Chapter 16: Yoink!
English is in normal font
Japanese is n Italics
Off-handedly Tron Bonne swiveled her face down to her armpits and took a quick sniff, she had gotten too caught up in breaking open the memory stick housing Mega Man to remember to do such trivial things like bathe or updating the Servbots with virus protection. Satisfied she wasn't too ripe just yet she continued hacking into the data field, her fingers a blur as they tried to extract the pest. She had rented a large warehouse in the industrial district using a fake credit card which siphoned money from some corporation called Stark Industries, as long as she didn't pull too much money at one time she would be untraceable. Here she housed her Servbots, the four Sentinels she had hijacked from Trask Industries as well as her workspace that had allowed her to make a fake pass to sneak into the hospital where the memory stick had been. The room was covered in wires that were several arm-lengths thick and a variety of muted colors. They all hooked up into a huge computer system in the middle of the room, a super computer with an attaching data transference device to be exact. While Tron sat at the computer module her four Sentinels, who she called Servtinels Omega, Alpha, Zeta, and Joanne respectively, had circled her in all four cardinal directions.
They sat on their haunches with their knees curled up close to their faces while their fingers drummed the air in front of them. They were typing on transparent keyboards as well, almost in sync with their master. In an effort to erase their connections to Trask she had replaced their hideous heads with much more suitable Servbot heads that had been designed to fit on their massive shoulders. "Firewall 14A3B50 down" Omega announced "Core had been located, awaiting destabilization of others." While Mega Man had hidden himself away in a memory stick for some mysterious reason, he had the foresight to build some very powerful firewalls to protect himself. It had taken many days but the layers were beginning to peel away as Tron's group found ways to divert around them. The Sentinel's evolving algorithm came in handy during the process; they found ways to disable the walls by merely interacting with them. The three other Servtinels called out their success at taking down the remaining firewalls which left one last wall that Tron was on the verge of tearing apart. With a smirk she typed in the last paragraph of code she needed and watched with satisfaction as she was cleared to access the memory stick.
With a few more keystrokes she placed data representing Mega Man within the icon for the data transference device and started uploading. The device began to whirl as the Blue Bomber's code was changed from digital to organic, a miracle of future tech. with a cheer Tron vaulted out of her chair "Success!" she screamed "Cue the music!" Servbot 36 whacked a button on an old boom box which began to lay down a funky beat that pulsed through the air. Servbot 14 jumped down from the roof, snagging a disco ball as he plummeted, while Servbot 22 shot a beam of light at the ceiling while turning down the warehouse lights. Soon the entire building had become some sort of rave with Sevbots dancing everywhere as their leader celebrated her approaching victory over Mega Man as well as his subsequent humiliation at her hands. Even the Servtinels got in on the action by rocking back and forth while doing jazz hands causing the earth to tremble below them. No one was keeping an eye on the data transference device; if they had they might have noticed that the body that emerged was colored burgundy and not electric blue. The machine dinged and Zero stepped forward confused at exactly what was taking place in front of him. He had assumed that Chun Li had successfully placed him inside Stark's computer but he had not thought it would be so…chaotic. At the sound of the ding Tron vaulted into the air until she landed on top of a pyramid of Servbots, not unlike a cheerleader would, and turned to face the Blue Bomber. "Behold your beautiful captor, the phantom thief Tron Bonne" she proclaimed pointing at him "I'm going to make you pay- Wait, what?"
"This is not Stark's personal computer" Zero commented to himself looking around "Why was my data transferred here instead?" He glanced at the machine he had teleported from "This device transmits data into organic flesh, was I subject to such a transformation?" Before his thoughts could stray elsewhere a harsh shriek pierced his ear drums "Who the hell are you?" He turned to confront the young girl who was standing on top of several yellow dolls. "You're not Mega Man" she screeched as she stomped her foot onto the tip of her pyramid in a rage. That proved to be unwise as this threw the Servbots balance off kilter and sent them crashing to the floor along with Tron. Groaning, the thief picked herself off the floor "Where the hell is Mega Man, he was on that memory disk we just popped open." "You were the one who unlocked my data field" he asked mostly to himself "So I am still trapped in this world, how unfortunate." He glanced about "Where is User Li at? I was confident that she would be competent enough to successfully upload me into Stark's computer."
"Hey you, not-Mega Man, where the hell is Mega Man" the girl shouted as she clambered onto her feet "I want Mega Man." Searching his internal servers Zero did remember someone called Mega Man, a blue clad cyber defender like himself, a bit naïve but very devoted all the same. "I am not aware of where Mega Man could be" Zero remarked "He is on a different server than mine, unless you are talking about Mega Man X who is closer to my home server but you would have to enter the MotherBoard to access that area." "Listen, you…you…you…not-Mega Man, I want one thing and one thing only, Mega Man" Tron started stalking forward till her finger was jutting into Zero's face "Tell me if he's here or else." "I am not sure why you want Mega Man but I can assure you he is not here, if he were I would have detected his cyber signal already." Zero replied calmly "There is no Mega Man here, only Zero." His words had a brief effect on the girl, her mouth slacked and her eyes began to shimmer with tears. "There is no Mega Man here" she parroted quietly making Zero nod "Affirmative." Her voice was so quiet that even with his heightened hearing range Zero couldn't make out what she was saying "What" he asked her innocently "Please speak up, are you in need of assistance, program?" "You liar" she screamed as her energy returned like a plasma shot "You filthy liar, I know he's here, he must be 'cause he's Mega Man."
