Chapter 31: Behind closed doors
05:55 AM (Chicago Time), Tuesday August the 20th…
"… I had a feeling that such a meeting would eventually happen…"
"I do not plan on making excuses. I want to avoid repeating mistakes…"
"It works for me. I am realistic as well…"
"I already readied instructions for that day…"
"I am finishing arranging things on my end, too…"
Izono was talking with someone over a landline phone.
The location was a meeting room in an office building.
The lights were off, and the blinders were lowered.
"Good. Because the end is drawing closer…"
"Regal is pressuring things over there?" The interlocutor asked.
"Yes. We want to ready something to draw his attention…"
"And evacuate your current location…"
"Yes. "Do not place too many eggs in a single basket"…"
"She doesn't infer anything, I assume?"
"You're correct. She's too fixated with her prey…" He sighed.
"What about Opoulos?"
"Too busy handling a clash with a rival merc business…"
"I guess that Regal is their client…" The interlocutor deduced.
"Possibly. But we don't have evidence of it…"
"Clark won't interfere with this process?"
"No. He's going to be the bait to deal with Regal…"
He glanced at the blinders for a moment.
"Returning to "A". Will his mind become freer over time?"
"Yes. It's planned to do that in a few days' time…"
"Good. This will help him become more adaptive…"
"I already readied a backstory and registers…"
"I received a copy. I did add in some details…"
"Excellent…"
"Don't worry about that place. I scouted it myself a while ago…"
"I don't question that, sir. But one is wary…"
"True… We should wrap up…" The interlocutor agreed.
"Same. I did come disguised and using a vehicle, but…"
"Regal might have set up some system to track you…"
"Yes. But not even he can dig up our connection…"
"Because it's indirect and forgotten over the years…"
Izono glanced around again.
"Sorry. But I must leave. Regal might be closing on us…"
"Alright. I'll handle the rest…"
"I will keep eyes on her, if possible…"
"Maybe you can tell the bodyguard soldiers to keep tabs on her, too…"
"I was already doing that, but I'll ask for them to report to me…"
"Understood…"
"Goodbye, Mr. R…"
"Don't underestimate her, Izono…"
"I am aware, sir…"
"Goodbye…"
Izono replaced the receiver and exited the room.
He pulled the raincoat's hood over him and grabbed a navy-blue umbrella.
He climbed down the emergency stairs to the ground floor.
He opened a side door and looked at the parking lot outside.
Streetlights projected some light into the surroundings.
He drew night vision googles from a backpack that he carried.
He put them on and scanned the area.
"… No figures lurking in the spaces between the cars…"
He closed the door and waited.
Only the sound of rain was hearable.
He turned around, but the corridor was empty as well.
He drew a remote and pressed a button.
He opened the door again to check out.
A blue Ford car was driving out of the parking lot.
Something hit its frontal windshield at high speed, exploding.
It was followed by another attack, hitting the inside of the car.
A car driving up behind it suddenly hit the brakes.
Someone climbed out and rushed to the car.
"A passerby? Or a scout…?" He wondered.
The person drew a phone and made a call.
Izono closed the door and rushed back inside the hall.
"How did the fool track me? I don't have a cellphone or PET!"
He cursed under his breath as he grabbed the reception phone.
"This is Chicago Police. How can I help you?"
"This is Smithson Tower security! A terrorist attacked!" He reported.
"Terrorist!?"
"They attacked a car with what looks like a missile launcher!"
"Devil!"
"They're probably lurking in the area!"
"Understood! We'll send reinforcements!"
"I'll take shelter, too!"
"Please do so!"
He replaced the phone and clicked his tongue.
"But if you think that you cornered me, then you're wrong, Regal…"
He drew the remote and pressed another button.
"I deployed Raven Sword troops. They'll keep Regal busy…"
He grabbed the phone again.
"This is Sam. Do you copy, Bob?"
"I copy, Boss!"
"Deploy the Fulton system!"
"Right away!"
