Disclaimer: I do not own the Mega Man series in any shape or form. All characters belong to their original owners.
"They're going to be here soon Mega Man." said my twin brother Lan, now looking like an aged version of Dad. He was rapidly typing away at the keyboard connected to my PET.
"I can't let you get in trouble for this Lan, just let them take me!" The government had ordered the confiscation of all NetNavis in order to make way for new technology. Anyone who refused was to be arrested and their Navis forcefully taken.
"You've saved me more times than I can count. It's time I do the same for you."
"You don't need to do this Lan!"
"I'm going to put you into sleep mode and hide you in this data file along with all of your special data including battle chips. With any luck someone will find you and wake you up."
I could only watch helplessly as Lan finished and was about to press the final key.
"Sweet dreams Hub." Sweet dreams? He made it sound like we were going to see each other again. Lan then executed the program and I could feel my eyes fluttering shut.
"Lan don't do this... please..." I feebly cried as I felt my systems shut down.
Then there was only darkness.
Year 220X: AMAKEN – Aaron Boreal's Lab
Aaron Boreal was working intently to analyze the data that came from the various space satellites of WAZA. Meteor G, a massive meteor composed entirely of a type of EM radiation called Noise, was on a collision course with Earth. He needed to try and find a possible way to divert its course or destroy it, lest most of Earth's life and all of its EM technology be wiped out. However, research was going nowhere, and no one knew how to counteract it.
He decided to take a break and began sorting through old files in the database, deleting unnecessary ones and otherwise cleaning up for greater efficiency. However, he stopped when he found a folder he didn't recognize. Accessing it, he found an array of other files, including a word document. He opened it to find this message:
My name is Lan Hikari. If you are reading this, I'm probably long gone. Enclosed in this folder are a number of data files from the past the may prove useful, but the most important of them all is the NetNavi sleeping within. His name is MegaMan EXE. He is an incredibly powerful and adaptive NetNavi. We saved the world together at least six times you know! He is also my twin brother Hub, as he was infused with his human DNA and memories after he died from HBD when he was an infant. The instructions to wake him up and configure him are enclosed within. There is another NetNavi enclosed as well, but please wake up Hub first. I want it to be a surprise. Please, take care of him, he's my only brother and my best friend.
The name of Doctor Lan Hikari has been long forgotten by the general public, but every respectable scientist in the field of EM technology knew his name. He created the Brother Band and laid the groundwork for the formation of modern EM technology after all. They're keystones in today's society and the Link Power produced by it is the foundation of modern society.
"Mega Man... what a coincidence." said Boreal, remembering that his best friend Kelvin's son Geo also took the identity of Mega Man when he merged with the AM-ian Omega-Xis.
He looked over his notes, noting parallels between the new Wizards and NetNavis.
"Perhaps I can turn Mega Man into a Wizard... it's worth a shot! Well Dr. Hikari, I think your wish is coming true today!" Boreal began to go to work.
Hub/MegaMan EXE's Point of View
Processor Online
Sensory Receptors Online
Motor Controls Online...
MegaMan EXE Online
"Where am I?" I asked as I woke up and looked at my surroundings. It clearly wasn't Scilabs, and I wasn't in my PET either. I realized the absence of my twin brother.
"Lan! Where are you!" I called out of the screen, but no one seemed to be around to hear me.
"MegaMan you're awake!" I heard a voice say. I turned to see a man enter through the nearby door. He had a roundish face with brown hair and eyes. He wore what appeared to be a blue tracksuit, brown pants, and a blue baseball cap with AMAKEN written on it.
"Who are you?"
He looked at me with kind eyes like Dad's, "My name is Aaron Boreal. You're probably going to need to sit down to hear this."
I did as I was told, but I knew from the look on his face that it wasn't going to be good.
"You're in the computer here at AMAKEN, an organization I founded in the study of space and EM technology."
He doesn't seem like a bad person, but why am I here when Lan stored me away at Scilabs?
"The year is 220X. Over two hundred years after you were put to sleep. I'm sorry, but your brother is gone."
I could only stare blankly for a few seconds. Lan is gone. My younger twin brother, the person I spent nearly every waking minute of my life with, is gone. I looked into Mr. Boreal's eyes to find any sense of doubt or shred of hope, but there was none. Lan really is gone.
"Still, there's something you might want to read." He brought up a file which I opened.
Dear Hub,
I'm sorry for putting you into sleep mode like I did. However, I wanted you to live on. I know I'm not going to live forever. If you somehow wake up in a time long from now, I want you to know that I know things will be okay. You're MegaMan EXE, the strongest NetNavi. But you're also Hub Hikari, my brother and best friend. I know you'll be able to make a difference no matter where you are and when you wake up. I wish you the best. Take care of yourself Hub!
From your brother,
Lan Hikari
"Lan you idiot..." I could feel tears streaming down my face. "I didn't want to leave you behind." One of the bad things about being a human turned NetNavi is that while your loved ones age you remain the same. You watch them grow old and die. Worst of all there's nothing you can do about it.
"Dr. Hikari did say something in the message I opened, saying there was another NetNavi in the file."
"Another NetNavi?" It couldn't be Roll or Junior, there were among the ones taken first.
Mr. Boreal began running through line after line of code before finally executing the program as instructed by Lan.
