I was stuck on SZT, so I opened up a new Word Document and starting writing whatever came into my head. Before I knew it, this little Blues and Rhythm pairing fic-let had come into existence.
Now, this is only my first (serious) attempt at writing a romance fic. So if you could kindly critique it to death, I would greatly appreciate it so that I can improve.
I'm also more than a little concerned that Rhythm came out as a Mary Sue, so please let me know if she did or not.
By the way, this fic is set about a month after the N1 Tournament.
Begin Fic!
"Transfer complete."
"Great work, ProtoMan." Chaud Blaze glanced at his red PET resting in it's charger on the right hand side of his desk. "Now that those files have been delivered, we can finalize the contract."
ProtoMan nodded as he stepped out of the Executive Building and out onto the streets of Net City. It had been a fairly standard errand to deliver a bundle of files to a possible IPC contractor; everything had gone by the book with a minimal amount of trouble. About the worst thing that had happened on this run had been the delay in receiving these files at Accounting.
The red Navi bit off the grin threatening to surface on his lips, maintaining his deadpan expression. Even after humans had eliminated the 'paper' from the 'paperwork', they still made errors in the 'work'.
"You can come back now."
"Roger that, Chaud." The sword-wielding Navi turned to his left and began heading back the way he had come. "You can expect me there within the hour."
"We'll be waiting." Chaud acknowledged the remark and then turned back to his work.
The Navi walked on, ignoring the glances and amazed stares of those passing him by. He'd become used to standing out in a crowd. Last month when he and Chaud had won the N1 Grand Prix, their fledgling fame had taken on new proportions; and he'd quickly learned that he couldn't go anywhere without becoming a spectacle.
Not that it mattered to him one way or another. Fame didn't mean anything to him, as long as he could stand by Chaud, he'd be content.
That thought took ProtoMan's mind off onto another train of thought. In the aftermath of MegaMan's deletion and resurrection, he had come to an unconscious realization about how much he cared for his Net Op. And he sensed that Chaud had come to a new realization about their friendship as well. It was never mentioned, but slowly over the past few weeks, Chaud had stopped treating him like a program and more and more like a friend.
It was an extremely satisfying development.
Before he had battled because he was Chaud's Navi. It was his duty to fight and win. Now he fought because Chaud was his friend, and he would never let the boy down.
"I never imagined calling Chaud 'boy'." The Red Raider allowed a ghost of a smile to grace his face. "MegaMan must be getting to me."
A shout broke through his reverie.
"Hey, ProtoMan!"
The Red Raider glanced over his shoulder, to find two other Navis falling into step behind him.
"MegaMan, Roll." ProtoMan acknowledged the presence of his two companions.
"It's been a while since we've seen you." The Blue Navi spoke up. "How've you been?"
"I've been well." The Red Navi stopped and turned so that he could speak to his companions easily. "And you?"
"I'm fine." Roll nodded back.
"Never better," MegaMan quipped, "Anything beats deletion."
"I suppose that's true." The Red Navi nodded, not recognizing the slightest bit of humor in the joke.
An awkward silence settled on the trio for several seconds.
MegaMan spoke up to end the pause. "Anyway, Roll's invited me to go the Shopping District to pick up some new Fashion Chips… Would you like to come along?"
ProtoMan studied the two from behind his shades. He didn't doubt that their desire for friendship was genuine, he's been through too much with them to know otherwise. And true, part of him was very tempted to accept the invitation, but Chaud needed him back at ICP, and his Net Op always came first.
"I'll have to pass." The Raider said simply. "Chaud needs me get back quickly."
"Oh," MegaMan exchanged a glance with Roll who gave a barely perceptible shrug. "Uh, O.K. I guess we'll see you around?"
The Red Net Navi nodded as the two Navis turned and began to walk away.
ProtoMan couldn't help himself. For a moment he broke out of his reserved persona and called after his companions. "MegaMan."
The Blue Navi turned around to look at the Raider.
"Some other time."
MegaMan flashed a grin at ProtoMan, and nodded his understanding.
"Some other time."
That said, the ProtoMan turned and resumed his walk down the street. No doubt about it, MegaMan was really getting to him.
The Red Raider hurried on, intent on getting back to Chaud and his PET. With any luck the rest of his trip would be uneventful.
But 'luck' had a nasty sense of humor, or irony, which would make an uneventful trip impossible.
