Chapter 11: Wizard Tower
11:51 AM (Japan Time), Friday June the 30th…
"… Come on… Just another little bit…"
"S-sorry for the burden…"
"Don't mind that, Gino – kun!"
"I've been trying to make Tsukasa – kun wake up but I haven't had success yet… I've been trying to comfort him and try to encourage him but… The shock must've been worse than I'd thought…"
"Those lowlifes… At least we blew them up with their machine."
"Yeah. They deserved that."
"Now let's get outta here and back to the tournament!"
The group of six (Subaru, Akatsuki, Misora and Solo still in Denpa – Henkan) were making their way down a concrete corridor lighted and having symbols indicating "EMERGENCY EXIT" in the walls: Rock Man was helping Kiboyama walk and Acid Ace carried the still unconscious Tsukasa.
"Mwah, hah, hah! The explosion of the decade~!" War Rock laughed.
"Tabuu beat you to that. I stole his idea." Rock Man shot back.
"Wha~t?"
"And I could've used the Battle Cards he granted me, too. Maybe I'll save them for a special occasion." Rock Man muttered.
They crossed a threshold the door of which had been cut off its hinges and tossed into the ground and into a room which had a Warp Point colored white in the middle of it.
"The exit! Finally! Let's get outta this nightmare! Next stop: Wizard Tower!"
"HORRAY!"
The group stepped into the Warp Point and all became white…
11:55 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Huh… We did it…?"
When Subaru opened his eyes again, he discovered that he was sitting in soft red armchair placed inside of an inclined egg-shaped capsule with a Plexiglas cover complemented with was a curved slot to rest the head.
"Huh? What the heck?"
Two sensors which had been attached to his head disengaged before the cover lifted and Subaru jumped off: there were several more capsules aligned to his right and in front and a small PC terminal had been set nearby.
"Back in the real world, huh? Then my body wasn't my real body but a "simulation" as well…" He muttered aloud.
"Heh! It'd seem that when you lost consciousness back when they threw us down the holes some robots picked our bodies and placed us in these capsules to "upload" us into the Cyber World." War Rock explained with a broad grin.
"Oi, Subaru! Over here!" Akatsuki called out.
"Roger, sir!"
The group walked down a corridor and soon exited into the main hanger where the Wizard Ship was locked at: the magnetic locks had been removed and the main hatch opened indicating that the whole thing had surfaced.
"I've got some good news. Apparently… The explosion's brutal EMP blast disabled all settings on the fortress and it switched to its emergency power mode and emergency ascent mode thus unlocking all doors and everything." Acid reported.
"Excellent! Let's board the Wizard Ship. We'll then call a squad of Satella Police officers to see if we find anything salvageable. They could be a hint of anything else Kuroban might've thought of but not had time to properly implement…" Akatsuki suggested with a smile.
"Roger."
"Welcome back! With this all contestants are back." The referee sighed in relief.
"As I thought… The broken door was Shinobi's handiwork. But who cares, anyway? Take-off!" Akatsuki muttered before instructing the referee.
"Roger!"
"Let's take them to their rooms… Gino! Stay with Tsukasa and look after him. Oi! Is there an onboard medic?"
"Yes, sir! I'll call him, sir."
"Good. And remember to be wary of Contestant Number 1."
"Roger, sir."
Subaru stepped into his room and collapsed in the bed while looking totally worn out.
"Ironic! My "real" body did no exercise and all I did was a "simulation" yet the stress from it was transmitted back into my real body…"
"Mwah, hah, hah. Wanna ask Solo to refresh ya with a kick?"
"Course not… Shaddup or I ring Boss."
"Che. Okay, okay… No sense of humor, really…"
"Alright! Engines are already heated up, so… Take-off! Full speed to Wizard Tower!" The referee warned over the P. A. system.
"At last…! Farewell, cursed vessel!"
"Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah. Cursed vessel? That'll be Misora's newest single: The Adventure in the Cursed Vessel! Mwah, hah, hah!"
"By all the… Leave me alone… My head's agonizing…"
"Mwah, hah, hah. Get ready, punk! I'll make ya bald with one swipe!"
"No good… Ugh…"
12:02 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Huh… Ah… They fled… Damn it…"
"Who cares…? We still have… some tricks left…"
Kurayami and Kanaya, having managed to escape to the real world (still having their battle forms on) barely managed to walk into the hanger from another corridor: both were panting and leaning on the corner of the walls while being obviously annoyed.
"At least they forgot we can warp at will inside of the Cyber World… We managed to escape when the thing was about to blow… But we weren't expecting the brutal EMP shockwave… It almost deleted us…" Kurayami muttered between pants and hisses.
"Yeah… Luckily they forgot we're Wizards and we can materialize at will, so… And I heard what they said… Let's try to restore enough systems to submerge this before Vadous thinks of shooting us from orbit…" Kanaya hissed and suggested a course of action.
