Chapter 24: Infinite Naraku
09:13 AM (Japan Time), Monday December the 26th…
"… Sidier. Have you understood your orders?"
"Yes, my Lord. I have."
Sidier was kneeling in front of Dark Ryuusei's throne: he looked amused and was leaning his right arm on the right armrest while using it to lean his head.
"Good. Remember: no cuts, no broken bones, no internal damage and no mutilation. Just use some kicks and punches but always remember to hold back. I want them getting out in one piece. They still have several roles to play in this show." Dark Ryuusei insisted.
"Roger. I shall not exceed thou commands, my Lord." He quickly confirmed.
"I see no doubt on you. Good. I'll be watching just in case. But it'd be better if I needn't warn you at all." Dark Ryuusei warned.
"Please leave it to me."
He stood up and saluted before he stepped out of the room and Dark Ryuusei smiled: he snapped his right hand's fingers and a holographic screen displaying the playground in Akihara City showed up.
"All that's left is setting up juicy and fresh bait." He muttered.
"Bait for the fish to fall for, you mean to say." Harp Note DS announced as she showed up out of nowhere.
"Wha! Somari – chan… You're playing around with that stealth camouflage again?" Dark Ryuusei gasped.
"Tee, heh, heh. I'm everywhere. I'm the Invisible Girl." She giggled.
"Fantastic…" He seemed to roll his eyes under his shades.
Harp Note DS merely giggled under her breath while Dark Ryuusei sighed in defeat.
09:24 AM (Japan Time)…
"… This is the place? I don't see anything out of place."
"Yeah. But it's gotta be a trap."
Netto had skated into the playground and looked around: there was no one around the area.
"Meijin – san told us there had been sightings of a Navi around this area's Cyber World, but…" Netto muttered.
"… There's no one in a 200 meters radius." Saito finished.
"My, my… It'd seem you're rather short-sighted, aren't you guys?" A voice rang out.
They gasped as they spotted an almost invisible figure sitting on top of the metallic structure of the playground.
"Sidier." Both muttered.
Sidier revealed his form and smiled at them as he stood atop the metallic structure.
"Showdown." He announced.
He made a gallant reverence as four "Dimensional Converters" emerged from the ground and formed a "Dimensional Area" around the playground thus sealing it off.
"Okay! Ready, niisan?"
"Ready!"
"Synchro Chip, Slot In! CROSS FUSION!"
Both of them performed Cross Fusion and "CF" Netto aimed his Rock Buster at Sidier.
"Heh, heh, heh. I'm going to make you sweat a lot this morning, Hikari and Rock Man. Behold… My true form!" He announced.
"Shit." Both growled.
Purple flames surrounded Sidier and he roared as he spread his arms open and the flames climbed up his body before covering it all and giving the impression that he was burning during some seconds.
"We're in trouble."
"Yeah, I know."
The flames cleared: Sidier had gained what looked like an extra layer of armored body colored deep brown with some white patterns drawn across it forming diamonds there and there.
His face remained the same but his red eyes displayed a murderous lust to them.
"Come! Power!" He announced while extending his open right hand forward in a commanding manner.
The ground shook as some data materialized and drew a round platform made of orange-colored tiles: it grew until it was about five meters on length and levitated until it stopped about 30 meters over the playground's sand.
"Fuck."
"I'll excuse that word."
Sidier showed up in front of them while having a smug smile to his face and looking intimidating.
"I'll let you two taste we Demon Tribe's ultimate execution method: the Infinite Naraku!" He announced.
"We're doomed." "CF" Netto grimly muttered.
"You'll be constantly beaten by my overwhelming power... And I'll corner you in the edge of the cliff to drop you below we are." Sidier announced in an intimidating voice.
"And then he'll proceed to slowly kill us… What a panorama."
"We should've written our wills."
"… Heh, heh, heh. I'd like to do that, but Dark Ryuusei – sama was very strict on my orders: you must come out in one piece. This is just a small prelude. You two still have some roles to play in this show. But I doubt His Grace being so generous next time around. I'll be looking forward to that moment!" Sidier explained.
"Phew." Both sighed in relief.
"But! That doesn't stop me from pushing you around and beating you up a bit. I'm eager to prove my true power to you guys: I won't be made a fool of like last time around." Sidier signaled them.
"Battle!" "CF" Netto challenged.
"Netto – kun! The guy is Breaking – Elemental. Swords and guns won't do damage. We need to counter with Breaker." Saito instructed.
"Roger. Battle Chip, Golden Fist!" "CF" Netto confirmed.
