I'm on break and I'm taking full advantage of it. So here's chapter 24! This chapter is by far the longest so if you're in a hurry you may want to read it later. I worry about making chapters too long but I think there's enough going on that it won't be a boring read. Let me know if you agree! Okay, onto the next topic:

Videoman: REPLAY!

Movie: Serenade of Light does not own .

Videoman: I just LOVE playing this!

Rest of the Darkloids: Man, that movie is getting SO boring. Who cares about the copyright laws anyway? /spies a mass of officials who deal with copyright laws/ WE CARE! WE CARE!

Chapter 24: Fighting for the Undernet

Rockman and Lightman blinked as the bright light that they had been engulfed in dissipated and their eyes adjusted to the stark contrast of the eerie darkness of the Undernet.

"You boys ready?" Mirageman asked as he walked up to the twins. Both nodded as they observed the small number of Eonians and Eon navis gathered prepared for battle, among which they recognized Mirageman, Slash, Red, and Yellow.

"I'm in a Myst-bustin' kind of mood," Lightman said, pumping his fist in the air.

"Good," Slash said. " 'Cause everyone else here is too." This was followed by a loud war cry from the group.

"Okay, then lets go," Rockman said.

"Wait," Mirageman said. "We're waiting for our scouts to return to give us the strength and numbers of the opposing forces."

"Well, you don't have to wait much longer," came a female voice from behind Mirageman. Mirageman turned to face a female yellow and white navi wearing a cape who looked a great deal like Dark except her cape was not as long as his and another female navi that looked much like a skier but had husky ears from her headband and a tail.

"Report, Agent Light, Master Sledd," Mirageman said.

"There's a large number attacking the secret square. Among them is Luckman, Jester, Mountainman, Bombman, Gaintman, and Slimeman" the one called Sledd said.

"And they are being led by my brother," Light added.

"That's inconvenient," Slash said.

"You're telling me," Light said.

"Do we have the twins?" Sledd asked. Lightman and Rockman both waved. Sledd smiled. "Great! Nice to meet you two! I'm Sledd, Echo's right-hand gal," the ice navi introduced.

"Rockman. And this is Lightman," Rockman said.

"I know. But then again, how'd you know that?" Sledd said. "Ready to go kick some Myst butt?"

"Let's just go already!" Lightman said.

"I like your style," Sledd grinned.

"He has a point. Let's go teach my brother a lesson!" Light said.

"Okay, everyone. You heard them!" Mirageman said. "Head out!"

Everyone gave a loud cheer and began to race toward the goal.

Dark laughed insanely as he saw the approaching force. "So Echo's court wants to play, do they?" he sneered.

"Oh yeah! Playmates!" Jester cheered.

"Bombman!" Dark called.

"Yes, sir?" Bombman asked.

"Gather the troops. It appears we have some guests," Dark said as he watched the approaching army.

"Yes, sir!" Bombman said as he took of to carry out the order. Before long, Myst's army was gathered for the confrontation. Echo's team stopped as they reached the line of Myst followers.

"Dark! Give in now or we'll be forced to delete you all!" Mirageman said.

"Oh, really?" Dark sneered. His subordinates snickered behind him. "Shut up!" Dark yelled and the snickering stopped. He then turned back to Mirageman. "So just how do you plan to stop us?"

"Dark! Do you really want to do this?" Dark looked surprised as his light half stepped forward.

"Li…Light!" he sputtered. "Wh…what are you doing here!"

"Stopping you, aniki!" Light yelled. "You don't have to do this! Please stop!" she pleaded.

"And if I don't?" he asked, recovering his bearing somewhat.

Light lowered into a fighting stance. "Then I'll stop you!"

Dark laughed. "You! Don't make me laugh. You can't beat me! I'm your older brother!"

Light grimaced, then brought her hands together. "LIGHT RAY!" she called out as beam of light streamed from her hands and headed toward the dark navi.

"DARK RAY!" he countered, sending a beam of darkness back. The two attacks hit, struggling against one another before causing a large explosion. The forces all jumped back. Once the dust from the explosion settled, everyone could see the two struggling with swords of their respective elements.

