Chapter 16: A view to battle
16:05 PM (Japan Time), Thursday June the 23rd…
"… I get called to this apartment building's rooftop and I'm sure I know who wants to challenge me."
"Heh! The Sheriff will kick 'em outta town!"
Martin was climbing up a set of stairs and heading for an open door at the end of them: he exited into the rooftop to find Prophetess and a Duel Stage set on the ground: Witch was already waiting for them inside of the Duel Arena.
"Hiya~!" Prophetess blew a teasing kiss.
"Prophetess. You've got something to do with the "Scarlet Hawk"?"
"Correct, handsome. They're my newest employer: I made a nice deal with them. But they're over by now: I'm sure the terrific "Committee" will soon have blown them up." She giggled.
"Fine. Showdown! Plug In! Lander, Transmission!"
Lander entered the system and drew both Colts: he placed the index fingers on each one's trigger space and spun them around.
"So. You wanna play the Sheriff." Witch grinned.
"Yeah! Let's go! Colt Shower!"
Lander suddenly jumped towards the left while slowly shooting bullets off his colts: Witch brought up the Witch Barrier but Lander had aimed for an angle, which made the bullets ricochet off the ground and graze Witch by moving towards the right and behind the Witch Barrier: Lander rolled towards the left before standing up and aiming the Colts upwards.
"What in the…! Each of those bullets inflicted 45 HP of damage! And I got hit by 12, so…! I lost 540 HP of damage already…! And the Witch Barrier was in vain, too!" She gasped.
"Crap." Prophetess muttered.
"Oi. I'm a Net Savior! I didn't get the post out of chance or favoritism, you know!" Martin exclaimed.
"O. K.! Reloading: over. Let's go~!" Lander grinned.
"Why, you…! Ice Spell!" Witch hissed.
She hit the ground with her staff and a large patch of it around Witch frozen and became ice: Lander skid along it and jumped over Witch as she aimed her staff at Lander: he landed behind her and then jumped away again: Witch turned around and took a step forward: something exploded under her feet and sent her flying to hit the iced floor and shatter it with violence: she groaned and tried to sit up.
"Stealth Mine…! Another 300 HP drained…! 840 HP lost…! I haven't even hit him yet…!" She hissed.
"Battle Chip, Tank Cannon! Slot In!"
"Tank Cannon!"
"Foolish! Witch Barrier!"
The Tank Cannon's blast was absorbed by the Witch Barrier and then shot back at Lander: he grinned.
"Gotcha."
"What!"
"Battle Chip, Heavy Gauge, Custom Sword! Double Slot In!"
Lander took out the Custom Sword and hit the purple electrical sphere of energy produced by the Witch Barrier: it bounced back at the origin and collided with the barrier, making it explode and inflicting damage to the opponent.
"Damn. My Witch Barrier can't repel its own discharge…! You've made lose 240 HP…! 1080 HP lost…! And this guy is totally unhurt! This is a one-sided battle!" Witch cursed.
"Catch me." Lander taunted.
"Why, you…! Magma Spell!"
Her staff's spheroid shone with a reddish light as she hit the ground and everything around her became magma: Lander dropped down into the small safe space mere inches from Witch: she used her staff to block Lander's Custom Sword.
"Each time you step into the magma you lose 50 HP! Tee, heh, heh! Heh, heh, heh! How's this like?" She laughed.
"Ask Merlin, Morgana!" Lander grinned.
"Yeah! I'm Morgana Pendragon: and you're over! Hrah!"
Witch pushed Lander into the magma but a log appeared instead and it was incinerated: four shuriken got embed on her Witch Barrier from behind and then exploded as she began to lose balance.
"E-Earth Spell!"
The ground was replaced by forest-like terrain and she sighed in relief for a moment before getting annoyed again.
"This guy…! 200 HP drained… 1280 HP in total…! One – sided battles are unfair!" She cursed.
"I won't let myself be hit in purpose." Lander shrugged.
"Rain Spell!"
Gray clouds formed in the sky and rumbled before starting to discharge rain around the area: Lander gasped and seemed to have realized something.
"T-this is acid rain! I'm being drained 10 HP per second! I'd lose a whole 600 HP if a minute elapses and I'm still unprotected!" He gasped.
"Crap. Battle Chip, Dream Aura! Slot In!"
"You can't run away from the acid rain! All Barrier – Type Battle Chips also suffer degradation! The Dream Aura's max capacity is 300: it'll be destroyed in just 30 seconds! Thunder Spell!"
