Chapter 11: Titans' Appearance

09:44 AM (Japan Time), Sunday June the 22nd…

"… Mwah, hah, hah. Bloody~ Shadowy~! The ground's shaking: is Sakaki's "Nidoking" starting an uproar?"

"Jeez. No! It's something else altogether!"

"Mr. Smith?"

"Who the hell is that?"

"Dunno!"

Sigma and Blood Shadow were standing atop a tower and watching out the battle between the "Juuka" Viruses and the Greiga Army "soldiers" when the ground began to rumble and shake all of a sudden: Sigma began to joke but Blood Shadow didn't find it funny.

"It'd seem Mr. Universe decided to come out…" A voice told them.

"Oh yeah? And who's that?"

They turned around to see Shadow Man and Thunder Man there: Shadow Man sounded amused while Thunder Man apparently didn't get the point of his comment.

"Gra~wl!"

"By all the… That roar! I still remember it even if it's been 3 years!" Sigma gasped.

"Damn it. It came out! Cybeast… Greiga!"

"That's "Greiga"?" Raoul gasped.

A large "Cybeast" could be seen rushing down the desert plain while howling aloud.

They had the shape of a greenish lion having white patterns drawn over its body, four strong armored legs, gray claws, a grayish lower body, and seven orange-like spikes forming a crown-like formation.

Its eyes were colored red and didn't have irises or pupils to them, either, while an object which looked like a six – point star colored orange protruded out of the forehead: fierce teeth were being displayed as they were arranged inside of its jaw.

Lastly, a tail with a triangle and spikes set on its end emerged from the rear of its body.

"It's surely heading for the "Falzer" base…"

"Speaking of the guys, I deleted "Zoan" Napalm Man…" Shadow Man let out.

"And I beat "Zoan" Snake Man too…"

"I found "Zoan" Metal Man myself." Blood Shadow admitted.

"And I found "Zoan" Sword Man…" Sigma grinned.

"Maybe they've run out of "Zoanoroids"?" Dark Miyabi suggested.

"It's not crazy." Vadous admitted.

"... Kryu~h!"

"Grah! Let go of me, damned you~!"

"That's Falzer!"

A new "Cybeast" came in while flying across the sky.

They were a large vermillion falcon-shaped beast: it had gray talons with four claws each, large vermillion wings the lower edges of which were colored metallic gray and a tail: the beast was hovering on the air a small distance above the ground.

The main body had grayish/blackish armor over it although the sides of it were colored in a golden-like color: a green jewel-like reminiscent of the army emblem was located on the chest area.

The head had two cone-shaped extensions coming out of the sides plus a gray shape protruding from the back of the head and aiming northwards: its eyes were white and didn't have irises or pupils to them.

They were carrying "Zoan" Colonel on their talons and he was struggling to break free.

"Guess that guy tried to tackle "Falzer" alone and got captured. Maybe "Falzer" wants them to get deleted in the fight to fight each other to full power… Maybe it's a good thing that this became a desert: we don't need to worry about collateral damage." Vadous muttered.

"… Not bad." A voice came in.

"Oh heck. Twilight. You're gonna play all of the Act 3 dialogues now?"

"Not like I'm spoiling you guys! I know you, kyoudai, have reached the final battle but you've paused it to see this!"

Yoru Yami formed a hologram which floated into the air while riding a Dash Condor Virus and sneered.

"What, you hacked my PS3?" Vadous sighed.

"Ain't it obvious, Holmes?"

"Jeez."

"Ugra~h! Greiga – sama~!"

"Zoan" Colonel got dropped into the ground and the Viruses quickly overwhelmed him with multiple attacks thus deleting him: the data flew into "Greiga" as it spat torrents of orange flames and "Falzer" formed sonic pulses: all small enemies in the midst got blown up en masse and both began to fight.

"… It has no use anymore."

"Yeah, I know. When he signaled to Big Mama how he'd sunk the "Pyx" vessel she'd readied to escape through the channel by blowing smoke from the cigar…"

"Naomi told me about you guys' movements."

"That's true. But I know she returned to Liquid for some reason I still dunno but which I'll surely figure out in due time." Vadous sighed.

"Thanks to that I was able to obtain this…"

"And by "this" he mean's Big Boss' bio-mort body…"

"The Big Boss I've desired to get for so long… is finally…"

"I know. He wanted to say "in my hands" but the message was clear enough by then…"

"Look. The fighting seems to have gotten more intense!" Raoul signaled all of a sudden.

In effect: "Falzer" was making sweeps and tackling "Greiga" with its talons while "Greiga" swung the tail and formed some kind of buster which shot pyramidal projectiles: "Falzer" formed some small birds made of flame which began to rain down on "Greiga" as well.

