Ghost: Ta da! Finally! I've been doing so much DN that I've really been neglecting to break into my other worlds. Or better yet, creating new ones. Anyway, just to get this out of the way. The events in this story ARE NOT affiliated with any events in DN. Let's just call this another AU. And as for how I'm writing this, I'm going to do this episode style. Well, enough of me talking. Let's start the show! Oh, but first listen to this music celebrating one of my favorite animes and my first video game hero: watch?v=4meeC-JRJcg Completely unrelated but why not ya know?

BUT! We have something very important to take care of...WINNERS OF THE FIRST ROLL MERGE CONTEST!

So first off, I would like to say thanks to all who submitted. Not sure if it's sad that I really couldn't come up with my own designs for a power I created, but it allowed you guys to shine and boy did you all ever! You guys made it hard to choose which Merge design to pick, but I inevitable had to make a decision.

There are two places, the main winner and the runner up. Runner ups of course are pretty much the second places while the main winners are the Merge design that has been selected.

I'm just happy that this series got into a few people's head enough to actually create designs for it. So, all in all, thank you guys so much for it. I checked in the middle of May and the series is up to 18k views and somewhere around 60 favs. From a guy who hasn't even had a one year aniversary yet on this site, I think that's amazing (I haven't even gotten close to that many views on YouTube and I've been on for three years). Anyway, can't say it enough...thank you and let's get on with this before I continue stalling. (Thanks shout-out to Gavzilla as always)

Please refer to my profile to check out the designs! Fanfiction makes using links a pain in the rear end sometimes so it's just easier for me to hyperlink in my profile.

Pyra:

Main Winner: BalanceM88 Runner Up: AnimeGirl257

Glacia:

Main Winner: AnimeGirl257 Runner Up: BalanceM88

Voltra:

Main Winner: AnimeGirl257 Runner Up: terratasha

Either way, well done everyone! Roll really does appreciate it! So, next contest? Next contest. This one's date will be July 26th midnight! Same submission rules as last time!

Terra Merge: Wood Element, Green Color, Gaia Break: Cracks all panels and any panel Roll hovers over gets turned into a Grass Panel.

Aura Merge: Wind Element, Gray Color, Gale Push: Blows all opponents backwards. Removes all auras. Roll goes invisible while the wind is blowing to disorient enemies.

There's going to be one more contest after this one when I decide on the final merge but for now ponder on these!

Now...on with Dark Empire!

Episode 1: Put Out The Light

"Now, Megaman! Holy Dream! Attack +30! Download!" Lan said as he downloaded the chips into his PET. Despite Nebula Gray not having any panels underneath him, they had more than enough holy panels to get the job done. The light blue navi turned to his enemy after catching himself from a previous dodge. While no one else could see them, Megaman saw his purple rings of data surrounding him compress themselves into his buster.

"You're finished Nebula!" Megaman said as the holy panels disappeared from around him and condensed their power into the small buster. The blue bomber, his color now returning to its proper shade of blue, took aim and fired. Several large blue orbs flew towards the dark purple somewhat lion-like virus.

The beast swiped at the first one, causing it to lose its hand in the process. As it roared in pain, the other orb slammed into its chest. Before it could register the fact that it was getting blown to shreds, the final energy sphere impacted it. The beast howled as its data collapsed. In seconds, all that was left was the small flame that gave birth to the beast.

"Is it over?" Lan asked as the signs of movement from the virus seem to decrease.

"Hmm…" Dr. Regal thought as his finger hovered over a button. How had he been bested by a child and his navi? A man of his intellect should have been able to figure out a way to deal with this child long ago. The man flashed his eyes from the boy to the screen in front of him. He had had him in the palm of his hand. How the hell had Megaman broken free of the Dark Chip? The only man brilliant enough to create a vaccine chip for it was Dr. Hikari and himself. However, both of them had been in his base the whole time while Dark Mega had been operational. So how in the world did Megaman not only beat the chip, but then used its power to make himself more powerful? Dr. Regal grimaced as his other hand tightly clenched. Megaman was indeed not a normal navi. So then what was he?

