Chapter 14: Worms, confessions and blows
18:28 PM (Japan Time), Friday August the 18th…
"… I disliked worms, yeah, but these…!"
"Are annoying…!"
"Enzan – sama: it would be best to focus."
"I found the online guide and the strategy to beat them, Laika – sama."
"Mwah, hah, hah. Swallow Man tells ya that ya gotta sweat."
"Hum! Yamato Man says you must prove your power, ronin lot!"
"Not that again!"
"Heh, heh, heh… Sink in the Universe's "Dark"…"
"Be buried under the Siberian tundra…"
"I'll warp ya straight to the Living Naraku."
"CF" Blues and "CF" Laika were fighting a group of three gigantic worms with three blank eyes each and a closed mouth in a soccer field surrounded by a "Dimensional Area": there was a blackish sphere in the middle of the arena and the worms preffered to dive into the ground and then re-emerge to dive back in: the Darkloids looked on from the seats.
"The guide says that we must break their outer shelling: then they will attach to the sphere and shoot out energy drawn from it. While they do that we must blow up the new shelling: they will start sucking air in and we throw a bomb inside. Repeat another two times." Search Man described.
"Their name is "Amorbis"…"
"Am Morbid?" "CF" Blues sarcastically suggested.
"Sure fits the things."
"Insector Haga would like to add 'em to his Insect Deck! And to have them eat up all opposition!" Cloud Man laughed.
"Feel the despair!" Swallow Man taunted next.
"Hmpf… "Neo Gospel" won't end just like that…" Yamato Man sneered.
"We placed the 3 of them at the same time, but… In the game you have to beat 1 first… Then 2… And then the 3 of them… Be glad we didn't recreate the terrain conditions!" Gate Man chuckled.
"After all… IQ – sama is a fan of the Metroid series!" Freeze Man chuckled.
"Sheesh." Both grumbled.
"Super Vulcan!"
"Flame Sword!"
Both attacked one worm and part of its plating jumped off: it then kept on diving so they focused on another.
"Scope Gun!"
"Bamboo Sword!"
"Mwah, hah, hah. Put up some struggle for the audience~!"
"Metto~!"
"Lovely. Legion 64."
Legio 64's Mettools had picked a seat each and filled several of them as the two of them kept on fighting against the worms.
"Sheesh. What does it take to break their shelling? RPG-7s?"
"For all we know…!" "CF" Laika was losing his cool too.
"The strategy guide suggests missiles, Power Beam shots, Charged Power Beam, Light Beam shots, and Charged Light Beam." Blues listed as he checked with the guide.
"So Program Advances would do well." Search Man added.
"Program Advance! Vulcan, Triple Slot In! Mugen Vulcan!"
"Program Advance! Fumikomizan, Triple Slot In! Zeta Fumikomi!"
"Struggle~!"
"CF" Laika's PA hit one worm and "CF" Blues' one another: both lost their plating and attached to the sphere to grow some new shelling around the head including what seemed to be a horn: they began to build up a sphere of purple energy and shot three continuous beams which travelled across the ground.
"Now we gotta blow that shelling there…! Area Steal! Tank Cannon!"
"Satellite Ray, Scope Gun!"
"By the way, Cloud Man… Do that." Swallow Man sneered.
"Oh yeah! For those of ya out there interested… I'll make a summary of each Tzar main campaign mission! Mission Three: get the gold from the tax collectors! Four: defend the old capital, Keanor! Five: gain the alliance of Lord Valor! Six: second defense of Keanor! There are two endings: if Sartor is captured then you go to a special mission, 7B. If you defeat the attacking forces, then go to 7A! 7B: rescue Sartor! 7A: get the magic book from the Jaddua port! Eight: assault General Birsha's camp! Nine: make your way through Wark Aven's outer defenses! Ten: raze the Evil Castle in Wark Aven! Eleven: meet Vardal, from the Allita Island Protectors, and set sail for the Allita Islands!" He began to list.
"Lovely." Both "CF" users grumbled.
