Special thanks to DonJuan for Beta-ing...
Begin!
"I'm here, Master." The shadowy form of a wiry, slightly humanoid dropped to one knee before the massive winged emblem hanging on the wall.
Out of the emblem, a deep throaty voice proceeded to intone instructions to the shadowy figure kneeling before it.
"My spies tell me that those… pests… have created a new device. One that can bring power who do not contain my essence. We must maintain our advantage; therefore, such a device must not be allowed to exist."
"Yes, Master."
"My faithful follower, you are to enter that realm, find this thing they call 'The Booster' and destroy it completely. You must not fail."
"Never, Master." The shadowy figure lifted it's pointed head, allowing a glint of light to reflect off of it's polished surface. "I will crush all who oppose me. In the name of the Falzer!"
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"Rhythm, chill." The brunette girl rolled her eyes and continued about her business.
"Melody, I'm serious!" The redheaded, teal-colored Navi standing atop the girl's dresser stamped her foot in frustration. "You've got to help me! Please?"
Melody rolled her eyes a second time and just continued changing. "Rhythm, the odds of seeing ProtoMan tonight are slim to none. It's just a demonstration for the new PET Booster that Dad worked on. We probably won't even see ProtoMan, let alone meet him."
Rhythm shook her head in honest annoyance. "Who said anything about ProtoMan?"
Ever since their accidental run in at Blaze Quest, Melody hadn't hesitated to razz Rhythm about her 'boyfriend'. This annoyed the teal Navi to no end because she knew that there wasn't anything like that between her and ProtoMan. They were just tentative friends; after all, a Net Navi like ProtoMan could have his choice of girlfriends, so surely he was already taken… wasn't he?
"You're thinking about him, I can tell." The brunette chuckled.
"I just want to look my best tonight, it is an official dinner at a big corporation." The teal Navi pouted. "C'mon, Melody, I helped you choose that dress for tonight… can't you return the favor?"
"All right, shoot."
Rhythm beamed and accessed the data stored in her Link PET. A split second passed and then her appearance changed, Rhythm stood on the cabinet now wearing a stunning blue, evening gown over her silver jumpsuit that draped up over her shoulders and swept down her back.
"Great! Which one looks better, the midnight blue one…" Rhythm paused to 'change' again, this time into a cute crimson dress that differed only in the cut from the azure one. "Or the red one?"
"I think ProtoMan would like the blue one better, it matches your eyes." Melody replied.
"Melody Makoto!"
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Chaud Blaze stepped out of his limo and set off across the sidewalk to the entrance of the restaurant. The duel haired Net Op paused to reflect upon the irony of the situation. He hadn't planned on being at this demonstration, but his father's flight back into town had been delayed. Since someone from the company executives had to be there just for the sake of appearances he'd found himself facing an evening of pointless chit-chat and careful diplomacy instead of paperwork.
At very rare times, Chaud wondered just which of those two options was duller.
The Net Op pulled a sheaf of papers from his pocket and tried to finish his last-minute brush up on the Booster. It was a good invention and would doubtless improve Internet travel, but there was nothing really earthshaking about it. Indeed, the CPD was a much better invention. But a product was a product and there was money to be made off of this one.
The back of Chaud's mind noted detected the sound of a car stopping at the curb. Instinctively, the boy glanced over his shoulder- and experienced one of those rare moments where he felt like someone had just sucker punched him in the gut.
A tuxedo-sporting ProtoMan noticed his Net Op's hesitation. Wondering just what had stopped Chaud in his tracks, the swordsman drew off of his PET's power and materialized in the air before the duel-haired boy.
"Chaud, sir, is something wrong?"
"She's here, ProtoMan."
The Raider didn't need to ask twice, he knew by that tone of voice just who the boy was referring to. ProtoMan looked up to see Dr. Makoto and his daughter departing from their vehicle.
"Her father," The Navi recognized the man from the files he had seen in Chaud's hand. "he's one of the scientists who worked on the Booster."