A flash of white light appeared in the cyberspace before I saw what had appeared. It was a Navi that looked almost exactly like me! The only obvious differences were that his outfit's colors were inverted compared to mine, being mostly cyan with navy blue stripes down his sides ending at his boots. Speaking of which his boots, helmet, and gloves were also a lighter shade of blue, looking closer to cerulean than a plain blue like mine. His hair was also brown compared to my black. In addition, green neon like lines intersected across the segments of the shoulder armor and boots.
Suddenly his eyes opened, revealing eyes exactly like mine except for the fact that they were brown. He yawned as he stretched and got up, "That was some nap..." he muttered as he looked at his surroundings.
"Morning Hub, where are we?"
"Lan... is that you?"
He flashed one of his trademark goofy smiles, "In the flesh! Er, data."
"But how..."
"I knew I wasn't going to last much longer, so I decided to replicate Dad's Navi Project so I could always be your partner! So here I am!"
I clenched my fists in the swirling mix of emotions of joy, anger, surprise, and shock before I jumped on my twin and began disciplining him physically for the first time.
"You jerk! You had me so worried! I can't believe you made me think I'd never see you again!"
"Ow, ow, ow stop I wanted it to be a surprise! I'm sorry I worried you! Cut it out!"
"You better be sorry!"
"Ahem." Mr. Boreal cleared his throat to quickly end our little feud.
After noticing the man watching us, Lan asked "Who is he?" Casual as ever I see. He hasn't changed a bit over the years...
"He's Mr. Boreal, he found us in the database here at AMAKEN, a company that researches space. It's the year 220X Lan, over two hundred years since you put me to sleep."
"Oh. Nice to meet you! I think you know already but I'm Lan Hikari, formally Dr. Lan Hikari."
"It's great to meet you too Dr. Hikari. Though I have to admit I never imagined it'd be quite like this. Your invention of the Brother Band is pretty much essential in our daily lives now. If every scientist in the world knew you were alive I'm sure they'd be giving you thanks."
"Aw, it was nothing. I'm just glad my invention helped. But just call me Lan. Dr. Hikari makes me sound old like my dad." He certainly seemed proud of his accomplishment despite his humble words.
"Don't let it go to your head Lan." I scolded as he scratched the back of his helmet sheepishly.
"As much as I'd like to ask you about the past, there is more important business I must discuss with you two." We both looked at the man in surprise. What could be so important?
"Nowadays, NetNavis are all but obsolete and have been replaced due to advances in EM technology." The two of us frowned at that. I knew that they were being replaced by the time I went to sleep but to be considered obsolete, that's like rendering my entire life and existence void.
"We now have Wizards, which are a lot like NetNavis except they can manifest in the real world to help us as they are made of EM waves."
"What does this have to do with us?" asked Lan.
"Well I used your notes on how to configure MegaMan to combine your data with the latest in EM technology. As a result, the both of you are Wizards."
Both of our jaws dropped at that. "Does that mean..."
"Yes, you can manifest in the real world without a Copy Bot."
The two of us cheered at the thought. To be able to go into the real world without the use of a robot was my life's dream, and it's becoming a reality.
"However, I've never created or tinkered with Wizards that have human DNA. I don't know what kind of effects or potential complications it could cause."
"Well there's no time like the present! Right Hub?"
"Yeah!" I was too excited to care about the potential dangers and unknowns.
"Alright then, first we'll need to transfer you into these Hunter-VGs first. They're kind of like the PETs of this era." He brought out two devices shaped like triangles at the top but were circular at the bottom. That had a black circle outlined in the color of the Hunter-VG. Mine was a navy blue while Lan's was a much lighter shade of cyan.
"Uh, this is my first time doing something like this. How do you go about this Hub?" Lan looked nervous at the prospect of transferring to a device so soon. Even I had a few months of education with Dad before I left the Scilab computer.
"Just go with the flow, it'll be over quickly." Mr. Boreal inserted two computer chips into the computer. Lan and I turned into small beams of light as we vanished into our respective devices.
The next thing I knew I was in another cyberspace-like room. It reminded me of my PET. Despite the fact that there wasn't a screen I could still see my surroundings outside of the Hunter-VG just fine. After our transfers were complete Mr. Boreal then picked up our devices and shouted, "Wizard On!"
I soon found myself in the room Mr. Boreal was in. Lan was opposite me. To our surprise, we were not in our NetNavi forms but wearing human clothes. In fact, Lan looked exactly as he did over two hundred years ago. He was wearing his white long sleeved shirt with black patches on the elbows with an orange vest along with a pair of black shorts with yellow stripes down the sides. He even had his trademark bandana, which he used to keep his messy hair out of his eyes, and his roller skates, which happened to work as well.
I was wearing the exact same outfit, only I didn't have the bandana and my vest was a sky blue. As I reached up to check for my helmet, it too was gone and I could feel my hair.
"This is awesome! It's like I'm a kid again!" exclaimed Lan as he looked himself over.
"You were always a kid Lan, you never really grew up that much." I teased at my brother's antics.
"Grrr, you were always like Dad, all responsible and uptight. Heck you look like him right down to your hairstyle."
As I looked at an empty computer screen to check I saw that Lan was right. I appeared practically as a younger version of Dad minus the glasses.
"Well this is a pleasant surprise. At least this will help you blend into society more easily. I'll have to contact Echo Ridge Elementary to sign you two in." said Mr. Boreal as he observed our situation.
"You mean we have to go to school again?" Lan whined childishly.
"Come on Lan, it's a part of growing up. Maybe you'll do some of it this time."
"Hey! I am a grown up. I just don't look like it."
