A Different Beginning: Chapter 14: Saito's Battle Pt. 1

[Neko]

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2348176/1/

Hey, I was gonna start a new fic, then I saw this in my removeable hard drive, collecting dust. Achie might not want to continue this but I recall alot of people liking this, so I'll take this one up on my own for if and when Achie ever comes back.

All previous chapters can be found at the above link. So if you haven't read it and have ALOT of time on your hands, then knock yourself out. :D Enjoy

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before Lan even had a chance to blink Skullman brought his arms back in his special attack, “Bone Boomerang!” he called out in a voice that sent chills down Saito’s spine.

His forearms flew off and spiraled towards Lan’s head. He jumped back, trying to avoid them, but as they arced around Lan knew he wasn’t going to make the second dodge.

“Lan!” Saito yelled, seeing his friend get caught by the attack.

Lan stood up, his breathing heavy, “Saito, shut up and send me battle chips if you want to help,” he said.

Saito didn’t need a second bidding, “Sword, battle chip in!” he called.

A bright blue sword materialized on Lan’s forearm and he went after Skullman in a head on attack. Skullman saw him coming and jumped smoothly out of the way, then bringing his bony leg up in a roundhouse kick catching Lan in the stomach.

Miyuki looked at Saito with her glassy eyes focused in the heat of battle, “You can not win,” she said in a silvery voice. “If you don’t plug out now your friend will be deleted.”

Saito looked at Lan with a worry he never felt before. It had just hit him that if he made any mistakes, he might loose Lan forever.

Lan stood up and coughed, “Hey! Don’t listen to her, we can beat her. We can win this, understand! Don’t you dare start getting soft on me again,” he said.

Saito nodded and adopted a resolute look on his face, “I won’t let you down.”

Lan smiled, “Good, cause I wouldn’t accept anything less, now let’s do this!”

“Aqua tower, battle chip in!” Saito yelled, shoving the small chip into his PET.

The water went careening towards Skullman, but he disappeared and reappeared on the other side. “To slow!” he called.

Lan growled and Saito prepared to use another chip. “What’s the use?” Miyuki asked. “We’ll just defeat you anyway.”

Lan had just about had enough, “Okay, listen lady, I know I’m ‘just’ a net navi, but will you please shut up and let my operator concentrate?” he asked.

Miyuki glanced at Lan in the net, his human aura briefly appeared to her and was gone before she could get a closer look. His existence puzzled her, but she couldn’t do anything about it, not while she was in battle.

“Thanks Lan,” Saito said gratefully.

“Thank me later, win now,” said Lan.

Saito pushed another chip into his PET, this time an aqua sword. Lan once again flew at Skullman only to miss by a long shot. Skullman came up on Lan’s left side and used his bone boomerang to send him on the other side of the field.

Saito watched the battle, ‘Something isn’t right,” he said to himself. ‘No navi can just disappear, how is he…’

Skullman disappeared again to reappear above Lan. Lan dodged getting his head cut off by mere centimeters.

‘Speed! Why didn’t I think of it before! No wonder we can’t touch him, we’ve been going about this the wrong way!’ Saito thought excitedly.

“Stupid ghost navi,” Lan muttered, holding his arm.

“Lan stop, we need to change tactics. Brute strength isn’t going to work here,” Saito called to his navi.

“Well then, what do you propose we do?” asked Lan as Skullman prepared for another attack.

“Do you trust me?” asked Saito.

“Of course, what kind of stupid question is that?” Lan snorted.

“Then do exactly as I say, understand?” Saito said.

Lan nodded, and dodged another attack, loosing a bit of speed.

“Okay then, mini bomb, slot in!” Saito shouted.

A mini bomb appeared in front of Lan and he took it. “That’s your plan!” he screeched.

“Lan shut up and throw it!” Saito said.

Lan threw it and missed Skullman by a mile. “I can’t hit him,” he said angrily.

“I know, just trust me okay?” Saito said.

Lan sighed and nodded.

“Okay, Mini Bomb slot in!” he yelled.

Yet another mini bomb appeared before Lan and he threw it. More and more mini bombs came and Lan threw every one until nothing could be seen because of all the smoke.

“Oh! I wonder what Lan and Saito are trying to do!” Kero yelled excitedly.

“Yeah, me too,” Lan muttered.

“Just watch,” Saito said and slotted in a sword chip. “And when you see something, strike.”

Lan looked in the thick plumes of smoke and saw a blur appear right in front of him. His eyes widened in realization on Saito’s plan. He thrust his arm forward and caught Skullman through the chest, sending him flying back.

“Using the smoke as a detector, Saito, you’re BRILLIANT!” Lan cheered.

Skullman laughed and stood up, “Yes, but can you do it again?” he asked.

Miyuki smiled and pulled the plug on her PET, logging out Skullman. She walked by Saito and smiled, “So, you’re Saito. Nice work, I never saw that.”

Saito blushed, “Thank you. Miyuki-san.”