Angrily she stalked back over to the computer "Omega, Alpha, Zeta, Joanne, find where ever the hell Mega Man is in this stick and pull him out at once." "I cannot fulfill that command" Alpha replied blandly "Analysis of this stick reveals no other data within it." "Oh come on, there must be some kind of content you can download that would make Mega Man be here" Tron pleaded but the Servtinels simply shook their heads "There is no more data." She rounded on Zero "This was all your fault, if you weren't here then Mega Man would be." "Unlikely" Zero commented "Whoever did this chose me for a reason, I know that Mega Man would be unable to fulfill my role if he were present." Still he didn't want to upset the girl any further, she could have valuable information for him so he decided to try and show her a bit of compassion. "I can change my interface to look like Mega Man" he said hitting a few buttons on his cyber gauntlet. A quick blue light washed over his body leaving behind the beloved Blue
Bomber with his face set in an uncharacteristically somber frown "Will this be acceptable?" Even though it looked like Mega Man it sounded like Zero which just set Tron to howling once again, "No, no it's not the same, not the same at all. You're such a fraud, I hate everything, I hate this world, and most especially I hate you." Throwing her hands into the air Tron milked the great cow in the sky "Why, why did you do this to me" she asked the heavens "Have I been unworthy to you in some financial way?"
Deciding the program was far too hysterical to aid him in his quest to return home Zero released the hologram and began to walk away. His thoughts centered on User Li, why had she handed him over to this mysterious program and where was she? Had something befallen her? The warehouse had a huge set of double doors that led into the outside world. Now that his plans to return to his world had been set awry it would be best to reflect on the events that had happened so far and come up with a new plan. Perhaps he could locate that entity who had sent him over to this world and demand to be sent back? He took a few steps but suddenly the program, who had been lying on the ground throwing a tantrum, suddenly popped up onto her feet. "Where do you think you're going" she asked. "That is none of your business" Zero answered back before throwing open the doors. The wind sent in a powerful aroma that made everyone gag. "W-what the hell is that smell" Tron asked plugging her nose with her fingers. "I imagine that they are giving it off" Zero replied pointing to a mob of users outside the fence that surrounded the warehouse. Their lumbering gait and grayish skin were not symptoms of a normal disease, or at least that's what Zero's search came up with. With a huff he jumped to the top of the roof to get a better vantage point. He blanched a bit when he noticed the scores of them that roamed the streets, hopefully they weren't hostile. Tron landed with a whump next to him "Sheesh, talk about needing a bath" she remarked only to get a non-plussed look from Zero "Look who's talking." Before all-out war broke out a penetrating scream ripped through the air "Someone's in trouble" Tron said looking about for the source of the scream "Do you think it has to do with these weirdoes swarming all over?"
When she didn't get a reply Tron turned to face him, only to see he wasn't next to her anymore; he had hopped the fence and was running full tilt to the left of the warehouse. "Cheese and crackers" Tron griped before swinging her way down to the bottom floor. Ever faithful Gustaff lay parked in a small garage built next to the warehouse, the Servbots tending to him had just finished waxing him when Tron jumped into the cockpit. Pressing a button on the dashboard made a small retinue of Servbots fall out from one of the chutes cut into the wall and into a mini wagon that was attached to Gustaff's back . Flipping open a side compartment Tron noted that her laser pistol was there and ready to use before she blasted her way out of the warehouse. Behind her the Servbots began to patch up the hole in the wall she left as well as begin to fortify the defenses in case of an attack. Jumping over the fence, Gustaff bowled several Users down in his pursuit of Zero. "Stupid not-Mega Man" she grumbled beneath her breath "I do not stink." They zipped around several more warehouses for some time,and at one point Tron was sure they had lost Zero, but a nearby yowl caught her attention. Reversing direction she found herself facing the entrance to a small warehouse that had been cut to pieces, not blown off, not melted, not even crushed, but literally cut to pieces like a napkin. Hesitating, she spied a line of green neon that zipped within the dark confines of the building, Zero. Curious, Tron stepped inside and was amazed at the action going on inside. On one hand there was Zero who was dashing back and forth at a tremendous pace swinging his sword in broad horizontal strokes to clear away the number of zombies that inundated the room. There was a second figure in the room as well, a man whose back was turned towards her at the moment while he was fighting some sort of creepy creature. The monster in question walked on four legs and was a mottled brown, its brain was quite exposed on the top of its head and every now and then it would lash out with its tongue to try and skewer the stranger.
The shuffling of footsteps drew Ton's attention away from them, behind her came a wave of reinforcements. Trying her best not to retch, Tron grabbed her pistol while placing one foot on the Gustaff's dash. "Gross" she said as she shot them, they disintegrated into a pile of ashes leaving the lingering scent of rotten jerky in the air. She cleared out the wave but just as she was about to turn back to Zero the earth began to quake. "What the hell" Tron remarked but the answer soon stood in front of her, it was a large foot. The owner of said foot gave a roar and smashed the ceiling, sending metal debris and bits of glass onto the battlers before. "What is it" Tron gaped as she craned her neck to view it, it was one hell of an ugly giant with grey skin and a face only a mother could love. "If the internet search I just ran is correct that thing is a Bio Organic Weapon, quite illegal" Zero remarked walking up next to Tron "Or it could possibly be a cat meme called Grumpy Cat, it is difficult to differentiate between the two." "Fought these things before, must be those chumps' big brother or something" a voice said from the other side of Tron "You've got some explaining to do Dr. Tron." It was the rude man from the hospital a few days back. "Can it, Mr. Diaper" she shot back as she settled into her seat "Here it comes!" Raising a fist over its head it slammed it onto the ground sending a massive tear to rip through the earth. The trio scattered off into different directions, Tron jumped onto the scaffolding that surrounded the walls. Pushing Gustaff into his highest gear she swung about to the right zigzagging about the catwalk trying to find some sort of weak point to attack. Out of curiosity she shot the beast in the chest with her pistol but only a weak burn appeared on its skin, the epidermis was far too coarse and thick for her weapon to do much more.
