MMBN4-Sidestory C-7: Solution Error

[Valiant]

Wow, I really like your story, and am honored you're using some of my characters... But when you asked me if you could use Raid, I didn't think he'd be main... This is awesome..! ^_^

Anyway, like Warp said, you really keep the quality up! So... Keep it up! XD Can't wait to see next chappy!
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[DJ ZipZap (Dyne)]

Chapter Seven: Solution Error
--Beta Reader: Roy Tanaka--
Kail stood in the line, tapping his foot against the hard concrete path in a very impatient way. The day of the Sharo West Division Tournament preliminaries had finally arrived, and Kail could wait no further to find out what he had to do. In the cold breeze of the summer day, Kail began to shiver slightly, and pulled his coat around him more, grasping his uncovered arms in warmth.

When he had arrived at the town square, he had hoped to be bombarded with some sort of virus extermination test. Instead, he had been directed into a line, asked to show his PET, and then told to wait till he was at the end of the line. Frowning, Kail compliantly did so, taking out his PET and letting the director take a look at it. The lady had grabbed it, shook it around, looked at the screen, and then walked off.

Kail raised his right arm and stood on his toes, counting out how many people left in the line. Four. Meh… Least the line’s moving somewhat quickly… Kail frowned again and rolled his eyes in boredom.

“Something bothering you, Kail?” Raid piped in.

Kail looked downward at Raid. “Eh… Nothing. This isn’t very interesting.”

“Patience, Kail,” Raid said calmly. “You gotta learn patience. Honestly, someday that flaw will cost you.” He shrugged and sat down in the cramped cyber area of the PET.

“Blech,” Kail spat,” whatever. I was just expecting something more… Extravagant, if you will.” He tapped his foot harder, the boredom spewing from his face. In the next five minutes or so, the line moved, and finally Kail arrived at the end.

A round-faced woman smiled at him, revealing two missing teeth. “Take out your PET, please.” She extended her pudgy hand at the brown haired boy. Kail nodded and handed the purple and red device to her. The woman took it quickly, pressed a few buttons, and then made her way over to a bizarre looking machine. On top of it stood a plastic mettaur virus, its bulging eyes staring strangely at Kail. She placed the PET on a small scanner resting in the middle of the machine, and a red light shot out, passing over Kail’s PET. After a few moments, the machine ceased, and the women smiled widely.

“Here ya go, sonny,” the portly woman said. “Your PET is entirely free of any sign of viruses, and your folders are intact. Your partner will arrive shortly.”

“Woah, woah, woah!” Kail blurted. “Partner? What’s this about?”

“Your partner will explain,” the woman said kindly, “but for now, I must continue with the line. Move ahead, please. To the computer.”

Kail obeyed with a shrug, then walked forward a few feet, taking a seat at a small desk. A flat screen monitor sat on top of its wooden surface. Looking around, Kail saw no one coming toward him. He looked at Raid. The purple navi shrugged also, apparently spotting no one. Kail stretched out, awaiting his ‘partner’.

“Well, hey there!” a nasal voice came from behind Kail. “I guess you’re my partner, bud!” Kail spun around with lightning-quick speed. The speaker was short, but looked around the same age as Kail. He had combed-over brown hair, and wore a grand pair of black-rimmed spectacles. He smiled in an odd manner, showing perfectly white teeth. His chest was covered with a white, collared button-up shirt, nestling in a bright blue pair of shorts. His socks stretched to his knees, and his shoes were a boring brown. In his left arm were a bundle of heavy-looking books, and his right he held a green and red PET.

The newcomer shot a hand at Kail. “Name’s Melvin Eezthay. What’s yours, pal?” He chuckled an annoying laugh.

“Eh…” Kail said, grinning awkwardly. “My name’s Kail Ekna. Nice to meet you, Melvin.” He took the hand and shook it weakly. Then he asked, “So, do you know what we’re doing?”
Melvin’s face suddenly displayed a look of mischief, but then it was replaced by pure delight. “I sure do, buddy. Basically, your navi and mine have to work together in some sort of virus battle. It will have lots different kinds of viruses and stuff like that, I believe. I think we were paired together because our PETs are the cleanest ones at this whole shindig.” He smiled.

Raid put a hand to his chin and rubbed it slightly. His eyes showed a sudden fear in them. “There’s more isn’t there?” His voice sounded nervous.

“Woah!” Melvin shrieked and then chuckled. “Well, hey there, Kail’s navi. I’m Melvin!”

