So this is an idea I had. A Battle Network sequel taking place in Lan's high scool years. A mix of Legends, but it's mostly it's own original flavor.
'When Serenade falls, so will the Undernet.'
This was the unspoken fear spoken throughout the 6 layers of the Undernet. To the criminals and Netizens of the Undernet, Serenade was their ultimate protector against Interpol, SciLabs, or any official body of law enforcement. His..or her power was so great that they were bested once, and only once, by a blue and black Navi. This Navi broke through the Undernet rankings one and by one, defeated Yamatoman, and defeated Serenade before disappearing. Some say you could see this blue and black Navi at times, traversing through the Undernet each time it got a firmware upgrade, but ever since the destruction of the Cybeasts, he hasn't been seen since.
"ARGHH!"
And today, on June 12, 2033, marked the second and last time Serenade was ever defeated. the Undernet god was thrown in the V4 square, the upgraded server from around the time the asteroid was about to hit earth, and thanks to an invisible force was dragged across the floor and into a floating BBS, cracking it slightly despite the fact Serenade should have kept going until he fell into the abyss. Whatever forced dragged Serenade from his domain had him by the throat, choking the life out of him and making it hard to speak. Even if he could speak to ask for help, he wouldn't get it. The second he was thrown into the Undernet, everyone in this sector ran for the hills, not wanting to be around whatever put out this much power. And even if one of them was foolhardy enough to to stay, they wouldn't be able to see the being choking the life out of the legendary S.
"Grkk..Grk.." Serenade was a mess. His arms were missing, the streams of data flowing from his cracked head showing that his creator didn't render anything under his helmet. "Y-yo...youuu..." He managed to get out. "W-wha...did..y-you.." If one could hear his words, mangled as they were, it would sound like he was talking to someone. "U-u-Uu..."With each attempted utterance of the word, Serenade's eyes went dimmer and dimmer until they went completely dead. his killer let him go, and he crumpled to the floor.
"Well, that's that." Serenade fell to the ground and his killer kicked his corpse for good measure. "Taking my and my sister's appearance, shameful." In the past, brutalizing a Navi's 3d render like this would have cause it to go into shut down or cause the entire Navi to get deleted, or explode and then delete depending on the severity of the damage, but Serenade's body just laid there, unmoving. "So, it's almost time." She didn't think it would happen so soon, but if it was happening all the way down here, then it was only a matter of time before the rest of Cyberspace followed suit. "What will you do now, sister?" She wondered what the digital lifeforms would think of this new development once it reached topside. but for now, she had other things to worry about. "No one will miss this place." It didn't take her long to feel that the Giga Freeze program was long gone, and without it, this 'Undernet's purpose was now meaningless.
Meanwhile, in ACDC Area..
Something had changed. Megaman didn't know what changed, or how things changed, but they changed. He figured it was his human DNA that was telling him this; after all, it helped him save the world, and it probably helped him recognize a few point of no returns during the many times they saved the world. Even in the PET he could sense something drastically changed in Cyberworld, far more than it had in the past few years! What was especially worrying about that was the fact the PET had it's online functionality shut off, so how he was able to sense this was beyond him.
"Just a few more hours" He grumbled, watching the digital clock display in front of him tick down. "I'm gonna kill Lan for this.." After the Cybeast attack years back, back when Lan was in elementary, nearly every building in the country was outfitted with a special sensor that deactivated a PET's online functionality, and all cyber related programming for a facility had to be activated via by human hands. The schools were the first hit with this new rule, and Lan was supposed to have sent him to the school's network where he could get an education, but nope! And the worst part was that his brother accidentally opened up a video file and put it on mute before closing it, the former action also putting himself on mute. "Come on, come-" Suddenly a screen to the real world opened up, allowing MegaMan to see his brother's apologetic face. "You've got a lot of nerve-" The Navi began, before seeing that Lan was moving up and down, lockers and doors passing by him. "Are you running?"
[Yeah!]
"..."
[I-I didn't do anything!] He yelled at his brother's glare. [Everyone else is running too, see?!] He turned the PET to his front, allowing MegaMan to see that there were other kids running as well. [Told you!]
"What's going on? Is it one of those CyberAttack drills?!"
[I don't know!] Lan responded. [You think that after all the times I saved the world I'd get some respect, but the staff treated me like some regular kid! Oh well, we'll probably find out later on today!]
As the two conversed, well less conversed and more MegaMan grilling his brother on how well he did in school, the two finally got to the parking lot at the front of the building along with the other students. "Huh.' Lan muttered to himself among the chatter of the other teenagers. "I thought at least the school would be on fire."
"Me too." Lan nodded in agreement at the unknown female voice. "Honestly I don't see what the problem is. The school looks right as rain! Honestly not worth your time, Lan."
"I know ri-" How did that girl know his name. He looked around for the girl until a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and upon seeing the girl, slapped himself for not picking her out of the crowd. The first thing he noticed was her bright green hair, like apple green bright. it was long too, most of it kept in pigtails, really big pigtails that were reached to her feet and were half as big as her body! The shape of the pigtails were weird too, almost like they were cut out from paper, fake looking. Her skin was a dark brown, and if she didn't have that green hair, that alone would have been an eyecatcher, as well as the crimson red eyes that were staring into his brown ones. She wasn't even wearing the stupid school uniform everyone here had to wear, instead she was wearing this black, sleeveless dress in place of the pink and white fuku and skirt combo the girls had to wear, black stockings instead of the white leggings, and black shoes. "Uhh..hello." She looked familiar...
"Hiya!" She said with a smile, taking the PET out of Lan's hands. "Wow, model 2.5, huh? Nice!"
[Hey, let me go!] MegaMan complained, too irritated from the sudden motion to notice the download alert that flashed behind him and was subsequently deleted. [Lan, help!] The little display had gotten the attention of the crowd around them, some of them giggling at the two.
"Hey!" Lan snatched the PET out of the girl's hand and put it safely in it's pocket, but not before inputting a special touch screen command while he did so. "What's the big idea?!" He asked/yelled, reminding himself to do an extra firmware scan tonight. this was all too suspicious, too familiar...and why did she remind him of someone?!
