Darkness in Dentech City

Ryu-san: Oh man… :ducks thrown objects: Am I late or what! I am sooooo very sorry for taking so long with this chapter. I was suffering through a Writer's Block the size of the sun... Sigh… Now I know how it feels when an author delays for a while and he/she gets reviews saying 'Update already!'. It took me a while to get some ideas cookin'. Finally, I got a few things down for this chappy. Hope the wait was worth it. I also hope that there are people left who're still interested in reading this.

Reviewer Response

Queen Blood-Ruby-Like I said earlier, I apologize very much for the late update. Huge writer's block. It took me a while to reignite my inspiration. Thanks for the love, though. As for the Original Character that Chaud's paired with, you'll see. I hope you'll still be reading this fic.

Cloud Strife Omega-Thanks for the compliments.

DigiDestined of Courage-Momentai to you too, man.

MD 1428-Van Helsing rocks! Loved the movie, so I decided to have Lan wear VH's outfit as a sort of tribute.

Warp da Warp Liger-Alucard may or may not be in there. I'll think about it. As for Drac's sealing in 1797, that's when Symphony of the Night took place. I never played Aria of Sorrow. About Miyu, I bet she just loves collecting mystical items, since she is a psychic. Therefore, she probably found the Vampire Killer while on a vacation or something. Besides, wasn't the Belmont bloodline beginning to thin out in the time of Aria of Sorrow (or so I heard)?

Jill-I'm sure you'll be a cool person to work with if I need help. As I said before, I'm sorry for not updating for a while. Accursed writer's block... Bleh. I hope you'll still want to read my work.

Rock Raider-Thanks for the virus names. I'll think about throwing in the Cutman Bros. Bet it'll be funny.

Ri2-Thank you also for the virus names. Should be useful.

Ok, all questions answered. Now for chapter the sixth.

> > > > > >

Chapter 6: The Many Roads to Death

The following comes from the recent issue of the Dentech Denizen, Dentech City's major newspaper. It had come out at around mid-afternoon, instead of its usual early morning time, due to the top headline…

The Dead Walk! Majority Of Women Taken!

In what appears to be the worst all-out ambush since the days of the Great War, hundreds of Dentech citizens were forced to fight those from beyond the grave last night. The sizable army of undead included such mythical beings as zombies, gargoyles, imps, demons, living skeletons, and the occasional cave troll. But no matter what creature attacked, no one was ready for the strike. Thus, many are left either injured or dead. Thankfully, there are more injured than killed, from what police could tell from the latest body count. But still, Dentech City has suffered a terrible defeat.

Also, NetCity has also been partially destroyed by an army of viruses, mostly undead types, led by netnavis that no one has ever seen before. Many netnavis were defeated, partially no thanks to the law against BattleChip use in the cyber city. SciLab has begun rebuilding the damaged areas of NetCity as we speak. There are already rumors of changing the NetCity laws to allow BattleChip use in case of emergencies.

What makes this even worse is that the monsters had an ulterior motive: to kidnap any woman they could get their rotting hands on. And that they did. About 85 of Dentech's female population has been confirmed as having been taken hostage. This percentage includes the female navis inhabiting NetCity. Many wonder why the dead would care about 'getting some tail', to coin a popular phrase. But some figure that the enemy was following somebody's orders. Our newsdesk has been getting tons of phone calls by men with girlfriends, wives, and/or relatives that have been taken, demanding to know why their loved ones were abducted. As a result of the many complaints, there are rumors that a resistance will soon rise to hunt down these undead and take back their girls. Few already say that a small group of warriors have already left Dentech to search for the one responsible.

Up to this point in time, no one claims responsibility for the attack on Dentech. However, there are a few citizens who have received important info on the identity of the mastermind. Late this morning, Dentech's famous psychic, only known as Miyu, claims that Dr. Wily, leader of the defeated crime organization, World 3, has a major role in the attack. She also claims that Wily has teamed up with the mythical vampire, Dracula, in another plot at world domination. Some of those who heard this have denied her, but the question still remains. If an army of undead can exist and attack us, then who can say if Dracula exists or not? Also, Miyu made an additional claim, supporting the aforementioned theory of a small group hunting Wily and Dracula.

In a related story, we have recently learned that our neighbor, the kingdom of Brightland, has also suffered a severe attack, also from undead. Many women have also been taken from Brightland, including the reigning Princess Pride. The Royal Guard reports that they are ashamed that they couldn't do anything about the princess' kidnapping. However, the Guard has learned that Pride was able to send a distress call. The call was directed to Dentech teenager, Lan Hikari, who has put a stop to more than a few evil schemes of both Grave and World 3.

The rebuilding of the demolished parts of Dentech should begin relatively soon. We at the Dentech Denizen wish to express our deepest sympathies for those with kidnapped or killed loved ones. May God have mercy on our souls.

