Chapter 12: Dirty maneuvers

07:11 AM (Japan Time), Sunday October the 5th…

"… Look… Netto. And you guys… I must tell you a secret… But you mustn't tell anyone else. It's very important. Netto believes in you guys and he doesn't want any secrets to interfere with your friendship…"

"Huh? What's this about, mister?"

"Chut! Dekao – kun! Be quiet!"

"S-sorry, Meiru – chan."

"We understand, mister!"

"Please go ahead."

"What's this about, Papa?"

"It's about Rock Man… Netto… Doesn't he remind you of someone?"

"… Of Saito – niisan."

"… Yeah. But that's not a recreation or imitation… Rock Man IS Saito."

"H-how's that possible? Didn't you say he'd died because his heart had some illness?"

"Yes. But I came up with a system to transfer his memories and personality into a Net Navi's body… And thus Rock Man was born…"

"So Rock Man's been Saito – niisan all along…! I knew that my hunch was too strong…! And he called me "otouto" when he got deleted by Pharaoh Man's attack too…! Why didn't you tell me before, Papa?"

"You weren't ready. Besides, a custom Navi like Rock Man… Back then I'd called the attention because there weren't many custom Navis… I'm sorry to have hidden this but it was necessary so that you would understand why I did it… I'm sorry."

"Rock Man was Saito – kun…! I remember him…!"

"Huh? I didn't get almost anything of what they said."

"Well. I didn't get to meet him but I guess he had to be a nice fella."

"Wow…"

"So? Can you keep this secret?"

"Count on me, sir!"

"Thank you, Meiru – chan."

"Keep it a secret…? Well… Guess that…"

"Hah! When it comes to secrets they call Thousand Secrets Girl!"

"Yaito – chan… Are you sure you haven't made it up?"

"Guts, guts. Guts Man isn't sure what the talk was about."

"It was complicated, desu…"

"Not really… But that doesn't change anything in my eyes."

"Nothing changes: Rock Man is a good companion."

"Netto."

"Mama…"

"I'm sorry, really… But we had to do it. It was for both of your sakes…"

"Did you intend to EVER tell me? Or was this tragedy necessary?"

"I planned to tell you once the N1 Grand Prix was over, yes…"

"I see… Saito – niisan… I'm sorry for being mean to you… I should've realized it earlier but… Papa… You can revive him, right?"

"Yes. I've got a strategy in mind… And I'll need you guys' help."

"Count with it, sir!"

"I'll prove I'm the strongest!"

"Hah! Cha will only prove ya are the slowest."

"Come on, Yaito – chan… Let's not start it up…"

Huh… I remember… When Papa finally came back home and told us the truth about Saito – niisan… Before we attempted the "Revival Strategy" which almost failed were it not for Blues' help…

"… Saito – niisan! You did it! You beat the WWW!"

"… Netto – kun…? Papa, did you…?"

"Yeah. I told him the truth, Saito…"

"Netto – kun, I…"

"No. There's no need to say anything, Saito – niisan. Nothing will change: we're still a tag-combo, right?"

"Yeah… That's right, Netto – kun. Sorry, but I can't shake off this habit I've gotten…"

"Don't bother: it sounds more like you."

"Did you at least try to do homework yourself?"

"Well… It's hard when you're depressed and all…"

"Oh. True. But from now on… You gotta do it yourself!"

"Fine~… What a strict niisan!"

"Well. That's how he seems to be like. Right, Saito?"

"Yeah, Papa… That's how I am, Netto – kun. You're too sneaky: and I need to fix that habit… Don't think you'll escape it for too long because there'll be a day in which Navis will be able to come into the real world!"

"But that'll surely be a long way from now so~… Heh, heh, heh!"

"Jeez. If only you did the homework and didn't ask for trouble…"

"But, really… Enzan won't just admit he owed me one! He can be somewhat stiff… He needs someone to tickle him!"

"Well. Maybe I agree on that one, Netto – kun."

"Heh, heh, heh! Let's go home: at least the whole deal is over… Over…"

Yeah… My tale is over already…

"…smash them till only DUST is left!"

"…violence only feeds violence…"

"…you two…"

I'm hearing voices…? Sigma… Blood…? Saito – niisan…?

"…tto – kun… Netto – kun… Wake up… Curry…"

"CURRY? WAIT FOR ME!"

