Chapter 24: One step closer
16:22 PM (Japan Time), Tuesday July the 4th…
"… Perfect! We're just one step away from completing the system… I've been looking forward to this day!"
"Yes, sir! 99.5% completion has been achieved: the final tune-out and simulations are all which is left."
Anderson, having lowered his tunic's hood, was working with the holographic screen generated by his armchair's computer: he looked thrilled and eager while Annihilator Man was saluting.
"Good! It can't take more than one or two days by now. I'll then try to see if I can approach Father and show him…" He muttered.
"Master's dream is coming to fruition, then. The progress has been smoother than we'd initially expected it to be, sir."
"Well… Past and Future did a good job storming those guys off and hitting them hard before the police came in to finish the job. And Present managed to cut off the bank accounts of another of those groups of lowlifes so that they'll turn on each other before the police come in and deliver the coup de grace… We're helping society: and this is what makes us different from Father's Nebula. We don't intend to rule over society with fear and terror." Anderson muttered.
"Correct, sir. Such is our raison d'être, sir! The Net Battles are just a distraction to make others think we're but imitators of the FOD or the Desert Wraiths weapons." Annihilator Man confirmed.
"Let's resume working on this: I can't stand still having come so far. I'll set to it that it's finished and it becomes a reality." Anderson commanded.
"Yes, sir! I will start setting up the simulations, sir!"
Annihilator Man exited the capsule while Anderson leant back on the armchair and let out a sigh.
"I can do it…!" He muttered.
16:38 PM (Japan Time)…
"… So?"
"Nothing at all. They're toying with us."
"Obviously."
Zero, Shadow Man and Colonel met in one spot of the vast Reverse Cyber World next to a shaft entrance's leading somewhere.
"I want them to take us seriously. If they thought we're grunts, then they're very mistaken. A ninja is no grunt." Shadow Man scoffed.
"Yeah. I'm not an idiot, either." Zero grumbled.
"They're laughing at the Ameroupe Army's face. They better not think they can pretend to fool us forever!"
"Finally… Worthy hunts…" A voice rang out.
They all jumped off the spot as eight swords fell down from somewhere and crossed through the spots their heads had been at: Axe Man dropped into the area from the shaft and brandished his weapon.
"You lowlife are Axe Man, then. Do you lowlife really think you can take us three on even with that tool?" Shadow Man questioned.
"I don't need to "take you on": I'll have enough with bringing your heads to Priest – sama." Axe Man grinned.
"Did he order you to?" Zero demanded.
"No. But they let us choose, so…"
"In short: this one is loose." Colonel muttered.
"Axe Raider!"
Axe Man warped and swung his axe across the air: both Zero and Colonel used their swords to block while Shadow Man feigned being hit and falling only to float up to Axe Man's back.
"Shadow Blade!"
"What!"
The quick attacks hit Axe Man's armor and left some dents on it before Shadow Man jumped over him as the turned around to swing the axe: the three of them saw their opening.
"Screen Divider!"
"Z – Saber!"
"Explosion!"
The three attacks met their target and managed to leave some larger dents and hits on the armor but didn't manage to tear it yet: the group jumped away as the eight swords showed up again and flew out in each direction.
"Come!" Axe Man roared.
Some "ghosts" appeared and flew towards the trio: they quickly sliced them up and dispersed to dodge another rain of swords.
"Colonel Cannon!"
"Shuriken Needles!"
"Hra~h!"
Colonel and Shadow Man attacked Axe Man with their weapons while Zero built up energy on his left hand and shot an attack at Axe Man which impacted on his chest armor and bounced off while leaving a dent behind: Axe Man was suddenly in front of them and they brought up their swords to hold the axe at bay.
"How's this?" Axe Man taunted.
"Cheap." Shadow Man told him.
"Useless." Colonel shot back.
"Slow." Zero drily countered.
"Why, you…!" He roared.
"Colonel Cannon!"
"Explosion!"
"Hra~h!"
They shot again at the wound Zero had inflicted earlier and made it deepen: it began to crack and a segment of the armor fell off: Zero quickly plunged his Z – Saber into it and Axe Man groaned.
"Grah! Dangerous…! Farewell!"
He dropped a flash bang grenade and escaped the area while the three of them sighed in relief.
"Well… He could give us trouble even if it was 3 VS 1… So he's no weakling." Shadow Man concluded.
"True… We'll have to watch out." Miyabi muttered.
"I need to report to Barrel Tai – sa. We'll meet again." Colonel sighed.
"Good. I'm off to meeting Mr. Rainon myself."
