Chapter 5: Exhaustion

10:41 AM (Japan Time), Sunday August the 28th…

"… Status report: 4 dropships left on surface. I'm going to bombard them, so you can clear the fighters allocated there."

"Roger…"

"Black Ace! Lock on! Cannons #1 and #4 at 50% capacity! Check IFF radar!"

"No "friendly" contacts detected…"

"Good! Fire!"

"Roger…"

Most of the fighters (Subaru, Misora, Shidou, Utagai, Moon Disaster, Ogami, Blood Shadow and Sigma) gathered around the "Air Display" table.

They watched Vadous' display as he typed into something out of view.

"3 left! Cannons #2 and #3 to 30% capacity… Check out the IFF radar!"

"No "friendly" signatures picked up…" An auto-voice replied.

"Fire~!" Vadous yelled.

"Fire the firing fires!" Someone added.

"Roger…"

"War Rock! How many trillion times do I have to tell you not to sneak up from behind?" Vadous grumbled.

"When did the guy…?" Subaru gasped.

"Thought he was arguing with Ox!" Misora fumed.

"Turn 'em into dust! Cannons #5 and #7 to 40% capacity! Rock 'n roll!"

"Roger…"

"Wait! Emergency order! Check out the IFF radar!"

"No "friendly" spots picked up from appoint area…"

"Rock 'n roll!"

"Roger…"

"How did you get it to admit orders from you!?"

"Hmpf! I'm an AM Warrior! I can do more than brawls!"

"Sheesh! You lousy hacker!"

"Let's go for the grand finale! Emergency order! Cannon #0 at 100% power once we make sure we've got no – one down there~!"

"W-wait! Cancel! Cancellation!" Vadous gasped.

"No friendly spots detected. Loading time: 1 minute 28 seconds… Locked on target…" Black Ace calmly announced.

"Didn't you hear me? Override code: Charon!"

"Invalid code!"

"War Rock! How dare you change the override code…? Fix it back right here and now!" Vadous hissed.

"Too late, Vadass! Bye~!"

"By all the… Wait there!"

He disappeared from the screen and ran after War Rock.

"Loading time: 46 seconds…"

"WAR ROCK!" Vadous roared.

"Catch me, Bossy~!"

"STOP ACTING LIKE A GNAT! HAND THE CODE OVER!"

"Guess it first!"

"THIS IS AN ORDER! AN ORDER! HAND – IT – OVER!"

"Loading time: 32 seconds…"

"Here!"

"Sheesh! We'll TALK after this!"

There was the muffled sound of something metallic hitting the floor and then a string of curses.

"This is Chinese! I can't read Chinese! War Rock! Come translate this right here and now!" Vadous cursed next.

"Loading time: 16 seconds…"

"I'll have to guess!"

He came back onscreen and looked at a metallic object on his right hand, grumbling under his breath.

"10… 9… 8…"

"… I know! Mighty War Rock!"

"Override code accept. Loading aborted. Energy returned to main supply system!" Black Ace reported.

"We almost formed an 800-meter-wide crater! The kid knew the consequences and tried to go for it…! Cannons #6 and #8 at 45%! Fire!"

"Roger…"

"We're finally done. What a morning! Bothersome Tabuu! Bringing trouble where he goes to!" Vadous grumbled.

"Did you like the show of dread and doom?" War Rock laughed.

"Objection. Time for a lesson!" Omega grumbled.

There was the sound of a scuffle and roars followed by slashes.

"Eat bite! Eat claw! Eat beam! Eat mighty War Rock!"

"You're no better than a wild dog…"

"Dog! Me! Eat pride of a warrior!"

"That's not pride. That's being a kid!"

"Sheesh! Teach him a lesson, Mr. Omega!"

10:52 AM (Japan Time)…

"…I'm beaten!"

"Welcome back, Subaru…"

"Thanks, Mom…"

"Where's Mr. Daigo?"

"He stayed at WAXA to help with the analysis…"

"I see. And Rock?"

"He got into trouble with Boss and he's going to be detained there so that he doesn't start up a mess again…"

"Dear. It was predictable…"

Subaru walked back into his home, beaten, and spoke to this mother as he took out the sneakers and put on the slippers.

