Begin Chapter
"You ready, Chaud?" CF MegaMan glanced at his partner.
"I am. Let's do it." The Raider nodded back.
Instantly, the two allies shot through the air towards the offending HardMan.
"Super Vulcan, Battle Chip in!" The Blue Cross Fusion Ranger clenched his fist as the orange rotary-gun weapon locked about his wrist. Bringing his weapon up and around to bear at HardMan, the Bomber locked onto his target.
He pulled the trigger.
The gun flared to life, bullet after bullet exploded out of CF MegaMan's rotating barrel and shot through the air towards his opponent. As expected, the steel Navi crossed his arms over his face and braced himself for the coming impact.
"Hard Body!" The Asteroid Navi forced the words out of his clenched teeth. Instantly, his body turned a silvery shade of gray as a special layer of metal slid over every inch of his exposed body. The Super Vulcan bullets collided with his new armor and rebounded off harmlessly, HardMan was escaping the onslaught without a scratch.
"Do you really think that that puny weapon can harm me?" HardMan chuckled as he continued to deflect the bullets.
"No. But just keep up your confidence." CF MegaMan's eyes slid over to check on his partner, and then he abruptly cancelled his attack and vaulted to one side. "Now!"
Stunned by the fact that the onslaught had stopped, HardMan relaxed his posture and stood erect. Abruptly he caught a flash of movement over his shoulder, and whipped around to find CF ProtoMan racing at him.
"Electro Sword, Battle Chip in!" The Red Cross Fusion Ranger clenched his right fist and raised it over his left shoulder as he continued to rush his opponent. A split second later, a blue bar-bell shaped hilt had materialized over his forearm, and a sparking azure blade had slid out of said hilt. The next instant, CF ProtoMan's body had taken on an inverted color scheme as he exploded across the ground and high speed. "C Step, Battle Chip in!"
"So I see." HardMan stared at his new attacker, while bringing his right forearm up to the level of his chest. "Blue boy was a distraction, you are the real threat."
CF ProtoMan didn't reply, he merely slid to a stop in front of the Asteroid Navi and whipped his blade around at lightning speed for the first of his three strike combo.
The sword slammed against HardMan's forearm- and shattered into a thousand pieces.
"What-?" The Red Raider stared at his broken sword in shock.
"Pitiful!" HardMan whipped his left arm back and prepared to send it rocketing into his stunned adversary.
"Yo-Yo! Battle Chip in!"
Before the Asteroid Navi could complete his strike, a bladed Yo-Yo came out of nowhere and circled his wrist in mid-air, effectively wrapping his forearm in its super strong string and stopping his punch. The steel Navi looked down the length of the string, to find CF MegaMan on the other end.
"Chaud! Get out of there!" CF MegaMan hauled back another foot of Yo-Yo line to keep their opponent from completing his attack.
Taking his cue, the Red Raider vaulted backward into a mid-air somersault that carried him out of harm's way. As soon as ProtoMan hit the ground, a new voice assaulted his ears.
HardMan's head snapped around, to find none other than Zero teleporting in to the space in front of him. The swordsman's blade slashed back and forth in two different strikes, landing a scathing blow on the steel Navi's chest each time.
Zero back flipped away, putting several feet between him and his opponent.
"All right!" Sean pumped a fist in the air. "Great move, Zero!"
All three allies gaped in astonishment as they realized that not one of those attacks had penetrated HardMan's armor.
The steel Asteroid Navi lost patience with the way this battle was progressing. Snapping his left arm forward with all his strength, HardMan jerked the Yo-Yo line and CF MegaMan along with it. The Blue Cross Fusion Ranger lost his footing and flew forward, as the force of the pull traveled down the line and into his body. The Blue Bomber sailed through the air, past HardMan, and slammed into the side of a building, digging a crater in its otherwise smooth surface.
"That… hurt..." CF MegaMan panted as he dropped to the ground, stunned.
"Now there's an understatement." MegaMan groaned from his side of the fusion.
"Zero, we have to attack him together!" CF ProtoMan leapt into action, racing across the ground towards his opponent.
Zero nodded his agreement and flew over the ground to run by his red ally's side.
"Neo Variable, Battle Chip in!" CF ProtoMan snapped his arm out to his right, allowing the purple and orange sword to lock onto his forearm.
"Z Saber." The red Asteroid Navi summoned his green sword.
"Step Sword!" The two Net Battlers cried in unison. Zero and ProtoMan exploded forward at extremely high speed- closing in on HardMan.
With a battle cry, CF ProtoMan and Zero streaked up to their opponent and slashed with all their might…
And then everything exploded.
HardMan snapped his arms out to his sides as his two adversaries passed him by. The move caught both of his opponents squarely in the chest, the impact sent them flying away at right angles to their previous course, and into the walls of the buildings on each side of the street.
