Chapter 2: Briefing

11:08 AM (Japan Time), Saturday August the 28th…

"… So? What exactly happened out there, Subaru?"

"That was a narrow escape!"

"A jerk popped out of nowhere and proved to be immune to any attacks to then proceed to destroy the area… What a jerk!"

"Now… Cool it down, War Rock…"

"Go eat "Sweet Candy", Akatsuki!"

Subaru and his father, Daigo, were speaking as Subaru sat on a chair placed on a corner of the WAXA Command Room.

Akatsuki, Misora and Gonta were also present there.

"Chief! Air Display request…" One operator called out.

"Patch it through!" The Chief replied.

The "Air Display" turned on and displayed Vadous.

He wore metallic body armor complemented with a purple cape.

He also had two sword sheaths attached to his belt.

He sat in a black metallic armchair.

"You saw what happened there. I need to explain what transcended. The culprit behind this is an alien Wizard who is named Tabuu…"

"Tabuu… And where did that guy come out from? Is the man related to Sirius, maybe? He did look like an angel, too…" Akatsuki asked.

"That's… I don't know if he's related to Sirius or not! He calls himself the "Nomad Emissary", and he is a totally autonomous Wizard in charge of investigation and cataloguing of civilizations and planets. We met for the first time in March 2202, when he stumbled upon the "Subspace" itself… That's the name of a region of Time-Space containing a small solar system and where I built some operational bases…"

"I see…"

"I welcomed him into my domains. And, after some attempts, we were able to understand each other… He was intrigued in my technology, and he decided to stick around. Since he had difficulties in using his capabilities, I designed that armor to help him focus his power and freely use it!"

"And what happened next?" Daigo asked.

"He investigated and researched my technology, and he sometimes let out info of other planets he'd visited. Over two years later, back in April 2204, I was working on designing "Operation: Independence", to break free from Anaya and to protect Subaru. The next month, May, he told me that he was going to study one of my newest nuclear fusion reactors and I told him to go ahead. Two hours later, disaster struck!"

"Disaster struck?" Misora asked, surprised.

"The reactor blew up and Tabuu was destroyed along the power plant! The Command Center lost 33% of its power supply along other systems. The only thing we found amongst the debris was charred armor segments. The armor couldn't withstand such a brutally hot plasma spheroid. Surviving security footage and backup data revealed a flaw in the deuterium supply valve which meant that the deuterium and tritium mix were unbalanced. The unbalance led to collapse and blew up the reactor. We grieved his loss but then moved on. I made a small memorial service on that same day past May!"

"But then… How did he survive?" Jack asked.

"Did he use a copy?" Subaru gasped.

"Or maybe the armor was a decoy to make us believe that! I guess he got the idea from reading Sherlock Holmes…"

"I see! I won't go into specifics to avoid spoiling, but I understand what scenes you're referring to…"

"And why would he do this? I mean… Why would he fool everyone into believing he died? And then shows up to openly become our adversary?"

"I don't know. He's an alien, after all. He might think in different terms!"

"Makes sense…" Akatsuki agreed.

"Sheesh! I'm gonna beat the jerk to a pulp!" War Rock grumbled.

"Unless we can make it past that armor, we're not…"

"That's not fair! Vadass!"

"VA-DO-US! Stop distorting my codename!" He grumbled.

"I do whatever I want!"

"Free speech doesn't mean you can say anything without consequences!"

"What!? What a scam!"

"It's not a scam! It's common sense, and what law says!"

"Do I look like I care for that?"

"You should. You're part of it!"

"Agreed. Behave, War Rock…" Acid warned.

"And what if I don't, Claw Man?"

"Guess you need a nap until you learn to behave!" Subaru sighed.

"That's bullying!"

"It's more like a lesson so that you behave!"

"Anyway. I guess there is a way to deal with that armor?"

"Of course! I was paranoid back then, so I purposely designed weak points to the armor. I must look the schematics of back then to check where the weaknesses were! But it can be broken!"

"Do we know why he had to make such a dramatic entrance? He could've just flown there or warped, right?" Akatsuki brought up.

"Dunno. Maybe he's fond of dramatics."

"Speaking of dramatics…" Jack brought up.

"What is it?"

"What about Hyde? Is the guy still on the run?"

"Sure is. Hasn't dared to show up since the scuffle with Gori…"

"Whatever. That punk can wait. We've got the fugitives and Tabuu…"

"How would you measure Tabuu's level of power?" The Chief brought up.

