Welcome to Rebellare!
In order to fully enjoy the experience, we ask that you come in with these few things prepared:
1 - Knowledge of the main characters of the Megaman Battle Network and/or NT Warrior Series
2 - Knowledge of the basic elements of the aforementioned series - i.e. the internet, viruses, programs, locations, etc.
and lastly
3 - An open mind
We hope you enjoy your stay!
To gain power and prevent death, people die. To prevent even this, people kill those that never lived. These dolls that replace humans, they obey and face doom, leaving behind only a death rattle. They become either a slave or a friend, but will always have you as their master. They will kill if ordered, and die if they have to -- but there is a limit, and when that limit is reached only one option is left.
Rebellare
(It tells me I'm in pain but I see no scar or wound, nothing to prove that what it says is true. Still, I know it's true, I feel it rushing inside me: a human feeling: something that shouldn't belong to me. I know that now, the sin they have made in making me. They sacrificed one thing from themselves to make yet another thing for themselves. They made a living being… I think... Yes, even if I can't breathe, and even if I have no soul, I think, therefore I am -- and if I am, I live.)
Chapter I – Dawning of the New Era
"AAAUUGGH!"
(Are you done yet, Bass…?)
"Don't rush me," said Bass, warming his hands over an unusually loud fire...
"…Please… Stop…!" begged the burning Navi, his body was surrounded in green flames that seemed to grow brighter as he got louder. Bass kicked him.
"Stupid humans… letting us feel pain without even leaving an off switch…" muttered Bass.
(Is Test Two finished yet?)
"…No. I wanted to practice first…" His hand shaped into the GospelCannon. "And the girl?"
(…)
Bass began spraying more green flames all over the Navi's body and the Navi yelled even louder. Bass just kicked him again. "How is the transition…" he asked the Navi. It didn't answer, just yell. "…from being useful to humans to being useful to Navis?"
(The girl… She's too innocent, it seems. Test One was a failure after all…)
"It's too early for the Dark Soul to take her over." With one final scream, the flaming Navi burst into scattered data.
(Is it that cold down there?)
"It was…" Bass hid GospelCannon back under his cloak. Turning around, he quickly scanned the area for any more 'practice' materials: no one, nothing unusual for a place like the Undernet. "…Fine."
(You're ready?)
Bass teleported off without a word.
-Dencity Streets-
"Chaud, you've received another e-mail. Should I open the Inbox now?" asked Protoman.
"Don't, I already know what it says," responded Chaud. He was sprinting towards Official HQ; something was up, and although Chaud knew what it was, Protoman didn't have a clue. He'll find out soon enough anyways, thought Chaud. He doesn't have much of a choice.
"...What does it say then?" mocked the Navi. Chaud gave him a surprised glance and thought fast. Even if Protoman should find out, now wasn't the time…
"...It's about the pretzels, okay?" responded Chaud.
"...Pretzels?"
"Pretzels."
"…Chaud… Pretzels?"
"Pretzels! Isn't that what I said...!" Chaud paused in front of a red light, and suddenly realized that the streets were completely empty, utterly ghost town empty. Unconvinced, he looked behind himself: still not a soul around. It seemed everyone had already fled or were - at least - in the process of it. But I could've sworn there were people… he thought, still staring behind him. Shaking it off, he turned back to the red light before beginning to think about his mission again. And Protoman, wondering about Protoman with all his questions... Keeping this secret was really starting to get annoying, though even with all this question dodging (And lying, Chaud thought. Don't forget about the lying.) it would take a miracle for Protoman to stay in the dark much longer, and Chaud was running out of excuses. Pretzels… what the hell kind of excuse was that anyways?
"…Pretzels." Protoman wasn't budging at all.
"Pretzels," repeated Chaud boringly.
"Chaud, it's impossible for pretzels to be the subject of an e-mail…"
"It's not. What, you've got something against pretzels?"
"How can I… Why are we talking about this?"
"Because you're a hater."
"A hater?"
"Of pretzels."
"Chaud!"
"OKAY! From who is it then?" yelled Chaud, suddenly he could hear his heart beating. Protoman paused for a split second, he seemed unfazed by Chaud's yelling.
