Chapter 14: Brotherly brawl
09:34 AM (Japan Time), Friday February the 2nd…
"… So, Boss… What are those rascals up to?"
"Liquid seems to be obsessed with coming and fighting me again."
"Using the cheats?"
"Maybe. But Anaya is skeptical."
"No wonder."
"The rascal just needs a kick in the arse."
"Of course. Boss. We know their location. We know what they do 24/7… Why don't we bring a ton of fighters there and bring them down in one sweep?"
"I've thought about it yet…"
"We can jam the DCs and the warping and the portals… Sink the ship, destroy any choppers or jet fighters…"
"I know! But… I don't why… I've got the feeling we might stumble upon something unexpected."
"If it's game rip-offs we can deal with those. That's why I say we bring a lot of numbers."
"Yeah, but…"
"Don't you want to endless this pointless conflict?"
"Of course!"
Omega and Vadous were discussing inside of a largely empty metallic room that had a large viewing window looking out into the Earth from an orbital path: other satellites and the ISS could be seen out there.
"Then?" Omega asked.
"We must be careful."
"You think they could self-destruct to rob us the merit of capturing and locking them in the Navi Prison?"
"Remember the DNN battle, Omega… They did it, you know?"
"Hmmm… If we allowed that to happen, then… They'd get away with it and it could be seen as a failure even if we caught the rest of the gang… Liquid isn't as stupid as to blow up and Anaya would never order him to do that."
"Precisely. That's why I want to wait for a chance. Maybe it'd better to let them go out and start some ruckus. Since we know where and when they'll show up, catch them one by one…"
"We could use what we did with those rebuilt Darkloids that they used in their debut season… Use a Monolith to catch them, suck off all but 1 of their HP and warp them to the Navi Prison. Once there we can uninstall the Dark Generator and other abilities and reduce their power to that of a normal civilian Navi…" Omega calmly suggested.
"Good. We'll do that when we get a chance. But we should try to make it look like we were improvising. Those guys could get jumpy at the slightest sign or happening and run off the hideout… And then we'd take months to locate them again." Vadous warned.
"So we let them start the ruckus and then rush one or two to the scene, as usual… Problem is… Even if we catch one… If we don't catch the others then it's pointless… Because they could ALL come out just to rescue one of them…"
"Hum. You've got a point. We could start planning and simulating several tactics and options and wait for the right time."
"OK."
"By the way… Those Chinese dragon holograms that pop out from time to time in the "open world"… Dragon's handiworks?"
"Trill. He's been copying them off Dragon's album book.
"Well. Since they're holograms then… No problem… You authorized Iris to upload them?"
"Yeah. Didn't think of telling you because they were so harmless and you were busy talking with Chief Lezareno and Colonel Talos about the monitoring in Melbourne…"
"Fine. Regarding that front… Bapgei still comes and goes. But is on his toes. So we must keep watch from a distance."
"Of course. And we said we wouldn't involve people related to the man, anyway."
"Yeah. They don't know anything."
"Boss? It's me, Kir Osh…" A PET that Vadous had on his belt's right side beeped.
"Did something happen?"
"Anaya tried to use my queer step-brother to start a scandal."
"But failed?"
"Yeah. Because no –one reacted to the rumors she spread. Guess she picked the wrong place to spread them. And no – one knew about me to begin with. Since I made up this name on my own and very little people know it to begin with…" Kir Osh explained.
"What about that transfer student?" Vadous asked.
"As far as I know… She got disciplinary punishment: she has to mop and broom the whole 2nd floor each afternoon as punishment. Guess her aunt gave her some heavy scolding too…"
"No wonder. After insulting a teacher like that… Too many overseas college dramas… They're too bad of an influence… Didn't they teach her in grade school to respect the teachers?"
"They did teach me, yeah. And I guess that hasn't changed. But you know: teen girls and their rebellious spirit and all. Had a girlfriend once but didn't last more than a week. She was far more concerned about going and trying out perfumes, lipsticks, mascaras and all than trying to get along with me… And she ditched me for another "far more macho guy"…"
"Women. Too complicated for my taste."
"You needn't tell me!"
"Alright. And, apart from that?"
"Nothing else insofar. The underground keeps as it is."
"No new bounties or anything?"
"None as the undercover agents have been able to figure out… No new business either."
"Hum. Tell them to not to lower the guard nevertheless."
"OK."
"I'll contact Davis… Do you copy, Davis?"
"Yeah, Omega."
"Did you find anything new?"
