Chapter 7: Showdown

15:55 PM (Japan Time), Monday August the 29th…

"… Did ya know what, Subari~? Misora is dating Jackie~!"

"And you really expect me to act like a jealous husband?"

"Do it! Turn Jackie~ into mincemeat!"

"Who do you think I am?"

"A butcher!"

"WHAT? War Rock! You've gone too far this time around!"

"I mean… Your alter ego is!"

"What? Alter ego? Stop quoting stupid stuff from TV!"

"Hit a spot…"

"That ain't funny and Boss would agree with me!"

"Bossing bossy of bosses?"

"ENOUGH!"

"That pitch turns me on!"

"You don't have "it" to begin with!"

"I knew that. It's a way of speaking!"

"I give up!"

"War Rock: 100 points! Subari: 0 points!"

Subaru discussed with War Rock as he tried to read a book while sitting on the chair next to his desk inside of his bedroom.

At least that Plant Man jerk didn't infect me with anything strange!

"Get outta my room. Now!" He hissed.

"Roger, Nelson!"

War Rock vanished and Subaru fumed.

He headed into the kitchen and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge.

He poured some into a glass.

He drank it up and then sighed before resuming reading his book.

"There! I don't want any more interruptions." He fumed.

The Hunter VG rang, and he grumbled.

Moon Disaster showed up on-screen and Subaru lifted an eyebrow.

"Moon Disaster. What's this about?" He demanded.

"YO, YO, YO! My latest poll!"

"Not again…!"

"My newest poll is: what is Rock Man's main hobby? Choice A: butchering. Choice B: slaughtering. Choice C: serial killing. YO, YO, YO! Creepy enough, ain't it?" Moon Disaster grinned.

"War Rock's there, ain't he!" He deduced.

"Yessir! War Rock is everywhere, Kodama Town's butcher!"

"… War Rock and Moon Disaster. What are you doing?" Vadous' icy voice rang out over the line.

"Yikes! Where did the guy come from? And how could he know we were talking over the Hunter VG?" War Rock gasped.

"I have a tag alert! Any transmission with the tags "Moon Disaster" can be intercepted by me! I don't trust him to not to come up with a pointless poll which damages someone's public image. Subaru is a member of the Subspace! It's my duty to make sure that they are not being harassed or bullied. War Rock. Stop bullying him or I'll lock you up and provide him with a program to transform and fight on his own! The same method that Blood Shadow and the others use!"

"Wha~t?" War Rock was baffled.

"I'm serious. And Moon Disaster! Stop making up those polls or you'll know the extent of my anger!" Vadous hissed.

"… R-roger, Danna…"

"This is an ultimatum, War Rock. Make up another lie about Subaru, you're fired!" He threatened.

"A-alright…"

"And that includes those stupid pairings you make up just to try to make him jealous. Jealousy always leads to tragedy and disaster. May I remind you how the Troy War started?"

"Because Paris of Troy "abducted" Helena of Greece… And the whole war was fought over her… More like it worked as a pretext to justify the Greeks expanding their ambitions into the lands of Troy… And it led to countless tragedies!"

"Understood, War Rock?" Vadous questioned.

"S-sure…"

"Over!"

The line went dead, and Subaru sighed in relief while the other two remained silent and nervous.

"Take your time!" Subaru dully told him.

Subaru cut the line and inputted some commands using the screen.

He switched it off next and continued reading his book.

"Finally. Some peace!"

He spent a while calmly reading through the book before making a pause to stretch his legs.

He headed over to the miniature Earth globe next to his bed and spun it.

He noticed writing on it and crouched to have a closer look at it:

"This world is mine! War Rock"

"War Rock… Not again…" He groaned.

He fumed and sighed in defeat.

"This guy…!" He muttered next.

He ran into the kitchen, where he grabbed cleansing products and a piece of cloth.

He applied them to the globe and managed to wash off the inscription.

He stored everything and then sat down on the chair to continue reading.

"… Yu…"

"Hmmm?"

Subaru turned around to see Laplace hovering behind him.

"Laplace? What? Solo uses you as a messenger?" He sighed.

Laplace interacted with Subaru's computer and made a map show up.

"Sheesh. He demands for me to come, I take it! Fine! If that's what it takes to tell him to stop stalking and pestering me…!"

