Chapter 4: Jade Panther
09:30 AM (Honolulu Time), Sunday June the 15th…
"… Tee, heh, heh. Yo. Marco. Napped like a log?"
"… Yes, Anaya – san."
"Drop that dull face: be more natural!"
"As you command."
"Huff. Alright. Let's go meet Twilight and our trustee…"
"Roger, ma'am…"
Anaya came out of a yacht's cabin while dressed in a sleeveless white shirt, blue shorts and sandals: she looked smug.
"Over there!"
"Roger."
Izono, on the other hand, had a simple black short-sleeved shirt on along with jeans and sandals.
"Tee, heh, heh. What did you think of the show Twilight set up yesterday, Marco?"
"Terrific, ma'am."
"Wasn't it? How clever! Using all that raw material to produce stuff and then turning the whole place into a desert… Dr. Regal must be pretty pissed off he didn't think of it nor like he could! He lacked any thrill or imagination… Twilight is a million times better than the guy!"
"True, ma'am."
"Tee, heh, heh!"
They climbed up a flight of stairs into the bow of the ship where four white plastic chairs had been set around a central portable table which had a breakfast served there; Twilight was sitting in one and facing the unidentified man named "Jade" who was giving both of them the back.
"Yo!"
"Ah. Ma'am. I hope you slept alright."
"Of course… Kranos Opoulos!"
"I am delighted to know."
The man stood up and turned around to greet her.
He was on his mid 50s and could be over a meter and eighty in height yet he had a rather athletic figure to him.
His hair was brown and neatly combed while his eyes' irises were also brown: a small nicely cut moustache could be spotted on his face but he had no traces of a beard.
He currently whore a white tuxedo along with black pants and brown leather shoes.
"Tee, heh, heh. How could they image ya were an executive in the FBI and when you were charged with investigating our activities you ended up realizing that "IQ" was I, a woman, instead of some idiot on his 50s or 60s? They've been digging up in the underground in vain." She giggled and looked smug.
"Truly."
"And that was why you recommended me to cooperate with him, my lady, last summer…" Twilight politely added
"Sure. Now tell me: where did you find those cool guys you used in that December show?"
"Ah! That… Well… Truth to be told, my lady… I didn't."
"Huh? What do you mean, you didn't?"
"Let us sit down and I will explain."
"Fine."
"It's not so simple…" Opoulos warned.
They all sat down on the chairs and a waiter brought over a fresh jar of water along with cups before walking away.
"I was in Brazil, recovering from my injuries last summer. Those guys were actually brought over by someone named "Emperor S" and through an agent named "Sidier"…"
"Hey! That's the name I was planning to give to you but then I changed my mind!" Anaya gasped.
"I know, my lady. It'd seem these guys came from another Time-Space, the one I'd visited where I took over "Nebula", witnessed the advent of "Duo" and finally exited with a lil show… I know Kanou Shade and that kid I had plans for fled there so they met these guys… And they then came to check us out… In the end it brought publicity to "Neo Gospel" yet not even they could figure out the true ID of Mr. Opoulos…"
"I see. Well! It's no big deal. What happened with the RAY? It's still there, onboard the HQ Vadous has?"
"Yes. But since there's a new model in MGS4 I'm planning to pick it instead because it'll have a more modern feeling."
"Oho! It finally came out? Do you have a copy?"
"Yes. I got my hands on one before official release and have almost finished it up. The wait was worth it: totally."
"Tee, heh, heh! Finally! I can't wait to check it out."
"I think I'll be able to end today and tomorrow Your Grace could have it to have fun with while I work on the "desert campaign" with my five men: we're about to bring brain-fever to those guys."
"By the way, ma'am… My own organization, a mercenary hiring service, goes by the name of "Deadly Pandora"… I had that idea on mind last year already but to hide it I wrote silly messages there and there to confuse them and make them think it's unrelated… And my own code-name is Jade Panther… There are 3 levels of "Admin" guys too…"
"Jade Panther! Why not? It's cool!" Anaya grinned.
"So? Who are those "admin" guys, Mr. Opoulos?" Izono asked.
"Yes! Category 1: the ones in charge of materiel, resources and client contacting… Pearl Rex, Diamond Siren and Platinum Dragon… Category 2: the guys who handle field jobs which can't be trusted to the grunts… They are Sapphire Kraken, Ruby Phoenix and Emerald Pegasus… Category 3: general fieldwork, control of the grunts and other jobs… Gold Puma, Silver Gorilla and Crystal Falcon…" He explained.
"Say… You named them after Gens II, III and IV of Pocket Monsters! But where did you get "Platinum"? I thought we only had Diamond and Pearl insofar?"
