D. Zero: Right, Z's still in quarantine, but we suspected you might be expecting this sometime, so I managed to snag this from sis' PC.
D. X: So how'd you manage to do that?
D. Zero: That's for me to know and for you not to find out.
D. X: Hey!
Chibi-chan: [walks in and sighs] Zeal's shut off now.
D. Zero: Did you disable her teleporter?
Chibi-chan: Gate did. And YES, I disabled her Buster, and catch! [tosses saber at D. Zero]
D. Zero: [catches saber] Thanks. We can't afford her to escape again.
Miri-chan: [enters the room] There's a total amount of 200 dead bodies, with but 23 humans among them.
Chibi-chan: TWOHUNDRED!?!?! IN 15 MINUTES?!?!!? YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!!
Miri-chan: I wish…
D. Zero: Both of you… shut up.
------------------------------------
TJ and Rikumon: D. X: That's what we're trying to find out!
Sol Sabre: D. Zero: Hey, can't do things faster than they're already going!
Pyrogirll23: D. X: Most likely, BUT, who's going to get the girl?
Song: D. Zero: Yeah, so do we! [rubs stomach]
Red Chaos Mage: D. X: She should be powerful! Oh, and, one more thing. [pulls out X-Buster] You mention that whore's name again and I'll fucking kill you!!!
Trinity: D. Zero: She'll be fine. And yes, Forte's alright.
------------------------------------
--
Chapter VII Part 1: Your Worst NightMare.EXE
"Well, that's one more Navi to the scrapheap."
"Navis don't go to scrapheaps."
"Then what am I supposed to say?!"
"I dunno."
"Right, why'd I even ask?"
--
It'd been almost 3 months now since the battle with Bass, and surprisingly, they hadn't heard from the guy in a long time. That was strange enough on its own, but the extra fact that Bass had said absolutely nothing to any of them after having been recovered was even more confusing.
But they tried not to think of it, and just went on with their lives, and their jobs. They had trashed a whole bunch of copies of other, deleted Navis, like MagicMan, PharaohMan, ColoredMan, StoneMan, FreezeMan, and a whole lot more. But they had also trashed a whole new bunch of them.
Amongst them had been the lethal SparkMan, a Navi with an even more powerful electric discharge than ElecMan could ever hope to get. Man, that guy had been tough. If MegaMan and Lan hadn't shown up when they did, they would've lost for sure.
Muramasa stretched her arms, and popped her knuckles, because if she didn't, they'd get rusty, as she always said. Her helmet was off, as she had complained about the heat a little while ago. Just for the hell of it, she ruffled her own hair, clearly avoiding a certain spot on the back of her head.
"Blueberry's a tough fighter," she mumbled suddenly. "I'm impressed, being able to take that guy out so easily. But what was that changing his colors anyway?" she asked, placing her helmet on the table and sitting down.
Proto sighed and pulled off his own helmet, shaking the tresses loose from his head, which had been pressed against his skull because of his helmet. After that, he put the still loose tresses behind his ears to keep them away from his eyes.
"Well," he started, sitting down as well, "that was something we all know as a Style-Change. It changes your element, and your strength as well. The one you saw back there was WoodGuts."
"Souda. So what does 'Guts' mean?" Muramasa asked, seemingly rather curious about these Style-Changes.
"What? Didn't you see Mega's arm?"
"Yeah, but what was the use of that colossal thing? It's good to hit someone with it, I could've figured that out, but what else is it for?"
Proto hung his head in exasperation. Sometimes she was just so dense!
"Can you imagine that thing becoming a Buster?" he asked instead.
Muramasa blinked, then gazed at the ceiling in thought.
"Hmmmm… hai, but it would be one big gun though, and I dislike big guns, really."
"Huh? How come?"
Muramasa simply answered it with a shrug of her shoulders and rested her head on the knuckles of her left hand. She appeared to be quite bored, but she said nothing.
"By the way," Proto suddenly said, interrupting the silence that had fallen around them, "you never noticed Ragna and Razor arguing about you?"
Muramasa looked up, confused, then frowned and asked: "Nani?"
"Did you?" Proto repeated.
Silence, and Muramasa humphed, and closed her eyes.
