Chapter 6: Strings
09:49 AM (Japan Time), Sunday October the 9th…
"But, really… I don't know how to thank you, Yuuichirou – san. Hard to believe it's only been a week since we came and Raito has become happier than before!"
"Oh please. It's thanks to my sons."
"Actually… I think it's more thanks to senpai than anyone else! He has taught me a lot…"
"I'm glad to hear that."
"By the way… Did you have plans for today?"
"We're going to have a gathering at the park. You could come and we'll introduce you to our pals, Raito."
"I think you'll get along with them, too."
"Alright!"
"That face… How many years has it been since I last saw it? Feels like ages ago…"
Raito's dad, Raito, Yuuichirou, Haruka, Netto and Saito were gathered around the living room's table as they finished breakfast.
Raito was very animated as opposed to a week ago and the mood was better as well.
By the way… Netto – san…"
"What's up?"
"It's… I thought you used to have a famous Net Navi named Rock Man…"
"I did. But he now prefers to help out Papa with his researches at the Science Labs." Netto explained with a shrug.
"Is that so…? I'd like to meet him one day… To see what kind of personality he has and all…"
"He's very alike me." Saito admitted.
"Why?"
"I was hospitalized for several years because of an odd genetic heart disease and it had to be a hospital that was running research on it. He felt lonely, and Dad decided to amend for that by designing Rock Man to be like me so that he would remember me." Saito calmly explained.
"I see."
"Should we get on the move?" Netto suggested.
"It's not that cold and it's sunny! Let's take profit of this morning."
"Alright!"
"Have fun, Raito."
"Thanks, dad."
The 3 of them exited the house and headed for the park.
They reached the jungle gym and found Ooyama Dekao training with it while sweating and grumbling.
Guts Man's hologram projected from the PET (placed on the ground) and was trying to encourage him.
"Guts, de guts! Time to guts! De guts!"
"Dekao! Aiming to become a noddle?" Netto joked.
"Sheesh! Don't break my concentration!" He grumbled.
"Looks like he's not in the mood for introductions. The others will be by the fountain! Let's go."
"Alright…"
"Guts! Time to rumble and crumble, de guts!"
Dekao lost concentration and fell into the sand while he groaned and rubbed his back.
Guts Man began to fight an imaginary opponent by delivering punches and kicks.
"I'm the clever guy of the village, de guts! 666 souls eat 666 souls and 666 souls will remain! GUTS POWE~RRRRR! GU~TSSSS!" He began to yell while moving faster.
"What the heck's into ya…? Sheesh…!" Dekao complained.
"Some tweet, I guess." Netto and the other 2 had heard it.
"Alfred strikes back?" Saito rolled his eyes.
"Is he that fearful?" Raito asked.
"His humor is worse than M & F's one. Believe us."
"Yikes."
"Hello, Netto. Oh my? Who's that young charming prince?"
"Meiru… Could you save up the irony for another day?"
"Who knows?"
"Cha do. Let's not turn this into a repeat of last week."
The group reached the fountain and Meiru was already there, and she asked a question with some irony.
Roll scolded her and Netto rolled his eyes while Saito sighed and Raito was surprised.
"… Beautiful…" He muttered.
"Really? It's been a while since I got such a compliment. And coming from a cute little prince, too…!"
"Meiru – chan… Didn't cha learn the lesson last week?" Yaito came in next, sighing.
"Maybe I did maybe I didn't."
"Lovely."
"Trouble." Glyde sighed.
"Nuts." Hikawa sighed as he came in.
"No good, desu." Ice Man sighed as well.
"Look. Are you going to try to create a good mood or not?" Netto questioned.
"It depends. On whether there's been something or there hasn't been."
"Wha?" Yaito frowned.
"Too ambiguous." Hikawa muttered.
"Do you think now's the time to go over that?" Netto sighed.
"It isn't!" Roll scolded.
"Who's this prince come of some castle at Inaka?"
"Our cousin Raito." Netto fumed.
"My, my. Here I thought he looked familiar and with a reason! He looks like you back when you were playing bust 'em all cop."
