Concussions and Crossing Gaps
Will
We got home, and I recovered from the pneumonia I'd caught at Sharo.
Avatar
It wasn't pneumonia. It was a cold, and not even a bad one at that.
Will
Who's telling this story, you or me? Anyway, some time later, Chaud found where Dr. Regal's base could be found – outer space!
"Cool!"
I cocked my head. "A stealth-cloaked satellite…doesn't sound interesting enough to follow along on."
"Really, Will? That's…an odd statement, coming from you."
We went over to Cylab, and saw that the Vaccine Chip was all but complete! And Doctor Hikari had some ideas on how to find the satellite.
I'd spaced out after a while.
For whatever reason, I'd opted to stay with Chaud. Anetta came by during the lunch break, and Chaud explained what the Control X system was, and how we were using it to find the satellite.
I'd jacked Avatar into the Control X system, just in case some Darkloid showed up. "Stay on the alert, girl."
Finally, we set the program running. Anetta chose to stay and "help." Chaud thought it was a bad idea, and so did I.
My mind wandered. "I really ought to give Raika a Banshee Battle Chip. I was going to give you one, Chaud, but I hadn't gotten around to it before…well…"
"Why would you give me one of your Battle Chips?"
"Because…I found this out with Roll and Iceman, but when they connected with Banshees, the two chips rewrote themselves, and afterwards only responded to them! I gave Lan one to try with Megaman, and it did the same thing!"
"Wow. Good thing you make a lot of Banshees."
"Yup!"
Lan called asking how we were doing, and Chaud basically said we needed more time and Lan would have to handle it on his own.
I was almost sad I'd chosen to stay here and miss out on all the action.
A cable broke, and Anetta read the data out to Chaud from a screen for him to enter manually.
"Avatar, what's going on in there?"
"I…think someone else is here."
"Find him! Quickly!"
"Yes, ma'am."
Then a Dimensional Area went up!
"We're almost there," Chaud stressed, "just a little more…"
Then DarkProtoman came blasting in! Lan also blasted in Cross-Fused, but it didn't take long for him to get blasted and the Cross-Fusion came undone!
I started rolling towards him as fast as I could. "Go on, Chaud, I'll hold him off!"
Time slowed down. DarkProtoman swung his sword at me…I ducked it – pretty sure I no longer have any split ends after that – caught his arm on its backswing…pulled it around behind his back…jumped up onto his back…locked my arms around his neck…my legs around his waist…his sword was trapped between me and him…
Then time went back to normal and I realized I'd just done something monumentally stupid. Now that I was here, now what? I couldn't let go, because he'd just seriously injure me!
I heard Chaud say something about finding Regal, but right before I could do anything, I realized what DarkProtoman's plan was. He was still running full-tilt at the Control X system with his head down! His helmet would take the hit, but my head wouldn't!
I shut my eyes and started to loosen my grip. Then I heard a crash and felt the worst pain. I think I yelled something before I blacked out.
Chaud
I watched in horror as Will's arms and legs went limp, and then DarkProtoman yanked his sword free, slashing Will across the chest and throwing her across the room, and slashed the control system for good measure!
"When will you learn you can't win, Chaud?" Then the Dimensional Area went down and he logged out.
Anetta, fortunately, remembered the coordinates, even though they were only on the screen for a second.
Lan and I went to check on Will. She was out cold, with a deep slash slanting down across her chest and blood making its own patterns through her purple hair dye.
We called an ambulance, and Will was taken to the hospital. I was holding her PET, and Avatar was crying.
"Did…did she say something right on the crash?" Lan asked.
"I heard it," Megaman added, "but I couldn't understand what she said."
"I understood it." I sighed. "She said, 'Raika.'"
Avatar
I was with Chaud. My reasoning was sound enough for him to go with it.
"You don't have a Net Navi and I don't have a Net-Op. I can stay with you until either you get Protoman back or Will wakes up, whichever happens first."
"Okay."
Vaguely entertaining was how Lan decided to bail with his friends on a rocket to the satellite, though I wished I could follow along.
Especially once the satellite started falling towards Earth with Lan and the others on board!
JunkDataMan saved them at practically the last second. I'd almost forgotten the guy existed.
Then later I surfed the web and found Rush. "Hey, little guy, I wanted to ask you something."
He barked.
"Well…now that Protoman's gone to the wrong side, there's only one Cross-Fuser: Lan."
He barked again, nodding.
"There will be times when he needs backup…how do you jump between the real world and the cyber world, anyway?"
He made the cutest little sound, which bore a strong resemblance to "Uhh…"
"Tell you what," my queue glided over my shoulder, "how about instead of you trying to figure out how you do it, I link up with you and find out for myself?" I just let my braid suspend itself practically right in front of Rush's face, to let him decide for himself.
He stared at my queue for a long moment. Then he grabbed my braid and set it against the back of his neck. At least he remembered how this trick of mine worked.
The tip merged with his neck, and his eyes went vacant. And suddenly…I don't know how, but I suddenly felt like I could cross the gap! I could almost see how it worked! I stood up, picking up Rush with one hand and setting him on my shoulders, and held a hand out in front of me.
And a portal opened!
Taking a deep breath, I stepped through.
Lan
I was hanging out with Chaud in the park – I don't remember why anymore – but suddenly, a huge portal like what Rush comes through appeared! And it was Avatar who stepped through – all ten feet of her!
The portal closed behind her and she blinked. "It worked!"
"Ah…what worked?" Chaud asked, sounding kind of numb.
"I queue-linked with Rush, and that let me jump between worlds!" She lifted the little guy down from her shoulders, bending over to set him on the ground. His eyes were blank until she removed her braid from his neck. Then he shook himself and barked.
"So, uh…what brings you here, anyway?" I asked, trying to sound cool.
"Since Protoman's kind of on the wrong side," Avatar explained, "I figured you'd appreciate a little backup in the Dimensional Areas."
"Would I ever! Thanks, Avatar!" I held out my hand, and she shook it. I couldn't believe how my hand was totally hidden inside hers – it was like I had elf hands or something!
She looked at Chaud. "You can hold onto my PET until Will wakes up if you want, or let Anetta carry it around. Your choice." Then she set her hand on his head like he was a little boy. "Like I said earlier, I know what you're going through."
A/N: Will's going to be in a coma for the rest of Axess. Saying any more than that will be spoiling the story.