Chapter 4: challenge of the NAL
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Laika…he was a net savior as well…both were close partners with Enzan. Rukku looked straight ahead, hands folded in front of him as the participants stood lined up side by side, next to their navi's, who were all plugged into copy bots. His stiff face challenged that of the Shaaroian duo, but Kana smiled just as blissfully ignorant as every other participant (and perhaps a little more.)
"Next up we have President of IPC, Ijuuin Rukku and Irae!" The voice announced as Rukku and Irae stepped forward and the circular shining spotlight fell upon them. "and vice-president of Yellow Tech Labs, Tsumejima Kana and Raiden!"
She stepped up along side him and they bowed in synch, as they had agreed to do so. But one thing they hadn't planned was Kana taking his hand as they bowed. As they stepped back, she let go, smiling at him. Rukku smiled slightly then looked back out into the crowd, seeming to purposely glue his emerald eyes into the cheers of the people.
Sarena watched him out of her peripheral vision, as she stood right next to them. Coward…Once a girl of forgiveness and love, now a hardened military commander. What was it about the military that was so different from vengeance? –Both meant to serve the people- She risked her life many times in each world, and the stakes were even higher with Vengeance.
"Next, the duo from Shaaro, both military commanders, Gustonav Laika, commander of the 7th division and Searchman!" Laika stepped forward as the last team had, "and commander of the 6th division, Sokatishe Tamika and Ares!" The two saluted the crowd in a synchronized manner, followed by the coordinating salutes of their navis. The crowd hooted and hollered for the team; perhaps it was their calm and suave demeanor that awarded them such praise, or simply because of the fact that they looked strong.
"Last, but certainly not least, Net battle champion Hikari Netto and Rockman!" The brunette stepped forward alongside his blue companion, "with Sokatishe Ryuke and Stone!" Enzan stepped alongside Netto with Blues on his right side as he held Netto's right hand and bowed. Netto pumped his fist into the air with a wild grin as the sound of screaming girls inflated his over-sized ego. Enzan simply stepped back with his hands in his pocket, but of course, Netto couldn't have all the glory; He smirked, flicking his hair out of his face and receiving just as many shrills of infatuation as Netto had.
Netto snorted and smiled, "attention whore."
"Look who's talking." Enzan grinned. In fact, he had all he could do to keep from smiling. It has been so long –how many years? 6 years? Far too long- since he had stood on the stage of an upcoming battle. When he realized the purpose of the battle, however, his smile soon faded. The world is in danger, this is no laughing matter. The only other one I would trust to hold the earth in their hands is either Netto or Laika. If we don't win, it could mean serious trouble.
The crowd cheered wildly for all the participants, "Now it is time to begin the preliminaries! Who will move on?" Names, shouts –Voices that boiled the blood of each and every contestant to self assurance- filled the air as each placed their faith in a team.
But it was up to the battle to determine who would win this fight.
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"We have to collect ten of these?!" Netto exclaimed, thoroughly annoyed.
"Well at least you have 1. That puts us ahead of Kana and Rukku."
"Not quite. I hear Kana has one as well, besides the sample one they gave us." Netto whined. "I over heard them talking in the back hall after the prelims were announced; she has one on a necklace."
"Argh." Enzan rested his head in his palm, "Well we better start looking then. They could be anywhere."
Suddenly Netto smirked a devious smile that made Enzan raise an eyebrow, "what are you thinking?"
"Maybe my dad could sneak us a few?"
"Are you kidding? He could lose his job!"
The brunette sighed, "yeah, yeah, I know."
"So it seems that there really is a purpose to this battle. They're trying to collect as many of these as possible so they can investigate. What better way than to make us fetch them." Enzan mused as they walked along the sidewalk of Densan's busy streets.
"Look!" Netto bent over and picked up a shining piece of metal. "now we have 2!"
Enzan looked around, "How many of these are there, and how did they get here?"
"You think they wouldn't want us looking for them. What if someone conducts their own experiments on them and finds out the very secret they're trying to hide?" Netto stood up, observing the metallic piece.
"I hate to say it, but you've got a point." Enzan dug his hand in his pockets and pulled out the sample piece the battle authorities gave them, "There's a network in this…just how do we jack in? and if it's growing, what if it grows while someone holds it?"
"It seems risky that Yellow Tech and especially Sci Lab would allow something like this, but I guess they trust that we'll report it to them." Netto began walking along with Enzan once again. "I wonder how Sarena and Laika are fairing."