"Let me go!"
ProtoMan stopped in mid-step as an unfamiliar, barely audible, slightly sing-song voice reached his ear. There was an urgency in that voice that didn't belong in the laid-back atmosphere of Net City. Turning his head to scan the area, the Raider located the source of that voice- a light gray and teal female Net Navi was surrounded by a half-dozen or so thug-like Navi, and they were hustling her into a shadowy alleyway.
From the looks of things, they were about to perform a cyber-mugging.
The red Navi glanced about, no one else had heard that Navi's muffled cry for help or showed any interest in helping. ProtoMan glanced back at the alleyway and changed course, if no one else was available, then he'd play the role of 'hero'.
"Chaud," The Red Raider contacted his Net Op as he leapt off the ground and up to the side of a nearby building in preparation to make his move.
"I'm here."
"I'll be slightly delayed." ProtoMan muttered as he vaulted over the top barrier of the building and onto the roof. "There's a mugging in progress that I need to end."
"I understand." The duel-haired Net Battler nodded. "Do you need any assistance?"
"None required, there are only seven of them." The Red Raider peered over the edge of the roof and performed a quick head-count.
"I see. Five minutes?"
"Tops. Thanks for the offer though."
101010101010101010101010101010101
"We asked you nicely, lady." Blue Thug slammed his palm into the wall behind his prey, startling and trapping her between him and the wall. "Next time we'll get rough, now hand over the money!"
Rhythm looked around sizing up her attackers. There were seven of them, and strangely enough, each one was a different color: orange, blue, green, red, purple, black, and gray. None of them looked especially tough of showed any signs of being competent Net Battlers (the way they were slouching and loosely gripping their weapons was a dead give-a-way about that department); while she didn't doubt that she could stand up to two or three of these guys, she had her doubts about taking on all seven at once.
But still, she couldn't just turn over her Net Op's money- Paige Downing had trusted her with it, and that trust was something that Rhythm would never allow to be shattered.
Now she just had to explain that to the band of thugs surrounding her.
"No. you can't have it." Rhythm glared at Blue Thug. "There's no way I'm giving my Net Op's cash up to the 'Rainbow Brigade'."
"Like we haven't heard that one a million times." Gray Thug grumbled. "All right, we asked nicely, now we'll get rough."
Instantly the Rainbow Brigade tightened their grip on their weapon. Orange and Red lifted long busters. Blue and Green were sword-wielders. Purple, Black and Gray heaved oversized armored fists.
"Well," Rhythm thought, "At least I'm getting robbed by guys with variety."
"One last time, give us the money!" Red pointed his oversized blaster at his prey.
"No."
"AAAHHHHH!"
Red Thug's left hand gripped his right arm as a scream exploded from his lips. His long blaster dropped to the ground as he realized that something razor-sharp had severed it from his arm.
Startled by this turn of events, the Rainbow Brigade fell back to reassess the situation. It barely took them a second to realize that they had a new variable to add to this situation: a red sword-master known as ProtoMan.
The Red Navi raised his blade defensively as he maintained his position in front of the startled Rhythm.
"Where'd he come from?" Purple Thug voiced the question on everyone's mind.
"I suggest you forget about this little enterprise." ProtoMan eyed each one of his opponents in turn. "And leave her alone; otherwise, you'll have to deal with me."
The thugs glanced between each other, trying to decide on their best course of action.
"He's ProtoMan, the winner of the N1." Black Thug muttered warily.
"Yeah, but those were one on one battles." Blue Thug gave his assessment of the situation. "There's seven of us and only one of them."
"Humph." Rhythm folded her arms over her chest and glared at her attackers, obviously miffed about being forgotten about. "You guys must be too stupid to count. It's two against seven."
The Rainbow Brigade chuckled evilly. Apparently that remark had given them the boost they needed to attack.
"Let's get them!" Black Thug raised his oversized fist and lunged forward at ProtoMan.
"Your funeral." The Red Raider snapped his sword around and braced himself. Amazingly, the blade held as the Thug Navi's fist crashed into it, sparing ProtoMan from the attack.
Black Thug blinked in surprise.
ProtoMan took advantage of the Navi's confusion by slipping inside and under the thug's motionless fist. A split second later and he had snapped his blade across his opponent's chest, dealing some serious damage to Black Thug and forcing him out of the Network.
