Dark Memories *Thanksgiving Special!*

[Cyclone EXE]

Naw...next chapter though I promose! There's a bit of batteling...but not as much as there's gonna be when they go up against B...uh...You-Know-Who...and I'm not talking about Voldemort from Harry Potter. XD

~~~~~

Chapter Ten:

The red and black navi glowed a deep black. Cyclone took a step away from it, her buster disappearing and a black gloved hand replacing it. She took a couple more steps back before turning and dashing away from where the light grew and spread out into a different shaped navi.

*****

Netto Hikari had been home for some time but had only just slipped into a restless sleep a few hours ago. The brunette's navi was inside of his computer, running virus scans and searches, making sure that the system was clean. Netto rolled over in his sleep, muttering something about evil mutant cranberries trying to take over the world. Rockman gave his Net Op's back a funny look before letting out a sigh.

*****

Cyclone looked up at the large navi that was circling her like a vulture over its prey. She skidded to a stop and a burst of flames slammed into the ground in front of her, hitting the place where she was about to run. She bolted around the large smouldering crater and, still running, brought her right hand up to her face and stared at the palm for a couple seconds.

"Take this," she whispered, forming her hand into a fist. When she opened her hand again, there was a translucent blue bubble settled in the palm. Cyclone once again skidded to a stop, the navi flying a bit in front of her due to the sudden and unexpected alter in his prey's course. He turned around swiftly and angrily.

The navi was still a deep crimson, but it had large scaly wings like that of a dragon extending from his shoulder blades and fanning out to each side of his torso. The mask from his face had vanished, revealing sinister yellow eyes. Nothing but those things had been altered, other then his size, which had expanded by an inch or two.

"Liquefy!" the blue and black navi screamed, throwing the attack at her opponent. The bubble hit one of the wings and splattered, covering the whole wing with a bright blue light. The light slowly spread, engulfing the whole monster. Before it was deleted, the navi inhaled and breathed a large blast of fire at Cyclone, the attack hitting her dead on before being put out by the sudden spray of water that had come from above.

*****

Rockman sighed. "Done, finally..." He waved his hand over the thin air and the screen that was shimmering in front of him dissolved. The blue navi looked around, smiling to himself when his gaze fell on his Net Op. The boy was half on his bed and half off of it, his pillows thrown across the room and his sheets nearly off of the matress.

There was a sudden beep that indicated something was trying to get into the computer from the net. Rockman turned around, puzzled. Well...at least no one can get though the security program that we put up without the passcode, he thought, but his arm that housed his buster gun twitched. A few seconds later, a navi appeared in the computer in front of him. "Cyclone? But...aren't you..." Rockman paused and Cyclone shook her head.

"Don't ask." She took in a sharp breath of air and Rockman twitched to help her, but the female navi shrugged him off. "It's just a burn...gosh...it's the least of my worries." Rockman read the look on her face.

"Netto, getup!" he said, whirling around. His Net Op turned over in his sleep and landed on the floor with a thud.

"Ow...," he mumbled, pushing the pillow off of his head and groggily fumbling with the sheets that entangled his body.

"Netto..."

"NETTO GET YOUR LAZY ASS OUT OF BED AND HELP MY NET OP!" Cyclone screamed at him. Netto jumped, hitting his head on his nightstand. He peeled the sheets from his body and stood up.

"What?" Cyclone took in a few deep breaths, ignoring the concerned look on Rockman's face. "What happened to you?"

"Well...ThehospitalwasattackedandIwasattackedtryingtogetouttatherecausethewholeflippinplaceisonFIREand..." Netto blinked.

"The hospital's...on fire?" Cyclone gave him a look that said 'omg you're so slow.' Netto grabbed his PET and pulled on his shoes. Rockman shook his head.

"Netto, stay here. The fire was obviously started in the Net so..."

"You guys may not make it in time," Netto replied. Rockman sighed. Once his Net Op made up his mind there was no arguing. The blue navi nodded and he and Cyclone disappeared from inside of Netto's computer.

*****

"Damn those fools...now the Net Saviors are involved..." the large red navi paced back and forth inside of the hospital computer. He kicked at a few flames and they intensified. "No matter...by the time they get here it'll be too late."

~~~~~

Woot!
_________________
=]

[CrossFusionStarman]

AWESOME!!! That scene with Rockman, Netto, and Cyclone was funny Will there be pain in the next chapter? I LIKE PAIN! Well, as long as you make another good chapter like you always do, I'm fine.
_________________
EXEHQ. Click now, I demand it.

NT Champions. Click!

SERAS VICTORIA OWNS MY SOUL

[Cyclone EXE]

Heys! Sorry I haven't been on...I had to get up at three in the morning yesterday so I could be at my band competition that started at 8 FLIPPIN THIRTY! Meh, we didn't do awesome in the competition but our band was pretty pleased with our performance... *dance* Twas fun to stay all day, go the MALL with my pals, eat, and WATCH BANDS! All till one in the morning! Lol...wow this is a long thing...I'll get to the story. *YAY FOR TWENTY FOUR HOURS W/O SLEEP!*

