"Jack in, Roll! Execute!"

"Jack in, Megaman, Execute!"

The announcer looked on smiling as both the pink and blue navis were sent into the cyber world and took their places on their battle stage. As the projector activated, she couldn't help but chuckle at her own bias towards the hopeful victor in this fight. It was strange though, the girl who merely looked like such a sweetheart was emitting such a strong aura. It was sad that no one else could see it other than her, but maybe it was a woman's intuition. The announcer of the Hawk Tournament smirked; this was going to be an interesting fight indeed.

The woman turned around towards the crowd behind her, "Alright everyone! It's finally here! The finals for the Hawk Tournament. Now, you all know the rules! Each navi is given an HP counter that is 100 hit points above their actually deletion point to ensure each navi is safe from harm. When the counter goes to zero, the navi is automatically jacked out! No ifs, ands, or buts! Now, it's time for the these to give us the best girls vs boys fight you've ever seen. Mayl Sakurai and her navi Roll versus Lan Hikari and his navi Megaman! NetOps! Start when ready!"

"Lan! Don't go easy on us!" Mayl called out as she locked her chip folder.

Lan nodded slightly before locking his own folder. Mayl had been acting kinda strange, if not a little aggressive, since they had been paired together for the finals. It was almost as if she was trying to get him to actually fight her. But Lan knew better than to try and do that. Mayl and Roll weren't Netbattlers and he wasn't about to crush his best friend's feelings or hopes of victory. At least, he wouldn't be as hard on her as the others.

The brunette looked up at Megaman, "Ready?"

"Whenever you are!" Megaman said, though internally he wasn't so sure. He knew Roll was fast, but in the end of the day battle experience was the thing that allowed navis to win. And he didn't think Roll had much of any besides any virus fights that she may have encountered.

"Alright then! Battle Routine! Set!" Lan started.

"Execute!"

"Vulcan 1! Attack +10! Download!" a small orange machine gun like weapon replaced Megaman's hand as he leveled it and targeted Roll. However, as he did so he saw a look of betrayal on her face. She looked down for a moment; Megaman almost didn't have the heart to shoot at her.

Mayl was showing an equal amount of disgust. How many times had they told them to treat them like actually opponents! But of course, he just shrugged off her request and simply kept her in her place. Didn't he get she didn't want to be a damsel in distress anymore? Did either of them get what both girls were trying to do!

Mayl huffed, "Area Steal! Anti-Recover! Download!"

Before Megaman could decide to fire, Roll's eyes flashed. And for the split second he saw them, he had a feeling that what was coming next was going to hurt. In seconds, the pink navi popped up in front of him and she smacked him with both antennae. Since the tide of war was on her side, she activated her bow and fired a quick Roll Arrow, hitting Megaman right in the center of his chest.

The blue navi stumbled backwards as he looked at Roll curiously. That style had been almost perfect for her, complimenting both of her speed and still accomplishing to give him damage. But he couldn't help but think of one question. He knew Roll ever since their NetOps had met, so…when did she actually learn how to fight?

Lan on the other hand was more interested in the chips Mayl had, "Hey Mayl! When'd you get an Anti-Recover chip?" He asked.

Mayl, on the other hand, was still upset and decided to rather not answer his question. Instead, she decided to give him another reminder about what he actually was supposed to be doing, "Custom Sword! Download!"

A purple and orange blade appeared in the place of Roll's bow and she ran forward at Megaman. However, instead of hitting the navi, Lan had downloaded a Long Sword just in time for Megaman to deflect the bow. As the blade skidded off the other, Roll somehow managed to keep her balance and to keep the pressure of the attack going. Despite the sword itself getting weaker as time passed, Megaman could still feel each hit trying to push him back. Roll had never had this type of aggression in a fight, so what was driving her now.

As the Custom Sword reached its final strike, Megaman managed to lock Roll's sword with his own. He could easily break the blade, but then again maybe he should just push her back and give her another chance at a different strategy. As he managed to catch Roll's eyes however, something made him reconsider the thought.