"I don't care if he is or if he isn't." Chaud snapped out of his daze and set off for the entrance of the restaurant. "We're not going to have anything to do with her."
The duel-haired Net Op entered the building and prepared for the long night ahead of him. After exchanging a few words with the other early arrivals, Chaud stepped down into the dining room to survey the arrangements.
A quick check convinced him that everything was fine in that area. The tables were already lined and set. The state was in order, and the Booster was even on display in the corner area, secured by four burly guards, of course.
"Mr. Blaze!"
Hearing his name, Chaud turned around and found himself face to face with John Dalton, the head manager of Blaze Quest. Another slightly familiar brunette man was standing beside the manager.
"Yes?"
"I want you to meet Dr. Makoto, the one behind this project." Dalton clapped his hand on the brunette man's back.
"Dr. Makoto." Chaud extended his hand. "I've heard that this Booster was your idea, and that you executed the project."
Makoto chuckled for a moment. "Well, I can't take all the credit. The team did a lot of the work getting the details straightened out, I just provided the raw elements to make the entire thing work."
The duel haired kid nodded once, and then the conversation was cut short as the dinner bell rang.
Everyone paused as the Master of Ceremonies strode up to the platform and began gathering the crowd's attention. Upon his direction the guests began seating themselves at the pre-assigned places.
Chaud maintained his distance from the crowd as one guest after another located his seat. As usual, once the crowd thinned out, he was able to locate his seat with ease.
The duel-haired kid walked over and sat down at his table, and nearly fell over backward when he found himself face to face with none other than Melody Makoto.
Chaud couldn't help but notice that Melody looked just as surprised as he did about their seating arrangements.
"Oh, er, hi." The brunette threw a weak wave in his direction. "It's… been a while… hasn't it?"
"It has." The duel-haired kid muttered back.
From his place beside Melody, Dr. Makoto raised an eyebrow in amazement.
"You two know each other?"
"We… sort a… bumped into each other" Melody hesitantly answered. "During one of those days when I was waiting on you in the cafeteria."
"I see." Dr. Makoto nodded. "I'm guessing that that was an interesting meeting."
"Some thought it was." Chaud cut off the girl's reply. "Your daughter has an interesting sense of humor."
"Yes, she does." The man glanced at his daughter. "I'm sad to say that it comes from her mother's side of the family."
The duel-haired boy wasn't certain, but he thought that he'd seen just a hint of… emotion in Dr. Makoto's eye… It was almost as if he had glanced away to hide something.
Further discussion was cut off when the servers arrived and began placing the meal before the guests.
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"Talk about an under-the-table deal." Rhythm chuckled as she leaned against the table leg.
ProtoMan just chuckled lightly at the joke, although it did accurately relate their current position. The two were literally under the table, spending some time together while their respective Ops ate overhead.
"I'm just glad that I caught your Email..." The Raider replied. "This was an… unusual idea."
"I just can't believe that you accepted the invitation." The red-headed Navi tossed her head nervously. "I… didn't know if you were interested- not 'interested' as in- er, I mean, I'm not- I'm sure that you…"
ProtoMan stifled another chuckle and then stepped over to stand beside Rhythm. "I know what you meant."
"You… do?"
"Yes. I do." The Red Navi replied. "So... What are you and Melody up to these days?"
"Well…" Rhythm replayed the past few days in her mind, taking inventory of their hobbies and activities. "Melody is making a lot of progress with her voice lessons. She's determined to make it into the regional competition this year. I'm working on my voice too, and we're scheduled to try out for the Net Star competition two days from now… There's also school and keeping her father in line…"
"The Net Star competition?" The Raider cocked his head in recognition. "The singing contest?"
"Musical. Anything that involves music, instrumentals, bands, quartets, all of that can enter the Net Star contest. They just prefer vocalists." Rhythm corrected the red Navi's statement. "You've heard of it?"
