Chapter 27: Knight & Demon
10:08 AM (Japan Time), Thursday July the 6th…
"… Mail. For me? Oho. Our Brutus wants to challenge me. And Cloud Man already left: guess he got tired of laughing!"
"Really?"
A mail had come in and Sigma looked amused once he read the contents: Blood Shadow and the twins were surprised.
"O. K.! If Commander Omega drops by tell 'im I'll be busting Brutus until he's turned into mere dust!" Sigma grinned.
"Yeah. Don't get cocky, though. Or he'll actually beat you." Blood Shadow sighed, fearing the worst.
"Guess I'll be going before Brutus tries to behead Caesar! I'll bring back a piece of his armor as a souvenir!"
"No need to! Just take it seriously!" Blood Shadow grumbled.
"So! Strife has begun anew! Let there be screams of agony, pain, despair, sorrow, anger, hatred, revenge!" Twilight's voice boomed through the firewall.
"Cloud Man says you can't beat MGS4 hardest difficulty without cheat codes! So prove to the guy you can bother to put some effort into beating games in a fair and square way!" Netto taunted.
"WHAT! MUTANT MAN! YOU'RE ASKING FOR IT! I WILL MAKE YOU SUFFER PAIN BEYOND IMAGINATION!" Twilight roared.
"UWA~H! A SHELTER! I NEED A SHELTER! SOMEONE SAVE ME~!"
The voices died down and they all sighed in relief as Sigma chuckled; he rattled his sword with his knuckles.
"OK! My buddy is eager for some action! And my punches, too! See ya later, buddies!"
"Hopefully he won't get beaten because he got cocky…"
10:15 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Hmpf. You came, Demon."
"Hey, man! Twilight IS the Demon King guy."
Sigma had met Axe Man inside of a Cyber World grimly decorated like it was a battlefield of the European middle ages: blood, human corpses, horse corpses and weapons were scattered around along with crows: the skies were almost black given the low position of the sun and several clouds were building up: Axe Man seemed unimpressed while Sigma had his permanent smile.
"It'd seem that ya are fond of dramatic entrances, though! We've already guessed your Operator is a college teacher somewhere who teaches European history." Sigma grinned.
"Hmpf. Whatever. Fight!" Axe Man shot back.
"Come at full power!" Sigma challenged by assuming a fighting pose and brandishing his sword.
"Axe Raider!"
Axe Man suddenly jumped off the ground and began to swing his axe around: Sigma brought his sword up and blocked the attack before grinning and glancing at his chest emblem.
"Demon Laser!"
"What!"
Sigma's eyes flashed red and he projected two thick laser beams which hit the chest emblem and inflicted some damage: Axe Man suddenly tried to punch the spheroid on Sigma's chest but was deflected by an hexagon-shaped barrier: Sigma jumped up into the air and suddenly kicked Axe Man's face to then plunge his sword into the upper torso: a slight crack formed on it and Sigma jumped back before Axe Man could try to hit him with one of his swords.
"You lowlife! 200 HP in the opening round…!" He hissed.
"I'm faster than I look!"
"Sword Dance!"
The eight swords appeared and flew towards Sigma: he picked one and used it to deflect the seven other before ducking and hitting the earlier crack with it: the borrowed sword shattered and Sigma jumped away from the opponent.
"Did you really think I'd design my weapons to be able to hurt me?"
"That sounds like a rip-off from General Grievous!" Sigma grinned.
"Hell. Sword Rain!"
The eight swords fell down from the sky towards Sigma but he hovered above the ground and punched their hilts to make them fall in different spots: he then aimed his left forearm at Axe Man and built up energy on it for some seconds.
"Demon Rings!"
Four tall white-colored energy rings shot out: Axe Man tried to block them with one of his swords but it got broken and the four rings bombarded him: Sigma used the distraction to punch the crack on his upper torso to expand on it before Axe Man tried to counter.
"Each ring delivers 80 HP of damage: so ya suffered 320 plus 60 from my punch: 380! Sum it to the earlier 200 and you get 580!" Sigma listed.
"You lowlife~!" Axe Man roared.
"Heh! Warp Attack!"
Sigma suddenly warped and dropped down from above while holding his sword parallel to the ground: the hit made Axe Man roll forward before he stood up and hissed under his breath.
"160 HP of damage: ya sum up 740 HP of battle damage! Ya thought Rock Man was good? I can be terrific, too!"
"Why, you…! Bothersome foolish idiot!" He cursed.
"That sounds more like a Darkloid!" Sigma taunted.
"Hra~h! Forward Strike!"
Axe Man suddenly ran towards him while aiming a spear atop his axe at Sigma's chest: he let him closer and he then tossed an Ice Cannon Ball at the ground: it froze and the loss of friction made Axe Man slide across the ground only to crash with a blank tombstone and get half-stuck there: Sigma then drew a Super Vulcan.
"Super Vulcan!"
The rounds hit Axe Man from behind and he groaned as he tried to break free: he shattered the tombstone and turned around while looking extremely annoyed.
