Chapter 36: Towards the end
20:19 PM (Japan Time), Friday December the 30th…
"… Hmmm… Curry…"
"Curry Shower!"
"What!"
Netto sat up on his bed and looked around.
Saito was sitting on a nearby chair and laughing.
"Niisan! What happened to the battle?" Netto asked.
"We won it, otouto." Saito replied with a smile.
"I remember! I lost consciousness! I sure did a lot of exercise! What happened afterwards?"
"The "Eye" claimed he was going to come up with something, but didn't specify anything. The "Beyondard" Navis returned to their world and the "WWW Team" headed back. The local police have secured the refuge and so has the supercomputer. But no data was left on it except for the OS."
"We managed to prove them that we were serious! I'm surprised that the "Eye" was able to trigger our Full Synchro! Maybe he had a look at the backup data and found some traces of it so that's how he knew how to trigger it…" Netto suggested.
"I guess so! I suspect he found out how to increase Forte's power by inspecting his data at some point. It'd seem Freeze Man found out about the show, but he didn't seem to mind it."
"I guess we'll get to see more of the guy in the days to come. But if I can guess, I suspect we'll have a nice New Year's. I hope we'll able to begin the 2nd trimester in a calm manner." Netto shrugged.
"By the way… There's a curry rice grain below the pillow."
Saito raised his eyebrows, so Netto lifted the pillow and looked around for the curry.
He felt Saito's fingers lifting his vest and shirt around the stomach area and began to tickle Netto, so he laughed and tried to shake them off.
"Niisan! I can't stop laughing! I'm very sensitive to that stuff…! Stop it already!" Netto laughed.
"Not yet. I wanna see ya laughin' till ya run out of breath." Saito laughed and spoke in Kansai dialect.
"Enzan! I'm so gonna make a mess of your hair next time you come over to "train"!" Netto laughed.
"Wouldn't you know? The guy was joking that Dingo was gonna marry his childhood friend!"
"What! Oh come on! That's a cliché!"
"You never know! Also talked about someone stealing seagull eggs!"
"Who'd want to!?"
"Maybe a glutton like you?"
"I'm not a glutton!"
"Then you gotta be a gourmet!"
"That's not it, either!"
"And I guess the guy is gonna motivate Raoul to make more videos about his dance and he'll become a local celebrity!"
"Oh come on! I prefer him serious!"
"Enzan – kun is gonna run up the walls along with Buruusu!"
"Obviously enough! Enzan! I'm gonna tickle you too!"
"You'll have to get past his anti-tickle armor, IPC's secret weapon!"
"That ain't fair, Enzan!"
"All's fair in love!"
"D-don't say that, niisan! I feel ashamed! Stop it already~!"
20:24 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Good job, Enzan."
"Thanks, Laika. We both did all we could, after all."
Enzan and Laika were shaking hands inside of the Net Police HQ while Blues and Search Man were talking amongst themselves.
"This was one of the hardest battles ever. I'm glad we ended up intact."
"I guess I'll need to rest for some days: I feel exhausted and worn out."
"Hullo!"
"Hello, Thunder Man." Both greeted.
"I heard what happened! Good work, guys!" Thunder Man told them.
"Thanks, Thunder Man." Blues smiled.
"You were rooting for us, too." Search Man answered.
Raoul's display opened, and he had the outfit on.
"Ahem, ahem!" He cleared his throat.
Both Enzan and Laika rolled their eyes and snapped their foreheads.
"OH YEAH! What's up, Brother? Shake 'em all! Rumble 'em all! The party's about to start tonight! A~nd…! Lights! Music! DJ! Coca – Cola! Tomato and lettuce sandwiches from Subway! Comrades! The party begins at exactly 0:00 hours! So! Put your orders forward to the DJ and get ready for a meltdown duel!" Raoul exclaimed.
"Not again!"
"And introducing Masked Thunder!" Raoul announced.
He slotted something into the Link PET and Thunder Man's disguise (the cloak) engaged.