"Twelve: defend the Allita Islands from invasion and join forces with Vardal! Thirteen: Vardal and Woolin go help the Kalt'ha inhabitants but Woolin is caught in a trap! Fourteen: Sartor travels to Hong and gets clues about the location of a map telling where the Sphere is at! Fifteen: Ghiron organizes the defense of the Allita Islands! Sixteen: back to Kalt'ha, rescue Woolin and assault the Mages' Tower! Seventeen: raze the city of Benas and get the Sphere Map! Eighteen: last battle! Along with your Katl'ha and Hong allies… Annihilate all enemies, kill Borg, the Evil Messiah and crumble the Evil Castle!" He laughed.
"We got spoiled!"
"I'm Spoiler Cloud Man!" He laughed.
"Sure, sure."
"Mwah, hah, hah, hah."
"They've begin to suck air in! Chance!"
"Eat this! Mini – Bomb!"
Both threw Mini-Bombs at the worms as they sucked air in and two of them swallowed them: the bombs went off and they shrieked as the shockwaves travelled down the ring-segments of their bodies: they arched and hit the ground to arch again and then be deleted: only one enemy remained by now.
"Eat bombs!"
They threw two new Mini-Bombs and the worm swallowed them: it convulsed and then got deleted: the sphere blew up to reveal the "Goronya" Pokémon inside of it which smirked.
"Goronya? What next?" "CF" Blues grumbled.
"Mewtwo?" "CF" Laika tried to guess.
"Nope! Bang-Bang Girl!" Cloud Man laughed.
"How silly." Both muttered.
"Bang-Bang! Lucky Luke! "Great Explosion"!"
"Devil. Dream Aura!"
"Dream Aura!"
Both protected from the explosion and when it cleared the Legion 64 Mettools were already there: they began to throw themselves towards the Dream Auras to try to hit them but got bounced off: yet, their numbers were too big and their accumulated damage was rising despite both figthers' attempts to shake those off.
"Auppp!"
"Rush? Why are you here?"
"Aup! Aup! Auppp!"
Rush suddenly showed up and grinned as he signaled the ground and formed a pit which seemed to connect with the Cyber World given its cybernetics walls: the Mettools began to be sucked in and Gate Man gasped: another hole opened above him and they suddenly fell atop him and buried him underneath them.
"Mukroghant!" He cursed in another idiom.
"Guess that's Beyondard idiom…" Yamato Man muttered.
"Twilight – sama must've wanted to recreate it." Freeze Man guessed.
"Guess it means "damn it"…" Cloud Man ventured.
"Sure thing…" Swallow Man shrugged.
"Hello? Do you copy? Ijuuin – kun? Laika – san?"
"Who's there?" "CF" Blues asked.
"I'm a new programmed at the Science Labs and I work on new programs which interact with both worlds: Meijin – san…" The person began to describe.
"San wa iranai!" Meijin interjected in the background.
"…is my superior."
"Oh?" "CF" Laika looked slightly amused.
"Alright, my men! Tactical withdrawal!" Freeze Man ordered.
"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. Beware of my Spoiler Spell!"
"Hmpf."
The purple gateway formed and they all escaped while Rush grinned and rubbed his hands.
"If you'd come to the Science Labs… We'll introduce each other."
"Ah! One thing, you two! San wa iranai! Get it?"
18:51 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Eh… Hi… Nelaus – kun…"
"Hi. Aura – chan."
"C-can I… come in?"
"Sure. I'll ready some tea."
"T-thank you."
"What's with you today, Aura – chan?"
"… Don't mind it, Felicia…"
"… Hum. Come in."
Tamashita came to visit Nelaus and she looked rather nervous: Nelaus didn't beat an eyebrow and invited her in: Felicia looked surprised but Isaac calmly told them to get in: Tamashita closed the door behind her and sat down on the sofa while Nelaus headed into the kitchen: she sighed and hung her head down as if she was depressed or tired.
"The tea." Nelaus calmly placed the platter on the table.
"T-thank you."
"It's nothing."
He served the tea into the teacups and left the teapot on the middle: Tamashita picked her teacup and began to slowly sip it while Nelaus calmly drank some of it before placing it back on the desk: Tamashita kept on looking nervous.
