Chapter 26: Reunion
23:09 PM (Chicago Time), Tuesday July the 8th…
"… Mr. X? You called for me?"
"I did. I heard something happened at the Science Labs…"
"Oh yeah. Rock Man told me a while ago…"
"So?"
"Beast Man, Mr. X… Twilight rebuilt the whole of the Darkloids and wants to use them as pawns in a new show…"
"Hmpf… I see…"
Zero appeared inside of an open laptop in a living room which was rather unlit: the figure of a man over a meter and eighty tall could be seen standing with the light from the balcony shining behind him: the glow of the Sears Tower was visible.
"Did Mr. Vadous question your sources?"
"I told him you'd approached me and given me the info."
"And he rated it as true?"
"He got his confirmation when Twilight showed up on the scene and looked genuinely surprised that we knew. But that doesn't bring us closer to them anyway." Zero sighed.
"True."
"Well. Now that Beast Man's down there's 14 of them… And if we include the trio of Shark Man, Wood Man and Skull Man then we could form a force of about 14 or 15 Navis to fight them back… How's that?"
"Splendid. Yet… All-out could have some consequences not intended for like friendly fire or some desperate group tactic…"
"Good point. Maybe it'd be safer to tackle them separately or in groups of 3 to 4… Not unlike we did back in the winter campaign, see…"
"That sounds less risky, yes."
"By the way… Did you have some connections on the FBI to know about Opoulos?"
"I did."
"Yet… What made you suspect him? There could've been other people: that Emperor S guy thought he could be named "Kenneth Onderson" and have a totally distinct appearance too." Zero argued.
"Ah! That's because Maria once off-handedly commented to me about him before she became distant… I wouldn't be surprised if she forgot who I am to begin with… Being the selfish woman she is…" Mr. X calmly replied with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Alright. I'll be going back to Japan but call me if something happens: I'll come to report any big developments as well."
"Deal."
Zero left the computer and the man turned to face the landscape and clasp his hands behind his back: he sighed.
"Maria… I saw it, a lot of years ago… That lust creeping into your eyes and face… You were always the spoiled type… Your father allowed you too many things… Your mother was stricter… But you were too arrogant: you thought that a simple human like you could change the world… And you weren't changing it! You were destroying the future! Stealing the future: denying the future! You'd become but a despot. A tyrant! And Vadous with Kanou Shade made it clear that you had to be stripped of that power before it went out of control…"
He changed his pose to look towards the left of the unlit living room and seemed to be looking at something else.
"And you dragged Marco into it too and took profit of his personality to make him become your proxy… Che. But at least you've been dethroned and next time around no – one will save you. No – one will…!"
Receive the anger and grudge of the souls you tortured and wither away!
13:42 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Phew."
Iris (on her Navi form) was walking down a street in Internet City while sighing in relief.
It'd seem they didn't mind my escape or else they'd sent young Nelaus with his super-sonic jet which had been equipped with weaponry: he visited me yesterday to try to trick me into revealing something but I didn't fall for his improvised attempt.
"… Is that you? Iris?"
"Huh? Ah! You are…!"
"Yeah. Me. Omega… I guess you remember us?"
"I do! Is Trill safe?"
Omega suddenly appeared from behind and she turned to greet him: both didn't notice Isaac looking on from close by.
"Nelaus…! Iris was a Navi!"
"By all the…!" Nelaus gasped.
"This explains why the chopper was empty! She was on its Cyber World to begin with!"
"I knew I was forgetting something!" Yoru Yami grumbled in the background and sounded exasperated.
"Well. Since you didn't see it live then… Maybe you skipped it and only focused on some things over others…" Anaya shrugged.
"Come with me: we'll bring you to our HQ and Trill is there."
"Thank you very much."
"Huh? Ah! For keeping him safe? Don't mind it! We want to protect others from harm. Sorry we weren't able to come rescue you, though…"
"Don't mind it. Let us go."
"Roger. Follow me."
They both ran away and Isaac sighed as hid in the alley.
"Now, what? They'll know about us!"
"Hmpf! No problem… How far have you gotten?"
"Huh? With the training… Well… We haven't tried Freeze Man on yet on either mode… We've gotten some experience with the "Dark Generator" of Swallow Man and Yamato Man but we still haven't tried our ground against the other two…" Nelaus reported.
"Don't worry: if it's a small exchange of abilities then you'll do fine. I'll let you out that Rock Man was never able to best Freeze Man back in 2004 when their two encounters… It took Heat Man to make him quit at first and then it took Heat Man with the "Extra Code" to seriously wound him: Shadow Man delivered the finishing blow."
"Ah! Then we're not that bad in level, are we?" Isaac smiled.
