Rockman.EXE:The College Years-3-82:Great Battle of Light(sp)

[Anime Master ZERO]

Beta Team: TheWebbuilder, SonicNigma212

---------------------------
CHAPTER 3-76
Chaud’s Final Fight

The wind blew through valleys and over the mountains and Chaud and Waya stared each other down as they prepared for their final duel.

“This will be our ultimate battle, Chaud,” the yellow-clad World Three fanatic declared, “Let’s decide this on a level beyond the Battle Network tournament finals.” He pulled out his PET and held his Synchro Chip in his other hand. Chaud responded with the same actions. However, the brunet had one other surprise. He took out the Crest of Arcadia from his folder and slotted it into his PET.

“Waya, Saiba warned us not to use the Crest of Arcadia while in Cross Fusion,” Harpuia reminded his operator.

“It’s okay, Harpuia,” Waya assured his Navi, “We’re safe as long as we’re here in Neo Arcadia.”

“Tell me something,” Chaud interrupted, “Why do you call this place Neo Arcadia when it simply registered as just Arcadia?”

“It’s really simple, Chaud,” Waya explained, “Our goal is to restore this country’s glory in the world. From the ashes of the old Arcadia emerges Neo Arcadia.”

“So why are you doing this?”

“I don’t know. Saiba has all the answers. First let’s see if you can beat me. Then we’ll talk more.”

“Fine by me.”

“Synchro Chip, in!”

“CROSS FUSION!”

Two flashes of light later, R ProtoMan stood with his hair blowing in the wind as he looked up at R Harpuia. The former formed his Proto Sword while the latter drew his lightsabers and activated the blades.

“You’re out of your league this time, Chaud,” R Harpuia taunted, “These are the great Windy Plains. We’re in my element now.”

“Shut it, Waya.” R ProtoMan readied his weapon and waited. R Harpuia jumped up and flipped over his opponent’s head. He landed behind him and the two swordsmen spun around and their blades collided. Both fighters poured all their strength into their attacks. For better or for worse, this would be their final duel.

* * *

“How many stairs have we climbed so far?” asked Noah as he rode on Lan’s back as the brunet ascended the long winding staircase.

“I don’t know,” the headbanded NetBattler replied, “I stopped counting a while ago and there don’t seem to be any additional floors, so we have no way of telling how high we are.”

“Hey Lan,” Noah suddenly piped up, “Can’t we just use Cross Fusion and fly up?” Lan suddenly came to a stop and his passenger held on for dear life to keep himself from falling off.

“And you only thought of this now?”

“Hey, I said I was smart. I never said I was creative.”

“I don’t think creativity is a factor here.”

Noah got off Lan’s back and the two of them initiated Cross Fusion. Upon completion, R Lumine spread his wings and flew up while R MegaMan activated an AirShoes chip and followed him. Their flight proved to have more resistance than expected as Saiba’s security system activated and Pantheons of all sorts materialized along the stairs and began shooting at them.

“Mega Buster!” R MegaMan clenched his fist and it morphed into his buster. He pointed it upward and fired. However, his attacks failed to deal any damage.

“Something’s wrong,” he muttered, “There’s something different about these Pantheons.”

“Lan!” R Lumine materialized three feathers in his hand and threw them at the Pantheons’ eyes, “Aim for their eyes!” R MegaMan looked up at his friend and watched as the white projectiles struck the single red circle in each Navi’s head and deleted them instantly. He grinned behind his mouthguard and activated his laser scope.

“I’ve always wanted to shine a laser in someone’s eyes. Now I have the chance!” He targeted the nearest Pantheon’s eye and fired. His shot it its mark and the Cyclops Navi was deleted.

* * *

R ProtoMan deflected another blow and backed away from his opponent. The wind seemed to be against him as it always appeared to blow in the opposite direction that he wanted to go. R Harpuia flew in and swung his lightsabers at him. He deflected the blades again and backed into a cave where the wind couldn’t reach them. His opponent followed and slashed wildly. The lightsaber blades cut through the rock and left deep gashes as R Harpuia continued his assault. They emerged from the tunnel into a large cavern and R ProtoMan immediately took advantage of the extra space and jumped back to gain some distance.

“Program Advance! FireSword, AquaSword, ElecSword, BambooSword!” He combined all four swords together into one and their powers resonated from his blade, “Elemental Sword!” Waves of fire, water, electricity, and wood hit R Harpuia as he entered the cavern and he was pushed into the rock wall. He pulled himself free and leapt forward in a simultaneous movement with his opponent. They landed in the center of the cave and swung at each other. R ProtoMan armed himself with a Katana3 and deflected another attack, but his opponent quickly countered with his other lightsaber and severed the hilt, forcing the Net Savior to rearm quickly with a NeoVariable. He shoved the green-armored warrior back with his shield and launched a Sonic Boom. R Harpuia flipped over the wave and charged. He tackled R ProtoMan and severed the hilt of his sword before taking a stab at him. The red-armored Net Savior leaned back and kicked his hand, causing him to drop his lightsaber. R Harpuia quickly used his free hand to grab R ProtoMan’s throat and pushed him down. He then swung his other lightsaber down at his neck, but his opponent was able to grab his wrist and stop it from coming any closer. The two of them struggled to control the purple energy blade until R ProtoMan finally kicked his opponent and flipped him over his head. R Harpuia landed hard against the rock and his lightsaber fell from his hand. The skunk-haired NetBattler rolled onto his feet and ran toward his opponent. The winged warrior got back up and threw a punch. R ProtoMan blocked and threw his own fist against the other’s face. His attack made contact and he landed another punch on his jaw. R Harpuia stumbled back, but his opponent leapt up and kicked him against the chest, forcing him onto his back.

“Z-Saber Battlechip!” A grey lightsaber hilt appeared in R ProtoMan’s hand and he activated the iridescent turquoise blade. He ran over to his opponent and sliced downward. R Harpuia conjured up a gust of wind that blew one of his lightsabers into a wall, causing it to rebound into his hand. He quickly activated it and raised it just in time to block the attack. He called the other blade to him in the same manner and pushed himself away and held both swords ready. R ProtoMan jumped after him and their attacks continued. The two swordsmen spun their weapons around their bodies and thrust their hands out each other, meeting halfway. They struggled against one another’s push and tried to overpower one another. With one powerful thrust, they pushed each other back to opposite sides of the cave and hit the walls. R Harpuia pulled himself free and flew across to the other side and chopped down with both lightsaber. R ProtoMan rolled away and his opponent’s blades cut through the rocks. He retreated through anther tunnel and his opponent followed. They ran through the dark passageways and re-emerge onto a high ledge outside the mountain. R Harpuia leapt out from the darkness and swung his blades at his opponent, who in turn deflected them.

* * *

A Pantheon Hammer slammed its weapon against the stairs and sent a chunk of it falling toward its enemies. R MegaMan sliced through it with his WideBlade and fired his Mega Buster, destroying the one who had sent the debris falling toward him. A nearby Pantheon Launcher fired its weapon down at him, but the blue-clad NetBattler countered with his own attack. Two Pantheon Hoppers jumped at him and clung to his legs. Fortunately, R Lumine was able to free him from their grasp when he stabbed their eyes with two Feather Kunai, but left the young boy open to an attack from a Pantheon Corpse. R MegaMan quickly pushed him aside and shot the Navi into submission.

“Thanks, Lan,” sighed R Lumine.

“Just be careful,” replied R MegaMan.

* * *

R ProtoMan and R Harpuia landed on a stone bridge and fought across it over the deep canyon below them. They both raised their swords and swung down only to catch each other’s wrists. They wrestled one another for dominance, but neither fighter wished to yield. There was aloud rumble and the two of them looked up. The wind had loosened a large boulder and it was now tumbling down the side of a mountain. The two duelists quickly ran to the other side of the bridge, but R Harpuia threw his lightsabers forward and cut through the rock. As the blades returned to his hands, the boulder hit the end of the bridge from which they came and sent it plummeting to the ground.

“Was it really necessary to sever the other end of the bridge?” R ProtoMan demanded.

“You forget that I can fly!” R Harpuia boasted and he pushed off the rock. R ProtoMan quickly called on a VariableSword and hooked the blade over his opponent’s foot.

“Hey! Get off!” shouted R Harpuia.

“We’re staying together until the end!” And with that, R ProtoMan reached up and sliced off his opponent’s wings. Without the appendages on his armor, R Harpuia lost the ability to fly and he fell against the rock bridge.

“Yoyo Battlechip!” R ProtoMan’s VariableSword transformed into a yoyo launcher and he deployed the bladed disc at the side of the mountain. It struck the rocky surface and held fast allowing him to pull himself off the rock. R Harpuia ran up away from the end that would hit the ground first and jumped off. The bridge hit the bottom of the canyon with a loud crash and he quickly grabbed onto an outcropping.

“Things are getting out of hand,” muttered R Harpuia, “Alright, then. Let’s kick it up a notch. Crest of Arcadia!” He screamed as a white light engulfed his body and the Crest of Arcadia replaced his icon. He opened his eyes, now tinted red, and a glowing pair of white wings grew out from his back. He laughed insanely and flew up to his opponent. Meanwhile, R ProtoMan reeled in his yoyo to bring himself up to a safe ledge, but the wire was cut and he was sent plummeting toward the canyon floor.

“Condor Battlechip!” A Fishy3 virus materialized under the red-armored swordsman and he landed on top of it before turning to face his opponent. R Harpuia was flying towards him laughing like a madman.

“He’s lost his mind!” exclaimed R ProtoMan as he just barely managed to deflect a slash.

* * *

“Those four are so gullible,” Saiba laughed as he watched the fight on his screen, “I told them that they would be protected from the Crest’s side effects in Neo Arcadia, but that was just one big lie. Cross Fusion weakens the barrier between the minds of the operator and the NetNavi, allowing them to become synchronized with one another. As a result, the protection that Harpuia, Phantom, Fefnir, and Leviathan have to shield them from the Crest’s negative effects won’t be passed on to their operators, who will feel the full effects of the Crest of Arcadia. So now they’ll get the power that they want now, but at the cost of their minds.”

* * *

The insane R Harpuia laughed as he continued his assault on his opponent. Even with the speed boost Cross Fusion allowed him, R ProtoMan still had a hard time keeping up.

He’s lost all grip on reality! he thought as he fended off his foe, The Crest of Arcadia has claimed his mind and now he’s on a rampage. But, power without control is no better than being with no power at all. If I exploit this just right, I just might be able to win!

“CustomSword!” R ProtoMan’s free hand morphed into a CustomSword and he thrust it at his opponent as he flew in. R Harpuia deflected it and flipped right over it, but R ProtoMan quickly countered with an upward slash with his Z-Saber, slicing his foe across the waist. He then pulled back and his opponent gave pursuit. They flew through the vast mountain range with strong winds berating them from seemingly every direction. R ProtoMan looked back to check on R Harpuia and saw that he was still coming toward him with murder being the only thing on his mind. The ace Official knew he had to end this battle quick. He passed a stone outcropping and sliced it off. The rock hit R Harpuia, but he shook it off like it was nothing and resumed his chase. He picked up speed and flew higher before dive-bombing toward his opponent with his swords spinning before him. R ProtoMan sliced off another rock and his opponent cut through it with ease. A sudden jerk alerted him to additional weight on his Condor and he turned to see R Harpuia grabbing onto the Fishy3’s tail. The green-armored Cross Fused fanatic pulled himself up and forced his opponent to the head.

“Waya, three’s no room for both of us!” R ProtoMan shouted, but his foe was deaf to his words. He quickly flipped off the Condor onto a ledge and looked down at R Harpuia. There was a moment of silence between the two of them before the latter flew up and landed higher up the cliff. He sliced into the mountainside and pulled away as a massive landslide fell toward R ProtoMan.

“Muramasa!” The demonic sword appeared in the Net Savior’s other hand and he jumped away from the mountain. As the rocks came tumbling down, he swung his weapons and sliced the rocks as they fell. When he finally cleared the debris, he jumped off a rock and back onto another ledge just as his opponent flew up and kicked him in the face. He fell back against the cliff and R Harpuia landed before charging at him with both lightsabers. He quickly raised his own swords to block, but they were knocked clear out of his hands and fell down the side of the mountain.

“Bloody Quartet!” R ProtoMan armed himself with two swords on his hands and two more on his elbows before swinging out at his opponent. The four blades cut through their target, but R Harpuia refused to falter and simply sliced them off at the base. R ProtoMan kicked him in the chin and slammed his fist into his stomach before landing another kick on his chest that forced him against a boulder. He quickly called on a LongBlade and thrust it into his opponent’s shoulder, pinning him against the rock.

“You’ve lost, Waya,” he declared, completely out of breath. R Harpuia looked up at him, then down at the blade in his shoulder, and back up at his opponent. Without warning, he sliced the LongBlade clean off R ProtoMan’s arm and blew him back with a powerful gust of wind. The Official’s back slammed hard against the mountain side and R Harpuia crossed his lightsabers and positioned them in front of his neck.

“Looks like I’ve won,” he said with the look of a madman in his eyes, “I’m gonna separate your head from your shoulders and there’s nothing you can do to stop me!”

