Operator To Navi Chapter IX Part 1: Nightly Outings, a mega man fanfic

Z: Alright, let's go loot that Official Center, shall we?

D. Zero: Hahaha.

Z: Shut up, Zero. And why does no one get what I ask?

D. X: No idea.

Z: To those who care, pictures of Muramasa, Shine, Razor and Mike can be found on my art-site!

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TJ and Rikumon: I was DYING to use that one!! ^^ (D. X: "If only…" CLANK "OW!!") [shakes head] They'll never learn

Navi-Zero: I'm sure a lot of people are wondering what he's up to.

Pyrogirll23: Honestly, do you think I'll tell?

Rumor & the remains of the ERL.: Oh god… Zero, go get Gate, will you? (D. Zero: "Sure." Night. Z: "'Ey, can I…" Z: " NO!!" Night. Z: "Damn!!")

Sol Sabre: I'm doing the best I can, alright?

RCM: Yeah, so I figured. And thanks.

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Chapter IX Part 1: Nightly Outings

"What's taking so long?!"

"Will you shush and let me work!?"

"If we get caught because of you and your Navi, Lord X is going to be mad!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"……C'mon, if I know that guy, he'll be here any second!"

"Oh, for crying out loud! Will you just---"

Just then, a click sounded from the door, and all conversations were dropped for the moment.

Red's face appeared on Sol's PET, and he said to the figure beside his Operator: "You've got about 20 seconds to get inside, so please hurry."

The figure snorted and disappeared in the shadows, making for the large building they were at.

They had chosen the back entrance, near the sea, because that way, they would not be seen by anybody. The entire complex seemed a pitch black in the dark of the night, with the moon shimmering brightly above them. They couldn't afford to mess up this mission though.

If they did, the results for them would be disastrous.

Twenty seconds after the security had been disabled, it whirred back to life.

…Or at least, it tried.

It sizzled violently, before it died. Which indicated that part 1 was complete.

"Perfect," Sol whispered. "We're on."

"Right," Red agreed with a nod.

"Hey Pyra" the brunette said, looking up from the screen.

Pyra looked up from reading a book she had brought with her, and cocked her head in confusion.

They had gotten here early in the evening, without anyone's notice, just waiting for those guys from Zahler to show themselves. Shun had already plugged in with Quint to scout the Net, but so far, he hadn't been able to find any flaws or bugs. Sara and Tsuchi were currently patrolling the Center, but they sent a small mail every 15 minutes to let the others know they were fine. And Razor and Sonica were currently busy putting several locks on the Dimensional-Area's data.

"Are you entering in the N1-Grand Prix?" Mike asked casually, trying to get his mind off of what was happening.

Pyra frowned in obvious anger and said: "I tried, but durin' the first few rounds, Sonica nearly got deleted by some "angel" Navi. She was way too strong fer us, though I don't like ta admit it!"

Sonica growled a little, and Razor looked at the blonde for a moment, before turning back to what he was doing.

"Oh…" Mike said, sounding a little disappointed. "I had actually hoped to face off with you back there. I'm curious about how strong your Navi is."

Pyra smirked and said: "We could check, you know."

"Maybe, but not here," Mike said before Pyra could continue whatever she'd been planning.

"Ah, bloody hell!" Pyra mumbled.

Mike sadly shook his head with a sigh, and continued to type in commands on the computer in front of him. It was tempting, but they had no time to dilly-dally.

He didn't rightfully know when they were going to show up, but it was better to be prepared for the worst.

Beep-beep! Beep-beep!

"…Mail," Razor said solemnly, as if he was expecting it.

Mike opened it and simply looked at the short message, before deleting it.

Pyra looked up in surprise, and Shun looked over at him as well.

Mike finally opened his mouth.

"They're here."

Red crashed down onto the Net of the Official Center, and opened his eyes to glare across the Net.

"Skeith!!!" he shouted. "Skeith!! Show up!!!"

The sound of something crashing to the ground behind him sounded, and he whirled around quickly.

"Ah! There you are!" Red said, inwardly flinching at the sight of the Navi standing there. "You know what to do, Skeith. Find the Dimensional Area, and bring it back to the base in one piece. And if anyone dares to stand in between you and your goal…"

Red let it hang, but finished the sentence with a swipe of his own hand past his neck. The other Navi nodded, and the redhead dashed off as fast as he could, sword drawn and ready for action.

"Really, you surprised me by asking for my help!" a voice said from a side-entrance of the Center.

"Will you shush!!" the other teen demanded angrily, though very quietly. "If Rei discovers us, before we get a chance to plug in, we're as good as dead!"

The brunette blinked and removed some chocolate brown hair from his eyes.

