WB: Okay… nobody guessed where Sozoji came from…
LW: Sozoji appeared in the 3rd Chapter of the Yu-Gi-Oh Manga. He was a bad
Karaoke lounge singer who bullied Yugi and another kid into selling
tickets to his show. When Yugi offered to sell the other kid's for
him, Sozoji beat the other kid up, causing Dark Yugi to appear and
challenge Sozoji to a Shadow Game, which Sozoji loses. It makes more sense if you've actually read the chapter. Credit to Kazuki Takahashi (creator of YGO).
WB: Azn Girl, Sorry, never seen Fruit Basket. (I have this weird ability to mimic things I've never seen or heard of…)
WB: SR17w., you'll just have to wait and see.
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With a loud 'hiss' the doors to the Arena basement slid open, allowing a man to admittance to the lower levels of the complex.
He was tall, and wore a white lab coat over an orange sports shirt showing the numbers '00', a brown satchel was slung over one shoulder, and his eyes were covered with a pair of wraparound glasses that framed his brown hair.
He was Mr. Famous.
Or, more simply, known as 'Famous'.
Famous silently entered the basement, and worked his way over to the mass of computer equipment stored there, equipment that ran and controlled every function of the Arena's building.
"I'm beginning to think that we've miscalculated." Famous spoke as he studied the computer bank. "Rather that providing cover for our agents, I think we've provided a target for Nebula to attack. We know that they have the means to snare thousands of Navi at once, and this place is the perfect opportunity to demonstrate that power."
"The theory has merit." The Navi inhabiting Famous' P.E.T. replied. He was KendoMan, a swordsman that rivaled ProtoMan in his abilities. He wore a pair of medium blue pants, red fencing armor, and a fencing mask that allowed only his eyes to be seen. "In our attempts to prevent such a disaster, we may have assisted it."
"That's what worries me." Replied the scientist, before raising his Personal Terminal before a Network gate. "I think we need to have a look around the place."
"Agreed."
"Jack in, KendoMan."
"You've been rather sloppy lately, Mr. Famous."
Famous jumped slightly as a familiar voice split through the air. A split second later he had recovered, and was turning around to see a familiar figure standing in the basement doorway.
"Yuri."
"Not one for formalities are you?" Enjoying her success, the Nebula agent smirked from behind her dark glasses. "But then, neither am I. So let's get down to business, Nebula will be pleased to have a swordsman of KendoMan's caliber on hand."
"And what makes you think that I'll corrupt him?" In a perfectly calm voice, Famous replied. "I won't let that happen."
"That's quite all right, you already have."
With that ominous remark, the doors slammed shut, obscuring the Nebula agent from view. a sharp click sounded as the doors locked tight, sealing the scientist in the downstairs room.
At first, Famous was more than a little startled at Yuri's words, but he quickly brushed them off. Now he knew for sure that something funny was going down, he had to put a stop to it.
"KendoMan, override the door controls-"
The scientist's statement was lost as he looked into his P.E.T.
It couldn't be... No! This couldn't be happening!
"Why should I do that, pathetic human?" KendoMan replied.
But it wasn't the KendoMan that Famous had created; in place of KendoMan's normal noble bearing, this Navi had an aurora of arrogance surrounding him. A dark red tint had appeared in KendoMan's eyes, and a deep, purple misty glow seemed to surround him.
These changes, they meant one thing; and one thing only… KendoMan Dark Soul had been born.
"KendoMan… It can't be…"
"Catch you later, Nebula needs my assistance." As he spoke KendoMan DS vanished off of the screen, and disappeared into the Network.
KendoMan Logging Out.
The purple P.E.T. Advance clattered to the floor, as Famous stared down into the empty screen, his normally confident expression had been shattered.
For a long moment, Famous stared at the abandoned Personal Terminal.
"Yuri…"
Famous muttered the name as he transformed his shocked horror in bridled anger. He'd take her down for this…
With controlled fury, the scientist snapped out of his daze. In seconds he had ripped the cowling off of the computer system, located a part of the computer that shouldn't be there, and discovered just what that part did.
"So this is how she destroyed KendoMan." Famous stared at the black box. "And she's been infecting the other Navi…"
"Well, no more!" The enraged scientist closed his hand around the sinister box, and pulled with all his strength. Famous smiled in satisfaction at the sound of snapping wires as he ripped the parasitic device from the system.
