Chapter 25: Fleeing

12:53 PM (Japan Time), Wednesday July the 9th…

"… Beast Ray!"

"Run!"

"Damn it!"

"It's them again!"

"Run! You damned powerless humans! Hah, hah, hah! Stick out your damned hide, Rock Man! I'll delete you!"

"Go back home instead."

"Hah! There you are! Things won't go like 3 years ago!"

"I knew that. Because I have the upper hand…"

"Wha~t?"

"I've improved far beyond your imagination."

"Boast while you can! Jumping Claw!"

"Battle Chip, O – Saber!"

Beast Man had begun to assault the Science Labs after forming a "Dimensional Area": "CF" Netto quickly entered the main room but he wasn't surprised at all: Beast Man jumped into the air but "CF" Netto drew the O – Saber and it began to hum as he took stance and calmly cut off the whole right shoulder with the arm: Beast Man gasped as "CF" Netto jumped and kicked him on the back to have him land on the ground, hard, and skid across it: Beast Man growled and stood up.

"Damn it! What was that?"

"I told you: I've improved."

"Die! Dark Chip!"

"Like that'll save you…" "CF" Netto wasn't impressed either.

"Mwah, hah, hah!"

He picked his right arm and somehow, thanks to the effects of the "Dark Chip", he managed to place it back on its place.

"Wild Rush!"

He tried to attack with his forearms and head but "CF" Netto merely jumped into the air, flipped and landed behind him with grace: Beast Man only hit a wall and he quickly restored all components to their place before rushing for "CF" Netto.

"Jumping Claw!"

"CF" Netto merely stepped back as he predicted where Beast Man would land at and made the guy hit the floor with a loud THUD: he cursed and stood up again.

"I-impossible! Back then…!"

"Back then, back then… That was 3 years ago. What part of "I've improved" you don't get?" "CF" Netto calmly muttered.

"Fuck you!"

"I'm sure you don't even know what that means."

"Like I care! DIE~! Ra~rgh!"

"Alright. You're asking for it. Go to the Reverse Cyber World."

"CF" Netto cut off Beast Man's limbs and then his head before splitting the body into several portions: they all exploded and he calmly shrugged before walking away.

"Not like I'm a sadist or anything but… It had to be done. There: let's go back home."

"I know, Netto – kun. They had to be brought down, but… Your behavior as of late seems strange to me." Rock Man warned.

"Really? Maybe I'm just channeling out my built up anger and fear instead of thinking clearly, you mean to say, Saito – niisan?"

"Hmmm… I detect a faint EM signal close by which seems to be interfering with the chip implant but it's so subtle that it only affects the sub-conscious in a slow manner… Ring a bell?"

"Heck. The jerk… They're around here, you mean to say?"

"Right here! Mwah, hah, hah! Say hi to Twilight!"

"CF" Netto whipped around to face a Twilight's Net Navi form.

His form's design was highly reminiscent of Rock Man's one.

He wore a helmet with a mouth guard activated: his eyes' irises were visible and it could be seen that they were colored crimson red.

His chest emblem consisted on just two shades of black and white split by a horizontal grey line.

He had two curious shoulder pads, which were shaped as two split halves of a diamond.

His main body's color was navy blue although the forearms and his boots were colored in purple.

A black smooth cape hung from the back of his shoulders and reached all the way to the floor as well as an add-on to his bodysuit.

"Twilight. Trying to mess with our minds again? I thought you were the type who didn't use a same trick twice."

"But the circumstances and goals are different so…" He shrugged.

"Loopholes." Rock Man grumbled.

"What have you done to Iris?"

"Oho. We just treat the miss to Vincent's show." He sneered and rubbed his hands in excitement.

"And you tried to drive her annoyed and fed up to tell you all about Trill's abilities, right? But something tells me that didn't really work."

"Well, Watson. I'll praise you yet today. Your detective nose is sharp!"

"Save the sarcasm for you cloak. You didn't succeed." Rock Man snapped back while sounding sure of it.

"Who knows?"

"We do and now you can go explain to your Mistress why you failed."

"Mwah, hah, hah! So you've got some guts!"

"Isn't the rookie making you look like your turn to shine expired?"

"Ah! Ah. So you found the facility…" He was amused by now.

"Yeah. Rather ironic." "CF" Netto simply replied.

"What's ironic?" Twilight challenged them.

"That Anaya used the title Ice Queen and built that on Antarctica as if to emphasize the grandness of their title." Rock Man calmly exposed.

"Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah! Ah! So that's what this is about! The Jedi plan to take over the Republic!"

"Stop imitating Palpatine: go make your Mistress replace him. Empress of the Galactic Empire…" "CF" Netto challenged.

"Mwah, hah, hah! Good, good…"

"And we know about Opoulos."

"HEY! How do you know THAT?" He wasn't expecting that one.

"Someone approached Zero and told him. It'd seem they hadn't suspected of Opoulos until recently because there were some red herrings planted to make it believe that he was still in the FBI."

"Someone approached Zero…? But who? Not their parents… Maybe they mentioned it off-handedly to someone else…?" He began to deduce aloud and seemed to have forgotten about them.

"I dunno who they are too but I don't care. We've got a personal score to settle! Twilight!"

"Kyoudai! Been a while! You're inmortal, too?"

"Oh come on. You're quoting Vamp in Act 2 when he meets Raiden again to begin with… "Been a while. You, too… Have you been turned into an immortal body too?"… "Wrong. I simply don't fear death."… I guess Vamp didn't know about that prototype cyborg body the "Patriots" came up with and placed Raiden into…"

Vadous had come in while having both swords drawn but he wasn't surprised by Twilight's smug greeting.

"Hmpf! I've got no time for you lowlife… I gotta try to figure out who could've known about Mr. Opoulos… See ya!"

His body began to glow as a blackish sphere of energy encompassed it and it became several streams, which thrust into the air before vanishing: Vadous fumed under his breath.

"He copied the warp effect of "Zoanoroids"…"

"Boss. I managed to stop the signal from interfering." Dr. Lartes reported over the radio.

"Good job. Let's go back."

"I'm sorry, Vadous – san. I did something cruel without realizing it… Will that leave sequels on me?" Netto sighed.

"No. And you said it: you didn't realize it was cruel."

"It was not as cruel as the Joker, eh?" Freeze Man's voice rang out.

"Sure, sure. Wait 'till Hinoken finds you and he'll open the gates of Hell to let its flames melt you until nothing is left behind."

"Let them come anytime… Those savages will be wiped out!" Freeze Man proclaimed.

"Go battle Mr. Freeze." Vadous taunted.

"And don't come back for a while too." Rock Man added.

"Hmpf! Laugh while you can! Laugh and grow fat! Heh, heh, heh…"

"I've had enough for one morning. Let's go back already!"

17:29 PM (Honolulu Time), Tuesday July the 8th…

"… Let's check… What! Impossible…!"

Platinum had opened the door of Iris' room in the Deadly Pandora HQ and found the room empty: the bathroom door was open and the lights on to reveal she wasn't there either: he didn't notice that one of the two chairs was missing.

"The air ducts…?"

He rushed to the right wall and saw indeed that one air duct cover had been loosened and opened.

"But this island is about 150 km SSW of Honolulu… The only ship is the yacht and… Ah! The emergency boats! But then again… Mike and Joe control the seaway exit… They would've noticed any boats trying to leave unless… The manual override…?"

CRASH!

"Whack!"

Iris had suddenly appeared behind him and knocked him down by bringing the chair down into him.

I'm fed up with wasting my time here. I used one of the knives that came with the lunches to loosen the cover and set up a fake trail. They would've eventually realized I hadn't gone that way. But I've drawn a plan and luckily they forgot one thing! I AM a Net Navi. I can alter forms and my "Copy Roid" is designed to break down into data when I aim my PET at something: the PET also does that.

She ran off the room and quickly closed it while locking it and taking the keys with her: she made her way down a corridor and reached one of the landing platforms where one of the Hind A choppers had been parked at: she quickly got onboard.

I'll enter the Cyber World and disable the overhead hatch's circuit to the control post so that they can't close it down. And then I can use that "warp" system to skip long distances… I must aim for Japan.

"Plug In." She whispered.

She aimed her PET and her body broke down into cubical clusters of data, which spun clock-wise and disappeared along with the PET.

Success.

She formed again inside of the chopper's Cyber World while having that Navi form on and began to look.

There!

She ran to a Warp Point labeled "OVERHEAD ENTRY" and appeared in another Cyber World where there was a Core Block which was currently colored red: the letters "LOCKED" hovered in front of it as well but she was already studying a slightly elevated circuitry patch which headed down a recreation of the central shaft: this Cyber World was built on the north flank of the cylinder.

That must be it… I've got an idea.

