The Nomad Emissary

By Zoram Selrof

Chapter 1: Tabuu

10:08 AM (Japan Time), Saturday August the 28th, 2205…

"I am about to EXPLODE!"

"This can't end up well!"

"That guy…"

"Calm down, Luna – chan!"

"Probabilities of a catastrophe taking place clock at 98.5%..."

Shirogane Luna, Saishouin Kizamaro, Jack, Mode and Pedia stood in Kodama Town's square, next to the Big Wave building.

Luna tapped the ground with her right foot out of impatience, Mode tried to calm her down, Kizamaro gulped, Pedia made a calculation and Jack was annoyed.

"Mode. Time!" She icily commanded.

"10:10 AM…"

"And we'd agreed to meet at 10:00 AM… 10 minutes late! That guy…! He'd be better off hoping there's a God that pities pitiful ones…!"

Kizamaro, Pedia and Jack remained silent, and tension could be felt building up in the air.

They heard rushed footsteps and Ushujima Gonta along with Ox rushed into the area.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry~! I overslept! Please forgive me, ma'am!"

He dropped into his knees in front of Luna and bowed.

"Gonta…!" She hissed.

"Y-yes, ma'am?" He gulped.

"… YOU MORON!" She yelled.

"Yikes!"

"10 MINUTES LATE! IS THAT YOUR WAY OF UPKEEPING A PROMISE!? WHAT A MASS OF FATS AND CALORIES! ARE YOU CRAVING YOUR GRAVE? NEXT TIME I'M GOING TO FEED YOU CARROTS AND SPINACH!" She roared.

"Y-yes, ma'am…"

"If ya had programmed the alarm clock like I told ya to do then this wouldn't have happened, Gonta!" Ox grumbled.

"Then wake me up!" Gonta scolded.

"I tried! But you were playing deaf!"

"No way!"

"SHADDUP!"

"Y-yes, ma'am!"

"I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WERE INVITED TO FORM PART OF THE SATELLA POLICE'S "SPECIAL FORCES"! WHEN I DISCOVER HOW TO TRANSFORM AS ROCK MAN DOES, I'LL REPLACE YOU THERE!"

"Transform? That doesn't sound like a good idea!"

"I overheard Virgo saying that Ophiucus was a leech. Had she been able to, she'd driven Subaru crazy back then before deleting him…" Jack muttered.

"I'm surprised, though, that Gemini Spark's attack worked on her because electricity is weak to grass…" Kizamaro muttered.

"Guess that was because she was low in HP…"

"BE READY, GONTA! I'LL EXPOSE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOUR FLAWS!"

"R-roger, ma'am…!"

"Now, now. Let's take it easy!" Mode sighed.

"THIS HUMAN NEEDS SOME LESSONS ON ETIQUETTE~!"

10:23 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Sheesh. To think we raided all the attendants of the raid but then it turned out that one of them had to yield their "prize" to another VIP because they made a blunder and damaged their assets…"

"Those humans sure are devoid of morals…"

"You needn't tell me, Acid! Sheesh. And that VIP has gone up in smoke!"

"As if trying to locate those three fugitives was enough of a hassle…"

Akatsuki Shidou was arguing with Acid as he bought an apple juice bottle from a vending machine in the WAXA Building.

"Akatsuki. Overworking yourself won't help you, you know?"

"Sheesh. I know that! However… How can I stay calm?"

Queen Tia walked up to him, and he sighed as he talked with her.

"I understand there's tension in the air…"

"Naturally! Especially after how that jerk beat us to a pulp!"

"That thing is scary. To think it grew so much in the span of a few hours…"

"Indeed. That is why we are on the lookout for them…" Acid argued.

"I'm not saying that's not a bad thing. What I meant to argue is that you have the habit of wanting to take all responsibility on your shoulders!"

"That's… I can't deny that…"

"But it's not like you're alone, no?"

"I know I aren't. Vadous and the others are working on it, too…"

"Then what need is there to push yourself?"