"How do you know that, Chaud?" Lan asked, a little confused.

"Hikari, just shush!!" Chaud hissed angrily.

Lan got the picture for once, and shut up.

Chaud gingerly peeked around a corner, before he beckoned the other teen to follow. Lan nodded and was right behind Chaud as they ran for the door as fast and soundlessly as they could. Upon arriving at the door, Chaud jingled with the handle, to find the door…

"That's odd…" he mumbled, calmly pushing the door open. "This door's always locked unless there's an emergency."

Lan's face paled almost immediately.

"Then that means they're already inside!!" Mega's voice called out from his PET.

Chaud growled in anger and rushed inside, with Lan right behind him. But what neither heard, was that once they were inside, the door clicked into the lock.

A lone figure stood among the controls of the security, PET in hand and smirking coldly at the screens, where he watched the two teens run toward their own doom. It wouldn't be long now.

"Release the viruses," he said to the Navi whom was currently hacking in the Net, while searching for the DA as well.

"As you wish," a digitized voice said calmly, and within mere seconds, hundreds of viruses had been released onto the Center's Net.

Bring! Bring!

The figure blinked, but took the call nevertheless. The scowling face of Sol greeted him.

"May I ask what you just did?" he asked, quite politely, even though it was clear that he was angry.

"Keeping some of our 'friends' busy until we manage to find the Dimensional-Area. They won't attack our Navis, so don't worry about that."

Sol frowned, but nodded and said: "Alright. Let's just hurry."

"Understood. Delete."

"Delete."

"Tsuchi! Get your ass back here! Now!! They're here!!" Razor screamed across the Net, loud enough for the Navi in question to hear it.

"Yipe! Sara!!!" Tsuchi shouted to her Operator in despair.

"I heard 'im!! I heard 'im!!" Sara said, and ran back to the others as fast as her legs could carry her.

In the meantime, Tsuchi was on her way across the Net, lashing out at every single virus that suddenly popped up everywhere and nowhere. Luckily, her whip had been upgraded, so it had much better capacities than before. She easily took out all viruses, and continued making her way back to the others.

But that could take some time.

And never did she notice the dark Navi watching from the shadows, eyes narrowing in anger at the display.

Sara finally stormed into the room, slamming the door shut as she went. After she managed to catch her breath, she joined, Pyra, Mike and Shun at the plug-in ports. She plugged in as well, and pulled her folder from her backpack.

"You're late," Mike mumbled plainly.

"Sorry 'bout that."

"Dyna Wave!! Slot in!!"

Sonica grasped the large pickaxe in her hands, and pulled back, before slamming it to the ground with everything she had. The wave shot through the panels, and hit 5 to 7 viruses in one go, but it also caused several panels to crack.

The blonde smirked, then yanked her sword from its sheath, and blocked a swing from a Swordy. She lashed out at the virus, meeting every hack with one of her own, before the virus' sword simply split in half. That being the cue she'd waited for, Sonica lunged and easily deleted the annoying virus.

"Air Sword!! Fire Sword!! Slot in!!"

Razor allowed both blades to sprout form his arms, and lashed out violently at every virus that dared to approach him. Practically all of them were deleted with a single hit, while others took a little longer, but it still proved to be an easy victory. His eyes were narrowed and sparking with something akin to anger, but it wasn't complete anger, like it usually was.

Finally the chips vanished and his own swords took their place. He screamed as he lashed downward in an 'X' motion, sending a large red shockwave at a whole horde of viruses. It sliced them into pieces, sending them into deletion before it could even register to them.

"Duo Whip!! Slot in!!"

Tsuchi grasped her whip by the handle, and mere seconds later, another whip shot from the other side, producing a double-whip. She twirled it around between her fingers, before she lashed out both behind and in front of her, deleting multiple viruses with a single movement. Her movements were violent, yet also composed and calm, which seemed to be really odd for someone in her situation.

When the chip wore off, she continued to lash out again and again, never once stopping to catch her breath. Which wasn't really necessary, but it was just a figure of speech. Because she took out all enemies before they could approach her, she hardly had to bother defending against anything.

"Sakugarne!! Slot in!!"

Quint grasped the combination between a pogo-stick and a jackhammer that had appeared before him. He easily leaped on top of it, and was launched into the air right before the viruses had jumped him. So now they crashed headfirst against each other. They couldn't even get away from Quint as he crashed back down and right on top of them. They were instantly deleted, and Quint smirked a little.

Finally, he landed back on the ground, the Sakugarne vanishing instantly. He whipped out his Buster and started firing at every other virus that tried to approach him. So, needless to say, he had really become a strong Navi in very little time.