"Or act like it."
"Why you!" Lan started chasing me around the lab. Unfortunately I tripped and fell onto the floor.
"Ow!"
"Oh, sorry Hub!" As I looked down to where I fell I found that there was a small scrape on my knee, with a small amount of blood oozing out of it.
"Blood?" This is my first time seeing my own blood. I didn't even know I had blood.
"I certainly didn't expect this. I'm going to get you two a full physical. You'll need it anyway to get admission. But if this means what I think it does you're for all intents and purposes human in this form."
"Then how do we access our NetNav-,er Wizard forms again?" I asked. It was great to be able to live like a human for the first time, but I wasn't quite ready to leave my life as a NetNavi behind.
"I'm not sure. This never happened before after all. This may sound a little silly, but try shouting, EM Wave Change! Before saying your name and On the Air!"
We were no strangers to shouting, since Lan always yelled "Jack in!, MegaMan EXE execute!" before I jacked into the net.
Lan beat me to it, "I'll go first! EM Wave Change, Lan Hikari, On the Air!"
Nothing happened. "I guess that wasn't it. If only this were as easy as Cross Fusion." muttered my brother as he sighed in frustration.
"EM Wave Change detected." The two of us jumped at the Hunter-VG's sudden response.
"What's going on?!" asked Lan as he waved the Hunter-VG on his wrist around.
"Satella Police Accessing... Authenticating. Authentication complete. Registering Lan Hikari as Transcode 006. ID card issued... Authentication Code: Hikari EXE." A silver card was displayed showing the number it just said along with a silhouette of Lan's Wizard/NetNavi form.
"Upon EM Wave Change the Authentication Code is required." It then went silent.
"What the heck was that?" I asked as we tried to comprehend the turn of events.
"I dunno, but it looks like I'm registered in something called the Satella Police."
"I can explain that. The Satella Police defends the people of the world from the attacks of EM viruses and other events."
"EM viruses? There are viruses in this time too?" Lan looked ready to burst from excitement, "Yes, I can still virus bust! Woohoo!" I was excited too but I was too embarrassed by Lan to show it. It's good to know that part of my former lifestyle was not completely gone.
Mr. Boreal smiled before beginning to talk to us in a low whisper, "I'm not supposed to tell anyone, but right now they are running a project called Project Transcode to register and keep a list of all of the humans who can perform an EM Wave Change."
"You mean there are others that can do this?"
"Yes, but I'm not familiar with many of them. I do know three personally. The first I know of is my best friend's son Geo Stelar. He combines with the alien Omega-Xis to become the superhero Mega Man. He saved the world two times already."
"Mega Man?" said the two of us in unison. That was my name as a NetNavi that I used practically everywhere since I couldn't use my birth name. To think that someone else would be using it now.
"It's a strange coincidence isn't it?"
"No kidding..." I muttered as I mulled it over.
"Also, aliens are real?" asked my brother, always into these kinds of things.
"Yes. Geo fought a small army of them not too long ago by EM Wave Changing through the same process that you used."
"So we'll be able to fight aliens, this keeps getting better and better!"
"I wouldn't get ahead of yourselves but that's a possibility."
"Oh well, as long as it could happen I'm happy."
I saw Mr. Boreal smile at my brother's behavior as a kid at heart, "Moving on, Geo is going to elementary school that you're going to be attending tomorrow. But keep it a secret, as well as your status as Wizards. I'd think it would cause a media fiasco if it got out."
"Got it. Still, I hope we'll be able to become friends." I said while nodding.
"That I hope too. I think he'd get along with you twins quite well. Geo's a lot like you in particular Hub. His alien partner is more like Lan."
"Then I can't wait to meet him. Can we stop talking about school? It's bringing up bad memories." said Lan impatiently.
"Fine, but you better not make me do your homework again." I added cheekily.
"I'm an adult I can do my own homework!"
"Just putting that out ahead of time."
Lan then started eyeing my Hunter-VG. "It's my turn to register isn't it?" Lan nodded in anticipation.
I raised my arm into the air and yelled, "EM Wave Change! Hub Hikari, On the Air!"
The same thing happened as before with Lan. "EM Wave Change detected. Satella Police Accessing... Authenticating. Authentication complete. Registering Hub Hikari as Transcode 007. ID card issued... Authentication Code: MegaMan EXE." The same silver card was displayed showing the number it just said along with a silhouette of my Wizard/NetNavi form. "Upon EM Wave Change the Authentication Code is required."
"Do you want to try it now?"
"Yeah, but how?"
"Well, it said the authentication code was our Navi name. It also kept mentioning the word Transcode. Maybe we need to say them in order."
"That makes sense, let me try." I got into position and raised my arm into the air again, "Transcode 007, MegaMan EXE!" I was then cloaked in a flash of blue light as I felt the parts of my NetNavi armor being equipped to my body, first the gloves and boots, followed by the emblem and suit, finally the helmet. When I opened my eyes I was in my NetNavi form once more, the only differences being the emerald green lines in part of the armor and the new light blue visor that hid my eyes, much like some of my Double Soul forms.
"It works!"
"My turn! Transcode 006, Hikari EXE!" My twin was cloaked in the same light before he too was in his NetNavi form with the same green lines and a deep green visor instead.
"Let's see if our weapons still work." I turned my hand into my trusty Mega Buster before aiming out the open window towards the sky. "Mega Buster!" I yelled before a salvo of energy shots went off.
"Mine works, how about yours Lan?"