"This war is horrible," Lightman heard Yellow comment quietly as he watched the two siblings fight. "It has turned family member against family member."

Lightman frowned as he realized that Yellow and his siblings were in the same boat as was Echo herself. He remembered how hard it had been to fight against Dark Rockman when he had not yet realized that Dark Rockman even existed. And it had never gotten to the point that these navis and Eonians now faced. His fist clenched: this had to stop and it had to stop now.

"LIGHTBUSTER!" Lightman yelled as he let out the series of shots from his buster at the nearest Myst follower, Gaintman.

"That's the idea, Lightman!" Sledd called out. " 'Kay everyone! ATTACK! Frozen shuriken!"

Echo's forces led out a strong war cry and released their own attacks. In a matter of seconds, everyone was locked in with one or more opponent. Mirageman had gone in to help Light defeat Dark as it was becoming clear Dark was the superior fighter. Lightman and Rockman in the meantime were fighting several other navis and Eonians, including the elusive Slimeman, who was either dodging or absorbing all their attacks.

"Get me, get me, glop," the navi teased as he twisted his slimy body into a position that evaded the blaster shots of the twins. The twins had already defeated several other targets but were quickly becoming frustrated with this one annoying opponent. Slimeman was also making it possible for others to attack the brothers and because of their frustration with Slimeman, several of the attacks were getting through, draining their hit points.

"This is fun, glop, glop," the green mass of slime cheered. "SLIME SEAL!" Several masses of slime flew toward Rockman and Lightman, who just barely managed to dodge, though Rockman landed just within range of an Eonians sharp blade, who took advantage of the position.

"Rockman!" Lightman called out as he summoned his own blade and stabbed through the offending navi and sliced through several others for good measure. Rockman clutched his side as Lightman helped him up.

"We really need a plan," Rockman grunted.

"No, really? I didn't realize," Lightman said sarcastically. "If only we knew this guys weak point…"

"Rockbuster!" the darker blue navi let out the series of shots, which Slimeman just opened holes in his body for the shots to pass through. Lightman and Rockman both grimaced.

"Is that all you have, glop?" Slimeman teased. "SLIME SEAL!" Again the navi sent out masses of glop.

"AREA STEAL!" Lightman activated the chip and warped him and Rockman out of the way.

"Maybe if we blow him to smithereens," Lightman suggested.

"It's worth a shot," Rockman said.

"HIGH CANNON! TRIPLE DOWNLOAD!" the twin navis called out. The cannons formed on each had and the familiar light of the program advance appeared as they raised their hands above their head. "GIGA CANNON!" The burst of light shot toward the offending navi who was too slow to get out of the way in time. The attack took a direct and when the smoke cleared Slimeman was no where to be seen.

Lightman brushed his arm against his head in relief. "Finally!"

"Is that so, glop, glop?" the voice of the more than annoying navi echoed above the sounds of battle that surrounded them.

"Look!" Rockman pointed to a small mass of green slime as it began to move. Within moments, the navi known as Slimeman stood before them once again.

"Real close, glop, glop," Slimeman said, "but no dice, glop."

"How the heck do we defeat this guy!" Lightman said. "If not even a double program advance worked...!"

"SLIME BIND!" The messy green navi flew toward the twins and wrapped them within his mess. "This is the end, glop, glop."

"BLIZZARD!" The white flurry of snowflakes flew toward Slimeman who withdrew, releasing the twins as they fell to the floor coughing.

Sledd landed gracefully next to them. "You sure picked a hard opponent. There's only one way to defeat him…"

"STOP, glop!" Slimeman yelled.

"Why? Don't you want them to know your weakness?" Sledd teased.

"I said STOP, glop! SLIME SEAL!" Slimeman released the attack in desperation.

"FROZEN WIND!" Sledd released the frozen attack, stopping the globs in their path. The frozen globs fell to the floor, shattering as they made impact.

"Ice! Ice is his weakness!" Rockman said.

"Bingo!" Sledd said. "Okay, enjoy! I see some other soldiers that need my help. Good luck, boys!"