"Come on! What did I years ago was just work for the Net Police Cyber CID and accomplish the missions! Stop acting the queen, Meiru, because you look like that Jennifer villain."
"WHAT? I LOOK LIKE JENNIFER?" She got annoyed.
"Cha do." Roll fumed.
"NETTO~!"
"What? I only told the truth. It's not like you to get annoyed like that to begin with." He didn't even flinch.
"Trouble, sir?" Raito asked Saito in a whisper.
"Guess that. You better stay quiet." He whispered back.
"I insist! You acting the prideful queen and all… That's pointless and it only fuels annoyance. Looks like…!"
"Hi there, morning! Wha?"
"What? Damn it all!"
Another Meiru along with her PET came in and stopped, so the first one scowled and cursed.
"Glyde! IR mode! Use it!" Netto ordered.
"Y-y-yes, sir! What! That person in front of you, Netto – san, isn't a human but a machine!" He revealed.
"Hmpf!"
There was a flash and the "Meiru" turned out to be another Normal Navi who had a PET identical to Meiru's but that had a woman-model Normal Navi inside instead of Roll.
"Shadow Nova!" Netto exclaimed.
"How the hell…?" The imposter cursed.
"Prince Kuroban shares info with other parties! Especially when it comes to rascals like you who earn his enmity." Saito coolly announced.
"Go, Roll!"
"OK! Roll Arrow!"
"What? Heck!"
"Devil!"
Roll materialized and shot a Roll Arrow at the man-model Normal Navi's back, getting stuck there and paralyzing him.
The woman-model materialized next but there was a blur and a Neo Variable Sword aimed at her neck as Legato appeared.
"Found you. No more hide 'n seek. Talk!" He coolly told the woman-model.
"Damn it. The punk from the morning! Tau the 13th! It's your fault for speaking out loud there!"
"Shut up, Omicron the 13th! Why didn't you double check with the Special Squad to see if the real ones had been captured?"
"I thought they'd done so already!"
"You'll tell us the rest at the police station. And before you can think of any self-destructs then…!"
"Duck! All of you!" Saito suddenly ordered.
They all did so just as Stinger heat-seeking missiles flew in and hit both Navis thus destroying them along with the Copy Roids.
Legato formed a Dream Aura to seal the area of the explosion and then looked up to see another Normal Navi (man-model) riding a Dash Condor and holding the Stringer missile-launcher.
Legato snarled and formed a jet-pack on his back to then fly towards the Navi but they emitted that infamous flash and managed to flee using the ensuing confusion, so Legato landed back on the ground, snarling.
"Shit. These guys are no joke. It's barely begun and I already feel anxious and hysterical. If this keeps up…!" He snarled.
"Fuck." The twins snarled next.
"W-w-w-what IS going ON?" Raito was panicked by now.
"Some mad lot!" Legato fumed.
"Mad indeed! Feels like a repeat of what happened with that damned bitch!" Meiru cursed.
"A man impersonating you! What bad taste!"
"Now that you mention it! Hmpf! It's gotta be some stupid guy who wants to become a woman instead." She fumed.
"Devil. This is maddening." Hikawa cursed, for once.
"You needn't say it! Damn it. We can't allow this to keep up!"
"Of course not! Damn it!"
12:27 PM (Sydney Time)…
"… Are you sure they'll come?"
"They'll come."
"What if they smell that it's a trap?"
"They're not cowards. Unlike you lot."
"What? Speak for yourself! That Blues guy gave you a kickass and you already wanted to flee!"
"Sheesh. Who told you?"
"Lord XY!"
"GRHGJKSH!"
"Any objections, Citizen?"
"No, my Lord…!"
"This is your last chance to prove yourself. If you fail then I will simply reprogram you and save me headaches. You should be grateful instead of trying to pose a strong. Which you surely are not to begin with, anyway. Seeing your track record…"
"Fighting Cyclone, on the scene! Thundering typhoons! You're my opponent!"
"Thundering typhoons? ME?"
"Why not?"
"YIKES!"
"Let's go! Elec Man!"
