The matchmaking screen disappeared, and seconds later the Bakudan Boys finally saw their opponents' composition. As expected, none of them had changed their own choices. Sawada remained with White Doctor, Sakaki stubbornly kept Toad Ninja, Rikki instantly locked Yellow Flash Ninja, and Kumogi chose Megatron again despite spending the previous match proving that owning a cannon and knowing how to aim one were apparently two different things.
Their opponents, however, had assembled a much more balanced force: RoboCop, Hell Nurse, Ultimate G-Red, and Heavy Knight Bot. RoboCop was a powerful ranged Borg with excellent targeting tools but relatively mediocre mobility. Hell Nurse was a strange support unit capable of healing, weakening enemies, and using dangerous injections that temporarily increased an ally's capabilities at a cost. Ultimate G-Red was the expensive enhanced version of the already versatile G-Red, capable of fighting effectively at nearly any range. Heavy Knight Bot, meanwhile, was exactly what the name suggested—a heavily armored defensive Borg carrying two enormous shields and enough crowd-control abilities to make charging into him incredibly stupid.
Sawada immediately frowned at the loading screen. "This composition is troublesome. RoboCop isn't particularly mobile, but his ranged accuracy is excellent. Hopefully whoever is controlling him can't aim properly." Sakaki confidently leaned forward. "Don't worry. My toads will disrupt them." Rikki and Kumogi simultaneously turned toward him, stared for one second, then snorted. Sakaki's forehead bulged. "What the fuck does that mean, bastards?" Kumogi shrugged. "Nothing. I'm sure your tactical frogs will save Japan." Rikki nodded solemnly. "I believe in the frogs." "Why does that somehow sound insulting!?"
Sawada sighed. "Can we please survive the first minute before fighting each other?"
The match loaded into a huge suburban living-room stage. At Borg scale, the environment looked enormous. Sofas became cliffs, bookshelves became towers, the television cabinet became an elevated defensive position, and the enormous open space beneath the dining table functioned almost like a battlefield by itself. Multiple routes connected each side of the map, which made reconnaissance particularly important because an enemy could easily disappear behind furniture and rotate toward another objective.
Sawada immediately took command. "Kumogi, transform and scout the right side. Don't commit if you see them. Sakaki, send a Small Toad through the center and another toward the left. Don't waste Brotoad yet." Sakaki nodded. "Got it." Toad Ninja's summon mechanic was one reason Sakaki liked the Borg so much. It had three major summons: Small Toads, cheap and fast creatures excellent for reconnaissance and harassment; Flame Toads, larger summons capable of breathing fire and creating temporary area pressure; and the ridiculous BROTOAD, a massive summon with a long cooldown that could cause serious damage if deployed properly. Each type could only exist once at a time, which meant mindlessly summoning everything wasn't always ideal.
For once, Sakaki actually followed instructions. He summoned a Small Toad and sent it hopping underneath the sofa before creating another scouting route toward the center. Kumogi transformed Megatron into his alternate mobility form and moved toward the opposite flank while Rikki stayed unusually close to Sawada.
Sawada glanced toward Rikki's screen. "Remember what I said. If we find RoboCop isolated, then you can charge him. If the whole team is together, wait." Rikki nodded. "Yeah, yeah, Boss." Sawada continued, "Kumogi, when Rikki commits, transform back and pressure the frontline. You don't need to kill anyone—just make Heavy Knight and G-Red look at you." Kumogi grinned. "Easy." Sawada adjusted his glasses. "And preferably hit something this time." Kumogi slowly turned his head. "Was that necessary?" Sakaki laughed. "Absolutely."
Sawada ignored them. "Sakaki, once the fight starts, use Flame Toad against Hell Nurse. Don't chase kills. We need her distracted so she can't freely support RoboCop." Sakaki nodded seriously. "Understood." Rikki glanced sideways. "Wow. Tactical frogs finally have an actual tactic." "Shut the hell up."
For about thirty seconds, everything went surprisingly well. Kumogi successfully found no enemies on the right side and rotated back. Sakaki's Small Toad spotted movement near the television cabinet. Sawada immediately stopped the group. "Contact center-left. Probably all four." Rikki leaned forward. "I see RoboCop." Sawada narrowed his eyes. "Wait until we confirm—"
"I SEE HIM!"
"Rikki, wai—"
Too late.
Rikki grinned and activated one of Yellow Flash's signature abilities.
YELLOW DISCHARGE.
Lightning exploded around the small ninja Borg. Yellow Flash's entire body became coated in electrical energy as twin blades of condensed lightning formed in her hands. Her movement speed surged, and the already-fast Borg suddenly became a streak of yellow across the battlefield. Yellow Flash also possessed a short-range blink that could be used twice consecutively before entering cooldown, making her extremely difficult to hit when controlled properly.
