1st Story Arc Complete
In the year 20XX, mankind has reached a breakthough in technology. The Internet is just about to be fully interegrated with all the systems of the world. During this time, the incident known as the "2nd Alpha Attack" occured. Many Navi's fell during this time, but only one Blue Navi and his operator was able to save the world from impending doom.
Her Adventure Begins
One lone Navi, however, was lost admist the destruction. Arcadia.exe, a solo Navi, waundered the depths of the Undernet during this time. Battered from the virus's that reside there, she was about to be deleted for good, when an unexpected help arrived. The mysterious Navi known as Serenade, or S, the ruler of the Undernet, saved Arcadia from her fate and took her in to area known as Paradise, where Serenade resides in. When asked about her situation by Serenade, Arcadia cannot recall how, or why, she was in the Undernet. It became clear that she was suffering from amnesia, unable to recall anything about her past, other than her name. Serenade allowed Arcadia to recover and live in Paradise for as long as she needed.
2 years have past. The world overcame one last disaster, known as the "Beast Outbreak". The world was shaken, but it was now that the people of world believed they were at true peace. Arcadia felt that now was the time to finally leave Serenade's care, and leave her home to find out about her past, and why she was created. Under Serenade's blessing and encouraging words of an unsual "fate" that Arcadia must burden, she sets finally sets out to the outside world, armed with only her buster, and her desire to find her purpose.
Her journey was not easy though. While she had the desire to find truth, she had no where to start her search. She ended up in the city of Yoko, where she planned on gathering her information. It was at this moment, where she encountered her first real battle, as a band of Rogue Heel Navis started to destroy the Yoko Area. Not having been trained in any sort of fighting with other Navi's and that innocent Navis who could not defend themselves were caught in the middle, Arcadia decides to help stop the Rogue Navis from further destruction. However, because of her lack of experience, she was easily outmatched by them, but was able to help the other Navis escape. She knew she did the right thing, and that she had to try to fight her way out from their grasp if she hoped to continue her journey.
Thats when "they" showed up.
Teacher, Friends, and Rivals
A Navi by the name of Taelinn.exe, and his operator John Kimura, were passing by when the incident occured. Seeing an unfair matchup against the solo Navi, Taelinn and John intervined, evening the score and deleting the Rogue Navis. Curious of the situation Arcadia got herself into, John willingly asked about what she was doing. After hearing her story of her journey, John, with his sence of sincerity, decides to help Arcadia with her journey, and invites her to stay with him and Taelinn. Arcadia accepts his offer, and for a time, she learns from John the basics of the world around her, and who excatly are John and Taelinn.
They are the Net Battling team that took the title of the "Kaiser Tournament Net Battle Champions" a few weeks ago, but beyond that, John is a very skilled Navi programmer, and that Taelinn was created by John years ago, and is sort of a "big brother" to John. They go to tournaments to win the prize money to help pay for John's apartment. Arcadia found herself learning about the world from John, and also learns how to fight from Taelinn, to better herself when she decides to put herself in harms way again.
During her time in John's care, she meets one of John's old friends, and his Navi. Akoni, a laid back Operator, and his own Navi, Maggie.exe. Arcadia learns that Akoni is an opposite of John in many ways, like that he perfers to not battle unless absolutly necessary, and that he usually does not involve himself in matters that do not concern him. But that does not mean he wont protect anyone in danger; far from it. Especially with the aid of Maggie. Maggie is an interesting Navi that Akoni "inherited", and is known to be a "fan girl" of Taelinn. She see's Arcadia as an obstacle to Taelinn, and quickly harbors hate for her. Arcadia struggled to understand what Maggie was really intending, but found both her and Akoni to be good people at heart.
The Missing Light; The Beggining of a Hero
It wasn't untill some time had passed when John took Arcadia in, that a large scale assault occurred in the neighboring town. ShadeMan.exe, a vampire type "Darkloid" Navi thought to have been destroyed, arose from the depths to regain his lost power. He gained more power by sucking the energy from other Navis. Upon Hearing this, Taelinn felt he needed to do what he can to help, and John and Arcadia came to lend a hand. Despite being as strong as he is, Taelinn had never dealt with an "immortal" class Navi, finding that tactics that would of easily taken down any other Navi to be near useless against ShadeMan. Impressed however with Taelinn's fighting capabilites even without the aid of an Operator, ShadeMan comes up with an idea to use Taelinn as one of his own minions. With Taelinn running out of options, ShadeMan takes advantage of the Navi's confused state and bites Taelinn in the neck, infecting his own program data. So sure of his victory, ShadeMan leaves Arcadia and John, ensuring that Taelinn will "clean up this mess".
