Author's Note: I don't own you don't sue.
Whew, I just set a personal record for creating a fic, and considering my schedule, that's amazing. And I don't care if it's in character or not, Chaud's NOT going to be a major jerk in this fic.
Anyways, this is the much sought after (yeah right) sequel to Darkness Before Dawn, and while it isn't necessary for you to read that story, it will explain a lot of what's happening, because I'm not going to back up and explain things again.
So get ready, more Roll action, more Style Changes, more Unisons, more Competition, and more Proto-Man hair jokes coming your way! (Sorry S. Rain)
Begin Chapter.
"So, Roll, is there anything in the E-mail, preferably nothing Spam?" I asked as I exited my room.
"Two more invitations to a new Netbattling tournament, and a Netnews News flash."
"Another invitation?" I spoke into the black world, "why are they after me so much?"
"Well, we did win the Tag Team Tournament, with Lan and Mega-Man." My pink friend replied. "And-"
"Because I'm the first blind Netbattler to enter and win championship competition, everyone thinks I'm a celebrity of some kind." I finished for her.
"You read my mind." I could hear the grin in her voice. "So I'll just junk these. The Netnews isn't that much better, a new virus, strategies, etc. Oh my..."
"What? What's wrong?" I felt my walking stick make contact with something, a chair if I remembered correctly, so I maneuvered around it. "Roll?"
"The Youth Hospital's in serious financial trouble." The Navi answered me. "Evidently, their former executive embezzled most of their funds, and then took off. They aren't sure if they're going to find him."
"That's terrible!" I stopped short. "Are they going to be alright?"
"I don't know..." Roll's voice was distant, like she was still processing the information, "A lot of their money's missing, and according to this, most of their bills haven't been paid in quite a while... they're really in the hole, it's a real mess. That's one of the problems with everything being so digital, there's little or no paper trail, so it takes much longer for everyone to catch on."
"There must be something we can do." I thought over my options, which were slim to none. "That place gave us so much help right after I went blind, much more than ACDC Community."
"I know, we just have to think of something." My friend commented, "What could we do? It's not like we can make enough Zen busting viruses, it would take years to get enough cash that way."
"That's it!" Roll's statement gave me a thread of inspiration. "Quick, retrieve those E-mails! Check them to see if anyone of them is giving away Zenny as a first place prize."
"There's... one giving away a fifty thousand Zenny prize." The pink Navi's voice said, "plus a Level Five Rarity Hero Sword chip."
"Higsby'd give his right arm for one of those." I agreed, "What about that other one? Is it any good?"
"I don't think so..." Roll replied, "It's just a rare chip for first place. The other one's a much better goal to shoot for, it's called the 'Battle Expo'."
"Alright then," I started walking again, "I know fifty thousand and what we can get for the chip won't be a enough, but it'll be a start."
"Right," Roll agreed, "Let's go win this tournament, for the Youth Hospital!"
After getting my parents clearance, fortunately they understood my desire to help; me and Roll headed across town to register for the Battle Expo.
Going outside and moving down busy streets just didn't scare me that much anymore, I had Roll to tell me where the obstacles where, and what color the street lights were showing. So between her and my cane, I didn't have that much trouble moving through town.
Or at least I shouldn't have.
I had only gone about a mile, when I felt someone snatch the cane from my hands. That could only mean trouble.
"Hey!" I put up a front, "Give that back!"
"Oh, don't play with us, missy." A deep voice replied. "We know that you're blind, and helpless."
'Helpless?' Where had they guy been for the past month? If he thought I was helpless, then he had another thing coming to him. I played for time as I tried to home in on his position. "Just give me my cane back, and I'll be on my way."
"Maylu," Roll whispered, "there's three of them."
"Not likely." Deep Voice didn't seem to hear my Navi. "First off, we want all the cash you've got. Including the digital kind in the P-E-T."
'Keep talking' I begged silently, I just needed a few more sentences and then I'd have it.
"And if I don't?"
"You'll regret it." Deep Voice stated.
I had him. Without warning whatsoever, I sent my palm through the air, toward the place that Deep Voice just had to be occupying. I connected with him.
"Hey!" Deep Voice roared in shock from my slap in his face.
I didn't give them an instant to recover; I just bolted past the guy and took off down the street. I heard footsteps behind me, evidently they weren't going to give up that easily.
"Maylu, wait!" Roll screamed, "We're approaching an intersection, and the lights against us!"
"What?" I slid to a stop, now I was trapped between rushing traffic and three street thugs. Not the best place in the world.
"Now you'll pay for that." Deep Voice said.
"I don't intend to." I kept bluffing, I had caught them off guard before, but now they'd be more wary of me. "Why don't you quit while you're ahead?"
"Just give us your cash!" A new voice snapped.
"Is there a problem?" A completely different voice came through the air, this one I recognized.
"Blazes!" Deep Voice shouted in disbelief.
"No, it's Blaze." Chaud muttered, "I don't think you'd care to mess with me, do you?"
Silence.
"It's all just a little joke." Deep Voice's entire tune changed, "Just a little, uh, prank, here, you can have her stick, we're beating it."
I heard their footsteps fade away as they beat a retreat. That had been too close, way to close, but it was strange since Dan Tech didn't have that high of a crime rate. It was basically just the WWW we had to watch out for, but I guess a robbery wouldn't be that unusual.
"I'm impressed." The Op interrupted my thoughts, "If that light hadn't been red, I think you'd have gotten away."
"Uh, thanks." I was a little shocked at his compliment, "Thanks for stepping in."
"Just doing my job." Chaud replied, "Here's your cane. What were doing around here?"
"I was on my way to register for the Battle Expo." I felt the stick being pressed in my hand, "It looks like me and Roll are going to enter that competition."
"Really."
"You entered too didn't you?" It was an unnecessary question; I could hear it in his voice.
"I have." Chaud confirmed my suspicions, "It looks like we'll get to clash again, and I'll be ready to win back my title."
"I'm sure you will." I nodded for his benefit. "Well, I'd better get a move on, nice running into you."
"I'd have preferred other circumstances." The Op replied, just before his footsteps sounded.
"You know," I turned and headed for the Expo Building, "Chaud really isn't that bad when he's not acting like a jerk."
"Ooh," Roll quipped. "Could Lan have some competition? Maybe, with a certain black and white haired Operator?"
"Please, we're just friends," I could feel my face getting red.
"I know, we're there." My Navi informed me, "Door on the left, automatic."
"Thanks," I didn't have to worry about opening the door, according to Roll it was one of those automatic jobs that opened by themselves. Inside the building we quickly found the registration desk and got signed up. Having such a complicated Networking system may have removed the paper, but we had yet to remove the paperwork from society.
The registration went fairly quickly, and of course they were excited that I had decided to compete. But one of the workers there dropped a bombshell on Roll and me.
"What could be better?" The worker wondered aloud, "We've got that Blaze kid, Maylu here, and Hikari, is this going to be a match or what?"
"LAN'S COMPETING!" My jaw dropped open. How could Roll and I fight against him and Mega-Man?
End Chapter.
A.N.: Oh my, is this unexpected or what?
Next: Preparations.
Next Update: Tuesday.