And unfortunately for everyone else, Rikki was actually very good at controlling her.
"Let's go!"
He launched forward.
Sawada stared at him. "We haven't confirmed Heavy Knight!"
Rikki didn't care.
RoboCop immediately detected the approaching target and raised his Pulse Gun. Several bright projectiles tore across the room with frightening precision, but Rikki reacted quickly. Yellow Flash blinked sideways, reappeared beside a chair leg, then used the second blink to dodge another burst before rapidly closing the distance.
Kumogi's eyes widened. "Damn, he's actually cooking."
Sakaki nodded. "Maybe the bastard learned something."
Sawada didn't celebrate.
Something felt wrong.
"Rikki, stop."
Rikki grinned as RoboCop came within striking distance. "Too late!"
Then something enormous stepped out from behind the television cabinet.
Heavy Knight Bot.
Sawada's eyes widened. "RIKKI, WAIT!"
Heavy Knight slammed both shields together.
BOOOOM!
A circular shockwave erupted outward.
Yellow Flash was caught directly in the center.
Her electrical movement immediately stopped as the stun effect locked her in place.
Rikki's eyes widened. "WHAT!? FUCK! THAT ROBOT CAN DO THAT SHIT!?"
Sawada's face went blank. "Yes. Which is why I told you to wait!"
"I DIDN'T KNOW!"
"You would have if you listened!"
Sawada immediately activated White Doctor's long-range shield ability. A bright defensive barrier appeared around Yellow Flash just as RoboCop started firing again. Kumogi cursed and transformed Megatron back into combat mode. "Move, move, move!" He raised his cannon and fired toward Heavy Knight.
The shot actually connected.
Everyone paused for half a second.
Sakaki shouted, "HOLY SHIT, KUMOGI HIT SOMETHING!"
"SHUT UP!"
Unfortunately, Heavy Knight's shields absorbed most of the damage.
Sakaki immediately summoned his Flame Toad beside the enemy formation. The larger amphibian opened its mouth and sprayed flames across the area, forcing Hell Nurse to reposition.
For approximately two seconds, it looked recoverable.
Then Ultimate G-Red entered the fight.
G-Red charged directly into Kumogi and Sakaki, disrupting both before they could properly support Rikki. Sawada attempted another heal on Yellow Flash, but Hell Nurse had already locked onto RoboCop.
A dark syringe-like effect struck him.
Sawada recognized it immediately.
"Oh, shit."
RoboCop's health began slowly draining.
But his weapon glowed.
HELL INJECTION.
Rikki saw RoboCop raising the Pulse Gun again. "Why is his gun glowing?"
Sawada shouted, "MOVE!"
"I'M STUNNED!"
The shield protecting Yellow Flash broke.
RoboCop fired.
BOOM!
The boosted Pulse shot struck Yellow Flash directly in the head.
Her remaining health vanished.
The screen in front of Rikki immediately displayed:
BORG DESTROYED
Rikki stared.
"What?"
Nobody answered.
He stared harder.
"WHAT!? I DIED!?"
Sawada threw one hand upward. "It's Hell Injection, idiot! Hell Nurse sacrifices some of RoboCop's health to massively increase his damage!"
Rikki pointed desperately toward the screen. "THAT SHOT WAS BULLSHIT!"
"No, that shot was extremely accurate!"
"THE PLAYER IS TOO GOOD!"
"I WARNED YOU!"
Meanwhile, the actual match had become a disaster. With Yellow Flash eliminated, Ultimate G-Red was free to pressure Sakaki and Kumogi while Heavy Knight protected RoboCop and Hell Nurse. Kumogi attempted to reposition Megatron but immediately got pinned against the sofa leg by Heavy Knight.
"Help!"
Sawada fired White Doctor's sniper weapon toward G-Red while trying to heal Kumogi. "Back up!"
"I'M TRYING!"
Sakaki shouted, "BROTOAD TIME!"
Sawada instantly turned. "NO—"
Too late.
A gigantic toad materialized directly between both teams.
For a glorious moment, Brotoad looked genuinely terrifying.
Then RoboCop shot it repeatedly from outside its effective range while Ultimate G-Red simply moved around it.
Sakaki stared.
"…Okay."
Kumogi snorted despite currently being murdered. "Tactical frog."
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
A few seconds later, Kumogi's Megatron fell. Then Sakaki's Toad Ninja. Sawada lasted the longest, repeatedly shielding himself and using White Doctor's mobility to stay away from Ultimate G-Red, but there was only so much one support Borg could do against four coordinated opponents.
Eventually Heavy Knight stunned him.
RoboCop fired.
The match ended.
DEFEAT
There was silence inside the gaming room.
