Chapter 2: Fright

17:39 PM (Japan Time), Friday June the 12th…

"… We're home!"

"Thank goodness! You're safe!"

"Somehow!"

"What in the world happened?"

"That's…"

Netto and Saito got home and were greeted by Haruka, who was nervous.

"Someone made up a fuss to create panic…"

"I'm sure it must be that annoying duo…"

"Sheesh! What horrid folk! They can't understand the fright I underwent!"

Haruka sat down on the sofa and sighed in relief.

Saito grabbed a glass of water and tossed an aspirin inside.

He handed it to her, and she slowly drank it up.

Her face regained some color.

"Take it easy. We know you were scared to death. Lie down for a while!"

"You could try looking for a comedy show or something like that which will help you shake it off..." Saito suggested.

"Good idea… Thank you…"

The twins headed upstairs into their own bedroom.

They took off their backpacks and left them into the ground-

"What an afternoon!" Netto exclaimed.

"I can't remember anything so maddening ever since the Gospel days… Speaking of which… We should try to meet with Obihiro – kun! His skills could help us dig up info!" Saito suggested.

"Good idea. Speaking of meeting… What do you think?"

"Think? About what?" Saito frowned.

"Sarase…" Netto trailed off.

"It's a complicated matter… From what we know, once they managed to undo his brainwashing, he was hit with the shock of what he'd gone through and his actions… As far as we know, is uncle, who lives in Kyoto, took custody of him as well…"

"It's been half a year. Maybe it's about time we tried to tell him that we don't blame him for what did? He was brainwashed, after all…"

"Legally, all responsibility lies on the ringleader so…"

Netto's PET beeped and he looked at the display.

"It's Dad…"

"Netto! Saito! Are you alright? I just saw the news!"

"Somehow!"

"Sheesh! Who did all this fuss!?"

Yuuichirou appeared onscreen.

"Probably it's that infamous merc…"

"Sheesh. They never have enough, do they?"

"Also… There was some odd stuff spread on the scene's Cyber World…"

"True. I just received containers from the Officials…"

"Maybe the reason they've been quiet for half a year is because they were readying things to pull this stunt?" Netto offered.

"Ijuuin – kun argued the same thing…"

"Speaking of Enzan… Been a while since we last met him… Guess he's been busy with missions…"

"He did admit as much, true…"

"And? He left for another mission?"

"Correct. He's going all over the nation…"

"He sure has it hard, having to deal with fake leads and all…"

"I do tell him not to push himself too much, but I'm not sure if he listens to my advice or falls on deaf ears…"

"Anyway. Mom is alright. I gave her an aspirin…"

"Good idea, Saito… I'll leave the analysis up to my staff and come back right away… It's at times like these that I should be there!"

"You needn't feel guilty about that, Dad. Duties are duties…"

"I know. But family comes first… I'll be there by the evening!"

"OK. See you later, Dad…"

Netto placed the PET on the charger next to the computer.

Saito did the same with his and then rummaged on his backpack.

He found his chemistry textbook, opened it and began to read it.

"What are you hoping to find there?"

"The description of the blue substance is odd. As far as I know, no liquids can generate static electricity in their own even if they are in gel state!"

"True!"

"It might be a sub-product of the stuff being inside of the Cyber World to begin with, but something makes me doubt it. The description feels like the liquid naturally generates the electricity!"

"Maybe it's simply a visual effect overlayed over it?"

"Could be. I don't think either of those are expert chemists, either…"

"Guess it's simply a stunt to make us think that things are more complicated than what they actually are!"

"Misdirection? Could be… Sheesh. They're so annoying!"

17:47 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Sheesh. I can't focus on the homework!"

"No wonder. After what's happened…"

Akashi was growling as he sat in front of the living room table and tried to progress the homework.

Delta was crossing his arms and sighing inside of his PET.

"Sheesh. Xigbar, the jerk…! Thought he'd been disposed of in some shootout between Yakuza thugs, but the jerk was alive and kicking!"

"It was but a rumor to begin with. Colonel Talos admitted that they couldn't tell if the dead man was the merc or not… Because we don't know their true face, name, or any relevant data…"

"Seeing how my name is also an alias as well as my background then I guess I've got no right to complain, either… But at least I don't go around starting up terrorism!" He grumbled.