"You're asking for it, rascal!"
"OK, buddy… Found you! Dully – chan! Blue Wave's come to wash you over and cleanse you up!"
"I thought Gray Thunderbolt would come!"
"Too bad. The guy has a different assignment. And the Prince would pulverize you in seconds so he sent me to see how you put up some useless struggle, Dully – chan!"
"Dullahan!"
Elec Man and another unidentified Navi (because they were hiding under the shade of a porch) had been discussing while waiting at the entrance of a tower at an Internet City in Australia (given how there were several Australian flags set atop the buildings) when 2 members of Shunoros arrived to the challenge them.
"Let's go! Bite my shiny armor! If you can! And you don't break the teeth!"
"This rascal!"
"The name's Fighting Cyclone! Ya had better remember it! The fella who beat ya to a bloody pulp!"
Fighting Cyclone's main body color was green.
His helmet was partial, since the rear was unshielded and his purple-tinted hair emerged from behind.
The sides were cyan while the front and top section were white.
The forehead had the kanji for "kaze" or "wind" set there, colored cyan.
Greenish transparent shades protected his eyes, which were brown.
The chest armor main section was metallic; the purple letters "FC" were scrawled on the center; there was a second piece of dark blue armor set over the chest too.
The cyan shoulder armor had three green grooves circling them as if they represented the wind.
His green cylindrical forearms armor started at the elbow and reached until the wrist; three fins were arranged in a row over the whole of the armor, paired with a pair of white metallic blades reminiscent of a dragon's ones starting at the wrist.
They extended past the hands' length, and the exposed arm was covered in black "skin" too.
The body below the torso and until the knees lacked armor, and was covered by black "skin"; a row of dull gray metallic squares ran down the length of both sides.
The legs' armor began at the knees, and had round knee guards; cyan green spirals were drawn there.
The rest of the boots were cyan models with white soils. "Let's go! To the rooftops!"
"I remember you! You were my first opponent!" Elec Man recalled with a grimace.
"Fate's cruel, thundering – han!"
"Wha~t? Lightning Blast!"
Elec Man formed a "Lightning Blast", which suddenly became invisible and then reappeared, having cloned itself several times.
Fighting Cyclone merely flew higher and then dived for Elec Man, who was unable to react.
He swept right over him and the Lightning Blasts hit Elec Man instead, so he growled and gave chase to Fighting Cyclone.
"That was LOW!"
"It was HIGH!"
"How lame!"
"Use your imagination, Smith!"
"SHTHSHGTKH!"
"… While those settle it show me your moves, Dully – chan. See if you can avoid falling into Koumei's trap! He's always waiting to trigger it for types like you!"
"Damn it! My name is… LASER MAN!"
"Dullahan" turned out to be Laser Man, who stepped out of the porch and began to load his cannons.
"Destroy Cannon!"
"Destroy Beam!"
"SHA~H!" He howled.
"Blue Wave's your opponent today!"
Blue Wave's main color was sky blue.
His helmet allowed his blue-tinted hair to freely flow out; blue transparent shades covered his eyes.
The forehead of the helmet the "mizu" or "water" kanji painted using silver ink.
The chest armor had a metallic upper band followed by an inverted triangle-like piece of armor; the center of it had the initials "BW" set there.
The shoulder armor was spheroids with three waves drawn over their surface, each of a different height.
The forearms armor and boots were also sky-blue, and the soils white.
"Sea God's Anger!"
"What!"
A wave about one meter tall formed and filled the ground with water.
Laser Man scoffed but Blue Wave drew what seemed to be customized Vulcan Battle Chips with water deposits instead of ammunition chambers.
He submerged them into the ankle-deep water and filled the deposits up as a bigger wave came in and the water height rose to knee-height, so Laser Man looked around as if fearful of a trap.
"Let's go! Sea God's Pressure! Did some renaming!"
"Cross…!"
"Slow! Dully – chan!"
"Damn it!"
The guns began to spin and shoot jets of pressurized water that began to push Laser Man's bulky body backwards.
