Chapter 13: Godly envoys

06:43 AM (Chile Time), Monday December the 17th…

"… Nanska! The rooster sang! A new day begins!"

"Nanska!

"Nanska!"

"Nanska!"

"Good, good! Let us offer our prayers to Gontaga – sama!"

"Gontaga – sama~! Gontaga – sama~!"

"Good, good! Today will be a good day, too!"

"I wonder about that, kasnan!"

"W-what! Who is there?"

"Your doom!"

The Nanska Village people had gathered around their central square with the large monument on it: the chieftain was directing the prayers towards Gonta's giant stone statue when a Night Baron showed up atop it and laughed.

"Witness! The godly envoys!"

"W-what?"

Several copies of the Mu Denpa Bodies Yeti, Condor and Brachio formed there and began to surround them: everyone gasped.

"Become their food!"

"W-what!"

"Someone might object. Hah!"

"What!"

"Surprised, ugliness?"

"Akatsuki~!"

"Same guy."

Acid Ace suddenly showed up there and sliced through several of the Denpa Bodies as he dashed in mid-air: he was joined by Goat Kung-fu who kicked several of them, Cancer Bubble who trapped them in a bubble and Wolf Forest who slashed through them.

"How did you find me?"

"We had a hunch. We've been monitoring the place and saw you roam around the ruins." Acid Ace shrugged.

"Damn it all."

"Too bad, ugliness. Your surprise attack didn't go as scheduled: how's that for payback, ugliness?"

"Ugliness! Me! I'm handsome!"

"You look like a residual Red-haired League Member to me." Vadous taunted over Acid Ace's radio.

"Wha~t? A billion blistering barnacles!"

"Charmed."

"Sheesh."

"So? You must live in a cave. Cave-leftover."

"I AIN'T A LEFTOVER! VADOUS!"

"Prove it. Fight me." Vadous challenged.

"Sheesh! Go to Hell!"

"If only you'd show me the road…"

"Shock Note!"

"Goat Kick!"

"Wolf Claw!"

"Shit. These things are frail!" The Night Baron cursed upon seeing how the Mu Denpa Bodies were being easily beaten.

"Mass copies are always frail." Vadous taunted.

"Like these proxies."

"Sheesh."

"The other day was proof enough, I daresay."

"Nyagra~h! First the guy had to run off and all that ensued and then I went through such disgrace!"

"Fate must be punishing you. Or Maria is punishing you for not getting her out of prison. She must be having another paranoid attack: maybe she thinks you're PSB. Public Security Bureau. Japan Secret Police. How about that?" Vadous snickered.

"By all the… I knew Their Grace had some random moods but to these ends…! That won't do! But acting now is a fool's choice: you're expecting me to! Nah! I'll strike from an unexpected angle! He who laughs last laughs better, Vadous!"

"I wonder about that. It's so repetitive…"

"Sheesh!"

"Huh? Incoming Hunters!" Wolf Forest warned.

"Bring it on!" Goat Kung-fu taunted.

"Eat these! Machinegun Strings!"

"Wild Tail!"

"Kung-fu Smash!"

The Hunters came in place of the Mu Denpa Bodies but soon began to run into trouble given the intense attacking they were receiving: the Night Baron growled and then lifted its hands towards the sky.

"I'll show you a GOD!"

"Coming?"

"Mugro~h…"

Ra Mu descended from the sky at a slow and steady pace before it landed on the adjacent area with the gigantic lines: the 3 defenders rushed over there and quickly dodged a sweep with its both hands: it formed the giant drills and shot them around while it summoned Erand Soldiers to keep them busy.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah! STRUGGLE~!"

"Maybe your toys will complain?" Vadous challenged.

"Heh, heh, heh. Go ahead. I'm going to give that behemoth a lesson again in the meanwhile. Omega Laser!"

"What?"

Acid Ace jumped into the fray and attacked Ra Mu: it growled and shot a powerful beam from its chest plate yet the defenders dodged or blocked it before focusing on the Erand Soldiers again: the Night Baron was surprised by a comment Vadous made.

