Finale (Part 1)
Written by Hunter
(Our new story starts in a cave, located under a well-known building from the surroundings of Megalopolis. Five characters, who should be familiar to our readers, surround another silhouette, typing on a computer, the only source of light.)
Warpman: I still stick to my point - hiring Flashman would have been better.
Karasū: And having him reporting this to Wily? No way!
Staccato: And using sir Flashman in our plots would verily unleash on us the ire of sir Heatman.
Riff: *shudders* Don't remind us of that one. Besides, it seems like Lento had a good idea this time.
Warpman: Wha-? Big One made this plot by himself?
Lento: Exactly. Unit Lento analyzed the situation: Wily's database inaccurate for fighting Mercs. 7M's database better, but Fatal Five no good at hacking. So, Fatal Five ask good hacker to do job. Easy as pie!
Warpman, Staccato and Karasū, in awe: ...
Riff: Told you he has brains, after all. So, *turns to the hacker*, did you make it through the security?
?: They have good security, sure, but no match for me. *resumes typing* Aaand... done!
Riff (pats on his shoulder): Good work. Now, leave this room, tell no one you saw us, and everything will be fine, OK?
?: Hey, you promized me something for this job!
Warpman: We left you alive, isn't that generous?
Lento (grabs the hacker and throws him out): Hacker left. Now, Fatal Five start plotting?
Karasū: Exactly, my friend!
(The scene ends on this shadowy note. Now, let's skip to tomorrow. A friendlier figure is walking peacefully through a street full of music shops.)
Kayorei (in human form, watching through the vitrin): Wow, they just released the sheet musics of Castlevania! Loved that one song, it sounded like...
?: Limbo cool, limbo fine, everybody gets a chance!
Kayorei: ...That voice sounds awfully familiar...
?: Hey, Kayorei! Why won't you come looking for freedom with me?
Kayorei: Hasselhoff?!
(Angered by the presence of the awful singer, the Merc immediately rushes to the source of the voice -a dark alley- only to be caught in an electric net! This kind of thing doesn't pardon when you don't wear an armor...)
"BigArm" (walking to Kayorei's body): See? The Hoff totally did the trick!
"Knight": I feel ashamed of using such a vile method on a damsel.
"BigArm": She'll live through. Now, to leave a last gift before we go to next target...
(The last thing Kayorei sees before fading into unconsciousness is a small black card in front of her eyes. A logo, picturing a metallic "F" on a red-blood "V" is on top of the card, just above this message:
"From the Fatal Five, with hate"
Let's now go to Shinobu's shop. Everything goes as usual, until two large characters, dressed with trenchcoats and fedoras, come in and walk to our fellow Punk)
Shinobu: Eer ... What can I do for you, sir?
"Raven": We need to talk. In the backroom.
Shinobu : I'm afraid customers aren't allowed to enter ...
"Sniper" (puts a rifle under Shinobu's throat): Now.
Shinobu: ... but under certain circumstances ... please follow me.
(Once the trio entered the backroom, "Raven" locked the door, and "Sniper" blocked Shinobu on the wall, his weapon aimed at the Merc's torso.)
"Sniper": Let me present you my friend here ... It's a WX-014 Karantkat Automatic Machine Gun, powered by its own micro-fusion chip. This baby could turn you into a greasy hole in less time than thinking it.
Shinobu: *gulps*
"Sniper": But, y'know, I'm kind of lightheaded. Did I remember replacing the chip in it? The question you should ask yourself is "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do you, ... Punk?
(Our shadowy visitor presses the trigger, throwing a storm of iron into Shinobu's shoulder. Needless to say, he'll feel this. His executor then removes his disguise, only to reveal...)
Riff: Because I, Riff of the Fatal Five, sure as hell do feel lucky! Let's go, Karasū!
Karasū: Okay. *throws a smoke-bomb*
(The two of them leave the place in the confusion that ensues, leaving Shinobu wondering how his attackers knew his secret identity before he faints of the loss of blood.)
(Now, let's see how two of Shinobu's colleagues are faring. Right now, Naoshi and Stardust are wandering in a VG store, checking at the latest releases.)
Stardust: Command&Conquer 3, eh? Looks kinda good.
Naoshi: I dunno. The press said it wasn't as good as Red Alert 2.
"Armored" (in a clerk suit, walks to them): Then, why not try? 2vs2 game with us.
Stardust: I'm not so sure ... we'll comeback later, I guess...
"Raven" (in a clerk suit): Does that mean you're afraid of being beaten? And here I thought you were good players...
Naoshi: Okay, that's it. Show me what you got.
Stardust (whispers to Naoshi): Wait, Naoshi! It almost looks like a trap!
Naoshi: They've insulted me, they'll see the consequences!
(Finally, the quatuor enters a small LAN room.)
"Armored" (locks the door): No one to disturb. Seat here, please.
Stardust : Hey, thanks. *sits* Naoshi, don't you hear something like a ticking noise?
Naoshi : Yup. And it sounds like it comes from...
Naoshi&Stardust : OUR CHAIRS?!
BLAMMO!!!
Karasū (rips off his disguise): And here I thought you Mercs were worthy opponents for the Fatal Five! Let's take our leave at once, Lento! *warps out with Lento*
(Four Mercs down, three to go! Who will be the next target?)
