Chapter 14: Heaven's Tower
11: 02 AM (Japan Time), Thursday September the 2nd…
"Impressive!"
"Welcome to Heaven's Spiral Stairway!"
"How ironic!"
The group of five ran inside of the tower only to find a gigantic stone spiral stairway climbing upwards along a thick central metallic column until it became out of sight.
The inner walls of the tower had vertical stripes of large round lights the colors of which were constantly shifting as well as being surrounded by the color mix-up which signaled the presence of the "Dimensional Area" inside of it.
"Climb up, then! And face my little pets, too!"
"Let's go!" Omega rallied.
They began to climb up the stairway just as Viruses formed around the space and began to attack them.
"Rubbish. Go, Laplace!" Burai scoffed.
"Mad Vulcan!"
"Shock Strings!"
"Daba Flame!"
"Plasma Shot!"
Burai shot the Laplace Blade forward and cut through several foes.
Rock Man used the Mad Vulcan to blow a Mettori up when it was about to hit him with the pickaxe, Harp Note used her guitar's strings to coil them around three Viruses and make them collide with another group.
Acid Ace burned grass Viruses taking advantage of their weakness and Omega used his gun to destroy them, too.
"Hmmm? Say… Don't any of you hear this constant mosquito-like sound coming from inside the column?" He called out.
"No, sir…" Rock Man admitted.
"You're an android. You can detect sounds that we humans can't!"
"You're right, Acid Ace… Let's see…"
Omega examined the column from close-up and spotted a cover which hadn't been properly screwed.
He used his saber to make pressure and it jumped off to reveal a "Dimensional Converter" built there with wires coming out of its north and south ends to extend up and down.
"I see… What he really needed to power up was this stuff and not the tower itself… Powering four of them is easy. But this tower must have hundreds plus some broadcasters built into the AAC turrets to make sure the "Dimensional Area" can encompass the whole planet… This guy hasn't been sitting idle. Not bad, Tabby!"
"Please… I never liked that nickname!" Tabuu's resigned voice rang out.
"You're like B-B-B-Bertie~ over here!"
"Mr. Omega, sir…!" Rock Man protested.
"I know I hurt your samurai honor! Ya can challenge me to a katana duel later, B-B-B-Bertie~!"
"OMEGA! STOP MEDDLING AROUND! TURN ON THE SERIOUS MODE!"
"My bad, Boss! I was trying to shake off tension!"
"I've heard that excuse before, too!"
"I've got some "friends" waiting for you guys!"
"I'll tell them why they're uglier than the Joker from Batman!"
"Excellent! I see that you're highly motivated!"
"Let's go! Mad speed!"
Omega used small thrusters built into his boots to run the stairs forward at a mad speed while slicing anything on his path.
The others speeded up and began to climb up, too, while still fighting the never-ending swarms of Viruses.
"Omega! Wait for us! Don't get all the glory for ya~!" Acid Ace called out.
"Grow wings, Superhero!"
"Wing Blade!"
Burai flung the Laplace Blade into the air and jumped atop it to ride as it bounced off the wall and headed for a higher section of the stairway ahead of Omega and Acid Ace.
He ran it up and looked over his shoulder to see that Omega stopped his thrusters to run up normally.
"Go meet Prophet Jeremy on his watery grave~! Mad Saber Combo!"
He jumped off the stair straight into a group of Viruses and quickly cut them into pieces as well as grabbing a Jet Attack Virus and making it hit the central wall, damaging one "Dimensional Converter".
"Collateral damage, sadly enough!" He announced.
"I give up! I need to improve the switch!" Vadous cursed over the radio.
"We're close to the top, aren't we?" Acid Ace called out.
Burai looked up and saw how the stair ended, entering the central column.
He retrieved the Laplace Blade and jumped forward.
"There's an elevator here!" He called out.
"Let's ride it upwards!"
"This staircase is the killer!" Harp Note complained.
"Totally!" Rock Man agreed on it.
"Tabuu likes tiring people out!" Omega muttered.
"Maybe!" Tabuu laughed.
The elevator was a black, circular platform which didn't seem to use rails or wires yet, when the five of them stepped into it, the platform hummed and began to climb upwards along a closed shaft which was largely unlit.
