A/N: Happy early Mother's Day, you guys. I hope no one realizes that every time I need to info-dump in this fic, I basically have Forte mansplain a bunch of stuff to Rockman. It's the only way.
FallenwaterTheFallen: I think that things will most certainly be different in that AU, but probably in the way that most of the terrorist organizations would probably be foiled before they could cause any real damage, considering a lot of the things that happened regarding security leaks pretty much boiled down to pure incompetency. But that's just my take on things. Glad you're still finding the Extra chapters enjoyable, though.
CitrusMan: Hm. I've already have a resolution in mind for most of the "bosses" in the series like the Drean Virus and Gospel, but I'm still highly uncertain on what I'll do with the Cybeasts. But the good thing about that is that I still have a long, long time before I really have to worry about that. Also, about side pairings, I'm still uncertain on a lot of them, so there's still a chance for viewers to influence me towards the pairings they'd want to see in this fic.
"AIIIEEEEE!"
"Mom!" Both Hub and Netto Hikari ran into the kitchen once they heard the distressed cry of their mother. At the far side of the room, dark smoke was fuming from the stove.
"Mom, are you alright?" Netto went over to his mother, helping her to her feet.
"I'm- I'm fine…" Their mother was still obviously startled. "The stove just suddenly…!"
Before she could finished, a loud explosion was heard from the outside. Heading over and peering out of the window, Hub realized that the noise had come from one of the neighbouring houses. He could see fire spewing from one of the shattered windows of their home.
"What's happening…?" The elder Hikari was already suspecting that something was up. There was no way this was a coincidence.
"Hub-san, there's an emergency broadcast!" Rockman Zero spoke out from his PET.
"What is it?"
"A series of virus attacks have occured one after another, and WWW has claimed responsibility for all of it!" Zero explained the situation. "It seems WWW has launched a full scale attack on network society!"
"That's not good!" Netto frowned as he realized what was happening. "Nii-san, let's go and see if we can do anything about it!"
"Hub! Netto! Wait!" Mrs. Hikari attempted to stop her two sons, but the twins had already ran outside of the house. The situation only got worse outside, with fires occurring all around their neighbourhood, and traffic seemed to have come to a complete halt with the traffic lights flickering on and off at random. The two twins narrowly dodged out of the way of a car as it crashed into a light pole.
"They must be launching the attack from within the city center inside the cyber world if they're able to cause so much havoc all at once!" Rockman X quickly came to the conclusion. "If we can stop the attack from there, perhaps we can prevent the situation from getting any worse!"
"Alright then, let's do it." Netto nodded. "We have to do at least do something to help!" Finding a public place to plug in, the two twins took out their PETs. "Plug in-"
"Rockman X!"
"Rockman Zero!"
"Transmission!"
As both NetNavies plugged into the city's network all at once, they instantly realized the severity of the situation; hundreds upon thousands of viruses were clawing around the cyberworld, breaking and tearing apart the network, causing a series of network malfunctions in their wake.
"What kind of viruses are those?" Rockman X wondered as he formed his hand into a buster. "I've never seen anything like them before."
"Perhaps it's some sort of specialized viruses that WWW had developed for this." Rockman Zero reasoned, turning his arm into a sword. "...There's something weird about these viruses, though…"
X didn't get the chance to ponder on his partner's statement as one of the bug-like viruses lept towards him. Raising his buster, he fired a charged shot at the virus, but instead of damaging or deleting it as the blue Navi had expected, a circular object manifested itself around the virus, protecting it from his attack as the shit collided with it instead of the virus.
"Wh-what?" Completely shocked by the turnout, X was unprepared as the virus made another charge towards him, its fangs bared as it made growling, chattering noises.
"X, watch out!"
Before the virus could latch its fangs onto X, Zero reacted, slashing his sword at the bug-like viruses, slicing through its protective barrier and deleting the virus in one fell swoop. "X! Are you alright?"
"I'm okay, thanks to you." Rockman X took a moment to calm himself. "I didn't expect that virus to have some sort of aura, though."
Rockman Zero shook his head. "Your shot had weakened its aura enough for me to attack it directly. But we definitely need to be more careful moving forward- It appears all of these viruses have an aura attached to them."
"I guess this only confirms that WWW had made this sort of virus themselves." Hub said.
"That doesn't matter; The important thing right now is to find out where they're sending the viruses from, and stop them!" His younger sibling decided. "X, can you track where the viruses are coming from?"
"I think so." His NetNavi paused briefly, assessing the situation. "It appears they're all coming from within one of the more central areas of the city."
"Alright, head over there now; If we can stop the source of the viruses, we can stop things from getting worse!"
Both Navies nodded. "Got it!"
As the two made their way towards were the viruses were being released from, more of the bug-like viruses began to attack them as they got close; while they appeared similar in shape and size, they were different in colour, and appeared to have different coloured auras as well.
"No wonder WWW managed to cause such chaos in just a short period of time; I don't imagine a lot of Normal Navies being able to handle such advanced viruses." Zero realized as he slashed at another virus that had leapt at him.