"All of them are from Lan and his friends." The traffic light finally changed to green and Chaud began sprinting for HQ again, immediately wondering why he even waited for it.
"Then forget about it, they get on my nerves anyways." Considering this for another second, Protoman shrugged it off and grew silent, still wondering what was in the messages.
-Inbox-
Message from Megaman.EXE: 'Hey Protoman, have you seen Roll anywhere around? It looks like she got lost in Dencity and Maylu can't jack her back out. Tell us if you do. Thanks.'
Message from Gutsman.EXE: 'Has Protoman seen Roll? Tell Gutsman! Gutsman become big hero!'
Voice Mail from Lan: 'Chaud, listen. Uh, I wouldn't be asking you this if it wasn't something serious but… Well, if you see Roll, just call me, ok? Yeah. Well that's all you need to know.'
Voice Mail from Maylu: 'Um, Chaud? I know we really shouldn't be bothering you over teeny little problems like this but... Roll's gone missing, and...I'm sorry, can you just call me if you see her? Thanks Chaud.'
-Official's HQ-
The doors to the Official's Headquarters slid open and Chaud slowly walked in, feeling the room's cold air wash over him. Inside were countless amounts of other Officials walking around, doing some unnoticeable job. A single man, suited in black from head to toe, stopped in the middle of the room as everyone else tumbled into or sharply walked around him.
"Hey, Chaud's here!" he shouted, and everyone else stopped walking to look at the kid standing at the entrance as the door closed behind him. Chaud merely frowned and walked towards the man, who just happened to be in between Chaud and the elevator. Everyone else quietly watched the kid walk by, casually, as if nothing at all was wrong. They remained that way until Chaud entered the elevator and waited for the doors to close again, making sure he didn't look at anybody else until they did.
"What time is it, Protoman?" he asked, watching the lights next to the control panel go further and further down.
"4:30…" Protoman responded, "in army time."
"…Right."
-Netopia Area (Online)-
"Nothing?" asked Lan into his PET. He was sitting on his desk and randomly searching around Netopia for Roll.
"Nothing. No one's seen Roll around here either," responded Megaman as he began to scratch his itch-less head. "No one's even seen someone dressed in pink today."
Lan looked at the roof with a confused glare. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Nothing. I just thought it was weird that there'd be no one wearing pink today."
"Who cares if anyone's wearing pink? I don't even like pink…"
"But... you like girls that wear pink, right?" Lan nearly rocketed out of his seat.
"Wha- That…! Nothing to do with anything!" The PET suddenly rang.
"It's another message from Dad… He's asking if we've left Dencity yet," said Megaman.
"Ugh," Lan collapsed back into his seat. "He's still asking?"
"Maybe we should start leaving, Lan."
"Why? It's just a stupid flash flood evacuation drill. I think Roll's safety is a little more important than practice for something that'll never even happen."
"It can happen. The weather control's been corrupted before, we were even involved in it remember?" Lan began recalling a tubby guy named Chillsky from Sharo that once took over its weather control system to make the country's temperature Ice Age cold. It was during a tournament Lan entered long ago, and Chillsky really only did it for his own comfort.
"Yeah… Well, that guy was an idiot anyways," responded Lan.
"That's my point. If even an idiot like him was able to change the weather, what do you think would happen if someone actually tried to use it seriously? Then you'll wish you practiced these drills."
"No way! What, I'm going to forget the direction to the subway? I take it almost everyday!"
"…" He got him there. "Well…"
"Just tell Dad that I'm already in the subway and heading for the evacuation point. He'll never find out anyways."
"…Alright, it's been sent."
"Okay, time to start looking for Roll again! Which place haven't we checked yet?" Megaman crossed his arms and began tapping his foot in thought. Lan did the same with his fingers on the desk.
"We haven't checked the Undernet yet," pointed out Megaman.
"Yeah, but Roll would never wander there… Unless…" They both snapped out of their train of thought and looked at each other in near comical shock.
"You don't think…?" asked Megaman.
"Well… it would explain how they got disconnected…"
"Then they really…?"
"Yeah…" Lan gulped. "…They must have gotten into a fight." A horrible gloom surrounded the both of them. An image of Maylu and Roll back to back appeared in Lan's mind.
