Chapter 2: Automation Detention
In a peaceful Korean countryside.
"Waaaa! Somebody, please help!" a village girl cried. She was surrounded by a group of bandits, aging around 20-30 years old, and wasn't given any space of escaping. The bandits were grinning wickedly, knowing that they were finally having their desire fulfilled.
"Well, little girl," one of the bandits spoke as they began approaching the girl, "why don't you give us everything you have? Perhaps we can consider letting you free if you're willing to listen to us."
"Boss' right," another bandit agreed. "Give us that basket, and we'll let you go unharmed. What do you say?" The girl was too afraid of saying anything. Neither she could fight back, so she stepped backward while held the basket very close to her body.
"Come on, little girl," the earlier bandit insisted, and later withdrew a Chinese sword. "You know you can't escape from us. Or maybe, we should give you a lesson or two."
"Yuu is too humble to deal with you bandits," a voice suddenly came from the behind. The bandits were startled and quickly looked at the direction. A teen around his 18 was staring at them with his arms folded.
"What the hell did you say?" the bandit demanded.
"I said, you all are too rough for such humble girl like Yuu," the teen answered. "Besides, your idea of giving her your kind of lesson just sucks."
"You! How dare you mocking us!" the bandit roared. "Guys! Get him!"
Immediately all but the gang leader jumped toward the teen with weapons deployed. The teen merely shook his head and shifted to the side, just before the nearest opponent slashed him with his machete. "Too slow." The teen caught the bandit and tossed him to the air. Then he turned to the remaining hostiles. "Take this, you lazy peeps!" he shouted and tossed a gale wind from his palm. The single projectile hit all of them, launching them to the open air. "That just sucks," he uttered and looked back at the gang leader, noticing that he was by now opening a battle stance. "Now what? Already going to fight back?"
The village girl gasped in surprise. "That style… it can't be! Hikki?" The bandit's eyes widened in surprise. Jaw-gapping, he stared at the teen in surprise and had the sword falling off his hand.
"Hi-Hikki?! Kokurabuji Hikki, the god of cosplay? The one who has deceived many people with his demonic talent?" the bandit spoke.
"Uhh, I guess I don't need to introduce my name to you guys," Hikki spoke before he glowered at him. "What are you going to do after this?"
As if caught in horror, the gang leader took lead and, followed by his comrades, fled from the scene. Hikki smirked and bade farewell to the bandits before he approached the girl. "You okay, Yuu?" he asked.
"Hikki, I… I'm so surprised to see you here," Yuu uttered. "I-I don't know how I should thank you for saving me from the bandits."
"Well, I happened to be taking journey home when I encountered those guys," Hikki uttered and scratched the back of his head. "Accidental encounters sometimes meet two people together in the most unexpected way, don't you think so Yuu?"
"You're still as funny as always," Yuu uttered and giggled. Hikki laughed as well, before he caught the sight of the basket held by her, which seemed strangely heavy in his observation.
"Mind if I ask, but what's inside that basket?" he asked.
"Oh, this?" Yuu spoke and hastily lifted the basket. "It's for carrying machine parts I purchased from the town earlier this morning."
Hikki's eyebrow arched upward. "Machine parts?"
"Ah, I'm sorry for making you confused," Yuu quickly apologized. "You see, when I was walking with my friends on the hill yesterday, I met a man wearing blue-white uniform lying under the tree, unconscious. When I approached the man, he suddenly woke up and…"
"And then what happened?" Hikki asked.
"And then he asked me whether I could look for machine parts. After that, he just passed out." Yuu continued. "Oh, we took the man to my house. He's probably resting at this time."
Hikki scratched his chin and muttered under his breath. "Sounds familiar to me… Yuu, mind if I can meet this particular guy? I think I know who he is."
X-x-x-x-x
"Escaping from the PWAB, huh? I must say, you're one bloody brave robot to escape their order."
