Chapter 21: Aerial War
16:36 PM (Japan Time), Wednesday July the 28th…
"… Damn! I knew it!"
"Shah, shah, shah! Shit!"
"GROA~H!"
Blues and Needle Man were inside of VPN router's bowels and were trying to hold their ground against Crimson Dragon.
"That is punishment for getting in the way." Slur announced as she hovered some meters above the area.
"You lowlife!" Blues hissed.
"What an arrogant manly word… It is obvious that men must learn that they are not the owners of the world anymore." Slur coldly replied.
"I'm not here to discuss society matters!" Blues growled.
He barely dodged the right claw of the beast as it slammed the floor and left a dent on it.
"Farewell."
She entered her classical purple vortex and vanished inside of it.
"Hell's Buster!"
Some shots rained down above the red head, distracting it and making it look like towards a platform labeled "LINE VTY 1": Forte was standing there and aiming his weapon at the monster.
"Forte! Good! Try to distract it and we'll hit the core!" Blues told him.
"Okay!"
"Shah, shah, shah, shah! Needle Cannon!"
Needle Man shot needles at some missiles the beast materialized: they managed to intercept them.
"GROA~H!"
The beast formed the second head and began to swing the claws left, right while exposing its core.
"Program Advance!"
"Program Advance!"
"Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword! Slot In!"
"Dream Sword!"
The Program Advance shot by Blues hit the core and the beast roared in agony: it then opened its heads' mouths and shot out what looked like corrupted data towards both Navis.
"Dodge!"
They jumped out of the way and aimed their weapons at the beast while it was distracted.
"Program Advance!"
"Shah, shah, shah, shah! Program Advance!"
"Vulcan, Triple Slot In!"
"Mugen Vulcan!"
The powerful machinegun's rounds hit the enemy on its core again and it recoiled.
"Darkness Overload!"
Forte attacked it as well and the beast let out a rather grave roar as if to indicate the degree of attained damage.
"Good! It's taking it a lot of damage! Keep it like this!" Forte exclaimed.
"Blues! We're gonna risk another Program Advance!"
"Please go ahead, Enzan – sama!"
"Program Advance!"
"Program Advance!"
"Fire, Aqua, Elec, Bamboo Sword!"
"Elemental Sword!"
The third consecutive Program Advance hit the beast and part of its data began to break down while its core shrunk in size and the second head was deleted it along with the right wing and the right claw.
"It's losing power! Needle Man!" Yuriko exclaimed.
"Roger!"
"Program Advance!"
"Program Advance!"
"Hi Cannon, Triple Slot In!"
"Giga Cannon!"
The fourth Program Advance did a lot of damage, given how the remaining head, wing and claw were deleted: the core was very small by now and pulsating in a quick manner.
"Okay! The final blow! Earth…!"
The beast suddenly leant its body forward and shot the brutal beam of energy forward, hitting the three of them: they were kicked back by it and got several bruises, but were able to stand up soon enough.
"It's lost body mass: it can't be as powerful as last time around! Earth Breaker!" Forte exclaimed.
He rushed forward and hit the core with his right fist: the whole beast seemed to turn into stone only for the core to explode while the rest of the body broke down into data.
"… Is it my imagination or was that programming method somewhat… old-fashioned?" Blues suddenly wondered.
"Did it?" Forte asked.
"Yeah. I remember some of Father's experimental programs suffering the same symptoms back when they drew energy of a power core… He never found a way to keep them stable enough: the core ended up shrinking upon being fed energy and detonating like a star." Yuriko admitted with some surprise.
"… Then… Maybe they used your father's former designs to create this thing?" Enzan wondered.
"I dunno, too, but one thing is clear: this ain't over." A voice rang out.
"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh…" Another voice chuckled.
They gasped and looked up: both Andy and Beta X were standing in the platform labeled "LINE CONSOLE 0".
"You lowlifes! You fooled us!" Blues growled.