> > > > > >

"Grrrrrr…! Unbelievable!" Commander Beef said, throwing the Dentech Denizen he was reading to the ground, crumpled by rage. "And I thought the Gospel virus was a disaster… This is beyond bad. The real world is now involved in Wily's warpath. Black Rose… Mysteriu… Something needs to be done and fast. We know Lan and his friends went to search for Wily's new base and take him out, but…" he said, slapping his hand on the table to emphasize. "we need to set up some resistance in case those freaks come back for Round 2"

Mysteriu, who had shown up an hour or two ago from being interviewed by the press, was the first to speak. "We should call out the military to patrol the city and arm them with everything. Machine guns, rocket launchers, tanks… We take no chances now. Who knows what Wily has up his sleeve with Dracula co-piloting at the helm" She sounded dead serious. Either she was sick and tired of Wily and decided to let her attitude show it or she was really annoyed by the paparazzi…

"I may be the peaceful one, but I'd have to agree with that… Worst ambush ever…" Black Rose said, mad that a couple of dead orcs trampled all over her garden and nearly killed one of her closest friends, whom she was watching a movie with that night. "Sigh… It's agreed then. I just hope the people can put up with staying indoors for a while until we hear a word of success from Lan. Traffic's gonna be horrid with tanks rolling around…" Beef said, reaching for a phone and preparing to pull some strings with the local army base…

> > > > > >

At one of Dentech's hospitals, Mr. Match was sitting by the resting Maddy, who's now fixed up and bandaged from her wounds. He sat there for hours and hours, amid occasional bathroom runs. He was at least glad that Maddy looks a little better now, despite being very pale. Count Zap and Yahoot had gone to get some of the cafeteria food down in the basement (both of them hoping that the place didn't have mystery meat). So, Match watched her resting, the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed, the pained yet peaceful look on her face, her messy hair which is still a mess…

He groaned again, as he did often when he remembered seeing the zombie sneak up on her and bite her. 'Stop th' mopin', man. It ain' your fault. It's Wily's. He just had ta go an' make a mess outta things… An' ta think we once worked for that scum, eh Maddy…?' the Scotsman thought, miserable. Just as he thought that, he was snapped out of it when he saw the pink-haired beauty start shivering like crazy. "So… c.c…c..cold… Can't… feel… anything…" Maddy groaned, whimpering like a scared little girl. Match felt even more depressed as he covered Maddy with another blanket, hoping that'll warm her up. "There ye go, lass… It's ok… You're safe wit' me" he calmly told her. "Cold… I'm cold… and hungry… and numb…Help me…" she mumbled, still shivering. "You're fine, hun. C'mon, just relax an' rest an' you'll be up an' kickin' arse in no time" Match said, beginning to worry. Deep inside, he knew that if he came across Dr. Wily in person again, he'd kill the old doc off without feeling any regret whatsoever.

> > > > > >

"Heh. With the moat monster distracting those intrepid heroes, what say we talk about a second attack, keep the cities on the run?" Wily sneered, confident that Lan will finally die at last. "That will come later. Besides, don't you know what zombie bites do to living humans?" Dracula responded, standing in front of Maylu ("No! Leave me alone, bat!") and looking intently at her neck, as if judging how ripe her blood is. "No. I haven't read up on horror myths lately" the mad doctor said, curious. "Well then… Keep an eye on your news shows or whatever you call them" Dracula snickered, scaring Maylu more.

> > > > > >

"Match! Help us! Dead people! I see dead people!" Zap yelled as he crashed into Maddy's room. Yahoot followed, noticeably pale. "The dead walk the halls! We saw it! We passed the morgue on the way back and suddenly the morgue door opened and out came those that died in that attack! They were trying to eat us!" the monk wheezed, silently cursing the flights of stairs. "What! How can you tell they were dead an' not loonies?" Match asked. "They themselves were partially eaten, man! Most likely by zombies…" Zap said, hoping that the zombies didn't see them come in Maddy's room. "Bitten by zombies? Oh no! Maddy!" the Scotsman said, turning to look at the quivering woman. "So… hungry…" she whimpered. Then, she sees Match. "Why… Mr. Match… You certainly look… quite delicious lately…" she said, suddenly slurring. "No… No! It's starting! Snap her out of it, quickly!" Yahoot snapped, seeing the famished look that suddenly got into Maddy's eyes. "Maddy, stop it! Don' let death win!" Match said, grabbing her and shaking enough to startle anyone. "Huh? Wha? What's happening, Match…?" she said, weak again.

"You're fine, Maddy. Everythin's gonna be fine. I promise" Match said, hugging her. "I'd pick on him if it weren't for the zombie situation…" Zap whispered to Yahoot. "At least you show a little respect…" Yahoot whispered back, rolling his eyes. "C'mon. We gotta make sure tha' everyone who's still alive gets away from this horror house!" Match said, carrying Maddy. "Alright, but if a zombie bites me and I become one, I'm kickin' your ass" Zap warned, opening the door. "Not funny!" Yahoot snapped.

> > > > > >

Lan was getting the most exercise he'd ever gotten in one day. Was he just motivated to? No. Was he late for school again? Not this time. Was an undead monster chasing him? Actually, yes. Lan jumped aside, again avoiding the moat monster's jaws, and cracked the Vampire Killer at him, snapping at the side of its head. Meanwhile, Dex was trying to figure out how to use the holy 'weapons' that a friar usually has. "Uhh.. Let's see. A crucifix? Do I throw that or somethin'? A Bible? Wonder if readin' it to that waterlogged dork'll kill it… Holy water? How does that work against this thing? Besides, that thing's already wet…" he said to himself while Chaud was running back and forth, unloading his Uzi bullets into the beast while dodging it's tail. "Quit monkeying around and use something!" shouted Tory, who was trying to shoot at the serpent's eyes. Yai was at a distance, aiming her custom-made sniper rifle at the giant dead snake. However, the serpent was moving around too fast to get a good bead on it. "Grrrr… At least it hasn't chowed down on anyone yet…" she grumbled.

