GT: *lying flat on back, eyes replaced with stars*…
Makoto: *peeks head inside the studio* Uh…
GT: Saikyou da~
Makoto: Yeah…he's really happy about the Battle Network Legacy Collection being out and that he pre-ordered it on PS4 and won a pre-order for the Switch via a raffle.
"Okay…hold still…aaand…" Makoto warned, squinting an eye before reaching out and marking a line, "You're good!"
Maylu smiled as she stepped to the side and turned while Makoto wrote the date beneath the line. She couldn't help but stare in surprise. She looked at the three lines beneath it, settling on the one she had done just before that trip to the amusement park. It was amazing how much had changed since Makoto began to live with her and Roll. She had meals at home again, her bad dreams far and few between, and she was closer than ever with Roll ever since the N1.
"Look at that! A full 30.48 centimeters since you started the meal plan!" Makoto cheered before hugging her, "That's so good to see, Maylu!"
"It's thanks to you being there, Big Sis!" Maylu replied, returning the embrace.
"Who knows? Maybe someday, you'll be as tall as Sandra Elaine Allen," Makoto joked.
"B-Big Sis…I…I think that's too tall…" Maylu noted, a drop of sweat going down the back of her head.
"I bet you're also glad Makoto suggested buying larger clothes, too," Roll noted before giggling, "I'm so happy you're getting healthier, sis! Plus, you haven't been as snappy with others as you were getting!"
"That's true. My head feels clearer than it was before Big Sis came, Roll," Maylu replied.
"I'm glad to help," Makoto winked, "So…any nightmares?"
"Not lately," Maylu assured.
"Good to hear," Makoto nodded before seeing her fidget, "...Maylu…?"
"Um…C-Could Roll and I play Legends Arceus before bed?"
"Hmm…I don't know…" Makoto noted, glancing at the clock, "It's almost bedtime."
"Please~?" Roll begged.
"Well…Alright. But you are both getting off at ten-thirty and going straight to bed at eleven," Makoto replied, "No arguments."
"We won't argue!" Maylu promised.
Makoto rolled her eyes. While the company was long gone in her world, Nintendo here was still going strong. Pulse Transmission at home also let the two share the experience of playing games that normally NetNavis could play together, like the version of the game they were working on completing and then competing with another game split into two versions. She waved Maylu off and she gave her a hug before running off to the Pulse Transmission system set up in her bedroom. Several minutes later, Makoto went off to do some last minute chores in the house after watching her little adopted sisters sneaking around, throwing wooden balls at creatures capable of controlling the very elements of nature.
'...What am I gonna do?' Makoto thought as she cleaned the dishes for dinner that night, 'I never thought I'd take in a pair of girls in need…and then getting carried away and really thinking of them as little sisters…' her thoughts changed to her old world…her friends and blood family, 'I wonder if they'd like Maylu and Roll? Noel would probably coo over them. Mai would probably be just as cool a sis to them as I am! …Kajun better stay the hell away from Roll's programming! …Maybe it'd be better not to let Maylu meet Tsubaki, I get the feeling she'd be influenced and having one friend with a paper fan I am worried about being hit with is enough, let alone my own sister.' she started to dry the dishes, 'Ma and Pa would instantly welcome them with big ol' hugs and Ma's cooking. The twins Mekoto and Mokoto would probably hug them and ask tons of questions before being distracted by Maylu playing the piano and Roll pulling some teleporting tricks. Mukoto would probably tease 'em, then trip on nothing and end up in a barrel. Mikoto would be annoyed because two more mouths to feed even for a little bit of time and will have to redo the numbers for spending cash, but would probably like Roll more than Maylu. Baby Mykoto will probably babble and want to be picked up by the girls. It sure would be an interesting visit back there…' she paused in her drying and frowned, '...'visit?' Why did I think of it like that? …Did I mean a visit from Maylu and Roll? Yeah, that…that's probably it. Visiting there is honestly safer for those two. No having to deal with the climate…both physical and political…no NOL to threaten them or steal Roll to do who knows what…no Professor Kokonoe after Roll…just a safe world like this with the only issues being viruses…and people able to live on the land…a-and a whole digital world that Ma and Pa could corner the nut market with the farm being put into it…and no real racism between NetNavis…' as she kept thinking, her ears and tail drooped, '...'
Maylu sighed under her breath as she looked at the library computer. Several books were stacked up around her on the desk as she tried to think of what to write for her essay assignment. If it had been about music, it would have been easy enough, but this was on a subject she didn't have a lot of experience with. Laughter made her glance away at a nearby table where a group of older kids were gathered around a boy in a white shirt.
"I thought the game was going to be harder, but it was pretty much easy!" he chuckled as he casually flicked a coin up and caught it, letting Maylu notice the unusual 'G' emblem in it that looked like it was made of an animal and its open jaw.
As they kept chattering, she shook her head. They were pretty loud for a library for heaven's sake. She looked back to the screen and smiled.
