So here we are, chapter 6. The story will be getting a bit more interesting at this point, and I think you'll all like it. It's good to know people like my story. It motivates me to continue, which is good because I'm notorious for not finishing projects. Fortunately, I see no reason why I won't finish this story, barring problems on my end. I'll continue to update consistently until the story is finished, and then see where I go from there.

And Anime Master ZERO, asking questions and speculating is okay. It isn't like I have every absolute detail of the story planned out yet (though the main plot has been generally intact so far), so questions help me see if there are any details I may have omitted or such. Anyway, I'm done talking, time for chapter 6, which will be a slight detour in our story

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A Paradigm's Dawn

Chapter 6: Blood Red Duel, Part One

Eugene Chaud waited patiently in front of the small laptop computer. The display on the machine was littered with dialog boxes indicating the execution of various programs, all by Chaud's instigation. Almost all of them were of his making, but at this point he had little hope that any of these programs would help him with his investigation.

That's because this would be the fifth time he's run these programs.

A little more than three months had passed since he took Lan's computer. Though he had discovered the composition of the virus that had allowed access during his presentation, he was unable to find anything more. He had dispatched various official navis to look for the mysterious red navi in the camera program's feed, as well as the net dealer who had sold the virus in the first place, the description of whom was given by Roll, though she remained ignorant of calamity that had taken place.

Both searches turned up nothing. He spent the next few weeks investigating the data on the computer but found nothing. Thus he made the decision to officially suspend the investigation pending any new information. Since then he's only spent one or two days a week performing tests on the computer, with nothing to show for it. Today was one of those days, and the programs, upon completion, displayed the same results.

After letting out a sigh, Chaud closed all the programs, and then turned off the laptop. He put it away, and then went over to his own office computer, where he observed Protoman sitting idly.

The red navi stood up upon his operator's presence. "What were the results?" he asked coldly.

"Nothing." Just like that the two were silent. There were no more pressing matters to take care of at the moment, so he determined to use the time to rest himself. The office he was in was a large box-like room in the core of the Electopian Government Complex. The location served itself for secrecy, but besides that, the seclusion helped Chaud to become more relaxed. The walls were bare for the exception of a few important pictures Chaud kept for his investigations. The decorum of the room itself was just as sparse, sporting only a small plant in one of the corners. His workstation was situated at the center of the room, consisting of two desks side-by-side; one held his computer and a lamp, the room's only source of light besides the PCs, and the other desk held his important documents and items from his duties as Chief Official.

Chaud sat back in his chair and stared at the vanilla-white ceiling. He let his mind wander around a bit, hoping to ease himself of his stress. He was an excellent computer programmer, and an even better detective. He cringed slightly at the thought of this current case. Chaud always solved the mysteries set before him, no matter how elusive the criminal was, and yet here he was, working on the investigation without any hope of resolution. He was the chief, and as such couldn't let anyone get the best of him.

Chaud cringed again at the thought. He was the chief, but he knew that it almost didn't end up that way… that a certain someone had almost taken the position instead of him…

"Master Chaud, someone is attempting access." Chaud's thoughts were cut short at Protoman's words. The young man sat up straight in his chair, then let out a chuckle. His co-called 'relaxation' techniques only got him more upset than he was before. Unsurprised, Chaud made a few keystrokes, causing a window on the computer screen to pop up.

The window showed one of the paths in the net leading to his computer. On it, he saw the image of a navi, normal class, bearing the insignia of the net officials. The man smiled slyly; he had been expecting him. "Let him in," He said quietly to Protoman.

The red navi immediately performed some work on his end, transporting the official directly into his computer. The normal navi bowed before Protoman, then went to the view port in the cyber world where Chaud's image was. "I've come with news regarding the red navi."

Chaud didn't show any emotion in his countenance, but his mind went through a short relief period before it was able to calculate a reply. "I'm listening."

The navi stood silent for a moment, eliciting an irritated look for the chief. "I don't have all day."

It continued silently for another moment. Then, before Chaud could say another word, it spoke. "The news is…" he paused, and then put his gaze on Protoman, "he's not happy with what you two are doing."

Chaud and Protoman only needed a second to ascertain what was going on. "Protoman, close the connection!"

Before the silver-haired navi could move, he felt the force of a hard punch on his back. The normal navi stood where Protoman had been and started to laugh. "All too easy." He stated between chuckles, this time in a much younger-sounding voice. He made a few motions with his hands, before the armor surrounding him turned white, morphing into another shape. When it returned to its original color, Chaud was looking at a completely different navi. The same one that the camera program on Lan's computer had picked up!

"It's amazing how careless you were." The navi spoke in a low but frightfully confident tone of voice, and seemed to always be frowning. The red navi was, in fact, not completely red, but mostly black. Except for his human-looking face, he was surrounded by a sleek ensemble of armor. His black helmet was highlighted by two red crests protruding from his forehead, rounding the helmet. Above where the two crests on the forehead met was a large aqua-colored centerpiece. On the sides of his head were two red and white wing-like extensions. His forearms, lower legs, and feet were surrounded by thick red armor pieces, with golden-colored rings acting as ankle and wrist guards. His torso and the rest of his body had thinner, black armor plating with white highlights in various places. His chest had what looked like a red vest surrounding it. The most distinguishing part of the navi, however, was the long, flowing golden hair protruding from behind his helmet.

