IS Virus: Episode 2-6 - Infection

Part 1: Ride to Hell

-SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA; 20:31, FOURTEEN DAYS TO ELECTION-

"And that'll do it for the final debate of the election season. Next time we see you, hopefully it will be upon the White House. And to the viewers back home, you've seen the candidates. You know their opinions and beliefs. You've heard their voice. Now it's time for them to hear yours. Now the decision is up to you. While millions have already voted, election day, November 8, is just 12 days away. One thing everyone here can agree on is we hope you will go vote. It is one of the honors and obligations of living in this great country. Thank you and good night."

The final presidential debate was over. Only the fated vote remained. The surrounding student population was already making up their minds about who they'd vote for...and why.

"I think I'm going for Jacquelyn Leonie. She's definitely a woman's rights kind of girl, which is exactly what we need in the White House!"

"You read my mind! No more men trying to cover up for their, uh...mistakes, shall we say."

"I'm casting my vote for Michelle Barton. She's the more sensible person, and she's not going to neglect the forgotten men and women, like our last president has."

"I'm with you on the women, but...men? They need to be forgotten! Did you forget how much crap we're in thanks to them?"

"Honey, that's the fault of the politicians."

"Who are men, might I add."

Just then, a group of women caught a group of men within their crosshairs. One of them decided it was a good time to be a heroine. She went up to confront them while no one was looking, with four backup friends in tow.

"Hey, assholes!" She silently spat in the men's faces.

"Whoa, lady!" Oh, here we go, "Why?!"

"Why? Really?" The female student snapped, "It's because you have the nerve to walk into us to invade our space. That's why."

"Look," a male student tried to move away from the confrontation, "We're just going back to our dorms-" but smacked his back against another female student. Actually, it was a love tap, but the woman on the receiving end didn't take that too lightly.

"Oh, so you're gonna try and cover it up?!" That woman whispered, "Look what you just did, stupid!"

"Wait, no!" The men stammered, "It was just an accident!"

But yet another woman made his hand stumble upon... the forbidden area.

"The frick you doing?!" She slapped him, "Asshat!"

"Not cool, bro!" A bystander saw the grope.

"Yeah, dude! What the hell?!" And another.

"He copped me!" The victim-faker screamed.

"In public?!" The first woman faked surprise.

And within seconds, the oblivious men found themselves within an unquenchable firestorm.

-MGM GRAND, CLARK COUNTY; 22:36-

A group of men was sitting together, discussing their future business ventures when one of them got a sudden text alert. He checked the notification and groaned for all to hear. Then, he showed it:

-FOX NEWS ALERT: Three male students from San Diego State University registered as sexual offenders. Fraternity Alpha Psi Rho under investigation-

"Again with the-this is the third time this week!" One of the men griped.

"First, Hollywood," another man said, "Then the technology and manufacturing industries. Now, this. Are we next?!"

"I'm counting on it," the meeting organizer said, "And I'm not waiting for another one to come at me."

"So, what do we do?"

"We need our own protection group."

"You're free to use mine," another men piped, "I've already got them on a roll."

-GREAT FALLS SPORTS SHOOTING COMPLEX, CASCADE COUNTY; 11:22, THIRTEEN DAYS TO ELECTION-

"Hey! Get help!" a woman shouted, "She's been shot!"

"What happened?!" the complex manager asked.

"He did it..." the woman who's been shot said, "He's the one..."

"What?!" the man was surprised, "No! It wasn't me!"

"What the hell..." the manager stood up and vented his anger at the man, "Bad enough men have a shit reputation, now you wanna get back at women?!"

"No, I swear!" the man stammered, "I was at the restroom doing a number two-"

"Yeah, and I was at a strip club, stuffing a pole in my ass!" The manager would have none of it, "Get out of here right now-"

"Actually," and all of a sudden, a man in a black suit and tie appeared with a laptop and a hidden camera, "I have a clip that can solve everything."

"What the-" a woman screamed, "The hell did you come from?!"

"The bathroom," the suited man said, "Where I happened upon a disturbing little getup." He hit play.

It showed exactly what happened. When the man went to go take a dump, the two women concocted a plan to take advantage of the man. One of them wore medical gloves and grabbed his rifle. The other laid on the ground and waited for the man to finish up his business. Once they heard the door about to open, the women took her aim and fired.

"God dammit..." the "victim" hissed.

"Let's get out of here..." the other woman tried to haul her out.

