Chapter 12: Price of betrayal
08:57 AM (Japan Time), Saturday December the 29th…
"… Lion Head!"
"Custom Sword!"
"Hah!"
"Damn."
Blues was facing Desert Man somewhere in the Cyber World: the ground was filled with sand thus recreating a desert - like scenery: Desert Man sank into it when Blues tried to jump and strike him: he had to land on the ground and look around.
"Shit. A bulldozer goes berserk in a construction site and the culprit had to be this guy of all ones." He cursed.
"Damn. We'll defeat this guy!" Enzan growled.
"Ho, ho, ho… Can you do that, Net Saviors? Great Lion Head!" Desert Man's ominous voice rang out of nowhere.
Blues saw it coming so he jumped into the air: the Great Lion Head suddenly circled around and came from the back: Blues gasped and dropped into the ground but the Great Lion Head seemed to be following him.
"Take this!" He growled.
He sliced it on half and it was deleted: Desert Man's right hand emerged from beneath him and gripped him.
"Grah!" He groaned.
"Ho, ho, ho… Weak! That level of power can't defeat THE Desert Man – sama~! Ho, ho, ho! Delete~!" He laughed.
"Area Steal! Ice Cannon Ball!" Enzan announced.
"What the…!" He gasped.
Blues warped and threw the Ice Cannon Ball at Desert Man: he roared as his body froze up and he was trapped inside of the ice: Blues landed on the ground and sighed in relief.
"Blues. We'll take this guy to the Science Labs: it's our only way of finding out the hideout of Twilight and "KO"..." Enzan commanded.
"Roger, Enzan – sama."
"I won't let you." A voice rang out.
Three sonic booms came out of nowhere and hit Blues because he'd lowered the guard: he was pushed into the ground and someone dropped in.
The opponent was a copy of Zero colored navy blue and black: his hair had been colored blood red and his eyes were purplish.
His emblem had been replaced by the word konton (Chaos) and he had the Kanji for kishi (swordsman) painted black set on his forehead.
He kept on making those "breathing" noises.
"Shit. Duplicate Zero…!" Enzan cursed.
"Hmpf."
Duplicate Zero drew a metallic-colored sword and jumped towards the mass of ice inside of which Desert Man was trapped at: he plunged it into the ice and it shattered to free Desert Man.
"Zero! Good timing!" He laughed.
Duplicate Zero suddenly plunged his sword into Desert Man's forehead and Desert Man howled as he recoiled: he then built up black energy on his right hand, closed it to form a fist, and plunged it through Desert Man's body: it began to glow as white streaks of light jumped out.
"Y-you lowlife…!" Desert Man roared.
"Hmpf. The punishment for treason is deletion. Wander the Reverse Cyber World forever!" He exclaimed.
"Guo~h!" Desert Man roared.
Duplicate Zero warped away as Desert Man suddenly exploded and left a crater behind where he'd been standing at: almost no data of him was left behind afterwards.
"What? Desert Man betrayed you lowlifes?" Blues gasped.
"Hmpf! Coming out without permission from Freeze Man – sama… I was ordered to delete this traitor. This is proof that we are serious. That guy wanted to fight you out of grudge. Personal reasons aren't allowed in our organization: obey or die." Duplicate Zero scoffed as he hovered into the air and looked down towards Blues.
"Desert Man carried a bomb inside of his body: he wouldn't have exploded otherwise because he wasn't materialized!" Enzan guessed aloud.
"Correct. Fail – safe: only those trustable and committed are allowed to remove it. After all, these Darkloids and other Duplicates of lesser rank are mere tools to test you guys." Duplicate Zero replied.
"Test us? This is a war!" Blues growled.
"Wrong. It's an experiment. Will you really be the Net Saviors you claim to be or mere idiots moved by revenge, hatred, grudge or other Dark Side emotions? This is the point of this experiment." Duplicate Zero exposed.
"I find that hard to believe given Twilight's behavior. Or are you trying to play us for fools?" Enzan told him with obvious skepticism.
"Hmpf. Of course. The only way to test you guys is by being serious. We won't fool around. And Freeze Man – sama is the one who's eager to test out if you're worthy foes or foes who are easily played upon by some device or another." Duplicate Zero shrugged.
"Then come and fight!" Blues challenged.
"My orders don't include that. Farewell!" He scoffed.
"Shit." Enzan growled.
09:13 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Zero DS. So?"
"Mission complete. Lord Sidier."
