Chapter 1: Soul Unison!
09:09 AM (Japan Time), Saturday September the 30th…
"… Troll-Z…? Oho. Zero came up with a new joke, Saito – niisan!"
"Fan – tas – tic."
"Why are ya putting up that dry face?"
"I preferred him serious."
"Ya can't pretend to be stiff forever!"
"Yeah? Do you think everyone likes trolling?"
"Sure!"
"Then you're rather mistaken, Netto – kun. There are people who get irritated at that stuff."
"Che! Wisdom Man strikes at me from the NNW flank and knows everything…"
"Very original, really."
"Listen, listen! "Blowing blower of blows tells fighting fighter of fights to travel to Shadow Moses Island inside of a gigantic tuna disguise and then try to recollect some souvenirs from there without the explicit permission of chanting chanter of chants." … So?"
"Hah, hah. Zero doesn't have the right kind of personality to make good puns."
"Maybe ya prefer Forte's?"
"No."
Hikari Netto and Saito were talking while having a breakfast on their house's living room: Netto was reading something using his Link PET while Saito looked dry and unimpressed: both were still clad in pajamas and Netto's hair was loose given how he hadn't put his bandana back on as of yet.
"Now, now! Saito. Don't be so dry, dear." Hikari Haruka told him as she looked up from the daily newspapers.
"Sorry, Mama, but I've always been skeptical of repetitive jokes. Papa used to be serious and so was the Science Labs' staff, so…" Saito calmly replied.
"Of course… But some humor can do well from time to time."
"From time to time, but not every day."
"What… Is there a law which says that 1st grade guys can't have jokes outside of school or what?" Netto grinned.
"No."
"Oho! Troll-F… Listen, listen! "Pick an energy sword from one fallen Elite and slaughter 100 Grunts to then sell "Grunt Blood" as a souvenir from the Human – Covenant War Battlefield." … This one was a bit grim in tone, I think…" Netto looked somewhat nervous.
"No wonder… Halo is a game series rated 17+ and very "gore" in nature, so… I guess Forte should've thought it twice before mailing that to you, Netto – kun." Saito calmly shrugged.
"Oh! By the way… Could you make a favor and go run some errands at the shopping mall?" Haruka requested of them.
"Sure!" Netto grinned.
"Fine." Saito calmly confirmed.
"Huh? Oho. Troll-O… Omega showed up! "Yo! Clark Kent – sama demands the elixir of eternal life~! Make sure to bring it to the guy in a DHL – certified package~! Or else he'll say ya are fired 'cause he needs a DHL certificate to show it off to his aibou~! Rolling roller of rolls is gonna unleash the invincible army of Mettols which will build ya a palace in just 72 hours and for free~! Slice and dice, cut and put, max and mark and then go all out on Jeremy's watery grave~! Omega – sama invites ya to curry a la Confucius for supper today~! See ya 'round the rotunda~! Bye – bye~!" … Hilarious!" Netto read.
"That sounds like a collage improvised in 5 minutes."
"True." Haruka giggled.
"Don't tell me you find it funny, Mama…"
"He bothered to make all vowels stand out, so..."
"Ah. Guess so."
"Come on, niisan! I know what your problem is. Ya are impatiently waiting for the newest release of that manga…" Netto teased.
"Netto – kun… You are the one who devours manga. I prefer foreign literature." Saito rolled his eyes.
"O. K.! Last one to fix the bed buys ice-cream! Ready~… Go!"
Netto suddenly ran upstairs and Saito snapped out of it to chase him into the bedroom: both began to pull out the covers for their beds and put them back in the regular manner plus arranging the pillow: Saito finished a few seconds earlier than Netto and grinned while Netto let out a moan of frustration.
"No way…! I had the time advantage!" He complained.
"Time advantage is nothing compared to skill." Saito grinned.
"Crap."
"So?" Saito challenged.
"Alright…" Netto sighed in defeat.
"Let's get dressed while we're at it."
"Sure~…"
Saito giggled as he searched inside of the drawers and Netto kept on rolling his eyes and mumbling something under his breath.
"I'll win ya next time!"
"Come anytime."
