Chapter 22: Of guns and armors
20:49 PM (Japan Time), Thursday July the 6th…
"… You must be Destruction Man…"
"Sure, Mr. Soldier!"
"Remember, Search Man. This is a duel, not a death battle…"
"Yes, Lord Raika…"
"Same for you, my bud. Don't become overheated!"
"OK!"
Search Man met Destruction Man inside of an ice-covered area.
The latter was amused, but Search Man was inexpressive.
"Rocket Speeder!"
A jetpack formed on Destruction Man's back.
He shot forward at a mad speed towards Search Man.
The latter aimed the Scope Gun at the right foot.
"Freeze Bullet!"
He shot the Freeze Bullet, and it caged the right foot in a block of ice.
The sudden weight slowed down Destruction Man's speed.
"Samurai Sword!"
Search Man quickly plunged the sword into the jetpack.
It began to frizzle, and Search Man pulled out as the user discarded it.
The jetpack blew up, but he rolled across the ground.
He stood up and shattered the ice on his foot.
"As chilling start! But there's more to come!"
"Show it to me…" Search Man challenged.
"Gladly! Shakin' Fistin'!"
"Careful, Search Man!"
Destruction Man dashed around Search Man.
He jumped over him, brandishing his fists.
He detached the outer armor around them and shot them using small jets.
New ones formed to cover his skin.
Search Man aimed his Scope Gun at the fists flying towards him.
They split ways and headed left and right respectively.
They drew a curve and headed for Search Man's back.
"Scope Gun!"
The fists, however, dived and hit the floor.
Two explosions happened in a sequence.
Destruction Man landed his fists on Search Man's back.
He sent him flying, but he landed on the ground in a neat manner.
He didn't lose his cool and aimed for the enemy.
"I have plenty of tricks left in store just for ya!"
"Super Vulcan!" Raika commanded.
Destruction Man let the rounds hit him.
His forehead's sensors activated.
They shot an electrical discharge at Search Man, electrocuting him.
"My sensors can return attacks at 1.5 times its base power!"
"Satellite Ray, Scope Gun!"
"Black Hole Armor!"
Both attacks were absorbed by the black hole effect.
Destruction Man formed a blue and silver copy of the Scope Gun.
He also recreated the Satellite Ray above him,
His sensors glowed.
He shot at Search Man, who didn't have time to react.
"Search Man! Status report!"
"No major damage, sir…"
"Hence why Enzan said to walk with lead feet…"
"I'd rather say with steel feet!" He joked.
"More, more and more~! Destruction Sky!"
Destruction Man jumped into the air and accumulated kinetic energy.
He hit the floor with his right foot.
An expansive shockwave of energy headed towards Search Man.
He jumped off the way at the last second.
He was suddenly punched on the stomach area by Destruction Man.
He was punched on his helmet next.
It was followed by a kick right into his chest.
He crashed into the ground.
"I've been improvin' some new tricks!" Destruction Man exclaimed.
"Samurai Sword!"
Search Man stood up and drew the Samurai Sword.
Destruction Man brought the right hand to his chin.
He circled around Search Man while slightly lowering his upper body.
He behaved like he was studying his traits.
"Brought from the Tsar's personal treasure vault under Red Square?"
Neither Raika nor Search Man bothered to follow up to his joke.
"Maybe you need somethin' to straighten ya out? Blowin' Blow!"
"Now! Execute the strategy, Search Man!"
Destruction Man jumped forward and hit Search Man with both fists.
A menhir appeared there.
Four shuriken hit Destruction Man's back, become stuck there.
It was followed by a slash by the Samurai Sword.
He shook them off and laughed.
"That speed! That coolness! That callous face! That's the fun part!"
"Attacks which hit my back aren't calculated by the sensors…"
Destruction Man made an exaggerate shrug.
"But I don't care!"
He grinned and became amused.
"Go! Destroyer's Courage!"
Destruction Man's armor was surrounded by a yellow "aura".
It spiraled around his arms and legs.
It fused into a yellow sphere of energy which expanded.
"Well! This inflicts Paralysis, too!"
"Search Man. Focus on the battle!"
"Eat this!"
