Chapter 13: A view to battle
18:06 PM (Japan Time), Saturday June the 14th…
"… Alright. Who are you, and what do you want out of me?"
"Don't worry, my girl. I'm only interested in your Net Navi…"
"Why bother? It's a very normal Navi…"
"No, no. Has hidden abilities. My job is to analyze them…"
"What the heck?"
Tamashita made it to the rooftop of a four-story building.
Prophetess was waiting for her, with the Duel Stage ready.
"You must be a bored housewife!" Tamashita challenged.
Prophetess laughed.
"That's a new one! But I'm a fresh and active college gal!"
"Really. And that blond hair is a wig, isn't it?"
"Who knows? I'll leave it up to your imagination, my girl…"
"We don't have all day, Aura. Let's do this…" Felicia rallied.
"Fine. Plug In! Felicia, Transmission!"
Felicia entered the battlefield.
There was a tent with a "FORTUNE TELLING" banner.
"I can see it! You will attempt to win at the lottery and fail!"
"What kind of fortune telling is that? That's enough farces…"
The curtains opened and Witched jumped out, giggling.
"I knew it. Only you would bother to call for me…"
"Is that the gal that started a fight with you the other day?"
"Same one…"
"Witch. You better bring out those "special skills" into the open…"
"I shall, milady!"
"I take it that, otherwise, your club boss will scold you…"
"You could say that…"
"No more preludes! Ice Spell!"
She hit the ground with her rod.
A large patch of it around her froze and became ice.
Felicia, who was running for her, skid across it by forming ice skates.
"Mega Cannon!"
Tamashita slid the Chip from the screen.
"Witch Barrier!"
Felicia shot, but the blast was absorbed by the barrier.
Several small beams shot from the surface of the barrier.
Felicia switched her ice skates for jets and flew skywards.
A "portal" formed overhead, and several beams rained down.
Felicia hissed and flew away, ignoring the burns on her arms.
"Recovery 50!"
"Thanks!"
"Well? Will you call Kong-Ming to figure out how to break this?"
"Very funny… Super North Wind!"
"What!?"
The winds tore off the barrier, surprising Witch.
Felicia shot the Mega Cannon and hit the foe.
She recoiled and hissed.
She loaded energy on her rod.
"Lightning Spell!"
Clouds formed in the sky and lightning bolts rained down.
"Wood Barrier!"
"What!?"
Felicia formed a glowing green barrier around her.
"Megure! Megure built that!" Witch hissed.
"Higure, not Megure…" Tamashita sighed.
"Witch. Show intelligence!" Prophetess commanded.
"Yes, milady!" She gasped.
"Else the boss will modify you to the extremes!"
"R-roger! Fire Spell!"
"Water Barrier!"
"There's more!?"
Felicia switched the element of her barrier.
The flames that Witch sent towards her boiled when hitting the barrier.
Felicia used steam as a cover.
She landed on the ground and flew towards Witch.
She cooled the air around her and formed ice spears.
They flew for Witch, who noticed them and gasped.
She stepped to dodge, but some scratched her left side.
She winced and hit the ground with the rod.
Electrical bolts travelled across it.
Felicia jumped and shot a Super Vulcan at the foe.
"Ground Spell!"
The ground rumbled and cracks opened across it.
Parts of it rose and others sunk.
"We both can fly. What's the point of that?" Felicia challenged.
"Heck!"
"Witch…!" Prophetess scolded.
"Yes! Yes! I am going to show intelligence!"
"And remember that since this isn't authorized, I can't use "it"…"
"I am aware! I can do it!"
"You better do!"
"Rain Spell!"
She formed clouds and rain poured down.
Felicia gasped when her skin hissed whenever a droplet hit her.
"Acid rain!?"
"For real!?" Tamashita gasped.
"If you want to survive, bring out those special skills!"
"Whatever. Eat these!"
She formed snowflakes and gripped them.
She flung them as if they were spinning disks.
"Blizzard Spell!"
