Chapter 20: War General
18:08 PM (Japan Time), Wednesday December the 21st…
"… No. It's no big deal, really, but… To be on the safe side, he shouldn't do exercise with it for three days."
"Ah. Thanks goodness."
"Thank you very much, sensei."
Yuuichirou and Haruka were talking with a medic.
"You may go see him." The medic announced.
Both entered the hospital room: Netto was sitting up on the bed and had some bandages around his right shoulder while wearing the hospital pajama: Saito was sitting on a nearby chair and seemingly trying to comfort him.
"Papa… Mama… I'm sorry. I got into a mess again." He apologized.
"No, Netto. You were fighting for your friends. You didn't get into a mess: you mustn't let it make you feel guilty." Yuuichirou comforted him.
"That's right, Netto. So relax and take it easy. The medic told us you can be discharged tomorrow and we'll soon have Christmas. We can be at ease for a few days." Haruka added.
"See, otouto? There's no point in getting depressed. Cheer up." Saito told him.
"Papa, Mama, Saito – niisan… Okay. You're right." Netto smiled and sighed in relief.
"And I'll bring some curry to eat later. I'm sure you'll like it." Haruka told him with a smile.
"Oh! That reminds me… Saito. I promised I would work on a program to help you be able to eat and drink, but… It's only halfway done. I've kept on forgetting to properly work on it. I'm sorry. I announced it back on August and it's already December…" Yuuichirou apologized.
"Don't mind it, Papa. I'm patient. I've had to wait six years before reuniting with otouto and seven before I could come out into the real world even though it was just by "Cross Fusion"… I will wait. I know you will complete it, Papa. But I don't want to pretend I'm human yet. I'm still Netto – kun's Net Navi." Saito calmly replied.
"… I see. But, Saito… Don't forget. For us, you look as human as anyone else."
"You're also our son, Saito." Haruka added.
"I knew that, Papa, Mama… I just don't want to pretend. I don't want to ignore reality."
"Well then… I leave you to take care of Netto. I'll start working on the remains we secured, but we don't hope getting any clues expect for its chemical and electronic composition. The remains barely make up 10% of it, anyway. But I'm sure your theory about the processor is correct, after all." Yuuichirou announced.
"I'll cook you a nice curry which will make you forget the bad mood in the blink of an eye! Tee, heh, heh." Haruka giggled.
"Thank you." Netto thanked.
"Later."
Their parents exited the room and both managed to smile as Netto looked at Saito and nodded in agreement.
"… Guess we'll be able to take a little break around Christmas… We'll have to bear with it: at least it'll heal in three days' time. It could've been worse for all we know, yeah… Maybe playing Pocket Monsters will help me vent it off." Netto made a weak smile.
"Otouto… Remember: we must be strong and not allow those guys to depress us." Saito reminded him.
"Yeah… By the way… That reminds me… How the heck could I "enter" Yaito – chan's tree-house computer's Cyber World back when the Bug Style Incident?" Netto frowned.
"Huh… I believe that the screen somehow became a gateway into Cyber Space because of my actions… I'm sorry for grabbing you like that back then, but… I was barely conscious or aware of whom I was." Saito seemed to think back.
"No, I understood that. You needn't worry. At least we could restore all of the Navis absorbed by "Gospel" to normal as well as all the data. I'm surprised, though, that Forte made his way to Gospel's hideout… I guess the monster had the coordinates on it and Forte picked them off." Netto thought back.
"Yeah. That was how I got there." A familiar voice confirmed.
Forte projected with Netto's Link PET hologram while looking slightly annoyed at something.
"Is the wound grave?" He asked.
"No. Four days' rest and it'll heal." Netto replied.
"Phew. Blues told me about the battle and I got worried. Sorry for not saying "hi", but I picked your conversation." Forte told them.
"By the way… Is something concerning you?" Saito asked.
"You noticed? Yeah. Freeze Man and I have been looking for abandoned factories or underground refuges in a 200km radius from the house they were living at, but… No dice."
"And something tells me there's more to it."
"Death Shadow called me using a hijacked cell phone." Forte admitted while grumbling under his breath.
"He wanted to laugh at your face?" Saito asked.
"Yeah. He told me that we were "deluded" by his "grand subtleness": the mystery behind the STS initials. Freeze Man thought it could've been Special Terrific System, Super Time Special or Sample This Salt. But, in truth, the initials stand for… Sensou Tai Sho… War General."
"War General… I'd never guessed it. I thought it was written in English."
"He kept us fooled from the beginning to the end. Apparently… The real name for that is… Thanatos."
"… That's the Grim Reaper a.k.a. the personified "death" in Greek… Isn't it?" Saito asked.
"Yeah. Death Shadow had the irony of naming those things after himself like they were his servants." Forte replied.