"No. Save for a bucket of water before the entrance…"
"A bucket of water?"
"I suspect Miyuki – san…"
"What for? To repel evil spirits?"
"Guess that. Really. Saloma – san's been trying to get her to be reasonable but doesn't seem to have had much success insofar."
"She'd been pretty quiet until now: why did she suddenly turn so active? Is there some reason?"
"Maybe she felt bored."
"Huff. Fine, fine. And?"
"Hmmm… Ah yeah. Martin told us that the MI is still searching Turkey, convinced that Neo Gospel's hideout is on "the badlands"…"
"More fake info leaked by Opoulos to mislead them… Didn't Martin warn them?"
"Yeah. But they paid no heed. "Computer nerds stay out of this!"… That's what they told him!"
"HUH? Oh come on! The Net Saviors aren't computer nerds! They came to fight back Neo Gospel there, on London, and that's how they thank them? They must believe they do it all perfectly." Omega grumbled.
"Yeah. They must believe their precious James Bond will come and flashily blow their base up." Davis sighed.
"Did you try telling the FBI guys too?"
"Chief Lezareno tried. But they said it couldn't be. And that the guy who was there when the DNN takeover was a lookalike."
"Lookalike? Sheesh. They've got a reality distortion field corrupting the air around them. They only pay heed to what's convenient to them. I guess that the President must've given up in stopping them from believing what Opoulos says too."
"Guess that."
"Dave~… I'm the spirit of the Monolith… I want otaku soul…" Charles joked close by.
"Don't tell me, Charlie~ Team… Any news?"
"Capt'n Sommerston found that a Navi Car Race team was being financed secretly by the Gauss Console…"
"What team is it?"
"A team named "Team Majestic"…"
"Hum. Did he find out why?"
"It'd seem that the captain of the team is a macho handsome type and Tesla Magnets is mad about him. She must believe that financing them will allow them to win. And then, to pay back the favor, he'll have to marry her." Charles explained.
"In short: it's a random caprice by Tesla Magnets."
"Sure. Guess Gauss must be furious to see money spent on that."
"That's what happens when you spoil your children: they become that type of adults that think they can get away with anything they do."
"Huff. Yeah. And Daniel says that he found that that bar we'd gone to once named "Ancient City" was actually a distributor of marijuana… The police raided them and closed the place."
"It did have the atmosphere, yeah. They tried to scam 50,000 Z off us by telling us what the TV had told about that wanted criminal."
"Sure… And we had to beat up the roughnecks there… It turned into a Bond-like brawl!"
"What about Nokay's bro?"
"He's been given the go-ahead to leave the hospital. He was depressed for a couple days but now seems to have recovered."
"Good."
"As for the other members… They're in the middle of investigations… Commander Alamantz called me to say he was hot on the trail of a wanted smuggler…"
"OK."
"Warning. Missile approaching. ETA: 63 seconds." Warnings suddenly rang out along with sirens.
"Activate defensive barrier!" Vadous ordered.
"Roger. Barrier activated. Mass calculations reveal a 68% possibility that the mass of it will overload the barrier on impact. About 80% of the mass would be destroyed but 20% would remain."
"Any signatures onboard? What kind of missile is it?"
"Analysis shows it is a ICBM without a warhead… And there is a Net Navi riding on the very rear of the missile, the section estimated to survive the impact with the barrier…"
"Twilight?"
"Historical data matches."
"So he wants to do a dramatic entrance. Where would the remaining missile impact?"
"Orbit calculations estimate impact in Observation Deck 6."
"We're at Deck 3… Good. Let's get moving there. Black Ace! Lock all doors when we exit this room."
"Roger. Missile will meet barrier in 36 seconds."
"Gotta hurry!"
They both ran out into the corridor and headed left: they stood to the sides of the door leading to the aforementioned room and nodded to each other.
"Missile will hit barrier in 23 seconds."
"I'm ready, Boss." Omega had drawn the saber.
"Me too… Let's show this rascal what we're made of."
"Impact with barrier in 12 seconds."
"Make sure to expel excess energy generated in the barrier!"
"Affirmative. 5 seconds to impact… 4… 3… 2… 1… Impact."
There was a sudden jolt and some vibrations spread across the structure: the ground began to shake as if it was an earthquake.
"Status report: 2 per 2 hole opened in the barrier… 14% of the missile's original mass remains… It would seem it had accelerated seconds away from the barrier hoping to produce more kinetic energy… The remaining section is speeding towards the Plexiglas window… Impact estimated in 6 seconds…" Black Ace detailed.