"Just you wait…! You lowlifes…! This… isn't over… yet…!" Kurayami managed to threaten.
"Move it…" Kanaya grumbled.
"Y-yeah… But don't take all of your… frustration… on me!"
"Not like I intend to…! We'll catch another nameless prey…! And use them…! For profits…! Like we've been doing for a while…!"
Both managed to run across the room and climbed up a run ladder until they reached a room with various closed round hatches on the ground and some pincers set on the ceiling that were open: they ran past it and reached what had the looks of a control bridge.
"Alright! Huff! All power to the ballast doors! Take water in! Close main hatch! Emergency immersion!" Kurayami commanded.
"Move it, machines!"
Both cursed under their breaths and looked angered…
12:39 PM (Japan Time)…
"… We've arrived, contestants!"
"Alright. So here's the plan. I'll come to cheer. Utagai – san will relieve Gino to look after Tsukasa. You guys go and participate."
"Roger, Akatsuki – san."
"Please climb down from the Wizard Ship and head for the main entrance, contestants!"
Akatsuki, Subaru, Misora, Solo and Shinobi (keeping some distance from them) climbed down from the Wizard Ship and stopped in the main road leading to the Wizard Tower's looming figure.
"Welcome to Wizard Tower, the 3rd Battleground! This is where we'll proceed to the semi-finals and finals." The referee announced.
"How are we gonna decide the order of the two semifinals?" Shinobi asked with a hint of amusement.
"We'll use the bingo machine like we did during the Round of 8. Come this way." The referee replied.
They walked inside of the tower's main room where another bingo machine had been set: four spheres could be seen inside of it numbered as per each of the remaining contestants.
"Let's begin." The referee announced.
The spheres began to dance inside of the machine and soon the first one came out.
"Contestant Number 4: Hibiki Misora VS…" The referee made the necessary pause.
The second sphere came out soon enough.
"… Contestant Number 1: Shinobi!" The referee completed.
Misora immediately directed a hostile glance at Shinobi, who shrugged his shoulders and looked like he didn't care about it.
"Thus, the 2nd semi-final will be Contestant Number 3: Hoshikawa Subaru VS Contestant Number 8: Solo!" The referee announced next.
"So. Our new battle is forthcoming, Hoshikawa." Solo smirked.
"So it'd seem." Subaru calmly replied.
"The semi-final will start right now! We'll climb to the topmost floor with this elevator."
The elevator climbed into a small hall where a set of stairs led into the open rooftop: a round battle stage had been erected there along with two short stairs to climb into it so both Misora and Shinobi assumed their posts while Subaru, Solo and Akatsuki stood in one side as the public.
"Battle Start!" The referee shouted.
"I go first! Air Spread 3! Mahi Plus! Mad Vulcan 3!" Misora announced her initial set of moves.
The Air Spread 3 inflicted multiple shots of damage to Assassin and paralyzed him, leaving him open for a volley of bullets from the Mad Vulcan 3.
"Heh, heh. Not bad, woman… I go next. Plasma Gun X! Ice Grenade! Elec Slash!" Shinobi announced.
Harp was able to the dodge the Plasma Gun X's shot, but the Ice Grenade trapped her in a block of ice and the Elec Slash inflicted double damage due to her status.
"Che! 400 Points of damage in the first round… I gotta be careful or he'll tear me to pieces." Misora muttered in a grim tone.
"What's wrong, woman? Scared?" Shinobi teased while laughing and sounding amused.
"Who's gonna be afraid of a Halloween rip-off? Black Ink! Synchro Hook 3!" Misora grumbled before announcing her next move.
"Huh? What the…!" Shinobi cursed upon realizing what she was aiming at with this combo.
The Black Ink reduced Assassin's visibility, and the Synchro Hook 3 provoked for Assassin to be 'synched' with Harp, so he lost the same amount of damage he'd inflicted earlier: Assassin recoiled and growled something under his breath.
"Che! Stun Knuckle! Radar Missile!" Shinobi announced.
Harp managed to dodge the Stun Knuckle, but the Radar Missile zeroed on her and managed to hit her.
"Plasma Gun 3! Drill Arm 3!" Misora announced another set of moves.
The Plasma Gun 3 paralyzed Assassin and the Drill Arm 3 inflicted continuous damage.
"Che! Recovery 300!" Shinobi grumbled.
"Recovery 200! Hammer Weapon 3! Giza Wheel 3!" Misora announced next.
The shockwave from the Hammer Weapon 3 stunned the enemy and the Giza Wheel 3 hit it.
"Che! Recovery 300! Super Barrier!" Shinobi announced.
"… I don't like this. Shinobi suddenly jumped to defense. He's stalling for something." Subaru muttered.
"Could it be something like Nick pulled on Utagai?" Akatsuki asked.
"Damn. True. I'm afraid so…!"
"… Mad Vulcan 3! Skull Arrow 3! Heavy Down 3! Recovery 200!" Misora kept on announcing combos.