"I never said that you need to feel guilty for that… While I lack the relevant data from back then, I can infer it's a combination of many factors, but the root lies at that fool, Regal…"

"Going into that route won't solve things, either…"

"I know. Maybe we need something else to shake off tension…"

"Maybe we should meet up with Red Sword and the others and try to coordinate defenses in case they try to attack us again with something similar to what they did last autumn…"

"That freakish beast thing, you mean? Sheesh. That thing was hard to take down indeed… At least it wasn't as annoying as Nebula Grey…"

"You needn't tell me. We spent months to hunt down all its copies across the world and prevent it from escaping the Cyber World…"

"Speaking of mercs… Has that Swallow Man guy shown up again?"

"Insofar, no. Needle Man and Star Man did show up overseas, though…"

"As always, selling scams… It wouldn't surprise me if one of them is the one that scammed Mr. Higure with that shaman outfit…"

"I asked Number Man about that, and he confirmed that the store that sold that was named "Spiky Shamans". The webmaster was named "ELDEEN", which is but the world "NEEDLE" flipped around…!"

"Sheesh. Despite that there's WANTED notices for both of those?"

"Mr. Higure did it while he was selling Chips to customers…"

"Sheesh. At least it wasn't 500,000 Z!"

"Guess that was the point. Making it a "reasonable" price was going to increase chances that someone would fall for it…"

"Let's make sure to improve our spam email filters, too!"

"I've worked on it. And deleted the accumulated spam emails, too…"

"Thanks. Let's see…"

Akashi focused on the homework while Delta distractedly watched a video depicting the flora and fauna of Mongolia.

"Amazing how they can live in those communities of shepherds…"

"OK! I managed to finish the first section. Next!"

"And these huge steeps that extend beyond the horizon…"

"Guts! I come to bring a challenge letter!"

"Sheesh! Guts Man! Report to your Operator that we're not interested in that. If he wants a brawl, use the Virus Training Program!"

"Roger, guts. Sorry for the bother!"

"Glad Guts Man is more intelligent than his partner…!"

"OK. Almost done… How about you go talk to Red and the others?

"Good idea. The better we start working on it, the better…"

"Never take anything for granted with those types!"

17:50 PM ((Japan Time)…

"What! What's happened here!? Red Sword! Cosmo Man! Cloud Man! Blizzard Man! Where are you?"

Delta had stepped into a room somewhere in the Cyber World.

He found it filled with craters, burn marks, and cracked ground panels.

There were pools of a ghostly bluish gel spread across the ground, walls and ceiling.

The polls were hissing and crackling plus producing bubbles on its surface.

They had nerve-like patterns over their surface, which grew in thickness as they approached the outer edge.

"What the hell!"

"Red! You were safe?"

"Looks like it! What happened here!?"

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

Red Sword was a Blues lookalike, who had a redesigned armor, and his shades were crimson instead.

His hair was a wild flock instead of the usual ponytail.

"Wait! This is the same stuff which was found at our school It can't be a coincidence… There are no data remains or traces, so… No – one was deleted in the scuffle!"

"Devil! Now I see why they wanted to lure me out!"

"What?"

"You see… I received a message from Mist Man. I headed to meeting him, although I suspected it was a lie to lure me out… Thought that if it was Needle Man or Star Man, I'd kick them up while I was at it! Instead of that, I only found a silver apple with the red words "for the cruelest" there…"

"Sheesh. A parody of the Troy War tale and the golden apple!"

"I rushed back here and now I find what's happened…"

"Sheesh. It must've been so quick that they didn't have time to radio!"

"Or maybe the assaulters used a radio jamming system…"

"That could be it, too!" Delta grumbled.

"Man! What a mess! The culprit must have huge firepower! They broke the stone chairs and the display screen and such!" Akashi sighed.

"Speaking of which! "Jupiter Warrior" said it! That we'd find out that some persons were missing…! That's what they meant! They're abducting Navis, and they took our buddies, too!" Delta realized.

"Sheesh! Cowardly fiends!" Red Sword growled.

"The Officials have come!"

"Been a while, Blues!"

"Hmpf. It had to be you… You finally revealed your true colors!"

"Blues! Don't say nonsense. What proof is there?"

"Mr. Enzan, sir! That's…"

Blues and some Official Navis appeared there, but Blues was being very hostile to Red Sword although Ijuuin Enzan disagreed with his behavior.

