Sees a bunch of people walk away because the fic hasn't been updated in two months NO! DON'T LEAVE PLEAAASE!! L I'm sorry for not updating, really I am. I just had to… there were some things… A few things happened… ah screw it. I said I'm going to finish this story, and I don't plan on quitting. What sucks is that I left you all at a very bad spot (in the middle of a heated battle actually). Let's hope that whatever little writing skills I had in the first place haven't gone rusty and continue this story, shall we?

And as a note, I keep forgetting that Megaman Network Transmission exists, so that was a continuity error on my part (I despise continuity errors, especially when referring to games). Fortunately, it didn't take too much editing to evade this new development. Reread chapter 6 if you're all so worried about it. Anyway, let's start now with chapter 7!

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A Paradigm's Dawn

Chapter 7: Blood Red Duel, Part Two

Chaud winced slightly as the light resulting from the red and green collision filled the computer screen for a split second. He noticed a few artifacts on-screen, a result of some glitches in the observation program used to display the fight. By impulse he set out to fix the display, only to be reminded that he no longer had any control over his PC… he could only watch as the two red navis on screen battled with each other.

Protoman jumped back, recoiling from the powerful swing of Zero's green blade. His own red blade countered it, but the sheer force his opponent exhibited threatened to overtake him in mere seconds. Without delay Zero jumped towards the retreating navi and swung his blade again, cutting through empty space as Protoman ducked, countering with the thrust of his own weapon.

Zero sidestepped quickly, narrowly avoiding the red energy, then parried the follow-up attack as Protoman swung his blade upwards towards his right hand, the hand holding his weapon. With a quick motion he planted his left foot on the forearm of his opponent, knocking the blade away from the path of his own, freeing it for a counterattack.

Protoman scurried backwards away from the range of his enemy's blade, then stood up, readying himself for another attack. His opponent lunged towards him again, swinging underhanded to prevent another counterattack. The silver-haired navi parried the attack, moving back to lessen the impact of the blow before moving his blade below his waist to parry another blow, then retreated some more. After blocking four more such attacks of varying direction, he moved to the side for a counterattack, only to feel the force of the green blade pushing against his own.

Zero pushed with increasing force, unflinching in his expression, forcing Protoman back into a guard stance, upon which he lunged forward to begin another series of attack. Each strike succeeded the next with deadly speed and force, no two similar in either respect. Nevertheless, he noted the accuracy that Protoman exhibited, successfully blocking each and every strike as if he knew what was coming.

Zero retreated, easing off his attack. He noted his opponent's endurance and reaction time. I may have to implement a better strategy…

Protoman kept his distance from his opponent, now in a defensive stance, slightly surprised at the sudden change of pace. Zero is agile, and is deadly with his weapon. Not even Megaman was able to attack me as effectively. And if he was able to defeat me… Protoman readied himself, attempting to form his own counterattack.

Chaud watched the battle, observing the movements of the two navis. He looked at this watch, noting that backup officials were taking longer than usual to reach him. Unfortunately, he and Protoman were the only two in the office building by the time Zero had infiltrated his computer. It would take some time for the backup to come to his aide.

It seemed to Chaud that things were getting worse when he observed Zero taking a very familiar stance…

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"Sir, we still can't get the door open."

"Keep it up. The Chief needs our help, so we need to get into that building as soon as possible." The top official watched in impatience as his subordinates attempted to open the doors leading to the Net Battle Officials Building. The effort was in chaos, but no one had prepared for such an occurrence, nor did they believe locking out the building was possible in the first place. Nevertheless, they worked furiously, and found themselves close to getting in. The only question is if they would get in in time…

"Sir," the top official listened as the man beside him spoke. "We can't e-mail the Chief's PET. It's currently involved in a net battle!"

"A net battle?" Who could have the audacity to challenge Protoman to a net battle? "Have you tried e-mailing his PC?"

"We're working on it as we speak. We're still trying to establish a secure connection, but it's difficult unless we get inside. It should take no more than a few minutes."

"I don't think we have a few minutes…" the official stood in silence for a moment. "Carry on. We need to contact the Chief by any means necessary."

"Yes sir." The man walked away, leaving the official to himself. He then continued to direct the opening of the doors, hoping to himself that whatever was going on inside wasn't too much for Chaud.

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Protoman stood in disbelief as he noted the stance Zero took. His opponent held his sword pointing downward, away from his body, his head and torso leaning forward. His hands gripped the green blade with a visible toughness. "Chaud!" he yelled.

His expression unmoving, the chief responded coldly. "I know… I don't know how, but he seems to be preparing his 'alternative' strategy. Attacking him now would be fruitless."

"Yes. Anything I throw at him will be easily countered. But how can he do that without the help of battle chips?"

"I don't--" Chaud paused as the realization came to him. All this time he had assumed Zero was attacking alone, as he had in the past. Yet this Zero spoke of a master, someone he was working for… he had never been able to close the now-open connection to his PC, which means… "Protoman, I don't think Zero is working alone."

Protoman noticed a wince on Zero's part. "Nobody should be able to have access--" Protoman paused, remembering the open connection. "I see. An oversight on our part."

Yes, a major oversight. Both Chaud and Protoman flinched at the sudden new voice. I was beginning to think I could get away with this without even an inquiry into my identity. The voice seemed to come from a young man, probably not much older than Chaud himself.

"Show yourself, operator." Chaud hadn't a decent lead in this case for months, so he wasn't going to let this opportunity slip away.