He could see her irritation, but above all else he saw something that ran far deeper than her emotions. He could actually see her fighting spirit. Her eyes were literally blazing. She wanted him to take her seriously. She actually wanted him to go all out. She didn't want this Mettuar virus like treatment. She wanted him to be who he really was in these tournaments. The navi of the sixth grader who saved the world three times and took on any challenge without hesitation. That's who she wanted to fight. Not Megaman the friend, but Megaman the navi.

He smirked slightly. Megaman had always had a feeling that Roll had been somewhat insecure after her kidnapping by Shademan. He just didn't realize that learning how to fight would be the extent she would go to in order for her to realize that she wasn't just some navi in a pink bodysuit that couldn't either be useful or couldn't defend herself. She was literally trying to prove to both him and her that she wasn't just a cute face.

'Well, if it'll help!' Megaman powered off his right foot and shoved her backwards. However, the difference in his original plan was the sudden CRACK of a sword breaking. Roll's Custom Sword was in two pieces, one connected to her and the other dissipating on the ground. Keeping up with the fight, he ran at Roll and managed to slash her with his Long Sword, causing the pink navi to spiral backwards on the ground.

"Megaman! What are you doing?" Lan hissed as low as he could. They weren't supposed to brutalize her!

Megaman merely shut his eyes as the sword disappeared and turned back into his hand, "I'm trying to win. Face it Lan. If we keep on fighting like this, not only is it going to get boring and we have a higher possibility of losing, but we may actually lose more than just a tournament if we don't actually try. Take a look at Mayl."

Lan obeyed his brother—for once—and looked over at the red haired girl in front of him. Mayl was currently asking if Roll was alright as she began to rise back up to her feet. Seeing her relief that she was okay, the girl turned her attention back to Lan and gave him a hard stare. As he looked at her, he too also recognized something. She wasn't just doing this tournament just because it was something to do, but rather she was fighting for a reason. He knew because it was the same way he had looked when he saw footage of some of his fights in the N1 Grand Prix. He didn't know what that reason was, but he could see her spirit to fight raging inside of her.

'Well, I guess she did have somewhat of a reason to be a bit snippy. I would be too if someone treated me like a joke. Good thing this folder still has a few good chips in it!' Lan thought as he grabbed a few chips, "Sorry 'bout that Mayl! I guess I didn't realize how important this match was for you. Allow me to change that and prepare to lose! Geddon1, sacrifice! Minibomb; Double Download! Variable Sword! Download! Guts Soul, activate!"

As Megaman's bodysuit changed over, two minibombs appeared in his hands. As the soul finalized, he chucked both of the bombs at Roll's feet. Despite giving her a little damage due to the closeness of the attack, Roll soon realized that the bombs weren't meant for her. They were a smokescreen!

"Anti-Sword! Download!" As Megaman popped out of the smoke, his blade phased through the pink navi. Smirking, she used her own green blade and fired three waves of energy at the navi, causing him to be push backwards. The body armor of Guts Soul prevented him from taking too much of a beating but it still hurt.

"Unreal. Mayl! Where'd you get all these chips from?" Then something hit him. There was a very easy way for her to get all of these , "Don't tell me, Yai?"

"Took you long enough to get that one Lan!" Mayl responded back. She smiled as she turned her attention back to her navi, "But Roll and I have been doing our own collecting and buying chips as well! Boomer 2! Double Download!"

Roll ended up firing one boomerang completely off to the side of things. Hopefully it would take a while before it came back. In the meanwhile, Megaman rushed her again. This time he was going for a Guts Punch. Roll activated the other Boomer and used the blade to block the incoming attack. The force behind the punch had managed to push her back by a lot and as she looked behind Megaman she could see the Boomer on its return trip.

