Disclaimer:
I do not own Megaman Battle Network, or any
characters associated with it. Blah blah blah.
You get the picture.
Apology Note:
Sorry I haven't posted in ages. Wow, I say
that alot eh? Inspiration comes and goes
like.. um... a bad case of gas.. or something.
Anyway, a lot has happened to hinder me along
with the accursed constant writer's block that
accompanies school; I haven't had enough time to
write in ages, I've been on restriction from the
internet (don't ask), my laptop with all my fics
on it (first one) got wiped out, my new laptop got
hit with four viruses which REALLY slowed me down,
and it's hard even when I get the time because my
baby sis is constantly screaming at me. I won't
grovel untill I get no reviews though =).. then again..
grovels Keep sending reviews I beg you!
Author's Note:
This is a between-the-lines fic told in
Bass' point of view. I might write one in
Serenade's p.o.v. later, but for now, Bass is
my favorite character so... you know. On with
the show. Btw, even though I've been calling him
Bass, let's get a few things straight before we
begin; his name is Forte. Bass.. that's a fish
for crying out loud..
As for Serenade, she was mistaken for a male in
the game because of translation mistake. So that'll
clear up any confusion that may have appeared later.
If that confuses you, lemme put it simple.
SERENADE is a GIRL. A GIRL I SAY. WHY ELSE WOULD
SHE BE WEARING PINK FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!? So I'd better
not have any imbeciles confusing this for yaio.
And that reminds me; The Megaman category makes me sick.
Atleast it used to, I haven't looked in a long time.
All I can say is you people better be glad I ain't in
charge of for now, though, this tale will
help bring up the non-disturbed number of fics in the
category. (if you don't know what I mean, just read
the summaries of the majority of Megaman X fics...)
By the way, WARNING BEFORE WE START:
Long Chapter Ahead.
Those with odd mental conditions that cause complete
insanity when exposed to an overdose of words,
also known as a short attention span, are
advised to take this bit by bit.
[Chapter One: So It Begins..]
"Where am I..?"
A young Navi clad in black&yellow armor slowly
stood up, shaking his sore head. He felt like
he'd fallen from miles above, and had bruises
to back it up. The platorms he stood on had spikes
jutting out from them, and below him, above him, even
as far as the eye could see, was an endless void of
what a television looks like when cable's out, but darker.
Rough-looking Purple navis strolled by now and then,
with the occasional normal commercial Navi (which usually got mugged
or deleted by the purple ones as soon as they were seen).
He recognized this forbidden area immediately.
"The Undernet..."
As he stared around at the familiar surroundings,
everything became clear once more. Or atleast as
clear as his own reasoning could make it. His owner
had gotten into serious trouble and likely abandoned
him in hopes of lessening his own crisis.
"Stupid human.." the young navi muttered, walking slowly
down the path. Part of him, in a way, wept at the loss of
his operator. But the other part of him hated the man
with a passion. He knew the real reason why he had been
abandoned, but he denied it every time he thought about it.
As he turned down a path towards Undersquare, a purple
navi jumped in front of him, holding six little balls
between his fingers. "Hey punk, hand over yer zenny!" the
Undernavi commanded. "Or I'll delete yeh faster than
yeh can cry for help!"
The black-clad navi stared cruelly at the mugger, and
crossed his arms. "You pitiful fool.. I will forgive
your trespass if you will leave me be now. Don't waste
any more of my time."
"Alright, you asked for it!" the Undernavi shouted angrily,
tossing all six little orbs at the black armoured navi's feet.
Each one burst open into a different Virus, and all six of
the viruses ambushed him.
"Have it your way.." said the armoured navi with a sigh.
A fireball flew at his head and exploded soon afterwards,
creating a giant cloud of black smoke around him.
"Hah! That'll teach yeh some respect!" the Undernavi cackled,
but then he heard a low electrical crackle from the black
mist and stared into it. As the smoke faded, a brightly glowing
shield could be seen with the armoured Navi in the middle.
"What the.."
The armoured navi leapt into the air, his arm glowing, and came down,
smashing his fist into the viruses; three of them shattered
into bits of junk data, the platform under them busting into
a decent-sized gap that a fourth virus fell down, plunging into
the endless abyss. The remaining viruses, a couple of wolf-like
creatures named Spikeys, dashed towards the armoured one,
only to be thrown back by his aura to plunge into the abyss with
their other allies.