He tried to punch Sidier: he crossed his arms to protect but "CF" Netto delivered some relentless hits which began to push the enemy towards the edge.
"Hah!"
Sidier suddenly grinned and delivered a blinding fast kick with his right leg which made contact with "CF" Netto's upper torso: the air was knocked out of him for a second but then Sidier rammed into him and began to run across the platform.
"Grah! Battle Chip, Mega Cannon!"
"CF" Netto shot the Mega Cannon at close quarters but the blast bounced off and the recoil only worsened it: he actually fell and waved his arms in the air before he hit a new platform five meters below.
"Whoa~h!"
Sidier dropped down and began to knock on his helmet's forehead: it originated a persistent echo which dizzied "CF" Netto.
"Netto – kun!"
"Ugh… Battle Chip, Silver Fist!"
"CF" Netto stood up and began to punch Sidier as he looked out for his legs as if trying to see when he would counter.
"Hmpf."
However, Sidier merely arched his head back before hitting his helmet with force: the echo rang out again and "CF" Netto dizzied.
"O~w…"
Sidier then rammed forward and managed to push "CF" Netto out of the platform into a third one 20 meters above the ground level.
"Shit. If it's not the legs, he uses the skull… Guess he'll use the arms to counter next…" "CF" Netto muttered.
"We must focus on attacking, jumping back and then attacking again to try to inflict any real damage." Saito suggested.
"Okay. Battle Chip, Giant Hook!"
"What!" Sidier gasped.
Both fists showed up and the right one hit Sidier: he tried to keep it at bay but its mass was too much for even him to handle: he fell into the platform 15 meters above the ground while the other fist hit him and made him fly into the air before falling back.
"Now!"
"CF" Netto wasted no time on jumping down there and kicking Sidier's armored head to cause the echo sound on him, too.
"Why, you…!" Sidier growled.
"Bite us." "CF" Netto challenged.
"Yeah. And I'll suck your blood out…" He sounded sinister by now.
"Vampire…" Saito grumbled.
"Heh, heh, heh, heh…"
Sidier merely swung his fists around before he jumped into the air and headed towards "CF" Netto.
"Chance! Jet Vernier!"
"CF" Netto ignited his jets and extended his fists forward as he built up speed while heading towards Sidier: both collided and "CF" Netto forced Sidier to land on the ground while aborting his earlier jump.
"Battle Chip, Zeus Hammer!"
"Useless!"
Sidier quickly jumped towards him while "CF" Netto merely swung the Zeus Hammer: the impact against Sidier's helmet formed some cracks on it and a piece of the armor jumped out.
"What!"
"CF" Netto quickly cancelled the Zeus Hammer and pushed Sidier forward with his hands: he hit the platform, skidded across it and fell down.
"Guo~h!"
He hit the fourth platform 10 meters above the ground and quickly stood up as "CF" Netto dropped in while having the Zeus Hammer drawn once again.
"Huff… Huff… At least you'll make this more interesting… But… Can you actually defeat me?" He challenged.
His two hands glowed with purple electricity and he extended his arms to form a straight parallel line spanning from the north-east to the south-west.
"Hah, hah, hah, hah!"
He changed the pattern three times to cover all eight compass directions and eight purple spheres frizzling with electricity were left floating around him as he quickly walked towards "CF" Netto.
"I don't like their looks."
"Those spheres seem to be mere electricity… They'll try to attack us while we try fighting the guy." Saito reported.
"Gotcha."
"CF" Netto readied his fists and assumed a combat trance as Sidier suddenly extended his right leg forward and tried to hit "CF" Netto with the right arm accompanied by four streaks of electricity.
"Dodge!"
"CF" Netto jumped two steps back and quickly ran around the circle before heading for Sidier from the north-east.
"What?" Sidier gasped.
The eight spheres interlinked and shot one fused streak of electricity at "CF" Netto: he merely jumped over and hit Sidier's forehead with his right foot's soil.
"Take kick!"
More cracks formed on the armor in the upper portion of his helmet and he was forced to back up.
"T-this JERK…!" He cursed.
He roared and the eight spheres formed the same pattern: they began to shoot electricity at his own body instead and it frizzled all across it as he made a psychotic grin.
"Heh, heh, heh. It's time for the shock therapy: 100, 000 DC volts!" He announced with a broad grin.
He suddenly dashed forward: "CF" Netto jumped towards the west but Sidier could stop his movement and aim for the direction "CF" Netto was at: he rammed into him and electrocuted him as "CF" Netto fell down into the fifth platform 5 meters above the ground.
