Chapter 13

Darkest

Dr. Regal sat in Dr. Hikari's office typing in the last commands for the timer; finally everything was going his way. He was just about to key in the last command when he got the strangest felling of deja-vu- he had done this before.

"Timeman come in," Dr. Regal stated as he opened a channel to contact the darkloid but he received no answer. "Timeman respond," Regal asked again but there was still no response, pulling up a map Regal searched for the darkloid's signal but came up empty, there was none except for a faint residual pulse, which could only mean one thing. Timeman had been destroyed; the chain of events was happing again.

A slick smile made its way to Regal's face, so the netsavers had another chance, he chuckled as the thought about his options provided with this do over, too bad it wouldn't do them any good. They were all going to feel some pain, someway or another.

Ding dong ding dong ding dong ding dong… sounded the bell at the empty Blaze Mansion. Besides the workers no one was home.

"Now who could that be?" Miles asked as he put down his newspaper leaving his office and heading for the door, opening it he was met with a bight light and the poor man was thrown against the wall and was knocked unconscious.

"Thanks, but I think I'll let myself in." Dr. Regal stated as he walked over the older man and into the den downstairs. Within a second he found what he was looking for. In the middle of the room there was a glowing light in which the space around it seemed to bend, the last remnant of Timeman's core. Walking up to it he grabbed hold before looking at a photograph on the mantle, the one that Chaud had rescued from the attic, that of his mother with her two children. "This time," Dr. Regal said to himself, "everyone's going to fall."

Terra lay awake in her bed looking at the ceiling, it was now morning but neither she nor anyone else had gotten up. She couldn't believe it, it had all just been a dream, just one horrible nightmare. But it had seamed so real, so genuine, she could even still feel the grief in her heart, but here she was still in LA, her sister beside her and the city glittering outside the window, her father still alive. Terra let out a slow breath; everything was going to be okay.

Dark Whisper walked down the hall as fast as she could, for a few seconds she had been confused having a major case of deja-vu until all her memories came rushing back, she had been deleted, so had her friends. But somehow everything was happening again, they had another chance. The netsavers had done it, Timeman had been deleted. When she turned the corner she met up with Dark Protoman and Dark Megaman she could tell that they were thinking the same thing. Dark Whisper was the first to speak.

"We have to go to LA," she stated, "we have to help them, and really help them this time."

"I don't think that's such a good idea." Dark Protoman replied.

"Yeah, because your last plan worked out so well." Dark Megaman added granting him a stern look from Dark Protoman. "What do we have to loose?" he asked. "Dr. Regal already knows we've changed, if he wanted to get rid of us again he would have done it already. He's up to something else, he's changed his plan."

"They'll never believe us." Dark Proto stated.

"We have to try," Dark Whisper replied, "I don't plan in letting them down again."

Chaud tried as hard as he could to shrug off his disturbed feeling as he got dressed, the night before he had had the most vivid nightmare he had had in a long time, maybe ever. But it had just been a dream, it shouldn't have been worrying him like this.

"You ok?" came a voice distracting Chaud from his thoughts, turning around he saw his brother leaning against the door frame.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Chaud replied as he pulled on a jacket, "why?"

"You just seemed distracted," Proto continued, "more than usual."

"Well nothings up with me," Chaud lied, "I was just wondering about how things were going back home. - Did you sleep okay last night?"

Proto blinked, "Well that was about the weirdest question that's ever come out of you mouth, it was fine, why?"

"No reason," Chaud replied as he walked out of the room with Proto behind him. When the two arrived in the main room they could have sworn that they were in the wrong hotel room, everyone was silent. Terra and Whisper were sitting together on the couch and Mega and Lan were sitting at the bar with Roll and Maylu in the kitchen.

"What's up with everybody?" Proto asked.

"Tired," Terra replied as she turned around at the sound of the boy's voice. "I guess that's what we get when we stay up to 3am after having jet lag and then getting hardly any sleep. Are you still sure want to go to the skate park?" Terra asked as she looked over at Lan finding that he had fallen asleep and had face planted on the counter. "Never mind."