"And where do you think you're going, sluts?" The suited man thwacked them in the head and knocked them unconscious.

"Holy...what do we do?" the manager was not happy with what he saw, "I did not want this to happen..."

"I got their faces," the suited man tapped the enter button, "I'm uploading it to YouTube."

-STATE CAPITOL, PULASKI COUNTY; 16:08-

That video sparked major outrage. So many comments about how drama and allegations were fabricated, that all the major news networks had no choice but to talk about it. And, as expected, there were protests. They all started peaceful, but in a few cities someone, be it a man who was possessed by his heart or a woman who was desperate for attention, threw something at an unsuspecting individual. Long story short, those protests got violent.

Unfortunately, it was the last item to address in State Congress for the day.

"This has been the main problem with the so-called woman's rights activists," a congresswoman stated, "They claim that they champion the cause of feminism, and then they go and pull this stunt."

"We have to do something to restrain them. That much is clear," someone else said, "But what can we do that won't make our citizens lose trust in us?"

"I'm afraid that that's not possible," a congressman said, "The landscape of politics today simply will not allow that, partly because of the polarized views from both sides."

"Crap, he's right," a woman face palmed, "We have to pick a side." Then, she looked around her, "And I think it's pretty obvious which side we have to join."

"Hear, hear," someone agreed, "I move to bring to discussion the Gender Equalizer initiative."

All around, clamor across the capitol. Outrage, for and against the initiative, because of the impact on the balance of the people, in the city, and later, across the country.

-GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA; 17:59-

"Ok, girls! That's a wrap!" A researcher said.

A team of interns and researchers were wrapping up a project on the world's first artificial...um...detachable penis. They checked to make sure that their erogenous zones could sync up with the device and simulate the same...experiences that a male felt, albeit double the magnitude and duration. Now, all that's left was to load synthetic sperm. But that was a job for tomorrow. For now, it was high fives and even higher spirits.

But not from the bushes. As soon as the girls left, a small team of boys snuck their way past their eyes, and into the complex. They navigated their way to the lab. The door simply opened and let them in. And there on the table in the middle of the room lay the newest invention for all to see. The boys cringed at the very sight before getting back into their mission. They carefully opened the toy's fluid intake. Then, they swapped out every ounce of liquid with Icy Hot.

"Bro, what are we doing?" A boy said.

"We're feeding a horse its hay," another boy oh so whimsically retorted.

"Ugh...why?..."

"Guys, focus," the leader said, "the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can put everything behind us."

"Yeah, no. We can never unsee that..."

-NEXT DAY, 09:22-

And thus, the day where both worst fears were realized. The moment of the Expo of the Women of STEM, the main attraction, was in fact, that thing. After it was showcased, half of the attendees wanted to try it out, so a backstage space was prepared for them. Most of them were dumb enough to fill their barrels. And as a result, so many women felt excruciating pain where they shouldn't.

And the men were too busy laughing their lungs out.

"Hahahaaaa! That's what you get, bitches!"

"Oh, man! If only the renegade was here..."

"Hah, don't count on it. He's claiming a few women are "good people". Yuck."

"Where is he, anyway? I'd like to give him a piece of my mind for letting those other women go free."

-PORT OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY, TRI-STATE AREA; 10:11, TWELVE DAYS TO ELECTION-

The boat carrying Phantom Task and the renegade just made landfall in the port. They stole one of the many vans in the dock and snuck their way out of the city and into the heart of the area. And never in their lives have the ever felt so tense. (Except for the renegade and his sprite, just keep snoozing your way out, why don't you...)

"Wow..." Chelsea said, "You can just smell the passive aggressive in the air..."

"I'm more worried about the glances they gave us when we got off the boat," Madoka muttered.

"Huh?!" Cecilia stammered, "Were they suspicious?!"

"That's the worst part...No, they weren't..." Madoka chuckled.

"Uy..." Cecilia peered out the heavily tinted window.

"Mind telling me what bug infected your brain?" Autumn asked Chelsea.

"BugSSSSSS..." Chelsea said bug-eyed, "We are waltzing into enemy territory with a human core, who just so happens to be a man. Tell me how you refused to just go to the UK twelve hours ago."

"Your guess is as good as mine," Madoka said, "Although it would be a letdown if we never found out what happened to Claire and that French pilot."

"We're here to pull them outta the pit," Autumn reiterated, "We're not gonna see what happens. We're here to make it happen."

"Sounds like way too much work," Madoka sarcastically said.

