Technology. It can be a good thing. It can be a bad thing. Like any other tool, its use is solely dependent on the user. Recently, it would seem one such user has opted to use it as a bad thing. The game known as Charaload is a multinational sensation! However, the tournaments and championships for this sport have begun dwindling in the wake of many Charaload Players facing the disappearance of their loved ones. Too many are starting to think that this game is too risky. However, those that have lost their loved ones haven't much more to lose. It is that reason that they have decided to continue playing this...

Game of Chance

Aru Jei's House

Aru Jei is at home, watching the news... hearing things he already knows. His house is empty... he is the only one at home.

The TV announcer is heard saying, "...however, it is astounding to find out the peculiarity of the disappearances. All of the victims have one thing in common. They are close relatives of highly skilled Charaload Players. This..."

Aru Jei turned the TV off. He pressed a few buttons on his Charaloader and spoke, "Megaman? You there?"

A voice on the other side responded, "Ya, Aru, I'm here."

"Listen... have you picked up anything? Been able to find out any clue about these disappearances?"

"Can't say I have... all I know is the same as you. They're all relatives of Charaload Players."

Aru closed his eyes and then smiled, "Then I guess we'll just have to travel to Characity."

"That's kind of risky... you think that--"

"Don't worry about it, Megaman. I'll make sure I don't go alone. Come to think of it... since I have access to the convention center's broadcast room, I can just tell the whole city of what I plan to do. Maybe it'll get everyone else to do the same thing. If we all work together against whoever it is that's doing this... maybe it won't be as dangerous."

"You sure seem pretty hopeful... alright, I guess we'll do it."

New Accupolis Convention Center

Megaman was standing right beside Aru. Apparently he had been summoned some time between Aru being at home and getting to the city's Convention Center. Megaman, being a Charahol based on an extremely advanced robot, knew his way around electronics. Not neccessarily a computer genius, but definitely adequate.

Megaman suggested, "Aru, what if we were to send on this frequency? That way, only those that have Charaloaders would hear your message? I think that would probably work better than, ya know, going on TV or something."

Aru replied, "Ya, you're probably right... alright, here goes."

Aru spoke into the microphone, and soon his message was sent to every Charaloader in the city.

"Hi, everyone. My name is Aru, and just like most of you, I've lost my family, too. I think I know how and where we can find them and get them back... if you think you're ready and willing to hear me out... to possibly risk a lot... well, come to the Convention Center. I think we have a lot to talk about."

The message ended. Aru looked over to Megaman and said, "Well... I hope people take my message seriously."

Megaman answered, "I'm pretty sure everything will go alright. We've never lost a match, right? I'm sure we can do anything, Aru!"

John Gerzon's house

John kissed Angel on the lips, smiling at her, then sighing.

"I can't believe that... She's gone..."

Angel patted John on the back, frowning and the both of them shedding a tear.

"Don't worry, I lost my parents, too..."


Just then, Samus piped up on Angel's Charaload on the table, as well as John Menselhopper on John's.

"Hey, guys, sorry to break up such a LOVELY evening, but big things are goin' on!" piped up the cybered out version of his owner.

"Yeah... Just got this weird transmission from some guy called 'Aru Jei'. Something's up..." Samus, serious as ever added in.

"Huh? Go ahead and play it, John." replied Gerzon.

"Sure thing, John."

(If you can't tell, I'm going to have a LOT of fun with that :p)


The transmition played to its entirety, both John and Angel looking at each other, smiling.

"Time for an adventure, you think?" asked Angel.

"Oh, yeah..."

They both grabbed their Charaloaders, heading out to the convention center.



Kaiba Corp. Headquarters

Kaiba's Charaloader beeped and he raised his eyebrow. It was bad enough that Mokuba was taken from him... Now what?

The message played, his eyes narrowing.

"Whatever's happening, its being centered on MY customers... And they will not get away with what they did to Mokuba..."

He informed his underlings that he was heading out... As he goes to the convention center.

-New Accupolis Streets-

Edda Rince sighed, looking downwards on the street, scratching the back of his head.

He too, had heard the message, but didn’t seem to care much for it. He only had a mom and dad, and both of them, plus him, were fairly average people. The only thing that made Edda different was that he was pretty fast, for a human. It was all of his experience fleeing from things.

“Think maybe we should check this out?” a slightly gruff, Australian accent said to his right, Edda’s Charahol, his first, Sol the Charizard wondered, “We might be able to help.”

“No way,” Edda said pointedly, “We’d just be asking for something bad to happen. I’m not going to risk it.”

Sol frowned, then looked up towards the sky, “I still think we should help.”

“Fine…we’ll look in and see what’s up, okay?” Edda relented, and the two headed off.

-Digital Lair-

A mysterious character had of course, also received this message. He typed at a screen that appeared in front of him, remaining in shadows. He then lifted his left hand, and with his right, tapped on a few keys on his wrist pad which contained his Charahols.

A flash of light and two figures, Doc Ock and Metal Sonic appeared, data assembling in the air and solidifying.

“Doc Ock…Metal Sonic…Go investigate whoever sent this message. It sounds very intriguing,” the figure said from the shadows, “We might be able to use him and whoever he brings together…”

“On it,” Doc Ock said, and he and Metal Sonic headed out…

(Hehehe…)

The Simmons Estate

"Keep your voice steady Miss. Simmons, there is no need to be so shaky"

Inside of a rather large house near the edge of town the voice of a teenage girl could be heard. The girl--as directed by a rather plump old woman standing nearby--was being forced to sing a song, every note in her voice being monitored closely. The girl, Maya Simmons, stood extremely still--tightly bound in an itchy dress-- and kept her eyes on her song book. Her voice came out smoothly and yet it was still not good enough.

"Miss. Simmons, if you cannot get this one song right. My dear this is our last meeting before you leave-"

*ding*

The cheerful chime of a timmer upon the fireplace caused Maya to let out a wide grin. She dropped her song book, gave a short "Thank you" to the woman, and then rushed out of the room her eyes now on a device upon her arm, her Charaloader.

