05:05 AM (Dubai Time), Friday February the 24th…
"… W-what the hell are these things!?"
"Reminds me of Hojo's freakish creatures, Mr. President…"
"And I'm sure that they are no joke, either…"
"Shit. That means that the surveillance data was altered!"
"They knew that we were watching it, after all…"
"I'm afraid that we underestimated their intelligence…"
Rufus, Sergei and Hunter Man walked down a dimly lit corridor.
Spherical glass capsules were lined up on the sides, before the walls.
They had several large animals such as tigers, zebras and lions.
They had blue stains and "veins" across the surface of their bodies.
Some had grown extra claws, tails, or wings, even.
"But that thing is but a Net Navi by now! It can't make the "real" deal!"
"True… These are holograms, not the real deal…"
"It's probably the result of simulations…"
"Hell! It scared me, thinking that it was the real deal…!"
"But this is an abandoned chemical plant, it's not unreasonable…"
"Maybe they have made something similar, even…" Sergei suggested.
"Fine! Then I'll take it for myself!"
"Fools. As if I would make it so easy…"
The echoing voice rang out as the fog filled the corridor.
"I am waiting for you up ahead… Come…"
"You're asking for it!"
The other two sighed, as if they foresaw trouble.
They reached the end of the corridor, and an automated door opened.
They exited into an open space, with no ceiling.
There were traces of machines having been there, but they were gone.
A figure stood in the center of the space.
"Death Shadow!" Rufus hissed.
The figure standing before them was over a meter and eighty tall.
The helmet had no face.
A turquoise slit shaped like an "Y" was set on its center.
There was a dome above it.
The shoulders were round spheres with a cell pattern drawn into them.
The armor was thicker around the chest.
Ellipsoid lines resembling eyes were set on it.
There was a small, round spot with six membrane formations on it.
It was reminiscent of a mouth.
The left arm had lines running down the sides.
They ended in a very thin and skeletal hand.
A living, round turquoise eye with a black pupil was set atop the palm.
The right arm a turquoise and navy-blue built-in buster.
The waist had a navy-blue piece shaped after a "V" built on it.
The legs had two spots resembling eyes above and below the knee.
The feet were slightly curved.
The foe hovered some centimeters over the ground.
"Indeed! And I shall fulfill my mission!"
"Boast as much as you want! I'll crush you before that!"
Rufus quickly shot, but the foe flipped to the left.
They drew their arm cannon and loaded it.
They shot a scorching beam of plasma at Rufus.
Rufus side-stepped to dodge and shot again.
A blue energy barrier formed around the foe and bounced it away.
Death Shadow opened the muzzle of their arm cannon.
Five missiles simultaneously shot and flew for Rufus.
He quickly intercepted them but didn't see a red beam flying for him.
It gripped him and pulled him towards Death Shadow.
He cursed and shot at close quarters, using the recoil to break off.
"How crafty!" He hissed.
"Is that all?" Death Shadow taunted.
"No!"
Death Shadow's arm cannon glowed purple and shot three bursts.
Rufus was about to shoot his shotgun, but it frizzled and exploded.
He hissed and formed a new one.
Death Shadow's arm cannon glowed yellow and shot a blast of energy.
Rufus side-stepped to dodge and shot a barrage of salvoes.
Death Shadow shot another set of five missiles, which he intercepted.
The arm cannon glowed and became pale blue.
A mass of frigid ice shot for the feet of Rufus, and he jumped to dodge.
He was too caught up with that and didn't see a plasma beam shooting.
It pierced through the right side of his chest, opening a hole.
He hissed and growled but landed on the ground and shot.
However, the foe dodged by moving in a zigzag pattern.
"Stay still so that I can destroy you!"
"Foolish and feeble life-form… "Death" cannot be destroyed!"
The other two remained silent and looked on, anxious.
"What are you waiting for!?" Rufus growled.
"You didn't order us to attack it, sir…" Sergei argued.
