A/N: Falling sick is not what I meant by "free me from this existence", but thanks, anyways, whoever's looking after me up there. Anyways, hope you guys like the new cover art. Took me like 5 hours to make. Why do I do this to myself.
FallenwaterTheFallen: I'm not sure what Forte's cloak is made of, but I guess I can imagine some sort of strategic advantage that it can have? Like since his cloak covers his form, if you were aimed at a distance you'll be more likely to hit his cloak instead of his actual body, plus that cloak makes him look scarier and that can maybe intimidate his enemies? Or it could just be to make him look cool, I don't know.
"Shadowman!" Rockman reacted a bit belatedly. The shadow Navi was already nowhere to be seen.
"What just happened?!" Within the Battle Dome were the murmurs of the audience as they attempted to make sense of what had just occurred. "All four of the NetNavi contestants have vanished!"
"They're traveling through the cyberworld!" Higgory realized as he attempted to track the four Navies on his laptop. "They're going at an incredible speed… Ahh!" Higgory flinched back as the screen of his laptop exploded from the overflow of data.
"What to do…?" Kiro mumbled softly to herself as she flipped through the N1 Grand Prix Manuel. "There's nothing in the rules about this! This has never happened before! ...Huh?" The reporter looked up as one of the staff handed her a cue card. "Ah! It seems that we've come to a decision!" Quickly, she took the card and read from it. "If both pairs do not return to the Battle Sphere within fifteen minutes, they will both be disqualified!"
"What? Just fifteen minutes?" The younger Hikari panicked. "There's no way we can track X and Zero in time!"
His elder sibling frowned as well. "If we had an idea where they were taken to, we could… huh?"
A flashing light coming from outside the Battle Dome had caught his attention. Netto Hikari had noticed it, too, and the two twins looked to see that it had come from the lighthouse some distance away from the arena. They hadn't realized how cloudy it had gotten.
"That's the lighthouse…" Netto raised an eyebrow. "...But why's it flashing like that suddenly?"
"..." Hub Hikari was silent for a moment, his eyes fixated at the blinking light, before he gasped as he realized something. "It's flashing in Morse code!"
"What code?" His younger sibling gave him a confused look.
"Three short flashes, followed by three long flashes and then another three short flashes." Hub quickly explained as he pulled the cable connecting his PET from the Battle Sphere out. "It spells 'SOS'! I bet Zero or X had something to do with it!" He turned and ran off the stage. "Come on, let's go!"
"H-hey! Nii-san!" The younger Hikari yanked the cable of his PET from the Battle Sphere as well, not fully comprehending his elder sibling's explanation. "Wait for me!"
Shadowman stepped away from the control panel of the lighthouse. He wasn't completely sure if the two children would understand the message in the blinking lights, but that Hub Hikari seemed like a bright kid. He reasoned that at least the elder of the two would be able to catch onto the hint.
In the meantime, though, he had to make sure those two Red and Blue Navies aren't too badly damaged.
Stepping onto the edge of the platform, he looked over to see that both the twin's Navi had gone of the defensive, focusing their efforts on avoiding Bomberman and Stoneman's attacks instead of engaging them. At least they were smart enough to realize that this gave them the best chances of survival.
"Kuhuhuh… You can't run forever…" Stoneman grumbled as he summoned another attack. "Quake!"
Several more weights fell from the sky, landing around the red and blue pair, the aftershock from one of the weights managing to knock Rockman X off his feet.
"I've got you now!" Seeing his opportunity, Bomberman summoned several more bombs and threw them at the downed Navi. "Take that!"
"X! Watch out!" Forming his hand into a sword, Rockman Zero slashed the bombs apart before they could hit their mark. "Are you alright?"
"I- I'm fine!" Rockman X insisted as he stood back up. "Right now, we need some way to contact Netto and Hub!
"I know, but…!" Rockman Zero looked back at the two independent Navies. As much as he knew that Rockman X had a point, he didn't think their attacks would let up long enough for them to reach either of their operators.
"I'll bury you alive!" Stoneman let out a loud rumble, summoning even more weights. "Delete!"
Before the two red and blue Navies could react, weight after weight landed in a circle around them, effectively trapping them in place. Stoneman brought brought both of his arm-like appendages down, and a final weight began to fall directly on top of them.
"Zero! We're not getting out of the way of this one!" Rockman X quickly realized.
"Damn it, we'll just have to…!" Before Rockman Zero could finish, the huge weight landed on top of them, a loud rumble sounding out in the aftermath.
"Kuhuhuh… Target, deleted…" Stoneman appeared pleased with himself, before he noticed something. "...Hm…?"
Within the rubble, both Rockman X and Rockman Zero were still functioning; the two Navies were using their combined strength to support the Quake to avoid being crushed.