BUT ZOMG THEREZ TONS OF PAIN IN THIS CHAPTER!
~~~~~

Chapter Eleven:

Netto slipped his skates off of his orange and black shoes and threw the aside, staring up at the hospital in disbelief. The top half of the four-story building was engulfed in flames; people were all around him screaming and crying and pushing sick people on portable beds away from the burning mass. There were sirens wailing as two fire trucks arrived at the scene and immediately started to put out the fire and herd people away from the area. "Hey kid, this isn't safe. Go home."

Netto felt a hand on his shoulder trying to steer him away from the hospital. He shrugged it off and took a step back away from the firefighter, toward the building. "How bad's it in there?" The man shook his head.

"We don't know kid, but one thing's for certain, no one's going in there till the fire's tamed a bit."

"What? But...but there're people in there still!" Netto blurted out. The look on the firefighter's face turned grave.

"We know kid, we know...but...chances are they're not even alive still. That's a pretty bad-hey! What do you think you're doing?!?" Netto, who had heard enough, turned on his heel and bolted for the hospital's front doors. A few men started after him, but as soon as the teen made it into the building, part of the second floor collapsed, burying the doorway in flaming debris.

*****

"Holy...someone needs to turn on the air conditioning...," Rockman commented, blinking in the haze of the hospital computer.

"It's...so much worse now...," Cyclone panted. Rockman frowned.

"You sure you're-"

"I'm fine," Cyclone said, taking her hands off of her knees and standing up straight. She activated her buster gun and Rockman slowly did the same. A dark figure appeared behind Rockman and he whirled around, a blue blast of energy from Cyclone's buster gun shooting past his head and smashing into the figure before he could react.

"Woah...thanks." Rockman looked around, but the navi had disappeared. At least...he thought it was a navi. Cyclone nodded and shot a few more bright blue attacks at various flames dancing around. The blasts put out the flames as it was Cyclone's water element buster.

"You always were a persistent little thing," said a cold voice. Cyclone froze for a moment before shooting a buster attack to her left. A navi leapt from the flames before the attack put a cluster of the fire out and landed in front of Rockman and Cyclone. The navi had red and black armor on. His helmet had two burners on it and more flames were around his shoulders. His blue eyes were cold and dark and cut through the smoke like a laser.

"Burnerman...," Cyclone said, her teeth gritted. "Put out the fire in the hospital...I'll take you on one on one." Rockman raised his blue buster gun.

"I highly doubt you could battle him and win right now even if he'd listen...," he mumbled. Cyclone shot him a glance that said 'I heard that..." Burnerman smirked.

"Put it out? The fire hasn't even lighted yet!" He laughed and waved his hand across the air in front of him; all of the smoke gathered into a large solid looking ball of gray that fired at Cyclone. The blue and black navi put up a shield, but it fizzled out a few seconds before the impact, causing the attack to hit her dead on. Rockman shot a few red blasts at Burnerman and the navi held out his hands, absorbing the power.

"Okay..." Rockman charged up a shot and darted toward Burnerman. The red and black navi jumped over Rockman's head and, as the blue navi was turning, kicked his feet out from under him. Rockman fired his shot on accident and it spiraled into the air. The computer had two levels, and there was a panel that controlled the temperature, power, etc of the rooms in the hospital on the second level. The red energy blast hit the panel with tremendous force.

The look on Burnerman's face completely contrasted Rockman's when a huge explosion rocked the area, debris flying everywhere. Cyclone pushed herself into a kneeling position and shook her head clear. A chunk of the area above her fell a few feet from her face and the navi sighed. "Oh crap..."

*****

Netto pushed some burning debris off of his body and drug himself out of the mess of materials from the floor above him. He coughed from the smoke and dust and checked to make sure his PET was all right before taking in the condition of his surroundings. The door was blocked...elevators were out of the question...the stairway nearest him was covered with crap...there was only one way to go.

The teenage boy stood and started for the stairs down the hallway. He took them two at a time and pushed open the door at the top, his eyes watering from all of the smoke that was on the upper floor. It was much worse up here, that was for sure. Netto made his way to the next set of stairs, wondering why Katya had to be on the third floor and not on the second and also wondering why his luck had it that this set of stairs had debris blocking the rest of the way up.

Netto paused at the area where a chunk of the floor had fallen out. It looked as though he would be able to jump it...not easily, mind, but he could probably do it. He wracked his brain for another way to the next set of stairs, and, not remembering any, took a deep breath of the smoke filled air, coughed, and stepped back from the hole.

He took a running leap over the space.

In the next few seconds, Netto landed, slipped, and fell forward onto his stomach.

"Ow...," he muttered. Netto pushed himself to his knees and heard a sickening crack. The floor shuddered, straining under his weight. "Great...this has sure been an awesome day," he said sarcastically as a large crack formed in the floor by his hands. The teen tried to jump from the unstable piece of ground to another part of the floor, but he only just caught onto the edge of the area as the floor beneath him crumbled into the fiery depths of the floor below.

Netto gritted his teeth as the jagged edges of wood and other materials the floor was made of cut into his hands. There was a crunching noise and he could feel the floor under his fingers begin to crack. He tried shifting his weight a bit, but only succeeded in breaking a chunk of the floor off. Netto coughed as white dust sprayed into his face.

Netto felt someone’s hands grab his just as the floor under his fingers gave out. "How do you manage to get into positions like this anyway?" Katya asked him. Netto squinted through the smoke at his friend and sighed in relief, his heart pounding. He slid back into the hole a bit and tensed as Katya tried to regain her footing. He finally felt the solid ground against his stomach and swung his legs up onto the second floor.

"Long story," he said, heart still pounding even thought the little ordeal was pretty well over. Katya smiled even though she felt horrible. Her whole body was aching and her hands burned from the strain of pulling Netto up over the edge of the hole. She released Netto’s hands and looked at hers, slowly flexing her fingers. "You okay?" Netto asked. Well...that was a stupid question.

Katya nodded, stopping after the first bob of her head after finding out how much it hurt to do so. The heat coming from around them was almost unbearable. Netto felt so sorry for his friend after he got a good look at her condition. Her face and hands were covered in burns and welts from her previous ordeal, her brown eyes were dark and tired, and her clothes dirty from the debris and smoke in the hospital.

Netto stood up and wiped his hands on his shorts, leaving hardly visible stains on the material. Katya forced herself to stand and grabbed one of his wrists, turning his hand over and inspecting the deep gashes on his palm. her thoughts immediately blocked out her pain and focused on the feelings on her friend. She somehow felt responsible...

"I..." Netto pulled his hand from her grasp and cut her off.

"Is there anyone else up here?" Katya swallowed, realizing just how dry her throat was.

"No. I checked." Netto nodded and she coughed for a few seconds; the smoke seemed to be thickening. Netto reached out and grabbed her hand, wincing at the pain that surged through his at the motion.

"We'd better get outta here then."

"Netto..."

"It's fine. Do you know any other way outside?" Katya thought for a second before shaking her head, blocking out the pain that pulsed through her neck when she did so. Netto looked over his shoulder at their only way of escape and glanced back at Katya. What now...

*****

Cyclone lept out of the way of a falling beam and landed on her stomach a little ways away. She heaved herself to her feet, activated her wind style buster gun, and fired it above her head. The chunks of debris were projected away from Cyclone and deposited with a crash a few yards away.

Rockman threw a few punches out at Burnerman and kicked him solidly in the stomach, sending the red navi back into a flame. Burnerman absorbed the flame's energy and glowed a reddish orange color. "Burning Strike!" he yelled, holding his hands out in front of him and sending a blast of fire at Rockman. The attack hit the blue navi and sent him flying backwards into Cyclone.

"Ow...hello there," Cyclone muttered, pushing Rockman off of her and standing up again. Rockman also stood, panting, his armor singed. Cyclone stretched out her arm, extending her burned fingers. "Twister!" A vortex formed over her gloved hand and started spinning counter clockwise. Burnerman held his arms up over his face, bracing himself against the wind that was sucking everything in toward Cyclone. All of the fire around him flickered and died, all of the oxygen supporting it sucked away.

"No! You little..." Burnerman put his arms back down at his sides and clenched his fists. Rockman charged a buster attack and she nodded at him, reversing her attack's power and shooting a blast of air at the red navi, knocking him backward. Rockman released his charged shot and it smashed into Burnerman, logging the navi out. "I'll get you, I swear it. One day you won't be so lucky!" he screamed before disappearing.

The air around the two navis cooled almost instantly and Cyclone swayed before falling back into Rockman, unconscious. Rockman blinked, his green eyes tired from the night's events. "Netto..."

*****

Netto pulled Katya into a hospital room and dropped her hand long enough to pick up a vase and hurl it through the window, which was locked. The people below saw the chaos and the fire fighters that thought Netto was dead by now set a ladder uo to the window. Once on the ground, Netto grabbed his PET. "Rockman? You guys okay?" His navi smiled in relief.

"Yeah...well...I dunno about Cyclone...but everything's taken care of here. You okay?" Netto nodded and turned back to the girl standing next to him.

"Do me a favor and don't get trapped in a burning hospital anymore," Netto teased. Katya's eyes filled with tears for reasons she couldn't explain and she forced a smile. Netto blinked and she wrapped her arms around his waist, buring her face into his shoulder.

"Thanks...I really owe you now," she whispered. Netto looked away at the hospital. There was debris everywhere and the building was smoking, areas of it still on fire.

Whoever did this is really gonna pay, he thought solemly.

