Chapter One
Trinku Matanoa, the idiot

"Sir!" A man in a purple vest saluted as a man stepped out a room. A visor like device covered the man in purple's eyes as the saluted on came closer. "We are ready to dispatch our men on ACDC. We are awaiting your orders."

"Have you found 'him' yet?" The other man asked. His face was behind a black mask, long blue hair on his shoulders, although his face couldn't be seen, ferocity seemed to radiate from his body.

"N-not yet sir. But we know where to look." The man in purple reported. "'Doctor' is working on it."

"Good. Then everything is going according to plan. Dispatch 'Striker'. Tell him to do what he does best."

----

"And class, this is how a star is born...."

Trinku Matanoa laid his head on his desk in boredom, short black hair brushing against the top. Science was easily his most boring class, so it was also his favorite naptime class. "Yo, Shinigami..." He spoke into a black-gray, cell phone like device to his right, a PET.

"What is it, you idiot?" An annoyed voice spoke from it. A figure appeared on screen, golden eyes glaring into Trinku's red. "You're not going to ask me about your horoscope today, are you?" He asked rudely, while Trinku rolled his eyes.

"Cut the act, " Trinku muttered, causing the figure, a compute program called a navi, to snort. "Find Kit for me. Tell him to meet me after school to work on our 'project'." He made an emphasis on the word project, making the black haired navi to roll his eyes as his disappeared. Trinku placed the device in his pocket as he noticed the teacher loom over her.

"Mister Matanoa, if you are tired, then sleep earlier." The man checked his watch. "Now, would you answer the question?"

"Uh..." Trinku smiled, looking at the equation on the board. "...Two hours?" The teacher sighed, as another student's hand shot into the air. Of course, the other student was picked.

"The light of the sun would still warm the earth for a few hundred years after it imploded." A young man to Trinku's upper left corner answered, lowering it. "The sun might have already died and we'd be none the wiser."

"Excellent answer, Mister Seitamashii," The teacher smiled. "And poor work as usual, mister Matanoa." Trinku glared over at the young man with the elegant (and hard to spell) last name, who was already writing his answer into his notes.

"I can't stand that guy..." Trinku muttered, as the class bell rang. Being the last class of the day, the teen headed out of class quickly, rushing for the front doors.

Standing outside was a tall, six foot blonde boy. As Trinku drew his PET from his pocket, he smiled and drew a yellow one as well.

"So...when should we start our 'project'?" He asked. "After all, our grades are pretty bad..." Shinigami cleared his throat. "Alright, terrible. In the toilet."

"As much as I support this," Shini explained. "I think the two of you are not the greatest candidates for such a job. Neither of you are sneaky enough to hack your grades-"

"Shhh! Do you want them to get caught?" A voice from the blonde's PET spoke. "Kit's prepared for this."

"Yep," Kit Fox grinned, drawing a floppy disk. "I slide this little sucker in, and Gelbman works from there." Shinigami snorted at this, as they all headed for their places of residence.

"You know Shini, you talk too much." Trinku grumbled as the navi beamed. "I'm sure one of the students nearby heard us..."

"Good for ya!" He shouted. "Seeing you get caught is gonna be priceless!" He laughed loudly as Trinku glared at him.

"If we do get caught, remind me to strangle him..." Gelbman muttered, as Kit turned to his house. "Yeah! If I get caught, you die, T!" He shouted as Trinku gave a weak wave, continuing down the street.

-----

"Alright!" Trinku tossed his school uniform on his bed, pulling a black jean jacket out of his closet. Slipping it over his shoulders, he glanced into a mirror and saw the image on the back: A skull with a scythe in its mouth. "Here's the plan, Shinigami. We go to the school records, bring up me and Kit's files, and alter the grades. Then we run like a pair of headless chickens and hope we don't get caught."

"But I disable the security first..." Shinigami said lazily, leaning against a wall in Trinku's computer. His trench coat draped across the floor as the same symbol Trinku wore displayed on his chest. A large scythe was propped next to him, polished blade gleaming wickedly. "This is easily the stupidest and most poorly thought out plan in existence. You know you're gonna screw it up."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Trinku muttered, placing a belt around his waist. Grabbing the black and silver PET and clicking a button, the black-clad navi appeared onscreen. Slipping out of a window, he silently ran down the street to the school.

