Character Thoughts: "{abc}"
Character Translation: "[abc]"
Language Translation: "abc [def]"
NOTE FROM RYDRAKE: I will warn you now, I am unaware of the events after the Axess season, as Stream, Beast, and Beast+ never received an English adaption. I am also unable to find any episodes with English subs, so no flames or anything similar.
Chapter 25:
Hacking the Spirit
Adamant Enigma stands renewed to his old self. The Ultimate Truth Program is still fused with him, giving him extra power. He holds a blue vest that belonged to Maylu as a means of intimidating the rest of the NetOps; she had survived the initial attack before she met her demise. Cadenza wails loudly, tears streaming down his face, no longer wanting to be anywhere near the Wendigo Navi. Lan keeps his body turned trying to block Cadenza from Adamant Enigma. Chaud remains in the wall not moving a muscle; he has been knocked unconscious. Raika, Dex, Yai, Maddy, Mr. Match, and Yahoot are not sure how to approach the new danger as the Wendigo Navi lets go of the vest. It drops to the ground quickly converting into data that deletes itself. Adamant Enigma stares at the NetOps.
"So..." he speaks, "That child is completely useless to you. What do you plan on doing now?"
"I plan on keeping him far from your fugly ass!" Lan replies, raising a hand into the air.
Yai and Maddy look at him unimpressed with Yai saying, "Are you serious? Fugly?"
"Just shut up and follow me!" Lan growls as a Mini Boomer forms in his hand.
He throws the Mini Boomer at Adamant Enigma, the explosion creating a large dirt cloud combined with the dirt in the tunnel. Dex quickly heads over to Chaud and pulls him out of the wall before following the others. The smoke and dirt clear moments later, and Adamant Enigma finds the NetOps got away. Enraged he lets out a mighty and eerie roar that echoes throughout the subway tunnels. He then gives chase at full speed following the NetOps' scents.
In NetCity, Blackberry has been training hard with her brother and ElecMan, trying to learn new attacks. She has gained full control of her Berry Buster as well as relearning Lolita Boomer, but has been unable to learn Bass's Hell's Rolling and Dark Arm Blade attacks. Serenade quickly saw the problem reminding Bass that Blackberry is his polar opposite; she uses Light-based attacks instead of Darkness-based attacks. Knowing this, Bass tells his sister to concentrate any Light energy she has and form it into a sphere. Blackberry is able to do so, but only for a few seconds before they explode in her hands. MegaMan watches as he rests, finding it weird that the young Bass Twin cannot form a Light sphere in her hands, but can easily use Lolita Boomer, which is in the shape of a sphere and identicle to the Mini Boomer. ElecMan tries to teach her by using his Electric Boomer and placing it in her hands. To her it means it's time to play and she completely forgets about the training to play with the weapon.
Bass watches taken aback and unsure what to make of the situation. He then gets mad preparing his Dark Arm Blade, and quickly goes after ElecMan. However, ElecMan easily blocks the attack telling Bass to just sit back and watch. As Blackberry plays with the Electric Boomer, she unknowingly forms a mini Holy Aura around it. It comes and goes as she plays catch with it up until the hour finally passes. Bass finally beans ElecMan off the head while keeping a dark aura around his fist shouting that Blackberry didn't learn a thing.
NumberMan announces, "Everyone! Five Hours have finally passed! It's time to reopen the portals to DenTech!"
BurnerMan grins saying, "It's about time! How many portals are we gonna get now?"
"I'm hoping with the combined efforts of ShadeMan, Bass, and I, we can keep one portal open for a few seconds. Adamant Enigma's aura has gotten much stronger, not that I'm surprised. I will say now: whoever chooses to go, please, kep your guard up and be careful! We cannot risk a deletion unless it's Adamant Enigma's!" Serenade responds.
"Let's do this then. Our other goal is to find Cadenza and keep him safe." Bass agrees.
"Let's hurry. I want to be able to head to DenTech myself and lend my power." ShadeMan says.