"The hunters disperse but will gather again to hunt for an even bigger prey next time." Shadow Man joked.
"That sounds fitting."
"I'll agree with it even though I'm not the joker type."
"We need to slay their foul perfume." Shadow Man added.
"Sheesh… How do you slay a "foul perfume", anyway?" Miyabi skeptically asked.
"Easy. We shower their heads with salty water."
"Sheesh. Don't overdo it!" Miyabi looked surprised.
"My omens strike back. Sponsored by Omen Man."
"Very funny! Patent it already!"
"Delighted. Patent Man is my sponsor! Followed by Sponsor Man!"
17:07 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Jeez. This patrol is so silly!"
"Complain to Shade Man – sama, Beast Man."
"Don't talk like you know everything, Sword Man!"
Darkloids Beast Man and Sword Man walked past an alley of an abandoned city and didn't spot "CF" Netto, "CF" Nelaus and Trill looking on: they quickly crossed through the avenue and entered another alley.
"O. K. Trill. Bring out your tricks." "CF" Netto whispered.
"We'll be watching!" "CF" Nelaus blinked him the right eye.
"Yay! OK!"
Trill headed into an abandoned store and began to make loud noises: Darkloid Bubble Man ran towards it.
"Puku! What's this scandal, puku? Cold Man is stirring up something or what, puku?" He muttered.
He ran inside of the store and both Cross Fusion users looked towards it while grinning.
"Yea~h! Puku~! A monster, puku~! Run, puku~!"
Bubble Man ran out of the store like he was going to be slaughtered alive while Trill came out having a terrific-looking African mask on: he took it out and met again with the Net Saviors as they hid further into the street's unlit parts.
"… I'm serious, puku! Check it out, puku!"
"Hyu~h! If it's a joke then I'm gonna turn ya into ice candy!"
Darkloid Cold Man headed inside of the store and quickly ran out while looking panicked.
"Hyu~h! There's a velociraptor there~! Hyu~h! Run for it, hyu~h!" He uttered in pure terror.
"Good job, Trill!" Saito told him.
"Uncle Omega taught you well!" Isaac added.
"Yay! Trill's all-night-long prank show has begun!"
The trio moved on and crossed through a plaza having a statue of Shade Man: Trill drew some doodles on it and wrote "Bright Man" as a signature along the way: they hid nearby and soon spotted Gravity Man along with Star Man.
"Warning. Law infraction detected. Acquire culprits. Warning." Gravity Man intoned.
"What the…! Bright Man is suicidal or what?" Star Man cursed.
"Culprit ID confirmed: Darkloid Bright Man. Protocol: report directly to Shade Man – sama's mighty and magnificent persona." Gravity Man intoned next.
"Huff! Yeah. Let's go: heads will roll across the ground." Star Man rolled his eyes.
The duo vanished from sight and then came Bright Man himself along with Flash Man: they gasped upon seeing the doodles.
"Bright Man! You lowlife!" Flash Man uttered.
"Check it out! Someone's blaming the great me!" He countered with obvious annoyance.
"Bring it on!" Flash Man challenged.
"Check it out! Fine! Bright Beam!"
"Neon Light!"
"Plug Lariat!"
"Spark Palm!"
"Traitor!"
"Ugly~!"
The trio ran off and left them to quarrel as they crept close to the former port administration office building: they hid and spotted Burner Man and Spark Man standing watch.
"Huff. Why are we supposed to watch this building?" Spark Man complained.
"Orders are orders: complain to Shade Man – sama." Burner Man replied.
"Yeah. And you know it all and I'm the grunt."
"Obviously." He shrugged.
"GROA~H!"
Both gasped as a T – Rex suddenly loomed over them and looked ready to eat them up: they ran off while the T – Rex began to chase them: the trio was barely holding back their laughter as they ran inside of the office building and began to climb it up: they hid once they heard footsteps and spotted Plant Man and Video Man walking down the stairs.
"Did you hear that roar? It sounded abnormal." Plant Man questioned.
"True. I doubt Spark Man doing that." Video Man muttered.
"Burn 'em all! These flowers are useless!" Burner Man's voice roared.
"Burner Man…! You lowlife…! My precious flowers…! You'll regret this with your existence!" Plant Man roared.
"Oho. This is good stuff for a one-shot!" Video Man grinned.
Both ran off as the trio kept on climbing up.
"That recording proved useful!" Netto grinned.
"Yay! Trill's tricks are useful!" Trill grinned.
"Sure thing." Nelaus chuckled.
"They're unending!" Isaac added.