Cecilia was about to echo that statement until Autumn butt in a-

"Rebranding is always a pain in the ass. But I got way too much commitment to back out now. Besides, what fun is it to just stay hidden for two hundred or so years?"

"I much rather stay in that lava shelter than set foot in this disease..." Madoka growled as the van came up on quite possibly the worst obstacle of all time...

BEEP*BEEP*

"HURRY UP! I'M RUNNING LATE HERE!"

...traffic jams.

"Ugh...if this is anything to go by..." Madoka growled. She would much rather be out and about chopping off heads one by one, instead of being stuck in her worst favorite pastime. Come to think of it, ANYTHING would be better than having to sit through this, were it not for two very alarming reasons that brought them all back to ground zero.

The first reason was coming up on them.

"2, 4, 6, 8! We don't wanna procreate! 2, 4, 6, 8! We don't wanna procreate!"

"The hell is that?" Madoka questioned.

"Oh, no. It's happening," Chelsea shrunk behind the passenger seat, "Because the UN failed to rein in the renegade, and because of the candidates' very vocal views on gender equality, everybody's gone bonkers!"

"What do you mean?"

"Protests and counter protests, all of them among gender lines!" Chelsea shook Madoka up, "And if we get caught in the crossfire, who knows what will become of us!"

"LEGGO, PILFER BRAINS!" Madoka knocked her off, "Hey, do something about this maid of yours, will...ya..."

Cecilia couldn't, because she was staring at the second reason why a low profile is key to survival. And Madoka found the exact same thing.

The Brunhilde. Walking on the sidewalk in plain sight, not giving a care in the world. Eyes peeled for any sign of resistance, a.k.a. the renegade.

"What...is she...DOING HERE?!" Cecilia slammed on Sokoto's stomach.

"UGH-WHOA-I'm awawawaaaa...*YAWN*" Sokoto woke up, "Are we there yet..."

"LOOK AT HER!" Cecilia grabbed his head and squished it against the tinted window, "WHO IS THAT?!"

"Mmmmm... (Uhhhhh...)" Sokoto ran his eyes across the crowd, until he felt his eyes being forced to look at a rather tall, black-haired woman who looked like she just came from a workout and was about to head off into an office, "Whht? Thh bgg thhl phnnhddlh whh lkgks lkhk shh chhld smmmhn uh dhmhn buh lkknng nnth yuh ssllss? (What? The big tall pin-needle who looks like she could summon a demon by looking into your souls?)"

For some reason Madoka snapped. She immediately yanked him off, slammed him to the ceiling of the van, and shoved him to the seat beside her. Then, she stared into his soul and tried to mess it up, "Never...ever...humiliate her...Someone like you would never be a match for her..."

"But I can train, starting with you," Sokoto turned off his brain for this bit, "You two do give off the same demon banshee aura..."

"Hurry up," Chifuyu complained to the street light, "How hard is it to change color?" Upon turning her gaze to the heavy traffic, she noticed one particular vehicle that was rocking to and fro in ways that no vehicle should ever be able to sway. She took one hard look into its side. She could faintly make out a boy being thrashed on all sides, slowly rising up and giving a smug grin, then getting yanked back towards the rear for more punishment.

"How you ever survived the wrong side of women, I'll never know..." she just shook her head. As the light finally turned green, she kept walking, turning back to the van every now and then since they were moving at the same pace. The next few glances piqued her interest even more, however. She could slowly make out the image that was unfolding in real life, and only she would get any sort of enjoyment out of it. The boy she saw earlier was giving every single passenger in the van an absolute hell-raiser. And one of those passengers was someone she thought she'd never see in real life.

It was an exhausted Madoka, who had worse luck holding him down than the rest of the world.

"The hell?" Chifuyu rubbed her eyes and gave a second glance. The van returned to normal, "Huh...maybe I had too much to drink..." Was what she thought until she looked in the back door. The boy and another girl were being smacked against the window. With blonde hair. Super spike-y, and drill-y. She could make out their words.

"Thanks for everything, renegade!" the blonde woman growled.

"Oh, piss in your own mouth, Cece!" the boy mocked before they were both thrown back down.

"Huh...well, that certainly didn't take long," Chifuyu smirked before tossing a tracker at the van.

"Whoa..." Silvia was rattled awake the instant the tracker hit the van. She fizzled to the area of impact and inspected the device. "Heh...pretty high level stuff here. Let's see if I...can't...DOOOOOOO...SOMETHIIIIIIIIIIIIIING..." She tried to pry it off. She even tried hacking its circuits to short circuit it. But this was far beyond her programming.