Coming close, he leapt over the wall (well...struggled climbing, then fell over the wall) that separated the normal nighttime visitor from the school. Squinting, he saw a figure sitting at the steps. Sneaking close, he saw it was Kit in (oddly enough) a ninja suit.

"Ready?" Trinku asked. Kit nodded, pushing himself off the steps. Pulling the door open ever so slowly, Trinku found they were unlocked and opened with ease. Slipping his PET in first, he aimed at a terminal at the wall. "Plug-in," He whispered, clicking the button on the PET. A small red beam came from the device, and Shinigami quickly found himself among the school security systems.

"...This is a mess..." He said slowly, gripping his scythe handle tightly. The area seemed devoid of any sort of life, and a few deep slashes tore the ground he stood upon. In fact, the network looked as if someone had split it with one well-placed sword strike.

"Hey...someone beat us here..." Trinku muttered. Stepping inside, the glow of his PET screen lit the way as Kit followed.

"I guess someone's grades are worse than outs," Kit joked with a grin. "And here I thought we were the bottom of the barrel."

"Some might argue that you are..." Trinku and Kit flinched at the sound of a familiar, critical sounding voice. Slowly turning, they both screamed once they say the school uniform. And wearing it...was Seitamashii Kojuro. "And what are you two doing here?" He asked.

"Er, ya see..." They stammered, but Kojuro ignored them. "...It seems someone's been through here..." He muttered, looking at the security systems.

"WAIT! What are you doing here, huh?" Trinku shouted the question. "You haven't given us your reason!" Kojuro adjusted his glasses, showing his PET to the two. An identification screen was quickly displayed, and that was more than enough to answer the question. "...um, what's this?" Trinku asked, obviously denser than the average person.

"I am a member of the official net battling association," He explained, obviously having more patience than the average person. "Now if you will excuse me, I have work to—"

"Yo, Seitamashii!" Shinigami shouted. "I think your man is in the principal's office!" He pointed to a convenient school map that displayed four markers of two colors: the green was Kojuro, Kit, and Trinku. But there was another bright red marker in said office. "Ya might wanna hurry."

"...Arigato." He thanked the black clad navi, walking down the dark hallway. Trinku plugged Shinigami out, glaring at him.

"Why in the WORLD did you HELP him?" Trinku spoke behind gritted teeth. Shinigami sighed, obviously having a plan (unlike his operator).

"You are really dense, ya know?" he mumbled, placing his hand on his forehead. "You two came into the school to change your grades, illegally might I add. Kojuro, an ONBA officer, busted you. It would benefit you to help him." Shinigami explained. Trinku fixed a blank stare on him as Kit and Gelbman clapped.

"Makes perfect sense, Shini! Bravo!"

"Yeah! Great thinking!" Kit praised. Trinku gave the two a look of total disbelief, adjusting his jacket. Storming down the hall, the two chased after. "H-hey! Wait up!"

"It's not here, sir." A man in red spoke into a headset. He stood in the office, PET in hand. The PET screen cycled through information as his navi ran a computer search. "No information at all on project 'Soul Blazer'."

"Humph. Keep looking. That man has access to all of inner Scilab's information. It has to be there."

"Yes sir." He nodded. "Striker, signing out." He said, turning off the headset. Turning to leave, Kojuro entered the room, hindering his escape. "A...kid? No... you're Kojuro Seitamashii..." He muttered.

"You must be the one responsible for the break in," Kojuro stated. "And what exactly are you looking for?"

"That is nothing to concern yourself with," he grinned. Kojuro noticed a sudden movement from the man's left hand, and a bright light overtook the room. There was the sound of breaking glass, and then the man was gone. Kojuro muttered something under breath in his native language, grabbing his PET.

"Laser, is the navi still here?" He asked as the screen activated.

"Affirmative. Proceed to combat phase?"

"Hai. Plug-in, Laser.exe." He pointed his ice blue PET at the terminal. And, as if some cue came on, the doors flew open to reveal Kit and Trinku. "Plug-in!" The two of them shouted, as their navis followed after.