"Roll, can you collect a few more world history documents? Please?" Maylu asked softly.
"Sure thing, sis!" Roll replied before looking at the time, "Go and take a small break, ok? It's almost your snack time."
"Right," Maylu nodded, "Thank you for the reminder, Roll."
Roll smiled before quickly entering the library's Network. She walked up to a wall of yellow data and connected her antennae to it. Her eyes glowed the same color as the data as she began to look through it for Maylu's request. On Earth, Maylu walked along the bookshelves to find a spot to eat her prescribed snack made by Makoto. She paused when she saw a boy around her age wearing a long-sleeved black shirt under an open red jacket and green camo pants. Yet the most eye-catching part of him was his hair that was white on top with black underneath.
"Chaud?" Maylu pondered, causing him to look up from the book he was reading and at her with his cold blue eyes.
"Oh, it's you," the boy recognized her.
"Who would've thought we'd run into each other here?" Maylu asked, "It's been a while."
"You think it's weird that I would come to a library?" Chaud questioned, fully turning to her, "No matter how I may act, I am still a student." he raised a brow when she giggled, "Hm?"
"S-Sorry. It…I just tend to see you more as the vice president of IPC than a student," she admitted.
"I see. …Are you taller?" he asked.
"Yep! A new diet and exercise plan my big sister put me on," Maylu asked, smiling as she realized she was eye level with the dual-haired boy, 'Last time I met him, I was at level with where his chest turned into his neck, but now we're eye level even! Lan's going to be shocked when he sees me when he comes home.' she blinked, "Ah…Um…H-Have you heard from Lan?"
"He's still in Sharo. He contacted me this morning, however," Chaud explained, "They're still cleaning up after the accident, so all planes are grounded until further notice. Even worse, they just forecasted a blizzard."
"Oh…so they're stuck at the airport then," Maylu sighed.
"Yes. …Though what's this about a 'big sis?'"
"Oh! That's mine and Roll's name for Makoto," Maylu replied, "She's our big sister!"
"I see…" Chaud nodded, "As in Makoto Nanaya, the squirrel NetNavi from an alternate universe?"
"Yep! She's out at SciLab to help with some experiments with her ability to move between Earth and the Network," Maylu explained, "It's mainly bringing food into the Network and food out to Earth."
"Food?" Chaud repeated before Maylu grimaced.
"Network food is not good at all," Maylu summed up, "It's extremely bland and the texture and feel are all severely off. I'll ask Big Sis if she has one you can try."
'Okay, I'm almost done. Just gotta grab one more and…' Roll thought.
"Move," a deep voice ordered before Roll yelped as she was pushed aside, her antennae popping out and causing her to lose all her gathered data.
"Gah! Hey!" Roll snapped while grabbing her antennae, looking up at the larger NetNavi in bronze armor with gold detailing and spikes, "What's the matter with you!? Wait your turn!"
The NetNavi chuckled, "Sorry."
"Geez, what's up with that guy?" Roll muttered to herself, "I was accessing it first and…"
"UWAH!"
"!?" Roll jumped and looked to see a large mechanical hand grabbing the NetNavi and pulling him up to a black hole in the sky the hand came from.
"H-Help me!"
"What in the world?!" Roll gasped.
"Maylu! Maylu! Sis! Sis! Help! Help-help-help!" Roll's panicked yelps brought pause to their talk before Maylu pulled her PeT out.
"Roll, what's wrong?"
"This giant grabby hand just came out of a black hole in the sky and grabbed this rude jerk that pushed me when I was getting the last file for you!" Roll explained while Chaud ran over to a nearby computer and tapped a few keys, causing a screen to pop up, showing the NetNavi as it was being abducted.
"AH! HELP! HELP ME! SOMEONE PLEASE!"
"What is that?" Chaud pondered as Maylu looked at the feed on her PeT.
"He's…He's gone…" Roll gasped, looking up at where the hole had been.
"What was that?" Maylu asked.
"I'm not sure," Chaud replied.
"Oi…Oi…" the two looked to see the boy from earlier glaring at a screen, "Duke! Duke, answer me! Duke!"
"It must have been his NetNavi that was kidnapped," Maylu realized.
"DUKE!" the boy snapped, banging his fist on the keyboard, dropping his coin and caused it to fall to the floor and roll to Chaud's foot, causing it to fall over.
"?! That logo…" Chaud recognized as he picked it up before narrowing his eyes, "Grave."
"Grave?" Maylu repeated, "As in…that group that was a front for Wily's plan with that Virus Beast?"
"Abducted?!" Makoto gasped as she quickly entered Maylu's PeT and scooped up Roll, "Are you okay? It didn't try to grab you, did it?"
"N-No, I'm okay," Roll assured.
'So that's Makoto Nanaya…' Chaud thought, glancing at the screen as Makoto refused to let go of the bunny-themed pink NetNavi, before looking to Famous as a holographic city appeared on the table between Famous and the two kids.
