Chapter 10: The Titans Attack

06:06 AM (Japan Time), Wednesday July the 24th…

"… Careful. They are gathering…"

"Both forces are converging in the stadium…"

"They must be gearing up for a final battle, too…"

"Saves us the hassle…"

Omega and his men lurked inside of a tower.

They looked out at the Internet City stadium.

The "Zoanoroids" of both armies lined up in opposite sides of the field.

"Zoan" Cloud Man joined the ranks of the Falzer Army.

"Falzer! How dare you trick us with a fake "Synchronizer"!?"

"Zoan" Dark Man stepped forward, hissing.

"That's what we should be saying! Greiga! Deceivers!"

"Zoan" Gate Man did the same, swinging a fist.

"Come to these, we'll bring all of our forces to destroy you!"

"Same over here!"

The ground rumbled as armies of "bestialized" Viruses rushed in.

They formed lines behind the "Zoanoroids".

They all tensed, waiting to see which would spring into action first.

"Thousand Spears!"

"Swallow Cutter!"

"Cross Spark!"

"What are you doing!?"

"Giving you a little push!"

"So that you'll destroy each other…"

"And bring on the real battles!"

"Spies!?"

The three of them attacked their own ranks.

Their army emblems were replaced by their original emblems.

"Thought as much… Twilight planted them as insiders…"

Omega wasn't too surprised.

"Why, you…! Damned traitors!"

"Catch us, if you can! Turtles!"

"Gate Cannon!"

"Dice Bomb!"

"Killer's Beam!"

"Spark Balls!"

"Great Sword!"

"Swallow Cutter!"

"Thousand Spears!"

A scuffle ensued between all of them.

The Viruses began to fight each other as well.

"I have revived from Hell to wipe you out!"

"Same over here!"

"Zoan" Flame Man and "Zoan" Plant Man also appeared.

"Chaos Flames!"

"Aqua Tower!"

"Chaff will fight chaff…"

"Then we needn't bother to come out?" Sigma asked.

"Let's not be confident… It's Twilight that we're talking about…"

"You're right, Blood. There's probably more to this…"

"Wait, sir. The "insiders" have vanished!"

"Their role must be over. To start the brawl between both groups…"

"But maybe they're coming to pester us next?" Sigma suggested.

"Good point. Wouldn't be strange if they did…"

"… Earthquake!"

"Fool! I'm invincible!"

"Zoan" Plant Man tried to crush his foe beneath it.

But the green flames deflected it.

"Dark Shadow!"

"None shall overcome my blade!"

"Zoan" Dark Man flung the axe, but "Zoan" Sword Man blocked it.

"Dice Bomb!"

"It tickles. Gate Cannon!"

"Zoan" Number Man tried to throw the dice at "Zoan" Gate Man.

He ignored the detonation and counterattacked.

"Cross Spark!"

"V-Sword!"

"Zoan" Spark Man tried to attack "Zoan" Quick Man.

The latter was faster and struck his back.

"Snake Arrows!"

"Guts Machinegun!"

"Zoan" Snake Man formed small snakes and flung them forward.

"Zoan" Guts Man used his machinegun to intercept them.

"Enjoying the show, chaps?"

"The real battle is yet to begin!"

"This is but the heating up!"

"I knew it…"

The "Neo Gospel" trio burst into the room.

"Thousand Spears!"

"Why, you…!"

"Cross Thunder!"

"It tickles! Sigma Sword!"

"Swallow Cutter!"

"Eat shotgun!"

A battle ensued between both trios, too.

Omega used his sword to intercept or block the thrusts.

Sigma ignored the electrical attack and swung his blade.

Blood Shadow ducked and shot at Swallow Man.

"Cosmo Buster!"

"Justice Buster!"

Sounds of a scuffle ensued from the building's rooftop.

"Heck. Davis is being assaulted by Cosmo Man, too…"

"Before that pesky jerk hinders… We'll zap you!"