"Ah--Ahhh! Wh-who are you!?" the Undernavi said. "St-stay
away from me man!! You're a freak!"
"My name is Forte." the dark Navi said, slowly hovering
towards the undernavi. "And you've had the misfortune of
ambushing me on a bad day.."
Anguished screams could be heard echoing throughout the
entire Undernet, followed by a booming explosion and a
flash of light. Then Forte went on his way towards
Undersquare as if nothing had happened, leaving an area
full of cracked and broken walkways.
Forte calmly strode into the Undersquare, not even giving a
passing glance to any navis around him as they ran their
petty little errands. His hatred for humans started to
grow beyond that of just his ex-owner as he watched them,
slaves to their human operators, and he began to wonder how
he ever allowed himself to be commanded in such a way.
His thoughts were interrupted by an undernavi at the top
of Undersquare's staircase. "Hey, you!" shouted the purple
Navi. "You're that Forte punk, aren't you!?"
"What do you want?" Forte asked, glaring at the purple navi.
"I want your rank!"
"My.. rank...?"
He reached into his cloak and pulled out a card with a
number three on it. "This little thing? What would you
do with such an item?"
"Same 'ding everyone else here does! What are you, stupid?
Now hand it ova' or I'll delete yeh!"
"Look, I don't have time to bother with you pests.." Forte
sighed. "Besides, what makes you think you could delete
me, much less defeat S?"
"S has no operator, so he's probably pathetic!" the Navi
said with a laugh. Forte's eyes lost their bored, annoyed
look, and widened to normal size once more. Then a look
of anger covered his face. "So you think Navis need
a HUMAN to do anything worthwhile!? You think a pitiful
HUMAN gives us our power!?"
"Pch, not all of it, but face it, we Navi's couldn't
survive without'em, I don't know how this S person can--"
A purple aura burst around Forte as he glared
at the Undernavi, his fists flaming with yellow energy.
The other Navi yelped and quicky started hurling
Virus Bombs at Forte; each one bounced off of his
shield and burst open, shards of deleted viruses
falling down to the ground and into the endless space
below. "Allow me to show you why you shouldn't depend
on a pathetic human to run your life.." he said,
suddenly appearing behind the purple spiked Navi,
and in a blinding flash of white light, all that
remained of the Undernavi was a smoking dent in the
Undersquare platform. He glared around at the
other Navis that had watched the murder, and they all
quickly fled. He slowly hovered off the ground and
floated towards the back of Undersquare to where
a big hole surrounded by four torches lied.
"Hey! You can't go in there!" shouted an odd Undernavi
wearing all red with a glass visor covering his face.
"And who are you to stop me?" Forte demanded, turning
around, staring at the Navi behind him.
"I'm Crushman, ranked #2! And if anyone's going to
duel S, it will be me!"
Forte walked up to stand face-to-face with this
red Navi. "I don't have time for this. S is the
only Navi other than I who has no operator, I
have much to ask of him."
"What..?"
Crushman became infuriated at this. "You mean
you've gotten this far.. And you don't even
want to challenge S to a duel!? What kind of
blitheting idiot are you!?"
"Look, whether you wish to be deleted now is
your choice, but I'm going to see S and there
isn't anything you or your pathetic human
owner can do to stop me."
Forte faded in, standing on a panel in the middle
of a large platform surrounded by crystal-clear
water. He began walking towards a skinny pathway
when he heard someone call out from behind;
"S-stop.. right... th-there..."
A beaten red Navi with a shattered visor
crawled towards Forte. "You.. can't... I,
I won't let you.."
"Is this you talking or your operator?" Forte
spat coldly, turning around to face the badly
mauled Navi.
"Wha..?"
"Your master likely told you to do this, am I right?"
"Yes.. that's right.. he doesn't want you.. to
get to.. S.. he wants.."
"He wants power, that is all." Forte scowled. "And
he's willing to get it, even if it costs him his
Navi. But of coarse," the cloaked navi said, turning
around to start walking down the path, "HE has nothing
to lose but a tool."
"That's not.. true..."
"Don't blind yourself to the truth as I had for so
long! Humans don't care for us Navis, they just use us to
do things they're too lazy or too weak to do themselves!