10:14 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Oho. Hiro. Ya came to pick your manga, too?"
"Yeah. Besides… I wanted to stretch for a while."
"Any news from the "Hunters' Guild", Delta?"
"The usual stuff…"
Netto (sporting his usual set of clothes and the bandana) and Saito (sporting a blue vest, a white shirt, jeans, navy blue socks and white sneakers) were speaking with a guy and his Net Navi.
The guy looked slightly over a meter and fifty tall: his hair's color was jet black and it was totally messy (similar to Netto's) while his eyes' irises were blue.
He sported a reddish sleeveless vest over a black shirt and a pair of grayish jeans plus black sneakers.
He also carried a Link PET the emblem of which was the lowercase delta character painted silver and set against a black background: the PET's colors were red and white.
"Akashi Hiro. Ya are gonna pain the classroom's walls red with oil-based spray? Your name hints at it, did ya know it? I'm Guess It All Man!" Netto grinned.
"No way…" Hiro looked taken aback.
"Netto – kun!" Saito protested.
"Hiro – kun is a nice person!"
"Yeah, Delta?"
Delta's main body color was jet black while his forearms, boots, shoulder plates, rear-pack and helmet were painted silver.
His face looked strikingly similar to Rock Man's although he had some slight differences regarding the eyes' irises (which were blue) and the shape of his cheek bones.
His emblem was the same delta character set on his chest and ear-pads: the central part of his helmet had a murkier silver color to it plus two rectangles and one band cutting across it starting at the back: some jet black hair came out from behind the helmet as well.
Overall, he looked extremely similar to Rock Man and seemed to be around his height as well.
"Yeah. Be serious, Hikari – kun." He replied.
"Serious as in seriousness?" Netto replied.
"Sadly, Delta… Omega – san, Forte and Zero are a bad influence."
"And Enzan went around pretending he was Colonel Campbell… I'm no rookie like Raiden was!" Hiro chuckled.
"You've seen too much Metal Gear Solid videos, Hiro – kun."
"How couldn't I? They were spectacular!"
"Sure, sure."
"Heh, heh, heh. And ya were learning all ya could from the Legend of Zelda series… Did daimaou – sama tell ya to go collect roses in the Amazon jungle?" Hiro chuckled.
"Please…" Delta sounded exasperated.
"Heh, heh, heh. What bothersome foolish humans!" A voice suddenly rang out through all of the shopping mall's speakers.
"Who…?" Netto gasped.
"Sounds like a Navi…" Saito calmly commented.
"Oho. Thrill came." Hiro grinned.
"More like catastrophe came." Delta shot back.
"I shall take control of this filthy building and turn it into a precious tropical garden! Mwa, hah, hah, hah! Experience fear and chaos, you eyesore humans!" The voice exclaimed.
The walls rumbled and there were some noises before all environments colors became distorted and became a random mix: the four of them lifted their eyebrows in surprise.
"… A "Dimensional Area"…?" Hiro wondered.
"Cool…" Delta muttered.
"Guess it's gotta be one of those WWW Navis who ran away back when Wily was arrested… Denpa – san did tell us about them." Netto calmly deduced.
"And I told you guys the "Hunters' Guild" found them in Alaska under disguises and trying to be the absolute champions of a second-class hockey lane…" Delta reminded them.
"True, true!" Hiro remembered.
Data suddenly appeared on the air and materialized to give way to walls of vegetation, large tree roots, vines, flowers, grass and dirt which extended across the corridor having some benches and the toilets' entrances on it plus connecting to the hubs of the shopping center building.
"Guess it's our turn to shine!" Hiro grinned.
"Oh yeah!"
"Maybe we can test that enigmatic program Vadous – san gave us and requested of us to only use in special occasions…" Saito ventured while forming a smile.
"We'll show you the results of our intense summer training, too!" Delta blinked them an eye.
They ran inside of the men's restroom and found it empty so Netto opened a random stall and Saito sat down atop the closed toilet: he then closed his eyes and Netto checked the Link PET's screen: Rock Man showed up inside of it and he stretched.
"I feel good. Let's go for it, Netto – kun!"
"Same thing over 'ere! Let's go Ocelot style!" Hiro grinned.