“Is that so?” asked R ProtoMan. He formed his shield and thrust it out at his opponent, detaching it from his arm in the process and sending it slamming into his torso and pushing him back. Now free from the threat of being beheaded, he got up and morphed his hand into his Proto Sword.

“We’re going to finish this now, Waya,” he declared. R Harpuia jumped off the ledge and flew into the air.

“You’ve got no hope of winning against me!” he laughed insanely.

“Think again!” R ProtoMan shouted as he jumped up after him. He called on the power of all the swords he had used in the battle and fused their energies into his blade. He then thrust his Proto Sword at his opponent and ten beams of light shot out and surrounded him. Each one formed into a glowing ball and transformed into handheld versions of all the swords the scarlet swordsman had called upon. R ProtoMan’s body began to glow bright red as he flew up to the altitude of his opponent and began dashing around him at lightning speed between his swords in a series of triangular paths. With each pass he made, he grabbed a different sword and slashed R Harpuia with it before letting it go, grabbing another sword, and resuming his attack. After passing each weapon through his opponent, he leapt high into the sky and dove toward him, slashing him with the Proto Sword as he passed. R Harpuia’s lightsabers fizzled out and the hilts shattered as the scarlet swordsman landed back on the ledge and his swords fell around him. As they vanished, he stood up and looked at his opponent.

“Let this be a lesson you’ll never forget,” he muttered, “Waya World Three.” R Harpuia fell from the sky and fell into the deepest part of the canyon before falling out of Cross Fusion. His PET ejected his Synchro Chip and the Crest of Arcadia. The shining white chip struck the ground and shattered. With the duel finished, R ProtoMan flew back down to the ground and crossed out. He looked at Waya and then at the remains of his Crest of Arcadia.

“ProtoMan, which way back to the city?” asked Chaud.

“I’m checking the GPS right now,” ProtoMan reported, “Turn eighty-three degrees to your right and walk straight.”

* * *

Two Pantheon Seraphs guarded the door at the very top of the staircase and R MegaMan and R Lumine glanced at each other and nodded.

“Triple Spreader Battlechips!” R MegaMan combined his chip together and they formed into a super blaster.

“Pulsar3, Pulsar3, ShadeManSP!” In a simultaneous action, R Lumine combined his three chips together and spread out his wings.

“Hyper Burst!”

“Big Noise!”

The two attacks destroyed the Pantheon Seraphs and the two Cross Fused NetBattlers pushed through the smoke and kicked the door open. Saiba turned around in his chair as they entered the chamber and looked down at them.

“Well, look who decided to drop in,” he smirked.

“Saiba, we’re here to stop you!” R MegaMan declared as he removed his mouthguard.

“Do you really think you have what it takes to defeat me?” asked Saiba as he stood up from his chair.

“We’re not sure, but we’re at least going to try!” shouted R Lumine. He watched as Saiba walked down the stairs and slowly removed his hood.

“Noah, I’m going to make you this offer again,” he said slowly as he looked at his younger brother, “You and I are the last living members of our family. Join me and we can restore our bloodline and our home to their former glory.”

“First of all,” R MegaMan interrupted, “you’re both males so you can’t restore a pure-blood family plus that would be incest. Secondly, there’s no way Noah would ever join with you.”

“That’s right!” R Lumine yelled. Saiba reached the bottom of the stairs and snapped his fingers. Instantly, the Crest of Arcadia shined up from under the Cross Fusion Rangers’ feet and forced them out of Cross Fusion. Then an invisible force pushed Lan back and a wall of light separated him from the rest of the room. Saiba then turned to Noah.

“So you have no desire to join me?” he asked.

“That’s right,” Noah repeated.

“Well then, I have no choice but to execute our family’s rite of expulsion.” Saiba sighed and snapped his fingers, causing a wall to slide back.

“And what’s that?” Noah demanded.

“We’ll have a duel to the death.” Another wall slid forward from the opening, revealing a whole array of weapons. Saiba walked toward it with Noah and turned to the child prodigy who was just tying his plushie to his belt.

“Choose your weapon,” he instructed.

“Broadswords!” Noah declared, “Huzzah!” He grabbed the hilt and pulled, but found it near impossible for him to even lift the sword. Finally, he dropped it onto the floor.

“Okay, what say Picard French dueling pistols?” Again, Noah found the weapon to be too heavy.

“Okay, fine. We’ll settle this with hand-to-hand combat.” Noah put his stepped back with his right foot, raised his arms in front of his body, and clenched his fists tightly.

“Be careful, Noah,” Lumine warned.

“Stay out of this.” The lavender-haired Navi turned at the sound of the voice and saw Omega X staring right at him. Back in the chamber, Noah had his guard up and was ready for anything Saiba had in store for him. Two pairs of red and blue eyes stared into one another as the white-haired brothers prepared for combat.

-------------------------------------
End of chapter 3-76.

CHAPTER PREVIEW
Lan: Sean’s battling Greg on the great Shadowy Plains.
MegaMan: With Phantom’s skills and expertise in stealth, it’s going to be a tough battle.
Lan: Hopefully Sean will be able to pull through, but he’s in Greg’s element now.
MegaMan: He’ll make it through. He always does.
Lan & MegaMan: Next time on Rockman.EXE: The College Years, “Great Shadow Duel”.
Lan: This is Sean’s final battle.
MegaMan: Against the fanatic of his haunting past.
_________________

[Viewtiful Starman]

The battle wasn't bad at the beginning... the setting worked okay but it didn't feel like you did enough with it. Then it got pretty good once Harpuia went crazy, and I was getting in to it. But the way you ended it was pretty bad IMO.

It reminded me way too much of Omni-slash, which you've used two times before in the last four chapters or so and it just came out of nowhere. I think it would've worked much better if you ended it with a move after he attacks with his shield, while things were still going well.

The thing with the wind was pretty good as far as a terrain effect goes, and was something along the lines of what I meant by an upgrade. I think it'd work well if you used something like this for the rest of the battles, but try and have it factor in to the battle more.

And... overexplaining. You've got some noticably unnessecary explainations here, such as when Saiba just says out loud to no one how he tricked them, and Chaud's short inner monologue afterwards. Having a character woodenly explain things like that is neither the only way to explain something or a very effective one.

The content of the battle besides that wasn't bad though, if you aimed higher next time you could get something really good out of it.

[TheWebbuilder]

Thank you. /o/

[Viewtiful Starman]

Okay, that's understandable then... In that case I'll focus on the other point.

[Midnight]

I have to agree.

This is definitely markedly better than that of your other works from before. Once the CoA was instituted it REALLY began to accelerate and keep the reader's attention.

I do have to echo Starry's point that you did overdo the insanity portion a bit. We kinda already know the effects of the CoA, and you don't need to beat it into our heads repeatedly.

Nevertheless, it seems that you are taking the advice of your beta team, and it has paid off in full. This is definitely one of the better chapters of this arc, if not the best.

Good job, author and readers. *nod*
_________________
Today, these three players are after Big Bucks! But they'll have to avoid the Whammy, as they play the most exciting game of their lives! From Television City in Hollywood! It's time to 'Press Your Luck!'--Rod Roddy

The Kingdom of Loathing: An Adventurer is You! // I ♣ Seals

Avatar by Spork. I very much appreciate it! <3

[SonicNigma212]

Looks like what I've given you has paid off. Now, I've read the result and it's on the decent scale. The setting was good and the battle was as good as ever. I've also saw that you've made some improvements on some sections on the chapter that you've put on. I've also saw some on the end of the chapter as well. I'd say that you do know how to get to the point. Well, hope to see the next chapter soon. Later and keep up the good work.


Maurice A. Nigma ^_^ :grr:

[Anime Master ZERO]

Beta Team: SonicNigma212, TheWebbuilder

--------------------
CHAPTER 3-77
Great Shadow Duel

Dead plant life crunched beneath Greg’s shoes as he circled around Sean, who refused to take his eyes off him for even a moment.

“You really think you can beat me, Sean?” Greg challenged as he continued on his path.

“Believe me, Greg, stopping you is definitely at the top of my priority list,” Sean replied.

“You know the real reason why you formed Gospel?” asked Greg, “To put it simply, you’re a geek and no one likes a geek. You know it’s true.”

“Yes,” Sean answered, “It’s true that I’m a geek. But so what? In today’s world, it’s survival of the smartest and I happen to be one of the smartest people in the world.”

“But not smart enough,” Greg smirked, “You disbanded Gospel. That was a stupid move.”

“That was probably the smartest move I had ever done since my parents died,” replied Sean as he began to feel his anger boiling up inside of him, “And I won’t tell you again, Greg. So leave it.”

“Well, guess there’s nothing left to do but to settle this with violence.” Greg slotted the Crest of Arcadia into his PET followed by his Synchro Chip.

“Synchro Chip, in!”

“CROSS FUSION!”

Sean slotted his own Synchro Chip into his PET and followed.

“Synchro Chip, in!”

“CROSS FUSION!”

Within a matter of seconds, R Axl and R Phantom stood across from each other in the dark forest.

“Let the battle commence!” R Phantom grinned and disappeared into the trees.

* * *

Noah dove between his brother’s legs and leapt back to his feet before turning around and sending a kick into his back. He caught him off guard and Saiba backed away.

“How did you do that?” Lan asked with his jaw hanging.

“I’m not all brains and no muscle,” Noah answered, “I’ve been learning karate for a while. I’m actually a blue belt.”

“I’m impressed, little bro,” Saiba commented, “I didn’t think you had it in you. But still, you never seem to initiate an attack.”

“I’m only fighting in self-defense,” Noah replied as he brought up his guard again, “Beating you like this is not my objective, but I will if I have no other choice.”

“Well Noah, maybe it’s time to kick things up a bit.” Saiba walked over to the weapon storage and pulled out a pair of katars. He put them on and ran toward Noah. He stabbed toward him and the boy sidestepped and pushed his arm aside before slamming his fist into his ribs. Saiba winced, but he managed to bear it and flipped Noah onto his back. He held him in place with his arm and positioned his katar right over the boy’s throat.

* * *

R Phantom’s shuriken flew out of the trees and R Axl leapt out of its way. He followed its path and fired his Axl Gun into the leaves where it disappeared, but his shots seemed to hit nothing.

With Phantom, the fact that he never speaks serves as an excuse for not being able to find him, thought R Axl, But Greg’s so talkative, it should be easy to find him. Meanwhile, somewhere in the trees, R Phantom was watching his opponent from the branches keeping ever so still that not even the leaves around him made a noise.

If only I could use Phantom’s secret arts, he thought, The really easy ones are the only ones I can remember, but the attacks are so weak it’s not worth the effort. He looked down at his opponent and watched as he brought down his visor and scanned for his data signature.

I have to at least try. R Phantom placed his thumbs and index fingers together, creating a triangle, and a ball of electricity shot out. R Axl’s sensors quickly picked it up and he dodged it with ease. He immediately fired his Axl Gun into the foliage from where the attack had come. R Phantom quickly dashed out of the way and leapt to another tree.

If Saiba says that using the Crest won’t have any bad effects here, then I should use it now! The Gospel fanatic activated the chip and the Crest of Arcadia replaced his icon and his eyes became tinted blood red. R Axl saw the shining white light and his opponent suddenly dropped down in front of him.

I recognize that look anyway, thought the grey-haired teen, He’s activated the Crest of Arcadia!

With the Crest of Arcadia activated, R Phantom’s personality seemed to have undergone a drastic change. The normally talkative and taunt-loving personality of Greg Gospel appeared to have been replaced with that of the silent, no-fooling-around Phantom. The Cross Fused ninja performed a series of five hand signs and a MudWave rose out of the ground before his feet and swept toward his opponent. R Axl jumped up, grabbed onto a tree branch, and the wave passed under him. Once it was gone, he dropped back to the ground and fired several rounds from his guns at R Phantom, who skillfully deflected them with his shuriken and jumped back into the trees.

“CircleGun Battlechip!” R Axl’s pistol morphed into a handheld CircleGun and he searched the branches for his opponent. Unfortunately, he failed to get a lock. The crosshairs moved all over the scope screen, but not once did they come close together.

I can’t get a lock! the teen exclaimed mentally. R Phantom’s shuriken suddenly flew out and severed his CircleGun from his arm.

“Sean!” Axl called from within the core of their Cross Fusion, “If we can’t see him, let’s even the battlefield!”

“Good call, Axl. Blinder, Invisible!” A bright light flashed through the forest blinding everyone within range and R Axl disappeared. R Phantom managed to somehow avoid getting blinded and listened carefully for his opponent. When no sound reached his ears, he interlocked his fingers together and then made a cross with his fingers. A Spreader blast shot out and rained down on the area. Another set of hand signs summoned a Rope1 chip to rise out of the ground and ensnare R Axl in its thorny vine. The silent ninja leapt out from his hiding place and threw his shuriken down at his prey. He slashed him multiple times and caught his weapon on its return before disappearing back among the branches. A few seconds later, a Bolt rained down from above and hit R Axl dead-on. He screamed as several volts of electricity coursed through his body, forcing him onto his hands and knees.