"True. Yet! Last month we got confirmation from Nintendo! Pocket Monsters Platinum! Giratina will be the star Pokémon and it will have an "Origin Forme"… There will be some changes to the Sinnoh region as well and to the storyline… It's coming out in September…" Twilight explained with a grin.
"Oho. Then that little miss of the Poké Special manga is going to be named Platinum, eh? No wonder the authors named her "Miss" to begin with and decided not to risk it." Anaya sneered.
"Truly."
"Alright. Is there something else we should know?"
"Hmmm… Not really…"
"Did you find anything interesting in Brazil? It's worth it trying to set a branch there?"
"Well… It could be harder than in Japan..."
"Ah. Then forget it… What do you have in store for those guys?" Anaya asked as he ate some snacks.
"For the time being I've formed some traps into the "Cyber Desert" and access is already hard enough for anyone so… We still have control of the Internet City building thanks to the Gekkou units we deployed there: you saw them in action yesterday, my lady…"
"Yeah. Wait a min… Today… What day is it?"
"Huh? Sunday June the 15th, 2008…"
"2008… Summer…!" She suddenly frowned.
"Is something the matter?" Opoulos politely asked.
"Huh… I've got the hunch something was supposed to happen this summer but I can't remember what it was about… But I think I foresaw it some years ago…"
"Is that so?" Twilight looked surprised.
"Or maybe I'm mistaking things. Don't mind it: I'll eventually remember or clear up what it's about."
"Roger, my lady."
"Tee, heh, heh. Things are about to get INTERESTING."
"Obviously." Opoulos grinned.
"This yacht is your base?"
"No. It's a temporary stop. We'll be moving to the facility I built near the Jawaii Islands: I've prepared simple quarters there."
"I don't mind it: not like I wanted luxury when living in the "Palace" either so… And no need to create a "dungeon" there… I'm not in the mood for those games for the time being… I don't want to call the attention and just write me down as a VIP guest. That's all."
"Delighted."
"They'll regret lowering the guard…" Izono grinned.
"Wasn't that obvious? Tee, heh, heh. I want to see them sweat and struggle A LOT. Twilight! Don't mind about those kids: but keep them alive for the show." Anaya told him.
"As you desire. However, I shall decimate those traitor mice."
"Of course. Prepare a grand demise for those mice. Tee, heh, heh!"
07:37 AM (Japan Time), Monday June the 16th…
"… So, Mr. Vadous… What can happen now?"
"I'm not sure. I dunno if Anaya plans on stirring up the underground to create a "background threat" and keep us nervous about having to fight in two fronts… Or else Twilight will come up with something similar to what he did last year…"
"Hum. More rip-offs?"
"Obviously, sir. The only thing they're good at… That and striking at random with no real objective…"
"Our first goal should be regaining control of the Internet City building: we can't allow them to use it to hack other Internet Cities across the globe like they did with ours."
"Of course not, Superintendent Manabe, but charging in without a plan is suicide, ma'am…"
Vadous (having blue contacts) was meeting with Commissioner Kifune and Superintendent Manabe.
He'd also changed to civilian clothes which were a white shirt, a black suit, an equally black tie and pants plus brown shoes.
"I know. I just felt like saying it." She sighed.
"Calm down, Manabe – kun. We don't want to dance at the enemy's flute tune, do we?"
"No, sir. You're right, sir."
"Bad news: the number of "Gekkou" units has increased further and the JSDF has been forced to seal off the whole area in a 300 meters radius of the building and divert all traffic…" Misaki came in.
"There's an operation in course to enter the sewers and try to cut off all electrical power to the building so as to stop all servers and be able to stop any attempts to hacking… But since the building has 3 emergency generators then… They will only lose some power capability."
"I see. Well. It's a risky gamble but…"
"But you lowlifes are doomed! Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah! Swallow Cutter!"
"Kyah!"
"Grah!"
"Fuck."
"Damn it!"
"Ah! The cowards!"
Swallow Man suddenly appeared on the doorway and shot an attack: Kifune and Manabe quickly crouched while Vadous did the same: Misaki flipped out of harm's way.
"Omega!"
"Roger."
Omega suddenly appeared behind Swallow Man and kicked him on the back with the right foot before driving his sword through the guy and having it emerge from the front: Swallow Man groaned but warped to re-appeared behind Omega: Omega turned around in a blur and kicked his lower jaw next: Swallow Man recoiled.
"Dark Generator: Activate!"
"Hmpf."
The sound of hear-beats rang out as purplish energy began to build around Swallow Man: he grinned and his eyes' irises flashed with a purple tint before he rushed for Omega.
"Swallow Drive!"