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"I still think that you need to let a doctor check you out, Maylu." Roll called from her P.E.T. as her Op stopped before the recharge machine. Maylu's reaction to the Feedback in the previous battle was concerning the pink Navi greatly. "Whatever that Feedback was, it really affected you."
"I'll be fine, Roll, there's nothing to worry about." The blind, redheaded Netbattler placed one hand on the machine, and used her fingers to feel out the slots where she was supposed to insert her Battle Chips. Once she had them felt out, she pulled the chips from her folder with her free hand and inserted them into the machine.
With no way of seeing, she couldn't notice the Dark Chip insignia appear on her chips, before fading away as if it had never been there...
"What I still can't figure out, is why it affected you like it did." Lan scratched his head as he stepped over to the machine. "I mean, I was right there and I didn't feel a thing…"
"Guys, I'm fine, so there's no need to fuss." The redhead sighed slightly, the ordeal was over, so why obsess over it? With that thought in mind, she quickly decided to change the subject. "What about you, Roll? You took quite a beating in there… are you alright?"
"I'm fine, and I'll be in top condition for our match against Tory. Speaking of which, I don't think we've faced off against Tory since the N1; this is definitely going to be interesting. Too bad we have to wait an hour before we can start, but those are the rules."
A small beep interrupted the conversation, as the recharger signaled that it was done.
Maylu reached out to retrieve her chips, not suspecting anything about the impending disaster.
The second that her hand brushed the chips, the blind girl jerked back like she had been burned.
"Maylu!" Lan, Roll, and MegaMan shouted in perfect unison.
"Sorry," Holding up her hand to stop any forthcoming questions, Maylu gathered her bearings. "I just… had a strange feeling there for a second, it startled me that's all."
The brunette raised an eyebrow in bewilderment. "A feeling?"
"I know it sounds crazy," Maylu explained as she shook her head in an effort to clear it. "But it… its something that I've only felt once before… right before the Empress mess started."
"Empress? What's she got to do with this?" MegaMan spoke up, concern showing through his voice.
"Nothing probably." The redheaded netbattler collected herself and then proceeded to pull her chips out of the machine. Abruptly she stopped, something didn't feel right about this, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Then again, something had been bothering her about this entire tournament…
Lan noticed her hesitation. "Are you sure that you're O.K.?"
"I'm fine…" Maylu replied as she slid her deck into her folder, but she couldn't shake the strange feeling plaguing her, and it seemed to be centering on her folder for some unknown reason. "Hey, Lan… do these… look right to you?"
Completely bewildered, Lan took his friend's folder and then flipped through it.
Nothing but normal chips greeted him.
"Looks fine to me. There's nothing in here that even resembles the Twisted Chip, if that's what you're afraid of."
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"Sozoji, for your sake, this had better work." From her position in the crown of the Arena, Yuri spoke to the Nebula operative over her P.E.T., "Chaud and ProtoMan are being dealt with. So the show's yours, but you'd better be able to deliver. Nebula wants all of them."
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Chaud stepped out of his parked aircraft and headed for the airport's entrance. It had been a hectic, nerve-racking trip, but one he felt was worth the effort.
Primarily, he was thankful that the Sakurai's had understood him. He didn't think that they would have turned him down, but from secondhand accounts, it was hard to judge just how sensitive the issue was to Maylu's parents. But fortunately, they had understood and, so long as Maylu agreed, they didn't have a problem with his plans. They even welcomed them.
His father on the other hand…
Chaud bit his lip as pushed the door open and entered the airport. Although he didn't want to, he replayed the experience in his head. His father had not been pleased with the idea, and had said so, only in much greater length and detail. But Chaud hadn't backed down; he had a feeling that his mother would approve of his actions.
Or would have approved, if…
But there was no use in thinking like that, what was done was done. And couldn't be changed.
"Chaud." The Raider respectfully broke into his Operator's thoughts.
"ProtoMan?" His concentration shattered, the Official left his reverie and turned back to the present.
"I've received an E-mail from Mr. Famous, he wants us to meet KendoMan in the Airport's Network. According the message, he's ready to tell us why he organized the World Tour."
"Strange…" The double-haired kid muttered as he glanced around the airport, searching for a computer port. Normally, when Famous spoke, it paid to listen. "I've never known Famous to bother with E-mail…"
"That struck me as odd as well."
Finally spotting a port, Chaud drew his P.E.T. as he approached the connection. Something about this message didn't feel right, he couldn't put his finger on it, but some instinct was screaming at him that this message spelled trouble. And long ago, he had learned to trust those instincts.
