Chapter 17: Gate Out
07:07 PM (Brazil Time), Saturday June the 14th…
"… I was wondering who came to interrupt my meditation…"
"Too bad, Regalia. It wasn't Clarry Sammy…"
"Matters little. If I can remove a hindrance, so be it…"
"I bite more than the Midgarsolmm, though!"
Regal was sitting on a stone throne inside of a vaulted room.
He looked like he had been sleeping.
He was clearly displeased.
He was facing a machine a couple of meters before him.
It had a pyramidal base.
The main body was a metallic ring.
Devices were attached to both sides of the ring.
A laptop was connected to one of the devices.
The words "ANALYZING: 78% DECODED" were displayed on the screen.
A fancy-looking girl wearing a school uniform appeared behind him.
She looked both amused and psychotic.
She carried two dual swords in her hands.
"Enoshima Junko! The Super High School Fashion Diva! And…!"
She giggled.
"One of the two members of Super High School Despair duet!"
Regal merely snapped his right hand's thumb and index fingers.
"Wild Rush!"
"If it isn't Mr. Senior Wild Beast! Are you buzzing in NicoNico Video?"
Beast Man appeared there and tried to hit her.
She jumped backwards to easily dodge.
Regal merely snapped his fingers again.
"Neon Light!"
"The mighty Flash Gordon! The awakener of souls and love!"
She dodged his attack coming from the left and joked.
"Lion Head!"
"Desert for Desserts! Cousin of Sand Man! Did Spidey beat him again?"
The Lion Head flew in from the right next, but she dodged it too.
"Wind Cutter!"
"If isn't VHS Man, the Serial Strangler! Did you film your own demise?"
The Wind Cutter flew in from behind her.
She vanished in a cloud of smoke and was replaced by a Jizo Statue.
The attacks hit it, activating it and punishing the attackers.
Regal tapped the right armrest with his right hand's fingers.
"Sword Press!"
"If isn't Cerberus! Did Hades replace you by an ACME Inc robot?"
Sword Man hit the ground and formed a shockwave.
"Spark Ball!"
"If isn't Sparkly Sparkle! Did you zap the monkey's brains?"
The Spark Ball flew for her as well.
"Strike Burner!"
"Burning Burners of Burning Lands! The safe cracker!"
Burner Man shot a stream of flames for her.
"White Breath!"
"It's Mr. P's favorite Soviet-made portable fridge! To store Vodka!"
Cold Man opened his doors and shot frigid air at her.
She hit the ground with both blades.
Four thunderbolts hit the new group of attackers.
"I set it beneath my feet this time!" She laughed.
"Gatling Pins!"
"If isn't Turkey out-of-season! Wait until Thanksgiving Day!"
Bowl Man shot several attacks at her.
"Meteors!"
"Everyone's beloved little boy! Competing with Amada for screentime!"
She dodged Star Man's attacks, too.
"Rose Needles!"
"There it is! The tentacle fetish man that makes geeks rejoice!"
She dodged the needles thrown at her by Plant Man.
"Gravity Hold…"
"The bowling ball that was possessed by an evil spirit!"
She ducked as the attack flew over her head.
"May I introduce you to 9 Ball Seraph and its firepower?" She laughed.
She jumped and thrust her swords upwards.
A counterattack hit this batch of enemies as well.
"Bright Beams!"
"If isn't the bright future of blinding faith!"
She blocked Bright Man's attacks with her blades.
The battle spread outside of the vaulted room.
They exited into a wider space.
The space was a "city" built inside the cave.
There was a tree set in the middle and markings drawn on the ground.
A long stone staircase climbed towards a higher landing.
The foes rushed into the main "plaza", chasing "Enoshima".
She giggled and held up the right hand.
"Duo's Crest" glowed there.
Regal gasped, surprised.
"Allow me to introduce you to a relic of Duo's makers!"
"What!?"
Loud sounds echoed.
A monster emerged from a building.
It was tall, had a mask for a face and was dressed in a purple tunic.
Its square eyes lacked life, and it had "Duo's Crest" set on the forehead.