"Well it'd be better than sticking around here," Mega replied, "We'll probably wake up by the time we get there...Lan wake up," Mega continued as he shouldered Lan.

"Umphm, what?" Lan asked groggily as he woke up placing he head on his hand.

"Lan, how well did you sleep last night?" Roll asked as she leaned over the counter, "You're more tired than usual."

"Fine, that's the weird thing." Lan replied. "Once my head hit the pillow I was out like a light. I don't know why I'm so tired."

"Well maybe an ice run'll help you," Maylu offered as she placed the empty bucket on the counter. "Breakfast is ready and we need some."

"Fine," Lan replied as he took the bucket and hopped off the stool, "I'll be right be back."

"So, how do you think they'll take it?" Dark Protoman asked as he and the other two neoloids (my new word: they aren't darkloids anymore and they aren't regular navis either, I had to call them something...) walked down the halls of the hotel. The group had changed themselves over to a human appearence so as to blend in.

"Like you said," Dark Whisper replied, "they probably won't believe us but they have to, if they don't Regal's going to kill their parents again, and this time they won't get a second chance."

As the group rounded the next corner Dark Whisper spotted Lan leaving. "And here's our chance to get it right." The girl stated as she quickly ducked behind Dark Megaman and pushed him forward.

"Why me?" Dark Megaman asked in a low tone.

"You already have a repertoire with him," Dark Whisper whispered back, "and you're the closest, besides he's getting away,- Go!" Dark Whisper said as she egged him on.

"Fine," Dark Megaman whispered back as he turned back to the boy, "Lan," Dark Megaman called out as he tried to catch the boy's attention catching himself when he spoke, he was starting to sound more like Megaman then he realized, the degradation was happening faster than he thought.

"What dose Maylu want now?" Lan asked as he turned around for a second before he continued walking for a bit, that was until he realized that Mega was still inside, and his eyes weren't that dark.

Suddenly all the energy that Lan had been devolved of seamed to rush back as he quickly spun around preparing to spin kick the darkloid, but he found himself in an awkward position when Dark Megaman effortlessly caught his foot with one hand. Lan was preparing himself for the repercussions but they never came.

Dark Megaman gave Lan a good look over as he still held his foot before letting go, "Dude," he stated, "we come in peace."

"Yeah, trust us on this one," Dark Whisper stated as she and Dark Protoman walked up to the two, "if we wanted to cause you any harm I highly doubt that we would have said hi first."

"Good grief what is taking Lan so long?" Came a voice as someone opened the hotel room door, it was Maylu, and when she did she was shocked if not a little scared when she came face to face with the three darkloids. The girl was speechless.

"Maylu what's wrong?" came another voice as Roll came to see what was up. She was just as surprised. "Uhoh."

"Roll?" Mega asked in question when he heard the girl, walking to the door too, and he was just as shocked when he came face to face with himself. The resurrected navi was about to say something when he heard the sound of a plasma cannon powering up, looking above him he could see that Chaud and Proto and come up behind him and that Proto was armed and ready to shoot. Within the next second so was Dark Protoman.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Dark Megaman stated when he sensed the tension in the air grow from nothing to being so think you could cut it with a knife. "Didn't I just say we came in peace?" he asked.

"Somehow I seriously doubt that," Proto stated not backing down.

"But he's speaking the truth, we're here to help you," Dark Protoman replied, "now lower you weapon."

Proto scoffed, "Say's the one with the charged plasma cannon, heh, you first."

"I'm not that one who pulled mine."

"Emery do it," came Whisper's voice as she and Terra walked up behind him.

"Are you crazy?" Proto asked in reply, "do you want a death wish?"

"No," Whisper continued, "But we can't risk a firefight on civilian property, we're not at home, and as crazy as the sounds I believe them."

Proto still didn't budge.

"D.P.," Dark Whisper stated as the stand off continued, "if we want to gain their we're going to have to make the first move, think about their parents."

