Chapter 23: Spotted! Spy!

17:10 PM (Japan Time), Tuesday August the 13th…

"… I have gathered decisive data, Lord Shade Man…"

"Good. Report at once!"

"Yes… Both parties are in a deadlock state in Jawaii…"

"Which means that it's a chance to hit both at once…"

"However… They also have their own forces to account for…"

"How many?"

"Neo Gospel has at least 5. Maybe 6. Regal has 4 or 5…"

"Eleven of them at the utmost…"

Flash Man brought more data to Shade Man.

"Having lost Beast Man, we are also 11…"

"Our numbers are matched…"

"However. The enemy has powerup abilities, too…"

"I know. A frontal attack is stupid…"

Shade Man grumbled.

"We'll be smarter. Let's wait for them to start a fight…"

"And then we sneak on them and take them out…"

"Correct…"

"Maybe we can stage false flag operations?"

"Good idea. Let's use Video Man's skills for that…"

"As you desire. I shall ready data of the targets…"

"Good. Go!"

17:33 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Gate Cannon!"

"Cosmo Buster!"

"Demon's Hand!"

"Cosmo Ring!"

"The world is Lord Falzer's!"

"The world is Lord Twilight's!"

"Property!"

"Zoan" Gate Man and Cosmo Man were fighting.

They exchanged attacks, but none was at an advantage.

"Change of tactics. Go, Gate Soldiers!"

"Gate! Gate! Gate!"

Small enemies emerged from the chest compartment.

They had round bodies.

Their heads were of an irregular shape.

Orange hair shaped like a crest emerged behind the heads.

The heads were black and had simple yellow eyes.

The bodies were light red.

They carried a spear and a shield.

The small feet were yellow.

They marched in a straight line across the ground.

"Fool. As if such pebbles can…!"

"Gate!"

They jumped for Cosmo Man.

They began to attack him as if they were woodpeckers.

"Gate Cannon!"

"What!? Damn it!"

The blast hit Cosmo Man in the chest, opening a wound.

"Get off me! Pests! Dark Generator!"

Energy formed around his body.

It solidified as a new armor covering his body.

"Cosmo Gate!"

"Remote Gate!"

"Zoan" Gate Man hid inside of the gate, which vanished.

Cosmo Man's planetoids opened craters across the area.

"… Burn with passion, my fellows… What great footage…"

Video Man was spying on them from a distance, invisible.

He was eagerly recording the fight.

"Devil's Hand!"

"Cosmo Ring!"

The "Devil's Hand" emerged from the "Remote Gate".

Cosmo Man used his ring to slice it in two.

But a blast from the Gate Cannon flew for him.

It hit his face's armor and shattered it.

However, it regenerated right away.

"Fool! As if that'd suffice to…!"

"Program Advance. Giga Cannon!"

"What!?"

The foe reappeared behind Cosmo Man.

He shot the Program Advance.

It shattered his armor and opened a wound on his back.

The wound regenerated along with the armor.

"All that you do is vain!"

"I wonder about that…"

"What!?"

"The field is set up… My job is done!"

He hid inside of the "Remote Gate" and vanished.

"What was that!?"

"There you are! Human puppet! Cry, Great Sword!"

"What!? Devil!"

Sword Man swung his blade and cut the right arm.

"You bastard! Cosmo Buster!"

"Spiral Sword!"

The other two swords emerged and combined.

They spun and bounced away the planetoids.

"Sword Press!"

Sword Man hovered and hit the ground with force.

A shockwave traveled across the ground.

It hit Cosmo Man and pushed him away.

He jumped to dodge the swings of the two swords.

The right arm reattached to the body.

"That won't stop the might of Neo Gospel!"

"That's to be seen! Human puppet!"

"Silence! Dog of Regal!"

"Good, good. Taunt the jerk, Sword Man…!" Video Man muttered.

"Cosmo Buster!"

"Sword Press!"

"Cosmo Ring!"