"Sorry, sorry!" The girl kneeled down on the ground, like a knight to his queen. "I-I just wanted to meet the famous-" She noticed that many of the kids around her were giggling, some outright laughing at the scene. "Uhmmm..." She looked up at a red faced Lan. "I'm doing this wrong, aren't I?"
"Y-yeah.." Lan muttered, pulling her up to her feet, as his PET beeped lightly. "You bow when you apologize, not kneel."
"Oh." The girl good naturedly. "Again, I am so sorry!" She bowed hard, her pigtails as rigid as they looked. "I-I'm just a big fan of yours! My name's Yuna, what's yours?!"
"You already said my name!" He looked around, his face getting redder as the giggling and light amusement became full on laughter. But more importantly, he picked up his PET beeping. 'So I was right!' "Ok, let's go somewhere else, now!" And so he dragged the girl away, her face red as he did so. 'Just as heavy as I thought!' What Lan didn't see were many of the students taking pictures of what just happened. After all, it's not every day that a famous Netbattler in this country dated a foreigner!
Now if anyone knew who this foreigner was or where she came from, that would be great!
He dragged her out to the west of the parking lot, and behind a tree; it was the biggest tree in the area, so no one could hear him. Well that was his logic, anyway. Unbeknownst to Lan however, it was the tree many students had been caught...having relations,
"Alright spill." He ordered, still red, but offering a stern, suspicious glare. "What're you after?"
"I am so sorry! My name is-" Before she could say any more, Lan held out his PET so she could see the screen. "..Oh."
[Unknown program found in PET system folders.] The device uttered. [Unable to retrieve filename. Unable to identify file. File quarantined until further notice. has been shut down until further notice.]
"Oh dear." Yuna gulped. "You PET's a lot more advanced than I thoug-" Lan grabbed her by the shirt and put her up against the tree.
"What did you do to my brother?" Lan asked calmly, not a hint of anger in his voice or on his face despite his actions. "You didn't have time to insert a program, and my PET is DNA locked so that the only humans able to get into it are me and my dad. You're in a Copyroid aren't you?"
"..." Yuna let out a sigh. "Of all the humans in the world, I never imagined you would be the perceptive one.
"And you're the one who caused everyone to evacuate!"
"Oh that? nope." Yuna shrugged. "I saw a caucasian male, balding, brunette, around 22 years of age and wearing a janitor's outfit, entering the building this morning. If i was with him, I would have simply used the strength of this Copyroid to stop you..like this." She lightly kicked him, which for her current body was strong enough to send him to the ground. "Rest assured Lan Hikari, Hub is fine."
"How did you know that?!" Lan yelled, but before he could get up Yuna jumped on him and straddled him, pinning his arms to the ground. "A-answer me!" He demanded, struggling to get free.
"I did this for your benefit." She said, a blank look on his face. "I wish I could feel regret for this, but it's been a decade or two since I've been able to feel things like that." She took a hand off of him to get Lan's PET, the teen under her unable to take it out of her hand this time. Not even struggling despite Lan's deathgrip on her arm, she showed the PET screen to Lan. On the screen were the words 'Update Suspended.' "There is something very bad happening, Hikari, both in that school and in the Cyberworld." She swiped against the screen and suddenly the update was cancelled, MegaMan appearing on screen a second later, panting heavily. Sweat poured from his face, and he looked as though he hadn't slept in days. "To be honest, I should have planned this better." Then all of a sudden she, for all intents and purposed, jacked out. That was the best term Lan could use to describe what had happened. She turned a bright green and soon was enveloped in a green light that rose upward and disappeared.
"What in the world?!" He shook his head and grabbed Mega Man. He could figure that out later. "Are you ok, MegaMan?!"
[Yeah..] MegaMan took a second to catch his breath. [I'm...I'm fine. I didn't expect something like that! How could a Navi do that?!]
Suddenly a loud explosion blasted through the roof of the school, leaving a stream of smoke coming from the center of the building. Mega Man "We'll worry about that later! We gotta stop whoever's in there!"
[But how?! I don't know exactly what happened, but I just heard a very powerful explosive!]
"Yeah, I know!" Of course something super important would be hidden in a place with lots of children or innocent people, such a great idea! "But how are we going to get in there? There's no network!" As if to answer him, a Copyroid fell from the sky and landed in front of the two. "Oh..well there's that.
A message appeared on the PET's screen. [You can use this to get inside. Don't worry, I have plenty of spares. That little update I had is on Hub's Pending List, and no you won't be able to delete it.]
[Lan, what does this person mean by update, and how does this person know my name?!]
[So yeah, use this. but it's only got an hour charge. I've bee using it a lot. Anyway, that's all I gotta say. Ta-ta!]
[Yuna]
[I haven't used these things in years.] Mega Man remarked, getting his head in the game, remembering the global ban on the machines that came as a result of the Cybeast incident. [Are you sure we can use it?]
"I guess? I don't know if it's safe or not, but we have no choice!" He grabbed the Copyroid as another explosion rocked the school. "Well, time to do what we always do: Head straight into danger! Let's go!" He pocketed Mega Man and ran towards the school, taking the long way to avoid anyone seeing him as the sounds of police sirens and fire trucks filled the air.
Meanwhile above, in a realm between Cyberspace and the real world, Yuna watched the two, behind her a young man that could be mistaken from her older brother. his hair was far shorter, slightly swept to the right, and he had a triangle shaped imprint on his forehead. He wore a black jumpsuit that was brown at the bottom that flooded his feet as if they were pants. "Did you seriously have to do all that, Mistress Yuna?"
Yuna groaned. "Of course I did Gatz. I had to because..."
"..Because what?"
"U-uuuhh...uuhhhh..."
'"You should have ran the second you installed the Eden System into the PET, not be dragged around by his human!"
"Hey, I just liked to be touched by a real person ok?!" Yuna shot back, making Gatz jump. She continued, ignoring the offended glare he was giving her. "Look, I got the program into MegaMan, they're going to the school, end of story! Geez, you're not my mom!"
