12:06 AM (Anchorage Time), Saturday February the 25th…
"… Say, Bill…"
"What's up, John?"
"Did you hear about the ghost of the old factory?"
"Ghosts again? Man. It's but a stunt!"
"But this time it's real!"
"As if I haven't heard that a billion times already…"
Two police officers were arguing inside of a police station.
One of them was trying to impress the other.
A phone rang and one of them answered it.
"What now, Mike?"
"Hear me, Bill! Someone sent a threat letter!"
"Really? It's not a prank?"
"No. It says "to Masked Thunder, the Greatest Hero"…"
"Never heard of it… Is it a comic-book hero, too?"
"I've heard that there was a contestant by that name…"
"The sender is "the envoy from Hell, SM"…"
"It's a prank by some bored kid. Burn it…"
"But what if it's related to the odd things in the old factory?"
"Tell that to the FBI. We're not rent-a-cops…"
"I find your lack of faith disturbing…"
"Who…!?"
"How did you make it here!?"
"I'm the spokesman of Hell, Rufus Shinra!"
"The wanted criminal!"
"Devil!"
Rufus appeared behind them, crossing his arms and smirking.
The office's door was kicked open and someone jumped in.
"I'm the envoy from Hell, Spider Man!"
"What!? Spider Man!?"
The famed "superhero" appeared there and danced.
"When did you become that?" John asked with a sigh.
"Blame a certain Japanese studio…" Rufus laughed.
"I couldn't care less…" He grumbled.
"We only came to say "hi"… Tell Masked Thunder this…"
"Come to the abandoned factory, or we'll sell the piglets…"
"Piglets? What are you, a butcher?"
"More or less. The man will figure out the rest!"
"And how do we find him?"
"Tell the Net Police and they'll transmit the message…"
"Why not do it yourself?"
"Because you're "reliable witnesses"…" He sneered.
"What was that!? As if that's our only worth in life!"
"Who knows? Ask the prosecutor…."
"It's not involved. Shut up and vanish!"
"Call the Net Police!"
12:22 AM (Anchorage Time)…
"… Sent a dummy, remote-controlled fake into the system…"
"Wise idea. It's very likely a trap…"
"I still don't see what piglets have to do with this…"
"It's a way to hide that he means to sell human children…"
"What a sick bastard…"
"We all agree…"
Thunder Man was making his way across the Cyber World.
He reached a firewall and stopped to study it.
He opened a control screen and operated it.
A copy of himself warped in next to him.
"It looks old, but it's working. It's camouflage…"
"While that of the children is probably a lie…"
"Doesn't harm to be careful…"
Thunder Man interacted with the firewall and inputted commands.
A small doorway formed, and he stepped inside.
The interior of the area was filled with low-hanging, water vapor.
"I have a bad feeling about this…" He whispered.
"Same. Feels like it's someone else's domain, even…"
"But it's not Freeze Man. Else it would be frozen…"
"Agreed…"
"I'd say that we pull out and wait for reinforcements…"
"Sure…"
He quickly made his way back to the doorway.
However, a mass of blue "gel" formed over it and grew thicker.
"What!"
"Who dares step into my territory…?"
A voice rang out as a figure hovered towards there from beyond the vapor.
Thunder Man silently became invisible and remained still.
A red glow became visible.
"Nothing can escape my eyes… Feeble life-forms!"
A green beam shot out and hit the firewall, melting a layer of it.
"Seen enough… Self-delete!"
The avatar was deleted and the real one ran away.
A roar rang out as the firewall shuddered.
"Whatever. All I needed was for you to awaken the beast…"
"Damn you, Rufus!"
Rufus appeared there, smirking.
"Go weep to your lover, Masked Red…"
"I fail to see the point!"
"Go, Paul McRaul! Wipe out the pigs!" He laughed.
"Lame. Pathetic. Childish…" Raul scuffed.
Rufus laughed as he dashed for the firewall.
He formed a new doorway and rushed inside.
Sounds of a fight soon echoed out from beyond it.
"Net Police! What's the status?"
"It's Death Shadow's hideout…"
"Devil!"
"Call for reinforcements from Japan. It's no pushover…"
"What about Rufus Shinra?"
"Went inside to fight the freak himself…"
"If only they destroyed each other…!"
"No point in hoping things. Send the message!"
"Roger!"
Several Police Navis made it there and coordinated.
"Tempting, but I know my limitations…"
"When did you…?"
"I can be silent when I wish to…"
Yoshitstune stood before the firewall, crossing his arms.