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING OF?! I DON'T NEED ANYONE TO GIVE ME ORDER! I HAVE NOTHING TO WITH THAT BUREAU!"
"But still, you have the bureau's registration code. You can't escape from the fact that you belong to them."
"HOW DARE YOU SAYING THAT! AND WHAT ABOUT YOU? YOU'RE SERVANT TO THEM, ARE YOU NOT?"
"I'm all different from you. I have them to obey, because I was created only to serve them."
"YOU LIE! ALL LIE! THEN HOW COME YOU ACT LIKE YOU WORK FOR NO ONE!? TELL ME RIGHT NOW!"
"Very well. But, Robo Ky, I warn you. When it comes to copying somebody, I'm a much more successful result."
Robo Ky abruptly woke up. His 'hibernation' mode was interrupted for a number of times. His database couldn't count for how many times it occurred, but it had been disturbing him for four days. He could still, however, remember clearly the cause behind the disturbance: Kusanagi, one of many NESTS soldiers sent to trigger worldwide chaos. He cursed the clone under his robotic breath and put a hand on his head, shrugging in dismay.
Robo Ky, then, looked at Sumomo. Still sleeping peacefully beside him, he couldn't help but to grin. The mobile Persocon certainly had noticed everything as he did, yet she remained as cheerful and hyperactive as always. It was strange for a robot with neither order to follow nor someone to trust, to have a companion loyal enough to be with him.
"You know," he suddenly received an audio signal, "when I asked him why he needed to have these, he said nothing and ordered me to leave him inside the room. I guess he doesn't like to be bothered that much."
"I guess he might need these parts to have something repaired." An unmistakable signal. Robo Ky recognized it very well. Way too well. Automatically he grabbed his Thunderseal and jumped off the bed, only to crash on the floor, face first. He tried to stand up; again, he fell back to the floor.
"BODY DAMAGE INCREASES. MUST NOT EXECUTE EXCESSIVE MOVEMENT." Robo Ky struggled to get back on his feet and managed to balance himself with the Thunderseal. Panting breathlessly, he remained motionless as the two arrived at the room.
"Sir, you should take a rest," Yuu reminded as she approached Robo Ky, "please, don't move around too much."
"DON'T BOTHER ME," ROBO KY demanded. "DO YOU BRING THE MACHINE PARTS I ASKED?"
"Yes, I do," Yuu told him. "Oh, sir, please meet Hikki. He had saved me from the bandits while I was walking home. He asked me whether he could meet you here."
"HIKKI?" Robo Ky looked forward and saw Hikki standing at the entrance. "IDENTIFICATION COMPLETE. SUBJECT: KOKURABUJI HIKKI, AN EXPERT IN COSPLAY. SUBJECT IS A DANGEROUS ENEMY. WARNING. WARNING. EXECUTING SELF-DEFENCE MODE." Robo Ky pulled out the Thunderseal and opened his battle stance, as if he was ready to strike at Hikki.
"Hello?" Hikki responded. "Robo Ky, I didn't come here to look for trouble with you, okay? I just happened to meet Yuu and asked her whether she could take me to you. Now lower your Thunderseal and sit."
"ORDER DENIED." The robot replied. "ON WHAT PURPOSE YOU WANTED TO SEE ME? ANSWER ME OR I SHALL USE MY FORCE AGAINST YOU." Robo Ky was about to step forward when he suddenly jolted and collapsed. "WARNING. GENKY LOVER MODE DANGEROUSLY UNSTABLE. OVERRIDING BATTLE COMMAND." Robo Ky could do nothing but to growl in his robotic tone.
"Sir?" Yuu asked in worry.
"Don't worry about him, Yuu," Hikki assured as he walked toward Robo Ky and knelt beside him. "He's just exhausted. He might have to use the machine parts he asked now." Angrily Robo Ky glowered at him before he took the basket held in his hands.
"I SHALL GET YOU SOME TIMES, HIKKI." Robo Ky warned.
x-x-x-x
Normandy, France.
"MIST FINER!"