"Those two? Give me a break. Why would they even bother with something like that?" she asked, obviously not interested.
"Who's more important to you?" Proto suddenly asked, making Muramasa look up.
"Excuse me?" she demanded.
Proto didn't answer. Muramasa stared down at the table in thought, as if processing what she had just received.
There was silence for a long time, with Muramasa lost in thought. When she held up her hands, Proto was confused, until he noticed Muramasa looking at them intently. Apparently, she was weighing, though instead of their weight, she was weighing their importance to her.
After a long silence, Muramasa let her hands fall to the table and hung her head with a cry of frustration.
"Gah!! Don't make me choose between those two!!!" she finally said, looking up at Proto. "It's like choosing between cream and ecru!!!"
Proto raised an eyebrow and asked: "What's the difference?"
"There isn't any!! That's the whole point!!!"
--
"Hey, Chaud?" Shine asked, looking up from the book she was reading.
"Hmm?" Chaud simply asked, not even looking up.
Shine didn't bother. She was used to it by now.
"Chaud, it's been… what? Four, five months and I haven't seen your father once! What kind of job does that guy have anyway?" Shine asked.
Chaud didn't answer. Or at least, right away. Shine was known to be mighty persistent when it came to asking things. And if Shine asked for something, she expected to get it, and she would, even if it killed her.
"One that doesn't include me," Chaud finally mumbled.
Shine rolled her eyes, and was about to retort, when she snapped her mouth shut. Her eyes flashed from side to side a few times, indicating she heard something but wasn't sure where it came from. Chaud finally ripped his eyes from the book and listened carefully.
"I don't hear anything," Chaud finally said.
Shine however, put her book down and made for the window. She looked outside, and immediately noticed a certain black-haired kid standing there a vicious glare on his face. The silver pieces of jewelry he had reflected the sunlight, catching her eye instantly.
But the worst about him, were the piercing blue eyes, completely heartless, and with pure anger and hatred etched in the sparkling irises.
It was a look that clearly said; 'don't mess with me'.
Shine felt something akin to anger and hatred bubble up in her stomach, but there was something else as well. But whatever it was, it was miniscule, and unimportant, compared to the other feelings running through her. Emotions she wouldn't allow.
"Chaud…" Shine said calmly, not averting her eyes at all.
Chaud blinked, closed his book and walked over to stand beside her.
"Who's that?" the smaller girl asked, not even bothering to look at the taller boy.
Chaud looked at her oddly, then turned to the street. He watched for a moment, then sighed.
"I told you, he's trouble. Just stay away from him."
"Trouble doesn't suit as a name," Shine said, still not looking away.
Only when the young man turned around and walked away, hands in his pockets, did she turn to him.
Chaud gave a sigh.
"Rei Thimoto, 17 years of age, and bad news. He's been thrown in jail before because he spread viruses for no good reason. His Navi and PET hadn't been found, so he still has his original Navi. He's as bad as Rei is."
"Which is?"
"Zero Omega. The name stands for Rei's personal record, as does his nickname."
Shine looked a little curious.
"Amongst his friends, he's known as 'X'. X is also the Roman 10. His record was 10 Navis deleted under a minute without a single hit inflicted on his own Navi. Which had been a standard at the time."
Shine was left gawking, and turned back to the window, looking in the direction X had walked in.
"Kala… he must be good," she mumbled.
"Well, I'll tell you this, he's completely stopped listening to anyone when he got Zero, and he lost it."
"How do you know so much?" Shine finally asked.
Chaud smirked and said: "That's my little secret."
Shine simply shrugged.
"Fine. Suit yourself."
--
"Alright, I'll explain one more time! Get it!?" Proto said, seeming slightly peeved.
Muramasa simply twirled a strand of hair around her finger, while leaning with her elbow on the table. The girl seemed quite bored.
"Like I said, I'm listening, but I doubt it'll make any more sense than your last explanation," she mumbled.
Proto took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment and rubbing the bridge of his nose.
'I can't believe this! She's so… dense when it comes to stuff like this! How'd that happen!?'
"Right, so, Ragna and Razor are both your friends, but they seem to think different about that. And you barely seem to notice anything of their arguments, or the clear hints they're giving!!" Proto said, clearly steamed.