"Shinigami..." Gelbman sighed. The navi was garbed in a gold suit, hood over his head. Two gold gauntlets shined on his arms as his placed a hand to his forehead. "I believe...our operators are idiots."

"No doubt..." Shinigami muttered, scythe over his shoulder. "But...we have a job to do, right?"

"Rate of success when combined with support..." Laser stated, covered in his blue-white armor. Sleek blonde cropped his (actually handsome) face, as his eyes seemed to flash colors from behind the light blue visor. "75. 10 to 30 chance of error in calculation."

"...So that number is 45 when we help?" Gelbman asked. Shinigami ignored him, watching as something approached. It was a navi, humanoid, red, armored. However, as he came closer, Shinigami noticed his arms: two four foot blades extending from its wrist. A faceplate extended over his nose and mouth as he came close, skeletal-like.

"Oooh. Cool looking!" Kit said. Trinku slapped his friend in the back of the head.

"Idiot! Who calls the enemy cool?" Trinku shouted.

"You're one to talk..." Kojuro stated, grabbing numerous chips. "I'd prepare for combat if I were you."

"Identify. If you fail to comply, this one will initiate combat." Laser warned. The navi with the bladed arms smiled, causing the other two to tense.

"My name is Blademan, navi of operator 'Striker'." He bowed, low enough to scrape the ground with his blade. "And I have what I came for, so I'll be taking my leave about now."

"Oh puh-lease! You really think we'll just let you go?" Shinigami grinned. "You must be stupid!" Blademan smiled, causing Shinigami to shout: "Load me up, Trinku! I'm about to make Blademan salad!"

"Battlechip, Quick-move!" Sliding in the chip, he shouted. "GO!"

"Wait!" Kojuro began, but Shinigami already charged. In a second he was an inch away from the navi, scythe swung back with a single hand. Swinging, the large weapon moved with little delay, but was knocked away by a single attack. Slamming his palm into Shinigami's chest, he delivered a quick vertical slash once the navi staggered, quickly followed by a kick to his stomach. Needless to say, he was sent tumbling back from Blademan and landed with a crash where he stood to begin with.

"Ow..." he wheezed, as Laser stepped in front of him. Two wings blocked his view as the navi's arm transformed into a large cannon.

"Calculating...Twenty percent output should be sufficient." The navi spoke in his usual monotone. Pointing the buster, his arm began to glow. Kit took that as his cue, following up fast as he could.

"Battlechip, gold fist! Double slot in!" Kit shouted. Both of Gelbman's gauntlets grew denser as a faceplate covered his mouth. Rushing forward, Blademan raised his swords for another strike.

"Slash wind!" He shouted, crossing his blades. Charging forward, a red aura encircled him as he struck Gelbman. Grabbing the navi, he slid back a few steps, and then stopped completely as the navi tried to push him further. Numerous cuts began to open across his skin as he held him, each worse than the other.

"Laser, aim," Kojuro ordered. The navi pointed his cannon, calculating his odds of a direct hit. Gelbman tossed the navi upwards, and a gold beam went up in his direction. The beam of energy flew, but only barely connected (and tore off) the navi's arm.

Shinigami, however, pushed Laser aside. Lifting his scythe, he threw it with much force towards the navi. The spinning scythe flew higher...then went right through the navi's midsection! Blademan fell to pieces, landing with a bang on the network ground.

"Stinger," Shinigami smiled, as the scythe flew back to him. "Rest in hell, ya piece of junk." The bladed navi's data reformed into the word "Delete", then dissolved into less than usable data particles. Shinigami and Trinku laughed loudly at their victory, but a look from Kojuro silenced them both.

"Reckless," he muttered. "That last attack could have been launched back at you. And your battle style is simply sloppy."

"Hey, it got the job done didn't it?" He grinned. Kojuro didn't, however.

"Yes, but such a maneuver was simply careless." Kojuro turned to leave. "Continuing with such a spur of the moment, unplanned battle style is simply idiotic." Exiting, Kit followed after, leaving Trinku to think.

"Hey...What do you mean idiotic?!" He shouted, storming down the hall after them.