"After the attack by the Darkloids, seventy percent of Net City has managed to be restored to full working condition," Famous explained, "Over the past several days, this hand has appeared and abducted several NetNavis all in the same manner. Black portal, grabbing from above, and then pulling them back in. NetOps have tried to Jack their NetNavis out, but the claw releases a signal that prevents Jacking Out."
"And by the time someone tries to hit it, it's too late," Makoto frowned, Roll looking up at her, "You are not allowed on the Network until this is over, missy!"
"HUH?!"
"You too, Maylu!"
"What?! B-But, Big Sis, we just got to the last area!" Maylu complained.
"That's right! We were gonna catch all the ghost fluffy babies and hug them and cuddle and give them all the love they didn't get from the people of Hisui!" Roll whined.
"No buts!" Makoto declared firmly.
'Oh my god…She's really acting like a protective older sister…' Chaud thought as he facepalmed.
"Makoto, come out here," Famous ordered.
"Mmm…" Makoto fumed before hopping out and sighing when she had no Roll with her.
"You know NetNavis can't do that, Big Sis," Maylu sighed, "Even when we really want them to."
"Here. Look at this," Famous spoke, giving Chaud a blue folder, "It's the list of kidnapped NetNavis."
"..." Chaud opened it, "'Shiningman, Whaleman, Greenman…'" he frowned as he kept reading, "These NetNavis…"
"You see the pattern, too."
"Yes. Each and everyone of these NetNavis were contestants in the N1 Grand Prix," Chaud explained.
'The tournament where Maylu and Roll were in that scarred them both with Empress…' Makoto thought, hugging a tense Maylu.
"Whether or not this is Nebula or someone else, they are very interested in the Network and NetNavis with strong power," Famous frowned.
"I may have a lead," Chaud replied before offering Famous the coin, "Recognize the emblem?"
"Grave?" Famous pondered.
"It was with the NetOp of the latest victim, a NetNavi named Duke," Chaud explained, "When asked, he said it came from a gaming machine he and Duke played."
"I see…go check with the other NetOps of the missing NetNavis. If there's more than one person, we'll need to find this game and its location," Famous ordered.
"Roger," Chaud nodded as he walked off.
"Ah, wait u…" Maylu began before Makoto pulled her into a hug.
"Uh-uh! No way! You two are not leaving my sight today and no going into the Network!" Makoto ordered before several beeps went off once Chaud was gone.
"Tch. Two more just went missing," Famous frowned, looking at his PeT, "DrillMach and Turuhashader or 'Pickman' as people call him. They're in a construction area over here."
"Just leave it to us then, sir," Makoto assured, "So long as Roll doesn't go into the Network, we'll be a-ok!"
"Why me?!"
"Because you were in the N1 Grand Prix," Makoto reminded as she held up the folder, "These NetNavis were all in the N1 Grand Prix! My baby sister is not getting kidnapped! No way! No how!"
"Mmmm…" Roll pouted.
"I just give up!" a taller worker groaned as he and a shorter one stood before Maylu and Makoto, the girls wearing hardhats, "If the others aren't here, we can't do our job."
"Did you notice anything weird before the incident?" Makoto asked.
"Not me. On my lunch break, I went to the station and got some ramen and vanilla ice," the taller explained, "But after that…"
"After that, we went to the Game Center for a bit before coming back to work," the shorter informed.
"Game Center?" Makoto repeated.
"The one in front of the station," the shorter explained before pulling out a familiar coin, "We won these at this game we played."
"Huh…Maylu?" Makoto looked to the shorter of the two.
"Yes. That looks exactly like the coin that boy had," Maylu replied.
"Huh…" Makoto frowned before blinking as her ears twitched, "Huh?"
"What's wrong?" Maylu asked as Makoto looked around.
"I hear something sparking," Makoto explained before looking up at a crane above them, "Hey…is that connected to the Network?"
"Of course it is," the shorter replied.
"Helps get precise readings and auto-adjusts the systems to better handle carrying those I-Beams," the taller explained.
"And if a Virus got into it?" Makoto asked.
"Ah, that'd be bad, especially with the loss of our partners," the taller grimaced.
"...MOVE!" Makoto barked, grabbing Maylu and pushing her to the two men who stumbled back in surprise.
The crane above began to swing wildly before the I-Beams it was holding up broke off, sending them down where they had been. Makoto jumped up and quickly punched all six beams, denting them and sending them flying to crash away from them. She landed and glared at the crane system as it stopped moving, seeing black smoke coming out of a part of it.
"Game Center?"
"Yep! The one by the station near here," Makoto replied on the screen Famous was looking at with Maylu beside her, another screen showing Chaud in a limo, "The two NetOps went in there, played a game that gave them both a coin that that emblem, and then their NetNavis get abducted."
"That concurs with what I learned from Shiningman's NetOp about him and Whaleman's NetOp going there," Chaud noted, "I'll meet you and Makoto at the Game Center, Game Soul, as soon as I am able to, Sakurai."
