Stupid!
How could he have been so trusting? He should have suspected they were up to something.
Of course Hub and MegaMan were the same person – they were both him! Now because he'd been too trusting, and let them find out, he was left with multiple injuries, and really didn't feel well.
There was no way he was going to stick around though. They knew something wasn't right now, there was no way he could go anywhere with either avatar there now, not unless he was absolutely certain he wouldn't be found out.
That of course left only his Castle area, but even that wasn't going to be finished any time soon. Even he couldn't create the entire thing in one go.
It was time, he decided, for drastic measures. He didn't like what he was going to do, but he hadn't bothered to come up with a Plan B in case of an emergency like this, so he was dealing on spur of the moment decisions.
Though he really didn't like the implications, Lan was a threat now, and as long as Angel was still active, they'd track him down mercilessly. They were too powerful for him to face head on, he was still weaker than normal when actually in their world. He'd have to take out Angel.
With a muttered oath that he'd be more careful, he re-formed the MegaMan avatar in Castle Area.
He noted he looked distinctly battered here now. His suit showed signs of the damage done to him when he'd torn the PET from it's connection to the computer.
"Hello, MegaMan," a voice similar to his own whispered in his ear.
"Go away," he told it.
"You can't shut me out."
"I told you to go away!" he snapped back. The voice formed it's own avatar, identical to his own, but with a darker colouring, and lacking his infirmities. It was, of course, his darksoul.
DarkMega had never truly been purged from him. It was impossible to do so, as long as there was still evil inside him, and he admitted that even he had some small amount of that. Except for the rare occasions he lost is temper, MegaMan was able to keep DarkMega in check, and so his darksoul had never emerged – even, quite remarkably, during the Cybeast incident. DarkMega in control of a Gregar Beast Out was not a pleasant thought.
"It's been a while, hasn't it?"
MegaMan gave up. "What do you want?"
"Oh, nothing. I just noticed you having a few... issues."
"So what?"
"So, I think I have a solution."
"No. Absolutely not."
"You don't even know what it is yet."
"I'm not using Darkchips. Never again."
"That's good. I wasn't suggesting them."
"Then what?"
"You've brought back Navis that were deleted, MegaMan. What's one more? You want to get this Navi that's usurped your brother out of the way. Who would he recognise instantly and go after?"
"Spare me the puzzles and spit it out," he replied irritably. It wasn't like him, but after everything that had happened, he felt it was well-deserved.
"ShadeMan."
"You can't be serious."
"Why not? You could only defeat him through the use of a DarkChip before the liberation missions. Lan doesn't like to use DarkChips. If you bring him back on your terms, you'll have control over him. He might be corrupt, but he's loyal. So simply set him on Angel, and watch them try to stop him without DarkChips. They'll be reluctant at first, of course," DarkMega went on relentlessly. "Just doing enough to foil whatever plan he's up to. But eventually they'll have to come to terms with using one, and that'll taint Angel permanently... then they have him to deal with instead."
"What you're proposing... it's absurd."
"No. It's the distraction you need. ShadeMan wouldn't be weakened like you are, and would be here in full force and health. You need only intervene to keep him active long enough for Lan to give Angel a DarkChip. After that, the DarkChip itself will keep them busy. You know I'm right, MegaMan."
"Another way. There has to be another way."
"Really? Who else gave you and Lan so much trouble? A WWW Navi? Gospel? ShadeMan returned time and time again, and you fought him time and time again. Only when you defeated NebulaGrey did he finally cease to exist."
"And if I revive him..."
"He'll only cease to exist if you let him. A mere distraction for them."
MegaMan created a bench absently, sitting on the edge of it, deep in thought. DarkMega merely watched with his usual grin.
"Go away," MegaMan said finally. "You've made your point. Now go away."
"Don't discount the idea," his darksoul replied, disappearing again.
He hated to admit it, but he'd been right. It would solve the problem, and it would give him the distraction he needed.
He pooled what strength he had left and concentrated on pulling back the darkloid that had so troubled him in the past. The air nearby shimmered into life, particles taking on different colours, all ones that appeared on ShadeMan. Slowly, they coalesced into the bat-Navi.
ShadeMan breathed deeply, then his eyes snapped open.
"Oh, my. Isn't this a tasty looking snack?"
"Don't do that," MegaMan told him contemptuously. "You wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for me."
"Oh, I know. DarkMega left me all I needed to know."