Bass, ShadeMan, and Serenade gather in the middle of the park. Raising their hands in the air, they concentrate their power to open a large portal to DenTech City. ShadeMan quickly uses Noise Crush to keep the portal open wide longer. Knowing they're needed, MegaMan and ProtoMan jump into the portal. They dematerialize as soon as they enter being sent to DenTech. ShadeMan uses Noise Crush once more to make sure the portal stay open long enough for a third Navi to go through. Serious Nimbus takes the opportunity to fly into the portal, dematerializing into simple data. The portal starts to close as the three Navis try to hang on a little longer, the strain forcing them to shut their eyes. That's when they hear Roll call Blackberry's name, and the portal suddenly closes, forcing Bass, Serenade, and ShadeMan to the ground. Bass tries to ignore the strain as he looks around with his vision blurred.
"Blackberry! Tell me you're still here!" he calls out.
As Serenade and ShadeMan give in and faint, Bass continues to fight it trying to stand up. Roll rushes over to him telling him to lie down, but he refuses to listen. WackoMan summons a Blue WackoDoll having it use weak Aqua Tower. It does as commanded hitting Bass gently with the attack, but with him being weakened, the force of the attack is enough to knock him onto his back. His vision is still blurry as he weakly calls out his sister's name before he finally blacks out.
"Oh shit... Don't tell me they'll be out for five hours!" ElecMan says.
Glyde checks all three of them answering, "No, no, they won't. The rebound from keeping the portal open has only knocked them unconscious. They should wake up in a little bit."
"The thing is..." NovaMan says, "We don't even have 'a little bit'. That damn Bass Twin JUMPED INTO THE PORTAL!"
SearchMan says a bit surprised, "I can't believe I didn't even notice! She's a sneaky one."
"Damn!" ElecMan growls gritting his teeth, "She did that to reunite with Cadenza! Right now she'll only get in the way!"
In DenTech City, MegaMan and ProtoMan arrive at DenTech Academy, further from where Lan and the others currently are. Serious Nimbus arrives at SciLab, looking at the large building able to see that part of it has been destroyed, possibly by Hardy Quake. He flies over to one of the many holes and looks inside seeing Yuichiro staring outside not even noticing the Eagle Navi. Blackberry, however, took a wrong turn in the portal's stream and winds up at Yokayoka Hot Springs...landing in one of the springs. She quickly surfaces her face red from the hot spring and yelling in shock as she comically swims to the ledge, pulling herself up instantly. She flips onto her back panting, calming down rather quickly as she opens her eyes looking up at the sky. All Blackberry can see is the Dimensional Area spread around the world, and that's when she suddenly becomes cold, shaking like a leaf.
Footsteps can be heard from inside the bath house. The doors open to reveal a fairly banged up Tamako. Blackberry looks up at her as she continues to shiver. Tamako smiles as she grabs a thick towel and tosses it onto Blackberry. The young Bass Twin fumble with the towel managing to wrap herself in it like a catepillar wraps intself in a fine silk.
Tamako asks, "You're Blackberry, aren't you?"
Blackberry freaks replying, "Eep! Hw do you know my name?"
"Haha, calm down. I remember you from when you came here a long while ago with BurnerMan and PlantMan. What I want to know is, how did you get here? Come, you can explain on the way inside."
"Tell me you've got a fluffy coat program; it's freezing here!"
Meanwhile, in another part of town, Lan and the others had to exit the subway having found their way to a forested area. Chaud has recovered from being sent into the wall, and Cadenza has calmed down to a point. His stomach growls loudly begging for something. With everything flash frozen and now in a forest, it would be dificult to find baby Cadenza milk. Yahoot takes to the sky looking around for train tracks or a train station. Despite having increased eyesight he cannot see any kind of track with everything looking like ice. He flies back down to the group. They have no choice but to press foward and find another place to hide.
Back in the subway, Adamant Enigma has lost track of where Lan and the others have gone. He became confused while trying to follow the scents and took wrong turns leading him to flooded tunnels he couldn't traverse. He found how he was thrown off; each NetOp left a tuft of their fur or feathers behind, Mr. Match having to scrape himself against the walls. The Wendigo Navi grows tired of traversing the tunnels and decides to use the Enigma Cannon to blast his way through the ceiling and out of the surface of the ground. He jumps through the new hole landing on a rooftop of a tall building. He looks up at the sky seeing the sun is setting, knowing full well it will be dark soon. His best element will soon give him the advantage he needs.
