Chapter 31: Road to climax

16:14 PM (Japan Time), Friday December the 30th…

"… Man. I still feel tired even after a good night's dreamless rest."

"Those monsters were no joke."

Netto and Saito were talking as they looked at the snow falling down into the streets.

"It's almost like on that fateful day over one year ago… After the "Zoanoroids" failed their attack on the decoy placed at the Net Police HQ, Iris showed up on the Firewall Laboratory. That was when we finally realized what "Beyondard" was and why both parties were obsessed with getting their hands on Trill! "Zoan" Dark Man used his device to open a "Fossa Ambience" and dragged us inside! Our adventure in Beyondard began and stretched for roughly 10 days." Netto muttered.

"Thanks to the Time Space Device developed by "Golden Star", we've been able to regularly go visit "Beyondard" again! It's slowly recovering but it'll take many years for the scars of their long war to fade out! Trill is trying to help in any manner and is keeping his promise of trying to be as strong as us…"

"Looking back on it, though… It's not like I'm tend to dreaming a lot, but… Two dreamless nights in a row… That's a first, no?"

"Maybe you're overreacting."

"That must be it! Anyway! Tomorrow will be the last day of this key 2006 year! I guess we'll get a break until after New Year's. I think Yamikawa is still human enough to respect those days and not some heartless despot."

"We already had a very nice Christmas. I appreciated that drawing you made for me of me and Buruusu dressed like we were going to marry."

"Niisan also came up with a nice surprise! A brand-new Battle Chip that Papa helped you produce: Counter Shield!"

"True, true… Netto – kun. There's a surprise in the closet."

"A surprise…?"

He entered the closet and looked inside of it, but found nothing out of the usual.

He frowned but noticed Saito closing his arms around Netto's waist and began to tickle his stomach area.

"It tickles, it tickles! Stop it, niisan! I can't stop laughing!"

Saito lifted him and sat Netto on the bed while Saito sat on his legs.

He used his fingers to tickle him and Netto kept on laughing.

"Stop it, I say!" Netto laughed.

"Sorry. But Enzan wanted me to find out if you're sensitive to this stuff or not! I guess you are. Otouto." Saito told him with a grin.

"Enzan…! I'm gonna tickle you back!"

"Sure. Do that when he drops by next time!"

"I'm so gonna do that!"

"And pull his ears for being so sneaky!"

"Sure thing!"

"And tell him that Maha's curry is the best in the world!"

"I already did! He says it's good, but doesn't see the passion on it!"

"Then tell him to burn the passion! As if he was a volcano!"

"Volcano! Sure! Guy's a volcano who needs to feel the fire!"

"Beware of his cousin Hyouzan, the iceberg!"

"Because it cools all?"

"Sure. As cold as winter!"

"As expected! But stop tickling me already!"

"Nope! There's still more!"

16:26 PM (Japan Time)…

"Snow! It feels like back then! We managed to complete our adventure in "Beyondard" just two days before Christmas of that year! We rested before trouble was brought by the "Professor" by early January."

"True, Enzan – sama."

Enzan was overseeing the snow falling outside of the IPC building while thinking back aloud.

Blues stood, materialized, next to him.

"But I'm glad you can be here as well, Blues. Netto's idea turned out to be a good one, after all." Enzan smiled at him.

"Thank you very much, Enzan – sama."

"However… I feel like we're close to some kind of breakthrough."

"There's a call from Search Man, sir."

"Patch it!"

"Hello, Blues. I have completed the analysis! No data about the VPN tunnels remained. The "Eye" had ample time to erase any remains of it."

"Obviously enough!" Laika sighed.

"I know. We were a step too late." Enzan sighed.

"I've felt like my hypothesis was true and we were close to seizing an important lead to the triumvirate, but… We're stuck."

"I know. I've got the feeling that something important is gonna happen, but we're not sure how or when."

"Sheesh. If only it hurried up…!" Blues grumbled.

"I know that feeling." Search Man sighed.

"Can't be helped! Let's ready battle strategies!"

"Good idea!"

16:39 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Hmmm…"

"So?"

"Hmmm…"

"So?"

"Can't you do something else? I'm meditating."