A blizzard blew forward, knocking out the snowflakes.
"Hell's Burner!"
Felicia burned through the blizzard and ran for Witch.
She jumped over a patch of terrain.
Witch clicked her tongue.
"I have a mine detector!"
"Heck!"
"Witch…! Are you trying to shame me!?" Prophetess hissed.
"No, milady! I'm warming up!"
"I don't have all day. You better hurry it up!"
"Yes! Yes! Tornado Spell!"
Tornadoes formed across the field, pulling things towards them.
They dragged dust and soil with them, limiting visibility.
Felicia formed an Iron Body to protect herself.
"Potion of Flames!"
She formed a bottle with a liquid inside and an ignited fuse.
She flung it at Felicia's feet, and it ignited.
"What "potion"! This is a Molotov cocktail!"
Felicia had to cancel the Iron Body and jumped away.
"There's more! Enjoy the cocktail bar!"
She flung more bottles and created local fires.
The winds of the tornadoes made them grow into wildfire.
"If you want to survive, bring out your special skills!"
"Again! It's in your imagination! I'm an average Net Navi!"
"Witch… What did I say about not mixing in personal motivations?"
"But there is a report from the MOS that said as much!"
"Who wrote it?"
"Someone named Jinmei, and…"
"Then that's a joke. I heard from Rainon – kun that it's Meijin, not Jinmei!"
"What!?" Witch gasped.
"Witch…! What happened to your intelligence levels!?"
"T-that's…"
"I heard that there's a "dumb Virus" to make others dumb, too…"
"Witch! You must've been infected by that!"
"No way!"
"The issue is… Who benefits from this?"
"Don't ask me. I'm an average high school girl!"
"I know. Was thinking aloud…"
Prophetess was crossing her arms and thinking aloud.
The PET beeped.
"Email from… The Witch of the Canvas?" She wondered.
"A cousin of your Navi?" Tamashita ironized.
"Maybe!" She giggled.
She read it and nodded in understanding.
"I see… That gal was behind it…"
"Your love rival?" Tamashita taunted.
"You could say so…"
She shrugged, unimpressed.
"Well. Let's see what you can do, my dears…"
"Dream Sword!"
"Sword Spell!"
Felicia flung the attack at the foe, who formed a normal sword.
It stabbed into the ground and projected a barrier.
The Dream Sword broke through both and hit Witch.
"Heck! I need to increase its DEF values! Crossbow Spell!"
A crossbow hovered above Witch and shot arrows in a succession.
Felicia ran in a zig-zag pattern to dodge them.
One hit her upper left arm, and she winced.
"A poisonous arrow! How insidious!"
"Feel the Fear! The venom of the Brazilian wandering spider!"
"As if that makes a difference in the Cyber World…!"
"It does! Because its HP reduction rate is 4 times the usual rate!"
"That's a cheat!"
"Who said that I'd play fair?" She laughed.
"Too bad! Antidote Program!"
"Where the heck did that come from!?"
"A secret makes a woman, woman!" Tamashita laughed.
"My. Big Sis Vermy taught you some lessons, I see…"
Prophetess was amused.
"Milady! Why are you so calm about this!?"
"Because YOU started this. Not me. Take responsibility!"
"Y-yes! Milady!"
"Or do you want the boss to turn you into a mindless puppet?"
"NO!"
"Then pour more motivation into it!"
"R-roger that!"
"I can do the same, too! Triple Arrow!"
She formed a crossbow, too, and shot three arrows.
"Shield Spell!"
She formed a shield before her, but the arrows pierced through it.
They hit Witch on the upper arms and base of the neck.
They exploded and knocked her away.
She groaned and collapsed face-up on the ground.
"Not yet! Heal Spell!"
The damage healed and she jumped back to her feet.
"Command Spell!"
Felicia gasped as she was unable to move.
"It's hacking into my motion commands!" She gasped.
"Devil!" Tamashita gasped.
"… What? No way! It must be there! Confess!"