Destruction Man shot the sphere at Search Man.
The latter used his Samurai Sword to bounce it back.
Destruction Man formed black energy around his right fist to halt it.
He bounced it at Search Man again.
Search Man bounced it back for the second time.
"We're gonna play a tennis match, I see! Excitin'!"
"Now! Scope Gun!"
The attack destroyed the device on Destruction Man's right forearm.
The attack hit him fully, paralyzing him.
Search Man quickly ran towards him.
"Program Advance! Vulcan, Triple Slot In!"
"Infinite Vulcan!"
The Program Advance's rounds hit Destruction Man.
He roared as he accumulated damage.
His sensors frizzled and overloaded…
He struggled to recover movement.
When the attack finished, most of his armor's pieces had been purged.
However, they were replaced by red pieces instead.
"What!?" Raika gasped.
"Lucky me: I had the Red Armor on beneath the main Blue Armor!"
Destruction Man laughed.
"Blue Armor increases speed while Red Armor cuts DMG by about 50%!"
"Sacrifice speed for defense…!"
"Sometimes, defense is preferable to speed!"
Future laughed as well.
"Destruction Man! Switch to full Red Armor mode!" Future told him.
"Roger!"
His previous armor was deleted and replaced by this red and black armor.
His weapons changed.
His forehead sensors formed a cross of nine blue LEDs.
"Feelin' the angst?"
"No. I am not easily impressed…" Search Man replied.
"… What was that ninja fellow's words…?"
"Why bring up that?" Raika sighed.
"Ruthless… No… More like cool and collected… I like those…"
Shadow Man's recorded voice rang out.
"Regal must've recorded that, obviously enough!" Raika grumbled.
"Optical Camouflage!"
Search Man concealed his form.
Destruction Man merely made his shades glow pale blue.
The white shape of Search Man's figure became visible on them.
He aimed one of his missile-holding pads at Search Man.
"Red Missiles!"
Five of them shot towards Search Man.
Destruction Man suddenly seemed to frown under the shades.
He looked down at his feet and spotted four Search Grenades set there.
"What!?"
They detonated and the Scope Gun's firing sound rang out from close by.
The missile pad was damaged.
Destruction Man looked around in a confused manner.
"A dummy…!" He muttered.
"Alright. Let's heat this up!"
"Can't be helped! Orders are orders!"
"Annihilator Chip, Slot In!" Future exclaimed.
Destruction Man switched to remote control mode.
"Show the extent of your strategies, Net Saviors!"
"Satellite Ray!"
Destruction Man moved out of the way although his speed was lower.
He aimed his forearms at Search Man and tapped his forehead sensors.
They glowed and hummed as they seemingly scanned him.
"Ruin Fists!"
His fists glowed with a black "aura" and he hit the floor with them.
Steel spikes emerged and formed a circle five meters large and three wide.
Destruction Man suddenly kicked and punched him with each fist and foot.
He then jumped away.
"Tank Cannon!"
Search Man jumped and managed to hit the opponent from behind.
"Did you forget? I don't feel pain!"
"That's to be seen…" Raika muttered.
"Boilin' brains, Boss?" He joked.
"Boiling helmets!" Raika shot back with obvious sarcasm.
"Nice! Ya could patent it!" Future chuckled.
"Search Man! Strategy Ice!" Laika commanded.
"Roger. Freeze Bullet!"
Search Man shot at the ground and froze some patches of it.
Destruction Man drew spikes on the soil of his armor boots.
He jumped around, waving his arms in a taunting manner.
Search Man kept on freezing the ground.
"Fool! Ruin Kick!"
"Now! Plasma Bullet!"
Search Man charged up the Scope Gun and shot four attacks.
They hit the armor and deteriorated it.
Destruction Man stopped and looked at the damage.
"What!" Annihilator Man cursed.
"Plasma! It melts practically anything!"
"Devil!"
"It didn't melt the armor because this is still experimental!"
"Clever trick… Ruin Bomb!"
A Giga Count Bomb appeared in the middle of the stage.
It was surrounded by metallic Spark Bees.
They attacked Search Man, and he tried to delete them in time.
