Disclaimer: I do not own Megaman Battle Network or any of its characters, places, storylines etc. Capcom owns that. Everything else is the intellectual and physical properties of the Chaos Coalition.
Author's Note: The moment many of you have been waiting for has arrived! The novelized adventures of the new Chaos Union!
(cheers and applause)
For those of you coming to this story tabula rasa, let me inform you of another latin term you should know. En media res. It's a story in which the main action begins after several events have already occured. In this case, those events are the roughly 5-year history of the Chaos Union, parts of which aren't even worked out yet. So that's why I wrote this prologue.
This prologue, covering roughly the first year or so of the Chaos Union, traces from their beginnings to their induction as an ONB strike force, and gives a brief glimpse into the future, before we jump to the present day. The prologue begins sometime between BN 5 and 6, where Lan isn't active as much, giving the CU purpose, and it ends roughly 8 years later. As to the rest...you'll just have to wait and see.
And one last thing. This fanfiction is roughly based of the events occuring in the Chaos Union's own forum, Rockman.exeChaos. I'm fairly sure won't let me put up hyperlinks, so just go to my profile and click on the link for my homepage. That's all! Enjoy.
-
Chaotic We Stand
-
It was never meant to be defiant. The Chaos Union wasn't even titled so until a few discussions after they first met. Chaos Alpha, Warrior of Mystery. Chaos Beta, Warrior of Impulse. Chaos Gamma, Warrior of Destiny. Just three juvenile netbattlers who wanted some comrades in the fight against darkness. But how it grew, how it grew.
Shroud Taruka and Link Blades met at the Electopia Metroline. Shroud was a newcomer to the area, fresh from the harsh environment of Nation Z. Link was new as well, but to netbattling rather than Electopia. They encountered a bored traveler, who challenged them to a battle…a battle they lost. Hopes dashed, the two might have parted ways, forever altering history. Yet fate had other plans.
-
Shroud Taruka finished applying a FullEnergy Subchip to his navi, Shadow X. The 17-year old teen from Nation Z was of moderate height, and his black hair fell to his shoulders. A brown cloak was draped around his shoulders, and he swept it aside briefly, revealing a white shirt and black jeans. He locked his PET in its protective belt holster, ensuring it and his battlechips were secure.
He then watched as the wanderer walked off. His navi had been quite experienced, and it seemed that the rules to netbattling here were different from in Nation Z. It was every man for himself there, and this alternation between attack and defense was new to him. It seemed that he would need to fight whoever he could in order to master this style. Perhaps the boy who now stood beside him might aid him in that regard.
Linksan Blades was a bit of an enigma. The 11-year old boy was obviously Electopian; their youths had an innate skill with navis that others normally didn't possess. His spiky brown hair was held in place with an azure band, and he wore a bright red shirt and shorts. He and his navi, Crusaderman, seemed to be constantly in an argument. He looked knowingly at his navi, Shadow X, while Link began to bicker with his partner.
"Crusaderman! When I tell you to log out, you log out, you hear me!" The prepubescent Link's voice slightly squeaked in anger, but his navi seemed rather calm, at least in comparison.
"We could have won, Link." Crusaderman's scathing voice silenced Link, but the navi seemed surprised. "If only this quitter over here hadn't told you to log me out."
"What! I should have let him delete you, you little-"
"X." Shroud's words silenced the navi. "We did our best. Now, Link, would you like to accompany us to a café? I'll buy." He extended a hand of friendship to him, hoping that the boy was wiser than he appeared, and he wasn't making a mistake in befriending him.
Time would show that he made no mistake that day. Link eagerly took Shroud's hand, pumping it up and down with youthful vigor. And as they walked towards the café, another future player in the Chaos Union studied them as he walked behind.
Matthias Terre had been wandering the city, having a day off school. He truly didn't want to attend Dentech Academy, despite his rather high intellect. Rather, he had been looking into joining the ONBA, the Official Net Battlers' Association, with his navi Galaxyman. After all, you could join once you were 16, and Matthias' birthday had been roughly six months ago. Still, there was his father to worry about. Ever since their mother's death while he was young, Nathanial Terre had been quite the overprotective parent.
Shroud and Link sat down within the café, and a waiter came up to them. "I'll take just coffee, please," Shroud said. The waiter raised an eyebrow at him but continued to Link.
"Triple caffeine lemon latte, hold the lemon."
The waiter wrote the order down and left, eying the odd pair strangely. He brought the drinks back and set them on the table with an expression of confusion and disgust.
