Sidier's Mission
By Zoram Selrof
Chapter 1: Michelangelo's debut
14:08 PM (Japan Time), Thursday January the 3rd, 2013…
"… This is Unit 4, Beta Company: reporting from Sector K – 34!"
"This is Command. Report!"
"The area has been cleared of enemy presence, Command!"
"CF" Netto stood in the middle of a ruined plaza in a city somewhere.
The plaza was filled with remains of a battle.
There were broken windows, dents on buildings, craters on the ground.
Small fires burning there and there-
Barricades had been set on all roads converging there.
Remains of data hovered in several spots of the area.
"We have intelligence that the enemy is concentrating on its HQ!"
"We need to tackle it?"
"Two shield generators protect it. Use a fighter vehicle to destroy both!"
"Roger. Where do I find the vehicle?" "CF" Netto asked.
"It will be deployed in your current position. ETA: 3 minutes…"
"Roger, Command. Unit 4, Beta Company, over!"
He and began to pace around, Rock Buster on hand.
He found some Viruses and defeated them.
"Hard to believe it's been almost 4 months since that battle…"
"I know. Time flies by when you're busy…"
"The 3rd term of our second middle school year will soon begin…"
"Before we know it, it'll be spring again…"
"That Twilight rascal must want to play the long wait game…"
"Kept us waiting for two whole years. Maybe he means to repeat that…"
"That stunt that he pulled was so cheesy, he has no shame!"
"What did we expect from such a lunatic, anyway?"
"Fair. Remember how he posed as "Bucky" from Super Mario RPG…!"
"And was operating from southern King Land…"
"His men are still out there, carrying out hit and run operations…"
"The question is… Is Twilight coordinating them, or their accomplice?"
"The elusive "K. O."… But we can't tell if it really exists…"
"Sure. Could be a smokescreen to divert our resources…"
"Well. Let's leave that up to the pros…"
"CF" Netto's radio set crackled to life.
A voice rang out along with shouts and explosions on the background.
"This is Blood. Destroying the AAC turrets before the generators!"
"Roger that!"
"… Swallow Cutter!"
"Get lost, Bird Man!"
"Bird Man by the glory of Bermudas!"
"I fail to see the logic. If there's ANY to begin with…"
"It's probably Sigma's sense of humor!" "CF" Netto sighed.
"Naturally. Who else?"
"By the glory of the swollen noses! I'll blast you yet!"
"Sure, sure. Go parrot that in SNS…"
"Handle that. We'll go blow up the generators…"
"Roger that. See you over there!"
"By the wings of Bermudas! I'm invincible!"
The call ended and "CF" Netto rolled his eyes.
"Sigma… What do birds and Bermudas have in common, anyway?"
"Maybe he has the image that exotic birds live there…"
"Wouldn't surprise me…"
The small shuttle finally arrived.
It was clearly aerodynamic and measured ten meters long and eight tall.
It had two short wings on the sides and a tail.
A Plexiglas window was set on the front.
A small hatch on the right side allowed entrance.
It had no visible propulsion system.
"CF" Netto unlocked the hatch and entered the small cabin.
It was slightly reminiscent of that of a plane.
There was a pilot's seat and two passenger seats.
"CF" Netto sat down on the pilot's seat and plucked the seatbelt.
"Time to fly! Gummi Ship!"
"That joke never runs old!"
He interacted with the console and the ship lifted.
He flew away from the city and towards the outskirts of it.
He saw a tall, brown stone tower in the distance.
It was covered by a powerful energy shield.
The dome-shaped generator had an antenna to beam the energy.
"Weapons mode: missiles. Lock on target… Fire!"
"CF" Netto punched a green button on the control panel.
A small hatch opened on the underside of the vehicle.
A small missile launcher with five missiles emerged.
It tilted until it reached the desired angle.
It shot a volley of five missiles towards the generator.
It exploded into smithereens, and the shield flickered.
"One down!"
"This is Blood. I'm about to finish blowing up the turrets!"
"Roger that!"
"By the smoothies of Bermuda! I'll drown you in the downpour!"
"Sigma. We need to talk about your NPC writing!"
An explosion rang out in the background.