"What do you mean?"

"Well. Dunno. Ask your local fortune-teller."

"Sheesh."

Something whistled and an UAV came into view: it headed straight for Ra Mu but it was too busy handling the four attackers to take notice of it: the UAV impacted into the chest plate and the explosion of it blew it up into many shards: Ra Mu transformed into its second form and its attack began to get more aggressive: the Night Baron gasped as it seemingly tried to understand what had happened.

"Where did that…? Ah! One of the ones used when I attacked the WAXA building…! You captured one?" He gasped.

"Indeed. I decided to use it. Attack the core when it shows the afterimage of the OOPArt, guys!"

"Roger!"

"Sheesh. Bah. Anyway… Soon things will turn interesting… I've got many aces under my sleeves."

"You never give it up, do you?" Vadous grumbled.

"Nope. I'm as stubborn as Colonel Ilkor."

"Mugro~h…"

"Sheesh. We're running into trouble here, Vadous!"

"What? Ah!"

Acid Ace was grumbling as he and Harp Note tried to hold on against the renewed attacks: Goat Kung-fu and Wolf Forest were knocked out and the Erand Soldiers were closing into the group.

"Omega!"

"Roger. Copy canceller!"

Omega dropped into the fray and fired his "Copy Canceller" to wipe off all Erand Soldiers in the immediate radius: he then drew his saber, jumped and plunged it into Ra Mu's forehead: the attack momentarily paralyzed the behemoth as Omega drew his gun and shot at the exposed core, melting through the defenses: the behemoth began to be deleted.

"Damn it. I'm off!" The Night Baron growled.

It flew higher into the air only to be pierced through by a Giza Wheel X shot by Acid Ace from the ground: the Night Baron growled and got deleted while Acid Ace grinned.

"Maybe I should join the sniper team." He joked.

"Sheesh." Harp Note sighed.

"Shidou…" Acid scolded.

"Well. Why not." Omega shrugged.

Alright, my fellow… It's about time we got in the move… Let's go!

19:45 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Huh… Unh… Huh?"

W-where am I…? I can't see… I can't speak…! I'm naked…? What are these excited voices around me…? I don't understand…! Am I in a foreign country? But what happened? I went to the store's basement and then… Then what? The voices are rising in volume…!

"…kun…"

Someone pulls me with a rope tied to a collar on my neck… My hands are cuffed behind my back… And I've got cuffs on my ankles with a chain linking them too! Don't tell me I'm in a prison!

"…Tsu…sa…kun…"

Cold ground…? Soft ground…? Car engine…? Inside of a car…? Someone talking and laughing? W-what's going on? It stops? They drag me outside…? Down some stairs…? Into a room…? More voices…? The air feels cold…?

"Tsukasa – kun! Tsukasa – kun!"

Someone pulls my arms up and attaches something to my handcuffs? They keep my arms up? But what's going on? Wait! What's that sound behind me…? Someone's breathing…?

"Wake up! Tsukasa – kun! Wake up!"

W-what's this thing pushing against my ass? A man's… penis? A man is going to… rape me? No! Stop! Someone! Save me! Uah! It's pushing inside: it won't fit! It won't fit! Stop it!

SPLASH!

"Uwah! Cold!"

"At last!"

"G… Gino – kun…? W-what happened?"

"That's what I'd like to know!"

Tsukasa had been sleeping and stirring while leaning his head atop his room's desk with his school notebook open and some text half-written there with a textbook to its left: Kiboyama had come in and tried to wake him up but he wouldn't react so he picked a bottle of cold water set atop the desk and splashed his face with some of it: Tsukasa woke up, gasping, and looked around, confused.

"Futaba – kun? Are you alright?" Lartes stepped into the room.

"Dr. Lartes? Eh… I'm not sure."

"Your chip implant was giving off worrisome EEG readouts: were you having a nightmare or something like that? You've sweated a lot too and your heartbeats increased."

"… Ah… Yes, sir… It's… well. You know. Sir." He hung his head down and replied.

