13:54 PM (Japan Time), Tuesday June the 16th…
"… You MUST see this! Hurry!"
"What's wrong? What! Isn't that…?"
"Omega…? Then, the blue opponent…?"
"Hmpf. Looks like a Robocop wannabe…"
"Interesting!"
"Scary, I'd say!"
Akashi was working with his school laptop and signaled to the others.
They quickly gathered around him to see the footage of the earlier battle.
"Death Shadow! What potential!" Netto gasped.
"He can even morph into a spheroid and deploy bombs…!"
"No kidding! Their armor is thick and outer layer can't feel pain!"
"Is Red alright?" Akashi asked.
"Fortunately! He evacuated when he saw how things were like!"
"Guts! I also left because the Officials told me to!"
"And Bubble Man got away, I take it…" Netto guessed.
"Can't blame them. Besides, that fool is hardly worth any attention!"
"I'm gonna catch this bloody mosquito~!"
The group looked up from the screen to see Dekao chasing something using the blackboard eraser.
A buzz echoed and the "something" was moving around at a high speed.
Meiru grabbed an empty plastic container and trapped it inside.
"A mechanical dragonfly!?"
"Maybe it's how Ootsuka spies on us!" Saito suggested.
"Or maybe it's "Minami Megumi"!" Meiru suggested next.
"Could be either, true…" Akashi argued.
"Let's take this to the security agents outside. They can probably analyze and figure out who was using it!" Netto rallied.
"By all means! Have it…"
"Thanks!"
Meiru handed the box over to Saito.
Both he and Netto headed to the lobby, and stopped there as Saito put the box on the ground and drew his PET.
He dialed a number and waited.
"Mr. Hikari. Is something the matter?" Talos asked.
"Colonel, sir. We captured a mechanical dragonfly spying on us, sir!"
"Understood. I'll tell my agents to collect it… Thank you…"
Two agents came into the lobby and Saito handed over the box.
"It's our model!" He exclaimed.
"Given its behavior, I'd rather say it's a well-executed copy and that it doesn't belong to the "Committee"…"
"It's probably Tora! I worked with him on a surveillance operation before! He could very well have built this, Mori..." The driver gasped.
"Tora! The man still owes me 1500 Zenny from our last poker game!"
"Come on, Karasu… This isn't a time to go over past grudges!"
"Sorry. I just happened to remember that…"
"Let's wait for the Colonel to come retrieve, it…"
"Alright. We'll go back, if you'll excuse us…"
"But of course…"
The agents left and the twins headed back into the classroom.
"With so many spy wannabes out there, it's hard to figure out which is operating that thing…" Netto sighed.
"That's the annoying part, indeed…"
"… And I'll add a Super DX Mega Giga Code to Guts Man to…!"
"Yes, yes. Are you confident to understand the next lesson? It's math!"
"Yikes! O-of course! Square root of 64 is 8!"
"And square root of 256?"
"16! I know it!"
Meiru was questioning Dekao after he began to boast nonsense.
"And the square root of strawberry milk?" Yaito laughed.
"That's not a valid question!"
"That wasn't fair, Yaito – chan…" Meiru sighed.
"Well? Are you making progress with Hikawa – kun?"
"None of your business. It's a private matter…"
"Did you try the dance of the crab?"
"Dance of the crab? What for? What need is there for it?"
"Maybe it brings good luck!"
"Sure. Why don't you do that and post in TikTok?"
"The heiress of Gabcom can't do something that'd stain her image!"
"What about your statement after Netto beat Air Man?"
"That's… A joke! I wasn't serious about it!" She flustered.
"Better don't go saying those things aloud…"
"I won't! Sheesh! That's a shameful episode of my past!"
"I hope you gain awareness of that… Else your Dad will be disappointed!"
"Sheesh! Don't go saying that aloud in class!"
"YOU are the one who began poking about my private life!"
"Sheesh! It was the usual question!"
"Which you tend to ask at least once a week…"
"That often? Thought it was once per month!"
"Delta. I found that moron. He confessed that he's been working as a spy for "Nijima Makoto", a supposed WWW member… But I'm sure it must be "Minami Megumi"… The alias is taken from a Persona 5 character…"
"Does she intend to fight with fists or what?" Meiru sighed.
"Dunno. Maybe it's some irony or parody…" Red Sword shrugged.
"The jerk couldn't get past Guts Man's punches!" Guts Man laughed.
"Naturally!" Roll shrugged.
