Lan led Arthur down to the lobby. Everyone else was waiting already, Chaud included.
"Did you pass?!" Blurted Arthur.
Joe turned. "Yes. It was tough, but we're in."
William raised a hand, displaying a battlechip. "It was a three-on-three duel. We were against ProtoMan and two Navis we didn't know at all, called ShadowMan and ToadMan."
Denny smiled. "We beat 'em. Ninety-nine percent sure they were holding back less than instructed."
"All three are cleared to launch an infiltration attempt alongside you. Of course, just because you can hold your own, don't get reckless. We've given each of you one of our Navi chips, but remember they will blow your cover." Said Chaud sternly.
"You actually gave away a ProtoMan chip? I had to beat you three times!" Said Lan.
Chaud put his hands in his pockets. "Lan, I'm trying to maintain respect here. I don't wear a suit often."
Arthur's friends looked around him to see the iconic blue headband. William blinked.
"Lan Hikari, it's an honor!" Said Joe.
Denny laughed softly. "Hey Lan. Good job with the whole net-saving thing."
Lan reached a hand behind his head. "Hey, I couldn't have done it without MegaMan!"
"Can we see him? Electopia owes him a lot." Said ArsenalMan.
"Sure, just let me open a chat channel..." Said Lan, tapping a few options into the PET. "Say hello."
A six-way chatroom opened in seconds. MegaMan, ProtoMan, Treble, MathMan, ArsenalMan and PlugMan.
"Hi guys!" Said MegaMan.
ProtoMan was quiet.
"Hi MegaMan!" Said Treble.
"I'm MathMan. Good to meet you."
"ArsenalMan, at your service."
"'Sup."
"So" Said MegaMan. "Who got each chip? I can't believe Chaud gave out a ProtoMan chip."
"Well" Explanied MathMan. "We thought we should use them to cover our weaknesses. ArsenalMan struggles with melee, so he got ProtoMan. I thrive if I can get in close, and ToadMan's chip paralyses. And Miyabi insisted PlugMan got ShadowMan's chip."
"Do I get a chip?" Said Treble.
"BugCharge." Countered ProtoMan.
"Oh yeah."
PlugMan looked bored. "You know... What are you a prototype of, anyway? When are we going to see full-release man?" He said to ProtoMan.
"Proto is short for protocol, not prototype. And everyone here knows about your actual self, so don't bother hiding it."
"Oh." Said the other five navis.
"Anyway, MegaMan. We heard you're a pretty legendary fighter. Wanna go sometime?" Said PlugMan.
MathMan and ArsenalMan looked astounded.
"Of course! There's a netbattle machine in the break room, actually!" Said MegaMan. "Lan? Can we battle these guys?"
"I recommend you do." Encouraged ProtoMan. "You'll need all the experience you can get."
"You're on!" Said Lan. "Who first?"
MegaMan had been holding back, but everyone was wildly outclassed.
First was PlugMan and Denny. They actually tried, trying to keep MegaMan at an awkward distance and force him to dance around electrified cables, but MegaMan brought them down without even breaking a sweat, one AntiElec and Tomahawk Cross being enough.
ArsenalMan got a lucky hit on MegaMan initially, and quickly opened fire with all he had. But MegaMan shook the damage off easily enough and weaved through the rain of fire in almost impossible ways. It was like he knew everything that would happen in advance. Once he got in close, it was effectively over, even the ProtoMan chip failing to slow him down.
MathMan parried a few shots of the MegaBuster, but his openings to attack were limited to nearly nothing. Lan eventually picked out a NeoVariable sword, and that was that.
And finally, it was Treble's turn. "Here goes. Treble, destroy!"
Lan nodded. "Battle routine, set."
"Execute!"
Treble went in as hard and fast as possible. It was obvious his plan was to try and be aggressive enough to stop MegaMan ever attacking. A strategy that beating relied on either countering at the start, or having a good chip at your disposal. MegaMan took a superficial scrape, but it didn't even bug. Treble could have sworn he felt Gregar's smug emotions from the other side of the net.
