It's the year 200X. In era of society controlled by the internet, organizations have tried to conquer the world and install terror in the populace. I always find myself in the middle of these situations. I found myself up against the terrorists World Three, became entangled with the NetMafia Gospel and eradicated the Crime Syndicate Nebula. Through everything my NetNavi has always been at my side. In fact as Mayl often says he's more the hero than I! But when I'm not helping him save the world he helps me with my life including...

"Lan, wake up you're going to be late for your date!"

13 year old Lan Hikari rolled out of bed when the Navi called to him. He looked across the room at his PC, his NetNavi was smiling on the home page. Lan was grateful for the wake-up call but...

"MegaMan...I told you it's not a date." Lan said sleepily as he grabbed some clothing from his closet and began changing.

"You're taking Mayl to the new SciLab wing to see your dad's new project and then you two are going out to lunch. It seems like a date to me" MegaMan jested.

Lan ignored MegaMan's playful jabs and got prepared for his day out with Mayl. While it would just be the two of them, that wasn't so different from any other time they had hung out recently. With Dex moved overseas to be with Chisao and Yai going to school in Kingsland all Lan and Mayl had were each other. Which isn't something that Lan had a problem with, but he did miss his friends sometimes. After Lan had settled on his normal attire of a white shirt, orange vest and black shorts he unplugged his charging PET from his computer. Slipping the device into his sleeve holder, a hologram of his NetNavi appeared on his shoulder.

"How are we for time MegaMan?"

"Surprisingly you might actually be on time if you leave soon." Lan headed downstairs.

"Lan you're heading out for your date with Mayl right?" His mother Haruka Hikari asked him from the kitchen.

"It's not a date Mom!"

"Well whatever it is could you please grab your father's DataDisk from his office? He forgot it again."

Lan's father, Yuichiro Hikari, was the top scientist at the SciLabs and responsible for a number of technological leaps and bounds over the past years. Lan hoped one day to follow in his footsteps. Even if it meant not falling asleep in school and doing all his homework.

"Got it Mom, I'll see you tonight."

Lan closed his door and walked next door, as soon as he started walking up the front steps a girl appeared in the door. "Wow Lan you're early for once!" Mayl was in her normal attire, a pink short skirt with black leggings, a blue vest and green shirt. Her vibrant hair was a little longer then Lan was used to, but she still looked the same. His heart skipped a bit when he saw her.

"There's a first time for everything" a pink navi said from Mayl shoulder. Mayl's Navi Roll was the same height as MegaMan, with a long blonde pony tail.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm early, can we leave already" Lan said, embarrassed by their tag-teaming of him. The two of them started off towards the subway. "So have you heard from Yai lately?" Lan asked Mayl. Yai and her NetNavi Glyde had gotten into one of the most prestigious schools in Kingsland and spent all her time studying. Though on free weekends she would occasionally hop on her fathers airplane and spend the weekend with the two of them.

"Yes, she called me the other night; she's really enjoying her time overseas. Have you heard from Dex?" After grade seven finished Dex had gotten the urge to spend more time with his brother Chisao, whom he had lived with briefly back in grade 5. With the blessing of his friends and mother he left ACDC for good.

"Not recently, last I heard he and Chisao were going on a bit of a vacation." Lan said, remembering Dex's last email.

"It's so strange without them around, I keep expecting Yai to drive up and order us into her limo or Dex to order you to keep your hands off me." Mayl grinned.

"Heh, yeah it's kinda lonely without them." Lan admitted

They continued to talk until they reached the subway station. The ride to the SciLabs would take around 20 minutes. The station wasn't as busy as it was during rush hour but there still were a fair amount of people. Off in the distance the subway could be seen coming up on the station. The two of them walked up to an

"Lan I think it's one of the new ones." Mayl said walking to the edge of the platform and looking down the track. Lan followed. The glistening subway was quite different from the one he remembered. It would be a refreshing change of pace to ride in one with new seats, no graffiti and state of the art technology. There were even vending machines on these subways! Lan wasn't sure how you'd maneuver to one during rush hour but it would be nice for the quieter times.

The subway was surprisingly empty as it slowed to a stop in the station. As the windows rolled by Lan only saw one other person in the car. "Huh, must not be very busy today" MegaMan said from Lan's shoulder. As the subway came to a stop, the door opened Lan and Mayl stepped on. There was a single man leaning up against the wall, his eyes closed and arms crossed.

As soon as they had entered the cabin so the door to their car slammed shut. MegaMan cried out in surprise and Lan and Mayl turned around to see the surprised looks on the face of the other commuters as the train started up. Mayl ran to the door and banged on it in vain.

"MegaMan, maybe you should plug in, it could be a virus!"

"Roll, you go to!" Mayl cried. The two of them pulled out their PETs but before they could jack-in continue a voice came from the end of the car.

