Megaman NT Warrior: Requiem's Awakening
Chapter 9
"Danger… and an Accusation"
April was running. All around her, little lights twinkled and flashed. She had no idea where she was, but a sense of urgency was rising within her, and she continued running on.
As she ran onward, a shape started rising in the distance. She pushed herself harder, finding it easy to run at such a fast and continuous pace.
As she got closer, another, smaller, figure appeared next to the first. Panic and urgency flooded her mind again. She pushed herself even harder.
Two Navis rose before her eyes. One was kneeling on the ground, ready to stand up, and the other stood over him, his right arm formed into a sword. Neither was moving; it was as if they were on pause, waiting for her to get there before continuing on.
April got within five feet, and then stopped abruptly. The Navis moved, and the scenery changed. Within the blink of an eye, the area became scared with various explosions, and pieces of Navis lay strewn about.
Bass stood up, the limiters glowing on his wrists and ankles. "Why won't you listen to me?" He yelled at the other Navi. "I'm innocent! Why won't you listen to Dr. Cossack...? Dr. Cossack?"
Bass looked away, distracted for a moment, and the other Navi made his move. He stepped forward and sliced at Bass, his fire sword connecting and cutting right through Bass' Navi Mark.
Bass screamed, and then hit the ground with a thud.
April gasped, her hands flying up to her mouth.
The security Navi stepped next to Bass, holding his sword high. "You're gone Bass!"
"NO!" April lunged forward—her fingertip brushed against Bass' hand.
His limiters fell apart, enveloping him in a bright white glow. April saw something red rise in the center of the glow, then disappear with the white. The security Navi took a hesitant step backwards.
Bass raised his own heat blade, and then brought it up through the security Navi's chest and head.
The Navi fell at April's feet. She watched it fall, and then it disappeared as it hit the ground. The destruction and other bodies faded away also.
April looked up and saw the present day Bass standing before her. His cape rustled slightly as he took a step towards her. The glare from his red eyes pierced through her flesh, right down to her core.
"Did you think I would never find you?" He whispered menacingly. April's eyes went wide and she shivered.
"Underestimating me will cost you your life." He raised his hand.
"Bass, no! Please—!"
"Regret it Human!"
He fired the Earthbreaker straight at April.
"NOOOOO!!!!"
April sat up so quickly her covers flew everywhere and her pillow fell to the floor. She stared around in bewilderment for a moment before she realized that she was in her room, on her own bed, and still dressed in the same clothes as yesterday.
Taking a shuddering breath, she covered her face with a shaking hand, feeling sweat beaded on her skin.
It was just a dream… she thought. No, it was a nightmare…
Wiping her hands on her covers, she slid out of bed, noticing that her shoes had been taken off, and the shades on the windows drawn. Her room was dark and cool, late afternoon sun coming in through the cracks in the shades and casting small shadows on the cluttered floor.
She rubbed her eyes, sliding over to the small bathroom and climbed in the shower. The hot water burned her neck slightly, rudely waking her up. She ran her hands through her wet hair, water cascading down her back and flowing down the drain at her feet. April noticed that her hands were shaking still, from her dream.
Switching the water off, April stepped out of the shower, now clean. She wrapped a towel around herself and walked into her room. She picked out some new underwear, and then pulled a gray pair of jeans out of her drawers, along side a dark purple shirt with Nocturne's Navi Mark painted brightly on the front.
She stood over her bed, glancing between her clothes and the small digital clock next to her computer, calculating how much time she would need. Staring absentmindedly at the wall above her bed, she started taking off her towel.
"Hello April!"
April emitted a little shriek, jumping high into the air, and dropped her towel, which caused other screams and yells of surprise to come from April and the computer.
She grabbed the towel and rewrapped it firmly around herself before turning to face her computer and glaring with her full power at the cowering Navi on the screen.
Tomahawkman was shivering in the corner, his back turned to her and his hands pressed tightly over his eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!" He was yelling. "I didn't see anything, I swear! I'm sorry!! I didn't mean to!"
"Tomahawkman!"
He stopped yelling and peeked at April between his fingers. His eyes were wide and apologetic looking. April's anger abated a bit when she saw this display of cuteness, but she still managed to look very stern.
"Now, Tomahawkman… don't you know that you should knock or send some sort of warning before you barge into someone's room like that?" She was pointing her finger at Tomahawkman, like a scolding mother, while the other hand was firmly holding the towel around her.
