Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Reddington Bluemann, Phyllis Tina, and Ripley Marduk © HatOnFire/Me

A/N: The link below will go to the spreadsheet of soundtracks in this fanfic, with links to audio tracks on a site besides YouTube (unless otherwise indicated in the link). Easy to access as an alternative to avoid the dreaded YouTube ads.

Mega Man Battle Network ReInstalled Tracks

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[BGM: Theme of Mega Man Battle Network, Mega Man Battle Network]

The year was 20XX. Before the turn to the next century, the Internet was invented. Dr. Tadashi Hikari further expanded the concept of computer networks, innovating them with the rest of society. As the years followed, just about everything had a network. Houses, cars, TVs, vending machines, even something as mundane as a vase. 

To assist a person in navigating the net, sentient AI programs called Internet Navigators, NetNavis for short, were invented. They reside in PETs, or Personal Terminals, which can store electronic money called Zenny, send and receive emails, and are used to jack in a Navi to a network. This form of convenience has made a PET essential for the age of the internet. 

However, Net Crimes have become a common factor that plagues society, especially to this day. Whether in the form of viruses, hackers, and even worse criminals, it’s easy for trouble to occur. Even with the NetPolice around, they are quickly stretched thin due to the growing crime rate.

Thus, Official NetBattlers were formed to assist the NetPolice for certain emergencies with the net. They are licensed NetBattlers with the same authority as police officers within the law, though they must have tremendous operating skills and have a license to NetBattle.

As crime has escalated, NetBattling without a license or while having a suspended license is deemed illegal, and there are some repercussions. They are a warning, a hefty fine, and jail time if the violations increase in number. I should know…

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Today, this was the second week of the new school year at ACDC High School, which was met with dismay among several students, even me, if I’m being honest.

A light blue car pulled up to the school, stopping next to the sidewalk. A door in the back opened up with me leaving it, but just as I was about to go... 

“Oh, kid,” the driver called me, forcing me to look inside again. 

The driver was a man wearing a light blue trench coat with blue buttons, combined with a white shirt and a red tie underneath. He also had blue pants, black dress shoes, and black gloves. He also wore a hat that was the same color as his trench coat. His hair was red, partially wavy, his eyes were black, and he had a wedged nose.

He was Detective Reddington Bluemann, the seasoned officer of the NetPolice. I wouldn’t admit it at the time, but he was a good cop. 

“I also meant to give you this,” he told me, holding out a small computer chip. “It’s from your mother. Make sure to download it into your PET to upgrade your Navi.” 

“Whatever,” I mumbled, taking the chip from his hand. 

“You know, you shouldn’t keep going on like this,” the detective stated, “You’ve got talent, but you're wasting it by going down this road.” He rolled up the window of the car and drove on, leaving me on the sidewalk. 

“Like he knows anything,” I muttered underneath my breath, clicking my tongue. In case you couldn’t tell, I wasn’t much of a nice guy.

I wore a bright orange jacket over a black school shirt, with black pants and orange shoes with black soles. Aside from a black backpack with black straps, I also had a blue bandana tied around my arm, showing an emblem. The emblem was a red circle with a black line moving diagonally through the center, ending at two black triangles, one in the lower left side and one in the top right side, with a yellow ring surrounding the entire circle. I had messy and spiky brown hair, brown eyes, and tan skin.

My name’s Lan Hikari, I’m an ACDC High School student, and my life was going to take a turn for the interesting. You’d see later on.

I sent my hands into my jacket’s pockets while shaking my head. “That nosy guy was right about one thing,” I muttered, “I’ve got talent. How I managed to get arrested was just a mistake, that’s all.” 

“A mistake?” an electronic voice questioned, “Is that what we’re calling it now?” 

“MegaMan, shut up,” I huffed, pulling out my handheld PET. “I did the right thing.” 

This PET was different from the ones that have been out over the years. It’s called the Skid Key PET, SK PET for short. This one was in a slightly rectangular shape with a screen in a perfect rectangle. There was a slot for chips at the top with the Navi emblem on the left to it, and a manual home button below the screen. On the right side of the screen, there was a keyboard that slides out, hence the name. It was good for typing if you didn’t want to dirty the screen with your fingerprints.

Usually, something called a Grip Attachment goes with it, like a two for one deal. It was easy on the palms, being soft and a little squishy, and it had a magnet that can attach to the PET so you can hold it. I had done a few NetBattles with the thing and it helped. Plus, the attachment had a GPS tracker in it in case you lose it, and the PET can automatically track it when you need it! 

But anyway, back to my Navi yelling at me. “Right thing? Lan, just because that guy was a suspected hacker, that doesn’t give you the right to beat him up! The NetPolice would’ve taken care of it!” 

“He’s a conman! A thief! He would’ve wormed his way out of that mess! Besides, I had it taken care of!” 

“Only because you knocked him senseless!!” 

My PET’s screen showed my Navi, sternly crossing his arms. He had blue gloves, blue boots with black soles, an indigo bodysuit with vertical cyan stripes on his sides, and two yellow shoulder guards. On his chest, there was the same emblem from my bandana. He had a blue backpack of sorts attached to his back. 

On his blue helmet, there were two cyan ridges that ran from the top and a yellow square with a yellow rectangle on his helmet, with the latter also running from the top. The helmet’s ear sections had the emblem on them. The Navi had green eyes and a tan skin tone on his face. He also appeared to have some black hair sticking out of his helmet.

His name is MegaMan.EXE. MegaMan or Mega for short. As smart as he was, he could be a bit of a sissy. Okay, maybe calling him that was a bit much. He’s a great friend to have around, but he’s still overbearing to me. Especially in times like this.

“You’d think being arrested 15 times for doing stupid things would make you learn something or change, but NO!!!” Case in point.

“Look, MegaMan, listen to—!” 

“No, you listen!!” the Navi interrupted me, “Every time you do something stupid, I’m the one who has to apologize for your actions!” 

I sighed, knowing the only way to get him to quit nagging me. “Alright, I get it. It won’t happen again.”

“It better not. You realize that if you pull another stunt like that again, you’ll be faced with jail time, I’ll be taken away from you, and on top of that, you’ll be expelled!!” 

“Okay, okay!!” I replied with frustration, “I get the point already! Quit bringing it up!” 

MegaMan huffed, unsure if I was actually listening to him. He was right, though; I needed to stay out of trouble. “Lan, what’s it going to take?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” I scratched my head in thought, “It’s not like I can escape reality.”

“Well, that doesn’t matter right now. You better get to class. Did you know you have an entire week of schoolwork to catch up on?”

“Yeah, yeah,” I nodded, rolling my eyes while I put the PET back in my pocket. I made a dash through the gates and into the building.

The gates surrounded ACDC High School in a perfect square, with a parking lot across from the entrance for people. As for the building, it wasn’t particularly long or wide as far as school structures were. In fact, it was barely as long as an office building in the city. It had six floors, disregarding the three basements. In the front, there were only a few steps to walk up, with a few bike racks.

A large clock was put on the second floor for everyone outside to see. There was a stairway and a long, winding ramp at the entrance. The space behind the building had a baseball field, with a soccer field, tennis court, and a small running track on the right where I usually enter the gates.

To go further into the detail with the school, the first floor was mostly faculty offices and a cafeteria. The second floor up to the top was just six classrooms each floor. The classes had chairs, computerized desks, with a blackboard that could also function as a computer, and of course, windows.

Outside the rooms, there was always a hallway with a flight of stairs at one end, along with another at the other end. At this moment, I was climbing up the steps.

“Why does our homeroom class have to be on the fourth floor?!” I complained, feeling my legs ache from the effort. 

“Gee, I don’t know,” MegaMan said, “It couldn’t possibly have to do with it being homeroom, could it?” He was rolling his eyes. I could tell from the tone of his voice.

“I could do without the sass, thanks,” I grumbled, paying no mind to my peers giving me mixed looks of dismay on varying levels.

By the way, just about everyone’s heard about me and what I do. You could say I’m an outcast in this place. Any place, really.

“Lan!” a girl's voice called out, making me perk up. I instantly recognized it.

“Mayl?”

“Well, look who’s back!” The girl approached me, moving to the side as more students walked past us.

She had a fair skin tone, brown eyes, and long maroon hair that reached down to her waist. Bangs covered her forehead as some long strands covered part of her ears. There was a hair piece on the left side of her head that seemed to stick out. It was a red-rose color, though there was some yellow that took up a bit of the circle so it would resemble a cherry blossom.

This person wore a schoolgirl’s uniform, a black jacket over a white-collared shirt with a thin, red string tied in a bow. Her skirt was a dark crimson color, matching the color of her shoes, and she had black socks that reached up to her thighs. There were also two bags on her person. One of them was just a bag for school, carrying folders, spiral books, paper, and pencils. The other was a pink messenger bag with a long strap for the shoulders, which has that same emblem on its base.

She is Mayl Sakurai, my childhood friend. She teeters on the edge of sweet and blunt, sometimes both. Let me tell you right now, there really was more to her than I realized back then. Again, you’d see what I mean.

“Hey, Mayl,” My esteem began to shrink, knowing full well what was coming next…

“Don’t hey me, you blockhead!” the girl crossed her arms, “You know how many weeks it was this time?!”

“T-Three weeks?”

“Three weeks, Lan,” Mayl shook her head, exasperated at me; no doubt she knew of my incident with the police. “You’ve been held for three weeks this time. If Redd didn’t see why you reacted the way you did, you would’ve been tried as an adult!”

“That conman was an identity thief and he ruined a lot of lives!” I fired back, pitifully attempting to ease the blow to what little pride I had left. “He got what he deserved!”

“Your mom had to send some of her money to cover his hospital bill.”

“I know, and that’s a stupid thing to do. No one should be nice to that guy after what he did.”

Let me clarify what happened. The few weeks before the school year started, I was a licensed City NetBattler, doing small odd jobs for the Officials. They limited what I could do since they saw me as a problem child. They’re sort of right, but I was doing the right thing, really!

Anyway, when I was told to assist someone with tracking down an identity thief, I caught up with him. He tried escaping, thinking that infecting my PET with viruses would stop me. He was wrong, and I caught him at his little safe house.

It turned out he had stolen the identities and accounts of many people, some who already passed on. I also might’ve seen him with personal information about my mom and my brother. That set me off, and I beat him up. I got arrested for that, though the detective did see what I was doing and why I did it. So, I got three weeks of Juvenile Detention. It wouldn’t be so bad for my record if I weren’t a repeat offender.

“Lan,” Mayl toned down her disappointment to level with me, “I get why you attacked him, but you shouldn’t have done it. The prosecutor was prepared to send you to prison. For adults.”

“It’s the same guy that tried me for the hearing before that and the one before. He just hates the way I do things.”

“You have that effect on the teachers, too, the Minister of Justice notwithstanding.”

“I’m not trying to impress anybody,” I murmured, the troublemaker that I was. “I don’t need any advice from people that think they know it all.”

“Look, Lan, you really need to keep your cool. I don’t want to hear you causing trouble again. Besides, these are becoming dangerous times.”

“Mayl, relax,” I threw my hand in a dismissive manner, “I can handle myself.”

“Yeah, sure,” MegaMan seemingly concurred with sarcasm, “It’s not like the last time he handled a situation, it ended with him being arrested and facing juvenile detention. No way.”

“MegaMan, what did I just say a few minutes ago?”

“Well, I can say one thing,” a digital girl’s voice chuckled, “With a guy like Lan Hikari, it’s hard to tell if he’s operating Mega or the other way around!”

Mayl pulled out her PET, pretty pink in color, and the screen came to life. It showed a Navi, this one in a lightweight bodysuit-type armor highlighting light pink, a blush pink, and black on different parts of her body. She had gloves and her legs looked like those long socks that reach up to your thighs. There were also pale-yellow ring-like accessories on the ends of her gloves and boots.

The Navi’s emblems were on her chest and the ear sections of her helmet. As for her helmet, it was light pink, though the front was a blush pink. The helmet’s front had a pair of transparent antennae that curve behind her. She also has a blonde ponytail with a green ribbon tied in a bow, completely geometric. With a button on her rear, she looked like a bunny, or at least has the appearance of one.

Her name is Roll.EXE. She’s hip, cool, sassy, and like Mayl, always gets to the point. Spoiler alert here, she and I don’t get along.

“How many times have you even gotten caught?” Roll wondered, “I’m actually impressed. Not that it’s a good thing, of course.”

“Hi, Roll!!” MegaMan called out from my PET, “It’s great to see you again!”

“Nice to see you, too, Mega!!”

“Ah, Roll,” I muttered, almost bitterly. “How I missed your pointless commentary.”

 “I wish I could say the same for you,” Roll replied, at least until she doubled back. “Ah, who am I kidding? You are good for something.”

“Wow, you’re actually going to complement Lan?” Mayl blinked, “You never stand him enough to do that.”

“Well, if he weren’t Mega’s Operator, he’d mean nothing to me.”

“And there it is!” I pretended to act surprised, “But sticks and stones, Roll.”

“In any case,” Mayl shook her head, sighing from the little spat. “Let’s get to class. I’ll hand you your homework. It’s due tomorrow, so you better—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know the drill.” I don’t always do my homework when I get it, but I’ll finish it, I always do.

We began to move down the hall, entering the classroom on the left. When we got in, the talking throughout the entire room turned to silence.

“…Right,” I quietly sighed, trudging to my desk. “Nice to know I was missed.”

“And the prodigal son returns,” a slightly low voice uttered, “He graces us with a steely gaze, subtly letting the world know how much trouble he’ll cause.”

This student looked a little bigger than the other ones, having a stocky build and standing a few inches under six feet. His school uniform somehow fit well around him, considering his arm muscles would allow him to stand out in public. Like with my uniform, his uniform was black all over, though his shoes were blue with white soles, and he wore a green jacket with a unique emblem over the left breast. It was a green plus with black filling in the gaps.

His face was only a little puffy, his skin was a little more tan, and his brown hair… Oh, get a load of this! He was bald all around, save for the hair rising from the center of where his hairline should be! The hair was styled to look like a rhino’s horn! It’s almost unbelievable, but he made it work, not gonna lie.

He’s Dex Oyama, the self-proclaimed champion of ACDC Town. He would probably challenge me to a NetBattle off school grounds where no one can find us. Since NetBattling is illegal without a license, in my case, he would tell me the location and I’ll take on his GutsMan.

“Nice to see you too, big man!” I smirked, cocky and full of myself. His desk was right behind Mayl’s desk, which was next to mine. “You need me to pick up after you this year? Want to challenge me this time?”

“You’re not worth my time anymore,” Dex huffed, “It wouldn’t do any good to NetBattle you, even if you get back your license.”

Huh? I thought, not expecting him to say that. I was actually caught off guard.

“What, I’m not good enough for you to take on?” I decided to egg him on, just to make sure I didn’t mishear him. “Did you get better at NetBattling while I was gone?”

“I didn’t get better,” he replied, “I know better. I know better than to get associated with you.”

Okay, now I knew something was up. Was this because he heard about what I did, too? I knew he didn’t like me anymore, but still. Crazy story, but we were friends, once upon a time. After junior high, I sort of pushed him away because of a few things. I don’t want to talk about them, so I’ll just shut up.

“Hello, class!” I heard the teacher come in, “I apologize for the delay.”

This woman had casual clothes, maybe too casual for a teacher. She had a white knit polo shirt with a beige twill skirt that went past her knees, black shoes, and a dark olive-colored bag hanging from one of her shoulders. She had dirty blonde hair, lightly tan skin, and a pair of retro black cat eyeglasses that she wore over her blue eyes.

This is my homeroom teacher for Classroom 4-D, Phyllis Tina. She might look odd and too plain for a teacher, but she was one. Plus, she’s one of the reasons I’m still attending school. She had been my homeroom teacher for a while, and the one person besides Mayl who visited me when I got put in juvie. She was actually nice.

“Alright, class,” Ms. Tina said, “Jack your Navis into the Net and I’ll mark attendance.”

Every present student did so; it was really easy to jack in, though it’s not like we have to use a cord with a plug and stick it in a port. Not anymore, at least. It can be done so wirelessly, from anywhere that has a computer network. Anyway, she took attendance, and we had a quick period to do whatever we needed to. I worked on math first since I hated the subject. I didn’t finish the whole thing because of the next class that came after homeroom. Oh well, I’ll get to it when I get to it.

I’m skipping over what I did in class, because it’s typical school stuff, which nobody wants to hear about.

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So, after a certain period of time, it became lunchtime.

“Finally,” I grinned because there was one other person I wanted to see.

“Going to talk to him, Lan?” Mayl questioned, knowing what I was waiting for.

“You even need to ask?” I got up from my seat to get some school lunch, but also to find this guy.

After I got my tray of food in the lunchroom, I went to this one table in the cafeteria with only two seats. There, I found him.

“Lan!” he called me, almost smiling.

This guy was in a school uniform, just like me, black shirt and pants, though his shoes were blue and black, and he had a dark green jacket draped over his shoulders like a cape. His hair was black, his forehead was exposed as his bangs were combed to the side. The guy had bags under his gray eyes, so he hasn’t gotten much sleep, from what I think.

His name’s Ripley Marduk. He’s a great friend of mine who works at SciLab as an intern. It’s a little awkward that he’s working at a government institution, but he enjoys the work there. I’d say why it bugs me, but you’d see.

“Great to see you, Ripley!” I said, sitting across from him.

“Nice to see you too!” he responded back, “I heard you got three weeks, and before you were to come back from school, too!”

“Yeah, it wasn’t a good time,” I reflected on it, “And suddenly, I got treated like the bad guy, and that con got sympathy.”

“Not from my point of view,” Ripley fiddled with his bandaged right hand, “He got what was coming to him. He shouldn’t have thought of taking other people’s identities.”

“Y-Yeah…” I agreed, though I felt reluctant doing so. I couldn’t help but think it was the wrong thing to do. It was, but I got angry in the heat of the moment. So, did that make it okay to go a little past the line?

“Hey, is your hand alright?” I noticed Ripley still had his hand in a bandage from an accident at work.

“It doesn’t hurt so much,” he tried reassuring me, “I just wasn’t wearing gloves at work that time. This’ll pass. Anyway, I’ve been taking part in designing something really cool! I’m working with the legendary Mr. Famous on this project at SciLab!”

“Mr. Famous? A project? You?”

“Yeah, this project is really cool!”

“You just said that,” I pointed out.

“Sorry, I can’t help it,” he sheepishly munched his sandwich, “We were working on something that’s been thought of, but never tried out. It relates to NetNavis and their Operators.”

 “Is this supposed to be a secret?” MegaMan questioned, “It’s a project SciLab is working on, right?”

“Nothing is secret between us friends!” Ripley almost boasted, laughing a little bit before continuing. “Now, this was tested by two operators and their Navis, with successful results. This fictitious phenomenon was all possible by some specially made PETs and chips.”

“Specially made PETs?” I wondered, chewing my rice curry. This was getting interesting.

“Well, custom-made PETs with required upgrades. And these certain types of chips allow this phenomenon to occur, but other factors between a Navi and an Operator have to be fulfilled to experience this.”

“And you’re going to tell me about this phenomenon, right?”

“Nope, can’t do that!” Ripley sleepily grinned, “It’s confidential!”

“What happened to nothing’s secret between us friends?!” I shouted from surprise.

“Relax, relax,” he drank milk from an open carton, “You might find out for yourself. Which reminds me, you can hold on to this.”

He reached into his pocket to pull out the chip. It was a gray-colored chip with a green orb in the center of it. It reflected a little bit of light from the orb.

“Actually, I need you to keep this safe for me.”

“Huh?” I was confused, seeing as he held it out for me to grab it. “Why?”

“You know how to beat up people that get in your way,” he said, “and you’re a very good NetBattler. I want you to keep this safe until the heat at SciLab dies down.”

“Again, why?” I actually grabbed the chip without thinking. Just then, he told me.

“Have you heard of the Net Crime organization, World Three?”

“Who hasn’t?” The WWW was an organization that commits crimes online and in the real world. They had been around for a few years, but it mostly vandalizes places and robs people. Nothing so extreme, at least when compared to terrorist organizations determined to rule the world. I think there was a special mission force meant to defend human freedom from those guys, though. Can’t remember the name.

“We had an attack on our security system a month ago,” Ripley explained, “It was a few viruses with the WWW’s signature on it. They were pretty powerful to deal with, from what I heard. But those viruses were just a distraction.”

“Are you serious?” I was in disbelief. This just got more imaginative than real, but Ripley assured me otherwise.

“I’m not kidding, Lan. As it turned out, we found our research was copied and sent out as large data. There was a WWW virus hiding out in our computers for a month before we found it!”

“So, WWW took what you got from the inside?”

“And that’s not all,” my friend turned serious, “A week ago, we had another attack from a swarm of viruses, and they managed to break through the firewall. They got deleted, sure, and we had security patrol the labs, but the chips and some of the upgrades for the PETs were missing after the incident!”

“Do you have a mole in SciLab?” I asked, feeling involved.

“We don’t know,” Ripley finished his sandwich, “That’s what scares me. And that chip you have is the only one that hasn’t been stolen. It’s actually the latest version of those new chips. I’m worried that the WWW are taking those chips for nefarious purposes.”

“Don’t beat around the bush, Rip,” I pleaded, eating up my food. “What happens to a Navi and their Operator if these chips are used, and all your requirements are met?”

“A human takes on the appearance of the Navi,” Ripley shivered, cautiously looking around him. “And gets the Navi’s abilities and can utilize Battle Chips in the real world. In short… They can perform Cross Fusion.”

“C-Cross Fusion?” I stuttered a little bit. It made sense why the WWW would want these; they want their members to have the same powers as Navis. But this still didn’t make sense to me. “How?” I needed to ask, “How is this possible? How can anybody do this?”

“An Operator and a Navi have to be completely in sync. If they can perform an ability called Full Synchro, then they’ll be able to perform Cross Fusion together.”

“Together? But how can a Navi’s characteristics appear on a human? Digital programs can’t exist in the real world, or vice versa!” Then I thought I was going crazy from that talk. I didn’t want to believe it. “Why am I even reading into this? This is too much, even for a made-up story.”

“Lan, this is real!” Ripley exclaimed, “I’m telling you the truth! We’ve had tests on CopyBots allowing Navis to enter the real world, and even Navi materialization is possible!”

“CopyBots and Navi materialization?” I questioned, “This project about Navis and Operators has you going around the bend. Are you alright?”

“This project means a lot to me, even your father! Please, believe me!” I froze when I heard the mention of my father, and so did he, from what I saw. “I-I’m sorry,” he quickly backpedaled, “I-I know you don’t like to talk about him… But he's the head of the project, so…”

“No, it’s fine!” I calmed him down, “It makes sense he’d be involved. He created the Navi Customizer and was behind the newest designs of the PETs, so it’s only natural.”

“Still, I didn’t mean to…”

“Save it, Ripley,” I interrupted, “It’s alright.” I eyed the Synchro Chip carefully. It looked so well made and sleek. “Do you really trust me to hold on to this for safekeeping? In case the WWW wants this chip also?”

“I don’t know if they want the chip since they took most of them,” Ripley scratched his head, “But if there’s anyone I trust to have this, it’s you, Lan.”

“Well, thanks,” I thanked my friend.

I had no idea what I was getting myself into, if I’m being honest. I didn’t know how to approach the situation, since it was way out there. But it’s more possible that I believed initially.

Dad… I thought of him, which was surprising, since it’s been a while since I last saw him. Do you still remember me, or are you too absorbed in your work to care?

He distanced himself from me and my mom’s lives four years ago, yet he manages to leave us a few things, whether it’s money or some new update. My mom and dad haven’t divorced even though they’re obviously estranged. The circumstances were odd, and I didn’t like it. I stopped thinking my dad was good. I felt disdain towards him for everything in my life, I even blamed him for things he wasn’t involved in.

Again, I wasn’t a nice guy, let alone a good person. But later that day, I would get caught up in a WWW crime. This day was going to change my life, and whether I wanted to be in that event or not, I was put on a path. It was going to take me to my redemption or lead me to doom.

CHAPTER 1 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Ripley Marduk © HatOnFire/Me

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Before I knew it, school passed by in a flash. I was so absorbed by what Ripley told me. What he said sounded too good to be true, but that tone of his was sincere. He said that it was possible, so I took his word for it.

“There’s just one problem here,” I said to MegaMan, holding my PET in my left hand. “Why is all my homework due tomorrow?!”

“…I honestly thought you were still thinking about your conversation with Ripley,” MegaMan sighed with a facepalm, understandably annoyed with me.

“I was,” I replied, “But I’ll think about that later.”

I walked out of the building, ignoring many stares from my peers. Truth be told, I wasn’t sure what they were thinking about, but I assumed it wasn’t anything good.

“Hey, Lan?” my Navi asked, seeing my expression. “Don’t let the other students get to you. They don’t know a thing about you.”

“They know what I did a few weeks ago,” I couldn’t help but say, “They’re all afraid of me. Afraid that I’m no better than the criminals the Officials take in.”

“You’re only human. If anyone was in your shoes, they might have done the same thing.”

“But I acted in the moment without thinking. That wasn’t the first time.”

“And far from the last, right?” Mega grinned, chuckling between his teeth.

“Roll might be onto something, you know?” I blew some air out of my mouth, unable to ignore her words. “I’m nothing without you.”

“Come on, Lan!” my blue friend chided, “Don’t think like that! Look, if it makes you feel better, I’m nothing without you! Just because I’m a Navi, I can’t battle viruses alone!”

“Yes, you can. Your Mega Buster just needs some fine tuning, and then you can take on anything.”

“But I can’t use Battle Chips! I need you to do that! I depend on you!”

“I know that,” I replied, turning my eyes to the PET. The sidewalk I was walking on went left around the corner, so my legs followed the path. “But maybe you’re better off without me. I’m the last guy you should be with, anyway.”

“And what?” Mega crossed his arms, “Miss out on criminals getting their comeuppance? Miss the satisfaction of winning a NetBattle with you?”

“I mean, that is satisfying,” I concurred with a nod, “But now, I’m one mess shy from having everything fall apart.”

“You’ll have to work through it, Lan,” my friend told me, “but you’re not alone in this. Because I’m here.”

“Yeah,” I smiled a little bit, “You’re stuck with me.”

I didn’t know at the time, but I would learn from Mayl that she overheard me when I was leaving the school. My bitter agreement with Roll was enough for her to get the gist. I could only guess how the conversation went, but it might’ve gone like this.

“Roll, when we meet with Lan later, you have to apologize to him.”

“He said sticks and stones, right, Mayl? I didn’t think he would take what I said seriously.”

“You know what Lan got himself into. His recklessness caused him to get arrested, and he realized that there are consequences.”

“You’re right. I wasn’t fair in mocking him, since I remember that you had to restrain yourself from lashing out at that guy, too.”

“Yeah…”

Mayl insisted that was what happened behind my back, but who could say? I might’ve seen Roll as an insufferable tagalong, but she really was helpful and nice. I just blinded myself to the good parts about her. Just like how I didn’t see any good in a few other things, really. Why I did that, you’d figure out later.

01001101 01001101 01000010 01001110

There I was, right at my modern-looking house. It had white walls with a blue roof, the middle part of the roof appearing as round as a cylinder. There was a doghouse next to it, without a dog. This thing served as a security system, actually.

I was about to open the door, but a man opened it up and came out of the house.

“Thank you for coming by!” I could hear my mother call out in the house.

“Not at all, ma’am!” the guy replied, “All in a day’s work!”

He had long red hair and a goatee pointing out from his chin. He wore a green and gray repairman uniform, with a green cap shielding his eyes from the sun.

“Excuse me, sir,” he said, moving past me politely.

“A repairman?” I questioned, seeing him get into his car. “Did something break?”

“Mom probably called someone to check on our house oven,” MegaMan speculated, “There have been a string of arsons caused by faulty programming in ovens lately.”

“Faulty programming in ovens?” I couldn’t help repeating in confusion, “What kind of dumb news report did you listen to?”

“The one that just got sent to our message board.”

I pulled out my PET as the report came up on screen. After a quick read, I got what Mega meant. “But most ovens these days should have a secure network, just like the others,” I pointed out, “Sure, viruses can mess up the programming, but they won’t pose too much of a threat. Not unless the protection software gets infected.”

“And the software kicks in and deletes viruses one by one, and there aren’t any large groups that could threaten the protection software.”

“They usually get deleted before that point.”

“So as usual, the news is unreliable…” MegaMan concluded.

“Yeah, it’s really shoddy these days,” I admitted, getting inside the house. “But how else are we going to hear about what happens in ACDC?”

“That’s true.”

“Oh, hello, Lan,” my mom called, “So, how was your day today?”

“It was alright,” I replied, “I was just thinking about a few things, that’s all.”

She was wearing brown sandals, a long green skirt that went down to her ankles, and a purple shirt with a white line going around the shirt once. She had brown eyes, brown hair, and had pink lips due to lipstick.

This was my mother, Haruka Hikari. She had done nothing but raise me as best she could, and here I was, letting her down.

“Have you downloaded the chip into MegaMan yet?” she asked me, and I pulled out that chip the detective gave me.

“I’ll get to it,” I told her, “But what does it do, besides upgrade Mega?”

“I’m told it should also update the PET with more encrypted security,” Mom said, “And it should filter messages, and increase the memory size of the hard drive.”

“Is this something that came from SciLab?” I pondered, feeling uneasy.

“Yes, but this wasn’t from your father.”

“Wait, what?” For a moment, I thought I misheard her. “Dad didn’t send us this?”

“He would leave a message for us if he did send it. But this came from someone else at SciLab. He delivered it to our door while you were still in detention.”

“What did he look like?”

“He looked like he hadn’t slept in a while, and his hair was a little messy.”

Ripley? I thought, instantly realizing only he could fit the description. You sent this?

“That reminds me,” Mom put the magazine she held down on the coffee table, “You’re grounded for the rest of the week.”

“Huh?” It didn’t register to me for a split second, but once the words set in, you could tell I was shocked. “WHAT?!”

“Lan, I need to keep an eye on you,” She wasn’t showing it, but I could tell how crossed she was just from her voice. “You assaulted someone you could’ve easily detained for the police.”

“But he took some private information!!” I argued, shaking my head.

“And does that change anything?!” Mom yelled, shutting me up. “He should face proper punishment under the law, not your senseless definition of justice! He didn’t warrant such excessive force!” She was right. The guy I beat up would’ve been tried anyway, but I let my temper get the better of me. And now, I had to pay for it. “I’ve modified the computer in your room,” she stated, “The only websites you’re allowed to access are school websites and informative sites needed for your classes. And I’ve locked up all your video games for the time being.”

“Yes, ma’am…” If I pouted right there, she would’ve done worse to my grounding.

“And I’ll remind you it’ll be a while until you can reclaim your NetBattler license. So, don’t try to challenge someone to fight, or else you go to jail.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“As long as we’re clear on that…”

When I knew the lecture was over with, I started to climb the stairs to my room. However, halfway up…

“I don’t want to see you behind that glass ever again,” Mom said sadly, “I don’t think I can take another trip to the Detention Center.”

“It won’t happen again,” I swore that it wouldn’t that day, and I would prove it somehow.

01000010 01000101 01010111 01000001 01010010 01000101

My room was a little cluttered, I admit, but it’s cozy to me. My bed was next to the window with a balcony, a bookcase was across from my bed, I had my desk with my PC, a wastebasket, and there’s even a closet. I was working on writing for my English class, putting down some definitions and key words. As that was happening, my SK PET was being upgraded with MegaMan.

“And… done!!” I breathed out a sigh of relief, dropping my pencil on the desk. “Oh, my wrist is so sore from all that. And I’ve got pencil marks on my hand, too.”

“Good job, Lan!” MegaMan congratulated me, just as a chime echoed from the PET. “Well, I guess I’m through, too!”

“Alright, let’s see what Ripley wanted to put in you!”

I took the PET out of the charging station and slid its keypad out, tapping the keys with my thumbs to run a diagnostic. After a few minutes of silence and clacking keys…

“That chip did as advertised by Mom,” I said, “The hard drive has more memory, I can officially filter messages, and it looks like security has improved.”

“There’s something else here, too,” Mega had a small, digital file levitating above his head, opening up and changing the background from light blue to bright green. On my screen, he stood next to a computerized window showing me my Navi’s schematics.

The main thing about that window that caught my eye was the circle that was tallying a number. The words above that circle spelled out, “EXAMINING BATTLE DATA. DETERMINING SYNCHRO RATING.”

“Synchro rating?!” I exclaimed, “Wait, that chip Ripley sent us, and that other one he gave us today…!”

“I think Ripley wanted us to be able to perform this Cross Fusion,” Mega surmised, “Because something’s going to happen soon.”

“But why?!” I questioned, “It’s not like we’re the best NetBattlers around! The Officials are more capable than us!”

“Maybe this is because WWW has the tech they stole from SciLab. Maybe he wants us to help him?”

“I’m good at a lot of things, but taking on a crime syndicate is not what I signed up for! Just fighting criminals that slip under the NetPolice’s radar!”

“WWW qualifies to an extent, Lan. And who knows what kind of crimes they could do with something like this?”

“I don’t know about this, MegaMan…” I felt unsure, “If I get involved, I’ll be asking for trouble, and I can’t make Mom worry, let alone do something that’ll get me locked up.”

“EEEEEEK!!” I heard a scream come from downstairs, startling me.

“Mom?!” Hearing her like that got me worried. I ran downstairs, putting the PET away in my jacket pocket. When I got to the bottom, what I saw was something that just about terrified me. My mom was on the floor, just several feet away from a scorching fire in the kitchen! “MOM!!” I yelled out, running to her. “Are you alright?!”

“I-I’m fine!” she gasped, blinking several times. I looked all over her, partially relieved the fire didn’t get her anywhere. “The oven… It overheated and started a fire in the kitchen!”

“How is that possible?!” I saw the rug catch the flames, “The repairman came by to fix it, didn’t he?!”

“Yes, he did!” she told me as I grabbed a fire extinguisher, “But now look at what’s happening! We have to get out of here!”

“This house is not going to burn down!” I sprayed the fire, dousing it out. But it was only temporary, since fire started to shoot out from the stoves and get to the cabinets!

“Something’s wrong with the Oven Computer!” MegaMan shouted at me from my side.

“I know!!” I was in the middle of putting out the spreading fire, and I wasn’t having any of it.

“You have to jack me in!!”

“I’m trying!!” I continued to spray, taking out the fire on the cabinet and even targeting the stove and the inside of the oven. The flames subsided for now, but who knows how long that would last? Once I pulled out my PET, I pressed the emblem, and my Navi would go where I needed. In this case, the Oven Computer. “Jack in, MegaMan!! Execute!!”

I don’t know why, but I raised my hand up with the PET as I did so. It was always cool when I did it, so don’t judge me.

01010111 01010111 01010111

Downward in a beam of blue light, MegaMan landed on a glowing panel embedded in the digital floor. I would know, since the PET allowed me to see the network I was connected to. That surveillance function really served its purpose.

[BGM: Fire Field, Mega Man Battle Network]

“You know what to do, MegaMan!” I told him, seeing that the digital landscape had so much damage to it.

A sea of flames roared beneath the ground, fire pillars rose up through the gaps, and fireballs rained from the sky, deleting bridges connecting one area to the next. I saw the problem on the other side. There was actually an unauthorized Navi there!

This Navi was tall and appeared to have some degree of muscle, if his legs were any indication. He had two gray cannons in place of his hands and forearms, which included golden nozzles with oblong holes and one blue line encircling each cannon’s base. His head and neck were shaped like a gray torch, complete with fire shooting from the top. His eyes could be seen under the torch, along with gold earpieces resembling slotted screws.

His red rectangular shoulders had gray plates clamping on the top and sides of them, and his biceps were thin. There was a vent stuck to his back as well. His boots were gray with sky blue toe boxes and soles. His chest armor also came with a gray and red color scheme above all else, making it clear he wasn’t a typical Navi.

“In the next area!” I called Mega, “There’s a Navi with fire coming out of him! No doubt he’s the cause of this!”

“Jacking your Navi in the Oven Computer is a brave, but foolish gesture,” a voice echoed throughout the digital world, startling MegaMan. “You know the door is open specifically so you could leave your burning house, right?”

“Who is that?” the blue Navi exclaimed, “Are you the cause of the oven fire?”

“Here’s a better question,” the voice replied, “Am I the cause of the arsons in ACDC Town?”

“Who would ask a question like that?!” MegaMan clenched his fist, not expecting such a response.

“Only a deranged arsonist would put themselves out there!” I whispered, “We’re dealing with a criminal, MegaMan! Don’t give him the time of day! Just douse the fire!”

“Right!” My blue counterpart nodded, finding a switch that looked like a knob for the stove’s temperature. He twisted it to the off section, but nothing happened. 

“MegaMan?!”

“It’s no good!!” Mega told me, “The off switch isn’t working! This cyber fire is really causing problems!”

“You’re telling me!” I shouted, “I could smell some burnt roast!”

“So, you’re not having any home meals tonight, big deal!” Mega leaped out of the way of a rising fire pillar that engulfed the giant knob. “Let’s worry about that later!!”

“The main systems have to be affected because of that other Navi! Let’s fix it up!”

“WAIT! YOU CAN’T GO YET!” Mega and I heard the voice come from a floating figure. That figure was a small floating program, a green being with yellow ear-shaped hands on his head. I know, it sounds hard to believe, and the context makes more sense than any of my explanations. And the name of this little guy is Mr. Prog. All these green programs are called Mr. Prog, actually.

“What is it, Mr. Prog?”

“THE FIRE’S TOO GREAT!” Mr. Prog yelled, “YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO MAKE IT PAST THE FIRE TOWERS!!”

“We’ve got to try!” Mega replied, “We’re not letting our house get burned down!”

“IF YOU’RE GOING TO TRY AND DOUSE THE FIRE, THEN YOU’LL NEED THIS!” A white sphere levitated next to Mr. Prog, slowly motioning towards the Navi. “DOWNLOAD THIS, AND WHEN YOU’RE IN FRONT OF THOSE FIERY TOWERS, HOLD OUT YOUR HANDS AND A LARGE DIGITAL ICE BLOCK WILL DOUSE THE FIRE!”

“Why won’t you do it if it works?!” I interrupted, almost exasperated by this green guy’s eagerness to pass it off to MegaMan.

“HAVE YOU SEEN THAT NAVI WITH THE TORCH HEAD?! I’M NOT GOING IF IT MEANS I’LL GET DELETED! WE PROGRAMS CAN’T FIGHT!”

“It’s typical, I know,” Mega sighed, taking the sphere and absorbing it. “But let me ask: can we use the Ice Blocks for an unlimited number of times?”

“IF THIS PLACE WASN’T TURNING INTO AN INFERNO, YOU COULD! BUT IT’S SO HOT, YOU CAN ONLY USE A SET AMOUNT!”

“So, look before you leap,” I summarized, nodding my head. “Got it. No more time to waste!”

Mr. Prog saw some dark shadows leap out from behind the roaring flames, gasping in fright. “VIRUSES!!” With a shrill shriek, he scurried off, leaving MegaMan to face these things.

There were three of these viruses ready to attack my Navi. Two of them were Mettaurs, which had construction helmets covering their small bodies, and had pickaxes at the ready. The third was called VolGear, which had a gray pumpkin-like body of a mouth with a menacing pair of eyes at the top, and its mouth could spit Fire Towers at a moment’s notice.

“It’s been a while since you’ve done this, Lan,” Mega pointed out, “Are you up for this?”

“I was born ready!” I boasted with confidence, sliding the keyboard of my PET out.

Now, just to make a NetBattle clear, I send Battle Chips to help Mega delete viruses. I can do the old method and insert these chips into the PET’s slot, or the more routine way, access my digital Chip Folder and it will transmit five potential chips to select in the Custom Screen. The Folder resets after a battle is complete, so I don’t stress overusing up the chips. They always return.

“Alright!” I used the arrow keys and the enter key to choose the chips, and with a confirmation chime, the chips were now in MegaMan’s inventory for the time being. “Battle Chip! Double Mini Bomb and Panel Out 1! Triple Slot in!”

A Mettaur Virus slammed its pickaxe on the ground, unleashing a shock wave towards Mega, who sidestepped it with two blue spheres in his hands. Getting clear, he threw them at the helmet viruses, deleting them quickly in small explosions.

Grraaaagh! The VolGear roared, unleashing a Fire Tower on the ground in front of it. The tower moved at my Navi, but he had a pickaxe in his hand. He brought it to the floor, creating a large gap that stopped the fire from advancing further. It died out quickly without being able to keep moving.

“Mega Buster!” Mega had charged up his arm cannon, which had morphed from his right hand. He shot out at the virus, landing a direct hit on it. “Battle Chip! Shotgun! Slot in!”

The blue Navi fired again, this time releasing a projectile blast that hit the virus and the area behind it, resulting in its deletion.

The words ENEMY DELETED appeared in bold on my screen, allowing me to receive data containing 100 Zenny.

“I need better chips,” I concluded, “Let me go get some from my room!”

“I’ll keep moving!” Mega ran forward, seeing a giant blaze block him from moving onward. “Time to use the Ice Block!” Putting his hands out, Mega allowed a stream of data to create a large, cold cube over the fire. It instantly melted, causing digital water to douse the flame. “What do you know?” he smirked as water flowed around his boots, “It does work!”

“Aha!” I opened a drawer, revealing a small box containing Battle Chips. When I opened it up, my heart sank when I saw most of my superior chips were gone.

One of the conditions of my small sentence was that any chips higher than the first version or capable of doing 70 Hit Points of damage or higher had to be removed and sold. Thus, it won’t be easy to stop the trespassing Navi. Luckily for me, the police didn’t confiscate these four battle chips in that box.

“Uh-oh!” I heard Mega utter those words before yelping, checking the screen and seeing him evade Canodumb Viruses.

These Canodumbs are stationary green cannons on some sort of perch that lock on the target in front of them and shoot. They’re usually easy to beat.

“Battle Chip! Shock Wave! Triple Slot in!!” I manually inserted three Battle Chips, all of them with the same image of a Mettaur slamming its pickaxe down. Mega got what he needed, using three pickaxes to dispatch the three Canodumbs with Shock Waves.

“Great operating and timing, Lan!” he complimented me as Battle Chip data came in for me. It spelled out: Cannon C.

“Perfect!” I accepted the data and altered my Folder as Mega kept going, putting out fires and moving forward. “The police took away all of my strong chips, even the weaker ones needed for a Program Advance.” There will be more on Program Advances later.

“We should be lucky they didn’t take the Shock Wave chips.”

“But they took all my Sword chips!” I couldn’t help but complain, “How can we be expected to beat an enemy up close and personal if we don’t have them!”

“Well, we have Guts Punch chips,” Mega pointed out while dousing the fire on the bridge leading to the next area of the Oven Computer. I knew he was trying to console me.

“And if I knew the code, I’d let you fire it like a rocket,” I bitterly remarked, still sore about my loss.

Entering the next area, MegaMan saw a greater fire on the floor caused by a giant virus guarded along with some other ones.

The weaker viruses looked like knights, just without legs. They were in purplish-gray armor with a red spike on top of their helmets, each holding a purple sword emitting vapor-like energy from it. They’re Swordy Viruses.

The largest virus was called Big Snake 3, a snake with three segments to it. One for its head and two for its body, possessing purple scales with yellow thorns on top, an orange stripe below the scales, and a tan underside. This virus was not what I expected when Mega came to Area 2.

[BGM: Operation!, Mega Man Battle Network]

“What’s an Undernet virus doing here?!” I exclaimed.

“I don’t know!!” MegaMan replied, dodging a fire breath from the large rattler. “But I need some help now!!”

“Hang on, MegaMan!” I told him, looking for the chips in my pack. “Where’s the stupid Aqua chips when you need them?!”

“Get away!” My Navi shot at the virus with his Mega Buster, but it wasn’t so effective against it.

“Please let there be something usable here…!” As I said that, I managed to find the chips I needed. They were the Bubbler series. Mega avoided the Swordys, leaping away from the range of their swords.

“Cross Gun! Double Slot in!!” I had Mega fire two shots, denting the viruses with two spread shots exploding in an X.

HISS! Big Snake 3 released an egg in Mega’s area, which left a small fire in the field. The egg hatched, revealing a small purple snake.

“Lan…” Mega jumped backward as the snake began to chase him, “I need more than that!!”

“Battle Chip! Bubble Spread!”

With no time wasted, Mega took the chip data, and fired a huge bubble spread shot, hitting all the viruses. Despite being weak to water, the shot didn’t exactly do much damage to the snake. It was meant for crowd control, anyway.

“It’s still at 140 HP…” I got out the Bubbler chip, which functions like Shotgun, only with bubble shots. For good measure, I put Shock Wave in first and downloaded the data into the PET.

“Take this!!” Mega picked off the Swordys by rapidly firing his Mega Buster at them, and he finished the fight with the snake. First, he sent the Shock Wave with a pickaxe at it. Then, when it tried to blow fire at him, he took aim and shot with Bubbler, hitting it in its mouth, resulting in its deletion.

“I hope that we’re through with the worst of it…” Mega mused, seeing the small snake that attempted to coil around his leg dissipate.

“Mom, is the Fire Department here yet?” I asked her, seeing her on the phone.

“I’ve tried my PET and the home phone, but I can’t call anyone!” She was beginning to get worried, or at least, more than she already was.

“Isn’t this just another arson?” I thought aloud, watching MegaMan dispatch a Swordy with a Shock Wave and a Cross Gun chip I sent to him. He got data for another chip, and took some mystery data around him, accepting Sword Chips.

“Well, here’s some swords,” My Navi sent the data to my PET so I can adjust my Folder on the go. Mega went further down the path, knocking viruses down and taking names. At the end of the road, he saw the intruder right in front of a giant oven-looking structure. Weird, I know, just roll with it.

“Don’t look now,” the taunting voice appeared on a screen next to my field of vision in the PET, “But we’ve got company.” The voice belonged to the man with long red hair and a pointed goatee, the same guy I saw a while ago! He tossed aside his green cap and gave me an evil smirk.

“You?!” I exclaimed, seeing the oven roar out fire again. “But you’re the repairman!”

“That was only a role I played!” he sneered, “I work for WWW, silly kid!”

“WWW?!” It was right there when I learned exactly what kind of danger I was in. A WWW operative was here, attacking my home and looking for something. “T-Then… The arsons in town… They weren’t random at all!!”

“You’re pretty smart, boy!” he said, this man who would introduce me to another life. “My Navi and I, we do good, eh?”

“What’s good about burning down other people’s homes?!”

“Why are you here?!” MegaMan shouted at the red Navi with a torch for a head, “Are we just another set of victims to you?!”

“Mr. Match and I have business here, runt,” The other Navi’s voice sounded like he had a metal mask on, carrying his words to Mega. “I’m FireMan. If you know what’s good for your Operator’s family, you’ll leave. This isn’t your concern.”

“You’re trying to burn my home to the ground…” MegaMan grit his teeth, taking a fighting stance. “It’s my business, alright.”

“Fire Arm!!” FireMan raised his forearms, aiming at MegaMan, and shooting two streams of fire from them.

“WOAH!” The blue Navi reacted fast, jumping to the side, escaping the blast.

“Here!” I yelled from my screen, “Battle Chip! Cannon! Double Slot in!!”

The data went to MegaMan in lines of code. Instantly, his forearms morphed into green cannons. He prepared to fire at the perpetrator.

“I think not,” Mr. Match muttered, imputing a command in his PET keypad with one hand. Two Mettaur viruses spawned in front of the torch-headed Navi, taking the blows from MegaMan instead.

“Mr. Match, this isn’t necessary!” He launched multiple fireballs from the top of his head, forcing Mega to dodge death from above. “I can handle this kid myself!!”

“I know you can,” The red-haired man shook his head, “But the Fire Program is vital to our cause. Forget roasting the Navi.”

“Grr…” FireMan grumbled, seeing a teleportation module in front of him. Just from looking at it, he could tell it was a link to the top of the structure in front of him. But he had another approach in mind, destroying the module with his flamethrower arms and using them to propel himself all the way to the top!

“Wow, that’s actually cool,” My voice broke through MegaMan’s astounded expression.

“Lan, that Navi just shot himself up to the Over Computer’s central systems!” Mega exclaimed, somehow finding time to chastise me. “If he overloads it, this house will go down in flames before the firefighters even know what’s happening! Cool is NOT what I would use right now!”

“I know, MegaMan!” Sweat poured down my face, and not just because of the sudden heat wave in the house. “Find another way up there!”

“The Oven Computer is about as old as the house was when it was bought, so there should be a manual path somewhere! Lan, bring up the digital map of this place!”

I did as I was told, and the schematics of the Oven Computer flashed in Mega’s green eyes. A split second later, a blue blip pinged in the ground of flickering red.

“There’s a digital ramp that can function like a streaming road in Cyberworld!” he conveyed, “To activate it, I have to stand on the right panel!”

“With the digital fire going off in there, it’ll be like finding a needle in a haystack!” I remarked, putting the PET in my pocket to grab the fire extinguisher, since the oven was spitting fire again. “Put it out!”

“DO YOU NEED SOME HELP, MEGAMAN?!”

Mega saw a few Mr. Progs come up behind him, recognizing the one who left him to fight the viruses himself. “But I thought you didn’t want to help?” he questioned as the one program floated in front of him.

“WE HEARD YOU SAY THAT THE NAVI COULD OVERLOAD THE MAIN SYSTEMS!” the Mr. Prog recalled, “AND WE CAN’T JUST FLOAT AROUND AND ALLOW THAT, CAN WE?!”

“WE CAN HELP!!” Another Mr. Prog stated, turning to his fellow programs. “COME ON, LET’S HELP MEGAMAN!!”

The small group went to each fire tower, summoning Ice Blocks to smother the flames on the ground.

“Thank you,” Mega smiled, appreciating the help.

“THANK US BY TAKING THAT GUY DOWN!!” the once cowardly program responded, heading over to a flame pillar with a VolGear virus, dropping the ice on it.

“Alright,” My Navi searched the soaked floor for a panel that resembled a pressure switch, “The panel I need should be right… here!” He found the plate and stepped on it, with a long segment of ramps materializing around the Oven-like structure. He was seemingly oblivious to another virus coming at him from behind.

It was a Fishy Virus, a green virus that looked like a paper airplane and a bird’s wings were blended. The head was yellow with a pair of eyes, and underneath the stationary wings, oddly enough. At least it was odd to me.

“Sword! Slot in!!” I sent the data to Mega, who created a light blue blade on his right hand. He swiftly turned around and sliced the virus in half before it could collide with him!

“I was wondering when you’d come back!” Mega told me, taking the data from the quick fight for a Dash Attack Chip.

“Like I’d miss this!” I chuckled, adding the chip to the Folder, replacing one of the Panel Out 1 chips. There wasn’t any danger from the oven for the moment, but it could get bad later.

“Mr. Prog!” the blue Navi called out, “Any Mr. Prog!”

“YES, MEGAMAN?” One of the green beings came up to Mega, almost having a puppy dog look in his eyes.

“Once that Navi’s on the ground, restore the systems to normal!”

“GOT IT! I’LL BE RIGHT BEHIND YOU!!”

“Okay, here we go!!” The blue Navi hopped on the ramp with arrows pointing in one direction, taking off quickly. The Mr. Prog soon followed after him, keeping his distance.

“I’ve completed the scan, Mr. Match,” FireMan told his Operator, “But unfortunately, I can’t find what the WWW’s looking for.”

“Scan again!” Match hissed, “It has to be here! The good doctor took the Fire Program due to how destructive its power could get! It’s so volatile, it could never serve a purpose for society as it is!!”

“I’ve scanned three times already!” FireMan’s temper flared, as the sudden uproar of fire above his head showed. “I’m telling you, it’s not here!!”

“But this is Dr. Hikari’s family home! Where else would he keep it?!”

Once Mega came up to the top, he leapt from the speeding ramp, using the momentum to plant both feet in the side of the WWW Navi’s torch head. This caused FireMan to fall off the structure he stood on, and he plummeted with Mega right behind him.

Free-falling, the blue Navi latched on to his enemy, punching him repeatedly. FireMan shook him off, shooting fire from one of his forearms. “Dash Attack! Slot in!” A Battle Chip downloaded into Mega Man’s memory, and a Fishy Virus appeared on his hand, allowing him to rush at the descending FireMan.

“Graaaaaagh!!” He was struck by the virus, falling until he hit the floor.

“Blast it all!!” Match growled, watching my counterpart land on the ground with grace and some help from a flying virus. “You keep getting in the way!!”

“You’re not going to burn down this house!!” MegaMan yelled, “Jack out your Navi, and maybe we won’t chase after you!”

“Speak for yourself!” I interjected, “I’m going after him for this!”

“That’s why I said maybe, Lan!”

“I can’t lose like this!” FireMan picked himself up, “You wanna go?! Let’s burn, then!!”

“Alright, it’s war now!!” Match cackled, “Hope you realize that, kid!”

FireMan prepared himself as MegaMan went into a fighting stance as well.

“Hope you’re ready, Lan!!” my Navi told me, “This will be a tough fight.”

“The police told me no NetBattles,” I mumbled, “But didn’t say any restrictions about defending myself or you. So, let’s keep our home safe! Battle routine, set!!”

“Execute!!”

This was it. This battle was going to be another factor that changed my life. And for better or worse, it was my time. My time… to be greater than I was. To be a hero. Let’s rock.

CHAPTER 2 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Reddington Bluemann, Phyllis Tina, and Ripley Marduk © HatOnFire/Me

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“Battle routine, set!!”

“Execute!!”

[BGM: Net Battle, Mega Man Battle Network]

The fight started with MegaMan drawing his Mega Buster, getting a few shots on FireMan. That wouldn’t stop him, though.

“Flame Tower!!” FireMan slammed one of his arm cannons on the digital ground, sending a fiery pillar after my Navi. He was barely able to avoid that one, since it came at him so fast.

“It’s Fire Tower!!” the WWW operator told his Navi, “Be consistent with the attacks!”

“It was meant to be called Flame Tower in the first place! You be consistent!”

“Are they arguing?” I almost chuckled, “In the middle of a battle?”

“Lan, we do that sometimes, too,” Mega stated, leaping away from another Fire Arm attack.

“Oh, right!” I meekly agreed, handing Mega two Mini Bombs to use. He threw one, missing FireMan by a hair. However, he got him the second time around.

“ARGH!!” he grunted, retreating to the back.

“Fire Bomb!!” He launched bombs from the top of his torch-shaped head, forcing my friend to flee. Unfortunately, one managed to catch him and burn him.

“AH!!” MegaMan screamed, landing on the ground.

“Fire Arm!!” FireMan readied his flamethrower arms and blasted forward, giving MegaMan little time to dodge.

“Mom, you should go!” I suggested to Mom, “Warn somebody that there’s an arsonist!”

“What makes you think I’ll let you stay by yourself?!” she questioned with a mixture of anger and worry in her voice, “If something happens here, it’ll be too dangerous! We both should leave!”

“I had MegaMan get a program to restore control in the Oven Computer’s systems. There shouldn’t be another fire breaking out for a while.”

With the press of a few buttons, I gave Mega some much needed chip data.

“Even so, you can’t chase after the one responsible!” Mom shook her head, “You could hurt yourself!”

“W-Well…” I don’t think I could argue with her on that one, in spite of trying. But I just hate feeling helpless to stop the guy. What if he does this again?!

“Guts Punch!!” FireMan made the mistake of getting in front of Mega, and paid for it with a full-frontal blow via an enlarged yellow fist.

“Dash Attack!!” My blue counterpart dashed forward with a Fishy virus on his hand, damaging FireMan further.

“This kid’s good,” Mr. Match grinned like a Cheshire cat, even though his Navi was on the receiving end of the fight. “Let’s see how they fare in a more dangerous condition. Battle Chip! Lava Stage! Slot in!!”

Before any of us knew it, the battleground became nothing but molten lava, instantly damaging Mega! “AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!” he screamed from the damage to his legs, distracted long enough to be hit by a Fire Arm from FireMan!

“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!” the red and gray Navi laughed at his pain, “I don’t think you’ll last much longer now!”

“Don’t delay, FireMan!” Match ordered, sending some chip data to him. “Finish him quickly before he recovers!!”

“Lan!” My mother handed me a few chips, “Use these, quickly!!”

“A-Alright!” I needed to act wisely with this. Mega received so much damage, any attack could be the finishing blow.

“Area Grab and Fire Sword!!” FireMan took a piece of Mega’s area, moving right in front of him to swipe with an orange sword.

“Battle Chip! Invisible 2!!” Mega narrowly avoided a flaming sweep that would have cut him in half, his whole being turning transparent as the attack went through him.

[BGM: Boss Battle, Mega Man Maverick Hunter X]

“N-No!!” FireMan saw in shock, unable to stop what came next.

“Grab Revenge!!” I inserted another chip, allowing Mega to reclaim his area and punish our foe for taking it.

“Get outta here!!” Mega kicked FireMan in his face, sending him away from our field. Three orbs flew up from the panels the WWW Navi took, striking him thrice in his torso.

“Repair!!” Another chip I used turned our part of the stage back to normal, forcing the lava out. “I thought most of my chips were taken…?” I turned to Mom, unable to help myself from pointing out that little fact.

“Those were support chips.” For a second, I would’ve noticed a brief smug smirk on her face. “Technically, they’re not meant for combat, but support. I would have given them back to you after your grounding was over.”

“Are you serious?” I was genuinely surprised that she held onto some chips, “I didn’t think—”

“Shouldn’t you be focusing on your fight?”

“Oh, right!!” I returned to the NetBattle, seeing FireMan was predictably going to torch Mega again. “Bubble Spread! Slot in!!”

MegaMan shot a sphere of blue liquid that hit FireMan, spraying him and his lava stage. Steam flew out of the floor, blocking the view of the enemy. “Lan, I could use something that could help me end this…” he said to me, quietly charging his Mega Buster and training it on the rising curtain. He was glowing a brighter shade of blue, and a pink ring spun around him like a hula hoop.

“Sure thing,” I nodded, entering the Custom Screen. I wasn’t sure what I saw, but I didn’t care. I was ending this. Seeing what I was looking for, I selected these three chips. “Wish I could’ve gotten the other Program Advance, but this will do just as well,” I muttered.

< PROGRAM ADVANCE >
 Cannon A
 Cannon B
 Cannon C

The screen showed me words and letters, with Cannon A, B, and C flashing quickly, disappearing when another word came on below the Program Advance line.

< PROGRAM ADVANCE >
Zeta Cannon 1

Perfect. “Ready for this, MegaMan?!” I grinned, knowing that the battle was very much over.

“Ready, Lan!” Mega returned the grin, firing into the smoke.

“Cross Bomb!!” FireMan came out, launching a bomb from the top of his head. My Navi dodged as the bomb blew up in a plus sign.

“Quake 3!!” A light blue orb flew from his torch head, with the orb turning into a yellow virus called Flappy. This virus flapped its arms, becoming a hulking weight with arms! It dropped behind Mega, but he moved anyway, knowing that these variants of viruses can cause explosions just by landing on the ground!

“Fire Tower! Triple Slot in!!” Match handed FireMan some more power to attempt to win, having his Navi corner us in the middle by lighting up the rows to limit where Mega could go.

“Now be deleted!!” The blazing Navi tried to end Mega with his last Fire Tower, but he never got the chance to use it.

“Fire!!” I commanded, and my ally sent his payload out.

“Zeta Cannon 1!!” Mega blasted FireMan many times, taking apart pieces of his data with only a few shots.

“AAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!” FireMan’s temporary invisibility from damage saved him from being deleted, but it wouldn’t be long before he would fall. He tried to stand and attack for the last time, but then…

“Escape!!” He was pulled out of the fight, taken away in a blip. One minute, he was here. The next, gone without a trace. “Jacking out now!!”

MegaMan looked to his side, staring at FireMan, who was on his knees, several cyber yards from the area. He was logged out in a beam of light shooting up to the sky.

“Should’ve known FireMan would lose to you…” Mr. Match whispered, “Lan Hikari.”

“How did you know who I am?” I questioned, watching the internal network turn calm. The fire completely ceased, with the ground turning cool and the sky reverting to black with green lines doing indescribable things. Networks are just that random, even when things go right.

“You’re the kid who’s been going around town being a do-gooder,” Match scoffed, “How could I not? ‘Course, kinda hard to tell if beating up some weak crook counts as justice.”

“Why did you try to burn my home down?!” I angrily changed the subject, having had enough of hearing that.

“It wasn’t me being creative with the whole thing as it was sticking to the plan. But I guess it would’ve been a failure, even if you didn’t get in the way.”

“Huh?”

“Forget it, junior,” the red-haired man mockingly yawned, “You win. The game's over. I’m burned out. There’s nothing left for me to do but leave. Bye-bye.”

The link cut off before I could ask him what he was saying. “His plan involved causing arson just to get something in this oven?”

“But if it’s not here, then he went through so much trouble for nothing,” Mega concluded, catching his breath.

“Bet the WWW won’t be happy about that!” I chuckled, giving the order to jack out. Once Mega came back inside my PET, I proceeded to go outside.

“Lan, where are you going?” Mom followed me out, wondering what I was planning to do.

“Checking to see if he’s still around here,” I spoke, remembering Mom was unable to call for anyone. “You couldn’t call the Fire Department, right?”

“No, but what does that have to do with this?” she queried.

“The guy had to use some kind of a signal jammer,” Mega explained, “And some jammers are either connected to the net or traceable via GPS signal. We find that signal, we find him.”

“Or at least his car,” I finished, “We can’t contact the police until we get rid of that signal.” As I just made that clear, I could see a white van parked next to our house. It wasn’t ours.

“That’s the repairman’s car!” Mom suddenly livened up, “I saw it pull up a while ago while you were in school!!”

“Well, alright!” I shrugged, “That makes this easier! MegaMan, I’ll jack you into the jammer if I can’t take it apart! But I’ll jump in the van and take that Match guy down!”

“Wait, Lan!” Mom stopped me for a moment, “You don’t know what’s in there! He could be dangerous!”

“I’m dangerous, too!!” I couldn’t stop now. If he escaped, I would never know what he was after. But what came next was just unexpected, even for me.

01000110 01001001 01010010 01000101 01001101 01000001 01001110

“I can do it, Match!!” FireMan shouted in his PET, “Just let me go and—!”

“You already lost once,” Mr. Match glared, sitting in the driver’s seat in the van. “You’ll be deleted if I send you back in. Besides, we won’t return empty-handed, since we got an added bonus.”

“Disgraceful!!” FireMan’s temper flared, “We can’t lose to some teenager and his small Navi!!”

“At least he wasn’t a grade school kid,” Match quipped, “We’d never hear the end of it from the others!”

“How can you joke about this?! I want to get even now! I’ll do anything to teach that kid what happens when he messes with us and the WWW!!” In succession with his words, FireMan was no longer in the PET, having sent himself into another network in the van.

“FireMan?” the redheaded man inquired, “Where did you go?”

“I’m activating it right now,” the Navi growled as a machine started up with a hum, “I’ll use it to blow off some steam and teach that brat some manners!”

“Oh no, you won’t! Jack out!”

“I disabled the jack out feature on your PET. I’ll jack out when I want to!!”

“You stupid, walking, castle decoration of an A.I.!” Match saw a robot remove a large sheet from its body, showing itself as a whitish yellow robot with a blank face. There was a blue circle on the face, similar to a camera, along with a blue circle on its chest. “You’re jeopardizing everything!”

“Relax!” The robot soon had its appearance remade in a few flashes, and before the WWW operative knew it, FireMan’s appearance overshadowed the entire robot. “I’ll take the CopyBot, and I’ll burn down the home and put the punk in his place. Then, we can leave.”

“FireMan!!” Match had none of it, “I command you to jack out now!!”

“I’ll be back. Just gotta show him not to mess with the WWW.”

01000011 01010010 01001111 01010011 01010011
01000110 01010101 01010011 01001001 01001111 01001110

Something kicked the van doors open and hopped out of the vehicle, looking straight at me. That someone was not who I was expecting. “FireMan?!” I questioned, seeing the Navi right in front of me. He was tall and beginning to shoot fire from his head.

“In the flesh, so to speak,” FireMan chuckled, running up to me before kicking me in the stomach!

“UGH!!” I was sent flying past Mom and right onto my front yard’s grass.

“LAN!!” Mom screamed, running to me and helping me up. To say that didn’t hurt would be an understatement.

“T-That guy hits like a truck…” I mumbled, having the wind taken out of my sails. “How did… Why is he here?”

“Lan, what’s going on?” Mega asked.

“It’s FireMan!” I told Mega, “He’s in the real world!!”

“What?!” Mega exclaimed, “That’s not possible!!”

“With next gen tech, anything’s possible,” FireMan interrupted, strutting toward us. “I lost to you in a NetBattle, but I won’t lose in a real physical fight. It’ll be like how humans settle things.”

“Are you so petty you’re going to attack me just because you lost?” I spat, staring at him and keeping my Mom away.

“If you stayed outta our way like a good brat, this wouldn’t happen to you. Now, I’m gonna make you sorry you crossed us!”

“Mom, run!!” I rudely pushed her, keeping her in front of me as we ran. The red and gray Navi just continued walking after us, almost indulging in seeing us flee like mice in a maze.

“Lan, we need to do something!” my blue Navi stated.

“I can’t take that guy on!” I responded, “He’ll pulverize me six ways to Sunday!”

“Unless we use that one thing Ripley gave us…” Mega cryptically whispered, “Maybe we’ll have a chance.”

“I can’t risk Mom getting hurt…” My anxiety was taking effect, “What if she gets caught in the crossfire?”

“No, FireMan has beef with us. He’ll go after us.”

“I don’t know…” I may have been unsure of that, but Mom’s in more danger around me than away from me. In this situation, anyway.

“Mom, he’s after me,” I calmly told her, in spite of my sweat. “You need to go and run.”

“I’m not leaving you, Lan!” she yelled, already hating my idea.

“How long are you going to hide behind your mother?!” FireMan roared, torching the street with his flamethrower arms. “Face me, cowardly runt!!”

“I won’t do anything drastic, Mom!” I was partially telling the truth, being indecisive with Mega’s suggestion. “I’ll just keep running. Get away from here!”

“Enough!!” The WWW Navi charged right at us, shoving Mom away and kicking me down. “You run when I seek a rematch against you?!” He body slammed my mother, sending her on one side of the road, with me on the other.

“W-Why you…” I growled from the blow and from seeing what just happened, “You’re gonna pay for that…!”

FireMan proceeded to make a line of flames in the road, trapping me with the Navi. Mom was on the other side, and she was stirring, but not able to pick herself up. “Are you finally going to man up and face me?” my enemy murmured, “Or do I have to set this neighborhood on fire to do it?”

“MegaMan…” I grabbed my PET, which fell from my pocket when I got kicked at, seeing the screen. It spelled out capital letters with a percentage number.

SYNCHRO RATING: 90%. CLEAR FOR CROSS FUSION.

Pulling out the Synchro Chip Ripley handed me, I turned to FireMan with a smirk. “Okay, Mr. Hot Shot,” I replied, “Challenge accepted.”

“Lan, are you ready?” MegaMan knew exactly what I was about to do. It might have seemed creepy, but it felt nice to have someone know what you’re thinking.

“Yes,” I placed the Synchro Chip in the PET slot, steeling myself for whatever came next and hoping Ripley was on the level. “Synchro Chip!! Slot in!!”

[BGM: Higher Ground, Cyber Troopers Virtual-On]

The PET screen glowed almost as bright as the sun, with the PET also coated in light. Then, the light enveloped me too! What came after was a little hard to explain.

My jacket fluttered until it tightly wrapped around my torso, with my body glowing brightly with different colors. Blue gloves materialized in fragments, attaching to my hands and forearms piece by piece! There were thin, inverted green trapezoids with cyan outlines on the gloves. The blue pair of boots came next, coming with inverted light green trapezoids at the front, fusing to my feet. My body stopped glowing, showing an indigo bodysuit similar to MegaMan’s, but with more light blue lines on my legs and arms, some in rings and going up my sides.

I also had some form of blue lightweight armor clamp around my chest with gold yellow shoulder guards, Mega’s emblem at the center of the armor. The blue backpack Mega usually had on his back was also attached to me.

A blue helmet formed and fit perfectly around my head, covering up most of my hair, except for four brown spikes of my hair sticking out. The helmet had two slightly pronounced cyan ridges running from the top with golden ends and three inverted chevrons, in order of bright green, gold yellow, and bright red from bottom to top, stacking over each other on the front of the helmet. Lastly, Mega’s emblem existed on the ear sections.

All in all, my appearance looked similar to Mega’s! I was almost a different entity of a sort. A human fused with a NetNavi, inheriting said Navi’s strength and speed. I felt so alive!

“This is incredible…” I gasped, looking at the new form I took on. “I feel powerful. I’ve got this sense of euphoria in each fiber of my being… I can’t begin to imagine feeling like this all the time!”

“My body is one with you, Lan,” MegaMan whispered in my ears, giving me a stereo sound effect. “This must be what Cross Fusion is… But how did Dad make this all possible with Mr. Famous and Ripley? And with what technology?”

“We’ll have to think about that later,” I murmured, seeing our common foe staring at us like zoo animals. “For now, let’s beat FireMan.”

“So, you discovered Cross Fusion?” FireMan scoffed, not hiding his disdain for me. “Big deal. The WWW has been practicing for a while with that! Who cares if you know how to use it? You’ll lose!!”

I ran up to the WWW Navi and decked him, sending him down the street. “Hey, that was a strong blow!” I remarked, willing my right hand to turn into the Mega Buster. It did so. “How strong can my shots be?”

“Just be careful, Lan!” Mega warned me, “We don’t want to destroy ACDC Town.”

“Flame Tower!!” Seeing a blazing pillar come at me, I instinctively leaped to the side, moving faster than normal.

“Mega Buster!!” I blasted a few shots, causing the Navi to flinch from pain.

“Ugh!!” FireMan stumbled back, retaliating with a Fire Sword, swiping at us when he got close!

“Woah!!” I had to fall to the ground to avoid it, shooting in his face to keep him from succeeding a second time. “He can’t use Battle Chips himself!”

“Lan, he was able to do so without an operator!” Mega informed me, “Whatever brought FireMan in the real world also augmented his skill set! Plus, I’m analyzing him to find out what’s going on!!”

“Whatever the case,” I thought to him and myself, keeping my distance. “His attacks are great enough to pass as real fire!” Just as the flaming Navi threw a Lil Bomb at me, then struck me with a flamethrower when I moved out of the blast range, I had an epiphany. “W-Wait,” I muttered, vainly trying to shrug off the damage. “Shouldn’t we be able to use Battle Chips?”

“Here’s the Custom Screen now.”

In the corner of my left eye, a small screen with a list of Battle Chips in my Folder came up. “Why didn’t you tell me you could access it?!” I questioned with a little bit of rage in my eyes.

“I didn’t know I could, Lan!!” Mega retorted, “We’re trying NOT to die here!!”

“Fire Bomb!!” I was snapped back to an abnormal reality, dodging bombs raining down on us.

“Guess we’re trading roles,” Mega mused, choosing some chips that I can use. “Battle Chip! Bubbler! Slot in!!”

My blue buster changed in design a little, having a hose-like shape with a long silver nozzle at the end of it. With a faceplate closing shut, covering my mouth and nose, I fired a bubble blast that temporarily doused FireMan. “That was cool!!” I whispered, basking in the exhilaration of living in a NetBattle. “Did you feel that, MegaMan?!”

“I think that was more powerful than when I used it!” my digital friend told me, “This Cross Fusion is making us strong, pushing us to a certain point that could fall under superhuman!”

“I’m invincible!!” I clenched my left fist, letting the rush of power go to my head. “Let’s break this guy!”

“GRRRRAAAAAAAGGHHH!!!” The WWW Navi lit up again, shooting us with Heat Shot chips.T-They’re nothing! He thought, continuing to attack us. If he had teeth, he would be grinding them together in frustration. They’re only getting lucky, that’s all! Match hasn’t even customized me to my fullest potential!

I moved on the offensive, kicking FireMan in his stomach and punching him repeatedly in his head. The body blows disoriented him until I pulled off an impossible kick while performing a backflip.

“UGH!!” He fell to the ground with a thud, landing on his back while I met the road floor with both feet.

“I could never do something like that while still human…” I noted, recalling my past experience in sports. I was in okay athletic shape, but I could never do anything this fancy. In hindsight, I could’ve been in sports if I didn’t want to be a computer scientist or an Official NetBattler.

“Candle 2!!” A purple candle materialized behind FireMan, having its flame flare up, undoing some damage done to him.

“MegaMan, I need some better chips,” I told my Navi, firing at our enemy. The shots may have missed, but they’re distracting him.

“Gotcha!” He was reading my mind, “I’ll get an advance ready. Just hold him off, Lan!” I sent my foot in FireMan’s face, taking him to the ground again. I even stomped on him a little until he tried burning me again.

“Burner!!” I jumped away before the enemy was engulfed in his flames.

“Charge… Shot!!” I waited a little before I could be able to retaliate, firing a great blast that made the fire Navi cringe in pain. Of course, I couldn’t keep myself steady, so I flew a few yards away from him in the process.

“W-What in the…” he huffed, “What was that…? Fighting dirty…?”

“Like that wasn’t what you did to MegaMan in the Oven Computer,” I scoffed at him.

“No, I get you needed to do that…” FireMan got up, the candle renewing his HP, little by little at a fast rate. “In a battle between rough fighters, anything goes. The WWW could use agents like you, kid…”

[BGM: Cross Fusion, A Rockman EXE Remix Album, by Luke Jansen]

“I’m never joining you,” In response, I raised my fists. “Not after this.”

“Shame. Having the son of Hikari would be a great thing.”

My eye twitched at the mention of my surname being casually thrown around like that. But I saw through it. This was just a ruse to buy time. With a yell, I charged at FireMan, leaping over his attempt to strike me. Next thing I knew, I stood in front of the candle, grabbed it with both hands, and tore it in half. It disappeared in my hands soon after. My buster came out, and I turned to my foe, shooting a small blast that singed his face. Knowing he would try to blast me with his right arm, I shoved it away from my direction, driving him to torch nothing.

“Flame Tower!!” A blazing tower was sent to me from close range, though I evaded it by guiding it to a random car on the street. The car soon got hot and began to explode. “Aw yeah!!” the fiery Navi cheered, “A bonfire!! Just what I needed!!”

“That was somebody’s car,” I shook my head, “How are they gonna replace that?”

“We’re ending this!!” MegaMan’s voice echoed throughout my body as I felt something come on. It was a rise in power.

“Oh boy…” I lowered my voice, seeing words flash in the corner of my left eye.

< PROGRAM ADVANCE >
Sword S
Wide Sword S
Long Sword S

“About time,” I grinned.

< PROGRAM ADVANCE >
Beta Sword

Here we go. “Remember the candle I took apart?” I questioned FireMan, looking at him with a smirk. “Well, guess what? You’re the candle now.”

“Battle Chip! Red Wave!!” He got to the ground on bent knees and unleashed a lava wave. It was going to rise and move down the road, eventually hitting a tree or house… or Mom! I couldn’t discard my Program Advance now, I needed it! So, I ran for the wave and leapt into it, willingly taking the damage to make them dissipate. 

“AHHHH!!!” I was wrong about one thing. I was not invincible. Not at all.

“HA!!” FireMan triumphantly uttered, “I knew you would do something like that! You really care about this small town. Pretty predictable!”

“L-Lan…” Mega groaned in my ears, sharing my pain.

“You put up a good fight, kid,” The WWW Navi moved toward me, training one of his arm cannons on my struggling frame. “I think I’ll let you live so we can do something like this again. Though, that’s assuming the leader catches wind of you.”

“C-Can…” I’m not bulletproof, I’m not waterproof, and I’m not fireproof.

“Can?” He pondered, lowering his weapon. “Care to elaborate on that?” I know for a fact I’m not resilient to swords, either. But then again, neither was he.

“You’re a candle…” I elaborated for FireMan, just as my hand morphed into a small sword. “Next to the sword!!”

“BETA SWORD!!!” MegaMan was with me, shouting as we ended the fight with six blue slashes. With each swing, the sword varied in range and length, tearing through the enemy like a knife slicing into butter.

“W-What…?” FireMan fell down again, his body flickering on and off, showing me a robot underneath his appearance. “I-I thought I had the advantage… B-But it was a trick… You clever little… L-Lan… Hikari…” He disappeared, leaving only the shell he took over. A robot, one with a few cuts at its midsection, electricity sparkling out of them.

“Is that a robot?” I settled down, keeping myself from getting too excited with my victory. Not that I was concerned with that for now. “One of those Cyber City CopyBots?”

*HONK!!* A white van came around the corner of my house, screeching to a halt in front of me and blasting its headlights at me. “HEY!!” I covered my eyes, though it did little good. I couldn’t see anyway. All I heard was the sound of doors opening and the sound of footsteps running over to where I was.

“FireMan, you fool…” I heard the voice of the WWW agent called Match, “Should've known better than to take this with me…”

“Stop!!” I ran forward trying to stop that guy. The problem was that I wasn’t in any shape to do that. Besides that, I got knocked down easily.

“You better hope we don’t meet again, kiddo!” Match smiled in spite of his frustration with me, “I ain’t vengeful or a monster, but I’ll be back if you get in our way!” From what I heard, he took the robot and got in as the van drove on its own.

“M-Mom…” This wasn’t the time to think about that. I ran to where Mom was, seeing that she could breathe. The fire that was caused by the WWW faded away after I took out FireMan, though the same couldn’t be said for that car. Suddenly, I began to change. From what I processed, my Cross Fusion with MegaMan had worn off, and I got to the ground on my knees, my PET rematerializing next to me. “Just what is this?” I murmured, placing the PET in my pocket and carrying my mother back to the house.

01001101 01001101 01000010 01001110

Mom rested on the couch, slowly waking up. The NetPolice were finally called, responding to the car fire that some locals were able to put out. She told them about our oven spitting fire, and they investigated the network while I was questioned by Detective Bluemann.

“And then, the Navi appeared in the real world?” The detective was a little skeptical, which I couldn’t blame him for.

“It overshadowed a robot of some kind,” I answered, “It was probably a CopyBot from Cyber City.” I’ve been there once. Cyber City was a large metropolis with several towns, similar to Den Tech City, only with all sorts of innovations in next generation technology, like CopyBots. It was created several decades ago after an incident 20 years ago almost ruined the whole country. Nobody needs to know this boring stuff, so back to the third degree.

“And the man ran with the robot after you beat the Navi who took over it?”

“That’s right.”

“How did you beat the Navi?”

“With MegaMan, how else?” He wouldn’t believe me if I told him how I actually did it. Besides, it was the truth: I beat him with MegaMan, so no details necessary. Like the fact Match and FireMan were with the WWW. That was asking for more privacy invasions, I told myself. If only I knew better…

“Got it,” Bluemann took notes on an old PET model. I thought the dude gets his gear from a thrift shop because his salary gets cut sometimes.

“Um, Detective?” I scratched my head, wanting to ask him something.

“Yes, Lan?” He raised an eyebrow, lifting his blue hat up.

“Is Mayl going to have to know about this?”

“Our house is next door to yours,” He shrugged, “You’re not asking me to hide the truth from her, are you?”

“I just don’t want her to get involved with another one of my messes,” I whispered.

“First off, this wasn’t your fault, Lan. You were unlucky enough to be a victim like the other, but you did well defending your home from Match. Also, Mayl will find out, no matter what. As her legal guardian, I should know.”

“No one in town needs to know. I don’t want any pity from anyone, and I don’t need any heat coming from the Minister of Justice.”

“Right…” He nodded in understanding, “If she heard of this, she’d call it karma for being a vigilante.”

“I prefer being called an avenger of a sort,” I wasn’t doing any favors in saying that, but all the same…

“I don’t see why you’d want to keep Mayl from finding out,” Redd fiddled with his black gloves, “You could use the support right now.”

That’s what I’m worried about… I thought, thinking back to Match’s statement when he left me in the dust.

“What really happened when you beat FireMan when he was in the CopyBot?” He made another inquiry.

“You don’t believe me,” I hastily concluded, crossing my arms and glaring into empty space. “You probably think I caused that car to catch fire.”

“I spoke of no such thing!” Bluemann replied, rightfully being persistent. “There’s nothing to hide, Lan! What else happened?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” I mumbled, “and I’m on the fence about showing you. Is it really relevant to the case?”

“You fought back against the perpetrator. Twice, if we include FireMan potentially appearing in the real world.”

“So you really don’t believe me.”

“We don’t have all the facts, Lan. If there was more information, we could piece it all together. Now, you defeated the Navi twice, once in the virtual world, and once in the real world. The scorch marks on the road leading to the car proves that there was an altercation here. You know how, who, and why.”

“It’s not like I’m trying to interfere with the investigation, Redd,” I defended myself, “but what happened outside is a lot to process. I’m not even up to show you how I did it.”

“How you… did it?” he repeated, rubbing his index finger against his chin while holding his right arm up with his left. “Will you tell me?”

“I can’t right now,” I shook my head, looking at Mom, who was tended to by a policewoman. “Mom’s been through a lot. Maybe I can show you what happened on the weekend? It sort of ties into the chip you gave me before school today.”

“It does?” Now he was getting a little more interested, or I thought he was. It’s hard to tell with his poker face. “And you’ll tell me this weekend?”

“As long as nothing life-threatening happens, I will,” I promised him, “but I need to look after Mom and… Oh crud, my homework!!”

“So, this was a bad time.”

“Look, I’ll get back to you,” I sweated a little, thinking of my math drills. “But I really don’t want Mayl hearing my problems. Not this time.”

“If you’re ashamed of letting the criminal get away, don’t be,” Redd insisted, “It happens to the best of us.”

“Match said he knows where I live now,” I revealed, silencing him in the process. “He may’ve said that to intimidate me, but I don’t want him to try again if I can help it. That’s why I don’t want her involved.”

“I see,” Detective Bluemann understood, bobbing his head. “But if she learns of this, it’s not my fault.”

“Okay,” It was as good an answer as I could get. I went upstairs to finish a week’s worth of homework for tomorrow, my stomach growling from a lack of dinner.

“Oh well, roast is overrated, even by meat standards.”

01010111 01010111 01010111

“He failed me...”

“Yes, sir,” a calm voice whispered, “The package was damaged and the information, from the start, was lacking.”

“Is that Official NetBattler getting wise?” a deep elderly man growled, typing on a keyboard.

“We are looking into the matter, my lord,” the collected man answered, “This could only be a coincidence.”

“No matter, the Fire Program can wait. Right now, we’ll focus on the Wood Program. As it will be transported by train, it won’t be too hard to claim.”

“The decoy sleeper is performing his mission well, recruiting minors for our more sporadic crimes.”

“Size him up for a position at ACDC High School,” The old man pulled up a picture of the school on the monitor for him to see, “For the later phase of our plan, we’ll observe our next target. It will even get us a chance to spy on the NetBattler interfering with some of our smaller scale operations.”

“Eliminating our foes now while they aren’t a significant threat would be wise,” the right-hand man of the WWW mused aloud.

“The international NetBattler is famous for many reasons,” the WWW’s leader stated, “We need not risk several global law enforcement agencies cracking down on us over a reckless endeavor. As for the ACDC NetBattler, we’d only anger the Officials and draw attention to ourselves.”

“As you wish. But how will we handle our enemies? They might interfere again.”

“StoneMan will have to be ready for them, without the CopyBot. We’ll need the Dimensional Area Generator so he can distract them and the police. Make sure the Professor finishes up with the device before Friday.”

“Yes, Lord Wily.” A door opened and closed, indicating the right hand man had left the room. 

The aged hand of Lord Wily typed a key command, pulling up two different pictures on his monitor. One of them was of a boy and a girl in their teens. “You two are catching up,” he whispered, “But can you unravel my plans, Chaud? Can you as well, Sakurai?”

CHAPTER 3 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Reddington Bluemann, Phyllis Tina, and Ripley Marduk © HatOnFire/Me

01001100 01000001 01001110

It was a sunny Friday, three days passing since the arson incidents. There would be plenty of questions going in my mind after that day. One of them was what is Cross Fusion? Another would be what did the WWW want in my home’s oven, of all places? But the big one on my mind right now is…

“MegaMan, why didn’t you wake me up?!” Okay, that was a stretch, but I wasn’t kidding when I said that. The clock was ticking at 8:27 A.M. and homeroom was going to start in three minutes. That wouldn’t be a problem if I wasn’t one block away from ACDC High.

“Don’t you dare start with me, Lan!!” MegaMan argued back, “I DID wake you up! Eleven times! But did you listen to me?! No!!”

I had an excuse for being late this time. I was only trying to understand this idea of Cross Fusion, so I tried that transformation again, except there was a little problem with that. One of the requirements showed that my Synchro Rating with MegaMan went down a bit. It was at 90% when I did it for the first time, but it went to 70% when I tried again. I could only hold that form for three minutes and I felt even more tired just from the effort.

“Lesson learned,” I noted to Mega, “Cross Fusion depends heavily on synchronization, and the form can’t be maintained if the rating isn’t high enough.”

“We were given a time for how long the form lasted,” my Navi explained, looking at some data inside the PET. “At a 90% Synchro Rating, Cross Fusion lasted for a little over 7 minutes. At 70%, three minutes.”

“Maybe the danger made us act in sync?”

“Probably.”

The time went up to 8:28 as I ran into the doors, instinctively moving up the stairs to get to my homeroom class on the fourth floor. But when I got there, the tardy bell rang. It was 8:29 when it did that. “Aw, come on!!” I fell to the ground in defeat, “That’s not fair!!”

[BGM: School, Mega Man Battle Network]

Just then, the P.A. went up with a chime, and a voice could be heard. “Disregard that bell,” the voice told everyone, “It was a premature ring.”

“Premature? Yes!” I got up, quickly entered class and took my seat, not wanting to delay. If I didn’t know better, I thought I left a trail of dust behind from running inside.

“You are so lucky, Lan,” Mayl whispered to me, “What kept you?”

“I’m here, aren’t I?” I shrugged, wishing Mayl wouldn’t get in my affairs for once. She heard about the car that caught on fire a few days ago, which was close to our houses. The detective, Redd Bluemann, did say she would try to find out what’s going on. My guess is she’ll try to ask me if I saw anything. I was coming off as suspicious since I’ve been avoiding her for a few days…

“Morning, class!” Ms. Tina came in, activating the board with her PET. With a collective greet of good morning from us, she stood at her desk. “Before I count heads, I have a little announcement. Some of our teachers were unable to come due to some… circumstances.”

“You mean something bad happened,” Mayl stated, causing a small commotion. “I’ve heard the news.”

I did too, but I wouldn’t say that out loud. Students were reported to be committing crimes and causing some chaos in town. A few teachers were even attacked by these rogue students. They were creepily claiming that “The age of the Net will get its reckoning.” That was a clip I heard on a video website, with a few theories being thrown around here and there.

“Class, quiet down,” Ms. Tina commanded, “We have police and Officials looking into the matter right now. But our school doesn’t have criminals, fortunately.”

“Except for Lan,” Dex coughed loudly, driving every eyeball to where I was sitting.

“Except for me, Ms. Tina,” I sighed.

“Still, we will do our best to fill some roles for our other teachers,” she declared, “And for this class, you’ll have only one substitute for Algebra. And he’s punctually late.”

“Guess you’ll get along with him, Lan,” Mega snickered.

“Can it,” I muttered, already hating today.

“I’m sorry for being late, huh!!” The door slid open and the owner of the voice entered the room.

He wore a plain white button up shirt with a red neck tie, having a special clip on it to hold it down. He had blue pants with a black belt, and despite having white socks, he had brown sandals underneath them. This guy was pretty thin and lanky, having spike brown hair that was like an afro, but with spikes, and glasses for his eyes. As his eyes looked like they were squinting, there was no way I could tell you his eye color.

“N-No way…” I whispered, seeing the one and only Mr. Higsby in our class.

“Class, you must know of Yamitaro Higsby, the owner of Higsby’s, correct?” Ms. Tina questioned, gesturing to him.

“Nice to meet you all, huh!” Mr. Higsby bashfully scratched his head, “I recognize some of you in your seats! It’s weird that I’m here, huh?”

“Higsby’s gonna be our math teacher?” Dex mumbled, “Guess it’ll be fine.”

“To think Mr. Higsby will be filling in as a teacher here,” Mega thought, “Wonder if he’ll be paid in Zenny or Battle Chips?”

“Will it matter with him?” I cracked. After the introduction, Ms. Tina got on with the roll call, and we went on with our day.

01001101 01001101 01000010 01001110

As I sat at a lunch table, waiting for Ripley to show up, I actually decided to suggest an idea for food. It was a ridiculous idea, but I genuinely thought I was on to something here. “Crazy idea, Mega, but what if we actually steam ham instead of grill or roast it?”

“What?” My Navi gave me an odd look, like I just said something dumb. Which I may or may not have done.

“Really,” I couldn’t believe this either, but I wasn’t stopping now. “Instead of steamed clams, what about steamed hams? I mean, steamed ham?”

The PET was silent, save for a quiet sigh from MegaMan. I could tell he was so done with me, rubbing his hand against his face. “Lan, that is the dumbest thing I have ever heard you say in my life,” he finally told me, holding nothing back.

“It was just a thought, MegaMan…” I uttered, “A simple no would’ve done it.”

“Who’s ever heard of a steamed ham?”

“No one, but that’s what makes it genius!”

“If no one’s ever heard of it, then why do you think no one talks about it?”

“Hey, Lan!!” Mr. Higsby came by with his lunch to speak with me.

“Hey, Mr. Higsby!” I greeted him, “How’s the business?”

“Doing great!!” Higsby grinned, “By the way, thanks for helping me a few weeks ago!”

“No problem!” I nodded, “Anyone who dares to hurt the World’s Number 1 Chip Collector is gonna have a hard time with me around!” Right. Higsby was actually kidnapped a few weeks ago, before I got myself arrested. I took it upon myself to find him, catching up with the kidnappers and chasing them off. He doesn’t remember most of what happened, but I can’t blame him. He was probably drugged when he got abducted.

“It’s not right that you lost your City NetBattler license,” Higsby sighed, “You’ve helped us out so much, then something like this happens to you.”

“Well, I guess I did the wrong thing,” I admitted, “and I have to pay for it.”

“I wish I could’ve come by to visit you, but I’ve been so busy and tired on most days.”

“That’s okay, Higsby.”

“No, it’s not, huh,” He shook his head, “I even made plans to visit you, but something always came up when I got around to it.”

“Your work is important,” I tried assuring him, “You actually have a chain of chip stores across the country! You’ve come a long way from a small store in town!”

“I guess, huh,” the smart man pondered, “but I still wish I could’ve visited you.”

“That’s alright.” It’s too bad I couldn’t tell him about my Synchro Chip and show it to him. He was a high profile businessman at this point, making him a target for criminals who want powerful chips or Zenny. Telling him about Cross Fusion would only put him at more risk, what with his kidnapping a few weeks ago.

“I should tell you that something’s been bothering me, huh,” Higsby muttered, eating a weenie. Yes, our school has weenies, the human kind and the food kind, but that’s not the point. “It’s about when I was taken by those guys.”

“What about it?” I was willing to listen, eating my chicken.

“I was carrying some rare Battle Chips and at least 400,000 Zenny in my PET when I got taken,” he explained, “My Navi, NumberMan, told me they accessed the PET, but they didn’t take anything in it.”

“Is that so?”

“If they wanted to take me, they would also take whatever I had, huh? But they didn’t.”

“Are you saying they never meant to kidnap you for any ransom?” I was getting confused.

“Pretty much, huh,” Higsby replied, “That’s all I got. Hope you work out your ordeal, huh?”

“Thanks, Higsby,” I smiled at him, “I’ll get past this, then I can be a NetBattler again!”

“We need a guy like you in our streets, huh!!” he chirped, heading off to eat his food somewhere. When he left, my PET made a noise.

“Lan, you’ve got mail!!” Mega told me, to which I looked at the PET. It was from Ripley.

“What’s Ripley got to say?” I questioned, pulling up the message. I would be shocked that people still use email in PETs, but it’s for business messages, so I’m not too surprised. The subject line read “Cross Fusion Explanation.” As for the message, it’s a doozy.

It’s me, Lan. My computer picked up a Cross Fusion reading in town while hearing news of some car fire. No doubt you were involved, huh? Anyway, I figured you met a WWW member, so I should go into detail about Cross Fusion and how some of it is possible.

Cross Fusion is the form a human can take on with their NetNavi, through the process of a Synchro Chip inserted into a PET, though long durations and the Cross Fusion ability depends on your Synchro Rating, as you figured out. With Cross Fusion, the roles of Navi and operator are reversed, as you must’ve guessed. It should be noted, though, that the Navi receives damage if you take damage. It’s a drawback that can’t be helped, but the tradeoff should be worth it.

Your weapons are the Battle Chips and other abilities of the Navi, your strength, speed and agility is greater than a normal human’s, and you should be more durable. Humans aren’t known for having thick skin, after all. Oh, and your Navi has impressive scanning abilities and can give you different functions for whatever environment is needed.

Next generation technology made Cross Fusion possible, though not without trial and error. Most attempts to have a Navi and operator be in sync failed until a year ago, when we had a success with one pair. A few months ago, we even had success with someone else, though a few augmentations needed to be made to have a greater, more enduring team. In fact, we needed something called a Dimensional Area for Cross Fusion to be possible.

Dimensional Areas were made from a concept that Mr. Famous came up with, which involved the manipulation of Electromagnetic Waves, EM Waves for short. They’re dangerous in great quantities, which is why it’s stored in generators for Dimensional Areas. But we’ve learned that they can be emitted from PETs, so we decided to take advantage of that. Your PET is customized well, and it’s completely possible to store a set amount of EM Waves, then with the Synchro Chip and the Navi, to reconfigure the human and make them a part of the Cyberworld!

“Wait, what?” I needed to stop for a second, this was jumping the shark.

“Lan, this is fascinating!!” MegaMan grinned, “Imagine EM Waves having a greater use for this, besides broadcasting, cooking, and for medical equipment!!”

“We’ve gone from casting to manipulating these things?” I did need to continue, as there was more.

Your PET will always store the EM Waves that are around us, whether you were aware of them or not. The waves the PET stores are modified to be in tune with the Navi’s signature, which allows MegaMan to Megamerge with you. Get it? Megamerge?

“Rip,” I sighed, annoyed with his dumb jokes.

As long as you stay in tune with MegaMan, you won’t have any trouble fusing with him. But beware, the WWW has access to this tech as well. They might’ve even stolen some of our other projects. I heard they made off with a CopyBot from Cyber City a few weeks ago.

“Would’ve been nice to know that,” Mega spoke aloud, shrugging on my screen.

The WWW will do anything with this tech. That’s why I thought you could do something about it? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not asking you to pitch in at the expense of your reputation or education. We already have two Officials who can perform Cross Fusion in this group. Mr. Famous believes this could be our best defense against the WWW. And I told him all about you, so he thinks you’d make a good addition to the group. You’d have to tell Detective Bluemann about this, though.

“So there’s already two people who can Cross Fuse,” I whispered, moving on with my lunch.

It’s up for consideration. I only asked you to hang onto the Synchro Chip, not force you into a delicate operation. As long as you take it up with the detective and decide for yourself, that’ll work. I wait for your answer, Lan.

Sincerely, Ripley

P.S. I wasn’t supposed to tell you about Dimensional Areas or the EM Waves in your PET, so could you keep it a secret even if you don’t want to do this? Thanks.

“Ripley…” I slapped my face with my free palm, groaning all the while. “Are you kidding me?”

“Nothing’s secret between friends, remember?” Mega smirked.

“I agree with that statement,” Mayl concurred, sitting at my table like nothing was going on. Wait a minute…

“O-Oh, Mayl!” I had no idea she was right there, so I sort of clammed up. “H-How long have you been there?”

“I just got here,” She took a spoonful of chicken soup, which was a little spicy but creamy and tasty overall. “You were talking to MegaMan, right?”

“It’s no longer strange to be seen as talking to yourself these days,” I murmured, finishing my food.

“True,” Mayl nodded, “Roll and I do that too. Right, Roll?”

“Yep,” she responded from one of Mayl’s bags, “How’s your day, Lan?”

“Okay,” It didn’t feel natural to have a conversation with Roll that didn’t involve being sarcastic with each other. She apologized about that one comment about me the other day, but I was over it. It’s not like she had to go the extra mile with changing any attitude with me.

“We get out Friday, so it counts for something, right?” Mega wondered, “We’ve got plans after school.”

“I’ve heard from Redd, actually,” Mayl pointed out, “You’re going to talk with him about something. He just wouldn’t tell me what.”

“It’s nothing important,” I knew I needed to steer the topic elsewhere, “Just some boring stuff that happened.”

“Unless it was something crazy or exciting,” She pushed it, “Maybe some sort of crime?”

“Why would I get involved with a crime? I’m one strike away from being out.”

“Because you can never seem to catch a break,” Mayl chuckled, “And nothing stops you.”

“I appreciate the flattery, but it’s nothing. Really.”

“The burnt car in our neighborhood disagrees with you.”

“Either the car overheated or someone decided to upgrade to burning cars.”

Mayl was intensely staring at me, knowing how dodgy I’ve been acting. She could tell I had something to hide. “Lan, were you a victim of the arsonist that’s been going around?”

“Me, a victim?” I questioned, “Usually, I’m the one doing the clobbering on criminals.”

“I took a peek at some of Redd’s paperwork,” she directly stated, having some more of her soup. “Your home address was in print, and from the looks of it, another crime happened in your house. An arson.” I blinked, pretending I didn’t know anything. She can’t know anything, lest I get her involved in my problems when I don’t want her to. “What happened to your oven?”

“Aurora Borealis,” I replied, throwing her off. Mayl was disappointed and amused by my answer. “What do you think?”

“Are you going to tell me the rest?”

“You don’t need to be involved with everything in my life,” I wasn’t willing to let her in, “Besides, why talk to someone who doesn’t know everything?”

“It’s true you don’t know everything, but you know something. You just don’t want to admit it, for whatever dumb reason.”

“It’s not dumb!” Realizing I got caught in a lie again, I closed my mouth, turning my head away from her.

“So you have a reason for lying to me,” Mayl sternly crossed her arms, “I hope it’s a good one. Because you are technically perjuring yourself.”

“Redd’s not around, Mayl,” I huffed, “Also, I plan on talking with him about that case more. I wasn’t up to say everything right there.”

“Then he won’t mind if I join you.”

“Forget it. I’m doing nothing if you’re gonna be there.”

“Is Mr. Match claiming responsibility for the other arson cases? Did he have an accomplice or an employer?”

“What does it matter to you?” I asked, no longer questioning how compromised Redd handling of the case is. “You’re not a detective, last I checked.”

“If you know something, you have to say it, Lan!” Mayl was almost scolding me, “You could be arrested for holding back vital information!”

“I’m not purposely trying to lie to him,” I defended myself, “Just by trying to say what happened, he would think that I’m lying. But I can prove that what happened is real.”

“Really?” She raised an eyebrow, “But you won’t tell me?”

“It wasn’t an option for me,” I was getting ready to leave, “And it’s not your business, anyway.”

“After the last few days where the WWW was involved in some local crimes,” Mayl scoffed, “I’m invested in this.”

“So? You can’t take them on. You’re not even a NetBattler!”

“And you think you can handle it?”

“If FireMan’s all the WWW’s got, then sure, bring them on!!” And that was the last nail in the metaphorical coffin.

“Hold on,” She raised a hand up, processing what I boasted to her. “FireMan? Is Match a WWW agent?”

“Well, I didn’t mention that detail,” I stupidly responded, “but I didn’t need the attention on me again. I’ve had enough of that.”

[BGM: Oblivion Land, Mega Man X Command Mission]

“I knew it…” Mayl grimaced, scowling right at me. “Lan, did your IQ conveniently drop while in detention or did the oven’s heat melt it?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I got up, secretly afraid of Mayl, though my expression hid that part.

“I’ll say this as calmly as possible,” she hissed, “You hid. Vital. Information.”

“It’s just a small detail, big deal.”

“I’m ashamed of you, Lan,” Mayl shook her head, “You hid an important detail about the investigation from Redd, and you tried to keep it that way, even after what happened to your mother!”

“Hey, hey!” I shushed her, “First off, people didn’t know the arson was a WWW crime. Second, having three Ws in the report wouldn't make a big difference, just put more heat on me. Three, Mom didn’t get hurt or roughed up, and that’s good enough for me. Also, I did okay by myself!”

“Mrs. Hikari was in danger and it didn’t matter if the WWW was more concerned with something else or not.”

“Well, it’s all good, anyway. Whatever they were looking for, they couldn’t find it. It was a waste of time.”

“And that’s supposed to make me feel better? You hid information from Redd. I’ll have to tell him.”

“I’ll do it myself!” I felt justified in trying to keep her out of this, though it might not have been the best idea in hindsight. “I don’t need your help!”

“You’ll need me to get Redd to overlook it, this time,” She got up from her seat, ready to take her lunch tray to be washed. “Even if you had a legitimate reason for keeping this from me, you shouldn’t have hid the fact that it was the WWW who attacked your home.”

“What’s your stake in this?” Mayl was getting in my business as usual, but I felt she was going a little bit far here. I needed to know why she was so concerned over this. “Why have you been asking me these questions?”

“The WWW is going too far,” she simply stated, “And they need to be stopped.” She exhaled some air and peered her eyes at me, deciding to tell me something. “Remember our elementary teacher, Ms. Mari?”

“Ms. Mari?” I paused, remembering her from my past. “Why are you bringing her up?” Then it dawned on me. It unfortunately dawned on me. With crimes being committed by students and teachers getting caught up in their antics, then that would mean… “Oh, no,” I gasped, “Don’t tell me that she’s—!!”

“She’s recovering at the hospital,” My worries were quelled by Mayl, “So she should be out soon. But her injuries could’ve been worse, I’m told.”

“And it was the WWW…” I looked back at the arson at home and how I felt Mom and I were in danger. “It’s lucky that Ms. Mari wasn’t killed.”

“Sure,” Mayl flatly said, “Luck is all it comes down to, huh?”

“Wait, Mayl,” I doubled back, “I didn’t mean it like that. And about me hiding things from you. I was only doing it to—!”

“Help?” she interrupted me for the last time, “Since when is lying in the same vein as helping?” I was beginning to feel guilty over this, despite thinking I was in the right. I was keeping her out of any potential danger, but I severely underestimated Mayl. If only I paid more attention to her, I’d know to what extent. “I actually met with your dad the other day,” she told me, “He even asked how you were doing since getting out of juvie.”

“My Dad asked about me?” Truth be told, I was more surprised that he even mentioned me then wondered if I was alright. I haven’t talked to him in years, let alone thought any good of him.

“It must be nice,” Mayl said with a sad smile, “Your parents haven’t forgotten nor will forget about you, no matter where you are. Maybe you really are lucky.” She walked off, far away from my table.

“Wait, Mayl!” I tried calling out, but she ignored me. I wished I could’ve told her then, but it would have to come later. The bell rang for the next period.

“You can talk to her later, Lan,” MegaMan said to me, “You had a good reason. She just needs to hear it, that’s all.”

“I screwed up again, MegaMan,” I shook my head, “I’m losing another friend because of a dumb misunderstanding.”

“Don’t think like that, Lan!” my Navi shouted, “Sure, she might not like the implication that you think she can’t defend herself…”

“I wasn’t implying that when I wanted the detective to keep his mouth shut about the case!!” I retorted, holding the PET up to my face.

“Still, she’ll come around. Believe me, she’ll understand.”

“She and Ripley are the only friends I’ve got left,” I sighed, “There’s no one else. Dex and Tory want nothing to do with me, I bet Yai’s forgotten about me, and Hub is gone…” I quieted down, having only reminded myself of a great friend who was no longer here.

“Lan, I’m here,” Mega consoled me, “Deep breaths, in and out.”

“S-Sorry, Hub,” I scratched my head, calling MegaMan by a second name I gave him.

Let me say it like this. Hub Hikari was my twin brother. I say he was because, well… he’s dead. It always hurts my heart to talk about him, and even with Mega here, I never got over it. Calling him Hub puts me at ease and helps me to cope with the loss of my brother. This reminds me that somehow, he’s still here with me. “It’s all good, Lan,” Mega raised his index finger up to suggest something, “You know, maybe we can do something about WWW.”

“Take them on?” I put my lunch tray away and headed back up to the fourth floor, “But they have technology, Hub, more technology than any of us. I bet SciLab is trying to make countermeasures for their schemes.”

“It might be too late by then, Lan, and people are already getting hurt. Mom’s okay, but Ms. Mari wasn’t. It could only get worse from here, so we should do something.”

“I’m just saying, there’s a great chance we could trigger a disaster with one wrong move.”

“But we’re probably the only ones who can stand against them.”

I dwelled on Mega’s words, taking each step up and processing everything. On one hand, we could be the ones who could tackle an emergency, having nothing but Virus Busting skills and the Synchro Chip Ripley gave me. We’ve been in similar situations before, so we could do something. But we weren’t qualified to take on organized crime, and we don’t exactly have experience with investigating them. Plus, we’ve learned that two Official NetBattlers have Cross Fusion and actual experience.

Even so, shouldn’t we at least try to fight so crime doesn’t hurt innocent people? I thought. We should’ve told the detective from the start.