"Tear you to pieces!"

"Bury you beneath the deserts!"

"Eat plasma shot!"

"Sigma Punch!"

"Charged shotgun shot!"

The scuffle continued, with neither being at an advantage.

The battle over at the stadium wasn't progressing, either.

The skies clouded and the rumbling of thunderstorms echoed.

A powerful roar and a loud howl ensued.

The "Zoanoroids" stopped, surprised.

"Lord Greiga!?"

"Lord Falzer!?"

"Devil! They did come!"

The two famed "Cybeasts" advanced towards the stadium.

One of them was an emerald lion with white patterns across the body.

The head had seven spikes forming a crown around it.

Its eyes were red.

The emblem was set on the forehead.

It had four strong legs.

A tail with a triangle and spikes emerged from behind the body.

It easily ran across the desert, jumping over obstacles.

"Lord Greiga! Please lead us to victory!"

The other "Cybeast" was flying for Greiga.

It was a vermillion falcon.

Its eyes were white and lacked irises.

The head had two cones emerging from the sides.

It had gray talons with four claws each.

Two large vermillion wings spread behind it.

The body had black armor, surrounded by golden edges.

A green jewel reminiscent of the army emblem was set on the chest.

The "Zoanoroids" evacuated the stadium.

The two beasts broke through the walls and clashed head-on.

A powerful shockwave ensued, wrecking the whole building.

The Viruses around them were deleted.

Both inhaled and ate the data that remained of them.

Their bodies glowed for a moment.

Greiga then tackled Falzar and they rolled across the ground together.

Falzar managed to shake Greiga off and flew higher into the air.

Several birds made of fire surrounded it and flew for Greiga.

The latter formed an electrical arch across the spikes.

It split into several bolts of lightning that intercepted some of the birds.

Others hit Greiga, but they didn't inflict any visible damage.

Greiga roared and shot a stream of flames.

Falzer howled and shot a spiral of wind.

Both attacks met in mid-air and scattered in different directions.

"Lord Falzer is the strongest!"

"Brag on! Lord Greiga is the mightiest!"

The "Zoanoaroids" resumed their scuffle.

A familiar giggle ensued.

"Monokuma" appeared upside down before a window.

"That's what happens for not placing a leash on the pets, kids!"

"… You bastard…"

Omega hissed, annoyed.

"My! You noticed the real meaning? Mega-O?"

"Whatever. Regal will blow you up, anyway…"

"As the blind fool can! Sent them to dig up Greenland!"

"Or so you think…"

"Meet the Black Nightmare, Clark…"

"What!?"

The bear turned to look outside.

A black copy of Needle Man was running for him.

Its eyes were white and expressionless.

The nose and mouth were covered in a steel mask.

"It'll make you experience pain beyond imagination…"

"That's my specialty! Specialty-robber!"

"Patent it…"

"Monokuma" jumped off the building.

He landed and ran for the enemy, swinging the arms in circles.

The Needle Man copy stopped and shot the needles of its body.

They scattered in all directions.

"Monokuma" outran the man and closed distances.

However, the foe's stomach opened and a large, thing needle emerged.

It pierced through the neck of the bear, but that didn't stop it.

The needle detached and the foe jumped away.

The bear groaned and moved erratically.

"Emergency code! Code 444!"

It self-destructed and Regal chuckled.

"Did you see a vision of your end at the hands of that witch?"

"Very funny! You'll be cooked up by Maleficent!"

"Let them come… They'll be food for my machines…"

Greiga jumped across the area, stomping the ground.

It lifted the tail and shot spikes for Falzer.

As a response to that, Falzer shot several copies of its talons.

Both attacks intercepted each other.

Falzer dived for Greiga and pushed it away, damaging the face.

The beast wasn't impressed and shot flames at its foe.

However, the foe was already hovering higher in the air.

"Lord Falzer! Guide us to victory!"

"Lord Greiga! Grant us victory!"