"That should've amounted about 300 HP: 1040 HP of battle damage! And I'm still unhurt." Sigma grinned.
"I'll slice your neck! Come! Dead Spirits!"
The Dead Spirits (white-colored standard Navis with armor, lances, swords and shields) surrounded Sigma: there were about ten of them in total and all were aiming their lances at him: they then charged and hit Sigma who didn't seem to care.
"Spinning Attack!"
He spun upon his axis while lowering his sword: it cut through the chest of the "Dead Spirits" Navis and deleted them as he hovered above the air and took out an Air Hockey Battle Chip.
"Go~!"
The Air Hockey travelled across the iced floor and began to bounce off some of the corpses and stones thus increasing its speed and hitting Axe Man from different angles: he tried to intercept it but it always managed to hit him from an unexpected angle: Axe Man was getting infuriated.
"Total: 8 hits! 60 HP per hit: 480 HP total: sums up to 1520 HP of battle damage! It'd seem Bond will be jumping into the stage soon!"
Axe Man roared and hit the iced floor with the axe: it cracked and was restored to normal as Axe Man tried to hit Sigma: he used his left palm to hold the weapon at bay and then kicked the stomach area to disorient him before using his head to attack the crack: it worsened.
"60 HP of damage: 1580 HP lost by now! Bond is about to make his cool trademark entrance!" Sigma grinned.
"Hra~h!"
Axe Man managed to hit Sigma's upper torso with the axe and it got embedded there: Sigma shrugged and calmly pulled it out using the left forearm as the black spots came out and repaired the wound.
"Enough, Axe Man. Annihilator Man – sama will take over. Annihilator Chip, Slot In!" Present commanded.
The usual white glow appeared and Annihilator Man let out a sigh of resignation.
"Axe Man tends to get nervous too much: I'll be more cool-headed. Get ready, Titan!" Annihilator Man challenged.
"Come at full power!" Sigma challenged back.
"Catapult Dive!"
A medieval heavy catapult appeared: Axe Man jumped on its canister and it shot him across the air while building up kinetic energy: he crashed where Sigma was at but a cloud of smoke formed and four shuriken rained down: Annihilator Man gasped and looked behind him to see Sigma whistling a tune and looking elsewhere.
"Kawarimi! Bothersome clever guy!" Annihilator Man scoffed.
"It's about to rain storm troopers." Sigma taunted.
"Very funny! Iron Fists!"
Axe Man jumped across the air and tried to hit Sigma with both punches: he used his head to hit the cracked segment of the armor again and then grabbed the right forearm to whip Axe Man around.
"Fly!"
He tossed him towards a puddle; he fell there and soon stood up while looking for Sigma: he suddenly dropped down from above and hit him with the sword before setting him on flames.
"This should amount to another 200 HP… Plus the kawarimi, it amounts to 350 HP… 1930 HP lost insofar: but ya still have a lot to kick on. I've lost 250 out of my 2500 HP: 10%." Sigma calculated.
"Hmpf. No math will save you, Sigma!" Annihilator Man told him.
"And no gadget will save Past from being unmasked!" Sigma shot back.
"You won't be able to! Besides, what do you gain from it?"
"Dunno. Thought it'd be a good taunt!"
"Wha~t? SHEESH! Take this! Sword Cross!"
The eight swords formed four pairs of two and shot as if they were scissors towards Sigma: he tossed them away with his left forearm and then tossed a Magma Seed at Axe Man's feet: he sank on it.
"A-Area Steal!"
He managed to warp out only to land upon a patch of ice and slid across it before being met by a volley of punches to his upper torso: the castigated armor finally gave in and Sigma quickly dropped the Giga Count Bomb Program Advance inside of it before jumping away.
"Guo~h!"
The large explosion greatly damaged the opponent given how it was from the inside; Axe Man collapsed into his knees while panting.
"690 HP of damage! 2590 HP lost insofar! Another 600 to butt, though!"
"Bothersome meddling guy!" Annihilator Man roared.
"Come at full power!" Sigma taunted.
"Why, you…!"
"The end!"
Sigma suddenly tossed a Grass Seed at Axe Man's feet followed by another Magma Seed: the 2X combo inflicted further damage to Axe Man as he tried to escape the boiling pool of magma: his armor's integrity was clearly deteriorating by now.
"That should've done about 440 HP… 3030 HP lost: 170 HP left! I'm a genius!" Sigma grinned.
"Damn it… Are we weak?" Annihilator Man cursed.
"Not really, but… We improve! You guys also have some years' experience, but… Since bad mood is what fuels ya guys then it's no wonder you don't end up well. Atomic Network tried to rush it up and failed. The only ones that seemed to do it properly were the Desert Wraiths with their weapons, which were hard to chew!"
"Feared as much… Oh well. Since this isn't our main goal, anyway…"
"Ah! Priest – sama: do you believe on it, sir?"
"We'll discuss it later. Finish the battle."
"Come!" Sigma taunted.
"Cursed Axe! Purple Meteors!"
