PART XVI: FORCED GLUTTONY VS. SPOILED BABY

The Internet trembled with a rising tension as a massive battle continued to ensue. It was a two-on-two battle to the death between Net Heroes Rockman and Slur, as well as Adver Metools Angry and Hungry, and it was clear that both sides needed more than just power to succeed. They needed strategy.

And unfortunately for Slur, this was clearly not Rockman or Netto's strong point.

"Rockman! He's trying to attack you!" Slur cried as Angry prepared an ungodly blast from his cannons.

"WELL DUH!" Roll Soul Rockman replied in an angered growl. "Thank you, Miss Sixty Minutes, but this is no time to be stating the obvious!"

Trying again in vain to delete the Bonnie and Clyde duo, Rockman aimed another Roll Annihilator at Angry and Hungry…only to have Hungry devour his attack yet again.

"This battle…is becoming impossible!" Netto cried as he knelt to the floor and clutched his head. "It seems the only technique I can use…is either Gigas the Nullifier…or Forced Gluttony!"

A shadowed figure suddenly appeared around the corner, witnessing firsthand the horror of what could very well be Netto's first loss. At that moment, the figure stepped on a pile of leaves, and Netto glanced over his shoulder at what he believed to be a suspicious character. As he saw no one, he turned back to the battle and let his easily distracted nature slide…at least for now.

"You have no choice, Netto," Slur groaned as she knelt in pain, having been dealt an incredible amount of damage from Angry's cannons. "You…must activate it! Use…the Forced Gluttony!"

"Very well…I-I have no choice but to use it! Secret Destroyer Technique…"

A red aura of energy suddenly enveloped Roll Soul Rockman. At that moment, it became clear to everyone involved that this final desperate maneuver would either be Netto's ultimate victory…or Rockman's ultimate demise. With the aura now in its full intimidating glory, Netto declared the unleashing of his most lethal sacrificial attack:

"…FORCED GLUTTONY!"

Roll Soul Rockman raised his hand toward a very intimidated pair of Adver Metools, who met his unrelenting gaze with nervous anticipation. Once the final syllable escaped Netto's lips, he unleashed a brilliant red cloud of energy at the pair. Unfortunately, the Ultimate Evils would not give in so easily…not before their final move of desperation.

"That lunatic!" cried Kenishiro from the security of his cubicle. "He'll ruin everything with that sacrifice of his! Angry, Hungry! Your stats should be equal. Use it NOW!"

"Adver Metool! Code Unlock!" shouted Hungry as a brilliant white aura surrounded him.

"Secret Defense Technique!" cried Angry as the same white aura surrounded him as well.

"…SPOILED BABY!" the two shouted simultaneously, releasing their aura towards Rockman. "HA! We have beaten your Forced Gluttony!"

Spoiled Baby and Forced Bluttony suddenly melded together into one pink blur that exploded in a brilliant flash before both sides, who were blown away by its sheer concussive power.

"Hahaha!" Kenishiro cackled. "It's useless! Like the spoiled baby who must be force-fed and yet refuses to accept any food by tossing it back at the feeder, so does Spoiled Baby return all your damage…to you!"

Roll Soul Rockman cried in pain as he felt the searing sting of his life draining away. For the first time in his life, he felt the agonizing realization that defeat would perhaps come after all.

In the real world, the shadowed figure, knowing what had happened, exposed himself and walked up to Netto and whispered calmly, "Do you believe you can use it again?"

"Who…who are you?" muttered Netto.

"Don't turn around, young man. Focus everything on this battle. I'll give you a tip to secure your victory."

"Er…please do! And introduce yourself later!"

"Very well…" muttered the shadowed figure, a sweat drop on his forehead. "As you know, Forced Gluttony relies on HP and stamina. Although it is true that the Roll Unison gives Rockman the power to restore himself…"

"…How do you know about the Roll Soul Unison?" Netto interrupted, resulting in a painful bonk on his head.

"…DON'T INTERRUPT! As I said, although Roll Unison blah blah yada yada, Rockman's body is too small a container to accept the power of Forced Gluttony. Therefore…it is necessary for you to use the Saito DNA contained within Rockman…to expand his power limits, and use Forced Gluttony to its fullest potential!"

"Saito…DNA?"

"Rockman is a very special Navi, injected with the DNA of your long-lost brother, Saito."

"I have a long-lost brother? He's…dead?"

"Er, no. He's just been in college for such a long time and never even wrote home or emailed. That's why we presumed he was so long-lost. What an ingrate kid…Anyway…you must unlock the Saito DNA by putting Rockman's life on the line. Which, of course, means you must use the Forced Gluttony…until his health is ZERO!"

"H-how do you know all this?"

"Shoot first. Ask questions later."

"Right…" Netto replied, with a hint of uncertainty plaguing his voice. "All right then…prepare yourself, Rockman…Secret Destroyer Technique! FORCED GLUTTONY!"

"This guy never learns, does he?" muttered Angry. "No wonder Kenishiro said he and Netto were equally stupid."

"None of that matters now!" shouted Hungry. "Soon we'll have one less idiot standing in our way!" The two of them again glowed brilliant white, preparing to unleash the Spoiled Baby technique.

Rockman again manifested his brilliant red aura, but by now it had taken its toll. He was becoming weaker by the second. As he continued to sacrifice his health for the sake of victory, he thought to himself, "I'm getting weaker…I can't feel my body anymore…at this rate, I…I'm going to…"

Spoiled Baby and Forced Gluttony clashed in a near-subatomic explosion as both sides unleashed their attacks simultaneously.

"I'm going…to DIE!"