"Hm… Still alive…" Stoneman mumbled, slightly annoyed. "What about this, then?"
Raising both his arms, Stoneman prepared for a massive attack. Weight after weight was summoned, filling the entire area with Quakes afloat in the air. "Kuhuhuh! Nowhere to run this time!"
Slamming his arms onto the ground, the weights began to drop in sync, speeding closer and closer towards the ground. Shadowman grabbed the hilt of his sword. 'Time to intervene.'
"You know, for someone who spends so much time worrying about other people, you should really be worrying about yourself."
"!"
The shadow Navi turned, alarmed that he hadn't sensed whoever it was that had snuck up on him, but it was too late. In an instant, a force slammed into him, and he was thrown off the platform he was standing on, and directly in the way of stoneman's attack, a loud crash and rumble echoed throughout the entire area as the quakes fell on top of each other.
"Kuhuhuh… It has been done…" Stoneman was convinced that he had indeed accomplished his task this time. He turned to his companion. "Bomberman, let's return to the Battle Sphere." Raising his arm, he fired a shot, another portal opening in its wake.
However, before one of them could step a step forward, the sound of several buster shots interrupted them. The two independent Navies turned to see the pile of weights crumbling, Rockman X and Rockman Zero leaping out from the rubble just moments after.
"That was too close!" Rockman Zero complained.
"Sorry! Sorry!" It was Hub Hikari. It seemed that he had plugged into the lighthouse systems.
"At least we made it, right?" This time it was Netto Hikari, his holographic image appearing besides that of his elder siblings.
Stoneman let out a low growl of annoyance. He turned back to Bomberman. "Bomberman! You go back and win the match. I'll take care of these two once and for all!"
"Alright." Bomberman agreed. "You follow once you've dealt with those two." With that, the bomb Navi disappeared into the portal.
"Netto-kun. If we don't send either X or Zero back to the Battle Sphere, we'll be disqualified." Hub quickly realized.
"I know, I know!" Netto frowned. "But how are we going to get past that guy?" He was referring to Stoneman.
"..." Hub silently considered his options for a moment, before he turned to his younger sibling. "Netto, when I give you the signal, have X run for that portal."
"What?" Netto stared at him. "I'm not leaving you are Zero behind!"
"You're not. As long as either X or Zero can make it back to the Battle Sphere, we can both advance to the next round." Hub told him. Then, he turned back to the battle at hand. "...Zero, let's try it."
"...Hub-san?"
The elder Hikari took out three Battle Chips. "...Programme Advance!"
The red Navi got the idea instantly. Standing upright, he prepared for the attack. Both Navi and operator pausing for a moment to gathering themselves.
"Attack Battle Chip; Sword! Slot in!" Hub Hikari slotted in the first Battle Chip. Rockman Zero held his arm out, forming one of his hands into a sword.
"Nii-san…!" The younger Hikari stared in awe and wonder besides him.
"Attack Battle Chip; Wide Sword! Slot in!" As the second chip data was sent, Rockman Zero's other arm transformed into the Wide Sword.
"Your efforts are futile!" Stoneman rumbled. He raised his arms. "Stone Cube!"
As Stoneman's attack flew towards Rockman Zero, Hub quickly put in the third battle chip. "Attack Battle Chip; Long Sword! Slot in!"
Raising both arms high above his head, Rockman Zero brought the two swords together, the three swords combining and turning into something else entirely.
"Beta Sword!" A wave of energy was emitted as Rockman Zero swung the newly formed sword at the oncoming attack, slicing the Stone Cube in half. Seeing this, Hub quickly gave the signal. "Now!"
"On it!" With a leap, Rockman X landed on top of the wave of energy produced by the Programme Advance, and he was sent into the portal, riding the wave of energy back to the Battle Sphere before Stoneman could stop him. As the portal closed, Rockman Zero fell to his knees, the Programme Advance having drained the rest of his strength.
"Why you…!" Seeing one of his targets had escaped, Stoneman decided to turn his rage towards the red Navi. The large Navi raised his arm, intending to crush the other under his weight, but Rockman Zero disappeared before he could bring his arm down- Hub Hikari had plugged him out of the system.
Back in the Battle Dome, another flash of bright light shone out from the Battle Sphere, before both Rockman X and Bomberman landed into the Battle Sphere once more.
"Both Bomberman and Rockman X has made it back to the Battle Sphere with only seconds to spare!" Kiro quickly announced. "Both teams will be continuing onto the next round in the tournament!"
As the crowd cheered, Bomberman only regarded the other Navi in the Battle Sphere carefully.
"Rockman X…" The bomb Navi narrowed his eyes at the other. "...We'll be seeing each other again… Very soon."