After hearing that Dark Proto powered down the cannon reforming it back into his hand. Proto followed.

"Our parents?" Terra asked as the memory of her nightmare came rushing back. "What are you talking about?"

"You don't remember?" Dark Whisper asked back, "Regal killed them."

Regal walked down the halls of the oncology wing smiling at the nurses as he passed. They smiled back even thought the man gave them a bad feeling, after a while one of them stopped.

"Can I help you sir?" the girl asked. Regal smiled.

"Yes," he replied, "I'm a specialist that the oncology department's recently brought on and today's my first day and I'm completely lost. Can you help me find Mrs. Blaze's room? I'm suppose to visit her today."

"Oh, she's such a sad case." The young nurse said. "Young mother, her child's no older than six, she's four doors down on the right. I hope you can help her, she's heading downhill."

"I'll do the best I can," Regal replied as he walked off stopping when he reached the woman's doorway. Looking in on the young mother he saw her sitting up in her bed holding a framed photograph in her hands sobbing softly. A few seconds later the young woman sensed Regal's presence, turning to him she wiped the tears from her face.

"Hi, are you another specialist?" she asked.

"Regal smiled as he walked in, "How can you tell?" he asked, the question being more conversational than inquisitive.

"The look on your face, you look like your trying to carry the whole world on your shoulders. I have to apologize for my husband, I appreciate that he's trying to save my life but he shouldn't make you feel as if your whole careerer is on the line if you fail."

"How many have you had?"

"A total of 25, ever since I was diagnosed."

"Well you don't need to be worried Mrs. Blaze." Regal said as he stepped closer, "You're in good hands with me."

"Please call me Catherine."

"Alright, Catherine, I'm Alexander Regal - are those your children?" He asked as he took note of the photograph.

Catherine smiled, "Yes," she replied, "they're three months apart, my first one was carried in an artificial womb."

"Oh," Regal said as he slyly removed a needle from his pocket, "they must be very close.'

"Not really," Catherine replied looking down, "they don't really know each other, it's rather complicated."

"Well no one ever said life was black and white."

"No, I guess they didn't," Catherine said as she looked up again noticing that Regal was prepping a needle. "What's that?" she asked.

"Just a mild seditive, I need you relaxed." Regal replied as he leaned down applying alcohol to an injection site. "You know your son's grown up into a nice young man, it's just too bad that he's had to do it without a mother."

Catherine blinked, "What are you talking about?"

Regal looked directly into the woman's eyes as he spoke his next words. "Three months from now you're going to die, Mrs. Blaze, your husband'll never get over your death, and he'll begin to treat your son more like a business transaction than a child. Chaud will practically raise himself, and your eldest won't reveal his true nature until he's forced. Picture perfect family isn't it?"

In the blink of an eye the atmosphere had changed and Catherine felt threatened, she didn't know what was going on but something wasn't right. She tried to reach for her call box, but as she did so Regal injected her, within seconds Catherine Blaze was unconscious.

Regal looked at the woman as she slipped out of consciousness, it really was a shame, she was a stunning woman.

Dr. Hikari looked around his surroundings in shock as he felt a jolt go through his body. They were back here again...

"You mean it wasn't a nightmare?" Terra asked as her newfound stability crashed around her, "it was real? It all happened?"

"You had a nightmare last night?" Whisper asked.

"Yeah," Terra stated shakily, "Regal kidnapped our parents-"

Whisper finished "and then he killed them."

"You had it too?" Terra asked.

"I think we all did..." Proto confided.

"So then...my father...he's really dead?"

Dark Whisper smiled, "No that's the thing, he isn't yet, you have another chance to save him," she walked closer, "that's why were here, to help you."

"Heh, and why would you do that?" Chaud asked, "you all haven't exactly been on our side. Why should we trust you?"

"Because we've changed," Dark Whisper replied, "Because believe it or not we are on your side, I admit, it was stupid of us for not telling you sooner, or even for not telling you first thing on the train, maybe this whole thing could have been avoided if we had, but it wasn't my idea for all the secrecy." Dark Whisper said as she looked up at Dark Protoman. "You have to believe us...we died for you."