"No. Not even they have faced all of our "Darkloids"… They did face Cosmo Man last summer but they must've rather forgotten about their battle techniques and potential…"
"I like how that sounds like already." Anaya giggled.
"So it'd seem." Izono drily muttered.
"Don't be like that! You look like you expect trouble to show up."
"Which I believe it'll do nevertheless."
"Oh come on! That's being defeatist. Just because Iris – chan proved to be smarter than us when it comes to escapes that doesn't mean the world will end, right, cutie~? Tee, heh, heh."
"… That word is… outdated. Ma'am." He protested in a dignified manner while seemingly holding back his annoyance.
"Tee, heh, heh! I'm a genius. And they'll soon see why."
"I'm rather skeptical myself. I wouldn't get cocky so early… Oh boy!"
13:58 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Wow! So you were a Navi in the end?"
"Yes. My "Copy Roid" allows me to materialize at will."
"That's interesting… As expected of Hikari Tadashi – hakase…"
"Yeah. Guess it was to be expected from an alternate Grandpa…"
Iris (in her human form) had met with Vadous, Netto and Saito in the command bridge: Vadous looked rather interested and both twins were awed.
"Oneechan! Iris – oneechan!"
"Oh! Trill!"
Trill came running in followed by Omega: Trill jumped Iris picked him as he cried from the relief.
"It's alright, Trill. I'm here: I'm not going to leave you again."
"Trill was brave! Trill didn't cry! Trill didn't cry!"
"That's nice to hear, Trill…"
"Sorry for interrupting, you, Iris, but… Was there a young man who could be around his age partnered with a Net Navi?"
"Nelaus and Isaac?"
"Nelaus! So his name is Nelaus… And the Navi is Isaac…" Vadous lifted his eyebrows.
"Has an odd ring to it, don't you think so?" Netto ventured.
"Maybe it's a mash-up?" Saito suggested.
"Ne… laus… Wait a minute…"
"Do you have a hunch of why he was named like that?" Iris guessed as she caressed Trill's right cheek.
"Trill thinks it's cool!"
"Excuse me."
He typed some commands into the computer and activated the Firefox web browser: he headed into Google and typed a name before entering another page and using the "search" function there.
"… Aha. Match one… And the other…? Match two… Closer… Hmpf… Isn't that fitting? Guess she wanted to be ironic…"
"What's the deal?" Netto asked.
"Darth Bane: creator of the Rule of Two… Darth Plagueis… Master of the very Darth Sidious AKA Palpatine… Pick "ne" from "Bane" and "la", "u", s" from "Plagueis"… The result…? Ne-la-u-s. Nelaus."
"Whoa! She wanted to make it subtler this time around." Saito whistled in surprise.
"So he's named after two evil characters?"
"Yeah. Given how Plagueis was, without knowing it, the responsible for the birth of Anakin Skywalker… Maybe she wanted to refer to that: that he was born artificially… And the "rule of two" which Bane introduced could be down-tuned with his partnership with Isaac even though they aren't master and servant… Right?"
"No. They spoke to each other in friendly manner and seemed to consider each other to be equals…" Iris exposed.
"So if she felt like it… By using the remaining letters which are left behind after using those ones for Nelaus… "Ba", "P", "g", "ei"... Hmmm… How about… Bapgei? Or… Geibap… Or… Gapibe…" No, no. She doesn't alter the order of the letters so she'd rather pick Bapgei… Bapgei! Now talk about an eerie sound." Omega began to mutter aloud.
"Bapgei, huh? Maybe she initially planned to name Isaac like that but then decided Isaac would be a better name."
"Sure thing…"
"Bapgei? Sounds weird… Where's Uncle Sigma? Trill wants to play!"
"Sigma? Huh… I think he'd gone to updated Davis… He'll be back soon so don't worry." Omega recalled.
"MUGRO~H!" An inhuman roar rang out.
"What was that?" Iris gasped.
"Heck and HECK. "Nebula Grey" again!"
"Kyoudai~!"
"Twilight. You hacked into my transmission channels!"
"Witness!"
One of the screens, the leftmost one, turned on to display "Nebula Grey" as it stood somewhere in the Cyber World.
"Shit. "Nebula Grey": the thing you formed 3 years ago when you absorbed the "Wily Program"…!"
"Soon! Soon! Soon enough!"
"Your apprentice will be awarded the title of "Darth"?" Vadous taunted without being surprised.
"Hah! That's exactly it!"
"And you'll send him to battle Rock Man."
"I know this was predictable but… Whatever! Envoy the envoys!" Twilight seemingly seenred
"Hmpf… He's quoting that "Vincent" man. They had me listen to his "home-made 100% genuine Mexican show" and I've ended up pretty annoyed with that man's randomness." Iris calmly muttered with a hint of annoyance.