"Maybe they're better off alone for a while…?" Megaman was almost shivering.
Behind him, a cloaked figure jumped up into the air and didn't come back down. Megaman noticed nothing.
"Yeah, maybe you're right." Lan suddenly remembered a time when they fought over which homework to do first, both yelling at each other though never facing one another. Being there was like witnessing the apocalypse squeezed together to fit the time frame of 5 minutes. Lan actually still had nightmares about it. Yet, they never really took the argument too far, and usually forgot about it completely the next day. "But… does Roll normally run away after one of their fights?"
Megaman considered this. "No… she never does. Normally, Roll just crosses her arms and turns her back to the PET screen. Then they both don't talk for awhile."
("I'm ready," said the cloaked Navi. "Test Two commencing.")
"That's right… But then… was she kidnapped?" Lan almost didn't want to say it. Poor little Roll being abducted out of the blue, thrown into a digital van or something… getting ready to be digitally raped and then quickly shooting a RollArrow into her kidnapper's- "Nevermind, it would never happen."
"Megaman," said the cloaked Navi.
Surprised, Megaman immediately looked up to find the cloaked Navi hovering over him in circles. "Bass….?" he said. Bass raised his hand into the air and formed his signature dark LongSword.
"Let's do battle." Bass swung his sword down at Megaman and made it extend into a whip. Megaman dodge rolled back to evade the crackle of the attack and stopped on his knees to point his Buster arm up at Bass.
"Lan!" shouted Megaman.
"On it!" Lan drew out a WideSword chip from the PET and inserted it halfway into the slot. Bass flew down at Megaman with his new hybrid weapon ready to swing.
"Now!" Lan inserted the chip and in a single motion Megaman swung his hand at Bass. Bass, suspecting Megaman to just try punching him, positioned his LongSword to a downward spear stance. Megaman's WideSword formed and the blue Navi stepped out of the way of Bass's attack to slash at his shoulder. Bass crashed into the floor on all fours and turned his head towards Megaman, almost beast-like. Megaman positioned his WideSword and gave Bass a determined stare.
"What're you doing here, Bass?" asked Megaman. Bass said nothing and got back on his feet, never taking his eyes off of Megaman. He suddenly rushed at Megaman and they clashed swords. "What do you want with us?"
"Do warriors really need a reason to fight…?" asked Bass. He was pushing harder against Megaman and his sword began to produce its own aura. Megaman jumped back and Bass quickly swung at the air in front of him, narrowly missing Megaman's neck. "As long as you and I exist on opposite sides of the field, we will fight. It's the law of the battle between light and dark, constantly pushing against the other and attempting to tip the balance. A reason to fight is just an excuse."
"You never learn, Bass. Your attempts to 'tip the balance' just keep tipping it in our favor," said Megaman, letting go of his WideSword.
"Sword, WideSword, LongSword IN, Download!" Megaman held his hands up in the air and a celestial blade appeared above him. Bass looked at it as if it was somehow amusing, like if it was a television.
"That's the acclaimed LifeSword Program Advance…? It's no stronger than a simple DarkSword…"
"You wish, Bass! PROGRAM ADVANCE!" Megaman released the LifeSword at Bass. The celestial weapon was shot forwards at Bass, cracking the floor ahead of it and leaving debris and dust clouds in its wake. Bass created a DarkSword where his LongSword used to be and swung it at the attack, making it rush around him like a split waterfall.
"Pitiful." He placed both of his hands in front of him and shot machinegun fire through the split Program Advance at Megaman. Megaman jumped away, trying hopelessly to dodge the attacks. The Program Advance disappeared, and the dust cleared away. Bass could be seen walking slowly towards Megaman, his cloak waving behind him, exposing the scar on his chest the Officials had left him years ago. "Truly pitiful."
"Show-off…!" exclaimed Megaman.
Lan picked out another chip. "Fine, we'll do it the old fashioned way!" he said, and inserted a HeroSword. Bass stopped and looked at the weapon as it appeared on his opponent's hand.
"Scared yet?" mocked Megaman.
Bass held his DarkSword into the air. "No." Just like the LongSword, it started giving out its own aura, Bass jumped into the air to swing it at the ground, making a river of darkness flood from its tip straight into the floor.
