A blast of light lit up the night.
The column of illumination died away, revealing the giant form of Asteroid FlameMan. The giant Navi turned slowly and surveyed the street before him: no one was around. Lifting his head, the fiery Navi spotted his target: Tamako and Higsby's Gift/Chip Shop.
He would follow his master's orders and burn the place to the ground…
And then a loud crackle sounded from above. His attention drawn by this new sound, the Asteroid Navi looked up, to see a Dimensional Area forming around him.
"CROSS FUSION!"
Two twin spheres of light exploded and vanished in seconds, revealing CF MegaMan and CF ProtoMan standing a short distance up the street. It was plain to see that they were going to stop FlameMan at all cost.
"Zero, Dimensional Chip in, Download!"
Another shaft of crimson light exploded out of the ground between the two Cross Fusion Rangers, revealing the normal-sized form of Zero. Without a word, the swordsman snapped out his right arm, summoning his blade.
Sean stepped out of the shadows to join his friends.
"It's over, FlameMan." CF ProtoMan snapped his right forearm up, summoning his default sword.
"Yeah, what he said." CF MegaMan trained his Mega Buster on his opponent.
"That has to be your worst comeback ever." MegaMan groaned from his side of the Fusion.
"Hey, a guy can't be creative all the time." CF MegaMan hissed back, slightly annoyed.
"Neither should he recycle old jokes."
Groaning, the Cross Fused Bomber dropped the argument and turned his attention back to the major problem at hand.
"If you were half as smart as you think you are, you'd realize that I know that this is a trap."
As that new voice split through the air, the two Cross Fusion Rangers and their Asteroid companion stiffened. They'd never heard that voice before, but knew immediately who it belonged to.
"And I assure you that I came prepared." A small spurt of flame appeared on the shoulder of the oversized FlameMan, and illuminated the figure of Scratch.
Scratch was a tall man, probably in his mid-thirties. Amazingly, he was impeccably dressed in a suit, tie, and neatly combed black hair. True to Sean's words, a prominent scar ran down the length of the man's face.
"After all we'd been through, I expected Scratch to be a shaggy hobo, not a businessman." CF MegaMan muttered under his breath. Aloud, he questioned, "So, just what's your real name?"
"My real name is long gone." Scratch glared down at the quartet of allies. "Lost when Higsby left our computer protection company to sell chips in that rambling old structure. The guy was a nerd and clueless, but he knew his job. I could maintain the business end, but I couldn't do Higsby's job... And lost everything because of it."
"Well, that explains some of this mess." CF ProtoMan fit the pieces of the puzzle together. "Evidently Higsby used to be in a partnership with this guy; and when he left, Scratch took the fall."
"Exactly. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to crush you three pests and finish of Higsby. Go, FlameMan!" Scratch bellowed.
"Flame Breath!" The giant Navi parted his jaws and unleashed a blast of flame from his maw.
"Scatter!" The Blue Bomber leapt to the right, throwing himself out of harm's way.
"Wide Shot, Battle Chip in!" The Bomber clenched his fist, transforming it into a short blaster with a wide mouth. Taking aim at the Asteroid Navi, CF MegaMan fired. A burst of power exploded out of his gun barrel and shot through the air at his opponent.
"Aqua Sword, Battle Chip in!" CF ProtoMan sent himself spinning into a back-flip, putting himself just outside of the attack's range. As soon as his blue sword-with-the-water-tank-hilt appeared, the Raider slammed the blade into the ground causing a flood of water to erupt and cascade at his opponent.
Zero vaulted to the left, escaping. With a sweep of his sword he sent a shockwave of energy flying at FlameMan. "Sonic BOOM!"
FlameMan watched as the attacks closed in on him. Abruptly he reared back and slammed his large fists into the ground. In response, three Fire Towers erupted from the fire Navi's hands and moved off to intercept the attacks.
The Asteroid Navi escaped without a scratch.
"Flame Breath!" FlameMan parted his jaws an sent another blast of fire exploding at his opponents.
"Geyser, Battle Chip in!" CG MegaMan shouted as he whipped back his hand and slammed it into the ground. Instantly the chip data activated, sending a column of water into the air before him; directly in the path of the fire attack.
FlameMan's eyes narrowed as his Flame Breath slammed into the tower of water and exploded, shielding his opponents behind a cloud of steam.
And then three explosions tore out of the cloud. CF MegaMan, CF ProtoMan, and Zero shot out of the fog bank and straight at their asteroid adversary.
"Variable Sword, Battle Chip in!" The Red Raider flicked his arm out, calling upon his yellow arrow-shaped blade. With a flick of his sword, the Red Cross Fusion Ranger sent a shockwave of energy tearing at FlameMan.