Every day had been the same as today, Maya was forced to learn useless things that she could care less about until three o'clock exactly, and then she was free. There was only one difference this time. Today it was known that she would be leaving to travel on her own. It was safe to say she was excited. Maya rushed upstairs into her bedroom and began to change her clothes and change.

"Yue, come on out okay?" The girl asked into her Charaloader as she finished redressing and started to dig through her hamper in seach for a few pairs of pants to add to her small collection of things to bring along. When she had her hands free she summoned him and he appeared right next to her, staring over her shoulder. Apparently she had gone back to packing.

"What are you doing?" The older male asked. Maya did not look up, instead she tossed him a tank top. He raised an eyebrow and held it up. "What am I to do with this"

Maya turned to Yue and laughed "It's not for you, could you put it in my backpack?"

"Of course"

Maya turned back to what she was doing and Yue sat upon her bed. It wasn't strange that Maya had summoned Yue just to sit with her as she did small tasks. The girl only lived with her father, which sometimes was rather lonely in such a large estate. She enjoyed the company.

"Are you ready?" Maya asked suddenly as she stood up and made her way over to the man. "The battles are going to be a lot tougher outside of the city. We may be good here in town but there are sure to be people who will be better out there."

"I am aware" Yue responded "And I vow to do my best alongside the others"

"Thanks, I know you guys will dominate out there!"

Both Maya and Yue turned as the teenage girl's door opened. There stood an older man, easily identifiable as Mr. Simmons, her father. He held a concerned expression but still managed a smile for his daughter.

"What's up dad?"

"Are you still leaving?"

"Of course, we planned this awhile ago remember?"

"Yeah, but that was before the abductions. What if they try to kidnap you?"

Maya sighed "Dad, they aren't kidnapping Charaload Players, just family members. And you are perfectly safe here! This is a mansion; you have a million servants, and even security guards. Plus i'm sure my music teacher would scare away any bad guys with her looks."

"Maya!!!"

"Sorry Dad"

Mr. Simmons frowned and Yue grinned lightly at the remark.

"I'm just worried" Her father explained. "You know some of the victims don't you?" Yue then spoke.

"I promise to protect Maya" Yue explained "There is Jason, Pikachu, and Sonic as well." She will be safe.

"I supose" He admitted.

Without warning a voice broke into the conversation. It came from Maya's wrist.

"Hi, everyone. My name is Aru, and just like most of you, I've lost my family, too. I think I know how and where we can find them and get them back... if you think you're ready and willing to hear me out... to possibly risk a lot... well, come to the Convention Center. I think we have a lot to talk about."

"Dad now I really have to go okay? I have to go see Aru before I leave"

"Be safe then, and let me know if you need anything at all"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

New Accupolis Convention Center

Maya walked into the Convention Center looking around carefully. Beside her stood Yue. For the most part the room looked empty; it was common knowledge that since all the disappearances people were keeping a bit lower profile when able. There was nothing happening at the center today so no one was here. Except for Aru of course.

Lisa's Someone Else's House

Lisa had just finished hearing the message.

"Heh... what do I care? I didn't lose anybody. Hmmm... still, there's a chance we might be able to scrounge up some dough if we go along with this. Don't you think so, Wario?"

Wario, who was busy putting lots of valuable things into a big sack, turned around and said, "Yes! That sounds good to me! Let's-a go as soon as we finish with this place."

Lisa smiled and said, "Alright, then. Afterall, we wouldn't wanna keep this place full of all these shiny goodies, now would we?"

New Accupolis West District Mall

Miki was busy shopping, trying to not think of her abducted little brother... but no matter what, she couldn't get it out of her mind. If only there were something she could do... something that would make her feel less useless.

Roll, her Charahol, was trying to cheer her up, but... the wasn't being to successful. However... Miki did cheer up! But not because of Roll's attempts. It was the message that Miki heard over her Charaloader.

Roll looked at her and said, "Wow... you think we should go?"

Miki smiled and nodded to Roll. "Of course! I wouldn't miss this for the world! We HAVE to go! Right now!"

New Accupolis Convention Center

Aru and Megaman were standing in the empty mainroom of the Convention Center. It had been at least half an hour, but nobody seems to have shown up yet.

Megaman said, "Well... it is a big town, right?"

Aru rubbed his chin. Just then, Maya arrived.

Aru knew Maya from past Charaload games, however, he's never actually battled with her before.

"Maya! I guess you're here because of the message?"

Aru couldn't help but think to himself, "Hmmm... not much of a turnout yet. Are people too afraid of what might happen to them to come? Well... I guess not everybody can be as brave as I am... or maybe I'm not so much brave as I am stupid... but I just know that I won't feel right if I just sit down and act like nothing happened!"

New Accupolis Convention Center

Maya smiled and gave a wave as she and Yue made their way forward. "How are you?" she asked with a smile. She was aware that Aru family had gone missing, and couldn't elp but feel bad for the preteen boy. Personally she had never battled him--usually she stuck to Charaload players a bit closer to her age-- but she knew that he was quite a competitor by battles she had watched in town.

From beside the girl Yue gave a short nod but said nothing. Instead he looked down at Megaman, his glare unnerving to say the least. Yue was not only Maya's Charahol but also her self proclaimed guardian.

"I'm guessing you haven't heard from your parents then..." Maya said refering to the messege Aru had previously sent out. "I'm here to help any way that I can"

New Accupolis Convention Center

John and Angel arrived together, Guybrush and Elaine out.

"What seems to be going on?"

Guybrush nods in agreement with John as Elaine sighs, crossing her arms.

"And could we please get to the point as soon as possible?" she says with her British accent from Monkey Island 3.


Just then, Kaiba walked through the doors, glaring at John.

"Well, well... Look who's here. Its the loser patrol and his cheerleader."

"Pheh. At least I have a cheerleader, Kaiba. Where's yours? Oh, that's right... You wanted mine, didn't you?"

"John! Kaiba! Stop squabbling like 6 year olds! There's more important things to worry about."

Angel crossed her arms in the same stance as Elaine.

Kella's House

On the deck of the small house near the edge of Accupolis, the only sound to be heard was the tap of a straw hitting either side of an empty glass.