"Crap." Lander muttered.
One thunderbolt fell down from the skies and hit the Dream Aura thus forming a crack on a segment of it: more began to rain down.
"And each of these takes out 60 HP! The Dream Aura has lost 50 by now, so if we sum up 60, we end up resting 110 HP!" Witch laughed.
"I pissed her off and this happens: point taken." Lander muttered.
"Battle Chip, Samurai Sword! Slot In!" Martin backed him up.
A second thunderbolt hit the Dream Aura and its condition began to worsen as evidence by the expanding cracks.
"This thing has lost close to 200 HP by now. It won't last much longer and I gotta get close to her…"
He ran forward but Witch seemingly saw it coming: Lander stepped into a Stealth Mine which took out the Dream Aura and summed up real damage to him.
"Crap. This and some acid rain have taken out close to 250 HP… My max HP is 1800, so… Slightly over a sixth of them… I've gotta be careful or this will end up ugly." He cursed.
Lander lifted his Samurai Sword and let a thunderbolt fall on it: it got electrified so he plunged it into the Witch Barrier: the resulting merging of energies detonated it and inflicted damage to both parties as they were pushed back.
"Grah! I've lost 250 HP! 1430 HP lost…!" Witch cursed.
"Huh… Another 250 HP for me, close to 500…" Lander groaned.
"Sheesh! Let's make this harder! Wind Spell!" Witch cursed.
Strong winds began to blow out and the rain seemed to increase in intensity: Lander simply lifted his Samurai Sword again and electrified it at the same time Witch drew a Samurai Sword, too, and charged it up as well: both then jumped towards each other and clashed blades as the acid rain slowly drained their HP.
"I've increased its power: you now lose 8 HP per second! Earthquake Spell!" Witch exclaimed.
The orb gained a brown coloring and she hit the floor with the staff: an earthquake ensued and part of the arena was deleted while cracks opened and small ramps appeared.
"Thunder Sword!" Both exclaimed.
They shot at each other and their attacks clashed and annihilated each other while pushing them back.
"80 HP of damage… 1510 HP lost…! Prophetess – sama! I think we've reached the critical point!" Witch called out.
"Roger! Annihilator Chip, Slot In!" Prophetess confirmed.
Witch glowed with the familiar white aura while Annihilator Man laughed and made her step forward.
"Interesting! A battle with all of Nature wearing you down… Maybe we should name it A View to Battle?" He sarcastically suggested.
"That's a rip-off from A View to Kill: the James Bond film starring Roger Moore… Not surprising: you're from King Land, too."
"Plant Spell!"
Some thorn-filled vines came out of under the ground while they began to draw forms around the area: Lander calmly cut any which came close and focused on his opponent.
"Crap. A full minute has ensued and I got 440 HP of damage from the rain… I've gone over the 1040HP of damage…! And she's lost a similar number, so… She's gone suffered over 1950 HP of damage… But she still has a lot of reserves…" Lander muttered.
"Battle Chip, Recovery 300! Slot In!"
"Excellent. Let's go for more, Martin!"
"Battle Chip, Tornado! Slot In!"
"No way!" Annihilator Man cursed.
The tornado broke up the clouds and cancelled the acid rain as sunlight flooded the terrain: Lander suddenly dropped down from inside of the tornado and hit Witch's forehead with his right foot: she was tossed into the ground, but quickly lifted up.
"Hum! 60 HP of damage… Over 2010 HP of damage… No big deal!"
"Program Advance! Hi Cannon, Triple Slot In!"
"Giga Cannon! Eat this!" Lander exclaimed.
"Foolish one! Witch Barrier!" Annihilator Man laughed.
"I wonder about that…" Martin grinned.
"No way!" Prophetess gasped.
"Battle Chip, Sigma Sword! Slot In!"
Lander drew Sigma's large black and green sword: he hit the returning amplified Giga Cannon attack and it impacted on Witch because it was as the same polarity as the Witch Barrier: a brutal explosion ensued and she was forced to automatically retreat into her Link PET.
"Hell!" Prophetess cursed.
"I'd seem you don't know what tennis is about." Martin grinned at her.
"A billion blue blistering barnacles!" Annihilator Man cursed.
"Heh, heh, heh! Sheriff Lander kicked ya outta town for cheating in the saloon, ya see! Go challenge Blueberry next time around!" Lander snapped his right hand's fingers.
