Chapter 11: Second Strike
19:24 PM (Japan Time), Friday June the 13th…
"… This closed down office is the place…"
"Fits the mood…"
"I know…"
Nelaus had entered a closed down office somewhere.
The sun was starting to set down.
"You came, Rainon…"
"Naturally. I'm surprised that you bothered to have a rematch…"
Past was waiting for him there, leaning on a desk.
He was crossing his arms.
The Battle Disk was set in the ground.
Balrog was already waiting there.
"Plug In! Isaac, Transmission!"
Isaac entered the arena.
Balrog stepped forward.
The ground shook when he placed his right foot on it.
His body's flames became incandescent red.
The atmosphere suddenly heated up.
"You will become mere cinders!" Balrog proclaimed.
"Geyser!"
"Futile!"
The Geyser hit Balrog, but it barely managed to quell his flames.
He hovered before shooting forward.
Isaac jumped to the right and rolled across the ground to dodge it.
"The man's become faster!" Isaac gasped.
Balrog shot skywards only to fall and hit the ground with force.
A ring of flames expanded across the area.
Isaac jumped into the air.
"Ice Cannon Ball!"
"Same trick won't work twice!" Balrog laughed.
The Ice Cannon Ball hit the foe.
White fog expanded from the point of impact.
There was the hum of a Drill Arm and Balrog roared.
He turned around and swung his tail around.
"Death Wrecking Ball!"
He spun the Death Wrecking Ball and threw it towards the south-east.
He hit something but Isaac apparently attacked from elsewhere.
"Battle Chip, Suction!" Past announced.
The fan removed the fog to reveal Isaac.
He had two Drill Arms equipped and Balrog was trying to hit him.
Come cracks had formed on his back armor, near the wings.
"Death Wrecking Ball!"
Balrog threw it towards Isaac, who jumped over it.
The ball plunged into the ground and became stuck, tensing the chain.
Isaac ran up across the chain.
He plunged both drills into the upper section of the head's armor.
Balrog roared and he was surrounded by incandescent flames.
Isaac had already jumped away to a safe distance.
"Hell's Tornado!"
A large tornado made up of incandescent flames formed around him.
It began to suck everything around him inside.
"Heat Body!"
Isaac crouched and spun.
Flames built around him.
He shot inside of the tornado and hit Balrog on the chest.
The blow pushed him away, although his tornado didn't slow down.
Isaac jumped out of the tornado.
Balrog flung the Death Wrecking Ball, but Isaac jumped out of the way.
"Behold my new Special Ability! Hell Soldiers!" Balrog laughed.
His body glowed red.
Several copies of him formed and they spun around, switching places.
Isaac was unable to keep track of the real one.
Before he knew it, he was surrounded by eight of them.
"Slow! Balrog Breath!"
Balrog's attack hit Isaac before he could react.
Isaac jumped towards one of the enemies only to pass through it.
The other seven chased him.
"Cannon Ball!"
Isaac threw it at one of the enemies and it hit his head.
A ringing sound echoed inside of his armor and dizzied him
"Golden Fist!"
Isaac jumped into Balrog and hit his head with the Golden Fist many times.
He delivered kicks to his upper chest as well.
Balrog recovered and grabbed Isaac before shooting skywards.
He turned around and tossed Isaac towards the ground.
But Isaac was already aiming a Tank Cannon at him.
"Tank Cannon!"
The blast propelled Isaac towards the ground.
Balrog was pushed back by it.
Isaac flipped and gallantly landed on the ground.
Balrog dived for Isaac, surrounded by flames, as if he was a meteor.
He hit the ground and caused an explosion which pushed Isaac back.
"Giga Cannon!"
He shot the Giga Cannon in Balrog's chest, and the blow pushed him back.
The foe recovered and shot forward, leaving a trail of flames behind.
His left claw's fingers grew larger, and he "cut" the air.
They opened a gateway from where four red Spark Bees flew out.
"Balrog Dash!" Balrog roared.
He continued dashing forward and Isaac barely jumped out of the way.
The foe hit the ground with his tail, forming small craters.