“Yes, hello,” Raid waved. “But seriously. I saw your face. There’s… more, isn’t there…”

“Oh, ya got me!” Melvin exclaimed. His annoying chuckle grew louder now, and then the boy spat out, “Yep, there’s more! My navi and you, throughout the whole battle, have to be… bound together! Won’t that be exquisite!?” The nerdy boy laughed hysterically.

Raid’s jaw dropped, and Kail’s followed suit. “You’re telling me that… I have to be… Oh, this is lame…”

Kail pushed his slacked mandible upward and said, “Think on the bright side of things Raid, maybe his navi isn’t so… Dorky?”

“I sure hope so,” Raid said, and then bowed his head downward.

“Oh yeah,” Melvin added, “I forgot to introduce you two fellahs to my navi!” He held up his PET in glee and shouted, “This is MathMan!” Kail looked at the PET screen. What stood there was the oddest navi he had ever seen.

MathMan was a short navi. His colors consisted of green, white, red, and black. His body resembled a calculator; there were numbers one to nine, the “+”, “-“, and “=” sign, and everything else you’d expect to find on a normal calculator. His arms were thin, his wrists covered with green bucklers. His shoulders represented “6”s and his feet were white “7”s. His head was a small green box wearing black-framed spectacles, which covered enormous eyes with red irises. MathMan’s neck was not visible, instead covered with a white, oval-shaped armor plate.

MathMan waved excitedly. His voice came much like the navi NumberMan’s-high and robotic. “Hello there, acquaintances! I expect to have much fun today!”

Raid’s jaw still hadn’t come up. With much determination, the wide-eyed navi slowly said, “Kail… Can I speak with you… privately? Just for a moment?”
“Uh… Yeah,” Kail said hesitantly, still staring at MathMan. “Yeah, let’s do that.” The fourteen year-old moved quickly away from Melvin and faced Raid. He sighed and said, “This could be bad.”

“No duh,” Raid spat out. “This guy could ruin our chances of getting into the tournament. I’d suppose we have to be victorious in this test to get into it anyway… And I’m not so sure this ‘MathMan’ can handle it.” His eyes were bugging out nervously.

“Right,” Kail said. “But we’re stuck with him. You’re gonna have to do double duty.” He shrugged. “Work as hard as you can.” Without waiting for a response, Kail jogged back to Melvin and put on a faulty smile. “Ready!

“Yes!” Melvin shouted excitedly. “To the computer, then we enter the battle! There, our navis will be bound together, and we’ll have to make it to the end, through thick and thin! Shall we give it a go?” Kail nodded, and the two of them pointed their PETs at the computer’s jack-in spot. “Jack-In! MathMan.exe! Transmit!”

“Jack-In! Raid.exe! Transmit!” Kail said alongside Melvin. In a flash of blue letters, both navis disappeared from their PETs and appeared on the computer screen, both bound together by a glowing ring of yellow.

Raid stared awkwardly at MathMan. “Well, I’m glad we’re so close.” He laughed quietly at his pun. “Ready to do this?” He faced forward, ready for the challenges ahead.

The two navis stared about the area. It was a large pit filled with traps galore, spanning from saw blades to spikes. Raid sighed and put his arms up. He spread his legs out and got into a ready position. Looking about, the bladed navi saw no threats, but did not feel any relief. Always aware, Raid knew that this wouldn’t be easy. And suddenly something clicked open. Spinning to see what was behind him, he felt no give on his left, and remembered he was bound tightly to MathMan. The two navis stuttered for a moment, and then both fell. MathMan let out a small “Oof!”

On the ground, Raid shot his eyes upward, looking nervously at the source of the noise. For a moment, there was no motion. However, suddenly something hard to focus on jumped into Raid’s sight. Without hesitation, more and more jumped in. Raid tried harder to focus, but he couldn’t see; when the two had fallen, cyber dust had flown into his eyes.

On Raid’s left side, MathMan’s high voice came in. “Raid, buddy… Heel Navis are spilling into here! I believe it would be best to get up!” The talking calculator jumped up with stunning strength and brought Raid up with him. “I’ll take the south side, you take north!”
Raid’s eyes were about to burst, but he shouted out, “I thought Melvin said viruses!” He shot his right arm at this face and rubbed the dust out of his eyes. Focusing better now, Raid started blasting his buster at some of the menacing navis, doing little damage.

“He did!” MathMan replied. “I guess we were wrong!” The navi laughed and suddenly buster shots could be heard.

“I’m still here, ya know!” Melvin’s voice came. “Anyway, lots of Heel Navis can’t be good… Here, MathMan! Long Sword! Battle Chip In! Download!” MathMan’s buster arm turned into a glowing blue sword. He swung it swiftly, like a golf club. Hitting about four of the Heel Navis, they lurched back in pain, but did not disappear. MathMan continued to shoot at them.