Zero DS was kneeling in front of Sidier: his color scheme had changed now that he was inside of the base.
He was now painted black and his hair was of a white color: he had blood red patterns around his body and his eyes were colored purple instead.
His sword had intricate circuitry-like patterns over its surface.
"Good job. We can't allow a foolish Darkloid to ruin the purpose of this experiment: we must make them believe that Twilight and "KO" are the true culprits at work." Sidier grinned.
"Yes, sir. Please grant me orders." Zero DS bowed.
"Go to your quarters: I'll plan the sorties for today. Make sure to spread talk like I'd personally gone and deleted that traitor: fear will take a hold of the others and will bind them to obey." Sidier commanded.
"Roger."
Zero DS walked out at a military-like pace of the main room: Sidier brought up a holographic screen with some CCTV footage of various spots there and there.
"Let's pick a suitable location. Heh, heh, heh. Net Saviors! We won't commit any more mistakes. Let fear rule your bodies! Huh? Ah!"
He spotted Yamato Man and Cloud Man exploring the spot where Desert Man had been deleted at and looking surprised.
"Bodily bombs, huh? Maybe we should've thought of that."
"Hmmm… Maybe…" Yamato Man shrugged.
"Let's go report to Freeze Man – sama and the Danna…"
"Fine. Let the campaign continue! Heh, heh, heh! Heh, heh, heh!"
09:37 AM (Japan Time)
"… Someone calls us in purpose to this cold storage plant… There has to be a water or ice Navi or Darkloid in here."
"Obviously, Laika – sama."
Laika was standing inside of a large corridor: cold storage chambers' doors were set at both sides of it: he glanced around and spotted one control panel which was frizzling.
"Bingo. Plug In! Search Man, Transmission!"
Search Man entered the system and found it full of ice: he began scanning and noticed a figure standing atop the Core Block.
"Enemy aura: confirmed." He reported.
"Hyu~h! You fell for the trap, Net Savior!" A voice rang out.
The figure jumped and landed in front of Search Man.
"I'm Cold Man – sama: and this place is Field Power Bonus to the great me, Net Savior! Hyu~h!" He exclaimed.
"Hmpf. My guess was correct, then." Laika muttered.
"I'll turn ya into ice candy right here and now! Ice Cube!" Cold Man laughed.
"Scope Gun!"
He shot an Ice Cube at Search Man: he merely aimed and shot through it to hit Cold Man: instead, a second Ice Cube was shattered on his place, thus surprising him.
"What? A Double…?" He gasped.
"Hyu~h! Iceberg Press!"
Search Man gasped and spotted Cold Man dropping from above while having compacted in another form: he crashed against the ground with force and left a crater on it: a log appeared on Search Man's place.
"What!" Cold Man gasped.
"Battle Chip, Custom Bolt! Slot In!" Laika announced.
"Custom Bolt!"
The attack hit Cold Man and he was electrocuted: he smoked and stepped back while cursing under his breath.
"Hyu~h! That was nothing! White Breath!"
"Battle Chip, Super Vulcan! Slot In!"
Search Man jumped into the air as Cold Man opened his chest compartment doors and shot a mass of snow out: he bombarded the compartment with the Super Vulcan rounds and Cold Man howled as he stepped back.
"Damn! White Breath! White Breath! White Breath! White Breath! White Breath! White Breath! White Breath! White Breath! White Breath! White Breath! White Breath!"
He began shooting in a row: Search Man dodged them with ease because Cold Man was not aiming properly and kept on shooting Super Vulcan rounds inside of his body.
"Damn! I got angry and I've lost 60% of my HP! But I've still got another 30% margin to go! Ice Cube! Ice Cube! Ice Cube! Ice Cube! Ice Cube! Ice Cube! Ice Cube! Ice Cube! Ice Cube!"
He began to shoot Ice Cube after Ice Cube but Search Man could easily dodge them and attack Cold Man's body: the wounds inflicted were minor but were accumulating.
"Shit! I've only got another 8% of margin! Why am I losing in a place with Field Power Bonus?" He cursed.
"Because you yourself made that up: there's no such thing. And you picked a bad guy to mess with: I'm from Sharo Nation and this is a small breeze." Laika grinned at him.
"Why, you~…!" Cold Man hissed.
"Battle Chip, Thunder Ball! Slot In!"
"Thunder Ball!"
"What!"