"Finished. I'll intrude the HQ from the ground floor…"
"Roger. We'll intrude from the rooftop…"
"Let's meet half-way up!"
"Computer: lock on second target!" "CF" Netto ordered.
"Affirmative!"
"Weapons mode: plasma beams!"
They soon reached the second generator.
Two smoke spirals rose from both sides of the generator.
Two hatches opened on the sides of the front section.
Two long cylinders shot red beams towards the generator.
They melted its armor and triggered an explosion.
"Command! I'll join Unit 3, Beta Company, on assaulting the HQ!"
"Roger, Unit 4, Beta Company!"
"CF" Netto landed the shuttle on top of the tower.
He could already hear explosions and shouts on the inside.
A steel door marked the only entry or exit.
"The party already started! Let's go!"
He kicked the door open with his right foot.
He descended a curving stone ramp as he drew a Long Sword.
He leant against the wall next to a largely unlit corridor.
The yells grew louder as Cut Man came into view, running for the exit.
"Run for your papercraft!"
CF" Netto let him run past him.
He impaled him from behind, defeating him in one blow.
"BURN!" A voice yelled.
"CF" Netto dodged Burner Man's Burning Jet with ease by jumping back.
"Taste this, Darkloid! Dynamic Wave!"
He spun around his own axis at a quick speed.
He formed four blue waves, which hit Burner Man, defeating him.
"Where is thy honor, grunt?"
Yamato Man rushed forward and tried to impale him with his spear.
"Thousand Spear!"
"All's fair in VR battles!"
"How impudent!"
"Program Advance! Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword! DREAM SWORD!"
He tried to side-step, but he didn't make in on time.
The attack sliced him in half and defeated him.
"Three down. Let's go and find some more!"
"… Don't you feel like someone was slacking?" Rock Man asked.
"Good point. They're too weak. Hardly a fight!"
"Let's warn him once this training is over…"
"Agreed…"
He dashed forward and reached a wide stone chamber lit by torches.
Snake Man was giving him the back and shouting orders.
"The Red Demon must be stopped! I don't care if none of you survives!"
"Darkloids! Here comes the cavalry…! Samurai Sword, Slot In!"
"Who the…!"
Snake Man glared towards his back but couldn't react in time.
"CF" Netto cut the foe in two pieces by severing his waist.
Bowl Man, Bomber Man and another Cut Man turned towards him.
"Gattling Pin!"
Bowl Man shot several pins.
"Bomb Shoot!"
Bomber Man formed bombs and kicked them at him.
"Surprise Snip!"
Cut Man enlarged the scissors and tried to hit "CF" Netto.
"Too late! Elemental Cyclone!"
A green tornado made up of thousands of leaves appeared.
The foes were hit multiple times and were deleted.
"Sorry for the wait!"
The tornado dissolved to reveal a Navi.
Blood Shadow's main color of choice was red.
He could be around a meter and sixty tall.
He sported thick, black shades that hid his eyes.
A flock of messy red hair came out from behind the red helmet.
His ear-pads were red and lacked any decoration.
His crimson armor had the purple letters "BS" engraved on the chest area.
He had shoulder pads which were a mix of golden and blue.
He had a double-barreled shotgun on his right forearm.
His left arm had black skin with purple circles across it.
He had a thick, red piece of armor protecting his left forearm.
His legs were black and two parallel, red stripes ran down the sides.
He had crimson boots that reached until the knees along with kneecaps.
"Say. Don't you feel like they are too weak, Blood?" "CF" Netto argued.
"Same opinion. Only one that put up a fight was Swallow Man…"
"I know that Sigma fought him many times, but…"
"He seems to have found a way to turn him into meme material…"
"Instead of memes, I wished that he focused on the job…"
"Sure. It's not like it's that hard to set up proper difficulty…"
"This is Command. We confirm the defeat of all enemies. Good work…"
"Roger!"
"The mission is over…"
"Finally!"
A "cybernetic" environment replaced the room they were in.
Circuitry boards and energy pathways headed for a round white portal.
They "flew" towards the phenomenon.
The environment became white.
When the light cleared, both stood inside of a cubical room.
All walls were covered by a green matrix of squares.
An almost invisible Dimensional Area was set between both.