Netot suddenly sat up without realizing it and suddenly blinked several times: he realized he'd sat up on his bed and that he was wearing his typical pajamas.

"Netto – kun! Finally!"

Saito suddenly hugged him and began to cry out of joy: Sigma and Blood Shadow sounded relieved as well.

"Hikari! I knew it! He's a tough guy! Right, Blood!"

"Well, yeah… Welcome back, Hikari – kun."

"Then… I'm alive?" Netto managed to blurt.

"You've always been alive."

"W-what happened yesterday, then?"

"The water… It was a trick… It's a special kind of water named "breathable oxygen-able liquid" which allows you to keep on breathing… But they'd filled it with hallucinating drugs to further confuse you…"

"So the guy wanted to make me feel confused and then he would have me blurt out what I knew about the Subspace?"

"Yeah… Using strong lights and sounds to stun you and further confuse you… It'd seem the guy overdid it with the doses and that's why even thought we got you out of there quickly enough you didn't respond: Sigma got furious and began to shake the criminal."

"But, in the end… They were a fall guy?"

"Yeah… They didn't know anything about the "Master" behind Atomic Network… We've checked his iPhone, the bank accounts info, his fingerprints and all… We're pending to figure out their real origin and name unless the registers were erased…"

"And that's why some of the voices seemed to echo and I couldn't properly see much… All felt chaotic… The only thing I could cling into was some memories… Our reunion… The "Saito Batch" program… Papa's confession… And the aftermath of Pharaoh Man's defeat…"

"Yeah. Dr. Lartes decided not to touch anything through your chip implant because he wanted to play safe but at least their readouts were proof enough that you were alive and all…"

"Thank goodness…" He sighed in relief.

"We didn't want to hit you or splash you with cold water either because we feared a violent reaction… In the end I decided to use something which always makes you react…"

"Curry… I'm sorry, guys… I got you worried a lot…"

"Don't mind it, Hikari… I've got a new motto! Yovne Slleh!"

"Heh. Not bad…"

"And I've got more of them in store! Nam Hoarahp! And Nam Erif! Nam Cigam! Nam Cele! Nam Deroloc!"

"I think that's enough, Sigma… Ah. Mail from Charles…"

"He must want a status update… At least we can give him the good news."

"By the way! Is that system some rip-off?"

"No. It commercially exists but it's intended to be a system to disconnect and meditate and all… But the guy filled it with drugs…"

"And he corrupted it into an interrogation method, huh?"

"Yeah. But it'd seem that Dark Land were the ones who invented it."

"Dark Land! The guys behind Napalm Man… I remember even it's been almost 4 years… How Napalm Man feigned having been in an accident and having lost his memory files and then said he wanted to "help" but in truth he made Knight Man go berserk with some advanced system which eluded detection by Cream Land's computers… He then took profit of the attack Knight Man inflicted to the defense system to loosen the national firewall and try to start an invasion… Luckily Knight Man and you combined your power and we beat the guy while also turning on the firewall again…" Netto recalled.

"Yeah. And one of the earthquakes Earth Rock Man did hit Dark Land and crippled a secret military compound which apparently was trying to research on stealth ICBMs… This doesn't feel like a coincidence to me but they could be red herrings too…" Saito sighed.

"Red herrings…?"

"Distractions, bait, cul-de-sac…"

"A dead end, huh? Now that wouldn't surprise me, yeah."

"Good. Do you feel strong enough to move?"

"Yeah… Heck, I've spent what, 19 hours unconscious? Talk about a wasted weekend."

He climbed off and fumed as he headed for the balcony and looked out into the city.

"People are selfish. We asked for nothing in exchange of saving the Network from being erased or turned into a soup of garbage clusters of data and look at what they do to us." He muttered.

"I know, Netto – kun… There are some who will never be thankful to anyone and just want to get away with it…"

"I need a good breakfast. That'll help me vent this mood…"

"Charles will be dropping by in an hour's time too."

"Heh! Selrahc and Sivad! Heh, heh, heh! I'm a genius of jokes, see~!"

08:45 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Heh, heh, heh! Heh, heh, heh… I place this here and then we'll get out: what a spectacle it'll be!"

"What a disappointment it'll be 'cause the Frenchman will come to reap your soul."