“We really should’ve told the detective from the start,” Mega grumbled aloud, voicing my thoughts. “How come we didn’t, Lan?”

“Wait, how did you know I was thinking that?” I asked Mega, raising one of my eyebrows. “Is this some NetNavi ESP?”

“No, I just read your face,” He grinned, pointing at me. “It’s pretty obvious.”

“Am I that transparent?!”

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The bell rang for a new period to start, with every student in the room sitting in their seats. Knowing that this was going to happen, along with the fact that you can only speak when spoken to in class, I had made a message and sent it to Mayl.

Mayl held her PET, seeing my message spell out, “Come and see Redd after school with me? I’ll reveal everything. Plus, you’ll want to hear something that happened while I was facing Match.” When she turned her head to me, I nodded my head with a promising smile.

“Okay, class!” Mr. Higsby called, taking attendance. “As this is one of the last periods of the day, I’m sure you can’t wait to get out, huh! But first, we’ll take care of some Algebra II. I’ll hand you some algebraic expressions to solve, just for a brief warm-up, huh!” Higsby handed paper out to the entire class, each with the same sheet of math problems. “This is for your current know-how on this class,” he stated, fiddling with the teacher’s desk’s built-in computer. “After fifteen minutes of this, I’ll take the papers up. Then, we’ll move on to linear equations, which the math teacher for this class went over yesterday.”

He looked at his watch for a moment, then outside the window, until he made a little noise and walked over to the door. “Hmm, you can behave yourselves, I’m sure, huh?” he questioned, opening the door. “I actually plan on trading some Battle Chips with you guys when the lesson’s over, huh! I’ll be right back to grab some portable Chip Traders!” Higsby left as soon as he said that, holding his lime green PET. But a few seconds later, he came back in, sticking his head out. “Actually, Lan,” he hollered, “You’re kinda smart with math, huh? I think you can do it with only a few minutes, so mind helping me?”

“Wait, Mr. Higsby,” I shook my head, “I’m actually terrible at this. I don’t think—!”

“Nonsense, huh!! I could use your help! You’ll take care of those problems when you come back with me, huh!”

“Yes, sir…” I reluctantly got up from my desk to go with Mr. Higsby, much to the amusement of some of my peers.

“One hundred Zenny says he fails to do his assignment in fifteen minutes,” one student snickered.

“Two hundred Zenny for him not even being able to do the assignment at all,” another whispered to his friend.

I get out of my seat for two seconds, and they’re already taking bets, I sighed to myself, closing the door behind me. Story of my life.

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“So, this is Lan Hikari…” the voice of Wily murmured, watching live footage of his victims at ACDC High School. “The one who thwarted you, Match.”

“FireMan wanted to get even, but he failed miserably,” Match’s voice echoed over the speaker, calling from elsewhere. “It ruined the CopyBot I was holding for you.”

“We will now see how he and Ms. Sakurai both react to this next situation,” Wily's face peered out from the darkness, showing his white hair sticking out in a few spikes from the back of his head. As an old man, he was balding on the top of his head, which almost looked like a natural skull. His mustache was wild and spiky, and he wore a dark purple monocle with a blue lens over his right eye.

“But if the boy succeeds in interfering,” Match pointed out, “he could be a bigger pain in the neck than the Officials.”

“The entire purpose of the Reeducation Program is to distract the authorities,” the WWW’s leader replied, “Now, stay in position. The train will be coming in a few more hours.” With a few taps on the keyboard, he activated a direct feed to his operative. “Now, my operative. Would you be so kind as to activate the program?”

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“No one is touching Lan’s paper, got it?” Mayl declared, boldly looking around the room as the other students nodded in agreement.

Dex actually thought it would be funny to rip up my paper when I was out, or so I was told from a reliable source. So, that reliable source took it upon herself to guard it like a hawk, even succeeding in an arm wrestle with him over the fate of my paper. Don’t ask why, it’s easier that way. “How did I lose?” Dex mumbled, “My biceps are jacked…”

“The day of reckoning has come for Net Society…” a computerized voice echoed throughout the P.A. system as the blackboard lit up with a brief flash effect that captivated most students in the room.

[BGM: Emergency!, Remastered Tracks Rockman Zero]

“W-What’s that?” Dex was confused, seeing odd optical illusions appear on the board.

“Resistance is futile,” the voice continued, barely showing a wireframe head of an old man. “The EndGame approaches, and the WWW will control the world. But the infested Net Society… must be deleted first!!”

“It’s happening here…!” Mayl whispered to herself as several of her peers panicked, “This must be how the student crimes have happened!”

“You low humans depend on your computers and Navis to live, but they will fail you in the end! But at the end of a great global reset, you will learn to bow to your new master in time! Until then, speed the end up, cause chaos in the name of the WWW!! Delete! Delete!!”

“The doors are locked!!” one of the girls screamed, pulling at the handle. “We’re locked in!!”

“Don’t panic!!” Dex attempted to calm everyone down, “Clearly, the problem is in the school’s network! GutsMan and I will take care of it!!”

I hope Lan can find a way to stop the WWW while outside, Mayl thought, realizing there was only one thing she could do now. In the meantime, I’ll have to disable the program and unlock the school.

“Mayl?” Roll called, her operator responding with a press of the emblem on her PET.

“Jack in, Roll!! Execute!!” It was her turn now.

CHAPTER 4 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Reddington Bluemann © HatOnFire/Me

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Nothing is as it appears to be. There are always questions to be asked, with answers waiting to be found. And as long as I’ve been here, the question I’ve always asked myself is why. Why am I here? If I had a purpose, I wanted to find one. I felt myself in need of one. I just didn’t want to be weak. Being in a state of helplessness, just standing by on the sidelines and watching something bad happen, that’s weakness.

Lan changed after the funeral. We all did. But I was ignorant to how much. He came off as having a cold exterior, living in the moment and living free. Free, but reckless. Sure, he had that smile on his face, but it wasn’t as bright as when we were kids. It was dim, forced. When it came to catching criminals, he was good at it. He was a natural born NetBattler who took initiative, seeing the simple solutions to glaring problems. With MegaMan as his Navi, he could do anything. But over time, his darker side would show. He became limited in what he could do, with the Officials cracking down on him over proper ethics and procedures, combined with his record as a juvenile. As much as I hate to admit it, Lan Hikari was a vigilante, and that behavior isn’t tolerated in this city. His actions made him well known, for better and worse.

I wished I could have done something to help him. I wished that I could have gotten him to think clearly about what was important and move on from the past. But I failed. I failed by doing nothing. That was not going to be me. I will never again be on standby. I had to change, not just for myself, but for Lan, too. I searched for new skills to learn, taking a martial arts class and an archery class. I even dared to apply for a City NetBattler license. To my own surprise, I became good at NetBattling, helping people, and solving small crimes. In a short while, my brains and skills got me an Official NetBattler license. But I had to keep an eye out for trouble, too. Something was rising through the cracks in the surface, and the whole surface will be broken down by the forces lurking underneath. They will not get that chance.

I am an Official NetBattler, and my name is Mayl Sakurai. My adopted father, Reddington Bluemann, is a detective in the NetPolice. Lately, I’ve been working with him to track a criminal group called the WWW. The only problem with finding them is that they can find you.

My NetNavi, Roll, gracefully levitated above the floor for a split second before touching it with her feet. She took in her surroundings, seeing the digital sky change red, blue, green, and yellow, just as numbers and letters disappear and reappear behind flowing grids.

[BGM: Running Through the Cyberworld, Mega Man Battle Network]

“You know something, Mayl?” Roll spoke to me, attempting to ease the sudden tension. “I think the network’s being hacked.”

“Thanks for your input,” I rolled my eyes with a smirk, “Now shut down this program!”

“That could be difficult,” a NormalNavi model stated, overhearing our conversation. “The program attempting to brainwash humans is causing several breaks in the network. Time is something that you may not have, disregarding the sudden rise of viruses here.”

“Brilliant,” I murmured as Roll saw several Navis try to face the viruses, with mixed success and failure.

A virus breed known as Spooky, a skull-faced virus that had a red plus on its forehead, with a purple ghost-like body, appeared in front of a girl Navi in orange, swatting her with its long tongue. Don’t ask me how digital ghosts can have tongues, let alone long ones.

“Ah!!” she screamed as she fell to the cyber floor, failing to notice another virus placing a time bomb, counting down from three. The virus was a breed known as Handy, characterized by a light colored, four-fingered hand, looking like a gauntlet. Its palm was black, as were some of the detailed accents on the gauntlet’s base, and the fingertips were yellow.

“Roll Arrow!!” Roll’s right forearm morphed into a pink longbow with a buster in the middle, slightly exposing a heart-shaped point. She fired, striking the bomb and destroying it.

“Move in!” I ordered, using my PET to transmit a Battle Chip to Roll. “High Cannon! Slot in!!”

Roll’s right arm became a blue cannon, and she shot it at the Handy virus, deleting it. “Roll Flash!!” She proceeded to levitate and float in front of the Spooky virus, stabbing it with her antennae. As the virus went down, she materialized a pink heart above her left hand, allowing it to flow to the ambushed Navi and heal her.

“Thank you, Roll!” The Navi got up, “There’s so many viruses here!”

“It isn’t safe here!” Roll told her, “Tell the other Navis to jack out!”

“But our operators!” she protested until Roll calmed her down.

“We’ll get them out. You have to go now.”

As the Navi jacked out, another one slammed his fists down, unleashing a massive shockwave that deleted two Swordys.

This Navi was larger than most, having a red chest, black legs with vertical blue lines on both sides of his body, and yellow metallic boots. His arms were long, allowing his large, yellow gauntlets with gray fingers to reach to the floor. On his back was some form of a backpack that looked more like a pair of batteries to me.

His eyes were green with the lower part of his face covered by a gray face guard. The upper part of his head looked similar to a helmet, but was square and flat, and there was a green gem decorated in the middle of his forehead. His emblem, imprinted on the sides of his head as well as on the front of his chest, was a silver ring surrounding a green plus sign, which was a basic design on some construction helmets in my country.

That’s Dex’s NetNavi, GutsMan. He’s strong, but too overconfident and a little bit dim. He reminds me of Lan, sometimes. Not sure if that’s even a good thing.

“Guts guts!!” GutsMan chanted, “Who’s got the guts?!”

“Good work, GutsMan!!” Dex cheered, “You got the guts!”

“It’s hard to call it good work when so many Navis almost got deleted,” I muttered, “And someone’s going to a lot of trouble to make us WWW agents.”

“I figured that out when the announcement played,” Dex replied, “My head’s feeling a little weird, though.”

“Now then, my young agents!” The voice continued to ring, with a small and almost soothing hum echoing in the speaker. “Would some of you be so kind as to restrain any resistors of our might?”

“He’s gotta be kidding!” Dex almost chortled, “This brainwashing thing ain’t working!”

The electronic blackboard showed the 3D wireframe of the old man with a colorful, swirling background. Looking at it was nauseous as it was, so I closed my eyes and turned my head away. If I shot another glance at it, I was certain my mind would be lost to them.

“You’re wrong,” I told Dex, “It’s working. Even if we get out of the room, we won’t escape the sound. We need to get to the servers and shut them down. That should prevent the program behind the brainwashing from affecting anyone else.”

“So, it’s an inside job?”

“Very likely.”

“R-Restrain them…” a student mumbled in a daze, clutching his head before sitting down. “No… I-I…”

“If you two are going to do something, be quick!” another student exclaimed, tapping her finger on the desk. “I don’t think we can hold out for long!”

“Roll, take GutsMan to the security lock program!” I commanded, “It’s connected online, so it must be in your area!”

“On it!!” Roll nodded, running along a path with GutsMan close behind her.

Lan, I hope you can get here, I thought with a twinge of worry, We’ll need you.

“Is that a car circling the building?!” A group of students were looking outside, catching some unusual sight. I was very unaware of Lan’s own problems…

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“Oh snap!!” Lan’s face was pressed against the car window as the car screeched with a hard turn. “MegaMan! Do something!”

“I’m trying!!” MegaMan shouted, with the sound of his buster firing echoing in the PET speakers.

“We have to get outta here and stop him!” Lan muttered, the car suddenly jerking to the left, sending him to meet the car’s backseat. “I should’ve been more careful!” Right now, Lan was stuck in a car with viruses tampering with the self-driving A.I., standard issue for most cars today, putting him in a distressing state. “This is why I hate self-driving—!” He couldn’t finish his sentence, being sent headfirst to the car door by another dangerous turn. “GAH!!”

“Lan!!” MegaMan called, facing down Spikey viruses, a canine-like virus with the ability to spit out fire balls. These variations were known as Spikey 3, the strongest of its generic breed, having spikey, silver fur and small yellow stripes along their backs. “I need something good!” He dodged the fire that came straight from the beasts’ mouths.

“Wait a sec!!” Lan saw a few Battle Chips on the car’s floor, quickly reaching for one of them. “Here! Aqua Sword!!”

“Perfect!!” MegaMan’s right arm turned into a slightly transparent blue blade, then swung at two of the viruses, instantly deleting them due to the natural order of elements. Fire’s weak to Aqua, which is weak to Elec, which is weak to Wood, and the cycle repeats with Fire.

“Hurricane! Attack +10! Double Slot in!!” Lan inserted a pair of chips in the PET, with Mega’s arm morphing into a fan-like buster. He aimed at the Spikey 3 that slightly came close to closing in on him, with a tornado connecting and utterly decimating it.

GRAAHHH!! The last Spikey 3 spat out a fire ball, one that could’ve incinerated the blue Navi, if not for a Rock Cube appearing in front of him. The blast engulfed the cube, even hitting the panels on the cube’s side.

“Guts Punch!!” Data was sent to Mega, giving him the strong fist he needed to punch the cube into the virus, deleting him.

“Here’s the brake program!!” Mega darted to the structure that looked similar to the car’s driving mechanism, stepping on a pedal. In an instant, the car halted with an ear-piercing screech.

“HEY!!” Lan dropped to the floor in the process, tasting the mat.

“Sorry, Lan!!” Mega nervously chuckled with a little grin, “These brakes are really touchy, huh?”

“Just get me outta this car…” the juvenile boy grumbled, reaching for the handle of the door. “Stupid childproof locks…” The car stopped running with a quick command, and the locks were released immediately after. Lan got out, making a mad dash to the front of the school. “Jack in, MegaMan!! Execute!!” Lan sent his Navi in the school network, probably jumping with his PET in hand. I never understood the appeal trying to act cool like that, not when you could just raise the PET and still look cool.

“I’m in!” Mega took in his sights, seeing the network suffer a few breaks. From passages dematerializing to the sky changing dark shades of colors. “Lan, whatever’s going on online seems to be affecting the building!”

“Just what is Higsby up to?!” Lan growled, remembering getting himself locked in a car. He recalled Higsby’s mouth contorting into an ignorant smirk, seemingly feigning obliviousness as the car started and took Lan for a ride.

“I’ve got it!!” Mega took a listen to the blaring sounds in the school, connecting them to the frequency he latched onto in the High School Computer. “There’s a strange announcement blaring inside, which is caused by something in the network! It appears to be a type of brainwashing program that’s been planted here!”

“Okay, so what?!” Lan answered with urgency.

“What if that affected Mr. Higsby, too?”

“Huh? You mean…?!” Understanding well enough, Lan pounded his fist on the school’s locked doors. “Oh, I’m so stupid!!” he belittled himself, “How could I think he’d do this of his own will?! Higsby’s being forced to do this!!”

“We have to save everyone!” Mega concluded, running through the Cyberworld of the school. Come whatever virus may, he wasn’t going to let that happen.

“I saw him throw some chips in the car when he locked us in!” Lan noted, “He wanted us to get out!”

“It’s another WWW scheme!”

[BGM: A Great Twist - Suspense I, The Great Ace Attorney Adventures]

“Open the doors, Higsby!!” Lan yelled in his PET, believing the culprit to be listening to them. “Let us help you!!”

“What could you possibly do for me, huh?” a garbled voice echoed in the area with a small screen come to life. The lighting was dim, yet Lan made the connection of the voice, even seeing the twinge of light in Higsby’s glasses. “You have nothing to bargain with.”

“You’re being forced to do this, Higsby,” Lan spoke to him as calmly as possible, “Whatever the WWW promised you, it’s a lie. They’ll turn on you after all is said and done.”

“They would with their lesser men, I believe,” Higsby placed his fingers closely together, almost considering Lan’s words. “But for those truly devoted to the cause, I think there’s a reward in it.”

“And did they tell you that, or was it a hasty conclusion you made?”

“This isn’t really personal, Lan. I’m just doing this to get enough Zenny to buy rare chips on the market.”

“Do you hear yourself?! This is not what the Higsby I know does!”

“Don’t talk like you know me, huh!!” the brainwashed store owner shouted, slamming his hands on a table. “I’m a man of opportunity! When it knocks, I listen as clearly as I can!”

“You were ambushed by two guys looking to make a quick score,” Lan shook his head, “but they were hired to brainwash you. You need to fight it!”

“But why would he do that?” a slightly shrill, computerized voice raised the question, “It’s fun not having to think for yourself when someone else does it for you!”

“NumberMan!!” Mega recognized him right away, “Oh no, they got you too, didn’t they?!”

“My mind has never been clearer than it has been,” NumberMan replied, “The world is filled with disgusting humans, held down by their own flaws and motivated by a selfish desire to fill the void in their lives.”

“What are you saying?” Lan questioned, “You’ve been brainwashed, too. Reprogrammed to carry out their orders.”

“Nonsense! We’ve wanted to do this since the beginning!”

“Enough chit-chat, NumberMan!” Higsby cut his Navi off, “We need to keep the program running!”

“We’ll get inside, Higsby,” Lan declared, “And when we do, we’ll find you and bring you back to reality.”

“Not the reality I want to live in,” Higsby’s transmission shut off after speaking his piece.

“Forget about unlocking the doors, MegaMan,” Lan ordered his Navi, “Taking out that program takes priority. It’ll stop everything here.”

“I guess we’ll be fighting NumberMan when I get to the server area…” Mega sighed, running down a slope towards a group of viruses.

“We’ll manage,” The juvenile student nodded, throwing his PET in the air. He untied the bandana on his arm, and quickly tied it on his head, covering up most of his spiky hair on top. Finishing up on that, he caught the PET on its descent, sliding out the keypad for battle.

I hope nothing bad happened to Mayl or Dex, he thought silently.

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“Sonic Wave!!” Roll took her pickaxe to the floor, sending out a quick shockwave, deleting a Handy and Mettaur 2.

“Shockwave!!” GutsMan followed suit, making one with his fists, taking down a VolGear virus.

“I’ll unlock the door, you cover me!” Roll ordered, running to a security door, composed of horizontal, flickering blue lines. It was blocking access to another passage, which served as an electronic lock to the classroom door.

“Got it!!” GutsMan nodded, launching a Rocket Guts Punch to delete a Canodumb virus.

“Emergency override,” I calmly whispered, “Official authorization: Mayl Sakurai. Official # 321-2001. NetNavi: Roll. Designation: R-011.”

“EMERGENCY OVERRIDE ACCEPTED,” A computer’s monotone voice was heard in my PET, “REROUTING LOCKDOWN ACCESS. AWAITING FURTHER COMMANDS.”

“Unlock all locked doors in ACDC High School immediately,” I smirked, feeling glad to be an Official. One of the perks of being one is that most computers are updated to give an Official or officer access in dire situations. Though I’ll admit, people have been calling this extensive authority a breach of human rights and privacy.

“ALL DOORS UNLOCKED,” The computer did as I told it to, and I immediately opened the door.

“It’s done!” I ran out the door, urging my other classmates to follow. “Come on!”

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“Hey, the door’s open!!” Lan noticed, having rested his hand against the previously locked handle. “What did you do, MegaMan?!”

“Nothing!” Mega moved to the side, dispatching a Spooky virus with a Long Sword. “I’ve been fighting viruses left and right, remember?”

“Whatever happened, I can stop Higsby now!!” Lan smirked as he got inside.

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“Let’s make this an official two player game, NumberMan,” Higsby murmured, typing swiftly on a computer keyboard.

“Yes, Mr. Higsby,” NumberMan agreed, fulfilling his command.

NumberMan’s appearance was a little strange, even by Navi standards; there was so much detail to him. He had an electronic brain of sorts placed in his transparent light bulb head. The Navi emblem was on the surface of that brain of his, oddly enough. He had glowing yellow eyes and a small square mouth that glowed every time he speaks. His neck was black and very thin, connecting to an orange circle above his shoulders. His torso, like the lower part of his face, was lime green, having a rectangular space in his chest displaying three digit numbers, his hit points. His back was orange, just like that circle under his neck. Orange lines separated the green from the light tan color of part of his orb-shaped shoulders, down to part of his forearms. His hands were more like arcade claw machines, only those white claws were far less sharp and more three-dimensional.

NumberMan’s partially thin abdomen was black, separated by another orange line, leading to his light tan legs and lime green boots. The boots had a circle on top and a square above the soles, though his feet didn’t have the same shape as humans or regular Navis did. It was more like his feet were in the shape of tree stumps, round all over with a flat surface at the bottom.

The electronic brain in Higsby’s Navi flickered yellow several times, just as he stood next to a virtual rendition of a row of computer servers.

“Now, Mr. Higsby,” the WWW’s leader called in his ear, “Would you be so kind as to have the resisters taken care of?”

“I’m already on it, my lord,” Higsby nodded like the drone he had been reduced to, continuing to type.

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“We don’t have time!” I shouted as five other students got out, only for the door to slide itself shut, locking the room again!

“Hey, it won’t open!!” Dex shouted, jiggling the handle before resorting to body slamming the door.

“It’s not working!” one student cried, “We’re still trapped!”

“Says you!!” A female student next to me wasted no time in running out on us, “I’m getting out of here!”

“The doors here are built in with shock absorbers!” I told Dex, “You’re wasting time!!”

“INTRUDER DETECTED!!” a computerized voice echoed throughout the school, indicating something bad was going to happen. “LOCKDOWN PROTOCOL ENGAGED!!” Metal shutters came down over each of the windows and doors on the building, with bright white emergency lights turning on instantly.

“We’re trapped again!!” the student that tried running yelled, “We can’t run now!”

“There is no escape from the WWW,” The P.A. continued spouting the WWW’s propaganda, “You will all serve the WWW and its ultimate purpose, deleting our enemies! Would you be so kind as to join us for the revolution ahead, students?”

“P-Purpose…” the five students who had gotten out of the classroom repeated, while the humming in the speakers got a little louder.

“The only way out now is to shut down the server from here,” I looked at Roll in the School Computer though my PET screen, “We need a shortcut, Roll. I don’t think any of us will last long.”

[BGM: RUNNING THROUGH THE CYBERWORLD, ROCKMAN.EXE 15TH ARRANGE BEST TRACK]

“I’ve been trying, Mayl!” she responded, deleting a Mettaur with a Roll Arrow. “But with how many breaks in the network there are, combined with the distance…”

“If the network is modeled after the school in the real world,” I thought, “Then the central point of the network must be below you! The server’s in the first basement, right?”

“That’s right!!” Roll answered, “Which means the culprit is under us!!”

“The Air Shoes and Float Shoes programs installed into you will help you get down quicker! Go now!”

“On it!!” Roll leapt off the platform she was on, moving down several digital floors until levitating to the one she needed. She was aware that a group of Spooky viruses were waiting for her. “Let’s be patient,” my pink Navi suggested, keeping her bow ready. “In a situation like this, MegaMan should be coming along.”

“Dash Attack!!” Not a moment too soon, Mega came down from the floor above us, with a Fishy virus taking the place of his right forearm. With great speed, three Spooky viruses got deleted in a row.

“Tri Spear! Double Slot in!” I passed chip data along to Roll, giving her a total of six spears to fire from her bow. She aimed and took out six of the ghost-like viruses.

The last Spooky moved left and right, hoping to avoid Roll’s attempts to shoot it. As the virus was distracted, MegaMan used the Shock Wave chip, with the wave going in a straight line. It was child’s play for Roll to trick it into moving in the wave’s path, getting itself deleted. “Nice of you to show up, Mega!!” Roll chirped, flashing a thumbs up to him.

“You’re pretty good, Roll!!” Mega complimented, “I can’t recall the last time I saw you take care of viruses like that.”

“Hey, enough flirting down there!” Lan called as his face could be viewed for us to see, “We’ve gotta get rid of that brainwashing program!”

“Lan!!” I felt relieved to know he was alright, “I’m glad you got here! Where’s Higsby?”

“Mr. Higsby’s behind all the school-related crimes!” he told us as Mega ran to a digital security door, “He locked me in his car and took me for a ride!”

“But Higsby would never do that!” I almost argued, having yet to realize everything here.

“That’s what I’m trying to say!” Lan stated, “This brainwashing thing is affecting him, too! He’s been pulled into a WWW crime!!”

“Well, we’ve got to do something now!!” Roll shouted, watching Mega attempt to decipher the door’s code.

“DOOR WILL NOT OPEN WITHOUT PROPER PASSCODE,” a digital voice spoke, showing a series of four digit numbers flickering in the School Computer.

“MegaMan, code breaker!!” Lan commanded, typing something on his keypad.

“Roger!!” Mega nodded, the yellow square on his helmet glowed brightly while small zeros and ones streamed in his green eyes.

“Code breaker?” I questioned with a sigh, “Lan, I thought you got rid of that feature in your PET.”

“What’re you gonna do?” Lan replied grinning, “Arrest me? Last I checked, you’re not a cop.”

“Just get us to Higsby’s Navi,” I chose to ignore that small piece of irony and let the matter slide. There wasn’t any point in telling him he was wrong. It was helping us out, anyway.

“Done!!” Mega unlocked the door, the combination of numbers floating above him dissipating. He and Roll ran through the passage in a hallway of virtual computer servers. Suddenly, a block of dice half our size rolled up to us. The number on top of the die had four marks, indicating 4.

“Move!!” Mega leaped out of the way as Roll levitated and twirled, teleporting back. The die flickered a bright light before exploding in the area.

“Are we having fun yet?!” NumberMan exclaimed, standing on top of a Fishy 2 virus, which was a red-orange version of other Fishy viruses, but fire element. “I know I am!!”

“Were those Spooky viruses supposed to be your last line of defense?” Roll pondered, “They weren’t effective.”

“No, no,” NumberMan shook his head and outreached his arms, “This is my last line of defense!” Two Spikey 3 viruses appeared with two Swordy 3 viruses, which had turquoise colored armor with a purple spike on top and a blue sword of water. Two Canodumb 3 viruses, red versions of the first type, formed in the back, side by side with the Navi who summoned them.

“NumberMan,” Mega lifted his hands up to plead with him, “You and Higsby are under the WWW’s influence.”

“Don’t let your Navi talk nonsense, Lan,” Higsby’s voice cackled in our screens, “Oh, Mayl is here as well, huh?”

“So, you’re behind this,” I shook my head with clear disapproval, “but not of your own will.”

“Does it make a difference?” The glasses on Higsby’s face briefly shined, “The heart wants what it wants. Sometimes, it wants to add more Battle Chips to the collection.”

“Chips bought with the WWW’s filthy money,” Lan scoffed, “The real Higsby would wake up and see what he’s doing is wrong.”

“I am the real Higsby, you obnoxious brat!!” the WWW’s puppet bellowed, “NumberMan, rid us both of these fools that dare to get in our way!!”

“Certainly, Mr. Higsby,” NumberMan replied, his computerized brain flashing rapidly. “Viruses!! Delete them!!”

“Battle routine, set!!” Lan and I readied ourselves in no time at all, with MegaMan and Roll taking their stances.

“Execute!!”

[BGM: Net Battle (AC-MIX), Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection]

The Canodumb viruses opened fire, already having their targets locked in. Mega and Roll leaped to the middle, where they couldn’t get shot at. The Navis drew their personal weapons, charging them up and returning fire. A combined Mega Buster and Roll Arrow made their marks on one of those cannons. “I’ll get the Spikey 3s!!” Lan told me, “Take care of the Swordy 3s!”

“And how will you do that?” I questioned, seeing MegaMan go in.

“Bubble Spread!! Attack +10!!” Mega shot a bubble sphere out, engulfing most of the viruses in front of him, doing heavy damage to the Spikey 3s.

“Elec Sword!” I sent my Navi data for a blue sword that sparkled with electricity, letting her teleport to the Swordy 3s in a dance. They didn’t have a chance to defend themselves.

“Mine 1!” Mega placed a hand on the ground, seemingly doing nothing. However, something did happen, as indicated by one Spikey 3 combusting after stepping on a panel. “Spreader!!” Mega then fired a spread shot at the other Spikey 3 before deleting it with a charged shot.

“Let me take care of one of these Canodumbs!!” Roll insisted, twirling a few feet above the ground to teleport in front of a Canodumb 3. “Roll Flash!!” She jabbed her antennae into the virus that they already hit, deleting it.

“Nice work,” Mega nodded with approval, ducking from a cannon shot. He fired several shots at the last Canodumb 3, taking down its hit points by a good amount.

“Aqua Tower!!” Roll got in front of the blue Navi, her arm temporarily looking like a ghostly version of a VolGear virus, sending out a flowing geyser that dispatched the virus easily.

“The game isn’t over yet!!” NumberMan came down surfing on a Fishy 2 which left a trail of fire in its wake.

“Aqua Sword!!” Lan gave Mega the sword that could split the virus down the middle, succeeding in forcing the bulb-headed Navi to tumble on the ground.

“We’re giving you and NumberMan one more chance, Higsby,” I was getting tired of fighting viruses today, “You can surrender, but after everything, it’ll either be a hospital bed or a jail cell.”

“Like NumberMan said, huh,” the chip collector hissed, transmitting a Battle Chip to his Navi. “The game isn’t over yet!”

“MegaMan, take care of the Reeducation Program!” I told him while Roll got into position, “We’ll deal with this.”

“Why are you barking orders?” Lan inquired, “Only I can tell MegaMan what to do!”

“Your Battle Chips are weak,” I simply pointed out, “And you’re closer to the bottom floor so you can try and snap Higsby out of his trance.”

“She’s right, Lan,” MegaMan agreed, “A few good chips doesn’t make up for a weak Folder.”

“Okay, fine,” Lan sighed, “Just be careful. NumberMan may be weak, but he’s got range.”

“You had experience NetBattling him before, got it,” I nodded, giving Roll the chips she needs, along with the go ahead to attack.

“Mega, the program!!” Lan commanded, with his Navi running to a swirling W in a globe-like cage. He prepared to do everything he could to deal with it.

“Number Ball!!” NumberMan summoned three blue balls with small two digit numbers. They slowly went toward Roll, though she took care of them with a Roll Arrow.

“Quake 2!!” Roll threw a glowing ball that turned into a Flappy 2, a red variant of the Flappy virus. Like the kind of virus it is, it became heavy and dropped itself on NumberMan.

“Fighter Sword!!” I gave Roll an orange, long distance sword, which she swung and connected with her opponent, leaving a significant mark on his left arm.

“Enough!!” he shrieked, holding that arm in pain. “Time Bomb!!” A bomb appeared in front of her, counting down from three to zero. She let it go off, dancing to avoid the explosion at the last second. “Dice Bomb!!” A block of die came from the light green Navi’s claw-like hand, rolling a three and exploding. However, it clearly missed the intended target by a mile.

“Wave! Slot in!!” NumberMan’s operator gave him a chip, which he was happy to use. He threw out a wave of water and sent it Roll’s way.

“Barrier!!” Knowing Higsby would try something like this, I gave Roll a protective barrier that blocked the water from damaging her. Along with…

“Dyna Wave!!” Another pickaxe for Roll to use, but much faster and more powerful. It could’ve shredded through NumberMan if he were more damaged.

“AIEEEEE!!” NumberMan fell to the ground, rolling in pain.

“Alright, how about Muramasa?!” Higsby yelled, holding the rare and highly powerful Battle Chip in his fingertips.

“M-Mr. Higsby…” NumberMan stammered, making the effort to stand up. “Y-You can’t use that chip…! I-It’s too priceless to use…!”

“O-Oh, right,” Higsby cooled down, nervously chuckling to himself.

“Is that the Muramasa Blade chip in your pocket?” I questioned, slightly curious. “The one I helped you get from the Undernet two years ago?”

“H-Huh?” From his screen, I could see a glimpse of the man he once was. “Yeah, it is. Now that I think about it, you turned down the 50,000 Zenny reward I offered you!”

“I didn’t need it,” I shrugged, leaning against the shutters in the hallway I was in. “You had an honest business to run.”

“I-It wasn’t any big deal. I just wanted to add it to my personal Chip Library. You know, you helped me back there.”

“And you helped plenty of customers get the chips they needed. You poured your heart into your shop, almost like how Ms. Mari did for teaching.”

“I never thought of it like that,” He looked back to the past in thought, “Ms. Mari was actually nice, huh? Hey, did something happen?”

“Yeah,” I sighed with some regret, “You know about the student crimes that have happened as of late, right?”

“W-Wait, a-are you saying that she was in the crossfire?” Higsby questioned with shock before a loud sound made him cringe and plug his ears.

“Higsby, what happened?!” I saw what happened from the screen, unable to do something about it. Just then, the noise from the Reeducation Program in the P.A. system got louder in the hallway, forcing me to close my ears with the other students.

“You will do as I command, my new WWW agents!!” the voice roared, “You risk destruction upon yourselves if you disobey me now!!”

[BGM: Vile Battle, Mega Man Maverick Hunter X]

“Higsby, stop this!!” I shouted through my PET, seeing the network fluctuate.

“I-I serve the WWW!!” his voice cried out, “B-But Ms. Mari!! This wasn’t supposed to happen!! What have I done?!”

“Lan, MegaMan!!” I called, “The noise is getting louder in the halls!! The program might be getting to us!! Do something!!”

“I-I’m trying!!” Lan yelled, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth. “But the noise down here…!! I-It’s getting in my head!! M-My brain could explode!! Mega!!”

“I-It’s no good!!” Mega tried covering the ear sections on his helmet, “I-I can’t stop it!!”

“Mega!!” Roll cried, running to his side. “NumberMan, help us!!”

“B-But my allegiance is with the WWW!!” he argued as his brain flickered several times, “I have to serve them! They’re my masters!!”

“You and Higsby are your own masters!!” Lan’s voice got through the network, “They’re making everyone suffer!! They hurt Ms. Mari, and several other students and adults!! Do you want them to get away with this?!”

“N-No…!” Higsby growled, even when the noise in the basement got louder. “I-I’m shutting this down!! NumberMan, Muramasa!!”

“Yamitaro, are you sure?!” NumberMan questioned as the WWW’s hold on him was being outweighed by his desire.

“Yes, now go!!” His operator inserted the chip into his PET, just as NumberMan stood in front of the Reeducation Program.

“Muramasa Blade!!” NumberMan’s right arm turned into a silver katana glowing with violet red energy. With no hesitation, he swung it at the program, cleaving it in two, deleting it and restoring the network.

The School Computer’s security measures kicked in, forcing Navis in an automatic logout. With that done, protocols kicked in, with viruses getting deleted with little warning. The voice and noises over the P.A. system ceased, along with the virtual illusions on every classroom blackboard. WWW was no longer in charge of the school.

“T-They did it,” I sighed in relief, looking at my PET.

“Mayl, are you alright?” Lan asked.

“I’m fine,” I told him, “That was a close one.”

“Mr. Higsby?” Lan called, not getting a response. “Higsby?”

“Something’s wrong…” I had no idea how right I was.

01010111 01010111 01010111

“AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!” Higsby screamed, covering his ears as the noise emanated from his own PET. “MAKE IT STOP, PLEASE!!”

“I’m sorry, Yamitaro…” NumberMan spoke in a monotone voice, “but the master programmed me to do this…”

“Would you be so kind,” the WWW’s leader softly spoke, “Powerful enough words to force a sleeper like you and others to do my bidding, yes? But in your case, another trigger word was needed, in the event you got wise to my suggestions, and because you are unique.”

“P-Please s-stop this…!” Higsby laid on the ground, begging to the leader with tears in his eyes. “I-I can’t take this...!”

“I’m sure you can handle Cross Fusion,” The old man said with a chuckle, “You merely need your mind to be in sync with your Navi. Stand up now, Yamitaro.” Higsby went silent, lifting himself off the ground and picking up his PET. “Your new target is no longer the ACDC High School. But Lan Hikari. Would you get changed and meet him, Yamitaro?”

“Y-Yes…” Higsby stammered, “A-As you wish, L-Lord Wily.”

CHAPTER 5 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Reddington Bluemann and Phyllis Tina © HatOnFire/Me

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“Hey, Mayl?!” Dex called my name from the classroom, knocking on the door that was blocked by the shutter.

“I can hear you, Dex!” I responded with my PET in hand, “Guess the lockdown protocol didn’t make these shutters soundproof.”

“Yeah, well, some of us wanna get outta here!” he stated, looking back at some of the students, sitting in their chairs or on the desks. “This brainwashing thing may’ve had some bad side effects!”

“Working on it!” I looked to Roll, examining the server area of the High School Computer. “How’s it going, Roll?”

“Still trying to get access,” she answered as MegaMan took in some data from a virtual server, “and we can’t get into contact with NumberMan.”

“He was forced to log out, we all were,” MegaMan pointed out, “You did damage him, so maybe Higsby’s tending to him.”

“But we haven’t heard from him, either!” Lan stood in front of the door to a staircase, closed off by the shutters. “I called, but he wouldn’t answer! We need to break in. MegaMan, code breaking time.”

“The computers need time to lift the lockdown protocols themselves,” I told him, “and it’s illegal to use a code breaker to gain unauthorized access.”

“Well, you got access to override the locks somehow,” Lan queried, raising an eyebrow. “Did you use a code breaker?”

“Mayl doesn’t need a thief’s tool to get what she wants!” Roll defended me, despite now being neither the time nor place.

“Roll, not now,” I interrupted her before she could accidentally spill information I didn’t want her to leak. “Lan, all I’m saying is that you need to be patient. We’re not in the danger zone anymore, are we?”

“No,” For a second, I almost believed Lan would agree with me and wait, except it’s Lan. “But we’ve got a man stuck in a basement who hijacked the school, all against his will. I have to do this.” I couldn’t see what was going on three floors below us, but I heard the sound of shutters opening up from my PET. “Uh, that wasn’t me,” Lan managed to say, “The shutters just did that on their own.”

“I told you,” I couldn't help but shrug, even though I was still fearing that something bad could happen. “Now, just wait for the police to come. Higsby was brainwashed, meaning he could still lash out.”

“But that's exactly it!” he countered, “The fact that he was is exactly why we need to check on him! I'm going in!”

“No, Lan!!” I shouted, “Wait for the police! The WWW could still be—!” All I could hear was a dial tone, indicating he hung up on me. I could also see MegaMan jacking out, though his expression showed he was hesitant. “Lan, you…” I had several words in mind for him right now, but there was no time to be angry. As right as he was, he was taking a great risk going in on his own.

I turned to some other students, who were looking at their PETs with some level of anxiousness. One of them called the police, from what I gathered. It was unnecessary, since the lockdown protocol in the school would alert the authorities anyway, even with a hostile takeover, but still. I approached the door blocked by shutters, which still hadn't moved, despite one of them downstairs being able to. Something was wrong.

“Roll, keep trying with the servers,” I commanded, “Lan's probably in trouble, so we need to get out now!”

“I’ll do what I can, Mayl,” She nodded, attempting to gain access. She gave and received data, all with her palm resting against the virtual server.

*RIIIIIING!*

My PET sounded out, having received a call. The caller ID was listed as LAB. Knowing what that entailed, I answered, “Talk to me.”

“We’ve got another Synchro Chip on our trackers,” A man’s voice cut to the chase, “It’s among the chips stolen from SciLab.”

“Where is it, Mr. Famous?” I questioned, lowering my voice.

“At your school,” Mr. Famous acknowledged, “And you know it’s not the one in Lan’s possession.”

“Oh no,” It was as I dreaded. This incident was far from over…

01001101 01001101 01000010 01001110

“Mr. Higsby?!” Lan shouted, having jogged down the steps to the server floor. He was in front of a locked door, trying to break in with his code breaker feature.

“In ten seconds, we’re in,” MegaMan assured him in the PET, “Let’s hope we can help him get through this.”

“Yeah,” Lan agreed, “Instigating several crimes against his own will… He’ll need some mental help.” Promptly after stating that, a white claw with three fingers broke through the door, crushing part of it into pieces! “WOAH!!” Lan yelped, moving back and falling on the stairs behind him.

The figure who tore the door open emerged from the room, all appearing very similar to a certain Navi.

He had horizontal gaps in his lime green boots, exposing his black feet, similar to NumberMan’s own feet. A faint yellow circle was below the rim of each boot as there was a yellow square for each foot. His legs up to his waist were a light tan color, separated by an orange line, leading to a black stomach. His chest had some lime green armor at the front, having NumberMan’s triangle emblem and a digital three-digit number. The back of his armor was orange, appearing like a backpack. The figure’s shoulders were shaped like orbs, half was lime green and the other half was light tan, both cut off by orange horizontal lines.

His arms were light tan down to his lime green gauntlets, slightly oversized enough to cover up his hands, save for his white fingers that could be seen under them. There were inverted blue triangles on the gloves front as they each had white three fingered claws, definitely looking like ones from the claw machines. Leading up from his black neck to his head, the man had black goggle sunglasses covering his eyes with blue ear sections over where his ears should be. Brown spiky hair stuck out in the back as the top of his head had an orange rim leading to a lime green shell shaped like a light bulb. The shell partially concealed an electronic brain identical to NumberMan’s, with a lid, the rest of the protective shell, floating above the exposed brain in a glass object.

“Mr. Higsby?!” Lan correctly guessed, “You know Cross Fusion?!”

“WE ARE ONE,” Higsby stated in unison with his Navi, speaking like an entity of their own. “BRAINPOWER PROCESSING IS EVEN GREATER THAN BEFORE. THE WWW HAS GIVEN US NEW LIFE.”

“Oh, please, no,” the juvenile student murmured, “Higsby, the WWW is still controlling you?”

“OUR WAR WITH THE WORLD HAS ALREADY BEGUN,” C.F. NumberMan declared, seemingly showing no signs of humanity in him.

“Lan, we have to get out of here!” Mega yelled, overhearing everything.

“Not without him!” Lan replied, “Higsby, I can help you!” C.F. NumberMan swiped at Lan after he pleaded, with the boy moving to the side and running up the stairs. “We definitely need to help him!” He held his PET close, reaching into his pocket for his Synchro Chip.

“But we won’t be fighting a WWW Navi!!” Mega pointed out, “We’ll be fighting another human combined with a civilian Navi!!”

“If you’re worried about deleting NumberMan in knocking out Higsby, we won’t!” Lan got to the first floor, pursued by C.F. NumberMan. “We just have to knock him out of Cross Fusion!”

“And how do you know that?!” Mega fired back, “How do you know that will work?! Don’t talk like you know how Cross Fusion works when this will be our second time!!”

“All I’m saying is that we have to try!!”

“I know, but that’s what worries me!”

“YOU CANNOT HIDE,” C.F. NumberMan dashed up the stairs, attempting to swing one of his arms at Lan. He had little time to react, but he ducked out of the way and tripped him into a wall.

“So I’ll fight you!” Lan quickly inserted the Synchro Chip, allowing his appearance to be dramatically altered. He was taken in by his own metamorphosis, eyeing each new detail. He had to leap upward to avoid another swipe from C.F. NumberMan, clutching his helmet, which manifested in his hands.

“I apologize in advance, Mr. Higsby,” C.F. MegaMan told him, putting the helmet over his head, covering the bandana tied around his head. “But I’ll take responsibility for what happens next.”

“I'll help you any way I can, Lan,” Mega’s voice affirmed in Lan’s ears, “Our opponent is Cross Fusion NumberMan.”

“Higsby’s in there somewhere,” Lan muttered as his face mask formed to conceal his nose and mouth, “We just need to get through to him.”

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Mega replied.

“DICE BOMB!!” A die cube formed in between of one of C.F. NumberMan’s claws, which he threw out. It bounced off a wall, landing on the ground next to C.F. MegaMan’s feet. The two on the die was face up, initiating self-destruction. Lan fired at the die rapidly, deleting it quickly before jumping down to his enemy’s level and kicking him through the door. The door broke off its hinges as C.F. NumberMan slid on the floor, leaping up when he stopped. “THAT WAS A LUCKY OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU,” he stated, shrugging it off. “THAT’S ALL IT WAS.”

“There’s a number crunching joke somewhere here, but I better not,” Lan chuckled, preparing for another fight.

“Lan, I’m getting something here!!” Mega called with urgency, “It looks like a transmission signal!”

“Oh, I hope it’s not malware!” Lan hissed, his brief tension breaking moment ruined.

“Lan Hikari, I presume?” a man’s voice echoed in his ear as his left eye could see a picture of a man. The man’s picture was just a mugshot of him. From what Lan could see, he had spiky brown hair at the top, glasses that hid his eyes, and a lab coat.

“M-Mr. Famous?” he stuttered, recognizing the face of the man.

“Yes, that’s me,” Mr. Famous answered, “Though formalities are quite unnecessary.”

“Y-You made Cross Fusion possible…” Lan noted, taking great care to dodge C.F. NumberMan’s attempts to swat him like a bug.

“This is a secure line, so I can admit to such,” he said to no one in particular, “Yes, I helped make it possible. And from what I gather from some live footage, you’re in the middle of a battle.”

“Wait, we’re live?!” Lan questioned, training his Mega Buster on C.F. NumberMan, firing a few shots. He evaded most of those and ran at Lan.

“Only to me and a few other observers.”

Lan got into a struggle with Higsby, grabbing his gauntlets and trying to push them away from him, as his claws were snapping inches away from his helmet!

“We’re watching the action from your PET camera that’s in your Cross Fusion form. It’s the only thing we can watch, seeing as all broadcast feeds at your school are down.”

“So, you can’t actually see if everyone else is fine?” He got to the ground and kicked C.F. NumberMan in his torso, launching him to the other end of the hallway behind him.

“We lost contact with one of the Officials who can practice Cross Fusion a little while ago. We’re trying to get back in contact with them. It’s just like when we had reports of a signal jammer somewhere in ACDC Town.”

“Lan, Higsby’s emitting some type of signal from himself,” Mega interjected, highlighting the adversary’s brain and showing him a special electric field shooting out. “It’s like a cell phone jammer, but it’s not just scrambling broadcast signals, but even networks are having problems!!”

“But Mr. Famous is speaking to us now, isn’t he?” C.F. MegaMan pondered aloud, taking two of the same Battle Chips: Cannon.

“That’s because your PET has been updated to handle Cross Fusion and resist signal jammers,” Famous answered, “Your PET shouldn’t have had any problems with calling someone, if I’m correct?”

“Lan,” Mega realized, “We could’ve called the fire department and the police when our house was attacked.”

“So I didn’t check to see if we could’ve called!!” Lan shouted, firing a cannon at C.F. NumberMan. “It’s not my fault!!”

“GAH!!” C.F. NumberMan fell back from the blast, hitting the floor and slightly cracking the glass protecting his brain.

“Oh, man…” the blue fighter whispered to himself, regretting what he did. “Is this the only way?”

“At least the police will be on time, for once,” Mr. Famous cracked, “And once again, it’s just Famous.”

[BGM: Cyber Peacock Stage, Mega Man X4]

“ENCLOSING PROTECTIVE SHELL,” C.F. NumberMan’s brain flashed red as the green shell that levitated above him perfectly sealed the upper half of his brain, “NO MORE DAMAGE CAN BE DONE TO US NOW. NUMBER BALL!!” He summoned three balls down to C.F. MegaMan, though he had them go after him one at a time. Lan thought it best to simply avoid them, but the decision came back to bite him when they struck him from behind, combusting on impact.

“ACK!!” he cried, shooting his second cannon in retaliation. Unfortunately, it missed.

“You’re not doing well when you have such limiting Battle Chips, are you?” Mr. Famous observed from the camera hiding in Lan’s helmet, “Unless you’re purposely restraining yourself?”

“O-Oh, right,” C.F. MegaMan muttered, “He’s just like his Navi. Give him space, he’ll attack from a distance. I just have to close the gap.”

“You don’t want to hurt him, either,” Mega remarked with an understanding tone, “That’s why you hesitated.”

“You resisted the WWW’s brainwashing for a moment, right?” Lan questioned Higsby, attempting to get through to him. “Do you think you can do it again, Higsby?”

“INCORRECT,” C.F. NumberMan replied, “I SERVE THE WWW. I WILL NOT STOP UNTIL THE ENDGAME HAS BEEN ACHIEVED.”

“Would you serve them even if they hurt people?” Lan had to dodge an Aqua Tower that his friend-turned-foe sent at him, “If they hurt Ms. Mari?” Higsby would’ve thrown a Cross Bomb at him, but he hesitated. “Mr. Higsby, no, Yamitaro,” Lan corrected himself, referring to the chip collector by his first name. “Would you let me help you? I can stop the WWW from brainwashing you. But I can’t do it without your help.”

“L-LaN…” Higsby’s true self stammered through his and NumberMan’s collective voice, “I-I cAn’T HoLd ThEm OfF fOr LoNg…”

“I’m worried I’ll hurt you badly by trying to stop you. Just tell me how to sever your connection without—”

“N-No, LaN...” Higsby interrupted him, “YoU mUsT tAkE mE dOwN… I-I’vE bEeN bRoAdCaStInG tHe BrAiNwAsHiNg PrOgRaM tHaT’s CoNtRoLlInG mE tHrOuGhOuT tHe WhOlE sChOoL!”

“W-What?!” the juvenile student exclaimed, “You’ve been doing that this whole time?!”

“I didn’t pick up that signal from Higsby!!” Mega chimed in, “He must have been masking the frequency!”

“ThE WWW nO lOnGeR cArEs If ThEy SuCcEeD oR nOt! ThE pRoGrAm WiLl FoRcE tHeIr MiNdS tO sHuT dOwN fRoM tHe NoIsE!! YoU hAvE tO sToP mE! D-Do WhAtEvEr It—!!” A high-pitched sound erupted from Higsby, causing him and his Navi to shriek in pain. Lan covered his ears as well due to hearing that.

“Quite naughty for you to spill secrets about our Plan B, Yamitaro,” A garbled voice told Higsby, “But it no longer matters. Get rid of the boy playing the hero, and continue the broadcast.”

“Y-YeS… MASTER!!” C.F. NumberMan was back in control over himself, throwing a Cross Bomb at C.F. MegaMan successfully.

“UGH!!” Lan flew back, stunned by the blast.

“The signal’s clearly coming from his head!” Mega stated, “Cut it off, and we’ll free him!”

“He does have a shell protecting his brain, however,” Mr. Famous added, “You’ll have to pry it off of him.”

“This really bites,” Lan picked himself off the ground, drawing his Mega Buster again. “Sorry, Mr. Higsby…”

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 01000110 01010101 01010011 01001001 01001111 01001110

“C-Can’t move…”

“I-It hurts…!!”

The students I was with were on the ground, struggling to filter out the new and sudden sound echoing in the building. They were laying down and covering their ears, which only helped a little bit. From what I could tell from the other side, Dex and the others weren’t doing so well. There wasn’t much of anything they could do from there.

“L-Lan’s going to need help,” I wasn’t immune to the effects either, but I was resisting them long enough to put my Synchro Chip in. “Roll?”

“L-Let’s do it!” Roll agreed as tried covering the side of her helmet. The noise was affecting Navis as much as it was to humans.

“Synchro Chip In!” I placed the chip inside my PET, renewing my current self into something beyond a human’s limitations.

My body began to take on most of Roll’s characteristics, black soles under light pink boots that reach under my knees, with ring-like parts on the edges. On the shaft of the boots were inverted black spades, sticking out under the rings. My black thigh high socks became pink-red, my thighs were black, and I had briefs that were the same color as the socks. A pink-red line circled around each of my thighs, as three other ones did on my black arms. My gloves were pink-red and both had a ring around the ends, of course.

There was a three-dimensional pink heart on both gloves, though. I had two reflective shoulder guards attached to my shoulders, which were oval shaped and dark red, also surrounded by rings. The rest of my bodysuit was light pink and had the emblem at the center of my chest. However, a pink-red heart surrounded it, outlined by black with a black straight line going up my neck from there. A light pink faceplate with a black spade at the front covered my mouth and nose, completing the connection.

The helmet materialized over my head, being light pink and pink-red from top to bottom, emblems covered my ears, and two gold buttons with bright red triangles stuck on there. The yellow, clear antennae were attached to them, as they did with Roll. My hair came down past my waist in a ponytail with a green sharp, geometric bow, and the end of my hair was geometric as well, shaped like an upside-down spade. The final differences were that most of my hair turned blonde, unlike the spade-shaped end, which was maroon, my hair color.

“Now we shouldn’t be affected by the signal,” I thought to myself as Roll established a communication link to Mr. Famous. As she did so, I checked to see if the button typically on Roll’s rear was… “Yep. Still there.”

“What’s wrong with that part of my design?!” Roll exclaimed, “You’re the one who customized my appearance years ago, Mayl!”

“I never thought I would have to take some cues from you,” I tried to calm her down, checking on the other students, who weren’t going to notice me anytime soon. “It’s only now I realize how attention-grabbing that button is.”

“Grabbing?”

“Poor choice of words,” I immediately changed the topic, accepting a Fire Sword to break open the shutters and locked door. My method was effective, if not crude. “Do we have a connection to Mission Control at SciLab?”

“Good, you’re back,” Mr. Famous said in my ear, “Breaking school property will be costly, Mayl.”

“You can afford it,” I pointed out. “What’s the status?”

“Lan is battling Higsby to free the school from the new brainwashing signal,” Famous answered, “They’re both in Cross Fusion.”

“I was afraid of that. Is he losing?”

“We have a method to beat our current obstacle, but he’s hesitant to hurt Higsby. He needs some help, if you’re not too busy.” I jumped down the stairs, quickly getting to my desired destination. From there, I saw the door across from the hall, far from where it should be. And in the hallway…

“Take this!!” Lan shouted in his new form, firing small shots at the chest of his adversary.

“Mayl, we need to back him up!” Roll advised me as I saw C.F. NumberMan dash straight at Lan, striking him across his face before grabbing him by his head and slamming him on the ground.

“Right!!” I agreed with her, having a scan on the enemy show two Battle Chips are put into play. If both of them connected, Lan would get knocked out of Cross Fusion and will be vulnerable to a lethal blow! Higsby threw Lan away from him and aimed his right arm, which morphed into a Mega Cannon. Fortunately for me, I’m much quicker than a shot. “Roll Dance!!” I got in front of Lan and twirled above the floor, leaving glittering dust behind as I got him out of there. The cannon had no effect on the dust.

“HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?” Higsby questioned in monotone with NumberMan, “WHO ELSE IS THERE?”

[BGM: Electronic Brain Realm/Cyberspace, Onimusha Blade Warriors]

“W-What in…?” Lan stammered, looking at me in awe. “MAYL?!”

“Roll Arrow!!” My longbow buster fired the arrow and hit Higsby in the chest, causing him to flinch. Incidentally, the arrow also deleted the chips he was planning to use.

“Direct hit!” Roll confirmed the obvious.

“Good to see you’re alright, Lan,” I smiled at him, “You held out pretty good.”

“Mayl…” The boy’s face was a little pale due to my arrival, “You can do Cross Fusion, too?!”

“And I’m an Official NetBattler,” I added, “But let’s not focus on that! We’ve got to stop Higsby!”

“Y-You were hiding things from me?” he whispered, “How long were you…?”

“TIME BOMB!” C.F. NumberMan took advantage of the situation, creating a small bomb counting down from three. Lan and I destroyed it as quickly as possible with weak buster shots.

“We’re going to talk after this,” Lan told me, “But right now, we need to get Higsby back to normal.”

“The only way to do that is to defeat him,” I knew this fact from practice, “Any strategies, Mr. Famous?”

“Taking out the electronic brain is a good start, as we know,” Mr. Famous advised us, “But it would help to damage his claw-like hands to prevent him from attacking. Also, damaging the emblem on his chest would be like causing a computer to act faulty. In this case, cause C.F. NumberMan to glitch.”

“If we knock his hit points to lower than 3/4ths, he’ll get more desperate and pragmatic,” I concluded, “He could make things worse for the students and teachers upstairs.”

“Then let’s make this quick!” C.F. MegaMan held up his Mega Buster, charging it up and running around the foe.

“BIG BOMB!” Higsby threw a sphere at him, but Lan quickly blasted it, forcing the bomb to detonate early. The explosion blew both of them away, though Lan hit the lockers with his feet, being able to recover and land. As for Higsby, he hit the lockers behind him with his back.

“Tri Sphere!!” With Roll sending a Battle Chip for me to use, I managed to get his right hand immobilized by firing three arrows at him.

“NO!!” C.F. NumberMan screeched, losing most functions in his right hand. He deleted the arrows with his good hand, picking himself up.

Lan moved on the offensive, kicking him in the side and firing a charged shot to one of his claws on his left hand. It helped to keep him from retaliating. “Guts Punch!!” His right forearm became slightly large and armored in yellow, allowing him to strike the enemy in his chest, right where the emblem is.

“GAH!!” C.F. NumberMan felt where the blow was, covering the emblem with his hands.

“Are you going to let them beat you like this, Yamitaro?” the garbled voice spoke to Higsby, becoming displeased. “With uncivilized tactics?”

“NOT AT ALL, MASTER!!” Higsby proclaimed, “WOOD AURA AND RECOVERY 120! DOUBLE SLOT IN!!”

Lan and I did try to shoot him, but he was quick to run, and he evaded our shots. Then, the damage that was currently given to him was undone, with his defense bolstered by a green force field. “He’s trying to drag the battle out!” Lan growled, “Everyone upstairs will become vegetables while the WWW’s just playing us!!”

“The aura can only be taken out by anything at or over 80 hit points,” Mega observed, pulling up the Custom Screen for Lan. “Fire chips are our best chance, though.”

“Can you cover me?” he asked, to which I nodded as I returned fire to C.F. NumberMan.

[BGM: Boss Battle, Mega Man Maverick Hunter X]

He threw more Dice Bombs at us, so I got the idea to punt them back to the sender. They didn’t get rid of his aura, considering they were all ones and twos, but they had another purpose. Lan leapt into the smoke of the explosions, using it as a blanket to conceal himself. As quietly as he possibly could, he snuck around to Higsby’s side, ready to pounce.

“Come on, Higsby,” I began mocking, “Can’t you do better than that? You’re a chip collector!”

“YOU ARE MERELY ASKING FOR A LOSS,” C.F. NumberMan responded, summoning another Time Bomb to the ground.

“Roll Flash!” While I got rid of the bomb with my antennae, Lan took aim, shooting the Wood Aura with Heat Spread, successfully disabling it for good.

“WHAT?!” he questioned, beginning to pull the stops. Selecting another Battle Chip, he chose the Gaia 1 chip, which was a large red hammer that could do plenty of damage. He raised it at the smokescreen, preparing to drop it.

“Shock Wave!!” Before C.F. NumberMan could land a blow, Lan countered him with a wave from a pickaxe, causing him to be stunned.

“Now’s your chance, Mayl!!” He shouted a little too recklessly for my liking, but he was right.

“Roll Arrow!!” I fired yet another pink arrow out, this time aiming for C.F. NumberMan’s chest emblem. It was a direct hit.

“RAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!” Higsby cried, stepping back as the shell on top of his head jettisoned up to the ceiling.

“Yamitaro, overload the signal!!” the voice commanded, “Shut down the minds of every spoiled brat in this school!!”

“Take another one!!” With Full Synchro on his side, Lan sent another Shock Wave out, causing more damage to him.

“FALL!!” C.F. NumberMan ran to strike Lan with his hands, but he moved back, seizing one of the claws, tearing them off.

“Elec Sword!!” I soared past a distracted Higsby and twirled my body to slice his exposed electronic brain.

“UGGGGHHHHHH!!!” C.F. NumberMan grunted, twitching his fingers, gritting his teeth, and contorting his cheeks. He was almost attempting to process what was happening to him. But he could not feel the spontaneous explosions around his body. The surging signal dissipated as his form followed suit. Lime green and tan pieces of armor blew apart from the outside, almost like air bubbling at the surface of water. With the last explosions, everything related to C.F. NumberMan dematerialized, leaving only a lime green PET and Mr. Higsby.

“W-What…?” Higsby fell to his knees, barely able to speak and stay awake. “I… I’m f-free… I…” He dropped to the floor, passing out. The shutters closing the windows and other doors opened up, ending the forced lockdown.

“We did it…” Lan mumbled as our other forms had run their course.

“Yeah…” I agreed, “The police should be here soon.”

“Mayl…” Lan looked at me, filled with a little bit of confusion. “We’re friends, but… Why didn’t you tell me you were an Official?”

“I couldn't, Lan,” I couldn’t give him the full answer, since the appearance of the Net Police prevented me from speaking further.

“Mayl! Lan!” Redd came up to us, seeing Higsby on the ground. He turned to the other officers behind him to shout, “Secure the building! And notify the paramedics outside!!”

“Detective Redd,” Lan spoke up, “The WWW brainwashed Higsby to do this. They tried brainwashing the whole school.”

“We’ll look into everything from top to bottom, Lan,” the detective nodded, “but I think I understand most of what happened, considering Mr. Famous filled me in.”

“Wait, Mr. Famous told you what was going on?”

“Um, Lan,” There was no easy way for me to say this, but I had to. “Redd already knows. He knows about SciLab’s project and what you and I can do.”

“I figured out what happened outside your home, kid,” The detective scratched his nose with his gloved hand, “but I appreciate you wanting to tell me yourself. I feel like I’m seeing the old honest you again.”

“But the Officials won’t like that Lan’s helping us,” I stated, “Neither would your superiors.”

“Okay, stop!!” Lan shouted, raising his hands up. “At least tell me everything before something else happens. What does the WWW want? What the heck were you guys doing the whole time? And Mayl, how long were you hiding this from me?”

“Oh, Lan,” I sighed, knowing how exasperating the explanation was going to be. I just hoped that in battling the WWW, I didn’t inadvertently sacrifice my relationship with Lan…

01001101 01001111 01010010 01000101
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 01000011 01001111 01001101 01000101

“I don’t know what came over Mr. Higsby,” Ms. Tina told an officer, the two of them next to one of the classrooms. “It was like he became a different person! He jumped me, tied me up, gagged me, and left me in the janitor’s closet.”

“But you’re not hurt, right?” The policeman jotted his notes down.

“Yes,” The teacher nodded, “But what of my students? What happened to them?”

“The crimes you heard about on the news were what took place,” he answered, “Only now, the criminal was thwarted. You owe it all to two of your students, from what I hear.” A camera above them was recording every spoken word, received by the large monitor of the WWW.

“Now I know my enemies,” the leader sneered, baring his teeth. “The mission was a success. The police will be at the school for a few hours, with their hands tied.”

“Then we shall finally get our hands on one of the Super Programs?” a calm, collected voice wondered.

“Yes, we shall,” the leader confirmed, pulling up the identity of a student at ACDC High. “And we have confirmed a potential bargaining chip for another program. Be so kind as to leave Dr. Froid a Synchro Chip in his mailbox next week. He’ll work well under coercion.”

CHAPTER 6 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Ripley Marduk and Reddington Bluemann © HatOnFire/Me

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“You’re okay, right, Ripley?”

“Besides having the third worst headache of my life, I’m good,” Ripley responded to Lan, who was overseeing the police’s scrutiny of ACDC High with me. Roll was also surveying the network damage for me with MegaMan.

“Hopefully our classmates can recover,” I thought with worry after today’s crazy events, seeing some students have to go to a hospital. The Reeducation Program may have been destroyed, but it caused plenty of damage. “A broadcast signal that can alter or harm a person’s mental faculties… The WWW’s only going to get bolder and much worse from here.”

Mr. Higsby needed to be checked on, but the police weren't willing to allow him any treatment. What he did was wrong, yes, but he was manipulated into driving students to commit crimes against their teachers and other citizens.

“Are you alright, Dex?” I asked when he came by, rubbing his head.

“I’m fine, thanks,” Dex nodded smiling, “You did good work stopping the WWW, Mayl. You’re more dependable than most people.”

“Ugh, I’m out of here,” Lan rolled his eyes, walking away from the subtle insult.

“Hey, wait! Lan!!” Ripley chased after him off the school grounds, leaving me alone with Dex.

“What was that?” I questioned him with disappointment, “He helped me while you and everyone else were stuck.”

“I don’t remember him doing anything like that,” he scoffed, “If he did, then he only helped for himself and for the glory.”

“He’s been aloof forever, I know,” I began making myself clear, “You have to remember what he lost, Dex. Who we all lost.”

“It’s been four years, Mayl. He’s had plenty of time to move on from that, but he never did. Someone so immature like that can only change for the worse.”

“You’re being petty. If you experienced what happened to Lan, would you act like him? Would you get over losing your brother?”

Dex was quiet, mulling over my words. He had to be thinking hard about this, because there was no way he could deny Lan’s behavior and act so spiteful. They were great friends and strong competitors who considered each other worthy. “It’s not like I didn’t try,” he finally answered, “I tried getting back in touch with him. Calling, messaging, going to his house, chatting at school, I even tried to talk with him during NetBattles. But he wouldn’t let me. It got to where all he cared about was hitting the streets and some punks. As far as I’m concerned, he’s no longer the guy he was. And after hearing how he… Brutalized someone… Well, I knew he was not my friend.”

“So you gave up on him,” I bitterly remarked.

“I didn’t want to, but I had to weigh my options, Mayl,” Dex let out a tired sigh, “I plan on running for Student Council President. I can’t be seen with known criminals, whether I knew them or not. Besides, he gave up too. He gave up on growing a long time ago.”

“You stopped trying to be there for Lan so you can play politician?!” I seethed, getting really angry.

“Mayl, please!” he begged, “I’ve got ideas to make ACDC Town an amazing place to live in! I plan on being the Mayor when I get older, so I have to do this!”

“Well, good luck. Meanwhile, I’m going to actually be there for Lan. You know, like a true friend.”

“Hold on a second!!” Dex stood there shouting at me while I got out of his sight. “Mayl, I wasn’t saying that…! Mayl!!”

I was beginning to wonder if Dex would ever speak to Lan again. After talking with him, who knows? As I was looking for Lan, I reflected on each of the strained relationships he had. Yai left the country after a year at an all-girls school, so it was unknown if she’d still be friends with him. If she heard of his current actions, it could be a long shot. Tory didn’t want to be anywhere near Lan, let alone speak with him after witnessing Lan get rough with a mugger one time. There was someone else I could speak of, but Lan’s last meeting with that guy got ugly fast. This was wishful thinking, but I was hoping Lan could renew his relationships with the people he grew up with. That could be difficult, but I know for a fact that it’s not impossible.

“Hey, Mayl,” Redd came by, waving his hand at me. “You alright?”

“I suppose,” I mumbled, exhausted from my conversation with Dex. “Shouldn’t you be at the school’s entrance?”

“The other officers can handle it,” Redd stroked his chin, sure of himself. “We should be speaking to Lan, though. I think it’s best if we can get him to work with us.”

“He might not want to…” I whispered we turned the corner, seeing Ripley being interrogated.

“You had a hand in this Synchro Chip project,” Lan proceeded to question him, “So you knew Mayl could do this?”

“That’s correct,” Ripley vouched, “That part was classified, so I couldn’t just tell you that.”

“Normally, I’d be fine with that,” Lan crossed his arms, “But here she is, hiding things from me!”

“You’re one to talk,” Rip shrugged, “You’re trying to brush off the attack on your home like it’s nothing.”

“Because it is nothing. Who’s going to care if someone like me got attacked?”

“I have a list of people who would—!”

“Rhetorical, thanks,” Lan stopped him from answering further, looking at Redd and I. “You, detective! I’m surprised you’re part of this!”

“How come?” Redd pondered. “Some projects can be overseen by individuals in law enforcement.”

“Well, I didn’t think you were involved!!”

“Um, Lan…” Ripley muttered, “The detective was mentioned in the email I gave you.”

“Huh?”

“He’s right,” MegaMan chimed in, pulling up the email in his PET, highlighting the sentences where Redd was mentioned. “The detective was mentioned a few times here.”

“Oh, right,” the juvenile realized, “I can’t believe I glossed over that, but I don’t remember you saying he was involved.”

“I may have left that part out by accident…” the SciLab intern mumbled, “Sorry.”

“Well, Lan, you were contesting with Higsby during that time,” Redd fiddled with his hat, showing his red hair. “And Mayl did surprise you as much as I did.”

“And that’s another thing I want to talk about!” Lan peered into my direction, “You never told me you were an Official, Mayl!”

“You don’t think I wanted to tell you when I got my Official’s license?” I told Lan when he peered into my direction, “I thought I could, but my superiors gave me a few cases to look into, and I was told not to reveal that to anyone. They even specified you in particular.”

“And you agreed with them?” Lan glared at me.

“Just telling you could’ve made you act even more reckless!!” I argued, “And serving through discretion is stressed in this line of work! Besides, you hid things from me, too!!”

“Okay, fine,” He threw his hands in the air out of frustration, “I admit that redacting the WWW part from my story to Redd was dumb. But in my defense, I don’t want myself or my mom to be labeled victims because of some pyromaniac.”

“Not everyone avoids crime in their lifetime,” I stated, “but there’s no need to be hard on yourself. You couldn’t have anticipated Match attacking your home.”

“She’s right, kid,” Redd confirmed, “He was looking for something. Your home was just an obstacle.”

“What have you been doing to protect the neighborhood?” Ripley inquired.

“We put an APB out for Match,” the detective answered, “and I’ve been watching the neighborhood while having police Navis search the net, though he could be long gone by then. Not much else to do.”

“Except watch Lan,” I needed to say this, “If the WWW is desperate, they’ll try to take you and use you as a bargaining chip.”

“I don’t need a babysitter,” Lan grumbled, stopping in his tracks. “I can look after myself, unless you don’t trust me? Oh wait, maybe you still don’t.”

I did not need this today. “Lan, please. I never meant to make an implication like that.”

“You thought you were protecting me?” he questioned, “You realize you’re talking to an S rank City NetBattler, three times suspended? Someone who can knock some sap’s lights out?”

“I get it, okay? You thought keeping quiet was safer than telling Redd. But this could be bigger than any of us.”

“Keep in mind that Mayl was told to hide her new job from others,” the detective spoke up, lifting a finger.

“Yeah, thanks for your input, detective,” Lan sighed, “So when I lie to her, it’s wrong. But when she does it, it’s okay.”

“Lan, don’t give that stupid double standard talk,” Now I really wasn’t in the mood, “You’re a civilian until your NetBattle license suspension is lifted. You don’t have any authorization to help the police solve crimes like I do.”

“Then why suggest I be part of this SciLab team involving you, Redd, Ripley, and Mr. Famous?”

“Because after today, it’s obvious that we need you,” Ripley interrupted.

“Is that so?” Lan raised up an eyebrow.

“You have the operating skills of an Official,” Redd rubbed his chin, “and your Synchronization with MegaMan is on point. You’re perfect for the team.”

“But we need to be open with each other,” I emphasized that part, “A team that can’t place their trust in each other is a team doomed to fail.”

“Plus, since being a Cross Fusion user makes you a superhero,” Ripley added, “We have rules. Do some good, don’t kill, be responsible, and be a team player. We’ll tell you what we believe the WWW is after.”

“So you’ll tell me what you know if I join?” Lan pondered, “It doesn’t sound entirely fair, to be honest.”

“I’ll tell you even if you don’t want to be part of this,” I said to him, “I know you don’t want the WWW to win, whatever their plans for the Super Programs are.”

“Considering how much you’ve tried to do for us,” Redd cut in, “let us give you valuable information. You deserve to know, after all.”

“If I’m going to be honest,” Lan stopped Redd from speaking, “I haven’t trusted anybody outside my home for a while. I’m not going to tell you anything private.”

“That’s not why I said we should be open with each other…” I thought Lan was misunderstanding what I just told him, “Just be honest so we don’t have any communication problems or trust issues.”

“You already know what I’m about, but let me say this,” he continued, “I act without thinking. I may do something without saying what or why. I’m not exactly… a team player.”

“So, you won’t help us?” the detective asked.

“You were going to tell me what you knew whether or not I turned you down,” Lan scratched the back of his head, “If you trust me enough to tell me despite what I’ve done…” He suddenly paused, thinking about what to say next. I could see that he wanted to join, but in his mind, he was questioning if this was the way to do it.

“Actually, just trusting me isn’t good enough. If I’m going to be a part of the team, then let me earn that spot. I don’t want it given to me.”

“Alright!!” Ripley cheered, “And then there were six! This is the Anti-WWW Team!”

“Ripley!!” Redd and I scolded him for being lax on the secrecy of our mission.

“Six?” Lan questioned, “There’s another team member?”

“Mr. Famous, who else?” Ripley barely spoke, yawning loudly. “Sorry for that. I barely got any sleep. Then the headaches came on…”

“You aren’t overworking yourself, are you?” Lan asked with concern, “You look dead.”

“I’ll get better,” our sleepy friend nodded.

“We shouldn’t be discussing details like that in the open,” I stated, looking around us. “We should go to SciLab for that.”

“Follow me to my car,” Redd took the lead, pulling out his PET. Ripley followed, leaving Lan and I in the back.

“Well,” he started muttering to me, “I guess we both have some things to be sorry for.”

“How so?” I inquired, failing to understand what he was saying.

“We both had secrets we didn’t want to share,” he told me, “And for whatever reason, we didn’t tell them. That’s on me.”

“Lan, don’t try to blame yourself for it all. All you’ll do is drive yourself crazy.”

“But the guys who gave you your Official license… They didn’t want me to know. Obviously because they don’t trust me.”

“Well, you’re a wild card, I admit,” There was no denying that Lan is unpredictable, however… “But I trust you.”

“No, Mayl, you don’t,” He shook his head, “Otherwise, you would’ve told me. It’s obvious I have to do plenty of work just so you and the others can fully trust me.”

“Lan, please!” I wanted to protest, but he wasn’t wrong. If I did trust Lan, then I would’ve told him, even if it was forbidden.

“I don’t blame you for hiding things from me, not since I did the same to you. Now that I think about it, it was better that way. I’m practically a criminal in the eyes of everyone else.”

“Ugh…” I was getting frustrated with his logic, and we were finally getting several things out in the open. The trip to SciLab was going to take a detour, and I didn’t know half of it.

01010111 01010111 01010111

“StoneMan, do you read?” Mr. Match called with his PET, parking his van on the side of a road. “The train’s destination time is five minutes out.”

“GOK GOK GOK!!” the Navi’s illegible voice boomed over the PET’s speakers.

“Hold on,” He opened the keyboard up, pressing the keys one by one. “Okay, speak.”

“As I was telling you,” StoneMan was more coherent, “Have the Dimensional Area Generator set up quickly. It can only be used once for thirty minutes before the primary circuit fries. No thanks to your Navi’s foolish pride.”

“It is NOT my fault that the CopyBot was destroyed!!” FireMan shouted in the Generator’s computer system, “It’s because of that duo that almost deleted me!!”

“Typical to blame your failures on others,” The other Navi mocked him, “even for Operator-reliant Navis.”

“Do you want me to remind you who deleted your language algorithm with a Fire Arm to your ugly face?!” The torch-headed Navi flared.

“Enough, both of you!” Match growled, getting the two under control. “Infighting is the last thing we need in this delicate operation! Now, the train will be along any minute. Remember your first task, StoneMan. Infect the station’s computers as a diversion. Then, FireMan will activate the generator, and you will transmit your data for materialization.”

“And I get to force the subway tunnels to cave in,” StoneMan answered in the shadow of the network, his eyes glowing a dim orange. “The trains will be notified by the disaster and have to stop in their tracks.”

“Giving me time to sneak aboard and rob those SciLab eggheads blind!” Match smirked, opening the van door to reveal a much different disguise. He was wearing a light blue trenchcoat with a white collared shirt and a red necktie! With blue pants, black shoes, black gloves, and a certain blue fedora, he could very well pass for Redd!!

“Quite snappy, Match,” FireMan complemented him on his attire, “You look like the detective that’s investigating us with the Officials.”

“With an altered photo of myself, I can officially sneak aboard the train,” The WWW agent took pride in his appearance, “And none would be the wiser. Heh-heh-heh…”

“Just get the machine ready,” StoneMan jacked himself out of the computer, leaving FireMan there.

“I really hate this guy,” FireMan grumbled to himself.

“Be ready to create the Dimensional Area,” Mr. Match ordered, moving his lapels with his hands. “Timing is critical.” The Metroline was always an underground train system, controlled by smart computers, managed by programs and engineers for any errors that pop up. It originally was managed via Internet programs, though it was easily hacked by criminals, forcing a more direct method of management and control. Links to the Metroline though the Net weren’t removed, however, meaning that hackers could still break in, albeit heavy protective measures were still in play.

“Tear down the firewalls,” StoneMan commanded, to which the viruses charged forward and broke through the first wall with a combined strike. From Swordys to Spikeys and Mettaurs. With them were Piranhas, fish viruses with green scales, yellow fins, grayish arms turning like a windmill, and with an orange Mohawk wearing an angry expression on their faces. They could shoot arrows from their mouths after picking their targets.

01001101 01001101 01000010 01001110

“Ma’am, someone’s trying to break in!” An engineer frantically typed on his keyboard, pulling up network footage of the attack. “Notifying our security team!”

“Even with the security team dealing with these viruses,” the chief thought aloud, watching the second wall get deleted by time bombs laid out by Handy viruses. “Our network will be swarmed by such a large amount in one minute! Alert the NetPolice! Get any Officials in the area here, now!!”

“Yes, ma’am!!” One worker made a call out as another put a distress call through to the Official NetBattlers’ private line.

“Attention to all citizens,” a computerized voice called out to everyone inside the station, “Due to unforeseen circumstances, all scheduled trains will be rerouted to other stations. This station will undergo a maintenance check before allowing trains to stop here. Please stand behind the blue line at all times. We apologize for this sudden delay. Thank you for your patience.”

The announcement made many people upset, resulting in a clamor echoing throughout the station.

01000011 01001000 01000001 01001111 01010011

“Activating the Dimensional Area now!” FireMan performed his task, with a red beam rising up from a dish structure behind him in the network.

In the van, a hexagonal sphere on top of a piece of machinery shined brightly, shooting out a bright blue light, which phased through all solid objects of the outside world! The light traveled past several buildings in the general area, stopping at a certain point. Then, hexagonal shapes formed together in a gigantic dome that enveloped the area! Nothing could get in or out!

“Perfect!!” A giant NetNavi materialized above the ground, scaring away pedestrians.

StoneMan was very different from the others, with most of his body appearing to be made of stone blocks stacked and connected, colored in gray and lifeless green, divided by horizontal and vertical lines. His feet were separate from his body, having stones topped with a red metal and black orbs halfway lodged in them. Meanwhile, his arms were just like his feet, only larger in size and shaped like stone pillars, but the bases and capitals were larger than the columns’ shafts. The bases were round as typical weights, having blue circles, surrounded by gold outlines with silver lug nuts spread out in each outline, underneath them. Both capitals were red metal circles with halves of black orbs surrounded by circular depressions on top.

His body looked like a cube at first glance, but his back had a side that curved into a half circle, while two parallel sides were longer than the only other straight one. Stone blocks made up the lower and middle part of the body, and the top was red and metallic, as his design was. His emblem was on both sides of his body, a white cube with a black background, gold rings circling the emblem, though smaller white circles were imprinted in the ring as well. The top of his body had a duct on there, oddly enough.

StoneMan’s head was like his body, only opposite to it and actually connected to each other, unlike his body parts. Intersecting the line between gray and red were his eyes, black squares with glowing orange dots in the centers. He has a mouth that slides up and down, similar to a nutcracker, but unfortunately, without the lever to move it. It would’ve been funny if that were the case, but I’m getting off track.

“All hail the WWW!!” StoneMan roared, lifting his arms to slam them on the ground, splitting the ground apart. He went the extra mile to bring boulders to drop down into the floor, caving in the tunnels below!

01010111 01010111 01010111

[BGM: Resistance, Remastered Tracks Rockman Zero]

“The tunnel just collapsed!!” one panicky engineer exclaimed, “And a train is coming in!!”

“Contact the train’s operator to hit the brakes!!” the chief told her staff, “And get the team to delete those viruses!!”

“We can’t!!” a man with an earpiece stated, “Our comms went down! We can’t contact anybody!”

“We’ve lost connection with our Navis!” A guard inserted a Battle Chip inside his PET, “We can’t see what’s going on, so we need to manually send chips to them and hope they do what it takes!!”

Inside the network, multiple security Navis were holding back the swarm of viruses, being the only line of defense, now that the firewalls were deleted. With one Big Bomb chip, multiple version 1 viruses were taken down. However, a Swordy 3 swung its Aqua Sword, tearing apart the brave Navi that threw the bomb. A time bomb went off, vaporizing two Navis in one blow. The Handy virus taunted security, pointing at them and gesturing a thumbs down.

“Keep fighting!!” One Navi stood tall, protecting himself with the Stone Body chip, turning his body into a statue. “We’re not giving up here!”

A HardHead virus, possessing a gray sphere head with a purple base, spawned in at the front, taking buster fire and Spreader shots. It was not fazed or dented. When it opened its mouth, he turned red and his eyes glowed yellow, firing a Cannon Ball at the protected Navi, robbing him of his right arm!

“AGH!!” the Navi grunted while his only defense dissipated. When he gained a Wrecker chip, he retaliated swiftly to delete the virus.

“There’s too many!!” a Navi with a human face exclaimed, attempting to fire a Bubble Spread at the horde. However, two arrows came at him, one piercing his chest as the other got to his head. He was gone.

“Where are the Officials?!” The chief clenched her fist tight, gritting her teeth with frustration. All she could do was stare at the static on her PET screen until someone else came.

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“Sir!” a Navi began to tell his operator, “I received a motion sensor alert! There’s something on the tracks!!”

“I’m pulling the brakes,” The train’s driver calmly threw back the switch, slowing the transportation vehicle down.

Outside, the train slowed to a crawl, entering the tunnel while it slid along the rails screeching. Seeing everything go down, Mr. Match smirked, pocketing his fake police I.D. “It appears that this is a job for a NetPolice detective,” he whispered to himself, watching StoneMan crush cars with boulders. “That one, however, is out of my jurisdiction. Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh!!” He slunk down, following the train into the tunnel. This daring heist was going according to plan…

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“Where?” I questioned, my eyes on the PET and the person calling in. Right now, I was in Redd’s car at the front with Redd, who was driving. Lan and Ripley were in the back, listening to what I’m hearing.

“At the Metroline station located under Block 48, where ACDC ends and Elec Town begins!” Mr. Famous reported, “And Mayl? A dome has surrounded the whole area. It’s a Dimensional Area.”  

“What?!” I exclaimed with shock. Lan was naturally confused by this, but as for Redd and Ripley, their faces were grim.

“That’s bad, isn’t it?” Lan looked to Rip for any sign of confirmation.

“Terrible,” he finally spoke up, “It means the WWW has their own Dimensional Area, meaning they can summon Navis into the real world without a CopyBot.”

“And the Dimensional Area is impenetrable on the inside and outside,” Mr. Famous added, “Besides that, Cross Fusion users have been unable to enter nor leave the area once it is activated.”

“The Wood Program…!” Redd made a grave realization, turning the car around frantically.

“Hey, hey!!” Lan shouted, holding on.

“We were tricked from the start!!” the detective explained himself, “The school hijacking was just a ploy to spread out the police! Some of us were going to be assigned to safeguard the Wood Program’s transfer to SciLab, starting at that specific station!”

“Shouldn’t other officers be there, anyway?” I pondered.

“If they are, they’ll be too busy attempting to do something about the Dimensional Area…” Redd imagined.

“We’ll have to do something when we get there,” Lan got his PET out, “MegaMan, let’s get ready…”

“Right!” MegaMan nodded.

Today just got rough quickly, but we couldn’t let any bad news get to us. With our town under attack, we had to step up! The stakes were getting higher!

CHAPTER 7 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Ripley Marduk, Myth Man, and Reddington Bluemann © HatOnFire/Me

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[BGM: Target Chaser, Mega Man ZX Advent Tunes]

The car stopped in the middle of the road, unable to go further. This wasn’t an ordinary roadblock keeping us from our destination, but a Dimensional Area which engulfed this part of town! “Ripley, what do we have?” I questioned, getting out of the car with Lan and Ripley as the siren stopped.

“I don’t know, Mayl,” Ripley looked to his PET, “The Dimensional Area is scrambling all communication inside! Unless we jack into the generator, we won’t know for sure.”

“I’ll get officers to cordon off the area,” Redd grabbed the radio’s receiver, preparing to speak into it. “It’s going to be hard to explain this.”

“How are we going to find this generator?” Lan wondered, “We can’t get to it with this force field up.”

“We can still jack into it, even if we’re a mile away,” I replied, contacting Mission Control. “Mr. Famous?”

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“Conducting a widespread search,” Mr. Famous answered from his desk, bringing up a map on his computer. “And it’s only Famous, please.”

He was wearing a lab coat over his orange shirt, which had long red sleeves and a red 15 at the shirt’s front. He had a spiked belt to go with his black pants, and orange shoes that had white soles and a slight orange and white checkered pattern on them. Also, he wore brown fingerless gloves.

“As a Dimensional Area is designed to form a complete circle,” he thought, “combined with your current location, I can say that the center point of the area is near the Metroline station there.”

“We guessed that, Famous!” Redd yelled through my PET, “But where, specifically?!”

“You don’t need to shout, detective,” Mr. Famous swabbed one of his ears with a pinky finger, “I’m sending you the center point now. It’s on the side of the road, in front of a law firm yards away from the station.”

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“Got it!” Ripley marked the map on his PET, “The generator has to have been carried in a vehicle that wouldn’t draw attention. It has to be bigger than a car since the generator takes up too much space.”

“MegaMan, I’m giving you the coordinates to jack in!” Lan began to ask, “Can you get to it?”

“I’m not sure, Lan,” MegaMan was dubious of the idea, “Jacking in blind could be like hitting a wall at ramming speed.”

“Mr. Famous can double check to make sure he’s on the level,” I pointed out, “but I believe in him.”

“Then do what you can,” Redd turned up the sirens again, backing his car up and activating the loudspeaker. “I’ve got to get the bystanders outta here in case things go south!”

“I’m confident in my estimate,” Mr. Famous told me as Redd ordered other civilians in the area, “Make the connection to the network now.”

“Let’s do it already!” Lan lifted his PET in the air and pressed down on the emblem, beginning the jack in sequence. “Jack in, MegaMan! Execute!!”

“Jack in, Roll! Execute!!” I went along with him, and Ripley followed suit.

“Jack in, MythMan! Execute!!”

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“Come on! Come on!!” MegaMan grunted, pressing his hands against a digital field.

“The Dimensional Area Generator’s Computer is fortified!” Roll floated in the air, looking behind her. “MythMan, can you make a crack in the firewall?”

“Only through fighting a firewall with a fiery sword!” MythMan said with a slight chuckle, “Blue Blazer!!” A black katana hilt materialized in his green, four-fingered claws, and a blue flame ignited once he swung hard at the door, breaking it in with the blade.

“Mega, help me out here!” Roll requested, getting help from two gauntlet-like hands with a crystal ball lodged halfway in each forearm and a ruby on each back, pulling apart one piece of the door as Mega grabbed the other. Combining their strength, they succeeded, breaking into the network. Inside, they landed on a digital floor, seeing a large dish transmitting a red beam up to the top of the network. Viruses fought against each other, failing to notice the Navis.

“I’m a stronger Navi than StoneMan, yet I’m stuck here…” FireMan complained to no one, “It’s like the geezer in charge doesn’t trust me.”

“FireMan…” Lan whispered, “That’s Match’s Navi, so he has to be here, too.”

“He mentioned StoneMan,” Ripley mumbled, “He could be the one that’s in the Dimensional Area, causing destruction.”

“What makes you say that?” I asked, getting my answer when he pointed at the dome, where we could see people slamming their fists against it, calling for help. “Oh, that’s why.”

“We need to help them, now,” Lan took control of the scene, “MegaMan, the WWW Navi had to get into the real world somehow. Find out how and follow him!”

“Hold up,” Ripley interjected, “It’ll be better if we disabled the generator. Doing so will force that Navi to return to the Cyberworld.”

“As true as that is…” I started to side with Lan, “it’s best to keep that Navi occupied with something other than destroying property and attacking innocent people. Let MegaMan go to take him on.”

“I’m hoping that the Dimensional Area won’t jam any communications between us,” MegaMan mulled over that prospect, “Our PETs may be able to withstand it thanks to Mr. Famous’ updates, but it may not last if I get in the real world.”

“You mean when you get in the real world, and there won’t be any static!” MythMan corrected, his head resembling a dragon with silver horns on his head and a small red diamond on his forehead. His ears were replaced by blue-ringed ducts and had red oval eyes with black space around them like a helmet. His scaly green neck was partially long and had a silver underside.

MythMan’s green wings with red sails and silver horns on top were connected to his jade green breastplate armor, which had two large turquoise crystal balls replacing his shoulders. His emblem, a jade gem surrounded by mauve in a blue ring, was in the middle with two small magenta diamonds in between. His green tail possessed three medium-sized magenta diamonds on its back and the tail’s end was covered by a detailed jade gem. He had green shins with dragon-like feet and three claws; at his knees, a magenta diamond was bound to each kneecap. His torso’s lower area and long legs were black with a turquoise stripe on his side.

“We can take FireMan,” Roll assured Mega, “You go.”

“Here, Lan,” Ripley sent a spare Chip Folder to his PET, “You’re going to need this.”

“A folder with better Battle Chips,” Lan quickly skimmed through the list, “Cool!”

“Something from me, too,” I gave Lan a physical Navi Chip with Roll’s picture on it, “Considering you don’t use Recovery chips often…”

“Thanks,” He took it from my hand, avoiding eye contact with me. I really needed to sort this situation out with him…

Mega carefully walked around some resting Spikey viruses, careful not to disturb them. They kept sleeping, even when a Piranha was body slamming a VolGear, who returned the favor.

“Stupid viruses fighting back there…” FireMan scoffed, making no effort to look behind him. He checked up on some security details, realizing that a firewall was down. But he apparently glossed it over, thinking more about himself. “I’d give anything to blast that little blue one…”

Mega continued to sneak around the field, which was hard for him, being out in the open. The viruses were so lazy or complacent, they didn’t notice him. Everything was fine, the word was being the operative word.

“I was itching for a chance to fight you again,” the torch-headed Navi suddenly spoke loudly, turning around to blow fire from his cannons, which barely missed Mega! “And you waltz right in! Guess this day won’t be so bad after all!!”

“Rats…” Mega cursed to himself.

“You know, I could send in viruses to delete you,” FireMan responded to him, “but I wanna do it myself. And this time, my operator isn’t around to mess me up!”

“I’ll handle the viruses!” MythMan readied himself for combat as a red visor covered his eyes, “Take care of that Navi!”

“Right!” Roll went with his suggestion, running past several viruses. A few of them hit each other attempting to stop her.

“I’ve got a new folder and I want to test it out now,” Lan felt tempted to engage FireMan, “But I don’t have time for you! MegaMan, hurry after StoneMan!”

“Got it!!” MegaMan charged at FireMan until he slid on the ground, going in between FireMan’s legs.

“HEY!!” FireMan shouted, turning around and aiming at Lan’s Navi. Before he could shoot, Roll teleported in front of him, letting her antennae stab him quickly.

“What are you doing?” Roll questioned as the WWW Navi growled.

“Mythical Breath!!” MythMan opened his reptilian mouth, breathing out cold air to freeze the Spikey viruses to deletion. “Glowing Gem!!” He raised his tail up in the air, allowing the gem on his tail to shine brightly, blinding the deadly horde. He opened his wings and flew up as they attacked each other. However, two viruses leaped up after him. They were called Cloudys, white clouds with small arms holding umbrellas that went through their bodies. The umbrellas were orange and yellow, with a green, glowing orb on top. They summoned rain clouds that could go sideways, with harmful droplets that pelted the unsuspecting viruses below. MythMan was quick to maneuver around them.

“Dragon Talons!” He retaliated by sending his separate forearms to cut through one of the viruses, with the other leaping back up to send another cloud at him! “Revolving Jewel!” The dragon-like Navi was ready, flying backwards with a slight glimmer in his shades, creating a spinning magenta diamond with a thought! The diamond took the damage from the rain and let out a crescent-shaped slash, deleting the Cloudy virus!

“Solid work!” Ripley complimented, “Keep at them!”

“Alright, if I understand the mechanics of this generator…” MegaMan muttered, taking in information from a holographic rectangle with text on it. “I just need to find the spot to transmit myself into the real world.”

“I think you’ll find it easily,” Lan mused, “The network’s security wasn’t that strong. It’s like this generator was rushed in its function.”

“SciLab takes great care in its projects,” Ripley pointed out, pressing a button on the PET’s keyboard to send his Navi a chip. “Only an amateur would do a shoddy job replicating our tech.”

“Found it, Lan!!” Mega gave a thumbs up, standing right on the panel.

“NO!!” FireMan threw an arm forward, unleashing a flaming trail. “Flame Tower!!”

“Iron Shield!! Slot in!!” I sent Roll a chip as she stood in front of MegaMan, allowing her to defend him with a rectangular shield. When the fire hit it, the shield flew and collided into FireMan, doing great damage to him.

“Thanks, Roll!!” Mega thanked her as he was beamed out of the network, “You’re doing great!!”

“Go get him, Mega,” Roll thought aloud with confidence, facing down the burning Navi.

“You’re going to burn for that…” FireMan hissed, “I’ll cremate you until you’re zeros and ones!!”

“Haven’t you been told not to play with fire?” she taunted him, floating above the ground.

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“I don’t know what exactly is going on…” a SciLab scientist stated. He, his colleague, and the detective were in a train car, with the former holding a small case that held the Wood Program, a special computer chip in its natural state. “If there’s trouble outside, what should we do, Detective Bluemann?”

“The Wood Program is a chip with special data, right?” Mr. Match’s silver tongue duped the innocent man, “Would it be possible to download its contents into a PET?”

“Yes, it is,” the scientist answered, “We’ve compressed it as much as we could, down to 12 gigabytes. It was originally 74 GB when it was created, the largest of the 4 programs.”

“Allow me to download it so we can keep it away from the WWW, please!” Match implored.

“Just because the train stopped, that doesn’t mean we’ll do that,” another SciLab worker protested, “We can look after it ourselves!”

“A Navi is actually causing destruction up top,” Match lifted his thumb, gesturing outside. “He caved in this tunnel, you know! You’re in danger!”

“These trains weren’t built for protection,” the scientist with the case concluded, “The WWW must be trying to destroy this program!”

“Why would they do that?” The only smart one of the pair pondered as his friend allowed Match to download the chip into his PET, “And why would you suggest a download?”

“The WWW is expecting a scientist to be seen with it,” the villain playing policeman replied, “not a detective. And they’re not out to destroy such a valuable program.”

“This is sensitive to our city!” that scientist persisted, “You can’t just take it!”

“Hold that thought,” Match went up to the conductor and took her aside, “You need to get everyone off this train immediately.”

“Why… Officer?” It took her a bit to see his fake ID, taken in by his appearance.

“There is a bomb on the train,” he whispered quietly, “But don’t panic, I can handle it. You just have to get everyone to leave.”

“O-Of course,” The conductor nervously followed his instruction, telling everyone to leave the train.

“What did you say to her?” Both scientists grew anxious, witnessing flocks of people leave en masse.

Match opened up a window for just about everybody to hear, and began to shout with false concern… “BOMB!!!” This caused the people in the tunnel to flee, running and shoving each other out of the way.

“What are you—?!” The two scientists couldn’t defend themselves when Match punched them out, sending them to the floor. He checked his PET, seeing the words DOWNLOAD COMPLETE.

“Sheep, every last one of them,” Mr. Match chuckled, getting off the train in the commotion.

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Topside, StoneMan was bringing his arms down, causing boulders to drop from the dome. A few of them hit vehicles and buildings, and pedestrians were barely able to escape them! “Running and screaming is all you humans can do!” StoneMan roared, “No one is coming to save you! Kneel to the WWW if you wish to live!”

“I have a better idea!!” MegaMan ran for StoneMan and kicked him back, despite the WWW Navi being around four times his size! “How about you get out of the real world?!”

“Why would I do that?” the stone-bodied Navi questioned.

“Because no one is coming to save you…” MegaMan whispered darkly, drawing his Mega Buster and donning his faceplate.

“Only FireMan could screw up guard duty,” StoneMan’s eyes glowed brightly, “No matter. You’ll be deleted without trouble.”

“We’ll delete you!” Lan yelled through his PET, his voice backing up MegaMan. “Battle routine, set!!”

“Execute!!”

“Stone Drop!!” The large Navi raised his arms up, then let them fall to cause a tremor. Mega stumbled momentarily, quickly moving aside once he saw boulders above him. The blue Navi charged his buster and fired, yet StoneMan didn’t flinch.

“Typical,” Lan thought as he selected chips for Mega, “These robust Navis sometimes have a Super Armor program.”

“Heat Spread!!” MegaMan fired a blazing spread shot, doing some damage to StoneMan. But he continued to shrug it off, unrelenting in dropping rocks on him!

“Ugh!!” One rock managed to land on Mega, cracking part of his helmet.

“MegaMan!!” Lan cried with concern, almost causing Ripley and I to look away from our screens. “This Navi… What can we do to break him?”

“The best strategy would be to counter and use Full Synchro to our advantage,” Ripley stated. “But StoneMan could be too powerful to beat alone.”

“I got this!” Lan insisted, “If I could take FireMan alone, I can beat him!!”

Mega picked himself up, only to get electrocuted from behind by a virus! The virus was called Billy, a short yellow ball with red eyes, thick feet, silver probes for arms, and a lightning bolt extending from the back of its head.

“Using a virus to get the drop on him?” Lan griped, “What kind of Navi are you?”

“The kind that will do anything to win,” StoneMan replied, allowing Billy viruses to materialize in the real world. “My question to you; can you defend yourself and these innocent people?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Mega saw a Billy virus lead its kind to a restaurant, where some people had taken refuge!!

“Hurricane!! Double Slot in!!” Lan transmitted chip data, allowing Mega to convert his arms into fans, creating tornados that deleted two viruses, earning their attention.

“This isn’t working…” I was getting annoyed quickly, “We need to level the playing field!”

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“Aqua Blade!!” Roll swung a thin sword of water at FireMan, temporarily dousing his torch head in the process. “Mayl, are you suggesting we end the Dimensional Area’s function?”

“That’s right,” I nodded, “We need to cause an overload in the system and force StoneMan back in the network.”

“Leave that to me!” MythMan flew around a cluster of VolGear and Piranha viruses, “Just keep the hothead busy!” The viruses followed him to a satellite dish representing the generator’s hardware in the computer. As they fired arrows and flame pillars, MythMan weaved past them with ease as the dish took consecutive hits.

“I’ll blast you out of the sky!!” FireMan aimed at the dragon Navi, but Roll leapt on his back, distracting him.

“In your dreams!!” Roll smacked the back of his head, provoking him.

“Burning Body!!” FireMan sent a circle of flames from his body, forcing her to let go.

“Fire Sword!” Roll’s arm became a flaming sword and swung, leaving a mark on his body.

“You’re good…” FireMan admitted, “But so am I! Burning Tower!!” A blazing pillar came from the ground, surrounding both him and Roll, and while he was unharmed, Roll’s body was scorched as she screamed in pain!

“Roll…!” I had to stay calm, however hard it was to take. I took solace in that I had Recovery chips. My Navi struggled to stand after that, getting kicked by FireMan in her stomach, skidding along the cyber floor until she stopped in front of a pink furred Spikey 2. It was going to spit fire at her, but she dodged it by rolling along the ground.

“Stupid mutt!!” FireMan bellowed, using his flamethrower arms to torch the virus to deletion!

“What…?” Roll questioned while I gave her a Recovery 80 chip, “You… deleted your own virus?”

“This is my fight!” FireMan shouted, “Letting anything else finish you off would taint my victory! I want to earn this!”

He reminds me of Lan… I reflected, remembering that Lan believed he had something to prove.

[BGM: Crash, Remastered Tracks Rockman Zero]

“Fire Bomb!!” The enemy shot explosives from his head, forcing Roll on the move!

“Fighter Sword!!” She got a sharp orange blade for her right arm, slashing at FireMan at a good distance away.

“GRAAAAGH!!” He flinched backwards, failing to notice Roll teleporting. When he got his footing, he stood still, warming his cannons. His eye shifted to a pink blur, and he opened fire, but Roll had already moved by then, standing in front of the dish and waving at him. “Fire Arm!!” In his haste to burn her, he singed the dish, greatly damaging the generator. MythMan tearing off its antenna only contributed to it, not counting the viruses duped into attacking the dish.

“Alright!!” MythMan tossed the antenna down to the viruses, deleting twenty of them in one swoop.

“NO!!!” FireMan yelled, turning to Roll. “You tricked me!!”

“Hi-yah!!” She teleported in front of him and kicked his face in, sending him to the floor’s edge.

“I’d surrender if I were you,” Roll’s longbow was trained at FireMan, despite the few Mettaurs and Canodumbs aiming at her.

“Stand down…” FireMan told the pack, “She’s won this fight. Just as MegaMan did...” The viruses did as they were told, backing away from my team.

“That was some operating," Ripley nodded to me, “Now I get what you have to go through.”

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“Wood Tower!!” MegaMan summoned a sharp woody spike from the ground to delete yet another Billy virus, while firing at StoneMan.

“Rock Cube!!” He created a series of stone cubes to obstruct the street, making it hard for MegaMan to hit him.

“Here!” Lan gave him an edge, however. “Guts Punch! Slot in!” Using his upgraded fist, Mega punched the cube as hard as he could, knocking it into StoneMan.

“UWOAAAAAAAGHH!!!” The Navi stepped back, taking the blow head on.

“We still have a shot!!” Lan said, “We can’t let him take control!!”

“These streets will be your burial ground!!” StoneMan’s eyes glowed, with a high class chip appearing and disappearing in seconds. This chip’s illustration showed stone obstacles flying wildly as two ghostly eyes and a mouth spooked a virus. “Poltergeist!!” In an instant, the Rock Cubes rose up in the air, suddenly soaring toward Mega!

“Whoa!!” Mega ran down the road to avoid them, but a Billy virus stunned him with a Thunder Ball!

“Totem Finish!!” The stone golem’s arms disappeared for a moment, then came up under the ground with totem-esque faces on them. The eyes shone bright as the mouths fired a purple laser beam at MegaMan! One missed, but the other wounded him badly!

“AAAGGGGHHHH!!!” The blue Navi fell on his back, twitching as pieces of pixels dissipated from his left side. He looked and saw his left arm was no longer there!!

“No, no, no!!” Lan screamed, grasping his PET. “This can’t be happening!!”

“I suppose you’ve lost,” StoneMan’s voice rumbled, turning to see the restaurant filled with innocent people. “And I might as well tear this eyesore down.”

“Why?!” my juvenile friend angrily queried, “What’s to gain from robbing them of their lives?!”

“None, perhaps,” StoneMan responded with dismissal, “I don’t need a reason to assist the WWW in ravaging this country. I’m programmed for destruction.”

“W-Watch your mouth flap,” Mega hissed in pain, pointing up to the sky. “Y-You’re only going t-to jinx yourself…” StoneMan looked up, seeing the Dimensional Area wear off! The dome surrounding the Metroline and the other buildings was dissipating into thin air! “Oh wait,” MegaMan smugly grinned, “You just did.”

“Insolent pest!!” StoneMan attempted to finish off the smaller Navi, but he was forced to retreat back to the Cyberworld with his viruses.

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“Finally, it’s over,” Match thought, walking along the sidewalk of the abandoned streets. “That Dimensional Area could’ve powered off sooner, though.”

He looked over StoneMan’s handiwork, seeing untold amounts of property damage. However, there was something that got his attention.

“P-Please…” A man was buried under some rubble, somewhat unharmed.

“Oh my…” Mr. Match’s conscience went into overdrive, dragging the civilian out of the rubble. It appeared he was trying to crawl, but he couldn’t get out without help. “Can you stand?” Match asked, “Can you pick yourself up?”

“I-I… can’t…” the man stammered, his face pale with a realization. “I can’t feel my legs…”

Match’s heart filled with such dread for the first time in a long while, he almost forgot his mission. “Hey, you!!” he yelled at someone who just got out of a building, “Get an ambulance! Don’t leave this man alone!” When the pedestrian got there, Match made sure his instructions were carried out. Then he ran off, bringing out his PET to contact FireMan. “FireMan, pick me up.”

“Mr. Match, we’ve got a problem,” FireMan answered, showing him the inside of the generator’s computer.

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In the network, FireMan was underneath StoneMan’s arm while Roll and MythMan tended to Mega. As for Lan, Ripley, and I, we were looking for the vehicle holding that troublesome device.

“Your arm will be back now,” Roll sighed, exhaling after the stressful task of restoring Mega’s vitality.

“It’s a good thing I installed the Life Saver Advance, Roll,” I was glad to have that ready.

“You were brave out there, MegaMan,” MythMan patted him on the shoulder, glaring at the WWW Navi. “Facing off against that scoundrel.”