~~~~~

*dance* It took me forever to write this...
_________________
=]

[CrossFusionStarman]

HOORAY FOR THE PAIN!!! And Katya and Netto had a fluff scene, which is just as good. Can't wait for the next chapters.
_________________
EXEHQ. Click now, I demand it.

NT Champions. Click!

SERAS VICTORIA OWNS MY SOUL

[Cyclone EXE]

Sorry I haven't been on lately...I just haven't had any ideas. I've got some now though, and as soon as I have some time I'll write. *next couple of days, k?* I'll see you then...sorry and talk to you guys later!
_________________
=]

[CrossFusionStarman]

Okay, that's fine. Besides, I've made people wait for chapters of my fic, so it's okay.
_________________
EXEHQ. Click now, I demand it.

NT Champions. Click!

SERAS VICTORIA OWNS MY SOUL

[Cyclone EXE]

Does it snow in Japan?!? Well...no matter...cause it does now!! XD

~~~~~

Chapter Twelve:

It had been a few months since the attack on the hospital, and nothing more had occured in the way of evil. Unless you include school. Yes, fall had come once again and so had the time of being cooped up in a building, forced to watch teachers babble on all day and hand out papers that you had to complete when you could instead be out running in the leaves as they changed from lush green to different shades of brown and yellow and fell from their perches on the trees. Yes...fall.

Katya chewed on the corner of her pencil as Mariko-sensei taught the class about fractions. Why did they need to learn about fractions again anyway? What more could they learn about fractions?!? Katya sighed and tilted her head to stare out the window of the classroom. The leaves were blowing around rapidly and spinning in small clumps as the crisp autumn wind sqirled through the schoolyard. Netto nudged her arm, bringing Katya from her reverie. "Katya..."

"Wha?" Katya looked up into Mariko-sensei's eyes and she reddened. the whole class, she knew, was staring.

"Katya, please be kind enough to stay with us for the last fifteen minutes, or you can stay with me after school for twenty." Katya's face reddened even more and she nodded sheepishly, desparately trying to ignore the giggles of her classmates. "Now, please finish this problem for us."

*****

"Oh man...what a relief," Katya commented once she and Netto were outside of the school. "I couldn't take another minute..."

"Yeah," Netto agreed, "this week sure has gone by slow." Katya nodded and looked up at the clear sky. She took in a deep breath of crisp fall air and kicked a few leaves around with her boots as she and Netto trudged home with their books tucked neatly in their backpacks for the long weekend's homework.

"At least we get four whole days to kick back and slack off." Netto smiled at his friend's remark and nodded enthusiastically. He turned for a moment and looked down the street behind him, hearing laughter; Tohru, Meiru, Yaito, and Dekao were all in a gruop together, laughing as they joked and talked together.

They had been avoiding Netto when he was around Katya, and he didn't understand why they hated her so much. Glancing back at Katya, he realized that she must be thinking the same thing as he was, for she had gone silent and her eyes had slightly clouded over. "So, what are we gonna do this weekend then?" Katya shrugged sullenly and Netto hoped that his friends' actions hadn't gotten to her.

As they walked past, a shadowy figure behind a tree slid behind the brown mass of bark silently. "So...you're the ones."

*****

Katya jumped out of bed and grabbed her PET with a kind of energy that only ten year olds have. "Cyyyclone!" she squealed with joy, running over to her windpw and looking out the frosted glass with glee. "Cyclone! Wakeeupp!" Her navi groaned and checked the clock that was built into the PET.

"Six AM?!? You have GOT to be kidding me Katya!!" she said with a massive yawn. Katya pushed the screen of the PET up to the glass of the window.

"Isn't it simply awesome?" she breathed, the heat from her breath fogging up the cold window. She had forgotten all of her sadness and all of her anxiety; it was replaced with fluffy white emotions as soft and powdery as the thin layer of snow that coated everything outside. Her navi frowned.

"I suppose...," she replied dubiously. It was well into November, and this was the first snowfall of the year. Katya slid out of her night clothes and pulled on a light blue turtleneck and gray sweatpants that reached past her ankles. Over her shirt she zipped up her black vest that she loved so much and she tugged gray knee socks on under her pants. After slipping on her boots and black and gray coat, Katya tugged a cotton hat on over her baseball cap so that her ears were covered and only the bill of the cap showed.

"You look like a marshmallow," Cyclone said crossly as Katya pulled on a pair of light blue gloves. Katya responded to the comment by sticking her tongue out at her navi and bounding out the door of her room with great anticipation for the day ahead.

*****

"Netto...NETTO GETUP!" Katya jumped on Netto's bed, laughing. Haruka had let her into the house a few minutes ago (as long as Katya agreed to take off her wet, snow-covered boots) and Katya had bounded up to Netto's room with a wild fervor for him to come out and join her in the snow.

"Mmph...five more minutes..."

"No silly, now! Nownownow!" Katya bounced a few times, shaking the covers off of Netto. He shivered in the chill air; Katya had opened his window.

"Wha? Katya, close the window!" Netto groaned. Katya giggled, slid off of the bed and obayed, sliding the glass down to block out the frigid day. Netto sat up and rubbed his brown eyes, which were still clouded with sleep. "You're insane...it's winter break...which means we get a break," he mumbled.

"Cha, a break from school. Not from the snow though! C'mon, the day's not getting any younger, and I'm not getting any less impatient!" She grabbed Netto's hand and pulled him to his feet. Netto, reluctant and tired, got dressed into his winter gear and followed his friend out into his living room.

"Don't forget to come back for hot cocoa later!" Haruka ordered with a smile. Katya grinned like it was Christmas already.

"Like that would ever happen!" she squealed before waving and disappearing into the white mass of snow with a scream of delight. Netto sighed before trudging after her. This was going to prove to be a long and very interesting day...

Little did they know just how interesting things would get.

~~~~~

A bit on the short side, but EEP! YAY WINTER I CAN'T WAAAAAIT!!
_________________
=]

[CrossFusionStarman]

Aw, how cute :3. I loved it! great chapter, and a cliffhanger to boot! Awesomeness...
_________________
EXEHQ. Click now, I demand it.

NT Champions. Click!

SERAS VICTORIA OWNS MY SOUL

[Cyclone EXE]

Teehee, thankies. I luff the snow... Next chapter in a few days, I promise! Gotta get settle bak into school tomorrow though...you know how it is after a weekend of doing NOTHING...
_________________
=]

[CrossFusionStarman]

Snow is awesome. I love it. Skiing, snowmen, pelting Chibi with snowballs...heh, I'm a bad big brother ^^. Yeah, I know what you mean about weekends though. I can wait as long as it takes for the next chapter. Especially after a cliffhanger.
_________________
EXEHQ. Click now, I demand it.

NT Champions. Click!

SERAS VICTORIA OWNS MY SOUL

[Cyclone EXE]

