Chaotic Chords! (AA, Oneshot) [G]

[ComicX6]

It's been quiet around here lately. Depressingly so, actually.

This is a little one shot I came up with while I was rewatching Stream. Whether that’s good or bad, I don’t know. It's structured to be like a typical episode of the anime. Anyway…
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chaotic Chords!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was another early, bright Saturday morning for the town of Akihara. Like every other morning, this one saw a usual argument, which invariably opened with a familiar complaint: ‘’Ahh… I’m far too tired to go to school today…’’

‘’I tell you this every morning: It’s your study habits, or lack thereof, that are at fault.’’

‘’I don’t need a lecture from you.’’ Netto Hikari groaned as he skated down the mostly vacant road towards his school. ‘’What I need is more sleep…’’ As if to put emphasis on this, he started to swerve back and forth, as if in a daze.

‘’No, what you need is responsibility.’’ his net navi, Rockman.exe, sighed from his Progress PET. ‘’Since there haven’t been any Neo-WWW plots or Asteroid navi incidents lately, this week was perfect for catching up on your schoolwork. But you didn’t listen to me, did you? You blew it off and had to pull an all-nighter.’’

‘’It’s not my fault…’’ Netto continued to protest. ‘’It just keeps piling up, and I still have to do Net Savior stuff and adjust to the new version of Cross Fusion, and…’’

Rockman rolled his green eyes in exasperation. When will his operator ever learn? ‘’It’s not like I haven’t heard all of that before Netto-kun. It’s not going to…hm? Look out Netto-kun!’’

‘’Wah!’’ His operator quickly spun to the side and jammed on his skates’ rubber brakes as someone came barreling by on a scooter. The rider shot off, apparently unaware that their vehicle had nearly brained someone.

‘’You okay?’’ Rockman asked.

‘’Yeah…’’ Netto seemed a bit shaken, but he quickly shook his head and glared up the street. ‘’What was she thinking, riding like that?’’ He scowled and took off again on his skates, putting on an extra burst of speed. ‘’I could’ve been killed!’’

With exceptional vigor for one claiming to be tired, he finally caught up to the scooter rider. ‘’Hey, what was that for Meiru-chan?’’ he said angrily as he got alongside her. ‘’Hey! Meiru-chan!’’

His friend Meiru Sakurai did not seem to realize that he was riding alongside her. In fact, she didn’t even seem to be aware of anything surrounding her. Her eyes were closed and she appeared to be humming something to herself. Her expression was the expression of one who had been transported to a different world, and was quite happy to be there.

‘’HEY, MEIRU-CHAN!!’’ Netto yelled, now thoroughly annoyed. Meiru’s eyes snapped open at this. ‘’Oh! Netto!’’ She looked quite startled to see her cross friend riding alongside her. ‘’I didn’t see you!’’

‘’Yeah, you nearly ran me over back there.’’

‘’I did? I’m so sorry!’’ The redhead pulled a pair of earbuds out of her ears. ‘’I was listening to a song on my PET, and I guess I just got caught up in it…’’

‘’Really?’’ Netto asked, now curious about the song. ‘’That’s never happened to me before, but I don’t listen to much music anyway…’’

‘’It’s Miki Yukari’s new single, Love on Clear Water.’’ Meiru explained as the two continued to head to their school, now at a slower pace. ‘’It was written by Hibiki Nai, but it’s not as good as his previous work.’’

‘’Who’s Nai?’’ Netto asked, quizzical.

‘’He’s a songwriter.’’ Rockman explained. ‘’Not all musicians can write lyrics, so songwriters take their inspiration and write words for them.’’

‘’Hibiki-san’s a very good writer.’’ Meiru added, looking ready to drift back into her own world again. ‘’He was the one who wrote Aki-chan’s Install You Heart! you know?’’

‘’He wrote that song?’’ Netto asked. ‘’Didn’t it become so popular that people grew sick of it?’’

Rockman shrugged. ‘’That’s how the industry works, I guess. When people get tired of one thing they move on to something else.’’

‘’It’s kinda sad.’’ Meiru said, a little downcast. ‘’Oh well, we should get going if we don’t want to be late…’’
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘’I don’t get it Rockman.’’ Netto said as he walked home after the school day was done.