The giant's attention was on Zero as the Maverick hunter who was using his laser sword to climb the creature. With surprising skill he dodged the fingers trying to pluck him off before leaping into the air with a somersault. "Hah" he shouted sending his laser blade deep into the giant's hand severing it completely from the wrist. The useless appendage flopped onto the ground with a thud, a scream emanated from the giant, one of rage not pain. It waved its stump about with such fervor that Zero failed to regain his position back on the elbow and the program fell to the floor with a grunt. As she watched from above Tron noticed the severed hand, it had begun to move! The skin began to bubble and ebb as a hand emerged from the wrist, then another. Within minutes the hand had degraded into a horde of zombies who began to charge right at Zero who was still sprawled out of the ground. "Watch out" Tron said as she began to pick off as many as she could with her weapon but her position was pretty shoddy so she missed more than she would have liked. Luckily for her the rude man had suddenly reappeared from the right side of the warehouse and with a roar he rent them to pieces with knives that came out of his hands. "Get up" he barked at Zero yanking the program off the ground by the arm. "Both of you, watch out" Tron yelled from up above giving them just enough time to roll to the side before a giant foot stomped down where they had been. Together they circled the ankle using their blades to sever it and send the giant crashing to the ground. Pulling the levers on Gustaff Tron sent herself over the ledge of the scaffolding and onto the giant's head "Let's see if this works" she said to herself hitting another button on the dashboard.
Gustaff's hand retreated back into his wrist while a drill took its place allowing it to begin to drill into the back of the giant's head. The skin was really hard to penetrate even though Gustaff's drill was capable of cracking open diamonds; it took several long moments for the skin to finally start to peel off in thick ribbons. While dazed the giant was not conscious and while its head was being assaulted it rollicked on the ground forcing Tron to watch her step. Below them Zero and the stranger teamed up to take down the zombies that had appeared from the severed foot. Eventually the shock wore off and with a groan the giant picked itself back up with Tron and Gustaff still attached to the back of its head. Valiantly they fought to keep drilling but their footing was poor and like Zero they were sent tumbling to the ground. Gustaff's motor whined as it activated the rockets on its back jetting him and his passenger to the safety of the scaffolding. Unfortunately she had gotten the attention of the monster and, with a yell, it sent its fist smashing down on the metal catwalk.
The metal crumpled like tin foil and the jolt flung the pair into the air. "Ms. Tron" Zero called out dashing forward but some metal debris from the scaffolding fell down blocking his path. Noting the difficulty it had in maneuvering around the room the giant paused before giving a weird keening noise. On cue a huge crowd of zombies began to shamble their way into the warehouse, Zero began to back up on reflex. "Don't just stand there, dumbass" the man barked at him as he rushed forward "We gotta stop em before he starts chowing down on em." Sadly the horde was too big for the pair to cut through before the giant managed to get his clumsy fingers around the heads of a few zombies. Chucking them into it mouth the beast had to wait a few minutes before his hand and foot regenerated. Unlike before the snack did not end with rejuvenation, a few more mouthfuls activated some level of genetic modification. The already massive giant got another height boost allowing him to lord over the warehouse like a child over a toy house. As if that wasn't bad enough it's back opened up like a split fruit allowing a tangle of tentacles to push their way from behind its spine. With a scream it beat the area around it like a petulant toddler, whipping both of its opponents about the room while destroying the rest of the warehouse. Groaning Zero picked himself up between the two beams that had fallen on either side of him just missing his arms. In front of him he watched the strange user pull himself up, he had been impaled by a sharp sheet of metal that had curled off the wall. His hands were slippery with his own blood meaning every time he managed to pull himself up a few inches his grip would slide sending him back to his starting position with a new river of blood gushing out of his tummy. "Could use a little help here" he wheezed at Zero, perhaps the sheet had also sliced through a lung?
With a frown Zero sliced through the metal before kneeling beside the user "I believe you are about to expire, I wish there was something more I can do to help you" he said. With a laughing bark the man waved him away "Go find two other people. A guy in a suit and a girl in some sort of Japanese get up. We were trying to get to safety, they better be all right, dammit." Realizing this constituted as a last request Zero stood up trying to figure out what would be proper etiquette to say in this situation. "May your data be archived" he muttered reciting the typical program death prayer when one of their own was being de-rezzed which got him a strange look from the man. "What the hell" the guy said as he began to inch his way back up the sheet "Are you going or am I going to have to do it myself?" Sighing Zero ran towards the back of the room, he hadn't seen anyone else when he had been fighting so he assumed that they had hidden in the back while the battle was going down. Glancing above him he noticed that he could no longer see the upper half of the giant, the destruction of the warehouse had sent a cloud of dust into the air obscuring it. It wasn't moving though; its feet were still like if it was standing at attention. Ignoring it for the time being Zero jumped over the rubble and climbed atop one of the walls to give him an eyeful of the rest of the warehouse, the sight made him let loose a breath he hadn't been aware he had been holding.
Tron had survived the fall; she must have landed nearby the two other people the strange User had been accompanied by. Together the three of them had survived the building collapse using Gustaff to bend some steel beams into a canopy to protect them. While Tron looked fine and the other female user looked down right delighted by the carnage going on around them the male user was clearly frightened. Walking up to his fellow program he gazed at her solemnly "Are you ok?" She said nothing choosing to just nod her head while her eyes glimmered with trepidation. "Where's the other one" she asked looking for the stranger "He has expired, we need to get out of here as fast as we can. That monster has grown too powerful for us to beat by ourselves not to mention we are now responsible for these Users safety." "Uh, yeah about these Users" Tron said "They speak some sort of funny language," "Funny language?" Zero parroted before turning to the girl "What language are you speaking?" After cycling through several transcripts he finally hit the bullseye with Japanese "Can you understand me?" "Ye-yes, I knew it! See Nick, see! It is a mini Sentai!" the girl gushed "Hi, mini Sentai, my name's Maya and I am a huge fan!" "I…see" Zero replied "I wasn't aware that there were any Users who knew of my duties. They mostly pertain to cyberspace." "I've been watching you since I was a kid and was Captain of your fanclub since middle school" she gushed "Can I get a picture?" "Now is not a good time, we must escape as quickly from this place as we can."