Elsewhere, MegaMan and ProtoMan are able to sense the signals coming from their PETs, sensing the new program that was installed. ProtoMan is able to hack into it and obtain the Location Scanner. MegaMan, however, is unsuccessful in hacking the PET now needing to rely on ProtoMan to find the NetOps. Both Navis rush through the streets soon jumping onto rooftops to get a better view of the city. The Blue Bomber stops in his tracks getting a good look at his flash-frozen home. He clenches his fists and teeth, wanting to delete Adamant Enigma even more; he also sees the damage that the Wenigo Navi has caused. ProtoMan places a hand on MegaMan's shoulder, letting him know he feels the same way. Before they set off, MegaMan takes one more look at the damage, then follows the Red Navi.
At SciLab, Serious Nimbus has gotten Yuichiro's attention, telling him that he is on their side, not Adamant Enigma's. Although Yuichiro is skeptical, he sees that the Eagle Navi wants to help. Serious Nimbus requests the strongest weapon against Navis that SciLab has to offer so he may use it against his former leader. The scientists there think for a moment before one mentions the new project they were working on behind everyone's backs. Yuichiro quickly demands why the scientist said nothing, and he replies if he explained what he was working on, it'd be scrapped in an instant with everyone laughing at him.
The scientist says, "You know the Neko Virus from before? I took the virus and tried manipulating its data into something that could combat the new enemy. However, every attempt failed until I came across something that could actually combat Adamant Enigma."
"And what was that, Sasha?" Yuichiro demands.
"Remember how we kept receiving updates on when he was here? How we found out he turned Wily into a Hellhound Navi? Well, I actually came across scattered data of Wily and when I combined it with the manipulated virus data, I created a weapon that might be strong enough to combat Adamant Enigma." Sasha replies.
Serious Nimbus asks astonished, "Wait. What were you trying to manipulate the Neko Virus into?"
Sasha answers, "I did some research using a Virus that became trapped in SciLab's computer system. It gave me all the information it overheard Adamant Enigma say, how one of our native cryptids, the Baku, actually trapped him in this dream cloud and he found his way here where he became trapped in the Net. However, I couldn't manipulate the data enough to pull it off until I came across Wily's scattered data. I created the perfect weapon, but the problem is I couldn't convert it into a useful chip. It has to be placed onto a NetNavi or a CrossFusion. And this Dimensional Area is giving us an advantage."
"In that case, I'll use the weapon. I can sense Adamant Enigma from here, and with my speed I'll get to him in no time." Serious Nimbus says.
"Are you sure?" Yuichiro asks.
"I was created by the freak. I should have no problem controlling it." the Eagle Navi replies.
Meanwhile at Yokayoka Hot Springs, Blackberry has been given a Winter Program, and is now wearing a thick red winter coat with a kanji pattern reading "yuki [snow]", matching red ski pants, black boots, and red mittens. Tamako gives her a scarf, gently wrapping it around her neck. Blackberry thanks her, but before she can leave, Tamako tells her that she saw Lan and the others not too long ago in the forest nearby. The young Bass Twin is happy to learn she's not too far from her son and once again thanks Tamako before running off. Tamako watches as Blackberry heads to the forest, knowing full well that Adamany Enigma will show up. She looks up to the sky seeing the sun is setting, wishing HeavyMetalMan was with her.
The young Bass Twin races across the icy train tracks into the forest finally able to pick up on several PET signals and Baby Cadenza. As she rushes through the forest, she notices how frozen the trees are; each time she rubs against a branch it falls right off. Seeing how icy the forest floor is she activates the spikes in her boots, now able to grip the ground and run a bit faster. Just then, she hears an odd sound. She stops to look and suddenly through the trees sees Adamant Enigma in his true form running past her. Blackberry stands there paralyzed in fear as tge Wendigo Navi does a 360, turning around and soon staring her right in the face. She looks up at him, part of her face turning blue getting a cold sweat. He smiles evily at her before letting out a maniacle laugh.
Further in the forest, Lan and the others can hear Adamant Enigma's laugh. They turn in the direction it's coming from, Cadenza reaching in that direction. They know it's too soon to try and fight him, but what other choice do they have? They all know they can't keep running forever; they'll have to face him eventually. At the same time they hear a high pitched scream coming from the same direction. Lan knows who it is.
