Chapter 7: Puppeteer
23:23 PM (Japan Time), Sunday June the 8th…
"… Sir! Laser Man signatures across Cyber Tokyo!"
"Predictable…"
"I know, sir…"
"Do you copy, Commissioner?"
"I do…"
Meijin and Yuuichirou stood in the main room of the MOS.
The main screen showed signatures across a map of Tokyo.
Kifune was also visible in a corner of the screen.
"It reeks of a distraction. Only commit the minimum of forces…"
"I agree. Regal never shows his cards so easily…"
"It's possible that most of them are beacons acting as dummies…"
"Understood. I shall send Search Man and Prism Man…"
"Good. Please send Blues here as well…"
"He's on his way there…"
"Roger…"
An alarm blared.
"A missile is headed for us!"
A scientist ran in.
"Missile!?"
"Maybe it's the ones that Regal used to deploy the "DC"…!"
"Activate the emergency barrier and signal jammers!"
"On it, sir!"
Meijin quickly input orders.
An overhead 3D model of the complex was displayed.
A barrier formed over it.
The pathway of a missile was drawn on it, slowly veering off-course.
It vanished before it hit the ground.
"I report from the rooftop! It self-destructed in mid-flight!"
"What about the payload?"
"The head was empty!"
"No surprise. It must be a distraction…" Meijin cursed.
Yuuichirou crossed his arms, as if he wasn't convinced.
"Doesn't feel like Regal… There must be more to it…"
Another alarm rang out.
"What!? Intruders!? How did they make it past the firewalls!?"
"I see! There must've been micro robots inside of the warhead!"
"And they are accessing from the inside, using the Plug-In ports?"
"Very likely…"
"Devil! Regal…!"
A familiar voice laughed.
The screen frizzled and was replaced by a close-up of Laser Man's face.
"Regal!" Both cursed.
"Been a while, Hikari Yuuichirou…"
"What do you want next!?"
"To showcase you a new tool…"
"The "Puppeteer"!"
"Truly! Witness it in action!"
The screen now showed footage of the Cyber World.
A figure surrounded by static was standing there.
"This is Blues! I made it to the scene!"
Blues appeared there, yielding his blade.
"Show yourself, Laser Man!"
"Unfortunately, I am not Laser Man…"
"Whatever. I'll show you the way out…"
"Interesting. Be witness to my scientific capabilities, Net Savior!"
The Navi revealed himself.
He was over two meters tall.
The skin was brown.
His eyes were a mix of purple and black.
His forehead had an eight-pointed black and white jewel set there.
Three purple stripes travelled from behind to the front.
His body was white.
His emblem was the already seen "annihilation" logo.
Black spiral patterns were travelling up the white arms.
He had two cannons attached to his back, each colored black and white.
They were connected to his back through thick wires.
His hands had purple octahedron-shaped patterns over their palms.
His white legs also had black patterns on them.
His feet fingers ended in claws.
"My name is Annihilator Man!"
"That's the meaning of that "crest" thing, then!" Enzan guessed.
"Correct… Now let's see the extent of your fame, Net Savior!"
"Come!"
"Annihilator Beam!"
The cannons hummed and detached, hovering away from him.
They hovered over his shoulders.
Black and white energy formed on each of the muzzles.
Annihilator Man brought his hands up and focused the particles there.
They erased each other and formed an irregular sphere of faint colors.
A small set of concentric rings formed around it as if to enclose it.
They formed an opening in the front.
"Blues! Dodge!" Yuuichirou ordered.
A focused beam which robbed the sphere of some of its mass shot out.
Blues jumped to the side to dodge it.
The beam hit a wall.
A white flash blinded the whole area for a few seconds.
It was followed by a shockwave of heat and energy.
"What in the…!?"
The chunk of the wall had been neatly deleted.
The borders around it became raw data blocks.
The edges were sharply ended.
There was no blunt mark or hit like in normal attacks.
"It's annihilation! Anti-matter meeting matter!"
"By all the…" Meijin and Enzan gasped.
"I knew that you would dodge, anyway. This is but a demonstration…"
Blues scowled.
Annihilator Man charged up pale green energy on his palms.
He shot it forward.
They caused normal explosions and acted like ballistic bombs.
Blues dodged some and rushed for the enemy.
He brought up two white Long Swords and blocked him.
Annihilator Man leant forward to apply force.
He was forced to yield terrain.
"Energy Rain!"
The cannons aimed upwards and shot two energy spheres.
The white one shot quick and long beams of pure light.
They burned everything on their wake.
The black one shot short and slow beams of dark energy.
They froze everything on their wake.
"Annihilation Rain!"
The dual energies were combined into gray energy.
Several beams rained down across the area.
They deleted small patches of terrain on their wake.
"Dream Sword!"
"Annihilation Sword!"
Blues flung the attack, but the foe formed a copy of it.
Both met and cancelled each other.
"Keep your distance, Blues!" Enzan commanded.
"Roger, sir!"
Annihilaton Man walked forward, making the ground shake on his wake.
Energy was suctioned towards the feet and was absorbed by his body.