"Hm." The two of them walked into a park, holding hands and enjoying the weather, the scenery, and most of all, they enjoyed each other's presence. -So far from where we've been, so far from who we were, but some changes are for the better-
"I used to play here all the time. Meiru-chan and I would practically fall asleep here from wearing ourselves out playing." Netto chuckled. "Let's sit."
Enzan nodded and they walked over to a tree to rest in it's shade. The February afternoon was cool and the breeze was soft. The sun shone high overhead marking it's territory and the weather forecast as "the perfect day to be outside". As the older, black-haired male fiddled around with a few blades of grass, he noticed a shine hiding in the green slips. "Got another one."
He turned to see Netto holding up one as well. "I just found one as well."
Enzan stood up and walked around the other side of the massive tree; His jaw dropped; Was such an action of complete disbelief one of his previous emotions? -certainly the muscles in his face required to do so would not have been put to use if Netto had not entered his life-, "Guess someone else found them first. Look at this."
Netto crawled over to the other side to see little round spheres decorating the ground like ornaments in a Christmas tree. He quickly picked up ten of them total then smiled, "should we help out Laika and Sarena?"
Enzan nodded, "Go ahead." He looked up to see a small knot had been carved out the tree's sturdy frame, which upon further inspection, proved to be a nest of some sort. "Look at this."
Netto peered inside to see the whole hole full of the tiny spheres. "Wow, squirrels must love shiny objects."
"Squirrel? It was probably just some kids that have been collecting them." Enzan shrugged.
"They wouldn't be strewn about on the ground if it had been. Squirrels are lazy." Netto pointed out
"Since when did you become on squirrel habitual life?"
"Doesn't take a genius to figure this one out." Netto replied wittily and Enzan rolled his eyes, "Anyways, we should bring these to sci-lab."
"Hai."
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Enzan and Netto walked into the Hikari office casually, receiving smiles and certain looks from various scientists.
"Papa!" Netto called, introducing their presence.
"Oh hello!" The scientist looked up from the computer screen, observing the additional guests, "Hello, Ryuke." The doctor addressed, noting that the door was still open.
"We brought you something." Netto grinned widely, holding out a plastic bag full of the silver spheres.
The doctor's eyes widened, "Wh-where did you find all these?!"
"Did you know that squirrels love silvery shiny objects?" Netto asked calmly.
"A squirrel collected all these?"
"Well," Enzan paused, looking over at Netto, "That's what he thinks. I think someone has been collecting them and putting them there.
"Whatever. Anyways, You told us that if we find anymore, we should bring them here. We already got our ten for the tourney and gave one to Laika and Mika-chan since they only needed one more. We're officially in the tourney now." Netto announced happily.
"That means only six more teams can get in now." The older Hikari mused.
"I wonder if Rukku and Kana have found theirs yet. Mika-chan and Laika-kun seemed to find theirs quite quickly." Rockman pondered aloud.
"I'm not surprised. You have to be observant in the military. Laika-kun is especially skilled at that." The doctor nodded, "Well I thank you for these!"
Netto lowered his voice and leaned forward. "Have they found any more information on these things?"
"Nothing. The growth development seems to have ceased as well."
"Calm before the storm." Enzan spoke up.
"My thought's exactly. And my intuition tells me that it's going to be bad."
"When has it ever been good?" Blues spoke up at this point.
"Don't worry! We'll take care of it, right Rockman?" Netto said cheerully –ignorantly, as always.-
"Hai. Leave it to us!" Rockman echoed his partner –As they say, like net op, like net navi.-
Enzan merely rolled his eyes, "You don't even know what you're facing."
"As long as the soul prevails, obstacles shall be diminished and a path shall open up for those who believe." Netto said proudly
"Who said that?"
"Me!"
Enzan nearly fell over while the doctor sighed. "You know, I'm almost hoping that you don't win so that you won't be put in danger again."
"Aww, but dad! I live for this kind of stuff! I'm happiest when I'm fighting the bad guys!"
"Well there's no guarantee that we'll be needed if we win, correct? They have yet to find a way to jack into these...things, right?" Enzan asked.
"We're just calling them networked alternate lifeforms, NAL for short. And no, we haven't. There's no port, but it won't accept infrared either."
"So these…NALs are basically dormant? I don't see how they could pose a threat." Netto furrowed his brows.
"When you have an intuition, you've just got to go with it. The other scientists say the same thing as you, but based on it's recent activity, I don't trust them one bit."
