Chapter 9: Old & new faces

11:21 AM (Japan Time), Thursday January the 25th…

"… Bone Stalker!"

"Woody Tower!"

"Water Tower!"

"Do it, Skull Man. Put those souls to rest."

"Oi, Miyuki… Don't creep me out."

"You 2! Focus! By beef and might and salmon! This must be a ploy by the Beef Market!"

"Oh come on. Masa – san. Be serious! Now's not the time to go by our Net Agents alter egos. They've come to MY store!"

"Your flowers' aromas arose theses souls…"

"Miyuki… Quit it with the occult stuff, will you?"

"Saloma has a point, Miyuki. You're not contributing to improving the mood, you know?"

"I apologize. I don't feel like being enthusiastic."

"Lovely, just lovely!"

Skull Man, Wood Man and Shark Man were fighting off a Virus invasion in Saloma's store: Miyuki could only talk about creepy stuff and Masa began to say nonsense but Saloma got annoyed and told him to stop: Miyuki kept it at and Masa scolded her yet her tone didn't change which made Saloma get further annoyed.

"As if that attack this morning at 3AM into a wind power plant wasn't enough… They filled the walls with sprayed Alphabet letters there and there and we're still pending to make out a word that makes sense from those…!" Saloma fumed.

"Vengeful souls haunt us…"

"Miyuki…!" Masa complained.

"I apologize yet it feels like it. Maybe I am too dense today. Guess a storm's coming." She dully muttered.

"Sheesh. Lovely!" Skull Man complained.

"Kogarashi!"

"Fin Cutter!"

Skull Man, Wood Man and Shark Man continued to fight off the Viruses and they suddenly yielded to Heel Navis brandishing clubs and maces, stones, tree branches and other crappy weapons.

"Bone Stalker!"

"Woody Tower!"

"Aqua Tower!"

"G, O, A, L, B, L, I, D, W, N, S!" Cloud Man's voice suddenly recited a string of letters.

"Sheesh. Those are the letters found on the site of the attack! And which we still dunno what they mean?" Saloma complained.

"Can you figure 'em out? Or do we invoke baaroo – sama?"

"Who the heck is that?" Everyone asked.

"Ask Nico Nico Douga!"

"Sheesh. More memes?"

"Beware! It's the Grim Reaper! Someone will die today!"

"E~H? NO WAY~!" They all gasped.

"Or not."

"What the." They all complained.

"The Synchro Hexagon Brothers! Number! One! Two! Three! Four! Five! We lack one! Bah! He'll eventually return." He laughed.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Masa complained.

"Beware, Commander Beef! Higure Yamitarou is about to bring out "it"!"

"Don't tell me that…!" He gasped.

"If you don't hurry then…" He teased.

"Calm down! It's a trap!" Saloma fumed.

"Spurred by envy and lust…" Miyuki dully added.

"E~H? That bad!?" Masa gasped.

"Show yourself." Wood Man challenged.

"I'll show your number one fan: Ms. Wooden Arms!"

"HUH? What nonsense." He wasn't impressed.

"So? Did any of you decipher it?"

"And what if we did?" Saloma shot back.

"Good question. Then maybe they'll hire you to crack the Enigma 666."

"Enigma 666? Oh come on. That your best shot?"

"Far for from it! I'm just getting started…"

"Oh crap. Spoke too early!"

"Higure…! Can't be that…!" Masa was muttering.

"FOCUS!" Saloma snapped.

"Huh! Y-yeah! At once!"

"Beware! The tuna's going to be dethroned by the salmon! The Salmon King is gonna come sweep the floor with the tuna on it!"

"Devil! Gotta procure some salmon!"

"And you believe him?" Saloma sighed.

"Eh? Huh! Now that you mention it… Thought it was someone out there in the street…" Masa realized.

"FOCUS!" She insisted.

"Tsunami!"

"Thought as much: you were close by!"

"By Haddock! A billion blistering barnacles!"

"Stop saying nonsense! Fight!"

Shark Man's attack hit upon Cloud Man (who'd been invisible and hovering high in the air) and he dropped into the ground: he calmly stood up and looked at the 3 of them.

"My bad! But my orders don't include that."

"Hmpf. Cowards."

"So? How much bribes did you pay to be granted more screen-time?"

"Wha~t? Why, you…!" They all complained.

"Beware! Higure's about to do it! Hurry up!"

"Ah no! I was first! That jerk isn't gonna beat me to it!"

"Wait…! Oh crap. He ran out." Saloma sighed.