"Do not underestimate the Dark Power!" Regal roared as he activated Nebula's revival program. It would take a few minutes before the beast would reform, but it would give him enough time to do what he needed. He typed in a few commands before slipping in a chip into the system. Infecting Megaman was one thing; now it was time to see if he could survive total corruption. He smirked; Megaman was just a navi. An extraordinary one no doubt, but still only data. He could still be manipulated and corrupted. He just needed to be strangled and drowned in it before he succumbed. Now, it was time to use it.

"This isn't good," Megaman murmured as he starting firing at the purple flames that were coming his way. When they surround him, he could feel something beyond the burning warmth they gave off. He could feel something cold and dark. It felt unnatural, yet it wasn't completely foreign to him at all. In fact, it was kinda pissing him off.

"Back off!" Megaman yelled trying now to punch at the darkness that was beginning to form around him. He could feel the rage inside of him bubbling. He wanted to fight back. Not just against the flames, but against everything. His chest felt a little heavy as a tiny bit of discoloration began to form on his navi symbol.

"Megaman!" Lan said, surprised by his navi's sudden outburst. Then as he took a closer look at the navi, he could see his armor darkening. His brother's movements were becoming less strategic and more of a general punch. Almost as if he didn't care where he was throwing them anymore. With every punch he threw, Megaman's armor was becoming more and more responsive to the evil energies around him, "Hang in there Megaman! Life Aura!"

The PET crackled with sparks as the chip changed from a Life Aura to a Dark Aura. Lan gaped as the device began to report several errors. He was beginning to lose control of Megaman from the PET. Every now and again, the device reported that the navi data was either corrupted or that the navi was disconnected from the device.

Dr. Regal smirked as he saw the effects of his Overload Chip were a complete success. As the dark flames left Megaman in response to his aura and began to circle around the blue sphere to once again form Nebula Gray, he couldn't help but laugh internally. With the Overload Chip inside the SoulNet Server, any battle chip used on the infected navi would then become a Dark Chip. Megaman could resist the Dark Chips, but could he resist this much evil around him? Or rather, in him. He didn't care what it would take to corrupt Megaman. If he went down, then he wouldn't be around to stop Nebula Gray. Better, Nebula Gray would be embodying the most powerful navi Regal had ever seen. Then...Regal would have full control, "Now, let's just see if this works. Quickly, Nebula Gray! I don't care what it takes! Install yourself into Megaman. EXE now!" The purple monster threw a fist at the blue navi.

"Megaman! Program Advance! Sword! Wide Sword! Long Sword!" Lan yelled as he activated one of their signature PAs. However, once again, the PET crackled and the blade changed in Megaman's hands as it became dark blue in color. The navi stared at the blade with heightened interest. He raised his green eyes and then intercepted the attack. Midnight flames surrounded the two combatants as Nebula Gray charged again. Megaman leaped back, avoiding the blow. Every part of him wanted nothing more than to destroy this beast, but he was beginning to forget the reason why he wanted to.

"Alright Megaman! Let's make sure he's gone this time! Sanctuary! Holy Dream! Attack +30! Double Paint! Download!" Lan yelled. The shock that ran through his body caused him to scream in pain. In fact, the metal around his neck intensified it, knocking him out due to the pain. The "holy" chips were the worst since they were the most good chips to convert.

Unfortunately, Lan was not the only one who was having a difficult time. A dark aura appeared around Megaman as Dark Panels that had formed around him were absorbed into him. All this Dark Energy around him, he could feel something snap. Several things really. There was a new battle field. One inside of him. Only this time, he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to win.

Nebula Gray was reached back and struck its fist into the ground where the distracted Megaman was standing. An explosion occurred when Gray made contact as the Dark Energy that had tried to go into Megaman's buster was unleashed. Through the blast, the beast disappeared when his fist made impact with Megaman.