“Come on, Sean. You can beat him,” R Axl muttered to himself. He got to his feet and activated ShadowDNA. A red scarf appeared around his neck and a Muramasa on his back. Now armed with the power of ShadowMan, he leapt into the trees and engaged his opponent in ninja combat. He sensed R Phantom and threw a shuriken in his direction. The silent shinobi tore his sword out from its scabbard and swung it out to his side, deflecting the projectile into a nearby trunk. He re-sheathed his blade and activated a TripleNeedle chip, which materialized three needles between his fingers. He waited for an opportune moment and threw them at his opponent. The needles hit R Axl’s leg and he fell off the branch he had just landed on. With quick reflexes, he pulled his sword off his back and plunged it into the tree, halting his fall. He pulled himself on top of the blade, pulled the needles out of his thigh, and dropped them to the ground. As he stood up on his blade, R Phantom landed on his trunk higher up and sliced off the branches. R Axl activated a Katana3 and his pistol transformed into a sword. He grabbed it and the hilt of his Muramasa before stepping off. When the branches finally came close enough, he pulled out and started slashing them to pieces. R Phantom suddenly burst through them and swung his shuriken at him, but R Axl was able to parry his attack. He activated his hover jets to slow his descent and leapt away onto another tree where he ran up the trunk into the branches. R Phantom landed on the side of the same tree and followed only to be met by a cross-slash from his opponent. The silent assassin teleported over to another branch and leapt off it immediately. He activated a pair of Kunai3 Battlechips and four kunai appeared in his hand. He placed one in his mouth and held the other three between the fingers of his free hand. With his new set of weapons, he dashed after his opponent.

Meanwhile, R Axl was checking to see if R Phantom was following and was surprised to find that he wasn’t. However, when he looked forward, he saw his foe teleport right in front of him and slashed him across his chest with his shuriken.

“AreaGrab Battlechip!” R Axl quickly teleported to a safe distance and breathed deeply as his ShadowDNA vanished and he returned to his normal mode. He watched as R Phantom jumped out at him and he quickly flew back away from him to avoid getting hit by his shuriken again. The silent ninja stood up and threw his kunai at him. R Axl countered with several Axl Bullets that intercepted the knives and fell them to the ground. R Phantom teleported behind his opponent and thrust his head to the side, plunging his fourth kunai into his back. The crimson-eyed teen gasped and his opponent pulled the weapon out. He spun around and cut his leg with the kunai before pushing himself up with his feet and slashing him along the side.

“Slasher Battlechip!” R Axl gained a sword and he spun around rapidly, cutting into his opponent with deadly force. R Phantom quickly pulled back and landed on the ground. He performed a long and complex set of hand signs and he split into four differently-colored copies of himself. When his opponent came down from the trees, all four clones rushed in and attached with various maneuvers until they recombined into one entity and unleashed a massive explosion that rocked the dark forest. Fortunately for R Axl, he was able to activate his LifeAura chip in time and save himself, but the blast had caused the protective glow to vanish.

“I better end this quickly while I can. Program Advance! AntiDamage, AntiNavi, Muramasa! Bodyguard!” Shuriken began to fall from the sky like hail onto the forest. They sliced through branches and leaves as they burst through the treetops in an attempt to strike down R Phantom, who was dashing around with incredible speed to avoid getting hit.

“FireGospel Battlechip!” The ninja flipped away from the storm of shuriken and landed right in R Axl’s line of fire. The grey-haired NetBattler launched a fiery red beam from the Gospel head’s mouth. R Phantom teleported out of the way and the blast destroyed an entire line of foliage. He appeared behind his opponent and activated the Kage Bunshin chip that split him into five solid clones of himself. The first four landed powerful blows to R Axl that thrust him high into the air and the real R Phantom appeared overhead and slammed his foot down on the back of his head.

“WoodGospel Battlechip!” R Axl held his Gospel head downward and fired the massive green beam into the ground to slow his descent. At the same time, his attack destroyed all the clones of his opponent, clearing out the area of all dangers. As soon as he landed, he pointed his Gospel head upward and fired another blast at his opponent. R Phantom performed two hand signs and replaced himself with a dummy just before the WoodGospel hit. He reappeared behind R Axl and threw his shuriken at him.

“MoonBlade3 Battlechip!” A kunai appeared in the teen’s hand and he spun around quickly. He slashed the air with his weapon and deflected the shuriken away. Once he was done, he ran at R Phantom and slashed at him. The shinobi jumped back and retrieved his weapon before throwing it again. R Axl ducked behind a tree and the attack split the top half of the trunk. His opponent caught his shuriken as he jumped on top of the plant and came down for another attack and he rolled away just in time and slashed him with his kunai. Blood spilled onto the ground as his weapon made contact and R Phantom backflipped away. He jumped onto a tree and ran up the trunk as quickly as he could. He blazed through the branches and the leaves and leapt off the top out into the open. He deactivated his shuriken and placed it on his belt before performing a very long and complicated set of hand signs. Down on the ground, R Axl looked up towards the sky and wondered what his foe was planning.

“Axl, I have a bad feeling about this,” he said to his Navi.

“You and me both,” replied Axl.

Overhead, R Phantom had just completed his final hand sign and his eyes snapped open. A dark hole opened up below him and the massive form of Nebula Grey emerged. It roared and transformed into Bass. The Dark Messiah flew high into the air and built up a massive ball of energy with tenfold the power of Darkness Overload.

“Chaos Nightmare!” The cloaked NetNavi threw the energy ball down and it exploded upon contact with the ground, destroying a massive portion of the forest. When all was done, he disappeared and the hole closed up. R Phantom dropped back down and landed in the large crater that the attack had created. Not one sign of life could be seen anywhere near the area. Seemingly satisfied with the result, he jumped out of the hole and began to walk out of the forest. A sniper shot caught him by surprise as it hit him in the back. R Phantom whipped around and saw R Axl standing on the other side of the crater holding a Scope Gun. The grey-haired teen fired again and hit his opponent in the shoulder. R Phantom quickly drew his shuriken and activated the blades before dashing across the crater. R Axl discarded his sniper rifle and readied himself. As soon his opponent came in with a slash, he sidestepped, ducked, and slammed his fist into his stomach. Following that, he immediately swept his foot under his feet and knocked him onto his back. R Phantom quickly flipped himself onto his hands and pushed himself away only to have his opponent dash after him using his hover jets as thrusters.

* * *

Noah’s eyes never left Saiba’s even with the katar positioned over his throat. He thought fast and snapped his left foot into his brother’s rear. Saiba was caught off guard and he took that moment to slip away. He grabbed a pair of video cards off the floor in the corner and threw them forward, successfully knocking the katars from Saiba’s grasp.

“You’re a lot more resourceful than I thought you were,” Saiba commented.

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” answered Noah. He ran toward his brother and slid along the floor under his legs. He quickly turned around, took a toy Beyblade out of his hoodie pocket, and fired the top into his elder sibling’s shin. Saiba yelped out and hopped on one foot while Noah spilled a bagful of marbles onto the floor around his feet, causing him to slip and fall.

“I thought you said you could handle him without weapons,” Lan said from the side as he sat on the floor still separated by the ray shield.

“I never said that,” corrected Noah, “I only said that I was fighting in self-defense. But seeing as Saiba’s not letting up, I’m going to go on the offensive and what better way to do it than my signature way?” He took out a pair of red yoyos and threaded the string loops around his fingers. When Saiba got up again, he ran toward him and flung the toys at him. They hit their target and Noah reeled them back in with lightning speed. Meanwhile, Lan looked around for a jack-in sensor that would allow him to deactivate the ray shield. He found one in the ceiling and took out his PET.

“MegaMan, see if you can deactivate this shield thing,” he said before clicking the device to his wristband and pointing it upward, “Jack in!! MegaMan, power up!”

Upon his arrival inside the ray shield system, MegaMan was met by several dozen Pantheons.

“I don’t have time for this. Mega Buster!” He morphed his hand into his buster and started firing.

* * *

R Phantom was knocked back as his opponent slammed his fist against his block. He quickly crouched and dug his fingers into the ground to slow himself down, but that left him open long enough for R Axl to jump in and kick him in the head. Seeing as he wasn’t being given any time to perform hand signs, R Phantom activated an AreaGrab Battlechip and teleported to safety. He stood back up and called on a StepCross chip. He teleported again and cross-slashed R Axl with his shuriken and katana as he passed.

“TreeBomb3 Battlechip!” A seed appeared in the younger NetBattler’s hand and he threw it toward his opponent. It landed on the ground and sprouted into a line of WoodTowers. R Phantom backflipped away from them and sliced the last one with his shuriken.

“StepSword Battlechip!” R Axl obtained a handheld WideSword and teleported across the forest. He dashed past his opponent, slashed him with his weapon, and reappeared behind him.

“MagBomb3 Battlechip!” A black ball appeared in his hand and R Axl threw it at R Phantom. He succeeded in hitting his target and a powerful magnetic force held him in place. With his opponent immobilized, he took the opportunity to attack. He summoned his pistols and aimed one at his foe.

“Copy Shot!” A pink ball of energy shot out from the barrel and hit R Phantom on the chest. It broke up into several bits and returned to him with the data it had gathered.

“Style Change!” R Axl quickly transformed into White Axl and spread out his arms to the sides, “Transform!” There was a flash of light and he transformed into R Phantom. His opponent looked at him and leapt up as soon as the MagBomb3 wore off. He threw his shuriken down and the teen countered with his own shuriken. The weapons collided and fell to the ground between them. Both combatants drew their swords and made a rush for each other. They met halfway and their blades clashed. They pulled their arms back and swung again, intercepting one another’s swords again. The two of them pushed back and landed on opposite of each other. They made another dash and clashed swords again. R Axl made a swing for his opponent’s legs, but R Phantom jumped out of the way. They quickly took the opportunity to run for their shuriken. They grabbed their weapons simultaneously and threw them at each other again. The shuriken passed one another and hit the other’s owner on the shoulder.

“This is going to end in a stalemate if we keep up this fight with perfectly symmetrical violence,” R Axl muttered to himself. The two ninjas leapt into the trees and resumed their battle among the branches. R Phantom threw his shuriken, but this time his opponent blocked with his katana instead of mimicking his move. He deflected the star away and into another tree before leaping across the branches and taking a swing with his own shuriken. R Phantom flipped over him and dashed for his weapon. He pulled it out of the trunk it was embedded in and called on another TripleNeedle as he re-sheathed his sword. Holding the needles between his fingers, he dashed across the treetops and threw them at R Axl, who deflected them away by spinning his shuriken rapidly, forming a makeshift shield. R Phantom jumped onto his branch and delivered a swift Greased Lightning-like attack. When his opponent tried to counter, he jumped back and performed a set of ten hand signs. When he finished, an Anubis statue dropped onto the ground and started spewing poisonous gas all over the forest. R Axl held his breath and dove down for it. His opponent followed and they landed on opposite sides of the statue. The former reached it first and kicked it over. It hit the ground with a loud crash and he immediately lifted it up by the base. He spun around, raising the Anubis slowly as he picked up speed, and finally released his grip on the statue, sending it flying into R Phantom and hitting him hard. The Cross Fused Gospel fanatic coughed up a mouthful of blood and slammed into a tree trunk. He quickly recovered from the blow and landed safely on his feet.

R Axl immediately jumped into the air and grabbed onto his opponent’s armor as he passed him. He placed both feet against his chest and as they came down, he kicked out and slammed R Phantom into the ground. He used the momentum of the recoil of the attack to jump up, but his opponent grabbed onto his ankle, spun around, and threw him into a tree. R Axl flipped through the air and his feet landed against the trunk. He glared at his enemy for a moment and pushed himself off. His hands landed on R Phantom’s chest and he slammed him into the ground before dragging him along it and thrusting him head-first into a tree. He got off his opponent and sliced his shuriken through the base of said tree, causing it to fall on top of R Phantom. The Gospel fanatic sliced himself free and jumped away. He clapped his hands together and unleashed a HeatShot. R Axl dove to the side and the flame struck a bush, lighting it on contact. The fire quickly spread and before long the entire surrounding area was ablaze. It was at that moment that R Axl decided to discard his transformation and he changed back into White Axl. He then dropped his Style Change and reverted back to normal. He stood across R Phantom amidst the burning forest and the two of them stared right into each other’s eyes.

“Greg, I know you can still here me even though the Crest of Arcadia has completely taken over your mind!” R Axl called out, “I’m going to end this now.” He watched as his opponent got into his battle stance and performed a set of hand signs to raise a protective aura around his body.

“But it’s not going to be with Dark Messiah,” continued R Axl, “I’ve got something else planned for you. Program Advance! FireHit3, AquaNeedle3, ElecPulse3, RiskyHoney3 Battlechips!” His body glowed with the power of all four chips and several lights suddenly shot out and landed on either side of him, each one depositing one of his many transformations. Before long, every single one of R Axl’s transformations had appeared, including his most recent acquisition: Phantom.

“MASTER TRANSFORMATION!”

All the transformations rushed in at once and hit R Phantom one at a time. After everyone had taken a shot, the real R Axl appeared overhead and slammed his fists down on top of his opponent’s back, slamming him into the ground. He landed back with the rest of his clones and they all glowed bright white before the original unleashed a massive explosion. When everything finally cleared, Greg Gospel lay unconscious on the ground with his PET in front of him. It ejected the Crest of Arcadia and the chip shattered. R Axl took a deep breath and crossed out. Sean caught his PET and returned it to its case.