Chaud watched the navi, amazed at the care and precision taken into crafting the model. He had been careless, so excited by the fact that he would be able to advance the case that he neglected to even verify that the navi was even an official. Now he was going to pay for it.

Chaud attempted to type on his keyboard, but the computer didn't respond to any input made. The black and red navi waved a finger at him. "Nice try. I've already disabled all the input devices on your computer. And to think the virus checker didn't even bother to check the piece of code I executed."

Expressionless, the chief thought frantically. He couldn't close the connection, and Protoman wasn't able to-- He focused his attention on that last thought. He couldn't do anything to help Protoman!

The red navi turned his gaze as he heard Protoman stand up, still hurting from the last blow he made. "The program will soon render your computer completely useless. As such, my mission here is done." He turned away to face the open connection on the cyber world's ground, and walked towards it.

"Stop right there." The red navi turned towards Protoman, who had his red sword held straight in front of him. "I will not let you leave." Protoman looked straight at the unmoving enemy. Without a word, the enemy started walking again.

Angry, Protoman jumped into the air, over the red navi's head, and then in front of the open connection. He put his sword straight ahead again. "I told you I won't let you leave." He stood still, awaiting a reply from the red navi.

He stood silently, merely gazing straight the black visor in front of his adversary's eyes. "If your presence prevents me from fulfilling my duties," he began, "then my only choice is to remove your presence."

Protoman let out a confident smile. "Good luck," he said sarcastically.

"Don't lose Protoman." Chaud watched as his navi readied himself for battle. "I should have officials here to back you up in minutes."

"No problem." He moved his hands behind him, preparing for a possible first strike. "What's your name, navi?"

The enemy navi merely stood motionless, watching his adversary closely. "I have no name, so to speak. I am merely the one who accomplishes my master's purpose."

Protoman and Chaud were taken aback by the strange reply. "You have no name at all?"

"No name… but I do have an alias, one given to me by those who work with me." He paused, and then walked up towards Protoman, causing him to stagger back in defense. "They refer to me… as Zero." With that, the navi jumped into the air, distancing himself from Protoman and, with a newly formed blaster formed on his right arm, fired a powerful yellow shot.

Protoman's incredible reflexes were only barely fast enough to form a shield to block the extremely swift strike of his enemy. He kept the shield formed as Zero continued the assault with a volley of powerful blaster shots, all fired from the air. Protoman jumped to his left, attempting to strafe his opponent. The shots hit precisely where Protoman was situated barely half a second earlier. The shots themselves were quick, appearing merely as a blur to his well-trained eyes.

In one quick motion, Proto man reversed his direction, strafing to his right this time. There was a small hiccup in Zero's attack pattern, but it regulated itself before Protoman could even begin to think about a way to exploit it. The only holes in his attack were the small periods when he was on the ground and propelling himself in the air again, but these were so short they made only a small difference in the timing.

"He's… he's too fast," Protoman said as he continued to dodge Zero's attack.

Chaud studied the battle, apprehensive now that he knew the navi's identity. He silently cursed at himself for not recognizing the form before, the same navi that had caused so much trouble as a virus. The same navi that Lan and Megaman had defeated. As an official he had been forced to remove all digital record of his existence, with Megaman and Protoman opting to erase their memories of him. But why was he causing trouble now? There was never hint of hostility when he withdrew, and he definitely didn't have any 'master' at that point either.

Regardless, Chaud was seeing first hand the strength this navi possessed, and Protoman was trying his best to evade his attacks. He continued to watch the battle, formulating a strategy in his mind. "Protoman, I'm connecting my PET in and sending a battle chip." He pressed some buttons on his PET, connecting it to his computer wirelessly. He took a battle chip and slid it into the PET. "He can't control his movement while he's in the air."

Protoman nodded, taking note of the chip he was going to use. Putting his shield up, he immediately stopped, experiencing a powerful barrage of yellow blasts. His shield was only able to block a portion of the power, with the rest directly damaging the navi itself. He quickly used the battle chip Chaud gave him, maneuvering its position, taking note of the enemy's movements. Zero took one more jump moving forward towards Protoman. Upon landing, he immediately felt it. He quickly made a low, long lunge to his side to avoid the mine's explosion, the battle chip Chaud had downloaded. He landed hard on the ground, and quickly got up to move away. He wasn't in time though, as Protoman quickly moved to where he was, hitting him with a long slash from his red blade.

Zero was propelled back, landing roughly as he rolled around on the ground before stopping. He slowly got up, evidently damaged from the attack. "You're reputation precedes you Chief Official."

Protoman kept his sword out. "Don't underestimate me. You're accurate, fast, powerful, and have top-notch reflexes. But even the best navis will fall if their strategy can be countered."

"You speak wisely, enemy. Nevertheless." Zero stood still, reaching behind his back. "You'll do well not to underestimate me." In his right hand appeared a white rod. "I'm looking forward to seeing your skill… with a sword." Suddenly, a bright light protruded from the rod, forming itself into a long green blade which Zero held in front of him.

Protoman apparently welcomed the challenge as he took a step forward. The two were now ready, both waiting for the other to make the first move. Chaud watched the two stand silently, using the battle to relax himself. After a minute of stillness, both of the red navis lunged towards each other, swinging their swords at the other to begin their duel.