"You said that you would defeat it yourself, sir…" Hunter Man added.
"I care not anymore! Destroy them!"
"R-roger!"
"Come. And evolve into the next phase of life-forms!"
"We won't become your tools, you freak!"
"Then die as feeble life-forms!"
Sergei and Hunter Man joined the fray, and the foe laughed.
The foe jumped into the air and the spheroids on the shoulders detached.
The foe closed the body in a fetal position as both halves closed around it.
The spheroid charged up energy and shot across the floor.
"Damn!"
It left a trail of small, glowing spheroids.
They detonated in small explosions a few seconds later.
The spheroid climbed up one of the walls and charged energy.
It shot away and flew for Rufus, trying to shoot at it.
A ring of energy formed around its axis.
The ring became a spiked wheel.
Rufus gasped and dived for the ground to dodge the attack.
The ring vanished and an energy field formed.
The spheroid bounced off the ground and glued to the opposite wall.
Hunter Man shot a charged-up attack towards there.
The spheroid detonated a small bomb and jumped some cm higher.
It dropped to the ground and shot towards Hunter Man.
"Curse Shield!"
He formed the shield before him, but the spheroid attached to it.
It loaded energy and formed the spiky wheel, which became a buzzsaw.
It spun at quick speed and cut through the shield, baffling the user.
A white, ovaloid object with three LEDS on the surface hit the floor.
It beeped as the LEDS lighted up in the order of green, yellow and red.
Energy released from the spheroid and expanded as a dome.
Hunter Man roared as he was pushed away by it.
The spheroid headed for Sergei next, but he flew skywards to avoid it.
He charged up electricity on his sabers and aimed them at the foe.
Bolts of lightning hit the spheroid, but it didn't stop its rampage.
It jumped over a patch of terrain and Rufus hissed.
"Damn it! The thing predicted my Stealth Mines!?"
"Maybe it has a radar that can detect them!" Sergei warned.
"It hasn't been idle, indeed!" Hunter Man hissed.
An explosion rang out and the door was burst open.
"I finally found you!"
"Damn it! Forte next!?"
Forte appeared there and the spheroid stopped moving.
It reverted to the humanoid form and Death Shadow laughed.
"Come! Fool that destroyed the envoy of the stars!"
"I'll delete you just like that fool! Earth Breaker!"
Forte charged energy on his right hand and flew for Death Shadow.
Death Shadow also covered his left arm in an energy field.
It flowed towards his hand and formed a blue energy mass, too.
They jumped for Forte, and they clashed in mid-air.
The contact between both energies triggered a reaction.
Both mixed and then two simultaneous energy releases happened.
Two expanding domes, yellow and blue, pushed both away.
Forte landed on the ground and Death Shadow did the same.
Neither spoke and they remained tense.
Rufus tried to attack Death Shadow, but a roar rang out.
A blue tiger with longer claws and wings fell atop him.
It began to tear him to pieces, and he roared.
"Shotgun blast!"
"Eat swords!"
Hunter Man and Sergei attacked the "tiger".
However, it absorbed the attacks and shifted to red color.
It expelled a stream of flames from the mouth, burning them.
They barely managed to use their arms to block some of them.
"What a freak!"
"Eat this!"
Sergei flung a Magma Capsule at it, but it caught it with its teeth.
It flung it away and it hit the wall instead, melting part of it.
The tail elongated and formed spikes over its surface.
It shot for Hunter Man and coiled around his neck, stabbing it.
He growled and shot at the tiger, but it swallowed the blast.
Two yellow energy beams shot from the eyes and pierced his chest.
"What in the…!?" Sergei gasped.
"Salamander!"
Hunter Man roared as the heat ignited and destroyed the tail.
He drew an arch and dived for the tiger.
It jumped away, however, and he hit Rufus instead.
The blast set him on fire and burned through its Navi body layers.