"Mwah, hah, hah! Miss! You will train the "Synchronizer" to submit to your rule and only yours!"
"What in the… You villain!" She formed a grimace.
"Bad guy! Bad guy!" Trill yelled.
"Mwah, hah, hah! "Synchronizer"! Submit to her rule forever and become her toy!"
"Trill isn't a toy! The name's Trill! Trill's the name! Bad guy!" Trill quickly replied with obvious annoyance.
"Hah! You can't understand yet. But in some years' time… I know you've been designed to grow and evolve! I witnessed it! How they found you as a small baby Navi who couldn't speak but, in less than 6 days, become the form you now have!" Twilight proclaimed.
"Trill doesn't care! Trill will play as Mario with Uncle Sigma!" Trill crossed his arms and looked offended.
"Mwah, hah, hah! Let terror and chaos spread forth!" Twilight proclaimed next.
"If you mean the "Darkloids" we'll bust them just like how we did in the winter while you were away."
"Didn't you hear there'd been some trouble in Brazil?"
"I did. I already suspected you'd been there and left a trail which was a message to me to say you were alive. Now go collect lilies." Vadous was far from impressed.
"Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah! Let Count Dracula rise when the 12 bells of midnight ring out and suck up your blood!"
"Shade Man won't stick out his hide so easily. And, by the way, we know that that "Didact" name you used to approach Bubble Man was taken from a game named Halo 3 according to Meijin. He was supposedly a great strategist which tried to battle the parasitic menace known was the "Flood" but in the end he was forced to use the 7 "Halo" rings to cleanse the galaxy of intelligent life-forms… It's mentioned on some hidden "Terminals" in the final levels which have ancient texts involving some conversations with a "Librarian"…"
"Mwah, hah, hah. You wouldn't want to meet him, though. He's got a conflicting personality!"
"Don't spoil me." Vadous grumbled.
"Like how Gauss Magnets spoils his daughter?"
"That's unrelated. Go tell them to give you guys more money."
"No! I'll tell Gauss to cross-dress like in 2004 and then Tesla will organize a month-long "countdown party" for her birthday!"
"If that's what Alternate Tesla did then I'm not surprised." Vadous kept on being unimpressed.
"Mwah, hah, hah! Manzai & banzai!"
"Patent it."
"Hikari Netto! Submit to Sakurai – sama~!"
"Meiru – chan isn't that type of person and she refuted you last summer to begin with. Go hack World of Warcraft." Netto shrugged his shoulders as he shot back.
"Hikari Saito! Submit to Roll – sama~!"
"Tell that to that Empress girl we had to fight in the winter." Saito dully countered with a shrug.
"Oho! I'd forgotten about that, yeah… Whatever."
"If that's all then go and give your apprentice the laurel wreath." Vadous drily challenged.
"Mwah, hah, hah…! I catch the irony and sarcasm there! Typical of you, kyoudai! But! Whatever the ever and never!" Twilight seemingly shrugged and even found it amusing.
"Patent it with a vengeance."
The line went dead and all sighed in relief: Vadous grumbled something and simply shrugged.
"Don't mind the guy. Say… You wouldn't mind living here, right? Or do you have to go back to your world?"
"No. Hikari – hakase allowed us to make our choices. He told us a world ravaged by war was no good place for the youth and told us to seek another world, this world, this "Beyondard"… We will live here: Trill gets along with you so…"
"I'm not forcing you."
"But Trill wants to have fun with the VR Simulator!"
"VR Simulator? You'll have to show it to me."
"Sure. We can customize it to recreate Mario Bros. or Star Kirby." Vadous offered.
"So you mean he can become the character in the game?" Iris caught the point.
"Sure. And we picked very child-age games which children around his age have played or play all around the world. You made sure they were appropriate, right, Omega?"
"Sure. I just put Mario Bros. DX and the most recent Star Kirby games but I went for the Game Boy Advance ones because we're still seeking how to recreate the touch interface of the DS… Maybe we'll have to physically play with it a DS like Blood or Sigma do but… No big deal." Omega began to think aloud while rubbing his chin with the right hand.
"Good. Then I leave that up to you. Welcome onboard. And beware of Dragon's crazy banners." He rolled his eyes.
"Dragon – san is nice! Trill will show Iris – oneechan around! YAY!" Trill began to jump up and down.
"Well… Thank you. Let's get along as crewmates, shall we?" Iris suggested with a smile.
"Sure." Omega welcomed.
"Welcome onboard." Vadous encouraged.
Everyone formed smiles and sighed in relief: the worst seemed to be over for the time being…