Chapter 19: Shapeless
05:57 AM (Japan Time), Saturday October the 29th…
"… Boss? Less than 3 minutes until it opens. Or explodes."
"Alright. I am coming there to watch. Here I am. Let us see."
"3 minutes and 11 seconds left."
"Let us assume the worst outcome."
Zero called Slur over to the control room of the super-computer as he observed feed from a camera looking at the mysterious box that envoy of "Void" had left behind the previous day.
"Nothing else happened during yesterday. Guess that was it, the last desperate stalling. Or maybe it was planned from the start and the attempted bomb attack was a red herring." He commented.
"Could be. 2 minutes 22 seconds."
"Are all actors ready?"
"Of course."
"Alright. 1 minute 56 seconds."
They remained quiet and tense as the countdown entered the last 60 seconds phase.
It soon ticked down to the last 10 seconds and Zero seemed to feel the tension while Slur was unfazed, as usual.
"… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Time!"
There was a loud beep sound and the box actually opened to reveal a holographic projector built inside and which displayed some XYZ coordinates and the text "7:00 AM" below them.
"Figure out where that is at. I am going to warn the others." Slur calmly commanded.
"Roger, Boss. We're finally going there… To the last battle…!"
06:58 AM (Japan Time)…
"… How fitting."
"Why do you say that, Kage?"
"Because, Slur – sama… The name printed on that plaque…"
"Name? "Ame no ukihashi"… Is that not a given name? It is written in katakana."
"I guess it's to give that impression but it actually means "Heaven's Floating Bridge"… It's taken from Japanese mythology. Two Gods stood on it as they completed the land."
"So it means that they are a God that can shape the land."
"In essence."
"Typical."
"Totally."
Kage, Andy, Slur, XY, Kuroban and Burai were standing in a metallic corridor somewhere.
A massive armored wall shut the way in front of them and a fluorescent light, hanging from the ceiling, lighted the corridor.
Kage noticed a golden plaque with silver words written on it so Andy explained about its meaning.
"So this is a small circle-shaped space station that is but 10 meters in length and 5 in width. And 3 in height." XY muttered as he scanned.
"The coordinates in that box led us here. No surprise. If we could build "Heaven" to shoot down Dimensional Converters into the surface from orbit and you, Kuroban, could build "it" then… Anyone else could build something and hide it. Something tells me that not even those two knew this place existed." Slur calmly commented.
"Good point. Obviously… We gotta wait until 7AM sharp for that wall to open." Kuroban shrugged.
"There's a lot of signal noise being focused on the wall itself so it impedes warp and scanning. I'm surprised you're not using your own warp system to force your way in, Slur." Burai brought up with some surprise.
"I would rather prove I have patience. Let us pretend we are his pawns for now. That will give them over-confidence. They will gloat. Commit some mistake. They shall fall." She simply replied.
"Good reasoning." XY approved of it.
"I wonder why the man bothered to call for us too." Kage muttered.
"Must've heard rumors of the "Ryuusei Form" but has been unable to find any actual records of it so is eager to see it." Andy shrugged.
"Good point."
"6:59:49… 10 seconds left." XY announced.
"Welcome to my research facility, my folk." Void's voice rang out from speakers hidden in several spots.
Nobody replied, believing it to be a taunt.
The wall finally began to recoil and then slowly slide to the left, revealing a jet-black cavernous room awaited them.
"According to the scans that is what takes up 90% of the space. The rest is this corridor and a room having an emergency escape pod. Let us go and see who our enemy is." Slur took the lead.
The wall locked again behind them but none bothered to look back or to react as the hum of some unseen machine rang out close by.
"The noise interferes with the scan capabilities. Hardly surprising. They must think they're a master of suspense." Kuroban shrugged.
"You're but mice in a cage."
Nobody bothered to reply and the voice grumbled.
"What manners. I bother to invite you all and you don't even bother to say "hi"… Youth nowadays…" He sighed in disappointment.
"We didn't come to stick to your crappy script. State your purpose already and let's get on with it. Neo – Soviet rascal." Kuroban taunted.
