Chapter 7: Future
09:22 AM (Japan Time), Thursday June the 16th…
"… Man. Another boring salesman… We can do that project by 28% your proposed budget, so please pack your magical wand and screen to go sell this to Gabcom…"
"Enzan – sama…"
"Don't mind me, Blues. I'm being sarcastic."
"Ah. I thought so, sir. I apologize, sir."
"No need to…"
Enzan was working on something while on his IPC office and looked slightly annoyed: Blues seemed to be surprised by Enzan's behavior but Enzan calmed him down.
"By the way, sir… A mail has come from Mr. Vadous, Enzan – sama." Blues reported.
"Read it up." Enzan looked interested.
"Yes, sir: "Good morning, Ijuuin – kun. I hope you're doing fine. I'm just mailing you to set you on your guard about any new diets: Lartes is crispate enough to go out and impose you a healthy Mediterranean diet 'cause he doesn't believe in all those "fabrications" out there. Do you know any good onsen I could recommend him to try out? Yours politely, Vadous." … An onsen…" Blues brought a hand to his chin.
"Hmmm… There's one two hours from here by train… I think it'd do well for Mr. Lartes: he must be overworked with his onboard duties even with any extra hands." Enzan muttered.
"Should I write back?"
"Yeah. Reply this: "I would recommend the Nimaya Onsen: I've been there myself and their waters are good to treat stress. Yours politely, Ijuuin." …
"Roger."
Blues exited the PET for a moment as Enzan headed over to a water fountain and served himself a glass of cold water: he then looked out at the streets and spotted something making intermittent flashes: he managed to focus and realized the one making them was a person riding on a brown Toyota bike.
"Morse code? "C – O – M – E – A – T – T – H – E – P – A – R – K – F – U – T – U – R – E" … "Kouen he koi. Mirai." … Crap." Enzan muttered each letter and then translated the sentence.
He picked a small plastic cover and made his own set of signals at Future with it.
"Eh… "R - O – G – E – R – B – E – T – H – E – R – E – I – N – 5 – M – I – N – S"… "Ryoukai. Go fun de socchi he touchaku." … I guess he'll get the message…" Enzan muttered.
Future apparently did because he ran off with the bike: Enzan headed over to the desk and organized everything.
"Enzan – sama. I heard what happened. What strategy should we use? The enemy could be a Breaker – Type: we'd be at a strong disadvantage if that were to be the case." Blues warned.
"Don't worry: I've learnt to carry some Breaker – Type Battle Chips as well, too." Enzan replied as he picked his Battle Chip Pouch.
"Roger."
Enzan ran off the office after leaving a hastily scribbled note reading "URGENT BUSINESS" and used the emergency stairs to climb down into the street: he then headed over to the adjacent park and found the bike parked and chained near the entrance: he spotted a small opening inside of a set of thick and tall trees so he headed inside of it: he found a Duel Stage set on the ground and Future (sporting a brown and yellow helmet with his Kanji set on its forehead) was leaning against a tree.
"I applaud your extra hours, Vice President!" He sarcastically announced.
"You're Future, then." Enzan muttered.
"After you, Danna." Future teased.
"Plug In! Blues, Transmission!
"Plug In! Destruction Man, Transmission!"
Destruction Man looked close to a meter and eighty tall.
Black shades similar to Blues' own design hid his eyes but his mouth denoted seriousness; a matrix of nine red spots was set on his forehead.
He had a robot-like designed given his metallic blue and silver armor pieces all over his body.
His armor included a belt while his legs had jets attached to them from behind.
His left arm ended in knife-like fingers and his right arm had an incorporated missile launcher on top of the right palm holding up to 10 missiles.
His body had brown-colored energy conduits which seemed to originate from the chest emblem.
His emblem was set on the center of his armor.
"I'm Destruction Man: and I sweep the ground with the fellas standin' on it!" He announced while speaking Kansai dialect.
"So! You lowlife come from somewhere in the Kansai Region." Blues deduced.
"Yeah! I'm rollin' the stones 'round like I was the Rollin' Stones!"
"Hmmm… Are you a college student, maybe?" Enzan tried to guess.
"Close." He admitted.
"High school, then… And I'd bet you're a 1st grader."
"Correct, Danna. Ya should be lookin' out for the birdies singing a melody 'round yer head." Future laughed again.
"Showdown!" Enzan challenged.
"Yessir! Showdown!"
"Oh yeah!" Destruction Man exclaimed.