The trio reached the topmost floor and found the ragged flag waiting for them: Trill touched it and some 3D letters formed in the air:
MISSION COMPLETE!
The trio was "pulled" out of the Cyber World and into the real world where they were greeted with the results screen:
VR CUSTOMIZER
MISSION: PORT DISTRICT INFILTRATION
TIME: 05:35
RANK: B
USERS: H. NETTO, ROCK MAN, ISAAC, N. RAINON & TRILL
HAVE A NICE DAY!
The "Dimensional Area" and matrix powered down so they both picked their Link PETs and shook hands.
"Good job!" Netto congratulated.
"You guys too." Nelaus shrugged.
"Yay! Trill had fun!" Trill giggled.
"We sure are experts at fooling Darkloids by now: they must be exasperated!" Isaac announced.
"And Shade Man will be so fed up with them that he'll replace them for Jack Frosts from the Shin Megami Tensei and Persona games."
"Hee-hoo! Trill is friends with Jack Frost – san! Hee-hoo!"
"Excellent. They're good friends, after all." Nelaus winked.
"Maybe we could make a Hee-Hoo Club, even." Netto laughed.
"That could be fun, too." Isaac agreed.
"Hee-hoo Dance!" Trill began to dance.
"Sure. Next time let's add them in a mission." Nelaus suggested.
"Why not? Let's ask Vadous – san, I'm sure he'll agree!"
04:18 AM (New York Time)…
"… Barrel Tai – sa? You're awake, sir?"
"I am. I lately have a lot of trouble sleeping."
Colonel was looking out through a PC's screen at a man standing inside of an apartment and looking out at the nighttime panorama.
He looked on his thirties and his eyes' irises were brown: he had some traces of a recently shaved beard too and jet black hair which reached past the neck.
His overall height was about a meter and ninety approximately.
He sported an open jacket with brown patches of camouflage along with a gray jumper and jeans along with shoes plus a dog-tag hanging from his neck.
"Dark Land continues to worry me: I'm sure they're seeking something and they use that story of the internal fighting as a cover to lower everyone's guards. But I'm not so easily fooled." Barrel muttered.
"I know, sir, but… It wouldn't be wise to push it, sir." Colonel suggested.
"You're right. I get fed up with my worries and force myself to stay awake at unlikely hours… I should sleep for some hours: nothing will change in such a small period of time, I hope." Barrel brought the right hand to his forehead.
"I'm surprised, though, that the extraterrestrial Xon' Edos hasn't done anything to try to stop me from travelling back and forth 20 years… Maybe he isn't allowed to or is amused." Colonel muttered.
"Possibly. Maybe making this "past tunnel" phenomenon was to test us and see if we'd be greedy or reckless about it or not."
"Good points, sir. Us detecting the phenomenon during a patrol was pure dumb luck, but we shall make wise use of it, sir."
"Yeah. Keep an eye on Dark Land. I'm sure they'll strike from somewhere unexpected. Maybe in a roundabout way, even…"
22:22 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Hello? It's me, sir. Yes, sir… It'd seem a major breakthrough is expected in the next one or two days, sir…"
An unidentified man wearing a high-neck navy blue raincoat along with a black cap and sunglasses was speaking with someone using a phone booth somewhere in Tokyo given how Tokyo Tower could be seen not too far from there.
"… Indeed, sir… They've started to get suspicious but the microphone hasn't been found yet, sir… But I'm sure they don't expect us to show up in a sudden manner, sir… The Net Saviors are not buying the tale about the internal fighting and know we are toying with them, sir…"
He waited to hear a reply and quickly nodded in understanding.
"Roger, sir… By your orders, sir… I will continue to check on the progress done by Rama, sir… When should I report next, sir? I see… Tomorrow: at the same hour, sir… I will be using another cabin and the new number will come through the middleman… Good evening, General, sir…"
He replaced the receiver and headed out of the phone booth at a calm pace: he didn't spot a black Honda FRV parked nearby with the lights out and two figures watching him.
"Mr. Denpa, sir… That's the man, sir." The driver whispered..
"Heh. Classical phone booth use… But you stand out too much, my friend… And we'll soon know what your precious General plots, too! We, the "Committee" won't lose sight of you… You underestimated us, you're going to regret it dearly!"
"Indeed, sir. If they thought they could fool anyone with such crappy misinformation, they really must have reality distortion field."
"I wouldn't doubt it. You know how arrogant they are."
"Yes, sir. Colonel Talos says he'll ambush the man."
"Excellent. Then let's leave it up to him. You're done for, my chap!"