A holographic screen displaying the results popped out:
VR TRAINING
LEVEL: 5
CLASS: B
NUMBER: 12 OF 20
TIME: 10:34
RANK: B
USERS: BLOOD SHADOW, H. NETTO, ROCK MAN EXE
HAVE A NICE DAY!
The Dimensional Area faded and Netto reversed out of Cross Fusion.
He grabbed his Link PET and placed it on its holder.
"Alright. Let's go talk to Sigma, and…"
An alarm blared, surprising them.
"Code M. All personnel report to MR…" An automated voice warned.
"…"Code M"? What's that, Blood?" Netto asked.
"To be honest, I'd never heard it before…"
"Which means that it must be something big…"
Both exited the room into a corridor.
It was a curved metallic corridor with arches every a few tens of meters.
The ceiling contained fluorescent tubes which provided the illumination.
Armored and labeled doors spread on both sides.
"Here's Boss!"
A man came running towards them from the right.
He was on his mid – twenties.
He had messy jet-black hair and blue eyes.
He wore a gray armor made of several plates joined together.
Two sword sheaths were attached to his black belt.
His arms and legs were also covered in plating.
He had gloves and boots made of the same material.
A purple cape hung from the back of the shoulders.
There was a round device with a purple "V" on his chest, too.
He stopped to recover his breath.
"Sir! What is "Code M" about?" Blood Shadow asked.
"I forgot! Because I set up many years ago!" He admitted.
"And it's never been used?" Netto asked.
"No. Makes you wonder why I bothered to program it!"
"… And that's why I always told you to write down important things…"
"Lartes! Not in the mood for another lecture!"
"That's my job, isn't it?"
"I know, but…!"
"Anyway. Be thankful that I DID keep a record of those things!"
Another man ran towards them.
He was his mid-20s.
He had messy black hair and brown eye irises.
He was clean shaven and had reading glasses.
He wore a white gown, brown pants, and shoes.
He had a pair of reading glasses on, too.
He carried an ID clipped to the gown that read "Dr. Kazemura Lartes".
"Fine! What's "Code M" about?" He grumbled.
"Code Michelangelo. MR is "Michelangelo's Room"…"
"Michelangelo? There's no Italian crew onboard…"
"It's not an Italian. Here it says "the cousin of the jaws"…"
"Cousin of the jaws? I wrote that!?" He groaned.
"You did!"
"Boss" slapped his face, exasperated.
"And where the hell is that room!?"
"The 3rd deck. The "pool" where you stored the RAY…"
"The pool? The filtering plant? But what else is there in that…?"
He cut off as he suddenly remembered something.
"By all the devils of…!"
He ran down the corridor, and the others followed him.
"Is it something grave, Mr. Vadous?" Netto asked.
"It's hard to describe! An image is worth a thousand words!"
"And that's why…!"
"We'll talk it later!"
"Fine. But don't say that I didn't warn you!"
"I know! I never claimed to be perfect, either!"
They entered an elevator.
The leader pressed the button labeled "3rd DECK".
"Here you have your comm device, Boss…"
Kazemura handed the lead man a walkie-talkie.
He grabbed it and tuned it.
"This is Vadous. Sigma, Omega! Converge into the "pool"!"
He let go of the button and waited for the reply.
"Roger that. Sigma will come with me!"
The elevator climbed and they exited into another curved corridor.
They ran it down and reached a half-open armored door.
Two Navis stood before it.
"Sigma! Ready for a mission!"
One of them was a Net Navi about two meters tall.
His whole body was jet black.
His face had two red eyes and one glowed brighter than the other.
Two horns were set on both sides of his head.
They added a "demonic" look to him.
He had a red spheroid on his chest, and it lacked armor over its mass.
Green data flows moved around his body.
He held a massive black and green sword in his right hand.
"Do we go in, Boss?"
"Sure, Omega…"
Omega was about one meter and eighty tall.
A blue inverted triangle was set on the center of his helmet's forehead.
The jewel glowed and emitted a cross-shaped light.
His irises were blue and serious.
Long blond hair reached all the way to the floor.
He had a red vest over his mainly black body.
His forearms and boots were red.
Two golden circlets were set around his forearms and on his boots.
"What's going on to begin with?" Sigma asked.