Both silently nodded in approval: there was the sound of an explosion, glass shattering and the roar of a sudden decompression: a heavy sound rang out next followed by a tackle into the door which didn't bulge: another tackle rang out.
"Pressure stabilized." Black Ace reported.
"Good. Turn on the energy field from the inside side for 5 seconds. Then shut it off. Turn it on again once we get in."
"Roger."
There was a brief humming sound followed by an electrical frizzle and a yelp of pain: the door opened and both rushed inside before it got locked again and a green electrical field formed: Twilight was just managing to get back to his feet after having been repelled.
"Kyoudai~!" He hissed.
"Hmpf. So you showed up. Liquid. I had the hunch you would." Vadous told him as he drew both blades.
"HMPF! I don't care if I'm predictable! IQ – sama told me that this time around I have the power to crush you all!" Twilight hissed and looked in a pretty foul mood.
"Oh yeah? How?"
"Prove it." Omega taunted.
"With these excellent assistants! Go!"
"Hah, hah, hah! Laugh!"
"Gra~h! Anger!"
"Sniff, sniff… Cry~!"
"Kya~h! SCREA~M!"
"The B&B Corps, huh?"
The B&B Corps suddenly appeared behind Twilight who laughed: they were followed by the FROG troopers who rushed forward with their P90 guns drawn: they began to open fire without warning but Vadous simply formed a metallic helmet with shades and a face-mask that looked like Blues' one: the bullets bounced off it while Omega quickly moved and slashed the enemies: they screamed and fell to the ground: they were suddenly consumed by bluish flames and their bodies ended up burnt: Omega paid no heed and fought the troopers while Vadous clashed blades with Twilight: the B&B Corps merely looked on.
"And those are supposed to beat us?"
"Damn. I can't warp them into the corridor…!"
"Like I wouldn't predict you'd use cheats. I set jammers on the whole of the HQ save this room."
"Sheesh!"
"If you're so fed up with me how about you scram elsewhere?"
"Like I would! Kanou Shade let out I was alive in that other "Universe" and to top it off there's an interloper who could be stronger than that damned alien scout!"
"It'd seem the Goddess of Light has been stopping you."
"There aren't any Gods!"
"Then why did you say you'd become one a few days ago?"
"Grrrr!"
"Huh? Sheesh. Laughing Octopus isn't there. Must be using the Octo Camo to hide close by." Omega spotted.
"Try to find anything out of place. It can't be perfect mimicry."
"OK. Sheesh. Now this."
"Huh? Oh heck. Screaming Mantis and The Sorrow Doll…"
In effect: Screaming Mantis was controlling the corpses of the FROG Troopers and having them keep on fighting: Omega grumbled and dashed forward to swing the saber and cut them: a tentacle suddenly shoot out from within the corpses and hit his saber, tossing it away: before he could react, Crying Wolf rammed into him and Raging Raven shot a grenade at him: Omega grumbled and tried to recover.
"Maybe we'll need some help."
"Let's warp them into the map and have them fight the whole caster of the Smash Bros. game." Vadous snickered.
"Oh yeah. Black Ace!"
"Affirmative."
All enemies got warped out of the room and Twilight gasped: Omega picked his saber and switched places with Vadous to begin attacking Twilight and force him into defense.
"This is Iris… The troopers have been defeated and I deleted their "corpse" sprites to avoid Mantis from controlling them. She's trying to control me but it still behaves in-game, that is, it can only control someone who has nanomachines." Iris reported.
"Oh crap! I forgot that and mixed it up with Psycho Mantis!" Twilight gasped.
"Guess you never bother to sit down and put some order to the tags. Maybe they're as chaotic as some NicoNico Douga video tags. Like… "It's coming from above! Look out!"…" Omega snickered.
"GRRRRR!"
"What are you, a Garura?"
"ARE YOU CALLING ME A KANGAROO?"
"Yeah. By the way. "Kangaroo" means "I don't know" in Australian native language. The English explorers believed it was name but it wasn't."
"Like it matters!" He grumbled.
"Ask Mantis."
"Sheesh!"
"I picked some PKMN as well to help me out. As for Trill… I put him in sleep mode in our room. I don't want to involve him."
"Wise move."
"Insofar, I beat Mantis and Octopus… Wolf and Raven remain… I'll handle somehow."
"Good. But don't lower the guard."
"Roger."
"Sheesh! I underestimated that lil girl! Damn!" Twilight grumbled next.