"Who the hell! Twilight?"

"Do not underestimate the power of Frenchmen. I find your lack of faith disturbing."

"Shut the hell up."

Grenadier Man had been inside of a basement somewhere and attaching a C4 explosive to a pipe labeled "MAIN GAS PIPE" when "Vader" showed up behind him accompanied by Mettools number 27 and 28.

"Me~…"

"Tto~…"

"Metto~…"

"They say you look frail." Twilight taunted.

"GRHKX! I'm going to smash you!"

"Come to Melbourne and find me. If you can, that is, Frail Fragile Weak Useless Guy." He challenged.

"I'm so gonna do that!" He hissed.

The door suddenly opened and a man on his 30s stepped in.

He was over a meter and ninety tall and had brown hair.

He wore a simple black wool jumper, jeans and sneakers.

He sported a gun-belt with two guns and a knife plus sunglasses.

"Ah. Let me introduce you to Un."

"Un? That's the French word for "one", right?"

"Good luck."

The man suddenly punched Grenadier Man on the stomach area and the blow was strong enough to have him bounce against the pipe and into the floor where he got kicked: the man brusquely lifted him and chocked him with the right hand while he delivered blows with the left fist into the torso: Grenadier Man's kicks and gripping of the man's right wrist didn't seem to take any effect either.

"What in the hell…!"

The man let him fall into the ground and quickly circled him before he lifted his backpack, opened it, and closed it: he lifted Grenadier Man by the sides and began to make his helmet hit against the concrete walls causing echoes to form inside of it and torment Grenadier Man: he growled and warped.

"Fuck. I can't use weapons here… Save for this! Battle Chip, Gold Fist, Silver Fist! Eat these!"

Grenadier Man resumed kicking and hitting the guy but it made no difference whatsoever: he began to get further annoyed and tried to kick the spot where his balls would be at but it didn't take effect either: the man suddenly stomped his right foot and he yelped: he pulled his right arm and began to swing him in a 180º arch so that he ended up hitting the floor left and right several times in a row.

"Let the bodies hit the floor, let the bodies hit the floor…" Twilight sang in the meanwhile to make fun of the situation.

"You lowlife~!"

"Let the fools hit the floor, let the fools hit the floor…" He came up with his own mockery of the song.

"I'll kill you yet!"

"Let the weak hit the floor, let the weak hit the floor…" He continued taunting Grenadier Man with his mockery versions.

"I'm so gonna turn you into RAW BITS!"

"Let the bits hit the floor, let the bits hit the floor…"

"FUCK YOU~!"

"One! All wrong with me. Two! All wrong with you. Three! All wrong with you guys. Four! All wrong with us."

The mysterious man stopped and Grenadier Man groaned and hissed and he somehow managed to stand but he was filled with blows and hits everywhere: his balance was pretty frail too.

"DAMN YOU~! I'LL REMEMBER THIS!"

"Let the frail hit the floor, let the frail hit the floor…"

Grenadier Man escaped and Twilight opened a holographic screen to see him appearing somewhere in the Reverse Cyber World: the guy was hissing and cursing.

"Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!"

"And now…"

"Huh? What's this beeping sound close by…? My backpack…? It couldn't be…! Quick! Let's get it out and…!"

"Time's up."

An explosion originated from his backpack and spread: Grenadier Man roared in agony while Twilight chuckled.

"Hmpf! Monsieur Spimer stuffed their own bomb into their backpack: talk about a lesson they're not going to forget… Heh, heh, heh… That fool was fighting a robot, see! An excellent robot, I must admit that… Heh, heh, heh… Maybe he's supposed to look like Roger Moore." He muttered.

The explosion cleared and it could be seen that Grenadier Man's backpack was gone and he had a big gaping hole on his back: cursing, he warped elsewhere while the robot simply came out of the room.

"Heh. Trying to blow up a Game Center? What savages… What makes you different from vulgar terrorists? My organization had more grace! Hah!"

10:11 AM (Melbourne Time)…

"… This is Court of Owls… Respond, Talon."

"This is Talon. What are the catching catches of catch?"

"Evil, blessed and despicable… MICE!"

"Roger. ETA: 8 minutes."

"Excellent…"

Philip was walking down a street when his cell-phone rang and he replied to the call before pocketing it and looking around.