He reloaded them as the water level was now hip-high and thus Laser Man had it harder to move because it was moving downwards.
"Welcome to my version of the "Infinite Naraku"… My watered version! Say bye to the heat! Say hi to Achoo Man!"
"Interesting…" XY sounded interested, for once.
"It can't be!" Laser Man gasped.
"It can. That young man uses strategy."
"I can do the same! Star Breaker Laser!"
"Coming?"
Laser Man loaded his guns and aimed skywards while shooting a reddish laser.
A portal opened and some incandescent meteors began to rain down but Blue Wave shrugged and simply dived into the water (now waist-high).
The meteors instantly cooled down upon hitting the water and harmlessly sank into it.
Laser Man grumbled and used an Area Steal to warp atop a rooftop and out of the water.
He tried to locate Blue Wave but the constantly moving water and the steam from the meteors he'd caused made it difficult.
"Damn it. The cold water hides the heat signature! And my still cooling meteors interfere!"
"He read you." XY sneered.
"… Yes, sir…" He begrudgingly admitted.
"Hmpf. Then I'm going to cut you up!"
"Who? Blues! You lowlife!"
Blues appeared there and drew his Long Blade.
Laser Man loaded his guns and shot several bursts of laser shots towards him but he used an Area Steal to appear behind Laser Man.
Laser Man surprised him by turning his head 180º and shooting a laser from his face's slit at his right wrist to momentarily stun him.
He used an Area Steal too.
"Wha?"
"Cross Laser!"
Laser Man lifted Blues by the shoulders and formed a powerful cross-shaped laser.
Blues' body began to frizzle and "noise" was triggered thus breaking it into basic pixels.
Laser Man let go, surprised, as yet another Normal Navi (man-model) appeared instead.
"Fuck! The Mimic Generator is too frail!" He cursed.
"Shadow Nova…" XY muttered with increasing annoyance.
"Who are they?" Laser Man asked.
"Interlopers. Dispose of them. You are authorized to do so! They are fools who will go down with a bang when things get awry, anyway. Let us teach them how weak they really are!" XY ordered: he was angered for real.
"Roger!"
"… Man. Looks like I ran out of fun."
"The worker's curse, Danna~!"
"How funny, Sieg. Stop using the common frequency to say idiocies or else the Prince gets annoyed."
Blue Wave looked on from the water (now chest-high) as to how Laser Man engaged in battle with the imposter Navi and sighed, disappointed. Venomous Wolf's voice rang out through the radio and he grumbled at the interruption.
"Wind Dash!"
"Shit!"
"Slow, gramps!"
"Damn it! Go, Killer Eyes!"
Fighting Cyclone was playing with Elec Man by dodging and flying around.
He dashed forward and tackled Elec Man with the right shoulder before backing off.
Elec Man snarled and formed 10 Killer Eyes that headed for Fighting Cyclone.
"Interestin'… Bring it on! Wind Blades!"
"What!"
Fighting Cyclone formed two metallic bars with sharp edges and let the wind spin them around, forming paths converging on Elec Man.
He recalled some of the Killer Eyes to form a perimeter around him and he jumped away as they deleted the Killer Eyes.
Fighting Cyclone appeared in front of him and delivered a punch to the stomach area that shortly stunned Elec Man followed by a kick to the left side of the face propelling him away.
"I'm not named FIGHTING Cyclone in vain!"
"Fuck them all!"
"Wanna more?"
"Shit! Not yet! Elec Tackle!"
"What? Whoa! Shit!"
Elec Man's body frizzled with overloaded electricity and dashed forward.
He hit Fighting Cyclone and his whole body was electrified, so he collapsed on his knees from the pain and Elec Man gripped his neck.
"Delete~!"
"Like I'll let you! Big Bomb!"
"Wha!"
Blue Wave warped and appeared a couple meters behind Elec Man while floating in the air.
He tossed a Big Bomb Battle Chip and the explosion made him let go of Fighting Cyclone who grumbled and delivered a punch at his nose thus pushing him away and shortly stunning him.
Elec Man hovered and flew towards another building while Fighting Cyclone got to his feet.