He was about to do the same before he stopped in thought for a second. "I never used my buster before. What should I call it?"
"Uh, I haven't a clue. Well your Navi/Wizard name is Hikari, our last name, which means light. How about something related to that like flash or bright."
"Something related to light... I know!" He aimed his buster out the window, "Shining Buster!" His arm cannon let out different colored but otherwise identical bursts of light.
"Well now we know how to turn it on, now how do we turn it off?"
Lan stared blankly for a moment before realizing that we had no idea how to return to our human forms. We panicked a little, unsure about what to do. I didn't want to lose my chance to live as a normal human so soon!
"Try relaxing and willing your form to dissipate. That's how Geo does it." said Mr. Boreal.
We both took a deep breath and relaxed, trying to get rid of our transformation. As we did our armor dissipated and we were back in our normal clothes, much to our relief.
"I guess that's it for the day. I'm exhausted." I said as the process finished. So much happened today that I almost believed it was a dream until I pinched myself really hard (I still had all of the strength I had as a NetNavi).
"Me too." said Lan with another yawn.
"I'm not surprised. You two have been through a lot today. I'll put out the sleeping bags, you can sleep under the stars if you want."
"Can we?" It'd be the first time I'd get to see real stars outside of the screen of a PET.
He chuckled at my childish gaze. "Of course you can."
We lied down on the roof of the building in our sleeping bags, gazing at the night sky.
"I still can't believe I'm not dreaming Lan, this is amazing."
"Yeah, we're in the future, we're Wizards, best of all we get to be together like this."
"I wonder how we'll lead our lives like this. The future is incredibly cool but... I miss everyone. Yai, Mayl, Dex, Mom and Dad, they're all gone."
"Hmmm. But there's no worrying about it now! I know they'll be happy as long as we're okay and we make the world a better place, just like old times."
"I guess... good night Lan."
"Good night Hub." I then drifted off to sleep once more.
Echo Ridge Elementary
Lan's Point of View
"Do we really have to go to school?" I asked as Mr. Boreal lead us to his car.
"Sorry Lan, but the truant officers will get suspicious if they say a pair of young boys at home without a tutoring Wizard."
"But I already went through elementary school, middle school, high school, and college to the doctorate degree!"
"Do you think anyone will believe you with your current appearance?"
"Damn it!"
"Lan, language!" said my nagging twin brother, now in the real world with me thanks to the technology they have here in the future. For some reason we manifest as flesh and blood people rather than EM waves unless we EM Wave Change, despite being Wizards (I think it's because of our human DNA).
"I shouldn't have a limit on what I say, I'm over two hundred years old for crying out loud!"
"Still it's rude! At least try to act your age!"
"Ugh, why are you always so uptight!"
"Because it's been my job since you got me as your NetNavi, only now I can berate you in person rather than from a PET."
"You're really annoying you know that?"
"If it keeps you from getting in trouble I don't mind."
Mr. Boreal only chuckled at our bickering as he started the car and drove us to school.
Geo's Point of View
I was sitting amongst the clamor of my classmates before class began.
I was barely containing my excitement at today's lesson, we were going to try out the latest OS for the new Hunter-VG!
"Hey, Kid..." whispered Omega-Xis, my alien best friend and EM Wave Change partner.
"What's up, Mega?" I whispered into my Hunter-VG. "People will hear you, so you better keep it down."
"Don't worry." he replied, "Everyone's too excited to hear me! What's goin' on anyway?"
"Heh heh, you'll see soon!" I didn't want to spoil the surprise. He only gave me a questioning look in response.
"Does everyone have their mobile terminals ready?" asked Mr. Shepar, my coffee-loving homeroom teacher.
"Ready!" we all called back.
"Kids, today we'll be upgrading our operating system, known as our OS. Altering such a vital program is a quite a big deal. Okay, I'm sending the upgrade program to everyone now! Here we go!"
I eagerly began to immediately begin updating the OS as soon as I got the upgrade program.
Mega looked startled as I began doing so, "W-wait a second! Upgrade?! What's going to happen to me? I'm inside the OS!"
"Hmm, I wonder..." What would happen to Mega?
"Hey, Kid! Grr, there's a ton of data coming in!"
As it completed, I could only marvel at the wonderful new layout. "Wow!" we all exclaimed as we looked it over.
"A-awesome!" I said as I started looking through all of the new features. "This is the new mobile terminal OS. It's completely different from before!"
"It looks like you've all finished upgrading successfully! As you may know, your new terminal is called the Hunter-VG. As the pace of advancement of technology rapidly increased, so has the number of virus related problems. The Hunter-VG is designed in order to make virus busting easier. The Battle Cards are used to delete viruses have also been made more manageable."
"So that's why it's called the Hunter..."
"The Hunter-VG will be an essential part of your day-to-day lives. It comes with many functions, so try them out when you have a chance!"
"Yes sir!" we replied.
"As I said before, the upgrade has reformatted your data. So you'll have to re-input everything. First you'll need a new Codename, which you'll use when you access the Network. You can pick anything you want for a Codename, but don't pick anything naughty!"
I thought it over for a little while before deciding on Ryusei, an old word that also works as a name with the literal meaning of shooting star, perfect with my love of space.
We then spent the next half hour going over all of the new functions of the Hunter-VG, including the pop-up system which let's us get info about practically anything we need in a flash. We were interrupted by another announcement from Mr. Shepar.
"Class, it seems that we were some caught up in the excitement of our new devices that I forgot to introduce two of our new students. Come over here you two."