"… Lower your weapon, Snake."

"Not like he can do much as he is surrounded by those FROGs elite soldiers to begin with…" Vadous dully replied.

"Greiga" formed a crown of electricity around the spikes of its neck and shot it in the form of a "T" pattern while "Falzer" beat the wings and shot large feathers down.

"It's too late by now."

"Guess so if it's already the late evening." Vadous sarcastically replied while shrugging.

"By the way! I programmed them to destroy each other, yeah, but I can't make them fuse. I tried a lot of times but I guess I was missing something in the data I salvaged." The guy shrugged.

"So we take out the winner: no big deal."

"Anyway… That was close. But I guess I win. Kyoudai."

"I wouldn't be so confident."

"The cigar which Father liked… How is it? Wanna have a last smoke?" Yoru Yami snickered.

"I know Big Boss was a passionate of cigars, yeah."

"Cigar Man appeared." Shadow Man chuckled.

"That was lame." Thunder Man sighed.

"Totally." Blood Shadow grumbled.

"Mwah, hah, hah." Sigma chuckled too.

"Greiga" suddenly formed copies of its front paws to swing across the air followed by the head ramming into "Falzer": the vermillion bird shot the sonic shockwaves at "Greiga" again and both had several wounds into their bodies by now.

"… As expected of kyoudai. You're always right."

"Is that directed to me too?" Vadous wasn't surprised.

"I'm gonna part with this today as well."

"No wonder: tobacco is bad for the health anyway."

"No Wonder Man!" Sigma laughed.

"Oh come on. Sigma. Those names are LAME." Omega appeared there and looked annoyed.

"Yikes! Commander Omega…!" Sigma gasped.

"Oi, oi. When it comes to CQC I'm the expert at it."

"He sure proved it."

"And so what? Kyoudai?"

"Liquid's answer to Snake's taunt that he only controlled a small segment of the SOP System despite everything…" Omega muttered while slightly lifting his eyebrows.

"It's only a matter of time before I possess everything, anyway."

"That happened to be true. Liquid never gloats unless he's got something solid on his hands already." Omega admitted.

"Greiga" jumped into the air and landed down while swinging the tail but "Falzer" merely chopped it with their huge beak: "Greiga" roared and vomited flames which "Falzer" countered with the sonic slices: none seemed to be getting tired.

"Good display, yeah… Well… The "G. W." which those guys believe to have lost… It's now part of my army!"

"GW? What do they mean?" Raoul asked.

"George Washington." Omega replied.

"And what's it?"

"A super-computer, a neuro-optical AI… But no so AI anymore but more like a super-computer…" Omega described.

"Wow." Raoul whistled.

"So? Were my proxies enough to keep you busy, Raoul The Thunder?" The guy taunted Raoul.

"Damn you." Raoul hissed and got annoyed.

"Heh! You guys' worm only managed to finely section it. It was possible to repair it. And I concealed it on the "inside" of the "J. D." network… This man's body has been useful."

"Hmmm… It'd seem they're getting further annoyed." Shadow Man warned the group.

In effect: "Falzer" was drilling the flanks of "Greiga" with the beak and inflicting damage there: "Greiga" howled and shot the stream of electricity at them but they flipped the wings to spread it around in a chaotic manner and landing around them.

"Recovering "G. W." allowed Ocelot, this body, to pass through several security devices. The system of the "Patriots" is but a machine. There was no way which "J. D." would recognize "G. W.", which existed as a spook on the network, as an external threat."

"So he accessed from the inside." Raoul guessed.

"Look!" Miyabi gasped.

"Greiga" had bitten the right talon of "Falzer" and they were trying to break free by shooting the fire birds and the sonic slices at "Greiga" but it didn't seem to want to let go.

"… Once I destroy "J. D." via a nuclear attack I'll obtain the Network of the "Patriots"…!"

"Nuclear! What's "J. D."? Another super-computer?" Raoul gasped.

"Yeah. MGS revolves around the nuclear arms race too." Vadous admitted with a shrug.

"And I'll build a Haven free of all control!"

"A refuge, huh…" Thunder Man muttered.

"Greiga" managed to cut off the talon of "Falzer" and it shrieked but didn't falter either: they shot some more sonic slices before diving and ramming into "Greiga" before flying skywards.

"I'll destroy the nameless man, John Doe, and I'll attach myself a name for the first time."

"I guess he meant that he would stop going by the codename."

"Snake. We were created by the "Patriots". We're not humans. We're "shadows" in shaped as humans… We're freaks which shouldn't have existed!" Yoru Yami sneered.

"I catch the irony." Vadous calmly replied.

"We're a system to inhibit the prosperity of the next generation. The only reason we exist… The reason we exist is the "Patriots"… I won't defy Fate anymore."