The Thunder Ball hit him as he opened his chest compartment and electrocuted his whole body: he stepped back and kept on growling under his breath.
"Damn! I've lost 92% of my HP! This is above the ordered limits! I've gotta pull back!" He growled.
"Wrong." An ominous voice replied.
Duplicate Zero suddenly warped in front of Cold Man and did the same thing he'd done with Desert Man: he plunged the sword into the forehead and then gripped the bomb program inside of Cold Man before warping atop the Core Block.
"You lowlife~! Hyu~h!" Cold Man roared.
He blew up and the explosion pushed Search Man back and had him land hard into the ground: Duplicate Zero merely folded his arms.
"Fools who disobey rules and don't do good job don't deserve a second chance: we learned that from the Nebula crisis." He announced.
"Shit. They're even killing themselves…" Search Man cursed.
"Look at the bright side of it: there'll be lesser enemies to worry about at this rate." Laika drily told him.
"Hah. You're fond of sarcasm, it'd seem. They say Sharo Nation people have some black humor. Like in that joke in which a guy shouts "Gorbachev is an idiot" and he then gets arrested not out of hooliganism but because of revealing state secrets." Duplicate Zero sounded amused by now.
"I knew that one." Laika grumbled.
"You knew there was gonna rain." Duplicate Zero joked.
"Why won't your masters come out?" Search Man questioned.
"They have no need to: they already proved the level of their power back in the summer! Demon Tribe Chief Freeze Man – sama is a good leader: he knows how things must be done like." Duplicate Zero replied while shrugging.
"Freeze Man now calls himself "Demon Tribe Chief"…?" Laika frowned.
"Hmpf. Twilight – sama is the Demon King, so… He was humble and recognized his place." Duplicate Zero scoffed.
"Face me!" Search Man challenged.
"No… You're one of the main cast guys. Your role is to stay onscreen and provide entertainment. That's why I can't go all out on you. If I do get permission to battle you I'll be forced to hold back. But it's not like I'd care, either! Orders are absolute: didn't you say that back when the Control X incident?" Duplicate Zero sounded amused again.
"Damn." Search Man cursed.
"No pain, no gain… Farewell!"
He escaped the area while laughing aloud and Search Man hissed something under his breath.
"What a waste of time." Laika cursed.
"I apologize." Search Man bowed.
"It's not your fault. Let's go back to the Net Police HQ." Laika sighed in defeat and looked resigned.
"Roger."
Laika pressed the plug-out button and then placed the Link PET on its place while slapping his forehead.
"This is crazy: this guy is going to show up and kill all of the Darkloids and Navis out of orders… How can we stop that?" He muttered.
He seemed to feel a shiver go down his spine…
09:57 AM (Japan Time)…
"… "Fireworks Factory Powder Inc."… This is the place?"
"According to the email…"
Netto was standing in front of the factory building's outer perimeter security gates and looking at its sign: he didn't seem to mind a navy blue Hyundai parked nearby with two persons onboard.
"Gunpowder… Fireworks… I'm afraid I know the Darkloid waiting inside of this place." Netto grimly muttered.
"Yeah. I get that same feeling, too." Saito muttered.
The doors buzzed and automatically opened, so Netto ran inside of the compound: one of the car's occupants stepped down and followed him without Netto minding: both of them entered the main room and found a screen displaying a red arrow towards the right: a door opened and Netto and the agent stepped into what had the looks of a powder barrel storage room.
"Shit." Netto cursed.
"Mr. Netto. This room looks insecure." The agent argued.
"Let's get outta here!" Saito rallied.
The door was suddenly closed and electronically locked: the agent cursed and tried to open it while a familiar voice rang out.
"Today you lowlife will die here, brat!" The voice proclaimed.
"I wonder about that! Plug In! Rock Man EXE, Transmission!"
Rock Man entered the system and quickly drew the Rock Buster to shoot two old-fashioned fuse bombs thrown at him: they exploded and the culprit became visible.
"I thought as much! You! Bomber Man!" He made a grimace.
"Hah! My trap is perfect. This place is my climax!" He laughed aloud and sounded sure of it.
"Battle Chip, Hell's Burner! Slot In!"
"Oho. Wait a min. Look around you lowlifes!" Bomber Man laughed.
He snapped his right hand's fingers and some lights ignited inside of the Cyber World to reveal sabotaged circuitry.
"The anti-fire systems won't work! If you use Flame – Attribute attacks, then I can divert the heat to the real world and the powder will eventually explode! With you lowlife's Operator gone, it'll be easy to delete you lowlife!" He laughed.