"I wanna go in~" Roll whined.
"No!" Makoto scolded.
"Why~?!"
"We don't want to lose you, Roll," Maylu argued, worry evident in her eyes.
"So…This is that Chaud guy Lan complains about?" Makoto asked, deciding it'd be easier to just change subjects.
"He and Lan get together like oil and water," Maylu sighed, "Chaud won the N1 Grand Prix when he and Lan NetBattled."
"It was insane! We thought it was those two causing the artificial island to start to break apart and sink until Pharaohman appeared and…" Roll looked down, a pained look in her eyes as tears welled up in them, "...and…Deleted Mega…"
"...He's here, isn't he? Still the Blue Boy you know?" Makoto asked.
"Y-Yeah, but…but it doesn't help with the pain of watching him be Deleted…"
"Oh, Roll…" Makoto whispered before hopping into the Network and giving her a comforting hug, "...Still not letting you out of the PeT."
"Mmm…" Roll pouted as a purple limo rolled up and let Chaud out.
"Let's get to investigating," Chaud ordered as they entered and approached a metal game that a younger kid was playing, showing a holographic display of a NetNavi fighting a bulky Virus of sorts, "This is the game based on the descriptions I received from the NetOps."
The kid yelped as his NetNavi was impaled and logged out. The boy sighed as he walked off while the screen displayed 'NEW CHALLENGE' and then a list of the top 10 winners of the game.
"...This coincides with the list of missing NetNavis," Chaud confirmed, looking at the folder to double-check, before inserting a play coin and the screen changing to 'PLUG IN,' "..." he looked at Maylu, "You two could always back out."
"No way! I am not letting Roll in there!"
"But I wanna~!"
"No! You go in there and so help me, Roll Sakurai, you are grounded and no non-Network meals for a month!"
"Please, Roll?"
"Aw man~! Fine, fine…" Roll grumbled.
She looked to Chaud, "We've come this far, so it wouldn't sit right if we backed down." she smiled as she pulled out Makoto's PeT as the Beastkin went into it, "Ready?"
"Yep! Based on the talks we've had, it's beating the final boss as fast as we can," Makoto recalled.
Maylu nodded as she aimed the PeT at the metal screen on the console, "Jack In, Makoto! Power Up!"
A red beam of light came from the tip of the PeT and into the metal screen. The system changed to show a gridded field on Earth while Makoto appeared on a large rectangular arena inside of it. 'STAGE 1' appeared before her before it transformed into four Mettaur Viruses.
"Okay…" Makoto cracked her knuckles, "Let's do this!" With a roar, Makoto shot off like a rocket, slamming her fist into one and sending it flying at the other three, all of them too startled to avoid getting it and shattered into pixels, "Piece of cake!"
"Nice job, Big Sis!" Maylu praised.
"Go, Big Sis, go!" Roll cheered.
"Keep focused," Chaud warned.
As the rounds went on, a crowd began to gather, watching in awe as Makoto took on each level, the difficulty rising with each level. Chaud kept note of the tricks the Beastkin was pulling off. He watched as her punches tore through the metal casing of Viruses that looked like Pac-Man made of gunmetal plating on a black stand before catching the ax of a large, burly, purple virus that tried to chop her from behind with her tail, ripped it out of its hands, and used it to tear it and several others apart. During the ninth stage, she was startled by Viruses resembling stereotypical ghost with skull-themed masks that kept vanishing and stabbing at her with their tongues.
"Ah! H-Hold on, Big Sis! AirSword, Download!"
"AirSword?" Makoto repeated before yelping as her right glove and hand transformed, becoming blue cylinder with a pair of gunmetal pieces at the sides that produced a light-blue blade of plasma with swirling winds gathered around it, "Whoa now!"
"...I…I think this is the first time Big Sis has used a BattleChip," Roll realized.
"Swing it, Big Sis!" Maylu called out.
"I have no idea what's going on, but…OKAY!" Makoto roared, swinging the blade and unleashing a massive blast of powerful winds that tore apart the ghost-like Viruses, "Whoa~! I have got to use these things more often!"
"This is the last stage," Chaud noted as 'FINAL STAGE' appeared in the air above Makoto.
"But Makoto's hit points…" Maylu grimaced, seeing how low they were.
"Big Sis can do this!" Roll assured…before the last Virus formed and Makoto had to look up to see its face, "...Big Sis can not do this!"
"What in the world…?" Makoto gawked before yelping as she avoided the punch that broke the ground she had been standing on, "What is that?!"
"A LifeVirus! I remember it from the mall Dr. Hikari was testing the prototype of the Dimensional Area at," Maylu recalled.
"It's a rare Virus, but extremely powerful," Chaud explained.
"Oh so now ya tell me!" Makoto complained before dodging another swipe of its arms, "No touchy!"
"Ah…Oh! Plasma Ball, Slot In!"