"That gotta be that "Sauron" guy who motivated him to do that!"
"Should've seen it coming!" Blues growled.
"Time! Start! Little brother: join the party! Tonight's prize: an invitation to the National Music Museum in Boston! Destroy 'em all in one crushing blow! Strangle! Climb! Crawl! Kick! Punch! Swing! Shake! Kneel! Crouch! Drink! Eat! Glare! Hear! Smell! Sweat! Bleed! Flip! Somersault! Terrorize!"
"By all the…" Laika cursed.
"We're doomed." Enzan grimly muttered.
"Raoul!" Thunder Man yelled.
"I'm afraid he won't hear anything with such loud music. If only we could cancel it then we'd get somewhere but…" Search Man grimly muttered.
"What does it take to stop the guy?" Blues grumbled.
"Crush! Lift! Drop! Descend! Fall! Roll! Rock! Rock n' roll! Bring out the Dynamic Duo! Close Elton John and Michael Jackson in a room to make them destroy each other! Shoot! Run! Swing! Cry! Beg! Moan! Groan! Grumble! Mumble! Mutter! Whisper! Hush! Silence! Speak! Confess! Talk! Converse! Mix! DJ! Turn on the mixer! Mix 'em all into an explosive cocktail: the Raoul Cocktail! Who needs a crispy and outdated Molotov cocktail? The new fashion is the Raoul Cocktail! Little brother! Come and we'll dance 'till dawn creeps into the Wise-Men's Hall!"
"Shut down that channel! Take shelter here, Thunder Man!"
"Good idea!"
They shut down the channel and sighed and relief but a chuckle echoed around the area, making them grumble.
"Not enough passion, my chums! Sam Yosemite is disappointed!"
"I couldn't care less!" Enzan growled.
"Sam Yosemite is a cartoon character!" Thunder Man grumbled.
"Get lost, whomever you are!" Laika fumed.
"Why me…!?" Blues grumbled.
"I'd like to know, too!"
20:44 PM (Japan Time)…
"… I need it!"
"You do not."
"I need it!"
"You – do – not."
"I need it!"
"You don't!"
"I…!"
"NO!"
"Man."
"Be realistic, Dingo!"
Dingo, annoyed, discussed over something with Maha.
"If you want it, quit the work! I won't let you destroy things or harm people! I am blamed and this affects the restaurant's reputation!"
"But if you make this good of a curry, then… I'd say there's not much to worry about." Meijin commented as he finished his dish.
"I'm surprised Fire Man didn't try to have revenge out there… Why?"
"Unlike Hinoken – sama… I'm not obsessed with that."
"It'd seem that Fire Man is getting smarter than you, Hinoken…"
"Wily – sama!" Hinoken grumbled.
"Oh my God! They're going to re-air it! Good! I can't live sans the show: it's the most original show I've ever heard!" Count Elec grumbled.
"Great." Elec Man rolled his eyes.
"We had fun!"
"I need to look twice at the mirror: I must be gaining weight as of late."
"Obsessions are not good for one's spirit." Magic Man warned.
"Guts? What's that, de guts?" Guts Man wondered.
"I'd forgotten! Meijin – san!"
Dekao ran out of the kitchen and leant over the counter to look at Meijin.
"HAND OVER THE SYNCHRO CHIP! GLASSES!" He roared.
"Not again…" Meijin grimly muttered.
Maha pulled Dekao's ears from behind and turned him around to have him walk into the kitchen as he closed the doors.
"The rebellious neophyte… I'd forgotten." Wily chuckled.
"I don't think "neophyte" is the correct word, Father." Yuriko argued.
"The crappy cook, I'd name 'im!" Needle Man chuckled.
"Please…" Dr. Regal sighed.
"That is unnecessary." Laser Man mumbled.
"Dr. Wily! You're hiding my tomahawk, then!? You're the mastermind behind this complot!?"
"Chut! Dingo! You can't accuse Dr. Wily – sama sans proof!"