"Don't put me on the same boat as my subordinates!"
"Since we knew nothing about you and seeing that your best subordinates were those two then…" He shrugged.
"Hmpf. Whatever." He calmed down from his initial outburst.
There was a sound as the surroundings' colors began to distort and change.
"Show it to me." Void ordered.
"Fine. Ready, Andy?"
Kage took a step forward and flung away his jacket.
"Always."
"Synchro Chip! Slot In! CROSS FUSION!"
Andy dematerialized and appeared inside of the PET (colored golden and silver).
Kage inserted the Synchro Chip on the PET and a graph displaying two indented halves of a hexagon colored green showed up.
They fused and six vertexes appeared thus drawing a line between them: the PET screen began to glow and emit some streaks of light.
Kage closed his eyes as the light expanded and the PET broke down into data.
The light then dimmed to reveal how Kage had indeed achieved a "fusion" with Andy.
The helmet edges were now golden and the main body was black.
His hair now flowed out in a more natural manner from behind it.
Bronze lines drew a whirlwind on the shoulder-plating surface.
Black armor with bronze edges protected his chest.
The rest of his body was now black with golden edges.
His arms were also black with silver lines travelling across their surface and intercrossing.
His forearms had golden jewels set in the center of them.
His boots' design was based upon that of his forearms.
The soil was painted black and separated from the rest of the foot by a thin bronze-colored line.
"Cross Fusion: successful." Andy's voice rang out through the radio.
"So that is the rumored Cross Fusion… It does resemble your technology somewhat, Kuroban."
"However… Denpa – Henkan doesn't need a Navi. It's just a pre-designed and pre-loaded battle armor. Hence why those Crimson Lobby rascals wanted it… Because they saw a business on it by selling it to ambitious military. But no – one gets to filth my creation in which I staked my pride and sweat and intelligence" Kuroban replied.
"Same here! Nobody will dirty the legacy of my ancestors." Burai warned as he drew his blade.
"XY! Who the hell are you!?"
"I have no need to reply. Speculate." He calmly shot back.
"Your resemblance to Slur is too uncanny to be a coincidence."
"What if I say that we were created by the same researcher?"
"Then it makes sense." He sounded interested by now.
"Aren't you going to show us your hide?" Kuroban challenged.
"I am Void. I am nothing. Thus I have no form."
"Liar. You need one to be constantly changing the SIM cards of your phone when you contact Spiral. If you don't have one… Why bother to place an escape capsule?" Burai countered.
"Hmpf. I've got excellent hounds here. Mere stage tricks won't suffice!"
"… Kage. Andy. Blacken." Slur formed a creepy smile and seemed to have an idea.
"… Acknowledged."
"What? What are you going to do?" Void gasped.
"Show you what you wanted to see: are you not pleased?" She taunted.
"That face…! You look like you could kill and have fun! Have you gone psycho or what?" Void was getting nervous.
"Indeed…" She eagerly replied.
The others stepped back and formed a Dream Aura each plus a Holy Panel as if getting ready for something.
"Now… I'll unlock it… The Ryuusei Form! The power of Golden Star: the forbidden power! Granted to us by Slur – sama to achieve the goals of Golden Star!" Kage and Andy exclaimed.
"Devil!" Void gasped.
"Hmpf… You will regret asking us to show it to you… Let fear and panic consume your pitiful existence… This power can destroy any warrior's mind… And a lowlife like you shall not be able to resist it…"
"D-defense aura! I must protect the machine!"
Red black and red strings of energy began to pour out of CF Kage's chest emblem.
They began to form a "cocoon" around his body while more energy flowed and the formation began to hover before it stopped about five centimeters over the ground.
The only lights were the "cocoon" and the amplified sound of heartbeats began to ring out as if to add a more dramatic air to the thing.
"W-what's this…? T-this pressure…! Something that announces that all before it will be annihilated…! W-what horror!"
"Interesting." XY seemed to be interested.
"So this is what Gray experienced…" Kuroban rubbed his chin with the right hand, seemingly curious.
"It's no joke." Burai admitted.
"Of course not. I built it myself." Slur shrugged.