Lan began to wonder how many times he'll have to snap his whip in order to kill the boss monster in front of him. He snapped it again. This time, the whip curled around the beast's neck. Lan took this as an opportunity and started climbing up, despite its erratic movement. When he reached the top of the whip, he drew his broadsword, and jammed it up the serpents lower jaw. "Eat that, ya freak show!" he cried as the dead moat guardian howled in pain. Lan barely saw it snap its bony tail up at him, so he jumped off, taking his sword and unraveling the whip, just in time for the serpent to whip itself, weakening it more. Yai used this distraction to aim her rifle and fire, hitting it in the forehead, just as Dex hurled a bottle of holy water, grenade style, at it. The glass broke on it's upper body and the blessed liquid caused the serpent to catch on fire while it bled. Tory finished it off with a few well placed pistol shots, sending the flaming serpent falling back into the moat to die.

As it burned, the heroes heaved sighs of relief as they regrouped and watched the hellish thing die. "Man… I bet there's worse than this inside…" Dex said. Lan had a serious look on his face. "Well… Whatever's in there, I'll take it on. I'll do whatever it takes to save Maylu, Roll, Pride, and everyone else Wily's taken" he said. "You hear me, Wily! I'll get you, just like I got your little lapdog here!" he shouted, pointing to the charred serpent.

> > > > > >

"Grrrrrrrrrr! GRRRRR! HOW DARE THAT BRAT MOCK ME! I'll show him yet!" stormed Wily as he heard Lan's warning. Maylu, Roll, and Pride laughed at this until Dracula hissed at them to shut up. "Open the gates! Release the dogs of war! Let them rip these heroes to shreds!" Wily ranted, stomping his feet in rage. Dracula sneered and changed the channels on one of the floating monitors to the Dentech News to try and prove to Wily that his notion of the effects of zombie bites was true.

> > > > > >

A minute or two later, the drawbridge to the gigantic fortress slowly opened up. The entrance appeared to lead into pure darkness from what the NetSaviors could tell. Darkness that could eat anyone alive… "They check in, but they don't check out…" Tory commented. "We're gonna make sure that we're checking out of this roach motel" Yai said, ready to enter. Lan just nodded, giving the silent command that they follow, and walked across the drawbridge. The gang went in after him, somewhat nonplussed by the darkness.

As soon as they stepped inside, blood-red candles suddenly lit themselves, casting an eerie glow. The lobby looked like the beginning of a rich Satanist's dream mansion. A few pieces of menacingly fancy, black furniture were lying around, designed for the S & M set. Armchairs with spiked armrests, a loveseat that apparently electrocutes any couple dumb enough to sit on it, a table with bloodied razor blades all around its edges, accompanied by four chairs with shackles attached to them. Here and there on the walls were pictures depicting the monsters and minions of Satan himself, some too grotesque for Tory and Yai to take.

"Wily's a psycho… Plain and simple…" Dex said, horrified by one of the disgusting paintings. Yai ran outside and hurled into the moat of unholy water. Even Lan's stomach began to churn, despite his determination to save the captured overriding his urge to vomit. From his PET, MegaMan looked around the surroundings and let out a groan of dispair. "God, I hope Roll didn't have to sit on one of those seats…" he said, trying not to think of the many ways his best friend/love interest could die just from the stuff in the lobby. "You no worry. Roll in CyberWorld, not real world, guts" GutsMan replied, also repulsed by the scenery. "Problem there, Guts. Roll could be imprisoned in this base's network. That could be just as terrible" IceMan muttered. MegaMan began to worry, his cybernetic mind conjuring terrifying images. "Nice going, guts!" GutsMan snapped, stomping his feet in annoyance. "Well, pardon me for being serious" the cyber-eskimo countered. "This place is too horrid for a girl like Yai to be in…" Glyde said, daring to look at one of the Satanist portraits. "Relax, ya butler. It was Yai's choice to come here" ProtoMan calmly stated. "For once, he's got a point there, man. At least give her credit for wanting to help her friends" MegaMan said, attempting to get his mind off of those paintings. "Well… You are right, I guess… She does consider Ms. Maylu her best friend" the servant navi said, thinking.

Yai came back from the drawbridge, a gross taste in her mouth. "Nobody mention those pics to me…" she said, surly. Lan took a look around. He saw stairs leading to the second floor walkways. He saw quite a few doors up there leading to other rooms and halls. He saw a few doors on the first floor also. " Looks like this place branches out here. Hate to say it, but… looks like we're gonna have to split up…" sighed Lan. Dex groaned. "Aww… fine… I'm just a dirty friar, but at least I got a shotgun, some killer blades, and a whole lotta holy water" he said, again punning on his outfit. "Don't forget your Bible" Tory said, lightly snickering. "What am I gonna do with that? Throw it and hope for paper cuts?" Dex asked, wondering what Tory meant. "Everyone hates paper cuts, ya know…" Chaud said, clearly not impressed by their joking. "Well, if we're gonna split up, then we might as well get going before Wily sends a welcoming committee here" Yai shrugged, loading another clip of bullets into her sniper rifle. "Yeah… Well, I'll be off. Good luck, ya guys!" Lan said, using the whip to propel himself to the walkway on the second floor, apparently already a master of that. "Showoff…" muttered Chaud as the others said their 'later's and chose a door…

Little did they know, there was something watching them. The red eye that was watching them from the drawbridge was on the ceiling of the huge room, gazing down at them and knowing that they're all alone now…

> > > > > >

"WHAT THE HELL! Taking over DenTech should've been MY job!" old man Gauss snarled, crumpling up his copy of the Dentech Denizen and throwing it aside. "I can't believe Wily would do this without my knowing. I could've at least had some part in this. That old fool!" he ridiculed, mad that this happened just before he could launch his next plan. "Feh… Well, while Wily backs off for now, I'm gonna do something" he sneered, changing his plans around. He laughed maniacally as the perfect idea came to him. "That's it! I'll go over there and… Hehehe! 'Tis perfect! Begin Operation: Damage Control!" he called, heading for one of his jets and flew off, heading for Dentech…

> > > > > >

"Match, I'm hungry…" Maddy moaned as she drooled, staring hungrily at Match's flesh as he carried her on his back. "It's ok, Maddy. We'll get ye some food soon. We jus' haveta get ev'rybody out first" he calmly replied as he ran around in the hospital with Yahoot and Zap, warning the few humans they meet and kicking the butts of any zombies that stumbled by. They had tried to contain the zombies, but the morgue was abandoned by the time they got there. So they tried to go for an intercom, however, they couldn't find one in the basement, thus the running around and warning people the old-fashioned way.