"Anyway. Did anything happen here?"

"No. The police officers patrolling the area inspected all places because they were on the lookout if that "Hyde" criminal was hiding here…"

"Wise idea. That fool is unpredictable…"

"What's the deal with that criminal, anyway?"

"I proved that that man was a liar and it hurt his pointless "pride"…"

"Sheesh. What a vain human!"

"You needn't tell me!"

"And what's the deal with these invaders?"

"Some alien Wizard is staging a show 'cause he's bored…"

"Sheesh. Can't they try to solve crosswords?" She sighed.

"Were it so easy, Mom…"

"I know. Hope it doesn't end up like last time…"

"I hope so, too. At least he only seems to want to toy around unlike that freakish thing we met on that planet…"

"Anything will be better than that thing, indeed…"

The doorbell rang and Subaru looked at the screen of the security panel.

"It's Kizamaro… What's up?"

"We're in trouble! DD-426 is about to spread!"

"What's that? A new variant of the flu?" He asked.

"No! A fearsome virus program that deletes your homework!"

"Who told you that?"

"A news service of the security company MONAD_T, and…"

"Sheesh! That's Tabuu! He's trolling you!"

"Be glad it only eats up the homework and doesn't wreck your brain… Blame prisoner 426 and his desperate attempts to get rid of the D-Code and the invasion of the D-forces…" Tabuu's voice sneered.

"MOMMY~!"

Kizaramo ran away and Subaru sighed, exasperated.

"Guess a new variant of the flu is preferrable to War Rock's rampage!"

"I hate to admit it, but I do feel like that…"

"Youth should be honest with themselves, or so Partner used to say!"

"Sheesh! Don't steal his wisdom!"

"Too bad! I'm a sneaky, lousy thief of wisdom and nicknames!"

"Go post those in the net and leave people alone!" Akane sighed.

"Don't worry, ma'am… It'll all end with a bouquet of roses…"

"I fail to see the meaning! That's an attempt at poetry or what?"

"Blame Genesis of Shinra! See ya~!"

11:03 AM (Japan Time)…

"… By all the… Not again…"

"SHEESH! TURN ON THE GENERATOR! BRING ME THE ELECTRICIAN'S HEAD IN A SILVER PLATTER!"

Misora had been working on a lyric inside of her room when all lights went out and Urakata roared.

"Pororon! Why a silver platter?" Harp asked.

"I think it's words from when silver was a symbol of wealth and luxury…"

The emergency lighting came in and Misora frowned.

She looked around but didn't spot anything out of the ordinary.

"… Harp. Can you detect any heat signatures like mine?"

"Pororon! Behind the dresses…" Harp confirmed.

"Yikes!" Someone gasped.

"Who goes there?" Misora demanded.

"… A w-wandering s-soul…!" The voice uttered.

"… I know that voice from somewhere…" She sounded suspicious.

"Misora? Is everything alright?"

"Not really. There's someone here who sneaked inside during the blackout, Mr. Urakata!" She reported.

"WHAT?"

He rushed in and pulled a man who had a device on hand from there.

"You don't work here!" Urakata announced.

"I do, I do!"

"No, you don't! I know everyone from memory. Do you recognize him, Misora?"

"No, sir. I don't, sir!" She replied.

"I think the police will find out who you are, but I suspect you're our saboteur and a pervert!" Urakata told him.

"Yikes!" He gasped.

"Confessing?"

"I d-didn't do anything!"

"But impersonating someone is a crime plus sneaking into someone's room sans their permission and trying to record, film or take a photograph without their permission… I've got a friend who's a lawyer and he told me about this!" Urakata listed.

"No way!"

"Way. Security! Contact the Satella Police!"

"W-why the Satella Police?" The man gasped.

"Because a guy we know works there… And since this involves Hunter VG, it's under their competence too!"

"Yikes!"

Urakata dragged the man off the room while Misora fumed and formed a twitch over her right eye.

"What a perv!"

"You needn't tell me!" Harp fumed.

Misora sat back down on her chair and began to resume working on her lyrics while humming a tune.

This has gotta be a ploy by a rival studio who must want to make me change my contract to benefit them… Zero chance!

"Alright. Who left a bouquet of blue roses in the reception desk?"