A split second later, Roll fired her other Boomer at Megaman. The bulky navi step sided and managed to catch the incoming attack. As he prepared to hurl it back at her, Roll put her whole body weight into pushing the navi. Since he had caught it at an angle, the navi's weight was redistributed causing Megaman to fall backwards. Before he could figure out her reasoning, he felt it. The Boomer clocked him on the back of his head as he fell forward.

Roll jumped back, breathing a bit harder from the attempt.

"Megaman!" Lan said as his navi got back to his feet, "You alright?"

"Yeah, but we should probably work on finishing this fight. Man, she's already taken a third of my energy already," Megaman said, also breathing hard.

Lan nodded, "Well, let's fix the last one part shall we? Recover 150! Download!" As Lan put in the chip, Megaman felt an explosion around him, which only weakened him further.

Mayl giggled from her side of the stadium, "I guess you forgot about my Anti-Recover chip. But Megaman's right. It is time to finish this fight. Program Advance! Spreader! Triple Download! Hyper Burst!"

Roll's shriek was what took away Mayl's happy mood, "AAHHH!" The navi yelled as she fell to her knees and began grabbing her arms. So much pain. Where did all of this come from! She was beginning to become unable to think. All she was aware of was the sudden cold that was rushing into her systems. She began to fell herself being dragged into a dark place. A very dark place.

Megaman rushed over and tried to get close to the navi, but Roll was using the very little strength she had left to push him away. But her resistance was only for a few more seconds, as Roll began to fall unconscious. Her consciousness began to fall deep into a dark ocean. She didn't want to dark water to take her, but she wasn't sure how much longer she could stay awake. She was out of energy, she could barely even think to use her Air Shoes to get out of this mess.

"Roll! Roll! ROLL!" someone was yelling for her. And in those last moments, a soft pink string attached to her wrist. But soon, the calls became softer and softer and Roll soon fell under the waves with nothing but that fraying string pulling her back.

"Roll!" Mayl yelled, worried as she saw her navi's very appearance changed. Actually, more like terrified that her navi's appearance was changing. Her bodysuit was turning into a purple color and her navi's screams were getting weaker. She looked back in the chips in her hand. What the heck had she done to her navi!

"Roll?" Megaman asked, as the purple navi suddenly writhed out of his grasp and danced away from him. Roll's dulled green eyes now looked at Megaman with a different interest, more of an I-want-to-kill-you-interest.

"Mayl!" Lan called as he ran up to the stunned girl. Mayl was staring blankly at the screen in front of her, not believing what she was seeing. She looked back down at the chips in her hands. Each of them were the same color and…as she looked closely at one she realized that the image was looked like it had been chipped.

Lan and Mayl both watched in uncomfortable horror as her nail scratched off the paint and revealed a darkened picture of the Spreader battle chip. Mayl's memory of Chuad explaining the power of the Dark Chip came into her head. Was this one of them? Had she just infected her own navi?

"Mayl, where did you get that chip?" Mayl didn't hear him. She was still stunned by the fact that she had submerged her navi with Dark Power. "Mayl!" Lan said, shaking the girl out of her stupor, "Where did you get that chip?" He asked again.

"E-e-elec Town," she stammered, still coming out of her shock.

"From where?" he pressed, as he downloaded a few more chips for Megaman to keep the pressure off of him since Dark Soul Roll had decided to make good on that look and attack.

"One of the chip dealers there. He told me that it was the last one in stock and that they wouldn't be getting anymore until next week," Mayl said, getting a bit more of her voice back.

Lan thought for a moment. From the sounds of it, it didn't seem as if Mayl had gotten the chip from anyone shady. But then how did she get the Dark Spreader data. After all, Dark Chips were only able to be used based on…someone's desire. Perhaps she hadn't been sold a Dark Chip. Perhaps her and Roll's very soul had summoned the chip into being. It didn't seem that farfetched but again, weirder things have happened. His thoughts were broken by the sound of Megaman, "Lan! I need so more battle chips!"

