shot on sight
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Chapter
9: Iiit's the Aquatic Battle!
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'' Diveman?'' Crushman asked. '' Who's your operator then?''
As if on cue, a view screen opened above Diveman's head, displaying a grizzled looking seadog. The man wore a captain's cap, along with suspenders and a white and red striped sleeveless shirt. He had wild hair and a mustache. A dolphin was tattooed on his arm, and on his shirt was the same dual semicircle that Chirol had.
'' I'm his operator, Kurohige!'' the man barked. '' That's ' Captain' Kurohige to you!''
'' Uh huh...'' Karla muttered, a bit bewildered.
Diveman took the pipe out of his mouth and blew several smoke rings. '' Captain Kurohige and I are Enforcers- dearu.''
'' But how did you know we were coming here?'' Tyria asked. '' Only we knew...''
'' I suppose that that's a fair question lass.'' Diveman said, fiddling around with his pipe. '' The nearest Enforcer headquarters received a tip off. That is all- dearu.''
'' A tip? From whom?''
'' Like we're going to tell you that.'' Kurohige taunted. '' We protect the confidentiality of our clients.''
'' So who knew?'' Butch asked Karla, who just shrugged.
'' Go get them Diveman!'' Kurohige ordered. '' Sent them to Davey Jones's Locker!''
'' Affirmative, Captain Kurohige.'' Diveman said in his slow, laid back voice. He placed the pipe back in his mouth, then raised his hands. '' Giga Wave!''
The water in the pool rose up into a tsunami wave, then crashed down on the ground. Crushman, being rather large, weathered the onrush of water, but Tyria had to get behind him to protect herself.
Karla slotted in a chip. '' Train Arrow, slot in!''
Tyria's right hand morphed into a bow and arrow like shooter. Taking careful aim, she fired three shots.
'' Dive Ball!'' Diveman said as a hatch opened on his bow and three spiked balls flew out, intercepting the shots and exploding.
Butch slotted in a chip, then selected a new one. '' Custom Bolt!''
Crushman shot a bolt of electricity at the pool, but Diveman leapt, actually leapt, out of the water and onto the ground. Now it was revealed that he had legs beneath his submarine body. Now he was even bigger than Crushman.
'' Yarr harr harr!'' Kurohige cackled. '' You thought that Diveman wasn't a land creature didn't ye?'' He laughed at Tyria's surprised expression, since Crushman did not have a human face. '' I made him amphibious!''
Butch muttered something profane, and slotted in a chip, then turned to Karla. '' Now what should we do?'' he asked. '' And where's that Kurohige anyway?''
Karla shrugged. '' Somewhere in this area I guess. But let's take one step at a time. Diveman comes first.''
'' Right! Slot in! Umm... Bubblestar!''
A giant bubble formed around Diveman, enclosing him inside. '' What is this- dearu?'' he questioned.
'' Now you can't dodge the Custom Bolt!'' Crushman said, leveling the conductor at the large, trapped navi.
Diveman sighed. '' Smart Missile- dearu.''
The first missile popped the bubble, the second exploded at the foot of the navis.
The explosion faded, revealing two chibi-ish dolls of both Tyria and Crushman.
'' What is this!'' Kurohige demanded.
'' Ha! The two chips I slotted in a while back were both Kawarmiri Magics!'' Butch said triumphantly.
Tyria and Crushman reappeared behind Diveman. Tyria held her hand in Diveman's direction. '' Starlight!''
Streaks of energy flew from her palm and pelted Diveman's propeller and stern. Without turning around, he submerged into the sandy ground.
'' Where'd he go?'' Tyria demanded, looking around in confusion.
Just then, a periscope surfaced. Tyria shot at it with her buster, but it submerged before the shots could make contact. Then, missiles shot out of the ground and flew towards the navis. They sidestepped, but this time the missiles curved back towards them. Tyria tried to shoot them, but they were too fast. The missiles exploded, throwing the two backwards.
Then, the periscope surfaced right in front of them, followed by two more missiles shot high into the air. They curved downwards, and exploded over their heads, rattling them.
Karla noticed that the sand around the holes where the missiles had shot out of were molten, then it cooled and hardened. This gave her an idea.
'' Hey Butch, Diveman is tunneling under the ground, right?''
'' Tunneling?'' Butch said, a confused look on his face, but then it cleared. '' Oh! Tunnels!''
He took out three chips and inserted them into his PET. '' Hell's Burner, triple slot in! Activate Wideburner!''
'' Right, Wideburner program advance!'' Crushman said as his hands morphed into a large flamethrower. He placed to nozzle tip to a hole where a missile had emerged, and let it rip.
The ground grew hot as the flames traveled underground, and small jets of fire leapt out of the other missile holes.
Crushman backed off, and then steam began to rise from the holes, followed by water.
'' Huh? What's going on?'' Crushman asked. '' Did he tunnel into the pool to escape? Then why's the water level not dropping?''
Tyria shrugged. '' I guess that it's programmed to always remain full. I'll take care of him.''
A face mask popped up over her mouth and nose, and she gracefully dived into the water.
The water was cool and clear, and the pool deep. At the bottom was a slightly blackened blue submarine laying next to a gaping hole.
Tyria held her hands in front of her. '' Star Mine!'' she shouted as red stars came from her hands.
Crushman watched as a huge geyser erupted from the water. Tyria flew out of it and landed on her feet. '' Did you get him?'' Crushman asked. '' I think so.'' she answered.
Diveman drifted to the surface, a dazed look on his face. His data formed the words log out, and he left the net.
'' Yes! We did it!'' Karla said happily, giving Butch a high five.
'' By the way.'' Butch said as they plugged their navis out. '' Where did Kurohige go? I noticed the view screen close when we were winning.''
'' Ah, let him go.'' Karla said. '' We beat his navi, let him flee with his tail between his legs.''
Her PET beeped. '' Email Karla.'' Tyria told her. '' Oh, it's from Slate.''
Karla opened it and scanned the hastily written message. '' Oh... That definitely can't be good...''
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Beast showed that Diveman can operate perfectly fine in sand, so his tunneling thing is canon.
Without Zero and Dash hogging the spotlight, two (in my opinion) rather neglected characters finally get their chance to shine! Now, on to the Circusman battle.
