B. D. Yugi, … maybe…
Jill, we go through this every single time… No, I do not care for Yu-Gi-Oh; and I'll give you one of the absolute basic reasons why. The captions of YGO are beyond horrendous. Anyways, the Seto Kaiba idea came to me after I read LazerWulf's fic entitled "How? Why?" (I do check out the work of those who review) shameless plug. Secondly, as stated, the KaraokeMan character was created by LazerWulf and he chose the rip, I had nothing to do with it.
Oh rats, now you've given me a terrific hair joke… but the only way to do it would be to create a rip of Yugi…
S. H. fire, does this answer your question?
Azn Girl, wow, two different errors, two different sights, all in one day! (That has to be a record)Maybe I should hire you as a beta reader! Just joking, anyways, that was just a stupid mistake on my part. Fixed now.
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With a hiss of protest, the pair of solid doors slid open. The instant that they had parted, the winded form of Mr. Famous burst out of the basement and began dashing towards the upper floors of the arena.
"Punk, thank you." The scientist gasped as he rushed onward. Once KendoMan had gone DS, Famous had hurriedly summoned one of his other Navi; Punk had answered the call, and immediately overridden the door controls.
"Don't mention it, just go squash 'em for what they did to KendoMan."
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"And now for the next round!" Once again, Ribbitta shouted into her mike, drawing the attention of the crowd. "Maylu and Roll, against Tory and IceMan!"
"Here we go, Tory." Maylu called out as she located her computer's jack-in port with her fingers. "Just like the N1, we give it all we've got."
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Tory replied, "Now, let's go!"
"Fine by me."
"Jack in, IceMan, Power up!"
"Jack in, Roll, Power up!"
"Here we go…" Maylu fingered a chip, as she tried to fight off that familiar feeling that something was wrong. Hesitantly she began raising it to her P.E.T., "Battle Chip-"
"Maylu! STOP!" Famous' voice cut through the air.
"Huh?" The redhead stopped her instructions just before the chip entered her P.E.T.
"What- that's Mr. Famous!" Turning to look over his shoulder, Tory also stopped the Netbattle.
"No… need… for formalities." Famous gasped as he tried to catch his breath. Having burst into the room just in time to keep Maylu from making a grave mistake, he was extremely winded.
"Famous." Lan stood up from his seat and turned to face the informant. "Alright, what's this all about?"
"Maylu, Tory, don't you dare insert a single Battle Chip into your P.E.T.s." Famous took a step down toward the Arena. "I've made a huge mistake, Nebula used the Recharge machines to turn all of your Battle Chips into Dark Chips, so had you inserted them-"
Famous stopped as Maylu dropped the Battle Chip she had been holding like it was on fire.
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"No, No, No!" Sozoji muttered as he watched the proceedings from his hidden location. "Blast it, that Famous ruined everything… All right then, it's time to take matters into my own hands. KaraokeMan."
"Right here," Called the blue Navi from his P.E.T.
"Let's put an end to this." Sozoji set up the required connection, "Jack in, KaraokeMan, Tune up!"
"This is one battle that no one's ever going to forget!" The singing Navi muttered as he entered the Network.
"Remember, I don't want that pink pest deleted." Sozoji reminded his Navi, "Instead we're going to drive her into using a Dark Chip…"
"And with these little custom chips, it'll be a snap." Stealing a glance at the two chips in his hand, the Elvis imitator grinned slightly…
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"You mean... if I had used a Chip from my folder, then I might have poisoned Roll?" Maylu couldn't believe her ears.
"Yes, I knew that Nebula was up to something like this." Famous continued to reluctantly explain; he didn't like having to spill all of his secrets. "That's why I had Chaud organize the World Tour, so that wherever Nebula sprung their plan in the world, you'd be there to stop it."
"Baloney." Spitting the word out like poison; Lan caused everyone, even the blind Maylu, to turn and look at him. "You knew about this all along, which is why you organized the World Tour: to use us as bait to draw Nebula out into the open!"
Maylu gasped as Lan's words registered in her mind. His theory made complete sense.
"I realize that you have every right to think that way," the scientist admitted, "but I can assure you that that was not my intention."
"Well, from now on, you can cross me off of your contact list." Snapped the brunette, "If I had known that MegaMan was going to be placed in this kind of danger, I'd never have agreed to this."
"Lan, please-"
"Maylu! Something's going on in here!" Roll's voice split through the air, interrupting the argument.