Only the "skeleton" remained, but it was barely holding together.
"M-Mr. President, sir!"
The "skeleton" silently arched the body as energy flowed in.
The skin layers began to regenerate at a quick speed.
The clothing also regenerated.
Rufus hissed as his body reverted to normal.
"I'm immortal!" He roared.
Death Shadow paid no heed as he was exchanging shots with Forte.
The tiger snorted, as if it was mocking them.
Rufus roared and formed a fragmentation grenade.
He flung it into the air and shot at it, detonating it into fragments.
They stabbed into the body of the tiger.
However, the tiger unfolded its wings, and the pieces flew off from there.
They stabbed into Rufus and pierced through his body.
He hissed as the wounds healed and formed a flamethrower next.
"Die!"
He shot at the tiger, which didn't bother to dodge.
He was too caught up to see a red "aura" building up around it.
"Careful, sir! It's up to something!" Sergei called out.
"Whatever they ploy is in vain! I am immortal!"
The tiger ran for Rufus and tackled him into the ground.
It shot a stream of acid at the face, boiling away the skin layers.
"Shit. How do we defeat thing?" Hunter Man cursed.
"It absorbs anything that we use against it!" Sergei hissed.
"I'm sending you something. Try it out!" Obihiro radioed.
"Roger, sir! Eat this! Bug Bomb!"
Hunter Man formed a grey bomb with black slits.
He flung it at the tiger, and it swallowed it.
The tiger roared as it collapsed on the floor, its legs vanishing.
The bugs quickly caused for breakdown of several parts of it.
"It's a witches' brew of bugs and viruses!" Obihiro chuckled.
Death Shadow momentarily glanced over there but wasn't impressed.
They had formed a blue blade to clash with the Dark Arm Blades.
The tiger was eventually fully deleted, and both sighed in relief.
Rufus scowled as he regenerated his wounds again.
"Enough distractions! I'll crush you yet!"
Death Shadow laughed and hovered.
It shot towards a corner of the space.
It then flipped to the right as a copy of it flipped to the left.
Each repeated the procedure, creating another two copies.
They quickly spun upon their axis and then zigzagged.
"Damn. Lost track of which is the real one!" Hunter Man growled.
"They're jamming the radar, too…!" Sergei hissed.
"Matters not! I'll destroy all of them!" Rufus roared.
"Out of my way!"
Forte thrust his right hand through Rufus stomach area from behind.
He then gripped the face with that same hand.
"Vanish!"
He unleashed energy and Rufus roared.
Sergei and Hunter Man rushed there but were interrupted by the foes.
"Out of the way!"
Forte pulled out the arm and drew both Dark Arm Blades.
He cut Rufus to pieces, which fell into the ground.
However, energy beams emerged and interlinked the pieces.
They assembled back in place and Rufus laughed.
"I told you! I'm immortal!"
Forte didn't answer and looked up and beyond Rufus.
He suddenly flung his cloak over there and it landed above "something".
That "something" swayed in mid-air.
He jumped over Rufus and rushed for the target.
"Darkness Overload!"
He shot the powerful energy stream and tore through the cloak.
A drone became visible as it was smashed into pieces.
They scattered across the ground and Rufus hissed.
"You're nor immortal. That drone rebuilds you. It's but a stunt…"
He put on the cloak again as he kicked away the pieces.
Several roars rang out as more tigers appeared on the entrance.
"More of them!?" Rufus gasped.
"Don't worry! I can mass-produce the Bug Bombs! Have another!"
"Roger, sir! Bug…!"
Hunter Man was about to fling it when a red beam latched to it.
One of the Death Shadow copies stole it and caught it with the left hand.
It crushed it and absorbed the data.
"No way! It's building antibodies!?" Obihiro gasped.
The copy erratically danced as parts of its body frizzled or broke down.
It eventually exploded, staining the ground with a blue gel.
However, a blue energy sphere remained and flew for one of the tigers.
