ColourMan rolled, fairly literally, around the net. Few people knew he could use the ball almost like a wheel instead. Most knew him better for bouncing around instead.
He was in Cyber City's Central area, an unfamiliar place for him. He usually kept to the more familiar Dentown areas.
There was a roar, a chillingly familiar roar. The whole net knew what it meant. It had been heard before.
Not long after he'd narrowly escaped permanent deletion by leaving for the net, he learned of Lan's actions, and of the NetMafia Gospel. He learned what had happened, and what they were up to.
There'd been a roar heard throughout all of cyberspace when Gospel had roared before battling MegaMan.
The roar of the cybeasts was similar, but was not universally heard – it had been confined to the Cyber City areas.
Most Navis either spooked and jacked out, or ran for their lives. ColourMan kept his cool, heading toward where the sound had come from, listening intently for another one.
It came, this time louder and causing the entire net to shake violently. When it subsided, he followed the sound again. It lead him to a link.
He hesitated, then went through, ready to leave again at a moments notice, and what he saw made him do so as soon as possible.
This was definitely one for the Hikari brothers.
"Hello?" Hub answered his phone.
"Get yourselves to Cyber City – now!"
"Huh? ColourMan? What's up?"
"Gospel is what's up! You need to move, MegaMan, he's gotten loose from the Cyber City Academy and is headed toward the Cybeast statues. I'm running from him right now, and I have no idea where I am, or where I'm going!"
"Calm down, ColourMan! When you get to Central Area 3, head up the slope on the left, it leads to Sky area, and you can get to the Undernet from there."
"I don't think that's going to help, it's ripping up everything we go past!"
"Stop that! The residents won't just let it run riot, and they're probably more powerful than most Navis outside, so they'll at least manage to do something to it. Lan and I are on our way back from NetFrica right now; we won't be able to get online until we get back."
"You better get your pilot to hurry then, otherwise there isn't going to be-" the signal cut off.
"Uh oh," Lan said. "That can't be good."
"Charlie!" Hub called over the sound of the chopper. "Did you hear the call I just got?"
"Sorry kid, it's a little loud. Bad news?" he called back
"Lets just say there won't be a net left to go onto if we don't hurry!"
"If you can give me a specific place, I'll make a beeline for it."
"Cyber City – as close as you can to the school."
"That's a bit further than Marine Harbour and SciLab."
"You aren't going to be able to jack in at the school, Hub," Lan warned. "They won't let you in."
"Never mind that, I'll find a way."
"Drop me off at SciLab then, Charlie," Lan called to him. "I'll talk to Chaud and do what I can from there, we'll send Angel in from there to catch up with you. Maybe this time you won't have to break into anywhere."
"You'd better be quick then Lan, because if you haven't sorted it by the time I get there, I'll get in any way I can."
Hub nodded once to Charlie, then headed for the school. He didn't bother to stop at the gates that required a student ID, vaulting straight over them. Lan hadn't called, so he was breaking the law again, but that could wait.
The security bots were after him quickly, but they were bulky and clumsy, and easily avoided. He left them at the gates to the staff lounge, heading for the room he'd picked up his first cross-Navi from when he'd transferred here.
It was empty now, but the computer was still active, providing him with the link to the net he needed.
"Wolf?"
"You need to ask?"
"Just letting you know," Hub told him, hooking up the PET.
"Looks like ColourMan wasn't exaggerating," Wolf commented. "Everything's pretty badly torn up here."
"After him, Wolf," Hub replied tensely. "Follow that trail of destruction."
The trail was clear. There was a lot of damage done. What the LifeVirus had done in their short battle was nothing in comparison to this.
There wasn't a Navi in sight. Wolf couldn't blame them.
The trail lead the same way he'd told ColourMan to go. How Gospel had managed to get up the thin path into Sky area was anyone's guess.
Sky area seemed to have got off marginally better, with pockets of damage scattered around. It looked like it had jumped around this area mostly.
The gate that lead into the UnderNet itself was completely destroyed, remains scattered everywhere.
"This is not good," Wolf said, running into the Undernet.
"That's the understatement of the year. How's the Undernet?"
"Bad, just like everwhere else. I can smell at least a dozen unique Navis here."
"The locals. They''ll attack it until they get too badly damaged."
Wolf nodded, continuing. Angel joined them as they entered another area.
"ColourMan's safe," he reported. "Chaud's already smoothing over your breaking into here, and organizing a mass repair effort. I'd keep clear of him, by the way, he doesn't like you much for all this damage."
"It's hardly my fault," Hub protested.
"Try telling him that," ProtoMan told him, joining them. "But not right now. We're here to help."
"We?"
"I talked Chaud into taking my advice – you know, from the other reality that Hub was in. We're giving it a try."
There was a roar from the area ahead, forcing them all to keep low as the quaking threatened to shake them all off the edges of the paths.
Gospel waited for them atop a large slope ahead, though waited was a relative term. There were already other Navis on the offensive, most not breaking through it's tough armour of bugfrags. Some managed it however. Hub noted a lot of them using DarkChips to achieve it. Well, it was their choice.
Angel and ProtoMan had already joined the fray. Some of the Undernet Navis backed away when they saw the duo bearing down on them, but once realized as an ally – if even temporarily – they stood beside what were normally their worst enemies.