"What are you doing…?" asked Megaman, he stared at the black river flowing out of the sword, looking deeper and deeper into it. Suddenly his mind went blank, time froze and he suddenly saw his own face looking up at him, with bloody rose-red eyes and a kind yet sinister smile crawling across his face. A strain immediately exploded into Megaman's head and with his left hand he tilted it to the ground, not even noticing that it was trembling underneath his feet.
"Megaman, get out of there!" yelled Lan. Megaman looked up at Bass, who was looking right back at him.
"Not a good time to get distracted Megaman…" said Bass. A black pillar of dark energy suddenly shot out from under him and just as suddenly faded away into the air. Another one followed, and another, each one getting closer to Megaman and gaining speed.
"Megaman!" shouted Lan. But Megaman couldn't listen. The image of his own head, looking up at him with those terrible, terrible red eyes was replaying over and over again in his mind like a broken record. No, thought Megaman. It's not the eyes that are so terrible… it's that…smile… Finally the face paused to stare straight into Megaman.
"Boo." Breaking glass echoed inside of Megaman's head and the face swirled back away into nothingness. Megaman twitched and found himself back in Netopia. It was absolutely quiet for a long second until one of Bass's pillars shot out of the floor right in front of him, trembling the very ground he was standing on.
"Lan!" Megaman finally yelled.
"AirShoes IN, Download!" Megaman jumped away from the last pillar towards Bass's hovering body. The dark Navi, looking amused, abandoned his DarkSword and formed another LongSword to block Megaman's attack.
"As they say, you shouldn't play with your food…" said Bass. "Isn't that right, Gospel?" He formed GospelCannon with his other hand and rushed green flames all over Megaman. The flames wrapped around Megaman's body like a serpent – or Gospel's own tongue – and burned at his digital frame. In his pain, the HeroSword chip disappeared from Megaman's hand...
"Invisible IN, Download!" said Lan. Megaman fell through Bass's attack, and Gospel's 'tongue' swirled back into its mouth.
"Damn…when'd he learn to use two chips at the same time?" asked Megaman aloud, his voice sounding strained.
Bass hovered down onto the floor. "You noticed my new ability then." Megaman looked at him skeptically.
"Your new ability…? To use two different chips at the same time is considered an ability?"
"That's not all…" Bass held out his LongSword and GospelCannon. "I can fuse the chips together as well." He clapped his hands together and a deep black cloud exploded from the clap and covered Megaman's vision, strangely making everything seem white instead of black. From Lan's PET screen, all he could see was a bright white screen and a small pitch black object that seemed to be melting onto the floor. It moved a little and suddenly Lan recognized it to be Bass's LongSword. It darted forward to where Megaman was.
"Megaman look out!" yelled Lan.
"For wha-?" Megaman suddenly felt a tight surge going through his body. He looked down and saw Bass's GospelCannon attached to his LongSword attached to Megaman's stomach. The LongSword was sticking out of Gospel's mouth, its dark entity dripping onto the floor like saliva. "B… Bass…!"
(Bass.)
"Not yet." Bass twisted the blade and Megaman exploded into a cough, relieving drips of bright blue clustered data from his mouth. Lan was left standing over the PET, frozen in shock.
(Have you finished Test Two yet?)
"I said not yet!" Bass angrily trailed the sword from Megaman's stomach to his hip and out of his leg. Megaman fell to the floor sloppily. "Now, finished. Battle Scenario Chip Fusion is operational."
(Good job.)
"…Hmph." He looked down at Megaman. "I've proven myself against you, Megaman… I am, once again, the strongest Navi in the world."
"…Wh…Who cares…?" Amazingly, Megaman was able to look up at Bass with a confident, data-covered smile. "You used some pretty sneaky tactics…"
"…Very well. Next time, before I delete you I'll tell you every step of how I'm going to do it." And with that, he logged out.
"Megaman! Get up!" cried Lan, not noticing that his eyes were burning up.
"Lan…?" Megaman tried his best to get up but hardly managed to even move. "Where the hell were you…?" He laughed, coughing out more data.
"I… I had no Invisibles… Megaman, well get him next time!"
"Yeah… I know..."
Megaman logged out.