Chapter 11

A Shocking New Threat

Unknown to our two officials, while they were pondering on that disastrous night, someone was plotting to tear apart the relative peace in which they lived for the past few days. Inside the officials former headquarter, King was preparing his next operation; his forces had suffered a great loss after FeralMan got captured and it seemed like the tensions between him and Schilt became even worse than usual. King was pondering on his throne when the sound of footsteps caught his attention. So... You have finally heeded my offer…

The footsteps stopped as the alien navi stopped at a moderate distance from him. The strange navi replied. Yes, do you still agree with my demands?

The arrogance of this navi displeased him greatly; he would never rely on such a navi if he had a choice in the matter. Your demands? You are in no position to demand anything from me. However, I offer you the opportunity to earn it by yourself under our patronage.

Have it your way, as long as I can find funding for my master researches, I'll be serving you for the time being.

As a sign of our good will, we have prepared an operation to allow you to get a part of your funding right away; we have sent the details to your operator, I'm sure that you will be most pleased with our cooperation in this matter.

Fine… But this had better not be a trick, or I'll be giving you a piece of my mind!

King sighed. Just make sure that you get the job done and you will be rewarded accordingly… Before you go, we have a few pests that have been interfering with our operations recently, should you find them; you have permission to deal with them as you see fit, but don't get overconfident, don't get deleted if it can be helped.

There's nothing to worry about, if they get in my way, I'll fry them! The alien navi disappeared and left King on his own.

The dark navi scanned the darkness around him and smirked as he noticed a figure that was attempting to hide its presence. What is it this time?

The cloaked navi approached the tall navi and spoke. Why are you already planning another operation? We have more urgent matters at hand, do I need to remind you that the officials captured one of our agents; we must retrieve him before they get anything out of him…

FeralMan… There is nothing to worry about, he will not speak. Of that, I am sure.

I do not share your… optimism regarding this situation; we can't let the officials discover anything about us, the darkloids…

He has not been tainted by the dark chips yet… And I do not intend to rescue him; if you are so worried about it, do it with your own forces.

Schilt wondered how could this despicable fool managed to know about his minions, he had been especially careful in concealing their existence, there was no way that he could know. I beg your pardon, but I have no idea of what you are talking about…

I know fully well of those three navis that you have sent to intercept the officials. In the future, it would be wise to inform me about these… spare troops.

Schilt remained silent and went on his way. A few minutes later. He is becoming a little too arrogant for my taste… Fine, I'll handle this my way… Kekekekeee!!!

---

Cyber City Bank…

It had been three days since this disastrous night; Chaud and Mhaera hadn't seen each other since then. Today, his father had asked him to replace him at a meeting with a banker; apparently, their shareholders were concerned about a few bold moves that the company had recently made. The boy entered a richly decorated room, a formal dressed man was waiting for him at his desk; behind this particular man, a wide screen could be seen. Ahhh! You have finally arrived; I must say that I was quite saddened when your father told me that he couldn't come here today. How is he?

The boy had always hated to deal with those haughty idiots, but it couldn't be helped. Chaud answered. He's the same as ever, my father apologize for the inconvenience, he hopes that your bank won't see this as a mark of disrespect…

The banker hastily replied. Of course not! The man opened his desk and got out a mess of papers, that he quickly went through to find the appropriate document. We have faithfully served the Eugene family for many years, it is unfortunate that we have to meet under such short notices; but as you may well know, your shareholders are nervous about the last actions that IPC have taken…

There is nothing to worry about; the new PET models will be a success.

I'm afraid that they don't share your sentiment; the PET technology is currently at the highest peak that it can reach with our current technology…

Which is all the more reasons to push the researches even further, if our company hopes to remain at the top, we must always be one step ahead of our concurrent.

I would like to believe you but… The screen behind the man suddenly opened, displaying the blurry shape of a black navi that Chaud couldn't identify. The dark shape spoke in a bizarre voice.

Attentions to all the humans and navis in the vicinity, I am here to inform you that this bank is now under my control. You all shall remain quiet and obedient until I'm done transferring the money, I strongly advise you to refrain from calling the authorities, as I am already watching their lines. It is simple; you call the Net Police or the Officials, BOOM!!! You make a fuss within the bank, BOOM!!! You attempt to leave, BOOM!!! I intercept an e-mail from a PET, BOOM!!! To prove my point, just watch this… The navi shape disappeared to display the interior of the bank, three seconds later, there was a large explosion coming from one of the empty machine for self-service. I believe that I have made myself clear, if I see or hear something that displeases me, BOOM!!! The screen went off and panic overcame the banker that was before him.