The "Zoanoaroids" resumed their mutual battle.

"Out of the way! Weaklings of Falzer!"

"Be gone from this world! Interlopers of Greiga!"

"See! Not even you could stage such beautiful drama!"

"Monokuma" reappeared another building.

"I don't care. All I need is to infuse terror and fear to the masses…"

"Build a VR system and your own ideal world inside of it!"

"As if I would… Unlike you, I do not run away from reality!"

"Why the nerve of this mutant!"

"Alright. Let's enter the final phase, shall we?"

"I can foresee what happens next!" Omega grumbled.

"Justice Punch!"

"HOW!"

Davis appeared there and punched the bear.

He was sent flying and landed next to Greiga.

Before he could react, one of the beast's legs crushed it into the ground.

The bear exploded, but Greiga didn't mind that.

It lifted its body and detached its front legs.

They flew for Falzer and swung the air.

Falzer beat the wings and shot countless feathers at them.

They exploded upon contact.

The head detached next and vomited flames on its wake.

Falzer tried to fly higher, but Greiga closed its jaws on the right talon.

The body reattached to the head and legs.

Its weight pulled Falzer to the ground, making it shake.

"Lord Falzer!?"

"Victory for us! Lord Greiga is the strongest!"

Falzer's eyes glowed and it screeched.

It detached the talon and flew away as it created a replacement talon.

It looked towards its men.

"Yes! We surrender this flesh to you, Lord Falzer!"

"What!?"

"Too late, Greiga morons!"

The Falzer "Zoanoroids" broke down into data.

It was suctioned by Falzer.

It howled as it seemingly became stronger.

"Lord Greiga! Please absorb us, too! For victory!"

Greiga did the same with its men and powered up as well.

"Alright! The final round!"

"Monokuma" appeared again, atop a hill.

"Ready… Fight!"

DONG!

Both beasts rushed at each other and clashed.

The shockwave blew away the nearby sand.

It also wrecked part of the ground beneath it.

Each beast struggled to push forward, and a tug-of-war ensued.

The energy released before them grew more intense.

The beasts glowed and tried to output more power.

Parts of their bodies began to break apart.

But neither lost strength.

"Let's pull out before we're dragged into it!" Omega ordered.

"Do the same, my chaps! Head to Iceland!"

The energy grew into a huge sphere.

It was growing at a maddening speed.

It eventually collapsed and imploded.

The shockwave erased everything on its wake…

18:34 PM (Jawaii Time), Tuesday July the 23rd…

"… What an epic end! None win!"

"Mr. Clark has a sense of poetry, I take it…"

"More like irony…"

Anaya, Izono and Opoulos were gathered in the yacht's lounge.

They were looking at footage on a TV screen.

It was an aerial sight of the aftermath.

A huge gaping hole was all that remained of the stadium.

The terrain in a 2km radius was gone, too.

The sand and rusted buildings had vanished, too.

Rain was pouring down into the city.

"Almost like Armageddon!" Anaya laughed.

"Possibly…" Izono muttered.

"And? What's next?"

"He's readying something else… That's all that I know…"

"Fine…"

"True, true. He readied these for you…"

He drew two envelopes and handed them to each other.

Each opened it and drew a credit card with an instruction booklet.

"He readied two independent accounts. Each with aliases…"

"Excellent!"

"We will stop by Honolulu to load supplies…"

"And we can use the chance to buy some must-have stuff, too…"

"Also… I wanted to ask for something, too…"

"Sure. What is it?"

"My executives know of you as VIPs. So please don't call for attention…"

"Alright…"

"And I'd prefer if we kept our operation base… Clean…"

Anaya frowned but Izono cleared his throat.

"I see, I see. Well. No big deal…"

"Alright. If you're in need of entertainment, there's in Honolulu…"

"OK. I'll tell Twilight to arrange us something as VIPs…"

"I don't mean to interfere with your hobbies. Yet…"

"I understand, Mr. Opoulos. We need to keep a level of decency…"

"We'll reach Jawai'I Island in a few hours. You may rest until then…"

"Twilight didn't ready for a means to call him?"