"Guess I'm trying to show that I take things seriously…"

"Nobody questions that…"

"I'm not sure. Guess it's that I can't stay put…"

"That sounds like you. Did you try going to the gym or running?"

"I do, of course, to keep in shape. I also use the VR simulator…"

"Maybe we could go to the theater one day to shake off tension?"

"I suggest that you do that, Shidou. The medical staff argued the same…"

"Sheesh. If the medical staff says so then guess I'll have to listen to them!"

"By the way. Did you know Moon Disaster's newest "poll"?"

"What did he ask next? When will Doritos become a trend again?"

"WHO is Harp Note? Madonna's reincarnation; Shakira's reincarnation, Adele's reincarnation. Results insofar: 59%, 30% and 11%"…" She giggled.

"Lovely!" He sighed.

"If it does not expose her identity, I see no harm..."

"Devil's advocate next?"

"Next? As in that I have done other things uncalled for?"

"Forget it. I was being negative…"

"Alright…"

"YIKES!" An officer yelped.

"There we go again!"

"What's wrong?"

"A mousetrap! In my drawer!"

An officer cursed as he tried to take it off his fingers.

"Who would do something so arcane?" Another wondered.

"War Rock!" Akatsuki replied.

"Take this off my fingers!" The officer yelped.

"Sheesh! That prankster lion!"

10:29 AM (Japan Time)…

"I CAN'T STAND THIS ANYMORE~! SHOW YOUR HIDE, YOU CONSPIRATOR! EIGHT POWER OUTAGES IN ONE MONTH! WHO'S MESSING WITH THE ELECTRICTY? SHOW YOUR HIDES! I'LL MAKE MINCEMEAT OUTTA YOU~!"

"There he goes again, Misora!"

"No wonder. Eight power outages in one month are pure sabotage and it's gotta be a rival studio!"

"Pororon! At least it ain't Rocky!"

"Sure! He'd blow everything up!"

"What are you talking about?"

"I think I know who they mean, Suzuka!"

Hibiki Misora and Harp ignored Urakata's ramblings and met up with Suzuka and her Wizard, Ice.

"Who do they mean?"

"War – Rock! Hoshikawa Subaru's Wizard!"

"I remember him…"

"Correct. He's too hyperactive!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH! I'LL ROOT THEM OUT MYSELF! I'LL SLICE YOUR NECK! GET READY!"

"And I did ask a favor out of Mr. Akatsuki to check on the staff's backgrounds, but he didn't find enough evidence. We've set up an IR battery-powered camera to check, too, but we've recorded no – one yet so the saboteur could very well be in the electrical distribution plant, too…" Misora told Suzuka.

"In short! We're stuck. What a month." Suzuka sighed.

"Life would be easier without them!"

Both girls slapped their foreheads in defeat and the Wizards sighed…

10:33 AM (Japan Time)…

"…I'm Terror Man! Be terrorized! I'm gonna rip through you Viruses! Because I'll bring utter and ultimate terror to you!"

"War Rock… Stop it already!

"Beg to me!"

"Come on!"

"That sounds better!"

"I'm tense because we don't know when those fugitives will show up!"

"That's why we've come to the forest, to train!"

"I never said we were going to train! Just try to get a change of airs!"

Hoshikawa Subaru had been walking down a pathway across a forest while War Rock had been slicing the air.

"And the bloody swiping claws will beat those jerks!"

"Calling things "edgy" names will hardly help you win!"

"I can't admit that a newbie can roll over my glory so easily!"

"Facts are facts! Denying them won't solve anything…"

"Sheesh! I only care for brawls!"

"Clearly enough…"

"Hmpf. Infighting… Typical of fools…"

"Sheesh. Solo! Your stalker behavior is getting on my nerves!"

Solo became visible, leaning his back against a tree and crossing his arms while closing his eyes.

"Hmpf. Then prove you're not a coward that'll run away…"

"If you mean that of last year, it was a necessity…"

"I decide that!"

"When did you become someone with the authority to do that?"

"Hmpf. The blood that flows on me says so!"

