The Pain Of Loss Chapter 24 – The Darkest of Souls, Part 1
Me: #Sighs, 5 minutes after the brawl sweeping up remains of some Robot Masters while Numberman.EXE collects some Navi Data floating around in the air#
Roll.EXE: #Sighs, dumping some parts in the Recycle Bin# Man, these guys made such a mess of the place.
Me: Tell me about it. I HATE cleaning, and look what I gotta do now!!! #Grumbles and kicks Megaman X's head#
Megaman X's Head: HEY!!! THAT HURTS YA JERK!!!
Me: GAAAHH!! ZOMBIE REPLOID!!! #Lets off a barrage of Fox Fire and decimates the head, strangely enough leaving the memory and personality chips intact.#
Alia: DEATH!!! JUST BECAUSE YOU SEVER A REPLOID'S SPINE DOESN'T MEAN IT DIES!!! THE FUNCTIONS ARE IN THE SKULL!!!
Me: ... Um... #Whistles innocently and walks off from the dust pile while Roll Light sweeps up the ashes#
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Roll grit her teeth, standing up quickly. "PROTOMAN!!!" She started forward, but Protoman immediately held up a hand, glaring to her. "DON'T!!! Save your energy for Kali!!! I can handle this!!!" Chaud looked to the other Net Ops, nodding to them. "Everyone but Mayl, jack out now. Your Navis conditions are too critical to continue onward..." Everyone sighed, reluctantly bringing their Navis out. Tori looked to Chaud, a serious expression upon his face. "We're going to stay here though and root you guys on..." Mayl and Chaud smiled a bit, nodding. Both quickly turned their attentions back to the battle at hand. Just as Protoman stood up, the Dark Protoman charged. Chaud threw in the chips for the Barrier 500 Advance, only barely making it in time for Protoman to block. Dark Protoman chuckled, shaking his head. "Too bad it's not Life Aura. Maybe you'd actually stand a chance then!!!" Wasting absolutely no time, Dark Protoman vanished, hacking and slashing wildly at the barrier. This pressure was far too much, and the barrier almost instantly crumbled, leaving Protoman vulnerable to hundreds of attacks, one after the other. Protoman howled out in pain, taking one slash after the other in continuation. Dark Protoman showed no signs of letting up at all.
Roll grit her teeth, shaking her head. "I can't let this continue...!" Roll shut her eyes, forming a small ball of white energy. It was some of her power that she would invest into Protoman. As much as she wanted to stop Kali, and as much as she wanted to get the very core of her power back so she would have the chance to restore Megaman, she didn't want anyone to be deleted for it unless it was herself. She threw the ball forward, aiming right at Protoman. "HERE!!!"
The ball shot straight into Protoman, enveloping him in a white aura. Protoman's eyes shot wide beneath his cracked visor as he floated up. His wounds were healed, and he felt a new power growing within his right arm. He held his hand out, then smirked, watching his blade grow longer. Dark Protoman growled as he stood there, shielding his eyes. He could stand light, but this was too much. He couldn't even find it in himself to move at the time. As the light began to fade, though, Dark Protoman slowly regained his mobility. He stood there, looking at his counterpart, somewhat in awe, and somewhat in disgust. Protoman's outfit now had a pair of white energy angel wings behind it. The sword on his arm had grown longer and wider, but it was lighter than ever. "The Evil Cutter Program Advance..." Roll smiled, sighing and letting her energy recover now. She would need all she could muster against Kali later on. "The Program Advance won't just last for a few seconds this time... This Program Advance will last so long as you are here, Dark Protoman. As the Evil Cutter, it feeds off your dark energy and powers itself up, just to grow and annihilate the darkness. Ironic, isn't it?"
Dark Protoman spat to the side, then growled, pointing his sword at Roll. "Cram it!!!" Immediately, a black beam of energy shot from the blade. This was a little special that Kali put into the Z-Saber when she entrusted it to Dark Protoman. Roll's eyes shot wide as it came for her, but just as it came within inches of her head, Protoman deflected it with his blade. He looked up, his eyes narrowed into a glare even more piercing than when Kali had betrayed Roll. "You're everything that I hate that dwells inside me... And I won't let you lay a finger upon anyone else but me. This is our fight!" Protoman slashed at the air, sending a current and slammed into Dark Protoman, sending him flying back. Dark Protoman landed on one knee, growling as his Blood Red visor shattered. Beneath were eyes of the exact same color, nearly lacking in pupils. He growled, his fangs becoming much more defined as he charged. "DIE!!!"
Kali growled as she sat infront of the monitors that were displaying the battle between Protoman and his Dark Soul. Her face was twisted with rage at this point. "How dare that brat assist Protoman...! And with her own powers, just as I did to Dark Protoman!!!" She stood up, turning and slamming her fist into the chair she was in. It was decimated as if it were never even there to begin with. She growled, looking back to the monitor. "I may have no choice but to take them both on myself..." She stood still for a moment, then giggled, shaking her head. "Why am I so concerned...? I am currently the most powerful Navi on the Net, not even Laserman could possibly stop me now!!!" Kali grinned, looking to the monitor that was focused upon Roll. "So go ahead, destroy that worthless piece of data if you can, I'll be here to finish the job!!! And then, all of Net Society will bow to me!!!"
