The Pain Of Loss Chapter 18 – The Beginning of a Nightmare
Me: Well, this is definitely an interesting question.
Roll Casket: Hm? What would that be?
Me: Oh, just flippin' through reviews. I found a real interestin' question here. Anime Master ZERO's asking if I'm gonna make an army of Navis like in the anime, or it'll be down to the two Navis and one operator.
Cutman.EXE: Just don't say who the operator is.
Me: Nah, that'd spoil the game. Anywho, I'm kind of going to be inbetween, as you'll see in this chapter. No, Navis like Burnerman and Coldman won't be opponents here, but yes, there are gonna be a lot of good memories brought back. One example will be our friend Knightman.EXE! Good guy in the series, but bad in the games. I try and stick mostly to game plot, especially because the anime was butchered when it came to America. Besides, the game came first, so I believe it holds the most rights.
Mayl: Talk about getting in deep...
Me: I like explaining things. ON WITH THE STORY NOW!!!
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Roll groaned a bit as she lay once more in the Virus Lab. She was currently receiving the best medical treatment available, on request personally by Dr. Hikari and Chaud. Mayl sighed, watching the process on screen as they transferred energy into her. "Lan... I'm scared for her. She's never been this drained before, ever..." Lan sighed, holding Mayl close and rubbing her back as he watched with her. "From what Protoman said, she did have a lot of her power forcefully removed from her body. I think that would leave anyone in this state..." Chaud came in from behind, his hands in his pockets. "We have to find Kali, though... With Roll's powers, she and whatever organization she's leading will be a huge threat to Net Society. We have to nip this in the bud, before it turns into a real problem." Roll's eyes fluttered open, having been barely conscious the entire time. She looked to Chaud, Lan, and Mayl through the screen, careful not to move so as not to disrupt all the wires streaming energy into her body. "As... As soon as I'm back on my feet, I'll help..."
Mayl shook her head, stomping a foot down, screaming at the top of her lungs. "NO!!!" Lan and Chaud blinked, stunned by this outburst. Mayl looked to Roll, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Roll, you don't stand a chance if Kali uses your own powers against you, you know that!!!" Roll smiled weakly, then shook her head. "Mayl... I've never stood out of any fight that involved our friends before... And this time, it's my fault all this is happening. Kali is my darkness, and it's my responsibility to stop her..." Mayl lowered her head, her fists clenched. "Roll..." Roll sighed, lying back and shutting her eyes. "And... besides... There was still all of Protoman's training, and you can still operate me... If we work together, Kali can be stopped, I'm sure of it... Please, Mayl, I beg of you, let me fight..."
Mayl stood silently, tears dripping off her face and onto the floor. She sniffed a bit, then smiled weakly, looking up to Roll. "... Roll, I've always thought of you as my little sister... and we've been there for each other for as long as I can remember... Alright Roll, we'll go with them." Lan sighed, leaning back onto one of the control panels and sticking his tongue out a bit. "Guess it's my turn to sit on the sidelines while you guys nail the big ones, huh?" Mayl giggled a bit, then walked to Lan. She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a long, passionate kiss. It was at this time Dex and Yai arrived, too. Dex had a large, satisfied grin upon his face. "I've got Gutsman customized and ready to g---..." His sentence was cut short at the sight of Mayl kissing Lan. Dex sweatdropped, then sulked, his high spirits taking a plunge right into the rocks of reality. Mayl broke the kiss, smiling to Lan. "Just root us on, okay...?" Lan blushed heavily, nodding to her with a great smile on his face. "... Yeah... Megaman and I'll both root you on..." In the meantime, Yai was currently crouched down by Dex, who was sulking in a corner. She poked him every couple of seconds, an embarrassed look upon her face. "Dex, you can stop acting like such a baby now..."
The next day at Scilab, preparations for battle were being completed. In the Beach Area, just before the gate to the Undernet, Roll was back on her feet, and strangely enough, in great fighting form. She slashed a Cyber Sword through the air, getting some warm-up slices in before she and the others went off to battle. Many good friends had shown up to assist them in the fight. Among them were Tori and Iceman, Sal and Woodman, Masa and Sharkman, Miyu and Skullman, Higsby and Numberman, and of course, Gutsman and Dex, and Yai and Glyde. Roll and Mayl were going to lead the group with Chaud and Protoman. Protoman sighed, turning his back to the group and giving a nod to a communications link hovering above them. Chaud was facing through it.