He entered flying mode and rammed into Omega to push him across the room and shatter one of the windows.
"Hah, hah, hah! Weak! Too weak!"
"Omega. I give you permission to remove the limiters."
"Fine."
"What? Limiters, you say?" Swallow Man gasped.
"I've fought with 80% of my power. But now I'll go at 100%: and you'll know what happened to that Cold Man MORON 3 years ago when he dared to mess with ME!" Omega hissed.
Vadous drew a gray Link PET and opened a holographic screen displaying Omega's FPV (First Person View) as he landed on the rooftop of the Net Police HQ and Swallow Man lost his earlier guts.
"… Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh… Hah, hah, hah… Mwah, hah, hah… Hah, hah, hah! Omega The Ripper's come~!"
"What in the… Where did that come from?" Vadous frowned.
"That'd be ME!" Twilight suddenly formed a pop-up in the screen.
"Twilight. You moron. What's this about? Another MGS4 rip-off? Try not to spoil me too much! I've just gotten to the Vista Mansion and beaten that Laughing Octopus gal." He drily told him.
"No! Not MGS4! The future!"
"What, MGS5? Why don't they call you Spoil Them All Man?"
"Hah! Don't you remember Raiden's back-story?"
"… Ah. I remember. Solidus named him "Jack The Ripper"… So that's supposed to be a recreation of his "Ripper" behavior? If he was half-drugged with gunpowder in the food back in Liberia then it doesn't surprise me." Vadous wasn't impressed.
"Hmpf! I just had to sneak into your UFO during one of this guy's maintenances and change the "feral" program for the "Ripper" program in a way the terminals didn't notice… Blame Hal as well!"
"Oh come on. My computer is named Black Ace. And it's not an AI: it's a super-computer which can only play pre-recorded messages."
"Clever! Aren't cha?" He sneered.
"What else are you gonna bring from your expedition to the future?"
"I'd used those guys but that "Emperor S" beat me to it. It'd seem someone came up with them LONG AGO…"
"Hmpf."
"Maybe you'd want a Duo imitation?" He challenged instead.
"By all the… A Duo imitation? How hard to beat can that be?"
"Depends if I feel like rigging it with a bomb or not."
"So you mean to say my "Alternate" took profit of that and took them out by blowing their own bomb." Vadous deduced.
"Bravo, Holmes. I'll praise you yet! Kyoudai!"
"Sure, sure!"
"Listen up!"
"… Start." A voice rang out.
"Oh come on. You're gonna play back Liquid's lines in Act 1?"
"Heh, heh, heh."
"… Hrah! Hah! I want to cut ya to pieces! Hah, hah, hah!"
"Twilight – sama…! You've OVERDONE it, sir!" Swallow Man complained.
He was trying to dodge Omega's maddeningly fast dashes while maneuvering across the air but Omega could use his jets to try to chase him: he'd already gotten some wounds and blows.
"Hmmm… Maybe. If things turn ugly pull out…"
"Roger…!"
"… I didn't think it'd go so easily but… Hmpf! I see. Rather interesting results… Huh? Kyoudai! Been a while! Rejoice! We aren't copies of our father! We've been freed from the so-called shackles of "Fate"!"
"Don't tell me." Vadous drily replied.
"Snake! Kyoudai! We're free! Look on, Snake! I'll surpass my own origins!"
"You mean that you'll surpass Big Boss: the katakana over the word "genten" tells me as much." Vadous calmly shot back.
"Eat plasma! Eat sword! Eat kick! Eat punch! Eat bite!"
"Bite? Twilight. You moron. You've overdone it."
"Hah! Not like his teeth will get bacteria on them." He shrugged.
"Jeez."
Omega suddenly bit Swallow Man's right wrist and he yelped: he quickly opened many wounds across his torso and Swallow Man purposely dropped from the rooftop before de-materializing.
"Hah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah!"
"… Sigma's playing with Michelangelo."
"What in… The guy won't learn! The other day he tried to have him dance to the tune of the Let It Be tune by having it go at different speeds: what will he do next, to try to recreate it as a program in the VR Room? And have it fly across the air?" Omega snapped out of it.
"Heh, heh, heh. Have fun… While you can! Kyoudai!"
"And stop spoiling us. Wait till I finish the game at least."
"Hmpf! Next time I'll bring some intriguing fellas."
"Who, the Covenant? I already saw and played Halo 3 last year. I dunno what they'll do next but I guess whatever they work on will have to wait for next year or the other: each Halo game took 3 years to develop, after all…" Vadous wasn't impressed.
"Wait and see. Heh, heh, heh! Heh, heh, heh! So long, kyoudai!"
Sheesh. The meddling jerk! What is he going to come up with next time?