The "cocoon" exploded in a bright flash of crimson red and black light.
The energy released hit a cylindrical barrier set in the middle of the room, making the vague shape of a cylindrical device visible, as it rose towards the ceiling.
"I have descended!"
"W-W-W-W-WHAT'S THAT?"
"Your doom."
"CF" Kage had gained a new form that emitted an intimidating "pressure", making his opponent shiver.
His hair came out behind a black helmet; red transparent shades covered the eyes and nose.
Netallic armor protected his chin and lower jaw the skin over his neck was black in color.
His eyes, visible under the hades, displayed a total lack of emotion and they had switched to a mix of red and blue as if to display his current "Full Synchro" status.
The forehead of the helmet had the Golden Star logo set there, duplicated in the ear pads, which had silver edges.
Armor covered his chest.
Black was used for the body while gray was used for the edges.
The golden letters "GOLDEN STAR" were drawn horizontally across the armor.
Black "skin" covered the rest of his torso and until the hips.
The shoulders had red dome-shaped pads covering them from above, and they had the golden letters "GS" set atop them.
The arms, forearms, and elbows scales, which used crimson for their body and golden for the edges, covering them.
Bronze featureless gloves protected the hands, and the hands' palms had a black featureless circle set on them.
Crimson boots covered his legs, and they had golden hexagons scattered over their surfaces; the boots' soil was black and red.
Two discs having an external black edge, an inner thin yellow edge and a red dome built on the core hovered slightly over the shoulder pads.
Crimson energy emanated from the outer edges and formed a circle around the shape of the discs.
Two "wings" emerged from his back.
The body was made up of crimson glowing energy while thin black frames were set around it.
"Are you ready to experience ABSOLUTE POWER?" He icily asked.
"W-what happened? Brainwash?"
"Oh no. It simply alters the frequency of the voice and its speed. They act out of their own will." Slur shrugged and snickered.
The others merely looked on, as if interested.
"… Black End… GALAXY!"
"CF Kage" lifted his hands and formed a small spheroid of blackish energy, which he then dropped behind the machine.
It grew into a large black hole, which began to suck everything around it.
"CF Kage" drew a reddish blade on his right forearm and boosted on forward cutting the air on his wake.
"S-stop!" Void gasped
"CF Kage" hit the shield, and he flew past the black hole, which collapsed.
The shockwave originating from its implosion hit the energy fully thus delivering further damage.
The whole field frizzled, crackled, emitted bursts of static and finally shattered like glass while some devices exploded along the height of the machine.
The scandal soon calmed down and "CF" Kage silently hovered back at his initial position.
"T-the barrier…! Which was supposed to withstand all kind of energy-based attacks…! The generators overloaded…! I can't believe it's got such power…!" Void was dumbfounded by now.
"Starting to regret your actions?" Slur taunted.
"D-DAMN IT ALL!"
"By the way… The energy burst also destroyed the noise emitters so we can now scan. You seem to have one on you because I cannot spot you around here." Slur added as she scanned the area.
"Inconceivable… T-this is…" Void was muttering.
"Cylindrical machine about 2.8 meters tall. There is a robot harm popping out from the top and seems to hold a chair." XY reported.
"Height?" Burai asked.
"About 2.61 meters…" XY replied.
"Fine. Let's make the guy meet the ground."
Burai jumped into the air and swung his blade.
He cut something, and a metallic armchair, which seemingly had nothing on it, hit the floor and bent, while a couple of covers partly opened revealing control panels.
"Gotcha. Kuroban. Your turn."
"Hmpf… I gotta return the favor later… Go, Dexia Sword! Find the noise emitter and destroy it!"
Kuroban formed the Dexia Sword and it flew across the air to stab a small dome set slightly over the head and before the top edge of the armchair. There was a frizzle and the camouflage system deactivated, revealing who was sitting in the armchair, so Slur formed a wider grin.
"Damn it!"
"You are…!" XY gasped.
"What?" Slur frowned.
"… The leader of… Nebula! Doctor… Regal!"
"REGAL!?"