Hinoken gasped and pulled him back by the hood.
"Hinoken! Gimme my tomahawk back, will ya?" Dingo pleaded.
"No! It's a danger to society! You almost hit a Net Police officer once and you broke his car's door!" Hinoken scolded.
"I'm cursed!" Dingo yelled in frustration.
"Ya aren't…" Tomahawk Man grumbled.
"SYNCHRO CHIP!" Dekao roared.
"SILENCE! ELSE I'LL EXPEL YOU~!"
"NO WAY~! MEIRU – CHA~N!"
20:51 PM (Japan Time)…
"… So!"
"So!"
"Go back!"
"Go back!"
"Mirror!"
"Mirror!"
"Ah – le – le!"
"Ah – le – le!"
"This one…!"
"This one…!"
"Stop it!"
"Stop it!"
"Jeez. Meiru – chan!"
"Jeez. Jasmine!"
Meiru and Jasmine were discussing in another office of the Net Police HQ while keeping their distance from each other and crossing their arms.
"Run." Meiru commanded.
"Run." Jasmine copied.
"Jasmine! Don't forget what grandfather said!" Meddy whispered.
"Meiru – chan! Be rational!" Roll called out.
"Hmpf! Why, you…!"
"Hmpf! Why, you…!"
"Jeez. Lovely!" Both girl Navis muttered with a hint of defeatism.
20:53 PM (Japan Time)…
"… I'm gonna patent a flying whale hologram!"
"You're just gonna copy that "Narisha" thing."
"Don't kill the mood!"
"There's no mood: it's artificial."
"Hmpf! Whatever!"
"Man."
"Now, now… Don't fight, you two."
Tesla blurted a random idea, as she fliped through a magazine and Airstar was skeptical, so Gauss ran in and tried to calm her.
"Wily – sama told me obsessions are bad to the health. So, Tesla, you should be wary of them." Gauss told him.
"But Dr. Wily is already an elder on his 60s. I'm not even 30 yet."
"Still pretending to be "forever young"…"
"Give it up, Charlie: she's impossible." Gyro Man whispered.
"And Gauss – sama wasn't any better, either." Magnet Man muttered.
"Wha~t?" Gauss gasped.
"Gauss – sama had the habit of cross – dressing and he used to be a Wily maniac." Magnet Man recalled.
"You even hired that girl from Maha Ichiban's because you wanted her to tell you about Wily." Airstar dully told him.
"That's… Well…"
Gauss looked at the ceiling and gasped.
"The Canary Islands wouldn't be bad." Tesla suggested.
"Lovely… Why do I always run into messes?" Airstar sighed.
20:57 PM (Japan Time)…
"… And what the heck am I supposed to do with this thing?"
"It'll make ya smarter!"
"But how?"
"Don't think! Do it!"
"Maybe if I put in on my right shoulder…"
"Ya look like a double-headed monster!"
"Wha~t?"
Rokushakudama was leaning the only intact head of one of the "Elite" robots on his right shoulder and Napalm Man laughed at the scene.
"I took a photo! Wait 'till everyone sees it: good ol' Nenji is a Martian with two heads!" Napalm Man exploded into hysterical laughter.
"Nenjirou! Don't! Ya tricked me!" He pleaded.
"Hilarious! Hilarious! I can't stop laughin' at it! Ya could become famous overnight!" Napalm Man kept on laughing.
"Man. That Nenjirou…"
He deposited the head on the desk and slapped his own face in defeat while Napalm Man kept on laughing.
"Excellent, my fellow. Let's make the nets boil into steam!"
"Hmmm!? Who's there!?"
"One of your fans. Deep Throat!"
"That voice! Ya are the jerk who was in the battlefield!"
"Everyone's favorite wannabe gentleman!"
"Wanna brawl!?" Napalm Man challenged.
"Sheesh… Why do they make a fool outta me!?"
21:01 PM (Japan Time)…
"We managed to put a momentary halt to them. I turned out to be right! The snow was a sign."