"So, Shroud, I was thinking. Maybe we should join forces or something." Link took a sip of his drink, pupils dilating with every sip. "We could be some sort of union, like Commander Beef and his partners."
"Mind if I sit here?" Matthias' interruption pulled Shroud out of his reverie. He looked the boy over. He looked only a year or so younger than himself, probably a sophomore. It had been a while since he'd had time to be bothered by schools. The boy's hair was a dark brown, and it was cut short, not a strand long enough to pose a threat to his vision. Blue eyes looked over the two as Shroud nodded.
"Why not? Link, you don't mind, do you?" Link shook his head, and slid over so Matthias could pull a chair up to the table. "The name's Shroud. This caffeinated kid over here's called Link."
"My name's Matthias Terre. It's nice to meet you both. Did I hear something about a netbattling union?" Just like that, fate stepped in to change three lives forever.
-
Matthias eventually managed to get the group a home, at NAXA, the space center at which his father worked. They steadily began gaining members, some of whom stayed with them and others who left, not finding what they were looking for. Their earliest adventures dealt with discovering the secrets behind Shroud's navi, and fighting forces from Nation Z. Eventually, Shroud left the group to return to his homeland, leaving Matthias in charge. He led the team, but things weren't really the same.
-
Matthias typed something into his laptop and returned to the list of Chaos Union members. A thunderstorm brewed as he adjusted the activity list, moving members around and looking at the results, a rather motley crew, but one he'd depended on for the last few months.
Link, of course, was on the list, but with quite a different navi. One of the Nation Z generals had corrupted Crusaderman, and the preteen didn't have the funds to repair him. So he'd been forced to take a generic navi, one he'd named Sonic. Still, the two had managed to bond together better than he and his old navi ever had.
There was also J.G. Yukamara, a mercenary whose navi, Kitsune, had managed to assimilate the data of a super virus. The vulpine navi was now an incredibly quick navi, with fiery attacks and demeanor. In addition, a boy named Pavo had joined, a year or two older than Link and a perfect match for the random child. His navi, Radioactive Turkey, was the levelheaded one of the two, and that wasn't saying much.
And then there were Lica and Brian. Two high-level ONB who'd joined their ranks and managed to become quite helpful in their own right. Lica was a feisty young girl whose navi, Strike, was an expert of finding the perfect way to defeat an opponent. As for Brian, the teen was a year younger than he was, but had been an accomplished criminal before deciding to fight against crime with his powerful navi, Ziel. Regretably, both were out, fighting the Underking, Serenade.
The most recent members were Pavo's sister, Candy, and Golex Tjon. Candy was actually one of Matthias' first opponents, but had only recently shown interest in the Union, alongside her navi, Lovely Angie. As for Golex, he was a bit of a conundrum. A serious teenager, yet his navi was the slightly insane Hyperman. Still, both had shown great interest in the Union, and looked to be quite helpful someday.
A sudden sound caused him to raise his head. He almost didn't recognize the figure that walked through the door. "Shroud?" He stood and walked around his desk, looking at his friend. "You're really back, for good?"
The battle-scarred teenager nodded. "I'm back, Matthias. For good, I hope." He slumped into a chair off to the side. "I…I killed him, Matthias. He was going to kill my father, and I killed him." Matthias stood silently. Murder…he'd never thought Shroud would be able to do anything of that nature. Hell, he couldn't think of anyone he knew who could kill another.
"Shroud…" There was nothing to say. The moment passed; Shroud lifted his head as if nothing had occurred.
"Now, what's happened in my absence? I've heard rumors of your growing numbers." Shroud stood and walked over to Matthias' desk, flipping through the roster. "And I see they're true."
Matthias nodded and walked over to stand beside him. "The two at the bottom are our newest recruits, Candy and Golex."
"Pavo's sister? I thought she was with Triad?"
Matthias shook his head and pulled up a saved article on his laptop. "Nope. They disbanded." The article opened, proclaiming the loss of one of the few major crime syndicates left. "The only member still active in thievery is Liam Angel, but he shouldn't be much of a problem. EON's still a threat though."
Shroud dismissed that by turning to the window. "EON's scarcely stronger than Triad was. If we're lucky, they'll destroy themselves. What of Serenade?"
Matthias had hoped he wouldn't ask that. "Serenade…he's finally managed to create a Dimensional Chip, and he's used it to attack Creamland. Lica and Brian are already there." Shroud seemed disheartened by this news, and Matthias stood beside him at the window. Thunder clashed as they stood there, statues looking into the future. "Shroud, if I might ask...what are your plans for the Chaos Union?"