"I pray for their sake and ours that they use the program." Gatz said as he watched Lan go into an open window near what the green haired man assumed was the cafeteria. "Otherwise not even the power of the Cybeasts can match the Navi they'll be fighting against. Thank goodness you gave him that fully charged Copyroid." Yuna's eyes widened, a nervous grin on her face as Gatz continued talking."It's gonna take forty minutes just to get to the guy, and at least twenty to keep that Reaverroid down long enough!" Yuna struggled to hold in her gulp as Gatz knelt down to her ear. "Seeing as how you haven't moved yet, let me just cut the fat here: go down there and help him." Yuna warped down back to reality, Gatz sighing in annoyance. The 'joys' of having a younger older sister...
Meanwhile in the school's main server room, the cause of these explosions was busy on his PET, busy watching the school's camera feeds. He was exactly as Yuna described him, the janitor's outfit he stole straining against his pot belly as he sat lazily on the couch he dragged from the teacher's lounge. "Nothing..." He muttered, switching camera feeds with a swipe of the finger. "Nothing.." He swiped again. "NOTHING!" And again once more before turning to the server, missing the intruder with the inactive Copyroid sneaking in. "Hey, you done yet?!"
[No I'm not!] came a tinny young boy's voice from the intercom. [I keep overloading the circuitry everytime i get the password wrong!]
"Then stop brute forcing it!" The man complained. "This school's got some really outdated tech here, and most of it ain't safety compliant! Keep doing that and you'll blow us both to kingdom come!"
[Yeah yeah I know! I'm almost done anyway! Just watch the security feed! The last thing we need is some punk with a Navi coming-] He suddenly went silent.
"Uhhh.. what's going on in there?" The man asked worriedly. Suddenly his PET beeped at an obnoxious volume, forcing his attention to it. "...Oh." On the screen of the beeping device was a feed of a student walking down the hall with a Copyroid on his back, the words 'Some punk and his Navi' hovering above the intruders.
[The Copyroid is fully charged and your Navi is en route to their location.] The PET's screen changed, showing a list of BattleChips. [Get to work Jerry.]
"Yeah yeah yeah.." Jerry grumbled. "You better cover my escape if things go south! Something about this kid is very familiar to me."
[ NaviCust Program installation complete. starting up.]
[Did you have to do that, Lan?] Mega Man grumbled as Lan ran them down the halls. [I don't need a..] He took a second to look up the programs Lan installed into him. [Lan I'm not going to battle with this. I'll barely be able to fight!]
"Yeah, we're not fighting this time." Lan whispered, turning the volume down on the PET. "When we got in here, I saw the cameras move. we're being watched."
[Really?] MegaMan had gotten used to the fact his brother was actually using his brain nowadays, lord knows with dad at home more he'd better use that dusty old organ of his, but it was still a shock to the system. [You think they have a Copyroid?]
"Probably." Lan looked around. He had to do something about these cameras, stat. "This will be like those hit and run games we played with Dex." And Dex's little brother said two sixteen year olds acting out a kids show was stupid! "I'll jack you in, you search through whatever network is in there, and once that's done I'll stay in range. I don't know how these explosions are happening, but I do know that this school is mostly analogue. It could be like that time in the dam, with detonation signals and all. What do you think, MegaMan?"
[...]
"M-MegaMan?"
[S-sorry, it's just...dad or mom had to threaten to ban you from Higsby's or something in order to make you use your brain this much!]
Lan blushed in embarrassment as his brother laughed. "SHUT UP!"
"Oh, by all means, laugh it up." A raspy voice said from down the hall, causing Lan to look up to see what was obviously a Navi staring at him, a very large Navi, looking to be 6 feet tall. "You're gonna die anyway, your last moments might as well be laughing together. Don't worry though..I'll help with that." This had to be the creepiest Navi Lan had ever seen. It was a skeleton, no bodysuit or bright colors, just a skeleton. It had clothes in the loosest sense of the word; It looked like it was wearing bell bottom pants that looked as though they were made of a singly water bubble, like how that yellow sponge on Netopian television made things out of bubbles. The same theme carried over to the open blazer , long gloves, and the headphones, all of them looked like they were made of bubbles, the Navi's bones could be seen in each and every piece. Each article of 'clothing' contained bubbling liquids of different colors; the pants were filled with blue liquid, the gloves red, the blazer yellow, and the headphones cycling randomly through all three. All in all, if Lan could put this Navi into a few words, he would describe it as 'BubbleMan's edgy older brother.' "Sup little guy. Names BurstMan."
"So you're-OH CRAP!" Lan ducked back into the hall he came from as a stream of energy blasted the wall. It produced a loud deafening noise, but he could hear MegaMan, upping the volume, telling him to run away, which he gladly did.
"JEEZ MY EARS!" He complained. "What was that?!" And why did he hear a girl scream for a second? It was probably something involving the energy. Energy screamed right? He'd have to ask Mayl or someone else if he and MegaMan made it out alive.
[Radioactive, that's what it was!] Mega Man complained, bringing up a program that measured radioactivity. [That Copyroid is far different than the ones we normally see, it's on the Cybeast's level!] And for some reason he heard a scream, sounded like a girl's for some reason. It was probably to terrify people.
Lan gulped. That meant one thing: Military grade hardware. They had to get rid of BurstMan now! He threw the Copyroid into the air and pointed his PET at it. "JACK IN, MEGAMAN, EXECUTE!"
The Copyroid flashed and when it came down, MegaMan's hand met the ground, the Navi fully in control of the machine. The second his hand touched the ground, he performed a flip and landed on his feet. He was just as young looking as he always was, the wonders of being a Navi. "Ahh, I haven't used one of these in a long time!" He said happily, taking a deep whiff of air before recoiling in disgust. "Urghh, that reeks!"
"What reeks?" Lan asked, sniffing the air. "I don't smell anything. Whatever the case is, we don't have much time before that thing runs out." He facepalmed for being so stupid. The least he could have done was see the width of BurstMan's attack to get a good feel of what they were dealing with! "We need to get out of the school-"
Suddenly MegaMan grabbed him and slammed through the window and into the forest outside, Lan landing on his brother's body When Lan turned around, he saw the walls of the school melting, something brick shouldn't be able to do.
"Lan, get to safety." MegaMan warned. "Stay in range, and send me BattleChips. This Copyroid isn't normal. It's a lot..stronger."