"Sheesh. You make yourself look "edgy" when you say that!"

"Hmpf. Whatever…"

"If you claim you hate bonding with others and act alone, there's no need for you to come annoy me! Is there?"

"Hmpf. It'd be troublesome if you vanished again…"

"Why? You'd get an annoying human out of your sight, no?"

"Want a brawl, punk? Bring it on! I'll use my Ultra DX Ultimate Attack!"

"Shut up, interior data life-form…"

"Inferior!? Me!?"

Subaru's Hunter VG beeped, so he turned the Real Wave screen.

A man on his early twenties whose hair was black and had blue eyes appeared there.

"I detected a spike of stress from your nanomachines, Subaru…"

"Hello, Boss… Here you have the culprit, sir!"

"Sheesh. It had to be you, Solo!"

"Hmpf. Vadous… You must believe yourself a man of Mu…"

"What? When did I ever say that?"

"Because you look down on the plebs from the sky…"

"Just because I own a spaceship on orbit that's my base of operations, that doesn't mean I believe myself to be a man of Mu or a king!"

"They all say the same…"

"Sheesh. Trying to start a civil war? Are you Baron Zemo or what?"

"Dunno what you're talking about…"

"We're all tense, trying to get ready for when those 3 foes attack!"

"And you're pretending you can foretell the future…"

"I never said that. I'm a mere mortal!"

"Or maybe you're the deity of warfare posing as a human…"

"Why don't you go watch some movie about that and stop pestering?"

"Pestering? More like surveillance of dangerous fools…"

"Dangerous fool? When did I become that?" Subaru grumbled.

"What? A message from Mr. Van der Miar? He administers a recently inaugurated Netherlands private space lab. Maybe I'll introduce you to him one day. What? "Unidentified object detected by our radar on a descent course towards this set of coordinates"… How come my radar didn't detect it? We're in the same side of the planet right now!"

"Strange, true…"

"Hmpf. Guess that lion broke it!" Solo scoffed.

"What!? I didn't! I don't know where it is!" War Rock grumbled.

"No, it's working perfectly… Strange…"

"Look there!" War Rock warned.

Something was plunging through it while leaving a trail of smoke behind and seemed to head to point located close by.

"Try using your radar app, Subaru!"

"The signature is odd! It's way too smooth. It's a manmade object…! It's 10 meters tall and 5 meters wide!"

"What else? Form of a diamond… Outer heat shielding…" War Rock read.

"… 2 minutes 33 seconds until landfall! I guess it's better to stay still. When that thing makes landfall, it'll be quite a shock!"

"Hmpf. Is it those cowards? I'll destroy them!"

The object descended until it was out of sight and a sonic boom rang out followed by a rush of heat.

The air soon calmed down and both rushed on forward until they reached a clearing made by the object.

Some scales were jumping off it and it was emitting heat.

It had driven into the ground, and remained in a perpendicular angle.

"What's this?" Subaru wondered.

"Hmpf. Come out, Death Shadow! I know it's you!" Solo scoffed.

"About time! Bring it on, punk!" War Rock challenged.

"Aren't you two jumping to conclusions too early?" Vadous grumbled.

"Truly! Youth nowadays… They lack patience!" A man's voice chuckled.

"That's not either Kurayami or Death Shadow…" Subaru muttered.

"As for why I didn't show on one of the radars, it's simple… I sent a jamming signal specific to that radar… I didn't know about that other one, though, because it wasn't there back then…"

"What? That guy was intercepting our communications?" Subaru gasped.

"Hmmm? That form of speaking… Where have I…?" Vadous muttered.

The diamond ejected steam and the upper half began to displace upwards until it had expanded to reveal a compartment two meters tall.

An ellipsoid made of white energy was hovering inside, and it slowly hovered outside of the diamond structure.

"Wait. How did this guy know how to specifically jam my radar?"

"Because I helped you build it, partner… I remember the specifications!"

"Help me build it? But then… It can't be!" Vadous gasped.

"Let's say that your precious novels inspired me!"