"I'm out of milk." Kyouichi said to his owner, who was curled up in the chair next to him.

"The kitchen is that way." Kella teased, still drinking from her own, full glass. Apparently, she wasn't terribly shaken by the dissapearence of her family. Or something. She looked up at Tatsuma, who stood on her other side. "Hiyuu-kun, do YOU need anymore milk?"

"Nope." Tatsume replied. He stuck his tongue out at Kyouichi.

Suddenly, Kella got Aru's message. She stood up and shouted, "Alright you two! Time to stop being useless!"

"Not like I care, but this isn't like you." Kyouichi pointed out, picking up his sword. "But like I said; I don't care! I'm bored! Let's go!"

Kella and Kyouichi were off, and Tatsuma sighed. "I didn't get to finish my milk..."

New Accupolis Convention Center

Yue's glare didn't go unnoticed. Megaman crossed his arms, but pretended not to notice Yue's glare.

"This guy always seems like he's a little uptight... I don't think I'll never get used to him... but I know he's a pretty good guy, deep down."

Aru responded to Maya, "Well, I--"

And then that's when everybody began appearing, and a fight nearly broke out between Kaiba and John.

Once that was settled, Aru decided he should address everyone. "Okay, gu--"

Before Aru was able to say anything, Lisa appeared.

"Well, well, well... what do we have here? I heard on the news that those that disappeared were the family members of HIGHLY SKILLED Charaload Players. So what's with all these amateurs? Hahaha!"

Aru forgot all about the speech he was about to make and shouted, "HEY! I know you! And if I were you, I wouldn't be talking! I know nobody's been able to prove anything, but you're a rotten dirty cheater!"

Lisa slyly smiled and said, "Well, little boy, if nobody's been able to prove anything, what makes you so sure, huh?"

And then Miki appeared. Roll said to her, "Hey, Miki... looks like there's a lot of arguing going on, doesn't it?"

Megaman noticed Roll, then walked over to her and Miki. "Oh, hey, guys!"

Aru was still busy with Lisa, though, "Hey, are you trying to deny that you didn't cheat, then?"

Lisa answered, "I'm not trying anything! It's not my fault that you're all a bunch of amateurs, though..."

Completely forgetting the reason why he was even here to begin with, Aru gave way to his emotions and shouted, "Alright, then! You're on! SHOW ME you're not a cheater! Right here! Right now!"

New Accupolis Convention Center

"Guys, maybe now is not the time" Maya started, trying to put herself in between the two. A hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Perhaps now is not the time to interfere Maya. Let's see what they are capible of."

"But you know as well as I do that she's a cheater!"

New Accupolis Convention Center

Kaiba chuckled as his Blue-Eyes White Dragon came forth.

"Amateur am I? I'm willing to bet that at least half of everyone's Charahols in here came from MY corporation, Charaloader included. And I tend to try to excel in what I sell. Johnny boy here knows that best. How many times have I wiped your Charahol's faces into the ground?"

John sneered at Kaiba as he sent Guybrush back into his Charaloader, sending out Xohjn.

"Say that again... I've got new tricks up my sleeve. All of me."

Near the Convention Center

Setake and Guilmon were walking to the convention center, which was conviniently a couple blocks away. Setake had recieved the message only a couple minutes ago.

"Setake, I really think we should go faster." Guilmon said.

"Relax, Guilmon. It's not like we haven't been a little late for anything." replied Setake. "Besides, a few minutes late never hurt anybody."



Setake and Guilmon arrived at the convention center and entered.

-New Accupolis Convention Center-

Edda walked in, still arguing with Sol, and then paused, eyes going wide as he saw the Blue Eyes White Dragon and Guybrush appear suddenly.

Now, Edda might be a coward, but he’s still pretty powerful in his own right, having many times been forced into fighting. He held up his Charaloader as a sort of shield, and Sol the Charizard stepped in front of him, snorting as a bit of fire came from his nostrils.

Sol was very protective of Edda…

“I knew this was a bad idea…” Edda mumbled.

NEW ACCUPOLIS LIBRARY
"In ancient times," read Faust silently to himself as he sat focused on a large, old book in the dim light of the library, "Many of the most influential wise men studied not only science and mathematics, but also chemistry, biology, philosophy, spirituality, metallurgy, and astrology as part of one discipline. Primarily directed towards finding a mythical item known as the Philosopher's Stone, this discipline is commonly known as"

"Sir!" barked a loud voice out of his charaloader.

"Shh!" hushed Faust, covering the charaloader. "We're in a library, Roy. What is it?"

"That's exactly why I intercepted the message that was about to interrupt your studies. It seems to be pretty important, though."

Faust sighed and turned back to his book. "Not more important than what I'm doing now, Colonel. Notify me later."

"But the voice says he might have a way to get your family back!"
Faust turned back to him. "...I'll update your spam filters later."
"Wait," came another voice from the charaloader. It was that of Azula, his newest charahol. "You might want to reconsider... after all, the people that lost their families were all the best of the best. If you really wanted to challenge yourself, you'd go there and take them on. Am I right?"

Faust paused, and shut the book. "Where is this again?"

NEW ACCUPOLIS CONVENTION CENTER
Two people walked into the convention center. The first one, the boy, saw the battle about to start and grinned. "Well, allright!" he said. "Let's get this party started!"

"Hold on, Ed." said the girl. "Let's find Maya and the guy who sent that message before we do anything stupid."

"Maya's right over there, Cirrus," said a deep voice to the girl. It was the Luxray on her shoulder, Jeff. Who could talk. Deal with it. "And isn't that Seto Kaiba over there?" Jeff pointed with a black paw.

Ed's eyes lit up. "That's right!" he said, "That's Kaiba, from the group that makes these charaloaders! I just know he's the next step in finding my brother and getting our bodies back! Let's go!"

Cirrus sweatdropped. "We talked about this, remember... we're not sure you ever had a body... hey, wait!" But Ed was already running. She sighed, and turned to say something to Jeff, but he'd jumped off and scampered after Ed.

Cirrus walked over towards Maya. "Hey! Maya!" she called out, grinning. "What's up?"