"Not so fast, fuck it!"
"Wait! It could be a trap, Cyclone!"
"Who cares, Wave! I'm not a coward!"
"Man." He sighed.
He followed him as Elec Man reached a rooftop and broke open a service panel with electrical wires inside.
He split one in half and grabbed both ends to make electricity flow into his body.
He began to shoot out lightning bolts that landed there and there, so Blue Wave used a Dream Aura to deflect them and protect himself and Fighting Cyclone.
"Told you!" He scolded.
"Sheesh."
"… Beta the 13th won't go down so easily!" The Normal Navi proclaimed as he dodged another of Laser Man's attacks.
"Hmpf. Small fry…" Laser Man scoffed.
"Wha~t? I'm one of the Unlucky Greeks! The best! I disposed of two idiots who failed their missions today! Soon the world shall know the terror of Shadow Nova! Through us! Through the vanguard we are!" The Navi began to gloat.
"Gloat as much as you want. It won't change that you're WEAK." Laser Man was far from impressed.
"Speak for yourself! You and your "gate" and your "legions" of "Darkloids" and all… You got busted by Blues, didn't you?"
"Hmpf! But I wasn't as weak as you!"
"Grrrr! Damn the jerk!"
"Feeling lost, fool? Try some self-searching." XY taunted.
"Damn it. I'm getting impatient."
"Hmpf!"
"Eat this! Meteor 9!"
"Star Breaker Laser!"
Both began to bombard each other with meteors.
Laser Man's ones were slower but had more firepower than the Navi's ones.
Laser Man extended both hands forward and shot two piercing laser beams that pierced the Navi's shoulders.
The Navi became unable to move the arms and the next second the knees were pierced so it collapsed into the ground unable to get up, so Laser Man loomed over him.
"I said it. You're WEAK."
"Damn it all! Whatever! The fear's just begun! Soon the whole world will be plunged into fear!"
"Hmpf."
"And a bunch of hero wannabes won't be able to stand up to worldwide panic! Unsere Rettung ist der Tod, aber nicht dieser!" He growled something in German.
"… "Death will save us, but not this one"…? Damn it! Area Steal!"
The Navi self-destructed just as Laser Man warped away to the top of a nearby building.
He heard a CRASH sound and saw Elec Man, who'd been beaten up and apparently kicked all the way there from the roof opposite the street.
"Hmpf. You got cocky." He scolded.
"Talk for yourself…!"
He managed to get to his fours and directed a hate-filled glare at him.
"You need some time to "cool" down, Citizen… Maybe some weeks will do it. Also. you broke my rules like Desert Man. So you will share that fool's fate as well!"
"N-no! I…! I…!"
Elec Man got petrified and Laser Man shrugged before the "Phoenix" was triggered and both were warped away.
Fighting Cyclone, filled with bruises and wounds, collapsed while Blue Wave was grumbling under his breath.
"They easily could turn everyone in the world paranoid at this rate! Not knowing if the human next to you is the real one or a mimic… These rascals aren't idiots." He grumbled.
"That makes 7 of 7 so… Those guys won't be coming out anymore… We can focus our attention on these instead… What a day!"
"You needn't remind me. Shadow Nova! We won't let you rascals do as you want… Shunoros will be there to stop you… No matter what!"
"Well said!"
18:38 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Ya~h… Where's everyone? The Queen's back!"
"Oh come on."
"What's wrong, Sandra? Not happy to be back onboard? Didn't ya miss your shining armor knight?"
"Sheesh."
"Guess that's a "yeah"!"
"It ain't!"
"Ikada! You're back."
"Right, Freeze Man. What's with the long face?"
A girl on her early 20s had come to Purgatory.
She had long platinum blond hair plus eyes with blue irises to them.
She sported a golden-colored jacket over a teal sweater plus navy blue jeans and a pair of black boots.
She carried simplistic-looking black handbag hanging from the right shoulder while a cobalt-colored Link PET with a golden-colored Alphabet "S" character on it as emblem was set on her arm-strap.
"Trouble."
"The Phoenix guys…?"