Maya shook her head vigorously "No, we have to wait for Mr. Logan to come back. I thought I saw him fighting with you against that giant…thing." "I'm sorry to tell you this but Mr. Logan has…expired" Zero said trying his best to sound compassionate, Users liked that didn't they? "What the hell kinda language are they speaking Zero" Tron asked beside him annoyed he was keeping her out of the loop. "Japanese" he replied switching back to English "Don't you have a language translator?" "I'm not some sort of cyber program that polices the system" Tron shot back crossing her arms "You have to a lengthy language algorithm to talk to different programs who were created by users from around the world." "Wh-what did you s-say" Maya piped up her voice unstable "What do you mean Mr. Logan…expired?"
"I am sorry to say that Mr. Logan has…" Zero gave quick check of his servers to insure he had the right word "…died." Maya stepped back in surprise "What?" She gaped for a bit before shaking her head "It's fine…Let's get out of here." "Fine? Fine? How is this fine? How can anything be fine?" the male user suddenly exploded pulling at his stiff hair "Mr. Logan is dead, did his life mean nothing to you. How the hell are we supposed to get out of here, did you notice the zombies lurking outside this building?" Maya looked a little shocked at his sudden outburst but then a small assuring smile appeared on her lips "Aw Nick, you gotta read more manga. The hero never actually dies, he just gets sent to the spirit world for a bit before the ghosts kick him back to the living world. Plus, plus, plus, we have the mini Sentai here so as long as we stick close to him we'll be fine, plot immunity and all that jazz." The man face palmed "Maya, you're unbelievable" but her little pap talk had worked to some extent, the user wasn't as irritated as he was before. "I understand the Users propensity for idle chatter is very strong but we must cease and desist such superfluous talk until we can extricate ourselves from this situation." Zero interrupted "Shall we go?" The users nodded and began to climb the rubble about them heading towards the south-west while Zero motioned to Tron "Keep an eye on our flank please; I doubt either of these Users are as capable of fighting as the expired one was." "Thank motherboard; we're finally leaving" Tron said as she finished checking up on her Servbots "Got any idea where we're heading?" "Away from here" he answered her before jumping in front of the Users and began to scout ahead.
"What about the giant" Tron called from behind him "Shouldn't we wait till he leaves?" He didn't have to respond, he pointed to behind them and that was all he really needed to do. A massive wave of zombies had begun to infect the area, no doubt looking for some flesh scraps to nibble on. The imminent threat of being devoured by them put some pep in their step and soon they were able to get clear of the wreckage. Ducking down an alleyway the quartet zigzagged towards downtown, stopping only to let Zero zap an isolated zombie allowing them to move forward unnoticed. Even as they exited the warehouse district the mountainous legs of the giant could still be easily seen above the rooftops. "Are you sure we should be heading deeper into the city" Tron asked as Zero lead them out of the warehouse district towards main street "Seems to me that the zombies are clustering tighter the further downtown we go." "We must find some sort of shelter" Zero answered back as he began to survey the buildings around them "Preferably small and easy to defend, with only the two of us capable of combat the threat of being overwhelmed is high."
A few blocks down they came found their route cut off by a massive mob of zombies that had coagulated on the streets like a blood clot effectively halting all non-undead traffic. As they retreated back a few feet Nick turned to Zero "What are we going to do? Should we try to go around them?" Before the program could answer there was a cacophony of howls which sent shivers down everyone's spine. "We should get out of here, now" Tron said, her voice trembling slightly from consciously repressed fear. Dashing back from where they had come from the group zigzagged through the alley trying to find somewhere to hide. Soon there was a large pack of zombie dogs on their trail growling like fiends, their decayed legs toeing the strength of the rotting muscle as they charged forward to claim their supper. Putting Gustaff on auto pilot Tron turned around and began to shoot them with her laser pistol, it picked off a few but the twists and turns they made going around corners made her aim abysmal.
As the dogs approached, close enough to smell their retched breath, Maya turned to Zero "There, I think we can hole up in that shopping mall." "It would not be the most efficient place to bar ourselves in…" Zero hesitated only to get an irritated retort from Nick "We'll die if we don't find some sort of shelter!" Acknowledging the logic behind that statement Zero turned and darted down the street that led to the complex with everyone else hot on his heels "Get ready, once you're inside get away from the doors." His laser blade retracted and his hand formed the barrel of his Buster which he set to fire in short rounds of three. The automatic doors barely had enough time to swing open before all four of them dashed into the hallway of the mall. Using his momentum Zero turned and pivoted on his feet allowing him to send a wall of plasma death at their pursuers. The dogs fell quickly but a distance behind them he could see the rest of the horde lumbering towards them, the vanguard was only half a mile away. The automatic doors shut with a whoosh and Zero sealed them with his Buster which he had put back on its default setting.
The next half hour was spent reinforcing the doors on the floor of the building; Tron's Servbots were particularly helpful in gathering materials. Together they watched as the zombie wave broke upon the walls and doors of the mall like a wave but they were not able to penetrate their way inside. Yowling at how their food was just out of reach they placed their rotting faces against the doors leering at the captives inside. Blanching Maya turned her attention elsewhere "Do you think we're safe" she asked as she surveyed the open corridors of the mall which were lined with stores. "I don't know" Zero replied "But we need to keep our guard up at all times." He walked towards the center of the floor which let one look down on the first floor of the mall "Let's split up and see what supplies we can find. User Nick, you are with me. Ms. Tron, please look after User Maya." The pairs combed the first and second floors of the mall coming across plenty of goods that would make their stay comfortable. It was still too early in the invasion for widespread looting to have broken out so the store had not been strip searched for anything that could help one survive the undead fallout.