Two young boys that looked remarkably alike walked to the front of the class. The first had neatly styled hair and was wearing a light blue vest. The second had messy hair held back with a bandana and wore an orange vest. They were otherwise identical, with the same face, long-sleeved white shirt, black shorts with yellow stripes, and black and orange shoes. Are they twins?
The one with the blue vest was the first to speak. "My name is Hub Hikari. I look forward to working with everyone. Please take care of me." he said in a respectful but youthful voice.
The one in the orange vest then spoke up. "Hi! I'm Lan Hikari! My favorite hobby is virus busting! Let's have fun together everyone!" he said in a vibrant and lively voice.
"Um, are you twins?" asked Mary McLovin, a girl in my class.
"Yup!" said Lan, "We're identical twins!" He grabbed his brother playfully. "We're staying here while our parents are working overseas."
Hub sighed, "But we're polar opposites. I'm the older, more serious and responsible one while he is the younger, more brash and irresponsible one."
"Hey! I'm not that irresponsible!"
"You can say that when you finish all your homework on time without my help!"
"I've been getting better!"
Many of us laughed at their arguing as the bell rang. "Oh, one last thing before class ends. The upgrade deleted your Brother Bands. Don't forget to reform your Brother Bands with your close friends! Everyone, be safe on your way home!"
"So, my Brother Bands have been deleted... I better reform them with Bud, Zack, and Prez."
"Hey... Kid..." said Mega quietly, but he didn't sound very good, "Is it okay if I come out for a bit?"
"What? No Way! People will notice if you come out here! It's different now that people can see you!" I whispered back. How would people take it if an alien suddenly appeared in their classroom?
"Well, let's get to a place where that won't be a problem!"
"What's the big hurry all of a sudden anyway?"
"Whatever, let's just get out here ASAP!"
"Fine..."Now where's a place where we can stay unseen... how about the roof?
Hub's Point of View
"See, that wasn't so bad!" I told my brother as we began to leave the classroom. After getting over the fact that he had to go to school he returned to his usual, perky self. I think he actually enjoyed class for once too.
"You were right. It was interesting enough that I didn't fall asleep in class."
I sighed again, "It's a start. You were a world-class Net scientist Lan, you have to put more time and effort into your studies if we're going to live in this era and understand what people do here."
"Yeah I know, but seriously? Times tables? We finished that centuries ago." He's got a point.
"I know, I know. Let's just talk about this later, it's going to take a while for it to sink into you anyway."
"Alright!" he replied while stretching, "I could use some air. How about we go to the roof?"
"I don't have any better ideas on what to do, and Mr. Boreal isn't going to be here until five. We have time."
"Let's go then!" Lan ran towards the elevator dragging me along with him.
The Roof – Echo Ridge Elementary
Geo's Point of View
"This should be a good spot. Okay then, Wizard On!" Mega then appeared in the air in front of me. Come to think of it this was the first time I've seen him without my visualizer.
As he materialized he began roaring all of the place, causing me to jump. "What's wrong Mega?"
"Geo, for crying out loud! Let me know before you ever do something like upgrade your mobile terminal!"
"Huh? Why?" What's he mad about?
What do you mean why? You should know! Thanks to those recent developments in wave technology I've become your Wizard, an EM Body that's integrated into your Hunter-VG!"
"Of course I know that much... You and the Hunter-VG are intimately linked together."
"Grr! Exactly!" he growled, "Now if you make a change to the system you make a change me too! How do you think it feels to have a ton of data shoved down your gullet? It was terrible!"
He then began to keel over, as if he were seasick, "Ohh... I don't feel so good all of a sudden..."
"S-Sorry! I didn't think of that!" I didn't think that EM beings could get sick.
"No big deal, kid. Just keep it in mind for the future. Say have you put on your Visualizer recently?"
"Come to think of it, I haven't worn it in a while." A put on the visualizers I usually wore on my head. They're a special pair of glasses that let you see EM waves, including the Wave Road, where all EM Beings on Earth do their work.
I began reminiscing as I put them on. "If I didn't have these, I would have never met you Mega." Before I met Mega I always used be a loner and would always go to Vista Point to watch the stars and the bending EM waves with them. It was only after Mega crashed into me (literally) that I could finally see EM Beings and the Wave Road with them.
"Your father was a good man, Geo. And as they say, like father like son."
I gently brushed off the compliment, "You don't need to compare me to my dad. I need to carve my own path in life."
"Well aren't you growing up kid? See anything different?" Yeah, there was one big difference. I couldn't see any people with them on.
"I can't see any humans with them anymore."
"It's a side effect of the new wave technology. You can kind of see people with them on but it's hard. Just be really careful while you're walking around with the Visualizer on."
"Got it." As I took off the visualizer my Hunter-VG began to ring and vibrate.
"I've got a phone call." I held out my Hunter-VG creating a holographic projection showing that the caller was Prez.
"Oh, Prez. What's up?" Luna Platz is our student class president. She is the head of the trio I call my friends. She's bossy, rude, and kind of spoiled, but she's a good person at heart.
"What's up? I can't believe you tell me what's up after you took off so suddenly just after class!" The screen was shaking with her anger.
"Uh, I kinda had something to take care of..."
"Yeah, yeah. Just come to the Snack Shop on the first floor, okay?" The screen suddenly zoomed in, "On the double!" she barked as the call ended.
"Man, she sure is angry at me today."