Good night to write. Cold. rainy. Nice.

~~~~~

Chapter Thirteen:

The frigid air swirled around Katya as she stood silently behind the large green and brown pine tree. The sharp smell of fresh pine needles made her nose itch and she fought back a sneeze, squeezing her tightly packed ammo between her numb fingers for comfort. The enemy was near...and they weren't gonna take it easy on her. Katya dove out from behind the tree just as a snowball flew up into the snow covered branches, causing a pile of snow to fall lightly from the sky. She saw her target, aimed, let her ammo fly from between her gloved fingers.

Netto dove behind a bunker made from snow and felled branches and the snowball wizzed past into the piles of white flakes behind him. "Eep!" Katya squealed as Netto threw the two snowballs that he had in his hands at her. She dodged one but got hit smack in the face with the other. Netto fell over with laughter but was quickly silenced by a couple solid hits from Katya's raging snowballs of doom.

"Ow ow!" He picked up a pile of snow and molded it into a large ball, soon after proceding to chase Katya around the clearing with it. Katya nearly ran into a tree or two; the snow had started to come down in thick sheets. After Netto slipped and fell flat on his face and Katya had pulled herself together and wiped her cold tears that had materialized from laughing so hard from her face, they plopped on the cold ground and lay there, catching their breath silently.

"Let's explore around the Metroline," Katya suggested after a few seconds of watching her breath swirl into the sky and mix with the soft flakes of snow that were falling so daintily around them. Netto shrugged and sat up.

"Alright." Katya stood and brushed off her snow covered clothes; she turned and giggled at Netto. He gave her a quizzical look.

"Hehe...you have snow all over your back," Katya said between giggles. Netto turned to look at his back and Katya went around behind him to help her friend brush off the snow. She then started off in the direction of the Metroline. "C'mon!" Netto sighed and ran after her.

*****

Katya paused outside the station to catch her breath, Netto soon running up beside her, breathing heavily, his breath clouding the air in front of his face. "We...just...had to run...," he panted. Katya nodded with a smile and stood up straight, look ing around. Netto also straightened. Katya turned to look behind her with a frown on her face. "Why'd we come here again?" Netto asked. Katya shook her head.

"I just had this...feeling." Netto raised his eyebrows, a dubious look on his face. "No, don't look at me like that," Katya said in a hushed tone. Netto frowned and looked around.

"I don't think there's anything here," he said slowly. Katya opened her mouth to relpy when there was a low rumbling noise. Both of them were knocked to the ground from the magnitude of the sudden shaking that rocked the area around them. "What is this, an earthquake?!?" Netto yelled over the noise of things falling and people screaming. Katya didn't answer; she only stared up at the Metroline building with severe consternation.

Suddenly, a hulking dome appeared, covering everything in sight. Katya blinked, amazed at the immense Dimensional Area. She hadn't seen anything like it since...but it had been only... Katya shook her head clear as she shaking ceased. She stood up shakily and looked around. There were a few houses damaged and people filling the streets, dazed, confused.

Katya grabbed Netto's arm and pulled him to his feet. The boy looked as confused and unsure about what to do next as she felt, and it scared her. Not about to admit her fear and concern, Katya cleared her throat, which was suddenly very oddly dry. "C'mon, let's go see if people need help. And," she added, "keep on your guard. Anything could happen in a Dimensional Area as large as this." The girl tugged on her warm and baggy clothes uncomfortably, suddenly noticing that Netto was shifting his shoulders uncomfortably.

"Is it...hot in here?" Netto asked warily. Katya frowned and pulled off her coat, dropping it to the ground. She didn't answer and Netto did the same, soon after following his friend through the slushy streets.

The snow slowly melted around them.

Katya and Netto had shed all of their winted clothes by the time they made it to Netto's home. The building was still standing, but Netto stood, staring in shock at the damage that had been inflicted by the shaking. The roof over his bedroom had caved in, and it loked as though there was almost no way to get upstairs, as the stairs were right next to his room.

"Katya...do..."

"I'm sure your mom's fine," Katya assured her friend. She stepped over the rubble to where the front door was. It was still standing. Netto swallowed and followed her carefully picking his way around glass and other sharp items.

"Netto, we really don't have time to worry about mom," Rockman said after ten minutes of searching what was left the the nearly demolished home. "She can take care of herself." Cyclone nodded from inside of her PET.

"Cha, Rockman's right. We have to search for who did this anyway..." Katya nodded at her navi's remark.

"Good point." She turned to Netto and put a hand on his shoulder. "C'mon, we'll look later. After this poblem's been resolved. Besides...it's dangerous to be standing under here..."

"...it's really unsturdy. Could collapse," Cyclone finished with a smile. Katya half smiled and nodded in agreement. Netto turned to look back at the shambles of his beautiful home before finally shaking his head up and down reluctantly.

The two kids hadn't even made it a block away when the earth started to shake again.

"My God, this is insane!" Katya screamed as she was thrown to the hard ground of the cracked sidewalk. Netto heaved himself to his feet and grabbed Katya's hand, pulling her up. They both looked around at the world around them as the road rippled like waves int he ocean before their eyes.

"I don't think concrete is supposed to to that," Netto commented with a frown. There was a massive shuddering and a navi appeared behind the kids; the magnitude of the quake increased, throwing both of them to the ground. Katya clutched the sidewalk, squeezing the pieces of concrete with both hands to reduce her movement as much as possible.

The navi in front of them was slender and had a black helmet on with red flames that danced across the front. Two curved spikes protruded downward from the sides of the helmet, nearly meeting below his chin. Around the navi's neck was a red cape with blue shimmers curling around the edges and his armour was jagged and black with hints of both red and blue embedded in the shiny surface. His eyes were cold blue and his lips were curled in a cruel smile that sent shivers down Katya and Netto's spines.

"So, you're the ones," he stated in a cold voice. The shaking suddenly stopped and Katya could feel sharp pain growing in her hands. She glanced down at them and cursed silently; she had jagged gashes running along her palms from where the rough concrete had cut into her skin. The navi's expression didn't alter when she responded with a tone of complete disgust.

"So, you're the idiot who decided to randomly attack this place," she retorted. The navi fixed his gaze on Katya and she stared back at him, brown eyes as dark and cold as the winter that had suddenly been destroyed by the navis arrival.

"You haven't changed," he said simply, and Netto frowned at the fact that this was yet another navi who didn't like to waste time on words. He would have to pay attention if he didn't want to miss anything... The boy glanced at Katya.

"You know him?" he whispered. Katya shot Netto a glance that wasn't cruel but was indeed very firm in saying that she had no clue what in the hell was going on. The navi smirked.

"My name is Siphur...and I have come to terminate you and your surroundings."

~~~~~

Cliffhanger.
_________________
=]

[Cyclone EXE]

Chapter Fourteen:

Katya gritted her teeth against the pain in her hands and stood up, still glaring at the navi with her cold brown eyes. She felt Netto stand beside her and stare out at his home which had been totally destroyed by the last quake. Katya felt a lump of guilt form in her throat and her stomach began to ache with misery and the feeling that she was the reason for all of her friend's pain and anguish. Siphur held out his hand and a black-red sword appeared in front of it. He grabbed the handle and addressed Katya once more.