"Net Star wanted Blaze Quest to be the producers at one point in time." The Raider nodded. "We turned them down."
"Ouch." The red-headed Navi winced as she remembered how the fledgling contest had become an overnight sensation.
"It was." ProtoMan agreed. "But you're competing?"
"I am. Could you…?" Rhythm took a breath and then plunged into her next statement. "Would you like to come?"
ProtoMan didn't reply immediately. For a long moment, he was silent as he pondered his chances and opportunities to make such a commitment and keep it.
"I'll be there."
A smile exploded across Rhythm's lips, causing her to beam for some reason that not even she knew. This of course, caused ProtoMan to smile softly as well.
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"So the Booster can actually adapt itself to the Net Navi using it?"
"Exactly," Dr. Makoto easily fielded the question and returned a reply. "It's not a one-size fits all enhancement. It actually scans the individual Net Navi's data and PET Logs to enhance the individual Net Navi's skills and help eliminate any weaknesses."
Chaud raised an eyebrow in thought. While this project didn't seem that intriguing on a paper summary, it was beginning to sound fascinating in verbal detail.
"And now," The Master of Ceremonies held up his hands. "It is-"
Enter chaos.
An explosion ripped free from the back wall.
Chaud was on his feet as soon as the noise had reached his ears; and almost just as soon, ProtoMan had materialized on his shoulder. The two snapped around to discover the source of the disaster.
Behind him, Melody was already on her feet and her mouth was already on the floor.
"How- how's this possible?" The brunette girl struggled to believe what her eyes were telling her.
"Copyroid…" Chaud's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the vaguely humanoid figure emerge from the smoke. "DrillMan!"
True to his words, the imposing Copyroid Net Navi entered the room. It's eyes were riveted on the device resting on the far corner of the room.
"Surrender the PET Booster." The Copyroid intoned.
"The Booster?" Dr. Makoto took a small step backwards, overwhelmed by these completely unbelievable events. "What-? How can you exist here? What do you want with the Booster?"
"I am Zoan DrillMan, of the Falzer side. I have come for the Booster as we must protect what advantage we have over you, and those who wish to stop us."
"But HOW? How can he exist in the human realm!" The doctor was still having a hard time accepting it as reality.
"He's in a Copyroid." Chaud explained, his eyes never wavering from their newfound enemy. "It allows Net Navi to roam the human world."
"Enough talk!" Z DrillMan began walking towards the display case containing his prize.
"We can't let him have it!" ProtoMan vanished as Chaud whipped out his PET. In one smooth motion he had fished his prized chip out of his pocket, and raised the device. "Dimensional Area!"
Within seconds, the room began to glow with odd, inverted colors and patterns.
"Chaud, wait, what- what's going on?"
The duel-haired kid shot a quick look at Melody and then shoved his Synchro Chip home.
"I'll explain later."
"Synchro Chip in! CROSS FUSION!"
The blast of light immediately seized Z DrillMan's attention. Intrigued, the Copyroid Net Navi turned to find a sphere of energy enveloping the one with hair like a skunk. A moment later and the light had vanished, with a strange red Net Navi replacing the skunk boy.
"Chaud, we can't risk a drawn out battle. The longer we fight, the greater the chance that one of these bystanders gets hurt."
"Agreed."
"Hold it, DrillMan." CF ProtoMan raised his blade defensively. "You aren't going anywhere."
"An obstacle?" The wiry Navi turned around. "Fine then! Triple Hole!"
CF ProtoMan tensed as the Zoanoid vanished from sight, leaving three holes in space behind. A drill then shot from each hole and sped through the air- straight towards him.
A grunt escaped from the Raider as he threw himself to his right, propelling himself out of harm's way. The Red Cross Fused Navi somersaulted in order to get back on his feet- just in time as it turned out.
"Drill Mode!"
ProtoMan CF's head snapped up, to find Z DrillMan's drill form bearing straight down on him from an angle.
