Chapter 20: Last Battle! Ride On!
09:14 AM (Japan Time), Sunday May the 30th…
"… Nyah, hah, hah, ha~h! Beast Man – sama is gonna slice you lowlifes into little pieces!"
"Hmpf. Boast while you can."
"Hah! Dust Man – sama is gonna turn you into dust!"
"I'm so scared, really!"
"Hah! Ground Man – sama will run over you guys!"
"Bring it on, ugly!"
"… Phantom Claw!"
"Che! The script jerk is back!"
"Yeah… The residual "Denpa" from this guy's "R" version…!"
Burai, Harp Note, Acid Ace and Rock Man were facing three "Darkloids" and Phantom Black "R" inside of the crossroad room the doors of which had been blown up.
Burai's opponent, Beast Man, was slightly taller than him, appealing at around a meter and sixty tall: he was a "humanoid" model yet he had a beastly (like his name hinted) appearance.
His head was colored in the same color: a reddish slide-shaped piece sprouted from the top of it: his eyes' irises were red with black pupils: his jaw's color was brown and he had no nose: two fangs formed from inside of the nose openings.
The drawing on his ear-pads was three parallel scars aiming SE and set against a black background: his orange-like hair came out from beneath the head and formed seven arched spikes which also extended downwards past the upper torso armor while forming six spikes: a reddish band surrounded the base of his neck.
His upper torso's armor was colored mud brown.
It had two fang-like drawings colored silver set over the sides of it.
His shoulders were orange spheroids with two red diamonds set over each one: his arms were missing the elbows and his forearms were larger than common: they were colored orange and the wrists ended in thick red circles having four small black rectangles drawn over it: three large claws and a shorter one sprouted from the ends of each one.
His hair also continued down his spine as well: his body until the hips was also colored black before the mud brown armor covered the legs and the feet started.
The knee segment was decorated with a reddish edge, a main black color, and the forward edges were colored orange: the black coloring continued until the base of the feet from where three claws emerged from: two round orange spots were placed near the ends of the legs.
"Die." Burai dully announced.
"Jumping Claw!"
Harp Note's opponent, Dust Man, was a gigantic machine-like "Darkloid", easily close to two meters tall: his main coloring was metallic-like orange plus olive green.
His face had seven golden cylinders emerging from over it plus two normal eyes and a tablet-shaped mouth.
His upper torso had a rectangular hatch-like device colored metallic gray and with two small yellow rectangles set on each side: the hatch was closed and had two pyramidal shapes drawn on it: the structure supporting it, which crossed over the shoulders, was colored olive green and ended in a large heat exhaust occupying the whole of his approximately square body.
His arms ended in orange circles containing five cylinders connecting to an accessory: the central one was colored metallic gray while the outer ones were white in coloring: the right hand's accessory was a metallic disk with four short needles and a hole in the middle: the left hand, however, was the contrary: one central needle and four surrounding holes.
He had a normal waist with a belt set on it: his emblem's figure was drawn inside of it and it happened to be two Alphabet "T" letters spun to a side and facing each other colored metallic gray.
His legs ended in two olive green-colored pieces of armor covering the feet which were shaped like circles and having a small unprotected spot half-way along it.
"Hah, hah, hah! Take this!"
"Shock Strings!"
Acid Ace's opponent, Ground Man, was more machine in design and was as tall as Dust Man.
His head had no neck and was protected by a piece of armor shaped like the Alphabet "U" character: his face's skin was white and he had two normal eyes plus an irregular line crossing through it which obviously was his mouth.
The edge of his ear-pads was red in color and his drawing was three mountain peaks (the left and right one being identical in height while the center one was taller) drawn upon a black background.
An orange cylinder with a metallic spear on the rear end was built atop his head: the front end had a brown edge and a drill built into it.
His upper body's coloring was metallic orange and he had a brown-colored stripe set on the middle of it plus two trapeze-shaped bases colored yellow turned horizontally and aiming towards the middle of it.
His orange-colored spheroid shoulders had two metallic hexagons set over them with two drills emerging from them: his arms did have elbows and the forearm armor was orange in color, too: his hands emerged from inside of two hexagons as well.