He gave a simple nod, looking to the Navi Operators and beginning to speak. "Everyone, we're going deep into the Undernet again, but this time, it's going to be far more dangerous. We're going after what is most likely the beginning of an International Net crime syndicate. This is an extremely dangerous task, and it's quite possible some of your Navis may be totally deleted. If anyone here has any second thoughts, then go. No one in this room will think any less of you." After this, there was a silence in the room. Tori smiled, looking to Chaud. "Look, if we wanted to back out, we would have done it when we got word of this." Sal nodded, smiling. "Woodman and I won't let you guys handle this yourselves." Higsby nodded, looking to Numberman. Numberman nodded in return, looking to Protoman. "We're all going to fight this out to the bitter end, and there's no chance any of us are backing down, am I right?"
"I'll say you are!!!", called a mysterious, yet familiar voice. This turned everyone's heads, on the Net, and in the real world. Tora and Raoul walked in, giving nods. Lan stood up from a chair he was in away from the group, walking over to the duo and nodding. "Glad you guys got my e-mail." Tora slapped Lan on the back, chuckling a bit. "Hey, I wouldn't miss this for the world!!! We nailed Wily's base together, you think I'd let you guys go up against a group like this by yourselves? No chance!!!" Raoul nodded, walking to one of the remaining Jack-in ports and sending Thunderman onto the Net. Raoul looked to the rest of the group, giving a simple nod. "Lan defeated me, and in so, defeated my clan. At the very least, I owe him this much to honor his Net Battle skills." Lan sweatdropped, scratching the back of his head. "Can we just get on with this, you guys? They're not gonna wait for us down there!!!" Everyone nodded at once and turned their attention to the PETs. Protoman formed his Hero Sword and pointed forward to the Undernet's gate. "Alright everyone, move out!!!"
Kali grinned a bit, watching as the horde of Navis entered the Undernet. Laserman had ordered the rest of Nebula to clear out of the old base to a new one currently under development. This was because Kali pointed out that if Nebula was to be prematurely exposed to Net Officials, then all of their activities would be jeopardized. Kali paced a little bit, keeping the energy sphere tightly in her grasp. The sphere was already well over 75% consumed by darkness. "It's not fully ready yet... But I have enough to create a few delays. Let's see here... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11... An 11 Navi and Operator attack force." Her grin turned to a look of minor concern. She looked to the sphere, smirking.
"Well, I guess that I'll just have to bring back a few of those other weaklings... First up will be..." She shut her eyes, thinking hard. Once she had the Navi she would use in mind, a black cloud formed before her. From it, a large figure, sparking electricity appeared. As the cloud died, a red, white, black and gray uniform could be seen upon the bulky figure. Kali smirked, opening a portal to Undernet 1. "Magnetman Omega!!! I've revived you to annihilate the group on screen to my left. You will fight until either they are deleted, or you are. Are we clear?!" Magnetman gave a nod, soulless eyes gazing at Kali. Kali grinned a bit, tapping into the sphere's energies once more and sending Magnetman to the passage between Undernet 1 and Undernet 2. Kali sat down in a large, black chair, looking at the screen. "It's too bad that right now I can only summon and teleport one Navi Ghost at a time... But I should at least be able to delay them until I can tap into it's full power... Come along now, boys and girls. You'll all be deleted by the end of the day!!!"
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Roll Light: Jeez, you think they have enough firepower?
Me: Not hardly. But I'll make due.
Lan: How exactly do you plan to do that?! Roll's Trump Card's in the hands of that psycho copy!!!
Kali: This "Psycho Copy" could kick your sorry butt any day, you little twerp.
Me: Sheeee's got a point Lan. Remember, outside the story, there's nothing to hold her back from... #Blinks at the sudden crashes in the background, then turns slowly, wincing at the sight of a badly beaten and mangled Lan.# ... I warned you...
All Navis in the current Battle Party in the story: WE HAVE TO FIGHT THAT?!!
Me: ... maybe I overpowered her...
Mayl: YA THINK?!!
Me: No, I KNOW! Ah well, I'm good at improvising, I'll figure something out. That's it for this chapter, ladies and gents!!! See ya in Chapter 19!!!