Chapter 39: Show-off
17:17 PM (Japan Time), Saturday August the 3rd…
"… Man. I'm still freaked out, Boss. I don't know what'll happen regarding that person and their snooping… I've tried to ask of Hikari – kun to tell them to stop, but it'd seem he's had no luck…"
"Lovely. Speaking of girls… We've got a woman out there who isn't really a problem but should be taught that we won't tolerate a new Net Mafia organization like in the past."
"Who's that, Boss?"
"Read this report from Zero. Speaking of which, we've just reached 74% capacity… We hope to be at 100% by the last 5 days of this month starting on the 26th and around the 31st at the latest…"
"Good enough… Let's read! Whay! I recognize this surname. Hikari – kun told me about it… That guy had a daughter! A spoiled daughter who thinks she can do whatever she wants to… Could be trouble…"
"Yeah. Taking into account who she wants to involve…"
"But their Navis were deleted back then. And I doubt her having any idea of Navi reconstruction."
Noir and Kage were chatting inside of his office; Kage had taken off his sunglasses to read at a report and he then looked up to him.
"You know what? I'll go." Kage decided.
"Alone? I can't allow that." Noir warned.
"I'll bring Zarashe along, then! Besides… Even if the whole group is there, they can't stand to materialized Andy. Where are you, Andy?"
"Where else? In the PET! Did you think I'd gone off elsewhere?"
"Sorry. Let's go fetch your Copy Roid and be on our way there. We'll pick Zarashe up by the way."
"Good luck."
"Thanks, Boss."
"Show them around, Andy – kun, my fellow."
"Count on it, Legato!"
Kage stood up, shook hands with Noir and came out into the corridor; he headed for Zarashe's room and knocked on it.
"Zarashe! Wanna come round up some silly guys who believe they can resurrect a ghost of the past?"
"Sounds like fun." Zarashe replied as he opened the door.
"The guys are pretty powerless, really, so I don't expect any major trouble."
"Hmpf… Let's go then." Beta X formed a smug smile.
"We'll give them a scare."
Both headed down the stairs into the garage, and climbed aboard the black Toyota; Zarashe turned it on and the engine roared as it climbed up the exit ramp and came out into the streets: they began to drive northwards while Kage interacted with his PET.
"2.3 kilometers, 21 minutes! We should get there slightly before 5:50 PM…" He read aloud.
"Alright, Danna." Andy joked.
"Maybe we need to get rid of a source using a caliber 46 Colt?" Beta X joked next.
"Nah! Those things always fail. Better use a caliber 73 Winchester shotgun: it's safer!" Zarashe laughed.
"And it turned out that "fuente" can mean both "fountain" and "source" so a guy was trying to blow a fountain up with a Colt!"
"Wonderful. He'll get to fight a fountain the madhouse!"
"More like a pipe that'll shower him in cold water!"
17:44 PM (Japan Time)…
"So! You're the one who helped us break prison and made us come all the way here, huh? What do you want?"
"Simple. We'll revive that great and magnificent organization and then rule over the Network society!"
"Pretty neat, but…"
"…what Navis are we gonna use?"
"Yours, obviously enough."
"That won't do."
"Huh!? Why!?"
"Because they were deleted back then."
"WHAT!?"
"You're telling us you didn't know? Come on! You're Gauss Magnets' daughter and you don't know what happened back then?"
"Cha! How did cha know my identity?"
"Those magnet earrings give it away, you know! If ya wanted to keep the suspense you should've removed them!"
"SHEESH! Damnation!"
The former members of "Gospel", Hayami Daisuke, Kazefuki Arashi and Princess Pride, were confronting a woman sitting on an armchair placed behind a marble desk inside of an office room somewhere.
The woman in question was on her 30s.
She had loose brown hair, which grew to until it was past the waist, and green eyes.
Her overall height was around a meter and seventy.
She wore a red and black blouse with a long skirt and red-heeled shoes.
"Alright! I'm Tesla Magnets! I'm gonna see to it that "Gospel" goes back to its past glory!" She banged both fists on the desk.
"So! What do you think happened aboard the SS Queen Ocean? Tell us: go ahead." Hayami challenged.
"You escaped on the rudder boats but the police caught you!"
"Oh come on! That's not what happened! The explosions inside of the Cyber World spread to the real world and they knocked us out! Next thing we knew we'd been rounded up by the cops!" Hayami cursed.
"And all of our Navis did get deleted! That "Saito Style" thing that Rock Man kid used overpowered us. We then had to deploy the Cybeast "Gospel" but we didn't get to see it." Pride added.