Having thought the threat had left, John tried to call back Taelinn to come in for a repair. However, Taelinn's programming was already beggining to show signs of the darkness infection left by ShadeMan, and unwillingly pulled his own buster at Arcadia. Confused, Arcadia tries to defend herself from her former friend, pulling out her own buster. She knew something was wrong and that she had to do something, but she did not want to harm Taelinn for fear that John might do something he'd regret later. Taelinn, still aware of what was going on, pleads Arcadia to shoot him, so that things would not escalate any worse, while John seemingly in denial of Taelinn's actions, begged him to lower his weapon against Arcadia. With the stakes emotions running high within Arcadia however, she hesitantly tries to stop Taelinn with force, only to be met with with her own defeat by Taelinn's skills, and was about to be deleted. Realizing there was no way that he can recover from the infection and that he was loosing control of his body and mind in a rapid rate, Taelinn bids John farewell and that he was sorry he couldn't overcome the darkness spreading within. It wasn't until John's final cry for mercy that Taelinn was able to regain control of his buster for just a second, enough to move it out of the way when it fired at Arcadia, landing inches away from her head. Seeing this destruction he caused both of them, Taelinn reluctantly gives up and is consummed by the darkness and dissappears.
Unable to come to gripes with what just occured, John's feeling of failure and destraught overcomes him, and feels that he cant do anything anymore as Taelinn's Operator. However, Arcadia regains her sences after brushing against deletion, and tries to comfort him, telling him that everything will be ok, that he will bring Taelinn back. John tells her that he has no other Navi to fight with, and that he does not want to get Akoni or Maggie involved in such a dangerous task. Then Arcadia comes up with a rarely unheard of plan: She tells John that she will willingly become his own Navi for a while, and wants to help John in any way she can, as she feels that she should after the hospitality that was given to her from him. After confirming Arcadia's newly found resolve, John cant feel anything but reasurance coming from her, and happily accepts her offer and begins the programming process that binds a Navi to a PEersonal Terminal. After that, Arcadia had became John's new Navi, and the time of John and Arcadia bond begins here.
With this coming partnership though, they two of them, along with their friends, were about to face one more crisis.
The Status of the World Changes
Days later, during John and Arcadia's search for Taelinn, the world was suddenly engulfed inside what looked to belike a dimensional barrier, a cage that seemed that no one can get out of. It wasn't untill what they saw what was happening in the barrier that they saw the dangers that was brought. Viruses, the entities that only plagued the cyber world, began to materialize in the real world, and with it, their destructive nature. The viruses began to attack the humans and everything around them. The viruses became real, as was the destruction.
But with this barrier, came a shimmer of hope. Navi's started to discover themselves that if viruses can materialize in the real world, so can they. One by one, operators around the world were able to summon their Navis to the real world, a normally unthinkable feat. Navis seemed to have retained all of their abilities from the cyberworld, from their programmed strength, to the downloadable data carried in Battle Chips, and with it, began to fend off the attacks of the viruses. It wasn't untill when John was being attacked by a virus, that his new Navi Arcadia, began to materialize in front of him, and protect him from the virus's assault. Stunned by this revalation of what was happening, and that Arcadia was now apart of his world, that he began to see her in a new light. Just when they both were coming to terms with what was going on, John hears three familiar voices approaching him. One was Akoni walking alongside Maggie, but the other two were of people he hasn't heard from in a long time.