But the bomb went off and inflicted damage on both parties.
"Program Advance! Hi Cannon, Triple Slot In!"
"Giga Cannon!"
"Come!"
Destruction Man was hit by the Program Advance and his sensors glowed.
He crossed his wrists in a karate – like pose.
He shot two hooks from compartments in his elbows,
They attached to Search Man and delivered the damage back.
Destruction Man still holds several new abilities which you haven't seen!"
"Plasma Bullets!"
"Black Hole Armor!"
Destruction Man intercepted the attack.
He formed the imitation of the Scope Gun to shoot the bullets back.
They met with the Giga Count Bomb instead.
The bomb detonated, pushing Destruction Man back.
An additional electrical discharge hit him.
Search Man held a Straw Doll on his left hand.
"And once I use the last technique… Then you're done for! Search Man!"
"Battle Chip, Triple Bomb! Triple Slot In!"
Search Man tossed the Triple Bombs.
Destruction Man caught them and returned them.
A bolt of lightning fell and hit the foe, because he hit a Jizo Statue.
"It's too late to regret! Destruction God's Anger!"
He was wrapped in powerful winds which tore and cracked the floor.
Search Man's attacks diverted around the target and met the floor.
Destruction Man opened compartments across his body and limbs.
He had built-in machineguns, lasers and missiles.
The entire armament flew out in different directions.
They bombard and hit Search Man from different angles.
"At this rate…! He won't survive it…! Area Steal!" Raika cursed.
"What will that do?" Annihilator Man taunted.
"Muramasa Blade~!" Search Man roared.
He dived from behind and formed a deep cut on the enemy's armor.
He collapsed into the ground before being retrieved.
Search Man was able to land before collapsing as well.
He was retrieved as well.
"Both have hit the 1 HP mark… A stalemate, it is…" Raika announced.
"I don't mind either way. It was fun!" Future laughed.
"Return to the HQ for maintenance…"
"Beware! It's Gorer the Gore Man!"
"Cloud Man! Not you again…"
Cloud Man appeared there, laughing.
"I say yo and behold! It's the cocky messenger!"
"You don't say…"
"Did you want fried chicken in skews for dinner? I have plenty of it!"
"No. Because it's swallow, not chicken…"
"Bravo, Holmes!"
"Please. Anyone can infer that much…"
"Beware, Boss. Luigi and his vacuum cleaner are loomin'…"
"I'm not a ghost!"
"You look as pale as one, or so that Swallow Man guy said…"
"BIRDIE! YOU'LL HEAR FROM ME! LET THE BIRDS HIT THE BBQ!"
Cloud Man escaped from the area to Raika's relief.
"See ya 'round the roundin' corner, Boss!"
"I'd rather not…!"
"Ya never know!"
21:11 PM (Japan Time)…
"… I confirmed that Tamashita and Sakurai have nanomachines, too…"
"Sakurai, too?"
"Remember how Clark added those to Hikari, years ago?"
"I do…"
"Looking at registers, a mysterious nurse was involved in that, too…"
"Devil and blast and damnation!"
Omega was reporting his findings to Zataki.
"The usual deal. Mingling along the staff for the vaccination program…"
"And what about "Cia Draw"?"
"Nobody in the field knows of her. No diplomas, no profile. Nothing!"
"And nobody has borrowed an office under that name?"
"Even if they did, it must use a phony business name or owner name…"
"Good point…"
"Or maybe those meetings weren't actually carried out…"
"What?"
"Found traces of internal transmissions to her nanomachines…"
"… The "Colonel" of MGS2…!"
"It might be the same. Building a fictional interlocutor…"
"And it all happens in her head, hence why nobody notices!"
"Nelaus said that she sometimes would try to dig info from them…"
"I see. Anaya sometimes used her as a spy…"
"But doing it too often would cause them to distance from her…"
"Hence why she quickly dropped that persona…"
"I asked Roll to check her own PET logs, but it was all normal…"
"I guess that she only did that with Tamashita…"
"Possibly…"
"To think that she set up such a system right under our noses…!"
