Annihilation

A Job

The scent of fresh doughnuts filled the air. Carlos looked down from the roof of the Net Guardian base/dounut shop and saw the rest of the team waking up. In a single jump, he landed on the ground and walked into the shop with the rest of the team.
"Hey Carlos." Jonathan smiled at him. David handed Carlos a doughnut.
"Yo bro', you hungry?" David almost pushed the doughnut into Carlos's hand.
"Um...Thanks?" Carlos said and took a big bite out of it. His eyes popped open as he discovered why David insisted he had it. David had filled the doughnut with lemon juice.
"Grrr...You stupid bishounen-like cowboy!" Carlos yelled as everyone laughed. Carlos ran over to the fridge, but nothing was inside of it. He grabbed the last soda that was in it and drank up fast.
Cyros looked at David. "Dude, that was great, but how'd ya get the juice in the doughnut?"
"Here's a better question. Why waste a doughnut." Sam intervened.
"...Good point, sorry Carlos." David said. Serenade, who was in his holster, flapped his head.
"Hey Carlos, pass me a Livewire, will you?" Sam asked.
"Sure..." Carlos looked in the fridge to revile, "...NOOOOOOO!!!!" Carlos almost passed out.
"Dude, what happened?" Cyros asked.
"We're out of Soda!" Everyone stood there shocked for a second. Ms. Stake, the owner of the doughnut shop, walked out of the backroom.
"Are you alright?" She jumped thinking someone had gotten seriously hurt.
"We...ran out of soda." David hung his head in defeat.
"So?" Ms. Stake pulled 300 zenny out of her pocket. "Here, go get some more. Make it like a little quest or something."
Everyone's eyes perked. "A QUEST!" They all yelled simultaneously. Everyone ran upstairs and came down as...
"David the Adventurer."
"Sam the Fighter."
"Moe the Mage."
"Jonathan the Archer."
"Cyros the Summoner."
"Adrienne the Ogre."
"Carlos the Samurai." Everyone turned and looked at Carlos.
"Dude," David said, "There aren't any samurais in Medieval RPGs."
"There are when I play." He said holding up his double bladed sword.
"Fine, whatever." David said as everyone lined up behind him, except Carlos.
"Why do you get to be the leader?" Carlos asked.
"Because". David grabbed his necklace from behind his shirt. "I have the Two Ring."
"Two Ring?" Cyros asked.
"The One Ring was already taken. So, we're number 2!" David smiled.
"You know, you sound very pathetic when you say it like that." Sam added.
"Fine, whatever." Carlos got in the back of the line.
Soon, the Net Guardians came across the first obstacle, an intersection. David reached out and pressed the button and waited for the little hand light thing to flash.
And waited....
And waited....
And waited....
And waited....
And waited....
And then, they waited...
Suddenly, David perked up. "Dexterity, level up!!" He yelled and everyone laughed. The light turned and they crossed the street.
They started their torturous walk across the parking lot when suddenly the wind blew a cardboard box into their path.
"Ack!" Jonathan said.
"Random battle sequence...BEGIN!" yelled Sam. Everyone went into a straight line next to each other.
"Oh come on," BowlMan complained, "Random battles don't just 'Appear' like that."
Suddenly, a metool materialized in front of him. "...Not one word." BowlMan said as he blew the Metool away.
David ran up and hit the box with his wooded staff. "Two points damage."
Adrienne charged the box and hit it with her club. "Three points damage, box is unable to move due to Fear."
Cyros picked up a rock. "I summon Rock!" He then threw the rock at the box. "Three points damage."
Jonathan shot an arrow at the box, "Yes, direct hit! 1 point damage, Box is now poisoned."
Carlos ran up to the box and pulled out his sword, but missed the box. "Box Evaded..."
Moe walked up to the box and pulled out his lighter. "Magical point cost: 2. Magical Attack, FIRE!" He said then lit the box on fire.
"Victory!" David said and everyone busted a pose. Carlos noticed something in the box and grabbed it before it burned.
"Hum...20% off any Coca-Cola product. Acquired Coupon!!!." He smirked and got back inline. Soon, the group was in front of Vons.
Protestors lined the...ok, all 7 of them were standing around talking. When the Net Guardians approached, one walked up.
"Hey, we're on strike. Vons is under lockout. Don't go in. Go somewhere else." He said.
"What's that you say? Do not enter the Forbidden Cave?" David smiled.
"No, I said Vons is under lockdown. Don't go in." He looked at the group strangely, now noticing they were cosplaying.
"We do not fear this Lockness Monster you speak of, we will defeat it so you can go back to work." David acted extremely brave.
The protestor walked back to his group and talked to them for a second. This time, all 7 of the group walked up.
"How bout we NetBattle for it?" The leader of the group said. "TEAM VONS #1233, ASSEMBLE!"
David smirked as everyone crowded around Team Vons#1233's mobile netbattling arena, "Any time, any place. For we are.... THE NET GUARDIANS!"
"So, how about a 7 on 7 team battle?" One of the protestors asked.
"Sounds good to me," John said. Everyone pulled out their PETs.
"JACK IN! SERENADE.EXE EXECUTE!"
"JACK IN! BOWLMAN.EXE EXECUTE!"
"JACK IN! DARKLADY.EXE EXECUTE!"
"JACK IN! METALMAN.EXE EXECUTE!"
"JACK IN! YAMATOMAN.EXE EXECUTE!"
"JACK IN! KINGMAN.EXE EXECUTE!"
"JACK IN! DRILLMAN.EXE EXECUTE!"