Both drew a special device: a metallic Chip with a dome-shaped green jewel atop it and eight black strokes surrounding it. The Hikari crest was set on the SE side of it at a small size.
"Synchro Chip, Slot In! CROSS FUSION!"
Both held their Link PETs forward: they glowed and became spheroids of white/bluish light which then expanded: both guys spread their arms and legs wide out of instinct as the light grew in size and hid their bodies for a short period of time before it dimmed to reveal how they'd gone through some kind of transformation.
Netto had gained Rock Man's bodysuit over his normal clothes but with some design differences: the plating over his shoulders had a more pyramid-like form and was aiming towards the NW and NE, respectively.
The helmet's design was different as well: a bright blue-colored fin-shape piece formed at the sides, emerging from the ear pads' upper edge and extended until the end of the helmet: an arch was drawn over it and the space inside of it had a deeper tonality of blue.
That same forehead drawing which his other form had was set on the same place, and the helmet's front now extended until the start of the nose: his hair now flowed out in a more natural manner from behind it.
A pale blue border formed around it and a straight line travelled towards the emblem to form a curve surrounding the lower half of it: the curve ended with a small "spike" drawing pointing downwards.
His forearm design included a thin separation around the elbow: the two combined sections formed a hexagon with a green jewel set on its center: the short section set on the rear half of the elbow was colored navy blue while the rest of the forearm was slightly brighter.
The blue borders travelling down the sides of his upper body ended around the hips: two circular bands of the bright blue color were drawn over them with a small separation between them.
His boots' design was based upon that of his forearms: the soil was painted black and separated from the rest of the foot by a bright blue line.
The jetpack design had changed a bit, too, and it now included bright blue pieces connecting the upper right and left edges with the body: a curved red line was drawn half-way across it: the rest of the backpack looked identical to how Rock Man's usual form.
Hiro's "fusion" design looked very similar if not identical to Netto's with the only difference being the jet black and silver color pattern instead of sky blue and navy blue.
"Cross Fusion successful!" Rock Man reported.
"Yessir! Success!" Hiro laughed.
"Let's go, "CF" Hiro!"
"Same thing over 'ere, "CF" Netto!"
Both ran out of the toilets and towards the left into one of the cylindrical hubs of the shopping mall building now turned into a large shaft filled with a gigantic palm tree and coconuts.
"This building is built like five cylinders with rectangular structure linking each of them thus making a total of 12 corridors. But if this guy likes being in the center of the world, then he'll be at the central cylinder…" "CF" Netto exposed as they went over an information map set on the wall.
"Sure thing… The Boss is always in the middle of the room. Maybe we need to bring out the M1 Abrahams and start the stuff with a greeting from Vulcan Raven to this Cossack." "CF" Hiro chuckled.
"That's why I say you see too many videos…" Delta sighed.
"At least it's more bearable than the "Troll Trio"…"
"Sure…"
"O. K.! Let's go send this guy to Stockholm via DHL and freeze into an ice sculpture there!" "CF" Netto sounded amused.
"I'd rather pick Ystad…" Rock Man muttered.
"Go!" "CF" Hiro rallied.
10:31 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Look. That's gotta be the guy."
"Lives up to his specialty…"
"What are we waiting for?"
"Go!"
"CF" Netto and "CF" Hiro were crouching behind the handrail set around the circular opening which was part of light feed system and allowed one to look at the two floors above and below them: Plant Man was standing on the ground floor and examining a gigantic sequoia tree.
"Heh, heh, heh. Not bad… And since my Viruses have sabotaged all doors, the pitiful humans are trapped around this filthy place. Even if they could run out of the building, they'd meet my jungle treeing with life… And as long as the "Dimensional Area" is working… No – one can come in or out of this place! Mwa, hah, hah, ha~h!" He laughed aloud.
"Heat this up." "CF" Hiro whispered.
"Sure thing… Battle Chip, Hell's Burner…"
"Battle Chip, Fire Man V3…"
"Hey! Where did you get that one?"