Back at the junction between Undernets 5 and 6, Protoman and Dark Protoman were matching one another blow for blow. Their powers were finally truly equal, bringing them to what seemed to be a stalemate. Both panted heavily as they stood before one another, exhausted from continually slashing and parrying each others' blows. Protoman kept his eyes locked upon Dark Protoman, remaining in a fighting stance as he began to ponder. 'There must be some way to tilt the odds in my favor... He must have some weakness...' Protoman stood still a moment, then blinked, his eyes narrowing. He stood up, chuckling a bit. Dark Protoman growled, slashing at the air. "HEY!!! What's so funny over there?!!" Protoman continued to chuckle, looking right at his evil counterpart. "Heheheheh... you've lost this battle..." Dark Protoman spat to the side, smirking. "Really, now...? I'd say we're pretty much dead locked, so I fail to see how it is that I've lost." Protoman shut his eyes, holding his sword up in the air. "As I thought... I'm going to delete you now, and prove just how weak you are, Copy..." Dark Protoman growled as he heard this. He absolutely hated being showed up. He concentrated all his energy into his Z-Saber and charged forward. "YOU WANT TO SEE WEAK?!! I'LL SHOW YOU WEAK WHEN I CUT YOU IN HALF!!!"
Just as Dark Protoman charged, Protoman smirked. "Bingo." Immediately, he concentrated all the light energy that Roll had given him and fired it into the air from the tip of his blade, once again a Hero Sword. It exploded, sending a blinding flash of light throughout the Undernet area. Dark Protoman grit his teeth, forcing himself to continue on. Protoman yelled out, charging at Dark Protoman, able to track him because of the black aura that surrounded his sword. "THIS IS THE END!!!"
Roll grit her teeth, keeping her eyes shielded from the light with her arms. It didn't have any real effects on her, but it was just too bright for her to see through. Her eyes shot wide behind as she heard the sound of swords piercing flesh. Just a moment after, the light faded, revealing Protoman and Dark Protoman to be just standing still, their swords held out. Each blade was drenched in the blood of the other. Dark Protoman stood up straight from his stance, turning to Protoman. "... looks like I lose this round..." Almost immediately after he said this, blood poured out of a huge gash on his side. The delayed bleeding was caused by how clean, sharp, and quick the slash was. Dark Protoman slumped to the ground and vanished into a cloud of data, quickly dispersing into the Undernet sky.
Protoman panted heavily, dropping to the ground and clutching his own side. There was a large wound in his side as well, and he needed treatment immediately. Roll rushed forward with tears in her eyes as she dropped to her knees by Protoman. "Protoman!!! Are you okay?!!" Protoman gave a weak nod, gritting his teeth. Roll smiled weakly, then held her hands above the wound. Protoman knew she was planning to heal it, so he quickly pushed her hands down. "Forget it... I'll just jack out from here..." Roll blinked, then shook her head. "But..." Protoman sighed, looking over his shoulder to the junction. "Kali's right in there... I'm sure she's waiting for you. If you don't have everything you can muster, you'll be destroyed, Roll..." Roll lowered her head, shaking it a bit. "But, I'll be all alone..."
Protoman shook his head, keeping his gaze on the path. "We're all pulling for you, Roll... Just do everything you can, and don't let her win. You're really the only one who'd stand a chance, anyways..." Protoman pressed his emblem and pulled out a small ball of white and red energy. He then pressed it into Roll's emblem, watching it sink into her chest. "That's what's left of the power you sent to me, as well as some of my own... You should be able to keep up with her much easier with that." Roll smiled gently and nodded, standing up. "... Right. I'll do my best for everyone..." Protoman nodded and shut his eyes, logging out from there. Roll sighed, turning and looking to the path. "... For everyone... and especially for Megaman..." With that, Roll charged head first into the Undernet, heading for the final battle with her dark counterpart.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Me: Well, if this doesn't scream "This is almost the end of the story", nothing does.
Mayl: Yeah, tell me about it... I can't believe it's almost been a year since you started this.
Me: Heh, yeah, tell me about it... But, I'm really proud of this thing. It's the first story I've ever written like this.
Axl: Considering how many reviews you get, it seems to be a pretty big hit.
Me: I'd like to think that, but there're a lot of better authors out there. Face it, I may be pretty good, but in the field, I'm still a novice.
Megaman X: You said it, not me...
Me: #Smashes X with the Piko Piko Hammer# Care to repeat that?
Megaman X: N... no...
Me: #Grins# Thought so... Anyhow, now I need to start planning on my new fanfic. I've already got the rest of this layed out, so all I gotta do is type it up.
Shadow the Hedgehog: Any subjects?
Me: Yup. Sonic the Hedgehog, Digimon, Pokemon, Final Fantasy, Disgaea, possibly Halo...
Amy Rose: We get the idea, Death.
Me: Just makin' sure. Anyhow, I'll probably be taking a break after this story's done, so you guys won't be seeing much of me on for a lil' bit. But don't worry ladies and gents, I WILL RETURN!!! So, see y'all next chapter!!!
Inu Yasha: #Sighs and murmurs a bit just before the cameras cut out# You're trying to think of how to make that one crossover story with all the characters from...
Me: #SMACK# BAD INNY!!! That's classified information!!!