“So! First timer’s Saito Hikari and his navi Lan have defeated Miyuki and her mysterious navi Skullman!” Kero cheered from her post.

The crowd roared its approval and Saito and Lan smiled and waved back.

In the shadows, they were watched by Enzan and his navi. “Luck,” he muttered and stuck his hands in his pockets. “That girl threw away the match,” he said.

“Yes, Enzan-sama,” Blues said.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

Saito gave a sigh of relief as he and his friends sat around waiting for the next match ups to be presented.

Meiru latched onto Saito’s arm and said, “That was so cool! You and Lan make a great team.”

Dekao growled at them, but didn’t say anything.

In the net Roll latched onto Lan’s arm much in the same way Meiru did with Saito. “Yeah, you two are great together.”

It was a peculiar thing to see Lan blush, but blush he did and glared furiously at Iceman and Glyde as then laughed silently.

Gutsman was also mercifully silent.

The monitor beeped and Lan said, “Hey, look the match ups are being posted!” and returned to his PET before any more of his dignity could be taken away.

Everyone crowded around the monitor and looked for their names, “Ah! I’m against someone named Madoi?” Meiru said.

“Hinoken…” Saito read out loud. “Wait, isn’t that Fireman’s operator?” he asked alarmed.

“Yes!” Lan jabbed a fist into the air. “It’s pay back time!” he said.

“Who’s Madoi?” Meiru asked.

Yaito shrugged, “Who knows, who cares. Do you want to go look at stuff in the gift shop to kill some time?” she asked.

“Sure!” said Meiru, “Anyone else want to come?” she asked.

Saito, Dekao and Tohru all smiled and shook their heads nervously.

Meiru and Yaito turned around in a huff, “Well, they obviously don’t appreciate our company, let’s go Yaito.”

“Yes, let’s,” said Yaito.

“A-ah, we didn’t me…” Saito started but Dekao clamped a hand over his mouth.

“Don’t, they just want the attention. Besides they could make us go if we do,” he said.

Lan nodded, “As much as I hate to admit it, blubber butt is right. Just let them go, Saito.”

Saito sighed, “All right,” he said doubtfully. But he couldn’t shake the sense of impending doom.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

Meiru and Yaito were in the shop giggling as they tried on hats. “Hey, do you like this one?” asked Meiru putting on a baseball cap.

“Yeah!” said Yaito, “You look really cute in it.”

Meiru giggled and started to say ‘thanks’ when she felt the hat be lifted off her head. She turned around angrily, “Hey! That’s my hat!”

A girl with large reddish pony tails and questionable fashion sense put the hat on with a wink. “I think I look much more beautiful in this hat then you.”

Meiru glared at her. “You…”

Madoi overlooked her with an almost sad expression, “Awww, I’m so sad to say my competition isn’t much, Coloredman. Not even a teenager.”

“Don’t worry Madoi, I’m sure you’ll meet a worthy opponent next time,” said Coloredman.

“I do hope so,” said Madoi.

“Watch what you say, old hag!” said Meiru.

“O…. did you just call me an old hag!” Madoi screeched.

“You bet I did! Now give me back my hat!”

“I think I’ll keep it. As a memoir for when I beat you!” she said.

“Old hag, old hag!” Meiru and Yaito sing songed at her as she left the shop with the hat.

“Don’t worry Meiru, I’m sure you’ll win,” said Yaito.

“I know I will,” said Meiru.
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[Midnight]

So it is a retelling of the story of the anime in a mirror universe. Eh...it's alright for now. I'd like it, however, if you separated the different portions of the story, so that I can know the approximate time for which the events occur.

[Neko]

okay one, I HATE fanfiction.net I really did seperate all the chapters.

Two, this is for fun, I'm sorry but I could care less if it's predictable, it's for fun. Achie and I write it soley for the purpose of having fun with the problem-ed Lan and geeky Saito.
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[Midnight]

*holds hands in air*

Alright, Alright! I'll calm down! I still enjoy reading it though.
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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

[Neko]

^^; Sorry, I'm not feeling too good today. Thanks for the review, slot of people here will be glad to see the revival of this long vacant fic.
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[Wackoguy]

Whoa, it's been a while....

Since I liked this part of the Anime so much, I like it even more with the change between Lan and Saito (Hub).

Write on! :V
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"When it rains,it pours. When it pours,get out of the rain." -quoth me!

Megaman Melee! HUTTAH and HUZZAH!


"I ate your siggy..."

[Neko]

Meiru and Yaito went back to where to Saito and everyone else was staying. Meiru seemed to have an aura of fire around her and she looked really miffed to say the least. “H-hey Meiru,” said Saito, feeling slightly intimidated.

“That woman! How dare she say such a thing to me!” said Meiru, ignoring Saito’s greeting.

“Ummm, did I miss something?” asked Dekao.

“Don’t worry Meiru, you’ll beat her!” said Yaito taking her hands. “You won’t let her get away with insulting you like that!”

Meiru nodded and together they made an imposing aura, Saito and the other’s slowly backed away.