"Impossible! My father's organization couldn't have gone down in such a plebeian manner! You lie! You don't want to admit you had to run away and such you've come up with this tale! Show me the Navis or I'll make you regret challenging ME!" She exclaimed.
"We don't have them! Cha! Couldn't you think of reading the Net Police's Cyber CID report on the SS Queen Ocean incident? Huh? Our leader was captured too! Forte was deleted along with the Cybeast "Gospel" he'd absorbed! The ship sunk!" Pride shot back.
"You princess wannabe! Silence! You'll only speak when I give you permission to!"
"Who said we'd be working for you?" Kazefuki grumbled.
"I say it! All I say must be done or else they'll be sacked!"
"There's no legal document anywhere which say we gotta listen to your spoiled daughter petty desires." Hayami argued.
"You owe me BIG! I got you of jail!"
"Oh, that? You shouldn't have bothered. We'll be paroled in three weeks' time. Didn't you bother to do your research?" Pride sighed.
"WHAT!?"
"It's been over three years, you know. Since our crimes were of lesser scale, we got sent to the prison for petty crimes like corruption, bribing and such. We've behaved, so they're going to parole us."
"IMPOSSIBLE!"
"Not impossible. Why didn't you rescue your dad while you were at it?"
"I must prove I can do this without him paving the road for me! I'm not even 30 yet! I'll see to it that I achieve my goal no matter what happens… With "Neo Gospel"!"
"You'll be laughed at by the Net Police's Cyber CID and those Golden Star guys who gotta be on their way here." Hayami mocked.
"Golden Star? What's that? A political party?"
"Oh come on. Do you live in a cave? Golden Star… They are the guys who have replaced the Net Police's Cyber CID as law enforcers… They've got cutting-edge tech and skilled members plus a lot of Navis… No – one can stand up to them and they effectively gather all data regarding crime which they forward to police and such." Pride sighed.
"Impossible!"
"Not impossible at all. It's reality. I'm sure you're pretty sloppy when it comes to computers so I'm sure you've left a trail miles long which those guys must've picked by now. I wouldn't be surprised if that car engine I'm hearing growing closer it's them."
"What!?"
Magnets jumped off the armchair and ran to the window to look out into the street and the emergency fire stairs; she saw the black Toyota parking there and four figures climb down to then walk out of her sight.
"The front entrance…!"
"Good luck with them. We're going to the prison."
"Yeah. You're on your own. We won't listen to a spoiled daughter who thinks she can shape reality as she likes."
"Farewell."
"Oh you bunch of fools! Come back here! Kazefuki Arashi! Prove that you're a man!"
"I don't care about any Net Mafias anymore!"
"Hayami Daisuke! Use your brains!"
"That's what I'm doing, granny."
"Princess Pride! Come back here! Women stick together!"
"Not me. I'm gonna go back to my Cream Land."
The three of them came out and Magnets heard how they stepped into an elevator to head down; she banged the desk.
"Fuck them all!"
The elevator pinged again and four sets of footsteps echoed, along with hushed voices: Kage and Andy stepped inside of the room, and Magnets looked up, puzzled, before she burst into laughter.
"What! THESE are the so-famous Golden Star? A bunch of kids! Don't make me laugh!" She laughed.
"Battle Chip, Hyper Cannon!"
BLAM!
"Wha!"
"Convinced?"
Andy drew the Hyper Cannon and blew out the window, making Tesla's jaw hit the floor while Kage merely shrugged.
"That's a Net Navi? In the real world? Impossible!"
"Not impossible at all! We've got cutting-edge tech and we've found out how to make Navis enter the real world." Kage replied.
"No way! No – one can have better tech than "Neo Gospel"!"
"… Come on. There's only you and you wanna make us believe you've got a full-fledged organization?" Kage grumbled.
"Tell that to NASA and the Ameroupe Army."
"By all the…! GONNA KILL 'EM!"
BLAM!
"Take a step closer and I'll use this thing to knock you out."
Magnets had picked a brass statuette and jumped over the desk to try to hit Kage, but Andy shot it out of her hands, leaving her pale; Kage drew his gun but then police sirens began to ring out.
"The cavalry's here. Well then… Zarashe! Let's go out through the emergency stairs! It's only four floors!" Kage called out.
"Okay. It's fun to look at a powerless villain wannabe. Spoiled kids need to be taught a lesson about reality!"
"True. That's what happens for being stupid!" Beta X sneered.
"Don't move." Andy warned by aiming the Hyper Cannon at the desk and having a menacing glare.
The four of them ran out into the emergency stairs just as the elevators pinged and Oda, Enzan and 6 officers rushed in.
