Chapter 20: Scorching Flames
17:33 PM (Japan Time), Thursday July the 6th…
"… Only you would bother to set up this scenery…"
"Welcome to the Bridge of Khazad-dûm!"
"If that motivates him, I don't see why not…"
"Fine. So be it…"
Blood Shadow came to an area that had been reshaped.
It was a single arch stone bridge crossing over an abyss.
Balrog was hovering before the opposite end of the bridge.
He was brandishing a long iron-hot metallic chain about two meters long.
The unlit environment made his flames shine with unusual creepiness.
His figure felt as if he was cloaked by darkness.
A looming shadow was being projected.
He looked down (literally) on Blood Shadow.
Blood Shadow aimed the built-in shotgun at him.
"We will battle and plunge into the icy lakes beneath this abyss!"
Balrog laughed and signaled the chasm.
"We will climb the Endless Stair and battle atop Zirik-zigil to the end!"
"Enough preludes. Let's do this…" Blood Shadow insisted.
"War Drums!"
Two drums materialized in the air and played a military march.
It echoed across the area.
A horde of orcs ran down the stairs on the north side.
They were followed by large trolls.
"Flame Tornado!"
Balrog beat his wings as air currents blew across the vast room.
The flames extended downstairs, across the bridge's edges.
They latched into Balrog's body.
A tornado formed and encompassed both fighters.
It limited their battlefield.
"Evil Chain!"
"Sword Fighter!"
Blood Shadow drew a red curved sword with a saw edge on his left wrist.
He used it to jump across the air and cut through segments of the chain.
He placed his shotgun's barrels in the upper chest armor.
He shot a close-quarters attack.
"Charge Shotgun Shot!"
Blood Shadow jumped away.
Balrog roared as he clutched the damaged segment of his armor.
"Good blast! But my armor has become stronger!"
"Should've seen it coming!"
"Witness!"
Balrog called out to the "audience".
Grunts and yells rang out as an answer.
Balrog closed his arms and spun on his axis until the flames engulfed it.
He shot forward and rammed into Blood Shadow, setting him on fire.
"G-Geyser!"
The water evaporated the flames.
The chain coiled around his body, and he was set in flames again.
Balrog tugged the chain to suspend Blood Shadow over the abyss.
"Farewell!"
"Not yet…! Area Steal!"
He warped and appeared behind the enemy.
He placed the shotgun's barrels on the rear armor and shot there.
"Charged Shotgun Shot!"
"It doesn't tickle!"
"Dynamic Wave! Let's put out your flames!"
He spun around his axis and produced four consecutive waves.
They hit Balrog in a row and evaporated his flames, but he laughed.
"Crunching Claws! Try to dodge this as much as you want!"
He opened his claws and quickly cut through the air to hit Blood Shadow.
He always jumped and ducked.
"Useless!"
Blood Shadow was forced to recoil.
He reached the edge of the bridge but was pushed back in by the orcs.
Balrog's claws left wounds on his body.
He growled as he jumped over the mole and landed behind him.
Black spots emerged from his body and healed his wounds at a quick rate.
"Count Bomb, White Web!"
He jumped into Balrog's damaged rear armor portion, beneath the neck.
He attached a Count Bomb there and added the White Web to glue it.
He shot towards the crowd, which shot arrows.
They bounced off Balrog's armor.
"Behave!"
The Count Bomb went off and Balrog roared as the armor was damaged.
The crowd yelled and shot arrows coated in flames.
Balrog turned around to emit a large roar.
The crowd fell silent and stepped back out of fear.
"Melee Clash!"
Balrog rammed into Blood Shadow using his armored feet.
He hit his stomach area.
Blood Shadow jumped over the air to attack the weakened rear spot.
Balrog saw it coming so he flew skywards.
Blood Shadow had to land on the bridge.
Balrog glowed with flames again and the crowd yelled in excitement.
Blood Shadow grumbled something under his breath.
"Death Flames!"
Fireballs rained from above and cut off both ends of the bridge.
They expanded and burned across its surface.
Blood Shadow had very little space to move.
"Let's take this to new heights!"
He ignited the jets on his feet and hovered towards Balrog.