Blue Navi entered the fray. Slipping in from the left, the tough-guy impersonator got in close to ProtoMan and slashed at the Red Navi with his blade. The Raider was ready, however, and swept his sword up to intercept the attack. His sword caught Blue Thug's attack and with a quick twist of his blade, ProtoMan was inside of Blue Thug's defenses, and unleashing the fury of his sword on his attacker. It wasn't long before Blue Navi was gone as well.
While ProtoMan was otherwise occupied, Gray Navi rushed at Rhythm, intent on attacking her. Unfortunately, he had seriously underestimated his self-declared opponent...
Rhythm ducked her head to the right, allowing Gray Navi's armored fist to swish past her head harmlessly. Acting on that split second while her opponent was trying to recover from his failed attack, Rhythm slipped in closer and attacked.
"Cleft Counter!" Rhythm dropped to the ground, catching her fall with her left hand and landing almost parallel to the pavement. Snapping her right leg around, the teal Navi kicked her opponent's legs out from under him. Even as Gray Thug began to drop to the ground, the female Navi was moving into her next attack. Spinning in place, Rhythm brought herself up on her left leg and sent her right foot smashing into her dropping adversary's stomach.
The force of the blow sent Gray Thug flying backward across the street and into the side of the opposite building.
Gray Thug logged out, defeated.
Rhythm came our of her attack and rose to her feet just in time to see Red Thug hefting his blaster to take a cheap shot at ProtoMan while the Raider was preoccupied with Green Navi.
"Tenor whip!" The teal-colored Navi placed her hands together as a silver, ribbed, wire resembling a guitar string materialized in her hands. Snapping her whip forward, Rhythm sent her weapon snaking through the air and coiled it about the Red Navi's massive Buster. Grabbing an extra foot of wire with her free hand, the female Navi jerked on the whip, causing Red Navi's shot to miss ProtoMan and conveniently strike Purple Thug instead.
Purple and Green Logged out, leaving Red and Orange behind. The two Navis exchanged a glance. However, before they could decide whether to stay and fight or flee in terror, the decision was taken out of their hands as a Sonic Boom swept thought them. The two vanished from sight, transforming into the words 'Log Out' before disappearing from sight.
"Humph." Rhythm hummed in disapproval and tossed her head as she straightened herself.
Now that the battle was over, ProtoMan finally had a chance to take a good look at the Navi he had rescued. She wore a light silver bodysuit, and light blue boots with gold disks set over the sides of her ankles and standing above her knees. Two more gold disks rested on her hips, from which a pale azure skirt hung down to stop just above her knees. A blue vest covered her chest, and two golden gauntlets covered her forearms but left her hands bare. The Navi's blue eyes were framed by her flaming red hair, which was tamed by a blue cap reminiscent of Medi's.
The Navi smiled gently and turned to offer her hand to ProtoMan. "Er, thanks for your help. My name's Rhythm."
ProtoMan braced himself, he knew what was coming next: He'd introduce himself and then have to suffer through the ten-minute-fan-girl-squeal-of-delight-over-being-saved-by-none-other-than-ProtoMan.
"ProtoMan." The Red Navi deadpanned and overlooked Rhythm's offer to shake hands. No sense in making this worse than it would have to be.
Rhythm waited a moment and then slowly lowered her hand.
"Nice to meet you," The female Navi stepped back and leaned her back against the wall of a building lining the street.
ProtoMan almost choked on his own air. That was definitely NOT your typical fan girl scream. In fact, it almost sounded like a normal greeting that he'd hear from MegaMan- was it possible that this Navi didn't know who he was?
"Thanks again," The teal Navi spoke after a short pause, "for helping me out."
"Don't mention it." The Red Raider found the words tumbling out of his mouth before he even realized he had said them. "I was glad I could help out."
Rhythm chuckled in a slightly sing-song way, "So was I… Uh, ProtoMan, I don't want you to take this the wrong way-"
Bracing himself for anything, ProtoMan waited to hear what was coming next.
"But is there anything I can do to thank you for helping me out?"
Blinking in surprise, ProtoMan mentally recoiled. He'd half-expected something fan-girly…
"That won't be necessary." Startled, ProtoMan realized that part of his frosty exterior was melting slightly. "It was my pleasure."
The teal Navi bit her lip, unsure of where to take this conversation next. What do you say to someone who just rescued you from a mugging?