"Maybe an upgrade or two wouldn't hurt..." Silvia muttered, "And do I really wanna make another hole in the van?..." She saw the hole created from just the racket caused by Phantom Task, if they were really supposed to be Phantom Task. "Ok, let's see who sent the-YIPE!" She saw. The one figure who could aim a gun at her target and hit it blindfolded like she was tossing a coin into a well.

"*GULP*" Silvia fizzled back to the darkest corner of the van, rocking back and forth with every single dark thought coming to mind as she visualized the instant they would run into the Brunhilde.

-RAMADA STATEN ISLAND, 13:43-

"Carefully..." Silvia creeped behind the tracker while Chelsea weaved her saber around it. And with each stroke, Silvia grew more paranoid, "Caaarrrrrreeeeeeefuuuuullyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy-"

"Got it!" Chelsea managed to saw the metal off, felling the tracker to the ground.

"Woohoo-OOF!" And Silvia, who was stuck to the thing until she fizzled to Chelsea's shoulder, "So, how're we gonna get rid of it?"

And by a stroke of convenience, a trash collection truck happened to approach them. Chelsea threw the tracker into the truck the moment the dumpster was emptied of its contents.

"You wanna stand guard?" Silvia asked, "I can amplify your IS detector."

"Good idea," Chelsea said, not wanting to be caught in the verbal crossfire happening in room 219.

"No way!" Sokoto gasped, "Your sister is the strongest in the world!"

"Don't call her that..." Madoka muttered, "She tried to kill me, after all..."

"Well, who wouldn't?" Autumn peeked out the window, "I mean, we are associated with the renegade, after all."

"And with the added tensions of the upcoming election," Cecilia was acting paranoid, rocking back and forth in fetal position, "And with Class 4 coming to our location, and with my reputation out in the open like a tea kettle overflowing with salt and sugar, and the fact that she's going to chop my innards into chunks and barbecue them over my burning brain-AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! WHY MEEEEEEEEEEEE?!"

"Uh...I thought you got your shit together already, lady..." Sokoto cringed.

"When you're up against the strongest pilot in the world," Autumn mused, "you throw that shit out the window." She then projected a number of images with Chifuyu in action, "They don't call her the Brunhilde for nothing. She beat out nearly two hundred other pilots in the first Mondo Grosso. She beat even more during the second, and thanks to the Gospel's intel, we learned that she's taken out over 2300 missiles within a matter of minutes."

"All that in MINUTES?!" Sokoto screamed.

"That's the current stats, but I'm betting it was way more than that. And let's not forget this tidbit: Chifuyu managed to disable 7 aircraft carriers and over 30 escort carriers. By herself."

"Whoa..." Sokoto was filled with awe. If a single person could do that much damage in a short amount of time...imagine how strong that person must be, "Shall we get caught?"

"Uh, no offense, but you and Silvia are like straw-wrappers that are thinner than paper," Autumn shut him down, "She'd pick you apart and use you as a placemat without even blinking."

"Come on!" Sokoto pranced around the room, "Have a little faith, why don'tcha! We've gotten out of sticky situations before!"

"Faith?! FAITH?!" Cecilia and Madoka deployed their weapons and tried to bash Sokoto in the gut, but failed miserably.

"Hey, watch where you point those things!" Sokoto shouted from between the swords and the rifle.

"Never mind your faith, boy!" Cecilia got in his face, "Do you know that we are now DEAD BEFORE ARRIVAL?!"

"Did anything Autumn say click in that pea-sized brain of yours?!" Madoka followed up.

"What about?" was all they heard come out of his mouth.

"Oh, we're so dead..." Cecilia crawled under the sheets while Madoka was once again rethinking her relationship with the new Phantom Task.

"Look, all I know is that there's this giant conspiracy about gender wars, whether the Brood-Hill-uh knows about them or not," Sokoto mispronounced the title, "So, I figure if we can get her distracted by one of us, the rest of us can go look for clues about the other women gone missing."

"Ok, I guess I could buy that," Cecilia acted thoughtful.

"Wha-really?!" Madoka was taken aback that she actually agreed with one of his crazy ideas.

"Just...just one problem, though..." Cecilia acted unstable and slowly approached he renegade, "Say, let's just say that in this happy-go-lucky world of yours, that...we do have the power to defeat Lady Orimura, and we do have the...bright and shining dolt...to take her off our scent..."