"No, Sandra… Worse!"
Sandra had green eye irises and reddish hair.
Her bodysuit's main color was cobalt coupled with a golden band around the waist, golden shoulder plates and golden bracelets on both the wrists and the ankles.
Spiral-shaped magenta patterns travelled down her arms' and legs' surfaces.
Eight lines of the same color spread from the blackish edge of her chest emblem.
"Some bastards named Shadow Nova… They're starting to impersonate people there and there and plan on stirring up panic…"
"Devil." Ikada was surprised.
"Always make an IR scan of the opponent to make sure they're a human and not a mimic Navi…"
"Alright."
"Welcome back, Ikada – san."
"President Hades. It's been a while, sir."
"Mr. President."
"President Hades."
A man walked towards them to greet them.
He appealed to be around 27 years of age and as having a height of a meter and eighty-five centimeters.
His hair was neatly combed and brownish in coloring.
His eyes' irises were brown in coloring and he was clean shaven.
His clothes consisted on a black suit coupled with black tie and black quality pants.
"As Mr. Freeze Man surely told you ladies… Things are turning blacker with every passing hour… We're struggling here to not to lose our composure and cold blood."
He sighed and looked quite stressed and then again it was no wonder.
"Don't force yourself, sir." Ikada told him.
"I know. How many times have I told myself that…? And most of the times I end up ignoring my own advice… Ironic. I'm not an example to follow, indeed… What a shame!" He muttered.
"You are tired, President. You need some rest. We can handle the rest ourselves." Freeze Man offered.
"Thank you very much. I appreciate that will. Yet…"
"You should rest! I suspect you aren't resting enough."
"Guess I am readable, after all."
He made a low chuckle and headed to the bow to sit down on the box on the right side and lean his right arm on the handrail.
He looked out at the sea and the other three silently drew away knowing that he wanted to be alone for a while.
"I'll keep an eye out." Freeze Man whispered.
"You better do. He looks about to collapse, even." Ikada warned.
"Let's go to the cafeteria."
"Sure."
The 2 of them went down and entered the cafeteria where they found Zarashe and Beta X playing domino like the previous day.
Ikada whistled at Zarashe and he looked up, blushing.
"Ikada – san!" He greeted.
"Missed me, cutie?"
"Please…" He sighed.
"Did you see President Hades?"
"Zero! How unusual to see you outside the super computer room, really. Did something happen?"
"Needed some fresh air… And I felt like it was better to discuss about it on person, anyway…"
"He's on the deck. Freeze Man is with him."
Zero ran in, asking for President Hades.
"By the way… Do you always need to have that sword drawn?" Sandra asked as she signaled the sword on his right forearm.
"It reminds me that I'm also a warrior apart from a manager. And now if you'll excuse me…"
He walked out so the girls shrugged and sat down on the same table with Zarashe and Beta X, who continued their domino game, about to end.
"Domino!" Zarashe grinned.
"And bring in some fellows." Ikada laughed.
"Sheesh. You mean M & F."
"Did ya call for Double Trouble?"
"V! B! N! Looks like everyone's tense as of late! So let's solve this through some crazy humor! We bring you a horror story! Or so it'd seem! Its name is… "The nightmare"!"
"Interesting!"
"It begins near a graveyard, in a creepy and dirty forest… A short-sighted fellow is talking with the grave keeper… "This isn't the disco "Shakin' up"…"… SPLASH! A figure steps into a puddle! "* laughs * Say! What am I laughing at? I'm soaked and it's bad for my rheumatism! I'm so gonna catch a pneumonia too! ACHOO!"… "There!"…"This is the city… Time to TERRORIZE~! This guy is gonna shiver in fear!"… A small bureaucrat – looking fellow shows a bag with the "Treasury Inspector" on it! Another guy with an overcoat walks through! Guy opens the coat! "There's no decency left!"..."
"What?" Everyone wondered.
"We believe the guy didn't have a shirt on: maybe had some silly tattoos or something like that." Burner Man laughed.