"I'm betting we can find it in the main lobby" said Yahoot, who knew that all along. "Hey! That's where I'm runnin' to now. I jus' thought we'd find one in here too, so I checked" Match said, defensive. "No time for arguments, y'all. Let's just rock our way to the first floor and get to that lobby" Zap said, seeing an elevator up ahead. Zap skids to a stop and presses the up button quickly and repeatedly. "Hurry up… Hurry! Before everyone dies, for cryin' out loud!" he snapped, freaking out. The door slid open after his little rant and the Ex-World 3 ran in.

The elevator started its ascent to ground level. "Just a little longer…" Match said, hoping that Maddy can still hold off the unholy urge to feed. "Hun… gry…" moaned Maddy. The half-minute seemed like an eternity before the doors finally slid open. They ran out and headed straight for the receptionist's office, which ended up to be a few hallways away. Unfortunately, the stairs to the basement were open and zombies trudged here and there, looking for prey. "We should've blocked the stairs before getting Maddy!" Yahoot said, slapping himself. "No time for that now…" Zap answered, getting freaked again. "Well, might as well get rid of some of 'em. Besides, the living need a clear exit" Match said as he began to run toward a small group of the walking dead. The Scot plowed through them as though they were bowling pins. Zap grabbed the guitar he had on his back and started to swing it at the dead like an ax. "Yah! No wonder they call electric guitars 'axes' sometimes" he said, sending a head flying off of a wandering corpse. Yahoot began using some strange monk techniques. "You're dead again…" he chimes as he poked a zombie at a pressure point in the neck, causing it to fall down, as if boneless. "…and you…" he jammed his open palm into the chest of another, crushing it's decaying heart. "…and let's not forget you…" he contorted his body backward so that his head is in between his feet, which are still standing. Then, he lets his feet spring up, kicking a female zombie in the chin as he straightens his body out.

By this time, Match had reached the receptionist's office and bowled over the zombie lurking within, still carrying Maddy. A few moments later, his voice could be heard throughout the entire hospital. "Evacuate! Evacuate! This is not a joke! Zombies everywhere! Evacuate while ye all can! If there are still injured people who cannot move, wheel them out somehow! Use the elevators! Zombies flooded the stairs down here!" and he kept going… Zap and Yahoot had just smashed the last of the zombies just in time to notice more of them coming up the stairs from the basement. "Argh! We need to do something about those stairs!" Zap groaned, tired from fighting.

But Yahoot was already on it. He saw a pair of vending machines to the left of the stairs and decided to knock them over to block the dead. Yahoot quickly studied the machines, as if thinking of a quick way to knock them down. "What're ya doin', man? Ya hungry now, of all times? They're makin' a mosh pit outta the stairway!" Zap snapped, crushing an incoming zombie's ribs with the guitar. "Almost everything has a weak spot, which can be exploited to make an object crumble or just fall over. Hmmm…" he replied. Then, he focused for a few seconds before bending down and upwardly smacking the left side of the snack-receiving slot. Amazingly, the machine tilted to the right and fell down, crushing a zombie or two while partially blocking the doorway. Zap just gawked, jaw dropped. "Wha…? How…? What the?" he stuttered, his lower jaw unable to close. "Like I said, almost everything has a weak spot. Part of which deals with the object's center of gravity and where most of the weight is. Only the most-focused monks can exploit it just by hitting it. Otherwise, you can't do anything with it" the monk explained as he tipped the other machine, which fell on the first one and is now lying at a diagonal angle. "Hmm… we need to push this one on top of the first one. Help me, would you?" Yahoot asked Zap. Stupefied, Zap nodded and began to push.

A few moments later, they saw the first batch of civilians run out of the elevators and out the exit, panicking. Match, still carrying Maddy, ran over to them. He put the pink-haired half-zombie down and helped his friends set the vending machine up. After 5 minutes of grunting, groaning, pushing, and the occasional zombie-fighting, they managed to block the stairway. "Phew… I need to lift weights more often…" Zap panted. "About time you realized that there's more to life than just slacking and playing that guitar" Yahoot remarked. Zap was about to make a snappy comeback, but he let it drop, noticing more panicking people flock out. "Ye think we should get out o here?" Match said, picking Maddy up again. "Might as well. We did all we could here. Blocked the zombies, warned the living, made a clear exit for them… Yep, everything except calling the cops" Zap said, cleaning the dead blood off his guitar.

And so they left the hospital and drove off in their van. Mr. Match dug out his cell phone and alerted the cops of the zombie trouble at the hospital while watching over Maddy. Little did the foursome know that the hospital wasn't the only place in Dentech with undead trouble…

> > > > > >

Back in Castlevania, the 5 heroes each found a jack-in port after they went through the doors they chose. They jacked in their navis using their wireless transmitters, so that they can help them while roaming the dark castle. MegaMan landed in a NetSwamp, surrounded by very murky water and toxic gas. Mega put on his face mask to block out the toxic fumes and began exploring, ready to take on any virus. He sets his sights on a powerful Jelly virus that oozed out of the boggy water.