"Indeed! I am Dr. Regal!"
It turned out that "Void" actually was Dr. Regal.
He stood up and shook some dust off his clothes before making a smug grin and looking at their surprised faces.
CF Kage didn't react and looked like he wasn't paying attention, but since his shades had turned opaque, his eyes couldn't be seen and his mouth didn't denote any expression.
"You died years ago. When Forte blew up your submarine, which you were using to flee after the defeat of Nebula Grey. How can this be possible?" Slur hissed.
"Hmpf. So they say!"
"Wait a minute… What about Twilight? Did the guy survive or you killed the guy?" Kuroban suddenly asked.
"Twilight? Who's that?" He frowned.
"Don't play dumb. There was that photo in the Nebula hideout with your handwriting! It had the word "eliminate" on it!"
"What are you talking about!? I know no Twilight! And I don't know what photo you're talking about either."
"Amnesia?" Burai wondered.
"I'm not amnesiac! I perfectly remember that day!" He grumbled back.
"How did you survive, then? Illuminate us." Slur challenged.
"I was on time to put on a small oxygen tank! Since the sub was only about 40 meters under the water, I swam away until I reached the surface! It's been easy to hide with the resources I'd built up and with everyone assuming I was dead." He announced with a grin.
"How curious. Why would you bother to have that at hand? I thought Forte blew up the sub almost instantly?" Kuroban questioned.
"Hmmm… Reeks." Burai grumbled.
"You never know." He shrugged.
"Does that mean you feared your sub blowing up?"
"Of course. The Ameroupe Navy could come hunt me from one moment to another." He dully replied.
"And you swam up 40 meters while wearing all of that?"
"Of course." He shrugged.
"… You're kidding me." Burai grumbled.
"What?"
"Clothes, when they get wet, they become extra weight. They drag you down. There's no way you could've swum all of that with all of those clothes dragging you to the bottom."
"I did!"
"You didn't. You're making it up. The whole tale. You're not Regal, are you?"
"I AM!"
"No, you aren't. Any human knows that. And even more if they've experienced it themselves." Kuroban argued back.
"… Fine! I did take them off! There, convinced? I didn't say it because it was shameful!" He grumbled.
"Nevertheless… Claiming that you don't know who Twilight was reeks. We've got records that the man existed." Kuroban wasn't convinced.
"I insist! I don't know any Twilight!"
"You still have another jammer on you. Why bother?" Slur brought up.
"There is something you want to hide from the scans. It is not your face or identity. Something… else." XY muttered, mistrustful.
"Whatever. That doesn't have any relevance!"
"We decide what is relevant and what is not. Hah!"
Slur formed those wires as she aimed the right arm at Regal, so they coiled around a small cylindrical device attached to the right side of Regal's waist.
She pulled it away and then flung it into the air, where XY drew a blade and jumped into the air to slice it up.
Regal gasped and stepped back, starting to get nervous.
"… Aha – hah." Both exclaimed.
"So?" The other two asked.
"That is a…" Slur began.
"…ROBOT." XY finished.
"Copy Roid?" Kuroban wasn't impressed.
"No. Power signature is completely different. Seems to be an original design. Maybe dating some years back."
"I see! It's a backup plan Regal left behind! A robot that believes to be the man himself and looks like the man! Maybe at first he pretended to claim he's immortal or some crap like that but since things were hectic then changed his mind and went into hiding." Burai realized.
"And that means that the "icon" or whatever they called it that they revere, that what lies within the "void" is… The real Dr. Regal!"
"Just like I suspected! An icon to adore!"
"I'm sure Regal made the robot be totally loyal and thus came up with that "ideology" to ascend him to immortal icon. Typical of a megalomaniac."
"And this is why you bothered to approach Obihiro! He'd been the leader of an "evil" org as well and you saw an equal on the guy and even though that you could tempt to succeed you or overcome you." CF Kage calmly guessed.
"Damn it all! All these years of preparation…! And it got ruined because of that damned IR vision!" Void growled.
"So? I suppose that machine is your trump card. What can it do? Brainwash humans across the globe with your "ideology"?" Slur taunted.