The ground shook and Isaac was having trouble keeping his balance.
"Holy Dream!"
The blast of energy momentarily blinded Balrog.
"Silver Fist!"
Isaac drew a Silver Fist and hit his upper chest four times in a row.
"Time for a power-up! Annihilator Chip, Slot In!"
Balrog's flames and his eyes became purple.
Annihilator Man's chuckle rang out of his mouth.
"Time for the heavy guns, too!"
Nelaus input a password.
"Bestialize Mode: Falzer!"
Isaac transformed into his Falzer mode.
"Interesting! Come!"
"Feather Shoot!"
Isaac shot feathers at Balrog.
They exploded upon making impact, but Balrog didn't seem to care.
"Death Wrecking Ball!"
"Fly!" Nelaus commanded.
Isaac flew skywards and grabbed the Death Wrecking Ball.
He tugged it and suddenly let go of it as it hurdled towards Balrog.
He was hit in the upper torso and cracks formed on that segment of armor.
"Balrog's Breath!"
Balrog flew towards Isaac, shooting out a streak of purple flames.
Isaac dodged and flew towards Balrog from beneath.
He plunged the right claw into the cracked armor and tore it off.
He attacked with both hands, but the foe whipped his tail.
"Yoyo Blade!"
The combined Yoyos plunged into the wound and inflicted damage.
He grabbed the weapon and tugged it to draw Isaac towards him.
Isaac let go of it and placed a Count Bomb on top of the device.
It detonated before him and Balrog roared.
"Hell's Door: open! Unleash the monsters!" Annihilator Man exclaimed.
Balrog "cut" the air again and opened that gateway again.
Two "Spikey" Viruses ran out and began shooting flames at Isaac.
He grabbed them and tossed them towards Balrog to distract him.
"Feather Shoot!"
The feather embedded into the flesh and detonated.
The foe quickly shot forward and rammed Isaac with the right shoulder.
He pushed Iaaac to the ground and stomped over him several times.
"Death Wrecking Ball!"
Isaac jumped but Balrog corrected the aim of the weapon, and it hit Isaac.
The blow pushed him towards the ground.
He managed to stand and quickly skid across the ground.
He jumped into Balrog and hit the exposed flesh with his claws.
"Falzer Claw!"
"Burning Body!"
Purple flames surrounded Balrog and Isaac was forced to jump away.
He flew into the air while Balrog beat his wings and shot skywards as well.
"You walked into a trap! Balrog's Anger!"
Balrog glowed as purple electricity built around him.
An energy beam shot forward.
"Battle Chip, Warp Hole! Slot In!"
"What!?"
Isaac opened a "white hole".
The energy traveled inside of it and vanished.
A new hole opened behind Balrog, and his own attack hit him from behind.
It inflicted major damage and destroyed most of his rear armor.
However, Balrog glowed, and a flash ensued.
An explosion echoed from within the flash.
"What the hell!?" Nelaus gasped.
When the flash died down, Isaac laid face on the ground.
His "Falzer" armor was gone, and he had wounds across his body.
"The jerk used the accumulated damage as an energy release!"
"Devil!"
"Fortunately, that double armor system worked to mitigate it…"
He groaned and stood up, panting.
"It's like the "annihilation" technique, but at a smaller scale!"
"And I guess that the others will eventually use it, too…"
Balrog was hovering in the arena, surrounded by energy.
"What. Become a Super Saiyan, have you?" Isaac challenged.
"I see that you're a man of culture, too!" The enemy ironized.
"Guess that we do need to bring out bigger guns, then!"
"About time…"
"Golden Dreams!"
Balrog dodged as a golden Dream Virus dropped there.
It also glowed with energy.
"I see, I see…"
The enemy already noticed what Isaac meant to do.
"But that's a mere distraction!"
He turned around to intercept Isaac, running for him.
He carried a Dream Sword on his hands.
"Anti-Dream Sword!"
Balrog formed a pale copy of it and flew for Isaac.
Isaac flung the attack at Balrog.
Balrog counterattacked by flinging it, too.