His lower body had tank "caterpillar" tracks built into it and was colored mud brown: the tracks were black in color while the supporting frame was metallic gray.
"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! I'll pierce that armor like if it was mere plastic!"
"Bring it on!"
"Hah!"
"Gotcha. Impact Cannon!"
"Guoh!"
Phantom Black "R" had tried to attack Rock Man using his cane but Rock Man was faster and shot an Impact Cannon at him from close-quarters to stun him: he chained a Sword Fighter X plus a Charge Shot, too.
"O. K.! The finishing blow! Thunderbolt… Blade!"
Rock Man drew the sword and delivered the two swinging attacks followed by the thunderbolt which rained down from the sky: Phantom Black "R" roared and blew up: a purple spheroid formed where he'd been standing at and warped out of the room.
"Rubbish."
"Gua~h!"
Burai had sliced Beast Man's waist in half and he roared before he was destroyed, too, and a purple spheroid came outta him.
"Spade Magnets Galaxy Advance!"
"Ugo~h!"
Harp Note had summoned Spade Magnets and his two sword strikes were enough to finish Dust Man off while Harp Note shrugged.
"Gotcha, ugly. Go compete with Crimson Dragon in ugliness. Wing Blade~!"
"Gu… Gua~h!"
Acid Ace rammed Ground Man against a wall and ended up destroying him, too, and he grinned.
"Uglier than Queen Tia's newest makeup, too." He laughed.
"Is that so?"
"Wha! Tia! When did you…?"
"We've been hearing the whole conversation ever since you were in the square." She icily replied.
"By the way… What become of those four?" Daigo asked.
"When we lowered their HP to 50 points, they were warped out of the room… I was going to try to find them…" Rock Man admitted.
"Hmpf. Why care about the enemy?" Burai scoffed.
"Because they were forced to take part into this: that's why. They're not really "evil" per se!" Rock Man protested.
"Hmpf. How naïve… Do as you like. I'm off to finishing off some of those G Viruses which ambushed the others… I need a thrill."
Burai ran off while Rock Man muttered something under his breath with a hint of annoyance: he then straightened and looked around.
"Maybe in the control room…?" He wondered.
"Or maybe in one of those observations rooms…?" Harp Note suggested instead.
"It ain't crazy…" He shrugged.
"Go ahead. I've got to shake Ms. Ice outta me, anyway." Acid Ace told them while he shrugged.
"Now, now… Shidou – chan! Don't be so rude! Watch your manners, young child!" Dr. Yoiri told him.
"Yes, ma'am… But I'd prefer to know before speaking if there's a live radio channel functioning!"
"My bad. I forgot to say it because I rushed over here." Vadous admitted.
"Die~!" Twilight roared.
There was the sound of metal hitting metal followed by some undecipherable sounds.
"This guy is starting to annoy me." Vadous grumbled.
"You lowlife aren't fighting seriously!"
"You see, Twilight, I don't fight just for nothing. And something tells me you're not at 100% power yet, either."
"Hmpf! True… But when I absorb the remaining "souls"… Then I shall achieve perfection!"
"No – one's perfect: Maria wasn't and I ain't. You won't either, no matter how much energy you try to absorb into your Denpa Body. All energy has a limit: you can't absorb infinite amounts of them in a human-sized body, you see." Vadous shrugged.
"You lowlife… Boast while you can!"
"Gotcha. Dancing Blade X!"
"Guack! You lowlife… I now see…! You lowlife carry a Hunter – VG built into the right forearm!"
"Yeah. Just like most Denpa – Henkan users, anyway."
"Hah! A mere device won't grant you lowlife victory."
"Have you ever thought what Maria sees in you?"
"Obviously! An heir!"
"A use-and-throw tool…"
"Shut up!"
"Like I thought… You're stuck into your "perfection" like that woman was and refuse to see reality. We're all tools under her thumb. But a human ain't a tool, so that's why Lartes and I brought her down. There's no way I'd cooperate with someone who wanted to murder Rock Man just to plunge the world into depression and sell fake medicines."
"That was a perfect plan!"
"Perfect… Don't make me laugh. Hammer Weapon X! You go down here!"
09:22 AM (Japan Time)…
"… So! You guys were there, after all!"