Lan turned to Mayl, "Okay, long story short. Somehow you managed to give Roll a Dark Chip. That means that her personality and her very core are being pulled into some dark space known as Murkland. If we don't act soon, she may be lost there forever!"

"Well, how do I get her back!" Mayl demanded.

"I…I don't know." He had never encountered a dependent navi that had been infected with a Dark Chip before. How was he supposed to know? "I'll try not to hurt her, but I can't let her delete Megaman either." He pulled out a battle chip; but before he could download it, Mayl covered his hand.

"Promise me. Promise me that you won't delete her!" Mayl said, staring him dead in the eye.

Lan was taken aback. Mayl's grip around his hand intensified with every second he didn't respond. Megaman had deleted almost every navi that had come up against him as an enemy, though in his line in work it was normally life or death situations. However, Mayl couldn't help but think that even though she was her friend, Roll could have found herself at the end of the blue bomber's buster.

Lan nodded, "Promise," he said turning away to give his navi his attention, "Vulcan 2! Heat-V! Bubbler-V! Download!"

Megaman jumped out of the line of fire of the attacking the dark soul and his hand turned into a red Vulcan, "Sorry, Roll." He mumbled before he fired at the navi. Dark Soul Roll dodged out of the way of the first strike but had missed timed her second movement and found herself in the crossfire. Next, Megaman used the remaining chips to create a steam around the both of the navis. The hot water had given her a little damage, but for the most part it was for disorienting her.

As the dark soul walked through the steam, she found herself soon in front of Megaman wielding another sword, Wide Sword this time. The navi was soon flung onto her back as Megaman slashed her back into the steam. The heat stung her once again, weakening her even more. The dark soul could feel her grip slipping. It wasn't so much the damage she was being dealt doing it. No, that cord was getting stronger by the second.

Mayl was getting ready to snap. She couldn't watch this. She looked back at her PET; Roll's energy was still steadily falling. Even if they snapped her out of this, there would be no telling how much more she could survive! As Mayl looked back on the screen, she saw Megaman send the dark soul back into the steam. Her PET was beginning to ring, a warning that Roll was in serious danger.

Before Lan could download another chip, she snatched the PET from his hands, "Roll! Please! Stop!" she said, turning to the screen now, "I know you're still in there! You have to be! You can't be lost…not now. Please!" Mayl bit her lip as tears began to sprout, "I need you. You're more than just my navi. You're one of my best friends. I don't know what my life would be without you. Please…wake up! Roll!" Mayl cried.

Lan put a hand on her shoulder, though he was surprised that she took his PET. The girl suddenly turned around and started crying into him. After what felt like an eternity, Mayl's PET began to light up. As Lan noticed it, he realized that somehow Mayl had just gone the next level with Roll.

"Gah…Mayl!" the dark soul wheezed as she feel down to her knees once again. The navi began to take large gasps as patches of her pink uniform began to return. The pink navi wasn't going to let it end this way. The thread had turned into a strong rope and had even manged to bring her head above the water. Now, she just had to help herself and find her own way out. Or did she? The rope tugged again. No, not by herself. Mayl was helping her. She could feel her energy beginning to come back. Would it be enough? The pink navi shook his head; no, it would have to be.

3…2…1! Together with the help of the tug, Roll managed to jump out of the water by kicking against it with her Air Shoes. She could feel herself beginning to gain back control! In moments, the pink navi was soon back in her own body. She sighed as exhaustion hit her, the combined fight and struggle with the dark soul hitting her. As she opened her eyes, she noticed a blue hand in front of her. The Guts Soul must have worn off sometime during the dark soul fight.

She grabbed it as Megaman helped her back up. She stood shakily as she turned to her best friend, "Thanks Mega."

"Thanks for coming back. Never thought I'd be happier to see the color pink. Even though it's a bit bright," Megaman joked. Roll looked at herself; she was still in Full Synchro with Mayl. She beamed at her NetOp, "Thanks Mayl, for bringing me back."