The machine was a purple metallic cylinder that had no features whatsoever.
"HMPF! I might've failed to impress you in the psychological aspect but I've still got the Shadow Novas! My trump cards! Ultimate! Created after long research and using you lowlifes' battle data… Too bad I couldn't add this last batch but it doesn't matter!"
"Imitations of us? Talk about original." Kuroban taunted.
"Totally. An imitation will never overcome the original."
"Hmpf. Maybe he got inspired by the "Dark Chips" Twilight developed time ago… If misused they could create a "dark twin" of the user and it would have the ability to use anything on their folder or their natural abilities… Copy their HP too… They would lack, however, a proper AI. They would be more like an automated process running on its own and choosing tactics at random from a pool." Slur exposed.
"I saw imagery of it more than once! Your own right-hand man, Kuroban, used them!"
"I know. Gray did quite the idiocy back then." Kuroban fumed.
"Idiocy sure was." Burai grumbled.
"And the mysterious armored fighter "Barbatos" too! Too bad that I couldn't find the man again! I was about to seduce him with further "shadow power" and turn him into my best agent! Did you dispose of the man, you lot?" Void questioned.
"In a sense." Slur shrugged.
"You mean that you did. No surprise. That man was growing too powerful and was a threat to you." Void got smug.
"Will playing Sherlock Holmes help you overcome us, Void?" XY taunted.
"Damn it all! Don't put me in that circus!"
"Then we shall put you in that farce you yourself are."
"FARCE! ME! DAMN IT! DIE!"
There was a hum as three lines formed on the base of the cylinder and a cover moved forward and up to reveal a mass of blackish energy that was pulsating.
The mass shifted form and assumed the form of Dr. Regal, posing as if it was laughing before more of that mass began to rise from the ground and begin to take shape.
Everyone looked on, barely impressed, as black copies of their forms (all with purple eyes) formed and rushed out of the machine as the cover shut again, shielding it.
"Soak them in blood!" Slur commanded.
"Red Gaia… Eraser!"
"What!?"
The disks hovering inches from the shoulders flew into the air and then assumed inclined positions aiming diagonally towards the enemies.
They produced continuous streams of reddish energy, which travelled across the ground drawing the Alphabet "X" character.
CF Kage formed a red beam, which he shot straight at the enemies.
A gigantic dome-shaped explosion spread on the spot and wrecked a large part of the floor, revealing circuitry and pipes beneath it.
All of the enemies had been wiped out and the explosion sent Void flying across the room and crashing on the far wall.
He hit the floor next but was back to his feet soon enough.
"Not fair! You are to fight each other's hatred and grudge and be consumed by them!" He grumbled.
"Who said we would abide to your script?" XY taunted.
"I said it before. Your shitty script is shit." Burai taunted next.
"Let them come. I'll cut them up."
"Cancel the Ryuusei Form." Slur ordered.
"Acknowledged."
The whole form began to turn into energy shapes and streaks of it flew out to reform the "cocoon" around CF Kage.
The energy was steadily absorbed back into his body through the chest emblem.
He opened his eyes, back to normal, and drew a Long Blade and a Super Vulcan to get ready for battle while the others drew their usual weapons.
"I can breed them to infinity! They can take any shape! Possess the others to awaken their hatred and grudge! Then they will become my legionnaires and with them, the evil world shall be born! The evil world that Lord Regal desired! It'll finally be completed! And I will fulfill my purpose, my raison d'etre!" Void laughed.
The hatch opened again and a new batch of copies flew off.
Sword clashes ensued as everyone fought their copies and Void looked on, laughing.
He soon had to stop because he saw that the copies were easily pushed back in the deadlocks and the others didn't even sweat.
"A copy can never rival the mastery the original has. Because that's something that's achieve with time and dedication. Those are immaterial so they can't be copied." Kuroban announced.
"Damn it! Why didn't I think of that?"
"You fools who claim that copies are the ultimate weapon always forget that! They can copy the shape and the looks but… If you do not know the exact output or the means to produce it… They will be feeble and weak! Since a copy can NEVER have the level of power the original has."