"Heh, heh, heh, heh… So we did. All's fair in war." Andy replied.
"Sure thing." Beta X looked amused.
"Okay! Strategy Air: Start!" Kage announced.
"Roger! Transfer: Completed!" Zarashe added.
"Come! Hind D!" Both announced.
A Hind D chopper materialized in the area above the VPN, WAN and LAN pathways as both Golden Star Navis activated jetpacks and flew up to meet up with it: the cockpits entered and both dropped inside.
"Hah, hah, hah, hah! Welcome to the Aerial War!" Andy announced via the chopper's speakers.
"Weapons mode: 12.7 mm four-barrel Yak-B machinegun. Four 57 mm rocket pods, four SACLOS 9M17 Phalanga Anti-Tank Missiles and bombs! This router shall be you guys' graves!" Beta X announced next.
"And we've improved its armor and fuselage, too! It'd take several Stinger missiles to shoot this babe down!" Kage warned.
"So? Have you written your wills?" Zarashe taunted.
"Damn. We're in deep shit." Forte cursed.
"The Harrier 2 Planes were hard enough to handle, but this thing…" Blues grimly muttered.
"Shah, shah, shah, shah, shah! Where's Gyro Man when ya need 'im? The jerk!"
"… Achoo!"
"Whoa! I didn't know Navis could get a cold, too."
"Jeez."
Gyro Man had been assisting Airstar as he piloted his chopper across the city and looked annoyed.
"I dunno why. But someone must be speaking ill of me." He grumbled.
"Guess so!" Airstar smiled.
"… Eat machinegun!" Andy exclaimed.
The machinegun fire drew a line all around the accesses to the router's bowels as the three Navis tried to climb skywards.
"… Missile!" Beta X announced.
Four missiles shot out: two hit Forte from behind and from the front while the other two hit each respective Navi from behind.
"Damn. Heat-tracking missiles…!" Enzan cursed.
"So? Does Champion – sama know how to handle this?" Kage taunted with a smug smile.
"Why, you…! Kage!" Enzan hissed.
"Clichéd."
"Yeah. This guy has no imagination." Zarashe laughed.
"Here's a present from Bomber Man – sama!" Beta X announced.
"Yeah! Eat medicine!" Andy laughed.
The chopper shot some bombs which destroyed or damaged part of the LAN and WAN pathways: the three Navis struggled to get up while hissing curses under their breaths.
"Damn." Yuriko hissed.
"My. The mistress has some language." Zarashe taunted.
"What were you expecting from someone raised by an evil genius scientist, anyway?" Beta X laughed.
"Dunno." Kage shrugged.
"Ask Kami – sama via Skype." Andy laughed.
"… What? Commissioner! A gigantic monster has materialized on the outskirts of Densan City!" Manabe exclaimed after picking up a phone call made to her Link PET.
"Damn! They were expecting us to defeat Crimson Dragon and the Hind D is to keep the strongest Navis busy!" Kifune cursed.
"Mobilize ALL Japanese "Cross Fusion" members!" Yuriko rallied.
"And tell Airstar to drag Magnets out of the sofa!" Enzan added.
"Fools! You got distracted! Missile!"
"Machinegun!"
The three Navis had gotten distracted hearing to the communication when the Hind D attacked them: the missiles hit Needle Man and forced him to "Log-Out" while the machinegun caused several wounds on Blues, also forcing him to "Log-Out" too.
"So! Forte. You're next." Andy announced.
"Bye-bye." Beta X added.
"Darkness Over…!"
"Anti Tank Missile!"
"GUWA~H!"
17:01 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Huge!"
"What the heck is that?"
"It sure is the men's toilet ghost!"
"Meiru – chan…! The men's toilet ain't to blame!"
"Hmmm…"
"A Monster Summoned from the Naraku: that it's true identity."
"It'd seem your otaku friends have a lot of imagination, Charlie!"
"Tesla – sama…"
"Yeah. And your "Neo WWW" never came up with it."