"I've come for one single purpose...and what that is, you will be the one to decide," he said in a cold voice, pointing the sword's blade at the girl threateningly. Katya didn't blink.

"If you think I'm going to come back...." Katya said slowly. The navi's smile quickly melted into a frown.

"Then you're choosing death."

"What the hell-" Netto snapped his gaze up to the navi, suddenly feeling very utterly confused and angry. The navi's icey eyes flickered to Netto's unsmiling face. Katya elbowed him in the ribs, but the navi's expression quickly changed to one of vague amusement. "What the hell!" Netto repeated, putting more emphasis on his words.

"Netto," Katya hissed. Netto twitched. Katya hadn't seen him this out of sorts in ages...then again, if her house had just been destroyed and her mother was missing... Katya felt a lump in her throat and quickly swallowed it, refusing to cry. She didn't have anything to go back to, she had nearly forgotten.

"...like we'd ever-"

"Maybe this will change both of your minds," Siphur said coldly, snapping Katya back from her thoughts. She realized that Netto and the navi must have been talking. The sword glowed a blood red and a pale blue ball of energy shot from the end, smashing into the ground in front of Katya and sending her flying backwards from the energy of the attack.

Netto instinctively put his arms up to shield his face from the blast. When he lowered them again, the first thing he noticed was the concrete dust that had filled that air. The boy coughed, his breath making the dust puff and swirl in front of his face. Squinting through the haze, he could make out the outline of the navi, deadly sword shining through the dusty air. He couldn't see his friend anywhere.

Netto stepped over chunks of debris and blinked, his brown eyes watering. There wasn't anything but dust and gray everywhere. It was like all of the color had been sucked out of the surrounding area; no contrast, no unique shades, nothing but gray and red. Glancing down at his clothes, Netto espied that he was coated in a layer of fine chalky substance that was tossed on him from the impact of the attack.

"Katya!" Netto's voice was dry and his throat felt like it was coated with dust. It probably was, he thought.

"She won't answer." Siphur floated down in front of Netto, hovering a few feet from the ground. He sounded bored, like this was just a waste of time that he could be using to kill innocent people. Maybe destroy a few navis. You know, fun stuff that bad guys get to do. They get to wear capes too...that fun capes of awesomeness. Yessum... "I see that your opinion hasn't been swayed," he said after a few seconds of regarding Netto's glare.

"Yeah...you think? Okay I'm sick of this." Netto grabbed his Synchro Chip and fumbled for his PET in the haze. "You really need to die. Synchro Chip, Slot in!" He slid the chip into his PET and fused with Rockman. Siphur landed on a pile of debris and watched with amusement as R.Rockman stepped out of the fading dust and faced him.

Behind Siphur, a figure burst from a pile of debris and staggered to their feet. A sudden and strong blast of wind clew through the area, clearing the air so that R.Rockman could finally see clearly. He blinked a few times to focus and smiled as R.Cyclone pointed her buster at the red, black and blue navi's back. "If you came here then I'll assume you wanted a fight," R.Cyclone said in a monotonously. R.Rockman's smile flickered a bit when he heard the lack of energy that was usually in his friend's voice.