"Come! We'll destroy you!"
"My power is unmatched!"
"I'll get a thrill!"
"My speed is higher than anything else!"
"We shall destroy any intruders…"
Five voices rang out from above.
"From above…" Acid Ace muttered.
"So! We've got company. Nice. I'll show them how sharp my sword is and make slices outta them to sell to collectors!"
"Those guys will get beaten up if they look down on me!"
"Power is what matters. That's the number one rule in battle!"
"We're ready for anything Tabuu throws at us!"
"Well then… Go for it!" Tabuu laughed.
The elevator stopped in the middle of a round room with bare walls.
Most of it was unlit yet five glowing figures spread in a pentagon formation around the room.
"I'm Air Man!"
"So, who goes next?" Acid Ace taunted.
"I am Pharaoh Man!"
"I'm Napalm Man!"
"You must love burning things up, then!"
"We are Planet Man…"
"And I'm Quick Man! The fastest in the world!"
"Enjoy playing with my pawns while my little pets bring headaches to the NASA successors! They must have their hands busy by now, I'd say!"
"What?" Acid Ace frowned.
"Pharaoh Cube!"
"Quick Boomerang!"
"Vulcan Arm!"
"Black Hole!"
"Triple Tornado!"
"Let's go! Hra~h!"
"Dia Iceburn!"
"Brachio Wave!"
"Dancing Blade! Go, Laplace!"
"Wing Blade!"
Pharaoh Man formed blocks of stone with his emblem painted on them, which began to fall around the area.
Omega headed for him at top speed while drawing his blade.
Quick Man shoot some boomerangs at Rock Man, who countered.
Napalm Man used his cannons to shoot rounds at Harp Note, who also counter attacked.
Planet Man formed a black hole, but the Laplace Blade hit him from an unexpected angle.
Air Man formed three tornadoes, but Acid Ace rammed into him.
"Sheesh! There's no end to these!" Rock Man fumed.
"Tabuu…! You lowlife…! You've spammed a whole reserve army across the world while we were busy here…!" Vadous hissed over the radio.
"All's fair in war! You quoted that several times, Vadous! You said it was fair to fill Hoshikawa's body with scars and then implant that chip on his brain to lock his personality! And he was expected to end up believing he was a failed candidate for a program attempting to recreate Rock Man… Kazemura Albert. Or at least that was the plan back then!"
"This guy…! WAXA! Do you copy me? Flame attacks are useful against the M1 Tanks! And the dropships are unarmed, so attacking their cores will destroy them!" Vadous told them.
"Go on, Subaru!" Daigo rallied.
"S3 Scheme… Shooting Star Simulation… What a daunting title for a non-existent project! Yet… Blood Shadow could be considered the successful result of all those supposed attempts, too…"
"That's what I'd guessed myself!" Harp Note admitted.
"Detective Hibiki jumps into the stage?" He teased.
"… Hmpf. Whatever!"
"Get serious, graverobber!" Burai challenged.
"Hot-blooded men tend to run into trouble 'cause they don't stop to think of the consequences of their actions!"
"Don't act like you're a sage!"
"I can picture Ushijima fighting for the sake of his CO and his Sherlock wannabe classmate plus the street punk…" Tabuu laughed.
"Ms. President is the CO…? And if Jack heard that he'd end up angered… He'd take it as an insult to his pride!" Rock Man muttered.
"And maybe Futaba has telepathy and can feel what you think about him so he's backing you up, Hoshikawa? Let's continue!"
"Not funny!" Acid Ace fumed.
"Sheesh! I'm going to make you take back those words! Let's go for it! Today we win and we'll teach this guy not to insult our prides! Here I go!"
"… Meteors!"
"Sword Fighter!
"Quick Boomerang!"
"Flying Knuckles!"
"Napalm Bomb!"
"Mad Vulcan!"
"Black Hole!"
"Wing Blade!"
"Tornado!"
"Ice Spear!"
"Go on, my dear audience…"
Rock Man faced Pharaoh Man, dodging the incandescent meteors and hit him six times in a row with the sword before jumping off.
Quick Man shot his boomerang at Burai, who countered and momentarily dizzied Quick Man.
