03:33 AM (Japan Time), Sunday February the 26th…
"… I'm back from Hell! And ready to tear those brats to pieces!"
"Same. I'll turn them into mindless puppets and slowly butcher them…"
"They'll slowly sink in the sands of my deserts…!"
"And I'll record their pitiful ends!"
A familiar quartet of Navis ran across the Cyber World.
They were Beast Man, Flash Man, Desert Man and Video Man.
They reached a firewall somewhere, protected by an energy barrier.
"That won't stop us from breaking through…"
Flash Man stepped forward and stabbed it with his daggers.
The energy flowed out and coiled around his forearms.
He then stabbed the ground to discharge it there.
"Your turn…"
He stepped to the side as Beast Man chuckled.
"Jumping Claws!"
He performed uppercuts with his claws and damaged the firewall.
"Go!"
"Lion Head!"
Desert Man formed the "Lion Head" and it hit the damaged area.
The panels bent and deformed.
"The finishing blow! Wind Cutter!"
Video Man formed his tape roll and hit the deformed panel.
It blew off and landed inside, beyond it.
"Amplified Virus Copy!"
Video Man extended his tape forward, and it glowed.
It projected a cone of blue light and a huge, pink Mettool formed.
It ran for the firewall and rammed it.
All panels were pushed away, and the quartet rushed inside.
"This loan business is now ours!" Beast Man laughed.
"The money to finance "The Great Escape"…" Flash Man chuckled.
"It'll make those humans shiver in fear!" Desert Man laughed.
"And I'll record their pain and agony!" Video Man laughed.
"Sorry to burst the party, but…"
"This is but a dummy business to lure you out…"
"It had to be Animal Man, Flash Gordon, Sand Man and Tape Man…"
"W-who the hell!?"
"The Gloomy Trio!"
"Didn't we agree to stop using that…?"
"Give it up, Solo. When she's in the mood for jokes…"
Yamikawa, Kagehi and Kuroumi showed up behind the quartet.
Kagehi pulled jokes and the other two rolled their eyes.
"And the wandering warrior, Yoshitsune…"
"Go, Yoshi! Eat them and turn them into eggs!"
"Excuse me?"
Yoshitstune joined them but didn't understand her joke.
"Ignore it. Focus on Beast Man…" Yamikawa ordered.
"Understood…"
"As if some punks will stop us! Wild Rush!"
Beast Man disassembled the head and arms.
They flew for Yoshitsune, but he didn't yield his ground.
He gripped his blade and waited for a chance.
He unsheathed it in the blink of an eye and cut the fangs.
Beast Man gasped, baffled, followed by his "buddies".
Yoshitsune's left fist was covered in metallic "skin".
He punched the face with it and pushed it away.
He then ducked to dodge the flying claws.
"Impossible!" Beast Man growled.
"Let's get started. Battle form, activate!"
A purple sphere of energy surrounded Kagehi.
The helmet was black, and it a "broken heart" drawing on the forehead.
Thick red shades covered her eyes.
Her hair fell down the sides of her head and stopped over the shoulders.
A black scarf wrapped around her neck, and it extended until the ground.
Her new form had a purple one-piece-bodysuit.
It extended until the hips, ending in a skirt.
Her arms were covered by purple and black bands.
The wrists were covered in golden armor.
The hand skin was purple.
The boots were plain and white.
"Meet Harp Note DS!"
"Cross Fusion…?" Flash Man wondered.
"No way. This is the Cyber World, remember?" Video Man argued back.
"Matters not! I'll crush these ants! Heavy Sand!"
Desert Man formed solidified cubes of sand above her.
But she already ran for him as they were forming.
"Machinegun Strings!"
She shot strings from her guitar at his forehead.
Musical notes travelled down the strings and paralyzed him.
"Shock Notes!"
Two speaker boxes formed on her sides, hovering in mid-air.
She strummed her guitar to shoot notes at him.
"Pulse Song!"
She formed a heart-shaped pulse and hit his body.
"Have your toys back!"
She jumped away as a new set of Heavy Sands formed above them.
They fell and crushed Desert Man beneath them.
"This is no amateur!" Flash Man grumbled.
"My turn. Let's see the extent of your famed tape, Tape Man…"
"VIDEO MAN!"
Kuroumi smirked as he stepped forward and transformed.
Kuroumi's new form had a black and red helmet.
It only protected the face, since the hair was exposed.
He had transparent, purple shapes shaped like an "X".
His ear-pads were small green domes.
He wore a plain black bodysuit, which began, at his jaw line.