"My, my…"
"It must the Evil God making me lose my bearings!"
"Don't say nonsense, Dingo…"
The only six available "Cross Fusion" users were standing in a building's rooftop and looking at a huge monster.
"What a freak!"
The monster was some kind of gigantic statue easily four to five meters tall.
Its head was shaped like a cone and had two yellow diamond-shaped "eyes" plus a vertical band running down the center of the face yet no nose or mouth: two grayish halves of a pyramid had been set at both sides of the band: a greenish cap with a spike protruding from it was set atop its head as well.
The shoulders were mere square boxes with a long spike protruding from the sides and three shorter ones coming out from the upper surface while aiming upwards: the arms were just some dull yellow rings of energy set in a row while the hands had only four fingers to them instead of five.
The rest of the body formed a pyramid's shape: the outer edges had spikes protruding out of it and aiming upwards along with some square boxes: a large black slab with reddish glyphs engraved around the whole of its perimeter served as chest.
The thing had no legs but a pedestal of the same type of stone having two small white stains close to the center.
Overall, its mere presence radiated power.
"… Okay! We're here to beat this ugly men's toilet ghost, so let's get into it!" Meiru rallied.
"That's why I insist that the men's toilet never was the culprit, Meiru – chan…" Roll sounded exasperated.
"Heh! Nenjirou and I will beat this ugly thing!" Nenji exclaimed
"I ain't "Nenjirou"!" Napalm Man roared.
"Ouch! Hot, hot!"
"I won't let these guys laugh at me over and over again!" Tesla exclaimed.
"Indeed. It is an insult to Tesla – sama's pride." Magnet Man confirmed.
"I guess we'll have to hit it with everything we have!"
"Yeah. Obviously." Gyro Man shrugged.
"Hum. Shadow Man. As far as I know, no – one ever comes out of the naraku… Or are you saying this thing is going to pull mortals into it instead?" Miyabi questioned Shadow Man.
"Yeah. More or less." Shadow Man shrugged.
"Dingo… No Evil God is making ya lose your bearings… If you only bothered to bring a compass along…" Tomahawk Man grumbled.
"Oh. Shut up." Dingo growled.
"Synchro Chip, Slot In! CROSS FUSION!"
"Let's go!"
The six of them performed "Cross Fusion" and then jumped in front of the monster: it seemed to notice them, so it stopped.
"Wroh, hoh, hoh, hoh, hoh, hoh."
It swung its hands outwards and some purple and black – colored distortions of space formed on the ground: some enemies emerged from there.
These newcomers were some soldier-like beings of a dull orange and gray color pattern formed on the area: their heads were shaped like cones the sides of which had patterns drawn into them and they had some armor built over the shoulders and the chest which protected their raw energy bodies.
The "soldiers" held shields and swords and instead of legs they had a "tail" of energy which allowed them to hover over the ground protected by an armored spear.
They came in various colors, those being yellow, orange, blue and green plus the standard grayish color.
"I guess those must be envoys from the Naraku." Shadow Man guessed.
"Hah, hah, hah, hah, hah…" "CF" Miyabi sounded skeptical.
"Envoys or not… They won't laugh at my face! Mag Ball!"
"Tornado Arm!"
"Tomahawk Swing!"
"Roll Arrow!"
"Shadow Blade!"
"Napalm Bomb!"
The attacks hit the "soldiers" and they were taken out: however, more holes formed and several more came out.
"… I see. They want to stall with these… A classical desperate plebeian tactic…" Shadow Man realized.
"So… We must attack that thing, you mean." "CF" Miyabi summed up.
"Normal attacks won't do it… We need Program Advances." "CF" Airstar suggested.
"I'll go first! Program Advance! Hi Cannon, Triple Slot In! Giga Cannon!"
She shot the blast at the monster's chest slab: it turned from green/blue to deep red.
"It works!" She exclaimed.
"Okay! Program Advance! Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword! Dream Sword!" "CF" Miyabi announced.
