Chapter 13: Beast VS Death

09:33 AM (Japan Time), Saturday December the 17th…

"… Man! What an adventure…"

"We should be glad we came out in one piece out of it, too."

Netto (wearing his usual clothes) was speaking with Saito.

Saito kept his bodysuit sans the helmet on.

"And something tells me we're gonna have a new clash with the guy! He won't stop so easily next time." Netto muttered with some annoyance.

"We'll have to bring out more firepower next time around! I dunno how much the guy can take in." Saito sighed.

Netto's PC beeped and the typical email icon showed up onscreen.

"Mail? From who?"

"Lemme check! "Jeremy Armenian Club."…"

"Jeremy Armenian Club? What the heck is that?"

"They are holding an open meeting in Japan's Net City District 3."

"A trap! Well then! Let's show 'em what stuff we're made of!"

Netto stood up, rummaged inside of a drawer and drew two unique Chips.

"The "Bestialize Chips"?"

"It's our only way to stand up to them." Netto told him.

"We're gonna show them our true power, otouto!"

Saito put on the helmet and then returned inside of his Link PET.

"Plug In! Rock Man EXE, Transmission!" Netto announced.

Rock Man headed for the destination and reached d an open plaza with Navis going up and down in many directions.

"This doesn't look like a trap…" He frowned.

"Maybe it wasn't, after all…" Netto muttered.

Someone collided with him and left in a hurry.

"What's this?"

He noticed a torn paper coiled around his right leg, so he crouched, grabbed it up and read it.

"Internet City District 7, Warehouse 4. Do not be late."

"They called us here to give us the true message. Let's go meet Trap – sama, then!"

"And let's tell 'im he's fired." Netto joked.

"District 7 should be… Heading east."

He walked down the streets until he reached a sinister warehouse, which had a paper stuck on the door.

"Jeremy Armenian Club: Open Meeting."

Rock Man opened the door and condensed heat swept out.

A pale blue fog filled the building's atmosphere.

A nearby thermometer read minus 5 Celsius degrees.

The door slammed shut and froze, as Rock Man Saito tried to ignore the cold and the white breath that came out of his mouth as he looked around while having the Rock Buster drawn.

It's obvious that guy… And not Freeze Man! They have no need for traps like these! He wondered.

The infamous Kanji showed up again and his forehead began to ache, so Saito brought the left hand there.

"What a headache! The Kanji program is messing with my pain receptors… It's almost like I was Harry Potter and Voldemort was roaming close by!"

"I did use it as inspiration. Obihiro can have bright subtle ideas. Nothing better than pain to trigger the fear!"

"Shit. I knew it. Death Shadow!" Saito cursed.

A pale blue glow formed two meters in front of Saito and it gave way to Death Shadow's imposing figure, articulating his left hand's fingers.

"I said it! That I would challenge you in less than 5 days. It has been 3 days! Thus, I am still inside of my self-appointed deadline."

"Yamikawa wants to make the "show" serious by having you delete me?"

"Emperor S? I do not know what he wishes! He respects my power and I am free to make any choice. He will abide by it. A comprehensive man!"

"You want a battle? We'll give you one!"

"There is no need to hold back! You will need your true power to be able to stand up to me! Showdown! Hikari Brothers!" He challenged.

"Battle Chip, Custom Bolt! Slot In!"

"Custom Bolt!"

Rock Man shot, but Death Shadow dodged them by hovering a few centimeters above the ground and quickly moving from place to place.

"Fast! In that case… Battle Chip, Boomer! Slot In!"

Rock Man shot the attack but he dodged that too.

"Death Columns!"

He shot energy towards the ceiling and blue frozen columns formed around the area, hindering Rock Man's movements.

"These columns again…! I can't maneuver!"

"Battle Chip, Silver First! Slot In!"

He hit the columns with the Silver Fist and shattered them while the foe kept on switching from place to place.

"Death Orbs!"

He shot several energy orbs from his arm cannon.

"Rock Buster!"

The Rock Buster made short work of the spheroids.

"Program Advance!"

"Program Advance!"

"Hi Cannon, Triple Slot In!"

"Giga Cannon!"

The attack hit the foe but it didn't even stop his movements.

"Is that all?" He taunted.

"Heck! Battle Chip, Triple Bomb! Slot In!"

