Chapter 7

By: blues-lover

A/N: Oh boy, I am finally updating. (Gets random stuff thrown at her) I know I probably should have done it sooner (dodges flying television) but I have been trying to update a lot of stuff I'm working on new chapters for almost all of my stories. So be ready for a slue of updates from me once I get going. 

Mel typed away on her computer. Ever since the two Netsaver boys had left she had been glued to the screen. She was working on more of her chips. (A/N: for anyone who doesn't remember she does make chips and she used them during movie time) Flow looked on worriedly. "Mel, mabey you should take a break," Flow suggested.

Mel blinked realizing that she had gone into somewhat of a trance. She shifted her shoulders and cracked her neck. "I can't Flow. You know that when I get an idea if I leave it half finished then I'll never get it done," Mel said sighing.

"But it can't hurt to get up and stretch your legs, mabey go for a walk," the cat like navi said frowning.

"No way, since today is Saturday then I only have a day and a half to finish this new chip and it's really important that I do," Mel said as she resumed her monotonous typing.

"Mel this isn't good for you, you stay up all night, you forget to eat and then you go to school when the weekends over completely exhausted," Flow said narrowing her eyes in concern.

"So I can deal with it, and besides new school, new Mel. You know how I go," Mel said giving her worried navi a reassuring smile.

Just then Mel's bedroom door creaked open and Lea poked her head in the door cautiously, "Mel," the little girl said nervously, "Mom wants you."

Mel let out an exasperated groan. She closed her eyes tightly and rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes. Lea watched her sister get up from her computer chair and leave the room. Lea stood in the hallway and glanced into Mel's room. It always scared her. The walls the sheets and everything about the room was pitch black except for the fact that it was filled with white unlit candles. The only light in the room was the small illumination coming from the computer screen. Lea shivered a little and closed the door softly.

Down in the kitchen Mel was talking with her mom. It seemed the same to Mel. She heard the same thing every time she went on a chip binge, as Kerry would call it. "Mel you need to go outside, trapping yourself in that room of yours will not only make you go blind but it'll make you crazy," Kerry said making comical hand gestures as she spoke.

Mel sighed and shook her head, she got up from the table and looked her mom in the eyes. She could see the worry in her eyes but she didn't care much. In her mind what she was doing wasn't bad it was fun and kept her busy. Not to mention it helped with her Netbattleing and also with casual moments of everyday life. "Well either way I have to go finish before I lose motivation," Mel called out as she took off up the stairs.

Mel opened the door to her room and sat in her chair. She cracked her knuckles and wiggled her fingers swiftly in the air. She started typing once again at a steady pace.

Flow sighed and did something that she would most likely regret later. She opened a small screen in front of her self and moved a few things around. The screen glowed white and disappeared. The computer made a soft 'ping' sound and the program that Mel was using announced that her file had been saved and shut down. "Hey," Mel yelled irritably.

"You'll thank me eventually," Flow said crossing her arms over her chest.

Mel knitted her eyebrows in frustration. She hated it when people tried to stop her from achieving her goal. This goal was a personal one so people getting in her way made her angry and somewhat depressed.

"Go outside now," Flow said sternly.

Mel glared at Flow harshly, "Why should I? What's the point of going on a walk if there's no one to walk with," the brown-eyed girl asked.

Flow was silent at this. Mel's expression lightened, "Look if you let me finish this then I will go outside when I'm finished."

"Hmm, yeah I've heard that one before," Flow said giving Mel a doubtful look.

"I'm serious I will," Mel said rolling her eyes.

Flow sighed and shook her head, there was no use trying now. All she could do now was watch Mel type away.

Quite a ways into the night Mel finally put the finishing touches on the new chip. She smiled and saved the program. She got up from her computer and sat on the edge of her bed. She rubbed her eyes trying to get rid of the sleepiness. Flow had long since gone into stasis mode. Not bothering to take off her day clothes Mel slipped under her covers and closed her eyes almost instantly falling asleep.

Morning came sooner then expected. Mel was awakened by a yell from her navi. "Mel wake up we have an e-mail form Meijin," Flow yelled urgently.

Mel who had only gotten 3 hours of sleep rolled over and groaned irritably. "Mel we have to hurry. The e-mail says we get to try out Crossfusion today," Flow said loudly.

Mel perked up at this. She opened her eyes and rolled over to face her navi, "Can't it wait until morning," she asked almost pleadingly.

"Mel it is morning," Flow said shaking her head.

With this Mel ceased arguing and crawled out of bed sluggishly. She grabbed her PET and walked out of her bedroom. "Umm…Mel aren't you even going to bother changing or showering," Flow asked almost disgusted by her operators lack of care for her personal hygiene.

Mel sighed and went back into her room. She opened a door that was almost invisible in the blackness of the wall. It revealed a small white bathroom. She walked in and shut the door. There was silence and then the sound of water being turned on and a faint whistling.

After a quick shower and a new outfit pick Mel was once again on her way out. She mumbled a quick good bye and was off.

She was soon at the scilabs, she entered Dr.Hikari's office and was greeted by the site of her fellow Netsavers. Enzan was the first to notice her arrival, "You look terrible," he commented, noting the dark circles under her eyes.

She looked down sheepishly, "It was a long night."

Dr.Hikari, who seemed to come out of nowhere, placed a hand on Mel's shoulder, "Are you ready," he asked.

Mel nodded. The scientist led her to the dimensional area room. He handed her a chip and she entered the small glass box. Up on the observation deck Enzan and Netto watched with interest, curious as to how well the girl would do.

Mel stood nervously in the middle of the room. Dr.Hikari activated the dimensional area and she was surrounded by a mix a metallic and rainbow colors. She sighed, "Here goes nothing, Syncro Chip slot in download!"