"Orders from the HQ are to ignore this man…" The commander warned.
"Roger, sir!"
"But I can at least hack into the sensors to see what's happening…"
"Good idea. We don't want to thrust in blindly…"
Yoshitsune interacted with a control panel and inputted commands.
A wide screen formed, displaying what was happening.
Rufus wore a knight's armor over his body.
He wielded a wrecking ball on the right hand a bayonet on the left one.
He had a jetpack to fly over the ground.
He battled Death Shadow, who countered with a green beam.
"What's that lame collage?" Thunder Man sighed.
"A mix of European knight and French soldier?" Raul sighed.
"Pathetic…" Yoshitsune scoffed.
Rufus swung the wrecking ball and hit the foe's right shoulder.
Death Shadow ignored it and swung back and forth.
It shot several quick bursts of the green beam.
Rufus jumped to dodge and fired several shots from the bayonet.
The blade atop it detached and flew off, hitting a wall.
A bolt of lightning hit it and bounced off it, headed for the foe.
Death Shadow merely became the spheroid and sped away.
It bounced off the wall and formed the edged disc around itself.
"Eat this!"
He flung the wrecking ball there, but it became stuck there.
He was pulled towards the spheroid.
"Damn it!"
He detached the chain and dropped to the ground.
Death Shadow hit the opposite wall and embedded there.
The disc vanished and the spheroid dropped to the ground.
Death Shadow reverted out of it and headed for Rufus, shooting.
Rufus formed an energy bubble around himself to absorb the shots.
The bubble became green and shot green beams at random.
Some scratched Death Shadow as it moved across the field.
"If that fool could destroy you, then I can do that, too!"
The opponent didn't bother reply and merely moved around.
"Stay still! Mouse!"
He formed a Magma Seed and flung it to the ground.
A puddle of magma formed there.
However, the vapor covered it, and it soon solidified.
The vapor began to condensate into liquid, forming small puddles.
The room began to freeze, and the walls were covered with icy spikes.
"Rivaling Mr. Freeze?" He laughed.
Death Shadow remained silent as they charged up the arm cannon.
A powerful green beam shot out and pierced the bubble.
It destroyed the chest armor of Rufus, and he growled.
"Don't become conceited, you freak!"
Death Shadow hovered away as a blizzard blew across the space.
The spikes flew away from the walls and hit Rufus across his body.
He roared as the icy, sharp spikes stabbed and pierced him.
Death Shadow formed the red beam from the left forearm device.
It attached to Rufus chest and pulled him towards Death Shadow.
The latter gripped the head with the left hand it glowed.
"The location of that flying machine must be within you!"
Death Shadow began to extract the data but scoffed.
"Feeble life-forms will be but such… They are feeble…"
He flung Rufus away and closed the left hand.
Death Shadow hovered higher into the air and the ice flew for it.
They fused into a long spear of ice.
It thrust through Rufus and stabbed the floor.
"Your corpse shall be a lesson for the other feeble life-forms!"
Death Shadow extended its arms and legs, laughing.
It glowed and became a mass of blue particles, flying away.
"Sorry for the wait. The fool set up mazes along the roads…"
"It's over… For now, that is…"
Blues and Prism Man made it there and Thunder Man sighed.
"That freak is looking for that bomber thing…"
"Guess that it suspects that Rufus built it already…"
"But I would be wary of stepping inside. Might have left a trap behind…"
"Agreed… Let's send a ping command instead…"
"I approve. Let's do it…"
Blues inputted a command.
A "ping" signal was sent inside of the room.
When it bounced off Rufus, several energy releases ensued.
The screen was blinded with pure light.
"Devil. They hid Power Bombs beneath the floor!" Blues hissed.
"And that Rufus probably escaped during the confusion, too…"
"By the way, Mr. Samurai… What about your warriors?"
"They are on another mission… They shall not interfere…"
"There are "Dark Realm" warriors that we don't know?"
"Things that we stole from Clark to hinder his petty plans…"
"Fine. If it hinders Clark, anything is welcome…"
"I heard that there was a fuss. What happened, gentlemen?"
"You're late to the party, Mr. Cat…"
"Caith Sith, if you may!"
Caith Sith made it there and Raul teased him.
"The usual, pointless battle between those two…" Blues summed up.
"Naturally!"
"Did you check airfields and such where a bomber might hide?"
"Maybe that abandoned Army Base from where the Cybeasts invaded?"
"True… The location where I met Iris…" Enzan recalled.
