Chapter 2: Impatience
09:34 AM (Japan Time), Saturday June the 7th…
"… I feel your presence… Reveal yourself…"
"I was looking forward to this, Dark Miyabi!"
"You must be "Ancient"…"
"Fast ears. Saves me the need to introduce myself!"
Miyabi noticed someone stalking him.
He stopped as he made his way across an alley.
Ancient dropped from above, yielding one of those devices.
"I challenge you to a duel!"
"Fine… Let's do this, Shadow Man…"
"Delighted…"
He drew his PET.
"Plug In! Shadow Man, Transmission!"
"Plug In! Ronin Man, Transmission!"
Both entered the battle arena and readied their blades.
The wind blew.
A moment of tension and silence ensued.
Both dashed for each other, and they clashed their blades.
"Explosion!"
Shadow Man jumped away and shot a fireball.
"Ronin's Counterattack!"
Ronin Man bounced back the fireball and jumped for Shadow Man.
They clashed blades again.
Their clash continued for a couple of minutes.
Neither made big progress.
Ancient was growing impatient.
However, Miyabi quickly drew a kunai.
He closed distances and aimed it at his neck.
"Don't move. The duel is still ongoing…"
The man clicked his tongue.
"You're but a scammer pretending to be a cult member, anyway…"
"What would you know!?"
"I have my means… Especially if the Karazawa clan is involved…"
Ancient gasped, surprised.
"You stole a treasure from them and tried to resell it…"
"I don't know anything about that!"
"Whatever. Don't be surprised if they pay you a visit one day…"
"Ronin Barrage!"
Ronin Man wielded both blades and delivered several thrusts.
Shadow Man blocked some, but others hit him.
"To begin with… Was this sortie authorized by your superior?"
Ancient clicked his tongue again.
"Thought as much… Hence why you don't have that toy…"
"None of your business!"
"Trying to impress him by proving that you can defeat me, I see…"
"… Ancient. What did I say about not acting on your own?"
"Devil!"
Both looked upwards.
Present stood on the edge of one of the buildings.
He was crossing his arms.
"And what did I say about using the head and not the muscles?"
"T-that's…"
"Did you think that I wouldn't foresee this?"
Ancient grumbled something under his breath.
"Hence why I told you to return the "AC" yesterday…"
"… I shall make no excuses…!"
"Wrap it up. I have no time for babysitting…"
"B-baby…!"
"If you don't like the business, there's the door out…"
The man grumbled and fumed.
"I obey…!"
"Good. But I will be watching until it ends…"
"Y-yes, sir…!"
"… Ronin Slash!"
"Come…"
Ronin Man swung his blades in a sequence.
He changed the angles and strength in each attack.
Shadow Man blocked some, and others hit him.
"Keep it up, Ronin Man! Drive them to a corner! Take their head!"
"Delighted, Master…"
"Come…"
Present merely tapped the upper portion of his arms with his fingers.
"Sir. That strategy…"
The Navi whispered to him from inside of the PET.
"I know. But don't say anything. It'll be a lesson for that man…"
"As you desire…"
"Shadow Man. Wrap it up…"
"Delighted. Muramasa Blade!"
"What! Devil!"
Shadow Man formed the blade and cut across the area in a second.
He formed a wound across Ronin Man's chest.
The foe recoiled and hissed.
He scoffed and glanced at the wound.
"Overconfidence only leads to self-destruction…"
"You're one to talk!"
"You mean that of the "Dark Chips"? I was stupid. I learn from it…"
Shadow Man shrugged.
"What point is there to fixate on failures of the past, anyway?"
"Why, you…!"
Ancient was tense, as if he was going to do something.
"Ancient. Are you testing my patience?"
"T-that's… No!"
"Pull out. Before I must show you the door out…"
"Y-yes, sir…! I obey, sir…!"
"Don't assume that this is a place where folk like you survive…"
"Plug Out!"
He retrieved Ronin Man.
He ran away from the alley.
Miyabi turned around and resumed his path.
"What a waste of time…"
"Same. That man is more looks than actual skill…"
"And? What do you want to achieve in the long term?"
Miyabi looked up at Present.
"A force to keep both parties in check…"
"To establish a balance of forces?"
"Exactly…"
"Suit yourself. Not my business…"
"Naturally…"
Present turned around and headed inside of the building.
Miyabi made his way across several alleys.
He eventually reached a main avenue with more traffic.
"Anyway. Tell Omega about this…"
"On my way…"
"And Yuriko…"
Miyabi stopped next to the park and inspected the trees.
"Nothing odd there. Good…"
He resumed his walk.
"What will they pull out next?"
10:03 AM (Japan Time)…
"… A howl emerges from the depths of the earth…"
"What's that?"
"The rumbling stomach! The black hole!"
