Chapter 3: Alien tech

17:38 PM (Japan Time), Saturday August the 28th …

"Unknown radar signature… It's on a free fall course towards Kodama Town's square and descending at 3 km/s, decelerating at the same time!"

"Devil! Already?"

"Tabuu…?"

"Has to be him…!"

"Chief! Should I…?"

"Wait. We need more info on what that object is."

"And there's no time before it lands! Barely a minute left!"

Alarms had been triggered inside of the WAXA Command Room.

"Switch to "Air Display", operator!"

"Display incoming!"

The displayed turned on.

The falling object had a cylindrical body.

Eight navy blue spots were scattered over its four sides with a ninth one being set on the upper portion.

The whole thing was about ten meters tall and had a ceramic shield set beneath it plus two parachutes slowing it down.

"Current speed: 940 m/s! Time until landing: 54 seconds!"

"Impossible to get there in time… But I want to be on the scene to check that thing out… Later!"

"Alright. Report in live!"

"Roger that! Let's go, Acid!"

"Affirmative… Starting operation…"

17:40 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Subaru! Hear this out!"

"What's wrong, dad?"

"An UFO has landed in the plaza!"

"UFO!?"

"Gotta be a nephew of Sirius come to invade Earth!"

"Very funny, War Rock!"

Subaru had been working on his room when Daigo rushed in.

He frowned at the news and War Rock pulled a stupid joke.

His Hunter VG beeped, and Acid Ace appeared onscreen.

"Subaru! Did Tabuu's toy touch down?" He went straight to the point.

"Tabuu sent that?"

"It has to be the guy!" Acid Ace replied.

"I'd just heard the news from my dad, though…"

"Go into the plaza and check it out! I'm on my way here through the Cosmo Wave!" He commanded.

"Acid Disaster! Wanna check out my new poll?" Moon Disaster called out.

"No time for that! Satella Police Mission! Make way for the Superhero!"

"I'm off, dad!"

"Be careful!"

"Of course!"

"Time for a brawl!"

He exited his home and crossed the street through the pedestrian crossing until he reached a cordon set up by Satella Police Wizards keeping the curious at bay.

Subaru hid behind some trees and looked at the object, which was standing inert in the middle of the plaza.

"Denpa – Henkan! Hoshikawa Subaru, On Air!" He muttered.

He became Rock Man and immediately felt a hand land on his right shoulder from behind.

"Who…?"

"Hi! Subaru – kun! There was something interesting going on and you didn't call me?"

Harp Note had showed up behind him and he nervously laughed.

"I just got the news… I didn't have time to think about calling others!"

"I happened to be on my way to your house, but this is bigger than that!"

"Sorry for the delay! Let's examine that thing from up close!"

Acid Ace dropped behind them, and they nodded in agreement.

They ran into the square, to the surprise of the curious, and the Wizards automatically let them through.

They then examined the object from close.

"It's very hot. It must have dropped from outside the atmosphere and then slowed down using the shield and the parachutes. A somewhat crude system yet it worked for NAXA during a lot of years…"

"Ladies and gentlemen! Good afternoon. I'm Mr. Universe. I'm about to start up a show. The Terror and Fear Show, I name it. And ya will see why. One warning! It ain't recommended for minors of 11 years. If ya have monster-phobia, then return to your home and hide under the blankets with your lucky charm!" Tabuu's amused voice rang out.

"You heard the mister, Shin! Back home!"

"No, mom! I wanna see~!"

"Let's go, Haruka!"

"But! Mom!"

Some children were dragged off the square by their parents while the ones older than 10 or 11 along with other adults stayed.

"Well then… Let us start. Lights, camera, action! Rock 'n roll! I treat to my newest invention! The Acid Harp Rock cocktail!"

"What the… That's so silly. Omega must've had plenty of time to pass his crazy humor into the guy!" Acid Ace cursed.

The cylinder hummed and tubes began to emerge from its structure.

Each one was two meters tall and built with transparent glass to showcase the printed circuitry boards inside of them.

Electricity traveled through them and drew patterns across their surfaces.

They began to glow in a sequence and the humming increased in volume.

"What? A magical light show…?" Acid Ace wondered.

A circle was drawn around the square and hexagons of distorted and mixed colors began to form while accumulating and increasing in density and height.