'Yuna..' Lan thought as he bought up the Netbattle app, a set of 5 BattleChips coming on screen..'Just what are you up to?' And so he hid, due to his displeasure as MegaMan ran towards the building. "Ok, I'm sending the first wave of BattleChips to you! I don't trust this Yuna girl, but we don't have a choice!" Mega Man jumped back into the school, smashing through another window to get BurstMan's attention."I dont know how much of the power will be drained if I use the big guns, so only weak chips, sorry."
"Got it. BurstMan left a pretty big radiation signal, and it's coming closer." Within minutes BurstMan came from around the corner, and three and a half milliseconds before even a part of him could be seen, MegaMan had activated the first chip Lan sent him, Reflctr3, and ran at BurstMan. The Navi's bubble pants glowing brightly as he used one foot to propel himself in the air to land a spinkick at MegaMan. '3, 2, 1!' MegaMan quickly bought up his right arm and activating Reflctr3, BurstMan's kick hitting the large, body sized shield that formed..and that was it. The force of BurstMan's own attack was supposed to be reflected back at him, so what happened?!
"DANGER WRAP!" MegaMan got his answer a second later as a bubble enveloped him and destroyed the shield. He instantly activated his MegaBuster fired at the bubble, but it absorbed every single shot! "Don't even try to break free!" Te liquid BurstMan's bubble pants steamed up as he raised his foot and delivered a powerful kick that created a loud boom and launched the bubble across the hall. It bounced off the wall and, defying physics, turned the corner and continued to ricochet down the adjacent corner until it bounced and stuck to the ceiling. BurstMan, for all intents and purposes, popped out of existence, just like a bubble, and popped back into existence below MegaMan, who continued to fire. "That's my special skill blue boy. Can't access those fancy chips of yours? Good. Anything in one of my Danger Wrap bubbles are cut off from the outside world; basically, your NetOp can't get in contact with you, and transmissions from your PET to the Copyroid bounce off the bubble." MegaMan transformed his hand back to normal and glared angrily. "Well there you go, you know some of what my little bubble does." Well, not everything, but the dead man didn't need to know that. "You've seen the wrap..." BurstMan held out his fingers as his bubble gloves glowed bright- "Now let me show you the danger."- and snapped them, the bubble around MegaMan exploding in an instant. It didn't produce any smoke or debris, but the damage was visible, warping and melting the area around it as the Copyroid was reduced to molten slag...
...That was what should have happened. What actually happened was that the second he triggered the explosion, the robot disappeared. "WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED?!" That never happened before! "Jerry, search the security feeds! That Navi has a teleportation ability!"
"WHAT?!" Jerry sat up and angrily swiped through the various cameras. "Oh this changes everything!" Navis with teleportation abilities were some of the most dangerous to fight against. Teleportation used a different wavelength than jacking in or out, which to the detriment of many criminals like himself, had to adhere to legal standards so the Navi could be used to hack into a network, Navis with teleportation could either download a map of the server and set up points to teleport, or if they were working with a human, download the map of the server to the PET, allowing them complete access to the network. There was just one problem with that in this instance...there was no network for the Navi to teleport to! And even if there was, it didn't explain where the hell the Copyroid went! "Yeah this ain't good! I think 'you know who' is here!"
[This changes nothing.] The Navi in the server stated. [BurstMan is senough to take care of the situation, even if it's Mistress Yuna. Her Copyroids are as weak as any other despite it's abilities, and your Navi's acidic properties will make mincemeat of any Jack In signal should they be stupid enough to attempt a takeover of the Copyroid.] Another explosion shook through the building. [And I did it again..great. I estimate I should be around 90% done. I have saved our escape route to your PET, so once I finish, Me, you and BurstMan will be back in your home country.]
"That's good." Jerry continued to frantically swipe across his PET screen. "Damn it all, I can't find them!" His eyes widened as he caught something. He paused the feed he was on, the area where BurstMan blew his bubble, and using the special equipment on his PET, rewound the footage by a few seconds and paused it. "Dark skin, green hair.. that was her!" She caught the Copyroid and teleported out, making it look as though the Navi itself warped out! "Is she as weak as you said?!"
[Yes. Even someone as out of shape as you can handle her in her Copyroid body.]
"Good." He opened up the NaviTalk program. "BurstMan! 'You know who' is here, and she helped that Navi escape!"
[Oh of course! The other one's bad enough and now I got her older sister to worry about?!]
"Eh, don't worry about it, she's in a Copyroid. Just take her by surprise and melt her and the kid!"
[..If you say so, Jerry. They're probably out in the woods. I'm gonna secure the perimeter, just in case.]
"Good. We're almost done here. Just a bit more and we can go back home!"
[Gotcha. BurstMan out.]
The PET screen returned to the security feed. "God I need a drink.
He was back in the PET. "How did I get back in here?" MegaMan wondered. "I couldn't acesss my BattleChips in that bubble, so how did I..." Questions for later. 'Lan, are you there?" This was odd, he couldn't access the camera feed. What was going on here?
[..Yeah, I'm here.] Lan muttered, panting very heavily sounding very weirded out, like that time he saw Dex's porn mags weirded out. [Yuna rescued you and..well...] Suddenly the PET turned on and MegaMan could see the dark skinned girl's torso and nothing else. It was as though her bottom half was melted off. Even her pigtails were gone! [Why aren't you freaking out! Look at her!]
[Aww you're so kind!] Yuna said sarcastically.
"I'm not surprised given what I've seen today. Plus I've done worse to criminal Navis. I'm more worried about you, Lan. You look terrible!" His brother looked like he'd been running nonstop for hours! His normally spike hair was frayed and caked with sweat, his skin glistening with the liquid as well. He was panting heavily, the look on his face one of complete and utter fear. "How long was I out?!"
[Two hours.] Yuna chimed in helpfully. [That Navi, BurstMan he called himself, came looking for your brother, and after a few comedic antics, we eluded him.] MegaMan rotated the PET's camera. He could see that they were in a small alcove, scant rays of sunlight peering through the rocks that were above them. [I had enough left in me to glue the rocks together. It's gonna be a while before that bag of bones finds us.]
[She made me bury the Copyroid a few feet away from here. I don't know why, but I had nothing to lose, and doing random arbitrary things like that helped us save the world plenty of times.]
