Academy Chronicles: Rise of the Skylanders
Chapter 5: Intruders!
Travelling from the top floor to about the middle, we finally arrive at the floor of Borg Industries that contains the server room after what felt like forever.
Is this true? Has there really been a break in? I got my Security Clearance card ready as the door opened, my thumb glazing across the text engraved with my name.
Kyoko then grabbed my arm.
"No need, Makoto." Kyoko told me.
I looked ahead of myself, and yeah. There really is no need. Before our very eyes, we saw that the door leading to the server room is shattered apart. The only thing left of the glass that once protected the room from intruders was the border of the broken barrier and pieces scattered about.
"Well, somebody wanted to get this over with." Sayaka said, observing the reckless nature of the break-in.
Tails stepped forward and proceeded to scan the glass shards on the floor with his watch, probably getting some kind of DNA sample. With gritted teeth, he shut down the device.
"No luck. Not a single DNA strand."
"If you didn't rely on technology all the time, Fox, you would notice something just as important with your naked eyes," Kyoko corrected him as she lifts up a glass shard. Underneath lies what appears to be a strand of hair. She passed the strand over to Tails. "Scan that."
Complying, Tails scanned the strand. His eyes widened. "It isn't DNA. It's…"
"Polyester?!" Neptune exclaimed, her head resting on Tails' shoulder.
"So… have bad guys resorted to using supplies from your local art store to commit crimes, or…?" Pop Fizz asked, obviously confused and thinking of the best guess someone like Pop Fizz could muster.
"I think there's a more likely option…" Kyoko cryptically answered.
This attitude of hers brings me back.
"Makoto? You… have a bit of a thing on your face." Madoka told me, her hand circling her own face.
I put my hand on my cheek, not even realizing how heated up it became just thinking of how cool Kyoko's being right now. Shaking my head, regaining my composure, I cleared my throat.
"O-Okay, so… Anything else?" I asked, changing the subject to the more important matter.
I hear a whistling. I turn to see Sonic and Sayaka, who seem to have found something.
"Check this out," Sonic said, pointing upwards towards an open air vent. "This must be how they came in."
Sayaka further proved that point as she held the grated cover in her hand, implying that whoever broke in from the air vent didn't bother to put the thing back on.
Not wanting to stand around any longer, Homura moved forward, her feet stepping on the glass and shattering them further towards the server room itself.
We turn to her as she faced five figures in front of her.
"What are you all doing here?"
The rest of us followed her into the room to see who she was talking to. Sure enough, as Byakuya said, there were five people investigating before us.
"We were investigating the breach!" shouted the loudmouth Ultimate Moral Compass, Kiyotaka Ishimaru.
"Yeah. Whoever came in made a fucking mess of the place." Mondo Oowada, the Ultimate Biker Gang leader scratched his head.
"Whole place has gone to shit!" Nekomaru Nidai, the Ultimate Team Manager sighed, looking at the broken glass all over the place.
"It's rather dreadful what happened to the place…" Sonia Nevermind, the Ultimate Princess commented, observing the damage done as well.
"Regardless, we're searching the place together to find who's responsible. Helps us get along more," A large man resembling Byakuya Togami concluded. That, in actuality is the Ultimate Imposter. "So, I suppose you're here to provide assistance as well?"
"Yeah. Any clues?" I asked, questioning the progress of this odd selection of people. I mean, I like these guys, they're my friends and all… but why are they here together?
"I'm afraid not," Sonia replied from behind a large computer. "We searched high and low for any signs of the intruder, or at least something that leads to who they are."
"What, you found somethin'?" Mondo asked, looking dubious.
Kyoko held up the strand of polyester she found. "As a matter of fact, yes we have. We found this string of fabric by the entrance as well as an open air vent."
"I see! Well done!" Taka congratulates, his clapping as loud as his voice. "A plus!"
Sayaka stepped forward. "I'm surprised you guys didn't notice the air vent. I mean, it was pretty obvious."
"Well soooorry, we've been focusing on making sure nothing in the room was stolen!" Mondo responded with backlash dripping from his voice. "Look, this place contains tons of crucial info."
"Not to mention that this is where that Alter-Ego program operates! He could've been corrupted or whatever!" Nekomaru added.
The Imposter nodded. "Yes. We had to ensure no shady acts were done before moving to the entrance."
"…And tell me, how did you arrive here anyway?" Kyoko asked with a dubious eyebrow raise.
"Simple! The Fire Exit!" Taka declares, pointing at a nearby door.