"No wonder. Anaya always said we should only fight other men and ignore all women altogether."
"IQ – sama! Grand! Invincible! Immortal!"
"Invincible? Were it the case she wouldn't have been locked up in New Orleans, no?"
"Bah! Out of my way, Feral!"
Twilight warped and tried to attack Vadous from behind but he calmly turned around and blocked with one of his blades: Twilight hissed and he seemed to be further annoyed.
"I'll show you what happens when you underestimate the Dark Side of the Force~!"
"I'm SO scared."
Twilight roared and began to absorb energy from the surroundings: the energy fields dimmed and lost power while the fluorescent lights shut off next: the energy accumulated around Twilight's body while making a ghostly green glow: Twilight suddenly dashed for Vadous at a faster speed and swinging his blade yet Vadous only had to step to the right: Twilight shot past his position and met the far wall: the blow momentarily stunned him and he recovered as he shot a powerful green beam from the blade itself: Vadous simply spawned a black tall slab and the beam bounced off inches before reaching the slab back towards the source.
"Fuck!"
Twilight dived for the ground to his right and dodged as the beam hit the restored energy field: the whole of it frizzled but it then stabilized.
"Excess energy vented into outer space." Black Ace reported.
"Try to beat this." Vadous challenged.
"Those damned alien pieces of junk…!" He growled.
"If it could survive in orbit around Jupiter for millions of years then I doubt you'll be able to beat it so easily." Vadous snickered.
"Davidson, the rascal! I'll bury them next! After you!"
"If you can."
"I can! With the Dark Side of the Force!"
"Shoo, shoo. There's no such thing to begin with."
"There is! I'm its incarnation!"
"What, wanting to honor your initial name of "Sidier" that Anaya later discarded?"
"GRRRR!"
"You're but a dog to yank around the chain."
"Shut up! I'm IQ – sama's ultimate creation!"
"Weren't we all to begin with? That was the first lesson to us all."
"Guh!" He knew Vadous had a point.
"Stop relying on proxies and fight me like a man." Vadous challenged as he sheathed his blades.
"I'm going to beat you to a pulp!"
Twilight tossed the sword and closed his fists to rush for Vadous: they began an exchange of fists and kicks but none seemed to yield to the other: Twilight grumbled and suddenly stepped back to then jump forward: Vadous crossed his arms in an "X" shape to shield and blocked the kick: Twilight jumped back and rushed for Vadous as the former headed for him as well: they clashed their helmets and stepped back.
"Grah! What an echo!" Twilight cursed.
"Whoa! It sure echoes." Vadous muttered.
"No more heating up! I'll beat you up like Liquid did atop Outer Haven!"
"If you can, that is. Hire his motion actor to teach you CQC." Vadous taunted back with a snicker.
"Nya~h!"
"Neko Virus V 2010 02?" Omega taunted.
"You're the feral cat!"
"Depends." He didn't fall for it.
Twilight shut up after fuming and waited for Vadous to make a move but Vadous didn't do anything: Twilight ran out of patience and rushed forward with the right fist but Vadous stepped to the left and quickly got behind him: he tackled him to the ground with the right shoulder and quickly placed his legs around his neck to add pressure there: Twilight began to punch the legs but Vadous didn't react.
"You're no better than Akiba." Vadous taunted.
"WHAT?" He roared.
"You got stuck in the same position."
"I'm not a rookie!"
"Akiba said so as well!"
Twilight snarled and warped again before drawing a laser whip and flung towards Vadous but he calmly caught it and pulled it to drag Twilight closer: Twilight let go of it and Vadous skid a couple meters backwards due to the pulling force he'd applied: Twilight formed a bow and shot an arrow with a bomb attached it for Vadous: he undid the whip and used it to hit the bomb and make it explode in mid-air: Twilight rushed in and delivered a sudden and quick barrage of fists to the torso: Vadous grumbled and stepped back after Twilight finished: he rubbed it with the right hand for a moment.
"Hah! You're not invincible!"
"Did I ever say that to begin with?"
"HUH?" Twilight didn't expect that.
"You were the one calling me "Bruce Wayne wannabe" to begin with to indicate I wasn't all-powerful."
"Fuck. My own words shot back at me!"
"Because you stored them in the daily folder and never bother to look them up again or attach tags to them." Omega smirked.
"Die!"
Twilight formed Beast Man's claws over his hands and rushed for Vadous like he was Beast Man himself: Vadous merely caught them and tore them by applying force: Twilight gasped.