Muramasa gave a sigh.
"Look, if they're interested, either one of them, they can just come to me and tell me, they know that. But I'm just not too sure whether I care in the same fashion for them. Does that satisfy your question?"
Proto growled in anger, but before he could say anymore, Muramasa put on her helmet, and got up.
"I'm going out for a while. Ja ne!" she said, and was off.
Proto sighed in anger and put his head in his hands.
'She is so dense!!'
--
'Where should I go?' Muramasa wondered to herself, walking across the Net with her Buster charged but hidden.
But even though she seemed calm, her thoughts were a complete mess.
'Who's more important to me?… Ragna or Razor…… Oh kami-sama… how'm I supposed to figure that out?!' she thought. 'I mean, they're both important to me, but who's more important??'
The black and gray Navi gave a sigh as she continued walking.
"'Ey there!!" a voice suddenly said, making Muramasa look up.
She was looking right at a Navi with sapphire blue eyes and golden blond hair, who was carrying a sword in her hand, instead of having it in the sheath on her belt.
"Ya look like ye're in big trouble. Somethin' the matter?" she asked.
Muramasa sighed again and said: "Even if I was, what makes you say I'd tell you?"
With that said, she started to walk away.
"Hey, hey, hey!!!" the girl said, running after her until she was walking beside Muramasa. "Wha's the deal? I'm jus' tryin' ta be helpful here!"
"Yeah, well I don't need help," Muramasa said and sped up so she passed the other girl.
"Everybody needs help every now and---YAAAH!!!"
The girl's sentence was cut short when she got a Buster aimed straight into her face.
"Listen here and listen good, 'cause I'll only say it once; I've got an itchy Buster, so you better leave me alone right now," Muramasa hissed threateningly, before stalking away, anger clear in her walk.
Muramasa continued to walk, one hand on her Buster, still angry, but still confused as well. Her thoughts were all screwed up, and she had no idea how to get them on track again. She tried, but she just couldn't do it anymore.
--
Sonica frowned and pulled down her goggles. With a simple command, she zoomed in on the other Navi, or more precisely, her face. The Navi looked angry, confused, and thoughtful at the exact same time. As if she was thinking about something she couldn't quite put her finger on.
'Hmmm…'
"Will you stop staring at me!?" the Navi suddenly shouted, whirling around in anger.
"EEP!!!" Sonica squealed, surprised as she pulled off her goggles. "How'd ya know I was lookin' at ya?!"
"Like I'd tell you!! Now get lost!!!"
--
"Ya wan' me ta wha!?!"
"You heard me!! Now get moving!!!"
"Okay, okay! Geez, chill out man!! Plug in!!"
"Grrrroooooohooohh!!!"
--
Muramasa easily made it to KotoSquare, and shifted her Buster into her hand quickly. It doesn't look very good to go walking around with a Buster out in a Square. Muramasa wasn't crazy.
After a while of walking past stores, and avoiding bumping into any other Navis, Muramasa felt that something was out of place. She stopped, and all other Navis simply walked around her, not even bothering that she had suddenly stopped in the middle of the path.
"Grrrrrrrrrrroooooooooohooooooohoooooooohoooooooooohhh!!"
Muramasa's advanced hearing easily picked up the strange sound and she looked around to find the source of the sound. She didn't even notice she was the only one who heard it.
--
Shine pulled out some orange juice from the fridge. She checked the expiration date first, and after making sure it was still fine, poured herself some.
"Chaud!" Shine called out to the garden, where Chaud most likely was. "You want some juice too?"
"No, thank you," Chaud called out.
The whitehead gave a shrug and walked into the garden as well, her glass in one hand, and the book she'd been reading previously in her other. As she walked toward the garden, she took a small sip, not taking note that the juice had a slightly coppery taste, as she took small sips at a time. She licked her lips to catch a stray drop, before she entered the garden.
"Sure you don't want any?" Shine asked, lying down in the couchswing, with one foot on the ground.
Chaud didn't even look up from the book he was reading when he said: "Yeah, I'm sure."
Shine shrugged her shoulders and took another small sip while opening her book.