Meanwhile, Ed and Jeff ran over to Kaiba. "Hey! Kaiba!" he said, holding out a watch. "I am State Alchemist Edward Elric! I've come to you with a deal!"

New Accupolis Convention Center

Miki crossed her arms and muttered, "Sheesh... I guess this is the kind of thing that happens when so many egos are gathered in one place."

Roll turned to Megaman and asked, "Say, Rock... wasn't there supposed to be a very important reason we were all gathered here?"

Megaman replied, "Well... there was, but... heh, you know how Aru is! He always seems to have to... prove himself or something, ya know?"

Roll narrowed her eyes, "And just why is that? Isn't what he had to say more important that some Charaload Battle? You're his main Charahol, why don't you go talk some sense into him?"

Megaman nervously responded, "Oh, come on, Roll! Aru'll be done in a few minutes, there's no harm in one little battle, right?"

Roll sighed, and she put her hands on her hips. "Man... you boys don't have your priorities straight. That's what's the problem."

Lisa scanned through her Charaloader to pick a Charahol to summon. "Hmmm... yes, she'll do nicely. ROUGE!! It's time to battle, so come on out!"

And at that moment, Lisa's Charaloader shot out a beam of light, and in front of her appeared a shapely anthropomorphic white bat!

Rouge cracked her knuckles ((Heh...)) and then swiveled her neck. "A battle, eh? It was starting to get a little bit boring in Cyber-Space. At least here on Earth I can get a nice little workout."

Aru kinda stared at Rouge for a second, but then snapped out of it. "Yeesh... this is the first time I've ever seen Rouge the Bat in person. I've heard she was glamorous, but dang... hmmm... against someone like her, I can't afford any cheap girly tricks. So I'm gonna have to use someone that'll be immune to her feminine charms..."

Aru pressed a few buttons on his Charaloader and shouted, "SAKURA!! We have a battle to win and a cheater to expose, so come on out!"

As a beam of light shot out of Aru's Charaloader, a teenage schoolgirl began to materialize in front of him. It was the Charahol of a 15 year old Japanese girl who, along with a sailor fuku uniform, also wore hand guards and a white karate headband.

She began shadow boxing as she enthusiastically asked, "Alright, where's the creep that wants to fight? I'll give 'em one o' these! And, and, and... one of these! And then I'll finish him off with an uppercut! Ya! Where is he? Where is he?"

Rouge sweatdropped, "THIS is who you're sending against me? Hmph! This is just too easy! Can't a girl have a challenge every once in a while?"

Sakura pointed at Rouge and exclaimed, "HEY YOU! Bat thing!!"

"Buh... BAT THING?!!"

"Ya! Are you my opponent?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Look, I don't have all day, so if you're going to attack, just get it over with already. This is already starting to bore me."

Sakura took a deep breath. Then charged while yelling, "IKU ZO!!"

Rouge suddenly got her interest piqued. "She's faster than she looks..."

Sakura threw a punch straight for Rouge's face, but Rouge immediately blocked it with her arm. At impact, a shockwave of air spread out from within the encirclement around her and Sakura.

Rouge whispered, "Hmmm... not bad, but..."

Then Rouge quickly turned the arm she was using to block and grabbed the arm Sakura was using to throw that punch.

"You'll never be a match for me!"

Sakura's eyes suddenly widened, and then Rouge used her other hand and placed it on Sakura's abdomen. Then Rouge let herself fall backwards. As she neared the floor, she tossed Sakura over behind her. Sakura landed on the ground with a great thud. Rouge began to get up as she dusted her hands off.

"Had enough?"

Sakura, though hurt from the throw, sneered, "I'm just getting warmed up."

Sakura seized this opportunity, and quickly grabbed Rouge by the ankle.

"What?!" Rouge was surprised and caught off-guard for a second. But with Sakura, a second is all it takes. Sakura pulled Rouge down, then used a spinning kick move.

"Shunpuu Kyaku!!"

Every kick hit Rouge in the face. As Rouge got up, she was a little irritated.

"Alright, Sakura, was it? You're really starting to get on my ne-- WHAT?!"

Rouge wiped her lips and noticed... blood? Rouge was now MORE than just a little irritated.

"You... YOU BRAT!! Do you have any idea how long it takes to look as beautiful as I do?! You're not getting away from this fight without me returning the favor... you can be sure of that!"

Aru lifted his Charaloader to whisper to Sakura, "Okay, Sakura. It looks like you were able to get Rouge pretty good with that last move. But I think it's time we finish this... use your Hadoken!"

Sakura turned to Aru and nodded.

Lisa thought to herself, "What can they be planning...? Man, this doesn't look good. I can't lose a fight here to some snot-nosed little punk!"

Rouge then expanded her wings and began flapping them. She was now airborne.

"You know, Sakura... you're not the only one who can use speed to her advantage. Heh heh heh... it's time we finish this and I show you what you get for messing up my beautiful face. Are you ready, dear?"

Sakura was cupping her hands, but... she didn't execute the Hadoken. She was curious what Rouge was going to do, so she uncupped her hands and said, "Alright, bat. Let's see what you got."

Aru thought to himself, "Sakura, what are you doing? This could cost us the match... I hope you know what you're doing... man..."

Then, Rouge smiled slyly, revealing one of her canines in the process. Then... she disappeared?

Suddenly, Sakura felt a sharp pain and had a cut on her arm. As blood began to trickle, Sakura clasped her arm and looked down at the cause of the cut.

"What the heck is this?" she asked as she picked up what appeared to be a heart-shaped shuriken.

Then suddenly, she got another cut on her back! "GAH! What's going on here, where is she?"

Aru asked, "Hey, what kinda trick are you trying to pull here?! Just what's going on?"

Lisa answered, "Oh, it's no trick, twerp. It's Rouge's amazing speed. She's got some nice speed when on the ground, but when she flies, she can go so fast, it's nearly impossible to see her! Looks like the match is mine, boy... and as much as you may not like it, there's not the slightest evidence of foul play! Hahahahaha!!"

Sakura's cuts began to appear more frequently, with more heart-shaped shurikens appearing at her feet.

"What am I supposed to do? OW!! How am I supposed to fight her GAH!! ...If I can't see her? YOUCH!!"