It absorbed it and its eyes glowed blue.
The eyes of the other tigers also did so.
"It's using P2P (Peer to Peer) systems to share the data at once!"
"I had enough time to analyze and understand my abilities…"
Death Shadow's cold laughter echoed.
"And to absorb knowledge about such methods, too!"
"Damn it all!"
The tigers formed a circle around the combatants.
A buzzer rang out as two hatches formed on the ceiling.
They drew towards each other and joined together, sealing it.
A hatch also formed on the entrance.
The whole room rumbled and "displaced".
"It's not a static room!?" Rufus gasped.
"But where does it mean to go?" Sergei gasped.
"The ocean behind the factory!" Hunter Man realized.
"Intending to crush us with oceanic pressure!? Damn you!"
"I don't care! I'll smash them before that!" Forte roared.
He rushed for one of the foes and shot his Darkness Overload.
The foe blew up into pieces and the gel sprayed Forte.
He ignored it and attacked another copy.
The remaining two foes jumped into the air and formed bubbles.
Energy rose from the ground and travelled towards them.
Bolts of lightning shot out from the bubbles and landed at random.
"We only have 30 seconds before it drops into the ocean, sir!"
"We're at a disadvantage! Let's retreat!" Rufus hissed.
"At once, sir!"
The trio escaped the area as Forte kept fighting the foes.
"Let us see if you can defeat nature!" Death Shadow taunted.
"I can! Because I'm the strongest!"
"Who had to rely on a weakling to defeat something even weaker?"
"Shut up! I'll destroy Clark myself, when they dare to show up!"
"Regret your impotence in the bottom of the oceans…"
"Shut up!"
Forte smashed another copy and only the real one remained.
He flew for it, but it merely laughed.
The "gel" that had sprayed his body formed bubbles and hissed.
"What!?"
Veins extended from the scattered masses and linked them together.
"Salamander!"
Forte formed the mass of flames, igniting and detonating the gel.
The consecutive explosions inflicted damage across his body.
He ignored them and dived for the foe, which flew for him.
The bubble surrounding it also ignited and detonated.
The explosion nullified both of their attacks and pushed them away.
Forte scowled and built energy on his right hand.
He jumped for the left wall, which had a spot that was partly melted.
He smashed it and shattered the armored wall, opening a hole.
He flew outside of the cubical room as it travelled along rails.
The tunnel opened into the Persian Gulf waters.
The cube reached the end of the rails and fell into the water.
It quickly sunk inside and was out of sight in the span of a few seconds.
"Must have weights on the underside, even!" Forte scowled.
He warped and landed atop the tunnel, in the bright daylight.
He looked around for traces of the enemy.
He jumped away as five missiles rained down there.
"Naturally!"
Death Shadow hovered in the air, aiming the arm cannon.
They signaled Forte with the left index finger.
Forte gasped and screamed in pain, clutching his forehead.
The pale blue "shi" ("death") kanji formed above his jewel.
"You are my prey. Consider it an honor…" Death Shadow laughed.
"Shut up! Darkness Overload!"
"Fool…"
A "portal" formed before Death Shadow and the attack flew in.
Forte gasped and dived to the ground.
Another "portal" formed behind him, and the attack flew across the air.
He rolled across the roof and dropped over the edge.
He landed on a storage area next to the tunnel and looked up.
He noticed something and jumped away.
A container loaded in a crane fell where he'd been at.
Death Shadow hovered atop the crane's arm, laughing.
"Is that all!?" He challenged Death Shadow.
"Far from it… Go…"
The tigers jumped into the area and Forte scowled.
A sheet of ice formed on the ground and expanded.
The tigers were trapped inside of ice masses.
"Took you long enough…"
"I was waiting for a chance…"
Freeze Man hovered and landed before Forte.
"Whatever. Keep the trash away. I'll crush that fool!"
"Delighted…"
Forte flew into the air to fight Death Shadow.