She headed for the Core Block's body and ripped off a service panel: she then split into two and formed a cutting edge: she thrust the piece into the circuitry patch: it began to frizzle.

Now!

She then hovered into the air and pressed her right hand into the surface of the Core Block: it changed to green and the letters "UNLOCKED" formed there.

Quick! To the helicopter…

She returned to the chopper and turned it on: the blades began to spin and it eventually came to full power so she lifted it up from the Cyber World: the chopper began to climb up the shaft towards the now open hatch: she spotted that a window had been opened in the control post and that someone was looking out.

"Bill! It's for real! The chopper's leaving… With no – one onboard…!"

"Impossible!"

"Check it out yourself!"

"Alright. Huh? What's with this wind and light and…? BY ALL THE… What in the…?"

They will obviously know it was me soon enough but the "how" will elude them because they already saw that my PET was empty and they didn't bother to confiscate it because the room had carrier signal inhibitors to impede me from contacting anyone.

"Call Platinum!" Bill snapped at Mike.

"Huh? How odd. He doesn't have carrier signal." Mike was surprised at what he'd found out.

"What in the…? He went out? Find Jade!"

"Go yourself." Mike suddenly told Bill.

"Why me…?" Bill frowned.

"'Cause you're uglier."

"W-w-WHAT? Now's not a time for jokes, Mike, you MORON!"

"Fine, fine."

"T-this GUY!"

The chopper came out and began to fly away from the island.

I'll wait to put some distance and then warp. I'll land somewhere in Japan close to Densan City and try to find those "visitors"… I've had some days to try to recall and I've finally remembered their names… Omega, Sigma, Blood Shadow… And their commander was Vadous… I'm sure that I ask about them someone will give me indications.

"Eh… Bill? Where was Jade's office again?"

"JEEZ! Level 3! West Wing! Move your legs!"

"And move your eyebrows."

"By all the…!"

17:52 PM (Honolulu Time)…

"… Well, well, well. Another contract wrapped up… Heh, heh, heh."

"Huh…? Jade?"

"Who's there?"

"Me, Mike… I think we've got trouble…"

"I'll unlock the door."

Opoulos had been working with the laptop when Mike knocked at the door: he opened it up and Mike came in while looking slightly nervous for some reason or another.

"Well… The hatch opened alone and one Hind A flew out without anyone on board… And we can't close it either…"

"What in the… Platinum! Why didn't you contact him first?"

"We tried! But his phone's got no carrier signal."

"Weird. We set repeaters and we've got our own camouflaged antenna too… Wait. No carrier signal…? There's only one room like that! But, then, that would mean that…? Diamond!"

He'd brought out his phone while muttering and he dialed a number to call for Diamond.

"What's up, Jade?"

"Check on the little girl's room! NOW! Your quarters are close by!"

"Huh? Well, yeah. I'll get there."

"Leave the line open: and tell me if you spot anything weird."

"Roger, roger."

"Get there ASAP!"

"I'm on my way… Aha. The door is locked…"

"Knock into it and call out for the girl!"

"Huh… Hello~? Anyone there~?" Diamond tried to ask.

"O~w… Huh… Diamond…?"

"Platinum? Oi! What have you done?" He sounded suspicious.

"T-the girl's gone!"

"What?"

"Damn it!" Opoulos gasped.

"I found the air duct open but then… Something hit me from behind and I blacked out…! Ah! The air duct…! It's a red herring! She was hidden behind the door! The clever little girl…!" He cursed.

"Heh! And they say guys are cleverer." Anaya's voice mocked close by.

"Yikes!" Diamond gasped.

"Eh… My lady…"

"Don't worry about the girl! She won't know the exact coordinates for this place anyway… She's heard Nelaus' and Isaac's names so Vadous will finally get a hold of that info… Whatever…"

"My lady! They know about Mr. Opoulos! Who could've told them?"

"W-w-WHAT? Damn it! Ah! But that won't tell them where we are either!"

"Did you talk about me to someone you knew?" Opoulos asked.

"Well… I don't remember now. It could've been some years ago… I'll have to try and see if I can recall it…" Anaya trailed off.

"Lemme outta here~!" Platinum banged the door.

"Oh my! Well… Nope! Platinum – chan! Bad boys have to be punished, you know it! Heh, heh, heh!"

"Ms. Anaya! Don't kid me!" He protested.

Opoulos and Mike rolled their eyes and sighed in defeat.

Oh boy… How did they know about me? Who could've told them, anyway?