Kyoko strokes her chin as she looks at the door.
Meanwhile, Tails, who was typing away at a computer spoke up. "Riiiight, so… Your first course of action was to ensure nothing was tampered with?"
"Y-Yeah. What's it to ya?" Mondo tilts his head.
"Ah, it's nothing. All I did was check Alter-Ego's security log. Everything seems to be in order," Tails lists. "Daily maintenance in the morning, software update… and a little thing called unauthorized copying of the source code."
The fox then rubbed his hands. "Well, well… you missed the air vent, and you seemed to miss this glaring piece of info. Stellar job there, guys."
"Hey! Smartass, you can't expect us to be perfect, you know! We're doin' our best here!" Mondo angrily shouted, fist clenched.
"I would be inclined to believe that… however." Kyoko began to walk towards Pop Fizz. The detective reaches into his backpack, searching through the beakers. "Taking the stairs when it already takes a sizable amount of time on the elevator is hard to believe!"
With that, she threw an empty beaker at the Imposter, passing through him as his entire body is reduced to a static image.
"I've expected whoever you are to be the real culprits all along. The odd team, the abnormal speed from getting to the conference room to here on such short notice, the neglecting of obvious information... it all leads to YOU."
The static faded away revealing the true form of the cloaked intruder posing as the Imposter…
…A green teddy bear?! A GREEN MONOKUMA?
"RISE-AND-SHINE, UR-SINE."
Immediately, Sonic and Sayaka summon their swords on impulse. "The hell?! Is that a green Monokuma?!"
The four other "Ultimates" followed suit, their disguises fading away. Nekomaru became a blue bear, Taka into a red bear, Sonia into a pink bear and Mondo into a yellow bear.
"Who… are you?!" I asked in absolute shock.
"Doesn't the striking resemblance of Papa Kuma ring a bell, dumbass?! The name's Monokid to you!" The foul-mouthed blue bear spat back.
"…Papa Kuma?! Did you tell me that Monokuma bred?!" Neptune asked in shock.
"I dunno! He never told us!" The red bear answered, flailing his arms.
"Are you stupid? We were built by LOSE as his children! We had to tell youse a million times, now! I, Monosuke have to tell you every damn time!" The yellow bear corrected him.
"Oh yeaaaaah! I forgot!" The red bear laughed.
"Oh, Monotaro! Soooo forgetful!" The pink bear sighed. "Oh, and I'm Monophanie."
The green bear then stepped up.
"AND I AM MONO-DAM. WE ARE THE MONOKUB-"
Before Monodam could continue, a large bullet struck his metal head, sending the bear hurtling towards the others, knocking them over.
Homura puts down her bazooka, now in her Magical Girl attire. "What? They were wasting their time introducing themselves. How could I not take the opportunity?"
Monosuke gets up and dusts himself up. "Monophanie! The USB!"
Monophanie gets up, holding a small thumbdrive in her hand. "Y-Yes! Right here!"
"The source code!" Tails exclaims, running forward.
However, Monodam extends his arms, wrapping around his siblings as his rocket feet take off. The five bust out of a window and begin their descent to ground level.
"SO LONG, BEARWELL!" They chanted in unison as their voices fade away.
"They can't get away with that source code! That's Liberator data which was used to build AE! That stuff destroyed your world in the wrong hands!" Tails yelled, detailing the specifics of just how bad this is.
"There's only way out, then!" Sonic said, running to the window with Sayaka. The two look at each other and nod, a smirk growing on each of their faces. "DOWN!"
…With that, the two jumped off the building.
"Wait, what do we do?!" I asked the others.
Neptune rolled her eyes. "Pretty simple," she then was enveloped in a bright light before emerging as an young adult rather than her more childish appearance of before. Cybernetic wings form as she takes off into the air, grabbing me and Kyoko. "We follow them!"
"Uwah!" I exclaim in shock as Neptune, now in the form of Purple Heart took us out of the window.
Madoka followed suit, skydiving down with Homura. Tails flew out with his spinning tails while Pop Fizz…
…He crashed out from another window, yelling ferociously as he transformed into his beast mode, brought upon from drinking his own potions. He climbs all the way down with us as his claws pierce the building's walls like it was paper.
We all catch up to Sonic and Sayaka, who are using their super speed to run down the building.
How that makes any sense physics-wise, you tell me… but regardless, all of us are in pursuit of these so called "Monokubs".
I just hope we can get to them in time.