"I know." X agreed. "Virus attacks are already difficult to deal with, but if all of those viruses have each of their own individual auras…" The blue Navi trailed off, both him and his companion already knowing the unspoken implication of that statement.
It didn't take long for the red and blue Navies to reach their destination, as the two didn't concern themselves too much with fighting all of the viruses that were in their way. The two Navies stopped as they saw the wrap portal dead in the center of the city's network that was being used to transport the viruses all over the cyberworld.
"So this is where all the viruses were coming from." Zero readied himself for an attack as he raised his sword. "Now all we need to do is destroy it-"
"I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that."
"!"
Before the two Navies could react, a gust of wind had knocked the both of then off their feet, the culprit slowly floating down from the air as he revealed himself.
"Who're you?" Rockman X asked once he'd gotten back onto his feet, his buster aimed at the newcomer.
"I am Swallowman!" The Navi proclaimed, spreading his wings wide. "And WWW has placed me in charge of overseeing the destruction of this area!"
"So you're a WWW Navi as well." Zero narrowed his eyes, bracing himself. "Figures."
"I wouldn't call myself that." Swallowman seemed mildly annoyed. "I can't say I particularly care for any of WWW's agendas, but…" At this, the bird Navi grinned. "Well, they pay me surprisingly well."
"A mercenary!" X realized.
"So, here's the deal." Swallowman continued, his manner completely unconcerned. "Either you two can plug out right now and we both win as you two get to keep on functioning, and that also means less work for me. Or if you insist on fighting me, I'd have no choice but to get my hands dirty and delete the both of you." The bird Navi shrugged at that. "Your choice, really, though I'd really much prefer it if you chose the first option."
"As if we'll just do nothing and watch!" Zero snarled, slightly angered. "We'll defeat you and stop the virus attacks!"
"Alright then." Swallowman mock-sighed. "I suppose I have to take care of the two of you, then."
Then, as soon as he'd finished his sentence, the bird Navi disappeared into a gust of wind, surprising both red and blue Navies. Swallowman then reappeared in front of Zero, and with the swing of his hand, knocked the red Navi over once more.
"Zero!" Hub was alarmed.
"I'm alright!" The red Navi insisted, quickly scrambling to his feet. "I'm not letting this Navi beat me that easily!"
"Are you sure about that?"
"What?" The red Navi was confused for a brief moment, before he realized what Swallowman had meant; The bird Navi had Rockman X in a tight grip, preventing the blue Navi from moving or escaping.
"X!"
"Well, if you insist, go on and attack me, then." Swallowman taunted the red Navi.
"That's fighting dirty!" The younger Hikari yelled.
"Well, I did offer to let the two of you go, but you refused." Swallowman said, feigning innocence. He turned to Zero once more. "Well? What are you waiting for? I'm standing right here!"
"...!" Zero stood there, paralyzed. He couldn't just attack the other Navi when that meant putting his friend directly in harm's way!
"Tch. How disappointing." Swallowman said with mock disappointment. Then, his expression turned wicked. "Say goodbye to your little friend!"
Zero was alarmed as the bird Navi shot up into the air with X in his claws, Swallowman spreading his wings as if preparing for another attack. However, before he could do anything else, a shuriken had lodged itself deep into his back, causing him to drop Rockman X in shock.
"X!" Seeing his friend being dropped from such a height, Rockman Zero dashed over and caught him before he could hit the ground. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah." The blue Navi coughed. "I'm- I'm fine."
"Tch." The two red and blue Navies looked over, seeing that Swallowman had fallen onto the ground as well, but his attention was no longer directed at the two of them. "...So, you're still alive."
Following Swallowman's gaze, X and Zero quickly recognized the NetNavi he was addressing. "Shadowman!"
Despite being heavily damaged, the bird Navi still kept his cool composure. "I shouldn't expect anything less than cheap shots from a NetNavi like you." He smirked at the shadow Navi.
"Funny." Shadowman narrowed his eyes. "I could have said the same for you."
Swallowman fell strangely quiet for a moment, as if assessing hus situation, before he stood back up shakily, laughing. "...Do what you must. I know when I am beaten." Then, he fell back into the wrap portal as Shadowman had leapt forward with a sword attack, slashing the portal in half and destroying it, the portal exploding shortly after, effectively preventing any more viruses from being transported over to the area.
"Shadowman…" X was once again surprised by the sudden appearance of the other Navi. "...Thanks for helping us. Again." Then, the blur Navi realized something. "Were you acquainted with that other Navi just now…?"
"I have a score to settle with him." Shadowman merely said. Then, he turned to the two Hikaris. "There is something you two must know."
"Huh?" Both of the Hikaris were confused. "What is it?"
"Right now, WWW is preparing for their final attack." Shadowman began. "They have taken over SciLabs in what they are calling the "End Game", where they will use the SciLabs computers to control the satellite systems, causing the satellites to collide into your world en mass, resulting in major casualties."
"That's terrible!" The younger Hikari gasped. Then, he appeared to have noticed something. His elder sibling seemed to have caught on as well. "Wait, WWW has taken over SciLabs…?"
"That is correct." Shadowman confirmed. "You father is currently being held hostage by WWW."