"Déjà vu, I take it? Hikari did this when using Cross Fusion for the 1st time against Beast Man. About… 5 years ago, yeah."
"Sheesh."
"If you need Beast Man so badly, rescue him from the Net Prison."
"Why should I? Beast Man was but a savage! Ended up consuming too many Dark Chips and was taken over by them!"
"Yeah. Both you and Regal provided him with those in both "Universes"… Although things turned out different here on the day of Video Man's debut…" Vadous shrugged.
"I knew that! I used that knowledge to alter the course of events!"
"Because you wanted to have a duel with Kanou Shade."
"Yeah! Because I realized after Needle Man's debut that the man had followed me here…! So I challenged the man…! And I could've destroyed him but Her Grace's commands impeded me from…!"
"Blame Anaya, then."
"SHUT UP! DIE!"
Twilight then formed a Drill Arm on his right hand and rushed for Vadous again yet Vadous grabbed that drill and applied strength to it to crack it and delete it: Twilight cursed under his breath and resumed using his fists and kicks to fight Vadous: he suddenly delivered a string of kicks to the waist area that Vadous couldn't block: he exhaled and held on place.
"Hah! You can't dodge these!"
"And what if? I already said I wasn't perfect. Nothing is perfect."
"IQ – sama is the pinnacle of perfection!"
"Huff. That motto felt like an ad banner… Always being told that once a week… I soon grew to hate it…" Vadous rolled his eyes, recalling.
"Hmpf! But I realized that accepting it would be a proof of my eternal loyalty!"
"Loyalty? That's not loyalty. That's being a servant. The Boss would give you a million lessons on what "loyalty" is about. "Be loyal to myself", as she said."
"Gruh…! T-that character is uninvolved!"
"I wonder about that. Maybe you actually are an idiot who falls for very simple traps." Vadous smirked.
"What! This is a trap?"
"Of course not. It's just a taunt. Are you literal?"
"Eat this! Die!"
Twilight suddenly formed a Stinger missile launcher but Vadous grabbed it and aimed it at the ceiling: they began to pull each other to try to steal it from the other and one missile shot and hit the energy field: it exploded but did no damage altogether: Vadous stepped back as a plasma shot hit it and made it blow up: Twilight gained some wounds and some fragments stabbed his body and face yet they soon were deleted: his wounds quickly healed as well.
"I'm like Vamp! I can easily heal!"
"Hum. Looks like you learn the lesson. Back when your debut season it took several hours."
"Grrr! I hadn't perfected the system yet! Morons! Buffoons!"
"You're Anaya's buffoon to begin with. By the way. Maybe Opoulos is actually a triple spy and caught Anaya to be promoted." Vadous suddenly suggested.
"E~H? IMPOSSIBLE~!" He gasped in disbelief.
"If you don't hurry…"
"IQ – SAMA~!"
Twilight rushed for the shutter covering the broken window: Vadous quickly exited the room while Omega remained: he made his boots turn magnetic to attach to the ground as Twilight forced the shutter to open triggering a sudden decompression: he was sucked outside and the shutter soon fell down again: the pressure got stabilized and Omega de-magnetized his boots.
"Good thinking, Boss. Sakurai gave you the idea, no?"
"Yeah. If Ocelot was a tripe spy in MGS3, then…"
"And now Anaya will yell at the rascal for believing that. And maybe that'll stir up paranoia between them. Serves them right."
"Totally. Oh well. I'll ask Kir Osh to do an EVA and repair the outer glass: I need to strengthen the energy field… By the way… Iris? Are you done with the beasts?"
"Yes. But I didn't want to interrupt you. I found some data on them: Alphabet letters… They say "JOOU", that is "QUEEN"… Surely something Anaya stuffed there to laugh at us." Iris detailed.
"Obviously. Remember to ignore her threats if she uses the Darkloids to make them because most of the time they're bluffs. And Twilight can already use the "Bestialize"… He's got no reason to target Trill."
"Understood. I'll go back to his side."
"As for me… I need a break. I think that those guys have run out of ideas by now and they'll go back to their usual small-scale stuff while they try to come up with something new… In the meanwhile, though… We can design a strategy to catch them all in one fellow sweep…"
"OK, Boss…" Omega calmly nodded in approval and grinned.
"Let's later have a Smash Bros. game as well. Been a while."
"Heh. I won't make it easy! My Ike will give your Snake a run for his bucks." Omega got in the mood.
"That's the spirit, man. Heh. Let's forget about those losers and have fun!"