Gospel has been swinging around, attacking with tail and breath, but the moment Wolf drew close it rounded on him, bounding down the slope for him.
Wolf snarled, turning and running. Gospel was quick, but no match for him when it came to speed and manoeuvrability at speed. Gospel pursued him, and the amassed Navis pursued it. It totally ignored them, except to trample any that got too close.
Wolf ran on through the Undernet, Hub directing him. Hub knew the Undernet well by now. He'd been here enough times. He made one mistake though, and got Wolf stuck at a dead end. He couldn't go back – Gospel was there.
He recognised this place. This was where he and Angel had been when some strange Navis that worshipped the Cybeasts had tried to bring them out.
Gospel began to close the distance between them.
"Any bright ideas, Hub?" he asked.
"Think you can get on top of him?"
"What? Are you insane?"
"No, I've got a plan. That spiked hood on the back of his head protects his neck – if you can get behind it, I can send you battlechips to attack it. You have to tell me what colour you see there, because that's what element it's aligned to at that time, then I can send you a sword chip aligned with the element strong against it. Just drive it in as hard as you can, and don't stop until it changes element."
"I know Chaud suggested taking risks, but don't you think that's overdoing it?"
"You've got a few seconds to come up with a better plan, Wolf."
Wolf muttered something unkind, then made ready for the attack.
Gospel drew close, taking a great leap, attempting to land on him. Wolf had already moved, narrowly missing getting caught by it's tail, then ran up it's back.
"Elec!" he told Hub, who scrambled for a Wood-Sword, transmitting it.
The great beast gave an immense roar when he drove it into it's neck, and writhed underneath him as he jerked it back and forth, cutting in deeper.
The glow from behind it's hood changed to blue.
Hub quickly found the next chip. The crowd of Navis drew back as the beast writhed and thrashed around under Wolf's attacks. ProtoMan began warning them to get further clear.
It began thrashing stronger now, forcing Wolf to take a firmer hold on it's back, unrelenting in his attack.
Finally, the great beast succumbed, sinking to the ground, then with a massive explosion that hurled Wolf off, away and into ProtoMan, it deleted.
"I hate Bass," he muttered when he landed.
"I'm not overly fond of him either," ProtoMan remarked. "But at least I don't go around landing on people."
"Shut up," he snapped, already heading back to where Gospel had been. The white Navi was there already.
Weakened from the blast, Wolf still charged at him, snarling viciously. He looked up sharply, quickly jumping aside and concentrating. The MegaMan image formed again, placing itself between Wolf and the white Navi. On the image's left stood a second image of MegaMan, this time resembling him after using ProtoMan's soul unison. On the right stood a third image, using the GutsMan unison. All three were posed ready to strike.
"I have warned you before. I will not tolerate continued interference."
"And I've told you, you'll have to do better than that to stop me!"
The first MegaMan image fired a charged shot at him, as before, but Wolf was ready for it this time. He moved aside, then attempted to pounce on it. He was blocked by the GutsSoul MegaMan, who pushed him back. Wolf jumped at this image instead, latching on and tearing into it until the ProtoSoul MegaMan made a swipe from behind. Now Wolf turned on him, repeating the tactics, until the image flickered and dissolved, defeated.
He dodged another charged shot from the main MegaMan image, and a barrage of buster attacks from it after, then resumed his attack on the GutsSoul image defeating it too.
Now he turned on the main image. He waited until after it had fired several more shots at him, then pounced, landing heavily and raking it's front with claws.
Wolf heard Hub give a startled yelp of pain, then moments later, "Wolf, stop! Whatever you're doing to it is affecting me too!"
Wolf's hesitation allowed the image to throw him off. He made no move to continue his attack.
The white Navi, apparently noting this, removed the MegaMan image and faded out.
"Hub! What happened to you?"
"When you attacked it, I got the injury. I've got a nice set of scratches right over my front from your attack."
"How is that even possible?"
"I don't know, and I don't think we'd like the answer. Tell Angel what's happened and then get out... I want to get these tended to quickly. You went fairly deep."
"Sorry. I didn't know."
"I'm not blaming you. Quickly, Wolf – I'm bleeding here."
Hub was lying in a bed in the seaside hospital, his dad with him.
"Honestly Hub, how do you manage to get into trouble like this all the time?"
"Sorry Dad. It was kinda unexpected."
"What happened to you?"
"Um... well, it a bit... complicated."
"The doctor told me you need time to recover, so there's plenty of time to tell me."
Hub outlined the events of the first reality change, then moved on to the second.
"Then when Wolf attacked the image of me without a soul unison, I somehow got hurt," Hub finished.
"That's impossible... or at least unlikely. Impossible doesn't seem to apply to you after hearing all that."
"It's what happened, Dad! Wolf scratched the image, and I got these!"
"Relax. I believe you, son. But you and Wolf need to leave that white Navi alone, understand?"
"It's not me doing it... Wolf keeps doing it himself..."
"Just make sure he doesn't any more, especially now you've found out this happens."
"I'll try to."
"What about you? How do you feel?"
"I feel fine... well, better, at least."
"That's good. Get some rest, Hub. You'll feel better afterwards."
"Thanks, Dad."