"Annihilation Rage!"
He formed a ring of energy around his waist.
It expanded and it deleted all on its wake.
"Stone Cubes!"
Blues formed a wall of cubes to delay the foe's advance.
Yuuichirou was typing into the console.
He wrote a message and sent it to Blues.
Blues nodded in understanding and waited for a chance.
The cannons were loaded with energy.
"Step Sword!"
Blues closed distances and quickly circled around the foe.
He cut the wires feeding energy to the cannons.
The cannons simply opened hatches.
Small spheres dropped from there.
They exploded and released smoke.
Blues jumped away as others flew and chased him.
He swung his blade in quick succession.
He cut through the spheres, which formed more smoke.
He deployed a shield that hovered before him.
He dropped to the ground.
The grey beam cut through the smoke and hit the shield.
Blues used the Step Sword to close distances.
He thrust the sword forward but was deflected by something.
He ducked to dodge a punch cutting through the air.
He jumped several steps away.
"Gust!"
Several boxes formed and blew off the smoke.
Annihilation Man stood still, surrounded by a barrier.
It had a black outline and a white inline.
There was a gap between both, which had "antimatter" inside of it.
"This is…!" Yuuichirou gasped.
"A fake step, and that energy will wipe out the area!" Meijin cursed.
"The man himself is a walking nuke!?"
"This is but a body that I remotely operate…"
"Is using the "Annihilator Chip" system on himself, too!?"
"I am not stupid. I know what kind of energy I am handling!"
"Regal!" Yuuichirou hissed.
"The Pentagon must be eager to gain it, wouldn't they?"
Laser Man's face was replaced by Regal's, and he was smirking.
"Not the ploy with weapons again!" Meijin growled.
"That will be enough of a demonstration… Manfroy!"
Regal glanced off-screen.
"At your orders…"
A voice distorted by a device joined the conversation.
"Sweep it clean…"
"By your orders…"
"Evacuate!" Yuuichirou ordered to Enzan.
"Plug Out!"
Blues evacuated.
"I finished isolating the section! 15 layers!" Meijin reported.
"Final Annihilation!"
The two barriers vanished.
The antimatter glowed.
The next second, a white flash and roar engulfed the area.
The footage was replaced by static.
The text "QUARANTINE AREA LOSS" was displayed.
"What a beast that you birthed, Regal!"
"And yet it's nothing compared to Duo!"
"You're still chasing that thing!?"
"Clark knows where it is. I shall steal that data!"
"You called?"
Someone burst into the call.
He had neatly combed blonde hair.
His eyes were emerald, green.
He could be in his early 30s.
"Clark!" Everyone else grumbled.
"I knew that this fuss would drag you into the open, Clark…"
"I already said that I'd be pleased to send you to meet that junk…"
"Hand over the real "Crests". The 13 of them!"
Clark raised his eyebrows, slightly surprised.
"Surprised?"
"… You found one of the machines…"
Clark rubbed his chin as he deduced how Regal knew that.
"And the copy of my records that I kept there…"
"Exactly. I have not been moving around in vain…"
"But if you saw those records, you should know it…"
Clark became amused.
"That even if I never existed nor interfered…"
He made a thumbs down sign.
"No human can control that thing or overcome Duo…"
"But what if I found something to delete it?" Regal challenged.
"I see. Some failsafe that they built before becoming extinct…"
Clark rubbed his chin.
"Or… It's a product of your fantasies… Escaping from reality…"
"Say what you want. I have the means now. I only need the keys…"
"Well then… Let's play a game, shall we?"
"The usual, is it?"
"I'll scatter these across the world, as Duo did…"
"But it's not the same "chosen ones", of course…"
"No. It'll be random mobs that don't stand out at all…"
"Fine. I shall find them, nevertheless…"
"But that doesn't stop me from inserting fakes, too…"
"I knew that it wouldn't be easy, anyway…"
"By the way… Can your beloved Manfroy keep up with this?"
"I already cut the connection. Doesn't need to know…"
"Of course… Not like I told my disciple, Bapgei, either…"
Enzan raised his eyebrows slightly but remained silent.
"There's no time limit or other rules. Enjoy the game…"
Clark's feed vanished.
"Unfortunately, that will be your end, Clark…"
Regal also vanished.
The trio sighed in relief.
"What a mess that it's become!" Yuuichirou sighed.
Enzan was crossing his arms and thinking.
"Is anything bothering you?"
"Bapgei… Bapgei… It must be that "Talon"…"
"What of it? It's hardly a surprise, no?"
"No… Well… The ring of the name makes me recall something…"
"Maybe it's from some obscure piece of fiction or a game?"
"Possible…"
"We need to rest. We're all worn out…" Yuuichirou concluded.
"Roger, sir…"
"Also, Blues. Send the data to the analysis team…"
"Right away, Lord Enzan…"
"Things are going to become even murkier…"
"And a new layer of secrecy to avoid panic…!"
12:08 AM (Japan Time), Monday June the 9th…
"… What a bloody mess!"
"I know, Boss…"
"And Clark treating it like a game…!"