Then three heads slowly turned toward Rikki.
Rikki looked left.
Looked right.
"…What?"
Kumogi exploded first. "FUCKING RIKKI!"
Sakaki immediately joined him. "YOU COULDN'T WAIT FIVE FUCKING SECONDS!?"
"I SAW ROBOCOP ALONE!"
"He was standing three meters from a giant dual-shield bastard!"
"HE WAS BEHIND THE CABINET!"
Sawada leaned back and sighed. "Which is exactly why we were scouting."
Rikki pointed toward Sawada. "Okay! Okay! My mistake!"
"Again."
"Yes, again!"
Kumogi laughed bitterly. "Yesterday you said the exact same thing."
Rikki's forehead bulged. "AND YOU MISSED HALF YOUR SHOTS!"
"I HIT HEAVY KNIGHT!"
"With one shot!"
"ONE MORE THAN YOU HIT AFTER DYING!"
Sakaki started laughing.
Rikki grabbed a nearby cushion and threw it at Kumogi. "Tall bastard!"
Kumogi caught it and threw it back.
Sawada didn't even look at them. "Are we playing another match or opening a daycare?"
That immediately stopped them.
Rikki sat down properly. "Fine. Next game, I promise I'll hold back."
Sawada stared at him.
"I mean it."
Sawada continued staring.
Rikki placed a hand over his chest. "I swear."
Kumogi snorted. "Bullshit."
"Fuck you."
They queued again.
And surprisingly, Rikki actually behaved better.
For approximately twelve minutes.
During the next match, Sawada called targets properly, Sakaki used Small Toads to reveal rotations before committing, and Kumogi finally discovered that Megatron's ranged weapons worked considerably better when he didn't constantly walk toward enemies like a confused heavyweight boxer. Rikki waited for Sawada's signal before engaging, and Yellow Flash repeatedly struck the enemy backline before escaping with her blink.
They won.
Naturally, all lessons immediately disappeared afterward.
The following games became increasingly chaotic. Sakaki spent one match attempting to build an entire strategy around Brotoad and became genuinely offended when the enemy simply walked away from it. Kumogi switched temporarily to a massive Tank Borg "Big Dawg" , announced that aiming was now unnecessary, then somehow still complained whenever his attacks missed. Rikki discovered another attractive female Borg "Swift Red" and spent almost five minutes explaining that he only wanted to test her movement speed.
Nobody believed him.
Sawada remained the only consistent member of the team, quietly healing, shielding, marking targets and repeatedly asking himself why he hadn't simply gone home.
Yet he kept smiling.
They lost several matches.
Won several others.
Argued constantly.
And kept pressing QUEUE.
None of them noticed how much time had passed.
By the time Sawada finally glanced toward the wall clock, it was already 22:30.
He blinked. "Wait. It's ten-thirty already?"
Sakaki didn't even look away from the screen. "One more."
"You said that three matches ago."
"This one is actually the last."
Rikki nodded. "Definitely."
Kumogi added, "Probably."
Sawada sighed. "We're adults."
Nobody responded.
Sawada looked at the four consoles, the snacks covering the table, and his three friends shouting at another matchmaking screen.
"…Allegedly."
What none of them realized was that somebody had been watching for quite some time.
Inside another section of ZAGE Tower, a monitor displayed the gaming-room security feed. A familiar man sat comfortably in front of it with one hand resting beneath his chin.
amused smile.
Zaboru Renkonan.
He had returned from the United States only a few hours earlier and, rather than making his arrival widely known, had quietly entered ZAGE Tower to check several things before going home.
Then he noticed four extremely familiar names logged into one recreational room.
Naturally, curiosity won.
Zaboru watched Rikki charge into danger for the third time.
He watched Kumogi miss.
He watched Sakaki defend the strategic importance of frogs.
He watched Sawada somehow maintain the patience of a monk.
Zaboru chuckled.
"As expected... these guys are entertaining as hell to watch."
He had originally intended to stay for only a few minutes.
That had been nearly half an hour ago.
Eventually Zaboru stood, stretched his shoulders, and grinned.
"All right."
Time to visit them.
Back inside the gaming room, the Bakudan Boys had just finished another match.
This time, victory filled the screen.
Rikki immediately raised both hands. "SEE!? WE WON!"
Sakaki snorted. "No thanks to you, bastard."
"What do you mean!? I got three kills!"
"After Sawada saved your ass twice."
"That still counts!"
Kumogi turned toward him. "Rikki is honestly the kind of player who—"
The door opened.
All four went silent.
Zaboru stood there casually.
The color immediately drained from several faces.
"B... Boss?"
Zaboru smiled.
"Yo."
AN : Gotcha Forces Images
To be continued.
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