The Childhood Memory, and the Formidable Ally
Aura Saber, a childhood friend of John's, and also the newly appointed leader of the Official's National Department, along with her own materialized Navi, Tara.EXE. Aura searched for Akoni to find John's wearabouts, since John has not contacted anyone since Taelinn's dissappearence and only Akoni would be able to find him. With John somewhat surprised to see Akoni's Navi, Maggie, also materialized, Aura brings them both to Aura's old house and begins to tell them both what is going on. From what Aura could gather, this barrier, which the Officials have named the "Dimensional Dome", does excatly what they've seen: Materialize the entities of the cyberworld to the real world. How, or why though, was still in question, as the Dome suddenly appeared out of nowhere, though they have found a point in Japan that seems to charge out the most energy, leading her to believe that the point of origin starts here. Aura asks the aid of John and Taelinn to help rid of the Dome, but only to her very late surpise that Taelinn was nowhere to be seen, and instead, a new Navi took his place sitting next John. Realizing he cant hide his problem any longer, John tells both Aura and Akoni as well as their Navi's, the fate which Taelinn has suffered. Maggie was the first to react hastly to the news, as well as both Aura and Tara were both taken aback. Arcadia then tells them of her role in all this, being the one to spearhead the search for Taelinn, and that she is willing to do whatever she can do to get him back. Maggie, reluctantly see's the sincerity of Arcadia's words, and agree's to help John and Arcadia with the search, without giving Akoni much of a choice in the matter as he joins as well. With that said, John refuses to help Aura and the Officials with the Dome, as he see's this as an opportunity unto itself to find Taelinn. Aura lets this slide, as she and Tara both knew Taelinn for years, and also wish to see him return. They reluctatly entrust his fate to John's new Navi, as they feel that she is not strong enough to help, but Arcadia assures them no matter what.
As Aura departed, she tells John that she will continue her search for the origins of the dimensional dome, as well as safeguard the cities here from viruses in the meantime. Akoni and Maggie, after agreeing to help John and Arcadia, continued weeks on end to search for Taelinn, as well as protecting people without Navi's of their own from viruses. During one of their searches, John, Akoni, and their Navi's came across a batch of slaughtered rogue Navi's, only to find the Navi, and his operator, that caused this, in the middle of them interogating one surviving member. BladeMan.EXE, along with his operator, Ryan Bowman, saved a few civilians from the rogue Navis outburst. The two operators approached Ryan to find out what was going on. Seeing those two as not a threat, Ryan then explains to them his actions. Apparently, he's on his own personal mission of finding a lost Navi of his, and he believes that the one responsible might also be linked to the Dimensional Dome. Seeing as how their goals seem to be one in the same, John and Akoni, along with their Navis, agree to help Ryan and his search, in exchange for his own cooperation in their matter. With that, the three of them began to work together on a regular basis.
An Unwanted Surprise
It was a while until the one that created the Dimensional Dome decided to show himself. Cryptic messages were recieved by Arcadia, Maggie, and BladeMan, from an unknown sender, telling them that they and their operators should show themselves at ancient temple in Yoko City. Heeding the warning, and a potential chance to nip the problem in the bud, the three teams set out for the temple. Once inside, standing in the middle of the temple floor, a familiar yet distorted figure was blocking their way. It only took a moment to recognize this figure, as John, Arcadia and Maggie stood in complete disbelief as to who it was. Garbed in a blue scarf, with colors that opposed his orginal, Taelinn, now excuding dark power from within, stood between them and the destruction of the Dome. With John and Akoni's Navis unable to come to terms of what they encountered, Ryan and BladeMan took the first move, and advanced on Taelinn to attack and delete him. With their skills, BladeMan should've given Taelinn a hard time, but thanks to the dark energy that he now possesses, he quickly wiped the floor with BladeMan, and began to attack Ryan himself. Arcadia and Maggie managed to get back their sences, and quickly protected Ryan, but only for all three to be blown away by Taelinn's aura. John, finally coming to, questions Taelinn as to what happened to him, and why he is as he is now.
With the infection he suffered from ShadeMan, Taelinn's programming was altered, and was forced to follow ShadeMan as one of his servents. ShadeMan entrusted a program to Taelinn, that was stolen from SciLabs. The program that had the ability to materialize virtual components to the real world, the Dimensional Dome; was now in the hands of John's former Navi, and the only way to bring the Dome down was to delete him themselves. However, Taelinn saw that John adopted his former friend as his new partner, which greatly annoyed Taelinn. He told Arcadia that her and John would never work out, and that she was only deluding herself to thinking she can make a difference in his life. Arcadia proclaimed then that she promises to help John bring Taelinn back to his sences no matter what, which Taelinn believes to be impossible for a Navi with such little experience. Intrigued of the resolve that Maggie and Akoni had to help John, Taelinn tells Maggie to back down, and that she was no fighter. Maggie reluctantly proclaims to him that she will do whatever she can to help Arcadia take him down. Annoyed, Taelinn tells them that they're searching would be for naught, and began to destroy the foundations of the temple, hoping to bring the 3 teams down in one swoop. Ryan and BladeMan manage to get out first, but only to have the entrance sealed by falling rocks. With the temple almost destroyed, John and Akoni with their Navi's were trapped inside, and were about to be buried with the temple, when an unexpected light began to surround them, which soon teleported them away from the danger.
