Chapter 15

“Alright,” Enzan said as the group approached a set of double doors, “beyond this point we split up into pairs, it’s the only way we’ll be able to cover an area of this size.”

The cross fusers nodded, splitting off into their predetermined pairings. Netto grabbed the white haired boy by the shoulder, “what about Rockman? We can’t just forget about him!”

“Enzan,” Meiru piped up, “let me go with Netto; Rockman might be in serious need of aid when we find him, and if you’re really concerned about Sara being with a cross fuser, next to Netto you’re the most experienced.”

Enzan dismissed her with a wave, “fine, good, whatever. Just make certain you keep your eyes out for danger; without Rockman, Netto’s basically useless.” Anger rising in his cheeks, Netto opened his mouth to reply, but the groups had split up and he was left alone with Meiru.

“Come on,” Meiru said as she grabbed Netto’s hand, “we need to get going.” The pair rushed into the depths of the building, unaware of the active security cameras that watched their every movement.

Within the server, Dante watched the cross fusers as they searched the building, drawing close to the central chamber. At the building’s core, all the floors and walls had been destroyed, creating a massive emptiness that reached all the floors. The green haired navi turned to the massive blue navi beside him. “Grenademan, when they reach the central chamber, activate the dimension generators. We’ve established that their navis are powerful, as they laid waste to Mazeman with no effort, but even if they materialize in the dimensional area they’ll be too busy defending their operators to fight effectively.”

Grenademan bowed formally, “I will do as you command, master.”

“Do not fail me, as Mazeman did, or you will beg them for deletion, for what I will do to you will make the pain of death seem insignificant.”

---

After dinner, Ben and Shuuko began their walk to the metroline station; he’d offered to pay for a cab, but she’d insisted that the walk would be good for them. Through the moonlit streets they walked in companionable silence, occasionally breaking the stillness with observational comments. As they reached the seaside walkway they stopped, and Ben leaned out toward the ocean. “You were absolutely right Shuuko, a walk was a brilliant idea.”

The purple haired girl chuckled, “I like to walk down this way when I can’t sleep. The ocean’s so peaceful.”

“It’s incredibly different from the bay in San Angeles; the sight, the sound,” he leaned over the railing, letting the wind blow his bangs off his face, “even the smell is different.”

As they resumed their walk, a flash of light alerted them, and as they turned a great purple dome began to wrap a condemned skyscraper in a lavender honeycomb. The colors on the dome’s exterior rapidly shifted shape, and as they watched, viruses began to materialize and assume guardian positions around the skyscraper. Shuuko tensed and brought her arms up in a guarded position, “Viruses? Is that a dimensional area?”

“I’d wager so,” Ben stepped in front of Shuuko, eyeing the viruses carefully. “I didn’t know that it was so public here in Electopia. Ameroupe just started its work on dimensional areas a few years ago, and their areas aren’t so versatile. Last I knew they needed a special type of room to create dimensional areas in. There’d been talk of portable generators, but working models were years off!”

“If there’s a dimensional area, I bet Netto’s there.” Shuuko chuckled, “wherever there’s trouble, Netto’s right there to fix it. I bet all the cross fusers are there, Netto, Meiru, Enzan, R-”

Ben spun on his heel, “Meiru and Enzan are in there?”

“Yeah,” Shuuko shrugged, “but I’m sure they’ll be fine.” She turned to look at the building, “they’ve all been fighting these things for awhile now, so I’m sure it’s nothing new.” She turned back, but Ben was gone. “Ben?” She looked around, sighing heavily, “I have some kind of magic with boys.” She shook her head sadly, then began her walk home, only partially aware of the police cars that whizzed by.

As the cars skidded to a halt at the dimensional area’s perimeter, Chief Keifer leapt from his car and began shouting orders. “Form a security perimeter, make sure nobody comes within two-hundred feet of the building. Someone get Meijin on the phone, I want an active dialogue with the cross fusers!”

The word sent chills down Ben’s spine. “Cross fusers! When I left Ameroupe two years ago, cross fusion was a comic book concept, but here they actively do it?” Ben flattened himself against the alley wall as one of the officers ran past him, a cell phone clutched in one hand.

