MegaMan NT Warrior (Rockman) Fan Fiction ❯ Survival of the Fittest ❯ The Contest Begins ( Chapter 1 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

The wind blew gently through the mountain valleys, playing with the leaves and flowers and grasses that grew there. Birds twittered from the tree branches and squirrels chittered noisily at each other. On the ground a pair of young fox cubs played in the rushes, while their mother watched on for any signs of danger. All over the mountain was coming alive as spring pushed winter back into its den for another year. Everything was peaceful in the spring-swept valleys of the Aspen River Mountains. There was nothing seen that would indicate to the outside world that the mountains held a powerful secret beyond any measure...

*****

Kichi pulled into the driveway of the Hikari household and climbed out of her truck without making a sound. The door was open for her, as she had called her aunt to tell her that she was coming to visit. Her cousin, Netto, however, had no idea she was coming. She loved to surprise him, even if some of those surprises weren't pleasent at times. Of course, considering the pranks she had pulled on her cousin in the past, she could see why he didn't like what she called suprises. That never stopped her, though.

Quiet as a mouse Kichi walked into the house, taking off her shoes before sneaking up the stairs into Netto's room. It was a Saturday, so he was still asleep. Not for long, though. A quick look at his desk revealed Netto's PET, where his Net Navi was watching Kichi. She hadn't met Netto's navi before, but she signaled for him to be quiet as she snuck up on Netto. The navi listened, though he looked a little uncertain. Netto shifted in his sleep, causing Kichi to freeze for a moment, but he didn't wake up. Kichi sighed softly, then moved over to Netto's side, and leaned down near his ear. Then, in as loud a voice as possible, Kichic screamed, "WAKE UP!"

Netto shot out of bed like a startled bird escaping from a cat, and promptly landed on the floor next to Kichi's feet. The look he gave her when he sat up was cold enough to freeze a lake. Kichi, who was giggling at her cousin, politely stopped before he got even madder at her. Without a word Netto picked himself up off the floor and glared at Kichi. He had to look up to do so, since Kichi was a full two feet taller than he was, and Netto wasn't short.

"I see Mama forgot to tell me you were coming," Netto said in way of a greeting. He was still glaring at Kichi angrily.

"I asked her not to tell you," Kichi replied with a grin. "Otherwise you would have hid from me."

"No doubt about that. Did you have to wake me up so early?"

"Early? Its 10:00 am Netto!"

"On a Saturday that is early for Netto," Rockman replied. Now Netto turned his glare on the net navi.

"I noticed you didn't try to stop her," Netto growled.

Rockman shrugged. "She didn't do any damage, Netto. Besides, she is you cousin. What was I supposed to do, chase her out of the house?"

The thought of the small navi chasing anyone out of any place was enough to make Kichi laugh. She couldn't help it, he didn't look all that strong, even though she had heard otherwise from her friends in Densan City. Kichi herself didn't have a net navi, or even a PET for that matter. Where she lived, out in the Aspen River Mountains, no one had such things. Some people didn't even own a tv set. Most of the people were hillfolk, living as their people had for centuries. Granted, there weren't a lot of people who lived in the Aspen River Mountains, but those who did didn't make much of a fuss over technology. And there was the little problem that anything more advanced than a radio usually broke down apon entering the mountains, though no one knew why.

"So, why are you here?" Netto asked suddenly. "Its not like you to leave Nana alone for very long, and its a long trip here. Or did Nana come too?"

"Nana" was Netto and Kichi's great-grandmother, Mycah Hikari. She had lived in the Aspen River Mountains all her 100 years of life, and rarely left the house that her own grandfather had built. Netto loved seeing her. Kichi shook her head.

"Nana stayed home. Kerr is with her. As for why I came, its because Nana asked me to, and it has something to do with a rare battle chip."

Kichi gave Netto a sideways glance to see if she had caught his interest. Not surprisingly, she had. She'd gotten Rockman's interest, too. Smiling, she continued. "A friend of Nana's came across this battle chip, and gave it to her, since no one in our area owns a PET or such, and she had no use for it. And knowing that you are such an avid Net Battler, Nana thought about giving you the chip, then got a better idea. Seeing as how now a day people are so...involved I guess is a good word, in technology, Nana thought it would be fun to make a contest for NetBattlers to earn the battle chip."

"Now I know I got to hear this," Netto said suddenly, interrupting Kichi. "When Nana plans a 'contest' you know something very interesting is gonna happen."

Kichi smiled even more. "Damn right. Anyways, as I was saying, Nana is throwing a contest to see who wins the battle chip, and some of the best netbattlers have been invited. The catch is, its a survival contest. The contestants have to survive one week in the Aspen River Mountains, and they can only use what they bring with them. And they can only bring what they can carry. Nothing more. I'll be delivering the full set of rules later on, when all invited gather in the school courtyard. But I just wanted to check to see if you were interested."

Now it was Netto who was grinning. How many summer weeks had he spent in those mountains, under the guiding care of his cousins, just about all of which lived in those same mountains. There was no way he was going to pass something like this up.

"You bet I'm interested. I wouldn't miss this for the world!"

"I thought you'd say that. The meeting in the schoolyard starts in two hours. I have a few other things to attend to, but I shall see you there, okay?"

"Right," Netto said. "See ya there, Kichi."