‘’What don’t you get?’’ his navi asked. ‘’Something that Mariko-sensei mentioned in class today?’’

‘’Naw, I wasn’t paying attention to that.’’ Netto shook his head. ‘’I don’t get why girls are always so interested in songs, books, and movies revolving around people who are in love or something.’’

‘’Well… I guess maybe the subject appeals to them differently than it does to boys.’’ Rockman said, scratching the hair beneath his helmet as he thought. ‘’Girls usually seem to be more…I dunno, more emotional than boys, maybe?’’

‘’Well, I don’t see how a story revolving around a guy trying to mack a girl can interest anyone.’’

‘’Where did you hear that word?’’ the blue navi asked, trying to not let out a heavy sigh.

‘’Dunno. On TV I think.’’ Netto replied. ‘’Haaah… Man, I’m still tired. I guess I’ll go home and sleep…’’ With perfect timing, his PET’s phone began to ring. ‘’Aw, man…’’
He pulled his Progress PET out of its case and addressed the person that he had been expecting. ‘’What is it Meijin-san?’’

‘’There’s no need to call me that.’’ the bespectacled man said, by now too used to this to show any surprise. ‘’There’s a disturbance nearby, and we’d like you to handle it.’’

‘’What kind of disturbance?’’ Netto asked. ‘’Is it those Neo-WWW jerks? Or is it an Asteroid?’’

‘’To be honest, we don’t quite know yet.’’ Meijin admitted. ‘’But we’d like you to head over to the Senritsu Studio downtown ASAP.’’

‘’Aw man.’’ Netto groaned. ‘’I was going to go home and sleep… Can’t you get someone else to do this?’’

‘’Both Enzan-kun and Laika-kun are abroad, so…’’

Netto sighed. ‘’Okay, okay, I’ll go Meijin-san.’’

‘’Again, there’s no need for that. Good luck, Netto-kun.’’
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took a fifteen minute Metroline ride and an eight minute journey by rollerblade to reach the large, glass building housing the studio. Netto got by the yellow tape by flashing his holographic Net Savior badge, and once inside the lobby his ears were assailed by the incessant ringing of alarm bells.

‘’Hm, maybe there’s an especially bad virus outbreak?’’ Rockman suggested.

‘’Maybe.’’ A man who had been previously talking with someone on his PET’s phone noticed the boy and made a b-line for him.

‘’Are you the Net Savior?’’ he asked.

‘’Yeah, I’m Hikari Netto, mister.’’ Netto answered, flashing his badge again.

‘’Good. Follow me then.’’ The man led him through a door marked ‘Employees Only’ and they began to ascend a flight of stairs. ‘’Sorry about this. The elevators are out of order currently.’’

‘’Do you know what’s causing all of this?’’ Netto asked.

‘’I don’t know the details either, but apparently someone’s shut themselves up in a control room three floors up, and he’s doing something that’s destabilizing the building’s Cyber World.’’ the man explained. ‘’We sure live in crazy times…’’

When they got to the correct floor, Netto was led through a maze of narrow hallways until they reached a control room marked by the number eleven. There were no windows, and when Netto pressed his ear against the wall, he could hear nothing. ‘’It’s soundproofed Netto-kun.’’ Rockman explained. ‘’Plug me into the door lock and I’ll get it open. As soon as he did this Netto barged the door open, and a hideously high-pitched shriek emanated from within. Clutching his head, he managed to cry out ‘’I’m a Net Savior!’’

The wail immediately cut off, and the man who was hunched over a mixing console straightened up to get a good glimpse of the intruder. The man had tan skin and an afro, while a pair of round, dark sunglasses covered his eyes. His eccentric appearance was completed by a large pair of old-school headphones around his neck, and what appeared to be sequins sown into a white jacket. ‘’You’re Hikari Netto, aren’t you?’’ he asked. He looked a bit puzzled at first, but then his brow furrowed in anger. ‘’The Net Savior, huh?’’

‘’What are you doing?’’ Netto asked. ‘’Are you the one that’s screwing this place up?’’

‘’What’s it matter to you, kid?’’ the man asked, scowling. ‘’This place has gotten to me one time too many, and I’m not going to be taken advantage of anymore!’’

‘’What do you mean?’’ Rockman asked, confused. ‘’Have you been fired or something?’’