Both met and cancelled each other.
"Bamboo Lances!"
Several lances emerged from the ground and stabbed the legs.
But the foe didn't mind them and increased the heat of his flames.
"Wait. I was forgetting! When in that mode, they don't feel pain!"
"Devil. You're right!" Isaac grumbled.
"Too late to regret it!"
The foe gasped when he noticed something looming over him.
He looked over the shoulder.
The golden "Dream Virus" had grown taller and was drawing closer.
"When did that thing…!?"
"Go! Golden Impossible Dream!"
The foe glowed and a flash ensued.
The air roared as energy released across it.
"Devil!" Past cursed.
"Eye for an eye!"
When the light died down, Balrog had collapsed face-down on the ground.
His armor was gone, and he was barely able to move his limbs.
"Only 10 HP left!" Past gasped.
"What the heck happened…?" Balrog groaned.
"I see. That connection cuts off when the target's HP is very low…"
"I guess that you win this round, too, Rainon… Plug Out!"
Past retrieved Balrog and holstered the PET.
"To begin with… How did you make it into this gang?"
"Laugh if you want, but before I knew it, I was part of it…"
Past shrugged.
"I guess that I've gone through a partial memory reset or hypnosis…"
"Sounds like something that Regal would do, imitating Clark…"
"Regal? What's Regal have to do with this?"
"Weren't you aware? You're all his pawns…"
Past tapped his upper arms, as if thinking about it.
"Possible. Never seen Manfroy in person, either…"
"Well. Won't come try to pull a speech. Just to warn you…"
"That if he feels like it, he might toss me away… Fair…"
He headed for the back door.
"I'll stick around to see how it ends like. See you around…"
He left, and Nelaus shrugged.
"I'm running a system scan myself, but I have no anomalies…"
"Good. But send the data to the MOS, nevertheless…"
"I know…"
Nelaus waited until the bike's engine sound drew away.
He exited the office, too, and shut the door.
He made his way back to the main street.
"Rainon…"
"Miyabi. Do you bring news?"
Miyabi was leaning on the wall to his left.
He kept his eyes closed and his arms crossed.
"Regal is acting suspiciously. Might be trying to create a smokescreen…"
"Understood. We mustn't take his taunts at face value, then…"
"Also… Try to stay away from "NG", too. The "AA" is chasing them…"
"Noted…"
"That's all. I'll resume digging…"
"For the ancient legacy of Atlantis…" Shadow Man joked.
Miyabi didn't bother to comment as he walked away.
"Well. At least it's bearable, unlike those two…" Isaac sighed.
Nelaus stopped and looked around.
"There doesn't seem to be a stalker today…"
"Maybe Miyabi's presence acted as deterrence…"
"Plausible…"
He hummed a tune as he fiddled with his keys inside of the pocket.
"I want to have a relaxing bath and a good dinner…"
"Same. Some peace is always welcome…"
"Until they make another move…"
22:40 PM (Japan Time)…
"…No bugs and no errors…"
"Fine. Wrap up the patrol…"
Omega patrolled an area.
It was a round plaza.
A hologram projector was set in the center of the plaza.
It currently depicted Uranus.
There were several gateways spread around the outer perimeter.
They were locked behind energy fields.
The area was dim as well.
An explosion suddenly happened on the base of the projector.
Omega quickly drew his blade.
"Code A! Code A! All personnel: report to battle stations!"
He rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Boss. This isn't a warship…"
His superior growled over the line, also exasperated.
"Another of my "inspirations"!" He groaned.
"The mighty Zoan Cut Man Brothers have come!"
"What. It's but scum. Thought that it was the walking nuke…"
"Who's "scum"!?"
The five "Zoan" Cut Man Brothers appeared there, striking poses.
"Return Big Bro to us! Dog of Greiga!"
"That farce is still going on!? Regal! That bastard…"
"Hold it! Fakes!"
"What next?"
"We are the REAL Cut Man Brothers! Return Big Bro to us, fakes!"
The "normal" Cut Man Brothers appeared next.