“Roll, what’s up with your operator?” Lan asked.

“Ooooh, man what a mean person!” said Roll, also ignoring Lan.

Glyde nodded in agreement, “Yes, Yaito-sama should never hear such insults.”

Lan and Gutsman exchanged puzzled glances but didn’t say anything.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

The time of the battle drew near and Meiru stood up from where she and Yaito were silently exchanging battle strategies. “Good luck Meiru!” said Yaito. “Beat that ugly old hag.”

“I will, don’t you worry!” said Meiru and she marched off down the hall.

Saito, Dekao and Tohru stood there silently very confused as to what was going on. Yaito rounded on them as soon as Meiru was out of sight, “Well! What are you waiting for? Let’s go watch Meiru beat that bad woman!”

Lan chucked, “I can’t argue with that,” he said silently.

Saito said “Shhhh,” quietly but silently agreed. Even though he had to get ready for his own battle in the main dome. Hopefully he could finish it fast enough to see the end of Meiru’s battle.

They followed Yaito to their seats and sat down just as Kero began her commentary. “And here we are, with the newest battle starting in the sub arena! The main arena battle will begin in ten minutes and I will now introduce the competitors in this battle. On the right we see Meiru and her lovely navi Roll!” She was greeted with tremendous applause and cheers. “And on the left we see Madoi and her navi Coloredman!” she was greeted with a smattering of applause and a few boos.

“Hey! I got this far didn’t I?” Madoi yelled.

“Oh?” said Meiru in a superior voice, starting to feel a little more confident about going up against a person that was easily ten years older then her. “Not very popular are you?” she asked.

“Shut up! Well see what’s what when this match is done!” said Madoi in a loud voice.

“Go little girl, kick her butt!” yelled someone from the crowd.

Meiru appreciated the comment but still face faulted from being called a little girl.

“Ready, and battle start!” Kero yelled out.

Roll ran forward and yelled out, “Heart Flash!” summoning a pink heart to her hand and throwing it at her foe.

“Oh no!” Coloredman squeaked in pretend surprise. “Madoi save me!”

“Che, a navi yelling out for an operator’s help,” said Meiru.

Madoi just smiled.

As the heart came in to hit Coloredman he took his big hands away from his face and gave roll a silly grin, “Not!”

Roll landed on the ground after throwing her attack and Coloredman smashed the small pink attack in his hands.

“Do you want to try that again?” he asked.

“Meiru-chan?” asked Roll, who was at a loss of what to do.

“Don’t worry, aqua tower, slot in!” said Meiru pushing the chip into her PET.

“Aqua Tower!” yelled out Roll slamming her hand onto the ground, palm first where a jet of jet of water went up into the sky.

“Oh? You can do that too?” asked Madoi.

Coloredman brought forth his hands in a sweeping gesture and two smaller Coloredman’s appeared. One of them yelled out, “Fire Tower!” and slammed his hand into the ground where a pillar of fire instantly sprang up. The second one yelled out, “Aqua Tower!” and an attack identical to Roll’s came out.

The first tower ran into Roll’s aqua tower immediately canceling out both attacks and giving a free place for the second aqua tower that was fired to head straight for Roll.

“Yahhhh!” she screamed out as the attack hit her and sent her flying into the far side of the arena.

“Hahahaha!” laughed Coloredman. “Do you really think you can beat me?” he asked.

“See, you are just a bratty little kid,” Madoi jeered. “You’re way in over you head, girl.”

“Oh no! Roll has just taken a serious hit from Coloredman! Can the small navi hold on?” Kero’s voice boomed overhead.

Roll shakily stood up holding her right arm and breathing heavily. “Yes,” she panted.

“Good work, Roll!” Meiru cheered. “You can do it!”

“Oh, so you think you have a chance now that your navi is up?” Coloredman asked.

“How pathetic,” said Madoi.

“Go!” yelled Coloreman and his two small cloned once again threw their attacks at Roll. She barely managed to dodge both but Coloredman had another trick up his sleeve. “Tama!” he yelled out throwing his large blue spotted balance ball at Roll where it scored a direct hit on the poor navi.

Meiru watched as once again her navi was sent flying. “Roll!” she yelled.

“Face it, you can’t win!” said Madoi.

“Yes,” Roll struggled to her feet again. “Yes we can. Don’t listen to her Meiru-chan.”

Meiru nodded. “I know we can win. Come on Roll! Are you ready to show everyone what we’ve got?” she yelled.

Roll nodded and stood up straight.

‘I hope Saito is watching,’ Meiru thought.

In the main dome, waiting for his match Saito sneezed.

“Don’t be getting sick on me,” Lan growled.

“Don’t worry, I’m not,” Saito said.

Back in the sub dome match Roll had launched herself on the offensive.

“Oh, going out with a bang?” asked Madoi. “Fine with me!” she yelled and gave Coloredman the necessary chips to pull of his devastating attack once again.

“Now Roll!” Meiru yelled.

“Hear Flash!” Roll yelled and threw twin hearts at the small Coloredman’s.