"There will be no need for that." A soft voice said from behind them

The two of them turned their heads towards the end of the train. The one person that Lan had seen earlier was walking towards them. He was a boy who appeared to be the same age and height as Lan. He had purple hair and brown eyes and wore black pants with a shirt that had turquoise sleeves and a dark navy blue centre. Adorned on his left breast was a sideways ying-yang. Hanging from his waist was a large bowie knife in a sheath.

"Lan Hikari, I wish to challenge you and your NetNavi" The mysterious boy had said.

"Who are you? What did you do to this subway? What are you going to do to us?" Lan asked the mysterious boy.

"Lan Hikari; aged 13. Son of Haruka and Yuichiro Hikari. Net Official, has defeated the Net Terrorist organization World Three on multiple occasions as well as the NetMafia Gospel and the Crime Syndicate Nebula. Responsible for the defeat of the extraterrestrial NetNavi Duo and the Cybeasts Gregar and Falzar. Operator of , who contains the digitized DNA of his deceased brother Hub Hikari.

"Wha...what?! How do you know that stuff?" MegaMan cried from Lan's shoulder.

"Nobody except my parents, Mayl and Chaud know that MegaMan contains Hub's DNA." Lan said in shock of this person knowing his greatest secret. He felt as though he had swallowed an ice cube. This boy had the ability to hijack a subway and knew all about Lan's life – was he some sort of criminal, a former lacky of WWW out for revenge?

The boy turned to Mayl. "Mayl Sakurai, age 13 as well. Spelt Mayl but pronounced Maylu. Operator of Roll, who is not a fighting Navi by design but still accompanies Lan and MegaMan on as many missions as they can. Parents work in Netopia and are seldom home so she is able to take care of herself. Spends all her free time with Lan Hikari."

"Who are you?" Mayl cried out.

"Me? I'm nobody, merely an observer. You may call me Dante." He gave a little bow, which Lan wasn't sure was him mocking them or sincere.

"What do you intend to do with us? Why have you hijacked this train?" Lan said, stepping in front of Mayl to try and protect her.

"Calm down, I only have one intention and that's to challenge you to a NetBattle. This train will arrive at the SciLabs at its scheduled time at which point you two will be free to leave I won't follow. And if you do manage to beat me you won't have to deal with me again. But first I challenge you so get your PET out."

Dante reached into his pocket and threw a white disc into the middle of the of the train floor. Dante looked up at Lan. "This is a battle disk, a self-contained NetBattle arena. Plug-in!"

"MegaMan, I don't know what this guy is up to but it looks like we have to fight him. Battle routine set, Jack-In, execute!"

Red beams shot out from the two PETs and entered the battle disk.

Inside the battle disk MegaMan loaded into the battle area. "A self-contained battle arena...impressive technology."

A second beam of light shot through the sky and hit the ground. Once the light cleared, a navi stepped out and faced MegaMan. The Navi had purple hair like his operator, but that was the only feature that MegaMan could make out. The Navi wore a black floor length cloak and had his face covered by a silver Venetian mask.

"So you're the famous MegaMan? My name is ElementalMan. Shall we begin?" ElementalMan asked MegaMan.

"Minibomb, LongBlade, Area Steal Battle chips in" Lan replied, answering ElementalMan's question. Lan pressed his fingers to the touch screen and dragged the chips to hisNnavi. MegaMan threw a number of small blue balls at ElementalMan which covered him and the battle field in smoke. A sword formed on MegaMan's right hand, and he vanished. Appearing right in front of ElementalMan, MegaMan brought the blade down hard on his foe.

"Great job MegaMan, you got him...wait, what?!"

The smoke cleared. ElementalMan had simply blocked the sword by raising his arm. "Pathetic" he said before kicking MegaMan in the stomach and sending him flying to his side of the field.

"He didn't even flinch; he blocked my Sword like it was a stiff breeze." MegaMan said in astonishment.

"Who is this guy?" Mayl asked in astonishment, watching the battle from Lan's display screen.

"This guy's defence is incredible. How could he block the sword attack without even flinching?" Lan wondered aloud. Clearly we can't mess around; I'm going to have to go all in with a powerful attack. "MegaMan we're changing tactics. Spreader, battle chips in, triple download!"

The sword disappeared and MegaMan's hands formed a cannon. "Hyper Burst!" MegaMan screamed.

"Hurry MegaMan before he blocks it!" If I can't attack him one on one, I'll attack him from afar!

MegaMan fired the program advance at ElementalMan. A multitude of laser shots fired from MegaMan's arms, covering the field.

"A good plan...but not good enough I'm afraid..." Dante said casually. "ElementalMan, evade."

ElementalMan ran through the lasers, dodging each incoming beam. "No! This is impossible" Lan screamed. He anticipated the pattern of the spreader and was able to dodge it? You have to be kidding me!

"Lan what should we d- ARGH." MegaMan yelled to Lan before getting cut off by ElementalMan. ElementalMan kicked MegaMan once again and wrapped his hand around the blue bombers throat, lifting him off the ground.

"MEGAMAN!" Lan screamed.

"This battle is over." ElementalMan declared.