Shroud looked over at Matthias, idly rubbing a scar on his chin Matthias had never seen before. "Enforce the Net, Matthias. Just as before."
"I'm not sure that's enough. Not anymore." Matthias sighed, unwilling to face Shroud with his conclusions. "Maybe not all of us…but some of us need to go rogue. We'll have more freedoms, both here and on the Net."
Shroud completely turned to face Matthias, his face tinged with shock. "What? Matthias, we must earn our S-Licenses. It's the only way to battle in the real world, and if we're not ONB, we have no rights. What could have possibly led you to such an idea?"
"You're wrong, Shroud."
The Nation Z netbattler stopped speaking. "What?"
"You've been gone too long. Wazuki Orochi has perfected a new method of real world battle--the Dimensional Converter. If one is in balance, you can defy the laws of reality and pull your navi into the real world. It's incredibly taxing, but doesn't require a Dimensional Area." Both of the friends were silent a moment, trying to read each other's expressions. ""I don't know what I'm going to do in the future, but I will not let villains have their way with this world," Matthias said, turning from the window. "If that means I must leave the ONB...then so be it."
Shroud and Matthias stood in the darkened room, lightning flashing behind them. For an instant, something flickered behind Shroud's eyes, and Matthias feared he would lash out at him. The moment passed, and Shroud simply began to chuckle. "I see you gained a backbone since we last spoke. Come on. Let's figure out what to do next with our lives."
-
The old friendship had been renewed…but something still divided the friends, something that would not become apparent until it was too late. For Shroud had not only killed in Nation Z, he had done so under the influence of a Dark Synchro Chip…developing a dark personality that soon gained control over him, calling itself Shadow Shroud.
Gathering several rogue navis to his cause, he created the Dark Union, which ruthlessly attacked the Chaos Union, nearly destroying them. However, Matthias and the others fought back, taking the fight to their enemies at Mt. Belenus. Achieving Full Synchro for the first time, Matthias and Galaxyman led the Chaos Union against Shadow Shroud. He was finally deleted, with X's help, and Shroud managed to recover from his possession.
Still, the Dark Union persisted, with the help of several new additions, including their new leader, Master Shadow. This mysterious navi seemed tied to Black Earth, and had near-godly abilities. In addition, Shade, Shroud's twin and Master Shadow's NetOp, came onto the scene, using his skills to delete Shadow X and defeat the Chaos Union in battle.
The ongoing fight continued for several months. Shroud received a new navi known as Cloud, but even his abilities were not enough. Eventually, they managed to defeat Master Shadow and his minions, but were forced out of NAXA due to damages caused in the attack. Luckily enough, Matthias was able to hack into a government satellite, finding an uncharted and uninhabited island for the group to use. After collecting their pay over the last months, the group had an office building built, and began moving into their new offices.
-
Matthias disembarked from the helicopter, helping a girl out behind him. The lovely Irine Whiteheart had joined them a few weeks ago, apparently having met Shroud in Nation Z when they were children. She was obviously infatuated with the Chaos Union's leader, but Matthias was unsure whether his friend felt the same. He wasn't sure whether a yes or no would be more pleasing.
"Thank you for the helicopter ride, Mr. Matthias." The young woman was older than he was, but still maintained an air of innocence that he found refreshing after the insanity or severity of his contemporaries.
"Not a problem. There's scarcely another way to get to the island." That seemed to amuse her, and she giggled as Shroud burst through the doorway.
"Matthias! Irine! Get downstairs, there's a problem with the computer," he said, a tad exhausted from climbing four flights of stairs. Matthias didn't hesitate, running to the door and jacking Galaxyman into the system. Both raced down steps, Matthias running to the lobby, and Galaxyman descending into the system's core. Reaching the ground, he opened the door to reveal an ironic scene of complete chaos.
A gravitational field had been activated, pulling the Chaos Union members within against the walls. Matthias quickly noted that Link, Brian, and Lica were among those pinned to the wall, and that a large screen at the front of the lobby revealed the system core, in the Cyberworld. Galaxyman was shown entering there, behind Cloud and a figure both had hoped never to see again.
Master Shadow.
"Full Synchro!" Matthias and his navi cried as Shroud and Irine entered behind him, the former too weary from his running to join his navi as well. The combined duo stood beside Cloud and drew his weapon, the Cosmos Blaster.