The kamae hit, but Kusanagi was somewhat unharmed. The NESTS soldier laughed out loud and threw a Dark Sweeper at Johnny. The pirate Divine Leaped over the projectile and counterattacked with a downward hard slash. Kusanagi was hit but he quickly recovered and retaliated with his Demon Scorcher. It hit, and Johnny was sent crashing to the floor.
"Johnny!" cried May, yet she was surrounded by two more Kusanagis. The two grinned deviously and unleashed flames from their palms, ready to toss the elemental force at May. Terrified, May summoned her whale Yamada and escaped, and landed beside Johnny.
"What are we going to do, Johnny?" the Japanese girl asked and moved closer to Johnny.
"We just have to fight them," Johnny answered, "but whatever it is, we have to drive these intruders away from our ship. May, you help me facing them."
"Aye, aye, captain!" May responded and mounted her ship anchor.
The three Kusanagis were sent by NESTS to detain all the members of Jellyfish Pirate, and they managed to bring the Mayship to Normandy beach. Though helped by his iaijitsu, Johnny was outmatched by the deadly Kusanagi-ryuu martial art the clones deployed, though it was merely a replicated version of the original Kusanagi-ryuu.
"The Jellyfish Pirates are a major threat to the NESTS operation worldwide. Therefore, we are ordered to destroy this movement," one of the Kusanagis spoke before lit flame from his fists, opening his Great Serpent Cutter stance. "You shall die."
"Hey, what's going on here?" The out-of-nowhere question startled both the intruders and the Jellyfish pirates. All of them looked at the direction of the question and saw a woman standing aboard a submarine offshore. Wearing purple gown designed to provocatively reveal her outstanding body figure, she threw her sight back and forth between the Kusanagis and Johnny, the latter staring at her in interest.
"We have uninvited guests," the earlier Kusanagi spoke.
"Guest?" the woman shouted. "My ship runs out of gas and I have to dock here. Can anyone of you tell me what's going on here?"
"We're in the middle of a duel," May shouted at the woman, "these intruders have attacked our ship and forced us to land here."
"Oh, really?" Then, the woman looked at the Kusanagis and grinned, running her fingers through her blonde hair. One of the Kusanagis jumped toward her and tried to land a kick. She merely sighed and caught the opponent's leg, easily tossing him to the sea. She looked at the remaining NESTS soldiers and, with a glint in her eyes, sprinted toward them. So fast she was, that the Kusanagis were unable to see where she went. They tried frantically to identify which location she was heading and found themselves baffled by her unbelievable agility.
"She's amazing," May uttered as she watched the scene. Johnny nodded, occasionally correction his sunglasses and stared at the woman's 'asset'. May jealously glared at her subject of admiration and hardly stomped on his feet, causing him to yelp in pain and hold his aching feet, hopping on the spot.
"GREAT SERPENT CUTTER!" The Kusanagis roared in dismay and launched the overdrive at the woman. May shrieked in horror, thinking that the woman would be doomed by the ferocious attack. Yet, the attack missed; the woman jumped high to the hair, leaping toward the Kusanagis and crash-landed on one of them.
"You surely have a lot of skills, miss," Johnny spoke as he tossed a gold coin to the remaining Kusanagi.
"Why, thank you," the woman spoke as she evaded the Kusanagi's overhead kick and counterattacked with a throw.
"Can you two have the introductions later? We still have these intruders to handle!" May insisted.
"That's it!" the last Kusanagi shouted and executed his IK stance. "This order must be carried on! I have to kill you all!"
"I don't think so!" May shouted and dashed toward the Kusanagi. She stunned the clone soldier with her hard slash and snatched him in her grapple. "I'll show you the price for messing with the Jellyfish Pirates! MAYSHIP GROUP HUG!"
Immediately all the Mayship crews rushed down the vessel and rushed toward the Kusanagi, hugging and mauling him en masse. The Kusanagi suffocated and begged for mercy yet his effort proved useless, and eventually he was defeated under the hands of the trusted members of the Jellyfish Pirate.