"Don't take out your frustration on others! It's not like they're to blame that Needle Man assaulted us and then ran away…"

"Roger, sir…! By your orders, sir…!"

"You're an Official! Duty comes first!"

"As you can see, the culprit is no joke…" Delta switched topics.

"Man. That's some heavy destruction, indeed…"

"It matches the substance we retrieved from the middle school, sir!"

"Which means "Jupiter Warrior" or his accomplices, the "Death Club", are behind this mess…"

"Wait! It's acting odd!" Akashi warned.

The gel was "rising" and consolidating to give way to a figure.

"What!"

It eventually became a Garuu Virus made of the blue gel and white eyes.

It opened the mouth and shot raw gel at them, which they barely dodged in time as it stained the ground where they had been standing at.

"H-how in the world did that gel create a Garuu?"

"By all the… Stand back!" Blues ordered.

Everyone stepped back as Blues drew his Neo Variable Sword.

He dashed forward and slashed the foe's forehead.

The Garuu's eyes turned blood red.

A row of sharp teeth formed inside of it.

Its claws turned larger.

Wings grew out of its body.

"It's evolving!?" Enzan gasped.

"This ain't a videogame!" Akashi grumbled.

"Guess now it is!" Delta fumed.

The altered Virus jumped into the air and dived for Blues.

He jumped to the side and shot a Sonic Boom at its main body.

The attack glued to it and began to emit static electricity, which electrocuted the Garuu.

It broke down into raw gel which dropped to the ground as a puddle which frizzled and bubble before hissing and assuming the shape of a Mettool next.

"It turns into other foes, too!?"

"Blues! Use fire!"

"Roger, sir! Hell's Burner!"

Blues formed the attack on his left forearm and shot it at the foe.

The gelt ignited and exploded as Blues put his shield.

The other fell back and put distance before Blues stepped out of the room and shut the doors, locking them with an electronic lock.

"Forget about retrieval. Let's purge this room!" He grumbled.

"Agreed. It's not in a state to allow easy retrieval!"

"Did you like the DREAD?" A voice laughed.

"Xigbar! About time you showed your eyepatch!" Akashi grumbled.

"Too bad! I'm Jupiter Warrior!"

"Sure. Like you haven't pulled similar stunts before!"

"I doubt that flashy merc can produce something so artistic!"

"Artistic? Sure, sure…"

"You can name it "Omicron Factor"… And I'm sure that the MoS will soon realize they're analyzing something which can change the world yet has its lethal effects… Was that scary enough?" He laughed.

"Go sell this stunt to Hollywood!"

"Delighted. But, before that…"

"What now?"

"My business partner, Venus Warrior, will turn you into holed cheese!"

"We're SO impressed!" Enzan grumbled.

"Ijuuin, was it? Better seize the gold mine before they steal it!"

"What gold mine? We're not mining industry!"

"You'll eventually realize the importance of it!"

"And if I don't want to?"

"You'll throw a tantrum when you realize someone beat you to it!"

"Like I would! Shut up, merc!"

"Don't shame my master's honor!" Blues growled.

"Scary, scary~! Guess you need to look up d'Artagnan!"

"No need to bring up fictional swordsmen!"

"Then go fight the "Hero" from the Dragon Quest series, who's going to join the biggest brawl ever this summer!"

"Sheesh. You mean Smash Bros Special…" Akashi sighed.

"And then our little charming Pikmin will suck off your nutrients!"

"Sheesh. It's not funny!" Red Sword sighed.

"You'll need to do better than that, Kenobi!"

"This is getting ridiculous. Let's move it!" Blues growled.

"I'll go check with Mist Man to see if he's got any information…"

"OK. I'll go warn the others about this, too…"

"If you find anything, tell us too!" Enzan told them.

"Sir! No need to rely on civilians, and…!"

"It's an order! This isn't a time to be prideful!"

"I agree with Ijuuin. The more hands, the better!" Akashi argued.

"Hmpf. Fine! But I'll be the one to catch those fools!"

"Sheesh. Why do you need to be stubborn?"

What in the world is that gel? Who are the "Death Club"? Jupiter Warrior? Venus Warrior? Omicron Factor…? A gel which CREATES Viruses out of nothing? Alchemy? The Philosopher's Stone? It can "change the world"…? Are we about to step into a chaotic era or what? I'm worried…!