Reacting on pure instinct, the Raider leapt upwards and pulled a back-flip so that his feet were planted flat against the horizontal wall behind him. A bound from there sent him flying up and over the attack.
"What the-?" DrillMan grunted as he crashed headfirst into the now empty wall.
"Circle Gun, Battle Chip in!" CF ProtoMan performed a quick mid-air twist so that he was now facing his opponent. Instantly the long, gray weapon had formed over the Red Navi's right forearm. CF ProtoMan lined the weapon's targeting sensors up with his bewildered adversary, and began firing away as soon as his feet hit the ground.
A barrage of bullets tore free from the Circle Gun and leapt through the air towards the Zoanoid. The rounds detonated on contact, obscuring the area with a cloud of smoke and dust.
Finally, the Circle Gun ran out of ammunition. CF ProtoMan hastily discarded the weapon and summoned his default blade in its stead.
Slowly the smoke dissipated… revealing a crumbling, bullet-ridden wall, but no sign of Z DrillMan.
"Did we get him?" Chaud wondered aloud.
"Not even close! Triple HOLE!"
"What-?' CF ProtoMan whipped around to trace the sound of the Zoanoid's voice. And received two drills to his stomach for his trouble. The impact sent him flying backward through the air, and into what remained of the back wall.
The breath exploded from the Raider's lungs as he made contact, and then he slowly sank to the unforgiving ground below.
Z DrillMan deactivated his attack to revealed himself. He was standing over on the corner opposite the Booster system.
CF ProtoMan snapped his head around to bring this muddled brain back into alignment with his clearing body. Scrambling to his feet, the Raider noted his opponent's position causing a quick smirk to dance across his lips.
"Perfect."
"Variable Sword, Battle Chip in!" The Raider whipped his arm out as the arrow-shaped blade appeared. With a sweep of his arm, the Red Navi sent a crescent of energy arcing through the air towards his opponent. "Sonic Boom!"
"Hreh." Z DrillMan growled while snapping his arms up to block the attack. The wiry Navi easily held his own against the attack, shattering the Sonic Boom with his two drills.
The Zoanoid's eyes flicked about, searching for his opponent. Abruptly he spotted CF ProtoMan descending on him from above with his Variable Sword poised to strike.
Anger ignited Z DrillMan's eyes as he brought his drills up to block the sword swipe.
CF ProtoMan dropped down, his blade carving through the air- and missing the Copyroid Navi completely. The arrow-shaped blade smashed harmlessly into the floor in front of Z DrillMan.
"You missed." Z DrillMan chuckled into his opponent's face.
"On the contrary." CF ProtoMan replied. "Life Aura, Battle Chip in!"
Puzzled by those words, Z DrillMan looked down at the ground… and saw the Variable Sword's tip pressed against a small, flat, round object lying on the ground.
The Zoanoid's eyes widened in panicked disbelief as he realized what that object was: a Mine.
"NO-!" The rest of Z DrillMan's scream was interrupted as the mine exploded into a massive fireball.
"CHAUD!" Melody heard the scream, before realizing that it was her own. Overwhelmed by the events of the past few minutes, she found herself straining to see through the smoke and ash to discover the duel-haired boy's fate.
Slowly the dust parted, to reveal CF ProtoMan with his Life Aura still intact… and what she assumed to be one badly damaged Copyroid.
"Chaud…" Melody broke free of the others and ran over to the Cross Fused pair. "You're alright."
"I am." CF ProtoMan tensed as his armor broke apart and reformed into Chaud's PET. The duel-haired kid reached out and plucked it from the air and clipped it back onto his belt.
"I… I still can't believe all of this. First some crazy Net Navi shows up in the real world and then you turn into ProtoMan… how is it all possible?"
"Chaud, sir!" ProtoMan interrupted from his PET. "I'm receiving information from the building's security system. Zoanoid DrillMan escaped into the Network and I believe he's going after the Booster Data."