Napalm Man shot three bombs at the ground which formed rings of fire, but Harp Note bombarded him with rounds from a Mad Vulcan.
Acid Ace rammed into Planet Man as he began forming his attack while Omega formed a spear of super-cooled ice which drove into Air Man's fan, making it get stuck.
"This guy is starting to feed me up!" Harp Note muttered.
"Harp Note… Try not to take out your frustration…" Rock Man whispered.
"I know!" She calmly replied.
"So. What happened to the earlier guts, Duck Man?" Omega taunted.
"Why, you…!"
"Hmpf. Fast? You're slow and weak!"
Burai scoffed as he began to chase Quick Man around the room without any troubles to match up his speed.
"By all the…!" Quick Man cursed.
"This guy can't do anything else?" Acid Ace taunted Planet Man.
"Bothersome foolish one…!" Planet Man muttered.
"How can a mere little girl stand up to an elite fighting "Darkloid" like the great me?" Napalm Man cursed.
"That's because types who can only think of brawls always have looked down on us… I'm not holding back on you!" Harp Note shot back.
"Excellent. Just like Ms. Takamiya Yuki of 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim!"
"What's so special about her?"
"She's a strong Sukeban miss who beats all those delinquents!"
"Hmpf. Guess I'll look it up once it's over…!"
"We should try to finish this soon…" Rock Man suggested.
"Hmmm… Underground!" Omega suggested.
"But Pharaoh Man hovers…"
"I'll handle the guy!"
"Let's go, then! Come!" Rock Man taunted Quick Man.
"Delete~!"
"Come, you weapon fanatic!" Harp Note taunted Napalm Man.
"Why, you…!"
"Planetoid Man! Bite my armored right foot!"
"Bothersome foolish one…!" He cursed.
"Hmpf. Foolish duck Face me!" Burai challenged.
"Bothersome meddling guy!"
"Let's go, Akhenaton's Mummy!"
"You lowlife!" Pharaoh Man growled.
When the other four rushed towards their opponents they ended up stepping into Giga Mines and were blown up.
They landed in different spots of the room while having suffered major damage and they all cursed.
"WHY, YOU…!"
Omega began a combo of saber attacks.
He swung it on a 180º arch, shot skywards with it, jumped downwards with the saber and dashed forward to stab it into the foe's forehead.
"I added a little bug which triggers core program implosion! I'm somewhat of a hacker, too!"
"I'll admit that was a smart move, for once, Omega!"
"Guys! Let's clean up!" He rallied.
"You lowlifes…!" The four remaining opponents cursed.
"Here we go~!"
"DELETE~!"
"Go, Laplace! Dancing Blade!"
"Wing Blade!"
"Great Axe!"
"Hammer Weapon!"
All four attacks were enough to finally bring down each foe.
Sarcastic clapping rang out through the speakers.
"Wonderful show. Maybe it's about time you saw the slightly pointless resistance of the Earthlings? I'll treat you to a sneak preview!"
"What!" Rock Man gasped.
"Our companions are fighting there, too?" Harp Note gasped.
"How sneaky!" Acid Ace fumed.
"Typical, even!" Blood Shadow complained.
"Too typical. My mood's gone!" Omega sighed.
"Bring it on, twerp!" Sigma challenged.
"But, before that…"
"What next?" Vadous grumbled.
"Evil Pepe teamed up with Sneaky Jose to start up "Evil & Sneak Inc"!"
"Even a kid can come up with that!" Rock Man sighed.
"Sam Yosemite is about to catch the elusive roadrunner!"
"Do I look like I care, graverobber?"
"Should've hired the coyote to come up with anti-robber traps!"
"Stick out your neck, fool! I'll take it as my trophy!"
"It's not worth staining your hands in the blood of aliens, anyway…"
"I decide that! Not you!"
"You probably need yakisoba bread to change your mood!"
"I wouldn't mind one right now…" Acid Ace muttered.
"I shouldn't eat so many…" Harp Note muttered.
"Now's not the time to worry about that, I'd say!" Rock Man argued.
"Enough preludes! Show us what's going on there!"
Guys…! What's happened on Earth while we were fighting here…?