In God's Hands, and an Unheard of Love
They were seemingly teleported to an area that was all to familiar to Arcadia. Standing atop the building she spent her early days recovering from her amnesia, Arcadia told them they were in the Paradise area in the Undernet, which can only mean one thing. John and Akoni couldn't believe they were in the cyber world, as the Dimensional Dome doesn't work both ways, when Maggie came to a realization. She claimed that only one Navi would even be close to having this kind of power. "The Legendary Navi known as S", as Maggie put it. Apparently she had an interest in the Navi with close to God like powers, and did some research on. A voice then called to all of them, in an annoyed tone, to not use the name "S". Suddenly, the lord of the Undernet, Serenade, appeared before them, and telling them she hates that name. Arcadia, filled with joy and excitement, tackle hugged her old friend, expressing how much she missed her, and that Serenade missed her as well. While Maggie herself was astounded to find out that Arcadia knew the God like Navi personally, Akoni pieced together that it was Serenade that teleported them from near death. Serenade agrees with him, but noting that she could not have done so without the Aid of the Dimensional Dome. She begins to tell the teams that at their current state of power, they cannot hope to defeat Taelinn, and that if he continues to exist as an agent of Darkness, he would bring forth the true revival of ShadeMan and the forces of Darkness.
Thats when Serenade tells Arcadia to hold out her hand. When Arcadia does, a light fills her hands, and the next moment, a glowing sword replaced the light. Serenade tells her this is no Ordinary sword, but is known to be the True Muramasa Blade. Maggie remembers the sword to be the one that grows in power the more the user suffers. This was the key to defeating Taelinn, as the battle chip versions of this blade were only mere imitations of this original one, which far surpasses the imiations in power. Serenade then begins to teleport the team away, telling Maggie and Akoni how grateful she was to have found friends Arcadia can trust, and that they would be powerful allies. She also tells Arcadia that she will be watching them and that this will not be the last time they meet. After that, Arcadia, Maggie, and Akoni were teleported away, but John was left behind to stand in front of Serenade. She walks up to him, sencing his troubles, his doubts, and the realizations that keep on surfacing. Serenade took John's hand and emitted a light. A few moments later, a battle chip formed, this one dipicting that of the True Muramasa Blade, and that no other PET or Navi can use it but Arcadia. She then assures John that his role will be much larger than that of anyone can expect, but parts with him these words: "To save the ones you care for, sometimes sacrifice has to be called upon." He makes eye contact with Serenade, and tells her he will find a way to save anyone without sacrificing anyone, and is at last, teleported away. He hears Serenades voice one last time, saying that she will be definatly watching him.
After arriving back at the real world, Maggie exclaims to Arcadia that she couldn't believe she knew the "Legendary S", and mutters that Arcadia cant be that bad of a Navi if the "Legendary S" is friends with her. She sees Arcadia in a new light, and much to Akoni's dismay, shows much enthusiasm to helping her and John bring back Taelinn. As the weeks passed trying to find Taelinn once again, John and the rest of them fought many viruses, and Navis that have abused their power in the real world. As time passed however, John and Arcadia's bond began to grow more, much more than what it should've. This concerned John, as it may have been normal for a human to like their Navi, it was unheard of and beyond their programming for Navis to feel the same way towards their Operators. John began to study the data that composed Arcadia, only to find that her programming was completely different than any normal Navi. Unable to figure out why, John believes this has something to do with Arcadia's emotions. Nevertheless, the more they were with each other, the more their bond together continued to grow, and feelings began to develop between them.
The Final Act
Two months passed, and the growing threat of the viruses did not stop. It was then that Taelinn finally reappeared and finally made his presence known to the world as the one who was behind the Chaos. He erected a floating fortress out in the sea, and challanged the Officials to try and stop him. Aura, after learning of Taelinn's fate as a Darkloid, listened to John and Arcadia's story about the Muramasa, and agreed to help them stop. She called upon Ryan, and it then when John and Akoni found out a bit of Ryan's past. He was once an member of the National Official's Department in America, but left with BladeMan to do his own work. It explained why Aura knew to call Ryan and why he was so strong. The plan was for Aura to use her forces to draw out the Fortresses' defence mechanisms, while John, Akoni, and Ryan to slip into the fortress itself and stop Taelinn and the Dimensional Dome. The plan was set into motion, and the Officials did their best to distract the Tower's defences, and the three teams slipped in.