"Ah. I understand. But see there, Futaba – kun… If you want to be strong in life… You must face those traumas that haunt you… And tell them they're busted. Pretend it was nothing. You could also say you never lost hope that you'd get out of that. Subaru never lost hope on meeting his father again despite the slim chances of it… And it happened." Lartes sat down on a chair in front of Tsukasa, sighing, and placing his right hand over his shoulder.

"Is that so?" He gasped.

"Yes. And you know he desperately searched for you, too. He never gave it up: he was convinced that he'd find you. No matter what. And we did find you."

"Subaru – kun… He believed in me so much despite…" He began to mutter only to trail off.

"You can't call what happened 3 years ago "betrayal"… It was Hikaru's fault for wanting to hurt Subaru trying to make it look like you were plotting against him… You were never guilty, Futaba – kun. Subaru understood that. You redeemed by trying to stop Gemini from assaulting him in the Communications Module."

"… I see…"

"Su Casa~! I'm ringing your home~!" War Rock suddenly flew in and came up with a lame joke.

"War Rock. You seem eager to spend a while in the server." Lartes drily told him while directing a dull glare to him.

War Rock turned white and he heard rushed footsteps so he flew off, chased by another guy.

"Give me back my tool-box!"

"Sheesh. Now the guy steals Kir Osh's tool-box?"

Kir Osh, the chaser, had blonde hair and emerald green eye irises.

He was about Vadous' and Lartes' age and sported armor similar to that of Vadous.

It had a purple Alphabet "K" letter as its chest emblem plus a sword sheath.

"Catch me, Nameless Pharaoh! Bring out Exodia!"

"What's that?" Kiboyama wondered.

"Something Sigma dug up out of who knows where!"

"Sheesh. Why doesn't he do digital archeology for a hobby instead of useless pranks and jokes?" Tsukasa sighed.

"I'll have a talk with Boss."

"PWE~T! The 66th of cavalry's arrived!"

"66th of cavalry, how original!" They all complained.

"What's with the ruckus? Not you again." Miles complained.

"You never stop quiet, do you?" Storm complained next.

"Catch me, 66th of cavalry newbie duo!"

"NEWBIE? WE TWO? WAIT THERE, YOU!" Both got pissed off.

"Oh boy."

"The samba club is on the move! Mirror Ball aniki says he'll step over you guys with his magnificent steps!"

"T-THIS JERK!"

"Catch me~!"

ZA~P!

"Mugra~h!"

THUD!

"How's my EM weapon like, huh? It's useful to stop rampaging idiots like you or Sigma." Omega fumed.

"Y-ya jerk…!"

"Into the server you go. Transfer!"

"Gra~h!"

"At last! Some peace." Omega sighed.

"Yeah. I've shut the guy down. Should've done so AGES ago but being so busy with this…" Vadous sighed.

"Anyway… I've got the feeling that the rascal gave it up too quick today and the other day… I feel like it's a hint of something." Omega commented in the meanwhile.

"Maybe so. Let's keep the guard up. Continue searching nearby prefectures and we'll keep on using the ping system on the repeaters: I feel like we must hurry."

"Just in case, Boss… You know?"

"… Ah. Yeah. You never know. I'll send out orders."

Kiboyama and Tsukasa frowned while Lartes seemed to inwardly grumble as if he didn't want them to hear that exchange: he stood up and sighed while wiping off his glasses.

"Call me if more symptoms like those show up."

"R-roger, sir."

Lartes walked out at a quick pace and they heard him clear his throat as if warning Omega: Vadous grumbled something under his breath yet it was picked by the mike and seemed to realize his mistake.

"I'm coming up there. You come as well."

"Fine."

"How odd. Has this ever happened before?" Tsukasa asked.

"No…"

"Say… There are times in which Vadous – san and the trio are away for days or even weeks… They say they go to a base in the Bermudas to train yet… Maybe there's more to it?"

"Maybe it's just paranoia."

"Could be, yeah. Oh well."