The red Navi realized this, and decided to bail her out.
"Rhythm, all things considered, I might not be wise for you to head out alone. I wouldn't put it past the… 'Rainbow Brigade', as you call them, to remember this. It wouldn't surprise me if they were just waiting for me to leave so that they can attack you again. Maybe I should stay with you for a while" The Red Raider replied.
ProtoMan came to himself with a start, what was he doing? I really hope she doesn't take that the wrong way- as if I'm suggesting an 'interest' in her. Why the disk drive am I even suggesting this? I should just pack up and leave now that the immediate danger was over, not offer escort her around the town like an overprotective boyfriend…
Rhythm smiled softly, "I'd appreciate that. I really need to get this money down to the Central Net Bank, and if you'd walk with me…"
"It would be a pleasure." ProtoMan blinked under his visor. What am I saying? Come on, Proto, snap out of it!
Still smiling gently, Rhythm pushed off of the wall and walked over to her new companion. After he nodded slightly, she stepped back out into the bustling streets with ProtoMan at her side.
A sudden flood of reality poured over ProtoMan. Here he was, a temporarily celebrity, walking through the crowded streets of Net City with a female Navi by his side. He desperately hoped that none of the paparazzi would come across them, those guys wouldn't care what the facts were, they'd snap a picture now and then publish a fantastic headline that was utterly preposterous. The last thing he needed right now was for Chaud to see a picture of him and Rhythm on the front page of the 'The Gigabyte'.
But there's nothing I can do about now. I've committed myself, so I'll just have to play this out… Still, it's unbelievable that she's doesn't know, or doesn't care, who I am. So far she hasn't done anything even remotely fan girly.
The Red Navi came back to reality as he realized that Rhythm had been chatting idly for the past few seconds.
"That was an amazing technique, the Sonic Boom." The teal Navi was saying. "I'd like to learn it some time, it would come in handy when me and my Net Op begin Net battling."
"From what I saw, you were holding your own just fine back there." ProtoMan replied. What am I doing? Am I really making small talk to her? What's going on?
The Red Navi caught her expectantly glance. "But the Sonic Boom is a fairly easy technique to learn. It would surprise me if you didn't have a grasp on it in a day."
"Do you really think so?"
"I do. Especially if you have the right teacher." ProtoMan nodded. Please tell me that I didn't just say that… Now she's going to ask me to show her how to do it, and that'll mean that I have to take her to the coliseum where every Navi and his dog will see us…
Rhythm just ducked her head and blushed, a deep red color filling her face. "I- I'll look around."
Whew, I think I just dodged a bullet…
"Uh, you mentioned that you were about to start Net battling, I take it you haven't before?" The Red Raider mercifully changed the subject.
"Just the usual family bouts, we haven't entered any competition yet. But Paige is really looking forward to it."
"Paige?"
"Paige Downing, my Net Op." Rhythm chuckled in her sing-song way. "She has to be the best Net Op a Navi ever had."
At that precise moment, ProtoMan realized that they had become so involved in their conversation that they had walked right past the bank. For a brief moment, the Red Raider was tempted not to call attention to the fact, but he quickly shoved such ideas from his mind. I must be losing my mind… Am I actually considering spending more time with her?
"Oops," Rhythm glanced over her shoulder, evidently realized that they had missed their target. "Uh, I think we walked right by it…"
"It appears that we did." The Red Navi stopped in his tracks. "This is where we go our separate ways."
"I'm afraid so." Rhythm nodded slowly. "ProtoMan… thank you again."
"Think nothing of it." The silver-haired Navi gave a barely perceptible shrug.
The teal-Navi nodded nervously, then also shrugged as she realized there was no way to prolong this meeting. "All right then, ProtoMan, I really enjoyed our time together, and… I loved that whirlwind attack you used against StoneMan in the N1."
ProtoMan blinked in surprised, the full meaning of that statement blowing him away. Before he could frame any sort of reply, Rhythm flashed her easy grin and then flipped backward up onto the bank's steps. With a quick wave of her hand the redhead Navi ducked inside the building and vanished.
The Red Raider stood there for several seconds, uncharacteristically stunned.
"She knew who I was…"
A chuckle escaped from ProtoMan's lips as he spun on his heel and took off towards the exit server. "Heh, not your average fan girl."
End Fic.