"Take this!"

"Death Barrier!"

Algae formed a circle around him, growing on height and thickness.

The Triple Bomb bounced off and hit the ground elsewhere, shattering the ice, which quickly regenerated afterwards.

"Damn. We'd need to have Breaker – elemental attacks at hand!"

"Raise Dead!" He announced.

The foe flashed and shot forward before he started to levitate above the ground as an energy sphere formed around him.

"Damn! He's healing!"

"Crap! Battle Chip, Hell's Burner! Slot In!"

"Hell's Burner!"

He shot a stream of fire towards the foe and the barrier exploded, so the foe landed back on the ground creating a shockwave spreading across.

Saito jumped at the last second to avoid that.

"That shockwave is dangerous! We'd be better off timing how to dodge."

"Let's be ready for his next tactic!" Netto confirmed.

"Death Clones!"

He flashed and an identical copy appeared, flipping towards the right, while the original moved towards the left.

They started to spin around together, making it impossible to discern them by sight.

"Not this "Shadow Clone" trick again! Magic Man, Shadow Man, and Magnet Man used it… Now there's a fourth?" Netto complained.

"Netto – kun! Instead of complaining… Send me a Chip!"

"I'm on it! Battle Chip, Corn Shot! Slot In!"

"Corn Shot!"

The bomb hit the ground and caused multiple explosions, which hit one of the two identical combatants.

This one exploded and the true one stopped.

"Hmpf. Useless!"

"What?" Netto grumbled.

The foe created another clone, shooting forwards in different directions and both started to levitate and recharge energy at the same time.

"We need an attack which can hit both of them!"

"A combo attack, then!"

"Roger, niisan! Battle Chip, Tornado, Variable Sword! Double Slot In!"

He spun around inside of a tornado and shot Sonic Booms in all directions, hitting the two enemies.

One of them exploded while the other landed back on the ground, causing the deadly shockwave.

"Careful!"

"Yikes! He seems to do that every time we stop the regeneration of energy… We gotta have that on mind!"

"Gotcha!"

The foe flashed two times and now three enemies filled the area.

They all spun around in unison and rammed into Rock Man from different angles with their right shoulders.

"Niisan!" Netto called out.

"Damn!"

"Taste this! Death Spheres!"

The clones levitated into the air, moved around and shot energy spheres towards the ground, so Rock Man jumped out of harm's way.

"Battle Chip, Air Wheel! Slot In!"

He threw the Air Wheel at the middle of the room and it generated a tornado, hitting all three enemies.

The clones exploded and the foe landed back into the ground, causing the shockwave.

"Jump!"

"Roger!"

He jumped and dodged it while the foe hovered above the ground.

"Not enough! Death Flames!"

He summoned two more clones and shot a continuous stream of fire forward, while he spun around with the copies.

"Yikes! That was close…!" He muttered.

Rock Man ducked to avoid the fire while the foe jumped into the air and cancelled the copies.

"Death Beam!"

He shot an inclined blue beam towards Rock Man, who rolled across the ground towards the left to dodge.

"We're not getting anywhere…!" He cursed.

The foe landed with force and caused the annoying shockwave.

"Then…! Bestialize Chip, Greiga! Slot In!" Netto decided.

"Coming!"

"Greiga Claw!"

Rock Man transformed into "Greiga" and shot forward, trying to slice the foe into pieces.

"Death Barrier!"

He collided with the algae barrier and deflected, leaving him stunned for some seconds.

The foe accumulated energy on his left hand.

"Blue Beam!"

He shot a blue energy beam that attached to Rock Man's chest emblem and he collapsed into his knees.

"Niisan! What's going on?" Netto asked.

"He's… stealing… my HP…!"

"What?" Netto asked, surprised.

"Soon you will know what "death" truly is about…"

"We won't let ya! Bestialize Chip, Falzer! Slot In!"

The energy column broke the energy transfer beam and Rock Man flew skywards.

"Feather Shoot!"

He shot several quick projectiles towards the foe, who easily dodged by hovering away.

"Red Beam!"

The foe shot a red energy transfer beam towards Beast Out Falzer and Rock Man yelled when it hit.

"What now?" Netto asked.

"He's inflicting a bug into me …!"