"Ms. Yaito… Let us be more moderate…" Glyde sighed.
"Alright. Guess we'll need to monitor Bubble Man more closely…"
"I got confirmation from Zero that a certain "Kitagawa Tomi" reported that Needle Man and Star Man are missing, indeed…"
"Which means that it wasn't a tale improved by that spy…"
"Guts Man! Tell me the key to victory~!"
"Guts? You'll have to more specific, Dekao!"
"How do I become the star of the city?"
"Dunno. I think you have far more important things to do! Guts!"
"Such as remembering the square roots?" Meiru sighed.
"I remember them!"
"Square root of 49?"
"What? But I thought that only worked with even numbers!"
"No. It works with all numbers. I think you need to go over it again…"
"And the jerk was trying to sell more scams…"
"Why don't they rename him to Scam Man?" Delta sarcastically suggested.
"That wouldn't surprise me!" Akashi sighed.
"…"Bubble DX", "Bubble Torpedo", "Bubble Gun", "Bubble Hammer"…"
"What a vivid level of imagination the guy has!" Saito ironized.
"I know, right?" Netto grumbled.
"I know! Square root of 49 must be 9!"
"No~…" Everyone sighed in defeat.
"No way~! Mr. Higure~! Guide me~!"
"Sheesh. I think he's only thinking of bragging about rare Chips…"
"If you need someone to "guide" you, ask the Math teacher!"
"Guts. Watch out for scam emails, guts. This email from "Mr. Math" is only an advertisement for a "future calculator" which is likely a fabrication!"
"How original!" Roll sighed.
"Anyway. The lesson will soon begin so let's get all ready…" Meiru rallied.
"OK. I'll go wash my face and get all ready…"
"Guts. I think that would do you great as well, Dekao!"
"Sheesh! Gotcha, gotcha…"
Akashi and Dekao left while the others sat down in their seats.
"By the way. Who'll win? Yakisoba bread or hamburger? Guts?"
"Dunno and I don't care! Sheesh! Those trolls…!"
14:29 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Repairs are over. How is it over there? Is HD progressing?"
"Totally! 95% complete. We could move there already and handle the finishing touches. It wouldn't take longer than another 4 hours!"
"Are those loaded yet?"
"We made sure of it!"
Death Shadow was talking with Kurayami and Kanaya.
Death Shadow was leaning his back against a closed armored door and the cicatrized wound of Omega's attack could still be seen on his body.
"By the way. That wound doesn't heal?" Kurayami asked.
"Hmpf. I decided to keep it as a reminder to myself…"
"Good idea. Did you improve something?"
"I lowered the amount of pain sensors but cannot remove them all since part of my program is inherited from Blood Shadow and I do not have the means to crack the encryption of the "root" password…" He grumbled.
"Can't be helped. Since your body and systems are mostly his…"
"Besides. Sometimes pain is needed to realize when you're in danger…"
"Fair point. What do we do with the remaining test subjects?"
"Hmmm… We can use them as a distraction…" Death Shadow suggested.
"What about the breeders? Do we unleash their contents when X Day?"
"Agreed. I know they have been destroying several of them, but they shall not make it on time before X Day because they are constantly growing…"
"Great! All we need is to stall for time and when HD is ready, they shall despair as they are weeded out!" Kurayami laughed.
"They shall know what darkness is about!" Kanaya laughed next.
"Your end is at hand, feeble species!"
17:19 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Shah, shah, shah! Needle Man Omicron on the scene!"
"Hmpf! Star Man Omicron has come!"
"Together we shall purge the weak!"
"By the will of the mighty Grim Reaper!"
"Saved me the need for search for you… Screen Divide!"
"Super Vulcan!"
The modified Needle Man and Star Man were rampaging across an area when Colonel and Iris showed up to stop them.
"I finally found your signal! Sheesh! As I suspected, you'd been snatched and modified by those freaks!" The woman cursed.
"Hmpf. That voice… You're the famed spy…" Colonel guessed.
"Wasn't it obvious?" Iris sighed.
"Out of the way! This is my business!"
"Hmpf. Go chase your rival, "Virus", and stay out of this…" Barrel ordered.
"What? "Virus"? Is that the jerk's real alias?"
"Sheesh! Barrel! Don't spoil the fun!" A man's voice grumbled.
"There you are! Konami's Bomber Man nefarious disciple~!"
"Hmpf! Says the smart fool who thinks that hiding among the cops is going to fool everyone forever!"