"Great Sword!"

Their scuffle continued, but neither was advantageous.

"Cosmo Man! That's enough. Retreat!" Freeze Man ordered.

"Roger, Commander!"

He scoffed and left as Sword Man shrugged.

His two heads were attached behind him again.

"Not weak, but not overwhelmingly strong either…"

He crossed his arms to reflect.

"Let's go report…"

He escaped from the area as well.

Video Man stopped filming and chuckled under his breath.

"You're Video Man!"

"Why! It's Reds Greens Yellows Blues!"

Blues ran there and Video Man chuckled.

A short BGM rang out.

"My original composition! "Spotted! Spy!". Hi and bye!"

He escaped before Blues could stop him.

"What annoying fools!"

17:42 PM (Japan Time)…

"… "Spotted! Spy!"…?"

"Yes. Do you have an idea of what it's about?"

"A parody of the Pokémon games…"

"Classical!"

"Depending on the type of trainer, a different melody rings out…"

"And he classified himself as a "Spy" trainer?"

"Sure. Since that category doesn't exist yet…"

Blues and Enzan were talking with Meijin in the MOS.

The latter wasn't too surprised.

"Sensor data shows that Gate Man, Cosmo Man and Sword Man fought…"

"I see. And he was recording the battle…"

"Shade Man probably realized that a frontal attack is suicide…"

"And wants to use copies of the others to grow his ranks…"

"Or as a vanguard force to distract them…"

"And try to tackle Regal or Clark directly…"

"I guess that being sealed made him become more careful…"

"Fine. Maybe we can take profit of that, too…"

"Sure. Allow chaff to fight chaff…"

"And sweep in when they're weakened…"

"However. We still lack a clear means to handle the "Dark Generator"…"

"That's the issue…"

"Our analysis shows that it's been improved since last year…"

"Naturally. Clark didn't sit idle…"

"Vaccine Chips aren't a decisive tool, either…"

"And there won't be a convenient emergency code to disable it…"

"Agreed. I wouldn't count on it. Better assume the worst…"

"But there's a limit to their strength, no?"

"True. If we could drive them to that limit…"

"We could momentarily immobilize them…"

"I wouldn't try hacking them, they might grow antibodies…"

"Fair assessment. We'll have to use the old school style…"

"How was your mission in Jawaii?"

"A mess. The chain of command was in shambles…"

"Guess that…"

"Conflicting orders were constantly disrupting it…"

"It's possible that Jade has powerful contacts…"

"Or he simply sent a bunch of fake orders…"

"That could be it, too…"

"They were all cursing at how they couldn't detect that chopper…"

"The one that landed in the "forbidden island", right?"

"Correct…"

"Some fuss must've happened amongst their ranks…"

"Likely. Better for us…"

"Sure…"

"Welcome to Viddy's Show of Despair and Sin!"

"Devil! Video Man appeared outside the firewalls!"

"It's probably bait… Wants your data…" Meijin warned.

"No doubt. But I don't intend to provide it to him…"

"How do we shake him off?"

"I'll use the same trick as they did…"

Enzan sat in front of the computer and plugged in a USB stick.

He copied a file and opened a program.

He began to input commands.

"Video Man! Don't waste time here!"

"What. Burner Man. Don't spoil my fun!"

"It's orders…"

Burner Man walked towards Video Man from behind.

Video Man fumed, annoyed, but Burner Man wasn't impressed.

"Fine! Where do I need to go?"

"Spark Man is fighting that bird. Collect data!"

"OK! Wait for me, foul bird!"

He laughed and warped out.

Burner Man reverted to a dummy Navi.

"Great acting, Enzan – kun!"

"Thanks. I did foresee that this would be needed one day…"

"Maybe we can use them to confuse them, too…"

"Sure. Lure them into a battle royale…"

"Good idea, sir. Fight poison with poison, sir…"

"Bubbles! The Bubbly Prince has come for revenge! Bubbles!"