"With his wormhole ability, nothing in the system could stand in his way." Chaud's mind clicked into gear, examining the situation. "It's up to you."
"I'm ready."
"Chaud, wait. What's going on?"
"It's not over, Melody. Stand aside." The duel-haired boy brushed past the brunette and then snapped his PET up to bear at the display case's port. "Jack in, ProtoMan, Power up!"
A beam of red light leapt from the PET and entered the port, transferring ProtoMan to the cyber Network.
The Raider slammed into the ground and got to his feet, sword at the ready.
"Triple Hole!"
As soon as those words reached ProtoMan, the Raider leapt upward. Half a second later and a trio of drills had sped through the spot he had just vacated.
The red Navi hit the floor and turned around to face his opponent.
"Give it up, you fool."
"Fool?" Zoanoid DrillMan screamed and tensed as he began tapping into the deadly power of the Falzer within himself. Slowly the Net Navi began to evolve and change… The drills one the Navi's arms split into three separate smaller drills as did DrillMan's feet. His limbs thickened and grew muscular as a pair of wings exploded out of his back. The drill plates on the Navi's shoulders flattened out and grew feathery, as the drill atop his head slid down over his eyes, giving him an owlish appearance.
"Now who's the fool?" Z DrillMan threw his head back and roared.
"He went Beast Out. This is not good." Chaud voiced his comments.
"Agreed."
Z DrillMan exploded forward at an extreme speed, his claws sweeping out to strike at ProtoMan. The Raider snapped his blade up to block the attack… And gasped in disbelief as his sword fell to the ground in three pieces.
"He… sliced right through the sword." ProtoMan blinked in disbelief.
"Now who can't win?" Beast Out DrillMan chuckled. A split second later and the Zoanoid had sent his other arm ramming into his opponent's midsection.
The breath exploded out of ProtoMan's lungs as he folded around the punch. Before he could get it back, DrillMan kicked out, his foot connected with the Raider's head and sent him flying backward.
"ProtoMan!" Chaud called into his PET, concerned over the amount of abuse his Navi was taking.
"I'm fine." The Raider forced himself to his feet.
"Not for long! Drill Mode!" Z DrillMan glowed for a second as he reverted into his now much deadlier corkscrew form. Amazingly, he shot forward towards his opponent at an even faster speed.
"Anti Damage, Battle Chip in!" Chaud brought the cartridge around and inserted it into his PET. "Download!"
Melody watched over the boy's shoulder, silently praying for ProtoMan's victory.
The second that DrillMan crashed into ProtoMan, the Raider vanished in a puff of smoke. And the Zoanoid was left with nothing more than a skewered ProtoMan plush doll.
"What?" Z DrillMan snapped back into his humanoid form in disbelief. "Where'd he go?"
"Long Blade, Battle Chip in!"
"Right here."
Z DrillMan whipped around, just in time to receive a sword strike to his face. ProtoMan came out of his drop in front of his opponent and snapped his arm about again, striking another blow to DrillMan and forcing the wiry Navi backward.
Z DrillMan fell back a step and then regained his footing. Screaming in rage, the Zoanoid brought his arms up to bear at his opponent. The drills/fingers located on the end of the Navi's arms suddenly flew away from the Navi and sped through the air towards the Raider.
ProtoMan snapped his sword back and forth, rapidly deflecting the small projectiles. But there were too many and they were coming too fast. A few slipped past his defenses and rammed into his shoulders and thighs; incredibly, the miniature rockets carried ProtoMan backwards and slammed into the side wall of the Network, pinning the red Navi to the wall.
"He… couldn't do that before…" ProtoMan gasped as his body screamed from the blows and the stress of being pinned to the wall.
"PROTOMAN!"
"DIE!" Z DrillMan whipped around, returning to his Drill Mode. A split second later and he was rocketing through the air to crash into his helpless opponent.
"ProtoMan!" Chaud racked his mind, struggling to come up with some way to save his Net Navi from being impaled by the Zoanoid Net Navi.