More concerned with her Navi than anything else, Maylu immediately forgot about the others and turned back to her P.E.T.
"Roll, what's wrong?"
"Something big's coming, I can sense it!" The pink Navi glanced around the Arena in concern.
"She's right." IceMan agreed, as he too looked around in worry. "I think we'd better get out of here!"
"And why should you?" The familiar voice of KaraokeMan rang out, seeming to come out of the empty air. "You've got a front row seat for the biggest show in history!"
With that sentence ringing through the air, the digital ground began to shudder violently as it heaved and cracked beneath Roll and IceMan's feet.
"What's going on?" The pink Navi gasped as she struggled to keep her balance.
"Give it up, people! KaraokeManSP is in the house!" As he spoke, a piece of tiling near the center of the Network exploded into a cloud of dust and debris. As the shattered flooring scattered across the ground, KaraokeMan floated out of his newly created hole, becoming visible to the stunned audience. Electrical energy was also screaming out of the hole and around the singing Navi, giving him a faintly theatrical glow.
Everyone stared at the Navi in shock for a long moment.
"Well," conceded IceMan, "you have to admit, he knows how to make an entrance."
"Now before you try," KaraokeMan folded his arms across his sub-woofer of a chest as he floated above his created cavity. "Don't even think of logging out, we've locked the gates, meaning that this is a Deletion Battle; one of us must go before the other can leave."
"That sick thing again?" Maylu couldn't believe her ears. Was every villain this… twisted?
"Yep," KaraokeMan grinned, "And I know for sure that I can't loose…"
"Hold on a second." Holding up a hand to stop the Navi's explanation, Roll posed a question. "I just noticed, you aren't talking in rhyme anymore. Any special reason?"
"Do you know how maddening it is having everything you say rhyme?" The blue Navi snapped, "I had to speak normally, or I'd have driven myself insane! I don't know how MagicMan puts up with it all the time."
"Well, one could argue that he was always crazy…" Roll broke off as she realized that she had been conversing with an arrogant, twisted Nebula agent like he was a member of their group of friends.
"Will you cut it out?" Sozoji's voice came exploding through the Network, "What is this? A convention? We're here to take her out, so let's do it already!"
"Right!"
"We've got something to say about that!" Whipping out his P.E.T., Lan readied himself to jack-in.
"You got that right." The Bomber agreed.
"Jack in, MegaMan, Power up!"
"Remember what you're doing!" Famous interrupted the brewing battle. "You're chips have been infected, you can't use them without putting your Navis into Dark Soul. And Sozoji knows that!"
"You've done enough, Famous," replied the brunette with an edge in his voice. "But thanks for the warning; we'll handle it from here."
Famous fell silent, realizing that he had done all that he could. They wouldn't listen to him now; not that he blamed them, in his haste to put a stop to this threat; he had put them in a dangerous situation. And he had violated their trust in the process…
The scientist glanced around, finding that the Officials were already clearing the audience from the room. Without a word he turned and vanished into the crowd, unintentionally forgetting to tell them that he had removed the source of the infection...
"Now that we've got a real crowd…" KaraokeMan muttered. Slowly his eyes roved over his opponents, running an analysis of each one of them. As he suspected, not one of them would pose a challenge to him, especially without their little power ups. "Let's get this party started! Sound Blast!"
"MegaMan, don't let him get that one off!"
"You got it. Mega Buster!" The cobalt warrior summoned his cannon and went to work, firing repeatedly at his opponent.
"Roll Blast!" The pink Navi blew a kiss, and then unleashed a hailstorm of hearts at her adversary.
"Cyber Blizzard!" IceMan drew a breath, and then exhaled a freezing snowstorm that rushed across the Network at his opponent.
In unison, the three attacks slammed into KaraokeMan, canceling his attack, and then passed by… without causing a scratch of damage.
"What?" Lan gasped in disbelief.
"He didn't even flinch! It didn't do any damage!" Roll called back to her sightless Op.
"Alright then, its time to play hardball." The brunette seethed.
"I hear you, let's hit him with our best shot." The redhead nodded.
"Style Change!" The two Ops announced in unison.
"Aqua Custom Style!" MegaMan announced as he received the upgrades, causing his armor to switch into an azure and ebony color scheme.
"Heat Custom Style!" Roll also equipped her new powers as her frame took on red and yellow colors.
"And since the Style Change doesn't require a Battle Chip to activate." Tory nodded his approval; "There's nothing to poison MegaMan or Roll with!"