"Ugh…" CF ProtoMan peeled himself off of the wall and allowed himself to drop to the ground below.
"Chaud, that punch packed a lot more force than you realize. Our energy levels are on the verge of non-existent; a few more hits like that and we'll lose our Cross Fusion."
A short distance away, Lan was facing a similar situation.
"Two or three more hits like that and we'll drop out of Fusion." MegaMan was giving his Op the rundown.
"Great. Then we'll just have to make sure he doesn't get those hits." CF MegaMan hauled himself to his feet. The Blue Bomber looked at his partners and took stock of their situation.
He received a nod of agreement.
"Then here we go!" CF MegaMan thrust his arms over his head as MegaMan activated three of their Battle Chips. "Hi Cannon, Battle Chips in, Triple Download!"
"Cyber Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword, Battle Chips in!" CF ProtoMan mimicked the move by raising his arms skyward and summoning a Program Advance.
The Blue Bomber felt his three chips fuse into a more powerful cannon. The Blue Cross Fusion Ranger dropped his arms to chest level as the massive blue and teal cannon finished materializing. Without hesitation he lined his weapon up with HardMan and pulled the trigger, sending a blast of intense energy rocketing at his opponent.
Likewise, the Red Raider's Program Advance had finished forming as well. With a battle cry, the Red Cross Fusion Ranger brought his arms down, unleashing a powerful wave of energy from his long, blue Life Force Sword.
HardMan glanced from one opponent to the other. The Asteroid Navi didn't even grunt as the waves of power washed over him and detonated in an earth-shattering explosion.
CF MegaMan and CF ProtoMan cancelled their respective weapons and dropped their arms to their sides. Cautiously, they probed the billowing smoke with their eyes, looking for any trace that their opponent had survived.
Slowly the swirling dirt and ash dissipated, revealing the still standing HardMan.
"No way!" The Blue Bomber gaped at their opponent. "He's still standing!"
"But not without cost." The Raider noted the massive scratches and pits in their opponent's frame. "I doubt that he could take another hit like that, but we don't have the power to pull off another PA."
"We don't," The Blue Cross Fusion Ranger glanced at their Asteroid Ally. "Then we'll just have to give him the next best thing."
Zero didn't reply..
"We've got to give it all we've got!" CF ProtoMan shouted to his ally.
"Right." The Blue Bomber straightened his posture and extended his right arm.
The Red Raider mimicked the motion, as they both summoned the exact same Battle Chip in unison.
"Wide Shot, Battle Chip in!"
In perfect synch the two battlers snapped their respective weapons up and around to bear at their adversary. Two twin blue blasts of power exploded out of the weapons and sped through the air at HardMan.
HardMan just anchored himself and stood still, apparently he was too accustomed to deflecting attacks to even consider dodging the Wide Shots.
Zero formed his green blade and snapped it out to his right. Holding his sword parallel to the ground, the Asteroid Navi closed his eyes and concentrated. A glow began to radiate from the weapon as energy from the surrounding area began to flow into the blade under Zero's direction.
The two Wide Shots slammed into HardMan and detonated, sending a mushroom cloud of smoke and ash up into the air.
Zero eyes snapped open at the exact same moment that the radiance from the sword reached its maximum intensity. The next second, the swordsman became a red blur streaking across space and into the dissipating mushroom cloud.
HardMan's facial expression never changed as a red blur shot by his left side, and three long slashes appeared on his chest and torso.
Zero exploded out the other side of the cloud and slid to a stop, his blade still extended from his attack.
"Zeta Saber." The swordsman muttered, deadpan.
The smoke parted just enough for CF MegaMan and CF ProtoMan to see the damage dealt by their Asteroid Ally.
And then another explosion rocked the street, as HardMan met his end.
"That's another one down." The Blue Bomber nodded. "Great work, Zero."
The Red Asteroid Navi merely nodded.
"And that just leaves one loose end that's trying to slip away." CF ProtoMan turned to catch the retreating Gregory with his gaze.
The stocky teen stopped in his tracks and turned to face the Cross Fusion Rangers and Zero.
"Right," CF MegaMan stepped forward, "I'd almost forgotten about him. At the very least, and I mean 'very least', we can nail him for pick pocketing."
"Not to mention a host of other charges." The Raider crossed his arms over his chest.
Gregory glared at the others, CF MegaMan, CF ProtoMan, Zero and Sean. And then for no apparent reason, a grin spread across his face.
"What's he smiling about?" The Blue Bomber stepped forward to stand near the Raider.
Sean was the first to realize that the ground was trembling slightly, and that it was getting noticeably warmer.
"Oh no." The gray haired boy blinked and looked up to shout a warning to his comrades. "Guys, look-"
Before he could finish his sentence, the world exploded into flames.
End Chapter.