"AHHHH!" Megaman roared as he tried to stop Nebula Gray from installing itself into his systems. The punch had shattered his navi icon, leaving him incredibly weak and on the verge of deletion. That and the internal war raging inside of him made it difficult to try and stop a malevolent being from forcibly downloading itself into him. He squirmed on the ground as he screamed and his eyes rolled in the back of his head.

"Only one navi has ever been such a pain in my side as you. I guess I should congratulate you Megaman. However," Dr. Regal said as he increased the output of SoulNet, causing the rest of the NetOps in the room to lose consciousness due to their closeness to the server. Dr. Regal chuckled as his own body was beginning to succumb to the pressure around him. He set the computer to lower the levels back down again after five minutes. That would give Nebula Gray enough time to install, "It's time for your final curtain call navi. Enjoy oblivion. When you wake, you will be nothing but a shell for Nebula and nothing more than my puppet."

"Get away from me!" a small boy yelled as he hurled another blue orb at the dark lion. The two warring parties were in the Grand Hall, known best as the Megaman's heart. The boy breathed hard as he noticed the wall behind him was beginning to break down. If the beast pounded on it anymore, he would have direct access into Megaman's System Core data and would have successfully have taken over. But that wasn't what he was worried about. No, it was what was underneath them that he feared the beast finding. The Soul Core. Without it, he would fade away into nothing.

Hub glanced back nervously at the beast who had shown up suddenly in his space and was trying destroy him and everything else. He needed to get this thing out of here. However, he could feel his power slipping away from him. Hub's face fell as the lion grew larger. The beast reminded him much of the size of a dragon. It was bad enough he had that dark knight running around a few moments ago. And then the warrior had smirked and dropped back. Next thing Hub knew, the knight had turned into the monster he was fighting.

The lion roared as a blast left his mouth and impacted the ground underneath Hub. He looked back up with green eyes, trying to keep his focus on the fact that he could slip and fall to his doom at any moment. The crater underneath him seemed to go down endlessly, but he knew what was at the bottom of it. The beast looked hungrily as it roared in delight.

No. Over his dead body…...okay maybe not the best thing to say at this time! Hub let go of the ledge he was holding and fell down down down. Nebula seemed to realize this and fired a dark flame behind him. Hub pulled his arms in, hoping to fall faster. He needed to get to his core. Maybe he could then lock it away and protect it from the darkness around him. The soul knew what evil lied within him as did it in every human. He knew that this power in a sense was a part of him. But that didn't mean that he had to let it control him.

The beast roared as flames engulfed the core in a bright light. It seemed to sigh as it turned back into the dark knight. He glanced at the flaming core with crimson eyes. Well, at least the he had taken the fall. It seemed as if he was trying to isolate himself from the rest of the body. Ah well, it wouldn't matter once he had taken over. The knight took out a buster and fired at the wall that the boy had tried so hard to protect. He had finally made it to the System Core. Now, he could truly have some fun. He extended his hand as black flames surrounded it and the place he was in was beginning to collapse into ruin. Into his room. His territory. His body.

Megaman screamed as he gripped the ground. He could feel the only light in him go out and replaced with something much colder. It was like someone had just blown out his reason for living and replaced it with dark desire. His armor darkened to a midnight blue. His navi symbol was reformed and changed; it was white where red, purple where yellow, and dark blue where black. His helmet cracked and fell to the ground, releasing his auburn hair. His eyes were a deep crimson red. As his cries died down, he became aware of himself. He was no longer Megaman, but rather something darker. Even more so than Dark Mega.

Dark Hub shook his head and looked around him as he stood to his feet. Several navis groaned out in pained. It seemed like the only ones who had been spared his insane episode was Roll and that was using the term lightly. She seemed roughed up and part of her antennae had been broken. Still though, she seemed like the only one who was still awake. He got up from the ground slowly and prepared himself for whatever still wanted to attack him. The navi's eyes snapped down to his foot when he felt someone grab it. At his ankles was a damaged Colonel.