"Yeah, that is true." MegaMan said, remembering all the times they had to count things and do stamp rallies to stop the random cyber terrorist of the week. "So can you tell me why she's missing most of her body?"
[I tried to help you, but that Navi melted off half my body with his attack.] Yuna shuddered as she recalled the memory. [Man, that was painful!]
'So she's the one I heard scream!' Both brothers thought simultaneously.
[Anyway, so now you're caught up. As for why it took you so long to wake up, your brother here had to get rid of that bug BurstMan put in you, probably something that was programmed in if his target got away from the explosion.] She then gave a very big smile. [Which of course meant that Lanny here-]
[-Stop calling me that!]
[-Had to activate that program I put in you when he inevitably failed to boot you up! And with that Copyroid working in tandem with that special little Copyroid, You'll be able to beat BurstMan and his partner in crime!] She let out a happy sigh as the rocks above them began to melt. [Oh it warms my heart to see such worthy candidates. It's not every day you get on Duo and King-]
"SURPRISE!" BurstMan shouted, causing the three very trapped people inside the cave to scream. "Oh isn't this convenient? All the people the boss lady needs dead trapped in a cave!" He fixed his gaze at Yuna. "Your sis says hi." He laughed when the girl flipped him off. "Yep, she figured you'd do that. Oh and BTW? found the Copyroid you buried. Couldn't destroy it due to some extenuating circumstances, so I put a bubble around it and sent it down the mountain. Try to Jack In to it now!" He placed a bubble around the entrance to the cave. "I don't know how you did that little warp trick, but you're not gonna get a second chance to do it! The chemicals in that bubble will dilute any transmissions that go through it. So in laymen's terms: you try to teleport out, it'll kill you."
"Damn it!" Lan yelled. Of all the things to happen, why did the criminals have to get this intelligent?! "Wait a minute.." He just said he couldn't destroy the Copyroid..and that big blast of acidic energy must have left a huge energy signature.. "You got the attention of the Officials, didn't you?" That would explain why he didn't destroy the Copyroid! He didn't want to be tracked!
"Yep! Nothing like an industrial magnet to mess up a Navi good!" He, Yuna and MegaMan shivered in terror. It was the type of sympathy pain a man received when he saw another man get kicked in the nuts. BurstMan raised both his hands, the liquid in his bubble gloves glowing dimly. "Well, it's been fun. Bye-bye.." And then, to the trio's confusion. BurstMan lowered his arms, the light going away. "Are you serious?!" There was silence, his body motions indicating he was in communication with someone, likely his NetOp. "Oh, he's here! Great!" BurstMan popped the bubble covering the entrance. "Good news for you three, you get to live! ProtoMan's here! Oh well. We got what we needed from this school. Cya in a couple months!" With a raspy laugh, BurstMan popped out of existence, leaving behind a very confused human, Navi, and girl of unknown origin.
[Uhh, Lan? Yuna's gone. And she left an E-Mail.]
"Of course she did.." Just what he needed, another mysterious girl in a Copyroid up and disappearing when he had questions. "Alright, open it up. I'll read it on the way down the mountain."
[YOU CLIMBED UP A MOUNTAIN IN TWO HOURS?!] MegaMan yelled. [HOW?! THIS MOUNTAIN'S-] A loud howl interrupted him, followed by another, and then another. [...Opening up E-Mail, let's get out of here, now!]
"Don't have to tell me twice!" And so Lan, with PET in hand, ran as though the hounds of hell were after him, which given those howls, they probably were. Lan ran and jumped down the mountain hills and ridges, ACDC town looking like a speck in the distance amongst all the other cities. "Jeez, how far up am I?" He knew he climbed pretty high up, but he didn't expect to be this high! With how far he was from civilization, there was no way he'd be able to get any Wifi out here to call for help, and his PET didn't have sattelite uplink. 'I'm never gonna need it, I said! I saved the world like seven times, I said!' He stopped and sat down, panting heavily. 'Couldn't go a year without that patented Lan stupidity, huh?!' He waited a few minutes until his heart stopped pounding, and it was then he noticed that he didn't have MegaMan. "OH NO!" He slowly got up off the ground, his tired and sore bones shaking as he arduously walked back up the mountain to find his brother.
Meanwhile, back at the school, a very rare event was underway. It was a momentous occasion, one that would be heralded and meme'd for days upon end on the net! It was stupendous, it was amazing, it was the Officials being competent!
"Classroom 1B secure!"
"Classroom 1A secure!"
"Teacher's lounge secure!"
A young man with white hair accompanied a red Navi with long white hair and a sword, who was in a Copyroid, as they found the school's server room. The teen had changed greatly over the years, having undergone military training as a self requirement to becoming the leader of the Officials in the Dentech area. as a result his hair was cut far shorter than it needed to be, almost to the scalp. he was still a shortie, but the amount of muscle he packed into his short frame without it being excessive was nothing short of admirable, and packed in a snappy red and black suit with a tie, large gloves that could block off a network and red and black boots for trudging through thick and messy terrain. He was Eugene Chauud, the Navi next to him was ProtoMan, and they had a job to do.
ProtoMan kicked the door open, only to find absolutely nothing, as in there was nothing in the room at all, not even a chair! ProtoMan moved to the side so Chaud could get in, and the human couldn't believe what he was not seeing.
"There's nothing here!" The equipment here was industrial grade! You'd need a forklift to move it! "How is this possible?! ProtoMan, any news on the security feeds?!" ProtoMan put a hand to his helmet, and after a few seconds shook his head. 'So all the footage has been erased..' He thought. 'Guess I have no other choice, given that this is his school.' ProtoMan, get everyone to find Lan! If my hunch is right, he and MegaMan put their noses in something they didn't belong in, again."
"Understood." ProtoMan put his hand to his ear again and went silent for a full minute. "Alright. Recent chatter on the net is that Lan Hikari had taken a foreigner girl, some posters guessing her to be of Netfrican descent judging by her skin tone, away from the school. They haven't been seen in over two hours." There was more silence as ProtoMan accessed more information. "Ok we got a lead. There are radiation readings exactly like the readings in the melted parts of the school going through the forest and leading up the mountainside."