"Now that I find hard to believe."

Dark Protoman looked at the boy, "Didn't you wonder why your parents died?" he asked, "we told you we'd help them."

"That could have been a lie," Proto added, "why should we believe you've undergone any type of change?"

"Because we're you." Dark Megaman replied.

"Yeah, the side we want to forget," Mega said as he chipped in. "one of anger, rage and revenge, you're soul's are nothing more than black pitch."

"Not exactly," Dark Megaman said back, "we may have come from the darkest corner of your soul, but even there a ray of light from your heart made it's way through. You have no idea how powerful the good is that's within you."

"And we didn't even recognize it at first," Dark Whisper said adding to the conversation, "it was almost parasitic, but little by little it chipped away at the darkness, before long we had a conscience, and after that, the evil that was holding us weakened. Now it's practically nonexistent."

"That still doesn't explain your lack of said help." Chaud stated.

"Actually it explains it perfectly," Dark Whisper replied. "Regal knew about our changes, from the very beginning her foresaw it. He knew the chances of capturing pure evil form you was slim, with so much goodness in you the idea that not one bit of that would survive were next to none. So he implanted a failsafe. We tried to hide it but he already knew,...these past weeks he just wanted to see just how far we'd go to help you. After he had had his fun he got rid of us. Right when we were going to save your families."

"What did he do to you?" Lan asked.

"He unwrote our programs." Dark Megaman replied. "While we were still activated, you can have no idea how it feels to feel yourself disappear."

"Actually I can relate." Mega replied.

"Me too." Proto added.

"So...do you believe us now?" Dark Protoman asked.

Chaud looked around at his group looking for an objection of any kind but he didn't get one. This may have been the biggest mistake of their lives, but there was something telling him that their trust was warranted. Just like it had on the train...

"For now," he replied. "Whisper's always had a good sense of judgment, if she think that you're ok, she must have a good reason for feeling so."

"Good," Dark Protoman replied, "we should thank you to thank for out lives. If it weren't for you deleting Timeman none of us would be having a second chance to get it right."

"Thanks, but we didn't delete Timeman." Lan replied.

Dark Megaman was confused, "I don't understand," he stated, "you were the only one's left, how else could have done it?"

"Our father," Mega replied.

"But he was killed, how could he..."

"He pulled a Dr. Frankenstein," Mega replied, "he saved our lives, and Timeman killed him for it,... but before he did our dad wounded him fatally. Then everything went crazy."

"And here we are." Proto added.

"But how are we suppose to have any hope in defeating Regal?" Terra asked, "He's already killed our bosses and our parents once. What's to stop him from killing them at anytime now?"

"It's not Regal's way," Dark Whisper replied, "he wants to drag out your pain, besides, you can't even begin to fathom the amount of power you have inside you…Regal has no idea who he's even dealing with."

"Like we haven't heard that statement 100 times," Whisper said, "somehow I've always believed that was just an esteem building statement, with all the darkloids behind Regal and his genius, there's no way we could win if he used it all. We're just fortunate he doesn't."

"I wish there was someway we could prove it to you." Dark Whisper replied as she looked down the hall noticing two hotel menace workers carrying an elaborate heavy mirror. When the two made it to the middle of the hall they stopped and set the mirror down. Her interest suddenly peaked Dark Whisper listened to their conversation.

"Tell me again why we have to carry a 60lb mirror up seven flights of stairs?" one of the men asked.

"Because the presidential suite has to be perfect for when the owner comes in next week, it needs to be classy."

"Well classy or not I need a coffee break." The first man stated as he began to walk away.

"And you're just going to leave a 2000 dollar mirror in the middle of the hall?" the second man asked.

"A 60lb, 2000 dollar mirror," the first man said back, "like any of the richies in this place would even lift a finger to try to move it, much less steal it."

"Good point," the second man said as he joined the first, "my back hurts anyway."

"HaHaHaHaHa, now you're talking."