"… A brute-looking guy walks and the assaulter jumps out from inside of a garbage bin! "What's with ya, man? Gimme the clock, the money, the credit card, the ring and the golden tooth!"…"
"… "I'm gonna take it out on this rascal!"… A man cleansing the street with a broom! THUD! "Hold back, man! Behave!"… The attacker is thrown inside of the garbage truck! "I'm getting off!"… He rolls due to the speed and meets a tree… And ends up heading for the "TIA" HQ!"
"My, my. An admirer of them?" Ikada joked.
"Sure." The other 3 drily replied.
"My, my. Looks like you're not in the mood for my cute subtleness!"
"The author makes his appearance! "What? No, no! I didn't make up a new character! At all! This guy met with M & F! They met with the guy so… Their fates ended up intertwined, messed up and rolled up! Find it out yourselves while I go to the traumatology department!" Turns out he began to twist his arms and legs and ended up making a mess of his body!"
"Funny!"
"… "OK! M! Move it! Deliver those reports! You fall asleep on the way!"… "How bossy of the guy! I don't fall… * snores *!"… Dreams of a black cloud and a hand that grips his neck! The creepy assaulter shows up! M begins to hit the guy's right eye! Turns out, he's hitting Ms. Ofelia, the secretary! "Don't say anything! I swear it was a nightmare! NIGHTMARE!"…"Brute! Calling me "nightmare"! I'm going to carve you a new navel!"… "What an odd dream. Maybe the lentil sandwich is to blame! * snores *!"…"
"Man. F was right."
"He now dreams he's D'Artagnan! "All for one and one for all!"…"It only takes one swipe of this claw to rip you to SHREDS!"…"Devil! You shall pay for this offense! Take this, you ruffian!"… The blade goes through but does nothing! "By Beelzebub! The ruffian lives on!"…"
"So… What did he stab?" Zarashe wondered.
"His ugliness!" Ikada laughed.
"… "Jacinto~! Get this crazy guy off me!"… "Leave it to me, Melecio!"… "And have him gimme back my broom!"…"
"Turns out he'd stolen the cleansing lady's broom and driven it through some guy's ears! A brute guy shows up! SMACK! "Devil. Another eyelash dead! My eye's crying!"… "I feel SO SLEEPY when I reach the second line of the minister's speech!"…F collapses his head on the desk! Dreams he's going to the toilet! "I'm SO sleepy! Gotta wash my face!"… The guy shows up from the toilet! "How dirty! I'm totally wet!"…"My shawl! My Baluchistan silk!"…"
"Oops. Trouble."
"… "I think that… You can still use it…!"…"Like this! Have at you!"… Strangles him with it! "Boss! What's wrong? You look like a tax inspector!"…"Don't tell me! I had a frightful nightmare! A guy that loomed over me and yelped!"…"I also saw that TV program about that Raphael!"… "No, far more dangerous! Very large claws and much burnt face, blacker than a burnt down building!"…"Devil! I also saw it! It must be a cinemascope nightmare!"…"Dunno! It was horrific! If I yell, then it's the nightmare! Wake me up!"… "OK!"… * yells *… "What? The scream! Boss is having a nightmare!"…"
"That was fast!"
"… "He's suffering! I gotta wake 'im up! WAKE UP!"… SMACK! "You OK? That was a nightmare!"…"Wasn't! A nail on the floor that stabbed my foot! Don't run! I'm gonna smack your MUG!"…"Forget it, man! I only smack myself with "Silly Water" after shaving!"… Door opens: Mr. Super uses it to make them crash against it and stop! "Man! Running around again! What's up today?"…"A horrific apparition! Truly!"…"A guy with a face like that of a fried potato!"…"And dinosaur-like claws that slice it all!"…"That's it! How did you know?"…"I know! That's enough!"… The rear of his suit has some traces of the claws! "And Bacterio's to blame for this mess!"… "I knew it! The bearded guy is always behind it all!"…"
"Classical!"
"… "I think the guy had the first encounter with our subject."… He pulls open a curtain and beaten up Bacterio shows up! "Because that subject has triggered this… NIGHTMARE!"…"
"And, sadly, we reached 8 pages so… See ya next time!" V
"V! B! N! Off Air!"