‘’No, I’ve been used, and I won’t stand for it!’’ the man shouted vehemently. ‘’My navi and I are going to teach this place a well-deserved lesson!’’

‘’Geez, why can’t grownups ever give straight answers?’’ Netto grumbled. He pulled out his PET, attached the handgrip, and pointed it at the console. ‘’Plug in, Rockman.exe, transmission!’’

Rockman materialized in the Cyber World, knowing instantly that something was wrong. In various places the ground was fuzzy and undefined, sometimes even starting to deteriorate. And the culprit was standing before him.

The navi strongly reminded Rockman of a cross between Airman and Bombman. Like Airman, it had a bulky upper body, and instead of a large fan on its front was a stereo speaker. Its head was nothing more than a lump with green eyes, a sharp contrast to its gunmetal-gray color. Its gauntlets and boots were wrapped in a material that looked like what was used to soundproof walls. Its emblem, located just above the speaker, appeared to show radiating rings.

‘’Heh, so you’re that Rockman kid, aren’t ya?’’ he asked, in a deep voice. He didn’t sound concerned as to whether he received an answer or not.

‘’I am.’’ Rockman confirmed, staring up at the larger navi. ‘’Who’re you? Are you an Asteroid?’’

‘’An Asteroid?’’ the navi asked. ‘’Nope, I’m a bona fide Earth navi, Soundman.exe!’’

‘’Well, I’m going to have to ask you to stop this.’’ Rockman said sternly. ‘’And maybe you can tell be why you’re trying to dismantle the network?’’

‘’Why should I?’’ Soundman said. ‘’Nai-san, should I take this guy out?’’

‘’Nai-san...?’’ Netto wracked his brain, as that name seemed familiar. ‘’Oh, I remember! Meiru-chan mentioned you this morning! You’re that really popular songwriter or something, right?’’

‘’Hmph, indeed I am.’’ the afro-d man sniffed.

‘’But why would you do something like this?’’ Netto asked. ‘’You’re very popular! Didn’t you write Aki-chan’s famous song?’’

Nai’s expression turned sour at the mention of it. ‘’Don’t mention that song!’’ he shouted. ‘’Ever since I wrote that thing, the studio has been pumping me for another great hit. Sure, it makes good money, and my works hit the top of the charts, but I’m sick of it!’’

‘’What do you mean?’’ Netto asked. What an odd adult.

‘’Install Your Heart! became far more popular than anyone had anticipated.’’ Nai began to explain, contempt clinging to each word. ‘’In all, it stayed on the charts for nearly eight times longer than the typical idol pop song. The studio keeps me at this stuff, and I’m tired of it!’’

‘’You hate your popularity?’’ Netto asked, even more perplexed.

‘’You could say that, I guess.’’ Nai admitted. ‘’I want to write something with substance! Not some tripe about teenage crushes and vicious breakups! You’re a guy, can’t you relate?’’

‘’And that’s why you’re doing this? How moronic!’’

‘’Oh, just you wait! I’ll show them, I’ll show them all!’’ Nai cried, pointing at Netto. ‘’I’ll wreck this place, and any other place that tries to cheapen my art!’’

‘’Well that’s just dumb, so I’m going to stop this!’’ Netto selected a chip on his PET’s holographic touch screen. ‘’Mark Cannon, slot in!’’

‘’You’re not the only one with battlechips!’’ Nai snarled, selecting a chip of his own. ‘’Ourenka, slot in!’’

Rockman fired a shot from his cannon, but a Trumpy virus appeared behind Soundman. It began to play a tootling melody, and Soundman began to glow green with invincibility, rendering the shot useless.

‘’And now it’s my turn!’’ he gloated. ‘’Decibel Hell!’’ Two large subwoofers materialized behind him and they began to emit a very low, subsonic beam. Rockman just blinked at first, as the beams produced no visible effect. But then cracks began to form in the ground, and it began to crumble around his feet.

‘’What the-arhg!’’ the blue navi grunted as he stumbled and lost his footing, getting his feet stuck in the rubble.

‘’And now that you can’t move, let’s turn the volume up a bit!’’ Soundman said smugly. The subwoofers changed color and the subsonic beam became an ultrasonic one, causing much pain and discomfort.