The boy thought. Dammit! Why now of all time?! Chaud quickly hid under the desk, since the navi already had complete control over the cameras and was probably already watching them. What can I do now; I can't let all of those peoples on their own… And the lines to the officials are watched…His PET caught his attention as he was trying to find a way to get help, his PET line wasn't connected with the bank line, but both the Net Police and the officials were out of the question. He needed someone that he could trust and that could alert the officials without using the phone. His father was busy right now, the officials he knew were all at the headquarter at this time of the day, Lan was useless since he was still in ACDC and he wouldn't lower himself to rely on him for backup; this only left… There's no way that I will do this, no way! Yet, the evidence were before his very eyes; the only person that he could rely on, was Mhaera…

He opened his autophone and called her, after three ringing, she answered. Mhaera… Listen up, the Cyber City main bank is under the control of a hostile navi, he has bombs placed all over the place. I need you to get backup for me, and make sure to avoid to alert the officials in normal ways, he's watching their lines as we speak; make your way to the headquarter, make sure that they don't leak the information on their lines and maintain cover until we can neutralize the bombs. I will attempt to stop this navi on my own, hurry! He quickly turned the phone off and pointed his PET toward the air conditioner that was on the wall before the desk. Jack-in, ProtoMan.

---

Cyber City Bank Network…

ProtoMan had just arrived in the network, only to be met by the grim reality of what threatened the lives of the hostages and his own; a whole lot of lightning rods were planted all over the area, large bolts of lightning periodically moved forth through the rods every second. This was probably another way to keep intruders from meddling inside this, this was also probably connected to the bombs all around the building, if the electricity caught anything in its way, the whole building would be a pile of ruins. The sword navi spoke to his operator. This is even worse than I had expected, master Chaud. It would seem that this whole place is just a huge minefield.

Chaud replied. Can you make it to the explosives?

I believe that I can make it beyond those lightning rods, but the chances of success are very slim compared to my usual estimations.

There's no choice, commence the operation.

Starting mission. The red navi swiftly ran toward the lightning rods and managed to jump between four lightning rods that were in a square shape, he calculated the pause between each bolts and managed to get through half a dozen of them, he was very thankful that he had been properly trained for this kinds of situations. Another row of rods, that were dangerously close to the other row, stood before him; he ran through the first one, but was stopped by the bolt of lightning who appeared just as he was getting going through the second one. The blast of electricity was but an inch from his chest, any single movement would trigger the whole trap, fortunately, the lightning stopped and he made it safely through the second row. After a whole series of close calls, ProtoMan managed to move past the rods, he knew that he was close to the main terminal, from which this navi controlled the bank.

He quickly found out the culprit, who was keeping an eye on the whole bank while the money was transferred. This navi looked like a giant version of a Billy viruse, he was tall and orange in color with a few splashes of yellow; he had two oversized needles instead of his arms and had a strange metallic thing over his head that created small sparks as he was muttering to himself. Hahahaha!!! Yes, stay quiet little fools, the money will soon reach my master… ProtoMan obviously saw that this virus-like navi hadn't noticed him yet, if he could sneak just close enough, he could end this right away. He silently approached behind the navi, he was but a few step away from him now; suddenly, the navi raised his arms and created a big flash of light. The sword navi sensors were temporarily blinded and all that he could do was to swing his sword all around him. Hmph… He had warned me that I might get some company, looks like he was right. It doesn't matters now; no one stands in the way of SparkMan hahaha!!! The elec navi swung his right needle at ProtoMan who was sent on the ground, he recovered his sight and saw SparkMan heading toward the console. Too bad for those poor innocents, you should had obeyed when I told you to!

I won't allow you! The sword navi bounced at an unsettling speed toward the orange navi, who blocked his sword with both of his needles.

Hehehe! Bad plan! A strong blast of electricity went through his needles and ProtoMan took the whole blast on himself, which caused him to lower his guard. Once again, I win! SparkMan raised his left needle above and lowered it vertically to smash the red navi.

Bamboo Sword, Slot-In! A blade made of bamboo appeared instead of ProtoMan forearm and was enough to stop the approaching needle.

Oh well, let's try something else, Invis Flash! The sword navi was overcome with blindness once again. Hehe! Spark Bomb! A large explosion could be heard around ProtoMan, but strangely enough, he was ok.

Huh?

Damn those things, I'll get you good this time.

Oh no you don't. ProtoMan vanished, leaving a surprised SparkMan to seek him out, the red navi noticed an opening and struck his sword in the elec navi sides.

Grrr! I know tricks like these too. SparkMan vanished and found was now at a safe distance from ProtoMan. I fear that this fight is over, ELEC DRAGON!!! A large sparkling explosion of electricity began to move toward ProtoMan in a serpentine manner.

Fire Aura, slot-in! A flaming barrier saved ProtoMan from the explosions, the sword navi lost no time and made a brutal slash at the elec navi.

First, this Megaman, and now you… I will not allow it!!!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next Week: Chapter 12: Darkness Unleashed.