“You really think that will work, after it failed you the first time?” Madoi asked.

“What makes you think this attack is the same?” she asked.

“What?” asked Madoi and watched in horror as the two hearts hit and were absorbed by the two clones.

Hearts appeared in their eyes they looked at Roll with admiration. “Oh beautiful Roll, what can we do for you?” one asked.

“Yes, how can we help?” the second one nodded.

Roll giggled cutely, “Well, you can attack that scary looking navi over there for me,” she said and pointed at Colored.

They turned around and looked at Coloredman with twin glares. “You’re scaring Roll!” said one.

“N-n-now wait a minute!” said Coloredman holding up his hands.

“You leave Roll alone!” the second one said.

“What?” screeched Madoi.

“Fire Tower!” the first one yelled and a fire attack came out.

It hit Coloredman square on and burned the navi badly.

“I think he needs to be cooled down, care to do the honors?” asked Roll to the second one.

“Ah Roll, what a caring person you are,” he said, blinded by his affection. “Aqua Tower!” he yelled and sent the second attack at Coloredman.

He was hit by the rush of water and sent flying across the arena. “Score!” cheered Roll.

“Care to do the honors?” asked Meiru.

“Would I?” asked Roll. She jumped up into the air, “Heart Flash!” she yelled and sent the now deadly heart attack at Coloredman.

“Ah noooo!” he yelled out and was consumed by the light that came from the attack hitting him.

‘Coloredman, log out,’ the screen read.

The crowd roared its approval of the pink haired girl’s victory.

“And in a stunning upset, Roll and Meiru pulled a miraculous come from behind win!” Kero commentated.

Yaito, Dekao and Tohru all came down to congratulate Meiru on her win. “Now we need to go see what’s happening with Saito and Lan,” said Yaito.

Meiru nodded and they all headed for the main dome.
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[Achie-san]

Well, it seems I haven't missed too much in my absense and I finally tracked this thing down. (It took me two days... And it was only on the second page. *smacks self* >.<)

Honestly, I don't understand what you mean, Midnight Critic. ^^; I'm kind of slow so sometimes it takes me a while to understand things. Do you mean to make it so each chapter is an episode or something?

Oh, well, I'll hunt down the episode tonight and watch it then write. I've finally caught up on a lot of other things I've been neglecting, so I'll finally have time. TwT;
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Friendship is a promise made in the heart
Silent and unwritten
It's unbreakable by distance
and unchangeable by time.

() ()
(*¬*) \/

(Thanks to Marisa for my Avitar. I love it. ^-^)

[Mari]

No, MC means the separator lines that Neko did put there, but ff.net was so kind to eat, Achie. ^^;

I've found -- works better than something with slashes, for some reason.
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Currently fangirling Edgy Eft and mplayer1.0RC1 -- firefox 2 is just okay, those are pure awesome.

[Mari]

No, MC means the separator lines that Neko did put there, but ff.net was so kind to eat, Achie. ^^;

I've found -- works better than something with slashes, for some reason.
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Currently fangirling Edgy Eft and mplayer1.0RC1 -- firefox 2 is just okay, those are pure awesome.

[Midnight]

No, no, I'm saying that within each chapter, there should be a break when the scene switches to another character. Without it, the transition is not as clear.
_________________
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

[Achie-san]

Eh? I could of sworn I did that. O_o I always do that in my fics... Did something happen when Neko-chan transfered it to Fanfic.net? *so confused*

Neko-chan, we really do need to go back and fix this. T.T
_________________
Friendship is a promise made in the heart
Silent and unwritten
It's unbreakable by distance
and unchangeable by time.

() ()
(*¬*) \/

(Thanks to Marisa for my Avitar. I love it. ^-^)

[Mari]

[Mari]

[Neko]

NOT MY FAULT!

FF.net is stupid >.<

I changed my format of sperating scenes but I cna't really change anything else cause of what FF.net did.

Anywho, that's irrelivant to the boards anyway.
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[Achie-san]

There, I finally finished catching up and I do have one nitpick, Neko-chan. Your style has improved a lot, but you seem to have forgotten the ending name suffixes, such as how Lan calls Saito "Saito-kun" and the Roll-chan/Meiru-chan things.
_________________
Friendship is a promise made in the heart
Silent and unwritten
It's unbreakable by distance
and unchangeable by time.

() ()
(*¬*) \/

(Thanks to Marisa for my Avitar. I love it. ^-^)

[Achie-san]

I hope no one murders me for double posting to get this chapter in... I would of waited but I couldn't find Neko-chan and ask her to post before me, and I don't know how much time I have until my mom steals me away to visit relatives. ^^;

Sorry about this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The main dome was naturally filled with numerous net battle enthusiasts, all cheering and shifting about impatiently, wanting the next battle to begin. Unfortunately for one skilled, yet shy net battler, their cheers were more of a concern than a blessing.

“Ugh... There are so many people,” Saito said softly to himself, “My stomach is hurting...”