"Quint! Tsuchi! We have to finish the firewalls on the DA, so keep the viruses at a distance until we're done!" Razor shouted as Sonica and himself rushed for the DA's data.

"Right!" Quint said with a nod.

"Understood!" Tsuchi shouted.

The duo glared at each other for a moment, though it was hardly visible with Quint, and just stood there for a few seconds.

"Even though I don't like you, we'll just have to live with it for a moment," Tsuchi said.

"For once, we agree," Quint hissed.

"STOP ARGUING AND START FIGHTING!!" Razor suddenly screamed, making both Navis yelp in surprise.

Mega's huge fist collided with one of the Garuus that were crowding him. The rest was taken care off with the same expert ease. The now red-armored Navi leaped out of the reign of fire, and charged up, before pulling out his Buster and sending a massive burst of flames at the group of viruses clustered together.

In the mean time, a different red-armored Navi was busy hacking up several other viruses. Proto's face was one of indifference, as he continued to fight without any signs of weariness. With a powerful lash, he easily deleted multiple electric viruses.

So far, so good.

"What's up with all these viruses!?" Lan wondered aloud. "It's like they're expecting us…"

Chaud growled and said: "Rei most likely figured out we're here. He's got people of circles working for him."

Lan turned to him in surprise, furrowing his brows in thought.

"How come you know so much about him, anyway?" he finally asked.

Chaud didn't respond, and simply slid in yet another chip for ProtoMan. For a moment, Lan actually thought that he hadn't heard him, and he was about to ask again…

But Chaud cut him off before he could.

"Our fathers were business associates."

"Ah! That explains it… a little."

Chaud didn't bother to respond, his face still controlled and calm, while his mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions. His body was on autopilot as he operated his Navi, slotting in several more chips without acknowledging exactly what they were or what they did.

In the meantime, his mind was light-years away from his current position. Too much was rushing through his head, not allowing him to see beyond the haze in his mind.

Words from the past began to swim through his head without a warning, practically clouding everything he had ever learned to be true. They praised him, adored him, worshipped him, but also cursed him, insulted him, and abused him, until he thought he would die from the sheer force of those words. They thundered through his head, shaking his mind with enough force to bring down mountains.

The worst of them all was a simple sentence, spoken without as much as remorse, but instead, with an indescribable anger beyond anything he had ever heard.

"Rot in hell, Blaze… that's where you belong… traitor…"

Mentally shaking those thoughts from his mind, he finally focused on what was going on again. Just in time as well, as both Proto and Mega just finished off the last of the viruses.

"Phew! That's the last of them!!" Mega mumbled, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his normal hand.

"About time too," Proto murmured almost inaudibly.

A sudden shadow fell over the duo, and they slowly turned to the source.

"Guess I missed everything, ne?" the dark armored, gray-haired Navi chuckled plainly.

"Muramasa?!!?" Proto exclaimed. "I thought we told you to stay out of this!!"

"Re-LAX already!!" Muramasa said plainly, raking a hand through her hair. "Shine's still at the mansion. I managed to get here through the UnderNet. Shine doesn't know I'm here."

Proto gave her a ridiculous look, but Muramasa waved it all off for later, saying they had other things to take care off.

"Sonica! You almost done?!" Razor asked.

"Almost! I's got ten more seconds ta go!" Sonica called out over the humming of the firewalls.

Razor nodded and finally finished the last of the firewalls, enabling the locks over the DA's data. Exactly ten seconds later…

"Done!" Sonica exclaimed, sighing in relief that they were finally done.

The green-armored Navi nodded to show he heard her, and they stepped back from the data as the firewalls now formed a gigantic barrier around it. It sizzled and sparked violently, and it'd take one major hacker to get through this. This had taken long enough, and they'd done all they could for now.

"Well, le's go help the others, arrite?" Sonica asked with a smile.

Razor did not respond.

Something was off. Slowly, his eyes scanned over everything, from the firewalls, to the surrounding area. His eyes narrowed in suspicion, unable to locate anything out of place, but still looking. Something told him that this was bad.

And the quiet air only made it worse.

…Wait a second.

"Sonica, is it just me, or is this place… quiet?" Razor tentatively asked.

Sonica's eyes widened in shock, before she listened carefully. Minutes of piercing silence past, before Sonica gulped.

"This… this's bad… ain't it?"

Razor didn't respond, and tried to contact his Operator.

"Mike! Mike, come in!!"

…No response.

"Pyra-chan?! Wha's goin' on!?" Sonica shouted in despair.

……………

No one and nothing answered them.