Dark Hub looked at the navi unamused. "Mega…man…" Colonel groaned as the navi shook his hand off. When his foot came down on him, Colonel immediately could feel a dark aura around his friend. The navi's crimson red eyes bore holes into the black swordsman. The black navi clenched his jaw, determined not to yell in pain from the force Megaman had brought down on his hand.

"The name's not Megaman," Dark Hub smirked as he saw the fear in Colonel's eyes. He turned his gaze over to the pink one who was still standing…barely. As the dark navi looked around he made a note to self, when getting into an internal fight with his lighter half make sure to have better discipline. Even though he was fairly certain that Hub had either been destroyed or locked away, he would hate to have a..."discussion"...like that again with subordinates around. Somehow, he had managed to destroy much of SoulNet and any navi that had gotten in his way. Much of Team Colonel was still standing…er…lying badly damaged on the ground. Dark Hub rolled his eyes and approached the pink navi.

Roll cowered back, "Stay away from me." The pink navi had never been more scared in her life. Every time she had been in trouble, she had known that Megaman would come to save her. Now, Megaman was the villain. The navi's eyes darted. She was the only one left. Gutsman and Glyde were deleted. Knightman was right on the verge. Shadowman had fled. Colonel and Tomahawkman had seen much better days. Toadman and Numberman…she barely saw what happened to them after they had been thrown over the edge. She just hoped that they were still recoverable.

"I would, except that there appears to be no one else left to talk to. You wouldn't want me to go insane again would you? I hear that happens when someone is all alone," Dark Hub commented as he walked closer. Roll caught herself quickly and turned behind her. She had almost gotten the same fate as Toadman and Numberman. She looked back in front of her to see the dark navi right in front of her. Mega's kind green eyes were gone and replaced with red calculating ones.

"Please…don't hurt me…" she whispered as tears almost sprouted from her eyes. She was going to be deleted in the worst way possible. She knew it. Anyway else but not by him. She knew navis didn't have a god but she was praying that she could be deleted any other way than by Megaman's hands. She closed her eyes as she saw a hand go up. This was it! He was going to push her over the edge! Her eyes snapped open as she felt something on her cheek, "Too weak for my type. But still, I don't really have a reason to destroy you."

Dark Hub didn't really remember what had happened while Nebula Gray had installed himself. He only assumed that the fight that had happened internally had reflected itself in the real world and he had done all this in a different mindset. However, it didn't pay to have such a reckless image of him already with barely even a minute to his name.

The navi's eyes flashed as he noticed Colonel struggle back up to his feet. Dark Hub pulled Roll close to him and held her tightly. She shrieked and the sudden movement but was at least happy he hadn't pulled out his buster.

"Listen here Colonel, you move an inch closer and I'll delete her. Now, I'm going to leave and you won't be following. I even think you're behind me and I kill her and come for you. Do you really want that data on your hands before you meet the same fate Colonel?" Dark Hub asked. Roll shivered. How could anyone so nice turn into this? She knew that something had happened to him, but didn't know much beyond the fact it had something to do with the purple beast that had disappeared about seven minutes ago.

"Me…ga…man. Fight…it…" Colonel groaned as he took a weakened step back.

"I told you. I'm not Megaman. The name's Dark Hub. And I believe the two of us," he said looking at the female navi in his hands quickly, "have got to go." The dark navi teleported both himself and Roll out of the damaged SoulNet. As he left, some of the systems came back online. The pressure of the evil coming out of the network was alleviated. Megaman was gone. Nebula Gray was gone. Dark Hub was here…and he was entirely worse than Dark Mega or Nebula Gray could have ever been.

Roll coughed as the pressure around her neck was released. She didn't have to because she didn't breathe but she couldn't fight her programming. She looked back at Dark Hub who seemed ready to ditch her. Just as well really. She could get back to Mayl now that she was free. As she got back up, she squashed the urge to call out to him. She wanted to so badly, but those eyes told her otherwise. She had seen beyond them and knew that Megaman was gone. Maybe suppressed deep down inside, but not anywhere close to rising again. She had lost him. She lost her Mega! The realization hit her like a sack of Metagels falling on top of her.