GutsMan found himself in a vast graveyard, with crumbling graves as far as the eye can see. "Where do Guts go?" he wondered, feeling a bit lost. He noticed that there were groups of Spooky and Shadow viruses spread out throughout the entire cemetery. "Brrr… Guts no like cemeteries… But Guts will battle!" he declared, morphing his hands into hammers and began attacking a small cluster of Shadows.

IceMan was in deep trouble now. Just after being jacked in, he found himself surrounded by Volcano, HardHead, and Quaker viruses. He barely dodges a Volcano's flame attack and shoots icicles at one of the HardHeads. He lands on a platform and looks around. He sees that he's in some sort of dark void, dotted with floating islands and platforms. "Man… Am I in Purgatory?" he wondered, dodging a HardHead's attack. He froze the offending virus and moved on, hoping that he doesn't fall into the black hole below him…

A feeling of despair hit Glyde as he searched the area. He noticed that he was in some sort of city ruins, filled with broken down buildings and skyscrapers, cracked and busted streets, and rusted out cars. He flew about, stealthily sniping the Mettaurs, Canodumbs, and Swordies that roamed the streets below. However, he ran into some close-quarters combat when a squadron of Elebees and KillerEyes dive-bombed at him. "Hey! This is my airspace!" he snapped, shooting at the airborne foes.

ProtoMan found himself in a ninja's paradise, slashing down every virus that stood in his way in the dungeon maze. "Hah. Too easy" the red-clad warrior said, cutting a Spiky in half. "Wily needs to retire" he added, snickering as he took a right turn at the next intersection. He found more viruses blocking his path. He ran through the corridor, the viruses turning to fodder before the powerful navi.

> > > > > >

Lan, having finally whipped the last monster in the hallway, panted. "Whew… So many monsters…" he grumbled, looking at a corpse of a gargoyle that had tried to rip his head off. He sighed and went through the door to the next room, only to barely dodge a sword attack by a large, possessed suit of armor. He noticed that there were other possessed armors trudging toward him, weapons drawn. "So… The ol' poltergeist trick… I've no problem with that" said he as his sword was drawn in one hand and his whip cracking at a nearby armor with the other hand. Lan wrapped the whip around an armor and pulled so that he flung himself toward it. He decapitated the lifeless suit of armor with one swipe as he passed it, causing it to wander aimlessly as if blinded. With the whip still wrapped around the headless armor, he pulled again. It came flying toward him this time. With a gentle flick, he released the flying armor before cutting it vertically in half with his sword.

He spent the next 15 minutes dispatching the rest of the armors since they all decided to surround him. Exploiting their weaknesses, he used a variety of whip stunts to get in quick hits with the sword, since the armors were pretty slow. Finally, he got rid of the last armor by luring it into the center of the room and then cutting the rope attached to the chandelier, sending it crashing down on the bucket of scrap metal. Panting, he looked at the trashed room and began to wonder how he suddenly became so skilled at fighting. 'Must've come from watching MegaMan battle or somethin'' he thought, shrugging. With that job done, Lan made his way to the next door. "Wonder what's next?" he said to himself before opening the door. He found himself in another cooridor.

Unfortunately, he saw a Fire Ogre at the opposite end of the hallway, carrying a big metal club that spurted fire every couple of seconds. "I had to ask…" Lan muttered, drawing his pistols…

> > > > > >

Chaud, after exploring through a few halls and rooms and destroying quite a few undead, found himself in a dank hall, which reeked lightly of corpses, urine, and an unknown stench. The entrance to a dungeon. 'Bet the women were taken here…' he thought, keeping his Uzi drawn. He marched onward, occasionally shooting down the occasional Hell Hound or a group of Mechanical Lizard-Men. A half an hour later, just after he impaled a troll to a wall with his machine-crossbow, he heard groans… human female groans. He ran down the hall, thinking that he'd succeeded in finding the prisoners. Indeed he was right as he found cell after cell after cell, full to the brink with women. 'Dracula must've wanted a year's supply of blood' he thought as he looked at a few faces, all of them were terrified and in agony.

"Relax, girls. I'm on your side. Hmm… Now where are the keys to the cells?" he said to them. "We dunno…" a young, attractive 22 year old said, her voice quiet with fear. "Some huge creep has 'em… We last saw him go that way…" said a panicky 36 year old, pointing toward the farthest end of the dungeon. "Please… Ya gotta help us all…" said a very buxom 19 year old who appeared to have been at some crazy co-ed party when the attack happened, judging by her uber-revealing clothes, which consisted of just a silky bra and panties. The rest of the prisoners groaned in a cry for help, begging him to release them. "Calm down, ladies. I'll help ya. I'll beat down this 'Dungeon Master' and teach him how to treat women!" he said, walking farther down the dungeon path.

As he walked, the cheers of the women of Dentech supporting him and rooting for him could be heard many halls back. 'I hope I can win. I am so not accustomed to losing, especially when I'm trying to impress girls…' he thought, a bit of his ego showing as he listened to the chants and cheers of the many, many women…

> > > > > >

'Where the heck am I now? Some sort of crazy theater?' Yai thought after stumbling into what appeared to be a theater lobby. She had been sniping and slicing Wily's and Dracula's minions while wandering through hallways and rooms. Her pockets were slightly bulging with the items she had found in some of the rooms. She looked around and found the typical things for an old-fashioned theater lobby. Ticket vendor, check. Snack bar, check. A wraith manning the cash register of the snack bar, che-Wait… Yai drew her katana and blocked a shadow dagger that the wraith had thrown at her right when she noticed it.