"Leave it to us!" Rockman said. "Ready, Lightman?"

"Yeah! Let's do it!"

"ICE WAVE! DOWNLOAD!"

Slimeman looped to avoid the attack. "Missed me, missed me, glop, glop!"

"Then how 'bout this!" Lightman said. "ICE TOWER! DOWNLOAD!"

The attack hit and caused damage but was not enough to cause Slimeman to even log-out.

Lightman and Rockman grimaced. "We need to hit him all at once, but we can't use a slow attack or one he could dodge. I don't think Freeze Bomb will work either," Rockman assessed.

"Iceman would be handy here," Lightman commented.

"Hey, that's it!" Rockman said as he took off. "Stall Slimeman for a moment!"

"What! O…okay," Lightman said, not sure what Rockman was doing.

"Where'd your look-alike go, glop, glop? Did he give up, glop?" Slimeman asked. "SLIME SEAL."

Lightman dodged. "When will you learn that won't work? FREEZE BOMB! ICE CUBE! DOUBLE DOWNLOAD!" Lightman released the attacks. Slimeman dodged both, though the freeze bomb did freeze Slimeman into one spot. Not that it did too much good since Slimeman was so expandable and flexible: he had not moved spots much in this battle yet anyway. But Slimeman cursed regardless.

"BLIZZARD!"

Slimeman was caught completely unaware and was frozen over by the attack.

"NOW, LIGHTMAN!" Rockman called!

"Right! Samurai sword! Download!" The chip data downloaded in Lightman's hand and Lightman took the sword and slashed the frozen Slimeman. The evil navi logged out. Lightman turned to his brother. "Sledd-cross. Nice."

"Well, it did the trick," Rockman said, rubbing the back of his head.

Lightman grinned. "Well, who's next on our list?"

The two looked over as Dark began to laugh manically, Mirageman and Light both collapsed at his feet. Rockman and Lightman looked at each other, the answer to Lightman's casual question now answered.

"DARK!"

The dark navi stopped laughing as he turned his attention to the two that had called his name.

"You two? Do you think you can beat me?" he asked, taunting evident in his voice.

"You're going down!" Lightman called.

"Really? Let's see what you think after my DARK RAY!" Dark released the dark beam of energy toward the two. Both just managed to jump out of the way.

"Yeesh! That's as strong as a giga cannon!" Lightman said.

Dark laughed. "And that is just the beginning!" Dark said. "But you know, I'm more interesting in finding out something else about you two. UNITY BARRIER!"

Suddenly the ground began to rumbled. Myst's forces began to back away as if they knew what was about to happen.

"Everyone! Stay on guard!" Slash yelled out. But there was nothing they could do as a solid barrier surrounded Echo's forces and encased them in its transparent dome.

"What is this!" Lightman called out.

"It's a barrier sealing your friends in. Can you break it before time runs out?" Dark pointed to the top of the dome and the twins' eyes widen as they saw a bomb begin to count down.

"NORTH WIND! DOWNLOAD!" Lightman released the attack that normally brought barriers down. But this time, the attack did nothing of the sort as it hit the sides without any effect.

Dark laughed. "Tick tock, tick tock. Oh what will the twins do?" he taunted.

"Rei! Beam! Can you transport everyone out?" Rockman asked desperately.

"No! Our powers are sealed off!" Beam cried. "This is Eonian technology!"

"Then how do we break it!" Lightman asked.

Dark laughed again. "Now that's the million zenny question, isn't it? Hurry and figure it out or your friends are doomed."

"Please, aniki! Stop this!" the battered Light pleaded.

Dark frowned. "I cannot show favoritism, imotou. You choose this path," Dark said.

"ANIKI!" Light fell to her knees, crying. Red took her in his arms.

"That's cold," Red said.

"Myst is the key to the new future," Dark said. "Sacrifices must be made. In the meantime, let's have some fun. DARK SWORD!" Dark leaped at Lightman and Rockman, who leapt out of the way.

"We don't have time to do this!" Rockman said.

"Did you think I'd just stand aside and let you get everyone out?" Dark sneered. "Because if you did, you were dead wrong, 'dead' being the key word here. Rockman, wouldn't you like to join your net-op in the afterlife?"