Miyabi was sitting beneath a small waterfall and letting its water soak his body while he kept his eyes closed.

Shadow Man projected from the PET, set atop a nearby boulder and was impatient, for once.

"I thought we were in a rush." Shadow Man commented.

"We can't know at all if the breakthrough will come today or in a week's time, mind you." Miyabi insisted.

"I get the message. I'll go shoot bounties down."

"Do as you like."

"And curse them along the way…"

"Sheesh. You never grow tired of it, do you?"

"It's what motivates me, Danna… Let's go to the massage store…"

"Sheesh. I'm not interested in massages!"

"Dr. Wily says they make your ninja heart stronger…"

"Sheesh. That old man is always making fun of others! There's no need to pay heed to whatever he comes up with!"

"Of course. Then I'll dance the spiral dance…"

"Patent it!"

"Delighted. I'll go register it at the office!"

16:48 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Charlie~!"

"What…?"

"You've been going out with someone else!"

"Not again…"

Airstar was exasperated at seeing how Tesla was accusing him of something out of randomness.

"So? Where's your evidence?"

"I don't need it! My instincts are enough!" Tesla shot back.

"No court will mind you out sans evidence."

"I don't need any court!" Tesla snapped.

"Tesla! Stop that already!"

"But, Father…!" Tesla argued.

"Paranoia will destroy everyone around you, Tesla! That won't do! Calm down and think rationally! You're overreacting!" Gauss scolded.

"Sheesh! Why, you…!"

Tesla fumed as she sat down on the sofa.

"See?"

"I don't think she "sees" at all, Charlie." Gyro Man warned.

"Tesla – sama has a difficult personality." Magnet Man muttered.

"I'll lawsuit their livers!"

"Why don't you sell those words to some mangaka? I'm sure he'll make a gore manga with those phrases!" He sarcastically suggested.

"I shall not be a tool of the plebs!"

"Tesla! Behave! You're not nobility~!"

16:59 PM (Japan Time)…

"… The animals look fine, Mr. Director."

"They do! It's thank to your help, Jasmine – san."

"True."

Jasmine was taking care of the lion Umonosuke at the Animal Farm while the director was accompanying her.

"Umonosuke looks like he's healed a lot in over a year's time. That's good to see." Meddy commented.

"He'll soon be a good boy again."

She walked out to see Yuriko leaning against a wall and talking to Needle Man's hologram.

"Shah, shah, shah! There was nothin' strange: I met Shadow Man, who was taking down bounties."

"If we can take bounties down, then we won't have to worry much!"

"Shah, shah, shah! By the way… What are we gonna do if we find those guys' hideout?" Needle Man asked.

"We'll gather the whole team! Even three of them can't hope to deal with thirteen at the same time. But I'm sure they'll have some robots ready to watch over them."

"Sheesh. It'll be hard." Needle Man muttered.

"They won't make it easy at all."

"Obviously enough! That "Death Shadow" guy is probably going to be one of the biggest obstacles…" Jasmine guessed.

"However, it's possible that the others have gained new techniques that we've yet to see!" Meddy warned.

"Good point. We should go over our strategies."

"Shah, shah! Roger! I'm eager to beat 'em up!"

17:04 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So, Knight Man?"

"Unfortunately… There is nothing new to report."

"I think that this snow is a sign of things to come…"

Pride had come to Maha Ichiban's and talked to Knight Man.

"… Jeez. Dekao! You and I sure are cursed."

"I know, Dingo. We really are."

"Guts, guts? What's a "curse"?"

"It's too hard for ya to understand!"

Dingo and Dekao were grumbling, Guts Man was confused and Tomahawk Man rolled his eyes.

"A curse… My. It may be mine, even." Wily chuckled.

"Father… I don't see the point of it." Dr. Regal drily told him.

"I do not, either." Laser Man admitted.

"That reminds me, Regal! Have you been using the gift I gave you?"

"I have. It's working fine insofar."

"It is an interesting device." Laser Man admitted.

"It isn't a simple "device"! It's more than that."

"Let me guess it, Dr. Wily – sama! It's a super weapon to destroy Freeze Man once and for all!"

"No! It's a custom radio to pick up the secret BBC wavelength and hear to Unbelievable Truth!" Count Elec exclaimed.

