Chapter 6: Showdown

19:39 PM (Japan Time), Saturday December the 10th…

"… OK! All's ready!"

The sun was starting to set under the horizon.

Netto came out of his house, closing the door and looked around the area.

He saw Misaki's car parked there.

"Misaki – san! I thought Yuriko was coming…"

"Sorry. One of her wheels burst! I'll drive you to the area where we'll carry out the ambush. We've been tipped off that the target will show up there and the info was reliable."

"Then please drive me there. It's time to end this."

He climbed into the passenger seat and put on the seat belt as Misaki ignited the car and it departed.

Yuriko's open yellow car came into the area a few seconds later.

"What? Isn't that Detective Misaki's car? Wasn't I supposed to pick Netto up tonight?"

"Maybe there was a misunderstanding! They're heading to the agreed ambush site! Let's follow 'im."

"Fine." She muttered.

She began to follow Misaki's car, and Netto noticed it while looking at the side mirror.

"Didn't you say that one of wheels burst?"

"Maybe she forgot to say that she'd already had a wheel changed at the gas station…"

"That could be it, true!"

"We're almost there!"

19:58 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Here!"

Misaki's car entered a part of the port area filled with containers on the right side and the sea on the left side.

He stopped in the middle and made a U – turn to make the car face the way they'd come.

"Alright. We need to wait for the rest of the units before heading to the spot! It's further in."

Yuriko's car parked in front of Misaki's and she stepped out.

Misaki climbed out of his car and walked over to her, surprised.

"Detective Misaki. What does this mean? I was supposed to escort Netto!"

"But didn't you call me to tell me that your wheel had burst?"

"No! We didn't." Needle Man corrected.

"Then…"

"Maybe it was a trap! Your car… Was it on the Net Police HQ?"

"The parking has CCTV cameras, too!"

"Does it have a good firewall?" Yuriko questioned.

"Dunno! Didn't you get in back when you were being forced by Twilight to kill your sister?"

"True. I did get in but I didn't try the Cyber World because I didn't have my PET back then."

"Couldn't we solve this later? We're going to be late for the strategy and the target might slip away."

"Do you want noodles with Tabasco?"

"Noodles with Tabasco…? Who came up with that…? They must for masochists who love spicy things…"

"Who was the author of the serial bank data destruction incidents at DS Town back in Saturday August, 2005?"

"What? Wasn't that "Asteroid" Sword Man?"

"Hmpf! You're not Detective Misaki! One: you didn't know tonight's call code! Second: the culprit wasn't Sword Man!"

Yuriko drew out a gun and aimed at Misaki.

"Sheesh. Should've seen it coming!" He made a different voice.

"So? Are you a grunt of Bronze Sword?"

"Grunt? Me? I'm the founder!" He replied.

"What!" Yuriko gasped.

The imposter's body glowed and his body shrunk before becoming Obihiro.

"Hmpf! You were so close!"

"Obihiro!"

Netto clenched his teeth inside of the car and tried to come out, but it was locked and he was unable to open it up.

"Hunter Man! Keep Hikari at bay. I'll deal with this woman."

"Roger."

Yuriko aimed the gun at him again as he drew a service revolver, but Yuriko didn't hesitate and shot it off his hand.

"You were rather silly coming out like that."

"Hmpf. I wonder about that…"

A person lying on top of a container aimed a sniper rifle and shot.

BANG!

The shot hit Yuriko's left side, and she lost her balance.

She hit the left side of the stolen car and slid down.

Netto looked at the blood trail with horror and banged against the window in vain.

"Grazie, Signore Pistola!" Obihiro shouted to someone out of sight.

("Thank you, Mr. Pistola!")

He walked over to Yuriko and grabbed up her gun.

"E non matare questa dònna en questo momento. Io tenere certa pregunta para questa dònna."

("Don't kill this woman yet. I've got some questions for her.")

He cocked Yuriko's gun and aimed at her.

"Hmpf! "Divide and conquer"… This meeting spot… I choose it, ya see! This was a death trap from the very start and intended for Hikari! I know that Ivan and Sergei want them out of the way and this way I'll prove that Bronze Sword ain't a joke."

"W-what? T-then… Who shot me…?" Yuriko gasped.

"Mr. Pistola is a well – know assassin in Piamonte, Italy. I tracked him down and paid him a good sum to come here and be part of this trap. His Navi, Gun Man, is an expert on all sorts of weaponry."

"Damn…!"

"This time you're gonna die for real, Duo's "Probe"! Fare…!"

DZING!

A PET flew out, shattering the window, and hitting the gun Obihiro held.

"What!"

The gun flew into the ground some meters away.

"Y-you lowlife…!" Hunter Man cursed.

