Chapter 9: A courtesy visit

17:41 PM (Japan Time), Wednesday December the 14th…

"Crap. Light is fading out already…! I better use the PET's flashlight to see the ground."

"You better do."

Netto and Saito were searching the area where Obihiro had vanished.

The clearing where the car had been at had been sealed off by police tape to keep its integrity.

"Here."

Netto turned on the flashlight and aimed it at the ground.

Saito pushed branches and bushes asides to try to open a path up.

"A path…!"

They continued until they reached a cliff near the lake's edge.

Netto aimed the flashlight at the ledge and spotted some ledges set like stair steps descending and curving to head under another cliff.

"This path looks like it can be walked." Netto commented.

"But let's check if it's solid enough." Saito replied.

He tapped the ground and it didn't bulge nor move.

"It'd seem this is a natural formation! Let's go, otouto."

"Roger."

They jumped from ledge to ledge until they reached a cave's entrance set into the cliff.

"I see! It's so deep inside that you can't see it by looking from above… This is why they didn't think of searching further."

"I guess it was to be expected! You wouldn't think there'd be a cave in such a spot."

They stepped in and found a machine set there.

It had a pyramidal base and a tall vertical circle with rows of monitors and machines aligned at its sides.

"This is it! Let's check it out." Netto exclaimed.

"O. K.!"

Saito began to interact with a keyboard set under a monitor.

A set of coordinates displayed along with the location's address.

Netto drew the baseball bat from a sports bag and held it while Saito pressed the "RETURN" key.

The machine hummed and a purple vortex formed inside of its frame.

"Okay! Next stop: Three Hills!" Both announced.

Saito jumped in and Netto waited a second before following him.

The world became a purple tunnel surrounded by blackness

He felt a force gripping all of the atoms on his body and shooting him forward.

He automatically stepped out of an identical machine placed behind him as it powered down.

The machine was set inside of a small wooden room.

Saito stood next to the only door and had the Rock Buster drawn.

Operation: Intrusion starts now. Saito mentally warned.

Roger. Maintain silence. Netto acknowledged.

Saito slowly turned the doorknob and the door silently opened into an illuminated corridor made of wood.

Go!

Both stepped out and Saito took point while aiming the Rock Buster as Netto held the baseball bat.

Clear!

The corridor had three doors at the right and closed balcony doors to the left, with the blinder doors closed.

Light filtered through them as well.

It's close to 10 AM in here! There's an 8 hour difference with Japan. And it's a bit colder, too. Saito reported.

Let's check these rooms. Netto suggested.

The rooms were a bedroom with a closed and locked wheeled suitcase on top of the bed, a bathroom and a storeroom.

They found a door leading to another section of the house.

That's gotta be the living room and kitchen. He must be there.

I'm ready. Take point and handle Hunter Man. I'll butt in after you secure the area.

Both kept some distance from each other as they neared the door.

Saito began to charge the Rock Buster to have it ready before he looked at Netto, who nodded in agreement.

Go!

Saito kicked the door open and aimed his Rock Buster before running inside of the living room.

The living room had more balcony doors, the sofa, the desk with the laptop, a TV displaying a soccer match and a burning fireplace.

There was a table with chairs around it, which acted as dining room and an adjacent window with a large window and shelf.

Two steps led to a small upper level, which had another bathroom in front of the kitchen's door and the main door.

Weird! There's no – one! I'll risk stepping in. Please stay back until I secure it, otouto!

Roger!

Saito stepped in and aimed the Rock Buster around as he calmly scanned the room.

No – one… They aren't home.

Crap.

Netto walked into the living room while lowering the bat and both looked at the TV for a second before looking at the laptop.

A Link PET was connected to its USB port and it was working.

The laptop was humming to indicate it was running some process.

What? Both wondered.

KA – CLICK

Netto gasped as he felt the muzzle of a gun pressed against his stomach from below.

Saito felt the barrel of a shotgun pressed against his back.

Shit.

Damn.

Netto looked down to see Obihiro crouching on the ground and aiming at Netto's stomach from there.

Saito saw Hunter Man standing behind him.

The door behind them had closed as well.

Damn! Behind the door! They were there! They fooled us with the oldest trick in the book! Saito cursed.

Fight back!

Netto swung his bat towards Obihiro and kicked the gun out of his hand.

Saito aimed the Rock Buster behind him and shot at Hunter Mans' chest emblem from behind.

The attack made contact and Hunter Man's body frizzled before he had to dematerialize.

"Hmpf. We predicted this." Netto told Obihiro.

"You're under arrest." Saito added.