“Sorry I had to do it to you, Greg, but it was the only way.” He ran a hand through his light grey locks and started to look for a route back to the city.

* * *

“TwinFang3!” A pair of spikes shot out from MegaMan’s blaster and hit two Pantheons in the eyes at once, deleting them instantly. He ran on to the ray shield generator program and examined it carefully.

“Think you know how to shut this thing down?” asked Lan.

“No,” replied MegaMan, “but we can always do it the old fashioned way.” He kicked the program hard and it immediately shut down. The ray shield disappeared and Lan quickly jacked out his Navi and ran forward. Saiba had grabbed hold of Noah by his hood and the boy was trying to wriggle out of his shirt.

“Let him go, Saiba!” commanded Lan. Saiba looked at the brunet while still keeping a grip on his brother.

“This is a family matter, Lan. It doesn’t concern you.”

“It does concern me! I won’t sit on the sidelines and watch you abuse Noah like this. If you want someone to fight, then fight me and MegaMan.” Saiba thought about this for a moment and finally dropped Noah. The boy genius scampered away and ran over to Lan.

“Then let’s settle this inside the Neo Arcadia server,” declared Saiba. He undid his fastenings and threw off his robe. He took out his PET and clicked it onto his wristband.

“Jack in!! MegaMan, power up!”

“Jack in!! Omega X, power up!”

MegaMan and Omega X appeared inside a giant white sanctuary. The floor was a giant seal with the Crest of Arcadia emblazoned on it and holy light shone in through large stained glass windows also designed like the Crest.

“Let’s go, Lan,” Saiba said, “Crest of Arcadia Battlechip in, download!” Omega X donned his armor and formed his buster while MegaMan did the same.

“Mega Buster!”

“X Buster!”

-------------------------------------
End of chapter 3-77.

CHAPTER PREVIEW
Lan: Laika’s up against Nicol in the great Burning Plains.
MegaMan: That’s going to be a very dangerous fight.
Lan: And Nicol’s not going to hold back this time.
MegaMan: He’s not the kind-hearted kid we know anymore.
Lan & MegaMan: Next time on Rockman.EXE: The College Years, “The Great Inferno”.
Lan: Two soldiers having their final battle.
MegaMan: If only this particular battle could end differently.
_________________

[Mugen.exe]

This was a great chapter but I have one gripe. When you said that the Anubis Statue knocked R Phantom into a tree trunk you said he recovered quickly and landed on his feet. If he was knocked into a tree-trunk he would not be able to land very easily. He'd be on the ground. Unless he hit the trunk 5 feet up, then fell to his feet. Aside from that and some confusing clumps of text, the chapter was great.

I especially liked the fight between Noah and Saiba. Noah sure carries around a lot of junk in his hoodie. I agree- he certainly is inventive!

Edit: Oh good, you fixed the Axl transformation sequence.
_________________

False Swipe is a great finishing move!
Witty robots, spunky orphans, and invincible pilots, this link's for you! A Gundam RP

[Midnight]

Well...

This wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as the previous one. Yes, Noah is quite inventive, as was shown rather well, but the combat just seemed to be off. I do happen to agree that there were clumps of text that didn't flow rather easily, but I suppose that this is still a decent job.
_________________
Today, these three players are after Big Bucks! But they'll have to avoid the Whammy, as they play the most exciting game of their lives! From Television City in Hollywood! It's time to 'Press Your Luck!'--Rod Roddy

The Kingdom of Loathing: An Adventurer is You! // I ♣ Seals

Avatar by Spork. I very much appreciate it! <3

[SonicNigma212]

Well, from the comments that I've seen that you've received these past few days, I'd say that you're getting a little better. Looks to me that some of the viewers. About the battles, scenes, characters, the whole shabang! It sounds to me that the help that I've given you really helped. Sure there was some negative comments about it, but it's like the old saying, "That which doesn't kill you will only make you stronger." I really think that you really did some progress. Well, that's all that I have to say. Hope to read the next chapter soon. Later!

Maurice A. Nigma.
^_^ :grr:

[Anime Master ZERO]

Beta Team: TheWebbuilder, SonicNigma212

----------------------------------------
CHAPTER 3-78
The Great Inferno

Laika looked up at Nicol and the boy stared back down at him. He could sense that something was wrong. Nicol seemed different. The kind and gentle look in his eyes was gone and had been replaced with a cold murderous stare.

“Lieutenant Laika, do you sense it too?” asked SearchMan.

“Yes, I do,” answered Laika before turning to Nicol.

“It’s time for you to die,” the boy said menacingly.

“Nicol, what’s happened to you?” asked Laika, “We may be enemies, but you wouldn’t dare take a life. The first time we met, you couldn’t even bring yourself to shoot a gun.” It was Fefnir who answered as he screamed from his PET.

“It took some coaxing,” the red-armored Navi explained, “You’d be surprised what effects the Crest of Arcadia has on humans. We got Nicol to use it while in Cross Fusion. Now he’s turned to our way of thinking! The spineless wimp is finally gone. Good riddance, I say!”

“That is just cruel and inhumane,” Laika muttered.

“A, you’re one to talk seeing as you’re a soldier yourself,” Fefnir called, “And B, I’m not a human so what do I care? Anyway, let’s get to it!” Nicol slotted the Crest of Arcadia into his PET followed by his Synchro Chip.

“Synchro Chip, in!”

“CROSS FUSION!”

Laika quickly slotted in his own Synchro Chip and performed Cross Fusion. Before long, R SearchMan and R Fefnir stood across from each other amidst the searing heat and rivers of molten lava flowing around them.

“Scope Gun!”

“Fireball!”

* * *

MegaMan and Omega X circle-strafed each other along the perimeter of the battlefield, firing their weapons constantly and intercepting one another’s shots in the center.

“Grand Army of Neo Arcadia Battlechip in, download!” Saiba inserted a chip into his PET and Omega X stopped in his tracks and raised his hand over his head.

“Grand Army of Neo Arcadia, come forth!” he bellowed. In a flash, a massive column of white light dropped down before him and deposited a massive army of Navis. Lan and MegaMan gasped.

“These are all the Navis that were taken by the Crest of Arcadia!” the twins exclaimed simultaneously.

“That’s right,” Saiba laughed, “I’ve been gathering all the Navis who were stupid enough to use the Crest of Arcadia without knowing how to use it throughout the tournament just so I could use this chip. Now Lan, it’s time to face them all again!”

“Attack!” commanded Omega X. The Crest of Arcadia shined brightly on the Navis’ bodies and they lunged at MegaMan.

* * *

R Fefnir cried out as he jumped into the air and brought his pile bunker down on top of his opponent. R SearchMan quickly leapt away and the attempted attack slammed into the ground. The red-armored fanatic pulled his weapon out and launched a fireball, which his opponent managed to avoid. R SearchMan jumped back and landed on the other side of a nearby lava river.

“RedWave!” R Fefnir quickly ran to the bank and slammed his weapon against it. The impact caused a massive wave of lava to rise up and flow towards R SearchMan. Recalling the past battles he and his friends fought in the past against Fefnir, he called on an IceBall and threw it into the wave, which cooled and hardened when the explosive detonated inside it. He then prepared to fire through the newly formed wall, but R Fefnir broke through it, grabbed him in his Torch Claw, and threw him across the scorching environment. R SearchMan quickly fired several shots in the direction he was flying in to slow himself down and grabbed onto a large boulder to bring himself to a stop. He quickly got off and readied his weapon as R Fefnir suddenly appeared from behind a hill and attacked with his flamethrower. R SearchMan evaded his attack and countered with a Scope Gun shot. He hit his opponent’s left shoulder guard, but no other damage was dealt as the Nebula fanatic raised his weapon into the air and launched his Meteor Rain. The sniper quickly ran for cover as the flame storm came down like hail. Several crosshairs appeared on his targeting lens and locked onto the fireballs. Holding up his Scope Gun, he fired three rounds and intercepted them with his multi-targeting ability. Once the danger was gone, he summoned a Search Grenade into his hand and threw it. R Fefnir jumped as it landed near his feet and exploded.

“You missed!” he laughed.

“Satellite Ray!” R SearchMan quickly summoned one of his satellites and it fired its laser at R Fefnir while he was still in the air. The beam slammed him in the chest and sent him crashing into the ground. He picked himself up quickly and grabbed a large rock with his pile bunker. Pouring all of his strength into his right arm, he pulled the stone up and swung it around before throwing it at his opponent. R SearchMan waited until the large obstacle was within range and then jumped back, escaping the fate of being crushed. He landed on a stone arch suspending over a lava stream and fired four more shots from his Scope Gun before stopping to reload.

“Take this!” R Fefnir jumped high over the arch and slammed his weapon down. His opponent stepped back and he struck the rock instead. He pulled out his pile bunker and swung it at the sniper. R SearchMan leaned back to avoid getting hit and fired at his foe’s feet. R Fefnir leapt up and threw a punch with his right arm. His weapon slammed into his opponent’s chest and sent him flying off the arch. R SearchMan flipped around in the air and fired back. He landed on a tall mound of hardened lava and reloaded again.

“AntiDamage Battlechip.” The soldier from Sharo created a body double and placed several Search Grenades near its feet before jumping away and activating his cloaking program. When R Fefnir came, he slammed his Torch Claw into the dummy and detonated the explosives. He was thrown back from the resulting explosion and dug his weapon into the ground to stop himself. R SearchMan dropped invisibility and ran toward his opponent. He fired several times and hit his target flawlessly. R Fefnir pulled out his weapon and barrelled into the sniper.

“Sword!” R SearchMan’s free hand morphed into a sword and he slashed his enemy across the chest. The fiery Cross Fused Navi leapt back and glared daggers at his opponent.

“Clever move,” he commented.

“A soldier always carries a weapon for close combat,” R SearchMan replied, “usually an easily-concealed knife. The Sword chip makes an adequate substitute for Cross Fusion combat.”

“Well, too bad it’s not going to help too much in this fight. Crest of Arcadia!” R Fefnir’s icon was replaced by the Crest and he launched himself forward once again. His opponent fired his sniper rifle at the base of a nearby boulder and forced it to topple over. Unfortunately, his attempt failed to stop the mad pyromaniac as he broke through the stone with his pile bunker. He thrust his weapon out and launched a massive fire blast that engulfed R SearchMan. The green gunner quickly jumped back and fired another Satellite Ray, but R Fefnir dashed out of the way and slammed his weapon into the ground, creating a massive shockwave that broke off pieces of rock as it moved towards it target.

“VariableSword!” R SearchMan’s hand transformed into a VariableSword and he sliced down, sending a vertical Sonic Boom that split the shockwave in two and gave him a safe zone between the halves.

“Meteor Rain!” R Fefnir launched a flare into the air and it exploded into a shower of flames. They came down with such force that even rocks broke apart upon contact. Even if he were to find cover, R SearchMan still would not be safe. The best he was able to do was intercept as many of the flames as they fell but their speed and numbers made it most difficult. Several of them ended up hitting him instead of getting blasted.

“Don’t think you can keep this up for long,” R Fefnir gloated, “You can’t endure the heat like this whereas my armor gives me the protection I need. He launched five fireballs and sixty percent of them hit his target.

“Activate cloaking program,” muttered R SearchMan. He quickly disappeared from his opponent’s sights and went around for a back attack.

“Do you honestly think that’ll work?” scoffed R Fefnir, “Here, let me show you how it’s countered.” His Torch Claw began to glow and he slammed it deep into the ground, causing the rock to split and several pieces to slide out into the lava flows. He then blasted the lava itself and a massive wave rose up and swept across the scorching terrain towards R SearchMan. His attack struck his opponent and sent him flying back while dropping his invisibility in the process.

“Firaga Tower!” R Fefnir leapt off his floating rock and slammed his Torch Claw into the ground, calling forth a pillar of fire thrice the size of a Fire Tower. It burned its way towards R SearchMan, incinerating everything in its path and leaving a long black trail of scorch marks. It took the green gunner approximately twelve Search Grenades to destroy it and they all had to be clumped together in order to make the explosion powerful enough to do the job.

“Hey Laika!” R SearchMan looked up at the mention of his name and saw R Fefnir holding a giant boulder over his head, “Did you know there was a fire version of the Geyser chip?”

“There’s no such Battlechip,” the soldier from Sharo answered.

“Who said it was a Battlechip?” R Fefnir’s grin grew wider as he hurled the boulder into a lava pit and splashed up a massive amount of molten rock the size of a Geyser Battlechip. The lava swallowed up everything on the ground within a twenty-five to thirty meter radius. R SearchMan was able to avoid getting killed by the attack by summoning one of his satellites and clinging onto it until the while thing had passed. He pulled himself up on top of the floating obstacle and sat down to reload his gun. Once he was done, he aimed his satellite down at R Fefnir and fired. His opponent jumped back from the laser, but the energy waves that spread out from it caught him. At that moment, R SearchMan leapt off the satellite and fell toward the ground while shooting at his enemy. R Fefnir flipped away and dove behind the remains of a stone arch from which he launched a Meteor Rain. Being airborne, R SearchMan was unable to dodge it and he received several hits to the back from the flames.