"Heh, heh," KaraokeMan began chuckling softly, before exploding into laughter. Evidently, he saw something funny in the situation that the others didn't.
"Its time to end this!" Maylu fingered a chip and prepared to slide it home. "Double Program Advance- oh."
"We forgot…" Lan also stopped, his Spreader chip just inches away from his Personal Terminal. "We can't use any Battle Chips! And because of that, MegaMan and Roll are practically sitting ducks!"
"Bingo! You should have thought about that before you joined the concert." Trying to regain his self-control, the singing Navi slowly stopped laughing; he found the thought that they couldn't attack him laughable. "Now, let me show you how it's done! Sound Blast!"
KaraokeMan placed his mike before his mouth, and screamed into it, causing a deafening 'pop' to exploded across the Network.
Groaning, MegaMan and Roll pressed their hands over their ear-guards, as their respective Style Changes shattered. IceMan also took the hit, and staggered about for a second trying to recover.
"I don't think that shrimp's on the list…" The singing Navi glanced at IceMan, "So I think I'll just take him out… Subtitles!"
Having announced his attack, KaraokeMan lifted his mike and launched into a rendition of 'Install My Heart'. Once again, the captions appeared on his TV of a face, before exploding out of the screen and across the Network towards the Eskimo Navi.
"No, IceMan!" Roll shook off the last of the 'Sound Blast's' effects, and then leapt into action. "Roll Blast!"
The pink Navi's hearts shot through the air and into KaraokeMan's Subtitles attack. Although it visibly weakened KaroakeMan's attack, Roll's heartstorm wasn't able to cancel out the flying letters.
"My turn, Mega Buster!" The Bomber added his cannon's firepower to his ally's attack, doing his best to weaken the Subtitles.
"Cyber Blizzard!" IceMan joined in the fray.
While KaraokeMan's Subtitles were strong enough to withstand one attack, it couldn't resist three. So, working together, the three Navi were able to stop the flying alphabet in its tracks, and then cancel it out completely.
"Now, he's wide open!" Shouted Lan.
"Do it, Roll!" Maylu agreed.
"Right, Roll Arrow!" Roll summoned her bow, and then unleashed her heart-tipped arrow on her opponent.
"And the good ol' Mega Buster!" The Bomber fired off repeatedly, sending his purple-tinted blasts of plasma energy through the air.
"Time for this guy to chill, Cyber Blizzard!" IceMan added his power to the assault.
KaraokeMan just grinned as Roll's arrow, MegaMan's lasers, and IceMan's blizzard rammed into him, and exploded into clouds of smoke.
"Sometimes the old moves are the best." Giving his Buster and affectionate pat, the Blue Bomber nodded in satisfaction.
"I don't believe this," Roll kept her eyes transfixed on the flying dust that was obscuring their opponent from view, "but we didn't even dent him!"
"Say, what?" The Blue Bomber's head snapped up.
It was true, as the clouds of dust faded away; it became extremely evident that KaraokeMan hadn't even been scratched.
"Either KaraokeMan found some major upgrades lying around…" IceMan gasped in horror, "Or he's powered up with a Dark Chip!"
"You hit the wrong notes both times." Grinned the singing Navi, "But if you think that I'm going to tell you the true secret of my power, then you're crazy… now…"
"Electro Sword, Download!"
"I'll put out your lights!" KaraokeMan muttered, as a sparking blade grew out of his wrist. With a battle cry, he leapt across the Arena at Roll.
Remembering a strategy that they had developed for the Tag Team Tournament, MegaMan slipped around behind the singing Navi. He desperately hoped that Roll would read his mind and set things up for this to work…
Deciding that she'd had enough shocks for one day, Roll figured out the Bomber's plan, and launched herself backward. Her bound put her safely out of harm's way and as she landed her bow materialized on her right wrist. Quickly she snapped it up and cut loose, firing repeatedly at KaraokeMan.
"Coming at you!"
A blast of energy from MegaMan's buster slammed into KaraokeMan from behind, causing the electrical Navi to loose his balance and tumbling forward… straight into the barrage of firepower exploding out of the pink Navi's weapon.
"Oh, you think that'll stop me? Recharge!"
As KaraokeMan spoke, a blast of electrical power shot down out of the sky and rammed into the singing Navi, who closed his video eyes and drank in the power.
"The Customized Lightning Chip!" It took MegaMan a split second to recognize that move. "That's the chip that Count Zap developed to restore ElecMan's health using electricity! Man, what I wouldn't give for my Electro Sword right now…"
His power levels returned to full capacity, the singing Navi grinned wickedly before hefting his mike again. "Sound Blast!"
