A/N: Man, I am so rusty... hopefully they are not as so OOC as I fear. Let me know how I did

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Pink.

Forte looked left, and saw pink. He looked right, more pink.

For a moment, the black navi closed his eyes and let his mind linger into the darkness that embraced his vision, silently willing that the sea of pink just disappeared once he reopened them.

He had been traveling through the Undernet in search of Serenade, sure that this time he could best her in a battle and finally absorb her powers. Instead, after locating her in a particular remote zone of the lawless network, he was met with... that obnoxious color.

There was no way he would even think of uttering that word again. Neither out loud nor in the privacy of his own mind. Not after seeing so much of it...

Forte slowly reopened his eyes and repressed the urge to scream in anger when he realized that the Marumokos where still there and didn't seem like they wanted to move. He knew Serenade was somewhere around there, he could feel it, but the sea of sheep-like viruses was effectively preventing him from locating his target.

Even from the air he could not find Serenade.

Of all the places within the Undernet, she had to pick the stupid grassy field with the stupid Marumokos on it.

There were times when Forte would wonder why he went through this kind of stuff, but as soon as he reminded himself that Serenade's powers would be a sweet treat to absorb, he squared his shoulders and braved the endless sea of... of... that.

Face set into a determined snarl, Forte raised his right hand and aimed a finger at the nearest Marumoko. A mere moment later, a thin, purplish ray of energy erupted from his fingertip and went to collide with the virus' side, resulting in a glorious explosion of fluff and terrified cries.

The Marumoko, now shaved clean of its -he was not going to think about that word- protection, was joined by a second virus in the same conditions. Then a third, and a fourth, and many more as Forte continued to snipe on the digital creatures.

Their cries of shock and fear intensified and within seconds the sea of light colored fluff shook and trembled like a shockwave running through a large mass of jelly. When the first of the Marumokos started to run, following a random direction, the rest of the flock followed mindlessly, bleating and thundering their little hooves against the ground.

Forte watched as the mass of obnoxiously colored creatures moved. At first it was slow, almost lazy, but as he continued to blast at every virus he could see, the flock quickened its pace until it was nothing more of an undistinguished mass of fluff and dust in the distance.

"There was no need to scare them away."

The black navi immediately recognized the voice and turned around to face the one he had been looking for, mad grin spreading across his face.

"Serenade..." he greeted. If he hadn't been so crazed his voice might have been pleasant.

The ruler of the Undernet crossed her arms and divided her attention between the dark navi and the flock of panicked Marumokos that were nothing more than a small speck in the distance.

"For real, Forte," she said, forcing her hand to not go up to her face to pinch the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "It was no necessary."

Forte decided that words were useless now, so he charged forwards with one raised hand. Power collected between his fingers and the crackling sound associated with it filled the now empty meadow.

Taking advantage of the fact that the black navi was several paces away from her when he started his charge, Serenade sighed deeply and uncrossed her arms. All the while wondering why her opponent couldn't just get on with his life and leave her to her own business.

"You know..." Serenade stepped back as the black navi swung his arm at her, his precision highly dangerous. "I was thinking why you kept coming after me no matter how many times you lost and I all I can think of is... do you have a crush on me?"

It was amazing how such innocent words could cause such devastating consequences.

Forte stilled in midair, one hand reared back and ready to strike and a never seen expression on his face. Serenade couldn't figure out if it was surprise, embarrassment, or shock. Perhaps it was a mix of all three...

And she was pretty sure that she had heard a small 'eh?' from him, too...

"Are all these fights your own way to ask me on a date?"

It was definitely shock that Forte was showing, because Serenade saw him open and close his mouth a few times. Probably trying to figure out what to say to recover what little pride he had left after her words...

And it must have been a pretty new feeling for him too, because he never realized an oncoming danger until it was right behind his back.

The first Marumoko he had previously sniped was back and it collided with him headfirst. Forte never felt pain, but the strength behind that impact sent him lurching forward a couple of feet.

"What the..?"

Frustration and anger rose, and Forte turned around to face the obnoxiously colored virus to exact rightful revenge when he stilled. Again.

Not a second later, a fistful of that hateful shade of very light red fluff was in his mouth, nose and eyes. He let out a muffled scream of anger, hands clawing at the insulting virus just before he felt more collide with him, throwing him to the ground and stampeding against his body.

Horrible moments of confusion and disorientation passed with him cursing everything he could associate with the herd of 'I-have-banned-that-word-from-my-vocabolry-for-the-rest-of-eternity'.

When the last of the Marumokos finally stampeded past his back, Forte cracked his eyes open, dreading the moment he would see the state he was in.

"Let's make a deal..." Serenade's voice sounded right next to him, coughing and spluttering a bit as if she had something in her mouth too. "We never speak of this to anyone..."

Red eyes glanced at where the Ruler or the Undernet was and as soon as Forte realized that he had been thrown right on top of the female warrior, he agreed wholeheartedly.

"Deal."