“And if you think that was bad, just wait until I use this. Meteor Battlechip!” Once again, great balls of fire rained down from the heavens, but this time they were solid meteorites and not just flames. R SearchMan turned himself around and used a Waterline chip to extinguish them all before activating a MetaGel to cushion his fall. As soon as his feet were back on the ground, more gelatinous blobs fell from the sky and tried to slam down on top of R Fefnir. He jumped back repeatedly as one fell after another like a carpet bombing. One finally dropped on top of him and two more followed. R SearchMan quickly activated a pair of AquaWhirl3 Battlechips and sent two watery cyclones spinning toward his opponent. When R Fefnir broke free of the MetaGels, the AquaWhirls hit and R SearchMan followed it up with a WideShot3 that successfully hit its mark.

“This can’t be happening!” screamed R Fefnir. He picked himself up and plunged his pile bunker into a lava pit. He absorbed as much as he could into his weapon before releasing it upon his enemy. R SearchMan dashed away and the attack splashed against the rocks. R Fefnir growled and ran across the molten terrain with his opponent hot on his heels. The chase took them across the great Burning Plains all the way to a large volcano. R Fefnir ran into a tunnel on the side of the mountain and R SearchMan stopped in his tracks.

“He’s definitely up to something,” he surmised, “Why else would he lead me all the way to the interior of a volcano?” The blue-haired soldier paused to reload his Scope Gun and checked his supply of Battlechips and grenades before entering with his cloaking program active. When he emerged from the tunnel, he found himself in the very heart of the volcano.

“Welcome to the heart of Hell’s Mountain,” R Fefnir’s voice echoed throughout the crater, “the most dangerous place in the great Burning Plains of Neo Arcadia!” The Cross Fused NetBattler himself emerged from another cavern and immediately engaged his foe with full power. He threw out his right arm, which R SearchMan evaded, and reduced a boulder to rubble. He whipped around and slammed his pile bunker into the newly-formed pile of rocks, generating a shockwave that blasted them against his opponent. R SearchMan was hit and was nearly knocked into the lava. He steadied himself and rolled to the side as his foe slammed his weapon down toward him. He sprang back to his feet and fired several shots from his Scope Gun. R Fefnir raised his Torch Claw and used it as a shield. Once he was clear to attack, he fired his flamethrower and swallowed up his opponent in a searing blaze.

“Burn!” he cried insanely, “Burn in the fires of Hell!” Three gunshots fired out from the flames and hit his pile bunker, throwing it off aim. R SearchMan leapt up into the air and released four more shots that hit his opponent’s shoulder guards. He landed back on the ground and rolled a Search Grenade at his feet. The explosive detonated and blasted R Fefnir back.

“A home field advantage is nothing to be proud of,” he said flatly as he reloaded his gun, “Fighting in your element does not guarantee victory. Whoever can best adapt to the environment will be the one to succeed.”

“Less talking, more hitting!” R Fefnir launched several fireballs at his enemy, who countered them with his Scope Gun. The sniper shots pierced through the flames upon interception.

“Meteor Rain!” The hot-tempered warrior launched a large fireball into the air where it exploded into a shower of flames that rained down on the battlefield.

“Spreader!” R SearchMan’s free hand transformed into a spread gun and he pointed it upward. Multiple crosshairs appeared on his visor and targeted the flames. When he fired, the spread blast split into nine beams, which spiralled through the air and intercepted every target. When the hailstorm of flames was dealt with, he turned toward his opponent and called on a Program Advance.

“Triple Vulcan3 Battlechips! InfiniteVulcan3!” The soldier from Sharo took aim with his new chaingun and fired a steady barrage of bullets. His opponent raised his right arm and shielded himself from the attack with his pile bunker. Despite his protection, some shots still managed to get past his defenses and hit his body.

“GoldFist!” R Fefnir’s Torch Claw began to shine bright gold and he slammed his weapon into the ground. The impact created a shockwave that tore through the rock as it streaked toward R SearchMan. The green-armored soldier jumped back and the wave missed him completely. It reached the end of the rock and continued along the magma until it struck the wall. Tremors shook through the crater, causing both combatants to look around in concern. However, R Fefnir simply shrugged it off a few seconds later and prepared for another attack.

“FireSword! FireBlade!” A glowing orange sword slide out from the barrel of his pile bunker and his left hand changed into a flame steel blade. He crossed both weapons in front of his chest and grinned maniacally. After activating a FireAura and surrounding himself with a blazing red glow, he charged forward.

“AquaBlade Battlechip!” R SearchMan’s free hand morphed into a long steel blade and a blue aura surrounded the edge. He raised it just as R Fefnir swung down with his FireSword and jumped back when he attacked with a horizontal slash at his legs. He landed on a pillar of solidified lava and fired until he had emptied his gun. R Fefnir took the chance to attack and leapt up toward him. He swung both swords at once and landed a flaming cross-slash on his opponent’s chest. R SearchMan fell from his perch and called on a DashAttack to catch him. He stood up on the Fishy and looked back up. R Fefnir had jumped down after him and was ready to strike with his two swords. R SearchMan reloaded his gun and got ready. When his opponent was in range, he thrust up his left arm and stabbed him with his AquaBlade. The red-armored Cross Fused Navi gasped as the blade pierced his side and he fell onto the center rock. He stood up and glared menacingly at his opponent as he landed on the other side.

“Volcano Battlechip.” R Fefnir’s swords vanished and he pointed his pile bunker at his foe. He gathered up the lava surrounding him and concentrated it into his weapon. Once he began to exceed its limit, he unleashed the built-up mass of liquid molten rock. R SearchMan ran as fast as he could to avoid getting hit. R Fefnir followed his opponent with his attack and lava struck the walls and the rocks as he tried to land a hit on the sniper.

“Satellite Ray!” R SearchMan summoned one of his satellites and it fired down on R Fefnir. The pyromaniac was so preoccupied with trying to hit his opponent with lava that he was completely oblivious to all else around him and thus got the full brunt of the laser when it struck his back. He angrily grabbed a large rock in his pile bunker’s claws and threw it up. He struck the telescope lens and watched as it fell into the lava. He grabbed another rock and threw it at R SearchMan, who blasted it into pieces with a Mega Cannon. He then charged toward his foe at full speed, but the green-armored Net Savior stepped to the side and slashed his AquaBlade through his body. He pushed him back and discarded the sword before re-equipping himself with a WideShot3. He took aim and launched a wide blast of water. R Fefnir took the hit and growled.

“You’re in for it now!” he shouted, “Salamander Battlechip!” Flames rose up around his body and took on the form of a giant dragon. The flaming beast roared loudly and dove in toward R SearchMan, who brought up his sniper rifle and fired. His shots passed right through the Salamander and hit the wall of the crater. He muttered something and jumped back just before the living inferno engulfed the spot he had just abandoned. He landed on a smoking spire and reloaded his weapon before jumping off and activating his cloaking program.

“It’s no use!” R Fefnir bellowed from inside the Salamander, “I will find you and I will incinerate you until nothing is left!”

“Nicol!” R SearchMan’s voice ran out, “I know you’re still in there. If you can hear my words, listen carefully! Try to fight Fefnir’s control! You’re the operator. You CAN overcome him!”

“It’s useless!” R Fefnir cried. Suddenly, his body seemed to pulsate and he hunched over as he landed back on the ground still surrounded by living flames.

“No,” he grunted, “Even after the Crest of Arcadia took its effect on you, you still manage to resist?” R Fefnir stood up and screamed. He activated the Crest of Arcadia and the dreaded symbol replaced his icon. He glared at R SearchMan and shot a fireball at him.

“It was hard enough trying to suppress Nicol earlier,” he snarled, “Don’t make it any harder.” He Salamander flared up and he launched himself at his opponent again.

“Fountain Battlechip!” R SearchMan dropped his invisibility and called forth a giant tsunami. The two elemental Mega Chips collided and cancelled each other out. The sniper quickly called on a WideBlade and sliced off a large spire, which he sent falling on top of R Fefnir, who broke through it with his pile bunker. R SearchMan carefully targeted his opponent and fired. His aim was true and his shot struck the binding on his opponent’s right arm and knocked the Torch Claw away. R Fefnir made a rush for it, but it was shot right out of his grasp. R SearchMan called on two satellites and their Satellite Rays crossed paths in front of his foe, blocking him access to his weapon.

“Bastard,” growled R Fefnir. R SearchMan quickly AreaGrabbed behind his opponent, trapped him in a headlock, slid a small knife out of his glove, and pressed the blade against his throat.

“Laika…” Nicol’s voice forced itself out from his body’s mouth, “Do it now, please. Before anything else happens…”

“Understood.” R SearchMan pressed his knife deeper against R Fefnir’s neck. Then with one swift movement, he slid out his arm and plunged the blade into his back. He released his hold and his opponent slumped to the ground. He crossed out and his PET ejected the Crest of Arcadia. The white chip flew through the air and landed in the lava. The image of the Crest shone brightly for a moment before it melted until nothing remained. R SearchMan looked at the unconscious Nicol and pulled him onto his shoulders before making his away out of the volcano. Once outside, he crossed out and looked around the fiery landscape of the great Burning Plains. He could see the spire of the central city in the distance beyond the smoke and soot and started walking toward it.

* * *

“Lion Head!” MegaMan dove to the side and just barely dodged DesertMan’s attack.

“Bright Beam!”

“Star Arrow!”

BrightMan and StarMan fired their attacks simultaneously and the blue NetNavi rolled away to avoid them both. He sprang back to his feet and just narrowly evaded BeastMan’s claws.

“You can’t keep this pace up forever, MegaMan,” Omega X declared, “Even if you were to defeat them all, you’d still have me to deal with.” MegaMan dropped onto all fours breathing heavily. The army of Navis closed in on him from all directions.

“Lan, I’m sorry,” he whispered as he braced himself for what was to come.

“Finish him!” commanded Omega X.

“Not if I have anything to say about it! Jack in!! Lumine, power up!” From his position on the side, Noah jacked in his Navi and deposited Lumine into the server.

“Heaven’s Judgment!” The angelic Navi spread out his wings and unleashed a massive storm of glowing white feathers onto the Navi army.

“Lan, stay focused on Saiba,” Noah said to the brunet.

“Thanks, Noah.” Lan turned his attention back to his PET and revitalized his Navi with a FullEnergy Subchip. MegaMan looked up and saw that Omega X was flying away toward the ceiling.

“Get back here!” he shouted and he chased after the holy armored Navi by leaping up the wall. Omega X looked down at the blue warrior and continued on his path. The Crest of Arcadia on the ceiling seemed to open up and allowed him passage. MegaMan growled and followed as quickly as his legs would allow him to jump. Fortunately, Lan sent him a DoubleJump chip and it gave him the boost he needed to catch up before the ceiling closed. He arrived in another sanctuary and looked around. It was much larger than the first area in diameter with the Crest of Arcadia emblazoned on the floor. White light streamed in from the seemingly invisible glass dome that covered the area.

“This is where it will all end, MegaMan!” Omega X declared, “You shall die here in the Great Heaven of Neo Arcadia.” MegaMan got ready and his opponent attacked.

--------------------------------
End of chapter 3-78.

CHAPTER PREVIEW
Lan: Maylu’s final battle against Diana takes place in the great Freezing Plains.
MegaMan: It’s a treacherous battlefield. It won’t be an easy fight.
Lan: Diana’s conniving and manipulative. She just might lure Maylu into a whole slew of traps.
MegaMan: I hope they come out alright.
Lan & MegaMan: Next time on Rockman.EXE: The College Years, “Fall of the Final Subordinate”.
Lan: Diana’s the final member of Saiba’s crew left to deal with.
MegaMan: I hope nothing happens to Maylu and Roll.
_________________

[Mugen.exe]

Cool chapter. It really came alive at the end, with Rockman's fight. I look forward to Meiru's battle, hoping it will be even better than Searchman's.
_________________

False Swipe is a great finishing move!
Witty robots, spunky orphans, and invincible pilots, this link's for you! A Gundam RP

[Midnight]

Well...

I must say that I am again somewhat impressed with this chapter. Although the combat was a little thick at points, I found myself compelled to read it through and see how it ends.

The background conflict between Megaman and all of the captured navis is a bit unsettling to me, unfortunately. I don't see it yet, but I feel that eventually it threatens to end rather anticlimactically.
_________________
Today, these three players are after Big Bucks! But they'll have to avoid the Whammy, as they play the most exciting game of their lives! From Television City in Hollywood! It's time to 'Press Your Luck!'--Rod Roddy

The Kingdom of Loathing: An Adventurer is You! // I ♣ Seals

Avatar by Spork. I very much appreciate it! <3

[Anime Master ZERO]

CHAPTER 3-79
Fall of the Final Subordinate

Maylu’s eyes never left Diana’s as the two stood in the great Freezing Plains.

“I hope you’re ready for this, Sakurai,” said Diana, “because this is going to be the final battle.” She took out her Crest of Arcadia and her Synchro Chip and slotted them in. Once she had attained Cross Fusion, she activated her spearhead and held her weapon ready.

“Synchro Chip, in!” Maylu slotted in her Synchro Chip and held out her PET.

“CROSS FUSION!”

R Roll got into her stance and prepared herself for her opponent’s attack. Without warning, R Leviathan went on the offensive and unleashed a massive Frozen Barrage.