A jigsaw like pattern of data formed around her, surrounding her body in her navi's spandex armor. There was a blinding white light and then she just stood there awkwardly, embarrassed by the skintight suit. "I'm going to send in some virus simulations now, to see how you are combat wise," Dr.Hikari's voice boomed over a loud speaker.

Mel nodded, giving the observation both above a hesitant glance. A few mettaurs pixilated to her right and she turned to face them. She summoned her claws and drove at them easily deleting them. They were replaced by several violet, wolf like viruses. They shot fire at Mel who held her arm up in defense, trying to protect her face. A sword formed on her arm and she cut through them. She stood in the mist of pixels panting heavily. Already tired from lack of sleep, the energy needed to uphold Crossfusion was depleting fast. She was thankful this was only a test run, if it was real she would be dead for sure. A stronger virus appeared, it was large and resembled a mix of a bird and a dragon.

On the observation deck Enzan's eyes narrowed as he watched Mel battle the virus. Netto looked down on her as well, "She's not doing very well is she?"

Enzan spared Netto a glance and his eyes returned to the battle, "I don't get how a girl like her could become a Netsaver. She's awkward and inexperienced."

Netto frowned, "Well it is her first time, and she did say she had a long night."

Enzan snorted, "She should be more responsible."

Down in the dimensional area, Mel felt the eyes of the boys upon her. It made her feel self-conscious. She continued fending off the virus though; her energy was close to gone now. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of her face. Using all the strength she had left she brought down her sword on the virus and let out a sigh of relief. As the fusion between herself and Flow terminated she could feel a heavy dizziness settle in, blurring her sight. Her exhaustion overpowered her and she fell onto the ground unconscious.

Netto's eyes widened, "Oh no…Mel!"

"Someone get the medical team down there. Now!" Dr.Hikari yelled to a pair of near by scientists.

Enzan was the only one not moving he remained where he had been standing and glared almost spitefully down at Mel. How could her navi beat Blues, he thought, she's close to pathetic.

Mel's eyes flickered open; she was disoriented for a moment. The first thing she was able to take in was that she was in her room. Her candles were lit and the glow seemed reassuring to her. The next thing she noticed was the splitting headache that seemed to cut her head like a white-hot knife. She pressed the palm of her hand against her forehead trying to ease the pain. She threw her sheets off of herself and tumbled out of bed. "Mel you're awake!"

Mel blinked and looked up at her desk toward the source of the voice. It was coming from her PET. "I was so worried after you collapsed," Flow said franticly. "No one would tell me what was going on, all I knew was that our fusion terminated and that you were out cold!"

"What," Mel mumbled, trying to get a train of thought going through her headache. It took her a minute but everything came back to her, "Oh my god! I can't believe I passed out and in front of the boys! Oh, I must have looked like such an idiot!"

"Your image isn't what they cared about! Your well being, that's what mattered," Flow said indignantly.

Mel lowered her head, "I doubt that."

"Mel," Flow said cautiously but knowingly, "Are you doing one of those sixth sense things, where you creep me out but somehow know everything?"

"I don't know and I really don't care," Mel said rubbing her temples with her index fingers.

"Well Netto's been worried, he keeps calling to see if you've woken up," Flow said trying to prove her point.

"Worried? Wait how long was I out," Mel asked raising her head to give her navi a questioning look.

"Two days going on three," the cat like navi said frowning.

"So it's Monday," Mel asked.

"Yes."

"I missed school," Mel asked persistently.

"Yes."

Just then Mel's bedroom door creaked open. Lea peeked around the corner hesitantly. Then without warning she came swooping in, "Yay! Your alive!"

Mel rolled her eyes and got up from the floor, "Of course I'm alive."

This was soon followed by Kerry's entrance, "Finally, you had me scared half to death when they brought you home."

"It's okay I just came in tired and now I fully appreciate the amount of energy required to Crossfuse," Mel said trying to make it seem like no big deal.

"Well you'd better be more careful you hear me? I'm this close to taking you out of that Netsaver program," Kerry held her fingers a miniscule distance from each other to emphasis her point.

"Don't worry I think this last chip was my last one for awhile," Mel said throwing off the direction of the conversation.

"What does that have to do with…" Mel cut Kerry off.

"The reason I was tired was because I stayed up way to late making a new chip and that's why I passed out," Mel said as if it was obvious.

"Not to mention you forgot breakfast that morning," Flow pointed out.

"Thank you Dr.Flow for your educated analysis of my eating patterns," Mel said sarcastically.

"Don't mention it," Flow said, matching her operator's sarcasm.

"Either way," Kerry said cutting in. "I'll whip up something to eat, and you will get some more rest. I want you ready and able for school tomorrow."

Mel nodded and clambered back into bed. Lea and Kerry left the room and the door clicked shut. As soon as their footsteps could no longer be heard her PET beeped. "It's Netto," Flow said giving Mel a sly grin.

Mel stretched her arm out and clasped her PET. "Hello," she said warily.

"Oh, I'm glad to see your awake," Netto said giving Mel a relieving smile.

Mel turned crimson at the sight of the male Netsaver, "You must think I'm pretty silly huh?"

"Of course not," was Netto's response. "The same thing happened to me when I first Crossfused. I was out for a while too, but well the only difference is, I battled Beastman and you battled practice viruses."

Mel felt better after hearing that. She was glad to know that she wasn't the only one. Netto and Mel said their good byes and ended the call. Mel placed the PET back on her desk and snuggled into her pillow. Before going back to sleep though she couldn't help but wonder why Enzan wasn't worried when Netto had been.

A/N: It is now (checks clock) 2:00AM. So like Mel I will now be going to sleep like I should have done a good few hours ago. Good night and review if anyone cares that this story still exists…which I doubt.