More of them walked out of the city and towards the foes.
The "Crest" glowed and the ones in the monsters' foreheads did the same.
"Crush the intruders!"
The monsters slowly advanced and loomed over the "Darkloids".
They all stopped moving, as if they felt dread.
"Ridiculous! They are puppets! They have no will!" Regal growled.
"My new "Dread Virus" is very effective, see!"
"What!?"
"It paralyzes the enemy with dread!"
The giants gripped the foes with their hands.
They began to crush them with their hands.
They screamed out of dread and pain.
"I added a virus that boosts their pain sensors, too!"
"What in the…!?"
"Don't count on your Rama chaps. Sent them guests…"
"Why, you…!"
Regal jumped off the chair, furious.
"And even if you crack open that door…"
She smirked.
"You're only inviting those folk to come over again…"
"What "folk"?"
"Didn't your puppets tell you about what happened last year's winter?"
"Last year's winter? 2013?"
Regal hissed, as if trying to recall.
"You don't mean those odd folk, do you!?"
"Naturally. What made you think that they aren't watching us?"
"What!"
"If they could cross over, they can do it again…"
Regal glanced over his shoulder at the machine.
"For all I know, they have full control of it by now…"
"Nonsense…!"
"Maybe one of them is lurking here and watching us…"
"No! There are no unknown factors in my formulae!"
"That sounds like GW and trying to underestimate Snake's interference!"
"Silence! Door! Open! I command you!"
Regal formed a "Duo's Crest" and held it against the device.
A beep rang out.
The devices hummed as energy traveled across the ring.
It focused on a single point of space.
A black mass formed there, surrounded by a purple energy bubble.
"I did it! I opened the door! I can travel to a new world!" He laughed.
"Unfortunately, thou lack the strength to cross this doorway…"
A voice distorted by a device echoed.
It spoke in "ancient" dialect.
"What!?"
A figure ran out of the "portal".
It wore red samurai armor and a Noh mask.
They yielded an unadorned sword sheath.
It was about a meter and seventy tall.
"I am the guardian of this doorway. I test the strength…"
He gripped the blade and unsheathed it in the blink of an eye.
He dashed forward as he drew the blade and swung a precise attack.
Regal was surprised by the speed and landed a wound on his neck.
He jumped away as the samurai sheathed his blade.
His body frizzled and his image partially faded.
Laser Man became visible beneath it.
"I see. Overlapping yourself with your puppet…"
"Enoshima" giggled, amused.
"Careful, aren't we?"
"Eight Ship Leap!"
"What!?"
He jumped and hit the floor before Laser Man.
A pillar of energy surrounded him.
The samurai ran along the outer perimeter of it, swinging the blade.
He landed eight cuts on Laser Man from different angles and heights.
Laser Man hissed and recoiled from the damage.
"My! Minamoto Yoshitsune!" "Enoshima" laughed.
"Nay. I am using his art as reference. I am a nameless warrior…"
"Out of my way! Cross Laser!"
"Slow…"
The samurai gripped the right hand and jumped over the foe.
He forced the right arm to draw a backwards arch.
He then closed his left hand over it and the hand glowed.
He stole "Duo's Crest" from Laser Man and inspected it for a moment.
He quickly drew his blade and cut off the right arm.
The arm hit the ground and reverted to that of a "Copy Roid".
Laser Man howled and recoiled.
"Enoshima" whistled in admiration.
"What speed and precision!"
The samurai ignored her and quickly cut Laser Man's legs in half.
He stabbed him in the chest to push him to the ground.
"Dark Meteor Laser!"
He charged energy on his cannons and shot a red beam into the ceiling.
A "portal" formed, and meteors rained down.
The samurai ran out of the room and waited for the attack to end.
"The end!"
He drew his blade and sliced the mole in half by the chest.
The energy overloaded and exploded.
The "Copy Roid" broke into pieces and scattered across the floor.
He turned to stare at "Enoshima", who gulped.
"State your purpose…" He ordered her.