Bubble Man appeared before the firewalls, aiming his harpoon gun.

"Allow me. I have a tool for that!"

A huge fan formed before Bubble Man.

It turned on and the gust blew him away.

"BUBBLES! BUBBLE MAN WILL BE BACK WITH A VENGEANCE!"

"Good idea, Meijin. Save us pointless efforts…"

Sarcastic clapping rang out.

"Monokuma" appeared from the fan's right side, waving the right arm.

"Alright. Which one of you two is it today?" Meijin sighed.

The bear merely grinned and raised both arms.

"Trying to pretend that it's a mute movie?" Enzan sighed.

The bear brought both hands to the mouth, giggling.

A blade suddenly cut it into two.

The bomb inside of it detonated, scattering pieces around the area.

Freeze Man became visible, yielding his blade.

"Those that defile His name deserve death!"

None bothered to speak.

"Once Regal is over, you're next…"

He aimed the blade at the firewalls.

Again, they didn't bother to argue back.

Freeze Man left the area.

"They must be desperate to save face…" Meijin deduced.

"Sure. After the blunders of the other day…"

"Let's share this data with the others, sir…"

"I know. Let's pit them against each other…"

"Some will not fall for it, though…"

"I'm aware of it. But if we can reduce their numbers, better for us…"

"Good. I'll go talk to the Commissioner over the secure line…"

"Understood…"

Meijin headed elsewhere.

Enzan resumed working with the computer terminal.

"Search Man confirms that the "scheduled battle" is happening…"

"Good. Let's focus on our "staging"…"

"Prism Man reports that he lured Yamato Man to fight Sword Man…"

"That's going to be an endless match…"

"Thunder Man says that he pounded Bright Man…"

"Serves the fool well. It's the peak of annoyance…"

"Roll and Glyde report that they pounded Bubble Man, too…"

"What else?"

"Number Man drove off his "Zoanoroid" counterpart, too…"

"Surprised that Regal bothered to choose that one…"

"Maybe it's to create the impression that he chooses at random…"

"That could be it, too…"

"Blood Shadow had a brief scuffle with "Zoan" Dark Man, too…"

"Guess that he was in the middle of scouting…"

"Sigma pounded Gravity Man as well…"

"Show to that mole that it's not invincible…"

"That's all the battle insofar…"

"Good. But stay sharp. They'll become harsher!"

"Affirmative, sir…"

00:14 AM (Jawaii Time)…

"… Can't sleep?"

"Ever since Cloud Man's stupid prank, I can't relax!"

"I know… Fearing that it could happen again…"

"The moron! Wants to prank someone, don't drag others into it!"

"Sure…"

Nelaus was grumbling as he struggled to sleep.

He wore blue summer pajamas and white socks.

The place was a simple room.

It had a bed, a wooden desk, and a wooden chair.

There was a TV set with a Wii game console set beneath it.

"Our training is proceeding smoothly, nevertheless…"

"But that assault by Regal sure was daring…!"

"I know! I at least managed to stop that tanker…"

"That man sure is annoying…!"

"I know. But that's up to Mr. Clark and the top brass…"

"Sure. Our job is to become strong and skilled at Net Battles…"

"And fight the targets that the clients wish to deal with…"

"Such is our role as mercenaries…"

"It's a job. No need to think too deeply about it!"

"Exactly…"

"I'll have a glass of water…"

Nelaus climbed out of the bed and walked to a corner of the room.

He opened a small fridge and drew a bottle of water.

He poured some into a plastic cup.

He set the bottle on the table.

He drank the glass.

He sighed, relieved.

"Better…"

"Maybe you can walk back and forth along the corridor?"

"Why not?"

He grabbed the PET and exited into the corridor.

The lights were dimmed.

The hum of the air conditioner system could be heard.

He headed for the room labelled "BATTLE TRAINING".

He opened the door and peeked inside.

The training machine was turned off.

The emergency exit signs glowed in the dark.

