and the man named Luigiano were onboard.
"So? Where are we going to?" Death asked.
"We'll need a custom-built facility to work on STS." Obihiro replied.
"Ah. True." Death realized.
"Heh, heh, heh. They must be feeling terrified by now." Sidier made a smug smile.
"Obviously." Hunter Man also grinned.
"Let the "Net Saviors" be filled with fear and terror, guys. We're gonna prove we triumvirate are no joke. Heh, heh, heh." Obihiro chuckled aloud while looking amused.
"HORRAY!" They all exclaimed.
"… Where were you two at? It's past 7:15 PM!"
"Net Savior stuff popped out, Mama!"
"We're sorry!"
Haruka was scolding Netto and Saito for coming back so late and they both apologized.
"Ah! If it was a "Net Savior" mission, then it can be excused… Just have a quick shower and get ready for tomorrow, Netto." Haruka told him.
"I'll have to go brief the Net Police with Buruusu tomorrow, so… I guess Freeze Man will take care of security." Saito told Netto.
"Sure." Netto shrugged.
They climbed into the upper floor bedroom and Netto headed into the bathroom while shutting the door behind him
"Phew."
Saito sat down on the chair and sighed in relief: he then spotted the Kanji on his helmet's forehead and looked annoyed.
"Jeez."
He pressed his fingers against it and it vanished but it formed again a second later.
"Damn. It's a repetitive program. That Death guy sure doesn't want people erasing his "mark"... Hmmm… Aha!"
He inputted some code and his helmet faded away to reform: the Kanji didn't show up again.
"Good. Now I can sleep in a normal manner." He muttered.
He picked Netto's bandana and wiped the drawing off: it didn't reappear either.
"Phew. Who'd want to sleep when you're marked with such a symbol, anyway?" He muttered with a hint of annoyance as he rolled his eyes.
"… What? Are you sure, Freeze Man?"
"The information is scarce. But it seems this will be something extremely complicated to solve, Shuryou."
Gospel gasped once Freeze Man came into the Cyber World.
"So! The "Cross Fusion" Ivan has been transformed by Yamikawa into a new agent of the Dark Realm who names himself "Sidier". And there's a powerful "Darkloid" named Death Shadow with them who claimed that they were building a weapon code-named STS?" Gospel sounded nervous.
"Correct. It has the looks of a triumvirate, even." Freeze Man added.
"A triumvirate…! What info do we have on this Death Shadow guy? What is he capable of?" Gospel gasped before questioning.
"He seems to have a habit of "granting" Kanji to people… He also announced that he would try to kill those marked in less than 5 days from today. He seems to be fond of dramatic speeches and has the ability to freeze the room in the blink of an eye… His power may be above mine when it comes to that, even." Freeze Man detailed.
"Crap. And I'm sure Sidier has that "Armored Form" on him as well… This could get ugly!" Gospel cursed.
"… Yes, sir. It really could. I should make sure to escort them just in case when they head to the institute." Freeze Man confirmed.
"… Yeah. Do as usual… And I'll try to ask Ijuuin for info regarding what happened on that house…!"
19:38 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Phew. I managed to wash off that thing somehow."
"Damn it. What was that guy?"
"Cool it, Blues."
"Yes, sir. I apologize, Enzan – sama."
Enzan had managed to wash off the Kanji and Blues had removed it as well: he growled as he projected with the hologram.
"That guy gotta be the scariest thing I've ever felt."
"Damn Yamikawa. We should've been mistrustful of the jerk."
"Sure. I knew he was up to something but to this extent… What can you expect of a guy who's lived 15 years in such a dreadful place, had to fight for 5 years to gain his freedom, and then had to kill his deranged father in self-defense? His head must be a mess." Enzan grumbled as he washed his face with some water from the sink's faucet.
"No wonder, sir. And that guy's companions are too strong: heck, Solo was able to beat the hell out of me, sir. I apologize for my language, sir, but I feel extremely annoyed, sir."
"Don't mind it. Lash out all you want: that proves you have freedom of thought and you're not a repetitive program."
"Roger, sir."
"Yo~! Little brother! Let's crash!" Raoul's image suddenly showed up.
"Damn. Since he's in the "Net Police related" archive of phone numbers his call is patched in and treated as an emergency call."
"Oh yeah! Let's struggle~! The Unending Struggle~! Only in theaters! Oh yeah! Hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah!"
"Cut that thing off, Blues… What a day!"
Who the hell was that "Death Shadow" guy? Damn you, Yamikawa!