Enzan listened then perked up as if a thought hit him in the head, "Wait a minute…Netto…do you remember the meteor shower we had a few nights ago?"
The brunette smiled, "Of course."
The two stood on the roof-top of Enzan's 10 story apartment. The sky was crystal clear and the city lights could be seen glimmering in their splendor off in the distance. Enzan stood there behind Netto with his arms wrapped around the shorter one, watching as vibrant streams of silver flew across the sky as if there was nothing to hold them back..
"Did you make a wish?" Netto asked.
"Isn't that a bit childish?" Enzan asked, raising a playful eyebrow as he rested his head on Netto's shoulder.
"Of course not. It's okay to wish for things. The more you wish, the more faith you put into your dreams. If you don't put faith into your dreams…if you don't believe in them, they will never become anything but mere dreams.. That's why I wish that you'll be with me always."
Enzan kissed the brunette on the cheek then looked up at the sky as a shooting star flew across his vision, I wish Netto and I will be together forever. He sighed as his wish flew into the heavens "As dense as you are sometimes, I always seem to fall more and more in love with you."
Netto placed his hands over Enzan's "Well I love you more than there are stars in the sky."
"The meteor shower! Of course!" The doctor exclaimed, bringing the two out of their reminiscent trance. He ran over to the computer and began typing, "That meteor shower was completely unpredicted and out of the normal schedule. Those weren't stars, they were the NALs!"
"Aw man, now that means my wish for an infinite supply of curry won't come true." The brunette pouted. -He knew as well as Enzan that it wasn't the only wish cast that night.-
"This is big news. I'll have to inform the other scientists right away."
"Alright, well we'll get out of your way then. We just wanted to drop those off." Netto waved and the two began to walk out of his office.
"Oh wait! I have something for you! Don't leave just yet!" Yuuchiro scrambled to his desk and pulled out two long strips of paper. "These are tickets to an upcoming concert. One of my coworkers won these, but he and his wife got sick so he gave them to me. Your mother and I, being oldies fans, have never heard of the bands, so I was wondering if you two would like them instead?"
Netto looked at the tickets and jaw-dropped, "Are you kidding me? These guys are awesome, and I heard their concerts rock! Thanks!"
"Arigatou Hikase." Enzan bowed as Netto took the tickets.
"Yes, thank you very much!" Netto bowed as well. "Alright, well tell mom I say hi. Good luck!"
"Alright, you too!"
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"Can you believe it?" Kana asked happily as she fell back on her bed, "I'm working with Rukku-kun as my partner!"
"You guys looked so cute on stage today!" a blonde haired female replied as her happy face shone on the screen.
Kana giggled happily, "Arisa-chan…I'm so excited! I feel so stupid though. I started to open up to him in the car today and began rambling."
"Oh geeze." Arisa rolled her blue eyes, "how long did you ramble?"
"I have no clue. But he seemed to be interested in what I had to say; now, whether or not he understood what I had to say, I don't know, but he said I made sense."
"Well that's good. He seems understanding, which gives him points, and he's hot, so that doubles them right there." The girls laughed, then Arisa's face turned serious as she remembered something, "Oh…I forgot."
"What?" Kana asked, alerted.
"I got scheduled to go on a business trip tomorrow. I was their back-up person, and apparently one of the employee's called in sick, so now I have to go."
"You're kidding!" Kana gasped. She knew as well as anyone that The Nine Thousand was Arisa's favorite band, "You should have told your boss that your father was in the hospital and on his death bed."
"I should have, but I didn't have the guts to lie. What if they found out?"
"Yeah, you're right. That REALLY sucks that you can't go though." Kana pouted, "Maybe you should come down with a mysterious cold!"
"Yeah, but you know I can't lie very well. Besides, the place I'm going isn't so bad; I'm headed of to Jawaii."
"Hey, well, at least it has some perks. Maybe you could hook up with some tan hottie while you're there."
Arisa laughed, "Yeah, I wish." Suddenly she grinned, "I have an idea…"
"What?"
"You should take my ticket and invite Rukku to go along."
Kana laughed –and she laughed loud. "RIGHT. Like he's a punk rock fan? I highly doubt it. He seems too mellow and dignified for that."
"Everyone knows you don't have to like the concert to have a good time. I mean, it'll be like a 'bonding' time for you and him."
"But Arisa-chan…these are mosh pit tickets!" Kana laughed more, "What if they decide to send him crowd surfing?"