VWRRRMMMM…

Rockman found himself alone, standing in a long, dark corridor reminiscent of a poorly maintained basement. The walls oozed a thick translucent slime, and out of the corner of his left ear, he could swear he heard a voice not unlike his.

"Who is there? Come here…I want to see your face."

Rockman continued down the corridor, searching for the source of the voice, when he came to a bright light at the end of the hall. Out of curiosity, he walked in, and was greeted by one of the creepiest sights he had ever seen in his life. A boy with flowing black hair and green eyes in his mid-twenties lay on a small bed, dressed in ragged and worn clothes, beckoning him to come closer.

"You…young Net Navi, what is your name?"

"My name is…Rockman."

"So I see…I want to escape from this body of yours…but I cannot find a way. Net Navi bodies are a detestable maze…Rockman."

"So you are the one called Saito, Netto-kun's elder brother who went to college and never wrote home!" Rockman gasped, then thought to himself, "So I see…the DNA coding installed during the customization process was…"

Saito grinned at Rockman.

"…HIS."

"You came to ME this time," said Saito, getting up from his bed. "Why have you come here? Do you seek something? Did you need me to send a letter to my dad? If so, give up, for I'm too lazy to help."

"Hey, Saito," Rockman muttered solemnly as he thought that laziness was definitely hereditary in the Hikari family, "if Spoiled Baby gets the best of us, we're both finished! So as a comrade, I'm asking you…lend me the power of your DNA!"

"So…you're saying that if you die, we're both dead. Very well. In order to save you, my brother, and the Internet…I will lend you my power."

"Cool! Thanks, man!"

Rockman's mind transcended back into the real world, and out of the corner of his eye, Netto saw an odd button on his PET's holographic screen, etched with nothing but a single word: "SAITO."

"Shoot first…" Netto cried as he prepared to push it, "…ASK QUESTIONS LATER!"

Rockman's brilliant red aura transformed into a brilliant green as Roll Soul Rockman suddenly obtained the true power of Saito.

"This is…the power of your brother, Saito," the shadowed figure continued, making Slur's original mistake by stating the obvious. "Now focus everything on your enemy!"

"I already know that!" shouted Netto. "Ultimate Destroyer Technique! Forced Gluttony…SAITO BOOSTER!"

Roll Unison Rockman's aura glowed even more brilliant, as Angry and Hungry realized that with this new unexpected development, perhaps they were the ones who would ultimately be destroyed. Not ready to go down quietly, they prepared one last desperate attack:

"Ultimate Defense Technique…SPOILED TWIN POWER!"

Angry and Hungry's auras suddenly became an ominous shade of dark purple as the two auras clashed with each other in a brilliant flash. At that moment, for an unknown reason, Netto cringed as he felt a sharp pain on his right hand. Then, even for a few moments, Netto, Kenishiro, Slur, Rockman, Angry, and Hungry experienced a situation that was increasingly rare in the battlefields of the Internet.

Silence.

"What…what's happening?" Slur wondered aloud as she shielded her crimson eyes from the brightness of the clash's fallout. "This is ten times worse than what I create by showing up! Roll, Rockman…are you…"

"Yes…I'm here…" Roll Soul Rockman huffed, kneeling on the ground as he had become too weak to stand. The Roll Soul was dispelled and both Navis knelt side by side with each other, battered and bruised from the sheer stress of the technique. "But…where are…"

The bright flash dissipated, and on the opposite side of Rockman, Roll, and Slur were two huge craters, each at least a full kilometer in radius. A bright upward stream of light into a spiraling black hole in the sky signaled that Angry and Hungry had been reverted back into their data forms, now returning to the URA Internet from which they had come. Netto looked around to thank the shadowy figure, but it was nowhere in sight. "Not that it matters anyway," he thought to himself. "I'll thank him later." For now, he lay back in relief that the battle was finally over.

Rockman had won.

DENSAN CITY MIDDLE SCHOOL, AFTER HOURS

"Netto Hikari," a familiar voice echoed from around the bend.

"Laika? What are you doing here?" Netto replied as he walked outside the school walls, using a raised voice to make himself heard among his clamoring peers.

"I've come to warn you about something the shadowy figure you saw has told me about."

"You didn't even get his name?"

"I communicated with him by email. I don't have a video phone. So sue me. Anyway, what you are about to hear…is advice regarding the use of the Saito DNA."

Netto's eyes narrowed as his expression became grim and serious. Laika continued, "Listen, Netto. The Saito DNA is…a safety risk. Do you remember experiencing a sharp pain during the battle?"

"Yes…on my right hand!"

"Look at it."

Netto gazed at his right hand and gasped in shock, for there on the back of his hand was an enormous recovering scar.

"You understand what is meant now by my calling it a safety risk? Saito's DNA unifies the operator with his Navi. In this case, Saito's power unified your consciousness with Rockman's and used your will to win as a source of power for Rockman's attacks. The drawback, of course…"

"…is that the operator and Navi, as a result of the unison…" Netto continued ominously, "…suffer the same pain."

"Remember this, Netto, use the technique only as a last resort," Laika said as he turned around and walked slowly and dramatically into the sunset.

"I will…Laika."

Laika had just turned the corner as Netto put on his roller blade attachments and prepared to skate home. Suddenly, he heard Laika's voice:

"Netto Hikari. Do you know where I can find a bus line to the Sharo military base?"

"Down this street and make a left," Netto called back while thinking to himself, "Way to ruin the drama, soldier."

ELSEWHERE IN JAPAN…

"Yessss, master…you can count on me to destroy them all!" the squeaky voice of an upbeat evil Adver Metool hissed.

"I know I can count on you…" Kenishiro murmured while grinning devilishly, "…HAPPY THE METOOL!"

END PART XVI