I own no Megaman characters, any familiar dialogue or the main plot. Credits to Capcom.

Reply to Rawr's review of Chapter 10: I'm sure you'll be able to work out the kinks, just as I have many times before. It may be a tedious process, but it's worth it in the end (unless, of course, some snobby critic comes along and breaks down all your work anyway, but I digress).

Two Days After The Waterworks Incident...

It was just another school day and this time, Tory was present, but something was off about him. He often kept his eyes down at his desk in class and kept telling everyone that he was fine, even though he wasn't. During recess, he stood at the shaded corner of the playground alone, but no one knew why. What no one knew was that Tory was buried deep in his thoughts.

Why am I here, even after all I've done? It's all my fault... What if someone finds out it was me? What if someone finds out I was the one who stopped the water from running? Everyone will hate me!

Tory wasn't normally this down in the dumps, but neither was he an energetic boy. He kept a constant calm nature. But what he did brought even himself down. The worst thing was that someone would eventually rat out on him. You could say that the stress of it all was what was actually bringing him down. Lan and the others tried taking with him, but he ignored every comment. In the lunch hall at lunchtime, again, he ignored every remark. During classes, he wouldn't participate, still keeping his eyes down at his desk. He did his work when he was asked to, but that was all. His friends, especially Lan, were getting worried. Apart from Lan, they all wondered what happened to him? Was it linked to his absence yesterday. After school, they all decided to ask him again what was wrong, but Lan had other ideas.

"Um, guys. I think it would be better if I talked with him alone," he said to everyone, ignoring everyone else's questioning as he left. Lan was meant to see Tory two days ago right after the filtering program was unfrozen, but he wasn't anywhere to be found. A day after, he checked Tory's house to see, but his mother said he didn't want to see anyone.

Meanwhile, Tory, staying away from his friends, decided to head on home. Originally, he was planning to help his father, but by this point, even the mentioning of the company's name made him shudder. He just couldn't get over what he did. He decided to sit around at the park for a while before heading home. As he was about to take a seat on the bench...

"Hey, Tory!"

It was Lan who called him. Apparently, he was following him the whole time. He took a seat next to him on the bench.

"You okay?" Lan asked him. "You've been awfully quiet today. Not that you're not a quiet person, but this time, you didn't say a word!"

"I'm... sorry about that," Tory replied quietly. "Just thinking things over."

"What things?"

Tory only sighed as a response. Then, he turned around to make sure no one else was listening. After a long pause, answered the question with, "Yesterday..."

"What?"

"Don't you remember? I froze the Waterworks programs and stopped the water from running. And it was all to help World Three."

"Oh. But you did it to save your dad, didn't you?" Lan reminded his friend. "World Three had your dad captive, didn't they?"

"Yeah, it was for father, but I put everyone else in danger because of it! I didn't think of anyone else's need for water, Lan!"

"And what were you gonna do with your father, then? Leave him with World Three!?"

"..."

"Tory, my father's always told me that if it's not the right thing to do, you wouldn't have done it. Maybe people would get mad if they found you stopped the water, yes, but you did it to save your father. I think it was the right thing to do..."

"... About what happens when people find out... Will they... Lan, will they really get mad at me? Will they... hate me?"

"Maybe... But if they knew why, they would understand. I certainly understand." Tory looked down on the grass for a moment, taking in what Lan had said, hearing his friend also say to him, "So don't worry about it."

"..."

"..."

"Thanks." Tory, for the first time that day, had a smile on his face. "Thanks, Lan."

"That's what friends are for, right?" Lan grinned back, placing his hand on Tory's shoulder

"I guess. Hey, would you mind... not telling anyone about this?

"I won't tell a soul, Tory."

"Thanks. Hey, I better get going. See ya, Lan!"

"See ya, Tory!"

Tory was headed for the Metroline to return to the Waterworks, as originally planned, while Lan decided to head back to his place.

"That was really sweet of you, Lan," Megaman said to him.

Lan took out his PET and responded, "Well, what were you expecting? Me just leaving him there?"

"I guess that wouldn't have been right. I would have done the same thing. Anyway, better get home quick. Remember those chores you promised mom you'd do?"

"Aw, man!"

Afterwards, On The Internet...

"That didn't take too long, did it, Lan?" Megaman said to his NetOp.

"I guess not," Lan replied. "But chores are chores and I'm not too big on them!"

"Didn't think so!" Megaman chuckled as he left the homepage and headed for the Internet.

The ACDC Area looked quite packed with children's Navis. Apparently, no homework was set, so it gave kids a chance to spend the rest of the day on the Net. Right now, though, it didn't look like there was anything to do for Megaman.

"Uh, Lan. What did you jack me in for?" he asked.

"Hm... I didn't really think of that," Lan laughed sheepishly. "I guess you're just here for the sake of being here."

"What? But viruses could attack at any minute!"

"They're weak. And you're awesome at deleting them, so what threat could they be to you?"

"Well, you got me there. I suppose I'll just take a walk around while you do whatever."

There was nothing to do. Gutsman was probably busy training, Glyde was off to who knows where and Iceman was in his PET. This only left Roll, but where was she? After a minute or two, she did pass her Security Gate, but from the way she was turning left and right every now and then, she was clearly looking for someone. She was looking for Megaman and she saw him looking around, too. She had something to give to him, so she went up to him.

"Hm? Oh, hey, Roll!" he greeted her.

"Hiya, Mega!" she replied cheerfully. A smile pulled along Megaman's face at this, for Roll's cheery nature was one thing he liked about her. The nickname that was given to him was rather adorable. "I have something for you."

"Oh? What is it?" Megaman asked, before noticing a slip of paper appear in his friend's hand.

"It's a message from Maylu to Lan," Roll said. "I'd really love to stay and hang out with you, Mega, but there seems to be a problem with Maylu's Mr Progs outside her Security Gate and I have to sort it out. I guess I'll see you in front of it when Lan answers, Mega!"

"See you then!" Megaman said, seeing Roll head back. Addressing Lan, he asked, "Well, shall I read it out?"

"Sure," Lan answered.

"Okay. It says 'Hey, Yai's birthday is coming soon! Wanna come with me to buy a present for her this Saturday? Write me back!' Well, Lan, are you busy this weekend?"

"Hm... Well, I have nothing planned," Lan said. "Why not?" He typed up his response and gave it to Megaman. "Give this to Roll, okay?"

"Already on it," the blue Navi smiled, heading off to Roll's Security Gate to give the message to his friend.

Apart from Lan cheering up Tory and agreeing to go shopping with Maylu on Saturday, Megaman didn't think too much went on today. But neither would the rest of the school week, but Megaman would be for quite an adventure on Saturday!

Yeah, why not stick something that actually happened in the game after filler I made? To be honest, that was all I had for the filler and it only ended up being seven hundred to eight hundred or so words, so I decided to stick in the invitation thing. It still may be short, but this doesn't mean it's not a filler chapter. It still is. As I said last time, filler chapters will be quite shorter than my regular chapters.

Anyway, see you guys next chapter!

~Have a great day, week, fortnight, month, whatever~