"If you insist."

~~~~~

Kinda short, but meh.
_________________
=]

[CrossFusionStarman]

AWESOME. The only word I can think of to describe it. When Katya and Netto were alone in the subway and everything started shaking, it reminded me of Doom. Man, that was a scary movie. But back on-topic, this chapter was great, but than again nearly all your chapters are.
_________________
EXEHQ. Click now, I demand it.

NT Champions. Click!

SERAS VICTORIA OWNS MY SOUL

[Cyclone EXE]

Thanks lotz CFS. Fourteen is up now...accidentaly pressed post instead of preview. XP
_________________
=]

[CrossFusionStarman]

Siphur is awesome! But he's evil...poor Netto and poor Katya...you really do write angst good. Either way, another awesome chapter.
_________________
EXEHQ. Click now, I demand it.

NT Champions. Click!

SERAS VICTORIA OWNS MY SOUL

[Cyclone EXE]

Chapter Fifteen:

Siphur saw a hint of distraction flicker in R.Rockman's eyes when he glanced at R.Cyclone and, with one swift motion, swung his sword with massive force and sent R.Rockman flying backward. Their Cross Fusion was terminated and Netto staggered to his feet, dazed and beat up, his PET falling to the ground beside him.

"That's not very NICE!" R.Cyclone screamed, throwing out a punch at the black navi's jaw. Siphur swiftly ducked the blow and kicked R.Cyclone's feet out from under her. R.Cyclone hit the ground hard and dove out of the way of a stab from the black and blue navi's glowing sword. Netto shook his head clear and Rockman appeared in front of him, the PET at Netto's feet becoming empty and desolate.

"Rockman?" The blue navi nodded at his Net Op before running off to help R.Cyclone. Netto bent to pick up his device and sighed before brushing off his filthy clothes and heading toward the battle.

"Rock Buster!" The red shot hit Rockman's target and made a small pinging noise. Siphur paused in his attack on R.Cyclone and turned to face his new opponent. R.Cyclone rolled onto her stomach and kicked the navi's feet out from under him.

"Aqua Sword, Slot In!" Netto said, pushing the chip into the PET. Rockman recieved the chip and slashed at Siphur before the dark navi could react. He cringed in pain but blocked the fourth and fifth blows with his own sword. The impact of the collisions shattered both navi's weapons.

Siphur swiftly stood and lifted a few feet up into the air, drawing his cloak around him. "This isn't over," he said simply before disappearing in a burst of black light. R.Cyclone transformed back into human and navi and Katya reached out, barely catching her PET before it hit the ground. Her reactions had become a bit sluggish due to the massive ammount of energy that was drained from her during the battle.

"What was that all about?" Netto inquired as Rockman returned to his PET. His navi shrugged and Netto tore his gaze from his PET to his home. He felt a mixture of sorrow and anger build up inside of his heart...he didn't know if his mom was okay...if the navi was indeed gone...if it would come back...

"I'm sorry," Katya whispered. She was still standing on the pile of rubble where she and Cyclone had been fused, staring at her friend as he let the weight of the day's events weigh heavily on his shoulders, slowly burdening him with what had happened and what was going to have to happen.

Looking around, Katya observed that the rest of the town hadn't been hit quite as hard as she had anticipated; there were only three or four destroyed homes and a bit of the street was torn up. There was shattered glass littering the ground and pieces of roof, flooring, etc was strewn around the area. Katya felt as though something wasn't right. She shifted her shoulders, suddenly feeling uncomfortably warm. Looking up, she realized that the Dimensional Area was still glimmering above them.

"They must've figured out a way to keep the dome activated for a set ammount of time," she muttered. "Not that's I'm...surprised..." Netto was suddenly beside her.

"You talking to yourself?"

"N...no!" Katya defended herself, turning crimson. Netto shrugged, his brown eyes gleaming with laughter that he wasn't expressing verbally. Katya pushed him off of the pile of rubble and slid down it herself, walking away from Netto on the street. Netto picked himself up off of the ground and, smiling, ran to catch up with her.

*****

Katya stopped in front of the school. The dome also stopped, though it was going...through the middle of the building? Netto stared up at the massive dome's arcing side and whistled. "Niice." There was the soft pattering of footsteps and the two kids whirled around to see Meiru, Tohru, and Dekao running across the street toward them. Neto tensed up as a girl with red hair advanced on him.

"Netto!" Meiru squealed, jumping on the boy and nearly knocking him over. Netto blushed a carnation pink and Katya smirked.

"What in the heck is going on?" Dekao demanded, staring at Katya. She glanced down at her sidewalk dust covered clothes and back up at the boy's face, smiling sheepishly.

"Uhm...long story."

"So you know what's going on?" Tohru said accusingly. Katya twitched.

"....to a certain degree," she said slowly, choosing her words wisely. The boys in front of her didn't look convinced. Netto let out a sigh as Meiru released him and rubbed his sore shoulders.

"What happened to you?" Meiru asked, her eyes clouding with concern when she saw his scratched and bruised face. Netto shrugged her question off with a shake of his head and a quick 'nothing. it's fine.'