He replaced the phone again.
He looked at the shutter over the front doors.
The sound of a radial saw rang out.
Someone was trying to cut open a hole in it.
"Freeze!"
"Drop the weapon!"
"Raise your arms!"
"What's the army doing here!? This wasn't in the plan!"
A short bust of machine gun fire ensued.
The attacker yelped and dropped the saw.
"On your knees! Hands behind the head! Now!"
Izono glanced towards the side door.
"You! Drop that crowbar and step asides from the door!"
"The army!?"
"On your knees! Hands behind the head! Now!"
"That's not all of them…" Izono muttered.
A "portal" opened before him.
Clark stepped out, saluting.
"Handle the field. Cleanse all traces…"
Izono stepped into the "portal", which closed.
Clark formed a device that projected UV light on the ground.
"Regal must be sniffing something. What could it be?"
He began to wonder aloud.
"Despite our throughout preparations to make tracking hard…"
He stopped cleansing and looked at the ceiling.
"… Wait. Maybe he's using micro robots?"
He rubbed his chin, thinking about it.
"Maybe he snuck them inside when Beelzebub attacked the base…"
He clicked his tongue.
"Two can play this game! Regal!"
01:19 AM (Jawaii Time)…
"… I see. Micro robots!"
"Yes. I am scouring the base for them…"
"Regal is becoming sneakier by the day…"
"Not only regal! Oozono, too!"
"That's the least of our worries right now, isn't it? Milady…"
"… Whatever…"
Izono, Anaya and Clark were holding a meeting.
Izono wasn't too surprised, but Anaya was visibly impatient.
"To begin with. What were you doing in Chicago?"
"Checking on a business that we'd set up there, years ago…"
"What was it again?"
"A drug lab specializing in anesthetic drugs…"
"True. We used them often…"
Izono calmly explained what it was about.
"But they went out of control and began to make poisons…"
"Poison Ivy infatuated them?" She laughed at her joke.
"Possibly. Someone tipped off the DEA and they shut it down…"
"Fine. No need to pour money into a bunch of morons!"
"By the way…"
"What. More complains?"
"Unfortunately, yes…"
"What next?"
"Did you visit somewhere often?"
"Sure. A club in Yokohama…"
"Maybe Regal is planning to send the cops to ambush you there…"
"Devil. If he was stalking me with that micro robot thing, then…!"
She bit her thumb finger.
"Actually… I just checked, but it's been raided…" Clark reported.
He looked up from a laptop that he was using.
"Heck. Hadn't I cancelled the appointment because I sprained my wrist…!"
"They'd caught you, milady…"
"Fine! Then I'll stay indoors for a while…"
"Yes. Else you'll fall into Regal's trap…"
"Actually… The raiders weren't police, but women hoodlums…"
"… I see!"
Anaya's annoyance became more visible.
"Meant to use them to humiliate me instead!"
"I can't deny the possibility…" Clark admitted.
"No need to play nice. We all know what we're talking about!"
"As you wish…"
"Wait. Nelaus. Where is he?"
"Sleeping in his bedroom. I checked on him 10 minutes ago…"
"Fine. But keep eyes on him…"
"Yes. I did consider that Regal might want to steal him from us…"
"That's what I want to see. Forestalling!"
"I am having Freeze Man check the whole base…"
"There aren't any in this room right now?"
"No. I checked it myself…"
"Alright. What about Nelaus' bedroom?"
"I also checked it out. As well as everyone's rooms and the barracks…"
"Fine. That's a relief…"
"This is Freeze Man. Nothing in the main meeting room, sir…"
"Good. Stay sharp. They might be in the air ducts…"
"I deployed the Ratton Viruses to scour them…"
"Good. They'll crush anything in their path…"
"Fight mice with mice!" Anaya laughed.
"Well… Yes…"
Clark was confused at what was so fun about it.
"What. Why do you always shut up? Am I a weirdo?"