"Barrier100, BubbleStar1, ElecSword, BattleChips in!" Said Lan.
"My word." Said Arthur. "Alright... MathMan, Navi chip in! And guard, in!"
MathMan's copy appeared, calmly advancing with blade ready. Treble walked forwards with it, waiting for it to make a blow. MegaMan dipped into range, baiting out a stroke, and the copy disappeared. Treble tried to attack, but a bubble suddenly suspended him in the air. MegaMan cut through with the ElecSword, dropping his health dangerously low.
Arthur frowned. "Well, might as well try it! ElementBreath, BugCharge, VariableSword! Program advance! Origin!"
Treble transformed, instantly towering over MegaMan.
Lan looked into his PET with fierce determination. "Beast Out!"
A ferocious roar sounded as MegaMan donned Gregar's armor. Treble looked at him in endeared confusion, before remembering he was in battle. "TAKE THIS!" He swiped with a claw, but MegaMan was suddenly lightning-fast and moving with feral rage, rather than careful strategy.
Arthur downloaded another chip. "Okay, sending an Elec chip!"
Treble inhaled, and blew yellow fire towards MegaMan. MegaMan leapt upwards, out of range, and brought his buster out with perfect accuracy, firing stright into Treble's mouth.
Lan smiled. "Hey, I've been meaning to try this! Cross system activate- Treble Beast!"
There was a small ping as a ghostly copy of normal Treble appeared to move into Beasted MegaMan. The result was... interesting. The green armour gained a purple hue, the golden plates of the Beast suit cracked, and a yellow aura flared to life around MegaMan.
"Okay, stat readout!" Said Lan. "Attacks now inflict bugs... enemies that get too close will automatically recieve bugs, ooh, it refreshes the Beast counter, and the charged attack... removes inflicted bugs, and deals damage based on them."
MegaMan was in Treble's face the second Treble was vulnerable, slashing away his boosted HP. Treble was actually knocked back. Treble tried to counter with a huge swipe, but to Arthur's shock MegaMan simply stopped it with with his hands, as if he were an immovable object. MegaMan all but threw GS-Treble to the floor.
Treble's transformation disappeared, leaving him on his back. "I... can't move. No power left... Haaa..." He called.
MegaMan dropped out of Treble-cross, but retained Gregar's armor. "You okay?" His voice was recognisibly MegaMan, but the same grainy filter that GS-Treble used had been pasted over it. "It was a good fight. We agree. But you got a long way to go."
Gregar's armor dissipated. MegaMan took a deep breath. "Whew. Always a bit tiring to use that." He said with his normal voice.
"Just who is this Gregar, anyway? They seem to be like me, but... inside you, if that makes sense?" Said Treble.
"Treble, back." Called Arthur. "...Actually, finish your conversation."
MegaMan helped Treble to his feet, unaffected by the bugs. "Gregar was a cybeast, formed by a naturally occurring version of the bug fusion that made you. There are a lot of similarites between how he was and your original self, but... well, it's a long story, but what's left of them is part of my program now... I hope. It's hard to tell with programs that powerful. You better jack out, you're exhausted."
"Had you on the ropes." Said Treble, logging out.
Arthur looked around his friends, on the train back to their town. "So... when should we go and join SheepMan? Denny, you know this stuff best."
"From what we know, he's just a recruiting agent. One face of a larger organisation. But we should join him right away, and hope that leads us to our mark. What's the time now, one o' clock? We should have time for all our Navis and myself to join up. William, Joe- you two aren't going in directly. William's loyalties are all too clear and his social life says as much, and Joe has absolutely no reason to hate the officials at all. I'm the son of a criminal, and Arthur nearly had his Navi deleted, but Arthur- try not to seem massively enthusiastic. Just make it clear that you're not happy with the officials, because otherwise you'll tip them off." Said Denny.
"That's a solid plan. All in favor?" Said Joe.
"Yeah." Said Arthur.