"Easy! I challenged the Maha Ichiban's staff for training. But Magic Man was hard to beat, mind ya… The tale can wait: let's take down this unbalanced jerk…"
Both nodded in agreement and then circled around the opening without standing up and in total silence to aim for Plant Man's back as he spread his arms open and kept on laughing.
"Now!" Both whispered.
"CF" Netto shot a stream of flames which hit Plant Mans' back while a copy of Fire Man appeared on the field and bathed Plant Man in flames: both then quickly ran around the shaft and then lied down on the ground.
"Gruh… Grah…! W-who the hell…? Who the hell dares to bring fire to my jungle? Show your hides, you lowlifes! I'll destroy you~!" Plant Man roared aloud.
"Calling on Trouble~!"
"Who the hell!"
Two figures suddenly dropped down from the 3rd floor and crashed atop Plant Man thus generating a cloud of dust while a growl – like sound, Plant Man's yells and someone's pitchy voice rang out.
"What's going on down there?" "CF" Hiro wondered.
"I think I know who's there…" "CF" Netto giggled.
The smoke cleared to reveal Forte standing atop Plant Man along with "Gospel", the "Ultimate Bug Fusion Body", but which looked smaller than it had used to.
"Forte and Gospel Jr. have shown up to save the day~!"
"You lowlife are… THE Forte…! The man we were searching for…!" Plant Man cursed.
"Oi! Guys! Come down and gimme a hand, will ya? Ah! Gospel Jr.! Make sure to keep this guy under your feet."
"Grawl! Grrr! Gruh…"
"CF" Netto and "CF" Hiro dropped down into the ground floor while Plant Man was struggling to break free as "Gospel Jr." kept him pinned into the ground using the right paw.
"You lowlifes…! Net Saviors…!"
"Yeah. You worked for the WWW, didn't ya?"
"Hmpf! My name is Plant Man!"
"Honoring your name, eh?" "CF" Hiro taunted.
"You lowlifes! Plant Weed!"
Some vines with thorns suddenly formed out of nowhere and coiled around each fighter's legs, arms, torso and necks before dragging them towards the wall and making them slam into it: they tried to pull free of them but were unable to: Plant Man suddenly vanished and reappeared standing in a ledge of the tree: "Gospel Jr." turned towards it and rammed into it thus breaking part of it down.
"Bothersome dog. Vanish! Rose Needle!"
Several needles formed into the air and bombarded "Gospel Jr." but they had little to no effect as they were deleted upon impact and only produced a small metallic sound.
"What the…!"
"Heh…! My pet's armor can't be pierced: it's impregnable!" Forte grinned at him.
"Che. Then be deleted!"
The vines began to close around their necks: Forte didn't seem to be affected, but "CF" Hiro and "CF" Netto were obviously having trouble breathing at this rate.
"C-crap…! O-oi… Gospel Jr…! Fire! Spit fire!" "CF" Hiro called out.
"Ya heard them!" Forte commanded.
Gospel Jr. opened its mouth, but, suddenly, several vines entered inside of it and the beast was left unable to move.
"Hmpf! Nobody sets their dirty feet here without paying consequences for it!" Plant Man scoffed.
"Gruh…! Rock Man…! Can you… try out… the program…?" "CF" Netto whispered between coughs.
"I'll t-try to…! V Program… Pretty large file… Will take about 1 minute to initialize and execute, but… Who cares! Execute!"
"Huh…? Uh… Unh… Ah… T-this feeling is…! Power…! Power is building up… on my body… Ua~h!"
Some purple-colored streaks of light jumped out "CF" Netto's chest emblem followed by a shockwave which swept all materialized vegetation (including the three) and destroyed it: Plant Man actually fell and hit his head with the floor while a purple-colored sphere of energy surrounded "CF" Netto.
"W-what's that…? That power…! I'd never felt anything like it before…! It's gigantic…!" Forte gasped.
"W-whoa!"
"You lowlife~!" Plant Man roared.
The light began to dim and everyone gasped: Plant Man even turned white and stepped back while looking terrified.
"That form is…!" "CF" Hiro gasped.
"W-whoa!" Forte gasped.
"Grawl?" Gospel Jr. sounded surprised.
"CF" Netto had gained a new layer of armor over his Cross Fusion bodysuit: it was colored purple with some black patterns into it.