"AAH!"
The deafening explosion ripped through the Network, doing serious damage to the trio of Navi.
"Now, the finishing stroke," KaraokeMan muttered, "Zap Rings!"
MegaMan, Roll, and IceMan overcame the last of the Sound Blast's power, just as their opponent unleashed his firepower. They were too stunned from the Sound Blast to move as the Zap Rings barreled towards him.
"Sonic Boom!"
Three crescent-shaped blasts of energy whipped through the air and straight into the Zap Rings, destroying them completely.
"ProtoMan!" Overcoming the last of the Sound Blast's effects, MegaMan looked over to see the red Navi drop to the ground.
In the real world…
"Sorry I'm late." Chaud appeared behind Lan and Maylu.
"Chaud, you're always fashionably late." The brunette rolled his eyes, "frankly, I've come to expect it from you. Wait… you never battled here in the Arena… which means that your chips aren't infected!"
"Come again?"
"Nebula rigged it so that all of the Recharge machines would poison our Battle Chips." Explained Maylu. "So we're stuck in a deletion battle with no way of defending our Navi."
Unbeknownst to the blind Netbattler, Chaud's face went white. Not knowing that Famous had removed the source of the infection, the Official mistakenly assumed the worst.
"Before I came in here, I stopped in the lobby and recharged my chips… Mine are useless too…"
"Meaning we're still chip-less." Turning his attention back to the present match, Lan tried to figure a way out of this dilemma. "Well, we'd better find a way around that massive problem, and soon!"
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"Oh yeah, I'm feeling hot tonight!" KaraokeMan howled with laughter at the thought of what he was about to do. "AAAANNNNDDDD… FEEDBACK!"
"Oh no…" Maylu caught her breath as she remembered her past experiences with that move.
"Listen to me." Lan brushed past the completely bewildered Chaud, who had been absent from that episode, and quickly took the redhead's hand in his own. "Maylu, no matter what happens, we're here. And we always will be."
"Thanks…"
Meanwhile…
"I won't let you do that!" Roll unleashed another round of her heart hailstorms. "Roll Blast!"
The singing Navi chuckled as he sidestepped around the attack. "I'm afraid that you don't have a choice… "
With that statement hanging in the air. KaraokeMan placed his mike before his chest and cut loose, filling the stadium with the intense squeal of feedback.
Immediately, Maylu stiffened as the noise assaulted her…
"Come on, Maylu…" Lan whispered as he kept his hand in hers. "You beat this before and you can do it again…"
"What's happening?" Chaud watched as Maylu's eyes closed in obvious pain…
"I wish I knew," The brunette replied uneasily, "For some reason this Feedback Attack affects Maylu in an unknown way- a bad way."
Maylu shook her head as the noise exploded across her mind, driving away the outside world… she was lost, alone, she had no way of communicating with those around her. She couldn't hear them, couldn't tell where they were, or what was going on around her…
She wasn't sure where it came from, but a horrible idea presented itself in her mind: if she used one of her Dark Chips, she could stop the pain…
But she couldn't! If she used any of her chips then Roll would be plunged into Dark Soul. And she couldn't do that to her best friend, she wouldn't!
As much as she willed the urge away, Maylu found her panic at being cut off from everyone rising. She had lost all form of communication to those around her, her link to the world was gone… she didn't want to be alone like this! She needed to hear again, to know that they were still there!
"No, no!" To her horror, Maylu realized that she couldn't herself screaming… she was truly alone… "Lan, Chaud, help me!"
In obvious concern, Lan and Chaud were bending over the sobbing, shouting Maylu, and they were doing their best to help her overcome the ordeal.
"What's she doing?" The brunette watched as her hand inched towards her folder. "Wait… she can't! Maylu, you can't use that!"
"Maylu, snap out of it!" Chaud practically screamed into her ear; "You can beat this! We're right here! MAYLU!"
Inside of the Network, the three Navi watched from their P.E.T. screens. After it became evident that the singing Navi was targeting Maylu, and not them, they had immediately put their focus on helping her in any way possible.
Roll's eyes widened in fear as she saw her Operator reach for one of her poisoned chips before drawing back… Could it really be that bad for her? That Maylu would use one of those chips to escape?
"She can't…" MegaMan also saw the horrible event.