There was nobody.

He walked over to the machine and stopped before it.

He crossed his arms, as if reflecting.

"These new training opponents are strong. Forces you to adapt…"

"That's the point of it…" Isaac confirmed.

"I don't deny that. But…"

"But?"

"… Nothing. Guess that I'm getting ahead of myself…"

"You want the real deal? All in due time…"

"I know. Besides, we can't exit the base without permission…"

"Maybe you can watch some parody video to calm down?"

"Why not…"

He returned to his room and shut the door.

He turned on a table lamp.

He set the PET there and interacted with it.

"This one about the Three Kingdoms animated series…"

"Where they swap Kong-Ming's lines for those of Kaiba Seto…"

"And, surprisingly, in some places you don't feel that it's out of place…"

"I know. It's fun!"

"… A mere monster of 1500 ATK that's hardly a threat can't rival me!"

The character's voice rang out from the video.

"I! Will! Defeat! Through! My! Own! Hands!"

"How dramatic!" Nelaus chuckled.

"No wonder that they laugh at him…" Isaac chuckled as well.

"And after that whole argument, he still acts like he's no big deal…"

"Makes you want to punch him in the face, really…"

"Sure…" Nelaus agreed.

"It's no wonder that this video is so successful…"

"Or those parodies of that series, Detective Conan…"

"The legendary Para-Para Dance opening animation…" Isaac laughed.

"In which he's dancing in such a serious fashion…"

"Without beating an eyebrow…"

"Mr. Clark sure has a peculiar sense of culture…" Nelaus laughed.

"Sure. Since he readied these for us…"

"Better for us. This way, we don't leave traces in the network…"

"I know. Allows us to keep our presence a secret…" Isaac agreed.

"We're the "Black Knight" duo. Secrecy is the key to victory…"

"We mustn't forget that lesson, indeed…"

"On another topic… Which opponent was the toughest for you?"

"That "Zoan" Dark Man was smart and agile. Was hard to keep track…"

"For me, it was "Zoan" Gate Man. Having to predict where he'd appear!"

"That was a test of our concentration and patience, truly…" Isaac admitted.

"What else…? That Desert Man guy was sneaky, too…"

"Sure… Building fakes out of sand and hiding beneath our feet…"

"We solved it by blowing away the sand…" Nelaus began explaining.

"And replacing with shallow water…"

"Maybe that can work for other foes, too…"

"Or maybe we can use the wind to push foes away…"

"And have them fight against the gusts…"

"They'll learn what the power of nature is about…" Isaac chuckled.

"That reminds me of a song that Cloud Man talked about…"

"True. Rules of Nature…" Isaac recalled.

"Featured in some hack 'n slash action game…"

"Sure. It was cool and pumped you with adrenaline…"

"If only he'd kept that to himself…!" Nelaus grumbled.

"I know! Doesn't understand the grace of Mr. Clark's acting…"

"Let's hope that they rebuilt it into something smarter…"

"We'll see. Commander was mumbling about endless pain…"

"Well. If that'll make the moron feel the consequences in the flesh…"

"That should dissuade him from doing that again…"

"Maybe next time they'll reset him to factory settings…"

"Wouldn't be strange. Maybe it'd be for the better…" Isaac sighed.

"Let's forget about the moron…"

"Sure. No point bothering with it…"

Nelaus yawned.

"I feel like I could vent what was annoying me…"

"That's great!"

"I now feel like I'll have a good night's sleep…"

"Wonderful…"

Nelaus stretched.

He sat up and walked around the table.

He set the PET in the charger.

"Wake me up at the usual time…"

"But of course…"

"Are we sure that there's no more nasty surprises?"

"The Commander went over all systems himself…"

"Knowing him, he's left no stone unturned…"

Nelaus climbed into his bed.

He set the blankets over his body.

He yawned and rolled towards the side.

"Good night, pal…"

"Night. Let's gear up for the next operation!"