* * *

“Gun Del Sol 1 Battlechip in, download!” For some reason, Saiba used blacklights to illuminate most of the chamber save for the top of the stairs so they acted as a decent substitute for sunlight as Lumine fired the Solar Gun at the army of Navis. Meanwhile, MegaMan and Omega X were engaged against one another in the higher sanctuary.

“Are you sure you can keep up with me?” the winged Navi challenged.

“I don’t care,” MegaMan replied, “I’m going to do everything it takes to bring you down!”

* * *

R Leviathan slammed her spear into the glacier on which she stood and broke off several large pieces of ice. R Roll leapt back from the avalanche her foe had made and the frozen boulders crashed into the ground, kicking up snow and ice shards.

“RandomMeteor Battlechip!” A staff appeared in the redhead’s hand and meteors rained down toward her opponent as she raised it over her head. R Leviathan ran to the side as the flaming rocks shot down on her and slammed into the glacier.

“Frozen Barrage!”

“Heart Slash!”

The bombardment of icicles met with the hailstorm of hearts and the two attacks cancelled each other out. R Leviathan broke off another piece of the glacier and slid down the newly-formed surface. Her opponent jumped back from the ice and fired a Roll Arrow, which she deflected with her spear. The icy Amazon leapt into the air and thrust her weapon downward. R Roll avoided her attack and prepared another Roll Arrow. R Leviathan swung her spear along the ground and kicked up a cloud of snow. R Roll covered her face and the other NetBattler ran up and slammed the pole of her spear into her. She pushed up and threw her opponent across the ice field. She skidded along the ground and eventually came to a stop next to a giant ice stalagmite. R Leviathan brought her spear into a jousting position and charged. When R Roll saw her coming, she quickly activated a Wind chip and a WindBox virus appeared and blew her opponent away. The pink-clad NetBattler got back up to her feet.

“CornShot3 Battlechip!” Her hand transformed into a head that had a slight resemblance to a cob of corn and she stepped into the path of the WindBox and allowed it to push her forward. As she came up to R Leviathan, she held out her weapon and its mouth burst open and pelted the Aqua-element Cross Fused Navi with a bombardment of kernels.

After receiving the full brunt of the attack, R Leviathan got back up and turned to face her opponent.

“Ice Trident!” Her spearhead transformed into a three-pronged fork and she ran after R Roll. As she approached, she held her weapon toward her and unleashed a Frozen Barrage. Icicles shot out from the prongs of her trident, which tripled the number of projectiles in her attack.

“Twister Battlechip!” R Roll fired a whirlwind and blew the icicles off course, but she didn’t stop there. She continued her attack and the twister hit R Leviathan, slamming her into a glacier.

“Ice Glaive!” The trident head vanished and replaced itself with a blue saber. The icy Amazon jumped toward her opponent and swung her weapon. R Roll flipped over the blade and landed safely behind its path.

“Roll Whip!” The pink-clad NetBattler took advantage of the close distance between her and her opponent and lashed out with her antennae. R Leviathan tried to slap them away, but to no avail. She thrust the end of her glaive against the ice and pushed herself away. Once she was out of range, she leapt back onto her feet.

“Ice Halberd!” The glaive head was replaced by an axe with a long spike and R Leviathan ran back toward her opponent and swung it down on her. R Roll dove to the side and rolled along the ice as the massive axe head slammed into the ground and split it. She sprang back up onto her feet and fired a Roll Arrow. R Leviathan pulled out her halberd and deflected the pink projectile away. Almost immediately following, she converted her weapon into a partisan and charged again. She swung back and forth trying to strike her enemy, but continued to miss.

“Diana, randomly swinging at your opponent isn’t going to help you win,” Leviathan called from inside.

“Well if you’re such an expert spearwoman, why don’t you take over?” replied R Leviathan.

“My pleasure.”

R Leviathan activated the Crest of Arcadia and the shining emblem appeared in place of her icon. At the same time, Leviathan’s personality seemed to take over, as well. She switched back to her default spearhead and attacked with a series of rapid jabs similar to YamatoMan’s Thousand Spears. R Roll backed away as quickly as she could, but the thrusts came too quickly for her and she was quickly thrown back. She twisted herself around in midair and launched a Heart Slash, but R Leviathan blocked every single one of her hearts by spinning her spear.

“Ice Ring!” The icy Cross Fused Navi threw an ice chakram and clipped her opponent’s shoulder. She threw another and landed a hit on her stomach. R Roll landed back on the snow-covered ground and planted her hand against it.

“AquaTower Battlechip!” Water poured out of her palm and rose up in the form of a massive pillar that washed towards R Leviathan.

“You’re forgetting something! Water freezes!” She threw two more Ice Rings into the AquaTower and froze it.

“That’s exactly what I wanted you to do. WideSword Battlechip!” R Roll rushed in with her newly-equipped WideSword and sliced at the base of the frozen AquaTower. The ice column tipped and fell toward R Leviathan.

“I can avoid that no problem,” she said and stepped to the side.

“I’m not finished!” declared R Roll, “TripleBomb Battlechip!” She threw the TripleBomb and it attached itself to the AquaTower before exploding, sending ice chunks hailing down on her opponent. R Leviathan tried to get knock them away, but she could only deflect so many and the rest simply fell on top of her. R Roll activated an ElecReel3 and got ready. Even though she hadn’t been in as many battles as Lan, Chaud, Sean, or Laika, she still knew that she couldn’t count on any attack being fully capable of finishing off her opponent. True enough, R Leviathan soon burst up from the ice rubble and she immediately fired a bolt of electricity from the electrodes on her arm. Her attack caught her enemy off guard and she hit her dead-on.

“I’m going to bring a swift end to this no matter what the cost,” swore R Leviathan. She gripped her spear tightly and pulled it apart into two segments. The half with the head extended into a full length weapon and she placed the other half on her belt before attacking. Her thrusts were much faster now that her spear was lighter. R Roll activated a LongBlade chip and used it to deflect her opponent’s attacks.

“Not bad. But let’s see how you can handle this.” R Leviathan pulled back and retracted her spear. She flicked a switch near the head and pulled it of. The rest of her weapon into two and each half unfolded into a long pole. A long blade-like spike slid out from each end, giving her two double-headed lances. She then took the spearhead she had detached and a long pole extended out from the base.

“How many weapons do you have in that spear, anyway?” asked R Roll.

“About six in total,” answered R Leviathan, “And I plan to use every single one of them on you.” She stuck her three lances into the ground in front of her and grabbed the staff segment she had set aside earlier, which she broke up into three pieces. Two of them sprouted long spikes from either end, creating long javelin-like weapons. The last piece, which was the base of the original spear, bore a spike that gave it an appearance similar to that of an ice pick. But before long, it had extended into a full length jousting lance. With her spear now split into it separate components, she placed four of her weapons onto her back and grabbed the remaining two before running toward R Roll. She skillfully spun the lances in her hands and slashed at her opponent with them. The pink-clad NetBattler used her LongBlade to block, but R Leviathan shattered the blade and ran her through.

“Harpuia was right,” the icy Amazon commented, “You really can accomplish more with multiple weapons.” As she brought herself to a stop behind her opponent, she stuck one of her lances into the ground and used the momentum of her slide to turn herself around and launch herself back at R Roll, who was still recovering from the last attack.

“Maylu, she’s coming again!” exclaimed Roll.

“Frozen Barrage!” R Leviathan spun her lances around and unleashed a massive storm of icicles. R Roll quickly activated a HotBody3 and surrounded herself with flames that melted the frozen projectiles. However, her enemy didn’t stop there. She continued to spin her weapons as the ends began to frost up and created two giant ice chakrams.

“Ice Rings!” Once she had built up enough power, she thrust her arms forward and released her projectiles. The chakrams crisscrossed each other’s paths as they rolled across the battlefield like Bass’ Hell’s Rolling. R Roll was positioned on one of their many points of intersection and the discs hit her hard, throwing her back into the snow.

“Maylu!” Roll cried.

“I’m okay, Roll,” R Roll replied as she invoked the power of a Recover300 chip. She stood back up and turned back toward R Leviathan. Holding up her hand, she activated three Vulcan3 chips and fused them into a single chaingun on her arm.

“InfiniteVulcan3!”

“Arctic Gale!” R Leviathan detached all four lances from her back and let go of the two in her hands. A strong freezing wind surrounded her, ensnared her polearms, and spun them around her. The speed at which her weapons flew deflected the bullets away, leaving her completely unscathed.

“You’ll have to do better than that,” she laughed, “My spears form an impenetrable barrier around me. There’s no way you can get through.”

“It doesn’t matter,” R Roll replied as her hand changed back to normal, “I can still try. Lan, Sean, and the others would never give up even if the odds were against them and I’ll do the same.”

“Just try it.” R Leviathan grabbed one of her spears in her left hand and two more in the other. The three remaining weapons continued to circle her as she began her attack. R Roll jumped back to avoid getting slashed by the barrier, but her opponent threw one of the lances in her right hand and struck her down. She caught it on its return and charged ahead. Her opponent got back up to her feet and activated a DrillArm3. As R Leviathan came in, the redhead ran forward and stabbed her weapon into the gale of swirling spears. Two of the polearms closed over the bit like a pair of scissors and the spear-wielding woman stabbed out with the lance in her left hand. R Roll ducked and deflected it to the side with her Roll Whip before pulling her DrillArm3 free and thrusting it forward only to have it caught again.

“I told you it was impenetrable,” R Leviathan smirked as she released one of the spears in her right hand into the gale with the other three. She struck out with the two she still held and her opponent quickly used an Aura chip to block them.

“WindRacket Battlechip!” Her drill disappeared and was replaced by a fan, which she used to blow away her opponent. R Leviathan was thrown back and she hit a glacier.

“How could she block a Breaking-type chip?” wondered Roll.

“She didn’t,” her operator answered, “She just caught it. She knows that Breaking chips can penetrate defenses, so she designed her shield so that it would catch weapons instead of blocking them.”

“I guess we didn’t give her enough credit,” Roll replied thoughtfully.

“Well, now we know what she’s capable of so let’s try to find a way around it.” R Roll faced R Leviathan as she came over to her.

“That wasn’t too bad,” she commented, “But I won’t fall for it again. Now take this!” She held her lances out to the sides and the four that surrounded her connected to them end-to-end, two on each, creating a pair of long nunchaku-like weapons. R Roll jumped back as she lashed out and they shattered a large block of ice. R Leviathan reeled them in and attacked again. R Roll flew away as fast as she could, but the onslaught kept coming. The Aqua-element warrior then combined the two spears she held by their tips and created one long weapons, which she immediately used. The pink-clad NetBattler dodged it, but R Leviathan suddenly pulled back on her spear and detached the other five. They split apart and surrounded her opponent before unleashing a powerful multi-hitting attack from all sides before returning to their owner. The Aqua-element Cross Fused Navi grabbed one and the rest returned to form her barrier.

I have to get past those spears somehow, R Roll thought to herself, Breaking chips have already proven to be useless since they catch weapons instead of block them and long-range attacks will just get deflected.

“It’s time to bring this thing to an end!” declared R Leviathan. Her lances ceased spinning and stood at attention around her. She raised the spear in her hand and pointed it toward the sky. All six polearms started to frost up and the five around her shot a beam of ice at the one in her hand. The energy built up in the spearhead until it began to overflow and it glowed out from within in the form of a ball. R Leviathan brought her weapon down and spun around before thrusting it back up and firing a powerful beam of ice into the clouds. A strong wind picked up and before long a massive blizzard unlike any other had covered the great Freezing Plains of Neo Arcadia.

“Maylu, what’s going on out there?” asked Roll.

“I’m not sure!” her operator replied, “but it’s something big.” The wind seemed to change direction and created a large winding funnel of ice and snow. A large pair of wings suddenly burst out from the freezing whirlwind and a giant dragon big enough to rival the size of Bahamut SIN emerged. Its roar shook the battlefield as it revealed its full body. It let out another deafening cry and four more heads sprouted out from its body.

“Tiamat, attack!” ordered R Leviathan. The massive dragon spread out her wings and swooped down toward R Roll. Her claws dragged long the ground, leaving deep trenches in her wake. The pink-clad NetBattler dove to the side and narrowly escaped from the razor-sharp appendages.

“Feel the power of my ice dragon combined with the Crest of Arcadia!” R Leviathan cackled. Tiamat turned around and flew back toward her target. All five heads roared and the center one unleashed a powerful ice blast from its mouth. R Roll activated a CustomSword and a FastGauge to quickly increase the blade’s power. As soon as it reached maximum strength, she sliced horizontally at the ice beam. It was a very bad move on her part. While she succeeded in splitting the attack, it did not stop it and her sword and her arm were frozen solid. Another HotBody3 thawed her out and she turned back to face the dragon.

She has no chance against Tiamat, thought R Leviathan as her spears returned to protect her.

“Roll Arrow!” R Roll fired one arrow after another at Tiamat, but nothing she did could fell the massive beast. The five-headed dragon swooped down and slashed with its claws again. The redhead was able to avoid it, but Tiamat’s tail struck her hard from the side and sent her flying into the side of a glacier. The icy monster flew over to her and landed. She raised all five heads and looked directly at her prey as she crawled closer to her. The two outermost ones moved in close and opened their mouths. R Roll groaned as she recovered from her crash and looked ahead to see two gaping maws approaching her. Suddenly, an idea came to her.

