Lots and lots of POV-switching. Guess whose?
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"That's enough, Wily."
My not-so-trusty – though I had to admit, he was dead useful – assistant and helper nodded; fanning away the smoke with my left hand, I watched him leave…before whipping around on my heel, that is, to face Chaud Eugene (Battle Network fans, reawaken!) Blaze. The real Blaze, so to speak.
"You." Blaze's dark blue eyes narrowed under his curtain of dyed-white hair. "I've got a question for you, buddy." He almost spat the last word out in contempt; I, however, was unbothered; pressed one hand to my forehead in a mock imitation of the youngest Official NetBattler alive.
"Ooh, scary," I intimidated the kid, whose dark yet clear eyes narrowed even more as he glowered at me. "Like I'm gonna be scared of some nine year-old."
"Twelve, actually." Proto Man's voice was ice-cold as he crept up behind Blaze; his own eyes were hidden behind his dark shades, but I knew perfectly well that he contained a glacial fury that the Hikari kid could never have – or be able to successfully hide, if he ever did… But wait -- he did it before, back when he called me a crack addict and then corrected himself. Even now, it's still strange… (strokes chin stubble thoughtfully)
Anyway, at this point I raised one eyebrow, wondering if the two of 'em would fall into my trap. They didn't. Instead, Net Op and Navi exchanged a glance, then resumed glaring coldly in my direction. "What were the names of the impostors, convict?" (A/N: More Artemis Fowl references. Root, I'm speaking to you from the other side of the grave... Mulch deserves to be called by his actual name, you know. XD)
Proto Man nodded alongside Blaze; I could almost see that icy, churning, flickering fire in his eyes reflected onto the shades. "The Operator and his NetNavi. Those two who – who" – here he shuddered, his voice shaking slightly – "who took our places."
"Well.." I hesitated on the spot, whistling softly. The two of them stared at me with cold eyes, hidden by white hair and sunglasses; at this point I was incredibly glad that the smoke had fled the area, owing to the machine the Official NetBattlers had brought with them. With no smoke around here, I wouldn't have had much cover if I tried to hide, but hey! It was definitely better than nothin', baby.
"Do you really wanna know?" I asked 'em, skilfully cocking my head to the side. At this point, Blaze and Proto Man exchanged a look; with renewed determination and defiance resplendent on their faces, they both turned back to me.
"There was no point in asking, convict," Blaze finally snapped. "Show us."
"All right, but if it were me…" – here I brought downcast, resigned eyes up to the two of them – "If it were me, I'd at least try fighting the convict." With that, I reached for a silver whistle that was hidden under the collar of my cameo palm tree-ridden T-shirt from Jawaii; I blew it before waiting expectantly for the young criminals – both under my command, I have to say – who had impersonated this pair to appear at my side.
"Ryozo Jonouchi and his Net Navigator, Juggler Man.EXE." I gestured majestically to the kid and his Navi who had appeared at my side.
Jonouchi was a short kid – shorter than the real Blaze, I knew – with a thick mop of unruly black hair. He looked like a skunk owing to the white stripes still left in his mane from the hair dye. Juggler Man was a barrel-like yellow-armoured Navi with scarlet and emerald stripes streaking across his chest and overlarge fist pieces – which, I had always thought, made him look like Ogreon's Navi Guts Man.
"Jonouchi-san?" An almost-evil glint in his eyes, Blaze gave a tight smile and turned to the said imposter. Next to him, Juggler Man was doing exactly what his namesake suggested: the red, blue, and green balls arced, bright and picturesque, through the air, twisting in swirling circles before finally cutting air down toward us. "I must tell you –"
"—we'll be sure to pay you back," finished Proto Man with a nigh-identical small, tight smile. "It's what you two deserve for working with him, after all." The italicised word that indicated myself was accented with one thick red glove extended in my direction.
"You deserve it, too," Blaze smiled at me; I whipped on my heel to face Jonouchi and Juggler Man but, the next thing I knew, the two of them had disappeared.
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"Are you all right?"