"Eh… Nelaus – kun…?"
"Yeah? What's up?"
"Eh… Some days ago… Something… happened, right?" She slowly began asking.
"Ah. Yeah. Twilight abducted us but then warped us back at random spots to laugh at us. That's all."
"… B-but… I…"
"Huh? What?"
"Eh… I'm sorry…"
"For what?"
"The other day… I was there… I… harmed you… That woman… tricked me… took profit of my idiotic persona…"
"Is that so?" He wasn't surprised.
"… This is… farewell, right…? I can't… remain here… you guys… must hate me by now…" She shuddered.
"Who said anything about that?"
"B-but!"
"So that's what happened." Felicia didn't seem to be too surprised either.
"Yeah." Isaac shrugged.
"Anaya is the idiot. She thought we've learnt nothing of the past. You're a victim of her manipulations. That's all. I knew it on that very moment that it was you, Aura – chan."
"Then why didn't you say anything?"
"Because the most intelligent thing to do was to pretend nothing ever happened: that's how you counter bullies. By playing deaf." He calmly drank some more tea.
"So then… You guys… don't hate me?"
"No."
"Is that for real?" She gasped.
"I don't joke."
"Then…"
"Nothing's changed and nothing is gonna change."
"Ah…! I'm so glad…!" She looked relieved.
"See? You fell for that trap and you made that villain win." Felicia pointed out.
"Like I'd let such villains win…!"
"Anaya was just continuing what Gate attempted: to "bury" me socially and mentally… By trying to turn those around me into enemies… Or to try to have them fear me… But that's a bully's act and we're mature enough to shake off bullies."
"Ah…! I feel so relived by now…! It'd been hunting me to no end all these days…! I'm so sorry, really…!"
"Don't worry. Think on other things. Shake it off. Pretend nothing happened to begin with or that it was a nightmare."
"Ah! If I pretend it was a nightmare then… I don't feel so guilty…"
"See?"
"Alright… Thank you, Nelaus – kun."
"It's nothing."
"Huh? Call from Mr. Meijin. What's up, Mr. Meijin?"
"Misutaa wa iranai! Nelaus – kun! Emergency!"
"Emergency? Twilight's back at stirring ruckuses?"
"No! The UFOs: they're back and this time around they're here, on Japan Internet City! We managed to issue a warning and most have evacuated but we'd like of you to tackle that thing from the inside! This is our perfect chance to use them to get in and this time around we'll wreck their computers from the inside." He detailed.
"Meijin – san, I've loaded the programs." Someone reported off-screen.
"San wa iranai!"
"Roger, sir."
"Good! Get them ready. This ends today."
"Roger, sir."
"I'll take part too!" Tamashita grinned.
"Huh? Aura – chan? Oh well. Just be careful, OK? Maybe it'd better if you came in through another spot with Isaac as guide."
"Roger!"
"Meijin – shogun! The pizza flew off the window!"
"Shogun wa iranai! Nando!" He grumbled.
"Nando – san: please be reasonable."
"Huh? Who are ya? Meijin's fan?"
"No, sir. His new assistant."
"That for real?" Nando gasped for some reason or another.
"Go, Isaac!"
"OK! I'll bring out the Diamond Blade. Here, Felicia – chan. This is the O – Saber copy. Use it to cut through the hull." Isaac handed it over to her.
"OK!"
Both warped to Internet City and landed atop a segment of the UFO: they spotted the 3 Musketeers in the side opposite them and Isaac made some gestures: Omega returned them and both teams quickly cut their way in: Isaac and Felicia landed inside and Felicia drew a Mega Cannon.
"Been taking some Net Battling classes from Roll…"
"Good idea. OK. Follow me."
"Intrudersssss!" A voice echoed.
"Trying to imitate Harry Potter's "Parsel-tongue"?" Isaac chuckled aloud and found it amusing.
"My. That wouldn't surprise me. Maybe it's Nagini?"
"Maybe."
"Sssstop them!"