"No! I saw it by looking up old records! How that mighty Rock Man was unable to stand to his own hatred and grudge!" Void growled.
"Nonsense! First time there was not a fight. They only introduced themselves and fled taking Forte with them. Second time, Rock Man was forced to fight a possessed comrade. Third time, Rock Man struggled with the enemy but was able to win because he could awaken Forte! The enemy absorbed Dullahan and fought on! The tide had turned and it was overcome. In essence: the enemy was relying on outside forces to be able to fight." Slur calmly listed.
"Indeed." XY confirmed.
"Sheesh! Possess them! Awaken their hatred and grudge!"
The enemies lost their shape and became black matter, which jumped and latched into some of them but failed to do so for Slur and XY, because they were destroyed once they attempted to touch them.
"What!"
"We had a defensive layer on." Slur announced.
"And, also… Toppu!"
XY formed the "Toppu" Virus and it blew away the black mass to make it splatter against the machine and be stuck there as the other combatants took a step forward.
"Damn it! You should've been possessed!"
"What an idiot. We've got armor. Several layers of it. These things are designed to skip through a Normal Navi's skin, quickly reach the core to then hijack it along with the brain. It doesn't work on our cases because… We're still human. We've got a heart. An organic brain. So they would have nothing to hijack." Burai scoffed.
"You're just like Regal. Arrogant. And arrogance leads to a quick and humiliating downfall."
"N-no way. This can't be true… The evil world…! The evil world will be born…! The evil world…! Lord Regal…! My purpose…! I can still do it! I can at least take that damned Navi…!"
"Same principle in Cross Fusion." CF Kage dully replied.
"Damn it! My threats should've kept you lot at bay!"
"Like they would. You might've kept our pals out of it but that doesn't stop us from doing that. Slur – sama isn't intimidated by some crappy idiot like you. She doesn't care about what society says about her. Society knows we do something for their benefit to begin with." CF Kage shot back to further demoralize Void.
"And this is why we'll stop you." Andy added.
"I can't believe all of you suddenly showed up in less than 5 years ever since the Super Cybeast was defeated! W-where did you all come out from, anyway!? This can't be! There only were 2 competent fighters!"
"We've always been around. It's just that we felt the need to provide some "entertainment"." Kuroban snickered.
"You were too late in executing your plans. Maybe if you had tried back then you would have had better results. Something tells me that, nevertheless, someone would have gotten in your way. Maybe it would be not us but maybe it would be Forte. Blues. Or those incompetent fools of Search Man and Colonel." Slur added.
"Lord Regal! Guide me! What should I do?" He called out as if he'd run out of ideas.
"Your precious Regal can't answer 'cause he's dead."
CF Kage gripped his clothes and glared at Void.
"You lowlife…!"
"What. You can't do anything now. Your "Shadow Novas" are but crap that would only work on Normal Navis. And even if you managed to mass spread those I'm sure that the Science Labs would've eventually found a counter measure to that." CF Kage shot back.
"Exactly. Or we would have." XY calmly added.
"Damn it all! Too many incomprehensible factors! The sudden appearance of XY, the four-month disappearance of Kuroban's band of brats, Golden Star…! You were not in the calculations left behind by the mighty Lord Regal!
"Like they would be. Not like Regal was a seer! He didn't know the upcoming future! Did he hire Prophet Jeremy to tell him that he'd lose his "life"? The book by Muertecillo LaMorgue?"
"Damn you! Go, my creations! Destroy them! Gather! And take on the ultimate form!"
"Hmpf. How vain."
The hatch opened and the masses popped out again as it began to fuse and took on the shape of "Proto".
The thing pulsated and a crack formed in the middle of the room from where a blackish fog spread.
There was a howl and Darkloid Cloud Man's black copy emerged from it followed by Heel Navis.
"Hmpf. So you opened up that sealed up domain." XY scoffed.
Slur jumped towards Cloud Man and easily sliced his torso in half.
She had her wires coil around the body as she formed a red circle in the air.
The circle gained some thickness and reddish energy began to form on the lower edge.
