Chapter Three:
Torasun and Yagami fighting network
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A young man with an interesting haircut consisting of long red hair in the front sat on a rooftop, peering through the night. He watched guards patrol outside a major business office...a bit odd, considering the circumstances. He grabbed his PET, pressing a button. "Jet, the guards are about to shift in--"
"-- Ten minutes. You might want to speed up." Jet Torasun heard his partner report. He continued his current objective, however: imbedding a virus in the businesses inner power program, The green haired, cloak wearing teen continued his romp through the server, ignoring any advice at this point. His navi was still embedding said virus.
"Almost done," he spoke into his PET. "You may want to give me a distraction, Iori. I doubt I'll be getting out of here without one." He noticed his navi, Rift.exe, had finished his job. "Perfect," He said, plugging his navi out. Placing a wireless sensor to the window, he flashed a red laser pen out the window.
Iori saw the light blink, standing up. Pointing his PET to the window, he plugged his navi in. Pushing a button, the entire building shut down as if a bomb went off in the network. In the confusion that resulted outside, a cloaked individual stepped out the building. Grabbing the heads of the two guards, he knocked them together and knocked them out. Iori climbed off the building, landing with a bang on the sidewalk below as the two casually walked off into the night.
"Another shut down in the last few days," Trinku read the news off his computer in class. Kit and Uriko leaned in from his left and right respectively, reading as well. "It was probably the same guys who gassed my house…"
"I don't think so…" Kit muttered. "This seems to be an attack on businesses. What do you bet its just a job some rival put together?"
"Kit has a point." Uriko pointed out. "It must be a different group."
Trinku sighed. "Man, I hope it was the same group. I want to knock some skulls after what they did to us…" He placed his head on his desk. "But I haven't been given a single job from the ONBA. I feel so…useless."
"That's because you are." Shinigami pointed out, sitting on the edge of the program window on Trinku's computer. "So your feeling is accurate." Trinku sighed, feeling as if a storm cloud passed above his head. Uriko and Kit sighed as he grumbled in boredom.
A few minutes later, Trinku walked home with Uriko. She was talking about all the new people she met, all the new foods she tried, and all the new words she learned while spending time in Electopia. "Who would have zought I could learn all this?" She smiled, her accent more obvious then usual, as they stopped at the front door.
"Maybe I'll travel to Creamland one day," Trinku smiled. "I bet its an interesting place. Who know what I'd learn?" Opening the door, the two stepped in to smell the smell of food cooking. "Wait a minute…Yumi can't cook!" Trinku thought. "Intruders!" He declared, running into the kitchen…but stopped abruptly once he saw who was in there.
"…Mom?" Trinku gasped as his mother, Ami Matanoa looked up from a pot on the stove. Standing next to her was another woman with a knife in one hand an a carrot in the other. For some reason, she seemed familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it…
"M-Méme?" Uriko gasped, as Trinku saw instantly why he recognized her; except for the hair color, Uriko looked just like her mother, Lita Coivei. "Wh-what are you doing here?" The both of them asked as Yumi entered the kitchen.
"Oh, you're home…" She said. In a quick move, her hand swung out, slapping her brother to the floor. "That's for saying I can't cook!" She shouted, before deciding to explain. "They decided to visit the lovely engaged couple, so, thinking they could surprise you…"
"We decided to make dinner." Ami smiled, bubbling with energy. "It's a shame you can't stay, Yumi dear. I'm sure there's a lot for us to catch up on."
Yumi gave a obviously fake smile. "I'm sorry, mother," There was a slight mocking tone in the way she said mother. "But I have to go to work. There's something to love about my job." She said sarcastically, turning to leave. Patting her brother on the back, she whispered to him: "Besides, she never lets me smoke in the house…" He sweat dropped as she walked to her car, leaving him and Uriko to their mothers.
"…" They looked at each other, then their grinning mothers, then back to each other. "Yay." they smiled in a very fake way.
"Twenty-six thousand each, gentlemen," A man in a two-pieced suit placed two disk on the table he sat behind. The two young men he addressed sat along the back wall as he grinned. "And you did such marvelous jobs with this assignment. If you were working for me, I'd give you a raise."