"I'll go check it myself. But if you want to do it, too, you're free to…"
"Will simply ask for a team to recon it…"
"Welcome to the Show of Pride and Defeat!"
Rufus laughed as his voice echoed.
"Says the man that was defeated…" Raul scoffed.
"Go, Big Brother! Show them your samba skills…"
"You were saying? There was a brawl between drunkards…"
"Whatever. Operation Snake Eater will soon begin!"
"I'll crush it before it begins…"
Blues drew his Neo Variable Sword to challenge the enemy.
"Good, good. Else it wouldn't be fun…"
"It won't be so fun when Clark learns how useless you are…"
"You were saying? I was crushing the skull of a drunkard…"
"That doesn't intimidate us in the least…" Prism Man shot back.
"Beware, Ginny. The bourbon bites…"
"I fail to see the meaning. It's probably stupid and childish…"
"Try to find me in the maze of skyscrapers that Shinjuku is!"
"If Tesla Magnets could, we can as well…"
"That was a show to make you feel confident…"
"What painful excuses…"
"And I still have competent underlings…"
"Feels like they're decoration, since you steal their screentime…"
"All in due time…"
"You must be bored, if you need us to vent your failures…"
"You were saying? I was cutting the throat of a drunkard…"
"Word-thief…" Raul grumbled.
"The frigid nights of Alaska will make your reflexes dumber!"
"Then go fight Freeze Man over that…"
"If they show up, I will crush their skull!"
"If you can, that is…"
"Maybe Clark can do better than you, even…" Raul taunted.
"You were saying? I was stabbing the back of a drunkard…"
"Do you have a grudge with drunkards or what?"
"You never know… Lazard might have with womanizers..."
"Whatever. Settle it between both of you…"
"Delighted…"
The "presence" vanished and they all sighed, annoyed.
"It's late night for me. I'll rest…" Raul told them.
"Understood. We'll try to gather as much data as possible…"
"I'll resume hunting for that bomber…"
"Go ahead. This isn't a time to care about "merits"…"
"Let's check that no harm comes to the "CF" users, too…"
"Given what happened to Dingo, we should…"
"I'll arrange for it…"
18:13 PM (Japan Time)…
"… It had to be you…"
"Been a while… Cousin…!"
"Whatever. Show me if you have improved at all…"
"Skeptical, aren't we?"
"Don't have time for farces…"
Rock Man was battling Sergei in the Cyber World.
Rock Man used two Long Blades to counter Sergei's dual blades.
Sergei was smug, but Rock Man was unimpressed.
Sergei stepped forward to attack, but Rock Man jumped away.
Sergei also backed and Rock Man glanced at the ground.
"I know that trick. A Stealth Mine…" He fumed.
"Who knows?"
"Well, Hikari? Did you smack Dingo's butt to get him off the bed?"
Nakayami laughed at his lame joke.
"Who knows? Maybe Rufus is about to do that to you…" He shot back.
"Nice try. But unlike Obi, I'm not that overconfident…"
Sergei formed small daggers around him, which spun on their axis.
They flew for Rock Man in a cross formation.
Rock Man didn't yield ground and used a Metal Body.
The blades broke when hitting it.
Sergei's blade became hotter, and he thrust forward.
A Curse Shield dropped before Rock Man, blocking his attack.
"Crafty, aren't we?"
"I take nothing for granted when it comes to Clark's cronies!"
"Well said, Hikari. You're finally becoming a true dancer!"
"What does dance have to do with anything?"
"Didn't Blues and Thunder Man use it to defeat an Asteroid?"
"No… That was a Screaming Contest, not a dance contest…!"
"Too bad. Would've liked to see them dance the samba…"
"Don't allow them to distract you, Netto – kun!" Rock Man warned.
"I know! Time to counterattack!"
Rock Man turned off his defenses and stepped forward.
He clashed with Sergei's blades, and they cooled.
"What? You added Aqua Sword effect to them?" He grumbled.
"I've learnt many things over these years!"
"Interesting… Let's see the result of them!"
A quick clashed ensued, with their blades hitting each other.
Neither yielded terrain as the clash continued.
A groan rang out nearby, but neither stopped.
"What a foul coward. You do not interrupt a battle of swordsmen!"
"Damn you, masked cosplay wannabe!"
"That's Yoshitsune… And that coward, Hunter Man…!" Netto muttered.
"Guess that he meant to attack me, but Yoshitsune stopped them…"
"Jaeger! I didn't tell you to come!" Sergei complained.
"It's orders from Mr. President!"
"Bring out that coward. I'll take their head and hang it before the gates!"