"You'd better get over to the Snack Shop before she gets any angrier!"
Lan's Point of View
A bunch of kids wearing lab coats and carrying clipboards were on the elevator as well. They were probably members of the science club. As Hub and I walked out onto the roof we saw Geo walking towards the elevator. I guess he had to go somewhere.
He walked to the side to let us and the science club out.
"It's the science club." he noted as the club members began pulling out an array of tools to quickly assemble what looked like a small rocket.
"Is everyone ready?" said the tall one with glasses, presumably the leader of the club.
"Ready!" the two younger members replied in response.
"Great! Let's get started shall we?" When they finished a small green rocket shaped like a missle was planted on the ground.
"We've finally finished the small scale rocket in our lab! At last we can finally perform the flight test!" the trio cheered as they looked ready to start the rocket.
"This is way more interesting than class Hub!" I said as I gazed at the rocket.
"Maybe, I kind of want to see what they do with it first." my twin replied.
We were then interrupted by a clattering noise coming from the roof garden.
"Huh? What's that sound?" asked the science club leader.
The garden sprinklers started spraying water everywhere without end!
"The sprinkler is out of control!" said the young girl.
"I'm detecting a virus reading somewhere! It's coming from that sprinkler's Cyber Core!" exclaimed the young boy.
"Calm down, everyone! We all have Hunter-VGs and Battle Cards just for this very occasion right? Let's take care of the virus together!" the eldest of the trio said to reassure them.
"Take this! Cannon! Mini Grenade! Plasma Gun!" the trio cried as they loaded their Battle Cards not unlike how you would use Battle Chips.
However the sprinkler continued to shoot water everywhere. "It's no use... if only we had Wizards. Then we could use Battle Cards more effectively!" cried the two younger members of the club.
"Argh, is science worthless?" muttered the eldest science club member.
"Sir!"
"Woody!"
"Hub we night need to jump in and help." I said as I observed the situation.
"You're right. But how do we get into the sprinkler's Cyber Core?"
"Cyber Core?" I asked, clueless to the term.
"Were you paying attention in class Lan?" he scolded, "Ugh, the quickest way to explain it is that its the inside of the EM technology that they use here. It's like how we always used to jack-in when something went wrong."
"Got it. Well, we could ask Geo."
"And expose ourselves? Think Lan!"
"We have to protect the rocket! It's the symbol of all of our hard work!" cried the newly named Woody as he jumped in front of the model rocket to shield it from a sudden blast of water.
"We're going to have to help em' kid. What are you gonna do? How about I go into the sprinkler Cyber Core and go buck wild on those viruses?" we heard a deep, rough voice say from Geo's Hunter-VG.
"Hmm... no, let's get them together!" said Geo.
"Alright! It's been a while since we've EM Wave Changed! Just don't forget to stay frosty kid!" said the rough voice.
"You got it! Let's trans into the Sprinkler Cyber Core!" He then turned to the group, "Take it easy guys! I'm going to help!"
"How are you going to help?" asked the young science club member.
"Umm... J-Just don't worry about it, it's under control."
"Lan we're going to help too!"
"Alright! I've been waiting for a chance to virus bust all day!" We ended up all running to the corner near the wave station.
"It's EM Wave Change time!" Geo yelled as he raised his Hunter-VG to the air. But nothing happened, just like what happened with us yesterday.
"I-It's not working Mega! I even yelled and everything! Man this is so embarrassing!" I couldn't help but quietly laugh at his predicament, but I got a slap on the back from my brother for doing so.
"That's strange, yelling usually makes everything work." replied his wizard, probably the alien Mr. Boreal talked about.
"Wait there's a message coming in through the Hunter-VG."
"EM Wave Change detected. Satella Police Accessing..."
"Uh oh, this sounds pretty serious. Are we in trouble?"
"Authenticating. Authentication complete. Registering Geo Stelar and Omega-Xis as Transcode 003. ID card issued... Authentication Code: Mega Man. Upon EM Wave Change the Authentication Code is now required."
"What was that?" asked the boy with same hero name as my twin.
"It looks like we're registered with the Satella Police. And that we won't really be able to Wave Change so easily anymore. I'm not really sure, but it looks like we need to use the code Mega Man when we Wave Change. Don't worry about it too much okay? Let's do this! We can enter the road through the Wave Station!"
"Okay, let's do it! Transcode 003, Mega Man!" he yelled, quickly transforming in a burst of light like we did. When he reappeared he was wearing dark blue armor with a jumpsuit the same color as Hub's. His necklace was know engraved in the armor, and the upper part of his face was covered by a reddish-pink visor and his hair stuck out the back. In addition the gauntlet on his left had a green terminal on it, probably for Battle Cards. He then stepped into the Wave Station before vanishing.
"Well now we know what to do Hub, and I'm getting bored. Let's do this!"
"Right!"
"Transcode 006, Hikari EXE!"
"Transcode 007, MegaMan EXE!" we yelled as we both transformed. We ran next to the wave station the same way Geo did, only to be transported to the Wave Road above.
"So this is the Wave Road..." I muttered as we arrived. I gazed at the translucent road we stood on. To think that EM Technology could create all of this...
"This is no time to be sight-seeing Lan! Come on!" My brother called as he ran ahead.
"Wait up!" I shouted back as I quickly followed.
We came to an arrow shaped part of the rode labeled "Access" pointed at the sprinklers.
"Do you think this is like a jack-in point?"
"I dunno, but there's only one way to find out!"