He swung the blade at it and the slab began to get some cracks on it while the monster hovered past the group.
"Ignore the pawns! Chase it!" "CF" Miyabi commanded.
"Area Steal!"
"CF" Meiru warped some meters forward.
"Program Advance! Cannon, Hi Cannon, Mega Cannon! Zeta Cannon!"
"CF" Meiru shot the five blasts at the slab and they impacted: it began to get bigger and longer cracks.
"One more should do it!" She rallied.
"O. K.! Tomahawk Rolling!"
"CF" Dingo curled as he was surrounded by fire and shot forward at a great speed, crashing against the slab.
"Gruo~h!" The monster roared.
The slab cracked completely and there a bright white flash of energy which forced everyone to close their eyes.
"Did that do it?"
"GRWRO~H!"
However, the monster was still standing: all of its stone body had been replaced by purple flames and a yellowish sphere could be seen set on the center of it which contained a black mass of energy.
"Whoa. This thing has another form." "CF" Dingo gasped.
Two machineguns with four muzzles suddenly formed on its hands and began to sweep the whole of the avenue: "CF" Dingo was hit by the bullets and pushed back before the hands closed around him and lifted him while crushing him.
"Gu… Gua~h! Grah! A~h!" "CF" Dingo yelled.
"Dingo!" Tomahawk Man gasped.
The thing let go and "CF" Dingo fell, but "CF" Meiru caught him just in time and deposited him in the ground next to a wall: "CF" Dingo collapsed and sat down on the ground, exhausted.
"Don't push it, Dingo! You're exhausted." She told him.
"Damn it! These things only happen to me! That thing is the Evil God: there's no room for mistakes!" He cursed.
"Dingo…" Tomahawk Man sounded exasperated.
"Mag Missile! Mag Missile! Mag Missile! Mag Missile!"
"CF" Tesla shot an array of Mag Missiles at the monster's core, damaging it and causing it to shrink a bit: it soon regenerated, however.
"Wroh, hoh, hoh, hoh." It made some hollow chuckle-like sound.
The hands faded away to be replaced by two large drills which detached and shot forward: one of them hit "CF" Tesla and inflicted heavy damage while the other hit "CF" Airstar, who'd been flying behind her.
"Gra~h!"
"Guo~h!"
They fell into the ground and reverted out of their "Cross Fusions" due to the attained damage.
"Shit. We've lost half of our group. This thing is no joke, either." "CF" Miyabi cursed.
"That's why…!" "CF" Meiru began.
"… It ain't the men's toilet fault!" Roll finished.
"Nenjirou! What should we do?" "CF" Rokushakudama asked.
"Dunno! Thinking is like a headache to ya!" Napalam Man laughed.
"Wha~t?" "CF" Rokushakudama grumbled.
"Sheesh! Program Advance! Fumikomizan, Triple Slot In! Zeta Fumikomi!"
"CF" Miyabi dashed forward and made three precise cuts to the monster's body: the core shrunk but soon regenerated again: the right shoulder, arm and hand began to deteriorate.
"We're making progress!" "CF" Miyabi rallied.
Some of those holes formed and those soldiers popped out: however, these ones didn't carry shield or sword: they merely charged up energy and shot an elemental attack in the form of a continous beam of energy colored in their respective elemental colors.
"Nenji – san! Don't let the blue ones hit you!" "CF" Meiru warned.
"Program Advance! Hi Cannon, Triple Slot In! Giga Cannon!"
"CF" Rokushakudama's blast hit the core and it did the same process: the right arm began to further deteriorate and got half-way erased until the spot where the elbow would be at.
"Gruo~h!"
The monsters suddenly charged up energy and shot a gigantic purple-colored beam of energy forward, taking out both "CF" Miyabi and "CF" Rokushakudama.
"Here comes the army! Tomahawk Rolling!"
"What?"