"This isn't the Warring States Era!"
"Matters not!"
A scuffle ensued at some distance from there.
The combatants continued clashing back and forth.
Sergei jumped away and crossed his blades in an "X" formation.
Rock Man also did the same as they circled around the area.
Sergei formed a ring of daggers around his waist.
They formed an "X", too, and shot forward.
Rock Man blocked the foremost one and the others flew past him.
However, they stopped and turned to aim for his back.
"I predicted that, too!" Netto announced.
"What?"
"Battle Chip, Gust! Slot In!"
The box with the fan formed there and pushed the blades upwards.
They hit a Curse Shield's underside and stabbed there.
Sergei clicked his tongue as Rock Man shrugged, unimpressed.
"As always, you rely more on little tricks than real skill…"
Sergei didn't reply and resumed his attacks with more ferocity to them.
Rock Man was slightly surprised but soon adapted to the new pace.
An explosion rang out nearby.
Yoshitstune dropped there and crossed his arms.
"I drove away that foul coward. They won't hinder you anymore…"
"What are you, anyway?" Nakayami growled.
"A novice warrior that must learn the ways of battle…"
"Go back to the Sengoku Musou games!"
"If you would show me the way…"
Nakayami growled something under his breath.
Sergei heated up his blades and shattered Rock Man's blades.
He wasn't impressed and formed new blades coated with water.
When Sergei hit them, his blades cooled down.
"Shit. This trick again?"
"Naturally…"
Sergei grumbled as he tried to come up with something.
His blades hummed as he stepped back but then thrust forward again.
He easily cut Rock Man's blades and managed to harm his chest.
Rock Man winced but didn't yield ground.
"Mega Cannon!"
A Mega Cannon turret formed and shot at Sergei from the right.
He jumped to dodge as Rock Man formed new blades again.
Sergei became annoyed and ran for Yoshitstune instead of Rock Man.
The samurai saw him coming and calmly drew his blade.
He held it horizontally to block the strikes from Sergei.
"I'm fed up with this farce!" He roared.
"Blame Rufus Shinra and Jonathan Clark…"
"I won't be satisfied until I expose you as the ultimate weakling!"
"What a vain fool…"
"You're but a Yamato Man imitator! Take that!"
"And?"
"What?"
"And even if I was… What would that change?"
"Damn it!"
"That pathetic acting won't deceive me…"
Sergei snarled and jumped away.
He glanced at both opponents, unable to decide his priorities.
"Fine! I'll find that vessel and destroy it! Then I'll be unique again!"
He warped out of the space, and they all sighed, annoyed.
"What a pitiful existence. Born to be a buffoon forever…"
Yoshitstune sighed and shook his head.
"And even if you achieve that, what will change?"
"Good point. The curse of Clark won't vanish…"
"I cannot feel anger for them. Only pity…"
"Sorry for overhearing, but I must agree…"
"Well, well. Caith Sith. Did you find the bomber?"
"58 of them. All dummies…"
"Classical!"
Cait Sith appeared there and sighed as well, hanging his head down.
"But be careful. It could be acting to make us confident…"
"I already assumed as much. He poured more effort last time…"
"That coward made their presence too obvious as well…"
"In short. We're being made to dance to the tune of their flutes…"
"Unfortunately…"
"I need a break… Let's go back home!"
"Agreed. The others can handle the chase…"
18:39 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Been a while since I was last here…"
"Having a warm place to relax helps soothe one's mind, doesn't it?"
"I don't deny that. Been too many days fighting the bitter cold…"
"That man tries to wear us down. We must avoid that, Yuriko…"
"I know, Pride…"
Pride and Yuriko talked inside of a room.
It was made of stone and had a fireplace on the southern end.
They sat in red armchairs next to the fire.
Pride wore her official dress and sipped some tea.
Yuriko also did the same.
There were cookies and a brownie set on the tea table, too.
"Our intelligence services also found 34 dummy bombers…"
"I know. Miyabi and I dug up 17 of them, too…"
"The issue is… Is the real one hidden amongst them?" She wondered.
"Hard to tell. Is it following the advice of "hide a leave in a forest"?"
"We're working with both possibilities…"
"Better have an open mind. Else, we fall for their traps…" Yuriko warned.
"I am aware…"
"Sorry for being repetitive…"
"You aren't. One often forgets things when under stress…"
"True…"
Yuriko sipped some more tea.
"What about our VIP?"
"He's helping with many things, as usual, and is in high spirits…"
"That's great. But are you keeping tabs on him?"