The wraith hovered away from the register, stalking her practically. She followed it with her eyes, calmly walking around. She figured that her katana won't do much, since the wraith probably wouldn't come close enough. She sheathed her swords and brought out her sniper rifle. She wouldn't have the element of surprise that the sniper rifle is usually used for, since the wraith saw it, but at least she could shoot at it. She aimed at the floating wraith, which seemed to be thinking of a plan while keeping an eye on her. She fired at it when she had locked in on it. However, the wraith disappeared.

She began to wonder where it went when she heard a gentle sort of 'whoosh' sound behind her. Diving aside, she dodged a pair of shadow daggers that were heading for her back. Getting up and looking behind her, Yai saw the wraith once again calmly floating, strategizing. 'This one's gonna be tough… It's taunting me' she thought, a bit annoyed.

And so, Yai decided to switch arenas by running into the closest movie room, where the lights were out, as expected. Yai immediately dove in between a couple rows of seats and started to crawl on the ground. She was glad that there was no mysterious gunk gluing her down. As the wraith floated down the aisle, looking for its prey, Yai sneaked a peek at it. Noticing that its back was turned toward her, she got up and silently snuck out. That's when she had an idea of how to at least distract the floating ghoul. Finding the door to the projector rooms, she went through it and climbed the flight of stairs leading toward the projector machines. She opened the door marked Theater 2 (the one she was just in) only to find a disgruntled zombie, anxious to get out. After quickly slicing it in the gut (closing her eyes to the geyser of blood that followed), Yai went to the projector and flicked it on.

Back in the theater, the wraith was getting annoyed. But then the projector went on and started showing the movie. The ghoul turned and watched as the biggest movie-going annoyance of any human, living or dead, started… endless ads and previews…Ad after ad after preview after ad after preview… On and on…

The wraith watched… and watched… and watched… After a few minutes worth of ads, it started to get angry, but kept watching anyway, hoping for a good movie. During all that watching, Yai had enough time to 1) make sure the wraith was completely distracted, 2) draw her sniper rifle, and 3) aim it at the undead's head. She smirked and whispered "Enjoy your last ad, dead-head" as she pulled the trigger. The wraith screamed, both in agony and utter annoyance, as the bullet lodged itself in the back of the wraith's head, killing it. She smirked on the way back down to ground level and went to search for the way to the next room…

> > > > > >

"How the hell did I get into the WWE!" wondered a slightly confused Dex aloud as he arrived from the last hall into what seemed to be a gladiator-style arena with a pro-wrestling ring in the center, a huge crowd of undead booing and hissing at him. He looked toward the ring and saw what appeared to be a flesh-rotten, mechanical muscleman, leering at him. "Man, everybody wants a piece o me, today…" he grumbled as he drew his spinning blades and walked toward the ring.

He slid in and got up, only to quickly sidestep an incoming punch from the apparently battle-happy monstrosity of muscle. Then, knowing that the demon pulled a cheap tactic by attacking before the bell, a skeleton outside the ring clanged the bell to begin the match officially. Dex countered the sucker-punch by repeatedly punching the demon in the back with his spinning saws out, giving the creep quite a few bloody cuts on his back. Before Dex could throw another punch, though, the cyborg swung around, backhanding Dex on the cheek with a mechanical fist, knocking him down. "Ow! Why you…!" he muttered as he climbed to his feet and, after quickly disposing his blades, grappled the monster.

For a few moments, it seemed to be a test of strength. The monster, with its enhanced strength, was winning, but that didn't mean that Dex was without any hope. As he suddenly figured out an idea, he kneed it in the gut, ran toward the ropes, bounced off of them, leaping toward the mecha and flooring it with a Body Slam. "Time for some reprogramming!" Dex shouted as he redrew his blades and struck the mechanical side of his head, trying to get to the all-important circuitry. But even though he did manage to cut into the head a little, the monster grabbed him by his arms and threw him off. Dex got up again to see the monster standing back on his feet. After a few more minutes of punching, grappling, getting hit, dodging, and using wrestling moves, Dex began fumbling around for something good to use against the slightly-damaged powerhouse and felt the glass of a bottle ("I'm surprised these aren't broken yet" mumbled Dex). He pulled it out to reveal a bottle of holy water. At this, he smirked and kept the bottle in his shirt. Then, he ran at it and punched the monster again, ducking an attack right after. Then, he gave the cyborg a kick to the 'nuts' ('When in Rome…' thought Dex, remembering the cheap shot at the beginning) and then climbed a turnbuckle while the freak was obviously distracted.

Dex spent a moment looking down at the recovering muscle-zombie from the top of the turnbuckle. Then, he grabbed the bottle of holy water, took it out, and jumped off, ready to smash the bottle. However, the large ghoul saw this and took a few steps backward, causing Dex to smash the holy water on the floor, breaking the bottle and creating a puddle. "Dang it!" muttered the fat teen as he rolled aside from the zombie's next attack. Then, an idea struck him. He ran past him, dodging the zombie's attempt to grab him by the neck to chokeslam him, toward the ropes opposite him. The zombie followed, completely forgetting about the puddle of holy water behind it. Right before Dex could bounce off the ropes, he jumped, landed on the middle rope, bounced off of it, and smashed himself, cannonball-style, on the zombie's chest. The force of the blow sent the living corpse falling down and forced it to land in the mess of holy water, causing it to writhe around in severe agony as Dex pinned him.