"Yes." Said William. "As soon as we're back, we'll meet up online... the town square won't do for something this sensitive. Suggestions?"
"I think we should meet up in the Old Undernet. Even though MegaMan destroyed it, it's still too dangerous for people to go without reason." Said Joe.
"Agreed." Said Denny.
"Wait, what if Bass comes after Treble?" Said Arthur.
"He won't!" Reassured Treble. "I mean, he still wants to absorb me, but I think he has other things to do..."
"...I'll take your word for it. If Bass appears, we'll just run." Said Arthur.
"Right. We'll meet up at the Old Undernet's BBS. Everyone knows where it is, right?" Said Denny.
Half an hour later, Treble ran up to the Old BBS. Everyone else was already waiting.
"Never thought you'd be last here. We almost had to start posting stupid stuff to entartain ourselves." Commented PlugMan lightheartedly.
"Never thought I'd hear you seem interested in something." Said Treble.
"Is everyone ready?" Asked MathMan calmly.
"Yes, sir." Said ArsenalMan.
"Then lead the way, Treble." Said MathMan. "Oh, and Arthur- Remember you'll be operating me as well as Treble, while Denny operates ArsenalMan additionally. I'm blocking out Joe now."
Treble gestured towards the exit to the regular net. "Come on, let's go."
"Wait." Said... someone? The voice seemed serene and gentle, unfitting with the area once covered in darkness.
The Navis looked around in confusion for a second, seeing no other Navi nearby before PlugMan looked to MathMan. "Do you think it's a trap?"
"Let's not find out. We can't beat Bass yet." Said MathMan, before there was a shower of golden light.
A new Navi appeared in front of the BBS. Gold cloth wrapped their legs and upper body, and two sashes floated behind them. Impressively well textured dark skin was visible across their face and body. "I sense someone among you... An old enemy, and new ally. And three more, with the will to defeat darkness."
Treble looked at the newcomer. "Who are you?" Why do I have this sense of Deja Vu again?
"I am Serenade, Ruler of the UnderNet, new and old... those of you that seek to defeat the darkened one may earn my blessings through strength. When you are ready, come to the hidden paradise. There, show your strength..." The Navi faded away.
"Ruler of the UnderNet?" Said PlugMan. "Well, they did a great job of keeping order there." He rolled his eyes.
"It's probably nothing. Come on, let's go." Said MathMan.
"No... I think that was for real." Said Treble. "I remember her... she defeated Bass, once. A master of darkness and light. She lives in a secret area, where I died..." Wait... "Um... no, I never died there!? That's not my memory...? Never mind, it must be a bug. Maybe I'll try and get that blessing she offered. Hopefully it'll help me get stronger. But anyway, time's wasting away here! Let's go!"
The four Navis moved for the online shop at top speed, easily facing off against any stray viruses that came close. It was only a short trip from the BBS to the edge of the area, and then another few minutes to reach the area with the town.
ArsenalMan looked at the unassuming shop. "I can't believe it was this place. Well, lead on Treble."
They entered the server. Treble walked up to the counter. "Special delivery!"
The clerk reached under the counter. "Ah, are you... perfectly sure, sir?" A text box appeared on the underside of the counter, out of view for a NetOp. '(2) Operators detected. Trustworthy?'
"Yep." Said Treble.
"Okay then!" The clerk flipped another under-the-counter switch, and the shop's entrance sealed. "Welcome, Navis and NetOps. I will assume our agent Treble has filled you in on our current goals- dealing with the officials. From this moment onwards, you will answer to him in matters regarding our operations in Electopia- even his NetOp. With that cleared, please step away from the central floor tile while I contact SheepMan."
Treble swished away from the counter, spinning to look at the video tile. As expected, SheepMan appeared. "Oh, dearest! Some new friends here today, I see!"
"Hey SheepMan. I got the Navis and NetOps I could trust to come in." Said Treble.
"Well, introduce yourselves, darlings! How are you finding our cozy little abode? You have quite the interesting network over there. So many corridors..." SheepMan brushed a nonexistent strand of hair away from his face.