Tomahawkman nodded, and bowed down to April, his hands shaking slightly. "I'm so sorry April! Please forgive me!"
April resisted the urge to try and hug him. Instead, she said: "It's okay Tomahawkman. I know it was an accident. Just be more careful, 'k?" He nodded vigorously, smiling widely. "Now turn around." April said. "I'm going to change, and you're going to tell me why you're here. If you peek, you're deleted." He turned around instantly.
"Now, why are you here and not with Dingo?"
"He sent me to check in on you." Tomahawkman's voice sounded stiff.
"Relax, Tomahawkman."
He let out a great breath of air, and then continued. "He said you didn't seem like your normal self when you came home this morning… especially coming in so late. He… we were both worried about you. And he wants to know why you don't have Nocturne with you."
There was a soft thwump behind Tomahawkman, followed by a louder thunk. He turned around, and saw April. Her coat had slipped from her fingers and she had collapsed to her knees, her hands wrapped around her head, covering her ears. Tomahawkman pressed his face to the screen.
"April? April!"
She whimpered. "N-Nocturne… d-don't leave me…" Tears squeezed from her left eye and fell to the carpet below. A-Another loss… I can't take it… I-I just can't…
"APRIL!"
Her head snapped up at the sound of her name. Filling her computer screen was Dingo's face. "Pull it together April!" He yelled; his hands pressed against the screen like Tomahawkman's were just a moment ago.
"What happened to that strong girl I used to know? You're letting one little set-back stop you from doing what you need to do?" Dingo's eyes bored into April's, holding her gaze and pleading with her.
"B-but Dingo… Nocturne… Nocturne is—"
"That's no excuse!" He interrupted. "Get your butt over here and help him! You can't just break down April…" Dingo's voice softened. "He needs you… you need to get here right away."
Panic fluttered in April's chest. "Is something wrong again?"
Dingo didn't answer. "Just come." Was all he said, and then the screen went blank.
April was out of the apartment in five seconds flat.
---
April burst into the lab, startling poor Dr. Hikari and causing him to almost spill his coffee all over himself. April ran right past him, charging over to the computer at the end of the room. Chaud was standing in front of it, furiously typing and dragging items around on a smaller screen in front of him.
Nocturne was lying on the bigger screen, strands of burning red data spinning all around him, causing parts of his base to flicker in and out of existence. His face was contorted in pain.
April pushed Chaud aside without even a 'Hello,' taking the spot where he had been standing.
"You're not gonna be deleted on my watch, Nocturne." She murmured to the screen, typing even faster than Chaud had been.
"What can I do, April?" He asked.
She gestured vaguely to a station next to her. "Clear that data from around him if you can. It's messing with the recovery program and erasing his data."
"We're on it." Said two voices.
Chaud sat down on April's left, Dingo sat to her right, both jacking in their Navis.
"Jack in—"
"Protoman!"
"Tomahawkman!"
"Power up!"
---
Several hours later, April, Chaud and Dingo all fell into nearby chairs, exhausted. Protoman and Tomahawkman returned to their PETs, and Nocturne lay peacefully on the screen, the area around him clear, and the recovery program running faster than before.
"Good job April." Chaud said, taking her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. She nodded, and then looked over at Dingo.
"When did you start working here?" She asked.
He broke into a big grin. "Today. The Netopian Army asked me to come and watch the 'Net from this side. Dr. Hikari agreed to let me work with him."
"'Watch the 'Net'? What's going on?" April tilted her head a bit in her confusion. "Why have you been ordered here?" The tone of her voice was very serious.
Dingo bit his lower lip, and then glanced quickly over at Chaud, who shook his head microscopically. Dingo turned back to April, whose face was swimming with confusion.
"I wish I could tell you April…" he began hesitantly. "But I've been ordered to… keep it a secret. I will tell you one thing though. When Nocturne has healed, don't let him leave the boundaries of your computers. It is… imperative that his data signature stay… keep a low profile for a bit."
April stiffened with alarm. Chaud squeezed her hand again. "Why? Is he in danger?" she asked.
Dingo though for a moment.
"It is quite possible. And you along with him."
---
Dingo's words haunted April's thoughts for the next few days.