“Lan, I hope you realize you can’t win without us,” Ripley stated, looking at him.

“Yeah, I know,” Lan sighed, glad to see Mega get back up with his left arm. “I guess I’ll have to earn your trust later…”

“If you haven’t already, you did now,” I told him.

Lan briefly made a pure smile at me, before gazing back to his PET. “Let’s go, RockMan,” he raised his voice for the blockheaded Navi to hear, “There’s no innocent civilians to harm, so why don’t you fight like a real Navi?”

“I knew it…” Match’s voice growled in the network, “You spineless titan of a Navi!”

“Scaring innocent people may come with the job…” FireMan struggled under the weight of the Navi’s arm, “but directly attacking them was never our mission!!”

[BGM: Guarder Room, Remastered Tracks Rockman Zero]

“Correct,” StoneMan didn’t bother to deny that, “I don’t get any satisfaction from that. Crushing you, however, is amusing to me.”

“I just saw a man under some rubble!!” Match reprimanded StoneMan, “He couldn’t move his legs! He may not walk again!”

“No one’s going to care. Cyber-life is cruel. The real world is no different. Idiot should’ve been more careful.”

“Awful…” Ripley muttered.

“Contemptible…” Lan spoke his mind as well.

“My only regret now…” StoneMan suddenly raised the arm he had over FireMan and brought it down on his head! “Is that I didn’t do this sooner!!”

“AAGGGGHHHH!!!” FireMan yelled, helpless under his accomplice, pummeled again and again by him. “Ken!! Kenichi!! Help!!”

“H-Hang in there, FireMan!!” Match was trying to give FireMan a chip to escape, just as our Navis rushed in. However…

*STOMP!!*

FireMan’s head was flattened by the larger Navi, causing his deletion. His remains spontaneously exploded into pieces of data, scattering around the network. “F-FireMan…” Match stuttered, his face more pale than before.

“This is war!!” StoneMan shouted, forcing boulders to descend from the cyber sky, sending our Navis on the run. “If human society must be dominated to reach our goals, so be it! But you can’t be squeamish about where you step!!”

“I’m a pyromaniac, but I’ve never attempted to kill anyone,” Match hissed, “let alone my allies. What you’ve done is unacceptable.”

“If the boss didn't hire you, I would've crushed you as well!!” StoneMan bellowed, “Remember your mission and fulfill it, annoyance!!”

“No one will get their hands on this program, but I’m only doing this because I need to. Not because I want to.” Mr. Match hung up, fleeing the scene.

“Hey, glitch!!” Roll shouted, firing a Roll Arrow at StoneMan’s eyes, succeeding in hitting one.

“GAH!!” he grunted, standing his ground still.

“We’re not through yet!” Mega pointed his Mega Buster at the villain, “But you are!”

01010111 01010111 01010111

In the real world, my friends and I were sure we were closing in on the van. We were yards away from the Metroline, but this block suddenly gained a crowd of people fleeing the station. “Current posts claim there was a bomb,” Mr. Famous clarified for us, “The WWW clearly pushed that angle to cause turmoil to steal the Wood Program.”

“Match must’ve done that,” I guessed, “He somehow got close, probably in disguise.”

“Would a van be a perfect fit for that kind of generator?” Lan questioned, pointing at a van to his left.

“Hey, yeah!!” Rip nodded, getting his PET out. “MythMan, can you open the doors?”

“Only if my friends can handle this insufferable blockhead!” MythMan gestured to his allies, with MegaMan and Roll firing at their adversary. “Yep, jacking out!”

When he came back to his PET, he was sent to jack in the computer of the van. It only took seconds to unlock the doors, which we opened up, finding the Dimensional Area Generator! “This is it!” Ripley got in the van to check out the device, “We found the D.A.G.!!”

“What?” Lan questioned, following him inside.

“It’s easier to say for me,” Rip shrugged, only for the doors to close and lock the boys inside!

“Lan!! Ripley!!” I shouted, which did little good when the van took off!!

“Mayl!!” Roll called out, “StoneMan left the generator computer! He took over the van!!”

“I see that…” I was getting sick of this Navi with each second, “Let’s pump the brakes!”

Absorbed into the task at hand, I failed to notice Match in Redd’s clothes hiding behind a building, having seen everything. It’ll be smart to ditch the clothes and Wood Program, he decided, placing the data inside a traffic light’s computer. I’ll just have to come back later. Not noticing him then would cost us…

01010111 01010111 01010111

“I hate these future cars!!” Lan exclaimed, colliding with the van’s walls when the vehicle swerved around the block.

“Mythical Breath!!” MythMan unleashed cold air from his mouth, freezing Billy viruses in his front.

“Stone Drop!!” StoneMan threw his arms down, making the sky rain boulders again. MegaMan zigzagged, returning fire with his buster.

“Dyna Wave and Aqua Tower!!” Lan selected the chips, even with the uncomfortable position he was in. “Let him have it!!”

Mega proceeded to do just that. First, making sure StoneMan was ready to attack, he used the pickaxe to send out the wave, earning Full Synchro by stunning the bigger Navi. “Aqua Tower!” Creating a geyser-like trail from his hand, he guided it to StoneMan, landing double damage.

In the floor’s corner, Roll came out through a portal. “Good, I didn’t miss much,” Just as she said that, a boulder fell on top of her.

“How ‘bout I do something interesting?!” StoneMan made a large hole in front of him, “God Stone!!” A flashing ball dropped in and a stone-like totem head rose up, not unlike StoneMan’s totems, though this one had the Navi’s strange arms.

[BGM: Crescent Grizzly Stage, Mega Man X5]

“MegaMan, grab my hands!!” MythMan yelled, flying up quickly, sending his forearms to the blue Navi. He grabbed them as God Stone slammed the ground rapidly, unleashing boulders at a faster rate than StoneMan himself!

“Roll Dance!!” Roll zipped around the battlefield, avoiding the rocks as MythMan spun around in the air, keeping MegaMan from harm.

“Old Wood!!” Next came a dead tree entity with a surprised expression on its face, forcing Wood Towers up! It persisted in skewering our Navis more than the last one! “Now for Lava Dragon!!” StoneMan was ready to summon another being, but he couldn’t defend himself.

“Roll Arrow!!” Roll struck his chest with her longbow buster, deleting his chip data.

“Lan, get me an advance!!” MegaMan requested, let down gently by MythMan. “We’re done here!”

“Dragon Talons!!” The reptilian Navi’s claws flew to StoneMan, slashing him and leaving an X on his body.

“Roll Flash!!” Roll teleported to StoneMan, whacking him with her antennae.

“Enough!!” StoneMan roared, turning his arms into totems to prepare his attack. “Totem Finish!!”

“Revolving Jewel!!” MythMan created a magenta diamond that twirled and retaliated against the laser with a flying slice that added to StoneMan’s already glaring scars.

“Guardian!!” Likewise, I had Roll summon a gray statue with a neutral face, a blue orb on its forehead, and long ear lobes. Once it got blasted, a lightning bolt punished the Navi.

“Here we go!!” Lan selected the chips and MegaMan felt the advance come on.

< PROGRAM ADVANCE >
Guts Punch B
Cold Punch B
Dash Attack B

Lan looked at the screen, grinning like a fool as Ripley struggled with the van’s wheel.

< PROGRAM ADVANCE >
Machine Gun Punch

StoneMan aimed at MegaMan with his totems for the last time, blasting with full force, but he saw them coming and ran toward them. “What is this!?” StoneMan roared, witnessing his foe jump over them. “You’re weak!! You’re no different from those humans!!”

When the last of the Billy viruses came to reinforce StoneMan, Rock Cubes were summoned by MythMan and Roll, courtesy of Ripley and me. We knew the strategy, merely supplying the defense.

“Okay, guys,” Mega rested his back against the cube, “Push!!” Roll struggled with her cube at first, until she got a Guts Punch chip to move it easily. MythMan used his back for one cube, letting his detached hands push the other one.

Billy! Billy! Billy! The Billy viruses chanted, using their prongs to send electricity at us, only for the cubes to block them.

“Now!!” Mega signaled, with MythMan leaping out, drawing Blue Blazer and swinging the flame sword at the viruses. Roll punched the cube at them, knocking them over in a heap, and threw a Big Bomb to delete the rest.

“Stone Drop!!” The WWW Navi got desperate, forcing boulders to drop around him with no sign of stopping, except not one of them got MegaMan.

He leapt for StoneMan, grabbing him by his head and flipping over to land on top of his square-esque back. “So, how does it feel?” MegaMan asked, raising his right fist up in the air. “To get beaten by human ingenuity?”

“Humiliating,” StoneMan spat, “Getting outfoxed by your fleshy counterparts, even with superior forces… No Navi has this processing power.”

“Let me tell you a secret…” Mega whispered, “This was all me.” StoneMan’s jaw dropped as Lan’s Navi said one more thing before hopping off and letting him have it. “Machine Gun Punch!!” Six Guts Punches came from his fist, rapidly pummeling StoneMan into the brake program, stopping the vehicle.

“Yikes!!” Lan fell over and hit the seat while Ripley hit his face on the wheel, hitting the car horn in the process.

“Was that really necessary?” Roll shook her head at Mega, “You just made them eat it up there.”

“Sorry,” Mega sheepishly apologized, “I was caught up in the moment.”

“Considering what he did to you,” MythMan noted, “I’d call it justified.”

“Hey, guys,” I called out as the boys got out of the van, “Had a fun trip around the block?”

“We went around the block?” Ripley questioned, eyeing the avenue for a few seconds.

“Oh yeah, we did,” The juvenile rebel nodded, rubbing his head. “I’ve got the sudden nausea and bump marks to prove it.”

“The NetPolice will come by soon,” I had put the call out during the hectic NetBattle, “Let’s secure the generator.”

“MegaMan, you can jack out now,” Lan was prepared to press the PET emblem to recall him, but he was stopped from doing so.

“Lan, StoneMan’s gone!!” he shouted, “He disappeared!!”

“I thought you deleted him?” Ripley pinched his nose with closed eyes and a yawn.

“He must’ve had the Under Shirt program equipped…” MythMan smacked his face with his own hand.

“Then where did he go now?” Roll questioned.

The D.A.G. fired back up, sounding like it was malfunctioning. “Oh no,” I muttered, “I think I know what StoneMan’s up to!”

Inside the network, the decimated dish structure was crackling digital sparks while StoneMan glowed, overloading his programming. “Beaten by a human in the guise of a Navi?!” StoneMan laughed in an uproar, “I don’t believe it, but it’s actually true!! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!” The floor crumbled into pixels; the cyber sky swirled into white noise, and StoneMan was self-destructing, literally!

[BGM: Incident Occurrence!, Mega Man Battle Network]

“HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!” the WWW Navi cackled, “I’m no longer superior?! Then let my enemies be denied their prize! Let them be blown up! It makes no difference to me!! I’d rather be deleted than live knowing I was bested by such a horrific entity!! Long live the WWW!!! HA-HA-HA-HA!!!”

“Jacking out!!” MegaMan, Roll, and MythMan swiftly got out of the van’s network.

“Come on!!” Lan grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me away from the area with Ripley following close behind. The guys and I took cover behind a building, waiting for the imminent explosion.

*BOOM!*

It came, alright, but expecting it didn’t make hearing it less than loud. We stuck our heads out from behind the wall to see the generator’s remnants, if any existed. All we saw was a blazing van with smoke flying up.

“Okay, Mayl?” Lan had a request to make to me, “I don’t know if Redd is gonna drive us anywhere after this, but I’m walking.”

“U-Understandable…” I couldn’t help but agree, seeing his fierce eyes.

We defeated WWW today, but nothing good came from it. The Wood Program was gone and in their hands, for all I knew. StoneMan’s attack was going to stick with some people forever, and we’re no closer to stopping them, now that the generator was destroyed in the explosion. Still, I learned something interesting: Lan Hikari hated automobiles, emphasis on auto.

CHAPTER 8 END

NOTE: With MythMan introduced, here's him with his operator, Ripley!

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Reddington Bluemann and Ripley Marduk © HatOnFire/Me

01001100 01000001 01001110

[BGM: ACDC Town, Mega Man Battle Network]

After today, I hated cars, especially self-driving ones; those things were deathtraps. It was bad enough I had to be in one earlier today, but at least it didn’t get blown up, unlike the other one! The NetPolice finally got to this part of ACDC Town with fire trucks and ambulances, helping people and containing the damage that was done.

“StoneMan really did a number on this town,” I whispered, seeing plenty of cracks in the street and on some of the foundations of a few buildings.

“Current reports say there were 5 injuries,” MegaMan informed me, bringing up a current news report. “Fortunately, no casualties.”

“It was only luck that StoneMan wasn’t so quick to attack those people in the restaurant,” I recalled that brief moment in time, shuddering. “He was a few feet away from them!”

“You really pulled it off, Lan,” Mayl came up behind me, walking under the yellow tape that surrounded what was once a van. “If you weren’t here…”

“Don’t give me any credit,” I spoke up before she could finish that thought, “You and Ripley shut off that generator before things got worse.”

“Even though we stopped the WWW,” Ripley looked at the remains of the van, “We still don’t know what they want with the Wood Program, now that it’s gone.”

“We should talk it over at SciLab,” Redd tilted his head slightly, signaling us to his car. “Not out in the open. Let’s go.”

“Yeah, how about no?” I walked away from the group as briskly as I could, “I’m taking the train.”

“I’m with you, Lan!” Ripley followed after me, “I’m not getting my head shaken and stirred three times in one day!!”

“Wha—? Hey!!” Redd yelled to try and stop us, “I’ll go the speed limit!!”

“That’s not what they’re worried about,” Mayl reminded her guardian.

“I know,” the detective sighed, “It’s just insulting.” I wasn’t really trying to hurt the guy’s feelings, but I am not getting in another car for the rest of the month! I’m not doing it, and there’s no force in the world that can make me!

“Lan, are you feeling alright?” MegaMan questioned.

“Of course!” I replied, picking up my PET. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I just had a feeling you weren’t…” Mega shrugged, “You think something’s up.”

“Forget about it. Let’s just go to… SciLab.”

“If you’re worried about running into your dad, don’t worry,” Ripley stated, “He won’t be back for the next two weeks.”

“That’s fine…” I sighed, attempting to hide my current mood. “Of course he wouldn’t be around. He’s just that busy.” I don’t know where that last part came from. I wasn’t really expecting him there. He never bothered to show up anymore, so what did it matter?

“Lan?” Ripley grabbed my shoulder, stopping me from walking out in the street. It was lucky for me, considering that a car was speeding along. Another misstep, and I would’ve been the world’s flattest boy!

“I really hate cars,” I growled, clenching my fists and baring my teeth.

01001101 01001101 01000010 01001110

SciLab was Electopia’s go-to for innovations and bright ideas; they created next generation technology to bring us all closer to the future. They cooperate with the Officials and NetPolice in dealing with current criminal activities, offering scientific solutions to any given problem.

They used to have a location at the Government Complex, which is near the center of the Den Tech Metropolis and the main government buildings, until the SciLab part moved out several years ago. The reason was because some politicians saw SciLab as a bull’s-eye for hackers and corporate espionage, not helped by the Waterworks and the underground Power Plant being regular hacker targets. Personally, I think it would’ve been smarter to separate the three facilities completely. Except the Power Plant, being a power grid for Den Tech City, has a strong security system that alternates their firewalls and defenses for every attack 24/7.

“Here we are,” Ripley tapped my shoulder, getting my attention. We got off the train and left the underground station.

SciLab was a large building surrounded by traffic roads and parking lots. A flight of stairs lead to a small park on the right, which had benches and two vending machines containing energy drinks and snacks. On the left, there was another bench area that had a trash bin, surrounding a small fountain that had a statue at the center. The statue was a bearded man pointing his finger outward, straight for the future.

“So, this is their new building?” I observed the towering light gray building, packed with tinted glass covering most walls and casting off reflections of each part of the area. “It’s bigger than the last one.”

“The government gave them some abandoned facilities to work with,” Ripley informed me, “Just to compensate for this building originally being a newspaper printing company that went out of business. Even so, we still don’t have enough space for our projects.”

“I guess you fit in well,” I mumbled, keeping myself from saying anything else. I had a stupid thought that I didn’t want to bring out in the open.

“As the only mid-teen intern?” He shook his head, “I’m smart, but not on their level.”

“So, should we go inside now or wait?”

“They’ll catch up,” Ripley motioned one of his hands, “Let me show you the inside.” We climbed up the steps as I noticed the enlarged logo above the entrance of SciLab, a big S formed from reversed J curves, outlined by white. The top curve was yellow as the bottom was green.

[BGM: Scientific Forefront, Mega Man Battle Network 3]

Entering SciLab, we went past a security guard and went up a few steps, walking to the center of the lobby. The tile floor was blue, save for the logo in the center of it.

“Let’s put you on the guest list,” Ripley took me to the receptionist’s desk, telling her about me.

“Lan Hikari?” she questioned, “Dr. Hikari’s son is here?”

“He’ll be coming in and out from now on,” he said to her, “He needs access to the Mission Control room.”

“I’m afraid that’s out of my hands,” The receptionist shook her head, “Even if he’s Dr. Hikari’s son, I can’t allow him that level of access. It’ll take someone with clearance above most workers here.”

“I can vouch for him,” Mr. Famous came up to us, “You may give him access.” After that, I got my own guest ID with special access. Putting down my name was easy, yet I had to sign a non-disclosure agreement, too. With the tech SciLab produces, its employees or affiliates are required to sign this agreement before being allowed to take part here.

“These rules probably don’t apply with policemen or officials,” I mumbled, clipping my ID card on one of my pockets.

“If they have business here with a scientist,” Mr. Famous clarified, “They skip the sign-in procedures. However, they must sign the agreement, thereby being sworn to secrecy.”

“You have to understand that people badly want to know everything we’ve got,” Rip scratched his head, getting an itch. “It doesn’t matter if the ideas are in the test phase, the planning phase, or if they’re scratched from production. This could be bad for our business if competitors copy us, or if criminals take them and use them for their agendas.”

“In other words,” I understood, walking up some stairs to a sliding door that has a control panel. “Everyone who chooses to be here has a lot to lose if anything gets leaked.”

“Like our Cross Fusion project and the Dimensional Area project,” Ripley nodded while Mr. Famous slid his card into the scanner. The doors opened up as a result.

“Mission Control is just past this Operation Room,” he told me as we got inside, “This is where most of SciLab’s main systems are. They don’t just monitor every network and computer in this facility, but they can also check on other electronic devices in this part of the metropolis.”

“Nice…” I had to admire these large computers, “But isn’t SciLab supposed to be a company that believes in exchanging free information?”

“I’m not sure if you know this, Lan,” Ripley explained, “But there were a few instances of people who worked at SciLab turning to crime. Like when a small group of citizens conspired with a scientist to take money from Den Town’s central bank deposit.”

“Oh, I remember!!” I recalled that time, “MegaMan and I were spending our summer patrolling Den Town for trouble, and we saw some robbers break into the bank! They failed to get in the vault because we shut down their computerized tools.”

“And because you punched the mastermind of the group pretty hard,” Mega interjected with a little grin, “So hard, he managed to lose his lunch.”

“…Why did I say anything?” I also remembered having to get some new shoes that day…

“Since incidents similar to that,” Mr. Famous slid his card into another slot, opening another door up. “We had to pull back on allowing civilians free reign in our facilities. Government officials, businessmen, scientists, officers, and high-ranking Officials NetBattlers are the only people who can get permission to come. Trusted family members, also.”

“Guess that’s why I’m left out, huh?”

“You weren’t an Official,” Ripley stated as we entered Mission Control, “and the SciLab Committee outright banned you from entering since the controversy you got into with one of the Prime Minister candidates two years ago.”

“Every act you’ve done outside of the law had damaged Dr. Hikari’s reputation, according to the board,” the veteran NetBattler added, moving to the control panel at the end of the room. “Thus, you wouldn’t be welcomed in, nor allowed to walk fifty yards up to the building.”

“Right…” I shook my head, looking around the spacious room. Behind Mr. Famous and his desk, there were multiple screens on the wall, arranged 4x4. Together, they formed the SciLab logo surrounded by a blue circle in a black background. To my left, there was a computer panel that had three screens, where one was in the center as the others were on opposite sides.

“It was that way for two years, but not for much longer,” He crossed his arms, “Soon, we’ll unveil our projects at the Government Complex, and information exchange can begin again. They may even lift your ban.”

“Really?”

“That’s right,” Detective Bluemann nodded, standing behind me with Mayl the whole time.

“Ahh!!” I clutched my heart in shock, “Don’t do that!”

“Sorry, Lan…” Mayl sheepishly apologized.

“Glad you got here,” Ripley went to the side panel, bringing up projects on each screen in the back. “We were filling Lan in on the release of the company’s projects.”

“That’s not the only thing we should discuss,” Redd proceeded to mention, “We need to talk about today’s events.”

“We lost the Wood Program,” Mayl made the obvious known, “That generator blew up, meaning we can’t get anything worthwhile from it. What else?”

“Our school got attacked by the WWW,” I threw in that event from hours ago and then some, “They brainwashed Higsby and tried to brainwash the rest of the students and teachers.”

“Speaking of which,” Ripley began to raise a question, “Do we know if Higsby remembers everything when he was under their control?”

“I checked with a coworker as we were coming here,” the detective answered, “He told us Mr. Higsby remembers a few things while being brainwashed, like the part about someone telling him what to do.”

“I sense the word but incoming,” Mr. Famous anticipated correctly.

“But he doesn’t recall anything else,” Redd rubbed his chin, “Specifically not when he performed Cross Fusion. A doctor is looking into it, but I can’t help but think…”

“Think what?” One of my eyebrows went up.

“Was Higsby acting robot-like when you fought him?”

“Yes,” Mayl replied, “He was clearly under someone’s influence.”

“Here’s the footage from Lan’s perspective,” Mr. Famous brought it up on four of the screens behind him, bringing a close up on C.F. NumberMan’s face, featured with glowing red eyes.

“The WWW made Mr. Higsby act like a sleeper agent,” The detective flexed his brain on the subject, “and it’s true he was driven to brainwash several students.”

“But there’s more to it than that,” I knew as much, “Hijacking Den Tech City’s schools was a diversion to spread out the police for their Metroline heist.”

“That much is clear,” Ripley rubbed his bandaged hand, “So, that’s all it is. Just a distraction.”

I thought that’s all it could’ve been, too. But something was wrong. Call it a gut feeling, but there’s no question something’s up. “Mr. Famous,” I made a request to him, “If you recorded everything, could you bring up the part where I got through to him for a moment?”

“It’s only Famous, Lan,” The scientist accelerated the feed to that moment in time, “Here it is. What next?”

“MegaMan,” I brought out my PET to jack him into the network, “The data I saved from that encounter… Upload it to the monitor.”

“I’m on it,” MegaMan followed my command, releasing a holographic rectangle to a digital manifestation of a projector. The data was shown on four other screens, right next to the footage of the battle with Higsby.

“Where are you going with this?” Ripley was confused, “Higsby was affected by the brainwashing signal, but he broke through it, right?”

“He did,” Mayl affirmed, “The first time we took him on, at least. But that wasn’t the end of it.”

“The second time,” I muttered, “He and NumberMan were speaking as one. Higsby stammered as he tried to break through, but…”

“Let me clarify for everyone else,” Mr. Famous played the footage.

“YoU mUsT tAkE mE dOwN…” Higsby spoke with NumberMan in a collective voice, “I-I’vE bEeN bRoAdCaStInG tHe BrAiNwAsHiNg PrOgRaM tHaT’s CoNtRoLlInG mE tHrOuGhOuT tHe WhOlE sChOoL!”

“That’s Higsby’s voice, but he’s in unison with NumberMan,” It was my turn to stretch my brain muscles, “I’m not sure if that’s him speaking…”

“What do you mean, Lan?” Redd furrowed one of his eyebrows, “He was talking to you.”

“Yeah, but I’m not sure that’s him…” I rubbed over my shut eyelids, slowly bringing my hand down my face. “When he talks, it’s always… informal. He talks with an easy tone, and when he gets nervous or afraid, there’s sometimes panic in his voice. So, if he was talking to me, why wasn’t he panicking?”

“Now that you mention it,” Mayl was starting to understand my thought process, “When he spoke as C.F. NumberMan, he acted like another person… Like a drone. He sounded subservient.”

“He sounded like that even when he was resisting that program,” I started to have an idea form in my mind.

“Lan?” Mr. Famous was following along, but I feel like I lost him somewhere. I had to make sense with everyone now.

“Try assuming that Higsby was still brainwashed and acting under the WWW’s orders,” I told them, “Then assume that the leader told him to feign resistance and—”

“Stop for one minute, Lan,” The detective held up his hand as though he was directing traffic, “Are you suggesting that Higsby was ordered to pretend to resist the brainwashing?”

“It’s a big leap, but I think that’s what happened.”

[BGM: Phalanx, Mega Man ZX Tunes]

“What?!” Ripley clenched his bandaged fist and pressed it against his forehead, almost like a gust of wind was blowing directly at him. His jacket and hair even fluttered as though it was happening!

“Lan, that’s a bold statement,” Mr. Famous crossed his arms in wonder, “What makes you so sure that’s the case?”

“For one thing, that,” I pointed at the monitor, which had Higsby grabbing his own head while red glowed from his shades. “His eyes were red the whole time. If he was resisting, there wouldn’t be red.”

“That logic isn’t really sound, but…” Mayl thought, “What are your other reasons?”

“When all the Navis were forced to jack out after NumberMan deleted the Reeducation Program,” I remembered having my partner take data from the network’s server, “MegaMan found traces to that program. Here you go.”

MegaMan had the fragmented data in his hands, putting it in a digital container. He held it out, watching as the container dematerialized from him, and over to another part of the computer he was in. “On the way to SciLab,” he said, “Lan asked me to look over the remnants of that program. All I got so far was that it was filled with a revolution mindset. And that’s on the surface.”

“Let’s see…” Mr. Famous analyzed the pieces, typing in commands to reconstruct the program. He got some results in a few seconds. “There’s coded suggestion phrases, and some sound clips set to trigger at any resistance words.”

“Please don’t click on any of them,” Ripley plugged his ears, just to be safe.

“That’s not the first program the NetPolice discovered,” Redd pulled up a few notes on his outdated PET, “According to our notes, one class from a school near Beach Street was brainwashed. It took a while to find a brainwashing program in a computer. And the one who reported the incident was… Mr. Higsby.”

“You didn’t think he was suspicious?” Ripley shrugged, only relenting when he took in his own words. “Oh… Never mind…”

“Higsby did get a teaching degree a while ago,” Mayl noted, “He even hung it in his office at his shop.”

“So, Higsby was chosen by the WWW because of that,” I felt that so many things were falling into place, “but what about that program that you found, Redd?”

“We looked into it, and we discovered that it could brainwash one class,” Redd explained, “but not an entire school.”

“That’s odd,” Mr. Famous looked at his current findings, “This brainwashing program should be more intricate than that.”

“Mr. Famous?” Mayl inquired, “What’s up?”

“This program looks like it was put together at the last second,” The scientific NetBattler tapped his finger on the computer panel, “It doesn’t appear to be powerful enough to bring an entire school under anyone’s control. And I’ve found more ear-piercing sound bites from this program than anything that could classify as brainwashing.”

“I’m lost now,” Ripley scratched his head, “What’s the motive?”

Motive? I thought, revolving around that word for a while. Motive… Motivate…? Motivation…!? “So that’s it!!” I balled a hand into a fist and slammed it over the other one, “That’s what it’s all about!!”

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Mayl started to have the same idea.

“It wasn’t just about distracting the police for their heist!” I exclaimed, “But it was never about rallying other students to support them! The WWW’s true goal at the school was to test their enemies! Us!!”

“S-Seriously?!” Redd started to sweat a little, pressing the rim of his hat with his fingertips.

“Really?!” Ripley was dumbstruck, slow to comprehend whatever the heck I just claimed.

“Explain now,” Mr. Famous leaned forward.

“The WWW wanted to see who would stand in their way when pushed hard enough,” I broke down my thoughts, “I believe that’s the purpose of this incident.”

“They have so much technology, they could’ve went ahead and improved their Reeducation Program,” Mayl added, “But they didn’t bother to. Those programs can brainwash some people, but not all of them.”

“S-So,” Ripley joined in, “Those loud noises weren’t helping the program. They were just meant to hinder anyone who wasn’t being hypnotized?”

“Interesting,” Mr. Famous closely examined the program through his screen again, “That’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“How else can the students under the WWW be explained?” The detective went along with us, “There were so few of them compared to normal students in their districts. There would be more if they wanted to cause more incidents with that thing.”

“They have to know who we are at this point,” The only girl in the group clearly addressed us, “There’s no way they don’t.”

“Oh boy…” Ripley became nervous, “I’m not comfortable with that idea.”

“We may need to put you and your mother into witness protection,” Redd weighed his policeman options, “Perhaps everyone we know. As far as I’m concerned, no one is safe.”

“And we’re back at the arsons,” I secretly berated myself for failing to see it sooner, “Mr. Match wanted something at my house, so…”

“He caused several arsons around ACDC Town to get to your home,” Mayl filled in the blanks, “WWW can only get bolder from here.”

“I planned on explaining some new features we’re adding to your Cross Fusion forms,” Mr. Famous interrupted us in our grim thinking, “But that should wait until tomorrow. For now, I suggest you all get some rest.”

“Wait, Mr. Famous!” I fussed, unwilling to stop for today. “We can hear what you have to say!”

“No,” The scientist denied me, “It’s clear that our enemies know who we are. They could go after our families if it suits them best.”

“These guys want to test us,” I went back to the battle with StoneMan, when FireMan was deleted by him. “And while he’s a criminal, Match isn’t a monster. He yelled at StoneMan for apparently causing a guy to be paralyzed.”

“I remember that part,” Ripley shuddered, “But all that memory serves is to show us this; Match has qualms over hurting people, but that may not be the case with others.”

“And the loud noises in the Reeducation Program could’ve made us and everyone else in the school deaf,” Mayl also claimed.

“Then that makes the WWW a bunch of extremists,” Redd concluded, “I can’t tell if they think what they’re doing is right, but I don’t care. They’re capable of doing much worse than today.”

“Well, enough of that,” Mr. Famous fiddled with the computer while Mega jacked out from it, “Go home, everyone. We’ll continue this later. Ripley, mind staying with me?”

“Just when I thought I could get some sleep, nightmare fuel comes crashing in,” Ripley grumbled, “Who am I kidding? I only get three hours of sleep anyway.”

“We’ll get the night shift to check each spot in ACDC Town and make sure everyone’s safe,” Redd said, “and before you get onto me about how unnecessary that is, I’ll remind you all that you’re still teenagers without those chips. And Ripley’s the only kid here without one.”

“Understood,” Mayl agreed, though that was only natural, being Redd’s responsibility.

“I can handle myself, but I guess you’re right,” I had to go along with that idea, only because it makes sense. “It doesn’t hurt to have someone’s back, right?”

[BGM: See You Again, Mega Man Legends]

Mayl smiled as we walked out of Mission Control, the detective behind us as Ripley was just ahead. “You’re fitting in fine, by the way,” she told me.

“I guess so,” I brushed my hair with my fingers, looking away from her. “For once, I’m a team player. No telling how long that will last.”

“Lan, about our talk hours ago,” Mayl brought that up again, much to my dismay.

“You were right to keep your new job a secret from me,” I quickly said, “Being an Official has a price and you have to pay it.”

“I wish I could’ve told you sooner,” she sighed, “I hated hiding that detail from you.”

“How do you think I felt when I got into a street fight bracket with some other delinquents?” That happened to me once, and no, I’m not proud of it. I was pretty angry at the time, and I was looking to blow off some steam. So, I took part in something clearly illegal, except that didn’t go so well when Mayl heard some rumors from some other kids. I lied to her, but she knew, I eventually got arrested because she had to sell me out (100% justified, by the way), and I got put in juvenile detention again. End of story.

“You didn’t want to tell me because you knew I hated that junk,” She remembered, “Mainly because I was afraid that you’d get hurt, or worse…”

“Right. After everything that happened, that wouldn’t be fair to Mom.”

“Lan…”

I didn’t mean to make her remember that one day with me and my brother. At least she didn’t have to see everything going wrong. She got to remember Hub when he was at his happiest, while I had to remember everything else. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, “for everything. From then to now.”

“I’m the one who should be saying that,” Mayl responded, “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah…” I’m really terrible at apologies, mainly because I don’t usually do that. Ever. “Are we still… good?”

“We’re great, Lan,” Getting close to me, she whispered those words with a smile on her face.

“Ahem,” Redd cleared his throat, looking down on us for getting pretty close. Well, he was staring at me more than her.

“I didn’t do anything this time,” I raised my hands in defense, until the detective chuckled.

“Only messing with you, kid,” He grinned at me, “Welcome to the team.”

“Thanks,” I felt a little better, though I wasn’t great. Just because Mayl forgave me, just because I showed how much I could help, that wasn’t enough. Not to me.

Outside the building, we parted ways and I went off, walking down the steps. As long as I worked for the team, I could do plenty of good things. Even if I can’t erase my own mistakes, I can still feel like I’m doing them right.

Still, what’s the WWW going to do next? I thought. They tested me and Mayl. We can perform Cross Fusion and we can NetBattle their Navis to a standstill. Do they attack or do they plan their next move?

01010111 01010111 01010111

“So, you hid the Wood Program somewhere in town?” the WWW leader was close to hissing; his back was turned to Match, who came back to the base.

The leader’s clothes were hardly inviting. He had a long-sleeved light gray shirt that reached down to his knees, a gray piece of clothing that went around his shoulders with two dark colored buttons attached to it, and red collars that gave him an evil count vibe. There was also his black pants with brown shoes, and in his hand was a cane with a skull decoration at the top.

“I didn’t want to risk it, sir!” Match nervously replied, out of his disguise. He wore a gray sleeveless shirt with an inverted light blue triangle on the front of his chest, which was next to his Navi’s emblem. It was over a violet-red long sleeved shirt. He also had matching dark gray pants with brown boots. “If I got caught, you’d never get another chance to grab it!” 

“True,” The leader looked back, shifting his left eye at him. “You played your role well, yet our Navis seemed to have failed.”

“It wasn’t FireMan’s fault, Lord Wily!” the red-haired agent interjected, “The Dimensional Area took a while to be dropped, yes, but it’s the Navis of those kids who are responsible!”

“I’m aware of that,” Wily turned to face him, “And I know StoneMan acted outside of mission parameters.”

“Forgive me, sir,” Match looked away, struggling to compose himself. “It’s just that guy I saw… He said ‘he couldn’t feel his legs.’ I froze up.”

“People do get hurt, sometimes,” Wily nodded, “What StoneMan did was unacceptable in your eyes. Considering what happened to your brother, I don’t blame you for feeling that way.”

“All I want is to make his life better. I didn’t sign up to let someone else get hurt, not at all.”

“Absolve yourself of the blame, Ken’ichi,” the leader softly ordered, “And take comfort, for that Navi got what he deserved.”

“I keep telling myself it’ll be worth it, but…” Match began to have second thoughts, gazing at the door behind him. “But however you look at it, we’re terrorizing them.”

“The people will recognize my plan and see that everything we’ve done was for their betterment. And when that time comes, son, no one will be afraid or in pain again.”

“Now that I think about it,” Match scratched his head, suddenly mulling to Wily. “What exactly is the plan? Gathering the Super Programs is important, but for what?”

Wily typed on the keyboard integrated in his desk, pulling up several pictures of technology on the large monitor behind him, along with a wireframe model of a rocket flying up to space. There was also a schematic of a strange device, with heavily worded text. The WWW agent’s eyes were focused on each image, every description and detail. He was in awe of Wily’s plan, whatever it was.

[BGM: Forbidden Ark, Remastered Tracks Rockman Zero Telos]

“Allow me to show you something else,” Wily brought up another series of images, letting Match fill in the blanks.

“How prepared are you?” Match stroked his goatee with intrigue.

“You’d be surprised with the other plans I thought up over the past two decades,” Wily smirked, “I just needed to test one more theory before starting the WWW. And it worked better than I had hoped.”

“These plans…” Mr. Match whispered, “It feels surreal…!”

“The innocent man will be greater than before!” The leader nodded, “The same goes for your brother, Kenichi. Do you see how better this is for everyone? To be better than normal? To truly feel alive?”

“Man… This is crazy enough to work, but…”

“I understand your second guesses. We don’t currently possess the means to mass produce this technology. My robotics license was revoked, and legally, I cannot show my work to the public. Even using other resources, they require large environments, compared to this small lab.”

“But you aren’t letting these things stop you,” Match reached a conclusion to his thoughts while Wily walked from his desk to him, careful to not trip over a large hose-like wire. “So what if people will be injured? They won’t have to remain that way for long, right? Everything could work out, yeah?”

“Am I to assume you’re staying?”

“Yeah!” Mr. Match grinned, his eyes filled with fire. “We’ll burn away everything wrong with the world and restart it all! Humanity will rise from the ashes of the crashed networks!!”

“I will tell you once again,” Wily placed a hand on his young sympathizer, “You may have to do things you’re not proud of. Because we seek to destroy Net society, we act outside of the law. But while we are hunted, we are making history, seeking to create a new revolution.”

“People want to be liberated from their reliance on the Net,” Match replied, “They may not know it now, but they will soon. And they will appreciate us for this, even if we’ll be seen as terrorists.”

“Stay vigilant from now on. You’re a fugitive to them all.”

“Yes, Lord Wily,” The red-haired agent brought his head down, balling his right fist and bringing it against his chest. “I can’t go back home until this war is won, anyway.” He proceeded to walk out of the main lab via the door in the back.

“Forcing Mr. Higsby into hypnotizing children was not a correct approach, even for a distraction,” Wily murmured, reflecting on today’s operations. “The dialogue for the Reeducation Program came off as tyrannical and it encouraged anarchy, which society abhors. As for the Dimensional Area Generator, it was not set for a time to power down, and that allowed StoneMan to attack humans.” He went back to his desk, reorganizing his thoughts. “The Professor did create the Reeducation Program, as well as the generator. He even added features to that Navi’s systems, likely making him misanthropic. His carelessness may cost us when the EndGame is underway. I’ll see to it he is disciplined.” Wily looked at two pictures, both of whom had become his enemies. “Still, Lan Hikari and Mayl Sakurai… I knew they would return Higsby to normal… All they needed was proper motivation.” He opened up another window on his computer, playing a recorded sound bite which spoke in a different voice.

“Keep going, Yamitaro,” The recording played out, “Motivate the boy and tell him the WWW cares little about the mission. Say the program will shut down everyone’s minds and that Lan must stop you.”

“ThE WWW nO lOnGeR cArEs If ThEy SuCcEeD oR nOt!” Higsby and NumberMan’s voice repeated their orders, “ThE pRoGrAm WiLl FoRcE tHeIr MiNdS tO sHuT dOwN fRoM tHe NoIsE!!”

The leader paused the recording, thoughtfully resting his finger around his chin. “They will realize the double meaning of this act,” Wily nodded, putting his computer to sleep. “That this was meant to be a test. Now I know they can potentially stop us.”

“So you admit they are a threat, sir…” a composed voice echoed throughout the lab, causing Wily to look around the darkened room.

“Stop sneaking up on me, Yahoot!!” Wily growled, “How much did you hear?!”

“Your revolution can’t proceed without sacrifice,” the voice told him, “Your empty threat will cause your other agents to see you as a weak leader.”

“As usual, you fail to see the point,” The elderly man rolled his eyes, “We don’t mean to attack people going about their lives or doing their jobs! We want to destroy the Net and topple all of the government bodies!”

“No attempted revolution ends without loss,” Yahoot continued, his slender silhouette leaning against a large cylindrical device. “You need to get rid of your obstacles soon. They’ll impede you.”

“Are you suggesting I should have made good on my veiled threat?”

“All I am willing to say to you is that you must accept some alternatives to your vision. We may have to arrange some permanent solutions to—”

“We won’t come to that point,” Wily halted his right hand man, “We won’t need to, not if everything goes the way I want it to.”

“And will you cross the proverbial bridge when it comes?” Yahoot retorted, almost with unusual enthusiasm.

“A sacrifice was always going to be made,” Wily murmured, “Its name is the Internet. You only need to know that I will bend the world to my image. And everyone will see that I was right to do this in the end!”

“But you will have to make sure that the Anti-WWW Team is dealt with,” The right hand man made his leave, “For those not with us are against us.”

“…True,” Wily seemingly concurred after a brief pause, “But that won’t be necessary. For now, we’ll make preparations for taking the Aqua Program. Recall our current operative. We will wait for the heat to die down.”

“As you wish, my lord,” Yahoot nodded, “And the mail will be sent next week, as scheduled.”

“Good.” When the man left the room, Wily went to the door with a sigh. “It shouldn’t have to go that far,” he thought to himself as he left the lab, “It doesn’t need to. But perhaps my right-hand man isn’t wrong…”

CHAPTER 9 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Phyllis Tina, Ripley Marduk, and Reddington Bluemann © HatOnFire/Me

01001100 01000001 01001110

One week after the WWW’s attacks, everything was quiet. This wasn’t natural, considering how daring they were. Meanwhile, other criminals tried capitalizing on how unguarded our society was, but the NetPolice and Officials got more prepared for them. But that doesn’t mean our law enforcement can stop the WWW; that falls on us.

During that one week time frame, I was working with Mayl and trying to be a team player. This entailed busting viruses together, swapping roles on the fly, and observing everything we see. We even focused on getting our Cross Fusion forms updated. Right now, it was a Saturday morning, but as much as I would like to sleep in, I couldn’t. I had to have class to make up for not attending school while in juvenile detention.

[BGM: Indoors, Mega Man Battle Network]

“Thanks for the breakfast,” I thanked my mom as I drank water from my glass.

“Of course,” Mom replied, taking the plates to the sink to wash them. Little did we know, this was going to be the last time we had water for a while. For when she lifted the handle, water wasn’t coming out.

“Huh?” I saw the faucet come up empty, “Mom?”

“It was working just fine,” She moved the lever back to where it was, since there’s no point in leaving it up. “I wonder what’s wrong with it.”

“I could find out,” I offered, but she rejected it quickly.

“No, Lan. You need to go now, or you’ll be late. I’ll call someone and find out what’s wrong.”

“Alright, see you later,” Once I got my backpack, I went out of the house and I walked down the sidewalk. Getting past Mayl’s house, I turned on the corner to head for the Metroline station there. It’s the only way for some of us students to get to ACDC High. Down below the cement ground, I got my ticket for the station closest to the school. Then, I boarded the next train that came by.  Five minutes later, I got out of that station and ran a few blocks to the school. This helps me to stay in shape since I don’t know what could happen next.

“Hey, Lan!!” Mayl called out to me, waiting at the front gate of the school.

“Morning, Mayl!” I greeted in kind, “How’s it going?”

“Strange,” she responded, “There’s no water at school. I’m lucky I got to wash my face before I left.”

“The school doesn’t have water?” I questioned, “That’s odd… My home had water, but we can’t get any from the sink now.”

“Is the WWW acting up again?” she speculated, thinking hard as we got inside.

“If they are, then what are we going to do about it?”

“We should check out the Waterworks after school,” she concluded, “They’re how Den Tech City gets its water supply.”

“Hundreds of thousands of people depend on one company to fulfill their needs for every single day…” I noted, “Sounds like SciLab.”

“And it’s a good plan from the WWW’s side. If they want to get everyone’s attention, they do something daring, like steal the water.”

“Hey, how come you’re here?” I just realized that Mayl didn’t need to be at school, “I’m one of the only students who has class here today.”

“I’ve got to keep my grades up somehow,” Mayl smiled with a little glint in her eye, “Plus, it’s for the Official Center’s peace of mind.”

“What, the higher-ups know about what we’re doing?”

“Yep,” she bluntly answered, “They don’t approve of your involvement, but they can’t act unless you do something criminal.”

“Wonderful,” I sarcastically cheered, “Nice to know how much your overlords trust me.”

“Since when did you care about what they thought of you?” Mayl snickered.

“Oh yeah, I don’t.”

Mayl and I got to our Saturday classroom on the second floor, taking our seats. There were eleven other students here besides us, mostly boys.

“Good morning, class,” Ms. Tina came in, placing her bag on the desk. “Now, I’ve checked with the principal, and we’ve learned that we have a water shortage here.” Mayl nodded along with a few other students. “You’ll head home at noon, as usual, when the day is done,” Ms. Tina told us, “But we must inform you that some other places in Den Tech City are having the same problem. So, don’t waste your energy or try running home afterwards.”

Some of our peers began asking questions, startled by this new development. I was beginning to get a little tense. As for Mayl, she was starting to regret coming here. She could try to leave, but once you get in Saturday’s class, whether or not you need to be here, you can’t leave until the end of it.

The teacher quieted us down so she could take attendance while I immediately held my pencil in my fingers. The sooner Mayl and I get out, the sooner we can get to the Waterworks.

01001101 01001101 01000010 01001110

The Government Complex is near the center of Den Tech City, as I’ve once explained. A Metroline station runs under a part of the facility, which is good for people who want to avoid traffic, or cars, in my case. Above the Metroline is a road that has only one enter/exit point, leading to an indoor parking lot for visitors, while there’s a parking garage in the main building, reserved for employees and politicians. That one road gets clogged by traffic, but it’s one of the only ways to get inside the Complex.

To get inside the building as a visitor, there are entrance doors on the third floor of the main building, with a ramp leading to a rooftop park, just across from it. The park was built on top of the indoor parking lot and sole road. On the ground floor, there are pipes connecting to a large storage container behind the building, making that part of the Waterworks. The rest of the facility is just surrounded by a trench filled with water. Some people I saw were actually trying to get the trench water, but the electrified security fences kept them from getting some. It’s for the best because that water is tainted; drinking it as it is would just be idiotic.

“Did you see some of the vending machines as we were coming here?” Mayl questioned me, gesturing to one of the outdoor vending machines. It was empty. No drinks or beverages to be seen in any of the slots.

“Yeah,” We both could feel something happening, walking to the rooftop park on the stairs. “Either some people are desperate, or they somehow got taken.”

“You won’t be allowed access to the Waterworks’ main computer room,” Mayl informed me, “so you’ll have to stay behind in the lobby.”

“Got it,” I replied, “I’ll check in with Mr. Famous and look out for anything odd.”

My partner gave me a quick thumbs up before she moved on ahead of me. I brought out my PET to call SciLab’s Mission Control. “Ah, Lan,” Mr. Famous’ voice came through, “I take it you and Mayl are looking into this crisis?”

“Yep,” I nodded, “But since I’m not an Official, I’m outside checking on other people.” I looked around, seeing a crowd of people complaining to each other and worrying on the other side of the park. They were getting some food from a concession stand, though without any drinks.

“Good idea,” the scientist spoke up, “Civilians won’t always act with reason. Some might even try to stir up trouble.”

“If they do, it’s a clear sign of a WWW member,” I pondered aloud.

“Or an anarchist,” another voice speculated behind me, “Perhaps a certain delinquent with a penchant for felonies?”

Oh boy, I recognized that deadpan tone anywhere. I turned to face this guy, who I’d never thought I’d see again so soon.

This is Eugene Chaud, an ace Official NetBattler. You’d know who he was from seeing his hair, white at the top and surrounding the upper layer of his head in bangs, with black hair at the back of his head as locks come down on the sides of his face. There’s also his blue eyes and light skin tone. He was wearing a red leather jacket covering a long sleeved shirt that’s half black and half white, splitting up vertically, with green camouflage pants and black shoes. His appearance hasn’t changed too much since we first or last met.

“Chaud…” He always went by his last name, so I was forced to call him that. I can’t imagine why he wouldn’t use a name like Eugene. “It’s been a while…”

“Why are you here?” Chaud began interrogating me, “Reveling in the chaos you have potentially caused?”

“Are you still closed-minded or are you only joking?” I retorted with a little smirk, “If that’s a joke, you’ve got a ways to go before you can be called a comedian.”

“You still bark as usual,” He casually mumbled, “yet without any bite to it.”

“I guess you’re here to check out the Waterworks. What do you hope to find?”

“It’s of no concern to you,” Chaud shut me down, “Especially not you.”

“I said I was sorry back then… I didn’t mean it.”

“You can’t take back what was already spoken. Don’t bother apologizing now.”

I was getting a little bit uncomfortable, remembering a bad memory. It involved Chaud and plenty of harsh words and insults. In that time, I was getting more extreme with criminals and doing some stupider stuff. He confronted me about it, and I started lashing out at him. Things got ugly when I made a crack at his deceased mother, and we started trading fists. That was one of the dumbest things I have ever done, and I haven’t forgiven myself for that one. I’m old enough to admit that Chaud and his Navi were rivals to me and MegaMan, and I just destroyed another important friendship.

I still wanted to help him out anyway I can, so I asked, “Is there anything I can do for you?”

“You can stay out of my way, for one thing,” he bluntly responded, “I’ve always worked by myself with ProtoMan, and we don’t need anyone slowing us down.”

“But if this is a WWW scheme—!”

“Then I’ll take care of it,” Chaud coldly stared at me, “Without your so-called help.”

“Excuse me, Chaud?” Mr. Famous called out to him, “What did you find out?”

“If you want my report, Famous,” Chaud spoke into the PET, “Take it up with the Board when I’m done here. But don’t send juvenile vigilantes or substandard Officials to do my job.” He went on his way after that, leaving me in the sudden crowd of people walking into the lobby.

“What crawled into his undies this morning?” I spat, not missing some of the insults I got from him over the years.

“Lan, he’s angry at you for a reason,” MegaMan chimed in through my rhetorical question, “Can you blame him?”

“No…” I shook my head, “I wouldn’t forgive me, either…”

“Chaud is a member of the Anti-WWW Team,” Mr. Famous explained to us after a brief pause, “but he doesn’t trust us to assist him with anything besides look into the occasional theory.”

“Oh…” If I could scream and punch something in frustration, I would’ve by now. But I’m just burnt out over this.

“I’ll call you back if I find anything noteworthy to this investigation,” Mr. Famous wisely hung up on me.

“Lan, it’s not like you’re responsible for Chaud into acting like this,” Mega tried his best to console me, but it wouldn’t take. “He’s paranoid, likely thinking the WWW is watching him.”

“But it’s my fault still. Why does everything I do and say…?” I stopped myself, placing my PET back in my holster. This was not the time or place to be wishy-washy. “If the WWW is involved, one of the agents must be in the crowd,” I mumbled, “taking in the results of their actions.”

“Let’s say that’s true,” Mega added to that thought, “Why do that? What’s the purpose of that?”

“See others panic,” I began firing off suggestions with my Navi, “Unless they’re trying to test us again…”

“Or they’re waiting for their next move.”

“Good point,” Speculating would’ve helped pass the time, but it got us nowhere. “Too bad I can’t spot that kind of criminal when I see one.” I noticed a shifty man wearing a beanie lift a wallet from a woman’s purse. He swiftly placed it in his pocket, acting so innocent.

But I can spot a regular criminal easily, I thought as I walked past him, pickpocketing him and stealing back the wallet. I went up to the woman and snuck it back on her without anyone noticing. Aside from a common thief, I couldn’t tell an honest citizen from a real threat. All I knew was that I didn’t check inside the lobby yet. I think I’ll check inside next. I brought out my PET to listen to a live recorded feed while surveying everyone I could. Maybe Mayl is getting something interesting.

01000110 01010010 01001111 01001001 01000100

“I understand you have your hands full, Dr. Froid,” Mayl said with clarity, “but checking the Waterworks’ Computer is vital to this investigation.” This particular room was filled with computers and engineers working around the clock, managing some of the issues they have at the moment.

The man Mayl was talking to was wearing black shoes with light brown shoelaces, blue pants, and a zipped up royal blue jacket over a turquoise dress shirt. The jacket itself had breast pockets and emblems on its arm sections. The emblem was a turquoise eight-pointed star over a blue background enveloped by a white ring. He was thin and a little tall, having black eyes and short light brown hair with a few bangs hanging over his forehead. He even has a stubble developing on his face.

This man was Dr. Seiji Froid, the director of the Waterworks. He was an engineer at SciLab, specializing in hydroelectric energy. His notes revolutionized the Waterworks and provided Den Tech City a better Power Plant, which got him the job he held to this day.

“We’re just experiencing a glitch in one of the automated pumping systems,” Dr. Froid shook his head, typing on the computer in front of him. “The main network doesn’t have any other problems.”

“Even so, it’s better to look into every single inch of the facility for suspicious activity,” Mayl wouldn’t waver for this one.

“The facility itself?” The director raised one of his eyebrows, “No one man, alone, could sneak in and drain the city of its water and hide in the building. It’s inconceivable.”

“The inconceivable is possible with the WWW.”

“Are you talking about the destruction of one of ACDC Town’s blocks?” Froid questioned, “Sorry, but I don’t buy that.”

“You’re telling me you think that WWW attack was a hoax?” Mayl crossed her arms, her patience tested by this man.

“Not the destruction, but the statements about there being a Navi that appeared in the real world. It’s just hyperbole the news made up to capitalize on this WWW scare.”

“We’re getting off track,” My partner was not up to getting in a debate with him, “I need access to the pumping stations so I can investigate.”

“That won’t be necessary,” The director typed in a few key commands, his computer engaging in a deletion process. “All viruses and bugs in each main system will be deleted after this sweep.”

“Wait, what?!” Mayl exclaimed, seeing the computer with her own eyes.

“After that,” he continued, “If there is a glaring problem with the system, I’ll manually reboot it. The damage is repairable, and we have backups just in case.”

“Sir, you’re destroying evidence!” Mayl pointed at the computer with fire in her eyes, “We may have experienced an attack on your system by a criminal organization, and this is how you handle it?!”

“As I’ve said repeatedly,” Dr. Froid remained calm, looking at her. “There is no WWW attack, despite your insistence. There is no evidence to suggest the attack was the work of a hacker.”

“Because you’re erasing any evidence of it, which is a criminal offense,” the Official bitingly commented.

“Did you just imply that I’m a criminal?”

“I’m only reminding you that the investigation can’t proceed at this rate. Your procedures are halting that.”

“My priority is the city’s water supply, young lady,” Dr. Froid responded as several workers were signaled to shut down their computers for a mandatory drill. “And there is no crime being committed here. Clearly, you came here to investigate me on fictitious charges.”

“There’s nothing of the sort happening,” Mayl rebuked, “You just won’t admit that something did occur in your systems. And you want it swept under the rug as soon as possible.”

“I know what selective prosecution means,” the director fired back, “As far as I’m concerned, there’s no investigation. You’re wasting my time, and in doing so, wasting precious minutes I need to end this setback to the metropolis.”

“Dr. Froid, all I’m doing is—!”

“And because you’re desperate to take advantage of the panic the media is causing, you imply that I am involved with a criminal organization, hoping to incriminate me on false charges.”

“It’s the WWW I’m after, not you,” Mayl was getting annoyed, having this discussion turned around on her.

“Then I suggest you actually do your job and look for the real criminals,” Dr. Froid turned back to his computer, watching the progress bar fill up. “I don’t think I need to have security escort you out.”

Thanks for nothing, Mayl thought, seeing the last worker leave the room.

“This is the Waterworks director,” Dr. Froid spoke into the microphone over the intercom, “The situation is under control. However, as the Waterworks computer systems will undergo a reboot, I ask that all civilians leave the Government Complex. We are past closing time on Saturdays, after all. Thank you.”

“I’m sure he’d like what you’re doing,” My partner proceeded to play the kid’s friend card.

“What?” The director turned off the intercom, confused and looking at her.

“Your son, Tory,” She spelled it out, going there. “I guess he’d be so proud of you.”

There was nothing but pure silence between the only two people in the room. Mayl’s expression matched her bold attitude, while Dr. Froid’s once calm face warped into anger. “…You have no right to speak of my son,” he growled at her as sweat went down from his forehead, his fingers pressing against the table behind him. “Leave, or I’ll press charges against you.” Mayl did that, exiting through the door she got in. Unbeknownst to her, Froid leaned against a desk and had to breathe in and out repeatedly. “This is so stressful,” he muttered, “but I’ve got to finish this.”

As for Mayl, she got past the information desk and went into the elevator, shivering from her fruitless questioning. “Dr. Froid…” she whispered wistfully, “Just what happened to you?”

“I could feel a strange chill from here, Mayl,” Roll rubbed her arms with her hands, “It’s not normal.”

“Could he have taken my relationship with Lan as a sign that I’m bad?” Mayl pondered, “Or did something happen to make him so temperamental?”

“Was the director like this?” Roll asked, “When you brought up his son, his voice got lower.”

“I was pressing him too much… I should’ve been more respectful.”

“You know, sometimes we Navis have it easy compared to you… Now what?”

“We’ll just have to get permission to stay at the complex,” My partner made a mental note to go to the security room, “Hopefully we can be around a little longer and find out what we’re dealing with.” However, as she got out of the elevator…

“Mayl Sakurai?” A female security guard with some salmon colored hair tied in bunches on the sides of her hair was waiting for her.

“What is it?” she asked.

“I’m sorry, girlie,” The guard apologized, “But I’m here to make sure you’re out.”

“But I need to stay and—!”

“No can do,” The guard wouldn’t budge, “The director explicitly told me to escort all Officials out. There’s nothing here for you. Sorry.” Mayl sighed in defeat, being forced to leave the premises. Who knew if there was anything she could do…?

01001100 01001001 01000101

Poor Mayl, I was exchanging my jacket with a random teenager who had my build, buying it from him for an expensive price. If you were wondering what I was doing, don’t think much of it. I had a reason and a plan so bold and stupid, it would work.

“Mom wouldn’t approve of this,” Mega said for the third time since I thought it up.

“I know, but it’s the only way we’ll get anywhere,” I replied to him once more, going down the stairs of the rooftop park.

01010100 01010010 01010101 01010011 01010100

“I certainly hope you’re proud of yourself,” Chaud crossed his arms, glaring at Mayl. The two of them were outside the building of the complex, forced out. A crowd of citizens gathered around the park to protest, angry with the announcement. Plus, it had been twenty minutes since then, so things were getting a little worse. “The Official Center has informed all Officials to leave the Waterworks alone.”

“Why would they do that?” Mayl tried thinking of a valid reason, but she drew a blank until she realized she was called out. “Hold on, you think this is my fault?”

“It’s likely Dr. Froid filed a complaint to them since your talk,” Chaud asserted, “Even if that wasn’t the case, they believe there is no WWW scheme. Thus, we have no authority here.”

“Oh, really?” Mayl huffed, “And how did they come to that conclusion?”

“Because we would’ve heard the WWW claim responsibility for this. They are criminals.”

“They can say they did this or that, but that’s not good enough for me. We don’t know the whole truth here.”

“That’s why I’m continuing to investigate, by myself,” The ace Official moved away from Mayl, “If you or Lan get in my way, I won’t hesitate to delete your Navis.”

“We both want the same thing, Chaud!” she bellowed, “You don’t have to act aloof!”

“We’re different, Mayl,” Chaud pointed out while beginning to insult her, “I don’t make deals with felons and I don’t make rookie mistakes.”

“We’re close to the same age, but you look down on me…” Mayl grumbled.

“Because I don’t want or need anyone’s help.”

“Or because you hate that I’m still friends with Lan.”

“He may not be a terrible person, but he’s rash and brutal,” Chaud brought up one of my negative qualities, “He’ll lose control over his emotions again someday, and someone will pay for it, friend or enemy.”

“That won’t happen again,” Mayl declared, “I won’t let it, and neither will he.”

“Then you better keep a close eye on him,” Chaud warned, “Lan’s changed too much to be trusted.”

“I was just thinking the same thing about you…” Mayl briskly treaded past Chaud, leaving him in the crowd of people. She was growing sick and angry, but more importantly, she was getting thirsty. “Oh no…” she mumbled, covering up her mouth. “If we don’t get any water soon…”

*RIIIIING!*

“It’s Mr. Famous,” Roll instantly said, “I’m putting us through.”

I held out my PET, seeing the screen display Mr. Famous with Redd and Ripley at Mission Control. “Was talking to the director a dead end?” the scientist questioned.

“He wouldn’t let me investigate anything, and he’s deleting a bug in the pumping system,” I told him, “On top of that, the Official Center ordered us to stand down.”

“We even have the message to prove it,” Roll sighed, seeing an entry marked Stand Down, from the Official Center.

“I figured something was up when the chief kept most of the police force from looking into the Waterworks,” Redd scratched his chin, “but we’re facing a severe water shortage.”

“There’s more to this than meets the eye,” Ripley pondered, “Is Lan with you?”

“I don’t know where he is now,” Mayl looked around in the crowd, “We had to separate for a moment.”

“I found someone...” Mr. Famous uttered, watching something on his monitor. “They’re entering the staircase of the reserved parking garage of the main building.”

“WWW?” I couldn’t help but wonder, maybe hope that this was going to be our chance.

Mission Control was picking up the security footage, but all of a sudden, white noise was flickering on the screen. “What’s going on?” The detective peered at the 4x4 monitors, also showing static. “Is the security there being jammed?”

“INTRUDER ALERT!” Mayl jumped at the sound of the complex’s alarm going off, “FORTRESS MODE ENGAGED!”

“Fortress Mode?!” She had little to no time to process this, for the main building activated several emergency locks. Shutters closed up the main doors and windows of the building! In the parking lot, doors began closing down on the open gaps, but a figure in blue had time to push open an elevator door. That figure began leaping on the walls to climb up the elevator shaft.

“We can’t seem to be getting clear footage…” Mr. Famous was trying to get a connection on all feeds, but without any luck.

“Lan?” Mayl called my name, believing she saw me in the crowd. Except what she saw was a teenager wearing my orange jacket. Feeling rightfully suspicious, she approached the guy.

“That’s a nice jacket,” she complimented him, “Where’d you get it?”

“Funny thing,” he said to her, “Some kid paid me 10,000 Zenny to trade it with my jacket. I can’t imagine why anyone would wanna take an old hand-me-down, but whatever. This was a steal.”

“Uh-huh…” Mayl nodded along with a smile, mentally calling me all sorts of names. She knew exactly what I did.

“Well, I found out who’s causing the jamming…” The SciLab intern pulled up live footage from inside the building, seeing things in another perspective. Specifically, my perspective.

“Are you serious?” Mr. Famous grimaced when he saw a Cross Fusion signal flash on a digital map of the Government Complex.

“What?!” Redd’s jaw dropped as he shook his head.

“Lan, you glorious madman!!” Ripley cheered, showing Mayl footage of me opening the doors of an elevator, coming out to the main lobby of the Waterworks, sealed up and in lockdown mode.

“Lan Hikari, you colossal idiot!!” Mayl furiously yelled in her PET, knowing I was listening in.

“Hi, guys,” I smiled underneath my face plate, “I heard everything from Mayl’s side, so I thought I should do something.”

[BGM: Mega Man's Theme, Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes]

“Are you trying to get yourself arrested?!” Redd shouted, “You can’t just break into government property!”

“Hey, chill!” I begged, “I got a message that the Officials have to leave because there’s no crime being committed. If that happens, we can’t investigate anything, and it could be a while before we get our water back!”

“So you illegally broke in to give the Officials and police a reason to come here?” Mr. Famous queried, exasperated.

“And stay until this gets resolved. It’s a neat plan, isn’t it?”

“Neat is not the word I’d use,” Mayl wasn’t impressed with me, which was understandable. “This is stupid on top of stupider, balancing on a pyramid of stupid! You’re taking a big risk, Lan!!”

“Mayl, Dr. Froid acted really rude to you,” I pointed out, “He practically threatened to take your license away for being suspicious.”

“And I’m sorry to hear that,” The detective gave his condolences to her, “If I see him, I’ll make sure to give him a piece of my mind.”

“It’s better that you don’t,” Ripley stated, “The last thing we need now is you taking a page from Lan’s book and getting in a slap fight with the Waterworks director.”

“Ixnay on igilante-vay, please,” I mumbled, hiding from some guards. “Besides that, Dr. Froid is always calm and kind. If he’s acting like that, then something is clearly wrong. That’s why I’m doing this. I only want to help.” This was a little selfish, even by my standards. As much as I cared about doing the right thing, I also wanted to prove Chaud wrong, even if he was right about me...

“Well,” My partner participated in the discussion, “I’m not sure if the Official Center was trying to cover up anything, but we have to look into this. Turning a blind eye when people are deprived of water would be inexcusable.”

“Wait, is that what you think?” Ripley rubbed his chin, seeing things from another point of view.

“That’s insane,” Mr. Famous calmly defied that thought, “Officials are a special kind of police. The higher-ups there wouldn’t do anything illegal.”

“But the law has to yield when compelled by a higher authority,” Redd looked at his PET, messaging the incident to the chief. “According to the chief, it looks like the governor is giving these orders.”

“Really?” Mayl pondered as wailing sirens could be heard in the distance, “But why and how is the governor involved?”

“He won’t say,” Redd informed us. “I suppose we’ll only find out when the Waterworks is operational again.”

“Well, let’s get our answers,” I saw my chance to sneak inside an opening elevator, getting past a few guards by using the Invis 3 Battle Chip. I had to press against the elevator’s walls with my limbs so I wouldn't fall on top of the guards on accident.

*DING!*

The door opened up and the guards stomped out. I followed suit just as the invisibility wore off, and I looked for a hiding spot to jack in once I got out of Cross Fusion. This hallway led to the Waterworks’ main systems, so I was pretty lucky to get here.

“Lan, the Waterworks was designed to be prepared for infiltration,” Mr. Famous explained, “You don’t have many hiding places here.”

“How about the air vents?” I gazed at one such air vent on the wall, thinking about prying it off carefully.

“It would be better for you to hide in the corner of the vending machines,” Ripley observed, “It’s under a camera’s blind spot, so you can hack into it and play a loop of an empty corridor. But watch out for guards and security drones.”

“We’re helping a juvenile teen hide in the Government Complex on grounds that a WWW scheme is occurring, which someone is desperate to cover up,” Redd was clearly getting anxious, “If someone finds out what we’re doing, it could be our necks.”

“Lan, please be careful…” Mayl implored, “I don’t want you to get arrested again.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” I promised her, getting into the blind spot and morphing out.

“Jack in, MegaMan! Execute!” I whispered, clutching my PET and raising it in the air.

A lot was riding on this one. The city needed its water back, but there were people concealing the cause of this incident. First Dr. Froid, and now our governor? Was it because they didn’t want to admit they were defenseless against the WWW, or was there something I missed?

Whatever the case, I crossed a line by breaking into an important facility managed by locals and fellow countrymen. I hoped there actually was a WWW crime happening. If not, then I threw away my future for nothing. Failure was not an option. So there I go, living on the edge again…

CHAPTER 10 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Ripley Marduk, Reddington Bluemann, and Bobby Crosby © HatOnFire/Me

01001101 01000101 01000111 01000001 01001101 01000001 01001110

Life is unpredictable, even for a NetNavi. We are given programs to improve our operating capabilities, but they don’t prepare us for what lies ahead. I was never prepared for how deep of a hole my operator could dig himself into. He had done plenty of sketchy things, but I’ve always helped him because he needed an outlet. Except here we were again, doing something illegal and dangerous if we got caught. Sure, Lan’s reasoning made sense, but it was risky. If something went wrong, it’d be over. Still, on the off chance this incident was going to be covered up, we had to step in.

I was enveloped by a light blue light, dropping down on a digital platform resembling a steel floor. My surroundings entailed brown roads with green platforms and pipe-like ramps covered by ice, giant faucets with valve handles spraying cyber water, and the whole background was filled with twirling snowflakes. The jack in was successful; I had made it in the Waterworks network.

[BGM: COLD & SILENT, Mega Man Battle Network]

“Security will get tight, MegaMan,” Lan whispered through my audio receptors, looking around in the corner of the hallway. “I left the PET’s Grip Attachment in the garage, just to throw off anyone tracing its GPS signal. But once they find out you’re in the network, they’ll trace you back to my PET.”

“Then I’ll just have to give the security detail some exercise as I go,” I mused, sliding on the ice and hopping off to land on the main path. I knew I’d have to avoid causing disturbances to this side of the network, lest they find out Lan was hiding outside the main computer room.

“I can see the ice from here,” My operator noticed, watching me attempt to skate. “This must be how the intruders got to the water supply. They literally froze the network.”

“Lan, I see something up ahead,” I peered my eyes to a shape encased in digital ice, struggling to see it clearly. “It looks like a Mr. Prog…”

“The poor thing must’ve gotten frozen by its attacker,” Lan pondered, getting a message from Mr. Famous. He read it to himself, careful to keep quiet.

Lan, we’re maintaining silence so as to not tip off the police to your little stunt. We’re listening in on everything you do, but when the police start to search the building, you’ll have to get out of there. Detective Bluemann and Mayl will run interference, but we’ll need proof of the WWW’s involvement if we’re all going to keep our jobs.

Right, Lan nodded, hacking into the camera above him. No one’s going to believe me if I’m caught. He managed to get into the camera feed, editing the footage to show an empty corridor without disturbing the real-time clock. For good measure, he even deleted some key footage that blatantly showed him on camera and muted the audio on it. “Okay, I deleted the camera footage that showed me up here,” he muttered, “but what about the downstairs footage?”

“You should let Ripley and Mr. Famous handle that,” I suggested, seeing some viruses come my way. “Help me out here.”

The viruses we were up against were Piranhas and a VolGear 2, the latter looked just like a normal VolGear, only with a blue face and blue flames shooting out from them. They also let out Aqua Towers instead, like the one that was splashing over to me!

I leapt to the side before I could be damaged, just as Lan was selecting chips for me to use. “Thunder 1!” I armed my Mega Buster, sending out a slow electric ball that instantly deleted the VolGear 2. The pair of Piranhas waited until they locked on me, then proceeded to fire their arrows. I leaped over them, firing at the fishes to reduce their hit points. “Double Long Sword!” I sliced through one of them horizontally, then I took care of the other one by cutting it diagonally.

“Let’s try to limit how many viruses we fight, MegaMan,” Lan proposed, “If the WWW knows we’re here, they could try to make us the fall guys.”

“That’s actually a good idea,” I agreed, “Still, we need to find the system that controls the water supply. If we get it back up, we stop the WWW and the cover-up.” I failed to mention this before, but the Waterworks director, Dr. Froid, was trying to cover this incident up, and the Officials and police had to back off because the governor was pressuring their superiors to do that.

“Yes, sir!” I heard a guard in the real world, marching out of the computer room with his men. “We’ll stop the intruder, sir!”

“See to it that you do!” Dr. Froid’s voice carried out from inside, “I’m in the middle of a delicate procedure and I don’t want any more interruptions!”

Lan hid behind the vending machines, staying out of sight. He waited until all of the guards got in the elevator and left. “That was close…” he breathed, sighing in relief.

“Yeah…” I agreed with him, approaching a warp point that would take me to the next area. “Here’s a link. Entering now.” The first area was a little quick and easy, but that wasn’t on my mind. I was processing the facts that we knew, trying to find an actual motive for this supposed cover up.

If the governor was preventing the police and the Officials from doing their jobs, then could we assume that he knows about what happened in the Waterworks? Was he helping Froid out? But why? What was so important it required keeping everyone in the dark? I was thinking hard as I skated on some ice in this huge area, moving to the other side and avoiding some Waterworks security viruses. These types of viruses were tamed and refitted for deleting unauthorized Navis or viruses, as I saw when they dispatched a few Fishys.

The ones I saw were Satella viruses, yellow satellite viruses with a glowing, pink antenna and an orange Gatling gun in the front. They just lock on to a target and open fire, tracking their every move in that time. Taking them on would only give Lan away, so I made sure to not get spotted.

This doesn’t make sense, Lan thought. Why are these viruses active when the programs in the previous area were frozen?

Stopping in my tracks, I saw another Navi jump from one platform to the next. That was someone I definitely knew.

He had red boots with white at the forefoot region and black soles. Red stuck out to his knees in triangles on each leg as the rest of his bodysuit was black on opposite sides with purple in the middle. His gauntlets were red with black fingers and emblems were imprinted on his back hands, just like the emblem on his red chest plate armor. The shoulders were pointed, had two black circles on either side, and had white circling his arms’ exit points.

The emblem was divided in the fashion of a lightning bolt, with one side white and the other black, a resemblance to yin yang, the duality concept. It was surrounded by a gold ring with two gold diamond-shaped protrusions near the bottom of the ring. The armor also covered up his neck just as his red helmet covered up most of his face, with his mouth being the exception. The helmet came with shades with shape edges, small yellow ear sections, and a thick white line enveloping his forehead as a thin antenna stuck out a little above that line. He has long white hair in a ponytail and is never seen without his right arm morphed into a sharp, pink blade.

That Navi was ProtoMan, partnered with Chaud, the S-Class Official NetBattler. He was one of the strongest Navis that anyone can go up against, but none could beat him.

“I’m coming up to the supply system, sir!” ProtoMan reported to his operator, deleting Fishy viruses with no trouble.

“Be ready for anything,” Chaud ordered as ProtoMan entered a warp point, disappearing to another part of the network.

“Of course he’d be here,” Lan mumbled, “He always takes action when you least notice him.”

“We could use his help,” I thought, “Maybe he can get us out of this.”

“Do you hear yourself, MegaMan?” Lan questioned, “What makes you think Chaud’s going to let us help him when ProtoMan will delete you on sight?”

“Because he’s disobeying orders to stay out,” I stated, “He’ll lose his career if his Navi get found out here.”

“I guess that’s true… Just keep following him.”

I did as I was told, avoiding the Satella viruses and staying on the right path. Of course, I couldn’t help but think about what’s going on in the real world, outside of the building…

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 01001100 01001001 01000101 01010011

“I’m an Official, and I can assist you in finding the perpetrator,” Mayl calmly said to a guard, impatiently tapping her finger on her PET.

“We don’t really need you to do something we can do ourselves,” the guard rebuked, “You don’t even have proper clearance. Besides, the intruder has to be really sneaky to get by us!”

It’s more likely than you know, Mayl thought as Detective Bluemann arrived, presenting his badge to the guard.

“Detective Bluemann, NetPolice,” He presented himself, “We heard someone broke into the Complex after a mandatory restart of the systems.”

“Sorry, but none of you have clearance to enter this facility,” The guard shook his head, remaining unmoved.

“Then let us speak with the Waterworks director,” Chaud spoke, coming up to the two of them. “The intruder may be interrupting the process.”

“Even if it’s someone like you, sir, that’s not possible. The director has made it clear that the Officials are not needed.”

“Since when?” Mayl asked, filled with skepticism.

“Since I asked Dr. Froid that it wasn’t necessary,” another voice spoke up, forcing them to look at the man who said that.

He had black dress shoes, a gray suit with gray pants, a white dress shirt and a red neck tie. This man had short graying hair with a few strands sticking out of his hairline. He was old, as his wrinkles showed, and his face slightly resembled a caricature drawing, with exaggerated cheek bones and a big nose. This is the governor of Den Tech City, Bobby Crosby. He was someone who liked all things classic; music, cars, anything that wasn’t compatible with a PET or electronic device. He just thought it was unnecessary for a computer to be put in everything, so he couldn’t be faulted for that.

“Governor Crosby?” Detective Bluemann uttered, almost surprised that he showed up. “You told my chief to pull back on this.”

“Well, Dr. Froid did assure me that he had everything under control.” Crosby answered, “All I wanted was to give him some space. The law shouldn’t have to spill all of their manpower over a computer glitch.”

“Sir, you knew about the director’s problem?” Mayl queried.

“I was the first person to know, yes,” Crosby scratched his big nose, having a little itch. “I called him. He was as calm as he could be, even when there was no water.”

“If I may, governor,” Chaud interjected, “We had a break in and we need to look for the intruder.”

“There’s nothing to worry about,” The governor adjusted his suit by grabbing his lapels, “It may be antsville out here, but in that building there, it’s under lock and key. No one’s going to get out like they got in.”

“Even so, if they can get to the Waterworks’ main—!” Redd tried to state what he thought, but Crosby wouldn’t have it.

“Don’t you have faith in the men and women guarding this place? They’ll take care of it. You can make your arrest after this situation is handled.”

“It’s not about that, sir, it’s the fact we can’t do our jobs!” Mayl told him.

“Well, ain’t that a bite. I guess you’ll have to wait until the criminal gets caught. I’ll remind you all that you don’t have government authority at this complex. Not even you, Chaud.”

“Then what are we supposed to do about the intruder?!” Chaud was losing his patience.

“Don’t yell, son,” Crosby’s friendly expression melted into a steely frown, “Patience is a virtue lost on most youths of this generation. It’ll serve you well to practice it.”

“If a greater incident does occur here, governor,” the detective asked, “will you let us investigate it?”

“Only if I’m feeling desperate,” Crosby’s eyes shifted to Redd, “For now, I suggest you let the guards do what they’re supposed to do.” With that, the aging man walked off, holding his PET. Two men in black suits followed him, likely his protection detail. Overhearing everything from Mayl’s PET while remaining silent, Mr. Famous created a message for Lan.

“Ripley,” the scientist proceeded to say, “Could you go check up on Dr. Froid’s family?”

“To see what they think of all this?” Ripley questioned, turning his head to him.

“And to make sure they’re fine…” Mr. Famous added, “If the WWW wants to sabotage a government facility, they would need to have some kind of leverage.”

“Okay…” While the black-haired intern wasn’t following, he did as he was told, leaving Mission Control.

01010010 01000101 01000001 01000100 01011001

Lan’s PET was silent, but it indicated another message from Mr. Famous. Lan read the whole thing, catching up on what was going on outside.

The governor just arrived, telling Mayl, Chaud, and Redd to back off. They tried getting in, but he won’t let them. If you can’t bring back the water soon, you have to perform Cross Fusion and bust out. We can’t afford for you to get arrested again.

“Oh no…” Lan whispered, “We need to hurry.”

“I’ll do what it takes, Lan,” I tried consoling him, “but we need ProtoMan’s help. We’re in too deep.”

“Yeah…” My operator was beginning to realize as such, almost regretting breaking in. “If I was gonna do something stupid, I would’ve told Mayl…”

I ran down the path of a new area, sliding on a floor that resembled an ice rink. I was looking for ProtoMan, believing we could work together on this.

“Step Sword!” The moment he appeared in front of me, I clapped my hands together, catching his sword before it could go through me!

“Caught you!” I pulled the sword, bringing ProtoMan in closer so I could grab him. That might not have been such a good idea since we were slipping all over. It was close to becoming a pushing match had we not separated.

“Your operator did not heed Chaud’s warning,” ProtoMan spoke, rearming himself.

“Before you make good on that threat,” I appealed to him, “let me tell you that we’re here for the same thing. We’re on the same side, even if Chaud doesn’t think so.”

“He’s not wrong to suggest otherwise,” The swift Navi maintained his guard, “Lan Hikari is a felon. He just committed the crime of breaking into a government facility.”

“Then your operator is just as guilty, if you’re here when you shouldn’t be.”

“Coming here has a high risk ratio…” ProtoMan finally relented. I swear, I can never get a read on that guy. “That’s why he jacked me in before being forced out. It was safer that way, until Lan broke in here.”

“Nice to see you again, too,” Lan mumbled, “Listen, I thought if I broke in, the Officials would have to stick around and enter the building.”

“Well, your partners are still here,” ProtoMan noted, “so your actions counted.”

“They’re going to find me if we don’t get the water running soon,” Lan stayed behind the vending machine, taking no chances to come out.

“Fortunately, we’re in the pumping sector of the network,” ProtoMan pointed to a large freezing structure that looked like a water pump, complete with attached pipes and a sea of snow underneath it. “It would appear that this is how this incident happened.”

“It wasn’t a glitch in the system,” I recalled Mayl’s questioning of the director, “When Mayl interviewed Dr. Froid, he was saying that repeatedly, getting a little riled at the idea of the WWW being involved. He lied to her...”

“But this makes little sense… You’re suggesting that Dr. Froid sabotaged the facility he works at. But there’s no motive.”

“Either way,” I stated aloud for the PET to relay, “This makes the director suspicious.”

“What should I do?” Lan spoke up, “I’m outside the computer room. If I break in, I could stop the director here and now.”

“That’ll take too long,” I readied my Mega Buster, leaping down to the lower levels of the area. “The water comes first. We have to free the program from the ice!”

Just then, a fleet of viruses materialized before me, blocking my path! They were all Cold Bear viruses, each ranging from their first to third versions. All of them were characterized as polar bears, clothed in winter hats and coats that had a capital B on their sides, glowing pupilless eyes, and a scar running down the left side of their faces. The first version of Cold Bears were white and wore blue winter clothes. Cold Bear 2 variants were something of a murky blue in purple shades of clothes. Lastly, Cold Bear 3 versions are gray, in dark yellow clothes. It’s convenient for viruses to have a different color scheme, since they help you know what you’re up against.

“Viruses with the WWW’s signature!” ProtoMan informed, his sunglasses briefly flashing white. “With proof of their presence, the governor can’t turn the Officials away!!”

GROWL~!! The Cold Bears all growled, agitated by the flashing. They got so angry, they immediately dispensed large ice cubes to send at us!

[BGM: Operation!, Mega Man Battle Network]

“Great!” I shouted, skating on the ice and dodging these big blocks. “Now let’s delete these things!”

“YAAAHHHH!!” With a battle cry, ProtoMan jumped right in front of three of these big bears, and swung his sword horizontally. It did some damage, but it wasn’t enough to bring them down, and he had to retreat.

“Thunder 1!” Taking in chip data from Lan, I fired a lightning ball at one of those viruses, electrocuting it. I finished it with some Mega Buster shots.

“Can’t we lure these guys on the stage to do more damage?” Lan questioned, frustrated by how stationary the Cold Bears are.

“Unlike some viruses, these ones aren’t so easily fooled,” I responded, “They’re very aware of how vulnerable they are when on the ice. They won’t slip on it, but they’re cautious when Elec element chips are in play.”

“We’ll handle them as they are,” the red Navi avowed with resolve, releasing a slash that cut through three of those bears. “If you’re strong enough, then they shouldn’t be any issue.”

“Cold Punch! Guts Punch! Double Shot in!” My operator selected two chips for me, knowing that the bears are sending their cubes out. Thinking fast, I returned two of them, watching the ice shatter upon collision.

“Fighter Sword! Knight Sword!” ProtoMan gained two new swords, both of which covered a longer length than any other Sword chip. With these, he cleaved into a Cold Bear 2 with little effort.

“Heat Spread!!” I took aim, spraying the bears with a burning spread shot, taking a couple of them out. However, a cube came close to slamming into me, which would’ve hurt had I not moved.

“Step Sword!” ProtoMan teleported to another virus, landing a major hit and countering it. Soon after, he got more territory with an Area Grab, prepared to use another chip for a final blow.

“Aqua Tower and Roll!!” I unleashed a geyser on the ground, seeing it damage one of the weaker Cold Bears. Then, I sent a copy of Roll to delete the virus. The copy allowed her antennae to fly, and she disappeared, but not before leaving me a heart to heal, even though I didn’t need it.

“Custom Sword!” ProtoMan, however, bided his time and waited for his own Custom Gauge to fill up, planning on using it at the right moment. Outmaneuvering the cubes at each possible turn, he swung, deleting the viruses on his side of the battlefield.

Using three chips, I brought down the last Cold Bear. First, I used an Area Grab chip, moving up in the field. I charged up my Mega Buster to blast it on the nose, firing a few more times to get its hit points down to where I wanted it. “Elec Blade! Attack +10!” Lastly, my forearm morphed into a thin blade of electricity, and I swiveled my body while extending the sword. Just like that, the virus was gone.

“Good teamwork, Mega!” Lan grinned, complimenting me on our performance.

“Nothing has slowed your abilities, I see,” ProtoMan noted, approaching the cold pump. “Now then, we should undo the damage.”

“Belay that, ProtoMan,” Chaud whispered, his voice picked up only by his Navi. “This was too easy.”

“Yes sir,” ProtoMan stood down, lowering his sword.

“What is it?” I questioned, not knowing why he stopped.

“Lan, you can either wait or get out while you still can,” Chaud asserted, “but you cannot do anything else without my suggestion.”

“Well, last I checked,” Lan shook his head, “you didn’t want my help.”

“I don’t recall asking for any, either,” the ace Official replied, “Since arriving, you have done nothing but complicate matters.”

“Maybe it wouldn’t have happened if you let me help. Did you think about that?”

“Okay, hold on a second!” I was already getting tired of Lan and Chaud arguing, “Why aren’t we releasing the water right now?”

“Because we don’t know if the WWW is focused on depleting the metropolis of water,” Chaud answered, “or if there’s an ulterior motive.”

“Can’t we worry about that later?” Lan looked around, “Some people probably haven’t had a drink in a long time! We have to release it now!”

“But what if the WWW wants that to happen?!” I exclaimed, fully understanding Chaud’s concern. “Taking over the Waterworks is just one part of their plan! How do we know hoarding the water is all they want?!”

“I know that the water purification system is vital to this facility,” Chaud was running many scenarios in his mind, and one of them clicked. “It may not be their main target, but if they’re attempting to delay us, that’s what they’ll go for.”

“I can check out the system,” ProtoMan jumped to the call, “But it may take time.”

“FIREWALL BREACH!!” An alarm sounded off in the network, startling me and ProtoMan.

“Did we get made?” I wondered.

“Have you jacked in through a Waterworks device?” the red Navi asked.

“Yeah, and the alarm didn’t go off,” I noted, having entered the network through a security camera. “What about you?”

“I entered through the same way, but Chaud didn’t hack into it,” he said, “That camera was outdated.”

“It doesn’t matter because we’re stopping this attack,” Lan began ordering me, “Release the water, MegaMan.”

“What?!” I shouted, “Lan, we can’t do that!”

“Lan, if you force MegaMan to do anything of the sort, I’ll have you arrested for endangering the public!” Chaud declared.

“We can’t just second guess ourselves!” Lan protested, “Froid’s working for the WWW! Why he lied to Mayl, I don’t know, but we’ll figure that out later! He’s depriving people of their water, and we have to release it now!”

“This kind of situation is why we have to be thorough!” Chaud fired back, “Acting without thinking is what puts people in danger!”

“Are you saying it’s my fault that the WWW’s here?!” my operator angrily shouted.

“Look out!” ProtoMan pulled me out of the path of an incoming Fire Tower. Wherever it came from, it collided with the ice enclosing the virtual pump, melting it.

“A Fire Tower?” Seeing the familiar attack, I armed myself, facing who I believed to be the perpetrator. “This is getting old, FireM—!!” I was wrong this time. FireMan wasn’t responsible for this, but rather, a strange figure resembling a stunted pawn. It was red and had small hands, wearing a frowning expression on its face. “What is that?” At first, I didn’t know what to make of it. Considering it dematerialized before my eyes, all I got from that was more questions.

“It doesn’t appear to be a virus,” ProtoMan was wondering about that thing, too. “Perhaps it’s with the WWW.”

“We have bigger problems,” Chaud hissed, hearing the loud sound of running water streaming from pipes. “The purification system is likely down, and tainted water is going into the sinks and fountains of every location in Den Tech City.”

“All right, that was a bad idea,” Lan admitted, “but we can reverse this, right?”

“ProtoMan, shut down the pumping system,” the Official ordered, having his Navi override the digital pumping mechanism. “As for you, MegaMan, I suggest you carry on before someone makes this situation worse.”

“Chaud, wait!” Lan blurted out, thinking he was talking about him. “I wasn’t trying to—!”

“Get to the root of the problem, Lan! Mayl and I will make sure that the governor gets us inside!”

“Huh?” The juvenile boy became confused. First Chaud was critical of Lan’s presence, but now he wanted him here?

“On it!” I moved out, heading back to where I came in. “Let’s leave them to work, Lan!”

“A-Alright…” Lan didn’t know what to make of Chaud, but it’s not like this was the first time he was surprised by him.

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“Mayl, have you been hearing this?” Mr. Famous contacted Mayl, pondering hard on some of our theories.

“Yes,” she confirmed, tracing one of her digits on the cord of her pink earphones. “But I don’t believe Dr. Froid would do this.”

“I don’t believe it, either,” Mr. Famous agreed, “Lan and MegaMan are not wrong to suspect him, though. Perhaps the WWW’s controlling his actions as they have with Higsby…”

“Then we need to get inside,” Mayl frowned, gazing at the building with worry. “We have to assume the WWW gave him a Synchro Chip to give us a hard time.”

*BEEP-BEEP!* *BEEP-BEEP!*

“Yes?” Mr. Famous answered another call on his PET, placing Mayl on hold.

“Mr. Famous?” Ripley’s voice came up, “We’ve got a problem.”

“It’s only Famous. Now, what is it?”

“Here’s the thing,” Ripley was searching the house around him, making sure not to touch anything. “I got inside Froid’s house, but the security was down and the front door was unlocked.”

“What? Where’s his son, Tory?”

“He’s not here, but I have something,” Ripley turned his PET to allow the camera to see an envelope, which had writing on it. “It’s like some kind of blackmail letter.”

“Then… they took him,” the scientist grimly concluded, adjusting his glasses. “They kidnapped Froid’s son.”

“And we have our culprit,” The intern rubbed his eyes, “In hindsight, this might explain the governor acting the way he is. Crosby is Dr. Froid’s father-in-law, making him Tory’s granddad. ”

“I-Is that so…?” Mr. Famous bit his lower lip, realizing another fact. “Notify the police. We may have two kidnapping victims on our hands!”

“Two? How come?”

“No time to explain! We need to find them!”

“Right, sir!!” Ripley disconnected the call, following his orders. Mr. Famous got back to Mayl, quickly giving her the full rundown.

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“What is going on?!” Governor Crosby yelled into his PET, watching a few people gagging and coughing. Those poor people were only trying to drink the water from the restroom sinks, except the water was bad. “People are getting sick from the water that just came through the pipes!”

“I don’t honestly know how that happened, Bobby,” Dr. Froid spoke up, “It must’ve been the WWW agent inside.”

“Why would she do this?” the governor queried with horror, “She controls the facility as long as you’re there, and soon, she’ll have the Aqua Program. What else does she want?”

“All the Zenny in your overseas bank account,” one of the men in dark suits told him, having a bald head. His partner had short black hair and an earpiece, connected to the WWW. “All 26 million and 700 thousand of it.”

“But that’s all I’ve invested!” Crosby’s grip on his PET tightened, “That’s all from my singing and acting careers!”

“Bobby, please,” the Waterworks director begged, wiping a drop of sweat off of his eyebrow. “We just have to cooperate.”

“One of us wants to meet one of those Officials on the roof, Mr. Governor,” the second man scoffed, “The boss says you can tell them what’s going on for all we care. But not the cops. If any of those guys stay, then you’ll never see your wife or that brat again.”

“Leave them both alone,” Crosby growled, “You’ll get the money. Seiji, drain the water.”

“It’s done,” Dr. Froid sighed, “At least the damage won’t get worse.”

“It still might,” the hairless WWW agent spat as the director hung up, leaving the governor alone with them. “Better hustle.”

“Governor Crosby!” Detective Bluemann called out, coming up to him. “Sir, we need a direct line to Dr. Froid, now!”

“There’s nothing you can do, officer,” Crosby quietly murmured, getting in touch with his bank. “You must leave.”

“What do you mean?” Redd questioned, “We just got word that tainted water entered a few households, and you’re saying I can’t be here?!”

“It’ll all be over soon,” The governor shook his head, “just leave now.”

“Governor Crosby,” Mayl interrupted, arriving downstairs and approaching him. “I know what’s going on. Let us help.”

“I’ll only speak to you, not Bluemann,” Crosby was clear in his words, “It’s nothing personal, detective, but for the sake of everyone else, you cannot be involved.”

“What?” The detective was baffled at first, unsure whether to be angry or not. “Why?”

“You heard him, loser!” The well-dressed and hairless WWW agent shoved Mayl’s guardian away, “We don’t want your kind here!”

“This falls under assault!” Redd growled, “I could arrest you for that!”

“Wait, Redd,” Mayl kept him at a distance away from the small group, whispering to him. “Do what they say. The WWW has hostages.”

The detective understood, keeping himself mute. He wiped his trench coat, glaring at the WWW agents, and walked out of the building. “Chief,” He got his PET, contacting his superior. “Are there any other officers in the area? Then recall them back to the station. I’ll explain later, sir.”

“If you know everything,” Crosby exhaled in depression, “then you must know that I have to do this.”

“But why just speak to me?” Mayl asked, “I’m just an Official.”

“One of the few who’s getting close, actually,” The technologically savvy man tapped a button on his earpiece, “Our mission leader wants to meet you. First, take that guy’s PET before you enter the building. The guard will let you by.”

“It has the money to pay them off,” the governor explained, “And once they get the Aqua Program, they’ll leave.”

“So instead of transferring the money to an account the WWW set up,” Mayl summarized the slight lapse in logic behind this task, speaking up a little for Mr. Famous to overhear through the PET. “You want me to give the money to the agent inside because she wants to meet me?”

“We don’t get paid to ask questions,” The bald agent gestured to the stairs, “So get up there, now.”

“Alright, I’m going,” Mayl took Crosby’s PET, placing it in her messenger’s bag. She went upstairs, followed by Crosby and the two men to the entrance of the Waterworks.

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“I overheard it all from Mayl’s end,” Lan whispered, getting out of the hiding spot he made. “It makes sense now…”

“Poor Tory,” I felt some pity for the guy, “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Dr. Froid!! Dr. Froid!!” Lan slammed his hand on the door of the computer room, “Let me in!! We can stop this!!”

“Lan, what are you doing?!” I exclaimed, hearing the commotion in the real world.

“Dr. Froid, I can help you save your son and the governor’s wife!!” My operator continued trying, failing to notice someone creeping up behind him. “Give me a name and I’ll find the jerk who nabbed them!!”

*THWACK!*

“AGH!!!” Lan fell against the door, feeling something hard hit the back of his skull. He tried getting up, but he lost consciousness, crumpling on the floor.

“Lan?!” I called out, unsure of what’s happening outside. I didn’t even notice a round white orb hit the digital ground in front of me. The impact released frozen towers of ice, damaging me and freezing me in one go! Some of my processors stopped functioning, leading to a loss of control over my motor functions, which is well in line with what I’m experiencing. The worst part is that I can still move and think, but I can’t do anything to get out without Lan!!

[BGM: Strange Mood, Mega Man Battle Network]

“Well, isn’t this typical?” The guard that personally forced Mayl out of the building crossed her arms while holding a wrench, lightly chuckling. “Heh… Everything goes fine until some stupid kid sticks their nose where it doesn’t belong…”

“What now, Ms. Madd?” Dr. Froid opened the door, waiting for her instruction.

“Hold this close,” Ms. Madd picked up Lan’s PET, handing it over to him. “We don’t want to risk him freeing his Navi.”

“When will you release Tory and Mrs. Crosby?” the director inquired, hoping this ordeal would end.

“When I say so,” the woman with bunched hair disdainfully replied, “I don’t plan on forgiving that old fart anytime soon. All that’s left is to bring Sakurai here…”

Ms. Madd left Froid to take Lan inside the computer room, reactivating the elevator. She went down, grinning deviously all the while.

Our lives, mine and Lan’s, truly were unpredictable.

CHAPTER 11 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Ripley Marduk, Reddington Bluemann, and Bobby Crosby © HatOnFire/Me

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[BGM: The Chosen One, Mega Man ZX GIGAMIX]

“To think, the boy is willing to go to such lengths for his ideal version of right,” Wily stroked his chin, contacting his agent on the inside of the Waterworks. He was informed by his infiltration of the facility, which was at best, a setback that had to be remedied. “He is full of surprises.”

“He was easy to get the drop on,” Ms. Madd proceeded to express her concerns, “But that’s not the point, Lord Wily. He’s a threat to our operation, as are Sakurai and Chaud.”

“You don’t need to worry about them at this moment,” The WWW leader brushed off that idea, “They’ll be too focused on the director’s predicament to care.”

“That’s fine,” Madd nodded, “I wanted to meet with Hikari and the girl face-to-face, anyway.”

“Why, my dear?” Wily was rightfully perplexed at the agent, considering she shows little respect for her own coworkers.

“Why not?” She shrugged, “They’re no half-wits, unlike Mr. Mishap. And they could be fun to play with later.”

“Just don’t get distracted. After losing two Super Programs from bad timing and careless Navis, we NEED the Aqua Program.”

“Don’t worry, sir, I’ll get it. And you won’t mind if I have a little… fun with them?”

“As long as you don’t cause the unclean water to run loose in the city again,” Wily scowled and growled at Ms. Madd, putting her on edge. He severed the connection, believing she clearly understood him. “I’m surrounded by a callous lot, indeed.”

01001101 01001101 01000010 01001110

“Just in case something goes wrong, Roll,” Mayl ordered, “You find MegaMan and get to the purification system and free it.”

Mayl had just sent her Navi into the Waterworks network via an old security camera that Chaud told her to use. Of course, she was being discreet about jacking in, considering she knew Dr. Froid was working with the WWW, albeit reluctantly.

“I’m on it,” Roll responded, teleporting on another road to evade a spotlight. “But how is Lan faring?”

“I don’t know,” Mayl was uncertain, having received a message from Mr. Famous that Lan was discovered and taken prisoner. “But he’ll be fine. It’s Lan.”

“Okay,” Roll searched for a map of the network, hoping for a clear shortcut to where I was. “Mega and ProtoMan were over here, so he should be close by.” She ran down the path, being cautious of WWW viruses and security viruses repurposed to serve the WWW. She made a left turn, jumping on digital ice as ice skating attachments materialized on her boots’ soles. This should be fun, Roll thought to herself. Ooh! Maybe Mega and I can skate together! Leaping off to perform a brief figure skating trick, she landed back on the ice and avoided imperfections that could throw her off balance.

01001101 01000001 01000100 01000100

In the real world, Mayl waited for the elevator, holding on to her messenger bag, which had Governor Crosby’s PET. A moment later, the doors opened, with the female guard right there, only she was not a guard.

“In here, Sakurai,” Ms. Madd took off her cap, showing her face to her. The bangs in her front were arranged in spiked fringes drooping over her forehead. She had black eyes with a light purple eye shadow, slightly pronounced eyelashes, and earrings shaped like hoops. She had pants striped blue, green, and purple, orange tennis shoes with white laces, and a brown shirt with long sleeves under an orange and white t-shirt with an emblem in the middle of it.

The emblem itself had a blue outline covering a circle divided in six ways. From top left to right, the colors of the divided sides were white, green, and purple, and that pattern repeated from bottom right to left. The purple pieces on opposite sides of the circle made up half of it while the others made up the other.

“Did you have to steal to get your makeup?” Mayl questioned while entering the elevator, knowing that she was talking to a WWW member. “Or did you buy so much, you went broke?”

“Getting snippy?” Ms. Madd huffed, though she couldn’t keep herself from smirking at Mayl’s offhand remarks. “I can work with that.” Madd pressed a button, allowing the elevator to take them up to the Waterworks’ control room. They got out when the doors went open again, and they walked down the hallway to the main part of the facility.

“Why did you ask for me?” the maroon-haired Official inquired, “You could’ve just kept us Officials away along with the police.”

“I wanted to get a close look at who we’re up against,” Madd simply answered, “The name’s Ms. Madd, but you can call me Maddy. I’m impressed, by the way.”

“I’d compliment you back, but I’d be lying if I did.”

“Ha!” the WWW agent snickered, opening the door to the room. “Well, coercing a governor and a chief engineer is hardly a challenge.”

“Or ethical,” Mayl commented, entering the room. She saw Dr. Froid treading back to the main computer, after having tied Lan to a swivel chair. “Lan!”

“Eh, he’s fine, I think,” Maddy mumbled, “I did hit the back of his head with a wrench, though.”

“I’m really sorry for this,” Dr. Froid expressed his sympathies, “but I have no choice.”

“Actually, he did have a few,” Maddy added, “They just wouldn’t lead to any happy endings.”

“Alright, you brought me here,” Mayl held her grip on her prized bag, “You got me and Lan and now you have the money. Now what?”

“Ugh…” The juvenile boy stirred, slowly opening his eyes. “That hurt… ”

“Are you okay, Lan?!” Mayl was so concerned for him, she initially failed to notice Ms. Madd had handcuffed one of her wrists to a machine’s bar. She even took her bag, which had the two PETs in it. One belonging to her, and one that was Governor Crosby’s.

“Good, he’s awake,” She approached him to squeeze his face, “It feels like he’s been out for weeks, honestly. Anyway, your Navi will miss the fun if he doesn’t thaw soon.”

“Let go of me!” Lan jerked his head left and right to get free, but Maddy started tugging his hair. “Gah!!”

“That’s enough!” Mayl pulled on her cuffs, but to no avail. Even worse, the cuffs transmitted a shock when she did that! “AAH!!”

“I think you remember the NetPolice’s new standardized handcuffs,” Maddy let go of Lan, but not without patting his head. “Considering who’s looking after you.”

“Just what are you trying to prove?” the director hissed, “You’re in complete control.”

“Doing missions for the boss gets dull, for one thing,” Maddy didn’t bother to hide her annoyance, considering her apathy. “Secondly, the money’s reassurance that I won’t get double-crossed by you or the governor. The more important thing I want here, well... I want to do something fun.”

“And what’re you gonna do?” Lan inquired, “Pull every strand of hair off my head until I’m bald?”

“As fun as that sounds, no. Sakurai, if your Navi is already in the network, then have her save that Not-So-MegaMan, then try and take back the Waterworks by beating IceMan.”

“What…?” The Official was as befogged as Lan was, both hanging on her words.

“That’s not in the deal,” Dr. Froid sharply glared, “Besides that, there’s no point!”

“Oh, come on, doctor,” Maddy whimsically shook her head as though the director made no sense to her, “of course there’s a point. Like when I released the water into the city earlier. It just goes to show that people are stupid when they’re desperate!”

“No wonder your name is Maddy,” Mayl scoffed, “You are out of your mind!”

“Only a smidgen,” The aforesaid madwoman crouched down and held her right index above her thumb, “I know I’m crazy, but I’m nobody’s fool.”

“I don’t understand you,” Mayl stared at her, only beginning to know the depths of the WWW agent’s mania. “How can you act like this and laugh at horrible things?”

“Ever heard of something called Schadenfreude? It’s where people laugh at bad things happening to other people. Everyone does it, I’m no different. You’d be surprised by the number of people who want to see things happen to each other.”

“You’re wrong…” Lan bit his lip, struggling to free himself from his predicament. “Horrible and wrong.”

“Yak all you want on what’s right and wrong,” Maddy ignored Lan, holding out Mayl’s PET in her face. “I don’t care. I’ll be entertained watching your Navis fight it out. I still win either way. This is just killing time.”

She could change her mind at the drop of a hat… the maroon-haired teenager speculated. We better humor her if we’re going to have any chance of fixing this mess. “Roll,” She spoke directly into the device, “Find MegaMan and IceMan.”

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“Well, she’ll need assistance,” Mr. Famous’ voice mumbled through Chaud’s device, “Even if she didn’t use the duress word.”

“Of course she will,” Chaud spared no expense when it came to her predicament, despite understanding she had no choice. “She walked headlong into a trap without a plan.”

“We can still salvage this, Chaud,” the scientist assured him, “I have Ripley and Redd trying to locate Dr. Froid’s son and the governor’s wife. I need you to halt WWW's attempts to download the Aqua Program.”

“Defusing this situation will be challenging…” the ace NetBattler expressed his thoughts, narrowing his eyes at Governor Crosby’s false security detail. “ProtoMan, do not delay.”

“Yes, Lord Chaud!” ProtoMan took off in a flash, navigating the network as quickly as he could without raising any alarm.

“Mr. Famous, if I may,” Chaud started to suggest, “Mayl never used the duress word once, even when she had a chance to do so. I believe they’ll take care of things on their end.”

“If you say so…” Mr. Famous intertwined his fingers as he sighed, “I just hope I didn’t make a mistake in sending youths to resolve an adult situation…”

01001001 01000011 01000101 01001101 01000001 01001110

Meanwhile, inside the Waterworks’ network, a figure stood on top of a digital storage tank, covered in ice. Snowflakes fell around the structure like it was a calm winter day in real life.

He was dwarfed in stature, possessing a baby face with brown eyes and swirly, rosy cheeks, looking like an elf. He hardly looked like a Navi, clothed in a turquoise snow suit with dark teal lines tracing down the sides of his arms, legs, and on the back of his hood. His emblem was in a white circle, where a light blue, eight-pointed star was embedded in front of a blue background. On his back was a brown pack that had a dial indicator on it, with a red needle in the center of the gauge. There were light beige fleeces at his suit’s cuffs, ankles, and around his hood. Brown mittens made up his hands and his shoes matched the gloves, though with light tan toe boxes, heels, and soles.

He was IceMan, Dr. Froid’s NetNavi, the digital caretaker of the network. But right now, he was the one who carried out the WWW’s demands.

Time to get ready… IceMan sighed, being told by the director to prepare for battle. To think I’d be reduced to this… He inhaled before blowing a mighty cold wind out of his mouth, sending it far into another area.

“Whoa!!” Roll exclaimed, surprised by the abrupt and strong current. She had been searching the network for a certain Navi, trapped in cyber ice. “Talk about a sudden snowstorm!” A faceplate covered her mouth, yet she had to squint to try and see through the harsh storm. Continuing on, she could make out a figure stuck in a solid prison. “Mega!!” she called my name, relieved to have found me. “I’ll get you out!” Her antennae cracked the ice encasing my body, leaving some fractures in it. Once I felt energy in my right arm, I morphed it into my Mega Buster, charging it at a desirable point. Then I fired, breaking myself out halfway. Roll kept loosening me while I broke myself out of it.