"'sup. I'm PlugMan. Navi and NetOp for hire. Forty thousand Zennys a week. Buuut... we'll cut you a special rate, since you're helping us all out with this. Twenty thousand."
Arthur raised an eyebrow, realising Denny might not have given him a reduced rate.
"ArsenalMan, at your service. I owe it to my friends to deal with the officials, but my NetOp prevents me from doing so."
"I'm MathMan. I have been looking over all the statistics I can find... while my NetOp might not agree, I think the Officials in Electopia are falling into corruption. We must root it out now, or face the consequences." It was a lie, but it lined up quite well with SheepMan's own verbal facade.
"Hey. can you hear me?" Said Arthur.
"One second, darling..." SheepMan interacted with his own end of the connection with a serious face. His chair reclined. "Ahhhh, much better. Continue?"
"I'm Treble's NetOp. The officials tried to delete him for no good reason, without evidence. You have my support, as long as you don't abuse it." Said Arthur.
"Mmm. Nice to have you all. How was tea?"
"Uh, good? BugFrags are BugFrags, after all."
SheepMan comically recoiled. "Eugh, BugFrags? Why in the world would you ever eat one of those, dearest? Ooh, I shouldn't have asked. Now, step one of our operation is quite simple: we just need some evidence against those officials. I have a few files of my own, both video and text from other branches, but if you could contribute any of your own, I'd be most appreciative."
"Hold it... Payroll?. I can still work a little, but we gotta get our cash from somewhere." Said PlugMan.
SheepMan raised an eyebrow. "Don't think we don't appreciate you, but we can't just give out our money in advance. We'll arrange an hourly rate, under the pretence of flexible contract work staffing the chip shop. It's an actual shop now, you know darling! We even have special stock for our... employees. Payday is every Friday, darling. But of course, that does mean if we go down, you'll be with us. Acceptable?" SheepMan flashed a charismatic smile.
"Yes. Now then... Oh... are you from Wirope?" Said PlugMan. "You know, you should really conceal where you're transmitting from better. If you got a bad recruit, they could easily trace a call from this thing!"
SheepMan paled. "Ah, um, gosh. I'm using the best security I have, darling..."
"Well, it's not hiding your IP. You're calling from... a certain institute." PlugMan left the words with a smug smile. "In fact... My goodness, it's as if your security system was actually publicly released, and I have enough experience breaking into it to cut right through. Care to assign me a better job?"
"Right... starting now, I have a special task for you. You're being upped to a sixty-thousand a week contract. Come to this server at ten PM, standard time. You are no longer a part of the Electopia branch, but the group's elite if you can get through security this easily. These skills make or break campaigns. Good to have you."
"Hey, congrats." Said MathMan.
"Yes, congratulations to the darling. PlugMan dearest, if you want to bring any of our other agents with you, then it's up to you to make sure that they're absolutely prepared- in every sense of the word. That'll be all, so toodles. Bring your evidence in by thursday." The screen closed.
Treble looked to PlugMan. "You just... got his location like that?!"
"Yeah. Seriously, with security you NEED to put a good Navi between me and your security system. I'm not a trained hacker, but the rest of the UnderNet taught me how to break a thing or two. So. Chip lady. What's in stock?" Said PlugMan.
The cashier typed up a document. "You can order anything in house or from our national supply. Delete the document when you're done. The rest of you, take this." She handed over another document. "Not our full stock, but you'll find some good chips."
Treble scanned the list. It was absolutely outrageous. At least five different Giga chips, about thirty different Mega chips, and so many different standard chips that they filled up two pages. "Arthur, how much money do we have?" Said Treble.
Arthur took a look. "We're pretty low on funds. Only seven thousand, six hundred zenny left."
"Aw... They have some dark megachips here, and I bet they'd be pretty useful. They sound good too, Anubis, BlackWing, Muramasa, BugCurse... Oh hey, they have a BugCharge! But they're all way outside our range..."