Mayl sighed in relief, "I'm just so glad you're back." She turned back to Lan, "We'll have to finish this another time. Roll needs to rest and I need to turn this stupid chip to the Officials."

"But, Mayl…" Roll started.

"Nope. You've been through enough today. I'm not endangering you again if I don't have to," Mayl said as she looked back at her navi, "Besides I didn't saw we wouldn't finish it. Just not today."

The pink navi sighed, somewhat disappointed. Though she was internally grateful for her NetOp's consideration. Roll turned back to Megaman, "Well, until next time Mega. Let's actually have a good fight from start to finish." She smiled.

"Count on it. Er, sorry about earlier," he said embarrassed.

Roll merely smirked, "Just don't do it again." She said before her and his navi symbols lit up.

Lan looked at his PET as Roll's symbol appeared next to Gutsman's, "Hey, we got a Roll Soul!" He said excitedly before turning back to Mayl, "Um…I guess I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have underestimated you or Roll. I was wrong." He said uncomfortably before he was interrupted by Mayl hugging him. He could just faintly hear a muffled thank you. As she let go, Mayl jacked Roll out of the network, signifying a forfeit.

"And I really wanted Mayl to win," the announcer sighed, "Well there you have it folks. Mayl Sakurai forfeits her match, leaving Lan Hikari as your winner for the Hawk Tournament ladies and gentlemen!"

The crowd roared in response as both Lan and Mayl shrunk back at all the attention, Lan more than Mayl Suddenly the brunette's eyes widened and he reached inside his pocket to pull out a battle chip, "I'm guessing you would have used it earlier if you had it, but here. It's a promise that our next fight will be even better than this."

Mayl's eyes beamed in surprised as Lan presented her with an Anti-Damage chip. The only one she didn't have, "Thanks Lan! And it's a promise!" Mayl said happily hugging him again. In the end, she had done exactly what she had come to do. She and Roll had proven that they were more than competent to fight their own fights and were more than the damsel in distress than they had been. But now that that was over, she would need a new goal to fight for. As she looked up in the air, she decided not to worry about it for now. Perhaps just like this one, the other one would just present itself and would wait for them to prove to the world just how wrong it was.

Lazerman smirked internally at the scene before him as a Dark Gutsman walked up behind him. The tall navi opened up a window to communicate to his master, "Your experiment was a success. I will proceed with the other half of the plan."

"Very well then," the NetOp said as he twirled a chip in his hands. It had been easy to threaten the store manager to sell the disguised Dark Chip. At least now he knew that it worked. So the desire chips could not only appear at the time of one's weakness, but could be harnessed into proper battle chips. He laughed internally as he continued his work. Oh yes, this was going to be very interesting indeed.

Ghost: So this story idea was pitched to me by BalanceM88. Honestly, if you haven't guessed Roll and Mayl are my favorite duo, tied with Lan and Megaman. I feel as they could do so much if they were given the chance, but are limited to their roles due to story writing. I mean if you look at Roll Soul's abilities, they're absolutely devastating in cases. The ability to wipe all chips your opponent plan to use is great and the ability to heal using most kinds of chips (also, this Double Soul is banned in most competitive playing). Plus, she's a naturally fast navi giving her a plus there. *Sigh* If only… Well, that's what DN's for! Until next time everyone!

Bass: In other news, this happened today. www. eventhubs news/2014/jun/16/capcom-shareholders-vote-end-takeover-defense-company-now-susceptible-possible-purchase/ (please include a .com in between hubs and news and a / after the com. FFN is picky about website urls.)

Ghost: Oh yeah, right! So now outside companies have the ability to actually buy over 50% of Capcom stock and gain access to some franchises. It's all in the article and if you understand legalese the official Capcom statement is in there as well. Ghost501 logging out! (secretly prays that someone resurrects BN from its grave)