Danger. On the 'Net. But of what kind? And why would she be in danger? Not unless the threat found a way to materialize into the real world…
And that hasn't happened since the Dark Power tired to take over both worlds… Of course, she was in harm's way when she went into full-syncro with Nocturne, but they hadn't attempted that since their battle with Lan and Megaman…
April shook her head, trying to clear her mind of these thoughts.
She spent as much time as she could working on Nocturne; trying to speed up the recovery process. With every day that passed, his body rebuilt, and missing data was replaced.
After lunch on the fourth day, her efforts were rewarded.
As she walked into the lab, carrying a pile of papers and discs, someone spoke.
"April…"
She looked up, surprised, and then dropped the papers and discs, jumping over chairs and weaving around desks to get to where Nocturne lay, looking over at her.
"Oh… Nocturne…" she whispered, pressing her hands to the screen, and leaning in close to his face. "You're awake…"
"What happened to me?"
"You don't remember?"
He shook his head, wincing a bit as he sat up; pain creeping up into his unused muscles. The camera zoomed out, and he was the same size as April. He placed his new right hand over hers.
"All I remember was the copy of that data, then it touched me right as I logged out… and I remember thinking of deletion, but hearing your voice call out to me… but that's it."
April sat down heavily in a chair. "You've been in a recovery program for… how long… five days." It's only been five days? "You were seriously damaged, so I brought you here to recover."
"It took me five whole days to recover?"
"You were… attacked, I guess is the right word, by a bunch of this… this rogue data, it looked like. Tomahawkman and Protoman deleted it all, so we didn't get to study it."
"Dingo and Tomahawkman are here?"
"Yes and they're staying with us; now will you let me finish?"
Nocturne's cheeks colored a bit. "Yes. Sorry."
April smiled, so glad to be finally having a conversation with Nocturne again. Those five days had lasted for a long time, and she had felt so lonely with an empty PET.
"And some more days passed, nothing else happened, except that you recovered remarkably quickly considering how much damaged you had received. I'm just glad you're doing alright."
Nocturne nodded, then jumped up and started stretching. "I'm glad to be alive too. Anything else I need to know?"
April thought for a moment, watching her Navi go through a series of kicks, punches, and jumps, getting used to using his body after not moving for such a long time.
With a jolt, she remembered what Dingo had told her.
"Come back to the PET, and I'll tell you the rest in my office."
Nocturne nodded, disappearing, and then materialized on the small PET screen. "Let's go!" He said, pumping his fists into the air. "I've got a ton of energy and I need to do something with it."
Grinning widely, April put her PET in her pocket, then walked out from the room, stepping out and running full-tilt into Chaud.
Her oof was muffled in his vest as he caught her and held her tightly. "Just the person I was looking for." He said, holding her out at arm's length. "Did Nocturne wake up just now?"
April nodded vigorously and jumped up and down in Chaud's arms. "He is! He is! He made it Chaud!"
Chaud smiled down at the happy April, but his smile quickly faded as he remembered why he had been looking for her for.
"Hey… April?" He started hesitantly.
She stopped jumping and looked up at his tone of voice. "What is it, Chaud?" she asked, instantly sensing that something was wrong. "What is it?" she repeated, when he didn't answer. She could feel his fingers figgiting against her back as he though how to best answer her.
"April…" he started, hesitated, then plowed forward. "What is the project you're working on?"
Worry flashed through April, but she tried to hide it by giggling. "What do you mean? I showed it to you already. The Data Freeze Program, remember?" Her voice cracked on the last word. Chaud frowned when he heard it.
Crap. He knows.
Chaud shook his head slowly, his hair swinging gently in front of his eyes and brushing the top of April's head. "No. You know what I mean. And I want you to answer me honestly."
"What are you doing with Bass' data?"
HAHA!!! ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER!!!!!!! Please don't kill me. You won't find out what happens next otherwise.
IT'S MY BIRTHDAY TOMORROW!!!!!!!! I'LL BE 18!!!!!!!!! WAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm so excited. I've been counting down for the longest time….
…….
Yes.
SHINY NINJAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Joyful, joyful…. go band.
Dingo and Tomahawkman are awesome!!!!!!!
Next time!:
April just might tell Chaud exactly what she's doing! Will Chaud turn her in? and, what's this? Protoman is threatening Nocturne? This is Madness!!!
(don't push me in a hole. Then I can't continue writing.)
Love me and review please.