"Sheesh! You Slytherin-tongue~! Snape's metropolitan cousin!"
"Are you done with the lovers' quarrel?" Barrel taunted.
"LOVERS' QUARREL!? WHY, YOU…! HOGHWARTS WANNABE~!"
"That their best shot? Pathetic…" Colonel scoffed.
"Let's silence them!" Iris sighed.
"Shah, shah, shah! Needle Cannon!"
"Meteors!"
"Colonel Cannon!"
"Hell's Burner!"
Needle Man began to shoot several needles at random, while Star Man raised his arms and summoned meteors to drop into the area.
Colonel shot his cannon blast at Needle Man, and it formed a crack in the barrier protecting his chest device, pushing him back.
Iris shot the Hell's Burner at Star Man, but he formed a Dream Aura to shield himself from the attack.
"A message from the mighty Venus Warrior! You're too flat!" He laughed.
"Do I look like I care? Tell her to mind her own business!" She sighed.
"I placed a filter in place to silence those two. Now we can focus…"
"Thanks, Barrel… Alright. Induct Missiles!"
"Dream Sword!"
"It's in vain! I'm invincible! Eat Hyper Missile!"
"Same over here~! Eat Hyper Beam!"
Both turned on their devices to shoot their respective attacks as Colonel drew a missile launcher and shot several missiles at Needle Man while Iris formed the Dream Sword and flung it towards Star Man.
Colonel side-stepped to dodge the missiles from Needle Man while his own missiles shattered the barrier and hit the chest device.
Iris dodged the beam by ducking and rushed for Star Man, jumping atop the burning meteors in the ground, and thrusting the Dream Sword across the barrier and into the device, making gel ooze out of it.
"Impossible! This barrier should be indestructible~! Why, you~! Cheater! Pirate! Corsair! Filibuster!" Star Man cursed.
"Says the one who's equipped with a cheat device… Hyper Cannon!"
She formed the Hyper Cannon next and shot it at close quarters, pushing the foe backwards and further damaging his device.
Star Man coughed as gel came out of his mouth and his eyes turned white.
"Sheesh. The aberrations are coming?"
Star Man's arms turned into gel chainsaws and his feet gained skates while an armor plate with thin needles covered his chest.
"Steampunk next?" She sighed.
"DELETE~!"
"Objection! Destroy Pulse!"
She shot it at the mutated Star Man and momentarily stunned him, however he recovered faster than expected and swung his chainsaws at a mad speed, to the point Iris couldn't dodge in time and one cut through the center of her left arm, amputating it.
She winced and used an Area Steal to put distance as she checked it.
"Sheesh! It's got some gel around the wound…! Hell's Burner!"
She applied the flames to her wound to delete the gel as she dropped several Stone Cubes in front of her to halt the berserk mutant.
"Are you alright, Iris?" Colonel called out.
"Yes, Brother! Self-repair program, activate!"
She rebuilt her right arm and checked it responded.
"Alright. I'm going to take out this imitator of the chainsaw foes of the Biohazard games!" She fumed.
"Don't underestimate them! They're dangerous!"
"Roger, Brother! Eat this! Magma Stage!"
"DELETE~!"
She dropped the capsule at Starr Man's feet and turned the ground into a grid of burning magma terrain, igniting the add-ons and destroying them.
"Aspire Break!"
"Shah, shah, shah! Hyper Beam!"
Colonel flung his cloak at Needle Man and covered him with it while side-stepping to dodge the beam.
He rushed forward and thrust his saber (burning with flames) through the chest device, causing an explosion that took out the chest area altogether and made Needle Man burn from the inside.
"My men! Retrieve the target for analysis!"
Several soldiers rushed in and dropped a golden net atop the target, which wrapped around him before they transferred elsewhere.
Star Man was yelling from the pain, but he wouldn't down so easily, proven by the fact that he formed thin needles around his body.
"DELETE~!"
He jumped into the air, and shot out all needles in all directions, forcing the combatants to put up barriers to shield from those.
However, the needles detonated when stabbing the barriers, accumulating damage to them and eventually shattering them.
"Now!"
They both swapped places with stone statues as they jumped into the foe and brought him down by force.
"Send this one to the quarantine and apply the apoptosis program!"
"Struggle while you can, fellows! HD will make you despair!"
"And go to Paris and gain some volumes, my dear!"
"Hmpf. Shut up, terrorists… I'll defeat you myself!"
"Sheesh! That woman is so annoying…! Shut up already!"