"Energy Bomb, Battle Chip in!" The Blue Bomber vaulted over FlameMan's head and hit the ground behind the Asteroid Navi. Placing his explosive package on the ground, CF MegaMan leapt away to relative safety.
As he ran forward, Zero held his blade out to his right, allowing the energy from the surrounding area to flow into the sword.
"If this works," CF ProtoMan watched his attack race towards its target. "We'll have this won. The shockwave will knock that oversized cigerrette lighter onto the Energy Bomb, paving the way for Zero to finish him off."
Unfortunately, fate had other ideas.
Showing amazing agility, FlameMan shifted to his left, allowing the Sonic Boom to sweep right by him. Next the giant Navi snapped his right arm about in a backhand slap, catching the Red Raider and sending him flying backward through the air and down the street.
Zero caught his opponent's eye, issuing an unspoken challenge as he raced closer.
FlameMan accepted the dare with a slight rumble.
"Take him out, Zero!" Sean's voice floated through the air.
"With pleasure. Hyper Slash!" Zero's frame exploded into a blur of red motion. He shot across the lot, gunning for his fiery adversary. Tensing his sword arm, the Navi prepared to unleash his blade's fury on FlameMan.
The breath whooshed out of the swordsman's lungs as a giant hand snatched him in it's grip.
Zero's body jarred and screamed in annoyance as his high-speed dash ended with the subtlety of hitting a brick wall.
FlameMan had plucked him out of mid-attack.
"ZERO!"
The swordsman wriggled and twisted, trying to find some slack in his opponent's grip- But it was no use, he couldn't break free.
10101010101010101010101
CF MegaMan blinked and groaned as he struggled to his feet. His breath froze he looked up to see Zero being held in FlameMan's closed hand- and Scratch laughing wildly on his Asteroid Navi's shoulder.
"Hang on, Zero!" The Bomber leapt into motion. His right hand transformed into a steel sword with a light blue glow running along the edge at the same instant that CF MegaMan's color scheme inverted itself. "Aqua Blade, Step Sword, Battle Chips in!"
FlameMan heard the commotion going on behind him. Still clutching Zero, the Asteroid Navi turned to face this new threat.
CF MegaMan shot forward at incredible speed. His target: FlameMan.
And the next thing he knew, the Blue Bomber was swirling around in an unknown void and his back was slamming into something hard and unyielding. CF MegaMan gasped as his inverted color scheme shattered back into it's original blue state- the Step Sword Chip had been broken.
As his wits cleared, the Blue Bomber found out what had happened. The giant FlameMan had snatched him with an open palm and driven him into the side of a nearby building, trapping him between the wall and the Asteroid Navi's hand.
But what really scared Lan and MegaMan was the fact that the fire Navi was beginning to apply pressure. Meaning that he was about to squish them like a bug against the building's wall.
"I've been in tight places before," CF MegaMan panted as he pushed against the giant hand trapping him in an effort to relieve the crushing force. "But this is- Oh, forget it!
The Bomber strained every muscle in his body, but he couldn't even begin to counter FlameMan's strength.
"This isn't working, we're going to have to come up with something else!" CF MegaMan shouted to his Navi half.
"I'm working on it," MegaMan called back, "but it's taking all of our energy just to keep him from crushing us. Whatever we do, it's going to have to be drastic."
1010101010101010101010101
While keeping that annoying blue pest under his palm, Asteroid FlameMan turned his attention back to Zero. The red swordsman was still withering and struggling in a futile attempt to escape his prison.
If the fire Navi could have grinned he would have as he began to apply crushing pressure to the other Asteroid Navi in his fist…
And then a deafening explosion tore into his left hand, the one holding CF MegaMan. Screaming in pained fury, FlameMan dropped Zero and jerked his left hand away from the searing heat.
"And the Program Advance saves our tails again." CF MegaMan muttered as he regained his bearings. By bracing himself and pushing against FlameMan's giant hand with his feet, he had freed his hands. Three Hi Cannons later, and the Blue Bomber had a fully charged Giga Cannon ready to blow his tormentor away.
"Enough of this!" The Blue Cross Fusion Ranger turned to see CF ProtoMan racing up the street.
"Fire, Aqua, Electro, Bamboo Swords, Battle Chips in!" Taking advantage of FlameMan's temporary distraction, the Red Raider closed in on his opponent. Leaping at his adversary's chest, the Red Cross Fusion Ranger clenched his right fist as it transformed into a familiar red blade. "Elemental Sword!"
CF ProtoMan swept by his opponent, lashing out with four different sword attacks. A split second later, the Raider hit the ground behind FlameMan.