Using his laser to carve through the metal grates that locked up a sports good store on the first floor Zero entered and froze, he did not hear User Nick behind him. The User had sat down on one of the benches in the middle of the mall next to a pond where goldfish swam about in bloated happiness. "Something wrong?" Zero asked noting the paleness that had crept onto the man's face. "It's all just too much to take in" the man commented as he stared at the floor "First being placed in New York, dealing with Mr. Logan, losing Mr. Logan, the zombies…I just don't know how much more I can take." Zero frowned, clearly User Nick was distressed and distress could be the forerunner of a nervous breakdown or a fit of hysteria neither of which he wanted happening. Cursing the fact that Users were so difficult to deal with Zero cleared his throat "Being overwhelmed by our current predicament is not wise. If you dwell too much on what is happening now you will be unable to plan for the future. Our focus should be on staying alive and not how we got into this situation." His words had the desired effect, Nick took a deep breath before nodding "I suppose you're right but..." he sighed again "I wish I were more like Maya, she seems to be taking this like a champ." "Going with the flow would be better than moping in this situation" Zero said pointedly "Yet such whimsy will only blind you in the end. Do not forget that User Maya dealt with User Logan's death by denying it all together. Such an attitude is not well suited to the realities of the world, it would be better to approach this with an objective stoicism."
"I don't think I'm capable of that but point taken nonetheless." The lawyer replied "On the bright side at least this day can't get any worse." As per status quo the universe was bent on making sure that Mr. Wright was utterly wrong about that. "Why the hell is this foolish fool here" the voice from his nightmares asked accompanied by the sound and pain of a lash striking his back. Yowling in pain Nick jumped up from his seat and turned around with tears streaming from his eyes "Me and my big mouth" he whimpered. Franziska von Karma stalked up to the pair followed by the photographer Frank West "I will be answered Mr. Wright, why are you here, how did you get in here, who the hell is that, and where is your idiotic assistant" she asked with the tenacity she usually reserved for a witness she grilled. "I could ask you the same thing" Nick replied "Why is Mr. West here?" Unfortunately his question brought more punishment from the prosecutor "I am asking the questions" she roared as she let loose a string of lashings that left the lawyer huddled on the ground. "Nick, Nick, what wrong" Maya called from above having heard the commotion from the second floor of the mall. Leaning over the railing she pied the group down below her "Ew, why is Franziska here?" "How dare you use "ew" and "Franziska" in the same sentence, they are mutually exclusive" Franziska screamed trying to lash Maya as well but the shrine priestess ducked back behind the railing before she could get hit.
"Why don't we all try and calm down" Frank said throwing a hand over the prosecutor's shoulder which earned him a beat down from the German. Eventually they managed to pacify Franziska long enough to gather everyone in the center of the mall for an exchanging of information. In the middle of the two ponds was a small island made of marble allowing mall visitors to watch the fish as they pondered the next store they would visit. Setting up some camping chairs from the nearby sporting goods store the group rested while eating some snacks. Their stories didn't differ greatly; both groups had awoken to the sounds of the undead attacking their living quarters and both groups had struck out to find a safer haven to weather the storm. Franziska had stumbled across Frank West in her escape and he led her to the mall where he reasoned they could bunker down for a month if need be thanks to the resources it held. They had entered the mall minutes before Nick's group and had set about preparing to fortify their position when they heard the fighting going on near the doors. "I request that you leave immediately" Franziska announced once their story was complete "We got here first and with more of you here there will be a bigger strain on our food, finders keepers."
"Like hell we will" Maya shot back "You can't use elementary school grade logic against us we've got a Sentai on our side." She gestured to Zero who frowned "We will not leave, there is plenty of food here for all of us." Franziska stroked her whip menacingly "Are you sure you won't consider." Nonchalantly Zero activated his laser blade to slice open some fruit he had gathered from one of the stores "I will not." Recognizing she had been bested on the contest of strength Fraziska grimaced, her lips pressing firmly in a line, before getting up and stalking off deeper into the mall. "The nerve of that woman" Tron remarked as she got up and stretched her legs "Thinking she could kick us out of here." "She ain't so bad" Frank West said in a placating way "Every rose had its thorn" "So does a durian fruit" she shot back before walking away from the group "Give me some space will ya."Evidently the need for privacy was felt by everyone; each of them filtered away leaving Nick to entertain himself by looking at fish. 'This is boring' he thought, perhaps the real danger here wasn't the zombies but cabin fever 'I wonder what everyone else is doing.' The first person he happened to stumble upon was Zero who had carved a circle around his feet and doing katas within it. "Do you require something" he asked as he spun around using his blade to slash through the stomachs of imaginary opponents. "Not really, I'm just bored" Nick admitted before plopping down on the ground a few steps away from the Maverick Hunter. "So, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you?" The program did not stop in his attacks using a feint to punch his opponent back before ending him with a blast to the face from his Buster.
"I am Zero, a Maverick Hunter within the Theta cycle of the Unus Mundus system which contains exactly 789.675 cycles within its network. I am what you humans call a "security program" whose primary directive is to hunt down powerful viruses known as "Mavericks" and eliminate them from the cycle." His pause went on long enough for Nick to realize he had stopped the conversation "Is that it" Nick asked hoping for something more to go on. "It is my purpose and my life. Aside from a detailed log on what sort of Mavericks I have hunted there is little more for me to share with you." "Are you a robot" Nick asked scratching his head, this had bothered him for a while now "Your face looks fleshy but the rest of you seems metallic." "I am not sure" he answered "In the Unus Mundus I was data but when Tron pulled me from my memory stick she transformed my data into metal and flesh, it seems I am a cyborg now. For more information it would be best to consult with Tron for she is the one who had the device on her person." A thought seemed to occur to Zero "Perhaps now would be the optimal time to ask her about that. I must return to the Theta cycle as fast as possible in order to head off another Maverick attack." "Can I come, I'm really starved for some sort of entertainment here" Nick requested getting a stiff nod from Zero.