“Now I know how it feels to be a Cybeast in stasis!” I uttered with a minor shiver. I’m not able to feel cold anymore, but this was an emotional response set off by this virtual environment I’m in. “Thanks for getting me out of here, Roll.”

“Don’t thank me yet…” Roll sighed, quickly filling me in on what I missed during my time in the deep freeze.

“That’s bad…” I wasn’t sure why, but I almost wished I was still trapped back there. “The WWW sure knows how to back us in a corner.”

“We can still distract them,” she said for certain, “we just have to give IceMan a real battle.”

“Sounds easier said than done without Battle Chips, but we don’t have a choice.”

“Let’s get moving,” Roll motioned for me to follow her, going down the path. The blizzard was disorienting us, but we pushed on. We had to skate on a frozen, treacherous platform filled with gaps, jumping over them and dodging obstacles. Roll actually pulled off a double Lutz when she leaped above a hole. I admit I was impressed, but this wasn’t the time or the place.

“This is definitely the time and the place for this!!” she aired in response to what I was implying, to my surprise. “We don’t get cold in the Den Tech Cyberworld, you know!”

“How did you..?” I uttered, initially believing she was reading my mind.

“I can read your facial expression,” Roll shook her head with a teasing smirk, “I’m an Official Navi, remember? Now that I think about it, you’re my subordinate!”

“W-What?!” I yelped, coming to a stop on a road without cyber ice.

[BGM: Chill Penguin Stage, Mega Man Maverick Hunter X]

“Yeah. In that regard, you belong to me now.”

“N-No, I don’t!!” There was a counterargument to her assessment, but I couldn’t dwell on that now. Not because I was embarrassed, but because some WWW viruses appeared right in front of us. “I’ve got you covered!!” I shouted, pelting a Piranha with some uncharged shots.

“Roll Flash!!” My friend zipped over to a VolGear 2, striking it with her antennae. While over there, she kicked it into the Piranha I was hitting, deleting them.

“Take this!!” I charged up my Mega Buster to blast a Mettaur 2, landing five more shots just to get rid of it.

“Look out!” Roll warned me, watching my six. I dove to the floor and fired behind me as she shot an arrow out. Combined, our attacks took out a Spooky virus.

“I hate these things…!” I’m never thrilled to encounter those, and we suddenly had more spawning in.

“Run!”

I fled the ghosts with Roll at the front. At a left turn, we started to slide down a slope. I kept my balance swerving to dodge frozen towers; my friend flew ahead to look out for more unwanted surprises. Looking over my shoulder, I saw a cluster of Spooky viruses giving chase. “Oh, my worst nightmare realized,” I nervously chuckled, reaching the end of the incline. We got off and ran under a faucet with a switch on it. This gave me the idea to blast it, activating a security protocol to spray the road we were on. But just then, invisible security walls flashed around us, turning this path into a trench with raging water!

“Come on!” Roll yelled, dragging me by the arm. I didn’t look behind me, but the water was strong enough to immediately delete the Spooky viruses, meaning we would’ve shared their fate, too. Roll floated above the water, spinning me around to get enough momentum to throw me above the wall. While it worked, I found myself slightly nauseous.

“Glad we got out of there,” I felt relieved, steadily pulling myself up as Roll ascended to my level. “That was some quick thinking, Roll.”

“You too!” After all the danger we were in, she still managed to find time to poke fun at me. “You follow orders pretty well, you know. I think you like being told what to do!”

“Just because I listen, that doesn’t make me a soldier!” I protested to her. I totally wasn’t turning red at all, no way.

“Right…” She chuckled afterwards until she saw a massive storage tank inside a solid prism of ice in front of us.

I jumped down from the security wall, landing on the icy floor. I cracked a small part of it from the jump’s impact, bending my knees in reaction to it. Roll just simply levitated down to here. Before our eyes, we saw an incredibly short Navi glaring at us.

“Getting to him was easy enough,” Ms. Madd’s voice echoed in the area, watching us through our PETs. “But can you defeat him as you are? Let’s find out!” IceMan let out an indignant sound through his lips before he blew out enough cold air to create large ice cubes. He promptly kicked them at us, forcing us to separate.

“Now what do we do?” I questioned, leaping away from a bomb that exploded, freezing its designated areas solid.

“All we can!!” Roll replied, armed with her Roll Buster and targeting the small Navi. “Roll Arrow!”

“Ice Slasher!!” IceMan sidestepped to evade the pink bolt, returning fire by launching a flying, cold cut from one of his hands. Roll moved, but the projectile grazed her right arm, doing a little more damage than I had assumed.

“Roll!!” Worried for her, I repeatedly shot at him, driving him away from his spot. I ran to her, seeing her clutch the open wound.

“I’ll be fine once we get him!” She tried to ease my concerns, keeping her guard up.

“Ice Breath!!” IceMan’s head stuck out from behind one of his ice cubes, blowing cold air in our direction. We dodged the worst of the blast, sliding a little close to the edge. “Snowman!!” The Navi in the turquoise coat used his breath to make a digital snowman in front of us. His aim was that either the destructive blast radius would get us, or we’d be forced to jump off the stage.

Carrying Roll in my arms, I took a chance by leaping on top of the snowman, only jumping as high as I could when it combusted into powdery cyber snow. The explosion blew me forward and a little further in the air before we fell back down to the rink, capped off with my landing feet first.

“Not bad,” Ms. Madd clapped her hands at a normal, constant pace. “You only took a little bit of damage from those attacks. I wonder how long you can keep it up.”

“T-Thanks for that,” Roll’s face flushed as much as mine did while I set her down, “but you know I could’ve danced us away from that, right?”

“Y-Yeah, but there wasn’t time to explain,” I mumbled, avoiding making contact with her eyes.

“Are you two even taking this seriously?!” IceMan yelled, balling his hands. “You’re going to be deleted at this rate!”

“I was going to say that about you,” Roll targeted him with her buster, “We’re only trying to help!”

“I know that,” IceMan told us, bringing his arms against his chest. “But I have to fulfill my objective here.”

“He’s right,” Dr. Froid frowned, “And if I have to see you two’s deletion to the end, I will.”

“Freeze Bomb!!” IceMan threw his arms out, unleashing snowflakes that came to the ground. Once they landed, sharp ice towers rose from the ground, almost stabbing me and Roll! “Mega Cannon!!” He accepted a strong chip his operator sent him, and blasted my friend with it.

“Roll!!” I grabbed her before she could fall, then I had to jump when IceMan blew more air at me.

“Ugh…” She was still alive, but that shot took more than the wind out of her sails. When the little Navi tried attacking again, I stood my ground and fired more shots at him.

“Be lucky you didn’t delete her right there, IceMan!” I glared at him as I forced him to take cover. He created another Ice Cube to shield himself, but I was making cracks in it with each shot.

A strange Navi watched the action from the sidelines, giggling at my best efforts.

His legs were replaced by a round white sphere with blue spots on it. His torso looked similar to a cone, but the apex had its own flat base. His body was red with a blue outline at the bottom base and a white one for the top. Above that lower base were his yellow feet with imprinted exclamation points beneath them, one blue on his right and red on his left. It was unusual in regards to anatomy, but again, Navis are not like humans. His emblem could be seen on his collar, with a yellow outer circle. He had scrawny arms, striped blue and yellow, and wide red palms with four yellow fingers on each hand. The Navi’s head was yellow, coming with blue, jagged clown hair and a red orb at the top of his head. He had red eyes with yellow pupils, and layers of white and blue surrounded his eyes in a manner similar to face paint.

“This really is fun!!” he cheered, “This was your best idea yet, Maddy!!”

“Well, ColorMan?” Ms. Madd started to ask, “Do you have it?”

“Yeppers!!” The WWW Navi replied with a laugh, holding the digital data in his hands. “It took a long while, but I finally got it compressed right here! So much power at my fingertips!”

“Good!” She rubbed her fingers together out of habit, “Now jack out and bring it to me!!”

“Aw, come on!” ColorMan griped, “Can’t I watch for five more minutes? I’ve been doing that since I downloaded the thing a few minutes ago!”

“You’ve been holding out on me?” The agent’s eye twitched as she darkly smirked.

“W-Well…” ColorMan nervously chuckled, “I got it. That’s what counts, r-right?”

“Just get your lazy hide back in my PET before I do something unpleasant to it.”

“Y-Yes, ma’am!!” Before he could do anything, one of his arms was severed by a flying pink slash, falling to the floor. Immediately afterward, a red blur zoomed past him and seized the program from his other flailing arm. “AIEEEEEEE!!!” The Navi held his arm in pain, rolling backward.

“I’ve got it, sir!!” That blur was ProtoMan, clutching the Aqua Program and staying on guard.

“Good!!” Chaud was reassured, yet his sharp gaze did not change. “Jack out now!!”

“I can’t!” ProtoMan took several cautionary steps away from ColorMan, “It’s as though the network can’t allow it!!”

“Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee…!!” ColorMan’s cries of agony were replaced by giggles with creepy undertones; he obscured his face from ProtoMan’s view by lowering his head. “The legendary ProtoMan… You didn’t actually think the ice was just the setting for an ice show, did you?”

“So there’s more to why the WWW chose Dr. Froid,” Chaud pieced together what he learned in the moment, “It wasn’t just that he was the Waterworks director, it was that his Navi has the power to halt certain basic functions from within the Cyberworld!”

“He not only froze the main systems of the Waterworks,” ProtoMan followed his operator’s logic closely, “but froze most of the network to interfere with a Navi’s jack out command?”

“When the building went under lockdown, the network became closed off from the rest of the Cyberworld,” ColorMan grinned deviously as his right arm was rematerialized, feeling replenished. “Even the jack in points got put on ice because we foresaw their usage against us. You were lucky to find a spot that wasn’t hit by it.”

“I can’t jack out instantly because I’m in too close of a proximity with this digital cold,” The crimson fighter noted, “but I can still get out manually by returning to that point!”

“Don’t even try to run for it!!” Ms. Madd shouted, “Do it, and I’ll rearrange Lan Hikari’s face real bad!” At the moment, Lan wasn’t paying attention to anyone. All he was doing was watching Dr. Froid’s movements, hoping he would get a chance to take his PET back from him. Having seen a cold landscape over the network, combined with Maddy mentioning my being frozen, he must’ve figured out that a manual jack out from the last point was the only thing that could happen. But he couldn’t act too soon, since being tied to a chair limits his defensive choices.

“Why get worked up over a copy of the program you seek?” Chaud questioned over the line of communication, “I don’t want to hear you threaten someone over a defective copy.”

“Oh, come on,” Maddy sighed, “A bluff isn’t going to work on me. ColorMan?”

“It’s the real deal,” ColorMan placed his hands on his sides, “I’ve been given several cues to recognize a special program, just in case these eggheads made copies to replace the originals.”

“Even so, you don’t want to return to your leader empty-handed,” As the ace Official said that, ProtoMan brought his sword up to the program, threatening to damage it.

“You wouldn’t,” Ms. Madd was close to developing sweat from her head, “You wouldn’t risk Hikari or Sakurai with that move. It’s a dumb gamble.”

“I neither gamble nor make deals, lady. ProtoMan!!”

“Yes sir!!” Before ProtoMan could so much as make a scratch to it, a voice stopped him.

“Wait, wait, wait!!” she yelled into her PET, so much that it not only got the attention of everyone in the room, but also the Navis fighting in the network.

“ProtoMan!” I stopped firing at IceMan to briefly look at ProtoMan with a Navi I didn’t recognize. Two-dimensional screens of Chaud and that Navi’s operator were towering above them, staring intently at each other.

“Perhaps we can come to a new arrangement?” Maddy suggested, “How about a trade?”

“I told you that I don’t make deals,” Chaud reminded her.

“Maybe you’ll like this one?” All the same, she tried negotiating, having everything turn around on her. She was faced with pressure, forgetting she was in control of this situation. All she wanted right now was to avoid making her leader angrier than when he last left her.

The crimson Navi briefly glanced at myself and Roll, turning back to face the WWW. I saw him mouth a few words when that Navi wasn’t looking. Fortunately, I could read lips. Manual… Jack… Lan… It hit me right then! He was signaling to us the best way to get out of this mess: a manual jack out! Lan… I figured he was waiting for the right time to strike when I got to an exit point. I could find it, but it all depends on him acting as soon as I’m out of the network.

“Roll, can you still fight?” I asked, worried for her since she took a cannon blast.

“Of course I can,” Roll answered without any hesitation, “Why?”

“We need to get back to the area where we jacked in from,” I whispered to her, “But we can’t tip off IceMan.”

“Got it,” Promptly after she said that, Roll right arm became a longbow buster. She fired an arrow right above the short Navi’s head, intentionally missing him by a small margin.

“What was that?!” I exclaimed, stunned by what I saw, just as IceMan was.

“Come and get us, shorty!!” My pink companion grabbed my hand and pulled me along, and we both jumped off of this platform and slid down an incline.

“D-Dr. Froid…” IceMan stammered, “They just shot at me with no warning!”

“After them!” Froid ordered, “We can’t let them ruin anything else for us!”

[BGM: Big Snowman (Plus version), Snowboard Kids/Super Snowboard Kids]

“Seriously, what was that, Roll?!” I was more than hung up over Roll’s last action while we retreated.

“I find that Navis don’t ask questions when they narrowly avoid getting shot at!” she stated, skating on a thin path with me.

“But he couldn’t even defend himself right there!” I retorted, “You could’ve deleted him!”

“First off, we didn’t do much damage to him!” she replied, “Secondly, we can’t risk him getting wise to us. Third, I purposely missed. I’m not gonna delete a Navi for something beyond their control!”

I would’ve responded right there, but I was interrupted by a Freeze Bomb coming down on us! We swerved on opposite sides to avoid it, looking behind us to see IceMan riding after us on an ice block he created, crushing the jagged piece of ice.

“You can’t get away from me!!” He was gaining on us, using all sorts of attacks to get us. Roll fired back at IceMan, launching an arrow in his direction to slow him down. It didn’t take, regrettably. “Ice Slasher!!” He unleashed more projectiles at us, alternating between targets. Things started to get more difficult for us to escape.

“ACK!!” I felt one of those flying cuts hit me in the back, forcing me to fall head first down this incline. My body tumbled and slid all the way down, leaving marks on my gloves and boots. The worst part was that the road swerved ahead, meaning I could potentially fall off here!

“I got you, Mega!!” Thinking quickly, Roll sped down the ramp, using her antennae to catch me. She twirled around the curve with me catching a view of the bottomless network, letting me land back on the path once it was safe for me.

IceMan was still after us, ditching the block to avoid going off the path and to get closer to us. “IceMan Kick!!” He actually jumped and tried landing a kick, but we ducked to let him soar past us. Once he landed, we started blasting, landing a few hits on him.

“Mega!!” My companion pointed at a conveyor belt that we were approaching. That was how we were going to make it back to the start. As a bonus, it could bypass all the viruses prowling the area.

“Freeze Bomb!!” The turquoise Navi released snowflakes that came down on the now straightened road, hoping to catch us with rising ice shards. We maneuvered left and right, but there was just no end to them. Even worse, the snowflakes started grouping up, making it harder for us to get past them.

“Roll Flash!!” Once more, Roll let her antennae out, teleporting to IceMan to whack him something fierce. On account of the blows he took, he stopped dispensing the bombs and landed on his belly in a daze.

Curling up into a ball, I caught up with them, grabbing IceMan and jumping on the conveyor with Roll in one go. “That’s enough, IceMan!!” I announced to him, restraining him by putting his head in an armlock. “We’re going to end this incident!”

“And how do you plan on doing that?!” IceMan queried, struggling to get loose. “Dr. Froid’s son and the governor’s wife are still hostages!”

“We have people outside working on that!” Roll informed, “You have to trust them to find them!”

“I can’t!!” he growled, “If the police get involved, they’re gone! The WWW was very strict about that! I can’t let you escape!” Right on the conveyor, he made a giant snowman with his breath, bigger than the last one he made.

“What did you just do?!” Roll questioned.

“This Snowman here will release a destructive blast great enough to freeze an entire network area!!” he explained, “The cold wind will also carry over to other areas and instantly freeze the rest of the network!”

“But you’ll be caught in this blizzard, too!!” I pointed out.

“Sorry, but I’m leaving this place with a working body,” IceMan shook his head, disappearing in a bright glow shooting up to the digital sky.

“He jacked out!!” Roll cried, “And we’re stuck with this thing!”

I started pushing the Snowman off the conveyor belt, thinking that this could buy us even a few nanoseconds of time to get out. “Come on, fall!!” I grunted, exhausting what little energy I had left. A little more, and we still might have a shot! “Fall!!”

“Keep going!!” Roll encouraged me, helping me push the Snowman. While she didn’t have as much strength as I did, it was helpful for her to do this with me. A few more seconds, and we managed to get it off the platform. However, its beady eyes started to glow red as it fell.

“Not much time,” I showed a faint hint of nervousness in my voice, recounting my time covered in ice.

“We’re here!!” Roll shouted, seeing the access point just up ahead! We immediately jumped off the conveyor and right on the path to get out of here.

*BOOM!!*

Just then, the Snowman went out in a massive explosion, its cold snow going up and coming back down as though a volcano had erupted! The Waterworks network underwent another change, becoming a real frozen labyrinth.

“Whoa!!” Roll almost tripped, but I caught her in my arms, running as fast as I could.

“Hang on, we’re at the home stretch!!” I shouted, knowing the path behind us was getting smothered in snow. When it began to catch up, I started sliding on the ground, reaching the jack out with Roll.

“Great work, Mega!!” Roll hugged me as we flew out of this network, “You did it!!”

“Yeah!” I nodded, “Now let’s help our operators!”

Getting out was tricky, but I had a terrible feeling that things would get worse, and when we reached the climax of this incident, I was proven right.

CHAPTER 12 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Ripley Marduk, MythMan, Reddington Bluemann, Helena and Bobby Crosby © HatOnFire/Me

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Being back inside the PET rejuvenated me. It was good to get out after IceMan froze the network over. Even so, I was troubled: if the Waterworks wasn’t in a bad state, it soon would be. Roll and I had jacked out, but ProtoMan was still inside with the WWW Navi and the Aqua Program. Silver lining: the WWW couldn’t leave with it, not that it did us any good. If the network was frozen, then the water could only be released manually.

“IceMan, you froze everything…” Dr. Froid uttered, “The entire network is disabled.”

“I’m sorry, Dr. Froid,” IceMan glumly sighed, “but we can’t let anything stop us, or else Tory—!”

“I know,” the director interrupted him, “You were doing what you thought you had to. But Ms. Madd’s Navi was still in the network. I’m worried.”

“You should be!!” the WWW operator shouted, yanking an identification card off of Froid’s jacket. “Look at what you did!! If I don’t hear from my Navi soon, I might not let your kid go!!”

“Just shut up!!” Mayl yelled from across the room, her hand still cuffed against a machine. “You have no right to punish the director’s son for something his Navi did!”

“Spare me the semantics, Sakurai,” Ms. Madd marched over to her in a huff, tossing the card and Mayl’s bag, containing both her and the governor’s PET. “You don’t want to see more of my other side! Remember, I’m still in control!!”

“Like how you controlled that deal with Chaud five minutes ago?” Mayl questioned with an insolent smirk, much to Maddy’s growing ire.

This could be my chance… Lan pondered while tied to a chair, using his feet to pull himself to Dr. Froid. He got close enough to the table so he could grab the PET. “Dr. Froid, I’m sorry to do this,” His apology slightly startled him, “but it’s the only way to save everyone.”

“What are you going to do?” The director raised an eyebrow.

“This…” Lan sighed before leaning forward and biting Dr. Froid’s left hand!

“AAAAHHHHH!!!” Froid screamed, feeling the juvenile boy’s teeth sink into his skin. He was promptly pulled away from the table by him and tripped, falling face first.

“You little brat!!” Maddy saw what Lan did, and tried running to him. However, she didn’t notice Mayl sticking her foot out, tripping her.

Lan had his chance, rolling to the table to handle his PET with his mouth. One of his teeth pressed down on the emblem, allowing me to jack in. A good thing about some NetNavis: with our free will, we could get inside a network of our choice. “Jaaff enn!! MegaMahh, Ecksaakoot!!” Lan’s catchphrase was garbled when he spoke. I chose to enter the handcuffs computer, which sounded nonsensical, but it was a good countermeasure for a misplaced key.

“Okay, let’s shut this down!!” I readied myself, blasting several components of the network with my Mega Buster, shorting out the electronic locking mechanism, even if it was just a guess.

Yes! Mayl kept her relief to herself, pulling her wrist out of it. However, Maddy got back up and darted at my operator, her fingernails digging into the chair’s back cushion. She tugged hard, bringing him to the floor.

“You haven't won yet!!” she growled, but before she could strike him, Mayl intervened by kicking her in the side, forcing her off.

“Keep your hands off of him!!” Mayl threatened, almost with a snarl in her voice. She untied Lan and helped him up.

“Thanks,” he said before looking at the WWW agent, “now let’s take care of this.”

“You’ve lost control of this place,” The girl with maroon hair crossed her arms, “The Aqua Program won’t be leaving this building, and your options are little. It’s over.”

“I don’t think so…” Maddy’s grin matched that of the Cheshire cat, “If I don’t have the Aqua Program, director, then I’m not gonna let them go.”

“I know that!” Froid bellowed with his fist clenched, “but give me time! IceMan is immune to the network’s deep freeze. He was designed to be resistant to glitches!”

“Don’t care, you’re outta luck,” Maddy began to leave, but not without offering another incentive. “But you get one more chance, cuz I’m nice. Put the pumping system out of commission or the hostages will never see daylight again.”

“Y-You…!!” The director twitched his eye, enraged by this new ultimatum.

“Bye~!” The wicked woman waved her farewell whilst closing the door behind her, making her exit. Knowing Froid would try to pursue, she had electronically locked the door from the inside, keeping them in.

“NO!!!” Froid imputed the emergency override code, only to be blocked access. Overwhelmed, he resorted to prying the door open. “Get back here, you witch!! Give me back my son!!”

“Dr. Froid,” Mayl whispered, feeling pity for the man.

“We’ll find them, sir,” Lan spoke up, feeling confident in the rest of the team, knowing they would save Tory and Mrs. Crosby.

“This is all your fault…” He turned his head, menacingly piercing at them. “If none of you got in the way, this crisis would’ve only been temporary!!”

“Our fault?!” Mayl yelled, “We were trying to help!”

“By putting my family in more jeopardy than before?!” Froid pulled out his PET, grasping it so hard it would break if it was poorly designed.

“You put Den Tech City at risk by taking away the water,” Lan pointed out, “Don’t act like we’re the bad guys here.”

“You bit my freaking hand!!”

“Okay, you got a point there,” Lan nodded, scratching his head sheepishly.

“We can still do something,” Mayl offered, “and you can help do what’s right. Just trust us.”

“You can’t help…” Froid hissed, approaching the pumping room’s door. He immediately imputed an override code on a keypad next to it and closed the door once inside. “You’re no good, joking and making false promises!! But I’ll get my son back, no matter what!!”

“Quick!” The Official got to the door, unable to open it with her limited access to government facilities. “Your code breaker!”

“Glad you see its benefits now,” Lan chuckled, not that his joke was a good icebreaker. “But we may not need it this time.” He picked up the access card that was pulled off of Froid’s shirt by Maddy, holding it in front of a scanner and opening the door. As soon as Lan and Mayl entered the room, they saw their opponent. “Oh, come on…” My operator sighed, “Not again…”

Dr. Froid was wearing IceMan’s colors, but there were some differences between them. He was wearing a turquoise snow suit with light beige fleeces, same as the short Navi. Teal lines went down the sides of his legs and arms, but the lines also went around the wrists of the long sleeved coat as a big one was on the top of his hood. He had brown boots with tan toe boxes, heels, and soles, silver skates underneath his shoes, and he had brown gloves that could resemble mittens when his fingers were together, as those tips curved, except for the thumbs.

The sky blue plated armor on his chest was new, displaying a large version of IceMan’s emblem with three red triangles sticking out sideways and below the emblem. The armor was attached to a backpack with two hoses connected to his forearms, striped light blue and sky blue. Two blue cylinders, each with a red ring and sky blue pumps, stuck out from behind him. The most interesting part about Froid was his face, completely blue and with a black gas mask that only covered his mouth and nose. The mask’s mouthpiece had a small shutter on it, meaning it could open or close. Froid’s eyes had menace in them, being seen much more clearly.

“Don’t get in our way,” His words breathed out of his mask with a cold puff of air; he clenched his fists, prepared to strike.

This was similar to Higsby’s episode, only a willing and desperate father was at the helm of this growing crisis. There was only one option now since reason was out the window.

“Synchro Chip In!” And thus, Cross Fusion had to happen once more.

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“It’s cold in here, Ms. Madd,” ColorMan shivered, initially covering his arms and acting jittery.

“Relax,” the WWW agent told him, “The Invisibility chips saved you from that, didn’t they?”

“Yes, they did!!” ColorMan bounced up and down, holding a glowing piece of data in his hands. “It wouldn’t be good for a friendly neighborhood Navi like me to be left in a fridge!”

“While that fool tries to sabotage what’s left of the Waterworks, we make our getaway!” From the Navi’s view, Maddy was moving through the building’s corridor.

“He sure was easy!!” As for ColorMan, he was trying to get out the same way he came in, still inside the network. “So, what’re you going to do with the lady and the kid?”

“I’m going to leave them alone,” Maddy chuckled, “I’m just not going to release them. If Sakurai’s faith in her replacement daddy means anything, he’ll find them.”

“If only we could see that loser cop losing his cool! It’ll serve him right for getting you arrested!”

“Yeah, sure!” Maddy agreed with that awful statement, “And if that lady isn’t sorry for what she did, she will be now!!”

“Interesting,” ProtoMan spoke up, taking ColorMan by surprise. “So your operator has a record.”

“Wha-Whaaaaa?!” ColorMan threw the Aqua Program up in the air to make a screaming expression similar to a famous painting, bringing his hands up to his face.

“My shield reduced as much damage as it could,” He drew his sword at the WWW Navi, “Sub Chips healed the blows I took.”

“I knew this was too easy,” Ms. Madd grumbled, entering the elevator and going down. “No matter. ColorMan, get the program out now!”

“Gotcha!!” ColorMan saluted his operator and bounced away, catching the program as he did so.

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“ProtoMan, pursue and delete!!” Chaud shouted, tapping his foot repeatedly on the sidewalk. “Make sure the Aqua Program doesn’t fall into their hands! I’ll find a way to cut the agent off!

The crowd outside got more restless, one person going so far as to shout nasty words at the governor. Everyone slowly started blaming him for this crisis.

“Chaud, just let them go,” Governor Crosby sighed, “It’s not worth this.”

“I’ve just heard that woman’s Navi say things,” Chaud explained to the old man, “They plan on leaving your wife and the director’s son behind. They have no intention of letting them go.”

“B-But that’s ridiculous!” he stuttered, grabbing the Official by his jacket. “She has everything! She can release them!”

“Governor Crosby, see reason now!” Chaud yelled, “The WWW agent has an escape plan out of this secure building! I need to get inside and stop her!”

“I can’t do anything until Helena and Tory are safe! What if WWW decides to—?!”

“You have to believe in my team! I know they’ll find them!”

Crosby hesitated, grinding his teeth together. He had to make tough choices all day, hoping his troubles ended; no matter what happened, someone would suffer. He wanted his family to be safe, so he put them first. It might not have been right, but what else could he have done? The one thing he was afraid of was WWW going back on their word, and they did. If nothing changed, his family would be gone for good, and that scared him more than the consequences of giving into criminals. “Do you really believe your friends will find them?” he questioned, loosening his grip on the young man.

“Yes,” Chaud uttered with no doubt.

“Then go down to the parking lot,” Crosby told, “The woman has a getaway car down there. Now that she has access to every inch in this building, she’ll make a run for it.”

“Where do you think you’re going?” The two men in dark suits blocked them off, crossing their arms.

“You two think you can just hold the governor’s wife hostage and not expect punishment?” Chaud hissed, slipping his PET into a pocket.

“It doesn’t matter,” the black-haired man whispered, holding a hand over one of his ears. “The boss says to leave. Let’s go.”

“What a shame,” the bald man muttered, “guess you won’t be seeing your wife again, old man.”

“Can I just say one thing?” the governor asked and they stood there, waiting for him to say his piece. Suddenly, the man with thinning hair turned to the mob of people. “These two men have kidnapped my wife and grandson and forced me into giving them access to the Waterworks!!” Everyone gasped at the sudden outburst, seeing the men presumed to be the governor’s security detail called out.

“You made a big mistake, Crosby!!” The bald guy tried grabbing the old man to silence him, but Chaud kicked the man away from him.

“These men are working with the WWW!” He raised his voice for the crowd to hear, his eyes narrowing at the two men. “They have stolen the water supply and have attempted to allow the contaminated water to flow in our pipes! But the worst thing they’ve done to me is kidnap my wife and grandson! And I will not stand for this anymore!!” The large group of people started surrounding the men, keeping them from running away. They tried pushing back, but they got overpowered and restrained. “I’ll get someone to call the police back here,” Crosby looked to Chaud, “You catch that madwoman.”

“I’m on it,” Chaud smirked, giving him a thumbs up, moving through the crowd to get downstairs.

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[BGM: Strong Will, Remastered Tracks Rockman Zero Idea]

“Freeze Bomb!!” C.F. IceMan raised his arms, dispensing orbs from his hands. The orbs became snowflakes that descended to the ground, causing jagged ice towers to rise up!

“Be careful!!” my operator shouted to Mayl, leaping out of the way. As C.F. MegaMan, he dashed for Froid, his right forearm replaced with a Fire Sword and an Elec Blade for his left. He succeeded in landing a burning cut, then jumped over a retaliatory Ice Slasher at close range, shocking him through his shoulder.

“GACK!!” C.F. IceMan flinched in pain, skating in reverse on the icy floor. “Cyclone!!” His arm morphed into a fan, dispensing a small tornado around Lan, flinging him up to the ceiling, where he hit and fell back to the floor! “Ice Breath!!” Mist shot out in a stream from C.F. IceMan’s mask, like water from a hose. He froze Lan’s legs, but backed off when he was struck by two of three silver bolts from a Tri Arrow attack.

“Roll Flash!!” Mayl, taking Roll’s form, was gone for a moment, reappearing to try and land several hits on him. It didn’t work since he dodged it, but she gave Lan a heart to heal back up.

“Give this guy a Synchro Chip and suddenly he’s a figure skating champ!” Lan huffed, firing a blast from his Mega Buster to free himself from the ice.

“Is the analysis complete?” C.F. Roll asked her namesake, grabbing Lan and dancing away from a big Ice Slasher.

“Give it more time!” Roll answered.

“Snowman!!” At the door, Froid made a giant snowman with his mask and hands that detonated almost immediately after, causing a blue crystal barrier to cover the exit. “There’s no escape for you now!”

“All you did was trap yourself with us!!” Lan fired an electric ball from his buster at the superpowered director, only for it to be blocked by an Ice Cube he summoned.

C.F. IceMan created another one to replace the one that cracked, then kicked it at Mayl, who sidestepped and fired a Roll Arrow at him. He ducked under it and skated at her, spinning on one leg and kicking her with the other. “UGH!” she grunted from hitting her back against the hard, frozen wall.

“Double High Cannon!!” Lan took two identical chips, his arms becoming cannons to shoot his foe with. One made a mark on his chest, but the other missed.

“HAH!!” C.F. IceMan fired an ice beam from his mask, freezing Lan’s legs again. Then, he redirected the blast to the ceiling, creating a giant icicle that collapsed on top of Lan!

“OOF!!” My operator covered the back of his head with his hands, though it did little good when the frost crushed him.

“Ratton 2!!” C.F. Roll placed a small yellow mouse on the ground, watching it zoom ahead and turn once to the right, catching Froid in its explosion. “Sonic Wave!!” When a pickaxe materialized in her hands, she slammed it on the ground, releasing a shockwave to the debris, assisting Lan in getting out.

“This is not going well…” Lan got up, shoving a piece of ice away.

“You don’t have a chance against me,” the director growled, summoning a Wind Box virus in front of him, which was a light tan, cube-shaped instrument with a red antenna on top. It blew a fierce wind that pushed Lan and Mayl against the wall.

“N-Not good…!” Mayl was trying to fire back just as her partner was, but the current was too strong.

“No more mistakes, and no more of your interference!!” C.F. IceMan bent his knees as he launched a big, freezing blast at the two of them. They were about to question how they were going to escape this…

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Meanwhile, in Den Town, Detective Bluemann was driving his car with Ripley riding shotgun. They were searching for leads on where the WWW was keeping their hostages, communicating with Mr. Famous at SciLab’s Mission Control room.

“She mentioned her name to Mayl earlier,” Mr. Famous was typing as quickly as he could, pulling a picture up on the monitor. “We’ve identified her as Ms. Madd, real name Maddy Iroaya.”

“Maddy Iroaya?” Redd blinked, stopping the car at a red light. “I remember her. I arrested her a few years ago for stealing funds.”

“She made parole a year ago, then she disappeared,” Mr. Famous scratched his chin, “Right now, I’m looking for all past residences.”

“Try cross-referencing that with any places she worked at,” Ripley suggested, “Assuming she had a day job while moonlighting as a thief.”

“She had one, but she quit,” The detective’s foot leaned against the gas pedal, moving the car forward when the light turned green. “She wanted more out of life and she thought stealing would do that for her. She got evicted from her apartment after she was found guilty. It’ll be hard to find where she’s keeping the hostages.”

“MythMan,” Ripley took out his PET, jacking him into the computer. “Go to Den Area’s Square and ask around for Madd’s Navi.”

“Alright,” MythMan nodded, stepping off the red circle he came from. He flew to another access point, transmitting himself from the car’s computer to the town’s network. “But how will that help?”

“I’m hoping someone saw him or knows where he and his operator hang out,” Ripley explained, “and if that doesn’t work, we’ll try the Undernet.”

“Let me save you some of the trouble,” Redd spoke up, turning the steering wheel. “We’re going to the town’s number one arcade. She tried manipulating camera footage there to ensure she had an alibi at the time of her robberies.”

“How do you know that?” Ripley inquired.

“I couldn’t really forget her,” the policeman sighed, “We used to date until she tried hacking into my bank account.”

“Whoa,” Mr. Famous and Ripley uttered in unison.

“Yep…” Redd murmured, “She’s upgrading to worse crimes now, but that’s not important.”

“Lan and Mayl are engaging Dr. Froid in Cross Fusion Combat,” the scientist stated, “Froid’s trying to disable the pumping stations.”

“What?!” Ripley cried, “But we need the water!!”

“I believe the only way he’ll stop is if we save his family,” Redd turned on the sirens, speeding through traffic. “Famous, get a map of the area surrounded by the Den Town Arcade. See if there are any abandoned pieces of property or buildings closed for construction!”

“10-4,” Mr. Famous replied, doing as the detective requested.

“What brought this on?” Ripley pondered, holding on tight.

“People spend time at familiar spots,” Redd answered, “My gut tells me Maddy has to be at a place close to the arcade. She can’t help herself from wanting to be near her favorite spot in town.”

The police car slowed down to turn left as several cars stopped for it. While the detective had uneasy feelings toward Maddy working with the WWW, he kept them private. The safety of the innocent comes first.

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Back at the Waterworks’ main pumping room…

“Hiding isn’t going to do you any good here!!” Froid shouted, throwing a freeze bomb at an empty gap in his ice rink, sealing the holes. He was looking for Lan and Mayl after they escaped from him. There was so much digital ice, the room looked identical to an arctic cavern. Above him, there they were, keeping quiet and hoping he didn’t spot them. Earlier, the pair almost got caught in C.F. IceMan’s freezing mist, only escaping because Lan fired a buster shot at his face, guiding his cold blast away from us. They had quickly deleted the Wind Box virus and disappeared, getting out of his line of sight.

“Roll, tell me you finished the analysis…” Mayl implored, levitating while holding Lan’s hands, doing her best to keep him from falling.

“Yes,” Roll replied, feeding her operator’s eye with visuals of IceMan. “These two have only a 65% Synchro Rating, but it’s made up by IceMan allowing Dr. Froid more control!”

“It’s an updated Cross Fusion function Mr. Famous told us,” I quickly jumped in, “A Navi can put themselves on autopilot and allow the operator more control. They’d select their Battle Chips and compile combat data on their own. However, the Synchro Rating matters so much, it will make the Navi more compliant and remove their individuality to fulfill the requirements.”

“So, this means a Navi can sacrifice their personality just so their operator can Cross Fuse?” Lan questioned.

“Mr. Famous made this update with the team in mind,” I specified, “If we had complications, it would impair you in dealing with incidents. He’s not trying to be malicious.”

“Anyway, if you get frozen, you may not be able to get out…” Roll mused aloud, “Remember what almost happened earlier.”

“Getting caught in a blast like that would literally freeze up our operating capabilities,” I advised them, “Cross Fusion switches the roles of Navi and operator, so fighting without our help would be disastrous. I suggest you consider your options.”

“Thanks, but no thanks,” Lan whispered forthwith, “We’re going to bring Froid back to reality, even if we’ve got to kick his butt to do it.”

“You’re our friends, even if you’re computer programs,” Mayl quietly scolded our Navis, “so don’t ever speak of going on autopilot so easily. You’re a part of us, remember?”

“Mayl…” Roll’s voice indicated that she felt touched by those words.

“But how are we going to beat him?” I asked, “He’s different from Higsby when he fused with NumberMan. He’s actually adapting to his powers, hitting us hard.”

“He’s not entirely different…” Lan smirked beneath the face plate covering him, “I’ve got an idea…” Lan explained what he had in mind to us. Once he did, C.F. Roll dropped him above Froid as per his plan. “What’s up, doc?” He drew the Mega Buster, taking shots at the cylinders.

“I will end this!!” C.F. IceMan sent more snow from his mask, freezing the ground around him.

Lan jumped over the cerulean wave to avoid being frozen, but he slipped, fighting to keep his balance. Froid was skating at him, raising his right leg behind him, poised to strike. However, when he attacked, Lan caught it with his left arm, pressing it against his side.

“You seem good at going with the flow,” he stated, charging the buster up. “But even you can’t avoid complications.”

Froid blasted him with his hands, pushing him away. As my operator slid along the floor, he noticed one of the cylinders for his backpack was damaged. “WHAT?!” the director yelled, watching fragments break off of the cylinder.

“Those things looked important, didn’t they?” Lan leaped up, staying back.

“Medium Cloud!!” C.F. IceMan summoned a rain cloud above him, which flew to Lan’s position. Though he moved away from the harmful raindrops, he wasn’t done yet.

“Ice Wave 2!! Double Slot in!!” Froid fired two giant snowflakes down the row, moving back and forth. Lan still dodged them. “Yo-Yo 2!!” He also sent a green yo-yo with yellow blades spinning at us, but the end result was the same. “Satellite 3!!” This time, he unleashed a Sparky virus that resembled an eyeball with a few rods sticking out. The virus’ body was orange with blue lines and green rods, emitting purple electricity. It flew after Lan, but he was quick to use an Invisibility 2 chip.

“URRRRRRRGH!!!” Frustrated, Froid created yet another Ice Cube and kicked it toward us. This would give us another opening.

“Guts Punch!!” Lan countered him with a Guts Punch, returning the cube and knocking him back. “Go!!”

“Elec Sword!!” C.F. Roll zipped past Froid while he wasn’t looking, electrocuting him fourfold. In addition, one of his hoses was cut and another cylinder was damaged.

“Enough of this!!” C.F. IceMan growled, making the drastic choice to remove his mask. In doing so, he started producing cold cyclones, blowing out as much as he could.

[BGM: New Determination, Mega Man Network Transmission]

“Lan, he’s getting too strong!!” I told him, highlighting his power level in red. “These attacks could damage the pumping equipment!”

“I knew he would get unstable, remember?!” Lan reminded me, “He gets to this point, and he’ll get sloppy! He won’t be able to handle us when he’s like this!!”

“Tornado!! Attack +10!!” Mayl’s arm morphed into a fan, taking the director out for a spin with a gust of her own. After a quick flight, he plummeted to the ground.

“Air Shot 1!!” Just when he was on the verge of retaliating, Lan hit him with a small air blast, allowing us to achieve Full Synchro. “Keep him busy!!” Lan encouraged, evading an Ice Slasher.

“Roll Flash!!” C.F. Roll ran to our foe, kicking him in the gut and setting an antennae whiplash free on him.

“Time for the Program Advance!!” I selected the chips we needed to win the battle, “Be ready to use it!”

< PROGRAM ADVANCE >
Spreader M
Spreader N
Spreader O

< PROGRAM ADVANCE >
Hyper Burst

“I am through with you insolent brats ruining everything!!” Froid’s tolerance was at an end and his eyes showed it. “ICE BREATH!!” He directed the full blast at C.F. Roll, sending her flying against the wall and freezing her. “Now for you…” Turning to face Lan, he started letting out everything he had at us, and I mean everything. This was it.

Lan swerved past ice pillars, weaved away from snowflakes, shot down falling pieces of snow, and leapt over flying slashes. He was skating as fast as he could, the hurricane of frost forcing him back on occasion.

“UWAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!” Froid shouted, but Lan was undeterred, even as digital ice began to form on his body. He got closer, taking aim.

“Hyper Burst!!” Suddenly jumping backward, Lan fired a sparkling yellow spread shot that defied the wind and danced all over C.F. IceMan upon contact.

“EYAAAAAAAAHHHHHGGGHHHHH!!!” The director jolted his head back in pain, falling on his back as the energy seeped into his armor. Light poured out from the cracks on his emblem while his form blew up into particles before he was engulfed in a final explosion. On the floor, Froid laid there, his PET beside him, ejecting the Synchro Chip stored inside. Without C.F. IceMan, the digital ice no longer had any form. The entire frozen room crumbled, shattering like a mirror before dissipating.

“Ugh!” Mayl landed on her knees with no warning, catching herself before her face met the ground.

“Mayl!!” Lan dashed to her as his time in Cross Fusion had come to an end.

“I’m fine,” She allowed Lan to help her up, “It was all part of the plan.”

“Not the part where you got frozen,” My operator shook his head, holding her arms. “Just because it worked doesn’t mean it couldn’t go wrong.”

“At least we stopped Froid,” Mayl sighed, staring at him. “Even so, causing panic like this…”

“He had his reasons. We can’t judge him for his actions when this could’ve happened to us.”

“That’s really grim, Lan…” I cut in, “It’s over now. Lighten up.”

“Not while the WWW still has Tory and Crosby’s wife,” Lan scratched his head, looking behind him. “Let’s hope they’re found.”

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In the parking lot, Chaud was looking around, searching for any sign of Maddy.

“ProtoMan, how are you faring?” Chaud questioned, bringing his PET out to check on his Navi.

“The criminal dodged me at every turn,” ProtoMan responded, sidestepping an Aqua Tower from a blue pawn. “He’s found an access point. He’ll retreat if he can melt the digital ice coating it!”

“Do not let him escape!!” the ace operator commanded, looking up after hearing tires screeching on the road. A car turned and stopped, facing Chaud; Ms. Madd rolled the window down and stuck her head out. “Even If you escape, ColorMan won’t,” he proclaimed, “ProtoMan is seizing the Aqua Program right now.”

“I expected you to be a little smarter, honestly,” Maddy’s eyes gleamed like a cat’s, “Do you know what the Aqua Program is capable of?”

Inside the freezing network, ColorMan held the super program in his hands like he was attempting to direct it. Suddenly, the ice started to revert to water, pouring off the edges of the path. “Buh-bye, ProtoMan!!” The clown-like Navi mockingly waved to his pursuer, “and I thought red and blue guys were supposed to be the fastest things alive!”

“NO!!” ProtoMan moved forward and swept his sword diagonally, but it went right through an afterimage of ColorMan. He had already made his exit.

“It’s been real, kid!!” Maddy hit the gas pedal, causing the car to zoom toward Chaud! It would’ve run him over if he hadn’t jumped on a parked car’s hood.

“Rats!!” Chaud hissed, unable to do anything except watch Maddy drive off.

“I’m sorry, Lord Chaud,” ProtoMan apologized, “I’ve failed you.”

“I don’t want to hear it,” The Official tried to keep his cool. While things didn’t go well for him, there would be a piece of good news…

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“You found them?!” Mr. Famous exclaimed as Detective Bluemann stood in a dirty room, covered in dust, litter, and graffiti on the walls.

“Yes,” The detective nodded, watching the EMTs tend to the hostages. “I was right. Maddy likes the arcade so much she’d want a hideout near it. It helps that this is a criminal hotspot after dark.”

Ripley was outside the building, speaking with someone on his PET over where Ms. Madd was for the past several months.

A young boy was wearing a dark blue t-shirt with black pants and black shoes that followed ACDC High’s dress code. He had dark brown hair and black eyes, almost resembling his father when he was young. This was Tory Froid, Dr. Froid’s son and Governor Crosby’s grandson. He used to be Lan’s friend once, but not anymore.

There was also a woman who had long, golden blonde hair that had two sides curl around like a corkscrew while a twisted strand of hair dangled next to her right eye. She had brown eyes, pink lipstick, and a fair skin tone. She wore a turquoise shirt, a long, teal skirt, and black sandals. This was Helena Crosby, and she was a model-turned-owner of a cosmetic company. That explained why this woman looked young, despite being close to the same age as her husband.

“Thank you for finding us,” Mrs. Crosby warmly smiled at Redd, feeling nothing but gratitude.

“My dad…” Tory was being forced into a check-up, having a few scratches and bruises on his face. He clearly defied the kidnappers until they made their disapproval clear. “Does he know we’re fine?”

“He will now,” Redd reassured him, “We can see him after we make sure you’re okay.”

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“Y-You did it…” Dr. Froid looked at the pictures from Mayl’s PET, among them being Tory and Mrs. Crosby.

“I’m glad they're safe, too,” Lan smiled for a brief moment before being serious, “but now, you have to revert the Waterworks to normal.”

“Um, Lan?” I interrupted him to point out something glaringly obvious.

My operator brought the screen up, and he saw what I was seeing. The entire Waterworks network was no longer jammed with ice, but was running freely with digital water. “Huh?” Lan tapped his chin while Froid examined the sight, “But how? The water was completely frozen. How come…?”

“It’s the Aqua Program’s doing,” the director stated, “It’s built to give our mainframe the capabilities of regulating water, but it does more than that. In a network, that program can instantly create digital water in several quantities at a time, and can revert ice to water and back again.”

“Unlimited digital water,” Mayl was troubled, “Using it as a tool could be why WWW wants it.”

“The pumping system is back to normal, by the way,” Roll noticed the system was fully operational, “and so is the filtration system.”

“That’s good,” I was glad, but there was something I recalled about the latest string of incidents. “But the WWW was after both the Wood and Fire Programs. They need them for something.”

“We’ll just have to keep at it and hope we can catch them next time,” Lan murmured, “Dr. Froid? What’s going to happen to you now?”

“The authorities may understand I was forced in this,” Froid said, “but this is a clear embarrassment to the government. Someone’s going to get the axe to save face, and it’ll either be me or Bobby. Maybe both.”

“Then it’s a good thing I edited my resignation,” Governor Crosby was exact in his words, coming inside the pumping room. “I thought I could handle this job, but I was wrong. It’ll be nice to take a long vacation.”

“Bobby, please,” Dr. Froid’s face fell, “I did all this. I’m the guilty one here.”

“I’ll take full responsibility for this, Seiji,” The governor gently smiled, “I might have already claimed that I did all this while you were unaware.”

“Whoa,” Lan whispered, “You’d say that for Dr. Froid?”

“Plenty of things I’d do for family,” Crosby shrugged, “In two shakes of a lamb’s tail. Or one.” The director smiled, walking out of the room with Crosby after him. “Oh, and young man?” He pointed at Lan, raising an eyebrow. “You never broke into a secure government facility, and you definitely did not sneak out the emergency exit on the east side of the complex. And the cameras were on the fritz the whole time this incident happened.”

“Guess that’s your cue to get out,” Mayl gestured, “I don’t think the Center would like to hear what you did, even if it was necessary.”

“I’ll take my time getting downstairs to that exit,” Lan walked at a slow pace, “After what we’ve been through, I’m really thirsty.”

Despite Ms. Madd escaping with the Aqua Program, things did work out. Governor Crosby’s wife was safe and Tory got to see his father again after living through the worst hours of their lives. Everyone who drank the tainted water were treated and expected to recover. As for the two men who assisted Madd, they were tried and prosecuted. Still, the government didn’t like being seen as easily coerced, so they blamed the WWW’s success on Crosby. They rejected his resignation so they could fire him properly, but also made him a scapegoat for the recent economic recession. The timing couldn’t have been worse, honestly.

Lan attempted to patch things up with Tory, but it wasn’t working. At least, he didn’t think so. Tory needed both time and friends right now, but it looked like he was willing to do without certain former ones. While I was glad Lan was trying to mend relationships, I wished he could do so with our family. But maybe the only way to do that is to take care of the WWW first… I only hoped he didn’t take any of this personally; he was at his worst when things got personal…

CHAPTER 13 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Ripley Marduk, MythMan, and Reddington Bluemann © HatOnFire/Me

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News coverage of the Waterworks incident flashed on the large screen in the WWW base, with Wily directing the attention of his agents to it.

“Our distraction has paid off,” He confirmed to his subordinates, “The Aqua Program is ours. The government will have received our message by the end of the day. We have exploited the people’s dependence on their water, and have proven that even a political pawn is just as human as any other.”

“Thank you, Lord Wily,” Ms. Madd performed a mock curtsy, sneering at Mr. Match.

“I’m not finished,” Wily silenced her with a tap of his cane on the chessboard tiles of the control room, “Releasing the tainted water into Den City’s pipelines was an unnecessary act. I know you intentionally did that.”

“B-But that served to prove how desperate people get!” Maddy covered herself, “That’s what you wanted!”

“You still made a grievous error!” the WWW leader bellowed, “Terrifying them with threats and causing property damage is one thing, but directly harming people is pushing it, even for us!”

“The law will take us seriously either way,” Yahoot surmised, no longer in the shadows. “They will double down on our activities.”

He wore a sleeveless, yellow orange tunic that came with a wide and round collar. A cloth colored the same as the tunic with two green lines on the edge was wrapped around his waist and held there by a brown band. Along with brown sandals, bandages were wrapped just above his ankles and around his wrists and part of his forearms. His skin tone was slightly dark, there was a red dot on his forehead, a white line on his nose, and two blue triangles on both his cheeks, opposite to each other. He was bald, save for the brown hair on the top of his head, which was slicked back, tied, and curved upward, almost resembling a thick paintbrush. The emblem on the front of his tunic was a circle with three lines dividing them into four ways. In the middle, two light purple lines with black dots in the center, while the opposing pieces were black with purple dots in the middle of them. A turquoise ring bordered around the circle.

“There’s also our financial issues,” Match added, “Our investments are going down because of the recent recession. We need money to get the last of the equipment necessary for the EndGame.”

“Yes, of course,” Wily grumbled, “I didn’t foresee the market plummeting like this, but no matter. We’ll just have to make as many withdrawals as needed.”

“I can get some money through underground NetBattles,” Match suggested, “FireMan’s stronger than before.”

“His problem isn’t his lack of strength, but lack of a brain,” Maddy cracked, earning a glare from the redheaded man. “We can’t rely on Mr. Mishap to keep screwing up.”

“Go and earn as much as you can, Mr. Match,” Wily ordered, effectively wiping a smile off Maddy’s face.

“Yes, Lord Wily!” With a grin of his own, Match left the room.

“You do the same, Ms. Madd,” The leader pointed at her, “I don’t expect you to get Zenny the same way he will, but just find a way to get some.”

“But what about—?” Maddy was about to question him, but she was shut out.

“We will call you when we require your services,” Yahoot stated, “But your unwarranted actions from yesterday will cost you your payment for the next few weeks.”

“What?!” Maddy exclaimed.

“Is that understood?” Wily glared at her, “Unless you bring us a king’s ransom of Zenny, you will not be paid.”

“But how do you expect me to get it?” she inquired for the last time.

“I don’t care how you do it!!” Wily hissed, “Robbery, extortion, whichever you choose! As long as you don’t bring the Officials down on us doing so!!”

“Yes sir,” Ms. Madd nodded and gave him a salute, slinking out of the room.

“What of myself, Lord Wily?” an unknown agent pondered, his voice carrying through the computer. “Am I to retrieve the Electricity Program?”

“Electricity is your specialty,” The leader shook his head, “but for now, lay low. We’ve made enough mistakes.”

01010111 01010111 01010111

“Grr…” Maddy growled, “It’s not fair! I do my job, but I don’t get any money out of the deal! All because the old man gets all uppity about getting people sick!”

“On the brighter side, or maybe the darker side?” ColorMan questioned his thoughts aloud before reaching the conclusion he intended to say, “The boss is giving us some wiggle room!”

“…That’s right!” The wicked agent’s face lit up, “He said he doesn’t care how we get Zenny! Oh, this is gonna be fun!!”

“AAH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!” ColorMan chortled, looking forward to causing some real damage.

01001101 01001101 01000010 01001110

A month had passed since the Waterworks incident. We expected the WWW to make more attempts for the rest of the super programs, but they went quiet. There wasn’t a major case at all. This was unsettling, but as much as Mayl wanted to help Redd figure out what to do, she couldn’t. There was something important we had to do.

[BGM: BOUNDLESS NETWORK, Mega Man Battle Network]

I entered the access port to Lan’s home computer, transmitting myself from one point to the next. In an instant, I was in. I could see MegaMan blasting a virus into pixels with uncharged shots.

How many Power Ups did he take in? I briefly wondered, walking up to him. “Hey, Mega!” I called him.

“ACK!!” He jumped up, firing a blast from his buster near my face.

“Hey, hey!!” I waved my arms before crossing them, “What was that?!”

“O-Oh, Roll!!” Mega sheepishly disarmed himself, “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were gonna be here so soon.”

“PUWWEEE-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!” MythMan wheezed out a pure-hearted laugh at my expense, crying digital tears from his eyes. “Oh, I’m so glad I came!”

“I’d hate to see this was how you treated guests when they come in,” I jabbed at Mega, figuratively, of course.

“I thought you were another Bunny virus,” He looked away from me, still embarrassed.

“Hey, Mega!” MythMan spoke in a high voice while turning to the left before turning to the right and lowering his voice, “Hiya, Roll. Don’t mind that Buster shot!”

“Okay, cut it out, MythMan!” Mega’s face turned red as the dragon Navi continued laughing his tail off.

“I don’t see you often on the Net anymore,” I noticed that our interactions with each other were only in class or online, “What have you been doing?”

“Lan and I think something big is gonna happen soon, so we’ve been practicing,” he replied, “And we found junk data of both FireMan and StoneMan.”

“He means Ghost Navis, of course,” Lan spoke up, his face on view from a screen in our world. “Or, if you want to be specific, apparitions.”

“They are NOT ghosts!!” Mega yelled, “They are junk data!!”

“Come on, Mega,” Lan smirked as MythMan stifled a laugh, “You have to believe.”

“Believe?! Why?! They don’t exist!!”

“We have a dragon NetNavi on speed dial, and there’s also that antique shop lady who has a SkullMan.”

“That’s different!!”

“Mega, FireMan’s ghost, 7 o’clock!!” MythMan exclaimed with urgency.

“Where?!” Mega got at least one shot off before he fully took in his surroundings, seeing no one was there. And then, MythMan laughed even harder.

“Oh, Ripley better be recording this!!” He laughed so hard, he fell to the ground and slammed his hand on the blue tiles. “HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!”

“Okay, that’s it!!” The blue Navi dragged MythMan by his tail to the exit point, “Out! Out! Out!!”

“Ha, I’ll see you later,” He waved goodbye with one of his floating hands as he was sent out of Lan’s computer with no fuss. This was not something you see every day, I’m not going to lie. But… it was a little funny…

“A-Are you…?” Mega looked right at me, seeing my face go a little red.

“I-I’m sorry, I-I can’t help it…” There was no way to hold it back, “Hee-hee-hee-hee!!”

“U-Ugh…” Poor Mega couldn’t feel worse than now.

“Oh, we’ve got to hang around more often,” Mega’s operator sighed with content.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you two were brothers,” I noted, winding down.

There was a brief pause between the two boys as they glimpsed at each other. “We do look alike,” Mega replied thoughtfully.

“Yeah,” Lan nodded with a little pride, “Maybe that’s why you like Mega! ‘Cause he looks a little bit like me!”

“Don’t get cute,” I frowned at him, “Anyway, I came here to remind you that you agreed to go with Mayl to Den Town, so get over there!”

“We were just finishing up,” Lan jacked Mega out in a flash, “I’ll see you and Mayl there!!”

“Wait, I didn’t tell you—!” The screen disappeared before I could finish, “Where.” In annoyance, I jacked out before the computer fully shut down, puffing my cheeks a little…

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Thirty minutes later…

“It’s taking them quite a long time,” a woman said, checking her watch.

She wore a long-sleeved, green-blue dress with a light-purple color at the top. Around her skirt, there was a thick edge of smooth cotton with nothing sticking out. She was also wearing mauve tights and green-blue boots that reached to her knees. Her skin color was light tan, she had brown eyes, brown hair with square bangs on her forehead and hair buns that resembled Swiss rolls, and light pink lipstick.

This was Ms. Mari Ozono, a teacher from ACDC Elementary School, Mayl and Lan’s old homeroom teacher.

“Give them a little bit more time,” Mayl pleaded, “It’s been five minutes since we got here.”

Mayl was wearing a blue short jacket with brown buttons over a gold yellow camisole and a pink skirt. She still had her thigh high socks and dark red shoes, along with that pink messenger bag.

“They were on their way,” I pointed out, “I even sent a message to where we’re meeting.”

“We’re here!” Lan waved, coming to us. “Sorry for the delay!”

He was wearing a white shirt with a red circle spray painted on it. The letter V was in the middle, rotating slightly to the right, and a red dot lingered on the top right of the letter. His blue bandana covered his forehead, but his bangs covered part of it. He wore black windbreaker pants that had orange lines on its sides, and orange shoes with black soles. His orange jacket was tied around his waist.

“Oh, Ms. Mari!!” Lan noticed, “How’s it going?”

“I’m feeling well, Lan,” she responded, “Thanks for asking.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t come visit you when I heard what happened,” he added, “I’ve been too busy.”

“Of course you were,” a familiar voice huffed, “You’re always too busy to make time for others.”

Dex came up to the small group, wearing a green polo shirt with his emblem over his left pocket. He also wore blue jeans and blue shoes. His attire was a little different than usual, but not by much.

“Okay,” Lan crossed his arms, “I’m guessing Mayl had you come here, too.”

“I guess so,” Tory suddenly announced, wearing his dark blue shirt, black shorts, and gray shoes. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here.”

“Tory…” the boy with the blue bandana uttered before turning to Mayl, “Mayl? How come you asked them here?”

“It’s simple,” My operator gestured for their former teacher to answer.

“Yai’s moving back to ACDC Town soon,” she said, “Meaning she’ll be at your school!”

“R-Really?!” Lan blinked twice, processing what he heard.

“You’re serious?!” Dex exclaimed.

“That doesn’t completely answer the question,” Tory noted, “If Yai’s coming back, then why are we all here?”

“Her birthday’s next week,” Mayl recounted, “So I’m trying to think of what kind of gifts she’d want. And what better place than Den Town?”

“What about Elec Town?” Lan wondered.

“That comes later,” Mayl replied, “For now, I’m focusing on something she can hold that isn’t electronic.”

“You do realize that most everything sold in stores is electronic, right?” Dex shrugged, “Also, what do you get for the girl who’s got everything?”

“Should we be doing this?” Tory queried before rephrasing what he stated, “No, rather, why are we doing this?”

“Because I believe we need this,” Mayl declared, “I know we’ve each grown apart and changed.”

“Yeah…” Lan nodded, knowing where she was going with this. “You want this event to be a reminder of what we had.”

“That’s going to be tough,” Dex softly spoke, “Especially if he’s here.”

“I haven’t been the best person, I admit that,” Lan swallowed, “But I really do want to make things right. Whatever I did to drive each of you guys away… It won’t happen again.”

“This is more than a special occasion,” Ms. Mari thoughtfully said, “So I think you should help Mayl and attend Yai’s birthday. I think Hub would want it that way.”

“That’s a nice thing to say,” MegaMan murmured, “I think he would.” Lan smiled, feeling the PET in his pocket.

“Oh, what the heck?” the big boy chuckled, “I’m in. For Hub and Yai.”

“It’d be nice to see her again,” Tory concurred somewhat, “but when her birthday comes, don’t expect me to be anywhere near Lan.”

“If that’s all you want,” Lan rolled his eyes, exasperated over Tory’s subtle dislike towards him.

“Well, it’s a start,” Ms. Mari took what she and Mayl could get.

“Now, let’s go shopping for gifts!” my operator announced, “We’ll start with… Um…” She went silent, thinking hard on where to go.

“You didn’t put much thought into this, did you?” Tory raised an eyebrow in amusement.

“Again, what do you get for a girl who’s rich?” Dex rubbed the back of his head, “She’s got everything.”

“Well, she told me that her parents are holding back on reimbursing her accounts for her birthday,” Mayl added, “She wants us to surprise her with whatever we can think of.”

“I have some leftover prize money on me,” Lan mentioned, “We can give her some birthday Zenny, and maybe some jewelry!”

“Or go to the antiques shop,” Ms. Mari suggested.

“I’ve asked Mr. Ayanokoji to let me help with decorations,” Mayl said, “So if you guys can’t think of any other gifts, you can help me out.”

“Sounds like a plan,” The son of the Waterworks director nodded, “I’m not so good with gifts.”

“Here,” Lan handed him some Zenny bills, “In case you come up with something.”

“Uh… thanks.”

[BGM: Cybertrip, MegaMan NT Warrior German Soundtrack]

“Let’s go then!!” Mayl proclaimed, raising her fist in the air. “Party operation, set!!”

“Execute!” Lan and MegaMan shouted in haste, quickly realizing what they just did. “Wait a minute…”

The maroon-haired girl chuckled like she expected that to happen, except for the part where Lan joined in. The others snickered, and on that note, they split up.

Mayl and Tory went to the mall at the center of Den Town for decorations, while Lan and Dex followed Ms. Mari to buy potential gifts. As for their Navis and I, they jacked us in so we can notify each other of special deals or sales. We all went to the Den Area’s Square to coordinate with each other. The mood was so different from when we had to stop something from getting out of hand. For once, we could enjoy ourselves and do something normal. At least, normal for us Navis.

Time passed, and over on one town block, there was an antiques shop, across from a fast food restaurant. Inside, Ms. Mari was asking for some recommendations from the owner, a dark and mysterious young woman. She gave her a unique lineup of collections. They ranged from a rabbit’s foot, a brain in a jar, to a shrunken head. Dex suggested they’d buy the small head, remarking about how similar it was to Yai, earning a little chuckle from Lan. Two seconds later, the boys would rub the back of their heads after being smacked by Ms. Mari for that.

Turning back to the clerk, she noticed a vintage figure of a cat with a bell around its collar, raising one of its paws up, and holding an oval shaped coin with the other. She knew that it would make a good gift, so she bought it. Soon after, they were walking past a clothing store, with Ms. Mari taking a few steps back to look at some of the mannequins. She really liked some of the clothes that were displayed there; she actually went inside the store without telling the guys. Lan and Dex noticed she was gone, and knowing what was up, they followed her inside the store. The elementary teacher had gotten carried away and wanted to buy some new clothes for herself…

Meanwhile, Tory wasn’t better off, as he quickly found out. Mayl was walking around, carrying a bag filled with streamers as he was forced to handle at least four boxes filled with decorations. He was unfortunate enough to somehow slip on the floor and land on his rear end, even though the floor was clean and there was nothing to slip on! He saw the boxes falling, and was in a frantic rush to catch them all! He did so, miraculously. Mayl sighed with relief, deciding to lighten Tory’s load. She took one of the boxes and they went out, having done enough.

It wasn’t any better for us Navis, either. Somehow, a few Swordy viruses infiltrated the Square! Since everyone in the real world was so busy, MegaMan, GutsMan, and I took matters into our own hands. We deleted them without too much trouble, whether by shooting them or punching them out. Then, we saw a dark purple Navi teleport outside, having stolen a piece of data in the commotion. An old, brown Navi chased after him, calling him a thief. Wasting no time, we followed. Of course, we didn’t think about that Navi bringing along another pet. A Big Snake virus, which was green with orange lines, a little different from the third version of it. He hopped on its middle body part, beckoning it to take off.

Thinking fast, GutsMan grabbed MegaMan and threw him at the perpetrator, knocking him off. Mega pinned the Navi down before he could attempt to run again, despite being aware of the slithering virus coming at him! I came in, striking it in its eyes with my antennae, forcing him away. As for GutsMan, he ran forward, leaping up and sending his fist down on top of it, deleting it in one blow! Mega forced the Heel Navi to give up what he stole, Sub Chips sold by the dealer in the Square. He gave it back to the old Navi, who thanked us for our help.

Back to the real world, Ms. Mari was justifying her attempts to buy some new sets of clothes to Lan and Dex, when out of nowhere, someone grabbed the gift bag she held! The thief was a short man with buckteeth, who ran out of the store with some other items that he never paid for. Lan gaped for a moment at the random act, but he snapped back to attention and went after him. He blended into a crowd getting on a bus, using his mousy frame to camouflage himself. The kid with the bandana didn’t seem to notice, moving forward. Smirking, the little man took a glimpse at his prize, an antique lucky cat. He took a few steps without looking where he was going, bumping into someone and losing the bag. When he looked up, there was Lan, holding the cat in the bag with a disapproving stare.

“Going somewhere?” he questioned, lifting an eyebrow.

The thief hissed, dropping a bag full of new clothes to pull out an expanding baton! He swatted at Lan with it, trying to take the bag from him. Lan stepped backwards, not wanting to risk getting the gift damaged. He did see a chance to hold him back by pressing his free hand against the top of the little man’s head, keeping himself safe from harm. The little man flailed with his baton, unable to even swipe at his shirt with it. It was a funny and sad sight for the pedestrians. Dex and Ms. Mari saw Lan humiliating the thief, with the former being impressed as the latter was concerned about the gift. Getting bored, Lan pushed the guy away from him, returning the lucky cat to the teacher. He turned back around to see a cheap shot coming, dodging the little man and grabbing his right wrist in one go. He twisted him around and sent him against a wall, face first. Lan then slammed into him with his back, making him drop his baton in the process. Just as security was coming out from that building, Lan bent his knees and swept the thief’s legs, ultimately making sure he wasn’t going anywhere.

Lan simply wiped his hands like he was getting dirt off them, letting the security guards take over from here. Walking away from the scene with some onlookers cheering for him, he turned to Dex and Ms. Mari. “This is nothing,” he told them with a little grin, “You should see me here every other Tuesday.” Ms. Mari looked at the large young boy, silently wondering what he was talking about. He gave her a shrug in return, just as confused.

01001101 01001101 01000010 01001110

Sometime later, a black limousine was momentarily parked outside a building with one window down.

“Thank you for doing this at a moment’s notice…” A man uttered, expressing his appreciation to Mayl.

“Glad to help, Mr. Ayanokoji,” Mayl politely replied, “I’ll come by tomorrow and help with the decorations.”

“You don’t have to go so far,” Mr. Ayanokoji attempted to decline, “Your pitching in is good enough for me.”

“Thank you, sir,” Mayl smiled, “But I’d still like to help out.”

“Alright,” the man accepted, “I’ll let my staff know of your arrival. Have a good day.” The window rolled up and the limo drove off, leaving her and the others on the sidewalk.

“One punch!!” GutsMan shouted from his PET, “I took out a Big Snake with one punch!! Yeehaw!!”

“Only after Roll weakened it,” Mega interjected, “but it was smart to throw me at that Navi.”

“That’s something,” Tory mumbled, “Sorry my Navi couldn’t do much to help.”

“Our Navis weren’t meant for combat,” Ms. Mari stated, “But if we knew, we could’ve assisted you.”

“You guys had some adventure, too, huh?” Lan pondered, “So did we.”

“Yeah!” Dex nodded, “Credit where credit’s due, Lan took down a thief that stole our gift to Yai! Without punching him!”

“Lan…” Mayl crossed her arms, peering at him.

“I know,” Lan sighed, “That may put me under the microscope with the NetPolice again. But to be fair, the guy stole from us, he tried hitting me first, and I did not give him any lasting scars.”

“I was going to say you did fine,” My operator nodded with approval, “but that works too.”

“That was cool,” Dex agreed, briefly pausing to fully notice that he was complimenting Lan. He cleared his throat and sternly looked away, saying, “Even for an out-of-control thug…”

“Thanks, I guess…” Lan scratched his head, walking away from them. “…I’m thirsty.”

“So am I,” Tory decided now would be a good time to get a drink, leaving with Ms. Mari to get one.

“Why did you have to ruin the moment you gave him?!” Mayl exclaimed, glaring at Dex.

“Just so we’re clear, I’m willing to be at Yai’s birthday,” he said, “But I won’t be tricked into being friends with Lan again.”

“You think I’m trying to trick you?” Mayl questioned, feeling offended at the implication. “I’m not. I just thought it would be a good opportunity to bring us together.”

“Well, you can stop thinking,” Dex stated, “Lan is not my friend, and as far as I’m concerned, there’s no way he will be again. I offered to help him move past Hub’s passing, several times, but he wouldn’t budge. He even became a thug, so it was time to move on.”

“He doesn’t know how to go past this, okay? He’s been coping with the loss for so long. I don’t know how you fail to get that through your head!”

“…I guess he’s not the only one who can’t move on.”

“What?” Mayl was confused by that assessment.

“You brought us together to prepare for Yai’s comeback, but I don’t think that was the main reason,” Dex crossed his arms with a sigh, “I think it’s because you can’t accept that we’ve grown apart.”

“Is it wrong to want to hold on to the past?” Mayl sadly reminisced of the days that had come and gone, “Remember some good times?”

“Those good times are nothing but sour memories now,” Dex shook his head, “because Lan changed too much. And you’re trying to bring them back up because you can’t move on.”

“No, it’s not that I can’t move on,” Mayl rejected that last statement Dex made, “It’s that I want Lan to move on.”

“Huh?”

“You wanted him to look forward, right?” She wondered, “I’m hoping that by reminding him of what he still has, he’ll come to terms with all that’s happened. Give him a chance.”

“I’m not sure…” the big guy mumbled, “You seriously think he’ll open up? He acts like nothing happened.”

“He hasn’t made a big deal out of it because it’s not him, but he can’t avoid it forever. He has to accept it.”

“Well, I hope you do better than me…” Dex wished her luck, “Really.”

Mayl gave him a look of acknowledgment, thinking hard about where to start with Lan. She couldn’t mince words, she had to get right to the point.

01001101 01001101 01000010 01001110

Lan stood outside of a fast food restaurant, sipping his cherry flavored beverage.

“You know Dex doesn’t approve of settling scores with fists, Lan,” Mega consoled him, sipping a drink of his own in the Cyberworld. “Not in the real world, at least.” Incidentally, yes, Navis could drink. It was a quality that Navis were given to understand humans better, but I’m not sure if it was working the way it was intended.

“Yeah,” I agreed, letting my cup dematerialize. “Deep down, he knows you’re awesome. He’ll warm back up to you.”

“I hope so…” Lan sighed, “He stopped hanging out with me because I beat up crooks.”

“And because you don’t sit down and talk it out with the others,” MegaMan specified a certain topic, “You’ve been pushing them away.”

“There’s nothing to talk about, Mega,” His operator placed his drink in the trash, tired of hearing it. “We’ve been over this.”

“I don’t know what you guys are saying,” I felt I should leave, “but it’s personal, so I won’t be in your way.”

“Thanks, Roll,” Lan thanked me as I walked away.

“Come on…” Mega expressed his disappointment with a huff, “Why don’t you just say it?”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Lan adjusted the volume on his PET, muting him. “Could you repeat that?” He smiled, eyeing MegaMan, who tossed his drink and yelled at him through the screen.

“Hey, Lan,” Ms. Mari came by, holding a latte in her right hand. “It’s… been a long time.”

“I know,” Lan agreed, “Are you alright?”

“I’ve been bruised, but I’ll heal,” she assured him, “Don’t worry about me. I think someone has something to say to you.” Tory stepped up, averting his gaze. “I heard from Tory that you did your part to help him and his family,” Ms. Mari said, “You did a good thing.”

“It’s no big deal,” Lan brushed off her compliment, “I’d do it even if I didn’t know him.”

“Um, thanks for that,” Tory murmured, “You… really helped me.”

“You don’t sound too happy…”

“Lan, don’t get me wrong,” Tory explained, “I’m grateful for what you and Mayl did. I just can’t forget what happened. You injured the guy that tried to mug me last time.”

“I know,” Lan recognized he needed to improve himself, “and I get it. I’m working on it… Seriously.”

“You’re doing fine,” Ms. Mari encouraged him, “Just as long as you aren’t getting into trouble this time.”

“Yeah…” Lan nodded, looking up at the traffic lights, noticing something odd with them.

“What’s up now?” Tory pondered, “Still thinking about what Dex said about you? Because… you’re not as bad as I made you out to be.”

“It’s the lights…” The bandana boy furrowed his eyebrows, “They’re all green…”

Nobody even predicted what happened next. One SUV was going a little faster than normal, and the driver didn’t expect that another car was going across the intersection. He hit the brakes, but he t-boned the other car, tipping it over until it was upside down.

[BGM: Incident Occurrence!, Mega Man Battle Network]

“NO!!” Ms. Mari gasped, covering her mouth with her hands, inadvertently dropping her drink.

“MegaMan, we’ve got trouble!!” Lan turned the volume on his PET back up and took him out of Den Area.

“What’s happening now?!” Mega queried, wasting no time.

“The traffic lights are malfunctioning!” He immediately jacked him into the traffic computers, “Do something!”

“Look out!!” Tory tugged me away from the traffic pole, saving me from getting hit by a car. It crashed into the pole, crunching up its front in the process.

“Thanks,” Lan whispered, beginning to sweat. “MegaMan?”

“I can’t get past the firewall,” his Navi informed him, “It’s blocked off by ransomware!!”

“Ransomware?!” Lan exclaimed, looking away when two cars collided head on with each other!!

“I’m sure you can hear me, Den Town…” a woman’s voice crackled through the speakers of several PETs, “Those of you outside saw what I’ve just done...”

“Is it…?” Tory nervously asked, his hair standing on end.

“Yeah,” Lan snarled, “It’s the WWW agent who forced your dad to help her.”

“Maddy Iroaya,” Mega quietly reminded himself, “Ms. Madd.”

We all knew this was going to turn out ugly, but we didn’t expect how much. By the time we did… It was too late to stop her.

CHAPTER 14 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

01010010 01001111 01001100 01001100

“What’s going on?” I questioned, tapping my foot on the tile floor.

“Not sure, Roll,” GutsMan rubbed a finger against his face guard, “But these Navis are panicking something fierce.” Not too long ago, I was chatting with GutsMan in the Cyberworld. Everything was fine until everyone started causing a commotion, for some reason.

Just then, a message popped up in front of us, playing live footage. “I’m sure you can hear me, Den Town…” the woman on the screen maliciously spoke, “Those of you saw what I’ve just done…”

“It’s her…!” I uttered in surprise, “She’s with the WWW!!”

“The WWW?!” GutsMan queried, “How do you know that?!”

“She was behind the takeover of the Waterworks,” I filled him in, avoiding having to explain my designation as an Official Navi. “She’s a wanted criminal.”

“As you can see, the automated traffic system seems to have a little glitch in it,” Ms. Madd switched cameras on us, displaying a terrifying scene of faulty lights and cars hitting each other in confusion. “And look at that. So many drivers causing every accident in the book.”

“Oh no…” the Navi with large fists drawled, “This is…”

“All of your traffic lights are mine,” Maddy smugly declared, “And my viruses should be spreading to every car computer in the vicinity of each sporadic traffic light.”

“Mayl…?” I called for my operator, “We have to do something.”

“I know,” She jacked me out, “But what?”

“Let me make it simple,” Ms. Madd instructed the masses, bringing her face back into the picture. “Everyone donates 500,000 Zenny each into the traffic computers. You contribute, and I’ll restore the traffic to normal. If you hesitate, I’ll give you a little motivation.” In some random part of town, a car’s radio started blaring a distorted sound, forcing anyone near it to cover their ears. As the sound got louder, the car’s instruments got warmer and warmer, and smoke poured through the gaps of the hood. “Anyone hear that?” the WWW agent proceeded to explain, “That was one of my viruses frying the ECU and killing the car’s engine. But I can do worse than ruin your car.”

Just then, a navy blue sports car started up and backed into a van, scaring the family inside it! The car’s driver tried to control it by pressing the brakes and turning the wheel, but she couldn’t. Her car collided with the other cars that stopped, frightening the bystanders. “I can take over your car and do whatever I want! You want me to stop? Then give me your Zenny!!”

“Whoa…” Dex was astounded, “She’s serious.”

“Jack in, Roll! Execute!” Mayl sent me inside the traffic computers, but I was stopped short of the entry. A red, hexagonal wall was blocking me off.

“Can’t get in,” I surveyed what I could clearly see, “The ransomware is blocking me off.”

“Let me at it!!” GutsMan came by, running at the fire wall with clenched fists. “GUTS PUNCH!!” He struck it, but got blown back by the force of his own punch, falling on his back.

“Good try, GutsMan,” Dex transmitted some data for him, pressing some buttons on his keypad. “Let’s try this.”

“Okay,” GutsMan calmly got up, letting his right hand change into a gold, metallic gauntlet that fit around his large fist. He looked at the large barrier and ran for it once again. “GOLD FIST!!” This time, he stopped short of actually hitting it and shot nine gold fists from his right hand, rattling the wall and making dents in it.

“Try this one,” Mayl put three versions of the same chip together, activating a Program Advance to use against the ransomware.

< PROGRAM ADVANCE >
Time Bomb 1 G
Time Bomb 2 G
Time Bomb 3 G

< PROGRAM ADVANCE >
Time Bomb +

“You think you can get past that wall with that?” Dex pondered.

“It can make an opening so they can get through, at least,” Mayl stated, “The ransomware has to be deleted from inside the network. I just hope its defense mechanisms are weak enough for this.”

“Let’s find out,” I summoned a sturdy gray object supported by small, cylindrical legs. In the center, there’s a black screen with a three on it. “Time Bomb +!!” The timer counted down at the sound of a beep. It hit zero, and the gray object combusted, tearing the barrier open.

“Go, go!!” GutsMan shouted, grabbing me by my waist and moving like lightning. He jumped and we transmitted ourselves into the network.

“They’re in,” Dex confirmed, “Now we just have to take out the ransomware.”

I wonder how Lan and Tory are reacting to this, Mayl privately mused over what to do next, and how we’re going to find Madd in all of this. Promptly after thinking that, a message appeared in her inbox. She brought it up to her screen, then her eyes widened in horror. “I-I’ve got…” she choked, “I’ve got to check on something. Roll can help you.”

“Mayl?” Dex looked concerned, “What’s wrong?”

“I need to go,” My operator ran off without explaining anything, “Don’t follow!” While Dex didn’t know what to make of her sudden departure, he didn’t question her.

01001101 01001101 01000010 01001110

Elsewhere, a few blocks away…

“I hate that woman even more now,” Lan almost hissed, pulling an unconscious man out of one of the wrecked cars. “That shouldn’t be possible.” He, Ms. Mari, and Tory were pulling people out of the car wrecks in their area. Most of the people were fine, except for the two men who crashed headlong into each other, unfortunately.

“These people need medical attention,” Tory set a man with facial injuries on the ground as he averted his eyes from a mangled car, “We may lose them if we don’t do something.”

“The problem is these traffic lights,” Ms. Mari observed, “If we could make a path with them, then first responders could come in.”

“I don’t think they can wait long!” Lan said, running off to change. “Sit tight!! Help should come soon!”

“Wait, where are you going?!” Tory shouted, but he was lost in the crowd.

“I hate to leave them like this,” Lan muttered in private, running in an alleyway. “But we have to do something now. Jack out, MegaMan.”

“We’re gonna perform Cross Fusion?” MegaMan questioned, returning to the PET. “That’s risky. If people see us…”

“It doesn’t matter right now,” The boy with the blue bandana inserted his Synchro Chip into the slot, “If we get grilled for appearing in public like this, fine! But I’m not going to sit by when I can help!”

“Well said,” Mega agreed, allowing the transformation to unfold. Before Lan knew it, he was C.F. MegaMan once more.

“Anyone catching this feed?” he called for Mission Control, but he got static, meaning no one was there. “Find me the closest hospital, Mega!”

“Pulling up a map for you,” Mega summoned a small screen that took up Lan’s left eye, complete with a blue line indicating the quickest path to a hospital.

C.F. MegaMan, with his face covered by his mouth guard, hopped on several cars to the sight of the wreckage, much to the surprise of several onlookers. He got down on one knee, and carried the unconscious man over his shoulder, and lifted the other one up by his waist. “Hang in there, you’ll be fine!!” Lan reassured the second man, uncertain about his rescuer. He leapt from the top of one car to the next like stepping stones on a lake.

“Who is that?!” Ms. Mari exclaimed, unable to recognize Lan or his Navi’s colors. Tory had some suspicions, but as far as he knew, he was overthinking it. In fifty seconds, Lan got to the hospital, seeing the ambulance having trouble getting out of the driveway with this traffic jam. He set the men down on some stretchers, conveniently brought out for the vehicle. “We could go around Den Town and keep doing this,” he suggested, paying no mind to the onlookers cheering for him. “Or get rid of the ransomware. Any thoughts?”

“Mayl’s dealing with the problem now,” Mega concluded, “But the sooner we delete it, the sooner the EMTs can do their jobs.”

“They’ll be spread thin, though,” Lan pointed out.

“But emergency protocols can kick in. We won’t have to direct traffic manually.”

“…I don’t like it, but you’re right,” C.F. MegaMan jumped over to an alley, and zoomed to another block for good measure, careful so he doesn’t accidentally expose himself to the bystanders taking pictures of this new hero in town.

“Sync Out!!” With a command, the metamorphosis between Lan and MegaMan ended with no one the wiser.

“The traffic light computer address is still ingrained in my memory,” the blue Navi informed, “So I can go back at any time.”

“Do it,” Lan watched his Navi return to the corrupted firewall, activating his code breaker to find a way around it.

“There!!” Mega shouted, pointing at a swirling wormhole on his right. “A backdoor!!”

“That didn’t take long,” Lan stated without complaints.

“Some smart viruses that use wormholes can leave them for others packs to follow,” Mega responded, entering it and shooting through a dark corridor. “This is how Ms. Madd snuck the ransomware into the network.”

“That easy, huh?”

“Yep,” Mega assessed his new surroundings, landing on a blue square with yellow lines that resemble crosswalks. “This type of ransomware slipped into the computer disguised as a part of the program, and when the system executes it, it takes over the OS.”

“So we’ll have to delete it, inside out?”

“Uh-huh.”

The network was filled with lines colored red, blue, and yellow forming in the black space, creating four way intersections mirroring Den Town’s streets. There would be visuals of cars on the road making turns, stopping, or going in a never-ending cycle, but they were replaced by bright yellow dots with white smiles laughing before morphing into swirls, disrupting the flow of the background even more before reverting back.

[BGM: RED OR BLUE, Mega Man Battle Network]

“Why is it so creepy?” The blue Navi partially shuddered, arming himself with his Mega Buster.

“Move down this road,” Lan directed him, indicating the blue path that went to the left. MegaMan did so, following this path out, turning at different times. “There’s gonna be some transparent orbs that’ll change the road’s color,” Lan continued, “We’ll get the lights to function properly, and it should help purge the ransomware, at least in this area.”

“We can’t go to every block to delete it,” Mega replied to Lan, “That’ll take too long and it’ll delete itself after Maddy gets what she wants.”

“Which is why we'll delete it in the computer’s central area. But we need a piece of it to find it.”

“Signal’s red!!” Mega dashed through an orb, turning the network red in an instant.

“Dodge, dodge!” Lan shouted, driving him to roll to the ground, evading a Fire Tower from a VolGear virus. He came with a red-violet Mettaur 2 who started slamming its pickaxe on the floor.

“Thanks,” Getting into position, Mega used a Navi Chip to summon a copy of FireMan, freezing the viruses in the process. The copy blasted both of them with its flamethrower arms. Moving on from that, he took the path that brought him back to the start. However, more viruses were waiting for him.

“Oh, don’t make this hard now…” Lan sarcastically complained, giving his Navi three chips. Mega waited for the Swordy 2s, clad in gold armor with blue sharp plumes and blazing swords, to get close so he could cut them in half with an Aqua Sword.

A Popper virus came down from the sky on a thread, summoning a Wood Tower that tracks movement. Only its yellow head and green hat were visible, minus the cocoon that resembled a pinecone.

“Area Grab!” Avoiding the rising stake, MegaMan took more space from the enemy, waiting for the bagworm-like creature to come down. “Blower!!” His arm turned into a fan again, only this time, a tornado of flames decimated it before it could attack.

“Hate those bagworm things,” Lan sighed, watching MegaMan approach a gray box covered in bright red chains, a clear sign of ransomware. After tearing off the link, taking a piece of it in the process, he restarted the lights for this area, fully purging the WWW’s handiwork.

“Now we just have to go to the computer’s center,” Analyzing the fragment, he carefully picked up a large trace on it elsewhere.

“Try finding another backdoor. The ransomware won’t let you go through an access point.”

“Here’s one!” Mega leapt inside a wormhole floating over the edge of the platform. However, his operator started thinking over this plot with uncertainty in his eyes.

“…It’s too random,” he mumbled, “Too easy and too random.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you feel like you’re getting played?”

Mega became quiet, entering the central area of the network. It never occurred to him that this entire affair could be one big setup. After all, this was a deviation from the WWW’s usual antics. “There’s always an endgame to these incidents,” He looked around, “We should contact Mayl.”

“Doing it…” Lan speed dialed her, but he didn’t get a response. “She’s not picking up.”

“There’s no interference from this small fragment,” Mega grew worried before hearing the sounds of deletion, “What’s this?”

[BGM: Operation!, Mega Man Battle Network]

“Virus busting,” Lan replied as his Navi ran forward, getting closer to see me and GutsMan making short work of these viruses.

“Rocket Guts Punch!!” Case in point, GutsMan sent a rocket fist at a blue Canodumb 2 virus, deleting it quickly.

A Beetank virus was characterized with a spherical shape, red-orange at the top and light orange everywhere else. It had four short legs and yellow soles, red eyes, and a silver metallic cover over where its mouth would be. It looked like a beetle, having a tank muzzle around its head, which it used to try and blow me up.

“Iron Shield!” I moved back, letting a tall shield take the brunt of the blast and fly at the Beetank, deleting it.

Two Ammonicule viruses had summoned Aqua Towers, nearly catching us in a downpour. They had shells colored red and pink with a red wingspan, jade green fisheyes, and odd cylinder protrusions underneath, which they used to spray their water out. Also, they came encased in bubbles.

“Double Thunder 1!!” GutsMan blasted a double dosage of electric orbs to take them both out, completely bypassing their bubble wrap defenses.

“Take this!!” Mega joined in with a Dyna Wave that pierced through a VolGear and a Miney.

Mineys had big pink lips, long yellow hair that flows down to their legs, which were pale pink in color, purple arms, and some sort of pink head piece on top. These guys were nasty in that they pulled mines out of their mouths and hide them anywhere on the field.

“Nice of you to show up!!” GutsMan yelled with gusto, morphing his fists into hammers to crush a Handy. “It’s a real party here!!”

“Roll, we can’t get into contact with Mayl!” Mega watched my back, using an Elec Blade on another Ammonicule. “Is something up?”

“I’ll find out soon enough,” I answered, firing a Roll Arrow at a Spikey. “Right now, I’m focusing on getting you guys as far as I can.”

“Thanks for this, by the way,” GutsMan told me briefly before grabbing a Spooky 2 virus and stretching it like a slingshot, releasing it at a blue and yellow Beetank 2. 

Jelly viruses, blue digital jellyfish with yellow sparkles, started hovering above the ground, fleeing the battle with some Cloudy viruses. It looked like they were regrouping to the center of a platform not far from here.

“Up ahead,” Mega noticed a misty red cloud looming over the platform, shooting bright red lightning from under it, altering the road’s colors to green, yellow, and red. “It’s the ransomware.”

“How are we supposed to take that down?” Dex questioned over the feed, “It’s no punching bag.”

“That cloud’s just protecting the source of this malware,” Lan replied, “If we’re going to delete it, we need to blast the cloud with everything we have.”

“Well, good luck,” I noticed Mayl giving me the jack out command, “I’m needed elsewhere. Be careful, guys.”

“Same to you,” Mega and GutsMan called out, both filled with worry.

01000011 01001111 01001100 01001111 01010010 01001101 01000001 01001110

I came back to my portable home instantly, materializing in the center of my pink living space. “I’m back, Mayl,” I started to ask, “What’s wrong?”

“Stay calm,” she silently muttered, sitting in the back of a trolley bus. “Maddy contacted me and told me to get on this bus.”

“W-What…?” I was shocked, but I managed to suppress it. In case I couldn’t contain it, my operator muted the PET’s volume. “Why?”

“Because there’s an explosive under here,” She mouthed to me, though in doing so, her face heated up a little.

“Are you serious?!” I yelled, “What do we do?!” In response to my soundless outburst, I was sent into yet another computer. This one belonged to the trolley’s navigation system. “What am I supposed to do here?”      

“Fight me!!” a grating voice shouted while a white ball with blue spots knocked me to the ground.

“Ugh…” I got up, only winded for a few seconds. “It’s you…”

ColorMan reattached himself to his ball, leaping a few times over to my position. “Hiya, girl!” He waved with a dopey grin, “You wanna roll out with me?”

“I’d settle for laying you out,” I glared at him, ready to go.

“She’s got some moxie,” ColorMan glanced to no one in particular, “Who’d‘ve thunk it?”

“Aren’t you going to speak up, Madd?” Mayl queried, “It’s been a while.”

“Right to the point,” Maddy’s face appeared on the screen, “I’ve missed talking with you.”

“You said no one would get hurt if I did what you said,” Mayl’s tone of voice remained firm, “Let everyone get off the bus.”

“Aw, you’re an adorable goody-goody,” Maddy pretended to be cute and concerned for her, “Too bad it’s not in the cards.”

“Please don’t do this. If this is between us…”

“It is,” the wicked woman attested, “But my message never said anything about letting anyone go. Your bleeding heart is gonna spice up this game I’ve made for you and the boy.”

“G-Game?”

“Your role is to stop the bus,” she told us, “but ColorMan will get in your way. To keep things interesting, the bomb is triggered by certain actions. Say, if the brakes get pressed too hard or if the bus goes past 70 on the speedometer. You do the math.”

“Is this part of your plan?” Mayl questioned, “Or your sick way of having fun?”

“A little bit of both!” The WWW member said with a laugh, “Taking money is good and all, but I want to watch a show with drama, action, and maybe I’ll get to see a little bloodshed!”

“I should’ve known this was for some stupid adrenaline rush,” Mayl angrily hissed, “Did your boss even sanction this?”

“He didn’t care how we got the money,” ColorMan shot his mouth off, “Just that we had to get it to fix our money problems.”

“Shut up, ColorMan,” Maddy commanded, typing on her PET. “It’s time to play, anyway.”

The tires screeched as the bus ground to a halt, with people on board jerking forward from that. The cars behind it were cut off, hitting their brakes and honking their horns. The driver pressed the acceleration pedal, but it didn’t respond to him at all. This bus was now under Maddy’s control.

[BGM: Strange Mood, Mega Man Battle Network 2]

“Attention, everyone,” Speaking of the devil, she called everyone through the speakers. “Congratulations! You’re all hostages to the WWW!!” The driver and the passengers clamored in alarm, trying to use the emergency exits inside this enclosed vehicle. They were locked in no matter what they attempted to do. “Uh-uh-uh!” Maddy wagged her finger, “There are only two ways off. Either you all blow up, or the Official NetBattler aboard beats me. But you’ll increase your chances of survival if you donate Zenny to me.”

“Alright, lady,” Mayl stood up from her seat amid the frightened innocents, “I’ll play your wicked game.”

“Oh, I love it when they accept my terms,” Maddy started the bus up, having it drive itself around town. “And while I’m at it, I’ll have someone else join the fun…”

01001101 01000001 01000100 01000100

Somewhere in town…

*RIIIING!!!*

“Hello?” Lan answered with concern in his voice. His palms were sweaty from handling his device and operating Mega.

“Hey, cutie,” Maddy speaking up immediately made his face contort into anger, even more so once Mayl was mentioned. “Miss your girlfriend? She’s precious.”

“Just when I think there’s no line you won’t cross,” Lan snarled, “You play hopscotch with it.”

“Ooh, good idea!” Maddy chirped, “But I’ve got another game in mind. So, pop quiz, hot shot vigilante.” She started to explain this sick game to him. “A bus has a bomb set to go off in six minutes. The timer starts at fifty miles per hour. Twenty seconds is reduced for every two seconds the bus is over 60, and one second is taken off for every car hit by the bus. The timer can be turned off if it’s stopped, but if it stops too fast, or goes over 70, the bus explodes. What do you do, meddling kid?”

“I’m coming for you, Madd,” he growled, “If you hurt Mayl, I swear I’ll…”

“Blah blah,” The woman from WWW became bored, “You want to make a difference? Delete my ransomware first, then you get to join.”

“Wait, wait!!” Lan cried out, but the line went dead. His heart banged like a drum, echoing in his ears.

“Lan?” Mega contacted him, hopping on top of one Cloudy umbrella after another, using them as stepping stones to reach the ransomware. “I just heard part of the call! Was that Maddy?!”

“She lured Mayl away…” Lan frowned, staring at the screen. “Dex, why didn’t you stop her?”

“She didn’t want me to follow her,” Dex replied, readying his bulky Navi with a Program Advance. “But she looked anxious.”

“Don’t blame Dex for this,” Mega implored his operator, awaiting an advance of his own. “She didn’t want us to worry about her right now.”

“But there’s a bomb in the bus,” Lan mumbled, trying not to cause panic among the citizens. “Who wouldn’t be worried?”

“Let’s just get rid of this thing!” GutsMan pounded his chest, “Time for the advance!!”

< PROGRAM ADVANCE >
High Cannon F
High Cannon G
High Cannon H
High Cannon I
High Cannon J

< PROGRAM ADVANCE >
Omega Cannon 2

“Come on, Lan!!” Mega beckoned, “Let’s take care of this thing!!”

“Alright!!” The boy with the bandana inserted physical chips this time, giving Mega what he wanted.

< PROGRAM ADVANCE >
Shotgun K
Cross Gun K
Spreader K
Mega Cannon K

< PROGRAM ADVANCE >
Powered Cannon

“I’m in position!!” He stood on a Cloudy virus with a clear shot lined up for him, “Ready when you are!!”

“Go!!” Dex commanded, and GutsMan’s arms became blue, hand-sized cannons that he used to blast at the red cloud. They broke through it piece by piece, decreasing the size of it so his friend could land a decisive blow.

“HAAAAAA!!!” MegaMan created a firearm bigger than his own body, holding it steady, and firing a small burst from it. However, the virus couldn’t take the weight, and was forced to go down as a result. This threw off his aim, seeing as the energy burst hit the giant cloud instead of a gold piece of the ransomware that stuck out.

The idea was to delete the ransomware with the Powered Cannon once the cloud was gone. Instead, the digital mass of air was destroyed, and the ransomware’s true form was revealed: a red spherical eye with a gold ring surrounding it, crackling with red electricity. Part of the ring was obliterated, but this wasn’t the result they were going for.

“It didn’t work!!” Mega exclaimed as he fell, “What do we do now?!”

“Uh…” GutsMan pondered, scratching the back of his head now that he was out of cannons. “Oh, I got it!!” Catching Mega with one of his hands, he started throwing him at the giant eye!!

“WHOA!!!” Mega shouted, his instincts kicking in. He clenched both of his fists and positioned himself as though he were flying. A purple aura surrounded him all the while, and he crashed into the red eye dead on, causing it to blow up, knocking him back down to the floor.

“I guess we’re done here,” GutsMan smacked a button on a digital crossing pole, officially getting traffic back up and running. MegaMan was caught by GutsMan before he hit the floor.

PROGRAM ADVANCE DISCOVERED.

Three capitalized words flashed on Lan’s PET screen. “Didn’t expect that, but okay!!” he mused, preparing to cross the street. “Now we have to find Maddy fast.”

“Lan!” Ms. Mari called him, “Where were you?!”

“Bad things are happening all over,” Lan calmly explained, “I’m doing the best I can, believe me.”

“Are you trying to hunt her down?” Tory inquired, “That lady’s conniving and slippery. You need someone to help you.”

“Working on it,” Lan dialed a special line on his PET, hoping to call Mr. Famous. “But listen--!” The trolley bus turned to the right, hitting a car with its back end, sending them into a magazine stand!! “I-I’ve got to go!!” Lan brought out his attachable roller blades, which he always kept in his pockets, and stuck them under his shoes.  

“Hey, wait!!” Tory tried running after him, but he was already gaining speed.

“Lan, get real!!” Mega shouted, “You’ll never catch that bus!!”

“Maybe we can cut it off somehow!!” Dex suggested, “We just have to get it to stop!!”

“I heard a bomb is connected to the brakes!!” Lan pointed out, “Forcing them to stop too hard will detonate it!” Meaning Cross Fusion isn’t gonna fly this time!! he thought to himself.

“For real?!” Dex gasped, “What do we do?!”

Lan’s PET made a blip sound, indicating a message was sent to him. “MegaMan, the message?” he asked, too busy to check it out.

“We got a navigational map of Den Town from Mayl,” Mega examined the message closely, “The bus has an automated time schedule it follows!”

“Okay, Dex,” Lan began creating a plan, “I’m sending you a copy of the bus route. I want you to jack GutsMan inside the bus computer when it comes around to Block 17. Get the bus to slow down until it hits zero.”

“Alright, but what about you?” Dex anxiously questioned, running to the block mentioned.

“I’ll stop traffic to keep the bus from hitting other cars,” Lan zigzagged past a few pedestrians as he replied, “Each car that hits the bus will take away a second on the timer.”

“But every twenty seconds gets removed for however long the bus goes above 60,” Mega added, “Maddy said so, and if the bus gets over 70…”

“Mayl’s trusting us to do what we have to,” his operator interrupted that train of thought, “Let’s trust her to hold out until this is over.”

“Wait, Mayl’s on the bus?!” Dex yelled, “Why didn’t you say that before?! Now we really gotta do something!!” The large boy looked up, seeing the hijacked bus speed up to the block he was on. “Jack in, GutsMan!! Execute!!” Dex’s reflexes kicked in, transmitting GutsMan into the bus computer. There weren’t any viruses in it, but he could see two Navis up ahead. Namely, me and ColorMan.

[BGM: Resistance, Remastered Tracks Rockman Zero]

“Color Ball!!” ColorMan got on his hands and fired his polka-dot ball from his lower body at me.

Forced to jump away from a digital console, I shot a Roll Arrow at him. Unfortunately, it missed, and I wasn’t paying attention to the ball coming back it me!! “AH!!” I fell forward on my hands and knees, looking up to see the WWW Navi’s Mini ColorMen, one red and the other blue. They flashed briefly, hitting me with Aqua and Fire Towers at once!! “AAAAHHHH!!!” I was blasted backward from the two elemental attacks, hitting the ground with my back.

“Roll!!” Mayl called my name in concern, placing a Barrier over me in defense.

“You don’t play nice, huh?” I made a little offhand comment to ColorMan before standing up, ready to fight again.

“Where’s the fun in that?!” He smirked, allowing two Jelly viruses to land, summoning tidal waves. One of them washed away my Barrier in the process.

“Ice Stage!!” Mayl gave me two chips to use against them. First, the entire platform evolved into a cold rink. As that was done, I threw a bomb forward at both viruses and ColorMan. “Magnet Bomb 3!!” The bomb blew up in an electric cross, deleting the viruses and damaging ColorMan twofold, even causing him to be magnetized to the ground.

“G-G-Get her!!!” The WWW Navi struggled, but he was stuck, and ordered his pawns to attack me.

“Okay,” GutsMan pounded his fist against an open palm, “Let’s help Roll win!”

“No, just focus on slowing the bus down!” Lan told, “If Roll’s in the middle of a NetBattle, don’t interfere!”

“But it’s the WWW we’re talking about!!” Dex persisted, feeling the need to do something. “Mayl and Roll may need us!”

“You can help them by doing what I say!!” Lan argued, “Remember what’s at stake!!”

GutsMan grumbled, backing away from the fighting. He snuck over to the self-driving program, symbolized by two white hands holding a large steering wheel. Next to it were two consoles, one for acceleration, and the other for deceleration. “Roll was here a few seconds ago,” He looked back, watching me evade the symmetry of fire and water.

ColorMan chucked a Tree Bomb at me and fired a Bubbler at the seed, causing it to quickly change into a Wood Tower. I barely avoided it by spinning to the side. “You know, you could join us!!” He dared suggesting such an idea, “It’s fun to be on the other side!!”

“What’s so appealing about doing horrible things?” I jeered, opting to throw his operator off her game. “Is this because Mrs. Madd’s a lonely spinster?”

“Ugh, like Navi, like operator!” Maddy became irate, “You’re both so insolent!!”

“Good!!” Mayl passed along a pair of Ratton 2 chips, and I used them to get around the Mini ColorMen moving sideways, getting hits against ColorMan. “I don’t plan on joining a madwoman playing games with innocent lives!!”

“But this is a game!” The WWW operator brought up the timer on one of the bus’ screens, ticking down to less than seventy seconds. “And you’re losing~!!”

“Roll Dance!!” I maneuvered around the entire area, teleporting as quickly as possible to dodge my enemy and sneak out of the fight.

I saw GutsMan attempting to use the brakes, so I got on ColorMan’s back, knowing that it was important to keep him distracted. “C’mon, you can’t trick a trickster!!” ColorMan grabbed me with his long arms and slammed me to the floor.

“Ugh!!” I felt my back hit the floor, and he scraped me along the ice, throwing me away from him. I tried to get up, but then…

“Color Crossroads!!” ColorMan snapped his fingers, and his Mini ColorMen unleashed their elemental towers, intersecting diagonally on my panel. I was frozen and badly burned all at once.

“AAAAHHHHHH!!!” It hurt far worse compared to last time, especially because they hit me twice with their attacks.

“R-Roll!!” GutsMan gasped, letting go of the large button on the console.

“GutsMan, check the speedometer!!” Dex ordered, “I don’t know how fast it’s going!!”

“I-It’s at 10 now…” he responded, being careful with it. “I’m slowing it down.”

“Hey!!” ColorMan finally noticed GutsMan was behind him the whole time, “Get away from there!!”

“Too late for that,” GutsMan pointed a finger at the timer, which was at thirty-two seconds.

In the real world, the bus had slowed to a crawl, stopping in the middle of an intersection. The lights turned red for all sides, much to the dismay of several bystanders. “All lights are red here!!” MegaMan reported to Lan, “The bus is stopped!”

“Then the bomb won’t explode,” Lan skated to the block where the bus was, stopping on a crosswalk. “Still have to find her…”

He took a breath before approaching the bus, more than prepared to put an end to this. Unfortunately, this was just the tip of the iceberg, and the worst was yet to come…

CHAPTER 15 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Reddington Bluemann © HatOnFire/Me

01010010 01001111 01001100 01001100

Den Town was in a state of chaos, no thanks to the WWW agent, Maddy Iroaya, alias Ms. Madd. She took over the traffic systems with ransomware and forced Mayl and Lan to play a deadly game that would’ve cost people their lives. Gratefully, the ransomware was purged and her game was beaten, with special help from Dex and GutsMan.

“W-What happened…?” Ms. Madd saw that the timer had stopped with twenty-eight seconds remaining.

“I knew I couldn’t stop the bus by myself,” Mayl admitted with a small smile, wiping sweat off her face. “So, I made sure to pass along the bus routes to Lan. I figured he would slow down the bus while I kept you and ColorMan busy. I didn’t expect someone else to come in, but it worked as I hoped it would.”

“No, no, no, no, no, no!!!” Ms. Madd shouted, pulling her hair. “I spent days planning this out!! I expected you and Hikari to play my game! But some fourth player comes in and ruins it!!”

“You’re dirty cheaters!!” ColorMan childishly accused us, pointing the finger at GutsMan like he was in court. “We never invited outsiders to come in!!”

“Cheaters?” GutsMan shrugged as he shook his head, “It’s not like you directly fought Roll the whole time. You relied on statues to beat her, and they look smarter than you!”

“Ooh, I’m gonna…!” ColorMan hissed, standing on his hands to shoot his Color Ball out. But when he fired it, GutsMan grabbed the ball with his hands and threw it to me.

Floating above ground, I kicked it to ColorMan’s face, knocking him down. “You guys willingly put civilians in danger,” I pointed out, “Why would we play fair?”