"Hmpf! I wonder about that…" Obihiro chuckled.

"We've got an ace-in-the-hole!" Hunter Man gloated.

"It's a bluff, as always!" Netto fumed.

"Where's your accomplice?" Saito questioned.

"Very, very close by!"

"He's about to say "hi"…!"

Breathing rang out from close by and the atmosphere seemed to turn colder than usual.

Wha?

Ice formed on the ground and climbed up to immobilize Saito's legs.

He bent and tried to break it, but a pale blue hand came out of nowhere and closed around Saito's neck while forcing his head to look at the ceiling.

"Niisan!" Netto gasped.

His right hand was encompassed into ice and he let go of the bat.

Obihiro grabbed it and jumped over the chair to deliver a hit to the back of Netto's skull.

He blacked out and collapsed into the ground.

"Otouto…!" Saito gasped.

He felt the icy hand closing around his chest emblem and his body began to go numb.

His eyes slowly lost the trace of consciousness on them and he lost consciousness...

10:22 AM (Spain Time)…

"GOL! GOL! GOL! GO~L DEL BARÇA! 3 A 0! UN INCREÏBLE GOL DE INIESTA! GO~L!"

Netto mumbled something and began to regain consciousness.

A chorus of voices and the sounds of a soccer match rang out.

Damn! My skull aches! The Barcelona Football Club…?

He tried to move but realized that his upper body, shoulders elbows and wrists were tied with thick ropes.

His knees and ankles were immobilized and he was sitting on the sofa.

What the hell happened…?

His sight began to focus and he realized that he was looking at the living room's ceiling.

Obihiro's hideout?

He slowly lowered his gaze and looked at his right to see Saito immobilized by what looked like the wire for a Yo-yo Battle Chip, and still unconscious.

Damn… What went wrong? I'd kicked the gun out of Obihiro and niisan was able to disable Hunter Man's materialization…!

Saito began to mumble and he slowly woke up as well, confused.

He gasped and looked at his helmet's forehead, startled.

Wha!? What's THAT!?

Netto looked there and gasped, because the pale blue shi ("death") Kanji was drawn inside of one of the yellow squares.

"That is my mark, Hikari Brothers." An icy voice announced.

"Who…?" Netto gasped.

"Who goes there?" Saito demanded.

"The "accomplice"…"

They saw the faint trace of a figure standing in front of them, emitting a pale blue glow.

The "invisibility" effect began to fade and the foe became visible.

"Witness!"

"Yikes!"

The newcomer seemed to be over a meter and eighty tall.

Most of his body was pale blue.

His helmet had no face and had a turquoise slit shaped like an "Y" set on its center.

It had dome forms above its body.

His shoulders were shaped like two round spheres with a cell-like pattern.

The armor was thicker around the chest and had two ellipsoid lines reminiscent of eyes set on it.

A small round sphae with six membranes drew a shape similar to a mouth.

The left arm had lines running down the sides before ending in a very and skeleton-like hand.

It had a living, round turquoise eye with a black pupil set on top of its palm.

The right arm bore a built-in buster.

The waist had a navy blue piece shaped as a "V" built on it.

The legs had two round turquoise areas on each side plus above and below the knees, reminiscent of eyes.

His feet were slightly curved.

His mere presence seemed to chill the room and foresee something dreadful and terrible.

"My name is Death Shadow." He announced.

"Death… Shadow…?" Both slowly asked.

"Before you two ask… I am a "Darkloid". But you two never got to battle me or see me before." He let out next.

"S-so…? W-where did you…?" Netto asked as his teeth danced.

"It would seem the atmosphere is not adequate… Let us switch it."

He snapped his left hand's fingers and the air seemed to heat up slightly to become comfortable.

"Where did I come from? That is a long and intriguing tale. Since there is plenty of time, I shall narrate it. I should be named an extraterrestrial "Darkloid" to begin with." He announced.

"Extraterrestrial…! Like Duo and Slur?" Saito gulped.

"Yet… Someone else made those two. My own existence was the result of some coincidences and events. I was not a data being to start with… I was a living being."

"T-then…? How did you…?" Netto asked.

"I was "born" in a faraway planet! My duty was to ride in a huge shell across space and find a planet to irrigate with my own substance! It was a mutagen that, for convenience, I shall name "Factor"… I landed on a planet, but ran into an issue! There was no strong enough native predator or machine which I could use as a guardian."

"W-what!" Both gasped.