Some meteors suddenly bombarded the area around Sigma and Axe Man hit him with the axe on his chest although he didn't manage to inflict much damage to the armor: Sigma calmly knocked on his forehead to dizzy him and then jumped away.
"Well, well… I got 200 HP of damage myself, so I've lost 450 HP out of 2500… Close to 20%... Not bad." Sigma muttered.
"Be cursed!"
Axe Man tried to bring down the axe to aim for Sigma's forehead but he simply grabbed it and hit Axe Man's chest emblem: it glowed with a purple light and he had to step back while clutching it; he looked up and hissed at Sigma.
"Damn. The curse backfired! I'll lose 70 HP per minute!" He cursed.
"And you've lost 50 because of your attack, so… 120 HP left to ya."
"Not yet! Purple Meteors!"
The meteors rained down again but Sigma merely bounced some of them off around the area while Axe Man tried to hit him with two swords: they shattered upon trying to hit Sigma and he shrugged.
"A full minute has passed by now, ugly! 70 HP lost and 50 left! The final blow! Hra~h!"
Sigma plunged his sword into the chest emblem: Axe Man was logged out and the whole scenery disappeared to reveal a normal Cyber World: Sigma grinned and set the sword vertically aiming at the ground.
"Hmpf. Farewell." Present dryly announced.
"No grudges, Present." Priest commanded.
"Understood, sir."
"Once it's over I will summon a meeting. I will explain things then. Until then, keep a low profile."
"Roger, sir. I shall do so!"
"Found you! Sigma!" Cloud Man's 3D image appeared, and he grumbled.
"Looks like ya barely made it out alive, huh? Blame your petty master for being so suspectible to believing everyone must be plotting against him! That's the path of the Sith, no?" Sigma smirked.
"Grrrrr! I can't deny that, damn it! I'd love to!"
"Pitiful souls…" Present drily muttered.
"PITIFUL? ME? DAMN IT! WAIT UNTIL I GET A NEW BODY! THEN I WILL MAKE THUNDERBOLTS DROP ON YOU!" He roared.
He hissed, snarled, and vanished by travelling elsewhere; Sigma shrugged.
"Meh! Kill each other and do us a favor, punks! Let's go back home!"
10:33 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Hullo! It ws a fun battle."
"Hello. Yeah. I watched through the sensors."
Sigma crossed the Hikari house firewall and was met by Blood Shadow: he was checking up something using a holographic screen while sitting in a stool while humming the Super Mario Bros. tune.
"Where are the guys?" Sigma asked.
"They're playing in the room with Hikawa - kun, so… Let's wait until they call us. In the meanwhile, I'm going over my battle data."
"I beat that guy and he didn't get to drain even 25% of my HP. But he wasn't a pushover, either. And if I could bet, the Kansai dude is gonna go after Search Man next." Sigma explained.
"I think that the idea is to create a fake image. To make it look like they get beaten easily… But in truth, they can do way better. Maybe it's a ploy directed at Twilight so that he underestimates them." Blood Shadow argued with him.
"Oh! I see! Yeah, that Priest guy was muttering something like that. It's not like we're all-powerful either, so these guys failing to inflict real damage or keeping their cool did strike me as odd."
"Warning. Non-authorized Net Navis detected outside of firewall: 5 Navis detected." An auto-voice announced.
"What? Five of them? Sheesh! Those guys again? Send them to Taiwan!"
"Delighted!"
Sigma ran towards the firewall and crossed over to see the Cut Man Brothers making their fighting poses.
"Crap! That guy isn't Rock Man!" Jirou cursed.
"Uh-oh." The other four muttered.
"Come at full power!" Sigma taunted.
"Surprise Choppi'n!"
"Gotcha."
Sigma let them jump towards him in formation and then swung his sword (which had been placed 45º to the left) a full 105º degree: the arching hit the five of them and the power sent them flying across the skies until they were out of sight.
"Send me a postcard by the time ya reach Cuba~!" Sigma called out with obvious amusement.
"Good work." Zero told him as he walked over to Sigma.
"Hey, Zero! If ya came to see the guys then you'll have to wait a little while: they're engrossed with a pillow war."
"O. K. Just tell them that I'm on those women's trail with Lander: we believe we have a lead."
"Deal. Tell them they don't pass the Hiding Exam: they have a 0!"
"Huff, huff…! Why, you…! After Cloud Man, I suddenly get called an accomplice and I almost got torn to pieces!" Swallow Man's 3D image formed next and he growled.
"Like I told ya pal, blame your boss for believing himself a Sith and that his fate is to be betrayed by his underlings." Sigma shrugged.
"Yeah. Blame Anaya for infusing him with all that crap, too." Blood Shadow added over the firewall.
"Huh! IQ – sama is unrelated! Glory to IQ – sama~!" He improvised.
"Then go bring her royal wine from Versailles." Zero taunted.
"Once I get a new body, I'll tear you apart with my own hands!"
"I'm so scared. Go learn black magic to possess people. Maybe Sauron will tell you to. And now flee before I cut you up!"
Swallow Man hissed and vanished as well so both Zero and Sigma shrugged, and each left in their respective directions…