This was when everything started to go wrong
Betrayal and Trials; Storming the Tower
Taelinn was right there to greet the teams, saying that all their work getting here were for nothing. Suddenly, Taelinn erected a dark cage around the group, but John, Maggie, BladeMan and Ryan were able to escape before it completely forming. Arcadia and Akoni were trapped inside, and began to fade away. John thought quickly, and took out the True Muramasa battle chip and was about to give it to Arcadia. However, it was then that Ryan ran up to John and punched him in the stomach, making John drop the chip. Ryan then picked it up for himself and began to walk towards Taelinn. Bewildered, Maggie ran up to John to help him up, as BladeMan did not know what was going on with his Operator insane actions. Ryan told the group that Taelinn knew who kidnapped the Navi that he was looking for, and if he brought Taelinn the chip, he would unite them once again. BladeMan refused to condone these actions, and because he refused to follow him, Ryan threw his PET that housed BladeMan to the ground in front of John, saying he wont be needing it anymore. Taelinn and Ryan were about to teleport out when Akoni also threw his PET at John, saying to use it to help Maggie fight, and that he'll do what he can to keep Arcadia safe. Arcadia was powerless to set themselves free, as they were teleported away to the top of the tower. Recovering from the shock, John took both of the PETs, as well as his own, and lead both Maggie and BladeMan to storm to the top of the Tower, where Taelinn resided.
During the travel up the Tower, John suddenly heard a divine voice speaking through him in his head. It was Serenade, with the help of the Dimensional Dome as well as her own powers, that allowed her to give John a warning. A warning that Taelinn set up a failsafe plan if his defeat became reality, and that only John would be able to stop it. John assures her that he will stop it and save everyone, as he continually gives chips to BladeMan and Maggie to help clear a path to the top of the tower. However, shortly after the warning, the group is halted by hordes of Dream Viruses, one of the deadliest Viruses currently known. Maggie and BladeMan do their best to try and rid them, but more take their place, as it seemed that they were surrounded. BladeMan then makes a declaration to John that he promised to see him reach the top of the tower, and assured him that he will catch up with them. John, reluctant to acknowledge BladeMan's decision to stay behind and stall the viruses, eventually thanks him, as BladeMan used his best attack to clear a narrow path to the stairs. John takes Maggie and both of them wish him good luck, and continue up. However, the path quickly gets buried by viruses, as they surround BladeMan, preparing to attack. BladeMan tells himself this is the least he can do to atone for his Operators actions, and that he only regrets not being able to see Ryan's path and prevent it from occuring. He arms himself one last time, and hurls himself into the viruses.
It wasn't long until John and Maggie path was blocked once more, this time in the form of a single black entity that focused on Maggie. John, puzzled, gazed at her, only to see her arming herself in anger. John was unable to see what Maggie was seeing in the black entity, as was told by her that this thing only wants Maggie, and was letting John continue up. He did not want to leave her alone, but Maggie assured him this is only her fight, and that John would only slow her down. John acknowledges Maggie's assurence, and continued up without her. To Maggie, the black entity took form of a figure that she has battled many times in the past, and in those times, lost to it. It was her own Darkness that she was seeing, and it managed to find her in the Tower, which is why she told John he would be useless to aid her, as he doesn't know what he would be going up against. This black entity, the thing that has always beat Maggie, would be Maggie's last obstacle up the Tower.