"You Yankee….! Prophetess! Return!" Annihilator Man hissed.
"Roger! I'll remember this!" She threatened.
"Flee, and never come back!"
A "Dimensional Converter" popped out of the ground and warped her away while Martin picked up the Duel Stage.
"I wonder if IPC and Gabcom's newest war will be over who will get the rights to use these… Guess a judge will impose a free license on these since none of them developed it."
"Sure! Let's bring Billy around and make a rodeo to catch any industrial spies!" Lander suggested.
Martin chuckled and headed downstairs into the street: he spotted a black Honda FRV car parked there and one person standing next to it.
"Ah. Mr. Denpa. It's been a while."
"True, Mr. Blackdesu."
The man named Mr. Denpa looked around his mid-twenties.
He sported a black cap and sunglasses.
The rest of his clothes were a green T-shirt, jeans and black sneakers.
He was leaning against the right side of the vehicle.
"Might I drive you to the Net Police HQ?" Mr. Denpa offered.
"Thank you very much."
"Please climb in."
Martin climed into the passenger seat while Mr. Denpa climbed into the driver's seat and ignited the car.
"So? Is any of those Mettols stalking us?" Martin asked Lander.
"No. I did have a good look around. I used Billy with a decoy as a distraction to lure them out, too. But insofar they haven't appeared near Billy, either. Guess they're using sensor footage instead."
"No wonder. Oh well. As long as they don't bother us…"
"Nevertheless, Mr. Blackdesu, I wouldn't lower the guard around them. You never know when they'll strike for real." Mr. Denpa warned.
"Good point, Mr. Denpa. Maybe I should tell Charles to go train together in the VR simulator… Yeah, that'll do."
17:08 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Ah. Colonel Thunderbolt. Welcome, sir."
"Good afternoon."
A man was standing inside of a simply decorated hall with two closed doors in front of him.
He looked on his forties.
He had blond hair although his face was covered in hardened veins: his eyes' irises were blue in color
He was dressed in an olive green military uniform and He had long brown leather gloves on, too, plus boots.
His interlocutor was a man on his forties.
His eyes' irises were colored in brown color: he had a thin brown moustache, and short brownish hair.
He had reading glasses on.
He was and wore white plastic gloves plus brown shoes.
"We have opened a new line of business recently, sir." He told the man named Colonel Thunderbolt.
"Oh? Is that so?" Colonel Thunderbolt lifted an eyebrow.
"It's a slight deviation from the usual line, but… Given how it's gained popularity quickly amongst the clients… We have reduced personnel and budget to the main line… There's almost no sense to it to try to run both in a parallel manner since the clients are obviously going to shift towards the new line of business." The man exposed.
"Ah. I thought as much."
"Ah. A person you know has explained it, sir?"
"Well… Correct. Yet… I'm afraid I bring bad news to your business, Comrade… Have a look at this if you may." He calmly replied.
He rummaged into his coat's inner pocket and took out a white envelope without any sign or seal: the man opened it and drew a paper, which he unfolded and read; his face suddenly turned white and he began to sweat in a nervous manner; he then looked up at Colonel Thunderbolt who looked deadly serious by now.
"I… this… I-it's a joke, sir, ain't it, sir…?" He uttered.
"Wrong: it's reality."
"T-this can't be…!"
"It can: end of story." Colonel Thunderbolt shot back.
"S-security!" The man called out.
Nothing happened for about two minutes until a man came in: he had blond neatly combed hair and looked on his forties.
He was sporting sunglasses, a black suit, pants and shoes.
He carried a gun, which was missing its clip.
"Commendable, yet futile… Koyoki – sama." He announced in a dull tone of voice with a hint of amusement.
"You lowlife…! Traitor…!" Koyoki cursed.
"Traitor, you say? I never was a loyal grunt. Is that not right, Colonel Thunderbolt?"
"Kuwabara, kuwabara… Correct. Chief Lezareno." Colonel Thunderbolt grinned.
"You lowlifes…! What happened to the real security?" Koyoki demanded with obvious anger.
"Oh. They must be sleeping after I treated them to some cups of martini using your credit card." Lezareno grinned.
"M-my credit card…! That's… impossible…!" Koyoki cursed.
"There's nothing impossible for us."
The sound of police cars coming close rang out along with the screech of their sudden braking: several police officers ran in by ramming the door open and aimed their guns at Koyoki.