“Suck it up, you pansy,” Lan snorted, “What’s wrong with you? You’ve been in the dome already, remember?”

“I know, but I have a bad feeling,” Saito said softly, feeling more and more apprehensive.

“If you back out, I’ll never forgive you, ever,” Lan said with a scowl, “I want to fight! Aren’t you even a little excited?”

“I am, it’s just...” Saito sighed. “You’re right, this is silly. I’ll do my best, and I know you will too, right?” Lan only grinned and nodded.

“Your match is up,” one of the backstage workers announced, “Let’s give the people a show before they throw things at us.” This did not help Saito’s nerves one little bit.

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Hinoken smirked as he stood before the stadium audience in all his tight-spandex glory, smirking at the young challenger as Saito entered. The boy was nervous. Hinoken almost laughed at that. How could such a puny child even hope to defeat him, especially after his extensive training?

Saito’s face was beat red as he felt the eyes of countless onlookers watching him. Definitely, he was going to be sick.

“And in the main dome we have Hino Kenichi and his Fireman versus the challenger Hikari Saito and his navi Lan!” Kero shrieked out from the sound systems, causing the already jumpy Saito to stumble and fall flat on his face.

“Saito-kun, you’re making me look bad again...” Lan groaned as he placed a hand over his face. Saito blushed at his navi’s comment and quickly gathered himself back to his feet, trying to ignore the laughter from the crowd.

“S... Sorry,” he said softly.

“Don’t apologize; just plug me in already!” Lan ordered, and his operator was quick to follow the command. Fireman sneered at the smaller navi when he entered the battle stage, his arms folded in front of him in a superior manner.

“Your puny operator is going to be your downfall,” Fireman said with a cocky laugh, “I’ll enjoy watching him break under Hinoken-sama’s power.”

“Shut up,” Lan snarled, “Saito-kun is a lot stronger than he acts! I know he is and we’ll prove it to you when I break that furnace you call a head right off.” Fireman only laughed.

“Lan, don’t let him upset you,” Saito said softly over the PET, “It’s ok. We don’t have to prove anything to them. You and I both know that we’re strong and soon they will see too.” Lan relaxed a little at that and nodded.

“Isn’t that cute?” Hinoken chided as if talking to small children, “The net op giving their navi a pep talk. Too bad cuteness won’t save you in this match, brat.” Saito said nothing, only trying to focus his attention on the battlefield.

“Hino Kenichi versus Hikari Saito,” Kero yelled over the loudspeaker, “Battle, start!”

Lan wasted no time jumping headfirst into battle, first attempting to drive a hard kick into Fireman’s chest. The larger navi easily blocked by bracing himself and crossing his arms over his chest. When he made no move to try and counter, Lan began trying to break his defenses with a relentless wave of punches and kicks.

“Lan, don’t waste too much energy,” Saito said over the PET, finally starting to forget about the crowds and focus completely on the battle, “He might be waiting for an...”

Fireman suddenly pulled back and punched Lan hard right in the face, sending the small blue navi flying with a yelp of pain.

“... opening,” Saito finished with a soft sigh.

Lan cursed as he righted himself on his landing. “Saito-kun, give me a chip! I’ll rip this guy apart.”

“Alright, but be more careful about falling for traps like that,” Saito said as he selected one of their favorite battle chips, “Sword chip, slot-in.”

Lan grinned as the sword formed in his hand.

“You think you’re cleaver, don’t you?” Fireman said with a chuckle, extending his hand as his own operator sent him a fire sword. Lan cursed mentally at that. Fireman’s element type would raise the already powerful sword’s attack.

“Lan, don’t let it hit you,” Saito said as the two navis began to exchange sword blows.

“Easier said than done,” Lan snapped, barely managing to block the attacks as it was.

Saito frowned and thumbed through his pockets to look over his chip. All he had was a few spreads, shot guns, cannons, a barrier, swords and mini bombs. Nothing elemental aside from the elec sword. If only he had something that would do damage against Fireman’s type...

“Well, these have saved us once before,” Saito said softly as he pulled out one of his mini bombs, “Lan stand back.” Lan was confused for a moment before jumping away from Fireman.

“You can’t escape me,” Fireman snarled as he dashed after Lan, sword raised for the kill, only to run face first into the explosion of a mini bomb.

“Idiot, what are you doing?” Hinoken snapped as he glared at the pixilated battle.

“I’m sorry, Hinoken-sama, it won’t happen again...” Fireman said as he picked himself up after being thrown back by the blast.

“Still think my operator is weak?” Lan teased as he laughed at Fireman’s expense.

“That was just a lucky shot,” Fireman growled before he chuckled low and dark, “You’ll see very soon just how weak your operator is... No one, especially not a flinchy little brat like that, can stand up to the power of the sun.”

“Power of the sun...?” Lan repeated with a quirk of his brow, “If you think you have the power of the sun, then you’re deluded. You can‘t even compare to a gas bubble.”

“We’ll see how cocky that attitude of yours is once we release our great strategy,” Fireman said with another chuckle, “You and your operator will suffer.”