Sakura's uniform was becoming a shredded mess, and the several cuts on her body was starting to make her resemble Zangief. Rouge definitely had the upper hand now... but Aru was determined to win. He's never lost a match before... and he wasn't about to lose one now!

Aru lifted his arm and whispered new orders to his Charahol. "Sakura... listen, I know this seems tough, but... think of your idol! Your hero! Ryu! What would he do in this situation? When your eyes won't work, you have to use your other senses!"

Lisa narrowed her eyes... Aru was giving Sakura some more commands, and she didn't like it one bit. She gave her own commands, then smiled as she crossed her arms.

At that moment, Aru began to feel pain! Aru was being hit by the shurikens!

Roll noticed this and shouted out, "HEY!! You're not supposed to go after a Charaload Player with your Charahol's attacks! She really IS a cheater!!"

Lisa turned to Roll and narrowed her eyes. At that moment, several shuriken fired in Roll's direction! Roll screamed, and Megaman got in front of her, charging his Mega Buster.

Megaman exclaimed, "Alright, that's enough! If you're not going to play by the rules, then there's no reason I shouldn't join in to--"

Sakura, who continued being the main target of the shurikens, interrupted Megaman by shouting out, "NO!! Megaman, this... ow... is my battle. Even if Rouge cheats... I won't sink to her level. I'll beat her without cheating..."

Megaman stopped charging his Mega Buster and layed down his arm. He nodded at Sakura.

Then, Sakura closed her eyes and took a Karate stance. She continued to feel the pain of each new oncoming shuriken, but she tried to withstand the pain, transcend it... and began to listen to her surroundings. Even with all of the attacks, Sakura was able to start channeling her ki. Her ears were listening in all directions. She could hear her skin being sliced away by the shurikens. She could hear the shurikens coming. It took a few moments, but then... she could hear Rouge's movements. She was able to then sense Rouge's ki, and lock on to it. As Sakura continued to gather her own ki, she was getting ready to make her move.

Lisa bit her lip and clenched her fists... she didn't like the look of this.

Then it happened! Sakura quickly cupped her hands as she yelled out, "THERE!!"

Time seemed to stand still as a gigantic sparking ball of energy formed in Sakura's hands. "Shinkuuuuuuuuu..."

Then time went back in motion as Sakura released the energy straight at Rouge! "HADOKEN!!!"

Rouge's eyes nearly bulged out of her skull. The attack came too quickly for even her to avoid. The huge energy ball hit her head on! Rouge fell to the floor, and was rendered unconscious.

Lisa yelled out, "ROUGE!!"

Sakura weakly gave a thumbs up and said, "Well... whad'd I tell ya? Heh... I... won..." Then Sakura fell to the floor, a bloody mess, and with a few of the shurikens actually on her.

Aru ran to his Charahol's side, "SAKURA!!"

He helped Sakura up. Sakura weakly whispered, "Say, boss... can I go back to Cyber-Space now? I think I'll be okay if I rest up... for a little while. Maybe... a long little while..."

Aru nodded and said, "Sure... you've earned it."

Aru pressed a few buttons on his Charaloader and Sakura was sent back to Cyber-Space.

Lisa also sent the unconscious Rouge back to Cyber Space. Then glared at Aru.

Aru had some small injuries on his left arm, but he was otherwise fine. Then he turned to Lisa.

Aru said, "Ya know... even though, in the end you did turn out to be a dirty cheater... I'll admit, you were still pretty tough even before you started cheating. I think you could still be a pretty good Charaload Player even if you didn't cheat."

Lisa didn't respond and just turned her back on Aru, walking towards a far corner of the room... feeling the sting of bitter defeat... and the exposure of her unethical ways.

New Accupolis Convention Center

Maya couldn't help but to roll her eyes as the battle started, Aru was a bit too proud for his own good, and it was shown through the initation of the battle. She couldn't blame him though, Lisa was rotten cheater, that was obvious. As the battle continued she kept her eyes planted on the Charahols, Rouge and Sakura.

"Who do you think will win?" Maya asked Yue absentmindedly. Yue gave a short shrug, he truely did not know. Both players were in fact talented.

Cirrus walked over towards Maya. "Hey! Maya!" she called out, grinning. "What's up?"

Maya turned to see another of her friends, she gave a bright smile before speaking. "Cirrus! So you got the messege as well?"

New Accuppolis Convention Center

Setake and Guilmon, who had just entered, saw the fight begining and what the fight was about.

" Excuse me, but what is fight about? " Setake asked a nearby person.

-New Accupolis Convention Center-

“Cheating…You know, it really gets me when someone does such unethical things like that,” a voice from the doorway suddenly said, leaning against the frame. He appeared to be dressed in some sort of armor, and a strange hat on his head. “In fact, you could say I almost feel responsible for stopping it…”

The man walked in slowly, surveying everyone with an inquisitive eye. Then he turned to the corner where Lisa was, but pretended not to notice.

“Unlike the Charaplayer I belong to, I don’t see in black and white. There are shades, so I’ll overlook that little stunt earlier,” Samuel Vimes said to Lisa, “But you best not impede on my good nature again.”

Now, another figure entered, dressed in a blue uniform, the symbol of the Charahol Game Corporation seen on his shirt.

"And here he is," Vimes said softly.

“My name is Nat Forre Serr. An Enforcer of the Charahol system,” Nat said sharply, “I heard your message, Aru. I am here to give you my assistance.”

New Accupolis Convention Center

During the fight, Setake had entered the room and asked what the fight between Aru and Lisa was about. Miki turned to Setake and responded, "The fight is about whether or not Lisa, the girl in black, is a cheater or not."

After the fight had ended, yet more had entered the room.

Vimes began talking to Lisa, who didn't respond. She just remained silent, arms crossed, slightly glaring at everybody.

Aru was having the wound on his left arm treated by Roll, who was pretty handy at first-aid. Megaman said, "Thanks, Roll. I appreciate you helping Aru." ^_^

Roll said, "Ah, think nothing of it, Rock. I'm sure you'd do the same for me or Miki, right?"

Megaman said, "Oh, of course! I'm always ready to help those in need!"