Pride was looking out at the snow thath had deposited on the streets.
The skies had begun to blacken and lose light to give way to the evening.
"Correct, Princess! We have won the battle." Knight Man confirmed.
"Netto… It's thanks to your courage, too. You always try to help us and we want to help you back… Thank you." Pride muttered.
"Rock Man… You're a good companion. It's thanks to you, too."
"We won't let them push us to the sidelines!"
"Your will, Princess!"
"Wonderful. Then I'll ready a script in which you're the main protagonist and Hikari is the heroine!" A voice chuckled.
"The "lord of gifts"! Show yourself!" Knight Man challenged.
"So you did research into Sauron's past exploits? Wonderful."
"State your purpose!"
"Congratulating you guys for your heroic victory!"
"Hmpf! Next time we'll celebrate having defeated a major evil! And that is you, Sauron!" Knight Man challenged.
"You'll have to get past my useful chums first. The Leviathan and the Buffoon come from "a certain nation"…"
"That sounds like taken off an RPG adventure! How about you quit those dramatics and tell us who you are?"
"All in due time, my fair princess. Let's not be impatient…"
"I shall not let you bewitch the princess! Judgment!"
"Bewitch…? Sheesh. Who's been teaching that to you!?"
21:02 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Hmpf. So? What'll you do?"
"Hmpf. Normally, I'd want to settle the score of two years ago, but…"
"What."
"I owe you my comeback."
"Hmpf. I wasn't expecting to count it as a favor."
Forte and Freeze Man were talking inside of their hideout's Cyber World, filled with snoke, ice crystals, and a blizzard blowing through it.
A tall diamond hovered a few centimeters above the ground and rotated upon its axis.
"Those cowards are still out there. Isn't it in our common interest to get rid of them? A temporary truce…" Freeze Man suggested.
"Hmpf. You're right. That Grim Reaper eluded me. I've still got a score to settle with that bastard…" Forte scoffed.
"I'd like to settle it with that Sidier man, too."
"That's another of my targets, too… Whoever finds them first has the right to defeat them!" Forte decided.
"Fair enough." Freeze Man calmly agreed.
"Gotta be faster than Han Solo's blaster! Poor Greedo became the main ingredient of his dish! Greedo a la Solo Laser." A voice chukled.
"Who!?"
They turned around to find a newcomer.
This newcomer had pallid skin and red eye irises.
He wore a purple cap, clothes, and a cape.
He could be about a meter and fifty tall.
"Sorcerer Gufuu of the Piccol Tribe, gentlemen."
"Sorcerer Gufuu?" Both wondered.
"Searching for the "Force"! So as to evolve into the Demon God."
"What!?"
"Now, gentlemen… Would you be as kind as to guide me?"
"How did you get here!?" Forte growled.
"Are you an agent of those cowards!?" Freeze Man questioned.
"My master, Sigaano Nogaano sends his most honorable greetings! Thou power is great and supreme, sires." He added in an old-fashioned style.
"Are you pawn of the "Eye"!? That man's name is Sigaano Nogaano?"
"Somehow sounds like a Brazilian name." Freeze Man muttered.
"Beware, gentlemen. The Rancor has come!"
A roar rang out behind them but it turned out to be a hologram of a Garuu Virus, so both ignored it and focuses on the subject again.
"Pathetic." Forte scoffed.
"Thank you for your pity." He sneered.
"You think you're funny?" Freeze Man grumbled.
"Maybe yea maybe nay. Ask Mr. Freeze!"
"Not in the mood for little tricks."
"Little? More like big! Grand! Supreme! DIVINE!" He laughed.
"You lowlife…!" Forte hissed, annoyed.
"I see that Master Ezlo's come. I shall take my leave while he bestows the Wishing Hat to fulfill all desires. Farewell, Your Graces."
The hologram smirked and vanished, so both grumbled.
"Change of priorities! That bastard comes first!"
"I share that feeling, even! How annoying!"
