Chapter 9: Dummy
09:11 AM (Japan Time), Friday June the 17th…
"… Insofar… We've made sure all doors remain open and can't close behind us, but… This place gives me a bad vibe."
"No wonder…"
"This is too easy."
"Hmpf. A trap…"
Sigma, Blood Shadow, Omega and Zero were walking down through some metallic corridors lightened by fluorescent lights, which looked rather devoid of life; they were continuously checking their surroundings as if expecting a trap.
"Zero. Cover the rear: check out walls, floor and ceiling and take out any wires you see: we can make it back with IR vision in case we need to take the illumination out, too." Omega instructed.
"Fine." Zero shrugged.
"I'm detecting something 50 meters on ahead, Commander Omega."
"I'll cut it up!" Sigma grinned.
"Good. Let's go!" Omega rallied.
They ran down the corridor and reached a large round room the center of which had a structure which resembled a power core; some black-colored automated Navis were standing in formation around the room: each of them had two Long Swords drawn; there were about twenty of them spread around; a large sealed doorway was on the other end of the room.
"Heh. I knew it."
"Come at full power!" Sigma challenged.
"Let's go~!"
"Go all out. They're but dummies to begin with." Vadous ordered.
The Navis ran towards them and tried to attack using their Long Swords: Omega simply cut those by the half and then plunged his O – Saber through their chest emblem: they blew up to reveal Copy Roid remains but he was already moving towards the next one.
"Rubbish." He muttered.
Sigma swung his sword 180º from left to right: the sheer force of it made armor fall off some of the Navis and they hit the ground: Sigma then projected red lasers from his eyes and set the ground around them on fire to defeat them.
"Weak! As expected!"
Blood Shadow let them come close and he then blew them up by placing the shotgun's barrel on their bodies: he also kicked them in the face to distract them and open them to attack by him.
"Easy. They're but a distraction."
In less than half a minute, only Copy Roid remains were left around the ground and the three of them looked like they'd hadn't even had to sweat.
"Too easy. I highly doubt them believing in such security… Zero! How's it going over there?" Omega asked.
"Your guess was correct: the walls, floor and ceiling have empty compartments holding C4: I've cut the wires up for several ones and about 60% of the road is secure. There might be others further outside but I'm going to focus on securing our way out." Zero reported.
"Good. Keep at it: we're going to check the last room and then run outta here… This is obviously a dummy facility they quickly set up to lure us into a trap but it's too clichéd." Omega replied.
"Sigma. Do us a favor and handle that doorway." Vadous ordered.
"Piece of a cake!" Sigma grinned.
"I wonder about that."
"Hmpf. So you came out."
A figure dropped from the ceiling and gracefully landed on the ground before standing up.
This figure wore black leather clothes which covered his whole body including a hood with goggles: it design was reminiscent of an owl's face, even.
He carried a belt spanning from the right shoulder to the left flank of his body and which had sheaths for 6 knives: it included a medallion with the drawing of an owl close to the shoulder.
His equipment included gauntlets: the right one had metallic armor shaped like an owl's face and the left one had some sheaths for smaller knives.
The guy carried leather boots as well and two knife sheaths attached to the belt's waist.
His gear included two short swords' sheaths attached to his back.
His height could be around a meter and sixty.
"Subspace. The Court of Owls has sentenced you to… failure."
"Sure, sure. Sigma. Ignore the guy and open the doorway."
"Hmpf. The "Talon" has spoken."
They jumped back upwards; Sigma left his sword in the ground and rammed into the middle section of the doors using his left shoulder: it bent and Sigma quickly used the small open space to place his fingers and began to push both retractable armored doors left and right until a wide enough opening had been achieved.
"Go!"
Blood Shadow and Omega opened some wall panels and took out all circuitry and wiring connecting to the door's engines.
"Good."
"This way we secured the way out."
The three of them then rushed into a small round room which had a cone-shaped platform with a black armchair set atop it: a figure was looking towards them without moving.
"Welcome to Rama." Priest announced through some speakers.
"We know that's a puppet: you're not here, Priest. So bring out your so-classical "trap"..." Omega challenged.
"As expected… If you want a trap so badly, then I'll give it to you… How fast can you guys run? Code 222: Engage. Time limit: 200 seconds. Heh, heh, heh. Bye – bye." Priest chuckled.
"Warning. Code 222. Code 222. Warning. Evacuate premises. Time left until Code 222 execution… 194 seconds."
The group was already running off as all lights were replaced by red lighting and spinning patrol-car like lights along with loud horns and claxons.
"Hmpf. 190 seconds is more than enough to get outta here… But let's go fast nevertheless." Omega muttered.
"I've nullified about 80% of all C4: the only remaining portion is the fake power core area and the fake control room. But I can see you're already outta it, anyway." Zero reported.
"Sure. Go on ahead: meet you at the exit. We'll be there in about 80 seconds, more or less."
"Kyoudai~! Don't assume that's all I can do! I can do more! Much more! Such as manslaughter across all major Internet Cities!" Twilight's voice challenged although he was clearly nervous.
"Oh yeah? Wouldn't that screw that witch's stock market businesses?"