"What?"
"Nubete for POTUS! Burritos will be the National Treasure!"
"What kind of meme is that?"
"Dunno…"
"… Cloudy is busy…"
"I can see that!"
Isaac sighed as he walked down the street.
An advert screen was playing a stupid advert by Cloud Man.
"I see that the clowns are too much for you, Ex-Comrade…"
"Golden Man. Did you find El Dorado?"
"Maybe yes, maybe not…"
He wasn't surprised to see Cosmo Man on an alley.
He was leaning his back on a wall.
He was crossing his arms and was amused.
"And? Come to deliver a message, have you?"
"Correct…"
"Deliver it, then. Your master loves efficiency, no?"
"The man leading those "Rama" folk… They call him "Priest"…"
"Priest… Is it?"
"Uses the face of a certain Manfroy…"
"Must be a fictional character. A friend of Malfoy?" He ironized.
"Maybe…" Cosmo Man chuckled.
"And?"
"As for those bikers… 4 men, 1 woman…"
"5 of them? I see…"
"But they were careful about hiding data on their Net Navis…"
"I see. We can't predict them beforehand…"
"Unlike that Ronin Man, the others pack firepower…"
"Classical. That Ronin Man was but a minor performer…"
"Since he fell for Shadow Man's trap…"
"Already? He sure is impatient…"
"That's all. We shall meet again, ex-comrade…"
Cosmo Man formed the "Cosmo Gate" and sunk inside of it.
"Don't worry. The ring of jamming was working…" Nelaus whispered.
"Naturally. They aren't stupid…"
"Guess that Clark feels it fairer if we know what we're dealing with…"
"Or maybe he's telling Regal that he knows a lot about his plans…"
"That could be it, too…"
Isaac resumed his walk and stopped near the stadium.
"Let's hope that it doesn't get razed to the ground again…"
"Sure…"
Isaac glanced around.
"Well, Blues?"
"As expected of you, Isaac…"
Blues stepped out of the shadows and met with him.
"Zero and I are keeping watch. You never know…"
"Exactly. By the way…"
He glanced around.
He formed a USB pen drive and handed it to Blues.
"Information… From El Dorado…" He whispered.
"I see…"
"Better treat it as highly classified for now…"
"Agreed. What do you think, Lord Enzan?"
"Same opinion. If we show a natural reaction, it'll work for us…"
"Because they might become overconfident…" Nelaus agreed.
A beep echoed.
"Blues. This is Zero. I found Laser Man…"
"That was fast…"
"Rather… A hologram of the man…"
"Where?"
"Before Gate #8…"
"Anything noticeable there?"
"No…"
"The ones using the arena right now are… Guts Man and Ice Man…"
Enzan checked the registers.
"Maybe he's trying to pressure us?" Nelaus suggested.
"I see. Trying to say that he might take them as hostages…"
"Or attack them to lure us into counterattacking…"
"Either is very possible…"
"… The foe has vanished…" Zero reported.
"Predictable…"
"What about Search Man?"
"Returned to Sharo to investigate a streak of incidents there…"
"Maybe it's part of their plots…"
"Could be. Cannot conclude anything at this point…"
"You know what? I'll go to the MOS and train…" Nelaus announced.
"Good idea. Your special skills might be useful…"
"We must also take into consideration that "AC" thing…"
"And ready escape routes…"
"Yes. They might trap us inside of those things if they feel like it…"
An explosion echoed at a distance.
"What was that!?"
"A diversion?"
"This is Grid #23! A fireworks maker's warehouse blew up!"
"Arson? An accident?"
"Hard to tell! It's fiercely burning!"
"Burning… JET!"
Yells of pain echoed, followed by laughter.
"The mighty Burner Man will burn all to the ground!"
"Burner Man! A "Darkloid"!" Blues grumbled.
"Regal. Who else would bother?" Isaac sighed.
"This is Prism Man. I'll engage…"
"Counting on you…"
"Nothing odd in the outer perimeter…"
Zero met with the duo.
"The duel inside is proceeding without issues, too…"
"… This is Meijin. I confirm that Prism Man is engaging the foe…"
"Be careful. It might bite…" Isaac warned.
"No doubt. Analysis suggests that its values are 1.5 higher than before…"
"Burn! Burn! Burn to the ground!"
"… Chance…"
The sound of a lance stabbing something echoed.
"Impossible…!" Burner Man groaned.
"Get away! "Black Bomb" signature!"
"Roger!"
A roar of air being suctioned echoed.
It soon died down.
"The whole warehouse and all in 25m radius is deleted!"
"Devil. The output of those things is increasing by the day…"
"Regal must want to remind us that he bites…"
"Why doesn't he bite the meat instead of others?" Isaac sighed.
"We all wished that he did that, we do…!" Enzan sighed.