"Envy and paranoia haunt our minds…"

"Oh. Be quiet." Saloma complained.

"Good, good. No more interlopers!" Anaya's voice rang out.

"You're Anaya. I remember you from last summer." Saloma fumed.

"Sure thing. So? Did that speedy man and you…?" She taunted.

"NO! We haven't seen each other in months! Sheesh!" She snapped.

"Pity! Thought you'd already had fun in an S&M dungeon!"

"Don't make fun of that person! He's unrelated! Also! We're not a couple either! We just know each other! Stop saying weird stuff!"

"He got in our way once. I remember my enemies!" She snickered.

"That was over 2 and half years ago!" She protested.

"Like I care! Heh! Guts Man stole his guts!" She sneered back.

"A woman deluded by the call of a demoness…" Miyuki muttered.

"Deluded? More like inspired!" Anaya countered.

"A weak one… Who cannot do anything but scream…"

"WEAK? ME? WEAK?" She was pissed off.

"Arrogance and lust rule your flesh and mind…"

"HMPF! Like I care! I'm invincible! You'll regret taunting me!"

"Bone Stalker!"

"Woody Tower!"

"Mega Cannon!"

"I'm faster than an F-1 car!"

The Navis were trying to fight Cloud Man but he merely dodged and wasn't fighting back to begin with.

"Hmpf. One day… You will be my preys… Like other women… And I will have my own harem of slaves…" Anaya threatened.

"You will try but will fail. Like all others before you…"

"Hah! That remains to be seen. Wait and see! She who dares wins!"

"A sinner soul shall be defeated by their own creations."

"KI~H! WHY THE NERVE OF THIS CHARLATAN!" She hissed.

"Not so confident anymore, Anaya?" Saloma taunted.

"HGTKSKBDBGKBKNOBLG!" She hissed something undecipherable.

"Uh-oh. This is bad." Cloud Man grimly muttered.

"Pull out, Cloud Man! Now!" She ordered.

"R-roger, ma'am! Have at ya!"

Cloud Man escaped and the Navis sighed in relief: there was a groan and some steps close by.

"That Higure…! Attacked me…! Thought my Beef Punch was enough to beat that skinny guy but could actually fight back…!" Masa groaned.

"Will you stop fighting over Mariko – sensei? Do you want to earn her sister's anger as well?" Saloma scolded.

"Souls deluded by lust…" Miyuki muttered.

"Go back to your store before I get ANNOYED FOR REAL!" Saloma snapped at Miyuki.

"Fine. See you around." She shrugged.

"Just you wait, Higure! I'll have my payback!" Masa roared.

"You take care of the store! Else you'll end up bankrupt! Sheesh!"

Oh come on! Why can't they behave like adults? Sheesh!

19:33 PM (Melbourne Time)…

"… Man. Until a couple weeks ago I couldn't have believed such a world and such things existed, cousin!"

"I knew you had the potential. As well as the looks. Cody."

"Sure… Man! It feels SO good…!"

"This is our little secret, Cody! Nobody else knows."

"Of course, Cousin Philip! Nobody would imagine it to begin with. This is modern times! And they rock, man!"

"This is one of the best things a real guy can experience. You're already 11, man. You're no longer a lil kid! Now you're a real guy."

"I like the sound of that!"

Philip was having sex with a young guy in a brick-made underground room lit by candles: S&M stuff could be seen there and there including a wooden horse with two built-in vibrators, a crimson red wood cross, a collection of whips and ropes, chains and cuffs, blindfolds, ball-gags, leather masks, candles and lighters, clothes pegs, metallic cups, rings with small weights attached to them and so on.

This young guy, named Cody, could be on his early teens and about a meter and fifty tall.

He had blonde hair but a thick black wool blindfold hid his eyes.

He was naked and his body was tied with crimson ropes in the "turtle shell bondage": his arms were placed horizontally and kept immobile with tightly tied rope.

Both were standing and Philip (wearing nothing) was pumping his cock into his ass: both were chatting in the meanwhile.

"You looked pretty bored as of late… Like TV and games weren't enough for you… You asked me if I knew some other way to have fun… And I brought you here… It's a shut-down club so no-one gets in the way. Its backdoor is quite well hidden and hard to spot… I'm the only one who has the key. When the cops raided the place they though there was only the front door… They sealed the entranced with bricks along with the windows but since they didn't know about this backdoor…"

"We can get in and out without being seen!" Cody grinned.