"It's time for you to die, Master Shadow! And for good this time!" Galaxyman aimed his gun at his adversary and fired while Cloud silently began casting spells at the corrupted navi.
But Master Shadow merely chuckled and raised his arms, a dark shield blocking the attacks. "Fools. Did you think I'd attack you if I didn't have a larger purpose in mind?" A sickening feeling went down Matthias' spine, and some innate instinct caused him to turn away, looking into the eyes of a strangely familiar navi behind him…a navi with a gun pointed at his heart.
"Bang," the assassin said, as he fired.
The bullet struck Galaxyman before he even had the chance to react, a perfect shot from a perfect gun. Slowly, Galaxyman's data began to disperse, and blood began leaking from an empathetic trauma wound over Matthias' heart. Yet Matthias held onto his navi, desperately trying to revive him with the powers of Full Synchro.
"Matthias…I'm so sorry. Let me go, and save yourself." Galaxyman's face floated in Matthias' vision, deeply remorseful for his suffering.
"No, Galaxyman! I can't let you die." Matthias' Synchro was too deep for even conscious effort to shatter, so deep he scarcely noticed Master Shadow leave and the others fall to the ground. Irine and Shroud ran up to him, the young nurse quickly tending to his wound.
"Matthias…you can't save me. But I can save you. Goodbye…" Galaxyman slowly accepted his fate, and Matthias angrily tried to deepen their bond and restore him to full strength. However, his actions had the opposite effect, breaking Full Synchro and returning him to reality with a jolt. His eyes flashed open, pupils dilating, and he slipped into a dreamless slumber where nightmares lurked.
-
Matthias eventually managed to recover from the ordeal, and even received a new navi with the help of his genius brother, Alex. However, unbeknownst to Matthias, his brother's navi, Nova, was the very one who deleted Galaxyman. Regrettably, Matthias would not discover this until the full truth of his brother's corruption had become known. For now, he was content to continue battling on alongside his new navi, Gizmo.
The Dark Union was frighteningly calm after this latest attack, giving Matthias time to heal and the others time to rebuild the base. However, when Shroud's twin brother, Shade, made his reappearance, the Union was thrown for a loop. He wasn't there to fight them, quite the opposite. He intended on joining them.
Matthias vehemently protested this course of action, saying that Shade was Master Shadow's NetOp, and that he couldn't be trusted. Still, Shade informed them that he had been under his navi's control, and Shroud believed him, giving him Matthias' position as second-in-command. Outraged, Matthias left the Union, becoming a Rogue. In an interesting twist, Irine also left, but Matthias didn't learn this until much later.
Tricked by Shade, Irine was captured and taken to the Dark Union base. Shade sent a message to the Chaos Union, telling them that he was unable to save her and giving the location of their base. Matthias, keeping an eye on the Union, intercepted the message and headed to save Irine on his own, under the pretense of joining Master Shadow.
While the powerful navi allowed him into the base, he informed Matthias that under no circumstances would he be allowed to join until after the final battle was over and his friends had been destroyed. Shade then entered, escorting an enraged Matthias to a prison cell, where Irine and Shroud's father also resided.
As the Chaos Union reached the base and began to fight Nova and his enigmatic partner, Prometheus, Matthias managed to jack Gizmo into a Copyroid. Gizmo freed the others, but Matthias reported in to Master Shadow, informing him that they had overpowered him and broken out. Believing him, Master Shadow sent him and Shade to retrieve them before Shroud could find them. Increasingly disliking the situation, Matthias followed Shade, while Gizmo jacked himself into the computer systems.
-
Shade raced down the halls, a sword held in his left hand. Matthias reluctantly followed, his wrist daggers currently sheathed. How could it have come this far? He had only entered to save Irine, and now he was fighting alongside a traitor, attempting to kill Shroud. Shade turned a corner, and began to shout at someone Matthias could not yet see.
"Hello, my brother. It seems like it's been forever."
Matthias turned the corner to see that Shade stood in front of an escaping Irine. Shroud stood in front of her, and his navi was beside him, apparently using a Copyroid. Behind them, he could see Steve Hurr appear, one of the newer Chaos Union members, a fellow Rogue.
"Shade…you….CLOUD! KILL HIM NOW!" Shroud's navi nodded and lunged into action, as Shade raised his sword.