Laplace silently warped out while Subaru turned on the Hunter VG.

He activated a function and waited.

"… You called?" War Rock asked as he appeared inside of it.

"Solo demands a rematch!"

"That's… A hassle, man!" He timidly muttered.

"Time to teach him the limits of my patience!"

"R-roger, Boss…"

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

He became Rock Man and headed into the Wave Roads.

He stepped into the Cosmo Wave, and, from there, located the drop point to the Bermuda Labyrinth, which was, as usual, filled with fog.

"Creepy enough. Let's go!" He muttered.

He made his way through the several areas until he reached the famous square with the Mu emblem drawn on it.

Burai stood there, his arms crossed and Laplace hovering at his side.

He had his eyes closed and was visibly annoyed.

Sheesh. What. He's trying to blame me for something again! Let's get this over with!

"… You came..." Burai merely announced.

"Let's start…" Rock Man replied.

"That's my motto. Come, Laplace!"

Laplace formed into the Laplace Blade and Burai took a step forward while Rock Man did the same.

"Come!"

Burai started by warping around the field while Rock Man tried to shoot his Mu Rejection to disable it.

Burai appeared in front of him and prepared to swing the Laplace Blade.

"Not so fast, Burai! Drill Arm!"

Rock Man drove the Drill Arm into Burai and stunned him at the same time he was pushed backwards.

Rock Man switched to Ox Noise and used a Machine Flame to inflict further damage thanks to the elemental bonus.

Burai roared and began to move around at a maddening speed.

"Careful now…" Rock Man muttered.

Burai landed down and destroyed some of the battlefield's tiles.

Rock Man dodged and began to shoot at the Mu Rejection to wear it out.

Burai formed his energy knuckles and sent them flying.

He dodged them and then got ready as Burai got ready to sweep the ground with the blade.

"Impact Cannon!"

The blast pushed Burai backwards and he muttered something before starting to move around.

He tossed the Laplace Blade towards Rock Man as it came from the NE and then the NW: Rock Man dodged both attacks and barely blocked Burai's landing from above and the consequent shockwave.

Burai jumped back into the center of the stage and began to move around yet again.

"Gotta focus… There!"

Rock Man tried to shoot at Burai, but he suddenly appeared in front of Rock Man and delivered his four-hit-combo, momentarily dizzying him.

Rock Man groaned and focused into dodging while shooting at the Mu Rejection until he wore it out.

Rock Man waited until Burai got ready to attack again.

"Break Saber!"

Rock Man stunned Burai and increased the Noise Level further.

He shot another Machine Flame at Burai to further damage him and waited for Burai to recover and get close to him.

Rock Man quickly shot the Mu Rejection until it faded.

"Mad Vulcan!"

The multiple hits damaged Burai and Rock Man chained a Dancing Blade to make use of the spot where Burai had stopped at.

Burai began to pant and formed a grimace as his equilibrium began to fail.

He managed to correct himself and clenched his teeth.

Out of 4000 HP, I have taken out half of them. Why does he look tired?

"Gotcha. Sword Fighter!"

Burai tried to deliver the four-hit-combo, but Rock Man was faster in reflexes and hit him six times in a row.

"Finalize! Black Ace!"

He transformed into Black Ace.

Burai made a grimace and tried to swing the sword, but Rock Man saw it coming.

"Not so fast, Burai! Grave Joker Galaxy Advance!"

Grave Joker showed up on the field and punched Burai as well as making a "Giant Building" drop down atop him.

Rock Man summoned Acid Ace, who shot several rounds at him before turning on his boosters and running down the field.

"Not yet! Wolf Forest Galaxy Advance!"

Wolf Forest attacked Burai and inflicted further damage.

Rock Man began to hover around while shooting out at Burai.

His adversary panted and was having trouble keeping on.

Weird. He still has 1200 HP left and looks like he only had 12… Something's wrong with Burai today!

"Let's go! Strong Swing!"

Club Strong appeared on the field and began to hit Burai repeatedly with his club.

Burai was half-stunned and half-dizzied but managed to resume moving.

Rock Man, however, saw it coming.

"Atomic Blazer! Vulcan Seed!"

The Vulcan Seed managed to intercept Burai's four-hit-combo attack and Rock Man breathed deeply before slowly exhaling.

"Black End… Galaxy!"