"CF" Dingo rammed into the core and the whole right arm until the shoulder vanished while the left one began to show signs of deterioration.
"I recovered." He announced.
"Phew!" "CF" Meiru sighed in relief.
They then jumped out of the way as the monster swept the ground with its left hand: it then did the machinegun and drill tricks, but they had no problem dodging them.
"Program Advance! Vulcan, Triple Slot In! Mugen Vulcan!"
"Tomahawk Rolling!"
Both attacks inflicted considerable damage into the monster and caused it to lose its left arm while the rest of the body began to deteriorate in random segments.
"Guo~h!"
"Jump!"
"Okay!"
They managed to jump out of the way of the super powerful energy beam and focused.
"Program Advance! Spread Gun, Triple Slot In! Hyper Burst!"
"Tomahawk Swing!"
"CF" Meiru aimed the Hyper Burst and shot it at the monster's core while "CF" Dingo shot a wind attack at it.
"Mugro~h…"
The attacks provoked for the monster to turn into stone and then seemed to break apart into pieces while the core shrunk until it exploded in a bright ball of energy: the only thing left was some raw data and the signs of destruction: the soldiers began to self-delete as well.
"Hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah!" A familiar voice laughed.
They both gasped and looked at a nearby building's roof: Legato was standing in there while having a smug smile on his face.
"Both Crimson Dragon and Ra Mu are gone… It'd seem you're making a favor to that person." He commented.
"What?" "CF" Dingo frowned.
"Your boss wants us to blow these things up?" "CF" Meiru questioned.
"No. We got them from another party which had no further use to them: they'll be rejoiced at seeing them being destroyed after so many years of having to endure their repression." Legato let out.
"Come on! Do you think the Science Labs wouldn't have noticed this thing's existence before?" "CF" Meiru sounded skeptical.
"But what if it was extremely well hidden?" Legato suggested.
"Come down and fight!" "CF" Dingo challenged.
"Heh, heh, heh… Sadly enough, I'm only here to let out a hint from Noir – sama." Legato replied.
"What!" Both gasped.
"Auf Wiedersehen!"
"Auf Wiedersehen?"
Legato suddenly dematerialized while they looked surprised.
"German…! "Good –bye"…!" Tesla grumbled as she stood up and shook the dust off her.
"Whoa! How did you know that?" Airstar asked.
"I've been to Berlin several times 'cause the Gauss Console has a branch office there. Gotcha?" Tesla replied.
"And wasn't it in Berlin where they fled to after that tower incident in Canada?" Miyabi recalled.
"Maybe we should talk with them." Tesla suggested.
"But I don't feel like going all the way there. Couldn't we just use videoconference?" Meiru asked.
"Sure. That's what I use to do from time to time, anyway." Tesla shrugged and didn't seem to mind it.
"Berlin, huh… They sure like roaming 'round Europe." Rokushakudama commented.
"That's because they're afraid that you're gonna set fire to their house with your fireworks!" Napalm Man joked.
"Wha~t?" Rokushakudama growled.
"Hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah!" Napalm Man laughed.
"In any case… Let's go contact Enzan – kun." Meiru suggested.
"Sure." Airstar shrugged.
"Oi, Nenjirou! What was that about?"
"I AIN'T "NENJIROU"! EAT THESE~!"
"OUCH! HOT, TOO HOT!"
"So? Next time ya wanna go to Majorca?" Airstar seemed to guess Tesla's future actions.
"Nah! That's degraded. Only cheap fools go there." She shrugged.
"Puku! Listen up! Puku! Bubble Man – sama's newest product, the Anti Matter Gun, is completed! Puku!" Bubble Man's voice rang out from a speaker nearby.
"Sure, sure." Meiru looked skeptical.
"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh… Puku! The Anti Golden Star Weapon will sweep the floor with 'em on it! Puku!"
"Someone hit the guy in the head with a hammer." Tomahawk Man grumbled.
Netto…! So you're in Germany…? We'll come rescue you! I promise!