"I rather think it must be an alarm clock." Madoi joked.

"Madoi! Be serious. A gentleman would not need that. An even less a gentleman like Dr. Wily – sama! Try doing something useful instead!"

"Hinoken – sama… Can't we bury that past thing?" Fire Man asked.

"Count Elec has too many obsessions…" Elec Man sighed.

"Dring, dring! Time to wake up, fellas!" Colored Man giggled.

"This is starting to look like a circus." Magic Man grumbled.

"Sponsored by Uncle Ninja Man…"

"Shadow Man. Stop trolling." Tomahawk Man grumbled.

"Dingo! Dekao! Move it!" Maha ordered.

"R-roger!"

"About time!" Knight Man sighed.

"I understand the feeling." Pride sighed, too.

"I apologize for my workers' attitude, miss."

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure you're also tired of them."

"I am, but can't deny Dekao can make good food. As for Dingo, I'm really tempted to tell him to go back home." He admitted.

"I can help Dekao cook, too! Right, Hinoken!?"

"It's true that you did help back when that lil girl's party… But that doesn't excuse that you're not trying to do the deliveries seriously!"

"That's because…!"

"I don't want any excuses! Just use the GPS and that's it! I use it often myself, and it's not humiliating or anything!"

"Sheesh! Fine, fine!"

"About time! By George!" Count Elec grumbled.

"Maybe Eris was at work here?" Madoi giggled.

"It's not funny, Madoi! Contribute!" Maha scolded.

"You heard Maha Jarama! Move it, WWW members!"

17:19 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Hmmm… I see."

"Meiru – chan. You're not supposed to see that."

Roll called out to Meiru, who looking at something through her PC.

The Link PET had been set on the side of it, so Roll couldn't see what Meiru was looking at.

She looked slightly interested yet rather unimpressed by that.

"You're 13! And you can't see that until you're at least 18." Roll called out.

"Tell that to Atamane and what she did to you and me two months ago, will you?" Meiru calmly countered.

"That was because Agatha was a criminal! I thought we'd agreed to not bringing up the topic again, Meiru – chan!" Roll scolded.

"Whatever. One day I'll deal with the competency in the same manner! It'll be an intelligent thing to do." Meiru shot back.

"No! That won't do, Meiru – chan! That would be a crime! Do you really want to be interned in a reformatory?" Roll yelled.

"Crap. No." Meiru made a grimace.

"Then quit that stuff! Are you going to become a criminal yourself?"

"I know. I was but pretending, Roll. I just wanted to test if you really can think of your own or you're programmed to always side with whatever I do… Now I do." Meiru sighed.

"I understand, then, Meiru – chan."

"Thanks. Also… Once you've gone through that… You know?"

"… I understand the temptation to know more, but…"

"Don't worry. I don't plan to rely on this. It was but a trial…"

"Alright, if you say so… Let's be strong, Meiru – chan!"

09:23 AM (Spain Time)…

"… Luckily enough we have a good central heating system! We're getting close to 0 Celsius out there…!"

Obihiro was working on something using his laptop.

Hunter Man stood nearby, on standby.

"True, sir. I made sure to check that the surface entrance and the parking's entrance are sealed with the necessary safety codes engaged. The portal machine works fine as well." Hunter Man reported.

"Where's Death, anyway?" Obihiro asked.

"It'd seem he's working on something on the supercomputer's room but he looked so busy that I deemed it was better not to bother him."

"Let him work on it. He'll surely come up with something cool, anyway."

Obihiro shrugged as he drank some hot chocolate.

"I appreciate the compliment, Obihiro. Indeed! My little project will be useful to deal with any mice trying to lay their fingers on the supercomputer..."

Death Shadow hovered into the room, amused.

"I don't doubt it."

"I dunno why! I feel that the snow and clouds are a sign of something."

"Hello there, guys. What did you think of the display the Tribe Chiefs came up with?" Sidier asked with a grin.

"Splendid! The data collected was juicy."

"Glad to hear that."

"Did something important happen?"

"No. But Emperor S told me to stay on watch. He has a hunch."

"Alright. If he says so, then let's do so!"

17:31 PM (Japan Time)…

"Man! I always end up beaten after practicing kendo against the dummies! But it's thrilling!"