Roll sank to her knees and started crying. Dark Hub stopped for a moment and looked behind him for a second before continuing to walk around. Roll looked back up through bleary eyes. Why? Why did it have to be this way? What did anyone do to deserve this? Hub didn't deserve any of this. He didn't deserve to be turned into the cold being he was now. So why was he condemned to these fates? Wasn't it bad enough that he had died twice now? Her answerless questions only cause more tears to spill as she tried to stop herself from crying. However, as she somehow managed to do this successfully, she noticed that it was getting darker.

She heard Dark Hub curse as he fired several shots into the air. Too late she realized what all the fuss was about. The darkness was the firewall covering the area. A strong one too. Roll herself cursed as she began to notice the intense energy that surged in this network. It felt dark and evil. She got up to her feet and tried to find a link to get out of her, but all of them were going dead. She tried to establish a link between her and her PET but the firewall was giving her static. In minutes, the area was surrounded.

Roll could feel fear seize her whole being. What was this place? As she backed up, she walked into Dark Hub. Mostly out of instinct, she seized the navi tightly. Dark Hub merely chuckled at the frightened navi as he looked back up at the darkened sky, "I hope you didn't have anything to do in the outside world. Welcome to Black Earth. A network in which darkness rules and the central core of this place has just thrown up a firewall to prevent anything from leaving."

"Wh-h-h-at?" Roll stammered as she tried to process the information.

"You see my presence seems to be inciting the other residents here. So much so that that the place felt a need to protect the world from it. After all, it would be bad if the birthing place of pure Dark Souls would allow us to be free."

"Us?" Roll didn't understand.

"If you had left a moments ago, you could have avoided this. But you see," Roll could feel Dark Hub's grip on her. A sudden cold washed over her, "only darkness exists here. And if you don't convert, I'm afraid that soon you won't be around for much longer."

Ghost: Phew! Well, that's an episode! What'd you guys think? Sorry about the MMBN5 recap, but we had some ground to cover over again and well...I thought it was fun anyway. So, man's evil had installed itself into the only navi with a human soul; Team Colonel has been trounced; Roll's been kidnapped and placed in the one area that no one wants to be in; All the NetOps are going to be in recovery mode for a while. Well, I say that's a lot that happened don't you?

On that note, Ghost501 logging out! Don't forget to review! *starts singing* Call me a sinner, call me a saint... (Guess the song and you get a cookie from...um...who's alive and not in danger of being turned... Got it! *reachs into a portal and pulls out a baby navi. Stream will give you a cookie! *MMJr. I just call him Stream).

Oh for everyone needing a recap on Roll's Merges break down and element...

Roll (Normal): Recovery Navi type, Roll Arrow (Break Element), Roll Whip

Roll's Visor (Cursor Element)

Pyra Merge: Fire Element, Blaze Circle: Creates a ring of fire around Roll, BU - Flame Arrow

Glacia Merge: Water Element, Freeze Dome (Obstacle Element): Creates an igloo around Roll, BU - Icicle Harpoon

Voltra Merge: Elec Element, Thunder Blast: Confuses all enemies with the sound of thunder, BU - Sonic Arrow

Terra Merge: Wood Element, Gaia Break (Ground Cracking Element): Cracks all panels, BU - Thorn Spear

Aura Merge: Wind Element, Gale Push (Invis Element): Removes all auras, blows enemies back, Roll "disappears" as the wind blows, BU - Air Barrage

So the only elements I have used are Sword and Plus. Sword's an offense ability so that's off and Plus...yeah no. Not going through the element that gives me Number Soul. Bad memories. So yeah, every element has been used! So what's the final merge? Let you know when I've got it penciled down. Have some ideas...

Update: ...Friday (Please don't kill me...)