The sickening sound of a blade sliding between ribs stopped them all. Shade sunk to the floor as Matthias was revealed behind him, one dagger blood red. "Now I know how you felt, Shroud," he murmured softly, barely daring to meet their eyes. He stepped over Shade's body, hurrying towards the others. "You guys need to hurry and get out of here. Gizmo can make it look like you killed him."
Irine stepped past Shroud, her emerald eyes glistening with tears. "Matthias…aren't you coming back with us?"
Matthias sadly shook his head. "I'm truly sorry…but I can't return yet. We need someone on the inside, so that when we fight again, we can truly win. But if you and the others don't escape, there is no hope, not for any of us."
"You already have no hope."
Matthias wheeled around, watching helplessly as Shade got to his feet. "What? But…how?"
Shade simply held up his PET, a dark red Synchro Chip inserted. "This is how. A Jenova Synchro Chip. Your friend Shroud should know what that is; he used it to kill our parents." With that parting shot, Shade fully transformed, tarnished gold armor encasing his body. He began pummeling Shroud and Matthias, leaving them little chance to defend themselves.
It seemed there would be no end to the melee, but all it truly took was a single cry of "Stop!"
Shade froze, one fist ready to bash Shroud's head in, while Matthias lay against the wall, slipping in and out of consciousness. "Father?" Dr. Taruka nodded, having been out of sight when Shade entered the hallway.
"He lied to you, my son. I still live." The doctor pulled a battlechip gate from his pocket and slotted in several recovery chips, healing Shroud and Matthias. "But we shall not live much longer unless you tell us who this Master Shadow truly is."
Shade swallowed, crossing out of his armor. "Forgive me, father, for what I have unleashed." As he spoke, resounding laughter could be heard throughout the base as it was converted into data, leaving them standing in a barren wasteland. All around were strewn the other Chaos Union members, who had attacked Master Shadow directly in the hopes to buy Shroud time.
Matthias and the others raced over to them, checking for pulses. "Ray's fine!" he cried, referring to a headstrong yet green newbie who had apparently forced Shroud to take him along. The others nodded as well, having assured the others were breathing as well. Dr. Taruka began slotting in more recovery chips, first reviving his charge, another new member called Chris, before moving on to the others as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, the others could only look on as their adversary, floating above them, gathered energy.
"Fools! You have no knowledge of my true power! For my true name is Atos, most powerful navi in the world!" Shroud and his father paled; this mighty navi had single-handedly made Nation Z the most powerful nation in existence, before his corruption and supposed deletion. Matthias, however, hadn't heard such tales, and turned to Shroud.
"I don't know about you, but I think we can win this thing." Shroud stared at him, but Irine managed to giggle.
"Shroud, you aren't going to let something like this stop you, right?" She smiled at him, and Shroud smiled back.
"All right, everyone. Get your navis ready," he shouted. "It's time to end this!"
-
And so, as in all good stories, the Chaos Union was victorious. Atos was broken into several fragments of data, called Chronus Shards, which were scattered throughout the net. According to Dr. Taruka, Cloud was the only one who could find these shards, so he would have to search for them so that the world could forever remain safe from the menace of Atos.
While Shroud was disheartened to hear that his navi would be forced to traverse the net alone, he was soon greeted by a navi named Juno, who claimed to be a purified version of Atos. This new navi was quite powerful, and Shroud gladly accepted his offer to become his netnavi.
With the last remnants of Shroud's haunted past dismissed, the Chaos Union were now 'rebels without a cause'. However, after much convincing on the ONBA's side, Shroud managed to get them funding as a special task force for the next few years. It seemed Shroud, Matthias, and all the others had truly found their lives' calling.
-
"Coming to bed, dear?"
Matthias looked up to see his wife of three years, Alysse, descending the steps towards him. It had been nearly seven years since the beginning of the Chaos Union now, and their reign had finally ended. Matthias looked back down at his writings; a journal entitled "Chaos Chronicles".
"Yes, Alysse." Matthias closed the book, concealing his memories from himself. He then picked up the book and slid it into a concealed portion of the wall, where it seamlessly hid itself. He then turned to his wife. Alysse was a lovely woman, an herbalist with an almost ethereal beauty. He ignored the ever-present thoughts that he had only chosen her because her beauty made him forget his unrequited love for Irine, as he always did, and kissed her passionately before looking over at their son, Luke, sleeping in his crib.
"Do you think that he'll ever be a hero like you were?" she asked him, a playful tone creeping into her voice as she snuggled up against him.
"I hope not," he replied solemnly as memory reminded him of the consequences of heroism.