"Plasma Ball!" Makoto shouted, causing a small bee-colored sphere with a smiley face on it to appear and start zapping the LifeVirus, "Alright! That did…" the LifeVirus roared as it crushed the Plasma Ball, "NOTHING AT ALL!"
"Look out!" Maylu called in worry as the LifeVirus swung at her again.
"..." Makoto grinned before she suddenly jumped right at the LifeVirus, dodging the swipe, "RISE! POWER OF THE STARS!" behind her, an astral version of her emblem flashed briefly, "LIGHT! GIVE ME STRENGTH!" the emblem turned into light that gathered together to coat her fists, making them resemble stars burning brightly, "Teryaryaryaryaryaryarya!" before the LifeVirus could move, Makoto's fists became blurs that ripped and tore through the LifeVirus like it was nothing but soaked paper until she landed at its feet, reeling her right fist back, "With my fist, fly up to the stars!" the light gathered into her right fist and turned a brilliant gold, "PLANET CRUSHER!-!-!-!" with that final roar, she swung her fist upwards in an uppercut, striking the LifeVirus…and tearing it to shreds that shot off with a sonic boom.
"Wh-Whoa…" Maylu gasped as Chaud's eyes widened.
"Heh…" Makoto smirked before punching fists together and then punched ahead with her right fist while pumping the left, all the while 'GAME CLEAR' appeared above her with fireworks going off, "You're just another foe unworthy of my fist…"
"What the…" Chaud pondered, looking at Maylu, "Did you know she could do that? Whatever that was?"
"Uh-uh," Maylu shook her head.
"I never doubted Big Sis for a moment!" Roll cheered.
"If we're correct, then the abductor will now be looking for Makoto," Chaud noted, the two back in Famous's place with he and Maylu enjoying tea…with a pair of his cups in the propped up PeT, showing Roll and Makoto sipping it, "...I will get those back, right?"
"Of course you will," Makoto assured.
"Yummy," Roll complimented, "Hey, Big Sis? What was that attack you did?"
"Which one?"
"The final one. Planet…Crusher, right?" Maylu tilted her head.
"Oh! That's an Astral Heat!" Makoto beamed.
"Astral…Heat?" the two repeated.
"It uses up a ton of seithr in the area to create a super-awesome-mega attack!" Makoto cheered, "And since I constantly make the stuff, I've got a way to pull it out anytime I want! But…ya gotta be careful with it, too. Too many times at once and you're stuck in a bed for a month! My limit's three times in a row."
"Can you teach me? Pretty please with a chestnut parfait?" Roll asked.
"Sure thing! But everyone's Astral Heat is unique," Makoto explained, patting Roll's head, "So don't be surprised when yours isn't a big ol' super pummel that can theoretically break asteroids the size of the moon! We'll have to work up to it, though, by teaching you Distortions Drives and Ars Magus before those. You're learning too, Maylu!"
"M-Me?!" Maylu gasped.
"Of course!" Makoto replied.
"Humans can learn that?" Chaud asked.
"Yep!" Makoto replied, "So long as I'm out there, you've got a source to draw on!"
"We have two hours before you should start walking around in the Network, Makoto," Chaud explained.
"Right! Then let's finish the tea and snacks and I'll give you the basics on Ars!" Makoto declared, "Once I deem ya good enough at 'em, then we can move on to Distortion Drives and then the Astral Finish."
"Yay! I love you, Big Sis!"
"You're still not coming with me, missy."
"Boo~!"
"Any luck?" Maylu asked.
"Nope," Makoto replied as she walked about in Net City until a beeping went off, "Gha! Who? When? Where? Why? How?!"
"That was me," Chaud informed.
"Ah geez…Ya jerk…" Makoto sighed, patting the spot over her heart.
"...It was Famous. To make sure things will be safe, he's pulled the game from the Game Corner," Chaud informed.
"That's good to hear! No one's gonna be kidnapped playing that game!" Makoto declared.
"That's a relief to hear," Maylu sighed in relief.
Makoto's ears twitched. She quickly looked up to see the hole opening up and grinned.
"Here it comes," Makoto noted as the arm shot down…before she felt an impact to her back that knocked her away, "Gah!"
"ROLL?!"
"What?!" Makoto looked to see the pink NetNavi in the claw's grip, "Roll?!"
"Sorry," Roll apologized, "But I need to find Duke."
"Huh?" Makoto gawked.
"The claw earlier…it was probably after me more than him at the time," Roll explained, giving a sad smile as the arm shot into the hole and closed.
"ROLL!" Makoto shouted.
"Come on, now…Please…Open your eyes, little lady…"
"M…mmm…" Roll mumbled, slowly opening her eyes to see a somewhat bulky NetNavi with a drill for an arm, "D…DrillMach?"
"Oh, you know me?" the NetNavi asked as Roll slowly sat up and looked around, seeing the two in a stone cell of sorts.
"Y-Yeah. We were both in the N1 Grand Prix," Roll replied.