"Then… Soul Unison, Metal Soul! Slot In!" Netto decided.
"What the…!" Bomber Man cursed.
"I'll show it you! Our real power! Metal Break!" Rock Man announced.
His right fist glowed and he delivered a powerful punch to the emblem on Bomber Man's shoulder: it cracked and began to leak data out.
"Gru~h…"
He growled and took out two new bombs from his shoulders but Rock Man was already in front of him: he delivered some more punches to his lower jaw, shoulders, torso and hips to stun him.
"How's that? Huh?"
He then spotted a large red switch in a corner of the Cyber World which was labeled "EMERGENCY STOREROOM DOORLOCK RELEASE".
"Hah. What a useless "trap"…"
He quickly jumped over there and turned it on: the real world door buzzed and unlocked so Netto and the agent rushed out immediately and outside of the factory.
"This was a "perfect" trap?" Rock Man taunted.
"Why, you…!"
"Bite me, Konami's Bomber Man's ugly cousin."
He transformed his right arm into a gun and shot several rounds towards Rock Man: they bounced off his armor and hit Bomber Man instead.
"Metal Wheel, Metal Missile!"
The Metal Wheel hit his torso and got stuck there while six missiles fell down from the sky and bombarded him thus further pushing him back.
"Uoh… 75% of my HP has fallen…! I've only got 15% left and…! That brat doesn't have a single wound…! Impossible…! Back when… the N1 Grand Prix… Stone Man and me… Beat 'em up!" He growled.
"Things are different from back then! My power has increased: and this is proof of it! I guess you didn't get permit to do this: Freeze Man would've laughed at this idea of a trap." Rock Man told him.
"Freeze Man…! That smug-faced leech jerk…! One day I'll definitely rip that smile outta his face…!" He cursed.
"Battle Chip, Flame Sword! Slot In!"
Rock Man plunged it into the right shoulder and blew the bomb up: he did the same with the left one and Bomber Man collapsed into the ground.
"Guoh… 95% of my HP is gone… I'm barely alive…!" He groaned.
"My mission isn't to delete you. Go back to your boss with the tail between the legs and they'll do whatever they think they need to do with you." Rock Man turned around.
"There's nothing else to do here, Rock Man. Return."
Rock Man plugged out and Bomber Man growled as he tried to stand up: a familiar "breathing" sound like Darth Vader's one rang out across the area.
"3… 3 in one morning… It'd seem you lowlife wish to die, too. Whatever: this will keep the others in line!"
"Zero…! You traitor…!" Bomber Man cursed.
"That's you lowlife's status. Disappear."
"Mugro~h!"
10:14 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Boss? How's the vaccine program going like?"
"I'm almost there: I've reached a 96% chance of nullifying the program, but… I'm not settled. I want to push it further. But I hope to be over by today or tomorrow."
Omega had come into the command bridge to talk with Vadous: both looked calm although Vadous had obvious signs of having been working too much.
"By the way… I've gotten three reports from Hikari, Ijuuin and Laika: Duplicate Zero is those guys' lapdog to retire traitors or useless guys: Bomber Man, Cold Man and Desert Man have been taken out by a bomb program they carry inside… This is starting to sound like the ABC Murders… And Freeze Man now claims being the "Demon Tribe Chief" taking after Twilight's "Demon King" title. We're only missing a "Demon God" but I guess Twilight would've played that or will play it when he bothers to stick his hide out."
"Now I know what else he was doing apart from working on Neo Gospel's projects: he powered several underground crime groups up to leave us some headaches running around. We're slowly rounding them up but we've gotta be emphatic with security." Vadous grumbled.
"It can't be helped… I'll go check on Blood's and Sigma's training: they need to be fresh and responsive since they've been staying onboard too many days in a row. Later." Omega rolled his eyes.
"Damn it. Twilight. You fucker. Kanou did well on taking Kuroshiro away with him from your damned presence. You'll torture him and try to turn him into an accomplice to torture and murder just to show off in front of Maria…! Do that yourself, you lazy fat-assed fucking moron!"
"Sure. I'll bathe the guy in pink paint and Maria will tell him to stop playing Man In Pink and that she hates pop art." Omega muttered back.
"Hah! That'd be fitting, really! Be humiliated and brought down by justice, you psycho! You… And your "KO" buddy too…! I swear…!"