His helmet had gained a terrific-looking faceplate two crimson-colored hexagons were set over the eyes while the nose and the mouth were covered by a triangular piece which had a matrix of vertical and horizontal straight lines on it: the design looked reminiscent of a gas mask's filter.
The armor included a black metallic belt with a round central point having the Hikari family crest drawn into it plus two decorated sword sheaths attached to both sides of it.
The whole thing looked reminiscent of Darth Vader's own design.
"… Vadous Soul… Non Elemental form with no weakness… Capable of using a total of nine "Special Abilities" once per battle plus one "extra" ability… Float Shoes Ability pre-installed… Super Armor Ability pre-installed… Buster power: MAX. Automatic "lock-on" feature… Detailed information added to instruction manual email to be emitted later…"
"Vadous… Soul…! So that's how Mr. Vadous looks like…! He's gotta be a Darth Vader fan… Oh! Why didn't I spot it before…? It was so obvious: the name was a strong hint to begin with…!" "CF" Hiro gasped.
"W-whoa… Float Shoes… Super Armor… Lock on… special abilities… That's gotta be… the ultimate transformation…!" Forte gasped.
"… Vicious Fire!" "CF" Netto exclaimed.
He suddenly signaled Plant Man with his right hand's middle finger: black-colored flames suddenly formed all over his body and Plant Man roared in agony: "CF" Netto dashed past "CF" Hiro and Forte in a blur and drew both swords which were frizzling with electricity: a cloud had formed over Plant Man and made intense rain shower him: "CF" Netto then jumped across the air and plunged both swords into Plant Man's chest: his body was electrified as the swords emerged from behind him and Plant Man uttered some guttural sounds before he began to be deleted and his data vanished from the scene: "CF" Netto landed on the ground while still holding both swords and in a crouched manner.
"… Netto?" "CF" Hiro timidly called out.
"Eh… Are ya alright?" Forte asked.
The vegetation began to fade as well and Forte looked around.
"Ops. I can't stay materialized… I'll be in the nearest "Cybernetics" you can find with "Gospel Jr."… Check on him." Forte admitted.
"Uh-unh… Sure…" "CF" Hiro confirmed.
Forte and "Gospel Jr." dematerialized while the "Dimensional Area" colors faded: "CF" Hiro's form shone white and broke down into data which reformed into his Link PET: "CF" Netto's "Vadous Soul" armor turned into data and fell into the ground in the form of a Battle Chip having a medallion with a purple "V" letter drawn on it set against a black background while "CF" Netto's form broke down and reformed into his Link PET: Netto suddenly collapsed face-down in the ground and Hiro ran next to him: he had a big grin on his face and Hiro lifted his eyebrows in surprise…
11:03 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Eh… Yuriko… We got some trouble."
"What do you mean by "some" trouble? There is or there isn't trouble. But one doesn't count "trouble"."
"Eh… Plant Man got deleted!"
"… By whom?"
"One Net Savior… I saw it, Yuriko… Scary~!"
"Scary?"
Needle Man was reporting to Yuriko and he looked like he'd lost much of his earlier confidence: Yuriko didn't look impressed.
"Y-yeah! He transformed or something and without uttering a word, set the guy on flames, bathed him in rainwater, electrified him and plunged two swords through him! And THE Forte is out there, too, so we're going to have a hell of a time handling this!" Needle Man nervously described to her.
"Che. Can't be helped, huh… We'll do what we can. Tell the guys that Plant Man got over-confident and forgot to use the backup tool. This should settle them." Yuriko scoffed.
"R-roger…"
"Hmpf. I'm going to bring about my little plan which will prove that I'm a genius, too. I won't let that creepy old man and that bearded military background scientist get away with the glory."
She suddenly switched off the communications screen and Needle Man sighed in defeat without spotting a figure clad in red armor hidden behind a component of the Cyber World and looking towards there while emitting a low "breathing" sound.
Hmpf. So that's how it is about… Fine. I'll tell the Science Labs… You will fail in a pathetic manner, Needle Man… I predict this stuff won't even last 2 weeks… Heh, heh, heh, heh…