"Oh! Now I recognize ya," DrillMach recognized her, "That explains how you ended up here if ya hadn't played that game."
"No, my big sister did, but I pushed her out of the way of the arm," Roll replied.
"While those of us from the N1 got taken because we were in it, that game was being used to collect strong NetNavis," DrillMach explained, "A test of sorts."
"A test?" Roll repeated before gasping, seeing the various injuries on DrillMach, "Oh no! You're hurt!"
"Yeah…It…" DrillMach sighed, "The one who kidnapped us is forcing us to fight."
"Fight?!" Roll gasped as a lanky gold NetNavi with a pick for a hand appeared before collapsing to his knees, "Oh!"
"Turuhashader!" DrillMach exclaimed as he moved over to the NetNavi.
"Gh…Wh-Who…oh not again…" Turuhashader whispered, noticing Roll, "Gh…Wh…When you lose, you get sent back here…" he looked down, "It's hell…"
"Hold on!" Roll spoke, holding her hands out and letting out her Recov Element, healing away as much as she could, "Let me heal you both up. Why are you even doing this?!"
"We'll be Deleted if we don't battle…and when we do, we'll be Deleted when we no longer entertain the one who kidnapped us," DrillMach explained.
"Delete?!" Roll gasped, her eyes widening as her antennae stuck straight up.
"Yes," Turuhashader replied.
"C-Can't we call for help?"
"We've been cut off from the outside world," DrillMach sadly explained.
"That's not a problem," Roll assured as she pulled out a small red device, "Before I took my big sister's place, I took this from her!"
"What's that?" Turuhashader asked.
"An IPC-brand Dimensional Beacon," Roll explained as she activated it, "Watch."
"Oh that stupid little brat!" Makoto ranted, pacing by Chaud at a high-tech desk as Maylu worriedly sat on the couch nearby, "I swear when I get my hands on Roll, I am going to hug the life out of her and then ground her for a year!"
"Looks like she did take the Dimensional Beacon," Chaud noted as the screen he was watching changed quickly to display a location, "We've got the location."
"That's where Roll is?" Maylu asked.
"Let's hurry, you two!" Chaud ordered.
Roll smiled as she finished healing the two up, "Don't worry, DrillMach, Turu…Turu…Tsu…"
"Pickman for short, kiddo."
"Pickman! Don't worry! Maylu and our Big Sis are going to come and help save us!" Roll assured, pumping a fist…before she started glowing, "Huh?"
"Ah! Roll!" DrillMach gasped.
Roll reached a hand out to him before she vanished. DrillMach and 'Pickman' looked at one another with worry evident in their cores. Roll appeared in a large coliseum shaped like a hexagon with the 'sky' above made to resemble a night sky littered in junk satellites. She looked around before a light appeared and formed into Duke, his spikes snapped off and most of his armor covered in cracks.
"Oh it's you…" Duke spoke, "This should be over quick."
'He's so weak…He's trying to look strong, but…but he's not able to take another hit,' Roll thought, "...I refuse to partake in this." electricity crackled from the satellites before a blast of lightning slammed into her, turning pink on impact, "?! KYAAAAAAAAAAA!-!-!-!" slowly, the shocks faded and Roll collapsed to her knees.
=FIGHT! If you do not fight, then I will Delete you=
"...Gh-Gh…" Roll grunted as she healed herself, "I…I refuse…to partake…" another blast hit her, "EEEEYAAAAAARGH!-!-!-!"
"Oi…" Duke gasped.
"It's coming from the Kyutenpa research establishment," Chaud noted as the limo drove as fast as legally allowed to their destination.
'Roll…' Maylu thought, holding the pink PeT close to her heart.
"That girl…" Makoto thought, gritting her teeth before a noise went off in her PeT, "Huh?" she pulled it out and looked at the screen, showing the small bedroom she had made in it to see a picture frame she had propped on the nightstand had fallen, "..." she quickly entered her PeT and Chaud caught it, the two looking to see Makoto pick up the picture frame and grimace before showing the two the picture of her, Maylu, and Roll with the Beastkin having an arm over both younger girls…with the broken glass centered on Roll's emblem, "We have to hurry…now."
"Oi! Stop it! Stop it already!" Duke snapped as Roll struggled on the floor, healing herself again, "Don't you know what this place is?! If you don't fight, he'll Delete you!"
"I…refuse…to fight…" Roll grunted before crying out as lightning slammed into her for a eighth time.
=FIGHT! FIGHT ALREADY! YOU'RE BORING ME!=
"Please! Just fight me already!" Duke demanded.
"Y…You're on…the verge of Deletion…a-already…" Roll weakly replied, struggling to call on her Recov Element to heal herself.
"?!"
"It…It was supposed…to take me…" Roll went on, "N-not you…" she struggled back to her feet, "I…I refuse to fight!"