He'd drawn a Fire Blade and a Flame Sword, which were burning.
"Be sliced up!" Balrog laughed.
"We'll see about that!"
"What?" He grumbled.
"Thunderbolt Blade!"
Blood Shadow drew a thunderbolt-shaped blade on his right arm.
He jumped atop of Balrog.
He hit the weakened torso armor four times before holding the blade up.
He plunged it into the crack to further damage it.
A thunderbolt rained down from above and hit Balrog.
"Charged shotgun shot!"
"What!"
The blast finished breaking up the abused segment of the armor.
The mobs stirred and shot arrows.
The trolls grabbed blocks of stone and threw them towards them as well.
Blood Shadow hid behind Balrog's mole, and he was bombarded instead.
"Stop or I'll slaughter all of you!" He commanded.
The crowd quickly pulled back.
The foe was panting, and his actions were slower.
"Annihilator Chip, Slot In!" Past announced.
Balrog entered remote control mode and revitalized.
"Flame Serpent!"
Fierce flames coiled around the arms to form fiery snakes with red eyes.
They shot out, forming a DNA-like structure.
Both heads aimed for Blood Shadow's chest.
They hit him but a log appeared in his place.
Four shuriken hit Balrog from behind, breaking the armor segment.
"Hit me!"
Blood Shadow taunted the mobs.
They became excited again and began to bombard them at random.
They threw arrows, stones, spears and short swords.
A great deal of them bounced off Balrog's armor and others hit his wound.
"Charged shotgun shot!"
Blood Shadow blew the smoke off his shotgun.
"Here, here! Hit me! You suck!"
"Stop!"
The crowd didn't hear the order and attacked again.
Balrog was forced to shield himself.
Blood Shadow plunged his red sword into the rear wound again.
Balrog shook him off by setting his body in flames.
He was angered by now.
The crowd stopped and several of them ran away.
"Behave! Impatient mobs!"
Only about thirty orcs with knives remained.
"I see that your fan club is suffering cuts, too!"
"Balrog Ramming!"
Balrog spun around his axis and shot forward towards Blood Shadow.
He charged energy and flung a black sphere of energy into the air.
It expanded into a spinning vortex which sucked everything around it.
He propelled forward and shot past Balrog.
He cut the air with his red sword.
The vortex collapsed behind him in a brutal explosion.
It swept the air and Balrog collapsed upon the stairway.
"Sorcerer's Curse!"
Balrog's glowed with purple light.
The atmosphere's temperature increased.
Blood Shadow landed on the bridge's southern end.
"Object of the curse: Blood Shadow!" He announced.
A red fog surrounded Blood Shadow.
Small flames formed around his body, and he tried to put them out.
"I'll drain half of the total damage that you inflicted to me!"
"Devil!"
There was a buzz and the flames became fiercer.
He rolled across the ground and put the flames out.
They reformed immediately, though, and increased in intensity.
"Balrog's Breath!"
"Gotta risk it! Red Gaia Eraser!"
Blood Shadow formed two disks parallel to each of Balrog's shoulders.
They moved forward and backwards in 45º angle formations.
They shot red beams of energy.
Blood Shadow shot a beam from his shotgun.
It combined with the earlier two.
It formed a domed explosion which swept the terrain around Balrog.
The enemies near him were annihilated by the attack.
"Did that do it?" He wondered.
The explosion cleared and Balrog collapsed into the ground.
Most of his armor was intact, but he looked out of energy.
"I can still fight…! Two minutes left…"
Blood Shadow landed atop him.
He plunged his sword into the torso wound.
Balrog was retrieved.
The mobs ran away in panic.
Blood Shadow's flames vanished as well.
He sighed in relief.
"Satisfied?" He called out.
"Personally? It was a change of air. Dunno about the Boss, though…"
"LET THE BALROG HIT THE MINES!"
"Cloud Man. Was wondering when you'd show up…"
"Nubete for POTUS!"
Cloud Man appeared there, opening his arms wide and grinning.
"I know it!"
"Know… What?"
"That you work at the post office!"
"Why the post office?"
"Because your codename is "POST"!"