“Chief Keifer, according to SciLabs the Hikari boy and his team are in there, but they’ve been beyond communication for nearly thirty minutes.” The police chief unleashed a wilting string of Japanese curse words that sent the messenger scurrying, and Ben slipped around the back, entering through the unlocked rear door. “Lucky . . .” he said as he took several tentative steps inside the vast room, “no . . . not lucky.” Viruses began to appear, the air shimmering as they materialized, swords and hammers raised.

Forcing himself to be calm, Ben rolled up his right sleeve, exposing a set of five slots; he slipped three chips into each slot, waiting for the click, whirr, and green LED to glow. “Battlechips in, activate dimensional field adaptor.” A set of green lines arced down his arm to the hand, where several panels turned, displaying black panels that glimmered darkly. “Slot one, cannons A, B, and C, activate Z cannon program advance.” The air around his hand rippled as the cannon materialized over the appendage; across the room a champy glared menacingly at him, flames licking about its tightly clenched fists. Ben leveled his cannon at the virus, “are you gonna stand around all day, or are we gonna do this shit?”

---

As the cross fusers entered the main area of the building, the sight before them gave them pause; all fifteen floors of the building, from ground the penthouse, were gutted and exposed, creating a cavernous room at least one-hundred and fifty feet in height, and easily two-hundred square feet wide. As they walked in, a shudder ran through the entire expanse. Platforms began to appear, creating a multi-tiered battleground in the open area, and viruses began to materialize throughout the floors.

“Everybody back to back,” Raika shouted, “Don’t leave any openings for them to exploit.” The cross fusers formed a tight cluster on the building’s floor, when a cacophonous laugh caused them to look up. At the top of the space, staring down with a malevolent posture, stood a broad blue navi with a very large cannon.

“Welcome to your doom net saviours.” The navi shouted as he leveled his gun at them, “summon your navis to defend you, but know that I am Grenademan, and none of you will leave here alive.”

Enzan chuckled, “you must be new, otherwise you’d know that we do things a little differently around Electopia.” Sara, Enzan, and Raika all drew their PETs, slotting in their syncro-chips. “Crossfuse!” A blinding light filled the expanse, forcing Grenademan to shield his eyes, and when it died down he found himself staring at a new threat. Three of the net saviours had fused with their navis, while the fourth was nowhere to be seen. In her place stood a moon-skinned woman in black, a massive sword clenched between her delicate hands. “Sara, attack from the top, Raika and I will move up from the bottom. Morgana, stay low and shield Pride. Battle Protocols set!”

“Execute!” The net saviours dashed into action; R Searchman leapt onto a platform, dropping to one knee as he brought the search cannon to bear. He laid down suppressing fire, obliterating viruses with each shot as R Blues darted between platforms, his body a blur of red navi and deadly sword. His path was marked only by the sudden explosion of any virus he slashed through; her wings beating the air furiously, R Angel quickly rose toward Grenademan, her gaze focused intently on the blue navi.

The blue navi responded by aiming his wide-mouthed cannon at the winged navi, a sun-like light building in its barrel. “Die!” With a deafening roar the shot exploded forth, sending a column of light down at her frail form.

“Halo Shield!” The angelic navi’s halo expanded quickly, forming a convex lens that deflected the blast away from her, knifing the platform her attacker stood on. With a sickening lurch, the dais Grenademan stood on dissolved into pixels, and the blue navi began to fall toward the other cross fusers.

On the ground, Morgana was a deadly black streak, dashing around the room as she cleaved viruses apart with her deadly claymore. Secreted away behind a pile of rubble, Pride watched her navi fight, slotting in the appropriate sword chip as the enemies advanced. A flame-fisted champy was routed with an aqua sword, while a row of mettaurs exploded when the deadly arc of Morgana’s wide sword slashed through them. Pride knew that Knightman would be proud of his new protégé; the mysterious navi had turned up at the Yumland security check a few weeks prior, half deleted and seriously corrupted, and although she’d physically recovered she could not recall what had happened to her or her operator.

Grenademan lashed out, catching a ledge and pulling himself onto it. As he reached his knees he found himself staring at a red pair of boots, and as he lifted his gaze he found R Blues, sword poised. “Coming here was a mistake, Grenademan, as you’ve clearly forfeited your life.” R Blues slashed down with his sword, the blade skittering ineffectively along the blue navi’s armor.