"Horra~h!"
A group of about 20 soldiers (not Navis, human soldier sprites) clad in brown camouflage uniform and having black balaclavas plus IR goggles rushed in while shooting AKs-74u weapons: both Navis jumped into the air and Isaac dropped some Mini – Bombs to stir up some chaos amongst them: they landed past them and rushed on ahead while a gigantic snake loomed over them.
"The Basilisk, huh? Luckily this imitation can't kill with the sight. I've got the perfect medicine for this guy. Magic Card, Protective Seal Swords of Light!"
The Magic Card formed and the three swords fell down to seal the movements of the Basilisk: it hissed but both were running past it already and facing Revolver Ocelot.
"Good sense." He taunted.
"Sheesh. First the Gurlukovich soldiers, the Basilisk, this guy… What'll be next, Voldemort? They're worse than Twilight, even."
"Sorry, mister. Magic Card, Brainwashing – Brain Control! The Basilisk becomes us. Here. Play with your pet!"
Both rushed into the core are and found that the other team had already nullified it: Ocelot's roar of fear rang out followed by the hiss of the Basilisk and Isaac rolled his eyes as if guessing the outcome.
"What was that?" Omega gasped.
"Sounded like a snake and someone…" Blood Shadow ventured.
"Mwah, hah, hah… So, Miss?"
"Ocelot got eaten by the Basilisk of Harry Potter! Tee, heh, heh."
Isaac rolled his eyes while the other three seemed to be terrified…
19:40 PM (Japan Time)…
"… So you're the one."
"Yes, Ijuuin – kun. I'm Meijin – san's…"
"San wa iranai!"
"…lab assistant."
"Intriguing."
"My name is Obihiro Shun. I'm 14."
"We got told by his tutor that he had exceptional intelligence and was an expert in many aspects of data materializing. The "Rush Hole" is the proof of it, see."
"Meijin! Trouble! Ms. Smith wants her glory back!"
"Rauro! Stop trolling. What happened to the Java-Script?"
"It's done, anyway."
"Does it really work?"
"Ask Ms. Smith."
"Jeez. What's with these guys?"
Enzan and Laika had come to the Science Labs and met with Meijin's new lab assistant: Obihiro Shun.
He could be about 10cm shorter in height than Enzan but nevertheless over a meter and sixty tall by now.
His hair was gray in color and was slightly combed yet it had a rather uncared for look: his eyes' irises were brown.
He wore a lab coat over a cyan top with a hood, blue jeans and white / red sneakers.
"Excuse me." Someone announced from a computer.
"Ah! Colonel, was it? Been a while."
"I know. I've been dropping once a week to check on things: what's the current status quo?"
"Those Choina guys got a witches' brew of viruses inside of their systems which rewrote their access permits and locked them out of the system: Ming has been exposed and arrested while the hackers have been scattered in different locations to make sure no – one could assemble such a thing again. They weren't glad at all, it'd seem." Meijin explained as he drank some hot chocolate.
"Hum. I can guess that… Having a warmonger like Ming trying to stir up countless Cyber Wars… With their Cyber Army still non-existant… The guy was too much of a warmonger, anyway." Colonel calmly muttered back as his face was displayed in a screen.
"In essence."
"Essential Man dropped by 'long Professor Lockhart!"
"Kando~!"
"Mejin! Ms. Smith wants her glory back!"
"Tell her to hire a lawyer!" He grumbled.
"What's with this lab?" Obihiro wondered.
"It's maddening. Be ready, Obihiro – kun. Things here are enough to drive anyone mad. It's like we were cursed for life." He grumbled.
"That for real?" He gasped.
"Sadly, yeah." Enzan sighed.
"I can attest to that." Laika sighed, too.
"I should be glad not to live there, then." Colonel lifted his eyebrows.
"Truly." Blues confirmed.
"Without mistake." Search Man added.
"Banner time~! "Of basilisk and ocelots goes the Ming Heir!"…"
"Banner time?" Obihiro wondered.
"How much do you know about the "Subspace"?"
"Well… Nothing. I just got transferred 5 days ago."