“Your plan was clever,” Maddy seethed, “but letting some no-name Navi tag along spoiled the game. But at least we get something out of it.” She opened an account on her PET, smiling from seeing the numbers tally up in eight digits, with a little more on the way.

“All of this was for money?” GutsMan crossed his arms in contempt.

“And for her twisted amusement,” MegaMan stated, approaching us from behind.

“Hey, Mega!!” I said, “Where’s Lan?”

“Outside the bus,” Mega explained, “but he can’t get in.”

“Madd!!” Lan called for her through the line, “It’s time to pay!”

“How about a do-over?” She proceeded to press a few buttons on her keyboard, planning something malicious. “A little extra danger is good for the human experience.”

“I don’t think I can take any more excitement,” Mayl commented.

“Guys, look!!” GutsMan noticed the timer for the bomb had reset, seeing it count down back from six minutes again.

“What?!” Mega and I exclaimed, watching a few seconds literally pass by us in blips.

“Guess what, everyone~?!” ColorMan bounced around, waving his hands in the air. The scene was broadcast to everyone on the bus. “The clock on the bomb has reset!!” The passengers screamed at the mention of the bomb, standing up and trying anything to get out.

“A game with lives at stake is the only thrill I ever need!!” Ms. Madd grinned like a Cheshire cat, though her face was more maniacal than we’ve seen her. “Let’s play again!”

“Why are you doing this?!” Dex shouted, searching for us in this town. “Why?!”

“A-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!” ColorMan laughed as hard as his operator, ignoring Dex’s questions. Mayl looked out the locked door to see Lan, sweating as he saw a light flash on the bomb under the vehicle. It was bolted to the bus’s underside, so he couldn’t remove it. He couldn’t even disarm it, since it didn’t have a computer to jack into. He anxiously turned to Mayl, his face blatantly displaying his fear for everyone’s safety.

“HAAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!” As for MegaMan, he took action with a shout. He charged his Mega Buster, aimed for the WWW Navi, and fired. We followed suit with our attacks, but he avoided most of them with ease.

“Color Ball!!” ColorMan blasted his dotted sphere our way, knocking us back to the middle in rapid succession, one by one. “Now it’s getting good!” He had his Mini ColorMen circle around the group, with the red one moving counterclockwise and the blue one clockwise. They unleashed Aqua and Fire Towers to separate us and pick us off. “Mega Cannon!” Naturally, he attempted to get rid of me first, but I wasn’t going to go down like that. I spun out of his line of sight.

“Get that thing out of here!” Dex ordered GutsMan, seeing him dive away from an Aqua Tower.

“Okay!” Following his command, GutsMan ran towards the blue Mini ColorMan and attempted to lift it and toss it away. But as he found out, it wasn’t so simple. “I-I can’t budge it!”

“Then smash it!”

The bulky Navi tried attacking with his hammers, and he managed to crack its head. But it still went on the offensive. Mega was outlasting the elements and bringing down ColorMan’s hit points with well-timed charged shots. “You can’t keep this up forever!” he stated, stepping backwards from a side-scrolling geyser. “Soon you’ll be zeroes and ones in the data stream!”

“Point taken,” ColorMan agreed, “Maybe we should’ve made this more interesting?”

“Sure, we can raise the stakes a little,” Ms. Madd altered the timer on the bomb down to three minutes, “I’m already feeling bored with this.”

“Are you freaking kidding?!” Lan bared his teeth, and it wasn’t taking much effort to set him off at this point.

“Oh, new rule,” Maddy divulged, “If ColorMan gets deleted, then kablooey!! Good luck!”

“Wait, not that!” her Navi protested for his sake, “Lowering the timer is good enough!”

“You suck!!” Lan yelled at the woman, “You just want to see people die!”

“I take back what I called you earlier,” Mayl announced, “Calling you a spinster is an insult to all spinsters. You’re a heartless old crone!!”

“Tick tock, girl…” Maddy growled, having a nerve struck.

“I’ve got an idea!” Dex skimmed through the custom screen, deciding to try something. “GutsMan, meet back up with MegaMan and Roll!”

“Okay!!” GutsMan obeyed, heading back to the middle of the battle zone. “What now?”

“Break the entire ground now!!” Dex told, bringing in chips for him. “Lan, Mayl, get ready!”

“Alright,” Mayl acknowledged.

“Guts Hammer!!” GutsMan brought back his mallets in place of his fists, and brought them down on the stage, creating several cracks in it.

“Again!!” his operator shouted, and he followed suit, causing large holes in the ground to form!

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!!” ColorMan tilted a little to the side, straightening himself up so he wouldn’t fall. The Mini ColorMen still attempted to strike with their elemental towers, but without a surface to move on, they wouldn’t last.

“We’ve got a chance!” Lan declared, “MegaMan, open the bus doors and disable the bomb if you can!”

“But how am I going to get across?” Mega wondered before looking at GutsMan, who almost had a twinkle in his eye. “Uh, wait a minute…” Quick as a wink, GutsMan grabbed Mega, readied his arm like a baseball pitcher, and threw him hard. “NOT AGAIN!!” Mega exclaimed, whizzing past the WWW Navi and colliding with the digital acceleration console, damaging it.

“Whoops…” GutsMan nervously chuckled, “Hope that didn’t cause trouble.”

“ACCELERATION PROGRAM DISABLED,” Three large words flashed on the bus’s screen, “EMERGENCY BRAKING PROTOCOL ENGAGED.”

“Braking protocol?” Dex repeated, “How did that happen?”

“Ooh, this really bites!!” ColorMan used his Color Ball to bludgeon Mega in the head, sending him face first into the braking console.

“Roll Flash!” I had my antennae smack him for that, but I also had it wrap around ColorMan’s legs. This was to set him up for a fall.

“Rocket Guts Punch!” GutsMan flung his fist forward, projecting a larger version of it at him, knocking him off the crumbling panel.

“Yipe!!” ColorMan grabbed the blue support beams embedded with the ground.

“What are you doing?!” Ms. Madd exclaimed, “If you get deleted, then we win!”

“But I don’t wanna be deleted!” he childishly whined, “Jack me out, please!”

“You’re such a baby!” Ms. Madd slammed her durable PET on the ground after getting to her knees, demonstrating how little different she was from her counterpart.

Recovering quickly, MegaMan found the switch he was looking for, activating it to relinquish manual control.

“Finally!” Lan sighed with a little relief, “We can unlock the doors!”

“Everyone off!” Mayl opened the doors while directing the passengers, who all proceeded to impatiently make tracks. “Single file! Single file!”

“Hey, watch it!!” Much to Lan’s dismay, the crowd was pushing into him! “Get out of the way!!”

“Auuughh!!!” In her frustration, Maddy grabbed a drink and threw it off of a florist’s store, with gravity guiding it to the streets, landing several feet away from Lan, once he got free.

“What?” He looked up, seeing Maddy with her PET in hand.

“Jack out, ColorMan,” she stoically commanded, “Fun’s over.”

“Finally!!” The WWW Navi allowed himself to be removed from the network, waving at me. “It’s been real, girlie!”

“Can we stop the timer?” The moment I asked that, the timer had gone down to ten seconds!!

“It’s too late, Roll!!” Mega shouted, “Jack out!!”

[BGM: Something Eroding, Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth]

We all made a break for it, getting out of the computer.

“Mayl?!” Lan prepared to run to the bus to get Mayl, imminent explosion or not. He had reached for his Synchro Chip when he saw her.

“GET DOWN!!” she shouted, managing to get several yards away.

*KABOOM!!*

The bomb went off, and time slowed to a crawl. The bus was engulfed in flames and was lifted off the ground for only a second. Windows were shattered and the underside was torn apart by the heat, leaving small fragments to fall out. Mayl was sent flying into a car by the blast, and she hit the windshield with her head. She slid off the car a few seconds later, landing on her back. Lan had also felt the shockwave, forced to the ground by it. The same went for anyone near the blast radius, though most bystanders were a good distance away from it by then.  A few blocks away, Dex also heard the explosion, with more than a few screams to follow. “Oh no,” he mumbled under his breath, going to the source of the sound, “Please let them be alright…”

“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!” Overcome with an insane form of euphoria, Maddy laughed at the destruction she caused and the terror in the streets.

The delinquent’s ears rang in a shrill, incessant noise. He tried to get up, but that wave was like a baseball hitting a wall, without the rebound. “W-What…?” Lan groaned, getting his senses back. Trying to ignore the ringing, he remembered the explosion blew him away.

“Say that again, Roll?!” Mega yelled, “What happened?!”

“MegaMan?” Lan spoke up, his vision returning to him. But the first thing he saw was… my operator, still and almost lifeless. “Mayl!!”

“I tried calling out to her!!” I explained as quickly as I could, “But she’s not answering! Lan, tell me she’s okay!!”

“Come on, come on…!” he whispered, desperately hoping she wasn’t gone. He pressed his fingers on her neck, swallowing the lump in his throat. Relieved a little bit, he undid his bandana, using it to cover her forehead.

“Mayl’s breathing,” Lan finally replied, wrapping his jacket around her back. “But she hit her head on the windshield of that car…”

“Oh no!” I gasped, “Get her to a hospital, quick!!”

“I’m on it!” Lan gently lifted her up and carried her away, taking her bag with him.

“Poor, poor girl…” Maddy sighed, gloating to us while we were dumbfounded in Lan’s PET. “She had to stick true to her guns. Too heroic for her own good.”

The boy silently trembled, twitching his eye. “What has she done to you?” Mega questioned her, “What has anyone done to you for you to do this?!”

“Nothing,” I hissed, “No one did anything to deserve any of this!!”

“Aw, sure they did,” She smiled with apathy, “All of you, in fact. You exist to be background characters on my stage. You kids are the cops, and I’m the robber: The star of the show!!”

“Just shut up,” Lan snarled, “You’re wasting your breath.”

“Lan!!” Dex called out, running to him.

“Oh, Dex…”

“Is that Mayl?!” Dex gasped, “No...! Lan, is she still breathing?!”

“She’s unconscious,” Lan carefully placed Mayl into his arms, “She hit her head so bad she needs a medic.”

“Who saw that explosive finish coming?” Maddy chuckled, “I know I did. Match wishes he could do that!”

“You get her to a hospital,” Lan demanded, “Before this psychopath tries to finish the job.”

“If you can, make that despicable witch pay,” Dex paraphrased what we were all thinking, taking off with Mayl.

MegaMan’s operator glared up at the florist’s building where she stood, fixing his eyes on the perpetrator. “When I get my hands on you, you're going to wish I could make it quick,” Lan growled. Taking off in the opposite direction, he jumped up and grabbed a fire escape ladder. Once he pulled himself up, he ran up six stories to the roof, taking out his Synchro Chip.

“Better catch me soon, whelp,” Ms. Madd scoffed, “I can still control people’s cars, and I’m tempted to play road rage with that director’s brat. What better time for revenge, right?” The mention of Tory from her sinister lips only made the vigilant boy climb the steps faster, at such an alarming rate. “Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!” she kept laughing, “I’d say you’re a tough guy, but the girl wouldn’t have blasted off into the windshield if you were even half of one!”

“Shut up and cross fuse with your Navi already,” He no longer had any patience for her commentary, putting his chip in the PET and fusing with MegaMan again.

“Okay, ColorMan,” She gazed at her device, “Let’s do it.”

“I almost get deleted and you think I’m going to just help you?” Her Navi crossed his arms and raised his head up, acting obnoxious and haughty.

“You forget that I own you,” With the press of a button, ColorMan suddenly became more obedient, having a blank stare in his eyes. And when the WWW agent used her chip, the transformation took a turn for the strange, looking like a hybrid of a harlequin outfit and a long-sleeved kimono.

Her legs were wholly black, with her right ankle coated in sky blue, while red hugged her left ankle. Attached to the bottom of her feet were yellow geta sandals without straps. She also had a red skirt over a transparent orchid-colored skirt. Her lower torso had a big, white line in the middle resembling a kimono sash, surrounded by two small light blue lines above and below it. Her chest and shoulders came with a diamond pattern of black diamonds with purple, green, red, pure blue, orange, sky blue, and yellow, with the pattern changing diagonally as one looks up. The emblem of a golden ring with a circle divided by six triangles rested in the center, with the divided colors of purple, green, and white.

The defining feature was the long sleeves and exceptionally long arms that got wider the longer they went. The sleeves were split into three pieces that were sky blue, yellow, and sky blue again, ending at a yellow and blue line. Her hands were red and they had four fingers that resembled claws. Attached to her back was a white umbrella with blue polka dots on it, all just like ColorMan’s ball. Her neck and head was purely white, save for her red lips, black eyebrows, and blue lines that looked like eye shadow surrounding her eyes and looping around the back of her head. A red dot existed at the top of her forehead, yellow circles covered her ears, and she had a hairstyle similar to ColorMan’s on both sides of her head while being bald everywhere else. Her eyes were yellow and the whites of her eyeballs were actually red.

“What do you think of me now?!” C.F. ColorWoman shouted, opening her umbrella up and lifting herself up into the air.

“Looks like she’s in touch with her true self,” Mega cracked, “Crazy.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” Lan nodded, pointing his Mega Buster at her.

“So, let’s go, kid,” Maddy told him, “Start with the goody two-shoes act and we’ll go on from there.”

“Forget the clichés,” Lan steadied his aim and charged up his shot, “I’d rather shoot you!” He was true to his word, firing at C.F. ColorWoman with no thought to it. She blocked the shot with her oversized palm and levitated away from him.

“Hey, just because the bomb was under the bus, that doesn’t mean it’s my fault your girlfriend dived for the car!!” The evil woman denied all responsibility for that act, only making the blue avenger angrier.

“You black-hearted wretch!!” C.F. MegaMan jumped at her, leaping over the gap between the two opposing buildings. However, that was a trap.

“HA!” Maddy used her long arm to swat him into a building that was under construction.

“UGH!!” Lan’s body broke through a wooden plank, falling through the floor and landing onto the second story.

“Lan, our Synchro Rating is getting lower!!” Mega warned, “Cool it down, or we’re history!”

“I’m sorry, Hub,” Lan groaned as he stood back up, “I should’ve been more careful.”

“If you can’t keep yourself under control,” the Navi suggested, “Then I might be forced to go on autopilot.”

“Wait! Are you saying that you’ll do that?!”

“At the rate you’re acting, I’ve got no choice,” he replied as their adversary descended to their level, closing up her umbrella. “We can’t let her escape, but I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret!”

“I… I’m sorry,” Lan shook his head, dodging a slash from C.F. ColorWoman’s claws. “I can’t promise that won’t happen. But if we don’t destroy her PET, she’ll cause even more damage.”

“In that case, I’ll just have to follow your lead,” MegaMan made a decision to place himself under Lan’s control, giving up his free will for the time being. Their Synchro Rating has drastically improved, and with that, Lan retaliated with a Cross Gun and a Shotgun, firing both at once.

“Well, thanks Mega,” He took a deep breath after those blasts, focusing more on the fight. “Now I can take five and a half feet of crazy down.”

“Really?” C.F. ColorWoman questioned, just as her Navi distributed a signal from her emblem, likely causing several car engines to short out or go berserk. “You’re going to keep shooting me? That’s so cheap.”

“I’m not just going to shoot you,” Lan whispered, “I’m going to absolutely DESTROY YOU.”

“Allow me to guide you in this battle,” MegaMan implored stoically, acting on autopilot. “C.F. ColorWoman, as she is designated, has elongated arms that can stretch and release Aqua and Fire Towers without the need of a chip. Proceed with caution.”

[BGM: Times Square Off (Boss Fight), Lego Marvel Super Heroes]

“Fire Tower!!” One right arm on the ground, and Maddy summoned a blazing pillar to follow Lan. Then, she sent out four more, one after the other.

“Spreader!!” Evading them all, Lan blasted a bag of cement mix next to her with a buster shot, taking her by surprise with the compound so he could jump over her and kick her in the back. Then, he let her have the spread shot. “Get me some better Battle Chips!” he ordered Mega, sacrificing two chips to get some better ones, having to survive the onslaught that followed.

Leaping upward, C.F. ColorWoman swiped at him, but he ducked, backflipped, and rolled out of the way each time. “Aqua Tower!!” With her left arm, she unleashed a large geyser that wouldn’t quit. C.F. MegaMan sidestepped it at the right time, shooting at her with uncharged shots, forcing her to shield herself. Maddy used her arms to stand and flung herself forward, trying to kick him, but he slid underneath her, blasting her back and taking out a piece of her hair. “Color Crossroads!!” With water and fire, Maddy forced Lan to jump away from the intersecting attack. Unfortunately, that left him open to be grabbed by both of her stretched arms, dragged along the ground, and slammed into the construction support beams.

“Say goodnight!!” She threw him away like a rag doll and made her umbrella detach from her back, morphing into a big sphere just like her Navi’s. “Color Ball!!” She kicked it at Lan’s face, and the impact made a significant crack on his helmet, almost breaking part of it. He would’ve lost some teeth and broken some bones if not for the face guard.

“GAH!!” He caught the edge of the floor just in time, saving himself from falling off.

“Well, well, well!” Maddy sneered, looking out at the pedestrians who could see the fighting. “A captive audience. And look who I see!”

Lan looked behind him, and his face grew pale. Tory and Ms. Mari were right there. “Don’t you touch them…!!” He hardened the expression on his face.

“Sorry, can’t hear you!!” His opponent ignored him, leaping right at them from the building! “Payback time, Froid!!”

“Mega Cannon!!” Lan struck her with the red cannon as soon as he got it, making her crumple to the ground. He landed on the sidewalk to see her get back up and release a fire tower, still intent on her retribution. Lan leapt right in between them, taking the blow, but saving Ms. Mari and Tory. “AAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” That was the cue for all the pedestrians to run away, and they all did so. Tory took his former teacher by her arm and got out of harm’s way.

Maddy struck Lan again, punching him into a wall. “So predictable!” she chortled in a mocking tone as she struck his body with her claws, “Why didn’t you do this first? You could’ve saved your girlfriend!”

“Laugh at your own risk, clown woman,” he hissed, blindsiding her with a fully charged Mega Buster to her pure white face. Achieving his second wind, he delivered a kick to her stomach. He even punched her in the face to force her on the street.

Next, his arms morphed into a Fire Sword and an Elec Blade, and he ran for her, jumping over a few more swipes of her arms and even kicking one of them away. Finding an opening, he sliced her arm with the burning sword while spinning in midair, leaving a significant mark on it. Planting his feet on the asphalt, he whizzed away from another Aqua Tower and electrocuted her with the sparkling blade, achieving Full Synchro before she could maul him again. “Aqua Sword!!” Lan bent down on a knee, swinging his right arm up with an Aqua Sword, continuing to damage her. C.F. ColorWoman outstretched her arms to skewer him, but all she did was tear through a car. He had gotten behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist, leapt high enough to get back into the construction site, and threw her to the floor in remarkable succession.

“Program Advance underway,” Mega told, and Lan knew that it was time to end this.

< PROGRAM ADVANCE >

High Cannon F
High Cannon G
High Cannon H

< PROGRAM ADVANCE >

Zeta Cannon 2

“Color Ball!!” C.F. ColorWoman guided her large ball to try and run over him, but he ran for her, jumping over her for the last time. “Umbrella!” The ball morphed back into her umbrella at her command, deciding to utilize it in a split second. “Color Wheel!!” The umbrella morphed into a propeller with long blades, which split off from the pole and went for C.F. MegaMan! But he bent backwards and stood up, firing rapidly at her with the cannon, causing her form to slowly explode into electromagnetic particles, thereby negating the blades. “N-No!!” Maddy shrieked, watching as her form slowly fell apart into small explosions, finally bursting like a firework. With that, the viruses running amok in the computers imploded and deleted, overloaded by the sudden stop of their only command signal. This effectively stopped all of the cars from rampaging and allowed the drivers to turn them off and get away.

“Who’s laughing now?” C.F. MegaMan spat, having no regrets pulling the trigger, and though he wished he could’ve done it again before the time on the advance wore off, he had something else in mind.

“Victory,” Mega stated without emotion, “Now withdraw this form and allow her to be taken into custody.”

“Ms. Madd…” Lan approached her as she sat up, “It’s all over for you now.”

“Okay, I lose,” Maddy scoffed, raising her open hands up in surrender. “Take me to jail.”

“I told you the first time, but I’ll make this clear. I’m not going to take you to jail.”

“Oh, come on,” The WWW agent rolled her eyes, “You expect me to believe you’re actually going to—?” She was interrupted when the angry boy in blue lunged at her, grabbing her by her waist and leaping to the eighth floor! Once there, he took her by the neck and forced her to stand and grip his forearms in defense.

“Y-You’re s-serious?” Suddenly she was starting to feel the experience she gave others as a WWW member. She was starting to see everything from the point of view of her victims. She was feeling fear.

“It’s not fun on the other side of the fence, is it?” he growled, throwing her PET on the floor and stomping on it, effectively deleting ColorMan!! “Is it?!”

“R-Relax!! W-We can make a deal!” she pleaded.

“A deal?! After what you’ve done, you don’t get to make any deals. Instead, you get to drop!”

“We have won,” MegaMan’s calm voice stated, “There is no need for this.”

“H-He’s right, Lan!!” Maddy desperately agreed, “Listen to your Navi!”

“I do what I want!” Lan tightened his grip on her, “And what I want is to make you pay!”

“H-Hey, she’s in the hospital. She’ll pull through!”

“Shut up!!” Lan squeezed her neck, coming dangerously close to becoming a real criminal.

“STOP!!” MegaMan exclaimed, getting his emotions back, reducing the Synchro Rating. This stunned Lan so much that he let her go. “Lan, it’s over!! Don’t kill her!! Mayl would never want this, even if you think it’s justified!!”

“M-Mega…” Lan nearly broke into a cold sweat, “I…”

“I’ll send that girl my best!!” The WWW agent used a rope to climb down at least two floors, getting on the sixth one.

“Stop, Iroaya!!!” Lan fired many blasts from the Mega Buster, serving as warning shots. Maddy, however, focused on hiding in the room.

“Don’t shoot her, Lan!!” Mega scolded, “We have to bring her in alive!!”

“I know!!” he yelled, hopping after her. “I’m just so angry!!”

“I’m angry, too,” the Navi admitted, but he held firm to his ideals. “But you know this isn’t right!”

“I get it, Mega!” Lan felt his form begin to deteriorate, falling out of sync with Mega. “I’m sorry for making you see that!”

“Lan Hikari!” Mr. Famous’ voice came on through the speaker, “Stand down!!”

“Mr. Famous?!”

“Detective Bluemann is on his way up!” Mr. Famous informed him, “You will stand down and wait for him!!”

“Look, Mr. Famous, I—!!”

“I have half a mind to suspend you right here and now!!” the scientist furiously declared, “You crossed a line!!”

“I’m really sorry, sir,” Lan apologized, “I shouldn’t have acted the way I did. It’s just not fair that this had to happen to Mayl.”

“Regardless, we ARE going to have a long talk after this.”

Suddenly, a painful electric shock struck Lan from behind! He not only fell down, his Cross Fusion form had dematerialized.

“Lan?!” Mr. Famous called out, “Lan!! Answer me, what’s happening?!”

“Freeze!!” Redd came up on cue, holding his firearm. “You’re under arrest!!” A dark figure with four silver coils on his back blasted lightning from his fingertip, zapping him and forcing him to drop his weapon.

“Finally!” Maddy smiled, approaching the unknown figure from her hiding place. “It sure took you long enough!” But she was next to be electrocuted, forced into unconsciousness. The figure then carried her and began to fly away.

“Oh, great,” Lan shook his head, attempting to stand up. “They can fly now.”

“Are you okay, Lan?” Mega asked.

“I’m fine, but Redd got hit…” The delinquent worriedly moved to him, helping him up when raised his head with a painful groan.

“L-Lan…” he uttered, “I-I came as soon as I heard…”

“I’m sorry,” Lan kicked himself, “Mayl shouldn’t have gotten hurt!”

“They’ll rot for that,” Redd hardened himself, trying not to think about it. “This, I promise you.”

“Hey, what’s…?” Lan saw a huge red orb float over to their level, spraying the floor with a ghostly blue flame!!

“Run, run!!” the detective exclaimed, taking the boy along by his shoulder and running downstairs. They managed to get to the third floor when a second red orb cut them off, nearly frying them with blue fire. The two orbs combined their attack power and blasted the wooden boards under their feet, causing them to fall down to the second floor. “OOF!!!” Redd grunted once he and Lan fell on a stack of cement mix bags.

“Consider that a warning,” An ominous tone reverberated from a voice they couldn’t recognize, “Continue your investigation and you will join Mayl Sakurai in the afterlife.”

“Shut up!!” Lan yelled, “Just shut up, you diseased maniacs!”

“Be smart, Lan Hikari,” the voice spoke softly, “You don’t want to end up like your brother, do you?”

“W-What…?!”

Whoever the voice was, they disappeared, as indicated by the orbs and flames upstairs dematerializing, leaving the two in dead silence.

01010110 01001001 01000011 01010100 01001111 01010010 01011001

“So, that’s all for now, huh?” Lan questioned with his back against the wall, filled with shame.

“Yes, but your actions have earned you a temporary suspension from the team,” Detective Bluemann replied, placing the Synchro Chip in his pocket.

“I… I know.”

“You won’t be going to jail because we’ll still need you, of course,” the detective added, “But if you try another stunt like that again, I can’t protect you from the authorities. Just so we’re clear.”

“Yes, sir,” Lan looked straight at him when he answered, though he sensed some loathing from him.

“Good, now go home…”

“I’ll try to see Mayl before I do…”

“No,” Redd shook his head, “Just go straight home. You’re done.”

“Right,” Lan scoffed, “‘Cause I’ve caused enough trouble.”

“Don’t act smart, young man!!” Redd snapped, surprising the other officers trying to take statements. “You’re the last person who should!! You’re the reason Mayl—!!”

“I know!!” the brown-haired boy roared, throwing his hands up. “Okay?! It’s my fault!!”

“W-What…?” The detective cooled down, realizing what he just implied.

“I’m going home,” Lan saw himself out, shoving his hands into his pockets. As far as he was concerned, he got the message. But it was the wrong message.

“Detective, the chief wants an update,” a policeman called, preventing Redd from stopping the boy and telling him what he meant to say.

Lan continued to walk down for several blocks, anger and sadness festering in his heart. It was like he would’ve exploded if he didn’t do something to let it out. He went up to an alleyway, seeing that no one was around. So… he ran in. “RAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!” With a shout, he kicked a dumpster with his foot, causing a loud noise to echo in the alley. He started pounding his fists on the lids, growing more out of control.

“L-Lan, calm down!!” Mega exclaimed, “Remember your heart condition!!”

“It’s my fault, Hub!!” He slammed his fist on the stone wall, beginning to cry. “I just had to let her stay near that stupid bus!! I just had to hesitate putting that freaking chip in!!”

“She wanted to make sure everyone was safe!!” Mega argued, “It’s Maddy’s fault, remember?!”

“I know!!” Lan sobbed, shutting his eyes. “Why didn’t I put her down when I had the chance?! She took people hostage and robbed them and almost killed them!! I-I thought…! And what if Mayl dies?!”

[BGM: Reform, Mega Man Legends]

“Oh, Lan…” The blue Navi checked on a certain function within his PET, seeing his heart rate increase up to 150 beats per minute. “Lan, I need you to take deep breaths. Remember, in and out.”

“I-I…” Mega’s operator stammered as he paced himself, bringing both hands to his face. “Oh, why…? Just… why?”

“She only did her job. We forget about the consequences and that we’re still just kids. But she’ll live.”

“…Redd’s right. It is my fault.”

“What? No…”

“I-I’m still responsible,” Lan stood up, wiping his tears. “As her partner, that is…”

“Lan…” Mega sighed, unhappy with his mood, even though it was better than letting his heart rate go above normal.

“But they won’t get away with this…” Lan murmured to himself, “There won’t be a WWW left when I’m done. I’ll make sure of that.”

The poor boy truly believed that he could’ve done something different, but he only hurt himself taking the burden. His ruthless side reared its head today and it was no longer about stopping the chaos that comes. Ending the WWW became an obsession. An unhealthy desire to make the criminals pay with all means. And if Lan didn’t toss that idea of revenge aside soon, it would get him and anyone else killed.

CHAPTER 16 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Ripley Marduk, MythMan, Reddington Bluemann, the Crosbys, and Celes Tina © HatOnFire/Me

01001000 01010101 01000010

“Once again, Madd,” Wily hissed, displeased with Ms. Madd. “You leave a trail for the police to follow. Now they will never stop looking for us, even if it takes them a long time!” It had been several hours after the attack when Wily had his agent brought in for a reprimand. He has been lecturing her on consequences for attacking civilians in such a manner.

“But I got you the money!!” Maddy protested, “You said that you didn’t care how I got it!!”

“Silence!!” the leader shouted, “Wanton destruction will only deter us! But… you’ve played your part. Leave now.” The woman did so as quickly as possible. Grumbling, Wily turned to the large screen behind him. “All we get are anarchists and criminals to our side,” he murmured, “No matter. We should still succeed regardless.”

“If you need more manpower,” Yahoot questioned, “Why not use the Reeducation Program again?”

“I want anyone who joins me to do so of their own volition,” Wily glowered at him, “I only allowed you to send men to brainwash Higsby for a distraction. And we saw how that ended!”

“Yet you had no problems coercing former Governor Crosby and Dr. Froid for the Waterworks operation,” The right hand man pointed out.

“We had to gain Dr. Froid’s cooperation through whatever means necessary,” Wily rationalized, “In addition to that, this taught Mrs. Crosby that I haven’t forgotten about her betrayal. It would be a shame to ruin her long marriage with a scandal.” There was a pause between master and servant, only filled in by taps on the keyboard, until... “Everyone is afraid of us,” Wily broke the silence, “No thanks to Ms. Madd, StoneMan, or the Professor. Even so, the ends will justify the means. They must.”

“Your methods to achieve our goals are not good enough, sir.”

Wily slowly shifted his attention back to Yahoot when he made that bold claim. “I’m doing the best I can, Yahoot,” he said calmly, even though the corner of his mouth twitched. “Recent events are, however, forcing me to make alterations.”

“Ms. Madd’s attack has given us an edge, ironically enough.”

“Are you referring to when her bomb incapacitated Mayl Sakurai?”

“Yes,” Yahoot nodded with his hands clasped together, like he was in prayer. “We could gain traction from her temporary removal. And if Lan Hikari were disposed of…”

“No!” Wily slammed his skull-headed cane on the table, proceeding to declare another order. “Let our agent handle the next phase. Your place are here.”

“Choosing not to take our enemies down when the opportunity arises would be foolish, Lord Wily,” Yahoot countered.

“What’s foolish is to cause injury to others when we only seek the Super Programs,” the leader responded, “and my agent will succeed in that regard. Leave now.”

“Yes, Lord Wily,” As the right hand man exited, his leader went back to work, imputing data and pulling up schematics for a device that resembles a man-sized vacuum chamber.

“Now that I have successfully recreated it, it’s time to make the necessary alterations…” Wily grinned, pressing his fingertips against each other. “Unlike any of SciLab’s last projects, this will ensure I have mastery over the minuscule environment. How ironic it is to use his son’s invention to destroy all of Dr. Hikari’s hard work...”

01001101 01000101 01000111 01000001 01001101 01000001 01001110

It was six days after that terrible incident… That day Maddy Iroaya attacked. Several people came close to losing their lives. Miraculously, we saved all of them, but Mayl… When we got to Den Town Central Hospital, we heard from the doctor overseeing Mayl. Her head injury did not result in death, thank goodness for that. It was a coma, and she could recover with time.

Redd was a total mess, anxiously waiting for the girl he adopted to wake up. He spent most of his time either there, or rigorously investigating people suspected of working with WWW, which was hard since Ms. Madd’s PET was broken by Lan in a fit of rage. He left several messages to us, but Lan wouldn’t hear of any of them. He convinced himself that Redd blamed us for failing to look out for his daughter. He got angry every time I tried to prove otherwise, so I kept it to myself. Ms. Mari gave us her sympathies, and offered to spend one hour a day visiting her. It showed that despite how much we changed, a woman like her never stopped caring for her students. Tory took it hard, and when Lan and I came to visit, he gave us the cold shoulder. Granted, he was more willing to talk to us, but it didn’t go anywhere once it started feeling awkward.

Dex… Well, I felt like nothing was going to improve between us anytime soon. He had a crush on Mayl from the end of elementary to junior high, and while he grew out of that phase, those feelings still lingered in a form of protectiveness. Just as he likely held Lan responsible somewhat, he also blamed himself for allowing this to happen. That’s what I believed. Lan was still shaken up by all of this. After all, he saw Mayl on the ground like that. He even saw the blood seeping from her forehead… Ugh… He clammed up and shuddered just recalling that sight, and so did I. No one should ever have to see something so traumatizing.

“MegaMan?” I blinked from hearing my designated name called, realizing MythMan called me out. He and Roll were sitting across from me at a circular, digital table in the hospital’s public network.

“Oh, I’m sorry, MythMan,” I responded with a sigh at the end, “It’s still so much to take in.”

“I completely understand,” The dragon-like Navi nodded, “For such a thing to occur so suddenly… We should’ve been on guard.”

“Please stop…” Roll gazed off in the distance, dejected and trying not to continuing wallowing in sorrow. “I don’t want to hear any more what-ifs or I should’ve been there comments.”

“A-Apologies,” That didn’t stop MythMan from internally scolding himself for all that happened.

“I still can’t believe you,” Ripley muttered with chagrin, glaring at Lan outside Mayl’s room. “You not only considered it, but you actually tried such an insane idea.”

“It’s no excuse for being angry, I know,” my operator admitted, “But you would want something to be done if you were there, Ripley.”

“Not like that…” our black-haired friend rejected that notion with a quiet whisper, “Not by… killing someone. And not with something meant to be used for good.”

“It came down to how much damage she would’ve caused if she was allowed to continue,” I explained, “That’s why I gave up my will like that. It’s better than allowing there to be more victims.”

“It’s not right…” Roll sighed, “She escapes while Mayl is like this… And if she doesn’t wake up…!”

“No, Mayl will wake up,” Lan claimed, “The doctor said so. Plus, she’s been chasing criminals, too. She won’t let this stop her.”

“That’s right,” I agreed, “And once she’s back, we’re going to track WWW down.”

“But I’m going to make sure you do it right,” Ripley stated, crossing his arms. “After what you almost did, Lan, I can’t say that I believe you can control yourself.”

“I got it, Rip,” Lan rolled his eyes, “I got it.”

“It better not happen again,” Ripley opened his right hand up, which was not only free of bandages, but also held Lan’s Synchro Chip. “Redd confiscated this for a reason. Mr. Famous is under pressure to stop WWW because of this latest attack. And you attempting to take the law into your own hands isn’t helping at all. We’re a team, Lan. Act like a team player, or the consequences will be even worse than getting thrown out.”

“What’s worse than that, at this point?” I spoke up, slightly worried about what these consequences were.

“We would have to inform Mr. Famous’ superiors of Lan’s actions,” MythMan told me, “I’m afraid this would get him arrested and placed in a correctional facility. And the details would be covered up to maintain the secrecy of this operation.”

“W-What…?!” Lan came close to shouting, but he remembered he was in a hospital.

“That’s going too far, isn’t it?” I questioned.

“You have to understand that your juvenile record made you a wild card,” Ripley frowned, “Mr. Famous wasn’t completely willing to take you in because of that. I talked him into it, but you know you can’t be doing things like that.”

“Thanks, Ripley,” My operator gratefully took the chip off his hands.

“Just don’t let your emotions get the better of you,” Rip advised, “I don’t want you to go down like this.”

Having nothing else to add, he started to leave the hospital to go back to work, jacking MythMan out. He got on the elevator, just as Dex came out of it. “Ripley,” he greeted him, gaining a quiet nod from the nearly sleep-deprived boy in return.

“Hey, Dex…” Lan sadly smiled.

“Stopped by to check,” The big guy rubbed the back of his head, “How are you holding up?

“What do you think?” Lan shrugged, “Just wishing it were me instead.”

“Lan, don’t!” I disapproved of him saying such things, “Don’t talk like that!”

“What else can I do?” He looked to the ground, still ashamed of himself. “I couldn’t stop her from escaping. You were there with me, MegaMan…”

“Never mind that…” Dex shook his head, “It was too much to hope for, but I’m sure you tried your hardest. There’s nothing we can do for Mayl, except wait.”

“Dex, I’m so sorry…” Lan trailed off, unsure of what to add other than those words.

“Don’t bother apologizing,” the larger young man sighed, “You can’t change these things.” Lan wasn’t assured by Dex’s calm tone of voice, not when he detected some lingering feelings of resentment. “I felt so useless when you lost Hub,” he sadly reflected on the past, “I felt even worse when you slapped my hand away. Since then, you’ve distanced yourself so you couldn’t focus on the pain. I only let you cope like that because you were so stubborn.” He shifted his eyes to his former friend, lamenting all the while. “…I wish I didn’t stop trying. Things would’ve different between us.”

“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” Lan clenched his fists, “None of this was.”

“Like it or not,” GutsMan crossed his arms in thought, speaking from Dex’s PET. “You two kinda need each other. It’s hard on everyone, I know. But none of you can just curl up and hide. You’re not like Navis who can just bottle up their emotions.”

“Well said, GutsMan…” I concurred, in spite of my surprise. I forgot that Navi could be really thoughtful sometimes.

“It’s not like I expect you to just tell me everything bothering you and what you’re mad about,” Dex made that much clear, “I just don’t want you to keep thinking like you’re the only one suffering.”

“All the same, thanks…” Lan showed some gratitude, “I’m still going to do my part in any way I can. So... I should be going.”

“Before you go, is there somewhere private we could meet up sometime?” Dex questioned.

“What for?” Lan wondered.

“Well, I don’t want to get you in trouble since you don’t have a NetBattler’s license. And blowing off some steam would be good for both of us.”

“You’re challenging me?” My operator was surprised, for sure, but a challenge to a NetBattle gave him a little twinkle in his eye. “Even though I school you in it over and over?”

“I guess I haven’t changed too much,” The large boy with rhino horn hair shrugged with a little smile, “and I haven’t moved on as much as I claimed I have…”

“Sometime soon, I’ll be there,” Lan smirked, agreeing to clear his calendar. “Practice makes perfect, right? I’ll see you later.”

“We’ll trounce you, MegaMan,” GutsMan pointed at me and made a bang gesture with the index finger, “and you’ll see that this gutsy challenge is no joke!”

“Thanks for visiting, Mega,” Roll beamed.

“Of course,” I replied to them, “and I’ll be ready, GutsMan.”

When I jacked out and came back to my PET, I starting thinking about the things that happened long before the WWW existed. Tolerating Lan these past few years was challenging, and it showed. He could’ve reflected on his emotions and taken a few breathers, but he didn’t. Instead, he obsessed over the crime in our town. While it was justified due to several friends being victimized by it, I never approved of how he was handling it. Dex was right about how he was intentionally distracting himself so he wouldn’t have to dwell on anything. Even I allowed him to go this far because I thought an outlet was good for him. But everything that was black and white turned gray quickly when Lan engaged in vigilante activities and fought with street criminals with his own definition of justice. Unfortunately, this time wasn’t too different from all the other times.

“Ripley is right, you know,” I told him as we came back to ACDC Town, “You have to keep this under control.”

“I will, Mega,” Lan reacted, “I may be angry, but I can focus it into stopping them.”

“Directing your anger at the WWW isn’t going to cut it,” I said, “I know what you’ll do the second you lose it.”

“They’re evil criminals who hurt people,” Lan didn’t hide his little scowl, “I’m not going to apologize for what almost happened. Why should I act like they need help?”

“On one hand, you never know,” I had to admit that, “but on the other, look at Mr. Match. He was disturbed by StoneMan’s disregard for life.”

“Doesn’t give him a pass to burn houses or let FireMan try and harm Mom.”

“It didn’t look like he was in control, though…” I pointed out.

“Still defending criminals that harm our Mom? Are you that stupid?”

“I’m not defending anything they do!”

“Lan…” the ACDC High School teacher, Ms. Tina, called for him, interrupting our conversation. She approached him with a forlorn look.

“Ms. Tina,” Lan rubbed his arm, “I didn’t know you were there.”

“I heard about what happened,” She sadly remembered the news, “and you and Dex were there… I’m so sorry.”

“Me too… Listen, I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Not right now, I know,” Ms. Tina understood him, “but soon. I recommend it.”

“Like GutsMan earlier, she’s right,” I nodded, “Maybe now’s a good time for it.”

“Thanks, Ms. Tina, but I’m good,” Lan denied the offer, “Well, not exactly, but I’m okay. Really.”

“Lan, you can’t fool me,” Ms. Tina grew a little serious, “How you’re acting now was how you acted back in that detention center.”

My operator sighed, forced to remember that time from a few months ago. He lashed out at a con man who stole personal information from people, including his mother. That got his City NetBattler license pulled and earned him a stay in Juvenile Detention. In hindsight, how he was when all was said and done is almost the same as now. Only now, there was a little more gloom. “I guess so…” Lan agreed, “I saw her, you know. The woman who hurt Mayl.”

“Yeah, I know,” Ms. Tina adjusted her black cat eye glasses with a finger, “Then some sort of blue figure fought her. I can’t believe that such people with powers exist, but…”

Right, Lan thought, People saw our fight. Well, at least that secret’s safe. For now… “I couldn’t do anything to stop her, you know,” he spoke up, subtly telling the truth. “And if I had my way, she wouldn’t have gotten far at all.”

“Perhaps it was better that you didn’t,” Ms. Tina pondered that thought, “I know you’re a good kid, but you could’ve gotten hurt or worse.”

“Did you know that woman kidnapped Tory to blackmail his father last month?” Lan asked, “Did you know she challenged me to stop the bus that Mayl was on? She mocked me when Mayl got that injury and said that we were like background characters to her.”

“Oh my…” the teacher gasped, “I’m sorry, Lan. It’s no wonder that you’re so angry with her.”

“I know it’s a bad thing to think about, but I wish she was gone. I wish I could’ve done her in myself.”

“That’s the kind of thing that’ll get you put away!” I scolded him again, “Do you want to make everyone unhappy like that?!”

“It’s not a crime to speak your mind, remember?” Lan grew a little bitter when he kept talking, “I’m sorry you don’t like the idea, but I’m not sorry for wanting it, even if it’s wrong.”

“To have that much anger to conceal your sadness…” Ms. Tina stared at him in discontent, “Have you talked to anyone about your issues?”

“I don’t feel like talking,” Lan muttered, “but I’ll be meeting Dex later. I guess we will be doing something like that.”

“You have to understand, Ms. Tina,” I announced, “Lan and counseling don’t really mix.”

“It’s like you’re put under a microscope and someone’s recording everything you do. To me, it’s an invasion of privacy.”

“I understand,” Ms. Tina decided it was time to leave, “but as long as you’re getting help, that’s good enough for me. My door’s always open. Remember that, Lan.”

“I will…” Lan rubbed the back of his head, “Um, thanks for your time.”

“Just keep hanging in there,” a final few words of encouragement were said and the teacher walked away.

“You could use some counseling, Lan,” I felt I had to say that, despite any potential repercussions that could come from suggesting the idea.

“It’s not that I don’t want help, Hub,” He walked over to the park, resting against a tree. “I just can’t accept any of it. I might say something that’ll inconvenience you. I mean, what if I’m asked questions about you or why I’m really so tough on criminals and doing my own patrols?”

“You say that you can’t stand injustice,” I replied, “It’s why you are who you are.”

“We both know that’s only a half-truth,” Lan sighed, gently letting the PET rest on the grass. “It’s because of what happened to you.”

“Not this again, Lan. It’s ridiculous.”

“It’s the biggest reason why you became a Navi and you call it ridiculous?”

“How many times do I have to say it?” I was getting tired of this discussion already, “My pacemaker malfunctioned, and because of overexcitement, I almost died.”

“And I said that if it malfunctioned,” Lan argued, “it’s because someone sabotaged it!”

“Keep your voice down!” I tried shushing him with a finger to my lips, “What if someone overhears?!”

Well, now that the topic was out in the open, let me share this secret: Hub Hikari is not dead. I know that to be true because I am Hub. I’ve been alive all this time, and besides my family, the only other people who knew this were Mr. Famous and another man.

Yes, Lan knew too. He just had to pretend I was gone, which wasn’t so hard because I was, in a sense. I suffered from HBD, a rare hereditary disease that affects the heart and has no known cure. There’s a special pacemaker designed to stabilize my heart whenever my emotions cause my heart rate to increase. The day my pacemaker somehow failed happened at a field trip to SciLab, close to the end of fifth grade. It was so bad that I would’ve been a goner before any ambulance would’ve arrived. Luckily, my dad quickly thought up something.  He used a huge, one of a kind device. It was strange and crazy, but it saved my life, and how. I’m not even sure how this was conceived, but I’m sure there’s a story on how this device was made. All I know is that it converted me from a human into a digitized being, just like a NetNavi.

But I couldn’t go back to who I was. The device that changed my molecular structure malfunctioned and was beyond repair. The board deemed the project a failure and the staff was forced to take it apart. My dad couldn’t stop it, and if anyone knew the truth, I probably would’ve become a weapon. I would never see my family again. That’s why Dad had to keep my transformation a secret, even if it meant I’d be stuck like this forever. To do that, a cover story was made: I spent my final day alive at SciLab, working with my father like I had dreamed. My pacemaker malfunctioned and it was too late to get help. Everyone bought it like we hoped, although the media blew it out of proportion, calling it the SciLab Trip Tragedy.

Mom had trouble living with this situation, and Dad buried himself in work trying to find another way to undo this. Even though they still talked, they were estranged, and Lan was fine with that. He wouldn’t say it out loud, but I think he had some resentment toward Dad because of that day, and then, a misunderstanding happened. Lan wouldn’t listen when I tried explaining that to him, and as he quit asking to see Dad, he stopped coming home when he was contracted to improve cyber security at the government’s request. On top of that, Lan convinced himself that someone caused my pacemaker to quit working, somehow. It was just some stupid fantasy he made up just to give himself a sense of purpose, so he could devote himself to his extracurricular activities.

“You keep saying something so crazy, you’ve actually started to believe it?” I growled, “We’ve been over this, brother.”

“Don’t play the older brother card with me,” Lan glared back at me, “You were only born five minutes after me.”

“Look, it’ll be healthier for you if you wake up, Lan. This was an accident, nothing more.”

“Even tiny, wireless devices could be hacked into,” he persisted, “You didn’t forget that’s possible, did you?”

“That doesn’t mean it happened,” I countered, “and why are we still bringing this up?”

“Because pacemakers don’t typically malfunction!”

“You keep embarrassing yourself by talking about nonsensical things.”

“This coming from someone who believes in ghosts?” Lan retorted with a smug expression.

“That’s a low blow,” I felt like I got cut by those words, “but it doesn’t matter. There’s nothing you can do.”

“You could be right, Hub,” Lan conceded, “But at least things are easy for you now…”

“Easy?” I repeated, “What do you mean by easy? Nothing was ever easy for me!”

“Well, you’re a Navi,” Lan stated, “You don’t have to worry about your heart giving out. You could live on even if the whole world started falling apart, I think.”

“Not true, Lan. I’m not invincible.”

“In any case… If Dad was as smart as everyone said he was, you wouldn’t still be stuck in the Cyberworld…”

“That’s not a nice thing to say about him!!” If there was one thing I never approved about Lan, it’s unjustly blaming our father for something beyond his control. “He did all he could!”

“It’s not enough!!” Lan seethed, “Nothing he does is good enough and you know it!”

“You can’t hold him accountable over that! He’s our father! He’s only human!!”

*BEEP!!* *BEEP!!*

I stopped to hear a message pop up in the PET, and the subject kept my attention on it. If it didn’t, lots of unpleasant things would’ve been exchanged between us. “SciLab?” I opened the message, seeing the text on a small, clear board that I held with my hands.

“News for an unveiling of SciLab projects,” Lan summarized it on his end, “It says that they’re going to sign off on a deal with IPC Inc. to create a new line of PETs and electronics. Family members of workers from SciLab and IPC are invited to an exclusive dinner at the Government Complex tonight.”

“Hmm…” I mulled over this information for a while, then I thought of something. “Hey, let me check the Spam folder.”

“What are you doing, Hub?” Lan asked.

“Hold on a second,” I told him, looking for a specific message in the folder. I found it and opened it up.

“Dad?” Lan whispered, gazing at the sender’s name. Meanwhile, I read the e-mail.

My two boys,

How have you been? It’s been a while since I saw you. I’ve heard from Mr. Famous that you’re helping him out. I’m aware that it’s dangerous, but you’re always going on your own, so I can’t stop you. Not that I could ever try.

I know it’s out of the blue, but I’ve put both you and your mother’s names on the RSVP list. I’m… I’m hoping that you both could come to the complex. I’ll be letting your mother know as well. Lan, I know that you may not want to see me after all this time, but… Could you please come by? I miss you. You, Hub, and Haruka.

Sincerely, Your Father

PS, It is semi-formal, so have some nice clothes on before you come to the Government Complex.

PPS, There’ll be someone who’ll take you to the restaurant below the Office Lobby, which is adjacent to the Waterworks Lobby.

“That’s perfect,” I spoke up, having an idea come to mind. “After everything, it’d be good for us to go there.”

“A restaurant thirty floors under the building?” Lan sighed, “And he wants us to come like nothing happened?”

“Lan, you can’t keep pretending he doesn’t exist,” I chided him, “or keep holding that against him. He would never separate us.”

“We saw the e-mail,” Lan added, “He said he’d come back eventually, but he never did. And why would he want to see a son who’s become a delinquent?”

“Listen, Lan,” I kept going, hoping to convince him. “I got by being stuck as a Navi because I believed that you, Mom, and Dad still love me, no matter what. And Dad being unable to see us isn’t his fault. It’s his work. Making sure that everything goes well means everything to him. Just as we do to him.”

“You still think that, huh?”

“If you don’t want to go, fine. But please do it because I want to see him again.” My operator hardened his facial expression, making him hard to read. “Why did I think you’d ever let me be happy?” I grumbled, “I’m not really human anymore. I’m just a tool, so why should you care?”

“…7:00 PM is two hours and forty minutes away,” Lan uttered, “I’m not sure if Mom would want to come, but I’ll ask.”

“You mean it?” I questioned, unsure if he was being sincere. Honestly, this was the first time he was considering such a thing.

“We’ll see him if you want to,” he answered, “but I’m only going there because of that. And I hate to admit it, but we may need his help. The WWW’s too much to handle.”

“…Thanks, Lan,” I took what I could get from him.

Lan nodded as he placed the PET back in his pocket. “I still want revenge for Mayl, you know,” he added, “but I’ll settle with crippling WWW where it hurts. With help.”

“That’s all any of us want.”

“Now, what do I do in the way of clothes?” he thought out loud, “And what about shoes?”

“I’ll pull up a list of tailor shops close to home…” I got to work helping Lan in that regard, flipping through search results.

I was under the impression that this night would be a good chance for Lan to take his mind off the WWW and set things right at home. But how could you set anything right when you have a stubborn brother? Furthermore, how could you go about avoiding trouble when it always lurks behind you and threatens to take away everything you care about?

We wouldn’t avoid the WWW’s next daring and personal attack. We wouldn’t even get the chance to brace for the fallout that would come.

CHAPTER 17 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Ripley Marduk © HatOnFire/Me

01001101 01001101 01000010 01001110

A long drone escaped from the machine as it powered up, nearly ready to engage. With all the components running at their peak, Wily waited for the auto program to start. He had been biding his time, gathering what was needed for that device used so long ago. Yuichiro Hikari had created it after he witnessed a strange phenomenon, believing a physical link to the digital world could be established. This led him to a project that would convert real world objects into electronic data to send into the Cyberworld. It was dubbed the Pulse Transmission System Mark II. This was meant to be a successor to the scrapped Pulse Transmission System, which could transmit human brainwaves and allow a user to interact with the Cyberworld, but had too many risks to consider. The key to its potential lies in EM waves, which was the cause of that phenomenon. The details to it were classified, probably because no one would believe him if he reported that scene. Another problem with his theory: waves from electromagnetic fields could only be emitted, not controlled.

However, what he saw was possible, so through trial and error, he would create a generator that could emit EM waves and utilize a computer-operated machine to tap into that field. It had taken him over two years, but he did it. He started with converting a paper clip into data, and he managed to send it into the Cyberworld. He moved on to a sticky note, a pencil, a baseball, a laptop, and a bed. All trials were successful, in spite of a few hiccups. Then, the time would come to test if a human could be sent in through such a way. But like the Mark I, the same risks still remained. Not only did no one want to volunteer to make that step, but a terrible incident happened at SciLab, one where a son of Dr. Hikari’s was lost. The project was postponed forever until Wily retrieved the blueprints for it. He believed that a human could survive the process at the expense of having a permanently altered body composed of EM waves. That would, however, result in the human being forced into an electronic device, as there’s no way to determine if such a body could exist in the world.

“Weak, am I?” Wily growled, adjusting his gloves. He was wearing a radiation hazmat suit to protect him from the radiation that would be unleashed upon him. “No one will ever say that about me again.”

“PREPARATIONS COMPLETE,” a computerized voice reverberated in the machine, “COMMENCING ELECTROMAGNETIC ALTERATION PROCESS.”

“Finally,” he mumbled, “Computer, begin increasing power output by 60%.”

“WARNING,” the computer advised, “SUDDEN INCREASE IN ELECTROMAGNETIC GENERATION COULD RESULT IN PERMANENT BODILY DAMAGE TO SUBJECT OR PERMANENT DAMAGE TO PULSE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM.”

“Noted, but ignored!” Wily impatiently shouted, “Increase by 60% now!”

On command, the computer forcibly raised the power, disregarding a timely process that could’ve safely given what he wanted. The EM waves poured out through a hexagonal prism on the ceiling of the camber, in the form of multiple, bright colors. As light covered him, it started to dance around him in a spiral. Somehow, the machine was manipulating the waves to completely envelop him.

Just then, the energy level started fluctuating, causing the chamber to grow hot, compounded by EM radiation generating from inside.

“MALFUNCTION DETECTED,” the computer informed, “ELECTROMAGNETIC GENERATION IS CAUSING ALTERATIONS IN THE MACHINE. POWER OUTPUT IS INCREASING, OVERRIDING CURRENT FAIL-SAFES. ABORT, LORD WILY.”

“I will not!!” Wily declared in delirium, “I’m feeling something from this! It’s not just heat from the light! There’s a change in my molecular structure!” A component of the machine short-circuited from the inside, and that caused the prism emitting the light spectrum to overheat. “Urk…!” Wily gasped, getting down on his hands and knees. Even with a hazard suit on, he was perspiring. His suit of plastic polymer couldn't resist the dancing beams. Even worse, Wily actually removed his helmet and tossed it to the floor, exposing himself to the elements! “If he could survive this…!” The leader attempted to get up, not that it did a lot of good. “So can I! I can… I…”

“L-Lord Wily!!” Yahoot shouted, arriving in time to force the machine to stop. Once it did, he siphoned the EM waves back to where they came from, yet the radiation would still linger in the chamber.

“UGH!!” Wily gasped, collapsing to the floor.

“Wait right there, Lord Wily!” Yahoot pleaded, “I’ll activate the decontamination drones!” He ran over to a secondary computer to bring a small group of robots to life, giving them commands from there. While he felt Wily wasn’t doing such a good job as leader, there was no one else who could command the WWW like he could.

01001100 01000001 01001110

[BGM: Hometown, Mega Man Battle Network]

“So, what do you think of your new clothes, Lan?”

“I think I look like part of a barbershop quartet.” Upon seeing myself in the mirror, I felt ridiculous. I was wearing an orange suit vest over a white collared shirt, with its sleeves rolled up to my forearms. It came with black dress shoes and gray pants. A black tie could’ve gone with it, but I left it out on purpose.

“A tie would make the outfit complete,” Mega observed.

“It’s a choking device waiting to happen,” I denied the notion of wearing one, “You asked me to go to dinner, but you don’t decide what I wear.”

“Okay, relax,” Mega calmly told me, “It’s not like you must wear black.”

This was a good suit, so I decided to buy it at the full price. The tie still came with it, but no matter, I just stuffed it into my pocket as I walked out. “The Metroline is just around the corner,” I noted, “So we could just take that.”                      

“And get your new clothes ruined?” MegaMan questioned, “No way.”

A car’s horn honked quickly, getting my attention. It was Mom, waving at me and gesturing for me to come over. I did so. “We’ll be driving over there,” she said, “Come on in.” She was wearing a light blue dress that exposed her arms and shoulders with brown shoes. There was also a small beige scarf tied around her neck and she had red lips.

“Uh, okay…” I got in despite my hesitation. I haven’t gotten over that time where I was stuck in a van driven around by StoneMan, and I wasn’t ever going to forget that day… That terrible day…

“I wonder who else will be attending,” Mega kept me from dwelling more on that incident, “Chaud’s father owns IPC Inc., but whether Chaud will be there or not, I can’t say.”

“What about Mr. Famous or Ripley?” I added, “Aren’t they part of the unveiling?”

“They should be, but I don’t think they’ll come,” Mega thought aloud, “there’s too much work for them to do.”

“Of course…” Who could blame them if they didn’t show up? As part of the Anti-WWW team, there was no time for parties or extravagant dinners.

“I am surprised, to say the least,” Mom noticed, “I never thought you would want to see your father again.”

“W-Well, I…” I still don’t, but I didn’t want to say that, or else Mom would go on some sort of tangent of how I should get over it.

“I wanted to go,” my Navi-slash-brother piped up, “I wanted to see him.”

“If you wanted to come, Hub, we both could have done just that,” Mom pointed out, “But why did you agree to this, Lan?”

“I’m only going because he wants to,” I stated, “that’s all.”

“It’ll be fine, Lan,” Mega… No, Hub tried to convince me as such, “and who knows? Maybe you’ll finally find out why he couldn’t come home.”

“I’m not sure I want to find out…” After saying that, I grew quiet for the rest of the trip, staring out the window and letting my thoughts wander. At this point in remembering everything I did, the truth must’ve come out about Hub. I should apologize for going along with the deception, but I couldn’t do that. It would’ve been better if no one knew about this, but we can’t have everything.

Getting back on topic, we got to the Government Complex after driving for 30 minutes. The indoor parking lot wasn’t so full of cars, but there were still plenty of filled spaces at this event. No surprise there, since this event was a big deal. There were even news crews here, talking about the eventual unveiling and disclosure of SciLab projects to the public. Once we drove up, a valet came up to us and offered to park our car. Apparently, because of our relation to Dad, we were getting some VIP treatment. We got out and went over to the elevators, heading up to the rooftop park above, and entered the lobby from there.

“Ah, Dr. Hikari’s family, yes?” a man called out.

“That’s right,” Mom responded, “We’re here for dinner.”

“Very good, madam,” The man checked the registry on a computer tablet, “Proceed to the hallway on your right, and you’ll be in the office lobby. Take the elevator to the restaurant on the 33rd basement floor. For tonight, it’s authorized to do that.”

“Thank you,” Mom gratefully nodded, and we followed the hallway to the elevator. Side note, the underground Power Plant I previously mentioned is right under the restaurant. And yes, I still thought it was a bad idea for those things to be next to each other, but I digress.

“Good, good,” a man muttered, strumming his electric guitar. It wasn’t attached to an amplifier, so it sounded like any guitar would when played.

This man had a brownish and olive-green suit with yellow lines on his lapels and on the edge of his jacket, along with yellow buttons on the jacket’s torso, his sleeves, and one on each shoulder. He wore pants matching the color of his suit, and yellow lines circled his pant legs. Even his dark brown shoes had a yellow button on them, with yellow wrapping around the shoes. All those yellow parts glowed bright like light bulbs. Under his suit was a white dress shirt with long sleeves and a red bow tie, along with a silver wristwatch that had a lid over the clock. On that lid was an emblem, depicting a white thunderbolt in a black space. He had bright yellow headphones covering his ears, dark gold on the rims and glowing with the rest of his suit. His blond hair was split into two points protruding from his sides while exposing his forehead, and like my brother, four points of hair stuck out from the back of his head. His eyebrows were arched like a typical thunderbolt, and he had blue eyes. 

This man was Count Jack Zap. A former rock and roll guitarist for a band, he worked as an electrical engineer until he became a member of the SciLab Board. He still performed from time to time, though.

“Ah, Dr. Hikari’s wife, yes?” he piped up, smiling with his standard charisma.

“Count Zap,” Mom reached her hand out, expecting a handshake. “It's been a while.”

“We’re friends, madam,” The count gladly shook it gently, “Call me Jack.”

“Hey, Count,” I raised my voice so I couldn’t be ignored.

“Ah, Yuichiro’s son!” He finally noticed me, making a manic grin. “It’s so good to see you!”

“Sure,” I waved with a smile, successfully hiding my discomfort. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t hate the guy, but something about him made me feel uneasy.

“Madam Haruka, could we catch up?” Zap looked at his watch, “I’ve got some time before I need to be downstairs for the opening act.”

“Oh, you’re performing tonight?” Mom blinked, “I didn’t know that.”

“The rock and roll spirit in me is calling once more,” the count dramatically boasted, “It demands to be awakened tonight. So, I must satisfy it with yet another performance!”

“You always have a flair for the dramatic,” Mom chuckled.

“Also, I’m selected to be the host. Might as well showcase my additional talent, right?”

I decided they would take a while to go to the elevators, moving on ahead. I got inside the elevator, but then, as if on cue, he showed up. Oh boy, I thought, this’ll be awkward.

I saw Chaud getting in with me, wearing a jacket that was half red and black over a pure white vest and black dress shirt, with pants matching the jacket’s half and half colors. His dress shoes were also white, just like his necktie and the top of his hair.

“Well, your appearance here is certainly surprising,” Chaud spoke up, “I never thought you would arrive.”

“I wasn’t planning on coming here,” I clarified.

“Then why come here?” Chaud pondered.

“Do you care?”

“No.”

We stopped talking for a few seconds, but… Well, it was better to get this taken care of.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help you,” he apologized before I could, not letting his voice go soft even once. “I hope Mayl gets well soon.”

“Uh… thanks,” I nodded, hoping this was good enough for a reply.

“You want revenge for her, and I understand that. That said, I can’t condone your intentions for any WWW associate. If I catch you breaking the law in pursuit of revenge, I’ll be forced to arrest you, and the police will oblige my authority.”

“Okay, fine,” I mumbled, hearing the doors open to the chime of a bell sound. Before Chaud left, he said this, “By the way, now that I can properly say this: I’m sorry for bringing your dead mother into our last argument.”

Chaud looked at me and just… stared. His expression didn’t show much, and I had no way of knowing or telling what he thought of that. “Just enjoy the dinner and stay out of my way,” he finally told me and walked away.

“And you wonder why you don’t make many friends,” Hub cracked with a sigh and a face that said almost said, “gimme a break.”

“Is it too late to trade places with you?” I blew air out of my mouth, only mildly inconvenienced.

[BGM: Alouette March in Resonance, ROCKMAN ZERO COLLECTION SOUNDTRACK - résonnant vie -]

We got inside the restaurant, and I took in the wide space. The floor had checkered tiles of light tan and pale green colors, tables covered by white tablecloths and signature dishes stood above it. To my right, there was a stage displaying a new line of PETs made from recycled plastic. Things like milk cartons and used aluminum cans were on the left while the PETs were in glass cases. Above the stage was an additional level that had pink and white streamers on the green walls, and a widescreen monitor just below the balcony on top. “Guess that’s where Count Zap will be,” I muttered.

On my left was a glass wall for the whole restaurant. No, seriously, they actually had a GLASS WALL, and you could see the underwater generators for the Power Plant below. This was a big design flaw to me, but the glass was layered with tempered glass, designed to withstand any object. “It’s so unnecessary to have this here,” I just shook my head, “I don’t need to see how an installation works when I just want to eat food.”

“Well, I think the view is nice,” Hub disagreed somewhat, “If you pretend that you’re looking at a huge fish tank…”

“Lan?” When my name was called, I turned my head to see who said it.

It was a girl around five feet tall with brown eyes and blonde hair tied into two long braided pigtails, though she had a few bangs covering part of her forehead. Her lips were pink and she had a silver locket around her neck. She also had a scarlet dress that had three white diamond shapes on her left hip, full length white gloves that went up to her biceps, and chic red sandals that matched her dress.

“Yai?” I recognized this girl almost instantly. She is Yai Ayanokoji, someone I knew from so long ago. There weren’t many girls who braid their hair like they did in grade school.

“It is you!” She beamed, “Well, what are you doing here?”

“Just waiting for someone,” I explained with a grin, “What about you?”

“My father’s thinking about getting involved with SciLab,” Yai replied, “He’s chatting with some really smart guys right now. Is Mayl here, too?”

My grin dropped when she got mentioned. I didn’t want to say anything about that if Yai didn't know, so… “Mayl’s not with me right now…” I finally whispered. It was the truth, so it’s not technically a lie, but I didn’t want to talk about it, let alone break Yai’s spirit. Her birthday’s around the corner…

“Ooh, did you have a fight?” Yai questioned, “Well, when this is over with, I can help you get some flowers.”

“That will not help.”

“Sure it will,” she insisted, “Flowers are a sign of sincerity.”

“I think Mayl would know when Lan is being sincere,” MegaMan interrupted, “It’s great to hear your voice again, Yai.”

“Hello, MegaMan,” Yai greeted.

“Good to hear from you again, MegaMan,” a voice from Yai’s PET chimed in.

Inside that PET was a moderately tall Navi with an unusual helmet resembling a medieval great helm, minus its mouth guard. The helmet’s front was yellow, with a green gem above where a visor would be, and brown everywhere else. On its sides was his Navi emblem, a yellow-orange ring surrounding a red diamond with two golden yellow triangles and an orange semicircle at the bottom, stacked like a pyramid, with a black background.

His face had a line descending from each red eye, his chest plate armor was brown with yellow rings on the neck and arm sections. He had a brown, arrowhead-shaped backpack with two pairs of wings and two gold depressions on the back. His biceps were covered by black armor with gold lines looping at the end of the funnel shapes near his orb-like shoulders. His gloves and boots were brown, large gold circles around his forearms and below his knees. His heels had some yellow on there and there was a red orb on both backs of his hands. His midsection and upper legs were black and his legs had a stretched white hexagon on both of them, divided by the boots’ circles, while half of the long hexagon was visible below his chest plate.

“Glyde!” MegaMan called his name, identifying him as Yai’s Navi, digital butler, and personal servant. Really, who comes up with these complicated Navi designs? “How have you been?”

“Well, actually,” Glyde replied, “Her fifteenth birthday is coming up and we’re keeping Yai busy.”

“I know that there’s a party in it for me, but the fun part is that I don’t know when it’ll happen,” Yai winked.

“You won’t get any secrets out of me, I’ll tell you that,” I informed her, “I don’t even know when it’ll be, either.”

“No problem,” The young girl knew it wasn’t anything to fuss over, “We’ll just have to see.”

“H-Hello…” yet another voice breathed, quietly and hesitant. It’s been such a long while, I almost forgot what he sounded like… What my dad sounded like.

I was shocked to see him, but not for the reasons you’d think first. He was wearing a dress shirt with a red tie, black pants and dress shoes. His hair was brown and parted to his sides to show his forehead, but what really struck me was his face. His brown eyes showed how tired he was, his eyelids looked droopy, and I could see a few wrinkles on him!

Everyone knows him as Dr. Yuichiro Hikari, while I know him as my father.

“D-Dad…” I gasped under my breath, not wanting to offend him.

“H-Hi there,” my brother uttered, seeing what I saw from inside the PET.

“I’m glad… you came,” Dad sadly smiled.

“Y-Yeah…” I sighed, feeling guilty. He used to come home so exhausted, but I’ve never seen him like this…

“Hello there, Doctor,” Thankfully, Yai kept the reunion up to room temperature.

“Yai Ayanokoji, am I right?” Dad shook her hand, “I’m glad to see you.”

“Charmed, I’m sure,” Yai beamed so sweetly her teeth could almost blind you as much as her forehead used to do.

Count Zap has some competition in the megawatt light bulb department, I thought to myself.

“I’m sorry for not appearing like I should,” Dad said, just as I saw Mom come by and walk to us in silence.

“Yuichiro…” she spoke wistfully.

“Haruka…” Dad breathed out in almost the same manner.

“Is something going on, Lan?” Yai wondered.

“How about we give them some space?” I suggested, ushering Yai away. While she had questions, she didn’t protest.

“I-It’s been quite a while…” Dad smiled at her, “I’m sorry I haven’t come home.”

“I know it’s because of how important your work is, but…” Mom sighed, “Oh, Yuichiro, why? Why didn’t you just come home?”

“I’m almost done with this project,” he whispered, “Once it launches tomorrow, if it goes well, I’ll finally be free of it.”

“But why did you have to work so hard you couldn’t just come back and rest?” Mom questioned, “Was it because of Lan?”

“No, that’s not it at all,” Dad took a breath in, adjusting his glasses with his index finger. “I’m not supposed to talk about this. If I do, Hub won’t be able to stay with us.”

“Yuichiro?” My mother grew a little anxious.

“Dad?” Hub called from our father’s PET, revealing himself to be snooping on our parents. “It’s not just your project, is it?”

“Hub, how long have you been listening?” Dad briefly wondered.

“That project, whatever it is,” Hub continued, “It’s not the only reason you couldn’t come home. You’ve always come home after a few months of work, but you never came back for almost two years. You were forced to stay away, weren’t you?”

“Hub, Haruka, forgive me,” Dad grit his teeth, incapable of hiding his distress. “If I worked nonstop on this project, then she’d delete every trace of information about you becoming MegaMan.”

“What?” Hub nearly choked, “She?”

“I can’t say anymore,” Dad ended the discussion there, “not until it’s taken care of.”

“You’re being blackmailed… That’s why…” Mom cheerlessly stared at the floor, “I almost thought you were going behind my back…”

“You know I’d never betray you, Haruka.”

“I know,” She came close to crying, but she held herself back. “I’m so ashamed to think that you’d cheat on me…”

Hub disconnected the line, giving our parents some privacy. His expression was a mixture of gloom and indignation, building up from that conversation. “Lan, in the hallway, now!” he ordered me impatiently, “I want to talk to you in private!”

“O-Okay,” I replied, not knowing why he wanted to talk with me. “I’ll be back, Yai.”

“I’ll find you if you take too long,” Yai grinned, choosing to be ignorant to my reasons for stepping out.

It only took a few seconds to get out into the hall, free from the big and loud dining area. Everything I’ve done, I did it because I thought it was right. But just when you think you’re right, you’re wrong. I had to admit that I was in the wrong; it hurt to say it, but that was the truth.

“Do you remember that time you had me get into Dad’s e-mail account?” Hub asked me.

“Yeah,” I followed along, “What is this about?”

Hub pulled up an audio file he had just created, a recording of the conversation between him and our parents. He played the most important part by selecting a certain point in the scrollbar. “If I worked nonstop on this project, then she’d delete every trace of information about you becoming MegaMan,” The recording of Dad’s voice repeated.

“What is this?” I was baffled.

“The real reason why Dad never came home,” MegaMan hissed, “Someone blackmailed him to work on something. They know I’m alive.”

“O-Oh…” It became clear to me now, “That means…”

“IT MEANS YOU HATED DAD FOR NOTHING!!” my brother roared, not caring if anyone heard us. Of course, no one was around, but for him to make that outburst…

“H-Hub,” I faltered, “I-I get now. You think he was blackmailed…”

“He was!!” Hub exclaimed, “And you thought nothing but the worst of him!”

“I know,” I confessed, “…and the last time he called, I said something terrible.”

“I hate you!” My guilt rose like bile in my throat as I remembered my final conversation with Dad, “I hope I never see you again!!”

“You pushed him away like everyone else!” My brother grew even more displeased with me, and I sure couldn’t blame him. “He was the only one who was in a position to help me, but you turned your back on him!!”

“Hub…” I tried to say, “I thought he was going to give you up to the government. Just like that. People generally see Navis as objects, not friends.”

“You assumed our father was going to give me to a stranger?!” Hub fired back, “You know he’d never do that to me!! You wasted four years resenting him for what happened to me, and it wasn’t even his fault!”

“I was wrong,” I admitted, filled with shame. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t know how much,” Promptly after that, Hub did something I didn’t think he would do. He actually severed the link between himself and the PET, meaning I couldn’t control his actions.

“What did you do?” I asked, wondering if he was being serious. “Did you cut off the PET link?”

“I want to be alone for a while,” Hub stated, looking hurt. “I can’t stand to be in the PET you hold.”

“Hub…” I uttered, “I’m sorry…”

“Save your apologies for when they matter, brother,” Hub spat, “I wonder why I even defend you from the rest of the world.”

[BGM: Reform, Mega Man Legends]

He left the PET after saying that. Of all the things he could’ve said, that last one was pretty angry, but it was also the most boy-scout, goody-two-shoes sentence I heard him say. That didn’t make it hurt less, though. I was alone in the hallway, and I considered leaving the party altogether. I didn’t want to face Dad to begin with, now I just wanted to disappear and wake up from this bad dream.

“Lan?”

“Hey, Yai…” I looked at her with a sigh.

“You’re missing out on the entertainment,” she told me, “Count Zap is pretty good with his electric guitar.” She was right, since I could hear the performance from here.

“My bro–” I nearly misspoke, correcting myself. “My Navi left me.”

“Oh… what happened?” Yai asked with concern.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Well, would you like to get some food?”

“I’m sorry, Yai,” I apologized to her, “but I’m not hungry. I want to be alone.”

“But…” She didn’t want to leave me, but she knew I was more than a little sour. “Okay. But don’t forget you have a friend here.” Yai walked away, giving me some space. I hated brushing my friends off, but I wasn’t in any mood to be with anyone. Not then and not now.

“What a bad night,” In hindsight, I was a little early in saying that, because the night was only going to get worse for me.

01010111 01010111 01010111

Several minutes ago at the WWW base, Wily was recuperating in a room that resembled an infirmary. He was doing rather well for someone who was exposed to a large sum of EM radiation. He had a laptop on a small table, with the screen displaying a message room between him and one of his agents.

“I’ve prepared for the worst, Lord Wily,” The anonymous agent messaged him, “Once the Electricity Program is ours, I can restore the power like nothing happened.”

“I presume you have a means of self-preservation if you cannot do so?” Wily’s voice was picked up by the built-in microphone, recording his words and transcribing them into a response to send.

“Yes, sir,” A reply followed a few seconds later, “All power will be shut off.”

“Cut the auxiliary power supply, too,” Wily nodded, “and once you get that program, you can keep the power off if you need to.”

“Didn’t you want to avoid violence?”

“Since formulating this plan,” the leader growled, “We only retrieved one of three Super Programs. I’m done with showing restraint. Get aggressive and if you must, spare no one.”

“Why this deviation, my lord?” the agent pondered through another instant message.

“Don’t trouble yourself. Our goals haven’t changed. Now, fulfill your mission.”

The agent broke off communications, and Wily closed his laptop, moving the table so he could get out of bed.

“Take it easy, Lord Wily,” Yahoot instructed, “You need rest.”

“You would like it if I were helpless, wouldn’t you?” Wily narrowed his eyes, “Since you see me as a weak leader.”

“I never saw you as weak,” Yahoot responded to reassure Wily, but he was smacked across the face by the cane with the skull’s head.

“Liar!!” he yelled, “As I suspected, you resented me! You wanted to set an example to those who stood against us, but I was in your way! To you, I could never lead this organization because I only prioritized the programs.”

Rubbing his cheek in slight pain, Yahoot realized in that moment, this wasn’t the man he served under. Unless he was mistaken, something must’ve changed when he undertook that test with the Pulse Transmission System. Or was his demeanor a façade from the start?

“I admit that I felt you were playing it safe too often,” he confessed, masterfully hiding his shock through stoicism. “But I never thought of you as incapable.”

“Do not insult my intelligence!!” the leader began to rant, “You believe me to be weak! Just like that greenhorn prime minister who called my research weak! Like that know-nothing teacher who called my ideas weak!! Like the offspring of Tadashi Hikari who CALLED! ME!! WEAK!!!” When he had finished, the old man seethed, clutching his cane and twitching his left eye. “Tadashi Hikari robbed me of my glory. This… brat stomped on what little pride I had left with his mediocre plans! And they throw a ball to commemorate his lack of creativity!!” Yahoot listened carefully, if only to keep his standing with the leader. “The biggest mockery of all?” Wily seethed, “I was given an invitation to have dinner with the scientific community that spurned me several times for over thirty years, with the guest of honor: Electopia’s favorite son. And this is after I have finally recreated that brat’s machine for myself! My plans for it are so grand that it will make the Internet obsolete!!”

“You are a genius,” Yahoot forced that compliment, however true it was. “It’s surprising they flock to someone with an inferior intellect.”

“Mark my words,” Wily said, “Yuichiro Hikari will be humiliated when his technology works against him. And I will have my revenge at long last. My way.”

The embarrassment he had felt, combined with the envy and hatred he had for the Hikari name, all of that is what drove him to declare war on Net Society, on the society his rival had forged after he was rejected again and again. He claimed a world order under him would be for the better, but recalling his shortcomings showed him for the bitter man he was. That episode with the machine may not have changed Wily as he wanted it, but it did change him.

[BGM: The Chosen One, Mega Man ZX GIGAMIX]

“Then what’s stopping you from taking it? If you only made a suggestion to the operative, why not ask him to dispose of him?”

“Business before pleasure,” Wily silenced him, “Besides, Dr. Hikari will lose everything he cares about once the programs are ours.”

“But what if the agent fails to get the Electricity Program?” Yahoot pondered.

“Then I’ll have to deal with the truth behind the tragedy at the Government Complex’s first SciLab Ball,” he coldly replied, “It is strange how one problem with the city’s power supply can cause so much misery. But we’re not responsible for that.” Initially, he contradicted himself when he appeared to not care. Wily had cared, valuing human life deep down. But he was no longer that hesitant old man he felt himself to be. He knew that, having fully embraced the evil that was in his heart. The Pulse Transmission System truly has enlightened me, he thought. Now I can move on without regret.

“The scientists and business executives attending that ball…” Yahoot proceeded to query, though he was indifferent to what was possibly going to happen. “Aren’t some of them innocent?”

“If Match feels squeamish,” The lord of the WWW deviously smiled, “Tell him they all fed into a corrupt system. His family was worked into their graves because of them, after all. Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh!!

CHAPTER 18 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Ripley Marduk and MythMan © HatOnFire/Me

01001000 01010101 01000010

The dinner guests clapped once the rock ballad ended, with a few cheers thrown in for the performance from Count Zap. They were having a good time, though I wasn’t. I didn’t want to be around Lan right now. “Once again, welcome to dinner, everyone!” Count Zap declared, waving a free hand while holding his bright red guitar. “Allow me to thank you for coming and allowing me to perform for you all!”

I don’t recall father agreeing to let him, of all people, perform with such an unsophisticated instrument, Chaud thought to himself, removing his earplugs and putting them in his pocket.

“Now, let’s allow our esteemed guest, Dr. Yuichiro Hikari, to come onstage and take it away!” The count gestured for Dad to come up with a smile.

*WHIRRRRRR!*

The cheering was short-lived, as the lights were turned off, along with most of the power in the room! All the people were in an uproar.

“What’s this?!” Count Zap yelled, his yellow bulbs acting as the only source of illumination. “This wasn’t supposed to happen!”

“Someone, call security!” Dad ordered one of the waiters, who tried contacting his Navi. However, he couldn’t make the connection.

“What’s going on?!” Yai exclaimed, looking at her PET. “Glyde, the lights are out!”

“Our connection to the network has been severed!” Glyde explained, seeing access has been denied. “I’m not sure that any Navi in the Cyberworld could hear us, never mind jack out!”

“Then MegaMan’s still in there?” Yai whispered, “That’s not good…”

“Lan, please respond,” Glyde began calling him, “Please…”

“Hello?!” Lan shouted, jiggling the door handle of the restaurant’s entrance. “Yai?! Glyde?! The hall’s lights are off and I can’t get inside the room! Stupid electronic locks…”

“Lan, can you contact MegaMan?” Yai questioned, “We can’t get into contact with him! You have to—!” Suddenly, the line on her end went dead, indicated by the dial tone.

“Yai?!” Lan tried to get an answer despite what just happened, “Glyde?!” No good! He thought, slamming his fist on the door. Our calls are being jammed. She can’t contact me now… But…! As he guessed, his PET rang again, this time with Chaud’s number on it. As an Official, Chaud’s PET had been augmented to establish clear signals even with interference. “Chaud!” Lan spoke, “All power’s off! Any idea what could’ve caused it?”

“The Power Plant below us, if I had to guess,” Chaud suggested, walking over to the locked doors. “It’s where the Electricity Program is utilized.”

“Electricity Program?” Lan repeated, “Another powerful program?!”

“Yes,” the boy with white and black hair simply replied, “There’s no mistake. It’s another WWW act.”

“Then I’ll expose the criminal…” My brother looked away for a moment, running to the elevator. “I’ll get you all out as soon as I can!!”

“Don’t go by yourself!” Chaud’s command fell on deaf ears, “We can’t have you taking the law into your own hands again!”

“Well, I’m out here and you’re not. And I’ll control myself.”

Lan hung up and surveyed what was in front of him. The power was off, which meant that he couldn’t take the elevator. Worse still, the stairway was locked down, specifically so no one could get into the Power Plant, meaning no one could go upstairs this way, either. “Unbelievable…” Lan hissed, “This place is a death trap without power.” Just then, it occurred to him that if there was no power, then why would the electric locks on the doors still run? Unless they were using batteries, which meant no one could leave unless the power returned and they could override the lock. “If the locks run on batteries, then what about auxiliary power?” he thought aloud, “Maybe the Complex’s network has a secondary power source via the Power Plant!”

Of course, even if that was the case, he still couldn’t get downstairs or use brute force on the door without entering Cross Fusion. “What a time for MegaMan to be out…” Lan mumbled, not looking forward to having to deal with this himself. “But wait… the trash chute!” He made his way over to a chute, opening the hatch and entering it. “Right,” He recalled the last several times he came to the Complex, shimmying down the space as though it were a chimney. “The Power Plant may run on hydroelectricity, but it sometimes uses thermal energy from waste management! It makes sense why the Complex is always so clean and has a second power supply.”

He managed to get to where he wanted, leaving that tight space behind by kicking a trash chute open. He looked incredibly dirty after the effort, and brushed something odd in there when he got out, but he didn’t really care. The chute was also an incinerator, so it must’ve been big trash.

“Okay, let me find you, MegaMan!” Lan whispered, running down the hall to find a computer to connect with his PET, planning on making me jack out from there.

01001101 01001101 01000010 01001110

Sure enough, I was still in the Complex’s network when the power went out. I was able to jack myself in there earlier when I disconnected my link to Lan’s PET. It was one of the few exclusive abilities that I had at my disposal, which I can do by myself. Anyway, I saw the action through a camera in the room until I lost all visual sight from the blackout. The digital landscape around me also turned dark, startling some of the Navis around me.

“Did a power surge cause this,” I speculated, “or is it because of the Power Plant?” As I started running, hoping to find a computer’s warp point to contact Lan, a bad feeling took me over. If this was another WWW attack, then the chances of Lan doing something drastic were very high. I decided I was going to head for the Power Plant’s Cyberworld, believing the problem to lie there. Once I found the link between the two places, I had a good idea on how messed up it was, seeing as sparks flew out from that green circle on the floor.

“The Power Plant Cyberworld is beyond here,” I confirmed for myself, “It’s going to be a challenge without Lan’s help.”

“What do you think you’re doing?!” A large blue and yellow Navi with Guts Man’s body type marched over to me. “This area is restricted to civilian Navis!”

“Sorry, but I have to do something!” I apologized, stepping on the access point and transmitting myself into the network. It was in the nick of time, too. That access point imploded the second I used it, cutting off the only link between the two networks.

01000101 01001100 01000101 01000011 01001101 01000001 01001110

I landed on a yellow platform with glowing bars and singular antennas sticking out on the sides, emitting white electricity, somewhat brightening the dark and dreary space around me. In the digital sky, lightning flashed every five seconds, striking golden roads with arrows indicating different paths like a maze. Calling this a lightning labyrinth was too on the nose, but that’s what it was.

“I can’t fight all the viruses by myself, so I’ll just have to avoid them.” Initially, that’s what I thought was going to be the case, but luckily…

“Hub?” Lan called my name, appearing before me on a small digital screen. “Oh good, I knew you’d be here.”

“Lan!” I exclaimed, “How did you get to the Power Plant?”

“The trash chute,” Lan brushed off some dust on his vest, “We’re lucky this isn’t a rental.”

“You saw the lights go off, right?” I double-checked with him.

“Obviously,” he replied, “…Look, Hub, I’ve been messing up for years, and I’m sorry for all this.”

“Now’s not a good time,” I hated to put that apology down, but it’s like I just said to him. “We need to work together right now if we’re going to stop this.”

“That’s all I want,” Lan sent me the link to his PET, offering it to me so I could take chips from him again.

“For the record, you should be saying sorry to Dad, not me.”

“I-I understand!” Lan impatiently replied, “Now let’s get to the end of this place! If the auxiliary power is cut off, I think the ventilation systems will fail!”

“Okay,” I readied myself up as my link was reestablished, and with a chime to confirm that, I took off like the lightning in the Cyberworld!

[BGM: ELECTRICAL CRISIS, Mega Man Battle Network]

I slid down a slope with momentum faster than the bolts hitting the roads. “Okay, MegaMan,” Lan addressed me, using his code breaker to get a digital map of this network. “Go right, follow the path out to a small platform, and take a left.” Following his directions, I went right, making my way down a level, turning left and heading for a platform separated by a gap with stationary Satella viruses in the air. “Jump on them to get across,” Lan pointed out, “the gate to the next area lies past this area.” I did just that, using them as stepping stones to get across. They fired fast, but I zipped faster. “Now just hop down at the dead end. There’s a path to the next area.”

One leap of faith and I was on the road to the access point, which resembled a blue plug at the end of it. These computers and virtual design choices were something else. In the next area, I had to keep moving, as viruses were now shooting lightning down to smite me.

These viruses were called Remote Bits, or Remobit for short. They came with an orange color scheme, a blank facial expression, a sharp prong underneath each of them, and they had four spherical pieces on their bodies that altogether resembled a cloud. Very appropriate. I also saw their controllers: Twisty viruses. These guys had a red-orange base, yellow-orange hands, red eyes, and spikey yellow crowns that could be mistaken for hair. They also had single whip antennas sticking out.

With this in mind, I fired several shots, aiming as best I could while running for my life. The viruses panicked, taking a few hits and throwing their concentration off. “Nice work!” My operator grinned with pride. The larger bolts raining from the sky were a little more problematic, but nothing I couldn’t handle. And then came the small explosive Rattons, which I barely evaded, by the way.

“Oh, great,” I scoffed, “must be pest control’s day off.”

There were Ratty viruses racing right behind me. These guys are light brown rats with a bright red orb on their backs, shaped like computer mice and moving like it. They’d be cute if they weren’t such pests.

“Cross Bomb!” Lan gave me a Bomb chip and I used it to wipe most of them out. “Dash Attack!” He also gave me a speed boost to get away from the viruses and bypass the ridiculous security measures and winding platforms on my left.

“Thanks, Lan!” I gave my gratitude and pressed forward to the next area, but when I got there…

“P-PlEaSe…” A Mr. Prog with bright blue eyes called for me, missing one of its head pieces.

“I-Is something wrong?” I asked, concerned for the malfunctioning program.

“It’s a trap, MegaMan!!” Lan warned me, but it was too late.

“AAAAGGGGHHH!!!” I got a nasty shock to the back, falling over in a heap.

“All hail the WWW…” One blue Mr. Prog spoke in a shrill yet monotone voice, “all of your technology belongs to them.” I quickly realized I was surrounded by a crowd of corrupted programs, slowly hovering toward me with electric balls surging around all of them.

*RIIIING!*

“A call at a time like this?!” Lan exclaimed, “Whatever. Take care of them, MegaMan!”

“I can’t just shoot these programs!” Even if they were under the WWW’s control, I saw how badly they were suffering. They were degrading right before my eyes, and so slowly too. “They’re not acting like they should!”

“Lan, can you read me?!” Ripley shouted through the PET after I accepted the call. He was wearing a basic white dress shirt with a black tie and black pants and shoes. It looked like he was on his way to a funeral.

“Ripley!” Lan didn’t expect to hear from him, and neither did I, for some reason.

“I was running late when I found out the elevators weren’t working!” Ripley was in the lobby with a few people, unable to contact anyone else downstairs. “What’s going on?!”

“The WWW!” As my operator replied, I leaped over the waves of corrupted Progs and just ran away from them. “They’re after the Electricity Program in the Power Plant!”

“How can that be?!” Ripley questioned, “SciLab was told the Elec Program was swapped out of the plant’s systems! Chaud said so!”

“What?! You’re saying he lied to you?!”

“Hey, Lan!” I yelled as I was being chased, “How about you get me to the next area?! I don’t want to hurt them!”

“Sorry, Mega!” Lan got back to advising me on what to do, “Turn right when I say so!” Listening to his signal, I continued to dash until… “Now!” I stopped for a nanosecond and sprinted on the right path, forcing the deteriorating programs to follow me one at a time.

“This is bad…” Ripley impulsively tapped his foot after learning the basic facts.

“I couldn’t sign into the network,” MythMan informed, “but I did get in touch with the NetPolice. They’ll be here with some firemen.”

“If I don’t restore power, everyone in that restaurant dies,” Lan hissed, suddenly hearing something shift in the room. “What?”

“Something wrong?” the nearly sleep-deprived teen pondered.

“I think the vents just closed up on this level!” Lan concluded.

“No witnesses,” I arrived at the final area after leaping for the exit just as I said that, “The WWW really stepped up their… What?” I just saw the final area appear completely devoid of light, with certain exceptions to four large and dimly lit bulbs on different platforms and occasional lightning flashes. “Oh, come on…” I groaned, “Can you help me through this?”

“Sorry, Mega,” Lan sighed, “The code breaker is having trouble getting the map for this area. We’re on our own.”

“DO YOU NEED HELP GETTING THROUGH THIS AREA?” Suddenly, salvation came to me in the form of a pure green Mr. Prog. “THE DARKNESS IS A SECURITY MEASURE AGAINST INTRUDERS AND VIRUSES. BUT WITH THE INTRUDER DIRECTLY IN THE MAINFRAME’S CENTER, THE SECURITY IS REGISTERING ALL DIGITAL PERSONNEL AS ENEMIES.”

“Please tell me there’s a way through this,” I almost begged for an easy solution at this point.

“TAKE THESE FOUR BATTERY DATA PIECES,” The little guy gave me four batteries that were as big as my waist.

“Are you serious?!” Lan almost fell over in exasperation, “We don’t have time for these stupid procedures!”

“YOU ONLY NEED ONE TO CREATE A PATH TO THE MAINFRAME,” the chipper program told me, “YOU CAN THROW THE REST UP INTO THE AIR AND BLAST THEM ONE AT A TIME. THE EXPLOSION WILL CREATE A TEMPORARY SUN WHICH CAN LIGHT THE AREA UP. IT WILL LAST ONLY FOR FIVE SECONDS, SO YOU MUST MOVE FAST.”

“That’s plenty of time,” I nodded with confidence, ready to do just that.

“THAT’S NICEEEEEEE,” The Mr. Prog’s face went blank and suddenly twisted into a blank stare. Its body turned bright pink with green replacing the orange parts of it. “NICE-NICE TIME TO DIEEEEEEEE!!!”

“Yikes!!” I moved away from the corrupted program, but it started following me with a pair of Billy 2 viruses backing it up!

“Here!!” Lan sent me some chips to defend myself, “You’ve got to do it!”

“Iron Shield and Fighter Sword!” Once I had a chance to drop the batteries, I used a shield to hold my ground against a Billy 2 virus, letting it fly once a thunder ball struck it. I also swatted its twin with a long orange blade and used charged shots to dispose of them.

“HEE-HEE-HEE!” The Mr. Prog was left, giggling madly as electricity surged through its body.

“I won’t delete you,” I still insisted on avoiding going down this path, “I can’t save you, but I won’t delete you.”

“♫YOU’RE MAKING THIS EAA-SSY!!♫” the Prog sang in dissonance with glowing red eyes, and those eyes fired red beams that almost tore through the space where I originally stood.

Hub, your conscience is gonna get you killed! Lan mused with worry, giving me an Invis 3 Battle Chip.

Being protected well enough, I searched for a platform with a bulb on it, blowing one of the batteries up to shed some light on a quick route. I ran up a small ramp, successfully reaching a platform. “This should do it!” I muttered as the area became dark again, putting a battery in a socket while destroying the path I took with another. I had one left.

“The switch, MegaMan!” Lan cried, “Hurry!” I turned a wheel circling this post and pushed a large button on it, allowing some power to flicker a new road to life. It had blue, red, and green tiles brightening the area. “I heard some kind of sound from the computer!” Lan noticed, getting some degree of access to the desktop. He looked into it, finding out the central generator was active through a computer feed. “Wait, the generator is on?!”

“But why aren’t the elevators working?” Ripley wondered, “And why are the stairways still locked down?”

“It’s clear that someone is regulating the power down there,” MythMan chimed in, “They’re leaving most of it in, but they’re taking it away from the Restaurant.”

“They’re going to kill everyone there just to cover up the Elec Program’s theft,” I understood the WWW logic well enough, while running for the center of the digital mainframe. “Diabolical.”

“But why would Chaud lie to Rip about the Elec Program?” Lan was still hung up on that, “Did he suspect the WWW to act on saying that?”

“Or maybe he’s trying to find out who’s a WWW agent by spreading misinformation,” I theorized as I arrived at the center, seeing a Navi levitating and absorbing electricity from these three large red rods. “Speaking of WWW…” I could tell right away that this Navi with yellowjacket colors was irregular and the cause of this mess. “Who are you?” I asked him, getting his attention.

“You must be MegaMan,” he responded, “Name’s ElecMan.”

ElecMan’s body was mostly black, save for his slightly large silver forearms with black lines circling all but his palms and backhands. His chest armor was striped yellow and black as his emblem was in the center of it. It was a white lightning bolt in a dark space, surrounded in a silver ring. A vertical yellow line went down his torso and his legs each had a cool gray cylinder with cones on top and below it. His feet also had a horizontal line enveloping each foot.

His helmet was black with ear-like sections extending sideways from the dome; a yellow lightning bolt covered a good portion of the dome. ElecMan had a cool gray face with red eyes and yellow bolts descending from his lower eyelids. But his most defining feature was these four gray lightning arresters stuck to a base on his back.

“Either you’re a friend of a friend of a friend,” Lan pondered with fake obliviousness, “or you’re with the WWW.”

“Yes, you’re quite the genius,” ElecMan dryly muttered, “How you managed to get in our way is beyond me.”

“Sarcasm,” I observed, “I can’t help but think of a certain monstrous woman.”

“Are you attempting to put me in the same league as her?” Electricity crackled from the Navi’s hands, continuing to siphon electricity from the rods. “Because I’m nothing like her. I’m only doing this because it’s my purpose.”

“You call risking people’s lives a purpose?” Lan tried arguing with him.

“My purpose is to accomplish my objective. Anything that happens to humans in the way of my objective is not my problem. Not now that my leader has suggested to keep the power off.”

“If you restore the power, then I won’t delete you,” I had to threaten him at this point, seeing as returning things to normal won’t happen while ElecMan was there. “Believe me, we’ve beaten you guys before.”

“I have an inquiry,” ElecMan began asking, raising his hands up and keeping his back turned to me. “Can you delete what you can’t touch at risk of self-termination?”

[BGM: Dr. Wily Stage, Mega Man Complete Works]

I wondered what he was talking about for a moment. Suddenly, the floor beneath me started glowing. My eyes went to the light above when lightning fell and surged through my body!! “AAAGGHHHH!!!”

“MegaMan!!” Lan exclaimed, unable to do anything about it.

“Quite the fool, are you not?” ElecMan’s body was coated in an aura of golden sparks as he taunted me, “I should restrain myself for the mission, but your existence must be rectified.”

I dodged a thunderbolt that launched from his fingertips to return fire. However, my shots missed when he moved at high speed away from them. “He’s the Navi that assisted in Madd’s escape!!” I informed everyone listening in.

“Good,” my brother sneered, “I’ll get my chance for payback soon enough.”

“Now is not the time to settle some petty revenge!!” Ripley yelled, “There’s lives at stake!”

“For all their sakes, I can’t lose!” I focused on charging my buster to make a successful hit on ElecMan, blasting one of his arresters. However, the shot didn’t even leave a dent in it.

“Pathetic,” ElecMan pointed and shot at me with another bolt, which would’ve cooked me if I didn’t move my body back.

“Take these!” Lan selected two chips for me: Fire Tower and FireMan. I used the first chip to try and land some decent damage, but it missed. As for the Navi chip, the FireMan copy engulfed our enemy in flames. ElecMan reeled back, but he didn’t look to be in pain. In fact, he raised his hands up, and another bolt struck him, negating all the damage he took! “It’s gotta be the generator!” Lan ran out of the plant’s computer room to go to the generator room that was in the same hallway, “ElecMan’s hit points are being replenished by it!”

The last time he tried opening the door, it was shut, but now, he could open it. He didn’t stop to question why.

The generator room had two stories to it: the top floor with the entrance and a blatant lever across the room, and the bottom floor with key machinery and small scale generators, likely used for backing up the main generator. If he stopped to look, he could see two unconscious workers down there. The only two, in fact.

“There’s the lever!” Lan ran to try and pull it, but the moment he grabbed it…

*ZAP!*

“GAAAAHHHHH!!!” A jolt of electricity ran through his body, and he dropped to the ground on one knee.

“LAN!!” I exclaimed once I heard his cry, but I would soon be crying out too.

“Spark Strike!!” ElecMan brought down another bolt from the cyber sky, one that nearly fried me!

“AAAAHHHH!!!” I nearly fell down from that attack, but kept standing to retaliate with some buster shots.

“Electrodes: Column Lightning!” The WWW Navi spawned in these electrodes shaped like coils on the stage, allowing them to connect with each other and create an electric fence around me and him.

“Not confident you can beat me without using all your abilities?” I questioned, hoping to get inside his head and distract him to buy time.

“It’s not wrong to use every tool at your disposal,” he replied, “Like those programs you hesitated to delete a few minutes ago.”

“They were innocent,” I grew cross with him now that he brought them up, “and you turned them into time bombs.”

“I merely reconfigured them into viruses,” ElecMan callously uttered, “That way, the generator can still function regardless of losing vital components. If the programs glitch out to the point of deletion, it won’t matter. Poor maintenance will be blamed for the loss of life upstairs.”

“That’s just wrong!” I growled, “How can you disregard people who never did anything to you?”

“Very easily,” And ElecMan demonstrated just that, controlling a lightning bolt to strike the corrupted Mr. Prog that assisted me until it turned.

“FiNaLlY…” It gasped, disintegrating into tiny pixels. “I’m FrEe-FrEe-FrEe…”

“Aah…” Lan hissed as he clutched his right hand, feeling his palm burn from touching the handle. He had pulled out the black tie that was in his pocket to wrap up his hand with it. “So he can control electricity from a distance?”

“I can’t believe what you just did!” I rapidly fired at the WWW Navi, but he barely put any effort in dodging my shots.

“If I knew how concerned you were for those small things, I would’ve had an audience of them at the ready,” ElecMan curled his lip, “Only weaklings have something to lose.” Just then, ElecMan collapsed, clutching his head and wincing in agony! “I’m sorry, sir!!” he apologized to his operator, “I never meant to insult you!!” Taking advantage of this, I fired a charged shot to his face and kicked him in the gut, making him fly into his self-imposed electric fence. “Nice try, kid!” It was worth a try, but he couldn’t be affected by electricity he produces himself.

“Let’s try this again!” Lan’s hands were covered by his dress shoes, which he took off to protect them from being burned by the handle. The rubber soles also insulated the electricity so he couldn’t get shocked again, and that allowed him to pull down the lever and turn off the power. A long drone left the machine as the lights went out all around the room, but the computers ran on a separate source, allowing Lan to stay in contact with me.

“Blast!” ElecMan spat, “I was enjoying the power boost!”

“Can’t siphon electricity when there’s nothing to siphon anything from,” Lan retorted, putting his shoes on and getting back to operating me.

[BGM: Net Battle, Mega Man Battle Network]

“I downloaded the Elec Program before you got here,” the yellowjacket Navi added, “It’s gone now.”

“You think I care about that now?” Some new chip data was given to me, and I intended to use it.

“Elec Sword!” My enemy began to soar at me with his weapon of choice while I waited for him. Once he swatted me with the blade…

“Anti Sword!” I retaliated with three sword slashes of my own, brushing off any damage that could’ve been done to me.

“No!!” ElecMan flinched from the damage he took, gazing at the new cuts on his body. He looked up and saw me crouching to the ground. He tried to zap me at that moment.

“Lance!” It was his mistake, since he didn’t just get weakened by bamboo striking him from behind, but he allowed me to go into Full Synchro. “Aqua Tower!” I summoned a geyser to drench the Navi on top of heavily damaging him.

“Elec Blade!!” For the last of my five chips, my right arm morphed into a thin, sparkling sword, combined with an Attack +10 chip for good measure, and I leapt into the air shredded the top two arresters on his back.

“AAHHH!!!” ElecMan dropped down, using his arms to stop him from hitting the floor face first.

“Give it up,” I told ElecMan, “the fight’s over.”

“Not yet!!” He flew into the air, creating small strands of electricity with his hands and holding them close together, summoning black clouds to track me down and smite me! “Lightning Blaze!!”

“Yikes!!” I dodged and slid away from the bolts, simultaneously blasting one of the electrodes to cut off the current surrounding me.

“Thunder Bolt!!” With both of his index fingers, he took aim and let out more lightning streams, getting very desperate.

“Guts Punch and Quake 2! Double Slot In!” Lan gave me another pair to work up, imputing a code to give me more range with the big fist. “Rocket Guts Punch!!” I shot out the enlarged gauntlet that clipped ElecMan’s third arrester, making him plummet back down.

“Sequence Bolt!!” The panels under me started flashing in a pattern. I knew to get out of the way immediately, as lightning rained down consecutively. I charged my buster up for the last time, blasting the final arrester on ElecMan’s back, robbing him of his flight ability.

“Quake 2!” I threw a red Flappy 2 above the WWW Navi, which transformed into a large weight that crushed him underneath it, even causing two explosions sideways of it.

“NGAAAAAAAA!!!” ElecMan felt the huge red weight come down on him, beaten and battered.

“That’s that,” I approached him as the Flappy 2 disappeared without a trace, trailing the Mega Buster on him. “Great job, Lan.”

“You were amazing, too,” Lan grinned, making sure it was safe to touch the handle and restore power. “I’m glad you’re here.” I couldn’t help but smile, seeing my brother’s face light up in that room, and not just because of the lights.

“You did it!” Ripley exclaimed, “Okay, the elevators are restarting their systems, but help should be able to come downstairs!”

“You didn’t really win,” ElecMan spoke up, killing the mood. “Not by a long shot.”

“I told you, it’s over,” I began to demand, “Give up.”

“Delete me if you want to,” He glowered at me in response, “but I’ve damaged the digital mechanisms for the ventilation systems prior to our encounter. The phrase Pyrrhic Victory comes to mind.”

“Check the vents, Lan!” Ripley interrupted, “Are they still closed?”

“Yeah, but it’s a good thing I’m downstairs!” Lan searched for anything that resembled ventilation controls, coming to a panel resembling them. “Here they are!” The machine started up again, automatically opening up all the vents that were sealed off since the incident began. “We’re getting back on top of things!” Lan nodded to the sound of his own drum, “Nothing’s stopping us!”

[BGM: Strange Mood, Mega Man Battle Network]

ElecMan laughed softly while shaking his head and responding, “You think you’re down here alone?”

Lan blinked for a moment before looking around cautiously. “Where are you?” he whispered, knowing he was being spied on. He wasn’t going to get hit from behind like last time. “You can’t fool me!”

“Hey, come back!” I saw ElecMan jack out right in front of me, and I couldn’t hold him down. “Lan, he jacked out!”

A noise came from downstairs in the real world, with electronic sounds usually made when Cross Fusion happens. A deep, modulated chuckle filled the room, making the hair on Lan’s neck stand up. The WWW agent was here, and had transformed into Cross Fusion ElecMan.

Oh, perfect, Lan sighed on the inside, pulling out his Synchro Chip to oblige our mysterious foe with another battle…

CHAPTER 19 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Ripley Marduk © HatOnFire/Me

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“The power’s back on!!” a waiter shouted, finally able to open the door and get everyone out of the restaurant. “Let’s go!”

[BGM: Taking Liberties B (Middle Action), Lego Marvel Super Heroes]

“Single file, everyone!” Chaud called out, “The elevators must be resetting themselves, so take the stairs!” The crowd of people started leaving in droves, almost pushing into each other just to get out. Nobody wanted to stick around a second longer than they had to.

“It was getting hard to breathe down here,” Mom whispered.

“It’s alright now, Haruka,” Dad reassured her, “You just need to get out of the building.”