"PAST! P-A-S-T! Not "POST"!" Past sighed.
"Don't bother. This moron is a berserk express…"
"Espresso Coffee with Swallow Guano!"
"Patent it…"
"Delighted! The foundations of the Patents Office will shudder!"
He laughed and flew away, drawing a trail on his wake.
"And I'll bring them Son Goku a la roasted cloudy zappy style!"
"If he doesn't beat you to a pulp before that…"
Blood Shadow sighed and shook his head.
"I prefer a geography lesson to that moron, even!" Past grumbled.
"Same feeling…"
"Hullo, folks blessed by Aunt Regula of Never Land…"
"That voice…!" Past muttered.
"Your beloved Prophetess came to say hi and bye…"
"Surprised that you dared to show up…"
"I'm borrowing a speaker-equipped drone…"
"And? What do you want?"
"To give you a tip-off…"
"Really…"
"Clarry Sammy Starry was seen in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture…"
"Why bother? Aren't you in league?"
"Who knows? I'm like a mercenary. Depends on the client!"
"Whatever. I'll figure it out myself…"
"Beware of the "Chief". He's eager for excitement…"
"Who's that, anyway?"
"The body desires strife…"
"Isn't that the tagline of the Armored Core series?" Blood Shadow asked.
"I see that Brutus taught you well…" She giggled.
"Sigma is Brutus? It's not remotely funny…"
"Well then… Enjoy a passionate evening, handsome fellows…"
"Wait there!"
"… The drone's signal is gone…"
Past grumbled something under his breath.
"It's not remotely funny, either…!"
"I can infer. I won't ask questions. Not my place…"
"I'm leaving to have Balrog undergo repairs…"
"Sure…"
Blood Shadow opened a tunnel and flew across it.
He exited inside of the house's PC, where Sigma sat on a stone bench.
He held a steering wheel and was playing Mario Kart.
"How was it? Did you get his burning autograph?" He laughed.
"In a sense. But that Prophetess is also poking her nose…"
"Thought that the gal had vanished to somewhere and was hiding!"
"Same. Maybe she's a distraction…"
"Or someone is pretending to be her…"
"Good point. Could be Bella of the Desert Wraiths, too…"
"But it's not like she meddled with the battle, no?"
"She didn't, but she might do that the next time…"
"True…"
"I'll ask for orders to Sir Omega about that. Enjoy the game…"
"Thanks, bud!"
"What'll be their next move…?"
18:02 PM (Japan Time)…
"… I see. So that's how it was…"
"Correct. And I made sure that it was the real one, in the flesh…"
"Unlike Anaya, he didn't have body doubles…"
"Exactly. And it was only with me that he came in person…"
"And you made use of that…"
Anderson was holding a videoconference.
The interlocutors were Yamikawa, Kuroumi and Kagehi.
"Sorry if you had to scour the world in vain for that nonsense…"
"Can't be helped…" Kuroumi sighed.
"It was necessary to make Regal believe that we feared him…"
"One eyesore less!" Kagehi sighed.
"But, say… That samurai… Who had that idea?"
"Sideral? That was his own idea. He surprised us!" Kagehi laughed.
"Sidier. Not Sideral…" Yamikawa sighed.
"Sidier? Isn't that a counterpart to Vadous?"
"Long tale short… Clark made a Navi with that codename…"
"And was feedbacking "CF" users battle styles…"
"But since it had no preset personality…"
"We "adopted" him and trained him as a versatile warrior…"
"Interesting…"
"Sorry for his sudden "visits", but we were in a haste…"
"I don't mind. It helped distract Regal, and I seized the chance…"
"As for Enoshima Anaya… She's been quiet…"
"That must be because I set up a lot of fake Regal eyewitness accounts!"