“A mistake for you,” the blue navi swung one of his mammoth hands up, wrapping his thick fingers around the red navi’s throat. With a snarl he turned, throwing R Blues at the ground as if he were a missile; R Angel witnessed his fall, swooping in and snatching the swordsman up in midair. “You have all fought valiantly, but I must end this.” Grenademan held a hand out, and a blue bomb appeared in his hand. “For as powerful as you are, no one can survive the destructive force of my Doomsday Bomb!”

“Mistress,” Morgana hissed, eyeing Grenademan in concern, “slot in a fire chip, hurry!” Pride wordlessly loaded a fireblade chip into her PET, and Morgana smiled as a red glow lit up the edges of her sword. “Chryssagorim, flame shot!” As she swung her red-tressed sword it glowed brightly, releasing a seething wave of flame; the ruby shot slammed into the explosive in Grenademan’s outstretched hand, detonating it instantly, and the force of the explosion rammed the blue navi through the wall. Screaming furiously, he flew into the night, dissolving into pixels as his body was carried outside of the dimensional area.

---

“We have in our hands the enemy of our kind,” Enker proclaimed to the assembled navis, gesturing toward the crumpled form of Rockman, “now, how shall we punish him for his good deeds?”

“Give him to me,” Burnerman shouted, “I’ll slow roast him and feed him to the mettaurs!” Members of the crowd cheered his suggestion, while others hissed in disapproval.

“Give him to me,” Gravityman shouted, “I will slowly crush him to death.” More cheers and boos, respectively.

“Stoneman will crush him with a rock! A really big one!” No cheers were issued for Stoneman’s idea, but neither would anyone express their disdain out of fear for the titanic navi’s wrath.

Enker swore exasperatedly at the crowd, “buggering nancies! Oh come on now, this is bloody weak! Don’t any of you buggers ‘ave a decent idea of wot to do to this blue pest?”

“Drain his life force!”

“Electrocute him!”

“Impale him!”

“Crush him with two really big rocks!”

“STOP!” The crowd went silent and parted as a red-eyed mettaur stalked through the gathering. “I will take the blue one, and you all will live to decide the fate of the others within the dimensional area.”

The crowd exploded into uproarious laughter at the mettaur; even Enker himself chuckled at the absurdity. “Come on now, little met, I don’t think you’ve got the stones t’ smash this bloke.”

“Stupid mettaur,” a silver navi slammed his boot down, crushing the met underfoot. As the virus exploded into pixels, a red lightning bolt raced up the attacker’s foot and into his emblem, causing him to screech and grasp his head. After a few seconds the navi relaxed, staring at the group with baleful red eyes, “bear witness to the ultimate fate of any who refuse me.” With that the silver navi drew his sword, ramming it through his emblem; as he dissolved into pixels, the crowd gasped and stepped back at the inhuman red navi who stood where the silver one had been before.

The red navi clicked his claws menacingly, “I will kill anyone who attempts to stop me from claiming the blue one.”

Enker pointed his lance at Boushi, “kill the bugger!” A navi leveled his vulcan at Boushi, but the red navi leapt into his body, and the gunner spun wildly, spraying the navis around him with gunfire. Several died in that instant, while others dove for cover. One ducked in and blasted a hole through the gunner, but as he dissolved Boushi leapt into the attacker, and the large fisted fighter turned and smashed the nearest navi’s head into pulp.

“Saito, open your eyes,” Boushi shouted as he leapt into Stoneman, crushing twenty navis under each titanic fist as they came crashing down. The navis turned on the massive gray fighter, and with a disgusted sneer, Enker turned his lance toward Rockman’s inert form.

Seeing the golden navi prepared to kill Saito, Boushi made his decision; he leapt from Stoneman into Jezebel, and the red-haired woman’s flaming fist hit Enker with enough force to hurl him into the crowd. “He’s in Enker,” Boushi shouted through Jezebel, “drive the bastard out!” The sea of angry navis turned on their golden leader then, wailing ineffectively on his armor, and as Jezebel leapt into the fray Boushi leapt from her body and merged with Saito.

Incredible power flooded Boushi, and the blue navi jerkily rose to his feet. He scanned the gathering with inhuman red eyes, finally rushing into the fray. His buster boomed in rapid succession, each shot causing one of the navis to explode into pixels. Enker shouted a warning, but his voice was lost in the cacophonous din as the crowd hammered on him. Within moments Boushi had cleared the crowd’s perimeter, and was quickly running deeper into the server, toward net access and freedom.