“What are you going to do, Yuichiro?” Mom questioned, already not liking what he just implied.

“I need to go downstairs and make sure the power stays on,” Dad stated, “and make sure our boys are doing okay.”

“Not happening, Dr. Hikari,” Chaud objected, “If a WWW agent is down there, Lan can hold his own.” Which is what I’m worried about, he kept that thought to himself.

“Even so, we can’t let a criminal get away if we can help it,” Dad persisted, “Haruka, please go upstairs.”

“I can’t leave you,” Mom refused for a moment, not wanting him to go on his own. But she remembered the kind of person Dad is, realizing he wouldn’t let it go. “You always wanted to do the right thing.”

“Yeah, it’s problematic sometimes,” Dad chuckled, “but it’s always worth it.”

“And it makes you happy to help,” my mother added, “You aren’t yourself if you’re not helping people.”

“Mrs. Hikari?” Yai went over to her, “We should be going.”

“Allow me to escort them out, Dr. Hikari,” Count Zap came out of a swarm of people, “I do believe Chaud should be left to handle this, but if it’ll help…”

“Thank you, Jack,” Dad nodded in thanks before turning to Mom, “I’ll be fine. Make sure everyone leaves.”

“Be careful,” Mom sighed, watching him go with Chaud, getting in line with the crowd forming in the stairway.

“I’m sure they’ll be alright down there, ma’am,” Yai continued to calm her, “You have nothing to worry about.”

“I hope you’re right,” Mom felt a little better, but that didn’t stop her from being concerned about us.

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“And he just went into Cross Fusion,” I sighed in spite of foreseeing this, waiting for Lan to put the Synchro Chip in his PET.

“Not like I didn’t see this coming,” My brother shrugged, “I was actually hoping for it.”

“Of course you would,” I was still unsatisfied with Lan’s subtle notions of payback, but now wasn’t a good time to disagree with him. He inserted the Synchro Chip, letting his body be transformed with my colors. We were C.F. MegaMan again. To recap, I had gotten into the Power Plant computer and made it through the Cyberworld with Lan’s help, taking on the WWW Navi ElecMan. We beat him and restored the power, but his operator jacked him out and went into Cross Fusion.

“Ah, it’s time, then,” a deep voice boomed and a shadow shot up from behind a piece of machinery, raised up to the ceiling by his electricity!

Cross Fusion ElecMan’s form was similar to the Navi it was based on, with some differences. The bodysuit was mostly black, though yellow lines went down the sides of his body vertically, starting to zigzag around his knees until they got to his boots. The boots were silver with black lines circling them, making them appear to be shaped like coils, and a yellow circle was in the center of the boots’ cone-like rims. The circles stopped shy of his ankles, and a horizontal yellow line went around his feet. His chest armor’s colors were inverted, striped black and yellow, the emblem was in the center; silver shoulder guards could be seen, and three silver layers of armor existed underneath it to shield his chest completely. Small gray cones with a line intersecting them were imprinted on his biceps, his forearms were protected in coil-like armor, and his hands were normal-sized.

The back was just about the same, though C.F. ElecMan’s arresters came with three prongs sticking out at the surface’s ends, likely for greater electricity use, as he used the lightning shooting out to fly up. The helmet was the same as it was, with the only differences being his eyes were covered by a green visor, and his gray face guard had two lightning bolts symmetrical to each other. I could be wrong, but I thought I saw a small red bolt flicker on where his left eye should be.

“Yeah, it is time,” Lan took aim with the Mega Buster, “I need to relieve some stress, so don’t bore me, Sparky.”

“If those are your last words, then prepare yourself!” C.F. ElecMan blasted a beam of lightning from his hands, which we quickly dodged.

[BGM: Spark Mandrill Stage, Mega Man Maverick Hunter X]

“Eat this!!” He fired some shots at him, but he moved aside in a flash!

“He’s using those arresters to make himself float in the air!” I informed him while compiling some Battle Chips together, “That’s how he’s flying!”

“Then let’s clip his wings,” Lan mumbled, receiving three chips in the order of Tri Spear, Yo-Yo 1, and Hurricane. He fired three arrows at him, but they predictably missed when he lowered altitude.

“Lightning Blaze!!” C.F. ElecMan spawned in dark clouds to track Lan’s movements and send bolts down to fry us, though we dodged them. However, one bolt came a little too close to an unconscious worker.

“Careful, Lan!” I chastised him, “We don’t want these people hurt!”                      

“And there is your weakness,” The electric man pointed his fingers at that one innocent person. “Thunder Bolt!”

Lan jumped down to the bottom floor and pulled the man away from the line of fire, grabbing his friend and hiding them behind a generator. “Do you want to live, WWW scum?” He came out and shot a bladed yo-yo at him, dinging his chest and forcing him to the other side of the room. “Then don’t do things like that!”

“I’ve touched a nerve,” C.F. ElecMan summoned some Electrodes to float in place, creating an electric fence around the second floor’s platform to restrict Lan to the first floor.

Lan wasn’t deterred, jumping off the wall to force his enemy on the retreat, using Hurricane when he got as close as he could, twisting him around so he could grab his legs and drag him down, making him hit his head on the railing during the descent. “GRAAAGGHHH!!!” his modulated voice yelled in annoyance, rattled by him.

“Make these count!” I selected four additional chips to help him out.

“Spark Strike!” C.F. ElecMan used the lightning pouring out from him to dispense as many bolts as he could afford, leaving marks on the floors and equipment.

Lan fired a charged shot at one of his arresters, making him drop a little closer to the ground. “Dyna Wave!” Next, he used a pickaxe to cause a shock wave that rippled through him before he could attack us again. This put us into Full Synchro, and allowed Lan to attack again. “Blower!!” He created a burning tornado that damaged our enemy.

“BAH!!” However, C.F. ElecMan engulfed us with an electric blast.

“Roll 2 and Navi +20!!” Luckily, I was prepared for that. Lan released a lifelike copy of Roll that slapped C.F. ElecMan around and restored our hit points to the current maximum. “Your weakness is pretty glaring, too,” Lan grinned under the face plate, jumping behind cover to hide from another burst of electricity.

“I have already accomplished my mission,” The man in black and yellow shut off the vent controls and opened the power box up, revealing its wiring. He grabbed a pair of wire cutters and cut apart the wires, permanently disabling the manual controls. He flew to the exit, leaving the door open behind him.

“Come back here!” Lan was ready to pursue him, but I didn’t want him to go yet.

“Lan, he disabled the vents again!” I informed him, “And for good this time! We need to get the workers out of here!”

“Alright!” Lan agreed, “But I don’t want our only chance at hunting down the WWW to disappear!” As he doubled back for the people he saved, I contacted Mission Control again, hoping to transmit a live feed for Mr. Famous. But there was nothing.

“Ripley, we need your help!” I did get back into contact with Ripley, however.

“Name it, MegaMan!” Ripley called.

“We’re tracking a Cross Fusion ElecMan!” Lan shouted, “But he’s evading us!”

“Searching for ElecMan, got it,” He nodded as several people started exiting the Office Lobby, among them Mom, Yai, and Count Zap, who overheard the mention of his Navi.

“What’s that about ElecMan?” he asked, stopping for Ripley.

“You’re one of Lan’s friends,” Mom recognized his face, “Ripley, right?”

“That’s me,” Ripley nodded, shifting his eyes to the Count. “Is your Navi ElecMan?”

“Yes, I have him right…” He patted his jacket pocket, gasping soon after. “He’s gone?! My PET, stolen?!”

“What?” Ripley questioned, taking in some new information. He moved away from the group to speak to us through his PET. “Lan, we have a problem. Count Zap’s PET and his Navi have been stolen.”

“You mean his Navi has a new partner?” Lan pondered, pushing the elevator button to the first floor for the workers and quickly stepping out. “I don’t buy it.”

“Well, Count Zap is right here,” Ripley gestured to him, for no one in particular. “I don’t know what else to say.”

“Ripley Marduk,” A silver-haired man called, coming up to him with some policemen. “Are you Ripley Marduk?”

“Yes sir,” Ripley replied, “Are you an Official?”

“We have some questions about where you’ve been tonight,” he stated, “and about Lan Hikari’s whereabouts.”

“I’ll have to call you back,” Ripley immediately hung up.

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“You think Zap is with the WWW?” I understood the logic in Lan’s assessment, “It makes sense, but he’s got an alibi.”

“Okay, I’ll give the Count the benefit of the doubt,” he said, returning to the corridor of the generator room. “But how many people can take someone else’s Navi and utilize Cross Fusion?”

“It’s actually easy, Lan,” Dad’s voice spoke through a device of some kind, crackling with a bit of feedback.

“Dad?” Lan called, “Where are you?”

“Here,” Dad spoke, or rather, C.F. ElecMan did, and he gave us a painful shock!

“AAAGGGGHHHHH!!!” Lan screamed as we fell back to the ground.

“Calibrate a Navi to function autonomously,” Then Count Zap’s voice spoke from behind the mask, “and the Synchro Rating that usually affects Cross Fusion is easily sidelined.”

“Count Zap?!” My brother sat up for the both of us, surprised to hear his voice.

“Guess again,” Ripley’s voice came next, along with another lightning bolt that zapped Lan’s left hand. “You disappoint me, Lan. The son of Hikari should catch on quickly.”

“Oh yeah, a voice modulator,” Lan released a few more shots at him, “Should’ve seen that coming.”

“With this, you don’t know who I am,” The WWW agent pulled off a Mr. Higsby imitation, “You just can’t be sure who to trust at this rate.”

“That’s a moot point!” Lan got a High Cannon chip, which he used as soon as he had evaded some more lightning strikes. “I know it’s you, Zap! I knew something wasn’t right about you!”

“Oh, come on, Lan,” He started using Dr. Froid’s voice, “I wouldn’t be so foolish to use my own Navi for this operation.”

“Assuming you’re smart enough to take someone else’s Navi without their knowing.”

“Give me some credit,” He started mimicking Match, “I used all the information at my disposal to create a smokescreen. It’s still working.”

“And how did you get this information?”

“Let’s just say someone close to you did well for me,” Next was Mr. Famous’s crisp tone, “He always has, being in the position of our teammate.”

“You’re not Mr. Famous,” Lan shook his head, blasting him with Heat Spread. The idea that Ripley or Chaud would help the WWW was inconceivable. “And that’s not true! Don’t pretend it is!”

“Am I pretending, Lan?” C.F. ElecMan did a one-armed shrug similar to a little gesture Mr. Famous once did. “I must add, Hub is doing well for one who’s supposed to be dead.”

Lan raised his eyebrows and quietly gasped, realizing our secret was exposed. “The WWW knows?” Pardon the pun, but I was also shocked by this.

“Don’t worry, boys,” Mr. Famous calmly told, “You can’t learn a secret if you already know about it. And no one else in the WWW knows, save for my leader. Such things he prefers to be discreet with.”

“Stop trying to get in my head!” Lan demanded, “You’re only lying!”      

“Like you haven’t lied?” Mayl’s voice was heard though C.F. ElecMan, “You let me down Lan. How could you lie to me about Hub being dead?”

Lan snarled, turning angry at him for this addition to his mind games. “Don’t use her voice, you dirtbaAAGGGGGGGGHHHH!!” he roared, getting electrocuted for his troubles.

“Again, predictable,” C.F. ElecMan grabbed Lan by his helmet and threw us back inside the generator room, using his default modulator. “Now, ElecMan, full power!”

“Of course, sir!” ElecMan replied as his operator pelted us with bolts, even tearing off Lan’s faceplate so he could silence him.

“Lan?!” Dad called out, running through the corridor with Chaud.

The WWW agent kicked Lan and pushed him into a maintenance room, locking the door electronically. “No!!” Lan slammed his fists on the door, “We can’t let him hurt Dad!”

“Is Chaud there?!” C.F. ElecMan used Lan’s voice for his deception, but it was so authentic, no one could tell it was being faked.

“Yes!” Chaud responded, “I’ll come in!”

“No, check the computer!” He led them on without revealing himself, “The WWW agent got away, but I don’t think he had time to take the Elec Program! Dad, can you fix the vent systems? He took out the wiring!”

“Go, Chaud,” Dad uttered, “And be quick about it! If the damage is too severe, we can’t stay down here for long.”

“Got it,” The white-and-black-haired boy understood him, dashing to the computer as Dad walked into the generator room.

“Where are you and Hub, Lan?” he hollered, looking around for us.

In that moment, C.F. ElecMan held a wrench in his left hand and swung it to the left side of Dad’s head, hitting him badly! “UGH!!” He collapsed, clutching the side of his head and getting kicked to the railing of the platform. “You brought this on yourself, Dad,” C.F. ElecMan kept talking with Lan’s vocals, “You ruined Hub, so I’ll ruin you.”

“AAAHHHH!!” He shocked him with just a fingertip, making him pass out with a cry.

“Go, go, go!!” I yelled for Lan to move, finally decoding the lock on the door. But when we got out, it was too late.

“Dad, no!!” Lan shouted, jumping to the platform to cradle our father.

“No, this can’t be happening!!” I lost my composure, but with how in sync Lan and I were, Cross Fusion still kept going.

“No one’s gonna help or believe you now,” our enemy whispered with the deep voice modulator, tossing the wrench aside. “Like the goose upstairs, you’re cooked.”

“I won’t forgive you for this…” Lan glared, clenching his fist. “You got me?! I’m tearing you apart!!” He ran at the yellowjacket man, throwing a devastating punch that almost took him out of Cross Fusion.

“Good, be angry,” He still taunted us, “It’s all you will have for the rest of your life as you think of the organization that humbled you.”

“I’ll kill you…!” Lan declared, shooting him with multiple shots. “For hurting Dad, I’ll kill you!” C.F. ElecMan used his lightning to carry himself out of the corridor, flying to and up the chute. “I’m not done with you!” Lan ran out of the room, seeing Chaud walk out of the other room in seething fury.

“Care to explain the text that read fooled you in the center of the mainframe?” Chaud clenched his fist, approaching us. “Because I don’t like being played for a fool.”

“He got away, Chaud!” my blue operator bellowed, heading back into the room to lift Dad up. “Why didn’t you stop him?!”

“I was told by you to check the computer,” Chaud retorted, “Unless that wasn’t you.”

“It wasn’t!” Lan exclaimed, “Look, he hurt Dad! You have to get him out of here, and I’ll take care of that agent!”

“Don’t go anywhere,” His forceful tone, combined with grabbing Lan’s shoulder, stopped him from running away. “I received an update from the Officials a few days ago. Someone in SciLab reported that someone working there is a WWW mole.”

“What does this have to do with me?” he hissed, shaking the Official’s hand off.

“The accusation is against someone in the Anti-WWW Team,” Chaud calmly divulged that detail.

“After Mayl got hurt?! Seriously?!”

“The Officials did a background check on myself, Mayl, and Detective Bluemann. However, they didn’t clear Mr. Famous yet, and there were red flags on you and Ripley.”

“You better not be going where I think you are…”

“Were you in the generator room just now?” Chaud looked in the room, glancing at Dad’s unconscious body.

“I was pushed in some room by the WWW agent,” Lan scoffed impatiently, “I don’t know if it was Zap or not, but...”

“Yet Count Zap is with the Officials now, giving his statement,” Chaud noted, darkly staring at something in his PET. “As he was upstairs performing for several people, you were sabotaging the plant.”

“What did you just say?!” I snapped, “That’s bogus!!”

“Then explain this,” Chaud showed a security feed of Lan running through this particular corridor, opening the door to the generator room. Then, there was the footage of him pulling the main switch down, which killed the power in the room. The worst part was that the time stamp was set at 7:38 PM, the minute when the blackout occurred!

“No way,” I didn’t believe it, but it was Lan in the video, right when we were fighting ElecMan. Yet the time was wrong! “Someone’s playing you, Chaud!”

“An anonymous tip had sent this footage to the NetPolice, who sent it to the Officials,” Chaud brought out his Synchro Chip, prepared for a confrontation. “If it’s fake, it’s a good one. Also, I have a warrant for your arrest.”

“Chaud, this is a conspiracy,” My brother took several steps back, “You don’t think I’d hurt my own father, do you?!”

“Give me your Synchro Chip,” the Official commanded, “and gently put Dr. Hikari down.”

“You know, Ripley told me about you saying the Elec Program was moved to another location,” Lan recalled, “I’m starting to wonder whose side you’re really on.”

“What are you babbling about?”

“I should’ve expected this. The WWW recruits all sorts of people. But it’s the people you least suspect, right?”

“I said give me your Synchro Chip,” Chaud repeated, ignoring the accusation. “Let’s clear the air.”

“MegaMan, explain something to me,” ProtoMan cut in, having done a scan of my PET.

“W-What is it?” I asked.

“Why are there schematics of the Power Plant downloaded in your drive?” he queried.

“What?” I didn’t know what he was talking about until I found them. That and an advanced code breaking tool, filled with malicious coding found in WWW ransomware.

“A WWW decoder device,” Chaud stated aloud, glaring at Lan. “On behalf of the Officials, Lan Hikari, you’re under arrest.”

“You’re making a mistake, Chaud,” Lan whispered as our ally-turned-foe stuffed his Synchro Chip into the slot.

Red boots with black soles, white at the forefoot area, and white diamonds at the front materialized over Chaud’s dress shoes and legs. Red gauntlets with white gloves also formed on his hands; his golden emblems sparkled on the back hands, but they also were given a white outline. His purple and black bodysuit covered up the clothes he wore, though white jagged diamonds looped around his biceps and thighs. Red triangles were also depicted shooting from his boots, just like ProtoMan.

A red chest plate armor covered his chest as red pauldrons rested on his shoulders. The emblem in the center had another outline in white, complete with a line shooting up to his neck. His helmet with blue shades and that notable antenna obscured his face, completed by the black mouth guard with a white line moving down the middle. His hair shot out from the back, divided into two ponytails, with his right one black, and the left one white.

Cross Fusion ProtoMan was here, not to help us, but to arrest us.

“You’ve forced my hand, Lan!” Chaud shouted, morphing his right hand into the Proto Sword. “If you won’t surrender, then don’t bother talking!”

“I guess it’s convenient that you didn’t see that WWW agent hurt my father!” My partner took off, carrying our Dad. “You chumps have to stick together, right?!”

“ProtoMan, tap into Mission Control’s tracking systems!” C.F. ProtoMan ordered his official namesake, “We can’t allow him to escape!”

“Shall I inform the police of his current form?” ProtoMan questioned.

“We’ve been sworn to secrecy on Cross Fusion,” his operator replied, “We can’t divulge that information, even if it’ll help us.”

“I can’t believe we’re running from him!” I muttered in disbelief.

“There’s nothing we can do but get outta here!” Lan stated as his face plate reformed, “And get Dad someplace safe!”

“Chaud’s the last person to work with the WWW!” I pointed out, “We should’ve left Dad with him!”

“I’m not taking any chances!” Lan countered, using an Invis 2 chip to stay hidden from policemen heading downstairs. He started flying up the stairwell via a Dash Attack chip once they were out of sight. “I don’t know why the WWW wanted to hurt him, but I’m not leaving him alone! If those guys infiltrated SciLab and the team, then we can’t trust anyone!”

“Even our friends?!” I didn’t think my brother could be this paranoid, but here we are.

“Don’t get me wrong, I hate thinking about this. But what are we supposed to believe?”

“Only that the WWW’s doing a good job at gaslighting us.”

We made it to the first floor, kicking the door open, startling the people in the lobby. No one recognized us, which was a good thing, except for the policemen drawing their firearms on us. “Let Dr. Hikari go, MegaMan!!” the silver-haired Official called us out from behind the wall of cops.

“And it looks like they know about us,” I sighed.

“I don’t know what you think, but this is not what it looks like!” Lan barked, “Dr. Hikari needs help!”

“Release him and tell your operator to give himself up,” the Official directed, “This building is surrounded. Deactivate the Copy Bot you’re using as a sign of goodwill.”

“Hey, Mega,” Lan whispered, “They think I’m you.”

“That’s also a bad thing,” I advised him, “If they believe you’re me, then when we let Dad go…”

“They’ll shoot me if they think I’m threatening them…” He got the picture, “Guess I should’ve known better than to accuse Chaud of working with WWW.”

“What’ll we do now?” I was growing worried, hoping Mom wasn’t around to see this.

“Lan and I are innocent,” Lan told the Official, walking to the group of policemen with Dad in his arms. “We can prove it if you let us hunt down the WWW agent responsible.”

“As far as they’re concerned, you’re with WWW,” the Official replied, “You two had the means, motive, and the opportunity to attack these people.”

“Ready to disappear when you are,” I let my operator know our getaway was ready.

“If you won’t believe me, then we’ll just have to make you believe it,” Lan laid Dad down on the floor and backed away, getting a few yards away to disappear with an Invis 3 chip.

“What?!” the officers exclaimed, unable to see him as he ran to the entrance.

Once we got outside, we could see Mom arguing with a policeman as Ripley was being led away in handcuffs! “W-What is this?!” I was surprised by what I saw from Lan’s point of view, but my brother didn’t speak. He was too stunned to even comment on this.

“I’m not working with them!!” Ripley shouted, “I’m not!”

“This is ridiculous!” Mom shouted, “My son could never do something so heinous, let alone a teenager!!”

“Please be quiet, miss,” one cop ordered, “I’ll speak to you in a moment.”

“Mr. Famous and his assistant are in custody!” We heard another cop announce through all the policemen’s PETs, another function Cross Fusion can give us. “Lan Hikari should still be in the complex! Be advised, his Navi MegaMan is using stolen SciLab property. Approach both with extreme caution and respond accordingly!”

“You listen to me, sir!” Mom kept grilling the cop, “If you or your men dare to harm both of my boys, I know a lawyer who’ll trade your badge for a toilet plunger!!”

“W-Wow, Mom…” Lan whispered, staying out of sight and scaling the side of the parking garage under us, climbing into one of its windows. We thought we’d have a brief pause, but since when has anything gone right tonight?

“Stop right there!!” C.F. ProtoMan appeared like an apparition in front of us, slashing at us with his sword.

“I’ll prove my innocence, Chaud!” Lan proclaimed, “Whatever it takes, I’ll clear my name!”

“Keep spouting nonsense if you want!” Chaud grit his teeth under his faceplate, “I’m taking you in either way!”

[BGM: Taking Liberties C, Lego Marvel Super Heroes]

Lan leapt to evade a few more swipes from him, retaliating with some buster shots.

“Sonic Boom!” C.F. ProtoMan unleashed a flying shock wave from his blade, nearly cleaving into our shared body. “Fighter Sword!” He raised his arm to make a long-range diagonal slash, but we evaded it to run at him.

“Guts Punch!” Lan stretched out his large forearm to briefly knock the wind out of C.F. ProtoMan. He also threw a literal gut punch and a cross to disorient him. “Dash Attack!” That was so he could grab his torso with his big hand and fly towards the ceiling with the other arm. He slammed Chaud’s back against it and trapped him up there. “You’re not giving me a choice, Chaud!” my brother spoke.

“I gave you a chance to surrender,” The ace sliced into the fist, making it dissipate while freeing himself. “You weren’t willing to give up!”

“Because I didn’t do it!” Lan soared out of the building and down to the ground floor. The Fishy on his left arm wore off from the effort.

“Condor!!” A yellow Fishy 3 virus materialized before Chaud, allowing him to ride it like a surfboard and follow us.

“You sure didn’t give anyone else a choice!” Lan yelled while making tracks, eluding several Sonic Booms from above us. “You put people in danger by lying about the Elec Program being moved!”

“Don’t lecture me!” Chaud kept on the assault until Lan skid to a halt and started blasting him with two High Cannons, spraying him with energy and making him plummet again. He would recover from the spill. “Super Wide Sword!” Chaud powered up to disappear for a split second, reappearing to swing his sword at Lan, making him fly backwards.

“AAAAGGHHHH!!!” We landed onto the street while Chaud dashed for us. “Barrier!” By sheer luck, I transmitted a defensive bubble, granting Lan a little bit of time. He accepted a Fire Sword and Elec Sword from me as C.F. ProtoMan spawned an Aqua Sword and the wood variant, Bamboo Sword, on his arms. We entered combat and swung our swords in a furious flash. Whether one strike at a time or two at once, not one attack would land its mark.

Lan would duck from an overhead swing and jump up to kick Chaud, but that kick would be blocked by the Bamboo Sword, and he would be pushed back. “YAAAHHHH!!” The Official lifted both arms up and brought them down, with my brother barely blocking them on time.

“I’m not the menace to society you think I am!” he groaned, standing his ground while elemental energy started pulsing from the swords clashing together.

“If that’s so, then why are you a delinquent?” Chaud coldly replied.

In that moment, the elemental swords destroyed themselves in a spectacular explosion, blasting Lan and Chaud away from each other while doing damage to themselves and the street under them!

“Aaahhhh…!” I seethed in pain from that. The energy output could still damage Navis, even in Cross Fusion.

“I…” C.F. ProtoMan gasped, having multiple scratches and scuff marks on his armor. “I’m not done…!”

The Fishy 3 virus Chaud used was still functioning, and it dive-bombed at us! Lan took the opportunity to jump on top of it and hang on for dear life, even when the virus tried to shake us off! “Mega, use the WWW decoder!” he commanded.

“Got it!” I used the decoding program to take control of the virus, forcing it to steadily fly away from the Complex at great speed.

“ProtoMan, disengage the virus!” Chaud barked.

“I can’t!” ProtoMan responded, “My connection to it is terminated!!”

“Yeah!!” Lan stood on the Fishy 3 and cheered, at least until he gasped in pain. “Ooh, that hurts!”

“Blast it!!” Chaud hissed, watching us flee from them.

“They won’t get far,” ProtoMan added, “They’ve been in Cross Fusion for too long, and they’ll be forced to separate.”

“Inform the authorities, then,” Chaud morphed out, returning to normal. “We need to launch a manhunt. Let’s also search the Hikari household to confirm Lan as a criminal.”

“…Yes, sir,” There was a little bit of hesitation in ProtoMan’s voice. His instincts told him that there was more going on than they realized.

Chaud never said it aloud, but he also found the convenient video of Lan to be suspect. If he was guilty of hurting Dad, then why didn’t he finish the job?  In addition to that, the misinformation he gave resulted in this incident. If the power to the room wasn’t restored, then he would’ve had no way to get everyone out.

Regardless of what he thought, this was no time for self-doubt. He still had a job to do, and for the moment, it was to get to the WWW, possibly through Lan.

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“Congratulations,” the WWW leader spoke to his agent, “Your plan worked far better than I had anticipated.”

“We should have the Wood Program as well,” his spy added, keeping his voice disguised. Currently, he was driving a car away from the Government Complex. “Dr. Hikari will retrieve it from unsuspecting eyes.”

“Good,” The old man grinned, “Come the next day or so, he’ll come around.” He hung up on his agent before turning his attention to another person dialed in. “This plan hinged on many variables, but this was glorious,” Wily noted, “Lan Hikari, a WWW agent? A missing program and attempted homicide? It sounds too good to be true.”

“And soon, you will have all the programs, courtesy of Dr. Hikari,” Yahoot murmured, waiting in a van that sat a few blocks away from the Hikari family’s house.

“Give credit to his wife as well, my right-hand man,” Wily told, “It’s complimentary for a woman to know that she’s the solution to many problems. Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh!!”

CHAPTER 20 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Reddington Bluemann, Ripley Marduk, MythMan, and Desiree Domin © HatOnFire/Me

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“It’s not true!” Mrs. Hikari buried her face with a tissue, “My son could never hurt Yuichiro! It’s a lie!” At Lan’s house, at least one officer was asking questions about Lan as two other guys were searching his room, with Detective Bluemann present, of course. Only an hour or so had passed, but the police were already organizing a search for him. They thought he committed the crimes at the Power Plant, which was why they were searching his house for anything that proved he did it.

“I’m only telling it like it is, ma’am,” the policeman sighed, “I was there. I don’t know what else to say.”

“How about taking your group elsewhere and finding the true culprit?!” Mrs. Hikari yelled, “Because it’s not my son!”

“But your son has committed multiple felonies,” The officer wasn’t sensitive to her, “and you didn’t deny he resented Dr. Hikari.”

“Lan Hikari is an impulsive young man,” The detective seemingly agreed with him, “but break into the Power Plant of a government sector and assault his own father? That’s far-fetched.”

“What’s far-fetched is some Navis appearing in the real world and causing destruction,” the officer replied, “but here we are. The impossible is possible now.”

“Mrs. Hikari,” Bluemann shifted his blue hat with sympathetic eyes, “Lan only ran from the crime scene because he was scared, I’m sure of it. He’d never hurt the people he cared about.”

“You believe me?” Lan’s mom wiped her tears.

“He’s innocent until proven guilty,” The detective smiled, “We don’t have all the facts.”

“Sir, there’s nothing on his computer,” A cop and her partner came downstairs, “Nothing in his room indicated he was planning a crime.”

“Then we have no more questions,” Bluemann nodded, returning his eyes to Mrs. Hikari. “I’m required to tell you we will have an officer watch your home, should Lan try to come back. If he does try to contact you, you’re required to tell us everything.”

“I’m aware,” Mrs. Hikari sighed as the cops left the house.

“I’m sorry for this, Haruka,” Bluemann frowned, “You know we’re only doing our jobs.”

“Yes…”

“Just try and get some sleep,” Bluemann suggested, “I’ll check on you in the morning.”

“Thank you,” Mrs. Hikari said while the detective saw himself out. The policemen got to their cars and drove off, thinking it was fine to leave Mrs. Hikari alone until an assigned cop would come to watch the house, but they were wrong.

“Jack in, MagicMan…” a calm voice whispered, holding his PET and a sharp knife that curved like a crescent.

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My mom was probably wondering where I was, worried I left the house. I didn’t stop to think about that right now, being busy delivering some instant ramen noodles to a certain guy. I walked behind the back of Higsby’s Chip Shop, knocking on the door four times. Sure, Mr. Higsby was expecting me, but I wanted to be polite. The door opened up with the lanky chip collector poking his head out.

“Good, you’re here, huh?” Mr. Higsby let me in, and once he locked the door behind me, we went to his storage room to see Lan.

I heard from Lan that he was on the run, framed for a crime the WWW caused. You’d think I wouldn’t believe him, considering we were on bad terms, but I knew that he wouldn’t do something so extreme and dangerous. Mayl would believe he was innocent, and somehow, I was gonna help him, or my name wasn’t Dex Oyama.

“Thanks for letting me stay here, Mr. Higsby,” Lan sadly smiled, feeling guilty for asking such a tall order.

“You saved me, Lan,” Higsby insisted, “I need to pay you back for that. And I didn’t believe what the news said about you, huh.”

“How did you manage to get yourself framed?” I wondered, “It was supposed to be a party, wasn’t it?”

“The WWW must’ve predicted we’d come to it,” Lan speculated, “I don’t know how, but everything went the way they wanted it to. That agent even knew things only my family would know…”

“They wanted the Super Programs, and they have almost all of them,” MegaMan added, “Apparently, they also found a way to frame Lan, probably so we couldn’t have the freedom to stop them.”

“They studied us long enough to play us like a symphony,” The boy with the orange vest looked away, “And they did.”

“How are we gonna fight this, then?” I asked, “You can’t turn yourself in, or WWW will go after you. It’s not like they couldn’t.”

“Wait…” Lan looked like he ate something bad, even though he hasn’t yet. “They could go after us anytime they wanted? Then…”

“Mom!” MegaMan blurted out, having received a message that read WE HAVE YOUR MOTHER in all caps! “Lan, they have her! They have Mom!!”

“N-No…!” Lan got sick to his stomach, watching his Navi open the message up, clicking the link inside. The screen flickered, opening a portal that took MegaMan and sent him to a digital chat room.

[BGM: Something Eroding, Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth]

“That didn’t take long,” A yellowjacket Navi with a lightning bolt theme crossed his arms, “Quick on the draw.”

“ElecMan, I wish I deleted you when I had the chance!!” MegaMan furiously drew his buster on him, firing several small shots that he dodged.

“Don’t delete the messenger yet,” ElecMan, as he was called, zapped Mega with a thunder bolt and made him collapse. “Even if you can, do you really think you can save your mother this way?”

“What’s your endgame?” Lan snarled, hitting a boiling point. “Why are you doing this?!”

“It’s in the script,” ElecMan would clarify that immediately, bringing up some text in his hand. “That is, it’s what WWW would like it to be. If you play your parts, maybe you’ll see your mother again.”

“That’s low…” Higsby mumbled, and I agreed with him on that.

“What do you want from me?” Lan questioned, giving in.

“Simple demands,” ElecMan began, “First, you will turn yourself in to the cops. You will also waive your right to an attorney when your trial happens, so you are guaranteed to be found guilty.”

“That’s what you want, glitch?!” MegaMan exclaimed, “Us to be found guilty in your place?!”

“You attacked Dad!” The hot-blooded delinquent was grinding his teeth together, “You should be in my position and worse!!”

“Does that mean you don't get your mother back?” ElecMan apathetically murmured, “Because we can make it look like you got to her and lost your temper. Like how you are doing now.”

Lan could only slam his fist on a table to release his anger. His face was saying a lot of emotions without him having to speak. “You want me to turn myself in?” He calmed down after a pause, “Fine. Just don’t hurt her.”

“You really do care, after all,” The WWW Navi observed, “but that’s not quite enough.”

“There’s more?” I shook my head in confusion, “What else is there?”

“You’re not alone, Lan?” ElecMan overheard me, “Good. This works out well for us.”

“Get on with it,” Lan uttered in annoyance, “What else do you want?”

“You battled StoneMan over a month ago, right?” The yellowjacket Navi reminded him of something I wasn’t around for, “Well, you must’ve learned how Mr. Match snagged the Wood Program. Long story short, the cops were gonna close in, so he stashed it in an electronic device. He hasn’t gone back for it since he’s busy improving himself. Your friend will do it for him.”

“You want me to get you something that doesn’t even belong to you?” I summed up that demand, “Seems legit. What is it?”

“It’s a Super Program,” Lan explained, “It’s got great processing power and could help with essential computer systems for the City.”

“Here’s a map of Block 48, the area with the Metroline close to Elec Town,” ElecMan gestured to an image of an area I didn’t recognize, “Match planted the Wood Program in a traffic light computer. On the day of Lan’s trial, you have until noon to bring it to us.”

“Where will I have to bring it?” I asked.

“We’ll let you know on that day,” ElecMan stated, “I shouldn’t have to tell you why you shouldn’t involve the NetPolice or the Officials.”

“Got it,” I accepted the terms, “I’ll be there.”

“But you have class, Dex,” Lan pointed out, “If you cut class, it’ll hurt your chances of being class president.”

“Lan, this is much more important than some school campaign that’ll look good on a resume!” I told him with force, “It’s your mom! I won’t let anything happen to her.”

“Let me see your face,” the WWW Navi requested, and I brought my face to the PET’s camera. “If anyone besides you shows up, you know the consequences. And Lan Hikari?”

“What?” He showed a little attitude to Dark-and-Sparky.

“Don’t delete the contents of your PET,” ElecMan commanded, “You want to be found guilty. And make sure your confession is a good one.” ElecMan jacked out of the chat room, having spoken what he had to.

“These slimeballs…” I hissed, questioning how people could do these things. “Snakes have more of a spine than these rats.”

“I’m such a coward,” Mr. Higsby lamented, “I should’ve stuck my neck out for you.”

“It’s okay, Mr. Higsby,” Lan sighed, “Look, I need you to do something for me.”

“What is it, huh?” the chip collector wondered.

“Copy the WWW decoder from my PET,” Lan answered, “But make sure you erase the signature in it. I don’t want you guys to get arrested for helping me.”

“NumberMan can decode stuff on his own,” Higsby remarked, “I don’t see the point of this.”

“It can also help you control over a virus,” Lan said, “Maybe more than one in the right circumstances. I want Dex to use it when he gets caught in a trap.”

“When?” Mr. Higsby repeated, “Don’t you mean if?”

“Right…” I understood what Lan implied, “There’s no guarantee WWW will let Lan’s mom go. We can only hope, but we’ve gotta be smart.”

“So we’re just gonna turn ourselves in?” MegaMan interjected, “We won’t be able to do anything, you know.”

“We’ll stand trial,” his operator responded, thinking long and hard.

“But what if you get found guilty?” I whispered, “Even if we save your mom, you’ll go to prison.”

“Let me worry about that, Dex,” Lan smiled, “I trust you to do whatever it takes if it’ll get Mom back, even if it costs me my freedom. You can do it, whatever it takes.”

“Lan…” I didn’t show it, but I was touched by his words. He believed in me, so I had to believe in him. I swore I wouldn’t let him down again. After eating some instant noodles, Lan went to ACDC Park and called the police, giving up quietly. He would be taken to the police station for processing and interrogation.

Before he left, he gave me some odd chip with green in it. He told me it was a Synchro Chip and that he and Mayl were using them to take on WWW. They apparently allowed humans to take the forms of Navis and fight with them. It started to sound like something from that color-coded superhero team show. He also mentioned that the StoneMan incident involved some kind of device that lets Navis enter the real world. I was skeptical, but CopyBots were also a thing, so I took it in stride. It wasn’t right to see him do this, but there wasn’t anything I could do to help right now. I went home, slept, and I’d use this Sunday to find that odd program.

01010011 01000101 01000001 01010010 01000011 01001000

The next day, I took the Metroline to get to the block ElecMan mentioned. As I was jacking in GutsMan to find the Wood Program, I heard people talking about Lan’s arrest. Some nasty rumors were spreading like malware; I couldn’t believe how easy it was for people to turn against him and assume the worst, but then I remembered how I did the same thing. I’ve never been more disgusted with myself in a while. I turned against one of the few kids who wasn’t afraid of me, who made me a better person. Now it’s looking grim, but Lan wasn’t pushing me away this time. I wouldn’t let him down, heaven help me.

“Nothing here,” GutsMan informed me, “Are we going to do this with every light? It’ll take forever.”

“Whatever it takes, GutsMan,” I echoed Lan’s words as I jacked my Navi out. I began walking again, right on time to see a guy in a green jacket covering his white shirt and black tie zip by me. I recognized his hair and face instantly. “Ripley?”

“Oh, Dex!” He stopped once he heard me call him, and he panted really hard. “Funny… running… into you here.”

“Yeah,” I droned a little, “What are you doing?”

“Looking for a lawyer… to represent Lan,” Ripley replied, catching his breath. “I remember a law firm… being around here somewhere.”

“I heard you were released early this morning,” I remembered getting a news update on the case. Lan, Ripley, and even Mr. Famous were arrested, but the last two were let go. The police determined they weren’t involved, but that still didn’t look good. The flames were already being fanned as it was.

“Yeah, it got my sister really worried,” the sleepy guy remarked, “she warned me not to make her worry again.”

“Uh-huh…” I wanted to tell him everything else, but Lan told me not to. “But what can you do besides worry?”

“I don’t know,” Ripley’s brief smile sank, “I won’t know anything until I visit Lan later today. Dex, can you help me get a lawyer?”

“I can’t,” I let him down gently, “I’m working on a delivery with Mr. Higsby. It’ll be a while.”

“But it can’t wait. Lan’s trial starts tomorrow. I’m hoping you could help out.”

“How can I help? I don’t know any lawyer and I wish I could spare some time, but I can’t.”

“Dex,” Ripley’s facial expression became serious and alert, “Lan is not a criminal. He’s one of the few people who can stop WWW. We need him.”

“I know that now,” I said softly, “Look, I have to go. It’s really important. I think it’ll help Lan.”

“It will?” Ripley questioned, “How?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted, “but it’s a risk I have to take, willing or not.”

The SciLab intern let his eyes dart around the sidewalk, thinking to himself. “Okay, Dex,” he accepted this easily, walking off. “Do what you can, but I have to get a lawyer to help Lan. This trial is going to be radioactive.”

“Tell him I said good luck, Rip,” I gave him a thumbs-up and a nod, leaving for the next light. “It’s going to be a long day if I have to search every light computer…”

“Say, Dex,” GutsMan got my attention, “How about we save some time by asking the programs if they’ve seen anything suspicious?”

“Good idea, GutsMan,” I conformed to the idea, “If it’s a Wood Program, maybe you can find which light it’s in by asking around.” Considering Lan mentioned an Aqua Program that could unfreeze an entire network, I assumed we’d find it before the day ended. I assumed wrong.

01001101 01001101 01000010 01001110

“And you don’t recall anything?” Detective Bluemann questioned Dr. Hikari, who was lying in a hospital bed with a bandage wrapped around his head.

“No, sir,” Lan’s dad replied, “I don’t even know how I got here.”

“You took a blow to the back of the head…” the detective reminded him, “It’s like the doctor said: you have retrograde amnesia.”

“Is my family okay?” Dr. Hikari muttered anxiously, “What happened last night?”

“I wish I knew,” Bluemann couldn’t hide his gloom, “I spoke to your wife last night, but she didn’t know anything. I’m going to try and get into contact with her later today.”

[BGM: Tree of Life ~Piano Arrange~, Mega Man Battle Network 3 Bonus Track]

“What about Lan? How’s he reacting to this?”

“…He’s hiding what he’s thinking,” the detective spoke truthfully without telling the whole truth, “He’s… not telling me.”

“Oh, Lan,” Dr. Hikari chuckled in ignorance, “It’s just like him to feel he has to do everything himself. You’ll tell him not to worry about me too much, right?”

“I-I’ll do that,” Bluemann faked a cheery grin while kicking himself for not having the heart to tell him, “We’ll find out who did this. Just rest and read!”

“Sure, I need a break from technology,” Dr. Hikari picked up a magazine on local teams, “See you later, Redd.”

“Bye,” The detective left the room, closing the door behind him with a grim look. First Mayl, now Lan and his father… he controlled himself, I can’t do anything right.

*RING-RING!*

A classic telephone chime reverberated from his pocket, snapping Bluemann to his senses. He answered immediately when he saw who was calling him.

“Yes, chief?” Redd questioned.

“Bluemann, have you spoken to Dr. Hikari yet?” the voice of a police force veteran crackled from the old PET’s audio.

“Yes, I have,” He bobbed his head, “but he has retrograde amnesia. He won’t be competent to act as a witness.”

“That’s a problem,” the chief mumbled, “Before I ask you to stop calling me chief, can you send your notes to the investigation team?”

“Yes, but why?”

“Bluemann, you’re too close to this,” the chief, or rather, the head of police stated blatantly, “I have no choice but to take you off the case.”

“Keifer, I haven’t let my personal feelings get in the way,” the detective insisted.

“We can’t know that for sure,” A woman’s voice appeared on the line as well, nearly shocking the detective. “You have been working too hard, detective.”

In the commissioner’s office, he was sitting in a chair, wearing a green jacket with dark green lapels over a black shirt, one with a pale purple line moving down the middle from his neck. He had gray hair going around his head, but he was bald on top, and a mustache. His eyes were a faint shade of brown, and his skin was pale.

His name was Seishin Keifer, and he’s the NetPolice Commissioner. For some reason, Redd called him chief a lot, even though that wasn’t his title. Maybe he just wanted to keep it simple.

The woman next to him, however, was not his assistant. She wore a gray suit over a white shirt with a black pencil skirt. Her black hair was in a bowl cut with her hair reaching down a little past her chin. Her eyes were a hazel color and her skin was a light tan tone.

Her name was Desiree Domin, and she was the current Minister of Justice. She was set to be our country’s prime minister, but Lan’s interference dashed any chance she had, or so I heard.

“Minister Domin,” Redd whispered, “I had no idea you were listening in.”

“Any crime involving the WWW requires me to oversee the state police’s efforts,” Mrs. Domin was sharp in how she talked, “They present such a danger that we can’t take chances on a policeman performing poorly.”

“Even so, there’s no need to question my abilities,” Redd was persistent, you had to give him credit.

“You’re right,” Mrs. Domin wouldn’t take any of that, however. “A decision has already been made.”

“Detective Bluemann,” Commissioner Keifer began, “pending a psychological evaluation to determine your fitness, you are relieved of your duties as detective.”

“What?!” Bluemann was stunned, “Sir?!”

“I don’t make this decision lightly, Reddington,” Keifer added, “but you went through your daughter getting injured doing her job as an Official. Now, you have been conducting an investigation into her childhood friend, who happens to be the son of an influential man. Letting you continue would be wrong.”

“I-I understand that,” Redd sighed a little, “but just because Lan Hikari was there, that doesn’t make him guilty.”

“Let the judge determine that,” Mrs. Domin softly said, “For now, you are to surrender all evidence and notes you have on the case.”

“You are the justice minister,” Redd still acted defiantly, “but I’m an officer of the law, one who’s not intimidated by politicians.”

“Bluemann, don’t make this any harder on yourself,” Keifer announced, “Leave your badge at your desk when you show up.”

“Yes, sir,” Bluemann replied, “I’ll turn in my badge when I get to the station…” Keifer hung up and the detective pocketed his PET, making his way out of the hospital. “…After I take one last look at the Power Plant,” he finished with a cheeky smirk.

01000011 01000001 01000111 01000101 01000100

“I told Mom I wouldn’t be behind the glass again,” Lan made a mirthless chuckle, “Now I have to be behind it to save her.”

“We were played before we knew it was the game,” MegaMan commented, trapped in a cubed PET. Called a Cell PET, this terminal was modified to transfer Navis and files into it, but without a code, nothing can be transferred out, hence the name.

At the moment, Lan and MegaMan were waiting in a visiting room for Ripley, who was running a little late. He arrived a few seconds later, panting and gasping for air. “S-Sorry I’m late…” he apologized, “Phew! I’ve been going around town trying to find someone to represent you.”

“Uh, Ripley…” Lan tried to speak, but the guy kept talking.

“I can’t believe it,” He shook his head, “There I was, dashing through district after district, hoping to find a counselor to defend you. Every ambulance chaser I meet says no! Mention your name once, and I thought they’d be all, hey, this’ll be good for my career! But no!”

“R-Ripley…” Lan would be cut off yet again.

“Even the shysters I visited in the financial district want nothing to do with this! Something about how representing you wouldn’t be worth it. Lan’s Dad makes, like, millions of Zenny a year! What more do you want?!”

“Okay, are you done?” The juvenile boy finally got his attention.

“No, because you’re cooked even if we DO get a spin doctor to take your case.”

“I know it gets worse, but let’s hear it.”

[BGM: Detention Center ~ Elegy of the Security Guards, CADENZA -Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney-]

“Satoru Ito is taking the case,” Ripley’s voice only had panic in it, “He’s a prosecutor for not only Den Tech City, but also Cyber City. He has never lost a case in his seven years on the job. He’s smart, creative, and has so much charisma that housewives around the block have made blogs and webrings about him.”

“Webrings?”

“A little before our time.”

“I guess it’s serious if such a well-known attorney is taking this case,” Lan murmured, “Not that I didn’t already figure.”

“So, what did you wanna say?” Ripley queried.

“Well, I’m gonna represent myself,” Lan brushed some lint off of the suit he still wore from last night.

“What?!” Ripley yelled, “Are you crazy?! You can’t do that! You don’t know legal etiquette!”

“I’m at the center of the incident,” Lan articulated, “I should know this case better than anyone.”

“It’s not a good idea,” Ripley rubbed the back of his head, “Very few people in criminal cases have represented themselves and they typically lose.”

“I don’t have a choice. The WWW agent who hurt my Dad and stole the Elec Program framed me. If I’m gonna get out of this, I have to prove that someone else did it.”

“By yourself? Come on.”

“Is Mr. Famous out?” Lan posed the question, “If you were released, then is he…?”

“Yes,” The sleepy kid sat down at last, “I couldn’t contact him, though. He’s not responding.”

“Did you go to SciLab?”

“I tried, but since I got arrested, I’m banned from entering the place. I think it’s the same for Mr. Famous.”

“The WWW’s getting to do what they want with us out of commission,” Lan clicked his tongue, “Where’s Chaud in all of this?”

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Ripley was pretty bitter about that, “It’s his fault this happened, anyway.”

“That’s debatable,” MegaMan chipped in, “I don’t deny he was risking several innocent lives by not telling us he was setting a trap. But WWW would’ve struck again that night, anyway. They knew we’d be there.”

“I need to look at the evidence if I’m going to prepare for tomorrow’s trial,” Lan declared, “I’ll wait for Redd to give me what I need.”

“I could try to find Mr. Famous,” Ripley offered, “maybe he could help.”

“Don’t bother,” Lan spat, “I don’t think he’ll want to do that.”

“W-What do you mean?” Ripley was a little bewildered by that comment.

“He’s an expert on Cross Fusion. He’s also capable of operating any Navi without trouble.”

“L-Lan, you’re not saying…!”

“Someone set me up,” Lan nodded, glaring at Ripley. “The question is, who was the closest person who had the chance? They didn’t have to be wearing Elec Man’s colors. It could also have been an inside job, if Chaud’s right.”

“You’re accusing me, too?!” Ripley exclaimed.

“That agent said a lot of things,” The prime suspect let some air out through his nostrils, keeping his eyes on him. “He could’ve been lying to throw me off, but Chaud was upfront about that information.”

“You’re being paranoid,” The student in the green jacket clenched his fists, “and Chaud’s the guy who tried arresting you. You can’t trust him.”

“Who can I trust, then?!” Lan roared, slamming the table with his hands. “WWW’s out to get me, and they’re destroying my life and everyone in it! That guy used a voice modulator to trick Chaud and hurt Dad!”

“Lan…”

“I had time to think when I turned myself in!” Lan kept going, “Someone in SciLab is working with WWW, and it’s killing me to think you or Mr. Famous could be doing it! So tell me, Ripley! Who can I trust?!”

Ripley averted his gaze through the looking glass, either in shame or guilt, as far as Lan knew. He was certainly hurt by that accusation, but he turned back with a glare. “Who can you trust at a time like this?” he pondered, “I’ll tell you: how about ANYONE who cares about you?! People who you care about even when those people feel like they don’t deserve your company!” Lan continued to watch his friend go on a tirade, maintaining his frown. “I get it, that WWW guy got into your head, but believing his words over mine? And sure, maybe he is being truthful, but you don’t know that. He wouldn’t blatantly expose another agent without a clear purpose in mind. And you know what it was? It was to divide us so we couldn’t protect each other.”

“Lie or not,” MythMan interjected, “It’s actually a major clue. The WWW knows that you, Mayl, and Chaud were on the team.”

“Yeah, that’s right,” MegaMan concurred, “They probably know Ripley’s on the team.”

“And they know Detective Bluemann is the police liaison,” the dragon Navi carried on, “but Mr. Famous went to great lengths to keep his involvement with us secret. The only people aware of our team are those high in the government, the police, and certain SciLab employees.”

“I know where this is going,” Lan understood, “Only someone high in SciLab, the police, or the government could be the WWW mole. That explains that accusation against the team.”

“And now, they’re probably covering up evidence of their involvement,” Ripley worriedly muttered, “And we’re sitting here, turning on each other.”

“Even after all that,” Lan began, “it gives me more reason to be careful with who I talk to. Ripley?”

“If you can’t trust me, I get it,” the black-haired teen sighed afterward, “You’re facing imprisonment.”

“I’ve put together a request to see the evidence,” Lan mentioned, “Could you give it to the police?”

“S-Sure…” Ripley took that job, “Anything you need.”

“I can’t tell you what Dex is doing, but go to Higsby later. If you have a Synchro Chip or can get one, get it for him.”

“I might take two for both of us,” Ripley mused, “I may have to modify our PETs for that, though.”

“Good, expect trouble tomorrow because Dex will. Follow him, no matter what, and help him.”

“I will,” He didn’t ask questions, believing in Lan. “Oh, and Dex told me to say, good luck, Ripley.”

“Good luck,” Lan smiled, glad to hear Ripley could still crack a joke. He watched him leave with some newfound spirit in him.

“Mr. Hikari, there’s one more visitor,” the guard informed, “It’s a short girl.”

“Yai…” The juvenile boy knew who that was, “Let her in, please.”

01000011 01001100 01010101 01000101

Meanwhile, at the Power Plant, several floors under the Gov’t Complex, Redd was looking around, following everything he learned from the investigation in his head.

They believe Lan assaulted his father with the wrench in the power room, he thought, but there weren’t any fingerprints on it, and Lan had no gloves, nor did he have a stun gun to electrocute anyone with. That means Dr. Hikari was electrocuted with someone else. He didn’t bother thinking of a defense for Lan on the wrench, seeing that someone will explain that easily at the trial. He was, however, thinking about what could prove his innocence or guilt.

The police saw him in Cross Fusion, believing it was MegaMan in a CopyBot, He looked into the trash chute, combing through a pile of yesterday’s garbage. Trying to prove otherwise would expose the team, and put pressure on SciLab to get rid of the Synchro Chips so no one can use it. But there’s no CopyBot to speak of.

As he thought that, however, he saw part of a robotic arm in there.

“What’s this?” Redd reached further, pulling out a whole piece of the CopyBot. “A CopyBot!” The robot in question was dismantled, seeing as what he pulled out was part of its left arm, still connected with its chest and its head dinged up, but still there. “Oh no…” Redd whispered, “He’s being set up.”

Just then, the chute automatically locked itself up, trapping the trash inside! “No!!” he yelled, trying to open the chute up, but to no avail. A trap door underneath the pile opened up, forcing it to fall into the furnace below, burning it all up! “Redd, you idiot!!” The detective hit his fist on the door, “You just blew it for everyone!”

“Feeling sorry for yourself?” Chaud announced himself, walking over to him. He was back to wearing his street clothes. “You just found vital evidence. It helps everyone either way.”

“This was all I could recover,” Redd scoffed, “A real policeman would’ve grabbed the entire pile of trash.”

“Well, the CopyBot’s most vital components are there,” Chaud still gave credit to him, “Even if we can’t pull anything from its drive, this works for the case.”

“You mean it helps us lie to the public,” the detective bitterly spat, “Helps SciLab save face.”

“Detective,” The justice minister, Desiree Domin, had also come downstairs, overseeing everything. “That’s dangerous talk. You know that people can’t ever know Cross Fusion exists.”

“It would help you if they knew,” Redd turned away with a dour look, “Just claim you supported the production and you’d finally have enough support to win the next election for prime minister.”

“I’m only concerned for the security of our country now,” Mrs. Domin smiled with no real feeling behind it, “SciLab has done much for our defenses. But in uncertain times, we need a secret weapon like no other, one that keeps our allies and enemies from walking all over us.”

“First off, the defense minister’s job is to check on that,” Redd debated, “Secondly, this tech was weaponized by WWW. I think this proves the risks outweigh the benefits.”

“What you think doesn’t matter,” The justice minister brushed him off, dropping friendly pretenses with a scowl. “You’re off the case now, so stop obstructing the commissioner’s investigation.”

“The commissioner’s investigation?” Chaud questioned, “But I’m investigating this case.”

“I’m afraid you are required elsewhere, Chaud,” Commissioner Keifer called out, having arrived on time. “WWW has struck again.”

“What happened this time?” the Official in red asked.

“The National Diet Building, the Official Center, and the Den Metropolitan PD have received a brutal attack,” the Commissioner explained, “WWW broke into their grids.”

“So soon?” Chaud calmly checked his PET, getting a message from his superiors to return to the center.

“How could they have broken in?!” Mrs. Domin shouted, “I had Dr. Hikari check the grid just a few days ago!”

“It’s not only the how, but the why,” Keifer opened the keypad up to summon an image on his screen, “They left a message on the Diet BBS. It says…”

Your network security is lackluster. It cannot protect you any more than your military can protect itself. Not even Dr. Hikari’s mind can match our ingenuity.

We don’t need to topple you. We don’t have to. Surrender unconditionally to WWW and you will not be claimed by the EndGame. Deliberate for seven days. We expect your answer then.

Think of the future. Think of the people of a new world in this third millennium.

WWW

“Well, I guess we know where WWW got its name,” Redd hissed, “Chief, can I still help?”

“Given the circumstances, yes,” Keifer responded, “Go to the Diet and stop calling me chief.”

“But the investigation…” Chaud wasn’t willing to object to the commissioner, but he didn’t want to leave the case.

“I’ll handle it,” Keifer put that to rest, “I’ve supervised cases before, so I’ll take over. Both of you must go now. People need you.”

“Yes, sir!” Redd and Chaud saluted Keifer and took off when they were dismissed, going to the elevator.

“Commissioner,” Mrs. Domin spoke up again, “The Cabinet will not tolerate this. Any and all confirmed WWW agents will be deemed a threat to public safety. Severe punishments will be enforced.”

“I know,” The old man expected as such, “That’s why I will make sure the evidence against Lan Hikari is legitimate. If he’s not a WWW agent, then this will be a gross miscarriage of justice.”

“Do what you can,” The justice minister bid him farewell, leaving him and his officers to examine the CopyBot. However, as she left, she considered the benefits and drawbacks of Lan’s conviction. On one hand, she mused, that fiasco would be behind me. But even then…

01001101 01001101 01000010 01001110

“Whoa!” GutsMan gasped, seeing a traffic computer filled with digital trees and vines. It was like a jungle there. “Dex, you seein’ this?”

“Finally!” I sighed with relief, seeing the clock hit five as the sky dimmed. “This must be where the Wood Program is!”

“But, Dex,” GutsMan stomped on my parade, “if this is the program, how do we get it? It’s gonna take forever to get through…”

“It won’t take that long,” a Navi I didn’t know uttered, using his flamethrowers for arms to scorch the trees and delete them.

“Get a load of this guy!” I mumbled in awe, watching the torch Navi burn most of the digital jungle with ease.

“So strong,” GutsMan admired him before catching a glint with his eyes. The source was coming from a floating chunk of data that resembled a 3-D tree.

“It’s the Wood Program,” That candle head approached it, successfully balancing it in his nonexistent hands. “ElecMan sent you to get it, right?”

“E-ElecMan?” I almost choked on my own spit, “How do you know that name?”

“Only a WWW punk would know that…” My long-armed partner raised his fists up, but just then, he caught the Wood Program when it was thrown his way! “Hey!”

“If my operator and I took this back,” the fire Navi reasoned to himself, “There’d be no need to keep that hotshot’s mother alive. Listen good, big boys.”

“What?” GutsMan and I were a little lost, but we listened carefully.

“You’ll probably have to NetBattle to leave with the woman. But if she leaves, WWW’s hold on the kid is gone, and he’ll take the chance to expose our mole. So don’t expect them to be honorable and let you leave there alive.”

“Why are you telling us this?” I inquired, “Doesn’t this hurt the organization?”

“Maybe,” he replied, “but if Hikari goes to prison, Mr. Match and I won’t get to fight him. And we’ve been practicing for that moment. You’re gonna be busy tomorrow, so go home and rest.” He turned away, seeing a ghost Navi of some cubed golem I didn’t recognize. He charged at it with a roar, blasting it with his flames.

“We’re done here, I guess?” GutsMan was confused, but he understood what happened. I jacked him out of the computer and went home, thinking about what we’ve learned.

It was like I thought: WWW didn’t plan on letting Mrs. Hikari go. Even so, I wouldn’t let that hold me back. If there was a price I had to pay, I’d pay it. Lan was worth that much.

CHAPTER 21 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Reddington Bluemann, Celes Tina, Bobby Crosby, and Castiel Lex-Ordo © HatOnFire/Me

01000100 01000101 01011000

The night before Lan’s trial began, I called Yai and asked if she was gonna go to support him, since she was still in the middle of transferring. She couldn’t have said yes fast enough. Lan let her in on what was going on when she visited him. While she was ticked off for not asking her help sooner, she understood why.

I was to let her know when I had Lan’s mom so she could tell him. In trials, the accused could use their PETs, but certain actions are locked due to their status as a defendant. He couldn’t jack in, send messages, or make calls. As I worked on my end, he would drag the trial out and expose the WWW mole who framed him once his mom was safe from harm. I chose not to think about what’d happen if I didn’t succeed. I also informed Higsby to standby when I got the time for the meeting. This also helped just in case something happened while I tried to save her. Chaud and Detective Bluemann were unavailable, meaning I couldn’t expect help.

The next day at the courthouse, Lan was cleaned up, wearing his suit from two nights ago. He was able to hold his PET again, but all he could do was look over the evidence digitally sent to MegaMan. He also has a file of the evidence to look at for himself.

[BGM: Courtroom Lounge ~ Opening Prelude, CADENZA -Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney-]

“Need to look over the evidence one more time?” MegaMan questioned, forced to pace back and forth in Lan’s hands.

“I’ve looked at everything already,” Lan responded, “I don’t know how Mr. Ito’s going to prove I did it with all this, but I know he will if he believes I’m guilty.”

“Well, you have us supporting you, Lan,” Yai said, wearing a black shirt under a red jacket with a red skirt. “Everybody you helped out over the years with MegaMan is here.”

“Really?” The delinquent boy became more attentive.

“At least, the people who’re taking the time to see this are,” Yai noted, recognizing that I couldn’t be at court on a school day.

“Good luck in there, kid,” Bobby Crosby, the ex-governor, nodded with Dr. Froid as they walked in.

“I wish there’s another way I can help you,” the Waterworks director mumbled, “but this is all I can do.”

“I know you couldn’t commit a crime like this,” Ms. Tina said, “I believe in you.”

“Ms. Tina,” Lan was surprised to see her here, “You’re here, too?”

“I owe the principal a few favors just for doing this on short notice,” the high school teacher stated, “and watching you is my responsibility to your parents.”

“It’s the same for me,” Ms. Mari chimed in with a smile, “You’re still my student, Lan.”

“Ms. Mari…” Lan nearly choked up, “I don’t know what to say.”

“How about that you’ll pull through?” Yai suggested, “Court’s not a NetBattle, but I’m sure you’ll make it work.”

“Thank you, all of you,” the delinquent beamed, “I’ll prove my innocence.”

“The only way to do that is to question the witnesses that take the stand,” MegaMan recalled the videos on court procedure he watched to advise Lan, “Contradictions in the facts will help our case, but we need to back up our claims or our credibility will hurt.”

“Like our credibility hasn’t taken a nosedive?” Lan joked, “Either way, I’ll do it.” I’m trusting you to save Mom, Dex, he thought to himself, walking into the doors of the courtroom. And somehow, I’m going to get that WWW agent and expose him. It’s him or me! He walked down the gallery aisle to the defendant’s bench on the right side of the courtroom, setting his PET on the dock that connected it to the computer.

Standing opposite to him was a man slightly taller than Lan. He wore a brown vest with silver buttons over a pale yellow shirt with a red tie. His pants were gray, his shoes brown, and his black hair was in bowl cut where his bangs covered his right eye up. His eyes were closed and he was casually smiling. This was Satoru Ito, the prosecutor for the trial.

The investigators, witnesses, and the audience were whispering to each other as the judge for the trial came in. He wore a typical judge’s robe, all black, over a white shirt and a pink necktie. His degrading dark brown hair was short and mostly around his skull, being bald on top. He also had a mustache with a small goatee. His name was Castiel Lex-Ordo, a city judge who had been active for over thirty years.

He silenced the murmuring in the gallery with the drop of the gavel on its sound block.

[BGM: Court is Now in Session, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney]

“Court is in session for the trial of Lan Hikari and NetNavi MegaMan.EXE,” Judge Lex-Ordo declared, “Is the prosecution prepared to present their case?”

“Yes, Your Honor,” Prosecutor Ito replied, holding a book close to his hip.

“Is the defense prepared?” the judge turned to Lan.

“Um, yes, Your Honor,” Lan was nervous, but he spoke clearly.

“I understand that you waived your right to an attorney?” Judge Lex-Ordo questioned.

“Yes, sir,” Lan nodded, “I… I can resent… represent myself.”

“Oh, Lan,” MegaMan whispered with worry.

“Hmm…” the judge looked unsure, and he would indicate as such. “You don’t sound confident. Are you sure you are competent to stand and defend yourself?”

“The law states that even a juvenile defendant can represent themselves in court,” Ito skimmed through his law book, tapping a finger on a paragraph. “While I can’t comment on why the defendant would forgo the right to an attorney, I don’t object to his ability to represent himself.”

“I only wish to understand that you do intend to do so,” Lex-Ordo spoke to the delinquent, “This trial is serious. Should you be found guilty, you will have to face the consequences of your sentence, which will be determined by the crimes you are accused of.”

“I do understand, sir,” Lan insisted, “and I intend to be found not guilty.”

The judge stared at the boy, seeing fire and grit in his eyes. It reminded him of the prosecutor he worked with, and a little bit of himself when he was young. “If you believe you are ready, we will begin,” He accepted what he saw, looking back at Ito. “But first, let me say that these proceedings are sensitive. This courtroom is restricted to all persons involved with this case and those in attendance. This network is also closed off from the rest of the internet to prevent interruptions to these proceedings. Any civilian caught recording will be removed, fined, and may face jail time. Mr. Ito, your opening statement.”

“Two days ago, on a Saturday night,” the prosecutor started divulging the context, “SciLab hosted an exclusive dinner to unveil a partnership with IPC Inc., revealing collaborative projects and signaling the abolition of SciLab’s ban.” On the judge’s bench, a slanted computer screen displayed pictures of the Gov’t Complex’s Restaurant and the Power Plant underneath it. Those images were also visible on the television screens mounted on the walls next to the bench. “In the underground restaurant of the Government Complex,” Ito continued, “Several incidents followed. A blackout and ventilation generators shutting off, preventing oxygen from being pumped in the lowest levels.”

“That’s a frightening experience,” Judge Lex-Ordo remarked to himself.

“Minutes later, when power came back to the floors, another crime happened: Dr. Yuichiro Hikari being assaulted in the power room.” Lan didn’t flinch when Ito said that, not even when people around were starting to whisper to each other. “He was struck from behind with a wrench and electrocuted with a stun gun. Both weapons could’ve been lethal. And there was also the theft of the Electricity Program.” The picture of a golden computer chip covered in glass littered the screens. “The program’s essence was harvested into a PET and removed from the scene. The prosecution will prove Lan Hikari’s involvement in these crimes.”

“Feeling the pressure?” MegaMan checked in with Lan.

“Honestly, it could be worse,” Lan murmured.

“Mr. Ito, call your first witness,” the judge requested.

“Will the lead investigator take the stand?” Ito called, getting a response from a man in the audience on the first floor. Making his way to the stand, he stood like a soldier at attention. “State your name and occupation.”

“Seishin Keifer,” the commissioner did as he was told, “Commissioner of the Den Tech NetPolice.”

Redd’s boss… Lan sweated a little bit, Now I’m worried.

“Commissioner Keifer, I’m surprised you’re the first witness,” His Honor discerned, “You don’t typically investigate cases anymore.”

“You’re astute, Your Honor,” Keifer nodded, “I’ve taken over the investigation to ease concerns about our police force’s effectiveness in handling these new crimes. The nature of this trial is very sensitive.”

Oh, I’m sorry, Lan kept his snide comments in his head, I didn’t know politicians were sensitive about their tippy toes.

“My subordinates investigated this case to the best of their ability, and I have assisted them,” Keifer added, “We put together a report to present to this court.”

“In that case, tell us everything you have learned,” Ito appealed, letting the testimony begin. “Why was Lan Hikari arrested?”

“First off,” Keifer started, “There was footage of him in the Power Plant’s power room before the lights went out. The time stamp was clear enough to state that. Secondly, Eugene Chaud witnessed the suspect downstairs and made the attempt to apprehend him. His Navi occupied a CopyBot and grabbed Dr. Hikari. He was going to run with him before the police stopped him. He exited, and somehow, the accused also got away.”

“The getaway was clean,” the judge started to question, “and yet, the accused turned himself in later that night?”

“Yes,” the prosecutor answered, “Only he knows why he did that. Let’s not press the issue.”

“Defense,” Judge Lex-Ordo announced, “Will you cross-examine the witness?”

“Uh, yes!” Lan briefly faltered, “I’ll… I’ll do that.”

“You forgot what a cross-examination is, didn’t you?” MegaMan dryly whispered.

“Yeah…” Lan sheepishly replied.

“We’ve been over this,” His blue partner rolled his eyes, “You ask the questions, and the witness answers them. If we’re going to stand a chance, we need to find a hole in his testimony.”

“But he’s the commissioner of the police,” Lan muttered, “He knows not to lie.”

“I never said he’s a liar. But maybe there’s something he didn’t consider when he spoke.”

[BGM: Cross-Examination - Moderato 2007, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney]

“Commissioner Keifer,” Lan began, “how did you come by the footage?”

“The footage was sent to us,” Keifer explained, “The person who did that elected to remain anonymous, but we believe it was someone working security there.”

“Shouldn’t it have been lost when the blackout happened?”

“We learned that the footage was corrupted, likely due to the sabotage in the plant’s mainframe,” Keifer went on, “Keep in mind that the Electricity Program was so volatile that it could cause network shutdowns. We believe that’s why some of the footage was lost.”

“Yes, a brilliant deduction indeed, commissioner,” Ito nodded with a gentle smile.

Cross Fusion never existed, huh? Lan told himself, Fine, I’ll play along. “About the CopyBot that MegaMan allegedly used,” He worded that carefully, “How do you know for sure that it was really MegaMan using it?”

“My policemen swore that they saw him with Dr. Hikari,” The commissioner crossed his arms, “and so did several eyewitnesses.”

“And did Chaud really see me there?”

“His report, which is in the Court Record, states he did.”

“Mr. Hikari,” Mr. Ito closed the book he was reading to say, “Mr. Eugene Chaud is a highly trusted Official who has worked with the law. Attacking his word when you have none to speak of is unwise.”

“I gotta admit that wasn’t smart, Lan,” MegaMan whispered, “Remember how well he took it when you accused him?”

“Can I strike that from the record?” Lan requested.

“That’s the smartest thing I’ve heard from you since you started,” The judge accepted that while dissing him, much to the amusement of some of the people in the gallery.

Insulted by an old man in court, the delinquent groaned to himself, Even so, something’s off… Wait! I got it! “Commissioner!” he pressed with a shout, “Your testimony is off the mark!”

[BGM: Apollo Justice - A New Era Begins!, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney]

“What?” Keifer was taken aback, “How is that so?”

“It’s the CopyBot,” As Lan clarified that, his Navi brought up a digital file on the robot from the court record. “You stated that it fled the scene of the crime with me and MegaMan. But if that’s the case, then why was it in the trash chute?” Keifer glared at the delinquent, lost in thought. Don’t look at me like that! Lan sweated, It’s a legit question!

“That is peculiar, isn’t it?” The judge agreed, “I felt that something was off when you mentioned that.”

“If you say MegaMan fled with the CopyBot,” the defense pressed, “then isn’t it ignorant to suggest it was placed in the trash chute to be disposed of?”

“It would be,” The prosecutor had a retort, “but not if you were still at the scene.”

“What does that mean?” Lan questioned.

“Yes,” Keifer followed Ito’s train of thought, “MegaMan evaded the police and we lost sight of you. There is the possibility you had MegaMan take the CopyBot to the trash chute.”

“Is that what you think happened?” One of Lan’s eyebrows rose up after looking at Chaud’s report, “Mr. Ito, I’d like for you to read this part of Mr. Chaud’s report.”

“I saw MegaMan flee the complex, unable to pursue him,” Ito read that aloud, forming his own thoughts. “I’m not saying we’ll disregard his report; only that we should take another item into account.”

“Explain for the court,” the judge demanded.

“The sabotage report,” Ito replied, “The mainframe’s damage lasted for a long time and the video footage had jamming bursts at certain areas, even when power was restored. This ties into what we found on the CopyBot.”

“Here’s more of their case against us, Lan,” Mega warned him.

“I present this damaged CopyBot before the court,” A picture of the broken machine flickered on the screen, along with additional notes about its internal drive. “The hard drive had some items deleted from the system, but there is a program that’s still intact. It triggers a jamming signal when active.”

“A jamming signal?” Judge Lex-Ordo repeated, “Why was it transmitting from a CopyBot?”

“To cover up one’s presence,” Ito answered, “Tapped into the Power Plant, the CopyBot would be able to cause shutdowns when the perpetrator has no more use for the mainframe. With his PET, the accused could trigger it to hide and flee.”

“Mr. Hikari was in possession of the floor plans as well,” Commissioner Keifer added, “This led to Mr. Chaud arresting him.”

“Shouldn’t I object to this?” Lan looked for guidance from Mega.

“The WWW coding is in the PET,” MegaMan told him, “We can’t explain how that got in there without revealing our suspect early.”

Lan understood what that meant, keeping quiet again. I’ll save this info for later, he thought, since no one would believe us if we say something now.

“Defense, is there anything else to ask of the witness?” the judge questioned.

“No, sir,” he replied, “He can leave.”

“You may step down, commissioner,” Ito gestured for him to leave, “Mr. Hikari, before I go further, I must ask you: do you deny these chains of events as fact?”

“I don’t think any of this is right, if that’s what you’re asking,” Lan crossed his arms, “I can’t dispute it unless I’ve seen and heard everything.”

“You have the right for that, but you must understand the situation you’re in,” the prosecutor started to explain, “This trial is a question of whether or not the WWW is involved, with the Elec Program stolen from the plant. I aim to prove you’re involved with the incident, not that you are a WWW agent.”

“So you think I’m working with them?”

“That’s a probable assertion, yes,” Ito confirmed, dropping his smile. “And if it turns out you are working with them or for them, then there will be a harsh sentence afterwards.”

“What does that mean?” Lan blinked, feeling a drop of sweat trail down his forehead.

“The Cabinet is starting to see the WWW less as mere ruffians, and more as terrorists. They have made a threat against them, and by extension, all of Nihon. The Cabinet is deliberating on enforcing penalties on any convicted associate of WWW, now that they’re willing to commit treason.”

“Penalties?” Lan almost choked, feeling sick to his stomach. “Treason? Does that mean there’ll be… death penalties?”

“Any threat against us may have to be responded accordingly,” Once Ito said that, a few whispers were made among Lan’s supporters.

“This can’t be…” Mr. Crosby turned blue.

“He’s still a child…!” Ms. Tina stuttered.

“Please, no…” Yai’s face became pale as she started fearing for Lan’s life.

[BGM: A Thrilling Theme - Suspense, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney]

“Considering your constant run-ins with the law,” Prosecutor Ito continued, “it’s only justified that these crimes will have you tried as an adult. If you’re affiliated with WWW, then I can’t stop you from going on death row.”

“W-What’ll happen to MegaMan?” Through it all, Lan was still worried about his most valued friend.

“He will be permanently deleted following the verdict,” Ito bluntly stated.

I wish I could trade places with Scrooge! MegaMan internally croaked. Being visited by ghosts doesn’t sound bad compared to that!

“Your only way out would be a full confession, right here and now,” Ito pressed his finger on his table for emphasis, “I don’t think you’re with WWW, but the evidence is not so keen on opinions. I’d like to call a recess for Mr. Hikari to deliberate for himself, Your Honor.”

“That would be wise,” Judge Lex-Ordo agreed, prepared to bang his gavel down to make it official.

“Objection!” Lan shakily breathed after that outburst, doing that without thinking for himself. I heard it was pretty cool. “I-I mean,” He leaned forward, wiping sweat from his head. “I-I don’t need a break…”

“Mr. Hikari?” Ito checked on him, “I didn’t mean to alarm you. The court is willing to show leniency, but you must name any accomplice involved, if there is one.”

“H-Hub?” Lan whispered, “I… I’m scared of what I’ll say next. I never had to… do this before… What if I get you—?”

“It’s alright, Lan,” MegaMan calmed him down, “I’m willing to do anything. Just… know that once you say something, there’s no turning back. You can fold if it’s too much, I won’t think less of you.”

“I’ll dive off a cliff if it’ll save Mom,” Lan fired back, “I’m not stopping.” He took a deep breath before announcing to the court, “I’m innocent, but make no mistake; WWW is involved. My sentence can be life imprisonment or the death penalty if I fail, but I’m not afraid! I want a complete acquittal, nothing less!!”

[BGM: The Truth Revealed 2007, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney]

“Lan…!” Yai whispered as the gallery clamored in shock. They assumed Lan was guilty and figured he would just confess, but there he was, standing as tall as he could with his height and glaring boldly ahead of him.

“What is he doing?!” Ms. Mari shuddered, “Is he serious?!”

“The deal at least would’ve kept him alive,” Dr. Froid tightly clenched his biceps, “but I knew he wouldn’t accept that.”

“You fool…” Ito uttered, “This deal won’t last long. What are you trying to do?”

My only chance is for Count Zap to take the witness stand, Lan thought, secretly fearing the consequences of what he just said. I must prove I’m not the culprit, and he knows it! I hope I can prove my innocence…

“Settle down, now!” the judge shouted, but the court was still thrown into chaos. The trial had to enter recess until everyone would calm down…

What is he playing at? The culprit behind the incident thought to themselves, hiding among the crowd. Does he think this will somehow change the outcome? Well, we’ll see about that…

01011001 01000001 01001000 01001111 01001111 01010100

At school, most of the students had only been talking about Lan standing trial. No one had anything good to say, so I tuned them out. There wasn’t any point getting angry about it. While writing stuff on paper, I got a text from a number I didn’t recognize, but I knew it was them. What the message said was this: DEN DOME 12:00 ALONE.

I gasped once I saw the time on my watch. It was 11:00 AM, but it would take one hour to get there by train. It would also take a little longer if I had to break into Den Dome. There was no time to lose. I immediately got up and walked out of the class, much to the astonishment of my peers and teacher. No one said anything or even did anything, since I was the last guy anybody expected to walk out like that.

I ran downstairs and got out of the school, but a couple of teachers saw me and chased after me. I took off regardless, losing them in a neighborhood. Fortunately, we were prepared.

*HONK-HONK!*

A green van with several Battle Chips painted over it lightly blew its horn, stopping for a quick moment. I opened the van up and got inside it. “Got the location, huh?!” Higsby exclaimed while I fastened my seat belt.

“Den Dome,” I told him, “and step on it!”

He did. The van took off, burning rubber in the street and going a little over the speed limit. Several minutes later, however, we’d get stuck in a traffic jam. “Some idiot’s blocking the way, huh!” Higsby grumbled, “I can’t go around ‘cause everybody else is doing the same thing!”

“I’m finding alternate routes now, Mr. Higsby!” NumberMan called.

Eventually, we got past it and went on. With the way Higsby drove, he successfully got us to my destination in forty minutes. “We’re here…” he sighed, stopping the car.

I jumped outside, seeing a barricaded parking lot surrounding Den Dome. The dome itself was enormous, having tinted glass cover the inside. The crossing gate raised itself up like someone was expecting me to waltz in. I had no choice but to proceed. “Dex,” Higsby had one more thing to say to me, “I’m gonna park this somewhere for the getaway.”

“Okay,” I replied, “If things get dire, forget about me. Just save Mrs. Hikari.”

“Good luck, huh?” He smiled, rolling up the window and taking the van somewhere.

“Alright, Dex,” GutsMan pounded his chest, “let’s go.”

I made my way into the desolate lot, walking on asphalt to the building. Once I got there, the doors automatically opened for me. “The poem of the Spider and the Fly comes to mind,” I commented, anticipating everything that came ahead.

I was led to a locker room by an open door to the next floor and the lights flickering in a sequence. Beyond the door of this room was a walkway leading to a platform with an orange NetBattle machine in the center. All around the platform was the dome’s arena, mostly devoid of people. The exception was that two people were at the machine. One was a bald man in some sort of tunic with some hair in the back like a rat tail. The other was a woman bound and gagged, but not blindfolded. That wasn’t a good sign.

“I too, am familiar with the tale of the Spider and the Fly,” the man spoke, “but she will be able to leave. Now, the Wood Program.”

“You want me to jack my Navi in the NetBattle Machine?” I correctly guessed what he wanted me to do, so I did that. Inside the computer, GutsMan saw the only Navi that was inside.

His overall design resembled a wizard, mimicking it with a blue pointed hat, which had a red orb in the center with pale yellow horns shooting backwards, and a blue body with some light blue down the middle. His body was like a robe, only his shoulders had a point sticking out, his waist was thin, and the lower part of the robe was divided into three sections. Purple diamonds were on those robe sections in a pattern: one diamond taking up the most space with two smaller ones on opposing sides. Smaller diamonds were also in a straight line on his long arms, one after the other. His brown boots were angled with a blue triangle on the front of them. His hands were replaced by red orbs that shined like jewels.

His beard covered most of his face, and it almost resembled part of a crescent. His eyes were yellow, shaped like rectangles, and I’m sure that black space around his eyes is meant to be an eye mask. His emblem was on the front of his shoulders, and I caught a glimpse of some kind of tome stuck to his back.

“Welcome,” he softly spoke, “Bring the program over here.”

“Gotcha,” GutsMan carefully transferred the program to his possession.

“You got what you wanted, so please let Mrs. Hikari go,” Being calm was the right call for now.

“I’ve just been informed of how the trial is going,” the WWW agent checked his PET, “He’s professing his innocence instead of guilt. How… futile.”

“Hey, pal, let her go,” I pressed him for her release.

“Lan Hikari must be found guilty in court before I can do that,” he didn’t budge, “and he’s not confessing when he had the chance to.”

“Well, I’m not leaving until she’s free,” I scowled at him.

“Of course,” he knew as much, “While you’re waiting, how about we kill some time?”

“Are you proposing a NetBattle, Yahoot?” the wizard Navi questioned, “These two are hardly worthy of being contenders.”

“Now, now, MagicMan,” The man called Yahoot shook his head in disapproval, “We might as well raise the stakes. That is, with their lives.”

“Of course,” I saw that coming, “I guess we’re not gonna leave here alive without a fight.”

“If young Lan holds you in high esteem, then you should be able to give as much as you take,” Yahoot smiled, daring me to take him on.

“I’m already risking my life being here,” I shrugged, “Might as well go all the way!”

“I will warn you,” Yahoot smirked as he said this, “I am quite good at erasing things on the net and in the real world.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” I spat.

“I’m ready for this, Dex!” GutsMan pounded his fists together with gusto, “Let’s do it!”

“Alright,” I accepted, mentally prepared for this grueling match. “GutsMan! Battle routine, set!”

“Execute!”

CHAPTER 22 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Celes Tina, Ripley Marduk, Bobby Crosby, and Castiel Lex-Ordo © HatOnFire/Me

01000100 01000101 01011000

“Court shall now reconvene,” Judge Lex-Ordo tapped his gavel on the bench, “Hopefully there won’t be any more outbursts from the gallery, lest they shall be removed.” Earlier today, Lan dramatically proclaimed his innocence, defying the deal Ito made to him. The court was forced into recess because of that, and once everything calmed down, they continued. “The defendant has maintained his innocence,” the judge recalled, “and thus, we will continue the trial until the prosecution decides to rest.”

Prosecutor Ito was still staring at Lan, still bewildered and troubled by what he did. Anyone cornered would just accept the deal, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. There is nothing I can do to stop him, it seems.

“Mr. Ito?” the judge called, “Are you ready to proceed?”

“…Yes, Your Honor,” The prosecutor bobbed his head, “The court has heard what happened that night. Some basic facts were presented. If Mr. Hikari wishes to make a counterargument, he will have the chance to do so after I call my next witness.”

“The next witness, you say?” Judge Lex-Ordo raised up an eyebrow, “Very well, have him come up.”

“Not yet,” Ito held off on that, “First, we must establish how the Electricity Program was taken out of the place.”

“We do?”

“I wish to point out the layout of the Government Complex’s security measures. It comes with unique sensors that detect the Electricity Program’s specific signature. They run on auxiliary power, and they would sound an alarm if the program is not where it was in the Power Plant.”

“Then, how could Mr. Hikari have taken it out?”

“I believe this is why he intended to dispose of the CopyBot,” Ito answered the question, “It jammed the signal pretty well when he had MegaMan take it out.”

“If that’s the case, and the program’s missing…” Lex-Ordo stroked his chin in thought to conclude, “Then, if WWW is confirmed to be involved…”

“The evidence will determine the latter,” Ito proclaimed, “but yes, then it would suggest Lan Hikari is a WWW agent.”

People whispered among themselves as Lan squeezed his fists on his table, putting up a front. “So, the deal’s off?” Lan wondered, “Fine.”

He just turned most of the people here against us with these ideas, MegaMan told himself, Ito may appear nice, but he’s so ruthless.

“Now then, I’d like to call my witness,” The prosecutor looked to the gallery, gesturing for him to stand up.

“I guess we’re going to hear him now,” MegaMan whispered as the bright man came up to the stand, taking something out of his guitar bag.

“Witness, your name and occupation,” Ito requested, heedless of what he was going to get in return.

[BGM: Stage Select (Vile), Mega Man Maverick Hunter X]

“Hello, everybody!” Count Zap began playing his guitar in front of the court with a boisterous shout, “Name’s Jack Zap, but call me Count Zap! I’m a true rock star, serving on the SciLab board making life defining decisions!”

“Does this guy even hear himself?” MegaMan grew annoyed a little too quickly. The people in the gallery were clapping for the count already, cheering his name.

“Witness!” His honor covered his ears, “Please refrain from rendering everyone in court deaf!”

“I can’t help myself, Your Honor!” Zap kept playing regardless, using his left hand to strike the strings with his guitar pick. “Every time there’s an audience waiting for me, I’ve just got to give some pleasing music!”

“Great, he’s bringing everyone over to his side,” Lan mumbled, “This’ll make it ten times harder to nail him.”

“We’ll change everyone’s tune, Lan,” MegaMan reassured him.

“If you could finish up your instrumental,” Ito requested, “I’d like for you to give your testimony.”

“How about I just serenade you all with my prime voice?!” Count Zap had so much pride in himself, “An opportunity to stun the crowd is time well spent!”

“Talking is just fine, please!” Ito yelled, almost losing patience with him. “Otherwise, I’ll have you placed in contempt of court!”

“Such narcissism,” Mr. Crosby scowled, “Making this entire trial all about himself when a life is on the line.”

“Very well!” Count Zap wrapped up his guitar instrumental after a few more seconds, “One of my many hit singles, as you guys know!”

“Mr. Ito, what’s the purpose of him taking the stand?” the judge queried.

“He’ll testify that he saw Lan Hikari leave the party two nights ago,” Ito replied, “Also, he will tie in when Dr. Hikari and Mr. Chaud left as the power returned.”

“So here’s what happened!” the proud rocker declared before speaking normally, “I chatted with the defendant’s mother in the lobby before we got downstairs to that restaurant. She went to mingle with the guests, and I went backstage to get ready for my performance. Once I was done, the lights suddenly went out. When they came on, Dr. Hikari and Mr. Chaud went off to see what the problem was. Lan Hikari was never in the room the entire time I played, how rude!”

“Refrain from unnecessary comments, please,” Ito covered his face in irritation.

“I escorted Mrs. Hikari upstairs,” Zap continued, “Incidentally, my PET was misplaced! I don’t know where it is.”

“Take it up with the police,” Ito did not care for it, “I have no more questions. Your witness.”

Wow, you passed him off to me immediately, Lan cracked to himself before preparing to speak to Zap, “Your PET was missing, right?”

[BGM: Cross-Examination - Moderato 2007, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney]

“Yes, it was,” Zap crossed his arms, “I don’t know where it’s gone to.”

“Do you admit it’s possible that your PET was used in this crime?” Lan pondered.

“Objection, relevance,” Ito said without missing a beat.

“Sustained,” The judge nodded, “Its status as missing hardly matters here.”

“If you were performing on stage,” Lan moved on, “how could you say I wasn’t in the audience that whole time?”

“Only some of the ceiling lights were dimmed for the stage lights to do their thing,” Zap replied, “I could see everyone in the audience. Also, your orange vest and rolled-up sleeves made you stand out. Your fashion could use some work, kid.”

That’s rich, coming from you, the accused delinquent kept that to himself.

“Excuse me, Lan?” MegaMan piped up.

“What’s up?” his operator listened.

“Say he was upstairs with Mom and Yai,” Mega said, “He left them for a moment, didn’t he?”

“Count Zap, you left my mother and my friend for a moment,” Lan jumped on that logic, “Were you in the lobby at that time?”

“Yes, I was,” Zap nodded, “I saw your Navi with your father as a hostage. What of it?”

“You remember seeing that blue person release Dad, right?”

“Yeah,” Zap shrugged, “He dropped him and ran before the police could do anything.”

“I see…” Lan nodded with his eyes closed, oblivious to the flaw for a few seconds. “I’m a little underwhelmed.”

“Because you couldn’t get away with whatever your crime was?” The count cocked an eyebrow with a smug look.

“Because I expected you to lie better than that,” Lan rested one hand on the table, returning a confident smile of his own.

“What?”

[BGM: Apollo Justice - A New Era Begins!, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney]

“I have the police report detailing that particular event,” Lan brought up details of the report in the monitors, “Your Honor, look at the part where the officers state the blue individual disappeared after releasing my father.”

“Disappeared?!” the judge exclaimed, “But he ran off, didn’t he?”

“Maybe, but not before doing what could only be described as a disappearing trick,” Lan nodded with a finger wag.

“Mr. Hikari, don’t be so pleased with yourself,” Mr. Ito interjected, “The witness may have only partially remembered what happened. His mind was elsewhere, as it always is.”

“I resent that!” Zap scoffed.

“No, he should’ve remembered that if he was really there,” Lan pointed out, “The proof is in several witness statements. Specifically, the ones who were in the Office Lobby at that time.”

“I remember reading those…” Ito scrolled through one on his PET screen.

“The most memorable image they remember is when that blue person disappeared into thin air,” The accused stood up straight, “If the count truly was there, he should’ve said something like that in his testimony. But I don’t think he ever saw that.”

“Really?” Count Zap spoke up, “Because I did! I just forgot about it, that’s all.”

“Then you should remember the manner in which he went out!” Lan argued, making the count grab the light bulbs attached to his suit’s cuffs and squeeze the rims in a sweat.

“I-It slipped my mind, alright?!” He looked at him with contempt, “My PET went missing!”

“For shame, Mr. Hikari,” Ito clicked his tongue in reproach, “Challenging the memory of a kind man just to slip away from the charge.”

“B-Besides, isn’t how he disappeared irrelevant?” The count played the victim card, slumping over the stand. “T-The CopyBot was used in the crime, right…?”

“Yes, and if you recall the CopyBot’s design,” The prosecutor piled on the info, “Its purpose is to bring Navis into the real world. A holographic generator allows Navis to take on an appearance to interact with us. It’s possible MegaMan evaded the police by rendering himself invisible to the human eye.”

“I see,” Judge Lex-Ordo followed Ito’s logic, “and the jamming signal disrupted the security footage to cover his escape, masking the Elec Program’s signal.”

“Hold it!” Lan made an outburst, “MegaMan never used a CopyBot! You don’t even know if the person who protected my father was him!” The gallery whispered among themselves before the judge silenced them.

“Lan, what are you saying?” MegaMan questioned. Lan paused, knowing he would immediately get shut down if he started talking about Cross Fusion without backing it up, but he needed to convince everyone they weren’t criminals.

“What are you saying, Mr. Hikari?” Ito asked again.

"There's two explanations for the false MegaMan,” Lan stated, “One: another Navi took on MegaMan’s appearance with the holographic generator to cover for his operator, the real culprit. The second one, which I find to be correct, is that he wasn’t a Navi in a CopyBot!”

“I’m looking at the notes on the drive now,” Judge Lex-Ordo called out, studying the data inside. “It appears there was a command for a Navi to take on an appearance?”

“I did not mention it because it didn’t seem relevant,” Ito stated, “but whether there was or wasn’t such a thing on the drive, Lan Hikari is not exonerated.”

“This at least casts doubt on my arrest,” The defendant grew tired of Ito, and his face showed it.

“If you will not confess, young man,” Ito sighed, “then I must present a motive.”

“What?” MegaMan squeaked.

“This was saved in the accused’s PET,” Ito brought something that had been in the Court Record for some time. “It’s the details for a new SciLab project.”

“Is it alright for you to reveal such details?” the judge speculated, “This is confidential material.”

“The government gave me permission,” the prosecutor smiled again, “We can show this to the court. There’s a message in there from the WWW, addressed to Mr. Hikari.”

“What?!” Lan exclaimed, startling the court.

“What is this?” Mr. Crosby muttered next to Dr. Froid, both holding their breath for the next revelation.

As the screens showed documents with a message on it, Ito pressed on, “You can see SciLab has been given a military contract to develop a new type of tank that can send viruses to electronic devices within a ten-mile radius. The lead technician who developed the bulk of it all… was Dr. Hikari.”

“Again, what?!” Lan piped up, “I never saw that before in my life!”

“Quiet, boy,” The judge had an idea where this was going, letting Ito continue.

“With this project, SciLab was going to announce collaborations with the military, moving away from the peaceful image they maintained. Also, this would allow the government greater say in what they can or cannot manufacture.”

“Y-You’ve gotta be kidding…” MegaMan couldn’t believe this.

“The WWW’s message in these documents suggested a partnership with the defendant,” Ito slammed his book on the bench, allowing the sound to echo in the court. “Lan Hikari took it, learning his father was pleasing the politicians he despised so much! He committed sabotage and attempted mass murder as a result!” 

[BGM: Complications in the Proceedings, The Great Ace Attorney Adventures]

“WAIT, NO!!” Lan’s face turned white, and the clamoring of several individuals grew into roars. “THAT’S NOT TRUE!!”

“Order, order!!” The judge slammed his gavel several times to silence everyone.

“That’s a lie!!” However, Yai was not willing to do that. “Lan didn’t know that! No one did!”

“Y-Yai!” Her friend was sweating hard from anxiety.

“Ask Count Zap if he knew!” Yai screeched, “He’s a member of the SciLab Board, isn’t he?!”

“Order!” The judge slammed his gavel, “You’re out of bounds, missy! Now you’re out! Bailiff, remove her from the court!”

“I’m walking, I’m walking!” Yai stood up from her seat, flinching when a bailiff tried to grab her arm. She went outside under protest.

I know it’s him! Lan quietly told himself, watching Count Zap lift his headphones to place a pinky finger in his left ear to clear it. He’s ElecMan’s operator! I fought him in the Power Plant!

“I will remind the court of Count Zap’s alibi,” Ito shook his head with a serious expression, “He was onstage the whole time. As for Mr. Hikari, he was below them in the Power Plant.”

“Ignoring my alleged motive, how could I have attacked my father?” Lan asked, tapping his index finger on his left bicep nervously. “There’s no fingerprints on the weapons.”

“The crumpled tie in your pocket explains that,” Ito replied, “We already have footage of you using it on the switch in the power room.”

“Ugh…” the delinquent swallowed a lump in his throat, “That’s true, but it’s not like that!”

“You wrapped your hand with the tie to shut off the power, and to attack your father with the wrench and stun gun. Mr. Chaud’s presence prevented you from finishing the job.”

“It’s not true!!” Lan ran his fingers in his head in frustration, “Why doesn’t anyone believe me?!”

“Lan…” Mega murmured, watching the stress finally break down his partner and brother. Ms. Mari bit her bottom lip, seeing her former student turn a new shade of white. Ms. Tina also clasped her hand together in worry.

“I-I’m not the culprit…!” He covered his face as his elbows pressed on the table, hiding the tears that began to form. “I would never hurt Dad! This is a trick…!”

“I have one more piece of evidence to present,” The prosecutor did not let up, “You must be wondering about the air tank we’ve found, Your Honor?”

“Now that you mention it, the air tank is a mysterious item,” The judge found that as the last item in the Court Record, seeing a picture of a silver air tank in the power room.

“It makes sense when you look back at that message,” Ito nodded, “WWW told him an operative planted the tank there prior to the event. We even found prints belonging to Maddy Iroaya, one of their agents.”

“No…!” Dr. Froid gasped in horror, remembering something important. “She had a bag with her… I didn’t know she was carrying that...!”

“And the other set of fingerprints on it?” Ito finished, “The defendant’s.”

“Objection!!” MegaMan yelled from the PET, “The court can’t accept any of those items into evidence!!”

“Oh, his Navi has something to say,” Judge Lex-Ordo slightly chirped, “I forgot you’re also participating.”

“My operator did not touch that tank,” MegaMan declared, “His fingerprints must’ve been planted!”

“She must’ve taken them when she struck Lan unconscious at the Waterworks…” Froid wearily rubbed his face, “I’ve got to tell them.”

“The judge won’t listen at this point,” Mr. Crosby kept him from leaving his seat, “and no one is revealing that thing because it’s hard to believe. There’s no right way to reveal everything.”

“Not possible,” Ito refuted, “The prints were picked up clearly. And as a Navi, your arguments are invalid in court.”

“Are you saying I don’t have any rights here?” MegaMan clenched his fists, seeing Ito approach the defense bench to look directly into the PET’s camera.

“I’m afraid your existence is akin to a product that humans purchase. NetNavis are merely tools to be used, since your sentience is merely preprogrammed.”

“In your professional or personal opinion?” MegaMan retorted.

“Professional,” Ito stoically answered, “NetNavis involved in serious crimes are immediately deleted following the operators being declared guilty. That’s what makes you a nonperson. As an object, you are incapable of protecting Lan, much less yourself.”

“I-I…” MegaMan felt so degraded, knowing he wasn’t an object. Still, wasn’t there anything he could do in his state? Most of the gallery shot daggers at Lan, but as he was gritting his teeth in defeat, he looked up at Ito.

“Did you call my Navi a nonperson?” Lan questioned, staring at him coldly. “Because I’ll tell you right now he’s not an object.” Ito kept silent while the defendant wiped his tears without parting or closing his eyes. “You can say what you think about me,” he told him in calm anger, “but not him. You don’t have the right to talk down to anybody just because you’re a prosecutor.”

“As true as that is,” the judge cut in, “he’s not wrong in saying that.”

“Regardless, there’s nothing left for me to say,” Ito moved on, “You doubled down on your innocence, and I proved otherwise. You should’ve taken the deal earlier. You must confess if you want to end this trial with a life sentence.”

“Because of WWW, right?” Lan softened his glare.

“It’s either that or the alternative,” Ito spoke with a sigh following that, “MegaMan will be deleted either way.”

“Lan,” MegaMan rested his right hand over his heart, ignoring his own fears. “I don’t know what to do now, but thanks. If we accept the deal, at least…”

“No,” Lan whispered with a smile, remembering how he protected his brother when they were kids. “I won’t take it, no matter what. Dex will make it. Besides…”

“Huh?”

“I think I can figure out what happened,” the accused used his PET to cycle through the Court Record.

“You can?”

“If I could defend you, then I can defend us both. In fact, the power of two is the key to everything.”

[BGM: The Truth Revealed 2007, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney]

“I see no reason to prolong this trial,” Judge Lex-Ordo stated, “Are there any final objections?”

“I have one, Your Honor,” Lan raised his hand, “I want to present a case proving my innocence and implicate a new suspect.”

That look in his eyes, Dr. Froid observed him, has he figured something out?

“Is that so?” Ito was interested, smiling a little.

“To do that,” Lan pointed at the witness stand, “I want Count Zap to stay on the stand to help me prove it!”

“What?” Zap raised an eyebrow as some members of the gallery chatted among themselves.

“At this point in the trial, I can’t see the need for that,” Ito skimmed through his book, “Count Zap has answered everything.”

“I still have questions,” Lan pointed out before confidently standing up straight, “and as long as I do, this trial must continue!” As everyone whispered to each other, the delinquent gazed at the man in front of him, looking around in confusion. You didn’t have to say much to cover for yourself, Lan thought, but that changes now. Let’s hear you sing some more.

01010111 01010111 01010111

Meanwhile, over at Den Dome…

“Magic Fire!” MagicMan made the first move against GutsMan, trying to spray him with blue flames from his arms.

“Shock Wave!” My Navi tested him with a shock wave gliding across the ground, but he disappeared in a flash.

“Virus Summon!” Since he stood underneath a strange symbol that almost resembled two fish, he seemed to escape, only to return instantly, but not alone.

“Oh boy,” I whispered as several viruses spawned into the network, thanks to the symbols littered on his side of the field.

“In addition to having a most powerful attack,” Yahoot informed me, “MagicMan has the strength to open gateways in many networks to summon several viruses at a time.”

“Alright, cool!!” GutsMan wasn’t going to be intimidated, “More things to punch out!”

“Don’t enjoy yourself too much,” I gave him two Silver Fist chips and a Fighter Sword, “It’s not just us we’re fighting for.”

“HRAAAAAA!!!” Inputting a code in, I helped GutsMan launch several Silver Fists, devastating a crowd of Mettaur 3 and Flappy viruses.

A black and purple Shadow virus with yellow eyes and a bat-like shape teleported to my Navi, morphing into a raised axe. He quickly deleted it with the sword, which also nicked a Cloudy virus.

Billy! Billy! Red Billy 2s chanted and fired electric balls that slowly trailed GutsMan. Fanner 2s and VolGears unleashed their attacks in unison. The flames confined GutsMan and tornados struck him, sending him flying into the flames and electricity!

“AAAAHHHH!” he cried, hitting the digital floor, taking a Piranha 3’s bolt to an arm.

“GutsMan! Hang in there!” I acted fast to give him a defensive chip.

“North Wind!” But MagicMan took the barrier away by blowing it off.

“Air Shoes and Geddon 2!” To keep the ground viruses away, I downloaded a chip so GutsMan could hover over empty spaces, using Geddon 2 to delete all unoccupied space on the floor.

“Repair, Slot In,” Yahoot simply inserted a chip that fixed all the damage for his side, “Is this all you can do?”

“Grrrr!” I swear, he was mocking me, acting so high and mighty about it! I wanted to go over there and punch his lights out!

“Dex, you wanna go for a knockout?” GutsMan sensed my intention, “Then let’s use that.”

[BGM: Irregular Hunt I, Mega Man X Command Mission]

Taking his suggestion, I started the WWW Decoder Lan transmitted to my PET, resulting in red lightning bolt-like lines streaming along GutsMan’s arms. “YEE-HAW!!!” With a clap of his hands, a giant red dome erupted from them, covering the surrounding area in it.

Billyyyyy!! The Billy 2 viruses screeched, getting their programming altered to follow new commands.

“What is this?” MagicMan darkly whispered, “My own sorcery is being used against me?”

“All viruses attack MagicMan’s viruses!” GutsMan bellowed, “We’re leveling the playing field!” The Billy 2 viruses now directed their electricity towards some VolGear 2 and Spikey viruses, just as some Fanner 2s shredded some Piranhas with their tornadoes. A Swordy 3 slashed into a Shadow virus, saving GutsMan from a cheap shot. “Snake and Attack +10!” Adding some chips to give him a chance, purple snakes shot out from the gaps in our field, targeting the wizard.

“AAAHHHHH!!” MagicMan yelled in pain, feeling the snakes bite into his arms.

“Rocket Guts Punch!!” GutsMan flung his fist forward, landing a direct hit. “Lance!” Another chip was used as MagicMan got pushed back, sending him forward with a little back pain.

“Toying with me won’t get you anywhere,” Yahoot whispered, “I can still delete your Navi in one stroke!”

“As a matter of fact…!” MagicMan’s eyes glowed as he raised his arms to blast him again!

“Yikes!” GutsMan escaped the flames, landing on his field. He grabbed the closest thing next to him, a Mettaur 2, chucking it at his adversary. It got reduced to zeros and ones.

“Are you that desperate?” MagicMan questioned, witnessing GutsMan use his hammers on his field, breaking some of the panels.

“Try some of this!” GutsMan took some of his handiwork and threw them at the WWW Navi, irritating him.

“Blasted upstart!” He didn’t take kindly to that, summoning all three Big Snake versions to defend him. All the viruses on our side charged, annoying the snakes and forcing them to flee.

“HAAAAAAAA!!!” GutsMan yelled, running at the wizard, dodging his Magic Fire with all his might.

“Brutes larger than yourself have tried!” he warned, pressured to play defense with a Barrier. GutsMan strafed to the right to avoid another wave, slamming his fist down for a shock wave. He got close enough to grab MagicMan’s arms and separate them before he could strike again, delivering a headbutt to him.

I took my chance, sneaking around the NetBattle Machine and decked Yahoot across his face! “Oof!!” Yahoot grunted, falling to the floor.

I got to Lan’s mom and quickly undid the ropes binding her. “Don’t say anything, just go!” I told her, guiding her to where I came in. “Lan’s at court! Get in Higsby’s van!”

“Thank you!” Mrs. Hikari removed her gag to thank me, “But you have to get out of here!”

“Just go!” She ran off, like I wanted her to. I jacked out GutsMan and texted Higsby as I looked back, seeing Yahoot leaning on the rails with his crescent knife out.

“Really, boy,” He shook his head, “You didn’t think I wouldn’t see that coming?”

“Kinda,” My voice showed my contempt for him, “but she’s safe from you.”

“Ms. Madd,” Yahoot smiled, holding his PET up. “When she gets in Higsby’s van, make some fireworks.” My confidence went down the drain once I heard that. “You see,” he began explaining to me like I was a child, “Dr. Hikari was going to deliver the program in exchange for his wife, but thanks to our operative attacking him, we had to improvise. We couldn’t have Lan do it. We had already planned out his day in court. Thank you.”

“I’m just expendable, huh?” I was forced to step back as he walked towards me.

“It’s not personal, young man,” his so-called assurance unsettled me, “only business. And we must take the opportunity to remove obstacles. Lan, Mrs. Hikari, and now you.”

I knew Lan’s mom came first, so I bolted for the doors, slipping that chip Lan gave me into my PET. “GutsMan, let’s do this,” I muttered under my breath.

“Ready,” GutsMan nodded on my screen as my device started glowing.