"Then have the dummies practice it instead on you, Saruba."

"Very funny, Somari – chan."

"I know, right?"

Yamikawa was sitting on the steps leading to the throne.

He wore kendo armor and had a towel over his head.

Kagehi had walked in and came up with a joke that Yamikawa greeted with a very skeptical look.

"So! Kendo – sama is ready to play Prophet – sama?" Kuroumi joked.

"Solo! The Innocents' Day was on the 28th… It's already the 30th… Did you know that?" He shot back, annoyed.

"Who knows?"

"Sheesh. Get serious. I've got a hunch something could happen."

"Why's that? Did you become a prophet?" She giggled.

"That "eye" guy is being quiet. I don't think that's a good sign."

"Good point. We dunno what it is and what it wants!" Kuroumi agreed.

"Maybe it's trying to steal the Thanatos robots?"

"I suspected so, and I warned Death – dono to increase security!"

"Can't think of anything else of value…"

"Maybe it wants your vocal chords to become a handsome fella!"

"Sheesh! Navis don't have vocal chords, and you know it!"

"I guess he speaks like the voice actor Wakamoto! "No items ever"!"

"Sheesh! Save us the Tales of Destiny 2 jokes with Barbatos!"

17:35 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Shuryou. I have received an email with encrypted contents."

Freeze Man's diamond showed up in the base and it opened to expel condensed vapor before Freeze Man jumped off it into the ground.

"Who sent it?" Gospel questioned.

"The sender says Sauron, but it's obvious that it was the "Eye"…"

"Can you analyze its contents or should we use the computer?"

"The computer would do better! It seems to be a commercial protocol yet strengthened somehow by combining segments of a military one."

"Hmpf. Guess that the message has those fools' hideout data."

"I think the same thing, too, Shuryou. It'd seem that the time for the final battle has finally come. If we use the portal machine under the Net Police's supervision, we could travel there by linking it to their machine and get inside in a neat manner."

"Hmpf. Let's do that. Let's surprise them."

"Roger that."

"It's but a temporary truce. We want to show our strength to those fools as well… Target that fool named Hunter Man. They are probably the weakest out of all of them…" He ordered.

"By your commands."

The transmission ended and Gospel walked away from the computer and into a corridor.

"Hmpf. I'll fight that "Grim Reaper"… And I'll prove I'm the strongest! Those others fools are next…" He muttered.

He walked out into the rooftop and stood there, looking at the snow.

"Hmpf. The time has come… Don't disappoint me, "Grim Reaper"… Else, it's a waste of my strength…!"

17:41 PM (Japan Time)…

"Things are going to heat up, my public! This show was very intense and very good. Yamikawa may have copies of all schematics and data on his nice temple! Before they can rebuild it, I'll jump into the stage. I secured one pawn. It's about time we proved if its title is worth it!"

The "Eye" was hovering around the WWW base's ruins and speaking aloud as snow fell inside of it and overlapped the dusty ground.

"Snow! They say it's meant to represent peace… Everyone nowadays sees it as a sign of the coming cataclysm! How did they name this? "Ironic"? … Aibou must know very well where I went off to but he won't bother to try to chase me. He's busy enough over there!"

They then looked at the air and brought up a holographic screen displaying the insides of the underground refuge room.

"The "extra" I arranged for has begun moving. That's good… It wouldn't be an epic battle without a "miraculous" intervention to turn the tide at the most critical moment! Ladies and gentlemen! Fasten your seatbelts, if you may! The show is about to begin and you may need them to not to jump out of your chairs from the nerve and excitement!"

The eye flipped in mid-air and scanned the area again.

"Let's tease them a bit… I know. The restaurant folk!"

The screen switched to an overheads view of the Maha Ichiban's restaurant, with some clients chatting as they sat on stools before the counter and drank the juice on their glasses.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Mr. Curry is gonna ascend to Mr. Divine Curry, with the sponsorship of Dr. Leeway!"

The customers looked around, surprised, and so did Maha.

"All you need is an evil genius scientist to turn you into rabbits!"

"Turn into rabbits!? No way~!"

"And I'm off before the big show begins! Farewell, my chums!"