"Stay sharp in there." Pointing his Personal Terminal at the gate, the Official voiced his concerns to his Navi. As soon as ProtoMan acknowledged the warning, he commenced with the sequence. "Jack in, ProtoMan, Power up!"
A burst of red light flew out of his P.E.T. and over into the gate as the Red Raider jacked in, in seconds he had entered the Network. With the required burst of light, the swordsman landed on the ground, making a preliminary scan of the area in the process.
The Network was basically empty; absolutely nothing greeted him.
"Foolish Navi…"
From behind his visor, ProtoMan's eyes widened at the sound of that voice. It was the voice of KendoMan, that was true, but the voice had an undertone of… darkness to it.
"ProtoMan, behind you!"
The second that he heard Chaud's warning, the Raider was spinning around, his neon-red blade materializing on his wrist. The Red Navi finished his rotation just in time to see a familiar blade slicing towards his face, and instantly he had his sword up, blocking the deadly attack.
"Attacking from behind, that is as low as it gets." ProtoMan muttered as he strained to keep his attacker's sword at bay with his own.
"Ethics mean nothing to me." KendoMan hissed as he broke out of his attack, and readied his blade to strike again. "The end justifies the means, ProtoMan. Now, prove your worth as a swordsman or face deletion."
"You've gone Dark Soul haven't you." Although it was a question, the inquiry came out as a flat statement. Defenses raised, ProtoMan waited for KendoMan to make the next move.
"A very good observation."
As the Dark Navi spoke, a sickly purple mist appeared around him.
"You may fight if you wish, but you'll never pierce my Dark Aurora, so surrender now and make this easy." The fencing master smirked from behind his evil barrier.
"We NEVER run from a fight." Speaking in unison, Net Navi and Net Op took their stand against KendoMan DS.
The Op studied the problem before them. In some unknown way, KendoMan had gone into Dark Soul, and although the Navi looked evil, the real KendoMan was still there, buried somewhere deep inside that monster. Therefore, they had to take care not to actually delete the DS Navi, but to render him inoperable.
"Then, this battle begins!" As he spoke, KendoMan thrust out his blade, aiming for the Raider's chest.
ProtoMan fell silent as he sidestepped the attack, the yellow sword whistling just inches away from his frame. Quickly the Raider retaliated by bringing his own sword up and lashing out.
The fencing master snapped his blade back and spun it around, just in time to block his opponent's attack, the second ProtoMan's blade had stopped, he had hauled back his arm and was launching another attack.
The Raider saw the maneuver coming in plenty of time, and threw himself backward into a low vault, putting some distance between the two and evading the attack.
Enraged, KendoMan DS rushed in, his sword primed to strike.
After snapping his blade up, ProtoMan reflected his adversary's strike. Then his blade flashed out, cutting towards KendoMan.
The Dark Navi twisted his sword around in his palm, putting it in place to deflect the swordsman's attack.
"Foolish, don't you realize that there is no way you can win?" KendoMan attacked, his blade swinging towards the Raider's head.
"Now!" Chaud fed four chips into his hungry P.E.T., "Area Steal, Download. Three Cyber Sword Battle Chips in, Download! Program Advance: Activated."
The Raider tensed as KendoMan's blade came screaming at his head. At the last possible second, he activated the Battle Chips awaiting his command; the Area Steal took effect, warping him out of harm's way and to any spot he wanted.
The fencing Navi's face registered surprise as ProtoMan vanished, and his attack whistled through the now empty air. Before he could recover, KendoMan DS sensed some movement behind him. Snapping his head around to see what was behind him, the Dark Navi caught sight of ProtoMan racing towards him from behind.
"Program Advance: Triple Cyber Sword!" The Raider announced as a glowing sword materialized on his right hand. The sword looked simple, but it really contained the combined power of three Cyber Sword Battle Chips.
KendoMan tried to block the Program Advance, but it was no use, he couldn't turn around fast enough.
ProtoMan brought his blade down, and connected solidly with KendoMan's Dark Aurora.
Before the Raider's eyes, his blade shattered, without doing any damage, against KendoMan's misty barrier.
"What?" The Red Navi's jaw dropped in shock as he stared at his ruined sword.
"I told you." Smirked the fencing master from behind his faceplate. "You'll never pierce my Aurora!"
The next thing ProtoMan knew, KendoMan's blade was slamming against him, and the impact sent him flying through the Network.