The pair began to search for the phantom thief on the first floor; they ran into Frank West in the sporting goods store. "Hey there Mr. Wright" he greeted them with a friendly handshake "Haven't seen you since the trial, hope there are no hard feelings about that?" Zero translated this to Nick who replied "None at all, what are you doing here?" They were in an aisle that was filled with sporting equipment, more specifically stuff pertaining to baseball. The photographer grabbed a nearby Louisville Slugger and tested the weight and heft "Gathering some arms, don't want to be completely reliant on two children if the zombies come crashing through the walls." "I am not a child" Zero said frowning "I am a Maverick Hunter." "Of course you are kid, of course you are" Frank consoled him in a condescending way "As for why I'm here, let's just say zombies and malls are two things I've dealt with on a regular basis as of late." "Did you hang out in a mall during the first invasion" Nick asked "After taking the photos of Spidey?" Frank shook his head "Nah, this ain't Colorado; there was plenty of space to squirrel away. I took shelter in one of the theaters in Broadway, the one hosting Cats. That was definitely one of the weirder zombie invasions of my life." Nick quirked an eyebrow "You've been in multiple zombie outbreaks before?" Frank gave the lawyer his patented cocky grin "I've covered wars ya know, a zombie outbreak or several ain't nothing for me."
Having gone through multiple bats Frank found one he liked and grabbed as many as he could carry "If you would have told me eight years ago that I'd be a zombie apocalypse survivor specialist then I'd would have pounded ya into the pavement but here I am. Makes ya wonder what the big guy up there is thinking of, or if he just hates my guts." "Since you're traveling with Franziska I'd definitely say it would be the latter." Frank didn't reply right away, placing the bats under one arm he juggled with a cigarette and lighter for a bit until he could light one using one hand. Tentatively he breathed out a sheet of white smoke that dangled in front of him for a bit then wafted upward till it hit the ceiling and dispersed. "How long have you known Franny" Frank asked inquisitively. It took Nick awhile before he could figure out who the hell Frank was talking about "Franziska? Well it's been about three years now" Nick muttered rubbing his chin absentmindedly "Why do you want to know?" "Just curious s'all" the photographer replied taking another inhale of smoke before continuing the conversation "She always the one ya face in court?" Nick shook his head "Depends, usually it's my friend Miles who acts as prosecutor or on rare occasions Godot but if Miles isn't available it's usually Franziska." "So are you two…close…or something like that?" Nick shivered violently "Quite the opposite, she's scares the crap out of me and I'm a sore spot for her because I sent her father to jail." "Really" Frank said and the surprise was so evident on his face Nick couldn't help but ask "What made you think we were…like that?" Frank grinned "She talks about you all the time, it's always "That foolish Phoenix Wright did this" or "That foolish Phoenix Wright did that" or sometimes "When I see that damn Phoenix Wright again I'll turn his back into hamburger". It kinda makes a guy wonder what the chemistry is between the two of you."
Nick blanched "Well she's pretty and…feisty I suppose? But I don't want to date her and I'm pretty sure she's rather strangle me than makeout with me." "Does she have any boyfriends" Frank asked out of the blue. Flustered Nick scrambled for an answer "How the hell am I supposed to know? We're not close, like I just told you. She's so abrasive anyway I'm sure she scares away everyone except for her brother. And Gumshoe, she spends a lot of time with Gumshoe, actually, now that I think about it they do spend a lot of time alone together." Nick furrowed his eyebrows "Could it really be…?" he shook his head "Nah, Gumshoe may be a doormat but I don't think even he could take that much abuse." "So you're saying she's single right?" Frank asked, he had taken out of the bats from under his arm and was slowly caressing it with his thumb "What kinda of guy is this Gumshoe anyway?" It suddenly all clicked into place for Nick and he found himself torn between gaping and blushing "You've fallen for Franziska?" Frank laughed and leaned back "I wouldn't say I've fallen for her but I'd say that I'm interested in browsing the merchandise, savvy?" Nick shook his head in disbelief "Clearly you haven't been around her for that long, you do know she whips everyone right, not just me." "I like a woman with some spunk" the photographer replied which confused Nick until Zero explained it all in both languages "Mr. West is admitting in a roundabout way that he is a masochist."
"I should have known" Nick remarked which enraged Frank "I ain't no damn pansy-ass masochist" he stated stabbing his finger into Nick's chest "Just forget that I asked you, ok?" Nick stepped back "Ah, alright, I'm sorry." Satisfied that the lawyer was off his case Frank chilled out "Nah, it's nothing. Guess I am a little crazy if I'm thinking that Franny is alluring, guess it's just the stress of being in this situation again." He rolled his shoulder causing the bats to lightly knock against each other "Oh yeah, there was one other thing I wanted to talk to you about. What sort of weapon do ya want?" "Weapon" Nick said "Why would I want that?" "To protect yourself of course, dumbass" Frank replied "It ain't like the zombies are just going to let you go cause their worried about you slapping 'em with an assault charge" Nick rubbed his chin "I'm not really sure, I've never been in a situation like this." "If it were up to me I would give User Wright a ranged weapon of some kind" Zero piped up "Using a rough analysis of User Wright's body mass I compute attempting to place him in the front line would be inefficient." "S'true, bro, might want to try hitting the gym a little more" Frank said irritating Nick. But before the lawyer could snap back the photographer began to head back down the aisle "Got just the weapon you need, all I got to do is build it." He disappeared around the corner leaving the pair alone to continue their search for Tron. Unconsciously Nick did a bicep curl 'I'm not that wimpy-looking, am I?'
Such thoughts continued to plague the attorney until they stumbled across Maya in the food court. She had their back facing them but from her posture and position at the counter it was easy to conclude she was chowing down on something. "Hey Maya, what are you eating" Nick asked walking up to his assistant. She turned around and beamed at him "Nick, you're just in time to witness the creation of the best gourmet food item in the world!" Tossing her hands up she spun around in her seat several times before reaching behind her and bringing forth the mother of all Frankenstein foodstuffs to their faces. The first thing Nick noticed was the mass of noodles coming out from the contraption, ramen noodles to be exact. That wasn't a huge surprise, Maya's favorite food was ramen, but the noodles weren't in a bowl. Instead they had been placed in the middle of two hamburger patties and were acting as one of the toppings sitting atop the burger itself along with ketchup, mayo, mustard, lettuce, and soy sauce. Maya had been crushed when she found out that ramen didn't sell all that well inside America, aside from instant ramen the noodles could not be found at any vendors. She found an incredibly odd replacement for it in the very American hamburger, perhaps the complete antithesis to ramen, since then Nick's office had become riddled with discarded burger wrappers and he was having to constantly shell out money to appease Maya's cravings.