"I mutated and altered my own genetic code and shape until I became an autonomous existance generating the "Factor" on my own! I shaped an exoskeleton as defense to my core form and roamed the planet! The small human colony there died because they were unable to adapt to the radiations and the mutations brought upon by my arrival. However! Other humans arrived. They built a gigantic base for the sole purpose of mining and processing the "Factor". However, I proved too much for their security drones! They fled to come at another time with better weapons! They did lockdown with heavy bulk gates all passageways in an out of the impact cavern where I dwelled at."

"Incredible…!" Both exclaimed.

"A few years passed, and two subjects showed up. For the sake of simplicity, I will label as them as autonomous Net Navis. They fought me out of defense when they found me! I had by then managed to escape the sealed down caverns and reached the surface! They managed to breach my exoskeleton. But their weapons could not damage my core form."

"And you deleted them?" Saito tried to guess.

"No. At that time, I believed they could lead to some use. I began to tag along them and we mutually did not attack each other. Then a new expedition led by a man named Vadous arrived. That is when things took an important turn." He let out.

"V-Vadous!? Didn't Twilight…?" Netto gasped.

"Indeed! "Vadous Chaos" was based upon him. However, Vadous was a mortal of flesh, blood and bone. His techniques were materialized data. One of the components of the expedition was an android. He and his companions battled us."

"What happened?"

"The android analyzed me and found the only weapon which could damage me! My own "Factor" could overload me! He did so, forcing me to take a core form with little to no defense! As a last struggle, I plunged my "tentacles" into their body! The result was unexpected! I tore apart their outer armor, nanomachines, segments of its power core, segments of its electronic brain and internal circuitry. I assimilated with them and feigned my destruction by shattering the ground and plunging into a cave."

"And you then… evolved?" Netto tried to guess.

"It took me some hours, but thanks to the nanomachines, they rebuilt the missing parts from what I had. My assimilation with the electronic brain opened a new world to me! The world of autonomous thought and the human world. The only price I had to pay was that I could no longer generate "Factor"… It is somewhat inconvenient, but since I gained so much in exchange…"

"But… Why didn't we ever find this "Vadous" person?" Saito frowned.

"That is because all of this happened in a parallel Universe with different events and existences."

"What!" Both exclaimed.

"Is that it so hard to conceive? Did not you two visit "Beyondard" to end the "Cybeast War"?"

"T-true, but… We weren't expecting something like that to happen again!"

"I met the two Navis and we established cooperation! I gained experience and they gained power. Both ended up winning. We used a time-space machine to flee to Earth. We built a satellite and began to plan on filling Earth with "Factor" and turning it into another planet…"

"What!"

"But! I had the idea of challenging you two given your potential. You came at me after defeating my companions and I gave you war with a machine that I had invented. You used your trump card to fight me! The "Vadous Soul"..."

"W-what! We… could use such a power?" Netto gasped.

"It must've been incredibly powerful…!" Saito gasped.

"So it was! Its "Chaos Beam" tore through my war machine and annihilated me. Yet! Its grand power tore a hole in Time Space for a second and I fell into it as my data began to break apart. I ended up somewhere, already dead. But! Obihiro was able to repair me, and my memory files. Thus, I am grateful to him and I am cooperating with them."

"Heck! The reason they lure us here was because you were here!"

"Indeed. I was eager to meet you "again", too…"

"Hmpf. You are starting to realize, it would seem. And no matter what you two do… STS cannot be halted." Death Shadow shrugged.

"STS? The Space Shuttle…?"

"No way you're gonna go with Tesla's Yggdrasil Plan…" Netto muttered.

"That was foolish. Orbital satellites cannot survive re-entry and even less crash against the face of the Earth. Some remains might rain down, but… Both Pharaoh Man and Tesla Magnets were idiotic."

"It'd seem the "guests" have come." A voice rang out.

"Sidier. Do come out and greet them."

"Sidier…?" Both wondered.

Wait. The guy just mentioned "Vadous"… And "Sidier" is…

Another cruel Star Wars joke…! Netto grasped.

Sidier materialized next to Death Shadow, looking amused.

"Sergei!" Both exclaimed.

"Wrong. I'm based off him. My name is Sidier. My Lord commands the road I trek upon." He calmly corrected.

"… Lord…? Yamikawa!?" Netto gasped.

"I was told you had some degree of "familiarity" with Yamikawa – sama!"

Based off Sergei…? No! That's the "Cross Fusion" form!

True! They just erased the Kanji it had on it and added new ones!

He's the same body but with a different persona! Saito told him.

They didn't get to "underground"! Yamikawa transformed them!

He must've wanted Obihiro to take over and use him! What a double-faced creep! Saito grumbled.