After the crowd grudgingly gave him a count to 3, the bulky cyborg caught aflame and burned in the blessed liquid. As the ring bell clanged again, Dex taunted the crowd of zombies by mooning them, but however, he grew to regret it when the undead started to throw random items at him, from beer cans to the old bones of other undead. "Hah. Losers! Wily sucks!" Dex called to the crowd, egging them on as he exited the ring and moved on to the next room, the flames of his opponent's remains dying down. "Hehehe… That was something different. I finally managed to throw my weight around! Wonder what's next" he thought aloud, proud of himself for at least proving that he can indeed fight physically, despite being overweight…

> > > > > >

Tory, wearing the gauntlets he chose, had just punched his way past a small group of minotaurs and ran into the next room, which happens to be a large dining room containing one really long table and at least a hundred chairs, when he encountered his next set of opponents. All 100 chairs in the dining room were occupied by armored knight-like ghouls, who immediately got up and charged at Tory. Drawing his lance, he jabbed the first one, sliced at the second one, and tripped the third before his momentum was cut off by the fourth DeadKnight, who grabbed him from behind. Tory, being the short one, was picked up easily by his captor, but that proved to be a huge mistake after Tory kicked the DeadKnight's ally in the skull and then jammed the lance down his captor's chest. He then flinged the corpse into an approaching gathering of knights, bowling them over.

Tory then jumped onto the table and ran down it, defeating any zombie unlucky enough to get in the way of his lance. However, the lead knight, a taller zombie wearing black armor, also climbed onto the table and started a charge. They met halfway, lances clashing and sparks flying. Tory stepped back and went to attack, but the black knight blocked again and countered with a kick. The short teenager jumped the kick and struck downward with his lance, but again, the knight blocked. Tory kicked this time, but he hit nothing but armor, which hurt. "Yeow! Dude, that smarts!" he growled, hopping backward with one foot, the knight trying to take advantage of this. Seeing the knight charge, Tory leaped up, pointed his staff downward, clung to it, and stabbed the black knight in the head as it passed below him, bouncing off of it like he was riding a pogo stick. The knight fell down and slid into a pack of the regular DeadKnights, defeated.

After disposing of the last few DeadKnights… well, let's just say that Tory did not want to stay for a bite to eat…

> > > > > >

Elsewhere, things in Dentech City were recovering at a slow pace. Ever since a couple of hours ago, when the Army's Commander got orders from a secret higher power to mobilize, the Dentech Militia has been patrolling the city and its borders. The citizens were warned to stay indoors and most of them have since followed that order, except for the occasional emergency errand. There were some generous donations of cash to the city's government to help with the recovery, but not even the mayor has any idea who donated it. (Rumors spread that Magnets Gauss gave the cash) But not all is well within the borders of the City of Dentech. Police and SWAT teams were called to all of the city's hospitals, due to the fact that their morgues were bursting with zombies and mutated dead, which consisted mostly of those who have fallen to zombies in the major attack.

Match and company had just gotten past another police-surrounded trouble spot when they finally decided that they should head back to their home and try to figure out how to take care of the now-80 undead Maddy. Match did his best to make sure that her body didn't rot out with all the other zombies by using everything from a First-Aid kit to her beauty supplies and lotions (which she always carried with her). He had fairly good luck with that job, although he couldn't help that her skin was now extremely grayish-pale, her eyes looked soulless, and she felt cold beyond belief. She had also apparently lost her ability to speak, although she easily recognized Match with an approving groan and let him help her. But the voiceless part seemed to be somewhat fine with Match, since that made Match unwilling to speak, keeping his moping and grumbling inside where his mind can beat itself up about it for not knowing how to save her. But at the same time, he wished he could hear Maddy at least reprimand him for not responding to her questions or comments. Even the typically-insensitive Count Zap felt a lot of sympathy for Maddy and Match at this point.

"Dammit! We need to get her some help, man! This does not rock!" Zap raved, having had enough of seeing two of best friends in such terrible pain. "I know…" Yahoot muttered, driving on and thinking. Then, an idea hit him. "Miyu the Psychic. She knows a lot about mythological stuff. Maybe she knows something about curing zombies!" he said, wondering why that idea didn't cross his mind earlier. "Yeah! S'worth a shot! Let's go then!" Zap said, strumming a mournful-yet-hopeful riff on his guitar as Yahoot made a turn at the next intersection and headed toward Miyu's mystic shop.

Soon, they arrived at Miyu's and got out, Match carrying Maddy. However, when they got to the door, they saw a "Closed" sign on it. "CLOSED? What the? Of all the times for her to lock up, she has to choose now?" Zap ranted, banging on her door with his fist. "Open up! Emergency!" "You know, that's not going to help…" grumbled Yahoot, annoyed yet again by his easily angered friend.

After a few minutes of Zap's knocking, a car pulled up, parked, and out stepped Miyu, not surprised by the sight of customers, as her senses felt their arrival at her shop. "May I help you?" she asked, as calm as if it's another regular day in Dentech. "Yeah… It's me girlfriend, Miyu… Bitten by a zombie when Wily attacked… We figured ye'd know somethin' 'bout zombie cures or somethin'…" explained Match, showing Maddy to the psychic. "I tried to at least prevent the 'rotting skin' part…" he added. "Hmm… I've been doing some thinking since I heard the first reports of some of the dead becoming zombies. I think I might know something, although with what's happening at the hospitals, we might need a lot more of this possible cure…" she said, now sounding grave as she unlocked her shop and invited them in.