Roll gave Megaman a thumbs up.

Nat Forre Serr had addressed Aru, offering his assistance. Aru slowly got up, his arm wrapped in a sling, and said, "Thanks for coming, sir. Heh... people still keep showing up, so I'll wait just a few more minutes to see if anybody else arrives. Then I'll tell everybody what know and what I plan on doing."

New Accupolis Convention Center

A blonde haired girl in a purple uniform stepped into the center, and promtly walked over to one of the walls and leaned back against it. Maybe whatever this kid was going to say wasn't going to be a waste of her time...

New Accupolis - Outside Convention Center

"So... Ummm... What are you doing?" asked a young light-blonde haired boy standing outside of the center. He was looking down at an equally young girl in a white lab coat and pink safety glasses, who seemed to be examining something on the ground with a magnifying glass.

"Hmm... seems to be brown with some sort of black marking on it... almost looks like a piece ripped off of a paper bag... It must be a clue!!" she spoke, not listening to the boy talking to her. "Oooh! It's starting to smoke!" she suddenly said, still examining it with her magnifying glass.

"..." The boy just stood behind her, watching. He knew he probobly shouldn't have given her that magnifying glass.

"Oh darn, it burnt up..." she then said.

"It was probobly just part of some little kid's lunch bag," the boy said in response. "Like I asked earlier, what are you doing?" he then added.

"Searching for clues, scientificly!" was the girl's response, standing up and raising up her pink glasses. "We have to find your brother and your parents, Kenny! And if the detectives around here are anything like Detective Gumshoe is, then who knows what they missed that we could find!" she continued enthusiastically.

"Well... We could go inside and hear what that guy from the message has to say, too..." Ken Shirosaki then said. Though his given name was Kenshin, he preffered being called Ken. This never stopped his charahol, Ema Skye, from calling him Kenny, however, or many of the other kids he knew from calling him Shiro, due to his hair color almost being white, and due to his last name.

"Fantastic idea!" then exclaimed Ema, who then ran over to the center's front doors, and walked in. Ken followed her in shortly thereafter.

(( <3 Ema Skye :LOL: ))

???

A voice in the darkness is heard uttering these words.

"Hmmm... very interesting. So this young boy is the first to start figuring things out, is he? Alright... see to it that they set out on the right track..."

Then the Charahol of an old man, partially bald, with wild white hair and a long mustache appears. The man is wearing a white lab coat. He nods to the voice in the darkness, right before going to a teleportation device.

"Yes, master..."

New Accupolis Convention Center

Aru got up where everybody could see him and cleared his throat. He grabbed a microphone and began talking.

"Okay, guys... I guess I might as well say this now. See, the reason I called ya all here is cuz I think I know where all our families are. I still don't know WHY they've been taken, but... from what I could gather, our best bet is to go to... Characity."

Miki raised an eyebrow. She then preceded to ask, "Characity? You mean to tell me you think that place actually exists? Okay, let's assume for a moment it does... have you any idea how to get there?"

Then the voice of an old man says, "Oh, yes... it exists, alright."

Megaman and Roll immidiately notice the old man. Megaman shouts, "DR. WILY!!"

Wily turns to Megaman and says, "Ah, Megaman... I've always wanted to meet you."

Megaman responds, "Funny... I can't say I feel the same way. If you're anything like the Dr. Wily that the Megaman I'm based on knows..."

Dr. Wily says, "Ah, but I'm not the Dr. Wily the Megaman you're based on knows. He is but a fictional character! Calm down, my boy. I am but a Charahol... as are you. I can understand your feelings of distrust, but such is in your programming. Most Charahols are programmed to act just like the characters they're based on, so I don't blame you... but I'm different. You need not worry about me."

Megaman was a little wary... but Megaman's other traits were that he was naive and overly optimistic. He always felt like he had to trust people... that everybody had the potential to be good. Even Charahols based on his worst enemy.

"Alright, Doctor... what is it you have to say."

Wily smirked and continued, "You are all the best of the best. I'm not going to lie to you... getting to Characity is no easy task... but my master is confidant that you can make it there. My master, you see, is a very wise one... my master is also very concerned for your plight, as wishes to help. That is why my master has instructed me to help you begin your journey."

Aru asked, "Hey... just how do you intend to do that?"

Wily snapped his fingers and suddenly, from the ground right in front of him, a control panel sprung up.

"I am going to upgrade your Charaloaders... a Navigation Upgrade, so that you'll all be able to know how to reach the fabled but very real Characity."

Aru rubbed his chin while thinking about this. "I dunno... I mean, it's true that just because he's a Charahol who looks like Dr. Wily, that doesn't automatically make him evil... but I still can't help but have this feeling. On the other hand... Miki did have a point. There's no way we'll be able to get to Characity if we don't know where it is..."

Dr. Wily continued, "Well? Who wants to be the first to get their Charaloader upgraded? Is it that you don't trust me? I'm certain those of you who know about the Dr. Wily from fiction probably have a hard time trusting me, but if you don't trust me, you'll never be able to get started on your journey. Please, I implore you... for the sake of your families, you must not discriminate against my appearance and trust me. Who shall be the first to step up and receive this upgrade?"

New Accupolis Convention Center

Maya, who had started a converstation with Cirrus, instantly silenced herself as Aru started to talk and then when the stange charahol interupted his speech with some rather important information.

Truthfully Maya had not heard much about Characity before now, her father usually did not approve in a converstatin about a fabled city. He told her once though, right before the kidnappings begun, that he had been going through some books at his work when he came upon some people's rcordings and information about the city. Of course he believed it all to be rubbish and said nothing more about it. At the time she shrugged it off but now the girl wished she had recieved a bit more information.

Of course if this was where the families were being kept, did they really have any choice? Personally Maya had not lost family but that did not mean she would abandon the ones that had.

"You up for an upgrade Yue?" Maya asked, looking to her guardian. Yue was looking straight ahead, he eyes now glaring into Dr. Wily.

"Whatever it is you want" He replied shortly

Maya smiled and walked foward "I'll try it" She announced stepping forward. Yue followed closely.