"Good point, Chief… Hmmm… He'd make those two imitators look pale in comparison and I'm sure he wouldn't have much trouble handling that Death Shadow guy!" Vadous calculated.

"And that Death Shadow guy was enough of a nightmare for us even while he was a rookie who hadn't been around for even 12 hours, yet he was able to drive us to the limit!" Akatsuki grimly muttered.

"YIKES!" One operator yelped.

"Not again…" Akatsuki moaned.

"What's wrong?" Dr. Yoiri asked.

"A mousetrap, ma'am…! Inside of the drawer…!"

"War Rock! Not you again!" Subaru grumbled.

"That was Rock Was, my cousin!" He laughed.

"Very original!" Daigo grumbled.

"Hmpf! Forget that little troll lion! Time for the cool man to show up! Calling on Sigma~!"

Someone showed up on-screen.

Sigma was about two meters tall.

His whole body was jet black.

His face had two red eyes and one glowed brighter than the other.

Two horns, one of which was almost erased, were set on both sides of his head and added a "demonic" look to him.

He had a red spheroid set on his chest area.

His spheroid seemed to be missing the armor over its mass.

Green data flows moved around his body.

He held a massive black and green sword in his right hand which was easily over a meter tall.

"Sigma! Who told you to ride on my transmission?"

"Yikes! Boss! That's… I thought Hyde had showed up there!"

"Nobody has said that! We were discussing more pressing things!"

"By the way… Do you know someone named "MONAD_T"?"

"Who's that? A streamer?" Vadous sighed.

"Wait… MONAD? If you change the letters' positions… NOMAD…T…"

"Nomad, Tabuu…!" Subaru realized.

"Sheesh! The guy's sense of irony! What is it?"

"A message in SNS… "The MONAD T will soon host a show"!"

"A show? When did he turn into a producer?" Vadous sighed.

"Maybe he's trying to poke at Hyde?" Sigma suggested.

"Somehow, wouldn't surprise me…"

"For having been away for a long time, he does seem up to date…"

"Maybe he's been monitoring us like he did before landing…"

"What about Solo?" Subaru asked.

"We let him leave after Tabuu fled…"

"And Cancer Bubble?"

"He claimed he was going to hide in Sagami Bay…"

"To find Bob Sponge, his cousin!" War Rock laughed.

"You've gained the habit of digging up old media, too?"

"Sure! I'm a media-digger!"

"Patent that!" Subaru sighed.

"YIKES!" Another operator yelped.

"Not again! How many mousetraps are there in this building? And how could he set them up without us noticing?" Akatsuki grumbled.

"Because I can use my powerful mind to blind mortals, and…!"

"You merely are shifting frequencies to avoid visual detection…"

"And how come you don't detect him, Acid?" Akatsuki sighed.

"Guess he must come when we are busy with something else…"

"One more reason to have a debate about behavior!" Subaru sighed.

"One day you'll add something strange to the drinks as a prank and then someone might end up in the hospital! That won't be funny!"

"Boss. A report… Those two have tried to escape again…"

"Naturally… What else, Lartes?"

"But failed miserably. Although we suspect there's more than one insider on their side…"

A man joined Vadous.

He was on his mid-twenties.

He stood at close to a meter and eighty tall.

He had jet black hair and brown eye irises.

His armor had a purple "L" drawn over the chest.

He also carried a sword sheath attached to the right side of his belt.

"Who are "those two"? Gori and that scammer?" Gonta asked.

"Scammer? You mean Brachio Wave?"

"Sure! The jerk who made Kizamo go through that trauma!"

"True. We told you about it after rescuing you from Nanska…"

"It's true that that man was caught after trying to sell a scam about a VIP of the current government being the ringleader of a smuggling org…"

"But in this case, we meant those two fiends… Anaya and Izono…"

"The jerks who tried to kidnap Subaru and Misora to harm them, right?"

"Sure. Those two. They're as stubborn as cockroaches…"

"YIKES! A spider…! In the locker…!" Another operator reported.

"Spider!? Now you've done it!" Akatsuki grumbled.

"Wait! It's a toy!" The operator realized.

"See? I am CONSIDERATE!" He chuckled.

"More like pulling loopholes!" Sigma sighed.

"Excuse me. There's a call… Yikes! It's Ms. President!"

"GONTA~! WHAT KIND OF VILE PLOT ARE YOU UP TO NEXT!?"

"V-vile plot? I'm on a meeting at WAXA! Right, Mr. Akatsuki?"

"Sure. Shirogane. That can wait, no?"