"Yeah. I also, as of late, felt like I lacked something… I'd experienced a lot being a masochist but… I wanted to know what it meant to be in control, to be the sadist… You turned out to be the perfect type for me to try that out. I did have fun with some guys in the party of the summer but I wanted more… To train someone from the start! "

"But I'm amazed… You've been leading a secret life without Aunt Mathilda figuring it out…"

"Heh! Nobody could imagine it, anyway."

"I think I'm about to let it out!"

Cody let it out and so did Philip: Cody panted and Philip calmly took out his cock and let him sit down on a nearby chair to rest: Philip then began to check the stuff as if trying to decide their next game.

"Hmmm… Maybe it's too early…" He muttered as he looked at the wooden horse.

"What is?" Cody asked, still panting.

"Take it easy. Nothing. An idea but I thought it might too intense for you as of yet. Maybe in a few days' time. I'm going to have you try out something else… Wait a min. I need to find where they are at… Ah! Here they are!"

He picked a couple of wooden clothes pegs from a basket and clipped them to Cody's nipples: he yelped and his cock got hard again: he blushed and Philip chuckled.

"Man! Cody. It'd seem you're easily become a real masochist. Your cock suddenly hardened again."

"It itches a bit but…! It feels good as well…!" Cody muttered.

"Guess that's what you experience on the first time. In gay S&M the point is to use all sensible points of the body… That includes those, of course…"

"If you play with these then you get hard too?"

"Of course."

"Man! I always wondered what they were for but nobody would tell me!"

"Well. It's a form of stimulation… You need to be in the mood as well… By the "mood" I mean you gotta be imaging having sex…"

"Gotcha! Man! This feeling is great!"

"You OK? Maybe I was too intense before?"

"N-no… It's just that… I felt like I let out of a lot of energy before…" Cody explained.

"Hmmm… Happens from time to time, yeah. You're building up emotions and all and you vent them off…" He rubbed his chin.

"Guess that's it… I still haven't vented off that boredom I'd been building up… Once I do, then… I guess I'll get amused by the TV and the games again… And be able to pretend nothing's out of place!"

"That's the spirit."

"By the way, Cousin Philip… I recently played Pokémon XD and finished the main story but…"

"But? Was there some issue?"

"I heard a rumor… That the villain said "Die!" and it was changed…"

"It's true. Cloud Man showed it to me. It was clearly written in the Japanese script… "Die!"… Guess it was allowed because it was a spin-off game and they wanted to add to the sinister setting…"

"Whoa. So it was true… By the way! The new Heart Gold Version is about to come out into stores… Is it worth it?"

"Oh, it was fun. I played a Japanese copy with Cloud Man as my translator… However… Make your choices, Cody! Don't let me influence your choices…" Philip replied.

"OK… I'll think about it."

"Now… Let's try another thing."

"What next?" He eagerly asked.

He drew a dildo and turned it on to start rubbing it against the lower edge of his right nipple: Cody let out a little pitched moan and Philip began to spin it around his right nipple before doing the same for the left nipple as well: Cody's cock began to get harder.

"Feels… good…! Slow…! But good…!" He muttered.

"Doesn't it? Wait… Hop!"

"Wha! Whoa!"

Philip suddenly stopped doing that as he picked a thin, and short string of rope, which he tied on the base of Cody's cock to further harden it.

"It's gotten harder but…! I can't let it out!" Cody gasped.

"No. Because I closed the way out. This is also the point of gay S&M. To deny the masochist of the right to cum. To force them to lower their head in front of you, to humiliate themselves and to be go to the sadist to let them cum." Philip eagerly explained.

"I see…! You've got a point…!"

"But since I'm not intending to be cruel with you then I'll undo it now: it was just a little demonstration."

"OK… I'm fine with that…"

"Get ready… I'm going to tease you and let you cum at the same time: it'll be pretty intense!"

Cody nervously gulped and Philip placed the dildo's tip on the head of his cock: Cody began to moan before the ropes keeping his cock hard got loosened: Philip grabbed it and aimed it at Cody's body so that his body got stained with the bursts that came out: Cody let out a prolonged moan and hung his head down: he began to pant while Philip stood up and picked some of the cum with his fingers to check it out.

"Not bad. As usual." He muttered.

"T-the world's gone white… I feel numb… Too good to be true…"

"Welcome to the white world." Philip grinned.

"White world… Huh-uh…"

"Take your time. It's overwhelming. And I don't want to push it so we'll leave it at this for today. I've got free time tomorrow too so I'll come pick you up… Remember: behave like nothing had changed when at school, Cody…" Philip instructed.