New Accupolis Convention Center

Dr. Wily nodded and responded, "Of course, my dear."

Wily placed Maya's arm on a device that extended from the control panel. It was the arm where her Charaloader was being worn. After a few flashes of light from the control panel, and some sounds emanating from the Charaloader, it seemed the procedure was complete.

Wily then said, "All done. Now with this new upgrade, by simply inputting the code: A6, E1, A1, A3, B2, B5, D3, F4. This will bring up a map of the entire world, including Characity... which as you can see is in Antarctica."

A holographic projection of the world appears from Maya's Charaloader.

"It's harsh and cold there, as you might already know. Not very many people ever go there. If you zoom in on the map, you'll see that there's several areas that you'll need to cross through before getting to Characity. Unfortunately, it'll have to be done on foot. I'm not entirely certain why, but most electronic devices, save for the Charaloader, don't seem to work very well the closer you get to the outside walls of Characity... so that means that vehicles are out of the question, once you get to Antarctica."

The holographic projection disappears.

"Okay, as you can see, I have done nothing ill to the Charaloader... I've improved it. So if the rest of you plan on going on this trek, step forth and have the same enhancement added to your Charaloader."

Aru nodded and went next, having his Charaloader upgraded.

Miki shrugged and said, "Ah, what the hey. I guess I'm in, too."

Lisa was silent for a few moments... but then gave in and said, "Ya, whatever, let's just get this over with."

-New Accupolis Convention Center-

“Just what I wanted…a cold, ice infested trek through the most isolated place in the world on land…” Edda muttered, shaking his head, “Let’s go Sol.”

“Come on Edda,” the Charahol protested, “You’ve got me and the others. I’ll be able to keep us warm, and you do have some good survival skills. Besides, no monsters there, to cold.”

Sol had a point, and Edda frowned, thinking it over…

Nat stepped forward, offering his left arm that held his Charaloader to Dr. Wily. He knew about the doctor’s reputation, but he also knew that this was just a digital manifestation, like Wily had said. He might look the say, but that didn’t mean he thought the same…

From a window high above them, Doc Ock and Metal Sonic waited, scanning the equipment Wily was using, and making sure to input the code needed, for their owner later…

New Accupolis Convention Center

After Nat had is charaloader upgraded, Setake started walking to Wily and the upgrade panel. Guilmon followed, and he seemed worried about this.

Guilmon asked,"You you sure about this, Setake? Something doesn't seem right... as if this could be a plan..."

"Guilmon, I know some part of this might be a plan, but we don't have much of a choice. This could be the only chance we get to get my parents, and I know you like to get stronger, and this may help us with both."

Setake put his charaloader arm on the upgrade panel.

New Accupolis Convention Center

"Antarctica, huh?" responded Ema Skye to Dr. Wily. Shen then pulled out her notepad, and began searching through the pages of it, before she found what she was looking for. "Average temperature range for Antarctica is from between -130 °F to +60 °F, or in Celcius, -90 °C to +15 °C! That's pretty cold!" she then lectured, adjusting her pink glasses.

"Well," responded Ken, after listening to Ema's statistics, "I don't care. I still have to go, if that's going to help find where Mom, Dad, and my brother were taken to." He then walked over to where Dr. Wily was, to get his upgrade

...

"So now what makes you think I'm going anywhere near somewhere that cold, huh Rollie?" complained the blonde girl in the purple uniform. "Especially by foot!"

((if you get the moustache reference, you get a cookie; also, I have no idea how to convince Rin to go... Ehh, I'll find something :LOL: ))

New Accupolis Convention Center

Aru enthusiastically exclaimed, "I guess we're off to Antarctica!"

Miki became a bit of a killjoy when she said, "How in the world do you expect us to get there?"

Aru then frowned for a moment and said, "Ya... hmmm... unless one of us was some uber rich person that had some sort of plane that could take us all... hmmm..."

Aru slowly turned his gaze towards Seto Kaiba.

((EEK! Gotta Ketchup! But not Mustard))

New Accupolis Convention Center

"Upgrade?" Kyouichi asked, leaning on Kella's head, which was a few inches below him, and scratching his chin. "That means I'll be able to fight more enemies! I'll be strong enough to fight anyone!"

"That's NOT what it's for." Kella growled, tapping Kyouichi's arm. "I'll go get this thing upgraded... but you guys better not cause trouble on this trip! The guy said these are the best Charaload Players around... so don't embarass me!"

She brought her Charaloader to, um, where ever it was she needed to bring it to get it upgraded.

New Accupolis Convention Center

"I can get you all transportation down to Antarctica, but only on two conditions," spoke up the blonde girl in the purple uniform.

"One," she started, holding one finger up, "You give me one good reason why I, myself, should hike through Antarctica without a vehicle to keep me warm and safe, and not send one of my parent's servents instead."

"Two," she continued, holding two fingers up, "One of you all proves to me that you don't suck at this game."

Ken just stayed back and watched. He saw his friend Edda here, though he wasn't going to walk over to him right now, and possibly get "volunteered" into a Charaload fight with that blonde haired girl. She seemed kinda scary right now, and he'd rather not have to see how good that girl was, first hand...

((anyone goes for a possible fight with Rin, if you choose to go Rin's route with getting transportation, as long as they have a pretty strong character to go against Rin's Hiei))

Bauer House

zzz...zzz...zzz

"Oh... ah... P-Please... wake up..."

Brandon Bauer had not heard Aru's message, nor had he headed out to the convention center. Nope, he was doing one thing he did exceptionally well -- sleeping.

His Charahol was standing above him, far too shy to interrupt his slumber. The young girl who stood above him had dark hair and pale eyes and right now her fingers were pressed together, symbolic of her perpetual shyness.

"Ah... umm... I-It's important --"

All at once he sat up and started rubbing his eyes. She was too surprised to back up, and when his eyes finally did open he saw her only inches away from his face. Naturally he screamed.

"Gah!"
"Ah!"

Brandon blinked twice. "Eh? . . . Oh, Hinata . . . what are you doing?" He tilted his head. He was too sleepy to really pay attention to what was going on, instead he scratched his head.