"Are you guys alright?" Netto asked. The three teens exchanged glances.

"Uhm...we're fine...but Yaito's house kinda...caved in."

"Is she...?" Katya was horrified. Dekao gave her a disgusted glance before resuming his conversation with Netto as though she wasn't even there and she didn't care at all what happened to Yaito.

"Only the roof in the front hallway of her home caved in, but the thing is, she's trapped in there. We've been looking for you for about ten, maybe fifteen minutes..."

"We were hoping...maybe you could help us," Meiru pleaded, staring up at Netto with big brown eyes. Netto hesitated for a split second before nodding. He glanced at Katya before leaving with the others to get Yaito.

"Okay then..." Katya turned and stared up at the aperture that led into the school. She sighed. "Guess I'm on my own...again."
_________________
=]

[CrossFusionStarman]

Wow, great battle scene! And that was mean how they completely ignored Katya...that's not very nice! Ah well, great chapter as usual.
_________________
EXEHQ. Click now, I demand it.

NT Champions. Click!

SERAS VICTORIA OWNS MY SOUL

[Cyclone EXE]

Chapter Sixteen:

The building was dark and dank, the air around Katya seeming to waver with intense heat and moisture. She shivered after sneezing and cursed under her breath; the last thing she needed was to get sick again. A few minutes of walking through the dim hallways allowed her brown eyes to adjust to the lighting and she made out the fifth grade hallways to her right. They led to the center of the building, so Katya made a quick turn and started down toward the cafeteria.

The heat intensified as Katya opened the door to a large open room where there were usually tables set up for lunchtime. She sucked in a breath of sweltering air and ducked behind the door as a navi stepped into the room from another hallway. If she had decided to go that way... Katya shivered again, not from fear, but from the sharp chills that were running up and down her spine. She let out a sharp breath of air; a thin stream of smoke whirled from her mouth like snowflakes from the sky on a winter day. Startled, Katya blinked. It wasn't...cold in here...

"I'm telling you, it wasn't my doing," A voice said loudly from the cafeteria. It sounded desparate and frightened. Katya peered into the room through a small glass window on the door. She could make out the figure of a navi, but its face was covered in shadows cast by a machine that stood about six feet tall in the center of the room. The girl's eyes examined the machine silently and her heart became sick when she recognised the design. If she ended up being the one who caused the demise of this city...

Katya was snapped back to her senses by a swift but loud click and a tapping noise. "It's set. I'm outta here," the navi muttered after punching in a couple of buttons and turning a small knob on the side of the machine. A large ten appeared on the screen and the shadow navi was gone in a shower of pixels.

Katya wasted no time in bursting into the room and running up to the machine. "Damn!" She screamed, pounding her blood caked fist onto the machine's keyboard as the words 'incorrect password' flashed on the screen. "Nonono! I KNOW I pot a freaking lock on the password so no one could change it! I KNOW IT!" Katya could feel her heart beating rapidly in her chest. She was pumped up from anger and fear and her racing brain struggled to focus on the task at hand.

The numbers on the screen blurred and she shook her head clear, taking in deep controlled breaths. After a few seconds, Katya felt her heart rate return to normal and the world stopped spinning around her. Looking up at the screen, she read the numbers 8:36...35...34...33... There wasn't much time. It was now or never, and, if she failed, then it would mean the lives of hundreds of innocent people.

*****

Netto pushed the final hunk of wood away from the door to Yaito's house and threw all of his weight against the door, slowly but surely pushing it open. Dekao and Tohru stepped over a piece of drywall and helped to clear a way into the home. Minutes later, they managed to create enough of an opening to get the small girl out of her house. "Whew...that...thanks," Yaito said to Netto, her voice wavering and eyes large as muffins. Meiru put a comforting arm around her friend and smiled thanks at Netto, who nodded gravely. His PET beeped rapidly.

"Netto, you've got mail from Katya," Rockman said, appearing on the PET's screen. Netto waited a couple of anxious seconds for his navi to open the message. "Okay, it says 'Um...there's a bit of a problem. You might wanna get to the school...now...' ... ...that's all." Netto bit his lip, guilt washing over him. He suddenly felt horrible for leaving his friend to fight God knows what alone.

"You're not gonna go are you?" Dekao asked him sullenly. Netto blinked, startled.

"Well, yeah-"

"Don't you get it? She's the reason why all this's happening!" Netto twitched.

"W...what..."

"Don't play dumb. You know that there hadn't been an attack in ages...but then she showed up and..." Dekao gestured around him at the rubble and puiles of junk from the earthquake. Netto shook his head vigorously.

"You're wrong," he said simply before turning on his heel and running toward the school. It felt as though his heart was going to rip in two. One half of it didn't think that Katya was the one behind this at all but...the other part of him agreed with Dekao and hated her just as bad as his friends did.