"My head's reeling… Numbness… Too good to be true… I'm floating…"

Philip took out Cody's blindfold and he blinked several times: his eyes irises were blue: he looked absent or distracted.

This is fun. Cody enjoys it too. Master doesn't need to know. It's a family thing. It doesn't interfere with Neo Gospel's operations: I haven't told Cody anything that isn't publically know, anyway. Once I get back to the base, then I should continue with the special training. Master said that the operation will take part in the weekend but I still don't know the day, time or place. For safety reasons, obviously enough. I guess Freeze Man's the only one apart from the 4 top brass that knows it.

"Huff, huff… Guess I'm back on the real world…"

"Good. I'll untie you."

Philip undid the ropes and Cody calmly stood up while rubbing his wrists: he frowned and seemed to think of something: he looked back at his body but there were no eye-catching traces left.

"I made sure not to tight them too much either… We don't want your classmates to see those when in the PE change-room… Help me cleanse and we'll leave."

Both dressed up again: Philip with a sleeveless white shirt, white boxers, shorts, and sandals while Cody with a blue T-shirt having the London Underground logo, black briefs, shorts and sandals. They cleansed up and, once they wore, Cody picked up his backpack; Philip opened a disguised door, they climbed up the stairs into the street and exited through another disguised door, which he locked with a key.

"Let's go to a café and I'll help you with the homework. I know a good, quiet place. We can take our time there."

"Thanks!"

"Least I can do to thank you. Since you're gonna help me fulfill my inner desires… Gay sex is fun, too! Don't let stigma cloud your mind. Being gay is also nature's call." He whispered.

"Sure thing! There's things which are funnier done between guys! Since we understand each other's body perfectly!"

This is life, man. I'm looking forward to the operation this weekend… It'll sure be very thrilling!

10:20 AM (Iceland Time)…

"… How did the training go?"

"Ah! Dr. Spimer, sir. It went well."

"I wouldn't have thought I'd be riding in one of these things."

"Who would, Justin?"

"Got a point, George."

"Otaku boys will be otaku boys."

"Miss Jasmine… I think that comment was unnecessary."

"I am sorry, sir!"

A man stepped into a metallic room somewhere that looked like a hanger and had some tall objects covered in black covers: 3 teens (1 girl and 2 guys) were standing there.

The man, Spimer, looked on his late twenties or early thirties: he could be over a meter and eighty tall too.

His hair was combed in a neat manner and it was colored in an orange-like coloring while his eyes' irises were blue.

He had reading glasses on.

He wore a white lab coat over a shirt, brown pants and shoes.

"Good, gentlemen. Well then… What about you, Miss Jasmine?"

"I did pretty well."

Jasmine, the girl, was on her late teens or early 20s.

She could be over a meter and eighty tall and had short black hair.

She wore a black long-sleeved t-shirt along with black jeans, fingerless black gloves and black sneakers.

She also sported a pair of sunglasses over her eyes.

She also wore a utility belt with two knife cases and two gun pouches.

"George?"

"It took some effort at first but now I'm more used to the controls of this."

George had blonde hair.

He wore the same equipment as Jasmine and could one or two inches taller than her.

"And you, Justin?"

"I think that there's a risk of the machineguns overheating if used for more than 5 minutes."

Justin had green tinted-hair and was more or less pair on height with George.

"I see." Spimer rubbed his chin and looked pensive.

"Ah! But if you switch to the missiles for a minute or two then I think the machineguns have time to cool down."

"Then there's no need to improve those."

"No, sir. No need to fret, I'd say."

"Good. However! They'll need some more test driving. I've got the hunch that we'll need these pretty soon." He glanced at the covered machines.

"What about your vehicle, sir?"

"It'll come in handy once the modifications are over… That'll make it harder to defeat as well…"

"Yet… Shouldn't there be some of the members guarding the laboratory, sir?" Jasmine asked.

"Don't worry. I've got it covered." He looked amused.

"I see, sir. As expected!"

"You can go back. I've got to speak with the mechanic."

"Roger, sir. By your orders!"

"Drop by the bar and have some water. I suggest you have a shower to take off the sweat. These things' cockpit is heated but maybe it's too heated… Didn't you get that feeling?"

"I did get the feeling, true. Since it's a small closed space… Maybe we should take out the onboard heating and put on proper winter clothing instead?" Jasmine suggested.

"Hmmm…" Spimer seemed to be reluctant.