"PROTOMAN!"
"What?" The Raider looked up as that familiar voice reached his ears.
"Air Shot, Battle Chip in! Download!"
"Air Shot!"
A bullet of air shot through the air- and straight into DrillMan. Unprepared for the sudden blast of air, the Zoanoid was knocked off course wound up striking the space just beside the Raider instead of his intended target. The impact knocked the miniature drills free of the wall, allowing ProtoMan to drop to the floor.
"ProtoMan!"
ProtoMan shook his head and looked up, to find Rhythm kneeling beside him.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm been better." The red Net Navi sat forward and slowly got to his feet. "You did that?"
"We did." The teal Navi nodded. "Just returning the favor."
Further discussion was cut off when Zoanoid DrillMan ripped himself free from the wall and roared with fury.
"Chaud!" Melody rushed past the boy and sent the display case containing the Booster tumbling to the floor with a sweep of her arm. Quickly she picked up the device and passed it to the duel-haired kid. "Put that guy on ice."
"… I will." Chaud nodded quickly and then inserted the small Booster into his PET's slot in gate. Almost instantly a mass of figures and diagrams covered his PET's screen, before dissolving away into the words: NAVI BOOST.
Z DrillMan thrust out his arms, sending more of his miniature drills rocketing through the air.
"Variable Sword, Battle Chip in! Download!" Chaud sent the chip home.
However, instead of the expected arrow-shaped blade, four swords materialized on ProtoMan's arms. Two were in the normal position on the Raider's left and forearms, while the other two curled back along the red Navi's elbows towards his shoulders.
"What is this?" ProtoMan studied the layout of his weaponry for a split second, before turning his attention to the incoming missiles. He with the added blades and range, he found it extremely easy to deflect and ricochet the small attacks away from Rhythm and himself.
"It must be the Booster at work." Chaud marveled at his Navi's new abilities.
The Raider snapped his four blades up, deflecting a line of missiles, and then brought them around in an arc to destroy a few attacks that were coming in from odd angles.
That done, ProtoMan went on the offensive. The red Navi leapt forward and landed right smack dab in front of his opponent.
With a howl of rage, Z DrillMan sent his left claw flying towards ProtoMan's chest.
The Raider dropped back a step to avoid the strike, and then crossed his arms over his chest and jumped forward, pulling a sharp twist in the process.
"Bloody Quartet!"
Due to his spinning motion, all four of ProtoMan's blades sliced into Z DrillMan. But he didn't end there. As the wiry Navi recoiled from the attack, the Raider stopped his spin with his two forward blades in prime position to attack. The red Navi brought his swords down in an 'X' shaped slash that knocked Z DrillMan back with the force of the blow.
Z DrillMan stumbled backward for a few feet.
"End this, ProtoMan!"
"My pleasure. Sonic Boom!" ProtoMan snapped his arms up and then slashed through the air with all four of his swords. A blade of energy leapt from each weapon and shot through the air at his opponent.
Z DrillMan regained his footing, just in time to look up at the crescents of energy sweeping into him.
"NOOOO!"
But there was nothing he could do. Z DrillMan had no time or way to dodge- and so he took all four of the attacks right through his chest.
A moment later, and Z DrillMan was no more.
ProtoMan gathered himself, and then stood erect as his swords vanished.
"You alright?" Rhythm stepped forward and gently placed her hand on the swordsman's shoulder.
"I'm fine." ProtoMan answered, as a quick, gentle smile passed over his lips. A moment later, and the Raider had vanished as Chaud plugged him out of the Network.
"We did it…" The duel-haired boy thought to himself. Abruptly he turned to Melody, who was still standing there beside him, and slowly offered his hand.
"For what you did in there… Thank you…"
"No need." Melody beamed back. "Like Rhythm said, we were just returning the favor."
Chaud nodded then turned his attention the massive amount of clean-up that was going to be required…