"He wanted to be careful. Especially since Regal is on his trail…"

"Fair. He's waiting for us in the base, then?"

"No. But he knows when we'll arrive, so…"

"He'll get there on his own…"

"Speaking of bases… He told me something, too…"

"What is it?"

"Well. Since the "Palace" was dismantled and nothing remained…"

"Damned Vadous! Destroying my glorious spatial palace…!"

"He set up a server that would act as substitute for the original one…"

"Good idea. Because a lot of reports and such were beamed there…"

"He find some periodical reports labelled "Black Knight Status"…"

"What? "Black Knight Status"?"

"From what he could tell, they're sent every 3 months…"

"Odd. When did that begin?"

"Approximately 5 years ago…"

"5 years ago? Black Knight…"

Anaya crossed her arms and was trying to think about it.

"… Feels like I should remember about it! But forgot about it…!"

"Same. I have the feeling that it was something important…"

"There's nothing else?"

"The messages go through countless repeaters, so…"

"He can't tell the origin at once…"

"He also didn't want to indulge further without your permissions…"

"Fine. Maybe he thought it was business involving women…"

"Which he's forbidden from interfering…"

"Exactly. I'll try investigating it when we make it to your base…"

"Wise idea. We have better systems for that there…"

"Wait. What day was it today again?"

"Tuesday July the 23rd… 2013…" Opoulos replied.

"Late July… Summer… 2013…"

"When you bring up those words… I feel like I recall something, too…"

Izono rubbed his chin.

"I feel like something was going to happen soon…"

"Same. Should've written it down somewhere!"

"Maybe we feared leaks, hence why we didn't?"

"Fair point. If Twilight doesn't know, either…"

"We really wanted to keep it a secret from everyone else…"

"But I feel like there was someone important involved there, too…"

"Someone who laid out the bases?" Izono suggested.

"Probably…"

"It's not related to fiction?" Opoulos asked.

"Well… It's not a game parody… Or so I think…"

"I also feel like it was something serious…"

"Well. Don't fret. We'll be in the base in less than 24 hours…"

"OK!"

"Who else is there?"

"The executives. Platinum, Pearl, Diamond, Emerald, Rubby, Sapphire…"

"What a gorgeous cast!" Anaya laughed.

"Naturally…"

"What about the field commanders, Gold and Silver?"

"They're busy readying a new team…"

"Hard to believe that they were all decimated at once…"

"Little consequence. Meant to eventually disband it…"

"Sure. It's hard to keep such rogues under control forever…"

"Some were trying to play smart, too, by framing others as fools…"

"There'll always be types like those!"

"One or two were trying to figure out what the business was about…"

"You'll always find such types amongst a group…"

"Exactly…"

"But it's a matter of playing along with their imagination…"

"Or to stir up their inner greed and lust…"

"That's also a useful tactic, indeed…"

"Reel them in little by little… Then cut off their escape…"

"And they become part of the system before they know it…"

"In my case, though, I merely gathered smart folk…"

"That were already ambitious by nature…"

"Give them a feeling of being special, and they'll docilly work for you…"

He exhaled some smoke from the cigar.

"Wonderful…"

Izono clapped in admiration.

"We learnt a lot from you, after all!" Anaya admitted.

"I am glad that I helped push forward your businesses…"

He became amused.

"Especially in building a network of useful agents…"

"Took time and effort, but was worth it…"

"Naturally… You showed those fools how weak they are…"

"Those underground VIPs are all the same. Some allure, and…"

"They begin to boast about their secrets to appeal as strong…"

"And it's a matter of exploiting those…"

"To then turn their thugs against them…"

"By the time that the smoke clears, their money is gone…"

"Well then… Let us continue our cooperation, shall we?"

"Delighted…"

"The real fun is yet to begin!"