"JACK IN! VONS NAVI #1233A.EXE EXECUTE!"
"JACK IN! VONS NAVI #1233B.EXE EXECUTE!"
"JACK IN! VONS NAVI #1233C.EXE EXECUTE!"
"JACK IN! VONS NAVI #1233D.EXE EXECUTE!"
"JACK IN! VONS NAVI #1233E.EXE EXECUTE!"
"JACK IN! VONS NAVI #1233F.EXE EXECUTE!"
"JACK IN! VONS NAVI #1233G.EXE EXECUTE!"

Of the two teams, one was a mixture of 7 very different navis and the other was a group of identical copies. The two teams looked at each other face to face.
"Dude," Sam asked, "Why are all your navis exactly the same?"
"The company gives them to us." One shrugged.
"So, why are you on strike then?" David asked.
"Because, the company's taking away a little bit of our coverage plus making it so we have to pay 15 zenny every time we go to the doctor."
"So," Moe asked, "how often do you go to the doctor?"
"Once every like 3 or 4 months...."
"And the company's taking away all coverage?"
"No, just a little bit. The price of insurance went up and the company's making us pay the difference, plus to make it easier to pay they're lowering our coverage."
Cyros looked at them, "What, you don't make enough to pay for the new price?"
"No, we make more money than teachers even though we didn't go to college or anything plus we have better coverage than cops do."
"Oh," Carlos looked at the other Net guardians to see if they understood it either. "So, why again are you on strike?"
"It's the principle of the matter. Now, let's fight!"
VONS NAVI #1233A threw a minibomb at BowlMan, who quickly shot it before impact. BowlMan then diverted his gun to the source of the mimibomb. BowlMan got a perfect "turkey".
VONS NAVI #1233B and VONS NAVI #1233C advanced towards YamatoMan, hoping to catch him unable to handle 2 opponents at once. Unfortunately, VONS NAVI #1233B and VONS NAVI #1233C have never heard of the thousand Spear technique. And probably never would since the first time they saw this technique also happened to be the moment both were deleted.
VONS NAVI #1233D was barely jacked in before meeting MetalMan, who in return introduced him to the Metal Missile technique. Unfortunately, these two didn't quite like each other.
VONS NAVI #1233G charged at Serenade. He unleashed a Cannon at the Navi formerly know as S. Serenade prepared to use the Sonic Boom Counter-technique. Right before the Cannon got within range, VONS NAVI #1233G burst into flames and was deleted. Serenade looked around, trying to find the source of this power. He prepared his Holy Shocker attack. Suddenly he saw Darklady, glowing with her RedFire style. Serenade lowered his hand.
VONS NAVI #1233F prepared to battle, converting his hand with the Shotgun chip. Suddenly, the world behind him split and three tunnels lay hanging in the air. VONS NAVI #1233F watched for his opponent to appear out of any of these three holes. Too bad he didn't see the fourth hole that appeared or he might have stood a chance, well, maybe not against DrillMan's powerful Drill Drive.
Unlike his other duplicates, VONS NAVI #1233E was too scared to do actual battle. So he, like many non-battle type navis, carried around Virus Bombs. VONS NAVI #1233E picked a virus bomb and threw it. "I choose you, Shrimpy! Swordy! and Swordy!"
The three viruses looked at their target and got into formation.
"Man, this is too easy." Sam shook his head. "Now, let's jump these pawns and go for the queen."
"Let's let our pawns duke it out for us." KingMan said as two pawns appeared. The Swordies tried to attack, but were to slow to deal with the Pawns. His Knight jumped in front of the Shrimpy, launching out a shockwave and deleting the final virus.
"CHECKMATE!" KingMan yelled as he jumped on top of the VONS NAVI #1233F.