The Mad Vulcan 3 broke through the Super Barrier, the Skull Arrow 3 paralyzed Assassin and the Heavy Down 3 crushed him.
"Recovery 100! Recovery 200!" Shinobi announced.
"Maybe he's hoping for Misora to run out of Recovery Chips."
"It could be, too."
"Skull Arrow X! Death Scythe X!" Shinobi turned to attacking again.
Harp dodged the Skull Arrow X but was unable to dodge the Death Scythe X which inflicted a good deal of damage.
"Bubble Hook 3! Stealth Laser 3! Recovery 100!" Misora announced.
The Bubble Hook 3 trapped him on a bubble and the Stealth Laser 3 inflicted double damage: Harp recovered energy as well.
"Shark Cutter X! Snow Ball X!" Shinobi announced.
Harp could dodge the Shark Cutter X but she was hit by one of the Snow Ball Xs.
"Powder Shot 3! Inazuma Head 3!"
The Powder Shot 3 had also a paralyze effect, and thus Assassin was hit by one of the thunderbolt which the Ina Dragon made rain down into the Field in a 3X3 formation.
"… Piranha Kiss X! Vulcan Seed X!"
Harp dodged the first attack but the Vulcan Seed X hit her fully: she began to pant.
"Recovery 300! Double Eater! Beast Swing!" Misora announced another combo.
Harp healed, reduced the terrain and a copy of War Rock swung with his claws, thus hitting the opponent.
"… Heel Wizard X! Noised Wizard X!" Shinobi announced.
Harp was able to dodge the Heel Wizard X's whip, but the Noised Wizard X's sword hit her.
"…Recovery 150! Holy Panel! Giga Mine!"
"By all the…!" Shinobi cursed.
Assassin could dodge the Rolling Nuts 3, but he stepped into the Giga Mine and the Shark Cutter hit him, too.
"Huh! Recovery 150! Recovery 150!"
"Mummy Hand 3! Flash Spear 3!"
"… Mwah, hah, hah… Time play's over. I'll let you see Assassin's terrific Special Ability!"
"I knew it!" Subaru hissed.
"This Special Ability is Poison Curse. It will reduce to half your HP and then reduce it a further 25 per every Battle Card you may use on the next turns… But if my Math doesn't fail me, you've only got three Battle Cards left." Shinobi sounded amused.
Misora gasped and checked her Folder: Shinobi was right and she'd been left with only 3 Battle Cards.
"I've still got 10 Battle Cards left on the other hand. But, as I announced, playtime's over… Your buddy's HP is at 200. Assassin will rest 100. And I can still use Battle Cards in the same turn. Thus, I pick Black Hole X. All enemies with 190 or less HP will be defeated." Shinobi announced his terrific combo.
Before Misora could react or think of something else, Harp's HP had hit the 1 HP mark and she collapsed into the metallic ground of the battle stage, defeated.
"Harp is below the limit of 10 HP! Thus, Contestant Number 1, Shinobi, wins the 1st semi – final and will be one of the Contestants in the final match!" The referee announced.
Misora stepped down from the platform with her right fist closed and an annoyed expression on her face: she walked towards Subaru and the others and sighed.
"… Subaru – kun! If you get to face him, then make sure to kick his guts for me, will you?" Misora told him with a look of pure annoyance.
"My pleasure." Subaru calmly replied.
"You'll have to step over me firstly, Hoshikawa." Solo snickered at him.
"I knew that." Subaru calmly replied.
"Thus! The 2nd semi – final will involve Contestant Number 3: Hoshikawa Subaru VS Contestant Number 8: Solo! Take a full hour's rest and then come back here. As usual… Any other contestants are welcome to come and watch." The referee instructed.
Subaru & co. departed the scene while Shinobi merely observed the landscape and chuckled under his breath…
"… I think I know what happened. He provoked you to use a lot of combos and waste a lot of Battle Cards. The defensive thing was to lure you into further attacking."
"Hmmm! What a jerk."
Akatsuki had analyzed the possible reasons for Misora's oddness of almost running out of Battle Cards and had come out with one possibility but Misora didn't stop looking annoyed while they walked down the main corridor of the Wizard Ship.
"… Sorry, Subaru - kun, but I don't feel like going to watch and having to see that guy there. I'm going to rest for a bit and watch over Tsukasa – kun..." Misora told him.
"I'll be there." Akatsuki announced.
"Thank you, sir. I'll phone Lartes – sama to check on everything in the meanwhile." Subaru smiled.
"Good idea."
"Solo is gonna make you make a show if he beats ya! Mwah, hah, hah!"
"Come on. Solo has his pride and he knows I have. He won't even think of something like that. He'll merely smug-smile at me and then beat the crap outta Shinobi. But not like I intend to lose in purpose!"
"Yessir! I'll tell that Frenchman wannabe to spit it out: Solo likes dressing like a girl! Mwah, hah, hah!"
Jeez. What a bothersome guy! I'm getting fed up, really!