"So! Death. You finished your nice tale?"

Obihiro waked in while carrying the wheeled suitcase.

"Correct." He merely replied.

"Two "Net Saviors" and they were caught so easily…"

"If it hadn't been for that Vader wannabe, Obihiro and that Hunter Man would be the ones who'd gotten caught instead!" Netto growled.

"Darth Vader? My breath SFX is copied from him, I will admit such."

Death Shadow made a hollow-like chuckle.

"And what's with this Kanji on my forehead?" Saito demanded.

"My mark… Those labeled with it die in less the days a human hand possesses… Such is your fate, Hikari Saito."

Saito gasped, afraid, as he tried to struggle to break the wire.

"That is the kind of face I rejoice on seeing! The face of fear, terror and desperation! That rush of adrenaline that erases all rational thought and makes your own self trek the road to eternal sleep!"

He jumped over the desk and loomed over them.

Netto also gasped and tried to break the ropes.

"D-don't come any closer!"

He felt those icy fingers pressing against his bandana's cloth and the same Kanji drew into it until it glowed.

"It would be unfair for those who came to exist at the same day not to do die together." He announced.

"Y-you jerk!"

"Now, now… Death. Remember Emperor S – sama's request! He wants those two alive to make up a nice exciting show." Hunter Man called out.

"I knew that. I was just displaying how serious I can be when I desire to be in such an attitude."

He returned to his earlier spot while the other two seemed to snap out of it and tried to look unimpressed.

"What's that "STS" which you talked about earlier on?" Netto demanded.

"A weapon…"

"What weapon…?" Saito demanded.

"Hmpf. I am still researching how to construct it. But you will get to experience it as well as the rest of those foolish mortals out there!"

"Obihiro! What are you planning?" Netto demanded.

"Hmpf! What I do is wished by Emperor S – sama. He wants you two alive! I'm just getting ready to leave elsewhere. Something tells me Ijuuin will soon catch up."

He headed back towards the bedroom and the twins grumbled under their breaths.

"I need to find some reference files. Sidier. You are in charge."

"My pleasure…"

Death Shadow dematerialized and disappeared from the room, and the atmosphere seemed to ease up.

Sidier sat down on a chair, leaning his right elbow over his right hip and his right cheek on his right fist.

"By the way… Did you know? Twilight didn't really "die" back in May."

"What!?" Both gasped.

"Did you pay attention to Death's tale? He traveled here via a Time Space hole, which opened because of the Chaos Beam! Twilight used it, too! Do you understand? He actually intended for the explosion to happen and he was able to be "sucked" by the hole to "exit" this Universe."

"Damn!" Both cursed.

"Kuroshiro lied, too. He wasn't revived in April. No. Twilight revived him on some other planet, which that android who was Death's basis visited! Umbra was there, too. Both were bested but we believe it to have been another "Double". Twilight must've visited a second Universe, maybe his origin place, and that must be when he came up with the cyborg body thing. Kuroshiro did betray him and ran back here! With Kanou's help, obviously enough!"

"Shit. And he fooled us from the start to the end." Netto growled.

"What a creep!" Saito growled next.

"We know it's all true because… We've been there, too!"

"What!?"

"It worked as a "training grounds" of sorts… That's where I put my knowledge into practical use… The tension of having so many eyes searching for you… Trying to manage things to make the adversaries think it was Twilight's ploy… It was fun!"

"Sheesh! What's with these visitors from other worlds!? This isn't a crossover game or series!" Netto grumbled.

"When did it turn into an isekai series!?" Saito grumbled next.

"You never know! But I'd rather say Colonel Olrik is a cool bad guy! He always has the surprise element of everyone thinking he's dead. Or that they've forgotten about the bloke!"

"You're into Blake & Mortimer, too, then."

"No wonder! Kuroumi must've told him."

"Solo is an excellent gentleman. Although… I would prefer not to be on the receiving end of Somari – chan's bad moods."

"Comencem la segona meitat del Barça Sevilla! Messi ha marcat dos dels gols mentre que Iniesta ha marcat el tercer! Aquest partit promet ser pa sucat amb oli per al Barça!" A commentator's voice announced.

"What did they say?" Netto asked Saito in a whisper.

"That's… "We're starting the second half of the Barça VS Seville match! Messi scored two goals while Iniesta scored the third! This match looks like it'll be a piece of a cake for the Barça!"… I'd heard that they're a pretty good soccer club." Saito translated.

Let's hope Enzan comes help us or we won't survive this!

Damn. We'll end up fighting over this, too. We've been so stupid!