The foe merely swung the left hand.
The crane's arm swung towards Forte, but he hovered to dodge it.
"As if such little tricks would stop me!"
The drawing on his forehead glowed and hissed as if it was burning.
Forte groaned and tried to ignore it as he tracked the foe.
He flew away to dodge a sickle that cut the air where he'd been at.
He noticed something and dropped towards the ground.
A huge drill flew across the air where he'd been at.
"Stop toying! Fight me!" Forte roared.
"It's trying to stall for something…" Freeze Man guessed.
"I don't care! I'll destroy them!"
"I warned you. Don't complain afterwards…"
Forte ignored him as he tried to locate the foe.
He felt something gripping his left foot and gasped.
He looked downwards to see the foe's left hand closed around it.
The hand emerged from "nowhere".
"That trick doesn't work on me!"
He formed the Hell's Buster and shot in that direction.
Something shattered, and a drone with an arm extension appeared.
Forte gasped but couldn't react as a scorching plasma beam pierced him.
Death Shadow had appeared behind him.
"You shall soon join the envoy of the stars as you return to the void…"
"Shut up! Darkness Overload!"
He was so fast that Death Shadow couldn't react, and it hit them.
Forte used the chance to fly in and grip their head.
He began to copy data from there, but the foe recovered.
The arm cannon glowed with pure light.
Bright, blinding beams shot through his body, opening scorching wounds.
Forte persisted and managed to copy the data.
He formed a USB stick and dropped it to the ground.
Freeze Man caught it with the left hand and warped away.
"Matters not. You do not have the means to see into my knowledge!"
Forte didn't reply and simply shot a streak of attacks with the Hell's Buster.
They inflicted superficial wounds to the foe, who wasn't impressed.
They loaded energy on the left hand and gripped Forte's chest emblem.
The claw-like fingers stabbed into the outer edge.
Forte groaned and used both feet to kick him away.
Pieces of the emblem were torn away, but he didn't mind those.
"I planted the seeds within you. Will you evolve, or will you die…?"
"Neither! I'll destroy you!"
"Fool. You cannot escape from "death" itself!"
Death Shadow laughed as they warped out of the area.
The "tigers" followed suit and Forte hissed.
"I need repairs!"
11:11 AM (Japan Time)…
"… That stupid thing tried to infect me with something!"
"It's probably part of their powers…"
"Trying to turn me into a puppet! I'll have them pay!"
"Naturally…"
Forte hissed as he argued with Freeze Man in a space somewhere.
"Whatever. What's in the data?"
"I'm trying to find a way to bypass these security systems…"
"I see that it has set up a failsafe!"
He scoffed as he looked at a diagram of the data.
"That Dubai site was a dummy from the start…"
"Classical!"
"Those "hybrids" are dangerous, but they're not the main deal…"
"What the hell is it, then?"
"Recreating it not as a data but as an actual chemical…"
"And?"
"Scatter it across Earth…"
"And what will that achieve?"
"Many species will die. Others will adapt and change…"
"Does that involve us, too?"
"Likely. What they did to you was but a teaser of it…"
"Shit. Turning me into a puppet again…!"
"Or maybe into a mindless, rampaging freak…"
"Where is the fool hiding!?"
"That's what I'm trying to decipher… Right, Mr. Fortune Teller?"
A gasp rang out from behind a stone block and Forte growled.
"Darkness Overload!"
"Time! Time!"
Caith Sith ran away as Forte blew up the cube into pieces.
"Well then, Nomad Emissary… Isn't this the time to intervene?"
Freeze Man crossed his arms and smirked.
"W-well… T-that's… I suppose that you could say so…"
"Acting won't fool me. Show me your true power!"
"I would like to, but…"
"What. Trying to say that you'll create an over-dependence?"
"S-sure! See, just like the Avengers or the Justice League…"
"What are you talking about?" Forte growled.