"Battle Chip, Drill Arm! Slot In!"
"Destroy Missile!"
Destruction Man aimed his right arm forward and shot the ten small missiles: Blues was already jumping towards him while making the Drill Arm spin: Destruction Man's chest compartments opened and created a black hole-like phenomena which made Blues' Drill Arm break down into data and then reform on his left forearm: Blues didn't have time to react as the Drill Arm plunged into him and the ten missiles combined their small damage percentage to inflict some damage: Blues growled and jumped back to recover.
"Damn. I get 440 HP off me at the first round… My max HP clocks at 2000… I've lost 22% of my max HP…! This guy is no joke, either!" Blues growled after making some calculations.
"22% in one round… Any normal Navi would've been defeated by now, even…!" Enzan grimly muttered.
"Did ya like Destruction Man's Black Hole Armor, Danna? It can steal the enemy's Battle Chippie and use it against 'em!"
"Crap. Guess why they sent you after me… You're the type to quickly overwhelm and smuggle some combos for a quick and easy victory!"
"Yo! Catchin' up, Danna – sama? Maybe ya can tell me who the guy I've been chasing for the last four years, Octopus – han, is? The guy has good Kansai dialect yet I can't get any close to findin' out who the heck he is and where does he live at! Priest – sama hoped it'd be easy money 'cause I'm from Kansai to begin with, ya know?" Future teased.
"Octopus – han? The white hat…? I've heard about him but I'm afraid no – one will tell you: he's being employed by the Net Police."
"I knew that, Danna! But I wanna offer 'im a juicy job which the Net Police won't be able to ever offer the guy!"
"Lemme guess: hack into the Pentagon."
"More or less." Future shrugged.
"Hack into the Subspace, then… But their security is very high and you don't wanna piss Omega off: he'd make mincemeat of your Navi so fast that he wouldn't have time to counter." Enzan warned.
"Hum. Guess so…" Future muttered.
"Battle Chip, Golden Fist!"
Blues jumped over the air towards Destruction Man: the guy ignited his jets and drew the left closed punch forward: some small knife-like extensions appeared at the knuckles but Blues calmly changed his course and hit the helmet's forehead with the Golden Fist: the red spots shone and frizzled with electricity.
"What?" Blues gasped.
The red spots' glow increased and a streak of electricity travelled up Blues' body: Destruction Man then punched him in the lower jaw with the right first and sent him into the ground before he calmly landed back as Blues was standing up.
"Damn. The forehead thing analyzes the amount of damage and returns it by a 1.5 amplified percentage… Bronze Fist normally deals 80, so… I've gotten 120 HP of damage… Almost as a normal Silver Fist Battle Chip… This guy is turning dangerous with each attack and I've barely hurt him…!"
"Recovery 300, Slot In!"
"Phew. I lowered to 255 from 555. I now feel better."
"Heh, heh, heh. I'd say yer gonna have some trouble with me, Blues! Heh, heh, heh." Destruction Man chuckled.
"Program Advance! Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword! Slot In!"
"Dream Sword!"
"Come!" Destruction Man challenged.
Blues roared as he swung the Dream Sword: its shockwave left a crevice across the arena and hit Destruction Man who didn't bother to dodge: his forehead spots shone and the Dream Sword was flung back at Blues: he gasped and dodged just in time.
"Phew. That thing almost inflicted 750 HP of damage to me… But that guy took 500 HP in and his normal HP clock at 1650, so… He's lost slightly over a third of his max HP…" Blues muttered.
"Destroy Fist! Go~!"
Destruction Man's fists glowed with red energy until they looked like molten metal and he shot forward with his boots' jets: Blues ducked and grabbed both his right leg and left arm to then perform a judo technique to make them roll across the ground: Blues stood up and so did Destruction Man.
"Nice move! You inflicted 80 HP of damage to me! But this is where it gets thrillin'! Machine Shooters!"
Destruction Man opened some compartments on his arms and drew two small gun muzzles: they began shooting a spree of bullets around the area while Blues dodged and jumped to avoid.
"Battle Chip, Iai Form! Slot In!"
Blues quickly drew a complicated pattern and left some cuts and wounds on Destruction Man's body: he calmly turned around with a broad grin on his face and kept on shooting at Blues.
"Damn. I raise the damage level to 760 but he's unfazed…!" Blues hissed and sounded nervous.
"Battle Chip, Variable Sword! Slot In!"
"Sonic Boom!"