"No… Well… It's simply that…"
"That you break the flow of the conversation, milady…"
Izono sighed, too used to that.
"By the way. Did Demi-Fiend propose to Kushinada?" She giggled.
"As far as I am aware… No. Why?" Clark asked.
"Felt like we're forgetting about the chap as of late…"
"Can't be helped. Chasing Regal and training Nelaus is priority…"
"I don't deny that. I just thought that we could check on him…"
"I do, from time to time. Looking for Regal…"
"I see. Regal might try to target them to lure you out…"
She rubbed her chin, amused.
"Well? Did Gorilla Man become Super King Kong Man?" She laughed.
"Gorilla Man…? You mean Guts Man?"
"That was the name? Was convinced that it was Gorilla Man!"
"No, ma'am… While I did make jokes about it… It's Guts Man…"
"Fine, fine…"
"Also… The "Committee" keeps tabs on them, too…"
"They're also expecting Regal to make a move there, then…"
"To be honest, I tipped them off. If we can use them for our benefit…"
"Smart move! That's what I want to see!"
There was a knock on the door.
"Excuse me. It's me, Opoulos…"
"Come in!"
Opoulous stepped into the room.
"I report that we have eyewitness accounts of Regal…"
"Where?"
"Austin, Texas…"
"The capital city of Texas…?"
"Correct. Naturally, I assume them to be dummies, but…"
"We must pretend that we're desperate for any leads…"
"However… The FBI is poking their noses in Honolulu, too…"
"Classical!"
"They are desperate to make up for their blunders…"
"What happened there?"
"Regal stole copies of old secret reports from a Chicago office…"
"And he might've figured out your identity from there?"
"Possibly. For all we know, he might've leaked it to the top brass…"
"It was a matter of time, anyway…"
"Yes. But things are moving faster than intended…"
"I know that it's my fault for taking the man lightly…!"
"Yelling at each other won't solve anything, Miss…"
"Did you check that your men had no wiretaps or such on them?"
"Yes. We all underwent body checks by the security staff…"
"OK. Freeze Man is taking care of hunting…"
"I know. Saw him coordinating Yamato Man and Cosmo Man, too…"
"What about the outside? Any odd ships, planes or submarines?"
"The underwater mines intercepted miniature submarines…"
"But it's not like the bay is connected to the seabed, right?"
"No. The base is built inside the mountain, but it's bedrock below…"
"Maybe it's meant to strike any ship that comes or leaves instead!"
Izono warned him as he conceived an idea.
"That makes more sense!"
"Regal tried to take me out with missile launchers, even…"
"The Stinger missile…! We'd need countermeasures…"
"We're working on it…" Clark confirmed.
"Alright. I guess that this covers all urgent matters…"
"Agreed. We should go sleep and recharge energies…"
"I'll oversee the training…"
"Handle it…"
"Disbanded!"
21:21 PM (Japan Time), Monday August the 19th…
"… I still don't know why the need for this stealth, but…"
"It's probably to avoid Regal from intercepting us…"
"Alright…"
"Besides. It was in his written orders…"
"I know. It's probably a test of our intelligence…"
Isaac, disguised as a "normal" Navi, snuck into a location.
There were several servers protected by energy fields.
Police Navis were patrolling the alleys in groups of two.
He glued his back to a wall and peeked at the left corridor.
"Do the sensors work?" He whispered.
"Affirmative…" Nelaus confirmed.
"Where is the target?"
"Server T-03. 400 meters SSE of there…"
"Any major obstacles?"
"It's a separate pavilion with extra security layers…"
"I see…"
Isaac became invisible and snuck across the area.
He avoided the patrols with ease.
He made it to a separate pavilion guarded by several energy barriers.
Drones flew in circles over the rooftop, using searchlights.
Searchlights were set up in the corners of the building, too.
Police Navis in SWAT gear stood on both sides of the frontal face.
Isaac whistled, surprised.