“Yeah, and I’m here too!” Kail could be heard saying. “And I’ve got something that’ll take a bunch out!” Kail dug through his bag for a few chips, and then inserted them in order. “Ratton1! Ratton2! Ratton3! Program Advance Activate! Hyper Rat!”

Instantly a giant robotic rat appeared next to Raid. It sniffed out a scent with its nose and then pointed itself in the direction of a horde of heel navis. Without any mercy, it launched itself at them, causing a great explosion when it hit just one. When the smoke cleared, only one of the thirty had survived. Raid smiled, and then crossed one of his arms through the air, sending a sonic wave at the last one. It hit the unsuspecting navi right on, and it was deleted.

“We’re doing great, MathMan!” Raid shouted out, excitement in his voice. “These guys are easy!” He began another barrage of shots from his small buster gun, confidence filling his face.

Then, unexpectedly, a heel navi called out, “Navis! Delta Pattern 2! Giga Cannon! Consumption!” All of the purple navis around the two contesters aligned themselves in a triangular pattern. They aimed their arms at Raid and MathMan, and suddenly an oversized cannon appeared on each one’s arm. “On my mark! Ready, and fire!” Each navi let out a battle cry and launched their program advances at Raid and MathMan. Without any defense, the two were hit with each shot, sending them flying across the pit. Smoke covered the arena, and it took minutes for it to clear. Finally it diluted, and the picture was horrendous.

“Raid!” Kail’s voice cried out filled with utmost concern. “Are you okay?”

Raid hesitantly spoke. “Yeah… But uh, stop standing there and…” He coughed lightly and said, “Get me a damned Recovery chip!”

“Oh, right,” Kail muttered. “Recov 150! Battle Chip In!” He shot the battle chip in his PET’s slot. With a small glittery motion, Raid was up. Melvin had done roughly the same, and MathMan was up next to him. “Ok, there’s a lot left, and that weak chip won’t let you last long… Time to pull out the big guns! I want to see another one of those X-Slashes, just like at the arcade! GIVE IT YOUR ALL!”

“Yeah!” Melvin shouted alongside Kail. “These guys’ solutions have an error! They thought they’d win, but they shan’t! MathMan! Mathematical Laser!”

Raid crossed his arms and held tightly. At the top of his lungs, and with the little energy he had left, the navi shouted, “X-SLASH!” He swung his arms outward, sending a great red “X” toward the heel navis. Next to him, MathMan held up his left arm and blasted a large red beam filled with random numbers at the navis. Both attacks hit, and without mercy, each heel navi was deleted. Content, Raid and MathMan fell to their knees in utter exhaustion. Each was logged out instantly.

Kail turned to Melvin and stuck out a hand, “I underestimated you. At first I thought you and MathMan would keep Raid and I down, but I was wrong. I apologize. You guys are awesome.”

Raid looked at the two ‘nerds’ and added, “Kail’s thoughts were my own too. I apologize. MathMan, you’re an awesome navi!” A bright light shone in Raid’s PET, and an alert message popped up on the screen. Kail’s eyes widened, and he looked at Raid. The purple navi shrugged.

Melvin gasped. “You’ve activated a Soul Style!” He inhaled and said, “I guess your navi and mine have bonded. I believe…” He looked at his own PET and his theory was confirmed. MathMan’s screen, too, was glowing. “Yep! My navi and yours share a bond now! They can activate each other’s respective souls!”

“Eh?” Kail mumbled. “What’s… A Soul Style?”

Melvin smiled and said, “I’d tell you, pal, but I don’t have the time. I’ve got to go back to my home now. Mother expects me to get home soon.” He typed in a small amount of keys on the computer and added, “There. I’ve confirmed you and I passed the test.” He turned around and finally said, “I’ll see YOU in the tournament, bud!” He raced off in the opposite direction.

Kail shrugged. “I’ll have to look into this Soul Style thing.” With that, the boy began the walk back to his home.
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Not my favorite chapter... But.. Eh. Enjoy reading!
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[Roy Tanaka]

Excellent chapter, Mr. ZipZap.

MathMan's so awesomely nerdy. XD

Can't wait for whatever's next!

[WarpObscura]

Sweet! ^_^ I like how MathMan is so nerdish yet powerful, a total stereotype-breaker there.

Say, since this is, according to you, a BN4 gaiden, I suppose Lan's only gonna appear at the final tourney?
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The name is Warp "Ligia" Obscura. *Cocks gun to shoot mispellers*