A/N: Happy New Year! I apologize for making this so late; I just kept forgetting to put the thoughts to paper. Anyways, a couple shoutouts. First, to Hi I'm LuLu: I'm glad I can count you as one of my loyal followers. I hope this chapter was worth the wait! Next, to 3697014: I hope this series turns out as good as the last one did! Finally, to armorcadence: I'm glad you like my story. I hope you love this chapter just as much! Anyways, enjoy!

Chapter Two: Guilty Soul

"Hey Maylu, have you noticed Lan and MegaMan acting...unusually since that NetCity incident?" Maylu was standing by her locker in between classes, listening to her NetNavi give her the daily class schedule, when she was caught off guard by Roll's odd question.

"...No, why Roll? Those two practically write the book on strange." At this point in her life, Maylu was so used to Lan's quirks that she didn't pay most of them a second thought.

Roll rolled her eyes and continued "I mean strange even for them. You notice how after we got back from that WaterWorks field trip how extremely tight-lipped he was about what happened? He disappears, then reappears just after everything's fixed."

Maylu tapped her finger against her chin in thought. "You know, now that you mention it, you're right. When I asked him where he went, he said he went to use the restroom, but he got all flustered and rubbed his neck while saying it. I didn't give it a second thought before, but now I think he wasn't being entirely truthful with me."

"Yeah; MegaMan was the same way. I went to talk to him that evening and he seemed more guarded than usual. We used to be able to tell each other everything -"

"Everything except your crush on him, you mean!" Maylu teased her NetNavi, grinning at seeing Roll's cheeks turn as red as cherries.

"...Anyways, when I asked him where he and Lan disappeared to, he got flustered too and paused a lot, as though he was trying to decide what he'd be allowed to say."

"Wow, both Lan and MegaMan acting guarded; that's really strange." A light bulb went off in her head as she exclaimed "Hey; I've got an idea. We'll accompany Lan home after school and once we get inside, we'll corner him and get the truth out of him."

"...Alright, let's do it." Roll recalled numerous times where her interrogations with MegaMan had gone less than smoothly, and she had a gut feeling that Lan would operate the same way as his Navi. But with no other strategy she could conceive of, she reluctantly decided to go along with Maylu's plan.

An hour later

Maylu had managed to keep the excitement of her plan out of her mind for the duration of Miss Mari's class, keeping her attention on her notes so that she would be prepared when Lan inevitably asked for hers. Suddenly, in the middle of the lecture, the lights flashed and Miss Mari evacuated the classroom. She had taken a few steps when she saw that Lan had disappeared around the corner behind them. "Now where's he going?"

She spotted his brown hair through an open window and kneeled down so she wouldn't be seen, and gasped when she heard him say "Agent Lan reporting for duty."

Agent...LAN? She tried imagining her friend in a black suit and sunglasses, but shook it out of her head after thinking how silly he would look dressed in a spy uniform. Deciding to get more info, she listened to Mister Famous tell him to solve the DarkLoid problem and show off those "mad NetSaver skills." "So that's what he's been hiding..." Alright, change of plans… She burst in on Lan who practically jumped at her entrance as she placed her hand on his shoulder and said "Alright, spill it Lan. What's a NetSaver?"

After trying to feign ignorance and sweating, Lan ran off after saying "Girls ask too many questions, BYE!"

Fifteen Minutes Later

Maylu dashed on the sidewalk, trying to find the elusive NetOp. "So, Lan's a NetSaver? Roll, do you know anything about what they are?"

Roll hesitantly nodded. "All I know is just word of mouth and rumors, but I've heard of an organization of NetOps called NetSavers that work for the government; they essentially act as law enforcement and stop rogue and criminal Navis from committing cybercrime."

"...Sounds a lot like what we did when we battled World Three and Grave."

"...Yeah..." Roll looked to the side as she recalled all the close battles with the aforementioned organizations. If Mega gets himself in those kinds of situations again… She shook her head to clear the negativity from her thoughts and asked "You find Lan yet?"

Maylu stopped in her tracks as she saw Lan jack MegaMan into the Net at a street corner. "Alright; you ready to track down Mega, Roll?"

Roll nodded at Maylu's whisper, and was wordlessly jacked in, reforming a short distance away, seeing MegaMan's buster and sword attacks being deflected by a Navi looking like a couple of light bulbs who called himself FlashMan. Alright, it looks like Mega definitely needs some backup here. At MegaMan's pondering about how they were going to need to get creative, Roll jumped into action, blowing a kiss towards the DarkLoid and yelling "Okay, how about a ROLL BLAST!"

After the string of hearts just barely missed FlashMan, Roll landed next to her crush, chanting "Surprise, surprise!" At Maylu's declaration, Roll rushed forward, yelling "Don't wait up!" Ignoring MegaMan's warning, she almost didn't see FlashMan's Neon Lights attack. Embarrassed at MegaMan having to tackle her out of the way she murmured "Wow, guess I should have listened to you..."

MegaMan waved it off assuring her to leave it to him. "Yeah but, you need me" Roll tried to assert before FlashMan sent another attack at them, interrupting their moment and forcing them to jump out of the way. Roll gracefully flipped behind the DarkLoid, taunting "What's the matter, hotshot? Am I too fast for you?"

At Maylu's sending of a battle chip, Roll yelled "AQUA TOWER!" She twirled and slammed her palm in the ground causing a pillar of water to rush towards Flashman. Unfazed, the Navi coated his body with electricity and the pillar went right through him as if it were made of paper, an outline in the shape of his body carved out of the pillar. Roll gasped "I can't believe it didn't work!"

That was the least of her worries however; the Aqua Tower kept on course as it hit the last person she ever wanted it to hit; MegaMan. His scream of pain rang in her ears as time stopped, her heart breaking. She saw him get jacked out by Lan before moaning the NetNavi's name before being jacked out too.