"Yeah… Enjoying our last scenery…"
"We were driven to accept death from the start."
"So we're waiting for it."
"Heh! There'll a huge tournament in the Afterworld with all the guys who've fallen."
"Is there no way around? Can't we remove those programs?"
"No… Any tampering would set them off."
"No…! I won't accept that…!"
"Accept it, Hoshikawa Subaru. Master will see to it."
Rock Man had found Umbra, Forte, Solid and Liquid inside of the observation room and was pleading with them: three of four looked calm and ready for what was coming while Liquid was making fun of it.
"Give it up, Subaru. There's nothing you can do." War Rock sighed.
"I saved Earth thrice and I can't save four persons?" Rock Man formed a grimace.
"Subaru! You're not all-powerful! You have your limits!" War Rock reminded him.
"Like he says…" Solid sighed.
"I'll make sure to tell that silly Libra that his design is way too stupid: and Umbra will make me favor and get rid of that Ophiucus leech as well by using his tricks…" Liquid laughed.
"Listen, Hoshikawa Subaru… Don't let impotence and despair get a grip of you or else you could go to tragic ends which would shake your already fragile bonds… Bonds are fragile…" Umbra sighed.
"Bonds are… fragile…!" Rock Man muttered.
"The time has come! Umbra! Forte! Solid! Liquid! You have served me well and, in reward, you shall become part of me: I shall achieve perfection, and, once these lowlifes have been exterminated, you shall be rebuilt into perfect existences! Now come at me! Fuse with me!" Twilight suddenly announced through some speakers.
"Twilight! You lowlife~!" Rock Man roared.
"Subaru! Calm down!" Vadous commanded.
"… Roger, Boss…!" Subaru made a grimace.
"Farewell!" The four of them exclaimed.
Streaks of purple light emerged from inside of their bodies and Rock Man turned away: their bodies then exploded and the explosion kicked Rock Man down the ramp back at the main corridor: he managed to see four golden spheroids hovering in the air which then warped out of the room while he clenched his left fist.
"Bonds are fragile…! You guys… I'm sorry…! I couldn't try to help you guys…!" Rock Man cursed.
"Finally…! I have achieved perfection! All that's left is executing the program and I shall evolve into my ultimate form!" Twilight laughed over the radio.
"Ultimate Form… You can use Noise Change or what?"
"Hah! I have no need for such childish power."
"Childish power? Tell that to Joker and WAXA, will you?"
"Shut up!"
"Fine. Show it to me…"
"Hah! This Ultimate Form shall turn me into the invincible daimaou Twilight! Hroa~h!"
"Coming?" Vadous wondered.
"Gua~h…! Ya~h…!"
Twilight had stopped in the midst of an attack and purple energy formed out of nowhere to then build up around his body before hiding it completely inside of purple flames: they began to fade away and Vadous gasped.
"T-that's…!"
Twilight had gained a new helmet which had Andromeda's compact form "eyes" drawn over the forehead.
The main body armor was reminiscent of that of Ra Mu.
Crimson Dragon's wings had been added to his body.
He also had claws on his forearms and legs.
"Mwah, hah, hah, ha~h! I am invincible~!" He laughed.
"I wonder about that…"
"Wha~t?"
"It doesn't look better than make-up."
"Why, you…!"
"… Hmmm…"
"Give up! Nothing can defeat this form!"
"… One thing can, yet… Everyone! Evacuate this place NOW! Tell me once you're outside into the desert…" Vadous called out.
"… Hmpf. Fine. Something tells me it's worth it." Burai calmly replied through the radio.
"… Oho. Boss' secret technique…" Omega sounded amused.
"Huh. Be careful with that stuff, Boss!" Kir Osh warned.
"Don't worry, Kir Osh… He built it and he knows perfectly what to expect from it… Let's go outside." Lartes replied.
"Roger." Acid Ace confirmed.
"Let's go~!" Harp Note rallied.
"You lowlife… What does this mean?" Twilight demanded.
"Fight!" Vadous taunted.
"Whatever! Die~!"