~~~~~

Short...two chapters it is then. More pain in this one too. Oh yes.

~~~~~

Chapter Seventeen:

Netto burst into the room and the first thing he saw was a large machine with the numbers 3:40...39...38...37...written in bold blue letters. She had a sick feeling that this wasn't exactly good. The boy stepped up next to Katya and stared down at her fingers as they flew across the keys, typing in letters and numbers faster then he could read them. Katya slammed her fist down onto the keyboard suddenly, making Netto jump, startled. "Why...won't...you...work!" she sobbed. Netto stared silently at his friend as she punched and kicked the maching repeatedly, tears streaming down her face, the blue numbers flashing, counting, slow motion moving.

"Stop," he muttered. Katya pulled her hand back to strike the keys again but Netto grabbed her wrist. "Stop." They locked eyes for a moment before Katya's features hardened from the weepy girl she had become for a few moments into the person that she usually was.

"Right...," she mumbled in a monotone voice.

"How do you stop it?" Katya's eyes threatened to spill over with a fresh round of tears.

"I don't know."

"But you do." Netto examined Katya's face, finding the lie and locking onto it. He knew Katya better then that. She knew he knew. She was trapped. No place to huide this time.

"Perhaps," she answered after a moment. The clock read 2:20 and counting...counting.

"Don't give me that shit, Katya." Her eyes moved up to his and they were defeated and sad, a look that scared Netto. Katya was never defeated. Never sad.

"I...built...I built...it. I...there's only one way to stop it now," she stammered, choking back a sob. 1:50...49...

"Why build a bomb."

"I don't know," Katya whispered, her voice barely audiable. "I don't know." There was a pause. Time was swiftly running out.

"How do you stop it." 59...58... Katya pushed her Synchro Chip into her PET and fused with Cyclone. She stared at Netto with blank eyes before pushing in one of the buttons on the machine and holding it.

"Katya..."

"Shut up," R.Cyclone snapped to her navi. Cyclone fell silent. Netto couldn't say anything, could only stand and watch. He knew what Katya was about to do. somehow he knew. "I'll tell you. But you won't like it."

"Tell me," he replied, clenching his fists. She told him. He didn't like it. "That's the only..."

"Yes." 10...9...8...

"Katya..."

"Shut up!" R.Cyclone screamed, releasing the button. A charge of electricity from the machine snaked up from the keyboard and slammed into her body. Cyclone's PET clanked to the floor and Netto turned away from the bright light that was engulfing everything, tears streaming down his cut, muddy cheeks. The blue numbers were frozen on the screen. The light threatened to overcome him...but Netto was frozen, rooted to the spot. He felt the world spinning rapidly around him...then...nothing.

*****

Netto felt someone beside him and opened his eyes groggily. Meiru's face slid into focus and she breathed a sigh of relief. Memory flooded back to Netto and he sat up, feeling a sharp pain in his head from doing so. He was still in the school. "No...don't...you should save your energy, really," Meiru said gently. Netto shrugged her hand from his muddy shoulder and stood shakily. The world spun around him and he threatened to black out again, but Netto forced his tired brain to focus.

"What happened?" He struggled to unslur his words which were slidng swiftly from his lips like a knife through butter. Meiru's eyes darkened and Netto noticed the tear stains on her fair skin.

"We were hoping you could tell us." Meiru's voice wavered and a few tears rolled from the corners of her brown eyes and splashed onto the ground in front of her. She wiped them away impatiently.

"...I don't remember."

"Netto..." Meiru bit her lip, obviously trying not to burst out crying.

"What."

"She's dead," the girl in front of him choked out.

"W...what?!?"

"She...she...Cyclone said...I'm sorry."

"Dead?"
~~~~~

Yesh...yesh...yesh...
_________________
=]

[CrossFusionStarman]

Nooo, Katya! Dammit, now how the hell am I gonna fit her into my fics! Anyways, great two chapters. I loved these the best, even though it meant the end of our beloved Katya...you're gonna revive her, right?
_________________
EXEHQ. Click now, I demand it.

NT Champions. Click!

SERAS VICTORIA OWNS MY SOUL

[gerbilqueen]

Yeah Katya's great! You can't kill her off!
_________________
My mind works like lightning - one brilliant flash and its gone.