The Asteroid Navi groaned in pain, and then collapsed to the ground in defeat. Due to the sudden motion, Scratch was sent tumbling from his Navi's shoulder and crashing to the ground below.
"We did it!" CF MegaMan pumped his right hand as he watched FlameMan whither on the pavement. "We beat him."
"There is never a complete victory, there is never a complete defeat." The trio of allies glanced over to see the wiry Asteroid Navi Op getting to his feet. The Blue Bomber decided that he didn't like the expression on that man's face.
"You three should know that by now, after all you've been through." Scratch grinned- it wasn't a pleasant expression. "I can't defeat you in battle, but that doesn't mean that I can't walk away with some small victory."
"And what 'victory' could you possibly gain at this point?" CF MegaMan demanded.
CF ProtoMan glanced at Asteroid FlameMan out of the corner of his eye. He really didn't like the direction this conversation was going- then it hit him: Scratch was stalling for time with his victory/defeat babble.
"He's trying to distract us!" The Red Raider burst into motion. As he leapt through the air towards his opponent, the Red Cross Fusion Ranger summoned his default weapon and prepared to finish off FlameMan. "We've got to end this now!"
"Huh?" CF MegaMan glanced over his shoulder in confusion.
"You asked what victory I could obtain at this point-" Scratch grinned wickedly. "I can destroy the cause of my problems. Not much, but a small victory nonetheless. FlameMan, attack now!"
With supreme effort, the Asteroid Navi lifted his head and parted his jaws for one final attack.
The Blue Bomber glanced down the fire Navi's line of fire- and his heart stopped. In the battle with FlameMan, they had completely forgotten about Sean. The gray-haired boy was a sitting duck, and right smack dab in FlameMan's sights.
"NO!" CF MegaMan and Zero leapt away from Scratch- each one desperately trying to do the impossible and reach Sean in time to save him.
"FLAME BREATH!" The fire Navi's unleashed one final burst of fire from his maw, and then vanished in a burst of data.
A growl slipped from CF ProtoMan's throat as his sword harmlessly slammed into the concrete.
"SEAN!" Zero poured everything he had into outrunning the fireball, but the back of his mind already knew that it was too late. His Net Op was done for.
The gray-haired child was frozen in fear, eye wide and unblinking as he watched his death approach him.
Ten feet to impact.
CF MegaMan inserted an Area Steal chip in a last-ditch effort to save the boy.
Six feet.
CF ProtoMan turned and began dashing towards Sean- even through there was no physical way he could make it in time.
Three feet.
Zero continued running- it was all he could do.
One foot.
The Blue Bomber reappeared and threw himself at Sean- he had to intercept the fireball. He had no other choice.
Impact.
Cross Fusion MegaMan was exactly one second too late.
"NO!" Zero heard the scream before he realized that it was coming from himself. A few seconds later, he had arrived at his prone, unmoving, Net Op.
The swordsman dropped to his knees by his master's side, his eyes taking in the damage that Sean had suffered. Surely it couldn't he as bad as it looked, his Op was still there- just wounded… he had to be… That was wishful thinking and Zero knew it.
"Zero…"
The Asteroid Navi blinked as he heard his name. The word was barely above a whisper… Yet it had come from Sean. There was still hope.
"Zero…" Again the gray-haired boy struggled to speak and sit up. Instantly his Navi was there, helping him to a somewhat reclining position.
"Don't move him," CF ProtoMan cautioned the others, "it could do more harm than good."
"Zero… I just wanted…" The boy's sentence was broken by a series of coughs, which he let pass before he continued. "you to know… I was proud to… have you as a Navi…"
"It was my honor, Sean." Zero continued to hunch over his Net Op.
"This is yours now…" With trembling hands, the boy plucked a chip from his folder and struggled to lift it to his friend. "Keep it... safe for me..."
The swordsman hurriedly took the chip from Sean's hand. He didn't want his Net Op to strain himself needlessly.
"Bye…" Sean's eyes rolled back as his eyelids closed. His body went limp in Zero's arms.
"No… He can't be…"
"Zero, I'm sorry." CF MegaMan placed his finger against Sean's neck to check his pulse… and shook his head in sorrow. "He's gone…"
"No… NO!" The Asteroid Navi snatched his head in his hands as pain and despair flooded through his being. His beloved Net Op was gone, gone forever… he had failed to protect him, failed in his purpose, failed in his life…
"SEAN!"
The Battle Chip dropped from the red Navi's fingers and plunked to the ground. It had been a Dream Aura, the one that expressed the bond of friendship between Lan and Sean, and now between Zero and Sean… even after Sean had left this world…
End Chapter!