Vadous dodged his claws and then extended his right hand forward: the "infinity" symbol colored purple showed up there and he aimed towards Twilight's chest emblem: it flew out of Vadous' hand and got attached there: Twilight didn't seem to notice it but his body began to slowly petrify: he roared and managed to stop the process: Vadous seemed to lift his eyebrows under his faceplate.
"You lowlife… Did you think I didn't know about your programs? My body has antibodies to them: I've recreated all of them!" He roared.
"Hmpf. No problem."
"Be gone~!"
"Come!"
"Ultimate… Destruction! I win!"
"Gotcha."
"What!"
Vadous suddenly formed two curved black-colored lance-like objects which moved in front of him: Twilight's attack, a blast of reddish energy, curved and headed back towards the source: Twilight was seemingly frozen in place as the attack impacted him full-on and he was propelled across the room and into a wall where he got stuck.
"Gu… Ack… Grah… Ugh…" He uttered.
"The end, Twilight… How fitting. Your "ultimate power" has been what had brought you your end." Vadous he stored his swords on the sheaths.
Twilight's body had large gaping wounds into it and he looked like he was about to be deleted any moment now.
"You lowlife… This is not… the end…!" He uttered.
"Hmpf. Stubborn… Realize it: you were a fanatic who were deluded and wanted to bring pain to the whole world. I wouldn't allow for that to happen." Vadous shrugged.
"Time-Space…! I have…! Overcome Time-Space…! But only my body shall die in this place…! My consciousness shall… remain alive… and… shall cross the Time-Space… A new chapter shall begin… You lowlife and I are, after all… linked by "Fate"… I shall… fight another incarnation of you lowlife… and I shall triumph…!" Twilight uttered.
He let out a dry and hollow crackle before his body was finally deleted: Vadous sighed and looked away.
"Twilight… You had no cure. You were totally obsessed with "perfection" and it led to your madness… And that talk didn't impress me in the very least, anyway." Vadous muttered.
"Warning! Daimaou's signature has disappeared: self-destruct device has been engaged and will execute in 30 seconds." An auto-voice rang out along with some sirens.
"Time to scram…"
Vadous aimed his Hunter – VG towards the middle of the room and pressed some keys into it: a purple swirling gateway opened and he calmly walked towards it without spotting a small dragonfly hovering very close to his right shoulder.
"Hmmm?"
Vadous suddenly turned around for an instant and seemed to scan the room before shrugging and heading back towards the gateway and stopping a second time to have a last look at the scenery: the sirens grew in intensity.
"15 seconds to self-destruct system activation… All personnel: evacuate the premises."
"Farewell… Zenay III!"
09:29 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Hum. I see."
An unidentified man was sitting on a chair placed behind of a small metallic desk somewhere in a largely unlit room and looking at a Real Wave screen showing an overhead live feed of Vadous walking into a room having a large viewing window: the whole expeditionary team was gathered there and looking at a gigantic plasma spheroid which shone above the planet's equator plus a shockwave ring which began to spread through the surface.
"… It's over, Boss?" Subaru asked.
"It's over: he was brought down by his own arrogance."
"Yet…" Subaru sighed.
"I know, Subaru, but I understand how you feel. It's not like I can change the world, either. I'm not all-powerful, either. Realizing one's limitations is a very important thing to do to avoid temptation. One must always do their best, true, but always within their limitations."
"… True… I understand… I know that it'd been somewhat pointless to have Solid and Liquid around given how Tsukasa – kun and Hikaru are exactly like them, yet… If only Umbra and Forte could've come along…" Subaru sighed and sounded depressed.
"But they had a will of their own and were not totally controlled by Twilight, so I'd say they pretty much purged themselves by sabotaging the missiles." Vadous replied.
"… Heh, heh, heh. As always, Cousin Vadous… You're skilled with words yet so I am. Relax! I'm more like you yet I am not a fighter and had no intention of causing any bother… But… Cousin Yoru Yami… Or should I say, Cousin Twilight? You can't fool me… I know very well the trick you used here… And wherever you go to… I'll be there, too. It'll be amusing to see what you come up with next time… Kanou Shade promises you this, Cousin Twilight! I'll foil your next scheme yet! You won't win. I won't let you win. Such is my duty: to foil your ambitions! Get ready!"