"Naturally. But hasn't tried to dig up dangerous information…"
"Good. I guess that he lacks the motivation to…"
"I did hint that there might be traps by Clark, too…"
"Smart. Given what he went through, he wants to be away from it…"
"I feel sorry for having to deceive him, but…" She sighed.
"You can't take anything for granted when it comes to Clark…"
"Given what they did to Dingo the other day…"
"That was pathetic, too..." Yuriko fumed.
"Also… I feel like he's trying to achieve something bigger…"
"Such as?"
"Finding a way to defeat Death Shadow, but, at the same time…"
"Replicating it into a mindless puppet…" She concluded.
"Maybe he already made the first step last year…"
"It's possible. Maybe he simply wants to fuse it with it, and…"
"Become mightier… Or provide the data to Clark…" Pride suggested.
"That could be a goal, too…"
"The issue is Clark. If we don't tackle him, you never know what…"
"… What other things will happen…"
"Or what others pawns he has in store…"
"The issue is… Even if Clark appears and we beat him up…"
"We have no guarantees that that's not a fake…"
"Yes. Just like what happened in the past…"
"To begin with… Maybe that tale of "fleeing to another world" is a lie…"
"I've considered that several times, of course…"
"But you couldn't find any proof of that…"
"Unfortunately…"
Yuriko ate a cookie.
"But Clark is an adept at hiding and lying in wait…"
"I know. He hid for almost half a year after that battle in the crater…"
"Not even Kanou Shade could prove that Clark was alive…"
"True. He's not going to make it easy…"
"I did try tracking Rufus, but he unleashed Spark Man on me…"
"He sure loves that piece of scrap…"
"More like he loves "pitting one against themselves"…"
"How stupid, truly…"
"I'm back, Yuriko. Rufus tried to beat me with copies of Burner Man…"
"But our combination defeated those feeble Phantom Navis, Princess…"
"Classical!"
"Good job, Knight Man…"
Both Navis returned to the PETs to report.
"Feels too "desperate" to be true, anyway…" Yuriko concluded.
She used the fork to eat a piece of the brownie portion.
"And?" Pride asked.
"We found 111 dummy bombers in JFK airport…"
"As if bombers would be there…"
"We are aware. But we had to pretend to bite the bait…"
"Yes. I don't blame you for that. It was my orders, after all…"
"Your Will, Princess…"
"We also saw that Yoshitsune man chasing a copy of Yamato Man…"
"Maybe Rufus wanted to use it as bait to lure him out…"
"By stirring his warrior spirit…"
"Or maybe he did like us and pretended to bite the bait…"
"It's not an illogical conclusion. He is smart, too…"
Pride also ate some of the brownie.
"As for Cait Sith… If he won't antagonize us, I won't chase him…"
"Agreed. We have more important targets to worry about…"
Yuriko frowned as if she had realized something.
"Say, Needle Man. Didn't you find some odd data the other day?"
"Sure. It said "The triplets: Tom, Dick and Harry "…"
"I remember hearing those names the other day…" Pride muttered.
"It's on a classic film, The Great Escape…"
"The names of the protagonists?"
"No. The names of the tunnels they dug to escape the POW camp…"
"Wait. Does that mean that he's planning to free someone?"
"And it must be the "Big Four"…"
"Not those again…" Pride sighed.
"It's Clark. Loves reusing useful pawns…"
"Then we should issue a warning right away!"
"If he didn't beat us to it, that is…"
"Knight Man! Call Prism Man of the Net Police!" She ordered.
"Right away!"
"This is Prism Man. Is something the matter?"
"We suspect that Rufus means to break out those four…"
"We considered the possibility, too…"
"And?"
"Officer Misaki personally checked on each of them…"
"And they were the real ones?"
"Yes. We did double check that it wasn't an illusion, either…"
"Maybe that data is misreading and wants to bring those four…"
"The Asteroids…? Makes sense…"
"Nevertheless, keep eyes on those four! Especially…"
"That violent man… We constantly keep him isolated, yes…"
"Don't take him lightly. Might be waiting for a chance to bite…"
"Wouldn't surprise us…"
"Anyway. Send warnings across the major facilities…"
"Already did so, with the approval of the Commissioner…"
"Excellent. They might strike at the depth of the night, too…"
"Typical of them. We'll have a team ready…"
"We will also assist…"
"Thank you for your cooperation…"
The call ended and Yuriko finished the tea.
"I'll take a short nap and then join the team…"
"Roger that. I'll send warnings to Cream Land, too…"
"The enemy will strike when we least expect it!"