But when a massive tremor rushed through the Net, and two sets of screams were heard, signaling the ending of two Navis' lives, the two remaining Navis had the living daylights scared out of them. Once again, deathly silence fell over them both. Their bodies could hardly move, that's how scared they were of the sudden turn in events.

"This," Razor finally mumbled, "is bad."

"This can't be right…"Chaud whispered. "It's too quiet."

Lan frowned, looking around in suspense. He could feel in the air that something was going to happen soon. But whatever it was, he didn't know. He just knew something was going to happen.

"I know… but what?" he asked.

Chaud shook his head to show he didn't know. Instead he pulled out his PET.

"ProtoMan, be careful. Something's going to happen soon," he said to the red-armored Navi.

"Understood."

"You too, Mega, Muramasa!"

"Roger!"

"Hai!"

"Skeith, distract them while I get to the DA-data. Understood?" Red asked calmly, not in the least bother by the dark purple cyberblood that had been splashed all around, before the bodies of the Navis had faced a very painful deletion.

The blood was everywhere, soaking everything in the deep purple, almost black color. Signs of a struggle were everywhere, and it was clear how the struggle had ended.

The taller Navi simply nodded, and began to march straight toward his goal. Red watched him go, before contacting his Operator.

"Sol? How'd it go?"

Sol ripped off another piece of tape and taped Pyra's mouth, before dragging her into one of the closets along with the three other Operators. All of them had light wounds on the back of their heads, and they'd probably have a concussion before this was over.

Finally, the blunette closed the door and broke the handle with a simple downward shove. He clapped the dust from his hands and moved over toward the large computer.

"Perfect. Did you find it?" Sol asked.

"Skeith is keeping the last of them busy. It'll take some time, because they put a whole bunch of firewalls on them by the looks of it."

Sol nodded and said: "Then you'd better get started. You know where to find me once you're done."

"I hear ya."

Sol grabbed his PET and rushed out of the room, vanishing into the shadows with the expert of ease.

Muramasa suddenly halted in her tracks, sniffing at the air in suspicion.

"Muramasa??" Mega asked, confused.

The gray-haired girl didn't respond, and simply looked around, sniffing the air every once in a while.

Her eyes narrowed and she murmured: "This… this can't be good…"

Proto looked at her in surprise, but he said nothing as she continued to hold onto her Buster. She had said she didn't feel as safe when it wasn't out.

Finally, Muramasa spoke again.

"…Blood's been spilled… a lot of it…"

Mega paled at what she said, but Proto was more skeptical.

"How do you know?"

"Ch, give me a break! I'd recognize that stench anywhere!" Muramasa scoffed.

Proto still looked skeptical, but said nothing.

"You should leave before they spot you. If they find you here, all will be ruined," Sol told the other figure with him in the room.

"Must I really?" the other figure asked, almost teasingly.

"Just go! Let us take care of this."

The figure was silent, then nodded simply and left the room without a second glance.

Outside the room, the figure pulled out his PET and typed in a single command, before placing the PET back in his holster.

He restarted his track, a cold snicker coming from his throat.

Razor screamed and lunged out with his sword, but the blow was blocked easily. Razor wasn't one to give up and he continued to hack at the much taller Navi, but it was no use. Whenever he managed to get a hit in, he never seemed to be feeling a thing, or the hits hardly had any effect.

A scream tore from his throat as something suddenly pierced through his right shoulder, before he was kicked aside, choking on thick cyberblood as he felt pain shoot throughout his entire being. He crashed into the ground with a loud thud, still conscious, but barely staying together.

His helmet and hair were already starting to fall apart into loose particles, and his shoulder had also begun to fall apart. The pain continued to soar through his body, not letting him be at all. He choked and coughed out blood and bile that had ridden up from his stomach up to his mouth, disgusted by the filthy taste it left behind on his tongue.

Blood trickled out from under the brim of his helmet, passing his eyes as he gingerly sat up. His shoulder burned madly, as he could hardly put any weight on his right arm.

"Razor!!" Sonica's panicked voice called out as she rushed over to him. "Are ya arrite?!" she asked, helping him to sit up.

"I've been hack, cough better…" Razor coughed, allowing Sonica to pull him up to his feet. "You?"

Sonica was in better condition than Razor, but she too was bleeding in several places, and her goggles had been destroyed. She'd need more than a new paintjob when they got out of this one.

Or… if they got out of this one.

"I'm arrite… not me best condition, but betta than ye."

"Geez, rub it in why don't ya?" Razor grumbled, before coughing loudly, sending blood over Sonica's armor. "Sorry…"

"Dun bother…" Sonica said calmly. "But now wha do we do?"