"Is it that much of a surprise?"
"I'm about to explode from overload, Omega!"
Omega was arguing with a man in a room.
He was in his mid – twenties.
He had messy jet-black hair and blue eyes.
He was over a meter and eighty tall.
He wore gray armor made of several plates joined together.
Two sword sheaths were attached to his black belt.
His arms and legs were also covered in plating.
He had gloves and boots made of the same material.
A purple cape hung from the back of the shoulders.
There was a round device with a purple "V" on his chest, too.
"That's why Lartes, the medic, says that you need more rest…"
The room was square, illuminated by fluorescent tubes.
The only entrance was an armored door.
The only furniture was wooden chairs and a metallic table.
It had an integrated keyboard, mouse, USB ports and a CD tray on it.
A holographic projector was placed on the center of the table's surface.
"I was having it. But then these Rama folk show up, and…!"
"That walking nuke complicates things…"
"What if Regal unleashes it in the real world, too?"
"… True. Hadn't considered that…"
Omega scowled.
"But his goal isn't destruction but conquest…"
"True…"
The man sighed and sat in a chair, tired.
"That thing is both a deterrent and a diversion…"
"To make major powers fixate on it?"
"And he can go hunt for the "Crests" in the meanwhile…"
"But, to begin with… Clark doesn't need to play "fair", either…"
"No. It's likely that the whole tale is a lie…"
"Regal must know that, but pretends to stick to the farce…"
"To see when Clark makes a mistake…"
"By the way. Did you find anything about "Bapgei"?"
"Ijuuin was right. It's related to another name…"
"Which name?"
"To Nelaus…"
"What? Nelaus?"
"Don't you remember? His name is made from fictional characters…"
"So much has happened in these 10 months, I forgot…"
"Fair. Let's go over this again…"
Omega operated the control panel and formed a display.
The names "BANE" and "PLAGUEIS" appeared there.
"From Star Wars…"
"What were their roles again?"
"Bane. Established the Rule of Two…"
"I follow…"
"Plagueis. Master of Palpatine, AKA Sidious…"
"Wasn't there some tale about how he gained immortality or such?"
"He sought to, but Palpatine busted him before he could achieve it…"
"Fine. And?"
"Take "NE" from "BANE" and "LAUS" from "PLAGUEIS"…"
The word "NELAUS" was formed.
"And then the remaining "BA" and "PGEI"…"
The word "BAPGEI" formed next.
"There you have. Nelaus and Bapgei. Counterparts!"
"I see… Like how that Navi, Sidier, was my counterpart…"
"His duels with Nelaus reflect that, too…"
"I can see that, too…"
The man sighed and leant the chair against the wall.
"And? What will we do?"
"Guess that they'll send their pawns for another round…"
"And Regal will wait for Clark to make a move…"
"Surely…"
"At this point, the identity of "Manfroy" is hardly an issue…"
"Yes. A use and throw pawn, a distraction…"
"Maybe it's not a physical human but an AI or a robot…"
"Or a Navi, too…"
"Well. That hardly matters…"
"Also… What about Anaya?"
"As always… Plenty of fakes, but nothing to get close to the real one…"
"Maybe she's right before our noses…"
"Wouldn't surprise me… Starting searches in the city…"
"Alright. Be discrete…"
"I know…"
"Did Kuro Kaze and Daratsu, our scouts, report anything?"
"Nothing major. Apart from hoodlums and Yakuza becoming active…"
"Maybe Regal is using them as a distraction for the police forces…"
"Possible…"
"What about Iris and Trill?"
"Nothing odd happened around them. Iris is careful, too…"
"That's a relief. I don't want her to be dragged into a mess…"
"Trill enjoys having fun with the kids and that's it…"
"Good. I want to keep him outside of this, too…"
"Lartes is keeping watch on them…"
"Understood…"
"Kir Osh, the mechanic, went over security and maintenance…"
"Alright…"
The man frowned, as if trying to recall something.
"I think that I'm forgetting someone…"
"Dragon Hell. Our chef that behaves like a hermit…"
"That's it!"
"Does the job diligently. Doesn't try to make calls, either…"
"Fine. If he prefers to read books, so be it…"
"Sure. Doesn't harm anyone…"
"Speaking of harming… What did Sigma mess up this time?"
"More like his writing sense is questionable…"
"Too much "NSFW"?"
"No, no. More like lame puns and gags…"
"Fine. That's more bearable than the first one…"
Omega tapped the left side of his helmet.
"What's wrong, Blood?"
"Regal sending manifestos across the world, sir…"
"Lovely. What now?"
"… "The game has begun"…"
"That's it? How lame. What does that achieve?"
"Guess that distracting the masses from the real deal…"
"Fine. Thanks for the report. Rest…"
"Yes, sir… Good night, sir…"
The man stood up and leant on the table.
He accessed a website and sighed.
"It's true. Signs as "the royal regalia"…"
"You need rest, too. Boss…"
"You're right. I'll use that playlist of relaxing music to sleep…"
"Do that. I'll spearhead the fort…"
"Regal… Clark…! You're both such headaches…!"