"Eh, we can come back later. Bug based Navis are pretty rare compared to standard ones. How much is in stock for those chips?"
"Three each. If I took a guess..." He looked at the clerk. "They must be popular."
The clerk shook her head. "No sir, they are only available to Navis in our service. If you want to make a deposit and reserve one, we can do that."
"What does each chip do?" Asked Arthur.
"Anubis places a poison-emitting artifact, that harms mearby enemies over time. Useful for defensive Navis. BlackWing summons a horde of bats, more if you have more bugs. Muramasa is a very famously powerful sword chip, that has attack equal to the damage you've suffered. BugCurse randomly inflicts many bugs on your target." Explained the clerk. "I can't reserve BugCharge or Muramasa, since we only have one."
PlugMan looked up from his list. "What's this chip here?" He showed the document to the clerk.
"Ah, that's a very expensive choice... And a national favorite in Wirope, or so I'm told. SheepMan's only ever gotten that one copy, in fact. And he's very well connected." Said the clerk. "The Wiropean polar opposite of Muramasa: Excalibur. It deals damage equal to the total damage you've inflicted to the enemy in the battle. SheepMan's supplied some other Wiropean chips too, if you check. I don't know the difference between the standard chips of our country and his, but I've memorised the mega and giga ones. I must say, whoever leads this little orgainsation did well recruiting him, for the resources alone."
"Hmm... I'd take it, but I can't. Still, some of these look pretty nice. I'll call back later when I've thought of a decent folder to use one." He deleted the document.
"Well, bye for now!" Said Treble. He left the shop, followed by his friends.
PlugMan looked back. "Let's return to the old UnderNet. We can talk freely there."
Back at the Old BBS, PlugMan faced the other three Navis after confirming the area was secure. "Okay, first of all: Treble and Arthur, you're coming with us on this secret mission. We're probably going to be breaking into an official system, so give Chaud a warning in case you get arrested. Second: I know exactly where SheepMan has been transmitting from, the idiot has been using the head of staff's suite at the Eurasia institute. Perhaps not enough to convice a foreign court they're guilty, but obviously he's operated by someone with high security clearance there. Third: those foreign chips might be worth looking into. Some of them will be useful."
"Okay! So... what about MathMan and ArsenalMan?"
ArsenalMan stepped forwards. "I... have a personal project I've been working on with William. He's a good programmer, remember. I know this might sound strange, but we're working on an improved version of the BugStop customisation program. The current one just stops any bugs in a NaviCust, a bit pointless given that they're easy to configure anyway, but I think William might be able to make one that will allow me to touch you when your passive ability is active. That opens new realms for combat strategies."
MathMan was left. "I'm going to try and get my hands on some funds for us. We're going to need some cash at some point, so we should be proactive about it."
"Okay... I'm going to hunt down some viruses. I'm getting stronger, but I could use more chips and BugFrags, especially iuf I'm going to help PlugMan." Added Treble.
"Okay then. Everyone, go." Said PlugMan.
Treble and Arthur worked tirelessly through the night, farming as many BugFrags and chips and tiny amounts of Zenny as they could. By the end of it, they had a small pile of BugFrags, a few new chips, and an extra two thousand Zenny.
Arthur took a note of how many BugFrags they'd obtained. "Okay, ten BugFrags... not bad. Dig in."
Treble didn't hesitate to start wolfing down the chunks of data. "Mmmhm!"
Arthur watched the maximum health increase as each BugFrag was converted to armor. "Okay, Four hundred and eighty-five health. Pretty good. Honestly, we'll catch up to the others pretty quick at this rate. I wonder if there's a cap on this? Normal Navis can only use HP memories up to 1000 health, but you can get customisations for bonus health, and Navi Customiser programs too... even if we can't use them."
"Fifteen hundred." Said Treble, finishing the last BugFrag.
"Oh. Wait, how do you know?" Said Arthur.