His robe's emblem (crimson red) was drawn over his chest.
The bodysuit ran along each limb until reaching the elbows and knees.
Further black armor covered the rest of the limbs save for the right arm.
This armor had a red coil forming around the left wrist and the ankles.
His right arm had a thick black bracelet circling around the wrist.
It turned his right fist and forearm into a mass of burning purple flames.
He then drew a blade with a red and black hilt from inside the flames.
"I'm Burai DS. And this blade is worth a thousand words…"
"Don't prattle, Burry!"
"You were saying? A mosquito's buzz blocked it…"
"Amplified…!"
Burai DS rushed for Video Man and swung his blade vertically.
He easily sliced the tape in half and formed a wound on his body.
Video Man recoiled, surprised, and was met with a kick on his jaw.
A punch hit his face, and he dropped face-up on the floor.
"You lack proteins. Ask Mr. Sanada for some…" He laughed.
"Why, you…! Punk! Brute! Rude! Anarchist!"
"Learn some vocabulary from Captain Haddock, will you?"
Video Man jumped back to his feet and grumbled.
A "Dark Aura" formed around his body and healed his wounds.
His eyes glowed red and smirked.
"Growl, Head! Scream, Pinch Roller!"
His tape glowed again and formed copies of Burai DS.
The real one merely lifted his eyebrows, amused.
"Sorry for the wait, Flash Gordon. Let's go meet Mr. X…"
"FLASH MAN!"
Yamikawa taunted Flash Man as he transformed, too.
Yamikawa's battle form body was purple.
The helmet had a black central stripe with a bronze hexagon set there.
The sides had two blood red small square holes near the ear-pads.
Red thick shades covered his eyes.
His silver hair flew out from behind, forming a crest.
His chest had his emblem set there but lacked major armor.
The forearms were purple, had red grooves, and his hands' skin was black.
Two golden lines travelled down the sides and ended at around the knees.
His boots had purple grooves drawn over them.
"I'm Dark Comet. Let's get this show rolling, Mr. Serial…"
"Don't prattle! Neon Light!"
"Not Flash Gordon Lights?"
"Shut up!"
Flash Man hit the ground to make the Neon Lights travel across it.
Dark Comet easily jumped to dodge them and smirked.
Flash Man looked up and ran for him, drawing his daggers.
"Sword Fighter!"
He formed two red, indented blades.
He intercepted the daggers of Flash Man and smirked.
Flash Man frizzled with electricity.
"Spark Arms!"
His palms frizzled with electricity, and he applied force forward.
Dark Comet wasn't too surprised and merely shrugged.
His blades were swapped by Bamboo Blades and blocked the attacks.
Flash Man scoffed and jumped away to rethink his strategy.
"I finally found you. These must be the source of this fuss…"
"Why. Officer Prism Man… Did something happen?"
Prism Man rushed in, not too surprised.
"The former Operators of these Asteroids began to scream…"
"What?" Dark Comet gasped.
"Claiming that they felt pain on different parts of their bodies…"
"Could it be that…?" Burai DS wondered.
"The nanomachines!" Harp Note DS fumed.
"Devil!" Yoshitsune cursed.
"Thought as much. They are linked to the Asteroids…"
"What!? Nobody told me!" Beast Man growled.
"I suspected that Rufus was up to something, but…" Flash Man muttered.
"Using us to torment our Operators…! That fool!" Desert Man growled.
"I'll strangle him yet!" Video Man hissed.
"Wait. That fool isn't naïve. Must have some failsafe at hand…"
Flash Man crossed his arms, unimpressed.
"Maybe there's a bomb inside of us to remotely delete us…"
"Devil!" Desert Man growled.
"Shit!" Beast Man cursed.
"What do we do!?" Video Man gasped.
"Find a way to impair it, of course! Such as a signal jammer!"
Flash Man scoffed as he proposed a plan.
"Good idea! Let's get out!"
They all escaped from the scene, but they remained alert.
"Cosmo Buster!"
"Snow Rolling!"
"Swallow Cutter!"
"Cross Spark!"
The group dodged the incoming attacks and fumed.
"I suspected that these four could also be involved…"
"Sink in the darkness of the Universe…"
Cosmo Man emerged from his "Cosmo Gate", chuckling.
"Can you keep up with my speed?"
Swallow Man landed there, crossing his arms and smirking.
"I'll bury you under my avalanches!"
Blizzard Man skied towards them and stopped, laughing.
"My storms will blow you to the other side of the Earth!"