Rockman fist cletched. "You're heartless. Ice blade!" The still Sledd-crossed Rockman leapt at Dark who easily pushed the smaller navi away with his own blade.

"Rockman!" Lightman called out in alarm. "That's it! You're dead meat! Style-change! Heat Guts!" The bright light associated with the change surrounded Lightman. When it broke away, the red themed navi raised his transformed buster. "Fire Buster!"

Dark easily jumped out of the way, laughing manically. "You're so weak. You'll never break the barrier! SHADOW BLESSING!" The shadows behind Lightman and Rockman rose up and hit the navis unaware, throwing them against a couple of pillars in the area. Rockman's cross and Lightman's style change came undone.

"Yeah! Show them!" Luckman cheered.

The other Myst navis also cheered their leader on, Gaintman's deep voice booming: "Crush! Crush!"

Dark laughed. "How does defeat taste?" Dark asked, his eyes glinting with pleasure. "Please tell me, as I've never had it."

Both navi's struggled to look up. "You…" Lightman said.

"HELL'S ROLLING!" Dark barely had time to jump out of the way. He turned to look at the top of another pillar as Forte landed gracefully on top.

"Nice of you to joining us, Forte," Dark sneered.

"Your other team has fallen," Forte said emotionally. "Now it's your turn."

Dark laughed. "You couldn't even keep the Undernet from falling under our power. Are you so sure you can beat me, so called 'Black Shadow'?"

Forte sneered. "I'm sure. Dark-Arm Blade!" Forte summoned the blades of dark energy and leapt at Dark with unnatural speed. Dark countered with his own blade.

Rockman and Lightman looked at each other nodded. They then raced to the barrier sealing their friends inside.

"Stand back!" Rockman commanded. The navis and Eonians inside did as they were told.

"Hi-Cannon. Triple Download!" Rockman called. "PROGRAM ADVANCE! GIGA CANNON!"

In the meantime, Lightman summoned five spreaders. "PROGRAM ADVANCE! HYPER-BURST!"

Both blue navis released the deadly attacks. Both attacks hit the shield with full force but when the smoke cleared, there was clearly no damage.

"Shoot!" Lightman cursed.

Dark laughed. "Nice try," he sneered. "DARK RAY!" The twins screamed as the attack hit them, having no time to dodge.

Lightman and Rockman grimaced as they looked up at Dark from their position on the ground. "You…you'll pay…" Lightman choked out. Dark laughed but then began to choke himself as Forte grabbed his neck.

"Leave him to me," Forte said. "Time's running out."

Rockman nodded and the two struggled to stand up. However, having received more damage, Rockman collapsed again just as Forte hit Dark with an earth-breaker.

"Rockman!" Lightman's cries were joined by two other familiar voices. Blues and Searchman landed next to Rockman to help him up.

"BLUES-SAMA!" Jester squealed excitedly as her evil comrades held her back.

"What the heck is going on?" Blues asked as he noticed Forte and Dark fighting it out.

"We need to get everyone out of that barrier before the bomb goes off," Lightman said as he pointed at the bomb ticking away. Less then 5 minutes remained.

"We've tried a North Wind and a double Program Advance, but neither made a scratch," Rockman explained as he stood up with the help of the other three navis.

"Maybe a four-way program advance?" Laika's voice suggested over the intercom.

"It's worth a shot," Lightman said. " 'Cause I can't think of anything else."

The four navis took there positions.

"GIGA CANNON!" Lightman summoned.

"HYPER-BURST!" Rockman called.

"DREAM SWORD!" Blues let out.

"INFINITY VULCAN!" Searchman yelled.

Again the attacks hit full force but the results were the same as the last attempt.

"What are we going to do!" Lightman yelled frustrated. "We can't let it end here!"

"Watch out!"

The twins had just enough time to jump out of the way of a stray Dark Ray thanks to Mirageman's warning. They watched as Forte attacked again the battered Dark. He hit him with his Dark-Arm Blade. Dark fell to the ground, unable to get back up.