Still, it had never occurred to him that Maya would attempt to combine her favorite foods into the unholy abomination that dangled inches from his lips. "Uh…that's nice" the lawyer said, scrambling for something nice to say "So I guess you call it a ramenburger?" Ecstatic at his alleged approval Maya nodded "Yep, want the first bite?" It amazed Nick that after watching a wave of undead flesh chase after him, the shriveled, flaky skin following off in scab like flakes revealing spongy bone and fraying muscle fibers, that it would take something like the ramenburger to make him want to violently retch. "Um…no. I'm good" he said while trying his best to keep the green blossoming onto his features to a minimal. Shrugging Maya turned to Zero "How about you then?" For the first time since he met the mini robot thing Nick noticed something akin to panic cross it's features "I must decline" the Maverick hunter replied "My ion processors will not be able to handle the…uh…magnitude of such a foodstuff." "Suit yourself" she said before retracting the abomination from their faces "Bon appetite." Voraciously she crammed the entire thing into her mouth and after a second of chewing on it her eyes lit up in delight. She mumbled something with a smile before continuing to devour the rest of the ramenburger. Neither Zero nor Nick decided to stick around for that long, both of them retreated in a hurry around the bend and retched into the first garbage can they could find.
"I had been told by Users such as yourself that the process of eating was one of great pleasure, surpassed by nothing" Zero remarked as he came up for air with a thin strand of puke dangling off his lips "I see now that they were highly delusional." "Maya just has an iron stomach" Nick explained leaning up against the trash can "I guess you can consider this some sort of perverse blessing, now I won't have to worry about eating for a while." Their appetites fully destroyed by the disgusting ramenburger the pair cleaned themselves up and continued looking for Tron. The first floor didn't yield any results so the pair took the escalators up to the second floor. Absentmindedly Zero began to wonder into one of the stores closest to where they had been dropped off unaware that Nick had stopped short behind him. The Maverick Hunter had just ignorantly wandered into a lingerie store. Blushing at the blown up pictures of sultry women in lacy things Nick debated with himself to follow the program into the store. 'If Maya were to catch me going in there she would blow her top' he thought, wincing at the image that was present in his mind 'I should just wait here.' Unfortunately for Nick he was unable to keep his mind out of the gutter thanks to one prominent poster of a beautiful buxom blond giving him makeout eyes. 'Well, I haven't been in an American lingerie store before; it'll be an interesting cultural experience. He thought to himself with a blush 'Plus I need to go grab Zero and get him out of there, he's culturally ignorant of this kind of stuff. I have to save him from his faux pas.' Satisfied that his conclusions justified his entrance Nick tiptoed into the store.
Among the bras and panties he found Zero wandering about looking for Tron "This place is mysterious" the program remarked as he ducked under a shelf of bras "What purpose do these fabrics have?" "That's…complicated" Nick replied suddenly feeling self-conscious "I doubt that Tron is in here" he noted that the bras Zero was searching through were of the D size "Or at least she's not in this section." He grabbed Zero and turned to leave when a feminine growl made him break out in a cold sweat. "What do you think you are doing in this store Phoenix Wright?" Pure shocks of fear shattered his muscles leaving Nick paralyzed on the spot, his only conscious thought was being thankful that Maya could channel the dead, it would allow him to say goodbye to everyone who had been his friend. "Uh…uh…Franziska…I, uh, well" he stammered "Zero ducked in here and I knew it was inappropriate so I came to get him out." "A likely story" she said pointing at him like she would in court "Exhibition A!" her finger dropped down to his crotch where something had risen. Blushing Nick around in abject embarrassment but before Franziska could punish him with her whip Zero cut in. "I do not understand what is going on here, how come User Nick is not allowed in this store but you are?" Her hand hesitated for a second before slackening a bit "Perhaps I may have been mistaken" she commented as she searched Zero's eyes for any sign of deception.
Realizing he was being spared the switch Nick calmed himself down and turned to face Franziska "Actually that is a good question, why are you here?" The words were past his lips before he could register what he was saying, an oversight that cost him dearly. With a scream she launched into her tirade "That is none of your business Phoenix Wright" she shrieked punctuating her words with lashes from her whip. After a solid ten minutes of rage Franziska calmed down while Nick passed out from the pain. "Does your Modus Operandi typically devolve into violence against User Nick or is this some sort of human courtesy ritual I am ignorant of?" "I don't like what's coming out of your mouth" Franziska hissed coiling her whip "I suggest you stop blathering." "Point taken" Zero remarked "Then may we change the topic? Why were you traveling with User West?" She shrugged "I stumbled into Frank West outside of my building. Those foolish undead freaks had entered my building and the other foolish residents foolishly were unable to handle them thus becoming foolish snacks. I managed to whip my way out of danger and found Frank West dispatching zombies outside. He pointed out we should travel together for protection." Zero nodded sagely "He is down below gathering weapons. Was he good in battle?" Franziska nodded "My whip arm is no slouch but Frank West easily took out thrice the zombies I did. Mind you my place is in the courtroom and not foolishly strolling about dispatching foolish zombies."
"What do you think of User West" Zero asked which got him a perfect eyebrow raised up in confusion "What are you foolishly asking me?" "I am just curious about what you think of User West" Zero replied trying his best to phrase it with the right amount of user nonchalance "He seems enjoy your company." Another perfect eyebrow rose "He enjoys my company, how foolishly vague of you." The Maverick Hunter shrugged "I am just making a statement." "Keep such foolish statements to yourself then" Franziska demanded but instead of following up with a lash she seemed to withdraw into herself. Zero observed her, User emotions were completely alien to him so being able to witness them first hand proved be valuable experience. "If I may make a suggestion" he said shattering her reverie "User West seems to like it when you whip him. Increasing the amount of punishment you inflict on him may help you to get to know him better." She gave him a weird look "Such a foolishly queer statement, if you wish to imply something foolish do not beat around the bush like a fool." Still he noted the way her hand tightened on her whip in anticipation.