> > > > > >

Agent Smith.EXE, bored out of his mind, decided to monitor the progress of the 5 intruder Navis that have made their way through different parts of Wily's Dark Network. He snickered as MegaMan fell into a pit, the home of a giant mutated alligator with 6 muscled arms and 2 human-like legs to stand on. He sneered as Glyde, now Style-Changed into WoodShield Mode, was in the middle of an aerial dogfight with a gigantic skeletal raven. He frowned as IceMan put the freeze on a deformed semi-transparent devil from the void. He growled as ProtoMan finally managed to cut a fat, metallic, undead orc into pieces of data. He was infuriated when he saw that GutsMan had managed to defeat the six murderous limbs of a huge, undead, mutilated zombie with HeatGuts Style and a pair of huge hammers.

"Damn… Should've made those morons stronger. Then again, they were a bunch of incompetent meatheads anyway, so no major loss…" the agent navi said to no one in particular as he paced back and forth in front of his security monitors. He mentally assessed the strength of his opponents, knowing that MegaMan was still no match for him. A smirk flashed on his face for a moment as he remembered cutting an arm off of the Blue Bomber and kidnapping his attractive girlfriend. Then, he remembered the few minutes in the real world, tying Roll to a black crucifix. He couldn't help but wonder how MegaMan would react, seeing his precious Roll held hostage like that. He also couldn't resist seeing how lovely Roll's face would become with a look of extreme agony on it. Agent Smith.EXE lived on causing pain, even when it comes to his love life…

> > > > > >

As Smith pondered, Gauss the crossdresser snickered. It was practically public knowledge that he had given monetary donations and hired construction workers to help the effort to restore Dentech City. However, no one but himself and MagnetMan knew that he was personally stopping the Mayor from spending one cent on the reconstruction (thanks to some bank hacking) or stopping his written or verbal orders from being carried out (thanks to a few 'accidents' involving MagnetMan). Of course, the Mayor had tried, but that just wouldn't fit into the old man's schemes if he had succeeded…

"Soon, the people will figure out that the Mayor apparently hasn't done one thing to help the reconstruction efforts… Then, I shall buy my way into being Mayor with the help of the people and I can rule this city the way that I want to! I respect Dr. Wily, but it's about damn time that I start making my own reputation! Hahahahahaha!" Gauss gloated, spinning around so that the frilly lower half of his very-girly, ribbon covered, pink dress spun out beautifully.

> > > > > >

Chaud had just kicked the huge, wooden door down, surprising the two occupants. He saw a huge, fat, stupid-looking troll with puke-green skin, large yellow fangs, a rusted sword, and one hell of a bad stench. It was preying on a defenseless looking girl who appears to be about Chaud's age. She was an attractive blonde with a cute face, a curvy lithe body, and flowing golden hair that flowed down her back. She had on a one-piece outfit of dark and light purple that looked like she was some sort of dancer. But what Chaud was concerned about was the fact that the troll was just about to attack her.

Immediately, he barraged the foul atrocity with a pack of arrows from his machine-crossbow, which dug into its back and caused it to forget about the girl it was terrorizing. It charged at Chaud, who jumped aside and fired his Uzi at its face. The troll, annoyed, swung its sword at Chaud, who rolled aside and got up. "Ok, that's enough out of you, ugly!" Chaud snapped, shooting its sword hand with a few more arrows while shooting its face with bullets. It dropped the sword and started swatting at its face, as if trying to swat away a mosquito. The rich teen picked up the rusty sword and threw it at the troll, successfully sticking it into the troll's groin. It howled and stumbled back as Chaud fired more arrows at it, hitting him in his chest and piercing its heart. The beast was silenced, dead before its head hit the ground.

"For such a big guy, you sure were easy to take down…" he said, slightly disappointed at the lack of a real challenge. Then, he approached the girl, who looked scared out of her wits. "D…Don't hurt me…!" she squeaked, curling up into a ball. "Hey… Relax. I'm here to save you, not hurt you more. Why would I rescue you from that creature if I wanted to hurt you?" the skunk-haired boy asked, kneeling down to get a better look at her. She lifted her head and looked, face to face, at him. "Really? You saved me?" she said, apparently surprised. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I?" he replied, trying to sound casual but actually confused by her shock. "Because… nobody cares about me…" she mumbled, her head lowering again. "Well, now ya got somebody that cares. So let's go, ok? We got to get the rest of the women out and then we have to get them to the plane" he said, patting her on a shoulder a bit. He then rose and went to the dead troll to find the keys to the dungeon cells.

"Thanks…" the girl said, standing up. "I'm Michelle, but you can call me Mish or Mishy or whatever nickname you want" she said, starting to get over her fear. "Oh. I think Michelle will be fine. My name's Chaud" he replied, as he looked for the keys.

However, Chaud didn't notice the succubus fangs that she unintentionally bared as she smiled sweetly at him, nor did he look at her when her "dancer's outfit" fluttered and stretched out for a moment to reveal that the 'clothes' are actually huge bat wings and that she was wearing just a dark purple bra-like top and panties of the same color…

Michelle approached him from behind, still smiling at him, as her wings quietly folded around her, becoming her 'outfit' again.

"Nice to meet you, Chaud."

> > > > > >

A/N: Finally! Chapter 6 is done! Whew… God, I hate writer's block! Such a curse. Anyways, I hope you all like this. I apologize again for such a long delay and I'll be working on Chapter 7 soon. Promise! And please, please review!

Next Chapter: Chaud and a succubus? MegaMan and a mermaid? (What about Roll?) GutsMan and a zombie woman? Why the heck is everybody pairing up now, of all times? Or are these non-human/non-Navi women their next foes? Plus, what will happen when Wily starts his second attack on Dentech? What will Beef's Agents and the Ex-World 3 do? Will Maddy be cured or will she call a coffin her bed? And is Agent Smith an S&M pervert? All this and more in the next chapter "Love vs. Pain", which will be up soon (if I'm completely cured of this accursed writer's block…).