Lan glared at Fireman before launching at him with his sword raised. “I’ll beat you right now!” he snarled as he crashed his blade against Fireman’s with a renewed anger behind every blow they exchanged.

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

“And this match is really heating up!” Kero cheered, “It looks like Lan and Fireman are equally matched!”

The crowd roared its approval and agreement as the battle raged on with both operators and navis giving everything they had.

“It looks like we haven’t missed too much,” Tohru commented as he sat down next to Dekao.

“Good,” Yaito said as she sat down on the other side of their large friend, “I want to see Lan rip this guy apart.”

“For a lady, you sure are violent, Yaito-chan,” Dekao commented, earning a sharp elbow jab to his ribs.

“Silence, fat one,” Yaito hissed softly.

Meiru giggled softly as she sat next to Mariko. “How is Saito doing?” she asked.

“He seems to be doing very well,” Mariko said, “But he looked so nervous when he came out...”

“Well, it isn’t like Saito to put himself in the limelight,” Meiru said, “I guess he would be nervous.”

“Yes, but he seemed worried about something,” Mariko said, “He wasn’t so upset the last time when he fought with Miyuki-san.” Meiru frowned softly as she turned her attention to the battle.

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Fireman snarled as he jumped back, forming his buster. “Fire arm!” he yelled as he released his flaming attack.

“Crap,” Lan yelped and formed his buster, shooting down what he could and returning the punishment.

Hinoken only grinned as both navis took a hit and fell back. “It looks like they are stronger than we thought they would be,” he mused, “Time for our secret weapon... Fireman, are you ready?”

“Yes, Hinoken-sama,” the fire navi said as he rose to his feet. Hinoken snickered as he slotted in a battle chip.

“Lan, something is wrong,” Saito gasped as Kero started to scream about something being wrong with the solar system and for everyone to try to remain calm.

“What do you mean?” Lan asked, hesitating when he heard Fireman laughing. He growled and glared darkly at the navi. “What have you done?”

“Prepare to face the fury of the sun,” Fireman laughed out. Lan definitely didn’t like the sound of that.

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

“W-What is this?” Yaito whimpered as the dome’s roof began to close in on them.

“Perhaps a bug in the system?” Glyde offered.

“Let’s try to stay calm,” Mariko said, though it as obvious that she was worried too.

“Oh, no, the battle stage!” Meiru gasped as it flickered for a moment then came back online, shining as if the sun itself had been dragged down from the heavens to their arena.

“It’s getting really hot in here,” Tohru said as he began to fan himself.

“The light is killing my eyes,” Dekao groaned, “I don’t know if I can take this.”

“Saito...” Meiru said softly, putting a hand to her chest, “He’s in danger.”

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

“Lan, are you ok?” Saito cried out as he tried to shield his eyes from the light.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Lan said, “What’s going on? Are you hurt?”

“The light is so intense, it’s hard to see,” Saito said, “and... it’s really hot...”

Hinoken laughed. “Do you like our little strategy?” he crowed, “Now Fireman’s strength has been multiplied by the sun’s light and he’ll use it to rip your precious navi apart.”

As if on cue, Fireman dashed in and slammed a fist into Lan’s stomach. The smaller navi couldn’t even react as he was thrown back, skidding a few feet before coming to a stop.

“O... Ow...” he groaned softly, his stomach smoking just from the punch.

“Lan,” Saito gasped, “Lan, say something!”

“Saito-kun... You should get out of here,” Lan said as he forced himself to sit up, “I don’t need your help to take this guy down.”

“What are you talking about?” Saito asked, eyes widening with hurt, “Of course you need me! Fireman is too strong for you to take down on your own!”

“Just get out of here before things get too hot for you to handle,” Lan snapped, “Your body can’t handle this.” Saito hesitated a moment.

“I’m not going to abandon you,” he said softly as he pulled out another chip, “elec sword, slot in.”

“Saito-kun!” Lan objected, but didn’t have time to argue as Fireman dashed in for the kill. The smaller navi had all he could do just to keep the larger of the pair from landing a blow with his sword, but he couldn’t avoid another hard kick to the side that sent him skidding again.

“Darn it, I can’t play with you anymore,” Lan snarled as he leapt back to his feet, “Saito-kun’s in danger, so just die like a good little cheater.”

“Who’s playing?” Fireman sneered as he raised his buster and slammed it into the ground, “Flame Tower!” Lan could only stare in horror as the wall of fire slammed into him.

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

“Lan!” Roll cried out, placing her hands over her mouth, “He’s in trouble... I’m scared.”

“As strong as Lan is, he doesn’t stand a chance with the solar system going crazy like this,” Glyde said, “Saito-kun also seems to be in pain. The heat must be unbearable down next to that light...”

“We’ve got to do something,” Iceman hissed with a scowl, “Tohru-kun! Let’s go!”

“You’re right,” Tohru said over the PET, “Kero said it was a virus causing all of this mess, right?” He looked to Yaito.