Razor turned to face the slowly approaching Navi, his face grim as blood continued to trickle down his face, into his mouth.

"What do you want, Sonica?" Razor asked softly. "The truth… or a lie?"

Sonica gulped in fear, then whispered softly: "Truth…?"

Razor closed his eyes, and hung his head for a moment, before finally yanking himself loose from Sonica's grasp. His swords slid out from his gloves again, and he raised his head again.

Pure anger and rage was etched all over his face, and his eyes sparked in fury.

"We fight for every breath we got!"

"What in the?!!?"

"Holy fuck!!!"

"Oh kuso!!"

All three Navis were left staring at the sight sprawled out before them.

The Net was cracked in several places, and deep purple/pitch black cyberblood was splattered every which way, painting the Net black. The entire place reeked of the blood spilled there, and it was enough to make anyone want to retch.

"This… is disgusting…" Muramasa hissed, swallowing multiple times.

Mega gulped once, then ground out: "Tell me about it…"

Proto growled in anger, clenching his fist tightly. Whoever did this was going to pay dearly.

"Ano… Proto…?" Muramasa's voice asked, almost hesitantly.

The gray-haired Navi turned to her in confusion, and he noticed she was shakily pointing a little up ahead.

"W-what do you make of that?!"

Confused, Proto turned to what she was looking up --- and could feel the color draining from his face.

'Perfect, just keep 'em busy a little longer…' Red thought as he began to work on the barrier blocking his way.

He pulled up several screens, typing in commands and making sure not to be spotted by anyone. His fingers practically flew over the 'keyboard', as he continued to type commands that should help him to break down the firewalls.

It shouldn't take him too long, but for some reason, he doubted this was all the protection they put on it. If it was, they were pretty confident that this thing could withstand him.

"What the heck?!?" Red suddenly exclaimed when an error popped up.

He'd never had one of those before.

A smirk crossed his face as he chuckled.

"Hehe, so, looks like you managed to update your skills, eh?" he mumbled to himself.

Red cracked his fingers at the expectation of a new challenge, and his mouth curled upward to form a violent smirk unlike anything.

"No matter. You're still no match to me."

And with that, he started to work again.

The Navi suddenly stopped in his tracks, as if he had heard them, and turned to look back, obvious to the fear written on the Navis' faces.

Tall and imposing, the gigantic Navi was almost twice StoneMan's height, with a very angular design, and his whole body designed as a weapon. His dark green and black armor was covered with various blades of all shapes and sizes. His huge hands were clawed, as were his head, back, shoulders, hips and feet, and he had no jumpsuit, like most Navis had, as his entire body was armor. Nor did he have a real face, as it was only a metallic looking mask, complete with three black orbs for orbs, and he had no visible mouth.

In his hand, he held something resembling a large red rapier-sword with a cross-shaped hilt surrounded by rotating. The weapon didn't seem fit for lashing out though.

The guy was covered with a thin sheen of blood, and it was obvious that it was not his own.

Muramasa took a hesitant step back, as her own resolve seemed to be crumbling under the force of this Navi's stare. She'd be able to withstand Bass, but this was taking it one step too far. But she wasn't the only one.

Chaud, Proto, Lan and Mega were equally scared of this new foe, who seemed just about able to tear Navis apart within mere seconds.

"W-who the hell is that guy?!" Mega stuttered, trying to keep his voice composed, but failing miserably.

"Whoever he is, he's not going to get away with this!" Chaud growled. "We have to wear him out so we can get a good shot at him, so we should distract him until he shows signs of fatigue!"

Muramasa nodded and managed to scrape up what little courage she had left, grabbing hold of her Buster as tight as she could afford.

"Sounds like a plan. Let's do this!"

And with that, the trio was flung into battle.

Z: Whoo! 175 pages! That's even more than RWTD!! And that has even more chapters than this story!

D. Zero: I'm just surprised that…… uh… never mind…

Z: What?

D. Zero: No, it's nothing.

Z: O_o?? Oh well!

RCM: If you ask me, he was going to comment about something again.

Miri-chan: Nothing unusual there! ^^

Z: By the way people! I need to know who's going to fight who in the N1, so if you've got any ideas, send 'em in and I'll see if I can whip up a few good battles!

RCM: What do you mean with "I'll see if I can whip up a few good battles"?!?! All battles you write are good!!

Z: OO! Red, knock it off!! [blush]

Chibi-chan: Ooooh! You actually made Z blush, Red!

Z: SHUT UP, CHIBIKI!! [whacks Chibi-chan with a frying-pan]

Chibi-chan: OW!!!

RCM: oO?? Well… it's the truth!

Z: Well… uh… ^^;

D. X: Who-boy…