(Let's now head to the Marauder. Iga and Falling star are taking their vigiles roles not so seriously - where's the need, when you have a crew of Joes to do the work?)
Iga (playing with a DS): You're in for a world of pain!
Falling star (playing with a DS, too): Not if I attack first!
Iga: Ouch. Double Tetris. You win again.
Crew Joe: An urgent mission request just arrived for the two of you, sirs! It reads, "Meet us at point T-12." There's no more.
Falling star: Well, since we have nothing else to do... Let's take this request, Iga!
Iga: Sure, but... a request especially for the two of us? Don't you find this strange?
Falling star: Dumb luck, I suppose. Warp us at this location, Joey!
Crew Joe: If you ask so.
(On their arrival, the two android Mercs landed in a shabby alley, only to be trapped in an electric net. Falling star's body, being especially weak to this, shorts out, leaving Iga surrounded by three dangerous-looking characters...)
Lento: Monkey-Merc trapped. Initiate monkey-Merc destruction?
Staccato: Taking advantage of our opponent in such a situation would tarnish our honor!
Riff: I agree with you, Staccato. Besides, we'll have another opportunity to show these Mercs what we're made of.
Iga: Wait! Who're you? And why did you attack us?
Riff: We are Lento, Staccato and Riff, members of the Fatal Five! And for the reason, I think your mighty leader has some things to tell to you...
(The trio warps away, leaving Iga freeing himself from the net, and dragging an unconscious Falling star back to the Marauder.)
Iga: "Our mighty leader" ... what could Hunter have to see with these guys?
(Speaking of which, the remaining Merc just left a place none of the other Mercs ever heard of... What secret could he hide?)
Hunter (with a bag of books): They finally released this manga in French! Always nice to have an import store in your town.
(Yup, Hunter is French. But that's not the point. As he wanders through the streets, he suddenly stops, and heads to the inside of an abandoned factory nearby. A second later, his previous location is destroyed by several bombs)
?: Always on your guards, eh, Quint?
Hunter: You? How on Earth did you find me, Warpman?
Warpman: Just the way we found your teammates, Hunter: by using that nice little thing we found!
Hunter: Do you mean...? No, it's impossible.
Karasū (immobilizes Hunter): All we had to do was to find the adequate help. Do what you've been told to and let's get back to the base, Warpman.
Warpman: Sure thing. Now, Hunter, I think your shoulder will be a bit painful after this... *throws one of his bombs directly at Hunter's shoulder*
(Though not as powerful as the original Crash Bombs, this explosive managed to turn a good part of Hunter's right shoulder into mince meat.)
Warpman: I wish you good luck with your teammates, Quint. *warps out*
(The situation seems critical for our favorite Mercs. But luckily, they managed to be teleported back to the Marauder, where they're currently undergoing heavy repairs. Now, the whole of them, minus Quint, met in the Marauder's main room.)
Falling star: I can't believe all of us have been attacked the very same day. Maybe telling our stories would reveal a link?
Shinobu: You first, Kayorei.
Kayorei: Okay. So, I was in the street, and started to hear David Hasselhoff taunting me. I rushed to attack him, but fell in a trap. All I remember is that I found this "Fatal Five" card when I woke up.
Iga: Don't you think it's strange that the Hoff recognized you without your armour?
Kayorei: I ... didn't realize it on the moment. But afterall, it could have been a record, done by those F5 people. How did you end up injured, Shinobu?
Shinobu: Well, I was in my store, when those two guys started talking to me - forced me to take them to the backroom, a guy named Riff taunted me and shot me.
Iga: Riff? It's one of the guys that caught Falling star and me! How did the guy following him look like?
Shinobu: He was quite big. Maybe 3 metres. And he had some caveman-like speech pattern.
Stardust: Kinda like one of those clerks that taunted us, Naoshi.
Naoshi: Yep. But don't you see some sort of pattern in these attacks? They trap us using our weaknesses, recognize us when we are in our civilian forms... Do you see what that means?
Iga: You might say it clear as well - you think one of us is a turncoat.
Falling star (stands up and grabs Naoshi): I will not tolerate such accusations, Naoshi.
Kayorei (pats on Falling star's shoulder): Come on, man. We've been through a rough day, but -
Falling star : Don't "but" me! Or ... maybe the two of them are turncoats, and you try to cover him!
Shinobu: Now, that's just ridiculous. So, let's all relax and see this later.
Stardust: The situation is critical, and you want us to relax? That ambush made you lose quite a number of neurons.
Iga (takes out his staff): No one insults each other, or you'll get it!
Stardust: And since when are you the leader? I told you - had I been made the leader, we wouldn't have been through this!
Hunter (walks in): Enough!
(Seeing how their "leader" is still heavily damaged, the Mercs stop and sit back - but the tense between them is still vivid.)
Iga: "Your mighty leader has some things to tell to you" ... I think you owe us an explanation, Hunter.
Hunter: You're right, Iga. I can't hide this any longer, people: I spied on all of you. And I took part in the creation of these Fatal Five.
(Part 1 of the story ends with this cliffhanger! Be sure to check out Part 2, next time, same site!)
TO BE CONTINUED...