"I have one other question" he piped up which made her scowl "This third degree is most trying, how much longer must I stand here answering your foolish questions." "Forgive me, it will be brief" he replied "User Nick mentioned that you have been spending noticeable amounts of time with someone named Gumshoe. Was he implying something?" This earned him a lash to the face "Foolish fool, what in the foolish hell are you foolishly talking about?" she roared at him "Scruffy is the most abhorrent man alive, he is large and clumsy. He eats an inordinate amount of food and talks about the most inane things. He is an incompetent, an idiot, and a bum. Every second I spend with him is one where I must wrestle with the urge to fling myself into the path of an eighteen wheeler, a fight that gradually grows more and more futile with each passing day." Silently Zero recalled a line from a play that Users seemed to be awfully fond of 'The lady doth protest too much' he thought as he watched her yell and gesture wildly, he had never understood the sentiment behind that phrase until now. "Forgive me, I seem to have misread something" he said placating her slightly "Get out" she snarled at him and dutifully he retreated from the store dragging User Nick behind him.
A few splashes of water from the fish pond roused him from his sleep "My back" he whined as he slowly got up. "Shall we continue our search for Tron" Zero asked pointing down at the other end of the mall "We have searched everywhere else save for that portion." "Ok, give me a minute" Nick replied as he lightly rubbed his back "If I had known finding her would be this circuitous I would have stayed staring at the fish pond." The pair wandered towards the very back of the store where they found a door with light glowing out from its closed frame. It was room used to store inventory, Zero knocked on it "Ms. Tron, are you there?" The door opened with a squeak and the yellow head of Servbot 34 edged its way out and stared up at both of them. "May we see Ms. Bonne" Zero asked the little servant who squeaked a bit before retreating back behind the door. "What did it say" Nick asked. "I do not know, it speaks in a language my servers do not understand." Nick chewed on this a bit long until the Servbot returned and flung the door open for them. Crossing over the threshold they came across a rather funny scene. Tron had pooled all the candy she could from the storeroom into the middle of the floor, apparently this is where they kept the extra for the vending machines. With childish whimsy she had buried herself within the pile so her entire body save her head was underneath the rainbow wrapped candy. Her head stuck out of the side allowing her to breathe and consume candy by the handfuls.
The Servbots gathered around her like if she were a bonfire of some kind, they sat on their haunches and squeaked to each other in their high pitched language. They were the ones who first noticed the presence of Zero and Nick and their squeaking died immediately. It took Tron a second to realize she had visitors; her eyes had been closed in glee. "What the hell are they doing here" she demanded realizing what sort of position she was in "Who was the smartass who let them in?" All eyes turned to Servbot 34 who angrily pointed to his Lego-like brethren at alleged co-conspirators. Huffing Tron began to try and wiggle her way out of the candy pile only to find that no matter how she twitched and shook she couldn't free herself from its sugar coated grasp. "Little help here" she snapped at Zero and Nick "and watch those hands." They dashed over to the pile and reached in grabbing her hands and legs and hauling her out on top of the pile. Rolling down onto the floor she picked herself up and walked over to the pair of them. "If I hear a word about this from anyone else I'm gonna let the Servbots tear you from limb to limb and sell your organs on the black market" she jabbed her fingers into the chests menacingly "Got it?" The pair nodded, Zero as nonchalantly as ever but Nick nodded like his head was a magic eight ball.
Satisfied they wouldn't go blabbing she picked out Servbot 34 and hauled him up by his stubbly arms. "So you think you're awful funny, don't you?" The poor Servbot shook his head frantically but Tron wasn't taking any of his bullshit "You're on KP duty for a month" she announced which crushed poor 34 while its brothers quietly cheered behind them. Having doled out the punishment she turned back to the pair "What the hell do you want" she asked clearly annoyed they had interrupted her chocolate feast. "I wanted to enquire about the manner of machinery you used to transport me from the data world to the organic world" Zero asked "I wish to return to the Theta cycle post haste in order to resume my duty." "Too bad, the machine is back in the warehouse between a crap ton of zombies and one mean giant." Tron stated, scratching her nose "Though I have a question of my own, what the hell were you doing in a memory stick in the first place?" Zero crossed his arms "My data was abducted by a mysterious user and I was transported into this world to act as a caretaker over some kind of main frame. I hired a User to upload me into a powerful computer so I could use its processing power to send me back into the Unus Mundus." "Weird, this place uses an entirely different server so that should be technically impossible" Tron said rubbing her chin "There's no known tech that allows server jumping." "Known to us programs" Zero corrected her "It is entirely possible the Users have a way to transfer the data."
They mused over the possibility while Nick stood there awkwardly since they had lapsed to talking gin English. "Tron, have you noticed some oddities in this world" Zero asked "I am not familiar with the User world so I cannot pick apart the odd from the usual." "There's the zombie invasion for the most part" Tron acceded "A couple of other things now that I think about it." "Why did you not notice this before" he asked accusingly which made Tron raise her hands defensively "Cut me some slack, I've been busy doing stuff. It's not like I got all the time in the world to check out the weird stuff." Exasperated by her lack of concern Zero waved his hands dismissively "Please review your data bank and list the irregularities, I have a feeling something is wrong here in the User world. Also, please set your Servbots to patrol the building in intervals, we need to stay vigilant for zombies." "Ok, ok, whatever" Tron said "Just get the hell out of here and leave me in peace." The pair exited the room "What was that all about" Nick asked "Seems like you guys were pondering something." "A…theory has recently begun to compile in my head and I wanted to do some fact checking with Tron" Zero explained "Shall we go and gather the others, I believe that this answer can be verified if I ask them some basic questions."