"Nobody move! Police!"
"The cavalry has arrived." Lezareno announced.
"Game Over, snake!" Colonel Thunderbolt added.
"Koyoki Narai! You're under arrest for six teenager abductions, privation of freedom, illegal business and consequential abuses! This business is now considered illegal and will be closed down. All clients who participated in teen abuse will be arrested, too." A police inspector announced.
"Then arrest that man!" Koyoki cursed.
"No. Colonel Thunderbolt just came in to inform you of the judicial permit to shut the business down and he hasn't participated on that new "branch" of your usual business. Take him away."
"Nobody move! Police!"
"Thank you for your help. Gentlemen." The inspector told the two men.
"Please don't mind it: we "Committee" wouldn't let such creeps in Tottori get away with it, inspector – dono. If it had kept on being an "only – adult" type in which the workers do it out of wanting it, then it's no legal problem. But we don't tolerate the abducting of teenagers and trying to exploit them." Chief Lezareno explained.
"Excellent. We'll meet again, gentlemen."
They heard a motorbike's engine and Past ran off the alleyway atop his bike: he left a paper, which Colonel Thunderbolt crouched to pick it up.
"Good work, gentlemen. Please keep it up. Yours truly, Past."
"I see. So Rama was going to hit them, too. We did them a favor, even."
"Truly, Colonel Talos. I'm sure they'll help bust these businesses, indeed."
17:22 PM (Japan Time)…
"… The "Committee" had already taken care of them by the time I got there, Priest – sama."
"Good. The more we bust, the better."
Past was reporting to Priest over the LCD screen; Priest sounded satisfied with the outcome.
"Continue the current mission and report any findings to me! Check up with Prophetess, too." Priest commanded.
"Yes, sir. By your orders, sir."
"But don't push it, either. Make sure to take a rest and then go out when you feel ready: don't neglect any normal activities. I don't want you to lose experiences because of your affiliation to Rama, either."
"Roger, sir."
"You may go."
Past quickly ran into the garage and limbed into the motorbike.
Those club lowlifes will eventually destroy themselves. "Secret Empire"? Don't make me laugh! That "Ice Queen" only could control them through forcing them into paying back credits extended to them! It was an illusion, which that Vadous guy shattered and broke! They now are weak, disorganized and eager to destroy each other to try to rob them of profits and of their own competency. While Twilight or someone else might start up new ones, they will be weak and easily expose themselves. Since they will be in a rush to make quick money…
"Those guys would've shuddered if they'd heard the sound of drums accompanying my grand entrance! They would have run through Moria in vain until they fell off into one pit or another! Wroh, hoh, hoh!"
"Not bad. Next time we'll play some game music at top volume to intimidate them! Maybe Koopa castle themes, too!"
"Oho. That's be fun to see, aibou. They're gonna run for their wigs!"
17:50 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Wow. The police dismantled a large illegal club, which had been doing unmoral activities. That's nice to hear."
"Yeah. The leftovers of the "Secret Empire" are slowly being rounded up. And Twilight seems to have realized it's pointless to pour black money there too. Guess some wannabes must be interfering too."
Netto and Saito were having ice creams while sitting in a table inside of the Densan City Shopping Mall; the TVs of a nearby electronics store displayed the latest news.
"By the way! Lander took profit of my little present: he bounced an attack back at the enemy to blow them up!"
"Whoa. The "tennis" trick…" Netto whistled in surprise.
"As expected of Martin. I also heard that Ayase – kun has made a very good recovery, fortunately enough." Saito nodded in agreement.
"Beware! It's the envoy of Eris, come to start the kin-strife amongst the folk of laugther!" Shadow Man popped out from Sigma's shadow.
"Folk of laugther? And who are they supposed to be?" Blood Shadow sighed, unimpressed.
"Oh! Gotcha! It's the World Three guys! WWW means "LOL" in Japanese net slang, y'know!" Sigma laughed.
"Oh. True. But I'm sure Wily took the name from the World Wide Web initials used in the names of websites…" Netto deducted.
"Huff. How original, Shadow Man. Patent it." Saito rolled his eyes.
"Huff! Shadow Man! What are you up to now?" Miyabi called out through his PET.
"Don't worry, step-brother. I'm in charge of the gag scenes of the season!"
"What nonsense is that? Do you believe to be a scriptwriter? SHEESH!"
"Beware, you folk… A tickling machine will assault us! I'm a genius!"