"When the Hikaris were working on me. They manually expanded the cap to hit 1500, apparently before, it would only have hit some random number in the fourteen hundreds. And at that point, I think my transformed health will hit 3000, as well. Dang, still not as much as Bass. Where's he gotten that extra 400 from?" Said Treble.
"Mmm... Doesn't he have cybeast Falzar inside him? Surely that improves his durability. Plus all that other stuff. He might be running a NaviCust, but with a buster like that... Anyway. I'd better rest for the battle tomorrow. No way we're going to have an easy time."
"Did you remember to tell Chaud?"
"Yeah. But we don't have the details we'd need to have an official ready to intervene. See you in the morning."
"G'night!"
The following day, Treble visited Denny's homepage, waiting for PlugMan to come online. Eventually, he appeared.
"Are you ready? You're a competent fighter, but you've got to be totally prepared for this." Said PlugMan.
"I was bor- glitched into being ready!" Said Treble.
"Then follow me. And pray that we're doing this alone."
"Hey, before we leave the server... how long will it take for the officials to close in on SheepMan?"
"I don't know. International stuff is annoying. But not for a few months. The easiest thing to do would be to tip off the officials in his country, but if they're working with him... then we're both going to be sent into a trap. Come on. Tight schedule. I have people to act lazy in front of." Said PlugMan.
"Gotcha!"
It was a short trip to reach a link to the wider net, where PlugMan entered a side server. Another Navi was waiting. They had a brass helmet with two solid green lights for eyes, and the majority of their body was a mass of copper pipes, with a thick coating of water forming a large ball of a Navi. "PlugMan?" the voice came out like a large stone being thrown into water.
"That's me. I've brought Treble as backup. Our mission?"
"Right, let me introduce myself. I'm PumpMan. Deputy leader of the elite task force. Good as it gets. I'm coming with you for this mission. We must ensure the officials can't counter our shock attack on friday by just taking down all the information we post, so we must break the master access to the BBS boards. Got it?"
"Yep!"
"Yes."
"Right. PlugMan, you're going to be breaking through the security. I and Treble will keep the security off you. Remember, don't let anyone get away. Delete, or capture if you want to merciful. We can erase the memory manually. Once you're in, I'll destroy it and flood the area. Then there'll be no widespread administration for the BBS." Said PumpMan. "Come, our window is only twenty minutes."
PumpMan led PlugMan and Treble out of the server, back into the wider net. He followed a well-rehearsed route this way and that, until eventually coming to a large door. "Ok, I have a key for the first level. Once we're in, try not to trip any alarms." he pressed the access key to the glowing gate, and it disappeared.
The three Navis moved through the administrative facility quickly. Eventually, they came to another door. "PlugMan, break it. We'll cover you."
Treble and PumpMan faced away, while PlugMan went to work. Fry this bit of data here, that one there, and hold this combination of inputs... and hey presto, the door reset to factoy settings. Plugman knew the code was now 0001, but he first punched in 1000. The reason being that it would hopefully trip an alarm. He opened the door. "Clear."
"Right, let's move. We have a map, just one more door..." Said PumpMan.
They navigated the next area for a minute, until they rounded the corner into a LOT of Navis, generic and custom alike. All were armed. PumpMan's eyes went from green to red. "Harrumph. Water flood!" His body instantly discharged a massive amount of water into the crowd of Navis. Most were deleted. A few hung on. To Arthur's horror, PlugMan stepped in and deleted three, before looking at the remaining few and tying them up with cables. Treble wasn't going to admit it, but his other self felt... kind of good seeing that much deletion. He shook his head, spraying a bit of water to each side.
PlugMan looked to PumpMan. "You better stay behind and make sure we have a way out. Me and Treble will take it from here."
"Right..." Said PumpMan.
"Come on!" Said Treble. "No time to waste!"
They ran off for the last door, while PumpMan braced for reinforcements.
They reached it and PlugMan gave a short, singular laugh. "Seriously?" He said. He reached in and entered a code. "Of all security models, they went with THAT. These guys could have military stuff if they wanted. Even I can't get through that." The door deactivated. "Right... you go delete PumpMan. The officials will be here in a minute, and they know who to aim for."