"W-wanted to settle a personal feud with that man, but…"
She began to step backwards.
"It wasn't the real one, guess that I'm going back home…"
"What about those?"
He signaled the giants.
They were inactive, as if waiting for orders.
"D-dunno. Guess that they are waiting for orders?"
"If you know of this place, you are no commoner. And…"
He extended his right hand, and the "Duo's Crest" glowed.
Her right hand's "Crest" also glowed, and she gasped.
"Having one of those also means that you know of "Duo"…"
"Well… To some extent, I guess?"
"We need to figure out your true colors…"
"I'm but a fashion diva! No more, no less!"
"As if. Taking that form means that you're the mastermind…"
She gasped as a girl's voice echoed behind her.
A girl wearing a black raincoat stood there.
"Milady. I did not know that thy had come…"
The samurai bowed.
"I was lurking here just in case. Saw it all from the start…"
She grinned.
"Anaya Maria…"
"Enoshima" gasped, surprised.
"Your girl, Dark Roll, spent some time with us last year…"
"T-then…!"
The girl lowered her hood.
She had red hair and red eyes.
She was in her late teens.
"Kagehi Somari. My pleasure, Ms. Mastermind!"
Before "Enoshima" could react, she flung a net over her.
She became trapped inside of it.
"You're but a Navi avatar, anyway. Like Regal over there…"
"Enoshima" hissed.
"We're going to take us to our turf to see what you know…"
She looked over at the portal.
"Didn't you want to see another world? You'll have the chance to!"
"That's Regal! Not me!"
"Makes little difference at this point, Anaya…"
"I'm not spilling anything! College gal!"
"What if we bring out the hypnosis that you love to use so much?"
She hissed and her face contracted into a mix of fear and anger.
"Fight poison with poison…"
She looked up at the samurai.
"Contact Dia Iceburn the Ceaseless! Tell her to ready the brig…"
"Right away, milady…"
"Who the heck is that!? A talk show host!?"
"More reasonable than the Hope's Peak Academy gals, I assure you!"
She growled something under her breath.
"And while we're at it, I'll share the results with Vladdy Vaddy…"
Her face contracted into pure anger.
"Don't worry. You can play with the Fury at burning things!"
"… Milady. All is ready…"
"Fast! As expected of my best buddy!"
Kagehi crouched before "Enoshima" and signaled her with a finger.
She drew circles in the air with the right index finger.
The foe's eyes spun, and spirals were drawn on them.
She groaned and fainted, her head dropping to the ground.
"Enjoy the nap, Monokuma!"
She snapped her left hand's fingers.
The ground with the net cast over it hovered and flew forward.
"She'll know what happens when you meddle with other worlds!"
23:40 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Hullo! Is Vladdy Vaddy at home? I bring the newspapers!"
"You're… Kagehi? From the "Dark Realm"?"
"Sure. Been a while, Omega!"
"Surprised that you came over again…"
Kagehi met with Omega before a firewall.
He was slightly surprised to see her.
"We've been coming from time to time, to try to catch Clark…"
"Makes sense…"
"But we caught bigger fish!"
"Really?"
"A Navi avatar of Anaya!"
"What!?"
"And we extracted a lot of things from her…"
"Come in, then…"
"Sure. We don't want her or Regal to overhear us…"
He opened a doorway and both stepped inside.
They emerged into the main plaza.
"I came directly to keep it as discrete as possible…"
"Wise. I'd rather not involve the Net Saviors yet…"
"I know. That stupid stunt of the dream…"
"If you scanned her memories, then it's no wonder that you know of it…"
"Exactly…"
"Boss is resting. Tell me instead…"
"Can't be helped. May I have a chair?"
"Naturally…"
Omega formed a foldable chair and Kagehi sat there.
"Prophetess of Rama is a spy of Anaya sent to spy on the gang…"
"I see…"
"They often meet at a karaoke booth to talk together…"
"It's a lead…"
"She doesn't know if "Manfroy" is an AI or a human yet, though…"
"Matters little. It's a front, anyway…"
"She did figure out the identities of the other members…"
"We don't need to know. They were dragged into this…"
"Exactly. Partial hypnosis to make them believe they always were there…"
"And?"