An Operator's Resolve, the Final Battle at hand
John finally reaches the top of the Tower, and found the cage that Arcadia and Akoni were in. He tries to get them free but to no avail, and Arcadia tells John that Ryan handed Taelinn the Muramasa chip and dissappeared. Thats when Taelinn showed up accross the room, acknowledging John's skills as an operator for commanding two Navi's at once, but also laughing at him because he also lost them. John tells Akoni about Maggie's fate. Akoni seems to understand right away, and because of that, he grows silent, but assures John that he had no other choice. Taelinn the tells the three of them that his goal is to make the surrounding cities dormant with Dark Energy, so that ShadeMan and the fallen forces of Darkness can rise once more. John proclaimed that he wouldn't let him achieve that goal, and took out his PET. John initiated the battle with Taelinn, erecting stationary Cannon chips around him to shoot at Taelinn. John figured that if he can at least get the Muramasa Chip back, he would be able to give it to Arcadia and she would be able to free themselves and fight. However, Taelinn never gave him the chance, as he continually took out the cannons, and finally aimed a shot at John himself. John was able to errect a Hi-Barrier Chip around himself quickly, only to have the barrier break instantly, and blow him across the room. The dark power was too much for a human to fight alone, and Taelinn walked up to the shaken up operator, sneering that he couldn't believe John used to be his operator, and began to charge up one last shot to end John.
Arcadia, growing hysterical that she could not help and was about to see John die, screamed out his name and began to attack the cage. Taelinn, distracted at the Navi's resolve, looked in her direction, but in that moment, a charge shot from behind John hit Taelinn directly in front, blowing him back to the other side of the room, followed by a Sonic Boom attack to repel Taelinn further. Dumbfounded, John, Arcadia and Akoni look behind, and were surprised to see who the attacks came from. Maggie and BladeMan, looking beat up from their encounters, managed to survive their own trials, and ran to John to protect him. The two Navi's were lead by a figure they did not hope to expect. It was Ryan that was leading them, and Maggie and BladeMan told the rest of the group it was him that saved them from their fates. Ryan gives John a data Chip, saying he needed to betray the group to gain Taelinn's trust, so that he can work from the inside to find the Tower's Core for them to destroy it, and apologizes. He then inputs a code in the cage's lock, and sets free Arcadia and Akoni. Arcadia runs up to John and hugs him, as did Akoni to Maggie, only to get hit by her and calls him clumsy or getting captured. Seeing this reunion only fuels Taelinn's anger, and warns all of them that he still has the Muramasa Blade thanks to Ryan, and that no one would be able to stop him once he holds the blade, and begins to hold the chip and materialize the blade. However, when the blade forms, and Taelinn finally grasps its power, Taelinn began to wraith in pain, watching his own hands burn as he cant let go of the blade. Ryan then confesses to everyone that he had a hunch that the Divine Power that houses the Muramasa Blade cannot be properly weilded by an agent of darkness, and would weaken them to a critical state, which happened to give the group the ability to finally stand up to a corrupted Taelinn. Taelinn however, did not fall to the blade, and while still weakened considerably, he was able to continue fighting. With the group now back together, John, Akoni and Ryan sent out their Navis, Arcadia, Maggie and BladeMan to end this nightmare once and for all.
Legendary Power, Full Synchro
With Taelinn weakened and his dark powers lessened, the three normal Navi's were able to do damage to him. However, Maggie and BladeMan were weaked during trials, and after a while of fighting, were repelled back. Arcadia was the only Navi standing between Taelinn and their demise. John knew what was at stake, told Arcadia that he was willing to fight along side her for this battle. John then initiated with Arcadia, the power of Full Synchro, a state of power that fuses the soul of an Operator with their Navi, given that their bond together is high enough that they think like one mind. It is a legendary power that only a handful of Operators can achieve, as it is also very dangerous. Arcadia warned John that when they're in Full Synchro, that John's body and spirit will be fused with her own, and that if she takes any damage, John will experience that same pain. John tells her though that if there was any a time they needed a power boost, this was that time. Arcadia thanks John for his support, and begin to attack Taelinn with all their might. Before they could attack though, the floor lit up, and then teleported Arcadia, John and Taelinn to a differnt room, with Taelinn saying that this was their own fight, and that no one should interfere or watch.
With the power of Full Synchro, Arcadia's movements were more swift, her attacks more calculated, allowing them to damage Taelinn considerably. The attacked Taelinn with so much force, that they managed to break off the Muramasa Blade chip out of Taelinn, and grabed it back to their possession. However, the two failed to realize that even though the Muramasa Blade weakened Taelinn, the blade's dorment ability to raise in attack power the closer the user was to death was still in effect, and in that moment after grabbing the chip, Taelinn landed a blow so powerful to Arcadia that it broke the bond of Full Synchro, and John was sent flying back. John, crippled from the blow, told Arcadia to keep on fighting, and managed to download the Muramasa chip to Arcadia, while he helplessly watched Arcadia fight Taelinn alone.