Witch gasped when she didn't find what she was looking for.
"Again! That report is a lie! There are no "special skills"!"
"Agreed. My source confirms that, too…" Prophetess added.
"No! I won't give up yet! I'll find it!"
"Forget about it. Doesn't exist. Never did!"
"Why, you…! Curse Spell!"
Felicia hissed as pain assaulted her.
"It's overloading my pain sensors!"
"Confess!"
"That's enough! Plug Out!"
"No way!"
Prophetess retrieved Witch and Felicia sighed in relief.
"Plug Out, too!"
"OK!"
She returned to Tamashita's PET.
Prophetess sighed and grabbed the device.
"You need a data overhaul. To get rid of that virus thing, too!"
"B-but! Milady!"
"Emergency order: enter sleep mode!"
"No way!"
Her data compressed into a slab and was stored in the PET memory.
"Sorry for the hassle, my dear. Someone wants to laugh at me…"
"And dragged me into it?" Tamashita sighed.
"Some sneaky gal… But I'll deal with her in due time…"
"Fine. I won't openly talk about this because it was a waste of time…"
"Same… Let's both pretend that nothing happened…"
Prophetess calmly walked towards the building entrance.
"Wait a couple of minutes, then you can come down…"
"Fine…"
Tamashita sighed in relief.
"Thought that she'd be the type to not admit her defeat, but…"
"Glad that it was more mature than her Navi!" Felicia sighed.
"Sure. Let's keep it between the two of us…"
"Agreed…"
Tamashita looked down at the street.
She saw Prophetess turn the corner and enter the adjacent alley.
The sound of the motorbike engaging echoed.
Prophetess exited the alley, riding in her bike.
"Alright. Let's get out, too…"
"Sure…"
Tamashita climbed down the stairs.
She recalled the elevator and rode on it.
She exited into the ground floor foyer and crossed it.
She walked down the street as if nothing had happened.
"But training in Net Battles was smart…" Felicia commented.
"I know. Sakurai gave me some advice…"
"And these Chips that Mr. Higure made are useful, too…"
"Guess that someone oversaw his work to make sure that it worked…"
"Probably. If that'll help avoid his "rampages"…"
"I know. He doesn't have bad intentions, but…"
"He tends to forget that his actions aren't rational…"
She made it to the bus stop and lined up with the people waiting.
"Anyway. I want to finish the homework…"
"I'll undergo a security scan and repairs, too…"
"Good idea!"
She validated her pass in the bus machine and sat in a chair.
"Home, sweet home…!"
18:42 PM (Japan Time)…
"… I did gather useful data, Lady Viper…"
"Good job, Bella…"
"I guess that Anaya smelled our involvement, but…"
"It's not like she knows where we are, anyway…"
Bella reported to Viper.
"But same trick won't work twice. Be aware of it, Bella…"
"I am aware…"
"Good…"
Viper looked at the records of the battle.
Graphs of Witch and data about her were displayed, too.
"I see. The secret stats are locked behind a password…"
"And that password is input when they use that gizmo…"
"The connection uses two layers of encryption, too…"
"Making it very hard to backtrack it…"
"And even if we did, it's probably a relay point…"
"And not the origin of the signal…"
"We'd probably find the walking nuke there…"
"Sure. An ambush to erase any sniffers…"
"And we wouldn't get closer to "Priest Manfroy"…"
"Patience is the key here. We'll find a way…"
"Truly, milady…"
"Now let's see what the others will do…"
"It'll be fun to see…"
18:50 PM (Japan Time)…
"… What? Prophetess had an unauthorized battle?"
"And, also… Ancient is probably involved with some incident…"
"Ancient was predictable. But Prophetess…"
"Looks like Witch started it, though…"
"Strange tale…"
"Manfroy" was listening to reports from Annihilator Man.
"However… It's possible that a third party is meddling…"
"Neo Gospel?"