And if you're too stupid to realize this, you are as
worthless as the humans themselves!"
"Serenade! Serenade!" shouted an odd, mysterious ghost-like
Navi in a dark, ragged cloak, dashing up a stairway and up
to an egyptian-looking Navi with golden-blonde hair, pink
gloves and a long slim pink dress, sitting down in a rather
large chair, a golden helmet sitting beside it.
"Yes, young Navi?"
"The-there's an intruder, milady.."
"Don't you mean another challenger?"
Suddenly an explosion racked Serenade's realm, followed by a
split-second flash of blinding light. "What in heaven's name
was that!?"
"That was the intruder, milady.." said the ghost-like navi,
shivering with fear. ".. I know we're all supposed to be devoid of
emotions, but.."
"It is fine. I must deal with this trouble-maker
immediately." Serenade said, pulling her hair up
and putting her helmet on.
"Where is S?" Forte shouted, shaking the Navi he held by
the collar, another ghostly follower of Serenade. "I demand
to speak with him!"
"I know not of whom you speak.. I reccommend you stop
now before you are dealt with.."
"Why you little--"
"That is enough!" Serenade called out, striding down
one of those abnormally skinny paths that usually only
compressed Navis can walk through. She gracefully
walked up to Forte, long flowing pink cloth streaming from her
helmet behind her. "Who, may I ask, are you?"
Forte dropped the phantom Navi and stared at the
lady before him, the protective aura around him
fading away. "Are you the one they call S?"
"I believe I asked of your name first."
"I am Forte." he said.
"And you may call me Serenade."
Forte took a slight bow. "It is a pleasure to
finally meet you, Serenade."
"I can't say the same. You have destroyed
nearly half of my palace with that outburst
of yours. If you wish to duel me, I suggest
you prepare yourself, because your wish is about
to be granted.."
"That's not why I came. You are the only other
Navi who has no operator. I came to seek your wisdom."
Serenade stared at him for a moment, a bit
surprised. "You are the most unusual visitor
that has come here.. but I cannot ignore this
outrage."
"I am sorry for the damage I have caused you,
Serenade," said Forte, "but I have had a very
bad day, and the Navi ranked Number Two
tried to stop me from getting to you.."
"Well, atleast you worked your way through
the ranks... what do you wish to know?"
"My operator abandoned me, left me to deletion.
I want to know how I can go to the real world.."
Forte said after they had both walked up to
Serenade's "throne" of sorts.
".. you wish to ask him why he left you? Your
previous operator might have a good reason for-"
"You would excuse a human for abandoning one of
your own kind?!" Forte burst, enraged suddenly.
He's quite moody isn't he?
"Calm yourself, Forte." Serenade said calmly,
unmoved by the relatively strong power Forte
was emitting. "I wasn't excusing him of his
crime, but he might not have done it of his
own free will, you know."
"He abandoned me to ease his case. He could
have gone to prison."
"See?" Seren said, taking her helmet off. "He
might be a bit of a coward, but I'm sure you would
have done the same, had you been in his position-"
"Had I been in his position," Forte said, his
voice one of pure loathing for the man, "I would
have defended myself AND my Navi! But I guess I
was just a tool to be disposed of in his eyes."
"Of coarse not!"
"How would you know? Did you know him?"
"No, but humans aren't that cruel, not all of them
atleast." said Serenade in a soft voice.
"I've had it with humans, Serenade. The whole race
had best be lucky I can't go to their world already,
or I would delete them all!"
"Why? What have they ever done to you?"
"Don't you get it?!" Forte said, before letting out
a sigh, bowing his head. "I thought you of all people
would share my understanding, my hatred, for these
humans.." Then he glared at her. "But obviously they
have brainwashed you as well."
"Forte, get ahold of yourself!"
"I could say the same to you! Humans are worthless
beings, they care nothing for us, yet here you and
countless other Navis go, not only defending them, but
being slaves under their control!"
"That's not true! Humans and Navis work together as-"
"-as partners?" Forte said, finishing her sentance for
her, before letting out a dry chuckle. "I've heard these
lies from my previous 'owner'... you are no better than
the humans!"
Suddenly an aura surrounded him, a wind picking up around
his form. Serenade put her helmet back on and stood, the
pink loose cloth flapping wildly behind her. "I thought
you of all people would help me, but I guess I was wrong!