"No kidding. It really must be top-secret data…"
"Maybe there's data about Regal that could be useful…"
"Hence why we've been sent here…"
"The issue is making it inside…"
Something struck the drones and broke their searchlights.
Alarms blared to life and the Navis sprang into action.
"Intruder alert!"
Small, swift objects took out the searchlights next.
"It's swift!"
"A professional…!" Nelaus guessed.
The whole area was shrouded in darkness the next second.
The energy fields turned off.
"Chance…!"
Isaac crossed diagonally towards the pavilion.
The guards had headed eastwards, from where gunfire echoed.
He made it inside of the pavilion and shut the door.
Several concrete blocks were lined up inside of it.
"A security measure to avoid hacking into them…!"
"Did you like my stunt, neophyte?"
"Who's there!?"
"Shadow Man…"
"I read a file about you! You're a mercenary, too…"
"Indeed…"
"Fine. Bring it on!"
A purple ring of energy expanded across the ground.
Pillars of purple energy shot skywards as well.
Shadow Man jumped and threw a shuriken at Isaac's right heel.
The man appeared right before him, aiming the katana at his forehead.
Isaac's body was wrapped in golden light.
An explosion knocked Shadow Man away.
Isaac danced upon his axis as swirls of golden energy surrounded him.
They reshaped into a DNA double helix.
A golden Dream Virus formed in mid-air and fell atop Shadow Man.
He was crushed under the weight of the statue.
Shadow Man growled and tried to cut off the legs, but it didn't work.
"By all the… It's really made of gold!"
"We're not stingy. Unlike Regal…"
"But… You're forgetting to shave!"
"Forgetting to shave!?"
Something slashed a sword across his back from behind.
There were an army of Shadow Man copies there.
He shot them with a Mega Cannon.
The real one warped out of his position.
He brought down the blade across his back.
Isaac hissed and warped to another location.
"Bug Bomb!"
Isaac formed the bomb and flung it at Shadow Man.
He vanished and formed a magma puddle.
The bomb fell there and the terrain glitched into a frozen panel.
"Ever heard of recycling? Paralysis Spell!"
Shadow Man thrust the right hand forward.
Isaac hissed as his movements became sluggish.
But his body glowed blue, and he recovered right away.
Even Shadow Man was surprised.
"I'm not your run of the mill merc, either!" He roared.
He formed the Dream Sword and flung it at Shadow Man.
The latter escaped and appeared behind Isaac.
However, Isaac became metallic, and the blade bounced off.
He quickly spun around and punched Shadow Man's face.
He delivered a sequence of fists and kicks.
He ended with an uppercut.
"Did you like my combo attacks?"
"Not bad, neophyte… Reminds me of that blue hero…"
"Rock Man, was it?"
"Indeed… You'll soon see how versatile he is…"
"I don't doubt that…"
"He's a hero for something…"
"I'd rather judge myself!"
"Fine… Neophyte come out of the halls of everlasting boredom…"
"You're not funny…"
"They often tell me that…"
"… This whole area is a setup for this battle, isn't it?"
"Sharp, aren't we?"
"They warned me that Regal was monitoring us more intensely!"
"As expected of that man…"
"You're employed by that man without knowing it, even…"
"Possibly. A real professional doesn't ask questions…"
"Fine. But don't assume that I came unprepared…"
"Naturally…"
Shadow Man sheathed his blade and crossed his arms.
"Farewell!"
He vanished in a cloud of smoke.
Isaac punched the ground.
A "portal" formed in the ground, and he dived inside of it.
He reappeared in a hub area somewhere.
Freeze Man was waiting for him there.
"I secured a path to the base. Go. I'll delete the traces…"
"Roger, Commander!"
He entered another "portal" and made it out of there.
Freeze Man waited, drawing his blade.
Laser Man appeared there, without speaking anything.
He merely swung his right arm from right to left.
Freeze Man jumped away as a crevice formed and split both.
Laser Man vanished and left a wooden banner.
It read "fall from grace".
"Regal… You won't fool me with that stunt…!"