Laughing wildly as his opponent slammed into the ground, the Dark Navi strengthened his Dark Aurora. Then deciding to taunt his opponent, he began to brag. "That was only a sample of my power. Do you really want to face my full fury?"
"Bring it." ProtoMan got to his feet as he raised his default sword. As he did so, a grimace appeared on the lower half of his face. KendoMan had actually struck him, on his right shoulder no less. That meant serious trouble as his sword arm was now injured…
"Oh, you're wounded are you?" KendoMan smirked. "Should I give you a handicap for that?"
ProtoMan didn't reply; he just tensed and waited for the Dark Navi to make his move.
"No answer…" The fencing Navi raised his sword, "Very well, face my true powers!"
The Raider kept his sword raised as KendoMan rushed him. As he waited, he could feel Chaud's support; the Op wasn't abandoning him, and would stand by him to the end.
"Now, let's even the odds." Slamming a chip into his terminal, Chaud announced his plan. "Delta Ray Edge, Download!"
Activating the Battle Chip's power, ProtoMan became red and purple blur as he suddenly rocketed through the air at incredible speed. After-images trailing him, the swordsman dashed around KendoMan in a tight triangle, striking him once on each side of the geometric shape. As soon as the triangle was complete, ProtoMan used the Delta Ray chip to teleport back to his starting position.
"Hmm, you didn't even weaken my Aurora." The Dark Navi muttered as a smile appeared on his face. "Let me show the real power of a Delta Ray!"
Not giving him time to react, KendoMan DS vanished, at the same instant that a dark red blurred triangle surrounded ProtoMan as the Dark Navi activated his maneuver. The three slashes from each side of the triangle exploded against the Raider just as the blurred image faded away and KendoMan reappeared at his original spot.
The Raider grimaced as he gripped his wounded shoulder with his free hand; this was not going well…
"End of the line, ProtoMan!" The fencing Navi shouted as he raced in, his sword cutting through the air.
"I don't think so…" Chaud fed a chip into his Terminal. "Life Aurora, Battle Chip in, Download!"
In response to the Official's move, a purple barrier appeared around ProtoMan, which should prevent KendoMan's attack from reaching the Raider.
Key word being 'should'.
ProtoMan watched as his opponent raced in and swung his blade at the barrier. To his horror, the energy wall shattered as KendoMan's blade whipped through it.
"He just broke through a Life Aurora!" Navi and Op gasped together.
"Correct, and now I'll break you…"
Too stunned by his barrier's demise, the Raider didn't have enough time to mount a defense as KendoMan drove in and rained his sword down on him. Finally, the fencing Navi made one final blow by ramming his foot into the exhausted ProtoMan's chest, the force of which knocked the Raider over backward to the ground.
ProtoMan's head snapped up as he searched the space above him, where was that blade?
Almost instantly he saw his opponent's sword tearing down at him. As fast as he could he clumsily brought his own sword up to block.
The two blades met…
And the top half of ProtoMan's sword went sailing through the air as it shattered under the force of the fencing Navi's attack.
"No way…" Chaud couldn't believe his eyes. With his default weapon broken, ProtoMan was practically defenseless… could it really be that they had been defeated?
"Puts you in a bad position, no?" Chuckled KendoMan, "You've been injured, weakened, and now you're defenseless."
The Dark Navi raised his blade over his head as he prepared to make the final strike.
"NO!" The Official watched in horror as the blade came down.
ProtoMan, Logging Out.
"What!?" KendoMan shrieked as the Raider vanished before the blade touched him. "He, he quit!"
Outside in the real world, ProtoMan materialized on his P.E.T., to the relief of Chaud. The Official wasn't sure if he had acted fast enough to save his Navi or not.
"Hmm, quitters." KendoMan's voice came from the computer system. "Be glad that there were no lives on the line this time, Blaze, otherwise you'd have failed miserably. But rest assured that we'll meet again, I promise you that!"
Ignoring the Dark Navi, Chaud activated his P.E.T.'s restoration program. ProtoMan had taken a lot of abuse in that battle, and he wasn't sure how long it would take the Navi to recover.
"ProtoMan, you alright?"
"I'll live. Chaud, for my defeat, I'm sorry."
"Don't be. You gave it your all in there, now, let's go find Mr. Famous and get some answers. And this time, 'no' will not be one of them!"
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Next: Disaster! As Nebula puts their plan in motion, Roll, MegaMan, and ProtoMan fight back. However, before the battle is over, one of them will pay the ultimate price…