"Thanatos… Death…" Netto muttered.
"And I'm worried upon seeing how just one of those is able to handle so many opponents at the same time. The next one, whenever it shows up, won't be so easy to incapacitate." Forte sounded frustrated.
"Yeah. But they've hit the limit when it comes to processing power. It'll eventually be unable to process so many inputs and data without having to "kill" other processes." Saito brought up.
"Oh. I like that better. We'll keep up the search but I guess we'll have to expand it… It'll be hard to tell where they went to. I'm sure Obihiro used some kind of disguise so as to not call attention to him when driving the van around… The problem is: we don't know its color, registration number or model. And he could pose as an Italian tourist or citizen living there to mislead us."
"Man. I hope no – one gets interested in this stuff and tries to buy some of them when they're completed. That's the last thing we need: as if dealing with those guys wasn't enough, some terrorist group could use them to inflict chaos somewhere." Saito sighed in defeat.
"This is a mess. And I don't see any solution to it coming out anytime soon expect for finding out their base and trying to blow everything up along with the schematics." Netto muttered as he rested on the bed.
"Yeah. It'd seem we'll have to go for dramatic ends… I'm off. Freeze Man will soon come to take care of security. Later."
"Bye – bye." Both replied.
"Be strong, guys…"
10:39 AM (Spain Time)…
"… Good news! Emperor S – sama just told me: Hikari won't be able to fight for three days. We got one player out of the roster."
"Heh, heh, heh. Yeah. That's splendid."
Sidier had come to report the news to Obihiro and company: the three of them (except for Death, whose face wasn't visible) looked amused.
"And Forte just got to know the true name of our servants. I am sure fear will soon rule over his flesh and body before he gives way to anger and frustration…" Death dramatically announced.
"Hmpf. Yeah. That'd be lovely to witness, even." Hunter Man muttered.
"So… We know we can't increase processor speed. But we're making good progress. It's not possible to increase the armor because that would make them way too heavy. I guess we can just rely on the battle circumstances and not dragging the fights on for a long while. We'll switch to a "fear" tactic: we push the guys to their limits and then escape. They'll be left scared and unsettled." Obihiro suggested.
"So… "Hit and run", so as to speak…" Sidier nodded in agreement.
"Ah. But I'm gonna stage a little show to keep the audience busy. Tee, heh, heh." A familiar voice rang out.
They looked at the entrance to spot Harp Note DS' hologram standing there while looking amused.
"Oh. Kagehi – sama." Sidier greeted.
"We are glad to have such a noble visitor." Death gallantly announced.
"Y-yeah! What might the matter be?" Obihiro nervously asked.
"Can we help in some manner?" Hunter Man added.
"Oh. What a nice club… Anyway… There's no need to be concerned. I'm off to staging this little show. It'll be amusing. Don't forget to tune into it in a few minutes' time. Bye – bye." She announced with a grin.
18:51 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Really… What were you expecting to accomplish, Telsa?"
"I want to find another of those things and beat it up!"
Airstar and Tesla were flying over the city in Airstar's helicopter: he rolled his eyes under his smoked glasses and sighed.
"Huff! I told ya already… Netto and the others blew one up a little while ago! And they're gonna be fixing the mistakes before thinking of sending another out!"
"No! My business sense says it all: it's gotta be around here!" Tesla replied as if she hadn't heard his arguments.
"Man…" Gyro Man sighed.
"We're in trouble." Magnet Man grimly muttered.
There was a sudden beep coming out of the console.
"Charlie! Some kind of data has intruded the chopper's computer! It's fusing together!" Gyro Man reported.
"What the hell is this?" Magnet Man wondered.
"Charlie – sama~! Don't forget about tonight's promise! We're going to go the Up & Down to have some fun!" A voice rang out.
"Charlie…! You've been going out with someone else!" Tesla got a twitch above her right eye and looked about to explode.
"N-no! This must be some kind of mistake!"
"There's no mistake: Charlie – sama is my idol! Tee, heh, heh!"
Harp Note DS suddenly showed up behind Airstar's seat and she leaned forward while closing her arms around his upper body from behind: he began to sweat and looked nervous.
"Who the…? How did cha get here?" Tesla demanded.
"Can't you see? I'm using a hologram!" Harp Note DS announced.
"Why, you…!" Tesla cursed.
"Huh…? Ah! I recognize you! You're one of that Yamikawa guy's companions from the Black Hole Area!"
"Tee, heh, heh. The prologue is in movement. My nice little pet will play around with those two Navis." She announced.
"Garu~!"
"Garuu Virus…! And it's gigantic!" Gyro Man exclaimed.
"Shit." Magnet Man cursed.
The giant Garuu roared and shot some blasts of fire towards the Navis: they dodged just in time as the Cyber World was set on fire: the chopper began to heat up and seemed to be about to suffer a mechanical failure given its condition.