We both allowed ourselves to turn into beams of light as we entered the Cyber Core.
Sprinkler Cyber Core
Geo's Point of View
When we arrived we found dozens of viruses rampaging around the place, the majority of them Metennas. The Cyber Core itself was flashing red with warning messages piled up all over the place.
"Looks like we found the source of the problem. Let's tear em' up!" roared Mega, he seemed to be really itching for a fight.
"Okay!" I aimed my left arm at the viruses, which had changed form being a gauntlet shaped like Mega's head to a more compact blaster.
"Mega Buster!" A small group of viruses fell to a single blast.
"Wow, the Hunter-VG even upped the power of the Mega Buster."
"No time to be impressed kid! They look angry!" The viruses began rushing at us in a swarm.
"No worries, I'm pretty fired up myself since our last battle!" I replied as I continued to fire the Mega Buster.
As they approached I jumped away, "Battle Card, Long Sword!" My arm then turned into a sword, the blade formed by pure EM energy.
"Hiyah!" I dashed through a wave, cleaving them all as I went. "Alright!"
Mega then appeared behind me and swiped away a few that were sneaking up on me, "Stay frosty, kid! It doesn't look like they plan on leaving anytime soon!"
"Right! Battle Card, Cannon!" My left arm was converted from a sword to a miniature cannon which I promptly used to blast away the oncoming viruses.
"Let me round em' up for you, Area Eater!" Mega clawed at the space in front of him, sucking the nearby viruses closer.
"Thanks! Battle Card, Mini Grenade!" I felt the ball shaped explosive land in my hand before I flung it at the trapped viruses, deleting all of them simultaneously.
Yet despite all of this they just kept coming! No matter how many we deleted they just swarmed us all over again with no end in sight!
"How many of them are there!"
"It looks like hundreds! The new EM technology is attracting them like moths to a candle. Keep at it kid, we'll finish them eventually!"
"Hey, let us have a slice of the action!" I heard a new voice say. Two figures rushed past me their right arms raised.
"Mega Buster Charged Shot!"
"Shining Buster Charged Shot!"
Two powerful beams shot out that cut a swath through the ranks of the viruses.
"That was great! It's been ages since we've virus busted like this!" shouted one.
"Settle down. We have to finish this quickly if we're going to help the Science Club." said the other in response.
"Who are you?" I asked the newcomers. They wore identical looking jumpsuits and helmets that looked a lot like mine! The only things that differences between the two of them were the color of their visors, hair, and armor.
"Should we tell him?" asked one.
"Well, we know his secret, why not?"
"Fine... But if we get into trouble for this it's your fault!"
"You know who I really am?" How did they get my secret identity?
"Yeah, Mr. Boreal told us." Their visors slid back to reveal the faces of two familiar looking twins, their irises having turned green from their transformation.
"Hi, Geo!" said Lan with a smile.
"You didn't expect this, did you?" added Hub.
"More EM Wave Changers? Who are your partners?" asked Mega.
"We don't have them!" Lan replied cheerfully.
"Then how can you EM Wave Change?" I asked, stumped at Lan's response. Only Solo could EM Wave Change by himself, and even then only because he was part of the Murian race.
"We'll explain later! Just focus on taking out the viruses!" said the more serious Hub as his visor came back down, the viruses surging back as he turned to face them.
"He has a point, let's go buck wild kid!"
"Alright! Battle Card, Plasma Gun!" My arm turned into an Elec elemental cannon which quickly paralyzed the oncoming forces.
The twins seemed to be looking through their Battle Card folders. "Let's see, Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword... Geo, have you ever heard of a Program Advance?" asked Hub.
"Huh? I've never heard of it."
"Still, I'm going to try it!" yelled Lan, "Battle Cards, Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword!" His arms shifted through the different swords before they vanished, a white light appearing between his hands in their place. The light peeled away to reveal an enormous axe.
"Awesome! The terminal says that it's a Galaxy Advance called Great Axe. It's a lot like the Life Sword we're used to right Hub?"
"Yeah... But enough of that that, less talking and more busting!"
"You got it! Take this!" He swung the axe, quickly cleaving and deleting at least twenty of them without a problem.
"Whoa... they're good!" I said, marveling at the twins. They were jumping around busting so fast it seemed like they were born for it!
"Are we really going to be outdone by them kid? You have the cards, use them!"
"You're right! Battle Cards, Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword! Galaxy Advance, Great Axe!" I yelled as the axe appeared in my hands.
"Do you have a lock on them Mega?"
A large number of targeting reticules appeared on my heads-up display. "I had a lock on em' yesterday, let's go!"
"Mega Attack!" We instantly closed the distance between us and the viruses, allowing me to cut them down with ease.
Angered by that, the remaining viruses unleashed shock waves with their pickaxes in an attempt to take us out. I crossed my arms, forming a protective shield which blocked the attack. The twins both yelled, "Battle Card, Barrier!" negating the attack as well.
"My turn to show off! Battle Card, Cannon x3! Galaxy Advance, Impact Cannon!" A gigantic cannon appeared in place of Hub's right hand, blasting away the remaining viruses with extreme prejudice, deleting them all in seconds.
The viruses finally stopped coming and the Sprinkler's Cyber Core returned to a normal color.
"Looks like it's over. I have a lot of questions for you two!"
"Do you have to? I really hate being interrogated..."
"Well, he does deserve to know Lan."
"I guess... Well let's pulse out shall we?"
"Wait!" but the two left as quickly as they came.