"Sounds like "Manfroy" is building something big for Regal…"
"That could be an eyesore…"
"But she's unable to step any further without revealing herself…"
"The others aren't dumb. They must be aware of her nature…"
"Yes. They hired a private eye to monitor her, but…"
"They use the karaoke booths to create blind spots…"
"Sure. Regal wants to let her loose to find Anaya, too…"
"And Clark by extension…"
"Regal found Clark's time-space gate and is trying to crack it open…"
"No surprise…"
"We were lying in wait there to catch him if needed…"
"But he only sent a proxy…"
"Naturally. We busted it to send him a message, though…"
"Works for us…"
"Anaya has several doubles and avatars across the world…"
"But they don't know where the real one is…"
"There was a hidden piece of data that we managed to fish out…"
"What did it say?"
"… "Neo Palace. Gator's last useful contribution to my glory!"…"
"Should've seen it coming…!"
Omega sighed and shook his head.
"Do you have a hunch of what it means?"
"A huge orbital prison… A den of madness…"
"What!?"
Kagehi was surprised.
"Do I look like I'm kidding?"
"M-my bad. It's just that… It's so out of bounds…"
"I know, right? It was a project by a "certain nation"…"
"And she stole it?"
"Yes. Repurposed it into a prison to torture children…"
"Her murky business of turning children into sex toys…"
Kagehi sighed and shook her head.
"I was aware of its existence. But to think that it reached such extents…!"
"It's a highly guarded secret. Because… Well…"
"It would cause a shock in public order and across society…"
"Yes. As if that nation didn't have enough moral issues…"
"Another nation might try to copy that…"
"Yes. Hence why we never talked about it to the Net Police…"
"It's something too big for them to handle…"
"Hence why Anaya's trial was done behind closed doors…"
"To avoid the story from leaking…"
"Those involved underwent partial hypnosis to forget it, too…"
"And the scale was downplayed in the official records, I take it…"
"Yes. Otherwise, it might escalate into a diplomatic issue…"
"I can tell that. Nation A accuses Nation B of sponsoring Anaya…"
"Because it's hard to image that she did all of that on her own…"
"Yes. It defies common logic…"
"You may tell your two comrades. But don't involve others…"
"I agreed. If necessary, I'll firm a Non-Disclosure Agreement…"
"I see that you are serious about it…"
"That carefree personality is but a way to socialize…"
She closed her eyes and bit her lip.
"And to forget the horrors that we also underwent…"
"My bad. Didn't mean to shun that…"
"It's not your fault. Anyway… That means that…"
"She might've built a new version of it to continue her business…"
"But how did she bring everything into orbit?"
"That same machine that you used to come over…"
"I see. The same logic…"
"Had a network of them hidden across the world…"
"To allow her to "resupply" from anywhere…"
"The crew were all sadists by nature, or they were boosted into that…"
"I did catch a glimpse of that when scouring her data, true…"
"Gator is the nickname of an engineer Navi that she used to own…"
"Maybe she built something better?"
"Good point. Hadn't considered that…"
"We can help look for things, too. Since she can't detect us…"
"She doesn't know you, can't predict your behavior either…"
Omega crossed his arms to think about it.
"The more hands, the better. Use your own criteria…"
"It's a deal. For our mutual benefit…"
"Exactly…"
"I'll begin looking into a shady resort business in Okinawa…"
"Handle it. I prefer dealing with Viruses or Navis…"
"It's possible that the Rama folk might stage a new round of duels, too…"
"Wouldn't be odd if they did…"
"So maybe you can pretend that that's what concerns you right now…"
"Why not… If that keeps Regal distracted, so be it…"
"Besides. She'll focus on me because I humiliated her, anyway…"
"Risky. But it works…"
"Fight poison with poison. I'll send her 100 copies of myself!"
"I like that. Take care of that front…"
"Delighted. Stick out your neck, witch!"