"So! Bacterio has something to do with these sudden real-like nightmares. Another crazy invention. Like Prof. Kaminko of Pokémon XD!"
"Oh come on. Those were STUPID. What "Mecha PKMN"? The only thing Mecha Groudon ever did was roar and move… Was it supposed to improve battles somehow? Can't say that the Mecha Kyorge wasn't useful to reach Nickeldark Island but…" Zarashe muttered.
"… Alright."
"And remember, President… Don't push it!"
"I know. I know."
Zero and Hades walked back in.
Hades had taken off the suit and only kept the shirt on.
H still looked tired and nervous and Freeze Man followed them
Ikada aslo followed them, seeing how the 3 of them were silent.
Hades stopped in front of a door with the banner "PRESIDENT HADES' ROOM".
"I'll go rest already. Good afternoon."
"Have a good rest. We'll handle the rest."
"Thank you, gentlemen. But if things go out of bounds then don't doubt on calling me and we'll decide on the spot."
Hades stepped in and closed the door as both Navis sighed.
"Why would they want to steal those archived reports, anyway?"
"There must be something inconvenient to them…" Zero grumbled.
Reports? Ikada was looking from a distance but he heard what both were discussing.
"Maybe they intend blackmail?" Freeze Man suggested.
"Surely. Seeing what they can do…" Zero grumbled.
"ZERO – SAMA! THE BLURBS ARE BUPRS!" Several Program – kuns called out through the radio.
"Get back to work, you guys!" He ordered.
"ROGER!"
"I'm glad that Serenade taught them to be cherry and all but I think the guy overdid it, even."
"He is the Reverse King. He knows what he does."
"Anyway. I told Legato already so he's going to keep an eye out on that front just in case."
"Alright. I'll watch over Napalm Man. I don't think they're so stupid so as to use the same trick twice but you never know. They might try to employ something slightly different."
"Good idea. I'll scan for any rumors circulating out there and if they're bad try to shoot them down with the Cyber CID's help."
"Roger. By the way… Ikada. It is bad manners to eavesdrop on others: I've heard your breath since a while ago." Freeze Man called out.
"Sorry, sorry! But I was worried about the President."
"Aren't we all?" Zero sighed.
"He'll be fine. He only needs some rest."
"Alright. I'm going back to the cafeteria."
Ikada went back to the cafeteria and saw that the other 3 had resumed playing domino so she sat down and watched them play.
She glanced around and noticing Qong having a glass of Coca Cola, uet he did have an air of not being in a good mood.
Then again it's hard to know what mood he's in. He's so silent!
"Problems?" Dark Man tried asking.
Qong didn't even bother to reply so Dark Man sighed and gave up on his attempt to try to establish a chat with him.
Never replies to anyone, anyway! Only one who seems to more or less know what he thinks is Tom but then again it's not like he chats a lot in front of Tom, either. Joanne – chan only manages to annoy him!
"Here you were. What's up?" Tom met up with him.
"… Nothing." He drily replied.
"Bored." Tom wasn't surprised.
Qong shrugged his shoulders so Tom sighed and sat down next to the guy as if trying to get something out of him but Qong apparently decided to ignore him as well.
"Felix. I know concentration is pivotal to battle and all, but… Do you really think that you need to sacrifice your emotions and become a machine instead?" Tom asked.
"Correct." He merely replied.
"Those Sri Lanka guys…" Tom grumbled.
Qong shrugged again as if to say he wasn't intending to come up with any arguments to begin with.
"Fine. Have it your way." Tom gave up with a grumble.
Even Tom gives up! Felix is really the type to make everyone give out of exasperation! I wonder what happens when Ms. Secretary gives out orders! Guess he merely nods and since Ms. Secretary knows he's competent she needn't oversee him.
"I feel deprived of mood despite the earlier broadcast… I guess that we need to think of a way of keeping our morale high…"
"I know. Maybe some gags or MAD videos…"
This one Hell of a mess. What can we do to settle the score…?