"The hell? Blackberry?" he says in surprise.
"Blackberry? How can that be her? The NetNavis are-" Raika tries to say before Blackberry screams again, a tree heard falling to the ground.
"That is her! Quick, we have to go save her!" Maddy says.
Chaud agrees, "I won't argue!"
Lan says, "Wait, we can't bring Cadenza with us. Adamant Enigma will delete him!"
Blackberry screams again prompting Dex to say, "We don't have a choice, Lan. It's better to go in numbers than to let one of us stay here like a sitting duck with Cadenza. He'll know to attack the lone member rather than take on the whole pack!"
"I'm going. If you guys are smart, you'll follow." Chaud announces taking off.
Yahoot follows taking flight, Mr. Match close behind. Lan looks at baby Cadenza who looks up at him almost begging to go save his mother. Unable to wait any longer Yai takes off being followed by Dex. Lan gets serious and looks up, soon taking off. Maddy stands watching, thinking they may not be able to survive the attack. As she follows the others bringing up the rear with Raika, she has a strong feeling one of them is going to be deleted. Another tree falls over breaking into multpile pieces like glass.
Adamant Enigma continues to chase Blackberry as she dodges most of his attacks, being smaller and faster than the other Navis. He attampts to use Puzzling Pause, but she counters with Ninja Smoke, throwing off his aim. He pulls out his Enigma Cannon firing several shots like a machine gun, blasting away more trees turning them into woodchips and snow. She uses her Holy Aura to try and protect herself from the attack, but it only protects her from the weaker blasts, causing her to constantly put it up. At one point he blasts her while her defense is down, and she falls to thje ground face first. As she pushes herself back up, he slams her back down with his foot, charging up the next blast aiming it at her head. But instead of firing the charged shot, he pulls the buster away, turning it back into a claw. He then bends down so his face is near her ear.
He says to her, "You know, blasting you into oblivion won't be enough. Instead, I'll eat you, bit by bit, so that I may absorb your power and make it mine."
Blackberry cries, "No no no, you can't do that! I have a baby to raise!"
"Oh I know you do, and I know you were created by that bastard, Serenade."
"Wha...? How can you...?"
"Oh please, the type of aura you put up, the kind of element that comes flying out of your buster...you've got the Light element just like he does, unlike your brother who controls Darkness. They are the only two Navis to control such rare elements...but I have an ultra rare element."
"Ultra rare?"
"Yes, it's called the-" Adamant Enigma goes to say before Chaud stabs him in the back through his chest with a FireSword continuing, "The piss off element!"
Blackberry asks in shock, "Wha...? Ch-Chaud? Is that you?"
Chaud uses the FireSword to lift Adamant Enigma off Blackberry. Yahoot swoops in using his large sharp talons to take the Wendigo Navi up into the air and hovers in place. Mr. Match quickly climbs up a tree, takes aim at Adamant Enigma and uses Fire Arm, shooting a flamethrower from his fist. Chaud jumps up into the air in front of the foe and slashes him several times with the FireSword before having to fall back down. Yai rides on Dex's back as he climbs up another tree, jumps onto the Wendigo Navi, wraps his arms around his body and begins to squeeze with all his might. Yai climbs onto Adamant Enigma's head and begins to scratch and slash at his face like mad. Maddy and Raika finally catch up each using their Navis special abilities; she is able to create her own polka dotted ball, and he is able to morph his arm into a sniper rifle. First Maddy sends the ball flying at Adamant Enigma with it staying in place and rolling like a tire that just flew off a truck, then Raika aims carefully before firing an endless round of shots at the foe.
Blackberry watches in shock as the battle begins to unfold, all the while Lan sneaks through the trees with the newborn. He keeps Cadenza from making a sound as he whistles over at the frightened Navi. She looks over seeing him and her baby, but doesn't become excited. She looks up at Adamant Enigma who is being bombarded with numerous attacks, then gets up and dashes over to Lan. As she closes in he reaches out, able to grab her arm and pull her over. Lan then hands over baby Cadenza, Blackberry instantly taking him back happy to see he's unharmed, nuzzling him to no end.