Chapter 4: The Masked Man
"Incredible..!"
"This is incredible! What is this place?" Void asked, but both Mix and Cypher just stood frozen, their brows furrowing.
"You two… what's wrong?"
Without a word, Mix and Cypher opened their command windows and dove down into the camp below, summoning weapons as they went.
Mix produced a longsword from her window.
Cypher drew a pair of dual pistols from his.
"H-Hey, wait! What's going on?! Why won't you tell me anything?!" Void yelled after them.
Down in the camp, Mix and Cypher landed in the central clearing.
"Something's off. Something's definitely happened here."
[Building: Campsite | Permission: Private | Owner: ####]
"Just as I thought. They've already raided the place," Cypher said, raising his pistols in a ready stance. Mix did the same with her sword.
"Anyone still alive?!" Mix shouted.
A moment later, a strangely masked figure stepped out. They were holding some kind of green device.
"Well, well. Look what we have here. More survivors."
"Perfect timing. I'd only managed to catch two."
"I was getting worried the boss would be pissed."
"But with you two showing up, I can relax a little."
Cypher gripped his pistols tighter and pulled up his own command window, his eyes narrowed, ready to fire at a moment's notice.
"Let! Them! Go!"
"Whoa, whoa, easy there, folks. Hehehe," the masked man taunted, raising his hands in a mocking gesture.
"You think this is funny, you bastard?!" Cypher snarled, opening fire as he input commands into his window.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
But no matter how many times Cypher fired, his bullets stopped dead in the air, never reaching the masked man.
"Tch," Cypher cursed.
"Easy, Cypher," Mix said, pulling out a device that looked similar to the one the masked man was holding.
She placed it on the ground. Its command window instantly appeared, linking itself to the zone controlled by the masked man.
"You think you can fight our Hacker group?"
"Aren't you being a little naive?" The masked man leaped into the air, opened his own command window, and input a command to summon a meteor from the sky.
Fwoooosh~~~
BOOOOMMM!
Dust and debris exploded across the area.
But Mix and Cypher were unharmed. The meteor had impacted a shimmering field projected by Mix's device, which was now actively overwriting the masked man's control of the area.
"Wait… that's impossible," the masked man gasped as he landed, his voice filled with shock.
He then saw Void, who was in the process of untying the two prisoners he had taken.
"Who the hell are you?!"
"Void?!" Mix and Cypher exclaimed in unison.
"How did you get in here?!" the masked man demanded.
"How did you get in here?!" Cypher echoed.
"Well, they looked like they needed help," Void said simply. "So I just slipped in during the chaos."
The masked man ignored him, his focus back on the fight. He opened his command window, ready to attack again.
He slammed his hand on the ground. A hundred thorny chains erupted from the earth, poised to surge toward Void.
"Like I'd let you, you idiot!"
Bang! Bang!
Cypher dove in, firing at the masked man.
"I don't know what happened," Cypher yelled, "but the zone is neutralized right now! That makes getting in a piece of cake!"
"You handle him! I'll get them out!"
Mix and Void scrambled to get the freed prisoners to safety. They successfully escaped the neutralized zone, and Mix screamed back.
"Cypher, let's go!!"
"Yeah, I know! Just let me finish this bastard off first!"
But then, the unthinkable happened. A massive wave of energy erupted from the contested zone, blasting Cypher back. He was critically injured in an instant. Even the device Mix had placed was vaporized in the blast.
"What happened…?" the masked man muttered in confusion.
"But… this is my chance." He opened his command window once more, summoning the thorn chains again, preparing to deliver the final blow to the helpless Cypher.