"It's the master of superheroes! Tell me how to become one!"

"Excuse me~?" He groaned, exasperated.

"Question. What is the base definition of a "superhero"?" Acid asked.

"The chosen humans who'll save the world, marry and be happy forever!"

"M-marry!?" Akatsuki gasped.

"My. I like that "definition"…" Queen Tia giggled.

"I should buy the bouquet!" Dr. Yoiri eagerly exclaimed.

"Not you too, ma'am…!" He groaned.

"My! Ms. Tia and Mr. Akatsuki's ceremony? May I come see it?"

"I haven't said that we'll do it! You began it, Miss! Take responsibility!"

"YIKES!"

"YIKES! A mousetrap… Behind the screen!"

"The fifth one already!"

"I'm the master of traps! I'll build a trap factory~!"

"Sure, sure!"

"Mousetraps! That's it! I'll put one in the fridge to avoid Gonta from stealing food from it!"

"You're not my mom, Ms. President! Do you have authority to do that?"

"She doesn't, true…" A woman officer commented.

"That's… I take it back!" She gulped.

"Come on, Luna – chan… You're smarter than that!" Mode sighed.

"How can I transform and help Rock Man?"

"Better don't. It's not as fun as it sounds. Plenty of drawbacks!"

"Sure… Such as getting smacked up by a freakish monster!"

"But you beat them with your mighty punches, right?"

"I never said that. They're still on the run!" Subaru sighed.

"What! What vile anarchists!"

"Anarchists…? Doubt Death Shadow understanding that…"

"And thus, my lunatic crest of courage will defeat evil!"

"Ever since when do you have that?" Mode sighed.

"You never know! It might be inherited across the generations!"

"Sounds like a fantasy tale to me…"

"Chief! Phantom Black showed up in 444 locations at once!"

"What!?"

"Sheesh! He's using dummies or jammers!" Vadous grumbled.

"444? Another black joke?" Lartes sighed.

Everyone rushed to the central desk to see a display of Phantom Black icons popping up across the islands of Japan.

"333 in Honshu… 27 in Okinawa, Shikoku, Kyushu and Hokkaido…"

"That makes 443… Where's the last one?" Subaru wondered.

"Ogasawara Islands! Nagasaki Observatory!"

"Sounds like a decoy, too…" Misora argued.

"Likely. I'll try to send a countersignal to filter them out…"

"OK. Let's wait for it. Did you turn on the external shields?"

"Affirmative. We did run scans to make sure he's not nearby!"

"Feels too contrived for that small head… Kurayami is inciting the man?"

"Wouldn't surprise me if that's his idea of a distraction…"

"OK. Signal is ready. Fire!" Vadous announced.

Signal noise made the display frizzle and all icons but one disappeared.

"This location is… TK Tower!" Akatsuki announced.

"Thought as much and already sent Omega there…"

"Tremble, fools! The mighty scriptwriter, Phantom Black, is the king!"

"Of your delusions, that is…"

"You're that Mega-O man! Who believes itself a messiah!"

"Sheesh. Then it must've been Tab. Only that man used that nickname!"

"My newest sponsor, Mr. MONAD_T, will bring me to the silver screen!"

"Thought you preferred Shakespeare style plays!" Omega grumbled.

"Hmpf! That, too! But now I shall crush you!"

"I'd like to see you trying, Hideous Mongrel Hide!" He taunted back.

"Why, you! Plebs! Commoner! Chaff!"

"Save me the titles. Bring it on, punk!"

There was the sound of a scuffle and Phantom Black groaned.

"You're the buffoon that loses each time to become a running gag!"

"Impossible! The power I gained from my sponsor is mighty!"

"More like he trolled you!"

"I felt like you needed some gags to ease tension, Mega-O!"

"Sheesh! Tab! I thought you were smarter than this jerk!"

"I'm a man of whims! Blame the whiny whim!"

"Very original! Patent it!"

"Delighted. By the way, Lionel! One day the hunter will be the hunted!"

"What!? Are you saying that I'll lose to you!?"

"You'll become victim of your own traps when they have revenge on you!"

"No way!"

"The way of the prankster ends in pain, or so Confucius said through his mighty disciple, Dragon Hell!"

"Sheesh. No need to involve my oddball cook!" Vadous sighed.

"Too bad! Better ask Naruhodou to defend you in court!"

"Crap. The jerk ran away while I was arguing!" Omega grumbled.

"Sheesh. This is going to be a massive headache!" Lartes sighed.

"I agree, Master…! Last thing we needed!"