'So likely the enemy Navi chased someone up the mountain, probably Lan. He's the only one stupid enough to come back into an exploding school.' And worst yet, this meant the enemy Navi had a military grade Copyroid, one that was stronger than any of the models on both the legal and illegal markets, and was probably still here due to that area's lack of Wifi. "Tell me the team heading up the mountain is being accompanied by a Copyroid team?" ProtoMan's silence told him all he needed to know. "Alright, go to them." ProtoMan nodded and ran out the room. "Idiots, the lot of them.." Taking over this section of the Officials was the best thing that happened to them. One city down, a million more to go.
"Holy crap, look at that.."
Mt. Belenus was located right behind ACDC High School. At a staggering 3,776 feet, it was the largest mountain in the country, and it would take a total of 6 hours to climb to the top, and from the school to the top, an estimated 54 minutes added to that time due to all the vegetation.
Whoever this Navi was and whoever they were chasing broke that record by 4 hours. As a group of Officials surveyed the damage from above via helicopter, Navi officials doing the same via radiation armored drones shaped like cartoonish birds, they couldn't believe what they were seeing.
"How in the world did something with this level of destructive capability get into the country?!" Asked one of the people on board the copter. "There's a trail of this radiation going on for miles!" Two miles, six miles, eight miles, ten miles, it was insane! It didn't take long to figure out the Navi was following someone, going by what few footprints the drones took snapshots of, but it looked as though the Navi had some anger issues; some of the photos being sent to the chopper showed that many of the trees had scorch marks on the bark, and some of the uprooted trees had deep indents in them, likely the Navi digging his hands into them before trowing them. Seeing all this made him and the rest of them very thankful that Electopia's security was good enough to stop things like tanks or aircraft from entering the country illegally, even though it was a small blessing in the age of Copyroids.
"Sir, the Pipi drones found someone!" One of the people monitoring the drone feeds shouted. "It's a kid with a PET!"
"Are those birds?" Lan stared confusedly as the red and white bird, which looked like it came straight out of an old Netopin cartoon, tweeted at him."Hello?" He'd ask MegaMan what this thing was, but his brother was still mad at him for accidentally dropping him in an ant pile. Even now in his pocket Lan could hear him say the words 'so many ants, so many ants' over and over again. "Are you going to do anything?" He poked the bird, and let out a scream when the thing started beeping. "Jeez!" His attention was then bought to the air, where it looked like a giant wasp with helicopter parts landing a few feet away from him. The helicopter blades stopped after a few seconds, and a group of people came out and began talking to him. And it's with this, upon being put on the helicopter and seeing the uniforms of these people that Lan knew what was coming next, and he was dreading every second of i.
3 hours later..
Interrogations. Lan hated interrogations. So many questions, so many hours in a tiny room while they inspected MegaMan. That little plan to infect BurstMan with an HP bug by messing with the Navi Customizer, a program that barely anyone knew about, really bit him in the butt this time, because most of the 2 hours he spent with the Officials involved waiting for his dad to come undo the damage they scientists did to his brother.
The sun was setting by the time he got out of that blasted place. He sat in the front seat of the car, being driven home by his dad, Lan's PET in the recharge console on the dashboard, and none of the men in the vehicle were in a good mood. The bridge leading back to the DenTech Area was usually one of Lan's favorite places to drive, when Yai trusted him enough with one of her self driving cars at least, but not even the orange tinted ocean could cheer his tired, angry soul up at the moment.
"I'm going to sue those idiots.." Yuuichiro Hikari growled angrily, looking angrier than Lan or MegaMan had ever seen him. His eyes were hidden by the glare in his glasses, and Lan felt as though that was a good thing at the moment. It was almost frightening. "I'm offended as a father and a scientist. If Chaud doesn't get to those idiots for what they did to you, MegaMan, I will."
...Both brothers decided at this point that it would be a very bad idea to let him know what he told those officials in that interrogation room. So Lan grabbed his PET off the dashboard and turned it on, making sure to turn on the text function. A small keyboard slid out of the bottom of the device as Lan began typing. [how U feelin, MegaMan?] Let it be said that though Lan had improved in many ways when it came to his education, typing ettiquete was not one of them . [I don't care how U look.] There was silence for a few seconds before MegaMan appeared on screen, and it took a considerable amount of willpower for Lan not to yell out in shock. What did they do to him?! Lan knew enough about Navi development that the 3D render of a Navi's model shouldn't impede their functions, but it looked as though MegaMan was struggling to speak, which made sense, given that his head was where his emblem was supposed to be and vice versa! His arms were on backwards, and his head was sticking out his back! [I don't no how 2 do ellipses.]
[Thanks for showing some tact.] Mega Man texted back [It's not as painful as it looks, at least not anymore. My systems should fix my render in a few minutes. In the meantime however, let's just enjoy the ride. We have plenty of time to talk about BurstMan when we get home.]
[Ok Ok.] Lan typed. [BTW, does this seem like deja buu?]
[Deja vu Lan, and yeah, I got the same feeling. We can't do anythng until whatever group BurstMan belongs to makes their move. Let's just relax, ok?]
[OK] And so the PET went blank, and Lan sighed as he looked out the window. 'I'm gonna relax like I never relaxed before when I get home.' He thought. suddenly his PET screen came back on, and a single text from MegaMan could be seen on the screen.
[Do your homework. I already mailed mom, and we will make sure you do it all at the table.]
"GRK!" Lan hissed. As he pouted and grumbled, he missed one very important detail, namely the fact his dad was looking at his PET screen while driving. For a man with as many important tasks as him, multitasking was to him what muscle memory was to a seasoned gamer. 'Looks like my kids are getting themselves in trouble again.' He thought sadly as he turned the car into the exit, heading off the bridge and onto the main road. As he came up to a traffic light and stopped at the red light, he could have sworn he saw something...something familiar, green haired, brown skinned and red eyed, grinning at him before disappearing. 'What in the world?!' What was she doing here?! She shouldn't even be alive! His phone rang and Yuuichiro nervously picked it up. He nearly dropped it when he saw the text he received. 'Please...if there is a god, don't let my sons get into this mess, please!'
The trip back home was tenser than before, and neither Lan or MegaMan could figure out why.