‘’O-Ow...’’ Rockman groaned, clutching his head as the wailing shriek cut through him. ‘’I can’t move...at..all...’’

Netto winced too, for the wailing was coming from his PET as well. ‘’Area Steal and Boomerang, double slot in!’’ Rockman warped away from where he was stuck, and fired the boomerang. It arced around behind Soundman and sliced through both speakers, deleting them.

‘’Hmph,’’ Soundman held out his hands, revealing miniature speakers on his palms. ‘’Destroy Trio!’’ His three speakers began to emit fast moving waves which combined to create a powerful beam that lanced out towards the smaller navi. But Rockman was quite agile due to his size, and so was able to leap and roll away. He came out of his roll and, taking advantage of Soundman’s poor reaction to the maneuver, fired off a series of buster shots in his direction. Soundman’s eyes shut as he was pelted with shots, but he was soon glaring at the blue navi again. ‘’You little...’’ he snarled, firing another sound wave. Rockman flipped backwards and avoided the wave without much trouble.

‘’Netto-kun, send me a chip!’’

‘’How’s a Stone Cube?’’ Netto asked.

‘’That’ll be fine.’’

Netto inserted the chip, and a Stone Cube materialized in front of Rockman. He gave it a kick with his foot and it slid forward across the ground. Soundman just lifted his foot and stopped the cube with his heel, before sending it back towards Rockman. Unprepared, he was bowled over by the attack.

Nai was quick to take advantage of this. He took care to draw out his next chip with a flourish. ‘’Pulse Beam, slot in!’’ Soundman fired a small pulse from one of the speakers on his palms. The pulse hit the Stone Cube and radiated outward, hitting Rockman and sending highly painful and numbing tingles all over his body.

‘’Oww...’’ he groaned. ‘’That...hurt...’’

Soundman chuckled. ‘’For a guy that came in second in the N1 Grand Prix, that was pretty amateurish of you. Looks like the great Rockman ain’t so great after all, eh?’’

‘’Darn...’’ Rockman got back to his feet with some difficulty. ‘’We have to finish him... Soon.’’

‘’Maybe if we can find a weakpoint...’’ Netto thought aloud.

‘’Yeah, that’ll be perfect!’’

‘’Do I have it with me...?’’ the brunette rummaged through his pockets. ‘’Ah! Here it is! Soul Unison, Number Soul, slot in!’’

‘’Soul Unison?’’ Nai repeated, looking confused.

‘’Heh, just you wait, Nai-san.’’ Netto allowed himself a grin. ‘’It’ll be worth it.’’

Rockman took on a form resembling his friend Numberman. A visor slid over his face, providing him with a wealth of information on his enemy.

‘’That’s a Soul Unison?’’ Soundman was not impressed. ‘’What’re you gonna do, scan me to death.’’

‘’Maybe.’’ Rockman began using his new analytical abilities to carefully scrutinize every facet of his foe. Instantly processing the information, he came up with a plan.

‘’Hey Soundman!’’ he called. ‘’You know how you said that you turned up the volume earlier? Well, I didn’t hear a thing.’’

‘’Oh really?’’ Soundman did not sound impressed.

‘’Uh, what are you doing Rockman?’’ Netto asked, brow raised. ‘’Trying to bait an opponent was completely out of character for his navi.

‘’Not one decibel.’’ Rockman continued, grinning.

‘’If that’s the case...’’ Soundman held out his palms again. ‘’Then take this: Data Sonification!’’ Again, ultrasonic waves were emitted from his three speakers, only this time Rockman actually let himself get hit by them. At first he felt no effect, but then a strangle tingling sensation traveled across his body. He looked at his hand, and he noticed it flicker, for the very briefest second. He then realized what Soundman was trying to do: unravel his data.

‘’Heh, I still can’t hear you.’’ he continued, still grinning.

‘’Oh? Then I’ll just up the intensity a notch!’’ Soundman shouted. The whine became quite painful, forcing Rockman to instinctively cover his earpieces again. His body began to flicker with more frequency.

‘’Is that it?’’ he continued to taunt. ‘’I don’t hear a thing!’’

‘’Punk!’’ Soundman spat. ‘’I’ll amp it up some more then!’’ The piercing wail became even louder, to the point of making even Netto and Nai cover their ears in discomfort.

