Light In The Darkness
III
Red Sun Rising
Light in the Darkness and Light in the Darkness II, The Ultimate Threat. Both of them are thrilling cliffhangers that leave questions to be answered. This is the last installment in the series, Red Sun Rising. Hopefully, this one can answer all your questions and bring the series to an explosive close. For fans of Star, Proto, and Bass, have no fear; this won't be their last adventure together. Before you even think about reading further than this paragraph, please read Light in the Darkness and Light in the Darkness II, Ultimate Threat. If you don't, this fic will totally confuse you. Thanks, and I hope you enjoy!
ProtoMan. EXE was waiting. Not for something to happen, but for someone to arrive. Actually, two people. ProtoMan was tall, and fourteen years old. His silver hair hung down his back, and deep blue eyes were shielded from the world by a pair of dark sunglasses. Rarely was ProtoMan ever seen without his trademark Cyber Sword that accompanied his red armor nicely. Right now, he stood near the entrance of a small cave. Around him, it was a simple dusty brown landscape. The cave and the Undernet were not strangers to ProtoMan. Had it not been almost six months ago that he had been trapped in the very cave he was waiting by now? A small clatter of rocks made the red Navi look up to see the first of his companions standing on the top of the cave.
"Hello Bass."
Dropping down lightly, Bass. EXE smiled, a roguish, lopsided smile. His helmet sported two unusual fins, and between those was a silvery blue four-pointed star. A tattered brown traveling cloak snapped in the breeze, covering a powerful black body and the long jagged scar that ran across Bass' chest. Two purple stripes on Bass' cheeks stopped at the bottom of his cheekbones and at the bottom of each eye. The stripes accented Bass' very tan skin and crimson red eyes, which glittered like rubies in the sun.
"Curse it ProtoMan, how'd you know? Being a freelance must be making me soft." Joked the dark colored Navi.
Shrugging, ProtoMan eyed Bass. "I dunno, if anything, it's made you a bit sharper."
"Well, well, what have I here?"
Turning, Bass and ProtoMan spotted the third part of their trio, Starfire. EXE.
Starfire was tall, pretty, and had turned fourteen over the summer. Her design was very similar to Roll's, except she did not have that button thing on her butt, the ribbon like appendages on her head, and her ponytail looked exactly like ProtoMan's, only it was golden blonde. Starfire's slender frame was a color scheme of orange, black and red. The gloves on her hands were red and a gold band just below the elbow marked where they stopped. Her boots were orange with red accents. Again, a gold band signaled where the boots ended. Her eyes were bright and happy, not to mention a dazzling blue color.
ProtoMan smiled at her approach. They had been dating for only a few months, but he had a little thing for the orange Navi since he had met her.
Overall, the summer had been fairly quiet. Just the occasional spells when viruses got a little rowdy, but nothing to be worried over. With ShadowMan still missing, there really wasn't much to do.
Which was precisely why the three Navis present were worried.
ShadowMan had captured Starfire several months prior to this meeting, but had escaped before activating the self-destruct in his secret Undernet fortress. Since then, there had been no information about him at all, which worried the three Navis for one reason.
Before meeting with ShadowMan in his fortress, Bass and ProtoMan had spotted a room filled with weapons of mass destruction and as it turned out, ShadowMan was planning a takeover of the Cyber World.
Starfire sat down, her gentle blue eyes shining gently. "So. What's the news on our slippery friend?"
Bass momentarily marveled at his little sister. Ever since uncovering her secret style change, Forte Style, she had become quite the battle expert, fighting like a seasoned pro. "Well, there's nothing yet. At least…" Bass smiled, a clever smirk. "Nothing I've reported to the higher ups."
Looking over at Bass, ProtoMan raised his eyebrows. "You fiend! Keeping information from your superiors!"
Nonchalantly, Bass played with a couple rocks. "I figured that since we were the ones he's trying to kill, we should be the only ones in on this. I mean," Bass sat up a little straighter. "This is where it all began, didn't it? An assassination attempt on our lives in this very cave."
Both Star and ProtoMan were quiet, but they were thinking the same thing. It was true; this was between ShadowMan and the trio.
Sighing, ProtoMan leaned against the cave. "All right, what have you found out for us?"
"Well, have you heard of something called a Dimensional Area?" Inquired Bass.
Starfire seemed interested. "Yeah, something about trying to fuse a Navi and a human in the real world. But what's that got to do with anything?"
The black Navi continued. "Well, there was a break in at a government facility where some finished Dimensional Area technology was stored."
ProtoMan became slightly alarmed. "You don't mean to say that…"
"There's been no definite proof, but I've got a hunch."
Starfire held up her hand. "But this makes no sense. ShadowMan is a solo Navi! Dimensional Area technology only works with a Navi-human team. Why would he need that stuff?"
The boys were quiet. It was true, what had happened didn't make sense.
Finally, Starfire began her brainstorming process of bouncing ideas off of her male companions. "Couldn't we try and trace the residual data at the sight?"
"No can do Star, the robbery was committed in the real world."
"But how is that possible Proto?"
"From what the reports say, the Navi involved used a crane to steal the equipment and took the crane with him when he took off."
"Couldn't we get into the crane's network from here?"
"Sadly not Starry. We think he blew up the crane once he had no use of it any more because it's not coming up on any scans."
Eventually, Starfire fell silent and ProtoMan stood. "Right, I'll return to HQ and see what information I can get on this."
Starfire nodded. "I'll talk to Sam and see if we can't take a trip to the place that was robbed."
Bass stretched before saying his piece. "I'm gonna head into the Labyrinth. Maybe there are a couple clues in there as to what ShadowMan was planning."
Moving off, the blonde Navi looked over her shoulder at her companions. "If we find anything, let the others know!"
The boys nodded and the three parties moved off in separate directions, unknowingly entering another battle for the safety of the world they knew.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Wow that took a long time to get up! But I hope you think it's well worth it. Yeah, the first chapter is pretty lame, but I swear it won't be this lame! If it is, smack me.