Screeching angrily, Enker killed the navis around him with a swing of his lance. “You effing baw-bags, he’s got Rockman and he’s getting away!” The crowd began to look around, realizing the situation. “Come on, shut your gobs, we’ve gorra get after ‘im.” The golden navi stood up, Jezebel rushing to his side, “new plan; whoever gets to him, gets to kill him.”

---

As the explosion from the bomb faded, a loud rumble began to build as bits of the above floors began to give away, crashing to the ground. “The building’s integrity has been compromised,” R Blues shouted, “we have to evacuate. Sara, grab Pride, Raika and I will follow you out of the hole that Grenademan made.”

“What about Netto and Meiru?” Pride shouted as R Angel swooped down, lifting the princess skyward.

R Blues stopped in his tracks, glancing back at the entryway. “I’ll go in and make sure they get out, the rest of you clear the street. I’ll not have anyone in danger.” The cross fusers parted ways; R Searchman, R Angel, and Pride escaping the collapsing building, while R Blues rushed into the tower’s depths, intent on finding his friends.

Turning away from the flickering monitor feed, Dante passed his gaze over the strategist beside him, eyes full of rage. “Navis gain an advantage through battlechips, one far greater than was calculated. And these ones, these ‘Net Saviours’,” Dante spat the words out as if it left a foul taste in his mouth, “can merge with them and become even more powerful? Why wasn’t I informed of this?”

The navi raised his hands defensively, “no one could have foreseen the capacity for dimensional merging. As for battlechips,” the navi waved the notion away, “the advantage they present is proportionate to the skill of the operator.”

“Very well then,” Dante started a brisk walk as he left the server, “contact Enker, have him get Regal started on collecting operators for our army. If we must use these flesh bags, they will be the horses we ride into victory.”

“There is another way, sir.” Dante froze in his tracks, “there is another net saviour in the building, who gains access to battlechips through some sort of an automatic loader, built into a prosthetic limb.”

The green haired navi smiled, “get Regal on it. I want this person’s computers hacked, his identity found, and every shred of information regarding his technology placed at our disposal.”

---

“The tremors are increasing in magnitude,” R Roll said nervously, dispatching another mettaur with her antennae whip, “we need to get out of here.”

“Not without Rockman,” Netto insisted. As they argued, R Blues raced toward them, slashing his way through the viruses he encountered.

“Netto, Meiru, we have to go. Now.”

R Roll threw her hands up in frustration, “I know, he refuses to leave without Rockman.”

“He wouldn’t leave me to die in a building that was collapsing.”

“He wouldn’t want you to throw your life away by looking for him in a collapsing building either.” R Blues laid a hand on Netto’s shoulder, “Rockman is strong, he’ll make it out fine.”

The two warriors exchanged stares for a long time, before Netto sighed reluctantly. “Alright, let’s go.” The trio raced down the hallway, viruses in pursuit and the very building coming down on their heads.

---

Wheezing from exertion and favoring his good leg, Ben slowly climbed the stairs to the next level. Every few seconds, a shudder rippled through the building, and he knew he needed to get the hell out of there. But not without Meiru, he had to see her out safely. He opened the door, stepping out, and a shot pinged off his prosthetic leg; he ducked back in, and a hail of vulcan fire chewed the metal fire door to pieces in an instant.

He favored a glance, catching the barest glimpse of the gunner virus before it released another hail of ammunition at him, sending shards of the concrete doorway flying as he jerked back in. As he calculated his next movement, he heard the gentle click of a door opening, and on the other end of the hallway the metal stairwell door began to swing open. He saw Meiru, Netto, and Enzan starting to enter the hallway, unaware of the deadly gunner, and from the look on their faces he knew they were going right into the gunner’s line of fire. From the way Meiru tightly clenched Netto’s hand, he couldn’t ignore the obviousness of their feelings. Who was he to try and break their tie? He shook his head furiously; “I may have to die, but they don’t. Slot five, Area Steel battlechip, activate.”

Ben was a blur, whipping across the hallway as the gunner’s twin cannons angrily chewed up the concrete floor behind him. He hit the steel fire door with the force of a charging bull, and as it slammed shut it threw the three cross fusers backwards onto the stairwell landing. As they rose to their feet, the room beyond echoed with a series of volcanic booms, holes appearing in the door as gunfire punched through it in quick succession, forcing them to draw back into the previous stairwell for cover. As the shots subsided, Ben’s voice called out from the other side. “You can’t go this way, keep to the stairwell.”