I got de-briefed by the police but since the owner didn't want to receive Mr. Twilight's anger then he didn't say anything special about me and they just thought I was another "victim"… I told them I had a parent and they simply let me go… I'm just 16, anyway. Heh, heh, heh… I'm lucky. But it'd seem some guys who let fear rule them end up hating the whole deal even… Like that "Past" guy who showed up on Friday…

He reached a small two-floor house and rang the bell: Twilight (without the coat and hat) opened the door and signaled him to come inside: Philip followed him and he stopped mid-way across the corridor to open a concealed door on the left side.

"The basement is the first stop: you'll have to go through a test to prove your worth and strength and resolve."

"Kill someone?"

"Nah. I'm not that literal of a Sith Lord." He grinned.

"… Ah. The horse, I guess."

"Good… Have you ever tried it?"

"No." He shrugged.

"Then you must endure the horse."

"I've endured 2 years of being a volunteer… I can endure this."

"Excellent. That's the kind of behavior I want to be. Get geared up while I settle a little something."

"Roger."

Twilight continued down the corridor into a living room where he had a table with a laptop atop it: he typed into it and five holograms of his subordinates appeared.

"How does it feel to travel across the Cyber World undetected?"

"Excellent." Freeze Man grinned.

"Heh, heh, heh… It is new sensation altogether!" Cosmo Man added.

"Hah! It's cool." Cloud Man laughed.

"It's practical, yeah." Swallow Man shrugged.

"I like it." Yamato Man simply replied.

"Zoan Gate Man: did they get anything else out of the man?"

"Not much… His orders were sent physically by warping them using "DCs" to an underground spot somewhere and he'd pick them… There never was any real contact… The messages don't use personal pronouns but the writing style makes it clear it's a man… Or it could be a woman passing off as a man… The lack of personal pronouns makes it hard to discern and the orders are always simple… Like the latest, 4 days ago, listing all materials needed to build that coffin thing…" Zoan Gate Man exposed.

"Hum. I see."

"By the way, Twilight – sama… Don't you think it's risky to stay here after you'd been seen?"

"Heh! Melbourne's a big city… And those guys would rather think I already switched countries too… So…"

"Ah. Then it makes sense, Twilight – sama…"

"Remember: I'm your new Lord. Falzer is gone. And they're not coming back and neither is Greiga. You must evolve or else you die as a fool."

"But of course."

"Good… I'll turn on one of my lil flying spies… I copied the idea from Kanou Shade… An eye for an eye, Kanou! Heh! Let's see… Morgan's heir must be pretty pissed off by now…"

"… I want to go and slice Plasma Man into a billion pieces!" Charles could be heard cursing.

"Cool it, Charlie~ Team… If we recklessly charge in then we fall for their plots and we could end up dead… How would that benefit us?" Davis asked back.

"Dunno, Dave! Ask HAL if he's got a better plan than this!" He grumbled back.

"Hmpf. Let them get annoyed and wander around in vain… Next stop is the novice Demon… Heh, heh, heh…"

"… I'm fed up with this! I'd love to blow them up!" Nelaus was exclaiming aloud.

"Nelaus… Violence only feeds violence: it's an unending cycle, a vicious spiral…" Isaac warned with a sigh.

"Heh, heh, heh… Well. Enough… I've got business to tend to: you continue gathering information about Hell's Envoy… Maybe we'll find out how Atomic Network approached the guy…" Twilight commanded.

"Roger!"

"Don't attempt to contact me either… Besides! They'll be far more worried about what other strategies those guys could come up with than about us, anyway…"

"Understood…"

Twilight walked away and headed down the stairs to the basement after locking the hidden door: he reached the basement room where Philip had changed into the S&M gear and looked calm.

"Master."

"Good… Let me show it to you…"

He pulled open two curtains which were blocking off another segment of the basement room and revealed a metallic horse with two vibrators built into it: a pulley with a chain and hook was hanging above it and it had restrains for the hips and ankles on its sides.

"Turn around."

Philip calmly did so and Twilight immobilized his wrists before closing the hook around the band circling his torso from behind: he added the ball-gag and the blindfold to him before he lifted him by pulling the chain and began to lower him into the horse: he let him hover one or two centimeters over the vibrators before suddenly letting go: he fell into them and they violently pushed their way inside but he didn't seem to find it painful.