"YO! YO! YO! This Mexican Moon, broadcasting to all lucha libre fans out there! The Moon Lucha Libre Tournament has opened! Join me in all kind of stylistic and extravagant battles! YO! YO! YO!" Moon Disaster began to broadcast through the Hunter-VGs.

"Free Fighting? Sheesh."

"Not you too…! Shut up or I'm locking you up!" Vadous growled back to Moon Disaster.

"YO! Shachou! A fella says that someone might crash!"

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"YO! YO! YO! Dunno! It's the enigma of the decade!" Moon Disaster laughed back.

"FINE! I'LL LOCK YOU UP TOO! O-ME-GA!"

Oh come on. Be quiet already! These guys… Sheesh! They never learn!

23:43 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So? Have you gotten the lesson? Or have you broken down? In any of the cases… The result will be the same."

"Hmmm!"

"Hmpf! You got it coming for the mess of the other day. 24 hours of the table and now another 24 hours of column! And no release either: only pain! Pain… Pain!"

"Hmmm!"

Ganondorf was looming over Subaru as he was being tortured without stop by the column machine: he was blindfolded and had the ball-gag on: he was drooling as well while Ganondorf snickered.

"Hmpf. I better get moving with the preparations."

He walked north thus leaving Subaru there and turned on the elevator by opening a hidden panel that hid the switch: he stepped into it and climbed into the surface: he exited into a modern-looking control center with several large-scale computers interlinked between them: the 4 corners of the room had tall capsules with a body made of black glass.

The southern end of the room had a couple of armored doors leading somewhere else and the room used some portable low-power cold lamps to provide illumination asides from that of the computers and machines: Ganondorf sat in an armchair behind a control panel and began to input commands using it.

"Let's program the message to reach them in 6 hours' time. By the time they come I'll be far, far away. You couldn't defeat me in the end, Vadous… And if you couldn't now, in the prologue, you won't be able to defeat me in the main chapter… That's the price you pay for betraying the great and magnificent IQ – sama!" He muttered.

He inputted some commands and brought up a 3D map that showed several rooms leading to a single corridor: this corridor then led to a main room with other corridors extending from it.

"I had a checked 4 weeks ago. But it won't hurt to have another check to have it all up and running. Security is on place, maintenance works 24/7 and all systems work. The main system has enough energy sources to properly work too."

After inputting some more commands he stood up and opened one of the doors to come out from the western side into a poorly lightened room: it had a small door on the lower right corner and the windows were all sealed: there was a spiraling metallic stair climbing upwards: Ganondorf climbed it up and reached a vast room that had a large machine covered by some plastic covers on the center of it: the place seemed to be atop a hill or a mountain because the light of a small city could be seen not too far away from there.

"Heh. They didn't notice anything. As expected. Surely nobody remembers that this place exists, even. It hasn't worked for decades. It's been left to fall apart. Because, otherwise, this tightly guarded secret would be exposed and the point of it would be lost… Let's hack sensors and figure out what the cops are up to…"

He drew a Hunter – VG and inputted commands: live imagery came in of Akatsuki going over some documents in a rush along with Acid: the camera was too far to make out what the documents were about but some of them had some photos and graphs.

"Bah. Some witness reports, I guess. No harm there. They'll surely be chaotic given how I've spawned Night Barons across the whole of Japan to further confuse them."

"… Alright, Acid. Tomorrow we must tackle this affair. But we must be discrete or else the point of it will be wasted."

"I know."

"Heh! It's already wasted. You're surely going to investigate some report out there and hope to catch some clue… No chance! I'm too subtle and skilled for that."

He drew a box of cigarettes and lighted one.

"Ah. I needed one… Let's see~… Are the guys in the Command Room savoring utter despair and hopelessness? Or are they still clinging into their ever-decaying "hope"? Heh!"

He switched cameras to see Heartless talking with Dr. Yoiri, the Chief, Daigo and Amachi.

"I searched a facility Mr. King used to own but there was nothing in there, sadly enough. I thought it was a good choice given how so few people knew about it yet…" She sighed.