“LavaSeed Battlechip!” A glowing red seed appeared in her hand as she pulled herself out from the glacier and she threw it into the rightmost head’s maw. When it exploded and spilled lava all over the inside of the mouth and the throat, Tiamat instantly withdrew. R Roll quickly pulled herself free and recovered before leaping into the air and unleashing a Heart Slash on the monster. Pink hearts pelted the beast from above, but failed to do much damage.

“Trident Battlechip!” A steel fish appeared before R Roll and it launched needles into three of the ice dragon’s heads. Tiamat roared and the two that weren’t hit retaliated with deadly ice blasts. The pink-clad NetBattler flew away as fast as she could and landed behind her with one of her opponent’s heads following with its eyes.

“Rush Hole!” She punched the ground and a large hole opened up. In response, Tiamat opened up her wings and flew up before it fully appeared.

“Nothing has ever escaped Rush Hole before!” exclaimed Roll.

“I think I know what we need to do,” R Roll said to her Navi, “StepCross Battlechip!” She gained a pair of WideSwords and teleported toward R Leviathan, who thought that her dragon would keep her enemy too busy to even think of attacking her. However, her previous assumption had apparently been proven false as R Roll cross-slashed her as she passed.

“Damn you, woman,” R Leviathan muttered as she turned around.

“It looks like your defense isn’t quite so impenetrable,” R Roll noted, “Once past those spears, you’re an open target.”

“Well then, I’ll just have to make sure that doesn’t happen again.” R Leviathan leapt high into the air as Tiamat flew under her and landed on the dragon’s back, “Tiamat, let’s destroy her!” She unleashed a massive Frozen Barrage as her mount fired three ice blasts.

“AntiDamage!” R Roll disappeared and left a dummy in her place, which took the hit of the attacks and she reappeared overhead from where she threw three shuriken onto R Leviathan. She then flew down as and kicked her off the dragon’s back. The women landed on the ground and threw themselves at each other. The redhead activated a KnightSword and a Katana3 and swung out. R Leviathan blocked with her spear barrier and jabbed her lance at her. R Roll deflected it aside with her antennae and swung her Katana3 at her opponent’s legs. One of the spears shot down and blocked her attack before she slide up along the shaft and thrust the blade forward only to have it deflected by a javelin. R Leviathan pushed her back and jumped away as Tiamat flew in again and fired another ice blast. A Waterline chip summoned a large wave in front of R Roll and froze upon being hit by the attack. Tiamat suddenly broke through the wall of ice and smacked her with her hand. She landed on a glacier, turned around, reared up on her hind legs, and let loose a mighty roar with all five heads. The two immediately surrounding the center head opened their mouths and fired another set of ice blasts.

“Ice Rings!” R Leviathan spun all of her lances around and created six giant ice chakrams, which she launched the moment they had fully formed. R Roll looked around her and saw that she was trapped between the two attacks.

“What are we going to do, Roll?” she asked.

“Don’t we have Rush’s ability to summon viruses?” Roll inquired.

“Hey, you’re right!” R Roll exclaimed, “Mettaur Omegas, I need your help!” A Rush Hole appeared and a whole horde of Mettaur Omegas popped out. They formed two walls on either side of the pink Cross Fused NetNavi and pulled their helmet down. The chakrams and the ice blasts hit the viruses and destroyed them all. However, sacrifice was not in vain as they had managed to stop the attacks from reaching R Roll.

“Hey, Diana! How would you like to see my own set of dragons?” she asked. Another Rush Hole opened up and a massive flock of Bluegons flew out. They roared and launched their Ice Breaths at R Leviathan, who deflected them away with her lances and then shot them all into the dragon viruses, impaling their chests and deleting them.

“I think it’s pathetic!” she cried. A loud roar turned her attention toward Tiamat and she gasped. Her five-headed dragon was under attack by countless Yellowgon and Lava Dragon viruses. The Bluegons had just been a distraction to allow the others to come out without being shot down. The viruses’ attacks were having a powerful affect on Tiamat and she was faltering from their combined assault.

“Tiamat!” shouted R Leviathan, “Don’t let those low-rate dragons beat you! Destroy them!” Tiamat roared and unleashed her ice blasts from all five heads. The Lava Dragons were deleted quickly, but the Yellowgons managed to hold out a little longer and resumed their Lighting Breath attacks before being erased.

“It looks like your dragon isn’t so powerful after all,” R Roll observed.

“Damn you, bitch!” screamed R Leviathan as she rushed toward her opponent and thrust two of her lances at her.

“Double DrillArm3s!” R Roll activated two DrillArm3 chips and she thrust her drills forward. The spear barrier caught them and immobilized her arms.

“Didn’t you learn anything from the first time you tried that?” R Leviathan scoffed, “You can’t get through!”

“Yes, I know,” R Roll replied, “I know that your spears catch weapons instead of block them. VariableSword!” Her right drill transformed into a VariableSword and she pulled her arm back with full force. The arrow-shaped blade snagged two lances and yanked them right out of the whirlwind.

“Like I said earlier,” said R Roll, “Once past those spears, you’re an open target.” She repeated her action by stabbing her VariableSword forward, getting it caught by the spears, and then pulling them away. With the polearms now gone, there was nothing for the Arctic Wind to spin around. R Roll stepped forward and held her blade at her opponent.

“It’s over, Diana.”

“Did you forget about something?” asked R Leviathan. As if on cue, Tiamat suddenly flew down and landed between the two women as her master leapt back. The massive ice dragon dropped down onto all fours and roared. R Roll looked up and began to back away as the beast advanced.

“Looks like you won’t be winning this one after all,” R Leviathan smirked. She held out her hands and the four lances that R Roll had pulled away flew toward her. She spun around and grabbed them until she held three in each hand.

“Maylu, what do we do now?” Roll asked worriedly. Tiamat growled as she opened all five of her mouths and began charging up an ice blast within each throat.

“We can get through this, Roll,” R Roll assured her Navi, “If we can just keep that thing from flying off, we just might be able to pull it into a Rush Hole.”

“But how do we get it to hold still?” asked Roll. The redhead took a moment and thought back on all the battles she, Roll, and the others had fought. Before long, an idea struck her.

“I’ve got it! Vineys, we need your help!” R Roll opened up a hole and several Viney viruses appeared, “Hold that dragon!” The cactus-headed creatures dug their thorn-studded vines into the ice and they burst up from under Tiamat and wrapped themselves around her legs. The massive dragon looked down and her ice charges faded away.

“Ignore it, Tiamat!” commanded R Leviathan, “Just finish her!”

“CustomVolt3 Battlechip!” R Roll armed herself with a customized electrode and fired a massive bolt of lightning at Tiamat. The giant dragon roared and tried to step away, but the vines held her fast in place. She snarled as she tried to pull herself free, but to no avail. More vines burst out from the ice and ensnared her arms. She lowered her heads down toward R Roll and charged up, but found them quickly pulled back when more thorny appendages shot out from behind her, wrapped themselves around her necks, and pulled her heads back. Tiamat roared loudly and fired her ice blasts into the sky as her tail was ensnared.

“Now’s our chance!” R Roll declared, “Rush Hole!” She punched the ground and a large hole opened up underneath the ice dragon. Tiamat struggled against their combined strength as the vines dragged her into the abyss. Her claws dug into the ice, leaving deep trenches in their path. Before long, Tiamat disappeared from sight and a massive explosion of ice and snow erupted from the Rush Hole before it closed up. R Leviathan leapt toward R Roll at full speed and stabbed her six lances at her. The pink-clad NetBattler ducked under her attack and countered with a Roll Arrow. The icy Amazon deflected the projectile with the weapons in her left hand and swung out with her right arm.

“Having more weapons just makes it harder for you to fight,” R Roll noted as she backflipped away.

“Shut up!” snapped R Leviathan. She jumped into the air and swung her spears down on top of her opponent, who jumped away before they could hit and they slammed into the ice. R Roll took that moment to attack while her enemy tried to pull free her weapons. She ran up to her and delivered several slaps with her Roll Whip followed closely by a Heart Slash rain.

“Tornado Battlechip!” R Roll’s hand morphed into a fan and she unleashed a powerful whirlwind that blew R Leviathan and her spears off the ground and into the air. She then used a combination of DoubleJump and AirShoes and leapt up after her. She passed her opponent and appeared overhead with the sun shining down from above her.

“Quake3 Battlechip!” A Powie3 virus materialized under her and slammed down on top of her foe with every ton in its body. R Leviathan shot back down to the ground and hit the ice with a sickening crack. Her six lances fell from the sky and landed in a circle around her body. R Roll returned to the ground and stood before her fallen opponent as she fell out of Cross Fusion. The Crest of Arcadia was ejected from Diana’s PET and it fell through a crevasse in the ice. R Roll crossed out and began to find her way back to the city.

* * *

MegaMan was panting heavily as he backed away from Omega X. It had taken everything in his power to draw the battle to a stalemate and he was unsure if he could continue on.

“Giving up already?” laughed Saiba.

“We’re just getting started,” answered Lan.

Inside the server, MegaMan got back up to his feet and clenched his fists as he turned back to Omega X.

“Still haven’t taken enough punishment yet?” asked the holy-armored Navi.

“This is nothing,” replied MegaMan, “Give it to me with everything you’ve got! Let’s go!”

------------------------------------------
End of chapter 3-79.

CHAPTER PREVIEW
Lan: It’s come down to the final two enemies.
MegaMan: And now Saiba and Omega X reveal their full power.
Lan: We can’t let them win. Everything we care for is at stake.
MegaMan: It’s the final battle.
Lan & MegaMan: Next time on Rockman.EXE: The College Years, “The Great Bout in Heaven”.
Lan: Let’s give them everything we’ve got!
MegaMan: Together, we can beat them!
_________________

[Midnight]

Hmm.

Thus combat was again, nothing short of fantastic. However, I did feel that it dragged out longer than it should have. It still was quite well-written, but I fear that you may have the same fate befall the finale as you did for the last arc--you run out of steam and just collapse where you don't need to.
_________________
Today, these three players are after Big Bucks! But they'll have to avoid the Whammy, as they play the most exciting game of their lives! From Television City in Hollywood! It's time to 'Press Your Luck!'--Rod Roddy

The Kingdom of Loathing: An Adventurer is You! // I ♣ Seals

Avatar by Spork. I very much appreciate it! <3

[SonicNigma212]

Well, after reading those reviews that you've gotten, I'd say that you're doing a bit better with those last two chapters. Not to mention the fact that you were able to get some decent reviews on them both. Decent, not great ones. I'm very sorry about the tough reviews that I've given you for while I was on the beta reading team. I only did it in order to test you. It seems to mean that you've been starting to improve on them. I hope that I wasn't too rough with my help. Well, later and keep up the good work!

Maurice A. Nigma ^_^ :grr:

[Mugen.exe]

That was a very interesting battle, and you showed off R Roll's rather unique skills well. The battle wasn't predictable at all! Great job!
_________________

False Swipe is a great finishing move!
Witty robots, spunky orphans, and invincible pilots, this link's for you! A Gundam RP

[Dark Liger]

Wow, I must say. You've really improved since the last few chapters. I had almost given up on the story, but you came around a made some good ones. I was especially at the edge of my seat in the R-Roll vs. R-Levi battle.

Great job. :]

[Anime Master ZERO]

Beta Team: TheWebbuilder, SonicNigma212

-----------------------------------------
CHAPTER 3-80
The Great Bout in Heaven

“Arcadian Saber Battlechip in, download!” Omega X raised the sword he had just obtained and flew toward MegaMan at full speed. He swung in a rapid cross-slash, but his opponent managed to dodge his every attack. He chopped downward and his blade left three deep gashes in the floor from the point it struck, but no sign of the blue Navi.

“Up here! Mega Buster!” MegaMan hung from the transparent dome and fired his buster down at his enemy. Omega X used the enormous sword to shield himself from the shots and flew toward his opponent. MegaMan jumped away and the blade struck the dome. The winged Navi pulled out his weapon and spun it around over his head before bringing it to rest behind his back.

“Omnislash!” Omega X hefted up his sword and threw it down at MegaMan. The weapon split into ten copies of itself and surrounded its target. The emerald-eyed Navi glanced around him and analyzed the situation. As the first sword flew toward him, he twisted his body out of the way and grabbed onto the hilt. He repeated his action on the second one. After obtaining the two swords, he used them to deflect the remaining eight before leaping up at Omega X.

“Here’s comin’ at ya, Omega X!” There were two flashes of light as the blue NetNavi passed the swords through his opponent. He flipped himself in midair and landed on the transparent dome with his feet before pushing off and flying back toward Omega X.

“Arcadian Breaker Battlechip in, download!” Saiba slotted in a chip and armed his Navi with a larger hammer. Omega X looked up at MegaMan and swung his mighty weapon. He broke the blades off their hilts and slammed his hammer into his enemy’s side. MegaMan cried as he was thrown across the sanctuary and slammed into the other side of the dome.

“You’re not much of a challenge if you’re down after that one attack,” Omega X sneered as he landed. MegaMan groaned in pain as he got back up to his feet.

“I’m not out just yet.”

