Light In The Darkness II:

Ultimate Threat

Blitz Chick, who, at the urging of HydraMan.EXE and other devoted fans, decided to write a sequel to the favorite story, Light In The Darkness, brings this new fan fic to you. Okay, Light In The Darkness got six reviews. So sue me! But Hydra wanted to see it, so here it is. I hope ya'll like what you got!

ProtoMan. EXE was waiting. Not for anything in particular, but for a close friend. He leaned against a tree in Net City Park, closing his dark blue eyes behind his sunglasses. If he were human, ProtoMan would be about thirteen, tall, with a long silver ponytail that flowed down his back. Swiftly, the red Navi opened his eyes stared at the clear blue cyber sky.

It had been almost two months since the incident in the Undernet. His partner's eyesight data had been restored and the three victims of the trap that had been sprung made full recoveries.

But there were still some loose ends to be dealt with.

At this point, the tall Navi was brought out of his thoughts quite abruptly and unceremoniously. Well, you would be too if someone had just catapulted into you at full speed.

Starfire.EXE was giggling and laughing as she rolled off of ProtoMan, her bright blue eyes sparking like sapphires. ProtoMan's partner was bright and bubbly, which got Starfire into a lot of trouble. Designed like Roll, Starfire had adopted an orange, red and gold color scheme. Those strange things on the helmet had been removed and Starfire's ponytail rivaled ProtoMan's, only it was a long, shimmering blonde. Only two months prior, she had been blind for a week.

ProtoMan picked himself up. "Yes Star, I'm happy to see you too. But do you have to jump on me like that?"

With a content sigh, Starfire adopted her trademark grin. "'Course I have to Proto! I mean, how would you know that it was me otherwise?"

The two had gotten together to discuss the loose ends of their last mission, but Proto decided that they could talk for a little bit. What harm could it do?

Unbeknownst to them, the two Navis were being watched by a longing set of eyes.

"So," Star began causally, "Had any good Netbattles lately?"

The taller red Navi shrugged. "I had a pretty intense Netbattle with MegaMan the other day."

"Awwww… I wish I could've seen that! The most exciting match I've had lately was with GutsMan." Rolling her eyes, Starfire's grin widened. "It was like an ant verses a steamroller."

ProtoMan winced in spite of himself. "Ouch, you were beaten that bad?"

Giving her partner a strange look, Starfire cocked an eyebrow. "Who said I was the one who got beat?"

Smiling, ProtoMan shook his head. Starfire was only thirteen, and she didn't seem in a hurry to mature. But after she had gotten back with the reinforcements to save him from the trap in the Undernet, Star had changed. Not a big visible change, but something was different.

That was why ProtoMan had called her here.

"Star," The red Navi rolled onto his side to get a better look at Starfire. "We need to talk."

Likewise, the golden haired Navi rolled onto her side, blinking curiously. "Sure, we can talk. What's up?"

"When I was trapped, you went to get help. I…I just want to know if anything happened out there. Something you didn't tell me about."

For a long time, Starfire was still, staring at a highly unremarkable blade of grass. It was at times like this that ProtoMan was reminded of how much Star was like her brother. Eventually she looked up and opened her mouth as if to say something.

But whatever it was Starfire was about to say, she never did get it out.

In seconds, the mood had gone from relaxed to a tension so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Not that you'd want to put a knife between the two Navis facing off right now.

ShadowMan.EXE was not a Navi you wanted to be arguing with on a good day. He resembled a ninja, and was incredibly fast.

And now, he had Starfire struggling in his grasp.

ProtoMan had his Cyber Sword out in a matter of seconds. "ShadowMan! Let her go!"

Narrowing his eyes, ShadowMan seemed to be smirking. "I think not. This little prize," He tightened his hold on Starfire, who pulled at the hand over her mouth. "Is coming with me."

At last, Starfire managed to pull her head above ShadowMan's smothering grasp. Defiantly, she brought her head right back down and sunk her teeth into ShadowMan's hand.

Unfortunately, this seemed to amuse ShadowMan, rather than cause him pain. "Ah, ah, ah…" He sneered, speaking like a parent to a disobedient child. Using a free hand, the ninja-like Navi pulled out a small capsule.

In an instant, ProtoMan had identified the capsule. It was called a sleeper, and was like a sleeping gas for Navis. But the capsule could be programmed to not work on certain Navis. "No! STARFIRE!" ProtoMan lunged as ShadowMan crushed the capsule.

Coughing, ProtoMan tried to fend off the deep pink gas. Peering through the smoke, he could see that Starfire had already fallen to the effects of the gas. Collapsing to his knees, ProtoMan reached out a hand towards his immobile partner. "Starfire…"

ShadowMan gave one last smirk before disappearing.

And ProtoMan found that he couldn't resist the effects of the gas any longer. He collapsed face first onto the soft cyber grass.

When ProtoMan opened his eyes, he could hear voices all around him. He wondered how long he had been out.

"It looks like he's coming around!"

Sitting up, ProtoMan was careful to take things slowly so he wouldn't end up back on the ground. As soon as he was up, a medic was by his side, offering him some water.

"Take it easy Mr. ProtoMan, sir. You were out for quite some time. Almost two hours!"

Mentally, ProtoMan groaned. Two hours? ShadowMan was long gone by now. In an instant, ProtoMan drank half the water and the other half went over his head in an effort to wake himself up.

"ProtoMan! What happened? Are you all right?"

Turning, ProtoMan spotted a link to his Net Op, Chaud Blaze. Chaud was thirteen, with white hair and a black underlay. His deep blue eyes were concerned, but alert.

"I'm fine Chaud. But Starfire…Starfire was captured."

The white haired boy frowned. "Captured? By who?"

ProtoMan grimaced. "ShadowMan."

"ShadowMan?" Chaud ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Then he's long gone by now. We'll never catch him! No offense Proto, you're a great tracker and all, but even you can't pick up a trail that's two hours old." With a sigh, Chaud sat back. "What we need is an expert tracker. Someone who's used to dealing with people like this."

A small smile began to spread on ProtoMan's face. "I think I know just the person who can help us in that department."

As his grin widened, ProtoMan looked off towards the south, where the city ended and a dusty plain began.

Authors Note: Confused? Read Light In The Darkness and then try reading this.