"Damn it! Battle Chip, Dream Aura, Slot In!"

The barrier broke the energy transfer beam.

"Battle Chip, Recovery 100! Slot In!" Netto announced.

There was a buzz and Netto cursed something under his breath.

"Recovery Battle Chips of values above 50 are invalidated!"

"That's cheating!" Netto growled.

"Hmpf. You are slowly trekking the road to the Naraku. It is awaiting your pitiful souls."

"Not the Naraku speech again…! Niisan! We're gonna risk it! Program Advance!"

"Program Advance!"

"Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword!"

"Dream Sword!"

The attack hit the foe fully and he didn't bother to move, block or dodge it as he stood there.

Rock Man dropped into his knees as the "Falzer" form cancelled, and he cursed under his breath.

"You tried to bet it in one attack but it did not work. Hmpf. Maybe your "Alternate" was better, even." He taunted.

"Shut up…!"

"Battle Chip, Muramasa Blade, Area Steal! Double Slot In!"

He drew the Muramasa Blade and warped before he hit the foe from behind with it and made a large cut on his back, which began to leak data.

The foe growled something inhuman and stepped forward in an erratic manner before collapsing into his knees.

"So… You did have a last desperate resource… However…"

Black pieces of data came out of the wound and spread around its surface, slowly regenerating it until it healed.

"What was that?"

"Auto – repair nanomachines! They heal damage in mere seconds' time!"

The foe stood up although his balance wasn't good enough.

"I see that even you have your limits to damage. But this is a tie-in."

"Hmpf. So it would seem. Maybe I became a bit too much analytical! That does not matter, anyway. Your life does not interest me. Your combat data does. Hence the reason for this so-called "trap"..."

"What? Combat data? Why do ya need that to build a tank?"

"Who said we were building a tank?"

"No – one. It's a random guess." Saito shot back.

"Hmpf. Then you are wrong by a hundred milestones."

"What's going on in here?" Someone asked.

The door fell into the floor and Blues ran in, having a Long Sword drawn, and he stopped on his tracks upon seeing the scene.

"You lowlife…!" Blues cursed.

"Hmpf. Bothersome mice are walking into the picture… I shall be departing but do not forget something! We are serious. You will soon see what we are capable of!"

He charged up his arm cannon and shot a blast, which caused a hole on the ceiling to open along with one of those Time Space bubbles.

"Farewell! Rock Man EXE! Blues EXE!"

He crouched and jumped into the air while crouching to enter the bubble, which vanished afterwards and the ice began to self-delete.

"Are you alright? Saito?" Blues asked.

"Somehow! But this guy was no joke."

"I can guess that! Some people said there was a terrific scandal coming out here, so we dropped by to check it out in case some grunts were having a disco party." Enzan admitted.

"I'd rather had a disco party to that guy. One thing is clear! He has tricks on all of him. It took the Muramasa Blade to finally stop it after about ten minutes of fighting." Netto sighed.

"That's gotta be the hardest battle ever… Did you get any hints or info?"

"One thing is clear! It ain't a tank. And they want "combat data"!"

"Combat data… You use it to analyze patterns and try to find a flaw or a counter to their patterns…" Enzan muttered.

"And it'd seem they don't have enough with recordings like the N1 Grand Prix or posterior events! They wanted up-to-date battle patterns. And I'm sure they'll be coming after us to get ours, too." Blues guessed.

"But… What kind of "weapon" needs battle patterns to work? I don't think there's such a thing out there, is there?"

"Dunno. I guess they want to go for an original invention… But I still can't narrow down the base technology which was being researched in the 70s and is still being worked on and improved nowadays."

"This place gives me the creeps. Let's go to the Net Police HQ and I'll gladly present a formal report."

"Let's go."

"Go on ahead. I'll get there ASAP." Netto told them.

"Roger!"

01:55 AM (Spain Time)…

"… Here: the combat data of Rock Man EXE."

"Splendid."

Death Shadow talked with Hunter Man inside of the underground refuge.

Machines that looked like a factory's conveyor belts were set in the space along with some other devices.

Death Shadow handed Hunter Man an USB device and he grabbed it with his left hand.

"How is the development of the "Manager" going like?"