It all focused on a single spot to become a wide reddish beam that shot inside of the crack as it closed, because Burai and Kuroban had pierced Proto's core and cut off its head as well.
The Heel Navis were easily taken care of by a Sonic Wave attack.
"Impossible! The Evil Soldiers and the Evil Commander! They should've been invincible, gained power boost from the Darkloid world!"
"Sheesh! Never learnt the exact meaning of "should have", did you? Why not look it up on the Oxford website?" CF Kage drily taunted.
"What a pointless device. Let us destroy it!"
Slur formed a portal and shot another beam inside of it.
The beam apparently formed inside of the machine because it pierced through the top of it and explosions ensued inside of the structure, which shook and soon calmed down as it stopped working.
"Come to these…!" Void grumbled.
"Boss? I finished hacking the station. The boosters are disabled." Zero reported.
"Good job."
"WHAT?"
"Did you think we did not think of such a clichéd scenario? I had Zero hack into the booster computer and revoke all accesses."
"It can't be! I was to destroy you all! Without leaders those orgs would crumble and…!"
"Why do you think there's a Vice President? VPs are to assume leadership if the original leader is unable to." CF Kage shot back.
"What? Is there such a thing? Impossible! Only the leader can have the absolute power! No – one else can!"
"Typical super villain thinking." Andy fumed.
"I failed…! All these years…! Money…! Agents… Resources…! Plans, secrecy…! Everything… For nothing! Lord Regal said it! "They will forget us with time. Bide time. And then wipe them out!"… Why didn't those words of wisdom come to be true?"
"Because that was mere arrogance. And no – one can predict the future to begin with." XY replied.
"You die with me! I will pass into the Void and become a new Sacred Icon to lead a new org! Those two will continue my goals! One day they shall create the evil world! GLORY TO LORD REGA~L!"
"Shit!"
CF Kage used an Area Steal to warp away from Void as he roared and his core unleashed the accumulated fusion energy.
A sphere of energy formed and expanded before reaching the limit, collapsing into itself, and imploding.
The shockwave tossed the armchair into the air, making it bounce twice on the ground.
All calmed down and only some bare fragments of the robot remained.
"Hmpf. Foolish until the end. A mere machine deluded by its own programming. As expected of a fool." Slur fumed and was unimpressed.
"Feels somewhat lacking, even. Guess I expected too much."
"Going up against guys who've got alien tech is the dumbest idea ever. That piece of junk was as dumb as Regal. Thought that that petty Nebula Grey would suffice to rule it all… Who proved the guy wrong? You two."
"I know." His voice now switched back to that of Netto.
"We sure did. And even Forte was able to fight back the thing's "possession" not too long ago." Rock Man added.
"I know." Kuroban shrugged.
"How about we go back, and leave the cleansing up job to the Net Police?"
"I approve. Enough wasted time. At least we proved to that fool that, despite their claims, they were unable to overcome fear. Trying to do that will lead it to it resurfacing again one day." Slur agreed on it.
"What do you think of it, XY…?"
DZING!
"Who are you?"
Burai had been about to question XY but he'd spun around and drawn his blade to shatter something made of glass.
The mysterious white-clad and hooded figure was there and the remains of a mirror-like material were scattered as its feet while were glittering.
The figure silently stepped back without emitting a single sound.
"Some type of mirror fiber that allows the wearer to blend with the surroundings and thus hide from IR and naked eye." XY analyzed.
The figure, however, crossed the arms in the shape of an "X" and became invisible again.
A white pillar of light ensued, which blinded them all.
When it vanished, the figure had seemingly escaped.
"Who the…?" The others wondered.
"Wish I knew…! A spy? An agent…? Another enemy…? An enigma…"
"White figure… Say… Lately I've felt like I'd seen one like that. Always assumed it was my imagination, but…" "CF" Kage commented.
"Now that you mention it… I've had the feeling of someone looking at me a few times as of late, too." Slur muttered.
"Same here. Some of my men reported it too." Kuroban added.
"Does that mean that this figure was silently spying on us? Guess I will have to take these shards back and analyze it… Who could it be?"