"No way! You're…!"

The ellipsoid dissolved to reveal the identity of the speaker.

He had a humanoid shape and was two meters tall.

Black armor made of an unknown material covered his body.

The helmet around his head lacked nose or mouth.

It had two cavities for the eyes, which were plain red and lacking iris.

Although, looking closer, those were drawn eyes, not real eyes.

His shoulders were plain and didn't have a spheroid.

He had elbows and the armor over the hands included two domes with the "T" letter colored in rainbow colors drawn upon them.

The armor extended across his legs, becoming thick around the knees and ended in ellipsoid segments protecting his feet.

Rainbow-colored lines travelled down their length.

The main body was absent of decoration save for a pattern forming the same "T" letter in the middle of the chest the colors of which were constantly shifting and mixing.

Lastly, four large and irregularly shaped wings formed behind him, and their colors were also constantly shifting, too.

"Hmpf… When was our last conversation? Looking up archive… May 2204! A week before the incident of Spade Magnets in Kodama Elementary… You were busy planning "Operation: Independence" to split free from Anaya's iron grasp. And I know you succeeded, too. Yet I didn't feel like playing the nice guy, so that's why I left. I've bid my time and I've come up with a scenario which will surprise you!"

"T-Tabuu…!" Vadous uttered.

"Indeed! Tabuu! The Nomad Emissary!"

"What's with this fool?" Solo grumbled.

"Long tale!" Vadous grumbled.

"Hoshikawa Subaru! Solo! Weren't you itching for some action? I'm it! Come!" Tabuu taunted.

"Let's go, Subari~!" War Rock laughed.

"Sheesh! Denpa – Henkan! Hoshikawa Subaru, On Air!"

"Hmpf. Denpa – Henkan… Solo, On Air!"

Subaru became Rock Man while Solo transformed into his Burai form.

Laplace muttered something and morphed into the Laplace Blade.

"Let's go! Mad Vulcan!"

"Laplace Swing!"

Rock Man's rounds bounced off Tabuu's armor without leaving a single scratch on it while Burai's attack didn't inflict any effect, either.

"Regretting making this armor so powerful, Partner? It's too late to regret, sadly enough!" Tabuu laughed.

"What? You mad that, too, Boss?" Rock Man gasped.

"Sheesh… All I do turns back into me?" Vadous grumbled.

"No need to be so pessimistic, Partner!"

"I'm not in the best of moods today!"

"That aside! How about you dance to the flute's tune?"

"What?"

"Fate's Strings!"

Tabuu formed up five yellow strings at the edge of each of his fingers and they latched on each fighter's hands, feet and forehead.

Tabuu then toyed with the strings and had both Rock Man and Burai collide head-on to then attack each other.

"Hmpf! Today I'm the puppeteer! So, Partner? Are ya gonna come and blow me away?"

"Sorry. But ya gotta deal with me firstly!"

"Who…?"

"Me!"

A reddish blur crossed through the air while cutting the strings and dragged both Rock Man and Burai until they landed in the outer edge.

"Why! Omega! Been a while, my teacher of human culture!"

"Hmpf. I'm not that Omega of back then… Tab!"

"… I never liked that nickname…"

"Mr. Omega!"

"This guy's gonna get butchered! Omega's the top-class butcher in 'ere!"

The newcomer was about a meter and eighty tall.

A blue jewel shaped like an inverted triangle was set on the center of his helmet's forehead.

The jewel glowed and emitted a cross-shaped light.

His eyes' irises were blue and serious.

Long blond hair reached all the way to the floor.

He had a red vest over his mainly black body.

His forearms and boots were red.

Two golden circlets were set around his forearms and on his boots.

"Hmpf. Step back. I'll find the weakness of that armor!"

"I guess I need to get serious, then. How's this like? Apocalypse…!"

Tabuu spread his wings, legs and arms wide and began to build up energy around his body.

"Crap! Boss! The gateway! Open the gateway and get us outta here!"

A purple "portal" formed behind the trio and Omega pushed them inside.