"We're making some progress. The files aren't enough. We may have to consult a specialist on the topic. We're a bit short of hands, you know, even though Sidier volunteered to give us extra help. Obihiro – sama needs to take his breaks, too." Hunter Man replied.

"I will not complain. I was not expecting the whole machinery to be complete in just two days. We may take a whole week to work on it but it shall be worth it."

"O. K. I'll store the data in one of the extra HDD devices and we'll then calmly look at it and pick what interests us. The program to analyze it is half-done as well."

"I shall try to put the finishing touches to the interface design! I will work on the internal details if I have time for it as well."

"Roger that. By the way… Was the idea useful?"

"Indeed. I liked the irony."

"Excellent. If you need more stuff, I'll search it up."

"Fair enough. I shall go."

"Good, good. I'll go handle my job, too."

"Let there be fear!"

10:11 AM (Japan Time)…

"… A… le… le… a… le… le…"

"Slow."

"A – le – le…! A – le – le…!"

"Quicker."

"A – le – le! A – le – le!"

"Better."

"G-great…"

"We're not over yet."

"No way…!

"Sing."

"A le le! A le le!"

"Too fast."

"A – le – le! A – le – le!"

"Good. Keep that speed."

"A – le – le! A – le – le!"

Sidier stood inside of his room while Kagehi was acting the music teacher.

She had a thin rod that ended on a sphere on her hands.

Sidier had his eyes closed, and was blushing, while Kagehi looked amused.

"A – le – le! A – le – le! A – le – le! A – le – le!" Sidier chanted.

"Good. Keep at it." She commanded.

"A – le – le! A – le – le! A – le – le! A – le – le!"

"Take a 30 second pause. Then continue."

Sidier breathed deeply and slowly expired before he tensed up.

"A – le – le! A – le – le! A – le – le! A – le – le!"

"Excellent!"

"A – le – le! A – le – le! A – le – le! A – le – le!"

"Good! That kind of pitch is the one I was looking for. You'd do good vocals for our music band." She teased.

"A – le – le! A – le – le! A – le – le! A – le – le! A – le – le! A – le – le!"

"Good, good! Increase that speed, Sidier – chan."

Sidier blushed again but didn't stop.

"A – le – le! A – le – le! A – le – le! A – le – le! A – le – le! A – le – le! A – le – le! A – le – le! A – le – le! A – le – le! Ah…!"

Sidier coughed as if he was out of breath from singing so fast and in such a manner, so he panted and tried to regain his breath.

"I guess you need some more training. I'll leave at here for today. Don't try to fool me by going to camp out with Solo to the Fortress Temple."

"R-roger…"

"I'm watching ya~!"

"I know that! But what have I done to deserve this!?"

"Blame your boss!"

"I feel like he's unrelated!"

She stepped out of the room and Sidier collapsed on his chair.

"What a nightmare! I don't want to EVER do that ONCE again. It must be a living Naraku for all men out there cursing 1st of elementary school…! Music class…!" He grimly muttered.

He climbed into his bed and stretched while he let out a yawn.

"I feel tired… I need to rest for a little while and I'll then go give Obihiro and the others a helping hand." He muttered.

10:15 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Somari – chan! What have you done to Sidier?"

"Come on, Saruba! It's not like I'm an S&M sadist! It ain't like he's gonna die from doing that, either."

Yamikawa was confronting Kagehi and wasn't amused while she shrugged as if it was nothing.

"I know you aren't, thank goodness. Tiring Sidier out when he was going to help Obihiro doesn't amuse me. We won't have STS rolling and into production soon enough if you do that again."

"Sure, sure!"

"I'm being realistic! STS is important stuff! I'm not kidding around this time, you know!"

"Guess so if you're making such a fuss about it. I thought you were coming up with new engines for your car. Engines which can beat the bat-mobile Bat-Man uses…"

"I never had a car! There's no roads for it here!" He annoyingly replied.

"But maybe it's a flying car?"

"Jeez. It's not funny!" He grumbled.

He slapped his face on defeat and stormed out of the room.

She sat on the throne and materialized a guitar.

"Empress Kagehi – sama is in charge today." She laughed.

"… Sidier! You alright?"

"I think I'll survive, my lord… Solo was right, sir!"

"Damned right. Somari – chan can be cruel when she wants to!"

"Guess that!""

"Not "guess"! YOU ARE! SHEESH!"