Sheesh. Why do I feel like that's Tabuu's sense of irony? Blue roses stand for something impossible, no? Nothing's impossible!

11:11 AM (Japan Time)…

"…Amazing! I protected Japan along with Wolf Forest from the invaders! I'm invincible!"

"Buro~! You aren't invincible, Gonta."

"Wha~t?"

"This is reality, Gonta!"

"Why do ya always rob me of my moment of glory?"

"Because then Luna gal gets angry with you and yells at you to make ya snap back at reality, ya see…"

"Crap!"

Gonta had been boasting inside of his house, but Ox began to correct him.

"And don't think of trying to play the show-off! You'll run into trouble!"

"I know, I know…"

"And I don't wanna see ya rummage the fridge anymore 'cause ya will only build up more fats and calories! It'll be bad for your body, Gonta! Do ya wanna get ill or what?" Ox reminded him.

"No, no!" He gasped.

"Then remember this! You aren't invincible and not even Rock Man is, either. Look at what happened to the guy three weeks ago. Do ya wanna end up like him or what?" Ox brought up.

"N-no! Obviously not!"

"Buro~! Then shut up and do something useful!"

"Such as getting the vaccine to prevent DD-426 from eating your fats?"

"Did you say something, Ox?"

"Too bad! It was MONAD_T, reporting live from Nowhere At All!"

"Sheesh! It's that Tabuu jerk! Get lost, annoying jerk!"

11:02 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Sheesh! When will I be able to something useful?"

"Can't be helped. Transformation isn't as easy as it seems…"

"But I did it once or twice!"

"Out of your will, that is…"

Luna was mumbling as she practiced the piano in her bedroom and Mode was trying to argue back.

"Sheesh. Isn't there a system to do it without needing to rely on others?"

"Apparently there is but it's heavily restricted! To avoid criminals from getting their hands on it…"

"Sheesh! I want to find the criminal that had the mighty Rock Man go through that painful experience and punish them!"

"Better don't. From what I've heard, it's something terrific and beyond human understanding…"

"Truly, my ladies! It'd be better to gift him with a bouquet of roses…"

"My! Feels like a marriage proposal!" Luna giggled.

"This can't end up well…" Mode sighed.

"Ms. Yakushiji will provide the magical gun to charm your fiancée!"

"Don't let them fool you, Luna – chan! Subaru – kun isn't your fiancée!"

"He will be! I've decided that! Mom and Dad can't stop me~!"

She ran off the bedroom and Mode sighed in defeat.

"Why isn't there a safety switch to stop humans from running wild?"

"The eternal question, Ms. Mode… Humans are complicated, Miss!"

"You're one to talk, Mr. Invading Alien! Go cleanse the dust!"

"Delighted! I'll hire Dust Man for the job!"

11:35 AM (Japan Time)…

"Not bad, Vadous, not bad… You were able to keep the ghosts of the past at bay and blow everything up… But I'd never imagined War Rock was that much of a berserker! What a panorama! I hope someone finds a way to keep him restrained or he'll go and bring upon a bigger catastrophe to all next time around…"

Tabuu hovered inside of a largely unlit room.

The room contained two cone machines aiming upwards and downwards, filled with LEDs.

A large, curved viewing window was built around the spherical room and allowed sights of an ocean somewhere.

"I did well on re-visiting this planet, which I found during my expeditions… It's uncharted in Earth databases, so… Given my control of Time-Space, that means that he can't trace my gateways! I'm unpredictable, indeed! That must be enough to keep him awake all night long to try to pick up any hints or traces…"

He beat his wings and looked out at the panorama.

This ocean was largely unlit except for some spots filled with artificial structures which had their own illumination.

"Is there a better hiding place than an ocean hidden under an ice crust…? A facility excavated inside of a mountain would do, yet… Too aesthetic. No… My hideout is way more esthetic! Vadous… This is just the beginning! I'm getting heated up and I will soon drive you nerve-racking…!"

He returned to his earlier position and brought up several Real Wave screens displaying graphics and other information.

"Hmmm… My next episode will star… this… and these guys… Let's see them handle them… What a surprise it'll be for them, really!"

He hummed a tune as he worked on the system.

"Let's rumble the mumble!"