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Chapter 14: The Flame Messenger
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'' The world really has changed... for the worse.'' Rockman said to himself. He was sitting cross legged on the floor of HQ's cyberworld. The rebels had filled him in on all that happened since he had been hidden away, and what they had discovered about Saito. '' But, how did Saito-kun get to this time period?''

Crushman shook his head, '' We've asked ourselves that many times, but we've uncovered no answers.''

Dash nodded, '' Yeah, I downloaded a file on the Hikari family from Scilab, or what's left of it, but all it said was that he was the son of Netto and Meiru, the rest was corrupted.''

'' Hmm, Netto-kun was so happy when he learned that Meiru was pregnant...'' Rockman muttered, his eyes clearly seeing something no one else could.

'' But the Outbreak worsened, and Netto-kun knew that he would be in danger, as he was a part-time researcher, part-time net savior.''

'' So his work was very hands on, correct?'' Butch asked.

Rockman nodded, ''Yes, so it was getting very dangerous. And then, one day, he said he had a premonition. So he secretly installed Blues and I into that computer, set Blues on standby, and me into stasis. The next thing I knew, you guys found me.''

There was a silence as everyone absorbed this information. That time must have been tough for the little navi, with all of the conflicting emotions. Proud that his operator had matured and was going to be a father, worried about the state of the world, sad that the child would grow up in such a world, and a longing for peaceful times.

On a more positive side, his presence had produced a calming effect on everyone. Maybe it was his friendly personality, or his particular aura, or maybe it was the sight of Saito and Rockman conversing in fluent Japanese, of which no one but Slate and possibly Butch could understand. Or maybe there was just something funny in the water.

'' Rockman, what was Daddy like?'' Saito asked his navi.

'' Well, he was often forgetful, and sometimes oblivious, but he had a strong sense of justice, even though he sometimes was hard headed. I'm sure you would have like him.''

Saito nodded, '' Arigatou Rockman.''

The five, six rather, operators sat in silence, until Karla asked a question, '' Is it just me, or has it gotten warmer in here?''

Vick scowled, ''You're right, it has gotten warmer in here!''

'' Hey, it's gotten hotter in here too!'' Tyria exclaimed.

'' Correct, the cyberworld's temperature has increased by 15.4 degrees fahrenheit.'' Beta calculated.

'' And it seems to be coming from over there.'' Zero said, pointing towards one of the walls that separated the different areas of the cyberworld.

Dash walked over to it and pressed his hands against it, but quickly withdrew them. '' It's burning hot!'' he grimaced, blowing on his abused hands.

KABOOM!

Dash was knocked backwards by an explosion that blew a breach in the wall, through which came a horde of fire viruses. There were Champys, Flame Swordys, Draggins, and Spikeys.

Dash picked himself off of the ground. '' Viruses! But how did they get in here?''

In the real world, the temperature had gone up as well. '' Worry about that later, we need to delete them first!''

Everyone readied themselves for battle. Dash, Beta, and Tyria morphed their hands into busters, while Zero summoned his saber and Crushman put up his fists.

The two of them waded into the mass of viri, hacking and punching, while the other three navis opened fire.

Rockman was going to fight too. '' Rockbuster!'' he shouted, morphing his hand into a blue buster. He moved into closer range, then began firing.

Dash ducked a punch from a Champy, blasted it, dodged a slash from a Flame Swordy, then shot that as well. '' Terry, some battlechips would be nice.''

'' Sorry! Tank Cannon, slot in!''

Dash went down on one knee as his entire arm was replaced by a large gray cannon. It fired an earth shaking blast, destroying a large group of viri.

Elsewhere, everyone else was doing fairly well. Zero was effortlessly slicing through enemies, Tyria was using a vulcan to wear down a particually defensive Champy, Rockman was picking off viri with his buster, and Crushman was tossing Spikeys around as if they were plushies. Even Beta, who wasn't designed for heavy combat, was doing pretty well.

Karla slotted in a second Vulcan, then turned to see Saito simply staring at his PET's holographic display. '' Do you know how to operate a navi?''

'' Sorta...'' Saito admitted.

'' Well, let's just send chips for now, just touch a chip on the screen and drag it over.''

'' Like this?'' he asked, selecting a Longsword.

Rockman's buster morphed into the Longsword. He charged forward, slicing through several viri. Dash was struck by how casually he did so, as if he had been doing this since the day he was activated.

His awe was cut short by Terry slotting in a Fujin Racket. He swung it, unleashing a powerful wind gust, deleting another group of viri.

With this threat removed, he turned to see that everyone else was done with their viruses.

'' They're all gone... but the heat is still here...'' Butch muttered, wiping some sweat from his brow.

But there was one last virus, for a shadow fell over the six navis.

'' Nan da...'' Zero muttered, slipping back into Japanese.

A Magma Dragon virus appeared overhead and spewed a stream of flame towards the ground. Dash, Tyria, Rockman, and Zero managed to easily evade, being small and light, Crushman just got away, but poor Beta was too slow and took the brunt of the attack, so he was forced to log out.

'' Aquatower, slot in!'' Karla shouted, slotting in the named chip.