--
Two piercing blue eyes watched, framed by locks of pitch-black hair. He stood in the shadows, and he watched as Shine read her book, as well as drank from her orange juice.
His lips quirked up into a violent smirk, and he finally walked off with a final glance at Shine.
--
The sound was coming from a dark alley, to her left. As if hypnotized, Muramasa walked toward it, her feet seeming to carry her away. And when she stepped into the alley, the darkness seemed to swallow her up, due to her armor coloring.
Her pupils contracted as her eyes made contact with two flaming red orbs farther back in the darkness. Muramasa walked toward the source of the two orbs, like a moth flying straight at a light. A large claw with four fingers beckoned her closer and closer, and the gray-haired Navi could do nothing about it.
"Grrrrrrooooohhhh!!"
--
"I wonder what Muramasa's doing…" Shine mumbled softly.
"Why don't you check then?" Chaud asked calmly.
Shine shrugged her shoulders again, and pulled out her PET while sitting up. She flipped it on, but…
"Huh??" Shine exclaimed as she saw the static on the screen. "What the??"
Chaud looked up in confusion. Shine sat up, looking confused as she switched her PET off and on multiple times.
"I think my PET's broken!" she said, looking at the other whitehead.
Chaud walked over and looked at the screen for a moment.
"Do the other functions work?" he asked.
Shine tapped in commands, but Chaud noticed that her hand was slightly trembling. It took a little longer than normal, as her hands were violently trembling, and strangely enough, sweat was starting to gather on her forehead.
"Hai… everything else works," she finally said, looking over her shoulder at Chaud.
The words barely registered in his mind when he noticed her face. Her skin was but two shades darker than her hair, and her pupils were contracted, as if she was in some sort of pain. Pain she herself was not aware of.
"Well, that's not good. Send an email to those friends of yours, I'll send ProtoMan to go look for her!" Chaud said, and rushed back inside the house.
He had no idea that that was going to be the worst mistake he ever made.
--
With a smooth slice, Razor easily tore apart all practice-Navis with absolute ease. He landed on the ground and watched as the Navis evaporated in blue particles.
"Mike!! Raise the level!!!" he shouted.
"Alright!! Get ready!!!" Mike said, and was about to start the program when--
Bring!! Bring!!
Razor blinked, but opened the com-link between whoever called and Mike.
"Mike Necros?" a strange voice questioned.
"Yeah? Who is this?" Mike asked in return.
"You want to save your girl, then you better hurry to KotoSquare with that 3rd class Navi of yours… You have got 5 minutes… do not disappoint me."
Click! Beep!! Beep!!
"Wha?? My girl??" Mike asked, confused. "I don't have a girl."
Razor thought it over for a few moments. He repeated the conversation over and over again in his head. And finally, it slid into place.
"Oh FUCK!!!" Razor screamed, and dashed off, heading for the Net. "Mike! Go to that Blaze's place!! It's Shine and Muramasa they're after!!!"
And he was gone.
At the same time, Mike rushed from the hotel, having figured it out as well. This was NOT good.
--
……Where… where am I?…
Why… why is it so dark?…
Brother… brother, where are you…?
I don't understand… what's happening to me?
Mama… Papa… Sis… where… where is everyone…?
…W… why…
……Why is…… why is…
Why is nobody helping me……?
……………………
…Brother……… brother……… brother!
Brother!!! Help me!!! Please!!!
--
Two bloodred eyes snapped to attention, and the black and gold Navi turned his head, a confused expression on his face. But then it turned to anger, and he shot off in the direction of Koto within mere seconds.
--
Proto arrived on the Net, and looked around carefully. If he were Muramasa, where would he go?
That was a pretty good question, where would he go?
"Crap," he mumbled.
A tap on his shoulder made him whirl around in surprise, and he was surprised to see a rather distressed Razor standing behind him. He seemed both worried and pissed off at the same time, and his face couldn't seem to make up which emotion to show.
"Lemme guess, Muramasa's in trouble," he said simply.
"Uh… yeah… but how…" Proto started, but couldn't finish as Razor roughly pulled him along by his arm.
"No time to chat!!" Razor shouted, the worry and anger clear in his voice.