A black bodysuit covered everything as light blue vertical lines formed on my sides. Yellow gold boots with cylindrical shapes and rectangular feet clamped over my feet, and tread-like soles took shape. Black and white road sign patterns circled around the boots as yellow circles clasped on my leg, on top of the boots. Red armor formed around the top of my chest with a small silver collar and golden shoulder guards. Small red orbs went around my chest and my Navi’s emblem appeared in the center. As gold layers of armor covered my lower torso, my arms turned gray with striped dark gray lines. My back had a battery-looking backpack clamped on.

My new fists were big as GutsMan’s, but with rectangular fingers. A red line looped around a section of my forearms on each gauntlet, eight truncated cones rested parallel on the back of each gauntlet, and elbow guards protruded from where my gloves began. My helmet had a cubic shape on top of my skull, and a silver jaw covered most of my face, save my gray eyes. The difference was the ear sections connecting to my jaw were glowing green, surrounded by a gray ring. A line going around my forehead shined green, too, and a green beam ignited from a ring’s center on my forehead, creating a rhino’s horn!

It was so unbelievable, but I was Cross Fusion GutsMan, taking my Navi’s powers and name as my own!

“Foolish boy,” Unimpressed, the WWW’s right-hand man followed suit. “You are prolonging your demise.”

“Oh, goody,” I knew if Lan could do it, so could these guys. And as a newbie, I had to choose my battles. I decided to break the ceiling, finding myself stretching my arms to cause the collapse! “Wow!” I exclaimed, watching Yahoot back off when he saw debris fall.

I got downstairs, seeing Higsby’s van close as Lan’s mom got inside. In the corner of my eye, I saw that madwoman Yahoot was referring to, in her Cross Fusion form!

“Dex,” I recalled Lan’s warning about her, “this woman almost killed Mayl. She’s smart, insane, and unpredictable. Don’t take WWW’s agents lightly.”

She bent her arms back, ready to shred the van with those huge claws! “Rocket Guts Punch!” If GutsMan could do it, then I could. I did, in fact!

“GUH!!” The woman in colorful attire landed on her backside from my flying fist, allowing the van to drive off.

“Good, she’s safe,” I whispered.

“There is another enemy signature behind you,” GutsMan warned me in a monotone voice, having exchanged some of his personality to ensure our synchronization.  

I turned to see a figure in a wizard outfit heavily similar to MagicMan’s, meaning it was Yahoot! He had dark brown pointed boots with an imprinted blue diamond on the front of each boot. The armored robe was blue overall, having purple diamonds going around the lower robe, though smaller purple diamonds with black outlines were in between each purple diamond. There also was a light blue skirt under the robe that reached to his ankles. With his torso, a light blue line went down from his neck, briefly cut off by his emblem with purple triangles opposite to each other. His shoulders had orb-like pauldrons with three light blue spikes on top and red eyes over yellow eyeballs, surrounded by light blue eyelids. Three small purple diamonds descended from his arms to his light blue funnel-like sleeves, which had black lines at the end. His sleeves’ insides were red and his gloves maroon.

His blue helmet was like a wizard hat; pointed edges with those pale horns, only his black hair stuck out in the back and a third eye, just like the shoulders’ eyes, was on the forehead region. His mask covered most of his face, but not the eye region, as underneath, his face was black with red eyes and yellow eyeballs. The mask itself: silver with a straight white line down the middle and perpendicular blue triangles on his cheeks, cutting off with that tan beard at the end.

“Now then,” C.F. MagicMan put his hands together as two huge red orbs levitated above him, “I shall make you disappear into ash.”

The orbs unleashed Magic Fire, almost scorching me! I flung a Rocket Guts Punch at him, but he knocked it away with the back of his hand!

“Unlike you, the WWW had practiced with Cross Fusion,” the wizard stated while his orbs continued shooting, successfully getting me in my back.

“Color Wheel!” C.F. ColorWoman stomped over to me with her arms, bringing down her umbrella, which became a propeller. My laser horn was stopping the spinning blades, but it didn’t look like it was gonna last.

“Big Snake 2,” Yahoot had a giant yellow variant of Big Snake materialize behind me, “End it.”

[BGM: Pursuit ~ Must Corner the Culprit (2017 Arrange ver.), Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Mini Soundtrack CD]

“Sonic Boom!!” A great slash flew in, instantly deleting the virus! The sender teleported to swipe his sword across C.F. ColorWoman’s body, forcing her away!

“What?!” Yahoot shouted, “You!” A red figure with two ponytails, one black and one white, appeared next to me, raising his sword arm in anticipation.

“Thanks for the save,” I whispered to the guy, “Lan told me about you.”

“Good work protecting her,” Chaud whispered.

“Color Crossroads!” The woman had Aqua and Fire Towers stream along the road to divide us!

“You take the wizard, I’ll get the harlequin!” I suggested while sprinting at the woman to bash her.

“So we finally meet, Chaud,” C.F. MagicMan had two huge swords materialize on his arms. “Double Knight Sword!”

The red fighter put up a shield to block the strikes, retorting with one of his own, getting his sword wedged between the two long blades. “Prison will be your next stop,” he declared, “and we’ll know who you are.”

“Who I am will be irrelevant,” C.F. MagicMan’s other eyes glowed red, “Who disappears is the question.” The eyes suddenly flashed, blinding Chaud through his eyewear. Those orbs floated next to him, coating him in blue flames at point blank range.

“AGH!!” Chaud was forced to leap back to avoid more damage.

“That flash scrambled the sensors,” his Navi informed him, “we can’t detect anything.”

“Blind Mode,” Chaud’s blue lenses faded into a black color, restricting his sight. “I don’t need my eyes for this.”

“Color Claws!” Madd tried attacking with those huge limbs, but I punched them away every time they closed in. When she raised her right arm again, I knocked it away, but this time, I spun on my foot and stretched my arm out to push her down!

“Having fun?” I made a dig at her expense, slamming my fists to create a shock wave.

“Propeller!” She raised herself up with her extended arms and started flying. She flew around and swatted me, denting my armor and backing off when I stretched my arms or used rocket fists.

“Come on, GutsMan!” I commanded, “Give me something!”

“Make a hole,” he suggested, bringing a Snake chip into circulation.

Turning my fists into hammers, I created one in front of me, watching a digital vortex float over it, shooting out nine purple snakes out that bit C.F. ColorWoman! “AAAAHHHH!!!” she screamed, struggling to shake them off.

“Program Advance!” I got four chips together to use a powerful attack.

< PROGRAM ADVANCE >
Typhoon G
Hurricane G
Cyclone G
Repair G

< PROGRAM ADVANCE >
Death Storm

“Take this!” My fist reconfigured into a huge turbine on my hand, creating a series of whirlwinds that made Ms. Madd spin out of control, damaging her with the digital currents and making her hit the ground.

“Magic Fire!” Yahoot started shooting fire with his hands and the orbs, tracking Chaud’s movement.

Chaud was swiftly dodging, knowing where they were from the distinct humming sounds. He strafed left when his ears picked up one ready to spray him again. “There!” He slashed upward, successfully deleting one orb. He ran around Yahoot, then halted where he was. The other orb floated over to him based on where the wizard looked. “Slasher!” Once it got in range, Chaud sliced it in two and disappeared like an apparition.

“I didn’t think you’d stoop to invisibility,” C.F. MagicMan clasped his hands together, “Yet, you’re still blind.”

“Here we are,” Ripley said in the feed linking me with ProtoMan, “The sensors should be unscrambled in a minute.”

“Ripley?” I whispered, blocking another strike from Maddy. “You’re with Chaud?”

“Worry about that later,” he said, “you have something to wrap up, don’t you?”

The ace came back into view with two Variable Swords. He used one to send a long slash that left a cut on Yahoot’s third eye.

“AGH!!” He jerked back, feeling a painful sensation as he was hit with another Sonic Boom.

Maddy stretched her arms, but I caught her hands before they could get me. I tugged and spun around as much as I could, disorienting her before I threw her against the wall. “OOF!” she grunted.

“Meteor!!” Yahoot summoned meteors to smite Chaud, but he evaded them, dashing to his front. “Tri Lance!” His sleeves became a crossbow that fired harpoons, missing Chaud again.

“Step Cross!!” He left an X mark on C.F. MagicMan’s body, having come close to damaging it.

“It’s over for you,” Chaud mumbled, “You’ve lost.”

“Alright…” I whispered, nearly exhausted, until I looked up. “Uh, hey bud… Look up.” Chaud saw what I was gazing at… A load of Fishy and Satella viruses with some Piranhas, Flappys, and Jellys. And they were flying away into town!

“We successfully conducted a field test on a portable Dimensional Area,” Yahoot stated as he left his Cross Fusion form, “And we’ve upgraded since last month. Now, the Dimensional Area is invisible to the naked eye, so anyone can go in and out. Materialized viruses can even travel beyond the area’s zone.”

“What…?” I glared at him, grabbing his entire body with my fist. “Explain or you’re pulp.”

“You have to delete the viruses soon,” Yahoot smugly whispered, “I doubt they’ll spare that van any expense…”

“The controls aren’t in your PET?” Chaud questioned, having scanned the contents with ProtoMan’s help.

“Arrest me or save the only person who can clear Lan of suspicion,” Yahoot smirked, “And don’t think you can rely on your recordings.”

“Chaud, all of our recordings got deleted!!” Ripley exclaimed in our audio feed, “Any evidence that could help Lan is gone!”

“AHH!” I felt the side of my body get slashed, causing me to let go of Yahoot! It came from C.F. ColorWoman, who caught him and flew off with him!

“Sayonara, rhino boy!” Maddy cackled, “HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!”

“Go!” Ripley called out, “You have to save Lan’s mom and Higsby!”

“Right!” Chaud summoned two Fishy 3s for us to glide on, letting us take to the air after the swarm of viruses. This was getting complicated; just when I thought we were good, this happened. Still, Lan trusted me to save her! I had to stop that swarm!

CHAPTER 23 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Celes Tina, Ripley Marduk, Bobby and Helena Crosby, and Castiel Lex-Ordo © HatOnFire/Me

01000100 01000101 01011000

How did this happen? Mrs. Crosby stared at Mayl’s body on the bed, hearing the faint beeping from the hospital’s machines. She was resting, ignorant to the outside world.

“Thank you for coming, Mrs. Crosby,” Roll bowed, “It means a lot for you to take the time to do so.”

“You helped my family and I wish to help you,” she murmured, “You heard about the trial, right?”

“Yeah,” Roll shifted uncomfortably, “it’s a WWW trick. They were caught in the act, but Lan’s paying for it.”

“It’s terrible. I saw Dr. Hikari, you know.”

“How’s he taking this?” Roll asked.

“As well as a parent would with this situation,” Mrs. Crosby knew she would react poorly too, “Some agents are keeping him from leaving.”

“Typical,” The pink Navi hated everything, “At least Lan and Mayl grew up with parents or guardians who were around.”

“You speak as though you wish you had that.”

“Yeah, my… creator was something.”

“I’m sorry, but what is that?” Mrs. Crosby turned up the TV volume, seeing live coverage of an incident.

“We can barely see them,” a girl reporter in a frog-like hat reported, sitting in a helicopter with a cameraman. “But there’s no question! That’s the kabuki woman behind the chaos in Den Town last week!”

“Kabuki?!” Roll exclaimed, recognizing the details from that time. “It’s Madd!”

“Oh no…” Mrs. Crosby gasped, “What is she doing now?!”

“Apparently, she’s fleeing the scene with someone in her grasp!” the reporter said, showing the viruses flying around Den Town! “Furthermore, there’s real live viruses here!”

“It must have something to do with the trial!” Roll guessed, “But what can we do?!” Unbeknownst to her, there was movement from Mayl’s hand as she slowly opened her eyes…!

01010100 01010010 01001001 01000001 01001100

An hour had passed in court, and Count Zap’s testimony with Prosecutor Ito’s logic nearly broke Lan. However, Lan achieved his second wind, preparing to make a break in the case.

“You need Count Zap to stay?” the judge wondered, “What else can he offer?”

“There’s more to his testimony than we know,” Lan replied, “it’s the most important part of this case.”

“Wow, you hold me in high esteem!” Count Zap’s lights on his overall person shined brightly. It took major self-control from Lan to keep himself from socking him.

“Please let me do this,” He turned his attention to Judge Lex-Ordo, “I believe I can explain the evidence against me.”

The gallery whispered with doubt, but Lan’s supporters were silent with anticipation.

[BGM: Trance-Deductions, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney]

Count Zap had an alibi during the event, the defendant remembered the chain of events Ito presented, Right now, that’s what everyone’s thinking. But I can shoot his alibi down if I present another argument.

“Hey, Lan,” MegaMan called him, “Can you look at this?”

“What’s up?” Lan checked on him.

“I’ve been watching Zap’s performance from the cameras,” he explained, “I’m looking back to see what I’ve missed. Something was strange when I kept looking at him.”

“Define strange,” Lan made another small quip, “Remember who we’re dealing with?”

“Look, there he is,” MegaMan showed his operator the footage of the grinning count strumming his guitar, pointing at his handling of it. A right hand on the body and left hand on the neck. “This is how he held it in his show.”

“I see,” His partner initially didn’t think much of it, but something interesting came to mind. “Wait, he’s holding it like that? But when he was on the stand…”

“He was holding it left-handed,” Mega finished his thoughts, “I don’t think he’s ambidextrous, though.”

“Hey, could you bring up something else?” Lan questioned, “There’s something about what he’s wearing I’m not sure of…”

“Okay,” Mega paused the video to find the inconsistency, “Do you see it?”

“Yeah,” Lan nodded, “but there’s one more thing I need to know.”

“Like how he got the Electricity Program out?”

“The sensors would’ve picked it up if it got outside the complex, so how did he do it?”

“The CopyBot’s jamming array wouldn’t be enough if the program’s signature is far more traceable. The plant’s mainframe also wasn’t going to stay sabotaged.”

“And if the CopyBot was involved,” Lan thought as hard as he could, “Then… Maybe, just maybe, this is how he did it…!”

“I’m not sure if this matters,” The judge was ready to end everything, “The case against the defendant is clear. I can’t see any misrepresentation in the facts.”

“W-Wait,” Lan said, “Just wait!”

“Your Honor, allow Mr. Hikari to do this,” Prosecutor Ito suddenly requested, “We should hear him out, at least.”

“For the sake of reaching a fair verdict, I will,” Judge Lex-Ordo granted permission, “But if nothing new comes from this, remember what’s waiting for you.”

“Thank you, Your Honor,” Lan nodded in gratitude, “and you, Mr. Ito. If everyone could follow along with me, I want you to visualize the restaurant for a moment. Even you, Count Zap.”

“Hmph,” Count Zap huffed, forced to play along.

“In the dark, there’s a stage right in front of you,” Lan pressed on, “Gold lights shine from one specific person. So much, you could practically see his body. It’s Count Zap, right there.”

“All that proves is I was onstage the whole time,” Count Zap shrugged, “Nothing strange there.”

[BGM: Investigation - Core 2001, CADENZA -Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney-]

“It wouldn’t be, no,” Lan walked to the guitar case next to the stand, “but it would if there were two of you at the Government Complex that night.”

“Are you serious?!” Zap laughed, “You think I had a twin?!”

“More like a body double,” The accused smirked, “Better yet, a CopyBot that perfectly imitated you.” The count kept silent, but he never lost his grin. “There was a theft over a month ago at SciLab,” Lan explained, “Among the stolen property was a CopyBot, designed for Navis to interact with humans in the real world.”

“Just a minute!” Ito arrived at the same train of thought Lan did, “Mr. Hikari, you can’t claim that’s what happened!”

“But with WWW involved, it makes sense!” Lan countered, “They stole it and modified it, having it take on the count’s likeness, giving him a strong alibi for everything!” The gallery murmured a little bit, causing the judge to drop his gavel once to silence them. “When I saw you in the office’s lobby, you had a large guitar bag. That’s natural, but it also makes the perfect hiding place for CopyBot parts.”

“That’s absurd,” Zap crossed his arms, “There’s no space to put the whole thing in here.”

“You also had your other bag to store pieces of the robot in,” Lan pointed out, “the microphone bag. You could assemble it and take it apart when needed to. You are an electrical engineer, after all.”

“You give me too much credit,” the aging blond man refuted him, “Just because I’m a member of the SciLab board, that doesn’t make me a scientist. Most of the men there are bureaucrats with no real engineering experience.”

“You not only had the skills, but also the opportunity,” Lan stated, “Being a board member gives you instant access and a chance to steal the Elec Program at a high-class party.”

“Oh, come on,” Zap rolled his eyes as Lan handled the guitar bag, opening it up and knocking on the padding, making a soft noise.

“I don’t think the guitar Mr. Zap played just now was the one from two nights ago,” Lan put the case down after being done with it, “Both it and the Elec Program must be gone. But you couldn’t get rid of this case without drawing attention to yourself. Ingenious, really.”

“You have quite the imagination.”

“A built-in computer in a guitar is the norm, and the complex has sensors to detect if the program was removed. The sensors actually run on auxiliary power, so they can’t be turned off without shutting down power to the whole building. The program itself also gives off a special signal, no matter what.” Lan knocked his knuckles on the case, which rang out a slight clang in it. “But it can’t be found if it’s in a bag lined with insulators.”

“It’s not strange for a gig bag to be made of nylon,” The count smiled, “It’s a natural material.”

“True, but EM signals can be blocked by this stuff,” Lan took his PET from the dock on the defense bench, placing it inside the case and zipping it up. “Mr. Ito, can your Navi try to contact MegaMan?”

“Go ahead, Judge Man,” Ito obliged him, proceeding with this experiment.

A few sounds came from the prosecutor’s PET, but all they were was the sound of a connection trying to be established. “Mr. Ito, I can’t contact that gent,” a baritone voice revealed, “Tis like he’s but an apparition!”

Lan opened the case up, pulling MegaMan out of it. “You’re under oath, MegaMan,” he said for the record, “Did you receive a call from Mr. Ito?”

“No,” MegaMan shook his head, “I tried to dial a number while I was in, though. Did Ms. Tina get my call?”

Lan looked to the gallery, silently wanting an answer from the woman with cat-eye glasses at the front. “A call?” Ms. Tina whispered, having her Navi check her call log. “If you did call, I didn’t get it.” For good measure, MegaMan inserted his attempted call into the court record, proving a clear fact for everyone.

“It was just like downstairs in the restaurant,” Lan explained, “A connection allows PETs a line to the net. You can’t connect with a severed link. Even worse, that whole floor is made of metal, and it’s underwater. Cut off from the surface, it’s a deathtrap.” He moved back to his desk, crossing his arms and staring down the count, who was sweating a little. “You were on the SciLab board, so you must’ve convinced everyone to hold the event there. Who would’ve guessed?”

“T-This is…” Count Zap covered his left eye with a fearful expression, letting his right eye dart around. “Why are you accusing me? I didn’t do anything to you…!”

“Mr. Hikari,” Ito jumped to his defense, “Just because you’re making decent points, that doesn’t give you the right to intimidate the witness.”

“Besides, how can you think I wasn’t on the stage?” Zap growled.

“Just look at the footage on that night,” Lan had his friend bring up the camera’s video of the performance, “Watch Zap closely.”

Everyone did so, seeing something quite peculiar. “He’s playing with his right hand, but didn’t he play with his left a while ago?” the judge questioned.

“Count Zap, raise your right wrist,” Lan commanded.

“Why?” The count twitched, holding his light bulbs as they glowed.

“Because it’s where your watch is,” The defendant placed his arms on his chest, “You’re left-handed, after all. But in the video…”

“AHH!” Ito cried out on impulse, “The watch! It’s on his left wrist!” Everyone in the room exclaimed in near unison, questioning what it all meant. All Zap did was stand there in a cold sweat.

“I don’t think you can explain why your watch is on your dominant wrist,” Lan grinned, “Even if you claim you’re ambidextrous.”

“W-Well…” Zap nervously chuckled, “Y-You see… I felt like being right-handed that night…”

“Then explain the thunderbolt on the lid. It should still look the same, right?”

“Ugh…” The count couldn’t hide that expression on his face, realizing he was caught in his lie.

“Look at the two again,” Lan went on, “You’ll notice the watches are mirrored. In fact, so is the suit he’s wearing!”

Zap looked down to avoid seeing all the eyes of the gallery on him.

“Count Zap’s mission to steal the Elec Program called for trapping everyone down there. It would provide him with an alibi if he couldn’t keep control, but it’s also to watch everyone asphyxiate so there were no witnesses. When that failed, he made use of his tools to attack my father and set me up. He’s the one working with WWW; he’s the mastermind!”

“W-What… is…?” Zap covered his face, acting all frightened and horrified. But just then, he grinned maniacally while his visible pupil dilated! He brought his hands down next, twitching his fingers erratically.

Lan grit his teeth, bracing his fist on the bench. He thought he was seeing red electricity shoot from his left eye, with a yellow spark looming over his pupil! And then, he heard laughter, akin to an insane asylum patient.

[BGM: The Truth Revealed, The Great Ace Attorney Adventures]

“GAH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!”

“Whoa!” A gasp escaped Lan’s lips, feeling terribly uneasy. Everyone else in the courtroom made similar gasps, frightened by the change in demeanor.

“How unbelievable is that?!” Zap yelled, “Me, a WWW agent?! A traitor to my country?! Oh-ho-ho, this is so wild I wanna SCREAM! MY! LUNGS OUT!”

“This is getting weird,” MegaMan observed, “but this might be the real Count Zap.”

“Hey, kid!” Zap shouted, “You think I’m with WWW? Well, you’re wrong! The robot’s mine, okay?! Thanks SO MUCH for causing a huge stink over this! You always had it out for me, I know it!!”

“Q-Quiet down, Mr. Zap,” the judge begged instead of commanded, out of fear.

“Speak up, sonny!” Zap opened his hand and raised it up to one of his ears, “I can’t HEAR YOU!”

“There is no need to shout,” Ito calmly made an order of his own, “Whatever you’re admitting to, speak now or you’ll be held in contempt.”

“If I’m in contempt, there goes that vigilante’s case,” Zap murmured, “It’s not a bad idea…”

“Hold it!” Lan bellowed, dropping his hands on his bench. “I need to know why he did it! Let him speak!” Sensing the desperation in his voice, Ito yielded.

“Eh, why not?” Zap shrugged, smiling like the Cheshire cat. “So, I got a little bit rusty in my guitar playing, see? I was told to do a show, and I wanted to play my guitar. But I was so bad at it! Thanks to the CopyBot I owned, though, I could look like I was still in my prime!”

“You stole the CopyBot from SciLab!” Lan argued, “It’s government property!”

“I received this CopyBot as a gift from the Board a few years ago when it came out!” Zap sneered, “It’s mine!”

“Mr. Hikari,” Ito whispered, “CopyBot serial numbers are present on the back of the chest. But it’s scraped off here.”

“You see?!” Zap yelled, “That little brat is setting me up! He knows he can’t prove someone else did it because he’s the one!”

“But the serial number is scraped off!” Lan fired back, “That just makes you more suspicious!”

“I never did anything to that number! You’re the one setting me up!”

“How do you explain the metal in your bag?!” Lan yelled, “You put it there because you were worried the nylon wouldn’t be enough to block the program’s signal!”

“Alright, force a man to point out his problems, why don’t you?! My guitar’s computer has been malfunctioning, see? This happened before the night started! It’s been making sounds on its own, so I got my insulated bag. I tuned it in the car so my guitar could work.”

“What an excuse,” Lan shook his head, “You knew about those sensors before the heist!”

“I know because I helped build them!” the count argued, “It was years ago! Helping out like that contributed to me getting my CopyBot!”

“Speaking of which, why was it in the trash chute?”

“You know why!” Zap roared, “You hijacked it so MegaMan could take the program, after all!”

“What?!” Lan reeled back in shock, still being accused.

“Both of you,” The judge dropped his gavel on the sound block to restore order, “Behave or face removal.”

“Humph,” Zap crossed his arms in a huff, directing a sneer to Lan.

“The Blue Avenger was right there,” Lan continued, giving himself a new moniker. “Him saving my father is what caused everyone to suspect me and MegaMan!”

“Blue Avenger?” One of Ito’s eyebrows rose up, “Why call MegaMan that?”

“It’s not MegaMan!” Lan told the truth somewhat, “It’s some other guy in blue! People saw him a week ago when WWW attacked Den Town!”

Lots of people spoke aloud, only they were beginning to side with Lan. “That’s true!” Ms. Mari spoke up, “I saw him myself!”

“Wasn’t there something similar that happened a month ago, too?” one man questioned.

“My sister saw a huge thing trying to destroy the restaurant she and her friends were in!” a young woman exclaimed, “But someone in blue stopped it!”

“What are you all saying?!” the count bellowed, shutting up everyone in the courtroom. “He’s talking out his butt, just like every snot-nosed punk in his generation! Lazy, manipulative, entitled punks, every one of them!”

If only I had a mirror to show him when he said that, Lan thought to himself, increasingly ticked off.

“The police were attempting to clear their audio from meeting this Blue Avenger,” Ito told, “With a recording of MegaMan’s voice, we attempted to settle the matter. But the audio was too scrambled for a voice analysis.”

“H-He’s with WWW!” Zap stammered, “He took over my CopyBot and used it to get the heat off him!”

“Then testify about that,” Judge Lex-Ordo murmured, “And it better be the truth. You’re looking at perjury.”

“Alright,” Zap sneered, continuing to have that wicked spark over his left eye. “I used my CopyBot to create another me. It had brought my PET with my gear to perform that night. Lights go out, come back on, and we all go upstairs. I realize I left my PET behind by accident, so my robot goes back. That’s when I lost contact. I’m sure that kid hacked it!”

What am I going to do? Lan pondered his next move, The only way to get cleared is to prove Zap’s with WWW.

“On the surface, it’s logical,” His Honor observed what he heard, “The defendant has a history of offenses as an unlicensed NetBattler. It would be easy to end the trial, but there’s too many questions. Now, two scenarios are present.”

“The witness claims his CopyBot was hacked by the defendant to cover his escape after assaulting his father,” The prosecutor said before looking at Lan, “Your counterargument?”

“Count Zap tore his CopyBot apart to throw off suspicion,” Lan said, “He grabbed his guitar case with the Elec Program inside, sneaking out.”

“Interesting theory,” Ito thought.

“Can I leave?” Count Zap murmured with a frown, snuffing that spark out. “I’m tired of being judged by all of you.”

“Take it on the chin if you’re a man,” Lan crossed his arms, “We’re almost done.”

“There were pieces of broken circuit boards in the robot,” MegaMan chimed in, “But Lan, there’s something strange here.”

“What?” The juvenile teen looked at his PET’s screen, seeing a picture of some individual pieces. “Hey… what’s that doing there?”

“He must’ve hoped the furnace would burn it…” MegaMan guessed with a whisper.

“Well, I just got a good idea. I hope it works.”

“Good luck, Lan,” MegaMan flashed him a thumbs up.

“You admit having your CopyBot create an image of you,” Lan wanted clarification, “What went wrong?”

[BGM: Cross-Examination - Allegro 2007, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney]

“Technical bugs,” Zap replied, “The blasted thing relied on several programs to mimic my guitar style, but I made some mistakes. I repaired its circuit boards, but that affected the holographic thingamajig.”

“Don’t call it that,” Lan shook his head with a half-smile, “You know what a holographic generator is. How’d you operate it?”

“It followed preprogramed inputs, responding to people while in character,” Zap sneered. “Its ground-penetrating array helped me see what went on. Also, I made a call to the police when I saw panic.”

“After it came upstairs,” the accused hypothesized, “You knew you had to dispose of it to complete the frame-up.”

“Go through all that trouble to destroy what I owned?” The count crossed his arms with a foul look, “Sounds like something you’d do.”

“Hacking into a SciLab robot would be hard,” Lan ignored him, “You must’ve tried making it more hackproof.”

“It’s a SciLab product. It’s supposed to be hackproof. But considering their track record…”

“Where were you when you were operating the CopyBot?”

“In my car, operating it,” Zap was feeling miffed, “Duh.”

“So you don’t really have an alibi.”

“Neither do you! Or do you need to go back to the video of you pulling the switch?!”

“That footage was a trick meant to confuse everyone,” Lan tried justifying it, “And that WWW message supposedly in my PET was staged.”

“And everyone’s just gonna believe that? You’re on trial for attacking your dad and almost killing everybody!”

“And I still say it wasn’t me. I couldn't even use the CopyBot’s jamming signal.”

“Oh, yes, you could!” Zap impatiently shouted, “You had WWW’s support, the floor plans, and even their decoding tool that hacked the systems!”

“Huh?” Lan blinked, feigning ignorance. “No, I don’t.”

“Yes, he does,” The judge confirmed, “It’s in the Court Record here.”

“See?!” Zap stuck his arm out, gesturing to Lan, “He used that malicious decoder to hack my CopyBot! Case closed! Game over, yeah!!”

As the count cackled, oblivious to a key fact, Lan smiled and shouted… “Objection!” Zap’s world stopped, seeing everyone around him staring, either lost or surprised.

[BGM: Pursuit ~ Cornered, CADENZA -Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney-]

I got you now, Count Zap, Lan thought, Time to face the light.

“Go for it, Lan,” MegaMan grinned.

“You claimed I’m with WWW because of that code breaker in my PET,” Lan restated what Zap said, “It’s lined with WWW’s signature.”

“Yes…?” The count wasn’t sure why everyone was silent, but he understood immediately, sweating and turning white as a sheet. “Ah…!”

“Here’s the thing,” Lan nodded, “Mr. Ito, His Honor, the police, and I knew that. That fact was never mentioned, despite being in the Court Record.” Zap gulped as Lan slammed a hand on the desk. “But you knew too, Count Zap,” He pointed the finger at him, “You knew the whole time!”

“AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!” Zap squeezed his bulbs so hard, the electricity started shocking him in turn!

“Order, order!!” Judge Lex-Ordo banged his gavel when people started clamoring among themselves.

“To ensure my arrest,” Lan arrived at the conclusion, “You had your Navi sneak in my PET to plant the decoder, floor plans, and the incriminating message. That was done while I was in the Power Room, fighting you.”

“W-What are you talking about?!” Zap denied with all his might, “I was never down there!”

“I got locked in a room during our scuffle, but Dad and Chaud were on the same floor,” Lan pushed on, “You got them to split up, snuck up on Dad, and knocked him out. You fled once I got out, and Chaud suspected me. You couldn’t have scripted a better fall guy.”

“Hold on one minute!” Zap slammed his fist on the stand, “You say I fled the scene?! I couldn’t have used the stairs or elevator! Cops were coming down!”

“But you did escape,” Lan smiled, “Thanks to the trash chute!”

“HRRKKK!” The count felt something rise in his throat.

“It’s convenient. With a certain tool, you could climb down or up without being seen!”

“You must be joking!”

“Objection,” Ito doubted him, “There’s no evidence to support something illogical.”

“But you have the proof,” Lan walked over to Ito’s bench with confidence, “It’s in the CopyBot circuit board pieces.”

“Show me,” The prosecutor allowed him leeway with curiosity.

“MegaMan noticed something off among this pile,” Lan stated, examining the pieces with a photo. “This thing is how Count Zap got out. I saw it before when I snuck in the Waterworks.”

“Snuck?!” The judge cried, “Then, you’re confessing to trespassing on complex grounds!”

“A-Anyway…” Lan was going to kick himself for that later… “Here!” Lan lifted the small bag up, revealing a certain chip in the courtroom!

“A Synchro Chip!!” Dr. Froid couldn’t help that outburst, clearly not expecting that in a CopyBot.

People in the gallery started to get confused in the excitement. What…? Commissioner Keifer sweated a little. Why is that in the robot?

“You, sir!” the judge boomed, “You’re out of order!”

“Wait, Your Honor!” Lan pleaded, “He knows what this chip is! He’s used it before!”

“Is this true?” Ito questioned while the count shot daggers at the Waterworks director.

“Y-Yes, it is,” Dr. Froid admitted, “The WWW gave me that chip to sabotage the Waterworks in exchange for my family. Lan Hikari saw it once.”

“What does it do?” the judge wondered.

“Excuse me, but I must stop the proceedings here,” Commissioner Keifer stood up to interrupt him, “This is a matter of national security.”

“This whole trial is a matter of national security,” Ito fired back, “Ensuring Lan Hikari’s guilt or innocence takes precedence.”

“I don’t care what else the government has to hide,” Lan scowled at the commissioner, “I need answers.”

“You can’t use this chip as evidence,” Keifer uttered.

“The Synchro Chip lets a human take on a Navi’s powers!” Dr. Froid quickly yelled with no regrets, shocking everyone in the courthouse.

“You fool…” Keifer slunk down to his seat in defeat.

“What?!” the judge exclaimed, “How fictitious!”

“It’s real, believe me,” Lan nodded with a smile, “If it’s okay with the court, I’d like Dr. Froid to demonstrate for us.”

“G-Gimme a break!” Zap scoffed, “It’s just a chip in the robot! I put it there myself!”

“You’ll forgive me for being dubious,” Prosecutor Ito shot his claim down, “Your Honor, let’s entertain this notion.”

“He has the court’s attention!” the judge announced as the director got to the center, watching Lan carefully insert the Synchro Chip in the PET, using the bag to avoid getting his fingerprints on it.

“IceMan, enter Autopilot Mode!” Froid shouted, watching his device glow until he was covered in light, transforming before everyone’s eyes!

“S-Seiji…” Mr. Crosby whispered, sharing the amazement with the teachers next to him. Before they all knew it, Froid had assumed his C.F. IceMan identity. Everyone gasped in awe, chattering about the elephant in the room.

“W-What is this?!” Zap grit his teeth, “I-I can’t… even…!”

“Your Honor,” C.F. IceMan began, “You have my sincerest apologies for freezing the Waterworks and for not speaking out. And as Lan said, there is a Blue Avenger out there.”

“T-Thank you…” The judge got a handkerchief for his sweating face, “What’s this… power called?”

“Cross Fusion,” the director responded, “I will unfuse now, so to speak.”

“This should clear me of my father’s assault,” Lan jumped back on topic, “This should also prove the stun gun was planted since my father was electrocuted by Count Zap in Cross Fusion! He even said his prints were on it!”

“Cross Fusion, Schmoss Fusion!” Zap looked like he was at wit’s end, “Many chips look alike! If you say I did it, then how could I have gotten the Elec Program out?!”

“Eh?” Lan almost forgot he needed to have an argument for that…

“As a performer, you take risks!” MegaMan proclaimed, shocking everyone with another bombshell. “The program’s been with you all along!!”

“HRRRRRRR!!!” Zap tightened his grip on his bulbs as more electricity jolted through him.

“All along?!” Ito was stumped until he pieced it together, “Wait!”

“Lan overthought it!” MegaMan deduced, “He thought you switched guitars after putting the program in its computer! But with the cops coming, you couldn’t take the guitar bag from the restaurant. So you left it there as you cut up the robot in the trash chute!”

“W-What?” Zap queried in sweat.

“Of course!!” Lan dropped his fist in an open palm, guiding his eyes back to that guitar. “That blue guy left the scene, and you didn’t want to leave a mess that contradicted your alibi!”

“The Elec Program’s signal should’ve went off by now,” Ito added, “but this is a courtroom.”

“And it’s closed off from all outside interference,” Lan beamed again, “That’s why its signal can’t be detected, even in here!!” For a change, Count Zap was speechless.

“You waited for the police to give you your bags once we were arrested,” MegaMan spoke as his partner went back to his bench, “But as a witness, you couldn’t deliver the Elec Program to WWW yet. You held it close.”

“How fitting for you to be the mastermind of this case, Count Jack Zap!” Lan extended his arm, pointing at the count.

“Kuk-kuh-kuh-kuh-kuh-kuh-kuh-kuh-kuh…!” Zap broke down as red lightning erupted from his eyes, covering part of his face like a mask. He simultaneously shattered his bulbs on the stand and jerked his arms up with bent fingers, laughing like a madman. “KAH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!”

“I thought this would be satisfying…” MegaMan shivered, “It’s not…”

“You want satisfaction?!” Zap spread his arms out cackling, “Fine! I did it!! I smacked the daylights out of Dr. Hikari, framed his son, stole the Elec Program, and tried draining the vents of oxygen! As a WWW member, I’d do it again!! KAH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!” Everybody in the courtroom started yelling at Zap, calling him names and chanting for his arrest.

“Cease this at once!” Judge Lex-Ordo slammed his gavel down multiple times, successfully quieting the room.

“The best part about this was the learning experience!” Zap laughed, “You now know your government covered up the fact that they gift-wrapped a glorious power to WWW! Just look at what Keifer failed to do today!” The commissioner only glowered at the man on the stand. “They never cared about Black Sheep Lan’s life, even after years of his family’s servitude!” the agent added, “After all, if you anger your overlords even once, your family name gets poisoned for centuries!”

“Why frame me?” Lan growled, “Why hurt my father? Why?!”

“You were the perfect scapegoat,” Zap replied with a monstrous smile, “A crazy kid obsessed with justice, surrounded by peers scared more of you. No one would second-guess if you snapped from what happened to Hub.”

“Never say his name again!!” Lan approached him with a snarl.

“Lan, don’t!” MegaMan yelled, but it was too late.

Zap sucker punched Lan and swiped the Synchro Chip from Dr. Froid, who still had it in his hand. “For the record,” he said while putting it in his PET’s slot, “this, too, was a gamble!”

“Bailiffs!!” Ito commanded, “Stop him!”

But C.F. ElecMan instantly transformed, shocking the guards when they tried tackling him! “I feel the program surging within me,” Zap flew above the crowds, taking Lan up by one of his legs. “This is power!”

“Let him go!!” Ms. Mari cried, “Please!”

“WWW won’t forget your defiance, Froid!” Zap declared, breaking the doors open with a lightning bolt. “Or yours, Ms. Yuri!!”

“Lan!!” MegaMan yelled, watching his operator get taken away. “LAN!!!”

“Stop, Zap!!” Lan demanded, “Put me down!”

“In a sec!” Zap flew through the lobby, startling everyone who happened to see them.

“What the?!” Yai blurted out, having been there since she was removed. “Lan!!”

Exiting the courthouse with electricity trailing on the surface, Zap flew all the way to the top, getting a decent look at the city, seeing swarms of viruses fly around. “Oh…” he whispered, watching as they were getting deleted by my big fists and Chaud’s swords. He also noticed Higsby’s van, frantically swerving. “Your mother and friends are here!”

“N-No…!” Lan wasn’t hiding his fear, but his stress levels and the pain in his chest.

“Chaud, look!” I pointed at the scene in front of me.

“Oh no…” Chaud murmured, speeding ahead of me on his Fishy 3. “Dex, delete the viruses!”

“Alright!” I did my best, crushing a Cloudy virus with both of my hands.

C.F. ElecMan took aim, zapping the virus Chaud rode on, wearing down its hit points! “GAH!” Chaud felt his glider descend until it deleted itself, grounding him. “It was that powerful?”

“I could feel the energy as well,” ProtoMan informed, “The Elec Program must be boosting his form!”

“Well, you had a good run, kid,” Zap mumbled, hanging Lan over the ledge. “Nothing personal.”

“Zap?!” Lan was suddenly let go, falling from a decent height! “AAAHHHH!!!”

“LAN?!” his mother screamed, “NO!” Higsby gasped, completely helpless in the driver’s seat. I swooped down, stretching my arms to catch him, but the Satellas shot me, nearly piercing my armor and helmet, and slowing the WWW decoder I was controlling the viruses with! I couldn’t save Lan like this!

But in a blur, Lan disappeared! He reappeared in the arms of a pink figure with a blonde ponytail and maroon spade at the end, spinning and levitating in midair.

[BGM: Proof of Courage, Mega Man Battle Network 2]

“Seems like I’m always saving you, Lan,” the girl whispered, and in the feed, I instantly recognized her voice.

“Mayl…!” Lan was relieved and happy with her arrival, dispelling his chest’s flaring pain. “You’re here!”

“YEAH!!” With gusto, I decked as many viruses as I could, pushing the decoder to scramble and overload all the viruses.

“I’ll be right back,” Mayl let Lan down, floating up to the courthouse’s roof with Chaud following her with Area Grab.

“You’ve lost,” Chaud drew his sword on Zap once he got there, “Lan’s innocence is proven.”

“Still got the Elec Program,” The electric man shrugged before trying to shoot lightning at them, “and everyone knows Cross Fusion exists!”

“Good work,” Mayl sarcastically congratulated, shooting a Roll Arrow at his top right arrester. “You’re still going down.”

“Step Cross!!” Chaud successfully left a crossing mark on Zap’s armor, forcing him to fly.

“I consider this a draw!” he announced above the streets. “But here’s a parting gift!”

“Get down!” Lan shouted, seeing Zap summon storm clouds above reporters and pedestrians alike!

“Lightning Blaze!!” Bolts came down in flashes, striking the roads and nearly hitting civilians, but I came to take the brunt of it!

“AAAAHHHHH!!!” It was painful, but nothing compared to the alternative if I didn’t do it.

“I’ll see your blue hero soon, Den City!” C.F. ElecMan waved goodbye and took off.

“Come back here!” Chaud attempted to pursue him, to no avail.

“Dex, can you still move?” Ripley asked through my ear, “I need you to take care of the D.A.G.”

“I can,” I responded, “but is everyone safe?”

“Lan!!” Mrs. Hikari ran up to him, pulling him in a hug. “Oh, Lan!!”

“I-I’m alright, Mom!” Lan returned the hug, partially embarrassed, but glad she was safe. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, thanks to Dex,” she replied, “but who are they?”

“W-Well,” Lan didn’t want to lie, but he didn’t want her to accidentally reveal our identities.

“Excuse me, Mrs. Hikari,” Mayl spoke with her voice slightly modulated, “We’re the Anti-WWW Team. We apologize it took this long to save you.”

“Is Dex alright?” Mrs. Hikari fearfully asked, “He told me to run… we left him.”

“As I said, Dex can take care of himself,” Mr. Higsby showed up, watching me try to keep my virus airborne.

“I got him out of there!” I shouted below, hoping she wouldn’t catch on. “Don’t worry!”

“You’re safe!” Prosecutor Ito showed up with police and those from the gallery, “Who are they?”

“I’ll explain later, Mr. Ito,” Lan told him, “Let’s end the trial.”

01001110 01001111 01010100
 01000111 01010101 01001001 01001100 01010100 01011001

It didn’t take long for everyone to go back into the courtroom, though considering what happened, the judge decided to keep the doors open for everyone who witnessed the scene outside…

I dealt with that generator, hidden close to Den Dome, and got to court in record time. Mayl was in her street clothes with a bandage wrapped around her forehead, standing beside Lan’s mother. Chaud explained that Mrs. Hikari was kidnapped as part of their frame-up, and since Lan connected Zap to WWW, everything made sense.

“Lan Hikari and MegaMan,” Judge Lex-Ordo said to them, “On behalf of the judicial system and law enforcement, I want to apologize to you. I also want to thank you for exposing the true criminal and for your efforts in the Waterworks crisis.” Lan and MegaMan stayed silent. “I don’t know what will happen to our society with the reveal of a great secret,” the judge continued, “but this reminds us to question what we perceive. If we were more observant, you wouldn’t have had to fight for your lives today.”

Chaud and Ito nodded knowingly.

“The verdict is a formality at this point, but regardless…” The monitors next to the judge flashed to reveal two words… “You are not guilty!!”

[BGM: WINNER!, Mega Man Battle Network]

With the gavel slamming down, everyone, especially me, erupted in whistles and cheers. The feeling was like we saw our favorite team win, only this was more cathartic. “Court is adjourned!!” Judge Lex-Ordo’s face showed was pleased with the ruling.

“Great work, Lan!” MegaMan hollered.

“You, too!!” Lan laughed with joy while Ito smiled in satisfaction.

We couldn’t help crowding him while congratulating him. Mayl and Lan’s mother put him in such a tight hug, he turned blue and we had trouble shaking his hands. This was a tough yet rewarding day.

We were going to celebrate his acquittal, and nothing would halt the reprieve we earned…

CHAPTER 24 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Reddington Bluemann, Phyllis Tina, Ripley Marduk, MythMan, Bobby and Helena Crosby, Desiree Domin, and Castiel Lex-Ordo © HatOnFire/Me

01001000 01010101 01000010

[BGM: Won the Case! ~ First Victory, CADENZA -Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney-]

“Alright!!” Lan and I yelled in triumph, cleared of all charges! Sure, the real culprit escaped and WWW had more Super Programs, but that didn’t matter right now. Lan walked out of the courtroom with his supporters and the rest of the crowd, cheering in the halls!

“I’m so glad you’re here,” he told Mayl, becoming a little misty-eyed. “I knew you’d wake up, but it was killing me to wait.”

“You might have to keep waiting…” Mayl smiled, “I signed out without permission…”

“You snuck out of the hospital?” Chaud queried, “That’s unbecoming of an Official, Mayl.”

“You’d do the same and you know it,” Mayl pouted.

“Wow…!” Yai whispered with shock, “You’re an Official now?”

“That’s dangerous for you,” Ms. Mari mumbled, “Look at what happened.”

“Yeah,” Dex looked to my brother, “it would’ve been nice if you told me earlier, Lan.”

“Since Mom got kidnapped, there wasn’t any use worrying you,” Lan said, “and I didn’t want to compromise her.”

“It’s fine,” Dex shrugged, grinning to focus on a new topic. “But enough of that! You’re free now!!”

“That’s right, huh!!” Higsby cheered, “When you come by my shop later, I’ll give you an exclusive discount of halved prices for life!”

“What about me?!” Dex questioned.

“For you, 20 percent from now until September,” Higsby decided.

“20 percent for three months and a few weeks?!” Dex grabbed the lanky man and pulled him to his face, “Come on, you cheapskate!!”

“Dex, please!” Ms. Tina pleaded, “This is unnecessary!”

“Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!!” Lan gleefully chortled, “Some things haven’t changed!”

“Still a little ill-tempered,” Yai giggled, giving a knowing look to Mayl.

“Hiya, Mega!!” Roll called, suddenly appearing in my PET, running to give me a hug.

“Hey, Roll!!” I returned the action and privately said, “Thanks for saving Lan.”

“I’m just happy you’re still here,” Roll murmured, “I knew it wasn’t true, but I couldn’t do anything to help.”

“You’re here now,” I told her, “and you fought by Mayl when it counted. Thank you.” She warmly beamed at me.

“It soothes the soul, doesn’t it, Seiji?” Mr. Crosby whispered to Dr. Froid, watching Lan’s mother and his friends around him.

“It does,” Dr. Froid admitted, “but I let Zap get away with the Elec Program. I need to redeem myself.”

“I fell for an easy trick,” Chaud kicked himself on the inside, “That led me to arresting you.”

“I admit, you didn’t know what to think,” Lan knew anybody would’ve come to that conclusion, “but you really thought I’d hurt Dad?”

“No apology will make up that blunder, Lan,” Chaud stated, “but I’ll work to earn your forgiveness, however long it takes to stop WWW.”

“You don’t have to go so hard, Chaud,” the delinquent told him, “apologizing is enough for me.”

“Me as well,” Mom concurred, “You only did your job.”

Chaud appeared to whisper to himself, but I knew what he said. It was, “Thank you…”

“Mayl, Lan!” Detective Bluemann came up to the group, with Ripley coming in and pulling Lan and Mayl in a quick hug. “Are you two alright?”

“Perfectly fine,” Mayl chirped, patting Ripley’s shoulder.

“Thanks for getting the CopyBot out,” Lan shook the man’s hand in gratitude, “I wouldn’t have proven my innocence without it.”

“Thank you,” Redd smiled, “I hope you forgive me for not helping as much.”

“Don’t worry,” Lan assured him, “I’m used to this.”

“Still, we got careless,” Ripley thought aloud, breaking the hug. “WWW got Mrs. Hikari because of that; we’re lucky everything worked out.”

“There’s one more person I brought on the way here,” Redd affirmed before correcting himself, “No, two people.”

“Hello,” Mrs. Crosby was at the entrance with Dad, leading him in as bailiffs held back the crowd of paparazzi blocking the stairs, taking their pictures. “We couldn’t wait any longer.”

“H-Haruka… Lan…” Dad walked over to us cautiously, wearing a bandage with his white dress shirt and black pants from that party. “MegaMan.”

“Yuichiro!” Mom gasped.

“Dad…” Lan dropped his hands in his pockets, watching our father approach us.

“He’s here?!” Being inside my PET, I didn’t know until I heard Lan.

“I-I…” Dad stammered, “I heard the verdict. I’m glad you’re alright. I’m sorry I wasn’t here for that.”

“Just stop, Dad,” my brother smiled, “I should be saying sorry to you.”

Dad suddenly got pulled into Mom’s arms, keeping him where they were. Our parents stayed like that for a while, saying nothing to each other. They didn’t have to say anything they already knew.

“Heh…” Lan slightly chuckled, pulling the PET out so I could see. He looked away so no one would see his tears fall. “Hub?”

“Yeah?” I was getting choked up myself.

“Think we’ll start being a normal family again?” he asked.

“Lan, Lan, Lan,” I shook my head, wiping a tear off my cheek. “What the heck is normal when you have people like us around?”

“Point taken,” Before Lan could utter anything else, our parents pulled him in as well! “H-Hey!”

“We’re proud of you boys,” Dad quietly said, “I’m proud of you.”

“So am I,” Mom strongly agreed, “You two are our pride and joy.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Lan felt some relief, having needed to hear that. “You too, Dad!”

“Nothing’s going to keep us apart again,” Dad promised, “I’ve reached out to someone who’ll take care of everything.”

“What does that mean?” Mom questioned.

“Is it about your blackmail?” The thought crossed Lan’s mind.

“Don’t worry about it,” Dad smiled, “We won’t have anything to fear from it again.”

“That’s… good,” Lan might’ve had some doubts, but from how confident Dad sounded, he stopped being worried.

“Now, shouldn’t we start celebrating your verdict?” Dad suggested, “It’s not every day there’s a not guilty in court!”

“I could make that delicious curry you two like!” Mom added.

“Some curry would be really nice!” Lan warmed up to the idea, of course, though Yai came up with one of her own.

“Come to my place!” she requested, “I’ll have my brigade of chefs cook for us!”

“Yeah!!” Dex pumped his fist in the air, “Free food!!”

“Better make it invite only,” Mayl whispered in Yai’s ear with a smirk.

I was laughing for a bit, getting handshakes from ProtoMan, NumberMan, IceMan, MythMan, Glyde… and a crushing bear hug from GutsMan.

“Sorry to interrupt, Mega,” Roll stepped up once I was free, “but about that other name…”

“O-Oh, that?” I realized she overheard me and Lan, “Well, I guess it was gonna happen.”

“It sounded familiar,” Roll looked confused, “but I can’t place it.”

“It’s kinda my name…” I felt like it was as good a time as any, being tired of hiding it and all. And I’d rather tell friends who could keep secrets…

“Congratulations on your acquittal, Lan Hikari,” a woman declared, stopping me from talking.

The minute Lan looked behind his family to see who it was, he was almost about to gag. The justice minister, Desiree Domin, stood at the lobby’s entrance with Commissioner Keifer… and Mr. Famous.

[BGM: Phalanx, Mega Man ZX Tunes]

“Terrific…” Lan glared at the scientist, sore about him not being there for support.

“It’s you,” Chaud stated, “You’ve heard the verdict?”

“Yes,” Domin nodded with a small smile, “it’s good to see wrongs were made right.”

“As if you really cared about that,” Lan snarled, “You must be disappointed.”

“Such dangerous talk, Lan,” Domin shook her head, pretending she didn’t hear that growl. “If you were guilty, you’d only receive a life sentence; preferable to capital punishment. And I’m confident we would’ve realized our error, seeing as it’s you.”

“That’s right,” Redd recalled, “It was just ruled all WWW members would be sentenced to life.”

“You and Mr. Higsby should be grateful, Dr. Froid,” Mrs. Domin smiled, “False accusations occur frequently in today’s world.”

“Don’t imply something so callous,” Mr. Crosby almost barked.

“Forget about her, huh?” Higsby told us, “We should be glad it’s not us.”

“WWW escaped regardless…” Froid interjected, “and the government is on thin ice now…”

“You’re in as much of it as well,” Keifer whispered, “You don’t know what you’ve unleashed today.”

“I think it’s called the truth,” I threw my voice at them, earning a small reaction from Dex. “Try it sometime, commissioner.”

“Or better yet,” Lan suggested, “just say I didn’t do it. You also knew, Mr. Famous.”

“We didn’t expect this, Lan,” Mr. Famous said, but Lan just raised his hand, indicating he didn’t want to hear it.

“Sitting back and letting me fry takes nerve,” he coldly whispered, “I know Dad had a reason for not coming. What’s your excuse?”

“Don’t be so cross with him,” Mrs. Domin said, “he was working for me.”

“I’ve been updating security and providing the NetPolice tools to scan networks,” Mr. Famous said, “This will help us track specific WWW Navis, hopefully to a base somewhere online.”

“And this is gonna be the team’s priority?” Ripley pondered.

“It doesn’t matter,” I exhaled some air as I raised a question, “You and Commissioner Keifer watched the team behind the scenes. Why didn’t you vouch for us?”

“All I can offer is a sincere apology,” Keifer muttered, turning his head in shame.

“Not good enough!!” I scared my friends and family with that shout, “I almost got deleted! And Lan had a high chance of being on death row!”

“Minister Domin assured me you weren’t in any danger,” Mr. Famous breathed out.

“You trust everything she says?” I had nothing but disdain for him.

“That’s enough,” Chaud announced, getting in between Lan and Domin, just in case. “Fighting each other is pointless, you’re both innocent. Our priority is WWW.”

“I know that,” Lan nodded, “but Chaud, Mega Man’s not wrong.”

“What do you mean?” the ace questioned.

“The government was willing to hide Cross Fusion by sacrificing my partner,” Lan looked down, “I’m no different for making up half-truths in court, though.”

“Lan?” Ms. Mari looked a little worried.

“I’m not proud of it,” Lan scowled, “I’m not gonna claim the high road, but my secrets… my silence never cost anyone’s life.”

“Don’t address me like that,” Domin’s cold gaze chilled the room, “You boys wouldn’t be here without me.”

“That doesn’t mean we owe you anything,” I whispered, “I’m out.”

“MegaMan?” Mayl knew what that meant.

“I’m not working with people who don’t trust us,” I explained.

“I do trust you, MegaMan!” Famous proclaimed, “And you, Lan. We need you!”

“Too little, too late,” I shut him down, “I trusted you when you saved my life and you left us when we needed you… Lan thought you were with WWW, and you know what? He might be onto something.”

“Mega!” Roll scolded me, “How can you say that?!”

“That’s quite the threat,” MythMan wasn’t pleased with me, “I won’t let you insult him like that.”

“We warned you not to bring them on,” Domin huffed to the scientist next to her, “Nothing good ever comes from vigilantes.”

“Maybe it’s better if we leave the team,” Lan suggested, “We’re bad luck.”

“You just need a few days to reflect on this,” Chaud murmured, “everyone does. Mr. Famous?”

“Go…” Famous unclenched his fists as he sighed in disgrace, as well he should. Mom led the group out, holding the door open.

“Domin, Keifer, Famous,” Dad said in farewell, dropping all the formal pretenses.

“You can’t leave yet,” The justice minister wasn’t done with us, “You still have a contract to complete.”

“Famous does,” Dad slightly tilted his head to him, stepping out the door with everyone else. “He’s proven exactly where he stands… with you.” We left those three behind, ashamed and a little surprised.

Then the government will claim Hub as theirs, Domin shook her head with disappointment as she thought to herself. You’ll have to do what I say to get him back.

The amount of people taking pictures of my family was something else. The attention we got from the trial, it just felt wrong. While we were acquitted, I just didn’t feel good, no one did after that meeting. 

“Yai, Mom really wants to cook,” Lan whispered, “You think you could let her have some reign in the kitchen?”

“We’re still on?” Yai questioned.

“Heck yeah!!” Lan picked the mood back up, snapping everyone out of this funk. “Nothing’s stopping me from celebrating!”

“I guess you can’t stay down with food on your mind,” Dex shrugged with a smile.

Later in the day, at Yai’s mansion, my family, friends, and acquaintances ate a curry dinner, laughing and chatting among themselves. Yai also opened the presents Lan and our friends got her, having put off her birthday for us. Looks like she grew up from her spoiled rotten self. Roll, MythMan, and ProtoMan gave me the cold shoulder, bothered by what I said to Famous. I couldn’t blame them, but how could Zap have known about my identity as Hub unless they were in league with each other? Sure, that might not be the case, but not once did he help. He distanced himself from us and that made me angry.

At the end of the day, working with Keifer, Domin and Famous would be a mistake. That’s why I refused to trust them. I really needed some time alone, so I distanced myself from the others. Lan’s the only one I can count on… I told myself. Maybe it was better that way. Maybe we didn’t need anyone else…

01001101 01001101 01000010 01001110

An apartment was mostly pitch black, only lit by a desk lamp and a laptop’s screen. The person using it was running a strange program.

“Forget…” a man’s voice said, managing everything on that laptop. It was also connected to an odd device with these suction cups connected by wires, sticking to the forehead of Desiree Domin. “When you awaken, you will forget everything about Hub Hikari being MegaMan.EXE.” Minister Domin laid still, induced into sleeping. “Sleep…” he whispered, having done his task. “Sleep…” Once it was over, he took everything he brought with him, and made sure to electronically lock the apartment, eliminating his presence completely.

“It’s done,” the unknown man whispered in his PET, sending his message. He went to the stairs, confident the cameras wouldn’t pick him up.

01010111 01010111 01010111

[BGM: The Chosen One, Mega Man ZX GIGAMIX]

“It was my greatest performance, Lord Wily!” Count Zap laughed, taking a bow in their lair. “They ate it up!”

“And you’ve got the Elec Program, to boot,” Wily added, “We finally retrieved the Wood Program as well.”

“The people’s trust in the government is tearing at the seams,” Yahoot smiled, “Thanks to you and Lan revealing Cross Fusion’s existence.”

“My plan went far better than I expected it to!” Zap formed a manic grin on his face, “It was a little risky stuffing my Synchro Chip in the robot in that trash chute, but hey! Whether the government or the Hikari name gets attacked, it’s a win for WWW!”

“Lan created this Blue Avenger persona to separate himself from Cross Fusion,” Yahoot mentioned, “That way, he could keep his role in his former team secret from the public.”

“If his choice is to have a secret identity, let it be so,” Wily stated, “Exposing him is not required for completing EndGame. Besides, I want to learn more and see how far he’ll go to achieve his justice.”

“Yes sir, but what about the Fire Program?” Zap wondered, “It’s what you lack to create the Life Virus, isn’t it?”

“Our time to claim it will come shortly,” the leader declared, “Bring the other two in. You all will have the same objective: get that program.”

01001101 01001101 01000010 01001110

A few days after the most insane trial in recent times, Lan and I were at home, finishing up homework from class. Lan’s peers were still talking behind his back after all we’ve done, but they didn’t matter. No one did. With Cross Fusion confirmed, Judge Lex-Ordo and Mr. Ito supported the claim of the Blue Avenger being different from me and Lan. Dr. Froid covering for us in trial really saved us from hassle. That didn’t stop rumors, but they’d go away as long as Cross Fusion didn’t happen for a while.

“Finally!” Lan breathed, dropping his pencil. “Now we can go hunt WWW.”

“I want to go as much as you do, Lan,” I shared his feelings, “But is it smart to leave Mom and Dad alone?”

“We put it off long enough, Hub,” Lan said, “and we could always earn back more trust.”

“That virus attack on the police and the Cabinet was a warning, as you know,” I refreshed his memory, “This means they’re getting closer.”

“Whatever the EndGame is, it involves the Super Programs. They have Aqua, Electricity, and Wood.”

“Fire is all that’s left. Dad wouldn’t say where it is, though.”

“I hope it’s not at the Complex after everything,” My brother shook his head, “I can’t stand going back there, no offense to Dr. Froid.” As I wondered what to do next, the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it!!” Lan shouted, dashing downstairs for the front door.

“Lan, please,” Mom was dismayed as he slid in front of her to check who was outside, “I upgraded the doghouse to check on people.”

“I know, but still,” Lan opened the door once he saw who it was. We weren’t expecting her, though.

“Hello, Lan,” The one and only Helena Crosby was right there, looking a little bit nervous.

“Mrs. Crosby?” Just when he believed nothing could surprise him, there was the ex-governor’s wife. “What are you doing here?”

“Is it alright if I talk with you?” Mrs. Crosby politely requested, “It’s important.”

“Okay,” Lan let her inside and closed the door.

“Would you like something to drink?” Mom asked, but our guest shook her head.

“I’m surprised to see you here,” Dad stated, “What’s your business?”

“You must have been wondering where to begin, right, Lan?” Mrs. Crosby’s beautiful face showed a frown, “In your search?”

“Yeah, how’d you know?” my brother replied, “Are you okay?”

“I helped build WWW with some of my cosmetic company’s finances,” she plainly uttered.

“What?” Lan reacted slowly to this revelation, “What?!”

“I-Is this a joke?” Dad faltered.

“You’re kidding, right?” I added.

“I wouldn’t have this if I were,” Mrs. Crosby brought out her old PET, transmitting something to me. When I saw the data materialize, it combined into a key with WWW’s signature.

“Why…?” I whispered with judgment in my eyes, “Why do you have this?”

[BGM: Oblivion Land, Mega Man X Command Mission]

“I was with WWW from the beginning,” Mrs. Crosby was beginning to tear up after holding that conflicting secret for so long.

“Why?” Lan was shocked to be sure, but not angry. He and Dad were too confused for that.

“It was originally a group that stood against injustice, believe it or not,” Mrs. Crosby whispered, “We’d use the net and other high tech devices against corruption. But it became less about standing against it and more about utilizing it…”

“What changed?” Dad questioned.

“The leader changed, whoever he was…” she mumbled, “He went by Noble.”

“So, he had a fancy name?” Lan got confused.

“A codename,” Mrs. Crosby took out a list of written names from her purse, giving it to Dad. “We were all assigned these names by Noble. Mine was Adeline.”

“Why have you never told anybody about this?” Dad asked.

“I was proud of the good we had done,” she sadly recalled, “not of what WWW became. Creating a secret organization that performed acts akin to vigilante justice carried risks. Admitting to that would ensure I never saw the light of day again.”

“Because of the law...” Lan could relate to that.

“Because of the corruption. I’ve learned secrets not for the faint of heart, and I have the burden of holding them until I can’t go on. And seeing what WWW tried doing to your family and Mayl… I’m tired of keeping quiet.”

“Better late than never, I suppose,” Dad shook his head, “I’ll contact the Anti-WWW Team.”

“No,” I spoke up, “Lan and I can do this.”

“No offense, Mega,” Lan scratched his head, looking at the list of names. “But how can we find any ex-WWW members?” On the notes, he saw the name Yahoot written next to the name Arya, and Zap was next to Tennyson.

“I’ll give you a clue to who Alice is,” Mrs. Crosby whispered, “She once told me she wanted to teach troubled kids, having been one herself.”

“That doesn’t help much, but okay…” Lan accepted that.

“Oberon talked about his connections in the science community. He supplied us with these high tech chairs that allowed us to go into cyberspace if we needed to.”

“The Pulse Transmission System?” Yuichiro gasped, “Oh no…”

“I can see that happening…” Lan nodded, pretending it was new to him. “What does he have?”

“Alice and Oberon hold digital maps for our Navis to navigate the old Internet,” the ex-WWW founder explained, “Those old networks were phased out, and like the Undernet, there’s less security and strong viruses. The current WWW could be using one of those areas as a staging ground.”

“In that case, thanks for the list, Mrs. Crosby,” Lan thanked her.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Dad inquired, “You’re not leaving the house.”

“Come on, Dad,” Lan sighed, “this is huge. If we identify Noble, we end WWW.”

“I don’t want to lose you after all the past incidents, Lan,” Dad grabbed his shoulders, “It would kill me.”

“Dad, I’m only looking for ex-WWW members. If they don’t like WWW, they’ll help us.”

“We’re the only ones who can do it, Dad,” I tried persuading him, “Please.”

Dad facepalmed, smudging his glasses with his fingers. “Every single time,” he groaned, “Fine, take the list. You search for Alice. I might have an idea on who Oberon is.”

“Thanks, Dad!” I cheered as Lan got his shoes on, grabbing his detachable roller skates and orange jacket.

“It’s drizzling outside!” Mom reminded us, “Be careful!”

“Okay!!” Lan waved goodbye, closing the door.

“So, Zap and this Yahoot guy were there from the beginning,” I commented, “Guess creeps stick together.”

“Maddy worked for Mrs. Crosby’s company for a while,” Lan added, “Does Match have a connection?”

“Who cares what they were doing?” I thought, “They broke the law several times. They deserve to be brought to justice.”

“Let’s worry about that later,” Lan suggested, “I remember Zap calling Ms. Mari someone else when he grabbed me. It could be connected to who Alice is.”

“Whatever, just send me on the net,” I was more pushy than usual, but we couldn’t keep wasting time.

“Jack in, MegaMan!! Execute!!” Lan jacked me in, taking off on his skates under graying clouds. He avoided skating in areas with puddles, of course. On my end, I hit the cyber floor running from Lan’s Computer into the Cyberworld, searching for the outdated internet areas.

As for Dad, he was wearing his raincoat in his car, starting it up. He got on the road and drove his usual route to SciLab.

This was our chance to get a leg up on WWW, but also to prove Lan and I could still handle things ourselves. I needed to validate my existence and justify my choice to leave the team. As long as we trusted each other, we didn’t need anyone else… right?

01000011 01001111 01010011 01010011 01000001 01000011 01001011

“I’m glad you came on short notice, Dex,” Redd greeted him as they entered SciLab’s Mission Control, “We could use the help.”

“If this is the best I can do, then I’ll do more,” Dex nodded with a little pride in himself, and he wasn’t wrong to feel self-assured.

“I imagine that helping to expose WWW’s plot will boost your reputation?” Redd inquired.

“I guess,” Dex shrugged, “but I’m considering dropping the class president race. I don’t want it to get in the way.”

“We might get lucky, Dex,” Mayl cut in, standing next to Chaud and Ripley. Her head wasn’t bandaged up, a clear sign she had healed. “You might not have to do that.”

“Just don’t be surprised if this drags on for a while,” Chaud stated, “and we appreciate you for signing on.”

“Now then,” Ripley typed away on the keyboard, bringing up some links from the web. “We have the NetPolice authenticating various links to check for any WWW presence, but it’s just a distraction. We know they’re not crazy enough to have a public link or chat room for their Navis to gather.”

“The police are simply covering digital ground while we go deeper,” The detective crossed his arms, “And to do that, we have brought in someone important.”

“And who is that?” Dex questioned.

“Me,” a man affirmed, getting the group’s attention at the entrance.

He wore yellow-green pants with a jacket in the same color, over a brown vest covering a yellow shirt and red necktie. His dress shoes were a dark color and he had glasses over his green eyes. His golden blond hair was short but had a few spikes from his front, and he had a mustache and beard.

“Everyone,” Famous announced, shutting the door behind him off. “This is Dr. Cossack, a former scientist here.”

“Dr. Cossack?” Dex questioned, “THE Dr. Cossack?”

“I understand my reputation precedes me,” Cossack averted his eyes for a moment, “If only there was anything positive about me…”

Hardly anyone in this day and age didn’t know Dr. Cossack, but he’s infamous. Long story short, he created the first solo NetNavi, but several incidents caused by that Navi caused malfunctions in machines connected to the net. With the net nearly destroyed, the Navi was deleted, but the damage he left behind led to the country’s greatest recession in history. Cossack was jailed and forbidden from returning, even getting attacked by the public for what he created. But if he was here, then the situation must be dire.

“Allow me to clear the air,” Famous spoke again, “Dr. Cossack has been erroneously ostracized by the public. That incident with the first solo Navi was not his doing nor intention.”

“You don’t need to defend me, Famous,” The exiled scientist let a sigh escape his lips, “I’m guilty of a few other things.”

“What else is new?” Roll murmured with a cross expression.

“Regardless, he’s here to help,” Famous proclaimed, “He’s still a scientist, so always refer to him as such.”

“Dr. Cossack,” Mayl chose to be straightforward, “what is your business?”

“Information on WWW,” Cossack sighed, “I’ve been holding this back for some time.”

“How long?” Chaud wondered.

“Since I first helped Noble build WWW,” Cossack replied.

“S-Seriously?!” Ripley exclaimed.

“Noble?” Redd was thrown for a loop, “Who is that?”

“I didn’t think that you would be with them,” Roll made a sharp sound with her voice, “but it’s no surprise.”

“Roll,” Mayl was concerned by her Navi’s sudden change in behavior.

“We used codenames back then,” Cossack clarified for everyone, “the leader’s name was Noble. Mine was Oberon.”

“The king of fairies,” Chaud recognized the name, “From A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

“There was always a name that carried a meaning of nobility,” Cossack continued, “Hence why we were given them. WWW’s purpose to battle corruption was a noble desire, after all. It’s such a waste…”

“Dang,” Dex was still astonished, “That’s wild.”

“You realize that whatever you say, we will have to arrest you?” The ace Official wanted to make sure the exiled scientist was aware of this.

“I’ve been told I can be pardoned for my involvement,” Cossack murmured, “I just need to reveal everything I know, but I need your help to do that.”

“Since when were you ever about helping people?” Roll countered, leading Mayl to mute her PET.

“Continue,” Mayl beckoned the programmer.

“I don’t want to leave out other defectors, just in case they want to help,” Cossack sent something to the computer, letting Famous present it on the monitors. “But I only have their codenames. We have to find out who they are to get their input.”

“If you know WWW’s net address, why don’t you take us there?” Chaud pondered.

“I deleted my link a while ago,” the former doctor replied, “I didn’t want to continue being associated with WWW, but I still have a digital map. I even remember how to get in.”

Famous sent copies of the list to everyone’s devices, bringing up a digital map of the old Internet Area. “We’ll multitask for this mission,” he informed, “Chaud and Mayl, you’ll search for ex-WWW agents, while Dex and Ripley will explore the Internet Area. I’m told that there are some roadblocks set up by WWW. So, Dr. Cossack will help you break through them.”

“I still have the key data for those encrypted locks,” Cossack added, “They will be helpful, considering Noble’s net security.”

“I’ll keep patrolling to make sure WWW doesn’t have more surprises,” Redd saw himself out, but not before gesturing to Cossack by tilting his head to Mayl. He sighed, knowing what had to be done.

“That’s all, everyone,” Famous dismissed the team, heading to his desk to work.

“Mayl,” Cossack called, “A moment, if you please.”

“All the time I heard Roll talk about her creator,” she said as they stood in the corner of the room, “I never expected you to be the one.”

“Why not?” the ex-WWW associate pondered, “She doesn’t speak highly of me and I’m said to have stopped society.”

“I don’t believe everything I hear,” Mayl claimed, “Your solo Navi may have rampaged, but that was his choice.”

“I see…”

“Are you worried this friction with Roll will distract us?”

“I just want to make sure she’s alright, even if she’ll only yell at me. I miss her.”

Mayl sympathized with him, having such a strong bond with Roll herself. As her creator, he was still concerned for her. “Did you hear that, Roll?” She raised her PET up to see her Navi crossing her arms.

“What do you want from me?” Roll questioned the man once they could hear her again, “To welcome you back like nothing’s wrong?”

“You still remember me, at least,” Cossack sadly smiled, “I’m glad.”

“The feeling is not mutual,” Roll didn’t budge an inch, “Even if I’m fine where I am, it doesn’t excuse you.”

“You’re right,” Cossack accepted, “If I knew what would’ve come about founding WWW, none of this would’ve happened.”

“But it does explain things,” Roll muttered with chagrin, “Why you had technology that wasn’t yours; why you had a basement holding dozens of servers.”

“I’m so sorry…”

“You knew where I was and you never came back. Maybe it was for the best.”

Mayl and Cossack frowned upon hearing that. “I forgot about part of my past and about you,” Roll turned away from their faces, “Seeing you again made me remember… I hate you so much.” Cossack sighed with a hurt expression on his face.

“That wasn’t nice, Roll,” her operator scolded her for that.

“You wouldn’t defend him if I told you everything, Mayl!!” Roll fired back, “He was going to take out my free will!”

“You had the wrong idea,” the blond man denied that claim, “It was a throwaway remark that meant nothing.”

“Liar!” Roll shouted, “You were going to program me to be more obedient!”

“That’s not true,” Famous said, coming up to that group, “We were only referring to your stubbornness. That’s all.”

“Mr. Famous?” Mayl whispered.

“W-Wait…” The pink Navi looked through the PET camera in disbelief, “You knew?”

“Yes,” Famous admitted, “I knew what was going on.”

“He was there that day, too…” Cossack spoke up, causing Roll to turn to him. “We were trying to figure out what to do.”

Roll blanked out for a moment, staring at the space ahead of her. Then, she jacked into a computer, leaving Mayl’s PET on her own. “Roll, where are you going?!” Mayl cried, seeing her connection to her Navi get severed! The jack out command wouldn’t register because of this.

“I want to be alone!” Roll yelled, teleporting to a warp point out into the net. “I’m sorry, but I have to clear my head!!”

“Roll…” Mayl whimpered in vain.

“I’m sorry,” Cossack apologized, “She needed to know everything. If she won’t explain herself later, I will.”

“What about you, Famous?” the maroon-haired Official called him out, “What happened to Roll that made her act this way?”

“Perhaps she should tell you,” The scientist appeared troubled, brushing his hair with his fingers. “I’m not qualified.”

“Well, be ready anyway,” Mayl demanded, “You haven't given me any confidence in you since Lan left.”

“Mayl, we should go,” Chaud suggested, “If Roll doesn’t contact you, Dex and Detective Bluemann will find her. But we have a job to do.” Mayl nodded silently while keeping her glare on Famous, who used a handkerchief to absorb his sweat.

“Does everyone have secrets around here?” Dex looked to Redd as the two Officials walked out of here.

“Apparently so,” Redd replied, staring daggers at Famous for hiding something significant from him, being Mayl’s guardian and all.  Regardless, they got back to their task: searching for the old Internet Area.

01000001 01001100 01001001 01000011 01000101

In Den Town, at a restaurant close to a summer school, Lan was waiting for two people to show up. He checked back in with me as drank from a straw. “MegaMan, did you find the Internet Area?” he asked me something I already knew the answer to.

“No. Stop asking me every five minutes.”

“Look, I don’t know what else to do,” Lan grew a little impatient, waiting there for twenty minutes. “It’ll be ten before six soon.”

“Hello, Lan!” Ms. Mari waved at him, entering the place with a woman who looked exactly like her. Her hair and clothes were identical in style, only her dress and boots were colored red with a white top and white tights.

“Hi, Ms. Mari!” Lan waved back, “How’s it going?”

“Fine,” The elementary teacher nodded, turning to her twin sister. “I’ll order for us both, Yuri.”

“If you insist, Mari,” Yuri replied, deciding to sit at the table Lan was at. “You know her, so you wouldn’t mind if we sat here?”

“Not at all,” Lan breathed out through his nose, uncomfortable for being right in his hunch. “Do you teach at a school around here, Ms. Yuri?”

“It’s also a summer school,” Ms. Yuri added, “I think every child deserves a beneficial education, so I teach at it. It’s what I’ve wanted to do for a long while.”

“Ms. Yuri, if I can be frank,” My brother paused for a second, “Does the name Alice mean anything to you?”

“Alice?” The summer teacher kept her composure, “There are many girls with that name. Could you be more specific?”

“How about your former leader, Noble?”

Ms. Yuri caught her breath, knowing just what Lan meant. “How about Oberon?” he pressed, “Adeline? I can tell you who Tennyson and Arya are.”

“W-What are you saying?” Ms. Yuri did her best to refute what she heard, but she couldn’t ignore what Lan said next…

“Tennyson is Count Zap and Arya is Yahoot.”

“…How did you know about those names?” She gave in, confirming Lan’s suspicions.

“Adeline told me. If you want to get in touch with her, dial Helena Crosby’s number. I think it’s only fair if you know each other.”

“So that’s who she was… I never would’ve guessed.”

[BGM: Reform, Mega Man Legends]

“Ms. Yuri, do you have a map to an old Internet Area?” Lan requested, “WWW could be hiding there.”

“I wanted to bury my past once I set myself straight,” Yuri sadly frowned, “I realized Noble wasn’t as honest as he claimed. But I still held on to this.” With her PET, she shared the map that was left undisturbed with Lan, who quickly brought it up.

“Is there anything else you can tell me about the Internet Area?”

“I’ve attached an old WWW ID pin to the map,” she stated, “This should help you get past most WWW doors. You’ll have to decrypt the more sophisticated ones to go further.”

“Does Ms. Mari know about you being with WWW?”

“No, but she did tell me that Zap called her my name.”

“You should go to the cops,” Lan suggested, “WWW will cross any line.”

“I can take care of myself,” Ms. Yuri’s expression grew serious, “I have before you were out of elementary.”

“I’m speaking for Ms. Mari’s sake, too,” Lan responded with his own, “but I promise I’ll end it.”

“If you could pull a fast one in court, then I believe you can stop them,” Ms. Yuri smiled when she saw the determination in Lan’s eyes. “WWW knows everything about you, so be careful, Blue Avenger.”

My brother figured someone aware enough would find out, but he chuckled along with Ms. Yuri. “Well, MegaMan?”

“Okay, I’m on it!” I shouted, having a clear heading to reach our goal. I was so focused on the search, I didn’t notice Lan was texting someone to update them…

CHAPTER 25 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Reddington Bluemann, Ripley Marduk, MythMan, and Desiree Domin © HatOnFire/Me

01010010 01001111 01001100 01001100

I needed to be out of Mayl’s PET, just to clear my head. That man, Cossack, was never there for me and now he wants to try and be a better man? With what I knew about him, why on earth would I believe him? What was Mr. Famous thinking, associating himself with him? In fact, what was he doing with him in the first place that day? What if I couldn't trust him? As I sat on the edge of a platform in a computer, it occurred to me MegaMan felt that way about Famous. That’s why he left.

“We have a few things in common…” I said to myself, thinking about how well we understood each other. Some of our interests aligned, so that wasn’t a surprise. In fact, he must’ve been trying to find WWW with Lan, on their own. Channeling that distrust and doing something positive with it, while I left my best friend in anger, and sat here to mope.

I was emotional sometimes, but I had never lost my cool like that since… well, my last argument with Cossack. It ended the same way, in fact. Dropping off the platform, I did a dance that brought me back to a warp point into the SciLab network. I finished moping, restarting my connection with Mayl and called her. “Roll!” she answered immediately.

“Hi, Mayl,” I responded, “I’m sorry about ditching you like that.”

“Will you please tell me what happened between you and Cossack?” she asked, “If not now, then later?”

“I promise, Mayl,” I told her, “When this is over, I’ll tell you and Lan. It’s important that you know.”

Satisfied with that, Mayl brought up a map of the old Internet Area we got, reminding me of the mission. “Lan sent us a message,” she added, “He and MegaMan have gotten in the Internet Area and are looking for WWW’s link.”

“I thought they didn’t want to keep working with us?” I still remembered Mega’s accusation to Famous, leaving me feeling bitter.

“Lan said Mega’s getting obsessed with WWW the same way he was. He’s worried about him.”

“Say no more,” I leapt off the path, free-falling down the network. Since the map showed me an entrance leading into that old area, this was the quickest way to get there. My concern for Mega motivated me even more to see him.

“As Chaud and I are looking for ex-WWW founders,” Mayl reminded me of that, too. “I’ll try and support you when I can. Lan’s message went out for other people to help us. But watch your back over there.”

“Thanks, Mayl,” I gratefully replied to her, “and I’m sorry, again.”

“It’s alright,” She understood me despite my actions. I was lucky to have her as a friend.

Getting close to the bottom, I twirled my body, allowing me to levitate in the air and descend down to that road. From there, I accessed the Internet Area and sprung forward, flying in a digital portal to my destination.

01001101 01001101 01000010 01001110

Dr. Hikari slid his ID card into a slot on his door, unlocking the entrance to his office. A second door automatically opened, and he led Redd, Mr. Famous and Cossack inside. “Yuichiro, I hope you can forgive me,” Cossack hung his head down, “I swear, I never wanted any harm to come to you.”

“You were never involved in my assault,” Dr. Hikari’s assurance only came off as disappointment, “but you were the last man I thought would help create WWW.”

“Dr. Cossack,” Redd informed him, “the prime minister will only grant you a pardon if you can name a satisfactory number of people in WWW.”

“Even then,” Famous pointed out, “The science community won’t trust you again. They sheltered you on the previous incident out of Dr. Hikari’s wishes, but they won’t this time.”

“I understand,” Cossack proceeded to admit, “While I never told Noble any flaws in SciLab’s security, I did sneak some devices out for personal use and for him to take.”

“Like the Pulse Transmission System,” Dr. Hikari frowned, “What were you thinking? You know the risks associated with it.”

“Last I checked, you’re just as familiar with it,” Cossack countered, “You created a second version of it, even!”

“Only because the EM waves somehow changed the molecular structure of my boxed lunch into data!” Dr. Hikari yelled.

“I’m sure that’s interesting, but we’re getting off track,” Redd cut in, “Who else was in WWW?”

“One of the men who’s been there from the beginning is a man called Arya,” The blond man went on, “He also goes by Yahoot or Maha Jarama. I would’ve left sooner if I knew that.”

“Of course,” Redd nodded to that, “He’s known as a corporate saboteur, a thief, and a hitman.”

“Besides him and Count Zap, the only other two I can name are those on the news,” Cossack stopped there, “You won’t prosecute the ones who left WWW just months prior, will you?”

“As long as they haven’t continued participating, we’ll see.”

“WWW needed SciLab’s technology to build themselves up, didn’t they?” Famous pondered, “Were you the one who took the Synchro Chips and Dimensional Area Generator? Was the CopyBot’s theft your doing as well?”

“I left WWW before all that,” Cossack answered, “I didn’t even know about those projects until you told me.”

“Someone did,” Redd crossed his arms in thought, “I’m going to vet everyone working here again, in case there’s another spy.”

“I’ll go with you,” Famous led the detective out the room, leaving the ex-scientist alone with Dr. Hikari.

“Understand that I couldn’t tell you about WWW, Yuichiro,” Cossack looked away from his friend, “I couldn’t risk having you know.”

“I’m having trouble believing you now,” Dr. Hikari adjusted his glasses, “Did you really erase Minister Domin’s knowledge on Hub?”

“Like you told me to,” Cossack reminded him, changing the subject. “I’m still surprised you found me.”

“Good thing I did. They needed answers and I needed to get out from Domin’s thumb.”

“Anyway,” Cossack finally put his gaze back on him, “Noble wanted the other Pulse Transmission Systems when he heard they would be scrapped. I didn’t question why, but I have a theory that it’s connected to Hub’s transformation.”

Dr. Hikari turned quiet, letting Cossack continue to talk on the matter.

01010111 01010111 01010111

The old Internet Area was definitely a product for its time; it showed in the layout of the place. The turquoise paths were narrow and always had some dead ends, making it hard to go places. The lack of proper maps and location markers were the worst parts about this place, and don’t get me started on the pastel-colored sky with the yellow lowercase e and a small dot hovering around it.

It was so abandoned as few Navis roam the area, especially with the uptick in virus activity. 

[BGM: RUNNING THROUGH THE CYBERWORLD, ROCKMAN.EXE 15TH ARRANGE BEST TRACK]

“HAAAHHHH!!!” MegaMan wasn’t intimidated at all, charging a Froshell 3 virus, which had a white-blue body on four purple legs, pink eyes, two antennae sticking up from its backside, and a yellow rectangular shield protecting the front. All Mega did was rapidly fire at the shield until it raised it up, allowing him to assault it with Fighter Sword and summon a StoneMan copy to rain rocks on the field, deleting it before it could attack.

Two ColdHead viruses, light blue versions of HardHeads, opened up and fired freezing shots at Mega, turning the floor into ice. However, it didn’t matter when two Thunder 1 attacks made them implode, just like that.

“Okay, you’re in!” Lan cheered him on, “Now use the map to find the old WWW network!”

“Roger,” Mega went on, zipping through the network on a mission. He was moving so fast, anyone who saw him would’ve thought he was a blur.

Two blue Beetank 2 viruses ahead of him opened fire, but Mega used his charged shots to snipe them as he closed the gap, seizing chip data once they were gone. A legion of Mettaur 3s marched on a path, with most of them retreating to the next area as eight of them stayed to release their Dyna Waves.

Mega leapt on their helmets like stepping stones, staying on the path and unlocking the next area. “WWW needs an army to stop me,” Mega’s determination could be felt in the ripples he made in this atmosphere. Once he moved in, he saw the Mettaur 3 legion, waiting for him with gray Beetank 3s, Mineys, and Poppers.

“Watch what you say, brother,” Lan watched the action on his end, ready to give quick direction. “Force the other viruses to attack them!” MegaMan did as instructed, shooting at other viruses to goad them into blasting the Mettaurs under his feet once he was on top of them. “Invis 3! Slot in!” Lan passed the chip to him and he disappeared, escaping the blast zone erupting in chaos. As he kept going, a new crowd of viruses chased him even when he was invisible. They were Mosquritos, orange orbs with yellow eyes, insect wings, and needle noses.

“They can sense me, Lan!” Mega tried shooting back, but they just took the shots he landed on them!

“Fire Towers will even the odds!” His operator sent the firepower his way, and MegaMan slid on the road while two Fire Towers left a trail behind, deleting his pursuers.

“Thanks, Lan!” MegaMan made sure to thank Lan for the save, “Nothing’s going to stop us now!” In the next area, however, there was another obstacle, one in the form of residual ElecMan data. “ElecMan’s ghost,” Mega stood ready, “WWW’s net address is close.”

They better get here soon, Lan’s mouth shifted as he thought to himself.

MegaMan ran under the ghost Navi’s bolt, jumping to a quicker path for area 7. This would mean something if the ghost wasn’t chasing him, but that’s when things were turned around. A Time Bomb appeared in front of MegaMan, counting down to zero! He lured ElecMan to it, getting him blasted. “Nice, Lan!” Mega smiled.

“Don’t thank me,” Lan proceeded to give credit to his backup, “Thank NumberMan.”

“Roll, a calculated stun will give us the edge!” NumberMan said, letting me summon a Wood Tower to knock him out of the sky.

“Freeze Bomb!” IceMan threw his projectile at the ghost, damaging and encasing him in ice.

“Silver Fist!!” GutsMan struck ElecMan with fists that flew at him like missiles, ultimately deleting the ghost.

“What the heck are you guys doing here?!” Mega exclaimed.

“Thanks for coming, guys,” Lan told the other Navis before addressing his own, “MegaMan, if all of WWW’s at the end, you’ll need help in case something goes wrong.”

“Lan, I’ve got nothing against them, but we can do it ourselves,” he insisted, “I’m sorry, guys.”

“I contacted Mayl and Dex because you could still trust their Navis,” Lan explained, “I also figured Higsby and Froid would want to get even for what WWW did to them.”

“Of course!” NumberMan raised an arm up and brought his fingers together, “No one gets away with brainwashing us into causing harm!”

“That goes double for blackmail!” IceMan yelled as well.

“You did something for them when you and Lan went into action,” GutsMan notified me, “And after the trial, they wanted to do something for you, considering, well…”

“Most NetNavis found guilty get shut down or deleted,” MegaMan crossed his arms, “They avoided punishment ‘cause they weren’t entirely responsible.”

“MegaMan,” Lan began to stand firm, “We don’t have a plan for what we’ll do once we get in. We need these guys.”

“If they can look out for themselves, they can come,” Mega somewhat relented for us, “but this is our fight, Lan. Yours and mine, no one else’s.”

He ran forward, getting into the next area. “Not trusting Famous, I get,” Lan mumbled, “but brushing off help from your own friends?”

“If he acts dumber than he is now,” I uttered, “we’ll reel him in, Lan.”

“Appreciated, Roll,” Lan nodded to me, watching us follow his Navi inside. Getting in, we saw Mega slide under a white Spooky 3 virus and slice through it with an Elec Sword.

A purple Gaia virus with yellow buttons and lines, red eyes, a skull-like jaw with spikes on its head, dropped its red hammer on the ground, unleashing an explosive wave at the group. GutsMan threw a Cannon Ball at it, taking advantage of its immobile, chess piece body and deleted it.

I teleported ahead of the others, deleting a Beetank 3 with my Roll Flash and two Roll Arrows. “Single viruses?” I wondered for a second, feeling a false sense of security. “It should be getting harder, not easier.”

The next area came up and NumberMan put his hand on the door. “An old man who lived next to Dex called him, revealing he was with WWW,” he said, “Higsby came over, and I helped find the code hidden in his house.”

“Staying connected is a virtue,” Lan smiled, looking at Mega. If he didn’t look put out earlier, he was now.

“So is focusing on what matters,” he threw in. The door’s lock was lifted, so the group continued on. But in the eighth area…

“Bomb Shoot!!” A round, black bomb with a fuse on it suddenly landed on the path and rolled at us! Mega moved in to kick the bomb away, causing it to explode in the air! The blast almost pushed him off the road, but he stayed up.

“That was close!” IceMan felt some relief, “But who threw that?”

“WWW, obviously,” GutsMan pumped himself up, “Takes more guts to get us, though! Come on!”

The team and MegaMan used the area’s map to take a quicker route, one involving us jumping down three levels to get to the old WWW’s server entrance. But right there, four WWW Navis were waiting for us. FireMan, the real ElecMan, and two others I didn’t recognize.

The tallest Navi had a black bodysuit with a white line looping around each thigh. Orange blocks formed around his forearms like gauntlets and around his calves like boots. Shining yellow rings were at the end of his arms and at the top of his boots. His feet were also red-orange with black soles and his right foot rested on top of a bomb. He had red-orange chest armor, with an orange piece on the front that covered the lower part of his head. That orange part also had some yellow around the top. Orange block armor protected his lower torso and red-orange spherical shoulders surrounded and partially exposed a bomb with a lit fuse in each shoulder.

A red-orange helmet with a black vertical line on his forehead covered his face with red eyes, a light orange Mohawk with a yellow segment at the front went down to part of his back, and small white spikes were on the sides of his head. The left side of his chest had his yellow Navi emblem with a red triangle and yellow and orange crown-like shapes over a black background, resembling an explosion.

The smaller Navi next to him had a red head with big, black eyes, two gray handles and a pair of clipping blades on top, resembling scissors. His neck had a gray ring clamped on, while his body was white on the torso and his legs, arms, boots, and hands were red. A gray line was lapping both of his knees, his elbows, and the front of his boots and soles were the same color. A large yellow C took up most of his upper body, while his Navi mark was unusually placed on top of his back. It was a red C over a purple circle.

[BGM: Guarder Room, Remastered Tracks Rockman Zero]

“Welcome, MegaMan and company,” FireMan greeted us, “We’ve been expecting you.”

“Indeed,” The scissor Navi used his index and middle fingers to simulate scissors cutting paper, extending his arms.

“A trap?!” MegaMan exclaimed, watching as a red barrier enclosed the area around us, blocking the entrance off.

“We can’t log out!” NumberMan started to freak out, “This is bad!”

“Did U RLY think WWW would just use an old network any traitor could access?” the Mohawk Navi said, “They foresaw this, so they decided to let us get rid of you!”

“You’re the Navi called BombMan!” I finally recalled that Navi’s face from an Official’s dossier, “Wanted for reckless abandon and destroying several networks a few years ago.”

“I’m still remembered?” BombMan felt proud of himself, “Good.”

“Don’t forget about me, the WWW’s supreme chief of security, CutMan!” The Navi with scissors dramatically posed, expecting a fanfare of some kind to back him up. After that pause, he spoke again. “…Fine, I'm just the vice chief.”

“Is that even a real title?” IceMan shook his head at how this guy was acting.

“Give us the location to your base,” I demanded, “and maybe we’ll keep all of you online.”

“Why would we do something like that?” BombMan proceeded to continue with his odd way of speaking, “Our leet skillz, mostly mine, will render you zeros into a more worthless value!”

“Did he just say leet?” I couldn’t help but ask that.

“Well, I know people who talk like that,” Higsby rubbed his head, “but I don’t talk like that.”

“Enough bluster,” ElecMan told his WWW cohorts, “Just get rid of them!”

“Take whoever you want,” FireMan stepped forward with his arm cannons primed, “but MegaMan’s mine.”

“Get ready, guys!” MegaMan shouted, “You wanted this to happen!”

“That we did, MegaMan!” GutsMan opened one of his hands up, sending his closed fist into it.

“Battle routine, set!!” Lan called out.

“Execute!!” the team replied, assuming battle formations. However, that was when communication with our operators disappeared…

“Dr. Froid?” the ice Navi questioned, getting no answer. “Something’s wrong, guys…”

[BGM: Dr. Wily Stage, Mega Man Complete Works]

“Bomb Shoot!!” BombMan kicked the bomb under his foot right at the group, forcing us to scatter. “Yeah!” he yelled with enthusiasm, summoning more bombs to kick. “Leet!!”

“If this is all the vocabulary he knows, then no wonder he disappeared,” I tried firing at him, but the bombs blocked my arrows.

“Spark Strike!” ElecMan raised his arms up, dropping lightning down on the group. Most of us dodged it, but GutsMan was forced to take a good deal of the blow.

“Rolling Cutter!!” CutMan summoned a flying pair of shears to chase NumberMan around the field.

“What was I thinking, coming all the way out here like this?!” The bulb-headed Navi cried, throwing a die at the WWW Navis. The explosion from the die took out the bombs, creating a crater in the middle of the digital floor.

“Ice Breath!!”

“Fire Arm!!”

IceMan and FireMan clashed with their respective elements, locked into a struggle with each other. IceMan was initially winning with his element, but the torch Navi had more to dish out. The little guy couldn’t keep going, forced to leap out of the way.

“There’s something to be said about not standing the heat, runt!!” He taunted the little one, forcing him on the run with his flames. “Now, let’s go, MegaMan!”

“How many times are you gonna do this, FireMan?!” Mega questioned, running up to him and forcing his arms up, having the fire try to strike the barrier.

“As long as you’re right behind me and I haven’t had enough,” he replied, kicking him in the stomach and in the chest.

“Roll Flash!” I got close to CutMan, whacking him with my antennae. But he responded with his head scissors, clamping them on my body! “AAAHH!!” I pulled myself back, sidestepping when his scissors flew like a buzzsaw at me!

“Cut Boomerang!” He waited for the scissors to return to him before he put them back on his head.

“Lightning Blaze!!” Above ElecMan, dark clouds formed above NumberMan and IceMan, electrocuting them both simultaneously! For IceMan, it was doubly painful.

“Rocket Guts Punch!” GutsMan flung his fist at BombMan, who merely smacked it away with the back of his hand.

“A baby punch!” he mocked, jumping to him and decking him with an overhand punch. “How pathetic for a bulky model!”

“GUH!!” GutsMan fell to the ground, feeling some of his strength slip away. He was running low on hit points and he knew it. “Dex…”

“Mayl, I need your support!!” I called out to her, getting static as the response. “Mayl!!”

“You know what I like about this barrier?” FireMan asked us, blocking some punches from Mega. “You start to realize what it feels like to be independent. Take BombMan and CutMan, for instance.”

“Having no operator to rely on is almost liberating,” CutMan twisted his a little, rolling his shoulders. “You get this feeling that you’re only gonna survive on your own merit. And for you Navis, it’s a bad thing.”

“But the blue one is really interesting,” The Mohawk Navi watched MegaMan’s fight, “He looks like he can fight on his own. And so can you, pinkie.”

“As an Official Navi, I have to be able to do that,” I replied.

“But you’re a survivor, too,” BombMan struck a nerve in me when he said that, “I see that look in your eyes on Navis molded by the Undernet, just not you. You must’ve lived rough, eh?”

“My life is none of your business, flunky,” I shut him up, moving so fast, he would think I was teleporting.

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“How could we have lost the signal on them?!” Dex questioned, growing more anxious by the minute.

Lan and our group had gotten into contact with each other, trying to figure out what to do with this development.

“ProtoMan, to the Internet Area!” Chaud ordered, walking in the Den Town area with me. “As fast as you can!”

“Negative on that!” Famous yelled, “We can’t risk letting you get caught in the trap, too!”

“Famous, I never knew you for a coward!!” Lan snapped, coming out from the Metroline station to SciLab. “Or that you’d think my friends are expendable!”

“That’s out of line, Lan!” Ripley shouted, “I’m sure there’s something you can still do!”

“Besides, there’s always going to be risks involved,” Dr. Hikari calmly interjected, cooling the intern down. “Now, if there’s a jamming signal at work on the internet, they must be in close proximity to it, right?”

“Can you still send chips to them?” Cossack questioned, “Communications are scrambled, but you don’t know if that’s the case for your chips.”

“Wait, it looks like we can,” Higsby answered from his chip shop, seeing the custom screen on his PET. He tried sending some decent chips, but part of the screen started to flicker the word ERROR.

“No good,” Dex rubbed the top of his head, “It’s like the PET’s refusing to work with me.”

“Send Program Advances instead!” Chaud advised, “They carry a power output while containing excellent processing speed. It should break through the jamming.”

“What good will that do if we can’t see our Navis?” Froid wondered, leaning against a table in the Waterworks computer room. “Not all of us are NetBattlers.”

“They fought with what we’ve given them,” Mayl stated, “We have to trust them on this.”

“Right,” Lan agreed, “I just hope Mega can still trust the others…”

“Mayl, you still have those animal programs from a few years ago, right?” Cossack asked her.

“Yeah, but I took them out of Roll a while ago,” She sent in some chips to help us out, “They’re too big.”

“Use the customizer and follow my instructions,” he said, “I’ll tell you how to compress them.” As she got ready making changes, the other operators sent in powerful chips that could break anything, provided we could use them right.

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Back in the Internet Area, ElecMan was chasing IceMan with an Elec Sword, cutting through air as he tried to electrocute him with it.

“Someone help!!” the Navi in the parka screamed, evading another swipe from the WWW goon.

“Out of the way!” MegaMan’s hands were clasped on FireMan’s forearms, keeping them raised as he forced his flames to hit the dome they were in.

“You can’t use me to burn the dome down, kid,” FireMan gloated, “It’s built from part of the Elec Program, being impervious to small scale damage!”

“In fact, even our combined attacks can’t delete it!” BombMan grabbed another punch GutsMan sent out, giving him a headbutt. “You’ve got no chance!”

“H-Huh…?” NumberMan felt some chip data arrive in his system, coming in the form of a Program Advance. “This is… an advance?” An advance was coming on for me, too; data was promptly building up in my arm. Mega pulled FireMan’s arms away from each other, kicking his torso a few times before letting him go.

“Can’t hit what you can’t see,” CutMan murmured, preparing to use an Invis 3 chip. However, a hole appeared in front of me, and out leapt a canine!

This dog was different from all the others. He had brown feet, black legs, and a short brown tail sticking out from his funnel-shaped body or shirt. His arms were tan like his face, his hands were colored like his body, he had a brown head with ears longer than a bloodhound, and he wore a red collar. His eyes and nose were black, and he was gnawing on CutMan like his life depended on it!

“Get off me!!” CutMan screeched, losing his chip to him on top of getting paralyzed!

“Rush!!” I remembered this digital dog, always having him around in the PET to lift my spirits.

“Get back, now!” NumberMan set his sights on the yellowjacket Navi, creating a red cannon on his arm.

< Program Advance >
Mega Cannon 3 L
Mega Cannon 3 M
Mega Cannon 3 N

< Program Advance >
Zeta Cannon 3

He opened fire on him with the shots making contact, consecutively damaging him. He turned the cannon on the dome, blasting it as much as he possibly could.

A green cat came in with a case that had a red plus on it. He had a cream-colored face and fingerless hands, a brown lower torso, yellow orange rings on his wrists and ankles and stripes on his tail, and what appears to be bandage roll on his head, between his ears. His beady black eyes sparkled as he meowed at me.

This was Tango, another animal program associated with me. He opened the case that had a glowing orb in it. When it hit IceMan, he regained some energy and an orange barrier protected him.

“Wow!” He couldn’t contain his surprise, “Thank you, whoever you are!”

“If Rush and Tango are here…” I pondered to myself for a moment, suddenly spotting a flying bird program swoop down on BombMan, stealing chip data from him!

“Hey!” he cried, swinging at him. “Give that back!”

The bird was known as Beat, who had a cream-colored body with yellow bird legs, blue wings and tail feathers, and a blue helmet that looked exactly like MegaMan’s, minus the two lines sticking out above his head. He also had a yellow beak and brown goggles over his eyes.

“Help has definitely arrived,” I smiled, watching the support programs gather in one place. The advantage we got was setting in for me.

“I see!” MegaMan smacked the fire Navi as he arrived at a realization, “The dome blocked off all communications and our ability to receive chip data! But some advances got past the dome because of their power output!”

“Some advances are strong enough to break through virtually anything!” GutsMan added, catching a punch from BombMan and throwing him over his shoulder and into the dome. “Our operators must’ve sent us some heavy hitting types for this fight!”

“The WWW Navis can’t break it with their combined powers,” NumberMan caught on quickly, “My advance shouldn’t have done damage to it, but it’s done something!!”

“Pour the attacks on the barrier, now!” Mega commanded, having his Mega Buster transform into a slightly bulkier model with a long barrel at the end. Eight black cylinders slightly grew out around his forearm while the barrel at the end glowed.

“Time Bomb +!!” Sliding to a corner of the dome, IceMan summoned a large Time Bomb there, counting down from three.

“Ultra Bomb!” The advance I had was an explosive blue ball the size of a volleyball. I timed my throw to IceMan’s bomb, tossing it at the right moment. Our synchronized explosions made the red dome fluctuate like a bad TV signal, making ripples all around us.

“Guts Shoot!” Of course, GutsMan used the mighty advance he grew fond of on the barrier, throwing a replica of MegaMan at it.

“Mega Death Burst!” Mega opened fire, releasing a destructive spread shot that danced on the barrier like sparks. And with those attacks, the barrier was gone with no trace left.

“The connection’s back!” I heard Mayl shout to our friends, “We’ve got visuals on WWW Navis!”

“Let’s finish this!” MegaMan shot BombMan in the face with a charged shot, though it didn’t faze him in the least.

[BGM: Boss Battle, Mega Man Powered Up]

“Bomb Shoot!”

“Fire Bomb!!” As BombMan kicked as many bombs as he could, FireMan randomly unleashed his own explosives from his torch head, causing a chain reaction when one of his attacks landed on the dormant bombs.

“Big Wave! Slot In!” Froid inserted a chip in his PET, giving IceMan the chance to generate a gigantic tidal wave of water to snuff out the explosions that were coming for them.

“Number Ball!!” NumberMan released as many spheres as he could, forcing ElecMan to maneuver past each of them. When he got close with an Elec Sword, the lime-green Navi swiped him with a Bamboo Sword, amplified by an Attack+30 chip, performing excellent damage.

“Dyna Wave!” GutsMan pounded his fist on the floor, channeling a shock wave that caught BombMan in it right when he was about to attack. This gave him the advantage for a Navi chip powered by Full Synchro. “StoneMan V3!” Once the apparition of the bulky rock Navi came to form, he slammed boulders on BombMan, heavily weakening him.

“HI-YAH!!!” CutMan leapt high in the air, coming down on Mega with a pair of Rolling Cutters and a dive kick.

“Roll, over here!” He dashed under him to avoid the attack, reaching out for me. I used my antennae to wrap around his hand so he could swing me over to him.

“Roll Flash!” I got close, letting him taste my counterattack. “Curse Shield 2!” I also put up a defense in the form of a shield resembling a green tile with jagged teeth, a red orb above its face, and small purple hair shaped like a teardrop. It was hit by one of the scissors, causing it to appear in front of the sender and bite down on him.

“Heater!” The fire Navi shot a fire ball at the group, attempting to let the spread shot do all the work. IceMan got in the way, keeping us out of the blast zone.

“Mega Cannon!” MegaMan charged at his foe and made a direct hit, but he didn’t recoil from the shot!

“Fire Sword!” FireMan ran at him in response, withstanding a blast from a Ratton 3 that Mega let out.

“Aqua Sword!” Mega’s arm shape-shifted into a sword of flowing water, clashing it against his foe, who didn’t relent one bit. Thinking quickly, Mega sidestepped him, causing FireMan to shift his weight forward. From there, Mega jabbed the sword into FireMan’s body, dousing his fire in the process.

“GAH!!!” he gasped, stepping back while small pixels left the wounded area. He looked impressed for someone who had been struck. “Heh… I think you got better, kid… It’s no wonder Noble had his eye on you.”

“Noble…” I mumbled, “So it is the same man.”

“You’re not denying his involvement?” GutsMan hung on the implication for a moment.

“No need to,” FireMan’s legs shook as he continued staying upright, “What a good fight… Maybe we’ll get along once WWW takes charge of the world.”

“We won’t let that happen,” The blue Navi clenched his fist, “You’re deluded if you think we’ll let you.”

“M-Make no mistake, lamers…” BombMan scoffed, “We lured you here and we knew the barrier was gonna be deleted. It’s all part of the plan.”

“For the Fire Program?” Lan questioned, “That’s all you need, isn’t it?”

“That’s right,” Count Zap interjected, “So clever, boy. How’s your mother these days?”