"Good… Let's gear you up."

Twilight set up the vibrators plus the urethra beads and the clothes pegs before he bent his legs and secured them using the hip and ankle restrains to keep him from rising off the horse: he picked a remote and turned on the ones in the horse which began to spin clockwise and anti-clockwise at a high speed.

"This is but the start!"

He engaged the ones on his nipples next followed by the one on his cock's head: Philip began to arch and convulse but he seemed to be timing it with the vibrations.

"Good… Time it so that you draw the max possible pleasure… Maybe I should use Ocelot's bed…? Nah. That could be dangerous: it depends on each person's type of heart and all…" He began grinning but then began muttering to himself in Japanese as if to make sure Philip wouldn't understand his muttering.

He shrugged and picked a chair in which he sat as he picked up a novel titled Star Wars Death Star – Michael Reeves and Steve Perry which he began to calmly resume reading.

"Hum. So Tarkin had an affair with that protégé of his, Daala… And she was trying to figure out the ID of the saboteur who blew up an old Imperial ship… My good friend Vader came there more than once to try to help Tarkin root out saboteurs although he didn't like being told to go or not go by Tarkin yet Emperor – sama was stubborn on that… It's intriguing to see the PoV of those civilians contracted to do things like handle the library, a cantina or take care of some construction… Not like they had any other choice…" He muttered as he read.

He glanced at a chronometer which read "08:38" but ignored it as he continued with his reading.

"Heh. Something tells me that Snatcher & Hauptmann are about to shine once again… And maybe the 4th Demon too… 09:19… Let's allow for another 40 seconds…"

He closed the book after putting a marker on it and then headed over to Philip: he simply stood there and watched on at his body's movements with a hint of amusement: the chronometer beeped.

"Let's see the results."

He pulled out the bell vibrator along with the beads: Philip arched his body and released several vigorous sprouts which landed into his body and stained it: he remained upwards and Twilight began to switch off the vibrators: he took off the ball-gag and the blindfold to see that he was still conscious and panting while looking excited.

"Exciting!" He gasped.

"Good, good! You've passed the test… You deserve a new name… The name of… Bapgei. Darth Bapgei!" He announced.

"Darth Bapgei…! Is there a special reason why you picked it?"

"Yeah. I had another apprentice who became an expert at Net Battles but then left our organization because he couldn't stand the idea of being involved in S&M… His name is Nelaus."

"And how are my name and his related, anyway? Star Wars?"

"Correct. Both are made using the names Bane and Plagueis. Bane was the "Sith Lord" who began the Rule of Two about 1,000 years before Episode I and set the pathway for the eventual rise of the Sith… And Plagueis was a Muun who trained Darth Sidious himself… You've seen Episode III?"

"Ah! I remember, yeah… "The tragedy of wise Plagueis"… But it was an irony because it was Palpatine who killed him during his sleep to finally rise to "Lord"…"

"Correct. I'll let something out. The 1st Demon Tribe member… My kyoudai… His name is Vadous. See?"

"From Vader and Sidious… So Master is named Sidier?"

"No. IQ – sama, my recruiter, discarded it and gave me the name Twilight instead. There was a Navi named Sidier but who was affiliated with another party… They've gone overseas and they're not going to get involved…" He shrugged.

"I understand… But if you said 1st, 2nd and 4th…"

"Ah! The 3rd used the name Kanou Shade but went into exile: he's not involved either. Take it slowly."

"And "kyoudai" and "sama"… Are those Japanese words?"

"Huh? Ah. Yeah. I'm from Japan myself. They mean "brother" and "master" or can be used as "miss", "mistress", "Ms." Or "Mr." as well when addressing them a letter or when they are someone with a high rank or a famous person… You needn't worry… Most of your opponents know English so I'm not forcing you to learn Japanese…"

"Roger, Master… I won't disappoint you." He grinned.

"Good… That's the mood I want from you… Be dynamic! Think! Improve and use whatever means to achieve victory! Let the enemy make the first move, analyze them, reason why they use that tactic, find a weak point to exploit… Those are keys to victory! Remember them, Darth Bapgei! Your future is with the Demon Tribe: which shall rule the surface world!"

Twilight began to laugh in a creepy manner and Philip just grinned…