"Guoah! Grah! Yargh! Ugh!" He groaned.
"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! Groan, groan AND GROAN!"
"C-crap…! This thing is worse than… Elec Man… Magnet Man or… Cloud Man…!" Saito hissed.
Sidier landed on the platform and smiled as he walked over to "CF" Netto at a quick pace: his body was still frizzling with electricity.
"Battle Chip, Lightning!"
The lightning rod appeared and drew in all of the electricity only to be shot back at Sidier, recharging him.
"Shit. Bad move." "CF" Netto cursed.
"Say hi to Ms. Sand." Sidier sarcastically announced.
"Jet Ve…!"
"Too slow!"
Sidier gripped both of his shoulders with his hands and the electrical current travelled down "CF" Netto's body: he yelled in agony and was then kicked in the balls before tossed into the sand patch where the slide was placed at.
"Uack!"
He landed there and groaned while the platform descended and vanished altogether.
"Hmpf. If you were unable to work your way around when I'm not being serious, then expect 0% chances of surviving our next encounter. This was barely worth it but orders are orders, after all." Sidier shrugged.
He turned around and began to walk out when he was hit by an electrical discharge which covered his whole body: he roared and his armored skin began to jump out on some spots as he collapsed on his knees: "CF" Netto had managed to draw a Custom Bolt and shoot it at the guy.
"Grah… Opposite polarity electricity can affect my true form… Hmpf. So you pulled a desperate trick… Maybe you need another kick on the balls to straighten you out. Heh, heh, heh, heh…" Sidier muttered with a hint of annoyance.
He stood up and walked towards "CF" Netto without minding the fragments of his skin jumping off on his wake: "CF" Netto tried to crawl out but he was obviously still in pain.
"Hmpf. Say hi to Lord Pain." Sidier made a smug smile.
"Drill Arm!"
"CF" Netto suddenly stood up and plunged the Drill Arm into the large white diamond placed on Sidier's chest: he roared and it shattered thus cancelling the whole armored form.
"Hroa~h!"
"CF" Netto didn't stop there and plunged it into his chest emblem: his body began to frizzle and looked like it wouldn't be able to stay materialized for much longer.
"D-damn! I'll remember this!" He cursed.
He quickly dematerialized while "CF" Netto managed to drag his feet into a nearby bench and sat down on it while panting and trying to cope with the earlier kick.
"O~w… That felt like an express train ramming into you at a 100 km / hour… What a morning! And the guy was holding back, too! We'll have to be careful or we won't survive our next encounter…!" "CF" Netto cursed aloud between groans.
"Yeah… Anyway… Let's go back home once you can walk."
"Uh-unh…" "CF" Netto muttered.
The "Dimensional Converters" disappeared and "CF" Netto reverted out of "Cross Fusion": he picked his Link PET and placed it on its place.
"Hikari Netto. Are you alright?" Someone asked.
Miyabi walked towards him and Netto looked slightly surprised.
"Oh. Miyabi… Uh-unh… More or less… I don't have anything broken or anything, but… A kick down there… Is Hell itself." Netto replied.
"Uh. I can imagine that." Miyabi grimly muttered.
"Down there…?" Shadow Man frowned.
"It only works on human males." Miyabi quickly replied.
"Ah. I'll drop it, then." Shadow Man shrugged.
"He was toying around." Miyabi deduced.
"Yeah. And I really hope not to have him when he's allowed to go all out on us… Did you locate that Togakawa guy, by the way?" Netto muttered before asking.
"We tried interrogating his master, but… It turned out that someone had helped him flee and that a hologram was taking his place. His roommate is being heavily questioned but they've got nothing vital out of him yet. He once heard Sneaky talking about some "Organization" which had "deep reaches" everywhere." Miyabi explained.
"What the hell!" Netto cursed.
"Crap." Saito muttered.
"Yeah. And Eboshi contacted the Net Police: he'd seen the guy rummaging in the garbage container near his house. He then ran off the area but it was obvious that he was investigating your companions, Hikari." Miyabi added.
"This is getting messy again. Let's go back home already and discuss a plan of action there."
"Yeah. I don't want to waste resources on a stray soul. Or maybe I should say I don't want to spend my energies on chasing a neophyte." Shadow Man added with a hint of sarcasm.
The group walked out of the playground but failed to spot Togakawa's invisible form hidden at some distance and watching through binoculars while having a smug smile on his face.
Heh. Think while you can. A living Hell is awaiting you… Hikari! Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh… We're a bunch of geniuses!