The Muramasa Blade gave Arcadia considerable power and was able to repel Taelinn's attacks. However, her battle experience was still nothing compared to Taelinn's, as he taunts her for trying to find closure in her life through John. He hit a soft spot in Arcadia, infuriating her more and began to attack recklessly, which Taelinn had hoped for, and used her dioriented state to knock out Arcadia's blade and blast a hole in her side and blow her across the side of the room, away from John. With a wound that big, Arcadia couldn't recover from that attack, and layed helplessly as Taelinn charged up one last attack, telling her that her dreams of finding her past was a fools hope, and finally shot a piecing blast towards her. Arcadia, still dazed, was unaware of what was coming, but as she looked up, she only saw a shadowy figure block the light of the blast, eventually taking the hit for her. The figure fell back towards the dazed Navi, and it wasnt until she saw who it was that brought her back to her sences. John, even after being blown out of Full Synchro, managed to gather the last of his strength and ran to Arcadia to try and save her. His right side exposed by a hole from the blast, Arcadia subconsiously starts to whisper to him in confusion of what just happened. Just then, one of the walls blows up and exposes a hole, and through it, Maggie and the rest of the group manage to reunite with them, only see the tragedy that had befallen Arcadia and John. Taelinn, shocked by the actions of his former Operator, began to feel his old consience resurfacing after seeing John wounded, and began to fight within himself to take back control of himself.
Untapped Power; When the Dust Settles
Knowing that they came to late, the group tried to get Arcadia and John to safety while Taelinn was distracted, but a powerful force coming from Arcadia blew them back. Arcadia, tearing and yelling at John to stay awake, began glowing, and when John lost consiencness, Arcadia screamed out in agony. Just then, surge of power erupted from Arcadia, pushing back the group and Taelinn, and a pillar of light surrounded the pair. Trying not to be blown away, the group uses this distration to blast Taelinn down, but Maggie and BladeMan's weakened power couldn't do much damage to him. The light began to disipate, and in its place, was a huge glowing ball of light, bright enought to damage the surrounding Navis. The ball finally disperses, and inside, everyone saw a familiar figure, but at the same time, an unrecognizable one. It was Arcadia, with her body glowing bright enough to erase her physical designs, and was holding an unconsious John in her arms. With this new light, came a pair of Wings that accompanied Arcadia's back. However, Akoni was quick to see that in Arcadia's eyes, there was no consience. What they were witnessing was an empty shell of power. This new Arcadia then teleported to the group and gave them John to hold onto, and then just as quickly teleported away from them and in front of Taelinn. Taelinn, trying to fight his old concience from resurfacing, was also slow in noticing Arcadia's actions, as she began to attack Taelinn with much force. Her attacks were not any that the group has ever seen, as her movements were that of a killer, juggling Taelinn around like he was nothing. She pounded Taelinn so much, that the corrupted Muramasa Blade he was carrying destroyed itself from too much damage. The Dark Power was nothing compared to the power Arcadia just gained. After suffering a horrible beating, Taelinn was blown back and Arcadia shot 3 piercing beams of light that shot through Taelinn. Withstanding so much damage, the Darkness finally exposed itself outside of Taelinn's body. Akoni tried to yell at Arcadia that if she strikes down the Darkness, it will set Taelinn free. However, Arcadia seemed to not know of anyone else's presence, and picked up her real Muramasa Blade. She muttered the words "Judgement", as she set her sword in stance and finally, pierced Taelinn through his emblem.
With the fatal and final blow dealt to Taelinn, the the darkness within him was unable to sustain itself, and shortly after destroyed itself. Arcadia, seemed to have regained control of her self, dispersing her wings and light and returning to normal, but shortly after that, passing out. Maggie ran up to her to catch her, while the rest of the group headed towards them. John managed to regain conscieness, only to see that both of his Navis were near deletion. He knelt down to Taelinn, whom now was regaining his old colors back, and began to weakly apologize to everyone. He admitted that when the darkness took over him, his consciesness was buried, but not asleep, as he was fully aware of what "Dark Taelinn" was doing, and was powerless to stop him. He regreted not being stronger for his friends, and operator, but most importantly to Arcadia, whome she looked up to for guidence. He warns John that Arcadia is a very special Navi, and that he has to look after her no matter what if he hopes to help her find her past. John, even knowing he fought his own Navi against his will, could not help but cry for his fallen 'brother'. Taelinn was about to tell them the code the group needed to activate the fail safe of destroying the tower from the inside, when all of a sudden, a Dark beam penetrated his chest, elimating his emblem for good. The group looked on to see that it was ShadeMan himself, and was disappointed that a 'normal trash' Navi couldnt even hold up a simple task, and bid the group farewell as they were going to die anyways. John tried to catch Taelinn in his arms, but only to hold onto nothing but air, as Taelinn weakly said his last goodbye and faded into nothingness.