"Looks like we've won," Johnny uttered and corrected his sunglasses. "Allow me to introduce myself, miss. I am Johnny, the leader of the Jellyfish Pirate, and that's also the name of my overdrive. And who might you be?"
The woman smiled and ran a finger through her hair. "Jennet. Bonne Jennet. Also a pirate," she introduced herself.
"And I'm May!" May exclaimed and backed Johnny. "Johnny is the best pirate in the whole world, and nobody has ever defeated him!"
B. Jennet giggled and leaned forward, cupping a hand on May's soft cheek. "Oh, then you must be his crew. Am I right?" she asked, staring into her hazelnut eyes.
"I'm more than his crew!" May insisted and brushed the hand off her face.
"Well, then," Johnny spoke and stepped forward, "since both of us have problems with our ship, why don't we take a break from our journey? What do you say, Miss Jennet?"
"That's a good idea, Mister Johnny," Jennet spoke and threw a seductive smile at the American iaijitsu warrior, causing may to May grumble enviously at the female pirate.
x-x-x-x-x
"How is he, doctor?" Lone Wolf SIX asked as Faust walked out of the room.
"His condition is perfectly okay," Faust announced. "Thanks to my ingenuity in medical field and the latest technology the world has ever offered. He's still sleeping, by the way, but he should be awake in two or three days."
"Thank goodness," Lone Wolf SIX uttered in relief.
"Are we going to visit him, Lone Wolf-san?" Hibiki asked.
"Well, not at this time. There's something I have to consider first," the author replied. "Especially 'him' Kevin had told me. Who the person is, I'm going to find out."
"Then what are we waiting for!" Cassandra exclaimed and seized Lone Wolf SIX's arm. "Let's go! The great detective Lone Wolf SIX is on the way!"
"Lone Wolf-san!" Hibiki cried in dismay.
Meanwhile, outside the hospital.
"It's a good thing I escaped Justine and Athena," Sol remarked s he took a rest under the oak tree, "though I missed Kagura so damn much. Sheesh, why would Sheo do such thing to her?" Then he cursed after realizing he was acting out of character. Angrily he ignited his Fireseal and lit a Marlboro using the fire, and proceeded to inhale it.
"Come to think about," Sol thought again, "why is Lone Wolf SIX quiet now? Is he occupied by someone? He's usually handling duels here and there; not including…" Again, he cursed. Out of character, out of character, out of character. Damn it.
"Yo, Sol." Sol looked at his left and saw Iori waving at him, in which he lazily replied. "Escaping from those girls again, huh?" the Yagami smugly asked.
"Shut up," Sol responded. "I have no intention of hanging with them, or letting them to flirt me."
Iori laughed and ran his fingers through his red hair. "Come on, Sol. Don't you have any interest toward woman? Wait, I forgot you're attracted to the same gender."
Sol veined when he heard the speech. Without warning, he threw a Gun Flame at Iori, in which he briefly hopped over it. "Don't make me mad. Do I look like a true gay in your eyes?" he demanded.
"But fangirls love it very much when you're paired up with Ky," Iori insisted, and again he became target of Gun Flame. "Hey, take it easy, okay? I didn't mean to make you angry."
"I warn you," Sol warned and gave out his middle finger, "DON'T TRY ME."
"And why would you give that finger at me!?" Iori demanded.
"Because you suck."
"That's it!" Iori exclaimed. "I'm getting fed-up with your badass behaviour. I'm gonna shred your sorry flesh out of your body!"
Not far from the scene, Zofeah was seen standing on top of the radio tower, staring down at Iori and Sol who already begun their duel. He paid no interest on the battle; his interest was focused on Lone Wolf SIX who just came out of the hospital, followed by Cassandra and Hibiki, the latter two argued with each other. He scowled at Lone Wolf SIX who tried to interfere the battle before he closed his eyes.
"It is time."