They eventually formed a complete dome which encompassed the whole square and abruptly cut Wave Roads off.

The programs going through them were unable to enter or leave.

Colors inside of the dome became mixed at random thus creating a hallucination-like effect.

"This thing… It looks like the RW Shield we had in the WAXA building… Remember, the one the War Rock copies blew up…" Acid Ace muttered.

"And it seems to perfectly cut us off from the outside environment given how others are unable to come out, too…" Harp Note deduced.

"Tabuu… What is he intending to do?" Rock Man wondered.

"A brawl! Like a true man!" War Rock laughed.

"I'll burn you lowlifes to cinders…"

"De a~ru… Enemy sighted… Preparing for torpedo launch, de a~ru…"

"Time to tame the pets!"

"Meet some new faces! The "Darkloids" have returned to haunt you!"

"What!"

Three enemies formed inside of the space.

"I'm Blast Man. Burn!"

"Captain Dive Man, ready for immersion and combat engagement!"

"Circus Man is gonna tame 'em! No – one can escape from my hands!"

"The "Darkloids"…! Reminds me of our expedition into Zenay III! Those wee the pawns of "Overlord"!"

"No good! There are a lot of bystanders here. If we don't make sure to contain their attacks, then this is gonna become manslaughter!"

"That Tabuu…!" Harp Note cursed.

"Ready… Go!" Tabuu commanded.

"Air Bomber!"

"Smart Missile!"

"Let's go! Fire Ring!"

"Battle Card, Piranha Kiss!"

"Battle Card, Flash Spear!"

"Battle Card, Break Saber… What!"

Blast Man formed three blasts of fire which he shot towards Rock Man.

"Take this!"

Several piranhas came out from beneath the ground and hit Blast Man.

Acid Ace jumped towards Dive Man while dodging his two missiles, but the foe "dived" into the earth.

Harp Note had been about to attack Circus Man with a Break Saber when he warped and transformed into a tent which dropped around Harp Note.

Sounds and signs of a scuffle rang out.

"You pervert!" Harp Note cursed.

A gash opened in the tent and Harp Note ran out while panting and looking annoyed, for once.

Rock Man was attacking Blast Man with the Drill Arm Battle Card to keep him busy, and Acid Ace was trying to find a way to attack Dive Man even though the only thing visible was the periscope.

Circus Man reformed into his normal form but was attacked by Harp Note.

"You lowlife~! Blast Hurricane!"

"De a~ru… Dive Bomb!"

"Fire Ring!"

Blast Man shot a swirl formed of incandescent flames towards Rock Man.

Dive Man emerged, opened his chest compartment and threw bombs at Acid Ace while Circus Man formed a "fire ring" like in the circuses plus lion-shaped Viruses.

Harp Note cut through them and hit Circus Man, stunning him.

"Get ready! Access Meteor Server, Level 3!"

Energy built up around Harp Note but her form didn't change in a notable way except for the red aura around her.

"Hammer Weapon! Take this!"

"Happy…!"

The shockwave from the Hammer Weapon stunned Circus Man and she used the chance to attack further.

"Black End… Galaxy!"

"Wha~!"

The Black End Galaxy was more than enough to destroy Circus Man (who went out with a bang) and stun the other two "Darkloids".

Harp Note jumped in front of Dive Man and breathed before exhaling.

"There's more! Thunderbolt Blade!"

"DE A~RU!"

The two hits combined with the thunderbolt raining down from above were sufficient to make him explode, too.

She didn't waste a second and landed in front of Blast Man.

"Last one! Dynamic Wave!"

She spun upon her axis and made four tall waves hit Blast Man in a row before he blew up as well while roaring in agony.

"That's what happens for picking on a girl!" She exclaimed.

The public clapped and she gulped before turning around and making a polite reverence.

Rock Man and Acid Ace followed suit.

"My! Not bad for the opening act! This will be funnier than I thought, true! Our sacred maiden is proving to have teeth…"

"What sacred maiden? That's a stupid repetitive title!"

"Who knows?" He joked.

"What's this technology, anyway?" Rock Man questioned.

"Hmpf! They're the "Dimensional Converters" and "Dimensional Area"… Ask the details to Partner once the battery runs off in 1 minute 19 seconds and counting down… See ya tomorrow at early morning!"