The car's door opened and Netto climbed out.

"No way…! You… You're not Hikari! He wouldn't waste a PET like that…!"

"Hmpf. I suspected this would end up happening! We saw the footage you cut off the basement CCTV cameras!" "Netto" replied.

He tugged off his face to reveal Enzan's one under the mask.

He threw it into the passenger seat while sounds rang out from Obihiro's own Link PET.

"Ijuuin Enzan!"

"Blues!" Hunter Man cursed.

"Hmpf. This is as far as you lowlife come." Blues announced.

"Ijuuin? What…?"

Enzan grabbed Obihiro by the neck using his right hand.

He lifted him and placed him at an angle in which he was in the middle of the sniper's field of view.

"I don't think your assassin will dare to shoot if you're in the middle!"

The mercenary made a grimace and seemed to be hesitating.

"Can you stand up? Yuriko?"

"I think… that in a while…"

They heard the unmistakable sound of rollerblades skating across the concrete ground.

Netto braked and came into the area, panting and hissing.

"Netto…!" Enzan gasped.

I called him to the Net Police HQ and KOed him from behind while I shut down his Link PET… Blues had to password-lock its activation, too… I had to close Netto in the basement recycle room because I couldn't let him come out like that! He would die!

"This is my battle!" Netto hissed.

"Don't interfere!" Rock Man hissed next.

I put on this disguise I'd come up with and suspected he'd try to take Detective Misaki's spot because he'd approach him in a friendly manner to then ruthlessly assassinate him in this same spot…! How did he escape…? He must've used one of the PCs to decode the password…!

"Netto! You idiot! Are you trying to suicide? Run! Run away!"

"Saito! Run!" Blues called out.

Obihiro took out a taser and hit Enzan with it to everyone's surprise.

He jumped out of Enzan's grasp as he collapsed inside of the car, and his upper body laid in two seats at the same time.

"Shotgun Blast!"

Hunter Man had taken profit of Blues' distraction to place the shotgun on his body and shoot to leave Blues out of league.

"Good night, Ijuuin… And…"

He took out a spare gun from his top's pocket.

"Welcome, Hikari!"

He aimed the gun at him.

"Obihiro… What you did to me is unforgivable! This!"

Netto tugged his right sleeve backwards, revealing a large scar on his right arm spanning from under the shoulder until the wrist.

"Hmpf. A good shot, indeed!"

"You lowlife…!" Netto cursed.

Rock Man materialized and aimed his Rock Buster at Obihiro.

"Hmpf! Did you think I didn't account for that!?"

He merely snapped his fingers and Hunter Man materialized while aiming his shotgun's laser at Rock Man's chest emblem.

"Hmpf. Rock Man. You lowlife want to finally die as well, it'd seem."

"Hmpf. Who knows?" He icily replied.

Tension filled the air as Yuriko tried to wake Enzan up.

The trunk compartment slightly opened.

"Say your prayers, Hikari. You'll soon be dead."

Obihiro began to pull the trigger.

"Die…"

"Hmpf. Brag on!"

"That's what you think."

Netto tensed his body but, then the trunk opened fully and someone jumped out of it and into the top of the car.

"Who the…?" Obihiro cursed.

"What?" Yuriko was also surprised.

"Netto!"

"Wha? Meiru – chan!?"

Meiru skidded down the car as the assassin tried to hit her while Rock Man dodged as Hunter Man tried to shoot at him.

"E non sparare!" Obihiro shouted at the man.

("Don't shoot!")

Netto stood, frozen in place, while Meiru ran towards him.

"E io decire: non sparare!"

("I said: don't shoot!")

Meiru jumped towards Netto, hugged him, and they fell to the ground, skidding across it.

"Parare! Corpo di baco!"

("Stop already! Damn it!")

Obihiro shot his gun towards the mercenary, failing on purpose.

He aimed towards Meiru, who was hugging Netto.

"Sakurai. Let go of Hikari. You heard him. He came to die." He ordered.

"No! I won't!" She replied.

"Meiru – chan! Don't get in my way!" Netto scowled.

"Saito – kun! Why don't you stop him?" Roll asked Saito.

"I'm busy trying to deal with this jerk! Charge Shot!" S

"Damn! Shotgun…!"

The Charge Shot was quicker and hit Hunter Man's chest emblem.

His body frizzled and he had to dematerialize.

Obihiro, however, shot some shots at Rock Man.

He used his forearms to shield himself and aimed the Rock Buster at him.

"Sheesh! Very well, then!" Obihiro cursed.

He aimed towards Meiru.

"Dare to move, Rock Man, this woman goes to Hell!" He threatened.

"You…!" Saito cursed.

BANG!