--
They were heading in the direction of KotoSquare, as fast as they could. The two swordfighters had no idea of what could be waiting for them, but there was no way they would stop now. As they ran, time slowly ticked on, drawing closer and closer to the five-minute time-limit set by someone unknown to either of them, even though only one of them knew of the time-limit.
But it was enough, as both knew that any second wasted meant they were one step closer to never seeing Muramasa again. And that was the one thing they couldn't afford.
--
Mike came to a halt in front of the large house, and couldn't deny that he was impressed.
'Well, I gotta hand it to him, he does have a nice house,' he thought smugly, before knocking on the door, having sneaked past the gate easily, and unnoticed to boot. 'Low class security though.'
Not long after having knocked on the door, it opened and a rather stressed up Chaud stood there, though it was clear he was trying to hide it.
"What are you doing here?" Chaud asked, looking really confused.
Mike raised an eyebrow, and asked: "Can I come in first?"
The whitehead frowned a little, but stepped aside nonetheless. Mike rushed in immediately.
"Where's Shine?" he asked right away, getting right to the point.
Chaud blinked twice, but said calmly: "The garden most likely."
"You lead!" Mike said, frowning both in worry and anger. "I had a rather disturbing call about…" he quickly checked his watch, "…OH FUCK!!!"
The other boy looked rather confused, but Mike seemed really distressed, even more than he was.
Mike turned to Chaud and said hurriedly: "You check on Shine! I have to help Razor! Can I plug in around here?!"
Chaud nodded mutely, directed Mike to the closest port, and then rushed off to check on Shine.
--
Mere seconds before the time-limit passed, Razor and Proto arrived at KotoSquare, but it seemed to be just fine.
The duo stood there for a few seconds, catching their breath, before deciding wordlessly to move on. To… wherever.
--
"They are here…" a raspy female voice said, watching the Navis walk through the city. "Pity, I truly wanted to see how loud you can scream."
The Navi spoken to did not respond. Contracted pupils couldn't focus on a single thing, and her entire body was as limp as a rag. All that moved was her chest, which moved in time with her even breathing, but it was almost unnoticeable, giving the appearance that she wasn't in some sort of narcoses, but plain dead in the bigger Navi's claw.
One of the claw's fingers prodded into her tummy, making her body twitch involuntarily.
A bloodthirsty grin appeared, and the same voice whispered: "But that does not mean they can spoil my fun, hmm?"
No response, safe for the single crystalline tear falling from her eye.
--
As they moved on, it suddenly occurred to them; the Square was absolutely deserted!
There were no Navis walking around, not a single one. Total silence was around them, which couldn't be cut through with a sword even if one tried, and it seemed to swallow up everything in that deathly silence. They turned their heads back and forth, utterly confused, and unable to comprehend what was going on.
For one of the few times in his life when he wasn't around Muramasa, did Proto remove his visor, showing the deep magenta eyes that showed nothing but utter confusion. But Razor did not see, and was straining his ears to hear even the slightest noise, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't hear a single sound. The city was like a ghost town from cheap B-movies, as there were no corpses, blood, torn down houses, or any of the stuff you always see in the modern ghost towns.
But even so, this was starting to get really creepy.
Razor slowly backed up, one step every ten seconds. Proto was also backing up, at about the same speed as Razor.
Thump.
"WAAAAH!!!" they screamed when their backs suddenly knocked together, and they both whirled around, swords drawn and ready to delete, until they realized who they were looking at.
With heavy sighs, they retracted their blades, and turned away from each other in slight embarrassment for overreacting like that. The silence threatened to return, so Razor hurriedly tried to contact his Operator.
"Hey Mike! Mike! Do you read?" he asked, but all he got was a loud static in his ear, making him cut off connection immediately.
He rubbed his ears with a groan, muttering curse-words under his breath for no good reason at all.
"Problem?" Proto asked, quickly sliding his visor back into place.
Razor was about to retort, but thought better of it.
"Contact your Operator," he said instead.
Proto blinked his eyes behind his visor, but did so nonetheless.
"Chaud! Come in! Chaud!!" he cried out, but like Razor, all he got was static. "Darn it!!"