"B-B-B-Bertie~! Dance to the tune of my flute~!"

"Very funny! Now behave and stop pulling pranks!"

"As always… Doing stupid stuff!" Harp muttered.

"Wha~t? The one who does stupid stuff is Gonta!"

"Why didn't ya come help us after the Grave Joker stuff?"

"I was almost dead. I had to stay put. And so was Acid. I tried to tend the wounds myself, but they were too grave, so I had to give up and show up in WAXA… Dr. Yoiri and Queen Tia treated them. And Dr. Yoiri had me go through a diet of the stone ages!" Acid Ace related with some sarcasm.

"Shidou… Do not exaggerate…" Acid sighed.

The machines stopped working and the dome dissolved.

The audience began to scatter and leave.

"They really thought it was a show…" Rock Man sighed.

"At least none were harmed!" Harp Note sighed.

"But, nevertheless, these "Darkloids" were a joke!"

"Sure! Compared to the struggles we had in Zenay III…!"

"Maybe that's part of the show. To make us look like superheroes…"

"Buku! I've come for payback!"

"Too late. Show's already over, Cancer Bubble…"

"No way! The fortune-telling big sis told me that I'd be the star of it!"

"Sure, sure…"

Cancer Bubble landed on the area, took up a fighting stance, however Rock Man sighed and explained the situation to him.

"Why believe an email that reeked of scam, buku?" Cancer argued.

"When did ya become smart enough to tell that?"

"Buku! Rude War Rock! I AM smart! I simply don't like to stand out!"

"Hmpf! Lack of guts!"

"Because Guts Man, the Darkloid, stole them?" Tabuu laughed.

"Sheesh! You hadn't left, pervert?"

"Pervert? I didn't order Circus Man to do that. It was on his programming! If anyone blame the designer's descendants!" He chuckled.

"What was that?"

"Overlord and I pulled those "Darkloid" designs from programs of the early 21st century… We're recyclers!"

"You're in league with that fiend?"

"Far from it! I'm independent! I just happened to research about that expedition and decided to see if I could use it as inspiration!"

"Sheesh. Lovely. And where's ugly Hyde?"

"Guess he's trying to find El Dorado!"

"Naturally. The jerk is the type to believe in moneymaking schemes…"

"And he'll be exploring the Amazon jungle for days on end!"

"As long as he doesn't show up to annoy us…"

"Buku! Revenge match!" Cancer Bubble challenged.

"Delighted. Here, catch!"

"BUKU~! RUN FOR YOUR WAVES!"

He ran away as a Jeep made of Real Wave dropped where he'd been at.

"Show me your Hulk strength, Red Hulk!" He chuckled.

"You're a meanie! BULLY~!"

"Yours truly! Maybe you prefer Ms. Biwa of Team Star?"

"Save me the smokescreens, lousy spy wannabe~!"

"My. Guess I've become Agent 099!"

"Sure, sure…" The trio sighed.

"Come out! Time for a brawl, Sirius' nephew!"

"Sirius? Sirius Black? Harry Potter's godfather?" He wondered.

"Dunno! All I know is that the jerk looked like an angel thing!"

"I see. Sirius of the Black Hole Server… Unfortunately, that smug jerk and I are unrelated to each other…"

"Anyway! Time for a real brawl between mighty warriors!"

"Sorry. But I'm neither mighty nor a warrior… But a nomad!"

"Sheesh! Loopholes! That ain't fun!"

"Too bad! Today you're but an actor of my show!"

"Anyway. I've requested a team to come retrieve this thing and analyze it although I doubt it having too many clues…"

"Ask Holmes to lend you his magnifying glass to find them, Akatsuki!"

"Charmed. You go catch Moriarty…"

"Delighted. I'll paint him pink before dropping him at Scotland Yard!"

"I feel depressed… I need some snack to cheer up…"

"Beware, my chap. Else you'll become as big as Ushijima~!"

"YIKES!"

"Don't exaggerate!" Harp Note sighed.

"Beware, sacred maiden… Ghirahim the bi-perv is coming!"

"I'll send them flying to Neptune!" She fumed.

"Calm down!" Acid Ace sighed.

"Hire a bodyguard to protect your sacred hide, Rock Man!"

Sheesh! How funny! Anyway! Let's forget about Hyde and end this show because we gotta resume chasing that trio!