"Humph," Jet muttered, arms folded as he leaned against the back wall.. "You should pay us more for wasting our time. I've done more work slapping babies and helping old women across the street…"
"…That's an odd comparison." The man blinked.
"By help, he means throw." Rift interjected. "You never were a good kid…"
"You know, I always thought you were a little hellion…" Iori sat in a chair, back to his chest. "You seem like on of those kids who put his dog in the dryer or anything else that made their parents ashamed of them…" Jet gave a small laugh, as Iori shrugged. "Oh well…I beat up my kindergarten teacher because she called me 'violent'…"
"You? No, never…" Jet replied, taking the disk from the man. Tossing one back to Iori, he leaned forward to talk to his client. "Now listen old man…you have no idea who we are, and we don't know you. You brag about how you shut down your competition--"
"We give you a dirt nap." Iori spoke. "Besides, you talk and they'll probably send some people after you." As he said this, the ground shook. "…Maybe I shouldn't talk so much…" He muttered, as the lights blinked out…
Ami grinned. Lita grinned. They turned to grin at each other. And all this unnecessary grinning was making their children feel really nervous. "You two are so cute together!" Ami continued to grin. "You are easily the cutest couple in the world!"
"Just picture the beau grandchildren we'll get out of zis," Lita spoke, tripping over her accent slightly, but speaking perfectly with every other word. "Of course, we mean fifteen years from now. Don't get any ideas." She added, producing a blush in her daughter that almost seemed to glow .
"…Why are you here, mom?" Trinku asked, looking to the older woman. "I mean, not to sound rude or anything, but shouldn't you be helping dad with the project you two were working on?"
"Oh, it'd fine dear, don't worry." She waved the question off. "But tell me, how's your sister doing? She looks a bit…stressed, to say the least." She leaned forward. "She doesn't happen to have a man in her life, does she?"
"Your mom is awfully nosey, isn't she?" Shinigami spoke, speaking loudly on purpose so Ami could hear. "I mean, it almost sounds like she's using you to spy on Yumi."
Ami put on a hurt look, speaking as if she was saddened by Shinigami's words." Well, Yumi doesn't speak to me about anything. Ever since she moved out, I felt as if she was slipping away… as if I can't be trusted with something so private--"
"You can't." Trinku and Shinigami butt in, but she ignored them, continuing.
"—And I bet she's still on those dreadful death sticks of hers," His mom sighed. "No wonder she's all alone. No man wants a woman who smokes, with their yellowed teeth and constant smoke smell-"
"Yumi never seems to smell like smoke." Trinku whispered to his navi.
"And her teeth always seem pearly white." Shinigami pointed out. "She must brush really well…"
"Don't support her habits!" His mom shouted, knocking him over. Before anyone could continue, however, a news report displayed on the TV. Each of them turned to look, seeing a large building, red glow from the windows signifying the emergency power was activated.
"Hey…I know that place…" Trinku stroked his chin, trying to remember. Shinigami sighed, looking up at his idiot operator.
"That's the place where Yumi works, idiot!" He shouted.
"Yeah, that's the place!" Trinku snapped his fingers. Then… "Oh no! That's where Yumi works! She's probably in some kind of trouble!" Of course, to himself he was thinking "Finally! The ONBA will send me some work!"
As if they knew what he was thinking, a loud beep came from his PET, email. The trench coated navi opened it, reading it aloud:
"Dear Trainee,
Due to Seitamashii Kojuro's absence, we are sending you to investigate the situation atthe building in ACDC. Please do a good job.
ONBA"
"…Huh…zey only called you because Kojuro wasn't available…" Uriko read aloud. Trinku clenched his fist, grabbing his jacket as he headed to the door.
"Well, I have to go save my sister," Turning to the women, he grinned. "Try not to have too much fun without me!"
"Alright! Be careful!" Ami called absent mindedly, leaving Trinku to sigh. "Most parents try to stop their children…" he thought.
"Exorcism!"
"Blood Moon!"