A shot grazed Obihiro's right shoulder.

He hissed and turned to see Yuriko, who'd somehow crawled away from the car and sat sit in front of a container.

"What?" He asked, surprised.

"You said it: I'm one of Duo's "Probes". I have superior physical strength! Drop the gun or the next time I'm gonna aim for your legs!"

Obihiro stood still while glancing at Yuriko over his shoulder, as if deciding his next move.

"Thank you, Yuriko!"

He crouched to tend at Netto and Meiru.

"Are you two alright?" He asked.

"Somehow…" Netto blushed.

"This doesn't mean anything, mind ya!" Meiru told him.

"Gues you are…"

KA-CHACK

They gasped when they heard the sound of a shotgun's cocking.

"Is that a pump shotgun?" Yuriko gasped.

"Crap."

"Bravo, Signore Pistola! Dividire e vincere!"

("Bravo, Mr. Pistola! Divide and conquer!")

Rock Man aimed the Rock Buster at an alley between containers, from where footsteps echoed.

The mercenary…! He must want to target Yuriko and allow Obihiro to try to attack us!

"Bene, Signore Pistola, bene… E usare quésto arma en quésto dònna."

("Good, Mr. Pistola, good… Use this weapon on this woman.")

Obihiro closed his eyes because of the pain of his wound and gave his back to Yuriko.

"That guy was the famous Signore Pistola?" A voice asked.

Obihiro gasped and glanced over his shoulder.

Don't I know that voice from somewhere? Rock Man wondered.

"He carried a PSG – 1 sniper rifle, a pump shotgun and four Beretta handguns!"

What an arsenal!

Miyabi walked out of the alley while carrying the mentioned weapons.

"Anyone would think he was a collector or a former Mafia assassin..."

"Dark Miyabi!" Obihiro cursed.

"Miyabi! What are you…?"

"Miyabi!"

"The only thing he didn't have was a bruise on the head. I think he'll wake up painfully."

Obihiro looked towards the shape of the man, which was immobile.

"By the way! Pistola is Gun… Gun and Gun Man. Quite the pun! Don't you think so, Rusted Medal?"

"What Rusted Medal?" Obihiro asked, annoyed.

"That's a little nickname I made for you. Since all the Net Mafias we've recently faced had a name of one type of Olympic medal, I thought I could say that there is a fourth category for those who do not classify… a Rusted Medal." Miyabi explained in a rather sarcastic tone of voice.

"Fits you!" Netto chuckled.

"Take that!" Meiru added.

"Your name sucks." Saito added.

"Sure…!"

Obihiro aimed his gun towards Miyabi, but he shot him back with the shotgun although a blue round shield absorbed the force of the blast with runes engraved on the rim and made a CLANG sound; the force did propel Obihiro to the ground, though.

"An energy shield… But that won't protect the guy forever! Give it up, you rascal! You're over!"

"Damn!"

Obihiro cursed his breath and jumped inside of his car.

He dragged Enzan, who was half – inside, inside of it and closed the door.

"Damn! That guy's on the way! I can't shoot: I might hit him!"

"Enzan!"

"Damn! He took Enzan hostage!" Netto cursed.

"The creep…!" Meiru cursed.

"Crap." Yuriko cursed.

Obihiro shot towards Miyabi, who shot back and broke the other side window.

Obihiro had to crouch in order to avoid the blast.

"Hunter Man! We're leaving!" He yelled.

"Roger, Obihiro – sama!"

The car sped away, barely dodging running down Netto and Meiru.

"Savage~!" Meiru yelled.

"Don't run away!" Netto cursed.

"You…!" Saito yelled.

Obihiro aimed backwards with the gun and hit one of Yuriko's car wheels, bursting the pneumatic.

"Not bad for an amateur!" Miyabi commented.

"Miyabi! Instead of praising him… Do something!" Yuriko scolded.

"You wouldn't have a spare tire, by any chance, right?"

"Crap!"

Both Netto and Meiru stood up and shook the dust off them while sighing in relief as Rock Man helped Yuriko stand up.

"Thanks, Saito… I'll need a while to heal…" She muttered.

"Don't push it, Yuriko." Needle Man warned.

"That pitiful one picked the shortest road to its own pitiful rat's hole!"

"At least it's not about the Naraku." Miyabi muttered.

"Quello che è successo…?"

("What happened?"

A groan rang out and they looked up to see the mercenary waking up.

"Hmpf! You're not getting away!"

Miyabi took out a metal sphere and threw it towards the mercenary.

A gray smoke surrounded him and he remained immobile.

"Hmpf. Another item from my ninja collection… I'm going to secure this individual." Miyabi announced.

He jumped over there and handcuffed him while three police cars headed over there.