“Ben?” Meiru called in surprise, running to the door. She pushed on it, but it would only budge a few inches before hitting something, refusing to move. “Ben, are you ok?”

“There’s a gunner virus in here, if you open that door he’ll blast you apart.” Ben strained to keep his voice level, “just keep going.”

“Some of us are cross fused,” Enzan placed a hand on the door, “we’ll give you backup, and we’ll all get out together.”

“JUST GO!” Ben’s voice cracked in desperation. Enzan glanced down, noticing a trickle of red as it oozed from under the door. He grabbed the others and started down the stairs, ignoring them as they tried to go check on their friend. On the other side of the ruined door, Ben lay slumped against it, blood flowing from the numerous holes the gunner had created. With nowhere to go after hitting the door, he’d stood there, taking the hail of fire into his body. Now, as his systems began to fail, he could only bow his head and wait for death.

The gunner hummed softly, preparing to fire again. Irritated, Ben brought his arm up; “Slot five, Crush Cannon battlechip, activate.” The air around his hand shimmered, and a powerful blast of energy exploded from his palm, disintegrating the virus and blasting a massive hole through the outside wall of the building. Suddenly his arm started hissing and sparking, then finally exploding as the hardware fused. As the smoke cleared, Ben looked down at the sparking stump. “Wow, I guess American technology really is shoddy,” he laughed bitterly.

Sighing in exhaustion, he reached into his ruined jacket, slipping a folded picture from his inside pocket; Meiru, smiling and laughing. She’d been too busy with Netto and Dekao to notice when he snapped the picture; it had only been his second day in her class, but he had already known how strongly he felt for her. But, all things considered, it was better to have ended this way. “Atleast . . . atleast I got to save your life. That counts for something, right?” he asked the picture, not expecting an answer.

Floors above, Ben dimly registered the shuddering boom that signified the fifteenth floor’s implosion. The building was coming down, but atleast she was safe. Alone in the shattered hallway, he stopped fighting his heart and let his emotions go, crushing the photograph in his fist as crystal tears flowing down his bloody cheeks in hot rivulets. An eternity passed until the wounds stopped bleeding, his heart grinding to a halt due to a lack of blood to circulate; his tears stopped soon afterward.

---

As Boushi, in Rockman’s body, exited the building’s server and entered Netto’s PET, he felt Ben die. The sudden wave passed through him, paralyzing him in mid-step. “No, it can’t be . . .”

FILE INITIALIZING

A wave of pain slammed into the red navi, ejecting him from Rockman. Like a marionette whose strings had been cut, the blue navi collapsed to the ground. Dazed, Boushi staggered as agony tore through his system. “No, it can’t be true.” He fell to his knees, his inhuman wail echoing through the cyberscape, “Noooo!”

ACTIVATING FORTE_

A great stroke of purple lightning exploded across his chest, slashing his emblem in two. He screamed and collapsed, the sound of his agony stirring Rockman. The blue navi looked up weakly, bearing witness to the slaughter.

ACTIVATING BLUES_

As Boushi kneeled, a red slash appeared down the length of his arms, data splaying out of him in a white geyser, flowing from his wounds like streamers. He rose to his feet disoriented, hugging himself piteously as he turned to face his friend. Rockman’s eyes widened as he reached out for the red navi, “Boushi!”

ACTIVATING ROCK_

“Saito,” the name became a howl of agony as a blue lightning bolt split Boushi’s faceplate in half. The navi threw his claws up, grasping futilely at the sapphire slash across his face, white light streaming out as if it were blood. Rockman grimaced as he dragged himself across the ground toward his suffering friend, but the red navi could not see him. Blind and in pain, he staggered backward, one foot slipping off the side of the platform.

“Boushi!” Saito screamed as he reached out, his fingers brushing the other navi’s leg as he tipped backwards, pitching over the side.

“Saito!” The red navi shrieked as he lurched off the ground, sailing into the dark oblivion below as more glowing cracks began to dissect his body. Even after the red of his form disappeared into shadow, the light was evident and growing brighter. The wail died away, and for a few precious seconds the blackness was split apart as the light of a thousand suns exploded beneath the blue navi, but just as quickly it was snuffed out. Rockman screamed into the impermeable darkness, tears streaming off his cheeks and into the pit, cast off to join the unfinished navi in the void of deletion.