"Shit! Battle Chip, Geyser! Slot In!"
"Damn! Battle Chip, Aqua Blade! Slot In!"
Both attacks hit the Garuu and it growled as it stepped back and opened his mouth.
"Crap! Battle Chip, Bubble Side! Slot In!"
"Battle Chip, Spread Gun! Slot In!"
These new two attacks hit the throat of the Virus and it growled as it fell down on the ground: the chopper shook but Airstar managed to keep control of the thing.
"Mag Ball!"
"Tornado Arm!"
The two attacks impacted the Virus and it was finally deleted it: both Airstar and Tesla sighed in relief.
"Ah. But this is where the show turns interesting." Harp Note DS teased with a hint of amusement.
"Crap." Both muttered.
"… Kidding! 'Bye!" She giggled.
Her hologram vanished and both looked surprised.
"Charlie. The engine was almost fried. We'll need to run some repairs into it before our next sortie." Gyro Man reported.
"It'd seem that the Virus was assembled in a rush: its power level wasn't much higher than the normal-sized version of it." Magnet Man sounded intrigued.
"Rushed or not… I'm glad we managed to get out of it in one piece." He sighed in relief.
"Hmpf! That woman… Trying to stir civil war…" Tesla grumbled.
"What "civil war"… That was "jealousy"…"
"I'm – gonna blow – her – away – by – my hands!" She threatened.
"How are you gonna do that, anyway? She's just a hologram." He dully asked.
"Hah! I'll bring out my anti hologram sword and cut her up!" Tesla boasted with a smug smile.
"There's no such thing." He sounded exasperated by now.
"I'll self-made it, then!" She countered.
"It's impossible to attack a hologram! You might break the projector but that's all!"
"Hmpf. You want to act like Wikipedia – sama." She shrugged.
"Wrong!"
"Hmpf! Sheesh!" She played the offended.
"Jeez."
"Get ready: you silly woman!" Tesla challenged.
19:02 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Yeah, I know…"
A teen walked down a street: he seemed to be close to a meter and seventy tall.
He had black hair and green eye irises and he appealed to be close to sixteen years old.
He wore black jeans, a navy blue wool sweater, a red cap, smoked glasses (transparent enough to spot his eye' irises) and white sneakers.
He carried a gray – colored Link PET the emblem of which was a transparent shape of a person delimited by a black rim around ther figure.
He was speaking through a prepayment cell phone.
"… I insist! I'll do it. What? You don't like that I'm doing it 'cause it's something personal? Wait! What?" He was seemingly arguing with someone.
He didn't spot Dark Miyabi looking from inside of a tree's foliage and hearing it out.
"This one looks like a neophyte, Miyabi." Shadow Man suggested.
"You mean a "novice"." Miyabi automatically corrected.
"Maybe."
"Man." Miyabi grumbled.
"… Don't screw me! It was hard enough to locate you guys… What? You don't need me? Who do you think you're talking with…? Can't be… You're actually not gonna move a finger about the jerk?" He lifted is voice's volume and sounded annoyed.
Miyabi looked like he was catching up something.
"… I'll prove it to you guys! I didn't get trained by a pro during five years in vain! What the… I have zero chances of succeeding? It's just a jerk! And my method is perfect: no – one would think of it!" He discussed.
"Perfect… Not even I am perfect." He muttered.
"Yeah… Because Ooyama's curse is on place…"
"Stop bringing Ooayama Dekao up."
"I'll bring him down then."
"Don't overdo it either."
"Don't worry… I'll just quote the Art of War…"
"Sun Tzu's work, huh… I don't think he'll gain anything from that: he'll distort the thing to begin with." He was skeptical.
"… You bunch of jerks! The great me am invincible~! I'll prove it to you guys like it OR NOT!" The teen was yelling.
"Operator, I don't think that…" A Navi interjected.
"You just shut the trap up!"
"R-roger…"
"Don't try to ditch me, you! Huh? What? Proof? That's what I was talking about: I'm so gonna prove it to you guys! What? Not again! Zero chances of success…! What's your proof for that, huh? HUH? "Countless variables and factors", ya say? Ain't that some Math problem?"
"Hmpf. I'm flattered." Miyabi sarcastically muttered.
"Yeah… I'm flattened." Shadow Man joked next.
"Oh come on. Go hunt stray souls."
"Delighted… Starting by that guy over there… Heh, heh, heh…"
"… Fuck! They cut me off! The smug-faced jerks! The smug-faced imbeciles who think they're invincible! Fuck 'em all!"
"That's why I said that…"
"SHADDUP! Grah! I'll prove it to them! My word!"
"Hmpf… Come anytime, novice… I'll be waiting…"