"I'll handle this. You can go and heal your wounds…"
"… Fine!"
He scoffed, turned around, and walked away.
"You mean to say that you'd prefer that WE defeat that thing…"
"Y-yes. Exactly!"
"Well then. How about a hint as to how to decode this?"
He signaled the diagrams behind him.
"If it's only a hint…"
He rubbed his chin, thinking about it.
"Try inputting "KAZEMURA LARTES"…"
"Fine…"
Freeze Man inputted the name and several of the locks opened.
"Death Shadow copied the system from someone else…"
"I had heard of it, but wanted to confirm it myself…"
"It doesn't matter if I say names, because…"
"They don't exist in this world…"
"Correct!"
"Fine. If we gain access to the data, it matters not…"
He began to check the data.
"These are the bomber schematics stolen from Rufus…"
"Wait. I see!"
"What is it?"
"He's inciting Death Shadow to build these and scatter that gel!"
"I see… So that's the point of it…"
"But he probably means to steal them before Death Shadow uses them…"
"And use it as a deterrent in the place of nukes…"
"Since he already has the habit of making missiles rain…"
"He's stepping it up to another level…"
"In fact, before ICBMs were invented, that was the core of the Cold War…"
"True. A flotilla of long-ranged bombers loaded with nukes…"
"And which is what caused that accident in Spain in the 60s…"
"I see. But instead of nukes, he probably uses napalm…"
"Using nukes would be counterproductive to him…"
"Naturally. Since he thrives off his underground businesses…"
"Ironically enough…"
"Clark will be Clark. Acts mighty but is half-hearted…"
"Sure! Because he can't defy the boss of the crime syndicate…"
"Proves how vain they are. They cling to them as if it was a lifeline…"
"Truly!"
"If you shall provide useful data, then I won't seek hostilities with you…"
"Finally! Someone that can be argued with!"
"That Dubai plant was provided by Rufus under a paper business…"
"Sure. BAIDU… Which is an anagram of DUBAI…"
Cait Sith stopped and frowned.
"Wait. If it's a bomber, then… Those odd "keywords"…"
"You have a hunch of what they are?"
"I need to research further…"
"Fine… You have more patience for those child games…"
"S-sure…"
"The issue is locating Death Shadow again…"
"They'll probably show up on their own accord…"
"Likely. Must be eager to showcase those "tigers"…"
"Must think of a way to deal with them, too…"
"Nothing is invincible. They must have a limit…"
"Maybe if they absorb too much energy, they'll overload?"
"It's reasonable. There is only so much energy that you can store…"
"Doubt that they have an IFF system to begin with…"
"It's feral creatures. They don't need one…"
"Makes sense…"
"There are also calculations about how to recreate that "gel" thing…"
"Feared as much…"
"Is trying to combine chemicals and radioactive elements…"
"Let's hope that it doesn't go into a spree to steal uranium or plutonium!"
"That could be dangerous, true…"
"But maybe it doesn't want to call for attention so early…"
"And will use small samples to conduct more accurate testing…"
Freeze Man grumbled and tapped his upper arms with his fingers.
"There's no self-destruct system?"
"Even if there was, our subject would've erased or disabled it time ago…"
"Fair enough. It's not stupid…"
"And knowing the maker, there never was any…"
"No point complaining to folk of "another world"…"
"We agree to work together to tackle this threat and Rufus, right?"
"I personally don't mind. But try not to interfere with Forte…"
"I understand! He doesn't have the patience for that, after all…"
"But will you eventually show what you really are?"
"Maybe… As a last resource, if all other options are exhausted…"
"That works fine for me. I wish to have a trump card at hand…"
"I'll try to negotiate with the "gloomy folk" as well…"
"Suit yourself. I have a bunch of data to study, anyway…"
"We have a truce, then. See you around!"
Caith Sith ran off, animated, and Freeze Man shrugged.
"Topmost priority is that freak. Let's freeze and shatter it!"