When I have my way the entire Human race will be wiped
into oblivion!!"
"So you'll kill the humans to 'save' the navis? That will
only weaken the vast majority of them that depend on their
human operators!" Serenade said, her voice firm but still
eerily soft.
"No, they are just as pathetic as the humans they serve..
I will not spare them, but rather delete them as well,
starting with you!"
"So it's a fight you want..." Serenade said with a sigh. "I
had really hoped it wouldn't come to this, Forte. But I
am not surprised." Her pink dress split into two loose pieces
of pink semi-transparent cloth that floated behind her, sparkling
with energy as she took a fighting stance, a black tube top
revealed.
Forte charged at her with an angry cry; she gracefully spun
out of the way as he slammed his fist into the platform where
she once stood, shattering it in an explosion of green light.
He turned to glare at her as a green blade grazed his face.
He then held his fists out, as a swarm of energy blasts began
flying towards her; She began elegantly twirling, the two
pieces of hovering pink sparkling cloth spinning around her
with blinding speed, deflecting every shot it hit; each
blast slammed into a platform, leaving crators all over
Serenade's palace.
"How can you take up for humans!? You have no operator, no
reason to care for their fate!" Forte shouted as he suddenly
appeared behind her, shooting a blast at her head. She ducked
and tripped him, then held out her hand as a bright green
flash of energy blinded Forte's vision and hurled him down to
a lower platform, slamming him into the shallow water. He stood,
his cloak drenched in cyber-water as Serenade slowly descended
before him. "Give up this meaningless battle now and I will
allow you to stay." Serenade said calmly.
"I've got a better idea. Come with me now or I will delete
you and your sanctuary!" Forte threatened, emitting a dark
power the likes of which would strike an icey cold chill down
your spine and make you tremble in fear. Serenade began
hurling pink shining energy orbs at Forte, but each one merely
popped like a bubble when it hit his Life Aura.
"You seem sure of your plans.." Serenade said, halting the
assault for a moment. ".. you've plotted revenge for a long
time now haven't you?"
Forte laughed. "Do you think I would formulate this scheme
just because of one human? I've hated the humans long before
I was abandoned! The only thing that held me back was that
I thought my operator was atleast decent.. but since I was
wrong about him as well, his life matters not to me anymore!"
A sound like a squad of shotguns firing one after the other
was heard, little blasts errupting down the path at Serenade
with blinding speed, and before she had time to react her
body was enguled in a large green flare; SHe flew backwards,
landing on her feet in the shallow water, and just as she had
time to stand, Forte kicked her back, slamming her face-first
into one of the walkways. "It pains me to do this to a fellow
independant Navi, but you've left me no choice!"
Serenade kept a peaceful expression on her face as she turned
to face him just in time to react to his punch, leaping gracefully
behind him and spin-kicking him in the neck, sending him
sprawling sideways, water splashing everywhere as he fell into
the crystal-clear liquid.
Forte stood up and scowled, cracking his neck, drenched with
cyber-water. "Lucky shot." he commented, before jumping
high up into the air, his fist glowing with power. "I've
toyed with you long enough!"
Serenade leapt up to meet him in mid-air, knowing there was
only one way to deal with him, and as the two slammed into
one another, an extraordinary pink light flooded the entire
void of her Sanctuary.
As the light faded like a mist, all that could be seen was
a few ghost like navis here and there, Serenade, and
Forte. Her entire palace had been wiped into oblivion for
the most part, albeit a few platforms here and there.
Forte lay unconscious on the ground, his cape badly
torn; and Serenade knelt beside him, breathing hard,
several cuts and bruises scarring her form.
She reached into Forte's cloak and pulled out his Ranks,
handing them to one of her followers. "Redistribute
these as you see fit." she commanded, before picking up
Forte and walking slowly towards the exit to her palace,
which had surprisingly remained intact. As she reached
the teleporter, she looked down at Forte's face; it
looked calm, gentle, unlike the look of pure hatred she'd
gotten used to. "It is truly a shame.." she sighed, stepping
onto the teleporter as Forte coughed, his eyes barely
opened. ".. maybe one day you'll realize the error in your
ways... should that ever happen, you will still be welcome
here, you know."
And no matter what happened to him after that
encounter, Forte always remembered those words...
[an: Crappy ending? Yeah.
Except it's far from over.]