"Oh... we have... there was a message before... I saved it in your email..." Hinata said, pointing towards his computer. Brandon blinked and finally climbed out of bed, walking across the room and quickly looking over the saved message from Aru.

"Wha? ... Man... there's been a lot of people missing lately... Yeah! Hinata, we're going to go!" Brandon said, turning to his Charahol.

"Ah? Oh... that's good." Hinata nodded.

"Yeah! ... I better go find my shoes."

((SAMA IS HERE. <3 I'll be with your characters soon.))

???

The person who was hidden in the darkness couldn't help but be pleased.

"Ah, Dr. Wily. I get the feeling they don't completely trust you, but I'm glad you were able to give them the upgrades. I do want them to get to Characity, afterall."

-New Accupolis Convention Center-

Edda paused, stopped arguing with Sol, having seen Ken out of the corner of his eye.

“Hey buddy!” the coward grinned, seizing upon the opportunity to stop arguing with Sol, walking up to Ken, “So, are you going to go?”

New Accupolis Convention Center

Maya growled as she listened to the blonde haired girl which she knew as Rin. They had lived nearby eachother for years now, both gils were extremely privliged with their upbringing. Without warning the girl crossed her arms and stepped forward, Yue right behind her.

"You should come beacuse it's the right thing to do Rin" Maya pointed out, her brown eyes narrowed considerably. "Oh and i'll take you on!" She looked to Yue who did not even need a proper comand from her, he was allready in front of Maya ready to fight.

"That is if you aren't afraid to break a nail"

Yue rolled his silver eyes. Maya was, at times, quite ironic even if she would not admit it. She hated to settle disputes by battling, and yet when it came to Rin she would whip out her Charahols. Of course he did not mind fighting for her.

New Accupolis Convention Center

"Oh, you're here..." sighed the blonde girl named Rin, "I thought I noticed a twinge of someone's inferiority when I walked in here..." The girl then typed into her Charaload machine the code needed to summon her charahol. Then, in a flash of light, a short man in a black cloak stood in front of Rin.

"So, you're finally going to use me in fighting against her," Hiei said, staring directly ahead at Yue and Maya Rei.

Rin nodded, "Yeah... So??"

"It's just that I've been waiting too long," Hiei then said, throwing back his cloak. Now he was ready to fight.

"Go ahead, beat that Yue guy up!" Rin commanded. With that, Hiei flashed towards Yue, drawing his katana and slashing at Yue.

...

"Yeah, I'm definitely going," Ken said, in response to Edda's question. "I need to find my parents and brother! And if there are any clues in the mythical Characity, then I need to go and find those clues! And Ema's help, we should be able to break this case and find everyone who has gone missing!"

"Are you coming too, Edda?" then asked Ema, standing next to Ken

New Accupolis Convention Center

"Wah! Am I late? I'm late, aren't I?"

The door swung open and in stepped Brandon, trying to catch his breath. He lived quite a ways away from the Convention Center and had ran the entire way himself. He looked around the room and saw several people, some of which he knew (?) and some he did not. He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced around.

"I got a message . . . on my computer . . . could someone fill me in?" Brandon had not paid much attention to what the message said. He figured he'd slept in so late he was probably only making it here in the nick of time anyway.

All he really knew was that he had not heard from his family in quite a while, and he did not know why. If these guys were going to get to the bottom of the recent mystery, he would help out.

New Accupolis Convention Center

"You underestimate me too quickly Hiei" Yue stated smoothly. In an instant a pair of silver wings sprouted from his back and he was in flight--just barely missing Hiei's blade. Maya intook a sharp breath, surprised by the almost contact. She had extreme faith in her Charahol but it still bothered her when he decided to cut it that close.

From the air he rose his arms and from the sky came a large amount of icy shards. Each was extremely sharp and would slice through metal if hit by one. He then allowed his bow to appear, an arrow allready loaded. He would use it if his first attack did not work.

Maya watched the battle closely but couldn't help but to look away for a moment as Brandon appeared. She gave her friend a smile but then looked back to her main concern for the moment.

New Accupolis Convention Center

Hiei attempted blocking one of the shards with his katana, but they sliced right through it, and ended up impaling Hiei...

... well, impaling his after image, that is. As the clang of the broken part of Hiei's katana blade sounded upon hitting the ground, Hiei had reappeared in the air behind Yue, holding what looked to be a glowing blue and black energy sword. The Sword of the Darkness Flame. "And you underestimate my speed, Yue..." he then said, coming towards him with another direct slash. This next attack would be much stronger than his first attack, but easier to counter this time, due to the amount of energy it takes to call it without using his Jagan Eye...

New Accupolis Convention Center

"Watch out Yue!" Maya shouted out of concern. Yue took notice but not before hearing Hiei's voice growling behind him. Yue clashed his magical bow against the energy sword, holding it off for a few seconds. This gave him enough time to kick furiously at his competitor"

New Accupolis Convention Center

Yue's kicks sent Hiei back to the ground, where he landed on his feet. He smirked, and then jumped up at Yue again, but this time with his free hand also glowing with an orange flame.

"You've got 'em now," commented Rin, as she watched the battle progress.

((as the announcer in mortal kombat says, finish him))

-Digital Fortress-

The mysterious figure typed on the digitally created keyboard, and a screen flashed on, the face of Aurore coming up. As always, the figure’s face was shrouded in shadows, but that was hardly necessary when speaking to Aurore.

“Aurore…” the figure said, “I assume you’ve also received the message from the Charahol Player named Aru. Two of my Charahols are currently spying on him and those that have gathered around him, but they can only do so much. I would like for you to infiltrate their group and join them. They appear to be headed for the legendary Characity… Contact me once you’ve made contact with them.”

The figure then smiled slightly, thinking to himself, “And perhaps I may join them later as well, if it seems they might succeed…”

-New Accupolis Convention Center-

“I don’t know…” Edda answered, shrugging, “I mean, my mom’s a pretty good programmer. She did make Sol for me, so I know she’s safe…as for my dad…”

Edda scoffed, “He’d be with Mom, and he’s the reason I can’t be safe at home either…Kicking me out so I can live his dream…”

Edda had problems with his dad…