"I'll settle the score, Tab!"

"Come anytime, Mega-O!"

"Sheesh! I never liked that nickname, either!"

Omega grumbled and ran inside of it, too.

The gateway vanished while Tabuu kept on loading up energy.

A red sphere was forming in front of him and was growing.

"… Now! Apocalypse Now!" He laughed.

The sphere stopped expanding to collapse upon itself and imploded.

Radial shockwave which burnt up trees, grass and anything else upon contact began to expand and covered a radius of about 300 meters before dying down.

"While you wait for that trio to show up… I'll be your new headache, Vadous! Ladies and gentlemen! The show's started! I know you're listening, because I set up a device to call you and so that you can see the show!"

"Sheesh! Then go bust them!" Vadous grumbled.

"If I knew where they are, I'd like to see what stuff that famed and deadly Death Shadow is made of!" He chuckled.

"What the heck was that!?" War Rock grumbled.

"That guy's most powerful move!"

"Maybe you need to learn control over energy, Lionel? Then you'll gain your excellent fan-club!"

"Who's "Lionel?" I'm the mighty WAR ROCK!"

"The brother of Moon Ace?"

"Sure thing!"

"Moon DISASTER!" Subaru grumbled.

"Open that portal! I'm not running away!" Solo grumbled.

"Objection! You don't know the extent of the man's power!"

"Playing Ace Attorney again, Partner?"

"Sheesh! And what if? It's my private choice!" Vadous grumbled.

"Beware, Solo… Konaka is trying to blackmail you. Better shove off his punk hair and smash his fake jewels!"

"Hmpf. Let that fool come! I'll teach the might of my blood!"

"That hardly will solve anything!" Vadous sighed.

"Maybe you need a bottle of pear juice to motivate you?"

"This commoner…!" Solo grumbled.

"When did you become nobility?" Omega sighed.

"Maybe when Moon Ace blessed him with the Mexican extravaganza!"

"Why, you…! Turn off that stupid jammer! I can't transform!"

"It's for your good, Solo! Do you have a death wish or what?"

"Better ready a medium… Ms. Ayasato will do!"

"Don't say things that bring bad luck!"

"Humans sure are fun. Believing that statements can change destiny!"

"Whatever! I'll force my way out, and…!"

"You'll have to get past me first…" Omega warned.

"Sheesh! Fine! So be it!"

There was the sound of a scuffled followed by something hitting the floor.

"I warned you!" Omega sighed.

"I see the atmosphere is as lovely as ever! See you soon!"

"Sheesh! Lovely? Your sense of humor is maddening!"

"Thanks for the compliments! See you next episode~!"

Tabuu laughed and turned into data to vanish along with the diamond.

"Crap! Buku! I think I saw something I shouldn't have seen!"

Cancer Bubble dared to come out from behind a nearby bush.

"That thing's power was brutal!" Cancer gasped.

"You needn't tell me! Looked like come out of a game!"

"I think it's better to get out of here!"

"Sure! Not the time to be looking for strawberries!"

"Which I'm sure it's a joke by War Rock!"

"Sheesh! I'm gonna beat the jerk one day!"

"Don't overdo it, Chiyokichi!"

"A real man doesn't run away from a mighty battle~!"

"Now's not the time for that!"

"Better listen to the wise cancer of Osaka, kiddo…"

"YIKES! It's the guy from before~! Run for your bubbles! BUKU~!"

Tabuu's voice echoed around the area and Cancer Bubble gasped.

He warped into the Wave Road and rode a surfboard to speed away.

"I guess the crab of Osaka is still juicy~!"

"I'm not crab from Osaka! I'm Cancer, a FM Planet warrior, and…!"

"Now's not the time for that, man!"

"Run else the wolf will come roast you~!"

"Wolf Forest! The jerk! I'll teach 'em a lesson! Buku!"

"No, I don't think that's what the man means…" Cancer Bubble sighed.

"Enjoy the comedians of the show, too!"

"We're not comedians! SHEESH!"