The powerful attack swept the battlefield with Burai on it and made him collapse into the ground.

Rock Man reverted out of Black Ace form and crouched next to him.

He had some distinct sword wounds which had a golden glow.

"Burai. You battled someone else before you called me. And the only one who could drive you to such ends had to be Tabuu!"

"Sheesh. Fine! That's it!"

"You didn't hear how Boss said that his armor is very powerful?"

"I got angry! The fool was loitering the Mu continent in front of my eyes… Wouldn't let them get away with it! But the fool would only toy with me, by using swords! Didn't fight seriously! My attacks were in vain! Ended up warping me away…!"

"And you wanted to vent it off on me…"

"Because you're part of that organization! You're guilty as well!"

"What!? Come on! Guilty by association? Tabuu was never a member of it, he was but a collaborator… And he vanished before I joined the org!"

"Indeed! Burai! That's not what an adult does!" Vadous grumbled.

"Sheesh! You were looking on?"

"Naturally! Since you've been behaving violently as of late…"

"You're not my father!"

"I never claimed to be! I'm just keeping care of Subaru!"

"And? What did he steal? I hope it's not something like what happened before with that stupid Giga Card!"

"Sheesh. I did make sure there was nothing like that left!"

"Then what did he want? To annoy you?"

"As far as I saw… That fool stole schematics regarding a system to use EM waves accumulation as a source of energy… Just like how the OOPArts are powered! By absorbing atmospheric EM waves!" Burai admitted.

"Hmmm… Maybe he's trying to locate the 3rd OOPArt?"

"I never bothered to try to figure out where the Berserk and Shinobi OOPArts ended up at! The Dinosaur one was our choice given how it was exhibited in the museum…"

"Odd. I dunno what Tabuu sees in such tech! He knew perfectly how to build fusion reactors like the ones he used to power the spaceships!"

"Maybe he's trying to set up fake leads?" Rock Man suggested.

"Could be. I know he read Holmes stories and Agatha Christie stories!"

"Hmpf. And? Are YOU going to take responsibility for the theft?"

"Me? How? Tabuu pretended to die! And I fell for it! How can I be held responsible for the actions of the man when he's acting alone?"

"Sheesh. This isn't a case of group responsibility!" Rock Man sighed.

"Sure. Satisfied now? Stop pestering Subaru and blaming him for all your issues and blunders! We've done our share of blunders, but we don't take them out into others!" Vadous grumbled.

"Hmpf. Whatever. Not in the mood for lessons!"

"Then you'll never grow up to be a real adult!"

"Who decides that?"

"Common sense…"

"Hmpf. Common sense doesn't work on a freak like me… I don't need fools to pity me! I'm a prideful warrior of Mu!"

"Guess he won't listen to anything else we say, Boss…"

"I can tell that! Sheesh! Pull out…"

"Roger that. And don't come annoy me in purpose…"

"Hmpf. Guess that means you'll fight back with the Meteor Server…"

"If strength is the only thing that'll make you yield, so be it!"

"Hmpf. You're finally behaving like a warrior…"

"I don't intend to be one. Simply a civilian dragged into a mess…"

"Hmpf. Trying to put on airs?"

"No. Merely stating facts… Right, Boss?"

"Indeed. Let's go back and get ready for the next move…"

"Alright. I warned you, Burai. Don't complain afterwards!"

"Hmpf. Whatever…"

Rock Man warped out of the area and Burai scoffed.

"… Is it me or did I feel a familiar signature…?" He wondered aloud.

"… Ga… Yu…" Laplace muttered.

"What? There was someone there? Yet their trail has vanished? I doubt it being Phantom Black! The fool is too blunt to sneak away undetected! Who else could it be? One of those three? That's it! They're taking profit of this incident to come up with something. But whatever they come up is in vain!" Burai reflected aloud.

"… Yu… Ra… Ga…"

Laplace floated out of the square as Burai looked down at the ocean.

A storm was being unleashed down there, as evidenced by the tall waves and agitated sea.

"A storm! They took profit of the build-up to hide their signature… Hmpf. Whatever. Once this fool is brought down, those are next. My blade is itching to bring them down once and for all! I'll need to remember the technique that Death Shadow fool used if I want to beat the fool down! Stick out your neck, fools! I'll crush you in the name of my bloodline!"

Nobody will stop me!