Dark Whisper continued to watch the two until they disappeared into the elevator.

"If I give you proof would you have better faith?" she asked.

"I never said I didn't have any faith," Terra replied, "I just don't have much confidence."

"Well don't quit on us now," Dark Whisper stated as she raised her right arm reforming it into a M-cannon pointing it at Terra, "we need you, so does your father."

"Wh-what are you doing?" Terra asked in a nervous voice as she heard the sound of multiple weapons being changed looking around herself she saw Proto, Mega, Roll, and her sister all armed.

"Giving you the proof you need," Dark Whisper stated unswayed and unintimidated as she charged her weapon. "don't worry it'll only sting a little."

Proto took a stand in front of the defenseless teen, "You make that shot," he stated, "and I promise you'll regret it."

"And I can promise you that you'll regret it if I don't," Dark Whisper replied as she released the charged plasma from the barrel of her cannon. "phaseout blast activate!" the girl exclaimed as the energy beam flew through the air passing strait through Proto leaving him completely unharmed and striking Terra whom he was trying to protect sending her flying down the hall.

"Terra!" Proto and Chaud exclaimed simultaneously as they watched the girl being blasted. Instantly the rest of the armed navis fired back but nothing happened.

"Dampening field." Dark Whisper stated.

Looking down the path that the girl was following Chaud noticed that she was heading strait for the mirror that was still in the middle of the hall.

"Terra look out!" the boy exclaimed alerting his friend of her plight.

Looking ahead of herself Terra also saw where she was heading letting out a loud shriek she shielded her face, the next thing she knew she was laying against the soft carpet on the floor. Slowly picking herself up Terra expected to see the mirror when she opened her eyes but all she saw was empty hallway. Almost immediately she heard low faint whispers.

"OMG…"

Looking behind her she saw the back side of the mirror she had been thrown at, unharmed and unmoved. For a second Terra thought that maybe she had been flung over it, but that wasn't right, she had been heading strait for it.

A thought entered Terra's mind, no it couldn't be, it wasn't possible, she wasn't crossfused, but still…slowly Terra reached up to touch the smooth mount on the back of the mirror but instead received the shock of her life when her hand passed through, she quickly withdrew it, she was phasing, how could she do that on her own?

Standing up and looking back at her friends Terra realized when had happened. She hadn't been thrown over the mirror, she had passed through it.

Dark Whisper looked at the group as Terra walked back to them. "Now do you see what you're capable of?" she asked. "Regal has no chance."

"What happened to me?" Terra askeded, "It's the same thing that happened to Lan when Timeman attacked, he started using all this battlechip data and techniques that we hadn't ever seen before, but he wasn't crossfused and neither am I, how is this possible?"

"Let's just say it's a power reserved for the select few." Dark Protoman replied, "namely those who've had a close relative resurrected as a navi, although it's effects seem to be more apparent in twins."

Lan as usual was struck by confusion.

"In lamens terms it's because of your link," Dark Whisper clarified as she explained Dark Proto's speech, "your physical one, you've always been connected, and things are still pretty much the same now except the rules have amended themselves. Somehow data can flow between you and be materialized without the need of a dimensional area, or even the materialization program. The twins though will be able to control it faster then you or Tasha since they have two links aiding them," Dark Whisper continued as she looked at Chaud and Proto, "but that ability will come in time."

"So…what do we do now?" Lan asked.

Dark Protoman smiled, "We get out of here."

Catherine Blaze slowly began to open her eyes, she felt very strange, once the woman fully regained consciousness she realized that she was being carried somewhere. Looking up she saw that Dr. Regal was holding her in his arms, glancing around she saw that she was no longer in the hospital, but her surroundings did seam familiar.

"What are you doing?" she asked weakly, "where are you taking me?"

Dr. Regal looked down at his captive, "Don't worry," he replied, "I'm taking you to see an old friend."

"Who?" Catherine asked in a shaky voice.

Dr. Regal gave her a sly smile as he zeroed in on a door at the far end of the hall, "Dr. Hikari," the man replied.

TBC