=THEN BE DELETED!=
'Big Sis…Maylu…' Roll thought as lightning crackled from all the satellites above, '...' A tear fell from her closed eyes before a massive blast shot down at her, '...Mega…'
"?!" Megaman looked out to the east.
"Megaman?" Lan pondered, looking at his PeT while in a thick parka as a blizzard roared outside their hotel.
"Roll?" Megaman pondered.
"Ah...M-Megaman...You're crying," Lan pointed out, his eyes widening in surprise.
"?!" Megaman brought a hand to his face and lowered it to his eyes to reveal tears on it, "..." he looked back out to the east, fear gripping his core, "Roll…"
"ROLL!"
"Hurry! Jack her out!"
=ROLL - LOGGING OUT=
"?!" Duke's eyes widened as, out on Earth, Maylu frantically looked at her PeT screen.
"Roll…" Maylu choked out, tears welling in her eyes.
Roll…was a mess. Her long hair was burned up to just below her shoulders, exposing a large burn on her back from where the lightning had hit. She had lost the entirety of her right leg and both her arms, only bits of data hanging off them. Her antennae were nothing but tatters, but the worst part was she was missing half of her face, the sole eye closed shut. Yet what Maylu had her eyes on was the emblem on Roll's chest…part of it completely gone and the other littered in cracks.
"O-Oh god…" Makoto gasped, covering her mouth.
"Don't go in there," Chaud ordered, grabbing her wrist, "Maylu, turn off your PeT. It will put her into stasis until we can get her repaired."
"R-Right…" Maylu sniffled, quickly turning the PeT off, "R-Roll…"
"Go straight to the limo," Chaud ordered, "Nanaya, with me to the control room."
"I swear when I get the bastard who hurt Roll…you better hold me back because I'm gonna kill them," Makoto snarled as the two ran off, leaving a shivering Maylu that quickly ran to the limo.
"GRAH!" Makoto roared, slamming her fist into the door and tearing it right off the wall with several chunks of it as well.
=?!= a child-sized robot with a red torso turned to them.
"A robot?" Chaud pondered.
=Don't interfere with my game= the robot demanded.
"Game?! You little tincan!" Makoto snarled.
=I'll Delete you= the robot stated before a Dimensional Area formed.
"Dimensional Area?" Chaud pondered in shock before several Mettaur appeared between them and the robot.
"Oh no you don't!" Makoto roared as she threw two acorns out, "Asteroid Vision!" the acorns puffed in smoke, revealing two copies of her that attacked the Mettaur, "Okay! Now for you!"
=Eek!= the robot yelped as he ran out another door.
"GET BACK HERE!" Makoto screeched as she ran after him, Chaud quickly following behind, "YOU PIECE OF SCRAP! YOU HURT MY BABY SISTER AND MADE MY OTHER BABY SISTER CRY!"
=She refused to fight, so she was Deleted!=
"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN! I'LL CRUSH YOU!" Makoto bellowed in rage as the robot summoned several Spiky Viruses, "No frickin' way…" her emblem appeared before transforming into a gate, "AM I LOSING YOU! BIG! BANG! SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!-!-!-!"
The robot managed to get onto the roof…before screaming as a massive golden fist of light tore through the structure leading to the roof, the viruses that he had deployed all torn to shreds. The robot squeaked in fear as Makoto erupted from the smoke, roaring in fury and the robot swearing her eyes were glowing red.
=U…u…UWAAAAAAAAA~!= the robot began to actually sob, making Makoto skid to a halt, pausing in the punch she was about to throw =UWAAAAAA~~~!=
"Wh-Wha…?" Makoto gawked, stepping back as Chaud walked out of the dissipating smoke.
"Is that robot…crying?" Chaud pondered.
"Allegro."
The two looked to see a figure step out from behind a structure. They looked like a young man with pale-white skin and long flowing lime-green hair with a sheen to it. All they wore was a black dress-like robe with blood red detailing culminating in a 'G' shaped like a wolf-like beast's head in mid-roar on his torso. He walked up beside the robot and looked at the two, revealing he had no mouth and a black eye with gold iris, the other hidden behind his hair.
"Looks like my younger brother caused you some trouble…" the male noted as Makoto tensed, feeling her tail shoot straight up along with her ears.
'H-Holy shit…!' Makoto shivered, 'Wh-wh-wh-what is this feeling? N-n-not even Jin when he sn-snaps makes me this t-t-t-terrified…'
"Wh-Who are you?" Chaud asked.
"Kid Grave."
"Grave? L-Like the one I keep hearing about?" Makoto asked.
"That was the name of the one who used to operate this body," Kid Grave replied.
"Operate? …A NetNavi?" Chaud asked.
"S-So who are you in Kid Grave?" Makoto asked, gulping.
"..." Kid Grave stopped moving before data came from his covered 'eye.'