The attack hit Destruction Man again and he calmly shot his ten missiles around: Blues sliced them but then found the guy in front of his noses.
"What!" Blues gasped.
Destruction Man hit him on the chest and kicked him into the ground: Blues quickly used the Variable Sword to block incoming attacks and jumped away.
"890…! Over 50%...!" Blues muttered.
"I see yer startin' to build up hopes… But this can still turn around sans the need of any toys, Danna." Future sounded amused.
"Data Sonic Boom!"
A blue-colored Sonic Boom formed and shot towards Blues: he barely dodged by ducking but it bounced off a wall and hit him from behind thus kicking him into the ground.
"My sensors can help me copy an enemy's attack, too, at 1.5 times its normal power! Heh, heh, heh. Thus, the Data Sonic Boom inflicted 195 HP of damage to ya! I've lifted your damage level to 485 by now!" Destruction Man chuckled.
"Battle Chip, Custom Sword, Heavy Gauge! Slot In!"
Blues dashed forward and hit one of the machinegun muzzles before slicing the other off: he then kicked Destruction Man on the lower jaw and forced him to step back as he readied for a new attack.
"Hum! 150 damage… So I'm at 1040 and over 60% of my total HP by now, it'd seem. Easy money!" He laughed.
"Muramasa Blade!"
"What!" Future gasped.
"Thrill! Comin' from straight ahead!" Destruction Man laughed.
Blues plunged the cursed sword into the forehead sensors and quickly jumped back while the sensors seemingly tried to calculate how much damage they had to deliver back: Destruction Man growled.
"…I've lost up to 1525 HP and I'm close to my last 135 HP! But! Your attack will be returned with a whoopin' 727.5 HP of damage back at ya! Say bye, Blues! Data Muramasa! The End!"
The brutally amplified attack flew towards Blues, but he was waiting for it.
"Battle Chip, High Guard! Slot In!" Enzan announced.
"No way!" Future gasped.
Blues drew a slightly oval-shaped green-colored shield which glowed with energy: the attack bounced off while leaving several cracks on Blues' shield and hit Destruction Man: an explosion ensued and he was obviously logged out during it as a large patch of the ground he'd been standing in was deleted.
"So?" Enzan asked with a grin.
"Man! Using Destruction Man's Special Ability against 'im… I should praise ya, Danna. It was worth my free time, even! Heh, heh, heh. I was ordered to give ya a message from "Puppeteer", though… He'll be showin' his hide 'round the district soon enough to try ya guys out…"
"So we'll finally get to see Puppeteer…" Enzan muttered.
"I'll be looking forward to it." Blues menaced and drew a Long Sword.
"Ya guys are trollin' 'round or what? Oh! And tell that Zero guy we'll challegin' 'im one day so he better get Anduril out of Rivendell and train up with it! Have at ya, Danna – sama!"
Future took out a flash bang grenade and detonated it to escape: Enzan heard him climbing into the bike and escaping.
"Huff. That sure was a dire battle!" Enzan sighed.
"So, brat! Did you feel the fear?" Twilight's voice rang out.
"Who knows? Maybe I felt how I'll cut you up into pieces. Fake Marquis."
"Wha~t? Fake Marquis? Me~? Damn you~!"
"Lovely." Freeze Man's muttering could be heard.
"Let's go, Blues. No time to waste on wannabe royalties."
"Roger, sir. Get lost in Alaska, you fool…"
09:55 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Danna – sama. I'm back."
"You did a good job out there: you actually made them feel angst and proved that the "unmovable champion" was a mere façade."
Future was standing and saluting in front of the screen: he'd taken out his helmet.
He had messy emerald hair which shot out in several directions at random and equally emerald eye irises.
He looked slightly older than Enzan.
"What are my orders?" He asked.
"You've got a few days off: remember about the dummy HQ and try to lure them there: a little surprise is waiting for them in there."
"Roger, Danna – sama."
Future stretched headed out into the garage while whistling a tune.
"Hiya~!"
"Yo. Missy."
Prophetess came in and took out her helmet.
She had platinum blond hair and icy blue eye irises: she had a smug smile on her face, too, and looked over her twenties.
Part of her suit's zipper was open to reveal her breasts' shape in a provoking manner.
"Hiya~! Our cool boy won't go out in a date with the Miss? You must feel like you lack a good woman, no?" She teased.
"Prophetess. You're hot. But this is a job. We're not supposed to do that!"
"Tee, heh, heh. Our RoboCop V5 will tease me?" Witch asked him.