It was around 9 at night when MegaMan and Lan got back at home, and the blue Navi was well enough to be useable. Mom said that he could enjoy himself while she watched Lan do his homework at the table. She did not want a report of her son doing it in class again.
"Ah it feels so good to be back on the Net!" MegaMan said happily as he exited his house. Yes, house. the internet had changed drastically over the near decade. While the roads still followed the blocky, multicolored theme and design they always did, there was things on the sides of the roads; grass, water, lakes, trees, buildings, as real looking as their human world counterparts! Homepages were actual, personally designed homes if you had a house, and a shared building for Navis if on a shared network or in an apartment. Navis on networks with higher data processing speeds travelled by CyberCar, and viruses were now easily identifiable. Gone were the days when you could be jumped like some random encounter in some 1990s rpg. now most Netops can be alerted beforehand of an attack and load up their BattleChips before the fight even started!
As MegaMan could automatically Jack Out at will, he felt safe enough to walk the streets alone. The street lights were on as the streets were dimmed to simulate nighttime, and combined with the lights on in the various houses and the sound files of crickets playing gave the area quite a bit of ambience. He even dressed for the occasion, putting on a blue coat and boots. There was no point to it, he just felt like doing it, and that freedom of choice felt amazing. "This is going to be a tough year." He said to himself as he passed by a few Navis walking down the street. "I can feel it." BurstMan...He saw the destruction that Navi wrought across . This was near Bass level of power! Thank goodness Lan actually did the smart thing and keep the chip folder they used against the Cybeasts and Count HakuShaku, and he could still access the Cybeast powers if he needed to. "Next time I''ll be ready." MegaMan swore to himself. "Just you wait, BurstMan."
"...Really?" MegaMan stopped in place. That was Yuna's voice! That was, if it was being emulated by one of those programs that voiced what you typed. "BurstMan was a well built Navi far before I came into the picture, made to combat Colonel." He looked around frantically; where was her voice coming from?! "Because of that, he barely needed Eden's software upgrades to make him a threat." He readied his MegaBuster and began charging. "Please. Like that middling pea shooter's going to do anything against me. Do you notice anything wrong with your surroundings? Do you notice anything missing?" It took barely a second for MegaMan to notice that ACDC Area was gone. He was standing on nothing, and the only thing that remained was the animated background; in the past that was what made p the skies and walls, but now it was the backup in case the sky rendering programs failed. "Worry not, I did not delete this area's data. I simply moved you out of bounds for this little chat.'
"So why'd you bail on us back on Mt. Belenus?" Mega Man asked, trying in vain to establish contact with his PET and subsequently his chip folder, or even Gregar or Falzar's power, while also wondering how he missed being teleported so far away! "In fact, why keep up that charade if BurstMan's your toady?!"
"What do you keep-" The voice went silent for a second before continuing. "-Sister." There was another small bout of silence. "So, you're the one my sister chose, I must see what she finds so special about you." Suddenly, MegaMan found himself back on the street he was taken from. 'I was going to simply test you and then delete you, but if my sister chose you, then you're off limits..." Not-Yuna sighed. "I knew I should have verified Jeremiah and Gungaroo's location." This was followed by another silence, and soon the fear MegaMan was feeling gave way to annoyance. "Good day . Enjoy the small reprieve and the humbling my operative has given you. Because in one week, I shall return. My name is Sera, and I will soon take this world in the name of the Master. Enjoy your night." And soon MegaMan's head...or whatever Sera used to communicate with him. He could honestly say that was one of the most unpleasant experiences he had ever had in his life, and he didn't begin to feel sick until after she was done with him! At least he finally established connection to the PET.
"I'm just gonna...yeah.." And so MegaMan Jacked Out, set Lan's alarm, made an E-Mail detailing what happened, and just went to sleep.
Unbeknownst to MegaMan, a similar situation was happening to many of his allies worldwide.
In CreamLand...
"ARRGH!" KnightMan's HP went into the single digits as he flew a good twenty acres across CreamLand's downtown network. a bevy of clouds, courtsey of his current NetOp, appeared below him, cushioning his fall as Recovery BattleChips were sent to him. He softly landed on the streets, many of the Navis who didn't stay to record whatever sent their kingdom's protector across the city had fled or Jacked Out. Those that stayed watched as KnightMan readied his mace to fight the opponent...
"YAHAAHA" And they couldn't believe what they were seeing. "Awww, my little knighty got beat!" Coming down on a bubble was a Choinese Navi, wearing buns in her hair styled like panda ears. In fact her entire motif was pandas; Her pink pupils were panda shaped, she had pink panda blush stickers on her cheeks, she wore a panda colored schoolgirl uniform with a panda patterened skirt, white stockings, and panda themed boots, with the front of the shoes having panda faces. On her back was a large staff with the head of a panda roaring engraved at the top, a jewel in its mouth, and above her was a giant, car sized robotic panda head, and two truck sized arms with thick, sharp claws at the end. "Don't worry cutie, I like, am gonna make you a goner! Bamboo Pandamonium's gonna own you, lamer!"
In Netopia.
"Oh, you think you're ssssssooo clever, don't you?" SnakeMan said with a cackle as he held the intruder in place, just in time for ThunderMan to complete his Program Advance. "NOW!"
"THUNDERBOLT 3!" A large, house sized blast of lighting shot down from above and hit the intruder. "THUNDERBOLT 3!" Again. "THUNDERBOLT 3!" And again, until the bug was a smoldering wreck.
"I hope you NetOp payssss up for those illegal PET modifications." SnakeMan warned ThunderMan. It took a lot for Ms. Millions to find a way bypass that stupid 3 chip limit every PET had and by god, he will not let her libido cost them more money!
"Raoul says he will have it in three weeks." ThunderMan said as he floated down next to the snake Navi in a jar. "Now ready yourself you aviricous reptile, our foe is not down!"
"You ain't as dumb as ya look!" Said a somewhat squeaky voice with a New York accent. from behind the charred remains of their foe, came their foe, completely unharmed. "Must be all that Native Electo-I'm sorry, Native American hoodoo magic, eh bud?" He was 9'3", his head that of a flea's, with the top of his head being a transparent dome where his brain could be seen , shades over his eyes and a cigar in his mouth. He wore grey shoulderpads and armored grey gauntlets connected to the shoulderpads via black tubes, and that carried to all 3 pairs of his arms his legs were covered in grey armor, with see through glass exposing his legs, green liquid bubbling in them. On his waist were a gun holster on his right, and a sword on his left. "Gotta say, that's pretty spiffy!"