“Good. Now fight me with everything you’ve got!” Omega X slammed his hammer onto the floor and a massive shockwave erupted from the impact toward MegaMan.

“Here it comes, Lan!” shouted the blue NetNavi.

“Got your back.” Lan slotted in a NeoVariable into his PET and MegaMan’s hand morphed into a shining sword. He chopped downward and sent a vertical Sonic Boom that sliced through the shockwave and continued toward Omega X, who slammed his hammer into the floor and jumped away, letting his weapon take the hit.

“X Buster!” The shining NetNavi morphed his hand into his default weapon and fired several golden plasma shots at his opponent. Lan armed his brother with a TankCannon3 and MegaMan intercepted the shots with the massive cannon.

“Soul Unison: Colonel Soul Battlechip in, download!” Grey armor covered the emerald-eyed Navi’s torso as his gloves and boots changed to match the color. A fusion of Colonel’s helmet and his own covered his head as his right hand transformed into the Colonel Saber.

“Colonel Army!” MegaMan raised his arm and several RockCubes dropped down around him. No sooner had they appeared, they discarded their blocky appearances, revealing armed soldiers equipped with rifles and swords. The gunners took aim at Omega X and fired. The winged Navi flew away and returned fire. As he approached a higher platform, three soldiers armed with swords jumped out and slashed him across his back. Several curses ran through his head as he flew back down to the floor and grabbed one of the gun-toting troops by its head. He sprang back to his feet and held the soldier as it continued shooting, gunning down all the others in the process. Once all we gone, he disposed of the one he had captured and ran toward his opponent.

“Screen Divide!” MegaMan swung his sword and sent a column of energy zigzagging across the floor straight at Omega X. However, he didn’t wait to see the results. He dropped out of Colonel Soul and fired several buster shots to follow up. Omega X braced himself against the Screen Divide and used his X Buster to deflect his enemy’s shots. As soon as he found an opening, he held his weapon at his enemy and fired. Lan inserted a Guard chip into his PET and a giant Mettaur helmet dropped down on top of MegaMan and reflected the blasts back at their source. Omega X flew to the side and let his shots passed him and hit the wall. He flipped through the air and planted his hand firmly against the floor, bringing himself to a stop. MegaMan then raised the helmet up and threw it with all his might at his foe. The winged Navi stepped back, but was unable to get out of the range of the giant yellow hardhat and it fell right on top of him.

“Nice work, MegaMan,” Lan complimented, “GutsImpact Battlechip in, download!” MegaMan’s arm transformed into GutsMan’s massive fist and he ran up to the helmet and punched, causing it to ring like a bell. He drew back his arm and punched again.

“What the hell is he doing?” demanded Saiba.

“Have you ever stood under a bell and someone rang it?” asked Lan, “It happened to me once on a school trip and it was not pleasant.” MegaMan continued to hammer away at the helmet while Omega X tried to drown out the noise, but to no avail.

“Havoc Wings Battlechip in, download!” Six white wings pierced through the normally protective piece of enormous headgear and Omega X burst out from it spinning like a buzzsaw. But he didn’t finish there. The holy armored NetNavi turned on MegaMan and spun toward him.

“WideSword Battlechip in, download!” MegaMan gained a blue broadsword and he blocked his opponent from sawing him to pieces. He pressed his entire weight against the blade and knocked his enemy away.

“Program Advance! Wind, Fan, GateManV3 Battlechips in, download!” Lan inserted the three chips and his PET locked them together and registered them into one attack.

“Gater!” GateMan appeared in front of MegaMan and the blue Navi balled up his fist and punched him in the back, forcing his chest gate open and sending countless pieces of debris flying at Omega X. The winged NetNavi flew up and dodged the attack, but his opponent punched GateMan again and another bombardment of debris shot out and hit him. A third punch followed by a third barrage hit him dead-on and he landed on his back and skidded along the floor into the platform. GateMan vanished and MegaMan stepped forward with his buster ready.

“Omega X, damage report,” Saiba demanded.

“Moderate,” replied Omega X as he got back up, “but potentially dangerous. I suggest we up the level of this battle.”

“Agreed.” Saiba took out his second Crest of Arcadia chip and slotted it into his PET, “Transcendent Wings of Arcadia Battlechip in, download!” A white light engulfed his Navi as the Crest of Arcadia shone through his armor onto his chest and a third pair of wings appeared on it.

“Welcome to the next level of Heaven,” chortled Omega X as a radiant white light shone through the clouds outside the dome. His hand began to glow white as he began to build up energy. A wide grin broke across his face as he brought his arm forward and unleashed a massive barrage of white energy orbs. They spread out and closed in on MegaMan. The blue NetNavi carefully timed the attack and leapt away just before it hit. The energy blasts hit the floor and he landed safely several feet away. Omega X flew up onto the platform and charged up another blast.

“I never really understood that chip you just used,” Lan said to Saiba, “Care to explain?”

“I’d be happy to oblige,” answered Saiba, “Transcendent Wings of Arcadia enhances the power of the Crest of Arcadia and grants the user abilities that can’t be obtained with the Crest alone, like that energy blast you just saw. Plus it also grants the user the power to summon.”

“Summon?”

“You’ll see in a moment.”

“MegaMan, be careful!” Lan warned.

“MegaMan, you could have joined us and gained all this power,” Omega X said as he continued to charge up, “but you refused.”

“I would never join the likes of you,” MegaMan replied.

“Then prepare for deletion!” Omega X thrust his arm forward and launched another bombardment of energy blasts. MegaMan waited for the right moment and jumped. The attack struck the floor and he landed on the platform across from Omega X.

“Excalibur Battlechip in, download!”

“FighterSword Battlechip in, download!”

Both Navis rushed at each other and swung their swords. The blades clashed and Omega X pushed his opponent back before bringing his weapon down on top of his head. MegaMan quickly parried and swung only to have his enemy block him. He pulled back and chopped downward, but Omega X jumped out of the way and slashed at the blue Navi’s neck. The Net Savior ducked and swung at the legs of his opponent, who jumped up and landed on the flat of his blade. MegaMan yanked his arm back, freeing his FighterSword and sliced upward. Omega X leaned back and narrowly avoided getting split in half before grasping his Excalibur in both hands and attacking with a horizontal cut. MegaMan brought his weapon into a vertical position and blocked. Omega X attacked again from the other side, but his opponent flipped over his sword and took a swing at his arm. The holy-armored warrior stepped back and the tip only grazed his shoulder guard. He gripped his sword’s hilt in both hands and pulled it apart, splitting his weapon into a pair of identical claymores. The blades began to pulse with a white aura and he threw them at his opponent. MegaMan backflipped from the spinning swords and twisted his body, allowing them to pass on either side of him.

“Zwëihandler Battlechip in, download!” Omega X raised his hand and large two-bladed sword materialized in his hand. He flew toward MegaMan, dragging his weapon against the floor of the platform, and delivered a diagonal upward slash. His attack broke his opponent’s FighterSword and the pieces flew to the other side of the sanctuary. The blue Navi started to rise back up to his feet, but his opponent placed his head between the blades of his sword and held him at bay.

“You’re not getting up that easily.”

“Actually, I think I will,” MegaMan answered with a smirk. Lan slotted in an AreaGrab and he teleported clear from his opponent’s sword. He reappeared behind him and sent a kick at the back of his head. Omega X dropped the Zwëihandler and fell from the platform. He quickly spun around and landed safely on his feet.

“Wrath of God!” He formed a massive ball of holy energy in his hand and flung it at MegaMan. The blue Net Savior jumped off the platform and the attack destroyed it instead of him. As he landed, his enemy raised his hands.

“Spirit of the Savage One, arise!” Upon Omega X’s words, a Crest of Arcadia outline appeared and from it rose a white and gold BeastMan. It snarled and pounced at MegaMan, who jumped away to avoid the deadly claws.

“Spirit of the Savage One, unite with me!” commanded Omega X. The Arcadian BeastMan transformed into a white light and shot toward the winged Navi’s arm. It wrapped itself around his limb and formed a long claw-like weapon. Omega X grinned as he flew toward MegaMan and slashed across his chest.

“This is another benefit of capturing all those Navis with the Crest of Arcadia!” he laughed, “Not only do they make a grand army, I can also call upon them to assist in battle as either a soldier or a weapon!” He flew forward and slashed again, forcing MegaMan against the dome.

“Lan,” the blue Navi gasped between breaths, “he’s got us outmatched.”

“It’s not over yet,” Lan replied.

“But Lan, not even Bass Cross could stop Omega X,” MegaMan argued, “What else can we use?”

“Whatever we’ve got. We just need a new approach. We can do this, MegaMan. Just don’t give up.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” MegaMan got back up to his feet and got back into his battle stance.

“Style Change activate!”

“Hub Style!”

After he had transformed, MegaMan brought up his Hub Buster and started firing. Omega X swung his claws to deflect, but the shots broke his weapon apart.

“Not bad,” he commented. He summoned an Arcadian SwordMan and an Arcadian FlashMan. He turned the former into a three large swords and the latter into a set of yellow flashing gems that he equipped to his new weapons. He then placed one on his bag and held the others in his hands.

“Sonic Flash Wave!” Omega X swung his new swords and sent two blinding shockwaves across the floor. MegaMan jumped into the air and fired a Charged Hub Shot into the floor, propelling him over the attack. His opponent tossed up all three swords and wielded them telekinetically as he flew up after him.

“Blinding Demon Slash!”

“Mega Cannon Battlechip in, download!” Hub Style converted the chip into a Program Advance and MegaMan aimed his new cannon at his opponent.

“GigaCannon3!” He unleashed a massive blast of energy and it broke through Omega X’s swords and hit him squarely on the chest, slamming him against the surface of the dome. Once the Giga Cannon disappeared, he landed back on the floor and took aim at his enemy.

“Hub Buster!”

“X Buster!”

Both NetNavis’ shots intercepted one another, so they quickly abandoned their attack pattern and dashed toward each other. Their hands locked and the two of them wrestled for dominance over the other.

“You can’t win!” Omega X taunted.

“Bite my radiant green ass!” MegaMan pushed back and slammed his helmet against Omega X’s face. His opponent stumbled back and he quickly dropped down and swept his leg out from under his feet, forcing him onto his back. However, the armored Navi recovered fast and swiftly leapt to his feet before thrusting a kick at his opponent. MegaMan raised his arms and blocked. He thrust Omega X’s foot back down and struck his elbow against the side of his face. Unfortunately, his opponent was able to take advantage of the close range and wrapped his arm around his neck, putting him in a headlock. He morphed his hand into his X Buster and pressed one of the wing-like blades against his neck.

“So much for that plan,” smirked Omega X.

“Which is why I have another.” MegaMan grinned as he reached behind him and grabbed onto the back of his foe’s head. He poured his strength into his arms and flipped his opponent over his head and flat onto his back. However, Omega X had a plan of his own. The moment he was flipped, he did the same to MegaMan and flung him across the sanctuary. The radiant NetNavi slammed into the dome and fell to the floor.

“You’re a lot more troublesome than I thought,” said Omega X as he got back up, “I’m through playing games. Now it’s time to get serious. Saiba, my strongest sword.”

“Right away. Transcendent Sword Battlechip in, download!” Saiba inserted the chip and armed his Navi with the shining rune-emblazoned sword. Omega X brought it down to his side and ran toward MegaMan, dragging his blade against the floor.

“No you don’t!” Lan shouted, “ProtoManV4 Battlechip in, download!” MegaMan sprang back to his feet and activated his barrier in time to block his opponent’s sword. He then pushed him back and a copy of ProtoMan appeared beside him.

“DOUBLE HERO!” A massive storm of sword slices and buster shots erupted from the duo and hit Omega X from all angles. When the assault was finally over, he had sustained a considerable amount of damage.

“Well played, Lan,” Saiba commented, “but this battle is still far from over. You have yet to see us at our full power.”

“Full power?” Lan repeated.

“Exactly.” Saiba laughed silently as he drew another chip, “Now feel the full power of Heaven! Empyrean Battlechip in, download!” White light once again emanated from Omega X as the Crest of Arcadia shone brightly. Red filled the outline of the gem while white occupied those of the wings, turning the Crest into a complete image instead of a mere outline. Omega X opened his eyes and looked straight at MegaMan.

“Welcome to the highest level of Heaven.”

------------------------------
End of chapter 3-80.

CHAPTER PREVIEW
Lan: Omega X has reached his full power.
MegaMan: He’s achieved his ultimate form.
Lan: We have to bring him down no matter what the cost.
MegaMan: Countless lives are in our hands.
Lan & MegaMan: Next time on Rockman.EXE: The College Years, “Empyrean”.
Lan: We can’t lose this fight!
MegaMan: Everything that’s important to us is at stake!
_________________

[Midnight]

Fillertastic.

And somehow, I figured for this to be a lot more exciting than it turned out to be...this chapter was quite filled to the brim with cliches which detracted so much from the quality of the chapter as a whole.

Other than that, there is not much else to say.
_________________
Today, these three players are after Big Bucks! But they'll have to avoid the Whammy, as they play the most exciting game of their lives! From Television City in Hollywood! It's time to 'Press Your Luck!'--Rod Roddy

The Kingdom of Loathing: An Adventurer is You! // I ♣ Seals

Avatar by Spork. I very much appreciate it! <3