"Shadow Man! Didn't the man do something about these?"
"You called?"
Shadow Man emerged from Omega's shadow.
"How long have you been there?"
"15 minutes…"
"You knew that they were coming, didn't you?"
"Naturally. I'd installed tracers on them…"
"And why not stop them?"
"Tried to. But they unleased a legion of 1000 soldiers on me…"
"How desperate!" The superior growled.
"I know, right? Zataki Vadous…"
"Come on! "Vadous" was but my codename!" Zataki grumbled.
"No fakes of "Beyondard" will crumble our unison!"
"No fakes made in Choina will crumble our unison!"
The two groups of brothers began to fight each other.
"Fine. At least help me take out the trash…"
"Delighted…"
Shadow Man unsheathed his blade, too.
"I'll go for the left flank…"
"Fine. I'll cook up the right flank…"
"Go!"
Omega ran into the left flank and quickly struck his blade.
He split the five brothers in half each.
Shadow Man did the same with the right flanks.
The five brothers here were also sliced up.
"Quarantine Bay: 20 layers! Go!"
A black hole formed and suctioned the 10 foes inside of it.
It soon closed.
A distant roar faintly echoed.
"I knew it. They had anti-matter capsules inside their bodies…"
"How many layers did it take out?"
"18!"
"Well. Since it was 10 of them, it makes sense…"
"Regal is either becoming desperate or it's another smokescreen…"
"The latter feels more likely…"
Shadow Man sheathed his blade.
"The man must've figured out the transfer system months ago…"
"When he sent Satan to rampage here…"
"Exactly… Will need to change it… And permissions, too…"
"More like improve security scans…"
Omega glanced at Shadow Man, clearly displeased.
"Because if they imitate him and sneak inside of my shadow…"
"They can bypass all security systems from the inside…!"
"Hadn't considered that… Was short-sighted…"
Shadow Man agreed with the arguments.
"Fine. Tell me when you establish the new contact means…"
"We will. Keep chasing them…"
"Delighted… I have a score to settle with that Ronin Man, too…"
He walked out through the hole in the projector.
The damage was repaired and an energy field formed over it.
"But what Regal really wants is those bloody keys…"
"Clark isn't stupid. Must've hidden them beyond Regal's reach…"
"But maybe Regal will eventually crack the encryption of those things…"
"True. He might try to jump back in time and change history…"
"That would be a pain in the ass…"
"I know. Unless that results in a parallel timeline…"
"And not a direct rewrite…? Hard to say…"
"Don't want to have to figure that out in the flesh, either…"
"Maybe we could tip off Clark and have him blow it up…"
"Why not. Clark isn't interested in that happening, either…"
"All we need to do is find his "Legion 64" Mettools…"
"They must be lurking near the Net Saviors, anyway…"
"Surely…"
"We could ready dummy messages, too…"
"That's not a bad idea… And encode all of them…"
"We could use different cyphers on each one…"
"Maybe disguise in the open, too…"
"How?"
"Pretend that it's a rumored secret code of some videogame…"
"True. Like in the old days… The Mew is under the truck rumor…"
"And since it's a rumor, people needn't take it seriously…"
"But Clark, being the nerd that he is, will see through it…"
"I'll ask Davis and Charles for advice, too…"
"Sure. They know more about gamer communities…"
"I'll contact them for a meeting…"
"The sooner, the better…"
Omega began a call, and Davis appeared onscreen.
"We need to meet. I'll arrange for a safe location…"
"Roger…"
"Ready dummies to distract Regal's surveillance…"
"Delighted…"
"See you later…"
"OK!"
He finished the call and looked at a diagnostics screen.
"No odd programs entered the systems…"
"It was so fast that they didn't have time to react…"
"I know. But one can't be careful enough…"
"Won't deny that… And I need to change that stupid alarm…!"
Zataki's furious typing echoed.
"There! "Code A! We're under attack!"… That'll be enough!"
"Exactly. Straight to the point…"
"I'll tell Iris and Trill that they needn't worry…"
"Sure. I'll ready the ciphers, too…!"