"I guess we all need to explain what happened to Commissioner Kifune… But what'll happen to Enzan?" Saito muttered.

"He surely has a B Plan."

"I wouldn't be surprised." Meiru giggled.

"They always have two aces under their sleeves!" Roll giggled.

"Hmpf! That guy is so cheap… I'll slice 'im up next time around!"

"As for the elite sniper wannabe, they'll have to content themselves with bragging it to their cellmates… Envoys of the laziness!"

"Sheesh. How original!" Yuriko sighed.

"Shah, shah! Can't ya do better than that?" Needle Man sighed.

"Depends. Maybe if you bribe with ancient scrolls…"

"Shadow Man! Shut up and find their trail!"

21:09 PM (Japan Time)…

"Damned ninja…! I'll remember this!"

Obihiro was writing an SMS using a prepayment cell phone inside the car.

"Io encontrare problema. Venire a casa. Nuovo idea. Venire presto. Capo."

("I ran into trouble. Come home. New plan. Come ASAP. Boss.")

Obihiro sighed in relief and eyed Enzan, lying face-up atop two of the seats.

"What should I do with this guy…? Hmmm?"

Obihiro noticed a sound, so he rummaged Enzan's right pocket and found a PET, which was doing something.

Damn. A recorder! Let's destroy it!

He aimed his gun at it, but Enzan's hand grabbed his wrist.

"Ijuuin! You lowlife…" Obihiro hissed.

"Hmpf. Game Over." Blues announced.

"Shit. This guy can still move…!" Hunter Man cursed.

"Don't underestimate me!"

Obihiro kicked him in the stomach and grabbed the original PET from his vest pocket.

He hit him on the back of the head with the gun before he shot the remaining bullets to the empty PET and to his cell phone.

"Hmpf. Time to run. Emperor S – sama was right! There were a lot of "unknown variables"." He muttered.

Obihiro opened the door and ran into the forest while heading south.

He was looking over his right shoulder to ensure he wasn't being chased.

"The cold terrain will soon hide my heat footprints, too!"

"Excellent, sir!"

13:33 PM (Barcelona Time)…

"… Man! I'm beaten."

"You're back."

Obihiro sat down on his refuge's sofa, exhausted.

Sidier appeared on the laptop's screen.

"So?" Hunter Man asked.

"98%... It's still working on it. I gave them a break to give our guest some time to compile and structure their memory files. But they claim that Rock Man was the one who brought him down in June the 22nd."

"Twilight died in May… And Golden Star showed up on July, so… It'd seem we skipped the June report altogether!"

"You didn't. That's the odd part. Emperor S – sama hijacked a Police Navi and looked it up! There was no such report!"

"What the heck… They forgot to write it down or it's labeled as top secret so they didn't store it with the others?"

"Wrong. His Grace didn't find any entry there. Anything at all."

"This is getting so strange! He claims that Rock Man beat him yet there's no report of that? There were tons of reports of the "Darkloids", "Asteroids" and "Zoanoroids"!"

"And I insist! There wasn't such a report!"

"Keep it down, Sidier. We don't want to wake our guest up!"

"Sheesh. You're right."

"In any case… I've run out of ideas. Maybe I'll have to unleash those Giant Viruses to make them sweat, after all." Obihiro admitted.

"But we'd like to have Emperor S – sama's approval for that… Could you establish communication with him?" Hunter Man told him.

"Sure."

"I've heard your talk. You have my go – ahead to deploy the Giant Viruses but make sure to cover you trails." Yamikawa told them.

"Thank you very much." Obihiro and Hunter Man replied.

"It's nothing. Sidier… Wait there until the restoration is complete. Then we will hear his tale. I looked again but there was no such register at all! This is turning confusing."

"This is starting to become a growing enigma, really! Hikari may forget about it, but Rock Man would insist that they had to write a report about it… We're stuck until the guy recovers his memories."

Obihiro sighed in defeat and rolled his eyes.

"We are."

"Then check out a FAQ / Walk-through, dear." Kagehi joked.

"Very original." He drily replied.

"Game FAQs is the best site ever! There are reviews too!"

"I knew that! I'm checking out a guide for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, which came out 8 days ago. It's a cool game."

"This time Zelda is not a powerless princess: she did fight the invaders but had to surrender. It's an improvement!"

"Sure it is. Anyway… We're stuck! We have to wait."

"Wait for me to call a legged armored catastrophe?"

"Oh come on! I can't stand this anymore…!"

"Then bring out a white paint bucket and paint it blank to write anew!"

"Very original!"

"I know, right? Bucket Man vs White Paint!"

"Sheesh! Leave me alone!"

"Too bad! I'm inspired!"