A shockwave of purple flame speed across the net, followed by a red slash wave only three feet above it. The two attacks collided with a navi in a ninja-like suit, splitting it into fourths and deleting it on contact. As the smoke cleared, Rift and Hasshaku stood, each readying another attack.
In Rift's hands was a thick, wide, and overall nasty sword, runic symbols across the surface. Next to him stood Hasshaku, Iori's navi who bore a striking resemblance to his operators, save for the shorter black hair. Purple flames danced at his finger tips as they relaxed, knowing nothing else was coming.
"The nerve of these guys, attacking the building while we're in it…" Rift muttered.
"They must think very low of us, sending lightweights like these in…" Hasshaku agreed.
Turning to clear out the rest of the server by their operators prior commands, they hardly took two steps before something new occurred:
"STINGER!"
A scythe barely whizzed past Rift's head, around Hasshaku's chest, and back into the direction from which it came. A gloved hand caught it, trench coat swishing from the force. A long haired navi stepped out of the shadows nearby, genuinely pissed. "Alright, tell me…" He said softly. "Which one of you bastards are the head of this?"
"…You know this guy?" Rift asked. Hasshaku shrugged.
"He could be the one behind this attack. Taking him down would probably stop all the quakes in this stupid building." Iori guessed. "So…I'll be going first…"
"Be my guest. He looks like one of those 'lightweights' you hate fighting so much…" Jet said, not wiling to argue. "Just do it quick, okay?"
"…Who in the heck do these guys think they are?" Shinigami growled. "Lightweights? Us?"
"Lets bring'em to their knees, then." Trinku grinned. "Battle chip, Tornado!" A raging wind swirled to life in front of the black-clad navi, flying violently towards the two. Leaping aside, Rift found himself with a large, cruel Scythe being swung at his head.
Bringing up his sword with unnatural quickness, the weapons collided with a shower of sparks and a loud metallic clang. Shinigami reeled from the blow, but Rift hardly jerked. In fact, he smiled as a hand gripped Shini around the back of his throat.
"Nggg…" Shinigami gasped, looking to see Hasshaku. Noticing the color purple out the corner of his eyes, he looked to see purple fire gathering around his neck…then was consumed in a violent explosion of fire.
Jet was surprised. "…that went way too fast…."
"Yeah…he was way too weak…" Iori agreed. "There's no way he could be behind this…" Iori fell silent, seeing the smoke from the explosion had blocked their view of the battle. And he could briefly make out movement. "Something's alive down there…"
A gust of wind swept away all the smoke, revealing an angry, burnt Shinigami gripping Rift and Hasshaku's throats. "You…little…punks…" He panted, eyes wide with rage. "I…should…break…your…friggen…necks!"
"Impossible…" Jet blinked.
"When did he…?" Iori began, but a sudden quake cut him short. In the net, all three navis looked up to see a strange sight: a large steel ball hovered above them, then came crashing down in an instant. "…" The operators were silent, seeing a navi attached to the ball through a chain. Calling it back, he laughed, causing a quake with just the sound of his voice…
Yumi Matanoa held her flash light in her mouth as she wrote continued to type her paper: no way she was going to lose her payment to a small power out and a few tremors. Another sudden quake took place, this time enough to make her chair scoot across the room. Saving, she turned off her computer. "Sorry, but you can't pay me enough to stay now…" She said to herself. Walking to the door, she stopped at the sound of two unfamiliar voices.
"Damn it, this whole place is about to come down," A young, male voice said, voice carrying a less than interested tone regarding the circumstances. "Alright…Iori, get everyone out of the building. The client said there's only a few people here, so it should be easy."
"Right, whatever," A deeper, older voice answered. Sliding the door open, Yumi found herself looking into the chest of a man who stood before her. Looking up (he was easily a head above her), she narrowed her eyes. "And whom may you be?"
"The man who's here to save your life." Iori said, folding his arms. "Come on, I need you to help me find who's left."
"I'm the only one left. Everyone else turned coward and ran home." Yumi said in her usual fearless tone. Stepping past him, she opened a fire escape door…only to have a familiar young man come tumbling in. "Trinku?"