John fell in despair, for that after all he has done and put his friends through risking their lives for his sake, was not able to achieve his goal of saving his Navi, and felt himself responsible for almost loosing everyone. He takes Arcadia on his shoulders as Ryan points out where the Tower's Core is, and that they'll have to manually find the code by hacking it, a skill only John can do. As they were heading towards the Core, the Tower suddenly starts to shake, slowly starts to cave in, with BladeMan noting that the fail safe has already begun. Their only hope was to disable the Tower with that code. As they entered room the Core was in, there was a lone computer, and a teleporter a yards away from it. John hands Arcadia over to Maggie, telling her to keep her safe. He also throws to Akoni his PET, telling him to hold it while he hacks the console, and then tells them to stand in the teleporter, and that he will join them shortly after. However, Akoni was the only one to catch on to John's plan and just was about to speak out, when John looked at him and shook his head. Akoni knew he had to accept his decision they were about to see.
Sacrafice and Hope
As the group took their place on the teleporter, Arcadia awoken from her sleep. Confused as to why she only saw John away from the group, she subconsiously tried to wrestle her way back to John, but was then denied that chance. Just as John activated the console, the teleporter began to activate, but seemingly destroying itself. John then admitted to the group that this process was just a one way ticket, and that there was no way for him to join them, for someone has to hack the code into the system. Akoni, already drawn to this conclusion, tells John he will take care of rest of his work, as Ryan then follows suit, saying it was an honor to fight along side him. Maggie's "Polar Emotion" program was growing off the charts, as it was reading Arcadia's out of control emotions, begging John to reconsider. But he tells her it was not something he can change, no matter what he did. He told her the only way he can fulfill his promise to Arcadia and Serenade was to make sure she survives at all costs. He does regret not opening up more to her, and as Arcadia looked at John as he was about to say his final words to her, the group abruptly teleports out of the tower. John then sighs and begins to hack into the console, wishing the group to "keep on living".
The group was teleported outside of the tower, where they saw the what remained of the Officials' Battle fleet, all but 2 ships were wiped out from the Tower's defences, one of them was the ship Aura was commanding. Arcadia seemingly in denial of what just happened, continued to try to figh her way back in to save John, but was held down by Maggie for her own safety. With the tower about to explode, John managed to find the code Taelinn was trying to say, but it was a word that didnt need to hack to find out. It was a word that Taelinn was known for, and gave other Navi's and Operators around him that word, and even learned from the Hero who saved the world many times over.
"Hope".
As John imputted the code, he saw a bright light flash behind him, and as he turned around, he closed his eyes and finally accepted his fate. To the outside people, the Tower then began to implode from the inside, all the debris the Tower broke off came back and destroyed itself inside the tower. When more than half the tower was left, the tower froze, and then suddenly, digitized itself out of the real world, taking the threat of an explosion with it. The tower was gone, and the threat of Taelinn's Dimensional Dome went with it. Arcadia's group stood on top of a cliff, seeing all to clear the view of where the tower stood and the damage done. Arcadia, unable to control her emotions, continued to poor tears as the rest of the group finally came to terms of what just happened. They destroyed the dome and the threat that followed it, at the cost of a friend.
....But the Dimensional Dome did not disappear...
Unimaginable Loss; A Navi's Pupose
Days later, the group held a small memorial for John, when they got a message from Tara, Aura's Navi. They found out that Taelinn's Tower was just one of the pillars that made the Dome stand, and that by destroying it, the Dome got weaker, but no where near gone. Everyone felt defeated after this news, but none so much as Arcadia, whom not only lost the one she cared the most deeply for, but then came to the resolve that she would continue the fight that John and Taelinn left off, and vowed to help destroy the Dimensional Dome once and for all. Not for the world's sake, but for John's, and his alone.
1st Story Ark; End