“Yeah, so let’s go,” the small girl said as she jumped from her seat.

“Time for me and Gutsman to save the day again,” Dekao announced as he also stood, earning a kick to the shin from Yaito.

“There’s no time for this,” Tohru said, “Let’s hurry.” The boy didn’t wait for an answer as he raced off to help his friend with Yaito and Dekao on his heels.

````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Saito groaned as he felt his vision starting to blur. “I don’t know... if I can take this,” he said softly to himself. What was he doing, anyway? He was no hero and certainly didn’t have a strong body, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave even though all common sense was screaming at him to flee.

“Lan...” he said softly as he strained his eyes to look at the battle, watching his navi barely manage to pull through, “I wish... I was half as strong as you... I want to become stronger... so I won’t run... ever again.”

“Saito-kun...” Lan said softly, hearing his operator and wanting to argue that now was a good time to be weak and run, but at the same time, he wanted Saito to become stronger as well.

Saito weakly thumbed through his chips, pulling out another sword. He blinked, trying to clear his vision. Suddenly it was very hard for him to figure out where to slot in the battle chip. Everything turned sideways before a black haze completely covered his vision.

“Challenger, Hikari Saito, is down!” Kero cried over the loudspeaker as the boy’s body hit the floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had fun writing this chapter mainly because this is one of my favorite episodes. I would of made it longer, but the post is already really long and the mother is trying to shove me out the door. ^^;
_________________
Friendship is a promise made in the heart
Silent and unwritten
It's unbreakable by distance
and unchangeable by time.

() ()
(*¬*) \/

(Thanks to Marisa for my Avitar. I love it. ^-^)

[Midnight]

A nice novelization of the episode. It happened to be a favorite of mine as well.

[Neko]

You gave me the fun part.

Ah, Achie, I love you so much :3

Now be warned it might be awhile before I update XD Unlike you I still have finals. *runs off to study*
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Roses are #FF0000, violets are #0000FF. All my base are belong to you.

Avatar, credit Yakitate@devart

[Achie-san]

Heehee. Thank you, both of you. =^^= I forgot how good it felt to write fanfics.

Gah, I thought I caught all of those typos. I'll try to go back and fix them when I have time. >.<
_________________
Friendship is a promise made in the heart
Silent and unwritten
It's unbreakable by distance
and unchangeable by time.

() ()
(*¬*) \/

(Thanks to Marisa for my Avitar. I love it. ^-^)

[Neko]

Saito groaned as he felt his vision starting to blur. “I don’t know... if I can take this,” he said softly to himself. What was he doing, anyway? He was no hero and certainly didn’t have a strong body, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave even though all common sense was screaming at him to flee.

“Lan...” he said softly as he strained his eyes to look at the battle, watching his navi barely manage to pull through, “I wish... I was half as strong as you... I want to become stronger... so I won’t run... ever again.”

“Saito-kun...” Lan said softly, hearing his operator and wanting to argue that now was a good time to be weak and run, but at the same time, he wanted Saito to become stronger as well.

Saito weakly thumbed through his chips, pulling out another sword. He blinked, trying to clear his vision. Suddenly it was very hard for him to figure out where to slot in the battle chip. Everything turned sideways before a black haze completely covered his vision.

“Challenger, Hikari Saito, is down!” Kero cried over the loudspeaker as the boy’s body hit the floor.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

“SAITO-KUN!” Lan yelled out the name like it was a life support. A life support that was now lying face down on the floor.

“Heh, looks like the brat couldn’t take it,” Hinoken jeered. “Don’t worry, at least he won’t die, unlike you!”

“You bastard!” Lan screamed and threw himself at Fireman. “Bring back Lan!”

Fireman countered with a roundhouse punch that hit Lan in the face and sent him careening into the rubble. He flipped head over heals a few timed and lay still.

“Delete,” Fireman said.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~

Tohru, Yaito and Dekao ran out into the hall desperately looking for a place to plug in their navis. They heard the distant call of Kero’s voice saying that Saito was down. Dekao stopped in his tracks.

“Dekao?” Yaito asked in a small voice.

Dekao clenched his fist until it shook, “He doesn’t deserve to loose,” he whispered. “Not like this.”

“Then let’s do something about it, degasu!” Gutsman yelled.

“Right!” Iceman cheered.

Tohru found a plug in port by the phones. “There,” he said.

“Plug in!” Yaito yelled. “Glyde!”

“Iceman!”

“Gustman!”

“Transmission!” the kids yelled together and pushed the small cords into the holders.

Their navi’s disappeared in a blur of pixels and reappeared in the main net computer of the main dome. “Oh my gosh!” Iceman said.

“Viruses,” Dekao said darkly. “I bet Hinoken is behind this.”

“Then let’s turn the tide!” Yaito said. “Paladin sword, slot in!” she yelled and Glyde launched himself at the viruses.