"GKBHNABTDOBHSH!" He growled something undecipherable.
"Imitating Wookies, no? Ah. I see you're a man of culture, too."
"SHEESH! I'm so gonna…! I need to slaughter that Cloud Man moron first! Then you're next! Get ready, you fools! My anger shall be terrible~!"
09:18 AM (Japan Time)…
"… They should be about to come out…"
Zero was pacing outside of the broken entrance of an underground refuge entrance: a ramp was leading downwards and headed towards a set of nearby green hills: the claxons and horns could be clearly heard coming out of the refuge.
"They should be about to come out." He muttered.
In effect: the three of them ran out at that moment and stopped to recover from the sprint.
"… 30 seconds until Code 222 execution: control room and core room have been sterilized yet entrance/exit corridor cannot be sterilized: no connection found with C4 charges." The auto-voice reported.
"Hey! I'm not done yet!" Twilight kept on yelling.
"Yeah. You're done. Aunt Regula says you're fired." Vadous shot back.
"Who the hell is that bitch?" He growled.
"Oh? Did you forget Anaya's rules about behavior?"
"Oh shit!" He gasped.
"Have at you, Twilight. Install CCleaner into your body to clear cache data. Because you're turning SENILE!" Vadous sneered.
"SENILE! ME! I'M A CYBERNETIC LIFEFORM! ABOVE DARKLOIDS!"
"Code 222 enabled. Sterilization." The auto-voice announced.
Nothing spectacular happened and all noises died down.
"You were saying? The claxon was too loud to hear." Vadous taunted back.
The sound of door slamming rang out while Freeze Man could be heard grumbling loud enough for the mike to pick it up; the speakers finally vanished.
"Hmpf. He ran off, huh? Serves you right, Twilight."
"… Hmmm… Clever guys."
"Yeah. We missed a nice explosion 'cause they were extremely cautious with making their way out…"
"Hmpf."
"Is something the matter, Present – sama?"
"Don't mind him, Ancient. He's impatient."
Past, Present, Future, Ancient and Prophetess were standing at the edge of a close by forest; both Past and Future had been looking on through binoculars: Present looked impatient while Ancient was bowing and Prophetess shrugged; all expect Ancient had their helmets on.
"Hmpf. True." Present admitted.
"Oi, oi… Ya are still hopin' to get that guy's head?" Future asked in his typical Kansai dialect.
"Once Present sets his goals into something then only the Apocalypse itself can halt him." Past calmly added.
"Hmmm…" Ancient brought a hand to his chin.
"So? Are you two going to compete? You need to decide which one is the most fitting candidate, don't you two?" Prophetess asked Past and Future.
"No. There's no need for that." Past drily replied.
"We're not gonna dance to that tune, Prophetess." Future shrugged.
"Exactly. You should cut down that aggressive behavior." Present scolded.
"It could lead to kin-strife." Ancient warned.
"Hum! That'd be a catastrophe." Ronin Man muttered.
"No: it'd be cool." Witch teased.
"Hmpf." Axe Man scoffed.
"Don't see the "cool" in a pointless fight, ya see." Destruction Man argued.
"Gandalf was just a worthy opponent because we both were of similar category! After all, we Balrogs were Maiar just like him or Saruman! Morgoth Ou – sama turned us into what we are, yet I, known as "Durin's Bane", didn't go by anyone's orders: I just happened to be nappin' under the Misty Mountains when those little guys excavated too deep!"
"There goes the Lord of the Rings walkin' wiki!" Future joked.
"Very funny." Past drily told him.
"So! The reason they codenamed ya "Past" is 'cause you specialize in the "past" of Middle-Earth, ain't that the reason?" Future tried to guess.
"Wrong." Past merely replied.
"You could be named "Future" because you love sci-fi films and how they depict the "future", too." Balrog laughed.
"Wrong." Future grumbled.
"This stiff man over here is named "Present" because he only cares about his everyday work even though he's a History teacher at some college or another. Ain't that ironic?" Prophetess giggled.
"Hmpf." Present scoffed.
"And this guy here is named "Ancient" for a good reason: Samurai began in "ancient" times!" She added.
"Indeed." Ancient admitted.
"Instead of discussing our codenames… Aren't we supposed to do anything else?" Ronin Man asked.
"Stage the new blood n' guts revolution in Mexico and make Vincent "Red" become the new PM: we'd have plenty of favors!" Witch laughed at her lame joke.
"Very original." Axe Man drily replied.
"I rather prefer shelling to blood n' guts, personally."
"I'd rather burn everythin' to the ground." Balrog chuckled.
"Then go beat Fire Man." Witch challenged.
"I don't have permission for that." Balrog shot back.
"Hmmm… Then maybe I need to speak with Annihilator Man – sama about it…" Witch grinned.
"That won't do." Future warned.
"You better not irritate Priest – sama, either." Past warned.
"Anyway… Our orders were just to keep an eye to see how they would handle escaping the dummy base. Let's go back before anyone can take notice of our presence." Present commanded.
"Sure, Captain. Lead the way to the nearest pub to enjoy some Coca – Cola taken outta the fridge." Prophetess giggled.