"Uh," Sokoto got nervous, "What's your poin-"

At which point, Cecilia grabbed his neck and pulled him in, "WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER FIFTEEN PILOTS ON OUR ASSES THAT DON'T HAVE THE NAME ORIMURA, HUH?! WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT THEM?!"

Sokoto fought with all his might to resist the urge to laugh. He only saved enough energy to squeeze through his lips, "Improv?"

Ceilia dropped him and went back to bed, "Did he really destroy Japan, or did I just down a bunch of acid..." and buried her head under the pillows.

Madoka processed the events of most recent before deciding that it was better to avoid meaningful banter with him at all costs. She just went back to Autumn, who was rubbing her head in the living room, "I already forgot why we brought this guy along with us..."

"He's an erratic one, just like Forte," Autumn just said, "Don't question it, and it'll be less painful."

"Ugh..." Madoka just went to the window and curled up beside the light. She peeked out and saw Chelsea and the yellow sprite trying to avoid coming inside.

"And that's how I came to life, so to speak," Silvia just wrapped up her origin story with Chelsea.

"So...you're able to...manipulate small electronics...when you're in standby mode?" Chelsea had a hard time processing all this.

"It's a lot to take in, I know," Silvia wagged her hand, "But trust me when I say it comes in handy. Nothing is more reliable than having the fourth wall broken!"

"That doesn't give me a lot of hope..."

"Well, how do you suppose aneki learned to speak for herself?"

"Aneki...you mean, the Gospel? Well...huh..."

"The same way," Silvia pointed out, "He just kept yapping away like nobody's business. It's irritating, but if you put up with it long enough, you get to learn a lot about your partners."

"Learn about them...Maybe I should try that...it's been a while since Cecilia last ranted to me about some trivial matter..."

"I suggest you let her do it first. She's that way-too-talkative type, from what I'm seeing."

"In this volatile atmosphere?"

"Yep!"

"Well, let me say this. The day the renegade talks to anyone here is the day civil war recommences."

And the two shared a laugh until...

"You have a moment?" a tall woman wearing sunglasses, a beret, a cashmere sweater,and a khaki skirt approached them.

"Um...can I help you?" Chelsea said.

"Yeah, I was wondering if you saw anyone come inside lately?"

"Uh, just some tourists. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Ok. Good. I was a little nervous since everyone's on edge. Thanks for the heads up." And the woman walked inside.

"Um...thanks?" Chelsea was confused, "I guess..." She kept eyeing the woman until she entered the hotel. And the moment the doors open was the moment Chelsea saw the woman's hair. There was only one woman in the world who could properly pull off split-hair style.

"Silvia..." she whispered, "We got trouble..."

Silvia crawled out from behind the exhaust, trembling in absolute fear.

And Madoka saw the whole thing go down. "THAT LITTLE...HOW DID YOU MISS...oh, screw it..." She rushed to the kitchen and banged two pots as loudly as she could. That got the attention of everyone in the room as they gathered to witness the spectacle of the clang bang.

"Keep it down, dickwad!" Autumn said, "I'd like to get some shut eye before we set off to get our asses kicked."

"The ass-kicker's on her way over here right now!" Madoka screamed, "She just entered the lobby!"

"What?!" they all exclaimed.

"All of you, out the window! Now!" Sokoto cracked his fists and walked towards the door, "I'll buy you some time!"

"For what, kumbayah?!" Madoka grabbed his arm, "No, you're not gonna be the tragic hero!"

"Come on," Autumn said, "Help me get this open!" Cecilia rushed to dismantle the AC unit.

But Sokoto sensed a harsh aria just outside the front door. He pushed Madoka aside and activated his shield bracelet, "GET DOWN!"

Because as soon as he braced himself for the worst, the door flew off its hinges and slammed into his shield and knocked him down. It then flipped over Cecilia and Autumn, crashed through the window, and totaled the van outside.

Such was a little fraction of the power of the woman who stood before them. Just one flick of the knee was enough to make that big of an impression. What would she be capable of when wielding an IS? Sokoto felt a sort of fear and anticipation mixing in him as he and the rest of his crew collapse in her sight. He was going to get his first encounter with the final boss. He couldn't be more terrified and excited.

The woman took off her sunglasses. Madoka recognized those eyes. Because they were just like hers. The woman glanced at the group, then smirked at him,

"Well, there's my favorite little troublemaker."