"Sorry. But I'm not designed to do stuff." Destruction Man replied.
"Well… I'm going to get my orders. See ya around, handsome. No pain, no gain! Tee, heh, heh." Prophetess blew him a provoking kiss.
"Jeez."
She climbed out of the bike and pulled the zipper up before stepping through the slightly armored door.
"Let's check the bike just in case." Future suggested to his pal.
"Check the bike, have you come to?" He laughed.
"Huff. Save the Star Wars parodies for later."
"Reclaimer: do you need help?" A voice suddenly rang out.
"Who's that?" Future wondered.
"Dunno. Maybe it was someone in the street."
He put on his sunglasses along with the helmet.
"Let's ride!"
"And let's crave a ride!" Destruction Man made a pun.
"Jeez. Patent it, man!"
He climbed into the bike and ran off while jumping over a fence and quickly joining the expressway.
"Make sure to book the VIP seats!" He laughed aloud.
"And to book some popcorn…!"
"Nobody books popcorn."
"Call Ms. Pizza and book a ham and pineapple pizza~…"
"Jeez. I'm passing my bad habits into ya…"
"Heh, heh, heh… Zoan Gate Man tells you guys you're cool. See ya."
"Jeez. Legion 64 sniffed us when were battling Ijuuin and found us."
"We don't have the hideout data. I don't care. Let's have fun and fan!"
09:08 AM (Japan Time)…
"… I see. So we've had Ancient, Prophetess, Past, Present and Future. And it'd seem the guy named "Puppeteer" which seems to be the leader, Priest's, Net Navi will be making its debut."
"Correct, Mr. Vadous."
Enzan was having a live videoconference with Vadous.
The man was sitting on a black revolving cushioned armchair stopped just in front of a large console with multiple switches, readouts and LEDs: a keyboard and a mouse pad had been integrated with it, too.
Three large interconnected LCD screens were built atop the console and the middle one displayed Enzan's close up: the rest of the room was dimly lit by vertical stripes of LED-cluster-made lights.
Vadous wore some kind of grayish armor made of an unknown material which covered his body and included a chest emblem similar to a Net Navi's with his initial.
A purple torn and ragged cloak originated behind his shoulders and reached all the way behind the feet.
"By the way… I suggested that Onsen to Lartes and he admitted he needed some days off. I owe you one."
"Please, sir… It was just a little piece of advice…"
"Anyway… Make sure not to overwork, too. Have some neat figures to show up and get rid of the ominous pressure provoked by a certain person. And I'm not trying to make a pun, mind you."
"I know, sir. Huff. If only they weren't such a perfectionist…"
"Good job on teaching Twilight that he can fall for taunts very easily."
"Oh, that? Sure. The bastard needed a reminder that he doesn't scare us!"
"Obviously. Sooner or later, he'll run out of patience. Until then…"
"Yes. We must be patient and deal with his stunts… We won't lose!"
11:04 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Well! Today is the last full day. We'll be getting our report cards tomorrow and be able to kick off into summer vacations!"
"Yeah. It'd seem Enzan's tricks at Trumps also work when dealing with tough guys…"
"We should ring up "Octopus – han" and tell the guy to go dig under the stones on the Oosaka Castle."
The twins and Nelaus were chatting in an animated manner while sitting on a bench outside of the main school's building: they didn't spot Arushi hidden behind a book about Samurai.
My, my! These guys know about "Octopus – han": Future was in charge of looking for him! Maybe I can give him a lead: he's a very competent guy after all! Anyway… "Puppeteer" will be making his jump into the stage soon, so… I guess he'll go for something BIG. This is just the introductory portion of the show: the main show is gonna kick off starting tomorrow!
"Arushi – kun! What did you think of my magic tricks?" Eboshi walked over to him.
"Cool. I'm sure you'll be a great magician someday, too, like your father, Mr. Hat!"
"Please…" Eboshi turned red and looked nervous.
"Be careful: that red face is what fan-girls are looking for and I suspect a damsel named "S" is setting her sights on you…" Arushi teased.
"What? Sakurai – san? Yikes. They say she's very commanding!"
"Oh, don't worry! It's not like she's royalty!" He laughed.
"Sssshhh! Lower your voice or they'll hear us, Arushi – kun!"
"Sorry. But, yeah. You needn't worry, man. It was a joke!"
"Ah! If it's only a joke… I don't want odd rumors to spread around!"
"Don't worry, don't worry. All's under control, my bud!"