"I will resume the patrol…"
"Confirmed. We need to train. Let's go, Isaac!"
"Sure. See you later!"
"Goodbye…"
10:42 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Miss Yaito. Did you order a golden egghead?"
"No!"
"Thought as much…"
"Who's saying that, Glyde?"
"Kiryuuin Sakurako…"
"Of course! Someone using her name!"
Yaito was going over her lessons notes in her room.
Glyde reported something and she didn't bother to look up.
"Don't remind me of the shame that I went through!"
"I apologize…"
"It's not your fault! But of that sneaky witch!"
"Understood…"
"I'll show them that my intellect is above theirs!"
She grabbed her glass with strawberry milk.
She sipped some with the straw.
She replaced it and resumed going over her notes.
She then checked a sheet of paper with Math problems on it.
"I see!"
She used her notes as reference to solve the formula.
"I can do this!"
She became motivated.
She sipped more milk.
"I'll show them my honor!"
10:47 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Man! That was close!"
"I know, Dekao – kun. It was a last moment's inspiration!"
"Now I can focus on the homework!"
"Same. Needed something to vent off, too…"
Hikawa and Dekao were going over their homework, too.
The place was Dekao's room.
Glasses of water were set on the table.
"But I'll improve Guts Man's speed, too!"
"Sure. It won't be easy, but I'll persist!"
"See. This Math problem here…"
"That's it? Then…"
Hikawa began to solve it.
He stopped to think about it and checked his notes.
"I know! This way!"
He erased a line and redid it.
"If I swap these elements, this is the answer!"
"I see!"
"It's a question of trying several possibilities!"
"Cool!"
"Try it!"
Dekao copied the steps and solved the problem, too.
"We make a great team!"
"I know!"
10:52 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Having fun with the music club, Meiru – chan?"
"Yes! It's where my piano skills show up…"
"That's great!"
"I know. It highly motivates me!"
Meiru was practicing piano at home.
She talked about it to Roll.
"Glad that Yaito went over that prank and became smarter…"
"Same…"
"Tamashita has become less enquiring and keeps her distance, too…"
"Guess that she realized that poking too much might annoy others…"
"Sure…"
"It's not like she had ill intentions, it's that she asked too much…"
"Yes. One must learn to read between the lines…"
"But I guess that her partner, Felicia, helped there…"
"She always struck as cool and calm…"
"Anyway. I finished the homework, let's enjoy the piano time…"
She sipped water from a glass.
She played a melody on the piano.
Satisfied, she noted it down in her notebook.
"It's coming out great. It only needs a bit more of fine tuning…"
"Looking wonderful!"
"Thanks, Roll…"
"Let's show them the beauty of music!"
11:37 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Good job, Rainon – kun…"
"Thanks, Dr. Hikari…"
"Mara, was it? They sound like they'll pack a punch…"
"Rama, sir…"
"Dear! I mistook them again!"
Nelaus drank water from a plastic bottle.
He was sitting on a bench next to the training machines.
He had a towel on his shoulders.
He wore a white shirt, jeans, blue socks and white sneakers.
Yuuichirou met with him.
"Mara is the name of a demon…"
"That must bring bad luck!"
"Possibly…"
"Anyway… You and Isaac make a great combination, as always…"
"I devote a lot of effort to it, after all. It's my specialty…"
"I see. It's great to have passion and dedication, after all…"
"Thanks, sir…"
"By the way. Do you know a girl named Tamashita?"
"Yes. It's a classmate. What about them?"
"She was here the other day…"
"What for?"
"She had found a wiretap program hidden deep in her PET…"
"I see…"
"We inspected it and removed it… However…"
"It was a dummy?"
"Yes. It pretends to be a wiretap program, but did nothing at all…"
"A new form of phishing scam?"
"Possible. We warned the Net Police about it, too…"
"We should be on the lookout for those, too…"
"We are finishing a new version of the emergency jammer, too…"
"The system to nullify Regal's "Black Bombs", yes?"
"Correct. We expanded the range of frequencies, and…"
He looked at the notes in his clipboard.
"Can also hack into them to stop them for a few seconds…"
"To have time to evacuate…"
"Yes. We still need to find a more effective measure, but…"
"It'll be hard because Regal or his men keep upgrading them…"
"Correct. As if "Dark Chips" weren't enough of a hassle…"
"Heard that isolated cases of their usage have been reported…"
"Yes. Mostly targeted petty criminals… To steal their data…"
"It's not so much that he wants their Navis as pawns, but the data…"
Isaac crossed his arms to think about it.
"This might be annoying…"
"I know. If only there was a way to catch Regal…!"
"No point in grieving, sir. Let's focus on the tasks at hand…"
"Good point. Time to resume work!"
"Wait for us, Regal…!"