In the real world, the strikers couldn't believe their eyes. Not a single VONS NAVI #1233 even landed a hit.
"Wow," The leader admitted, "YOU must really want to shop here."
David looked back at the rest of the Net Guardians, "Wait, what did we come here to buy?"
The Seven young men walked into the Vons and hit the soda isle. Suddenly, all the doors shut and locked and the lights turned down.
This one moment would change the Net Guardians' lives forever. This was the reason they got free doughnuts and a place to live.
"Now lady, hand over all the money in the cash register or we'll let Johnny have his way with you." A kid, presumably the leader, pointed his PET at the lady. She looked over him and saw this "Johnny" she was being threatened with.
"AHHHH!!! NOOOO!!! ANYTHING BUT THAT!!!" she yelled and opened up the cash register.
"Hey," Johnny said, "That really hurts..."
David looked back at his teammates. All of them had suddenly changed from goofy teens into serious Protectors of the Innocent. He gave them a nod to ensure their unspoken agreement. They flung their medieval costumes off.
"HALT right there!" David commanded. The unsuspecting robbers looked at this sudden outburst oddly.
"Who do you think you are? Robbing from the innocent. Now, you must pay dearly!" David said.
"Well, we have plenty of zenny now. So, do you have change for a 20 or should we just delete you." the leader shot back.
David looked at the leader. The leader back at David. A kid wearing a PHAT shirt stepped forward while the team's leader was locked in a staring contest.
"Do you have any idea who you're messing with? We are the Acid Hackers."
"Now, prepare to get burned." Johnny stepped up to add. As soon as he had finished saying that, the temperature in the building shot up twenty degrees.
Moe was probably the last to recognize the name, but the first to say anything. "Acid Hackers? Heh, well we've been sent here to delete YOU."
David and the leader still looked at each other. The leader suddenly let out three soft words. "Battle Routine: Set."
The world seemed to go into slow motion as every one went for their PETs. David, being a cowboy and used to drawing from his holster, was the first to Jack in, adding the phrase "EXECUTE!!!"
This is what it's all about: NetBattling, saving the day, becoming a hero. David thought this as he saw the thirteen navis being logged in.
Moe yelled "Lookout!" at the last second as Darklady jumped in the way as the Fish Missile blasted straight for Serenade. Darklady converted to PurpleDarkness mode and blocked the attack with her Dark Shadow Axe.
"You blub hole." a small amphibious navi said, stepping out from behind a rock.
"He wasn't in our briefings." MetalMan said. "But that won't stop us from deleting this evil."
"Is everyone ready for the cheese intro/battle sequence?" DrillMan asked both teams.
"Ready!" everyone called back.
"Zuquazu!" a pile of dirt said to the group.
In the real world, the tallest man among the Acid hackers translated, "DesertMan told you to prepare yourself, 'cause when he's done, the vultures will have nothing to pick at. Oh, and the name's Nij."
DesertMan folded into the ground, preparing for a surprise attack. But the surprise was on him as KingMan jumped on him, launching a shockwave hitting the submerged Navi.
"Any way you move, KingMan will jump you." Sam said.
"And Sam will take down your queen." KingMan returned the compliment.
"So you blubbin' know, they call me BubbleMan." the operator-less navi commented.
"BubbleMan? What kind of opponent is that?" Moe hung his head down.
"Hey, at least I'm not a blubbin' Boring Navi." BubbleMan pointed at his drill-topped opponent.