Razor cursed some more, until---
"Grrrrrroooooooooohoooooooooohooo!!!"
The low sound was barely audible at first, but then it increased, becoming louder and louder, until it was almost painful. But the sound was cut off by an explosion that sounded at the very top of the building they were standing next to.
"LOOK OUT!!!" Razor screamed, and both Navis dived aside, crying out as the explosion sent them away, and scratched at their armor and skin.
The explosion's sound hadn't left yet, or another explosion followed it within but mere seconds, this time on a lower floor. The explosions came faster after each other with each time, and constantly lower, and finally, both Navis were forced to run, before being blown away and crashing into the pavement of the streets.
Razor tried to get up again, but for some reason, his head was spinning, he couldn't focus any longer, and his limbs seemed to turn to mush. But when a shadow fell upon him, he managed to raise his head, staring up into a set of burning red eyes, like Bass'… only worse.
Far worse.
--
"Razor!!! Goddamnit!!! What's going on!?!" Mike demanded in anger, hitting the jack-in port in his tantrum.
The boy took a deep breath, and tried to calm down, which seemed to help a lot.
'Calm down, Mike…' he told himself sternly. 'You can't help Razor… so you might as well go help Chaud.'
"Right," he mumbled, pulled his PET from the port and dashed toward the garden.
--
"Holy crap!!!" Mike exclaimed upon arriving at the garden.
Shine was sprawled over the couchswing, her PET lying on the ground, screen shattered, and her expression one of pure terror and pain, even though her eyes were closed. Chaud was holding a glass in his hand, and turning it every which way, before sniffing at the edge of it. His eyes instantly widened at whatever he smelled.
"Oh god!! What happened?!" Mike demanded rushing over quickly.
Chaud turned to him and said: "She's been drugged. Someone managed to spike her drink."
Mike gaped at Chaud, and then turned to Shine, who was as pale as her own hair, and breathing frantically, as if having run 4 miles without stopping.
"We have to get her to a hospital!!" the black-haired teen finally said.
Chaud nodded and said: "The ambulance is already und…"
The boy looked away from Shine and listened carefully.
"…Here."
--
"Your girl is in one of the buildings in the Square," the raspy voice belonging to the large Navi said, and Razor couldn't remember where he'd heard that voice before. "You have 15 minutes to find her, or else… well, you can say goodbye to the little slut."
The last word was enough to snap Razor to attention, and his blood instantly started boiling.
"Don't… call… Muramasa… a… slut… you… BASTARD!!!!" he screamed and lunged out with his blades, but both missed.
As his vision began to clear, he nearly choked at what her saw.
The Navi… had no arms or legs!!! She had two sharp shoulderplates with spikes at the underside, a diamond-shaped bloodgem in the center of her chest, and four leaves of silver behind it. Her lower-body was just a large triangular block, and she hovered above the ground, without the use of the massive demonic black and silver wings she had, which were thrice the size of her entire body. On her forehead rested a single bloodred gem, and her eyes were hidden in shadows, but her irises stood out against the dark and glowed a mystifying hue. The skin on her face was chalk-white, and was a true contrast to all the black, red, and silvers of her armor. Not far from the spikes under her shoulderplates, hovered two massive claws with four fingers, large enough to easily snap him in half, while her body seemed about the same height as his own. Also, from the top of her scalp, came a long mass of deep purplish hair, close to black, but not quite there. The hands spun in small circles, the claws always directed at him.
"Who…!?!" Razor tried to utter, moving away from the seriously frightening-looking Navi, who seemed pretty much ready to murder, if the look on her face was anything to go by.
"Am I?" the Navi finished, the black lips barely moving as the two words left her throat and mouth. "My program is the Maverick.DAT file, and my name…" the Navi was silent, lips pursed in a straight line, but showing obvious signs of anger, "…is NightMare.EXE."
--
Chibi-chan: Crap, talk about your average Bad-Navi!
D. Zero: You're telling me. By the way, how much Bad-Navis do we have?
Miri-chan: [counting on her fingers] Three…?
D. X: Ah crap! We need more than that!!
Delta: By the way, what's up with that 'Maverick.DAT'??
D. X: Guess.