‘’What are you doing Rockman?!’’ Netto cried. ‘’If you keep this up, he’ll delete you!’’

‘’Soundman, stop!’’ Nai ordered frantically as the mixing console began to spark. ‘’You’ll hurt us too!’’

‘’Can you hear me now?!’’ Soundman screamed over his din.

‘’NOPE!’’ Rockman yelled back, eyes shut. ‘’NOT A THING!’’

‘’I’ll use my full might!’’ Soundman cried. ‘’MAX VOLUME!’’

‘’No, stop!’’ Nai cried.

Rockman began to flicker, seemingly in and out of existence. If his gamble paid off, he and Netto had the battle won. If it didn’t, well, he’d be nothing put scattered pixels. Soundman chuckled to himself, sensing victory. ‘’So much you the great-‘’ His gloat was cut off by a cry of surprise as an explosion propelled him backward. The ultrasonic waves instantly stopped.

‘’What the...’’ The three speakers on his body were gone, replaced by a mass of pixels. ‘’My speakers, how did you...’’

Rockman smiled with relief. ‘’It’s simple. You blew yourself out. Without your speakers, you’re helpless now.’’

‘’Geez, warn me before you do something like that.’’ Netto scolded, wiping his brow. ‘’Battlechip: Mega Cannon, slot in!’’

‘’Sorry Netto-kun.’’ Rockman said as his glove morphed into a red cannon. ‘’Well, it’s over Soundman.’’

‘’Ugh...’’ Soundman backed off, but the plasma shot nailed him in the chest. He staggered backward, and logged out.

‘’Crud!’’ Nai growled. ‘’I’ll make sure to remember this, Hikari!’’

‘’Yeah, in jail!’’ Netto retorted. ‘’Give up!’’

Nai smirked. ‘’Yeah right. You’re just a school kid. You ain’t gonna be able to stop an adult like me!’’ He dashed forward, shoving Netto out of the way and he leap out of the door. Right into the waiting arms over the police.

‘’For the malicious destruction of the network of the Senritsu Studio, you’re under arrest, Hibiki Nai-san.’’ The lead officer said, holding out his badge and a pair of handcuffs. Nai ground to a stop in defeat and hung his head as the officer cuffed him.

‘’That was kinda tight there, wasn’t it, Netto-kun?’’ Rockman asked as he and his operator watched the former songwriter being hauled off.

‘’Yeah... My ears are still ringing...’’ Netto groaned, still rubbing his head.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When he got home from school a few days later, Netto found a large package waiting for him.

‘’Please accept this gift as our thanks for helping us out on Saturday afternoon.’’ Rockman read the letter inside. ‘’You are welcome at our studios any time. Well, that’s nice of them.’’

‘’I wonder if it’s a bunch of rare chips!’’ Netto said, eagerly tearing through the cardboard. ‘’I can’t wait!’’ As soon as he got it open, he stopped dead.

‘’What is it?’’ Rockman asked, not being able to see from his PET.

‘’It’s...’’ Netto looked teary-eyed and crushed. ‘’It’s the...entire discography of everything that studio’s put out in the last five years...’’

‘’That’s great, isn’t it?’’ Rockman asked, a little confused. ‘’That’s worth a lot.’’

‘’B-But...’’ Netto gulped, a tear falling from his eye. ‘’There’re all pop songs!!’’
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chip Glossary
Ourenka – Fanfare
Area Steal – Area Grab
Stone Cube – Rock Cube
Pulse Beam – Pulsar
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author’s Notes: Well, I kinda thought that the fighting kinda fell apart towards the end, mainly because I wanted to get it over with, and because I received a piece of news that I’d rather not share out of deference that kind of threw a bucket of cold water on things..

As for Nai’s name, ‘hibiki’ means something along the lines of ‘resonating’ , and ‘nai’ is a negative, so if you say his name Japanese-style, it’s kinda like ‘not resonating.’ Took me like, .03 seconds to come up with that. Either that, or he’s just Misora’s great-great-great-great-grandfather or something.
_________________
' I don't care if the buzz isn't real- I can roleplay being drunk!'

- Balmung, .hack vol. 1

I now have a site! Web page rather: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1048042/