"I know. We underestimated her cunningness…"
"Maybe she had that Navi, Gate, build it…"
"Wouldn't be odd. Since Clark is forbidden from meddling with women…"
"But, say. Was it on the same day as Hikari, or…?"
"Forgot to specify. It was on early spring of 2010…"
"Before Nebula jumped into the frontlines…"
"Correct. As for Tamashita, it was on the same period…"
"But, say. Was Tamashita part of the same elementary school?"
"Yes. Was on another class, hence why they didn't recognize her…"
"And had been in the same middle school for the whole time, too?"
"Correct…"
"A perfect sleeper agent, then. Nobody paid heed to her for years…"
"It's possible that she'd been monitoring them from a distance…"
"But she wasn't conscious of it or her memories of that were erased…"
"What led to her becoming more active?"
"Nelaus…"
"Izono struck a deal with Mr. Rainon to allow him to come to school…"
"She wanted to see how he behaved within a school environment…"
"As in how he built relationships with others?"
"Correct…"
"And how often does Tamashita report those things?"
"Once a week. Mostly on Sundays…"
"I see…"
"But I'm sure that our searches triggered something on her end…"
"And she'll stop contacting Tamashita…"
"Better for her. Else she might do something crazy…"
"Anaya would? Wouldn't surprise me…"
"I asked Oozono to help keep tabs on those two as well…"
"Good idea…"
"She told me that she found something related to Anaya, too…"
"What is it?"
"The investigator that had been trailing Prophetess…"
"What of her?"
"She was found in a deranged state inside of an empty apartment…"
"What the hell?"
"Was stabbing a mannequin forever and screaming…"
"Devil. She might've figured out something about that agent…"
"And they hypnotized her to make her forget that…"
"Hell!"
"It's possible that the apartment was used by Prophetess, too…"
"We should contact "Manfroy" and ask if he knew something…"
"Even if he did… It's probably a bunch of lies to begin with…"
"Good point. She wouldn't use her real face or name…"
"Even if we found the karaoke, they might not use it anymore…"
"They might change the way they meet or report to each other, too…"
"That's going to be a hassle to find out, too…"
"Or maybe not…"
"Why?"
"I suspect that Witch might fight Felicia again…"
"I see… And we could surveil from afar…"
"Yes. Trying to intervene will only make them change their methods…"
"We'll have to stock up on patience…"
"I'm afraid so…"
"Fine. I'll have our scouts, Daratsu and Kuro Kaze, investigate as well…"
Omega tapped the left side of his helmet.
"I hope that it's important, Shadow Man…"
"That famed Witch tried to ambush me but I drove her off…"
"Speaking of the devil…"
"It wears a witch hat… Must be from Slytherin…"
"Whatever. Did she say something?"
"Was pulling memes on me, but I didn't bother to stick with them…"
"Were you investigating something in particular?"
"A phony business named "Sleuth Slither"…"
"Must be run by Anaya…"
"I see. That makes sense…"
"Did she gain any new skills in particular?"
"No. Was in a rush…"
"Guess that they were in the middle of shutting it down…"
"Very likely. Since the office blew up right afterwards…"
"Feels too obvious, though…"
"Unless they used it to store files or other things…"
"That could be it, true…"
"Pretend that it was abandoned but use it as a storeroom…"
"Wouldn't be illogical…"
"That's all for now. I'll resume chasing leads…"
"Fine… But tell Miyabi to not to take them lightly…"
"Understood…"
Omega ended the call and crossed his arms, thinking about it.
"They might use Witch as a distraction or to stall…" He warned.
"If she appears, better assume that a cleanup is happening…"
"Let's warn the detective agency, the "Committee", about it…"
"Yes. They might be targeted next…" Zataki agreed.
"What about Trill and Iris?" Omega asked.
"Introduced Trill to Kirby's Air Ride, he's enjoying it…"
"That's a classic… Good choice, Boss…"
"Well. Sigma is the one who introduced me to it…"
"At least he did something smart for once in a while…"
"Anyway. Overworking won't benefit us…"
"I know. I'll ask Kir Osh to handle the night shift…"
"Calm down. They'll eventually make a blunder…"
"We can't help but hope for that right now…"
"Exactly. We mustn't abandon hope…!"