"Well. They're like an ONG with powerful resources and Navis who lend us a hand but… Their HQ is in a ship… And the onboard cook, a Choina guy, is the most bizarre cook ever… He prints Chinese mottoes from forums and sets them in banners which he hangs outside the kitchen… The problem is that he's so absent-minded that he thinks they're classical philosophical proverbs when they aren't." Enzan summed up.
"And that's one?"
"Yeah. Influence by what happened in the UFO…"
"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. I'm Amgis – amas!"
"Amgis – amas?"
"Jeez. It's anagram. That guy's Sigma. The onboard troll. Beware."
"Meijin – amas! Amas your glasses?"
"What?" He grumbled.
"It's an idiomatic joke. "Amas", in Spanish, is "to love"… So he's asking if you love your glasses." Laika translated.
"Love my glasses? Sigma~!"
"Bite my shiny sword, Jimein – mass!"
"Jimein – mass…? Earth, swallow me whole…" Obihiro groaned.
"WE warned you." Enzan reminded him.
"Roger, sir…" He sighed.
"Mwah, hah, hah. See ya and beware of ghouls with pink skins!"
"Ghouls with pink skins…! Someone save my sanity."
"And that's just the tip of the iceberg." Laika sighed.
"You can't be serious, sir!"
"I am, sadly enough. This town goes mad every twice or thrice."
"Beef! And Tuna! The Beef-Tuna-Signal was turned on! Where's the damsel in distress?"
"Commander Beef? What's with that cloak?"
Commander Beef rushed in while brandishing his fish skeleton and having a cloak with beef and tuna drawn into it: Meijin looked baffled and Obihiro looked totally scandalized, even.
"Commander Beef & Tuna: on the scene! To save a fair lady! Mariko – sensei got trapped in the elevator!"
"What! Why didn't we hear of that?" Meijin gasped.
"Commander Beef… A call…" Shark Man sighed.
"Hello?"
"Tee, heh, heh. So! Mr. Hero! Did ya reach the scene?" Someone asked.
"Ayanokouji. I knew it. It had to be you." Enzan sighed.
"KI~H! ENZA~N! I'M SO GONNA BLOW YA 50 FEET UP!"
"Try it." He calmly challenged.
"Ayanokouji…? Isn't that the owner of Gabcom Inc.?" Obihiro wondered.
"The heiress… The SPOILED heiress…" Laika whispered.
"And he's picked Enzan – kun as a rival?"
"Didn't you know? Enzan is the IPC Inc. VP."
"Whoa!"
"He's been at it for over 5 years already."
"And so…"
"Gabcom and IPC are eternal rivals."
"So that's why she got annoyed?"
"Whenever Enzan is close by… We've managed some truces from time to time but… Beware of her! She loves to troll people!" Laika kept on whispering.
"What's with that hush-hush there~?" Yaito demanded.
"Who knows? Maybe I'm suggesting to Meijin that we should warn you father that you're wasting the time?" Enzan shrugged.
"NYA~H!"
CRASH! THUD! SMASH! RAS! SLAM! CRACK!
"Huh! Ya… Yaito – sama! The chair, the desk, the door…! The tree-house…!" Glyde gasped.
"I FEEL VEHEMENTLY DISGUSTED!"
CLICK!
"Earth, swallow me whole…" Obihiro groaned.
"Cold water is the best medicine in this situation. Wash your face and remain away for a few minutes. Look up something else." Laika instructed with a sigh.
"Yes, sir… Next time I'll bring ear-plugs…!"
"Wise idea. Or else you won't last long amongst this madness…!"
"Huff. I'm off, too. I need to report to Barrel tai-sa…!" Colonel grumbled.
"Well. I'm going back home myself. See you."
"And beware of hamburgers, Enzan…" Laika grinned.
"Maybe I should be careful with them, too…" Meijin grimly muttered.
"I'm going back to my store… By tuna and beef… I got trolled… Sheesh."
"At the very least… The "Cyber Crisis" has finally ended…"
"True, Enzan – sama… We're about to step into a new stage…!"