Cloud Man hovered down, chuckling.
"I'll go resume watch over the prison. You can handle this…"
"Delighted…"
Prism Man pulled out of the area as the quartet chuckled.
"What's so funny? Tom & Jerry?" Harp Note DS sighed.
The group merely continued chuckling.
"They must want to irk us…" Burai DS guessed.
"What a lame attempt at psychological warfare…" Dark Comet sighed.
"What do we do?" Yoshitsune asked.
"Handle Cloud Man. Go all out…" He instructed.
"Then I'll handle Snowball Man…" Harp Note DS giggled.
"Blizzard Man!" He growled.
"I'll tackle Bird Man. It's the most annoying of them…" Burai DS told him.
"Golden Man is my prey, then…"
"Come, Dark Comet Rock Man. Meet your end!"
"You're merely copying Death Shadow's words. Copycat…"
"Cosmo Ring!"
"Flame Sword!"
Dark Comet drew two Flame Swords to block the Cosmo Ring.
"Snow Rolling!"
"Super Vulcan!"
Blizzard Man kicked a snowball for her, but she counterattacked.
"Swallow Cutter!"
"Eat blade!"
Burai DS skied across the ground to dodge the attack.
He swung the blade and formed a wound on the knees.
Swallow Man winced and swung his arms to try to hit him.
Burai DS jumped away and dodged.
"You'll have to do better than that!"
"Many Cloud!"
Cloud Man summoned many clouds and hid amongst them.
"Foolish attempt…"
Yoshitsune waited and saw a cloud that momentarily flashed.
He stabbed his blade on the ground to act as lightning rod.
He jumped over the clouds and his fists became metallic.
He landed two fists on the cloud that had flashed.
Cloud Man groaned inside of it as his lightning bolt hit the blade.
The blade glowed red and returned the bolt at Cloud Man.
He howled and cursed.
"You reversed the polarity!?"
"I have been training with an expert in electricity…"
"Damn it all! What part of this is "a walk into the park"!?"
"Rufus always lies to make you become overconfident…"
"Damn it! Rufus! Come out! I'll delete you yet!"
"Agreed! No time to waste here!" Cosmo Man growled.
"Needs some PAIN!" Swallow Man hissed.
"Let's go, then!" Blizzard Man rallied.
This quartet also escaped, and the warriors sighed, annoyed.
"Let's retreat and review the data…" Dark Comet ordered.
"I'll send my warriors to surveil things…" Yoshitsune offered.
"Good idea. If anything happens, we go deal with it!" Burai DS agreed.
"And we can make them dance samba!" Harp Note DS giggled.
"I fail to see the point, as always!"
"Don't bother, Solo. Let's go…"
03:57 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Beast Ray!"
"Neo Variable Sword!"
"Damn it!"
"We predicted that you'd come here!"
"Damn this red punk!"
Blues was fighting Beast Man before a sturdy firewall.
"Besides. This location is a dummy, too…"
"Not again!"
"As if we didn't predict something like this months ago…"
"Rufus! Damn you! I'll tear you to pieces! Jumping Claw!"
Blues easily sidestepped to dodge the uppercut.
He struck Beast Man's chest with the blade, opening a wound.
A purple mass emerged and healed it.
"The "Dark Aura"? Always relying on drugs…" He mocked.
"Shaddup! I'm invincible!"
"History says otherwise…"
"That was a defective imitator! I'm the real deal!"
"Don't bother, Blues. Finish them off…" Enzan ordered.
"Roger, sir…"
Blues rushed for Beast Man, who jumped away from him.
However, he stepped on a mine, and it took out his right foot.
He collapsed on the ground and growled.
"Damn you!"
"Odd. I didn't place any mines…" Enzan muttered.
"Rufus must want to sabotage them, too…" Blues guessed.
"Come out! I'll tear you to pieces!"
"And I don't want to? Will you rampage like Beelzebub did?"
"Sure! I'll find you and have you pay for this!"
He regenerated his foot, but it had become purple.
"Power! More power! Full power!"
He roared but then purple streaks of lightning ran across his body.
He howled as his body became purple and his eyes empty.
"Thought as much. Becomes a hollow vessel…" Blues scoffed.
"Let's put it out of its misery…"
However, a black "portal" formed behind Beast Man.
A black mass resembling a person flew off and latched to Beast Man.
A blue mass formed on the chest and Beast Man jumped backwards.
It vanished inside of the "portal" as a hollow laughter echoed.
"Death Shadow!?" Both gasped.
