So, it occurs to me that this specific fic has existed for over a year, and I have all of two chapters posted for this story. I'm not sure how many of you guys are writers for this site but I can say that this should not be fact.
To make up for this I'm going to focus a bit more on this story and my other non-Naruto stories for a bit. The next update for any Naruto story will be late October if I can help it. But considering some of my stories are moving slow due to writer's block, if I get struck by inspiration I'll switch focus until it runs dry. That is all I can say on the matter.
Anyway to those of you who have stuck it out this long, to you I say congratulations and I'm impressed. Hopefully I can make it up to you all tenfold.
Oh and not important but fairly amusing, I almost posted the original chapter three when updating this, thankfully I noticed pretty quickly.
Without anything else to say, let's get to the chapter (finally).
Lightman POV, Telephone Line Local Network…
Lightman blinked as the light faded and he felt his form solidify once more. Despite the fact that he had been a Navi for the better part of a decade, he wasn't sure if he could ever get used to being converted down to code for transfer. It wasn't necessarily a bad feeling, just an unsettling one. It made him feel vulnerable, it was even worse when it was a wireless transfer.
With more and more technology becoming wireless, many Net based functions had begun going through changes to continue to accommodate to the fullest. A lot of PETs nowadays were being made to operate wirelessly as well as with the old "Jack-In" system.
It was mainly a peeve of his, but he felt safer knowing there was actually something physical connecting him to his destination rather than a bunch of signals and different types of waves.
He didn't have time to dwell on his own discomfort though because as soon as he and Rockman appeared it became very obvious why communications weren't working.
"That," His brother spoke next to him. "Is a lot of viruses." It was kind of needless to point out, but Lightman didn't say anything. He was kind of in a mix of awe and horror. Awe because this could break virus busting records, and horror because someone had the ability to create so many for this purpose.
The opposing forces were mostly made up of Mets, which would ordinarily be fine, Mets were some of weakest viruses. But there were a lot of them this time, and rather than spread out or working in groups, they seemed to just flow over every console point, process hub and security measure they came across.
"Since when do Mets move like this? Heck, when do any viruses act like this?" Lightman most certainly did not say this in a tone of voice that could be thought of as complaining.
"Must be a new kind of Met." Rockman muttered activating a cannon chip. "Let's try cutting those numbers down to size before we get any closer, agreed."
"Sure." Lightman nodded activating a cannon himself. Buster's were useful but against this sheer amount of viruses it would be like trying to mow a lawn with a pair of scissors.
Moments later explosions began riddling the virtual field of viruses.
The viruses rather than doing the obvious, panic and either move towards their attackers or flee in terror away from two of most well known Navis on the Net, instead began to reorganize away from their former points of attack. From what Lightman could see it looked as though they were lining up, or perhaps a better description would be that they were forming ranks.
"Rockman, I think there is something seriously wrong with these viruses." Lightman told his brother in no uncertain terms.
"What gave you that impression?" The other navi asked even as he began slotting in more chips to Program Advance the Cannon and deal some more damage.
That was when the front row of mets began breathing fire and scorching everything in front of them.
"Forget I said anything, just clear the way so I have a clear shot." Rockman told him as his cannon increased in both mass and power, allowing him to take aim with it.
"Will do." Lightman nodded as he slotted in a Big Wave chip and let it loose over the the encroaching horde of flame spitting viruses.
As soon as the flames were doused and the former lines of viruses were in disarray as they scrambled to reform the ranks. Before the Mets could accomplish their goal Rockman fired his Cannon.
The burst of light tore across the digital terrain and slammed into the viruses in a manner that resembled a train plowing through snow. An entire swath of Mets were smashed into data fragments and spread further chaos throughout the legion.
Lightman was already moving even as the viruses once again attempted to form ranks. It was an odd change of pace from the normal virus buster he had been used to for his entire life. He certainly hoped this didn't become a standard because while he was sure that he and his brother could handle it, he wasn't sure how many other net battler's would have the capability to do so.
He quickly activated the Wide Sword chip as he was running allowing the glowing blade to form from his was always an interesting sensation, also very cool. On the one hand he could still feel his actual hand, but he also had a giant glowing sword coming out of his arm, which was awesome.