"Let's not despair yet." The Chief tried to rally.

"That's easy to say, Chief… I know we were rather clueless at the start of Subaru's disappearance back after the Meteor G deal but we solved that because there were more clues lying around… And that was a necessary thing as well…" Daigo sighed.

"Last winter went smoothly because it was something unplanned for and thus there was no time to properly hide the evidence… If only we weren't dealing with such an overwhelmingly powerful enemy…" Amachi sighed next.

"I hope that child is alright… I miss his optimistic smiles. He always had the ability to cheer us up when we felt down."

"Speaking of children and all… Queen Tia. We should make a move regarding her soon, shouldn't we?" The Chief brought up.

"I think Shidou – chan will handle that. It's personal."

"Obviously. But we can't leave her roaming around loose anymore: we have reports that two girls have been missing in a 1 kilometer radius from her "place"… Too much of a coincidence."

"Say, Chief… Can't the normal police do anything to begin with?" Daigo brought up.

"They've tried but Queen Tia's "Denpa – Henkan" is too much for them to handle and thus, legally, what happens there falls under our competence so… We need to begin by removing that."

"Hmpf. Yeah. Get rid of that skinny woman… To think that woman dares to laugh at the work of IQ – sama…! My blood boils but then again my attack of some days ago was in vain. Bah. They'll eventually do something about that, anyway."

BEEP!

"Huh? Ah! A mail has been sent and the automated system transmitted it to me… Excellent, excellent… Let's see… That guy, yeah… They'll soon be ready to start operations… By the dates I said… There are one or two loose ends to be tackled first… Start might be delayed a bit… No big consequence either…" He read aloud.

He then looked at the ground level and saw a figure carrying a flashlight and apparently patrolling the area.

"The usual patrol policeman… No problem… They all think this place is totally sealed up and impossible to access… How blind they are! But that turned out to be advantageous to me."

"… A Satanic spell of doom and death and…!" Utagai had, in the meanwhile, rushed to the Command Room and began to relate something he'd seen or heard.

"It's another prank! Man! When will you learn to see through them? You shouldn't be so superstitious!" Daigo scolded.

"How many times do we need to go over this?" Cygnus grumbled next, fed up with the tale.

"W-well, I don't know." He gulped.

"YIKES!" An operator yelped.

"A mouse-trap?"

"Yes, sir…! Inside of the card-key slot…! I tried to see why the card-key didn't get in and I found this! OUCH!"

"Lovely. Sigma had time to drop these here."

"Or Moon Disaster too."

"Sheesh."

"Heh! In-fighting, eh? Take that for a change."

"Chief! Reports of Wolf Forest rampaging across the Wave Roads: it'd seem it's almost full moon and thus…"

"Sheesh. Send Akatsuki – kun there!"

"Roger! Akatsuki – san: emergency! Stop the rampage of Wolf Forest in Kodama Town Wave Road!"

"… Man. Acknowledged. Let's go, Acid!"

"Roger."

"Heh, heh, heh. The Wolverine descendant brings shame and humiliation to the family, eh?"

The screen now displayed Wolf Forest rampaging across a Wave Road despite the attempts by the Battle Wizards to contain him: Acid Ace made it to the scene and shot a "Daba Flame" attack at Wolf Forest, momentarily stunning him: he then emitted a continuous red beam of energy that made the Denpa – Henkan unstable: he caught him and brought him down to the ground as the transformation got cancelled: Ogami collapsed into the ground, panting, along with Wolf.

"Oi! Ogami – san! You should know that transforming on full moon is a bad idea. Did you forget or what?"

"Huh… My bad, fella… I forgot… Thought it was new moon…" Ogami admitted.

"I was telling you that but then you went mad and I couldn't control the situation either…!" Wolf grumbled.

"Enough."

The screen shut down and Ganondorf finished the cigarette: he stored it on a small cylindrical container and smirked.

"See ya, Satella Police… I'll be waitin', Vadous… Nyah, hah, hah, hah, hah!"