“Go Gutsman!” Dekao yelled.

“Megaguts punch!” Gutsman yelled and tore through more viruses.

“Blizzard!” Iceman yelled. More viruses were pixilated and deleted.

“Glyde, look out degasu!” Gutsman yelled and Glyde looked up to see a large fire virus over his head.

“Ice tower, slot in!” Tohru yelled.

“Ice Tower!” Iceman yelled and slammed his hands down on the ground. Huge spikes of ice came out of the ground at an alarming speed and deleted the viruses.

“Thanks Iceman,” Glyde said with apparent relief in his voice.

“No problem,” Iceman said back.

“Guts Hammer!” Gutsman yelled and deleted three more viruses.

“Come on, we gotta save Saito!” Dekao yelled.

It was then that it hit Yaito and Tohru, Dekao really cared for Saito regardless of what he said to the smaller boy in class. He was genuinely worried, they all were.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

“Flame tower!” Fireman yelled and sent a blistering column of heat towards Lan.

The small navi jumped as high as his wobbly legs would allow him. He felt the heat radiating off of the attack but was thankful that it didn’t hit him in full. He landed a few feet away and panted.

“So pathetic,” Fireman jeered. “And you call yourself strong.”

“What, being strong means you take out people by making them faint?” Lan spat. “Or by using underhanded means to win? Is that what it means to be strong? Cause if it is, I don’t think I want to be strong.”

“You little brat!” Fireman yelled and hit Lan so that he spun a few feet away and collapsed on the ground.

“Go ahead and delete him,” Hinoken said in an almost bored voice.

Fireman placed his foot on Lan’s head and shoved it into the ground making him cry out. “Give me a few more minutes,” he said maliciously.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

“Blizzard!” Iceman yelled.

Another virus was gone. Iceman put his hands on his knees and gasped for breath. They were using all their energy and he didn’t know how much more they could take.

“Glyde Cannon!” Glyde yelled and the next two were deleted.

“Damn, do they ever end?” Dekao cursed.

“Iceman, look out!” Tohru yelled into his PET.

Yaito, Dekao, Gutsman and Glyde looked on in horror as Iceman was towered by a huge dragon like fire virus.

“Fin cutter!” A new voice yelled. The bright attack sliced through the virus over Iceman and for good measure it went through ten more.

Yaito, Dekao and Tohru looked in surprise at the man standing next to them. He gave them a victory sign and said, “Beeeeef!”

“Commander Beef!” they said in mild surprise.

“I thought you might need a little help,” he said. “Sharkman!”

“I’m on it!” Sharkman said and ran through the other viruses like they were metool.

“Wow…” the kids said in apparent awe.

“Don’t forget to eat your calcium!” Commander Beef said as he ran off.

Everyone sweatdropped, including Sharkman.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

The sun roof slowly pulled its self back. A cool breeze filled the now sweltering dome and brushed against Saito’s cheeks.

Fireman gave Lan another kick that sent him into the ground. He didn’t yell out but he was disgusted to find that he couldn’t move.

“Time to end this!” Hinoken yelled out and pushed three fire towers into his PET.

“Triple Fire Tower!” Fireman said and slammed his arms into the ground with as much force as he could muster.

Three jets of flame arced into the sky and started to close in on Lan. Just then Yaito, Dekao and Tohru ran into the room.

“Oy! Saito you jerk! Get up or your stupid navi is gonna get deleted!” Dekao yelled at the top of his lungs.

“Wha?” Saito opened his eyes. His head a still swimming with the heat.

“Saito-kun!” Lan yelled.

Saito stood up and looked in horror at his navi’s predicament. Then he slotted in three chips.

Three mini bombs appeared and destroyed the towers. Lan stood up and became visible through the smoke.

Fireman’s armor lost its glow and Hinoken looked horrified. “My power!” he yelled.

“Aqua sword, slot in!” Saito said.

Lan ran at Fireman and stabbed him right through the middle. “For your sake, I hope that really hurt,” Lan said.

Fireman disappeared in a Logout message before he could reply.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

“Thanks for helping me,” Saito said blushing.

Meiru jumped on him and smiled. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Yaito elbowed Dekao. “Ow, oh yeah, glad you and your stupid navi are okay,” he muttered.

“Well, you helped by yelling at me,” Saito smiled at Dekao.

“Don’t get used to the help, pipsqueak,” he muttered. “I just want to be the one to defeat you.”

“Oh riiight,” Lan said from his PET.

“You watch your mouth!” Dekao yelled. “I just helped to save you!”

“I could have defeated him on my own,” Lan scoffed.

“Why you!” Dekao yelled.

“Lan,” Saito said in a warning tone.

Lan sighed and didn’t retaliate.

Roll smiled and hugged him. “You did a good job,” she whispered. “Everyone is glad you’re safe.”

Lan blushed and didn’t say anything.

“Get away from my Roll-degasu!” Gutsman yelled.

Everyone laughed and waited with anticipation for the next battle.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ow >.o

Okay, onto study. o/
_________________
Roses are #FF0000, violets are #0000FF. All my base are belong to you.

Avatar, credit Yakitate@devart

[Midnight]

Go right ahead.