Just as the frontline of Mets finished reorganizing Lightman slashed horizontally through them, turning them into data fragments. That gave him a bit of maneuvering room to switch chips and allow him to attack.
He gave a brief nod to acknowledge Rockman as he ran up beside him using another Canon chip against the army of Mets.
"How are they able to coordinate themselves so quickly?' Rockman asked desperately as the Mets quickly began trying to surround them. They were able to keep them at bay, but the sheer numbers was making it difficult.
"I don't know, maybe they have a commander or something?" Lightman suggested swing a long sword in a deadly digital arc, annihilating another half dozen Mets. The excitement was beginning to wear off only to be replaced with the frustration of repetition. Oh, he could come up with various ways to defeat the viruses but it still boiled down to the fact he was killing the same enemies over and over again.
"Yeah, but where would the commander be?" Rockman asked as he used a Steal chip to literally knock the viruses back.
"Back of the army? Or maybe the middle." Lightman suggested as he swung the long sword once again.
"In that case, keep them busy for a minute I'm going to try getting a better vantage point." Rockman told him. With a brief reprise from the attack as his brother took the initiative, Rockman used a water tower chip to propel himself into the air allowing him to see the entirety of virus legion.
Seeing it from above gave Rockman a better idea of just how long this was going to take if they did it the conventional way. Despite the massive amount of viruses that the two navis had manages to destroy, there were still hundreds if not thousands more. Trying to identify a commander or something similar to one was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack.
Lightman didn't stop when his brother came back down, instead he just asked. "Did you see anything."
"Nothing, but there are so many of them it probably doesn't mean much. We're going to have to push forward and keep looking. Every little while use a water tower or a fire tower to get a better view of them. Keep an eye out for any that look different." Rockman explained his plan.
"Gotcha." Lightman said and used a cannon to clear the way before charging forward into the midst of the viruses.
Rockman POV, Fifteen Minutes Later…
When Rockman finally saw the commander, or whatever it was, he felt relief flood through him. As he had been battling his way through the army the Mets had displayed a concerning amount of elemental battling techniques, from turning the ground to ice or creating small floods, things he had never even considered possible for something like a Met.
The "commander" was wholly unimpressive and not much different from its fellow Mets. Only two things set it apart from the rest, for starters the obvious, it had a blue helmet instead of a yellow one. And secondly instead of the normal Plus symbol on the helmet it had an odd insignia with a sword in the center and something resembling wings creating a circle around it.
He made note of the insignia in case it was a calling card for whoever sent these viruses, some people just had to let their victims know who had caused them problems. He also made a note to lay into them when he found them, or at least let his brother have a go at them first.
Shoving a met out of the way he used a Shotgun chip and fired at the blue helmeted virus.
The "commander" obviously realized it had been noticed and shrunk into its own helmet to protect itself. As the attack harmlessly bounced off the virus popped back up and the ground around it began trembling and breaking apart underfoot.
Rockman growled in annoyance, of course out of all the Mets the leader was going to be the crafty one among them. So rather than going for another ranged weapon he activated a long sword.
Jumping from chunk to chunk of the now dodged terrain he was quickly on top of the blue Met and already swinging downward. The little virus panicked but its own attack had made it so that it didn't anywhere for him to go.
The sword tore through the virus, scattering it into data fragments and Rockman sighed in relief as the legion of viruses all seemed to free.
Of course that relief quickly turned to fear as they all huddled down under their helmets and began making an ominous beeping noise in a ripple effect, spreading from where Rockman now stood.
Realizing what was happening Rockman quickly activated an advanced guard chip and hoped his brother had the state of mind to do the same as the Mets began exploding in a hailstorm of fire and shrapnel.
And that's the end of that chapter. Kind of a cliffhanger, so I hope you'll come back for the next one.
I don't know what else to say other than I'm sorry for not updating last week. That was the result of a combination of writer's block and just generally being busy. It'll probably happen again considering I have college application to deal with this month and an SAT retake next month. I do hope to get an update out each week for the rest of the month though.
So next week I'll probably update Gone Ghost and after that it's time to go back to my roots on this site and finally update something I've been putting off for almost a year.
Until next we meet, farewell!
~FriTik
R&R