"Ohh I hate you...monthsss upon monthsss of dealing with your ilk, and we don't even know your name!"
"Oh, I can give you my name!" His eyes glowed behind his shades, and soon one of this flea Navi became six. "It's Infinity Mijinion bubs!"
Choina..
"Come out, come out, wherever you are..." Meddy ran from the deep, thunderous voice, as far as she could as the blizzard increased in strength. "Your test isn't over doctor, do your duty!"
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Meddy yelled as her attacker's silhouette could be seen in the blizzard for a few seconds, his red eyes glowing brightly. "JASMINE, WHERE ARE YOU?!" And why was it so cold?! "P-please..s-stop.." She began chattering, her body going into shock despite not having that function; then again she didn't have the ability to get cold, but here she was!
"I cut off your connection to your NetOP." The Navi muttered as the blizzard. "I only needed a few seconds of your time, but you made this so complicated." The blizzard dissipated slightly, revealing her tormentor. 8'4" with bronze skin, he was a brute in appearance, heavily muscular and wearing pelts and reptile skin as if he were some sort of barbarian. He wore a red T-rex pelt whose sharp teeth covered his eyes and bottom jaw covered his lips and chin. The pelt continued down like a cape, reaching to his hips with thick blue spinal ridges made of ice going down the center. His 'pants was the tail of the dinosaur simply wrapped around his legs, the thick gauntlets on his hands the feet and whatever fat and skin he had left when he killed the beast. And around his waist was a belt with a T-rex buckle, with bottles containing various chemicals on each of the loops of the belt. "From one doctor to another, let me just say I am dissappointed with your battle prowess. But that's not what I'm here for."
"N-no.." Meddy closed her eyes, waiting for death to come...only to feel nothing. "Huh?" She opened one of her eyes to see the giant Navi staring down at her. "I-I'm alive?"
"I just needed to scan you, to compare notes. Your medical knowledge is quite amazing for a pet project like you." Meddy resisted the urge to scream at that little secret of hers being known as the blizzard began to obscure the giant. "We will meet again Chamomile, on the battlefield. Remember my name: BURN DINOREX!"
And in Electopia.
" .. you exceeded my expectations" Protoman couldn't even scream from the pain as the blade was embedded further in his emblem. "I expect good things from you." Said the effeminate, snooty voiced Navi. He was 10'2", pale skinned, and showing a lot of skin too, with purple eyeshadow and lipstick. He had honey blonde hair that flowed in the nonexistent wind, a giant prop on his back shaped like a flower with sun shaped petals, a green furisode with flower prints on it and flower shaped openings on the side, and his legs, oddly enough, seemingly made of dirt with various flowers growing out of them. "22 minutes, I haven't been pushed that far since my run in with Trigger!" Suddenly the blade deleted itself and all of ProtoMan's injuries were completely healed. "You, MegaMan, Medicine Woman, KnightMan, ThunderMan, and SnakeMan. Oh you six will be worthy foes."
"Why?" The effeminate Navi looked at ProtoMan in confusion. "Why did yo heal me?! You had me at your mercy!"
"Oh because my master's such a drama queen. She doesn't want you Irregulars dead. Just another pissing match with her sister."
"...Irregulars?" ProtoMan opened up a connection to his PET and began recording. Why did this gy have to attack when Chaud was in cram school?! "What are Irregulars?"
"You guys." The Navi scoffed. "I don't blame you if you don't know what that is, I barely know what it means myself. Basically you guys are good, my side is evil, but don't tell my master I said that, she's kind of in denial." He backed away from ProtoMan and gave a bow. "It's been fun kid, I can't wait to see you again. My name's Optic Sunflower of the Purifiers, and next time, I hope you can give me at least 34 minutes." And with that, Sunflower Jacked Out, leaving ProtoMan alone.
"Irregulars huh?" He muttered as he saved the conversation and began to upload it to a private server. "Looks like me and Chaud are going to be working together with Lan and friends once again."
"Alright old timer, get up, you got a visitor!"
The former Dr. Wily let out a yawn as he slowly got out of bed. He didn't get many visitors; they stopped allowing it after a nail bomb meant for him somehow got in. "And who, pray tell, could want to visit me?" He muttered as he walked to the front of his cell.
The guard scoffed. "It's a surprise. I still can't believe it. You got two of them, and it sounds like they don't even know each other!" The guard left the room, in actuality heading into the secret security room just in case something happened, as, of all people, Light's son came in, tired and somewhat scared. "I didn't expect you to come visit me so soon." Wily muttered. " I believe our last conversation included words from you I can't repeat in public, so excuse me confusion."
"December 18th, 1997." Yuuichiro began. "Before the world adapted the XX calender system. You and my dad worked with what was at the time the biggest military contractor in the world."
Wily's eyes widened, only for a second, before they closed. "Ah so she's back." He grumbled. "It was a rule back when me and your father worked there: If it's a bad, stupid, costly idea, expect Capcom higher ups to OK it." He sighed in frustration. "Now let me guess: you got a call from one of those two girls, right?"
"Yes, but she was wearing that costume I saw her in that one time; the green wig with the silly pigtails and red eye contacts, and she looked as though she hadn't aged a day!"
"She's the one who made you come here huh? I guess that's why you haven't tried to strangle me yet."
"That, and I was warned they will shoot if I did it again." Yuuichiro said as the door opened behind him. "And speak of the devil, here she is."
"It's been a while, Yu-chan." Yuna said softly, her eyes hidden under the shadow of her hair. "And Uncle Wily...you look...pathetic."
"And you're just as snippy as ever, I see." Wily shot back."Now spill it, what do you want? Capcom had no faith in the DASH project, so I never expected to see you again. Where's your nutcase of a sister."
"That's why I'm here." Yuna calmly sat down and took a deep breath before continuing. "Yu-chan, Uncle Wily, I need your help. My sister has activated the Elder System and I need you to stop her."
And that's it. I don't know if I'm gonna continue this. tell me what you guys think