"Later!" Vadous sentenced.
Omega fully opened the door, labelled "MICHELANGELO".
Yells of panic and pain were ringing out along with splashes.
"What's going on!?" Netto gasped.
The group ran in.
Omega raced for a control panel set on a handrail four meters inside.
The panel was set about 30 cm to the right of the entrance.
He flipped up a switch and the fluorescent lights came in.
The room was a cubical compartment.
There was a viewing four meters long and twelve meters wide.
Two flights of metallic stairs headed for rubber-made piers.
They were anchored to the bottom of the water using steel wires.
The ground below them was filled with swirling water.
There were several machines set across the room, too.
"Look! The RAY that we snatched from Twilight…"
"Nostalgic, even!"
A machine had been placed against the furthest wall.
It was half-submerged on the water, two meters below the platform.
This machine had a "humanoid" shape, but it was almost ten meters tall.
It was covered in dull brown titanium armor.
The "head" had a "mouth" which rather looked like a beak.
It had two large "arms" and "legs", widely spread.
A tail extended behind the body and reached until the water as well.
It was crouched position.
The arms were parallel to the body and partly submerged.
There was an explosion somewhere in the water.
A shape was circling around that area at mad speed.
Vadous cursed something.
He removed the armor over his right hand to press it against a scanner.
His palm was scanned and one LED on the control panel turned green.
He quickly pressed a button labeled "RECALL/PIER 1".
He headed towards the leftwards pier.
The "shape" headed for the pier.
It was a gray shark with red eyes.
An engine whine echoed as the shark stopped next to the pier.
Vadous tapped on the fin, and a hollow, metallic echo rang out.
"Wait. Could it be that…?"
"It's man-made?"
He opened it and extracted a Flash memory storage card.
"Me and my stupid ideas from seeing movies!" Vadous growled to himself.
"That's what you meant by "cousin of jaws"… A shark!" Kazemura sighed.
"Jaws… That famed giant shark movie?" Netto recalled.
"And what it's meant to accomplish, sir?" Sigma asked.
"To handle intruders such as Viruses or rogue Navis or such…"
"How?"
"By placing a fake profile about "security leader Michelangelo"…"
"I see. And intruders would try to seize him to take over security…"
Blood Shadow rubbed his chin with the left hand.
"Which means that those yells were those of an intruder?" Netto asked.
"Neo Gospel! Who else?" Vadous growled.
"I knew that they had been too quiet these last two weeks…"
"Maybe it was a scout that tried to bypass our defenses…"
"Hell. We'll need to improve them!"
"It's Twilight. He could've been using these months to find a weakness…"
"Or maybe he set up some trap that would activate over time…"
"Would fit with that madman's behavior…"
"But why "Michelangelo"?"
"Guess it was from that show, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles…"
"I recall that there was a time where you watched it, true…"
Kazemura crossed his arms and was recalling.
"Guess that his top agility and quick reflexes impressed me…"
"Fine. Now I can update my notes…"
"Heck. Guess that I found it so shameful, I didn't properly explain…"
He sighed and climbed up the observation deck.
"I'll take this to the control bridge and try to analyze it…"
"Let's hope it properly works despite the years of neglect…"
"Omega. Take Sigma and Blood and sweep all systems!"
"Roger that…"
"Find anything odd, quarantine it. QUARANTINE. Not delete!"
"Sure. I'll make sure to carve that on Sigma's skin, too…"
Omega directed a scolding glare to him, and he gulped.
"What have I done wrong, sir?"
"Slacking at the VR Mission building!"
"What? Slacking?"
"Don't play dumb. There are system logs for a reason!"
"What were you doing, betting at horse races or what?" Vadous growled.
"T-that's… Well… No…? That's…"
"Whatever. We'll figure it out once we scan your memory data!"
Sigma gulped and lowered his head as the rest sighed, annoyed.
"Omega! Keep close watch as you inspect the system!"
"Roger. I turned on "airplane mode" and cut it off from the outside!"
The trio of Navis warped out of the room.
Netto followed the two adults as they argued.
"And write down anything major, else I can't act as backup!"
"I know, I know!"
"I guess that it's going to be one of those long days, Saito…"
"Agreed… Should've seen it coming!"