Note: Cybersystem Gaiden is set to occur in the world of Cybersystem Chronicles, but centered on another character that is also in the Cybersystem Gaiden RPG.

Chapter 8: Intruder at the Gate

"What happened?" Ryuu asked in surprise as he checks Gaius' status and noticed that the shield program became inaccessible, "Could it be that his key…?"

"That's right…" Archeos seemingly grinned as he started swinging his key chain again while turning around to face the two, "I can render programs locked when I want to."

"Gaius, are you all right?" Iris asked as she moved to flank Archeos and fired beams of colored light at him. Archeos was momentarily stunned by the multitude of colors that glared at him, raising his shield to guard his eyes.

"Iris, now!" Arisa called out as she uploads three Boomerang battlechips for Iris. The Navi responded by unleashing a rain of boomerangs, intentionally throwing her aim off to avoid hitting Archeos' shield. As quick as they flew past the gate-like knight, the boomerangs quickly turned and struck Archeos from behind.

"I'm fine… But we should not let him hit us with his weapon!" Gaius calls out to Iris as he receives three Hi-Cannons from Ryuu. He moves quickly to perform the Hyper Hi-Cannon to deplete as much energy from Archeos as he can.

"That's it, let's keep the pressure up!" Ryuu mentioned as he sends in more Hi-Cannons for Gaius to use.

"Don't think that I am just a pushover like any World Three goon!" Archeos exclaims as he brings up his shield, sending his key chain right into it. Just as quickly, the key chain sprouts up underneath Gaius' position, sending him to the ground.

"Can't move…!" Gaius exclaimed as his systems flashed red, with Ryuu's PET sending a feedback that his Navi's movement capabilities were locked.

"He can attack in that manner too?" Ryuu remarks as he tries to fix Gaius' systems to unlock the locked capabilities as quickly as possible.

"Iris! Keep him busy!" Arisa called to her Navi as she slotted in an Invis battlechip, followed with a Zap Ring and a Trident.

Iris quickly activated the Invis battlechip, rendering her invisible to her opponent and managing to avoid the incoming key chain just in time. She responded in kind by sending forward the Zap Ring at Archeos.

"Grah!? Do you think that stalling for time will help you get away?" Archeos remarked as he glared left and right of his position, waiting for the paralysis to wear off.

"Maybe, but at least we'll take you down before you can do anything else!" Iris replied as she reappeared behind Archeos and shot him with three tridents at his back before moving away.

"Persistent nuisance…" Archeos muttered as he sticks his key chain into his shield once again, causing the key to strike upwards from the floor underneath Iris.

"Iris, move!" Arisa exclaimed as her Navi proceeded to execute evasive maneuvers to avoid getting hit by the keychain. They knew well that getting hit even by just one shot would mean that this Navi would get the upper hand.

"So, you're capable of moving quickly," Archeos mentioned as he has to turn around to keep track of where Iris is going, "Let us see if you can keep running after I do this!"

Setting the door like shield on the ground, the shield starts to replicate itself and fly towards Iris. The smaller and faster Navi manages to avoid getting hit by the doors as they eventually circle around her.

"Iris, let's bring them down!" Arisa mentions as she uploads a pair of Cannons for Iris to use against the doors. Activating the battlechips, Iris then aims and fires at two of the surrounding doors.

"Heh, that attack is too simple to take my doors down," Archeos gloats as the doors Iris aimed at opened up, letting the shots enter through them. Two of the remaining doors suddenly opened up as well, sending the shots right back to the surrounded Navi.

"Unh!?" Iris exclaimed as she fell to her knees after taken by surprise. Arisa is just as surprised that Archeos is capable of doing something like that. She sends in a Recovery to repair the damage that Iris received.

"Arisa-chan, I need the Black Bomb!" Iris called out as the doors begin to close in on her. She only manages to keep them at bay with the use of swinging attacks from her staff.

"Hold on, Iris!" Arisa replied with the uploading of the Black Bomb and a Heat Shot. Taking out the Black Bomb, Iris sets it right in front of her as the doors have closed her possible escape route. Iris' left arm then changes into a cannon that starts to glow red at the nozzle.

"The fool! Is she going to act so recklessly?" Archeos wondered as he noticed the bomb being set down, moving away to get away from the possible blast radius.

"Black Bomb explosion!" Iris yelled as she fires the Heat Shot towards the Black Bomb, causing a powerful explosion that shatters the doors to pieces, shooting upwards and then outwards as the blast finds its way out of the center.

"Iris!" Gaius calls out from where he lies, noticing the massive explosion. As the smoke clears, Iris can be seen standing. The explosion has damaged various parts of her body, with bits of data streaming from her.

"But why…?"Ryuu asked in wonder as he looks to Arisa, who in turn looks to Ryuu.

"It's the remaining alternative Iris and I have left…" Arisa mentions with a weak smile, "We know you two can beat him."

Iris managed a smile as well, before she closes her eyes and collapse to the floor.

"Hmph! A powerful attack, but a futile gesture," Archeos said as he then turns to look at Gaius, "Especially if the other one is immobilized."

"We'll show you what immobilized mean…" Ryuu replied as his body begins to glow, with Gaius glowing in a bright emerald hue in response. Gritting his teeth, Gaius slowly begins to move to his knees, and then stand up. With a loud and angry cry, two locks suddenly come out of Gaius' body and shatters.

"I-Impossible…" Archeos stuttered in awe at the immense power that Gaius displayed before quickly calming himself. Spinning the key chain over his head, Archeos sends his weapon towards Gaius once again to bring him down.

"Don't you think that attack has already been used?" Ryuu and Gaius spoke at the same time as Gaius suddenly moves out of the way and grabs the weapon by the chain. With a firm grip on the weapon, Gaius lets out a yell as he yanks on it with all his strength. Archeos is forced off the ground when Gaius begins to whirl the weapon over his head, before letting it go to send his opponent slamming towards the wall.

"Iris has sacrificed herself to take down your possible defenses," Gaius mentions as a brilliant green Dream Sword materializes from his arm. Before Archeos could reply or even act, Gaius sends the sword across Archeos' neck and behead the Navi.

The lock system let out a beep, and all doors and windows finally unlock with a click. Canceling the Synchro, Gaius heads over to check on Iris.

"Gaius how is she?"Ryuu asks as his Navi monitors Iris' status.

"She can be repaired, but with some assistance," Gaius replied after analyzing her condition, "She can still plug out with minimum problems."

"You did your best, Iris," Arisa thanked her Navi as she sends a command to get her Navi out of the system and back into her PET for repairs. Ryuu did the same with Gaius before offering to help Arisa fix Iris.

Elsewhere…

"Tsk… The two of them are much stronger than I figured…" a man stated to himself as he looks up from the monitor with a grin, "It would seem that Archeos has suffered the consequences of taking them lightly. I pray that the rest of you have learned from this lesson."

"Yes, Lord Jyagatsu," voices replied from the computer as the figures of some Navis bowed in response before disappearing from the screen to leave the man, Jyagatsu, by himself.

A mad laughter echoed through the dark hallways immediately after that.