“I told you not to speak of her!!” MegaMan roared, firing at Count Zap’s image multiple times, shutting him off from the area. 

“MegaMan, enough!” Lan ordered, “Control yourself!”

“That’s exactly what I’m doing!” Mega eyed the WWW Navis ahead of him, “You won’t hurt anyone else! You’re history!!”

“Don’t care!” BombMan proclaimed as MegaMan fired on them, trying to delete them. “We’re outta here!”

“This was a learning experience,” CutMan smirked, dodging all the shots. “Very valuable indeed.”

“You’ll have to try harder if you want to keep up with us,” ElecMan taunted us, jacking out with the solo Navis.

“Come back, cowards!!” MegaMan bellowed, having failed to blast them.

“I admire your conviction, MegaMan,” FireMan stood back with his arms akimbo, “but Match and I will beat you and Lan in the end. See you soon.” He quickly jacked out before Mega could catch him in a tackle. As a result, Mega skidded along the floor.

“Cripes!!” He banged his fist on the floor, “They were toying with us! Again!”

“At least we got connected again,” Lan chimed in, “Now, let’s calm down and gather our thoughts.”

“We won, at least,” GutsMan dropped his fists to the ground, resting his knuckles on the surface. “But this is clearly not over.”

“They’re after the Fire Program, of course,” I added, “But do they know where it is?”

“Maybe,” Higsby pondered, “Two of the programs were at the Complex, right?”

“One was bound for SciLab by train…” Mayl recalled.

“Ripley, where’s MythMan?” I asked him now that we could talk to him again, “He’s not with us.”

“I’m trying to locate him now!” The weary intern used the computer to track MythMan’s position in the net, successfully getting a signal in the SciLab network. “He’s… here?”

“The alarms are going off!” Dex called, “We got trouble in SciLab!”

[BGM: Emergency!, Remastered Tracks Rockman Zero]

Sirens in the facility were wailing, combined with people outside getting as far away as possible. “I’m outside!” Lan yelled, unable to see anyone in the building due to shutters quickly closing the windows. “Why can’t I get in?!”

“We’re getting locked in!” Dr. Hikari responded, “Something infiltrated the building!”

“They’re here for the Fire Program…” Famous stated, “But we blocked off its signal.”

“Alert!” Ripley shouted, “A Dimensional Area has been activated!!”

“Where is it?!” Dex exclaimed.

“I don’t know!” Ripley’s hands shook as all of the cameras played nothing but static, capturing audio of security guards being overwhelmed by an intruder. “We’re totally blind! This intruder must have broken into our main systems!”

“The Dimensional Area is covering most of Den Tech City!” Dr. Hikari cried, reading the growing fields of the area on a digital chart. “ACDC Town, Den Town, Elec Town, Wilshire Hills, SciLab, and more!”

“How could they have expanded the radius so quickly?!” Famous ran his fingers through his hair.

“The programs they took,” Cossack leaned on a desk, “They’re boosting the signal and taking the technology beyond the operating performances…”

“MythMan’s signal is in the network, but…!” Ripley looked into his PET, finally noticing something disturbing. “No…! MythMan’s been deleted!!”

“What?!” Everyone cried in shock.

“They took his clearance!” Famous deduced, “I entrusted the Fire Program’s location to Ripley and MythMan! WWW must have gotten into his memory banks and used his clearance to break in!”

“They won’t get away with this!” MegaMan prepared to jack out, “Lan and I will handle this ourselves!”

“Mega, wait!” I tried to stop him, “You can’t do this alone!”

“I didn’t have the spine to dispatch the WWW Navis before, Roll,” He frowned before looking at me with a serious expression, “and like Lan, I got careless. That changes now.”

“Sorry to hang up on you guys, but we gotta go!” Lan terminated his connection as he ran around the building, looking for another way in before deciding to do something drastic.

“Mega…” When I saw that expression, I became fearful for his life. If something happened because I didn’t support him enough… I jacked out, not daring to complete that thought. But I could tell things were about to get worse in my beating heart. Having to talk to Cossack wasn’t the worst thing that could happen now…

CHAPTER 26 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Reddington Bluemann and Ripley Marduk © HatOnFire/Me

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In Den Town, Mayl and Chaud spotted trouble several feet ahead of them. BombMan and CutMan in were scaring off the pedestrians and damaging cars and property with their weapons. “Get ready…” Chaud placed his chip in, transforming his appearance. Out of sight from everyone else, of course.

“Roll, I need you!” Mayl called for me after taking a breath, drawing out her Synchro Chip.

“Here we go again…” I uttered what everyone else thought when everything hit the fan.

Mayl did what Chaud had done and we took to the air once our transformation was complete.

“Yeah!!” BombMan roared, punting a car against a building’s wall, shattering it and the car. “How do those lamers like me now?!”

“Remember why we’re out here, BombMan,” CutMan felt the need to remind him, “Divide and conquer. Keep an eye out for their human counterparts.”

“I’m not worried,” BombMan raised a leg up and brought his heel on a station wagon’s hood, “They’re nothing next to us!”

“Care to test that claim?” Chaud questioned, appearing before the two with Mayl in their Cross Fusion forms. As he drew his sword, Mayl spawned our longbow buster.

“Just in time,” BombMan chuckled, summoning bombs on the ground. “Let’s have fun before we have to go to SciLab.”

[BGM: Times Square Off B (Action), Lego Marvel Super Heroes]

“Roll Arrow!” Mayl fired our heart-tipped arrows at CutMan, who knocked them away with his big scissors, responding by throwing them in another direction.

“Cut Boomerang!” His attack unfortunately started to spiral all around us, cutting street lights down while trying to get us!

Mayl dashed for CutMan, but he wasn’t defenseless. He blocked the punches and kicks that she threw, catching her foot and holding her out for his boomerang to fly into her. “Roll Flash!” Thinking fast, she had our antennae strike the WWW Navi in his big eyes, making him let go as we narrowly went to the right. The scissors automatically went back on top of his head.

“That wasn’t nice!” he seethed, covering his eyes with his left hand and turning his right arm into a sword.

“Cope,” my friend barked as her hands morphed into an Aqua Blade and a Zap Ring buster with two white oblong ends, sparkling with electricity. She proceeded to fire the electric ring at him.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!” BombMan repeatedly punched at C.F. ProtoMan, who deflected all of his strikes with his sword and shield.

“Wide Sword!” He took his shot, swiping from left to right, but the Mohawk Navi caught it with one hand.

“This is it?” He broke the sword by crushing it with his hand and delivered a field goal kick into Chaud’s stomach, forcing him to hit the trunk of a passenger car. “The leader cautioned me about you, but this is your best? How boring.”

“You haven’t seen anything yet…” Chaud whispered, giving his body time to adjust to that blow. His sword reformed itself, right as three bombs started flying at him. He got up and sliced them in half, releasing a Sonic Boom at BombMan soon after.

“He’s taunting us,” ProtoMan noted as BombMan yawned, letting a gray Dominerd with black hair take the hit for him. “I recommend we force him into complacency.”

“He won’t stop there,” Chaud observed, having little time to avoid the counterattack.

“AHH!” Mayl screeched, feeling CutMan’s sword run along her back. She even got kicked by him.

“You’re no threat to us WWW Navis,” He confidently marched towards her, “Give up.”

“Don’t listen to him!” I encouraged Mayl, “Even with his moves, he has to fight dirty to win!”

“I know…” she acknowledged me, “I’m just worried about what’s going to happen to SciLab if we don’t get there in time. We have to end this, quick!”

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[BGM: Times Square Off A (Action), Lego Marvel Super Heroes]

Over at SciLab, Lan was skating on the sidewalk around the building, looking for another way inside. “Dad!” He tried calling out to them through the PET, but this time, there wasn’t any reply. “Dex! Ripley! Anyone?!”

“We need to break in now!” MegaMan advised, “Insert the Synchro Chip!”

“Even if we do that, how can we get in?” Lan wondered, “What if the vents are locked up?”

Suddenly, the doors broke open, flying off their hinges! With his thoughts dissipated, Lan got out of the way before they could fall on him. The entrance stairs were covered in a gold-yellow substance that began moving like a slinky, meeting up with an oddly tall figure in yellow.

It was about nine feet tall, possessing a muscular body like an athlete or bodybuilder. Its fingers were rectangular and blocky, its feet were leaving gold-yellow puddles of its structure on the ground, and the muscles around the neck looked incredibly thick. It had an oval-shaped head with a rectangular chin and only one eye, a yellow eye with a red outline and black sclera in place of the typical white.

“BUMOOOOOOOO!!!” Whatever it was, it made a deep bass sound effect, running off with the yellow ooze attracted to his feet.

“What the heck was that?!” Mega exclaimed, “I heard it, but what is it?!”

“A yellow monster?!” Lan was in awe for a moment, “Where did WWW get that thing?!” He saw someone familiar inside the lobby. It was a man draping a light blue trench coat over his shoulder. “Redd?!” he called out, removing his skates and getting inside to reach him. That was when he finally saw his long and bushy red hair and goatee.

“Yeah, you’re seeing red, kid,” The man smirked at him, tipping the hat up like he was in a 195X noir show. “And lots of yellow.”

“Mr. Match…” Lan cracked his knuckles with a growl, “We meet again.”

“Face to face,” Match added, tossing the hat and coat on the floor. “I love a good disguise, but blue’s more your style, if you know what I’m saying.”

“Whatever the heck that yellow thing is, call it off!” the brown-haired boy demanded, “You don’t need to turn it loose on innocent people!”

“The Yellow Devil isn’t doing anything unpleasant, Lan. If people get in the way, they get swatted. Speaking of swatting, I’ve got time for us until it takes the Fire Program.”

“You want a fight?”

“Pretty much,” Match nodded, “But let me see your reflexes in real time first!” Soon after, he ran at Lan, aiming his fist at his face. Lan ducked at the right moment, swinging back in kind, only to miss.

“That’s how it’s gonna be, huh?”

“It’s how I want it to be,” Match threw another punch at Lan, who turned his body to the right, then backed up a few times as the red-haired man tried to break his jaw. “I need the warm-up!”

There was a calm aura about Lan, who kept his fists raised to block his opponent’s strikes, but he didn’t deliver any hit of his own. He was more focused on studying him, recognizing how strong the man was by peering into his eyes.

“Lan, stop backing up!” Mega yelled, “Hit him!!”

“Dex told me what you and Fire Man did,” his operator pointed out, dodging a haymaker punch. “You even scolded StoneMan for getting a man paralyzed. But why fight me after all that?”

“It’s for a better world, mostly!” Match replied with words and a leg sweep that failed to catch the teenager, “But I also want to test my power against an inspiration! You!”

“A better world?!” Lan questioned, taking his jacket off. “How can you do that when your accomplices are causing terror?!”

“It’s a means to an end!” He charged and tackled him to the ground, “Through terror and destruction of the world, we’ll build a new one! An immortal world for immortal people!”

Lan used both of his feet to kick Match off of him, quickly getting up.

“You sound insane!” He couldn’t understand what he was talking about.

“Trust me, you’ll see in the end,” Match clenched his fist while on one knee, reaching for his PET on a holster. “This power has so much potential beyond just helping others.”

A red flash of light resembling flames covered him and littered the ground he stood on, beginning to change.

“Also, my Synchro Chip is permanently molded with my PET,” He smirked as his transformation began, “Fire Man and I can do this at will now! So, come on, kid!!”

“Have it your way,” Lan slipped the special chip in his PET, “Tell me all about your world. Only if you win, that is…”

“Finally,” Mega felt the change inside the PET, watching the space darken and enclose around him. A white circle glowed under his feet, with small screens of visual and technical information appearing before his eyes. “We stop them here, we stop them cold.”

Inside the main computer room, the Yellow Devil allowed a memory card to rise out of its index finger, sliding it into a slot. In the computer, viruses were unleashed, directed to search for the Fire Program, wherever it was.

The other door opened up, with Dex, Dr. Hikari, and Dr. Cossack coming out. They managed to unlock the door that trapped them in Mission Control only for the Yellow Devil to rotate its head.

“BUMOOOO!!!” It elongated its arms at them, splattering them against the floor as they screamed!

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[BGM: Cinq Ville - C`est Notre Espoir, Mega Man ZX Tunes]

On a bustling highway in the center of town, several cars were trying to get off of it as quickly as possible. The fight Mayl and I had with the scissor-wielding maniac took us right to that point, involving lots of thrown scissors and disconnected light posts and traffic lights.

“Try my supersized Cut Boomerang!” CutMan shouted, producing a larger variant of his attack and tossing it at us.

“Get ready!” I told Mayl, directing her for when to jump over it. “Jump!”

“Hah!!” Mayl did so, firing back with a Roll Arrow. It didn’t do much to him, but we both hoped he lost some chips from that.

“Alright, girls,” Judging from the angered tone in his voice, we must’ve ticked him off. He had three Mettaur 2 viruses materialize to box us in.

I activated the ProtoMan Navi chip on Mayl’s behalf, swiftly deleting the viruses. But since our opponent hid behind a car, he was spared from the red copy. “We have to get him out in the open!” Mayl ran around the cars, outrunning more flying shears. She managed to get behind him, but he expected us.

“Nice try!” CutMan threw a kick from his side, then followed up with a high kick, a low kick, and even spun on one foot while holding his left leg out. We were forced to back off, especially when he did that boomerang attack again. Mayl slid under a red car, needing time to come up with another plan of attack.

“I have a plan, but you need to time it right so it can work!” I selected the chips for her with a strategy in mind. She said nothing, trusting me on this.

“Come on!” Mayl came out from her hiding spot, manipulating her antennae to try and whip him again. It got part of his leg when he leapt backwards. He charged at us, performing a handstand and wildly swinging his legs around, but we dodged him again with our speed, reappearing behind CutMan. “Rock Cube and Air Shot!” Mayl created the stone cube and blasted it with a small burst of air, causing it to crash into CutMan for great damage. Those chips were situational at best, but they worked well in this case.

“We have him on the ropes!” Checking his numbers, I learned we needed something to deal 160 points of damage to end this fight. However, what we had would only miss.

“Need more time?” Mayl briefly questioned, knowing the answer to that. “No problem.”

With a frustrated shout, CutMan unleashed more Cut Boomerangs from his body, letting them fly all around the highway! Mayl did what she could to avoid them, but we got caught in a tornado created by CutMan, who also used Step Sword on us.

“AGH!!” We simultaneously cried in pain.

“Now then, let’s finish this once and for all!” CutMan yelled, summoning a black Cloudy 3 virus with a white and purple umbrella. He watched it direct rain from a smaller cloud it produced as he hung on to the underside. I started to regret sacrificing those Zap Ring chips until we saw him swinging under the virus.

“Here!” I swiftly transmitted chip data for her as I notified her, “He’s going to dive kick us.”

And my prediction came true. Luckily, Mayl moved out of the way, letting him tear his leg into a car’s roof. “Long Sword!” My partner swung a blade that marked his right arm, causing pixels to scatter from around that wound.

“YOW!!” he screeched, relentlessly throwing Rolling Cutters as they spawned in.

“Finish it, Mayl!” I called her, but she focused on leading CutMan’s flying scissors over to the virus above her, allowing it to get deleted. Furthermore, she fired buster shots at CutMan to get him off the car.

“Dodge this!” He threw the scissors on his head at us, retreating by jumping over a blue van.

“Ratton 2!” Mayl finally dropped a red mouse that went directly under the van and tracked him down, colliding into him. CutMan started to feel his body fall apart into small squares! Mayl ran over to him so we could make sure the hit was final.

“I’LL BE BAAAACCCCKKK!!” CutMan cried as he left in a spectacular explosion before our eyes. However, we knew this was far from over.

“You waited until he got off the car?” I checked in with her on that split second decision.

“We’re trying to avoid collateral damage, remember?” Mayl reminded me, taking a moment to breathe. “Trying being the operative word.”

“You need to take care of yourself, too,” I recommended to her, being the only one who truly knew her limits. “That concussion hasn’t had time to properly heal.”

“Thanks, Roll,” She reaffirmed with some gratitude, “How’s Chaud doing?” We saw our red coworker taking on his enemy, but he wasn’t performing like usual. BombMan grabbed his leg and yanked him down several times.

“Pathetic!” BombMan tried stomping on him, but he rolled along the street and got as far away as he would allow.

“That was a lucky shot,” Chaud whispered, “Every second he’s in the real world, we risk everyone’s lives.”

“He threw us off with an aggressive charge, pardon the expression,” ProtoMan recounted the beginning of the fight, “But if we keep our distance, we can wear him down with long-ranged attacks. We can destroy his bombs before they detonate.”

“You lamers don’t have a chance,” BombMan uttered, having a green explosive with a sensor appear, making Chaud flee when an explosion travelled straight down to him! “Unlike you, I’m a Navi, and I have so much energy to spare.”

Chaud learned too late that he stepped on a mine, taking damage that put him closer to the danger zone. “How careless!” he berated himself, “I need to anticipate what he’ll do next and stop worrying about the threat he possesses to everyone else!”

A catchy theme from a bomb-lobbing video game rang out in BombMan’s systems, letting him know he was being called. “Yeah, boss?” BombMan quickly replied, “I know CutMan’s been deleted, but I can beat him!”

“I don’t doubt your confidence,” the leader said to him, “Direct your attention to the highway.”

“What do you want me to do?” He looked away from his enemy for a moment.

“Demolish it,” he ordered, “We need to keep eyes away from SciLab for a little longer.”

“As you wish, my lord,” BombMan responded, preparing to chuck a bomb at C.F. ProtoMan. But he quickly turned around to toss it to the top of the highway!!

“Whoa!!” Mayl and I cried, startled by that crazy action and the explosion that followed!

[BGM: Black Burn, Mega Man ZX Tunes]

“Viruses!” BombMan ordered, “Level this highway, then spread out across Den Tech City!!”

“Lord Chaud!” ProtoMan saw the WWW Navi ready to throw another charge, this time at one of the beam bridge’s columns! Fortunately, Chaud calmly intercepted the lit sphere by bashing it with his shield, redirecting it in the air, where it exploded.

“I’m not going to let that happen!” Chaud drew his sword again, standing opposite to the destructive enemy.

“I broke your sword earlier,” BombMan scoffed, “You don’t stand a chance against me!”

“Super Wide Sword!” Chaud ignored him, motioning forward to give the impression he was going to slash at him from up high. However, he jumped away as he positioned his sword horizontally, slicing part of the Navi’s forearms when he crossed them to block it. Next, he stabbed BombMan's right side of his torso.

“Grr!!” BombMan growled, raising his left leg up to kick him, but he evaded it.

“Condor!” Having a Fishy 3 virus summoned, Chaud hopped on his glider and started to spam as many Sonic Booms as he could, forcing the Mohawk Navi to run.

“Mayl, get ready!” I yelled while changing chip folders, “We can’t let them get away with this!”

“I’m not ready to quit being a meddling kid just yet!” Mayl really went there. I’m surprised I remained in sync with her after she made that reference.

*RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!*

Green Satella 2s opened fire above us, pelting the empty cars and highway with shots from their Gatling guns. Mayl hovered above the ground, outmaneuvering the aerial raid, and returned fire with two Hurricane chips. They pierced two of the viruses, but they sadly weren’t enough. “Double Thunder 3!!” Two thunder balls were sent against them, deleting those two for good. But what I hated about this was that four more Satellas took their place. “Hyper Bomb advance, now!!” Mayl cried, twirling away from more gunfire.

Chaud wasn’t doing much better, slicing apart more bombs to keep the highway from collapsing on top of the panicking civilians. “You shouldn’t fly in a surface-to-air Navi’s presence!” BombMan brought his knuckles together as his forearms became gold. He used the two Gold Fist chips to let out eighteen flying fists in the sky, causing more problems for Chaud. He flew his glider in a zigzag pattern to stay airborne, which worked well for him. He flew close to the ground with a Bamboo Sword, turning around to clothesline the WWW Navi.

“Iron Body!!” Except BombMan wasn’t as stupid as he was evil. The wooden edge didn’t do anything to him since his body was now encased in digital iron.

“Sensor 1!” Chaud had an easy remedy, summoning a Killer Eye virus that was a light blue eye surrounded by yellow lines with a black body, containing small tubular arms and lightning bolt ears. One look at BombMan, and it swiftly fired a yellow beam that pierced his body, ending his rock-hard transformation.

“Step Cross!” With him stunned, Chaud easily made a crossing slash on him, doing more damage than normal. He backed off on his ride once BombMan stood up.

“Chaud, behind you!” ProtoMan told him, but Mayl’s fight with the highway viruses kept him from hearing the sound of a flying cannonball, which blindsided him as it exploded into fire!

“AGH!!” He felt lava scald his costume, landing on the pavement. He soon got out of the way of a red Fishy 2 that charged at him, carrying the gold-colored Hardhead variant, HotHead, the culprit that blasted him. The Fishy 2 circled around as the virus it carried opened up to fire again, but he deleted them both by jumping alongside them with an Aqua Sword at the right moment. As that happened, the Condor flew into BombMan and knocked him over, at the cost of wearing itself down.

“A luck of the draw, that’s all this was,” The stocky Navi refused to accept Chaud as a worthy foe, spawning more bombs to kick.

Chaud played along, cutting apart one that flew at him. He also ran his sword into another one that landed close to a building. The third bomb landed to the right of a bridge’s column, and it was ready to explode. Thinking quickly, Chaud jumped in front of the column and brought out his shield, jamming it sideways in the ground, protecting himself and the column from the shockwave of the blast.

“Super Vulcan!!” BombMan kept him pinned down with a golden Gatling gun with a red base.

“Lord Chaud, an Anti-Chip is in play!” ProtoMan stated.

“Switch to the spare folder!” Chaud ordered, “I have three chips I want you to select!” ProtoMan did as he was told, swiftly retrieving the chips they needed.

“Bomb Shoot!” As Chaud anticipated, BombMan was ready to kick more bombs at him, unaware that he was already defeated.

“Heat-V!!” Chaud created a heat buster on his arm, firing a burning shot that blew up in a V-pattern at the bomb as it was kicked, detonating it prematurely.

“AAAAHHHHH!!!” BombMan screamed, caught in the blast. Chaud moved close to him, having entered Full Synchro with that attack. “YAH!!!” The WWW Navi furiously punched down on him, only to have felt his hand strike a plushie-like version of ProtoMan instead. He found himself struck by three throwing stars from afar by Chaud!

Landing on the street, Chaud unleashed his final attack, Red Wave, which flung lava forward at BombMan, who subconsciously brought more of his bombs with him!

“Oh no!!” BombMan attempted to use another defensive chip, but once the digital lava came down upon him, it wouldn’t have mattered. He was in the middle of his own explosion again, and this time, it knocked him out!

“Navi incapacitated,” Chaud muttered in exhaustion, “Great operating, ProtoMan.”

“All due respect, this was all you, sir,” ProtoMan politely avoided taking credit for this win.

“Mayl, I need you down here now,” Chaud wasted no time to make demands, like usual. At least there was a reason behind this.

“There’s so many viruses up here!” Mayl levitated down to his level, “They’re starting to bring in more firepower!”

“I need you to gain access to his memory logs,” C.F. ProtoMan pointed at the downed Navi, “He might have information on the Dimensional Generator hidden somewhere in Den Tech.”

“Got it,” My friend followed the logic there, “We could also get information on WWW’s secret base from him. Roll?” Mayl had our antennae attached to BombMan’s head, peering in to claim as much data as we could from him.

“The last chip data active was Anti Sword,” I stated.

“It was a good call to use different chips on him, Lord Chaud,” ProtoMan said.

“This was because I observed how he fought offensively and defensively,” his operator responded, “I simply used that knowledge to counter his strategies and use his own attacks against him.”

Just like detonating his bombs before he could use them. I didn’t tell him, being focused on helping Mayl, but that was really smart.

“Hey, there’s some voice data on here,” Mayl noticed, “Someone was instructing him.”

“But he’s a solo Navi,” I added, “Maybe it was the WWW leader, Noble.”

“For now, focus on the location of the generator,” Chaud spoke without missing a beat, “We can stop the viruses and confiscate the generator.”

“The generator is at…” Mayl trailed off before gasping in disbelief, “ACDC Elementary School?!”

“We used to go there!” I exclaimed, “How did it get put there?!”

“Doesn’t matter, we’re rolling out!!” My operator took off with a sudden burst of energy, leaving Chaud with the unintentional pun.

“It won’t matter…” BombMan regained consciousness, moving his eyes around. “WWW will win in the end! It has been winning so far.”

“Be quiet, perp,” ProtoMan mouthed off at him, “You’re in no position to talk. You lost this fight.”

“So?” the Mohawk Navi said with a cough, “I’m still getting away with it… And I’ll be back to take pride in my work.” Suddenly, BombMan’s eyes started to glow red, and his body started to burst into pixels!

“What are you doing?!” Chaud shouted.

The WWW Navi laughed, “Ha-ha! Why do you think I’m called BombMan?! I’m a walking bomb! Once I blow up, a good chunk of this town will crumble! Think of the buildings that will fall to pieces!!”

“Monster!” Chaud drew his sword again, but he was unsure what to do without ProtoMan’s guidance.

“Being a Navi is so much better than being human!” BombMan continued to taunt him, “We don’t need to be kept down by morals or be ashamed of who we are! If we want to do something, we can do it, and we don’t have to hide from so-called consequences!”

“You’ll only delete yourself, you fool!”                                  

“It’s only temporary! WWW gave me the ability to respawn even if I’m destroyed! I’ll be back! But you won’t be!”

“Chaud, focus,” ProtoMan calmly told him, “He’s still the overconfident Navi we defeated. His detonation signal is in him. Concentrate.”

Chaud did just that, entering a stance with a bent knee. In his visor, a cursor searched for the signal coming from BombMan. After a few seconds of looking, the cursor homed in on one point. “YAH!!” With a sharp, forceful shout, Chaud made a swing with his sword, cutting off BombMan’s Mohawk. This didn’t cancel out his self-destruct sequence, but it dramatically decreased the effectiveness of the shock wave he wanted to generate.

“N-No!!” he yelled, realizing what he brought on himself. “My blast! It was going to be beautiful!”

“How fitting, you’ve been hoisted with your own petard,” Chaud cracked as he waxed a line from a Shakespeare play, which literally meant being blown up by one’s own bomb.

“AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!” And as BombMan blew up in typical fashion, his pixels scattered all around like a dust cloud until he disappeared.

“We did it,” Chaud mumbled, “But SciLab is still in danger, as is the highway.”

“Chaud!” Mayl’s voice rang in his ears, “I’m getting close to my school! Once I shut the generator down, get to SciLab immediately! Lan and Dex can’t handle WWW alone!”

“I’ll do just that!” he answered, keeping his sense of urgency with him. “I’ll also try to call Mr. Famous again! I hope nothing bad happened to him!”

Mayl and I both knew that as capable as Lan was in this scenario, there’s no way he can last against all of WWW’s members, and that was me assuming they were all gonna be there. We had to hope he and Dex could hold them off, but miracles don’t always happen when you need one.

That didn’t stop me from hoping, personally. But a terrible event was going to happen the second we arrived, and I would be afraid for Lan and MegaMan’s lives more than ever.

01010000 01000001 01001001 01001110
 01000001 01001000 01000101 01000001 01000100

Somewhere close to SciLab, inside a vehicle’s computer…

“Get up, BombMan!” the booming voice of StoneMan yelled, “We’re on!”

“Grr…” BombMan growled, “Did I get deleted?”

“You’ll remember soon,” CutMan uttered, probably bitter about losing to a couple of girls. “But the leader wants us in SciLab right now. The blue complication’s inside.”

The three solo Navis found themselves jacking out of the computer and into a row of three Copy Bots neatly lined up in a green car’s backseat. Once they started up, they got out one at a time, walking to the middle of the street. They started up the generators in the robots soon after, allowing their bodies to appear in the real world.

“HAAAAHHHH!!!” StoneMan roared, dropping his weighted arms on the road, cracking it apart!

“Good, let it all out!” Count Zap suddenly appeared out of the blue, flying above the other WWW Navis as C.F. ElecMan! “Let’s go ahead and show the world our might!”

“Don’t forget why we’re all here,” Yahoot, or rather, C.F. MagicMan reminded them, holding his hands in a praying position.

“We’ll get it done,” C.F. ColorWoman yawned at him, standing on her elongated hands to smirk at the SciLab entrance, which had flames shooting out from the doors. “As long as that brat gets his! Hee-hee-hee-hee!!”

CHAPTER 27 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Ripley Marduk © HatOnFire/Me

01001100 01000001 01001110

Anyone in the same shoes as MegaMan or I would’ve had the foresight to make a last will, but not me. Even after having my life in danger, this idea that I could die never really stuck with me. Or maybe it’s that I wouldn’t let myself think about it. I couldn’t mull over it, not with Mr. Match, or rather, C.F. FireMan right in front of me, goading me to attack him. He looked identical to his Navi, with certain exceptions that made him look like his Navi on steroids!

His boots were gray with a blue front and blue soles, only there were three rectangular gaps at the blue front of the boots, as well as one gap at each of his heels, allowing small-scale flames to erupt from them. His legs and abdomen were red, a gray belt went around his waist, and his chest plate armor was just like FireMan’s torso, red underneath and gray above. His Navi’s emblem design and position remained unchanged, to say the least. His back had a vent that couldn’t be seen due to his blazing plume of hair, colored as a fiery yellow. Red rectangular pauldrons concealed his shoulders as gray plates partially covered the top and sides of the guards, just like with FireMan’s shoulders. Match’s biceps were red, and two gray cannons covered his forearms, having blue flame patterns wrapped close to the cannons’ bases. The nozzles were golden with oblong gaps, like usual. However, Match’s red hands stuck out of the cannons, and they looked like a knight’s gloves.  

His head strongly resembled a red skull, with black outlines overlapping his orange sclera, vaguely resembling a skull’s orbits. His white-colored eyes had thin irises like a cat. A gray and black shape behind his skull, which looked like a rocket’s nozzle, was how his ponytail ignited. Under his grinning mouth was a gray prism protecting his goatee, and the lower area of his skull was protected by neck armor that resembled a torch, connecting to his gray armor and letting fire stream around his head. It also created a heat shield that could withstand some degree of EM energy.

To me, his transformation signaled that he was going to be my hardest foe yet, and I hadn’t even met Yahoot yet.

[BGM: Exploratory Laboratory A (Middle Action), Lego Marvel Super Heroes]

“Take this!!” I answered him with the Mega Buster, reaching the max charge level. All it did was negate the heat shield protecting him.

“Fire Arm!!” With only one hand extended, fire blasted out from around his wrist, and it would’ve cooked me if I hadn’t dodged it.

“Whoa!!”

“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!” Match laughed, “This is great! I’m using energy to exactly mimic the sensation of fire!”

“Great, you’re a microwave oven!!” I snapped at him, “Just stop this or you’ll bring the building down on everyone!”

“That’s not possible, Lan,” MegaMan said, “His fire is like noise pollution, but he can still leave burn marks everywhere. He’ll also cause electrical fires if he applies his powers to technological devices.”

“Thanks for making me feel better, Mega!!” I yelled at my brother next, avoiding another wave of fire by circling the hothead. “It feels just like the first time we fought FireMan!”

“Flame Circle!” Match created a blaze that started to follow me in a spiral, making me eat my words. I stayed right in the middle to save myself, but he was getting ready to burn me again.

“Double Bubbler!” MegaMan selected a pair of Aqua chips, granting me two Aqua Busters to shoot bubble shots through the inferno, decreasing Match’s hit points by a good deal. The shots even snuffed out his fire, except for his blazing hair.

“Heh-heh-heh-heh…” he chuckled, “You’re naïve if you think that will stop me…”

I went right in, throwing three punches at him. He took the first two to the torch covering, but caught the third one with his hand, pulling me in so he could kick me in my abdomen. “UGH!” I grunted, trying to pull myself out of his grip.

“RAAAAAAAGH!!” With an energized shout, he reignited his flames, manipulating some to envelop his fist as he thumped my face with it twice. I managed to catch his forearm and yank it away for a second, quickly jumping to wrap my legs around his right thigh. I started to pull myself to the floor with a backflip, bringing him down headfirst, rattling him.

“PHEW!” I only exhaled for a moment, but…

“Flame Body!” I got blasted into a wall because C.F. FireMan used his flames to combust, unleashing a shock wave of his own.

The yellow creature I saw came back out of the main computer room, moving down the stairs in a puddle of its own substance, reshaping into a muscular athlete when it got close to me. It started to create an enlarged mallet with one of its hands. “Bumooooo…!” It softly echoed, almost communicating me in a taunt.

“No!” C.F. FireMan shot fire at it to force it away from me, making him lose control over his hammer. “He’s mine!” The shapeshifting machine retaliated with an enlarged fist, smacking the WWW agent away.

“Lan, Cyclops doesn’t seem to respond well to Match’s fire!” MegaMan noticed the way it reacted with the secret camera.

“It’s a robot, huh?” I took cover behind a computer terminal ripped off from its place across the room. I used the time to remember what my partner said about the energy C.F. FireMan produced in our battle. “And Match’s power destroys tech with his energy, right? What can our chip attacks do?”

“We’ve never tried anything yet,” Mega pointed out, “But if the robot has a brain-computer interface…”

“Hey, if it was sent here,” I realized an important factor, “then does it have the Fire Program?” The robot in the yellow substance turned to me, honing its red light on me like a laser pointer.

“We’ve got to get it back from this thing!” Mega stated the obvious, and I got into a fighting position again. “Battle routine, set!!”

“Execute!” I replied, “Whatever it takes to end WWW’s plans!!”

[BGM: Dance-Macabre, Mega Man ZX Tunes]

“BUMOOOO!!” It split apart its arms to turn into twelve fluttering limbs with arrowheads, coming together in one motion to try and stab us!!

I jumped to the left, just when the solidified yellow rods made several cracks in the walls. “I don’t like where this is going!!” I joked, if only to take my mind off how close they were to my head.

“Try to keep it busy!” Mega advised me, “I don’t know if our chips will do anything, but I’ll see what I can give you!”

I blasted at the robot, but the Mega Buster didn’t have much effect on the body. The shots just made the robot’s yellow mass splatter on the floor. Its blank face pretty much said how unimpressed it was, swiftly moving towards me to strike with spikes at the end of its knuckles. I dodged it, ready with some chips to use against it. “Fire Sword!” My right hand created a hilt for the scorching blade, and I immediately swiped across its neck, making the blade rush right through it. The robot’s goo quickly reconnected, but the sword clearly broke apart after the attack.

“Huh?!” I glanced at the shattered base of the sword, jumping over the robot when it threw another punch at me. “How about Heater?!” Once I landed and got distant, I morphed my hand into a Heat Buster, launching a fiery spread shot at this thing. The robot inflated and absorbed the blast, causing it to blow up in a swarm of yellow! “Yeah!” I cheered too soon, since this robot’s yellow stuff returned to this yellow sphere the size of a beach ball. “Shoot!”

“I guess only Match’s flames can harm this beast,” MegaMan thought, “but we have Aqua chips!”

“Aqua Tower!!” Taking a page from Roll, I summoned a traveling stream of water that drenched the robot. Even though it solidified itself, it must’ve been tricked into thinking it was real water, because it started to go down into a puddle.

“Lan, I see something!” my partner chimed in, catching a small black shape that stood out to him. “It’s a drive!”

“The Fire Program!” I shouted out loud, causing the monster to realize what it was doing, reconstituting itself and absorbing the drive into its body again!

“BUMO!” It stood on one leg and twirled with the other leg really stretching out, trying to knock me down. So, I used the wall to leap off it to avoid the attack, trying to get over the thing’s head again. “BUMO BUMO!” The robot shifted its mass from its back to create a rising palm that clobbered me in the face midair! It also used its left hand to grab my leg and slam my back into the ground and wall a few times, until it tossed me across the room, making me hit the reception desk. It shapeshifted again, creating a large fork from its stomach and thrusting it forward! But I wasn’t done yet!

“YAH!” I rolled out of the way, aiming with my buster, and firing a Bubbler right in its only eye!

“BUUUMOOOOOO!!!” the robot cried out, seemingly blinded by my shot.

“Go!” MegaMan beckoned and I answered with an Elec Blade he gave me, trying to skewer the robot’s eye. It missed its mark, but the electricity coursed through the eye, putting it in a scramble to retreat, releasing the drive in the process!

“If anyone asks, say nobody did it!” I cracked another joke, taken straight from the Odyssey. I was having too much fun fighting this thing, even after it tried to kill me.

“R codes are the best,” MegaMan enjoyed the fight a little, too.

“Got it!” I smirked with the face plate down, holding the drive in my hand. Conveniently, there was a hidden slot on my chest, which allowed me to download the contents of the drive into the PET, which was part of the armor.

“Give it to me!!” C.F. FireMan suddenly shouted, running up to me and going off in his assault!

I slapped his fists away and sidestepped his kicks, blasting his face with a charged shot and punching his gut twice before literally kicking him in his butt. “Roll V3!!” I brought in a copy of Roll, who smacked Match around with her antennae and healed me. To finish this, I used Dyna Wave, the last chip in the combo, with a pickaxe that made a piercing wave that kept my enemy on his knees.

“AGH!!” he grunted, staying on all fours and catching his breath. “I forgot you spent your time on the street… Of course you’d attack someone who’s already down…”

“Cope with my style,” I responded, “and know that you’ve just lost. The Fire Program is out of your reach.”

“We might have something to say about that,” a calm and sensible voice interjected, leading me to look in that direction. It was all of the WWW Navis and agents MegaMan and I faced, except for the blue magician with the eyes on his shoulders and hat.

“We’re here!” C.F. ColorWoman gleefully sang, showing her claws and baring her teeth in a menacing manner.

“Did you forget about us, little boys?!” StoneMan bellowed, “I didn’t!!”

“Everyone in WWW is here?!” I gasped.

“Except for Noble,” MegaMan stated, “Yahoot’s Navi is MagicMan, so this must be him in Cross Fusion.”

“Nice to meet you at last, MegaMan,” MagicMan’s voice resonated from his operator’s being, “If only through your counterpart?”

“They must be the ones who attacked us with Zap the other day…!” I whispered to myself, wearing my frown. I was even more troubled since the right-hand man knew MegaMan and my brother were the same.

“We know how to provide shock value,” C.F. ElecMan chuckled, “I mean, look at us! Me, especially!”

“What are you freaks doing here?!” Match scowled, “I’m handling Lan here!!”

“You were handling him yourself,” C.F. MagicMan corrected Match like he was talking to a child, “but this is taking too long.”

“So here we all are!” CutMan threw his arms out in a gesture, “Ready and willing to finish the mission!”

“Just as long as we make this twerp melt down!” BombMan added, “I want to stick it to his friends!”

“I see the Fire Program’s in you, kid,” Zap’s yellow lightning flickered in his hands and from his four arresters, “How do you want us to extract it? Painfully or agonizingly?”

“Great…” Hub muttered, “What do we do, Lan?”

“Tag, everyone’s it!!” I took my cue to get the heck out of there, running at Maddy.

[BGM: Gauntlet, Mega Man ZX Tunes]

“HAH!!” She brought her claws forward, and I jumped over them, running on top of her long arms and leaping off of her face with enough force to get me out of the building! And to send her to the floor.

“After him, you fools!!” Match shouted, propelling himself his flamethrowers as Zap and Yahoot flew alongside the ground. CutMan’s blades on his head morphed to act like helicopter blades, assisting him in taking flight.

“I’ll have that little punk’s body mangled!!” Maddy furiously declared, slamming her hands on the ground like feet to chase after her group.

“Lan, we don’t have the energy to fight all of them!” Hub yelled at me, “Try and spread them out!”

“Right now, I want to get them as far from Dad and Dex as possible!” I said, stopping short of the entrance when another Dimensional Area popped up, trapping me in the area with WWW after me. “Oh, cripes!! Why?!”

“The signal’s coming from inside SciLab…” my partner told me, “WWW must’ve turned on a spare generator.”

“Famous, how many of these things did you make?!” I seethed, taking note of what was behind me.

“Now I got you!” C.F. FireMan dropped down on the sidewalk with C.F. ElecMan flying above, shooting their elemental attacks at me in unison!

I evaded the blasts and ran right at them as C.F. MagicMan sent his orbs to unleash blue flames. “Gotcha!” I caught Zap by his leg and pulled him down, using his body as a shield against the flames from Yahoot and Match.

“AAAAHHHHHH!!!” he screamed in pain, muttering when I kicked him to the ground. “Ow.”

“Idiots, both of you,” Yahoot made white, blue, and black Cloudy viruses materialize to create several clouds that dispensed deadly raindrops. I must’ve been crazy to run right under those clouds, and I would be if I didn’t have an Invis 3 chip.

“Hey, where are you?!” Match called me out, and I shoved him as I got close, right into the path of the rain. “GRRRR!!”

“Invisible chips can negate virus damage to you,” Yahoot stated with his arms extended and orbs hovering behind him, dispensing his ghostly flames in three directions. “But I can see where you are when my flames pass around you!”

He’d be right, except I already ran back to the SciLab building by then. I stood still as C.F. ColorWoman and CutMan zoomed past me, then dashed up the stairs to the entrance where StoneMan and BombMan were waiting. With my invisibility wearing off, I acted quickly by shooting StoneMan’s head.

“AAAGGGHHH!!!” the gray tinted Navi cried out, “Human gnats!”

“There!” BombMan had a bomb materialize at his right foot and kicked it, “Now go BOOM!!” I destroyed the bomb with a charged shot before it reached me, darting to the left when he tried using a Super Vulcan on me. 

“Try these,” MegaMan suggested, granting me a Program Advance, complete with flashing letters.

< PROGRAM ADVANCE >
Guts Punch B
Cold Punch B
Dash Attack B
Attack+10

“It worked last time,” I mumbled, “Might as well.”

< PROGRAM ADVANCE >
Machine Gun Punch
Attack+10

“Take this!” I unleashed six rocket fists at StoneMan, but he disappeared, leaving a black hole in the ground.

“FRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!” But I did catch BombMan by surprise, laying into him.

“Fall!!” StoneMan rose up from the hole with his arms having turned into totems, spitting lasers out from their mouths. I dove for the floor, riling him up by chipping away his hit points with the buster. Quickly getting up, I jumped over another volley of lasers and got on top of his body, stomping on his head and blasting part of his back off.

“HAH!!” BombMan kicked another explosive at me in a stupid move, so I jumped off of the rock golem to let him fend for himself. 

“RAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!!” It would be an understatement to say he didn’t like that.

“Out of the blast zone, you idiot!!” The Mohawk Navi even had the gall to insult him and throw another bomb! I didn’t even bother thinking about this one, leaping with my back turned to him to make a bicycle kick, returning it to him! “NOOOOOO!!!” he screamed as his attack backfired, sending him flying a good distance from the building.

“Let’s try and get the emergency system running again!” Mega suggested while I tried to get inside, but the yellow robot shot up in a liquid-like spurt in front of me, reverting to its athletic shape.

“BUMOOOO!!” it bellowed, having its hands morph into spinning blades, blocking me off from getting inside.

“Color Crossroads!” C.F. ColorWoman summoned Fire and Aqua Towers in a diagonal pattern that attempted to intersect with me in the middle, only I leapt back to dodge them. I also tilted to the left side, letting CutMan’s boomerang soar past me and come right back to him.

“Lightning Blaze!!” C.F. ElecMan made lighting fall on the area around me, boxing me in as all of WWW surrounded me!

“You can’t escape now, boy,” Yahoot raised his voice with his clasped hands, standing on Maddy and Zap’s right. “Like a bird in a gilded cage, you are trapped.”

“And hunting season is early this year!” Zap chuckled, holding a finger up to generate some electricity.

“Well, crud,” I sighed, “Any ideas, MegaMan?”

“You’re the MegaMan right now,” Hub said, “You were making all the decisions!”

“I made it up as I was going,” I told him, “You’re supposed to be the smart one!”

“How about you two act like a team and give us the Fire Program?” Match interrupted us, “It was a great fight you put up, but the boss is getting impatient.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said to him, “You have a schedule to keep? I didn’t know.”

“We can pry the data out of your PET if we must,” Yahoot asserted, “Ms. Madd?”

“Fu-fu-fu-fu-fu…” She scraped the sidewalk with her claws in anticipation, “Struggle, kid. Make me enjoy this…!”

“It won’t work,” MegaMan revealed, “The Fire Program isn’t in the PET, it’s in me.”

“What are you doing?” I questioned him.

“And if you dare to delete me, you lose the program,” he added, “If you harm Lan or my friends and family again, I’ll delete the program.”

“Hardcore,” Maddy ground her teeth together, “but annoying.”

01001101 01001101 01000010 01001110

“Uhh…” Dex stirred awake with Dad attempting to awaken the other man on the floor.

“Cossack,” He lightly slapped his face, getting a reaction from him.

“W-What?!” The blond man with the beard blinked, getting his glasses returned to him. “Yuichiro?”

“We were knocked unconscious,” Dad explained.

“No, that thing tried to suffocate us,” Dex corrected, “We just passed out.”

“Dex, MegaMan gave me a message,” GutsMan raised his voice, “It said backup lockdown switch. What’s that mean?”

“He wants us to lock SciLab down again?” Cossack stated the intention of the message, “Why?

Dex approached the door, which opened up via a motion sensor. Looking at the lobby, he could see a good deal of destruction, along with the yellow figure at the entrance door. “Uh oh,” He also saw some members of the WWW right there, getting back in the room. “Dr. Hikari! WWW’s at the door with Lan! I need a Synchro Chip!”

“But the reserves aren’t finished yet!” Dad pointed out.

“Dr. Hikari!” Ripley came out from the entrance of Mission Control, “We heard screaming, but we got locked in again!”

“Our Dimensional Area Generator started up,” Mr. Famous informed them, “We couldn’t shut it off from here!”

“We need to lock the outside down again,” Dr. Cossack suggested, “We have to risk WWW beating down your sons.” Dad hustled to the door with worry, seeing the entrance…

01010000 01000001 01001001 01001110
 01010010 01000101 01010100 01010101 01010010 01001110 01010011

“Stupidly brave or bravely stupid?” Match shook his head, “I know you two are willing to put yourselves at risk, but you can’t take all of us on.”

“We’ll just have to force you to give the program up,” Yahoot said to me and Hub, “I wonder if you really will delete the program at Lan’s expense?”

“You don’t scare me,” I defied Yahoot, suddenly finding my arms restrained by the yellow robot’s big hands.

“BUUUUUMOOOOOOOOO!!!!” the yellow machine roared the loudest it did, almost like the bass dropped to the nth degree. The noise shook up everyone in the beast’s presence, even the Navis that were fused with their operators were severely affected.

“RRRGGGHHH!!!” I grit my teeth in annoyance, trying to cover my ears in my helmet’s emblems. But the robot kept my arms apart! “RRRRAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!”

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!” Hub yelled, reeling from the noise, holding himself together. His body was flickering like static, turning transparent for a few seconds!

The sound ended, fortunately, and so did the robot’s hold on me. It proceeded to make its foot bigger and stomp on me when I turned to face it! “AH!” I cried out, finding myself under the heel of the robot that began crushing me! “Get off!!”

“BUMO BUMOOOO!” The robot applied more weight, making its leg more solid.

“I said get off!!!” I screamed, raising my arms up to push back as hard as I could. “HRRRRRRGGGGG!!” The concrete tiles beneath me were somehow cracking under me, and I was reaching the limits of the strength Cross Fusion gave me. “OFF!” I yelled with closed eyes, finding myself on one knee. “GET OFF!!”

“We can do it!!” Hub joined in, perfectly syncing up with me from his digital position. “Lift!”

“Unbelievable…” Match muttered in awe, watching me finally stand on my own two legs. Everyone else was impressed watching me, too.

I know I never applied this much strength to anything before. This was the first time I’ve ever lifted something heavier than a car! “AAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!” I made a final push, getting the giant foot off me and toppling the shapeshifting robot in one go! My heart was pounding the hardest and fastest it could’ve at the time. I was on an adrenaline rush, even though my arms were sore after what I did. I turned to the WWW with slumped shoulders, exposing my face and baring my teeth. I was filled with new determination…

And then I felt my knees give out. My Cross Fusion form dissipated, too, to the sound of a thunderclap in the sky over the Dimension Area’s dome.

“Lan?” Hub called me, but I didn’t respond. I just kept my glare on all our enemies, keeping my eye on them. My wrists jerked around a little while my fingers twitched. I didn’t want to let them leave my sight.

But… that’s when it happened. This sharp, stinging, excruciating pain swelled up in my chest. 

[BGM: Strange Mood, Mega Man Battle Network]

“Hwwuuuuuuugh…!” My breathing turned into a rasp, followed by an awful cough as I grasped the area where my heart was.

“No!” Hub screamed, “Lan! Lan!!”

“Uuuughhhhh…!” I groaned, struggling to stand up. But by then, my heart was throbbing and beating irregularly, making several pangs that seemed to reverberate in my chest. There was a reason a teenage boy like me had a pacemaker for my heart. It was there to treat my weak heart in times of stress, but it was failing.

“Oh my…” Count Zap’s face didn’t show it under his visor and helmet, but he seemed to be disturbed by what he was seeing. The same could be said for Match and CutMan. StoneMan, BombMan, and the yellow robot had blank or unreadable expressions.

“Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh!!” Maddy chortled with wicked glee, “Good.”

“Now you realize…” Yahoot whispered, “The danger of opposing the new world of the third millennium.”

I continued suffering in this position, crumpling to the floor. This disease that almost killed Hub and took my grandfather’s life was giving me unimaginable agony. It was said that the effects of this disease were like a heart attack, and it showed. The name of it was… HBD.

CHAPTER 28 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Reddington Bluemann, Ripley Marduk, and Bobby and Helena Crosby © HatOnFire/Me

01001000 01010101 01000010

Everything had gone wrong for us, all in a few hours. I don’t know why I thought only Lan and I could handle WWW, but we needed to do something. We did our best to play Keep Away with the Fire Program, but right at the most critical moment, Lan’s dormant HBD condition sprung up, putting his heart in danger.

I had a direct link to the pacemaker in his body, but I couldn’t get access! Even though the PET’s link was up, the internal computer seemed to be fried. I couldn’t even brute force my way in because of a safety measure keeping me out. There was no way to enter a dead zone unless Lan directly jacked me into the pacemaker, but he couldn’t even do that! 

“No, not now!!” I cried, feeling trapped in my only safe place with the WWW agents around us. Seeing Lan struggle to keep himself conscious stirred memories of when I was still in the real world, five years ago…

01000110 01001100 01000001 01010011 01001000 01000010 01000001 01000011 01001011

Five years ago, ACDC Elementary’s Class 5A was on a field trip to the most prestigious science building of the new century, SciLab. None of us preteens would forget that day, and I wish I could say it was for a good reason.

“Come along, everyone!” Our tour guide was a man in a lab coat, someone who worked directly under our father. “Next, we’ll show you the Virus Lab!”

The class consisted of our teacher, Ms. Mari, who still looked as young as she did today, and nine other students. Lan and I were among them, along with Mayl, Dex, and Yai.

“Come on, guys, hurry up!” Mayl was eleven years old, same as most of us fifth graders, though she was under five feet. She wore an aqua green long-sleeved shirt with a blue vest over it, a pink skirt, black thigh high socks and ruby red shoes. Her maroon hair was short, stopping at the base of her neck. 

Dex was already five feet tall, not as tall as the teacher, though he was close. He wore a green shirt with yellow trims that adorned his Navi’s mark over the right chest area, blue shorts with trims that were a lighter tint of blue, black socks, and blue shoes with white soles. His brown tuft of hair resembled a shark fin, and back then, he still had some baby fat leftover, explaining his shape.

Yai was two years younger than me and Lan, so she was still under four feet, but she looked so different as a kid compared to now. Her head wasn’t bigger than her body, but it differed from her petite frame. Her blonde hair was braided into two lengthy pigtails. She wore a red dress that had pink highlights with a white diamond pattern around the brim of her skirt.

“We’re coming already!” Dex called back, “Lan, Hub! Hurry up!”

“Hear that, bro?” Lan chuckled, retying his blue bandana, covering his forehead up. “Hurry up!”

He was 4’8”, same as me, but we were on the verge of hitting our growth spurt. His outfit consisted of an orange puffy vest over a long-sleeved white shirt with black squares on the elbows, a backpack strapped to his back, black shorts with yellow vertical lines on the hips, and orange shoes with a vertical black stripe, black socks, and detachable black roller blades under it.

“Hurry yourself!” I made a small laugh of my own, catching up with my hands still in my pockets.

Unlike him, I wore a short-sleeved white shirt with a blue jacket over it, with my emblem on the back of the jacket, like those bikers in leather jackets. I also wore black pants with a red vertical stripe on each side, reaching the pant leg. My shoes were blue with a black stripe, I had white socks, and my backpack was relatively the same as Lan’s. My hair was spiky in the back, but my bangs were wavy and parted, showing my forehead.

My class passed through the corridor and into the Virus Lab, surrounded by supercomputers along the walls in an upside-down U. The large black screens contained data on a smaller scale that meant something to the scientists, who all stood at the desks to process their findings.

[BGM: Scientific Forefront, Mega Man Battle Network 3]

“Neat,” Mayl thought to herself.

“It’s really clean in here,” Yai added.

“SciLab’s research devices are truly on another level,” Ms. Mari commented, “They use this room to develop countermeasures for some complex viruses.”

“That’s right, Ms. Mari!” the scientist replied, “Viruses have the potential to evolve, you see. While their base purpose is to infect a network, they can evolve by one level. This is why there are three versions of a virus type. And if left unchecked, the virus will grow in greater numbers, and more problematically, in versions beyond the three levels.”

“What does that mean?” Dex questioned.

“It means the viruses may appear to be somewhat improved,” the scientist answered, “Think of it as this. Level one, two, and three. But then, there is level one-point-five, two-point-five, and three-point-five. The viruses could change into imperfect versions of themselves that are no less dangerous.”

“That’s the purpose of this lab, class,” Ms. Mari said, “To better understand the virus evolution, and to develop a cure of sorts.”

“We also use this lab to create viruses to combat other viruses,” Mr. Famous walked in, wearing the same attire back then as he did in the present.

“It’s Mr. Famous!” our classmates whispered among each other in awe, hearing of the legendary Net Battler who won sixty-nine battles in a row.

“To solve a problem, we must understand what the problem is,” Mr. Famous continued, “Observing every key detail, planning out a course of action, and acting on it.” 

“Wishing we could’ve gone to the umbrella factory right now,” Dex mumbled.

“To sneak off to NetBattle, no doubt,” Yai smirked as she spoke in a haughty tone. Mayl shook her head, knowing them too well.

“Lan, you better pay attention to this,” I remember telling him, “We might be quizzed later.”

“How about you take your own advice?” Lan fired back with a smile.

“No headphones this time,” I replied.

“Right…” Lan put a slow emphasis on that word, clearly doubting me. He knew I carried a pair of headphones in my backpack so I could listen to my music.

“I mean, Dad took us here a year ago.”

“Exactly. This could be our chance.”                                        

“Our chance?” I caught a wicked gleam in his eye.

“To see some secret stuff!” Lan gave me a thumbs up, like he wanted me to follow him, taking off while everyone was watching Mr. Famous.

“L—!” I almost called him out, tailing him with an annoyed expression. He got out and turned the corner to call the elevator, which wasn’t possible for visitors to do, even if we were Dad’s sons. I jumped in before the door closed and we were on our way down.

Lan stuffed a card into his pocket, shushing me and pretending to be inconspicuous. I quickly realized whose card it was.

“Why do you have Dad’s ID?!” I questioned him, “We’ll get him in trouble! We’ll be in trouble!”

“Haven’t you thought of what SciLab keeps down here?” My brother appealed to my curiosity, “Don’t you want to know what secrets Dad’s not allowed to tell us?”

“Not if it could cost him his job!” Once I said that, the elevator rang and opened the doors, showing us a surprisingly spacious laboratory. A few computers were operating to my left as a few machines were welding metal on some sort of satellite. This was too complicated for me to understand, since I didn’t recognize any of these machines.

“Whoa…” Lan whispered, paying attention to the machines as sparks flew from the satellite.

“Boys,” Dad called, noticing us in plain sight while the other scientists were caught in their work. “How did you two get down here?”

His SciLab uniform was a long-sleeved beige shirt that had a cylindrical collar and his family emblem imprinted on the right side of his chest. The emblem was surrounded by a black ring, however. Orange lines went around the top of his collar, shooting down vertically to the base of his shirt and lapping around the edge like an upside-down T. There was one orange line on each shoulder shooting out from the collar before cutting off at the shoulder line. Two other orange lines formed rings on his sleeves, parallel to each other. He also wore black-tinted pants and brown shoes with white soles.

“Ask Lan,” I sold him out with no mercy, “He took your ID card.”

“Hub, you tattletale!”

“Well, we’ll pretend this didn’t happen,” Dad whispered with a wink, “They’ll forget once I show the fruits of my labor to them.”

“Is it a new project?!” Lan pressed him with such zeal.

“Yes, but we haven’t unveiled it yet.”

“What is it?!”

“Sorry, kiddo, you know I can’t tell you that,” Dad smiled, “So, I’ll show you two!”

“Okay,” I felt excited by that prospect, but I wondered if this was okay. Letting children see private research had to be prohibited.

“That satellite…” My brother looked at it intently, seeing the sparks fly off the welding machines. “When’s it going to space? It looks almost finished.” Dad stayed silent, trying not to give up any details.

“This is cool, huh, Lan?” I tried asking.

“I’m not talking to you, you sold me out,” Lan jerked his head right so I couldn’t see his pouting face. I didn’t pay him any mind, distracting myself with an interesting sight.

A tall robot laid on a table, its black exoskeleton with bulky legs and a big chest exposed. Some machines with prongs were touching the robot all over as sparks flew off it. The monitor stationed next to the machines was displaying a symbol that looked like an M tilted on its left side.

“Sigma...” I knew what the symbol was, but not why it was given that name. “Is this going to be a thinking robot, sentient like a Net Navi?”

“Sigma, huh?” Lan looked at the robot carefully, whispering to himself.

“I’ll say this much,” Dad uttered with some disdain hidden in his voice, “This project isn’t what I’m working on. I didn’t even want to oversee it, but here I am.”

“You don’t like this project?” I questioned, “Why?”

“I’m not against this project, I felt we should’ve waited until we got a robotic specialist.”

“What about Wily?” Lan and I asked.

“You know he’s not allowed to be here,” Dad’s tone all but told us not to mention his name, “and I think it’s for the best you don’t speak to him again.” I understood him, elbowing Lan when he tried to ask again.

“Sorry, Lan,” I apologized, “but Dad said so.” I could tell Lan didn’t like me for that action, but he held his tongue.

“Asking questions is a good quality in a scientist,” Mr. Famous made himself known, getting off the elevator. “But for sleuths, it’s quite annoying.”

“I’m really sorry about my sons, Mr. Famous,” Dad apologized for our actions.

“I remember sneaking in here when I was their age…” Mr. Famous fondly recalled his youth, “I wasn’t like the other energetic kids. I was really interested in how computers worked.”

“How did you get to work here?” I asked him.

“A recommendation by your father,” Mr. Famous answered, “He wanted someone good with computers and NetBattles.”

“Cool…” Lan whispered.

“Yeah, I guess that means someone will actually take you seriously one day!” I joked.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Lan started chasing me around Dad and Mr. Famous, much to my amusement.

“Hey, be nice, Lan!!” I couldn’t help but laugh, running to the satellite dish.

“I don’t wanna be nice!” He kept following me with a smile of his own. “Get over here!!”

“Boys, boys!!” Dad shouted, coming after us as Mr. Famous watched and chuckled. “Don’t run around the lab!”

“T-The elevator!” one of the workmen exclaimed, pressing the down button over and over. “It’s not working!”

“What?” Dad stopped chasing us to notice the switch wasn’t lighting up, no matter how many times it was pressed. “I don’t get it…”

Then it happened. This was how my life in the real world ended…

I remembered stopping short when Lan tackled me, triumphant over catching me. I didn’t have time to react to that, gasping sharply and clutching my chest in pain, trying to stand. Something caused my heart to act up, but my pacemaker was supposed to keep my heart stable. That was my understanding back then, but… something went wrong.

“H-Hub?” Lan questioned, worried he did something to me.

“H-He… help me…” I whispered as I collapsed. I wasn’t just in pain, I was starting to die. I could still remember everything going on...

[BGM: Taking Liberties (Base Boss Theme), Lego Marvel Super Heroes]

“HUB!!” Lan’s shout caused Dad to run over to us.

“Hub!!” Dad cried, opening my jacket up. “Deep breaths, Hub!” Lan just stood there, too shocked to process what was happening.

“I-I’ll call an ambulance!!” a scientist cried, pulling his PET out.

“The hospital is too far from SciLab and the elevator’s not working!” Dad uttered, “They’ll never get here in time…! Let me check your pacemaker!” Using my own PET, he quickly skimmed through my readings, seeing my stress levels as out of control as my heartbeat.

“He has a pacemaker?” Mr. Famous questioned.

“It’s shut down?!” Dad was getting more anxious, “Even the internal defibrillator won’t function!”

“Here’s our defibrillator!” The worker at the elevator came by with an open first aid kit, but was in for another surprise. “What?! There’s no power in this, either!”

“Dad!!” Lan was getting scared for me, on the verge of tears.

“Can we attempt CPR?” Mr. Famous asked.

“It won’t make a difference with HBD!!” Dad seemed to know how bad it was getting from experience. “I’ve tried it once…!”

“There’s one other option,” Mr. Famous had a desperate idea in mind, “It might work, but it’s a long shot. Get a stretcher for Hub and follow me.”

I began to drift into unconsciousness around here, meaning I couldn’t tell what was going on. From what I heard from Lan, I was placed on a table in this cubic room that was like a hamster cage. Mr. Famous and Dad started turning on a console, activating the device. I could feel my body turn warm, like I was under the sun, and hear noises I’ve never heard before, even in that state. The space around me was changing colors and I was lighter, floating in the air! It felt like a dream to me! Then, my brain started to swell, or maybe burn, because I was getting hotter! It was too much!

“Full Energy!” Dad’s voice was muffled, but I heard him, and I felt instant relief! I woke up immediately because of that. “Hub!!”

“H-Huh?” I took a breath, though something about it changed, and I couldn’t tell what. That’s when I saw the world around me… “W-What?!”

“Hub, listen to me…” I heard Dad all around me, like I was in a room he couldn’t enter. “You had an attack just a few minutes ago… There was nothing else we could do but…”

“D-Daddy…” I whimpered softly, something in my mind didn’t feel right about this. I would learn later that my mind regressed because of the transformation’s effects, reducing me to when I was a toddler… “Where’s Mommy?!”

“H-Hub…” The things I said made Dad worried for me, “It’s going to be okay.”

“Forgive me…” Mr. Famous whispered, “This had to be done…”

“Hub…?” Lan peeked at the screen, but he turned away once he saw me bawling with my hands covering my face.

“Mommy?! Daddy!!” I screamed for someone to get me out of this place, “I wanna go home! I WANNA GO HOME!!!”

But nobody could help me now. I was going to be stuck here like this forever, and it terrified me at the time.

The Cyberworld was lifelike, but it was so artificial compared to the real world. I wished this was a bad dream, still asleep in my bed. I wished, hoped, and prayed, but I couldn’t accept the truth. I couldn’t accept no longer being human, unable to exist without my friends and family with me, but I learned to. I had to, even though this traumatized me.

01001000 01000010 01000100

[BGM: Crawling Tension, Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth]

“AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!” Lan’s scream returned me to reality, right where we left off. Maddy had just broken his left hand with a vicious stomp!

“Aw, did it hurt, wittle boy?” She had the nerve to taunt him while she was in Cross Fusion, “Want me to fetch your mommy?”

“Y-You…!” Lan growled at her, but he found himself pinned to the ground by her big arms. It sure didn’t help what he was going through.

“FireMan,” Match called his Navi out.

“Yes, sir,” FireMan suddenly appeared before me in my PET, waiting for me to hand the program over. “The Fire Program. You want us to leave, yeah?”

“…Take it already,” I pulled the program data out of my chest emblem, which was where I quickly stored it, throwing it to him in defeat.

“For what it’s worth, I didn’t want to win like this,” the red WWW Navi’s words didn’t give me any kind of comfort. Match hardly said anything, tapping his symbol on his chest three times to indicate he retrieved the program. His head was turned, appearing to be occupied with something else.

“We have what we came for,” C.F. MagicMan whispered, “It’s time we left.”

“How about we finish him off?” C.F. ColorWoman kept Lan restrained, “For all the times he got in our way?”

“The boy’s having a heart attack, Maddy,” C.F. ElecMan stated, “There’s nothing he can do.”

“It doesn’t matter,” BombMan whispered, “Only our mission matters.”

“Heh, sure,” Maddy mused, “He’ll go out like his brother, in the same place where he died, no less.”

“Let’s just go, already,” C.F. FireMan demanded, “We’ve accomplished our mission.” The Dimensional Area’s dome overhead began disappearing, just as the sky drizzled on the SciLab grounds. The solo Navis promptly left as the Cross Fusion agents made themselves scarce, except for Match. “I told you I’d be back if you got in our way again, kid,” he uttered, “You have my apologies.” He used his flamethrowers to propel himself in the air, leaving us behind.

“Lan!” I yelled, helpless in my small PET. “Lan, can you hear me?!”

“Hub…” My brother seethed in pain, holding his own hand and having to breathe sharply as his heart went out of control. “I’m…”

“Don’t talk, just keep taking deep breaths!” I ordered him.

C.F. Roll flew forward from the gate as C.F. ProtoMan glided in on a Fishy 3, looking around for everyone.

“Oh no!” Mayl gasped, instantly recognizing Lan on the ground. “Lan! Lan!!”

“H-Huh?” my brother whispered, opening his eyes, “Mayl…”

“Did WWW do this to you?!”

“They triggered his HBD!” I explained, bringing his heart rate up in the PET. “We need to restart his pacemaker!” Unfortunately, much to my terror, I saw his heart rate plummet into a flatline. “No, no!!!” I screamed, “Lan, open your eyes!!”

“Stay with me, Lan!!” Mayl cried, pressing her hands on Lan’s chest. “LAN!!” Her emblems glowed brightly as white lines like those on a circuit board ran along her gloves to her fingertips. She was trying to get his pacemaker working again. Dad, Dex, Dr. Cossack, and Mr. Famous were watching the Mission Control monitor with concern.

“His pacemaker is shot!” Roll told us, “His internal defibrillator isn’t working!!”

“Get him to the medical center!” Dad commanded, watching Mayl attempt to resuscitate him by pressing her palms into his chest, to no avail. “We can revive him there!”

“It’s the only way now!” C.F. ProtoMan took the initiative to carry Lan himself, activating the Condor chip to glide in the air. “Those solo Navis have routed the first responders!”

“Chaud, I’m going too!” Mayl called to him, hovering in the air.

“No, secure the perimeter!” Chaud fired back via the communicator, taking off with Lan to the building next to SciLab. “In case they return to finish us off!!”

“B-But…!” Mayl uttered, worried for my brother’s safety.

“He’ll be fine,” Roll whispered, calming her down even with her own fear. “He’s in good hands with Chaud.”

“I swear they’ll pay…” Mayl growled under her mouth guard, doing as she was told.

01010111 01010111 01010111

“Here!” Chaud, back in his normal attire, put Lan on a stretcher as the medical team swarmed their latest patient, “His pacemaker’s not working!”

“We’ll take care of it from here!” one of the doctors said, taking him beyond the doors in an instant.

“You’ll have to wait here,” a nurse added, “no exceptions.”

“We understand,” Dad knew the rules, turning away for a moment. Then he saw C.F. ElecMan on the TV! “Chaud!!”

“People of Nihon!” Count Zap’s voice carried through the speakers, which got Chaud’s attention. “WWW has everything they need to control the world!! All you, or rather, your government has to do, is announce a full surrender to us!”

“Those madmen…” Chaud whispered as the count laughed, showing off his abilities by flinging thunderbolts into the streets. “Taunting us as if they’ve won…”

“If I could do this, imagine what WWW could do to you if you don’t submit!” Count Zap chortled, “There’s a new superpower around here, and it’s us! WWW!!”

*RIIIING!!*

“Yes?” Chaud answered immediately, “Commander! I just saw it! Yes! What else? The power grid?! I’ll get right on it!”

“Chaud?” Dad questioned, “What’s the situation?”

“WWW took out the power grid for Den City,” His face looked grim when he reported that, “But SciLab has auxiliary power, just as the Official Center and the hospitals do.”

“How did they find the time to do that?!” Dex exclaimed, “They were all here!”

“A Trojan horse, no doubt,” Dad mused, “If WWW wanted to destroy us, they could have.”

“Dex, l need you and Mayl to help restore the grid,” Chaud took command, “I’ll fight off WWW’s forces! Hurry!”

“Okay!!” Mayl nodded, following him and Dex out of the hallway. “Dr. Hikari, you’ll let us know if—!”

“Of course, thank you!!” Dad got the chance to say the last part before the three got in the elevator, off to stop the damage from spreading.

“Lan’s going to be fine, right, Dad?” I asked him again, getting a vacant nod as a response. He didn’t want me to worry, so he kept quiet, I thought. He just stood at those doors, waiting for a sign of life.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!” Zap kept laughing wildly from wherever he was in the city. Mercifully enough, someone walked by to switch the TV off. It was just as well, since Dad and I couldn’t do anything else…

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“What’s HBD?” I remembered questioning Dad when I was eight, about this particular thing.

“Oh, that?” he smiled, “It’s something you and your brother have, just like me and my dad. You could say it affects the heart.”

“Is that why we had to go to the doctor’s?” I thought.

“That’s right,” Dad answered, “It’s only because the digitalis medicine wasn’t helping with that.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Dad put his hands on my shoulders, “but I admit it tasted horrible for me, too.”

“And my heart…” I knew there wasn’t any pain in my chest now, but I needed to know. “It doesn’t hurt now.”

“That’s because you and Lan have what I have, it’s called a pacemaker.”

“So it… makes paces?”

Dad chuckled, “Yes, in a way. Our pacemakers track our heart rate and provide relief when the heart experiences stress or excitement.”

“This big guy at school says I’m weak…” I whispered pouting, “Because he says his heart is bigger than mine.”

“Aw, don’t worry about him, Hub. He’s only saying that because he’s proud of the size of his heart. But you have a strong heart, too.”

“But it hurts.”

“Sometimes, it hurts to have a strong heart,” Dad reassured me, “But Gramps, my father, he believed even the faint-hearted could do anything, deep down. Intelligence, wisdom, and the confidence to do anything, that’s where it matters. You and Lan can do anything as long as you don’t give up.”

Little did I know, Lan was listening in on that conversation, pretending he was a spy until he heard that…

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 01000100 01000001 01011001

Some time passed, but I didn’t bother keeping track, I was still waiting for him. I was next to him, in the PET, laying on the table next to him in this somewhat spacious room. I didn’t notice he was already stirring in bed.

[BGM: Relief, Mega Man ZX Advent Tunes]

“W-What happened?” Lan mumbled his first words upon waking up, “O-Oh, we lost…”

“Lan!” I yelled a bit too loudly, but I was elated to hear life in him again.

“Hu… MegaMan?” Lan was still thoughtful enough to keep my identity a secret. It was a good sign he could still think.

“We’re all here, Lan,” Dad said, looking back to Mom and all my friends. “Try not to crowd him, okay?”

“Lan…” Mom came first, squeezing my brother’s right hand.

“W-Welcome back…” Mayl’s voice was a little shaky, “How are you feeling?”

“Dandy,” Lan shook his head with a small smile.

Dex blew a whistle through his lips before saying, “Man, you had us worried! Good thing SciLab thought to build this med center, right?”

“It was a practical idea…” Yai agreed, though she looked glum afterwards. “Guess it helped…”

“How long was I out?” Lan questioned.

“It’s Saturday morning,” Ripley replied, “Saturday classes were canceled because of these WWW attacks.”

“Ugh, right!” Lan tried sitting up and getting out of bed.

“Where are you trying to go?” Tory questioned, “You can’t leave.”

“Tory?” Lan blinked, “Why are you here?”

“You, who else?” Tory shrugged as his father patted his shoulder, “I… I hoped it wasn’t serious.”

“Everyone stopped by to check in on you,” I explained, stuttering a little. “I was… I’m…”

“Thanks,” Lan finally sighed, thinking about yesterday’s events and cutting to the meat of it. “I blew it again, didn’t I?”

“I blew it, Lan,” I admitted, “Because of me, WWW has all the Super Programs.”

“Then it’s going to get worse before it gets better,” Dr. Froid thought aloud, “Tory, I’m sorry, but could you wait outside? I have to discuss something with everyone here.”

“Sorry, Tory,” Mayl apologized, “but it’s Official business.”

“I got it,” Tory nodded, walking out with his grandparents.

“We hope you can recover, young man,” Bobby Crosby said.

“Get well soon!” Helena chimed in before closing the door on them.

“I can’t believe you went behind my back, Lan,” Mom whispered, “This is what I’ve been afraid of the most.”

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t want you to worry,” Lan responded, “I also couldn’t tell anyone about this.”

“This is my responsibility,” Mr. Famous said, coming in at the right time. “Your son had skills we needed to battle for us.”

“And who gave you the right to let my son put himself in danger?!” Mom was understandably cross, “Was this another government favor?! You seem fond of them!”

“H-Haruka, please,” Dad came in to keep the peace, “Now’s not the time to point fingers…” Mom calmed down, but she kept glaring at Mr. Famous.

“Yeah, I wanna know why my pacemaker failed,” Lan stated, “Mine and Hub’s were made with electromagnetic shielding, weren’t they?”

“That’s right,” Dad nodded, “As you must’ve known, that’s how you could Cross Fuse without it causing disruption to your heart.”

“We’ll also talk about that later,” Mom quietly remarked, much to Dad’s discomfort.

“But why did it give out?” Mayl questioned.

“I started to feel bad when I was close to Count Zap in Cross Fusion, too,” Lan pointed out, “His electricity jammed electronics, and just being close to Match could’ve too, if I wasn’t synced up with Mega.”

“That yellow beast emitted deep soundwaves to control its shape,” I said, “Maybe the noise got past your shielding?”

“The harmonics caused noise pollution,” Mr. Famous added, “Your pacemaker’s circuits were found to be shorted out. Luckily, we had a spare here, just in case.”

“Are you alright, MegaMan?” Dad asked me.

“My entire body is digitized, but I felt the PET inside get all distorted,” I replied, “I’m lucky, but not by much.”

“That was really terrifying,” Dex sighed with some relief, “I thought we were gonna lose you.”

“Yeah…” Lan mumbled, “Too bad I couldn’t do anything to stop them.” Lan’s sour attitude drew attention back to the one result of our efforts: failure. We failed to stop WWW, and they have all of the Super Programs in their possession for who knows what. We still don’t know what they want out of all of this. “Guess I should’ve stayed away, huh, Chaud?” Lan whispered, “If it weren’t for me…”

“Several people wouldn’t be here, including me,” Chaud quickly replied, “Den Tech City would’ve been in ruins from the attacks by WWW. You did everything you could, and we’re still standing because of that.”

“Still wasn’t good enough…” Lan clicked his tongue off the roof of his mouth, averting his gaze from Chaud.

“He’s right, Lan,” Mayl tried consoling him, “We got caught napping, but this is just a setback. We’ll get them.”

“Will we?” I mumbled, just as discouraged as Lan was. “All we’ve done is play the stupid cop who couldn’t catch the robber. We fell behind every single time we got close. This was all because I wanted me and Lan to take them ourselves.”

“That reminds me, what were you thinking?” Mayl got on my case, “What were you hoping to accomplish from that stunt?”

“Did you distrust us that much?” Roll finally spoke up, appearing in my PET to face me. “You became paranoid of Mr. Famous, but how could you think he was with WWW?”

“Hey, yeah,” Dex piped up, “Why did you think that?”

A brief silence passed over in this room until I exhaled and rubbed the back of my helmet in guilt. “I got angry…” I answered for everyone to hear, “These last few weeks made me question if what we were doing was good enough. How would you react if you were in my position, experiencing people you love just… getting hurt by them?”

“No wonder you and Lan felt that way…” Yai understood pretty well, just as all of us did. “It’s like the world turned against you at that time.”

“It’s been that way for me since Hub… left this world,” Lan summed it up well with that euphemism, “I’m not asking you guys to understand that.”

“It explains your behavior towards crime,” Chaud raised that point up, “I can sympathize.”

“It took…” Lan continued, “It took me months before I could accept it wasn’t my fault for what happened to Hub. Even if I did something different, it would’ve happened, anyway. I know that, but…”

“You blamed yourself for Hub’s passing?” Roll gasped, “That’s horrible to think!”

“Roll…” Mayl called, “Calm down.”

“Sorry, Mayl, but not this time!” She spoke up again, “Listen, Lan! Some things can’t be changed, but that’s no reason to blame yourself! And if it doesn’t look like there’s anyone to blame, then don’t blame anyone!”

“I got it, okay?!” he responded, “I put it behind me!”

“Then quit being angry with yourself, and that goes for you, too, Mega!!” Roll turned from the screen to me, “You can’t keep this resentment with you! When you stop, you’ll crash, and you’ll realize how bad it hurts. You’ll feel smaller.”

I couldn’t help but think she was talking from experience, but she was right… I got obsessed with WWW, with justifying my state of being, I nearly lost sight of what was important, and almost lost Lan, too… “I’m sorry, everyone,” I apologized.

“If it helps, Mega,” Lan tried to ease my mind, “I don’t blame you for this.”

“It doesn’t…” I still felt I couldn’t forgive myself if everyone else did, but I had a moment of clarity. Again, Roll was right about things that couldn’t be changed and about the effects of holding in anger. The same could be said for secrets… “Mayl, Dex, Yai, everyone. I have something to say.”

“If it’s a thank you, you don’t have to say it,” Yai told him, “You know I didn’t do anything.”

“It’s about Hub,” That small statement I made got everyone’s attention.

“Mega?” Lan whispered, “Are you gonna tell them?”

“Yes. I don’t want to keep hiding anything.”

“Okay,” Lan understood as much as my family did. In fact, since this medical center was secured, this was the right place for it.

Roll looked confused by my words, even more so when she noticed Lan fetching his PET. Mr. Famous turned the TV on and changed the picture to view the computer grid inside, which I appeared in. The other Navis followed me into the orange space, and before I knew it, everyone was watching me.

[BGM: Rock Event, Mega Man Powered Up]

Closing my eyes, I pressed down on the emblem on my chest, resulting in it glowing brightly. Next, I reached for the emblems on both sides of my helmet, slowly rotating the plates forward with my fingers like they were dials. After reaching a certain point, the helmet dematerialized, causing my brown hair to flow out, especially in the back. My black streaks of hair in the back changed to match the rest of my hair, being wavier than they appeared.

I opened my eyes again, and my green-tinted irises reverted back to my original brown color.

“What…?” Roll whispered, recognizing the resemblance between me and Lan. The difference was my parted hair at the front, which I was proud of.

“HUB?!” Mayl gasped, remembering my face after around five years of me being gone, so to speak.

“Hub?!” Dex was just as, or maybe more surprised than she was.

“Hi guys…” I sadly smiled, relieved to get this secret off my chest. Even so, there were going to be more revealed secrets, and they might’ve been more shocking than mine was.

CHAPTER 29 END

Chapter Text

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network. I also do not own any characters from the MegaMan NT Warrior/Rockman.EXE anime.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Reddington Bluemann, Ripley Marduk, MythMan, and Desiree Domin © HatOnFire/Me

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What I saw was unbelievable by any standards. At least, they would be, if I weren’t someone who saw all sorts of bizarre things. I wasn’t surprised that a human could be transformed into a Navi, but to know that happened to MegaMan was a real shock! I stared at his eyes, his usual green eyes having turned brown, just like Lan’s eyes! His hair was brown, too, just parted in his forehead, like it was all those years ago.

“H-H…” I tripped over my words, just too surprised to say his name. Still, some part of me knew this Navi was different… No, he was a boy, he always had been. Like with everyone else, it never occurred to me he was really human… It was more possible than anyone would think, though…

“Hi, guys,” Hub sadly smiled, and so sweetly, too. It must’ve been killing him to keep it all in.

“I-It’s really you!” Yai exclaimed, having the chance to see him. “All this time, you were…!”

“I’m so sorry I didn’t tell any of you,” Hub apologized, “but I couldn’t say anything. We couldn’t.”

“We?” Dex questioned for a second, “Your family was in on this, huh?”

“As I was,” Mr. Famous confessed.

“You what?!” Dex shouted, “How many secrets are you going to keep?!”

“Please understand!” Mr. Famous said, “If the government knew about Hub’s status as a Navi, they would most likely take him for research or use him for questionable practices!”

“Any country would try that,” Dr. Hikari added, “A human with all the capabilities of a Navi would produce results to study, but with the right powers or chips, Hub could theoretically be unstoppable. He could even be a security risk; look what happened with our first attempt at a solo Navi.”

“I would rather not,” Dr. Cossack whispered, making his presence known. “It’s just more of my failures as a human being…” I looked back at my old caretaker, getting a glimpse of his self-loathing. It finally occurred to me how he tortured himself over his shortcomings: first with his work, then with me… I felt ashamed for brushing him off like I did, both before then and now.

“I was frustrated with you for turning me into this, Mr. Famous,” Hub added, “I’m sorry.”

“Your resentment was only natural,” Mr. Famous nodded, “and I wasn’t doing myself any favors by answering to Minister Domin. I’m sorry, too.”

“How did she find out Hub is MegaMan?” Lan wondered, “Only a handful of us knew what happened.”

“It couldn’t have been the workers who saw it five years ago,” Dr. Cossack said, “They couldn’t remember if they tried.”

“What makes you say that?” Chaud questioned.

“I made sure they couldn’t remember, as I did with Minister Domin a few days ago,” he stated, “Let’s just say it would’ve been problematic if they knew the truth. I’ll take responsibility if this comes to light.” He made sure to say that to stop Dr. Hikari from speaking out. “The community has seen enough of me, but you, Yuichiro, you still have more to give. If you show your hand in this, your family will never recover.”

“Who’d have thought science had their own power politics?” Yai muttered to Mayl.

“As if we Officials didn’t have enough to worry about,” Mayl sighed.

“Not to sound rude, but how did all of this happen?” Chaud posed another question, “Hub Hikari’s transformation into MegaMan… How has it happened?”

“A series of unpredictable events mixed with desperation,” Dr. Hikari replied, “When Hub’s pacemaker failed him, the elevator wasn’t working and the first aid kit’s mini-defibrillator had no power. Famous suggested using the Dimensional Area Generator prototype.”

“It was risky,” Mr. Famous pointed out, “but there wasn’t any other choice on hand. The rest is history.”

“It was, but my mind seemed to regress from that transformation,” Hub said, chuckling to himself. “I couldn’t stop crying. I was pretty pathetic.” Lan turned his head, a look of sadness clear on his face. “Hey, Lan, I was joking! Don’t look down!”

“It was hard to watch, Hub!” Lan told me, “How could I not feel guilty from hearing you cry like a baby?! And you’re making jokes about it?!” The real world’s room quickly got quiet after that outburst and I saw Hub’s smile sink to a sad frown.

“I’m sorry, Lan,” Hub apologized, “I was just trying to cope. It was hard on you, too.”

“I haven’t stopped coping, either,” his brother responded, making a small smile himself.

These confessions by Hub… I had seen him show his strength. I saw him struggle, being there for a few of his trying times, but I never saw him like this. He was open to his faults and showed me who he was… He was stronger than ever before in my eyes, which was amazing for another kid who drew the short straw. It gave me the courage to admit something else, something I hid away in my heart, too. Who would’ve guessed we both had shared the same, fateful transformation? Certainly not me.

“Hub, let me ask you something,” I had a question for him, “Did you stop to think about how Mr. Famous knew what to do when your father did this?”

“Not really,” Hub answered honestly, “I was just glad that I was alive, when I calmed down.”

“Well, it’s because he’s seen it before, like me…”

“Huh?” Hub didn’t know what to make of that, so I began to show him. I pressed down on the emblem on my bodysuit’s chest, holding it for a few seconds until my helmet dematerialized. My geometric ponytail changed as my helmet completely disappeared, revealing my wavy head of blonde hair. My green bow tied close to the end of my strands looked more natural for a gigantic bow, my hair shining like never before. My eyes were still green, the microscopic lines in my irises disappeared, simply being like contact lenses.

I felt free again, as I was before I took Roll to be my name. I changed a little from that girl I was back then, but my devotion to my friends didn’t change. Not at all.

“It’s… you?!” Hub stared at me, his jaw almost hitting the floor, and who could blame him? I wasn’t supposed to be here. Kalinka Cossack was supposed to be gone forever, but here I was.

“Hi back,” I whispered, clasping my hands together with my arms in front, smiling through my anxiety. “I’m also sorry for this secret.”

“What the heck?!” Lan gasped, “Kalinka?!”

“Kalinka?!” My other childhood friends reacted with surprise, and Lan’s parents looked like they were about to fall over.

“I-I…” Hub stammered, still shocked by my presence. “I can’t believe it’s you…”

“Yeah, I know,” I completely understood him, same with a lot of things. “It’s actually a relief.”

“Words can’t express how sorry I am to have lied to you all these years,” my father said to the others, “Even if it was necessary.”

“How is she a Navi?” Mayl already had tears in her eyes when she saw who I was, shifting her head to him with anger swelling in her. “You said she passed on from an illness… What did you do?!”

“It was an accident with a machine that turned her into a Navi,” Mr. Famous admitted, “That experience was how I had Dr. Hikari put Hub in our machine when he was suffering.”

“That idea was because of this?!” Dr. Hikari looked outraged to find that out.

“You knew Kalinka was alive, too?!” Dex grabbed Mr. Famous by his coat, tightening his grip on it. “How could you keep lying with a straight face?!”

“Keeping secrets was a necessity on my end!” Mr. Famous answered, “I’m sorry!”

“Don’t blame him or my father, please!” I called out to stop a fight from breaking out, “I didn’t know what to do, and it was the same for them!”

“Guys, we can’t fight each other with WWW out there,” Lan acted as the voice of reason, successfully cooling down his father and our friends.

“Please explain everything,” Dex uttered as he let go of Mr. Famous, “before I really start to lose it.”

“I was going to tell Mayl first,” I confessed, “but since Hub stepped up, I might as well clear the air.” Everyone accepted that, so I began to tell them what I could recollect.

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Over six years ago, when I was nine years old, I was at home with a fever. It was wintertime, just a few days into January when this incident happened. I remembered getting up from my bed to go downstairs, thirsty for something besides warm tea. A door to the basement opened up and I hid behind a wall, suddenly curious of my father stepping out with Mr. Famous. I didn’t understand the technobabble they were talking about, but they looked like they wanted to clear their heads. My dad told me to never go down the basement when he was working, but I was really interested in what was inside. That lapse in judgment was something I would regret forever. First, I made sure to be very quiet, carefully opening the door and closing it behind me, going down. In the center of the basement, there was an unusual chair with a roof over the seat, with wires connected to several power boxes and computers. I was too astounded to turn back, finding myself sitting in the chair. I was never a sci-fi fan, but I couldn’t deny it was fun to pretend at the time.

Even then, I didn’t know better. I pressed a few buttons and the machine started running, but the terrifying thing was these restraints that locked my wrists down to the arms of the chair! I realized my mistake too late, screaming for help. The chair’s humming grew louder and the power seemed to increase, the roof for the chair came down and covered my head, even as I cried and thrashed around. On top of that, the roof that surrounded me blinded me with lights, and they felt hot. I think I was being transformed by the machine, because the only memory I had next was that I was in a PET, wearing a pink bodysuit instead of my pajamas. I had to have passed out from the stress or because the transformation was too much for me to handle. And the worst part of it was that I couldn’t remember who I was. I spent that time recuperating with my father, who kept me in the dark until he could ease me into accepting my position. Obviously, I didn’t take it well when I remembered who I was, and over a year into being a Navi, I left him.

I roamed the internet for a long while afterwards, even entering the Undernet. I still don’t know how I managed it, but I survived, and I was found by a police Navi belonging to Redd. He took me home to Mayl, and I became her NetNavi. I longed to be her friend again, so I settled in and kept my past a secret.

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[BGM: Moment of Fate, Mega Man Battle Network]

“It was the same for you, too…” Hub summed up my story now that I was through.

“T-That’s so sad!!” Higsby started tearing up, incoherently babbling. “Aww-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!!”

“H-Hey, calm down, Higsby!!” Hub exclaimed, “It’s okay!!”

“I couldn’t say anything about my situation to anyone…” I whispered, “I bottled up some of my feelings, too.”

“No wonder,” Mayl understood me as she sadly smiled, “Who would believe my best friend was still with us, and all because of an accident?”

“An accident we could’ve avoided if we weren’t so incompetent,” Mr. Famous breathed as he leaned forward on a wall in the corner, hiding his face from the others. Mrs. Hikari took great notice of that, processing it for herself.

“Look, don’t get me wrong, I miss being in the real world!” I shouted so no one would be miserable because of my history, “But I started to feel a little happier when I accepted where I was. I could do virtually anything in this place! I’m faster, sharper, and tougher than I would be in real life!”

“Very true,” Hub agreed, “This other life of ours is pretty fun!”

“It’s also dangerous, I admit,” I added, “but you take what you get and you own up to it, mistakes and all.”

“I’m sorry for not trying harder with you, Kalinka,” Dad told me with a sigh, “I kept trying to undo what happened, even going into the criminal underworld to find an answer. It was never good enough.”

“I’m sorry for hating you all this time,” I replied, “Everything you’ve done was for my security.”

“Of course,” Dad stated, “That’s the responsibility of any parent.”

“I came in at a good time, then,” Redd called out to the group, closing the door behind him. “Lan, are you alright?”

“Yeah, thanks,” Lan acknowledged him with a nod.

“Oh, Hub Hikari and Kalinka Cossack,” Redd saw us on the monitor without much of a reaction, “I supposed you decided to reveal yourselves?”

“You knew about us?” Hub and I could’ve phrased that question differently.

“You knew they were human?” Mr. Famous uttered with his mouth agape.

“I’m a detective, remember?” Redd pointed out, “Either you two were Navis with an uncanny resemblance, or you really were them. I only put it together yesterday.”

“And you didn’t say anything because you expected them to tell us all?” Chaud pondered, answered with a nod from the detective. “Very well. Nothing leaves this room.”

“That goes without saying,” Dr. Hikari agreed, “We’ll only cause more problems if the world knows our devices can be calibrated to digitize humans and send them into the Cyberworld.”

“I never thought to ask this, but…” Hub had a question for his father, “Dad, where did this Cross Fusion idea come from?”

“While we have time, I want to know how humans could be sent into the Cyberworld with our tech, too,” Ripley added, “It’s not like the electromagnetic spectrum is made of clay.”

“Go ahead, doctor,” Redd permitted him to explain, “My report can wait.”

[BGM: Haze-Colored Confession, Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth]

“Those are fair questions,” Dr. Hikari figured he was going to be asked, “From Kalinka’s recollection, she used the original model for the Pulse Transmission System, a device that sends brainwaves into the Cyberworld and allows one to interface with it. But this phenomenon was random.”

“So random I wondered how I could undo the process myself,” Mr. Famous replied, “That’s why I created the Pulse Transmission Mark II: to finely tune the brainwave transmission in hopes of recreating the accident, in a safe place. We only somewhat succeeded, when Dr. Hikari discovered how to send materials into the Cyberworld with it, but we wouldn’t dare risk sending a human without having a way out.”

“And then we had the incident,” Hub nodded, understanding the entire thing. “But I have to wonder, since we humans became just like the Navis, was that your basis for Cross Fusion?”

“I looked at it that way,” Dr. Hikari answered, “but remember, this was the work of Mr. Famous.”

“Yes, well,” Mr. Famous awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, “I can’t speak much on the specifics; it’s a complicated mess. But the idea of a human lifeform transforming with, say… a body of electromagnetic energy… I wondered if Hub and Kalinka could revert to normal if there was a method to manipulate that very energy. That’s where Cross Fusion started.”

“Excuse me,” The Waterworks Director spoke up for the first time, “I’ve performed this transformation and I’m not sure how it was possible without a power source. If the chip initiates the sequence, how could power be drawn in for the transformation?”

“My research showed plenty,” Dr. Hikari answered the best he could, “PETs store data, but can also generate EM waves. EM waves were how Hub and Kalinka’s bodies morphed and could enter the Cyberworld. Brains generate electricity, which is how brainwaves could enter the Cyberworld. With a Synchro Chip, the Navi is turned to data that acts as a shield and a power source, also drawing in EM waves or noise.”

“Picture it like magnets,” My father simplified the topic, “The transformation attracts these waves, storing them for power, and the Navi’s data makes up the user’s appearance. That links them.”

“But how could you have been able to replicate that kind of power?” Ripley wondered.

“You were in charge of managing the circuitry, so I understand your confusion,” Mr. Famous commented, “We started with using the CopyBot’s holographic generator and took blueprints from the Pulse Transmission System. From there, we began experimenting with ways to manipulate EM waves, and that resulted in what we now call a Dimensional Area.”

“That’s where ProtoMan and I came in,” Chaud chimed in, “Months ago, we participated in an experiment to bring him into the real world without a CopyBot, and we succeeded.”

“Soon, we created a device to draw in EM waves,” Dr. Hikari added, “We would be able to harness it by connecting to a frequency and program our machines to alter the waves however we could.” Dex rubbed his skull like he felt a migraine come on, wrestling with all the technical aspects the scientists said.

“You did that so we could use our PETs for Cross Fusion,” Lan pondered, “But how did you come up with that?”

“With the Pulse Transmission System,” Dr. Hikari stated, “The schematics were the basis for the Dimensional Area Generator.”

“The initial chamber design was borrowed from Mark II,” Famous added, “In fact, that design was specifically to control the energy output, to avoid a repeat of Kalinka’s experience until we were ready.”

“Yes…” Dad nodded as he confirmed that fact, hiding his sadness. “What happened was terrible… I didn’t want anyone else to suffer that fate.”

“It was my fault, anyway,” I said to my father, “I should’ve stayed out.”

“No, Kalinka, it’s my fault…” Dad apologetically whispered. I wished I could appear in the real world to hug him, even for a few seconds.

“If everyone’s in agreement,” Redd politely interjected, “then it’s best we keep these revelations to ourselves.” Everybody in the room agreed right there and moved on.

“I think I got the rest,” Dex said, “You made Cross Fusion a thing with Chaud and Mayl being the test subjects, and once WWW found out what you’ve done, they stole your tech for their schemes.”

“Sounds about right,” Dr. Hikari confirmed.

“Great, but why am I the last one to know these things?!” Dex yelled.

“I should be saying that!” Yai exclaimed, “I never knew who Kalinka was!”

“Sorry, Yai,” Lan apologized for that, “We stopped talking about Kalinka after all that happened. But still…”

“Lan,” I said to him from where I was, “I should be apologizing for not telling anybody sooner. I didn’t think anyone would understand.”

“Exactly what I thought,” Hub nodded, “I felt like I couldn’t talk about it to Lan.”

“You…” Lau struggled to speak, trying to sit up on the hospital bed. “You told me not to keep my feelings bottled up…”

“Yeah…” Hub guiltily admitted, “I’m no better a liar than anyone here. I’m sorry.”

“Who cares about that?!” Dex snapped with a bright smile, “You’re both still here! That’s all that matters!”

“There’s something we need to bring up,” Chaud chimed in, bringing up a file on his PET. “Lan, your pacemaker was disrupted by harmonics.”

“We know,” Lan stated, “It’s because of that giant yellow people beater.”

“Er, yes,” Chaud answered, bewildered by the analogy for that creature. “I’ve been looking into robots that operate on harmonics, and I found an article on the Yellow Devil.”

“Yellow Devil?” Dr. Hikari whispered, “I’ve heard of that before. It made news in Ameroppa.”

“Originally, it was called the Bassnium Robot,” The ace Official began to drop a bombshell, “Based on the element discovered by Dr. Albert Wily.”

“Wily made the robot?!” Mr. Famous gasped.

“Dr. Wily?!” Lan exclaimed, knowing the family history between him and his grandfather. “Does that mean Wily’s the WWW leader?!”

“That’s absurd!” Ripley yelled, “Grandpa’s an honest man! He would never!” The room froze at Ripley’s outburst, with all eyes turning to him. He sweated bullets and wore a glare that could break glass.

“You never mentioned that…” Lan’s face read betrayal and a lack of comprehension, “You never said…”

“Grandpa told me to never tell anyone…” Ripley looked away in shame, “He didn’t want his relatives to be treated like parasites because of his mistakes…”

“Mr. Wily was fired from Wily Ventures after his products were hijacked,” MythMan spoke up to give us some context, “The government shielded him from the media due to his impact on our science industry. He went to America to work for a defense contractor, shortly before the U.S. and the European Union merged their countries into a collaborative republic.”

“Because of the Alpha Revolt,” Dex nodded along, “I remember learning this in history. They were affected by the incident, falling into an economic depression because their computers were compromised. And that’s not bringing up the destruction of every network’s defense systems in every country.”

“I’ve wondered what they taught you in school over the revolt,” My father sighed, “I’m not surprised my daughter wasn’t the only one who thought me a monster.” I hung my head in shame, finally seeing his pain without any bias. Hub held my right hand with his left to give me some comfort, and I squeezed it.

“Anyway,” MythMan kept going before we lost track, “The contractor knew Wily was a genius with robotics and hired him to help rebuild their defenses. He accepted, and America was secure again. He was sending Ripley’s mother checks to help her through a rough patch.”

“He was given an award for discovering the shape-alloy he called Bassnium,” Ripley felt some degree of pride, “A metal bending to bass harmonics could pave the way to inexpensive and renewable materials. But then he was instructed to create a super soldier with that metal…”

“It was called the Bassnium Robot, built by Wily and another engineer,” Mr. Famous found the article on that incident, “But on the day of unveiling, it went on a rampage and attacked several people.”

“Well, it was supposed to be a robot with independent thinking!” Wily’s grandson spat, “But because of that jerk, the robot got viruses! The viruses spread to an anti-aircraft turret and shot down a civilian plane several hundreds of miles away!”

“Oh no…!” Yai put her hands over her face in reflex, shocked by the news.

“My wife was on that plane…” Dr. Froid sadly spoke. Lan and Mayl glumly looked at each other, realizing how deeply rooted in tragedy everyone was.

“The Sharo government extradited that engineer before he could be prosecuted,” Ripley clenched his fist in anger, “Grandpa got ruined again and ostracized.”

“However, that doesn’t mean Wily is the WWW leader,” MythMan jumped to his defense, “Other people could be their leader. That man didn’t take responsibility for his actions, but Wily did.”

“That guy must’ve been made a pariah in Sharo, too,” Dex speculated, “I don’t want to think he got off scot-free.”

“The defense contractors who hired Wily and that Sharo engineer went out of business,” Chaud added, “It’s probable that someone important from the company could’ve turned to crime and ended up in WWW.”

“No one jump to conclusions,” Redd shut down the topic, “We don’t have any evidence, yet. I’m concerned with how the Yellow Devil resurfaced after all these years.”

“It’s following whoever gave him life,” Ripley thought, “I won’t believe Grandpa created WWW! Possible or not, he looked after me after my mom left me! You expect me to believe the man who raised me like a son created a terror group?!”

“Calm down, Rip,” Mayl gestured with open palms as gently as she could, “In Mr. Wily’s defense, it sounds like a setup.”

“It can’t be just anyone,” Chaud noted.

“It doesn’t matter who’s pulling the strings,” Lan uttered, attempting to get out of bed. “Wily, that Sharo engineer, or some disgruntled contractor. Whoever they are, they want us dazed and confused. We have to track them down.”

[BGM: Re-INSTALL, Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth]

“What are you doing?” I questioned with concern.

“Checking out,” Lan replied, finally standing up. “We better get ready.”

“No, Lan,” his father told him, “This may be a private medical center, but you need to rest.”

“We can’t do that, Dad…” Hub interjected, “We need to do something. All of us.”

“Lan and Hub are right, Dr. Hikari,” Mayl stuck up for them, “WWW is so close to completing their plan. If we aren’t together, we won’t win.”

“I don’t want Lan to get hurt again, but if he’s willing,” Dex nodded, “then I say we get into the fold.”

“Please let me help, too!” Yai clutched her umbrella as she pleaded, “I can’t sit around after hearing all the bad things that happened! I want to be on this team!”

“I’m happy to offer my services on Ms. Yai’s behalf,” Glyde added.

“Will you let me join, too?” Dr. Froid requested, “More than ever, I want to help.”

“Let me in, too!” Higsby shouted with uncharacteristic gusto, “I’ve got the power, same as these guys!”

“But you’re all civilians,” Chaud started to voice his thoughts, “You might only get in harm’s way again.”

“Mr. Famous, I’ll do my part to find WWW,” the intern told his employer, “but I’m going with my friends to their base.”

“That’s dangerous, Ripley,” Famous predictably answered, “We don’t even know where they are.”

“Leave that to me,” Redd piped up, “A former member provided blueprints for an underground railway. I’ll find it.”

“It could be dangerous,” my father said, “WWW is stronger and more dangerous than ever.”

“And we will stop them,” I told him, “We’ll stop them, Dad.”

“Please trust us, Dad!” Lan begged, “This turned into our fight when their crimes started affecting us!”

“I wanted revenge as much as Lan did,” Hub owned up to his vice, “but I don’t want to see anyone experience my pain or any other pain!”

Chaud shifted to the side, dwelling on the twins. “If we agree to fill the ranks,” he uttered, “you must listen to our instruction. No more operating outside the team; we must be united.”

“Deal,” Lan agreed with a smile, “I’ll sacrifice some of my dignity, even if it’s for you.”

“Don’t be a child,” Chaud huffed with a smirk of his own, “You wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for me.”

“Alright, alright,” Mrs. Hikari caved in once she saw her husband agree with a nod, “I suppose we couldn’t stop you even if we wanted to.”

“From now until the crisis is over,” Mr. Famous declared, “You are instated as members of the Anti-WWW team.”

“Alright, Team MegaMan!!” Dex cheered, “Let’s save the world!”

“Team MegaMan, huh?” I thought about it with a smile, “Rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?”

“I-It’s a good name, but isn’t Chaud the leader?” Hub mumbled with a little blush.

“Just roll with it,” Chaud spoke with a light shrug as Lan stood up and picked his clothes up from the table, looking around as everyone else stared at him.

“Uh, can I get some privacy?” Lan requested, “Please?”

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[BGM: Forbidden Ark, Remastered Tracks Rockman Zero Telos]

“My source tells me the boy will make a quick recovery,” Wily told his agents, who were standing at his desk back at their hideout.

“I should’ve finished him off myself!” Maddy complained.

“In hindsight, I agree with her,” Count Zap confessed, “Not that it matters since they are getting help from our ex-colleagues.”

“Don’t take me for a fool,” Wily rubbed his thumb along the skull on his cane, “I expect him to be at our doorstep with his allies. Let them fall into our hands and give them a final battle for the ages! Even if they win, WWW will still triumph!”

“Now you all must go and prepare,” Yahoot commanded them on his leader’s behalf, “The EndGame is set for the final stage.” As the three human agents started walking out, Mr. Match was held back when his wrist was grabbed by him. “You must stay first.”

“It’s about my performance back there, isn’t it?” Match knew the conversation was going to be about that.

”Your moments of hesitation disturb me,” Wily directly told him, “Your empathy becomes a weakness when it threatens my plans at this stage. Do you want your brother to walk again?”

“O-Of course I do, Lord Wily,” Match affirmed, however shaky he came off. “I just felt squeamish, is all. It’s going to affect my work at this rate.”

“We have a device to help you with that,” Yahoot stated, “Its function is crude, but effective.”

“Then let me have it,” the red-haired man demanded, “I… I want to be fearless. I don’t want to hold back when I face Lan again.”

“And you will be,” Wily nodded, “Just leave it all to me.”

“Yes, Lord Wily,” Match bowed his head, taking that as his cue to exit.

“Your war with the world will soon be at an end of your making,” Yahoot noted, “I’m surprised you are bringing it about this way after operating so conservatively.”

“Merely the end result of my experiment with my personal inhibitions,” Wily uttered, “It was clear the masses expect us to be tyrants, so that is what they will receive. Those that can’t accept our new world will perish with the old world!”

“As it should be,” Yahoot agreed, preparing to leave the lab. “For we simply aren’t human as your critics are.”

Looking back to the past, Wily brought up an article of Tadashi Hikari winning a Man of the Year Award from 199X, despite passing on in late June. His picture was that of a portly man with a thick and white beard and fading but kind eyes. “Your technology may have ruined mine, Tadashi,” he mumbled, “but now I will use it to surpass you and destroy your Net Society! A harmonious fusion of our technology will change the world in a way you never could imagine! Thanks to your son and my dear old friend, Oberon!”

Two articles were included in a computer file about this strange device. One detailed a report of a tragedy at SciLab in which a young boy suffered health problems and didn’t survive. The next was an accident at Dr. Cossack’s home, with an obituary of his young daughter. “I will thank those children as well,” he mused, "Considering their usefulness to me has been deleted, they themselves must follow suit…”

CHAPTER 30 END