"Tesla Magnets! You're under arrest for the hacking of Prison Tokuwaga and meeting with convicted people without a Prison Department authorization!" Oda announced.
"I lost…? Impossible…!" She uttered in disbelief before she fainted from the shock.
"Ijuuin! Bite my shiny coat!" Kage called out from the stairs.
"Kage! You won't get away today!"
"Wait, Ijuuin – kun! It could be a trap…! Youth nowadays…! They rush in without taking advice from their seniors!" Oda called out just as Enzan jumped across the window.
Enzan began to run down the stairs; spotted Kage and the others were two floors below him so he jumped over the handrail of the second floor straight to the ground floor, landing atop some garbage bins; he tried to catch up with the group as they headed for the car, but stepped over a small glass vial which Kage had dropped into the ground; gas came out and Enzan began to cough as his eyes watered.
"T-tear gas…!" He cursed.
"Too bad, Ijuuin. Go have a brawl with the almighty Link from the Zelda games and sharpen your blade!" Kage taunted.
"Au revoir!"
"Fuck them!"
The four of them climbed into the car and speeded away; Enzan shook off the gas and walked towards the front entrance where the patrol cars had stopped; the officers were escorting the unconscious Tesla to the car and Oda came out next.
"What happened, Ijuuin – kun?"
"T-tear gas…" He coughed.
"I suspected they'd get away."
"Damn it. And they laughed at me too."
"Climb in and let's go back to the HQ."
"A-alright… Don't worry, Blues… The effects will dissipate after a while, anyway…" Enzan told him.
"To Oda Land we go!"
"I fail to see the logic. SIR." Blues drily complained.
"There's no none. It's humor by Uncle Merton, as you know."
"Save the humor, sir. We must interrogate the suspect, sir!"
"Good point, my fellows. Although I guess she'll yell at us the whole time!"
18:43 PM (Japan Time)…
"Yeah! I'm gonna do them in today! They make my rage boil inside of me!"
"Good luck, then! See ya!"
"All of it! I heard all of it!"
"Man! A fountain! I'm gonna have a sip… I'm so thirsty…!"
"I'm gonna rush to tell Boss!"
"THUD! No! Don't look at me like that, sir! If you'd seen what happened to me the last time I wanted to drink some water from a fountain…!"
"Video Man and his buddies are back at it, Martha – chan."
"Let them be. I'm finishing this report about their raid to Tesla Magnets' office. It's so laughable, really."
Suzuki and Akemi were sitting in their room; Suzuki was typing something into a notebook computer while Akemi had been reading some text using her Link PET's holographic screen.
"And you should know THIS: the guy who wanted to drink from the fountain was securing another using rope!"
"Yes, Boss! I heard the guy say: "The Superintendent of the TIA makes my rage boil inside of me!"… He said he wanted to kill him today's morning!"
"Bloody hell! We gotta do something!"
"Calm down, Boss… It's already arranged for. Mortadelo thinks of everything!"
"Really?"
"Look, look! I bought him some flowers! In addition, I've written a petition to have me be promoted to Superintendent. What do you think of it?"
"The petition too! The petition too!"
"But, Boss… You forced me to eat the flowers! Isn't that enough? What's wrong with you?"
"What we gotta do is warn him and protect him! Let's go the HQ!"
"Man! A chance to rise and…"
"Secret entrance 17-J… Here it is!"
"Another fountain! Let's see if I can drink some water! CLONG!"
"Alright! Let's go for it!"
"GRRR…! Like it or not I'm gonna drink some water! And if you try something funny I'm gonna put a bullet on you!"
"Yes, I could warn them on time… Imagine! He intended to murder a "source" with a Colt of caliber forty-six!"
"What madness!"
"I'm telling you I'm not mad! Before… The fountains just ran away! Now they attack me! And I gotta defend myself!"
"Calm down, calm down… We're gonna give you a ring to fight against the Avellano Fountain!"
"Those things are a failure! When it comes to "sources" I use my Winchester caliber seventy-four! It's safer!"
"Pun time! "Fuente" can mean both "fountain" and "source" so the shotgun man thought he meant an informer!" Video Man laughed over the speakers.
"Oh please… That's so silly!" Suzuki moaned.
"Totally." Akemi didn't find it funny either.
"Beware of desert jackals!"
"Tune in soon for the next part!"
"I'm surprised President Hades or Slur haven't told them to quit yet."
"Guess there are no speakers on his room and he doesn't hear it."
"Probably. Anyway. Magnets is busted. Who'll get busted next?"