"I think so," I answered the pink humanized Navi after some thought. My tongue felt thick and heavy in my mouth; to assure Roll, I, concerned, consolingly patted her shoulder.
"I'm so glad you're safe." With a slightly pained smile (and slightly pink cheeks), Roll gently patted my own shoulder before bending down a little and extending one yellow antenna. The ribbon-like data seeker snaked forth, passing smoothly over my scored and damaged armour and tightsuit, healing me, curing me, renewing me.
"Likewise, Roll." I smiled at her; for a second, I saw something like sadness flicker in her green eyes – which were the exact same shade as my own. The next thing I knew, I was being tightly caught in a hug. She'd wrapped her arms around me and now appeared to be embracing me with all her mind, body, heart, and soul. (I suddenly understood why Roll's attacks always involve hearts and other love-related things. Blushie...) I twisted artfully away, reaching out one hand to grab her by the arm, but she was gone.
"Poor Roll…" Cursing under my breath, I swung on one heel and turned to face – that's right – you got it, buster – none other than Chaud and Proto Man themselves.
"We've caught 'em," Chaud told me, a glint I'd never seen before in his eye. It was strange for him to have such a triumphant and victorious look as that one. Usually, the white-haired preteen was cool, calm, collected, and casual, keeping mostly to himself and not overly talking – unlike my own former Net Op – and occasionally smug. That's not to say that he wasn't all that right now, but with all that hair, it was hard to even see his eyes, never mind a valiant glint hidden in their swirling midnight depths.
"The impostors," Proto now chimed in upon seeing the shock register on my face. "Their actual names are Ryozo Jonouchi and-Juggler Man, Master Chaud and I soon found out."
"I have to fight with you guys." I bit my lip as a smooth blue-green weapon that fused with my arm indicated that my Operator was nearby and helping; within seconds, I was armed with a very nifty-looking CyberSword. "We'd better get to it."
Chaud nodded, his expression grim and grave. He stared at me long and hard for a second, then suddenly whirled around, to where we'd left Maylu and the others. "Chip stock!" Lan's rival cried to our allies, holding up his arm.
Within seconds the Net Op's own arm had rematerialised in sword form; he briefly thanked Tory, turned around again and nodded once more to the two of us. "OK…" He trailed off, staring deep at me (and into me, it seemed) and – if I'm not mistaken – even Proto Man. "Let's do this thing!"
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"Can't…hold…on…much…longer!"
Those were the words that came from my mouth as I swayed on the blood-drenched ground of the ol' ACDC park – the enemies of us good guys were attacking harder than ever, and I was having trouble avoiding all the missiles and stuff that came shooting my way.
"I'm gonna fall…"
And fall I did – or, as Maylu (Man, is that girl ever beautiful… MAYLU! (grabs her) Can I go on a date with you? Pretty please with cherries on top?) told me later, toppled to the ground with the greatest of unease. My moehawk scraped against the reddish grass as my legs gave way from under me and I fell tragically at Mega's feet.
"Are you all right?" Instantly, Mega Man hopped down and extended one arm toward me. Feeling grateful yet guilty, I grinned dementedly and used the proffered hand to lever myself back up again.
"I think so." I ducked – cleverly, if I do say so myself (You reading this, Maylu?) to avoid a MiniBoomer-thingy (Actually, they called them BattleChip proji – projo – pro something...) that was coming my way. I felt the blast explode around my spiked brown hair – because of that, I winced as I reached one hand over to feel the blow it had scored on my 'do.
"Need to attack somebody somehow…" As I regained by position on the grass – that is to say, my blue Nikes – I reached out randomly, only to fall back down all over again. No thanks to that hard-hitting MiniBoomer-thing that was now soaring back to its master…
On the ground, I wiggled my now-blackened running shoes as I groaned, feeling the blasts of Chip-thingies from all around. Sheesh – why does this always happen to me for?
I wriggled around helplessly in the grass, stared down by the blue bomber himself. Mega had smartly evaded all the shots and thingies that'd been coming his way. This is rude, but I'm pretty sure this is what he said upon watching me flail and thrash haplessly among the ruby-streaked grass: "Man, you really are stupid."