Forte turned to Rockman. "Well?" he asked. Rockman shook his head. "Let's try one more time."

"Why are you so concerned?" Lightman snapped.

"I honor my truces," Forte said simply. Lightman grumbled but again stood prepared to unleash yet another program advance. Again each navi released a program advance, joined with Forte's Darkness Overload. Again, there was no result.

Lightman hit the barrier in frustration. "What are we going to do? Just a minute left…"

"Please, twins, you have to do something," an Eonian that neither Rockman or Lightman knew plead.

"We know you can do it," Beam said.

"We believe in you," Rei added, pleading in her voice.

"Our faith is in you," Slash added.

"Go for it, Twins! Fight!" Sledd said, forcing a large smile to encourage the two.

Rockman and Lightman looked at each other.

"No matter what we've done…" Lightman began.

"...we've done it together…" Rockman said. They grinned, new power rising within them.

"And together…we've always won!"

Suddenly, the twins both began to glow.

"It can't be…" Dark muttered.

The counter read 10…

"Yeah! Go for it!" Sledd cheered.

...9…

"What the heck is going on!" Blues asked astounded as the light around Lightman and Rockman grew.

...8…

"It the power of the Twins of Light!" Rei said excitedly.

...7…

Forte just stared on, watching the new power manifest itself.

...6…

Together, the two glowing twin navi's raised their hands, light growing within their palms.

...5…

"They figured it out…" Dark muttered as he struggled to stand. Luckman and Jester rushed to his side to help steady him.

...4…

The light in the twins' palms continued to grow…

...3…

The twins opened their hands completely and the light was unleashed…

...2…

The light hit the barrier. Everyone watched amazed as the barrier dissolved under the intense power of the light.

...1…

The barrier collapse and the bomb began to fade out of existence.

...0.

The soldiers of Echo's court lead out a loud cheer: "Three cheers for the Twins of Light!"

Sledd jumped on the two twins, who had ceased to glow, and wrapped them into a tight hug. "You did it! I knew you could! Way to go!"

Lightman and Rockman looked at each other.

"What…what just happened?" Lightman asked.

"I have no idea…" Rockman said. "But part of it felt like we were in full syncro."

"And the other part?" Lightman asked.

Rockman shook his head. "Got me."

"Twins."

Everyone fell silent as Dark addressed the two blue heroes.

"You win," he said simply. He and his followers began to log out. "But this is only the beginning. This is only the beginning…" With that, Dark and the rest disappeared from view.

"We won't let you win, aniki," Light said.

"That's right," Slash said. "But right now, it's time we all go home and rest."

"That's a good plan," Mirageman voiced. "See you two later," he said to Rockman and Lightman. He then turned to Blues and Searchman, "And thanks for your help too," he added.

"No thanks required," Searchman said. He then turned to the twins, "and you two have a lot of explaining to do."

Lightman stuck out his tongue but Rockman pushed him back and nodded. Blues and Searchman then logged out.

"You can't tell them too much," Light said.

"I know," Rockman said.

Lightman smiled. "Don't worry. Your secrets are safe. I'm a pretty good liar."

"That's not necessarily a good thing," Rockman muttered. Everyone laughed. Then the Maidens approached the twins and in a flash of light, the twins disappeared, returning home.

"King-sama!"

The Eonian who had been sitting casually on his throne in the dark room looked up to see a heavily damaged Dark kneeling before him. "What has happened to ye?" he asked.

"Our fears are being realized, sire," Dark said. "The Twins of Light have joined Echo's party."

"Does Lord Myst know of this as of yet?" King questioned.

"Isn't it your job to tell him?" Dark asked.

"Ah, o yay. That is correct," King said. He stood up but paused. "Are ye sure?" he asked Dark.

Dark nodded. "I am positive. They broke the Unity Barrier."

"I see," King muttered. "Very well. It shall be known by Myst."

"Any orders, King-sama?" Dark asked.

"Nay, not as of yet," King answered. "Nevertheless, be on alert as Myst will initiate an attack on thy and ours foes as soon as the news is heard."

"Yes, sire. Long live thee and Lord Myst."