"Smart. Fight poison with poison…"
"She must be busy venting her annoyance into them…"
"Surely. Or telling Clark to bust them in his stead…"
"Clark might play the game to assess her plans, too…"
"If there's no danger of Regal bringing over strife to our side…"
"Then we needn't stay here for much longer…"
"We'll soon begin preparing for our return there…"
"After we recall all scouts that we deployed across the world…"
"Naturally. I don't mean to hasten you or anything…"
"I can't tell if it was really Prophetess or not, though…"
"You mean the woman that taunted Past? I agree with that…"
"But Viper and Bella are individuals. No more, no less…"
"Good point. Unlike Anaya, they aren't that much of a danger…"
"It's possible that she only means to play with you…"
"That'd be the best outcome…"
"We'll keep watch over the doorway, nevertheless…"
"If Clark tries to meddle with it, we'll come fight him…"
"I suppose that you have no objections to it, right?"
"None at all. All I want is to end this farce that Regal began…"
"Fair enough. Farewell…"
The video conference ended and Anderson sighed.
He glanced at a graph showing the status of the Navis.
"Next one is… Axe Man…"
18:11 PM (Japan Time)…
"… AND THEN THERE WERE NO BUGS NAMED REZAAALLLL!"
"Dear me. What grim prospects…"
"At least we can filter out the sound of her songs…"
"I know, Witch…"
"AND THEN THERE WERE NO BUGS NAMED GEEEZAAAALLLL!"
"Who's "Gezal", anyway…?"
Kazuhira was using noise-blocking headphones.
She was sitting on the sofa of the karaoke box.
She sipped the orange juice.
Anaya was improving a "song" and yelling at top volume.
Witch wasn't too surprised at the panorama.
"AND THEN THERE WERE NO BUGS NAMED TEEEZAAAALLLL!"
"Is she a fan of Agata Christie's And Then There Were None?"
"Who knows. Maybe she's making a pun out of the title…"
"AND THEN THERE WERE NO BUGS NAMED DEEEZAAAALLLL!"
"Sounds like weak monster names for a JRPG game, even…"
"Or a family of Pokémon, even…"
"AND THEN THERE WERE NO BUGS NAMED ZEEEZAAAALLLL!"
"Isn't she going to end up aphonic at this rate?"
"Her issue. Not mine. I'm not her medic…"
"Alright. Let's hope that she doesn't blame us…"
"I recorded how she said: "don't stop me!"…"
"Wise move, milady…"
"You can't take anything for granted in the underground…"
"Naturally…"
"AND THEN THERE WERE NO BUGS NAMED FEEEZAAAALLLL!"
She coughed and stopped, placing a hand over her throat.
"Fuck!"
She flung the microphone, and it landed on the sofa.
She grabbed her glass of coke and drank a large dip of it.
"Should've gone to a bar and get drunk from beer!"
"But the nanomachines impede us from becoming drunk, no?"
Kazuhira flung her hair backwards.
"Fuck! True!"
She grabbed the microphone and applied force to it.
Kazuhira jumped off the sofa and stopped her.
"We don't want to stand out, do we?"
"Fine…! I'll go to the gym and punch the sandbag!"
She let go of the microphone and drank more.
"And then go to Point Gamma and train those two kitties!"
"They have quality, yes…"
"The best part is that they aren't aware of it!"
Anaya became amused.
"Thanks to my mind control and hypnosis combination!"
"Truly. A "perfect crime"…"
"Remember! Top secret! Between the three of us!"
"I am aware…"
"Not like anyone can sniff it out! Not even Oozono…"
"What should be done about her?"
"Don't bother. Is more elusive than a crow…"
Anaya finished her drink.
"I'd like to add her to my collection, naturally!"
"But one must be realistic and realize their limitations…"
"Unfortunately! But that's why the business crumbled to begin with!"
She sat on the sofa and crossed her arms and legs.
"And what should be done about your business partner?"
"Marco Polo? He lost all passion. If he wants to rot, so be it!"
"Understood…"
"That aside. I'm readying a special thing for later this summer!"
"Interesting…"
"I still have to brush up the details and timing, but…"
"You have begun the basic preparations?"
"Exactly. I'm going to borrow a special location, too…"
The interphone buzzed and Kazuhira walked over to it.
"… No. We won't extend. We're leaving. Thank you…"
She replaced the receiver.
"Time's up…"
"Fine. I managed to vent off, anyway…"
Kazuhira finished her drink as well.
"Let's go! The night has but begun!"
"Truly! We're predators of the night!"