In due time Chief Official. For now though, you're interrupting with my navi's escape. But that won't last for much longer. Zero…

Protoman focused on Zero not a second too soon, as the red navi lunged towards him with remarkable speed. He watched his opponent, attempting to anticipate his movements… and in an instant the figure of Zero was gone, replaced with nothing but empty space. Protoman rotated quickly to his right, just in time to parry a quick slash from a green blade. Without hesitation, he rotated his left, soon parrying a similar slash, then ducked a slight amount, blocking a third slash from above him. The small red navi soon appeared some distance away from him, sword in hand.

Protoman attempted to stand upright, but found his energy draining. The amount of speed and power needed to repel the attack was enough to tax his systems. Fortunately, he had time before his opponent could execute a similar attack. Almost as the thought crossed his mind, Zero began to move towards him again, once again disappearing before the two locked blades.

The silver-haired navi almost didn't respond… the first attack was parried just barely, with the other two blocked easily as Protoman regained his composure. He felt more energy drained from him, still surprised from the quick counterattack… How-- Before he could even think about what happened, Zero was moving towards him again, performing the same attack, with Protoman blocking the swings, yet losing stamina from the continued assault.

Chaud watched on, angry at the events playing out before him, yet his expression remained solemn. Without a word, Chaud took out a battle chip and placed it into his PET, uploading the data into his PC. Zero began moving towards Protoman again, but before he could begin a fourth attack, a large white aura appeared around his opponent.

"Chaud…" Protoman fell to the ground, using his hands to keep from falling completely. Zero watched on as he attempted to break through this new barrier, but without success.

"Your attacks won't pierce the life aura." Chaud watched on as Zero attempted to break the shield. "I programmed the delta ray edge, and am well aware that while it does a large amount of damage altogether, each individual strike is not strong enough to break such a defense by itself."

You are no less capable than I've heard, Eugene Chaud. Chaud became annoyed at the mocking use of his name. But your life aura will not last forever. You have merely delayed the inevitable… and as for your so-called officials…

"What about my officials?" He became angry at the thought that this person could be the cause of this delay.

They won't be helping you, especially if they aren't even capable of entering the building.

"You little…" Chaud calmed himself down. He didn't get where he was by acting irrationally. He closed his eyes and tried to think. Protoman isn't going to hold his own for long and the life aura won't last much longer. As he tried to formulate a strategy, he was interrupted by a soft beeping sound coming from his PET. Surprised, he picked up the device and found that he had been sent a new e-mail from the team of reinforcements.

Chaud then noticed the small caption that came along with the message: 'Tunneled through PC'. Wait a second… "Protoman," Chaud stated quickly as he closed the e-mail on his PET and began to work furiously, "Do everything you can to make sure Zero doesn't escape. I'll have the connection closed quickly." He took the cord from his keyboard and connected it to his PET, beginning to type furiously.

Zero stood silent for a moment before he realized what was going on. He began to head towards the open portal on the far side of the virtual cyber world before Proto Man appeared in front of him.

"I won't let you go." Protoman took a ready stance, ignoring the fact that his life aura had begun to die out.

"Without your defense? If you wish to take such a foolhardy risk, I won't stop you." Zero also took a ready stance, and then lunged towards his opponent to perform the delta ray edge. Protoman blocked each attack successfully, preventing him from moving forward any further.

Chaud continued to type away as Protoman continued defending against Zero's onslaught. It was only a matter of time now. Zero would be caught, and they'd finally be able to figure out how he was able to infiltrate SciLab so easily. He finished typing and saved the result on his PET. "Protoman, I'm ready. I--" Chaud was silenced as he watched the scene before him.

Zero lunged towards Protoman again, starting his delta ray edge. Protoman attempted to block the first strike, only to realize that he was too slow. The attack pierced him on his right side, leaving him open to both strikes from his other side and above. Now stunned by the success of the attack, Zero followed up with his own series of attacks, each one more powerful than the last, crippling Protoman and causing him to collapse to the ground. Zero went in for the kill…

Protoman watched as the small red navi held his blade an inch away from his cracked faceplate… "You have lost…" Zero stated solemnly as he stood poised, ready to strike at the slightest movement.

Chaud kept his expression solemn, though notably angry that he hadn't finished fast enough. "Don't even try Zero. The program I have here will be downloaded to my PC and run, just like a battle chip. It'll make sure you have no chance of getting out of here."

Zero continued to stand silently, unflinching in his stance. "Then I have been bested." Chaud began to breathe a sigh of relief at the navi's words "I suppose then I can only finish what I've started… by deleting Protoman."

Chaud couldn't help it this time. His face became angry at his realization: he was fully capable of running his program, but he was unable to do anything for Protoman during that time. "You… Such underhanded tactics."

"I am only trying to complete my mission. My master's plans will be severely compromised if I am not allowed to leave. So you understand, I have no choice. Of course, seeing as your PET can interface with your PC just fine, there shouldn't be a problem with jacking out your friend."

"Chaud!" Protoman lay still on the floor of the PC. "If you jack me out now you won't be able to run the program. Don't worry what happens to me. The most important objective must be accomplished."

Chaud stood silent, trying to think of an alternative. Zero's operator couldn't jack him out, or else he would've done so already… the two navis watched Chaud intently for the next minute, waiting for his inevitable action. After what seemed like an eternity. Chaud lifted his PET into view. "As the chief net battle official of Electopia, I can only do what I feel is the best course of action." With that, he closed his eyes, and pressed a button on his PET.

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I hate cliffhangers. I am also a hypocrite ;)