"Then get it on video and e-mail it to me!" Arisa grinned. "C'mon, nothing ventured nothing gained!"
Kana took a deep breath then exhaled, "Alright, fine. I'll see if he wants to go. If he doesn't, you're coming down with a cold and going with me. I don't care if I have to smuggle you back here."
The blonde flashed her pearly whites as she smiled, "Sounds fair enough. Well, I've got to go, I'll talk to you later. Love ya!" Arisa blew a kiss.
"Later, love." Kana caught the kiss and sent one back before ending the conversation. She picked up her PET and manually dialed Rukku, as Raiden was on the net at this time. Please pick up...
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"Master, a phone call from Tsumejima-san."
"Go ahead and answer." Rukku commanded as he took off his tie and undid the first button on his oxford shirt.
"Rukku-san, I hope I'm not bothering you at this hour. I figured you'd still be up seeing as you work like me."
Rukku nodded, "I just got out of another meeting a while ago. So what did you need?"
"Oh right! Well…I have an extra ticket to go see The Nine Hundred, and I was wondering if you'd like to go with me? It's tomorrow, and I apologize that it's such short notice. My friend was going to go, and it's her favorite band, but she got assigned to a business trip and they're mosh tickets so if you don't want to go that's fine! I mean, I want you to go, but if you don't want to go or you can't that's completely cool, but don't think I don't want you to go, because I do, but I-"
"Kana?"
The brunette felt like smacking her head against something HARD, "…hai?"
"Would you like to get something to eat before the concert?"
Kana blushed brightly as she smiled wider than the universe could stretch, "HAI! I mean…" she calmed herself down to a more professional tone, "I'd love to. What time?"
"Well what time does the concert start?"
"8:00…So, we should probably get dinner around 5:30?"
"That sounds like a good time."
"Where should I meet you?"
"I'll pick you up at 5:00. The location is a surprise."
Kana crossed her arms and pouted playfully, "Well how will I know how to dress if I don't know where I'm going?"
"Dress the way you would if you were going on a date." He grinned and Kana blushed deep tomato red, "Now I must head off to bed or I might collapse from exhaustion. Goodnight Miss Kana."
"Goodnight, Ryuke-san." She hung up then –1…2…3…- "OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOD!"
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"Tickets to The Nine Hundred, hm?" Enzan mused as they hung out at Netto's place later that evening. "Aren't they a punk rock band?"
"Yeah, but have you heard them? They're amazing." Netto eyed the tickets happily, "Today has just been so awesome. I mean, the introduction ceremony was awesome; I haven't felt so pumped in years! Did you see that crowd?" The brunette looked up at the ceiling as he sat with Enzan's arm around his shoulder. "Then we find those NAL's and then we get the tickets. I mean, we're officially in the competition now! And so are Sarena and Laika! Things couldn't be going better!"
Enzan placed his finger over Netto's lips, "Careful what you say. You might have just jinxed it."
"Please, don't tell me you believe in superstition now?"
"Let's just call it murphy's law." Enzan turned and knocked on the wooden end table. "You can never be too safe."
Netto rolled his eyes, "I guess."
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"The four kingdoms that rule over this earth…Tetsukya-san, do you know what they are?"
"They are the four elements, master. Earth Fire Water and Air."
"Do you know what would happen if any one of these elements was to be…taken away?"
"It would cause an unbalance and human life would suffer greatly."
"Exactly. But do you know what kind of power you could wield, being in possession of one of the elements?"
"Immense power, master."
The man asking the questions, the master, walked to a large screen. "They won't hold them for long. They do not realize that they're harboring such power that their cages and plastic walls cannot hold back the force of the saplings." The man looked up at the stars, "Soon the kingdoms will rise up again, and I will take hold of the elements, just you see, humans."
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Naaah, Sorry T-T I meant to update yesterday! I really did! I even stayed up till midnight Tuesday night to finish the chapter, got the file over to my computer, was in the process of final-editing it here on when my sister comes over and drags me off to go shopping for her birthday party (later in the evening). I was so clooose! I couldn't get online last night 'cause it was like, 12 am when we got back and my parents have this weird rule about not getting on the computer that late. o.O Anyways, Thank you all for your reviews! Hopefully I'll get the next one uploaded soon too! -still yet to write it- . Muuu...I feel like I'm trying to wring inspiration out of a dry cloth. Brain...twisting -falls over-