"Damn it! Wants to turn these into its own forces!?" Rufus hissed.
"Come, feeble life-form. Your fate is to become extinct…"
"You're asking for it!"
Rufus became visible and ran into the "portal".
It closed before Blues could react.
"This just made a turn for the worst!" Enzan growled.
"I apologize, sir. I was naive, sir..."
"Same applies to me. Let's go warn the others!"
04:04 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Neon Light!"
"Satellite Ray!"
"Don't run, toy soldier!"
"I don't have time for fools. Be gone, Asteroid…"
"You're asking for it!"
Flash Man was trying to hit Search Man, attacking from a distance.
"Hypnosis Flash!"
"Have it back, by all means…"
Search Man formed a full-sized mirror to bounce back the attack.
However, Flash Man rushed there and loaded energy on his palms.
"Spark Arms!"
He hit the mirror and shattered it, rushing for Search Man.
He didn't yield his ground and kept his aim.
"Search Grenades!"
He formed the grenades and made them roll across the ground.
"Slow!"
Flash Man jumped and formed a Curse Shield before him.
"Ammo swap: armor-piercing rounds!"
"What!?"
Search Man swapped his ammo and shot several shots.
They pierced through the shield and through Flash Man, too.
He howled as he dropped to the ground.
"Bastard! Shining Grand Crusher!"
"Jizo Statue…"
"By all the…!"
Flash Man loaded energy and shot streaks of electricity forward.
They hit the Jizo Statue instead.
A bolt of lightning fell from above and hit him.
He collapsed on the ground, howling.
"More power! Full power!"
The "Dark Aura" formed, and his body became purple, too.
He roared and stood up, his wounds healing.
He formed a Dark Sword and flung it for Search Man.
He used it as a shield to run for him and loaded energy.
"Below Ground!"
He formed a small pit beneath his feet and dropped there.
The attack hit the farthest wall and Flash Man ran past the hole.
He hit the wall head-on and became dizzy.
"Come!"
The "portal" opened, and the "shadow" latched to Flash Man.
He howled but couldn't resist the "possession".
The blue mass formed on the center of the chest.
"Code 222!"
Rufus rushed there and issued an order, but nothing happened.
"Come, feeble life-form. Your fate is to become extinct…"
"Damn you!"
Rufus chased Flash Man into the "portal" and vanished…
04:09 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Lion Head!"
"Tomahawk Air Raid!"
"Heavy Sand!"
"Totem! Meteors!"
"Damn you, brat!"
Tomahawk Man was fending off Desert Man's attacks.
He cut the Lion Head and dodged the sand blocks.
He then summoned the totem and dropped meteors for the foe.
"Go, my invincible troops!"
He formed two pillars of sand and bricks, glowing with "Dark Aura".
Several Mettools formed a line and became invisible when crossing them.
"Invincible? More like stingy!" He taunted.
"Shut up! Go, troops! Turn this fool into a honeycomb!"
"Too bad! I know about this trick!"
Tomahawk Man jumped into the air, spun and dived for the foe.
"I can do this, too!"
He formed the pillars, and they spun around his body.
He became invisible, but Tomahawk Man wasn't impressed.
"Tomahawk Swing!"
He swung the weapon as he headed for the target.
It hit the invisible foe, and it howled.
"I have IR vision, too!"
"Ridiculous!"
"Some tricks that I learnt from Bat Man!" He chuckled.
"Fine… I'll destroy you! Great Lion Head!"
He formed the huge Lion Head, but Tomahawk Man flipped over it.
He landed atop Desert Man and brought down his weapon, too.
The foe howled again and tried to shake him off.
Tomahawk Man ignited the jets on his soils and flew away.
"Heavy Sand!"
Several blocks of sand formed above him and fell.
But he simply flew away, and they hit Desert Man instead.
"Power! More power! Real power!"
The "Dark Aura" formed and corrupted Desert Man.
He howled and solidified his sands, which flew for Tomahawk Man.
"Slow. Tomahawk Rolling!"
He rolled in mid-air and shot for Desert Man, hitting him.
"The finishing blow! Vaccine…!"
He was about to use it when several missiles headed for him.
He had to fly away as the "shadow" latched on Desert Man.
It easily hijacked its body despite the attempts to struggle.
"What in the…?"
"Shit. Late, as always!"
Rufus growled as he rushed for the "portal" behind the Asteroid.
"Come, feeble life-form. Your fate is to become extinct…"
"I'm tired of you! Damned broken record!"
"This reeks of trouble with capital T…!"