"MegaMan, ProtoMan…" Roll closed her eyes as she spoke. "If she… if Maylu does use one of those things… wait until I defeat KaraokeMan… and then delete me as fast as you can. I don't want to live as a Darkloid."
"Roll, look at me." The Bomber spoke solemnly, "Maylu won't use them. Lan won't let her."
"I hope not… but if that's what it takes for her to escape that torture… I'll do it."
"We won't let that happen." ProtoMan replied, "Now, let's put a stop to this nonsense."
"Right, Mega Buster!"
"Sonic Boom!"
Roll watched as the attacks bounced off of KaraokeMan without causing a shred of damage…
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"Make it stop!" Maylu shouted at the chaos engulfing her. Again that idea came to her mind… All she had to do was… NO! She wouldn't!
But her self-control was fading, and although she commanded her hand not to, it continued to reach out and pluck the Dark Sword chip…
"Lan, Chaud!" The redhead screamed silently, "Don't let me do it!"
But she couldn't control herself…
"NO!" She started to slide the chip into her P.E.T.
Put to her relief, she felt a hand slap against hers, causing the Dark Chip to go flying away.
Maylu breathed a sigh of thanks to whoever had saved her…
Unknown to her, Chaud had ripped the folder from Maylu's hands and flung it away, scattering its contents across the arena.
"Maylu, get a grip on yourself!" The bi-colored haired teen shouted as he shook her firmly. He had to get that Feedback to stop somehow! Whatever it was doing to her, it was downright sick. "You can't!"
"Chaud!" ProtoMan's urgent voice came from his Terminal, causing the Op to pause and look into his P.E.T.
A frightening sight greeted him. MegaMan was lying wounded on the ground, just barely conscious, while KaraokeMan was holding Roll above his head, obviously preparing to finish her off. ProtoMan's attempts to help her were hampered by his lack of chips, and KaraokeMan's ability to brush off his attacks via the Lightning Chip.
"Chaud, there's no other way. Do it." The Raider's voice was emotionless.
"You can't be serious!" The teen stared into his Terminal. "I'm not putting you into Dark Soul!"
"If you don't then Roll's as good as gone." The Raider slashed with his blade, unleashing another useless Sonic Boom attack on KaraokeMan in an effort to buy them some time. "Chaud, for her sake, and Maylu's, DO IT!"
"ProtoMan, I-" The Official's voice cracked in unspoken emotion. He had to stop this Feedback and free Maylu… but at this price? Destroying ProtoMan's 'soul'?
"Chaud…"
The Official caught his breath as he realized that he had no choice, slowly he reached for a Battle Chip. "ProtoMan, I'm sorry."
"DO IT, LAN! NOW!"
Chaud's eyes widened as he spun around to see Lan holding a Chip above his P.E.T. "LAN, NO!"
The brunette ignored his companion. Closed his eyes, the Op slid the deadly Battle Chip home.
"Forgive me…"
"There's nothing to forgive Lan, I made you do- this- AAAHHH!" The Bomber gasped as the Dark Powers began to flood his systems, the familiar sickeningly sweet energy began to flow into him as the Dark Sword appeared about his wrist.
"MegaMan!" Roll watched in horror as KaraokeMan dangled her in the air. Already a think black mist had surrounded her friend. What was he thinking? He couldn't sacrifice himself for her!
But that was exactly what he was doing…
"YAAHH!" Overwhelmed by the deadly power, MegaMan was forced into a wild frenzy. The corrupted Bomber went racing across the Network with his sword raised and ready to strike.
KaraokeMan dropped his captive in shock, his Feedback to grinding to a halt. This wasn't supposed to happen! The amount of Dark Energy in those chips should have been enough to put any Navi under his control in a matter of seconds! But this guy…! What was going on?
"DARK SWORD SLASH!" The deranged Bomber raced in, and sent his sword slamming against his opponent, channeling all of his power into the attack. Driven on by the Dark Powers, he repeatedly slashed his sword across the electrical Navi, showing ruthlessness in his attack that was foreign to all that knew him…
KaraokeMan had time to gasp once before he shattered in a burst of pixilated Data. Whether he had logged out, or been deleted, no one could tell, and they didn't really care at the moment.
"I don't believe it…" Tory gasped as he watched the events through his P.E.T.
As the piercing squeal fell silent, Maylu's senses cleared, and shook her head woozily in an effort to speed the process. "What happened?"
"MegaMan, I- he-"
"Lan used a Dark Chip." Chaud muttered, causing Maylu to gasp in horror.