Tyria put her hand to the ground and water shot out from between her fingers, forming into a tall geyser that struck the dragon, which let out a shriek.

Slate inserted a chip into the side of his PET, '' Paralyze Bomb, slot in!''

Zero hurled the thing into the air. It impacted with its target, sending the immobilized dragon plummeting to the ground.

'' Now! Rockman, finish him!''

'' Uh, Watersword, slot in?'' Saito said nervously, selecting a new chip.

'' Aqua- sword.'' Rockman corrected as his hand morphed into a blue blade.

A face mask popped up, covering his mouth and nose, then he charged forward, slicing through the creature with ease. The Magma Dragon's torso slid off of its tail, the both halves fragmented.

'' Good job, you've managed to delete all of my viruses.'' an unfamiliar voice said.

Everyone turned to see a new navi standing near the hole that had been blown in the wall.

'' Who are you! How did you find us!'' Zero demanded, raising his saber.

'' I am Pyroman.exe.'' the navi said. His body suit was black, while his shoulder pads, boots, gloves, and torso armor were orange. His orange helmet was decorated with what appeared to be racing stripes. ''To answer your second question, your HQ is the only building in the area that's emitting significant cyberworld signals, it wasn't very hard to find you.''

He looked at the navis, then his black eyes alighted on Rockman. '' Who are you? I know that the other four are rebels, and that the normal navi was beaten, who are you?''

'' I'm Rockman.exe!'' Rockman said, his voice slightly muffled by his mask.

'' I've never heard of a rebel Rockman, or any Rockman for that matter.'' Pyroman said scowling.

Zero did not like being ignored. '' Why are you here, what do you want!''

'' Hmph, all you need to know is that I am a mercenary. A researcher within T-Corp asked my operator to defend a certain project of his from you.'' Pyroman explained, crossing his arms.

'' Wait a minute... this base has no connection to the net...'' Slate said, '' So in order to get in here, you would've had to of been plugged in from an external port outside... Vick, go check for intruders.''

Vick nodded and left, wincing a bit when he touched the door, which was still emitting heat.

'' This project, I assume it's those Dimensional Chips we've discovered.'' Zero deduced.

'' Yes, the manufacturing plant in region 174-'' Pyroman stopped, realizing what he had just said, then let out an oath so disgusting and potent, that Terry was shocked that a navi had been programmed to utter it.

'' Well, now that I've let that slip...'' Pyroman grumbled, '' I'm gonna have to delete you!''

Zero smirked, '' It's five on one, you really think that you can win? You're mistaken.''

Pyroman ignored him and threw a small fireball into the air. Well, that little fireball exploded with massive force, knocking everyone over. Zero's saber went clattering away.

Pyroman smiled and threw a larger fireball towards him. Zero did not try to dodge, he didn't need to. He summoned a disk like shield, and the fireball impacted against that, leaving Zero unharmed.

'' How did you...''

'' The Z-Saber isn't my only weapon.'' Zero said. He then threw the slightly blackened shield away from himself.

'' Ha! First you lose your sword, then you throw away your shield!'' Pyroman laughed, '' I would've thought that the great Zero would be more AHHHGG!'' The shield came flying back, slicing off several of his fingers.

Zero caught the shield and picked up his saber. '' Saber Wave!'' he cried, bringing down his saber, unleashing a wave of energy. The wave hit Pyroman, knocking him over. When he got up, he saw Rockman pointing his buster at him.

'' Charge Shot!''

A powerful energy blast flew from the end of the barrel and hit Pyroman in the side. He let out a scream as his side was blasted away.

''He's... That attack was so powerful...'' Tyria said, awed.

'' It's the Ultimate Program.'' Zero said.

'' What is THAT!'' Crushman asked.

'' I'm not exactly sure, but it seems to serve as a latent power source. Apparently, it gave him various powers such as ' Soul Unison' and ' Full Synchro'. ''

'' I'm confused.'' Dash said, scratching his helmet.

'' I don't really understand it much myself, but I think that's why Akira-sama wanted to find him, so that his power would be added to ours.'' Zero explained.

While this was happening, Pyroman slowly, painfully picked himself off of the ground, with a portion of his left side gone.

'' D-Damn you... Rockman. I swear... that... I will get you for this. I... will!'' He logged out.

Rockman breathed a sigh of relief and was automatically logged out, along with everyone else.

'' Hey boss!'' Vick shouted. Slate turned to see a haggard looking Vick enter the room. '' I didn't see anyone out there, but I did see a pickup truck driving away.''

'' That must've been Pyroman's operator.'' Slate sighed.

'' Yeah, but his navi let slip where the factory is! We can go there and shut it down!'' Terry pointed out.

'' Yes, I will try to find out where region 174 is. When I do, we will leave.'' Slate said.

'' Um... Akira-san?''

Slate looked down to see Saito looking up at him.

'' Will Rockman and I be coming too?''

'' Naturally.''

Rockman nodded, '' I will gladly fight to rid the world of the Dimensional Chip menace, once and for all!''

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Longest chapter yet. Took forever to type originally, but that was cause I was

sick when I did so.

I think it's rather obvious who Pyroman's operator is. There are only seven chapters left too.