04:13 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Well, Old-timer? Ready to retire?"
"You're not funny! Dirty Ninja Man!"
"Delighted… Meet my early morning tension…"
"Wind Cutter!"
"Ego Cutter…"
"You're not funny!"
Shadow Man was playing with Video Man as they fought.
He dashed around him, drawing a circle.
Video Man was annoyed and tried to hit him with no success.
"I'll become Ultra Super Mega DX Video Man!"
"Sure. Post that in SNS and see how many memes you're gifted with…"
"I didn't come here for memes!"
"You came to meet your doom, incarnation of greed…"
"Greed!? I don't want money! I only want fame for me and Narcy!"
"That is also a form of greed…"
"I don't need you to lecture me! Fast Forward! Tapeline!"
"Explosion…"
Video Man became faster and "warped" next to Shadow Man.
He formed several tapelines that flew for him.
But Shadow Man calmly formed a fireball to burn them.
"Rewind!"
He "warped" backwards and laughed.
"Playback!"
A copy of Shadow Man formed.
"Playback! Playback! Playback! Playback! Playback!"
Several copies formed next.
"Explosion!"
They all flung fireballs at the real one, but he dodged them.
"Geyser!"
"What!?"
A geyser emerged from beneath Video Man and showered him.
"My tape! Damn you! UNLEASH THE REAL POWER!"
He became furious and unleashed the "Dark Aura".
His body became a mix of red and blue and he laughed.
He formed several tape rolls, and they flew for Shadow Man.
He jumped over them and vanished with a puff of smoke.
He reappeared above and behind Video Man.
He was about to dive for him, but a green beam pierced his body.
He howled and landed away to recover.
The "shadow" latched into the hollow Video Man.
It was hijacked as well as Rufus cursed and landed there.
"Come, feeble life-form. Your fate is to become extinct…"
"I'll spawn as many copies as needed! To destroy you!"
He ran into the "portal" and vanished inside.
Shadow Man hissed and grumbled.
"That happens for not being serious…" Miyabi scolded.
"Guess that!" He fumed.
06:22 AM (Japan Time)…
"… They tried to make us believe that the inmates had fled, but…"
"It was a deceit…"
"Yes, ma'am. We did check thrice, and they were the real deal…"
"It's possible that they'll use fakes to confuse us…"
"They already did. A man was hypnotized to pretend to be Saiko Rei…"
"And that's their newest strategy? Could be annoying…"
Misaki reported to Manabe over the phone.
He was in the briefing room of the Net Police HQ, readying a report.
"A man also attacked a store, pretending to be Inukai Takeo…"
"But it's not like they use disguises or such, right?"
"No. They are drunkards or drug addicts from the back alleys…"
"I see. Most wouldn't want to approach them…"
"And since their mind is already weak…"
"The hypnosis has a stronger effect on them…"
"Unfortunately… It's not like police have a list of all of them…"
"Maybe some were brought over from other locations, too…"
"It could be the case, yes…"
"They probably want us to waste time and resources tracking them…"
"It feels like them, yes…"
"What worries me more is how Death Shadow is abducting Navis…"
"Yes. I received reports of mass disappearances in major cities…"
"They probably will reappear as stronger and deadlier foes…"
"Yes. I already sent warnings nationwide…" Misaki confirmed.
"The sooner we coordinate a defense, the better…"
"Speaking of targets to track… What about Magnets, ma'am?"
"We have sighting reports of her around Kabukicho, Shinjuku…"
"The famed entertainment district…"
"But when questioned, 90% of the cases it was disguises…"
"People paid to pose as her…"
"Yes. Fancy young women looking for fun…"
"They didn't stop to think of what they were doing?"
"They were led to believe that it was part of a TV program…"
"How carefree…!" He sighed.
"Agreed. And then they complain that they run into trouble…"
"Sorry for derailing from the main topic, ma'am…"
"I don't mind. Remember all the stunts that she pulled in the past…"
"True. Might be gathering thugs to pull a new stunt…"
"I sent notices to the MOS to be on the lookout for any attacks…"
"Understood. I'll finish this report and take a short nap…"
"Don't push yourself. Sleep is important…"
"Yes, ma'am. If you will excuse me…"
"Go ahead. I'll coordinate with the major ministries, too…"
The call ended and Misaki sighed as he finished the report.
"Prism Man. Check on all Navis and look out for "security holes"…"
"By your orders…"
"Find anyone suspicious, detain them and question them…"
"Yes, sir. No ants will make it past our watch!"