"If there is such a thing to begin with." Vadous taunted back.

"Heh, heh, heh. Interesting." Shadow Man chuckled.

"Don't bring up ninja manga next." Miyabi could seemingly predict what Shadow Man was about to say.

"Oi, oi. Those guys are getting fiercer!"

"Greiga" had managed to open wounds on the chest armor of "Falzer" but it had shattered the spikes around the neck impeding them from forming the electrical attack.

"Stalemate? No, I don't think so." Omega muttered.

"I'll kill Zero. I'll kill Big Boss. And I'll become a patriot myself."

"Kill me? Or someone else?" Zero appeared there.

"A character which had the codename Zero…" Omega clarified.

"Ah. It's a coincidence then."

"Who knows?" Yoru Yami sneered.

"You do, you freak. Now shut up. Good news: we've regained the building and some reconstruction work has begun in the outer perimeters but they won't touch the core section we're at until these two are confirmed to be deleted." Zero reported.

"Good!" Vadous grinned.

"It all began with Zero and Big Boss. We lived to fulfill our Fates. I'll return everything to zero and be reborn from there… There won't be a "Light Age" as long as we live. If we're to pass the baton into the next generation then there's no other way but to choose to die out."

"Then do that." Miyabi taunted the guy.

"Hmpf! I'm not that literal." He chuckled.

"Too bad…" Shadow Man muttered in an amused tone of voice.

"Snake. It'd seem the actors have gathered. Contemplate… Contemplate out victory! Hmpf! Depart!"

"Falzer" poked the start on the forehead of "Greiga" with the left talon while attacking it with the sonic slices: "Greiga" formed his claws into the air and they swung to open cuts on the wings while the head impacted against the green jewel and formed cracks there.

"… I've already seized the System! The guns and weapons are no longer you lowlifes' possessions! Look! This is "Guns of the Patriots"!"

"I think they're about to beat each other… From what I can analyze, they've lost over 80% of their 4500 HP points… So they have less than 900 HP points left to each other by now…" Vadous reported.

"Bang! Bang! Die! Bang!"

"You gotta see the whole scene to get it." Omega rolled his eyes.

"Did you see, Zero? We've won! This IS "Guns of the Patriots"!"

"Sure, sure." Blood Shadow muttered.

"Mwah, hah, hah!" Sigma chuckled.

"Out of the way!"

"You get outta the way." Raoul taunted back.

"Return it. We don't need it anymore. So long, Snake!"

"And that's Act 3."

"Yeah… I'll save up Acts 4 & 5 for another day~…" He taunted.

"Act a tree!" Sigma made a pun.

"Patent it, big dude." Yoru Yami invited.

"Hmpf." He got annoyed.

"You're like Obelix, eh? You won't admit you're big?" Yoru Yami taunted next with a smug grin.

"None of your business, ugly!" Sigma grumbled.

"I knew that, Mr. Smug."

"Falzer" drilled the forehead crest and it broke: data began to leak out while "Greiga" shot flames at their opponent: their chest jewel shattered as well: both looked tired but began to step back.

"The final blow?" Vadous wondered.

"Gra~wl!"

"Kye~h!"

"Greiga" jumped towards "Falzer" and "Falzer" dived for "Greiga": they collided and a shockwave of energy ensued which blew up most of the sand to reveal solid ground beneath it which was obviously the ground of the usual Internet City.

"I see. You didn't overwrite that layer but rather placed a new one atop it to begin with…" Vadous realized.

"I'm a GENIUS!" He laughed.

Both "Cybeasts" pushed against each other and their bodies began to crumble as clusters of data faded away due to the brutal energy they were pouring out towards each other.

"They're at less than 200 Hit Points by now!" Vadous gasped.

"Huh! This tower's integrity is being compromised!" Zero warned.

"Emergency retrieval: I'll bring you guys to the HQ and we'll look on through sensor imagery."

He opened the "gateway" and all Navis jumped inside before it closed: the tower creaked and groaned before it collapsed altogether: both "Cybeasts" were semi-transparent by now.

"Heh. It's obvious that they're running out of energies…"

The wings of "Falzer" and the rear of "Greiga" faded away followed by the talons of "Falzer" and the front body of "Greiga": the main body of "Falzer" got deleted too and only their heads deleted: the edges began to fade until only the eyes, jaw and beak were left: these were deleted as well and the mass of energy spread across the whole terrain wiping out all sand and restoring the original terrain: Yoru Yami shrugged.

"Well. There goes the show. But we'll come up with something new on the days to come anyway. I'm sure of it. Heh, heh, heh! So long! Kyoudai!"

Tremble! Shudder! Heh, heh, heh… Hah, hah, hah … HAH, HAH, HA~H!