"How did he do that?"
"Oh, we creatures of the darkness keep in touch... I know what he suggested to you. When do I start?"
"Just go and get on with it before I change my mind about this. And try not to get hurt too badly. I don't want to have to keep healing you all the time."
"Me?" he laughed. "Me, get hurt? Only by a DarkChip. You know that."
He pulled a wing around him, and turned into a small flock of bats, headed through the guarded link to the net proper.
MegaMan pulled his avatar back, then went looking for Ito, creating the Hub avatar nearby. Like his MegaMan avatar, Hub showed clear signs of injury, but he ignored them.
Ito seemed to have taken his abrupt appearance completely unruffled.
"You're looking... ah... well."
"Spare me," Hub said, trying to ignore the pain. "Plans have changed. There's a Navi named ShadeMan on the loose again. Do everything you can to keep him on the loose, regardless of what he does. Much as I hate to admit it... I need him."
"That's going to raise a lot of suspicions."
"Use your Judge Tree. I'll hack it for you if I have to. Just don't let him get detained."
"Hub, I've seen to everything you've asked for so far, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask for something in return for this one. I can't keep doing things for nothing. I've a life to rebuild."
He stared at the prosecutor for several minutes before replying.
"What do you need?"
"Cash, naturally."
Hub's eyes went distant for a moment as he handled it. Ito's PET beeped.
"JudgeMan?" Ito asked it.
"A large sum of money has just been deposited into our account, Prosecutor."
"Source?"
"A private account owned by a Hub Hikari."
"Show me the details, JudgeMan." Ito scrutinized them, but was apparently satisfied. "It was nice doing business with you master Hikari."
"Try not to call on me too often like this. There are limits to what I can do."
"This will suffice for now. I'll have things taken care of, but it'll take time."
"Whatever it takes," Hub replied, vanishing again as MegaMan pulled him back.
This time, when he returned his full consciousness to himself, he found Mega hovering nearby.
"You don't look well," He told MegaMan.
"That's probably because I'm not."
"Something happen?"
"Bad day."
"And there I thought gods couldn't get bad days."
"I'm not a god, and I've no intention of being one."
"You're still dedicated to getting back again, aren't you?"
"I'm going to do whatever it takes to make it happen."
"Even going so far as to bring back someone you hate? I saw you resurrect that oversized bat."
"It was necessary. Lan and Angel are becoming too risky to just leave alone running around after me."
"So they know you're up to something now?"
"Unfortunately."
"Why so gloomy?"
"Because I'm doing something that's undoubtedly wrong, and shouldn't be done, just to get back. This is the kind of thing Lan and I worked together to stop, and now I'm doing it myself."
"If it's any consolation, if you do go back, this altered reality won't have existed."
"I'll still remember it though, Mega. I'll know what I did."
"So you'll be a little selfish, and have memories of events that no one else will remember. What of it?"
"Don't you see? The people in this reality have lives, they're happy. Take Chaud, for example. In the original one, he wasn't sociable, never smiled, and he and Chaud considered themselves above everyone, and above asking for help. In this one, he's happy, more so than I've ever known him. He's got friends, and making friends."
"You're inconsistent, MegaMan. If you go back, you'll have to accept they'll lose that and go back to the way the were before. If you want them to keep that, you'll have to stay here like this."
"I know."
"Tough decision to make."
"I'll make it when I'm ready. I've got plenty of time. All the time in the world."
Mega said nothing.
MegaMan concentrated on the orb, setting it to follow ShadeMan. He already hard at work terrorising the Navis in the Cyber City part of the network. Several of them already lay drained of all health because of him.
Mega shook his head, "I don't know how you can watch that. Knowing you're causing suffering like that..."
"I don't like it any more than you do," MegaMan told him. "But someone has to keep an eye on him, and keep danger away from him until Lan and Angel do what I want them to. Then they'll have a distraction to themselves, and I won't have to do anything."
"That's wrong."
"I know. There wasn't any other way."
"I think there would have been – if you'd taken the time to look for it."
"It's too late now," MegaMan sighed. "If you don't want to watch, then go somewhere else. I'm going to stay here."
"In this tree?"
"It's quiet, and no one bothers me. I can concentrate without getting in the way of you, Geo, or anyone else, and not have to worry about anything except the orb."
"Whatever works for you, I guess. You know how to find me if you need me."
MegaMan just nodded, still watching ShadeMan.