"It's not clear yet. Maybe it's that woman, Anaya…"
"True. Clark has a rule that stops him from meddling with women…"
"Manfroy" tapped the armrests.
"It'd make sense that Anaya is operating behind the scenes…"
"The issue is that she has many fakes and faces…"
"It's pointless to try to chase her, though…"
"I know. It's frustrating, but we must be realistic…"
"Should something be done? A punishment?"
"Hard to justify it, given how a third party is involved…"
"Maybe add a surveillance program?"
"They're no dumb. They'll see it coming and loophole it…"
"True, sir…"
"Merely improve anti-virus systems for now…"
"As you command, sir…"
"The issue is Clark… He's too quiet…!"
18:55 PM (Japan Time)…
"… What? Tamashita was fighting a member of Rama?"
"Yes. But it looks like they were set up by Anaya…"
"I see. I guess that the real goal was data on the Rama Navi…"
"Looks like it…"
"Thanks for the information, Oozono…"
"Don't mind it. Was investigating that Rama member, anyway…"
Yuriko reported what had happened to Nelaus.
"Let me guess. The woman known as Prophetess?"
"Correct. I suspect that she's an agent of Anaya…"
"Then why would Anaya sabotage her own agent?"
"Probably to pretend that they're unrelated…"
"Wait. To begin with… Are we sure that it was Anaya?"
"Do you have other candidates in mind?"
"Viper and Bella of the Desert Wraiths…"
Yuriko gasped.
"Devil. Had forgotten about them altogether!"
"It's not like they ever stood out, but…"
"They were working with Anaya…"
"The issue is… Are they in Japan to begin with?"
"Good point… They could be overseas, just like Clark…"
"I'll try to dig around… But don't expect immediate results…"
"Not like I'm your superior. I was merely suggesting a course of action…"
"True. Sorry for that, too used to Regal's impatient nature…"
"Was the man that impatient?"
"When things didn't go as planned, he did become impatient…"
"I see…"
"The issue is that we have no idea of where the man is…"
"Maybe he's built himself an undersea base?"
"Or is using a yacht or a ship, too…"
"Maybe he has borrowed a room in the Empire State, even…"
"Somehow, it wouldn't surprise me…"
Yuriko sighed.
"Anyway. Your friend probably doesn't want to bring up the topic, so…"
"I won't chase it…"
"Prophetess wasn't pleased by the outcome, either…"
"Meaning that it's unlikely that she'll bother Tamashita again…"
"Fortunately…"
"Sure. I don't have time to be a babysitter…"
"I know the feeling, too…"
"Take care, Oozono. Anaya might be trying to ambush you, too…"
"I'm aware. Often sends women hoodlums to assault me…"
"Is she that desperate?"
"Far from it! It's a stunt to try to fool me…"
"I see. Playing psychological warfare again…"
"Anyway. I'll handle it. Be careful as well!"
"Noted…"
"See you…"
She ended the call and Nelaus sighed.
"I checked. Security is all in order…"
"Good. But let's warn Hikari to be on the safe side…"
"Roger. Starting the call…"
"Hullo, Nelaus. What's up?"
Netto appeared onscreen.
"Sent you an email with a summary of what's happened…"
"Let's see…"
Netto read it and he gasped in surprise.
"Viper and Bella! Forgot about them, too!"
"I don't think that they'll directly interfere with us, but…"
"She might spur the Rama members to come battle us…"
"Works for me! I'll send them flying to Tasmania Island!"
"It's not that simple, Sigma…" Blood Shadow scolded.
"Also. It's about that clause, but…"
"I understand. We won't divulge about it…" Saito confirmed.
"What's with the secrecy?" Sigma asked, surprised.
"Because that's what that person wishes for. End of the tale!"
"Keep an eye on your surroundings, too…"
"Least they try to sneak some virus on us, I take it! Roger that!"
"Good. Let's meet tomorrow for the games party…"
"I'll show you my skills at Mario Kart!"
"Bring it on, Hikari. I won't make it easy!"
The group laughed, animated…