"You should probably do the same." commented my partner.
"Yeah..." We then pulsed out of the Cyber Core and back to the real world.
As I walked over to where the members of the Science Club were, Lan and Hub were standing next to them.
"The sprinkler system stopped malfunctioning!"
"Whoo hoo!" They cheered.
"But we're soaking wet!" complained the young girl.
"Unfortunately it looks like we'll have to postpone the launch. Remember, there's always tomorrow!" Woody declared.
"Oh yeah! Now that I think about... I think I saw someone. I saw someone wearing blue enter the sprinkler!"
"What! That had to be Mega Man!"
"Ack!" They weren't supposed to see that!
"Amazing! You mean THE Mega Man! As in, our hero!"
"Could the rumors that he goes to this school be true?"
T-this is bad! I have to stop this conversation before it turns into something crazy!
"Really? Because I saw two other handsome heroes in blue..." muttered Lan.
Hub knocked him on the back of the head, "Get your head of the clouds, Lan!" The two then went silent, glaring at each other.
"E-Excuse me! What kind of experiment were you conducting?" I asked to quickly change the subject.
"We were attempting to launch a rocket." said Woody.
"A rocket?! Like the ones they send to space?!"
"Yeah, we're building a rocket on the 2nd floor Science Club room." he sighed, "But it's not going so well."
"We thought we'd run some tests with a smaller version made from the same materials." added the younger member.
"As members of the Science Club we formed a team with the purpose of launching a rocket."
"I know we'll be successful in fulfilling our Purpose!" She put extra emphasis on the word purpose.
"Yeah, let's do our best!" The Science Club huddled up and cheered.
"What's with the emphasis on the word "Purpose"?" asked Omega-Xis.
"Well, EM technology has let us form teams more easily thanks to the power of Brother Bands, so we set Purposes for those times. They're like goals that each member works together to achieve."
"Who are you talking to?" asked Woody.
I jumped, "Ah, he, he..." What do I tell them? That I have an alien for a Wizard?
"Oh yeah, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Woodrow Boffin, I'm in 6th grade right now. People usually call me Woody."
"I'm Geo Stelar."
"Geo eh, do you have any Purposes at the moment?"
"Me? N-Not really..." I replied.
"Well, I hope you find a great Purpose and do your best to fulfill it with your friends someday! We're definitely going to fulfill our Purpose: Launch a Rocket!"
"I don't know anything about rockets, but I can at least cheer you on! Please show me the rocket when it's ready!
"You got it!" He then turned back to his club members, "Okay, let's head back to the Science Club room!" They complied and packed up the rocket before following him into the elevator.
The twins then walked up to me. "So, what did you want to ask us?" asked Hub.
"Well first, how can you EM Wave Change if you don't have a partner?"
"Well, the fact is a little sensitive and hard to believe..."
"Why are you so worried Hub? We can trust him!"
Hub continued to hesitate.
"It's up to me to spill it then. We're Wizards!"
It took about five seconds for that to sink in before my jaw dropped, "Wizards?! But you look just like humans!"
"Yeah, we were humans. Now we're Wizards with human DNA."
"I'm not following at all." muttered Mega, materializing in the space next to me.
"I think I can give a better explanation." said Hub. "Have you ever heard of NetNavis?"
"I used to have one for a teacher before I came to school."
"Well, two hundred years ago they were everywhere. A lot like Hunter-VGs today, everyone walked around with a PET and their own NetNavi."
"Where are you heading with this?" asked Mega as he narrowed his eyes at the two.
"I was born with a heart condition called HBD. In fact, I died from it before I was a year old."
"What! But you're standing right here! Don't tell me you're a g-ghost!"
"I never thought about it that way, but that's sort of true. You see, our dad was a leading scientist on NetNavi development. He didn't want me to die, so he crystallized my DNA and memories in the form of data and inserted it into a NetNavi. Thus I was created, the NetNavi MegaMan EXE, originally the human Hub Hikari. When the EM Technology revolution started, NetNavis were to be taken away and sealed in order to make way for the new stuff. Lan hid me away to keep me safe until Mr. Boreal found me in the AMAKEN database."
"Mega Man?! That doesn't mean I have to change my name does it?"
"You don't have to." he replied, "Everyone seems to know you by Mega Man already. I'll just distinguish myself with the EXE part."
"Let me get this straight," said Mega, "you're saying you're a relic from two hundred years in the past that was turned into a Wizard by Aaron. If that's the case, what about your brother?"
"I wanted to make sure that Hub was never all alone, so I repeated the process so that I could stay his partner and maybe even protect him."
"That means..."
"You guessed it! I'm the original Dr. Lan Hikari, inventor of the Brother Band, at your service!"
A third fan fiction! If you haven't guessed it by my avatar yet I consider myself something of a fan of the Mega Man series, the Battle Network and Star Force spin-offs especially. I've seen that nearly every fan fiction on the site between the two series has Geo travel back in time to meet Lan, so I decided to try something different. As you may have noticed, I've been experimenting with different writing perspectives/styles, though I think I like plain old first person the best. I left it off at this part as I thought the later parts would qualify for a chapter all its own. Plus, I have two other fan fictions to update, so I can't just go around making every chapter over ten thousand words. When I get around to continuing this it'll follow the events of the games.
That's it for now. Tell me how you felt about this chapter with a review and favorite it if you like it. Even if you didn't like it please tell me why in a review. Just keep it constructive. Thanks for reading!