Reforming in the PET, she looked at her hands in disgust. These hands...hurt...Mega… Wanting nothing more than to sever them, MegaMan's screams rang over and over in her ears, haunting her. Breaking into tears, she fell to her knees, sobbing at the reality that her actions had caused harm to her crush.

An Hour Later

Roll was travelling through the Net, back to the Navi that had caused her to hurt MegaMan. She had forced herself to stop crying after FlashMan's attacks threatened to halt MegaMan's recovery at SciLab. Landing on a pillar, she spotted FlashMan firing energy balls at the mainframe. Alright Maylu; time to use that strategy we talked about… Summoning up her courage and steeling her face, she yelled "HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"

Curious, FlashMan stopped his attacks to face the pink Navi. "You again? Apparently, you haven't learned to fear me; we'll change that!" Pausing he then changed course offering "Because I'm in a good mood, I'll give you one chance to leave while you still can. I suggest you TAKE IT."

"I'm not afraid of you!" Alright, time to put the plan to action! Roll turned into a tornado, approaching FlashMan. Unimpressed the DarkLoid used his electric power to make it disappear. He then shot an electricity ball at what appeared to be Roll, but turned out to be a group of Mini-Boomers. It was then that he spotted Roll too late; her arm turned into a Spreader and fired, covering the DarkLoid in a series of explosions. Roll squealed "Yeah! I knew we could shut him down!"

"Sorry to disappoint you!" Roll gasped at FlashMan's survival and was soundly thrashed by FlashMan's counter, her defenses shattered and leaving her crying in fear. The element of surprise lost, she was helpless to dodge FlashMan's attacks, even with her competitive anger being roused by his taunts of finding her bravery "amusing". Her HP at critical, she closed her eyes and braced for the end. I'm sorry, Mega. I couldn't even stall him for you…

Before FlashMan could call his final attack, a familiar beam disrupted his concentration. Roll gasped, opening her eyes once more to see the familiar Blue Bomber standing in front of her. Even though she couldn't see his face, she recognized his stance as one of anger. Mega...you came… Roll's eyes closed once more, her body tired.

She woke to another one of FlashMan's taunts. She summoned the strength to get to her feet, groaning "MegaMan, please get up..." She gasped in horror as parts of MegaMan's body were dissolving.

Lan and Maylu argued about what to do, while FlashMan cackled with glee. "Better think fast; he's only got a few minutes left. FLASH LIGHTS!" Electricity ran through MegaMan's body, filling Roll's ears with his tortured screams again.

"I have to help him. I don't know how, BUT I WON'T LET THIS HAPPEN! It's my fault MegaMan got hurt in the first place. I have to help him no matter what happens." As FlashMan prepared his final attack, she yelled "I'M COMING! HANG ON!" She raced against the balls of electricity FlashMan threw, desperate to shield her crush from the attack with her body. I won't let him be deleted. I swear it! She finished her leap, kneeling next to MegaMan and cradling his weakened form with her own. "Don't give up!" She stared intently into his eyes, not noticing the glows emitting from both of their emblems. She felt her form melt and flow into her crush, losing all awareness of where she was or what had happened.

Later that evening

Roll sat on her bed, pondering what Maylu told her had transpired during her unconsciousness. Double Soul? Mega and I...joined souls? Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door.

"Hey Roll?" Roll subconsciously froze at the familiarity of the voice on the other side. "It's Mega. Can I come in? I wanted to talk to you."

Taking a deep breath, she walked over and opened the door, putting on a smile so as to not worry him. MegaMan entered wordlessly; the two had become so close that they had long since outgrown the need for verbal confirmation. A simple gesture and a look into the other's eyes was all that they needed. As Roll closed the door behind her, MegaMan smiled at her and in that boyish voice that she had come to adore, said "I just wanted to thank you, Roll. Thanks for coming to my rescue. I owe you again."

MegaMan ended that sentence with a chuckle to show some humor, but Roll found that statement anything but funny. Memories of her attack hitting MegaMan flooded through her mind as the tears that she had been trying all day to hold back streamed down her face. Sobbing, she leapt towards her crush, wrapping her arms around his neck in a vice grip and buried her head against MegaMan's emblem, sobbing. MegaMan, stunned, simply wrapped his arms around her back, letting her cry. "How can you be so happy? Don't you remember what happened? My Aqua Tower nearly deleted you! If it hadn't been for me, then you wouldn't have had to worry about FlashMan; you would have kicked his butt a hundred times over!"

She sniffled as MegaMan tried to interject "Roll, "

"I was a fool for thinking you needed me. I don't deserve to call you a friend, Mega. All I do is put you in danger. You should..."

"ROLL!" MegaMan snapped, causing Roll to flinch. He's never snapped at me before… MegaMan took a deep breath and rubbed her back, continuing "Roll, you have no idea how much I need you. You make me smile, you give me hope when none exists, you help take the stress off of being the world's protector. So what if your battling could use some work? The ways you help me are so much more important. I DO need you, Roll. You're my best friend on the net, and I'll need you more than ever." He squeezed her tighter, as if to prove his point.

Smiling, Roll sobbed again, but this time out of happiness. Loosening her grip, she lifted her head to look into his eyes. "I...I'm sorry Maylu and I stuck our noses into your NetSaver business."

MegaMan waved it off as if it was nothing. "Don't be sorry Roll. Actually, now that you know, I'd like to tell you everything. I..." MegaMan looked down out of embarrassment before continuing "I hated having to keep secrets from you. And now that you know, I'd like to tell you everything. No secrets?"

Roll smiled and nestled her face against his emblem once more. "No secrets, Mega."