"Ow…" the teen rubbed his head. "Oh, Yumi! Great, I've found you. Come on, we need to evacuate the building!"
"…Why does everyone want to rescue me today?" She mumbled. "I'm the only one here, Trink. Lets leave." The ground shook again, more violent then the last. Looking to his PET, Trinku could see Shinigami and the other two navi fighting a large navi with a ball and chain. "Yeah, we need to hurry…"
Crack!
Just above Yumi's head, a piece of the ceiling split. Falling on the girl, a quick motion snatched it out of the air just inches away from her. Both Trinku and Yumi blinked as the motion occurred, and both looked to Iori as he tossed the debris aside.
"Go!" Iori pointed over the gawking Trinku's head. "Now's not the time to be standing around!"
Shinigami ducked under the large wrecking ball as Hasshaku caught it, tearing it off the navi's arm. Eyes wide, the three navi stood over him menacingly.
"Answer me this, little navi…" Hasshaku swung the wrecking ball over his head, ready to crush it to pieces. "Who are you, who sent you, and how do you wish to die?"
"Er…ah…" He stammered. "M-my name is QuakeMan! Don't kill me!!"
"What, is he afraid or something?" Rift folded his arms. Hasshaku sneered. "He should be. I'm going to beat him till he bleeds, beat him for bleeding, then mop up the blood with his face…
"Sounds like a plan…" Shinigami placed the scythe blade to QuakeMan's throat. "So tell me something. Are you with the group responsible for the attack on ACDC high and Trinku Matanoa's home?"
"Er…Maybe?" He said nervously. A resounding crash made the navi jump as Rift's sword slammed next to him.
"You're in no position to be answering maybe..." He smiled cruely. "I don't really care about this Trinku guy, but I am interested in this group...now...spill."
"You guys are pretty cruel for ONBA." QuakeMan smiled nervously.
"...Call us ONBA again and you'll be lying in a pool of your blood..." Hasshaku muttered.
"ALRIGHT! I'M WITH DARK WATCH!! THEY SENT ME TO KNOCK DOWN THIS BUILDING BECAUSE YOU TWO WERE TAKING OUT OUR SPONSORS!! JUST—oh! Time to go!" QuakeMan grinned, remembering something. Holding out his hand, a black, square item opened up: a dark chip. There was a cloud of smoke and the navi was gone in an instant.
"...Damn it." Shinigami muttered. Rift and Hasshaku folded their arms, conversing to each other as they began to turn away. "Hey! Where're you going?! You're--"
"We're what? What're you going to do--"
"—Arrest us?" Jet snorted. "Sorry, but I'll pass."
"You don't have a choice! I'm taking you in!" Trinku shouted.
"...And exactly how do you plan to stop us?" Iori asked. "Are you asking for a fight?"
"Well...uh..."
"That's enough, Trinku." Yumi grabbed her brother. "After all, they haven't done anything wrong."
"But." Trinku was slapped. "Ow! Fine, geez, you don't have to hit me..."
The girl looked to Iori, trying not to look grateful. "And, uh, thank you..."
"For what? I haven't done anything...." He folded his arms. Yumi narrowed her eyes. " Don't make me say it loud. Learn to take a compliment and leave, got it?"
"Fine. We're not wanted here." Jet shrugged. "The cops...the real cops--" He added, looking to a glaring Trinku. "--Should be showing up soon." He glanced at Yumi. "Ciao toots. Thanks for the escape ticket." The two turned to leave, leaving behind Yumi and a thunderstruck Trinku.
"Why..." Trinku suddenly sobbed. "They're so going to dock my pay..." Yume lit a cigarette, looking to her brother.
"Come on, lets go. I'm sure Mother is waiting." She added with a smile. Trinku moaned, following closely behind the girl as they went to her car...
GW Trinku stepped into the light, sitting on a stool. "Hello ladies and gentlemen. You may recognize Jet Torasun the first's partner, Iori Yagami. Yes, he has the same design, yes he has the same attitude. But no, he is not the same. The original Iori wouldn't fit in Shadownet or the EXE. Universe at all, would he? So...although he feels the same, he isn't exactly. There. Have a nice day!"