"No good, no good…" Both Past and Future muttered.
"Prophetess – dono…!" Ancient was nervous.
"Enough. Let's go back to our posts." Present settled.
"Sheesh. And here I was getting in the mood for a joke." Prophetess complained.
"That's not part of the orders. Learn to read between lines, miss." He scolded her.
"Huff! Fine, fine! If Goliathus feels like it…" She fumed.
"Such childish taunts will not work on me. Behave. Or do you want to disappoint Priest – sama? Despite that he chose you?"
"Of course not! Fine, fine! Have it your way, men!"
Prophethess stormed off while the two teens grumbled under their breath; Present scoffed and continued walking while Ancient followed him at a respectful distance.
"Fine. See you next mission, Future."
"OK, Past. See ya next mission! Time to go fish octopuses!"
10:02 AM (Japan Time)…
"… What nerves! We'll finally get the report and finish up this action-packed 3rd year…!"
"Yeah… I'm looking forward to going to the beach."
"I wouldn't mind going, too."
The students of Class 3-A were nervously chatting as it was the last day of the course: Netto, Saito and Nelaus were engrossed in their own talk: Hikawa was discussing something with Dekao while Meiru, Yaito and Tamashita were talking about something else.
"Good morning."
The homeroom teacher walked in while carrying several envelopes: the students fell silent and obvious nerves filled the air.
"I'll call each student in the Alphabetical order. Pick your envelope and return to your post in silence. Do not open them until all students have finished because we'll have the end of year ceremony." The teacher instructed.
The order was carried out and everyone stored their envelopes in the backpacks.
"Good. Out to the yard."
They headed off the classroom and down into the yard for the course photo: the students aligned as instructed and a photographer took some photos with a tripod-mounted professional camera: they then were made to return to the classroom and stand behind the desks.
"Well then… It's been a pleasure sharing one year of learning with you, students. I'm sure you'll do fine from now on. Enjoy these well-earned summer vacations." The homeroom teacher announced.
"Sensei! Thank you for everything!" All of the students chorused as they bowed forward.
"Thank you." The teacher replied.
He calmly walked out while the students quickly began to chat and pick their backpacks to head out.
"Wow. Summer vacations..! It'll be thrilling!" Netto grinned.
"Yeah. If nothing pops out tomorrow, then we could go to the beach and enjoy some relaxation." Saito suggested.
"Do you mind if I invite along two B Class students I know?" Hikawa suggested.
"Sure." Meiru looked up to something.
"We'll teach 'em that the A class is always the best!" Dekao boasted.
"Ah. But who was the one who had to chase you so that you'd study properly enough for the last three years?" Yaito teased.
"Crap." Dekao muttered.
"I guess the answer is obvious." Nelaus chuckled.
They didn't spot Arushi following them while was inwardly grinning.
I gotta be thankful that we only had to come around 10:00 AM I could be there to witness what those guys did when running off the dummy HQ: I then rushed towards here and came just in time by using a "Dimensional Converter"… No – one is allowed to know about each other's exact mission objectives to compartmentalize information. It's been a good year for me ever since I began here on September while moving from Kobe. I don't want to set a foot there again: the ghost of the past would be chasing me and I want to bury it. Hence why my codename is "Past" to begin with… Let's keep the mask up! Sometimes the enemy is closer than you think!
"You'll be coming along, Arushi – kun?" Eboshi asked him.
"Sure: I'll show you how to peek on girls." Arushi joked.
"E~h! T-that's… I'll… pass…"
"Pity. You're missing up in life!"
11:05 AM (Japan Time)…
"So in the end that location was but a dummy they set up for a show. Makes you wonder why they bothered so much."
"Zero looked around and it apparently was gonna be a weapons test site for a weapon maker. But the whole explosive sequence was added by Rama as a stunt."
"I see. Guess they were imitating the Umbrella Corporation and their habit of placing self-destruct explosives in their facilities to erase all evidence of their experiments… How original. But at least it's not as lame as Twilight's stunts, anyway."
Omega and Vadous were discussing while sitting in foldable chairs inside of a storeroom somewhere.
"Yeah. Maybe annoying the guy to the point he leaves his hideout to vent into the street, someone may witness him." Omega suggested.
"That could be useful. But let's be discrete about it or else he'll begin using disguises next. He must be counting on the fact that the events of the DNN Studios battle a year ago have been mostly forgotten and almost no common citizen will recognize him…" Vadous deduced.
"Yeah. Since he's got such a generic face, it's not like he leaves a strong impression to begin with. Even if someone asks him what he's annoyed at the guy will probably improvise something."
"But maybe that pedestrian might get a strong impression and remember that jerk. So if we discreetly ask around, we might be able to narrow the area that he's hiding at. And slowly close in."
"Yeah. That's the plan. But let's keep it to a minimum of people. That way the jerk won't be able to know it before hand." Omega suggested.
"Good point. I've got some people in mind who might do. Twilight will probably ignore them altogether and they can act discretely…"
They will be a contingency force in case something were to happen! And Twilight won't be expecting them of all people! Get ready, rascal!