"They call me DrillMan, dig it?" DrillMan tried to eliminate the last comment.
"Man, that one sucked." Moe shook his head at his partner.
"Shut up, Moe!" He yelled back.
"Let's flare it up!" The burning mammoth said and unleashed a massive fire breath move.
The gun-holding bowler jumped to the side, "So, what do they call you, FireMan?"
Johnny jumped at the remark, "FlameMan is 3 times better than FireMan can ever hope to be!"
"Dude, that's pathetic. BowlMan will easily bowl him over." Jonathan smiled back at his navi.
"Right, Jon." He nodded back and pulled out his gun.
The samurai stared at the beast. "Make your move, humanoid. I'll show you why they call me BeastMan."
"Baka, Honor will guide my staff to victory. As a warrior, you're no match for YamatoMan.EXE." YamatoMan said and charged his foe.
"Your Navi will never survive the call of the wild." The 'phat' kid smirked across the way.
"Like you're one to talk. My name's Carlos, and today you get tamed." Carlos posed in a very martial arts kind of way.
"They call me Jake, and we'll see who gets tamed."
Cyros shoveled chips into his PET, "Let's do some gardening, MetalMan!"
"Affirmative, Cyros."
MetalMan threw his powerful Metal Blade at the flower.
"Stand still, you poesy." MetalMan yelled.
"Sure," the plant smiled, "But prepare to face all of nature's tricks, for PlantMan takes no prisoners." And with that, a storm of rose needles filled the air, all targeted at MetalMan.
PlantMan's operator smiled, "Don't go thinking Stuart Kool isn't an expert when it comes to the power of the earth."
"Ironic, isn't it?" The Blue navi looked at his opponent. "Darklady verses FlashMan."
"Yes," Darklady agreed, "We'll see if your light can withstand the darkness." Darklady said and opened 3 Dark Portals.
Adrienne and Matt introduced themselves while their navis' powers contrasted.
David and Jeremy never broke their stare. David lifted up his chip, so Jeremy could see it. Jeremy nodded.
Both yelled to their navis, "BattleChip Mode: Sword Y. Slot in."
They put the chips into their PETs, changing their netnavis' hands into swords. Serenade charged his opponent, but his opponent was a step too fast.
"So, what are you? SpeedMan? ThornMan?" Serenade asked the other Navi.
"They call me what I am, a Punk. The Punk." Punk said, and slashed his sword down, but it was met with Serenade's scarves, sending a Shockwave back at him, and at that close of a range, hit him.
"My friends call me a sweet Serenade, but you can call me S." Serenade charged forward.
"S? The king of the UnderNet?" Punk was shocked.
"Yes, I am He who has the ranking of # 1." Serenade let out a small smile.
"What's the most powerful navi doing hanging out with a bunch of goody goodies? You own the UnderNet, the most feared region on the net!"
"I was told of a noble challenge and an evil scheme. And I was out of practice for so long I thought I might as well get some fresh air."
"But with," Punk stopped a moment and pointed to the rest of the Net Guardians, "Them?!? They are not worthy of you."
Suddenly, the doors of Vons burst open, and piles of Officials poured in. Navi after Navi was logged into the system.
David looked around.... But couldn't see Jeremy, nor the rest of the Acid Hackers.
He lay his fist in his hands. "Darn..."
* * * * *
Days later...
The fresh aroma of doughnuts filled the air. This time, instead of Carlos on the roof, it was David. Slowly, one by one, the rest of the team made their way up there.
"Next time," Carlos said, "Justice will be served..."

The End

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