"Will do." Said Treble. "You're... not gonna break that system are you?"
"If I don't then we'll be thrown into question as agents. We break it, and let SheepMan's plan proceed until we have something good on him. Now go."
"Right."
Treble ran down the stairs, to the area PumpMan was protecting. "PumpMan!" Called Treble.
PumpMan turned. "Yes?"
"You got something in your eye." Said Treble, jumping up and driving his right claws through PumpMan's left eye.
"Agh! Y-you traitor! No matter. I'll delete you and the BBS system myself." Said PumpMan, lumbering forwards. "Water Flood!" A tide of water surged forwards. Treble weathered the attack easily enough.
"Chips!" Said Treble.
"ZapRing, and Thunder, in!"
Treble fired a ZapRing immediately, and was suitably disappointed when PumpMan wasn't paralysed.
"Heh. Pipeline!" PumpMan placed a hand onto the floor.
Treble went in and hit PumpMan with the Thunder attack. "How much health do you have?!" He yelled, furiously scratching PumpMan.
"More than you." Pipeheads appeared all around the floor, and each suddenly spouted water. Treble was knocked off his feet, and carried back.
"Bluh. Arthur, I need more firepower." Treble picked himself up, the water running off his body.
"One second..." Arthur considered sending the Origin advance, but these water spouts... even if they couldn't penetrate Treble's defences, they could definitely keep him off balance long enough to waste the advance. "Alright, ElementBreath, and Damage +10, in!"
Treble weaved through the network of pipes, trying to get in close, but they formed a curtain of water.
"Hoh, it's no good. I can stay safe here until I'm ready to attack, and whatever chip you got then, you can't use it on my barrier because you need it for me."
Treble stopped, realising there was something he needed to know. He positioned himself carefully, then closed his eyes and sniffed. What bugs had he inflicted on PumpMan?
Minor emotional discord. Movement problems. And... there's my answer- a slight bug in water generation. He can't keep this barrier up forever...
He waited, ever wary of stepping too close to another pipe. And then, he saw his opening. For one moment, the curtain of water weakened. Without hesitating, Treble threw himself through, the water eroding his defences quickly. He sidestepped PumpMan's close range attack, an orb of water, and took a deep breath. He exhaled yellow, elec-element flames over PumpMan, who took a heavy step back at the damage.
The orb of water rebounded, and smacked Treble in the head. He fell over forwards, scrambling to his feet.
Arthur didn't give up, even as Treble's health dropped to twenty. "We have to end this! Sword, WideSword, LongSword! Program Advance- SoulSword!"
The ethereal blade appeared on Treble's arm, beautiful and deadly. "SoulSword!" Echoed Treble. He swung it through PumpMan with all his might, and PumpMan staggered back.
"Aaaaggh... I'll- I'll"
Treble jumped in, and drove a claw through PumpMan's other eye. PumpMan was deleted.
Treble collapsed, holding a hand over his midesection. "G-got em. Log me out?"
"What about PlugMan... Oh!" Arthur noticed just how low Treble's health was. PumpMan must have been attacking to the end. "Right, logging you out. Good job."
Author's notes: So one thing I haven't mentioned yet is MegaMan's Copy bot. He still has it, but I haven't shown him in it yet because I truthfully haven't had a reason to. But rest assured, it's not forgotten. Gahhh, it's so late right now.
Also, Europe= Wirope. Because Battle Network.
Reviewer answers!
JaneValentine007: I hope what I provided will help. On one hand it's pretty cool to give someone artistic freedom, on the other I want my characters to be just as envisioned.
Guest: Here we go, Beast-out MegaMan versus Treble, results surprising nobody. As for riding Treble to victory, that's not an impossibility. Bass-Cross has a scarf, while Regular Bass has a cloak. I'd respond more, but I'm dying to sleep.
RushAlias: Me too.