Back in the Network, Roll was currently rushing over towards the poisoned Navi. Maybe there was something she could do to slow the advancing infection… Quickly she reached the Bomber and held her hands out to him. Maybe her healing powers could stop this…
"No, Roll, stay back!" The Bomber lashed out with his weaponless hand, knocking the pink Navi away from him. "Get back! I can't- I can't hold him- back!"
As Roll hit the ground, her eyes widened in horror at the sight before her.
The black mist was vanishing away, revealing MegaMan. But it wasn't the MegaMan she knew, his usually gently eyes were now sharp and piercing, and covered in a red tint. His entire attitude was one of checked arrogance now.
"Hey, sugar." The Blue Navi smirked, causing Roll to gasp. MegaMan never addressed her like that…
"Mega-" The pink Navi's voice cracked on the word, she couldn't believe that this was happening…
Before anyone could react, the form of KendoMan DS appeared in the Network next to the Dark Bomber.
"MegaMan… MegaMan DS, come with me." The dark swordsman spoke, "Its time to go."
"Right." MegaMan DS nodded.
"Hold it right there." Before the two could log out, ProtoMan materialized directly behind KendoMan DS, with his sword raised. "Nobody's going anywhere, least of all MegaMan."
"Attacking from behind, eh?" KendoMan smirked. "What a low move, especially from you."
"You should talk." The Raider kept his blade ready to strike.
"Unfortunately, you seem to have forgotten… about my Dark Aura!"
As the Dark Swordsman spoke, a blast of intense Dark Energy appeared around him and MegaMan, shielding them from anyone's attack. In vain, ProtoMan drove his weapon into the barrier, only to have it shatter before his visored eyes.
"Now, MegaMan, let's go."
"It'll be a pleasure." MegaMan DS nodded, "I look forward to assisting Nebula-"
"NO! MegaMan, you can't!" Lan screamed into his P.E.T. in helpless frustration, "Remember who you are-!"
"You!?" The Dark Bomber snapped around to look at his former Op, "How can you tell me what to do? Have you already forgotten what you've done to me? You destroyed me! Can't you see that? Well? Just look at me! Look at what you've done to me!"
Even though he knew that it wasn't the real MegaMan speaking, those words hit Lan, cutting deeply into his raw emotions.
"Forget it, find some other Navi to save your skin on a constant basis."
"Let's go." The smirk was evident in KendoMan's voice.
KendoMan, Logging Out.
MegaMan, Logging Out.
The two Navis vanished in a burst of pixels, leaving the others behind.
"No, why'd he do it?" Roll could feel the moisture burning in the back of her eyes. "Why? I should have been the one to- WHY?"
ProtoMan didn't have any answers to offer to that question.
Outside in the real world, Chaud glanced over to check up on Lan, it as plain to see that the Op was fighting his own tears, and loosing the battle.
"Lan, I-"
"Not now! Just... not now!" The brunette shouted. Completely overwhelmed and shamed by what he had done, the Op spun on his heel and fled up the aisle out of the arena… leaving his empty P.E.T. behind.
As the sounds of Lan's footsteps pounded away, Maylu lost the last of her self-control. She couldn't keep from thinking that if she hadn't fallen for the Feedback's power, all of this might not have happened.
"This is all my fault…"
Chaud looked over to see the blind Maylu shaking slightly from some unknown emotion; tears were brimming herbrown eyes.
"If I had fought harder… then… then maybe Lan wouldn't have had to do that…" The redhead was visibly trying to keep from crying, and not succeeding.
The Official didn't blame her, although he rarely showed his emotion, he too was shocked by what had just happened. "Maylu, it's not your fault."
"But, Chaud, I… I just about did that!" Maylu's face dropped towards the ground, she was too ashamed to 'look' anywhere else... "I almost put Roll into Dark Soul… I couldn't stop myself, and MegaMan had to…"
"We'll get through this…" The double-haired kid reached out and laid a hand on his friend's shoulder, "I promise you that. And I promise that I will get MegaMan back…"
"I, I-" Maylu's voice cracked, stopping her from continuing as the tears broke loose and began to flood down her face. "Sorry-"
"Don't be, there was nothing you could do." Chaud did his best to comfort the distressed girl.
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From deep within the Arena's Network, the solitary cloaked figure of Bass stood, processing the events that he had just witnessed.
"This is an occurrence I had not foreseen."
With that sentence hanging in the air, Bass vanished into the Internet…
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Next: To trap a MegaMan… with a Blue Eyes White Dragon?