The data swirled and Chaud fell to a knee as a pressure hit. The data formed into a NetNavi around Makoto's age. His visible skin on his face was mainly a dark tanned color with purple markings on the sides of his face. His head was mostly covered in a pitch black helmet with fins resembling bat ears or their wings on it, the insides a deep orange. His body was hidden beneath a brown tattered cloak, only letting hints of the pitch black bodysuit with purple markings be visible. Yet it was the eyes that really caught her attention. They were a deep crimson and all she could see was hatred within…a cold, burning hatred that seemed to engulf all it laid upon.
"I am Bass," the NetNavi calmly introduced himself.
"So that's it…"
"Oh what now…?" Makoto whispered as they looked at a water container nearby, seeing data swirl above it.
The data collected itself and transformed into another NetNavi and Makoto grunted as her tail locked up again while Chaud tensed. The NetNavi wore a pitch black bodysuit with blood-red armor over his legs, lower arms, and torso with purple extensions on all of it. His head was engulfed in a blood red helmet with a jagged red visor with a spike emerging from the forehead. Wild dark-silver hair emerged from the base of the helmet in jagged spikes. Yet…Makoto saw on the back of his hands and on his chest…was the emblem on Chaud's PeT, a black and white circle split down the middle in a jagged line.
"Protoman!" Chaud gasped.
"I wondered what was up with this Dimensional Area appearing," the NetNavi noted, "And it turns out to be that Bass himself has appeared."
"While obtaining this body, I have seen much of the Human World," Bass noted, glancing at Kid Grave's body, "It really is a worthless world."
"Worthless?" Makoto repeated.
"This Allegro that I've made is truly a work of genius," Bass went on, looking down at the crying robot, "He can create Dimensional Areas at will. However…" he pulled an arm out of his cloak, revealing a bulky black and gold gauntlet with a white glove over his hand and a blade emerging from the outside part of the armor, "...his mental age is a little low…" black and green energy crackled on his hand and between his fingers, "...collecting NetNavis and engaging in stupid human-play for amusement…" the energy formed into a sphere in the palm of his hand, "EARTHBREAKER!" he swung down and the sphere ripped apart Allegro, decimating both it and the ground beneath it and the several floors beneath the spot he had been on.
"?!" Chaud and Makoto tensed with the Beastkin pushing Chaud behind her.
'Enemies before me…and behind me…' Makoto thought, 'And both are completely terrifying!'
"Bass, why not join us in Nebula?" Protoman offered, "You have a grudge against humanity, do you not?"
"Hmph. I would never join any group with a human leading them," Bass replied before he swung his hand at Protoman, his pointer and index fingers extended with the rest curled up…before a massive wheel of darkness shot at Protoman, "Hells Rolling."
"?!" Protoman jumped out of the way as the water tank was sliced through like it was melted butter against a thousand degree knife, the water within gushing out, "You…" Bass was before him, an EarthBreaker crackling in his hand, "!" Protoman quickly logged out, leaving Bass to dismiss the attack, "You'll regret this…"
"Hmph. How weak…" Bass scoffed before looking at Makoto, "That attack…and the one in the game…the power inside of you is interesting…" he was suddenly before her, reeling his open hand back with the fingers curled up like claws, "It's mine."
"?!" Makoto swung a punch as Bass shot his hand out, aiming for her emblem only for the two hands to collide and break apart the roof around the two.
"GetAbility," Bass whispered.
Makoto froze as pain lanced through her for a brief moment. She stumbled back with wide eyes as Bass looked at his hand. Slowly behind him, an intricate diamond-shaped emblem began to form. Flames made of ancient runes engulfed it as a demonic eye laid within the center of the madness of runic designs and letters. He threw a punch only for nothing to happen. He narrowed his eyes before they widened as the fist shifted and twisted, becoming a massive wolf-like head made of countless bugs with a jagged 'mane' of 'spikes' made of the bugs to replace it that fired a massive beam and ripped through the Dimensional Area, causing it to break down and forced him back into Kid Grave's body.
"...I'll cross paths with you humans at a later time," Kid Grave noted as he walked off, leaving a stunned Makoto and shaking Chaud who only recovered when Kid Grave jumped over the side.
"Oh…Ohh…" Makoto groaned as she fell to her knees, "..." she bent over and threw up her lunch, "BLEK!" 'Oh god! That was worse than anything I've ever felt before! H-He was a monster…a mega monster! Oh, I need cuddles from my little sisters after-ROLL!' she jumped back up, "Chaud…"
"We'll take her to Famous," Chaud informed as he looked out to his limo at the entrance, "If anyone can help her, it's him."
'I hope you're right…' Makoto thought as she looked, her better eyesight letting her see Maylu crying inside of the backseat, holding something-likely the PeT-close to her chest, "...Maylu…" she saw her pause and turn her head, likely where Makoto's PeT was, "It's going to be alright. Roll will get better. I promise."
GT: Yeah…Makoto kinda goofed with her helping the girls out when it came to Roll. She adopted a bit of the squirrel girl's stubbornness. Good thing for you folks that this is a double update, so her fate won't be left on a cliffhanger.