"Or else… Have a small hatch to vent off some of the heat for a few seconds." Justin suggested next.

"It depends on the weather… I'm weary of doing that now, in January… If it was July or August then…" He trailed off.

"There's not much space to stuff radiators either." George reminded the other two.

"I'm afraid you'll have to bear with it… Unless we redesigned it to have a slightly bigger cockpit… Maybe 10-15 cm wider… That could help give more space… Or… We reduce the heating system to half of what it is: I think it should suffice nevertheless…" Spimer began to suggest but got another idea along the way.

"Yes. I think that's the fastest and easier solution." Jasmine nodded in agreement.

"Good. I'll instruct the mechanics. You may go."

The trio left through a side-door while Spimer spotted a pair of mechanics standing next to a desk and going over some schematics.

"Gentlemen."

"Dr. Spimer, sir."

"Mr. Burton. Can you take care of reducing the assault units' heating to half? We've tested them and we have excessive heating."

"Thought as much… That's why I assembled them in a manner than can be easily removed… We could place a coat or something like that in the empty space in case the outer casing was damaged." Burton suggested.

"Excellent!" Spimer was satisfied.

"Regarding the changes to your vehicle, Doctor…"

"How are they like?"

"95% completed… All that's left is the EM barrier device… As well as the shielding of Engine 4… I guess we'll have them by tomorrow… That should be all, no, Burton?"

"Yeah, Jameson. I've got it covered in the checklist!"

"Excellent. I leave it on you gentlemen's hands. Don't overwork either. Take as many breaks as necessary: I acknowledge that it's a tiring job."

"Thank you, sir."

"If you feel tired, I suggest the bar's green tea. It's one to make one relax and shake off stress."

"True. I've had it other times at the suggestion of Armenz…"

"Is that so? Good. Lately I thought orange juice was good for that. Or so Ms. Jarena said… Guess she meant the Vitamin C."

"Surely."

"Good. I shall take my leave. Au revoir."

"Good morning, sir!"

Spimer exited the hanger through the right door and crossed a metallic corridor with fluorescent lights: a small LCD screen displayed the day, time, weather, temperature and wind speed.

"Hum, hum. 3 Celsius. 60 km/h of winds. Cloudy." He read aloud without being too surprised.

He walked to the end of the corridor and emerged into a small hall from which some corridors branched: they had plaques set on one of the walls with directions: he followed the central corridor.

This is a set of domes linked between them. There are 9 nines domes in total yet the hanger is a separate building… And all of this is set atop a large ice shelf. It's big and large enough to be stable for years. I have my research lab which I share with another scientist here. Other domes include dorms, a bar, several shooting range rooms… And there's also a dome that controls the radars… It took time and effort.

He stepped into a bar: there were some other staff there including the earlier agents.

"Ah! Doctor, sir. The usual?" The bartender asked.

"Of course."

"Yes, sir. A glass of non-alcohol beer."

"Good. No need for ice, thank you."

Spimer sat down on one of the tables and discreetly glanced at a TV that was picking up the CNN broadcast.

We're an organization named Cypher… We have no real purpose: we're a gathering of people who felt like they couldn't properly fit into the normal society so we built our own one here… Supply planes bring supplies… There are many nationalities here… Including three former women officers who felt discriminated in the forces they served at… Their skills are appreciated here and everyone here knows their place.

"Well, well! If it isn't my precious disciple and the bad boys."

"Captain Troniat, ma'am."

A woman walked up to the trio's table.

The woman named Troniat seemed to be about a meter and eighty tall and she could be past her mid-20s or close to her 30s.

She had platinum blonde hair, which she'd collected into a ponytail and brown eye irises.

She sported a brown shirt with long sleeves, a brown leather belt, jeans and black heeled shoes.

"You know the drill, my dear. Tease 'em."

"Truly, ma'am."

"That's all. See you, my dear."

She walked away while Justin and George sighed and seemed to roll their eyes under the sunglasses: Spimer was far from amused as well.

"Ah! By the way! Jasmine. Will you stop pulling pranks of bad taste? I thought the Lieutenant and the Major had spoken to you about this not too long ago, yes?" He called out

"Huh! T-that's… Y-yes, sir… It will not happen, sir…" She gulped.

"About time!" George and Justin grumbled.

"Good. Now that that's settled let's work on the preparations. I'll go talk with Colonel Morgan to go over the security detail…"

I can foresee it… This must be the meaning… Hmpf… They'll underestimate us indeed… Come… We'll be ready to give you a warm "welcome"…!